《Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance》


 Chapter 1 The End Or The Beginning?

    "Fuck you, GOD! Why do you keep doing this to me!!! What did I do to deserve this?!?" eximed Mira.

    The so-called god scoffed, "What do you mean why? You refused to be my ve-concubine and killed yourself before I could taste you and now you ask me why? I will make you understand how wrong your decision is and have you beg to lick my feet. No matter how many times you die, I will reincarnate your soul with your memories still intact. I am still impressed though. You''ve already been reincarnated 10 times but can still barely make it past being a mortal, yet you still suffer endlessly. What willpower!!"

    "You dirty bastard! I will have my revenge even if it takes me 100 lifetimes or 1000 lifetimes. It doesn''t matter how long it takes, one day I will ascend and kill you! It will be a swift and easy death, one where you didn''t even know how you died! I won''t even give you the satisfaction of being tortured!"

    "Hmmm, that''s quite interesting. I really want you as my ve now. Breaking that willpower of a woman is the most satisfying thing there is in the world. Do you even know how many I''ve done this to? TO MANY TO COUNT HAHAHA! They all beg me to stop because they all ''die'' at around 15-20 in every lifetime. They can''t even start their journey to ascending before they die! HAHA, how great is that!"

    It''s true, this guy that Mira calls ''God'' is just an immortal ascender that has a treasure that allows one to capture souls and reincarnate them. There are countless mortal worlds out there and every time someone is reincarnated, it randomly goes to some random mortal world. One''s soul seldom returns to the original world, the chances are just too low.

    And this guy names ''God'' is just some asshole that finds it amusing to toy with mortals. Most of the time he just kills them after he breaks them and does not reincarnate them.

    Since immortals live forever, then it isn''t strange for them to have entric personalities. Living forever isn''t exactly the most fun thing to do, but who wants to die? Nobody, even if you live forever, it''s better than dying.

    Mira just happened to be unlucky enough to bring this guy''s attention to her. Mira used to be a sweet, confident, stubborn mortal. He was only 19 when this guy told her to be his ve.

    Obviously, she said no. Who would willingly be someone''s ve? Even if that person was an immortal. This guy might just torture her every day, or abuse and **** her then kill her after he''s bored. Mira may be young, but she''s not stupid.

    Even she could figure it out, the only reason this guy has done this is that he''s bored. Why else would an immortal mess with mortals?

    In truth, this so-called god can''t interact or kill them, that is just thews of the heavens. Once somebody ascends, then they go to a higher ne of existence. They aren''t omnipotent, but they can to a degree controlws of the world and affect nature.

    If two immortals fought each other in the mortal ne, then billions or perhaps trillions of mortals would die. Every race would be extinct by now if that were the case.

    Even with that being the case, some treasures can defy the heavens, and this guy has one of those items that control life and death itself. All he has to do is link that particr soul with the item, which he seems to call a soulntern, and that''s it. She will keep reincarnating with her memories intact until he unlinks her soul or she bes an Immortal.

    Naturally, Mira doesn''t know this and only the ''god'' knows that he only needs to link the soul. He doesn''t know that it disconnects after she ascends. This is mainly because an immortal''s soul is way too powerful to control even for something that can defy the heavens like this.

    Mira has been suffering for hundreds of years now because of this. She''s caused her original family to die, but even if she would''ve outlived them already. In her second lifetime, she was an orphan and lived a rtively normal life.

    Until some young aristocrat tried to force himself on her so she decided to bite her tongue and kill herself.

    Her third life was much better than the rest. She lived in a world that had no cultivators. A world called Earth, but after living for 25 years, a truck ran a red light as she was crossing the street and killed her. After living on Earth, she could only bitterly smile as that happened to a lot of protagonists in novels and animes. Except even after she reincarnated into a fantasy world in her fourth life, she died in her mother''s womb.

    After she realized that, sheughed like a madman because she was actually wondering if she could be some stupid hero and fight demons for a kingdom or something. But after that time though, she steeled her mind.<sub> </sub>

    Screw being a hero! I''ve died enough for someone to go mad! I refuse to protect someone from a truck, screw kingdoms and countries! Even if I do be strong enough and can protect them, so what!?! If someone can''t protect themselves and they die, that is their problem for being too weak!

    Mira even has to experience the pain of dying. Most people will just die, then their souls will be erased and sent onto the path of reincarnation. Peacefully! But Mira has to experience the pain of her organs and bones shattering when she dies. And she can''t do anything about his until her soul finds someone to reincarnate into. Even when she died peacefully as a mortal for her 8th life, she felt like her the skin on her body was cracking and peeling off while her organs were melting.

    Dying is painful for her no matter if she is tortured to death or if she dies peacefully. On her ninth and tenth life, she started her path to be an immortal. Her ninth life was the hardest because she knew nothing about cultivating the body.

    To start on the path to bing an immortal, one must strengthen one''s body enough to handle the vast amount of energy that one''s body will hold. Body tempering and energy cultivation go hand in hand. If one doesn''t have a strong enough body, they will explode when trying to gather energy.

    Tempering the body is extremely hard. Even harder than cultivating energy. Especially that first step to shed your mortal skin. Tempering the body is essentially like breaking all of your bones over and over again until each cell can fill up with the energy of heaven and earth.

    There are 5 main stages to transforming one''s body. That is strength training, bone forging, meridian opening, organ refinement, and marrow tempering. Strength training, meridian opening, and organ refinement are rtively easy, but meridian opening and organ refinement are extremely painful. Bone forging is time-consuming and painful if you don''t have any medicinal herbs to heal quickly or a pill that will release energy to break and restore the bones over and over again. Marrow tempering is by far the hardest. This is where most people get stuck in the mortal world. You can''t temper marrow by reforging bone or strength training. Unless you have pills that can temper your marrow for you, then one needs to find an extremely hot ce and absorb the vtile heaven and earth energy that is in the heat. After absorbing this and forcefully pushing it into your marrow, the heat from the energy will start to consume the marrow, while the heaven and earth energy will refine what was consumed. After this is 100%pleted, your blood and marrow will have a golden-blue hue to them. This is the sign that you''ve stepped onto the path of bing an immortal.

    Mira was only able to make it to the organ refining stage until she died after trying to collect qi, or heaven and earth energy, she thought that she had stepped onto the path of bing an immortal after that and stole a basic cultivation manual. Her body exploded after collecting too much energy.

    In her tenth life only did she learn that she needed to temper her marrow. In her tenth life, she was able toplete this and was able to step onto the path of being an immortal. She couldn''t join any sects because she was weak, and no weapon suits her. She didn''t have an affinity with the sword, spear, or any other weapons that she tried. She did recall though that while living on Earth, the scythe was her favorite weapon. This is a rare weapon in the cultivation world, but not unheard of.

    She continued using a spear as that was the closest thing to a scythe. She hunted magic beast, tried to explore ruins, search for inheritances from other cultivators, and searched for any lucky encounter she could find. She killed countless people and beasts. She would try to kill and rob lone cultivators, would brave and wonder every area she could find. Even if it was a danger zone with a high-tier magic beast that only needed to breathe to kill her.

    She decided to make this life like a trial run. She would gather as much knowledge as she could. Since she would be reincarnated with her memories, she would gather experience after experience, battle after battle, and learn anything she coulde across. She found countless martial arts manuals, cultivation manuals, alchemy recipes, forging, anything.

    Mira wasn''t the greatest at alchemy or forging but did it enough to be average at it. She was able to make herself a scythe and start practicing that. Once she became rtively strong but was getting close to the end of her life, she went to brave the dangers again.

    This time, one could say thatdy luck was shining upon her today. She found the inheritance of an immortal! Well, he wasn''t a true immortal as he died while going through his tribtion. He set up the inheritance right before his tribtion because he had a feeling that he would die.

    Mira benefited quite greatly from this. She got a lot of treasures from this inheritance. Especially a heaven-defying scythe martial art and cultivation manual that used to scythe as a base. She also got a spiritual scythe that resides in her soul. She can carry this with her through reincarnation. These were the two main things this guy used to reach the point of ascending. She decided to spend the rest of her life perfecting both manuals. After she was reaching the end of her life she was able to perfect both manuals. Even though the cultivation manual ruined her foundation because it wasn''t what she started with, it didn''t matter. As long as she memorized all of it and had practical experience, then she could use her next life to be a heaven-defying talent and reach the pinnacle.

    Now Mira has died. And had this piece of shit god bothering her again.

    "I don''t give a shit how many you''ve done this to. It''s not like you cane down here and smite me. Only when a mortal pledges to the heavens for an immortal to take us can you do something to me! Even if youe down here to kill me, the Heavens will immediately smite you to death! Not even you can escape the heavens!! I will reach the pinnacle, ascend, and annihte your entire existence!! I will destroy your mind, body, and soul!! Even your Soul Lantern won''t be able to save you!! Wait for me, I won''t be long!!" Mira yelled to this asshole immortal.

    "HAHA good! Good! I will be waiting for you! We''ll see whiches first, you being my ve or you be an immortal! HAHAHA!!!"

    That was thest thing Mira heard before her soul was sucked into the emptiness of space towards her new body and family.

 Chapter 2 New Life

    Mira''s consciousness was sucked into the void, she was going to her new body. Her new mother and father just started trying to have a child a few weeks prior. Unbeknownst to them, their child is at least 10 times their age.

    "AH fuck! Another painful reincarnation. Now I have to wait another 9 months in this pitch-ck ce, with nothing else to do other than think. Well, I guess it''s not so bad. I can check up my new body, make sure that my spiritual scythe came with me through my soul, and go over the martial arts and cultivation manuals that I remember. Even though I can''t practice them, I can review them."

    Mira then proceeded to check her condition. She was ecstatic that her spiritual weapon stayed with her. Spiritual weapons are much more valuable than other regr weapons. They may not be exceedingly powerful in the beginning, but they have the potential to grow stronger with the user. They also sit in a cultivator''s soul. Even though they grow with the cultivator''s strength, it''s only to a certain degree. The weapon will have explosive growth when a cultivator hits the nascent soul realm. Mira got lucky and found the inheritance of an old cultivator that left behind this scythe as well as a cultivation manual.

    The scythe is called the Abyssal Sea Scythe. The scythe is 2 meters tall with a 70 centimeter-long curved de at the end. The pole end of the scythe has an extremely sharp spike at the bottom. It''s almost full ck with veins of crystal blue all over the scythe.

    "I''m d that this scythe stayed with me through this. Even though the strength dropped down to mortal grade, it still has the potential to grow. Plus it can be considered the absolute best mortal grade weapon. The best that it could get to is earth grade before I reach the nascent soul stage, but that''s fine. I can also use the cultivation manual that came with the scythe. The Hell Scythe Essence cultivation manual. It uses a spiritual scythe as a base, but other than that it''s a pretty normal manual. The only thing special is that it increases the durability and sharpness of the scythe. It also strengthens my soul sea, where the scythe rests in, through cultivation. Although it''s not that much, after a while the benefits will be great."

    "The real benefits are when I reach nascent soul stage though. I will just have to practice hard and wait to reach that stage."

    There are 5 different grades for weapons. Human, Mortal, Earth, Heaven, and Immortal. Human is just a basic weapon made ofmon materials. Even a child can wield one of these weapons. Mortal-grade weapons and up are for cultivators. They allow cultivators to coat the weapon in qi or have qi flow through it and use their martial arts. Earth and Heaven weapons can still be used at a lower realm of cultivation, but they are exponentially heavier and require more and denser qi to flow through them. Immortal weapons are essentially legends. They are rumored to be able to slice the earth and moon.

    The same goes for cultivation manuals. Human ones can get you to qi condensation. Mortal grade manuals get you through the foundation stage. Earth can get you nascent soul stage, but if you can''t figure out a way to utilize this further then you''ll be stuck at the end of the nascent soul stage unable to progress. Heaven manuals can get you to the Soul Transformation Realm. You can also get into the immortal ascension stage with a heaven manual as long as you have a rock-solid foundation. Immortal manuals can bring you all the way to ascend to be an immortal. Heaven and Immortal are both rare, but there are more immortal manuals than heaven because people will use a heaven manual until the end and figure out ways to be an Immortal through it. That manual then will turn into an immortal grade manual.

    "I have my cultivation manual set so no need to try and get my hands on one of those. I guess I can use these 9 months to make sure I remember every single detail. I have my main weapon, some decent martial art skill, but those might be useless as I don''t know what elemental affinity I have yet. My biggest hurdle will be getting through Body Tempering. I''ve only sessfully made it to Qi Condensation once and it was by far the hardest. Well, I will cross that road when I can start training."

    "I guess I will just review what''s in my mind and wait until I''m born. The rest can be figured out as I go along."

    With that, Mira proceeded to review the manuals in her head and wait for the rest of the 9 months until she is born.

    ***

    8 monthster

    "How are you feeling Jate? Do you need me to get you anything or maybe make a bath for you?" Said a husky-voiced man.

    "No thanks Zach, I''m fine. I''m just a little worried though because the baby hasn''t kicked really at all in these 8 months, but the nurse says that she''s fine." Said a woman with an especially sweet voice.

    These two are Mira''s new parents. They are young, around 30 years old. They are both mortals that have no interest in the brutal world of cultivation. They only want to live day by day and have a happy fulfilling mortal life. Right now they are waiting for Mira''s mother to give birth. She looks like she''s ready to pop at any moment now. Zach has been running around a lottely collecting herbs and water for her while making big healthy meals.

    These two live in a small vige called Green Grass Vige that''s along the outskirts of a forest. This forest is also near a mountain range as well. The forest is called Dark Moon Forest as it''s pretty much dark all of the time, but for whatever reason has a silver hue at night when the moones out. The mountain range is called Skytop Mountain Range and is a danger zone with lots of magical beasts that roam there.

    Green Grass Vige is just a small vige with around 100 people living in it. These people live ordinary lives and most are just at either Strength Training or Body Forging in the Body Tempering Stage. The strongest person is in the Marrow Tempering Stage, but cannot go any further due tock of resources and getting old. He''s almost 150 years old which is about the lifespan of a human that hasn''tpleted Marrow Tempering.

    "AH!, Zach, I think the baby ising! Hurry get ready!" Jate yelled at her husband.

    "Coming Dear! I''ll be bringing Elder Yu with us to help as well. She''s helped give birth to numerous babies in the vige." Zach answered back

    "Okay Honey! Hurry!"<sub> </sub>

    Jate can''t wait to give birth to her baby. She''s been dreaming of this day ever since she was a little kid. Being a mother and collecting herbs is the women''s main job in the vige, while the men hunt and build houses and defenses to protect the vige.

    A little whileter Zach and Elder Yu are next to Jate, who is now holding her newborn baby girl.

    Jate just sat there with a tired but happy face while looking at her baby girl.

    "Zach, what should we name her?"

    "Well, we decided that we''d go with Mira if we had a girl, and I think that name we should just stick with that. It''s a beautiful name."

    "Okay, it''s decided. Her name will be Mira! Do you like that name, Mira?" Jate asked Mira.

    Mira, who had just popped out of the womb just looked at her since she''s a baby and can''t do anything, but inwardly was still surprised.

    ''For whatever reason, my name stays the same no matter what life, body, or world I''m in.''

    She looked around and saw Elder Yu, who had grey hair, wrinkles, but still had sharp features. She was staring at Mira noticing she wasn''t crying, but Mira seemed healthy.

    "The baby doesn''t seem to be crying, you should give her a smack just to make sure she''s fine." Elder Yu said.

    Jate was a bit hesitant but turned Mira over and smacked her butt.

    Mira started crying, it seemed that it''s a natural reflex for babies to cry even if she''s used to pain. Plus she has to cry or else they might think somethings wrong.

    ''Damn! This happens every time. Well, hopefully, this is myst reincarnation. My mind still needs time to adjust to the body. Since my soul is hundreds of years old, the bnce between mind and body is off. I just hope my mind isn''t too affected this time around.''

    Indeed, Mira has figured out that even though this is her 11th body, the reflexes of the body will still affect her mind due to the imbnces.

    "Well, it looks like she is in good health. Congrattions on giving birth to such a beautiful child." Elder Yu said as she got up to leave their house.

    "Wow Zach, look how beautiful our daughter is! With her wine-red eyes and this shiny silver hair. She looks almost like a goddess even as a newborn! I can''t imagine how she''ll look when she gets older. I can see all of the boys flocking to her! Hehe." Jate eximed.

    "Hmph! I won''t be handing over my precious daughter to any boys unless they are stronger than me!" Zack said, already annoyed at the thought of boys going near Mira.

    "Hehe, well no point thinking about that now. Let''s just do the best we can."

    Jate looked at Zach lovingly and vice versa.

 Chapter 3 Green Grass Village

    It''s been 5 years already since Mira has been born into this new world. She is a little over 100cm tall, her silvery hair is now down to her waist, she has exquisite jade-like skin, and the deep wine-red eyes give her an almost otherworldly feel. Well, one can say that she is otherworldly.

    Even Mira can''t exin this beauty and even she isn''t attracted to herself. The only thing that she can chalk this up to is her soul that is stronger than normal. Because even her parents are rather average. They both have oak-brown hair, light-brown eyes, and tan skin. Meanwhile, Mira is like a goddess especiallypared to the vigers here.

    Mira has been using thesest five years spending time with her parents, scouting out ces to train, learning more about the world, and her geography.

    Even though this is her 11th set of parents and her general personality is very cold and aloof, she still cares for her parents. A part of her feels bad for them because her mind is around 10 times their age, but they still allowed her another life, they still take care of her until she is strong enough to take care of herself, and the feelings that her parents have are always full of love and sincerity. These rtionships can be considered priceless, especially in the cultivation world, where everyone wants to fight for benefits even families.

    Mira has learned a number of things while living here. She''s learned that the Skytop mountain near her is ssified as a rank 5 danger zone, while the forest that they are right outside is a rank 2 zone. These ranks pertain to the highest-rank magical beast in the area. Skytop mountain has a rank 5 magical beast and the forest has a rank 2 magical beast as the highest.

    There are 10 ranks of magical beasts with 1 being the lowest. A rank 1 magical beast is simr to a body transformation expert human. While a rank 10 is simr to an Earth Immortal realm cultivator. That puts a Rank 5 Magical Beast around the Late Foundation Realm. Many times, stronger than the strongest in the vige. He could barely be qualified as an ant in front of such a creature.

    The vige men generally bring back normal animals or the lowest rank 1 magical beasts. Since they are on the outskirts of Dark Moon Forest, these types of animals and beasts are prettymon.

    Mira has also spotted a couple of ces that she could train, such as a number of caves or nice clearings. These ces are rtively close to the vige and she is able to spot them when she goes out to collect herbs with her Mother.

    She''s also learned that the continent she is on is called The Veiled Continent. When she asked why her parents don''t know so she put that aside. The nearest city is Lunar Fox City, that city is around 100 kilometers away from Green Grass Vige and around once a month a merchant will drop by to buy and sell things. It isn''t much, the vige generally trades herbs for basic supplies, spices, and various other household items.

    Mira wasn''t able to learn a whole lot about the world, but that''s to be expected in this middle-of-nowhere vige.

    "Mira! It''s time for dinner!"

    "Okay! Be right there, Mother!"

    Mira ran back to her house to eat dinner with her family.

    "So Mira, I''ve seen a lot of boys trying to get your attentiontely. Have you taken a fancy to any of them? Hehe." Jate asked slyly.

    "Nah, they are all too weak and ugly. Not to mention a lot of them are stupid too." Mira said casually.

    Both of her parents were shocked that a little girl would speak like that. They both paused for a while and just stared at her then Zach started to break outughing.

    "That''s right! Nobody here is good enough for my little girl! Even among the children in Lunar Fox City, she is probably the best!  Good! Good!" Zach loudly eximed.<sub> </sub>

    "Now Mira, that''s no way for ady to talk. Even though I agree, who knows how the future children in the vige will be like." Said Jate trying to scold her child but knew that this just seemed to be who Mira was. She was a bit more of a wild child rather than a cute little girl. Sometimes Jate would even catch her sneaking off but just attributed it to her child''s personality.

    "Mom, Dad I want to tell you something. I know that you two have never really cared about this, but I want to be a cultivator. I know that means that I will have to leave you and this vige someday perhaps even this continent, but I want to do that. I want to explore the world, the stars, and what''s above the stars. I want to have the power to protect myself from dangers. I want to be able to protect you two as well. I know that this vige is small, and the people here know basically nothing about cultivation, but the stories that the Grand Elder in the vige tells about his experience outside the vige and with others of the world is exactly what I want. I shouldn''t need any help until after the Body Transformation phase or at least at the Marrow Tempering Stage. Can you�� give me your support in this manner?" Mira asked her parents shyly. Even though she''s several hundred years old, her parents are still parents no matter how old or what life she''s in.

    Zach and Jate looked at her full of shock. Their mouths her agape and it took them a while to recover, but they just looked at her with smiles full of love. They didn''t expect her to be so knowledgeable but knew that it was probably due to the Grand Elder''s stories.

    "Mira, your mother and I both love you with everything that we have and would give our lives for you. We should be the ones protecting you not the other way around. Even though I want to tell you that it''s too dangerous and that you could be killed at any moment for any reason. I can''t seem to tell you that you can''t do something. You are our precious daughter. You are intelligent, diligent, hard-working, and many other things. We love you no matter what, but I just want to let you know that we can''t help you with this. We know nothing about the cultivation world so it will be up to your hard work whether you can seed or not. But if you feel this ce is too small for you then you may leave to pursue your dream. Only if you are strong enough to leave on your own though. Anyways you should wait a couple more years for you to grow before starting to train." Zach said to Mira.

    He was very thoughtful with his words and he could also see the determination in Mira''s eyes. This is what she wanted to do no matter what.

    "Your Father is right Mira. Even though we know nothing about cultivation, we don''t want to stop you from achieving your dream. But I do agree that you need to wait a few years and can''t leave until you''re strong enough. We both love you, Mira." Jate said lovingly as she pulled Mira into her embrace.

    Mira started to tear up at this. Even though she''s only spent 5 years with them she still loves them dearly.

    "Alright, since we finished dinner you guys help me clean up, and then we should go to bed."

    Mira and Zach nodded and they went to work.

    ***

    A couple of miles away from Green Grass Vige

    "Hehe, I''ve spotted another vige a few miles away from here. What should we do boss?" An ugly many with a round face with lots of scars said.

    The Boss smiled lewdly and said, "Of course **** and pige like we always do. These little viges are full of nothing but weaklings. We will wait till dark then move. Let''s do it like always, kill the men and have fun with the women. Oh, and kill any kids as well, but we can still have fun with the girls if they are pretty enough." Another big ugly man said as he licked his lips. The rest of the crew grinned and couldn''t wait until dark.

    This was a group of criminals called the Forest Hunters. Their name sounds deceiving, but what they really hunt are small viges on the outskirts of various forests. The strongest of them is in the early Qi Condensation Stage while the rest are in the Body Tempering stage. A vige-like Green Grass Vige is extremely easy to take over.

    A few hours went by and soon it was dark outside.

 Chapter 4 Raid

    Everybody in Green Grass Vige has fallen asleep for the night. Unbeknownst to them, the Forest Hunter Bandit is about to attack their quaint little vige.

    Right outside of the vige, one can see around 20 figures running through the night ready to attack. After a couple of minutes, there was the snapping of tree branches on the ground.

    The Grand Elder awoke, "Who is there?!?" He screamed as he ran out of his house with a bad feeling.

    "Hehe. Old man, it would''ve been much simpler for you to continue sleeping. Then you would''ve died peacefully you know." Said arge, buff many with arge scar on his face. This was the Qi Condensation leader from the Forest Hunter Bandits.

    "Damn you! I''ll be sure to kill you for messing with my vige!" The Grand Elder screamed as he took out his sword and rushed towards the leader.

    The leader just looked at him with a disdainful grin on his face, took out his sword, and shed at the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder knew this man was stronger than him, but he was going to die either way. The least he could do is try to harm this man or go down with him. Then the some of the vigers might have a chance at escape. At least the children might.

    The Grand Elder swung his sword towards the leader, but it was immediately blocked. He kept shing, with all of his might. He couldn''t find an opening to actually get a hit in, but luckily the leader was not on guard at all towards this old man.

    "Old man, just give up. This vige is going to die today. We, the Forest Hunters, will kill all the men and children, have fun with the women, and then kill them after we are done! HAHAHA!!" The leaderughed like a crazy man while still defending against the strikes from the Grand Elder.

    The Grand Elder was silent, but he was formting a n to try to kill this guy even if it meant giving up his life. He wasn''t going to live for long anyway, so he might as well have a warrior''s death.

    After a couple of minutes of fighting, the leader felt it necessary to end this. He lunged towards the Grand Elder and ended up stabbing him through the stomach. The Grand Elder spat a mouthful of blood, but he looked on with determination. His left hand held the bandit leader''s hand that was in his stomach, then with his right hand stabbed his sword in the leader''s throat.

    The bandit leader looked at him with shock, not expecting the Grand Elder to give his life to kill him. The Grand Elder had mouthfuls of blooding out of his mouth but used thest of his strength to decapitate the leader. Both of them fell on the ground lifelessly and died.

    The other Forest Hunter bandits looked on with shock, but soon they went crazy and started screaming.

    "AHHHH! This fucking vige! I''m going to kill everyst one of you!"

    "Fuck this vige! We shall kill everyone here as a tribute to our leader!"

    The bandits roared as they rushed towards the vige to start their ughter. The vigers didn''t know what was going on, but soon they all awoke and started seeing people rushing in while leaving corpses of their fellow tribesmen behind.

    "Attack! We are under attack! Everyone grab something to fight with and protect our home!"<sub> </sub>

    One viger yelled and everyone soon started grabbing whatever they could. Swords, Spears, knives, clubs, they gathered anything they could use. Soon it was an all-out brawl. 5 vigers would gang up on every one bandit and it was still a hard fight. The vigers were still in the Strength Training Realm or Bone Forging Realm of Body Tempering. Also, their weapons were only the most basic of Human Grade weapons.

    The vigers were on the losing end of this fight. Even though it was 5 vigers to 1 bandit, the vigers weren''t fighters so it only took the bandits a couple of moves to kill one. Every now and then a bandit would die, but it would cost the vigers 3-4 of them to do it.

    "Mira, you have to try to sneak out of here. The least we can do is try to fight it out and buy you some time to escape. I know that you have hiding ces that you have found. Go towards one of those and hide. Don''te back until you know it''s safe. Mommy and Daddy love you. Now go!" Zach said to Mira while tearing up.

    "Please, Mira! As long as you''re safe, then we will be able to die without regrets. Thesest 5 years were the best of my life. I couldn''t have asked for a better daughter. I want you to be able to fulfill your dream. Be the strongest for us! Live for us!" Jate said while crying as she brought Mira into a long hug. After the hug, she pushed Mira to the backdoor and picked up a knife, and waited by the front door with Zach.

    Mira started to tear up, as even though all of her lives these parents were the best. She didn''t want to lose them, but she was only a 5-year-old girl. Much less fight, she could barely hold a weapon.

    ''What do I do? I don''t want them to die! Even though I''ll have to leave the vige in a few years, I still don''t want them to die! Dammit! Even though I have this spiritual scythe that is residing in my soul. It still weighs thousands of kilograms. I can barely carry arge stone with my strength.''

    While Zach and Jate were waiting by the door, Mira just stood there not knowing what to do. Both of them looked back and saw Mira not moving and screamed at the same time, "GO!"

    Mira came out of her stupor as she looked at them, but as all three of them were about to move everything turned eerily silent. They all gulped as they had a bad premonition.

    Soon they started hearing fires all around them, then someone burst into their house and spotted Mira, Zach, and Jate. The man that barged in was covered in blood and looked like he''d gone mad. He was about to try to kill Mira first as she was the first person that he saw, but her parents jumped in front, gave her a look, and smiled lovingly. Like they knew this was theirst moment with her. All three of them started to tear up but soon resolved themselves.

    Mira started to run, but looked back and screamed, "I LOVE YOU!!". Tears ran down her eyes as she started to run away. Those three words that her parents heard were like lightninging down on them. They had never her say that to them before, but now they were able to die without regrets.

    "You little bitch! Get back here! This whole vige needs to die for killing our leader! Get the fuck off of me and get back here!!" The bandit madly screamed, but Mira was already out of sight.

    The battle between the bandit and her parents carried on, but Zach and Jate were full of cuts and gashes and barely had any strengthst. They looked at each other and smiled. This was a smile that carried their whole life behind it. One that told each other this was thest moment together. One that told them they have no regrets. One that told each other that they love each other from the bottom of their soul. Such a smile can onlye from true love.

    ? They both looked at the bandit and ran towards him. The bandit stabbed Jate, but Zach was able to stab into the bandit''s stomach with his sword. The bandit was still going mad and kicked Jate to the ground then stabbed Zach near the heart. The bandit then kicked him to the ground then started to chase after Mira. Soon after he started chasing, he fell down with blood gushing out of his stomach.

    Zach and Jatey on the ground next to each other. They looked at each other and smiled, then passed away leaving this earth for good.

 Chapter 5 Choice

    While Mira''s parents were fighting to try to protect her, she was running into the forest to try to find the cave that she found. She was hoping that her parents were going to be able to live through this, even though she knows that it''s impossible. Her parents weren''t fighters. All she can hope for is that they have a swift and painless death.

    ''Dammit Dammit Dammit!!! These fucking bandits! When I get strong enough I will hunt down their worthless lives!'' This was all Mira was thinking as she ran through the forest to her cave.

    After some time she was finally able to find her cave. Luckily there was no magical beast here living in it. Well, most likely they can''t even fit. The cave height was about 1.5 meters tall and a little over a meter wide. And it only got smaller the more you went in.

    When she got in the cave, she was panting pretty hard as she as fast as she could through the forest to get here. She found a nice spot in the cave and sat down to rest. She was going to calm her mind down as she didn''t expect to lose her parents so early.

    "Well, at least I got to spend some quality time with them and tell them that I love them. That''s more than some of my other lives. I''ll go back to check on the vige in a couple of days or so just to see if there is anything or anybody left. Right now I should try to cover the entrance to the cave a little and get some rest." Mira murmured to herself as she recovered some of her energy.

    After she sat down for a while she went out of the cave to collect some leaves, branches, and rocks to help cover up the cave for a while. After that was done, she went back into the cave to try to sleep. After about an hour of trying to sleep, she knew that it wasn''t going to happen so she started to meditate. Even though she can''t collect energy, she can still circte it through her body. Doing this without any strength is essentially useless, but since she does have a spiritual scythe in her soul it can help with recovering energy. Albeit will be very slow and inefficient.

    Mira sat there and meditated for the entire night before realizing that it was dawn already. She was pretty hungry, but without a weapon, the best she could do was search around the forest for some herbs and berries. She spent the morning collecting various kinds of berries and fruits along with some Ironhide Grass, which is a grey type of grass where if you grind it into a past will help recover your muscles.

    She went back to the cave to have her lunch. Once she finished that and set aside the Ironhide Grass, she went back into the forest to collect some more. She wanted to collect around 3 days worth of berries and fruits so that she can just stay in the cave. She didn''t have a weapon that she could use and the forest is dangerous for a 5-year-old girl. It would be much safer this way.

    She was able to collect around 3-4 days'' worth of food and some for Ironhide Grass then went back to the cave.

    All she did for the next 3 days was meditate, eat, and sleep. After these 3 days were up, she had finished all of her berries and fruit then decided to go check on the vige. She just needs to see for her own eyes what happened there.

    She headed out of the cave and trekked back to her vige. It was around 5 kilometers away so she decided to just walk back.

    After an hour or so she was able to see Green Grass Vige. Well, it''s hard to call it a vige still as just about everything was burned down or destroyed. The ground was red and corpses were all over the ce. It seemed some animals havee through here as well due to the smell of blood, but there weren''t any right now.<sub> </sub>

    She didn''t care about anything else other than her parents, so she made her way back to her old house. She went inside through the broken back door and saw her parents there. Even though she expected this, she couldn''t help but cry. With tears running down her face, she made her way over to her parents and kneeled down. They had smiles on their faces and were holding each other''s hands. She stayed there for around 10 minutes until she decided to move.

    "Don''t worry Mom and Dad, I will get revenge for you two. Only when I''m strong enough though. Well, at least I got to see that you died peacefully and together, without suffering. I''ll go ahead and bury you then I''ll set off. I''ll do my best to live. May we meet again in a different life." She muttered to her parents as she went to find a shovel to bury them.

    After burying her parents, Mira decided to scavenge what''s left of the vige. Hopefully, she can find something useful to help her with finding food and training.

    She searched around the vige for around 2 hours. She wasn''t able to find anybody alive nor did she see signs of escape other than a few at the entrance of the vige. Those must have been from the remaining bandits though. She did find a few useful things to help her though. She found a Human-Grade iron spear a hundred meters of rope, some dried rations, a backpack, some extra clothes, and a couple of water jugs.

    She put everything that she could in her backpack and started to make her way back to the cave. This time it took her several hours due to the weight that she is carrying, but she was able to make it back to the cave without anything going wrong.

    Once she made it into the cave, she dropped everything that was on her and plopped on the ground exhausted. She sat down and recovered for about an hour before she got hungry. She hasn''t been able to eat all day due to all of the traveling so she decided to go out and collect some more berries and fruit to eat for dinner. It was almost dusk so she needed to hurry. After she ate and had some water she was finally able to get some sleep.

    After a long night of sleep, she woke up refreshed as it''s been 3 days since she''s slept.

    "I need to n what I''m going to do in the future. I have several options avable, but none of them are all that good. The first option is that I can try to go to Lunar Fox City, but that is around 100 kilometers away. It will take a while, but the most likely end to that is death. I would have to hope I get lucky and meet a nice traveling merchant or something simr to bring me to the city. I might be able to find someone, but I have nothing to offer. Even if I don''t die to beasts or people, I might just get captured and sold off as a ve. With my looks, I''ll probably be sold off to some nasty man while he ''ys'' with me."

    "The second option is that I go back to the vige and wait for the merchant whoes once a month. This one sounds much better as he might help me bring me to Lunar Fox City or whatever city he''s going to next. I still don''t have anything to offer though, plus I''m a child with no strength. He benefits nothing from taking me even then he might just try to sell me off. Even if he doesn''t sell me off and I make it to Lunar Fox City, then what? I have no family or background there, no strength to protect myself, and nobody to protect me. More than likely some dumbass Young Master will find me pretty and capture me. Yeah, fuck that.

    "The third option is to stay here in the forest and train. It''ll be much harder not only because I''m by myself, but I''m on the outer edge of a rank 2 forest. If I''m unlucky I will run into a magic beast before I get strong enough and die. Well dying this way is much better than being captured, sold off, or used."

    "I guess that settles that. I''ll be staying in this tiny cave until I''m strong enough to hold my scythe. Let''s see, my scythe probably ways around 4000-5000 kilograms. So just to be able to start even thinking about picking it up I need to get to the Bone Forging Realm. I''ll probably have to stay in this cave until at least Organ Refinement or Marrow Tempering. I might have to get to Qi condensation before leaving this cave. Well, once I open my meridians, getting there will be a little easier, but I''ll have to finish Strength Training and Bone Forging before that. Let''s get started!"

 Chapter 6 Training

    It''s been 6 months since Mira has been at the cave. She''s tried to use thesest 6 months to the fullest. She''s grown to around 115 centimeters tall and has filled out a little bit due to the training and eating lots of meat.

    Her training schedule was very rough. She would wake up just before dawn then meditate for an hour to get into the proper mental state. Then she would run for an hour. After running she would have berries and fruit for breakfast. After breakfast would be her strength training. In the morning she would focus on her upper body and core. It would be abination of punching trees, lifting weights(rocks with ropes tied to them), then she would do situps. After doing all of this, it would be around noon. She would rub the Ironhide grass on her muscles, eat her rations, then circte her Hell Scythe Essence Manual. This would supply those muscles with enough energy to be fully healed. Also, revolving her cultivation manual would allow some qi in the air to supplement her muscles. This in turn will help heal the torn muscles, while also making them stronger, faster.

    After eating and healing her upper body, then she would move onto the lower body. She didn''t do as much for her lower body other than squats, lunges, and running. All of this would be done with weights(rocks) tied to her waist and one big rock in an animal skin bad on her back. Mira would work on her lower body until evening and stop and have dinner. Her dinner would be arge meal of the fruit, berries, and animals that she has hunted. She would also use more Ironhide grass paste on her lower body and circte her cultivation technique. After that''s done then she would go hunting. Usually, she brings home 2 animals, but sometimes one or zero if she is unlucky.

    After hunting she woulde back to her cave and circte her cultivation technique, forcing qi into her muscles to break down and heal her muscles. This may sound bad, but by slowly using a minute amount of qi to prate all of her muscles to help tear some of it then rebuild it with the help of qi, her body can heal with the help of that excess energy and be stronger. If she did this too fast it could leave hidden energies so she has to be extremely careful doing this, but it will speed up her strength training and help her get to the Bone Forging realm.

    Right now she can lift around 1000 kilograms. That''s around 1/5th of the total amount to break through from the Strength Training to the Bone Forging Realm, but she might have to get to around 6-7000 kilograms to be able to wield her scythe. She has no idea what her scythe is made of other than metal. It''s extremely dense not to mention the scythe is 2 meters tall while the de portion is 80 centimeters long. It may seem like an Earth or Heaven-Grade scythe, but its sharpness is only that of a Peak Mortal-Grade weapon due to the user being too weak.

    "Ahhh it''s been 6 months already and I can finally lift 1000 kilograms. I have no idea how I will get past the Bone Forging Realm into the Meridian Opening Realm, I either have to find my own lucky encounter or just keep revolving my cultivation technique and let the qi slowly seep into my bones while breaking them down and rebuilding them. I''ll have to go deeper into the forest to look for various herbs that can help me break through this realm. Other than that, I will just keep up with my Strength Training Program until I reach Qi Condensation."

    Like that, Mira continued her training regiment for another 3 years. Mira was pushing a giant boulder up a hill that was a little over 2 meters in diameter, it''s weight should be around 7000 kilograms. It even looked somewhat easy. Of course, Mira was sweating but she been pushing it for around 6 hours now and was about to make it to the top of the hill.

    After around 10 minutes she finally made it to the top with the boulder. After she made it to the top of the hill, she pushed the builder to the side and dropped t on her back.

    "I did it! I was finally able to bring this stupid boulder to the top within 6 hours! I should finally be to the point that I can use my scythe! Although it will still be somewhat heavy, I can still carry it around everywhere and also fight some easier rank 1 magic beasts. I won''t be able to spin it or anything. I will really only be able to use it like a spear or sword, it is still better than that iron spear that I took 3 years ago. With this, I can finally move farther in the forest!!" Mira yelled in excitement.<sub> </sub>

    After she rested for a little bit she went back to her cave. Even though it was miles away, it still barely took any time at all due to her strength.

    After arriving back at her cave, she started to gather everything that she wanted to take with her in her pack, which was really just clothes and some rations. Her clothes have changed in thesest 3 years. She used to wear a hanfu, but since they would only tear during her training, now she only wears tanned hide pelts of the animals that she has killed. She looks like a Native American warrior from back on her time on Earth.

    After she gathered everything, she had a glint in her eyes which held an excitement that has been there ever since she was born in this world. It''s time to take out her scythe!

    She took some time to calm down a bit then with her mind called out for the Abyssal Sea Scythe that has been residing in her Soul Sea all this time.

    When she did that a huge 2-meter tall scythe came out into her right hand. The temperature around her seemed to drop by several degrees as this imposing ck scythe with crystal blue veins running up and down came into Mira''s view. This weapon seemed to be made for her. As soon as it came out her body seemed to scream. It really wanted to hold onto this weapon. Mira felt like everything just clicked together when she held this weapon. Maybe because she''s been waiting so long and dreaming about it or maybe she was just meant to wield the scythe, but for some reason, she seemed to connect with this better than in her previous life. She put that thought to the back of her head and started trying to wield the scythe.

    She started swinging it, stabbing with the end, rotating it in her arms. It was still heavy for her, but she''s able to wield it. She just won''t be able to control the momentum of the scythe. Plus this thing is huge, after about 3 years her height has grown to around 135 centimeters tall, but this scythe is around 2 meters tall with the de being 70 centimeters long. There is no way she can use this like normal with the way she is now. Even just holding the scythe parallel to the ground, the de is only a couple of centimeters away from touching the ground.

    "Finally! Even though it''s too big for me now, I can still use it like a spear and staff. The de portion can be used, but it''ll be kind of awkward. Oh well, I can use it to execute or something like that. Enough with that, it''s time to get out of this tiny cave and actually go farther into the forest."

    As Mira was saying that she had already left that cave and started going deeper into the Dark Moon Forest.

 Chapter 7 Dark Moon Forest

    Mira was jogging her way to the inner region of the Dark Moon Forest. It was getting dark outside and she was beginning to understand the name Dark Moon Forest. Even though the canopy blocked most of the light during the daytime, it seemed to be its brightest when the moon was out. Even when the moon is dark, it still seems to light up the forest. Yet it was neither light nor dark, more like a translucent silver refracted off of the leaves and ground that put the forest in a state between light and dark.

    Mira was amazed by the beauty of the forest yet she was on guard as it was extremely quiet. Almost like the forest was devoid of any life. She knows nothing of the creatures in the forest other than they are quick and usually have an affinity for the darkness element. She slowed down and kept walking. The forest is thousands of kilometers long and she''s jogged probably around 100 in thest hour or so. It was getting deeper into the night, she was getting sleepy, and this whole ce made her on edge. So she started looking for a cave or something simr to sleep in.

    She kept jogging for another half-hour and finally found a cave. As she was approaching the cave she heard a growl within it and knew that there was a beast within trying to drive her away. Mira has been dying to test out her scythe and this seemed like the perfect chance to see how well she can fight. She wasn''t even close to the center where the rank 2 beast probably is so this has to be a rank 1 beast. Whether it''s a peak rank 1 or a low-tier rank 1 she doesn''t know, but who knows if she is safer running away rather than fighting for this cave.

    Mira slowly approached the cave and yelled, "Get the fuck out here you beast! I''m taking over this cave!"

    Soon she heard a loud roar and then saw arge 2-meter long ck bear with a silver ''O'' shape on its back.

    "Ooooohhh, a Moon Bear, how cool! You don''t seem like you''re fully grown, I bet you''re around a middle rank 1 magic beast. Alright, let''s see how I fair against you."

    Mira rushed towards the Moon Bear with her scythe in hand and shed down with the de. The bear knocked it away with its ws then went in to pound Mira with its other paw. Mira rotated the scythe as fast as she could to block, but still got hit due to the weight of the scythe. That hit from the bear almost fractured one of her arms, but she pushed through the pain and undercut the bear in the jaw with the other end of the scythe. That end hit the bear''s jaw and dislocated his mouth, but didn''t kill it. She retreated a few meters as did the bear, both sizing up their opponent.

    Mira didn''t seem to know that Moon Bears get stronger while in the moonlight. Even though it''s you can''t see the moon in the forest its light is still there. This Moon Bear much stronger than it is during the day.

    They both charged back at each other again, this time the bear swept across Mira''s feet. Mira rotated her de end of the scythe towards her feet and blocked the swing, but the bear didn''t stop there and used his other paw to sh towards her neck. Mira sneered and adjusted the other end of the scythe to block, but a part of the ws still got her and put a wound on her back. It wasn''t serious but will have to be taken care ofter. They kept doing this back and forward for around 10 minutes before Mira pushed the paws back then swept low towards the bear, but kept the momentum going and hit the bear in the side of the head with the pole end. The bear was dazed for a second, but that''s all Mira needed as she swung her scythe to decapitate the bear. The scythe came down like an executioner and cut off the bear''s head.

    She sat down next to the bear fairly tired from that battle but needs to dress her wounds.

    "That bear sure packed a punch. He fractured my arms and cut my back plus my whole body aches. I had no idea a Middle Rank 1 Moon Bear was so terrifying. Not to mention it wasn''t a full-grown one. Now, what will I do with all of this meat? I haven''t had dinner yet so I might as well eat my fill then turn the rest into dried meat and rations as I don''t have anywhere to store it."<sub> </sub>

    Mira sat down and started a fire then started to dress her wounds. She applied the Ironhide grass to any sore spots then applied an herb called Skyline Grass that can help treat wounds. It wasn''t the most effective, but she''s still a mortal so she didn''t need anything too special. Then she started to cook the Moon Bear. Mira knew that although the beasts can smell the food if they are weaker than the Moon Bear at night only death awaits. Mira cooked up a leg of the bear and started eating it.

    She let a long sigh and a smile, then said "I haven''t had magical beast meat yet in this life. This is so much better than regr animals, not to mention their energy can help me recover my energy a bit. I definitely won''t go back to regr animals now that I know I can kill a rank 1 magical beast."

    She enjoyed this massive bear leg then proceeded to cook the rest of the meat to turn it into rations. This giant bear should produce quite a bit. She spent the next several hours cooking the entire bear. She saved the best of the bear as it is a pretty nice pelt, definitely better than a regr animal''s pelt. After she finished everything she blocked the part of the entrance with some bushes and rocks then went to sleep.

    The next morning as dawn arose, well what was probably dawn, came out of her cave. It almost seemed like it didn''t get any lighter than it did fromst night. She just shrugged her shoulders, made sure she had everything, then set out to go farther into the forest. Mira wanted to travel another 600 miles or so then find a new cave to temporarily call home.

    She breathed in a long breath then breathed out and looked towards the direction she''ll be leaving in.

    Mira started jogging at a decent speed as she came across several Low-Rank 1 magical beasts. She came across Night Hare which is just a ck rabbit. They are extremely fast and aren''t that hostile. Mira tried to kill it, but it just ran away as soon as she charged at it. Another was a Shadow Crow. It''s a Low-Rank 1 magical beast but still extremely dangerous. They are able to hide in the shadows ande out to sneak attack. She almost got hit by one of its sneak attacks but was able to sense just as it was about to hit her. She waited for the for to attack again, and it did the same thing as before and attacked from behind. She shed down with her scythe and cut it in half.

    She also saw this silver owl but had no idea what it was called. It didn''t seem hostile as it just looked at her then turned around and flew away. She just shrugged and kept moving along her journey. There was also a weird-looking silver-ck fox but had no idea what it was called. She also found many Earth Rats, another Low-Rank 1 magical beast, but had no interest in these rats and just decided to continue her journey.

    Mira has been running for about half a day now and decided to stop and take a break. She''s run about 300 miles so far. Even with her strength running that long is still tiring and boring. She took out her bear rations and some water. She was about to start going when she heard a scream off in the distance. It sounded like a teenage girl, so she decided to go and check it to see what''s going on. It''s been a while since she''s been near another person.

    She made her way over to where she heard the screame from.

 Chapter 8 Encounter

    She could hear the screams getting louder as she made her way towards the area where the girl is.

    What she saw was honestly kind of surprising. It was a girl, around 15 or so of age. She had golden-blonde hair that went down to her shoulders. She had on what seemed to be leather armor and a sword that was around a meter long. She wasn''t exceptionally pretty, but definitely not from some random vige.

    The girl seemed to be alone which was quite strange as most people don''te to this forest alone unless they have the strength to back it up or have no other choice. This girl obviouslycks the strength and survival skills necessary to be alone so something must''ve happened for her to be in this situation. Even though she doesn''t have the strength or skills to be here alone, she is far from ordinary. From the looks of it, she is in the Organ Refinement stage.

    Her opponent is much stronger than her though. It''s a full-grown Moon Bear. It also looks especially angry. Like someone took something of theirs. The girl was holding her own but was losing.

    ''Hmmm, I could try to help but not much I can do against a Peak-Rank 1 magical beast. My scythe should be able to cut it as right now it''s a mortal ranked weapon, but one hit from that thing and I''m dead. I guess I''ll wait and see if an opportunity arises for me to help this girl. Then I might be able to collect some information, especially about this forest. I barely know anything, I don''t even know the rank 2 beasts here.'' Mira said in her mind as she waited for an opportunity.

    The girl kept getting pushed back by the beast with every hit. Mira decided to sneak up behind it and climb up a tree to drop down on it and kill it in one strike. She slowly made her way behind the beast making sure that she didn''t make a sound then started climbing up a tree slowly. As she was making her way up the tree, the girl was on herst leg.

    "Please don''t kill me! It wasn''t my fault I swear! Please!" the girl started begging as she fell to the ground. She was balling her eyes out but covered them with her hands as she waited for the w of the beast to remove her from this world. She waited like that for a couple of minutes, but death never came. Or maybe it dide and she just hasn''t realized it yet. She tried to take a deep breath, but her breathing was still ragged. She finally removed her hands from her face and opened her eyes. What she saw almost took that break away. She noticed that the bear''s head was separated from its body, but that wasn''t what made her gasp. It was the little girl in front of her. She looked at her wine-red eyes, her bright-silver hair flowing in the wind and this giant scythe that was almost twice her size. She was wearing animal pelts for clothing. She looked like some kind of Primordial Death Goddess.

    "Goddess��?" she said that unintentionally as it turned into a question there at the end.

    "No, I''m not a goddess."

    "I see."

    ��

    The girl seemed to be in a trance and Mira thought that she was going to say more.

    "What happened?"

    The girl awoke from her stupor and realized that she had just been staring at this...kid? For several minutes.

    "O-Oh umm, I was with a group but they ended up throwing me behind them as bait since I was the weakest of the group. The reason that this bear attacked us was that one of my members stole her cub to form and life and death contract with it."

    "I see. What a bunch of idiots. These bears don''t even get to rank 2. Your members shouldn''t be too far off from reaching Qi Condensation. What makes them want a Peak-Rank 1 magical beast so bad?"

    "Ummm, You''re right. They are in the Marrow Tempering stage and are around 18 years old. Maybe a gift for someone? I''m not too sure. I joined in their expedition because my father said that I need to gather a little experience of the world instead of staying in the house training all day."

    "So that''s it. I see."

    "U-Uh, what''s your name? I''ve never seen or heard of someone who looks like you."<sub> </sub>

    "Mira."

    "That''s a pretty name! My name is Maria Zaria, I''m 15 years old, I''m in the Organ Refinement stage and I''m from Lunar Fox City."

    "I see. Say, do you have information about this forest, such as the beasts located here, herbs that are here along with their use, and any other misceneous information. Actually, I don''t even know how far I am from the center."

    "What!? You have no information about the forest?! Then why are you here? Are you trying to leave? If so, you can just follow me and I can lead you out. After all, you are my benefactor."

    p "Well I do have some information, but only a little bit. I came here to train. I''m trying to go towards the center to train and I don''t need you to lead me out. After all, my survival skills seem to be better than yours. I made it this far didn''t I?" Mira replied nonchntly.</anda>

    "Y-Y-You came here to train? How old are you? You can''t be over 10."

    "Yes, I came here to train. And I am 8 and a half years old."

    "Why are you training while being so young!? Don''t you know that''s dangerous? It can also halt your growth! Plus how did you end up evening here anyway!?"

    "I understand, but I know what I''m doing. Plus I don''t intend for it to halt my growth until I reach 13 or 14. Well, that''s the n anyway. And for the reason I''m here, it''s because my vige was destroyed 3 years ago and everyone in it was killed except for me. What do you think people will do if they see me, a five-year-old mortal, that has the appearance of this? Nothing good! I can assure you of that. I will either be a sex ve, taken away by some young master that thinks that in a few years I will be a beauty then decides to use and abuse me or I die to bandits as I almost did before. I chose this way because if I die, at least it will be on my own terms and through my choice."

    Maria was stunned silly. She never thought that a little 8-year-old girl would have that kind of mindset. What was her life like until now? She''s been living in this forest for over 3 years? Came from a vige? Maria''s mind was racing with questions and pity.

    "Then why don''t youe back with me? My family can help you train! After all, you did save me and I need to repay this somehow!" Maria eximed looking excited.

    "I refuse. All I want is information. I came here to train and I won''t go to a city until I am strong enough to protect myself. One more thing, I don''t need your pity. Anyways, just tell me all you know about the forest and that will suffice as payment for saving you."

    "I...I understand. I don''t have a lot of information, but it should still be useful for you."

    "Alright. Let me get a fire started so I can start cooking this bear and you can tell me about the forest as I cook."

    "You''re going to cook the bear? Why right now?"

    "For rations. I''m living in the forest you know and a giant hunk of meat like this doesn''te every day, also there is no way I can challenge a Peak-Rank 1 magical beast right now."

    "I see. Well, I will start telling you about the forest then."

 Chapter 9 Information

    Mira was cooking the bear meat as Maria started talking about Dark Moon Forest.

    "The Dark Moon Forest is a Rank 2 forest, but can almost be considered a Rank 3 forest due to the amount of Rank 2 magical beasts. The Rank 2 beasts generally stay in the inner and core regions of the forest. Right now we can still be considered in the outer region, another 600-1000 kilometers from here is the boundary between inner and outer regions. The Rank 2 magical beasts are Dark Moon Bear, which is a mutation of the Moon Bear. There''s also an Albino Tree Python, this snake is over 20 meters and generally hides in or coils around trees. One of the rarest and elusive in the forest is a Mystic Star Fox. They are extremely fast and have a 6 sided star on their forehead. The most dangerous one here though is a ckcloud Panther. They are perfect at assassinations and generally are 1 hit kills. Unless you have the strength to block it or can sense it beforehand, even a Peak Qi Condensation Realm expert or even up to Mid Foundation Realm will die to it. The forest here is like its yground. Those are the main ones that I know."

    "As for herbs, all I know is that the herbs go up to rank 3 in the forest. There are 10 ranks to herbs and are ssified simrly to magical beasts. Rank 1 herbs are good for Body Tempering Realm experts, Rank 2-3 are useful for Qi Condensation realm Experts, and so on. They are also categorized by year. Like 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years, and 10000 years. Lower-ranked herbs can still be useful to people with higher realms, but the efficiency drops unless they have a method to increase the efficiency. There are quite a few Rank 1 herbs in the forest and a handful of Rank 2 herbs, but Rank 3 herbs are probably monopolized by the strongest Rank 2 Magical Beasts. There are quite a few different types of Rank 1 mushrooms such a Blood Mushrooms that can help with the recovery of wounds. This mushroom will have red veins on it and the older it is the more veins it has. There is also a Spirit Mushroom which can help circte qi into the body but is only rmended after opening your meridians. This mushroom has a blue hue to it and bes more translucent the older it gets. There is also the Iron Wire Grass. It''s grass where if you extract its juice can aid in repairing muscles in the Body Tempering Stage. That''s most of the information I have on the forest."

    ''I see, so this forest is actually much more dangerous than I thought it was. It must be due to the number of nts in the forest that can assist in cultivation. The rank 2 beasts will be a big problem so I will have to stay far away from the core region. I have a decent amount of knowledge of herbs from my past life when I was gathering information. Even if the herbs are different I should be able to identify what an herb does up to rank 3 and maybe rank 4. This is an excellent ce for me to train.''

    "OH! One more thing. I did hear that there is a ruin somewhere in the forest. I don''t know what''s in it or where it is. That''s just something that I heard."

    "Interesting. Thanks for the help. Well, I''m almost done cooking this bear so I will be heading out soon. You can go back to your group or do whatever."

    "Eh? So soon?"

    "Yeah, I want to get back to my training as soon as possible and I just happened to be passing by here."

    "I see, so then this will be goodbye then?" Maria said while being a little downcast.

    "Yeah, thanks for the information."

    Mira went back to cooking the bear meat. It took her another hour to finish cooking the meat. She also ate arge leg of Moon Bear meat while Maria had another leg. Mira was about to leave when Maria stopped her.

    "Hey�� Do you mind if I join you?"

    "Why do you want to join me? Don''t you want to go home to your family and tell them you''re alive? Your members will probably say that you''re dead you know. Plus I don''t n on leaving the forest until I be strong enough which won''t be for some years you know."

    "Yeah, you are probably right but I still think that it would be good for us to join you."

    "You do you. If you were a guy and said that to me, I would''ve killed you before that came out of your mouth. Well, anyway I don''t care what you do but you will have to fend for yourself even if youe with me. Plus most of the time I will be training or hunting or looking for herbs that might help me with my cultivation. Since I''m in the Strength Training Realm, something to help me get to the Bone Forging Realm would be a great help."

    Maria felt a chill up her spine when Mira said that she would kill her if she was a man. She thought about what Mira said for a minute and even though she will feel bad for her family, she might be able toe out of this whole ordeal much stronger. Plus what''s wrong with following this goddess?<sub> </sub>

    "Well Mira, from now on I will be joining you! I will do my best to use this time to get stronger and when I do, I will go back to my family and get a little revenge hehe."

    "Okay."

    Mira and Maria set off. They were going in the direction of the inner region but will stop a couple of hundred miles away from the inner region just to be safe. On their journey, they would pick up any herbs or nts that will be useful. They found a couple of Blood Mushrooms and Spirit Mushrooms, but just enough for emergencies. They also found quite a bit of Iron Wire Grass to aid them in their training. Even though Maria is in the Organ Refinement Stage, she can still increase her muscle strength.

    Their journey was rather peaceful. They didn''t run into any beasts and kept collecting herbs. They should be able to reach their destination by the end of the day.

    ***

    "Dammit!! Those assholes from the Rineheart family obviously did something to my daughter! They even brought back some stupid Moon Bear cub as a present for their Youngest Miss! She''s only 5 years old, why does she need a contracted beast!?! FUCK!" said arge man with short blonde hair. He was sitting inside arge room that looked like a study. It had arge desk and papers everywhere. The papers are everywhere do his rage of being told his daughter is dead.

    This man is Maria''s Father, Cole Zaria. He''s at the Half-Step Core Formation Realm.

    "I don''t believe that my daughter is dead, she may be a bit naive but is not someone who will die so easily to a Rank 1 magical beast. I will personally go look for her. I should be able to get to the location of her death in about an hour or so if I go at max speed."

    Cole started making preparations to set out to find what really happened to his daughter. He has a gut feeling that Maria is not dead and still somewhere in the forest. Cole knows that even though his daughter isn''t weak, she might not be able to handle the forest alone as she doesn''t have any survival skills.

    "Cole dear, where are you going at a time like this?" said a woman with a sweet voice almost like honey. She had golden-blonde hair that went down to her waist. She had ocean-blue eyes and was around 170 centimeters tall. She was wearing a white hanfu with red lining.

    "Erika�� *sigh* Do you remember that the youngsters of the Rineheart family and Maria went to Dark Moon Forest recently, well they came back with a Moon Bear cub to give as a present to their youngest miss. Well, Maria didn''te back and they are saying that she died in the forest and they ran for their lives. They said that she decided to hold off the mother so the others can escape. I know that our daughter is naive, but she definitely wouldn''t risk her life for people that she barely knows. I guess that she used her as bait or something simr so they can escape. They could''ve all killed it together as it wasn''t even Rank 2 just a Peak rank 1 beast. I have a feeling that she is still alive and I just want to see it for my own eyes." Said Cole as he was about to head out.

    Erika covered her mouth and let out a small tear, but soon calmed herself. There was indeed something wrong. Call it mothers intuition, but she also believed that her daughter was still alive.

    "Ok, Cole. I trust you to find our daughter and bring her home safely." Erika kissed him and watched as he left.

    "Just leave it to me."

 Chapter 10 Temporary Home

    It was around dusk in Dark Moon Forest and the forest began to shine with a translucent silver color. There were two people''s shadows running through the forest together. asionally they would stop to pick up some type of nt and then continue their journey. One had shiny silver hair while that went down to her waist and the other had golden blond hair that reached her shoulders.

    These two were Maria and Mira. They have been running for almost half a day now after they met. They have already reached their destination, but want to find a cave somewhere to make a temporary base.

    "Found one. Over there about 500 meters away." Mira told Maria

    "Finally! You didn''t even let me rest at all during that journey and we ran like 400 miles through the forest." Mariained

    "Well hurry up and rest because you will be fighting what''s inside there. I don''t believe that we made it this far into the forest and there is a cave as big as this that is not currently upied."

    "W-What?! You are going to make me fight it?! Why??"

    "Because youck experience. This is a good experience."

    "Y-Yeah but�� can''t you just walk in there and kill it? You killed that Moon Bear when I couldn''t, plus we could have a base much faster."

    "I could do that, but you are actually stronger than me. Quite a bit stronger too. Now hurry up and go. I don''t know much about the sword, but I can at least give you some pointers. I''ll jump in and help if you are in trouble." Mira said without budging. She didn''t want someone that she was going to be with for some time to be so weak that they can''t even utilize their strength.

    "Ughh�� Fine, I will do my best." Maria muttered under her breath.

    She walked over to the cave with her sword in hand. It was strangely quiet, but then a blur suddenly came out from inside the cave and attacked Maria. She was able to block the attack in time and got a good look at her attacker.

    "An Earth-Snake!" Maria Eximed. An adult Earth Snake is a Late-Stage Rank 1 magical beast. They have a hard earth-like outeryer of skin and are pretty much solid brown. This one was about 10 meters long.

    Maria swung down her sword on the snake''s head, but it only left a scratch. The snake then attacked back trying to bite Maria. Maria was barely able to block it in time, but lost her footing and started to tumble back. The snake didn''t lose this chance to attack and dove right in, but Mira dashed in and pushed the snake back.

    "What the hell are you doing?! Is this your first time wielding a sword?! Get up and focus!" Mira yelled at Maria.

    Maria wasn''t sure what to think right now. She was getting scolded by a girl that''s barely 8 years old on how to fight. She got back up and got back in her stance and charged towards the snake and went to sh down on the base of its neck with more power and ferocity than before. She was able to cut about 2 centimeters into the rock-like skin.

    "I forbid you from attacking any other spots other than that gash that you left on the base of its neck!" Mira ordered

    "Eh?!?! That''s impossible! I can barely survive, how am I supposed to hit the exact same spot over and over again?!" Mariained back

    "I guess you''ll die then. I told you that you need to fend for yourself! Now do it!" Mira said with an ice-cold tone. Like it didn''t matter whether Maria lived or died.

    Maria heard her before but didn''t think it''d be like this. How could she believe an 8-year-old so quickly? She focused her eyes and prepared to do what she said.

    The snake went back to attack Maria, but Maria blocked it and rotated immediately to strike the same spot she did before. She shed down but missed the gash by a centimeter.

    "Are you blind!? Open your eyes and focus!" Mira yelled again like some kind of demonic instructor.

    Maria repositioned herself and took in a deep breath and breathed out slowly then focused her eyes once again. The difference now is that it actually started to look like she was ready for battle.

    The snake went to attack, but this time Maria dodged and swung down with all of her strength on its neck. This time it hit the gash that she made earlier. Her sword tore through the rock-like skin and hit the snake''s spinal cord. The sword kept going and severed its head from the spinal cord. She wasn''t able to decapitate it but did end up killing it with that strike.

    Maria fell on her butt afterward and let out a long sigh. She raised her fists and yelled, "I did it!!"

    Mira came walking into the cave.

    "Congrats. You almost died to something that should''ve taken 1 hit from you to kill at most a couple of hits. Well, at least you killed it in the end, but I do see a cut that wasn''t from the gash that you made; plus I had to step in to block it. We will discuss punishmentter. Right now, skin this thing and cook it. It will be our dinner."

    Mira''s words were like lightning hitting her head. Indeed, this isn''t something to be proud of. She barely beat this thing and still needed outside help. She should''ve been able to fend off the Moon Bear from earlier. Maybe not kill it, but she would be able to fight it to a standstill and run away. She dropped her head in shame then realized what she said. Punishment? Skin? Cook? Also, why is she making me do these things?

    "U-Umm, what do you mean punishment? Also, why do I have to skin and cook this thing!? It''ll take me forever! I''ve never done this before!" Maria yelled back at her

    "You suck with the sword, almost like it''s your first time wielding one. What better motivation to get better than punishment for failure? Regarding skinning and cooking the snake, I did it to the bear earlier. Besides, you need to learn these skills if you want to follow me. I''m not going to do everything for you. Now get to it so we can rest!

    "Ugghhh!" Maria groaned but decided not toin.

    It took her nearly 5 hours to skin and cook the whole snake. Mira finished her dinner a while ago and has been meditating ever since. Mira opened her eyes.

    "You''re done?"

    "Yeah finally and no thanks to you!" Mira sighed and dropped down on the ground and lied down.<sub> </sub>

    "Good, now let''s go to sleep and begin training tomorrow." Mira said as she closed her eyes to sleep.

    Maria groaned, but didn''tin and went to sleep.

    Sometime in the night Mira felt something at the entrance of the cave and immediately woke up and took out her scythe. Maria also sensed something at the entrance and awoke. She readied her sword and the both of them slowly walked towards the front, but what they saw shocked them a bit. It was arge blonde-haired man. He had his sword ready just in case.

    "Dad?" Maria said dumbfounded

    "Maria is that you?!" the man hurriedly asked

    Maria ran to the man and hugged him. "Yeah, it''s me Dad. What are you doing here? I thought that Rineheart young master would''ve told you that I''m dead." Maria asked with a big smile on her face and her eyes were getting watery.

    "They did say that, but how could I believe those assholes so easily. I came here to see for myself and investigate what happened." He said with a bit of killing intent leaking.

    "Anyways, why are you still here? If you are alive you should''vee back home to tell us that you''re safe!"

    "I know, but I wanted to follow my benefactor! She''s the one that saved me from the Moon Bear after I got used as bait to distract it! I wanted toe home, but she was about to leave so I just went ahead and made that decision."

    "Follow? Benefactor? Who?" He kept asking. Mira pointed at Mira and Mira stepped forward.

    "A little girl?" He was confused, how was this little girl rted.

    "My name is Mira."

    "Mira is the one that saved me, dad! Plus I want to follow her to gather experience!" Maria eximed

    "I don''t think I know you from anywhere. Where are you from?" he asked a little suspiciously.

    "A small vige on the outskirts of the forest."

    "What are you doing here?"

    "Training."

    "Why did you leave your vige?"

    "It was destroyed."

    "Why didn''t you try to reach a city? Being so young surely makes it hard to survive."

    "I didn''t go to a city because I didn''t want to be a sex ve."

    That answer shocked him. He tried toe up with something to say to deny that, but the words got stuck in his throat. It also didn''t help that this girl looked like a goddess even while wearing animal pelts. There''s no doubt people would capture her.

    "Well, I can''t deny that. Anyways, how old are you? You look way too young to start training."

    "I''m 8 years old."

    "What?! Don''t you know it''s dangerous to be doing that!? Plus you don''t even have a teacher to make sure you''re doing it right!." He yelled at her and at the same time scolding her.

    "You don''t need to concern yourself with that. Also, this is my choice. Even if I were to die doing this, I would have no regrets. At least I wouldn''t have to die by being abused and taken advantage of by someone else." Mira said with resolve and determination.

    Cole could see it in her eyes. The determination and will to stick with her decisions no matter if they are good or bad. He couldn''t help but sigh at how mature this little girl is.

    "Well, Maria do you want to go back home with me?" Cole asked

    "No, I want to stick with her for a bit and see where it leads me." Maria said with an excited look in her eye.

    "I see. Well, I''m d you''re safe. Your mother and I were worried, but now I can rest easy knowing you are still alive. Here is a talisman just in case though. If you are ever in trouble or want me to pick you up then just use it and I will head to your location immediately. Be safe ande back alive." Cole hugged Maria.

    "Thanks, Dad, and I love you. I''ll be sure to be careful."

    Cole looked at his daughter onest time then looked at Mira and nodded. He then left to go back to Lunar Fox City to tell his wife about the news and to also n to get revenge on the Rineheart family.

 Chapter 11 Extreme Yin Physique

    "I''m going back to sleep." Mira said and went back toy down and sleep. Maria did the same thing.

    The night passed quickly and soon they woke up. Mira was the first to wake up, she woke up just before dawn. She went out to go find two giant boulders. After an hour, she brought back 2 giant boulders near the cave and ced them in front of the entrance. These boulders were around 2.2 meters in diameter. They weigh around 10,000 kilograms each.

    Maria came walking out confused as to why there were these giant boulders.

    "Good, you''re awake. Time for your punishment. You will push one of these builders around until noon. Then you will go and hunt 5 magical beasts in the afternoon. The magical beasts can be any Rank 1 magical beast, but they have to be rank 1. You have 15 minutes to eat something before you start!" Mira dropped a bomb on Maria that she wasn''t expecting. She just stood there ck-jawed.

    "Ehhh?! I can''t push that thing! Forget until noon, I might barely be able tost an hour!! Plus 5 beasts! I can barely kill 1! Isn''t this unfair?!" Mariained.

    "Maybe it is, maybe it isn''t. That doesn''t matter. All that matters is that when I tell you to do something, it will be done to perfection, or you can spend the rest of your days following me while pushing giant boulders! And don''t worry about notsting, I will be watching you the whole time. I will also give you some encouragement when you stop hehe. With regards to killing the 5 beasts that should be easy, I''m not giving you something impossible. The only difference is that if you get into trouble you will die rather than me stepping in. Oh, I almost forgot, after hunting I better not see any fractures or broken bones. Cuts are fine though. "

    Now Maria was sure, this was a demon instructor from hell. Just barely missing her sh already caused her this much pain. Nevertheless, she stillplied and started pushing the giant boulder around in circles. Maria noticed that Mira was also pushing the other boulder, it was a little slower than her but that was expected.

    Sometimes Maria would stop and as soon as she stopped, she would suddenly get whipped by this long vine-like whip. Mira seemed to add a thorn on the end of it so that it would also cut her. After the second time that happened, she decided that she wouldn''t stop again.

    Maria was able to make it till noon, but Maria was covered in a thick sheen of sweat and had blood splotches here and there on her body. Mira wasn''t much better as she was pale and looked like she was drowning in her sweat.

    Mira''s training was rather special. She would push her body to the limit, revolving her cultivation technique and forcing qi into her bones. This was a very crude way of reaching the Bone Forging realm and she would have to force only the tiniest amount of qi into her bones as to not injure herself. This process will take a while, but pushing her body to the limit will lessen that time significantly.

    Maria and Mira both sat down and recovered their energy and Maria dressed her wounds. They ate lunch and after about an hour they were fully recovered. Maria was just staring at Mira, seemingly waiting for something.

    "What? You may go. Be sure to bring back 5 Rank 1 beasts. Bye." Mira said without even looking at her.

    Maria just sighed and picked up her weapon then went off hunting. Mira was about to go back to training.

    "Doing this kind of training is very efficient, but it would be much easier if I had some bone-chilling ice. I could even temper my muscles along with my bone with something like that. Wait�� Ice. Ice. Now that I think about it, I wonder if I have an affinity for an element. When I brought out my scythe my body seemed to react pretty hard. Let''s see if I have an affinity for ice."

    Mira started meditating immediately and tried to form a shard of ice in her hand. After a minute or so she was able to form a 10-centimeter long shard of ice. She tried the other elements like fire, earth, water, air, darkness, and light. She also tried some other auxiliary elements, but she wasn''t able to form anything.<sub> </sub>

    "I guess I do have an affinity with ice. It seems it''s only ice which is a bit odd. I should''ve been able to at least make a water drop since I have an affinity with ice, but nothing happened. I wonder if I have some sort of special physique. I''ve heard of a somewhat rare physique called the Extreme Yin Physique, which gives someone a bit stronger constitution as well as a great affinity for Ice. It also allows them to gain understandings of the Dao of Ice faster as well. I''ve heard that people with this physique have ice-blue colored bones."

    Mira sent her mind to check on her bones and to her surprise they were ice-blue.

    "I guess I have that physique after all. Well, ice suits my preferences as well. I guess I will embark on the Dao of Ice path. I will have to spend some time meditating on this while trying toe up with different ways to use ice."

    Mira went back to her training until Maria came back.

    It was almost dusk and Maria came back with 5 Low-Stage-Rank 1 magical beasts. She was covered in scratches. Mira checked her and it looked like she had no fractured or broken bones.

    "Good, this will be your schedule until I say otherwise. There will be 1 change though. Tomorrow you will have to kill 1 Mid-Stage-Rank 1 magical beast. And keep adding to that by 1 every day, so in 5 days you will hunt 5 Mid-Stage-Rank 1. After that, you will kill 4 Mid-Stage and 1 Late-Stage. Keep going like this until you reach 5 Peak-Stage-Rank 1 magical beasts and that will conclude your training. If you are unable to kill the required amount then stick to what you can kill. Your training will only end after killing 5 Peak-Stage-Rank 1 beasts in an afternoon."

    "WHHHAATT?! I thought today was just punishment! I''ll die to this freakish training before I die to any magical beasts!" Mira yelled, but Mira just grinned. This grin looked like one of the devils. Now Maria''s back was covered in a cold sweat thinking of what else Mira is going to do.

    Mira opened her mouth and said, "Well since you think that this is too hard, then, of course, I will have to help you out. After youe back and have dinner, we will spar. This will also help me gauge your progress."

    Maria''s mouth twitched. She didn''t know why, but even though she is stronger than Mira she feels that Mira will crush her in a fight. This must be when experience makes up for strength.

    After they had dinner, they started sparing. It didn''tst long as Mira just parried her sword and beat her down. This kept happening for an hour until Maria couldn''t stand up anymore.

    "Circte your cultivation technique and force the qi into your marrow. This will be extremely painful, but just bear with it and use the qi to temper your marrow. It should be no problem for you to break through as long as you are careful.

    Maria did exactly as she said. All she felt was this ungodly pain coursing through her bone marrow. Just doing the tiniest amount was almost unbearable, but it did seem to quicken her progress though.

    They continued this style of training until Mira reached 9 years old. They continued training for 6 months.

 Chapter 12 Continuous Breakthroughs

    Mira and Maria have been in non-stop training for around 6 months. Mira just turned 9 and Maria is now 16 as well. Mira is around 140 centimeters tall now. Maria is now a well-endowed-looking young woman. Mira would often look down and then look at Maria and sigh. She knew that she wouldn''t be like that for many years, although that matters little to her.

    Thesest 6 months have done wonders for their training. Maria made a breakthrough into Marrow Tempering and has started to work towards Stage 1 Qi Condensation. That will take her some time though as that is the boundary between a mortal and a cultivator. When you are actually able to collect and refine qi through your meridians then send this purified qi to the rest of the body for further use. That''s the qi Condensation Stage. There are 9 stages to Qi Condensation and with each stage, the qi gets purer and denser in the body.

    After almost 2 months of Hellish training, Maria was able to kill 5 Peak-Stage-Rank 1 magical beast. During those 2 months, she would train with that builder in various ways. She would carry it with it over her head and jog to improve her bnce, do push-ups with it on her back, nk with it on her back, do lunges with it. Mira made sure that training was always hell, but Mira would do the exact same thing. Even though she finished her training/punishment and killed those 5 Peak-Stage beasts, Maria decided to stick with her normal schedule. She wouldn''t go hunt Peak-Stage beasts as they are rarer than the other stages. This is because they aren''t in the inner region yet.

    After the 3rd month, Maria finally broke through to the Tempering Marrow stage afterpletely tempering all of her bone marrow in her body. After her breakthrough, she had a qualitative change in strength. She went to find a bigger boulder as we wanted to temper her muscles to increase her prowess as much as possible before  Mira also made some progress in her Ice Dao. She can now freely use ice with her attacks. She can''t do it often as shecks the energy to rely on it too much, but it added to her battle prowess nheless.

    In the 4th month, Maria and Mira sparred all of the time. They would still train in the morning but would spar for the entire afternoon. Sometimes they would keep sparring after it turned dark out. They both became increasingly proficient in their weapons. Maria, who used to barely be able to understand how to use a sword was finally able to be called a worthy sparring partner for Mira. Mira was also able to get more ustomed to using the scythe with her size. After enough training in thesest 4 months, she was able to gain enough strength to control the momentum of the scythe. Even though she was still small, it wasn''t enough for her to stop using the scythe.

    In the 5th month, Mira put all of her efforts into training. She felt like she was about to break through to the Bone Forging Realm soon, which would greatly improve her survivability and battle prowess. She would only stop training go hunt Peak-Stage-Rank 1 magical beasts with Maria.

    Now it''s the 6th month and Mira is sitting down in a locus position, forcing qi to enter her bones.

    *Crack* *Crack* *POP*

    All of Mira''s bones began cracking. The pain was immense, but after the cracks were made, they were immediately reforged with the qi that was entering her bones. This was happening to every single bone in her body. Soon there was a small vortex of Qi above her that was gathering to force its way into Mira''s bones to reforge those bones from mortal bones to something that will start her path to bing an Immortal.

    It sounded like a raging fire was nearby as all one could hear in the forest were loud cracks and pops. This process carried on for 2 days and nights until the cracks and pops finally stopped. Her ice-blue bones now gave a beautiful golden hue to go along with it.  Mira slowly opened her eyes as a wave of pain and hunger overtook her. Maria was sitting next to her protecting her thesest 2 days. She also knew that she''d be extremely hungry afterward and cooked up an entire Peak-Stage-Rank 1 beast for her to feast on.

    "Congrattions on breaking through! Though I must say that this breakthroughsted a lot longer than mine and even looked more painful too." Maria said.

    Mira was already eating as she said, "Thanks. I think that this breakthrough was longer due to my physique. My body was already stronger than normal mortals, so it took more time for my bones to break down and reforge." Mira said as she also ate a blood mushroom to help try to replenish the blood she lost.

    "Well, what are you going to do now? Training is great and all, but I''m getting bored."

    "I''m going to open my meridians!" Mira said with conviction.

    "Whaaat! So soon? I mean there are lots of ways to open one''s meridians. It''s not a hard realm to break through to, but this is the foundation of a cultivator. Are you sure you know what you''re doing?" Maria asked worriedly.

    "No need to worry. I''m going to create extremely thin ice needles and use acupuncture on certain spots to open my meridians. Then I will use my cultivation technique to circte the energy through them to get rid of the impurities in them." Mira said with confidence.

    "Okay. If you need any help just ask."

    "Sure, but first we are going to spar and hunt non-stop for the next week. I need to break in these new bones of mine."<sub> </sub>

    Like that they started sparring and hunting non-stop for the next week. Mira was actually able to kill Peak-Stage-Rank 1 magical beast alone. Well, a lot of this was because her scythe was a Peak-Mortal-grade weapon. Its sharpness and durability are better than any other Mortal Grade weapon. Also with her new bones, they didn''t get fractured when she blocked the beast''s hits. They just became sore.

    After a week of sparring and hunting, Mira was finally ready to open her Meridians. Opening one''s meridians was a big step for a cultivator. It doesn''t give them much more strength, but it does increase their recovery and allows them to progress to higher realms.

    Miray on her back and created 20 extremely thin ice needles. She inserted them into the spots to open her meridians. After the 20th ice needle reached deep enough. It felt like her whole body clicked. She knew that she had opened her meridians. Now it was time to push energy through them to force out the impurities. She started sending Qi through her meridians with the Hell Scythe cultivation technique. It felt like her meridians were about to burst, but this was necessary to be able to open them. More and more energy was sent through her meridians to get rid of the impurities clogging them up. ck sludge wasing out of the pores on her body and she was also throwing up this ck sludge as well.

    p This went on for around a day until she was finally able to circte energy throughout her meridians without any impurities obstructing her. This was a sign that she had broken through to the Meridian Opening realm.</anda>

    Mira opened her eyes and smelled something sopletely rancid that it could kill. She found ck sludge everywhere. Mira used her ice to freeze impurities on the ground then threw the ice into a fire. She then went to find a nearby stream to take a bath. After she did that, she returned to the cave and a wave of fatigue hit her and she immediately fell asleep.

    The next morning, Mira woke up feeling refreshed. She circted Qi through her meridians and nodded. She was very satisfied with her progress. Maria woke up right afterward.

    "Congrattions on breaking through again hehe." Maria chuckled

    "Thanks."

    "Now what are you going to do? We could always go to Lunar Fox City. I''m sure you should be able to join a sect or something as protection for yourself. With your strength and age, someone would surely take you in."

    "Yeah, but I prefer being out here in the wilderness surrounded by beasts. I don''t have to worry about sneaky plots, reputation, manners, or being captured. Out here it''s peacefully simple. It''s kill or be killed out here, everything relies on personal strength. I don''t have to worry about offending a rabbit only for a dragon toe by and incinerate me for offending the rabbit. Beasts have no background. I think that I will probably stay in this cave for another 2 years. I want to consolidate my progress, grow a little in size, then break through to the Organ Refinement stage. I''m sure you can understand why. I really don''t want to look like a 9-year-old my entire life."

    Maria chuckled. She understood Mira. She couldn''t progress too quickly or she might ruin her foundation, also if she broke into the Qi Condensation realm, then her looks would stay the same for the next 100 years. She can also use this time to slowly break through to the Organ Refinement stage, keeping her foundation stable.

    "I understand. If that''s all your doing then I might head back to the city. I will ask my father for help in breaking through to the Qi Condensation stage and maybe get a little revenge on the Rineheart family''s young master. I can''t kill him, but I can cause trouble or at least ask forpensation. I could also get my family to try to ruin Rineheart''s reputation a bit for using me as bait. I will just have to wait and see."

    "I see. Well, I will try to stay in this cave for the next two years. Then after I break through, I will head towards the inner and core regions of the forest to try and look for any lucky encounters. If you breakthrough to Qi Condensation within 2 years then you may join me if you want. If you aren''t at Qi Condensation yet, I will leave you half-dead in the cave and continue my journey. Don''t disappoint me." Mira said a little shyly as this was her first so-called friend in this world. She has started to grow fond of Maria thesest 6 months and felt like they bonded well.

    Maria was stunned for a second. She wasn''t expecting this demon to actually invite her on a journey. The part about leaving her half-dead seemed about right though.

    "Yes! I will surely make a breakthrough in 2 years ande find you again!" Mira eximed happily.

    Mira nodded while Maria took out her talisman and crushed it, sending a signal to her father.

 Chapter 13 Otherworldly Beauty

    Not long after Maria crushed the talisman, a shadow was traveling through the sky like a bullet. Then itnded right in front of Mira and Maria with a loud boom. Both of them were shocked at how fast he got here.

    "Are you ok Maria? What''s going on?" Cole said hurriedly.

    "Hehe, I''m fine Dad, I just want to go home for a while."

    Cole just stared at his daughter. Is that all he is? Transportation?

    "I''m d that you want toe back home. Your Mother misses you. It also looks like you made some good progress. Congrattions!" Cole was relieved that Maria wanted toe home but also shocked that she is in the Marrow Tempering stage.

    "Yeah, I was hoping you would be able to help me breakthrough to Qi Condensation and make sure everything goes smoothly."

    "Very well. Shall we go?"

    "Yes!" Maria turned to Mira and said, "Hopefully I''ll see you in 2 years!"

    Maria turned back to Cole. "Let''s go."

    Before he left with Maria, Cole looked at Mira.

    "Thank you for taking care of Maria."

    Mira just nodded.

    Cole grabbed his daughter and they shot off to Lunar Fox City like a bullet. Mira looked off in the distance then turned around and went back into her cave to meditate with her scythe out.

    ***

    Just outside of Lunar Fox City.

    Maria and Cole just made it to the entrance of the city. The guards at the front were surprised to see Cole, but even more surprised to see someone with him. This girl even looked somewhat simr to him, but they didn''t question it and just let them pass.

    They both made their way back to the Zaria House where Maria is going to say hi to her mother, Erika. Erika came running out as soon as she sensed Cole and immediately embraced Maria.

    "I''m d you''re safe Maria. Next time don''t make me worry so much."

    "I''m sorry Mom." Maria said a little dejectedly. She knew that she made them worry, but she didn''t have much of a choice.

    "It''s okay sweetie. It also looks like you had some lucky encounters for you to progress so fast. Your foundation looks stable too, so you must''ve broken through some time ago." Erika looked at her curiously.

    Maria wryly smiled.

    "If getting forced into that hellish training while being beaten to death during sparring is a lucky encounter, then I don''t want any more lucky encounters." Mira said while shaking her head<sub> </sub>

    "What do you mean?" Both of her parents asked curiously.

    "Well, it''s like this��" Maria began to exin how she trained with giant boulders for an entire morning then would have to hunt magical beasts as they increasingly got harder. If she didn''t kill the required amount of magical beasts then Mira would go extra hard when sparing and sometimes almost kill her. She also mentioned her punishment at the beginning because Mira didn''t aim properly when attacking the Earth Snake in the cave and missed her previous sh. That''s what resulted in her punishment. She told them how she was never able to win a spar and it always ended up with her not being able to move anymore. The more Maria talked about her time with Mira the more they were shocked. They didn''t think that she literally did nothing but get beaten up and trained.

    "Maria, talk to me a little bit more about this Mira. What is she like as a person?" Erika asked as she wasn''t sure if it''s good to befriend someone like this.

    Maria''s eyes glistened.

    "Well, if I had to describe her is ruthless. She is ruthless to just about everything, whether it be training, fighting, talking, or even killing. Everything she does is ruthless. This not just to others, but to herself as well."

    "Are you sure you want to hang out with someone like that? I mean, she''s only 9 right?" Erika asked worriedly.

    "You could be right. That''s it''s probably not good for me to try to befriend her, but honestly, I think she could be the best friend that I could have. She does everything with sincerity and she treated me with sincerity as well. She''s smart, but never minces words. Whatever is in front of her, she challenges it head-on. If you treat her with sincerity then she will treat you with sincerity, which isn''t unheard of, but if you don''t she might just kill you where you stand depending on the situation. The only thing I pity is the men that she wille into contact with." Maria exined to them. They were a bit shocked to hear how Maria described her. There is definitely something wrong with her brain. Then they caught something.

    "What do you mean you pity the men that will try toe into contact with her?" Erika asked curiously. Normally someone like this has had bad experiences with men, but she''s already so young. What happened?

    "Well, I don''t know much because she almost never talked to me. When I first said that I wanted to follow her, she said that if I was a guy that my head would have already been on the ground before I could finish that sentence. She also said that she would rather stay in the forest so she doesn''t get captured and raped or turned into a sex ve for some noble or young master. Sometimes I would bring up the topic of boys, but she''d unleash a suffocating killing intent. Now that I think about it, I''d almost rather have her stay in the forest or mountains or something. It might be a blood-bath if she ever came to Lunar Fox City."

    "I feel that you are exaggerating this a bit Maria, I know you and Cole said she is cute, but to think there will be a blood bath over a little girl''s looks. I think you are over-exaggerating a bit sweetie." Erika said with a hint of disbelief

    ""No, you don''t understand!""

    Both Cole and Maria eximed at the same time which shocked Erika. Cole let Maria exin.

    "She''s not cute. She''s not even drop-dead, country-topping gorgeous..." Maria paused

    "Okay? Then what is she? Ugly?" Erika said getting a bit impatient.

    "She''s a Goddess mom. The kind of beauty that she has seems like it''s not meant for the eyes of the people of this world to see. Beauty is not a word that can even begin to describe her looks. Even I''m attracted to her in an intimate way. She has to be able to gain power, just so that she can show her face. I may not know much about her, but I know she won''t enter a city unless she has the power to protect herself. This is at the very minimum, Qi Condensation Realm. If shees into this city at the foundation realm though and gets treated like a ything�� There will probably be a massacre before she either tries to run or dies, but most likely she will use herst breathe to kill one more person. We should honestly start making preparations so when she does finallye, that doesn''t happen."

    Erika sucked in a cold breath. This kind of person�� is truly terrifying. The only foreseeable path for her is one of death and bloodshed. This is until she''s built up a reputation where nobody messes with her. She seems to know this too. That''s why she''s in the forest building her power. When she reveals herself, it might shake the power bnce of the world. The more she thought about it, the more nervous she got. Is it better to befriend her now or kill her while she''s still weak? Neither one is good.

    ''Should I kill her now to eliminate future troubles or try to befriend her? No no no, neither one will work. She might sense that I want to use her as a future ally. She does seem to like Maria enough to go travelling with her though. I guess the only option is to just let things y out between her and Maria. I won''t interfere in this matter unless necessary.'' Erika thought to herself.

    "I will start making preparations for her arrival. Why don''t you get some rest for a few days and spend some time with me and your Father." Erika said

    "Okay!"

    Around 6 months have passed since Maria came back to Lunar Fox City and there is a strange rumor going around the nearby viges and amongst themon people and merchants.

 Chapter 14 Forest Goddess

    6 months have passed since Maria came back to Lunar Fox City and there is a strange rumor going around the nearby viges and amongst themon people and merchants.

    "Have you heard about the Forest Goddess?" said a middle-aged man who was working at a bar.

    "Nah, what the hell is that, huh? Some kind of joke?" A burly man who looked like a hunter said.

    "Rumor has it that right before the inner region of Dark Moon Forest there is a Goddess that lives in a cave. She has silver hair and red eyes and wields a scythe. The ground around the cave is dyed red, there are bones piled up everywhere and the air is freezing near the cave."

    "Huh? What the fuck are you talking about? This is probably just some crap you heard from some vige rumor or something that got passed along to those idiot merchants. No way in hell I''d believe nonsense like that."

    "Suit yourself."

    This type of conversation was happening all over the viges surrounding Dark Moon Forest and amongst themon people in Lunar Fox City.

    <o>,m Many vigers or hunters that hunted magical beasts and sold them wanted to try their luck at seeing this Forest Goddess. Most people that went out searching said they never found anything. This isn''t odd as the Dark Moon Forest is ratherrge. Finding a specific cave is like looking for a needle in a haystack. asionally people would find it. Most men were instantly killed when they got close enough. Some men were lucky and stayed at a distance when they noticed that this area smelled of blood and death. Most women were given a warning shot as icicles shot at their feet. If they didn''t leave then they would face ''Divine Retribution'' as well.</o>

    Now rumor started going around that the Forest Goddess hates men and will kill on sight. Many people didn''t believe this at first, but when more men starting going missing when they set out to find the Forest Goddess while the women woulde back and say that they heard an ice-like voice full of killing into say "Leave." All of the women left after that. Especially from seeing that the ce surrounding the cave had a thick death aura surrounding it. They knew if they didn''t leave they would immediately die.

    Some people had a hard time epting this. How is it fair that only the women cane back alive? Various young heroes went to try and get an exnation only for their heads to get chopped off before they could even speak.

    After a while, people stopped bothering the Forest Goddess. The rumors didn''t decrease though, instead, more and more people talked about it. Some thought it was an old monster that just wanted to live in peace. Others thought it was an intelligent magical beast that was in the forest for some reason. There were various spections on who the Forest Goddess was, but none would''ve guessed that it''s some little girl.

    The girl in question is currently sitting in her cave, but there is one major difference between the cave that she''s in now than the cave from 6 months ago. The inside of the cave is covered in ice. It''s not as thick at the entrance, but at the back of the cave, it''s 50-60 centimeters thick on all sides. This is due to her a couple of reasons. The first reason is her meditating and progressing further in the Dao of Ice. She would release an ice-cold aura to try to freeze the surroundings as being surrounded by ice can help with understanding. Another reason is to try to temper her muscles. Tempering her muscles would be better if she was in a freezing pool, but she doesn''t have a liquid that can stay a liquid in sub-freezing temperatures. She would often try different abilities with ice that can increase her battle prowess.

    Being constantly surrounded by ice gives her so many benefits as long as she is vignt and can stand the freezing temperatures for an extended period of time. The process of tempering muscles ispressing them so that she looks almost like a normal kid, but her muscles have an explosive power just waiting to burst. Ice can increase this effect as ice has the ability topress things due to the cold.

    Mira was sitting down meditating when she suddenly picked up her scythe and swung down. A curved, sharp de of ice, that was exactly the same as the de on her scythe shot out. It flew for about 20 meters before stopping and dissipating.<sub> </sub>

    "Hmmm, that one was pretty good. I think this could be useful in battle as a mid-range attack. It could also be used as a gap closer along with the momentum of the scythe. This ability has decent potential butcks creativity. Whatever, it''s better than shooting ice shards at people. It will be a good standard move."

    Mira started practicing this move some more before she becamefortable with it and was about to return to meditating when she thought of something.

    "People have stoppeding to visit metely. Well, I guess me killing everyone that doesn''t heed my warning has started to go around causing fewer people to try and contact me. And what''s with that name, Forest Goddess. Argh, I feel a headacheing on just thinking about the trouble that these idiots have spread. Should I leave the cave or should I stay? Even though I like this cave, beasts don''te anymore and I don''t think I can temper my muscles much more. The only problem is that if they send people to look for me to see who I am and what I''m doing and don''t find me they might continue to search for me which would be annoying. Fuck it, I''ll go look for a new cave. I''lle back in 1 and a half years to see if Maria decided, I''lly low until then. "

    Mira started gathering her stuff then left.

    Back in Lunar Fox City

    The higher-ups in Lunar Fox City were discussing the rumors of the Forest Goddess.

    "What do you think about this rumor Rineheart?" said a lively-looking old man with a long white beard.

    "Hmph! This is probably just some stupid rumor themoners have spread to scare their children." The head of the Rineheart family said.

    "You could be right, but there is probably some truth to it. It could be an intelligent beast that wandered into the forest or it could be an old monster that''se to the forest for some reason. Obviously, she wants to be left alone, but we should still send someone to search just in case."

    There were 8 other people in the room other than the lively old man and the Rineheart Family Head. They were the various heads or leaders of the sects or families in the city. Everyone agreed to the suggestion of sending someone to investigate.

    Cole was also in this room as he was the Head of the Zaria family. He was rather conflicted about this as he knew that it was probably Mira in that cave. With how Maria described how much Mira hates guys and with no guys ever returning whenever they found her, he was able to confirm Maria''s suspicion.

    The various leaders decided to send the Rineheart family to lead the investigation with a Foundation Realm female with various other families sending their daughters, that were at Qi Condensation, to go with them. They didn''t want to take any chances. If it was some old monster that hated guys bothering her, then their sons would just get ughtered for no reason. This might even cause the downfall of the city. If various leaders had their sons killed by this unknown person then they might go to war with her. And if it was an old monster then the whole city would be annihted and everyone killed. So even though it was still a rumor, it was better to be safe than sorry.

    Around a weekter, there were 10 females at the Qi Condensation Realm and above at the entrance of Lunar Fox City ready to set out.

 Chapter 15 Tough Fight

    Mira was jogging away from her cave as 11 young-looking women entered the Dark Moon Forest. 10 of those women are from the families or sects of the cities, but thest one is their guide. This was ady that found the area where the ''Forest Goddess'' cave was. She led the 10 of them to the cave that she found.

    It didn''t take them long to find the cave as the guide has already been there. Once they reached the area, they were a little surprised. The ground was dyed red and there were bones in everyone. There were also bodies of people that have been killed. They are just rotting there as the beasts refuse to enter this ce. There is an aura of death lingering around the cave and the temperature around the cave is much colder than the rest of the forest.

    "This ce�� It almost seems like she wanted beasts toe so that she can kill them." Someone said and the rest of them agreed.

    "What I''m curious about though is why she only killed the men. It also seems like they didn''t make it too far, as if they died before they could even speak. This is definitely interesting. This person seems to definitely hate men. Good thing we are all women." Another said after examining everything and everybody else nodded their head.

    "Let''s not just stand here. We came here to figure out who or what is doing this. Let''s go."

    They started walking towards the entrance, but they haven''t heard anything, which is a bit odd.

    "Hello! Wee here from Lunar Fox City. We were wondering if you could talk to us. We mean no harm." The woman from the Rineheart family said loudly, but again no answer.

    They were starting to get nervous as they weren''t sure if this was good or bad. The Rineheart women suddenly started walking towards the cave. The others were a bit nervous but followed her regardless. Once they reached the cave, they understood. There was nobody here.

    "It looks like nobody is home. It also seems like they took everything they had with them. We can either wait here for a bit or leave and report back. I think we should wait for a bit just to see if someonees back then return to the city. I doubt someone wille back, but it doesn''t hurt to wait for a bit."

    Everyone thought for a while then agreed. It doesn''t take long for them to get back to the city and they weren''t busy anyway. Some sat down and meditated and others walked through the cave looking at the ice and wondering if they might find something interesting. While thedies from Lunar Fox City were waiting, Mira ran into some trouble.

    Right now she is face-to-face with a pack of wolves. Not just ordinary wolves either. They are Ghost Wolves. They get their name because of their fur. It has silver fur, but it looks almost clear. They are named ghost wolves because they look translucent due to what they look like.

    This pack''s alpha is a Low-Stage-Rank 2 Ghost Wolf. The pack that Mira is facing consists of the leader, 5 Peak-Stage-Rank 1, and 10 Ghost Wolves between Low-Stage-Rank 1 and Late-Stage-Rank 1 Ghost Wolves.

    ''Fuck! How unlucky that I just cross a pack of Ghost Wolves as they are out hunting. It looks like I will have to try and fight this one out. That Rank 2 is definitely faster than me and will surely kill me if I try to escape. I might have a chance if I kill all of the ones under the alpha fast enough so I can solely focus on him.''<sub> </sub>

    With a n in mind, Mira took out her scythe and took a deep breath in, and slowly exhaled. Her eyes sharpened and then she moved. She wanted to get rid of the Low-Stage-Rank 1 Wolves as quickly as possible as they are just fodder. She gathered momentum in her scythe and started releasing ice des towards the weaker wolves. Every time her scythe rotated in front of her, des of ice shot out. These des wouldn''t be enough to deal with the stronger wolves, but these weaker ones were nothing in front of them. All of the Low-Stage-Rank 1 wolves got sliced in half in an instant.

    The other wolves could barely react. They looked at Mira cautiously. She was stronger than they expected. The Mid and Late-stage wolves jumped in. Mira shot more ice des towards them and ran towards one of the Mid-Stage wolves. The Mid-Stage wolf swung his sharp ws down and destroyed the ice de, but Mira immediately showed up in front of the wolf and decapitated it. It all happened so fast that the wolf couldn''t react. Mira immediately left towards the next Mid-Stage wolf. The next wolf dodged the ice de then charged at her, but with Mira swinging and rotating her scythe, gathering momentum, the wolf didn''tst long. The wolf dove in to rip her throat, but Mira blocked the ws with her de then rotated the scythe and knocked the wolf in the head with the pole end. After the wolf got dazed for a second, its head was removed from its body.

    The rest of the wolves back off and the alpha started to walk forward.

    ''Shit! Too soon!'' Mira thought.

    The wolves howled for their fallen brethren, then the alpha immediately charged in to attack. The 10 girls that were waiting in Mira''s old cave weren''t too far away and heard the howl. They immediately started toe towards Mira.

    Mira hasn''t stopped gathering momentum in her scythe. She was able to block the alpha''s attack, but she could feel her bones aching due to the strength behind that attack. Luckily her weapon is extremely durable or else it might have damage to it as well. She pushed the alpha away then backed off and used the remaining momentum to kill the remaining wolves under Peak-Stage. Now it was just Mira, the alpha wolf, and 5 Peak-Stage Rank 1 Ghost Wolves. They all just stood there and waited for a second. Mira kept twirling her scythe gathering her momentum back.

    She decided to make the first move. She threw 5 ice des towards the alpha and ran towards a pair of Peak-Stage wolves. She shot a couple of ice needles towards their eyes. They missed the eyes but caused to wolves to dodge. Mira swung her scythe and cut off their front legs. They dodged her swing just enough that it didn''t kill them, but they couldn''t move anymore.

    Mira didn''t bother wasting time executing them right now as the alpha was charging at her after destroying her ice des. The alpha swiped his ws at her feet. She was a bit surprised by this as she thought he''d go for her head. She twirled the de end of her scythe down towards her feet to block it. She was able to block most of it, butrge gashes formed on her legs because she was a bitte to block all of them. She continued twirling her scythe after the block and smacked the alpha in the side of the head with the pole end and sent him flying 10s of meters back.

    The 3 other Peak-Stage wolves were mid-jump when this happened and they shed their ws on her back. Mira was able to continue her momentum to kill 1 wolf, but the other 2 formedrge gashes on her back and shoulder. She was in immense pain but pushed through. The other 2 wolves were about to back off Mira sent ice needles into one of the wolf''s eyes then swung her scythe down on the other wolf, like an executioner. She decapitated that wolf while the ice needles hit the eyes of the other wolf. He was yelping in pain, but Mira stabbed him in the head with the pole end of her scythe.

    The Alpha wolf had gotten up and started charging at Mira. It got about 5 meters before Mira turned around. The alpha leaped towards her. Mira twirled her scythe with the de end facing towards the sky and uppercut the scythe into the alphas stomach. She prated the alpha''s stomach until one could see the other side of the de sticking out on the other side. Her scythe still carried the momentum of her swing plus the wolf''s leap and flew backward and crashed into a tree. Her back was in extreme pain, but she managed to get the alpha off of her scythe. She stood up and walked over to her bag that contained her herbs to help heal wounds. She threw this bag to the side before the fight started as to not ruin any of her herbs and nts. She crouched to grab the bag then stood up. She looked up with a faint smile on her face. She was d that she survived this ordeal.

    At this time the 10 girls from her old cave came to the fight scene. They were shocked to see that the fight ended, but then they looked at who seemed to be the perpetrator and gasped. They were in front of Mira around 50 meters away and were able to see her face. Her gorgeous shining silver hair, even covered in blood, is breathtaking by itself, but the wine-red eyes that now looked like blood on that face that looked like it was sculpted by the gods made this a scene that seemed too good for their eyes to see. They all thought one thing.

    "Goddess."

 Chapter 16 Investigation

    "Goddess."

    All of them muttered at the same time. Almost like they were in a trance-like state.

    Mira heard them mutter and looked at them with a frown.

    ''Shit! I bet these people are here from Lunar Fox City sent to investigate me. Fuck! How unlucky, I just left that cave, and now that I''m full of injuries all I can hope for is that they won''t hurt me.'' Mira thought to herself. She put away her scythe and just ignored them. Right now she has to deal with the wounds. She took out a leather pouch full of water and washed off the gashes on her back, shoulders, and legs. Then she took out all of her Blood Mushrooms and started to grind them into a paste. After the paste was made she applied it to her wounds and meditated.

    After a few minutes, the women that were in a trance finally awoke and they saw that she was dealing with her wounds.

    "Are you the one that did this?" One of them asked even while knowing that she probably did. It was hard to believe someone so young could do this.

    Mira just ignored her.

    "Why are you out in the forest alone, especially this deep into the forest?" Another woman asked, but got ignored again.

    They kept asking questions like where her weapon went or where''s her home or her age. All they got was silence. The women were starting to get annoyed because they were being treated like air by a child. Finally, the Rineheart woman spoke up.

    "What''s your name?"

    She also got ignored, but she continued.

    "I guess it''s rude if I don''t introduce myself first. My name is Ellen Rineheart. I''m the young miss of the Rineheart family in Lunar Fox City. We havee here to investigate a disturbance in the forest."

    This time Mira opened her eyes and spoke.

    "Mira." That''s all Mira said.

    "So your name''s Mira. I''ve never seen or heard about you before, but there is a rumor going around about a ''Forest Goddess'' in the city and viges around here. Seeing that you aren''t that far away from the cave where she was rumored to be, do you know anything about this?" Ellen asked, but she already guessed that this child was somehow rted.

    Mira knew that Ellen probably guessed that she was rted to the cave. She could say that it was her master, but if they''ve already been to the cave then they''d know that nothing there is the work of a master. Also, why would such a person want a continuous stream of magical beasts around their cave? Anyone with a brain would know she''s lying if she said that. She might as well just say that it was her.

    "If you mean the idiots that kept bothering me calling me a goddess then yes. That was me that lived there." Mira said shocking everyone.

    They thought that might be the case, but to hear it straight from her mouth and in such a crude way was enough to shock them. Ellen just nodded her head in understanding as she guessed that might be the case. Especially with Mira''s looks.

    "Were you living there with anyone? How long were you there?" Ellen continued to ask. She was doing her job well as someone sent to investigate.

    "I''ve lived at that particr cave for a year. Someone was staying with me for the first 6 months of my stay, but she left so it was just me for the rest of the year."

    "I see. Can you tell who stayed with you? Was it your master?" Ellen continued asking

    "No." That''s all Mira said. She didn''t want to bring up Maria, as it might cause trouble for her.

    "Okay. Oh, one more thing. Why did you only kill men that came to see you and not the women?" Ellen asked out of pure curiosity.

    Mira just looked at her like she was an idiot. Then she stood up and then pointed at herself. They were confused for a moment then understood. She''s too beautiful, plus a weak little girl on top of that. She might be able to deal with themon people under the Qi Condensation Realm, but if she ran into someone from a main family or sect. That would definitely be trouble for her.

    "Thanks for answering my questions. It looks like there was no need for us to worry so much. Do you need any help with your wounds?"

    Mira just shook her head. "No need."

    "Well, I will give you something anyway." Ellen said and took out a pill from her Spatial Ring and threw it at Mira.<sub> </sub>

    "Here take this, it''s a Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pill. This should heal your wounds and won''t leave any scars. Just think of this as payment for answering my questions." Ellen exined.

    Mira looked at the pill for a minute.

    ''It seems like it really is a rejuvenation pill.'' Mira thought

    Mira nodded and swallowed the pill. Her injuries were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. It took Mira around 10 minutes for her injuries topletely heal.

    "Thanks." Mira said with a nk face.

    "You''re wee." Ellen said back with a smile.

    "Well, then I will take my leave." Mira then began to walk off.

    "Wait! We can''t just leave a child here! Even if she''s strong enough to survive here, it''s still not right!" One of the girls spoke up. Most of the other girls agreed, but a few weren''t sure if they should. Even though they didn''t want to leave a little girl alone, is she really just a little girl?

    Ellen decided to run over to Mira.

    "Why don''t youe back with us? I can''t on good conscience leave a little girl in the forest. Even if you can survive, it will be nice for you to interact with other people. You could even gather supplies there to help you." Ellen said trying to convince her.

    Mira was about to immediately reject her but stopped herself. Several things popped into her mind.

    ''I might actually need to consider this. Some things in a city would be nice for me to have on a journey. Like a Spatial Ring, various kinds of pills to help me recover, sparring partners, and better food. Also, I''m starting to have doubts about this forest being a Rank 2 forest. If this is a Rank 2 forest then why the fuck was there are Rank 2 Ghost Wolf in the outer region? Also, the amount of Peak-Stage-Rank 1 magical beasts is overwhelming. I have to go out of my way to find something weaker in this region. This happened right next to my cave too. I guess I could also make sure Maria isn''t cking either.''

    "I guess I will go to the city with you, but I have a couple of conditions. I need a mask to put on and I''m going to cover my hair in mud. Also, I know someone in the city. If I''m going to stay in the city I will only stay with her." Miraid out her conditions.

    Ellen thought about it for a second but agreed. The mask and mud thing is normal. Her wanting to stay with her friend and not them was a bit rude, but then again they just met.

    "Okay, that''s not a problem. Who is it that you know in Lunar Fox City? With our connections, we should be able to find them easily." Ellen wondered.

    "Maria."

    "Maria huh? There are plenty of Maria''s in Lunar Fox City. Do you know herst name by chance?"

    "Hmmm, I think she said, Zaria. Yeah, that should be it." Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

    "What!?" One of the 10 girls eximed.

    "Maria Zaria, with the shoulder-length blonde hair?" She asked Mira.

    "Yeah, that''s the one."

    "Ah! I see now. It was probably her that stayed with you for those 6 months right? Oh, I''m sorry. My name is Ariel Zaria. I''m Maria''s cousin. I thought she died at first because of the rumor that the Rineheart family spread, but then Uncle Cole just showed up with her one day 6 months ago. She also did say that she stayed in a cave and trained. So it was you that she trained with." Ariel said as she came to a sudden realization.

    "*Sigh* She was intent on sticking with me for some reason, but with her awful sword skills, she would just immediately die without a form of protection. And I had no intention of protecting her so I made her go through training and sparred with her to increase her battle prowess."

    "Hehe, that''s true. It seems that she is much better when she returned though. I will take you to the Zaria family when we head back to the city. You can also see Maria there too." Ariel giggled.

    Mira nodded and started to cover her hair in mud. After she was done with that, one of the girls handed her a mask. Maria packed up her stuff and the 11 of them made their way back to Lunar Fox City.

 Chapter 17 Lunar Fox City

    Mira and the 10 other women started running to Lunar Fox City. Mira currently had mud all over her hair. She was wearing her animal pelt clothes and had on a ck mask that only covers the top half of her face. Even though it covers her face, if you look hard enough you can still see her wine-red eyes. The ck mask and her current appearance makes her look like a beast.

    The 10 women slowed down their pace so that Mira could keep up with them. They were a bit surprised because she is faster than most people are at the Body Tempering stage.

    It took them around 4 hours to get to the city with Mira''s current speed. It was around midday when they arrived. The eleven of them then appeared around a kilometer from the city and slowed down.

    This was Mira''s first time seeing the city. It was huge for a city that seemed like it was located in the middle of nowhere. It had 7-meter tall walls made out of stone that went as far as the eye could see. Mira guessed that the whole city was surrounded by a stone wall. The gate at the entrance was a giant double-door wooden gate with an emblem of a white fox on each of the doors. This was apparently the Lunar Fox that the city is named after.

    Thedies walked in front of Mira and started leading her to the gate. They soon made it to the gate where the 2 guards at the Qi Condensation Realm were standing. They were the same guards from the morning.

    "Hello Miss Rineheart, how was your investigation? Did you meet the ''Forest Goddess''?" said one of the guards.

    "We were able toplete our investigation," Ellen answered promptly ignoring the other question.

    The guard was a little disappointed that she avoided the question, but didn''t let it bother him as it had nothing to do with him. He saw a little girl with a mask and covered in mud behind them and decided to ask.

    "Is the little girl with you?"

    "Yeah, she''s with us."

    "I see. Well, thanks for chatting with me Miss Rineheart." The guard finished and let them pass.

    Ellen, Mira, and the rest walked into the city together. Most of the women decided to go back to their families to report the situation, but Ellen and Ariel stayed behind. Ellen then spoke up.

    "I will leave you in Ariel''s care. She will lead you back to the Zaria family. I will go back to the Rineheart family to report that I''vepleted the investigation. If you need anything let me know. Farewell." Ellen said professionally.

    Mira felt that Ellen was a very smart, punctual, and reliabledy. Mira just nodded her head and Ellen turned around and left. Ariel then looked at Mira and smiled.

    "Wee to Lunar Fox City. I will lead you over to the Zaria family and there you can find Maria. I''m sure she will be surprised to see you. For now, I will give you a bit of information regarding the city and where it''s located. Lunar Fox city is located on the Western Continent. We are also located on the western side of the continent. There are 5 continents in this world. North, South, East, West, and Central. Each Continent is separated by an ocean. The Central Continent is the strongest for various reasons, but the main reason is that Qi is much thicker than it is on the rest of the continents. The further you go from the center the less dense the Qi there is. With Lunar Fox City located farther west than most other cities on the continent, we are generally known as the weakest city on the continent."

    "The strongest person in Lunar Fox City is an 8th Stage Core Formation. He is the City Lord. The families and sects in the city also have Core Formation Realm experts, but they are lower than the City Lord. There are 5 main families and 5 sects in the city. The families are the Zaria, Rineheart, Wang, Silva, and Yang Families. The sects are Battle Maiden Sect, Immortal Sword Sect, 8 Profound Elements Sect, Heaven-Defying Pill Sect, and the Divine Beast Sect. The 5 families all have about the same amount of power. Nobody tried to mess with the sects though as they are just branch sects that the main sect has set up in cities all over the Western Continent. The Main Sect is located near the ocean that is bordering the Western Continent and the Central Continent. I''m sure you can guess what each sect focuses on."

    "The Battle Maiden Sect only takes in girls. They teach women how to utilize their potential as a woman. Since women are generally more flexible than men even in higher cultivation. They teach you how to better use this aspect to fight. The Immortal Sword Sect only takes in sword users as that''s the only thing they teach. The 8 Profound Elements Sect teaches one how to better use their element. They have a lot of elemental techniques that can increase one''s battle prowess. Rumor has it that they also have ces to help inprehending an Elemental Dao. The Heaven-Defying Pill Sect only focuses on alchemy and generally only takes in people with an affinity for fire. The Divine Beast Sect is rather peculiar. They only deal with magical beasts. Anything regarding magical beasts. Abilities, evolutions, mutations, locations, the max rank of a species, anything. They take in people who have contracted magical beastpanions. They also have lectures that you can pay to join as well that are open to the public."

    Mira was taking everything in that Ariel was talking about. This city has more to it than she originally thought. Not just the families and sects, but just themon people too. Most people are in the Body Transformation realm and quite a few people are in the Qi Condensation Realm too. There are a ton of food stalls, restaurants, and shops. It seems there is a shop for everything as well. Beast parts, pills and herbs, weapons and armor, general stores, clothing stores, and magical treasures. There were also ces simr to a mission hall where people will submit a request for something and someone will go out and do it for money.

    A lot of people were staring at her as she walked down the roads. They were wondering what a girl covered in mud while wearing animal pelts came from. This girl was also wearing a mask, but when one would look at the eyes they''d feel a chill up their spine like they would die if they talked to her. Some people weren''t as careful though as a young man approached Ariel.<sub> </sub>

    "Yo Ariel! Why are you bringing along this little beast with you? You are even talking to it like it''s a person. HAHA!" The young man said mockingly.

    "I wonder." Ariel said not acknowledging him at all.

    "Tsk, you''re no fun. Oi, little beast why don''t we form a contract and you can be my footrest HAHA!" the young man directed his attention to Mira and eximed.

    The surrounding area''s temperature immediately dropped and a thick killing intent radiated from Mira''s little body. One could even see a faint red hazeing off of her body. The young man immediately stoppedughing and looked towards Mira. Mira was staring right at him. He looked at her eyes and saw that they were blood-red with a faint red hazeing out of the eye sockets in the mask. He froze. He felt like he could die at any moment as cold sweat started to form all over his body. He was regretting ever walking over here to mock them, but someone came from behind to diffuse the situation.

    "Oh, Alexander Rineheart. What are you doing here?" It was a calm voice that came from behind the young man, Alexander Rineheart. Ariel saw where the voice came from and was d to see it was someone from the family. It was Cole, Maria''s father.

    Alexander wanted to say something, but he couldn''t. The killing intent was still there, locked on him.

    "Littledy, could you give me some face and forgive this boy? I''m sure he was only joking around." Cole said with a hopeful smile.

    "Why should I give you face? I don''t even know you." Mira said in a low voice. Even though her voice was still childish, that only made it more eerie and scary.

    Cole sighed as he figured that''d be her answer.

    "I''ll make sure that he doesn''t bother you again. If he bothers you again then you can kill him and I will take full responsibility for it." Cole said still hoping to resolve this peacefully. Both Ariel and Alexander were shocked by his words. Alex swore in his mind not to mess with this girl again as he might actually die.

    Mira raised her eyebrows at his words.

    "Oh? Cole Zaria, head of the Zaria family, has the authority to allow me to kill someone from the Rineheart family?" Mira sneered but released her killing intent anyways. The surrounding area warmed up again and the pressure from the killing intent was gone. Everybody sighed in relief.

    "Why don''t you head back Alexander. I will apany Ariel and this youngdy back to the Zaria family." Cole said.

    Alexander nodded and scurried off.

    Cole looked at Ariel and Mira.

    "Now then, shall we go?"

    They both nodded and followed Cole.

 Chapter 18 Why Do You Want To Get Stronger?

    Mira followed Cole back to the Zaria Family. Cole, Ariel, and Mira stayed silent throughout the walk.

    Once they made it to Cole''s house then he finally started talking.

    "It''s good to see you, Mira. I didn''t expect to see you so soon in the city. I''m sure Maria will be d to see you." Cole said with a gentle smile.

    Mira just shrugged. "I didn''t either, but with me being attacked by a Rank 2 Ghost Wolf and with all of these people looking for me, I figured I''de back with Ellen and the others. Then at least I have an escort."

    "You got attacked by a Rank 2 Ghost Wolf near your cave? That is interesting since Rank 2 beasts don''t usually venture out that far." Cole said a little surprised.

    "Yeah, anyways do you have information about the forest. I remember Maria saying that it''s actually a Rank 3 forest instead of Rank 2 due to the amount of Rank 2 magical beasts residing in it, but I think that there''s something more to the forest." Mira exined.

    "Yeah, actually Dark Moon Forest itself is quite the mystery. It''s ssified as a Psuedo-Rank 3 Forest because the highest-ranked animals that people see there are Rank 2, but I think there are Rank 3 and Rank 4 beasts in that forest. Maybe one of them made a move and the Rank 2 beasts have started traveling outwards. Or maybe a strong magical beast from Skytop Mountain is going through. Who knows? Anyway, it''s probably for the best that you get out of that forest right now. Feel free to stay here with us." Cole said to Mira.

    Mira nodded. "Thanks."

    "You can go get cleaned up and have a bath. I''ll also give you some clothes to wear while you''re here. I''ll take you to my wife and Maria so we can surprise them. HAHA." Coleughed just thinking about their reaction.

    Mira left and went to take a bath. She was incredibly dirty. After a while, Mira came out wearing a ck hanfu with red lining.  With the bath and the new clothes, she had an otherworldly aura to her. The contrast between the ck hanfu and her silver hair was breathtaking and the red lining matched her wine-red eyes.

    "Damn. How was someone like you born in this world? Especially as a mortal? If I didn''t have a wife and kid, I might even be tempted to snatch you up. But I wouldn''t give up their love for anything even beauty, so rest assured." Cole muttered, staring at Mira.

    Mira just ignored him and Cole brought her to meet her wife. They reached a door that seemed to be leading to the back outside of the house.

    "Erika! There is a visitor here for Maria!" Cole yelled through the door.

    "Oh? Bring them here. Maria is with me as well." Erika said back

    Cole motioned for Mira to follow him and they walked through the door. Mira saw Maria, she seemed to be training with her sword. She was constantly swinging it. She didn''t look any better than when she left Mira 6 months ago.

    Mira then saw someone who looked simr to Maria. She had long golden hair that reached her waist and ocean-blue eyes. She looked like she was reading something.

    ''This must be Maria''s Mother.'' Mira thought.

    The woman looked up and was stunned. She dropped what she was holding and just stared. What she was looking at was so beautiful that she almost felt the need to kneel for a moment. There was this mysterious otherworldly aura around this being.

    "MIRA?!?!" Erika awoke from her stupor when she heard Maria yell.

    Maria dropped her sword and came running to Mira and hugged her. Mira just stood there. Even though she and Maria got along well and Mira felt that Maria was genuine, it''s hard for Mira tobel someone as a friend. She''s lived through 10 lives and died 10 times. Either her friends and family die before she does or she dies before them, but in the end, she can still remember them. Even if they are still alive when she dies, she will never see them again. It''s easier when people hate her or disregard her. If someone can''t follow her whenever she dies then what''s the point of getting close to them?

    "I''m surprised to see you here Mira!! I was hoping to reach Qi Condensation and find you in 2 years, but this is even better. OH! I''m ready to break through to the Qi Condensation realm at any time. I figured that I would try to solidify my foundation and make my body stronger in the meantime. I thought about what you''re doing and how you want to grow up a little before you break through and your body stops aging so I''ve decided to make a breakthrough in the next 6 months then use the next year to consolidate my cultivation. Then I''d be ready to go on an adventure with you!" Mira happily eximed.

    "So this is Mira. You truly are iparably beautiful like Cole and Maria described. I''m Maria''s Mother, Erika. Nice to meet you." Erika said still in a half-trance starting at Mira.

    "I''m Mira. Nice to meet you." Mira nodded while Maria was still hugging her.

    Mira then turned to Maria and said, "I can see that your strength has grown, but even if you reached Qi Condensation, you''d still be useless. What have you been doing thesest 6 months that you haven''t made any progress with the sword? It almost seems like you aren''t able to synchronize your sword skills with your strength." Mira said with a slight frown.

    "A-Ahaha. Well, nobody will spar with me. Since I''m not great at the sword, I lose almost immediately to people stronger than me and there is no point with me sparring with people weaker than me." Maria said with a wry smile.

    ? "Very well. From now on you will spar with me until you can''t even move. This will be my payment for staying at your house." Mira said and Maria gulped. Cole and Erika were stunned. This sounded like amand, but they also felt like they couldn''t refuse so they just kept quiet.

    Mira shook off Maria''s arms and grabbed her. She then threw her into the training grounds.

    "Pick up your sword! Training starts now! Mira yelled

    They sparred until it was dark outside. There were many times when Cole and Erika wanted to interrupt as Mira would asionally knock Maria unconscious. Then she would just kick her in the gut to wake her up and continue. They wanted to interrupt, but Maria would just get up and charge at Mira. Mira would tell her what she''s doing wrong and continue using Maria''s weak points against her. It was rough to watch, but Maria was visibly improving even at a small rate.

    The training ended when Maria couldn''t stand anymore and was covered in bruises.

    "If you went farther into the forest with me you would die immediately." Mira said that and left.

    Maria just bitterly smiled and copsed. Erika picked her up and brought her to her room to fix her up.<sub> </sub>

    After an hour Cole, Erika, Maria, and Mira had dinner together. Mira looked at the food with a bit of mncholy.

    "It''s been almost 5 years since I''ve had something other than dried meat." Mira muttered, but everyone else heard. They could hear a distant sadness in her voice.

    They all finished dinner and Mira was led to a room so that she could sleep. Mira put her stuff in the room then went to Maria''s room. She reached her door and knocked.

    "Come in." A voice from inside said. Mira opened the door and walked in.

    "Mira?" Maria was a little surprised that Mira came to her room and wasn''t sure why she was there.

    "Hello Maria, I''d like to talk to you." Mira said and Maria wasn''t sure how to feel. It almost felt like she was about to get scolded by her mother.

    "Sure! Come in!" Either way, Maria was happy.

    Mira walked in and sat on her bed.

    "Maria, do you want to get stronger?" Mira asked curiously with a hint of seriousness.

    "Eh? I�� Well of course I do. Who doesn''t want to get stronger? Why do you ask?" Maria said unsure of why she was asked this.

    "It''s because you seem like you don''t want to." Mira said

    "What do you mean?"

    Mira ignored that question and asked something else.

    "Would you be content with your Fathers level of strength?" Mira asked instead

    "Of course! Then I could livefortably in the city!" Maria said without hesitation.

    "I see. Then would you like to be my friend?" Mira asked back with a serious face.

    "Eh? I already consider you a friend, but of course, I want to be your friend and go on adventures with you!" Maria seemed to misunderstand. There was an awkward silence between the two for a while before Mira opened her mouth.

    "Pathetic. I would never ept you as a friend with that half-assed resolve. Unless you have the resolve to join me to the peak, then you can forget about being my friend. Unless you have the resolve to watch those around you fade away to the passage of time or die due to being weak, then I''d rather have you forget about me. You are a good girl with a genuine personality and I''d hate to see that get ruined by the ruthlessness of the world." Mira said with an almost downcast-like tone. Maria was stunned by her words and didn''t know how to respond.

    "Take time and think about it. We can still go to the forest together in a year and a half, but we will part after that." Mira said and was about to get up when Maria stopped her.

    "Wait! Can I ask you something?" Maria asked. Mira nodded.

    "Why do you want to get stronger, Mira?"

    Mira clenched her fists and said with a murderous tone.

    "Vengeance." Mira muttered

    "Vengeance?" Maria didn''t know what that meant as she was sure that it wasn''t to get strong enough to just be able to kill the bandit group that raided her vige.

    "Well, that''s part of it I guess, but there is only one thing that I really want and I can only get that with enough strength." Mira paused there.

    "I just want to be able to die." Mira said with a small tear in her eye.

    Maria waspletely shocked by that answer. She''d never seen the always ruthless and decisive Mira looking so downcast. Almost like she is longing for death, but is trapped and unable to. Those words carried a sense of loss and loneliness that a 9-year-old couldn''t possibly have. She just sat there for a while before hugging Mira.

    "I don''t really understand what you mean, but I can see that you are being sincere with that thought. I can''t give you an answer to joining you on a journey to the peak yet, but I will still make the most out of the time that I currently have with you. If we have to split upter, then if fate wills it may we meet again. The only thing I want right now is to train with you and make the most out of the time that we will spend together." Maria said with a cheery smile.

    Mira just nodded and after a couple of minutes stood up. She walked towards the door and turned around right before opening the door.

    "I will probably only spend around 6 months in the city with you. I don''t n on leaving the house much since dealing with all those people sounds bothersome. I may have to ask you to get some herbs or maybe some Rank 1 pills to have as a backup while in the forest. Most of my time will either be sparring with you or training. If you decide to breakthrough to Qi Condensation in these 6 months then I will spar with you for a couple of extra weeks to get you used to your new strength. Though I will have to shamelessly ask for a Low-Grade Mortal ss space ring as payment for my services though." Mira said while Maria chuckled at that and nodded. Then Mira left and went to her room to go to sleep.

 Chapter 19 Frozen Hell

    Mira woke up and started slowly refining her organs. After a few hours of this, she stopped and went to find Maria to begin their sparring. Maria was already on the training grounds waiting for Mira. Mira started walking over to her.

    "Hey, Mira! I''ve been waiting for you!" Maria eximed

    "We will generally be sparring in the afternoon as I like to cultivate in the morning." Mira said, feeling a little bad that Maria waited here for hours for her. Maria just nodded.

    "Maria, what elemental affinity do you have. If I had to guess it''d be air or light due to your nature." Mira asked.

    "You''re right! I have a light elemental affinity, but while some light users have a healing light affinity mine seems to be more attack-focused. I haven''t spent too much time in the Dao of Light so my understanding is low and I can''t utilize the attacks that well. I already have much to learn in using the sword not to mention my element." Maria said a little dejected.

    "I see. Starting today you will use your element in our spars. You can use your element however you want, but I will make it harder for you. During our spars, I forbid you to use the same attack twice in a row." Miramanded.

    Then they began their spars. Maria had a tough time at first. The only thing she could think of is a light beam and a light wave, which is simr to Mira''s Ice de. She only used those 2 elemental attacks in the beginning, but started to get used to her element. She starteding up with other attacks but wasn''t able to utilize them. She would have to meditate on this sessionter and further understand these insights and progress in the Dao of Light. Even though her light beam and lightwave were weak, she became more proficient with these 2 attacks. She started to get used to using them while attacking with her sword as well. She would try different ways to utilize them as well.

    After the spar finished, Maria fell to the ground and looked at Mira.

    "How do you have so much stamina, Mira? I should have more stamina than you, but you seem like you could spar forever." Maria asked.

    "There are multiple reasons why you are wrong. One, you waste a lot of unnecessary energy in these spars. You use big moves orrge swings. You aren''t efficient in your energy usage. Plus you always seem to want to go all out, you should do your best to try and conserve everyst bit of energy. What if after you defeat the first enemy, another onee? If you don''t have the energy to deal with that, then all that awaits you is death. Two, part of it is your mentality. You seem to hardly ever want to push yourself to your limit, therefore your brain puts a limit for you. Surpassing this will help unlock yourtent potential and repeatedly doing this will increase that potential as well. Three, I use a scythe. If you can''t break my momentum, then all I need to do is make sure the scythe stays in my hands. Fighting the current you require little effort. Plus I''m not trying to kill you. If I was then I would put a lot more energy and force into my attacks. You should try to focus on conserving energy tost longer while using less in the uing spars. Now go meditate on your insights." Mira said and walked away.

    Maria thought about what she said and felt it was right. Mira hardly has to do anything to beat her. She just has to keep twirling her scythe blocking her hits, then attack her weak spot. The scythe can pretty much keep the momentum going once it gets started and Mira just needs to stand there with it. She got up after thinking this and went to go meditate.

    Mira went to go find Cole to ask him for something. She walked throughout the house and found him in his study. She knocked on the door and heard him tell her toe in.

    "Oh, Mira. What can I do for you? Do you need something?" He asked.

    Mira nodded. "Yes, though it can be for both me and Maria. I was wondering if you have a liquid that has a low freezing temperature?" Mira asked.

    "Yeah, we do. We have a whole pond full of it out in the back. It''s called Spirit Water, water infused with Qi and is nearly impossible to freeze. Why do you ask?"

    "I want to use my ice affinity to make the water bone-chilling for training. I want to use this to temper my muscles and if it''s a full pond then Maria can use it too. I will have her start tomorrow morning." Mira said.<sub> </sub>

    "It''s no problem, it''s there really just for looks and keeps the nts around there stay healthy. If it can be used to help Mira then feel free to use it. When are you going to start using it?" He asked with a smile.

    "Tonight."

    "Very well. Let me guide you there."

    Cole started to guide Mira to the pond. They made it to the back of the house and found a ratherrge pond. It was around 50 meters in diameter and she couldn''t see the bottom.

    "Here it is. Feel free to use it. I have to go back and do something so I''ll see youter." Cole said and turned around and left.

    Mira nodded and started to walk towards the pond. She took off her clothes and dove into the pond. She went straight to the bottom. She realized that it went around 50 meters deep. There wasn''t a lot of room at the bottom. Maybe enough for 5 people to sitfortably.

    Mira sat in a lotus position at the bottom and started releasing a frosty aura and chilling the surrounding water. She continued doing this for 10 days. She had toe up every 30 minutes for air. The day after she started, Maria went to find her and found her in the pond. Mira told her that she was preparing this pond for training and asked her to bring food to her.

    After 10 days she was satisfied with how cold the pond was. She could continue her training with this and temper her muscles. She might also be able to progress more in her Dao. After she was satisfied it was night and she went to her room to rest.

    The next morning she found Maria and dragged her to a freezing hell. When Maria walked in the back, she could already feel the bone-chilling colding from the pond. She gulped and already knew what was going to happen.

    "This will help temper your muscles. You can even try to temper your bones if you are careful, but you should wait to do that. It can also make your meridians a bit stronger too. Just make sure you don''t let your meridians freeze. Now strip." Mira said.

    Maria didn''t say anything and just did as she said. After she took off her clothes, she hesitantly walked towards the pond and refused to go in. Mira grabbed her and threw her in. She felt like she might die in this frozen hell. Her meridians were started to freeze along with the rest of her body. She immediately started circting Qi through her meridians to prevent it from freezing. Water then started seeping into her skin and muscles. They started to freeze over as well after some time. She kept circting Qi through her meridians and then sent it to her muscles to heal what''s being frozen. Her muscles were already starting topress due to the freezing temperature.

    Maria was now sure of something. Mira enjoyed sending her to various types of hells. Sparring with her is hell, her strength training is hell, now this pond is a frozen hell. Maybe she might actually send her to a fiery hell. She must''ve done something unforgivable to her in a past life to deserve this.

    Mira dove into the pond but didn''t go to the bottom. The chill and pressure from the water will be a bit too much for her right now. She went down around 10 meters and found a ce to sit then started doing what Maria is doing right now. The only difference was Mira kept releasing her frosty aura to make the pond colder. She wasn''t sure how cold the pond was, but it was probably around -40 degrees celsius currently. Absolute zero is -273 degrees celsius. If she continues this for the next 6 months and can gain more insights into the Dao of ice, she might be able to slowly get it to -100 degrees celsius. Her muscles would be like metal, but she would have to find a way to temper her bones more to utilize that power. If her bones weren''t stronger enough then they would crack under the pressure of her muscles.

    Mira and Maria continued this for 6 hours. They then got out to eat something and went to the training grounds to spar. After sparring, Mira went back to the pond to try to temper her bones with the freezing temperature. The only way to do this is to let her bones freeze over and start to form hairline fractures on her bones, circte Qi through her meridians, and send it to her bones to start using that energy to heal the cracks. After a while, Mira began to notice that using the cold her temper her bones were more efficient due to her physique. Part of the freezing energy from the water would be absorbed into her bones after the bones started freezing. Doing this would help to further increase her understanding of the Dao of ice, making her elemental attacks stronger. Mira then entered a state of enlightenment as her understanding of Ice was further increasing. During this time, Mira almost looked like she was dead. Her heartbeat was incredibly slow and her eyes were shut. She stayed in this state for about an hour before she woke up from it. She immediately swam to the surface to steady herself. She realized that she hit a bottleneck in her Dao and didn''t know when she would be able to cross it to reach the next stage in her understanding. Mira dove back in and continued tempering her muscles and bones until midnight. Afterward, she got out and went to her room to sleep.

    Mira and Maria would continue their training of muscle tempering in the pond in the morning, sparring in the afternoon, then Mira and Maria would split up. Maria would meditate on her insights during sparring and Mira would temper her bones and muscles at night. Mira would also keep making the pond colder every time she went in. This went on until Maria was ready to break through to Qi Condensation.

 Chapter 20 Marias Breakthrough

    The wonderful and peaceful days of Maria''s life were gone now that Mira was here. For the past 6 months, she was basically tortured every day. Sometimes Maria would try to sneak out of the house after sparring with her during the afternoon, but Mira would sense it the next day and force torture on her. This would happen over and over and Maria keptining to Mira saying that she needs a day off from training. Afterining enough, Mira gave in and gave her 1 day per week to do whatever she wanted. That one day off was like heaven, no it was better than heaven. No demon instructor yelling at her for making the simplest mistakes, no freezing hell that would almost kill her every time she got in, no mindless meditating. The only thing is that the next day after her day off was always the worst. She couldn''t tell if Mira was angry or bored the previous day and decided to take it out on her or maybe Mira just enjoys torturing her.

    Mira woulde up with these outrageous things on this day. During the frozen hell training session, Mira would push her down farther into the pond. Mind you the pond was so cold after a couple of months that icicles would form out of thin air constantly. Someone that doesn''t have a strong enough body and can''t circte Qi would immediately just in the presence of the pond. The maids of the house ssified the whole back area of the house as a danger zone.

    After suffering from this kind of cold they would move onto sparring. Well, it wasn''t really sparring. Mira would make her practice her uracy along with power control. Maria would be forced to hit blocks of wood over and over again with varying amounts of power. There was a specific block for 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, and 80% power; Mira herself would be 100% power. She would hit these blocks with the specified amount of power for 2 hours then move on to the next segment. Mira would spin her scythe and Maria would have to hit the same spot on her scythe over and over again. Mira would only fight back if she missed the spot. It was barely a fight, as when she missed she would immediately wake up on the ground. If Mira was in a really bad mood, then Maria would have to do this with her light element.

    After fulfilling Mira''s sick desires on the training grounds, Maria would get dragged to the frozen abyss of a pond and forced to temper her bones and muscles. This is not an easy thing to do. It''s incredibly painful. Having your bones constantly fractured and repaired due to the cold is way more painful than just breaking your bones. After doing this till midnight, Mira would go back to Maria''s room with her and made sure she meditated on her Dao of Light at night.

    While she was able to enjoy heaven, her day off, she would have to face its opposite the next day, but to Maria, it was worth it. She enjoyed this kind of life for 6 months until she told Mira and her Dad that she was ready to break through.

    Now it was the day of her breakthrough. Mira is now 10 years old and Maria is 17. Mira hasn''t grown a whole lot and still has a childish look, but Maria looks a lot more mature than she did when they first met. Maria looks like a young woman now.

    Maria was currently sitting in a lotus position in the middle of the training grounds with Mira, Cole, and Erika around her watching.

    "Alright Maria, to break through to Qi Condensation you have to absorb the Qi in the air and circte it through your meridians. After you have circted it once, then you can start absorbing the surrounding Qi and collecting it into your meridians. When all of your meridians are packed full of Qi, start condensing the energy. Continue the process of collecting and condensing until you have reached your limit. Then after you''ve reached your limit circte your Qi one time.  Once you''ve circted it once, your body will then start sending it to the rest of your body. It won''t send much, but you will feel like you are overflowing with power and vitality." Cole exined to Maria and she nodded back at him and started doing exactly as he said.

    She absorbed the surrounding Qi and started circting it. After that, she began to gather and absorb the Qi in the surrounding area. A small vortex appeared above her. She continues absorbing Qi for a little over 24 hours, which was more than the average person. This was due to her meridians being stronger than an average person because of her using the freezing pond. She was able to absorb more Qi in her meridians, but it will also take a bit longer to break through each minor stage in Qi Condensation as she needs more Qi.

    After collecting enough energy in her meridians she began to circte it all throughout her body. After 1 full rotation, it started to seep into every part of her body. She opened her eyes and felt overflowing with power. She even looked more beautiful than before due to the effects of the massive amount of energy now in her body. She stood up and looked at everybody with a big smile on her face.

    ""Congrattions on breaking through to Qi Condensation!"" They all said at the same time.

    Mira examined her for a minute and nodded. She was very satisfied with the result of this breakthrough. Maria was a lot stronger than she had originally anticipated.

    ''At least sparring might not be so boring now.'' is what Mira thought looking at Maria.

    "Get used to your new strength for today. Spend some time with your family and celebrate a little. We will spar all day tomorrow to get you ustomed to your newfound strength. Oh, one more thing. I''ve changed my ns a little. I will stay here for another 6 months. In this time I will break through to the Organ Refinement Stage. Your training schedule will also change. You will still spar with me, but not as much. Most of your time will be spent learning how to control your power and the uracy of it. We will also be focusing on your footwork and tightening up your movements as to not waste energy. I don''t really know anything pertaining to sword footwork, but I can work on making your movement more precise and fluid. After these 6 months, we will go to the forest. Before going to the forest, I want to see your cultivation consolidated too."<sub> </sub>

    Maria started to panic. She thought that might be free of this demon for almost a full year, but now not only was Mira staying here for another 6 months. Maria also had to follow her to the forest after that. She knew that the forest isn''t going to be some rxing vacation. Cole and Erika saw Maria''s facepletely devoid of color and justughed dryly. They could tell Mira to leave and she would probably leave instantly, but they had no reason to. Mira kept to herself, almost never talked or bothered anyone, and only made Maria stronger. Hell, even they used that pond and got a bit stronger. Mira being here was mutually beneficial to everyone. They just gave Maria a thumbs up and snickered with a bit of schadenfreude. Maria looked at them and asked for help with her eyes, but they just turned away. It didn''t take long though for Maria to go back to her cheerful self. She spent time with her parents and celebrated with them. It was one of the best and most fulfilling days of her life. By the end of the day she had already forgotten about the next 6 months of never-ending hell.

    The next day happened and Maria was drilled on everything. They didn''t spar at all, but Mira was just watching over Maria waiting for her to make a mistake in her training. Once she did, Mira would whip her. This whip had a sharp end to it as well. Maria was covered in blood by the end of the day and had to take a rejuvenation pill to restore her wounds.

    For the next 3 months, it was like this for Maria. Mira wouldn''t always be with Maria, it was only around once a week that she woulde and check on her. Most of the time Mira was working on refining her organs.

    After 3 months Mira finally reached the point where she can break through to the next stage. She sat in a lotus position and gathered Qi to forcefully enter all of her organs. The Qi that was sent to her organs began making small tears all over all of her organs. It hurt like hell, especially her heart. After tearing and healing her organs over and over again, something clicked. The surrounding Qi entered her body and wrappedpletely around her organs. The energy then began to seep into them until it was all sucked in. This is an extremely painful process. It felt like the organs in her body were trying to be born anew. The Qi was starting to rece the cells in her organs, making them stronger. This also allowed her to be a vessel to help store and control the energy in her body. After this long and painful process of integrating Qi into the organs, Mira finally opened her eyes. Because her body is extraordinarily strong for someone at the Body Tempering Realm, her organs needed to catch up and therefore collect, absorb, and integrate more energy into them. Normally this process wouldn''t be this long and painful. It took her over 30 hours for this process to finally end. This was longer than Maria''s breakthrough into Qi Condensation.

    She stood up and immediately went to her bed and copsed. She slept for 2 days and 2 nights and woke up in the morning of the third day. Everyone congratted her on her breakthrough. Mira thought about leaving to the forest now but decided against it. There are still benefits to be had from the pond, plus she doesn''t know how to get past this bottleneck in her Dao. So might be able to talk to Cole as he is a Half-Step Core Formation Realm expert. Maria decided to herself and Maria the day off. They tried various food, Maria showed her around the house or brought her to her favorite ces in the house and Maria chatted with her all day. Mira didn''t talk much but would answer any questions she had to the best of her abilities. Maria also demanded that Mira sleep with her since it was their day off and Mira had no reason to decline and decided to stay in Maria''s room for the night.

    The next day, Mira got up and went to go talk to Cole.

    "Oh hey Mira, what''s up?" He asked casually, seeing that Mira was looking for him.

    "I want to ask you something. I''ve hit a bottleneck in my Dao and I don''t know how to breakthrough. What do I do?" Mira asked.

    "That''s a tough question since every Dao is unique even if they have the same element. Daos are profound and limitless. All I can tell you is that you have to gather enough insights and enlightenments to progress further in a Dao. You should also try to shape the Dao to match you. For example, let''s say two people are progressing in the Dao of Fire. The first person might want to shape his fire Dao to have destructive properties. This type of person might be hot-blooded, wanting to destroy everything in his path. But the second person might shape his fire Dao to be controlled. Only burning what he wants to burn. Not all Daos are equal either, but generally, the harder a Dao is to progress the more potent it will be." Cole said, trying his best to exin this to Mira.

    "I see. I think I understand. I need to figure out what sort of ice suits me the most and try to gain insights into that. Thank you for the exnation."

    "No problem. You have helped Maria so much that this is nothing! HAHA" Coleughed.

    Mira just nodded and walked away. She wasn''t sure how long it will take to figure out what suits her, but she won''t try to rush it as this is very important for her future.

 Chapter 21 Sword Arts And Preparation

    After talking with Cole, Mira went to go find Maria to talk to her as well. She found Maria in a hallway talking with her mom.

    "Maria." Mira called out to her.

    "Oh! Hey Mira. What''s up?" Maria said with a smile.

    "I think you are currently at a point in your skills and strength to be able to utilize a sword art. Does your family have any sword art manuals for you to learn? Preferably ones that don''t require an element or ones of the light element." Mira said.

    "Hehe, my mom and I were just discussing that, and yes I have already decided what Sword Art Manuals to learn. One is a Mid-Grade Mortal light element sword art and another is a Low-Grade Earth sword art. The light element is called Light Sword and the Earth Grade one is called Triple Draw. Light Sword oveys my sword with light making it longer, sharper, and wider. Triple Drawsbines 3 sword attacks into 1. So if I use this and sh with the sword, the power will be equal to 3 sword attacks." Maria said, excited to try out these new attacks.

    "Good. You should be able to learn and use these at the end of the next 3 months, but since you are only at Stage 1 out of 9 in the Qi Condensation then these attacks will use a lot of energy. You won''t be able to practice these techniques too often, but enough to learn them and have them be a trump card or finishing move. You should go with your mother to grab the manuals and go to the practice area and you should go with her Miss Erika. You should be able to give Maria some pointers. I don''t know these sword arts and won''t be of much help, plus I don''t use a sword. I''ll periodically check on you for the next 2 months than during thest month we will spar and I''ll have you utilize those sword arts to make sure you are proficient enough to use them in battle. You still need to go to the pond for a total of 6 hours every day though. I don''t care how or when, but get 6 hours in the pond to try and temper your meridians and bones." Mira said.

    Erika nodded at that n, but Maria was ecstatic when she heard that. She finally has free time. She just has to make sure to learn these sword arts and stay in the pond for 6 hours a day.

    Mira made her way to the pond and started tempering her meridians and meditating on what type of ice suits her. Maria decided that she would go outside the house as much as she could within these next 2 months as she is not sure when the next time she will have free time like this. It didn''t matter what she did outside, even just walking around the streets would be fine.

    They continued their schedule like this for the next 2 months until it was time for Mira to test Maria on her.

    In the training ground, Mira and Maria were standing, facing off against each other. They both had their weapons out. Maria charged toward her and used her Triple Draw Sword Art. Three illusory swordsbined into her physical sword, but the second and third illusory swords were barely visible. Mira felt danger from this move. If this were a fight she would''ve dodged, but since this is only a spar she wanted to take this move head-on. This would also give her a feel for her strength. She blocked the hit head-on with her scythe and got pushed back 10 meters by the force of the strike. Mira''s body was aching, but no bones were broken. If she were to fight someone that could use a move like this more than once then she needs to be extremely careful. She realized her physical prowess is in the Early Qi Condensation Realm, but if she has to fight someone in the Qi Condensation Realm then the best thing to do is to dodge the weapon art attacks. She would have to end the fight early if she wanted to win.

    "That''s a good attack, but it looks like you still haven''t been able topletely form the second and third illusory sword." Mira said trying to examine it.

    "Right! It''s so cool! And if I don''t use it at full power, I should be able to use it a few more times without running out of energy."

    "Alright, restore your energy for now. After that, I want to see your Light Sword sword art next."

    Maria restored her energy then got into her fighting stance. She then used Light Sword and a light started to cover her sword making it longer and wider. It also looked sharper. The light that was oveid on the sword was rather faint, but as long as Maria progresses further in the Dao of Light then the light around the sword will get denser.

    Maria charged at Mira, but Mira didn''t feel the sense of danger from this attack like the other. She blocked it and was pushed back about half a meter and her hands shook a little, but other than that she was fine. She wouldn''t want to block this attack constantly as it might cause injuries after a while.

    "This attack doesn''t cost nearly as much Qi as the other sword art and the strength mainly relies on how deep my understanding is." Maria said after examining the attack.<sub> </sub>

    "Good. You should use this attack at full power until you run out of energy just to see how long is the maximum time you canst." Mira said and walked off the training ground. She didn''t feel like blocking that sword so many times even if she could.

    Maria kept Light Sword active and continuously swung it. She was able to swing it at full power around 30 times before her energy started running out.

    "Not bad. As long as you keep increasing your understanding this move will only get stronger. I don''t think there is really any need for me to spar with you. It also looks like you consolidated your foundation already. Just use this next month to rest up and prepare for our journey in the forest. Our goal in the forest is to look for any lucky encounters that can increase our strength. I have a n already set for when we get there."

    "FINALLY!! No more tort-I mean training!! Ok, Mira, I know you don''t like people, but I''m taking you out into the city to do a bit of shopping. We can also have lots of food on the way!" Maria eximed.

    "Very well. I also thought about going out in the city to prepare. Prepare a mask for me. If someone asks where Ie from just say that Ie from the East and that I asked you to be my guide. If they aren''t brainless, they will know that means."

    "Okay!"

    After an hour or so Mira and Maria were finally set to go out into the city. Mira wore a ck hanfu with red lining that Cole had just decided to give to her. She was also wearing a ck mask that covered her entire face. She didn''t change her hair in any way as it might actually be better if she doesn''t. Mira also carried a frosty aura around her.

    Maria just wore a white Hanfu with a red flower in her short golden hair. She looked like a beautiful young maiden.

    They started walking down the streets and Maria discussed the currency in town. Apparently, there are several different types of currency. Basically, anything that is Rank 1 or below cost coins. The coins are separated between Copper, Silver, and Gold. 10 copper coins equal 1 silver and 10 silver equal 1 gold. People still in the Body Tempering Realm use this currency because they can''t be considered a true cultivator until they reach Qi Condensation. The currency that Qi Condensation people and above use are Spirit Stones. There are 4 types of spirit stones, Low, Mid, Late, and Peak; 1000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones equal 1 Mid-Grade, 1000 Mid-Grade equals 1 Late-Grade, and 1000 Late-Grade equals 1 Peak-Grade. Spirit Stones are generally around the size of a baby''s fist. Spirit Stones are stones that hold a massive amount of Qi in them. Generally, it is much more efficient to absorb the energy from Spirit Stones than it is to absorb it from the air. Even with that being the case, one cannot simply sit and absorb Spirit Stones until they ascend. One''s foundation bes more unstable if you only absorb from Spirit Stones. In order to stabilize it, one has to consolidate one''s foundation. This is essentially getting your body ustomed to the new power it holds, slowly assimting the power, going through life and death experiences, then absorbing enough Qi from the air until you hit a bottleneck; Only then can you go back to using Spirit Stones to keep a steady foundation. If you keep absorbing Qi with an unsteady foundation, you won''t be able to progress as far as you could and may even end up dying due to it.

    They stopped at a number of food stalls to have a snack while they walk around. Mira said that she wanted to have a couple of Rejuvination Pills and some Blood Restoration Pills. The Blood Restoration Pill does exactly what it says, it helps supply lost blood to the body. She also wanted a Spatial Ring. She only wants one that has around 5 cubic meters in it. She also wanted some bandages just in case. Mira wanted some herbs as well, but decided that she can get what she needs during her journey in the forest.

    They walked into some random Herb and Pill shop and Mira had Maria buy what she wanted. All Mira needed were rank 1 Pills, which were incredibly cheap especially for someone like Maria. Maria decided to buy some for herself as well.

    After they got the herbs, Maria brought Mira to a magic treasures store and bought a low quality Spatial Ring for her. Most people have Spatial Rings, but they get more rare the higher in quality they go. Many people inrge cities have at least a Spatial Ring with 5 cubic meters. When all of those people came to search for Mira when she was still living in the cave, most were just vigers andmon hunters so she didn''t get to plunder any spatial rings from them.

    Maria bought Mira a spatial ring that had 5 cubic meters then Maria dragged Mira to a restaurant for some dinner. Lots of people stared at her as her silver hair was rather abnormal, but with Mira''s frosty aura exuding from her body everyone knew that she wanted to be left alone. There were even some young masters of different the various families in the restaurant that thought about talking to her as she seemed like an incredible beauty underneath the mask. But for sometimes Mira would sweep her gaze across the restaurant and anybody that was looking at her felt a suffocating killing intent. The amount of danger that they felt from this girl was immense and they felt that nothing good woulde from talking with her.

    Mira and Maria had a nice dinner then went back to the Zaria household. Mira was going to use the next month to rest her mind. Living in a forest with constant dangers in extremely taxing, so she wanted to use this time to just rx. Maria did not have such thoughts, she was just going to continue doing whatever she wanted.

 Chapter 22 Back To The Forest

    Mira was currently sitting on her bed, meditating. After a while, she stopped and opened her eyes. It was time to go. It''s been a month and Mira has spent the entire time doing nothing but meditating and resting. She might not be back in a city for a while and will be trying to brave the dangers of the forest.

    She put on her space ring and saw 10 Rank 1 Blood Restoration Pills, 10 Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pills, some bandages, enough rations tost her a month, a week''s worth of clothes, a set of Daoist robes, and a ck mask in her Spatial Ring. These things barely took up 1 cubic meter with most of it being the rations. Mira decided to change clothes and put on her ck Daoist robes and ck mask and went to get Maria.

    Maria was doing the same thing as Mira. Her Spatial Ring has pretty much the same things, but she had a few extra things. She had 20 more Rank 1 Blood Restoration and Rejuvenation Pills, 2 Rank 2 Blood Restoration Pills, 2 Rank 2 Rejuvenation Pills, a talisman that her father gave her, and lots of Spirit Stones to aid in her cultivation on her journey. Maria''s foundation is stable and will probably break through to Stage 2 Qi Condensation soon. After she checked her stuff and nodded, she also changed into a red Daoist robe and went to find Mira.

    They met up in the hallway and Maria brought Mira with her to say goodbye to her parents.

    "Mom, Dad! Mira and I are going. I don''t know when I''ll be back, but I wille back safe and sound." Maria said to her parents.

    "Okay, Sweetie, as long as youe back alive that''s enough for us. Stay safe. I love you." Erika said with a loving smile.

    Cole nodded and said, "We love you, Maria. Juste back alive, it doesn''t matter if you don''t gain any strength on this trip. Strength doesn''t matter if you''re dead." Then he turned to Mira and said, "Please take care of Maria."

    "You do know that she is actually stronger than me right? But I will do my best to at least make sure she doesn''t get us both killed." Mira said.

    Everyone just smiled wryly since they knew this was just how Mira acted. They also knew that Maria was yful, naive, and gets bored easily, and may very well get herself in trouble if Mira isn''t there to reprimand her.

    "Anyways, we are off! I love you two. See youter!" Maria yelled.

    Mira started to walk away with Maria at her side. It didn''t take long for the two to reach the city gate. After exiting the city they took off to the Dark Moon Forest. The first destination was their old cave. It only took them a couple of hours to reach the cave. There was still a faint aura of death and the ground was still slightly red, but the bones and corpses were all gone. The ice in the cave was gone too. Mira looked at Maria and said something that she was already expecting.

    "I want us to fight a Rank 2 Magical Beast. Maybe a couple. We need to get used to fighting with each other and coordinating. Plus you need to be able to kill a Low-Stage Rank 2 Magical beast by yourself." Mira said and Maria nodded.

    "It''s time to hunt!" Mira said and dragged Maria along with her to go deeper into the forest.

    They ran through the forest for about an hour before they stumbled across a tiger-looking magical beast. It was white and looked like a refined jade turned into a tiger.

    "This is a White-Jade Tiger. It looks like it hasn''t fully grown yet. It should be a Low-Stage Rank 2." Mira said and Maria nodded. During thest year that Mira has stayed with the Zaria Family, she would also study the different Magical Beasts.

    "You will go in first and fight with it head-on. I will start by supporting you from behind with my ice. We will go from there. This will be a good chance to finally go all out and gather experience." Mia said and Maria just nodded again.

    "Go!"

    They both came out in front of the tiger and Maria started to charge towards it. The tiger reacted quickly and dodged her de and tried to swipe at Maria, but Maira retreated a step and the tiger w barely missed. Right afterwards Maria stabbed her sword towards the tiger, but the tiger had already stepped back. Right as the tiger retreated Mira sent two ice needles towards its eyes and sent an Ice-de towards its legs.<sub> </sub>

    The tiger felt danger from the side and immediately dodged, but an ice needle still stabbed into the tiger''s leg. It wasn''t the biggest deal for the tiger and was just a minor wound, but still annoying. It looked at Mira hatefully.

    Maria didn''t let this go and she used her Light Sword with 50% power and began charging towards the tiger. Since her de was 2 times longer now the tiger had a harder time dodging the attacks.

    Maria kept attacking the tiger. The tiger was able to dodge most of the attacks or use his ws to block them, but there were still several attacks that wounded its body. This was mainly because Mira was running around the tiger shooting ice needles at its eyes and ice des at his feet. This was way more annoying than Maria.

    The tiger decided to switch targets and charged towards Mira.

    "Oh? So you want to y with me, kitty. Very well. Come! Just using your light beams from a distance and look for an opportunity to strike, Maria." Mira taunted and told Maria what to do as the tiger charged towards Mira.

    Mira''s twirling scythe shot 2 more ice des at the tiger''s feet and head. The tiger blocked the one going for his head as he jumped over the one towards his feet, but Mira shot 2 ice needles towards its eyes. These were hidden behind the Ice-de. One of them missed, but the second one hit its left eye. The tiger roared in pain but still kept charging. Maria was shooting light beams at it, but the tiger wasn''t going to fall for that nonsense anymore especially when the light beams are easier to see than ice needles. He easily dodged them and leapt towards Mira trying to rip open her neck and chest. Mira sidestepped the leap, but the tiger still shed towards Mira. Mira didn''t let this chance go and used the blindspot in the tiger''s left eye to slice off his left foot.

    This was the chance that Maria was looking for. She charged towards the tiger while 3 illusory swords formed together into one. She charged towards the tiger as it stumbled back with its left leg cut off and swung her sword down onto its neck. The tiger''s head went flying and she left a crack in the ground below the tiger.

    "Phew! That was easier than I thought! I used quite a bit of energy, but not enough that I can''t fight or run away." Maria said happily. This was her first time killing a Rank 2 beast.

    "Well, we did ambush the tiger. Not to mention that we are incredibly annoying to deal with. It would''ve been much harder if you or I were fighting him alone. Anyways, restore your strength. We are not done hunting. I want us to kill a Rank 2 bird, a Rank 2 insect, and one more Rank 2 beast to kill together. Then I want us to try to hunt Rank 2''s by ourselves. Only then will I feel safe enough to brave the various dangers of the forest with you." Mira said, instantly destroying all of Maria''s happiness.

    Mira stored the corpse of the tiger and they found a quiet ce to restore their strength then went on to hunt some more.

    It took them a couple of days to find the next Rank 2 beast.

    All of a sudden Mira just pushed Maria and blocked a ck blur with her scythe. She slid back a couple of meters. She then realized what just attacked her. It was a Rank 2 Night Hawk. It uses the shadows to blend in then dive-bomb its prey. If its prey can''t react in time, they will usually die instantly from the power behind the attack.

    "It looks like we are the ones being hunted. It''s a Rank 2 Night Hawk. They use shadows as cover and ces to hide. This one will be a bit troublesome, but they generally have weaker bodies as they are meant for assassinations. Use your Light Sword, that should help illuminate this area a bit." Mira said while Maria just nodded.

    Maria started using her Light Sword and the surrounding area started to light up. Mira built up momentum in her scythe and waited for the next attack from the Night Hawk. It took around 3 minutes before the night hawk attacks Mira again. This time Mira was ready. Before the hawk could even reach Mira, she had already smacked it on the side of its body. The hawk tumbled on the ground and Maria used this chance and dove towards the hawk cutting it in half with her light sword.

    "That was a lot more stressful than the tiger even though we killed it in 2 moves." Maria said surprised.

    "Yeah well, that''s why I wanted us to experience this. Not all of our battles will be head-on. Magical Beasts aren''t that stupid. If you aren''t careful, then you might die without even knowing how. Plus if you have enough experience and can live past these near-death experiences then you can end up building something like a 6th sense for danger. I want us to fight an insect next, but if what we find next isn''t an insect then we will take turns fighting them by ourselves until we find an insect. The reason I want us to find and kill an insect is that they are extremely annoying to kill. They aren''t as smart as beasts, but their carapaces are incredibly strong." Mira exined why she was doing this.

    They then began their journey to hunt other Rank 2 magical beasts.

 Chapter 23 Albino Tree Snake

    The hunt has begun. Mira and Maria crept through the forest trying to find any Rank 2 beast that they could. They were on the lookout for an insect-type magical beast, but they didn''t seem verymon in the Dark Moon Forest. Either that or they were able to escape Mira and Maria''s eye. After a week of creeping through the forest, they came upon a weird-looking tree. There was a scent of blood around the tree. After looking closer at the base of the tree they found out that there was a giant white snake coiled around it. The presence this snake had was greater than of the tiger and hawk they defeated before this.

    "Fuck. A Mid-Stage Rank 2 Albino Tree Snake. What do you want to do Maria? Fight or back away? He hasn''t noticed us so yet so hurry up and decide. I will let you make the call here." Mira said surprising Maria. Mira never lets Maria decide anything and she chooses now of all times?!

    "Eh?! I-I d-don''t know! Is it even worth it to fight the snake? Is there anything precious nearby that''s keeping him around the tree?"

    "That''s the point of this journey. Nothing in this world is free. Risk often upies reward. The only way to open up the opportunity for reward is to brave the dangers and fight for them. It could have nothing, or if it does have something it could be useless to us. This is the only way to get to the peak!! Now choose!" Mira said with resolve. Obviously willing to trust and follow Maria''s choice, whatever that may be. This made Maria feel touched, but now wasn''t the time for that.

    "Let''s fight! As you said, that''s the whole point of this journey. I might not even get a choice next time, so at least this time will be on our own terms." Maria said with a face full of resolve. Mira nodded at this sight. This is exactly what she wanted to hear. Now she just needs a little push and Maria might be able to be someone amazing in the future.

    "Good. Since you want to do this then you make the n. I will follow it and adapt ordingly."

    Maria nodded and said, "Okay. I think that we should that I should go up in the tree above it and you should�� Well, since I have the power to kill it then I need you to distract it while I try to kill it in one move."

    Mira was stunned.

    ''This kid actually wanted to use me as fucking bait! This n kind of sucks too! Kill it in one shot? As if! I''d have to basically present its neck to you, you fucking bastard! I coulde up with 10 better ns that won''t get me almost killed, but I will allow you to do it this time. This is an opportunity for this naive little girl to grow up. She needs an experience like this if she wants to even think about following me and being someone that I can call a friend. Plus I shouldn''t die in one hit from this beast, so she can just deal with my half-dead body afterwords. ''

    "Very well. I will do my best as�� bait." Mira forced out the words.

    Maria nodded happily at those words and began climbing. Maria didn''t climb up the snake''s tree right now as that might alert the snake. She started a bit farther away and crawled closer up in the trees and waited for Mira to start to make her move. Once Mira saw that she was in position, Mira took out her scythe and charged at the snake.

    The snake senseding immediately and lifted his head up. Seeing that this tiny human dared to disturb him, the snake sent its tail to smack her like a whip. Mira dodged this and tried to sh its head with her scythe, but the snake had just raised its head and tried to whip her with its tail again. Mira narrowly dodge it and used her scythe to push the tail away from her as she charged forward. Mira twirled her scythe and was able to smash on the tip of its nose, forcing its head and neck down. Maria was already prepared to jump and when Mira was about to hit the snake on the nose as she prepared her Triple Draws and Light de at the same time. When Mira forced the snake''s head down, Maria silently dropped from the trees. The snake was pissed and started to lift its head. It then sent its tail to hit Mira from the side and Mira didn''t have time to dodge.

    *BAM*

    Mira got hit in the side of the ribs and flew through the air and at the same time Maria had already cut into the snake''s head. She made it all the way to the bone and crack the spinal cord, but the snake was still alive.

    "Mira!" Maria started to panic. She felt like the snake was still alive, but Mira was clearly in bad shape taking a direct hit like that. She hesitated and almost started running towards Mira until she heard a voice that was barely able to get the words out.<sub> </sub>

    "Kill the damn beast first you dumbass!" Mira said and was going in and out of consciousness.

    Maria started letting out tears but did as she said. She mustered up thest bit of strength she had and hit the spot on the bone that was starting to crack. She decapitated the snake, but the snake had already sent its tail to attack her and the remaining momentum hit Maria and sent her flying. Maria dropped to the ground without any energy left. She had used everyst bit of it in thatst attack and could barely move her body especially after getting hit.

    Maria had to wait a couple of minutes before she was able to get a Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pill out of her Spatial Ring and pop it into her mouth. Her injuries weren''t life-threatening. She had some cracked ribs and was bruised all over, but would still live. She was just out of energy.

    After around 10 minutes she had enough energy to stand and walk over to Mira. Mira was extremely pale and her breathing was ragged. Blood was alsoing out of her mouth every so often. Her chest was caved in and it looked like a lot of bones were either broken or fractured.

    Maria dropped to her knees and started shaking. She didn''t know what to do. Tears were overflowing out of her eyes.

    "Fucking�� Save�� MEEE!!!" Mira couldn''t even open her eyes and was just barely able to mutter this out.

    Maria took out one of her Rank 2 Rejuvenation and Blood Restoration pills and forced them into Mira''s mouth. Mira unconsciously gulped them down and they immediately began healing her. Mira soon healed enough that she was able to whisper to Maria.

    "If there are any bones that are out of ce, put them back in ce so they can heal properly. If what you gave me was a Rank 2 pill then it should be able to heal my ribs and internal bleeding. After I begin healing, collect the corpse, look around the tree to see if the snake was keeping anything. Then take me somewhere safe." Mira barely muttered then fainted.

    Maria was shaking uncontrobly. She looked at Mira''s right arm, which was bent in a way that an arm isn''t supposed to bend. She could also partially see the bone protruding through the skin. She grabbed her arm with shaky hands and tried to force the bone back to the way it was. She started wailing as she did this. She could hear the bones cracking as she shoved the bone back into her arm and pushed it back in ce. It took 20 minutes for the arm to heal enough that it wasn''t able to move out of ce again.

    Maria took out the bandages and began wrapping pretty much Mira''s entire body. Mira was covered in blood, but the bleeding seemed to stop. Maria just stared at Mira''s body that was new dyed red.

    "I''m so sorry! This wouldn''t have happened if not for me! Dammit!!! Why did I even use you as bait!? You are weaker than me! How did I not think of this happening?! This is all my fault! Pleasee back to me!! I''m sorry!!" Maria started screaming.

    She kept repeating this as she finished wrapping Mira''s body in bandages. She continued doing as Mira instructed and went over to the snake, she stored the corpse and began searching around the tree. She found a small hole at the base of the tree with a blue and red flower in it. She had no idea what it was, and it seemed like it hasn''t fully grown yet. It isn''t a Rank 2 flower but isn''t a Rank 1 either. This must be why the snake was hiding it. He was waiting for it to grow. Maria thought. She didn''t pluck the flow but dug it up. Making sure to keep the roots and everything intact.

    Once that was all done, she went to Mira and lightly picked her up, and ran off to find a cave to hide in and treat to let her heal. It took her several hours of running to find a suitable cave. She found a small cave surrounded by thick trees. It was barely big enough for the two of them. Maria ced Mira inside the cave and began to try and hide it as best as she could. After a couple of hours, unless someone knew there was a cave here, nobody would find it. Maria nodded and went inside the cave. Mira was still unconscious.

    "I don''t think Mira will wake up for a while. Her body was so badly hurt that even the Rank 2 pill had to use most of its energy just to heal the worst wounds. Pills aren''t God and I can''t just keep shoving pills in her mouth. What do I do now?"

 Chapter 24 Maria Alone(Maria POV)

    Maria POV

    "What do I do now? Should I use the talisman my Dad gave me? No no. If Mira knew that, she would definitely beat the crap out of me then leave probably never talking to me again. I don''t want that! If I was stronger this wouldn''t have happened and I could''ve fought it head-on! Yeah! Strength, I need strength." I said trying to assure herself, but something felt off.

    "What the hell am I saying?! Mira would''ve killed me herself if she heard that. But why do I feel like something is off about this whole situation? Nothing happened like it normally does. Why did Mira let me choose? Why did she make mee up with the n? Why did she follow through with the n?" I began to think about this.

    "Hmmm. Mira seldom does anything without some sort of n in mind. She''s ruthless not only to others but also to herself. She also says that she needs to be able to reach the peak. That''s the second time that she mentioned it. She also said that if I want to be her friend, then I need the resolve to join her at the peak by watching family and friends die while I live. Ah! The reason she let me choose! She probably guessed that I would choose to fight it after giving her little speech beforehand. Then she must''ve known that when I woulde up with a n it would be terrible. But the reason I don''t understand is why. It almost feels like she is raising me and setting up trials for me to grow up and get stronger. This trial is to make me understand that my actions have consequences. That I might have to watch as those around me die either by someone else or through my actions and/or orders. Is she putting me on a path to be strong? Strong enough to be her friend and join her through the passage of time. How badly does she want someone like that?"

    "Well Mira, since you want me to be strong then I guess I can''t disappoint you." I said to the unconscious Mira.

    I couldn''t help but let out a tear. Why did it have to turn out like this? We literally just got here and now you are in a half-dead state. Don''t worry Mira. By the time you wake up, I won''t be the same naive little girl as before. I promise.

    I took out the blue and fire flower that I found earlier and nted it. Hopefully, it''ll get to Rank 2 before Mira wakes up. It seems like it might be useful. I just have no idea what it actually does.

    I guess I will make some food for the time being and rest up.

    I begin to cook up the snake meat. I will have to cut it up into tiny pieces in order to feed it to Mira. Oh well, I can just cook a lot of meat at the same time so I don''t have to continuously spend time on it.

    After a couple of hours, I finally finished making all of the food and cut it all up. I then began essentially forcing the food down her throat. Luckily her body epted it and didn''t choke on itself.

    "This is all I can do for you right now Mira." I said and got up to go to sleep.

    The next morning I got up and decided that I need to do my best to get stronger. Not just physically, but mentally as well. I need to get smarter. I ate my breakfast and went out of the cave to go hunting.

    I went out to search for beasts to challenge. I don''t know how deep we are in the forest as I didn''t look where I was going when I took Mira to a cave. Hopefully, we aren''t too close to the core region of the forest.

    After a couple of hours of creeping through the forest, I spotted something nostalgic. It was a Low-Stage Rank 2 Dark Moon Bear. The Moon Bear was the bear that almost killed me back then and if it weren''t for Mira saving me, I probably wouldn''t be alive. I guess it''s time for a little payback even though the other guy already died. I don''t want any tricks other than facing them head-on.

    "Oi! Bear!" I yelled out to it. The bear turned around and roared. We charged at each other and I started shing at the bear, but the bear just blocked my attacks with its giant ws. This bear was freaking huge. It was 3 meters tall when it stood and a full meter wide. Whenever my attacks collided with him, it felt like I was fighting a fortress. asionally his long nails would dig into my skin and tear off bits of flesh.

    ''Light Sword'' I thought in my mind and my de turned into a huge light greatsword. I started shing again. My sword was starting to leave gashes on his ws. If it tries to keep this up then it will only lose its ws. He might try to go for a big attack soon.<sub> </sub>

    The bear then started to collect what seemed like dark energy around its ws. The bear shed its ws at me and the dark w sent what looked like a dark sh from its w toward me. I was able to block the attack, but the bits of remnant energy seemed to still cause minor wounds on my body and starting to almost corrode her skin like poison. The bear kept using those dark shes and I decided to just try to dodge most of them as even blocking it is annoying.

    After trading back and forth for about 10 minutes the bear started to run out of energy. When the bear started to slow down I used my Triple Draw decapitating it. I then stored the corpse then copsed on the ground out of energy. I used a Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pill since my injuries weren''t life-threatening, just a bunch of scratches with the asional gash. I decided to restore my energy and return to hunting. I will then return to the cave at night to feed Mira.

    After hunting another Low-Stage Rank 2 magical beast it was dusk outside. I decided to return to Mira and start feeding her. After feeding her I took out one of my Low-Grade Spirit Stones and started cultivating.

    I continued this for over a month. I would feed Mira, Hunt, feed Mira, cultivate, sleep, and repeat this every day. After a month I was able to feel that I was about to break through to Stage 2 of Qi Condensation. I have been cultivating and refining the energy in my meridians making it purer and denser. My Qi has finally reached the Peak of Stage 1. I grab a handful of Spirit Stones and start cultivating. I gathered energy into my meridians like a ck hole. I didn''t notice, but there was a small vortex above me collecting Qi and sending it into my meridians. My meridians reach a point where they felt like they would explode, but I was able to absorb just a bit more Qi. After an unknown amount of time, I stop collecting Qi. I then started to refine the energy within my meridians,pressing it, making it purer and denser. It felt like hours since I continued this process. After refining it, I started circting my cultivation technique. The purer and denser Qi was then being sent to the rest of my body filling me with energy. I finally opened my eyes after what seemed like many hours.

    When I got up I saw that it was morning, but I knew that it took me more than a day to do this so that means it took me around 36 hours toplete this breakthrough. Not only that, I feel like I am around 50% stronger than I was at Stage 1. Now I understand why crossing ranks is so difficult. Just like how it would be impossible for me to kill someone in the Foundation Realm. It may not seem like a lot now since strength at the Qi Condensation Realm is limited, but I can only imagine the difference in strength in theter Realms.

    Crap! I need to feed Mira!

    I ran to check on Mira.

    Phew! It looks like she''s doing okay. Well, let''s not keep her body waiting. Herplexion and breathing look much better than a month ago, but it seems that her body still needs time to repair itself.

    After feeding Mira I decided to go test my strength on some Rank 2 magical beasts.

    12 hourster��

    I came back that night exhausted and covered in blood and wounds. The first 2 fights weren''t that bad. I came across another Night Hawk and almost got seriously injured by the stupid thing, but just did the same thing that west time and killed it.

    The next beast I found was the ck Cloud Panther. They are pretty rare in the forest as they are mostly waiting for assassinations and or hiding. Luckily these freaking Night Hawks love to dive bomb me as ofte so my senses are constantly on edge. The ck Cloud Panther created a ck cloud in front of me then attacked me from behind. I barely dodged that attack but he still left some nasty gashes on my back. Since I survived that attack it lost its main element of surprise and fell to a disadvantage. We fought for a while until it tried to escape after learning it couldn''t defeat me, but just as it turned to dash, I used Triple draws and broke its spine and then walked over to its head and chopped it off.

    But thisst beast wasn''t exactly a beast. It was a Low-Stage Rank 2 Insect. I had no idea what it was called other than it was a centipede. It was disgusting. It shot poison out of its mouth and its carapace was like metal. I could barely leave a mark on it when I shed it. Its weakness seemed to be its belly, but how was I supposed to attack that. The only thing that it did that would allow me to attack its belly is he would lift its head and neck to shoot the poison blob at me. I tried to attack it then, but some random tiny poison blobs hit me and started burning through my skin. I had to pop in a Rejuvenation pill just to stop the poison. Not to mention it constantly swung its tail at me which had sharp barbs on the end of it. I decided to pick a spot near its head and just keep attacking that same spot over and over again until I cut into its head. I kept getting thrashed by its body and thrown across the forest until I finally saw that the gash on its neck reached the skin. I used my Triple Draw to stab my sword into its brain. After destroying its brain it finally died. This was such an arduous task just to kill this thing that isn''t even edible. I still stored it so that I might be able to sell it or turn it into some sort of equipment when I get back to the city. After I killed it I returned back to the cave full of wounds, but in high spirits because I was able to kill it.

    That''s how I ended up full of wounds and blood. I kept this schedule going every day. I wasn''t sure when Mira would wake up, but I wanted to at least show her that I have the will to get stronger and try to brave dangers. After doing the same thing over and over again, I didn''t realize how many more days have passed, but I think it has been around a month and I feel like Mira might wake up at any point now.

    After a day full of hunting, I came back to the cave with a couple of scratches on my body, but nothing too bad like in the previous months. I''ve been getting hit a lot less and have started to be more efficient in killing Rank 2 magical beasts. As I walked into the cave, I noticed something different. Mira had awoken.

 Chapter 25 Mira Wakes Up

    ''Ah! FUCK! My head hurts like hell and my body is aching!'' Mira thought to herself as she held her head. She then started to sit up to try and get her bearings. She held her head with her hand as she had a massive headache but still looked around her to see where she was.

    ''I''m in this tiny ass cave, but I don''t see Maria. It looks like she has been living here with me as there is a fire bit near the entrance. Also, I can feel that I ate food earlier. Damn, I can''t focus on anything with this headache. It feels like I slept for way too long and also my body is aching as well. It seems like my body is pretty much fully healed, I just need to take it easy for a couple of weeks and I should be good as new.''

    Mira lifted her head and then saw Maria at the entrance of the cave. Maria was just standing there surprised, but incredibly happy. She started tearing up. Mira noticed that she had a bit of a malevolent aura surrounding her that she hasn''t been able to control. Maria''s killing intent was constantly seeping out of her body. Mira frowned at this as Maria had obviously killed a lot during the time she was unconscious.

    "MIRA!!!" Maria ran toward Mira to hug her but got punched in the gut instead.

    p "I''m still injured! Plus it seems you''ve been busy since I''ve been asleep. Let me guess when I got hurt you med yourself and wanted to get stronger? So you went off to hunt like a crazy person. Oh? You are even Stage 2. Looks like you really have been busy." Mira said and Maria tried to interject but Mira continued</anda>

    "Just so you know, I knew that your n was shit and would lead me into a state like this. I didn''t expect the snake to hit so hard that I almost died. I wanted to provide this experience for you so that you finally understand this world a bit more. If you are a naive little girl, then only death awaits you and you won''t even have the chance to join me at the peak. I don''t care if you don''t want to join me at the peak, but at least you will already have the mentality to survive and be strong before it''s already toote." Mira said in a scolding yet caring tone. Mira wasn''t mad at Maria as she already expected something like this. She just wanted to correct Maria''s mindset. Maria paused before talking.

    "Even so it was still my idea--" Mira immediately cut her off.

    "Don''t give me that righteous bullshit! I''m still alive, you learned your lesson and I achieved my goal. Don''t even think about saying that ''If only I had the strength to deal with it.''. Would we have even bothered with it if you could just walk up to it and crush it like an ant? NO! I don''t want you to me yourself, as doing that won''t do any good. I also don''t want you to try to get stronger to gain my acknowledgment. If you want my acknowledgment, then it will only be based on your character and not your strength, but you need strength to keep your character. People that fight and get stronger to gain acknowledgment from someone else are the dumbest type of people in my opinion. You will never get stronger if you set limits on yourself. Trying to do this is basically saying that this person is your end goal. Everything you do is to try and satisfy them. How can you surpass your limits if you''ve already ced some on yourself? The next type of person is the type that you especially need to pay attention to. It''s the people that want strength to protect those they love. There is actually nothing morally wrong with this and if you are able to reach the peak and say this then good job, but I still think it''s foolish. Even at the peak, you can never protect your family 24/7. At some point, they will be away from you or out of your immediate reach. Even if the entire world is frightened by you, there will always be that one person that doesn''t care for death and can still kill your family while you are away from them. The best way to protect your family is to have them reach the peak, but for cultivators, that process is not peaceful. We have to temper our mind, body, and soul through life and death scenarios to grow in strength. If they are not meant to reach the top, then they were always meant to die before you."

    "You can take this advice however you want. Just don''t spout any of that righteous crap at me. I agreed to fight something beyond my means and paid the price. I even lived. Now enough of that. Talk to me about what happened while I was out."

    It was silent for a while before Mira spoke in a low voice.

    "Thank you."

    Maria was shocked at first. This was the first time that Mira has said that to her. She also felt like this thank you carried more weight to it than just taking care of her for the past 2 months.

    Maria just made a huge smile and nodded then began to recall everything. From finding the blue and red flower, fighting tons of Rank 2 beasts, and how it''s been 2 months since she got injured.

    "I''m d that we fought that snake. That flower that you nted is an Ice-Fire Flower. It doesn''t increase one''s cultivation even when it bes a Rank 2 nt, but it is very beneficial for tempering one''s body. This would be a great help for breaking through to the Marrow Tempering Stage. I could take it now and probably reach that stage with ease, but I''ll wait until it bes a Rank 2 nt. I''d guess another couple of months and it should be ready. We don''t really need to do anything. It just needs to absorb energy until it bes Rank 2." Mira said with a faint smile. This flower would definitely increase her body''s strength by quite a bit.<sub> </sub>

    "Anyway, it''ll take a couple of weeks to healpletely, but after I heal we can go out adventuring. I don''t have a n in mind, but the ruins that you mentioned before sounds interesting. We should make that our goal for now."

    "Sounds good! I will spend the next few weeks here with you. You just rest up." Maria said.

    Like this 3 weeks passed and Mira was finally fully healed. Maria and Mira were currently preparing to set off for their journey. They decided to set off. Regarding the Ice-Fire flower, they decided that they would help supply energy to it. Even though it''s a flower it doesn''t necessarily need to get energy from the ground as it also absorbs Qi from the air.

    They then set off on their adventure. They didn''t have a set area they wanted to reach so they decided that it would be best to just circle the Inner region of the forest while slowly getting closer. They had no reason to go looking for beasts to kill, so if they could they would just ignore them, but asionally they would get ambushed or be forced to fight on their journey. There was just one thing that Mira found extremely annoying.

    "All of these fucking Night Hawks!" Mira eximed.

    Yes, in the week since they started their adventure a Night Hawk seemed to attack at around once a day. Maria said that she was also attacked by a bunch of them two when Mira was unconscious. Maria thought that it might be because they are near the border of the inner region of the forest. The hawks hunt the weaker Rank 2 beasts or stronger Rank 1.

    They spent another week running through the forest. Like the previous week, not much really happened. The only ''exciting'' thing was getting dive-bombed by night hawks. There was no point in killing Rank 1 beasts and since they weren''t hunting for beasts, they hardly ran into any. But at this point in their journey, they came across something interesting.

    Maria noticed energy fluctuations not far away from them and they decided to check it out. Maria led Mira to where she noticed the fluctuations and they stopped in front of�� something. It looked like an entrance to a cave, but they felt like the entrance to the cave was like a door of some kind. Both Mira and Maria felt this might lead them to the ruins.

    They walked into the ruin-like cave. They were excited to find their goal so fast. The inside of the cave was tiny. They had to crouch down a bit and it was only wide enough for one person. After walking for an hour, it seemed there was no end to this entrance. They also ran out of light and it was pitch ck. Maria made a small light ball in her hand, but it barely helped. They noticed that all around them was a smooth, ck rock. It also felt like they were slowly going deeper into the earth. They kept on walking forward without knowing what they were getting into, but it felt like they might find something interesting.

    They didn''t know how long they have been walking, but they realized that it was slowly getting hotter. They kept walking as the heat wasn''t too bad, but the more they walked the hotter it got. At some point, it got so hot that they needed to strip. They covered their erogenous areas with beast pelts but that''s it.

    They didn''t know how long they walked, but they still crept along in this tiny corridor. They were covered in a thickyer of sweat. After walking for a while, all of a sudden they got hit with a wave of scorching heat. They saw a light at the end of this tunnel. After reaching the light they walked into a massive cave. There was a giantvake in this cave. They weren''t able to tell if it was ake ofva or a river. But seemed like ake.

    "I don''t know if avake is useful or not, but I feel like you are going to force me into an actual hell this time, Mira." Maria said with a wry smile on her face. This was just like the frozen hell pond, except this, was an actual hellke.

    "You''re damn right! I don''t know much aboutvakes, but I''ve heard that mes are great for tempering the body, blood, and Qi. We will just have to try and see." Mira said, but the heat was too suffocating where she was and she wasn''t used to this.

 Chapter 26 Lava Lake(Long Chapter)

    Mira and Maria both sat down in a lotus position where they stood. The surrounding energy felt like it was on fire. The surrounding Qi began to seep into the pores of her skin. Mira felt like she was being cooked alive on a giantva grill. Mira started to try to diffuse this ming Qi that entered her body by sending it all over her body equally. Now instead of a grill, it felt like she was in a slow cooker.

    Mira then circted her Hell Scythe Cultivation Technique. When she circted the technique Mira was a little surprised. When the scorching Qi entered her skin, her cultivation technique would seemingly split the ming Qi from the normal Spiritual Qi. After splitting it, Mira used the cultivation technique to temper her skin and flesh. Circting the cultivation technique would take the absorbed ming Qi and force that into her skin and flesh. After all of that fire, energy was forced inside of her skin and flesh, then the normal Qi began forcing its way into her skin and flesh, healing what the ming Qi did to her. Maria was doing the same thing but was going to take a little longer. She could utilize her own Qi along with the Qi in the air to help heal her skin and flesh, but her cultivation technique couldn''t separate the different energies.

    Time passed slowly as both Mira and Maria kept tempering their body with this heat. They haven''t even entered the cave yet but were already able to temper their body.

    All of a sudden a fluctuation of energy happened in thevake. They both opened their eyes to see what was going on, only to see a small...thing? Floating on top of theva. It was too small and they were too far away to see it so they couldn''t even begin to try to identify it. They waited to see if anything else would happen, but nothing else did. They went back to tempering their bodies.

    After an unknown amount of time, Mira opened her eyes.

    ''Damn, that hurt. I felt like I was being barbecued. Well even with just this residual Qi from thevake, I was able to temper my skin. Skin, marrow, blood are the hardest things to temper and I can temper 2 of those here. I don''t think I can temper my marrow with thisvake, but that''s what I was going to use the Ice-Fire Flower for. Speaking of the flower.'' Mira thought and took out the flower from her space ring. The flower began to absorb the surrounding ming Qi like this was the best ce in the world for it. Mira noticed this and figured this might happen, but since this also takes in yin energy as well, then Mira will need to give it some. Mira began to incase the flower in ice even if the ice was melting in seconds. The flower noticed the ice from Mira''s ice Dao and started to absorb the now water as well. Mira figured that she would continue doing this until Maria was ready to go inside the cave to temper their bodies further.

    Mira didn''t know how long she waited, but the flower was almost rank 2. She decided that even if Maria wakes up, then she will stay at the entrance and make this flower a rank 2 flower before moving farther in.

    After a while, the flower finally became a rank 2 flower after absorbing a ton of fire and ice energy. Maria still didn''t seem ready so she decided to utilize this flower right away.

    There are several ways to utilize a nt like this, but Mira had only 1 avable to her at the moment. She was going to eat the nt raw. This is generally not rmended as the energy can be extremely vtile and chaotic. If one can''t control the energy then it may cause internal injuries. Mira already knew this, but figured that her body was strong enough to handle it. Plus she had her Hell Scythe cultivation technique.

    Mira had the flower in her hands and shoved the whole thing in her mouth, gulping it down. After a few minutes, she finally felt the energy being absorbed in her body. The first energy to be released from the flower was the fire portion. After the flower released this energy, Mira circted her cultivation technique and sent this energy to the marrow in all of her bones.

    "AAARRRGHH!!! FUCK!" Mira screamed in pain. It felt like the insides of her bones were filled with ants that are ripping her bone marrow.

    The fire energy from the flower continued to crazily flow into her bone marrow, but it also started to leak into her organs as well. Mira noticed this and gritted her teeth. She knew this would happen at some point. Her organs were rather strong, but she didn''t want to intentionally burn them. Veins were popping out of Mira''s forehead as she tried to control this leaking. She was able to control most of it, but a tiny amount still leaked. That tiny amount wouldn''t cause any injuries that were beyond repair and Mira wasn''t able to control any more of the chaotic fire energy.

    The fire energy kept flowing through her bone marrow. After a while, Mira was able to force all of the fire energy into her marrow, then a chill came. The ice energy started to seep into her body. Mira was now forced to do the same thing as before, but this time it was easier due to her physique, Dao, and body tempering with her ice previously.

    Mira controlled this ice energy and forced it into her marrow. When the ice energy entered her marrow, the fire energy stopped trying to destroy everything. Mira kept forcing this ice energy into her marrow as it seemed to stop the pain a bit the more she did. After a while of forcing the ice energy into her marrow, all of the energy from the flower entered her marrow. Everything seemed fine for a second, but then the two energies collided seemingly fighting. The fire was trying to melt the ice and the ice was try to freeze the fire.

    "ARRRGH!" Mira yelped in pain and gritted her teeth. This was the pain thates from tempering one''s marrow. Mira kept circting her cultivation technique and sending Qi into her marrow.

    Every time the fire attacked, it would begin to set her marrow aze, but the ice would then freeze over the marrow while Mira sent Qi in to help heal her marrow.

    This unending torture continued for a while until the ice energy started to melt and the fire energy started to cool. The two energies started to settle down and Mira''s marrow began to absorb the rest of the energy.

    Mira was covered in sweat right now, but she looked even more beautiful now. Her skin looked like a refined jade made by the gods. No blemishes, but simply perfect. With her body covered in sweat, jade-like skin, and silver hair her entire body was reflecting any light that came into contact with her. Like a Goddess had descended that wasn''t meant for mortal eyes to see. Mira was starving and started stuffing her rations into her mouth like a crazy person. Mira''s bone marrow now had a golden-blue hue to it. This signifies someone that was able to sessfully temper their marrow.

    Maria had just woken up from her tempering session and caught the tail end of Mira''s breakthrough.

    "Congrattions on breaking through to the Marrow Tempering Stage. It seems that you were able to use that flower and breakthrough." Maria congratted Mira.

    "Yeah, it shouldn''t be too long before I break into the Qi Condensation stage. I want to stay in this cave to utilize all of its benefits. It isn''t every day youe across such an essiblevake especially around here." Mira said.

    "You''re right. Even though I thinking training like this is the worst, but thisva cave will definitely make us more resilient."

    Mira nodded. They both felt extremely tired right now after tempering their body so much. They went back into the tiny cave corridor where it was a little cooler and tried to find a spot that didn''t hurt toy down on and fell asleep.

    After they woke they went back to thevake. They were now able to enter the cave. They noticed that they were a couple of hundred meters from thevake. There was nothing special about the cave itself. There was a ton of that smooth ck rock. They decided to collect some when they leave this ce. Thevake itself was still as huge as before. They were also able to spot the orb-like thing floating on theke but still couldn''t identify nor could they get it. They continued walking in the cave until they couldn''t handle the temperature. They were only able to go about 10 meters closer after entering therge cavern before the heat was too unbearable for them and sat down and focused on tempering their body.

    They continued their tempering sessions ept now they sent some of this energy to their blood. They only sent a minuscule of this ming Qi to their blood. This was to remove any impurities in the blood. Maria was also able to start purifying her Qi removing any impurities that may be in her Qi. One might think that by doing this she can break through the Qi Condensation stages, but no. Qi condensation involves the gathering of Qi, making it denser. Purifying the Qi is just a side effect of the higher densities pushing out the impurities. What Maria is doing is slowly burning away the impurities away in her Qi allowing her to collect more Qi at her stage along with making it circte smoother through her meridians. Basically, it just increases her Qi''s quality and quantity. This is the reason that Mira wanted to reach the Qi Condensation Realm in this cave.

    Maria kept tempering themselves and moving closer to thevake. They had no idea how much time has passed, but it''s not like it really matters. Every time they would get closer to theva, it would take longer to temper themselves enough to where they could get closer. Mira would also cultivate and collect Qi into her meridians trying to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm. Her body''s foundation is incredibly stable and her meridians are very sturdy, so now all she has to do is fill up her meridians with Qi. Maria was also about to break through to the 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation, but every time she purified her Qi, she would have to collect more so it was tough.

    Time slowly passed as Mira and Maria kept tempering themselves. They were now stark naked right now. They were getting so sweaty and hot that the beast hides were starting to stick to their skin. Their skin also seemed like it was on fire underneath it. Their skin was a burning red color. They also noticed that whenever they got closer, the heat got exponentially hotter.

    They were now 10 meters away from thevake. Mira seemed to grow up quite a bit in the unknown amount of time here. She now looked like a 13-14-year-old girl. They knew that it hasn''t been 2-3 years since they''ve been in the cave, but Mira seemed to grow quite a bit. It seemed like a rapid change, but Mira was able to exin the phenomenon to a degree. The extreme temperatures expanded her body slowly as everything grew a bit to keep up with her growth.

    She was now a little over 155 centimeters tall and had small lumps on her chest. Mira noticed this change and felt that she could break through to the Qi Condensation Realm with this look.

    "I''m going to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm now." Mira told Maria and she nodded.

    "Good luck!" Maria said with a cheerful smile and took out some Spirit Stones to aid her.

    Mira shamelessly took them and began trying to breakthrough. She circted the Qi in her meridians one time. She began condensing and absorbing Qi in the air like crazy. Every time she condensed her energy, she would need to absorb more energy into her meridians and repeat this process over and over until all of her Qi reached a certain density where she reached her limit.

    A vortex appeared above Mira''s head. It was clearly much bigger than Maria''s as Mira''s meridians are a lot more tempered along with her extraordinarily strong body while still being in the Body Tempering Realm.<sub> </sub>

    She kept absorbing and condensing the surrounding Qi and had already used the spirit stones that Maria gave her. Hours went by as she repeated this process over and over again. Soon she felt like her meridians were about to explode and she felt like this was her limit. She tried to gather more energy but immediately stopped as her meridians might actually explode if she did that. She circted the Qi in her meridians 1 full rotation and then the condensed Qi in her meridians began to seep into the rest of her body. It wasn''t all of it, only a small amount of her total Qi was sent to her body, but it increased her strength by many times. Her strength right now is iparable to herself in the Body Tempering Realm.

    Mira clenched her fists.

    ''This life will be different. I was definitely not this strong at Stage 1 Qi Condensation Realm in myst life. If I can''t even kill that asshole in this life, then��'' Mira started to despair a little. She clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her skin causing them to bleed.

    Maria saw this and was about to ask what was wrong when all of a sudden Mira punched the ground, causing cracks to form on the rocks. Then she looked at Maria and said, "Let''s spar!" and dragged Maria away from thevake and started sparring. There were a couple of reasons she wanted to spar. One, she needed to clear her head, and two, she had a ton of pent-up energy after her breakthrough that was ready to explode.

    Mira and Maria had a fierce spar and sparred for what seemed like hours. Then they went back to temper themselves. The only difference is that Mira was now able to burn away the impurities that are in her Qi. This is incredibly painful as she has to allow this scorching and vtile energy into her meridians to burn away her impurities.

    Not long after they were able to reach theva. Their skin was bright red now and due to all of the tempering that they have done due to thevake they now had a slight fiery aura to them. They also seemed to temper themselves as much as they could without actually getting in theva.

    Mira looked at Maria and even with how hot it is in the cave she felt cold sweat forming all over her body. Maria guessed what Mira wanted to do. Faced in front of such a hell, how could the devil not want to jump in?

    ''I don''t have the guts to refuse an order from the devil, so all I can do is jump when she says to jump.'' Maria thought to herself.

    "It looks like you already know what''s next. Good. We are going for a swim!! Hehe. Coat yourself in your Qi. This will make it easier to purify your Qi and cleanse the impurities in it. I don''t know how much we can burn off, butva is pretty hot. Also, try to let in little bits ofva and use it to temper your skin and blood." Mira said with a devilish smile on her face. Even though Mira looked beautiful with a smile, that smile was scarier than anyvake. Maria gulped and felt that even if she refused to jump, Mira would just throw her in any way.

    "Okay." Maria nodded.

    "Let''s go"

    They both coated themselves in their Qi and walked into thevake. Even with Qi covering their bodies, they could feel the overwhelming heat. Theva immediately began to try to burn the Qi around their bodies. The Qi began to burn off and purify slowly and they began to keep supplying enough Qi to keep their bodies covered.

    After they felt stable enough in theva, they each let in a small drop ofva. They spread out this drop ofva to cover their entire body. A microscopic size drop ofva entered all over their bodies and started to temper their skin.

    "ARRRRGGGHHH FUCKING HELL!!" Both Mira and Maria screamed in pain. Just a drop was enough to cause this much pain. They would instantly die if they weren''t covered in Qi.

    That one drop began to quickly eat away and burn their flesh and skin. They both circted their cultivation techniques to try and heal the burnt skin and flesh. Mira''s Hell Scythe Cultivation Manual can''t help deal with the heat here. Theva itself is not Qi and can only be used to help in tempering the body.

    After the first drop ofva was entirely used up, they let in another drop and did the same thing.

    They continued doing this until they couldn''t keep the Qi around them. When that happened they crawled out of theva. Their skin almost looked like theva itself it was so red. They sat there to ''cool off'' a bit and restored their energy.

    After they restored their energy, they ate some food. They realized that in their time near theva, cooking food was incredibly easy. It often tasted like crap as it was just meat that was fully cooked in a couple of minutes. Mira felt like this was simr to the instant ramen she had on earth except the water isva and she doesn''t have noodles or salt.

    After restoring their energy they went back into theva and continued their suffering.

    An unknown amount of time passed.

    ''What a wonderful day! A forecast of hot with a 100% of chance ofva drops. Wow! This was the same forecast.'' Mira thought to herself smiling bitterly. Cooking herself alive is incredibly boring, but she wanted to maximize the benefits out of this damnvake.

    They must''ve gone into thisvake 100 times. Each timested longer than thest. Mira woke up from her sleep then woke Maria up. This wasmon and Maria wouldn''t say anything and just follow Mira. They both just wanted to be done with thisvake. They went back into theva again and just focused on removing impurities from their blood. Their Qi had already been purified by theva and aren''t able to achieve any further purity. They didn''t reach 100% purity but guessed that it''s probably somewhere around 90% purified. They were able to temper their skin a lot, this was probably the biggest benefit. They were pretty much able to just walk in theva now without any Qi barrier. This isn''t necessarily due to their skin being so tough and resilient that theva can''t burn it anymore. It''s more like their skin gained a certain immunity to theva. They also noticed that thevake had cooled down a lot. This was because of the orb that was floating in the middle of thevake. It''s not an orb now and they were able to identify it. It looked like some kind of animal being born. They had no idea but wanted to wait for it and see if it wanted to follow one of them.

    They continued cleansing impurities from their bodies and then got out of theva.

    "I don''t think we can get much more out of thisvake, Mira." Maria said happily.

    "I think so too. I think that was thest time we need to get in theva, plus that thing in the middle is sucking all of the energy and heat from the cave." Mira said.

    ? "Yeah, but I want to wait and see what creature that is. Maybe it will follow us. I hope it''s cute! Hehe." Maria said full of expectation.

    "Sure we can wait. It should almost be done anyways." Mira agreed.

    They then spent the rest of their time in the cave sparring and cultivating.

    It didn''t take long for a massive undtion toe from the creature in the middle of thevake. It kept releasing these massive undtions that were much hotter than thevake. It felt scorching. Mira and Maria had to block it with their Qi and even then it was scorching. After it released these undtions, all of the energy in the cave was being absorbed by the creature in the middle. The heat and energy that was in theva were being absorbed too. The whole cave was dropping in temperature at a rapid rate. The whole thing looked like a volcano erupting but in reverse. The volcano is collecting theva that it erupted. A huge ball of heat and Qi formed around the creature and it seemed to act like a chrysalis.

    The creature began absorbing the energy from the chrysalis and soon the chrysalis cracked then shattered. The creature absorbed the chrysalis too, then released its undtions.

    Mira and Maria had already hidden and covered themselves in Qi as they watch this. The heat that the creature was radiating right now was insane. Like they were standing next to the sun. After a while, everything started to cool down and the creature dropped from the air. Itnded on the now dried-upva. Mira and Maria came out of hiding and began to approach the creature.

    When they saw what it looked like they were shocked.

 Chapter 27 Vulcan, Out Of The Cave

    When they approached the creature they were able to see what it looked like.

    "A FOX?!" They both eximed. Even Mira was very surprised. Whenever a tale or myth talked about a creature born from mes, you think of a phoenix. There are even tales mentioning a wolf, dragon, tiger. These are the moremon myths and legends, but never once have either of them heard of a fox being born like that.

    The fox looked like a baby fox. It was only about 15-20 centimeters long. This isn''t that much bigger than a normal newborn fox. There was one main difference and that the aura from this newborn was incredible. It was like its whole being was mes. The fox also had bright red fur with orange stripes that extend to its underside. This fox looked likeva in living form. They guessed that it was at least Rank 2, but the zing auraing off of it was definitely not from a normal Rank 2 beast. They couldn''t determine the stage, but they could only imagine how powerful this fox will be in the future.

    "CUTE!!" Maria yelled and slowly approached the fox. The little fox was a little wary at first, but it felt no hostile intentions from Maria. Maria reached the little fox and reached out her hand before reaching the fox. The fox seemed to understand and came towards Maria and started rubbing its head against her hand.

    *Yap* *Yap*

    The fox seemed to like Maria and only felt good intentions from her. Mira then began to approach this little fox. The little fox sensed her walking toward it and became wary of her. It was also able to sense a frosty aura emitting itself from her very bones. Even with her body being tempered withva, she could never have a fiery aura. The fox felt this person was definitely not as kind-hearted as Maria. It began trying to hide behind Maria.

    "Mira, you are scaring the little fox! Can''t you be more gentle?" Mariained to Mira.

    "It''s okay little fox. She won''t hurt you�� Probably." Maria tried tofort it.

    Mira kept approaching it, once she reached it she began to inspect. The basic beast instincts were constantly raising rms. It felt like it might die if it made a move. Its instincts told it that this woman held its life and death in her hands. The one that he was hiding behind could only ept if Mira wanted it to die.

    "It doesn''t seem to like me. Well, that doesn''t matter. We aren''tpatible anyway. Even if I wanted to keep him, we would only limit each other. His fire is way too damn hot and will probably only grow stronger. If I were to have him fight with me our elements would start to cancel out. You should try to form a contract with it. There are 2types of contracts to form with beasts that I know of. There is a life and death contract in which the beast has to initiate the contract. This signifies the beast''s absolute trust in you, if you were to die the beast would also die, but not vice versa. There is also a contract of equals. This is more of something like a business contract. The beast has free will to do whatever it wants and only has to listen to the agreements set by beast and man." Mira said while Maria immediately answered before she could say anything more.

    "I want the contract of equals!" Maria tried to get Mira to ept this.

    "No. I will not allow it. Not to mention I don''t even know how to do that." Mira said then turned to the fox and took out her scythe.

    "Oi Fox! I know you have some intelligence as Heaven and Earth wouldn''t leave someone born from them without anything. Form a Life and Death contract with her." Mira coerced it.

    The fox just nodded repeatedly as it really didn''t want to die after just being born. It nipped its paw and put its paw on Maria. Then it sent its energy into her. After a while, one could see a red fox tattoo started to form on her back. It was the head of the little fox that was initiating the contract. The fox head tattoo on her back started glowing then it sunk into her body, leaving only a faint outline of the fox head on her back. The contract was nowplete.

    "Good, it looks like it''splete. Let''s get out of this damn cave now. This fox sucked up anything useful in the cave anyway." Mira said as she put on her ck Daoist robe now that the heat was dissipating and there was no moreva to burn it to ash.

    "Wait! We need toe up with a name for the little guy. Hmm, let''s see. What would be a good name for you?" Maria wondered.

    "How about Vulcan? There is a myth about this name belonging to a God of Fire. Let''s also give him a species name as we might be the first people to discover this. Let''s see, when he was formed the phenomenon reminded me of a supernova. Let''s have his species be a Nova Fox." Mira nodded at these names.

    "Yes! Vulcan and Nova Fox! Those sound so cool! But I''ve never heard of anything like a supernova or God of Fire named Vulcan. How do you know that Mira?" Maria tried to ask

    "I wonder. Let''s go!" Mira dodged the question and Maria just shrugged as she figured that would be the answer. Maria also changed into a red Daoist robe and they started to walk outside of the exit. Like before this tunnel was so small they had to crouch just to fit. Mira was leading with Maria following while holding Vulcan. It took them a long time to get through this tunnel like before. When they realized that they should be close to the exit, Mira started hearing voices outside of the tunnel.

    ''Shit! I figured this might happen, but damn how unlucky. I guess we might have to fight our way out of this one.'' Mira thought.

    "Maria, there are people outside, more than 2 but I don''t know how many. Have Vulcan conceal his aura. This will be a good time for me to see if you have grown your mind while I was unconscious. Come up with a n." Mira said.

    "Dang! How unlucky! It makes sense though as they probably sensed Vulcan''s undtions. Well, right now we have the advantage as they don''t know we are here. If we keep going and meet them outside, we will lose our advantage. So our best option is to stay in the tunnel and wait. The only problem is how small the tunnel is. Ok, I think I got a good n." Maria said and shared her thoughts with Mira.

    Mira heard this and nodded. This was indeed a good n.<sub> </sub>

    "I think this is the best thing we can do with so many unknown factors. It will also be a good chance to see Vulcan in action. Don''t disappoint me Vulcan." Mira said. Vulcan felt like that what she said to him had a double meaning to it. Like if he disappointed her, he will regret it. Vulcan just repeatedly nodded his head and wanted to make sure he did exactly as he was told.

    Mira took out her scythe. Of course, it''s too big to fit in the tunnel, but she held it like a spear. She put on her ck mask and crouched as low as she could. Maria was right behind her wielding her sword. Vulcan was standing on the ground, ready to charge forward.

    Soon they heard voices getting louder and louder.

    "Damn! It''s fuckin dark in here! I can barely see my hands it''s so dark. I hope this treasure is worth it!"

    "I wonder what kind of treasure it is."

    "Man, this tunnel is so small! I can barely fit in here!"

    Mira and Maria heard many voices. They seemed to be in a group of around 5. They also seemed to be rtively young by the sound on their voices so they were probably only in the Qi Condensation Realm. Mira readied her spear to stab them.

    The leader of the group kept walking, but he felt something was off. He was about to alert the group to be alert, but before he could do that something prated his throat then decapitated him. The rest of the group felt something was off as they immediately smelled blood and the leader hasn''t said anything.

    As soon as Mira attacked, a small fox charged forward and ran to the back of the group. Mira formed 10 ice needles and shot them towards the second person. The 2nd person had his sword out and managed to cover his vitals, but the needles still hit his stomach and legs.

    Mira charged forward to stab the 2nd person. The guy deflected her scythe/spear but got hit with a light beam to the gut. He faulted for a second and Mira used this to decapitate him. She then charged towards the 3rd person, but this guy had a spear as a weapon. Mira tried to stab him, but it would keep getting knocked out of the way.

    Meanwhile, at the back of the group, a small fox was standing behind them. Vulcan coated his little paw in fire and ran at thest guy in the group. This guy felt a scorching heating from behind, but this tunnel was so small that you couldn''t turn around easily. The fox charged at the guy''s neck and was able to smoothly sever his spinal cord in his neck, killing him. The fox then began to do the same thing to the 4th guy.

    Mira and Maria were still dealing with the guy with the spear. He just kept his distance and blocked Maria''s light beams and the ice needsing towards him. Of course, he couldn''t block them all and was only able to cover his vitals.

    "Coward! Hiding in the cave and ambushing us like this! We can''t even properly fight you!" The spear guy said this and knew that this probably wasn''t the case. They probably already have the treasure and were returning when they heard them.

    Mira just ignored him and continued attacking. The 4th guy soon died to Vulcan and all that was left was the guy with the spear. He tried to focus and block both Mira and Vulcan with his spear, but Mira took advantage of it when he blocked Vulcan and stabbed his throat, decapitating him.

    "Let''s grab their belongings. They should at least have something useful on them. Then Vulcan, you burn their bodies to ash." Everyone nodded and they started looting the corpses.

    Each of them had a space ring, so they took their space rings and weapons. Then Vulcan did as Mira said and used a tiny fire breath to burn them to ashes leaving no remains of their bodies. Then they hurried out of the tunnel as they didn''t want to run into any more trouble. They soon made it out of the tunnel but kept running to get away from this ce. They didn''t want to run into any more people, people that might be stronger than those 5 kids.

    Finally ran far enough away that they could rx.

    "Ahhhhh! Finally! Sunlight! Wind! Grass! Trees! I''ve missed you all! The devil has finally freed me from damnation! I have returned!!" Maria yelled in euphoria. One would think that this was the happiest day of her life.

    Mira''s eyebrows twitched at being called a devil but didn''t say anything as she was also enjoying being back in the forest. They then went through the loot that they got. There wasn''t much in these space rings. They got a total of 200 Spirit Stone, 5 mortal weapons of varying grades, 100 Rank 1 Rejuvenation and Blood Restoration Pills, and 5 space rings. They all had the same size as Mira''s, 5 cubic meters. They split everything in half, but Mira gave Maria the weapons as she didn''t need them. Mira kept all 5 space rings though as hers only had limited space.

    "Now we can continue on our journey. You are close to breaking through to Stage 3, I want to consolidate my foundation before trying to break through, and I want to see how well Vulcan can fight. We will continue looking for the ruins, but on the way, I will fight the Low-Stage Rank 2 beasts alone or with Vulcan and Vulcan will clean up all of the Rank 1 fodder around us."

    Mira and Maria then continued their journey with their new member, the Nova Fox, Vulcan. They kept traveling in the forest like they have been, slowly circling and going farther into the inner region.

 Chapter 28 Forest Hunters Part 1/3

    Mira, Maria, and Vulcan traveled throughout the Dark Moon Forest for some time now. Night Hawks kept attacking them constantly, but Mira just forced Vulcan to deal with these pests. They would never attack Vulcan even if he was small. The Night Hawks must''ve been able to sense a faint dangering from him. The reason she made Vulcan deal with these things was she hated dealing with them and also to stimte his beast instincts. For some reason, they would always dive bomb, Mira. When Mira told Vulcan that he will take care of these birds and that she doesn''t want to have to deal with them, a Night Hawk almost hit her and she had to block it. After she dealt with the Night Hawk, she grabbed Vulcan, knocked him out, andunched him in a random direction in the forest. Then Mira forced Maria to run off with her. It took Vulcan a week to catch up to them. He also had to deal with a constant stream of beasts and had to decide to spend time-fighting them or running to catch up. Most of the time he fought because they would just chase him if he ran.

    When he finally caught up, Mira just looked at him with cold eyes. All he could do was put his head down, but Maria would constantly provide him love and warmth which he loved. He then dealt with every Night Hawk after that. He didn''t feel like beingunched to some random area in the forest unconscious, forced to find them somehow again.

    Mira would fight any Low-Stage Rank 2 that came her way. After her breakthrough and body tempering, these Low-Stage Rank 2 weren''t much but they did help in consolidating her foundation in her new realm.

    Maria was incredibly bored. All she would do is run with them and cultivate. Since they haven''tpletely entered the inner region and are just near the border, most of the stronger beasts don''t have a need toe here.

    Something unexpected happened after around 2 weeks. They stumbled across a base of some sort. It hadrge wooden walls, made from the trees in the area. It was like arge vige. Mira guessed that it probably had a few hundred people living in it.

    Mira felt something was off though. Viges usually aren''t this deep into the forest and if they are powerful enough to stay here then they might as well live in the city. Mira told Maria that they will camp out to see what was going on.

    After waiting a while, they saw people bringing in a bunch of unconscious women. Mira was able to confirm her thoughts. This must be the Forest Hunters that killed her parents when she was little.

    Mira clenched her fists and muttered, "I guess it''s time for a little revenge. Rest easy Mother and Father, your unfilial daughter still remembers to take revenge on your behalf."

    "Maria, we are going to attack this base. This is a bandit group called the Forest Hunters. Most will probably be in the Body Tempering Realm with probably quite a few in the Qi Condensation. I have no idea what realm the leader of the base is at. Your goal is to ughter." Miramanded.

    "Eh? But I''ve never killed someone before, much less a bunch of people. What if I can''t bring myself to do it?" Maria said a little unsure.

    "Then I guess you''ll die or worse. Better to get your first kill early on like this than save it forter. Rationalize it however you want. It''s not like these people are good people. I don''t care if you only kill one person, but I''m not letting a single one escape. Vulcan, don''t join in this fight. I''ll have you wait outside and kill anyone that tries to run away." Mira said to them and they just nodded.

    "I don''t think it really matters what time of day we attack, but let''s wait until daytime."

    "Why daytime? Wouldn''t it be better at night?" Maria asked a little confused.

    "Not this time. Bandits often attack at night. This goes to say that a lot of them probably sleep during the day. Not to mention a lot of beasts are less active during the day, they probably have fewer people on guard." Mira exined.

    "I see. Thanks for exining." Maria said and Mira just nodded.

    They waited until daytime and then started their attack. Mira thought of several ways to attack, like attacking the strongest first or sneaking in and silently killing a bunch of them until they noticed, but ultimately decided on a much more straightforward approach.

    "*Yawn* I hate guarding the base during the day. Nothing ever happens. Why do we even need to be here?"

    "Not true, we often have to deal with stray beasts or beasts looking to get into the camp. Even if it doesn''t happen every day, it is often enough to warrant this."

    "Yeah, but still. I don''t want to be the one to deal with that stuff. I just want to h--"

    Mira put on her mask and snuck up on the 2 guards at the entrance of the camp. They were just Body Tempering bandits so she easily decapitated the first one.

    "Huh? Bro are you okay? Why''d you stop-AH! ENE--" Before he could finish that sentence his head flew.

    Mira and Maria then entered the base. It was rtively empty right now as it seemed a lot of people were asleep. There were around a hundred houses and a couple ofrge buildings that seemed to be something akin to a public housing building.

    Mira silently entered the individual houses and found that a lot of them were stronger Body Tempering Realm People or Qi Condensation. She entered the first house and found a guy sleeping with a girl chained up, but asleep. Mira walked over to the bed where he slept and cut off his head and left the girl and the body. The girl woke up when she was leaving and looked towards the masked woman that did this.<sub> </sub>

    "Wait! Help me, please!! I''m begging you! Can you remove these chains?! I want to get out of here!!" The girl started screaming, pleading, and crying for Mira to help.

    "Later. I can''t have you running around notifying everyone." Mira said then left.

    She continued walking into houses and decapitating them. A chained-up girl would always be in the room with them or maybe in another room that used for some other purpose to fulfill their sick desires. Sometimes the girl would wake up and beg and plead. Sometimes they would stay asleep and not notice and sometimes like this time they would wake up the guy before she could kill them.

    "You dare disturb my sleep you bitch!?!" The man yelled and hit the chained-up woman. Then he noticed a masked woman with a scythe in the room. He also noticed that she was only Stage 1 Qi Condensation while he had just reached Stage 2. He smiled lewdly.

    "You want toe into my room to kill me with your meager strength? HAHA! I will forgive you if you do a little something for me hehe." The man licked his lips.

    Mira just ignored the man and walked toward him. After closing the distance a bit she then dashed.

    "Tch. Stupid bitch. I guess I''ll have to teach you a lesson first and make you understand."

    He grabbed his sword and blocked her swing, but Mira sent 2 ice needles towards his feet. He didn''t even notice them and one shattered his ankle and the other one went through his foot.

    "ARRGH! You''ll pay for that you bitch!"

    The man could barely stand now so his sword swings werecking by quite a bit. Mira blocked his sh and twirled her scythe and had the spear end cave his chest in. The man dropped his sword and was about to fall to the ground until Mira spun her scythe and cut off his rod�� Well, she tried too. She ended up cutting his body in half separating his lower body from his upper body. Then he fell to the ground.

    "AAAARRRGGGGHH!!!" He screamed in pain.

    Mira then shoved the spear end into his mouth and through the back of his head, killing him.

    The woman that was chained up was about to start screaming until Mira quickly moved and covered her mouth.

    "Just shut up for now. I wille backter, but I can''t have you running around the base and wake everybody up." Mira said and waited for her to calm down then removed her hand and left.

    This scene yed out numerous times as Mira entered the homes. These people had nobat experience and only kill the weak. Even if one of these guys has higher cultivation than her, they have no battle sense or strategy. They only swing their sword around, hoping to hit something.

    Mira finished up her side of the houses and didn''t see Maria. She decided that this is a trial that Maria needs to face by herself. If Maria can steel herself and kill the people in those houses or can only kill one person before her mind doesn''t know how to react to what she just did doesn''t matter. As long as she can kill that one person this will be a worthwhile experience.

    Mira shook her head and ran to one of the public housing buildings that seem to hold the weaker people. When she entered there were over 100 people living in this building. She started her massacre.

    This time she didn''t have the luxury to decapitate all of them as she just wanted to kill that as fast as possible so the scene before her was disturbing, to say the least. Mira kept twirling her scythe, keeping her momentum going. Both sides of the scythe were a deadly weapon. Every time she made a half-revolution with the scythe there was a death. The de would cut people in half, sometimes they would just lose their head, but other times they were sliced in half diagonally from the neck to the side of their body. Whenever this happened there was a fountain of blood. The spear end had a sharp point at the end of it and could also be used as a staff due to the weight of the scythe. Their heads would explode into a bloody mess when she hit people with this side of her scythe. After killing around 40 people or so, some of the people began to wake up and after tens of people died again they finally noticed they were being ughtered mercilessly.

    "ENEMY ATTACK!!"

    "ENEMY ATTACK!!"

    "ENEMY ATTACK!!"

    Most barely got the words out before they died. It only took her another minute to kill the rest of the people in the building, but their noise alerted the others in the base. The people that were still alive began to wake up from their sleep and run out to check what was going on. Mira had already left the building and was killing anyone who stepped outside. She only stopped killing when the boss of the base came out and blocked her attack.

 Chapter 29 Forest Hunters Part 2/3

    Going back in time a little bit to right after Mira killed the guards and Maria walked into the bandit base with Mira. Maria noticed that there wasn''t anybody out in the base walking around and guessed they must all be in their houses sleeping or something.

    She stood there and watched as Mira snuck into a house, then immediately walked out of the house with blood on her scythe. She guessed that she just killed some dude in cold blood while he was asleep.

    Was this okay?

    Maria shook her head. She just wasn''t mentally prepared to do this today. She knew that she might have to kill some time in her life, but didn''t expect it to be this soon. And to do it to people that are defenseless and sleeping at that.

    Maria walked to the first house slowly and sneaked in. She slowly sneaked towards where the bedroom was and crept into the room. What she saw made her gasp. She saw a womanying on the floor and was chained up so she couldn''t escape. She wasying there naked and covered in bruises. She could also sense that this woman was a mortal. She didn''t seem to have an ounce of power.

    Maria just stood there for a while not knowing what to do. This man obviously did this to her, but she doesn''t know her. She knew that there were people like this in the world, it''s just that she has never seen something like this in person. Maria pitied the woman and felt bad for her and part of her felt the need to help her as some kind of justice, but Mira never acts or does anything based on justice. Maria wasn''t sure how to feel, but the guy that was asleep started to wake up.

    "Hah? What the fuck are you doing in my house? Not that I mind though hehe. You''ll just have to pay an entree fee if you want to be here." The man got angry at first, but saw how pretty Maria was and instantly wanted to dominate her.

    Maria wasn''t sure what to do, but she took out her sword when the man began to get up and go towards her.

    "Oh? So you don''t want to do that. I guess I will just have to force you hehe." The man took out his sword and walked towards Maria. When Maria saw himing towards her with a sword she got into her battle stance. With her higher cultivation, the hell that Mira puts her through, and all of the battles that she has been through, Maria has grown to have a strong battle sense even if she doesn''t act like it. She is just in the wrong mindset right now and knows that she is supposed to kill this guy, so her thoughts are already preupied with that.

    The man shed at Maria and Maria blocked it easily, but she had a chance to counter-attack and didn''t take it. The man was surprised that Maria blocked his attack like nothing. He was in the Marrow Tempering stage and some girl that was younger than him blocked his attack like he was an ant. He got a little pissed at this and used all of his strength to attack Maria. Again, Maria blocked it like it was nothing but Maria still didn''t counter-attack. The guy back off and grabbed a small knife and threw that at her gut. He then shed his sword towards her chest. Maria blocked the knife and was a little slow to block the sword leaving a little cut on her shoulder. It could hardly be called an injury and wouldn''t even leave a scar.

    Now the man felt a bit of fear from thedy in the room. Even if he gets a direct hit, he wouldn''t be able to even severely wound her.

    Maria''s mind was still preupied when she heard the injured woman''s plea.

    "Please�� Help me. Kill him. Please. I want to be free from this." She said faintly.

    It was very hard to hear her voice, but she could hear her almost lifeless voice. For some reason, this reminded her of Mira. This guy is going to die. One can say this is guaranteed, either by Mira, Maria, or Vulcan. Maria steeled herself.

    The man charged at her and Maria swiftly removed his head. When she did this it was like her brain froze. She had no idea how to deal with this. Her brain tried to rationalize what she had just done. Did she do it because she wanted to get justice for the woman? Was it because she was scared of Mira? Was it because she wanted to?

    Maria started to vomit and felt her body go cold.

    "Thank you." The injured woman said with a faint smile on her face. She then seemed to fall asleep, like she didn''t have to worry about that pig anymore.

    Maria just nced at her and continued to throw up. Her mind was spinning and she couldn''t think straight.

    "ENEMY ATTACK!!"

    Maria heard this and knew that this was Mira ughtering countless people. Maria went to go see what was happening outside and what she saw made her stomach curl. She saw Mira covered in blood holding her ck scythe with blue veins running down dripping in blood. Mira ran towards the crowd of bandits. She saw people cut in half both vertically and horizontally. Some people were even still alive after that, but they had no legs to move and could only scream in horror. Some had their heads exploded in while the lucky ones had their heads removed. It was a horrid sight. How can Mira cut people down like this? Does she hold no regard for human life? Maria instantly went pale and continued throwing up. She couldn''t look at that scene anymore.

    Mira kept up her ughter until a voice resounded in the area and blocked her next attack.<sub> </sub>

    "It seems that you are causing trouble in my base. What should I do with you, little girl?" He said to her as he scanned her from top to bottom. He was trying to gauge her strength. He was a Stage 5 Qi Condensation while she was only a Stage 1, but her body emanated a feeling of danger. Her scythe was also abnormal. Also, the way she just cut hundreds of people down like chickens was not something that a normal Stage 1 could do.

    "I guess you could serve your purpose as a training dummy. Or you could just watch as I ughter this little base. They can at least serve to increase my killing intent hehe." Mira snickered. She had been wanted to try a new move that she learned recently. It seems that it has a high affinity with her scythe too due to her ice affinity and Extreme Yin Physique.

    "This little girl thinks she canpete with the boss? He''s a stage 5 Qi Condensation! She''s only Stage 1. Kill her Boss!"

    "Kill her Boss!"

    "Kill her Boss! She clearly only sees us as ants scrambling around!"

    "It seems these people want me to kill you. I would rather not fight you as I can tell that it will be a hard fight for both of us. I see no benefit in us fighting. If you came here for revenge or to get someone back then we can try to work something out, but you will have to give me something as payment for killing my men." The bandit leader tried to settle this somewhat peacefully. He didn''t know why, but he felt like he might die if he has to fight her. Mira just shrugged her shoulders.

    "You could say I came here for revenge, but I would say this is closer to the act of putting flowers on the graves of the dead except in this case the bandits are the flowers. A proper send-off. Plus I do get benefits from this."

    "Very well." The bandit leader said and readied his sword. Mira also got ready, but she did something to her scythe. On the spear side of the scythe, a curved de of ice formed. It looked exactly like the actual de of the scythe. It had Mira''s Qi flowing through it which made it look almost as sharp as the actual de as well. (Picture of the scythe: https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront/campaigns/102936/assets/506588/Untitled.jpg?1442474755)

    Mira started to gather momentum in her scythe by twirling it. They then charged at each other. The bandit leader shed his sword to try and chop off Mira''s head. Mira deflected the blow and carried the force of the blow with her and counter-attacked with a diagonal sh across the bandit''s chest. The bandit immediately dodged and went to stab at Mira. Mira swiftly dodged and threw 2 Ice des. The bandit cut the Ice des in half and charged towards Mira. Mira blocked the attack and was about to counter-attack when the bandit leader immediately retreated.

    The two then had a stare-off. They were only testing each other right now. The bandit leader felt that each of Mira''s attacks were deadly. If one were to hit him it would cause severe damage. Plus fighting against a scythe is incredibly weird. If Mira keeps her momentum, even with his strength it just gets deflected and redirected back at him, and even if he blocks, another attack cane right after the initial one.

    Mira was definitely feeling the difference in cultivation. Even with her tempered body, she is getting bruises from each interaction. She is doing her best to redirect the force of each blow, but each blow is still heavy. The bandit also has a better battle sense than she thought. He knows how to wield his weapon and can use it somewhat efficiently.

    Silence pervaded the area. Then Mira and the bandit leader seemingly disappeared. But the people around them felt a shocking force happen in the middle of the two and caused the people near to stumble a bit.

    Mira dodged the attack and spun her scythe across his waist, but the leader blocked it. Mira shot ice needles at him and he was forced to dodge. As soon as he began dodging, Mira kept the momentum of her scythe going and tore through a chunk of his skin across his chest. The bandit leader was shocked by this sudden change, but ignored it for now and focused. Mira didn''t let up after she stuck. The bandit leader was a bit out of range so she kept shooting Ice des until she reached him. He tried to block all of them, but they attacked different areas. 2 Ice des went towards his shoulders, 2 towards his knee caps, and 2 more just outside of him to prevent him from dodging. He blocked one shoulder and dodged the other and was able to dodge one directed at his knee cap, but the other Ice de sliced into his thigh leaving a big gash on his thigh.

    The bandit leader realized what she wanted to do. She was just trying to wear him down then end this quickly. Well, he wasn''t a pushover either. Not to mention 4 Stages higher than her.

    Mira dashed towards him, but he swiftly dodged and shed. Mira wasn''t able to do anything about this sh and it cut diagonal across her chest leaving arge gash. Luckily her skin was tougher than normal or else that would''ve killed her. She pulled back her scythe shed at his left arm. The bandit tried to dodge, but he was too close to her and the scythe was able to leave a huge gash on his left shoulder. You can even see the bone.

    The leader ignored the pain as a rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins. He shot towards and started swinging his sword like a crazy man. He was just using brute strength to strike now. He kept swinging and stabbing like crazy and was able to leave a lot of cuts and gashes on her body even though she blocked and dodged plenty of the attacks. Whenever she blocked his attacks also started to crack her bones leaving fractures.

    Mira might actually die at this rate, but then Mira came up with an idea. Right as she blocked the next attack she sent an ice needle to his injured shoulder. He didn''t notice this tiny ice needle and it struck deep into his shoulder, then Mira exploded it. It didn''t remove his arm, but now it just dangled there limp. The leader had gone crazy soo he just continued to sh with his right arm, but the power behind each attack wascking much more now.

    Mira used a big chunk of energy to increase the length of the curved Ice de on the scythe. She then blocked his next sh and continued with the momentum and cut off his right hand. Then Mira quickly dashed towards the leader and decapitated him.

    After decapitating him, she immediately took out a Rank 2 Rejuvenation Pill as she needed her injuries to heal a bit so she can kill the rest of these ants. Most of the Qi Condensation Realm bandits had died and now the leader died too. There was only silence for tens of seconds before the surrounding bandits went crazy.

 Chapter 30 Forest Hunters Part 3/3

    The Bandit Leader was dead, but Mira was a bloody mess.

    "The Boss is�� Dead? How can this be? What do we do?"

    "RUN!"

    "Hurry! Kill her while she is injured or else we will be dead too!"

    Various thoughts ran across the Forest Hunter Bandits. Some started to run, others approached Mira with weapons drawn, and several of them just fell to their knees epting their fate.

    Around 100 people approached Mira with weapons drawn. Mira took a deep breath a focused her eyes once again. Her injuries were still healing, so running around ughtering these guys might not be the best thing to do right now.

    Mira surrounded herself in Ice Needles. She wanted to take care of the fodder first. Then she shot these needles towards the bandits approaching her. Some needles went right through their heads killing them, other bandits were able to block the needles, and some bandits got hit but in a non-life-threatening area. With this one move, she was still able to get rid of around half of the approaching bandits and the rest of them despaired. Their morale was already at rock bottom but seeing an injuring person still treat them like chickens, that was the final blow most of them needed. More and more bandits started running away. All that was left to fight were the remaining Qi Condensation Realm bandits.

    Mira didn''t want to use any more Qi or her Ice Dao as she was running out of energy. All that was left was her body and scythe. There were only about 10 remaining Qi Condensation Realm bandits. Mira charged towards one and swiftly removed his read. It wouldn''t have been that easy if their morale hadn''t dropped and they felt like they had no chance of defeating her. She continued removing their heads until thest guy. This guy actually managed to block her attack. The bandit tried his best but was still, but one could say that his inevitable death was much worse. Mira removed his right hand in their battle, then removed his left arm. She then chopped him in half at the waist and left him to slowly die on the ground. She had to go chase some of the other bandits to prevent them from escaping.

    Vulcan was waiting outside the walls and started seeing peoplee over. He knew that his time was up and he started to sever their spinal cords in their necks. All the people saw was a red blur before they died. He continued killing all of them until he didn''t see any moree over. He checked all the way around the base and didn''t find or sense anyone.

    Mira was inside and had just finished killing off the rest of the bandits. She then walked over to where she presumed Maria would be. She walked into the room and saw a man without a head and a bruised naked woman who was seemingly asleep. She nodded at this then spotted Maria. She was sitting on the ground looking extremely pale. There was also vomit everywhere.

    "Maria." Mira called out.

    Maria looked up and noticed that Mira was there. Maria looked at her with almost lifeless eyes.

    "The bandits are finished. Vulcan should have finished off the rest of them that tried to escape. We are going to go around and unchain the women here then search the buildings to see if there is anyone or anything else to take. I will then go around and loot some of the bodies." Mira said as she used her scythe to removed the chains from the woman on the ground.

    The woman woke up from this and saw a girl in a ck mask with a ck Daoist robe. The only thing that was noticeable was the scythe and her shiny silver hair. This little girl was also covered in blood and had injuries that were currently healing.

    Mira looked at this woman and spoke.

    "You may go now. All of the bandits should be dead in this ce."

    Mira said that and dragged Maria with her. Having her sit here like this would not do her any good. Mira didn''t want to force anything on her right now. This was something that she has to handle on her own. Mira can only hope that her pure and innocent mind won''t be broken after killing someone and seeing a sight like this. They walked out of the house and Maria saw the massacre that was much worse than before. There was only blood, dismembered corpses, and death. Maria just looked on with lifeless eyes as her brain still didn''t know how to process this.

    They continued walking in and out of the houses and removing the chains from the women. It didn''t take them long to finish the houses. Then they started checking the other building to see what''s inside there. Most of the buildings were just living quarters in the base. One was a dining hall, one was the boss'' house and thest one was unknown. Mira decided to save the Boss'' house forst and walk towards the unknown building that looked like a warehouse.

    They walked in and saw countless women locked up in cages and chained up. Mira partially expected this, but just not so many. Mira went around and used her scythe to open the cages and remove the chains from them.

    Some of them walked out immediately, but others didn''t know how to react as Mira hasn''t said anything. After Mira finished she told Maria to go gather all of the women that were in the houses from earlier to gather here. There was a total of 500 hundred women in the building they were in after everyone gathered. Mira then began to speak.

    "The bandits here are all dead and you are free to leave." Mira said short and to the point. There was only silence after she said that. Mira figured this would happen. Most of the people here looked like they didn''t have the will to live anymore. Mira then began to walk over to one of them. She chose a woman that didn''t even bother to look up when she removed her chains and spoke.<sub> </sub>

    Mira now stood in front of this woman with Maria about a meter behind Mira. Mira decided to speak to her.

    "You can get up and go now. Go back to where you came from." Mira said in an almostmanding tone. The women didn''t seem to notice that Mira wasmanding this woman to go, but Maria did and was surprised. Surprised enough to look at Mira to try and understand what she is doing.

    "I don''t have anyone or anywhere to go back to." The woman said in a faint voice.

    "I see. Then what do you want?" Mira asked.

    "I�� I just want to reunite with them."

    "I see. Are you sure?"

    The woman just faintly nodded her head.

    "Very well. I will assist in this endeavor." Mira said and was about to cut off her head, but was stopped.

    "Mira! What are you doing?! How can you just kill an innocent woman like this!? Even if she wants to die, why don''t you try to help her live?!" Maria yelled at her from behind after stopping her swing.

    Mira shook off Maria''s hand then cut off the woman''s head. Maria was frozen in shock, but Mira turned around and grabbed Maria''s chin and brought her face close to hers, and looked at her in the eye.

    "Let me ask you a question, Maria. What do you think life is?" Mira asked seriously. Maria didn''t know how to answer. Mira then continued speaking.

    "Life is a constant struggle of trials and tribtions to achieve one''s goal. A person can go through anything to achieve that goal. That goal is their purpose in life. When someone achieves their goal, that''s the moment they feel their life was worth living like it like they didn''t just waste their life in a fruitless struggle. Some people reach their goal and stop, while others add a new and higher goal. The happiness one feels when they achieve their goal in life is not something that words can describe. Mainly because I don''t know what it feels like." Mira then pointed at the dead woman.

    "Take this woman for example. She probably had a loving husband and a great child. She was living her dream life. Now one day, banditse and kill both of them. Her goal was killed and destroyed. You can''t just go back to square one after that, but this probably wasn''t what broke her will to live. It was probably the constant abuse and torture that she had to go through by the very same people that destroyed her life. After a while, her resolve, determination, and will to live and find a new goal have all but vanished. The only thing now that can put her mind at ease is to end this suffering and join her family in the afterlife."

    "There is one more reason for this too. Death can be terrifying. Sometimes someone may think they want death, but when death looms over them like a reaper some people can find the resolve to live." Mira said and backed away from Maria a bit. She had spoken in a low voice that everybody could hear. Mira opened her mouth to speak again, but this time a bit louder and more domineering.

    ? "Just like this woman, what if I go to all of the other women here and ask the same questions? Will I kill them mercilessly too? What if their answer doesn''t satisfy me and I just kill them anyway? It''s not like I came here to save them or take care of them. I came here for revenge and because I wanted to kill bandits. In the face of certain death, people can make choices that they never thought they would. If they don''t want to die, then they will certainly make a different choice than this woman here."

    "To be frank, these women here are really quite lucky. My parents died to these bandits and I promised them that I would exterminate them. I used their deaths as a sort of farewell to them. If my parents didn''t die to these bandits, then I would''ve just ignored them. It would bring me no benefit in killing a bunch of bandits other than using them as live dummies for training."

    A heavy silence filled the room. The next moments may very well determine their life and death. One young woman decided to speak up.

    "Then what do we do? It''s not like we can travel through the forest by ourselves. Most of us here are just normal mortals without any strength. Unless you are willing to escort us, then we will only die no matter if we stay here or try to leave."

    "You''re right. You would need someone to escort you and I have no intention of doing that. It would take way too long. You''re right, if someone doesn''t help you then all you can do is sit and wait to die. It would probably be better if I just killed you here." Mira said and thought for a minute.

    "How about this. I will be staying in this bandit base to recover from my injuries. I will give all of you a choice. If no one else wants to join their family in the afterlife then I will help set you on the path of a cultivator. BUT! If one of you here cannot find the resolve to live, then I will go ahead and kill everyone. If anyone here tries to leave, then I will kill everyone. I will wait here for one hour. If all of you, meaning 100%, cannot decide in an hour then only death awaits. Rest assured though as I will make it swift. 1 hour starts now!"

 Chapter 31 Life Or Death. Choose

    Mira and Maria went to find a ce to sit away from all of the women here. Mira then started focusing on trying to recover her injuries. She realized that her injuries got pretty bad in thatst fight. She had a lot of fractured bones. Both forearms were slightly broken and she had some pretty bad gashes on her body. She also noticed some internal injuries. She can now focus on using the Rank 2 Rejuvenation Pill to heal her injuries. It had already healed the giant gash on her chest, but the rest of her injuries may need more time to heal.

    Maria decided to ask Mira a question though.

    "Mira, what is the reason you chose that woman from earlier to kill? I know it wasn''t random." Maria asked curiously. Mira wasn''t known to do things on a whim.

    "You could say she was something like a kindred spirit. If I didn''t kill her now, she would''ve killed herself. If I kill her, at least I can maximize the benefit that her death will bring. Also, at least in the afterlife, she can rest easy that her death was at the hands of someone else instead of her own." Mira said still recovering from her injuries.

    Maria had lots of questions as she didn''t understand what she meant, but seeing that Mira didn''t exin she left it at that and went to get Vulcan. Vulcan was just waiting outside for someone to get him. Seeing Mariae towards, he was extremely excited. He also did his job well, maybe Mira will praise him!

    Maria hugged him tightly and went back to Mira with Vulcan in hand.

    Mira saw Maria walk back next to her and asked Vulcan.

    "Did you kill everyone that tried to escape?"

    Vulcan just repeatedly nodded his head. Mira just nodded her head and went back to focusing on healing her injuries. Maria just yed with Vulcan as they waited for an hour to pass.

    The women didn''t really know what to do. Some of them didn''t want to die yet, but most of them had no idea what they should do. They didn''t want to be the cause of everyone else''s death, but they didn''t know how they could continue living after losing everything living. At the same time, the more they thought about their inevitable death the more scared they got. If death was certain then they could ept it, but they could choose whether or not they wanted to die and the threat of death can be quite terrifying.

    Unsurprisingly, the woman that spoke up to Mira before was the one to try and take charge. She was trying to convince these women to stand up and fight, to live for their dead loved ones, to strive to take control of their lives, to escape the forest, she was trying everything but there were still a lot of hesitant or unsure people. She was starting to worry, she was actually just captured and taken here yesterday. The bandits killed her parents which were both the head of her vige. She has yet to be taken advantage of yet, and even though she hated that her parents died, she was not ready to die. She was rather young at 18 years old. One could say that she was pretty for a vige girl, but she had no noteworthy features to her other than she was a bit above average. She had brown hair that went a bit below the shoulder and brown eyes. She was around 170 centimeters and was full of life and vigor. She tried to bring the women together, but she wasn''t able to unite them. Now an hour had passed. Mira stood up as soon as an hour passed and released a frosty aura. She looked terrifying with her ck mask, ck robes, and cold aura. You could also see her red eyes through the slits of her mask.

    Mira took out her scythe and it only made her look like the goddess of death. They could only await her judgment. Mira walked over to them and the vige girl from earlier spoke up.

    "We want to live! We want to get stronger! We want to escape this forest and try to move on!" She said.

    "I didn''t ask you. I want an answer from everyone." Mira said and waited for an answer from everyone.

    "But how is that fair!? I want to live! How is it fair that I only get to live if everyone here wants to?" She tried toin.

    "When did I im to be fair? I''m stronger than you, if I want you to die then all you can do is die. If you had strength then we could talk about terms, but s. You. Don''t." Mira said and started to wait for an answer from everyone. The youngdy could only grit her teeth and hope that she lives past this.

    "I want to live!"

    "Me too!"

    A couple of people came forward with conviction and determination. More and more people started to want to live and get stronger. Almost half of the women spoke up, but after that silence reigned into the room.

    "I see. Barely half." Mira said and walked over to ady that didn''t speak up. She looked young but was probably mid-twenties or early thirties. Mira guessed that she probably lost her husband and maybe even a kid. Mira stopped in front of her and the woman couldn''t even look up as she was scared out of her mind. Mira grabbed her in the shoulder and punched her in the gut. The woman vomited blood. Mira then dragged her in front of everyone and made her sit in front of everyone.

    "Since you want to cause the deaths of everyone here, then I will, of course, oblige. However, you will diest. I want you to know that the deaths of these 500 people is your fault, so you will watch as I kill them all. After I finish, you will be thest one. Let me make myself clear once more. I will ept no less than a 100% agreement." Mira said and began walking toward the group of women, gathering momentum in her scythe.<sub> </sub>

    "Wait! I don''t want them to die! Just kill me! I have no reason to live in this world without my husband and child, but these other people want to live!" The woman that was dragged to the front said.

    "You dying here is the same as killing themter on. I''m only speeding up the process. You lot living or dying is of little significance. I get nothing from helping you weaklings other than wasting my time to try to train you. You have 5 seconds to convince me before I start ughtering." Mira said as she walked toward the young vige girl that spoke up first. After the first second, Mira''s Ice Dao was released and the temperature of the entire room started to drop at a rapid rate, the next second she unleashed her killing intent, the third second she added the second de to her scythe, the fourth second she reached the girl and Mira was about to strike.

    "OKAY! I''m sorry! Please don''t kill everyone because of me!! I may not know how to live, but I can''t be the cause of all of these deaths!" The woman tried to tell convince Mira not to kill them as she was bawling her eyes out.

    "Not good enough." Mira said coldly.

    "AAHHH! Please don''t!! I don''t know what you want!! I''ll live, okay?! I''ll live to support the people that went through the same thing as me if they can support me and help me live!! Okay?! Just please stop!" She yelled and started crying. She couldn''t speak anymore as she was crying too much.

    "You should''ve started with that. I almost killed her you know? I guess I''m through with you. I will check with the rest of you to see if your answers can satisfy me. YOU! Come here!" Mira said and pointed at another woman that hasn''t spoken yet. Almost all of the women here were crying and covering their eyes. When they heard Mira speak they opened their eyes and the woman that Mira was pointing at started crying more as she walked over to her. Mira was still releasing her Ice Dao and Killing Intent releasing this suffocating pressure. It wasn''t enough to hurt or kill them, but it was enough to give off the feeling of death to these normal mortals. The woman made it over to Mira before she started speaking again while pointing at the women that haven''t spoken yet.

    "Let''s get to the main dish now that we have finished the appetizer. For every 30 seconds, you lot keep me waiting for an answer, I will remove something from her body. Unless you want me to provide proof, you better start speaking." Mira said in a cold and domineering tone. Maria was listening in on this without saying because she thought that Mira wouldn''t do something like that, but now she wasn''t sure. She had a feeling that if 30 seconds went by, thisdy would lose something.

    All the women were bawling their eyes out now while speaking out.

    "We understand! *sniff* We will live as a big supportive group! Just please help us! We don''t want to die. Especially not like this!" The rest of the people that haven''t said anything yet said something simr to this.

    Mira stopped releasing her killing intent and Ice Dao and nodded her head.

    "Very good. I''m d that you lot finally decided on what you want. I will discuss specifics with youter. Get yourselves together for now. Mypanion here will also be helping me with the training you all will be doing, so if you have any questions or want anything then please bring it to her. I will be right back as I have loot to collect. I will be back to give you your first order after that." Mira said and then walked off to collect her loot from the bandit leader and his house.

    It took a minute or two for the women to try and calm down. The young vigedy that tried to unite everyone earlier walked over to Maria after calming down a bit.

    "Hello, my name is Alicia. It seems you are that person''spanion." Alicia tried to talk to Maria.

    "Hi! My name is Maria Zaria! And yeah, you could say that I''m herpanion. I guess we will be working together. And please don''t hate my friend because of this, I know her method was a bit�� Evil? She''s really not that bad." Maria said with a smile.

    "Really? I mean she did kill thatdy and use her death to strike fear into everyone and force them to choose between living with everyone or dying with everyone. She was also ready to torture people just to get an answer quicker. I feel like we just made a deal with the devil just now." Alicia said with a bitter smile.

    "Hmm, you''re probably right. You guys might actually die from her training. It will be efficient, but you will live in a constant state of near-death. The only blessing you have is that there are a lot of you, but she might find a way to turn that into a curse. Well anyway, I was able to get to where I am today thanks to her and her training!" Maria said with a bit of pity.

    "Really? What kind of training did you have to go through? How long have you been herpanion?" Alicia asked curiously, but with a hint of fear too. She had no idea what they would even do to train.

    "Eh? I''ve known her for a couple of years now and she made me do all sorts of training. She made me workout with giant boulders, she would then beat me ck and blue when we sparred and wouldn''t let me stop until I couldn''t move my body, she through me in a frozen hell pond to make me temper my body, she threw me into an actual hell which was avake, she also made me fight beasts that were stronger than me. Now that I think about it, these past few years have been nothing but torture without much of a break. I will give you one piece of advice though. Don''t make her mad and just do as she says. She might actually kill you if you don''t." Maria said as she pondered on her experiences with Mira so far.

    Alicia was now able to confirm that they just made a deal with the devil.

 Chapter 32 Devil Instructor

    Mira hade back from looting the bandit leader and his house. There weren''t a lot of things that were all that useful for her. She found a Late-Stage Mortal Cultivation Manual, Lunar Fox Cultivation Manual, that could bring one to the peak of the foundation Realm. She found his weapon which was useless to her. There were quite a few Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pills, but the main thing that Mira got from him was the spirit stones that were in his collection. The bandit leader seemed to have a pretty big stash of Spirit Stones for a bandit. He had 100 Spirit Stones in total. He probably got a lot from killing people from the city that explored the forest or lone cultivators. Mira now had a total of 200 Spirit Stones. She didn''t know how long this amount wouldst for her, but she figured that it''dst her around 7-8 months.

    When Mira walked back into the room, everybody went silent.

    "It seems that you guys have calmed down. It seems someone hase into your new base and made a mess of it. You should probably start by cleaning up the ce a bit. Oh! One more thing. Whatever you find can be yours, I''ve already taken what I want from this ce. I will get what I need to start your training ande up with a training routine. We will start your training tomorrow right before dawn so be sure to wake up before that and get ready. Now go!" Mira said and sat down next to Maria.

    "Maria, I want you and Vulcan to go kill a bunch of beasts and collect a bunch of Ironhide Grass. Get enough tost this group around a week. The bandits might have quite a bit of food storage and Ironhide grass from all of the people in the Body Tempering Realm, but it would be good if we didn''t immediately touch those. I will go get what they need to start training." Mira said and Maria just nodded.

    The women walked out of the building and were appalled by the sight. With dismembered corpses everywhere. People cut in half at every angle, limbs everywhere, most heads were removed from the body or blown up into pieces, and the ground was covered in a pool of blood. They realized that Mira was much scarier than these bandits could ever be. They weren''t even this scared when the bandits raided their vige and killed their loved ones. It was more of a primal fear, where even if they were to die they didn''t want it to be like this. At least the bandits treated them like objects. They felt that Mira didn''t even see them as objects, much fewer people.

    Most of the women vomited seeing this scene and did not want to try to clean up this.

    "Come on! We need to do this! I know it''s gross, but we might end up in a worse state if we don''t clean this up. I personally don''t want to find out what her punishment might be for notpleting our first task." Alicia said trying to get everyone together to dispose of these bodies.

    "You''re right. We''ve made a deal with the devil. All we can do now is do its bidding. Just this scene alone is enough to make me fear death from that little devil. We just need to suck it up and deal with this. I want to get as much rest before tomorrow morning as well." Another woman spoke up and everyone agreed.

    The women started to grab the bodies and try to remove anything important like weapons or if they were lucky and found a space ring or something simr.

    Maria and Vulcan had left to collect what Mira wanted. Meanwhile, Mira was extremely busy as well. She was constantly going in and out of the base. She would bring in boulders of all different sizes, giant tree trunks, and lots of vines that looked like rope. Mira had found a huge empty area that she decided to use as a training grounds. This area was at the back of the base and took up around half of the base. It was almost like the bandits were going to use his area to expand their group or provide individual houses to everyone. Mira would drop everything in this area. Mira continued this until she had enough of everything. Mira then started using her Ice Dao and Qi to form giant ice boulders to ce around all of the people that will be in the courtyard and turn it into an icebox. This took her the longest and she was barely able to finish before dawn.

    Maria and Vulcan had made it back sometime in the night with everything that Mira asked for. The women had also finished throwing out all of the dead bodies. They just threw out most of the dead bodies.

    It was now right before dawn and all of the women had shown up to the center of the base where Mira was. The women had all went to wake each other up as to not have a single person missing. Mira then led them to the training grounds she prepared.

    As soon as they walked into the training grounds they could feel the ice-cold air. They saw stones and boulders of all sizes along with lots of tree trunks. They started having a bad feeling about this. Mira then began to exin their routine.

    "From today onwards this will be your training grounds. I will exin the various types of trainingter. Right now I will exin your schedule. From before dawn until midnight, this will be your home. You lot will be separated into 5 groups. There will be 5 different lunch and dinner schedules. Each schedule will be 15 minutes apart and will be an hour long. That means that there will always be a group on the training grounds until midnight. Every morning you wille to this area. There is a section right here that is full of Ironhide Grass. Take 2 with you every morning, I will show you how to use itter. I will have each of you form partners. These people will be people that will help you when you are in between life and death so choose carefully. The only breaks that you will get are when you pass out from exhaustion.  Your partner will be the one to make sure you are alive and use the Ironhide grass on you. Something to note is that when your partneres to your aid, it takes away from their break time. I already expect you lot to pass out quite frequently so I will be a bitxer about this today, but starting tomorrow I will not. That is all! Everyone for 5 equal-sized groups, then select your partner! Remember, this partner will be someone that shares life and death with you so choose wisely!" Miramanded and walked away to the front of the training grounds waiting for everyone to form their groups and partners.

    It took everyone around 15 minutes to form into 5 groups of around 100 each. Alicia was a big help in this. She was the one that took charge and started directing everyone. After that, everyone formed a partner. This took around 15 minutes as well. Most people partnered up with someone from their vige that they were friends with prior or it was just because they already knew them. There were a few people that picked someone else from another vige because they felt that they might resonate better with them. Alicia had partnered up with someone from her vige that she had been friends with before this. She looked simr to Alicia with brown hair and brown eyes but wasn''t quite as pretty.

    After 30 minutes they had all formed their groups and partners.

    "Each of you grab a rock that is about the size of your head, maybe a bit smaller then find a spot! Give yourself 1 meter of space in between each other. After that, I will start exining the various exercises that you will be doing." Miramanded them. Soon they were all around 1 meter apart with a head-sized rock near them.

    "First thing every morning you will go on a light run with your stones for an hour. Then you will work on your upper body in the morning until lunch. After lunch, you will work on your lower body until dinner. After dinner, you will train in various team exercises or sparring. The ice is here to help temper your muscles and quicken the speed at which you train. Also during lunch and dinner, I will pass around the cultivation manual that the bandit leader used. It is a Late-Stage Mortal Grade Cultivation Manual. It should be able to bring you to near the Peak of the Foundation Realm, be sure to pass it around and memorize it, but don''t cultivate and collect the energy until you break through to the Qi Condensation Realm, or else you will explode. It teaches you how to circte the surrounding Qi into your body. This will provide several benefits, but what you need to focus on is its ability to help with healing your body. Now grab your stones and go run around this area for an hour! I will punish anyone who doesn''t run fast enough!" Miramanded and they all started to run around the training area with their stones in hand.

    It went fine for around 15 minutes, but the stones started to get heavy for these normal people. Many people started to slow down, but that''s when their hell started. Whenever someone slowed down below a certain pace they would get whipped. It wasn''t a barbed whip, but with Mira''s strength, it still hurt like hell. The women got real motivated when they saw theirrades getting whipped. Some people would copse on the ground after they got too tired, but Mira would just grab them andunch them in the air and tell Maria to catch them. Maria would then catch them and bring them back to their rock and have them continue running.

    Alicia understood what Maria meant when she said they might actually die in training. If this is just a warmup then what will the rest be like? Plus Mira is whipping and tossing every one of them. If they don''t die to the training then they will die to her.

    An hour finally passed and most of the women were in tears.

    "If you lot are already in tears then you won''t survive whates next! I will give you 5 seconds to get your bearings before I start exining the next part of your training! I will only exin and show this one time so pay attention!" Mira yelled at them and 5 seconds passed quickly.

    "This next section you will train your upper body and by this, I mean everything above the waist. We will train your core, chest, arms, and back. You will do crunches, sit-ups, nks, push-ups, bicep curls, mountain climbers, and these other exercises that don''t have a name since we are using stones and not proper weights. This is also how you apply the Ironhide Grass. " Mira exined and started showing how to do each of the exercises while utilizing the stones they have. She also showed them how to apply the Ironhide Grass.<sub> </sub>

    "I do have good news for you though. I won''t give you a quota that needs to be hit. Instead, you will continue each exercise until you physically can''t do it anymore. Then you switch to the next exercise. You will do continue this until lunch! Start!" Mira said.

    The women didn''t have a problem early on and were d that they could rest their legs. They carried on their exercises until someone copsed from exhaustion. Mira walked over to her and whipped her. The woman yelped in pain and screamed.

    "I can''t do this exercise anymore! I''m too exhausted! Isn''t that what you said?!" The woman screamed.

    "Do one more." Miramanded and the woman grit her teeth and forced herself to do one more.

    "See. You could do more. I said you will continue until you physically can''t do it anymore. If you can still physically do one then continue until you can''t even control that muscle anymore. Continue!" Miramanded and went over to simr people and did the same thing.

    Now they understood what it meant to continue until they physically can''t. A quota would be better than this! At least they would be able to take a break once they reached it!

    "Group 1! You may go to lunch now! Be back in an hour! Here is the cultivation manual that I talked about earlier. Make sure you learn it as it will be extremely helpful for healing your torn muscles." Miramanded as it seemed to be lunchtime.

    Group 1 just copsed on the ground and stayed there until Group 2 was called which was 15 minutester. Then they started to apply the Ironhide Grass and started to go eat lunch by the time Group 3 was called. They started just forcing down the food and began trying to learn the cultivation manual at the same time. They split their group of 100 into groups of 20 and each group of 20 had 5 minutes with it. They weren''t able to memorize the whole thing but were able to at least force Qi into their muscles to try and heal them. They did that for the remaining 5 minutes then left to go back to the training yard. This was what every group after them would do as well. Group 5 just got called for lunch as they returned.

    "Wee back Group 1! We will now start on the lower body. You will be doing squats, jump squats, lunges, and some calf exercises. I will show you how to do these as I did for the upper body earlier. There is also a where you stand as well. Put your stone in that and hang the stone around your neck. You can let it hang in front of you or the back, it doesn''t matter." Mira said and began showing them how to do the various exercises.

    Group 1 then let the stone hang around their neck and they started their workout. They understood that Mira was a Devil Instructor now and knew how she worked so they had fewer people being whipped. The other groups trickled in as well and Mira told them the same thing.

    They continued with the lower body until dinner time and group 1 just copsed and tried to heal their torn muscles with the Ironhide Grass and Qi. It took them 30 minutes to stand and they tried to rush over to the food to eat. They kept circting Qi into their muscles the whole time.

    After dinner, Group 1 went back to the training area and saw giant logs and boulders along with a bunch of weapons, but mainly swords. These weapons came from the ones that the women found yesterday.

    "Wee back to thest training session of the day, Group 1. This is the teamwork and sparring training session. I have 2 teamwork tasks and have collected all of the weapons you found yesterday for sparring. The two teamwork exercises is a tree trunk exercise where a quarter of you will be in a line and have your ankles tied to log on each leg. You will have to try to walk and jog smoothly around the training area. The second teamwork exercise is much simpler. I have ced a giant boulder over there. You will work as a team to push the boulder and continue that until it''s time to switch. 2 groups will be on teamwork exercises and 2 will be sparring. Choose the weapon you found yesterday and find your partner. 1 person will block and the other person will attack then you will switch positions. I won''t be watching over this portion of the training. Mypanion Maria will be in charge of this training while I am watching her. I leave it to you, Maria." Mira said to them and left this session to Maria. Maria wasn''t expecting this and was wondering what Mira meant, but she still just nodded. She got the 1st group tied up to logs and sent them on their way, made sure that the 2nd group understood their task of trying to push this boulder, then made groups 3 and 4 and had them start sparring.

    More groups kept walking back in over the next hour and Mira told them the same thing as the prior groups.

    Maria was having a tough time. The women weren''t striking very hard and were trying to get them to strike harder, but nobody would take her as seriously as Mira. Maira didn''t want to whip them, so she ended up just holding the whip and threatening to use it.

    Mira just watched and took note of several things. She wasn''t sure if she will bring them up to Maria or not. She might just let it be and have her think on her own.

    It finally became midnight and all of thedies plopped on the ground and copsed breathing hard.

    "Congrattions on surviving the first day of training. It only gets better from here so look forward to the days you get to spend with me. You may go and do whatever you want, but I rmend you sleep." Mira said and walked away. Maria walked with her.

    "FINALLY!! We Survived this hell!!" Many of them screamed whileying on the ground.

    "Mira, why did you put me in charge of thest session?" Maria asked curiously.

    "I wonder." Mira dodged the question and continued walking away to find somewhere to sleep. Most of the people in the training grounds either crawled out of the training grounds or just tried to find a warmer spot and sleep there until morning and soon morning. Mira kept training or watching over them as she healed her injuries and cultivated. Unknowingly to everyone there, 3 months passed in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 33 Personal Army?

    Unknowingly to all of the women in the bandit base, 3 months had passed. Even Mira and Maria seemed to lose track of time. Mira was in peak condition after a week had passed and had healed all of her internal injuries. However, when she said that they were going to leave in another week the women tried toe up with something to extend her stay by another stay. They had noticed something. Even though the way they trained to get stronger was nothing short of madness a day of training for them was like a month for somebody else. This was because Mira made sure that they lived on the verge of life and death every day with their training. And with the threat of Mira''s wrath looming over them, their bodies and minds started to adapt to this situation. Their bodies unconsciously tried to get stronger faster. This was also added to the fact that just a couple of days prior they were all normal mortals with no strength, so their room for improving their bodies was a lot higher and easier than cultivators. All of these things coupled with Mira''s icy training grounds made their muscles and body get stronger incredibly for the first week.

    Being able to notice a significant rise in strength is an incredible feeling. The feeling of aplishment, the explosive force hidden in your body to extinguish your enemies, and the feeling ofmunity that the women here felt because of the sense of crisis they all felt. They were worked so hard that they didn''t have the time or energy to think about anything else other than ice and boulders. Dead family? Destroyed vige? They can''t even think about those things even if they want to. Mira would beat the shit out of them if they are distracted and make their training twice as hard.

    With thoughts like this, they actually didn''t want Mira to leave just yet. They had officially turned into training masochists. They came up with a n to extend her stay by another week. They didn''t have the guts to talk to Mira directly about it because she would probably just instantly refuse and leave. So they nned toe up with a goal for all of the women to reach. A goal that would be nigh impossible to reach if they didn''t put every ounce of focus and effort into their training. Once they had a goal in mind, they would bring it up to Maria. Maria was extremely sweet and innocent. She was easy to get along with and cared about the women here. They would bring up their goal to Maria and ask her to tell Mira about this but make sure that Mira doesn''t know it came from them. Maria would then have to go to Mira and ''make a bet'' with her and if the group of women could pull it off then they would stay for another week and if they couldn''t then they would leave.

    Maria brought this up to Mira as soon as training that day was over. Mira didn''t know if Maria felt bad for the women and gave them this solution or if the women brought this up to Maria, but she didn''t mind too much. She was mostly just cultivating and trying to figure out what Ice Dao would suit her the most. She also had plenty of Spirit Stones right now to aid in her cultivation. It also wasn''t often that you get to spend time in a ce with walls in the middle of the forest. She agreed to the bet. The bet this time was that Groups 1-5 would do a 3-legged race, but instead of 2 people tied together, there would be around 100 people with their legs tied together. All 5 groups would have to do this and not have a single misstep while they were running.

    Mira obviously didn''t think they could do this in a week. Even if Maria focused on this in the teamwork and sparring training session, doing something like this was essentially impossible.

    After a week though, her thoughts were proven wrong. She saw 500 women run around the training area with their legs tied to each other in perfect unison. It was a beautiful sight, something that might not show up in any world again. This was proof of these women''s determination, group coordination, silent understanding of each other, and trust for one another. Watching this scene made Mira feel like she was teaching a group of women to be super-soldiers. Mira then had a crazy idea. What if she could have a personally trained army made up of only women in the future? A city pisses her off? DESTROYED! This might not be usible, but if all she had to do was spend a couple of months here and train a bunch of mortals�� Mira decided then that she would go in more effort into training these people. She didn''t know if they''d be loyal to her or if they could even live for that day, but the thought alone of having a secret army like this was enough for her. She might never get an opportunity like this again and a few months to a cultivator is nothing! This is a low-risk-high return gamble. Even if they all died before that happened, doing this would still be worth it. She has no idea where the ruins in the forest are, she doesn''t know what other lucky chances there might be in the forest for her, and she doesn''t know what will happen in the future. Why rely on luck when a lucky chance is right in front of her and all she has to do is put in some work.

    After the women won the bet that day, their training got exponentially harder and Mira was much tougher on them. Even a slight mistake would get punished by severalshes. She also would give them chances for her to stay another week, even though she had already nned to stay a few months here. The second challenge she gave them was to hit Vulcan 1 time. They had a full week toplete this goal and Vulcan didn''t know about it. It was impossible for them to even hurt Vulcan as he was at least a Low-Stage Rank 2 magical beast and was born from fire andva. Not to mention he is just a baby. Hitting him would be incredibly annoying for Mira and Maria.

    It took them until thest day to hit Vulcan. He was usually near Maria and was able to sense any malice or bad intentions toward him. Eventually, they just had the cutest girl out of the 500 of them hold a bunch of meat for him and coax him into letter her pet him. Then she pulled out a knife and just touched him. She had no bad intentions or malice as she didn''t even attack him. Mira was happily surprised again by the results. She knew that this was the only way for them to even think about getting close enough to Vulcan to even try to hit him. But what surprised her was that the cute girl that pulled that off didn''t even have any ill intentions when she lightly hit Vulcan. This girl could be an excellent assassin. Mira didn''t really know how to train an assassin but knew of a way to increase this girl''s assassin prowess as well as adding another element to the women''s training. She had this girl sneak off after dinner and try to sneak around the training grounds during teamwork exercises and try to assassinate people with a wooded knife. She would also have her run around at different times at night and have her try to assassinate them while they slept. For every ''kill'' she got, she would get rewarded with something and every time someone ''died'' they would get heavily punished. She could get this girl to have some experience with assassinating while the other people would have to increase their awareness to avoid ''dying''. This was mutually beneficial training for both assassin and target. As one side grew, the other side would as well. Mira kept piling on the hellish training and ridiculous goals.

    Mira also threw in something else. Mira would lecture the groups when they were training about things she knew about the cultivation world. She would talk about Magical Beasts and their ranks, sects, cities, currency, the different continents, Spirit Stones, herbs, how to break through the stages in the Body Tempering Realm, Daos, element affinity, weapon ranks, side jobs for cultivators like alchemist and weaponsmith, beastpanions along with the different contracts, and various other things. After Mira had lectured them, she then quizzed them at the end of the week. Luckily everyone was able to answer her questions because that was her weekly challenge. After that week, she told everyone that she would stop letting them know what the challenge was, just that there would be something in the next week that would determine whether or not she stayed here to train them. This further increased the efficiency and effectiveness of their training as they had to put everything they possibly could muster into everything that Mira told them to do.

    Sometimes Mira and Maria would take them out to hunt, sometimes they would bring a beast to the base and make them fight it. Mira also had them participate in a tournament with the winner getting a day off of training. Tournaments started to be frequent. Usually, they didn''t involve 500 people in the same tournament as most of the time it was just between the 5 different training groups. The winners would get various rewards. This was meant to force the women to have a bit of individuality in their fighting style that set them apart from the others.

    A couple of weeks after the 2-month mark of their training, they all had a qualitative leap in strength. It was quite weird, as they pretty much all hit the Strenght Training Stage of the Body Tempering Realm. They all now carried the force of over 5000 kilograms within their body. These women were able to gain strength this quickly mainly due to Mira''s brutal methods. They never would''ve been able to reach this stage without her guidance along with the cultivation manual from the bandit leader. A month of training with Mira''s methodsbined with a cultivation technique to circte Qi in their bodies to help with the healing is equal to years if not 10 to 20 years of trying to reach this stage on your own without a cultivation manual. When they hit this stage, Mira told them that she would prepare them for their journey of bing a true cultivator and the 2 hardest stages that they will need to ovee. The Bone Forging and Marrow Tempering Stages are the most difficult to get past. Mira exined her experiences with Bone Forging and she had Maria exin breaking through to Marrow Tempering to them as Mira used the Ice-Fire Flower to breakthrough. Mira had her previous life but felt that Maria could exin it better as she is part of a big family in a city that had much more experience in this.

    Mira told them that now that they have all reached this stage that she has no reason to stay here anymore. They have the strength to live in the forest as long as they don''t run into a Late-Stage Rank 1 magical beast or higher.

    Mira spent the next few weeks getting them used to their new strength along with their new exercise routine. Mira had them do exactly what she did to break through to Bone Forging. Mira was even tougher on them these next few weeks so she could instill the feeling of how they need to be training to progress through the stages. Mira knew that progressing through the Body Tempering realm isn''t that difficult as long as you put in the work to do it.

    It came time for Mira and Maria to leave as they had nothing left to offer these people. It was the day before they left and Mira was standing in front of all of the women in the base and decided to speak to them.

    "This is thest day that I will be watching over your training. I have set you on the path to bing strong as I told you I would. Unfortunately for you, I cannot just stay here and you will magically break through the realms of power. Well, I guess that could happen, but I refuse to do that. You have what you need to make it to the Qi Condensation Realm now all that matters is what you will do with it. You need resolve, determination, and hard work to continue breaking through. Just know that Qi Condensation is when you will be a true cultivator." Mira paused her speech here.<sub> </sub>

    "Now onto what I really wanted to talk about. You lot have the potential to be a truly fearsome force in the world. Right now you are too weak to even be able to raise your heads in the world. I have ns for you to be able to rise to prominence in the future, but strength is required for that to happen. If you truly want to stand and hold your head high in the cultivation world, you need power. It doesn''t have toe from individual strength either. The power of having a backing is also a kind of strength, albeit less effective. But why not have both strong individual power along with a powerful backing? When you get strong enough then you can be each other''s backing along with me as your leader. Of course, this is only a dream meant for many years down the line, but this can be possible. If this is something that you are interested in, then speak up now. Like everything else that you have done, if there is not 100% of people in agreement then I will take it as a no and leave it at that." Mira said and waited.

    Alicia, the person that usually takes charge in situations like these, looked around. After seeing everybody''s expressions she turned to look at Mira.

    "This is what we want! Now that we are on this path and have no reason to look back we will follow you! Even though you have done nothing, but ruthlessly torture us for 3 months we got exponentially stronger because of it and were able to find a new reason for living! Not only did you save us from the bandits, but you saved us from ourselves! We owe you more than one lifetime as debt for your help! If we are going to live in this world and be cultivators, then we might as well try to be the strongest. We want to get stronger! We want to live in this world how we please! We don''t want our family taken from us again now that we have this second chance! If you want to be our leader, then what else can we do but agree?! If one of us betrays you then you may strike us all down! This is our resolve! If you tell us to go right, then we won''t dare go left! If you tell us to live, then how can we ept death!? If you tell us to die, how can we continue living?! We are at yourmand in body and soul, as no one in this world is more fit to lead us!" Alicia yelled with conviction as she tried to describe the thoughts of everyone in the base. This is the result of having death threaten you every minute of every day. The bonds that these women have formed run deeper than any friend or family. This is the result of absolute trust in those around you, the understanding of each person''s thoughts, and the struggles that they have gone through together.

    "YEEEAAHHHH!!!" They all yelled at Alicia''s speech. Then at the same time, they all kneeled on the ground.

    "We are at yourmand, Miss Mira!" Every woman yelled at the same time with conviction, respect, fear, pride, and utmost loyalty.

    Mira was absolutely stunned silly. Never in her life has she ever seen something like this. She had also never expected Alicia to give such a speech that seemed to convey everyone''s thoughts and feelings. Mira''s heart started beating slightly faster than normal as this scene slightly flustered her. She soon calmed back down. She knew that only time would prove this conviction and loyalty. If they can''t survive orck the drive or if someone decides to betray her then it would all be for not.

    "Very well. But these are merely words. I can see that you have the resolve and determination to continue getting stronger, but loyalty is hard toe by and even harder to keep. You can say that you owe me 2 lifetimes or even 10 lifetimes, but all it takes is 1 person to ruin everything. With that being said, if you can survive and be strong enough for me to give you my loyalty as a leader, I want to give you something to look forward to. I like the theme of if one of you dies then all of you will. It seems to fit this group of people well. So I will leave you with this thought. I wille back again when I am done exploring this forest. If by that time, I don''t see every one of you whatever the reason may be, then I will personally deal with and kill every one of you. Even though I have favorable impressions of this group, that doesn''t mean I won''t kill you for disobeying my only rule for you." Mira said with killing intent. They knew she wasn''t lying either. This group''s foundation was essentially all or nothing.

    "But, if my punishment is this harsh then I feel there must be a reward of simr value. If every single one of you can reach the Qi Condensation Realm without anyone dying before I visit then I will escort you to Lunar Fox City." Mira said.

    The women were about to get excited but realized that this was barely a reward. They could just go there by themselves when they reach that level of strength.

    "I know what you''re thinking. ''I could just go there by myself with that strength.'' is what you all are thinking. But I''m not done yet. I will be your guide in the city and be genuinely nice to all of you for an entire day. I will answer your questions to the best of my ability. I won''t call you worthless shit or curse at you. I will essentially be a normal girl. You might think that it will be extremely weird or wrong as that won''t be my personality, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing nheless. You will not see something like this from me a second time. Even if you lived through 10 lifetimes, you wouldn''t get a scene like this from me. If you are curious as to what this looks like or want to experience this, then you better work hard before Ie back. Who knows when I wille back too. It could be several months or it could be several years."

    The whole area was shocked. Even Maria was stunned out of her mind. She''s been around Mira for a few years now and has never even caught a glimpse of a smile or anything remotely nice. Even when she is doing something good, she makes it sound like something bad. She tried to picture Mira talking in a cute and girly voice and talking about girly things like clothes, hair, body, boys, and things like that. Maria felt wrong thinking about it but wants to see it! NO! She has to see it now! Even if she has to stay in this base and be a demon instructor like Mira! She will not let this slip!

    "If you lot don''t do this then I wille back and kill you all if Mira doesn''t! Listen!! I''ve been with her for several years and have never seen her be nice about anything!! If you can''t do this for yourselves then do it for me!!" Maria yelled at them like a crazy person.

    Mira just pushed this crazy woman away and said onest thing.

    "We will leave tomorrow morning. I have left a couple of surprises for you that may aid you in your journey, but you have to find them first. Don''t disappoint me." Mira said and walked out of the training grounds to go to sleep. Maria and Vulcan followed as Maria just red at them.

 Chapter 34 Inner Region

    The night passed slowly for everyone in the camp. Mira gathered Maria and Vulcan at the entrance of the camp.

    "Don''t disappoint me!" Mira said as she very slightly nodded.

    "Bye-Bye, everyone! Remember to aplish the goal that Mira set for you! I look forward to seeing it!" Maria yelled at them to make sure they understood the importance of their reward.

    "We surely won''t disappoint you! We will make sure to be strong!" Alicia said as she saw them off.

    "Bye Miss Mira, Maria, and Vulcan! We will make sure to not disappoint you!" The rest of the women said.

    Mira, Maria, and Vulcan then walked away from the camp. As soon as they left, Alicia gathered everyone together.

    "I know that everyone might be a little lost without Miss Mira, but I believe that we are able to fend for ourselves now. I know that our training won''t be the same with Devil Instructor Mira, but as long as we follow the routine that she set for us then we should be able to get to the Organ Refinement Stage without much issue. Marrow Tempering will be more difficult, but Maria told us how to break through to that stage with what we have. The Qi Condensation Realm is when we can start feeling more at ease while living in the forest. So no matter what, if we want to survive we need strength! And if we want to continue living after Miraes back then we need to make sure that nobody dies! We also need to hunt for our own food and find our own materials. Maria gave us a decent amount of rations, but we can''t rely on them this whole time. What we need right now is strength though! Let''s get to training!" Alicia tried to encourage them. The women didn''tck encouragement, but Alicia just wanted to reaffirm it.

    "Yeah! We need to at least be able to live in the forest without everything being able to kill us! We can barely be qualified to kill a Low-Stage Rank 1 magical beast. It still takes us, multiple people, to do that. We need to not only gain strength but practice our sword skills and maybe try to find our elemental affinity if we have one." Some other womenmented while everyone else nodded and walked back to the training grounds.

    These women don''t know much about running a vige, but everyone here understands each other and is in the same situation. Nobody will do anything about greed or pride or anything stupid like that. Especially with the threat that Mira gave them before she left. Even if someone took charge here and tried to run everything, they wouldn''t be able to make decisions for the whole group. The main thing right now is to keep everyone motivated enough to reach Qi Condensation Realm before Miraes back. Even if they don''t, the threat of death from every magical beast in the forest along with Mira threatening them is more than enough motivation for now. All they have to focus on is getting stronger and surviving, not running or leading a vige.

    ***

    Mira, Maria, and Vulcan left the camp and walked far enough that they can''t see it anymore before Maria decided to speak.

    "Mira, why did you decide to stay here for so long? Do you really n on making something like a personal army?" Maria asked as they kept jogging their way through the forest as they talked.<sub> </sub>

    "Well, I guess you could say that they would be something akin to insurance or if someone really pisses me off. I could also see potential in those women. Individually they might not be anything special, well for now at least, but together they are quite formidable. They all had their lives ruined by the same people, used by the same people, had simr lives before they were ruined, and get strong for the same reason. You couldn''t find a group of people like that very often. They don''t feel they deserve more because of their background or experience. With just a push they can live for themselves while supporting each other along the way." Mira exined and Maria was a bit surprised.

    "Do you think all of them will be loyal to you? Also didn''t you say that you don''t like people that live for other people? Why is okay if they do?" Maria continued asking as she was really curious about this.

    "I don''t know if they will all be loyal in the future. That''s why I made it so that it is either all or nothing. It''s either all of them or none of them. They should be able to keep each other in check because of that. Nobody wants to die because someone else made a mistake. So either none of them betray me or all of them do. Well, that''s my theory at least. And they don''t live for me or want my acknowledgment. I am merely someone that holds their life, death, and fate. They live for themselves. They want strength so the past doesn''t repeat itself and to be happy. Me acknowledging something is me not beating the shit out of them." Mira exined to Maria while Maria was taking a mental note of everything and reying the past 3 months in her head. It was a great experience, but something that she never would''ve been able to do.

    Mira let Maria''s thoughts run wild for a couple of minutes before speaking again.

    "Anyway, I''d appreciate it if you didn''t mention this part to your family. In return, I will answer one of your questions withplete honesty." Mira threw a bomb at her. Maria knew why she didn''t want her to share this information with him. This is supposed to be a secret army. It wouldn''t be a secret if everyone knew about it, they might also n to get rid of her before something terrible happens. Also, Maria couldn''t refuse this kind of chance. She thought for a while. Thinking of every question that she has had in thest few years. After a while, she concluded that there is only one question that epassed everything she wanted to know.

    "Who are you, really? You''re definitely not a little girl that is around 11 years old. You know too many things. It also feels like I''m talking to someone with many years of experience."

    Mira figured this might be the question and had already prepared her answer.

    "Well, you aren''t wrong. I might even be older than your grandma. If I were to make a long story short I''m not from this world. This body is, but my mind isn''t. My soul is in a cycle of reincarnation. Every time I die, I keep my memories, but my soul is ced in the womb of some random woman who just got pregnant. It''s supposed to be a form of torture because I refused to be some asshole''s ve. I''ve had 10 lives. Some I killed myself, some I died of old age, others I was killed in. A lot of worlds didn''t have cultivators and I was only able to be a true cultivator in my previous life." Mira said and Maria didn''t know what to say. She didn''t even know how old Mira''s true age was. Also, she didn''t think that reincarnating could be a form of torture. Maria couldn''t picture being born in different worlds with her memories intact was that bad. 10 different lives definitely sound like a long time though. Mira seemed to read her thoughts and decided to correct her.

    "You''re probably thinking that being reincarnated after dying is that bad, right? At least I get to live, right? That isn''t necessarily the problem. If you know that if you die, you will just get put into another body then what happens to your mind? You treat death as a reset button. The only thing is that you feel like you can''t really live either. Your body grows old as your mind doesn''t. If I live a long and fulfilling life, then my reset button activates and now I have to restart again. How can I live a fulfilling life if I get reset in some random ce and can''t go back to that thing that was fulfilling? Not to mention, in the cultivation world you lose all of your progress you made. It is a slow torture of the mind." Mira corrected her thoughts. Maria still didn''t understand it but felt like that it wasn''t as simple as Mira made it out to be. It might also affect people in different ways.

    "Enough of that. Let''s continue our journey through the forest. Our main goal is the ruins. We found avake that not only helped us tremendously but also birthed Vulcan. If the ruins don''t have something like that then I will be very disappointed. But I get the feeling that this ruin is something special." Mira said and they continued their search for the ruins.

    It didn''t take them long to enter the inner regions, but when they did there was a sudden change in the atmosphere. Like this part of the forest was only for the strong. They felt that there would be no Rank 1 magical beasts here. Only Rank 2 and up. No wonder the Night Hawks sit right outside of the Inner Region. If a Rank 2 magical beast ising to the inner region from the outer region then they must be on the weaker end of a Rank 2. The three of them stopped for a minute to scan the surroundings. Nothing here was out of the ordinary except for the atmosphere. There was a feeling that everything here would be a battle. But with this much danger, there are bound to be benefits thate with it. They then started their journey in the Inner Region of the Dark Moon Forest.

 Chapter 35 Old Man In The Forest

    The Inner Region of the Dark Moon Forest was full of dangerous beasts for people that are still in the Qi Condensation Realm, but the main reason that the forest is called a Rank 2 or Psuedo Rank 3 forest is that people don''t usually see the truly powerful creatures in the Inner or Core Regions. The same applied to Mira and Maria.

    They had just entered the Inner Region, but have only seen weaker Rank 2 magical beasts. Mira wanted to avoid as many magical beasts as possible, but not because she couldn''t deal with these weaker beasts. What she was worried about was what came after defeating them. They didn''t know if a bunch of magical beasts woulde charging over to try and take the spoils from her. So they just kept exploring through the forest. If they could assassinate a beast and kill it in 1 hit then they would do that and immediately store the corpse, but most of the time they would just try to avoid any wandering magical beasts.

    As they were exploring the Inner Region, they came across something peculiar. There was a small cottage in the middle of the forest. It was in perfect condition and seemed like it was just randomly ced. Maria was extremely curious and wanted to go to the cottage and started walking over to it, but Mira felt that this entire scene was eerie. Why was there a cottage like this here? Mira felt like this is something you do when you just get too bored and don''t know what else to do. The only people that get too bored with things are older people that have lived a long time. In other words, it is very likely someone incredibly strong lives here. Mira had no intention to run directly into the tiger''s den so she grabbed Maria and started to run the other way. Mira did not want to see or talk to some entric and strong old man. Maybe they could get something out of it, but they might just end up stuck listening to the ramblings of an old man.

    As they ran they heard a voice that seemed right next to them.

    "Why don''t youe here? It''s been a while since I''ve had visitors and it''s also rare to see kids your age out here too." An aged male voice said.

    "Fuck. You talk." Mira said to Maria briefly and Maria nodded and felt like that might be for the best too.

    They ended up walking to the cottage and the front door opened for them as they walked up to it. They walked into the cottage and saw an incredibly old man there. He was rather tall at 210 centimeters, had long white hair, and was covered in wrinkles. He didn''t have a beard and looked cleanly shaven. As they walked in they heard the same voice speak out again.

    "Oho! You two really are young and the little miss there is exceptionally beautiful. Even in the cultivation world, you rarely see this kind of beauty. Also, I''ve never seen this kind of fox before. Come,e, let me treat you to some tea. You can tell me your story then." The old man spoke and started preparing some tea. Mira and Maria went and sat down and waited. Soon the old man came back with some tea.

    "You can call me Abe or Old Man Abe, whatever works. So, what are you two kids doing this deep in the forest? It''s pretty dangerous here you know?" Abe spoke again with curiosity.

    "Hello, Mr. Abe. My name is Maria Zaria and this is Mira. We are here to go off adventuring and gaining experience, but our main goal is the ruins here in the forest." Maria spoke up and tried to speak in a polite tone. She knew this man was probably incredibly strong.

    "You''re very smart, Miss Maria. Gaining experience is extremely important to a cultivator. Gaining strength and knowing how to use it are two different things. And the Ruins huh? There is only one ce that I can think of that might be what you call a ruin. It''s near the border to the Core Region, but for some reason, I can''t enter. There seems to be some sort of barrier in ce to prevent someone as strong as me from entering. It can be hard to miss though. It''s underground, so you will have to look for a cave. I was only able to spot the cave and felt the barrier. The barrier was strong enough to keep me out, so it must have some conditions to enter. I don''t know if you will be able to get in, but just because I couldn''t get in doesn''t mean you can''t. That''s all I know. So, why do you want to go there?" Abe asked them.

    "Well, we don''t really have a reason, but Mira said that she feels this forest is more mysterious than it seems. A ruins here can''t have nothing in it. So we set that as one of the goals of our adventuring. Even if it does have nothing then at least we still got to explore and gain experience." Maria tried to exin to him.

    "I see. That''s a good way to look at things. It also looks like you wouldn''t be leaving empty-handed. I also see that you probably obtained this fox recently. I''ve never seen anything like this little guy here. He will be extremely powerful in the future, but even in all my years, I have never seen something like this little guy. Are you able to tell me more about him?" He asked some more.

    Maria was about to speak when Mira stopped her. Mira then spoke up.

    "No." That''s all Mira said. Abe was surprised that some little girl spoke to him like that. Most people tried to suck up to him or gain his favor. He found it slightly interesting. He decided to push a bit more.

    "Where did you encounter him?"

    "The forest."

    "How did you find him?"

    "Luck."

    "Do you know how he was born?"

    "I wonder."

    "You do know that I could force the information out of you right, little girl?" Abe said with a hint of killing intent. Mira just shrugged.<sub> </sub>

    "Then do it." Mira said with resolve, but she also knew this old man wouldn''t do it. Abe paused for a second, not expecting that answer. Then he burst outughing.

    "HAHA! Interesting! You are very interesting, little girl! If I was younger, I would want you as an apprentice! HAHA!" Abe started yelling andughing.

    "I would have declined immediately. Besides reasons such as I don''t need your help until I be simr in power to what you are right now. I hate old men like you. You would probably try to make my life a living hell and bother me to no end. And since I''m too weak to kill you, then I have no way to do anything." Mira said. She might''ve said more info than she needed to, but part of it was just to satisfy some of this old man''s curiosity.

    "I see. So you would''ve tried to kill me if you were strong enough?" The old man asked

    "Only if you kept bothering me." Mira said back to him.

    "You know little girl, it''s not good to be that rash. You might end up with a lot of enemies." The old man tried to give some advice.

    "Then what''s the point of bing strong? If I can''t kill who I wish, look down on who I wish, then what''s the point? Did you be strong just so you could sit in a tiny cottage in the middle of some forest filled with ants?" Mira asked back. The old man thought for a minute.

    "No, I guess not. HAHA! Now I do have a question that I know you can answer to some extent. Why did you start cultivating so young?" The manughed and asked.

    "My vige was raided by bandits when I was younger. And well, look at me. It''s not like I wasn''t pretty back then either. If men lust over pigs, then what would go through their brains if a goddess with no power showed up? The choices were either die in a forest as a weak mortal, get captured, or get strong. At least now I''m a goddess with a bit of strength." Mira said.

    "I see. So that''s why. And you''re probably right. You were lucky to not get captured by bandits in the first ce. Well, enough of that. I can see that both of you are close to breaking through to the next stage. I''d rmend you do so before you continue your travels. You can stay here until you break through, but it probably won''t be too long." Abe offered. Mira and Maria thought about it for a minute. They were very close to the next stage and they couldn''t find a safer ce than this. Mira didn''t like the sound of staying in some random old man''s house but reluctantly epted for a couple of reasons. This old man gave them a clue that might save them months of searching and also it''ll take them a while to break through in the forest while running and searching for the ruins. Mira decided that they wouldn''t get a better opportunity to break through, plus if Abe wanted to do something to them he didn''t have to y any tricks. He was too strong and they were too weak. So they reluctantly epted his offer.

    Abe then showed them to a room for them to stay in. They both sat down and started focusing only on cultivating.

    A month quickly passed by. They had both broken through to the next stage. Since they were able to focus only on cultivating, it only took them a month to breakthrough. If they were still running in the forest, it might''ve taken them several months.

    Mira broke through to Stage 2 Qi Condensation and Maria broke through to Stage 3 Qi Condensation. Their power went up by about 50% this time too. That''s not to say that Maria is necessarily stronger than Mira though because Mira is able to collect and condense more Qi in her meridians than Maria.

    Nothing special or out of the ordinary happened with this breakthrough either. They both just absorbed and condensed enough Qi in their meridians to breakthrough.

    After both of them finished their breakthrough, Maria went and told Abe that they were leaving.

    "Come back again!" Abe said as Mira, Maria, and Vulcan left. They both started heading for the ruins that Abe talked about that were near the Core Region of the forest.

    "He sure was interesting. I never thought that I''d meet some entric old man out in the forest like this." Maria said as they traversed the forest.

    "Yeah, I never thought we''d run into someone of that strength here either. I just hope what he told us is true." Mira said back.

    "He has no reason to lie. I think we could at least go and look for it. It''s the only lead we have anyways." Maria said while Mira just nodded.

    They continued their journey. It was going smoothly pretty much this whole time. They barely ran into any magical beasts. But of course, a journey to the Core region can''t always go smoothly. They soon realized why they haven''t run into many magical beasts recently. It''s because they just entered the territory of a Mid-Stage Rank 2 magical beast.

    ''I guess it''s time for a rematch.''

 Chapter 36 Looking For The Ruins

    Standing in front of Mira, Maria, and Vulcan was a very intimidating-looking deer-like beast. It stood there at over 2 meters tall. Its coat was almostpletely ck and it had red eyes. The antlers on its head looked like a tree sapling. The antlers were huge and looked incredibly hard and sharp. They even looked like wood. There was only one deer that could match this description, and this was the Nightwood Deer.

    Mira had a conflicted view on deers. In worlds that don''t have cultivators, creatures that look like deer are almost always passive and never attack anything. They are usually herbivores. But in the cultivation world, it''s a different story. Magical Beasts generally have to fight to survive and more often than not, eating other strong magical beasts can make them stronger. Mira doesn''t really know the specifics regarding magical beast growth other than a few simple things.

    The deer just stood there and looked at them. It seems like it was trying to determine their strength.

    Mira and Maria readied their weapons as Vulcan was also ready to fight. Mira and Maria split and charged at the deer from both sides. Mira carried the momentum of the scythe with her trying to decapitate the deer right off the bat. The deer just extended its antlers and blocked her scythe. Since the antlers had a lot of forks on them, her scythe was difficult to remove the deer''s antlers. Mira then got kicked in the chest and stumbled back as she finally removed her scythe. Maria didn''t have this problem since she didn''t use a scythe, but she also went for the body of the deer.

    The deer''s ability seems that it''s able to control its antlers and extend or contract them at will. The deer tried to dodge Maria''s attack, but she used her Light de while she swung down her sword and left a gash on its body.

    Vulcan ended up going for its legs. The deer kept extending its sharp antlers to charge at and attack Vulcan. Vulcan had a hard time dodging all of them while moving forward to attack its legs. He ended up getting hit a couple of times by the antlers, but he was able to reach its legs. He used his ming ws to try and rip off its legs. The deer, of course, isn''t just going to stand there. He kept swinging his head and using his antlers and kicking at Vulcan. Vulcan eventually got kicked and flew out from its legs, but he was able to dig into the bone.

    Mira and Maria saw that its legs were pretty badly injured. Mira added ice to her scythe to make it a double-ded scythe and attacked from the back. Maria went for the head and used her triple draws. She can now use it more than once without losing all of her energy, but it is still not perfect. The second and third illusory des are still notplete, but it was still a strong attack.

    Mira sent Ice des towards the deer''s hind legs while Maria used her Light Beam towards its head and Vulcan breathed fire towards its front legs. With its head and legs targeted, it was forced to block or dodge these attacks. Maria and Vulcan charged forward together to try and destroy its head while Mira charged towards its back to try to cut it open from the back.

    The deer dodged the Ice des with its hind legs, but when its hind legs were returning to their original position, Mira had already removed one back leg.

    Maria used her triple draws on the deer''s neck. The deer kept swinging its head and started to try and jump and run around, but couldn''t do it since it had just lost a leg. Maria''s Triple Draw destroyed part of its antlers as Vulcan leaped onto its head and started to dig into its brain. Mira continued with her momentum and removed another leg as Maria used her triple draws again and removed its head. Vulcan then leaped off the deer''s head and could now take a breather.

    "Maria store the corpse, I''ll collect the body parts. We are leaving this area and finding a ce to rest." Mira said as Maria nodded and collected the corpse. Mira stored the body parts and they left the area to get away from that area. She didn''t know if any beasts would try and go there to fight for the spoils.

    They ran until they couldn''t see any beasts in the surrounding area then stopped.

    "I think we should let Vulcan eat his fill. I don''t know if he will get stronger from eating a Mid-Stage Rank 2 magical beast but might as well see and try. mes might be best, but I have no idea." Mira suggested.

    "I get the feeling that absorbing stronger mes will cause a mutation in his mes as well as strength, but I feel like he should be able to get stronger by eating other magical beasts as well. Maybe." Maria said to Mira. She was the one contracted with Vulcan.

    Maria took out the deer''s body and let Vulcan eat his fill. Vulcan looked at the deer''s body and yipped happily. He started munching into the meat and kept eating until over half of the deer was gone. He then slowly walked over to Maria and fell asleep.

    "I guess we should just get some sleep after healing with our wounds a bit." Mira said as she circted her energy to heal her wounds. She wasn''t hurt very badly and only had some minor injuries. The same goes for both Maria and Vulcan.<sub> </sub>

    Night came and passed quickly. It was now time for all 3 of them to continue going towards the Core Region.

    They started going through the forest at a decent speed. They have spent long enough in the forest by now that traversing through the terrain wasn''t much of an issue. The only real issue is trying to avoid as many beasts as possible. The closer they got to the Core Region, the less they wanted to fight the beasts. They were able to spot some Late-Stage Rank 2 magical beasts on their way. They had no intention of fighting one of these beasts as they are equal in strength to a Stage 6 or 7 Qi Condensation Cultivator. Luckily the beast was asleep and either didn''t notice them or didn''t care. They decided to backtrack and go all the way around this beast. The main reason they could deal with the Mid-Stage Rank 2 Nightwood Deer was that they had Vulcan, who seemed to have the strength of a Mid-Stage Rank 2 Magical Beast, and both Mira and Maria are stronger than your average Stage 2 and Stage 3 Qi Condensation cultivator. Plus, Mira and Maria have great coordination and all Vulcan has to do is attack where they aren''t attacking.

    After they went around that Late-Stage Rank 2 magical beast, they continued their journey to the border of the Core Region. It took them about a week of running, hiding, and dodging to get near the border of the Core Region. They decided to fight one other Mid-Stage Rank 2 Magical Beast just to get a little more experience and it was in their way. They didn''t feel like going around this one as they held the element of surprise. It was this bear-looking beast, but they couldn''t identify it. It had green fur, arge horn on its head, and two long tails. Mira shot Ice Needles at its eyes. Vulcan went out and started to attack it with his fire ws. After its eyes were dealt with, Mira went in to attack his legs with her scythe. While he was busy dealing with these two, Maria was looking for an opportunity to jump in. After Vulcan left a wound on him and Mira dazed him for a second, Maria came in and used her Triple Draws and removed his head.

    It all happened incredibly fast and the bear barely had any time to think or react before he was already dead. The bear wasn''t that much stronger than the dear. He definitely would''ve been more difficult head-on though because a bear is a bit more battle-oriented than a deer.

    They collected his corpse and let Vulcan eat his fill again. He ate almost all of the bear before he fell asleep. This time he slept for 2 days before he woke up. He also seemed to gain around a centimeter or two in height in thest 2 days.

    After the battle with the bear, they continued their journey to the Core Region. Once they got closer to the Core Region, they had to look out for caves. Abe said that it was in a cave, but that it went underground. They didn''t know how the cave looked or if it was more of a hole in the ground. They continued looking for any cave they could find. Mira felt that it would not be a big cave, but a smaller one. Arge cave would be easier to spot and if the ruins is only something like a rumor in the city, then it would make sense if the cave that led to it was hard to find.

    After a while of searching high and low for a damn cave, Vulcan reacted to something. All of the hairs on his body stood up. Mira noticed this change and got ready for battle. Mira looked around then spotted what Vulcan was nervous of. It was a Late-Stage Rank 2 rabbit. It was around a meter long and 50 centimeters tall. It had a horn on its forehead that emitted strands of lighting.

    "Fuck. A Thunderhorn Hare and a Late-Stage one at that. I bet it lives in some small ass cave! I''m starting to get a bad feeling from this encounter." Mira muttered under her breath.

    "Maria, I think that we might need to follow that beast. I have a feeling that it lives in the cave we are trying to find." Mira whispered to Maria.

    They then secretly followed this rabbit around. It nearly took an entire day before the rabbit led them back to its hole. They stayed around 100 meters away from the small cave. It was slightly bigger than the tunnel that led to thevake.

    "Should we fight it?" Maria whispered to Mira.

    "Hell no! If it were a bigger beast then we might have a chance if we take it by surprise, but that Thunderhorn Hare is so small and probably extremely fast. And forget ambushing it, rabbits have very keen senses. That''s how they live. If we can catch it, then we might be able to kill it as I bet that it doesn''t have an incredibly strong body. The only problem is that horn and its speed. Getting stabbed by that horn at high speeds will leave a nasty would and it hits the right spot will just instantly kill us. I''d give us a 10% chance of winning. If we could catch it, then we could probably kill it in one hit. I say we wait until it leaves that little cave then sneak into there and find out if it''s what we are looking for." Mira said back to Maria and she nodded back. Maria didn''t want to fight it as she also felt like they couldn''t win in a head-on battle.

    They camped out and waited for this rabbit toe out of its hole. They had to wait for 2 days and nights before they finally saw this stupid thing move. The Thunderhorn Hare came out and looked around. Then it slowly started hopping forward. It then justunched off. The 3 of them could barely keep up with that speed. They knew it would be fast, but not that fast. It was a good thing they didn''t try to fight that.

    As soon as the rabbit sped off somewhere they rushed into the cave. They had to squat in the cave as it was a bit too low for them to stand. They walked as they could and soon found the end of the cave, or what seemed to be the end. Mira put her hand on the end of the cave and her hand went through the end of the cave. She was surprised to see something like this. Mira looked at Maria and Vulcan and nodded. She then walked into the end of the cave and was able to walk through. Maria and Vulcan soon followed. Their mouths dropped and they stood there with their mouths agape. The scene in front of them was simply�� Amazing!

 Chapter 37 The Ruins

    The three of them stood about 1 kilometer above this incredible sight. What they saw looked like an entire underground city. It could barely be called a ruin as everything was still in pretty good condition. At least all of the buildings were still standing. Most of the buildings seemed to be built out of a smooth white stone. The roofs were made out of dark wood and the roads were paved with this red brick-like stone. It almost looked like this ce was lost in time. They also noticed something odd. The reason they could see this ce fairly clearly. There were magicmps that were everywhere in the city lighting it up. The 3 of them stared at this scene from afar for a while before they began to walk down to the city. They also saw trees growing everywhere, but she had no idea

    The closer they walked towards this city, the creepier it got. They haven''t noticed a single person living here. A city that doesn''t have anything broken or destroyed along with lights everywhere that are still active, yet no people are walking around or making any noise. It really felt like they just stepped into a ce that was separated by time itself. It didn''t take them long to reach the city and it was incredibly beautiful. This ce and Lunar Fox City couldn''t even bepared. Everything here looked liked it was made by the finest craftsmen. If there were slums ormoners in the city, then you couldn''t tell by looking at the buildings. Mira could only guess that there were no slums ormoners, at least that''s what it felt like actually being right in front of the buildings here. Mira felt like it would be a great honor to live in a ce like this. They walked around this ce and saw big buildings, small buildings, some looked private and others looked like they were meant for the public. It looked like there wasn''t anything in the buildings when they tried to look in. They kept walking around the city until Mira spoke

    "Let''s take a look in one of these buildings. It doesn''t look like there are any people here and we don''t know if these buildings actually have nothing in them." Mira said.

    "I agree. It really looks like there is nothing here along with nobody living here. We might as well check the insides of a building." Maria agreed to Mira''s proposal.

    They walked over to a random building and went to open the door. When they tried to open the building, the door barely moved. Mira looked stunned at this door. She didn''t feel like this door was locked, but it was just incredibly heavy. Mira tried to open it again, but this time she put her all into opening the door. She was able to push it open about a centimeter this time. Maria noticed this and was stunned! How heavy did this door weigh?! She''s never seen something like this before.

    "Help me open this door. We might have to spend some time trying to open it even with all of us trying together." Mira said to both Maria and Vulcan. They both nodded and got ready to open the door.

    They all pushed together and were able to open it by about 3 centimeters before they had to stop and rest. They kept pushing and resting for the next 30 minutes before they finally opened the door enough to be able to walk in. They tried to go through the window, but when Mira hit it with her fist, she couldn''t even crack it. Plus she ended up hurting her fist. Spending time opening the door was more feasible than trying to break in.

    They were finally able to get this door open. They then walked inside and noticed that the ce was almost entirely empty. There was furniture to sit on, but that was it. It looked like a house that someone moved out of and took everything with them except for some chairs and table. It was incredibly disappointing. Were all of the buildings like this? Did they have to go around and check every house individually? Suddenly they heard an almost mechanical-like voice from behind.

    "Oh?! People are here!" It a said as it frightened Mira and Maria. They immediately took out their weapons and turned to face the door that they opened. They saw an earth-like person standing there until they heard its mechanical voice again.

    "No need to be hostile! This ce was meant for you two! Well, not you two specifically but it was meant for the younger generation. Comee, let me lead you to the ce you''re supposed to go as well as answering any questions you may have." It said again.

    "Oh! My apologies. I''m the caretaker of this ce. As you can see I''m a golem and have some form of intelligence. I mostly keep this ce from looking run down. I don''t have a name, so you can just call me Caretaker." The caretaker introduced himself.

    Mira and Maria looked at each other for a while. They decided to store their weapons and decided to follow this thing. This caretaker was clearly not human and this ce was in too good of condition for nobody to be here taking care of things. They also had quite a few questions.

    "Very well, Caretaker. We will follow you for now. I''m Mira, this is Maria, and that''s Vulcan. I have plenty of questions about this ce." Mira said promptly.

    "I will answer them to the best of my ability." It said back to her.

    "What is this ce?" Mira<sub> </sub>

    "This ce used to be somewhere the strong would gather to try to invent new technology, study Formations, Inscriptions, Weaponsmithing, Alchemy, and studying more efficient ways to cultivate. You could say this ce is somewhere strong schrs gathered to learn, study, and share ideas." The Caretaker answered her.

    "If there was such a ce, then why does nobody live here now?" Mira asked another question.

    "Well, such is the cultivation world. After the word spread of this ce, the powers of the world felt threatened by such a ce. Fear of their power, greedy for the resources and knowledge here, and angry that this wasn''t in their kingdoms. This city here was essentially deemed as an enemy of the world. Even if this city was filled with strong people, they weren''t strong enough to take on the world. They went to war. Most people that lived here lost their lives in the war. A lot of people fled to hide somewhere. Only the leaders along with a select few chose to stay. They wanted to create a ce that could assist the future younger generations. The leaders worked on creating me, a formation that could create a barrier around this city to prevent the old monsters of the world from gaining the knowledge and resources here, and creating a series of trials that the future generations would have to go through in order to earn the rewards and treasures kept here. The trials also have some other features, but those are a secret for now." The caretaker answered with a detailed exnation.

    Mira and Maria could kind of understand them bing enemies of certain powers of the world. But enemies of the whole world? Either this caretaker was exaggerating, this ce was really that incredible, or the people here were just that strong. Mira guessed that bing an enemy of the world wasn''t an easy thing to aplish. For everyone in the world to want to destroy this ce essentially means that there are enough benefits and/or fear to go around. Also, trials? Mira got an inheritance in her past life where there were trials set up for the person that was trying to get the inheritance. But trials from the inheritance were meant to test the strength andpatibility of the person receiving the inheritance. You could have enough strength to pass, but if you had lowpatibility with the inheritance then you wouldn''t receive it. This seemed different though. The caretaker said future younger generations. These trials are not meant to find someone to have their inheritance. Mira''s thoughts got interrupted when Maria decided to speak.

    "If this ce went to war, then why are there no buildings destroyed?" Maria asked the caretaker.

    "That''s because I fixed them all!" The caretaker said proudly. Maria nodded and asked something else.

    "Why is everything here so freakishly heavy and tough?"

    "That was the result of some of the research done here. You could also call them a ''Right of Passage'' of sorts. If you could not even smoothly open up these doors, then you weren''t even worth a nce. That''s what the doors were for and afterward, everything just started being made out of simr material, so now everything is freakishly heavy. Just so you know that just being able to open up the door smoothly requires someone in Core Formation Realm." The caretaker exined this to Maria and even Mira felt quite intrigued.

    When they heard that they would only be able to open the doors here smoothly when they hit Core Formation Realm. At first, they thought that this seemed like a bit much. They were able to open it when all 3 of them pushed for 30 minutes. Doesn''t this mean that they could defeat a Core Formation Realm? Mira knew that this wasn''t the case. This only meant that it would take 30 minutes for them to just move a Core Formation Realm expert enough for them to walk past. They could probably attack this door for days with full strength in the exact same spot for days, maybe even weeks and they would still only be able to scratch it. They started to look at this ce in a new light. If all of these houses had a simr door, then didn''t that mean that everyone here was at least a Core Formation Realm expert? Insane! No wonder they were the enemy of the world. It''s probably because the world is what they needed to deal with a group like this. Even Mira might''ve been inclined to attack this group with the rest of the world if she was strong enough. Mira usually doesn''t like to bother her with things like going to war, but this ce was crazy. The minimum requirement just to enter your own house was Core Formation. She couldn''t even imagine the strength of the leaders that were here. If this ce was allowed to grow, they might''ve grown into a dominant power of the world that was infinitely more advanced than the other nations, Kingdoms, or Sects. This was a ce that could affect the entire world.

    "What about these trials that you spoke of? What do they entail? How are they meant to help us?" Maria bombarded the caretaker with questions.

    "Ah! Yes, the trials. Let me lead you to where they are located." The caretaker said and started walking off. The trio followed after him and he began exining.

    "The trials are limited to people in the Qi Condensation Realm and Foundation Realm and are set up to have a variety of challenges. They range from solving puzzles to killingrge hordes of enemies. The point of the trials is to challenge and push each person to their limit. Whether, physically, mentally, or spiritually, you will be tested and tried for each trial. Most of the trials involve how well you cane up with solutions at any given time. There are a total of 20 stages in the trial and they get progressively more difficult the farther you go in the stages. Each stage is unique and can help one grow. There are also various benefits topleting the stage, but I''ve been told to not tell you anything regarding the benefits and rewards that the trials have to offer. These things are meant to challenge you and knowing what the reward is might affect your mindset. These trials are meant for one to experience the cultivation world without much danger. Well, there is danger, but it is more controlled. You can die while facing these stages. You aren''t forced toplete the trial. I will tell you how you can exit it once we get there, but I will just tell you now that you are able to exit the trial if you feel like you are going to die. The stages will be set to amodate your current Stage. So for Mira, it will amodate your Stage 2 Qi Condensation Realm and for Maria, her Stage 3 Qi Condensation Realm. It wouldn''t be much of a trial if someone in the lower stages of Qi Condensation had to fight against Peak Foundation Realm experts or Core Formation experts. There is no time limit to the trial itself or the stages you are in. You may wish to exit the Trial in a few days or you can take your time and take years toplete it. I do rmend staying inside the trial for as long as possible though." The caretaker continued exining as he led them to the area where the Trial is located.

    It didn''t take them long to reach where the Trial was located. The caretaker led them to a ginormous tree. It was almost 1 kilometer high and was several hundred meters wide, maybe even more. In front of the massive tree was a pedestal that waspletely ck and stood 1 meter tall. Once the caretaker reached the pedestal, he began to speak to the trio again, but this time he was a bit more serious.

 Chapter 38 The Trial

    The Caretaker looked at Mira, Maria, and Vulcan and spoke in a more serious voice.

    "I will only give you one hint. Use your brain before brawn. The trials are set up with a bunch of veryplex formations, even I don''t know how they work. All I know is that some of the enemies that you will be fighting in there are can kill you. Also, this little fox can''t go in the trial. It''s meant for humans only, but I do have something that I can give him though that should help him grow. I don''t know what species he is, but I can at least tell that he has an extremely strong fire element. I have a me that I can let him absorb since he seems to be contracted with you. It will probably take him a while to absorb it though. I don''t have anything left to exin about the trial. Just remember that if you die while in the trial then you actually die. I will give each of you a talisman before you enter. If you want to leave the trial at any point then just break the talisman and you will be immediately teleported out of the trial. Are you ready to enter?" The Caretaker finished exining.

    Mira and Maria looked at each other.

    "Are you ready Maria?

    "Yeah, I''m ready! I wonder what these trials are like! I can''t wait!" Maria said excitedly.

    "Alright. We are both ready." Mira nodded and said.

    The caretaker nodded and led them to where they need to sit down. After they sat down, he gave them each a talisman. After handing them the talisman, the caretaker went and activated the formation to start the trial. Mira and Maria then felt a huge sucking force and their bodies were sent somewhere else. The Caretaker then led Vulcan to an area where he can absorb the me that he had in mind. It didn''t take long for him to lead Vulcan to an empty area. The caretaker then left and soon came back with a clear orange me. This me was incredibly hot and dense. This me was actually known as a me essence. A me essence is essentially a me that was born from the world. They are generally born in extremely hot areas but don''t necessarily have to. There are also other kinds of elemental essences as well, but any other essence other than fire or water is either incredibly rare or very elusive. Thevake''s heat couldn''t evenpare to the heat emitting from the clear orange me essence. The trio didn''t know, but this was actually the only me that the caretaker had that he could give to Vulcan. The other mes he had would immediately turn him to ash.

    Vulcan felt an innate desire to consume this me. He felt like his very existence was calling to have this me. Vulcan started wagging his tail happily and saliva was evening out of his mouth. Magical Beasts were good for him, but his existence was born from mes and heat. A me was clearly the best to make him stronger. The caretaker sent the me towards Vulcan and he ate the whole thing. Soon a chrysalis formed around him and he fell into a deep sleep to slowly absorb this me. The caretaker nodded and walked off to resume his duty of taking care of the city and waiting for Mira and Maria to finish.

    ***

    Mira felt the sucking force finally stop and she slowly opened her eyes. She looked around and found that she was in a room that was made out of dark blue bricks and 2 torches on the wall with blue mes that were barely enough to light up the room she was in. She stood up and took out her scythe. She looked around the room she was in to see if there was anything that could give any clues. She noticed that this room was a perfect square, 20 meters long in every direction, there were no doors, and everything looked exactly the same.

    ''So I need to get out of this room? Isn''t that too easy? There''s only so much in this room. No, this is probably just the beginning. I''m already feeling a headacheing.'' Mira thought to herself as she walked around the room.

    Mira started to touch the bricks on the walls. Mira thought there might be some secret entrance that opened up if she pressed on a brick. Most secret rooms that she has seen are like that. She started pushing on every single brick. There were a lot of bricks and the room was 20 meters tall.

    Mira would start with one column of bricks and push on the ones at her height, then she would have to jump and push on the ones that were above her. She is strong enough that jumping 20 meters high is not that big of a deal, but she could only push 2 bricks per jump. She tried to climb on the bricks, but they were too smooth and there were no grooves in between the bricks.

    After she finished a column, she would move onto the next one. She continued doing this for a while until she got to her first torch. She tried to move the torch in every direction, but nothing happened. Mira felt that these torches were special for some reason though. She went to go check on the other torch in the room, but this one also did nothing. She then walked back to the column of bricks she was working on and started pushing on each individual brick.

    After Mira finished one and a half walls she finally found a that could be pushed. Mira realized that each wall had 100 columns and 100 rows of bricks. That''s 10000 bricks per wall and each brick was 20 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide. This means that there are 60000 bricks in this room as every side, even the ceiling and floor were exactly the same. They are tiny and they all look exactly the same. Mira couldn''t find even the least bit of difference after 15000 bricks.

    She finally found one that could be pushed. It stood at eye level. Mira pushed on it and waited in anticipation., but nothing happened and the brick just returned to its original position. Mira wanted to scream.

    "Dammit! What''s with this room? Using intelligence my ass! The only thing I can rely on is luck to be able to find some stupid brick that can be pushed in!" Mira yelled in frustration. She kept pushing this brick, but every time it would just return to its original position. Mira realized that there is probably another brick that needs to be pushed. So Mira put her frustrations aside and remembered the location of the brick. It was located on column 56 row 7. She then continued to push bricks.

    Mira tried to think of several things that could make this more efficient like an ice pole, but the stone was so slick that when she tested a smaller version of the ice pole she could only go 20 bricks high before the pole would just slide on the bricks barely putting any pressure on them. So Mira just continued the extremely monotonous task of pushing bricks.

    It took her a while, but on the wall opposite of where the first brick she pushed there was another brick that needed to be pushed. It was on column 46 row 21. Mira pushed it, but it would immediately start going back to its original position if she didn''t hold it there. Mira then pulled out her scythe and was barely able to reach it and push it all the way in with her scythe. Mira then started making a 20-meter long ice pole to reach the other side as she felt that the two sides needed to be pushed at the same time.<sub> </sub>

    It took her a while to form this ice pole, but she was now able to push the two in at the same time. After pushing them in, they immediately starteding out to return to their original positions. Mira kept trying this as she didn''t want to believe it, but the more she kept trying the angrier she got.

    "FUCK!" Mira yelled.

    She put down her scythe and ice pole then continued searching for bricks. She soon finished all of the walls and now started to check the floor. After checking almost the entire floor, she found a brick that could be pushed. It was near where the first brick she pushed in was. It was 7 columns away from the wall and was at row 52. Mira then tried something. Since using the pole above 20 bricks was almost impossible for her, Mira walked over to the 2nd brick and used her scythe to push it in. Then she stuck in the ice pole and wedged it into the corner of the pushed brick. She kept the pressure on it and walked towards the first brick with her scythe in hand. Once she then pushed jumped up and was barely able to push the brick with her foot, but it was enough to make a wedge where she could ce her foot. She used the ice pole to keep her on the brick and kept pushing the brick in with her foot. After the brick went all the way in, she used her scythe to push the brick on the floor. After all 3 were pushed in she heard a clicking sound. Mira slowly removed her scythe and found that it didn''t return to its original position. Her excitement started to slowly grow. Mira then hopped off and removed her foot and noticed the brick didn''t move. She then removed her ice pole and all of the bricks remained pushed in.

    She could finally have a short celebration forpleting the puzzle. Well, that''s what she thought, but nothing happened. Mira was starting to get angry, but then she noticed the torches. She felt that these held some importance, but didn''t know what it would be. She walked over to one and started pulling and pushing it in every direction, but it didn''t do anything. She got a little worried but just walked over to the next torch. She pulled on the torch and finally something happened.

    One of the walls in the room started going into the floor until that side opened up to what looks like a hallway with the exact same bricks and blue me torches. She then heard a mechanical voice appear.

    "Congrattions on passing the trial tutorial! You may now pass to Stage 1 of the trial. For Stage 1, you must escape from thebyrinth!"

    Mira just stood there stunned. This wasn''t even Stage 1?!

    "Tutorial? This was a fucking tutorial!? All I did was press on some bricks and even just doing that and finding all of the bricks took me hours at the very least! At most, it might''ve taken me a day or two! Now I have to go through abyrinth where everything is exactly the same!? Who knows how big thisbyrinth is too!!" Mira yelled in anger. Why was there even a tutorial? Mira could only hope that the tutorial had nothing to do with pressing bricks.

    Mira then calmed down and began to assess the situation. She looked around the room and round that the bricks were still pushed in. She could use this as a sign for her starting position. She then started to look at the hallway to see if she could notice any differences. As she expected, there were no differences at all.

    Mira remembered that the announcer''s voice said that this was abyrinth. She took out arge beast pelt that she kept stored in her space ring. She would use an ice needle to make incisions in the pelt and use that as a map. She then started walking forward and started mapping things down.

    ***

    Maria was still in the tutorial when Mira finished. She had a simr idea to Mira and checked each column for any bricks to push in. She ended up finding all 3 bricks but was having trouble pushing them at the same time. Maria tried to use her light beam to push the brick, but it didn''t carry enough force behind it to push the brick all the way in. She tried to use all of her energy, but it still wasn''t enough. Then she started throwing a sword at the brick to see if that carried enough force behind it to push it all the way. Maria''s other 2 bricks were a bit closer together so she didn''t need to jump to push them in. She just used her hand and foot to push those two in, but the other brick was on the other side of the room. She kept using her spare hand to throw her spare swords at the brick. Swords aren''t meant to be thrown, so it is very hard to urately hit the brick at 20 meters. It wasn''t hard for her to throw the sword 20 meters, but she needed to pretty much hit the center of the brick at 20 meters.

    Maria just keptunching swords at the brick, hoping she might get lucky. Maria lost count after 100 tries, but eventually, she finally heard a click, and the brick that she threw the sword at stayed pushed in. She then removed her hand and foot from the other 2 bricks and noticed they didn''t return to their original position. Maria became ecstatic, but then also noticed that nothing else happened. She then started to be worried but felt like she didn''t have to search for more bricks.

    Maria did the same thing as Mira and noticed the torches. She began to pull on them until one of them finally reacted and a wall started to lower into the ground. After the entire wall was in the ground she heard the same mechanical voice.

    "Congrattions on passing the trial tutorial! You may now pass to Stage 1 of the trial. For Stage 1, you must escape from thebyrinth!"

    Maria just stood there, dazed.

    "TUTORIAL?!"

    ***

 Chapter 39 The Trial Stage 1

    Mira started walking forward with her makeshift beast pelt map and Ice Needle. She walked down the hallway where everything looked exactly the same. She decided to test something out. Mira took out her scythe and swung at the wall next to her. She hit the wall, but she wasn''t even able to scratch it. She put away her scythe and continued to walk forward. She reached the end of the hallway soon, but it seemed that it went to the right. Mira turned to the right and continued down this hallway as she continued to map out thebyrinth. She didn''t bother to try to push every single brick on the way as there would be hundreds of thousands of bricks, possibly millions of bricks to check. The caretaker gave them a hint of brains over braw and making people search through millions and millions of bricks to continue in thebyrinth is the opposite of smart.

    Mira continued walking down thebyrinth until she came to a fork. Both sides looked exactly the same so Mira chose to head to the right. She marked the fork in the road on her map and marched forward. The hallway would sometimes go to the left and sometimes it would go to the right. After walking down the right side, she ended uping across another fork. She decided to continue on the right side, but she marked down this fork on her map.

    She continued going down this path until she reached the end. After taking more left and right turns, Mira seemed to finally reach the end of this damn hallway. She noticed a small chest on the ground. It looked like just a normal wood chest. It was a small chest and only covered a total of 4 bricks on the ground. Mira checked her surroundings and like always, saw nothing other than dark blue, bricks with blue torches on the wall that are equally spaced from each other.

    Mira walked towards the chest and bent down to open it, but as soon as she opened it the hallway behind her closed up. Now she was enclosed in another tiny room like the tutorial. Soon, magical beasts started dropping into the room from the ceiling. Mira immediately stored her ''map'' and took out her scythe. She then started to kill all of these beasts. They were all Peak-Stage Rank 1 magical beasts of different species so they were no different than fodder, but they just kept dropping into the room.

    Finally, the beasts stoppeding into the room, but then another beast fell into the room. It was a Low-Stage Rank 2 magical beast. It was arge ck snake. It was around 5 meters long and was a shiny ck snake with red eyes. Mira didn''t know what type of snake it was, but she immediately moved in to kill it. The snake hissed at her and charged forward. The snake seemed shocked that it was all of a sudden dropped into the room, so it didn''t notice that Mira had already swung her scythe towards its head before it was toote. The snake''s head was removed from its body. Beasts now stoppeding into the room and Mira was finally able to see what''s inside the chest.

    Mira ignored all of the dead bodies and bent down to open the chest. She looked inside and found 10 Spirit Stones. Mira stored the Spirit Stones but noticed that the chest didn''t move when she tried to pick it up. She assumed it was like the torches on the wall. Mira then looked around and found that she was still enclosed in this room even after killing all of the beasts and opening the chest.

    "Fuck!" Mira yelled in frustration.

    For the lowly price of 10 Spirit Stones, she had to fight a horde of beasts and solve this pain in the ass puzzle. Was it worth it? What if there was something better in the chest? She didn''t regret opening the chest, she was just annoyed by this shittybyrinth.

    Mira then began to start checking the bricks.

    Time passed extremely slow for Mira as she continued this monotonous task. She found the 2nd brick before she heard a click. She then immediately started to pull on the torches. The first torch did nothing, so she moved to the second torch and the wall finally went back into the ground. Mira then checked to make sure that it wasn''t a different wall that opened up. There were a couple of ways to determine this, but she just used the position of the chest as a way to check to see if this was the way she came in. Mira was able to verify that it was. She stored the snake and left the room. Mira was going to check out the other fork that she passed on this side of thebyrinth.

    Mira went back in the direction that she came from and soon came upon the 2nd fork that she hase across in thebyrinth. She looked at her map and to make sure that this was the right ce. After confirming it was, she walked into the other hallway and continued mapping out. Mira kept walking down thisbyrinth but soon came upon another fork in the hallway. She decided to keep right this time and keep walking. After walking and mapping out this hallway she seemed to finally reach the end. There was no chest. Actually, there wasn''t anything in the room. Mira walked to the end and started pushing on the bricks at the end of the wall, but she didn''t get enclosed in a room this time. She figured this might just be a dead-end in thebyrinth. It would be strange if there wasn''t a dead-end like this in thebyrinth. Either way, Mira decided to circle this area on her map as there wasn''t anything here.

    Mira walked back to the fork that she passed to get here. After walking for a while she made it back to that fork and went to the left instead of right. After walking for a while and making a bunch of left and right turns, she finally made it to the end. What she found made her want to burst out in rage. She saw the same small chest in the middle of this hallway right before a dead-end. She really wanted to just turn around and walk away, but the thought of something important being in the chest made her stay. She stored her map and reluctantly opened the chest. She expected a bunch of beasts to start flooding the room, but contrary to her expectations a giant beetle dropped into the room. It was a Low-Stage Rank 2 insect, but Mira felt like this was more annoying than a Mid-Stage Rank 2. It had long and sharp jaws protruding from its head and was about a meter tall and 2 meters long. This thing was ugly.

    "A damn Rank 2 insect! The body from the insect is probably worth more than whatever is in that chest!" Mira yelled. She readied her scythe and attacked the beetle before it could even do anything. Mira turned her scythe into a double-ded scythe and jumped on its back and started to twirl her scythe as fast as she could. She then started to attack its outer shell. With every rotation of her scythe, it dug into the shell more and more. The beetle started trying to fling Mira off it, but this room was so small and he was too big. He then tried to jump and m her into the ceiling, but as soon as it jumped Mira hopped off and went underneath it. She then swung her scythe and all of its insides were cut in half even it''s head. Mira immediately ran out from underneath it so she is not drenched in bug juices. The beetle was still alive even though its insides wereing out of it. With onest-ditch effort, it attacked Mira. Mira was twirling her scythe and as it was rotating she threw it at the beetle''s head. The Ice-de side of the scythe lodged in the head of the beetle and Mira charged forward dodging his jaws and grabbed hold of her scythe and brutally ripped off its head and removed her scythe.

    Mira made sure nothing else was going to drop into the room and walked over to the chest. She opened the chest and saw the familiar sight of 10 Spirit Stones. She unhappily stored the stones and looked around the room only to find she was again trapped.

    "Ugh."

    Mira got to work and started looking for bricks. She wanted to try to figure out a pattern, but they seemed random. After finding the two bricks and pulling on the correct torch, she looked at the beetle. Mira decided to store this thing in one of her spare space rings and then left. The right side that she had gone down originally in thebyrinth was nowpleted. She made her way back to the first fork she came across.

    After going back to the first fork she crossed, she confirmed that this was the correct ce on her map before continuing her journey to the left side of thebyrinth.<sub> </sub>

    Time slowly passed for Mira.

    The more she walked down this fork the more annoyed she got. Looking at the same dark blue bricks, the same blue torches that are equally spaced out, finding dead-ends, fighting enemies only to find a chest with 10 Spirit Stones, then having to push on the bricks to get out of the room that trapped her in with the chest and beasts. Mira was sick of it. Nothing was different! She also must be incredibly unlucky too. Every time she came across a fork, she would choose to go to the right first. But it seemed the right side always led to a dead-end or chest. The left side always continued towards the end of thebyrinth. After finding her tenth fork in thebyrinth she chose to go left. She hit another fork after choosing left and chose to go left. She reached a dead-end and cursed that of course the left side this time was wrong, but she didn''t give up and went back to go to the right side of the fork she found on the left. That one was a dead-end too. Mira walked back over and went to the right side this time. After hitting another fork on the right side, she chose to go to the right this time, and of course, that was the correct way to continue in thebyrinth.

    Mira decided that she would just stick with the right side whenever she had to choose.

    After enough mapping, fighting, and dead-ends, Mira finally reached what seemed to be the end. It seemed to be the end because there was a set of stairs that went up and past the ceiling. She hade across 25 forks and around 10 of those had chests. This means that she had to fight and break out of a room 10 times. Some of those chests had nothing in them, some even had a weak magical beast in them that attacked her when she opened it. She ended up getting around 60 Spirit Stones. If she only focused on cultivation, this amount wouldst her around 2 months. She wasn''t sure if this amount would be able to bring her to Stage 3 Qi Condensation though. She needs to consolidate her cultivation after reaching Stage 2 Qi Condensation and those 60 might not even be enough for her to break through if she only focused on cultivating for the next 2 months.

    Mira shook away these thoughts and looked at the ground. There was water that went up to her ankles.

    "No time limit my ass! This Labyrinth would try to kill me if I didn''tplete it quick enough!" Mira said as she started walking up the stairs.

    As soon as she started walking on the stairs she heard the same mechanical voice from earlier.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 1 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 2."

    ***

    After Mariapleted the tutorial she went ahead and started Stage 1. She didn''t know exactly what abyrinth was but just started walking. After walking for a while she reached her first fork. Except hers was a bit different from Mira''s. Mira had to choose between right and left, but she had to choose between left, right, and straight. Maria chose straight as she felt like other people might choose right or left because straight was too obvious.

    Maria continued straight and then soon ran into a fork where she had to choose between right or left. Maria chose to go to the left for no reason other than she felt like it. There was no logic, reasoning, or mapping behind it.

    Maria continued with this method of choosing directions. She didn''t run into a single dead-end or a single chest. She chose the correct way every single time. Maria was starting to wonder what that tutorial was for. Maria soon reached the stairs that seemingly led to Stage 2 of the trial. Maria then stepped onto the stairs and heard the same mechanical voice as before.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 1 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 2."

    Maria had finished this Stage much faster than Mira did and was able to start Stage 2 before she could as well. Maria felt like there was much more to thisbyrinth, but she was already at the finish line. She didn''t know ifpleting the stage faster was better or if she was supposed to take longer, but just decided to stick with her decision and started to go up the stairs.

    Was Maria luckier than Mira? Maria didn''t get the resources that were in thebyrinth and didn''t figure out there was essentially a time limit to each stage like Mira did. But Maria took only a fraction of the amount of time toplete Stage 1pared to Mira. They didn''t know how the rewards were calcted. Was it by time or does justpleting it get the full reward?

    ***

 Chapter 40 The Trial Stages 2 And 3

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 1 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 2."

    Maria heard the mechanical voice and continued walking up the steps until she reached the end. Once she reached thest step she entered a world full of fire.

    "I have a bad feeling about this." Maria said to herself as she heard the mechanical voice speak to her again.

    "Wee to Stage 2. The next 8 stages will be elemental worlds. Stage 2 is the World of Fire. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use fire. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice spoke.

    Maria looked at the world that would be her new home for the next 30 days.

    "NOOOOOOOO!! Why FIRE?!?! I''m sick of living in fire!!" Maria yelled. She had already spent who knows how long in avake and now she has to stay in a fire world for 30 days. And the voice said there are 7 more elemental trials. Are they all going to be like this?! Maria started to despair.

    Maria just stood there for a while before she noticed arge smander-looking creature running towards her. It was huge. Almost 3 meters long and covered in bright red scales. Maria noticed that the aura it emanated was a Mid-Stage Rank 2 magical beast. She immediately took out her sword.

    "Why?! Just let mein a bit!! AHH!! Screw you, FIRE!!" Maria yelled and charged at the smander with her Light de and Triple Draws active. She was just swinging like a crazy person. The first swing cut off its tail, her second swing cut off a leg, and then she stabbed into the smander''s head killing it extremely quickly.

    The smander started to disappear and turn into energy. After the entire smander disappeared, the energy entered Maria''s body and started tempering her body like how thevake tempered her body. She felt a burning sensation in her skin, flesh, and blood. It wasn''t too effective, but she still got some benefit from it since it was a Mid-Stage Rank 2 magical beast.

    It took a few minutes before it was over and Maria looked around and saw no beastsing after her right now. She then plopped down onto the ground. She had used up most of her energy to kill that smander.

    "So killing beasts here temper my body? It doesn''t feel like it was that effective since I just bathed inva a couple of months ago. AH! I guess I will just try to kill as many beasts as I can here! I refuse to bath in moreva of my own free will though!" Maria yelled out in frustration as she gathered her energy

    ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 1 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 2."

    Mira heard the voice and continued up the stairs. Once she almost reached the top she turned around to look down. She never wanted to go back into thatbyrinth.

    ''Hopefully, Stage 2 doesn''t involve bricks.'' Mira thought as she turned towards the next stage.

    When she finished thest step, she immediately entered a world of fire. The ground was volcanic rocks, there were volcanoes everywhere,va flowed and made rivers andkes. There were even various fire elemental beasts everywhere.

    "Wee to Stage 2. The next 8 stages will be elemental worlds. Stage 2 is the World of Fire. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use fire. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice resounded again.

    Mira studied the surroundings a bit and sighed.

    "This ce might have been nice before I entered thatvake, but after tempering myself with thevake this ce might not bring that many benefits for me." Mira said out loud as she sighed again. Since the caretaker said that the stages would be set for her stage, she doubted that this could give her a bigger benefit than thatvake that birthed Vulcan.

    "Might as well kill some beasts and hop in theva to test it out. Hopefully, I can get something out of this ce." Mira said as she took out her scythe.

    The only thing that seemed to live here was Rank 2 Beasts. They were mostly Low-Stage magical beasts with some Mid-Stage magical beasts. Mira figured there might be a few Late-Stage Rank 2 magical beasts here as well, but they are just not within her sight.

    Mira ran towards the nearest Low-Stage Rank 2 magical beast. It was a horse with a fiery mane and tail. It was also a dark red color and stood at around 2 meters. Mira didn''t know the name of this magical beast, but it was a cool-looking horse.

    Mira gathered momentum into her scythe and went straight for the neck. The horse obviously isn''t going to hand her its neck. The horse galloped away from that strike and whipped at her with its fiery tail. The fire extended andshed at Mira. Mira sent 2 Ice des towards its tail and charged back at the horse''s neck. The horse repositioned itself and kicked its back legs out towards Mira with an explosive force. Mira managed to block the kick, but still got knocked back.

    ''It seems that the back of the horse is the strongest.'' Mira thought to herself as she charged back at the back of the horse this time. She was going to wait for the horse to kick.

    The horse had just lifted its legs off the ground as Mira had already dodged and dashed towards the front of the horse. The horse was mid-kick when she swung her scythe down onto its neck and swiftly removed his head. The head fell to the ground and disappeared and right after that, the body started to disappear as well. The dead horse seemed to turn into some sort of energy and entered Mira''s body.

    Mira felt a burning sensation along her skin, flesh, and blood. Mira knew what this feeling was. The energy was trying to temper her body. It wasn''t very effective because Mira had already tempered her body withva not too long ago. It stopped trying to temper her body after a few minutes.

    Even though the tempering from the energy was a lot less effective than what it would normally be, Mira was still slightly happy. At least this ce wouldn''t be useless for her. Mira then recovered to peak condition before running off and attacking more fire beasts.

    ***

    Mira and Maria continued fighting fire elemental magical beasts for the rest of the month. Mira ran around to kill all of the Low-Stage Rank 2 magical beasts in the area first. Even after killing all of the Low-Stage Rank 2 beasts in the area, it still didn''t temper her body that much. She then moved onto trying to kill Mid-Stage Rank 2 magical beasts. Her first target was a smander, like the one that attacked Maria when she first entered this ce. The smander could spit fire out of its mouth, but there was something Mira realized after killing all of the Low-Stage Rank 2 Fire Beasts and that''s if she had ayer of ice surrounding her body, she could face the fire head-on and would only leave slight burn marks. Mira decided to test this against the smander. She created ayer of ice around her body and charged through the fire breath attack. The fire started to leave melt the ice and leave slight burn marks on her body, but nothing that would scar. Mira hen stabbed her scythe into its head and killed it. The energy then entered her body and started tempering her body. It was more effective than the Low-Stage beasts, but still barely worth it. Mira then recovered back to peak condition and used the remaining time to kill more Mid-Stage beasts

    Maria had a different strategy. She just walked aimlessly in this world and killed anything that she came across. She was sick of fire and just used her full power attacks on everything that she saw. She wasn''t using her energy that efficiently but was just taking her anger and frustration out on these beasts.

    Like this, 30 days passed and Maria was the first to hear the mechanical voice again.

    ***

    "Wee to Stage 3. Stage 3 is the World of Water. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use water. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!"<sub> </sub>

    Maria was then thrown into an ocean. She tried to stay afloat above the water to look around. She saw nothing but endless water. It looked like this stage was going to be nothing but water. Maria just wanted to cry now. She didn''t even have a ce to stand!

    Maria then looked down into the water and saw all sorts of different water elemental magical beasts. All of them seemingly Low-Stage Rank 2 and above. Some creatures looked like sharks, fish, sea turtles, and probably others that she just couldn''t see right now. Maria began to think if she can make or use something that she can at least stand on, but she didn''t have anything. When she was done with this trial she promised herself to always have something with her that allowed her to stand on in the water.

    As Maria was trying to figure out what to do, she saw a Low-Stage Rank 2 Sharking towards her. It was deep blue and around 1.5 meters long. Maria readied her sword, but not having a ce to stand limits her power by quite a bit and she can only rely on her arm strength. As the shark was about to attack her, Maria used her Light Sword and started to shoot light beams toward the shark. She then used her legs to propel her in the water as she dove down into the water as she swung her sword down. The swing was much slower than usual and the shark was able to dodge easily.

    As she watched how easily the shark dodged her attack she had an epiphany. She needed a mount! If she could just subdue this shark and ride on its back then she could survive a bit easier in this Water World. Maria put away her sword and took out some extra rope she had in her space ring. She then waited for the shark to get close enough to her to try and subdue it.

    The shark charged towards Maria with its jaws open. Maria waited until it got close to her then she elbowed the shark in the nose and propelled herself onto its back. As the shark was a bit dazed, Maria started to repeatedly punch the shark on the head. She then wrapped the rope around its jaws and tightened it. After the rope was secure, she took out her sword. She held the rope in her left hand and her sword in her right.

    "You will be my mount for the next 30 days or until you die! Let''s go kill some Low-Stage Rank 2 Fish!" Maria yelled at the shark. The shark still didn''t move so Maria just started beating its head again before it reluctantlyplied and started swimming towards some fish-like magical beasts.

    Maria didn''t know the name of any of the species here and just charged towards anything that had an aura of Low-Stage. The shark swam towards her first prey which was arge blue and yellow fish at Low-Stage. The fish was a bit scared of the shark and Maria so it began to swim away, but Maria was shooting light beams at it and activated her Light Sword. The fish had to slow down a bit to dodge her light beams and the shark was able to catch up. Maria then chopped it in half.

    The dead fish began to disappear and turn into energy just like the fire beasts. After the whole fish disappeared the energy entered Maria''s body and headed straight for her organs. The energy rampaged through her all of her organs. It didn''t seem to be tempering the organs directly, but the liquid that made up her organs. It was painful yet soothing at the same time. Maria was surprised that killing these water elemental beasts would bring such a benefit and also that someone was able to create something like this. Tempering the organs is usually extremely difficult as they are more delicate than the rest of the body along with being a vital part for living beings.

    Maria didn''t feel like her organs got stronger, but they got more stic or flexible. She felt like she could take a stronger hit head-on and not sustain internal injuries. It took around 10 minutes for the energy to finally stop raging in her organs. Maria felt great and was extremely happy.

    "Let''s go kill some more fishies!!" She yelled at the shark and the two searched for more fish.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira had just reached the 30 day mark of Stage 1.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 2 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 3."

    Mira was then thrown into an ocean. The mechanical voice rang out again right after that.

    "Wee to Stage 3. Stage 3 is the World of Water. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use water. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!"

    Mira did exactly what Maria did and looked around to see where she was. All she saw was water and frowned. There was nowhere to stand either. She then looked down and didn''t see any magical beastsing towards her, but was able to spot a bunch of different sea magical beasts swimming in the ocean below her.

    Mira then tried to see if she could freeze the water around her with her Ice Dao. She was happily surprised to see that the water around her started to freeze over. Mira then tested it further and tried to make an ice tform from freezing the water. It took her a couple of minutes, but she was able to create something small enough for her to sit on. She crawled up on it and started to spread her icy aura to expand and thicken her tform.

    After about an hour, her tform was 2x2 meter square that was around 20 centimeters thick. Mira nodded and stood up on it. She took out her scythe as that would be her paddle. Then Mira took out some rope, a couple of chunks of meat, and a magical beast body. Mira tied the rope around the meat and only let it hang around 15-20 centimeters in the water. Then she started to drain the blood of the beast she brought and spread the blood all around her tform. Now she just needed to wait for a fish to take the bait.

    It didn''t take long for a Low-Stage Rank 2 fish to swim towards her as it could smell the meat and blood. The fish swam towards the meat, but his face got immediately pierced by the spear end of a scythe. It then started to disappear and turn into energy, which immediately went into Mira''s body after the fishpletely disappeared.

    Like Maria, the energy rampaged through her organs, seemingly tempering the liquid that is making up the organs. Mira squinted in pain but also felt a nice cooling sensation along with the pain as well.

    "I see. It''s targeting the water that makes up our bodies. Most of the water in our bodies is located in our organs. I can even feel my muscles bing a bit more flexible without losing the strength and power in them. I guess I should try to kill more of these fish or sharks as this is a huge benefit for me right now." Mira thought out loud.

    Mira spent her first 2 weeks in the World of Water sitting on her ice raft, fishing. One might say this is incrediblyzy for how Mira usually does things, but fighting in the water is a lot different than fighting onnd. The pressure from the water along with the water itself can dull your swings, not to mention that there is no ce to stand to help gather momentum or increase the force of an attack. Mira knew that using a scythe underwater would be many times harder, so she decided to get what benefit she can out of this ce as well as waiting for a nice mount to assist in killing things. After 2 weeks, Mira took out some rope and a chunk of Mid-Stage Rank 2 Meat and waited for a Mid-Stage Rank 2 Fish toe over here. Mira made a noose to set a bit of a trap for the fish.

    Soon a Mid-Stage shark came in for the food. It was about to eat the food when a noose tied around its neck and Mira jumped off the tform onto its back. She had an ice needle ready and stuck it just far enough inside its skull that it didn''t reach the brain. Mira then tightened the noose and start to beat on the shark until it calmed down. Mira used the ice needle in the skull as a handle to hold onto and the noose around its neck to control the shark.

    "Listen here, for the next 2 weeks or so you will take me around the ocean to kill some fish. If you don''t I will just drive this needle in a bit further." Mira said to the shark as she tapped the needle. The shark started to calm down and stopped trying to shake her off. It would just die if it continued.

    "Now go!" Mira yelled at it as the shark swam off.

    ***

    Both Mira and Maria had the same idea of using a shark as a mount to kill more and more fish in the sea. The water in their organs tempered more and more and after thirty days they could feel the sticity in their internal organs and muscle to an insane degree. The muscles in their bodies became incredibly smooth like silk but carried the force of mountains. It was incredibly freeing. But as Maria got closer to the 30-day limit she ran into an issue that made her feel not so free.

    Maria was currently riding on a shark yelling at it and screaming.

    "GO GO GO!!! RUUUNNN! No no no no! Why is this thing after me!? I didn''t think there''d be a Late-Stage Rank 2 squid magical beast waiting for me!! Keep swimming little guy!!" Maria screamed as the shark kept swimming away from this squid and trying to dodge its tentacle.

    Soon she heard the mechanical voice that seemed like the voice of heaven itself to Maria.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 3 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 4."

    Maria heard this and her body was forcefully dragged and thrown into a different world.

 Chapter 41 The Trial Stages 4 And 5

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 3 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 4."

    Maria heard this and her body was forcefully dragged and thrown into a different world. She was tumbling through the air as she heard the mechanical voice again.

    "Wee to Stage 4. Stage 4 is the World of Wind. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use wind. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice repeated what it said thest 3 times it appeared.

    It took Maria a couple of seconds to regain her bearings. She then looked around and wondered what nonsense she was thrown into this time. Maria looked around, but there was nothing. The only thing she felt was the wind blowing across her. She then realized that she wasn''t standing on anything and that her body felt light, almost weightless. She tried to walk, but she ended up just walking in ce because there was nothing for her to step on.

    "What the heck is this?! I can''t move? No, that''s not quite right. I don''t know how to move! What do I do? It feels like I''m literally standing on-air and in order to move I need something to push off of or something to push me." Maria thought as she just floated there.

    Soon a fast gust of wind came by and started to carry Maria along. She felt like she was just being dragged along with the wind like a ragdoll. Maria tried swinging her sword, kicking her legs, she then used her triple draws sword art. Doing that pushed her back a little. Maria became a bit excited. She didn''t want to use her Triple Draws as that would use too much energy. She tried out her Light Sword, but that didn''t seem to do anything other than make her do somersaults in the air as that changed her center of gravity. This gave her an idea though. Maria used a light beam and the force that came out of the light beam made her move. She kept using this until she finally stopped being treated like a rag doll. She then wanted to try something.

    Maria tried to shoot a light beam out of the bottom of her foot. She theorized that since this is her understanding of the Dao then she should be able to use it however she likes. Maria shot a light beam out of the bottom of her right foot, but this just forced her right foot to kick out in front of her and do a backflip.

    After regaining her bearings again, she then tried using 2 feet this time, but this just forced her into continuous backflips. She kept the light beams active and tried to stabilize herself while doing this.

    It took her around 30 minutes to stabilize herself doing this, but she was able to create a force strong enough from her feet to propel her forward. She would then shoot light beams out of her arms to stabilize herself and was finally able to ''fly'' in this weightless world.

    "HAHA! WAHOOO!!! This world is so much better than the others!!" Maria started to fly around with her light beams and screaming. This was only fun until some of the wind elemental beasts heard her screams and only so food.

    *SCREEE*

    The birds started to dive-bomb Maria.

    "AH! Birds! Come ooonnnn!! Let me have my fun! Well, I guess this could be fun too! Let''s see if I can battle like this!!" Maria yelled in anger at first, but the more she thought about a flying battle the more pumped up she got.

    Maria grasped her sword in her right hand and left her left-hand open to stabilize herself. There were 5 Low-Stage Rank 2 Birds of varying species dive-bombing her. Maria stood there, ready to test this out.

    The first bird dive-bombed her while shooting des of wind at her with its wings. Mira propelled herself to the left and dodged the wind des, but the bird was fast and shot towards her with its talons. She was able to dodge for the most part, but they still scratched her right arm fairly badly.

    "This is hard!" Maria thought as she then propelled herself the spin around right after the bird scratched her and with that momentum that she carried along with her strength was able to clip one of its wings. She then shot forward and dodged the other 4 birds. She activated her Light de and used her light beams to make her somersault towards them in the air with her Light de Active and was able to butcher 3 of them. The other 2 birds dodged, but once Maria was done somersaulting she shot off like a rocket to the non-injured bird and cut it in half. After that bird was dealt with, she just flew over to thest bird and finished it off. It couldn''t fly or do anything with its wing cut like that.

    "Hell yeah!! That was awesome!! I need to battle more and more because that was too amazing!! The people who made these trials finally made something that doesn''t suck!" Maria had stars in her eyes as she yelled in excitement.

    The birds that she had killed had also disappeared and turned into energy as well. This energy then rushed towards Maria and entered her body through her pores. It was an odd feeling. It felt like her body was being stuffed with air and she was going to burst. The wind energy made its way into her blood and started filling it with wind and air. This in turn started to push out the impurities in her blood. Soon, her body had a thick ck sludgeing out of her pores. It smelled awful, so Maria just removed her clothes and left a piece of cloth to cover her sensitive areas. Maria felt like this stage was amazing.

    Maria looked up and saw all kinds of aviary creatures. Hawks, owls, reptilian-looking creatures, and other creatures that she didn''t know. She returned to peak condition then shot up towards. The only thing she realized was that the higher she went the more dangerous the area got. The wind bes so rough and sharp that it started to leave scratches all over her body. The higher up she went, she noticesrge tornados and other things that threatened her life. She went ahead and stopped. If she wanted to kill more things, then she will have to get them toe to her.

    She got just close enough to where the wind barely injured her and started shooting light beams and screaming at the birds.

    "COME HERE STUPID BIRDS!! HAHA! LET ME ENJOY THIS STAGE!!" Maria screamed at them and soon some birds noticed her and started charging at her. This is how Maria nned to spend the next 30 days.

    ***

    Mira was underwater mounted on a Mid-Stage Rank 2 shark magical beast. She had just finished killing another Mid-Stage fish and it disappeared and turned into energy that entered her body and started tempering the liquid that made up her organs. After that was done, she heard the mechanical voice again.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 3 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 4."

    As soon as she heard ''Congrattions'' she sent the Ice Needle, which was still in the shark''s skull, into the brain then exploding it killing it instantly. The shark disappeared and the energy disappeared and entered her body and started tempering it as she was transported somewhere else. Mira was thrown into a world without a ground and the only thing she felt was a constant breeze.

    "Wee to Stage 4. Stage 4 is the World of Wind. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use wind. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice said again.

    Mira waited until her organs were finished tempering from the energy from the shark she just killed. Mira felt her organs and muscles were like graphene, it was a material that she learned about in one of her previous life on a called Earth and was one of the most durable and flexible materials on the. She felt that she could unleash more potential from her muscles now. After she finished examining her body, she then examined the area around her. She found that there was no ground and the only thing around her was the wind. The voice also said that this is a World of Wind.

    Mira tried to move, but of course, had some trouble. She figured that she might need something to either push her or something to push off. She tried to create a small ice tform under her feet to push off of, but she just pushed the tform and only moved forward a couple of centimeters. She then tried to freeze the air around her to create steps, but her understanding of the Dao of Ice was still at a bottleneck as she didn''t know what path to take down that would fit her best yet. She wasn''t able to freeze this enough to form steps as she could only create little ice crystals in the air. She cursed herself a bit for this but refocused on the task. Soon a gust of wind came and swept her up into a current and just carried her in this current of wind. Mira thought about how she could get out of this current. She needed something that she could push off of or maybe even something that could affect her center of gravity.

    Mira then thought of her scythe. She immediately took it out and tied a rope to the end of it and tied the other end of the rope to her. When she gathered as much momentum in the scythe as she could, she grabbed the end of the scythe and it started to swing her around in circles and she let go of the scythe and it shot her out of the current. She reached the end of the rope and came to a halting stop and started to reel the scythe in. Now that she was out of the current, she could remove the rope and just keep doing this but instead of releasing the scythe, she can just store it.

    "This is a huge pain in the ass, but it''s the best immediate solution that I cane up with." Mira said out loud.

    Mira keptunching herself with her scythe until she saw a bird-like creature start diving bombing towards her. She started to whirl her scythe and gather momentum in it. The hawk-looking magical beast charged towards her and scythe came swinging down as the bird got closer. The bird dodged fairly easily and continued diving towards Mira. Mira grabbed the end of her scythe to dodge as the momentum from the scythe carried her above the bird. Mira then repositioned her hands to the center of the scythe and made a backward swing and pierced the bird.

    "This is quite an interesting way to fight. With the scythe as something like a fulcrum. It is definitely fairly difficult and hard to control though as I''m not the one controlling the scythe, but having the scythe control me." Mira thought out loud about this fighting style.

    The bird had disappeared and turned into energy which entered Mira''s body. Mira soon felt like she was a balloon and the energy was causing her to expand with air. It was an odd feeling, but not necessarily painful. The energy entered every cell in her blood and started to fill it up with wind energy, which pushed out the impurities in her blood through the pores on her body. Her pores were releasing the same ck sludge that came out of Maria and Mira did the same thing as her as well. She took off her clothes and just covered her sensitive areas with a beast pelt.

    Mira then continuedunching herself towards more and more birds even with the raging winds that were leaving cuts all over her body. The only thing she tried to avoid was the dangerous-looking tornados. Mira continued hunting like this and expelling impurities from her blood.

    ***

    "HAHA! Dumb Birds!! A human is better at flying than you!! How do you feel?! AAAaaaanndd SLASH!! HAHA Got another one!!" Maria was flying around this World of Wind like a disco ball. She had just swooped past a Low-Stage Rank 2 Bird and cut it in half and continued flying. The energy released from the dead bird would catch up to her at some point. If Mira saw this scene, she''d im to say that she looks like a famous superhero that used his suit of metal armor and rockets to fly around.

    Maria has been doing this for the past 30 days until she heard the mechanical voice again, except this time she nearly wanted to cry as she knew that fun days were over.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 4 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 5."

    Maria was then sucked out of her fun and ced into a barren world filled with nothing but dirt and rocks.

    "Wee to Stage 5. Stage 5 is the World of Earth. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use earth. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!"

    Mira just stood there with a small tearing out of her eye.<sub> </sub>

    "NOOOO!" Maria screamed. She then regained herposure and swore in her heart that she will rule the skies like that again someday!

    Maria now took this time to examine this world. There were only 2 things she noticed. The only thing here was rocks and she felt immense pressure on her body pushing her towards the ground.

    "Both this world and the previous world were filled with nothing, but I hate this one." Maria pouted a little bit. She then focused on the rocks a bit more and saw that they were moving. These rocks were actually magical beasts. She saw giant tortoises with their shells made of rock, she saw golems, reptilian creatures whose scales were made of earth, and she also saw normal creatures that were covered in rocks or their fur was a rock-like shell. These creatures were much slower than they normally would be, but she guessed that they held much more power mainly due to their size and weight.

    She also noticed that a lot of them were Mid-Stage Rank 2 with less Low-Stage Rank 2. Maria knew that she could run away from these things, but killing them might be difficult.

    Maria shook off these thoughts and crept up behind therge earth tortoise, and jumped on top of its shell. She activated her Triple Draws and swung down. Her sword got lodged in the shell, but she was only able to leave a few centimeter deep gash in the shell that is 20 centimeters thick.

    The tortoise felt something hit his shell and began stomping on the ground and shooting earth spikes at her. Maria jumped off the shell to dodge the rock spikes and started to rethink her n. She wanted to go for the head, but she was afraid of being squashed like a bug as the pressure weighing down on her is making her movements slower. She wanted to stay away from the legs too because she doesn''t think she can cut them off in just one or two swings.

    She decided to just stick with attacking its shell until she broke through it and pierced the tortoise.

    Maria hopped back on its shell after it stopped shooting earth spikes and wanted to try something. She jumped up as high as she could and the pressure she was experiencing pushed her down as she elerated and activated her Light Sword and Triple Draws.

    *BOOM*

    The impact reverberated throughout the rest of the shell as her sword went another 6 centimeters in the shell. She just needs to do that 2 more times and she will reach inside the shell, but now the tortoise was pissed. He started stomping so hard that the ground around it started to shake from its weight. Earth Spikes were shooting everywhere and Maria worked on dodging all of them. She wasn''t able to dodge all of them in time and her skin got pierced by one and a couple of them banged into her body fracturing some of her bones.

    She kept dodging until the tortoise stopped shooting spikes at her. After it finished, Maria popped a Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pill in her mouth as she felt like that was enough to fix these wounds.

    After her wounds were healed enough and she regained her peak condition, she repeated what she did. But instead of falling down after jumping up, she turned it into a dive and put 90% of her energy into her Triple Draws and Light de. As she was diving, she also added her little Light Beam boosters on the bottom of her feet to push her down faster.

    *BOOM**CRACK**CRACK*POP*

    The force that came from that strike was terrifying for someone only at Stage 3 Qi Condensation! Her de forced its way through the shell with brute force and went straight through the tortoise''s neck! The force of the impact was so intense that the ground underneath the tortoise started cracking under the weight of it.

    The huge tortoise then started to disappear after it was killed. This guy was massive and the energy that came from its body after it died felt heavy just from looking at it. After itpletely disappeared, this energy then forced its way into Maria as it surrounded her bones. The energy then constricted around her bones and started cracking them.

    "U-Uuuuggghhh!!" Maria gritted her teeth in pain. Every time this energy cracked her bones, it would enter into the cracks to heal and temper her bones. It felt like a mountain had wrapped itself around her bones and started to try and crush them into dust. The energy wrapped around her bones the more it used up to keep up with the tempering before all of it was used to temper her bones.

    "Ah�� Ah�� Ah�� Damn�� this�� ce��" Maria cursed in between her breaths.

    Maria looked around and saw that any beasts around her would take a while to reach her. She then spent this time circting her cultivation technique to recover all of the energy that she used up. After a while, she finally stood back up and returned to peak condition. She looked around and found a 3-meter tall Mid-Stage golem. She''s heard that golems have a core that keeps them alive and to kill them, you have to destroy the core.

    Maria charged towards the golem and was able to spot a dark red core in the middle of its body. The golem used its fists to try and punch Maria, but she was able to see thising and dodged to the side as she ran behind this golem and did the same thing she did with the tortoiseshell. She used her triple draws on it and was able to pierce the rocks that surrounded the core. She kept staying behind the golem and ran back and hit the same spot him an almost full-power strike. The cut wasn''t enough topletely slice through the core, but the cut along with the reverberations was enough to shatter the core killing the golem. The rocks that surrounded the core fell and began to disappear as the energy gathered then rushed towards Maria after it was done.

    "U-Uuuuggghhh!!" Maria gritted her teeth in pain again as the same thing happened. Maria would keep using this method to hunt down these earth creatures.

    <o>,m ***</o>

    Mira was currently somersaulting through the air in a tight little ball as she hugged the middle of her 2-meter long double-ded scythe. She came barreling into an unsuspecting Low-Stage Bird Magical Beast.

    The energy that it turned into then entered her body when she heard the mechanical voice.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 4 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 5."

    Mira was quite d to be done with this stage. She was getting really dizzy fromunching herself with her scythe and she felt like she was constantly using her brain to calcte distance, force when to store her scythe, better ways to fight around the momentum of her scythe, and not being able to actually move on her own was starting to bother her as it was incredibly annoying. She assumed that the next stage should be earth and hoped that it''d be a brainless stage. Her ice would also be quite useful against earth element magical beasts.

    Mira was dragged into a barren world with increased gravity. She didn''t have time to look around before she heard the voice again.

    "Wee to Stage 5. Stage 5 is the World of Earth. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use earth. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!"

    Mira now looked around. She felt the intense gravity that was weighing her down and pulling her to the ground. She looked around and saw nothing but rocks. While looking for a bit longer she noticed that these rocks were probably beasts. Mira froze the impurities that just came out of her body and shook them off. She then put on some clothes and ran off to these beasts with her scythe in hand. She was now able to see the earth beasts a bit more clearly now. She was able to gauge that just about all of these were Mid-Stage Rank 2. She saw giant tortoises with their shells made of rock, she saw golems, reptilian creatures whose scales were made of earth, and she also saw normal creatures that were covered in rocks or their fur was a rock-like shell.

    Mira went towards a tortoise, simr to what Maria did when she first got here. Mira hopped onto its back as the whole tortoise was about 5 meters long and 4 meters wide and 4 meters tall. Mira then put her hand on its shell and started to release her Ice Dao and insert the freezing aura into its shell. Mira wanted to freeze part of its shell to make it a bit more brittle, then shove her scythe into it and pierce through its neck. After Mira froze about 15 centimeters deep into the shell the tortoise noticed and started shooting earth spikes at her. Mira started to twirl her scythe to deflect the earth spikes as she continued releasing her Ice Dao in that same spot. After spending a month fighting around her scythe, she felt like she was able to understand the scythe a bit more. So far, she has only been using the scythe ording to her, but the scythe is a weapon different from any other. The momentum that a scythe gathers in a fight is like a separate entity. You can''t force the momentum to stop and start whenever you want. You have to be able to flow how the scythe wants and needs to flow to fully utilize the momentum.

    Mira just touched upon this and felt her scythe usage raise to another level. She was able to deflect, block, and cut up every spike that came her way with the momentum of her scythe along with its fluid movements that carried from one target to another. After she finished inserting her Ice Dao into the shell making it more brittle, she used the momentum that she gathered from defending from the earth spikes and stabbed it into the frozen area on the shell. She stabbed the spear end of the scythe into it.

    *CRACK**CRACK**CRACK**POP*

    The force from the impact caused cracks all down this area before there was a hole in its shell. Mira grabbed her scythe again andunched the spear end of it into this hole as it pierced through the head of the tortoise, killing it instantly. She threw her scythe so hard that it was now stuck in the tortoise and she had to wait for the beast to disappear to grab it.

    The tortoise disappeared and the heavy-looking energy rushed towards Mira as it entered her body. The energy wrapped around her bones and started constricting! This made a bunch of fractures form on her bones as new energy forced its way in through these cracks and tempered and healed her bones.

    "Fuck! That surprised me! The energies before were much calmer, but this one is so crude." Mirapared.

    The energy continued breaking, entering, tempering, and healing her bones until all of the energy was used up.

    Mira returned to peak condition before looking for the nearest magical beast to attack. She would just use this same strategy if possible. She would try to use her Ice Dao to make the rocks surrounding them more brittle then attack with full power.

    ***

    30 Days passed by extremely slowly for Maria. She had tried to focus on killing anything that wasn''t a tortoise in thesest 30 days as they are way too annoying. She mainly looked for golems as they were a bit easier.

    Currently, she was just walking around this barren world towards another rock in the distance when she heard the mechanical voice, ready to send her to some other hell-like world.

 Chapter 42 The Trial Stage 6

    Currently, Maria was just walking around this barren world towards another rock in the distance when she heard the mechanical voice, ready to send her to some other hell-like world.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 5 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 6."

    Maria was then forcefully sent to the next world, which she immediately noticed was a frozen hell before she heard that wonderful mechanical voice again.

    "Wee to Stage 6. Stage 6 is the World of Ice. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use ice. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!"

    Maria could already guess that this was the World of Ice from the bone-chilling cold that she felt. It seemed that each stage really did get harder than thest as even the environment is much harsher in this stage than in the World of Fire.

    She looked around and only saw ice, everything was made of ice. Even the beasts that she saw looked like they were made entirely up of ice. As she looked at the beasts though, there seemed to be a lot of bears and wolves and instead of pelts, they had ice hairs. She also saw snakes that had ice for scales. There were also ice golems like the previous stage, but instead of being slow like the rock golems, these were skating on the ice. There were also creatures that looked like humans but had ice hairs covering their entire body. Then of course there were these ice bird creatures as well. Maria thought that everything here was much more terrifying than in the previous stages. Everything was Mid-Stage Rank 2 and the human-like creatures were Late-Stage Rank 2. There might even be Peak-Stage Rank 2.

    Maria started thinking about the possibility of a Peak-Stage magical beast and got a little disheartened.

    ''Wait! Shouldn''t I be currently getting close to being able to fight Peak-Stage Rank 2 Magical Beasts? I''m a Stage 3 Qi Condensation and Peak-Stage Rank 2 is around Qi Condensation Stage 5 in strength! With all of the tempering done to my body recently and my sword skills improving, I should be able to fight a Late-Stage Rank 2 beast! The only thing I''m worried about is that a Late-Stage beast still has more energy than me and is probably at least 50% stronger than me depending on its species. I feel like that gap has even further increased with these beasts that are made of ice. I guess I will just hunt down all of the Mid-Stage and attempt to fight a Late-Stage after that.'' Maria thought to herself as she came to a realization of how strong she was now.

    Maria looked around and charged towards a Mid-Stage wolf. Most of the beasts here seemed to prefer being isted away from the other beasts rather than form packs.

    The wolf noticed Maria and retreated back a bit as it tried to understand her attack. Maria saw this and stopped running. The wolf seemed to know that this would be a tough fight for it, but running away wasn''t a possibility. It started to growl at her then took a battle-ready stance. Maria was surprised by the intelligence of this beast, but regardless she took a stance as well and activated her Light Sword. The size and sharpness of her sword increased with the Dao of Light.

    Maria was the first to charge at the wolf. She shed her sword, but the wolf dodged the attack and immediately retaliated. Maria swung her sword again and the wolf deflected part of it with its ws, but most of its ws were shattered after that. Maria then stabbed the sword towards the wolf''s head and immediately pierced it.

    "Did I really just beat a Mid-Stage Rank 2 magical beast in 3 moves? I have really underestimated my strength, but I think that this was mostly due to the previous stage. My bones were tempered a lot which should have increased my physical strength up a notch. A Mid-Stage Rank 2 is alreadyparable to a Stage 3 Qi Condensation cultivator, but I''m already much stronger than your average Stage 3 and this was before all of the body temperings in the trials so far. Not to mention the amount of Qi I can hold right now is probably more than the average Stage 3. I guess fighting a Late-Stage will probably be a good fight, but I will stick with my n of getting rid of all of the Mid-Stages first." Maria said as she was surprised by her current strength. She would''ve never thought that she would be this strong so fast. She was a little sad that she couldn''t spend time cultivating in here, but the benefits that came with killing beasts in these stages were more than enough to make up for that. Her current tempered body will only get stronger as she increases her stage.

    Maria was lost in thought as the wolf disappeared and turned into ice-cold energy. It rushed towards Maria''s body and wrapped around her muscles. The freezing temperature of the energy started to freeze her muscles. At first, her muscles started topress together due to the cold, but then they started to freeze over and crack. As soon as the muscles would crack and be brittle, the energy would rush into the crack as it began to restore it back to itspressed state. This was an incredible process, but thepressed state that came after the restoration was iparably stronger than how the muscle was before it waspressed. Maria was definitely in pain, but this freezing pain was something she was used to when Mira shoved her in that frozen pool.

    The energy continued to freeze,press, crack, restore, andpress until it was all used up. Maria definitely felt a bit stronger, but she would have to repeat this many times to gain any benefit. Maria made sure she was in peak condition then ran off to kill all of the wolves, as they seemed to be the weakest then start killing all of the beasts until she got to the Late-Stage Beasts.

    ***

    Mira was currently on top of a huge tortoise beast. This one was a lot bigger than the first one she fought and it had a giant spiked rock on top of its shell. Mira looked like a tiny bug on this thing as she was digging into the rock with her scythe and Ice Dao. Mira was covered in blood and had scratches and gashes all over her body. The reason for this is that this was a Late-Stage beast. It was also thest beast in this area.

    She got all bloody because of everything that this thing threw at her. It would shoot rock spikes,rge boulders, shoot things out of this giant rock on its back, and would cause earthquakes whenever it stomped on the ground. Right now she was trying to make it in the giant rock because once she digs a hole it then she is pretty much able to kill this thing without any trouble and finally after hitting and digging for so long she was able to enter it.

    Mira took a send to rest and recover her energy and popped in a Rank 2 Rejuvenation Pill along with a Rank 1 Blood Restoration Pill. The tortoise kept shooting things to attack her, but they weren''t able to make it in some small hole inside therge spiked rock she was in.

    Once she recovered to her peak, she returned to digging up the rock. After spending an unknown amount of time digging, she finally reached the shell. She knew how to deal with these shells by now. She started to freeze the shell below her. After she felt like she froze a good amount of the shell, she would m her scythe down into the shell, breakingyers of it. Mira had to do this 3 times before she was actually able the pierce the neck of the tortoise, severing its spinal cord killing it.<sub> </sub>

    The tortoise started to disappear and Mira dropped to the ground. Once it was gone, the massive amount of dense energy entered her body. Mira gritted her teeth as she withstood the pain. It felt like the tortoise she just killed had decided to sit on her, but would be sure to heal her bones before they shattered and turned into dust. It took 30 minutes for this energy to finish cracking her bones, transforming them with the energy, then healing them. Not long after that, she heard the mechanical voice again.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 5 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 6."

    After she heard that, Mira was forced into another elemental world. Except with this world, she felt a bit of a connection with it. This was her territory. She then heard the mechanical voice again before she could look around.

    "Wee to Stage 6. Stage 6 is the World of Ice. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element and learn how to deal with beasts that use ice. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!"

    Mira looked around for a moment before thinking to herself.

    "Maybe this stage will be able to help me gain some insights into what Ice Dao will fit me best."

    Mira looked around and saw a simr sight to Maria. She saw wolves, bears, birds, golems, snakes, and yetis. They were all either made up of ice or ice made up their pelt or feathers. She was especially surprised to see yetis, well they may not be exactly like a yeti because they looked more like a bear that wanted to be a human but failed. She also noticed that everything was Mid-Stage or above with the Yetis and Golems being in the Late-Stage. Mira felt like she didn''t really need to fear the Late-Stage beasts here. She was able to kill Late-Stages in the previous world and was able to kill them. She didn''t fear them, so why does she need to fear beasts of her own element?

    Mira gripped her scythe and charged towards a Yeti. Mira decided that she would kill all of the Late-Stage beasts here before ughtering all of the Mid-Stage beasts. Her strength is also iparable to a normal Stage 2 Qi Condensation. She definitely doesn''t have the energy reserves that a Late-Stage beast has, but the amount of raw strength she has shouldn''t be too far off.

    The yeti saw her charging towards it and roared at her. It formed something that looked like an ice sickle. It seemed pissed that Mira felt that she could fight him. He charged at her while roaring and started to swing its sickle. Mira decided to use her Ice des to face the sickle so she threw 2 Ice des towards the Yeti. The Yeti smashed the Ice des with his fists, but the ice des were able to cut through his fur and pierce part of its skin.

    Mira felt that if her understanding and individuality in the Dao of Ice was deeper then that would''ve cut his hand off.

    Since the Yeti used his fist instead of the sickle, Mira had to face the sickle head-on. Mira deflected the sickle as the momentum of her scythe carried on as she spun her scythe to sh at the yetis stomach. The Yeti just grabbed the pole of the scythe and punched Mira. It hit her straight in the chest, but Mira stood her ground as she released one hand from her scythe and formed an Ice Needle in it. She then stabbed that needle into the yeti''s hand and had it explode. The empty hand was now a mangled mess as it dangled from the yeti''s wrist.

    The yeti roared in pain as it shot an ice breath towards Mira, but Mira just ignored it. What good was her Extreme Yin Physique and Ice Dao if ice attacks like this still affect her? The yeti removed its hand from her scythe and went to swing its sickle, but Mira had already formed her double-ded scythe and shed at the yeti''s gut. Then as the momentum continued, she spun the scythe around a made a diagonal cut from the yeti''s should down to its waist, and cut it in half.

    Mira felt some bloode up to her mouth, but she just swallowed it. The punch from the yeti was incredibly strong.

    The Yeti then disappeared as it turned into arge glob of energy. It was incredibly chilling and it rushed towards her muscles as it wrapped itself around them. It then began topress her muscles. Even though she had alreadypressed them a few months ago, that was just a makeshift way to train. This energy was made for tempering muscles. The more her musclespressed was when they began to freeze over and start cracking. When her muscles started cracking, the energy that made it crack forced its way into the muscles as it worked to return them to thatpressed state in a healed and tempered state. Mira also noticed that her physique was resonating with the energy and making it more efficient. The temperingsted longer and used less to create this effect.

    This continued for around 30 minutes before all of the energy was used in tempering her muscles. She then spent some time recovering her chest a bit from that yeti punch.

    After she was fully recovered, she ran off to kill the rest of the yetis here. They seemed to be the strongest, at least in the area. Then she would charge off and kill the weaker Late-Stages, then ughter the Mid-Stage beasts here.

    ***

    Maria was enjoying her new strength as she ran from one beast to another and Mira tried to gain insights from the beasts to help her try to gain a deeper understanding of her Dao. Both of them continued their ughter in this Ice World until the 30 days were up.

 Chapter 43 The Trial Stage 7

    Maria is currently just walking around the World of Ice. It''s not that she has defeated all of the beasts here that she can just rest, but just that she couldn''t even fight them or couldn''t find them. She killed all of the Mid-Stage magical beasts in the area and most of the most Late-Stage beasts. She was also able to get in a fight with a Peak-Stage but wasn''t able to kill it. The stronger Late-Stage beasts had watched her fight and ughter all of the other beasts, so they ran off to hide until she went away. With them being of the ice element, they were able to traverse the terrain here much better than Maria. While they were hiding, she decided to attack one of the Peak-Stage magical beasts but it seemed to have no intention to fight as it just kicked her away then skated off. They wouldn''t go hide, but it seemed to be saying that fighting each other wasn''t worth it. Maria tried to attack again, but this time another one snuck up behind her and shed her back pretty good. It wasn''t able to kill her in one hit and knew that it would still be a tough battle with 2 of them, so they just looked at her and waited for her to leave.

    Maria reluctantly walked away and is currently just wandering around the area, bored. Then she finally heard the voice that will take her out of this ce.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 6 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 7."

    "FINALLY!" Maria yelled as she got dragged away to another world.

    "Wee to Stage 7. Stage 7 is the World of Lightning. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element of lightning. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice informed her again, but Maria felt it was shorter than before.

    As soon as it finished speaking though, Maria got struck by lightning!

    "AAAHHHH!! What the hell?!" Maria screamed in pain as the lightning coursed through her body.

    The first thing the lightning did was strike her heart as it tried to kill her. The beating of her heart started to slow down more and more as lightning energy started to gather there. Her heartbeat got to the point that it barely beat once every minute. She was just barely alive right now. After all of the lightning energy from that lightning strike condensed in her heart, it now exploded out to the rest of her body!

    "UUUuuurrgh!! What! Is! THIS?!?" Maria yelled in pain as she gritted her teeth. She felt like she just got smitten from the Heavens!

    The lightning energy started to rampage through her body. It went through her meridians and started to destroy the Qi she had in them and the heat that radiated from the lightning started to melt her meridians. It traveled through her blood as well as it started to eat away her blood causing her to get extremely pale and shrivel up. It then went through the rest of her body and started to eat away any remaining energy that was stored in her bones, muscles, organs, and even the marrow.

    The lightning had destroyed every bit of energy in her body and started to wreak havoc on the rest. Maria became paler and paler until her breathing became ragged and then stopped altogether. Her heart then stopped beating!

    Maria died!!

    She copsed on the ground and her shriveled-up body justy, lifeless.

    p Then another lightning strike came, but this one was a bolt of bright gold lightning. Maria had felt like she was struck by the heavens, but this strike looked like the Heaven''s itself.</anda>

    This strike came crashing down onto Maria''s body. This lightning strike was full of vitality and energy, not like thest lightning strike that only caused destruction. The lightning forcefully entered her heart and forced it to beat again. Once her heart was beating again, the lightning energy then flooded her body like an ocean crashing into a desert.

    It first entered her blood vessels and started to fill them up, but the blood that was being produced now had a hint of golden lightning coursing through it. The golden lightning then made its way into her meridians that were melting. It flooded it with energy, which caused her meridians to constantly expand to hold all of this extra energy that now flooded them. Her meridians looked like they might explode, but they reached the maximum size before they started to harden again as that torrential lightning was not trying to destroy them anymore. This lightning energy then made its way into the rest of her body. Her muscles, organs, bones, and marrow were being replenished with this golden lightning energy. Her muscles that were shriveled up started to expand to their original state, but now they also contained more Qi in them than before. The same thing happened to the rest of her body. Her bones that were starting to crack and dry up now had a vitality to them that wasn''t previously there. The marrow in her bones started to refill with the lightning energy as they started to produce blood again, but this time they were crackling a bit with golden lightning coursing through them. Her internal organs also held more Qi in them than before. They be a bit tougher and were now able to withstand the pressure of the Qi in her body better.

    Maria''s whole body now shone in a grand golden light as it became revitalized with unkempt power now. She even looked more beautiful than before too! Her face started to have a sharper look to it, but still held onto her gentle-youthfulness.  She looked like a Goddess of Light right now as her shoulder-length golden blonde hair started to grow as it went down to the middle of her back. Her skin didn''t turn to a beautiful jade-like color like Mira''s but turned into a golden-jade color that shined brightly.

    The lightning energy hadpletely returned her body back to full health and more. She stillid there unconscious, but every beat of her heart caused lightning to course through her body.

    *THUMP*

    Her body had now fully integrated with the energy that was used to revive her!

    *THUMP*

    All of her organs in her body started to get back to work as they did their best to repair any injuries with excess energy.

    *THUMP*

    Any hidden injuries in her body werepletely healed and her body tried to wake her up.

    *THUMP*

    Maria''s eyes started to flutter. After a second or two, she began to open her eyes as a golden light shone through them briefly. Her eyes were blue, but now they had streaks of gold in them.

    "Huuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaa *cough* *Cough*" Maria took in a huge breath.

    "FUCK!!! What the hell was that?! I nearly died! These stages are nothing, but HELL! What did the lightning even d-" Maria screamed, but stopped herself as she checked her body.

    The first thing she noticed was her skin. It had be more Jade-like but now had a hint of gold in it as well. She then realized that her body had an immense amount of power in it, power that was screaming toe out! She felt like her meridians held much more Qi in them than before and her blood was running through her body with immense vitality! She could feel tiny jolts of energy every time her heartbeat, like part of it, was lightning.

    She then felt that her head was a little heavier and noticed that her hair went down to the middle of her back. She also felt like she got more beautiful as well.

    "Was this something like�� a rebirth? I feel like I was just reborn and the potential that my body held is now being fully utilized. All of the untouched power that my body held, the tempering from thest 7 stages, my Stage 3 Qi Condensation have all started to integrate. I feel like I can use the power that my body was supposed to have now.

    Maria immediately took out her sword and used her Triple Draws sword with 50% of her energy and used all of her strength. She raised her sword and swung down. She just aimed for the ground and shed!

    *BOOM**CRACK*

    Her sword prated the ground by about 40 centimeters and caused the ground around her to crack.

    "What�� is this power? Why am I so strong? What exactly happened?" Maria asked but received no answer. She would only get answers when she asked the caretaker after she was finished.

    *CRACKLE**CRACKLE**BOOM*

    Maria heard a rumbling sound above her as she looked up and saw a green lightning strike crash down on her.

    "AARrrrghh!! AGAIN?! WHY?" Maria screamed in pain again, but this lightning energy didn''t seem as harmful to her body as the first lightning strike. This lightning rampaged through her body as it ate up and destroyed anything that didn''t have this lightning energy flowing through it. The only difference was this lightning would help to replenish the energy that it ate and destroyed. It also wasn''t as effective as this single lightning strike was iparable to the first and second ones. The effectiveness of this strike wasn''t even 1% of the previous 2. Maria started to have an ominous premonition of the next 30 days. She hoped that she wasn''t continuously struck by lightning for the next 30 days.

    ***

    Mira was currently sitting on a throne of ice in this Ice World. She had killed all of the beasts here as well. There were no Peak-Stage Rank 2 Magical Beasts for her in this stage like Maria, but Mira was also able to kill all of the Late-Stage Rank 2 beasts here. Mainly because it was just a bad match-up. The more she fought in this world and against the various ice beasts, the more she began to understand the uses of ice. She was able to skate on the ice with, she tried to make a domain of ice butcked understanding, she tried to control the beasts'' ice but againcked understanding in the Dao, she wanted to condense her ice butcked the understanding to do so. She WAS able to make it so she can use ice as a binding tool. She then began to think about what ice does.

    Ice doesn''t just freeze things or condense things. Yes, it does that, but that is only a basic understanding of Ice and has no originality. Ice isn''t like a fire that can only burn, but it can bring the sensation of burning when it gets cold enough. It''s like water, but just a more intense form of it. If ice is condensed enough then it can be hard like earth. When ice gets cold enough it can freeze the air and wind around it. In non-cultivation worlds, ice is the cause of lightning strikes. The freezing temperatures of ice were there in the beginning and worlds will return to that state in the end. Mira also remembered a term she heard in her previous life. When something is so cold that nothing can get colder than it. That term is absolute-zero. Absolute. Some people call the absolute, God, others think of it as a fact. But the absolute is something that is not dependent on anything other than itself. Humans put their standards on things and say that good and evil are absolutes of the world, but a true absolute doesn''t care about that. There is no good or bad, before or after, beginning or end, to something that is absolute. If the universe were to disappear, the absolute would stay. When an absolute wants something, then everything around it doesn''t have a choice other than to obey.

    Mira had an epiphany. Mira needs to reach the peak! She needs to hold the absolute! She''s been yed with for hundreds of years. The ''god'' that is screwing with her soul, the pain of killing herself because she didn''t want to be defiled. The immense loss that she''s felt over the years. The inability to control her life!

    "I''m SICK OF IT!!" Mira yelled in rage.

    "I will make sure this fucking multiverse fears my name!! The only way to make that happen is to go down the path of absolute! The only Dao path that will only ever fit me for any element will be the absolute! I will go down the Absolute Ice Dao path. There shall be nothing out of my control!" Mira yelled in indignation.

    Something inside Mira clicked at this point. She felt that the bottleneck she had faced before had finally started to open up a path. She wasn''t able to get past it as the path of the absolute is not an easy one. Mira will have to constantly try to gather insights about this Dao, but when she finally passes through this first bottleneck, she can only imagine the power that her ice will hold then.<sub> </sub>

    After this feeling passed, she heard the mechanical voice again.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 6 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 7."

    She was then dragged to another world and listened to the mechanical voice again before she could look around.

    "Wee to Stage 7. Stage 7 is the World of Lightning. Use this ce to temper yourself as well as understand the element of lightning. Survive this ce for 30 days to reach the next stage. Begin!" The voice said to Mira.

    ''No beasts?'' Mira thought before she heard an extremely terrifying sound above. This was the sound of death! All of the hairs on her body stood up as she looked up towards the source of the sound. She saw deep ck lightning rampaging through a golden-ck cloud that blocked out the entire sky of this world.

    *CRACKLE**CRACKLE*

    "Fuuc-!"

    *BOOM*

    Mira was struck by this lightning as any resistance she tried to put up was immediately destroyed. The ck lightning immediately started to gather in her heart as it did for Maria. Her heartbeat slowed down and came to a point where she was barely alive. When she reached this point, the lightning energy hadpletely gathered in her heart before it exploded out of it and rampaged in her body.

    "Fuck! What... is�� This?!" Mira tried to scream out, but could barely get the words out.

    The lightning started rampaging through her meridians destroying all of the Qi in them, then melting her meridians. She felt her meridians bing like melting rubber. They started to be very malleable and sticky. After the lightning ate all of the energy in her meridians, then it moved towards her blood.

    The ck lightning traveled through her blood and started to destroy any blood that was in her body. Mira''s body started to shrivel up like an old woman and she became extremely pale. Mira was on death''s door right now, but her sheer willpower was keeping her conscious through this ungodly pain. After there was no more blood in her body, the next thing the ck lightning went towards was her bones.

    Mira''s bones were a bit unique due to her Extreme Yin Physique, but the lightning still entered them and started to destroy any energy in them. The bones started to dry up and crack and the lightning began to leave towards her organs, muscles, and marrow.

    Mira had stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating at this point, she was dead. Well, she should be, but there was a part of her body that refused to take this lying down. Her physique reacted with the ck lightning as it finished off all of the energy. It was something akin to the lightning returning to the source. The friction caused by the lightning in her icy bones caused tiny sparks of lightning to sprout. These were small, ice blue lightning sparks, but the destructive ck lightning reacted to it andtched onto her bones. The ck lightning flowed through all of the bones in her body as ittched onto the blue lighting in it. After the ck lightning connected to her bones, the ck lightning now had thick streaks of icy-blue lighting coursing through it. The ck lightning continued its rampage through Mira''s body, but the blue lightning in it started to add her physique to the rest of her body. Even though Mira was dead right now, she started to exude a freezing aura around her that only became thicker as time went on.

    The ck-blue lightning traveled to her marrow, organs, and muscles. The energy in her body was getting destroyedpletely, but after all of the energy in them was gone, they started to turn blue as the blue lightning coursed through her entire body. This didn''t give her any energy but would allow her to utilize her Ice Dao smoother as if it was a part of her being.

    After her body was devoid of energy, the ck lightning waspletely used up, but something unexpected happened. When her body didn''t have any more ck lightning rampaging through it, the blue lightning stepped up. Her bones lit up with a bolt of icy lightning that started to grow and grow until it was like an explosion that caused every part of her body to start coursing with this blue lightning. Her entire being was being turned into a vessel for ice. Her muscles, organs, marrow, bones, meridians, blood vessels, even part of her skin. Her Jade-like skin, which is shriveled up right now, started to give off a hint of an icy blue-white Jade. Even shriveled up, looked extremely beautiful. Her hair also changed a bit. It went from shiny silver to icy silver.

    After her body finished its transformation, even her shriveled-up body gave off a feeling of icy dread.

    Right after that was done the sky started to crackle with golden lightning.

    *CRACKLE**CRACKLE**BOOM*

    Mira''s body was struck with this golden lightning. The energy from the lightning started to gather in her heart. Her now, icy-blue heart, was filling up with golden lightning energy. After all of it gathered in her heart, it didn''t do the same thing it did for Maria. The icy lightning still coursed through her body and it found a new source of energy totch itself onto. The blue lightning intertwined with the golden lightning energy in her heart. After the blue and gold lightning were connected, they shot out towards Mira''s blood vessels. It started to repair her vessels and fill started to start trying to fill it up with new blood. Except for this blood now had a bluish hue to it with thin strands of blue lightning coursing through it.

    After new blood started to fill up her blood vessels, it went for her Meridians. Her meridians were like a burnt t tire and the energy that coursed through it was airing it up with Qi. Her meridians began expanding as they were filled with an Icy Qi. The icy Qi started to strengthen her meridians at the same time as well. They were able to expand to greater widths because the durability was increasing as they were expanding. They then reached a point where they might burst if any more Qi filled her meridians.

    The blue and gold lightning finished healing and filling up her meridians when it turned to her bones, marrow, organs, and muscles. The golden-blue energy began to rush into every part of her body as the icy aura and Qi that Mira''s body was releasing increased.

    Her muscles, organs, bones, and marrow were being replenished with this golden-blue lightning energy. Her muscles that were shriveled up started to expand to their original state, but now they also contained more Qi in them than before. This was the same Icy Qi that was in her meridians, not the golden Qi that filled up Maria''s body. The same thing happened to the rest of her body. Her bones that were starting to crack and dry up now had a vitality and coldness to them that wasn''t previously there. The marrow in her bones started to refill with the icy lightning energy as they started to produce blood again, but this time they were crackling a bit with icy blue lightning coursing through them. Her internal organs also held more Qi in them than before. They be a bit tougher and were now able to withstand the pressure of the Qi in her body better.

    Unlike Maria''s body that shone with golden light at this point, Mira''s body was freezing everything around her with magnificent Icy-blue light and aura. It was like the Goddess of Ice was just born, no something even greater than that! Her cute and childish face now had a cold and sharp look, but it still kept some of her childish features. Her skin was now an icy jade look. It was not an icy-blue, but more like the clear ice that had the hint of blue when the light hit it just right. Her hair also turned into this icy silver and gave off a cold feeling.

    Mira stilly there unconscious as the remaining energy coursed through her body toplete her metamorphosis, but now her heartbeat started to affect the surrounding area.

    *THUMP**SWOOSH*

    As her heart beat, her aura expanded further out of her body as it caused a mini blizzard of ice to swirl around her.

    *THUMP*

    Icicles started to form in the air around Mira as she unconsciously created a domain around her. The icy lightning coursed through her body as it revitalized all of her internal organs.

    *THUMP*

    Her blood began pumping from her heart and her marrow began producing blueish-red blood that coursed through her body. All of her previous injuries were also healed.

    *THUMP*

    The domain of ice around Mira expanded once more before it condensed and retreated back inside Mira''s body. When this ice domainpletely assimted with her body, there was an explosion of energy that came out of her body. Mira''s eyes then began to flutter open. When her eyes opened, a blue light crossed through them. One could also see tiny blue veins in her wine-red eyes.

    "Huuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaa!" Mira took in a huge breath as she woke up.

    She took a couple of deep breaths to make sure she was alive and that she was still in this body. She knew that she had died right there, but her consciousness and soul didn''t leave her body. She let out a faint smile as she was still alive in this body. She was unwilling to leave this body and current life. This would be her best chance to make it to the peak.

    Mira then checked her body and was happily surprised by what she immediately saw. Her skin was now an icy jade color and iparably smooth. Mira started to stretch and heard a bunch of pops from her bones and joints as they got used to moving. The next thing she realized was that she seemed to constantly release a frigid aura. She couldn''t even control it. The temperature around her was just constantly cold. Mira tried to create an Ice Needle and was able to form one over 2 times faster than before and the needle was denser and sharper as well. She then gasped her scythe. Not only did she feel her connection with it increase, but when she added the second de at the bottom, she noticed that she contained much more Qi in her meridians than before and that her Qi also contained that frigid aura.

    Thest thing she noticed was that the rest of her body contained more Qi in it than before and that her entire being was like a vessel to use the power of ice. She felt like the potential of her body was unlocked and was assimting. She felt unbound power that she previously didn''t have, but her thoughts got interrupted when she heard crackles in the sky above and notice green lightning coursing through the clouds. Mira stored her scythe and spread out her arms and sneered towards the sky.

    "Hehe. Come!" Mira yelled as the green lightning came crashing down onto her body.

    This lightning rampaged through her body as it ate up and destroyed anything that didn''t have this lightning energy flowing through it, but the blue lightning in her bodytched itself onto this green lightning. It was even able to intertwine itself into half of the lightning as it was much weaker. The green lightning was supposed to help replenish the energy it destroyed, but the icy lightning took that job over and left the job of destroying the energy to the green lightning. This helped to increase the efficiency of the lightning just a bit. The effectiveness of this strike still wasn''t even 2% of the previous 2 though.

    ''So this is what the next 30 days will entail. Good! Keep iting!'' Mira thought as lightning continued to flow through her body.

    ***

    Maria and Mira were having two totally different experiences. Maria was suffering the painful torture of lightning strikes that would take hundreds of strikes to be useful. While Mira was enjoying her nice green lightning bath as her icy aura grew as more of her physique assimted with the rest of her body.

    After a very long and tortuous 30 days, Maria finally heard the voice of the mechanical angel!

 Chapter 44 The Trial Stages 8 And 9

    Maria had just gotten struck by another bolt of green lighting. The green lightning tried to rampage through her body and destroy any energy that was in her body but after hundreds of lightning strikes over the past month Maria''s body was getting used to this green lightning and it was not as effective as it was the first time. The only thing Maria felt was the pain of getting struck by lightning, but it had very little effect now. She couldn''t escape from the lightning either, as she had already tried that. There is no ce to hide her as it is just a giant open space. The only thing she can do is ept it.

    When the lightning finished rampaging through her body, she waited for the next strike toe. She waited for 10 minutes, but no lightning strike. Maria opened her stunningly beautiful golden-blue eyes and looked up. She saw the clouds dispersing.

    "Is it finally over? Can I finally stop being struck by lightning?! A-Ahaha! Finally! Get! ME! OUT!" Maria screamed as she jumped up and waited for the mechanical voice toe and tell her it''s time to leave.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 7 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 8."

    Maria was finally dragged out of that tortuous ce! She was then immediately thrown into a world that was so bright that she had to immediately shut her eyes. If she shut them a secondter she would''ve gone blind. Even with her eyes closed, the light was still blinding like it didn''t matter if they were open or closed.

    "Wee to Stage 8. Stage 8 is the World of Light. Use this ce to temper your eyes as well as increase your understanding of the element of light. You will be able to advance to the next stage when you can open your eyes and find the exit. Begin!" Even with all this light, the mechanical voice was like the darkness here.

    "What the heck is this?!?! Thest stage actually killed me and now this stage is trying to blind me! Plus, it seems that this isn''t a matter of waiting for the time limit. I actually have to find the exit! I also don''t know if there are beasts here or not. Dammit!" Maria screamed.

    She waited around as she tried to listen for any beasts around her, but no matter how long she waited or how much she tried to listen she didn''t hear any beasts. This made Maria feel a bit better.

    ''If I think back to the stages prior, the whole point of them is to kill a lot of beasts as the real benefit is in the quantity of energy. The other thing is that the more something is used to affect the body, the less effective it will be over time. I guess all I can literally do here is just make sure I don''t go blind by opening my eyes too much or too early. Ugh!'' Maria thought to herself and she sat down in a lotus position with her eyes closed and covered by a beast pelt. Even with the pelt over her eyes, the light was still blinding.

    She was just going to cultivate until her eyes aren''t being blinded by the light through the beast pelt. Then she will remove it, but still, keep her eyes closed and wait for her to get used to the light with her eyes closed. Once she doesn''t feel blinded with her eyes closed, then she will start to blink every so often. She will just keep going about this extremely slow. If she identally opens her eyes too soon or loses focus until she can open them, she will go blind.

    ''What a troublesome stage! I''d rather fight beasts or even get struck by lightning! Hopefully, I can gain some insights into the Dao of Light though.'' Maria thought to herself.

    She then started the extremely boring but mentally taxing job of keeping her eyes closed.

    ***

    Mira was sitting down with a faint smile on her face. She was basking in the feeling of her icy-lightning coursing through her body. Mira has tried to see if she can wield lightning but to no avail. It seems that she can''t actually control lightning, she can only control her ice to produce a form of lightning. This lightning also seems to be unique to her as it is not hot like normal lightning.  The lightning itself isn''t that strong either but has very niche uses. It is only really useful for the inside of her body and she hasn''t found any other uses for it other than it can look terrifying whenbines with her ice. Other than the fear factor of it, lightning is not that dangerous to other living things. Mira mused that at least if she gets hit by a lightning attack, this icy lightning should help her out a little bit.

    As Mira was just sitting down drowning in her own thoughts, she noticed that she hasn''t been struck by lightning in a while. She looked up and saw the clouds dispersing and sighed.

    "This stage helped me tremendously. With everything that I''ve gained so far, I''d honestly be content with what I have. But since there are 13 more stages, I might as well see how far I can go! Next up should be a World of Light and if it''s not then it is a World of Dark. Hmmm, usually we are just thrown into the world, and light will probably incredibly blinding if that''s the case. I might as well keep my eyes closed before being thrown in there." Mira said to herself as she closed her eyes. Right after she closed her eyes, she heard the mechanical voice again.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 7 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 8."

    Mira was then forcefully taken from the World of Lightning and thrown into a world filled with nothing but light.

    "Wee to Stage 8. Stage 8 is the World of Light. Use this ce to temper your eyes as well as increase your understanding of the element of light. You will be able to advance to the next stage when you can open your eyes and find the exit. Begin!" It rang out again.

    Mira felt the blinding light around her and still felt the need to cover her eyes with something else.

    "It seems I guessed correctly. I''m d I closed my eyes before or I might''ve gone blind. It also seems like I won''t be able to pass this stage unless I can keep my eyes open. *Sigh* This may take some time. Well, it didn''t say anything about fighting beasts and there doesn''t seem to be a time limit, but if you open your eyes then you go blind. Might as well cultivate or meditate on my Absolute Ice Dao and wait until my eyes start getting ustomed to this light." Mira said out loud as she thought the same thing as Maria.

    Mira sat down in a lotus position, covered her eyes with several beast pelts, and began to cultivate. She had the same strategy as Maria except she had more beast pelts covering her eyes. She would remove one every time her eyes got used to the light and keep slowly having the light affect her eyes until she can leave her eyes open.

    Time passed extremely slowly for these two as they continued to cultivate. Mira was working towards Stage 3 and Maria was going for Stage 4. They knew they probably wouldn''t make it to that stage of power in this World, but it''s better than doing nothing.

    After an unknown amount of time, Maria removed her beast pelt as she felt the intense light trying to force its way into her eyelid. She then went back to cultivate until her eyes got used to this.

    Mira would remove a beast pelt after an extended period of time, then go back to cultivating. It wasn''t that far behind Maria that she was able to remove herst beast pelt and exposed her eyelids to the light.

    Both Mira and Maria were both sitting in a lotus position without any pelts covering their eyes. After cultivating for a while Maria was the first one to do something else.

    Maria felt like her eyes were used to light now when they were closed so she opened and closed her eyes extremely quickly. In that split second she could see the blinding light. It even slightly damaged her eyes in that split second. She waited for them to heal before she blinked them again. She would keep doing this until her eyes hurt and began to injure from the light, then close them to heal, and repeat until she can keep her eyes open.

    An unknown timeter, Mira did the same thing. She felt like her eyes have gotten used to the light while being closed so she blinked them rapidly one time and felt the same thing as Maria. Her eyes got slightly injured and she waited for them to recover before doing that again.

    They both kept blinking their eyes every so often.

    After a while, they were able to blink their eyes more rapidly as their eyes were getting less and less injured from the blinding light. After they could do this, they then began to leave their eyes open until the light injured them, then closed them again to heal.

    It wasn''t much longer until Maria was able to keep her eyes open like normal, but this wasn''t enough. She might as well focus on this until this light barely affects her. She can also feel her understanding of the Dao of Light increase as well.

    Mira was also able to do this now as well. She was only a bit behind Maria.

    This continued until they were able to keep their eyes open and the light wouldn''t cause injuries.

    They began to get up and search for the exit. Maria took longer because she spent some time understanding her Dao a bit more.

    The two of them were now currently looking for the exit and soon came across arge set of stairs, but in front of the stairs was a Peak-Stage magical beast for both Mira and Maria. It was a wolf-like creature but was smaller than a wolf. It was around the size of a fox and had a blinding light emitting from it.

    Mira took out her scythe, added her ice de to it making it a double-ded scythe, and started to release her Ice Dao to try and create something like a mini-domain. The light wolf turned into light as it shot towards her. It started to shoot light beams out of its eyes and used the light to increase its speed as well. It was incredibly fast and Mira could barely keep her eyes on it.

    She created some ice tes in her domain to help defend and reflect the light. Mira just stood there in her domain. The wolf was running around it looking for an opening. I found one that was behind Mira. Mira was trying to form a lot of small ice needles in her domain as she waited for the wolf to attack.

    It attacked behind her. One of her Ice needles nicked it on the shoulder, but it was barely a minor injury. Mira heard this and just used the momentum that was gathered in her scythe to sh behind her as she was turning. One could say that Mira was quite lucky with that sh. It was able to pierce into the wolf''s head and kill it with that swing. She didn''t even know the exact position of the wolf and just estimated it would be there and luckily got the timing right.

    The wolf then began to disappear as energy gathered in its ce. This energy was like light itself. After the wolf disappearedpletely, the energy rushed towards Mira''s eyes as it forced its way in. It traveled through her eyes as it slightly tempered them, but the energy went into the retinas of her eyes; this is the part of the eye where visual images are formed from light. The light energy started to gather here and then spread out to the rest of her eyes. The light energy began to soak into her eyes until it waspletely used up.

    After the energy was used, Mira opened her eyes and felt like the world around her was a bit more vibrant.

    She looked around for a while, but since this was the World of Light, there wasn''t anything here other than light. Mira began walking on the stairs after defeating the light wolf and heard the mechanical voice again. She knew this stage would be the World of Darkness, but she didn''t know what this would entail.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 8 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 9."<sub> </sub>

    ***

    Maria had just got done defeating the Peak-Stage Rank 2 Light Wolf. It was a tough fight for her, but with Maria being a Stage 3 Qi Condensation along with her transformation, killing a beast of her own element wasn''t nearly as difficult as the Peak-Stage beasts in the ice world.

    The energy that went into Mira''s eyes also went into her eyes as well. It didn''t hurt, but she had to close her eyes while it was happening. When she opened her eyes, Maria was extremely surprised. The light in the world looked deeper and she could even see further as well.

    She stood there stunned for a moment before looking at the stairs and walking up to them.

    "World of Darkness! Here Ie!" She said before walking up to them.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 8 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 9."

    ***

    Mira heard the congrattions from the mechanical voice and she was thrown into a world ofplete darkness. Not only was it so dark that even with her new eyesight, but she also couldn''t even see herself. But she tried to move and felt all of her senses locked. She couldn''t see, hear, feel, smell, or taste anything. Mira wasn''t too fazed by this as something simr happens when her soul is sucked out of her body when she dies and has to wait to be ced in a new body, but she can still see, hear, and talk while in that state. Even though this wasn''t as terrifying as it might be for someone else, that doesn''t mean she likes being in this state.

    "Wee to Stage 9. Stage 9 is the World of Darkness. Use this ce to enhance your senses. You will only be able to advance to the next stage when you can sense the area around you and find the exit. Begin!" The voice rang out in her mind this time.

    ''Hmm. I can assume there is another guardian. The only way I will be able to beat is if I am able to sense its presence. I don''t really know what to do here, but I guess I will just start with trying to feel my own movements first before I move on to trying to sense what''s around me.'' Mira thought to herself as she tried to follow through with the movement of sitting. She wasn''t able to sit and ended up just falling to the ground, but Mira didn''t know this.

    While Mira was trying to sense her own movements, Maria just heard the announcement from the mechanical voice.

    ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 8 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 9."

    Maria was thrown into a world filled with darkness. She then heard the mechanical voice ring out in her mind this time.

    "Wee to Stage 9. Stage 9 is the World of Darkness. Use this ce to enhance your senses. You will only be able to advance to the next stage when you can sense the area around you and find the exit. Begin!" It said and Maria went to try and say something, but soon figured out many things.

    She couldn''t hear, feel, see, taste, or smell anything around her. She started trying to talk but found that even if she is talking she didn''t know what she was saying.

    Maria then tried to open and close her eyes. She didn''t know if maybe something went wrong with the energy in thest stage and as she tried to follow through with the movements of closing her eyes, but once again couldn''t tell if she was doing anything.

    Maria started to panic now.

    ''What''s with this stage?! This is actually freaking me out! Am I dead? No, I heard that voice just now. It said that I need to sense the area around me to pass this stage. How the heck do I do that? I don''t even know if my body is moving or not, much less sensing the surrounding area. *Sob sob* Can we get these elemental stages over with? I just want to be done with this!'' Maria cried in her mind. All she wanted was to be able to do is sense her own movements!

    Maria just spent her time trying to feel and sense her movements. Maria tried to stay as calm as she could but failing to sense her movements for so long started to weigh on her mind after a while.

    ***

    Mira didn''t know exactly how long it''s been since she has lost all senses, but she was starting to figure it out. Mira felt like the nerves that connected her brain to the rest of her body were blocked by something and the only way to get past the blockage was to understand her body more. Mira started with her fingers. She would try to go through with the sensation of wiggling a finger. After focusing on this and finding the nerve for the finger that she wiggled, she would then follow that with her mind. Once she was able to follow that nerve to her finger, she would try to memorize that feeling and connect that finger nerve back to her brain. Doing this would allow her to feel/sense her finger moving.

    Mira repeated this for every major part of her body. Arms, Legs, hands, fingers, toes, core, and back. Once she could feel/sense her body, she moved onto her hearing. This followed the same process as before, but except for nerves she had to feel the vibrations. Sound is essentially just a vibration and hearing is how we perceive that vibration.. All Mira had to do was sense the vibrations in her eardrum consciously and then send that information to her brain. She would try pping and screaming, but it was hard to tell what the sound actually was with this sense blocked. She could only tell that there was a noise and the direction of it. These two senses became hyperactive and Mira tried to connect the two. If she could use her hearing to help sense the vibrations in the air and ground, then she could use her body to help her feel these vibrations. This would allow her to sense the surrounding area without the need for the rest of her senses.

    It took a lot of time and trying, but Mira was eventually able to sense an area of a 10-meter radius around her. It was very mentally taxing to do this though. She could only sense the area directly around her clearly without as much effort.

    Mira felt confident enough to try to find the exit now and maybe fight a beast. After wandering around in the dark for a while, she finally sensed something out of the ordinary. She expanded her senses to 10 meters around her and was able to make out the shape of arge bat-like creature. She didn''t know the stage of the beast but guessed Peak-Stage as that was what thest one was. The bat seemed to notice Mira as it screeched and charged at Mira. Mira expanded her Ice Dao Domain to 10 meters as well. She formed Ice shards in it and had her icy lightning bounce off of the shards. This was so she would be able to sense the beast easier as it passed through the lightning.

    Mira had her scythe out as she waited until she felt the bat cross her path.

    ''There!'' Mira swung her scythe in the direction she felt, but the only thing she felt was a pain in her shoulder. She seemed to miss the Bat, but it hit her shoulder instead. Mira took her battle stance again and continued twirling her scythe.

    ''There!'' Mira swung behind her, but was a bit toote again and felt her chest cave in a bit along with some gashes on her body.

    Mira needed to get the timing right. She had to go past her limit a bit, even if it is just a couple of centimeters. Mira pushed her mind to the limit and increased her senses and domain by another 10 centimeters and kept all of her focus on the lightning around her. Soon she felt another fluctuation and immediately swung in that direction. She managed to slice the bat in half, but she copsed and fainted right after as her mind was too exhausted.

    The bat disappeared and ck energy took its ce. This energy went into Mira''s brain and increased the sensitivity of her sensory receptors.

    Mira''s body also started to heal even without a pill or her being conscious. This was mainly due to the excess energy that was still leftover after the lightning stage along with her increased blood vitality and all of the Qi in her body. Her body was much more resilient than before.

    It took her a while to wake up and as she got up she realized that her body was recovering on its own. Mira was a bit surprised by this, but came to the understanding that it was from the lightning stage. She was also able to sense everything around her further while doing it unconsciously, but it still caused her a bit of a headache due to all of the extra information.

    Once she got ustomed to this feeling, she started to walk up the stairs.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 9 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 10."

    ***

    Maria took apletely different approach. After failing to sense anything, she started trying to hurt herself. She couldn''t even tell if she was feeling, but after hurting herself enough, she started to feel something. Maria had seeminglypletely lost her mind at this point as she started to rely on instincts at this point. Once she was able to feel her body a bit, she started trying to use her Light Dao on her eyes to be able to see in this darkness. After being able to utilize her Light Dao in her eyes, she was able to have a bit of tunnel vision in the dark.

    Able to feel her movements and see what''s in front of her, she charged forward looking for the stairs.

    She soon found the stairs and a bat-like creature guarding them. The bat sensed her, but it didn''t seem to matter. Maria propelled herself with her light beams, activated her Light Sword and Triple Draws at full power, and crashed her sword into the bat as fast as she could. The batpletely exploded and the rest of the force of the sh reverberated through the air and ground around her forming cracks in the ground. She kept shing at the bat until not a single piece remained then charged up the stairs as the energy from the bat went into her brain to increase the sensitivity of her senses.

    When she reached the top she copsed from exhaustion as she heard the mechanical voice ring out in her head.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 9 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 10."

    ***

 Chapter 45 The Trial Stage 10

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 9 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 10."

    Mira was then dragged to a very chaotic world, but besides that Mira finally regained her senses! She opened her eyes to look around as the mechanical voice talked to her again.

    "Wee to Stage 10. Stage 10 is the World of The 8 Elements. Survive here 60 days advance to the next stage. Begin!" This notice was much shorter than thest.

    Mira looked around as she was now able to sense and see everything more clearly. Normally she would be in awe of the beauty around her as she was able to see every element from thest 8 stages all swirling around together in the clouds above her, but nothing about this ce was beautiful or nice. Even with her senses being heightened in thest stage, this world seemed to dull them again but didn''t take them awaypletely. The world seemed to block 70% of her senses.

    Besides the chaotic elements running rampant through thends, Mira also saw an insane amount of magical beasts. She saw many known types and many unknown types of magical beasts. There were also beasts of every element. These creatures weren''t just sitting on their asses doing nothing, Mira could see a bunch of them fighting each other and the rest looking for a fight. These were all Late-Stage Rank 2 or Peak-Stage Rank 2.

    *BAM*

    Mira barely dodged a fire strike that came from the sky! She immediately looked up and saw that the fucking world was attacking her! Then she noticed that 2 Late-Stage beasts noticed her and started charging towards her. Mira took out her scythe and sighed.

    "This is going to be a long 60 days."

    Mira dashed towards the two magical beasts that wereing at her. They looked like they lost their mind and the only thing they can think about is fighting. These types of enemies can be the easiest to fight, but also sometimes the worst. If they charge recklessly like these 2 beasts then it is not so bad, but when a beast charges like this with zero regards for their life but still retain their sanity. That''s when things get a bit more difficult.

    It only took Mira 2 attacks to finish off the beasts as they didn''t even try protecting or dodging, but as soon as she finished them off a giant 20-meter long ice spike came down from the sky and tried to kill her and it also started to rain. The rain was of course, not normal. It was incredibly dense and sharp. On top of all of this, the 2 beasts that she had killed turned into an almost metallic-looking energy. It then rushed towards Mira but didn''t enter her body. It just wrapped around her whole body, adding what seemed like the weight of the 2 beasts onto her.

    "Are you done, world? Or do you want to make things worse for me again? Oh, wait! Let me guess! This energy that wrapped around me isn''t going to go away and is only going to gain more weight when I kill more beasts? That would be wonderful!" Mira eximed and to answer her, the world sent a lightning strike covered in darkness towards her! Mira barely dodged at and was only able to dodge thanks to her increased senses.

    "Fuck it. Let''s get started!" Mira eximed as she saw more beasts running in her direction

    The only thing Mira could hope for is to not die. She was going to put stress test her body with this insanely chaotic world.

    ***

    Maria finally woke up from her exhaustion. She had a massive headache and also noticed she was low on Qi. She held her head as she groaned.

    "What happened?" Maria wondered before she realized that she could actually sense her body. Her senses weren''t back yet and what she could sense was nowhere near the level of Mira, but she could actually feel herself and what''s around her, to a certain degree.

    "Thest thing I remember is going crazy then going on a rampage. Did I kill that guardian? I think I did because it looks like I''m on the stairs right now. I seem to feel more sensitive to things as well? I guess I will just return to my peak then go up these stairs and go towards the next stage." Maria muttered as she could faintly recall what happened.

    Maria then sat down and started to recover both her Qi and mind. It didn''t take long to recover her Qi, but her mind took a bit to calm down.

    When she reached her peak condition, Maria actually decided to go to sleep on the stairs before entering the next stage. She needs a small break from the constant fighting and torture. She also has this faint feeling that the next stage is going to suck. She didn''t know why she felt like that, but her instincts were telling her that the world beyond those stairs will not be fun.

    After a good rest, Maria took a deep breath and walked to the top of the stairs.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 9 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 10."

    She was forcefully dragged away and thrown into a beautifully chaotic world. It was filled with every single color that one could think of and Maria was able to enjoy the beauty of the scenery for a few seconds before she heard the call of the mechanical devil.

    "Wee to Stage 10. Stage 10 is the World of The 8 Elements. Survive here 60 days advance to the next stage. Begin!" It said quickly.

    Even though Maria heard less from the voice, this only made her feel worse about the situation.

    *CRACKLE**SWOOSH*

    Lightning and meteors starteding towards her from the sky. Maria was forced to dodge these as they could have easily injured her.<sub> </sub>

    As she dodged, she realized that her senses have been dulled by a significant amount. Right after she survived the attack from the sky, a Peak-Stage Rank 2 magical beast started to charge towards her crazily. Maria dodged its attack and used shed Triple Draws upward, cutting it in half. The beast instantly disappeared and turned into a metallic-like energy and started wrapping around Maria. She then felt the weight of the beast pushing against her body.

    "Great!! I can''t wait to go through 60 days of this crap!! Who even came up with these ideas?! Geez! I''m ready to leave the trial! I want to see Vulcan and Mira again! I''m tired of this nonstop fighting and torture! But what sucks is that Mira will definitely try to make it past all 20 stages in the trial and will definitely beat my ass if I quit halfway like this! AAHH! Screw it!" Maria screamed as she just wanted to get out and rx a bit.

    Maria then ran off from her position as she dodged the various projectiles falling from the sky trying to kill her. She wanted to kill as many beasts as fast as she could to see if she could have a bit of rest and rxation.

    ***

    Thest almost 60 days have been quite rough on Mira. She hasn''t gotten 1 second of rest this entire time. If she wasn''t killing beasts, then beasts were trying to kill her. If beasts weren''t trying to kill her, the world was trying to kill her. If the world wasn''t trying to kill her, then she was recovering the Qi in her body to repeat the cycle. Even recovering her energy was a chore too. It seemed like the stars in the sky had to align before she would get an opportunity to recover her Qi and try to recover some of her mental exhaustion.

    She always had her double-ded scythe active and was constantly using her Ice Dao. Her double-ded scythe consumed her Qi and Ice Dao. it didn''t use that much, but repairing it and keeping it at peak condition cost quite a bit of her Qi. She can keep it up a bit more after her transformation in the lightning stage, but she is constantly fighting beasts.

    Mira didn''t look so good by the 60th day in. She was covered in her blue-red blood, some of her bones were protruding and she had cuts, gashes, and burns all over her body. The weight of the energy around her had reached a massive degree to the point that standing was hard. Mira was currently walking in the chaotic world using her scythe as a cane. The only thing she could do is hope that 60 days is almost up or else she might have to give up. She can''t fight another beast right now and anything thates from the sky will be able to hit her. Her internal clock was telling her that the 60-day mark was approaching soon.

    Mira saw a beast start to charge at her and she just closed her eyes. There is nothing she can do right now, hopefully, her death will be peaceful. She''ll just try to find the resolve to keep going after this death�� hopefully.

    Mira then heard the mechanical voice.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 10 of the Trial. You will soon be sent to a ce to rest for 7 days before continuing to Stage 11 of the Trial." The mechanical voice said as Mira was dragged out of the world and put into a basic room with a small bed, a table, and a ring on the table. The energy that was wrapped around Mira''s body now entered it!

    "Fuck!" Mira gritted her teeth in pain. The energy was healing her body back to its previous condition, but this was an extremely painful process. Much more painful than when she got the actual injury. Burns began to peel off and her skin returned back to its original color. Gashes and stab wounds scabbed over and healed. Protruding bones were forced back into her body as they started to heal.

    Mira now looked like she did before the stage. A beautiful and cold-looking Ice Goddess. It took many hours for all of her injuries to healpletely and after she was back to peak condition, the energy dispersed.

    Mira looked around this small room. She saw the ring but decided to check thatter.

    "A week, huh." Mira muttered as she copsed on the bed and immediately fell asleep.

    ***

    Maria wasn''t in a much better situation. She was currently crawling on the ground as she tried to use her sword to pull her along. Almost every bone in her body was broken, she had burns everywhere on her body, she had multiple stab wounds,rge gashes, and many protruding bones. Rank 2 Rejuvenation Pills couldn''t fix this. Maria was about to give up but realized she didn''t even have the strength to activate the talisman that she was given.

    Maria had to fight wave after wave of Peak-Stage magical beasts. She didn''t even move from her original spot and just waited for beasts toe to her. She this stage would be hard, but the attacks from the sky and the extra weight after each kill were what made this stage horrifying. Maria felt that the 60-day mark wasing, but she just hoped that it woulde before she died.

    Like a call from heaven, the mechanical voice answered her prayers.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 10 of the Trial. You will soon be sent to a ce to rest for 7 days before continuing to Stage 11 of the Trial." The voice rang out in her ears as she was transported to a simr room that Mira was in.

    The same thing happened when she entered this room too.

    "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

    Unimaginable pain! This is all Maria felt, as her bones, cuts, gashes, burns, and stab wounds were all being healed by the metallic energy. Maria fainted from the pain, but as her bones were being put back together she woke up from the pain and then fainted again. This happened over and over again until she returned back to her original state.

    Maria barely woke up and walked over to the table and put on the ring for some reason. She didn''t even bother to check it before going to the bed and falling asleep, but before doing so she muttered something.

    "See you in 6.9 days then." and fell asleep.

    ***

 Chapter 46 The Trial Stages 11 And 12

    Mira had slept for an entire 5 of her 7 days before she woke up. She didn''t know how long she had slept and only knew that it was less than 7 days as she was still in this very basic room.

    The first thing she did was look around the small empty room when she woke up. The only thing other than the bed that she saw was the small table with a ring on it. Mira grabbed the ring and put it on. She then sent her energy into the ring to connect with it and sent her mind into it. She was rather surprised by how big it was.

    Mira''s first space ring is a measly 5 cubic metersrge, but this space ring has a size of 8000 cubic meters. This may sound like a lot, but the space inside the ring was just 20 meters long, 20 meters wide, and 20 meters tall. This is like the size of a ratherrge house, maybe even close to the size of a mansion. She also noticed that the only thing in this ring was rations. Rations on top of rations. Mira didn''t know how long this wouldst, but she assumed that these next 10 stages might take a while. Mira had been out of food for a while. Being in the Qi Condensation Realm, one doesn''t need to eat that often as some of your body is being nourished by Qi but eating is still very beneficial to the body in this stage as well. Mira has been starving for a while now and decided to eat her fill until she couldn''t eat anymore.

    Mira then spent an entire day eating. After that, she went to get a good rest before she was called into action again.

    Mira soon heard the voice of the mechanical voice as she was dragged out of the room and ced in another world.

    "Wee to Stage 11. Drink the poison on the pedestal to advance to the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice said very shortly.

    Mira looked around and saw various pools of what looked like poison. Just looking at the different pools of poison, she could tell that the pool on the far left was the weakest and the one on the far right was the strongest. Over half of these poisons were capable of killing her. She then noticed a pedestal in the center and saw a ss filled with poison in it. She couldn''t feel anything from it and thought it might not be poison. The only thing that kept her from thinking that was the voice told her she needed to drink that to pass the stage.

    The pools of poison were the colors of a rainbow with purple being the weakest on the left with red and ck being the strongest on the right. The pools weren''t that big, just big enough to bathe in.

    Mira assumed that this stage was to help build up a bit of poison resistance. She honestly no idea how to do that, but assumed that she needed to ingest the poison in small doses. Maybe she even needs to bathe in the poison as well.

    Mira walked over to the weakest poison pool. She felt like this poison wouldn''t kill or injure her. Mira dipped her finger in it. She felt the poison sink into her skin and enter her body, but it didn''t seem strong enough to start eroding her insides. Mira took out her finger and waited to see if it brought any injuries or changes.

    After waiting a while, she felt like this poison was rtively safe and was just here for her to build up a resistance to it. She then dipped in her finger again and dropped some of the poison in her mouth. She could feel it trying to damage her body, but her body was too strong for it. After waiting to see if there are any changes, Mira was able to confirm that this poison would be useful for building up resistance.

    Mira decided to just jump straight in. She took off her clothes and went to bathe in the pool. Once she entered itpletely, she drank arge mouthful of it. This time, she circted her cultivation technique as she was feeling a bit of a stinging sensation from the poison. Mira was going to do bathe in this pool until there was no more poison left. After that, she will try something simr with the next pool. She will test out each pool before bathing in it to see if she needs to try and build a bit of resistance, but once she does she will just bathe in each pool until her body can handle the poison on the pedestal.

    ***

    Almost 7 dayster Maria woke up from her deep sleep. She woke up and was extremely groggy. She was a bit confused as to where she was and how her body felt good as new. She then started to remember that she actually lived and was dragged here as her body started healing. She then put on this ring and fell asleep. She didn''t know how long she has been asleep but felt like her 7 days were almost up. She checked the ring and was surprised to see it was a bit bigger than her own. She then saw all of the rations in it and started salivating.

    Maria was starving. She immediately began to stuff herself with food. She was still eating when she heard the mechanical voice and was dragged to another ce.

    "Wee to Stage 11. Drink the poison on the pedestal to advance to the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice said promptly.

    "Poison, huh. Makes sense for this crappy trial to have a poison stage in it. Hmmm, it seems this purple poison on the left can''t kill me, but this ck poison on the right definitely can. I can''t sense how strong the poison on the pedestal is, but that only makes me feel more danger from it. Well, since I''m not done eating and this ce gave such a nice dipping sauce, how can I decline such service?!" Maria said out loud as she walked over to the weakest poison and dipped her rations in at and ate them. She felt a bit of a stinging sensation from the poison in her body, but it wasn''t able to damage it as her body was simply too resilient.

    Once Maria feltfortable bathing in it, she took off her clothes and started to wash herself with poison. She continued dipping her food in it and whenever she got thirsty, she would takerge gulps of it to quench her thirst. Maria was going to do this until she was too full to eat anymore. She can keep a piece of her sanity if she does this.

    ***

    Mira was currently bathing in the ck sludge poison. It looked like she was in arge boiling pot as there were a lot of bubbles forming in the poison, but it wasn''t hot inside the ck poison. Mira was gritting her teeth as the pain from this sludged was pretty insane. It felt like her body was rotting away or trying to disintegrate. The poison was corroding every part of her body as it was removingyers of skin, corroding her bones and muscles, her organs were working as hard as they could to prevent from being destroyed. Mira was circted and sending Qi into every part of her body as fast as she could. If she wasn''t bathing in poison right now, then she would be covered in a thickyer of sweat as she prevented her body from copsing. This continued as she took gulps of this poison down her throat as well.

    Mira lost track of the days she stayed in this pool. It was a week at the very least. Possibly weeks in it as the ck sludged finally started to clear as her body was able to fend off all of it and destroy it. After Mira felt like she had gained resistance to the poison and all of it was gone, she got out of the pool. Mira cleaned herself off and put on some clothes. She took this time to return to her peak.

    After feeling ready, Mira got up and walked over to the pedestal. She opened the vial that contained the poison, stared at it for a second, then dumped all of it straight down her throat.

    *THUMP*

    Mira grabbed her heart as she started struggling to breathe. She fell to her knees and went into a fetal position. It felt like this poison was trying to stop all motor functions in her body and only got worse as time went on. Mira circted and sent her Qi to try and help her body, but that would just get dissolved almost immediately.

    "AARRRRGHH!! FUCK!!" Mira screamed as she started to send her blue lightning to help her body. She was gasping for air as her blue lightning started to slow down the poison by a bit. She used this extra bit of time to sent Qi through her body to help heal it.

    She had to stay on the verge of life and death for what seemed like an eternity before the poison stopped trying to consume her. Mira took advantage of this and started to use her Qi, circte her energy, blue lightning, and willpower to push back the poison and heal her body. Her blue lightning was also doing more than healing her body as it started to add more of her Extreme Yin Physique to the corroded parts of her body.

    The only thing that kept her alive to this point was this along with the vitality of her blood and will to live.

    After fighting back for hours, she was finally able to dispel the poison as part of it was absorbed into her body, giving her more resistant to poison.

    She then heard the mechanical voice ring out.<sub> </sub>

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 11 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 12."

    Mira was still recovering as she was thrown into another world. It was an empty world with 8 different buttons to choose from.

    "Wee to Stage 12. This is the Elemental Dao Stage. This stage is optional and you can end it at any point. You can either choose to try to deeper your understanding of your Dao or move onto the next stage and continue with the Trial. Please choose the element you want to gain insights into or proceed to the next stage!"

    Mira was a bit surprised by this. Nevertheless, she chose Ice as that was the only Dao that she could actually utilize with her special physique.

    After choosing, she was then brought to a world that was filled with ice. This was nothing like the World of Ice back in Stage 6. This ce was much colder and the ice here was incredibly dense. There were thin clouds of ice above her, the wind was made of ice shards, the ground was incredibly hard and dense ice, trees were made of ice and it even had flowing ice waterfalls. There was also a very weird atmosphere that seemed to make this the perfect ce toprehend the Dao of Ice.

    Mira walked to the center and made a throne of ice as she sat down on it and meditated on the Absolute Ice Dao.

    "To progress in this Dao, it has to be unstoppable, indestructible, perfect, colder than anything in the universe, should be able to control or affect any ice that is not as strong as mine, it should even be able to affect time." Mira talked to herself in meditation.

    "What makes Ice? Ice is when water''s thermal energy drops enough to where it can freeze. The molecules that make up ice start to slow down the colder it gets and wille to a stop when it hits absolute zero. This is what science has taught worlds that don''t have Qi, or heaven and earth energy. Qi essentially allows everything to grow and be stronger. Things flourish with life and can live for extremely long periods of time when Qi is absorbed in them. A Dao is the understanding of the universe. There are a seemingly infinite amount of Daos that one can progress in as there is no limit to understanding and affecting the universe. I can use my knowledge of past lives to progress further in my Absolute Ice Dao." Mira thought out loud.

    She then started to take inspiration from her surroundings. The ice on the ground was incredibly dense. Mira noticed that the energy in the ice was static but tight and strong. It seemed to be pieces of ice that werebined together to form. Mira then started to get insights from this as she tried to perfect her own form of this. She would try tobine 2 separate pieces of ice together but keep the size the same.

    Mira kept trying this over and over again. Most of the time, they refused tobine and crack before she could even try. After enough tries though, she was able to get the 2 pieces of ice inside of each other, but they started to expand, and when Mira tried to stop that they exploded. Mira kept attempting tobine them until she was finally able tobine both the pieces of ice together and keep the size the same.

    After she did this once, Mira continued until she could do it every time and once she could do that then she tried to shorten the time needed to form it until it was natural for her ice to form like this. Mira knew her ice was 2 times stronger now, but the next time she did this, her ice would be 4 times stronger, then 8 times, and so on. Mira then tried to repeat this until she hit another bottleneck.

    After trying tobine her new and stronger ice together for an unknown amount of time, she was able to fuse them twice and make her ice 8 times stronger than before she got here. Mira guessed that her ice was now useful. When she got into the Qi Condensation Realm and after all of the recent body tempering, her ice has started to be less effective against her enemies.

    She tried tobine it again, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn''t even start the process. She gave up on trying tobine her ice again, and went to try to gain insights and test how she can control ice that wasn''t made by her. She went to find some small ice shards and began with that. She knew that the ice had to be simr in strength or weaker than her ice to manipte it.

    She then began focusing on trying to manipte these tiny shards like how she maniptes her ice. This was going to take her a while as she had no idea where to start.

    ***

    Maria was in the ck sludge right now and was still eating food. She had never stopped eating food this entire time. Maria was using the poison as a dip and beverage for her meal. The ck poison was a bit different for her though. She was still eating food and drinking it, but she was chewing very hard and often gritted her teeth in pain as she was trying to enjoy her meal.

    Maria continued doing this until all of the ck sludge poison was gone with most of it being in her stomach or body. Maria actually had more resistance than Mira to poison inside her body because she was constantly eating and drinking it. Her outer body wasn''t as resistant as Mira''s to poison, but Maria didn''t know this as she just wanted to eat to keep her mind sane through this painful process.

    Once all of the ck poison was gone, Maria got out of the pool and went straight over to the pedestal to get this over with. She opened the vial and took out a piece of meat. She put all of the poison in her mouth along with the meat and swallowed them.

    The poison started to burn Maria''s insides, but she didn''t feel like her life was threatened or anything from the poison. All she did was circte her cultivation technique and send some of her Qi to the spots that were stinging and she was able to resist the poison rtively quickly and without much pain. After the poison was dealt with, the poison was soaked into her body and gave her even more internal poison resistance. She then heard the mechanical voice and was transported to another ce.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 11 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 12."

    Maria was brought to a room with 8 different choices.

    "Wee to Stage 12. This is the Elemental Dao Stage. This stage is optional and you can end it at any point. You can either choose to try to deeper your understanding in your Dao or move onto the next stage and continue on with the Trial. Please choose the element you want to gain insights into or proceed to the next stage!" It said as Maria was stunned.

    "An optional stage?! And I can choose when I want to proceed to the next stage?! It''s also a Dao Stage?!" Maria eximed as she was extremely happy. Usually, people meditate in a calm environment with no distractions when deepening one''s understanding of a Dao.

    Maira immediately selected the light symbol and was teleported to a world full of light. Bright lights, dull lights, wavy lights, straight lights, hot lights, cold lights, fast and slow lights, every kind of light was here. The ground was made of light and everything around her was light.

    Maria immediately went into a meditative state as soon as she entered as all of this light granted her tons of insights. This was the perfect ce for one to understand the Dao of Light. Maria also hasn''t hit a bottleneck yet in her Dao. She also knows what Light Dao fits her best. Maria likes to be free, go with the flow, and she often doesn''t think before she makes her decisions. She wants to go down the Unfettered Light Dao. She would continue to meditate on her Dao until she hit a bottleneck then do whatever she feels is right when that timees. This is her nature and doing this will also help her progress in her Dao.

    ***

    Mira was swinging a double-ded scythe around while shooting ice des and throwing ice needles. All of her ice now had a cold sharp look to them. They were iparable to the ice Mira used before this stage. Mira continued practicing with her Dao before she stopped, nodded her head, and asked to proceed to the next stage. She had gotten everything she could out of this stage.

 Chapter 47 The Trial Stages 13 And 14

    Mira was standing in the middle of a small blizzard that was around 20 meters in diameter, swinging her scythe around as she fired off several different ice attacks. She was shooting extremely sharp and dense Ice des with every rotation of her scythe. In her Ice Domain, she also had Ice Needles formed all around her, swirling in the air around her, and streaks of blue lightning shot across them. Mira also seemed to be wearing some type of ice dress around her body. She was just testing out the functionality of this ice-dress armor and how well she could move in it. She was already able to make a chest te out of her ice that didn''t hinder her movements. The dress was harder to make though as making it able to be more flexible was a difficult thing to do with ice. She ended up having to create a bunch of thinyers that allowed for more flexibility. She did enjoy the dress, but it wasn''t very practical and it was also very eye-catching.

    Mira finished up her practice and nodded in satisfaction. Her ice was definitely a big part of her battle prowess now and she knows the direction she has to take to go down the Absolute Ice Dao. Mira had also been able to manipte small ice shards, but nothing more than that. She was satisfied with just this though. She has gained basically no insights into manipting another person''s ice, all she can do is gain insights into her Dao and try to make her ice stronger.

    "I''m finished with this stage! Take me to Stage 13!" Mira yelled out.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 12 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 13."

    Mira was dragged to a new ce. Mira got a quick look around and noticed that she was in something that looked like a weapon training area or a dojo of some sort. She also noticed that she couldn''t feel or utilize her Qi here.

    "Wee to Stage 13. This is the Weapon Stage. In this stage, you will choose a weapon to use and will have to use it to defeat enemies in 1 on 1bat. There will be 100 enemies. You have a total of 10 hits that you can take over the course of fighting the next 100 enemies. If you get hit more than 10 times then you lose and can''t continue with the trial. To proceed to the next stage you must defeat all 100 enemies. Begin!" The mechanical voice exined. It seems that she won''t be able to use her own weapons, but she looked around the room she was in and did see a wooden scythe with a steel de at the end. Mira walked up to it and picked it up. A few secondster, her first challenger appeared.

    It was a shadow person that held the exact same wooden scythe as her. The shadow charged at her and Mira just casually swung this crappy scythe and instantly stabbed through the enemy.

    "I see. They probably start off easier and get harder as I defeat more enemies. This seems like a stage that is meant to eliminate people who only try to use their weapon arts to defeat people. Lucky me. I only use one scythe art and that is my double-ded scythe. Usable scythe arts are hard to make ande by as a scythes strength is in the momentum of both the user and the opponent. I''ve been using nothing but my weapon ever since I started using a scythe!" Mira eximed as she figured this might be a boring stage.

    She was right. She defeated every single shadow in a single strike and never got close to taking a hit. She might not be a master with the scythe, but she was not an amateur! This stage seems like it''s meant to weed out the amateurs that have no finesse!

    Mira soon heard the mechanical voice again as she was taken away from this area.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 13 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 14."

    ***

    Maria is currently sleeping in the world that is filled with light. No, she has not been sleeping the whole time either. Maria has been meditating hard on her Unfettered Light Dao. She gathered and meditated on every insight that she had been gathering up until this point along with every insight that she could get from the various different lights in this world. Her Dao made incredible progress too. She was now able to bend and control her light beams and Light Sword a bit more freely now. She was able toe up with a new move. She would gather her Light in her eyes and shoot rays of light out of her eyes which would allow her to be able to catch a glimpse at what is inside or behind an object. It wasn''t perfect, but it could be very useful. She created a light bomb, the would explode after she threw it and was able to use light in her limbs to increase the power behind her sword swings. She was resting right now because 7 days was not enough for her. She wanted to be able to get at rest without the added stress of a time limit. Even though she slept for almost 7 days before this, her body still had some stress in it due to the time limit.

    Maria was able to get a great sleep. So great that she was drooling everywhere. She looked like a little puppy that yed too much but was forced to keep ying even after they were tired.

    "Ahhhhh *Yawn* hehe." Maria woke up and took a refreshing breathe before she yawned and giggled. She was extremely happy right now and even somewhat looking forward to the next stages. She ate a few of her rations and looked at the world before her then nodded.

    "Alright Boss! Take me to the next hell-hole! Hehe." Maria giggled.

    Maria was dragged away from that stage and dropped into a training grounds-looking area.

    "Wee to Stage 13. This is the Weapon Stage. In this stage, you will choose a weapon to use and will have to use it to defeat enemies in 1 on 1bat. There will be 100 enemies. You have a total of 10 hits that you can take over the course of fighting the next 100 enemies. If you get hit more than 10 times then you lose and can''t continue with the trial. To proceed to the next stage you must defeat all 100 enemies. Begin!" The ''boss'' said as Maria smiled and nodded.

    She may not be an expert in the sword, but she wasn''t a brainless idiot who only utilized her sword arts. She used them on more difficult beasts quite often, but would still incorporate her skill in the sword into her sword art.

    Maria noticed that she couldn''t utilize her Qi, which meant no sword arts, but she wasn''t too worried even if the enemies were a bit more difficult. Maria walked up and picked up what seemed to be just an ordinary steel sword and the first shadow enemy appeared and immediately charged at her while full of openings.

    She slightly dodged and shed, killing it instantly. Maria continued doing this until she reached the final enemy. It never took her more than 10 strikes to kill the enemy before her. She was even able to improve a little bit with her sword as well. Maria decided to use thisst enemy as a training dummy as its sword skills were very good and Maria felt that she could improve her sword skills by battling this guy. The battle went on for almost 200 moves before she almost got hit by the enemy. Maria decided that she had learned enough from this guy and waited for an opening. As soon as she saw a w in his swordy, she took it and immediately cut the shadow in half through the stomach.

    "Easy!" Maria said to the vanishing shadow as it vanished.<sub> </sub>

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 13 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 14."

    Maria was then taken to the next stage.

    ***

    Mira appeared in another dojo, except this one didn''t have any weapons and Mira was immediately able to spot a shadow enemy in the center with no weapons. She also couldn''t utilize her Qi again.

    "Wee to Stage 13. This is the Unarmed Combat Stage. In this stage, you will have to defeat enemies in 1 on 1bat using only your body. There will be 100 enemies. Every time you get hit by an enemy 5 times, then you must restart this stage. You will lose the stage if you restart 10 times. To proceed to the next stage you must defeat all 100 enemies. Begin!"

    "What the hell? An unarmedbat stage? I guess in case we lose our weapon or something? Well, no matter. When I lived in worlds that didn''t have Qi or cultivators, they used their bodies instead of Qi and weapons to kill people. I used some of my time there to practice these techniques and got pretty good at it too as that was the only thing in those worlds. If this world has developed these skills to a higher degree than those worlds, then I will be extremely shocked." Mira said as she walked up to the center of the training area. The shadow immediately dashed towards her and went to punch her, but Mira just dodged it and punched it in the jaw. The shadow vanished as her second enemy appeared.

    As Mira expected, these people were terrible in her eyes with their fists. Mira had lived 10 lives prior to this and it wasn''t an exaggeration to say that she had reached a point to be called a grandmaster in unarmedbat. She practiced many different styles as well to broaden her horizon in the field. Mira actually loved un-armedbat in these worlds as it allowed her to let loose a bit.

    Mira just steamrolled the 100 enemies in this challenge. They couldn''t even put up a fight. The shadows in this stage weren''t just some average dude that could throw a punch too. These shadows definitely trained or practiced a bit in unarmedbat. It seemed that it came from experience rather than training in a particr style that focused on different aspects of fighting without a weapon.

    "I wonder if Maria will be able to beat this stage. Or maybe she already has haha. Maybe I''ll have to train her in unarmedbat after this! It''s a decent skill to learn and you never know when you might need it. She does seem like the type that would forget her sword or something stupid like that. Alright! I will make sure to train her hard in the way of hand-to-handbat!" Mira eximed as she heard the mechanical voice pop out. Maria felt a chill up her spine, this chill also felt like it came from Mira. Maria had just entered the unarmedbat stage and hoped that Mira didn''t think of something that would be worse than the stage she was about to face.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 14 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 15."

    ***

    ''Please! NOOO! Mira, don''t do this to me! I know you just thought of something to do to me! You are the only one I know that would give me this feeling of dread!" Maria thought as she started to panic. She then heard the mechanical voice.

    "Wee to Stage 13. This is the Unarmed Combat Stage. In this stage, you will have to defeat enemies in 1 on 1bat using only your body. There will be 100 enemies. Every time you get hit by an enemy 5 times, then you must restart this stage. You will lose the stage if you restart 10 times. To proceed to the next stage you must defeat all 100 enemies. Begin!" It said.

    "NOOOO! Mira, do you n on training me in hand-to-handbat? Why?! Is this stage not enough for you?! Was it too easy or something?! DAMMIT! I will do my best in this stage so that I don''t get my ass beat for weeks on end in order to soothe the devil!" Maria screamed in panic as she felt like this was the stage that Mira had just beaten and nned to make her learn these techniques as well. It also won''t be a simple trial like this! She will just get beaten up until she learns it! She won''t have the option of backing out in a one-sided beating. Maria knew that she had to pass this stage now, or she might as well forget about resting after the trial! Mira will surely drill her in unarmedbat as soon as they exit.

    Maria charged at the first shadow and immediately punched it in the gut then punching it in the cheek as it started vanishing. She was now onto the next challenger.

    Maria was�� aplete amateur at unarmedbat. The only thing that kept her from getting hit more often than she was, is that her instincts were getting honed, and were very wary towards danger. This seemed to not fit Maria''s character at all, but in reality, this fits her perfectly. Maria didn''t like to make decisions or use her mind toe up with solutions. Being able to hone in on this instinct was very suitable for Maria, someone who doesn''t like to make split-second decisions especially in a fight.

    She''s had to restart 5 times now. 4 times were on thest enemy and the 5th time was on the first enemy because she was frustrated and not paying attention after she lost for the 4th time. She still wasn''t good at unarmedbat, she was worse than all 100 people in this stage. She was only able to make it to the end by trusting her senses and instincts on when to attack and when to dodge.

    On her 6th try, she finally managed to beat thest guy. It was an extremely boring fight. Almost the entire time, Maria just ran around the shadow. She just kept doing this until there was a big enough opening before she strikes with full force and continued punching it. She actually got hit 4 times by it before it vanished. Maria was extremely happy that she passed the stage, but she could foresee her inevitable future of learning unarmedbat with Mira after this.

    She got taken out of her thoughts when she heard the mechanical voice again.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 14 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 15."

    ***

 Chapter 48 The Trial Stage 15

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 14 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 15."

    Mira was brought to arge open area after she cleared thest stage. She then heard the mechanical voice again.

    "Wee to Stage 15. This is the Titan Stage. In this stage, you will have to defeat the titan in order to proceed to the next stage. There is no time limit. Begin!"

    Mira soon felt the ground shake and heard what sounded likerge footstepsing towards her. Mira then was able to see a massive creatureing towards. This thing definitely earned the title of Titan. It was about 100 meters tall. It had a simr appearance to humans but looked more like a golem than a human.

    "Fuck! What is this thing? It doesn''t even have a cultivation base! It seems its strengthes from its giant size and strong body. I bet I can''t even survive 1 hit from that thing! I can only see one feasible way to fight this thing. I will just go for the legs in order to bring it down. I''d rather not try to jump to hit it. It might just smack me like an annoying bug if I start climbing it. This is also a good chance to test my strengthened Ice Dao!" Mira thought out loud as she took out her scythe and added the second de to it.

    Mira charged at one of its legs. All she has to do is avoid any direct hits from this thing. With the titan being so huge and her being so small, there are actually fewer options for the titan to attack her with. It''ll be hard for it to hit her with its arms, so its main form of attacking will be with its feet. As long as she can take down 1 leg, then the battle will be in her favor.

    When Mira got closer to the leg, she activated her Ice Domain and started created a bunch of Ice Needles to swirl around in it. These Ice Needles were muchrger than the ones that she normally created. They were close to 1 meter in length. There was also blue lightning swirling around her domain.

    The Titan went for a kick and Mira was barely able to dodge in time. This thing was much faster than she had thought it would be. Mira was going to go for the ankle first as joints are typically the weakest.

    When she got closer to the leg, she started unloading her Ice Needles on it. They shot one after another as she tried to hit the same spot over and over again. All she needed was one of these to prate it.

    The Titan went for a punch instead of a kick when it saw that kicking Mira may be annoying. Mira dove out of the day as the Titan missed and hit the ground instead. It caused a huge crater and a massive shockwave to reverberate throughout the whole area. Mira flew upwards from the shockwave and came crashing down. Shended on her legs when she hit the ground, but felt like her legs were injured.

    Mira ignored this and immediately rushed back towards the spot she kept shooting Ice Needles at. She got close enough to the leg and started firing Ice Needles at the ankle again. After shooting around 50 Ice Needles at the ankle, one of them finally entered its body by about 20 centimeters. Mira decided to wait until the Titan made another move and then she would attack.

    The Titan''s other foot came crashing in, but Mira was already waiting for an attack and had already moved as soon as she saw it attacking. Mira dodged and knew that the titan couldn''t attack at full strength right after that.

    She charged at the Ice Needle that was still stuck in its leg and gathered as much momentum in her and her scythe as she possibly could. She got close enough to the Ice Needle and the back of the scythe came mming into the end of the Needle. The force from this impact was intense, but with the Titan''s massive weight and size, it didn''t even move. This was actually good for Mira though as the force of the blow caused the whole Ice Needle to dig its way into the ankle of the Titan. Once Mira felt like the Needle drilled its way in far enough, she made the Needle start to condense on itself.

    *POP*

    The ice needle exploded in the ankle of the Titan as a massive hole formed there andpletely disintegrated its ankle.

    The Titan roared in anger as now just standing became extremely difficult. It wasn''t able to kick Mira now because it would fall if it did. All that was left was to try and punch her, but even doing this was a near-impossible task as the center of gravity of a Titan is very top-heavy, so even just swinging its arms too hard may cause it to lose bnce.

    Mira was quick to react to this as she went the other leg and did the same thing! If the Titan couldn''te up with a solution, then why should she change her tactic?

    The Titan tried to smack Mira several times, but was losing bnce every time it did and also wasn''t able to strike with the same power and speed as before.

    It didn''t take long before Mira obliterated the other ankle. The Titan now fell to its knees and started trying to pummel Mira with its fists!

    Mira just ran behind the huge titan and started attacking its lower back, the spine specifically. The Titan couldn''t do anything about stopping her as his movements were already restricted.

    It didn''t take long for her to sever the spin, causing the Titan to lose all movements in its lower half. Mira then jumped and shot several Ice des towards the shoulders. As the Ice des were flying towards the shoulders, Mira hadunched herself at its neck.

    Mira put more Qi into the de of Ice on her scythe. She put around 80% of it in the de, extending the de to 2 meters long, as she shed towards the back of the Titan. The de entered the Titan''s neck and exited, leaving a 2-meter deep sh in the neck. Miranded on the shoulder and jumped back for another strike to decapitate it. The Titan could no longer move any of its body at this point and could only ept death.<sub> </sub>

    The Titan''s head then dropped to the ground and the rest of the body followed after, signifying the titan''s defeat. The Titan''s body didn''t seem to disappear into energy as it stilly there on the ground, dead.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 15 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 16."

    ***

    Maria was thrown into another ce. This one is seeminglyrge and empty.

    "Wee to Stage 15. This is the Titan Stage. In this stage, you will have to defeat the titan in order to proceed to the next stage. There is no time limit. Begin!"

    Maria heard the mechanical voice.

    "Titan Stage? I''ve never seen a titan before, but I''d assume they are quite big! I really would like to avoid something like that if possible! But I guess these stages really thought and prepared for everything. I have no idea what the next 5 stages will be if this one is already a titan!" Maria said to herself.

    She then felt the ground rumble. It felt like a mini earthquake happened every second or two. Maria looked in the direction that it wasing from and saw a ginormous human-looking thing in the distance.

    As it got closer, Maria realized exactly how big a Titan was. It was around 100 meters tall and just looking at it made one feel like they were looking at a mountain. Maria also couldn''t sense any cultivation from it, which was a good thing�� I think?

    Maria just nodded her head at this awe-inspiring being. Honestly, she thought it''d be much worse, like maybe an army of Titans or maybe a Titan in the Foundation Realm or something stupid like that. She honestly felt d that it was only 100 meters tall as well.

    Maria shook these thoughts out of her head and started trying to think of a viable strategy to deal with a titan. She honestly wasn''t too good ating up with strategies like this, but also knew that she needed some kind of n in order to defeat something like this.

    "Let''s see. Mira would definitely go for the legs somehow as she does this with almost everything she fights. If something can''t move, then it''s a free kill. I don''t think I can do that as well as Mira can though. Vital spots seem simr to humans, but the only problem is me reaching them as this thing is massive. I think the best spot for me to attack is the neck as that is the thinnest part of its body and most likely the softest as well. I also have just the thing to reach it!!" Maria analyzed a bit to herself.

    She then started running towards the Titan. This Titan had rocks in its hands and started throwing them at Maria when it saw her running towards it. Mira dodged most of them, but also activated her Light Sword and sliced a couple of them in half as she continued to run towards the Titan. When she got close, a giant foot came down on her as if it was squashing an ant. Maria sped up as fast as she could and narrowly made it out before she was crushed. She was now able to make it behind the Titan.

    Maria gathered strength into her lower body. Then all of a sudden she sprouted wings from her back! These wings were made of Light and were also something that Maria came up with when she was meditating on her Unfettered Light Dao. She loved that feeling of flying when she was in the wind stage and wanted more. She wanted to be able to soar through the skies! Of course, these wings can''t have her fly just yet, but are simr to a flightless bird''s wings. She will be able to gain some altitude from them, and if she gets a nice boost beforehand, then all the better. They can also partially be used for gliding.

    The ground underneath Maria cracked as sheunched off the ground. She shot light beams out of the bottom of her feet and was pping her light wings. She activated her Light Sword and Triple Draws as she shot through the air towards the neck of the Titan. Once she was in range, she shed at the Titan''s neck, like she was trying to decapitate it. Her sword went in deep but didn''t kill it or immobilize it. Marianded on a shoulder but then the Titan smacked at her like a bug.

    Maria jumped off of the shoulder as she wanted to try again. Maria dove towards the ground and elerated quickly theny t in the air as she started to p her wings when she reached 15 meters from the ground. She thennded on the ground. It was a bit of a roughnding, but she made it without any broken bones. She sprinted around the Titan as she waited for an opening to jump.

    Soon the Titan attacked with its fist and Maria immediately gathered strength in her legs and shot up towards the neck of the Titan. This time she put her full power into this swing along with 90% of her Qi into her Triple Draws sword art. She soon reached the neck of the Titan and swung at full force. The sword went all the way through the neck and the force of the blow ripped off the titan''s head.

    Maria saw the head of the Titan fly and slowly descended back to the ground with her wings. She then noticed that this titan didn''t disappear like most of the beasts or creatures in the trial and wondered if this stage was different somehow. Her thoughts were interrupted when the mechanical voice rang out.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 15 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 16."

    ***

 Chapter 49 The Trial Stage 16

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 15 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 16."

    Mira heard this and was immediately transported to another location. Taking a look around, she noticed that the world she was thrown into was like arge grasnd. Bright green grass, the asional tree, some ponds, rivers, and caves. Just from the location, Mira wasn''t able to even guess what stage this will be.

    "Wee to Stage 16. This is the Endless Battlefield Stage. In this stage, you will be faced with countless enemies for 1 year. To proceed to the next stage, survive for the next year. Begin!" The mechanical voice said and Mira felt like she misheard what it said.

    "A year?! Isn''t that a bit much even for this trial? I''ve probably only been in the trial for close to a year in the past 15 stages. I guess I can figure what this stage is trying to test though. I''ve gotten iparably stronger since before I started the trial. This is probably something simr to a final test of strength, skills, and survivability during wartime. But if that''s the case then what are the next 4 stages going to be?" Mira thought to herself as even she thought this was a bit too much. But if people can pass the previous stages, then they have to have at least some skill and resolve.

    Mira soon saw an insane amount of beasts and shadow people. They seemed to be between Low-Stage Rank 1 to Low-Stage Rank 2. Or for the shadows, Strength Training Stage to Stage 1 Qi Condensation. It wasn''t that they were that difficult individually, but killing all of them while conserving stamina for the next wave may prove difficult. There were thousands of them rushing towards her.

    "I guess they are trying to simte a true war. Send the cannon fodder first. Nobody sends out their strongest fighter first in a war. This must be what the rations in that ring were for. Ugh. I feel like this is going to be a very long year. I can only hope that the stronger enemies don''te in waves like thister on." Mira hoped as she ran off to try and create several hidden areas to rest. She wouldn''t get a better chance. These beasts will never be able to reach her with her current speed.

    She went around the area and mapped any hidden caves, tall trees to rest in, dig some holes in the ground to rest in, and tried to find any ponds that she could hide in as well.

    After running around for a while, she finally finished creating hiding spots and charged towards the group of ''ants''.

    Mira ughtered them like chickens going to the chopping block. All she did was run at them with her normal scythe. She didn''t even need to make it a double-ded scythe to deal with these guys. Plus, she wanted to conserve her energy forter.

    There was one thing that Mira noticed though. These enemies turned into Qi when they were killed and rushed into her meridians. Mira circted her cultivation technique to condense therger amount of Qi in her meridians. Killing these enemies was the same thing as cultivating with the only difference being that she doesn''t actually have to do anything to gather the energy. All she has to do is circte what is going into her meridians and condense it. Mira barely has to try to do this.

    "This is convenient. I don''t know the exact amount of time I''ve been in the trials, but it should be around a year. I have lost an entire year''s worth of cultivating. I don''t know what realm I would currently be at if I had spent the past year cultivating instead of doing the trial, but I certainly wouldn''t be at Stage 2 Qi Condensation still. It was still worth it to spend thest year doing the trial though. I believe that the benefits that this trial has given me so far, drastically outweigh the loss of cultivating for a year�� I wonder what stage I will be at by the end of this year." Mira released a faint smile as she was d that she could fight and cultivate at the same time! Doing it this way also creates a stable foundation much quicker! That means that she advance quicker due to the constant battles! Her body is also crazy strong and can hold much more Qi in it now. She shouldn''t have a problem progressing through multiple stages, maybe even getting to theter Stages of Qi Condensation!

    Mira fought waves and waves of enemies throughout the next year. The enemies got progressively stronger with each wave. Well, they ended up being less like waves of enemies and more like a constant stream of them. There was never a moment when an enemy wasn''t on the battlefield. Mira would use her hiding spots that she mapped out beforehand to break through to the next stage. It also got to the point that the only enemies that wereing out were Peak-Stage Rank 2 and Low-Stage Rank 3 magical beasts or Stage 5 and 6 Qi Condensation for the shadows. When she hit this point, she didn''t know if the power of the enemies would rise again, as the stronger they were the more Qi they turned into. Mira never had a fight that resulted in major injuries or anything life-threatening, but she did receive countless cuts and gashes on her body, along with more than a couple of stab wounds.

    Actually, there wasn''t a day that went by that Mira wasn''t covered in blood, fresh or dried. Her wounds would close up, but washing herself was close to impossible especially the longer this went on.

    Thest day of the year came and Mira had just finished off a beast that seemed simr to a final boss. She then heard simr words from a familiar voice.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 16 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 17."

    ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 15 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 16."

    Maria was thrown into a simr grassy in. Maria looked around and was happily surprised by the location. All of the other ces before this were like a hell world that was constantly trying to kill her, but this one was refreshing. Too refreshing�� Something''s fishy.

    "Wee to Stage 16. This is the Endless Battlefield Stage. In this stage, you will be faced with countless enemies for 1 year. To proceed to the next stage, survive for the next year. Begin!" The mechanical voice informed her that this was not going to be refreshing and was more like an endless hell rather than different types of hell.

    "I see! Endless battle for a year! And in a location that looks like heavenpared to the rest of this trial!! Just what I wanted! There is no better ce to be for a war maiden, such as myself! Who needs things like sleep or doing something rxing? Those things are only for people that enjoy life and don''t want to constantly be on the verge of life and death!! AHH!! Dammit! I just wanna go shopping and go to food stalls right now! I even have to spend a whole year in this stage?! It''s probably only been a year since we started this trial! Mother! Father! I''m sorry! Hopefully, they aren''t worrying over me too much, but they will have to wait a little longer before we see each other. Hopefully, they are okay!" Maria said sarcastically before she started to miss her parents.<sub> </sub>

    After her rant, Maria started to see beasts and shadows. Lots of beasts and shadows. They were all weak to the current Maria, but still. Seeing thousands of enemies at once is nerve-wracking for anyone that hasn''t experienced something like this before.

    Maria gulped and prepared her sword. She didn''t really want to fight right now, but seeing thousands of enemies storming in front of her clogged her mind just a bit. Through the constant battle from the trial and being around Mira, Maria just instinctively gripped her sword and then charged at the wave of enemies. The constant battles have definitely tempered her so much so that seeing enemies run at her like this only makes her want to run into the horde and kill them all. There was also no reason to fear these weak little ants.

    The beasts and shadows that were in this wave were at the same realms of power as they were for Mira. And like Mira, Maria ughtered these foes without even thinking too much about it.

    The dead enemies started to disappear and turn into Qi then rushed into Maria''s meridians.

    "Eh? Killing enemies will actually cultivate for me? And all I have to do is circte my cultivation technique to condense the Qi that enters my body? Finally, a stage that doesn''t have benefits that cause waves of pain!! I may have to take back some of my opinions regarding this stage. Sorry Mom and Dad, but I do have to take priority overpleting this stage rather than seeing you sooner. Hehe." Maria started to think a bit differently about this stage. Having a stronger body is cool and all, but the whole point of a cultivator is to cultivate. Right? Maria was sick of tempering her body as it''s painful and the benefits from it are hard to see unless you fight someone at the same realm of power as you or higher.

    Maria continued to ughter her enemies, but the first trouble she ran into was actually not an enemy. It was that she had nowhere to break through to the next stage peacefully. It might not take that long for someone in the Qi Condensation Realm, but it still requires focus to breakthrough. Doing it in the middle of battle is generally not the smartest decision unless it''s absolutely necessary. It was also getting harder to outrun the enemies that were swarming.

    Maria just ended up dropping arge portion of rations somewhere, killed any stragglers, and created a deep hole inside a cave to breakthrough in. This would be her ce to rest and breakthrough for the rest of the year.

    Maria realized how naive she was. It became a huge pain in the ass to get to that spot whenever she needed to and sometimes a beast would be in there as well. The power of her enemies was also constantly increasing, so making new spots would take too long, and using that original spot of her was annoying as there was always something in that cave that she needed to kill first. Maria just got to the point where she would go near the cave when she was close to needing it and kill all of the enemies in and around it. She would do this until she needed a ce to rest or breakthrough. When that time came, she would use a lot of her power to kill everything around the cave then rush back and immediately utilize it. Once she was done, she would go out and start ughtering enemies then just repeat this process again.

    Maria tried to fight as much as she possibly could to get the maximum benefit from this stage. Her process of killing and breaking through the realms of power wasn''t as efficient as Mira and over the course of a year of endless battle, this makes a difference. Maria stopped keeping track of the realms of power of her enemies as they kept getting stronger and all she needed to do was battle. If she couldn''t win, then she would run and try againter.

    Maria also changed or washed her clothes during this year as well. She would often run through streams or take a quick swim in a pond when she got all bloody. It was these little actions that would feel like heaven to her in this stage.

    She eventually killed thest beast in the area and heard the mechanical voice speak out again.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 16 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 17."

    ***

    While Mira and Maria were fighting an endless battle, a couple of people in the Zaria house were getting a little uneasy.

    "How long has it been since Maria left with Mira to explore the forest? 2 years? Maybe more? I thought this would be a short journey. Something like a few months to a year at most! What if something bad has happened?! Maria is still young! She could only now be considered a young woman! We both know that Maria isn''t the smartest person on her own? What if she and Mira got separated? I want to trust that Mira will take care of her and will make the correct decisions, but part of me finds it hard to trust that girl. Ahh! I just want to see her again." Erika, Maria''s mother kept asking her husband, Cole as she worried for her daughter.

    "I also didn''t expect this journey to be this long. There is only so much to do in the forest. They have either gotten lucky and were fully utilizing whatever it is they found or are in trouble. At the same time, Maria hasn''t used the talisman I gave her that is used to contact me if she is ever in danger. Regarding Mira, she seems like a very reliable person that can make smart decisions in the heat of the moment and she also seems to get along well with Maria. Even if I don''t trust her to take care of Maria, I trust that she wouldn''t do anything that will put herself in danger. You should know Mira''s personality decently well too. She did spend a year here. She puts all of her effort into whatever she does, even when she was helping to train Maria. I don''t believe that she would just kill off Maria as training her would''ve been a huge waste of time if she was only going to y as bait. I think she wants Maria to grow as much as her, if not more on this journey. I only hope that Maria doesn''te back broken��" Coleforted his wife.

    "That''s true. I can''t say that Mira is a good girl, but I do think she cares for Maria. I suppose that we have to let Maria experience the world at some point. I can only hope that Mira doesn''t break Maria''s mind or body, but knowing her she might just beat Maria until she doesn''t have time to think about being broken. I just hope she is safe!" Erika looked in the distance as the two stood there in silence.

    When Erika said this, Maria was currently hiding in a tiny hole in the ground in order to get some sleep and eat some of her rations. Magical beasts were constantly running around above her as well. She could not exactly describe this situation as safe.

    ***

 Chapter 50 The Trial Stage 17

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 16 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 17."

    Mira felt bittersweet when she heard this. Fighting for a year nonstop takes a toll on the mind and body. She hasn''t eaten much and only slept when she couldn''t stay awake anymore. She would focus on healing her wounds in between battles and only really rxed when she was breaking through to the next stage. She was overly exhausted, both mind and body. The only reason she felt bitter about the stage ending was that she won''t be able to have this kind of opportunity again. Mira wanted to advance in her cultivation more and this stage was amazing for that.

    "I can''t believe I made it to Stage 7 Qi Condensation! Thatst enemy was just barely enough to get me there. It sucks that I wasn''t able to fight some more after advancing though. Oh well, being this much stronger feels amazing! Every part of my body was also tempered before this as well. I wonder how strong I actually am after reaching Stage 7?" Mira thought for a second as she was very happy with this progress. She would also be done with the Trial soon.

    "Wee to Stage 17. This is the Heart Demon Stage. In this stage, you will face 1 Heart Demon that you currently have, if you don''t have a Heart Demon then you will simply proceed to the next stage. Ovee this Heart Demon to proceed to the next stage. Begin!" The mechanical voice said as Mira was now in an empty room.

    Mira soon felt something tugging on her soul, mind, and heart. In this empty room, orbs started to appear around her. Mira walked up to one of them and found that these orbs are all of the things that she is unsure of, deeply regrets, or can''t seem to get out of her mind. Mira then looked around and saw a bunch of these orbs.

    "I see. So I have to pick one of these and face it. I hear that a Heart Demon can affect the potential future of someone and can prevent them from rising through the realms if it is not dealt with. It''s not surprising that I have so many. I haven''t exactly lived a fulfilling life, not to mention this is my 11th. Fuck it, I''ll just pick one at random!" Mira thought and walked towards a random off and put her hand on it.

    Her mind was then forced to focus on and recall the events that caused this heart demon.

    This was Mira''s third life. She was in a normal world that didn''t have cultivators or Qi, but it also wasn''t earth. It was a world that was a bit less advanced and more primitive. There were a few major cities in this world, but where most people lived were either in viges or towns. Mira lived in a small town in this life and was living decently well. Her parents made plenty of money and had plenty of food to support the family. They weren''t rich but weren''t poor either.

    One thing that Mira noticed though was with each life she lived, she got progressively more attractive in her future lives. This was her third life, so in this primitive world, she could be considered a beauty. Now, this is very subjective, because the way she looked in this life could barely qualify as amoner in the cultivation world.

    Apparently, the city lord of the town she lived in took a liking to her one day. She was almost 20 at this time and had refused any marriage proposals before. But, the city lord told her parents that he wanted to make her one of his concubines. He offered all kinds of benefits for the whole family and was an offer that pretty much nobody would refuse. After hearing all of the benefits that the family would gain from the city lord, they decided to bring this up to Mira. Mira was very aggressive when it came to marriage proposals or talks about it. She would often either tell the person proposing that if they brought this up again that she would cut off their dick and feed it to them or just kill them.

    Mira''s parents went to bring up what the city lord told them with a very careful but joyful attitude. They wanted Mira to do this for them, but they also figured it wouldn''t be a bad deal for her either. Human greed is hard to control, no matter what world or time period.

    Her parents brought up the point of her bing his concubine and tried to entice her with all of the benefits and good things that woulde, but Mira''s face turned ck as soon as she heard concubine. Mira found herself being consumed by rage at this point. The person that she referred to as ''god'' had a bit more interaction with her at this point because the lives she lived prior weren''t very long, and this was the only thing she thought about.

    Ovee with intense thoughts of rage and death, Mira''s thoughts and surroundings seemed to go nk. Mira took out a small knife that she always carried with her and slowly approached her parents with the knife in hand. The only thing on her mind was wanting to kill the being that had done this to her and everything she heard out of her parent''s mouths only sounded like that ''god''s'' voice.

    Her parents didn''t know what Mira was doing until they were already dead. She had killed her dad first and before her mom could even scream, she was lying on the floor, dead. Mira kept stabbing holes in their bodies until she passed out from exhaustion.

    When Mira woke up the next day, Mira saw what seemed to be her parents lying on the ground in a pool of blood. They had tens if not hundreds of small holes in them from the stab wounds. Mira''s eyes widened as she started to crawl over to them, not knowing what happened. She then felt something in her hand and saw that it was a small bloody knife. The events soon started to y out in her mind as she remembered everything that she did to them.

    Her whole body was trembling and she couldn''t move. She didn''t want to believe it, Mira didn''t want to believe that she could do something like this. Mira could barely look at their bodies. It was a disturbing sight, one that''ll make your skin crawl. Mira started throwing up and bawled her eyes out.

    "I-I-I-I''m S-S-Sorry! I''m sorry! Come back, please! I don''t know what came over me! Why? Why did this happen?! I didn''t want to kill them! Please, tell me I''m dreaming! A joke? This is a joke right!? Something that asshole god is ying on me! God? Yes! HIM! He''s the one that caused all this! I wouldn''t be here if not for him! I wouldn''t have done this if he didn''t put me in this situation!" Mira started screaming as she continued crying. Even she didn''t believe her own words, but how could she go on living knowing that she did this and there was no one else to me but herself? Well, she had to. Even if she died, she would still remember this. Nothing would even change.

    Mira cried for a week straight. She hadn''t eaten anything and only drank enough to live. She was barely able to sleep as the sight of her killing her parents yed over and over again in her mind. After a week went by, Mira started to calm down a bit. There was also a clear difference in her eyes. The eyes of someone dead, yet they are alive. A cold pair of eyes that seemed they could even freeze over the pits of hell. Her eyescked determination and will, but had the need for revenge in them. A bud sprouted this day, Mira wanted to find a way to get stronger and free herself from this fate of hers.

    Mira burned down her house and ran away from the city. The city lord then caught wind of her disappearance and ordered people to chase her down. This life would be filled with nothing but running away, searching for ways or techniques to get stronger or increase her battle prowess, and grief.

    The scene then finished ying out and the real Mira had tears running down her face. This was one of her deepest regrets throughout her many years of living.<sub> </sub>

    "Fuck! Why did I have to choose this one? You''re telling me to get over this?! I had nearly forgotten about this moment too! I don''t want to get over it!" Mira said out loud, but the scene only started to rey.

    Mira was just forced to watch this scene over and over again! The scene had reyed so many times that she was starting to be numb to it, almost like it was surreal.

    "I see. I really did kill them. No matter how many times I want to forget or try to look away, I can''t. I know it was an ident and I wasn''t fully conscious, but it was still me who did it. I didn''t have anyone forcing me... Mother, Father, I hope that you are cursing at me in your next life. Even in that primitive world, you still respected my wishes and tried to make me happy. I won''t say anything stupid like I''m going to live for you, but I will remember you. It may sound cold, but your deaths are what sparked the need for revenge. When I killed the two of you, I remembered that my fate was sealed and there is no way of escaping it unless that ''god'' dies. I hope that you two have a better daughter in your next life, but as for me�� I realized that this was a necessary and inevitable event. If it wasn''t you, it would''ve been another person that I care for. It''s time Ie to terms with me killing you and realize that it was necessary for me and that me punishing myself won''t do the three of us any good. I love you and�� Goodbye." Mira said as more tears rolled down her face.

    Mira then felt something in her heart and soul clear up. It was like a part of her was reconnected.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 17 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 18."

    ? ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 16 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 17."

    Maria heard this voice again after she killed the final beast. It honestly surprised her as she had lost track of time and almost forgot that she was still in the trial She was cultivating the energy she got from thest enemy and finally spoke up when she was finished.

    "WOAH! Thatst guy brought me close to Stage 8 Qi Condensation! I''m currently at the peak of Stage 7 Qi Condensation! I wonder what stage Mira got to? Hehe, I wonder if I could crush her with my strength now?" Maria started to fantasize about days when she would be on the winning end of spars. She then shook her head.

    "Haha! Yeah right! Mira probably fought like a maniac to get as much benefit from this stage as she could. Her cultivation wasn''t that far from me, to begin with. I wouldn''t be surprised if she surpassed me either." Maria said again as she thought about things realistically.

    "Wee to Stage 17. This is the Heart Demon Stage. In this stage, you will face 1 Heart Demon that you currently have, if you don''t have a Heart Demon then you will simply proceed to the next stage. Ovee this Heart Demon to proceed to the next stage. Begin!" the mechanical voice said as Maria also felt a light tug on her heart, mind, and soul.

    Only a single orb popped up in front of her. It was the time of her first kill.

    Maria walked up and touched it with her hand and her mind was forced to recall the scene.

    She recalled the time at the bandit camp when she had killed that man. Honestly, she didn''t care about the man and knew he was a terrible person. There was also nothing tragic that happened or anything special. This normally wouldn''t be a heart demon, but Maria didn''t have the time or thought process to deal with this. She had just killed the man out of instinct as she and Mira had been killing a lot of magical beasts before that to train. When she felt a little bit of threat from the man, she just reacted and removed his head.

    Maria finally had time to deal with this now. She started to think about killing other people and death itself. She also thought about what Mira said, and how she was reincarnated.

    "I knew that someday I would have to kill someone and I thought it would be fine. I don''t really like death or being the one to cause it, but being with Mira I have seen so much of it. We have caused the deaths of countless magical beasts and Mira walks on a path filled with corpses. Killing and death are only a part of nature. Even if I don''t want it, if I want to be Mira''s friend then I will need to walk on a path that is filled with corpses as well. This also seems to be the path of cultivators. If I want to walk down this path and aim towards higher realms, then I need toe to terms with killing anything that stands in my way. I don''t want to kill people if I don''t have to, but I must steel myself to do what''s necessary for me and the people around me. I''m d that Mira told me to kill a bandit in that camp so that I could understand this point before it was toote. Thank you for giving me that opportunity, Mira!" Maria said as her heart and soul felt whole again and a weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 17 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 18."

    ***

 Chapter 51 The Trial Stage 18

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 17 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 18."

    Mira wiped the tears from her face as she found herself teleported to an arena. The mechanical voice then rang out again.

    "Wee to Stage 18. This is the Shadow Fight Stage. In this stage, you will fight a shadow of yourself. Beat the shadow to pass the stage. Begin!"

    When Mira heard this, she saw a shadow appear in front of her. It looked exactly like her, except that it was a shadow.

    Mira took out her scythe and the Shadow took out its scythe at the exact same time. Mira wanted to test something out first before actually fighting. She shed towards the shadow and the shadow immediately shed at her as well, but from the opposite direction.

    "It''s like I''m fighting a mirror. I feel like this shadow isn''t actually its own separate entity and is actually just me fighting myself." Mira said to herself.

    Mira then just stood there and waited to see if the shadow would attack, but no attack ever came.

    "I see. That seems to be the case."

    Mira threw a couple of ice needles at the shadow, but the shadow also threw ice needles at her. The ice needles collided and blew up in the middle of the air from the collision of each other. Mira felt like this shadow might actually be a great sparring partner. Mira wanted to take a bit of time to spar with this shadow to see if she might find anything that will allow her to defeat it.

    Mira then began shing, twirling, and swinging her scythe around as she kept attacking the shadow. The shadow had copied every one of her moves, but Mira just kept only using her scythe to attack. She didn''t feel like using her Ice Dao to fight just yet as she wanted to see if she could defeat it with just her strength and skill with the scythe alone.

    Of course, if this stage was so simple then it probably wouldn''t be the 18th stage in this god-forsaken trial.

    Mira kept building up the momentum of her scythe with every swing and twist of her body and the shadow did the same. It was a very beautiful sight. The scythe ismonly seen as objects or weapons of death or reapers. Even in the cultivation world, scythes are meant for people who do not look for the thrill of battle, butrge-scale one-sided ughter. People who use these weapons are generally extremely ruthless. But right now, there was a certain elegance to this battle. It was like a choreographed dance.

    Mira''s mind began to slip into a trance-like state as she just began to rotate her body, twirl her scythe, and sh towards the shadow. It was actually very rxing to fight against something like this. She couldn''t win, but she couldn''t lose. With this mindset, she could focus purely on just swinging with everything she had and not have to worry about killing her opponent or hurting her sparring partner.

    Mira''s skills with the scythe were also bing more fluent and tighter. She was leaving fewer openings in her swings and tried to be more efficient with her movements. She was also improving her footwork. After the two of them sparred for many hours, Mira''s movements and swings became a bit more refined, but it was hard to tell as the shadow did the same thing and improved with Mira.

    Mira came out of her trance-like state and realized that she was able toprehend the insights that she has gained over thest 2 years in the way of the scythe. Mira was happy with her gains and now only wanted to think about how to defeat this thing. If she can''t defeat it with her scythe then she will have to defeat it with her Dao. Her Absolute Ice Dao was perfect for this. What was it that she was working on in the Dao Stage? Controlling ice that wasn''t hers! And this ice�� was technically hers. Shouldn''t that mean that controlling the ice from the shadow shouldn''t be too tall of a task?

    Mira started shooting very thing but sharp ice needles at the shadow. She started focusing on the surrounding ice that didn''te from her. All she had to do was move the shadow''s ice needles out of the way of her own.

    Mira kept this up until she was able to move one of the small ice needles and let hers pass by. That small ice needle made its way to the shadow and dug into its leg. Mira was happy that she was able to hit the shadow, but a little sad that it took her so long to control the ice, but doing it once would make it easier for her to do it again.<sub> </sub>

    Mira then kept on shooting ice needles at the shadow and was able to move the ice needles of the shadow much better and faster after several hundred tries. The shadow was now covered in tiny holes caused by the ice needles. Mira decided to end this. She threw arger Ice Needle towards the shadow''s head. The Shadow threw the same ice needle towards Mira''s face, but Mira focused on that needle and slightly changed its trajectory. Mira''s ice needle passed through without any trouble and dug inside the head of the shadow before Mira blew it up. The top half of the shadow''s head was blown up and Mira heard the mechanical voice telling her that she had passed.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 18 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 19."

    ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 17 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 18."

    Maria felt like a weight was lifted off of her chest after she passed this stage. She was able toe to terms with killing that man before and also started to understand that this was only the beginning. Even so, this didn''t change her personality or outlook on life, and she still remained the young and innocent little girl at heart. Maria didn''t know yet, but on future battlefields, this contradictory side of Maria would be extremely terrifying for her enemies as Maria would always have a look of innocence on her face as she killed. Like she was just collecting flowers with her friends.

    "Wee to Stage 18. This is the Shadow Fight Stage. In this stage, you will fight a shadow of yourself. Beat the shadow to pass the stage. Begin!"

    Maria saw that she was dragged into an arena and saw a shadow that looked almost exactly like her. She immediately drew her sword and the shadow did the same thing. Maria dashed towards the shadow and started shing, chopping, and stabbing away. But her moves were countered with a mirror image of her own as the shadow did the same thing.

    "So it''s like this, huh? How annoying! How am I supposed to beat myself?" Maria asked out loud.

    She continued to swing her sword at the shadow, but soon they just started sparring. Maria felt her sword skills bing more fluent and swift. Maria then had a great idea! Since this shadow was such a great sparring partner then she could use this to improve her sword skills and maybe start to have a unique style. Maria liked that her Light Dao was free and unfettered and wondered if she could do something with her sword skills. She wanted to make them unpredictable and free. She didn''t really know what that meant, but she wanted it. And so the two began sparring.

    Maria also happened to go into a trance-like state as she began to digest the insights she had gained in the way of the sword over thest few years. Her movements became swifter and tighter. Her moves were starting to gain a trace of elegance to them as they be more fluent. They fought for hours on end as Maria''s skills in the sword continued to improve. She was by no means a genius with the sword and had little talent for the sword, but through continuous battles, she was able to gain a lot of insights into how to use a sword properly. This stage was much more beneficial to Maria than it was for Mira as Maria''s skills had a lot of room for growth. Due to this, Maria was able to notice a significant amount of progress when she came out of her stance.

    Once Maria was able to digest her insights, she wanted to end this. But she wanted to do it with her own strength and not use her Dao. She wanted to incorporate a unique style into her attacks. Maria took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to shut off her senses as she only focused on the area around her. Maria wanted to attack the shadow with moves that not even she could predict.

    Maria sensed the shadow in front of her and lunged towards into and started to swing her sword. Maria now started trying to shut off her mind as she only wanted to rely on the sword and intuition. She didn''t want to make any conscious effort. Maria started to clear her mind and soon went into a state that seemed neither awake nor asleep. Either way, Maria kept swinging her sword.

    The shadow was still able to copy her movements, but all of a sudden a sh came out from Maria and the Shadow didn''t use the same attack. This sh came and struck the shadow''s throat as its head was removed from its body. The shadow soon vanished after losing its head, but Maria kept swinging until she felt there was no more enemy and soon she heard the mechanical voice telling her that she passed.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 18 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 19."

    ***

 Chapter 52 The Trial Stages 19 And 20

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 18 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 19."

    Mira was then dragged to a small room that had nothing in it. Mira was a bit confused by this but didn''t pay it any mind.

    "Wee to Stage 19. This stage doesn''t have a name but is still just as important as the other stages. In this stage, all you have to do is answer a question truthfully on your first try. If it''s not true or if you don''t believe deep within your heart then you will fail. The question is, why do you want to get stronger? The people who can''t understand their own hearts are not eligible to get stronger. Begin!"

    Mira was dumbfounded by this stage. She had never expected that all she had to do is answer a question to pass it, but the more she thought about it this wasn''t so strange. She''s already fought thousands of enemies over the past 2 years in the trial. She should have already proven her battle prowess and skills enough and now it''s time to understand the heart.

    "Why do I want to get stronger, huh?" Mira thought about this question. The reason that she would tell most people was that she wanted revenge, but she needed to get stronger for this. She didn''t want to get stronger because of this. Another answer that she might give is that she wanted to just have her sweet release of death, but this isn''t 100% true either. Well, it''s definitely true. She doesn''t have anything to live for and shecks the resolve to keep living.

    It took Mira a while to think about this question as passing relied on an answer that she believed from the bottom of her heart. Finally, she understood the reason she wanted to get stronger.

    "I think I know why I want to get stronger. I don''t think that I necessarily want to die after my revenge, but I want to get stronger to bring an end to the pain and suffering of life. I don''t know what that entails, but that''s why." Mira said this out loud as to answer the question. She then waited for the voice to judge if this is what she believed or not. Soon the mechanical voice rang out.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 19 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 20."

    ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 18 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 19."

    Maria was teleported to a simr room to Mira and waited for the mechanical voice to ring out with information on the stage.

    "Wee to Stage 19. This stage doesn''t have a name but is still just as important as the other stages. In this stage, all you have to do is answer a question truthfully on your first try. If it''s not true or if you don''t believe deep within your heart then you will fail. The question is, why do you want to get stronger? The people who can''t understand their own hearts are not eligible to get stronger. Begin!"

    Maria almost couldn''t believe her ears. She thought that her limbs might be ripped off and reattached over and over again for 30 days to get used to the pain or something ridiculous like that. Maria already knew the reason she wanted to get stronger.

    "All I have to do is answer this question to pass?! That''s easy! The reason I want to get stronger is to continue being friends with Mira! I don''t know why she started helping me in the beginning, but I can tell that she cares about me and only wants what''s best for me even if it is for selfish reasons. She''s the most sincere person I have met and has turned me from a naive little girl to a person that knows the true nature of the world and knows how to survive in it. I know she will never betray me and the only reason she might kill me is if I piss her off too much. If there is one person in this world for me to stick with, then it has to be Mira and I can only do that if I am strong enough to fight by her side. I don''t know what the future may hold, but right now I have no grand ambitions or virtuous reasons for strength. This is the reason I want strength!" Maria answered with a genuinely naive answer. Not many people in this world would answer this question like this. Sure, people want to get stronger to stand next to someone important to them, but there is usually something else to it. Maria is not like this, she only wants to be friends with Mira and the only way to do that is to get stronger with Mira.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 19 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 20."

    ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 19 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 20."

    Mira heard this and was teleported to the bottom of a massive spiraling staircase. It was hundreds of meters wide and she couldn''t even begin to see the top as the staircase went into the sky.

    "Wee to Stage 20. This is the Ascendence Stage. In this stage, just walk to the top of the staircase toplete the trial. If you are about to die or can''t make it any further, then just call out that you give up on the stage and you will be sent out of the trial. There is no time limit for this stage and your injuries will be healed if you pass. Begin!"

    Mira looked at the staircase and knew that things weren''t so simple.

    "I have a bad feeling about this stage. Part of me thinks that this stage is probably nigh impossible. I guess I will just have to climb the staircase and see what this is really about." Mira thought to herself and stepped onto the first step.

    As soon as she stepped onto the staircase, she felt an invisible pressure around her. With her strength right now, this pressure was essentially nothing and couldn''t even impede her movements by a little. Mira stepped onto the next step. The pressure that was around her increased again but was still negligible. This happened again as Mira climbed up the staircase again. Mira then continued climbing the staircase as the pressure built up after every step.

    Mira hit step 1000 and the pressure increased sharply after she reached this step. This whole time, she was just walking up the stairs at a leisurely pace and the pressure only decreased her speed slightly. But after step 1000 she felt the pressure increase by a massive degree. Her original pace now required 50% more effort to achieve, so Mira just slowed down to a pace that allowed her to continue walking without a lot of effort. This was a stage that wasn''t to be rushed.

    After she reached step 2000, the pressure around her increased again and Mira felt it difficult to move. It was also when she reached this step that she felt a presenceing at her from the sky. It was arge bird-like beast and was only Rank 1. Mira took out her scythe and shed the Bird when it got close to her, easily killing it. Even this simple movement consumed energy from her as the pressure around her was getting more intense than before.<sub> </sub>

    "Fuck." Mira said as she slowly trekked up the stairs.

    Mira slowly worked her way up the stairs as she killed more and more of these flying magical beasts. They weren''t particrly powerful but were a huge waste of energy. She had to stop and take the asional break on the steps to eat and recover some of her stamina. Mira was getting extremely bored and also a little dizzy as she continued to walk in circles up the spiraled staircase. This time, it took her a while to reach step 3000.

    After she reached step 3000, she felt her bones start cracking. This was definitely not a good sign. Mira took a break at this step to try and heal her injuries, but it took a while as getting used to the pressure around her seemed impossible to do. After Mira felt she could continue, she stepped onto the next step and felt her bones cracking again. This time though, Mira didn''t stop and continued to the next step. She felt her bones start fracturing even more, but Mira didn''t stop. She continued up the steps until she felt like she reached a good spot to heal her injuries.

    After healing her injuries, she started climbing up several steps at a time and stopping whenever she felt it might be bad to continue in her state.

    After climbing for a while, she felt another presence in the air and saw a Low-Stage Rank 2 bird magical beast dive-bombing her. Mira sighed and took out her scythe. Mira then swung her scythe with all of her strength and also releasing Ice Needles towards the bird as it was pierced and cut in half. Just this attack cost Mira all of her stamina though and she had to sit down and rest. Now she had one more thing to worry about.

    Mira now had to stop and rest every few steps so she was prepared for any magical beasts toe charging at her. She continued her journey up the staircase.

    Mira didn''t fight as many beasts during this section, but it was enough that she had to constantly be aware of everything around her along with how to pace herself as each step got harder and harder. The more she climbed, the more it felt like her bones might just shatter. But Mira continued up the stairs and finally made it to step 4000. When Mira reached this step, the staircase no longer spiraled but went in a straight line. Mira was now able to see the end. There were only 10 steps between her and the end, but these 10 steps would probably be incredibly difficult. Mira looked around and didn''t see any magical beasts that might attack her. Mira took this time to heal any injuries that she had, so she took a rejuvenation pill to help her with this. After a while, Mira felt that she was in as good of a shape as she could get under this pressure. She took out her scythe to use as a can and took her first step.

    The pressure was simr to the step before, so she took another step after getting her stamina back. The next step caused the pressure to increase exponentially and Mira almost fell to her knees but remained standing. Mira''s breathing turned ragged, but she regained herposure and took another step. This time she did fall to her knees. She took this time to try to heal her injuries but didn''t stand up again. Mira was able to figure something out about the stairs and wanted to do something to reach the end. Mira started to take a stance like she was going to dash up the stairs as quickly as possible. She might be almost dead when she reached the top, but reaching the top of the stairs would be impossible if she didn''t do this. The pressure increased too much with each step and if she stopped on each step then she might not have enough energy to even make it to the next step.

    Mira got in position to dash up the final 7 steps. Soon Mira used all of her strength and shot up the stairs as fast as she could. She used every bit of willpower that she had as she tried to sprint up the stairs. Mira felt her bones cracking and breaking the farther she went up the stairs but was able to push through. She reached thest step and fell. The pressure was too immense and she knew that she wouldn''t be able to stand again, so Mira used thest bit of strength she had to drag her limp body up the stairs. When her head reached the top, she used her teeth to help pull her up. It took her a while of using her teeth, hands, and feet to push her up thest step, but after overworking her body to the max she finally made it to the top of the stairs. Mira felt the pressure on her instantly vanish and she fainted. While she was unconscious, her injuries then began healing at a rapid speed. All of her bones were broken and she was bleeding out of every orifice and even the pores in her skin were dripping blood. She looked like she was ttened.

    After her injuries were fully healed the mechanical voice rang out.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 20 of the Trial. Please proceed to the exit."

    Mira was still unconscious, but her body was teleported to another ce that seemed to be the exit.

    ***

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 19 of the Trial. Please proceed to start Stage 20."

    Maria was teleported in front of a huge spiral staircase!

    "Woah!! That''s huge!" Maria eximed.

    "Wee to Stage 20. This is the Ascendence Stage. In this stage, just walk to the top of the staircase toplete the trial. If you are about to die or can''t make it any further, then just call out that you give up on the stage and you will be sent out of the trial. There is no time limit for this stage and your injuries will be healed if you pass. Begin!"

    Maria looked at the staircase and felt that this thing was much harder than it seemed. She took a deep breath to prepare herself.

    "Let''s do this and meet up with Mira!! I''m going to pass this stage!! Let''s GOO!" Maria yelled as she took her first step. She felt pressure around her, but was nothing to her strength and continued up at a leisurely pace when she felt that pressure. There was no need to rush this stage. Maria''s journey up the stairs began.

    The way Maria climbed the stairs was exactly the same as the way Mira went up the stairs. There was actually no difference between the two. Whenever the pressure increased after every 1000 steps, then she would slow her pace down so she didn''t expend too much stamina. The magical beasts came at the same time as they did for Mira and even the time she took to climb the stairs was almost exactly the same as the time it took Mira.

    Maria finally approached the final 10 steps and did exactly what Mira did. She made her way to the 3rd step and felt that if she were to make it to the 4th step and stopped, it would be incredibly difficult to reach the 5th step. Maria decided that she would dash up the stairs from where she was currently. Maria prepared herself and then dashed up the remaining stairs. She even fell on thest step and had to drag her limp body with everyst bit of strength she had in her limbs before she made it to the top and fainted. Maria''s body then began to heal while she was unconscious. When her body was fully healed the mechanical voice rang out while she was still unconscious and teleported her to another ce.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 20 of the Trial. Please proceed to the exit."

    ***

 Chapter 53 The Trial Rewards

    Mira and Maria wereying right next to each other, unconscious. It took them a while to wake up after their injuries had fully recovered, but they both woke up at about the same time.

    Mira slowly opened her eyes and felt every part of her body aching. It felt like she just got crushed with a boulder, but was pieced back together again. Mira held her head as she had a terrible headache.

    "Fuck, this sucks. Did I pass? I guess if my injuries have been healed and I''m not dead then I''ve passed. That was a rough trial." Mira said out loud and tried to look around. She noticed that Maria wasying down next to her and watched as Maria slowly opened her eyes as well.

    "AH! I''m alive! I guess I passed! Hehe. I guess it''s time to find Mira and tell her abo-" Maria was joyfully talking out loud when she noticed Mira was sitting right next to her.

    "MIRA!!" Maria screamed and went to hug Mira. Maria wasying right next to Mira and was able to hug her before she could move away or hit her.

    "Long time no see, Maria. It seems you were able to pass the trial as well. I guess you aren''t a total failure after all." Mira said before pushing Maria off of her.

    "Jeez, Mira. It''s been 2 years since west saw each other! Couldn''t you be a little nicer to me? I passed the trial! You should say, ''Good job, Maria! I''m proud of you!'' or something like that!" Mariained to Mira.

    "Heh. This was the least you could do for all of the efforts that I put into training you. Why the hell should I be proud of you for what was to be expected? The only thing that I''m surprised about is that you passed the unarmedbat stage. I know that you know nothing about unarmedbat and you probably used did something stupid and got lucky. I will be teaching you this method of attackter when we have time. It maye in handy in the future." Mira said as she casually brought up the unarmedbat training.

    "Ahaha. How could I have gotten lucky? My Dad showed me when I was younger so of course, I could hold my own at that stage. Haha. There''s no need to teach me that!" Maria awkwardly tried to y it off, but Mira just smirked at this.

    "Hehe. Is that so? I guess I will have to spar with you Dad in unarmedbat and see how good his skills are. Of course, I won''t be holding back since he''s a lot stronger than me. I need to make sure that he didn''t teach you a load of crap!" Mira snickered as Maria stiffened as now she brought her Dad down with her.

    ''I''m sorry Dad. Hopefully, you know how to fight bare-handed.'' Maria thought to herself.

    "Anyways, I guess we just need to wait here for the Caretaker toe back and distribute the rewards. It also looks like you made some decent progress in the trial. I can feel you are close to Stage 8 Qi Condensation and your body exudes strength. You also look much better than before. I guess that Lightning World Stage was very beneficial for both of us." Mira said as she looked at Maria. She had to say that Maria looked extremely beautiful even with her clothes all bloody and her hair a mess. She still radiated light. She seemed like a Goddess of Light.

    Maria was a bit surprised by thement and wasn''t sure how to feel about it. Mira didn''t say ''pretty'' or ''beautiful'' she said she looked better than before. Was this apliment? It didn''t feel like one. Maria then scanned Mira and noticed that Mira seemed to exude a chilling aura from her body. It gave Mira a sense of being untouchable. She then got a good look at Mira and could safely say that Mira looked more beautiful than a Goddess right now. This was perfection! Maria''s nose started to bleed as the sight in front of her was too captivating. She soon wiped her nose and spoke to Mira.

    "You look perfect, Mira! The most beautiful thing in the Universe! I think you should wear a mask when you walk into cities though. I feel like your beauty may cause a cmity if you were to show it in a city. OH! You reached Stage 7 Qi Condensation too?!" Mariamented back. Mira just nodded as she was already going to do that before.

    Soon the caretaker walked in after it heard them talking.

    "Congrattions on passing the trial. I will now take you somewhere to distribute the rewards. Follow me." It said as it started walking off.

    Maria and Mira got up and started following it.

    The caretaker soon led them to arge vault and opened it. He gestured for them to follow him inside. They were impressed by what they saw in the vault. Treasures, treasures, and more treasures! Weapons, Spirit Stones, equipment, pills, eggs, various cultivation, and weapon art manuals. There were also things in there that both Mira and Maria didn''t know as well, but they gave off an intimidating aura. They knew that those things were far from normal.

    "First, we will start with the rewards forpleting each stage. Not all of the stages have rewards uponpletion, as the stage itself is the reward. I will just hand you a list that tells you the rewards as that will be much quicker. After we settle that, I will provide the rewards forpleting all 20 stages of the trial. Here you go." The Caretaker spoke and handed them both a sheet of paper.

    The paper read:

    Stage 1- 200 Hundred Spirit Stones

    ? Stage 2- N/A

    Stage 3- N/A

    Stage 4- N/A

    Stage 5- N/A

    Stage 6- N/A

    Stage 7- N/A

    Stage 8- N/A<sub> </sub>

    Stage 9- N/A

    Stage 10- A Rank 4 Basic Bone Tempering Pill and a Rank 4 Basic Organ Tempering Pill

    Stage 11- Poison Bath

    Stage 12- Elemental Art Manual

    Stage 13- Bare-Handed Weapon Art Manual

    Stage 14- A Weapon Art Manual

    Stage 15- 300 Hundred Spirit Stones

    Stage 16- N/A

    Stage 17- N/A

    Stage 18- 500 Hundred Spirit Stones

    Stage 19- N/A

    Stage 20- Rank 4 Pill or something of equal value

    Mira and Maria looked at this paper and were happy with the rewards. They were surprised by the poison bath though. 1000 Spirit Stones, 3 Rank 4 pills, 3 Arts, and a Poison Bath. This was rather good after getting all of the benefits from the trials, but it was nothing amazing. Rank 4 Pills weren''t crazy rare. All you needed was enough currency to purchase one. The 1000 Spirit Stones were nice, but with how much Qi they need to advance, this might notst them a year. The weapon and elemental art manuals were nice though. But the poison bath and Bare-Handed Art manual are�� Meh at best.

    The Caretaker then spoke after he saw they were done reading.

    "I will hand these out after I tell you about the rewards forpleting the trial. The rewards forpleting the Trial vary for each person as they are specifically for that person rather than a set reward, but you will generally get the same thing. For Mira, you will get a bloodline, a magical beast egg, and a Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill to help you break through to the Foundation Realm after you reach the Peak of Stage 9 Qi Condensation. For Maria, you will get a bloodline, a Light Elemental Essence, and a Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill. I know this may sound like not a lot, but trust me when I say that the bloodline alone is worth more than everything on the paper I gave youbined." The Caretaker took a short break to let them digest the information then began talking again.

    "The bloodline Mira will get is from an ancient Ice Serpent Race called Kuraokami. They were the rulers of Ice and were an incredible force in this world in ancient times. These magical beasts would ascend to be Immortals when they reached adulthood, but it took them hundreds if not thousands of years to reach adulthood. I have also prepared an Ice attribute magical beast egg for you. This was the egg of a Kuraokami that my Masters have kept here, waiting for someone to inherit the egg." Mira interrupted when the Caretaker said this.

    "Actually, I want a Lightning Attribute Magical Beast. A Kuraokami would be great and all, but our interests would contradict. But a lightning magical beast would synergize greatly with me. Do you have a lightning beast egg?" Mira exined to the Caretaker. He nodded slightly as this was a great opportunity for her.

    "There is a lightning beast egg here, but I''m not sure what species it is. But I can tell you that it is incredibly powerful. It is definitely on par with the previous egg I mentioned. You will just have to find a source of Lightning instead of Ice to help hatch it along with feeding it your energy. You can have that one instead." The caretaker exined and Mira nodded.

    "For Maria, you will inherit the Chalkydri bloodline. The Chalkydri is a Light Attributed Hydra that existed in ancient times as well. They were on par with the Kuraokami and were the rulers of light in their time. They have all either died or ascended by now. Now, I''m sure you are also wondering what an Elemental Essence is. An Elemental Essence is a spirit that was formed by an abundance amount of a specific element. They have a bit of intelligence when they are born, but it basically consists of looking for more of their element and running away from danger. If a person absorbs an Elemental Essence into their heart, then if that person were to use that element in battle, it would be stronger than before. How much strength is gained depends on the quality of the Essence. The quality of an Elemental Essence generally depends on how long it has lived, but this is not always true as some Elemental Essences are born incredibly strong. The one you will be getting could be said to be a step above the worst. You can also nurture this Essence as well, with specific resources or you can absorb other Elemental Essences into your current one, increasing its power." The caretaker exined to Maria and Maria nodded happily with sparkles in her eyes. Mira then spoke out.

    "I was wondering if I would be able to trade out a Rank 4 pill for an Ice Elemental Essence?" Mira asked.

    "Sure, but it will be the worst and least powerful one we have. It will probably be no benefit to you right now as your Dao is already incredibly powerful with only your limited understanding."

    "I see. Well, that doesn''t matter. If I can nurture it or find more, then this will be a good start. Much better than a Rank 4 Pill." Mira said.

    The Caretaker nodded and waited for any more questions. They both didn''t have any questions, so the Caretaker walked off to gather all of the rewards. Meanwhile, Maria looked through the Rank 4 Pills that she wanted to take with her.

    The Caretaker soon came back with each of their rewards.

    Mira got her 1000 Spirit Stones, a Rank 4 Basic Bone Tempering Pill, a Rank 4 Basic Organ Tempering Pill, a poison bath that seemed that it could instantly kill her if she touched it, an Ice Elemental Art Manual called Ice Prison, a Bare-Handed Art Manual called Earth-Shattering Fist, a Scythe Art Manual called Double-ded Scythe, the Lightning Beast egg, and the Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill. She wasn''t able to trade the Scythe Art Manual in for anything as that was the only scythe art they had. She still decided to take it though as she might be able to learn something from it.

    Maria also received her rewards and got 1000 Spirit Stones, a Rank 4 Basic Bone Tempering Pill, a Rank 4 Basic Organ Tempering Pill, a poison bath, a Light Elemental Art Manual called Light Boots, a Bare-Handed Art Manual called Earth-Shattering Fist, a Sword Art Manual called Sword Wave, a Rank 4 Energy Gathering Pill that she chose, and the Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill.

    "Go and rest for now. Tomorrow, I will help you inherit the bloodlines and absorb the Elemental Essences." The Caretaker said. Mira and Maria nodded and walked off to find a ce to sleep.

 Chapter 54 Bloodlines And Elemental Essences

    Mira walked back to her room with her newfound loot in hand. She was quite happy with the rewards forpleting the trial. Mira took out the Lightning Beast Egg and just stared at it.

    "What do you think is going to be hatched from the egg? Some kind of snake or serpent? OH! Maybe a Dragon? Hehe. Though I couldn''t really picture you with a dragon or anything that majestic. Maybe it''s a giant lightning turtle or something! I hope it hatches soon! I can''t wait for Vulcan to y with it!" Maria started asking all kinds of questions as she followed Mira back to their rooms.

    "I don''t know what will be hatched, but I can feel strong Lightning energying from this egg. Personally, I don''t really care whates out of the egg, but I guess if I had a preference then I would want a wolf-type magical beast even though this is unlikely due to wolves not being born from eggs. Dragons, Serpents, tigers, phoenixes, and other creatures are extremely powerful, but wolves are extremely loyal and ruthless. I''d prefer something that isn''t as grand or majestic as those creatures because those that stand at the top always have a certain pride built into their genes that make them look down on their opponents. But wolves are different. They always attack their prey with full force. Just this alone can be the difference between life and death." Mira exined to Maria as they walked.

    "I see, I see. I also think a wolf would suit you perfectly. It reminds me of you. You are like a wolf in sheep''s clothing and never pull your strikes. Whatever hatches from the egg, Vulcan and it will have to y together! I can''t wait! Anyways, I''m going to sleep! I''ll see you tomorrow for inheriting the blood and absorbing the Elemental Essence!" Maria said goodbye to Mira and Mira nodded.

    Mira walked to her room and once she entered her room she activated her Ice Domain. She started to create a bunch of small ice shards and had blue lightning streak across them. She then set down the egg and had it absorb as much of the blue lightning as it could while also inserting her Qi into the egg.

    Mira could feel the lightning entering the egg, but its aura had barely increased. It was almost a negligible amount. Mira knew it would take a while by using this method to hatch this egg. She didn''t care though. She was willing to wait to hatch it using this blue lightning. She wanted to see if she could mutate the beast before it hatched by using her icy lightning.

    After a few hours of this, Mira got tired and stopped. She put the egg next to her and fell asleep.

    The next day Mira woke up and examined the egg. She didn''t see any changes or any signs that it might hatch. Even though Mira wanted to be patient, she was a little anxious. This would be her first pet and she had never taken care of anything like this before. She also wanted to know what beast it would be.

    Mira shook away her thoughts, stored the egg, and walked out of her room. When she walked out, she saw Maria walking out as well.

    "Good Morning Mira! Ahhh! I feel much better knowing that I don''t have to continue with that trial! I had a beautiful sleepst night! Well, let''s go!" Maria was already loud this early in the morning. Mira just nodded to her as they walked together to meet with the Caretaker.

    It took them a bit to find him, but they eventually found him.

    "You''re here. I guess we can start with you absorbing the bloodline as that will probably take the longest. Follow me." The Caretaker started walking as the two followed.

    Soon they made it to arge table.

    "Mira will go first. Lie on your stomach on the table and lower your robes so that I can insert the bloodline into your heart." It said as Mira just nodded. She figured the procedure would be something like this. Plus, the caretaker was essentially an automaton with no desires or gender.

    Mira lowered her robes andy on her stomach.

    "You will be inheriting the Kuraokami bloodline. Inheriting a bloodline can be a painful process as the new blood will course through your blood and start to consume the old blood as it is reced with the new blood." The caretaker exined as it took out an almost cup full of blood. This blood felt extremely cold and emitted a domineering and freezing aura.

    "Ready?" It asked and Mira just nodded.

    The caretaker took out a long, but extremely thin needle and sent it into Mira''s back. It went all the way to the heart and poked the heart, leaving a small indention on it.

    He then removed the needle and controlled the blood. He started to slowly send the blood into her heart and soon Mira felt her body temperature start to drop. Just one drop of the blood started to cause her body to start to freeze over. When the blood entered her heart, the heart started to pump this blood to the rest of her body. This domineeringly cold blood started to travel through her body as it froze anything in its path.

    The Caretaker kept sending in more and more blood into her heart. It was only drops of blood at a time, but even a drop was insane.

    Soon, the Kuraokami blood that was in her body started to want to consume her blue blood that made its appearance during the lightning stage. A battle started to rage in Mira''s body as the Kuraokami wanted to consume this blood and rece it, but Mira''s blue blood didn''t want to be consumed. Mira then started to feel her blue lightning start to streak across her body as her blood and the Kuraokami blood started to fight.

    Maria and the Caretaker were also able to see blue lightning spread across the top of her body. The Caretaker didn''t know what was going on but felt like it wasn''t a bad thing so he kept sending more blood into her. But Maria couldn''t hold back her curiosity.

    "What is happening to her? I don''t remember ever seeing her use lightning before." Maria asked.

    "I don''t know. This is new for me too, but if I had to guess this was a result of the lightning stage. Apparently, when all of her energy was destroyed, there was a fusion between the lightning and her special physique. But I didn''t expect it to react to the bloodline as well. I wonder what will happen." The Caretaker exined to Maria and Maria sort of understood the logic behind it.

    The two types of blood continued to fight, but after a while, a change happened. The blue lightning started to focus on the Kuraokami blood as it wanted to make a connection. The Kuraokami blood wasn''t able to consume Mira''s blue blood that easily and kept refusing the lightning''s connection, but after a while, it felt that it wouldn''t be able to consume Mira''s blue blood that efficiently and also felt that it might be able to get stronger if the connection was made.

    The Caretaker had finished sending all of the Kuraokami blood into Mira just now when the connection was made with the blue lightning. The blue lightning shot through all of the Kuraokami blood as the connection was made. Then Mira started to feel unbearable pain!<sub> </sub>

    "ARRRGH!" Mira gritted her teeth. The blue lightning, her blue blood, and the Kuraokami blood started to fuse. This was an extremely painful process and generally, something like this wouldn''t happen. Normally a bloodline would just coexist with the blood already there, but Mira''s blood was actually fusing with the bloodline.

    Mira felt like her entire body being frozen into something like an ice cocoon as her blood continued to fuse. This was extremely surprising for Maria and the Caretaker and Maria wanted to help, but the Caretaker stopped her and they both just watched.

    When the blood that was currently in Mira''s body was done fusing, it went straight for her bone marrow. The fused blood now wanted to fuse with her marrow so it could continue to produce this blood.

    The fused blood and blue lightning coursed through Mira''s marrow and began to change it on a cellr level. It didn''t temper her marrow at all but just made it so the current blood would be produced by the marrow. Mira was in constant pain when this was happening. It took a while for the fused blood and blue lightning to fuse everything together, but once it was finished the blood shot to the rest of Mira''s body as now all of the blood in her body was something new. The ice cocoon exploded and a chilling aura permeated from Mira. It was a mighty and domineering aura, even though Mira is just in the Qi Condensation Realm. Mira opened her eyes and withdrew this aura. She then looked at Maria and the Caretaker and they could both see that her pupils have turned more into slits. They weren''t reptilian and were still closer to a human''s but they were more vertical now.

    "Congrattions on absorbing the Kuraokami bloodline. I don''t know what happened, but I feel that it only brought you benefits." The Caretaker said and Mira nodded.

    "What was that Mira?! What was that lightning? Why are your eyes different? Your aura is also different as well? What happened?" Maria bombarded her with questions.

    "My physique resonated with the lightning in the lightning stage and allowed me to produce this blue lightning. It isn''t that useful in fights but does seem to make my body stronger. My eyes are probably different because the bloodline fused with my own." Mira exined to her.

    "What?! Fusion? Your blood actually fused with the Kuraokami bloodline? How can that be? That is an ancient and domineering bloodline, it would never sumb to something weaker!" The Caretaker didn''t want to believe it. Mira just shrugged her shoulders.

    "That''s what happened. That blue lightning is incredibly annoying when ites to things that want to destroy it. Plus that blue lightning is linked to every part of my body. It can''t attack, but it can make connections." Mira exined as she pulled up her robes.

    "Anyways, why don''t you just let me absorb the Ice Elemental Essence right now? I''m sure it won''t take very long especially with this new bloodline." Mira suggested and the Caretaker just nodded with aplicated expression.

    He took out a jar that held a small Ice Shard that was moving around inside it.

    "This Ice essence is extremely weak and is called the Lunar Ice Essence. It was formed in a ce that received a more concentrated amount of moonlight. I will just send this into your heart and it will probably just be immediately subdued." The Caretaker said to Mira as she nodded.

    Mira was back on her stomach and lowered her robe a bit to allow the Ice Essence into her heart. The Caretaker opened up the jar and grabbed the Ice Essence that tried to escape. He then shoved it into Mira''s heart. Mira felt a wave of ice try to attack her body, but she just used her Absolute Ice Dao and it submitted easily. Mira tried to send her blue lightning into it as well.

    She sent her blue lightning towards it and was actually able to make a connection. Mira then felt a weak ice energy flow through every part of her body, but it was so weak that it didn''t increase the power of her ice at all. It probably only made her use of ice a bit more efficient, which was fine. Nothing major happened this time and Mira just fixed up her robe and hopped off the table.

    "Your turn, Maria. When you are done then we can talk about what to do next and leave this ce." Mira said to Maria. Maria just nodded her head and looked towards the Caretaker. It just nodded its head.

    Maria did the same thing as Mira and walked up to the table. She removed some of her robes from her back andid on her stomach.

    The Caretaker then took out a dazzling golden blood that seemed to radiate light. He repeated the process of stabbing the needle into Maria''s body and stopped at her heart. Then he started to slowly send in the Chalkydri blood. Maria felt this new blood shoot through the rest of her body and the light emitted from the blood started to burn away hers. Maria gritted her teeth at this, but it just continued to happen in her body as more blood entered her heart. This continued to happen as more and more of Maria''s blood was destroyed and reced with the new bloodline. Maria then started to feel some of the blood enter her marrow and rece it as well. This was so that the new blood could still be produced as well, but her old blood would also still be there. This was the coexistence of the two different types of blood instead of a fusion.

    It took a while for this process to bepleted, but it went by without a hitch. After that waspleted, Maria stayed where she was on the table as she waited for her Light Essence. The Caretaker now had a jar that held a ball of dazzling light.

    "This is the Dazzling Golden Light Essence. We aren''t sure how it was formed exactly, but we guessed that it was formed in a ce where the light there seemed to sparkle and shine. This one might take a bit more effort as you will have to subdue it. Be careful." The Caretaker exined as Maria nodded.

    The Caretaker opened the jar and caught the Light Essence and then shoved it into Maria''s heart.

    Maria soon felt a small ball of light start to rampage in her heart as it sent waves of golden light through her meridians and body. Maria knew she had to fight back so she started to utilize her Light Dao and attack the Light Essence. They soon entered a fierce battle in Maria''s heart, but this Light Essence didn''t have the stamina to keep up with Maria and ended up losing because it didn''t have the energy. Maria shot her Light Dao into it and felt the Dazzling golden light start to fill up her meridians and Qi. It was a calming feeling as she felt like her Light would now look like this.

    Maria opened her eyes and looked over at Mira and smiled brightly.

    "I did it! Now we can finally n to leave this ce! But first I want to sleep. I want to sleep until I don''t feel tired anymore!" Maria said excitedly to Mira as she just nodded.

    "Congrattions on inheriting the bloodline of Chalkydri and absorbing the Dazzling Golden Light Essence. You two may stay here as long as you like, but please don''t take or destroy anything. If you have any questions, feel free toe find me and ask me. You already have your rewards from the trial, so you are free to do whatever you want." The Caretaker exined.

    Both Mira and Maria looked at each other and nodded. They both just wanted to rest for now and get some quality sleep. Something that they haven''t had in a long time. Maria fixed up her robe and walked with Mira back to their rooms.

 Chapter 55 Next Destination

    Mira and Maria went back to their rooms and fell asleep. Ever since they came to the forest, they have barely had any real rest. Even after they stopped at the bandit camp, they both spent a lot of time preparing for the training of the women that were there. After they both reached their rooms, they both instantly fell into a deep sleep. This sleep was more for the mind rather than the body as these past few years have been almost non-stop.

    They both stayed asleep for almost an entire week. It was actually impressive that they could sleep for a whole week without waking up. After Maria woke up, she went straight to Mira''s room. She peeked in to see if she was still asleep and saw that she was also awake. Maria walked into the room.

    "Hi, Mira! Did you have a good rest? I wasing in to see if you wanted to eat with me?!" Maria asked.

    "Sure. Come in." Mira surprisingly agreed. Maria smiled brightly and walked in.

    They both started taking out their rations and eating them. Maria then began to share all of her experiences in the trial. About how easy the Labyrinth is, the time she spent in the elemental stages, how she used poison as a drink and dip, her deeper understanding into her Unfettered Light Dao, how she fought using her bare hands(she was just telling her story and forgot that Mira would be training her on this), how her endless battle went, and how she came to terms with killing people even though she doesn''t want to. She shared everything she could think of.

    "I see. You got lucky with that Labyrinth Stage. I mapped out that entire fuckingbyrinth before I found the exit. I had to fight waves of magical beasts and solve that stupid puzzle from the tutorial every time I found a chest. Well, from your stories it might not just be luck that got you through that stage easily. I feel like you might have some really good instincts or something. I don''t exactly know, but it seems that you passing every stage was more than just luck. Anyways, that was my least favorite stage, Stage 1. Looking at the same bricks for hours and hours and running into every dead end while finding shit loot. My favorite stage was the Lightning Stage as I feel that one brought the most benefits. The endless battlefield stage was useful too, but I don''t think it was as beneficial to me as the lightning stage was." Mira said.

    "Instincts? I guess. There were a lot of times where I would just feel danger or feel that something is right or wrong. I''ll be sure to note that down. And I hated all of the stages! They all tried to constantly kill or torture me! But if I had to pick a favorite, it would either be the Shadow Fight Stage or the Unarmed Combat Stage. Those were the most fun, even if I suck at unarmedbat. My least favorite was the Lightning Stage because I literally died in that one and it also didn''t bring me as many benefits as it did for you!" Maria said. Then Mira turned a bit more serious and grabbed Maria''s shoulders. Maria was about to question her when Mira spoke up.

    "Listen, Maria. Trust your instincts. This doesn''t just go for you, but I''m saying this to you because your instincts might be better than others. If you feel a situation doesn''t feel right or you instinctively don''t like someone, trust that thought. Don''t brush it off as you would probably do. You never know when someone might try to kill you or capture you for some reason. This could save not only your life but the lives around you." Mira said sternly to Maria as thetter just nodded her head. Maria didn''t expect Mira to be this serious about something, but no matter what she had to heed this advice.

    "Anyway, what would you like to do now? We can either head to the Core Region of the Forest, which is right next to us or we can go back to the bandit camp where all of those women are and check on them. I personally don''t care where we go as I don''t have anywhere to be. We are also strong enough to deal with most magical beasts as well. Unless there are Rank 4 Magical Beasts here in the Forest, which I suspect there might only be only a couple that resides in the Core Region, we should be fine. We won''t have a goal for going to the Core Region though. It''ll mostly just be to explore the rest of the forest before we go back. You pick." Mira asked Maria.

    "Hmm. I do want to go back and check on those women and see my parents, but we are also almost done exploring the whole forest. But I don''t really feel like running into any Rank 4 Magical Beasts and since the Core Region is smaller than the Inner Region, then there is a higher chance of running into them. I''m also tired and just want to go back to the city. We can alwayse back to the Core Regionter if the need arises, but since we don''t have a need let''s not do it. I say we go back to that Bandit Camp to check on the women!" Maria decided and Mira just nodded. Mira didn''t really want to go to a city, but she should have the strength to deal with a lot of the people in the city. She should be able to defeat anyone under the Foundation Realm. Once she reaches the Foundation Realm though, her strength should skyrocket. She isn''t far from reaching that point either. The Spirit Stones she got as a reward for the Trial should be able to bring her close to the Peak of Qi Condensation and once she reaches the Peak she can just take that Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill to Breakthrough.

    "What do you think, Maria? Do you think those girls were all able to get to Qi Condensation during thesest 2 years without anyone dying or will I have to go on a killing spree?" Mira suddenly asked with a smirk.

    "Would you really kill them all if one of them died? I feel like that''s not right. They''ve probably lived a hard past 2 years." Maria asked back instead of answering.

    "Of course I will! That was my only rule. Do you think I said that just to scare them? They will value their lives more when all of them are on the line. If I just said that I wille backter and take whoever''s left, then I bet a lot of them would''ve died. This would''ve been because of their own carelessness and weak will to live. They are supposed to be a unified force. A force that has absolute trust in theirpanions. What better way to instill this other than the fear of death that lingers over them. You can be sure that I will follow through with my punishment if I see they broke my only rule." Mira said with resolution. It almost seemed like she didn''t care about them at all. Maria just sighed.<sub> </sub>

    "I think they will all be alive in the Qi Condensation Realm, but I bet they weren''t able to progress that far in the Qi Condensation Realm." Maria said and Mira nodded her head as well. This is what she thought too.

    <o>,m "We should go ask the Caretaker if another 500 women or so can stop by and try the trial. He might need to do some preparation. Hehe." Mira said with a devilish look on her face. Maria nodded as well as she was just thinking about telling them about this ce.</o>

    Soon they got up to go find the Caretaker. It didn''t take long before they found him wandering around the area.

    "How can I help you?" The Caretaker asked.

    "We have a group of acquaintances outside of the ruins here and were wondering if we could tell them about this ce? They number around 500 or so. They should all be in the Qi Condensation Realm and are all under 40. Actually, I don''t remember anyone even over 35 there." Mira asked the Caretaker.

    "500 huh. Well, this ce was meant for the future generation. Nobody above the Foundation Realm can enter this ce and only those under 40 may enter as well. That may sound oldpared to you two, but what my Masters didn''t want were extremely powerful people that came here to reap the benefits of this ce and take all of the treasures. 40 years old is very young for a cultivator. For someone in the Qi Condensation Realm, it''s like being 20 years old rather than 50. Sure, send them this way. The resources and treasures here are much more than you can evenprehend." The Caretaker said and Mira just nodded.

    "We will be heading out soon. Thanks for everything, Caretaker!" Maria eximed and the Caretaker just nodded.

    Mira and Maria went back to their rooms to rest for another night before they head out the next morning. Mira didn''t feel like sleeping, so she spent the whole night having the Lightning Beast Egg absorb her Qi and Blue Lightning. She then took a small nap after she was done.

    Both Mira and Maria woke up and made sure they had everything with them. They were both wearing the space rings that were given to them at the halfway point of the trial and those had all of their rewards along with what they were carrying with them beforehand. Mira was wearing a ck Daoist robe with red lining and also put on her ck mask. Maria was wearing a golden Daoist with white lining.

    "Bye Bye Caretaker! Hopefully, we can send those 500 people over in the next few months or so! Thank you for everything!" Maria yelled and waved. Mira just nodded at it. The caretaker did a slight bow and nodded.

    "Let''s go, Mira!" Maria said as they started walking towards the exit of the ''ruins''. They soon made it to that small tunnel and reached made it back to the forest.

 Chapter 56 Back To The Bandit Camp

    Mira and Maria were making their way through the tunnel that they first entered around 2 years ago. Mira remembered that there was a Late-Stage Rank 2 Thunderhorn Hare that was staying in this little cave. Mira wasn''t worried about the beast anymore though. The amount of Late-Stage Rank 2 Magical Beasts that she killed in the endless battlefield stage was immense.

    It took them a while, but they finally made it out of the cave withouting across the Thunderhorn Hare that was here 2 years ago. Mira took in a deep breath as she looked at the surrounding trees, felt a breeze wash over her, smell the surrounding forest, and feel the sun hitting her.

    "Hmmm. I want to get excited over seeing the forest, but I don''t think I will be excited until we get out of the forest! It''s still nice to be able to smell the earth and feel the breeze though!" Maria eximed as she was now set on leaving the forest. Mira couldn''t me her as she also wanted to look at something different.

    "Let''s go! I''m curious how those women are doing." Mira said and they both started heading towards the bandit camp. They weren''t in any hurry, so they just went through the forest at a leisurely pace. Mira also wanted to avoid that old man''s cabin so she made sure that they stayed as far away from that area as they could. Mira also felt that nothing could threaten them in this area of the forest, so she took out her egg and started feeding it her energy and blue lightning.

    ''Damn! This Beast Egg really needs a lot of energy. I hope it''s worth it.'' Mira thought to herself as she felt like this little beast is a ck hole for energy.

    They stopped somewhere to camp out for the night as Mira continued to provide the little egg energy until she ran out. They both went asleep.

    The next couple of days went by like this. They didn''t need to kill anything and there was nothing in this section of the forest that interested them that much. It was actually rather unfortunate because even if they did find something, it would not be as good as anything they currently have with them.

    At this pace, it took them almost a week to reach the bandit camp that the women were staying at. They soon came across something that looks less like a rundown bandit camp and more like a small town. The walls now had stone pirs in them and the bottom of the walls was made of stone while the rest was wood. The walls were also a bit taller than before. They could also hear the sounds of people working in the camp as well.

    "It seems they have been busy. So far so good." Mira muttered and Maria nodded her head with a happy expression.

    They continued to the front of the camp where arge gate was located. There were 2 people standing in the stone towers next to the gate as well. Mira could feel that they were both Stage 1 Qi Condensation.

    The two people in the tower saw 2 people approach, but one was surrounded by a deathly chilling aura and the other was an extremely beautiful golden-blonde young woman. They both immediately thought of 2 people that helped train them up to this point. They weren''t sure what to do, but just looked at each other and made sure that it was them.

    "HALT! This ce is off-limits to outsiders! Please leave immediately or we will be forced to take action!" They both shouted at Mira and Maria. Maria just shook at her head as Mira smirked.

    "It seems you don''t remember me. I told you we''de back to check on you around 2 years ago. Have you already forgotten about me? I may need to re-educate you twoter. Hehe." Mira said slyly to them.

    ""WE ARE SORRY, MISS MIRA! WE JUST NEEDED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS YOU"" They both screamed as they hopped down from the tower and kneeled in front of her.

    "Very well. Take us inside. It''s time to see if you held up your end." Mira gestured to them as they both nodded and led Mira and Maria inside.

    They didn''t see anybody walking around aimlessly in the center of this small town or people doing nothing. Instead, they heard noisesing from the training grounds that they trained at 2 years ago.

    They walked back there and Mira saw almost every single woman training together. Most of the people were sparring with each other, she saw areas for lifting giant boulders to help with working out. She also felt that everyone here was currently in the Qi Condensation Realm. They were all Stage 1 Qi Condensation though. Mira nodded at this scene. Even though they reached Qi Condensation, they didn''t stop training. When Mira walked into the training grounds, the surrounding temperature started to drop by a bit. Everyone in the training grounds turned around to look at who it was and immediately saw 2 very familiar people. Mira was wearing the same clothes and mask that she always wore when she stayed here and Maria looked even more beautiful than before. They also saw a small red fox being held by Maria. Vulcan had woken up not too long before they left the ruins as he absorbed and assimted the Fire Essence into him. He was now a Mid-Stage Rank 3 Magical Beast and grew a couple of centimeters taller and longer. His fire was also bright orange and much stronger than before. He didn''t just absorb the me essence into his heart, butpletely assimted the whole thing into his body. Vulcan had just slept for most of the time in Maria''s arms as he missed her quite a bit.

    Everyone stopped their training and came over to Mira and kneeled.<sub> </sub>

    ""WELCOME BACK, MISS MIRA!"" They yelled at the same time and Mira just nodded.

    Alicia was the first toe forward after that.

    "Gather everyone here. If there are people not here, we will wait for them. I hope you all lived, for your sake." Mira said this and everybody gulped. They had almost forgotten how Mira acted. Even with all 500 of them in the Qi Condensation Realm now, they still felt like ants in front of Mira.

    Alicia bowed slightly and started to gather everyone on the training grounds. There were a couple of people that were out hunting, so they had to wait for them toe back. They waited until Night and saw around 10 people withrge wooden carts behind them that were filled to the brim with magical beasts. Alicia had them put up the beasts and gather at the training grounds. They were a bit curious as to why, but immediately knew why when they saw 2 familiar figures and a small red fox. They gulped and walked to join the others. Alicia walked up to Mira and spoke to her.

    "We are all gathered here, Miss Mira." Alicia said as she bowed and joined the others.

    Mira began to count everyone present here. She also noticed that everyone here was in the Qi Condensation Realm and most people here wore beast pelts as clothes. Soon she finished counting everyone here andpared it to the number she remembers 2 years ago.

    "It seems you lot actually managed to survive this entire time without losing anybody. I guess I will have to hold my end of the deal now. I will take you lot to Lunar Fox City as an escort. We will also be staying at Maria''s ce. They have a courtyard that should be big enough to hold all of you. As per our agreement, I will also be acting much nicer than before when we get there." Mira said as she started to remove her mask. The women here were cheering loudly as they get to live another day! Then they started to notice that Mira was removing her mask and looked at her with sparkling eyes. They figured that she must be a beauty under that mask, but didn''t know how much of one. As soon as she took off her mask, the whole ce went quiet. Nobody moved a muscle either. It was like their brains short-circuited. Mira really did look like she was chiseled by the gods. Someone that could be deemed perfect in almost every aspect of her beauty. They didn''te out of their stupor until Mira spoke up.

    "This is the face of who will lead you all to be a terrifying force in this world. Etch this into your memory so that you never forget. As you all can clearly see, this is the reason I wear a mask. My beauty attracts way too much attention and I would never be able to live peacefully without a mask. On a different note, start gathering the things that you want to take with you to the city. I would rmend taking a nket with you at the very least as I doubt the ce you will be staying has an extra 500 nkets to spare. Take anything valuable or important to you as well as you might not be back here for a while." Mira said to them as they had all finally came back to their senses. They listened to Mira but were still staring at her intensely.

    "Oh right! One more thing. Maria and I found a ruins near the Core Region of the Forest. This ce has a trial set up for those that are in the Qi Condensation or Foundation Realm as well as being under 40. You all should be able to enter that ce. When we are done with the city, I will lead you all to the ce. Normally, I''d have you look for this ce on your own, but it''s a huge pain in the ass to find and impossible to describe. The trials will also be plenty difficult, so not finding this ce is negligible. If you are able toplete the trial, it will take around 2 years. Your goal is for all of you toplete the trial. With me training you, this should be no problem. That is all!" Mira was finally done talking to them as all of them nodded and left to gather all of their things. They also prepared a feast tonight because they won''t be back here for a long time or ever.

    Once Mira and Maria were alone, Mira spoke to her before Maria could bring up anything.

    "If you can convince your Dad to hold all of these people, I will include you in the group that I need to be nice too. I will also spend days in the city with you." Mira said to Maria. Maria''s eyes nearly fell out of her head. Mira? Being nice? Has Hell frozen over? Is the world ending? Is she possessed? She has to grasp this opportunity!!

    "Leave it to me! I will force them all in if I have to!! Hehehe! I will not let this opportunity slip!!" Maria yelled with conviction.

    Alicia and the others had all gathered their stuff and were currently eating all of the food they currently had in reserve.

    They soon found themselves asleep and the night passed by quickly. In the morning, everyone had gathered with all of their stuff. They took Mira''s advice and brought their nkets as well as anything important to them.

    "We will set off for Lunar Fox City now! Let''s go!" Mira eximed as she led them out of the front gate.

    Mira, Maria, and Vulcan were leading the way as all 500 women left their homes for thest 2 years.

 Chapter 57 Going To Lunar Fox City

    Mira led her small army along with Maria and Vulcan out of the forest. She just told Vulcan to take care of any magical beasts that are stupid enough toe close to them. Mira just kept feeding the egg her energy and blue lightning as they walked leisurely through the forest. The women were getting a little nervous about going to Lunar Fox City. This was their first time visiting a city much less in arge group like this with a lot of other powerful people. They had changed into their normal clothes for this as they didn''t want to enter a city wearing beast pelts.

    Alicia walked up to Mira and Maria to start talking to them.

    "Why do you want us to stay at Maria''s ce? The bandits had plenty of money. I''m sure we could''ve found our own ce to stay. It also seems like there may need to be some convincing." Alicia tried to start a conversation. Maria was also wondering the same thing.

    "So you can prepare for the trial. There are a few stages there that you won''t be able to pass without at least a bit of knowledge or luck. I also n on training Maria and her father in the same thing as well. I can''t have my subordinates fail, now can I? Also, finding an unarmedbat teacher in our current location is probably impossible, much less one as good as me. I n on offering her father a chance for some of his family members to go as well. If you all had to stay in different rooms and different ces, then we would lose precious training time. One more thing, I want you to give me a list of everyone''s names and what they are good at. Maybe some aren''t as good with a sword and need another weapon or maybe others are better at fighting in a group or better at leadership roles. Things like that. If they have a better talent for something, then that should be taken advantage of." Mira already seemed to have part of their future nned out.

    They continued their journey out of the forest until they reached the border of the forest. Vulcan took care of any brainless monsters. Maria and Alicia chatted as some of the other girls started to talk with Maria as well. It took them a few days to reach the outskirts at their pace. They could''ve made it out faster, but there was no need to rush. Mira then told Maria to do something.

    "Maria, use your talisman to contact your father. It''s not smart for all 500 of us to enter at the same time. It might cause suspicion with the other families in the city." Mira said as Maria nodded and took out her talisman to contact her Dad. She inserted her energy in it and it lit up.

    ***

    In the Zaria Household, Lunar Fox City.

    Cole was in his study doing some work when he felt his talisman light up and alert him. He started to panic for a minute as he thought something might be wrong.

    "Erika!! The talisman I gave Maria lit up!! I have to go see what''s going on!!" Cole yelled at his wife who was somewhere in therge building. Erika heard this and came running to Cole.

    "What!? Is she okay?! What happened?! I''ming with you!! Hurry!" Erika started to shout at her husband as he just nodded and they ran out of the house together and hurried out of the gate as they told the guards it was an emergency. It didn''t take them long to find the signal from Maria''s talisman. They soon found Maria with her now long golden hair that seemed to shine along with a girl that looked around 14 wearing a mask next to her. This girl gave off a cold aura that seemed to be exponentially stronger since thest time they met. Then they noticed the 500 women behind them that were all in Stage 1 Qi Condensation. They thought that Mira and Maria must be in danger and took out their weapons.

    "What is going on here?! What do you want with my daughter?! You guys better not try anything funny?!" Cole yelled as he looked at the women angrily and Erika seemed to have the same intention.

    The women just looked at each other.

    *Pfft!"

    They then startedughing. Cole was a bit puzzled as he didn''t think he told a joke. Alicia was the first one to walk up and speak.

    "Eh? You think we are forcing Miss Mira and Maria to do anything? Clearly, you don''t know Miss Mira very well then. We''d be dead if we tried to force her to do anything. If anything she is the one forcing us toe here. Hehe." Alicia said as she was still giggling as all 500 women nodded. Maria then ran up to her father. Cole thought she wasing in for a hug, but instead, Maria gripped his shoulders tightly.

    "Dad, what the heck are you talking about?! Oh! That''s right! These women came with us. We are bringing them to explore the city a bit as well as to prepare for their next journey. Well, Mira will be doing the preparation! Anyway, we should let them stay with us for a while! They can all just stay in the courtyard. They all brought their own stuff so it''ll be fine. It''s fine, right? RIGHT!?" Maria started shaking Cole as both he and Erika were extremely confused. What the hell was going on right now?

    "What the heck is going on, Maria? Why do we need to let these women stay with us? Why are there so many following you anyways?" Erika started to question.

    "Mira saved them from bandits and trained them. Mira promised me a reward if I could convince you guys to let them stay with us. OH! Mira also said she will give you something beneficial as well." Maria started to exin hurriedly. Mira stepped up and started talking.

    "We ran into a lucky encounter that can strengthen future generations. I will escort anyone under 40 in the Qi Condensation or Foundation Realm to that location. I guarantee that they wille out of it exponentially stronger than before. I can''t really describe the location as it is near impossible to find unless you know what to look for. If you and Erika are under 40 then both of you cane as well. You may even advance to Core Formation or higher into that realm." Miraid down her offer.

    Cole and Erika were both shocked by this. Everything was happening so fast and there was so much important information that they didn''t know what to do.

    "Why don''t youe back first and we can discuss this? I don''t think this is a decision I can make here." Cole tried to persuade.

    "No. If you can''t make the decision now then you don''t even deserve to know the location. It''s really very simple. Do you want you and your family to grow stronger or not. I don''t care either way. I guess I can throw in one more thing though. Hehe. I will train you, Erika, and whoever is going with, in unarmedbat as well if you decide yes." Miraid down another offer for Cole. Cole was now forced to think about this. Maria then whispered into his ear.<sub> </sub>

    "I''m sorry, Dad. I identally dragged you into this as well by lying to Mira saying you taught me unarmedbat. I think you should just ept the offer. It will be very beneficial, plus I doubt the women will get in the way. They are very polite and really only listen to Mira. Mira also told me not to tell you the location of the ce, but it''s not like I''d be of much help with that if I could." Maria whispered and Cole thought about it some more and finally nodded his head.

    "Alright, I guess it''s fine. As long as they aren''t a bother to everyone else. Also, it might be a bit suspicious for all 500 of you to walk in at the same time." Cole agreed after some thinking. They didn''t have extra rooms for all 500 people, but if they didn''t mind sleeping in the courtyard then it was fine. He also wasn''t expecting to pay for food for all as well, so it wasn''t that big of a deal.

    "You hear that, girls! Split up into groups of 10! You will enter in varying intervals. Me, Maria, Cole, or Erika wille and get you to lead you to the Zaria household. The rest of you wait here until it is your turn!" Mira turned around andmanded them.

    ""Yes, Miss Mira!!"" They all yelled and immediately got into 50 groups of 10.

    Cole and Erika were both surprised by several things there. They called Mira, ''Miss Mira'', they all listened to her like she was amander and the speed at which they separated into groups. It was near instant like they were a unified group that has been trained to do this. Cole now understood when Maria said that they only listen to Mira. She''s the leader of this group. Cole gulped at this as he didn''t expect Mira to have her own army in the making.

    "The first group will enter right behind us. The guards will ask for a small entrance fee, but you should have more than enough from the bandits to cover everyone''s fees." Miramanded again.

    "Yes!" A group shouted loudly and all of the women started to arrange for everyone to have money to pay the fee.

    After everything settled down, Maria went to hug her Mom and Dad as she was finally able to see them. Maria teared up a bit as well as Cole and Erika. Their daughter had finally returned safe and sound.

    Mira walked up to Maria after she had her moment with her parents. She wanted to do as she said she would and act more friendly towards Maria.

    "G-G-G-Good J-J-Job, Maria." Mira tried to force out the words of praise as she wanted to throw up right after she said that. She hasn''t praised someone in a long time.

    Everyone seemed to hear her and went silent. Maria just looked at her, ckjawed. Mira just sighed and took out her scythe.

    "You do remember when I said that I will be friendlier towards you if you can convince your family, right? Or maybe you''d rather have me express my ''love'' in other ways as I experiment with some moves with my scythe on you?" Mira said while swinging her scythe around.

    Maria stiffened and hurriedly tried to talk to her.

    "No, no, no, no, I was just a bit surprised! I didn''t think you''d actually go through with it. It feels weird having you be like that as well. I''d honestly rather have blunt, cold, and heartless Mira back. I will take you up on your offer to explore the city with me though!" Maria tried to reassure Mira. She also got a weird feeling whenever Mira tried to praise. She knew that Mira didn''t mean it at all and was just trying to say it because she promised she would be that way.

    Mira just nodded her head.

    "I will still try to keep my word even if you think it''s weird, but for the most part I will just try to be my normal self as acting or saying things I don''t mean has gotten hard for me." Mira said as she will still keep her word, regardless.

    "Anyways, let''s get going. I''d like to have everyone gathered at the Zaria Family by the end of the day." Mira got everyone back on track as they walked towards Lunar Fox City. Cole and Erika also noticed a small red fox following Maria around. Maria told them that his name is Vulcan and that he is her Beast Companion. The first group of women also followed some distance behind them.

    Mira and the other 3 reached the city and immediately went towards the Zaria Family. Mira settled back in the room she was staying at before and left to get the group that was behind them. That group paid for their entry and found Mira. Mira then brought them to the Zaria Family as discreetly as possible. She brought them to therge courtyard and had Maria or Erika start setting up ces for them to stay. They will all just stay in the courtyard but had to find areas that were more out of the way.

    Groups of 10 kept entering the city at different intervals as Mira kept bringing them back to the Zaria House discreetly.

    Time passed quickly as the night rolled in and all 500 women were in the courtyard, with their sleeping spots arranged. Mira then talked to them.

    "Get some rest! We will discuss things further tomorrow." Mira still ended upmanding them even though she was supposed to be nicer. The women had also forgotten and justid down in their spots to sleep as Mira walked back to her room to continue giving energy to her beast egg.

 Chapter 58 Unarmed Combat Training Part 1/2

    Mira spent the whole night providing her Qi and Lightning to the beast egg. At the crack of dawn, she stopped providing energy to the egg and walked over to grab Maria. Maria was still asleep when she was all of a sudden dragged out of bed.

    "What are you doing so early in the morning, Mira?! I want to sleep! Aren''t you supposed to be nicer!" Mariained as she tried to crawl back into bed.

    "The hell? I''m going to train you in unarmedbat today! Now get your ass out of bed before I give you an early lesson!" Mira yelled at her and kicked her in the back to wake her up.

    Maria really wanted to cry right now. She''s been duped! How is this nice? She eventually got up and started to prepare for the day.

    "Go get your mother and father as well. I need to test what skills he gave my ''dear friend''. Meet me in the courtyard with everyone else. Go!" Miramanded Maria to participate in more training.

    Maria then left to go get her Mom and Dad. They were still asleep, but all of a sudden they heard a knock on the door.

    "It''s Maria!" Maria said through the door.

    "Come in, sweetie!" Erika said with a tired voice.

    "What is it, Maria?" Cole asked confused. They literally just got back and they are already up so early. He started to get a bad feeling.

    "Mira told me to get you and for both of you to gather in the courtyard. It seems she wants to start her training in unarmedbat today and wants you two to join. Oh! Dad, do you know any unarmedbat? I have a feeling Mira might use you as an example for the women." Maria exined to them.

    "Well, I know how to punch and kick. Cultivators don''t really learn these kinds of things as most things aren''t so close range." Cole tried to exin to Maria and she just nodded.

    "Well, good luck! Better you than me! WAIT! Maybe this is her way of being nice to me?" Maria tried to muse and felt that might be the case. Well, this was just what she hoped.

    Cole and Erika reluctantly got ready for the day and made their way over to the courtyard to meet with Mira and the others.

    Mira was currently in the middle of waking everyone up when they walked into the courtyard.

    "Today, we will be starting our course on unarmedbat! Many cultivators think that this type ofbat is useless, but I disagree! What if you forget or lose your weapon? What if your weapon breaks? What if you are too close or in a tight space where a weapon can''t be used? Weapons are big and are able to cause a lot of destruction, but fists don''t make a noise and if used correctly can be more effective than any weapon. It can also be used for assassination as well. Cultivators who focus more on tempering their bodies also believe that your body is the strongest weapon. BUT! Cultivators suck ating up with fighting styles without a weapon! This might be why fighting without a weapon is idiotic! But fortunately or unfortunately for you lot, I am here. You may find it presumptuous of me, but if you find someone who is more knowledgable than me in the way of unarmedbat then I would be truly surprised! Consider yourselves lucky that you get a Grandmaster as your instructor. I will show you guys an example of how useful fighting barehand can be! Cole! Come up here!" Mira finally finished her speech as everybody was a little suspicious. They didn''t doubt that she knew how to fight without a weapon, but to call herself a grandmaster with being less than 20 years old is a bit much.

    "Good luck, Dad! Your cultivation is higher, so you shouldn''t die!" Maria tried to cheer him up and pushed him over to Mira.

    "Limit your cultivation to mine and throw a punch at me." Mira ordered him and he did as he was told and lowered his cultivation to match hers then threw a punch at her.

    Mira grabbed his arm and leg and lifted him up off the ground then mmed him into the ground and put him in a chokehold. Cole tried to escape, but he could barely move his body especially now that his strength was limited.<sub> </sub>

    "Now that I have him like this, I can pretty much do whatever I want. I can''t break his neck, dislocate his shoulders, break his arms, or even move into a position to break his legs. Like this." As Mira was exining she was also showing them. She started choking Cole, she dislocated his shoulders and started bending his limbs in the wrong direction. His body is too strong for her to break so she doesn''t need to hold back.

    "Arg! Mira stop!" Cole felt like his body was bending in ways it shouldn''t and begged Mira to stop.

    "As you can see, even though he is a cultivator so am I. If he doesn''t have a lot more strength than me or the knowledge to counter what I just did, then he''s as good as dead. This is just one of the styles ofbat that I have learned and mastered. What I just showed you works great if you are against arger opponent as you can use that to your advantage. That''s what''s great about fighting with your body, you can use the enemies'' strength against them. I even have my own style, but it''s not really meant for use during spars as most of the moves are instant-kill moves. I will now demonstrate the other styles that I''ve learned and mastered." Mira started to exin as she helped Cole up and punched his shoulders back into ce. She then had Cole try to punch and kick her like before, but she used a different move every time. Anywhere from Jiujitsu to Kick Boxing to Boxing to other styles from various worlds. Cole never managed to hit Mira and was only able to dodge some of the attacks, but Mira would instantly follow up after he dodged. Cole now started to regret agreeing to learn this type ofbat. Mira also isn''t weak even though she is only in the Qi Condensation Realm. She might even be able topare with Early Foundation Realm Experts. Her punches, kicks, and grapples hurt as she never once pulled her punches.

    Mira also started to have a dangerous glint in her eyes. Her eyes were turning into slits as she had a devious smile on her face. It''s been a while since she has fought something using only her body. It is truly exhrating! Unfortunately, Cole didn''t feel the same way. He was just getting beat up by Mira''s ruthless attacks. This day seemed like it was mostly a show and tell type of day for Mira to relieve some stress. As the whole day went by with her showing every technique that she knew as well as sharing her own knowledge. Cole punched at Mira onest time and Mira just threw him on the ground and stepped on his chest.

    "Obviously, I can''t teach you everything I''ve shown you today! I don''t have the time or patience for that and for all of you to master these techniques might take many years or even decades. Actually, if you wanted to master everything I showed you today, you might need at least a century, probably several. I will just teach you the more useful techniques. Punching and grappling will be dedicated to the morning and kicks will be dedicated to the afternoon. Feel free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day. Once I see that you understand the techniques then we can shorten these sessions until I see that you can at least use the moves well enough in a spar. Cole, Maria, and Erika will switch off being my partners and the 2 that aren''t my partners will be partners. I will also spar with the person I deem the worst at the end of the day. Learn these techniques as quickly as possible because I won''t hold my punches! That''s it for today! You are free to go!" Mira ended the day on this note. She stepped off of Cole and walked off.

    Maria and Erika ran over to Cole who was stillying on the ground.

    "Are you okay?" They both asked and tried to help him up. They noticed his body was messed up. He was bruised all over, some of his joints were a little out of the socket, and he even had some hairline fractures. Mira really didn''t pull her punches.

    "Ahhh! I''ll be fine. The devil finally left me alone. She really didn''t pull her punches, actually, it seemed she was rather enjoying beating on me. How are you not dead by now Maria? Does she always train like this?" Cole asked as he had a newfound respect for his daughter. Maria just scratched the back of her head andughed dryly.

    "Ehehe. I don''t actually know. She always pushes me inva, freezes me to death, beats me to death, sends me to ces that almost kill me, I actually did die one time, but was brought back to life. I''d actually say that you got off easy as you are strong enough to not be in a half-dead state right now. The most brutal thing that I''ve seen her do is how she started to train the women over there. Guess what she did to motivate them to train." Maria started to name a bunch of times where she had to suffer throughrge amounts of pain and torture.

    "By your tone, it was worse than those other things. Did she let lose magical beasts on them or something or make them fight each other to the death? I don''t know." Cole said as he tried to think.

    "She executed one of them in front of everyone and was about to kill the rest of them." She said solemnly as she still didn''t like that memory.

    "What?! She actually killed one of them and almost killed the rest of them? Why are they following her orders then? Isn''t that a bit much?!" Both Erika and Cole shouted at Maria in disbelief.

    "I''ll tell you a little bit about those women so you understand their position. They were captured as mortals by bandits and were abused and raped by them. They had their entire families and viges ughtered by the bandits. After Mira killed all of the bandits, she gathered all of the women that were captured together. They all looked lifeless like they wanted to die. Mira went over to one of them that had no hope left. She wanted her life to end so Mira killed her right there. She said that if one more person feels the way the woman she just killed did, then she would kill every one of them. Not all of them were able to say with confidence that they wanted to live, so Mira picked one of them out and psychologically tortured her along with forcing her to watch her ughter all of the people in front of her than killing herst just so she can know that she was the reason for all of those deaths. Thedy begged and begged, but Mira only stopped when she heard her give a suitable answer for living. After all of them agreed to live, she put them through a hellish training course and forced them to live in the Inner Region of the Forest after she left. I''d say that I had it easypared to them." Maria exined to her parents the situation. They never expected Mira to be so brutal. Did she not have any empathy for these people? Does she not care about their lives? How is this okay? And Maria watched all of this? How is Maria still okay? The more they thought about it the angrier they got. They could never do something like that.

    "I know what you are thinking. ''How could she do something like that?! Doesn''t she care about life?''. I thought the same thing after watching, so I asked her those questions. Feel free to ask her yourselves, but you probably won''t feel better after hearing what she says. You might not even understand what she''s saying. I want you to know that I feel that Mira did the right thing after thinking about it. Those 500 women wouldn''t be alive right now if she didn''t do that and they certainly wouldn''t be that strong. I think you two misunderstand Mira. While I can''t say she is nice or caring, I can say that she never acts on a whim, she acts without the slightest hesitation and puts in all of her efforts whenever she does something. She also never does anything for fun and is brutally honest about everything. She didn''t want to execute that woman nor did she enjoy doing it. If she wants you to know something, there is always a reason for it." Maria tried to cool down her parents a bit.

    "Very well Maria. I will trust your judgment. You seemed to have grown up quite a bit during your journey. Why don''t you tell us about your travels as well as your Magical Beast Companion, Vulcan? He doesn''t seem normal at all." Cole said as he patted Maria''s head as the 4 of them walked off as Erika and Cole listened to Maria walk with Vulcan sharing the stories from her journey.

    After Mira''s disy earlier, the 500 women started to prepare for Mira''s training. They knew that they would have to give this their all and a lot of them were able to put together that unarmedbat mighte up in the trial that was mentioned earlier.

    Mira had walked back to her room and continued to feed the egg her energy and blue lightning. She would also drop some of her blood onto the egg to see if that would do anything as well. Mira had no idea how to hatch an egg as the caretaker only said to provide her Qi and it needed lightning energy. Did she need to drop blood on it to form a connection with it when it hatched? Her blood might also be beneficial to the beast if it absorbs it while still in the egg. Mira decided that she didn''t want to resume cultivating until this thing hatched. She spent the whole night doing this until it was time to start training.

 Chapter 59 Unarmed Combat Training Part 2/2

    The next morning, everyone gathered back in the courtyard life yesterday. Mira made her way in front of everyone and started to talk to them.

    "Everybody pair up! I am going to actually show you how to do the moves that I want you to learn slowly. Generally, the best way to learn these techniques is just to spar with one another or to have the proper training equipment. I refuse to make something that will only be used for a couple of weeks or so. So that means that your partner is your training equipment. The better your partner is, the better the training. I will give a demonstration of how this is done as well. Cole, you should go find the people that you want me to take to the trials. One thing I almost forgot, make sure that they are okay with being away for around 2 years as that was how long we spent in the trial. There is also no getting around this time limit either. Remember the requirements I gave you yesterday." Mira said as Cole slowly nodded. Maria then ran up to Cole to remind him of something.

    "Remember that Mira hates men. I think it''ll be fine if you pick some boys, but make sure they understand not to approach her because she might just instantly kill them. I''m sure you don''t want that. Good luck, Dad!" Maria whispered as she gave him a thumbs up and a wink.

    Cole was really regretting all of this now. Even though Mira always wears a mask, anybody can tell that she is a beauty under that mask. It may be hard to prevent the young and fearless men from messing with Mira. Maria was right, if one of the guys rubs her the wrong way she might just kill him before anybody can stop her. That''s how quickly she makes a decision. No hesitation.

    Cole went around to everybody that he could think of. He started speaking to the parents that he trusted telling them that they had found a lucky encounter that could enhance the younger generation, but they''d need to be away for around 2 years. He also mentioned that someone is here to train them and help them pass the trials that are included. It was like a sales pitch.

    He was able to gather 4 girls and 2 boys that fit the requirements. It wasn''t that the Zaria family had ack of men, but that they didn''t fit the requirements right now. He gathered the 6 of them and started to prepare them for the training.

    "There are a few things that I have to warn you about the training that you absolutely must follow if you want to live, especially you two." Cole said to them in a stern voice and pointed to the boys. He did not want them to die for no reason.

    "We will be trained in unarmedbat and the person doing the training is a bit special. She is Maria''s friend but is brutal and ruthless. The unspoken rule seems to be to never talk back to her when she is training and to pretty much do everything that she says. As for you two boys, never, and I mean never approach her. Don''t try to hit on her, don''t talk to her, I don''t even want you to look at her. You might just die before I can stop her. Just please don''t piss her off. She''s helped Maria a lot and would be annoying to fight even though my cultivation is higher. She also doesn''t pull her punches if you ever spar with her, so beware. Oh, one more thing. There are 500 other people training with us. You can talk to them if you''d like, but they only listen to Mira so I''d be careful. They have also had plenty of bad experiences with other men as well, so I would not try to get close to them if I were you two. Okay, now that you know what to expect I''ll lead you to the courtyard." The six of them were surprised by everything that Cole just said. They were a bit skeptical as well, but since Cole warned them beforehand then they know what to look out for.

    Cole brought them to the courtyard and they saw the sea of women here who were all paired up. They all sensed new peoplee into the courtyard and turned to look at the new people at the same time. It was honestly very intimidating to be stared down by 500 women at the same time. They then heard amanding voice that came from the front.

    "Cole, your sure took your sweet time! Bring those 6 up here!" Miramanded.

    The six of them looked up to see who was talking to Cole like that and saw a little girl wearing a ck robe and a ck mask. They guessed she couldn''t be older than 14. They then felt the Stage 7 Qi Condensation aura from her and a chilling aura surrounding her.

    Cole brought the six of them up to Mira.

    "So these are the 6 you chose for me to escort huh? Do their parents have any problems with the way I teach? I don''t want someone trying to kill me because they go back half-dead." Mira asked as she scanned each person. These 6 people were all in the Qi Condensation Realm at different stages.

    "I will take responsibility if ites to that, just please don''t kill them." Cole said.

    "That will be up to them. Now then, do they know anything about fighting without a weapon?" Mira asked and one of the boys spoke up this time.

    "Of course I know how to fight without a weapon! Who doesn''t know how to punch and kick? How hard can this be?" The boy tried to show off a little. He took Cole''s warning to heart and didn''t do anything rash, but he still wanted to try and get this girl''s attention. Everyone in the courtyard stiffened when they heard him say that. Cole just facepalmed and Maria shook her head. They had to learn sooner orter.

    "Oh? So you think that fighting without a weapon is only punching and kicking? Very well. I want you to throw a series of punches or kicks at me. Everyone! This will be your first lesson on how to properly punch and the different techniques for fighting without a weapon! Pay attention!" Mira said as she gestured for the boy toe at her.

    The boy nodded and charged at her as he tried to punch her face. Mira lightly deflected the blow and punched him in the liver. She then used the hand that deflected the punch and knocked him in the jaw. The boy was fading in and out of consciousness by now, but Mira still had one more thing to demonstrate. But really she just wanted to show off a bit.

    "As you can see he is already dazed. He didn''t n out his attacks and only charged in recklessly. He had no idea what to do when I deflected his punch and couldn''t react fast enough when I punch him. What makes unarmedbat essential is not just knowing some of the moves and holds, but learning to judge your opponent and know what to do depending on what your opponent does. That''s why sparring is really the only way to learn this. Now I will show you something special. This is something that you can do if you synchronize your arm and body movements as well as having great muscle control." Mira said as she stood within arm''s length of the boy. She extended her hand like she was going to give him a handshake. She brought her hand to his chest then formed a fist about 2.5 centimeters away from his chest. She then popped her fist forward and it mmed into his chest. The boy flew back and Cole ran to go catch him.<sub> </sub>

    "That is called the one-inch punch. I went through the movements slowly so you could see what I did, but this is essentially a very close-range attack if you have perfect control over your body. There is also another variation called the six-inch punch that can be used a bit farther out and hurts a lot more." Mira exined the move to them. She then turned to the other 5 people that Cole brought.

    "Don''t try to show off in front of me like that boy. The only reason I ask is to see if I will have to reteach the shit that was taught to you. That would make my life harder, so I''d like to know beforehand. I already know that it''s impossible for you to know more than me in this field. Now, do any of you have experience in this field?!" Mira asked again and the rest of them just shook their heads.

    "Wait! Mira! Did you really have to be so rough with him? He''s going to need to heal for the rest of the day!" Coleined as he carried the boy.

    "I didn''t kill him so what''s the problem? He also tried to brag about his shitty moves and shame the way of fighting bare-handed! He said he knew how to punch and kick so I simply asked him to show me. He should''ve known that I don''t pull my punches, yet hees to challenge me like that?!" Mira shot back at him, then turned around to the rest of the group. Mira walked up to the boy and pped him until he woke up then walked back.

    "Now we can finally start the training session. I want one person in the pair to be the attacker and the other to be the defender. I will show you what the attacker needs to do and what the defender needs to do. Mariae here!" Mira said as Maria reluctantly walked up. Mira then got into a defending stance and gestured for Maria to attack her. Maria then started to throw punches at her.

    "What I want the defenders to do is focus on predicting each punch and deflecting the attack or grabbing their arm. These are essential to fighting without a weapon. There is also blocking, but that is not as useful when fighting cultivators that have weapons." Mira said and stopped Maria. She then told Maria to get in a defending stance and do what she was doing. Mira then started to attack Maria, but in slow motion, for everyone to see.

    "I want the attackers to focus on these kinds of attacks. There are 4 main punch attacks that I have found. Those are the jab, uppercut, hook, and cross. What I want you to focus on is how I position my body and rotate it whenever I throw a punch. A punch isn''t just throwing your fist out and hitting something. A proper punch requires you to use your core and to rotate your body to follow through with the punch. A punch requires your whole body to bring out its full power. Watch how I utilize my legs, feet, and body when I throw just a straight punch." Mira kept throwing different punches at Maria slowly as she taught everyone there.

    "Do this until I tell you to stop! Feel free to look up and watch me as I spar with these 3 for another reference. Cole and Erika! Come up here with Maria! We will start the training now!" Miramanded as they reluctantly walked up.

    "You three are not going to do what they are doing. You are just going to spar with me until you learn how to attack and defend properly! Let''s start with Maria!" Mira said as Maria just nodded her head and started to attack Mira.

    Maria was never able to hit Mira and was just beaten up. Mira then switched to Cole and did the same thing as yesterday with him. After Mira felt like it was time to switch, she told Cole to stop and Erika stepped up. She didn''t hold back with Erika either as she was beaten to a pulp as well. Mira still had time before she switched to grappling and started to spar with people that weren''t doing as well as others. After a while, it was finally time for the grappling lesson.

    "Alright, it''s time for me to teach you about grappling and different holds. Just watch how I  perform these grapples and holds. You will take turns with your partner being the one that is grappling and the one that is grappled until I say stop. Mariae here!" Mira brought Maria up again and started showing off the few ways to grapple someone and showed a few choke holds or arm holds that might be more useful for them.

    Maria only did this with Maria as she had the rest of the people watch. She didn''t want anyone else touching her, but Cole and Erika were thankful for this.

    After a while, the afternoon came and Mira told them to stop grappling.

    "I will now show you some different kinds of kicks. There are many different types of kicks, but I will only demonstrate ones I feel are the most useful for cultivators. There are a few good spots to kick. The body, head, and shin. There is also the knee kick if you get close to them. If you are against a male, feel free to kick them in the testicles. They definitely won''t want to after those pop." Mira exined as she started showing the different kicks that might be useful. The people didn''t necessarily need a sparring partner for this, but Mira wanted them to learn how to defend the kicks too as well as getting used to being kicked in those areas.

    Mira sparred with a lot of people this time, not just Maria, Cole, and Erika. She started picking out a lot of people from therge group. Mira picked one group towards the end that was doing the worst and started sparring with them. After they were bruised all over, it was finally time for the training to end.

    "We will be doing this every day before I deem you lot worthy of being called an amateur! When you reach that level, then you all will spar with each other with your weapons until it is time for me to escort you to the location of the trial." Mira said then left the area. Everyone sat down for a bit to rest before going off and doing their own thing.

    Mira continued to train these people until she felt that they were ready.

 Chapter 60 A Day Off

    On the morning of the 7th day of training, Mira was standing in front of everyone as she was about to make good on her promise from before.

    "We will not have training today! You are free to do whatever you want today! Go explore the city orze around, I don''t care what you do! But if you go around the city, go in groups as it might be troublesome if you go alone. I will be going around the city with Maria, anyone who wishes to join us may do so. Juste forward right now and we will prepare to head out!" Mira announced. They didn''t expect this training maniac to say something like this today. Maria was also surprised as Mira didn''t mention this before. People started to walk forward as they wanted to join Mira''s group. Alicia, 2 girls from the Zaria family, and 5 more people that were from the bandit camp joined them. One of the women from the bandit camp was the assassin that she started to train 2 years ago. They were the 2 women that were pretty decent at the martial arts that she was teaching, but she didn''t understand why the other 2 were here. She recognized one of the 2 women from the Zaria family. One of them was Ariel, the girl that investigated the ''Forest Goddess'' incident, but she didn''t recognize the other one.

    "We finally meet again, Mira. It''s been a few years. I''m Ariel Zaria if you don''t remember." Ariel re-introduced herself.

    "Thank you for training us, Mira. I''ve been wanting to talk to you this past week, but never got the chance. My name is Avery Zaria." A girl with dirty blonde hair approached her and introduced herself as Avery. Then the 5 women from the bandit camp introduced themselves to everyone as well.

    "My name is Be. I''m d that Miss Mira decided to take us in and train us. You have truly changed not only my life but theirs as well. Thank you!" One of the women that were good at martial arts said. She had average brown hair and brown eyes like most of the viger women.

    "My name is Flora, Miss Mira. I hope that I can join you today!" The other girl with brown hair and brown eyes that was good at martial arts introduced herself.

    "My name is Raven, Miss Mira. Thank you for training and guiding me." Raven had ck hair and hazel-colored eyes. She was the assassin that she was training a while ago.

    "My name is Isabe! Thank you for saving me 2 years ago and training me, Miss Mira! I''ve been able to make a lot of new friends and have been granted a new life because of you!" A shorter and livelier girl said. She had dark blonde hair.

    "My name is Katie. I''m not particrly skilled at anything, but I hope that you continue to take care of me in the future." A shy girl introduced herself. She had light brown hair and brown eyes.

    "My name is Alicia! It''s nice to meet everyone!" Alicia said.

    "Let''s all get along and have fun today! Oh! My name is Maria by the way!" Maria said excitedly.

    "I see. I''m Mira. Go get ready to leave. Maria will be the guide for today." Mira said as everyone went off to get ready to leave. Mira just kept on her ck Daoist robe and ck mask. She even borrowed a pair of ck gloves so nobody can see the color of her skin.

    Soon, everyone came back wearing clothes that were nicer than what they usually wore. The viger girls just wore the best thing that they had, while the 3 Zaria girls all wore hanfus. Maria wore a pink hanfu with a golden lining, Ariel wore apletely white hanfu, and Avery wore a red hanfu with a golden lining.

    "Let''s go!" Maria eximed as they made their way out of the Zaria house and towards the rest of the city.

    Maria was so excited about this day that she held Mira''s hand while going out of the door and didn''t let go. Normally, Mira would''ve shaken it off, but she let it slide this one time.

    They were getting a lot of attention because they were all beauties. Even though the vige girls weren''t the best-looking women, they were still cultivators. Bing a cultivator generally made someone better looking than when they were mortal. Plus the 3 Zaria girls, especially Maria, were very beautiful. Mira''s body was almostpletely hidden, but people guessed that she was a beauty as well. But they could feel a chilling and malevolent auraing from her which made most people not focus on her.

    "Why are you wearing that mask, Mira? I''m sure that you are beautiful under that mask!" Avery decided to ask.

    "It''ll only cause trouble if I show my face. I''m not arrogant when I say this, but the first thing people say when they see me is Goddess. This is the only way for me to walk in a city peacefully." Mira exined and the 8 other women nodded simultaneously.

    "It''s true! Mira''s way too pretty to be walking around a city without the strength to threaten the city!" Maria eximed as the others nodded as well.

    "Really? Can I see? I''m a little skeptical about that." Avery asked as she doubted that someone could be that beautiful, but everyone seemed to agree that she was. She definitely wanted to see someone like that.

    "Maybeter." Mira said as they continued walking as they forgot about that conversation. They then made their way to a dress shop. The 6 vige girls wanted to get something that was a bit better looking than what they currently have. The Zaria girls were happy to go shopping with them and Mira just tagged along. While the other girls were shopping, Mira decided to buy some more Daoist robes for future travels. She bought 10 more Daoist robes in her size. It cost her 10 Spirit Stones as they were actually made from magical beasts.

    "Mira! Come here!" Mira then heard Maria calling for her. She hesitantly walked over to her as she didn''t know what she was nning to do. Mira reached Maria and got dragged into a dressing room with a stack of dresses and different clothing to try on. All 9 girls were in the dressing room as well.

    "I''d rather not try any of these on. Especially the dresses that don''t cover all of my body. If I have to try these on and wear one, then it will be a hanfu." Mira stated firmly.

    "Eh? We just want to see what you look like in a dress! But you will have to wear a hanfuter as we will be going to a restaurant." Maria persuaded Mira. Mira really didn''t want to do this, but a promise is a promise. She just sighed and slightly nodded.<sub> </sub>

    "Yay!" Maria jumped up as she started to remove Mira''s ck robe.

    Maria then put a red dress with white stitching on Mira. It went down to her knees, only had straps that went over her shoulders and showed off her small cleavage. Mira''s skin was like a refined Icy-Jade and was incredibly beautiful. This matched her Icy silver hair as well. Maria then took off Mira''s mask as nobody could see Mira other than them. Her cole chiseled face appeared in front of everyone. A face that would even put gods to shame. Her wine-red eyes that now had small blue veins in them were incredibly deep and intoxicating. She was like the ideal look for any woman. She only needed bigger breasts, but really, she didn''t. The rest of her features are too beautiful that you don''t even want to look at her chest. Avery just sat there staring at Mira. She had the same reaction as everyone else.

    "WOOW!! You look so beautiful in that dress, Mira!! You make me want to snatch you up and keep you for myself!" Maria started to yell in amazement.

    "It seems you became even more beautiful since thest time I saw you, Mira. I didn''t even know that was possible. You are definitely the envy of all women in the world and will constantly be chased by men." Ariel said in a little bit of disbelief as the others said something simr. They couldn''t even feel jealous as Mira seldom showed off her looks and they could also see never-ending trouble if they had those looks.

    "Now I understand when you said that she is just too beautiful. That would be an understatement for what I''m looking at right now!" Averymented when she came out of her stupor.

    Everyonemitted this scene to memory as they kept making Mira try on clothes. Eventually, Mira went ahead and bought a ck hanfu that had red flower embroidery on it as well as a red sash. Mira walked out of the store while wearing this hanfu and her ck mask as the rest also bought hanfus and changed into them.

    All 10 women were now wearing beautiful hanfus as they made their way over to a restaurant of Maria''s choosing. They soon found the restaurant and it was called the Lunar Fox Restaurant as it was named after the city. It is also one of the best ces to eat in the city as well.

    The waitress saw this group of beautiful women and gulped. These women looked stunning in their clothes, which only made Mira seem even more beautiful than the rest of them even though she couldn''t see her face. But she was sure that there was a beauty under that mask, it was just too overwhelming that she needed to put on a mask.

    "P-P-Please, a-allow me to guide you to your table, Honored Guests!" The waitress stuttered as she tried to be as polite as possible as she brought them over to a table that could seat 10 people.

    Once they were seated and ordered the food that they wanted, the girls then began to talk.

    Be, the vige girl that was good at martial arts asked Mira something this time.

    "How do you know so much about unarmedbat, Mira? Especially when nobody fights with their body that much." Be asked and everybody else was also interested.

    "That question is a bitplicated to answer how I learned, but I guess you could say that I learned it from fighting for countless years. I trained at any ce that taught a different style. I would then spend years practicing and fighting as I traveled to the next ce that taught a different style. I would fight anybody and everybody to master the techniques. Before I was a cultivator." Mira tried to exin as much as she could without saying that she was hundreds of years old and was reborn in different worlds that didn''t have Qi.

    "Why did you want to learn those styles? What was the point? Do you enjoy fighting without a weapon?" Flora asked this time. She disregarded the part about before being a cultivator and practicing for years as she knew she wouldn''t get an answer to those questions.

    "I was searching for ways to get stronger and increase my battle prowess. The point of learning those different styles and techniques was to kill! I hate using a sword and other weapons other than a scythe. I''m terrible with anything other than a scythe. I just don''t have any affinity with any other weapon. I couldn''t use a weapon well and didn''t have a scythe, so I only had my limbs to use. I would beat and kill anybody that was in my way with my bare hands instead of with tools. You could say that I enjoy fighting like that. You can feel your opponent''s body break when you smash them with your legs and fists. It feels like you are doing something. But nothing beats using a scythe though. Using my fists is only a hobby now." Mira answered back with a detailed exnation. Everybody was a bit surprised by that answer too. Mira is terrible with the sword? That just doesn''t seem possible. Raven then decided to speak up.

    "I''ve been wanting to ask, but why did you kill that woman after you killed all of the bandits? I feel like there might''ve been a better solution where she could''ve lived with the rest of us. She could''ve been happy like us." Raven asked and the mood at the table dropped. Mira wasn''t bothered by this question though.

    "There are several reasons, but the main one is that there was no way she would''ve lived past that day. If I didn''t kill her, then she would''ve done so herself. This might''ve created a chain reaction in the group of women and a lot more might''ve followed in her footsteps. The likelihood of everyone dying would''ve skyrocketed if I didn''t kill her. Could you really be happy right now without my scythe lingering over your head? Seeing someone killed in cold blood like that can stimte your survival instincts and create the need to live. I could''ve made a lot of different choices that day, but ultimately there wasn''t a wrong or right choice. I did what I felt was best. I guess another reason is I could see myself in thatdy too. It''s easy for me to kill her, but hard for her to do that to herself. I might as well just end her suffering." Mira exined her thoughts on the matter and Raven was surprised by that answer. She didn''t expect that Mira had actually thought about it so much and it seems that she needs to change her thought process a bit.

    "Have you been practicing your assassination skills, Raven?" Mira decided to take the initiative to ask.

    "Yes, I still worked on them. Thedies have gotten much better at sensing my presence and forced me to ovee that. I still feel like an amateur, but I''m much better than 2 years ago." Raven said with a hint of pride as Mira just nodded. Ariel and Avery were wondering what they just heard. Assassin? This girl was training to be an assassin?! They never would''ve guessed! How scary!

    Soon their food came and they continued to talk with each other while they ate. The vige girls felt a bit closer to Mira than before as they actually got to hear a little bit about her life.

    More and more people were strolling into the restaurant now and Mira''s table was the point of focus for everybody. There were a lot of men that were whispering to each other and wanting to go over there and talk to them. Most people knew Ariel, Avery, and Maria. Nobody knew Mira and the others though. But everyone was extremely pretty.

    Soon, a handsome young man came walking up to their table.

 Chapter 61 Scene At The Restaurant

    A young man started to walk to their table and caused all of the people in the building to watch envy and expectation.

    Mira''s table went silent when they noticed this guy walk up to their table. He came walking up near Maria and started talking.

    "Hello,dies! My name is George Rineheart. I just happened toe to this establishment when I noticed your beauty. I know Ariel and Avery here, but I don''t recall anyone else. Might you, beautiful, be willing to let me have dinner with you." George spoke to the table but asked Maria if she wanted to have dinner. He then started to move his hand and fingers through Maria''s hair.

    Maria started to panic a bit as it would be really bad if this guy died. Luckily, he didn''t go up to Mira or things would''ve been really bad. She didn''t want to outright reject him either so that he didn''t get upset and try to retaliate. The rest of the girls here didn''t know that Mira hated guys and especially these types of guys. Finally, Maria spoke up.

    "I apologize, but this is my only day off and I promised my friends here that I would spend it with them. Maybe next time." Maria just tried her hardest to have this guy just go away peacefully, but things wouldn''t necessarily go her way as he seemed reluctant to leave even though he was rejected.

    "What a shame. But if you already made ns then don''t mind me. What about the rest of youdies? I would love for one of you to join me. I promise to make it worth your while." George gave a handsome smile as he wanted to look charming for the women here. The 6 vige girls spoke up first.

    "Sorry, but if our Instructor caught us ying around with men she might actually kill all of us. This is our only day off before we have to go back to our instructor so we''d like to spend it with each other." Alicia read the mood and determined it would be bad if something were to happen between them and this guy. She also remembered the name Rineheart when Mira was talking about the city 2 years ago. The other girls nodded at this and the guy frowned a bit as he didn''t expect all of them to reject him. Maria started to visibly panic now when she saw him frown and looked over at Mira to see what she was going to do. Ariel also caught onto this as well, and when she looked into the slits in Mira''s mask, she could feel a massive killing intent. Ariel started to shiver a bit as she just realized that Mira wasn''t brutal just for show. No, she was actually ruthless, brutal, and domineering. She''s heard the saying ''a wolf in sheep''s clothing.'' but this was more like a dragon in sheep''s clothing.

    "Ahaha, George. As much as I''d love to, today is really not a good day for this. Actually, today might be the worst possible day for this. If you want to arrange something with me or Avery, then talk to your father and have theme over to the Zaria Family and talk with Mr. Cole. We can talk about this then, but I''m going to have to ask you to please leave us alone before this gets out of hand." Ariel said very gracefully, like a true noble. She even gave him a way of contact to discuss this at ater date. Even if he is stupid, he shouldn''t be that stupid.

    "I agree with Ariel. Today is a very bad day. Feel free to contact Mr. Cole and our parentster if you want to attempt to move forward with something like this. It might not be such a great thing for both of our families if the other families see both of us getting together and having dinner with each other. We will have to discuss this with our parents and the Family Head. Thank you." Avery also said with elegance, but also with impatience. This guy was just too greedy.

    Now there was only 1 person left and everyone looked over at Mira and Mira had just put down the cup she was drinking out of and caused everyone at the table to stiffen their backs and sit straight up. The whole room went silent with this action as everybody stopped eating and talking and just sat straight up as they looked in Mira''s direction. The atmosphere became suffocating like they were in the presence of a ruler or a god. George gulped loudly as Maria, Ariel, and Avery lit their talismans as they hoped someone would get here quick enough to diffuse the situation. Soon, everyone heard a chillingughe from Mira.

    "Hehe." Miraughed, but it didn''t feel like augh to everyone else.

    "Maria. What should I do? I promised that I would be more friendly with you and I feel one of those requirements is to ask you for your opinion in times like this." Mira tried to lightly ask Maria, but all of the girls started to sweat as they started to feel their lives were at stake here.

    "EEK!" Maria squealed when she heard her name be called, but Mira wasn''t done and red at Maria and spoke in a deathly chilling voice.

    "However, there is only one piece of advice that you are allowed to give me. Now, what should I do, Maria?" Mira said again and caused Maria''s whole body to tremble. The other girls at the table now understood why Mira was someone that nobody wanted to upset. When she was training them, she was being nice. They have never truly seen Mira in a bad mood or angry.

    "I-I-I-I-I don''t know. Please don''t do anything rash. Just let him leave. This will be my only request of you. He didn''t mean anything by it." Maria kept stuttering as she didn''t know what to answer. When George heard Maria, he knew that he might''ve made a mistake. He was about to say something, but a wave of thick killing intent filled the room as the temperature immediately. Everyone in the restaurant felt suffocated and then saw Mira wield a scythe in her hands as she stood up.

    "Please stop this Mdy! He didn''t do anything wrong! I don''t know if he offended you, but isn''t it too much to kill him over this! We all saw what he did! Don''t think you can get out of this alive if you kill him!" People starting yelling in favor of George.

    "You''re right. How could I forget about the witnesses? Thank you for reminding me." Mira said with a sneer asrge Ice Needles formed above everybody. Mira then started walking slowly over to George. She then rested her scythe against George''s neck.

    "Now, seeing as I am in a good mood today and promised to be friendly today. I will be taking Maria''s thoughts into consideration. Normally, I would just kill you and everybody in this restaurant then be done with this whole mess. But, I will give everyone here a chance to live. Only if you swear to the heavens that you will not reveal our identities or the events that have happened today or may the heavens strike you down. If you make that promise, then you all may leave here with your lives intact. Well, that''s if everyone in here does that. If one of you happen to not say the oath then I might as well kill everyone here. You have 15 seconds to decide." Miramanded as the scythe inched closer to George''s neck and the needles started to fall on top of everybody''s heads. Almost everybody started pleading to the heavens as death lingered over them and the room was now filled with energy sent from the heavens as it approved the oaths. The killing intent and Ice Domain had effectively prevented them from moving. Soon, only George was the only one in the restaurant that hasn''t said the oath.

    "I see, it seems you have chosen not only your own death but the deaths of many. Farew-" Mira almost cut off his head when he started chanting the oath.<sub> </sub>

    "I, George Rineheart, promise to not reveal your identities or the events that have transpired today. If I break this promise in any way, then may the heavens strike me where I stand!" George promised to the heavens as more energy sent from heaven washed over him as it approved the oath. Mira stopped releasing her killing intent and Ice Domain. She also took back her Ice Needles as everything disappeared. Mira stored her scythe and walked back to her seat. As soon as she sat down, she heard people charging into the restaurant. It was Cole and 2 other people from the Zaria Family.

    "What''s going on in here?! Maria! Where are you?" Cole started screaming as he soon found Maria and ran over to her. He then noticed a guy standing near her and the rest of the group.

    "Eh? George? What are you doing here? What''s going on?" Cole kept asking, but then he noticed something. The restaurant was silent and everybody had ashen faces like they had just escaped death. It was also very chilly in the restaurant. He then put 2 and 2 together and looked at Mira.

    "I see. Why don''t you head on back George. I will handle things from here." Cole said to him with a bit of pity. George just nodded as he slowly left the building. The 2 other men from the Zaria Family then approached Cole.

    "Do you know what''s going on here, Cole? Why is everyone here so frightened and why did my daughter activate her talisman? OH! Avery/Ariel! Are you alright? What happened?" It seemed these two men were the fathers of Avery and Ariel.

    "I think I have a good grasp of the situation. Why don''t we all go back and we can discuss this back at the Zaria Family." Cole suggested as everyone nodded. The 9 girls that were with Mira at the table were still frightened. Maria was scared as well and really wanted to just cry. They had never felt such an oppressive and thick killing intent. How much has Mira killed? Mira looked and seemed like a reaper of death, someone who has seen and caused too much bloodshed. Someone who will not hesitate to ughter thousands and thousands of people even if they did nothing to her. These thoughts utterly terrified them as they now understood Mira a bit more. These people had to plead to the heavens just to keep their lives all because 1 guy had pissed her off. One could say they got extremely lucky because if Mira was alone, they would all be dead right now. Now they knew, Mira did not like guys and it was to a ridiculous degree.

    Mira and the rest of them got up from the table and followed Cole and the other 2 out of the restaurant. As soon as they left, everybody in the restaurant let go of the longest breath of their entire lives. Even being face to face with the City Lord isn''t that terrifying.

    Everyone soon made it back to the Zaria Family as they all made their way into Cole''s study. Cole then turned to Maria.

    "Why did you call me? And what happened?" Cole asked, but he already knew why.

    "Well, um, you see. George was, uh, asking us to join him for dinner. All of us denied him and he looked over at Mira as she was thest to answer. And well, I think you can put the rest together. I called you to make sure he doesn''t die." Maria tried to exin as she was still a bit shaken up.

    "What?! That''s the only reason?! Why would George have to die for that? Sure, he may have been a bit pushy and greedy to expect an answer from everyone, but I don''t think that warrants death." One of the 2 menined and the other one nodded. Cole was about to speak until Mira walked forward.

    "Maybe to you it doesn''t warrant death, but do you know what it''s like to be looked at like nothing but a piece of meat? That''s how he was looking at us. He clearly had ill intentions towards one or all of us. What the fuck do you know about being a woman? If someone approaches me with ill intentions then the only thing that they deserve is death. Normally, I would''ve killed everyone in the restaurant after I killed him, but I told Maria that I would be friendlier towards her when we were out today and she didn''t want me to kill him. So Ipromised. I made him and everyone in the building swear to the heavens that they won''t talk about the events today or our identities. You could say they got off quite easily. Well, if I see him again, then he will lose his head though." Mira exined to the man as a vein popped out of the side of his head. He was about to argue back, but Cole interjected.

    "Now, now. This is Mira. She''s the one that will be taking your daughters to the trial that she and Maria found. She is also training them in unarmedbat to help with one of the stages." Cole diffused the situation like an expert.

    "Heh, this little gir-" He was about to say when Cole coughed loudly.

    "Please don''t make the situation worse. I can attest that her skills in unarmedbat are at the level of an expert. You won''t be able to find anyone better than her. Anyways, let me talk alone with the girls for a second." Cole exined as he now just wanted to end this and get back to his day off. The 2 men just scoffed and left the room. Mira then turned to everyone there.

    "I seem to have made you all ufortable with my disy. Fret not, as I only get this way whenever I see some perverted asshole! I cannot stand anyone that looks in my direction with those intentions! If you see me in a different light now. Well, that fucking sucks for you. You might even be wondering how many people I''ve killed. I can only tell you that the number is too high to keep track of. A lot of those deaths are people that had lewd thoughts about me. Let this be a lesson to you all." Mira said as Cole then walked towards the other girls.

    "I apologize for her behavior. I should''ve remembered and told you all that she doesn''t like men and will kill them on sight if they walk near her. Well, at least nobody died and things seemed to be fine at the end of the day. Feel free to spend the rest of the day doing whatever you like." Cole said in a sweet voice as everybody had now regained their bearings. It was definitely a terrifying experience, but they already knew Mira wasn''t a nice or good person.

    All 10 of them walked out of the building as Maria regained her joyful attitude and gave them a tour of the building. Everybody chatted with each other in this tour and it took up the rest of the night. Mira and the others then went back to their rooms or the courtyard to sleep and prepare for another day of training.

 Chapter 62 Preparing For Departure

    Everybody woke up the next morning and went back to the courtyard for more training. Mira had spent the whole night providing her energy, lightning, and blood to the beast egg, but there were still no signs that it may hatch soon. Mira was seriously wondering what to do as she didn''t know if it was supposed to take this long or maybe the beast is just that strong. Mira shook these thoughts out of her head and made her way to the courtyard. She felt a couple of stares on her as she walked through the courtyard but just ignored them.

    She then began training them in unarmedbat like she has been for the past week. Mira sparred with Maria, Cole, and Erika along with a couple of other people that she would randomly pick out from the group. At the end of the training, Mira had an announcement for everybody.

    "It seems that everybody is able to use the techniques I showed you. While I can''t say that you are at the level of amateurs, at least you aren''t dead weight. Starting from tomorrow, onwards we will have a tournament every day. Now with so many people, it would take way too long for it to finish. So you all will split up into 5 groups and those 5 groups will spar with each other. The winners of each group will then spar with each other to determine the winner. The people overseeing the groups will be Me, Maria, Cole, Erika, and Vulcan. Cole and Erika will spar with the 5 people leftover. I will not hand out rewards for the winner as that is the purpose of the trial you are going to, but the people not in the top 5, excluding Erika and Cole as they have other things to do, will have to fight in a 1 vs All fight with me after training is done. I do hope that you can keep me entertained for at least a little bit." Mira announced and then walked away as she went to provide more energy and blood to her beast egg.

    Everybody spent the rest of the day doing their own thing as a lot of people kept practicing the martial arts that Mira was teaching. Many people found it fascinating and a great stress reliever. Now that there was a tournament, the women started to put in more effort as even the 2 boys that joined in on the training were spending a lot of their free time trying to improve this style ofbat.

    The next day started and so did the tournament. It wasn''t anything official and the girls here were generally trustworthy with who won and who lost so there wasn''t much of a reason to watch over them other than them knowing that someone is watching. Mira had each group have 5 pairs sparring with each other at a time as a result of this. This sped up the process by quite a bit.

    Soon, the winners from each group were decided, and the sparring for the top 5 began. If Erika and Cole didn''t ce in the top 5 then none of the women would have to join in on a 1 vs All fight with Mira and no matter what, only a total of 2 women would have to join in on the fight. The women that had reached this point fought with all of their heart, as they really didn''t want to fight Mira. Even if she was against all of them, nobody here knew unarmedbat, hell even just generalbat as much as her. Cole and Erika weren''t expecting them to be going all out like this and had actually lost and got 6th and 7th ce. Of course, since they were much stronger than the other, Mira gave the women a bit more of an advantage as they didn''t need to knock them out. They only needed to get 5 clean hits in before Cole and Erika lost.

    Afterward, Mira gathered all of the losers and had a 1 vs All fight with them. Of course, it was in unarmedbat and not regr fighting or sparring. Even so, Mira still wiped the floor with them. The girls tried to surround her, but it didn''t matter because Mira could take each of them down in a single hit. She just stormed through one side before beginning to destroy the rest of the girls. Mira could''ve defeated them in a single hit, but chose not to. She wanted them to suffer just a little and would often use them as a shield, throw them around or knock them unconscious and use them as a weapon. It was a rather violent and brutal scene as everyone ended with bruises all their bodies and some minor fractures. This was proof, not just of how much stronger Mira is, but her experience in battles as well. These women haven''t been able to fight to the death with other people and only with magical beasts. Humans fight much differently than magical beasts.

    "What a pathetic disy. You had no strategy and just rushed at me. And to think I saw potential in you being a unified group. I expect better performances tomorrow." Mira said as she looked down on all of them and left.

    Mira repeated what she did yesterday as she continued to provide sustenance to her egg.

    The days and weeks went by simrly. There was a tournament every day and sometimes there were 2 tournaments in a day. Mira would spar with anyone that wasn''t in the Top 5 and she would find out if Cole and Erika had something to do after training. If they had nothing, then she would force them to fight in the 1 vs All fight afterward. Mira also tortur-*Ahem* sparred with Maria a lot as well. Maria was incredibly bad at fighting without a weapon. Mira remembered when she was tragically awful with the sword and sighed. Maria sucked at being a cultivator in her opinion, but then again Maria always had a smile on her face like there wasn''t a care in the world. Mira then felt like Maria might die at some point in the future due to her carefree attitude and carelessness. So Mira started to train her harder in martial arts. She''s alreadye this far with Maria. The only way for her to have someone to join her at the peak is to forge one herself. She will torture Maria, train her in everything she knows, and increase her battle prowess as much as she possibly can. Mira realized that she would rather not see Maria die, especially not after years of training and effort. If Maria dies, then fuck friends, fuck trying to have someone join her at the top, Mira will just have to ept that being alone is just her destiny.<sub> </sub>

    Mira was thinking about this as they were sparring, well Maria was just getting beaten up. After their training, Mira talked to Maria a bit.

    "Maria, why do you want to follow me? Why do you try so hard to be my friend? You do know that you will have to perform unspeakable acts in the future if you want to follow me. I will not allow you to just sit on the sidelines and watch." Mira asked as Maria was a bit stunned by the question.

    "I don''t really know how to answer that. I just get the feeling that I will not regret following you. And look! So far I''ve been right! I''ve gotten so much stronger and so many benefits just from following you. As far as me trying to be your friend, I feel like even though I am theplete opposite of you, you are able to keep me in line and lead me in the right direction. I''m not the smartest person and I don''t always make the best decisions. I don''t know a lot about the world and am ignorant about a lot of things. I''m also naturallyzy and hate pain or training even though I know it''s necessary to get stronger. You can assist me with this and all I have to do is be myself around you! OH! But you also get something as well. You are a terrible person and hate just about everything other than fighting, training, and killing. I can help you be a better person since that''s something that I''m good at! Though you don''t really listen to me, but if you did then that''s what I can give to you." Maria said with a smile on her face.

    "I see." That''s all Mira said back. That was probably the dumbest thing she''s ever heard, but at least Maria was sincere about her thoughts. Mira only wished that Maria didn''t suck at anything regardingbat. She has to spend way too damn long trying to get it through that thick skull of hers. Both of them could be utilizing their time better if she just understood things faster. It was like there was still a small child where her brain should be, but even a small child might have betterprehension skillspared to her. Mira just sighed at that idiotic answer and walked back to her room to continue providing energy to her egg.

    After a full month of training and sparring in martial arts, the group Mira was training had finally gained her approval as a bunch of amateurs. This doesn''t mean that they are as good as amateurs in worlds without cultivation. No, those people are much better than this lot that Mira is training. She is calling them amateurs in her own right. They know just enough to be able to embark on the path of martial arts even though most probably won''t use it in the future unless they need to. All they really know how to do is dodge, deflect, and attack properly and barely know the styles that she taught as they can''t just be learned and mastered in a month.

    "Today marks that day that the training ends. You should have the knowledge and skill to be able to pass the stage in the trial as long as you use your brain a bit. I''m calling you amateurs, but you lot don''t even deserve that title. I''ve only taught you to attack and defend properly as the path of unarmedbat is not something that can be learned and mastered in a single month. I will now give you some knowledge about the trial. The first half will take around 10-11 months if you are able to pass every stage. You will mostly be killing magical beasts in there, but they disappear when killed. Since you are all in the Qi Condensation Stage, then eating isn''t that necessary anymore as your bodies are nourished with Qi. Even though that''s the case, eating is still plenty beneficial to you and can even be a great stress reliever. If you want food to eat, then you better prepare that beforehand as you will only be able to eat the monsters you kill in the 1st stage. When you reach the halfway point, you should be gifted a ring that has a bunch of rations in it. If you don''t have a space ring or can''t afford one, then you might just have to wait until the halfway point to eat. Though it''s not likely that you will have time to eat during these stages. The next half of the trial will also take a minimum of a year with up to a few months added onto that depending on how fast you clear the trials. You will have food with you by this point, so feel free to eat whenever you can. The trials are brutal and unrelenting, but if you stick with it all the way then the benefits are massive. As for you 500 women. I expect all of you to pass the trial. You will be alone for 2 years, but use this time to create a sense of uniqueness in you and your fighting style. If you allplete the trial, then your bonds with each other may grow as well even though you will be alone for it all. Just know that you will have a very difficult time in the first half of the trial. If you can receive all of the benefits from the first half then the second half will be much easier for you, but if you can''t receive the benefits to their max potential then you will have a much harder time. I wille back in 2 years to guide you back to the city or wherever I currently am. By then, I will tell you what you should do next. Now go get ready! We set out tomorrow morning! Feel free to bring all of your stuff with you!" Mira said as the 500 women got down on one knee and yelled.

    "Yes, Miss Mira!!" They yelled this at the same time as Mira nodded and left.

    Everyone then began to prepare for the next 2 years of their life as even Erika and Cole were going as well. They had already made prior arrangements with people they trust, as well as the previous head of the Family to watch over the family in their absence as they go get stronger over the next 2 years. Maria also felt a bit of mncholy when she saw her parents preparing to leave.

    Mira didn''t care about any of this and just continued to provide energy and blood to the egg until morning came.

 Chapter 63 See You In Two Years

    The next morning everyone was fully prepared for the next 2 years and had gathered all of the things that they might need.

    Cole and Erika had arranged for the previous head of the Zaria Family to watch over it for the next 2 years as well as asking some of their trusted friends to make sure things keep running smoothly. The 6 Zaria family children that participated in the training over thest month also said bye to their parents as they might be away for the next 2 years. The vige women didn''t have family or things to prepare and only gathered the stuff that they currently have with them. Those who had space rings that they had taken from the dead bandits packed them full of food as that is what Mira rmended. Everybody was ready to set off now. Mira stepped in front of everyone to quickly talk to them.

    "We are about to set off. Me, Cole, Erika, Maria, and the 6 people from the Zaria Family will leave first. We will do the same thing we did when we first entered the city. Separate yourselves into 50 groups of 10 and leave at different intervals. We will wait for you in the same spot from 1 month ago. Let''s go!" Mira said as they separated into 50 groups of 10 and Mira left with the 9 others.

    They made it out of the city rtively quickly and made their way towards the part of the forest they hid at when they were entering the city.

    After a while, the groups of 10 started to make their way out of the city. It took several hours for everyone to make it out of the city, but it seemed nobody got stopped by the guards. Mira just nodded and told everyone to follow her.

    <o>,m They made their way towards the small cave at the border of the Core and Inner Region of the Forest at a rtively quick pace. There wasn''t anything for them to do in this part of the forest so they didn''t need to stop for anything. Magical beasts also didn''t mess with them while they were in the forest.</o>

    They only trekked through the forest for 3 days before they reached the area that the small cave was located. It was still hard to look for even though Mira had memorized the location of the cave. Mira had to look around for a whole day before she was finally able to spot the small cave that led to the ruins.

    "That''s the entrance to the ruins where the trial will be held. Look for a golem-looking creature who calls itself the caretaker and he will guide you around the city. He should be expecting around 500 people sometime in the future as I had mentioned to him that you lot will being here." Mira said as she turned to the 500 women that followed her here.

    "I wille back to pick you up in 2 years. I expect you all toplete the trial." Mira said to them as she got out of the way and gestured for everyone to enter the cave. They had to go in 1 by 1 as it was too small for several people to go in at the same time.

    "Goodbye, Mom and Dad! I love you and good luck! I will try to make sure that the Zaria Family is taken care of while you are gone. Stay safe!" Maria said to her parents as she hugged them. Maria started to let out small tears as well as she just got back to see her parents, but they are already leaving. Even though she will miss them, Maria knew that this is something that they should do and they are both almost 40 as well. If they wait much longer, they won''t be able to enter the ruins.

    "We love you too, Maria. Stay safe while we are gone and if you need to make any important decisions then feel free to consult Ariel and Avery''s Fathers. You can also talk to Mira about it, but if it involves the family then try to stick with asking people within the family." Cole said as he embraced his daughter.

    "That''s right Maria. We both love you. If Mira is still with you, then you can consult with her about any issues. I''m sure that she will be able toe up with logical solutions to any issues you might have. We will be sure to live and see you again in 2 years. Just wait for us, okay?" Erika said sweetly as Maria just nodded.

    After they said goodbye to Maria, they started walking into the cave. After they entered, everybody else followed and they were granted a spectacr view. After everyone entered, Mira and Maria turned around and left towards the city.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the ruins that the people just entered everyone was staring down at arge city that seemed to be empty and devoid of life.

    "Wow!" was the only thing that they could say as they took in this magnificent spectacle.

    Alicia was amazed that she got to see something like this in her lifetime. She never would''ve thought that she''d be able to look down towards an empty city that was hidden inside of a cave below the ground.

    After a while, they had awoken from their stupor as they walked down the path that led to the city. When they reached the end of the path there was a golem-looking thing that was seemingly waiting for them.<sub> </sub>

    "You must be the people that Mira and Maria had talked about. I am the caretaker of this ce and keep all of the buildings intact. I will also be the one that will lead you to the trial that my previous Masters set up here for future generations of cultivators. Please allow me to lead you towards your rooms where you can leave anything that won''t be necessary forpleting the trial. We can then start the trial tomorrow morning." The Caretaker said as it brought them throughout the city.

    Cole started asking the Caretaker simr questions that Mira had asked before she entered the trial. The Caretaker answered them in a simr fashion as he did for Mira.

    While Cole was asking the Caretaker questions, the rest of the people were looking around the ruins in amazement. The buildings were beautiful and everything about this ce screamed superiority and regality. Just looking at this ce alone was enough for the journey and to think this wasn''t even the tip of the iceberg that this ce had to offer for them.

    After a while, the Caretaker had finally arrived at the ces where they would be able to sleep for the night as well as store their stuff. After they decided on their rooms, most of the people went out to explore the city. They wanted to look around before it was time for them to sleep so they can prepare their mind and body for tomorrow.

    The girls started to look around the city and even tried to open the doors to the buildings, but found that they couldn''t even open a door here. They thought that the buildings might be locked, but when more of them tried, they realized that the doors were just extremely heavy. Arge group of them decided toe together to try and open one of the doors and had to spend a good hour just to open it enough for them to enter. They entered the building and found that it waspletely empty. They felt extremely dejected and left the building. They decided that looking around this city that seemed to be forgotten in time was enough for them.

    After walking around the city, soon it came time for them to rest as they wanted to prepare for the next day. The start of their never-ending hell.

    ***

    Mira and Maria were making their way back to the city when Maria started asking Mira some questions.

    "What are you going to do next, Mira? We have pretty muchpleted our journey into the forest and we aren''t quite strong enough to traverse the dangers of SkyTop Mountain." Maria asked curiously.

    "Hmm. The first thing I want to do is hatch the beast egg that I got. That is my highest priority right now. The next thing is to cultivate and get to the Foundation Realm, but this might take a bit longer. Plus I have a feeling that all of the Spirit Stones I have right now will be used up when that happens, so I will need to find a way to get some more. There are a couple of options that I am considering. I can either join a sect as sects generally have the resources necessary to forge strong cultivators or I can go to the mission halls in the city and take missions there to get rewards. I can then spend time trying to look for any lucky encounters as there are more areas around Lunar Fox City other than the Dark Moon Forest and SkyTop Mountain. They are just a bit farther away." Mira exined to Maria.

    "I see. I also want to see what kind of beast is in the egg. And I never would''ve expected you to be thinking about joining a sect. You seem like you are more of the loner type. You also like your freedom. Won''t a sect take this away from you?" Maria asked more questions as she tried to learn more about Mira.

    "I do prefer to be by myself, but the only thing I know how to do is fight. I don''t have the skills to gather various resources other than taking missions that involve fighting. Alchemy, Arrays, Inscriptions, Forging, and the other sub-skills are things that I know very little about. My knowledge is also very limited. I''m close to reaching the extent of my knowledge about the cultivation world. A sect can help improve these aspects that Ick as well as provide resources for cultivation. Sects may impede a bit on my freedom, but they are the ones that hold a monopoly over the resources. The only job of the disciples in the Sect is to get stronger and defend the sect in times of need or fight against other Sects in tournaments to determine who gets more resources. The resources that are allocated aren''t just for disciples either. They are for the Elders of the Sect as well. If I don''t want to rely on blind luck to progress through the Realms of Cultivation then joining a sect is the number 1 way to go. Doing random missions and looking for lucky encounters can also be done if you are in a sect as well, but the rewards will better since they are sent to a sect rather than the Mission Hall in the city. I also don''t have a problem with defending a sect as long as they defend me in my time of need as well. If they have enemies that they want to be eradicated then I don''t have a problem being the one to ughter. As long as I get what I want and need out of it." Mira tried to exin her general idea of sects to Maria as Maria just nodded. She''s heard of the sects in the city, but never thought much about joining one.

    "Can I join one with you if you join a sect? I want to continue following you!" Maria asked with expectation.

    "Feel free to do whatever you like. But you better make sure that it doesn''t conflict with the interests of your family. I''ve spent all of this time training you, it would be a huge waste of my time if you didn''te with me to a sect. I can also continue to train you in unarmedbat. I won''t let you stop practicing that until you be a master at it." Mira said with a smirk on her face.

    Maria just froze when she heard that Mira will continue training her even in a sect. She knew it would be a while before she ever mastered any of the martial arts that Mira taught. Her affinity with that style ofbat was even less than it was with a sword. It was like her body rejected fighting without a weapon.

    "Joining a sect will also be good for you too. You might be able to find something you are actually good at there. Anyway, we will discuss this more after my beast egg hatches." Mira said as they continued their journey back to the city at a leisurely pace.

    It took them 3 days to get back to the city where they immediately went to the Zaria Family and Mira continued to provide energy and blood to her beast egg.

 Chapter 64 Rhydian

    Mira and Maria got back to Lunar Fox City and went straight back to the Zaria Family. Mira wanted to spend the majority of her time trying to give her beast egg enough energy to hatch. She also wanted to spend time training Maria in martial arts as well. Mira didn''t have anything else that required immediate attention and training her body right now was out of the question. She also wanted to spend some time cultivating as well.

    Mira spent the rest of the day providing energy to her beast egg but felt that she needed an area where she could continuously provide her blue lighting to the egg. Mira spent the entire night freezing over her room and making countless shards of ice in the room. Mira then made an ice pedestal in the middle of the room with a metal rod in the middle. She would use this as a conduit to shoot off a bunch of bolts of blue lightning. Mira was satisfied with the result and set the beast egg on the pedestal as she sent energy into the egg and blue lightning into the pedestal.

    Blue lighting shot out of the pedestal in every direction as the whole room was filled with blue lighting and a freezing aura. The blue lighting would then start to be sent to the egg and was absorbed by it. Mira continued doing this until it was time for her to train Maria. Mira left the beast egg there as even though Mira wasn''t there to send blue lightning in the surrounding area, there was still enough residual energy left behind to provide at least a little bit to the egg.

    Mira found Maria cultivating alone in her room as she notified that she was here and dragged her away from her cultivation. Mira then proceeded to teach her about the techniques of various martial arts. Of course, Mira would only demonstrate it once before sparring with her. Mira knew that it would take Maria a long time to master these techniques or at least get to a point that she can fight back in the spars, but Mira still wanted to continue. After sparring with Maria for a few hours, Maria wanted to talk to Mira a bit.

    "Why do you want me to learn how to fight without a weapon so bad, Mira? I will hardly ever use these techniques because if I need to kill something, it is much more efficient to use a weapon." Maria asked as she truly didn''t understand why she needed to learn this.

    ? "You are right. If you are perfect and aren''t careless then you might never have to use any of these techniques. If you were extremely talented with a weapon then you might never have to use these. If your weapon never breaks or if you never forget your weapon or if you can make sure that you will never be without a weapon then you may never use these techniques. What will you do if you don''t have your weapon for whatever reason though? Roll over and die? Sure you may think this is useless and that you may never use these techniques, but one day this might save your life. That''s the difference between learning this and not learning them." Mira exined as she continued.

    "Martial arts is also not something that only affects you physically or sharpens your hand-to-handbat skills. It also provides a huge boost to your mentality. If you knew you were a master martial artist, but still fought with a weapon, how would you feel? Absolute confidence! You would know that even without your weapon, you could defeat your opponent. Learning martial arts can also improve your coordination, improve mental stamina, develop some self-discipline, and be a great way to relieve stress. Learning and mastering these techniques may also fill you with great satisfaction as you learned something with your own mind and body. There are no downsides to learning martial arts other than it takes up some of your time." Mira finished exining as Maria was in awe about how useful learning martial arts could be. Now that she thought about it, her mind does feel a bit clearer after practicing with Mira. It also did feel oddly satisfying to try and beat up something with your own fists. It was a great way to relieve any pent-up stress. Maria''s eyes shined brightly when she thought about this. Wouldn''t this make a great hobby or past time for cultivators? Cultivators generally live long lives and can have stress built up over many years. Of course, getting used to the stress is part of being a cultivator, but being able to relieve the stress would be amazing!

    "I see! I just thought you wanted me to learn this so you can continue torturing me. I didn''t expect there would be so many benefits to this! Even though I would still rather not continue training in martial arts, I will try to keep an open mind when learning from now on! Thanks, Mira!" Maria said with a silly smile on her face and Mira just nodded.

    "I''m going back to trying to hatch the egg. I don''t know how much longer it''ll take, but I feel like it needs more lightning energy now and less Qi. My lightning may not be useful for attacking, but it should still be enough for the beast to absorb and hatch. We will continue this tomorrow. Mira said and went back towards her room.

    When Mira reached her room, she started to make even more ice shards and crystals of varying sizes. She also made more mini pedestals in the room that are connected to the main one to spread out and provide even more of her blue lighting. When she ran out of Qi to give, she then started to feed it some of her blood. And after she felt like she had given enough blood for the day, Mira started to cultivate for a couple of hours. After cultivating, she would repeat the process of sending Lightning and Qi into the egg, train Maria in martial arts, providing blood, and cultivating. This schedule went on for the next month.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    A month after Mira had gotten back from escorting everyone to the trial.

    Mira was currently providing blue lightning and Qi to a beast egg on arge pedestal. The room she was in currently did not look like the same room a month ago. The whole room was frozen over and an ice blizzard had formed in the room. This blizzard was filled up with blue lighting and there was so much lighting in the room that one could not even see their hands if they looked for them. Mira had been gathering this much blue lightning for a while now as she was getting ready to send it all into the egg. Mira had one hand still on the egg and one hand on the pedestal. She then took a deep breath as she hoped this would be enough for the egg to hatch. This little fucker was really just a greedy ck hole.

    Mira then sent a strand of blue lightning into the egg as the beast inside the egg started to want more. The blue lighting then started to continuously be absorbed into the egg. It looked like the egg was slurping up lightning like it was eating noodles or something. The egg kept absorbing the Lightning until most of the lightning in the room was absorbed. There was actually some lightning left that the egg seemed to not want or need anymore. Mira looked expectantly towards the egg as she felt like it might hatch soon, but that never came. Mira then started providing it more Qi as well as giving it some of her blood.

    When her blood made contact with the egg, there was finally a change. Mira felt a strand of energy from within the egg reach out to her as the energy was sent into her body. Mira could then feel a tattoo start to form on her back as she realized that this little thing was about to hatch and that it had also just formed a Life and Death Contract with her. It kept absorbing her blood and Qi before Mira felt it stop. Mira then took the egg in both of her hands as she looked at it expectantly.

    The egg started to wiggle and move as she felt the beast trying toe out of the egg. It didn''t take long for a crack to form in the egg. Then another crack and another as more and more cracks started to form on the egg. Then the beast inside had finally made a breakthrough and made a hole in the egg. Mira was able to see something fluffy in the egg as she kept waiting, not wanting to help the beaste out of the egg. The beast seemed to be eating the egg as it broke off more and more pieces. Each piece it ate also seemed to increase its strength as well. It didn''t take long before the beast had eaten the whole egg and was now in Mira''s arms. When the egg waspletely gone, the entire room crackled with golden lightning that also had strands of blue in it. After a couple of seconds, all of the lightning flowed back into the beast as Mira was now able to take a good look at the beast.

    Mira looked down and was surprised by what she saw. It seemed to be a winged wolf of some kind. It was beautiful! It had thick golden fur and shiny golden wings. It also had ice blue stripes going down its back as well as a golden blue tail. It also had golden eyes with a blue lightning symbol in the middle of its eyes. It had a sharp set of wolf ears as it stood around 30 centimeters tall and 40 centimeters long and seemed to have a wingspan of 50 centimeters. It hadrge feet and looked about the size of arge wolf cub except it had wings. Mira then felt the auraing from the beast as it was actually a Peak-Stage Rank 3 Magical Beast. Mira also felt that it wouldn''t be long before it reached Rank 4. This shocked Mira to the core as she was expecting that she would need to try and find some way to elevate its strength to her level, but apparently, her thoughts were wasted as its cultivation was actually a little above hers. There was also one more thing Mira noticed. It was that she felt a strong connection with the wolf, almost like they were rted. She guessed that this was likely because of all of her blood that it had absorbed.

    Mira then looked at the tattoo that had formed on her back and it was a picture of a magnificent and powerful winged wolf.

    "It seems that I may have gotten quite lucky as you are already this powerful after just being born. I also bet that you aren''t just some ordinary Peak-Stage Rank 3 Magical Beast either. Well, you are nothing but a cub right now, but with proper training and going through various fights, I bet you can be much stronger." Mira said to the cub as it just tilted its head at her cutely and nustled up against Mira and fell asleep.

    "I guess breaking out of that egg would be quite tiring. I guess I shoulde up with a name for you. Let''s see. You are a winged wolf that controls lightning. I named Vulcan after a fire god. You seem to be a female so let me think of something that might suit you. Back when I was alive on Earth, there was a godly wolf in Japanese mythology called Raiju and a Chinese Lightning Goddess called Dianmu. I''m not that great at naming things so I''ll justbine the two. I''ll name you Rhydian. I will ask you if you like it when you wake up. But now that you are finally out of that egg, I can finally rest a bit. I''ve spent all of my blood and Qi on you over thest month *Yawn* I think I''ll take a short rest." Mira said as sheid down and went to sleep with the little winged wolf in her arms.

 Chapter 65 Rhydian Too Strong?

    Mira had fallen asleep with the little winged wolf next to her. Constantly giving all of her Qi away to the beast egg had definitely drained her mentally. Mira decided to take a nap to rest her mind. After a couple of hours of rest, Mira had awoken and found the little winged wolf standing on top of her just staring at her. Mira rubbed its head and sat up.

    "I see you''ve awoken. I''vee up with a name for you. It''s thebination of the name of a mythical wolf made of lightning and a Lightning Goddess. Your name will be Rhydian." Mira said as Rhydian started to wag its tail.

    *Woof**Woof*

    Rhydian barked at her happily as it seemed to like that name. Mira just nodded her head and got up. Rhydian jumped off of her and stood beside her as she waited for Mira to move. Mira noticed this and was d that she didn''t get some rambunctious little beast that didn''t listen to her.

    "I guess I should tell Maria that the beast finally hatched from the egg. She''s been losing her shit the past few days as she was expecting the egg to hatch. I think she was more excited to see you than I was. Well, I can also have you meet Vulcan. Speaking of which, I haven''t noticed what cultivation Vulcan is at after we left the trial. Let''s go, Rhydian." Mira said as they started walking towards where Maria is.

    After looking for Maria for a while they finally found her. She was also ying with Vulcan, but when Rhydian saw Vulcan she started growling as the hairs on her back stood up and strands of lightning shot across her back.

    *BARK**BARK*

    Rhydian stood in front of Mira as even though it was just born it still wanted to protect Mira. This is truly the loyalty of a wolf.

    Vulcan sensed the wolf and heard it barking at him. He looked at the wolf and also started to get into battle mode as bright orange mes started to circle around him as the two stared at each other.

    "Rhydian, that''s enough. You two can sparter. You see that girl standing next to that fox? That is Maria and the fox is Vulcan. Vulcan is Maria''s beastpanion." Mira tried to exin to Rhydian, but since it was just born, it didn''t quite understand human speech. But it did sense that Mira felt no danger and was trying to tell it to stop. She looked at Mira and slowly walked back towards her with her head down. Mira just bent down and rubbed its head as Mira then stood back up and noticed Maria looking at her with shining eyes.

    "IS THAT IT?! Is that the little beast from the egg?! How cute!! To think a wolf actually came out of an egg! WAIT! That''s not a normal wolf. It also seems to have wings. What''s its name? Is it a boy or girl?" Maria started bombarding her with questions.

    "Yeah, this little shit was the ck hole in the egg that sucked up all of my blood and Qi. As far as I can tell, she is some type of lightning-winged wolf. I named her Rhydian. She is at Peak-Stage Rank 3. It also seems that she mutated into a variant of her species when she absorbed my blood and lightning, but I have no idea what that means." Mira said as she introduced Rhydian to Maria and Vulcan.

    "Wow! That''s amazing! Can I pet her? She looks so fluffy and cute!" Maria asked and Mira just shrugged.

    "That''s up to her." Mira said as Maria started walking towards Rhydian.

    Rhydian saw Maria approach her and started to back away, but Maria just kneeled down and put her hands in front of her as a gesture that she wanted Rhydian toe to her. Rhydian just stared at Maria for a couple of seconds before looking at Mira. Mira just looked at her.

    "If you don''t want to go to her then don''t go. If you want to, then go." Mira said, but Rhydian just backed away and stood to the side of Mira.

    "I guess there''s your answer. You will have to earn her trust if you want to pet her." Mira said as Maria just pouted. She really wanted to hold the little winged-wolf.

    "Anyway, I just came to show you since you''ve been bothering me nonstop about it. I was thinking that I should kill a bunch of magical beasts to feed her. I don''t want to use all of my money just so I can keep her stomach full. I''m going to bring her to the Dark Moon Forest and start killing other magical beasts so she can learn to fight and control her strength. I don''t want an almost Rank 4 cub running around the streets. She might just start killing people by ident. Vulcan cane with as well, he might be able to give her some ideas on how to fight if she doesn''t know how already." Mira exined as Maria expected this answer. All Mira ever thinks about is training!!

    "I''ll go with you! I should gather food for Vulcan as well! I also want to see Rhydian in action!" Maria eximed as Mira just nodded.

    "Let''s go then." Mira said and started to leave the building. Maria already had everything she needed and followed Mira. Mira held Rhydian in her arms to try and cover up the wings as they are not natural for a wolf to have and Mira didn''t feel like being questioned right now.

    They swiftly exited the city and ran towards the forest. Mira had put down Rhydian and noticed that when she ran, her wings would extend and push her forward allowing her to take longer strides and move quicker. Mira had to admit that she was a little excited to be able to ride on Rhydian''s back in the future. The thought reminded her of how Valkyries would ride on a Pegasus. But Mira preferred the winged wolf rather than a pegasus as it fit her style more.

    They kept running deeper into the forest after they entered the forest and then went on the hunt. Mira just wanted to kill anything that moved and didn''t care about the rank of the beast. They soon spotted a Rank 1 beast.<sub> </sub>

    "Rhydian, go kill that beast. Show me what you can do!" Miramanded as the little wolf just looked at its prey. The little wolf was aware that Mira wanted her to kill this thing. Rhydian wanted to give it her all even if it was impossible for her to lose.

    Rhydian charged up her body with lightning. Gold lightning with blue streaks shot across her body as she shot towards the magical beast. It seemed like Rhydian was lightning itself as in a split second the magical beast just exploded into a bloody mess. There was almost nothing left of the beast. Maria just looked at this sight with wide eyes. It was a really good thing they went out of the city to work on having Rhydian control her strength as she might identally cause a massacre.

    "Oh? That was pretty quick. I also didn''t expect the Rank 1 magical beast to just explode on impact. I guess that''s to be expected. We will have to work on damage control though as I don''t want all of the magical beasts to blow up." Mira thought out loud.

    Rhydian came running back to Mira as it wagged its tail and wanted to be praised.

    "That was rather impressive, Rhydian. Though I expected you to be strong. Let''s go find the next beast." Mira said as they went off to find the next beast.

    It didn''t take long for them to spot another Rank 1 beast and Mira told Rhydian to kill this one as well but told her not to blow it up. Rhydian didn''t understand fully but guessed that she needed to do something different. Rhydian jumped up in the air and spread her wings. She then rained down her golden and blue lightning on the beast. The beast turned ck as the whole beast was burnt to a crisp. The beast then started to crumble and fell apart. Mira just sighed as it seemed that it will take a while for the beast to understand what she wanted, but it''s not like she did anything wrong. The beast didn''t blow up, it crumbled.

    "Hahaha!" Maria startedughing as Rhydian just came running back, expecting Mira to praise her for killing the beast. She was just like a little puppy.

    "Well, you didn''t blow it up so it''s a step in the right direction. Let''s go find another beast and Vulcan will show you how I want you to kill it." Mira said as she rubbed Rhydian''s head.

    They then ran off and soon found another Rank 1 beast and Mira told Rhydian to watch Vulcan kill it. Mira told Vulcan to cut off its head.

    Vulcan just ran forward at full speed and cut off the beast''s head with his ws.

    "That''s how I want you to kill the next one." Mira said to Rhydian as she just looked back at Mira.

    They found another beast and Mira told Rhydian to attack it like Vulcan. Rhydian rushed forward and gathered lightning in her wing. She hit the neck of the beast with her wing, but the force of the impact and the lightning blew up the head of the beast as it was being removed. Rhydian ran back to Mira again asking for praise.

    "I can''t tell whether these beasts are too weak or you are just too strong. Even Vulcan doesn''t just blow up the heads from the impact alone. Vulcan is also at the Mid-Stage Rank 3 and almost Late-Stage after absorbing that fire essence. We might have to stay here longer than I thought." Mira said as she tried to figure out what to do with Rhydian. The problem is that she has too much power, but doesn''t know how to limit her strength.

    Mira moved onto the next beast and just charged at it with her scythe and removed the head. Mira held the head in front of Rhydian and repeated "head" as she kept pointing to the beast''s head. Mira kept holding the beast''s head until they found the next beast. Mira held it out in front of Rhydian then pointed to the beast and pointed back to the head. Rhydian soon charged towards the beast and used her ws to remove the head. She didn''t cut off the head, no, she stuck her ws in the beast''s skull and forcibly removed the head. Rhydian then carried the head of the beast in her mouth and dropped it in front of her. Mira just face-palmed and Maria couldn''t stopughing. Technically Rhydian never did anything wrong and only did what Mira told her to do.

    The next beast, Mira just grabbed Rhydian and charged towards the beast. She knocked it unconscious and grabbed Rhydians ws and started cutting off the head with them. Mira then stored the corpse and told Rhydian that she wanted her to cleanly remove the head like this. Rhydian''s eyes shined as she now understood what to do. With the beast after that, Rhydian immediately charged at it. She extended her ws with golden lightning and sliced off the head of the beast. Rhydian flew back to Mira as Mira just rubbed her head.

    "That''s it. Kill the beasts like that until I tell you to stop. We will also work on you attacking other parts of the body as well. We will also work on you trying to control your strength a bit, but I don''t think you will understand this part right now. Whatever. We can gather food for you and train you at the same time. Let''s continue." Mira said as they continued with Rhydian killing beast after beast. Now that she knew what to do, she started getting better and faster at removing the heads of the beasts.

    Mira had Rhydian keep cutting off beast heads until she wanted to have Rhydian understand other parts of the body. She moved onto legs, stomach, chest, back, and even eyes. She had to go through the same process with each body part as Rhydian started to understand some of the words Mira was saying. Now, whenever Mira said head Rhydian would remove the head and whenever she said legs or a different body part then Rhydian would attack that part of the body.

    This kind of training went on for around two weeks and they started to collect a ton of corpses and all of them were Rank 1 and 2. Mira must''ve had several hundred corpses, maybe more by now. Mira wanted Rhydian to keep gathering experience as well as fight tougher beasts so they kept going deeper into the forest and were actually around the border between the Core Region and Inner Region of the Forest.

    Rhydian kept ''fighting'' more difficult magical beasts. Although they weren''t really fighting as each beast would die in one hit from Rhydian.

    Mira and Maria kept making their way through the forest with their beastpanions until they spotted another group of people in the forest.

 Chapter 66 Intimidation

    Not too far away from where Mira and Maria were, they heard the signs of battle. They got curious as to what was going and went to check it out. It could''ve been a fight between two magical beasts or a fight between two people, either way, they might as well find out what''s going on. The 4 of them headed towards where the sounds of battle were and soon heard people yelling.

    "Haha! Finally a battle I can enjoy! It''s been a while since I''ve had a good fight! Good! Good! Fight me more! Hahaha!" They heard some womanugh like a crazy person and then they heard a roar. It seemed like it was a human against a magical beast. They then heard another person.

    "*Sigh* It''s starting to get annoying how you look for strong opponents to fight like this. We were supposed to be on a mission, not fighting this thing. Ahhhh, whatever. Just have fun. I will be over here waiting for you to finish." Another girl said.

    "You better not join this fight, Ellie! Just sit back and watch! Haha!" The crazy girlughed as she charged towards the beast with her sword.

    "I know, I know." The other girl said as she found a nice tree stump to sit next to.

    Mira and Maria got closer and were now able to see the two people and gauge their strength. The crazydy was Stage 5 Qi Condensation. She had long fiery red hair and was rather tall. The other girl, Ellie, was Stage 6 Qi Condensation and short ck hair that went down to her shoulders. She had a spear next to her as she watched the battle from a sitting down a ways away. The beast the red-haireddy was fighting was a Low-Stage Rank 3 Earth Smander. It might be a rather difficult fight since their cultivation is about the same, but an Earth Smander''s skin is extremely tough and hard to pierce.

    "What should we do, Mira? Should we help her? It doesn''t seem like she''ll be able to kill it." Maria asked.

    "Why would we help her? I only foresee trouble if we get involved with thatdy. It''s not our problem whether she lives or dies, but you can do what you feel want just don''t involve me. And if her partner doesn''t feel the need to help then why would we? We should just leave as it see-" Mira was about to finish when she sensed a presenceing towards them and turned to see what it is.

    Soon, she saw that it was thedy with the short ck hair that seemed to be named Ellie. Mira just stood there and stared at her. She didn''t even bother to take out her scythe as this might be a good chance for Rhydian to fight a human. Maria didn''t share the same thoughts and took out her scythe. Both Vulcan and Rhydian immediately went into a battle-ready mode. Ellie then pointed her spear at them and started speaking.

    "Who are you and what are you doing here? Why were you watching us from afar?" Ellie asked and before Maria could speak up Mira answered.

    "Why are we here? I''m surprised you didn''t alert the entire fucking forest to your location with all the noise you''re making. We only came to see what was going on. Now I will ask you a simr question. What are you going to do now?" Mira said in a harsh tone as that crazy woman was still yelling andughing like a madman like she was trying to call for everything in the surrounding area toe to her. Mira was also still wearing her mask as she often forgot to take it off, but it''s not like it matters that much if Maria is with her or now Rhydian.

    Ellie then sensed the cultivation of the 4 of them. 2 people in Stage 7 Qi Condensation, a Peak-Stage Rank 3 magical beast, and a Mid-Stage Rank 3 magical beast. Plus the aura that they gave off was not normal. It was like all they had to do is flick her and she''d die. It wouldn''t even be a fight.

    Ellie gritted her teeth as there was nothing wrong with them justing to check out what was going on and her partner was making a ton of noise. Maria then spoke up as Mira clearly made a terrible first impression and pissed her off.

    "We don''t mean any harm. We just came to see what all the noise was about. We can leave right now if you want as it seems there is nothing for us to see here." Maria suggested sweetly as she was able to diffuse the situation.

    Ellie was about to say something when they heard a loud explosion where the fight was going on. It was silent for a couple of seconds before they heard a loud boisterousugh.

    "HAHAHAHA!! That was amazing!" The crazy girlughed loudly. She then turned around and noticed that she couldn''t see Ellie. She then sensed her presence and started to rush over to where she was. She then saw Ellie pointing her spear at 2 other girls and 2 magical beasts.

    "What do we have here? Another fight? Well, I don''t mind! I just got warmed up with thatst fight! Hahaha!" The crazydyughed loudly again as she pointed her sword at Mira and charged at her.<sub> </sub>

    "AH! NO DO-" Both Maria and Ellie screamed, but it was already toote.

    Mira stepped forward, grabbed her wrist to stop the swing, kicked her in the stomach, and then chopped the back of her neck. She did this all in one swift move as the crazydy went unconscious before she could even process what happened. Mira then grasped her by the throat and looked at Ellie.

    "Give me one good reason why I shouldn''t feed her to my beastpanion here." Mira said to Ellie with a hint of killing intent. Maria just sighed at this and was grateful that Mira didn''t have her scythe out when she charged towards her. Ellie now started to panic as she didn''t expect that her partner would be knocked unconscious so quickly. What the fuck even happened?!

    "We-We are inner disciples at the Battle Maiden Sect! They will definitely investigate her disappearance! I also won''t let you get away with killing her!" Ellie said as she wasn''t sure what to do.

    "Why should I care if you are part of the Battle Maiden Sect? If I don''t want them to know I killed her then all I have to do is kill you, it''s not like it''ll be that hard. You might even be able to help train my little wolf on how to fight humans. At least your death wouldn''t be meaningless! Listen, I told you to give me a good reason. You don''t have the power to negotiate here, if I want your stuff then all I have to do is kill you. I won''t repeat myself again." Mira said with a scowl as she increased the pressure around the girl''s neck until they heard pops.

    Ellie truly didn''t know what to do now. She doesn''t have anything that would be worth giving and it''s true that all Mira had to do was kill her to get her stuff. She fell to her knees and started to let out tears. She''s never been in a situation like this and could do nothing about it.

    "So this is an inner disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect? Pathetic! I guess you two can say goodbye to each other in the next life." Mira said as she started to increase the pressure around the girl''s neck more before Maria interrupted her.

    "You can let her go now, Mira. I know you aren''t actually going to kill her." Maria suddenly said.

    "I see. So your instincts are better than I thought. You must''ve felt that there was no malice behind my killing intent and figured that I wasn''t actually going to kill her." Mira said as she half-expected Maria to know this. Maria nodded her head.

    "Yes, I felt that you had no intention to kill her even though you were about to. But I also knew that if you wanted her dead, then she''d already been dead and you wouldn''t y theatrics." Maria exined as Mira nodded her head.

    "Yeah. It would be a pain in the ass to kill her. We would probably be dead before we could count to 10. A lot of disciples in sects have their lives linked to a life tablet. The life tablet will break if the person it was linked to dies. These two look very young, are wearing the same clothes, and are strong for their cultivation. Piecing this together, I came up with the conclusion that they are part of a sect. I wasn''t nning on doing anything, but this idiot just had to charge at me like a crazy person. I thought I might as well find out how loyal these girls from a sect are to each other. I can''t say that they seem that loyal to each other, but at least this girl didn''t run away and this idiot immediately joined her in battle before she even knew what was going on." Mira exined her thought process to Maria. Even though Maria was surprised that Mira was able to put all of this together with just the minimal details, she still thought that this was normal for Mira. Mira then loosened the grip on the red-haired girl''s neck.

    Maria ran up to Ellie and put her hand on her shoulder.

    "Look! She isn''t going to kill your friend. She was just testing you to see what you will do. It''s okay now! There''s no need to cry! Mira look at what you did! You made this poor girl cry!" Maria tried tofort Ellie and scold Mira. Mira just shrugged her shoulders and tossed the girl in her hands to the side like a rag doll and approached Ellie.

    "Even though I may not want to kill you two right now, I do think that I deserve somepensation for allowing you to live." Mira said as she slowly lifted up Ellie''s chin and looked her dead in the eyes. All Ellie saw were two terrifying red eyes staring deep within her and immediately froze and subconsciously nodded.

    "Good. Why don''t you start off by telling me a little more about this Battle Maiden Sect?"

 Chapter 67 Battle Maiden Sect

    "Good. Why don''t you start off by telling me a little more about this Battle Maiden Sect? What do they teach there? Is it only fighting? How strong is everyone there? How does one enter the sect? Why should I join the Battle Maiden Sect over the other sects?" Mira started to bombard Ellie with questions and this caused Ellie to finally wake up and realize what was going on.

    "Eh? What''s going on? I thought you were going to kill Diana!" Ellie started to scream and Maria was the one to talk first.

    "She wasn''t going to kill you as she figured it''d bring too much trouble towards herself. But it seems my friend here insists on you answering her questions as�� payment for keeping you alive." Maria said thatst part in a low voice as it sounded extremely domineering. Mira just nodded and repeated her questions. Ellie was a bit surprised that this is all she wanted to know.

    "Well, most of the answers to those questions aren''t exactly a secret, but I can give you a bit more information than what you might find elsewhere. Like the name of the sect suggests, we only ept women at the Battle Maiden Sect. The sect was made to prevent guys from going too far with their lust on girls in the sect, but it''s also proof that even though there may be fewer female cultivators, that doesn''t mean they are any weaker. They teach a lot of stuff at the Battle Maiden Sect. Fighting, alchemy, inscriptions, some arrays but not much, how to train and refine your body even atter cultivations, and also teach you a little about magical beasts. If the right person takes you in as a disciple, they can also teach you about Daos as well. I know that there are 4 other sects in the city and the Battle Maiden Sect seems like it''s able to do what the other 4 sects do, but the other sects know a bit more regarding the specific areas that they teach. Like the Immortal Sword Sect knows a lot more about fighting with the sword and has better Sword Art Manuals. The Divine Beast Sect knows and trains people how to train and fight with their magical beasts. They also have the most information regarding magical beasts and people from this sect are very annoying to deal with. The 8 Profound Elements Sect mainly deals with understanding elemental Daos and how to best utilize and fight with their Dao. And the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect is basically an alchemy sect, but almost nobody touches them because good alchemists are rather rare. Each Sect has a specialty but still teaches them how to fight as well. Just maybe not as good as some of the battle-oriented Sects." Ellie stopped for a second before continuing.

    "The Battle Maiden Sect specializes in epting only women and teach everything that the other sects teach, but maybe not as good in some areas. Like our Alchemy teachings aren''t as good as the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect and our Elders don''t know as much about Magical Beasts as the Divine Beast Sect. Even though the Battle Maiden Sect doesn''t necessarily specialize in a single thing, that doesn''t mean they are weak. In terms of fighting power, we can be ranked 2nd among the 5. The Immortal Sword Sect is number one as fighting is the only thing they do there. But in terms of the Sect as a whole, it should be ssified as the number 1 Sect. But we only ept women. As far as the strength of everyone there. Most are in the Qi Condensation Realm. Core Disciples are generally in the Foundation Realm and the Elders there are in the Core Formation Realm. It''s not confirmed, but there are rumors that the Ancestor at this branch Sect is at the realm above Core Formation, the Nascent Soul Realm, but this is only a rumor. Like I just mentioned, this is only a branch Sect and the Main Sect is located near the Center Continent. We hold an Entrance Examination every 3 years for those who want to enter the Sect. The next one starts in about 6 months and all you have to do is pass the exam. I don''t know the details of the exam though as it changes every year. The main reason for you to join this Sect is that you are a female. Though the other reasons are that the teachings for the other jobs and subjects are top notch and just a step below those that specialize in their respective fields. That''s the general idea of the Sect as a whole, if you want to know more then you just have to join the sect." Ellie finished talking about the Battle Maiden Sect.

    "I see. That''s very interesting. It''s true that the biggest appeal to joining this sect is that it is strictly female. Though the other aspects of the Sect also seem good as well, so there is really no downside to joining the sect. This might be a sect worth considering since Ick a lot of information regarding the cultivation world and I''m only good at fighting. For now, I will put this aside as it''s still 6 months away." Mira muttered as joining a Sect like this seemed much better than being a rogue cultivator that is scrounging the world for any benefit she can find.

    "Maybe I''ll be able to find something I''m good at there! Mira, we should think about joining this Sect! Six months is plenty of time to prepare too!" Maria started to get excited as ever since Mira mentioned joining a Sect, that''s what she wanted to do. Mira just nodded her head. Mira got what she needed here and stood up and immediately picked up Rhydian.

    "Let''s go, Maria. There''s no reason for us to stay here anymore." Mira said as she turned around to leave. But Ellie stopped her.

    "Wait! At least stay until Diana wakes up! You''re the one that did that to her, at least stay and help me keep guard until she wakes up." Ellie pleaded as Maria also stated that she was going to stay. Mira just sighed and started to feel a headacheing on. Mira hated people like that Diana girl, people who just charge in without even knowing what''s going on. This reminded her of Maria, but Maria didn''t enjoy fighting and only did it when it was necessary or whenever Mira forced her to fight.

    "No. Maria can stay with you if she wants to, but I have no reason to guard someone who should be thankful she''s still alive right now. Have Vulcan lead you to me when you are done here, Maria." Mira said as she ran off with Rhydian to continue their training.

    ***

    Maria stayed with Ellie to wait for Diana to wake up. Ellie also felt a bit relieved that Mira didn''t stay with her and only Maria did. Ellie gets stressed out just trying to have a conversation with Mira.

    "Is she your friend? Is she always like that? I don''t know how you can be friends with her." Ellie started talking to Maria normally because Maria just gave off an innocent aura and always had a smile on her face.

    "I guess you could call us friends. I consider her my friend, but I don''t know what she thinks. And I''d say yes, she is always like that. Though, I''m still a little surprised that she didn''t kill you. But she did have a valid reason not to. But I stick with her because I enjoy herpany and how she always acts with 100% confidence. But I wouldn''t point your weapon at her again as she will definitely kill you on the spot." Maria said as she also gave her piece of advice. Ellie gulped when she heard this. She remembered back to when Diana got incapacitated in a split second. Mira didn''t even use a weapon to do that. What was she like with a weapon? Ellie shook her head at these thoughts as she wasn''t even confident that she could fight Mira when she wasn''t even using a weapon.

    "Does she use a weapon by chance?" Ellie asked a little nervously.<sub> </sub>

    "Eh? Yeah, she uses a scythe. Though she proims that she is at the Grand Master level in unarmedbat. I think she might be more skilled without a weapon, but I''ve never seen anyonest longer than 3 moves with her in unarmedbat. But she is extremely terrifying to fight when she uses her scythe though." If Mira heard what Maria was saying about her to some random person, she would also knock Maria out.

    "Anyways, are you thinking about wanting to join the Battle Maiden Sect?" Ellie asked and Maria nodded.

    The two kept talking about different things and waited until Diana woke up. It took a couple of hours before Diana started to open her eyes.

    Maria and Ellie stopped talking and walked over to Diana.

    "Ahhh. OUCH! My neck! What happened?!" Diana took in a deep breath when she woke up but soon felt pain in her neck as she wondered what happened to her.

    p "You were knocked out by my friend. I apologize on her behalf." Maria said to her as she checked to make sure she was alright.</anda>

    "Ah! It''s you! You were the one that Ellie was pointing her spear at!" Diana eximed as she recognized Maria''s face. Diana then tried to take out her sword before Ellie stopped her.

    "Stop, Diana. They meant us no harm. I was just asking them some questions when you attacked them out of nowhere. You should apologize for your recklessness, Diana! You always do this! One day it will get you killed." Ellie scolded Diana as this time was way too close. They werepletely at the mercy of Mira. Diana put her head down a bit in shame as she realized that she almost died, and she didn''t even know how it happened. She then looked around for Mira as she wanted to apologize, but wasn''t able to find her.

    "Where is she? I don''t see her." Diana asked.

    "She left a while ago. She said that you should be thankful you are still alive right now and that she had no reason to stay." Ellie said and Diana got a bit agitated from thatment, but couldn''t say anything.

    "Well, now that you are awake it''s time for me to leave and go find her. Maybe we will see you two at the Entrance Examination." Maria said as she got up to leave with Vulcan, but both Diana and Ellie stopped her.

    "Wait! If you are going deeper into the forest, can we go with you? We were sent here on a mission for the sect and we still haven''tpleted it." Ellie asked nervously and Maria just scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

    "Well, I don''t mind. But I don''t know how Mira will react. She already doesn''t like you. I think as long as you don''t bother her too much, then she won''t mind as long as it''s only for a short while. But please don''t bother her too much and definitely don''t point your weapons at her." Maria pleaded as both of them nodded their heads in understanding.

    "Let''s go then. Vulcan, lead me to Mira!" Maria said to Vulcan as the little fox nodded his head in understanding. The 4 of them set off to find Mira.

 Chapter 68 Ellie And Diana

    Mira was currently going through the forest as Rhydian killed more and more magical beasts. Mira found it extremely difficult to get Rhydian to control her strength. Even against Low-Stage Rank 3, Rhydian was still able to blow up a magical beast head. Mira started to feel that she contracted with a very troublesome magical beast. Mira just hoped that as Rhydian got older, she would get more intelligent as well. The desire to know more about the species of winged wolf Rhydian is started to grow more.

    Mira just watched Rhydian pop another head off of a beast, like she was opening a can. Mira just sighed at this brutal sight as a cute little wolf pup came hopping back to her as she wanted to be praised. Mira already tried telling Rhydian no and scolded her, but Rhydian was too sad to attack the next magical beast after that and just put her head down in shame and curled up in a little ball. Mira kept trying to demonstrate what she wanted, but Rhydian wasn''t looking. Eventually, Mira just had to rub her head before Rhydian stopped being upset. Mira just told her to kill the next beast she sees. Mira started to feel a headache as she realized that Rhydian would bring her endless trouble. Another sigh escaped her mouth as she decided to call the training off as she had plenty of food and learned a bit more about Rhydian''s power and intelligence.

    Mira then got curious about something and tried talking to Rhydian.

    "Are you able to hide your wings? Golden wolves are probably notmon, but golden-winged wolves sound like something out of a legend. You will already bring enough attention as it is, no need to add more to it." Mira tried to ask as she muttered thest part to herself. Obviously, Rhydian didn''t understand and just tilted her cute little head.

    Mira started making a flying motion with her arms and then grabbed Rhydian''s wings. She then started saying ''Wings'' to Rhydian until she understood that those were her wings. Mira then pped her arms again like wings, but then brought them inside her robe so they weren''t visible on the outside. Rhydian seemed to understand what Mira wanted because she tucked her wings into her fur, allowing her fur to cover up her wings. Mira was surprised by this as she could barely tell that wings were supposed to be there. If you knew there were wings then you''d be able to notice, but most people wouldn''t expect there to be wings there and won''t be able to make the connection. Mira rubbed Rhydian''s head to show that this is what she wanted and Rhydian just started to wag her tail happily and kept her wings tucked in.

    All Mira had to do now is wait for Maria toe back to her as there was no need to be in the forest anymore. Mira took out her scythe and decided that she would practice a bit with her scythe in the meantime. She wanted to see if she could gain any insights into how to improve her scythe style. She felt that even though her movements were more fluid than before, she still felt there was something that was missing. Therefore, she wanted to swing her scythe a bit.

    ***

    Maria, Ellie, and Diana were following Maria''s little red fox as he was leading them to Mira. Diana felt a bit nervous. Even though she loved to battle, Mira didn''t battle with her. She was ready to execute her, it wasn''t even a fight. Ellie and Maria were also a little nervous, but for different reasons. Ellie was a bit scared of Mira and Maria was hoping that this wouldn''t piss Mira off.

    It didn''t seem Mira made it all that far away from where the 4 of them were previously, but Diana and Ellie were surprised to see beast heads that seemed to implode along the way. It was a rather disgusting sight as blood sttered everywhere and tongues, eyes, brain pieces, and teeth were scattered all over the ce. There were also scenes where the head of a beast looked like it was ripped off instead of cut or sometimes they were cut, but it was in several pieces. Diana and Ellie gulped at this sight. What the hell was Mira doing?! Ellie decided to ask Maria.

    "Umm, what is Mira doing to the beasts for them to end up like this?" Ellie asked in an ufortable voice.

    "Oh! That''s not Mira doing this. That''s her beastpanion. Part of the reason we are out here is to train her how to fight and control her strength, but�� As you can see it''s not going so well. She still ends up blowing up the heads. At least she stopped blowing up the whole body though!" Maria just answered without even thinking.

    Both of them were shocked! Diana barely noticed the beast so she didn''t know how strong Rhydian was, but Ellie saw her clearly and knew that Rhydian was Peak-Stage Rank 3, but she didn''t know that the little wolf cub she saw was so overwhelmingly strong. Wouldn''t she just turn into meat paste if the little wolf didn''t like her?! Why did she have to get on the bad side of someone like this already!? Everyone kept quiet for the rest of the journey.

    It didn''t take much longer before they reached Mira. They saw the little golden wolfying down near a tree and a small masked girl with icy silver hair and ck robes swinging around arge ck scythe with blue veins running down. She was swinging her scythe gracefully as each movement she made flowed into the next move as the scythe carried a huge amount of momentum.

    All of a sudden, arge ice de shot out from this masked girl towards Maria. Maria immediately took out her sword, used her light sword, and blocked the attack. After Maria blocked the attack, she started sweating as she almost got heavily injured.<sub> </sub>

    "MIRA! What are you doing?! You could''ve killed me with that attack! Why''d you even attack me in the first ce?! " Maria yelled at Mira in frustration.

    "You didn''t die though. Well, if you did die then I would''ve been extremely disappointed. That''s what you deserve for bringing people here uninvited. Expect more of this in the future as punishment for your foolish actions. As for you two, why are you following her? I don''t remember mentioning that you could join us." Mira said as Maria stiffened. Does this mean that she has to constantly be on the lookout for any sneak attacks from Mira that might kill her? WHY?! She wanted to scream but held it in.

    "W-We came to the forest on a mission. We still haven''t gotten what we came here for and I was wondering if we''d be able to apany you if you are going further into the forest. I also wanted to use this chance to apologize to you as well. That''s why I asked Maria if we could apany you." Ellie exined nervously. Mira just slowly walked towards them. Rhydian sensed Mira was walking away and woke up. She saw the 2 people from before that looked like they tried to attack Mira. Bolts of lightning started to streak across her fur and her cute face contorted into menacing anger as the lightning bolts in her eyes shined. The 2 girls squealed a bit at this as they remembered the scenes from earlier. But Mira just waved her hand in front of Rhydian to stop her. Rhydian noticed this and went back to the cute little wolf cub and started to walk beside Mira and stare at the two girls.

    "I don''t care if you came here on a mission. I also don''t need your apology. I got what I wanted and you got to live. I''m done here so there is no reason for us to stay in the forest. If you think that I will hold a grudge against you because you pointed a spear at me and that idiot attacked me then think again. I have no reason to as you did nothing to me other than question me. As for you with the red hair, it seems you love to fight. You''re lucky that I didn''t kill you, the main reason is that you didn''t attack with the intent to kill. It was like you were just looking at me like some kind of sparring partner or something. Anyways, now that Maria is here we will be going. Maybe we will see you again if we join your Sect." Mira said as she looked at Maria.

    "WAIT! I know that thest fight couldn''t be called a fight, but I will get strong enough to fight you for real someday! I hope that you won''t disappoint me when that timees! Hahaha!" Diana seemed to go back to her normal battle junkie self as she started to want to spar against Mira.

    "Don''t. If you want someone to spar with then spar with Maria. Despite her appearance, she actually does know how to wield a sword. But I want nothing to do with your delusions." Mira just shoved the problem onto Maria. She was thinking this might be a good chance for Maria to learn to fight against something other than a scythe.

    Maria just looked at Mira with a face that seemed to scream why. Also, she could do better than wield a sword! The stages in the trial had improved her sword skills a lot. Maria wasining in her head when she saw Mira just start walking off. Maria looked towards Ellie and Diana and decided to say something.

    "It seems that we aren''t staying in the forest any longer. I hope that youplete your mission safely! Let''s meet again after we join the Battle Maiden Sect! And please don''t spar with me! Mira already fights me too much! Bye Bye!" Maria eximed as she seemed to like both of them. Maria then started to run off to Mira with Vulcan. The 4 of them started to head back to the city.

    ***

    Ellie and Diana were a bit surprised that Mira just up and left as soon as they found her. They''ve never met someone so cold to others before as Mira wouldn''t even give them the time of day. Though they were also relieved as Mira''s little wolf was extremely terrifying along with the invisible pressure that Mira gave off. It was a steadfast and immovable pressure, like an immovable object. Mira seemed like the type of person who would neverpromise.

    "Hey Diana, what do you think of those two? I''m not entirely sure what to think. Mira is terrifying and aloof. That little wolf of hers is also not normal. I don''t think we''d even be able to blink before we died if we fought against that wolf. Maria is also abnormal. She looks and acts very innocent and naive, but the way she blocked that Ice de that Mira shot shows that she is actually very capable in battle. That little fox of hers is also extremely intelligent as it seemed to understand everything Maria said. They are clearly dangerous people. Should we report this to the Sect?" Ellie asked Diana.

    "I''m not really sure what to think. Mira is scarier to talk to than the Sect Elders. I can also feel the temperature drop wherever she walks. Even though I said I wanted to fight her in the future, I think the only way I''d be able to have her fight me for real is if I''m actually trying to kill her. She will probably just kill me if that happens too. Maria is a bit different. You can tell that she isn''t just faking the whole innocent and naive thing. She seems to actually be like that. I wonder how strong she is though because I wasn''t able to feel the slightest bit of danger from Maria. It was like she was a child in an adult''s body. No need to even mention those 2 beasts. Forget about fighting, we''d die instantly from just one of them. Though I do feel that they are dangerous, they seem interested in joining the Sect. I say we just give a little hint to the Sect Elders that there are a couple of interesting people that might be joining the Entrance Exam this year! Hahaha!" Diana suggested and Ellie just sighed. That suggestion wasn''t helpful at all! Both of them continued to talk as they carried on with their mission. They wanted to make sure that they were back to the Sect before the examination starts.

    ***

 Chapter 69 Ice Prison

    Mira, Maria, and the two beastpanions made it back to Lunar Fox City a couple of days after Mira decided to leave. There was no reason for them to stay there anymore as Rhydian wasn''t intelligent enough to understand what Mira wanted, so Mira just decided to put it off. Also, finding a beast that could fight Rhydian on equal footing might be difficult as well. It''d have to be at least Low-Stage Rank 4 and Mira guessed that the beast might have to be higher than that to fight with Rhydian in terms of power. Mira didn''t feel like finding a beast that she could barely fight let alone a little wolf cub that doesn''t even know how to stop ripping off the heads of beasts.

    Mira really wanted to know more about the type of winged-wolf Rhydian was. Mira guessed that even a baby dragon wouldn''t have as much power as Rhydian does right now. Plus, any beast thates straight out of the egg at Peak-Stage Rank 3 has to be something special, though Mira didn''t know much about this. Mira also wondered what she has to do to help increase Rhydian''s cultivation. Will she just get stronger as she gets older? Does she need to find lightning for it to absorb? Does Rhydian only need to eat other magical beasts to get stronger? Mira doesn''t know. It was this type of knowledge that made her want to join a Sect. Sure, she knows how to fight, but fighting isn''t the only thing that cultivators can do.

    When they reached the Zaria Family, Maria wanted to know if they would be joining the Battle Maiden Sect.

    "Will we be joining the Battle Maiden Sect in 6 months? I''d like to join the Sect! I want to find something I''m good at and also meet with Diana and Ellie again! We should join!" Maria asked Mira as she really wanted to join.

    "I think that we will attempt the Entrance Exam in 6 months to see if we can enter. That sect is the only one that suits me and it also seems that I need more knowledge about the cultivation world. We still have many things to do before that though. I''m going to continue teaching you unarmedbat, I want to reach Stage 8 Qi Condensation, learn the Elemental and Fist art that we got from the Trial, and have Rhydian reach Low-Stage Rank 4. I don''t know if I''ll be able to finish everything in just a 6-month time frame, but I think it should be doable. You should also simr goals in mind during these next 6 months." Mira said as she seemed to have the next 6 months nned out.

    Maria groaned a little when she heard the n Mira gave her. Why does she always have to train? She just wants toze around, eat some nice food, go shopping, and y with Vulcan. Why does she have to spend all of her time training? But Maria was also excited because she really wanted to join the Battle Maiden Sect. She also might not have to train so much if Mira is off doing other things. When Maria thought of this she started smiling even brighter. She then got smacked in the back of the head.

    "I feel like you are thinking about something stupid. If you feel like you will be able to escape my martial arts training then think again. I will make sure that you practice every day. In fact, why don''t we start right now?" Mira said as she grabbed Maria and threw her on the ground and put her in a chokehold.

    Mira then began to ''train'' her for the next couple of hours before Mira wanted to move onto other things. After training Maria, she walked back to her room. Mira took out the 3 manuals she got from the Trial. The Mid-Stage Earth Grade Elemental Art Manual, Ice Prison. The Peak-Stage Mortal Grade Fist Art, Earth-Shattering Fist. And the Peak-Stage Mortal Grade Scythe Art, Double-ded Scythe.

    Mira wanted to start with the Elemental Art. She doesn''t know of any Elemental Ice Arts and felt this one would take the most time to learn as well. Mira''s first thoughts on the name of the Art was that she would form bars around her enemy and lock them in a prison, but this wouldn''t be that useful unless she could pull it off instantly. She then thought that it might also encase her opponent in arge block of ice, but she also felt like this wouldn''t be that useful in a fight. She shook these thoughts out of her head and turned to read the first page.

    "Ice is an extremely dangerous element where even its natural counter, fire, may have trouble melting an extremely dense piece of ice. Ice is generally a very rigid element. Ice doesn''t flow like water and isn''t as dense or heavy as earth. It isn''t light and smooth like wind nor does it have the ability to provide life like fire or heat. Ice can reflect light, yet doesn''t get consumed by darkness. Ice is always the same, cold. The cold is often something that living creatures hate and aren''t able to live in. This is because the heat that keeps us alive is sucked out of us by the cold and reced with that cold. Ice itself is like a prison as it attempts to shackle down the living creatures thate in contact with it. The Ice Prison manual has taken inspiration from this concept. When this technique is used against an opponent correctly, the opponent will have their whole body locked in ice from the inside. Veins of ice will flow through the body and prevent the opponent from moving any of their limbs and they might even stop being able to use their brain if the difference in power is too great." Mira started reading the manual and was surprised by how interesting it was. She then got to the part about how to use this Art.

    "In order to use Ice Prison, you will have to nt the seed of ice inside of their body. There are many ways to do this, but we rmend just having theme into contact with your ice somehow. As long as a piece of ice is able to touch and enter their body, that''s all you need. The next part is the hardest and most important part. You will have to focus on that piece of ice in their body and control it to start consuming and freezing parts of their body. The ice will start freezing the inside of the opponent''s body as the more it freezes the easier it will get to spread. After the Ice has spread throughout their entire body, all you have to do is manipte the ice to lock down their limbs as a web of ice is now formed in their body. If they try to break free through brute force, then they will only be ripping up their insides and kill themselves." Mira read the instructions for utilizing this art and was surprised by the difficulty of it. Pulling off this art in battle might prove difficult, but if she learns how to use it then she will essentially be putting a timer on the battle. If her opponent can''t defeat Mira before she can use this art then they are as good as dead. The more Mira thought about this, the more excited she got.<sub> </sub>

    Mira took out one of the dead beast corpses that Rhydian killed in the forest and immediately started following the steps. With something that isn''t moving, she doesn''t need to worry about nting the seed.

    Mira shoved a small ice needle into the dead beast''s body. She then tried to sense the ice inside the body. She was able to feel it as she has already done this several times before where she exploded an ice needle inside an enemy''s body. This is where Mira got stuck though. It''s extremely easy just to destroy what she created, but now she has to create more and inside of the beast''s body as well. Mira tried to make the ice needle spread out inside the body of the dead beast, but she wasn''t able to form something like a web of ice that the manual talked about. The ice needle just cooled down the surrounding flesh it was in.

    Mira kept focusing on trying to have the ice consume and rece the flesh of the beast with ice for a couple of hours before she decided to take a break. She was mentally tired as she was focusing on that small ice needle for hours. Mira wasn''t upset that she didn''t seed though. This would give her something to work on other than cultivating and training Maria. Mira threw the beast corpse towards Rhydian. Rhydian licked her lips and started to devour the dead beast. It was only a Rank 1 beast so Rhydian had no trouble eating every part of the beast. After Rhydian was done, there weren''t even any bones left of the beast as it all entered her stomach and turned into energy. Mira noticed that the energy contained in that small wolf body increased by a minute amount. Mira threw her a couple more Rank 1 beasts and Rhydian devoured all of them down to thest bone. Again, the energy within her increased by a tiny amount as it barely seemed it increased at all. Mira knew that reaching Rank 4 would be impossible with only Rank 1 beasts, but this was just food for Rhydian.

    After feeding Rhydian, Mira sat in a lotus position and took out a couple of Spirit Stones, and started circting her Hell Scythe Cultivation Technique from her Hell Scythe Essense Gathering Manual. The Qi from within the Spirit Stones entered into her meridians and circted throughout her body as the amount and density of Qi in her body increased by small increments. Part of this energy also circted into her soul as it strengthened her Abyssal Sea Scythe. This was her soul weapon and also part of her cultivation technique.

    Mira continued to cultivate until it was time to train Maria in martial arts. After training Maria for a few hours, Mira would go back to her room to work on her Ice Prison technique for a few hours before cultivating again. Mira didn''t need to sleep as cultivators don''t need sleep and the act of cultivating brings more benefits than sleeping does. This kind of schedule went on for the next 2 months.

    ***

    Mira was currently in her room. She has been in here for a full day as she continued practicing her Ice Prison Technique. Mira has used several tens of beast corpses on this day alone as she was perfecting the Ice Prison. In thesest 2 months, Mira was able toplete every step in the Ice Prison Elemental Art Manual. The reason that she had spent an entire day in her room working on it was that she was testing herself. She wasn''t satisfied with the speed of her Ice Prison and kept working on speeding up the process. She worked on beast corpses ranging from Rank 1 to Rank 3. It was easier and faster for the lower-ranked beasts and now Mira was currently working on a Low-Stage Rank 3 beast corpse. She stuck an ice needle into it and started to focus on spreading the ice inside the body. The ice slowly started to form a web around the ice needle as it continuously spread throughout the rest of the body. This went on for around 2 minutes before the inside of the beast corpse was fully encased in ice. Mira was satisfied with this time. She then took the beast''s arm and forcefully moved it upwards. She heard a loud crack and pop. Then the beast''s arm went limp. Mira nodded her head in satisfaction.

    "The final test will be to try this out in battle, but I will do that after I take a look at the other Manuals and reach Stage 8 Qi Condensation. I''d also like Rhydian to reach Low-Stage Rank 4 before I go and try all of these new techniques." Mira said to herself in satisfaction. She couldn''t wait to try this Ice Prison out on something alive. She figured that it''d take longer than 2 minutes toplete the Ice Prison on something that was alive, but Mira didn''t care.

    Mira then started to feed Rhydian the Rank 2 and 3 beast corpses that she had. She took out more Spirit Stones and started to cultivate. She would continue this schedule until it was time to take the Entrance Exam for the Battle Maiden Sect in 4 more months.

 Chapter 70 Earth-Shattering Fist

    After Mira finished cultivating and training Maria, she went back to her room, gave Rhydian a beast corpse, and opened up the Earth-Shattering Fist Manual. Mira was very curious about this Manual. She figured that it had something to do with adding power behind a punch, but didn''t know how it nned on doing that. She opened up the Manual and began to read.

    "The body of a cultivator is extremely precious. Whether it be strength, life span, or appearances the body is the base for whatever the cultivator wants to do. This is especially so for fighting. Stories are often told of people making ravines with their swords or cutting mountains in half. If a sword is able to makerge ravines in the earth and cut apart mountains then why can''t your fist shatter whatever it touches? The Earth-Shattering Fist Manual is about using a cultivator''s fist to do what weapons do in the hands of a cultivator. When this Art is used to its fullest potential, one will be able to shatter the very earth apart." Mira read this part and got even more excited! Mira wondered how satisfying it would be to crack the earth with just her fist. She then continued to read more on how to use this technique.

    "The steps to be able to use this technique are as follows. Gather Qi into one of your fists, the more Qi there is the stronger the punch will be. Use around 30% of the Qi to form a small ball of Qi in between the knuckles of your middle and ring finger. Link the ball of Qi to the rest of the Qi in your fist then punch. When the ball of Qi in between your knuckles make contact, have the ball of Qi reach the point where it''s about to explode. When it reaches this point, force the rest of the Qi in your fist into that ball. If done correctly, it will feel like an explosion happened and send shockwaves across whatever you punch. The vibrations from these shockwaves will cause whatever you punch to shatter." Mira finished reading the manual and was extremely eager to try it. Mira was already an excellent Martial Artist and if she learned this technique then she might be able to bring her unarmedbat to a whole new level.

    Mira didn''t n on destroying the room so she just decided to go out of the city to practice. Mira brought Rhydian, Maria, and Vulcan out of the city with her as well. Mira wanted to stay out of the city until she learned this technique and didn''t want to stop training Maria in martial arts. She also wanted Maria to learn this technique as well. Maria groaned when she heard that she''d be living in the forest for a while along with learning a Fist Art. But she didn''t have a say in this as she was just dragged out of the city.

    Mira found a spot with a bunch of rocks and boulders around her as this would be a great ce to train. Mira then found a nice boulder to practice on and took a stance. She gathered Qi into her right hand. She didn''t gather a lot of Qi into her fist as she didn''t know what to expect from this. She then formed a ball of Qi in between her knuckles using around 30% of the gathered Qi. She then linked the ball of Qi to the Qi in her fist. This part wasn''t that difficult. Mira then punched the boulder. The ball of Qi in between her knuckles collided with the boulder, but the ball exploded soon after as Mira wasn''t able to get the timing down to force the rest of the Qi into the ball, causing an explosion to happen. Mira knew that it wouldn''t be that easy. She then looked at the boulder and saw that the boulder had exploded, but this wasn''t due to the technique that she just used, but just her own strength. Mira found a piece of the rock that had a spherical shape on it along with a web of cracks that spread out from that spherical shape. She figured that was where she punched the boulder.

    Mira then went to another boulder and tried doing it again, but found it extremely hard to find the right timing for forcing out the rest of the Qi. Mira continued trying for the next few hours but wasn''t able to get the timing right. The timing had to be exact as she could not even be a millisecond off.

    Maria was also having simr troubles. Finding the right timing was extremely difficult, but Maria was actually making more progress than Mira. With every try, Maria was able to feel about how far off she was. Sometimes she would force the energy out of her fist too soon and it would feel like a superpowered punch and other times she would force it out toote and wouldn''t cause that explosion. Maria was actually trying to feel that minute difference between the two as she got closer and closer to the perfect timing. But after a few hours, she also had no sess.

    Both Mira and Maria took a break from this as they would continue this tomorrow. They both stayed in this little area in the forest and told Rhydian and Vulcan to kill any magical beasts thate by and warn them if they see any other humans. Mira didn''t feel likeing in and out of the city every day to train this technique as she didn''t know how long it''ll take her. Both of them started to cultivate after they were finished with practicing the Earth-Shattering Fist. They started the next day with Mira sparring with Maria to teach her more about martial arts and unarmedbat. After a couple of hours of this, they then moved onto practicing the Earth-Shattering Fist. After failing to get the timing right for a few hours of practicing, they then moved on to cultivating until the next day. This type of schedule continued for the next month as they continued to practice the Earth-Shattering Fist.

    ***

    After the first week of practicing the Earth-Shattering Fist, Maria finally had a breakthrough and was able to get the timing right. When Maria punched the boulder, she felt the ball of Qi in her fist that was about to explode, fill up with the rest of the Qi in her fist, and cause arge explosion of Qi that caused a shockwave across the boulder as webs of cracks started to form on the boulder. In the next instant, the boulder then exploded into a bunch of tiny pieces as it waspletely shattered.

    "I-I Did it!! That was awesome!!" Maria yelled as she finally did it. She also didn''t expect it to feel so satisfying. She wanted to do this some more as the feeling of shattering that boulder was amazing. Even though she can cause it to explode with her strength, this was entirely different. She didn''t even need to punch that hard for this to happen!

    Mira looked over at Maria and was amazed by how the rock shattered into a million pieces. Almost like it was turned to dust. Maria then kept using the Earth-Shattering Fist of more boulders as she was able to get the timing right around 30% of the time. Mira also kept practicing this technique until she could get it right.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    After 2 weeks since they started practicing, several things happened. Maria had a breakthrough to Stage 8 Qi Condensation and felt her power rise to another level. It didn''t bring any major changes, but she was excited that she was about to reach the Foundation Realm.

    Mira also made a breakthrough in the Earth-Shattering fist as she was able to get the timing correct. Mira couldn''t help but smile when she saw the boulder shatter into a million pieces. Mira also felt like the Earth-Shattering Fist was simr to the One-Inch Punch. She then wondered what it would be like tobine the two of them.

    She took a stance in front of the boulder as she put her fist about an inch from the boulder. She gathered Qi into her fist, turned part of it into a ball, and connected the two. She thenunched her fist towards the boulder with all of her power. The ball of Qi hit the boulder at her max speed and Mira then forced the rest of the Qi into her fist into the ball as an explosion happened on the boulder and sent shockwaves to the rest of the boulder. Cracks spread throughout the entire boulder, but it didn''t shatter. Mira then noticed that there was a fist-sized hole in the boulder that was filled with dust. Mira blew away this dust as she saw that this fist-sized hole went all the way through the boulder. Mira''s mind was blown as she didn''t expect that interaction between the two.

    "Hehe." Mira let out a sinisterugh as she thought about using this in battle. Maria overheard thisugh and shivered. She looked over and saw a fist-sized hole all the way through the boulder. Maria was obviously shocked because she had been able to use this technique for a full week now and never once has a boulder appeared like that. Maria also didn''t even want to know how Mira did this as she never wanted to do something like that to an opponent, it was just too brutal.

    Mira shook the thoughts out of her head and continued practicing; She wanted to be able to master this Earth-Shattering Fist before going back to the city.

    ***

    Another 2 weeks went by as Mira and Maria kept their schedule of sparring in unarmedbat, practicing the Earth-Shattering Fist and Cultivating. They were both now able to get the timing right 100% of the time as Mira engraved that feeling into her very bones.

    Mira could also feel that Rhydian was so close to Low-Stage Rank 4 as she fed multiple beast corpses to her every day. Mira was also getting pretty close to Stage 8 Qi Condensation as well. She figured that she still had a few months to go. The Entrance Examination for the Battle Maiden Sect was now only 3 months away. Mira felt that she should be able to reach Stage 8 Qi Condensation by then.

    Now that both of them have mastered the Earth-Shattering Fist, the four of them went back to the city. They weren''t that far away and were able to make it back with only an hour of running.

    Mira went straight to her room and decided to check out the Double-ded Scythe Manual. She already knew how to make her scythe Double-ded with her ice, but maybe reading this will give her some new insights. She just skipped ahead to the instructions for this but found nothing interesting. If anything, her technique was much better than this. What Mira does to make her scythe double-ded is coat the spear end of her scythe in her Ice Dao. She then sends her Qi down the pole of the scythe and into the ice. She extends the ice out to form a de and uses her Qi to sharpen and reinforce the Ice. It was simple and works extremely well with her Dao.

    "What a useless manual and a waste of a reward. Oh well. It seems that I only have 2 more things on my list that need to bepleted. Me reaching Stage 8 and Rhydian reaching Rank 4. I will also continue sparring with Maria using martial arts and maybe I''ll spar with her using weapons as well. I also need to punish Maria for bringing uninvited guests over to me. I think I''ll start our unarmedbat sparring with my scythe tomorrow, hehe." Mira thought out loud as she then sat in a lotus position and began cultivating.

 Chapter 71 Punishment

    <o>,m After cultivating for the rest of the day and through the night, Mira got up and went to train Maria. They met in their usual ce, the courtyard, to train. Mira saw Maria waiting for her there and walked up to her. She didn''t say anything as she approached Maria, but when she got in range Mira quickly took out her scythe and swung towards Maria. Maria was barely able to dodge in time as she felt the de of the scythe almost chop her head off. Mira didn''t stop there and continued toe at Maria with the intent to kill her. Mira continued to swing her scythe as Maria just continued to dodge. Mira then spoke to her as she kept swinging.</o>

    "Today''s lesson will be on how to fight someone that has a weapon when you don''t. Nowe!" Mira said as she swung her scythe down again and Maria was barely able to dodge.

    "Are you crazy Mira?! I don''t know how to do that! Plus, why does it feel like you are actually trying to kill me?! That first swing almost cut off my head!" Maria yelled.

    "That''s why I''m having you learn and what better way to learn than having me actually trying to kill you? This is also part of your punishment, remember?" Mira said as she twirled her scythe and the de of her scythe cut part of Maria''s skin. Maria saw a cut form on her arm and realized that Mira wasn''t messing around today.

    Maria tried to clear her mind to get ready for battle. When she cleared her mind, thoughts on what she needed to do started to swirl in her head.

    ''I need to stop that scythe if I want to be able to do anything to Mira. Let''s see, a scythe is simr to a spear in length with the main difference being the curved de at the end. I will have to get with range to prevent Mira from swinging the scythe. I think if I can just stop her from swinging her scythe, Mira will switch to hand-to-handbat.'' Maria started toe up with a n.

    Mira continued swinging her scythe as all Maria could do is dodge. Maria was looking for an opening for her to grab hold of the scythe, but Mira wouldn''t allow such an easy mistake to happen.

    Hundreds of swings and many cuts appeared on Maria, but she kept looking for an opening. Maria then had an epiphany. If Mira isn''t going to create any openings herself, then she just needs to create one. Maria wasn''t exactly sure how she would do this, but she had a rough idea. She wanted to have Mira think that she was growing tired and try to attack with a finishing move. When that happens, Maria will step up and grab the shaft of the scythe.

    Maria inwardly nodded her head at this n and got ready to proceed.

    More cuts started to appear on Maria''s body as she tried to look like she was growing tired. Mira noticed this as well.

    ''So you want to y me, eh? I guess I will y as well.'' Mira smirked in her mind as she could tell what Maria was trying to do. It wouldn''t take a genius to know that Maria was faking as she was terrible at hiding it, but Mira decided to just go along with it.

    Once Maria''s movements started to visibly slow, Mira decided that now would be a good time to go in for the final move. Mira swung down her scythe as it tried to pierce Maria''s head, but at thest second Maria charged forward and grabbed hold of the scythe''s shaft. Maria then tried to use the momentum from the scythe to toss Mira to the side.

    Mira decided to just y along and let herself get tossed. When Mira was tossed to the side, Maria charged at her to try and grab hold of Mira force her to get rid of the scythe and fight her in closebat.

    Mira just yed along and let Maria grab her. When Maria tried to disarm her with the grab, Mira just went ahead and dropped the scythe. She then got herself released from the grab and came at Maria with her fists.

    "I''m surprised that you came up with that idea. Trying to bait me in thinking that you are at your weakest and try to get me to make a finishing move. Then you would make your move after you see that I made an opening in that final move to try to disarm me and force me into closebat. It was a good idea, but your execution was poor. I could immediately tell that you weren''t actually tired. You were trying too hard to hide it. I followed along with your idea to give you some experience in baiting people in. We will spend some extra time every day where you learn how to fight against someone that has a weapon when you don''t. This is much harder than fighting against someone that doesn''t happen, so I don''t expect you to learn how to do this anytime soon. Heal your wounds first and we will continue with our training in hand-to-handbat." Mira said to Maria. Maria was a little sad that Mira figured out her idea from the start, but was extremely happy when she was told that she was on the right track with that baiting technique. Maria felt like she just got praised a little by Mira and grew even happier. Maria had a wide smile on her face as she started to focus on healing her wounds. After her wounds were healed they continued with training like normal.<sub> </sub>

    ***

    2 weeks before the Entrance Exam for the Battle Maiden Sect.

    It has been a total of 5 months and 2 weeks since Mira and Maria came back to the city after their meeting with Ellie and Diana in the forest. In thesest 2 and a half months, Mira has spent the majority of her time cultivating, while the time spent not cultivating was spent training Maria. Mira also made sure to punish Maria thoroughly in thesest 2 and a half months. Mira would always find some way to sneak up on Maria and try to kill her. Sometimes Maria might be sleeping or cultivating and Mira would sneak into her room and swing down her scythe without hesitation. Maria would always barely dodge the attack in time, but sometimes she would get a cut or gash on her body. There was even a time when Maria went out of the house to explore the city and Mira actually left the house to follow her and try to assassinate her. Maria almost died when Mira did this because Mira stabbed her with a small knife, but luckily it didn''t hit any vitals. Maria had to take a Rank 2 Rejuvenation pill and spend the next few days recovering from that injury before it fully healed. When that happened, Maria vowed that she would never bring people to meet Mira without her permission. After this attack, Maria was constantly stressed out as she was trying to watch out for any attack from Mira. But after she got stabbed, Mira stopped attacking her. This stressed out Maria even more because she didn''t know if Mira was through with her punishment or if this was still part of it. Maria was on edge for an entire month before she finally felt like Mira was done with this nonsense. Things wouldn''t go her way though as Mira was waiting for this moment. Mira attacked Maria out of nowhere just as she let her guard down.

    "Please stop, Mira! I can''t take this anymore! I promise I won''t make the same mistake again. I will make sure to ask you beforehand if I can have someone meet with you." Maria started to beg Mira to stop doing this to her.

    "It seems you''ve learned your lesson. But I will correct you on one thing. I don''t really care if you want to bring people to meet me or whatever, but I was in the middle of training Rhydian along with practicing myself. I don''t want people that I have no affiliation with knowing more than basic information about me. Also, I don''t want Rhydian''s wings to be seen. I don''t want to incite the greed of people without being able to protect what''s mine. If I was just cultivating or something, then it wouldn''t have mattered. But if you want to bring any male over to see me then you must tell me beforehand because I will kill them without hesitation if they see me without a mask on. I will leave with this thought as your punishment is over." Mira said and turned around and left without waiting for Maria to respond. Maria decided that she would be careful and always try to ask her beforehand if she wants to bring new people to meet Mira.

    Mira and Maria went back to their normal schedule until it was 2 weeks before the Entrance Exam. Within thesest almost 6 months, Mira was actually able to gather and condense enough Qi in her meridians to reach Stage 8 Qi Condensation. Mira felt like she was overflowing with power as her body held an immense amount of Qi for a Stage 8 Qi Condensation Realm Expert. Mira felt even more Qi flow throughout her body as her body reached another level of strength.

    Mira stood up with a slight smile on her face as she was able to reach this stage before the Examination. She then looked over to the sleeping Rhydian. Rhydian has actually been sleeping for about a month and Mira could feel her power growing every day. Mira figured that Rhydian must be breaking through to Rank 4 which is simr to when a human cultivator is breaking through to the Foundation Realm.

    Mira wanted to go out and test out her Ice Prison and Earth-Shattering Fist on some beasts but didn''t want to leave Rhydian alone here in the Zaria Family. She didn''t know what Rhydian might do if she can''t find her. Mira also didn''t want to bring her with as well because she didn''t want to disturb Rhydian. She just sighed and sat down as she started cultivating to stabilize her foundation.

    A few dayster, there was finally a change with Rhydian. Golden lighting with blue streaks started to surround her body. A qualitative change was happening to Rhydian as lighting continued to surround her body. The lightning continued to swirl around and cover Rhydian''s body for a while before Mira felt a massive amount of energy surge from Rhydian. Not long after that, the lightning that was surrounding her started to condense. Rhydian was absorbing this condensed lightning as Rhydian got stronger and stronger with each passing second.

    After several minutes, all of the lightning was absorbed into Rhydian and Mira was now able to get a good look at her.

    Rhydian seemed several centimeters taller and longer. She still looked like a wolf cub, but a bit more grown-up. The biggest change though was that Rhydian seemed to grow another tail. One tail is a bright gold color and the other tail is an icy blue color. Rhydian opened her eyes and saw Mira staring at her. She unfurled her wings and flew across the room into Mira''s arms as she was incredibly excited that she got stronger. Mira held her in her arms and was happy that Rhydian got a lot stronger, but was a little worried about the second tail. Mira didn''t even understand why there was a second tail. Mira wished that she knew more about Rhydian''s species.

    "I will think about thister. First, I want to go out and try out my new techniques. Alright Rhydian, now that you are done we can head out of the city and stretch our legs a bit. Let''s go!" Mira said to Rhydian as she carried Rhydian in her arms and had her tuck her wings back in.

    *Woof!* Rhydian barked happily.

 Chapter 72 Preparations

    Mira left the city with Rhydian to go test out her new techniques. She decided not to take Maria this time as she didn''t n to spend that long out in the forest as she just wanted to test out her new techniques in livebat.

    Mira and Rhydian rushed towards the forest and started looking for a beast to kill. Mira wanted to find a Rank 3 Magical Beast but wanted to see how her Ice Prison would affect something that was alive.

    It didn''t take them that long to find a Rank 1 Magical Beast. Mira just rushed over to it and pinned it down. She inserted an ice needle into the beast and began to create a web of ice inside of its body.

    No matter how much the beast struggled, it wasn''t able to stop the ice in its body from spreading. After around 3 minutes, the ice had encased every part of the beast''s insides. Mira quit pinning the beast down and allowed it to move. It started iling its legs and head in anger, but as soon as it did that, the beast died. Its legs went limp as its neck snapped when it tried to escape from the prison.

    Mira was rather impressed by this result and felt like this technique is perfect for her. She wanted to try out her Ice Prison some more and left to find some more beasts. She wanted to test out different scenarios, such as a piece of ice sticking to the outside of an opponent, scraping an opponent with her ice, and how well she can focus on this technique while in the middle of a fight. Thest one may be hard because she will have to travel to the Core Region of the Forest to find something that can actually put up a fight against her. She didn''t have the time to do that right now and would just have to work with what she''s got.

    Mira then started to test out different scenarios. She tried to look for only Rank 2 and above magical beasts as Rank 1 is just too weak.

    She tested out attaching a piece of ice outside of the body and then try to have the ice enter into the skin and then start forming a web around their insides but this proved a bit more difficult. It took her twice as long toplete the Ice Prison on a Rank 2 beast with Ice stuck to its skin rather than already inside the body. Mira wanted to see if she could shorten this time, but the more she tried the more she realized that it would just take longer to break through the skin into the body and there wasn''t much of a way to get around this.

    <o>,m She tried to use Ice Prison on a beast that she just grazed with her ice; there was no ice inside or outside their body, they were only hit by the ice. This proved to be impossible though. It seemed that there needed to be constant physical contact with the seed of ice.</o>

    Mira then ran full speed towards the border between the Inner Region and Core Region. She wanted to find a couple of Rank 3 beasts to fight.

    It took her around a full day to find a Low-Stage Rank 3 magical beast. It looked simr to a leopard but was much bigger and was ck with yellow-orange spots on it. Mira took out her scythe and came up with a n to make this fight as difficult as possible even though it would be incredibly difficult to lose against this leopard. Mira decided that she would keep the momentum of her scythe going and only block. The only attacks she would do would be ice needles and Ice Prison. She also wanted to handicap herself a bit more and give her the challenge of not getting touched by the beast.

    Mira immediately started firing Ice Needles towards the leopard and she immediately got one stuck in its leg. The leopard charged towards Mira and pounced on her immediately. Mira blocked every attack from the leopard with ease as it was not near strong enough to force Mira to even move from where she was standing.

    Mira focused on trying to spread the ice that was inside the leopard''s body. It was much more difficult to do this while also trying to defend and block attacks from the leopard without getting hit. But Mira has done this enough times to where she knew what it felt like to control the Ice Prison. It was just one of those things where the more you do it, the easier it will get to control.

    Mira continued blocking for the next 7 minutes while she focused on spreading the ice in its body. After those 7 minutes though, she was able toplete the Ice Prison making it so the leopard wasn''t able to move anymore.

    "This took way too long and took too much concentration toplete. I also could''ve killed this beast in 1 hit with my scythe. But I believe that if I work on this some more I should be able to shorten that time and use less concentration toplete the Ice Prison. If I can get used to using this technique while fighting, then I can see this being extremely useful in battle." Mira said out loud. Mira thought for a minute and looked at the leopard that was lying helplessly on the ground. She didn''t feel like searching for another beast because she had a perfectly good Rank 3 beast right in front of her. She decided to release the leopard from the Ice Prison. The leopard slowly got up and looked at Mira carefully. The leopard knew that its life was in this human''s hands right now and it had no way of escaping.<sub> </sub>

    The leopard charged back at Mira as what just happened to the leopard repeated. Mira and the leopard actually continued to fight for several hours. At first, it still took 7 minutes toplete the Ice Prison, but after the first hour Mira brought this down to 6 minutes. It took her another hour to bring that time down to 5 minutes and she spent another 2 hours after that to bring it down to 4 minutes.

    After she got the time down to 4 minutes, Mira felt that she had started to get used to using less concentration to receive the same results. Mira started to figure out different and more efficient ways to control the ice with less concentration. She found out that if an Ice Needle with some of her Qi in it entered the body of the beast, then all she had to do was will the ice to spread and it would follow her orders. Also, rather than trying to create individual strands of ice in the body, it was much easier to create a short web around the ice and then just have that extend over the rest of the body. Mira still felt like she needed more experience with this technique, but she wouldn''t be able to do her absolute best unless she was in an actual life or death battle.

    The leopard also lost its will to fight and just hoped that Mira would spare its life. She still had one more technique to test out and didn''t feel like finding another beast. Mira walked up to the beast and looked at it straight in the eyes.

    "You fought well, but I don''t have the time to wander around this forest in hopes of finding another Rank 3 beast to test this technique on. You will die." Mira said as she brought her fist back and readied her Earth-Shattering Fist. The leopard just closed its eyes when it saw this. Mira mmed her fist against the head of the beast as an explosion happened and sent shockwaves through the leopard''s body. The leopard screamed in pain for a second before it exploded into a bloody mess. Blood and guts started raining down as there was not a single piece of the leopard that was still intact.

    "Wow! What a brutal technique! It felt like I was popping a balloon! But damn this sure makes a mess of things! This must be what Rhydian feels whenever she kills a beast. No wonder she just can''t help herself. It is extremely satisfying to just watch something pop like that. I feel like this technique has limited uses though. It''s like ast resort technique or something one might use to set an example. I don''t see me using this on magical beasts unless all I need to do is kill them since magical beast parts can be useful in various ways. I guess it''d be fine to use this on humans though. If I ever get caught up in arge-scale battle, then this would be a great way to destroy enemy morale." Mira thought out loud. She then started to decide whether or not she wanted to stay here and fight a couple more beasts or head back.

    "I should probably head back. I want to make sure both me and Maria are fully prepared. Mainly Maria. I''ll probably spar with her quite a bit in the next week to make sure she''s not getting rusty. I also still need to consolidate my foundation a bit more. Let''s d that." Mira nodded as she looked over towards Rhydian and released a light sigh. She wished that she could ride on Rhydian, but she''s too small for that right now.

    Mira then started to run back towards the city and it took her about a day to get there. She went back to the Zaria Family to finish her preparations for the Entrance Exam. There was still a little over a week left until it starts, but she wanted to get there a couple of days early so she nned to only stay here for another week before heading out.

    Mira then went to find Maria to talk with her for a bit. She found Maria actually running around the house utilizing one of the techniques she got as a reward from the Trial. It was the Light Boots technique. She noticed a golden light wrapped around Maria as she was moving with fluid movements at extreme speeds. Maria noticed Mira and stopped.

    "We only have around a week before I''d like to leave towards the Battle Maiden Sect. We will spend this next week preparing. I will continue training you in unarmedbat, but we will also spar with each other using weapons as well. Spend the rest of your time consolidating your foundation and practicing any techniques that you feel you still need a bit more time on." Miramanded as she was about to turn around to leave, but heard Maria started toin before she got the chance.

    "Why do we have to fight so much?! I don''t wanna! It''s just you torturing me all day long! It feels like you just enjoy tormenting me!" Maria keptining, but Mira turned around to answer her.

    "We wouldn''t have to spar so much if you didn''t suck at fighting. Get better if you don''t want to do it anymore, but even then I will still spar with you. If you get good enough you might start being useful for my training as well. Why don''t you think about doing it for me, huh? I guess you could say I enjoy tormenting you. Training and teaching other people can help you improve yourself as well. I''ve reached a bottleneck in my training with both my scythe and martial arts. Maybe if you work enough you would actually be able to help me." Mira said with a smirk on her face. Mira wanted to see if she could trick Maria and have her want to work harder since she is putting in all of this effort to train her.

    Maria felt something was a bit off, but didn''t know what. She started to feel bad aboutining as she didn''t think about all of the time and effort Mira put into training her over the years. She wanted to apologize, but Mira had already left. She decided that she would try and put more effort into the training sessions since Mira is taking time and effort out of her day to help her.

    Over the next week, Maria put twice as much effort into learning martial arts and sparring as she did previously. Both Mira and Maria also spent time consolidating their foundation. A week quickly went by and it was finally time to leave towards the Battle Maiden Sect.

 Chapter 73 Entrance Exam, Beginning

    A week went by quickly a Mira and Maria sparred many hours a day and consolidated their foundations as well. They both didn''t know what the Exam was going to be about, but one could guess that fighting will definitely be a part of it. It''s the cultivation world after all. If you don''t know how to fight, then all that awaits you is either death or something simr to very. They''d also wanted to be as strong as possible for anything that mighte their way.

    Mira and Maria were now standing near the entrance to the Zaria Family as they made sure that they had everything. Mira had her space ring that contained everything she had. All of her Spirit Stones, which are around 650 now after cultivating for thest 6 months. All of the rewards she got from the trial, plenty of beast corpses for Rhydian, and all of her clothes. Maria also double-checked her space ring that looked simr to Mira''s. She decided to only take the Spirit Stones she got as a reward from the trial which was also around 650 along with all of the items she received as rewards from the trial. She made sure she had her main sword in there along with a backup, some Rejuvenation Pills, and many pairs of clothes.

    They both nodded their heads when they saw that they had everything with them. They were also taking Rhydian and Vulcan with them because they didn''t know if they''d being back here anytime soon. Mira also didn''t trust Rhydian to be alone for very long. Rhydian was still a baby, only her tantrums might end up causing massacres.

    Maria had already discussed joining a sect with Ariel''s father and he said that it wasn''t a problem and that a lot of children from the main families actually join a sect. Joining a Sect gives one the opportunity to possibly transfer to the main sect, which is close to the Central Continent. The atmospheric Qi is denser and of higher quality over there, which makes it easier to get stronger.

    Maria was extremely excited when she heard this. Maria told Ariel''s father that she wanted to join the Battle Maiden Sect and he just nodded his head at that seemingly not surprised. Maria was a very outgoing person, it would make sense she would want to join a sect and one filled with women is the best option for a young and innocent girl like her. He said that he would apany them to the Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam just to make sure nothing happens. Maria tried to persuade him not to because she didn''t think Mira would like that, but he wouldn''t budge and said that he wasing with her. Maria could only concede at this point and went to go tell Mira after the discussion, but to her surprise, Mira didn''t seem to care that much. Mira figured that someone would probably apany them as Maria is the daughter of the head of the Zaria Family. It would make sense and also be a smart idea for someone to apany them. Also, Ariel''s father is nearing the Core Formation Realm, so he isn''t someone weak that any normal person in the city can deal with.

    Ariel''s father''s name was Luke. Luke walked out and saw Mira and Maria together along with their two beastpanions. Luke sensed an insanely strong Rank 4 beast nearby and looked towards a small golden wolf with 2 tails standing next to Mira. His eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw this. His intuition as a Foundation Realm Expert was screaming at him not to fuck with that wolf. Even though he can fight Rank 5 magical beasts, this Low-Stage Rank 4 beast was actually making him feel a bit of fear. He couldn''t even imagine what sort of terrifying creature this beast would turn into in the future. He gulped at this as greed shown in his eyes for a brief second before he noticed that the wolf was staring at him with a menacing look. Gold and blue lightning shot across its body and the lightning bolt pupils were shining brightly. Luke shivered a bit as his back now had ayer of cold sweat on it.

    Rhydian looked at Luke like he was already a dead man. She had felt a gaze on her that had a hint of malicious intent in it. She turned around and saw Luke and was about to just kill him where he stood, but Mira bent down and rubbed her head before she could do anything. Mira just slightly turned her head and stared a hole through him. All Luke could see were wine-red eyes staring at him before he felt an overwhelming amount of killing intent directed at him. He started to feel suffocated just from the intensity of the killing intent as he couldn''t breathe. Those wine-red eyes now oozed a red haze through the slits in the mask as Mira kept this pressure on him for a few seconds before turning back around.

    "Let''s go." Mira said as she started walking.

    Luke gasped for breath.

    ''Fuck! How many people has Mira killed?! Thousands? Tens of Thousands?! I can''t even tell! Fuck Fuck FUCK! I think I really fucked up. But to think that the little wolf actually sensed that moment of greed that I had. It wouldn''t even matter now if I wanted that wolf for myself, it would never listen to me and would probably destroy half of the poption in the city if Mira died! FUCK!'' Luke screamed inwardly as he sped up to walk in front of them and lead them to the Battle Maiden Sect.

    The Battle Maiden Sect is considered part of Lunar Fox City but isn''t actually in Lunar Fox City. Each of the 5 Sects has its own territory that could actually be considered a city in its own right. Each Sect is around 100 kilometers away from Lunar Fox City and around 200 kilometers away from the other sects. The area in between is the territory that belongs to the sect. So each Sect actually has around 20000 square kilometers of territory as they own an area of 200 kilometers wide and 100 kilometers long.

    Once the 5 of them made it out of the city, they ran in the direction of the Battle Maiden Sect and were able to get there by the end of the day.

    When they got close to the Sect, Mira and Maria picked up Vulcan and Rhydian and they continued to walk towards the entrance. There were two guards standing by and both were female. They were also both Stage 6 Qi Condensation. One of the guards spoke up when she noticed people approaching.<sub> </sub>

    "There is an entrance fee of 2 spirit stones per person. We will give you a badge that will let the people in the city know that you have paid the entrance fee, but you will have to return this badge when you leave. If you want toe back inside the city, you will have to pay the entrance fee again. Only people that live in this area or are a disciple at the sect don''t have to pay the entrance fee every time. There is also a fee for any beastpanions, which is 20 spirit stones per beast. We will give you a cor to put around the beast''s neck to show that it is a beastpanion. The same thing applies to this as well. If you are not a resident here or aren''t a disciple at the Sect then you will have to return the cor when you leave and pay the entrance fee for the beast if you decide toe back. Men are not allowed toe here unless they are married to someone that lives here or there is a special asion happening in the Sect." One of the female guards exined as everyone nodded. Mira and Maria each took out 22 Spirit Stones and Luke took out 2 Spirit Stones. Luke already knew all of this so he wasn''t surprised. He was also nning to leave as soon as the Entrance Exams were over.

    After the 3 of them paid, they were each given a badge that had a symbol of a female wielding a sword on it. They pinned it to their chests. Rhydian and Vulcan were each given cors that fit their necks. They were bright red cors with a golden tag hanging off of them. After they received everything, they walked into the city that surrounded the Sect.

    It was quite the sight to behold as you couldn''t see a single boy or man in the streets or roads of the city.

    The five of them walked throughout the city in a rather quick manner. There were only a few days left until the Entrance Exam for the Sect and they wanted to find an inn that still had avability. They continued walking as Mira and Maria noticed theyout of the city that surrounded the Sect. It seemed the outer section of the city was the residential area. The inner area was the market area that had food stalls, restaurants, stores, and other misceneous things. The Core area is where the Sect is located and where the Disciples stay.

    The 5 of them received quite a bit of looks from people as they walked around the inner region of the city looking for an inn to stay in.

    They had to ask people for the locations of inns around here and had to check almost all of them before they could find a ce that had two rooms avable. The ce they had found was just a regr inn but was located in a weird location that didn''t seem easy to find. This ce also epted beastpanions and was 10 spirit stones to rent a room for a week. Mira and Maria shared a room with their beastpanions as Luke got his own room. Both of them went up to their room to rest and cultivate until it was time for the Entrance Exam. Mira didn''t want to get into any trouble before the Exam started so she just decided to stay in the room for the next 2 days. Maria didn''t want to explore the city without Mira so she reluctantly stayed inside their room as well.

    ***

    2 days passed quickly and it was now the morning of the examination day. Mira and Maria decided to rest a bit the night before and woke up extra early so they could go to the examination site to sign up and pay the fee to attempt the exam. They had asked the front deskdy if there was anything they needed to do on exam day and she just said to get there early and they will have to pay 50 Spirit stones to attempt the Entrance Exam. She also mentioned that beastpanions weren''t allowed since she remembered that both of them hade in with beastpanions.

    They followed her advice and Mira, Maria, and Luke woke up before dawn and walked over to where the exam would be held but they left Rhydian and Vulcan in their room since beastpanions weren''t allowed. They were rather shocked by what they saw. There were a bunch of middle-aged women that were receiving spirit stones from hundreds of people as they allowed them to walk to the exam site. When they looked over to the exam site, they were able to see hundreds of people had already paid and entered. They quickly entered the line to pay and waited for their turn.

    After a couple of hours, it soon became their turn to pay. Mira was still wearing her ck mask, but there were a lot of contestants wearing masks so the middle-aged women didn''t mind and just took her 50 Spirit Stones. Mira sighed a bit. She has barely been here a few days and almost 100 of her Spirit Stones were gone. She walked towards therge group of people to wait for the exam to start. There wasn''t anything to do and the people around were focused and mentally preparing themselves for the Exam.

    Hours went by as it was almost noon by the time they stopped epting people for the Entrance Exam. There were now thousands of girls and women waiting for the Exam to start. Soon a powerful middle-aged woman walked to the front and started speaking.

    "Wee everyone to this year''s Battle Maiden Sect''s Entrance Exam!"

 Chapter 74 Age And Element Affinity Test

    "Wee everyone to this year''s Battle Maiden Sect''s Entrance Exam! We will only be epting the top 100 people this year, but for those of you who don''t make it this year, you can always try again in 3 years. The first thing we will do is make sure that all fit the requirements to join. You have to be under 30 years old and in the Qi Condensation Realm or above. We will also be taking your name and elemental affinity along with this test. We have a device up here that will test your bones to tell whether or not you are 30 years old or younger. If you qualify then we will also test your elemental affinity! Now line up!" The powerful middle-aged woman said in a loud voice.

    All of the women that were part of the Entrance Exam then started to line up and wait for their turn. Most of the people here would be fine, but there were a couple of people that were starting to sweat.

    Mira and Maria were in the middle of the line and the process was happening rather quickly.

    "Anya, Fire Element Affinity, Pass! NEXT!"

    "Cassandra, Water Element Affinity, Pass! NEXT!"

    "Lind, Earth Element Affinity, Pass! NEXT"

    The contestants would walk up and tell the examiner their name, the examiner would test the age of their bones with a long needle that made a small incision and poked the bone. If they passed, the examinees would insert their energy into a small crystal and it would show their elemental affinity. The examiner was speeding through the people as there were so many. But soon, somebody came up that didn''t pass the age test.

    "FAIL! Please leave the premise!" The Examiner yelled at the person that failed. The woman that failed started to tear up and cry as she got escorted out of the area. The testing continued on like normal. Most of the people passed along with a ton of women having water or air affinity. There were still a couple of people who failed and were over 30 years old.

    It took around an hour for it to get to Mira and Maria''s turn. Mira was the one to walk up first. The examiner was surprised to see how small Mira was. She was also a bit surprised that almost everything was covered up except for her hair and hands. But just from looking at these two features, the Examiner could tell that this was a beauty of extraordinary proportions. She wished that Mira wasn''t wearing a mask so that she could see her face, but didn''t worry about this as she should get the chanceter if she joins the sect. The Examiner looked at Mira again as she noticed the freezing aura surrounding her along with a slight malevolent aura. She was very surprised by this as Mira was probably extremely young. She was awoken from her gaze when Mira talked.

    "My name is Mira." Mira said as she stuck out her arm for her age to be tested. The Examiner just nodded and stuck in an extremely thin needle. The needle touched Mira''s bone and then lit up in a bright green color.

    "Now test your elemental affinity." The Examiner said as she pointed to a crystal around the size of a fist. Mira nodded her head and ced her hand on the crystal. She inserted her energy and the crystal lit up with an icy blue color. The Examiner wasn''t shocked by this because she could already feel the cold aura that just surrounded her.

    "Mira, Ice Element Affinity, Pass! NEXT" The Examiner yelled as Mira nodded and walked over to where the people that passed were located.

    The Examinees along with their parents or people watching were now whispering about Mira.

    "Ice Element? I haven''t heard of anyone named Mira with an Ice Element affinity. It''s quite rare for someone to have an Ice Affinity. I wonder where she came from."

    "Look at her! I bet she''s extremely gorgeous under that mask! If only she hadrger breasts, she would be perfect! She even has an ice affinity! So cool!"

    "That girl looks so small! I wonder how old she is?"

    Everyone that saw Mira started to whisper about her as most people wanted to know her identity. But they were interrupted when a beauty walked up to get tested as well.

    Maria walked up to the Examiner like a golden light. Her long golden hair, her skin that radiated a golden light, and even her blue eyes had streaks of gold in them. There was arge smile on Maria''s face as she introduced herself.

    "My name is Maria Zaria! I should be around 22 years old, but I can''t remember my exact age because I kind of lost track of time!" Maria introduced herself in that manner even though she knew that they would check her age. She also stuck her arm out and waited for the Examiner to confirm her age.

    The Examiner just stuck the needle in her arm and saw the green light shine.<sub> </sub>

    "Now test your elemental affinity." The Examiner said as she showed a fist-sized crystal to Maria.

    Maria put her hand on the crystal and inserted her energy into it. A bright golden light shone from the crystal as the Examiner was surprised, but also not that surprised as everything about this girl was golden.

    "Maria Zaria, Light Element Affinity, Pass! NEXT!" The Examiner said calmly on the outside but was rather shocked on the inside.

    ''I wonder what is up with thosest 2 girls? Are they together? Where have they been all this time as I have never heard of them? I only know that Maria Zaria is the daughter of the Zaria Family''s Head, Cole Zaria.'' The Examiner secretly wondered, but shook the thoughts out of her head and continued with the examination.

    Maria just ran over to Mira as she was happy that she passed this section. One step closer to joining the Sect.

    ***

    Somewhere outside of the Sect.

    There were 3 people watching what was happening at the Entrance Exam Site. Two of the figures would look familiar to Mira and Maria, but the 3rd person was a middle-aged woman.

    "Those two people are the girls we talked about! Mira and Maria. Mira has the mask on and Maria has golden blonde hair. I can almost guarantee that they will pass the exam!" A girl with red hair said to the middle-aged woman.

    "They certainly do look rather abnormal. I can sense even sense a malevolent aura from that girl Mira. I have no idea how many people she has killed as it is definitely in the tens of thousands. You are extremely lucky that she didn''t kill you two, Diana and Ellie. Even if she does pass, I''m a little hesitant to allow someone like that to enter the sect. That Maria girl looks so innocent though and I can''t sense any malice or ill-intent behind her actions. It''s like she is a child in an adult''s body." The middle-aged woman said to the two girls. They were Ellie and Diana that Mira and Maria had met in the forest 6 months ago.

    "Don''t be fooled by Maria, Elder. I don''t know if she can fight as well as Mira, but I highly doubt that someone staying around Mira will not be strong either because they are talented at fighting or because Mira forced them to train. When I was near her, I wasn''t able to sense any danger from her which only made me think that she was more dangerous." Diana suddenly said as Ellie also chimed in.

    "The both of them also have extremely strong beastpanions. Especially Mira, It was at Peak-Stage Rank 3 when we met it 6 months ago and it looked like it was just born. The scenes that her beastpanion left behind were horrifying as well. I can''t even imagine what sort of terrifying beast it will turn into when it''s fully grown." Ellie said with aplicated expression on her face.

    "It seems that I will need to pay attention to those two during the rest of the Exam. I will let the other Sect Elders know as well so they can keep an eye out for the two of them." The Elder said to the two of them as they watched the rest of the.

    ***

    The age and elemental affinity test continued. Most of the women had water and air affinity while the 3rd mostmon was fire and there were a few with an earth affinity.

    There were also 2 other people that had rare affinities other than Mira and Maria. There was a woman with a dark element affinity whose name is Nisha. She has ck hair and ck eyes. There was also a girl with a lightning element affinity whose name is Audra. She has dark orange hair with green eyes.

    Mira was a bit surprised to see other people with rare element affinities but realized that it wasn''t that odd. There were thousands of people here, there were bound to be people with other elements other than fire, wind, earth, and water.

    Time passed pretty quickly as everyone was finally tested. Around 10% of the people already failed due to their age being too old. It is now time to move onto the actual tests. The middle-aged woman from before stood in front of everyone.

    "Congrattions for making it past this first section, but the rest of the exams will only get harder from here. We will be testing your will, battle prowess, strength, teamwork, endurance, hunting ability, and have a tournament at the end. We will start off with the strength test next. There will be 3 lines. The first line is for people in Qi Condensation Stages 1-4. The second line will be for Qi Condensation Stage 5-9 and the Third line will be for anyone in the Foundation Realm. Now Split!"

 Chapter 75 Strength Test

    "Congrattions for making it past this first section, but the rest of the exams will only get harder from here. We will be testing your will, battle prowess, strength, teamwork, endurance, hunting ability, and have a tournament at the end. We will start off with the strength test next. There will be 3 lines. The first line is for people in Qi Condensation Stages 1-4. The second line will be for Qi Condensation Stage 5-9 and the Third line will be for anyone in the Foundation Realm. Now Split!" The middle-ageddy yelled and everybody went to their respective lines.

    There wasn''t anyone in the Foundation Realm so only the two Qi Condensation lines were filled up. It didn''t take too long for everyone to line up in their respective lines as most of them were in Stage 1-4. Mira and Maria joined the second line and were somewhere around in the middle of the line.

    "Good. Now that everyone is lined up let me exin how this test is going to go. This is the strength test. One needs enough strength to be able to live freely in the cultivation world and getting stronger requires training and hard work. This will separate the ones who only cultivate and the people who put in work and try to train their bodies. All you have to do is walk up and punch this stone. We have set up an inscription on the rock to measure your strength that is set to recognize your cultivation level and adjust the scoring system. Your strength will be based on a score of 100. To score a 100 then you have to be able to damage the rock. A passing grade is a 50. Just as a reference, someone who only cultivates is a 0. If you trained your body as well as cultivated then you will get higher than a 0. If you don''t make it past a 50 then you will be disqualified and unable to continue on with the Examination. Don''t worry about breaking the rocks because we have many more if any of them do break. Now Start!" The middle-aged woman exined as everyone nodded their heads in understanding.

    The people at the front of the line then started. The woman at the front of Mira and Maria''s line walked up to the rock and brought her fist back and punched the rock with all her strength.

    "51, Pass! NEXT!" The Examinerdy yelled. The girl smiled brightly as she was led to the area for the people that have passed. The next person in line then walked up to the stone and took a stance and punched the rock with all of her strength.

    "60, Pass! NEXT!"

    "55, Pass! NEXT!"

    "62, Pass! NE..."

    The examinees continued punching the stone and passing before there was a sudden change and people started to fail.

    "40, Fail! NEXT!"

    "10, Fail! NEXT!"

    "22, Fail! NEXT!"

    "31, Fail! NE..."

    People continued to fail and were escorted out of the area as they were now unable to continue with the Exam. Mira was a bit surprised that there are so many people that didn''t work hard to improve their cultivation. She guessed that they might be poor or don''t know how to train their bodies properly. Training the body is a difficult and brutal process. If one doesn''t know how to properly train their body and recover then they might end up hurting themselves rather than getting stronger.

    The number of people passing and failing was about half and half when it finally reached Mira''s turn. Everybody''s eyes were on Mira as she was the one with the ice affinity and seemed incredibly strong. As Mira walked up to the stone she thought about how she should punch the stone. Mira then thought of the perfect technique to use. Even though she doesn''t like to show off, this could hardly be showing off. Mira was sure that she wouldn''t even have to try to pass this stage.

    Mira walked up to the stone and stood within arm''s length of it. She extended her hand out like she was going to shake hands with the rock until the tips of her fingers touched the rock. She took a deep breath then formed a fist and punched the rock with full force.

    *POP*

    The rock tried to move but it was stuck in ce. Mira''s punch sent shockwaves into the rock that kept reverberating in it. Cracks then started to form on the rock before it exploded intorge chunks.

    Everybody watched this scene with their mouths agape!

    "What the hell just happened?! It looked like she barely even punched the rock! Why did the rock explode all of a sudden?! Did she cheat somehow?!"

    "What the hell was that?! I couldn''t even see what she did!"

    "I can''t believe that someone so small can have such a strong body! She''s so cool! Take off your mask!"

    Many people were in awe of what Mira did, but there are quite a few people that are skeptical.

    The Examiner was also shocked by this. She thought that Mira was just going to try and show off by barely punching the rock, but why did it suddenly explode? She also couldn''t sense any Qi being used to cause this. The Examiner then started to investigate the pieces of rock to see if she can sense any signs of Qi being used, but after checking the rock thoroughly she''s forced to say that Mira passed.

    "100, Pass�� Next!" The Examiner paused a bit after saying ''pass''. Mira just nodded and walked off, but underneath her mask, she was smirking.

    ''Fools! If you think that I barely hit that stone then think again. If they knew anything about martial arts then they would know that the punch I just threw is incredibly difficult to pull off, but the results of such a punch seeding are amazing. Hehe.'' Mira thought in her mind as she kept snickering in her mind as she walked over to the ce for people who passed this test.

    The Examiner had to rece the rock, but that didn''t take too long as the next person in line was able to start almost immediately after. Maria just so happened to be the next person in line as everybody''s eyes went away from Mira and were now focused on Maria. Maria walked up to the new stone and wondered how she should punch it. Mira has been teaching her a lot about how to throw a proper punch. Maria then thought of what she should do. Maria took a stance in front of the rock. Mira was watching as she was interested in how Maria would punch the stone and she was not disappointed. Maria took up a boxing stance and had both of her hands up near her chest. Her chest was faced perpendicr to the rock as her left foot was near the rock and her right foot was further away, about shoulder length apart from the left foot. Maria took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. She rotated her hips as she gathered momentum and swung her right arm with full force at the rock.<sub> </sub>

    *BOOM*

    When her fist collided with the rock and loud boom was heard. The rock then exploded intorge chunks as there was only around 30% of the rock that was still intact. Maria went back to her cheerful self after she saw she broke the rock!

    "I did it! Hahaha! Mira look! How was that punch?! Pretty good right?! Haha!" Maria yelled as she asked Mira. Mira just nodded her head slightly and closed her eyes. She had to admit that it was a pretty good punch.

    Everybody that was watching Maria had their jaws drop again.

    "Not just one, but two people were able to break that rock! She also seemed to be acquainted with that girl who broke the rock before her!"

    "What was that technique she used to punch the rock? I''ve never seen something like that!"

    "Holy shit that girl is pretty! If she just looked at me, I could die without regrets!"

    Many people had different opinions about Maria. Not as many people were as skeptical with Maria''s punch. Part of it was they were able to see her swing her fist and hit the rock with a full-power strike and another was just Maria''s natural charisma. She seems too innocent to cheat.

    The Examiner was also looking at this scene with aplicated expression.

    ''Those two seem to be acquainted. I didn''t feel any Qi with that attack as well, but she used a totally different move than what Mira used. But both moves looked much different than what you might normally see. I wonder how these things are rted?'' The Examiner wondered, but just shook these thoughts out of her head for now and inspected the rock to make sure no Qi was used. She was able to confirm that no Qi was used after inspecting all of the pieces of rock.

    "100, Pass! NEXT!" The Examiner yelled as she reced the rock again.

    Maria just hopped over to Mira with a wide smile on her face. The two of them watched the rest of the examinees and waited for this test to be over so they can move onto the next test.

    ***

    In an area located above the Entrance Exam Site, there were 6 people watching the Entrance Exam unfold. 3 of them were Diana, Ellie, and the Elder they were talking to before. The other 3 people were also Elders at the Battle Maiden Sect.

    "See Elder, I told you that Maria was probably just as strong as Mira. There is no way Mira would allow someone weak to follow her around." Diana said to the Elder.

    "I now understand what you were saying earlier. It also looks like either Mira trained Maria in hand-to-handbat or they trained together with the same teacher. But what I want to know is what technique Mira used to make the rock explode like that. I''ve never seen anything like that. It looked like she barely put any effort into attacking the rock." The Elder said back.

    "Right, right? I want to know that as well! I also want to know what that girl, Maria, did as well. It looked extremely simple, but she was able to gather so much power behind her fist! I want to try that out! Haha!" Another Elder spoke up, but this one was much louder and battle-crazy. The two other Elders also nodded their heads as they would like to know as well.

    "Umm. I think that it was probably Mira that taught Maria." Ellie suddenly spoke up and caught the attention of all of the Elders.

    "Why do you say that?"

    "Well, there are a couple of reasons. The main reason is that when I was talking to Maria, she said that Mira was drilling her in unarmedbat every day for hours. The other reason is that Maria said that Mira calls herself a Grand Master in terms of unarmedbat. She was also able to incapacitate Diana before Diana could even blink with just her hands. I don''t know if she is at the level of Grand Master, but I don''t think Mira would boast about something like that for no reason." Ellie exined to them as Diana put her head down in shame.

    "Hmph! Merely the boasting of a child! I will have to test her myself after she joins the Battle Maiden Sect to determine whether or not this is true." One of the Elders snorted and already assumed that Mira would pass the Entrance Exam. The rest of the Elders thought the same thing as well.

    Ellie and Diana just silently shook their heads. They don''t know Mira''s personality and it is definitely not prideful or arrogant. If Mira speaks, it is probably the truth.

    The six of them continued to watch the Entrance Exams.

    ***

    Only an hour or two went by for everyone''s strength to get tested and the people who passed heard the powerful middle-aged woman from before.

    "Congrattions on passing the Strength Test! We will now be moving on to the Test of Will!"

 Chapter 76 Test Of Will

    "Congrattions on passing the Strength Test! We will now be moving on to the Test of Will! Pain is something that a cultivator must endure in order to get stronger. We will be testing how strong your will as a cultivator is and whether you can endure the pain thates with it. All you have to do for this test is sit down in a lotus position where you''re standing right now. We have an array already prepared around all of you. This array will affect the mind rather than the body as you will feel pain without actually being hurt. Now, all of you sit down and we will activate the array!" The middle-ageddymanded them to sit down as everyone who passed thest test did as she said.

    Mira looked around at all of the examinees that passed the strength test and realized that around half of them have failed and were disqualified from the rest of the Exam. At the beginning of the Exam, there were thousands of examinees, but around 10% were lost after having their age tested. Then another 50% failed after the strength test. There were only a little over 1000 people still participating in the Exam now. Mira guessed that they probably wouldn''t end this stage until around half of these women were left to participate.

    Regardless, Mira and Maria just sat down and waited for them to activate the array.

    "We will activate the array in 3, 2, 1. Now!" The middle-ageddy counted down and activated the array.

    Everybody within the array felt a lightning bolt strike their heads. It didn''t take long for the people in the array to start feeling pain. At first, the pain wasn''t that bad for most people as it just started off with the feeling of getting cut or shed over and over again. There were a couple of examinees that couldn''t endure the constant sensation of being cut and shed over and over again and fainted.

    For Mira and Maria, this feeling was an everyday urrence, especially for Maria. Mira was constantly beating Maria up, shing her, throwing her, and causing any other type of pain that Mira was able to dish out. Mira was used to many types of pain by now. Having her soul forcefully ripped out of a dead body and forced into a cycle of reincarnation is something that Mira will never get used to. Pain on this level is essentially nothing to Mira. This type of pain went on for a while before the level of pain seemed to escte.

    The pain went from the feeling of getting cuts and scratches to getting deep gashes.

    "URGHH!!"

    Many people groaned in pain as they tried to resist the pain. It felt like gashes kept forming on their body and the cuts were so deep that they cut into their bones. This is definitely a pain that normal people won''t be able to deal with 1 time much less it happening over and over again.

    The women left in the array seemed to be much more resilient to pain than the first batch that fainted from the cuts and scratches. Not many people immediately fainted, but as time went on and the pain continued more and more people started to faint and get disqualified.

    Mira and Maria just kept sitting there like nothing was happening to them. This type of pain was also a daily urrence for Maria. She experienced receiving gashes all over her body while in the trial and Mira will also asionally hit her a bit too hard in training or sparring. For Mira, this type of pain is something that she has experienced too many times to count.

    Maria opened her eyes while the pain was still going on and wanted to look around. She saw most people gritting their teeth as they tried to resist the pain. Even the girls with the dark and lightning elemental affinities weren''t much better off. She then turned to Mira and asked her a question.

    "Mira, why is everyone struggling already? You do this every day to me and I don''t even have a choice to quit!" Maria whispered to Mira, but everyone was able to hear her.

    ''What do you mean this happens to you every day?! Isn''t she supposed to be your friend?! And why are you talking?! Asshole!!'' All of the examinees thought in their minds as they continued to try to resist the pain.

    "What the hell are you talking about? Are you stupid? This is not something normal people can handle. Why don''t you use that tiny brain of yours and think for a second? You were in a state worse than these people when I first beat you half to death! This is the bare minimum of pain that one has to be able to resist to be a cultivator. Knowing this, why don''t you take a guess as to why I''ve been so rough on you." Mira said back in a calm voice like none of this was affecting her.

    ''What the fuck is wrong with these two?!'' This was the thought that was going through everybody''s minds.

    Even the spectators were wondering what was going on with those two. Everybody else seemed to be in pain and these two abnormals were talking like this happened all of the time for them.

    After a while, around 100 people fainted during this section of pain but the rest seemed unwilling to give in. The pain then started to skyrocket. The pain the examinees now felt were their bones cracking, fracturing, or breaking constantly. Many people immediately fainted when they felt this as their minds couldn''t handle it. Even the examinees that had pride in being able to endure pain were starting to feel an immense amount of stress. It felt like a mountain was weighing down on their body and took all of their focus and mental power just to be able to resist this pain.

    Maria kept looking around after the pain seemed to increase again, but Mira was used to this type of pain as well. Not only did she have to experience this pain multiple times in the trial, but Mira also breaks or fractures her bones quite often. This is especially so when they train in unarmedbat. Maria feels lucky to be alive every time unarmedbat training ends with Mira.

    "Mira, look at these people. They don''t have to go through what I do! You break or fracture my bones all of the time! Why do I have to go through this and not them?!" Maria continued toin to Mira without even thinking that other people can hear her.

    "This is your fault. You said you wanted to follow me. I''m only doing my job as a leader. Why don''t you think back to the times before you met me? Your life was probably only sunshine and rainbows. Now you live in what you like to call ''a never-ending hell''." Mira said back to Maria like she didn''t care about the other examinees at all.<sub> </sub>

    Maria was shocked by that answer. Was it really her fault? What''s wrong with her? Why did things turn out like this?

    ''I didn''t know Mira would be like this when I first met her though!! I think it''s a bit toote to back out now as well. There is no way Mira would let me after she''s put in years of work into training me and tempering me.'' Maria thought to herself, but how could Mira miss the changes in expression.

    "It seems you are thinking of something rude right now. I guess I will have to scold you properly after this is done, hehe." Mira sneered at Maria for thinking of something stupid.

    Maria felt like a lightning bolt just dropped on her head. She wanted to scream and beg Mira to not do anything, but she knew it''d be futile so she just decided to shut up.

    ''I better stay as far away as possible from those two. I might actually die if I get involved with them!'' All of the women thought as they listened to Mira and Maria''s conversation.

    Time passed slowly for the examinees as around a few hundred were disqualified this time and there were only around 700-800 people left in the array. It didn''t take long until the pain they were experiencing reached a new level.

    "AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Almost everybody screamed in pain as they tried their hardest to stay conscious.

    It felt like someone was ripping the bones and organs out of their body. Even Maria had to grit her teeth in pain as this was something that most people wouldn''t be able to handle with a straight face.

    Mira frowned as well. If this ever happened in battle, they would already be dead. Most people wouldn''t even do this when torturing someone because they wouldn''t survive long enough to be able to give you any information.

    This pain onlysted for a couple of seconds. That was all it took for the 7-800 examinees to drop down to 500. When the examinees reached 500, the pain stopped and everybody started gasping for breath as they felt like a mountain was lifted off of them. The middle-ageddy then stepped up and announced the end of the Test of Will.

    "Congrattions to you 500 that have passed the Test of Will. We will end the tests here for today as it''s gettingte. Come back here before dawn tomorrow morning. Be sure to get a good rest tonight as you might be able to sleep well for a while afterward! One more thing! If you have a beastpanion then you may bring them here tomorrow. That is all! You may leave now!" The middle-ageddy said to them and walked away.

    Everybody was a bit shocked by this, but they were d. It took most of the examinees a while before they decided to get up and move. They immediately looked for Mira and Maria to yell at them a bit for being rude during the test, but they seemed to already be gone.

    This was true as Mira and Maria left as soon as the middle-ageddy said that they could leave, both of them left.

    ***

    Back in the area where Ellie, Diana, and the 4 Elders were staying, the middle-aged woman from before walked over to them after she announced that they could leave. The middle-aged woman then asked the Elders a question.

    "Are you sure it''s okay for us to allow beastpanions tomorrow?" She asked the Elders.

    "It''s not ideal, but we just got word that one of the contestants has a bit of a troublesome beastpanion. I don''t really want a massacre to happen because it misses its owner. We will just have to add some restrictions for beastpanions tomorrow as not everyone will have one." One of the Elders exined.

    "I understand. I will not allow them to use their beastpanions to help kill, but maybe they can use them a bit to hunt or find other beasts." The middle-ageddy said what she nned on doing. The Elders nodded their heads at this as this was eptable. The middle-ageddy then left the area as only 6 of them were left.

    "Mira and Maria are definitely abnormal. It also seems like Mira is the one training Maria. I wonder just how well they can fight. I''m really looking forward to tomorrow as well. Tomorrow is the group hunt. I wonder who will join Mira and Maria''s group? I wonder who will be the leader? Haha, it seems this year is much more exciting than previous years!" One of the Elders said as this was what the rest of them were thinking.

    ***

 Chapter 77 Group Hunt Part 1

    Mira and Maria made it back to their inn and went straight back to the room. Before they even entered they heard noises from inside of the room and they both got a little nervous to open the door. Mira almost just turned around and left. She didn''t want to open that door only to find the room destroyed. She was already running out of Spirit Stones from this damn ce. She didn''t want to spend even more because of her stupid beast! She eventually opened the door and what both of them saw surprised them quite a bit.

    Vulcan was running around like he was running for his life while Rhydian was chasing after him with her tail wagging and a stupid smile on her face. Vulcan had multiple bite marks all over him as it seemed Rhydian was using Vulcan as some sort of toy.

    "At least Vulcan was here to keep herpany." Mira muttered.

    "Vulcan!!" Maria yelled at Vulcan with a voice full of concern. Vulcan heard Maria''s voice and rushed into her arms while whimpering. Maria just caudled him trying to make him feel better.

    Rhydian also noticed Mira and her eyes glistened with lightning and sheunched herself towards Mira. It was so fast that Mira didn''t even have time to react before Rhydian head-butted her in the stomach and she fell to the ground. The wind got knocked out of Mira as she gasped for air for a couple of seconds.

    "Ah! Fuck! Don''t do that Rhydian! You might actually kill me. It seems I need to get stronger quicker so I don''t identally die to my own pet. *Sigh*." Mira released a heavy sigh when she said this. She looked over towards Vulcan and wondered why the difference was so great between the two. Rhydian is like a child and is about as intelligent as one, but Vulcan was born with the intelligence of at least a teenager. Rhydian is also stronger than her so it''s not like she can stop Rhydian.

    Mira just grabbed Rhydian and threw her off. Rhydian didn''t know what she did wrong, but she could tell that Mira was in a bad mood right now. So she just walked over to Mira with her head down and tried to rub up against Mira. This didn''t faze Mira though as she just looked around the room to see if anything is destroyed.

    It didn''t look like anything was destroyed while they were gone for the day which Mira was happy about. Mira gave a thumbs up towards Vulcan in her mind.

    All 4 of them walked back into the room to get some rest. Vulcan slept in Maria''s arms tonight as he didn''t want anything to do with Rhydian. Both Mira and Maria decided to sleep tonight so they are ready for tomorrow.

    ***

    The night passed quickly as both Mira and Maria woke up before dawn and rushed over to the gathering ce for the next test with both of their beastpanions.

    They attracted quite a bit of attention from everybody when they neared the area to start the next test. Not only because they have gotten quite famous from yesterday, but now because of their beastpanions. Everybody notices a small golden wolf with blue streaks on its back along with 2 tails, 1 gold, and the other ice blue. They then started to notice the power that this small wolf cub held. A Low-Stage Rank 4 Magical Beast! An extremely powerful one at that! After they saw Rhydian, their focus then went onto the small fox. Its bright red fur really stood out and it had a fiery aura around it. This fox also held power somewhat close to the wolf. The fox has the power of Late-Stage Rank 3. Yes, within thest 6 months Vulcan was able to make it to Late-Stage Rank 3.

    "Hey, isn''t it cheating to bring beastpanions of that power? That wolf seems to have power much stronger than a normal Low-Stage Rank 4 magical beast as well. She wouldn''t even need to do anything! She can just let that wolf do all of the work!"

    "Those two pets look so young yet they are so powerful! I wish I could have something like that!"

    "Holy shit! Those two are so cute! Please let me pet your beastpanion! I will even pay you!"

    Many people were whispering about Rhydian and Vulcan except for a couple of people that offered to pay them so they can pet the beasts. Vulcan didn''t seem to care about all of the stares, but Rhydian was feeling rather ufortable. She could also feel gazes that contained malicious intent directed towards her. Rhydian was starting to get angry that these insects would even think about doing something bad to her. Rhydian stopped and mmed her foot into the ground leaving a web of cracks in the ground as lightning started to crackle around her. All of the hairs on her back stood up as she started growling at the people looking at her. She then gazed towards all of the areas where she felt malicious intent. The people that were having greedy or envious thoughts immediately froze and wanted to run away.

    Mira just kept walking seemingly ignoring whatever Rhydian was doing.

    ''It''s their fault if they die. Having greedy thoughts about Rhydian is just a death wish. She''s in a Life and Death Contract with me so it''s not like it would matter if they killed me to take Rhydian since her life is tied to mine.'' Mira thought to herself, but luckily for those people, Rhydian was still a cub.

    ? Once she noticed that Mira had walked off, she stopped releasing her aura and lightning and ran to catch up to Mira.

    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when that golden wolf ran off without doing anything. They were all shocked that Mira didn''t even try to stop and left it up to the little cub to decide their life and death.

    ''I think it''s better if I don''t get involved with her.'' All of the people thought as they watched the 4 of them walk off.<sub> </sub>

    Mira and Maria soon made it to the area where they are supposed to wait for the test to start. They saw the rest of the 500 women either already there or making their way over. Around 20% of the people seemed to have a beastpanion. Most were Rank 2, but there were actually quite a few Low-Stage to Mid-Stage Rank 3 beastpanions among them.

    Mira noticed Nisha and Audra, the two girls with dark and lightning elemental affinities. Nisha had a Mid-Stage Rank 3 Panther Magical beast. It waspletely ck and Mira assumed that the panther also controls the dark element, and the panther was clearly not full-grown either as it was much smaller than a full-grown panther. Audra brought with her a Mid-Stage Rank 3 Hawk-like magical beast. It had a wingspan of around 2 meters, but also seemed like it wasn''t fully grown. It either controlled wind or lightning, but since it had golden-orange feathers she assumed that it controlled lightning.

    All 500 women soon gathered and the middle-aged woman from yesterday came up in front of everyone.

    "It looks like everyone was able to make it back here in time for the next test! The next test will be a group hunting test. We will take you to a hunting area filled with magical beasts ranging from Rank 1 to Rank 4 where you will stay for the next week. You will be graded based on how many points you earn. Points are earned by killing magical beasts. Rank 1 magical beasts are 1 point, Rank 2 magical beasts are separated into 4 point categories. Low-Stage Rank 2 is worth 2 points, Mid-Stage Rank 2 is worth 3 points, Late-Stage Rank 2 is worth 5 points, and Peak-Stage Rank 2 is worth 7 points. Rank 3 magical beasts are also separated into 4 point categories as well. Low-Stage is worth 10 points, Mid-Stage is worth 12 points, Late-Stage is worth 15 points, and Peak-Stage is worth 20 points. Seeing that none of you are in the Foundation Realm if any group is able to kill a Rank 4 magical beast then that group will immediately pass. Each group will contain 5 excluding magical beasts. I know that we allowed you to bring magical beasts with you, but you are not allowed to use them in fights. You can use them to search or track for other magical beasts. Now go form your groups! We will set out after every group is formed!" The middle-ageddy exined to everyone as they all began to think of who they wanted to form groups with.

    Mira and Maria obviously formed a group together, but they needed 3 more people to join their group. But for some reason, Nisha and Audra came walking over to Mira and Maria.

    "Hello, my name is Nisha. I''d like to join your group." Nisha, the girl with ck hair and panther said.

    "Yo, I''m Audra. You two seem like the strongest people here, so I say we make a group together. All we need is one more person." Audra, the girl with orange hair and the hawk said.

    "Hey! My name is Maria and this is Mira! I''m d that you two decided to join us as everybody else seems to be too scared. Well, they aren''t wrong, hehe. Mira can be pretty scary!" Maria said as she grabbed their hands and shook them. Mira''s eyebrow twitched when she heard what Maria was saying about her, but she only nodded her head.

    Both the panther and the hawk were looking at Vulcan and Rhydian carefully, especially Rhydian. Their instincts as magical beasts were telling them to run away from these two.

    It got a bit awkward between the 4 of them as nobody knew what to say. They just decided to wait until a fifth persones. Almost everybody formed a group by now and only Mira''s group needed 1 more person. They looked for thest person left and found a young and small girl looking around with a panic expression. Mira could tell this person is probably really timid and shy. She probably doesn''t talk to people that often. Maria just ran over to her and dragged her to their group. The girl was visibly tearing up and panicking now that Maria had grabbed her and started dragging her, but Maria is too strong for the girl to escape. She''s only Stage 2 Qi Condensation. If both Nisha and Audra, who was Stage 6 Qi Condensation, couldn''t escape Maria then how could this little girl.

    "Hello! My name is Maria, this is Mira, Nisha, and Audra! You seem to be thest person left, but don''t worry as you can join our group haha! What''s your name?" Maria excitedly asked, but the girl was hesitating to answer.

    "M-M-My n-name i-s C-C-Cine! I-I''ll be in your care!" Cine stuttered out as she bowed towards everyone. Maia just raised her back up and talked to her cheerfully.

    "No need for that! We are all in a group, so let''s all get along! I guess we should probably pick a leader now. I don''t want to be the leader and I don''t think Cine will be able to handle the stress of it. I don''t know about Nisha or Audra, but Mira is a great leader. She''s been leading and training me for years now so I can verify that she is a great leader, although she can be quite cruel sometimes." Maria immediately voted for Mira to be the leader of the group and Cine just timidly nodded her head.

    "I don''t mind. We can have Mira be the leader." Nisha said as she didn''t think that she would be the best leader here, plus Mira and Maria are both stronger than her.

    "If everybody else wants her to be the leader, then I guess she can be the leader. I also prefer to be the one up front fighting rather than trying to lead people." Audra also epted this, mainly because she''s getting an extremely dangerous vibe from Mira.

    "Then it''s decided! Mira will be the leader! Please take care of us, Leader Mira. Hehe." Maria giggled as Mira sighed.

    "Very well, I will be the leader of this little group for this test. But I will let you know right now, I won''t ept anybody cking. I will drag your sorry ass out of this test if I don''t see 100% effort, this includes you as well Maria. When we get to the destination, I will have you 4 show me your abilities. Even though I know how you fight, Maria, they also need to know. Understood?" Miramanded like a drill sergeant. The 4 of them stiffened when they heard Mira''smanding tone. Nisha, Audra, and Cine thought that Mira might be the quiet type, but it appears theypletely missed the mark.

    "Y-Yes!" They all stuttered as they affirmed and Mira nodded her head.

    The middle-ageddy then spoke up.

    "It seems that all of the groups are formed. Only 40 groups, or 200 people, will be able to pass this test and move onto the next test. Now that all of this is out of the way, I will now lead you to where you will spend the next week hunting magical beasts!" The middle-ageddy said as she started to lead them out of the city and towards a small mountain with a forest that goes halfway up it.

 Chapter 78 Group Hunt Part 2

    It didn''t take long for everybody to reach the area that the middle-ageddy was leading them to. What entered the examinee''s eyes was arge mountain with a thick forest that surrounded it and went about halfway up it. Once they neared the forest, the middle-ageddy spoke up.

    "This is where you will spend the next week. The magical beasts generally get stronger the closer you get to the mountain. There are more Rank 3''s on the mountain than in the forest as well, so if you are looking to hunt Rank 3 magical beasts then you might want to head there, but it is also more dangerous. Rank 4 magical beasts also live on the mountain and a Rank 5 magical beast lives at the peak of the mountain. That is all of the information you get. Your one-week timer starts now!" The middle-ageddy said and then she left the area.

    "Let''s go! If we get a head start then we might be able to kill more beasts!"

    "We should rush to the base of the mountain and hunt all of the beasts around that area! Let''s go hunt and get ourselves in the top 40 groups."

    Almost all of the groups rushed into the forest because they wanted to get a headstart. There were only a couple of groups that didn''t rush into the forest like a bunch of idiots. One such group was Mira''s group. Mira just stood there and waited for the other groups to go.

    "Why are we waiting here, Mira? Shouldn''t we try to get a headstart to kill as many beasts as possible? Why are you just standing there waiting?" Maria asked her with a barrage of questions.

    "Why don''t you use that tiny brain of yours and think? How can you trust what that woman said so easily? We know nothing about this ce. If everybody rushes into the forest, then it might scare some of the beasts. This is also the time when these groups will be nning what to do next, except now they have to n while in the forest surrounded by danger. We will be here for a week, there is no need to rush. I also said that I n on taking a look at your abilities didn''t I? How can I be a good leader if I don''t even know what you do?" Mira said to Maria in an irritated voice. All 4 of them now understood Mira''s thinking and found it to be quite smart. But Nisha had a question.

    "What about our beastpanions? Do you n on using them to search for other beasts to attack?" Nisha asked and everybody else was curious as well.

    "I''d rather not use them unless we are looking for something specific, but what we will be fighting will also be able to fight back against your beasts. I''m not going to send mine as she will probably just kill them. The only beast I''d send would be Maria''s fox, Vulcan, but I''d rather not since other groups might spot him and attack him. I''m sure he''d be fine, but we are hunting not trying to make a bunch of noise. If they sense something that''s around us then we can go in that direction, but anything other than that is not needed. Alright now that I''ve exined that, let''s enter the forest and find a beast for Cine to demonstrate her abilities to me since she is the weakest." Mira exined as she started jogging towards the forest. Cine was shocked when she heard she was first and starting shaking. Maria just grabbed her and started to drag her along with her as the 4 of them started running into the forest in a different direction than the other groups.

    "It''ll be okay Cine. Just do your best! I''ll give you a tip though when you fight you need to not hold back. Don''t be so timid or you might find yourself at the mercy of someone who is much scarier than any magical beast! Good luck!" Maria gave Cine a word of advice, but that only stressed her out more.

    The 5 women and 4 beasts trekked through the forest silently until they came across a Late-Stage Rank 2 Magical Beast. It was a deer-type magical beast and had huge sharp antlers. It was a light green deer called a Gale Deer. They are able to shoot sharp wind needles from their antlers and are faster than normal deer-type beasts.

    ? "Alright, Cine. You''re up! Go kill that beast! We will be watching you so don''t die." Miramanded Cine, but she looked a bit hesitant and not confident.

    "What? You scared? You''ve made it this far in the Exam so you are clearly stronger than an average cultivator at your stage and you can also handle pain pretty well. That''s more than enough to kill this thing. Now go!" Mira grabbed Cine and tossed her in front of the deer. Cine panicked but she still took out her saber. Mira was a little surprised to see her wielding a saber.

    Cine started attacking the deer but her attacks were severelycking in power. It was like Cine was too scared to even attack. It also seemed like this was her first time fighting a beast. The deer started charging at her with full speed and shooting wing needles at Cine. She was able to block most of them but was panicking too much to be able to block the rest. The battle between the two continued for a couple of minutes and Cine wasn''t able to even get a hit in while the deer had caused several cuts to appear on her body. The deer then went in for something like a finishing move and charged at Cine with its antlers. Cine just closed her eyes as she wasn''t able to stop this with how her mind was in chaos right now. She was expecting to get hit but never felt the impact. She opened her eyes and saw Mira standing in front of her holding the deer with one hand.

    "What the fuck was that?! You didn''t even try! Did you hear what I said?! I told you to attack, but you just stood there like an idiot! I know you didn''t even use half of your power, so why don''t you tell me why?!" Mira scolded Cine as she held onto the deer, the deer tried to get out of Mira''s grasp, but when it realized it couldn''t it started to try and shoot wind needles at Mira. Mira broke off its antlers before it could do that and waited for an answer.

    "I-I-I-I c-c-can''t. I-I-I''ve never killed anything before. I''ve only sparred with my grandpa to learn how to fight. I don''t know if I can bring myself to kill it." Cine muttered.

    "Are you fucking kidding me?! You''ve never killed anything before and you don''t think you can bring yourself to kill this thing?! Were you expecting to live your whole life frolicking in the flowers hoping nothing bad ever happens?! You do realize that this thing just tried to kill you right?! Don''t you care about your life? I guess it falls upon me to teach you how to be a cultivator instead of your family that seemed to never tell you that killing is part of being a cultivator." Mira kept yelling at Cine as she felt like crying right now. She felt bad for disappointing Mira, but why did she have to be so mean.

    Mira pinned down the deer and looked at Cine.

    "Kill it!" Miramanded and Cine just looked at Mira and started crying while shaking her head.

    "Very well. I will give you two options then. You can either kill it or you can die. I won''t allow someone this weak-willed to ever be on the same team as me even if it''s only for a week. Now choose!" Mira said as she took out her scythe and directed some of her killing intent at Cine. Cine now started to bawl her eyes out because she didn''t know how to handle this scene. Nisha and Audra wanted to go up and stop Mira, but they were both stopped by Maria.

    "Why is she doing this? Will she actually kill her?" Audra asked as her voice was full of concern. Nisha nodded as well, as she was wondering the same thing.<sub> </sub>

    "Well, she might actually kill her, but people usually break and give in under Mira''s pressure. Mira doesn''t want to kill her, but she won''t hesitate to do so if Cine chooses death over killing the beast. Just let this y out. I think Cine will break and end up killing the beast�� Hopefully." Maria tried exining to them as they just continued to watch the scene unfold.

    Mira kept increasing the killing intent and the air around them started to freeze. She then ced her scythe on Cine''s neck and drew some blood with it. Cine was shaking like crazy as this was the most terrifying scene she has ever been in. Mira''s scythe now entered into her neck a bit as more blood started to flow. Cine''s survival instincts started to kick in a bit as she slowly lifted her saber with her shaking hand and lowered it onto the deer''s neck. She then pressed her saber down onto the neck of the deer and cut through the spinal cord, killing the deer.

    "So you decided that you wanted to live, huh? Wise choice. Heal your wounds fast because we are going to head out soon. I need to test the other 3 as well so hurry up." Mira said as she collected the corpse and walked towards the group.

    "You didn''t have to be so rough on her you know?" Maria said to Mira.

    "Huh? She''s a cultivator. The moment she entered the Qi Condensation Realm, this entered her into the free-for-all known as the cultivation world. People kill each other all of the time over the slightest thing. She has to learn how to kill and I''m not going to waste my fucking time trying to coax a child into killing something. If I need someone to do something then they better do it with maximum effort. I n on hunting for a Low-Stage Rank 4 magical beast during this week, and if she can''t do her job properly, then she shouldn''t even be here. Even if she is only used as bait, I need her to put maximum effort into being bait. If she can''t do what we literally came here to do then I can''t trust her to do anything. We have other things to do." Mira exined as she sat down and rubbed Rhydian''s head and waited for Cine to heal her wounds. Though Cine was currently on her knees bawling her eyes out. The 3 of them were shocked by her answer but found themselves unable to argue against it. Maria stopped thinking about it and just ran over tofort Cine.

    After a couple of minutes, Cine regained her bearings and started to heal her wounds. Around 20 minutester, Cine was back in top condition after Maria gave her a rejuvenation pill.

    Mira then ran around the forest in search of a Rank 3 magical beast to test. It took her a few hours, but they eventually found a Low-Stage Rank 3 magical beast for Nisha to fight. Mira understood that Nisha is stronger than it, but it might take them longer to find something stronger and she only needed a general understanding of their battle prowess. The beast they found is just a normal Low-Stage Rank 3 Fire Fox.

    "You''re up, Nisha." Mira said and Nisha nodded. She took out two daggers as it seemed Nisha''s weapon of choice is dual daggers.

    Nisha coated herself and her weapons in darkness as she quickly approached the Fire Fox. Before the Fire Fox even knew what happened, it was already sliced in half. Mira was happy to see such a quick ending. Nisha gathered the corpse then walked back to the group.

    "I see. Very useful indeed." Mira nodded as she already had a few ideas on how she would utilize Nisha in a fight.

    They then searched for another Rank 3 Beast for Audra. It didn''t take them much longer as now they were closer to the mountain. They found another Low-Stage Rank 3 magical beast, but this time it was arge rabbit-looking beast.

    Audra immediately summoned orange lightning wings on her back, took out a spear that was around 180 centimeters long, and gathered lightning at the tip of the spear. She then charged towards the rabbit and skewered it with her spear as its insides blew up from the lightning. She gathered the corpse and walked back.

    "So we have a saber, dual daggers, spear, sword, and scythe. We also have 5 different elements with Cine having a wind elemental affinity. I can see some great synergy with all of our attacks. We should be able to take down a Low-Stage Rank 4 magical beast with our team, assuming everyone follows their roles. I will need to temper Cine a bit more so she can be more trustworthy in a fight though. Alright, I got it!" Mira muttered to herself as she starteding up with battle ns.

    Mira brought everyone around to look for another beast so Maria can show off. It only took another 30 minutes to find a Mid-Stage Rank 3 for Maria. Maria didn''t do anything special other than activating her light sword and triple draws and rushed towards the beast immediately cutting it in half. A small crater formed under the beast as the ground around her cracked. She didn''t need to use either of those techniques to kill it, but she wanted to show off a bit to allow the others to understand her prowess.

    "Alright. Now that everybody has a good understanding of everybody''s abilities, we will hunt beasts while looking for a Low-Stage Rank 4 magical beast to kill. You are probably wondering what my abilities are like. I''m a little stronger than Maria, but I''m better at fighting. I use a scythe and ice. Now onto what we have to do immediately. You 3 can either follow me as I make Cine kill a bunch of magical beasts or you can go kill some beasts on your own. We will meet back at this spot at around this time tomorrow." Mira said and the 4 of them were a bit surprised.

    "I''ll go with you, Mira. I need to make sure you don''t actually kill her." Maria said immediately.

    "I''m going to go fight some beasts to warm up for the Rank 4 beast fight." Nisha said.

    "Me too." Audra also wanted to go and fight as she didn''t feel like watching poor Cine.

    "Alright. See you at this time tomorrow." Mira said as she walked off with Cine and Maria in tow.

    They were walking back towards where they found the weaker beasts for Cine to kill. For the next 24 hours, Cine will be forced to kill every magical beast they see. Even if it''s stronger than what she can handle, Mira will just pin it down and force Cine to execute it. Anything that moved was a target.

 Chapter 79 Group Hunt Part 3

    ***

    While Mira was making Cine kill anything that moved, there was a space above the forest where Ellie, Diana, and the 4 Elders were looking down towards the forest and watching the examinees. There were also other spots where other Elders were watching, but these 6 people were watching Mira''s group the most while just ncing at other groups that were close to hers.

    "Isn''t she a bit too rough? She almost killed that Cine girl just because she wasn''t able to kill a beast. I mean, I understand that she can''t have someone in her group that can''t kill beasts when that''s what they came here for, but still�� This is a bit much." One of the Elders said as  they started to pity Cine.

    Everybody else agreed, but they kept watching as Mira''s group separated. Mira, Maria, and Cine went off together while Nisha and Audra ran off separately to hunt.

    Not long after, Mira found a beast that Cine should be able to kill. Cine was then forced to kill the beast. Cine knew that she needs to get used to killing these beasts or she might never get Mira off her back.

    The fight against the beast didn''tst long before Cine hurt the beast enough to where she could kill it.

    "What are you waiting for?! Kill it!" Miramanded Cine and she just closed her eyes and thrust her saber into the beast.

    The 6 people watching were surprised that Cine actually killed the beast without being forced, but things didn''t seem to stop here.

    "Are you fucking kidding me?! Just swing that saber around and kill it! I''m assuming it''s not for decoration!"

    "Charge at it with the intent to kill! We aren''t having a fucking tea party here! I want to see maximum effort! I know you have more potential in there than what we are seeing! Now stop being useless!"

    "How''d you even get here?! If you can''t even kill a simple beast right now then I might as well end your life so you don''t have to suffer! Now fight like your life is on the line! Pathetic!"

    <o>,m The 6 people kept watching Mira drag Cine around the forest and kill anything that moved. Mira was constantly yelling at Cine so much that the surrounding people started to hear her and ran a bit farther away as they didn''t want to get caught up with whoever was yelling.</o>

    "Umm, Elders. I''d like toment on what Mira is doing. When we ran into Mira and Maria 6 months ago, Mira did something simr. She didn''t want to kill us because she believed it''d bring too much trouble to her so she decided to test us. She wanted to see how close and trustworthy we were, so when she incapacitated Diana she threatened to kill her to see what we would do. She seemed satisfied with what I did and ended up releasing both me and Diana. I only had to tell her that I''m from the Battle Maiden Sect along with the date for the next Entrance Exam." Ellie suddenly spoke up and all of the Elders listened.;

    "Hmm. Hearing that really makes one wonder if she is really a bad person or not. She might just be rough on the outside, but nice and soft on the inside. I know quite a few people like this. If you just find their sweet spot or something that they are nervous about, then they will start to get all flustered. I wonder if she only threatens to kill people to hide her own insecurities?" One of the Elders thought, but Ellie and Diana quickly corrected her.<sub> </sub>

    "No! I would be extremely surprised if this were the case. I felt part of her killing intent and I can say for sure that she''s killed somewhere in the thousands, if not tens of thousands of people. This is not someone who threatens to kill for enjoyment or because they want to hide. When she says that she will kill you, it''s not a bluff. Maria also says that she kills without hesitation and that unless you''re expecting an attack, then you are already dead if you didn''t think she''d attack." Ellie said quickly and shocked everyone there.

    Tens of thousands of people? Hell, all of thembined haven''t killed a fraction of that amount! Is this truly a little girl or someone much more dangerous? The Elders now understood that Cine was actually about to die not too long ago and by Mira no less.

    "Is it really okay to let someone like her join the sect?"

    ***

    24 hours went by slowly for Cine, Mira, and Maria. Well, it was just pure torture for Cine. After 24 hours were up, they started walking back to the rendezvous point to meet up with Nisha and Audra.

    Cine thought that this might''ve been the worst 24 hours in her entire life. She forced to fight countless beasts and kill them. Sometimes she would refuse to fight, but Mira just grabbed her and threw her towards the beast, forcing her to fight. Mira was also constantly yelling at her for being worthless and pathetic. If she didn''t perform well enough, Mira would beat the shit out of her then throw her towards another beast. This would keep happening until she fought with maximum effort. If they came across stronger beasts then what she could handle, then Mira would just capture it and make Cine execute it.

    Walking to the meetup point, Cine is still covered in bruises that have yet to heal, and dried-up tears stained her face. She didn''t even have any more tears to cry by the end of the session. But Mira seemed somewhat satisfied because Cine was actually able to bring out her potential now. Mira was also surprised when she saw Cine fight. Cine is actually a great fighter, a true talent. Just based off of talent and skill alone, Cine is much better at fighting than Maria. She is just too weak right now. Mira also thought that it might be fun to teach her unarmedbat as well. Maybe she''d be able to have a sparring partner sooner than the hundred years it would take to train Maria.

    They soon reached the rendezvous point and the 3 of them saw Nisha and Audra already waiting for them. The two of them heard footsteps near them and looked over to see who it was, but it''s just Mira, Maria, and Cine. Nisha and Audra looked at Cine and noticed all of the dried tears on her face, but they could also see that Cine looked a lot less nervous to be in the forest hunting magical beasts. It seems that whatever Mira did, paid off.

    "Alright, now that we are all gathered here and Cine is no longer useless I''m going to discuss our gamen. So I want to kill a Rank 4 beast to immediately pass this test. The main reason is that ughtering a bunch of Rank 3 beasts is incredibly boring. I bet it''s simr for you two as well, Nisha and Audra. We don''t even need each other to pass this test as I could guess that within thest 24 hours, you two probably already have enough by yourselves to reach the top 40. We easily have thebat power to deal with a Low-Stage Rank 4 magical beast. The only thing we will need to practice is our coordination. I''ve already thought about roles for all of you. Cine will be the bait, Maria will be the Vanguard, Nisha will be the Assassin, Audra will be the mid-range fighter that will back up Maria, and I will be supporting. I will fill any spot that is required or be looking for any openings to kill or injure the beast." Mira exined the roles for each person and they were all shocked that Mira just came out and said that Cine will be the bait, but nobody spoke up as there is truly no other role that Cine could y in this situation.

    "I will now exin what each role will do. Cine will do her best to be annoying and distract the beast. You should be constantly trying to attack the face and eyes. You should also always be moving. Maria will be the one taking the brunt of the attacks. She is the second strongest here and also a masochist so she''ll be fine as long as she doesn''t die. Nisha will be doing a bunch of hit-and-run attacks. Whenever you see an opening or a blind spot then you will attack that spot. Audra will try to be in sync with Maria and attack at simr times as Maria. You can also support her if Maria gets into trouble. I will be looking for any openings as well, but my main job will be to make sure the beast''s movements are restricted and that it can''t get too close to you 4. I also have a technique that I can use to put a time limit on the fight as long as I hit the beast with my ice. So if worsees to worst, just stall and wait for me to finish my technique. I don''t want to go into this fight without some practice so we are going to be looking for Late or Peak-Stage Rank 3 Magical beasts while utilizing these roles. I know that you can kill these by yourself Maria, but try to handicap yourself a bit so we can get used to fighting together. Let''s go!" Mira exined the roles to everyone and they didn''t have any issues with them. Well, everyone except Maria.

    "I''m not a masochist! And don''t just put me in the front because I''m tough! I can also fight! I know how to use my sword!" Maria startedining, but she just got ignored. They also thought that Maria must be a masochist to follow Mira willingly, she''s just trying to hide it.

    The five of them were now walking through the forest towards the mountain in search of stronger beasts to practice their team coordination on.

 Chapter 80 Group Hunt Part 4

    Mira''s group started traveling through the forest and went towards the mountain. Mira just had Maria kill any beasts that theye across because there isn''t much in the forest that can actually threaten them.

    After reaching the mountain, they started to traverse up the mountain at great speeds to try and find a Peak-Stage Rank 3 magical beast to practice on. Cine, Nisha, and Audra might find it more difficult to deal with a Peak-Stage Rank 3, but with Mira and Maria here there shouldn''t be any problems.

    After a few hours of traversing the mountain in search of a beast to fight, they finally spotted a Peak-Stage Rank 3 magical beast. The beast looks like a goat, but instead of horns, it had a rock-like head and hooves that seemed to be made out of the earth. It isn''t that big, but there''s still quite a bit of power packed into it. Mira knew this would be the perfect training dummy.

    "Cine will go in first and distract the goat. Maria needs to get in position to prevent the goat from killing Cine, and when you see that it''s locked onto her then you need to rush in there and attack the goat. While Maria rushes in there Audra will also do the same but from another angle. Remember, this is only a training exercise Maria so limit your power a bit so we can drag this fight out. You two will try to sync your attacks, buting from different angles. Nisha will be circling the beast until you find an opening. Sneak in there and attack the goat in a blind spot then immediately back off to let Maria and Audra fight with it. Cine will be continuously trying to attack the eyes and draw its attention away from everyone. Use any ranged attacks you have. I will offer support to all of you to help prevent you from getting hit. I want you all to limit your power in your attacks so we can drag this battle out. It''s a pain to find another beast to practice on. I''ll let you know when we can go in for a finishing move. Maria and I will be in charge of finishing moves, you 3 just need to be prepared to follow up in case we can''t kill it. Understood?" Mira exined the n to everyone and they all nodded in understanding. They all got into position and waited for Mira''s order.

    "Go!" Mira yelled.

    Cine mustered up her confidence and ran out to grab the attention of the goat. The goat saw Cine and immediately rushed at her. Cine started running away when she grabbed its attention. The goat quickly caught up to Cine, but before it could grab its free food the goat had to swiftly dodge two attacks that came from the side. The goat was angry about being stopped after it almost killed its prey so he focused his anger on the two people on its sides. Maria and Audra both tried to sync their attacks, but they are a bit staggered mainly due to them not being used to this. But Maria is also faster than Audra by a significant margin. This allowed the goat to dodge both attacks and try to retaliate, but as soon as it tried to attack Audra, Nisha came in swiftly and sneakily and attacked its legs creatingrge cuts on its legs. Nisha then immediately backed out into the shadows and waited for another opportunity.

    The goat cried in pain, but nobody let up on their attacks. Cine came back in when the goat''s focus changed to Audra andunched a couple of wind des towards the goat''s face. With Cine''s weaker cultivation and being against an element that countered hers, the goat was barely able to feel anything but it was still annoying. Like when a fly is buzzing around your face, but you can''t kill it. That''s what Cine is to the goat, an annoying fly. But sometimes flies can be so annoying that they require your full attention to get rid of them. After a few dozen shots to the face, the goat couldn''t take it and switched its focus back to Cine and immediately charged at herpletely ignoring everyone else. Mira decided this is her time to shine, so she shot a small ice needle at one of the goat''s kneecaps. Mira''s aim is close to perfect and is able to lodge the needle into the kneecap. This caused the goat to stumble a bit and allowed Maria and Audra to attack the goat together. Maria could''ve killed the goat rtively easily fight now, but Mira told her to limit her power so she swung her sword down and leftrge gashes on the body of the goat. Mira also used this time to start her Ice Prison technique as the ice in the goat''s body started to consume its inside and rece it with ice.

    The goat felt fear once it realized it is badly injured on the outside and felt it freezing from the inside. It decided to try to escape, but how could Nisha allow that to happen. When the goat tried to escape, Nisha used the blunt end of her daggers to knock the goat back towards Audra and Maria. The goat started to realize that it is not allowed to leave, so it decided to fight with nothing held back.

    The fight went on for another 5 minutes before the goat was trapped in Mira''s Ice Prison. Nisha, Audra, and Cine were surprised that Mira had such a technique that couldpletely incapacitate her target from inside of its body. Though they weren''t sure if she could pull off this technique while fighting since Mira never entered the fight except for using an Ice Needle and this Ice Prison. Mira tried to extend the amount of time it took toplete the Ice Prison on the goat so they could continue practicing but after around 5 minutes everybody started to understand their roles a bit more and things went a bit smoother. The only person stressing out is Cine due to her being the weakest.

    "Time for round 2." Mira said as she released the goat and the fighting continued.

    After 30 minutes or so, lost too much blood and ran out of energy eventually dying. But everyone seemed to feel a bit morefortable in their roles now. Audra began to understand how strong Maria and Mira are. Even with their attacks blunted, they could probably beat the goat in a minute or two of fighting. They might even be able to fight a Rank 4 beast by themselves if they used their full power. But this is a group hunt and the whole group is required to participate.

    "I''d say that you all performed decently for your first time fighting together. The coordination and timing of attacks could be better. I also think that Maria and Audra should stagger their attacks just slightly in case the beast dodges. Nisha missed quite a few openings, but at least you attacked weak spots or the legs. This was a bad matchup for Cine and she alsocks the strength to do any real damage to that beast. At least you were annoying though which is all you need to be. It was hard for me to do much without killing it too soon, but at least you got to see my Ice Prison technique along with how I will be supporting you all. I think this is more than enough to kill a Low-Stage Rank 4 beast. Let''s take a quick break and return to our peak form then head out to kill the Rank 4 beast." Mira exined all of their faults but didn''t scold them. Their performance was good enough and probably wouldn''t get much better even if they spent the rest of the week practicing. Mira also just wanted to kill the Rank 4 beast and be done with this challenge.

    They decided to take an hour-long break before trekking up the mountain for a Low-Stage Rank 4 beast. After their break, they started to head higher up the mountain. They trekked up the mountain for a full day before they made it out of the forest and saw a barren and rocky mountain. They were now halfway up the mountain. They continued to trek and hunt for another full day before they found a Low-Stage Rank 4 beast. It is now their third day in the challenge before they finally found their objective. The beast looks like arge 4-meter long Mountain Bear. It has rock-like fur and its chest is covered in earth. Its spine also has rock spikes protruding from it as well. The bear looked extremely menacing.

    Mira''s group is around 200 meters away and everyone but Mira gulped when they saw the bear.

    "This beast might be a bit annoying for Cine to rush in there by herself so Audra will apany her. I want tounch attacks at it from a distance and immediately run in opposite directions when it starts chasing you. Then Maria will go in and attack it. Feel free to use your full power now as this thing probably takes pride in its defense. Your Triple Draws Sword Art will be extremely useful in this battle, but use it wisely and only on weak spots. Nisha and I will do the same thing, but Audra will y both as bait with Cine and Vanguard with Maria this time. When you notice Cine trying to take its attention away, then you should do the same thing and switch positions. Let Me and Maria deal the big damage to it. Understood?" Miramanded like a true leader and everybody just nodded.

    "Alright. GO!" Mira said as both

    Both Cine and Audra ran over to the bear and when they got within 100 meters they startedunching lighting and wind at the bear.

    *ROAR*

    The bear roared as it started to run towards both of them leaving footprints in the rock as it ran. Audra and Cine immediately split and ran in opposite directions. It took a split second for who the bear should chase after, and it chose Cine because she is the weakest. But in that split second, Maria came in with her Triple Draws and shed at the neck of the bear. The bear lifted its leg to block the sword with its ws, but the impact from that sh is immense for someone who is still in the Qi Condensation Realm and ended up cracking its ws and leaving a mark on its neck. Maria then jumped back to reset and out of the corner of her eye she saw Audra running towards the beast. Maria timed her attack to be before Audra''s attack so she immediately rushed towards the bear''s legs in hopes that Audra would attack the neck.

    Audra seemed to catch onto this and jumped up to stab her spear into the neck of the beast. The bear attacked Maria first and was toote to stop Audra. Audra''s attack made contact with the neck but wasn''t able to prate it fully. She could only break apart the rock-like fur and leave a small cut on the neck, but she was satisfied with this. Audra backed off to reset and Maria did the same.<sub> </sub>

    Audra then noticed Cineing back in and started tossing wind des at the bear''s face. Again, she couldn''t even leave a mark on the beast but was just a really annoying fly. Audra joined and started shooting lightning bolts from her spear that the beast''s face as well.

    The bear is now extremely annoyed and roared in anger as it tried to push Maria aside to kill these two bugs. Nisha took this opportunity toe in and aim for the same spot that Audra hit on the neck of the beast. She sliced that spot with her dual daggers and dug a little deeper into the wound leaving an ''X'' wound on the bear''s neck. The bear immediately swung towards where it got hit, but Nisha had already run off.

    ''It seems breaking this beast''s skin is rather difficult. Ice Prison might not be too useful in this situation, but I know exactly what technique is useful. Hehe.'' Mira thought to herself.

    Mira walked forward towards the bear and called out to the others fighting it.

    "Cine and Audra, keep attacking its face! Maria, I want you to get ready.! Have a full-power Triple Draws ready after I attack! Nisha, be on standby and follow up after Mira if the beast isn''t quite dead!" Miramanded as the 4 of them were surprised to see Mirae walking towards the beast, but this isn''t the time to question her thought process, so they only nodded.

    Mira started to gather arge amount of Qi into her right fist as she approached the bear. Once 80% of her Qi was in her right fist, Mira formed a small ball of Qi in between her knuckles that contained around 30% of the Qi in her right hand. Once the ball is connected to the rest of the Qi, Mira charges towards the bear fighting with Maria right now while its face is being bombarded by lighting and wind. Maria noticed Mira rushing in and started to prepare a full-power strike.

    Mira jumped up on the beast andunched her right fist towards the ''X'' shaped wound on its neck.

    *POP**CRACK*

    Everybody heard a small explosion happen as a shockwave spread throughout the bear''s body and the fur, skin, and bones around its neck all shattered and formed cracks in them. Mira jumped off of the bear because she felt a ton of energying from Maria''s sword.

    Maria noticed Mira jump off the bear and immediately swung her sword towards the bear''s neck and decapitated it. The energy from these two attacks caused the ground to shake as Mira''s punch caused the ground below her to crack and Maria''s sword made a small crevice in the ground below them.

    Mira collected the head and corpse of the bear immediately and sat down. That attack had used a lot of her Qi. The same went for Maria as she immediately sat down to recover her energy a bit after noticing the bear was dead. The other 3 girls walked over to guard them.

    "That was quick. I thought it''d take longer than that to defeat a Rank 4 beast. But our teamwork seemed better than normal and Mira and Maria are just too strong. It was fun though!" Audra said as she walked over towards Mira and Maria.

    "I agree. I guess the practice we put into our teamwork as well as their power allowed us to take down that beast rather quickly. The power between Rank 3 and Rank 4 is much more vast than between Rank 2 and Rank 3 though. I didn''t think that it would be so difficult to defeat it seeing that we could easily deal with a Peak-Stage Rank 3." Nishamented as she walked over to the group. Cine stayed silent, but one could see that a heavy burden seemed to lift off of her shoulders. She seemed more tired than Mira and Maria.

    "I will be going to the starting area with the beast for the rest of the week. There is no more point in killing any more beasts if we have already passed. I''d rather spend my time cultivating. You are free to do whatever you want, just be sure to be back at the starting area by the end of the week so we can move onto the next test in the Exam." Mira said as she kept trying to recover her energy.

    "I think I''ll go back to the starting area with you to cultivate as well. There''s no need to stay in this ce any longer." Nisha said.

    "Even though I''d like to stay and fight we already passed, so there is no reason to stay here anymore. I''ll go back with you." Audra said.

    "M-M-M-Me too. I-I''d like to go back." Cine said as she was finally able to get out of here.

    "I will keep our beastpanionspany! Hehe!" Maria eximed as she grabbed Vulcan and started rubbing his belly. Mira just sighed when she heard this, but honestly, a babysitter for Rhydian doesn''t sound so bad.

    After everyone recovered their energy, the five of them left towards the starting point where they will be graded.

 Chapter 81 Group Hunt Results

    ***

    "I can''t believe they actually defeated a Low-Stage Rank 4 Magical Beast! You were also right about Maria, Diana! She''s much stronger than she looks and acts! That looked like a Sword Art that she just performed and an incredibly powerful one at that. Also, all 5 people yed their roles perfectly! It seems Mira makes an extraordinary leader. I wonder if she is just a natural or has plenty of practice?" One of the Elders watching Mira''s group said after they defeated the Rank 4 beast.

    "Ahaha. I figured she was strong, but that was much stronger than I had anticipated." Dianaughed awkwardly at the Elder''sment.

    "Well, I guess this means they pass this test. There is only one more test after this before the tournament. There should be no reason that Mira or Maria should fail the next test, so this essentially means that they are going to join the Battle Maiden Sect. I think we should start discussing Mira. Is it okay to allow someone like her into the Sect?" Another Elder spoke and everyone else agreed. They then began to discuss Mira along with watching some of the other groups that are still hunting.

    ***

    4 days went by quickly for Mira''s group. They did nothing but cultivate for the next 4 days since there was nothing else to do. Well, everyone except Maria cultivated. She wanted to y around with the beastpanions. Rhydian was the most yful out of all of them, but ying with Rhydian is almost a death wish so the other 3 beasts didn''t even think about getting close to her. She''s too strong and doesn''t know how to control that strength. Mira decided to not pay attention to anything and will just stop cultivating in 4 days to see if Maria is dead or not.

    After 4 days, Mira opened her eyes because it was almost the end of the test. She looked around and noticed Mariaying on the ground covered in bruises while Rhydian is standing on her chest and staring at her face while wagging her tails.

    "Rhydian." Mira called out and Rhydian looked over towards Mira and immediatelyunched herself off of Maria. This caused Maria to roll around like a ragdoll. Mira knew this wasing so she was able to dodge Rhdyian''s headbutt and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck when she flew past Mira.

    "Let''s go, everyone." Mira said as she got up and started walking towards the area the middle-ageddy released them into the forest. Everyone opened their eyes and got up to start following Mira. The only one left was Maria. She just groaned and had Vulcan help her up then started to slowly follow Mira.

    It didn''t take them that long to make it back to the area where they started. There were a couple of groups already waiting there and they immediately looked over towards Mira''s group. Then they started whispering about them since their group had 2 crazy people in it.

    "Isn''t that the group with the 2 women that beat each other up? I overheard that one of them is a masochist. Maybe all of them are if they can have normal conversations while their bones are being broken."

    "Why is the blonde girl all beat up? Maybe she really is a masochist? The rest of their group isn''t beat up, so it''s a possibility."

    "That group looks incredibly strong. Even their beastpanions are crazy strong. I wonder why I''ve never heard of them before?"

    Mira''s group heard the other women talking about them and started giggling when they heard so many people talk about how Maria''s a masochist.

    "I-I''m not a masochist! Look what you did, Mira! Telling people that I enjoy getting hurt! I''m forced into this! Forced!" Maria yelled as she tried to defend herself, but nobody believed her. The people that believed her the least were Nisha, Audra, and Cine. With how Mira treated Cine just because she couldn''t kill a beast, they couldn''t begin to think how Maria could stick with Mira for years. She had to either be crazy or a masochist. She didn''t seem crazy so the only other option was a masochist.<sub> </sub>

    Maria kept pleading, but just got ignored.

    More and more groups started to return. Before long, every group returned back to the starting point. Mira was a bit surprised to see every group return alive and with all of their people. She guessed that this is probably because these are all women. Guys have their useless pride and always try to show off, while women like to stay alive and only do what they know they are capable of. Of course, there are special cases where that is not true, but Mira guessed that probably 10% of these people would be dead by now if they were made of guys instead of women. The middle-ageddy from before then showed up again to announce the results of the group hunt.

    "Congrattions for making it through the past week. I''m slightly surprised to see all of you back here alive. We have been watching over your groups for the past week to make sure that there is no cheating, but now we will be counting up your points like before. Remember, only the top 40 groups are able to move on with the Exam. This would usually be the case, but there is one group that actually killed a Rank 4 beast so they immediately pass this test and get to move on. That will only leave the top 39 groups able to move on with the Exam since they immediately pass. Mira''s group, pleasee up and show me your kill!" The middle-ageddy announced. Mira''s group then stood up and started walking up towards the middle-ageddy. Once they reached her, Mira took out therge corpse of the Mountain Bear along with its head. Everybody gasped when they saw the beast and felt the aura stilling off of it. It truly is a Rank 4 beast. The middle-ageddy started to examine it, but it only took a couple of seconds because she was told beforehand by the Sect Elders watching that Mira''s group had killed a Rank 4 beast.

    "Very good! You can keep this corpse with you. Please move to the side over there and wait. Alright! We will now continue with scoring everybody. Please start making your way up and tell us the name of the leader in your group." The middle-ageddy pointed to her side and Mira''s group walked over to wait.

    There were 10 Sect Elders brought here to grade the groups so there ended up being 10 lines with around 50 groups in each line. The groups would walk up to the Elders and dump all of their kills in front of them. The Elder would then count off the cultivation and number killed at that stage, then write down the group leader''s name and score on a piece of wood.

    It took several hours for the Elders to score all of the groups. Once all of the groups were scored, they took the top 40 groups and their scores and wrote that down on a separate piece of wood. Then they handed it to the middle-aged woman to announce the results.

    "We now have the results of the top 40 groups. If you don''t hear your group listed here then you failed this test and are unable to continue with the rest of the Exam. If you hear your group pleasee forward and wait with the rest of the groups. The top score is from Nancy''s group with a score of 2462. Second is Lucy''s group with 2152 points. Third is��" The middle-ageddy started announcing the scores until the 39th group.

    "...Last we have Mary''s group in 39th ce with a score of 647. Congrattions to these 40 groups. Remember that if you didn''t hear your group then you didn''t pass. A different Elder will lead you back to the Sect and escort you out of the Exam site. I will lead the groups that passed back to the Sect to proceed with the rest of the Exam. Let''s go!" The middle-ageddy announced all of the groups that passed and went to the front of those 40 groups and started leading them back to the Sect. The 200 people that made up these 40 groups started running with her back to the Sect.

    Meanwhile, all of the groups that failed had their heads down and were lightly crying. Some of them will be older than 30 in 3 more years and this was theirst shot to join the Sect. Others felt bad that they made it this far and still couldn''t make it into the Sect, but this only renewed their determination to get stronger and work harder for the next Exam in 3 years. Another Sect Elder walked in front of the groups that failed and told them to start following her back to the Sect. Most were a little reluctant when they heard this, but it wouldn''t change the fact that they already lost.

    ***

    A few hourster, the 200 people that passed the group hunting test made it back to the Sect. It was slightly before noon when they made it back.

    "Now that we have made it back to the Sect, we will immediately move onto the next and final test. There will be a tournament after the test, but this is more for us so we can determine whether you will be an Outer, Inner, or Core Disciple. The tournament will not determine whether or not you can join the Sect. Enough with that! This final test is called the Endurance Test. What we are testing here is a bit different from the Test of Will and Strength Test. In the Test of Will, we tested how resilient you are to pain and your will to move past it, but in the Endurance Test, we will be testing the limits of your body. This is also not the same as the Strength Test. In the Strength Test, we wanted to see how much power your body can unleash in a single strike, but the Endurance Test will see how long you canst while being under enormous pressure. This also gives us a good idea of how long you can fight and how resilient your body is. To make this Test a bit fairer because people with higher cultivations can resist more than people with lower cultivations we have set it up so that the difficulty scales with the cultivation of each individual. The longer you canst, the better. Only 100 people can pass this test and remember that this is thest test. We have set up a Pressure Array on the Exam Site. Once we activate it, you will feel pressure start to weigh down on your body that is based on your current cultivation. Please spread out a bit and wait until we activate the formation." The middle-ageddy announced the next test and the examinees started to spread out. Once all 200 people were spread out she announced the beginning of the test.

    "Activating the array in 3, 2, 1! Start!"

 Chapter 82 Endurance Test

    "Activating the array in 3, 2, 1! Start!"

    The array started and everyone started to feel pressure descend onto their bodies. The pressure felt different for everyone since there were cultivations that ranged from Stage 1 Qi Condensation to Stage 8 Qi Condensation. The pressure they felt is the same pressure someone at their cultivation would give off.

    For Mira and Maria, this pressure is something that they can barely feel. They were thinking that the pressure might be simr to how the Trial was where some of the stages added an insane amount of pressure onto you that even start to break your bones and crack your body. But now they thought that this might be nothing that difficult.

    The pressure started to slowly increase on the other examinees, but these were the top 200 women that signed up for the Exam for a reason. If they couldn''t handle such pressure then this would certainly be a disappointment.

    Time slowly passed as the pressure started to increase slowly. Even if these women started to sweat a little bit because the pressure is increasing, they were so close to their goal. How could they give up so easily? This was the thought of everyone here except for 2 abnormalities.

    ***

    "It seems this test is quite easy for Mira and Maria. I wonder how they got so strong? I guess we will be seeing them as disciples in the Sect. I''m also guessing that these 2 will be thest people in the finals of the tournament. Should we exclude them from the tournament if they are almost guaranteed to win? The only way I see them losing is if they just stood there and let the opponent attack them." One of the Elders watching over the test asked.

    "Even though I want to just give them 1st and 2nd ce, I think that might put a bad taste in the other examinee''s mouths. They probably know that they can''t win, but they could at least fight them in a safe environment. They might even be able to learn something from their battle. A loss from those 2 would be more beneficial than anything, but I think we should change up the tournament a bit for them. I say we split the final 100 into 2 groups. Each group will have its own tournament and Mira and Maria will fight the winner of that group. We can then have the two of them fight each other for the finals, though I bet Mira will win." One of the Elders suggested a great idea.

    "That might make the tournament a bit more enjoyable for the women participating along with the spectators. It''s not fun to fight in a one-sided ughter and it''s not enjoyable to watch either. Not to mention it is very demoralizing. I say we go with that suggestion. We could even have both tournaments going at the same time. Our arena is big enough to easily fit 2 battles at the Qi Condensation Realm. This also might be more enjoyable to watch as well." Another Elder agreed as they added onto it. The other Elders also agreed with them and so the tournament would be slightly different due to Mira and Maria''s presence.

    ***

    Meanwhile at the Exam site.

    The Endurance test went on for about an hour and the pressure is currently many times stronger than it was when the test started. A few people weren''t able to take the pressure and passed out. They were dragged away by the Sect Elders standing near the women watching over them.

    Even though this test is incredibly simple, it does its job properly. It tests strength, will, and endurance all by just adding simple pressure onto the body.

    For Mira and Maria though, this pressure still felt like nothing. Well, not exactly nothing but it is not enough to even make them sweat. While everyone else was struggling for the past hour, they were getting bored. Mira even started cultivating since this test is just a waste of her time. Maria started to daydream as she thought about the new friends she''d make while in the Sect. She thought about dragging them with her to Mira''s training sessions so they can suffer together. She thought aboutughing while they watched their friend get beaten half to death, but then Mira would beat her as well for thinking such stupid things. They''d then both look at each other, smile and giggle together then get up and do it again.

    The pressure started increasing more and more and it soon became annoying for Mira to continue cultivating. Mira decided to look around to see who all is left. Surprisingly enough, she found Cine still here. She figured that Cine might have the talent to be a strong cultivator, butcks the resolve to do what is necessary. Mira also felt like Cine is a genuinely good person. She''s not like Maria, who is an idiot and sucks at fighting. Mira began thinking of ways she can make Cine a stronger cultivator and fix the issue with herck of resolve and naivety.

    Cine felt a chill up her spine and opened her eyes and looked around. There is still enormous pressure from the array on her, but she started having a foreboding feeling. She then noticed Mira staring daggers at her and she nearly felt her heart jump out of her chest. The pressure from the array felt like nothing now as all of her attention is currently upied with something she felt is much worse than some array.<sub> </sub>

    ''Crap! No no no no no! What did I do?! Why is she staring at me?! What was that feeling?! Is she nning to make me do something again?! Why me?! She doesn''t even know me!!! I''m just a little girl who is not very good at interacting with people! I''m insignificant and can''t do anything! Is she bored and she just finds me amusing?! Ahhhhh! I don''t know!!'' Cine screamed in her mind as she tried toe up with answers to these questions, but nothing came to mind. She now paid no attention to the test as she was panicking to try to find some answers.

    Mira didn''t know what was going through Cine''s head right now and started to think of the 500 women that she saved a few years ago. Since they decided to follow her and wanted her to lead them, then she needs to put in all of her effort in trying to increase their battle prowess. Even though Mira has lived for hundreds of years, she actually doesn''t know much about weapons. The only thing she knows how to use is the scythe. She can wield a spear, but her skills with it are very amateur. Maria sucks with the sword and has only learned how to fight with it due to the experience gained from fighting. She''s never had a real teacher in the way of the sword. Cine seems like she is good with the saber and has a good affinity with it. The only other people she knows that use different weapons are Audra and Nisha. Nisha is rather good with her dual daggers and Audra seems knowledgeable and experienced with a spear.

    ''Maybe sparring with them would do some good. I might be able to learn a bit about the different weapons. It might also make me a better fighter as well. Everybody wants to use a sword, so fighting against people that use weird weapons like this is not supermon, at least where I currently am. Maria might also be able to learn something from sparring with them.'' Mira thought to herself as now Maria, Nisha, and Audra also felt a chill up their spine.

    The test kept going, but all of a sudden there was a sudden increase in pressure. A lot of people started copsing from this pressure and the number of people left quickly started dropping. Mira kept watching to see who couldn''t handle the pressure and who could. She could see Cine, Nisha, and Audra gritting their teeth as they kept enduring the pressure. Everyone started circting their Qi throughout their body to resist the pressure a bit, but this only kept them safe until the pressure increased again. The count of people left neared 100 now as there are only a few more people that need to copse in order to end this test. Most people were using every bit of energy in their bodies to resist this pressure as they tried to stay in the test just a bit longer. Nobody wanted to give up after making it this far.

    But s, the pressure increased again and the few people that were on the brink of defeat finally copsed. And with that, the test ended, and the pressure that was on everyone disappeared. The middle-ageddy then walked in front of everyone as they all gasped for air and tried to recuperate a bit.

    <o>,m "Congrattions to everyone here for passing the final test of the Battle Maiden Entrance Exam! We will be holding a tournament tomorrow to help determine everyone''s cements in the sect itself! The tournament will not be the only thing taken into ount, but it will y a big factor. So go rest up and get ready for tomorrow. You should save the celebrating until after tomorrow so you can fight at your peak, but feel free to celebrate with your family and friends for being able to make it into one of the top Sects on the Continent! Everybody who failed, feel free to try again in 3 years! You are all free to go for today, but be sure to be here tomorrow at dawn! Congrattions!" The middle-ageddy announced the end of the Entrance Exam and everybody that passed was overjoyed to hear such great news.</o>

    "WOO!!" A lot of the now Battle Maiden Sect Disciples screamed. This certainly is an incredible moment for them.

    Mira just got up and noticed that Nisha, Audra, and Cine had passed and made it into the sect. She then saw Maria running towards her to hug her, but Mira just dodged out of the way.

    "Jeez, Mira! We made it into the Battle Maiden Sect! Aren''t you excited?! I can''t wait for our first day!" Maria pouted a bit but got over it quickly.

    "I''m d that we made it into the sect, but I would''ve been highly disappointed if we couldn''t manage to get in after all of that pain and suffering to get to how strong we currently are. We even died once to get here. This is merely a result of the effort we put in. If you were still that idiotic weak girl from years ago then there is not a chance in hell you''d be able to pass this exam. Actually, you probably wouldn''t have even been able to pass the strength test. Just like risk oftenes with rewards, hard work is also rewarded after you put enough work into something." Mira said to Maria as they walked towards Luke.

    "Congrattions on passing the Entrance Exam, Maria and Mira. I''m sure your father would be proud of you if he were currently here, but you will just have to tell him when he gets back. Why don''t we go find a nice ce to eat? I also extended your room at the inn so you don''t have to worry about finding a ce to sleep tonight." Luke suggested as Maria immediately nodded.

    "I''d love to have a small celebration! And thank you for extending the stay at the inn! I think we should drop off Rhydian and Vulcan before eating though." Maria said and everyone agreed.

    They walked back to the inn and left Rhydian and Vulcan in the room, then left the inn to find a ce to eat. It seemed Luke had already had a ce in mind so he led the way towards the restaurant.

    There were actually quite a few people celebrating at this restaurant and nobody really noticed Mira or Maria. Maria then began to describe the tests to Luke. Maria talked for several hours and it started gettingte so the 3 of them just went back to the inn to sleep before waking up tomorrow for the tournament.

 Chapter 83 The Tournament Begins

    Mira and Maria woke up a little before dawn and went towards the area the middle-ageddy told them to go to. Luke also woke up with them, but he went towards the arena that the tournament will be held.

    Mira and Maria soon found the area they were supposed to be at and waited for further instructions. Most of the women that passed the Entrance Exam yesterday were already there, but they only seemed to be waiting for a few that haven''t made it yet. Right at dawn though, the rest of the people trickled and all 100 people were here. The middle-ageddy from before then appeared in front of them and started speaking.

    "Follow me to the Arena! The tournament will begin soon!" She announced and led them to the arena.

    The arena wasn''t too far away from their current position, so it didn''t take too long for them to be standing right outside of arge arena. The arena is huge! It seemed like it could fit thousands if not tens of thousands of people. The arena didn''t seem very shy or special, but it did seem to be made out of an extraordinarily strong rock. The middle-ageddy allowed them to take in the sight before leading them inside.

    What they saw inside was quite the sight to behold. The main thing that caught the contestant''s eyes were all of the people that were waiting in the stands to watch. Thousands and thousands of people wereing into the arena and finding a ce to sit and watch. Mira guessed that this is quite normal for the people living near the sect. The middle-ageddy wanted to exin a few things to the contestants before announcing the start of the tournament.

    "This tournament will be a bit different than normal. The tournament style itself will be the same as previous years, it will be based on the bracket system. The main difference is you all will be split into 2 groups of 50 and each group has a separate bracket. The 2 groups will fight at the same time and the winners of each group will fight for 1st ce between both groups. This means there will be a total of 8 rounds in the tournament. There are a few reasons we''ve decided to do this. The first reason is that the tournament will proceed quicker. It makes for a much faster-paced tournament. We also believe it''ll be more enjoyable to the audience as well. Another reason is there are 2 contestants that passed the exam that is much stronger than the rest of you. These two people are Mira and Maria, the one in the mask and the one with the golden blonde hair. The Elders have discussed this thoroughly and felt like it''s for the best if they are separate. Though we still want to give you all the chance to defeat them. One group will have Mira in it and the other will have Maria. The winner of each group will face them for a chance to fight in thest battle. We will also reward whoever can beat them. The top 3 in each group will also be rewarded. Any questions before we head in there?" The middle-ageddy suddenly dropped something like this onto them. One girl raised her hand with a bit of disbelief.

    "Why do they just get to skip to the end of the battle for each group? Wouldn''t that automatically ce them within the top 3?" She asked and the middle-ageddy shook her head.

    "No. We have decided that since they are pretty much the unofficial winners of the tournament, they won''t be counted in the top 3 unless they lose in the match between the group winners." The middle-ageddy said honestly, but none of them were that discouraged or upset about this. Actually, almost all of them were d. They actually have a chance at winning without those 2 crazy people in the running. But Maria had a question regarding this.

    "If that is the case then what''s the point of Mira and Me fighting? It also seems like it''s better for everyone else if we do win, but also better for us if we lose." Maria asked and it seemed a couple of other people were also interested.

    "Whoever is the winner between both groups will also get an extra reward. The person who lost will also get something, but it won''t be as good as the first ce prize for the whole tournament. But that is the only thing you''ll get. The top 3 from each group will also receive rewards and if the winner of a group beats one of you then they will also get something extra on top of what they already earned from making it into the top 3. The only thing your existence brings is the possibility of more rewards for other people." The middle-ageddy exined and Maria understood. Everybody else was also surprised to hear this. Any displeasure or hatred towards Mira and Maria quickly turned into happiness. So it didn''t really matter if they couldn''t beat them, but if they could then they would be rewarded greatly. They want to win started to sprout from the contestants as they wanted to be the ones to beat either Mira or Maria.

    "We will split you into 2 groups when we get onto the stage along with drawing numbers to determine who you will be fighting against. Just a reminder, Mira and Maria are number 50 and if any one of you gets number 49 then you won''t be fighting until the 5th round. We decided to set things up this way due to the odd number of people. Alright, are there any more questions?" She asked again, but everyone just shook their heads.

    "Alright, let''s go!"<sub> </sub>

    They all followed her into the arena and onto the stage in the middle where they stood at the center of thousands of people. On either side of the middle stage, there were 2 arenas set up. These seemed to be the arenas the two groups will use to battle at the same time. The 2 arenas were anything but small as this ce was huge.

    "Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen and Wee to the Battle Maiden Sect''s Triennial Tournament! We are proud to present these 100 people as they have passed the Entrance Exam for the Sect! They have worked hard over the past week to pass the challenges that we have set up to test them and see if they are worthy of joining this wonderful Sect! These new Disciples will now be dueling in a tournament today for not only their cements into the Sect, but also for the rewards of winning." The middle-ageddy paused her speech to let the people cheer.

    ? *CLAP**CLAP**CLAP**WOO*

    The people started cheering loudly for the new disciples, but they stopped when the announcer raised her hand to quiet them down.

    "This tournament will be a little bit different than previous years. We will be splitting these 100 people into 2 groups of 50 and each group will have its own tournament. These 2 groups will be battling at the same time as well. The reason for this is to make it more enjoyable for you to watch, but also because we have 2 incredibly strong new disciples this time around. They will be fighting the winner of each group and then the winners from those battles will fight in the final battle. We have already worked everything out with the new Disciples and they''ve agreed that this is the best solution for them. Whoever is able to defeat one of these two incredibly strong disciples will also be rewarded for it and their cement in the Sect will also increase. Now, let''s get onto the drawing!" The middle-ageddy finished announcing and then held brought out two tables, each table has 49 small tiles turned upside down. The middle-ageddy signaled for the contestants toe up and start drawing their tiles. She also split up the people into groups as well as the women who were first, third, fifth, seventh, and so on, in line were put into Group 1 and the women who were second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and so on, in line were put into Group 2.

    Mira and Maria didn''t need to draw a tile so they just waited for everyone to finish. Even though they didn''t need to draw they still needed to be put into the groups. Mira went ahead and took Group 1 and Maria went to Group 2.

    It didn''t take long for everybody to have their numbers assigned to them and they waited for further instructions from the middle-ageddy.

    "Now that everyone has gotten their numbers, I will discuss the specifics and the rules of the tournament before we begin! No killing or causing any serious wounds on your opponent! This is a friendly tournament! If you kill or hurt someone too severely then you will have to face the consequences from the Sect. We will have judges in ce to make sure you don''t kill or severely injure anyone. You may incapacitate your opponent though. The judges will determine when a match is over and who won, but the match will generally continue until one side can''t fight anymore or they surrender. You may use whatever weapon you want to fight with so no need to hold back. There is no time limit to the battles so use whatever strategy you want to win. Both groups won''t have their fights start and stopped at the same time. If Group 1 fights longer than Group 2 then Group 2 will continue to fight until Group 1 is finished. Also, more about the bracket. There will be 8 total rounds. People with numbers between 1 and 32 will fight in a bracket and numbers between 33 and 49 will fight in another bracket. These two brackets will fight in Round 6. Number 49 in each group will also fight in Round 5. Round 7 will be between the winner of the group and Number 50. Round 8 is the Final Round and will be between the two winners from each group. We will also move in order so Numbers 1 and 2 will fight first and then Number 3 and 4 and so on. We will have short breaks in between rounds to make sure each contestant is at their peak condition to fight. Now that I have exined everything, get into your groups, and will Number 1 and 2 from each group pleasee up to the different arenas?" The middle-ageddy announced as everyone understood the rules andyout of the tournament.

    After the groups separated and headed to their specific arenas, Numbers 1 and 2 from each group then went up on stage to get ready to fight. The 4 women took out their weapons and waited for the referees for each group to give them the signal to start.

    "Ready! Set! Fight!"

 Chapter 84 The Tournament Round 1

    "Ready! Set! Fight!"

    Both groups then started to fight each other. All 4 women currently fighting were using swords and were either Stage 3 or Stage 4 Qi Condensation. They rushed at each other to attack and were able to show decent swordsmanship. At first, Mira wasn''t going to pay attention to the fights since there was no need. She knows that she is stronger than everyone here and that for her to lose to anyone, she would literally have to just stand there and let them hit her. But Mira noticed that their swordy wasn''t that bad. For the most part, all 4 women were able to parry, block, and attack well. Like they were trained in the art of the sword. Maria could do these as well, but shecked a proper teacher and knowledge about using the sword. Understanding different weapons can make one understand their own weapon better, so Mira decided to watch the battles to try and learn different styles and techniques used with other weapons that might help her increase her proficiency with the scythe.

    Mira watched them fight for nearly ten minutes before someone in Group 1 made a mistake and their opponent capitalized on that mistake and parried the attack and put their sword against their neck.

    "Group 1, Number 2, Ava, Winner!" The Judge called out. Mira was surprised that the Judge knew their names, but it made sense that they should know the names of the disciples that joined the Sect. She also noticed that there were several wooden tablets near the Judge. She assumed that their names and numbers were written there.

    Ava had arge smile on her face as she bowed towards her opponent and both of them walked off the arena.

    "Number 3 and Number 4! Come up!" The Judge for Group 1 called up the next set of women. Both of them walked up to the arena and took out their weapons and Mira noticed that these 2 women also used a sword. They both took their positions and waited for the judge to start the fight.

    "Fight!"

    Group 1 began battling again and Group 2''s first fight wasing to an end as well. Mira noticed that the winner in Group 2 also took advantage of a mistake to end the battle. Mira noticed more mistakes than that and she can also force mistakes to happen, but these were young women who didn''t seem to have that much experience in battle. Mira didn''t expect them to fight or spar with someone every day. This also might be the reason for joining a Sect. They''d get better training with their weapons.

    Mira continued to watch the battles until finally there was someone that caught her interest.

    ***

    Most duels didn''tst that long. Around 5 to 10 minutes seemed to be the average time for a duel as most of the women here had very simr battle prowess and cultivation. Nobody was abnormally stronger or weaker than the other both in terms of skills and cultivation. Mira had watched 30 battles so far, 15 from each group. This meant that Round 1 is over halfway over. The 16th battle for Group 2 caught her attention though. The judge called for Numbers 31 and 32 toe up and Mira noticed Cine walking up to the stage.

    Mira ignored the other fight that was going on in the other arena as she wanted to see how Cine fought against another person. Cine felt someone staring intently at her. At first, she thought that it might be her Grandpa or family watching her, but the feeling she got from this stare was fear. She looked around and noticed a girl with a ck mask on and silver hair looking her way.

    ''Why is she still watching me?! What does she want?! Is this way of her telling me not to lose? What will happen to me if I lose?! Thest time I failed her expectations, she forced me to execute magical beasts that couldn''t even fight back along with throwing me right at magical beasts to fight them. I''d also get beat if I didn''t kill it! AHHH! Screw it! I''m just going to win this match and ask herter!'' Cine thought as she took out her saber and prepared to battle.

    Cine is at Stage 2 Qi Condensation while her opponent is at Stage 3 Qi Condensation. The battle will be a little more difficult due to the cultivation difference, but nothing that can''t be ovee with a strong body and experience.

    "Fight!"

    Cine immediately dashed towards her opponent with her saber held out in front of her. Mira noticed that she kept the saber close to her chest. This is different from the other women who used swords. They kept their sword a bit farther away from their body and usedrger and longer swings.

    Cine didn''t do this and when she reached her opponent she diagonally shed at her then cross-shed from the other direction and stabbed at her opponent in one swift and fluid movement. Cine''s opponent was able to block the attacks but was having a hard time keeping up with the fluid movements from Cine. There was clearly a gap in teaching between the two. Cine kept up the pressure by swinging, shing, and stabbing at her opponent. She''d also parried any attacks that came her way and used that to her advantage. It only took Cine a minute until her saber was pressed up against her opponent''s neck.

    "Group 2, Number 31, Cine, Winner!" The judge called out as Cine released her saber, stepped back, and bowed towards her opponent.

    She then looked over at Mira only to see her slightly nodding at her. Cine let out a deep breath. It seems like she was able to gain Mira''s approval with that fight. Though she wasn''t sure if that was a good or bad thing. This little sight didn''t escape the eyes of the Elders watching though.<sub> </sub>

    ***

    "Did she just look over towards Mira like she was worried about not meeting her expectations?" One of the Elders asked as they wanted to confirm this.

    "I think she just did. It also seems like she released a deep breath after she saw that Mira nodded at her. I doubt she would''ve fought so hard if she wasn''t scared of what Mira might do if she failed. What a terrifying individual! She was able to instill a special type of fear mixed with respect after just 1 day of working with her!" Another Elder affirmed her thoughts.

    "I think this might be a good opportunity for us. It seems Mira is also interested in Nisha and Audra. I say we pay attention to their interactions during the tournament. Mira might be able to increase the battle prowess of a lot of our disciples. Of course, we''d have to ask her and provide enough benefits for her to do something like this for us though. You can also tell that even Maria, who should be close to Mira, still holds an innate fear and respect towards her." Another Elder suggested as everyone agreed to this.

    "We might be able to do the same thing as Mira, but in the end, I don''t think any of us would really be able to kill any of our disciples. Also, if an Elder did try to kill a disciple then the others might just leave and find a different sect if they had to fear the Elders. But Mira would only be a disciple. I think if we give her free reign in some type of training sessions then we might be able to see a qualitative improvement in our disciples. Even I hold a bit of fear from Mira just because of how apathetic and aloof she is. If she was as strong as me then she would definitely be someone I wouldn''t want to mess with. But if we get on her good side and create a ce she''d want to stay at then I only foresee good things for us and our disciples in the future." Another Elder chimed in. Not everyone agreed with her about being afraid of Mira, but they could agree that she was like a sleeping beast that shouldn''t be poked unless you n on killing her.

    The Elders were now waiting for Audra or Nisha toe up to battle to see how they interact with Mira. Will, they try not to disappoint her? Will they even care about her opinion?

    ***

    Mira was extremely satisfied with Cine''s battle. She knew Cine should be incredibly talented. She gave off all of the signs of someone extremely smart and talented. In all of her hundreds of years of living, Mira got pretty good at spotting talented and smart people. t-chested, on the shorter side, a lot of times they have darker hair and are hesitant to show what they are capable of. These are generally unpolished gems that are just waiting to be tempered. Cine is that gem right now. If she is able to live and get stronger then she would be an extraordinary cultivator. She could be feared by the masses and be a major power in the world. But the problem with people like this is there is always something that is holding them back from showing their true selves and power. This ends up getting them killed before they can fully blossom. Many geniuses die every day because of this or they die because they are too weak to protect themselves in a world full of terrifyingly strong people. Mira felt that Cine could reach the peak with her and all Mira would have to do is prevent her from dying. She would also be a great sparring partner along with being someone that might be able to take in her teachings on martial arts. Mira wasn''t going to give up on Maria since she has alreadye this far, and Maria also had incredible instincts. She felt that Maria had a good chance to reach the peak with her. Though this is just a hunch of hers.

    Mira''s thoughts were interrupted when she saw Nisha walk up onto the Group 2 arena. Mira was also interested in Nisha as well. Maybe not as a friend, but she could be a great sparring partner. Mira wanted to see Nisha fight at her best so she focused in and sent a bit of killing intent towards her.

    Nisha was walking onto the stage when she felt a terrifying chill crawl up her spine. Someone was directing their killing intent towards her and it was terrifying. There is only one person that immediatelyes to mind who might have this amount of killing intent. She looked around and saw the ck masked, silver-haired little girl staring daggers at her. Nisha froze for a second and gulped.

    ''It seems Mira wants me to know that she is watching. I don''t know what she wants exactly, but whatever it is can''t be good for me. I had originally wanted to avoid Mira as much as possible, but it seems I have already caught her eye. I''m guessing she doesn''t want me to disappoint her or something? I will just have to do my best not to end up like Cine!'' Nisha gathered her resolve and walked onto the stage and readied her dual daggers to end this battle as quickly as possible.

    "Fight!"

    Nisha coated her body and daggers in her dark element and charged towards her opponent. When Nisha did this, it bes harder to see her as the light that is normally reflected off of her is now absorbed into the darkness that is coating her. Obviously, her understanding of the Dao of Dark is not so deep to allow her to be invisible so her opponent can see her, but they have to focus on her movements more. It only took Nisha 10 moves to end the fight before she ended up behind her with both daggers pressed against her neck.

    "Group 2, Number 42, Nisha, Winner!"

    Nisha bowed towards her opponent and looked over towards Mira to see her give a slight nod of approval. Nisha also gave a slight nod and walked off the stage, but inwardly she was happy that Mira seemed to approve of that fight.

    The rest of the battles continued until all 96 people got to fight. Mira noticed that Audra was Number 49 in Group 1 and won''t be fighting until Round 5.

    "This brings an end to Round 1! We will take a short break and allow everyone to recover then resume the battles!"

 Chapter 85 The Tournament Rounds 2, 3, And 4

    The women that won their battles were now given a short break to get to peak condition before continuing with the rest of the tournament. Round 1 only took around 3 hours to finish since everybody was participating in it. Even though 50 duels happened in Round 1, it was actually more like 25 since they went at the same time. The audience also seemed to enjoy the separate battles as well because a lot of them were very simr or weren''t very interesting to watch, but having 2 battles go at the same time gave them something else to watch if they got bored with one of them. The audience was always engaged and cheering on someone or just cheering because they get to see the new disciples fight.

    Mira wasn''t that interested in the tournament anymore since most of these women had around the same amount of skill with the sword, which seemed to be the most popr weapons. This wasn''t surprising though. Swords are very versatile and everybody makes them so they are cheaper and moremon than other weapons. Mira saw a few people using a spear and one person who used something like butterfly knives, but they were not at the level of experience that their opponent had and lost. Those weapons are harder to learn so it''s not that surprising that they couldn''t handle their weapons better than their opponents if they don''t have the experience required to efficiently use them.

    Mira just sat in the same spot as she waited for it to be her turn to fight. She sat with both her legs and arms crossed. This mixed in with her ck mask, silver hair, and chilling aura gave her a rather imposing look. Some of the women who won wanted to go up to her and say hi or something, but they all got scared and backed away. A lot of people in the audience also noticed her during the break and wondered who she was. They started to whisper about her as they asked their friends, family, and nearby people if they have ever seen her before. Mira was able to hear some of this and started to nce around the audience causing some of them to freeze when they made eye contact with her.

    While Mira was alone due to her subconscious behavior, Maria was enjoying talking to a lot of the women in Group 2. One of the girls that lost in the first round asked Maria a question.

    "Are you really that strong like how the announcer described? I don''t mean to disrespect you or anything, but you don''t seem that strong." One of the girls asked curiously. Maria smiled happily and patted her chest.

    "I''d like to say that I''m strong since I should be able to fight someone in the early Foundation Realm. But this is mostly because Mira has been training me to fight for thest 5 or 6 years now. I guess you will just have to wait until I fight with the winner of Group 2. I''m fairly confident I should be able to win!" Maria said with arge smile on her face. While the girl just nodded her head and was about to ask another question before she got interrupted.

    "Huh? You''re fairly confident you should be able to win? You better fucking win! Or else thesest years would''ve been aplete waste of my time. Even though you still suck with the sword, you have more than enough experience from sparring with me to win!" A voice came from behind and Maria immediately tensed up.

    "M-M-Mira! Ahaha. You''re right, I will definitely win that match! I have to fight with you for the finale so we can have an official battle!" Maria said awkwardly.

    "Fight? We spar every day for hours and I beat your ass every day for hours. Why would today be any different? I''m here to inform you that you should watch these matches. It might help to improve your sword skills or give you some inspiration. I will be testing to see if you gained anything after we officially join the Battle Maiden Sect! See you in thest battle." Mira said coldly and walked away. Maria released a heavy sigh and knew that she should pay attention to these battles.

    "So that''s Mira huh? She''s a lot scarier meeting with her face to face. She''s even so mean and cold even to her own friend. Why are you friends with her, Maria?" Another girl asked Maria.

    "I enjoy being around her. She''s always looking for new opportunities, working hard, making sure that I''m safe, and training me to fight. She''s cold, brutal, ruthless, and sometimes extremely terrifying, but she puts everything into making me stronger and increasing my battle prowess while also doing her own stuff. She''s also extremely sincere and I''ve never heard her tell a lie. Out of all of the people I''ve met in my life so far, she is by far the most reliable and trustworthy. If I don''t betray her then I know that she will never betray me. But she might also just be the most terrifying enemy if you make her mad. If there is one person in the world that you should befriend then it should be Mira, but she will probably only ept people that are sincere and are willing to follow her throughout their entire lives. I will follow her anywhere and do whatever she says because I trust her 100%. So far, I''ve only gotten stronger and learned more about the world. Don''t just judge her because of her character. Just because she is like that, she''s still human." Maria exined to them with a bit of a solemn expression. She''s decided to follow Mira until the end, whether it be good or bad.

    The women around Maria were surprised by this answer as they only felt Mira being extremely cold and mean towards everyone, but apparently, there is more to her than that. They might have to re-evaluate Mira.

    Around 30 minutes passed by and the middle-ageddy walked up to the middle stage to announce the beginning of the second round.

    "We will now begin Round 2! Will the winner from the first bracket in each group pleasee up?!" Thedy announced as the audience cheered loudly.

    Number 2 from Group 1, Ava walked up along with the winner after her, which was Number 3, June. A simr duo walked up on the Group 2 arena and readied their weapons.

    "Fight!" Both judges said.

    ***

    "It seems that Nisha also respects Mira''s opinion even though they barely spoke and only fought together a few times. This is very interesting! Maybe she will be more useful to the sect than we previously thought." One of the Elders said when they noticed that Nisha also thought highly of Mira''s opinion. The other Elders also agreed with her.

    "I agree! Things just keep getting more and more interesting! I hope that Mira doesn''t disappoint!."

    "I think as long as we offer the right benefits to her then she will be able to do this for the Sect. The only thing I''m worried about is how hard she will be on the girls she''s training. Some of the weaker-willed girls might not be able to handle that kind of constant abuse."

    "This is a good chance for them to toughen up! The cultivation world is dangerous and if they want to reach higher realms then you can''t have a weak will! But this is not something that we can do ourselves. The disciples look up to us as role models and protectors, ruining this image will only hurt the Sect. I think that this might spark a bit morepetition between the disciples."

    "I agree! These girls haven''t experience the truth of the cultivation world yet. Mira is like the cultivation world personified! You either adapt or die, that seems to be her philosophy. We will just have to make sure she doesn''t actually kill someone. Or all of the progress could be lost."<sub> </sub>

    The Elders started to discuss future events that would create a terrifying force within the Battle Maiden Sect in the future.

    ***

    Mira stopped watching paying attention to the fights as she gained just about as much as she could from watching these battles. These women were just too inexperienced to help Mira. But an interesting match finally appeared as Mira saw Cine walk back up to the stage. Mira noticed that her opponent was now a Stage 4 Qi Condensation Cultivator, 1 stage higher than her previous opponent.

    Mira was very interested to see how things y out here and was already watching both of them intently. Cine felt the same stare as before and turned only to see Mira more focused on her than before. Her hands started to get a little sweaty as she pulled out her saber and her back was also sweating.

    ''It seems Mira is very interested in this fight. I bet she thinks that I''m going to lose because making up for the difference in cultivation isn''t an easy thing to do. Ahhhh! Dang, it! Please stop watching me! You''re making me too nervous!'' Cine screamed in her head as she waited for the judge to start the fight.

    "Fight!"

    Cine weaved towards her opponent and waited for her to swing first. Her opponent swung her sword down diagonally, but Cine was able to parry the sh and proceed to step to the side and stab towards her opponent in one fluid motion. Her opponent tried to block the attack, but Cine''s stab was only a feint as she rotated her hip, grabbed her saber with both hands, and swung towards her opponent''s neck. She didn''t even have time to think about blocking this attack and before she knew it, Cine''s saber was already pressed up against her neck.

    "Group 2, Number 31, Cine, Winner!" The Judge called the battle that ended in just a few breaths of time.

    Mira was happily surprised by this result and now had a faint smile on her face as she slightly nodded a few times towards Cine. Cine just released another deep breath because Mira is starting to stress her out more than the actual tournament.

    ? After another couple of battles, Nisha finally walked up onto the stage. This is the other match that Mira was looking forward to. Nisha looked over towards Mira and saw that she was watching her even more intently than before. She gulped a bit as she made it on stage and readied her weapons. Her opponent did the same thing.

    "Fight!"

    Nisha did the same thing as the previous battle, but this time she wanted her opponent to make the first move. Her opponent readied her sword and shed horizontally. Nisha used one dagger to block the attack and already had the other one stabbing towards her opponent''s neck. It all happened too swiftly and Nisha won in this single attack.

    "Group 2, Number 42, Nisha, Winner!"

    The audience was a bit shocked that the battle onlysted one move before Nisha won. They then started to think of what kind of monsters would be stronger than her.

    There was only 1 more battle after her which only took around ten minutes. They had to wait for 2 more battles to finish in Group 1 before Round 2 ended.

    "This brings an end to Round 2! We will take a short break and allow everyone to recover then resume the battles!" The announcer repeated.

    After another 30 minutes or so, the battles for Round 3 started. There will only be 6 battles happening for each group, or 12 battles total.

    "We will now begin Round 3! Will the winner from the first bracket in each group pleasee up?!"

    ***

    The battles went on like normal. Nisha and Cine also kept dominating their matches. They both won their matches in Round 3 and Round 4. It was now Round 5 as they were both in the Top 4 now. If Nisha and Cine both win their matches then they will face off in Round 6 to determine the winner of the group. Audra also gets to participate in this round as well. Three of the four battles in Round 5 are matches that Mira is looking forward to watching.

 Chapter 86 The Tournament Round 5

    It was finally about time for Round 5 to start. If Cine wins her match then she will at least make it in the Top 2 and have a chance to fight for the Number One spot. And if Nisha wins then she will be in the same position. All of their battles so far have been stomps and Mira feels like that their battles to make it to Round 6 will also be simr. Cine has shown that she can fight people above her cultivation level due to her talent with the saber. Nisha has shown her excellent skills with her Dark Element along with her beautiful dagger y.

    "We will now begin Round 5! For this Round and the next 3 rounds, we won''t have both groups fight at the same time. We will start with Group 1 and move onto Group 2 afterward! Will Anna and Cine pleasee up to the stage?!" The announcer informed everyone that only one battle will be fought at a time.

    Anna was the winner from the first bracket in Group 1 and is a Stage 5 Qi Condensation Realm Expert. The difference in Cultivation for Cine is getting wider and wider, but with her saber skills along with her strong body, she is able to clear this gap with her skills.

    Cine walked up on the stage and nced over at Mira and just saw Mira looking at this fight with a bored and nonchnt pose. This shocked Cine even more as she expected Mira to be more invested in this fight than the others, but this only made her more nervous.

    ''What does this mean? Does this mean she''s expecting me to win so I can advance and fight with Nisha? Or does she not care and is satisfied with meing this far-No! What am I thinking?! This is the woman who threw me into beasts like a rag doll because I refused to fight them then proceed to use me as bait against a beast that just needs to breathe on me to kill me! She''s clearly thinking this will be a boring match!'' Cine thought as she took out her saber. If Mira thinks that this will be an easy battle, then it should be the case. Cine rxed a little and already started to underestimate her opponent. Anna also readied her sword and waited for the judge to start the match.

    "Fight!"

    Both Cine and Anna dashed towards each other, but Mira could tell that Cine didn''t rush in with as much fervor as before. She frowned at this and knew that Cine is going to have a rough time. It turns out that Mira was right because Cine couldn''t find an opening and was even getting pushed back.

    Cine kept swinging her saber at Anna, but she was able to parry or block all of her attacks with ease and wouldn''t fall for Cine''s bluffs. Cine backed off to try and get the momentum back, but Anna charged in that split second of hesitation and started to pressure her. Cine turned to the one being on the receiving end and Anna''s attacks were also a lot stronger than her previous opponents. Cine started to lose her head a bit as she thought about the possibility of her losing.

    The fight went on for another 10 minutes and made for one of the longest matches today along with being Cine''s longest match. Cine knew that she wouldn''t be able to regain the momentum and there is only 1 solution that she coulde up with to win this match. She had to wait until Anna goes in for a final move to end it then strike, but this is incredibly risky since she''s never done this before.

    Anna was attacking constantly, but started to get a little impatient since her opponent is 3 Stages below her in cultivation. She felt like it was now time to end this and was setting up for an attack to the neck. She kept attacking and waited for an opening and after a couple more moves she saw that opening. She quickly stabbed towards Cine''s neck, but when she prepared that attack she noticed that Cine had already switched positions andunched her saber towards her neck. Anna didn''t have any time to change the trajectory of the attack since she knew that she would miss and in that split second, Cine''s saber was against her neck.

    "Group 2, Number 31, Cine, Winner!" The Judge ended the match.

    *WOOO*

    The crowd went wild after seeing Cine pull out the win even in a situation like that.

    "Did you see that?! She actually ended up winning even though she was losing the whole time! What a talent!"

    "Crazy! What an amazing fight! They are both amazing!"

    "I can''t wait to see the next matches!"

    The audience talked about that match and how amazing it was. They never would have guessed that Cine would win.

    Cine had a tired smile on her face as she bowed towards Anna and cupped her hands.

    "That was a good fight. You are amazing, Anna!" Cine said to Anna.

    "You really surprised me there with that move. I will make sure to remember this battle and won''t fall for the same trick twice. Congrattions on the win." Anna said politely as she walked off the stage. Cine also did the same but had a big smile on her face. Winning that match felt really good. But this happinesssted but an instant when she noticed a cold gaze directed towards her. She knew it was Mira and even though she couldn''t see her face, she knew that there was a deep frown nted on her face. Cine wanted to say that it was her fault that things turned out this way but knew that is a bad idea. She decided to just shut up, put her head down, and walk away to wait for her next match. She was right because Mira was incredibly disappointed with that fight. Mira knew that a win is a win, but Cine lost from the start and only got lucky to be able to pull off that stunt.<sub> </sub>

    The next match then started and it was Nisha''s turn to fight. Mira truly didn''t think much of this fight. Nisha, Cine, and Audra are clearly the best fighters here. Anna was good as well, but the main reason she wasn''t nearly as skilled with the sword as Cine was with the saber.

    "Nisha, Mae,e up!" The announcer called the next fighter. Both of them walked up to the stage and took out their weapons. But Mae seemed to want to say something to Nisha before the battle.

    "I know I''m no match for you, but I''d still like to fight with you." Mae said before she took out her sword.

    Nisha just nodded her head before taking out her dual daggers.

    "Fight!"

    Nisha did the same thing she''s done since the beginning of the tournament and coated her body and sword in darkness. She then walked towards Mae then suddenly dashed forward. She was trying to catch Mae a little off guard, but it didn''t seem to trick Mae as she dodged her attack. Dealing with dual daggers is incredibly annoying once they enter their range of attacks so Mae tried her best to keep her distance. But know and doing are two separate things and it didn''t take long before Nisha''s daggers were ced against Mae''s neck.

    "Group 2, Number 42, Nisha, Winner!"

    Another crushing victory for Nisha! The crowd got even more pumped up to see Cine and Nisha fight in the next round.

    "Thanks for the fight. You sure are incredible." Mae said as she bowed and left the stage while Nisha just nodded towards her and left the stage as well.

    It was now time for the next round, but Mira didn''t feel like watching this round. The only person worth watching anymore in Group 1 is Audra. The rest weren''t anything special. Mira just started to think about what she will do starting tomorrow. She needs to earn more Spirit Stones, learn more about Rhydian''s species, break into the Foundation Realm, figure out ways other than pills to temper the body, find some kind of job that she can do to make a lot of Spirit Stones, find ways to increase the strength of the 500 women following her, keep teaching Maria and maybe Cine, learn more about the area, gain a deeper understanding in her Absolute Ice Doa, find a way to make her Ice Elemental Essence stronger, and increase her scythe skills. Mira just sighed at all of this.

    ''So much to do, but I''m in no rush. I will just keep getting stronger until something requires my immediate attention or I hit a blockade in my training. I think my main concern should be breaking through to the Foundation Realm and getting more Spirit Stones. The other stuff I''ll do in my free time. While gaining a deeper understanding in my Dao and making my Ice Elemental Essence stronger will have to wait until I go out to adventure or find something to help me.'' Mira thought to herself as the 3rd battle in Round 5 just ended and it was Audra''s turn to fight.

    "Audra, Hazel! Come up!" The Judge said as Audra finally raised from her seat and approached the stage. She got up on stage and took out her spear. Hazel got up on stage as well and took out her sword. Audra stood there with her spear in hand looking incredibly imposing. She looked as steady as a rock while waiting for the judge to start the match. Mira perked up when she saw this and started to pay attention to the fight.

    "Fight!"

    Audra immediately charged towards her opponent with the spear parallel to the ground and the spear tip pointing at Hazel. Hazel also shot forward as she wanted to get the first strike in, but things didn''t seem to go her way as Audra stopped out of her range and started attacking her just outside of her attack range. She tried to dash forward to get within range, but Audra would just reposition, always keeping her out of range. After a minute or two of this, Hazel started to get a bit frustrated but tried to immediately calm her mind. Audra didn''t let this chance go and immediately swept her spear until it almost hit the side of Hazel''s neck.

    "Group 1, Number 49, Audra, Winner!" The judge announced as both Hazel and Audra stored their weapons and left the stage. Audra nced over to look at Mira as she left the stage and saw her leaning back in her chair with her arms and legs crossed staring back at her. Audra would be fighting Mira after she won her next battle and if she was being honest then Audra would say that she''s been wanting to spar with Mira since the Group Hunt Test. She knew Mira was strong, but defeating a Rank 4 beast while still in the Qi Condensation Realm doesn''t determine someone''s skills with a weapon. She felt her battle intent rise as she turned away and found somewhere to sit.

    "We will now determine who will be 3rd ce in both Groups! We''ve determined that they are in peak condition right now! Anna, Mae,e up!" The judge announced as both Anna and Mae walked up to the stage and readied their weapons. These next 2 fights didn''t catch as much attention from the audience or Mira as they were looking forward to the next 2 battles.

    Anna won against Mae, and Hazel won against her opponent. Both weren''t anything special, but they did earn themselves third ce along with the reward thates with it.

    "This brings an end to Round 5! We will take a short break and allow everyone to recover then get to the Group Finals!"

 Chapter 87 The Tournament Rounds 6 And 7

    "This brings an end to Round 5! We will take a short break and allow everyone to recover then get to the Group Finals!" The announcer said as Cine, Nisha, Audra, and her opponent recovered to peak condition. Cine was the only one that really needed to rest so it didn''t take that long before she was ready.

    "Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen! These next 2 battles will determine whoes in first for their group! Even though we will still have 3 more battles after this, the winners of the next two battles toe will receive a reward foring in first. We will then find out if they have what it takes to take on the two people that our Elders have deemed to be too powerful to put in the rest of the tournament. We will start with Group 1. Audra and Sia! Pleasee up!"

    The audience cheered loudly as it was now the finals! These are bound to be good matches, so how could the audience not get excited?! Audra and her opponent approached the stage and drew their weapons. Audra drew her spear while Sia drew her sword and got into a battle-ready stance.

    "Fight!"

    Audra felt like her opponent might be rather aggressive so she decided to take a more passive stance and keep her distance. Audra just stood there and waited for Sia to charge at her, and charge is what Sia did. She knew that she had to get within the range of her sword to even think about beating Audra, but someone who is good with a spear is hard to deal with when using a sword. As long as Audra stays out of range then there is nothing Sia can do.

    Audra would asionally sweep her spear or stab it at Sia, but Sia was always able to dodge or parry her attacks. Mira was watching this battle with a bit of interest. Sia was actually better than she thought with a sword. But Sia didn''t know how to deal with a spear user while using a sword. Sia kept trying to break through, but Audra didn''t allow such actions and was able to keep her distance.

    After a couple of minutes of back and forth, Audra seemed to decide that she''s had enough. Her attack patterns changed and she got more aggressive. All of her stabs and sweeps were very tight and precise with each one aiming for a vital part of Sia''s body. Since Sia wasn''t able to gain momentum at the beginning of the fight then there was nothing she could do at this stage of the fight. Unless she could force an opening out of Audra, then she''d eventually lose.

    This didn''t happen as Audra smacked Sia''s weapon hand then swept her spear to the side of her neck. Sia just raised both of her hands as a sign of surrender and the judge called the match.

    "Winner, Audra!"

    The audience cheered wildly as that was a great fight. Sia was able to show her skill with the sword, but it just barely fell short of Audra''s spear.

    They bowed towards each other and decided to say a few words.

    "That was a great fight. You almost had me there, but it seems you are just a bit inexperienced in fighting someone with a spear. Maybe we can spar in the future." Audraplimented Sia.

    "Thanks, though it''s true that I''m not experienced at fighting someone with a spear, I don''t think I would''ve been able to beat you even if I did. You deserve this win. And sure, we can spar with each otherter." Sia said and the both of them walked off of the stage.

    "Let''s move onto the next battle of the finals! Group 2''s Nisha and Cine, pleasee up!" The announcer said as Cine and Nisha walked up to the stage and readied their weapons.

    "I''m a little surprised to see you here in the finals, Cine. I didn''t know you were so strong. No wonder you were able to be great bait during our group hunt." Nisha said to Cine as she was truly surprised that Cine made it this far.

    "I-I''m also a bit surprised! Though I think part of it is Mira keeps watching me every time I fight and always has a look like she''ll kill me if I don''t win. L-L-Like right now. I can tell that she doesn''t want me to disappoint her with this fight." Cine said quietly and nervously. Both of them turned to look at Mira, who was just sitting down in a chair staring at them.

    "I''m d that she''s in Group 1. Audra seems intent on wanting to spar with her, but I personally don''t want to fight with her. I get the feeling that we will just look like fools if she were to spar with us. Enough with that. I''m not going to go easy on you just because we were in the same group for a week." Nisha said as she got into a battle stance with her daggers. Cine nodded as she took a battle stance with her sabers.

    "Fight!"

    Nisha did what she always does and coated herself in Darkness and charged at Cine. Cine also immediately dashed towards Nisha to see if she could get the first attack in, but s the difference in cultivation was a bit too much now as she couldn''t attack before Nisha could get ready. Cine isn''t the only one that can battle higher stages as Nisha can as well. So instead of Cine fighting a Stage 6 Qi Condensation Realm Expert, it''s more like Stage 8. That''s a 6 stage difference that can''t be easily made up with just talent and skills.

    Cine could barely see and sense Nisha, much less keep up with her. Nisha popped up to the side behind Cine in a blind spot, but Cine was able to block the attack just out of reflex and intuition. Though she could also just be lucky. Cine also felt her arm start to ache when she blocked that attack. She wouldn''t be able to take many more hits before her arm broke.

    Nisha dashed to the other side of Cine and attacked again, but she was able to block the attack. This happened 2 more times before Cine started to feel like her arm was about to snap. She put her saber in her other hand and started to try and block, but her reaction speed and coordination were a bit slower, and Nisha was too fast. She easily got past Cine''s block to press a dagger against her neck causing Cine to lose.

    "Winner, Nisha!"

    *WOOOO*

    The audience went crazy. Even though that fight was quick and went the way everyone expected, Cine stillsted much longer than most people originally thought. The only 30-second battle had the audience sitting on the edge of their seats as they waited to see if Cine had any cards up her sleeve to win, but in the end, Nisha took a swift victory for first ce.

    "I guess I will be the one to fight Maria." Nisha said as she bowed and shook Cine''s hand.

    "Y-Yeah. G-Good luck! I-I''ll be watching. I''m just d I got 2nd ce." Cine said shyly as she bowed and shook Nisha''s hand. The both of them then walked off the stage. Cine went to find a seat to watch the rest of the battles and Nisha went back to her original spot to wait for her fight with Maria.

    "The Top 3 of the two Groups have now been determined! But the tournament is still not over! There are still 2 people who have yet to fight. These 2 were able to take out a Rank 4 beast and have breezed by every test like it was nothing. Even though they are only in the Qi Condensation Realm, their real power is somewhere in the Early Foundation Realm!" The announcer paused as there was a momentary silence in the audience before a loud cheer erupted. They couldn''t wait to see who these 2 people were.

    "We will start off with the fight between the winner of Group 1 and Mira, the person that isparable to a Foundation Realm Expert! Will Mira and Audra pleasee up to the stage!" The announcer yelled and got the crowd all excited. Aura immediately went up onto the stage and took out her spear, but Mira didn''t move for a few seconds and stayed seated. She then got up from her seat and started walking at a very rhythmic pace towards the other side of the stage.

    *CLACK**CLACK**CLACK*

    Her shoes resounded throughout the Arena as she made her way to the other side of the stage. Wherever Mira went, a chilling aura seemed to follow as the area around her turned cold and the audience turned silent until all the people heard were Mira''s footsteps. It''s extremely eerie to be in a ce filled with thousands of people and there wasn''t a sound. The main reason for the silence is not only the domineering and chilling aura that Mira subconsciously released, but there was also a murderous aura that was constantly released from Mira. She''s killed so many people that controlling this to be unnoticeable is incredibly difficult and Mira didn''t feel like controlling it right now since this ce got too noisy for her.<sub> </sub>

    Audra just watched Mira approach and she had a slight smile on her face. It didn''t take long for Mira to reach the stage as she faced Audra, a few dozen meters away.

    "I don''t know how strong you really are, but I can''t wait to find out. You really surprised me back in the group hunt with that power along with your unyielding personality. I''m d we get to fight in a setting like this." Audra interrupted the silence and said to Mira.

    "I''d like to see if you have anything else instead of just keeping your distance. I''d be highly disappointed if this match didn''tst very long." Mira said nonchntly as Audra''s eye twitched a bit.

    "I guess you will just have to wait and see. I''ve been wanting to see the scythe that you told us about. I think if you used that then we''ll both have a simr range." Audra taunted a little, but Mira wasn''t having any of it.

    "There''s no need for that. I don''t even need my scythe to beat the shit out of Maria much less you. I guess this could also be a good time to show Maria how cultivators can fight without a weapon. Enough of this. Let''s get on with it, shall we?" Mira said. When Maria heard her name called, she stiffened and immediately started to pay attention. Audra just nodded her head and readied her spear. Mira just stood there.

    "F-Fight!"

    Mira just walked towards Audra which shocked not only her but everyone else. When Mira got within range of the spear, Audra quickly thrust the spear towards Mira''s torso. Most people would either, dodge, block, or parry this attack but Mira didn''t do any of those. She just grabbed the end of the spear right before the spearhead and quickly pushed it out of the way. She kept one hand holding the spear and dashed towards Audra. Audra didn''t expect this response and so wasn''t able to react quick enough to stop Mira from grabbing her spear or dashing towards her.

    Once Mira got close enough to Audra, she pulled the spear towards her and roundhouse kicked Audra''s stomach. Audra immediately spit up a mouthful of blood, let go of her spear, and fell to her knees.

    "That''s it? After wanting to fight with me so bad, this is all you can muster up? The audience wants to see something interesting, but you give them this pathetic disy? You should at least be capable of getting another swing in." Mira said in a domineering tone. Audra just looked up with zing eyes.

    "Dammit!!" Audra yelled as she fully dropped her sword and tried to punch Mira.

    "Oh? Now, this is truly foolish." Mira said as she dodged the punch and immediately put Audra in a chokehold along with locking her right arm.

    "You don''t even know how to fight without a weapon and you think it''s a good idea to charge at me?" Mira said as she twisted Audra''s shoulder.

    *POP*

    "Nngh!" Audra gritted her teeth in pain.

    A loud pop came from Audra''s body that resounded throughout the quiet arena. Mira looked at the judge and decided to say something.

    "This isn''t against the rules mentioned earlier. I only dislocated her shoulder so this shouldn''t be considered severe damage. Watch." Mira said as she punches the dislocated shoulder back into ce.

    "Argghh!!" Audra felt more pain with her shouldering back into ce than when it popped out of the socket. Mira then threw Audra to the other side of the stage along with her spear.

    "See. Good as new. Now, Audra. I''ll give you a chance to redeem that pathetic disy from earlier. If you can get a clean hit on me one time, then I''ll surrender." Mira said as she walked back to the starting position. Audra coughed a couple of times and rubbed her neck. She grasped her spear and slowly stood up.

    "Ahhhhh!!!" She then charged at Mira with her spear with a loud battle cry. Mira shook her head and did the same thing she didst time, but when Mira grabbed her spear Audra let go of it. Mira noticed that Audra had pulled out a knife and started to run at her. Mira could tell that Audra has almost never wielded a knife in battle before as everything was wrong.

    Mira just grabbed the knife hand with her right hand and in one clean motion, elbowed Audra in the side of the head knocking her out. Mira just let Audra drop to the ground and looked at the judge.

    "W-W-Winner, Mira!" The Judge stuttered as she never expected the battle to y out like this.

    The audience didn''t cheer either as they only watched with their mouths agape. Everyone except for a little girl who watched this scene with shining eyes.

    Mira walked off stage and the judge went down to wake up Audra. After around 30 seconds, Audra woke up with a splitting headache. She looked around the stage and noticed Mira wasn''t on it.

    "I lost, huh?" She muttered.

    "Yes, you lost. But you put up a good fight. She is just abnormal. I also didn''t expect it to y out like this. I''m sorry." The Judge said as she truly felt bad for Audra. Audra just shook her head, stored her spear and knife, and slowly stood up.

    "It''s not your fault. I figured she''d be like that, but I just wanted to see. She truly is a little monster. I just wonder how strong, Maria is." Audra said as she slowly walked off the stage to recover a bit.

    The judge then stood up and looked out towards the audience.

    "We will now move onto Group 2. Will the winner of Group 2, Nisha and Mariae up to the stage?!"

 Chapter 88 The Tournament Ends

    "We will now move onto Group 2. Will the winner of Group 2, Nisha and Mariae up to the stage?!"

    Nisha and Maria then got up from their seats and went towards the stage. The audience didn''t really notice Maria before, but now that they got a good look at her they realized how beautiful Maria really is. She was like a beautiful golden light that descended from the heavens. It was easy to guess that Maria had a light elemental affinity.

    "Heavens! Look how beautiful she is! How did she get so pretty?!"

    "I wish I was that pretty! Maybe I''d be able tond a man if I looked like her!"

    "Both beautiful and strong! How envious!"

    Most of the women in the audience looked at Maria with admiration and envy, while the men were drooling over how beautiful she is. Maria didn''t pay any mind to the audience and just looked at Nisha.

    "I''m sorry, Nisha. I''m going to have to win or else I only foresee hell in my future days. I don''t even want to think about what Mira will do if I lose to you, she might actually kill me only to bring me back to life and repeat. No hard feelings okay? Let''s be friends afterward!" Maria forced out a smile when she said this because she didn''t really want to fight with Nisha. They were part of a group for a week and Maria liked Nisha. Nisha just nodded.

    "I understand. I''d also like to be friends with you after this as well, but I do have a question. Why would Mira care whether you won or lost? Losing here isn''t necessarily bad." Nisha asked curiously, but Maria just shook her head.

    "She''s the one that has been training me since before I reached the Qi Condensation Realm. We spar and train for hours every day, sometimes the whole day. She also forces me to fight stronger and stronger magical beasts to get used to fighting in life or death battles. Sometimes she will even spar with me, but every time she tried to hit me it was with the intent to kill. She spends so much time training me and doesn''t want it to be a waste of her time. She could spend that time making herself stronger, but she chooses to spend it with me to make me stronger so we can reach the peak together." Maria exined which surprised not only Nisha but everyone else who heard her as well. Nisha just nodded and readied her dual daggers. Maria took out her sword and waited for the Judge to start the battle.

    "Fight!"

    Maria dashed towards Nisha as fast as she could so she could attack her before she is able to coat herself in darkness. Honestly, it didn''t matter to Maria if she was covered in her dark element or not as she could still see her perfectly fine. But this is also a great chance to attack her.

    Maria got it right because Nisha wasn''t expecting her to charge nor did she expect Maria to be so fast. She reached Nisha before she could finish preparing and started to attack with her sword.

    Nisha defended the attacks, but every hit from Maria was like a boulder came crashing down onto her. She tried to sneak in another attack from the side using her free arm, but it was like Maria could sense where the attack wasing from as soon as she moved and always blocked, parried, or dodged it.

    Nisha didn''t think Maria would be this strong and skilled at fighting. After fighting for a couple of minutes, Nisha could actually tell that Maria didn''t seem to be professionally taught. Her movements were too rigid and she didn''t do anything that normal sword users who were taught to use a sword do. It was just Maria had fought so many battles that her sword skills increased along with her battle sense. If she was professionally taught on top of this then she will definitely turn into someone terrifying.

    After fighting for around 3 minutes, Nisha knew that she was about to lose any second now as Maria was just wearing her down and pushing her back. It also seemed that Maria was holding back quite a bit. And she was right, a few secondster she couldn''t keep up with Maria''s movements and felt a de pressed against her neck. Nisha put her hands up to signal that she lost.

    "Winner, Maria!"

    Maria removed her sword and bowed towards Nisha. Nisha also did the same.

    "You''re definitely good at fighting. I wouldn''t have even been able tost a second with you even with my strength if Mira hadn''t trained me. You should be proud of yourself! Also, now that this is over we can be friends!" Maria said with arge smile on her face. This smile seemed to enrapture everyone around her as the arena went silent for a few seconds before a loud cheer and apuse from the audience shook the arena a bit.

    "Sure. I will be in your care." Nisha said and this only made Maria smile brighter. They both left the stage and the announcer came out to announce the final fight.

    "Mira and Maria are truly worthy of being called the strongest out of this year''s new disciples! We will now be moving onto the final battle between the two of them! So get ready for a fight between the 2 strongest in this year''s Battle Maiden Sect Tournament! We will make sure both parties are ready to fight then move onto the final match!"

    One of the Elders went over to talk with Mira and Maria a bit before the fight as well as ask them if they are ready.

    "Are you two ready? It doesn''t seem you used much energy in thest fight you two had." The Elder asked both of them and Mira just nodded her head, but Maria seemed hesitant.

    "Can I just surrender? I know I''m going to lose before the match even starts. I''ve sparred against Mira countless times and have never oncee close to winning. She doesn''t even need to use her weapon to beat me, plus she already knows all of my moves." Maria begged but the Elder just shook her head.<sub> </sub>

    "I''d appreciate it if you fought a little bit up there. Just try to make it a little interesting for the people watching. We will be satisfied if you guys spar for around 10 minutes or so." The Elder exined, but this caused Maria to pale. She has to be in an arena and fight with her for 10 minutes? Look what happened to Audra within 10 Seconds!

    "Interesting huh? I don''t really know how to make something interesting, but I guess if you wanted this battle tost a bit longer then I can handicap myself a bit. How about I''ll only use my legs for the first 5 minutes and if Maria even touches me then I''ll surrender? That should make it interesting." Mira thought out loud, but this stunned both the Elder and Maria. Now Maria felt her soul starting to leave her body. Whenever Mira does something crazy like this, it only means pain and suffering for her. Because Mira fights with more ferocity when she''s handicapped like this.

    "We''re ready. Let''s get on with this." Mira said to both of them as they just nodded and went towards the stage. The announcer on stage then started introducing Mira and Maria.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen! It seems that Mira and Maria are both ready for the final fight! I''ve also been told that they both spar together quite frequently and to make the fight a bit more entertaining, Mira told us that she will fight while only using her legs and if Maria even hits her one time then she will surrender! So be sure to watch closely as it should be an interesting match! Are both of you ready?" The announcer said as both Mira and Maria nodded their heads, but Maria just wanted to get this over with. She took out her sword and got ready while Mira just put her hands behind her back.

    "Fight!"

    Neither of them moved. Maria did not want to just charge at Mira because if she does that then it''s pretty much just an instant loss. Mira knew this as well and wanted to test her a bit, but it seems that Maria learned this much from their sparring.

    Mira decided she would be the first one to make a move since Maria clearly isn''t going to move. She quickly dashed at Maria, but Maria wasn''t going to just stand there and get kicked. So she immediately sidestepped preemptively to position herself better and waited for an opening to swing. If she is only using her legs then the best time to swing is when she is about to go for a kick since she can''t send both feet in the air at the same time.

    Mira got into range and made a move like she was about to roundhouse kick Maria in the upper thigh. Maria decided now would be a good time to swing, but immediately regretted that decision. Mira only faked the kick and dodged out of the trajectory of the swing and went for an axe kick towards her chin(An Axe Kick is a type of kick that uses a straight leg to kick upwards, attacking the chin or head with your heel.) Maria nearly stumbled away to dodge that kick as she was mid-swing, but she managed to dodge it and quickly regained her bnce. Mira didn''t let up and using the momentum from her leging down, she spun around and did a back kick. This time she was able to make contact and hit Maria''s chest.

    *Cough**Cough*

    Maria coughed a couple of times, but she didn''t let go of her sword and just restabilized herself. Mira started to circle around to Maria as she also did the same so she could remain face to face with Mira.

    Maria then decided to take the initiative and try to attack Mira. This is what Mira wanted. The de of a sword is generally around 60-80 centimetres in the cultivation world. Mira''s legs are around 75-80 centimetres long. Maria''s arm length is around 45 centimetres. All Mira has to do is move slightly towards Maria to get a kick in and a powerful kick usually uses some forward momentum. So all Mira has to do is step forward then kick tond an easy kick.

    Maria charged towards Mira in hopes to get a good hit in, but she quickly stopped since she felt something was wrong. She noticed that there was danger within 1 meter of Mira. She wanted to get a good strike in though so she decided to try and bait Mira like how she baited her. She raised her sword like she was going for a downward sh and did a quick dash towards Mira. She was just faking this sh as she was actually going to switch hands and do a backward sh. So when she dashed, she was prepared to pull off this move, but Mira just swiftly kicked her shin once then her liver and repositioned herself. Maria gritted her teeth in pain.

    "Come on Mira! You know getting kicked in the shin hurts! I might not be able to walk for a few hours after this fight if you keep kicking me there!" Maria tried toin, but it didn''t phase Mira.

    "I''ve told you countless times, that martial artists need to train and strengthen their shins. Just think of this as a tempering session. Until I stop training you in unarmedbat, I will keep kicking your shin. You should also do the same." Mira said as she kicked the same spot on Maria''s shin again. This is why Maria hated whenever Mira only used her legs. She''d have to direct all of her attention to dodging or defending her legs or else Mira will just destroy them. Maria just groaned and continued on with the fight.

    The fight went on for another 6 or 7 minutes like this. Every time Maria went in for a strike, Mira would either kick her shin or dodge. If Mira ever got within 20 centimetres of Maria, she would axe kick her in the chin, and if they ever got into an extended battle Mira would kick her shin, liver, and finish it with a reverse roundhouse kick in quick session before Maria could do anything. If Maria was a bit better at fighting against this type of opponent then she would use 1 arm to block the iing kicks and swing her sword at the same time while Mira is in the middle of a kick, but Maria always took a long time to learn these types of things and Mira hasn''t taught Maria this is as well. So she just started to get her ass beat because she couldn''t even stay at the proper distance to cleanly attack Mira.

    Mira was starting to get bored of this and didn''t really want all of these people to see her using all of her moves so she decided to end this now. Maria was having a hard time standing on one of her legs since Mira kept kicking the same spot on her shin over and over again. Mira would obviously use this against her. Mira slowly circled over to Maria''s weak leg and started to set up her finishing move. She kept baiting Maria in as she wanted her to get closer and after around 20 seconds, Maria took the bait. She stepped up and Mira went for a kick to Maria''s side, Maria tried to block this while still holding onto her sword, but at thest second Mira switched targets and aimed for Maria''s head. She kicked her temple and followed up that kick with a knee to the chin. This knocked Maria out cold and she fell to the ground as she went unconscious.

    "Winner, Mira!!"

    The crowd was silent for a few seconds as that was one of the most stunning battles they have ever seen. There were tons of close calls as Mira almost got hit by Maria, but she never would. It was like Mira knew Maria''s moves before she even knew them herself. It took them a couple of seconds to real in their minds from the shock of such an impressive battle!

    *ROAR**WOO*

    The crowd went wild! They couldn''t contain themselves! This is by far the most impressive fight they have ever witnessed. It might not be the most spectacr, but as far as skill goes there is nothing that evenes close to the level of skill that was shown today. The announcer let the crowd roar and cheer for a while before talking.

    "This ends this year''s Battle Maiden Sect New Disciple Tournament! We thank you all foring and watching this year''s new Disciples in action! Please start to exit the arena as we have nothing more here to show! We will hand out the rewards to the winners when during their introduction into the sect! Be sure toe back in 3 more years! Thank You!" The announcer said as people started to get up and trickle out of the arena. Mira walked over to Maria and just pped her in the face to wake up. This caused Maria to shoot up, but soon felt a wave of pain in her head and leg. Mira then started to walk away before she noticed a little girl that couldn''t be older than 7 or 8e running towards her. She had royal blue hair and looked extremely skinny. She was wearing basically rags as clothes as well. She ran up to Mira and immediately bowed at a 90-degree angle.

    "Miss, my name is Dominique! Please teach me to be strong like you!"

 Chapter 89 Dominiques POV

    *THIS CHAPTER IS IN DOMINIQUE''S POV*

    I''ve always been alone in the world. I have never seen or known of my parents. Ever since I can remember I''ve always been alone, but the earliest thing I can remember is someone saying the words "I''m sorry." to me. I don''t know who it was that said that, but I can only guess that it was either my parents or someone who was taking care of me at the time. It doesn''t matter anyway. They left me to fend for myself in this nasty good-for-nothing world. I hate them and I hate this world!

    I grew up in a small vige near the city that surrounds the Battle Maiden Sect. I don''t know if I was born there, but this is the only ce I remember being at so I''ll just say I was born here. My life here sucked! I didn''t have a home, parents, or anyone to rely on at the early age of 3. People would just walk by me and throw pieces of food towards me because I was always begging people for food. I felt like some kind of pet or animal, but at least I survived!

    I tried asking people to take me in and take care of me, but they''d always give some excuse why they couldn''t. Then they''d toss a piece of pity bread towards me and walk away. I would try to chase them down and beg them. I''d cry, wail, say I''ll do the chores, or work around the house for free. I would do anything just to live in a house and have a daily source of food. But they wouldn''t even look in my direction anymore after they walked away. Was I invisible? Why is this happening to me? They just talked to me a second ago so why can''t they talk to me now?

    These questions constantly gued my mind. I even started to wonder if I was even alive or if I died and turned into a ghost or something. But this doesn''t seem to be the case, because I''m always starving! If I was dead and turned into a ghost, then there''d be no reason for me to be starving. Part of me just wants to die! I''m not living, I''m just surviving! I can''t run around with the other kids and y because I have to beg people for food and water every day just to get to the next day so I can beg for some more food and water. What''s the point of living a life like this! But one day something extraordinary happened!

    I was begging for more food in the vige when I saw two young womene in with nice-looking robes. They were talking with some of the vigers and made their way to the vige chief''s house. I figured they were probably here to deal with a magical beast problem that we''ve been having recently. The beasts would always attack at night so they just waited in the vige until dusk. After it turned dark, the beasts started to appear around the vige. The two women went rushing out of the vige with their swords and charged towards the beasts. They attacked the beast and I could feel the ripples in the air from their attacks. It didn''t take them long to y the beasts. They then collected their reward and immediately left. This was my first encounter with cultivators and I knew that I needed to be one if I wanted to be able to live how I want. The only problem is I know nothing about cultivating.

    I started to ask around for information regarding cultivating, but nobody in the vige knew anything and it''s not like they''d tell me anyway. The most they ever do is throw bread at me and give me the asional cup of water. I really hate this ce and these people!

    After asking around for a while, I finally got some information about cultivating. Well, I overheard someone talking about it. All I heard was that the Battle Maiden Sect just had their triennial Entrance Exam and that the next one will be held in another 3 years. They then described what they saw and I knew that this ce had cultivators! I have to go there in 3 years to see this! I need to learn how to cultivate! This is when I start nning to make a one-way trip to the Battle Maiden Sect and hope that someone there can take me in.

    Over the next 3 years, I would ask everybody about the Battle Maiden Sect. Things like what direction is it from the vige? How far away is it? What''s it like? Do they have cultivators there? Would they ept someone like me? Who participates in this Entrance Exam every 3 years? And so on.

    Most of the time I just gotughed at while they threw food at me and walked on, but I was able to collect enough information. I know that the vige is to the northeast of the Battle Maiden Sect and that only the strongest women under 30 are allowed to participate in this Entrance Exam. I don''t know how far it is from here, but that''s okay! As long as I know what direction to go. I started saving up little pieces of food and storing them in some old rags that some people threw away and I started to collect anything that could store water as well.

    It was now 1 year before the Entrance Exam and I just started my journey to the Battle Maiden Sect. This is the most difficult thing I''ve ever done! I felt like I walked forever! I had to ration my rations as well to be able to survive! I luckily came across some small streams for water and I just kept walking in the Southwest direction. I was on the brink of death every day and only survived off of roots, nts, a few berries, and the asional stream of water. After what felt like years, I finally saw arge wall in the distance and knew that I''ve made it to the city! It took me a while to reach the city, but I finally made it! I slowly walked to the nearest gate and saw two female guards keeping watch. They asked if I lived here and I just shook my head. They then asked me to pay the entrance fee of 2 Spirit Stones. I just tilted my head at them. What the heck is a Spirit Stone?! I need to pay to get in?! What do I do now?! I dropped to my knees and cried out what little water is left in my body. The guards seemed to at least pity me a little bit so they took me into the city and led me into a small room that they seemed to use when they are on breaks. They gave me some food and water then just left. Like I wasn''t their problem anymore. I was used to this by now, but why do these people even ignore me? Am I cursed? Am I not able to talk with people? Why me? Why is this happening?! I just shook my head away from these thoughts, ate the food, and left the small room I was in. Since the guards didn''t pay any more attention to me, then I will just help myself. If I die, then at least I died trying.

    I started walking in the streets and heard a ton of people talking about the Entrance Exam for the Battle Maiden Sect. It seems it was only a few days away! I made it! Yes!! I made my way over to where the Exam Site is so I can see who the participants will be. I had to sleep in the streets for the next few days, but this is nothing new for me.

    I finally made it to the Entrance Exam Site and got to see the thousands of people flowing into the ce, wanting to participate in the Exam. But there was 1 person that caught my attention. A girl with a ck mask and beautiful icy-silver hair. The aura this person exuded was extremely cold. Like she didn''t care about anything in this world. I could also feel a malicious intent exude from her body like she''s killed countless people before. I then looked at the so-called Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect, but the aura they exuded was nothing like this person with the silver hair. I could see that they were stronger than the silver-haired girl, but the silver-haired girl struck fear into my heart with just a nce. The Elder just gave me a warm yet strong feeling. I kept watching people enter, but my mind was still on the silver-haired girl from before.<sub> </sub>

    I got to spectate the Age and Elemental Affinity Test, but this is nothing interesting and I only wanted to know more about the silver-haired girl. It was finally her turn and I figured out that she had an Ice Elemental Affinity. I wonder what affinity I have? I hope it''s ice like that person! I also learned that her name is Mira!

    I then got to watch the Strength Test, but like before most of this was boring. They were only punching rocks and nobody was able to break the rock or even crack it. Sure they looked strong when they punched, but nothing happened! I only cared about the silver-haired girl and after what felt like forever she finally approached the rock. But she did something different, she got a lot closer to the rock and extended her arm like she was going to shake the rock''s hand. She curled her hand up into a fist and punched the rock. It was nothing special, but all of a sudden the rock exploded into a million pieces! I couldn''t believe what just happened! All of these other people are getting a running start or swinging their arm, while this person''s fist was only a few centimeters away from the rock when she punched it! And she was the one that broke the rock! Amazing! The next person also broke the rock, but I didn''t care about her! This person, whose name seemed to be Mira, is just too amazing! I have to learn from her!

    I also got to spectate the Test of Will. All of the people participating were groaning in pain while Mira just had a nice chat with the girl with the golden blonde hair like she wasn''t affected by the pain at all. Yes! This is it! I want to be like this! I want to live a life where I''m strong enough to hold my own in the world! A life where I don''t struggle for food! A life where I have the power to not be held down by my crappy life! She''s the person that I want to teach me to be like that! She''s unmovable like a mountain while being colder than ice! She''s too awesome!

    I wasn''t able to watch the Group Hunt since it took ce far away from here so I just waited a week until they were back.

    After a week, they finally made it back and started the Endurance Test. This test was incredibly boring to watch since nothing happened, but people started to groan in pain and I could even hear bones popping after a while. It seems that some kind of pressure is being applied to them, but I don''t know how. I looked over towards Mira and never once saw her expression change during all of this. Like this pressure was nothing to her! I let out a small tear as I watched Mira. I knew that she is what I need in my life right now. Someone who can train me! Someone who can take care of me! Someone who might even be able to love me!

    After the Endurance Test came the tournament, but I didn''t care about any of the other people other than Mira. And after a few hours, I finally got to see her in the second tost round. She walked onto the stage without a weapon and then proceeded to utterly destroy her opponent in 1 move! Her opponent then entered into a melee with her, but Mira ended that in an instant and even dislocated her shoulder and popped it back into ce like it was nothing. She gave her opponent one more shot, but it ended in the same way! What an amazing fight! I''d love to do that to one of those stupid vigers! Maybe then they''ll actually look at me for more than 2 seconds!

    I watched her next fight only to see her fight with her hands behind her back and only using her legs to attack. It seemed to be against her friend, but she didn''t hold back at all! Her friend should be incredibly thankful to have someone that pays so much attention to you! You two even train and spar together! Oh, what I''d give to have Mira teach me!

    Obviously, Mira won and that was the end of the tournament and Entrance Exam. I panicked a bit because I didn''t want this to be thest time I see her! I immediately ran down towards the stage where Mira was. Once I reached her, I bowed and pleaded.

    "Miss, my name is Dominique! Please teach me to be strong like you!"

    There seemed to be a pause, but then I heard her cold voice speak out.

    "Oh? Why should I teach a little shit like you?"

 Chapter 90 Bet

    "Oh? Why should I teach a little shit like you?" Mira said coldly, but an interested glint passed through her eyes.

    "Eh?" Dominique wasn''t expecting Mira to be so blunt.

    "I won''t say it again. Why should I teach a little shit like you?" Mira repeated herself for thest time. Dominique panicked a bit as she tried to find the right words to answer.

    "You should teach me because I''ll do anything to get stronger! I don''t have anyone or anything and I just want to be able to live!" Dominique said with determination as she bowed again.

    "Oh? And what will you do if I say no?" Mira asked as she lifted up Dominique''s head and stared into her eyes. Dominique was forced to look at Mira''s wine-red eyes. She felt like a demon was staring right through her like she was naked, nothing could be hidden from these eyes. And before she could respond, Mira started to talk.

    "Actually, you don''t even need to answer that. I think I know. Let''s see. You said you don''t have anyone or anything, so I can assume you have no parents or anyone to take care of you. By the looks of it, you are just barely getting by so you''ve probably lived your life as a beggar that nobody wants to deal with. From your clothes and dirty appearance, it seems you grew up in a vige outside of the city. You probably heard of the Battle Maiden Sect or cultivators in general and wanted to be one. You then crawled your way here to beg someone to help you. It also looks like you''ve ced all of your bets on this. I can tell from your eyes, you''re getting desperate. You can''t take what life is throwing at you so youe and try to hand that problem onto somebody else. How pathetic! If I were in your position, I''d grasp whatever I could with my own two hands instead of dragging others down with me!" Mira said in a deep cold voice filled with killing intent. Dominique would''ve pissed herself, but she doesn''t have any water in her body to release. She knew Mira would be scary, but she felt like she was talking to the queen of hell right now! All she did was fill her voice with killing intent and Dominique found it hard to breathe.

    "T-T-That''s not what I''m doing! I am trying to grasp an opportunity! You are my opportunity! I don''t want anybody else to teach me! I want to be a cultivator! I want to be strong, no, the strongest! I don''t need an easy life, I''ve been surviving so I could finally grasp an opportunity to live! Please give me that opportunity!" Dominique begged, but this little speech didn''t phase Mira. By this time Maria and a few Elders looked over towards Mira to see what she was doing. Most of the audience was gone by now and only the new disciples and Elders were left. They noticed a small child with royal blue hair seemingly begging Mira for something and their interest peaked a little, but Maria felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest.

    ''No no no! What''s this little girl doing going up to Mira like that?! Please don''t kill that little girl, Mira! I don''t know what''s going on, but she''s just a child!'' Maria begged in her mind since she didn''t want to interrupt what was going on between them.

    "I don''t have time to take care of a child and teach you everything from scratch. If you want me to teach you then you have to prove yourself worthy of my teachings. I refuse to waste my time and teach a shitty brat like you." Mira said, but Dominique remained steadfast and unmoving.

    "You said that I have to prove myself right? What if I make a bet with you right now?" Dominique said with determination and fire in her eyes. Mira looked at her with much more interest now. Dominique has now piqued Mira''s interest in her.

    ''This child has a goal and is determined to achieve it no matter what. There is definitely potential in her. I bet she probably won''t bother me too much as well even if I do decide to teach her some things. Very well, I will y along to see what kind of bet she wants.'' Mira faintly smiled behind her mask. Mira felt a strong connection with this child and felt like it might be worth it to give her some help. Even though she already has her hands full with other things, it''s not like she''d have to spend every second of every day with her. She''d just give a few pointers and have Maria deal with her or something.

    "Heh. Very well, child. I will y your game. What''s the bet?" Mira said which caused Dominique to have a bright smile on her face.

    "You just used something called killing intent in your words just now right? How about this? If I can stay conscious while withstanding your full killing intent and the pressure from your cultivation, then you''ll take me in and teach me to be strong like you. If I can''t then I will just keeping back to you until I can!" Dominique said, but thest part caused Mira to frown.

    "We can do that, but thest part needs to be changed. You are betting your life on me teaching you, so this is what you will do in this bet. If you can''t stay conscious, then you will lose your life. Though it will be through suicide. I don''t need the blood of the child on my hands and it also won''t look too good for me to just kill you in front of the Elders and Disciples here. I think tossing you into a pack of magical beasts should do it." Mira changed the bet and Dominique just nodded her head with even more determination.

    ''She''s right! This is my life right here! If I can''t get Mira to teach me, then I''ll likely die soon anyways! How could I make such a half-hearted bet?!''

    "Alright. Withstand it for a minute and I will take you in and give you some pointers. But whether or not I teach you will remain on you. Though I don''t think you understand just how many people I''ve killed. It''s more than you can possibly fathom." Mira said and took a deep breath. As per the bet, she has to release all of her killing intent. It''s been many years since she''sst let loose that much killing intent. She usually keeps most of it locked away due to how overwhelming it is.

    After Mira took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she opened the lock on the rest of her killing intent along with her cultivation base.

    *VRUUUM*

    The entire arena was now filled with a thick red haze! It was so thick that one couldn''t even see their own hands! This came along with an enormous pressure from the killing intent. Almost like a Death God hase down to y these lowly mortals! The thick red haze started to leak out of the arena and into the city! The people in the city started to feel suffocated as they were also able to feel the pressure released from Mira''s killing intent. Even the Elders found it hard to breathe in this haze. It was so intense that they could barely keep their mind sane!

    The new disciples were just chatting happily with each other before they couldn''t even stand anymore and found it hard to breathe. They had no idea what was going on, but they had to use every bit of mental strength just to stay conscious and prevent themselves from choking on this killing intent.

    What monster did someone offend for this to happen!? What is going on?! These thoughts were going through everyone''s minds!<sub> </sub>

    Dominique, who was standing right next to the person who is releasing this killing intent, has lost almost all brain and motor functions. Even though this was the case, she''s still alive and just barely conscious. Though she can''t move or think. Her thoughts are clouded by the killing intent, preventing her from even being able to do it. But the only thing her body and brain were screaming was to stay conscious. So even though she was nothing more than a vegetable right now, she''s still conscious.

    The city started to go into a panic and the Elders that were watching the tournament immediately came rushing over when they saw the arena fill with such a thick killing intent that it made them wonder if this was even killing intent. Their instincts were telling them to stay away from that area!

    "What''s going on?! What is happening there?!" One of the Elders screamed as she looked at the red mist.

    "There shouldn''t be any old monsters around here and they have no reason to do something like this here! So why is this happening?! Who offended such a being?!"

    The Elders tried to enter only to feel such a suffocating killing intent that it made their hearts palpitate in fear. The only thing they could do is wait to see what happened afterwards.

    This went on for a full minute. Everybody in the Arena, including the Elders, wereying on the ground struggling to stay conscious, but as quickly as it came, the pressure and haze retreated back into Mira''s body and dissipated. Mira sealed that killing intent up and she started feeling lightheaded. Using that much killing intent is too hard to control for her and also makes her extremely tired and dizzy.

    She looked at Dominique who wasying in a fetal position on the ground. Her eyes were still open and she was still breathing. Mira bent down and snapped her fingers in front of her eyes. Her eyes blinked. Technically, this means that Dominique remained conscious the whole time since her mind is still somewhat aware of its surroundings and she''s still alive. Mira picked up Dominique and put her on her back. She has to uphold her end of the deal now that she lost the bet.

    Mira then looks around the arena only to find everyone is either on their knees choking or unconscious. Maria and the Elders were the first ones to stand up and look around to see what happened. They noticed that nothing seemed to happen and everyone was still here. But after further inspection, there was one person that wasn''t here before. An incredibly beautiful girl, one that seemed to be sculpted by the gods. She had wine-red eyes, a perfectly shaped face, icy silver hair, and was carrying a little girl with royal blue hair on her back. Maria was the first to speak up at this sight, while everyone else was stunned.

    "Mira! You''re mask!" Maria yelled. Mira only looked down to see her mask was now in pieces. She looked around the arena and noticed that the only people here were the Elders and the new disciples.

    "I see. Well, it doesn''t really matter. I''ve been getting tired of always wearing that thing anyways. I nned on taking it off in the Sect anyways." Mira said as she shrugged. The main reason for wearing a mask is to prevent any males from looking at her. She didn''t care if other girls saw her.

    The Elders came out of their stupor after a minute.

    "Y-Y-You''re Mira?? I had no idea you''d look like this under your mask!" They eximed. The other disciples started to wake up and noticed the Elders staring at something. They looked over towards where they were looking and the only word that they could think of was ''Goddess''.

    Maria ran up to Mira.

    "What happened Mira? Are you okay? Who is this little girl?" Maria bombarded her with questions filled with concern. The rest of the disciples were shocked to know that this Goddess is Mira.

    "How should I know? And I guess you could say this little girl is my disciple." Mira said.

    "Wha-!" Maria was shocked to hear that! Disciple? Did she just hear that right? Mira actually called this little girl her disciple. Maria looked at the small child with eyes filled with pity. At this time the Elders from outside came charging in.

    "What happened?! Is everyone okay?!" They yelled, but then looked around to see that nothing had happened.

    "Eh?" They didn''t understand what was going on. One of the Elders that was still in the arena came up to them.

    "We don''t know what happened, but everyone seems okay and present. It also looks like nothing has happened. I don''t know why though. But I say we just try to move on and get back to the sect as soon as possible. We can also move on to the rewards and the introduction to the sect for the new disciples." The Elder suggested. They all double checked the arena only to find nothing wrong or out of ce. Other than the ''Goddess'' with a girl on her back. But Mira''s back was turned to them so they didn''t pay much attention to this. After seeing all of the Elders and Disciples stand up, one of them spoke up.

    "Very well. We will lead you back to the sect where we will carry on with what we had nned today! We will wait for everyone to get ready and then we will head out!"

 Chapter 91 Introduction Into The Sect

    The Elders quickly led the disciples out of the arena. Mira walked with Dominique on her back, but most people didn''t even notice this part. Almost every disciple and even a few Elders just couldn''t stop staring at Mira, she was like a walking work of art. Mira stared at all of them.

    "Do you need something?" Mira said coldly. The disciples just turned their heads like they weren''t looking at her and everybody kept following the Elders, but they couldn''t help ncing at Mira every so often.

    It didn''t take them long to make it to the actual Sect, but the new disciples soon realized that the Sect itself is massive! It could almost be called a city by itself! There were too many buildings to count and none of the new disciples could tell what each building was for. The Elders didn''t stop and just continued to lead them to what looked like arge hall. Once they entered the hall, they could see that it was just arge building with a stand at the front that stood around 4 meters tall. The disciples stopped in the middle of the building while the Elders continued up to the front. Once they made it to the front, an older woman with some wrinkles and long, aged, white hair stepped up and began to speak to them.

    "Congrattions new disciples on passing the Entrance Exam into the Battle Maiden Sect! You can call me Sect Master Jane. As per my title, I''m the master of this Sect and am here just to wee you into the Sect. You probably won''t see me that often as I am usually dealing with important sect matters or maybe other things that require my personal attention. So, if you ever need anything then it would be better for you to look for an Elder. I normally wouldn''te to greet new disciples, but I went to go check on what went on in the arena and decided to say hi in passing. I will leave the rest of this to the Elders here as I have other matters to attend to. Congrattions again and I hope the Battle Maiden Sect is right for you." The Sect Master said politely and promptly then left the building. An Elder then stepped up.

    "It truly is rare for you to see the Sect Master. She seldomes out to see disciples and I''ve never seen her greet new disciples before. Now, onto what you are doing here. Right now, we will distribute the rewards and show you to your living quarters. We will let you rest after that and start showing you around the Sect tomorrow. We will also go into more details about what we want from you now that you are part of the Battle Maiden Sect along with what we have to offer. For now, I want the Top 3 from each group along with Mira and Maria toe up so we can distribute the rewards." Said the middle-ageddy that took care of all of the tests and did the announcing for the tournament.

    Sia, Cine, Nisha, Audra, Anna, Hazel, Maria, and Mira all started to make their way up to the front. Dominique still can''t seem to move or think on her own yet as she is still in shock from what happened. Mira was already at the back, so she just set her down in a corner and started to make her way up to the front. As soon as the Elders saw Mira, they immediately paused and became mesmerized in her beauty. Mira just ignored them and continued walking forward until she stood next to Maria. All 8 of them were now lined up in front of the Elders. Nobody could take their eyes off of Mira as Nisha, Audra, and Cine were now able to get a good look at Mira and also couldn''t stop staring.

    "If you keep staring at me like that then I will gouge out your eyes so you''ll never be able to stare at me again," Mira said as she looked into everyone''s eyes. They all awoke from their stupor.

    "Ahem�� Who are you?" Elder Kendra asked. She felt like this person seemed familiar, but she''s absolutely sure she''s never seen someone this beautiful before.

    "Mira." There was a pause after she said this.

    "You''re Mira? The one that beat Maria using only your legs in the final match? That Mira?"

    "The one and only, unfortunately."

    "Well, you are wearing the same robe from before and have the same icy silver hair. You also sound the same as her. I guess I never expected you to look like this underneath that mask."

    "That''s the point of a mask."

    Usually, a disciple would be punished or scolded for saying something like that, but Elder Kendra was still reeling from the shock from Mira''s beauty.

    "Ahem�� Let''s move onto the rewards. We will start with the women who ced third." Elder Kendra said as she took out two boxes that seemed to release quite a bit of Qi.

    "We have decided to give you 100 Spirit Stones each." Elder Kendra then proceeded to hand Anna and Hazel the boxes full of Spirit Stones. They received them withrge smiles on their faces.

    "For you two who ced Second, we have decided to give you a Perfect Rank 2 Bone Tempering Pill and 100 Spirit Stones each." Elder Kendra said as she took out 4 boxes, two held the pill and the other two had the Spirit Stones. She handed each of these to Cine and Sia.

    "As for First ce, we have decided to give you the rewards that second ce got along with a Late-Stage Mortal Grade Weapon of your choosing. I will take you to the treasury tomorrow for you to choose your weapon." Elder Kendra said as she gave Nisha and Audra the same thing as what Second ce got, but they were extremely excited to be able to receive a weapon from the Sect.

    "For Maria, we decided to give you 200 Spirit Stones and a Peak-Stage Mortal Grade Weapon." Elder Kendra said and handed Maria a box containing 200 Spirit Stones. She received it gratefully. She wasn''t as excited as the rest of the people here because 200 Spirit Stones for her right now will onlyst her a few months.<sub> </sub>

    "As for Mira, we weren''t sure what to give you. We overheard you saying you use a scythe and we don''t have any scythes here. We thought about just giving you more Spirit Stones than the others, but we decided not to give you any of this. We talked it over a bit with the Sect Master and we actually have a proposition for you. Soe see us after we lead you to your living quarters." Elder Kendra said with a hint of excitement. Mira also noticed this as well and started to wonder what the offer is. This also surprised the rest of the disciples as well. An offer? What will she get and what will she have to do?

    "Now that the rewards have been handed out. I will now go over the different types of disciples. There are 3 types of disciples. Outer, Inner, and Core. Outer disciples are typically weaker, don''t receive as many benefits, and can only participate in certain events that we have here. They also live in a ce that doesn''t have as much atmospheric Qipared to the Inner and Core Disciple Residences. An Inner Disciple has more privilegespared to an Outer Disciple. They also live in a better Residence that has more Qi in the airpared to an Outer Disciple. A Core Disciple has all of the privileges the Sect has to offer and lives in the best Quarters. There are also a few more benefits that Core Disciples get, but I won''t go into those right now. We, Elders, have already chosen what type of Disciple all of you will be. Anyone who lost in the first round of the tournament will start off as an Outer Disciple. Those of you who won a match but didn''t make it into the Top 3 will be Inner Disciples. While those who made it in the Top 3 will be Core Disciples, this also includes Mira and Maria." Elder Kendra exined as most people didn''t seem to have a problem with this.

    "There are ways for an Outer Disciple to be an Inner Disciple and for an Inner Disciple to be a Core Disciple. This also means that a Core Disciple can drop to Inner Disciple and an Inner Disciple can drop to Outer Disciple. We will go into this more tomorrow. Now that this is over, we will now lead you to your residences. Outer Disciples, please follow Elder Leia here. Inner Disciples, follow Elder Lyra. Core Disciples follow me!" Elder Kendra said as the new Disciples split up into 3 groups and started to follow the Elders. Mira went to go pick up Dominique and followed Elder Kendra. The Elder wanted to question Mira but decided to leave it forter. They needed to talk anyways. She led the 8 of them towards the living quarters for Core Disciples and they could all feel the Qi in the air bing denser and more abundant. Once they reached their living quarter, the Qi in the air was around 3 times denser than it is outside of the Sect. Elder Kendra then stopped and turned around to face the 8 of them.

    "You will be partnered up. So Anna and Hazel will share a room. Cine and Sia will share a room. Nisha and Audra will share a room. And Mira and Maria will share a room." Elder Kendra said as she pointed to the rooms that each group will be staying in. The Elder then nodded towards them and the 8 of them went towards their room. Mira and Maria went towards theirs and when they opened the door, they were able to see an extremelyrge room. It couldn''t even be called a room at this point and was more like a house! They found a staircase that led to what seemed to be a basement. There were also 2 separate rooms for each person and a smaller room that seemed to be a ce for research or practicing. At the back of thisrge ''room'', there was what seemed to be a training area. This training area alone seemed to be around 50 meters long and 50 meters wide. The whole room that they were given as Core Disciples must be at least 100 meters long and 50 meters wide and this didn''t even include the basement that was a little smaller than this size. How could anyone possibly call this a room? This is a fucking house! The two of them were then interrupted by Elder Kendra entering the room.

    "Let''s talk, Mira." She said as she sat down. Mira nodded and put Dominique in a different room and sat in front of the Elder.

    "So our offer is for you to help train our disciples along with sparring with them a few times a week. We also want to make it worth your while for doing something like this. We''re giving youplete ess to one of our cultivation caves. Let me exin what a cultivation cave is. So you can probably feel how Qi here is more abundant and denser than it is outside the Sect, well a cultivation cave is the same thing. Only the amount of Qi in the cave is around times denser and more abundant than it is here. So around 15 times denser than it is outside of the Sect. You can probably imagine the benefits of using one of these. The only downside is if you cultivate too fast then you will have to spend a longer amount of time consolidating your foundation. But I think the Benefits outweigh this downside. What do you think?" Elder Kendra exined and Mira thought about this carefully. After a moment of thinking, she finally spoke.

    "Hmmm, this is certainly an interesting deal. I''m assuming that you want me to treat these disciples like how I treated Audra during the tournament. Trying to temper the minds of your disciples a bit�� I see. It seems a lot of disciples here haven''t experienced the true horror of the cultivation world yet and that''s where Ie in. To bring them back to reality. But aren''t you essentially making me the most hated figure in the whole Sect? Also what kind of sparring and training do you want me to do? You also know that I will bring them to the brink of death every time they see me right? Also if you want me to teach them about unarmedbat, then just that cultivation cave is not enough to cover the cost of that. They''d be learning from quite possibly the most skilled and knowledgeable person in unarmedbat in the entire world. I will tell you now that unless you can provide me a constant supply of Spirit Stones, Magical Beast Corpses, Body Tempering items, and find me a strong Ice Elemental Essence then I won''t be teaching anyone unarmedbat. However, if you only want me to show them a few basic moves then I think I could ept with only 50-100 Spirit Stones per month on top of the Cultivation Cave. It depends on how much effort and work I have to put into training them. If you don''t need this and are fine with me just sparring with them while being myself, then I''ll only ask for something extra on top of the Cultivation Cave. I just want everything you have on Winged-Wolves and Ancient Magical Beasts like Dragons and Phoenixes. That''s my offer." Mira countered as Elder Kendra started to think about this seriously. They don''t need her to teach them unarmedbat since they can''t confirm or deny how skilled she is at it. They only know that she is incredibly talented in this area. But also learning unarmedbat might be good for the girls here. They are all gorgeous women that most would either look towards them in envy or with lust. Battle Maiden Sect Disciples getting raped outside of the Sect isn''t that umon either. She was a bit curious about wanting to know everything about winged wolves and ancient beasts but thought nothing of it and this wasn''t that big of a deal.

    "Alright. I''ll ept your offer. Please teach our disciples the basics of unarmedbat or at the very least what to do if they ever find themselves being taken advantage of by a man. We''ll provide you with 50 Spirit Stones per month, all of our information on Winged-Wolves along with Ancient Magical Beasts, and the Cultivation Cave." Elder Kendra agreed to Mira''s offer.

    "Deal." They shook hands and Elder Kendra stood up to leave.

    "Is there anything else you need?" She asked and Mira actually nodded.

    "Yes. We have left our beastpanions at an inn. Can we go retrieve them and bring them back here to stay?" Mira asked.

    "Of course, a lot of our Disciples actually have beastpanions as well. Though the Sect is actually surrounded by a formation and only those with a token can enter. We were going to hand these out tomorrow, but I have yours with me right now. This will allow you to enter and exit the Sect without any trouble." Elder Kendra said as she took out two tokens that had the Battle Maiden Sect Emblem on them and flicked them towards Mira and Maria.

    "We can discuss the details of our deal after tomorrow. For now, just get your beastpanions and have a good rest." The Elder said before she left.

    Mira looked at Maria and they both nodded. They immediately left to get Rhydian and Vulcan from the Inn as well as say goodbye to Luke.

    It didn''t take them long to reach the inn as they were able to leave the Sect without any issues. They were both relieved the room wasn''t destroyed while they were gone, but Vulcan didn''t seem to be in the best condition. Rhydian seemed to enjoy treating Vulcan like a toy because when they walked in the room, they saw Rhydian just gnaw pping Vulcan across the room and then catching him in her mouth as he is mid-flight. There is also nothing Vulcan can do. Rhydian is just too strong.

    Rhydian sensed Mira enter the room and dropped Vulcan and immediately rushed towards her, but stopped right before reaching her then jumped into her arms. It seems that she at least learned that Mira doesn''t like being body mmed every time they see each other. Vulcan also rushed into Maria''s arms and cried tears of happiness and instantly fell asleep in her arms.

    The two of them went to Luke''s room to say goodbye and inform him that he could go back to the Zaria Family without them. He just nodded his head and said goodbye. The 4 of them then rushed back to the Sect so they could finally get some rest. But when they got back to their room it seemed Dominique was finally waking up.

 Chapter 92 Miras Past

    Mira, Maria, Rhydian, and Vulcan all made it back to their new room in the Battle Maiden Sect without any issues. Mira just wanted to go to sleep since using that much killing intent is somewhat taxing on her mind. But when they got back to their room, they saw a confused Dominique walking around. Rhydian was the first one to react as she started to growl at Dominique. This startled Dominique and she looked in the direction of a very menacing, but cute-looking golden wolf cub growling her. The first thing she thought was how cute it looked, but that thought instantly disappeared as a terrifying aura spread out from the beasts as sparks of lightning shot across Rhydian''s back. Now she just wanted to run away, but the growling stopped when the girl holding the wolf cub chopped its head. She now got a good look at the girl holding the wolf. She immediately stopped and became mesmerized.

    "Goddess��" is the only thing Dominique could mutter.

    "Wrong. I''m Mira. Ugh! It really is more convenient to just wear a mask! It seems you can finally use your brain." Mira said promptly as Dominique shook her head to get a good look at Mira and Maria.

    "You really are Mira. The same clothes, same silver hair, and same cold demeanor. Where am I and why am I here?" Dominique asked with a hint of excitement.

    "We''re in the Battle Maiden Sect. I''m the one that took you here." Mira said as she let go of Rhydian to let her explore her new home.

    "Does that mean I won the bet?! Are you going to teach me how to be strong?" Dominique asked with shining eyes filled with excitement.

    "If I''m going by the definition of being conscious then you passed, but you turned into a vegetable for the rest of the day though. Consider yourself lucky that you managed to just barely win the bet. And as for teaching you to be strong. That''s on you. I won''t teach you anything unless you prove yourself. I don''t have the time to take care of you right now as I have other things to do. You can watch my training sessions with Maria and the other Disciples. I will also give you a training program to be a cultivator, but the rest is up to you. How hard you work and what you understand will all be decided by you." Mira said sternly so this child didn''t forget. She really won''t have much free time now that she is going to be sparring with the other disciples as well. Dominique heard the warning, but she didn''t care. As long as she had some guidance, she could do the rest herself! She started to tear up and ran over to Mira, hoping to give her a hug. Mira didn''t move out of the way and just let the little child embrace her. She just stood there for a minute and let Dominique cry her heart out. After a couple of minutes, Dominique released Mira and bowed to her.

    "Thank you!! I won''t disappoint you!" She said, but at this time Maria interrupted.

    "Ummm. What bet are you talking about?" Maria asked suspiciously, she had a bad feeling creeping up and immediately regretted asking as Dominique answered with an excited voice.

    "I made a bet with Mira that if I could withstand her full killing intent and cultivation for a full minute then she would teach me to be strong. If I lost then I would''ve had to kill myself, but it seems luck was finally on my side!!" Dominique said with arge and childish smile on her face, but Maria nearly stumbled to the ground.

    "Tha-Tha-Tha-That was you M-M-Mira?! That was your killing intent?!" Maria asked in disbelief. She felt like she could die just from the sheer pressure of that killing intent and this all came from Mira!!

    "Yeah. I usually seal up most of it since it''s too hard to control and takes quite the toll on my mind. I guess it is quite freeing though since it''s usually bottled up in me waiting to explode." Mira said in a nonchnt tone like this is something normal for her. Maria then switched to an extremely serious tone, something she''s never done before.

    "Mira. Please tell me. How many people have you really killed? I don''t really understand the whole reincarnation thing, but I can assume that this didn''t happen in this world. What happened?" Maria asked in a serious voice. This is a great chance to learn more about Mira.<sub> </sub>

    "I guess it doesn''t really hurt to tell you a bit. I don''t really remember what life it was. I think it was my fifth life though if I remember correctly. I guess you could say that this world was about as civilized as this world, but it didn''t have cultivators in it. I was born an incredibly beautiful girl by that world''s standards and was the envy of all the women and was the target of every man''s lust. One night when I was around 10, my father at the time gathered a bunch of his friends to the house when my mother left. I was just staying at the house doing whatever, probably training trying to practice my martial arts or something. When it gotte, I decided to go to sleep. I suddenly woke up to my dad and his friends tying me to the bed andughing with gross smiles on their faces. My Dad ripped off all of my clothes and whispered to me ''You are so beautiful that there isn''t a man in this world that is good enough for you. The only one that can ever be good enough is me, your father. But how can I be so selfish as to keep such a beauty by myself? That''s why I''ve invited over my best friends to enjoy you for a night. Then we can spend the rest of our lives together. Hehe.''. At this point, I was already tied up on the bed and my Dad prated me. He and his friends continued this through the night and left me tied up to continue this the next day. This went on for the next week. When my mother came home to see me being used by my father and all of his friends she went mad and started to attack them, but they identally killed her by smashing a few broken bottles against her head and continued what they were doing."

    "I was only kept alive because they kept forcing their semen down my throat, but after a while, they finally untied me and fell asleep. I fucking killed all of them as soon as I was able to move! After that incident, I was then captured by the guards and chained up. Only for my life to be sent to a different hell. They chained me to the wall and were basically just treated as a hole for every male in the city! I swore that I''d have my revenge on that fucking world! I waited and waited until I finally had a chance to free myself. I went into hiding to train myself and be strong in that world. Then I spent the next 25 years or so of my life roaming around that world killing every male I could possibly find. During these 25 years, I was hunted down by every single person in the world. After killing all of the malles, the females weren''t any better. They now couldn''t have children because there were no males to have sex with. They also couldn''t do a lot of manualbor as that''s what the males did. I became the target for their hatred, so they started hunting me down as well. I decided to put their pathetic lives to rest as it was their husbands that did those things to me. So I ughtered all of the women and children in that world as well. I spent the rest of my years hunting down and making sure a single human didn''t live. I then decided to just kill myself since there was nothing else there for me. They didn''t even have any martial art techniques that I could use. Obviously, I have 9 other lives where I''ve also killed countless people, but I killed the most by far in this world. I guess you could say somewhere in the tens of millions of people died by my hands in that world. This along with my other lives, I''d say I''ve killed around 30-40 million people. But I''ve also killed countless beasts and animals as well, so this count is probably much higher. This is also one of the reasons why I loathe men so much. There are other reasons for this, but I don''t want to get into that with you. Does this satisfy your curiosity?" Mira finished talking a little bit about her past. Both Maria and Dominique were listening in on this and they both couldn''t stop crying. What the hell do you say to something like that?! If even half of this stuff happened to them, they wouldn''t be able to keep on living! Forget revenge, they''d just want to die at that point! Mira is forced to live with this knowledge of her past without being able to pass on and forget. Mira also said she has 9 other lives and from the sound of it, those lives don''t seem much better than that one! How is Mira still able to stay sane right now?! Their minds would''ve been broken long ago! After a while of crying for Mira, Maria was the first to speak up.

    "H-How are you still sane right now? Why do you keep wanting to get stronger? Why do you keep living with all of this pain?" Maria said in an almost begging voice.

    "Huh? I already told you." Mira said coldly. Maria paused and thought for a second, but immediately remembered something that Mira said years ago. She asked Mira why she wanted to get stronger and Mira said that she just wanted to die. Maria started crying more after figuring this out. Things were starting to make a bit more sense now!

    "You don''t have to die, Mira! I can give you something to live for! I don''t want that to be your end!" Maria pleaded, but Mira just stared at her as her eyes narrowed. She then started to apply pressure onto Maria.

    "You? You''re merely an ant in this world that can''t even learn the fucking basics of my teachings and yet you spew such bullshit?! What a fucking joke! Even if you were strong enough, what makes you think that you can give me something to live for?! I''m forced to live right now, against my will. Whether I like it or not, I will remember everything even after I die. Even if I die, I will continue to find a path to achieve my goal so unless you can give me a new goal that is more important than the one I currently have then don''t even think about such naive things!" Mira said as she got up. She really needed to rest her mind for a bit especially now after recalling some of her past.

    "Anyways, I''m going to sleep." Mira said as she walked away. Maria and Dominique just continued to sit there as more and more tears streamed down their faces. Dominique didn''t fully understand what was going on, but she knew that she just learned something important about Mira. Maria, on the other hand, knew a bit more and didn''t know what to do or think about the situation. After almost ten more minutes of crying Maria finally muttered something.

    "I think I''ve been aplete idiot this whole time. Mira''s only reason for living right now is because she''s forced to. She truly doesn''t care about anything or anyone. I think she might even just hate the world and everything in it. It''s impossible for her to find enjoyment out of anything since she doesn''t care about anything. It''s probably hard for her to get close to people as well since if she dies then she''ll still remember them, but never be able to see them again and if they die then she''ll still remember them after she dies, but they will forget about her. I''m such an idiot!" Maria said as more tears continued to roll down her cheeks, but these tears were because of her own ineptitude and stupidity. Maria pledged in her heart that she would start taking the training a bit more seriously and also set a goal for herself. She wants Mira to be able to see her as a friend, someone she can rely on in times of need.

    Dominique didn''t have such thoughts, but her determination to get stronger only grew!

    Mira went to her room and immediately fell asleep. Rhydian curled up in a little ball in Mira''s arms and also fell asleep with her.

    Around an hour after Mira fell asleep, Dominique came into the room and slowly entered Mira''s bed. She snuggled up next to Mira and put her arms around her while resting her head against Mira''s back. She felt like she was the safest person in the world right now snuggling up against Mira, like no matter what happened everything would be alright. She also wondered if this is what it''d feel like to fall asleep with her mom and dad. She had a big smile on her face as she fell asleep.

 Chapter 93 Battle Maiden Sect Tour

    Mira woke up after a good night''s rest and found herself sandwiched between 2 things. Rhydian is obviously the one curled up in a ball in her arms, but why was there another being behind her? Mira turned around and saw Dominique cuddling into her back with a happy smile on her face as she kept on sleeping. Mira didn''t really know what to think of this. Normally, she''d just kick her off and tell her not to do this again, but there was a small part of her that felt like this child needed at least this much. Mira could see the love and happiness from that smile Dominique had and she felt a little bitter thinking about ruining that pure and honest smile. Maria also looks like this all of the time, but she''s an adult that is just way too positive about everything.

    ''I guess I can do this much for someone that I took in to teach. It''s not like it affects me in any way and I''ll probably be spending my nights cultivating or doing other things rather than sleeping.'' Mira thought to herself before getting up from her bed and waking up both Rhydian and Dominique.

    Rhydian just hopped off the bed and looked at Mira while Dominique slowly opened her eyes and yawned.

    "Stay in this ce while Maria and I are gone today. I need to make sure it''s okay for you to stay here. Also, don''t y with Rhydian here. She can''t control her power right now and might identally kill you. Vulcan, the little red fox is fine for you to pet or y with if you want. When Ie back, I will start exining to you the cultivation world and how I''ll be training you to be a cultivator. But first, you are too skinny and weak to even think about training. You are quite literally skin and bones. So before you can even think about training, I will fatten you up a bit. I will leave a bunch of my rations here for you to eat and that''s all you need to focus on today." Mira exined to Dominique as she ced a bunch of her leftover rations in the room.

    "Okay! I will do my best to gain weight so I can start training!" Dominique said with excitement. Mira just rubbed her forehead as it doesn''t really work that way, but just sighed because she didn''t feel like exining it. She just nodded her head and left the room. She found Maria also leaving her bedroom at the same time. Maria gave a big smile towards Mira greeted her.

    "Good Morning, Mira! Are you ready?" Maria eximed and Mira just nodded like she usually does.

    "Let''s go." Mira said as both of them left the building and went towards thatrge hall they were at yesterday. Today, Elder Kendra would be giving them a tour of the Sect. After making it to the hall, they had to wait a couple more minutes for the rest of the new Disciples to trickle in, but after they all gathered Elder Kendra stood up in front of them.

    "Alright new Disciples! Today I will be showing you around the Sect along with handing out a few things that will be necessaryter on! Please follow me as I show you around the Sect and exin what all of the different areas are meant for." Elder Kendra announced as she walked out of the hall. Everyone followed her as well and she began to speak about some of the specifics of the Sect.

    "First of all, I''d like to start off with what our Sect offers. So we have Elders that can teach you about Arrays, Inscriptions, Alchemy, Forging, Magical Beasts, and Fighting. Most of the Elders here use either a sword or spear though so keep that in mind. We do have monthly public sses that you can show up for, but if you actually want to learn more in one of these areas then you will need to find yourself someone to teach you, or go to the library and try to learn by yourself. But other than magical beasts, learning about the other 5 things is much more difficult by yourself. Also, it is up to the Elder''s discretion whether they want to teach you or not. So keep that in mind. Each of these arts has its own designated area in the Sect, so let''s start off with that first." The Elder said as she brought them to the 6 different areas that are designated for the Array, Inscription, Alchemy, Forging, Magical Beasts, and Fighting Elders. Each area looked extremely simr and was all fairly close to each other. Only the fighting area seemed to be located in a different area as it was closer to the arenas. This is also thest of the 6 ces Elder Kendra showed.

    "Now I''ll talk a bit about the training grounds, sparring, and battling. We have multiple training grounds here that are meant for strengthening the body. We have a total of 10 training grounds. Each training ground has an array surrounding it that applies pressure to the people inside of it. Our Forge Masters have also made special weights for you all to use to make your body stronger. Though this process is a bit slower, Body Tempering Pills don''t grow on trees and this is a great alternative. The pressure and weight of everything increase with every training ground. So Training Ground 1 is the easiest and generally for people who just entered the Qi Condensation Realm. While Training Grounds 7, 8, 9, and 10 are all for people in the Foundation Realm. This type of training doesn''t usually work for people in the Core Formation Realm, as their bodies cannot even bepared to someone in the Foundation Realm." Elder Kendra said as she showed them the Training Grounds. They were nothing special, justrge open spaces with different items like bracelets, leg bracelets, chest weights, and things that looked like dumbbells. They could also feel that the pressure drastically increased with each subsequent training ground.

    "We also have several sparring rooms for you to spar with other disciples. There are both closed sparring rooms that have to be reserved and open sparring rooms that are open to everyone. The private rooms are for people who don''t want to be watched, but if you don''t care about this then that''s what the open sparring rooms are for. We also sometimes hold sses in the open sparring rooms as well." The Elder showed them around the sparring rooms, but these were also nothing special and were essentially justrge rooms with sturdier floors and walls than some of the other buildings.

    "You saw this one before, but we also have an arena. This is what your tournament was held in and also where we host official matches between disciples. This is also part of how disciples can increase their status and move up to Inner or Core Disciple as well. Each Disciple in the Sect has a ranking. This is also split between Outer, Inner, and Core Disciples. Outer Disciples need at least 25 wins and must be ced in the Top 5 to qualify to challenge in Inner Disciple. An Outer Disciple may only challenge the 5 lowest-ranked Inner Disciples as well. Inner Disciples need at least 10 wins and Top 3 to qualify to challenge a Core Disciple. They must also only choose the 3 lowest Core Disciples to challenge. Core Disciples don''t necessarily need to fight, but not being in the lowest 3 is probably a good idea so you don''t constantly get challenged. We also have special benefits for the Top 3 Core Disciples. You will have ess to better cultivation environments, you can choose between more Weapon or Elemental Arts, you will also get the first chance for any lucky encounters we find or have for you, and some other misceneous things. You can only challenge those that have a higher rank than you. If you are a higher rank than someone then you can''t challenge someone below you. Also, if you lose a match then you will be given a grace period of 1 week afterward. But if you challenge someone during this 1 week, then your grace period ends. And before you start asking questions of what if you are already in the Top 10, but have less than 25 how are you supposed to reach 25 wins on top of reaching the Top 5? This is where the battle toweres into y." Elder Kendra then started leading them to a location that has 3rge ck towers located there.

    "The Battle Tower is exactly what the name implies. There are 3 towers, one for each disciple status. There are 100 floors to each Battle Tower. Each floor in the tower contains illusory magical beasts that get progressively harder in the rank of the beast, the quantity of the beasts, and the quality of the beast. Each Disciple that participates in the Tower is also given a ranking. If you are an Outer Disciple and you rank in the Top 5 in the Battle Tower then you can challenge someone in the Top 5 at the arena. Then you can challenge an Inner Disciple even if you don''t have 25 wins. This also goes for Inner and Core Disciples as well. But don''t think this is the easy way out because if someone is skilled enough to make it into the Top 5 of the Battle Tower then they are most likely skilled enough to beat anyone below the Top 5 as well. We have bracelets that keep track of your Battle Tower Ranking, Arena Ranking, and Sect Points. But I will get to Sect Points a bitter. But I''ll hand out the bracelets now. Just drop some of our blood onto it and the bracelet will bind to you." Elder Kendra said as she handed out the bracelets to everyone. They all pricked a finger and dropped some of their blood onto the bracelet. After the bracelet bound to them, it showed 3 things on the bracelet.

    [BT: - AR: - SP: 0]<sub> </sub>

    It didn''t take a genius to figure out what these abbreviations meant. BT means Battle Tower, AR means Arena, and SP means Sect Points. They all put on their bracelets and Elder Kendra continued walking around the Sect.

    "There''s not much left to exin about the Sect other than a few things. First I will just show you where our library is. Our Library contains all of the books or scrolls that we have and are open for you to read or examine. Though the material in the Library is restricted by Disciple Status and is separated into 5 floors. The first 2 floors are for Outer Disciples and above, floor 3 is for Inner Disciples and above, and floor 4 is reserved only for Core Disciples. Floor 5 is strictly for Elders and has a barrier around it that prevents anyone that isn''t an Elder to enter. You have to read the material at the library and can''t take it home with you. It also costs Sect Points to enter the library." Elder Kendra just showed them where the library is but didn''t enter inside the building.

    "There are only 2 more major things to point out and after that, you will be free to do whatever you want. The first thing I''ll bring up is the Mission Hall. The Mission Hall is one of the ways for you to earn Sect Points. Some missions are posted by the Elders here, some are posted by the Disciples themselves, some are given to us by people who want tomission someone here to work, and some missions are actually given to us by the Main Sect. Every mission you take andplete will give you Sect Points. The Sect Points are determined by the Elders at the Mission Hall and then posted along with the reward that the client is also giving in return for the job. We take a small cut of the reward unless it''s not something that can be split. Then we will just reduce the number of Sect Points to make up for the loss. And no, you can''t just post a mission to pick flowers and get Sect Points for this. The missions are verified by the Elders here. Disciples can also post a mission to look for a sparring partner and maybe they are willing to give up some of their Sect Points to hire a sparring partner. This is a valid Disciple mission. Other ways of earning Sect Points are doing something or giving something beneficial to the Sect. We will discuss payment and Sect Points based on your contribution. There are also other ways of earning Sect Points, but these are the main ways. Now, I''m sure you''re all wondering what Sect Points can be used for. Let me show you thest thing for today, the Treasure Hall." Elder Kendra then led them to where the Treasure Hall is and stopped right in front of arge building that seemed to have manyyers of protection around it and a powerful Elder inside.

    "The Treasure Hall is a ce that holds all of our treasures that are avable to you. We have weapons, different weapon and elemental arts, Elemental Essences, lots of materials, armor, clothes, pills, Spirit Stones, and even tokens to allow entry into our Cultivation Caves. We have pills that range from Rank 1 to Rank 6, weapons and arts from Human-Grade to Earth-Grade, robes that are simr to armor or regr metal armor. Anything you could possibly want is in the Treasure Hall, but these things alsoe at a price. You can''t just walk in and grab a Rank 6 pill to buy. The items in the Treasure Hall are restricted by Disciple Status along with costing an equal amount of Sect Points. There is a reason I saved this forst as well. I will now take Nisha, Audra, and Maria into the Treasure Hall to pick out the weapons that I said you will receive for your performance during the tournament." The Elder announced as the 3 of them immediately dashed up to the front and followed Elder Kendra in.

    The rest of them waited for around 20 minutes or so before the Elder came back out with the 3 of them. Maria, Audra, and Nisha all had big smiles on their faces as they were able to upgrade their weapons. Audra grabbed her Late-Stage Mortal-Grade Spear. It had a strong yet flexible wood for the pole of the spear with a spearhead made out of some kind of ck metal. Nisha''s dagger''s des were also made out of the same ck metal, but the handle seemed to be made out of sturdy white wood wrapped in tan leather. Maria''s new Peak-Stage Mortal-Grade sword had a shade of gold that came off of the de along with silver metal. The grip seemed to be made out of the same metal and wrapped in ck leather. They were all beautiful weapons. The three of them stored their weapons and returned back to the group. The other disciples just looked at them with a bit of envy and looked forward to the day they would get such a weapon.

    "This concludes just about everything you need to know about the Sect. We don''t have restaurants inside the Sect since we want to help support the people that live in the city surrounding the Sect. Feel free to look around the Sect on your own or go back to your rooms and prepare for the next day. We will be announcing your entry into the Sect along with some other news tomorrow, so please be sure youe to the same hall we''ve been meeting in tomorrow. Wee to the Battle Maiden Sect!" The Elder finished as the disciples cheered. They then started to go their separate ways, but Mira and Maria stayed behind to discuss one more thing with the Elder. Elder Kendra seemed to be expecting this and walked up to the two of them after everyone left.

    "Is there something else you''d like to discuss?" Elder Kendra asked curiously. Mira nodded at this.

    "I forgot to mention yesterday that I''m taking care of that blue-haired child. I''m just asking for permission for her to stay with me. She will not be part of the Sect and I don''t want her to be getting any benefits from the Sect as well. The only problem will be our living quarters as she will be receiving the benefit of living in a ce reserved for Core Disciples. Just think of her as my servant if you will." Mira said promptly and the Elder just lifted her chin curiously and thought about this for a second.

    "I don''t really have a problem with her staying here. Just know that she will get nothing from the Sect and will be your responsibility. If she causes trouble, it''s your job to clean it up not the Sects. But other than that, there shouldn''t be a problem. You are going to be doing the Sect a big favor that this is just a trivial matter." Elder Kendra said with a smile and Mira just nodded and walked away with Maria. Elder Kendra sighed heavily after she left.

    ''Every time I talk with her, I''m tenser than when I talk with the Sect Master. What a terrifying little girl.'' She thought to herself and walked off.

    Mira and Maria went back to their residence and Mira immediately approached Dominique, who was currently stuffing her face with food while holding Vulcan in her arms.

    "It''s time to teach you a bit about the cultivation world."

 Chapter 94 Announcement

    "It''s time to teach you a bit about the cultivation world." Mira said to Dominique. She then walked over to Dominique and sat in front of her while Vulcan jumped out of herp and ran to Maria.

    "The first thing I think I should tell you about is that when you be a cultivator, your aging will stop. So, if you be a cultivator right now then you will look like an 8-year old for hundreds or maybe possibly thousands of years." Mira said with a stern face. She didn''t care what Dominique looked like, but she just wanted to warn her beforehand.

    Dominique was shocked to hear this.

    "Why wouldn''t I grow up if I be a cultivator? That doesn''t make any sense." She asked.

    "I''ll try to put it simply. When you absorb Qi into your body and cultivate it, the energy that you just cultivated affects the aging process. Normally, humans are full-grown around 18 years old and you mature a bit in your 20''s and 30''s. Wrinkles and aging start to show in your 40''s and 50''s. You start growing weaker from this point on and wait until your inevitable death. But Cultivators don''t age the same way as normal mortals. I couldn''t tell you exactly why, but you could say that it''s just a reaction to absorbing Qi into our bodies. There is no longer a need for our bodies to grow up so quickly since the natural lifespan of someone in the Qi Condensation Realm is around 300 years. You will probably see a lot of middle-aged-looking cultivators since they probably start around 16 and it might take them a few years at the very least to break through to the Foundation Realm and since they were already 16 when they started cultivating, after those few years they''d look like a young adult. That''s if they have the resources to do so, it could take years or even tens of years for people that don''t have the resources." Mira exined to which Dominique seemed to grasp the basic concept. Basically, Qi slows down the aging process for cultivators by a lot.

    "Even knowing that, I still want to be a cultivator as soon as possible! I don''t care if I still look like a child the rest of my life! My life hasn''t been great and who knows when it could go back to that again? I want to be able to live how I want!" Dominique said with conviction and Mira just sighed. Her reasoning isn''t wrong and is even somewhat admirable that she cane to that conclusion at 8 years old, but looking like a fucking child your whole life might be rather annoying.

    "Do whatever you like. I''m just warning you beforehand. I''ll now move onto some of the Realms of cultivation then I will tell you your training schedule." Mira said as she began exining the different stages in the Body Tempering Realm and talking a bit about the Qi Condensation Realm. She even made Maria give her cultivation manual over for her to study. Mira also said that she''d just get a Marrow Tempering Pill either from the Sect or an Alchemist for her. It shouldn''t be too expensive for her to get a Rank 1 or Rank 2 pill.

    "Now onto your training schedule! After you''ve gained some weight then you may start following this training regimen!" Mira then proceeded to tell Dominique about what she had nned. The training regimen ended up being extremely simr to how she trained those women at the Bandit Camp. Mira would turn the training yard in their living ce into a frozen hell, dumb a bunch of different-sized rocks in there and make her work out the entire day. She''d only get breaks to eat food, but other than that she''d work out from dawn until dusk. Mira also said that she''d ask if she can let Dominique stay in Training Ground 1 just so she can try to survive and temper her body from the pressure that is exerted in that room. The only difference between the women at the bandit camp and Dominique''s training is that she wouldn''t be training to use a weapon for now. She''d only be strengthening her body. But Mira did say that she''d give Dominique an hour off of training toe to watch her spar with the other disciples.

    "That''s all you need to know for now. I don''t have time to teach to fight, but if you really want to test out your skills then ask Maria. She''ll probably spar with you though she''s not that skilled with a sword so you might not be able to learn a whole lot from her. Once you reach the Qi Condensation Realm, then I''ll start sparring with you. Though I only really know how to use a scythe so if you pick a weapon to use other than the scythe, I can only provide experience to you and won''t be able to teach you anything else. For now, just study that cultivation manual until you have everything memorized. Give it back to Maria when you are done." Mira finished talking to Dominique about cultivating and training. Mira got up and walked to her bedroom to get some sleep. It might be a while before she can sleep this peacefully again.

    Dominique took the cultivation manual with her and followed Mira back to her bedroom as well. As Mira was getting into bed, Dominque came in and looked towards Mira shyly.

    "C-C-Can I sleep with you?" Dominique asked in a weak and nervous voice while holding onto the cultivation manual tightly. Mira paused for a couple of seconds.

    "Fine." Mira said after thinking about it. It didn''t really bother her to have Dominique sleep in the same bed as her. There is a 0% chance of anything weird or strange happening during the night. And if she even thought about such things, Mira would just kill her.

    Dominique nearly exploded with joy but managed to keep it together. She set down the cultivation manual and crawled into the bed next to Mira. She wrapped her arms and legs around Mira''s arms and snuggled her face into her shoulder before closing her eyes with a loving smile on her face. Mira also closed her eyes. But right before she was about to fall asleep, Dominique muttered something.

    "I love you, Mira. Thanks for taking care of me when no one else would. If only you were my mother, you wouldn''t abandon me like mine." Dominique muttered and then fell asleep. These words almost caused Mira''s icy heart to tremble a bit. She opened her eyes and just stared at the ceiling for a bit before shaking her head and closing them again.

    ''Children sure are scary.''<sub> </sub>

    ***

    The next morning, Mira woke up before dawn again. This also woke up Dominique as well.

    "Good Morning Mo-Mira!" Dominique almost said ''Mom'' there, but quickly stopped herself. Mira also noticed this, but just ignored it. We''ll see if she can still think such things when her training brings her to the brink of death.

    She just nodded towards her and walked out of the room. She gathered with Maria and both of them left to check out what announcement Elder Kendra will be making. They made their way towards therge hall they gathered at before and soon found hundreds of other disciples also entering the hall.

    Mira entered the hall while getting quite a few stares. She didn''t need to wear a mask anymore so everyone is now able to see her face.

    Once all of the disciples gathered in the hall, it soon became packed full of people. Elder Kendra then walked up to the front of the stage to start her announcement.

    "Wee Disciples! Thank you foring today! I am here to share a few things with all of you, but first I''d like to say that we have epted 100 new disciples this year! Will those 100 new disciples pleasee up?!" Elder Kendra said as all of the 100 new disciples came up to the stage and stood in front of the rest of the disciples. Obviously, Mira got the most attention as almost all eyes were on her, but this didn''t stop Elder Kendra.

    "Now, I will hand our disciple robes to them as well as introduce them to all of you." She then took out 100 sets of robes. Almost half of them were red and almost half of them were blue, but there were also a few ck robes as well.

    "These robes are a symbol of your disciple status and they also offer a bit more protectionpared to regr clothes. The red robes are for Outer Disciples, the Blue robes are for Inner Disciples, and the ck Robes are for Core Disciples. I will start off with the new Outer Disciples first." Elder Kendra started handing out robes while saying the disciple''s name. After she finished with the Outer Disciples, she moved onto the Inner Disciples. And after around 20 minutes, she finally made it to the Core Disciples.

    "We now have 8 new Core Disciples! Anna, Hazel, Cine, Sia, Nisha, Audra, Maria, and Mira." The Elder said while handing out the ck robes to them. Mira got the most attention as the people have never seen someone so beautiful before, but the next shocking thing they saw is Cine. Cine is only Stage 2 Qi Condensation and they made her a Core Disciple? She''s either extremely lucky or extremely talented.

    "The next thing I''d like to announce is also for the new Disciples. We will be holding mandatory sses once a week over the next 6 months. In these sses, we will be teaching you about the basics of Forging, Arrays, Inscriptions, Alchemy, Fighting, and Magical Beast Knowledge. These will be used as a guideline to help determine what you might be good at and the magical beast knowledge is to help you all when you go out on missions. We might also teach or show off our different elements as well. I know I said they are mandatory, but the sses are only from dawn to noon so they will only take up half of your day. The sses will start tomorrow!" The Elder said and the new disciples just nodded their heads. Spending half a day every week to have an Elder teach them about those things is not a waste of their time at all! But Elder Kendra isn''t done with the announcements.

    "I also have an announcement for all of the Disciples in the Battle Maiden Sect that are currently not on a mission! We have decided to add a mandatory ss that all of you will be taking part in. One of our new disciples, Mira, is very skilled in unarmedbat and we''ve made a deal with her that she will teach you all the basics of this form of fighting as well 3 days a week. We are also leaving how she trains you and for how long she trains you up to her discretion. She can do anything as long as she doesn''t kill you. I know what you might be thinking, ''is this really something that I need to learn?''. Let me ask you something back. How many disciples from our Sect get captured or used by men? It''s not that umon! Whenever we find out something like this happened, we always strike back and kill the people who did such a heinous crime, but it''s already been done. This is meant to prevent that from happening! And if you watched Mira during the tournament then you''d know she is extremely skilled in this style of fighting. If you still aren''t a believer, we want to hold a match between Mira and an Elder. One where Mira won''t use a weapon and the Elder will and another match where both of them will be fighting without a weapon. Of course, our Elders are much stronger than Mira so they will limit their cultivation to match hers. We will set the fight for next week so we can try to gather as many disciples as possible to watch. That''s all I have for today! You all are free to go now!" The Elder finished her announcements and left, but Mira also left and followed her since she had some questions about this.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the disciples were all stunned by the announcement before they went into an uproar.

 Chapter 95 Suspicion

    Meanwhile, the rest of the disciples were all stunned by the announcement before they went into an uproar.

    "We are going to be taught unarmedbat by that beauty?! I don''t know whether I should be happy or upset! But since Elder Kendra vouched for her, she must have at least some skill. I guess we will just have to find out next week to see for ourselves." This is the thought that crossed a lot of disciple''s minds, but some of them still didn''t know what to think of the situation. They were thinking about what the Elder said, that it''s not umon for Battle Maiden Disciples to get taken advantage of and abused. Some of them knew firsthand what this was like and others knew people who experienced this. They were the ones thinking that this might be a good opportunity for them to learn.

    While the other disciples were talking about the advantages and disadvantages of such training, Mira was following Elder Kendra with a frown on her face. The Elder sensed Mira and turned around only to see a very unhappy Mira.

    "If you are going to n stuff without my knowledge then you can forget about me helping. I don''t mind having a match with an Elder to prove to the other disciples that I''m not a fake, but I don''t like being dragged around by the nose. I will not repeat myself again." Mira said coldly with a deep frown on her face.

    "You do realize I''m an Elder of the Sect. I could have you punished for saying such words to me." The Elder tried to tease Mira, but this only made Mira''s frown turn into a scowl. She knew that she should''ve talked to Mira about this before the announcement, but it just never crossed her mind.

    "I don''t give a fuck who you are. You could be a King or a God for all I care, it doesn''t change the fact that I will not be treated like some tool for you to use. As for how you will repay me for your wrongdoings, I think allowing Dominique in one of the training grounds should suffice." Mira said staring into the Elder''s eyes like she was trying to dig a hole through her head. The Elder subconsciously gulped. Even though she is many times stronger than Mira, but Mira''s presence is muchrger. Like she''s willing to die for such a trivial thing. The Elder just sighed in resignation since it seems that having any sort of control over Mira is impossible.

    "Very well. It was my fault, to begin with as I should''ve discussed this with you beforehand. But do remember that I''m an Elder of the Battle Maiden Sect. You cannot simply treat me the same as somemon trash. I may start to lose my patience." The Elder said with a grave face as she tried to warn Mira, but Mira just shrugged.

    "I will treat you how I treat everyone. If you don''t like it then you shouldn''t have epted me into the Sect. Your warnings or threats will not prevent this from happening. Anyways, onto a different subject. I also wanted to ask you about getting ess to the Cultivation Cave and the information that I asked for. I''d like to start cultivating in the cave as soon as possible and I''d like to know when I''ll be receiving the information." Mira countered back and changed the subject. Elder Kendra already had her answers prepared beforehand it seems because she didn''t need to think about it.

    "I already have the information you asked for prepared and I can give it to you now. I can also give you the token to enter the Cultivation Cave right now as well, but once you ept these you can''t go back on your word and you will have to teach and spar with our disciples. Also, we only allow Disciples to enter the cultivation cave for 8 hours per day." The Elder warned Mira, but she just nodded her head.

    "I already epted the offer, so I will of course at least do what I said I was going to do." Mira nodded her head in understanding and Elder Kendra took out some scrolls, books, and various other things regarding ancient magical beasts and anything they had on winged wolves. She also took out a small round token that had the symbol of a cave on it. Mira took these things and stored them in her space ring and the Elder led Mira to where the cultivation cave is located.

    It took them around 10 minutes to go towards an underground section of the Sect. An Elder was standing guard at the entrance of this underground section. She immediately bowed towards Elder Kendra and then seemed to ask with her eyes who this person next to her is.

    "Good morning, Elder Sue. Sorry to interrupt, but I''ve brought a Disciple here to show her where the Cultivation Caves are. She''s going to be doing the Sect a huge favor so we are giving her daily ess to a Cultivation Cave. I''ve already given Mira here a token so there is no need to worry about that." Elder Kendra said to the Elder that seemed to be standing guard here. Elder Sue seemed a bit surprised to hear that a disciple will be getting daily ess here, but decided to not ask questions since it didn''t concern her.

    Mira took out her token and showed Elder Sue then continued walking inside only to find several small caves near each other. Each cave is only big enough for one person to sit inside and there seemed to be at least 10 of these caves. Mira walked into the nearest cave and could immediately feel the immense amount of Qi. Mira could immediately tell that the Qi in this cave is around 5 times denser than it is in her room, which is already 3 times denser than it is elsewhere. Mira then sat down to start cultivating. She''d make use of these 8 hours to the fullest!

    ***

    Elder Kendra walked away when she noticed Mira chose a cave and began cultivating. She walked over to what seemed to be arge building. The building itself is nothing special. It was actually very in and almost rundown-looking.  Elder Kendra entered the building and walked into arge room that had a round table in the middle of it. As soon as she walked in the room, 8 other Elders greeted her as well as the Sect Master.

    "How''d the announcement go? Did they take it well?" The Sect Master was actually the first to speak up. Elder Kendra nodded with a smile.

    "I think the disciples handled it better than expected. Though most of them were still mesmerized by Mira''s beauty that they could barely listen to what I had to say." Elder Kendra said and this caused the Sect Master to be a little surprised.

    "Is she really that beautiful? I didn''t notice anyone like that during the tournament or when I greeted the new disciples." The Sect Master said.<sub> </sub>

    "Pardon me, Sect Master but I think that you may have just overlooked her. I''d even go so far as to say that she might be one of the most beautiful if not the most beautiful woman in the entire cultivation world. There is simply noparison between her and other people." Elder Kendra said with a slight bow. This caused the Sect Master''s eyebrows to arch as she seemed very interested.

    "Oh? Even you give her such high praise? I guess I will have to greet her personally some time. Speaking of Mira. Is she okay with going a few rounds with one of our Elders next week?" The Sect Master said and Elder Kendra just scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

    "Well, I guess you could say that. Though she wasn''t happy that I didn''t tell her before I announced it." Elder Kendra said, a little embarrassed.

    "Really? What did she say?" The Sect Master was getting more and more interested in Mira now.

    "Ahem. She said that if we are going to make decisions for her without her knowledge then we can forget about having her help. But she also said she didn''t mind having a match with an Elder to prove herself to the other disciples." Elder Kendra said while avoiding eye contact. The Sect Master squinted her eyes as she felt like she was leaving something out.

    "What else?"

    "Well, um, she said and I quote, ''I don''t give a fuck who you are. You could be a King or a God for all I care, it doesn''t change the fact that I will not be treated like some tool for you to use.''. Then tookpensation for herself for my wrongdoings by allowing the child she''s taking care of into one of the Training Grounds to try and withstand the pressure." Elder Kendra and this stunned all of the Elders. They have never been treated in such a way before especially by someone who is just a new Disciple. But after a few seconds, the Sect Master burst out intoughter along with one of the more battle-crazy Elder.

    "HAHAHA! What an interesting youngdy! An incredibly rare find! Thank you for sharing this with me Elder Kendra. It seems that I must meet Mira. I want to see what she''s like with my own two eyes!" The Sect Master keptughing.

    "Hahaha! I can''t wait to fight with her next week! I''ve been dying to spar with her ever since I saw her! Things are about to get more interesting around here. Hahaha!" Another Elder startedughing and this Elder seemed to be the person who would be sparring with Mira next week. But the other Elders weren''t so amused by this.

    "Sect Master, I believe that we shouldn''t allow her to keep up with this sort of behavior! What if the other disciples lose respect for us? I bet those are just the ramblings of a child who doesn''t know her ce in the world yet! We need to correct this sort of behavior immediately!" One of the Elders said and also seemed to get support from some of the other Elders as well. But this caused the Sect Master to turn serious as the atmosphere in the room soon became suffocating.

    "I believe that would be a very bad idea. These are most likely not the ramblings of a child and we may very well have to kill her if you want to prevent her from acting like this. I''m betting that this is just how she treats everyone, no matter their status or strength. One might think she''s admirable for having such a mindset, while others might think it''s naive since she could die due to how she acts. I personally think it''s admirable. She lives by her own code and there is nothing in this world that can prevent her from doing this." The Sect Master said seriously which shocked everyone here. They''d have to kill a young girl just to get her to stop treating people with such an attitude?

    "Why do you think that, Sect Master?" One of the Elders spoke up nervously.

    "Do you remember what happened at the end of the tournament? A killing intent so thick that it spread throughout the whole city and even started to suffocate some of you." The Sect Master paused as the Elders all nodded their heads.

    "From the information that Ellie and Diana have shared about Mira, they said that her killing intent was extremely thick. Like she''s killed tens of thousands of people. I find it hard to believe that the killing intent from the tournament and Mira have nothing inmon. Though just based on what Diana and Ellie said should be proof enough that Mira doesn''t joke around. At least that''s what I believe. I will have to meet her in person to try and determine her true intentions." The Sect Master exined and they all sucked in a cold breath.

    "Do you think she might be a spy, Sect Master?" One Elder spoke up.

    "It''s highly unlikely, but not impossible. I don''t know what she''d do for-profit and maybe she''d stoop to espionage, but if she''s the type of person I think she is then she would be the one to send spies. Not the one being the spy. But I will have a conversation with herter. Alright, enough about Mira! Let''s move onto our other discussions." The Sect Master said and they moved onto the other things they gathered there for.

    ***

 Chapter 96 Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf

    After Mira cultivated in the Cultivation Cave for 8 hours it was now time for her to leave. Mira finished the Spirit Stone that was currently in her hand to end her cultivation session and stood up. She found out that absorbing Spirit Stones along with the atmospheric Qi in the Cultivation Cave sped up her cultivation speed even more. Though it wasn''t by much and she honestly wasn''t sure if it was even worth spending her Spirit Stones to help with her cultivation in an already perfect ce for it. But just 8 hours in the cultivation cave seemed to be simr to almost 3 weeks outside of the Battle Maiden Sect. Mira was sure that she''d break through to Stage 9 in just a few weeks to a month. Then she''d just need to spend some time consolidating her Cultivation and bring herself to the Peak of Stage 9 before eating her Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill and ascending to the Foundation Realm! Mira is really looking forward to how strong she will be at the Foundation Realm! She also doesn''t n on doing anything except for her mandatory sses, teaching the other disciples, and cultivating until she reaches the Foundation Realm.

    Mira left the Cultivation Cave and walked back to her residence to read the scrolls and books on ancient magical beasts and see if there is anything on Winged-Wolves. Once she made it back to her residence, she found Maria cultivating and Dominique eating food while trying to memorize every single detail about the cultivation manual. Mira also noticed her trying to repeat what she just read verbatim and if she missed a word or even hesitated to answer then she would go back to memorizing and understanding it. Mira just nodded at the two of them and she was d that Maria is also cultivating on her own. Dominique seemed to notice that another person entered the building and saw that it was Mira.

    "Mira!!" She screamed as she ran over to Mira and gave her a hug. Mira just put her hand on her head and nodded.

    "I''ve been memorizing this as you told me to! And I''ve been eating as much food as I can so I can start getting stronger!" Dominique said with arge smile on her face as Mira just nodded. Maria''s cultivation seemed to get disturbed and she also approached Mira.

    "Where have you been all day? I figured you''de straight back to the room after the announcement." Maria asked curiously.

    "I was cultivating in a Cultivation Cave." Mira said and Maria remembered her and Elder Kendra talking about a Cultivation cave when they were making their deal. Her eyes began to sparkle as she wanted to know more about it!

    "What was it like? Were the effects that incredible?" She asked in excitement and Mira nodded.

    "They were. It was like cultivating for 3 weeks outside of the Sect except it only took me 8 hours. You should go whenever you get the chance. It''ll be extremely beneficial to you." Mira said to Maria and then turned to Dominique.

    "I also got you ess to one of the Training Grounds here at the Sect, so I will send you there for training. But I think I might need to stock up on Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pills hehe. I wonder if you''ll even be able to withstand the pressure?" Mira said as she thought about Dominique just popping like a balloon as soon as she entered the training grounds.

    "Well, I guess if you die then you are just too weak. So, if you don''t want to die then you better put your all into training!" Mira said with an evil grin and both Maria and Dominique shivered.

    ''I knew it! She does enjoy watching me scream in pain! Why else would she constantly torture her?!'' Maria thought inside her head as she didn''t want to be put inside a block of ice for saying such a thing out loud!

    "O-Of course I''m going to put my all into training! How could I allow myself to die now?!" Dominique said with determination and this just caused Maria to pale even more. Not only was Mira a sadist, but Dominique is a full-blown masochist! They are the perfect abomination of a Master and a Disciple! This is bad! Really bad!

    "Hmm. Maria, after we both reach the Foundation Realm, then we''ll start using the training room! Now that we will have real weights along with all of that pressure, I''ll be able to teach you how to properly train your body. Without using shitty rocks!" Mira said as she walked away into her bedroom. Dominique followed her as well. Maria just stood there with a dazed look on her face.<sub> </sub>

    ''Training. Training!! TRAINING!! That''s all she ever thinks about?! Can''t we ever just have a nice rxing day where she''s not constantly pressuring me?! Alright! I have a new goal! I will get Mira to take a day off with me and away from her masochist training! Watch out, Mira! Because I will force you to have a good rxing day that you will enjoy! And if you don''t enjoy it, then I''ll make you enjoy it!!!'' Maria screamed in her mind her new goal. But first, she has to reach the Foundation Realm since she can almost guarantee that Mira won''t even think about doing anything with her unless she reaches that realm as well.

    Meanwhile, in Mira''s bedroom. Mira climbed into bed, sat up, and took out a book that Elder Kendra gave to her earlier today. Dominique also climbed into bed and justid down next to Mira with her arms around her waist and fell asleep.

    The book was titled, ''Mythical Beasts'' with a picture of a dragon on the front of it. She took it out and began reading it.

    "Many Magical Beasts havee and gone in the world of Cultivation. Some were born stronger than others and some were born as mere fodder for the strong. One could even say that the Magical beasts today still carry some of the blood of these ancient and mythical beasts. But these mythical beasts are often very prideful and don''t mix blood with other species. There are rare urrences, but they were considered very taboo amongst the strong. The first and probably most well-known mythical beast is a dragon��" Mira continued reading the book and found a bunch of interesting things about these mythical beasts. There were all kinds of mythical beasts. Dragons, Phoenixes, Colossal ck Tortoises, White Tigers, Sun-Devouring Wolves, various types of Serpents, Griffins, Pegasus'', Krakens, and many more. It went on to describe certain behaviors of all of these beasts and even some beasts that might have some of these mythical beast''s bloodlines. But at the end of the book, it said that most, if not all of these mythical beasts either ascended to be Immortal Beasts or were hunted to near extinction by both humans and other Magical Beasts. Mira found the book interesting as she learned about many mythical beasts that she''s never heard of before, but there was no mention of Winged-Wolves.

    Mira just sighed and moved onto the next book and started to read it as well. She found this book to be useless as well and mentioned simr things to the previous one. She pulled out the next thing she received from Elder Kendra and started to read everything she had in her possession right now.

    After reading almost everything, she found that most of this information is useless to her! She only asked for things rted to ancient beasts because she was sure that a Winged-Wolf should be a mythical or ancient beast. But none of these texts mentioned anything about a Winged-Wolf!

    She had two more things left to check. One was an ancient-looking scroll and the other was a wooden tablet. She took out the scroll only to see something that resembled at the very top of the scroll. This immediately caught her interest.

    "The Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf is a species of magical beasts that we know very little about. All we know is that they are not of this world and that when they resided in this world, they were kings. Not a single entity could even injure them. From what I''ve gathered, there were only a few of these beasts alive. There are some spections that these beasts are abination of several other mythical beasts. Such as Dragons, Wolves, Phoenixes, Griffins, and some other beast that controls lightning. This is not confirmed though, it is just spection because they have dragon-like ws, wolf bodies, Phoenix and Griffin wings, and they controlled lightning. Another word for this might be a chimera. Their adaptability is amazing since they are the rulers of the air and ground and they''ve been known to mutate several times in their lives which may result in small evolutions. But I can''t confirm this as this is only spection from records that I''ve gathered on this magical beast." Mira finished reading and became stunned. She never would''ve guessed that Rhydian would turn out to be such an amazing existence. Though she''s not 100% sure that the Winged-Wolf mentioned in this scroll is the species Rhydian is. But Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf seems awfully close to what Rhydian is.

    Mira started to think about this seriously now. If what this scroll says is true and Rhydian can mutate as well as evolve based on their mutation then she might be able to raise the strongest magical beast in the world.

    ''I guess I should add Lightning Elemental Essences on my list of things to get. It seems that Rhydian is also mutating and evolving into an existence that controls both lightning and ice. But I have no idea how I can get Rhydian to mutate though. Maybe I can also give her other Elemental Essences? Will eating stronger magical beasts make her mutate? I guess I''ll have to slowly test things out with her. Also, should I study more about those mythical beasts? Maybe I''ll be able to find things to help Rhydian grow.'' Mira thought to herself being extremely satisfied with the answer she got from this scroll. She put the scroll back inside her space ring and took out the final item that Elder Kendra gave her.

    She pulled out the wooden tablet and only saw a winged wolf flying above a mountain looking down upon many different types of magical beasts. Mira nodded her head, feeling satisfied with the information she received from Elder Kendra. She then started to reread the other books and scrolls she got in order to learn a bit more about these mythical beasts. This continued until morning and it was time for her to go to ss.

 Chapter 97 First Day Of Class

    Mira stopped reading about mythical beasts until it was about time to go to the mandatory weekly sses. She was able to gather quite a bit of information regarding mythical beasts, but linking that information to Rhydian seemed difficult to her. She will need to experiment to see if Rhydian can really mutate and evolve into something even greater. But also the habits of baby mythical beasts are not like how Rhydian behaves. She''s very yful, not very intelligent for such a domineering species, and as long as Mira says something is okay then it''s like she throws her beastly instincts out of the window. Only parts of her body resemble these mythical beasts.

    Mira shook these thoughts away as there is no point in specting. She put the material back into her storage ring and got up from the bed. Dominique woke up and greeted her with a tired, but happy smile. They walked out of the bedroom and found Maria alsoing out of her room. Maria and Mira then left to go to where the ss is being held. Maria decided to chat with her on the way there.

    "What do you think today''s ss will be about? I''m excited to learn more about the world and also some of the jobs there are to choose from! I feel like I''d enjoy either alchemy or inscriptions! But Alchemy seems more useful since I''m always getting hurt and the cost of rejuvenation pills are only going to increase!" Maria said and Mira just shrugged her shoulderszily.

    "It''ll probably just be an introduction day. Having a job other than fighting is a great way to gather Spirit Stones for cultivating. But all of them cost a lot to get started, but once you are proficient enough in them, the return you get is insane." Mira said and Maria just nodded her head happily. She was really looking forward to trying out new things and learning more about the world.

    It didn''t take them long before they entered arge room that had 100 seats in it. Both Maria and Mira sat near the front of the room next to each other and waited for everyone else to enter. After a few minutes, more and more disciples starteding in but nobody sat near Mira or Maria. Almost like they were avoiding those two at all costs. Nisha, Audra, and Cine ended up being the ones to sit next to them as they waited for an Elder toe up and start the ss.

    Not long after, Elder Kendra showed up and Mira started to feel like this Elder had literally nothing better to do other than babysitting them for the next 6 months.

    "Good Morning, new Disciples! I''m d that all of you showed up today and are taking this seriously. Today is just going to be more of an introductory day where I''ll be going over some of the finer details of the sect as well as going through the geography of the area and uing events as well." The Elder exined and everybody nodded.

    "First, I''d like to spark some rivalry between you all and our other disciples. I''ve told you before that Core and Inner Disciples have more privileges than Outer Disciples and Core Disciples have a lot more privileges than the others. Well, I''ve also briefly mentioned our cultivation caves before, but I''ve never gone into detail about them. A Cultivation Cave is a cave that we''ve made where the Qi in it is 15 times denser than it is outside of the Sect. The privilege of using this ce is strictly reserved for Inner and Core Disciples. Inner Disciples can only have 1 8-hour session per month, but Core Disciples can have 2 8-hour sessions per week. To put this in perspective, a Core Disciple might be ahead of an Inner Disciple by 3-5 months in just a single month. So work and fight hard haha! Of course, we also have tokens for sale at the treasure hall to enter a Cultivation Cave for a session and this is open to every Disciple." Elder Kendra dropped a bomb on all of the new disciple''s heads. There is such a ce here!! The need to rise higher in status started forming in the new disciples and they started whispering each other before the Elder shut them up.

    "Let''s move on from this. You can go try to climb the ranks after ss, but for now, you need to pay attention to me. I''ll now move onto the next thing. Geography!"

    "As you all know, there are 5 Major Sects that surround Lunar Fox City and we happen to be one of them. But what surrounds us the Sects? I don''t know if you all know this or not, but we live on the Western Continent. There are 5 continents in the world. The Northern Continent, The Eastern Continent, The Southern Continent, The Western Continent, and the Central Continent. Each continent can almost be considered a world in and of itself, being hundreds of thousands of kilometers big, but for cultivators who travel at extreme speeds and live long lives, they are not too big. Each continent is separated by arge ocean. This is the same for the Central Continent that is right in the middle of the other 4 continents. The Central Continent ispletely surrounded by the ocean, which we call the Abyssal Demon Sea. This is because the ocean separating the 5 continents is recognized as the most dangerous ce in the world. But our knowledge out here of the ocean is very limited and we only know that it''s extremely dangerous. Also, in case you all were wondering each continent has its own climate as well. The Western and Eastern Continents are pretty simr, but the Eastern Continent gets more rain and storms, while the Western Continent is a bit cooler with more forests and mountains. The Northern Continent is generally extremely cold, while the southern continent is generally extremely hot. If you want more specifics then you''ll have to go there and see for yourself." The Elder paused to let everyone soak this information in before continuing.

    "Now, onto what''s around us. First, we have the Dark Moon Forest and SkyTop Mountain. Those are the closes to Lunar Fox City and are also where we get most of our resources. But we also have more than just a forest and a mountain range close to us. We actually have almost every biome within a week to a month''s journey from us in every direction. To the East, a few thousand kilometers away there is the Torrential Rain Forest. It rains nonstop every day here and just surviving the rain is already hard enough, not to mention the beasts that live within. I don''t rmend you going there unless you know how to survive and hide because most of the beasts here are skilled in assassination along with their being a lot of insects. To the north, there is a Tundra and if you go even further north then you should find mountains made of ice. The Tundra is called The Sparkling Expanse and the Ice Mountains are called The cial Ridge. To the South, we haverge grasnds that lead into an almost desert-like area. We just call this area the Dead-Zone. This area hasn''t been explored too much since it even seems to drain cultivators at a rapid pace and the Qi there is almost non-existent. But there is a rumor that there is a volcano to the south of the Dead-Zone. And if you are wondering what is to the West of us, then there is not a whole lot there. Just more grasnds, but they don''t have a name. Now, any questions?" Elder Kendra asked the ss and a few hands were raised.

    "I have a question. So, if we are on the Western Continent, does that mean if we keep traveling to the west we will reach the Eastern Continent?" Mira was actually the one to ask this question as she was extremely curious.<sub> </sub>

    "Good question. But no, you cannot reach the Easter Continent if you keep traveling west. We don''t exactly know why, but there is a barrier that prevents us from going any further west. This also goes for all of the Continents. We call this the World Barrier. Some people have spected that we are only a small part of the world and the World Barrier prevents us from having any contact with the rest of the world. Others have guessed that the world we live on is just t, almost like a ne of existence, and what lies beyond the World Barrier exist other nes that differ from ours, but we just aren''t physically connected. There have been reports about people going to the other side of the World Barrier, but this has never been confirmed and we''vebeled the people that say this as only wanting attention." Elder Kendra exined which shocked Mira a bit. When she lived on Earth, she remembers learning thats were generally round, but definitely not t. Also, there were definitely no World Barriers.

    ''I guess I need to stopparing the Cultivation World to the other ones I''ve lived on. Things here work differently as even the elements that make up the world work in different ways as well.'' Mira thought to herself as she nodded her head in understanding.

    Audra also raised her hand as she had a question as well. Elder Kendra pointed to her.

    "What''s the rank of each biome? Are they stronger than here?" Audra asked.

    "We don''t know. But just based on the strongest that we''ve seen in each area, they are generally all Rank 5 or 6. But the closer you get to the Central Continent, the stronger the magical beasts that reside in the area. So keep that in mind." Elder Kendra said with a hint of mncholy. Everybody dropped their hands since it seems that their question was already answered. Elder Kendra waited for someone else to have a question, but none came.

    "I''ll go ahead and show you a rough visualization of the world we live in so you can get a better idea." Elder Kendra said as she took out arge map. And when she said rough, she really meant rough. The map basically was basically just arge square. It had a circle in the middle of it, name Central Continent. It also had 4rge pieces ofnd on it that werebeled Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Continents. There was also a line that went from each corner of the square towards the Central Continent but stopped right before it to form a circle around it. This represented the Abyssal Demon Sea. There was then a small ''X'' on the Western Continent to demonstrate where they are located right now. They were truly close to the Western World Barrier and might be tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the eastern side of the Western Continent. Everybody in the ss got a good look at this and Elder Kendra spoke up after they were all done.

    "This ends today''s ss. You are free to go! Remember to fight for higher status! Haha!" Elder Kendra said with a light chuckle.

    Mira left the ssroom with Maria.

    "Are you going to the Cultivation Cave?" Maria asked.

    "Yeah."

    "I''lle with you then!" Maria eximed happily while Mira just nodded her head. Though she wasn''t sure if Maria needed a token like her or if she could get in due to her robe and badge.

 Chapter 98 Sparring With An Elder

    Maria followed Mira to the Cultivation Cave and it didn''t take them long to reach it. Elder Sue greeted Mira but noticed that she was with someone. She recognized the robe that the disciple next to Mira is wearing and was d that it seemed this person was a Core Disciple. Maria walked up and greeted the Elder.

    "Hello Elder! I''d like to enter the Cultivation Cave!" Maria eximed and Elder Sue nodded.

    "Sure. It also looks like you are a Core Disciple, so you get 2 8-hour sessions per week. I''ll give you an entry token and once you exceed 16 hours then it will kick you out and you won''t be able to gain entry again until the token resets next week." Elder Sue exined as she gave Maria a token. Maria''s eyes shined brightly when she grabbed the token and immediately wondered how it worked.

    "Do you know how this token works?" Maria asked curiously and Elder Sue just shook her head.

    "If you''re asking me how the token itself works then I have no idea about the specifics. All I know is that there is an array surrounding the Cultivation Cave itself and that once I activate one of these tokens, whenever you step in the array the token activates and a timer starts for your specific token. Nothing will happen unless you exceed the time limit. Once that happens, the array will drag you out of the cave and you won''t be able to enter until the next week. If you want specifics on how this is done then you should ask an Array or Inscription Master." Elder Sue exined and Maria marvelled at how amazing this world is. Mira was also slightly surprised by this as well. It is a fairly ingenious way of keeping track of everybody''s time in the Cultivation Cave. Though she didn''t have to worry about this.

    They walked in together, chose their cave, and began cultivating.

    8 hourster they returned to their room and Maria was truly amazed at the progress she had during her time in the Cultivation Cave.

    "You''re right, Mira! That cave is amazing! I definitely need to find more opportunities to use it if I''m going to keep up with you!" Maria yelled happily when they reached their rooms and Mira said something shocking.

    "Well, you might get that chance sooner thanter. For the unarmedbat training that I''ll be doing next week, I''d like to offer an incentive to do well. I''d like the reward to be a session in the Cultivation Cave, except if the person who owns the token loses then they have to give it to the person they lost it to. I don''t know if they''d get an extra day or two days with it or maybe just unlimited uses until the owner loses it. I don''t know what would be fair, but even just one day should cause some strife between the disciples." Mira said to Maria, seemingly hinting at something. Maria seemed to catch onto the hint as well. This is also forcing her to get better if she wants to be able to keep up.

    "You''ve been training me for a little over 6 months now! I refuse to hand over such a treasure! Okay, Mira. If I can keep the token for the entire time, will you take a day off with me? After we both reach the Foundation Realm, of course!" Maria asked with hope in her eyes while Mira just rolled hers.

    "I haven''t even gotten it approved. And isn''t the reward of the Cultivation Cave enough for you? Plus, I have no need to take a day off." Mira said coldly, but Maria seemed adamant.

    "No! Knowing you, it''ll definitely be approved! I only want the Cultivation Cave token so I can keep up with you! I just want to follow you and if you get a lot stronger than me, then there is no need to have me around and you''ll just leave me until I get stronger! Plus, I will make you have an enjoyable time! You surely won''t be disappointed!" Maria said strongly to her with fire in her eyes. It seems Maria''s spirit was set aze. Mira just smirked at this, if she was going to go this far then she might as well make it a bit more challenging as well.

    "Very well, but I will have to add one more condition. I''d like to see how strong your resolve is, so if lose even once then I forbid you from following me. But I''ll give you a heads-up. Cine seems like she has talent in fighting. Who knows? Maybe she''ll dere that she wants to follow me while I leave your ass in the dust. Hehe." Mira snickered as she was truly telling the truth. If Maria did manage to lose even with them having 1 on 1 sparring sessions every day, then she would keep her word.

    "Ah!" Maria felt like she just got tricked! She felt anger welling up inside her, this anger was directed towards herself for being so stupid. But soon this anger ended up being transferred towards Cine.

    ''Fuck you Cine! I''ll never give Mira to you!'' Maria eximed in her mind like a jealous lover.

    Maria went to her room to continue cultivating while also meditating on her unarmedbat sessions with Mira.

    ***

    Mira kept going to the Cultivation Cave for 8 hours per day, while Maria was only allowed to go the next day. Maria and Mira spent some of their free time sparring and the rest of their time was spent cultivating. Sometimes Mira would entertain or answer any of Dominique''s questions about the world or just silly things like what is Mira''s favorite thing to do? She just wanted to get a bit closer to Mira, but what Dominique looked forward to the most was nighttime because that''s when she got to sleep next to Mira while she cultivated or studied the books that Elder Kendra gave her.

    Almost a week went by and it is now time for Mira to spar with one of the Elders to prove herbat ability. Over this past week, Mira felt her getting closer and closer to Stage 9 Qi Condensation. The Foundation Realm is within reach and just thinking about it made Mira''s blood boil! She also had those pills from the Trial that she can use once she enters the Foundation Realm and Mira can''t wait to take those and then continue training her body!

    But now was not the time for such thoughts as Mira was making her way towards the arena where the tournament was heldst week. Once she made it to therge arena, she entered the stage and saw hundreds if not a few thousand disciples. It seems like the Elders and other Disciples were able to spread the word of this fight and gather most of the disciples. Once she made it up on stage, she was greeted by Elder Kendra who seemed to be the announcer or judge of the fight, and another Elder that started to radiate a battle intent as soon as she saw Mira. Mira walked up to the two of them.

    "Good of you to make it today, Mira. As you can see, we''ve gathered quite the crowd as everyone wants to see their new teacher and how capable she is. I''m also looking forward to a splendid match between you and Elder Bridget here." Elder Kendra said with a sincere smile. The person standing next to them seemed to be Elder Bridget, so Mira just nodded at the two of them while Elder Bridget couldn''t take her eyes off of her. Mira''s gotten used to this by now and just stood still. After a while though, Elder Bridget spoke with a loudugh.

    "Hahaha! It''s nice to finally meet you, Mira! You''re truly a sight for sore eyes, ain''t ya!? I''m very much looking forward to our match! I''ve heard ya call yourself a Grandmaster in unarmedbat! I''m here to see if ya can live up to such a title! Hahaha!" Elder Bridget said like a crazy person and Mira started to get a headache. She truly hated people like this. They''d always bother her endlessly with idiotic nonsense! Mira could only hope that this Elder doesn''t do this, but she started to have a bad premonition of an incredibly tiring future. Her thoughts were interrupted when Elder Kendra started speaking to the crowd, announcing the beginning of the match.

    "Wee, Disciples! Today is a big day as one of our new disciples will be sparring with Elder here to demonstrate her skills in unarmedbat not only to you all but also to us! If she meets or exceeds our expectations then she will be your new teacher in unarmedbat for a few days every week! We''ve already had a glimpse into her skill and have started to learn and value how useful this style ofbat might be for all of you! So be sure to watch closely! The Elder she will be fighting today is Elder Bridget! She''s one of the Instructors and Masters in teaching you all how to fight and use a sword! Mira will be sparring with her while only using her body, no weapon, while Elder Bridget will have one match using her sword and another match without it. I''ll also be asking Elder Bridget to limit her cultivation to match Mira''s to make this a more even fight since she is in the Core Formation Realm and Mira''s only in the Qi Condensation Realm. The fight will begin when both fighters are ready!" Elder Kendra exined announced to the disciples as all eyes were on Mira.

    Mira and Elder Bridget made their way onto opposite sides of the arena and the Elder took out her sword and limited her cultivation to Stage 8 Qi Condensation. This didn''t change that much as her body is still incredibly strong due to her high cultivation base.

    "Why don''t we make a small bet, Elder?" Mira said with a slight smirk.<sub> </sub>

    "If I can beat you in both matches, then how about you fulfill a request I have for my training with the disciples?" Mira suggested as she walked to her side of the arena.

    "Oh? What request do you have?" Elder Bridget said with interest.

    "You''ll know when I win." Mira said nonchntly. At least when ites to people like Elder Bridget, they''re usually incredibly stupid in anything other than fighting. Mira set out the bait and the Elder was already hooked when she asked that question.

    "Hahaha! Very well! I''ll ept this bet! This is getting more and more fun! Hahaha!" Elder Bridget said with a loudugh.

    Soon they both reached their side of the arena and both of them nodded their heads towards Elder Kendra, signifying they were ready.

    "Fight!"

    Elder Bridget dashed out immediately and charged at Mira. The Elder kept her de close to her chest so Mira couldn''t take advantage of anyrge swings.

    Mira also shot out towards the Elder and would strike as soon as the Elder went for a sh. As soon as the Elder went in for a sh, Mira instantly closed the gap, grabbed her sword hand''s wrist and the opposite leg. Then used the forward momentum of the Elder to grapple her, throw her over her shoulder, and m her on the ground. Mira then immediately put the Elder in something simr to a Rear Triangle Choke, where she wrapped her legs around the Elder''s neck and restricting her sword arm while trying to disarm the Elder. With the Elder''s cultivation, it would normally be impossible to remove her sword with Mira''s limited strength, but as Mira put in all of her strength into the choke while prying off each finger she eventually removed her sword and continued to choke out the Elder. If the Elder wasn''t in the Core Formation Realm then she''d be incapacitated right now, but doing this was currently impossible for Mira. The Elder struggled to get out, but with her strength lowered and herck of knowledge in this field she had no idea how to get out, and struggling aimlessly only made things worse for her. Soon she just gave up and decided to give the win to Mira.

    "You win, Mira! Now, let me go!" The Elder roared with a hint of anger, amazement, and frustration.

    "Winner, Mira!" The judge announced and Mira finally let go.

    The Elder didn''t say anything and just grabbed her sword, stored it, and rushed back to her side of the arena. Mira also walked back to her side of the arena and waited for the match to start.

    "Fight!"

    The same thing happened as before. They rushed towards each other, except this time the Elder didn''t even get a hit off before Mira grappled her and put her in a choke. Once again, she struggled to try to get out, but her efforts were futile.

    "Argh!!! You win again, Mira!! Dammit! What the hell are those moves?!" The Elder roared in anger and frustration again as she lost the second match even faster than the first.

    "Winner, Mira!"

    Mira let go of the Elder and stood up. Elder Bridget also stood up and stopped limiting her cultivation. She turned to Mira and stared at her with aplicated face.

    "What''s your request?" Elder Bridget muttered under her breath as she was still fuming at both losses. She didn''t even get to fight! She just got taken down immediately!

    Mira just leaned over and whispered her request in her ear. The Elder just sighed and nodded her head.

    "Fine. I''ll allow it. But only because I recognize how powerful this style of fighting could be and if you allow me to join in on some of the sessions!" Elder Bridget said and Mira just nodded her head.

    Elder Kendra also just sighed as she approached them as well.

    ''Mira is truly too hard to deal with. She''s already gotten 2 things out of us and she''s only been here a week! I''ll have to warn the other Elders to handle things with her carefully and never make a bet with her!'' Elder Kendra thought to herself as she stood in between the two of them.

    "As you can see, Mira''s skill is truly amazing! She was able to take out Elder Bridget with only 1 move! So, you can at least look forward to having an amazingly skilled teacher! I''ll now let Mira make an announcement to all of you!" Elder Kendra said as she looked over towards Mira who just nodded her head and walked up a bit.

    "I expect to see you all here in 2 days! The Elders have given me permission to teach you lot however I see fit, as long as I don''t kill you! But they never said that I can''t make you wish you were dead! We will train for however long I see fit! But fret now for I am a benevolent person! I''ve also added an incentive for you all tomit to my training!" Mira said with an icy voice that seemed so sharp it could pierce someone. Mira walked off the stage and left the arena while the disciples were silent trying to reel in from the shocking events that just urred.

 Chapter 99 Talking With The Sect Master

    After the crowd just sat there in disbelief from what just happened, murmurs began to spread until the entire crowd went into an uproar.

    "What was that?! I barely saw anything before Elder Bridget was on the ground being choked out by that Mira girl! I''ve never seen anything like it! Though I wish the fight could''vested longer so we could get a better idea of how skilled she really is!"

    "That girl is so scary! I''ve never heard a girl sound so scary and domineering before! Do I really have to take a ss with her as the teacher?!"

    "What amazing skill! To be able to take down an Elder in one move! Even if her cultivation base was lowered and she didn''t use any of her Sword Arts, it''s still impressive! Maybe I''ll have to give this a shot!"

    The girls in the audience had many different viewpoints as some of them wanted to learn more, some found Mira to be too scary and vulgar, while others didn''t really know what to think. But there was one person watching everything unfold that could only smile as she found this girl known as Mira, more and more interesting. This person was none other than the Sect Master.

    "Interesting�� Mira, what else are you going to show me?" She muttered and then left. Elder Kendra then spoke to the audience.

    "As you can see, she is incredibly skilled and we wanted her to teach you all some of this as well. I also expect you all to be here in 2 days. This is for your own good so you all may survive and live happily. Even though she''s a little vulgar, she''s a good teacher. She''s been training another one of our disciples before she entered the Sect and she was able to make it to Core Disciple with her results in the Entrance Exam. If this isn''t enough to prove her skills and ability, then I don''t know what is." Elder Kendra announces and the rest of the disciples fell silent while widening their eyes. They started to have a different view of Mira with that one statement.

    ***

    Mira walked away and started going towards the Cultivation Caves. Maria seemed to catch up with her after she watched the 2 extremely short matches.

    "Good job, Mira! And see, I told you that you''d be able to get what you want!" Maria said as she already knew what request she made Elder Bridget fulfill. She just nodded and continued walking. Soon they made it to the Cultivation Cave and Maria went in with her. It was a new week, so she had another 16 hours. Elder Sue greeted them, they both showed their tokens and walked into a cave to cultivate.

    8 hourster they both walked out and went to their residence. Mira could see Dominique still eating away while holding onto Vulcan and Rhydian was trying to secretly grab Vulcan away from Dominique.

    Maria was about to greet them all, but they soon heard a knock on the door.

    *Knock Knock*

    Rhydian stopped what she was doing and immediately switched to battle mode. Mira just waved her hand to signify it''s okay and went to open the door. When she opened the door, she came face to face with the most important person in the sect. Mira just stared at her for a second, determining what to do in this situation but the Sect Master spoke up first.

    "Ahem. Sorry to drop in on you unexpectedly like this, but may Ie in? I''d just like to have a conversation with you. But it seems that your beauty is truly otherworldly, Mira. If I wasn''t so old then you might''ve turned me into a lesbian hehe." The Sect Master said nicely. Mira wanted to refuse, but before she could say anything Maria spoke up in a flustered voice almost like she knew what Mira was about to say.

    "Sect Master!! Of course, you cane in! We''d be honored to talk with you! Please,e in!" Maria said quickly as the Sect Master just smiled and walked in. She looked around and saw a small child with blue hair holding a small, fiery, red fox in her arms. But this small fox is almost a Rank 4 Beast which greatly surprised her because the aura she felt from the fox was much greater than that of a Late-Stage Rank 3 Beast. She also noticed the small girl wasn''t a cultivator. Then she heard something growling at her and felt a menacing aura. She looked over and saw a small golden wolf with blue stripes down its back growling at her while streaks of golden blue lightning shot across it. Upon further inspection, she noticed that this beast is only at the Low-Stage Rank 4, but its strength and aura could rival those several stages above it and it might even be able to fight with Rank 5 beasts! These 2 beasts were beyond normal!

    She inspected the 2 beasts a bit more but didn''t want to seem rude so she stopped and just found a ce to sit. Dominique got curious and also went up to greet the Sect Master while putting Vulcan down.

    "Sect Master? Does that mean you are in charge of this whole ce? OH! My name''s Dominique by the way! Thanks for letting me stay here with Mira!" Dominique made a polite bow as she greeted the Sect Master while she just patted her head.

    "That''s indeed what I do, but the Sect Elders put in more work than me here. My name is Jane, but you can just call me Sect Master Jane like everyone else. Do you enjoy staying with Mira?" The Sect Master asked nicely trying to learn as much about Mira as she can.

    "Un! I love it! She gives me food, lets me sleep with her, answers any questions I have, teaches me about the cultivation world, and is even going to start training me as soon as I gain some more weight! I love Mira so much for taking care of me!" Dominique said innocently and sweetly. But her words stunned the Sect Master. She never expected the always cold and aloof Mira to have this side to her. But her thoughts got cut off when Mira spoke up in a cold voice.<sub> </sub>

    "Child, I think you''ve said enough. Go to the bedroom with Vulcan and Rhydian before you say any more nonsense." Mira said in an icy voice, but Dominique just nodded her head sweetly and followed her instructions.

    "Such a cute girl. I never would''ve expected you to be taking care of a child. You don''t seem to be the mother, so how''d you end up taking care of her?" The Sect Master asked curiously and Mira always answered with brutal honesty and there was no point in hiding anything.

    "She won a bet with me. I''m only upholding my end of the bargain." Mira answered promptly, but this piqued the Sect Master''s interest.

    "Oh? She won a bet against you? What kind of bet?" The Sect Master asked out of pure curiosity, but she never would''ve expected Mira''s answer. Maria was now starting to sweat like crazy listening to their conversation.

    "If she could withstand my full killing intent for a full minute, then I''d take care of her and train her." Mira answered nonchntly, but the Sect Master squinted her eyes. She didn''t immediately know what to say after that answer. Mira just sat back in her chair, crossed her arms and legs, and stared at the Sect Master.

    "Do you know who caused the scene at the end of the tournament?" The Sect Master said in a deep voice, but Mira just nodded her head once choosing not to say anything. The Sect Master then fell into thought, but there was only one questioned that appeared in her mind.

    "Are you our enemy?" The Sect Master applied some pressure which caused Mira''s eyes to twitch a bit, but she didn''t want to show that she was greatly affected by it so she answered calmly.

    "There is no need for me to be an enemy. This might be the one ce on this entire continent where I can live without a mask and can walk around freely without being chased by men. Not to mention I don''t know much about the Cultivation World and need resources to get stronger. There isn''t a better ce for me to be since I''m so weak right now. As long as you don''t piss me off and if you don''t force me into something then there is no reason for me to be an enemy. I could even be one of your greatest weapons in the future." Mira said in a calm tone while starring into the eyes of the Sect Master. The Sect Master started to think more about her words and couldn''t find a single thing wrong with her logic.

    ''It''s true that if people knew how beautiful she is, then it might cause waves across the entire continent or even the world. I couldn''t sense a single lie in her words and can''t find any ws in her logic. It seems that even if he might be a cruel and brutal person, she is extremely honest. This makes things better for me.'' The Sect Master thought.

    "I think I know everything I need to know about you. I only came over to talk to you to see what kind of person you are and if you have any ill-intentions towards the Sect. I only have one question. Who was it that released that killing intent?" The Sect Master asked as she stood up ready to leave, but Mira just smirked.

    "Me."

    ***

    The Sect Master left the building and returned to her residence, thinking about what Mira said.

    "She said that it was her who released that killing intent. I find that rather unbelievable because she would''ve had to kill millions, possibly more to unleash something like that. If anything like that happened near here, then she''d be the number 1 most hunted person on the continent right now. And before I could ask anything else, she said that she will not be answering any more questions. Did shee from another continent? From another world? Maybe from the other side of the world barrier? No no no, it doesn''t really matter at this point. All that matters is she is just a normal disciple that wants to do normal disciple things and holds no ill-intent towards the Sect." The Sect Master muttered to herself as she walked into arge building that had several Elders in it.

    ***

    Mira went back to her room to find Dominique waiting for her so she can fall asleep. Mira just went into bed and sat in a lotus position to start cultivating. Dominique hugged her like usual and fell asleep. Mira cultivated through the night until it was time to go to ss the next day.

    Mira and Maria both stopped cultivating and walked to the ssroom only to be greeted by Elder Kendra again. They waited for all 100 people to enter before the Elder started the ss.

    "Alright Disciples, today I will be talking about 2 things. Some of you are close to entering the Foundation Realm, so I will be talking about that a bit. The next thing I will talk about is a continuation ofst week''s ss. I will talk about the other cities and sects that are around us."

 Chapter 100 Second Day Of Class

    "Alright Disciples, today I will be talking about 2 things. Some of you are close to entering the Foundation Realm, so I will be talking about that a bit. The next thing I will talk about is a continuation ofst week''s ss. I will inform you about the other cities and sects that are around us." Elder Kendra said to the ss and most of the people nced at Mira and Maria.

    "The Foundation Realm is a bit differentpared to the other Realms. So you might be thinking that the Foundation Realm has 9 stages to it, but this is actually the only Realm of power that doesn''t have 9 stages to it. The Foundation Realm is separated into 2 parts, Houtian and Xiantian. These are further separated into 4 Stages, Low, Mid, Late, and Peak. So technically, there are 8 stages to the Foundation Realm. But let me exin why this is because I can see the confusion on some of your faces."

    "The Foundation Realm has that name for a reason. It is to prepare your body and build your foundation for the rest of your cultivation journey. Let me start with the process first. You all are in the Qi Condensation Realm right now, this is essentially the processing of gathering and condensing Qi in your meridians. And each stage in this Realm brings a qualitative and quantitative change to the Qi stored in your meridians. Not only is there more, but it''s much denser than the previous stage. Through this process, some residual Qi flows into your body and nourishes it. Now moving onto the Houtian Stage in the Foundation Realm. In the Houtian stage, the process is simr but instead of gathering and condensing Qi in your meridians, you do that throughout your entire body. To break through to the Foundation Realm from the Qi Condensation Realm, you will need to use a massive amount of Qi to start sending it into every part of your body. Skin, flesh, muscles, bone, bone marrow, organs, blood, everything. Once you feel ''full'', so to speak, this means you''re ready to step into the Foundation Realm. All you need to do is start condensing the Qi that''s filled up your body, and once you''ve condensed it then you''ve officially stepped into the Foundation Realm. I''ll tell you something extremely important though, this process is extremely crucial. How much Qi you condense on your breakthrough will determine how strong you are in the future. The more condensed it is then the stronger you''ll be and your growth will be much more powerful as well. To advance to Mid-Houtian, you''ll have to fill up your body again keeping the same density of Qi, and to break through the next stage just repeat the process. Like before, the amount of Qi you condense will determine your future growth." Elder Kendra exined, but some of the students thought that the first stage didn''t matter as much if they could just condense their Qi even further in the next stage. The Elder seemed to read their minds and corrected them.

    "I''ll exin it in numbers. Let''s say you need 100 Qi to break through to the Foundation Realm. If Person A condenses their Qi to only take up 1% of their body and Person B condenses their Qi to take up 10% of their body, how will their growth differentiate? Person A would need 10,000 Qi to break through to the next stage, while Person B will only need 1000 Qi to breakthrough. It will take 10 times longer for Person A, but they will be 10 times stronger. Let''s say they both break through to the next stage and repeat the same thing. Now, Person A will have 1,000,000 Qipared to Person B who only has 10,000 Qi. Person A is now 100 times stronger than Person B, theoretically. Now, do you understand why this first stage is so important? It lets you stay ahead of the others around you." Elder Kendra said and everyone''s eyes shined when they heard the Elder''s exnation, but Elder Kendra quickly dumped a bucket of ice water onto them, crushing their dreams of being thousands of times stronger than other people.

    "Of course, it''s not easy to just simply condense your Qi to the max. You need an incredibly sturdy body to achieve this. You will also need to keep training and tempering your body as you advance further into this Realm. If your body can''t keep up with the amount of Qi in you, then you''ll either explode or you won''t be able to advance. So one must be extremely careful during this stage and always be training." Elder Kendra said with a smile and a lot of disciples just grunted at this. Training is so boring and painful!

    "Now, onto the Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm. This stage is also incredibly important for your future growth. In this stage, you''ll be continuing what you were doing in the Houtian Stage, but instead of your Qi just existing and wandering around your body nourishing it, you''ll be creating a center or point of origin for it. The center is what we call the Dantian and is literally located at the center of your body. With each stage, you''ll be sending more and more Qi into your Dantian, trying to make this ce where all of your Qi will be stored when you reach the Core Formation Realm. This is not the same as forming a core, you are merely setting up the process to forming your core. Does everybody understand?" Elder Kendra finished exining and asked. A few people seemed to have a question and the Elder just picked the first person.

    "How does the Xiantian Stage differ from the Core Formation Realm?" Someone asked and Elder Kendra seemed to expect this question as she answered immediately.

    "In the Core Formation Realm, you''re forming your core but your core is also where the majority of your Qi will be stored. But in the Xiantian stage, you are merely just sending more Qi to your dantian to prepare for this process. Your Qi is still not stored in your dantian during this stage." Elder Kendra answered the question and it seemed that answered every one else''s question as well.

    "The Foundation Realm is where a lot of people get stuck, so please be careful. If you need help breaking through, then don''t hesitate to ask an Elder to help you. Now, I think I''ve talked long enough about the Foundation Realm, so I''ll move onto the next thing I wanted to talk about. Other cities. So there are actually quite a few other cities other than Lunar Fox City around us. Lunar Fox City is probably the biggest city out of the ones that surround us, though there might be a few that can rival us. To the East, a few hundred kilometers outside of the Torrential Rain Forest, there is a city probably around half the size of Lunar Fox City called Gale City. Gale City has 3 sects in it, but I won''t get into each individual sect today as, for now, all you need to know is how many sects there are. Gale City probably has the most trade with Lunar Fox City since it''s only a few thousand kilometers away. Plus they are also an intermediary city for the one located inside of the Torrential Rain Forest. This city is called The Elven City of Elsum. Yes, there is another race living there that is not human. They live in the Rain Forest and are extremely hard to find. Elves usually stay secluded in their forest, are very prideful of their race, and have longer lifespanspared to us humans. We usually don''t have direct contact with them very often except for tournaments between all of the sects fighting for resources or other events on a simr scale. The Elven City of Elsum has 2 different Sects." Everyone was shocked to hear this news as they''ve never heard of Elves nor have they seen one. Mira was no different. She didn''t expect Elves to be here of all things.<sub> </sub>

    "In the North, there is a ratherrge city called The Sleeted City located in The Sparkling Expanse. It''s around 75% the size of Lunar Fox City and also has many small viges or towns surrounding the city as well. They have 4 Sects there. Even further North, in The cial Ridge, there is a small city called Frosted Berg City. That city is only around 30% the size of Lunar Fox City and they have 1 Sect. Now to the South. There is one city called Mysterious Verdant City in the grasnds before the Dead-Zone. That city is around 50% the size of Lunar Fox City, but there are many viges and towns surrounding it. They also only have 2 Sects there. That about sums up the surrounding area, but know that in between theserger cities there are a bunch of towns and viges. Some live on their own, while others have deals or trade with the cities near them. Alright! Any questions?" Elder Kendra finished exining everything and saw a few people raise their hands with questions.

    "Are the Sects located in these other cities also Branch Sects? Or are they their own separate entity?" Someone asked and Elder Kendra shook her head.

    "No, the only Sects around us that are Branch Sects are the ones located near Lunar Fox City. The other Sects were formed in those cities to try andpete with us so we don''t monopolize all of the resources." Elder Kendra exined and the disciple just nodded her head.

    "Are there other races living on the continent? Or maybe the world?" Someone else asked, but the Elder just shook her head.

    "I''m not sure. There might be other races living on other continents or even on our own continent, but I don''t know. If I had to guess, then I''d say that there were probably other races aside from Elves and Humans." Elder Kendra said and the disciple just nodded her head.

    The disciples all wanted to ask more about the Elves, but they stopped after Elder Kendra just told them to find the city and experience it for themselves.

    "I''ll go ahead and end the ss here, so you are free to go if there are no more questions. See you next week!" Elder Kendra said and walked out of the room. The other disciples also soon followed suit and went their separate ways.

    Mira and Maria walked out and went straight towards the Cultivation Caves. Mira nned to spend another 8 hours here, go back to her residence, check on Dominique and Rhydian, then just cultivate through the night. She had to get ready rather early since she starts her unarmedbat training tomorrow.

 Chapter 101 Training The Disciples

    The next morning, Mira finished cultivating a bit earlier than usual. She then looked over to Dominique, who was sleeping in herp and started to wake her up.

    "Yawn�� G-Good Morning, Mira." Dominique said still half asleep, but Mira just dragged her out of the bed.

    "Today, I will be teaching the other disciples some of the basics of unarmedbat. You will being with me as well, but only as a spectator. Now get ready." Mira said which immediately woke Dominique up.

    "Yes!!" She said with great excitement!

    Mira walked out of her bedroom and saw Maria anxiously waiting for her. They both just nodded at each other and waited for Dominique to be ready. Not long, Dominique came out in different clothes than the rags she normally wears and arge piece of dried meat as a snack. Mira guessed that Maria must''ve gone out and bought some new clothes for her.

    "I''m ready!!" Dominique said with an innocent smile and Mira just nodded.

    "Let''s go." The 3 of them then started heading for the arena.

    Once they made it to therge arena, they were greeted with close to every disciple in the Sect. Elder Bridget seemed to be here as well because she immediately approached Mira as soon as she spotted her.

    "Hello, Mira! I''ve brought that thing that you wanted from me 2 days ago! Also, I''d like to sit in on this to see how you handle things!" Elder Bridget handed her a token and said. Mira just nodded her head and the Elder turned around to make an announcement to everyone.

    "Alright, Disciples! Mira is now here so shut up and get ready! I''m sure she has something to say before you begin!" Elder Bridget yelled at the disciples which immediately shut them up. Mira then stepped up in front of all of them.

    "Unarmedbat is a skill that most people can learn and understand the basics rtively quick, but just like any form ofbat true mastery takes years of diligent practice. I''ve only been instructed to teach you the basics, but since the Elders have a specific purpose in mind for wanting you to learn this then I''ll also mention a few extra techniques as a bonus. I''m sure you''re all wondering what you''ll be learning and what qualifies as basics. Well, I''ll teach you how to punch and kick properly, how to defend and parry attacks against someone using a weapon, and also various types of grapples and chokes. As a bonus, I''ll also demonstrate how to escape restraints and instill in your minds that if you are ever captured, brutality and savagery should be your first options if you want to escape. Now, I also think that the best way to learn things is through experience, so at the end of every day you''ll all have a group battle against me using what you learned. Thest 5 standing will then be able to challenge Maria. If you are able to beat Maria, then you''ll receive a Cultivation Cave token that will give you unlimited daily uses. The only catch is, you''ll be the one being challenged if you have the token and if you lose then you''ll have to give it up to the person that beat you. Does everyone understand so far?!" Mira exined what she''ll be teaching them over theing weeks, but there seemed to be a few people that have some problems with it.

    "Huh? How can we trust that you are even a good teacher?! I know you beat the Elder in that match the other day, but that doesn''t qualify you to teach us!" A few of the disciples said as they stepped out and said. These disciples were also fairly strong and had Stage 8 Qi Condensation Cultivation.

    "Oh? Then why don''t you stop me? I was kind of hoping this would happen. Hehe. Alright, ss, I''ll be teaching my first lesson!" Mira said as 15 people stepped out of the crowd and approached her.

    "There''s 15 of us! I refuse to believe that she can beat us all! Let''s get her!" One of the 15 women said and they all ran towards Mira.

    "Alright ss, lesson 1! Watch my stance and how I rotate my body with every move I make!" Mira said as she rotated her hips and body with every kick or punch. She took out a few of the disciples by throwing normal punches at their faces and stomach.

    "Lesson 2! If you don''t have proper coordination when you fight in a group then you are only working against each other!" Mira said as she took advantage of theirck of coordination and confusion. This caused some of the disciples to hit each other instead while Mira just stepped in to give the finishing blow.

    "Lesson 3! Defending, dodging, and parrying is just as important as attacking!" Mira said as she entered a brawl between 3 disciples, but they weren''t able to get a clean hit on her as she blocked, countered, and dodged every attack. Using this method she knocked that 3 unconscious.

    "Lesson 4! Grappling and chokeholds can be extremely useful when you encounter stronger opponents or are within close proximity." Mira said as she grabbed one of the disciples and choked them out then took down another disciple, dislocated her shoulder, and knocked her out.

    "Lesson 5! Don''t hesitate to be as brutal and savage as you can! Anything goes when you are fighting for your life!" Mira said as she grabbed one of the unconscious and used them as a shield and even threw them at the remaining disciples to catch them off guard before knocking them out.

    Once all 15 of the disciples were unconscious, she kicked them out of the way which woke them up and put them in a daze.

    "You 15 can watch from over there for today! I don''t ever want to see such a pathetic disy again now that I''m here! If anyone else here has an issue then I don''t mind reviewing these 5 lessons with you all again!" Mira said in amanding tone, but nobody else spoke up.

    "It seems you lot aren''t that stupid! Alright! We''ll start the day off with you recreating the stance that you saw during my first lesson!" Mira said as she took out a barbed whip. Maria immediately wondered where she got such a thing as the only time she remembers, Mira, using a whip is when they first met. But during thisst week, Mira actually went out of the Sect and got a whip to use during training.

    The disciples were hesitant at first since everything was happening so fast, but soon Mira walked up to the first disciple and whipped her in the back.

    "A-Argh!" She groaned in pain.

    "What the fuck did I just say?! Were you listening?! I said to recreate the stance I used!" Mira yelled into the girl''s face. The disciple felt like crying right now but did as she said. She tried her best to recreate the stance only to get whipped in the legs this time.

    "Girl, are you blind?! I said to recreate the stance! You barely moved! Focus!!" Mira yelled like a drill sergeant. The girl still failed to meet her expectations, so she just took hold of both of her thumbs and dislocated them. The girl groaned in pain again, but this time she started crying.<sub> </sub>

    "I said that I''d teach you how to get out of restraints as well, remember? Well, dislocating your thumbs is part of this. Now get into the stance! Once you do that, I''ll push your thumbs back into ce." Mira said and the girl shivered but tried her best to focus on the scene a few minutes ago. Whether it was due to Mira''s harsh training and the girl''s survival instincts kicked in or something else, she was able to remember the stance that Mira was in and recreated it. Mira checked the stance and nodded.

    "It''s not perfect, but it''s a pass." Mira said as she popped her thumbs back into ce. This was more painful than them dislocating.

    "I''ll now go down the line and check everyone''s stance." Mira said as she went to the next person.

    Dominique and Maria were standing away from everything. Mira continued inspecting everyone and whipping them if they got it wrong. Dominique started trying out the stance until she was able to recreate the stance that Mira wanted. Maria looked over and was surprised to see Dominique actually got it correct.

    "That looks pretty good to me! Good job, Dominique! I''m sure Mira would give it a pass!" Mariaplimented, but Dominique just shook her head.

    "I think she''d give it a pass, but I feel like I''m missing something. I can tell that I haven''t been able topletely replicate her stance." Dominique exined which greatly surprised Maria.

    "You can tell that much from just looking?! That''s amazing!" Maria eximed.

    "Mira told me to pay attention and even announced her lessons during that fight. She said that I need to prove myself for her to teach me personally. The only thing I want right now is for Mira to personally teach me, so the faster I learn then the faster she''ll teach me!" Dominque said as she continued trying to recreate the stance. Maria wasn''t sure what to think of that response. She wanted to feel bad for Dominique, but she also had a goal and would reach that goal no matter what.

    It took Mira a while to get through all of the disciples, but she eventually did and moved onto the next thing.

    "Come here, Maria! We''re going to demonstrate how to properly attack, defend, counter, and parry!" Miramanded and Maria dejectedly walked up to Mira and took her stance.

    "Next lesson! I will show you how to punch and attack properly, while also how to defend, counter, and parry as well. I will only go over it once so pay attention!" Mira said to the disciples and they all focused as much as they could.

    Mira then threw out a basic punch and a basic kick while Maria just blocked them. Then she had Maria do the same thing except she threw out 3 kicks and 3 punches. Mira demonstrated how to defend, counter, and parry each of them. The smart disciples were able to gain a bit extra from Maria, but others were too focused on Mira.

    "Now! Get into pairs and have 1 person focused on defending and the other person attacking! I will be walking around to check on you!" Mira said as everyone started forming their pairs and doing what Mira said.

    Mira then walked around and started ''correcting'' them whenever they got something wrong. And after inspecting every group, she walked up to the front and let them continue doing this for a while.

    "Alright! You can stop now! Today, I''ve been rather lenient on you. Everything you did today was piss poor, but I let it slide! Tomorrow, these things won''t slide and I expect a better performance. For now, you can stop what your doing as Maria and I are going to spar with each other to demonstrate how you can use these basic techniques in a fight. Then we''ll move onto you all attacking me with what you''ve learned and thest 5 standing will get a chance to beat Maria!" Mira said as the disciples all stopped what they were doing and Mira dragged Maria back to the front.

    The two of them immediately began sparring using only the things Mira taught today. Well, Maria wasn''t skilled enough to follow this rule so she just sparred with Mira like normal.

    They sparred for about an hour before Mira decided now is a good time to end it. So she just knocked Maria unconscious, tossed her over to Dominique, and told her to wake Maria up. Dominique didn''t really know how to do that so she just started pping Maria''s face, but to a mortal child like her, this is like pping a rock. She was amazed by this but didn''t know how to wake Maria up now, so she just started jumping on her stomach. Dominique continued this while Mira told the disciples to fight her.

    "All of you,e at me with the techniques you''ve learned today! If I see you trying something else, then you will be greatly punished!" Mira announced, but people were a bit hesitant to try anything. Mira just shrugged her shoulders.

    "Then I''ll juste to you!" Mira yelled and started her onught!

    Even though Mira said to use the techniques they learned today, that''s easier said than done. They literally just learned everything today, so when it came to using them during a fight their brain panicked a bit and didn''t know what to do. It''s like they forgot all of her teachings. But Mira didn''t care and just approached the disciples, beat them to a pul, then moved onto the next one. It didn''t take her that long to bring the count down to 5, but these 5 disciples were just lucky they weren''t beaten up beforehand.

    Dominique seemed to wake Maria up with all of her jumping. Mira looked at Maria.

    "Fight those 5." Shemanded. Maria just looked at the 5 scared disciples and felt pity, but she didn''t feel like disobeying Mira because of a little pity. So she just slowly approached them.

    "I''m sorry!" Maria said each time she knocked one of them out. It barely took her any time at all to beat these 5 disciples. After everyone was defeated and lying on the ground Mira announced the end of the session.

    "This brings an end to the training for today! I''m highly disappointed in all of you! I expected better from some of the strongest women in the city! We will continue doing the same thing we did today for the next 2 days! Be sure to be here tomorrow morning as well! Don''t make me find you and drag your ass to training!" Mira said and left with Maria and Dominique. She was going to go drop off Dominique and cultivate at the Cultivation Cave. Maria could also do this now that she had the token that the Elder gave her.

    This type of training continued for the next 2 days before the disciples would finally get a break.

 Chapter 102 The Foundation Realm!

    Mira continued training these disciples the same way for the next 2 days and after training them for 3 days they were still useless. It''d be pointless to add on moreplicated things such as grapples, chokes, and takedowns. But the disciples were lucky! By the end of the 3 days, every disciple had their thumbs dislocated at least once, and for some of the women, she even made them dislocate their own thumbs. Mira was truly grateful that she could multitask. As for any people that seemed to stand out and progress faster than the others, the only noteworthy person would be Cine as Mira expected. She even got to be one of the 5 to try and defeat Maria at the end of the day, but Maria beat her senseless almost like she held a grudge against Cine. Mira just snickered at this as she was able to light a fire in Maria and push her to use what little brain she has to learn martial arts faster. Maria would now evene to Mira whenever they were just cultivating in their rooms and ask her to spar and teach her more. Dominique loved when this happened because she would get to spectate them and would even practice the moves that they used by herself while they cultivated.

    Mira could also see Dominique starting to fill out quite a bit. She was beginning to look like a healthy young girl, but Mira decided it was still too soon for training. She was hard on people, but she wasn''t stupid. Dominique''s body is still incredibly weak and frail, not to mention she is still a child. If Mira were to put her through intensive training, it would undoubtedly destroy her body.

    Maria was also now able to go to the Cultivation Cave every day due to Mira scamming the Elder. Though Elder Bridget and Elder Kendra didn''t want to just hand out a reward like this, it would also be troublesome to get all of the disciples to participate in something if the reward wasn''t great. Mira was able to kill 3 birds with one stone with that token as the reward. She could get Maria to work harder, make sure Maria doesn''t fall too far behind in cultivation and create a good incentive for the disciples to work hard as well.

    Over the next 3 weeks, Mira and Maria cultivated almost all day and night while the only times they weren''t cultivating is either during their weekly sses, sparring sessions in their residence, or the unarmedbat training with the other disciples.

    Nothing special happened in these 3 weeks. The disciples did the same thing during each unarmedbat training session because Mira still didn''t feel like they werepetent enough to move onto the next stage in their training. She guessed that they''d need another 4-5 weeks before she can move onto grappling.

    The weekly sses were rather boring for Mira. They discussed proper ways of training their bodies in the training grounds, which Mira didn''t need to listen to since she already has this knowledge from her previous lives. They also discussed the different types of weapons cultivators use in battle. Mira also didn''t need to know this, nor did she care. They also talked about the different professions that cultivators have and the basics of what they did. Once again, Mira didn''t care about this as she already knew what these jobs entailed. What Mira didn''t know is the specifics about these jobs and was just waiting for those sses that should being up sometime in the future.

    These days went by rather quickly as Mira and Maria spent all of their time cultivating. After the first week, Mira was able to break through to Stage 9 Qi Condensation. Her strength rose greatly, but she wasn''t happy with just this and continued cultivating like a madman. She really wants to see just how strong she''ll be in the Foundation Realm! Maria also cultivated like crazy and broke through to Stage 9 a day after Mira.

    The two of them continued to spar and cultivate in their free time but cultivating started to take priority as they were both so close to the Foundation Realm. And after another 2 and a half weeks, Mira could feel it. She had reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm. Once Mira reached this point, she actually waited for another day so Maria can reach this point as well, but this is because she wanted to be there to remind Maria of something. Once Maria reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, Mira walked up to her and they both made their way to the Cultivation Caves. Once they reached the Caves, they showed their tokens to Elder Sue and decided to tell her they were going to break through to the Foundation Realm.

    "We are going to Break Through to the Foundation Realm during this cultivation session, so if we go past the original 8 hours, can you wait for us toe out by ourselves? I don''t know how long it''ll take us to break through." Mira asked which shocked Elder Sue a bit, but the more she thought about it, this really wasn''t that surprising.

    "Sure, but just this one time. If you need any help just let me know." Elder Sue easily agreed as disciples would actually do this quite frequently here whenever they needed to make a major breakthrough like this. Mira just nodded her head and walked inside with Maria. When they both reached their cave, Mira stopped and looked at Maria.

    "Remember Maria, when you reach the point where you need to condense your energy that''s within your body, I want you to condense it to the max! Though it''ll take longer to make breakthroughs in the future and we''ll have to train our bodies extremely hard, once we make it to the Core Formation Realm, we''ll be leagues above the others. The Sect has everything we could possibly need to make this happen so we should take advantage of that! Not to mention, our bodies are already tempered to the extreme and are probably tougher than probably Low and Middle Houtian Stage Experts, maybe even some Late-Houtian Stage Experts. So don''t hold back and trust your instincts. Also, don''t forget to use your Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill." Mira reminded her with a stern voice, this is very important and she didn''t want Maria to fuck it up.

    "I know! Don''t worry! I''ll be sure toe out even stronger than you!!" Maria eximed in an excited voice. Mira nodded her head and walked into the cave.

    She sat down in a lotus position in the middle of the cave, took out her Rank 3 Energy Gathering Pill, and began to cultivate. Once she hit that barrier that seemed to be preventing her from progressing any further, she popped the pill into her mouth and swallowed it. Almost immediately she could feel her body burst with energy! And the barrier that was preventing her from advance was starting to break! Mira now focused on trying to link her meridians to every part and cell of her body, while also sending energy into every fiber. She started sending energy to the organs first as that was the easiest. She could immediately feel her organs filling up like a balloon! She kept sending more and more energy into her organs until they started to stretch. Even though they were stretching due to all of the Qi being shoved into them, she still kept sending Qi into them until her organs reached max capacity. Only then did she stop with the organs and start sending her Qi into other parts of her body.

    The next thing she focused on was her bones and bone marrow. This part was extremely painful as the more energy she sent into her bones, she could feel them wanting to crack as they were expanding so much. The Qi being sent in her marrow wasn''t making anything better. Her bones actually started to expand until she reached her breaking point and stopped sending Qi into them. At this section, she started to feel her body resonating with the Qi being sent into her body and knew it was her lightning, but it didn''t seem to fully activate yet. Mira shook the useless thoughts away and moved onto the muscles.<sub> </sub>

    She did the same thing with the muscles. And after a while, Mira looked like a super buff bodybuilder, but with the body of a 13-14-year-old girl. Her body was expanding like a balloon. This process continued with her flesh and skin as well. All that was left is her blood.

    She started to direct tons of Qi into her blood and it felt like she was about to explode into a bloody mess! Blood wasn''t supposed to be expanded like this, and her body literally started to balloon up as she sent more and more Qi into her blood. After filling up her blood to maximum capacity, she felt her body and Qi click! And then like she was struck by lightning, she started

    "NNNgggghhh!!!" And then like she was struck by lightning, she started feeling immense pain. Maybe some of the worst pain she''s ever felt in all of her years of living! Her blue lightning started to resonate with the Qi that was now contained in her body. Around Mira''s body, an intense storming blizzard formed. Within Mira''s cave was an Icy Apocalyptic Hell! Her lighting was shooting out from her body, but it was also coursing through every fiber of her being. Every cell, every molecule, her Qi, everything had blue lighting coursing through it. Mira felt extreme pain from this, but she also felt a sort of synchronization as well. Like she was bing one!

    The Elder outside started feeling this deathly chilling air permeating from within the cave and didn''t know what was happening. This isn''t supposed to happen when someone breaks through to the Foundation Realm. They are just supposed to need a ton of Qi, but never would a blizzard start because of it! She didn''t really know what to do, so she just called for some other Elders to make their way over. If Mira was really breaking through right now, then she didn''t want to disturb her.

    Meanwhile, Mira just felt her lightning grow more and more ferocious as time passed. It was like an Azure Dragon made of lighting coursing through her body. Mira felt several things changing as this happened. Her body was bing stronger just from this lightning coursing through her body along with the synchronization. She could also feel her bloodline reacting, giving her deeper insights into her Absolute Ice Dao! The storm outside her body only grew fiercer and fiercer. Mira then entered what seemed to be a state of enlightenment. And the power permeating from her body grew even more! This went on for hours!

    Numerous Elders gathered outside the Cultivation Caves and could feel apocalyptic hell growing stronger with each passing minute inside. They too didn''t want to disturb whoever was breaking through as it could greatly affect the oue. But as the storm grew stronger and stronger, even some of the Elders started feeling the chill, which truly shocked them!

    They had to force themselves to not try and stop this madness. And their waiting paid off as after several hours of waiting, the storm went away and things went back to normal. But all of the Elders decided to stay until Mira walked out as they had some questions.

    Mira''s enlightenment ended, but she didn''t know hours have passed as it only felt like seconds to her. She just moved on to condensing the Qi that''s currently in her body. This is an extremely tedious process as she has to keep the same amount of Qi in her body, but reduce the amount of space it takes up, therefore, increasing the density of the Qi. Mira then began the tedious process of condensing her Qi.

    As she condensed her Qi, there was a visible change in her body as well. The once swelled-up body that looked like an intable doll is now deting, returning to its original state. Mira condensed and condensed until her body returned to the state she was in beforeing to the cave. But even after this, she continued condensing. Her body has been tempered to the max before this and only became stronger after her state of enlightenment and synchronization.

    Qi was now part of her body, and so whenever she condensed the Qi in her body, she was also condensing some of her body as well. So when Mira continued, her muscles and skin tightened around her body. This only made her look more like an ordinary 14-year old girl as at a nce you couldn''t even tell Mira''s body was insanely strong.

    This went on until Mira felt like she condensed her Qi as much as she possibly could. And if she were to make aparison, she felt like her body only contained a drop from the ocean that upied her body before the condensing process. But this one drop had the power of an ocean and more.

    Mira finally opened her eyes and felt like she was born anew. The amount of power and Qi contained in her body now could simply not bepared to herself at Stage 9 Qi Condensation. She could wipe the floor with herself from 2 weeks ago, and would only need to lift a finger! This is mainly due to the effects of the Energy Gathering Pill, the Cultivation Cave, and Mira''s absurdly strong body. Most people would not have been able to even think about doing what Mira did during her breakthrough and expanding their body like that. They''d explode! Not to mention most people wouldn''t be able to gather the amount of Qi necessary to do that. Though it would seem that 2 abnormalities were produced today as Maria also did the exact same thing as Mira, just without the storm and enlightenment.

    Mira finally opened her eyes and let out a deep breath. She stood up and started stretching her body, then walked out of her cave, not knowing what kind ofmotion she has caused!

 Chapter 103 The Future

    Mira walked outside of the Cultivation Cave as she had finally finished her breakthrough. But when she was walking towards the exit, she sensed multiple figures waiting outside. The people waiting outside also spotted her and waited for Mira toe over to them. Maria seemed to be one of those people as well.

    When the Elders saw Mira walking towards them, they almost didn''t want to believe that this was someone that just broke through to the Foundation Realm! The aura she radiated was nothing like someone at the Eary-Houtian Stage! Not to mention that the temperature severely dropped whenever she got close.

    "Mira! What was that?! Why was there a blizzard whenever you broke through?" One of the Elders asked with concern and curiosity.

    "Blizzard? I don''t remember such a thing happening. All I know is that I now feel moreplete." Mira exined as it''d be too much to exin everything to them and it''s not like it''d help them in any way.

    "Moreplete? Why? Do you have a special constitution or something?" Another Elder asked.

    "I guess you could say that." Mira only half-answered the question and just waited for them to let her go.

    "Well, it''s fine if you don''t know what happened. We just wanted to make sure your breakthrough went smoothly and it looks like it did. Though you did spend longer in there than most disciples. You spent around 16 hours in the cave where most spend around half of that on average. Congrattions on your breakthrough! "

    "Congrattions!" All of the Elders said and just got out of Mira''s way to let her through. She just nodded and walked away from the Elders and Maria followed.

    Maria didn''t ask any questions or say anything on the way, but she is extremely curious as to what happened. Though she thinks she knows already.

    Once they made it back to their room is when Maria finally bombarded her with questions.

    "How did your breakthrough go? What was that blizzard? Also, you seem a bit stronger than me after your breakthrough, why? What are you going to do next?" Maria had so many questions.

    "My breakthrough went smoothly. Also, I really don''t recall a blizzard happening, but my blue lightning and physique seemed to react to me breaking through to the Foundation Realm. I think my lightning made my body a bit stronger than before and also I gained a deeper understanding of my Dao. This probably is why I seem slightly stronger than you. And I''m going to go take my Rank 4 Basic Bone Tempering Pill and Rank 4 Basic OrganTempering Pill. You should do the same. After doing that, I''m not really sure what to do next. Probably just continue training until something interestinges up. Maye, I''ll participate in the Arena or Batte Tower or take on some Missions. There are a lot of things to do, but none of them are that urgent so the best thing to do is just train!" Mira exined to Maria while she just sighed listening to this. Truly a training maniac!

    Dominique seemed to be asleep, so Mira and Maria just found a quiet ce and took out their Rank 4 Bone and Organ Tempering Pills. And popped one of them in their mouths.

    ***

    In another part of the Sect, the Elders were discussing some things that were happening in the Sect until one of them brought up Mira.

    "It seems that Mira and Maria both broke through to the Foundation Realm. And both of them are incredibly strong for people that just entered this Realm, abnormally strong." One of the Elders mentioned.<sub> </sub>

    "Haha! It''s about time! Speaking of Mira, her unarmedbat ss is going very well! Though, I think she''s made most of the students afraid of her due to her�� unusual methods of punishment. But the Disciples are progressing extremely quickly even though she still says ''They couldn''t beat a newborn baby with those shitty skills.'' But I think they are progressing rather quickly. They probably will only need a few months to understand and be able to use her teachings if they ever encounter a situation when they''ll need it." Elder Bridget spoke up as she has been spectating most of Mira''s training sessions.

    "Unusual methods of punishment? Like what? And hasn''t it only been 3 weeks?" Another Elder asked. Elder Bridget just scratched the back of her head and wasn''t sure if she should say.

    "Ahahaha. Well, we did give her free reign to do whatever she wants as long as she doesn''t severely injure or kill them right? If one of the disciples doesn''t meet her expectations, then she whips them, and if they keep failing, she''ll dislocate their thumbs which she says they''ll need to know how to doter. And if they fail again after that, she spars with them, beats them within an inch of their life, and throws them to the side to spectate. But this is forcing the disciples to try much harder so they don''t disappoint her. But after watching her over these past few weeks, I can safely say that I haven''t seen anyone as skilled as her in this style ofbat. Nobody evenes close." Elder Bridget exined which stunned the Elders for a second. Some of them wanted to get angry, but after thinking about it some more, they have started to see a bit of a change in their disciple''s attitude. They have started to take fighting a bit more seriously and some of the Elders have even spotted more disciples sparring both with and without a weapon. Results speak for themselves and Mira clearly knew how to bnce her brutality. Almost like she''s perfected the art of intensive training.

    "I don''t really know what to think of this. But I''m definitely seeing a positive change in our disciples. Like they are mentally stronger than 3 weeks ago. I guess we''ll just keep letting her do whatever she wants and wait to see if any of our disciples start to break." One Elder chimed in, but Elder Kendra shook her head and spoke up.

    "I doubt any of our disciple''s minds would break. I don''t know how she does it, but our disciples don''t seem unhappy with the punishment. They don''t want to receive any, but they neverin about anything. Whether it be her domineering attitude that epts nothing less than perfection, her style of training, or if our disciples can feel themselves getting stronger in all aspects. They neverin about her and some of them even seem excited for the time they get to spend with Mira. It''s really quite amazing. Maybe after she''s done with this, we can have her spar with our disciples more often. I bet we''ll be able to see another change in our disciples, but only if Mira is as skilled with her weapon as she is with he fists." Elder Kendra said and the other Elders also agreed. They haven''t heard a single disciplein about Mira.

    "Moving onto the next subject. In around 2 years is when there''ll be an Inter-Sect tournament with the other 4 sects around Lunar Fox City. We won''t be getting any new disciples before the tournament, so are there any new Disciples that have caught your eye that you''d like to start training?" Elder Kendra changed the subject.

    "Well, there are the obvious ones. Mira and Maria, I don''t know what weapon Mira uses, but Maria seems to use a sword. I can tell she''s never had a proper trainer before and is probably only using her experience to make up for that. I don''t think we need to worry too much about Mira, she''ll probably take care of herself, and if she does need anything she''ll just ask us. Cine is highly skilled, but her cultivation is rather low. If she can make it to the Foundation Realm in these next 2 years then I think she''ll be extremely tough to beat. Pretty much the top 3 from the Entrance Exam Tournament have all somewhat caught my eye, but not like Cine. We''ll just have to see how much they grow. But I think I agree with your previous suggestion. If we can get Mira to spar with some of our stronger or more skilled disciples, while also teaching them ourselves I think we''ll be able to see extraordinary growth. I think we need to step up our game though haha!" Elder Bridget suggested and most of the other Elders agreed. There were a couple of new Inner Disciples that seemed pretty good, but it''s just too soon to tell.

    "We''ll discuss this a bit more at ater date, but I agree with Elder Bridget''s suggestion. But I don''t want any of you to discuss things with Mira. Leave that to either me or the Sect Master. Mira can be tricky to talk to and I don''t want you to start losing more things from the Sect to her." Elder Kendra said as she was also saying this to herself. The other Elders didn''t have a problem with this so they just nodded their heads.

    ***

    Mira and Maria had spent a few hours absorbing both of the pills and tempering their bones and organs. Their bones were now much sturdier, tougher, and stronger. While their organs were more flexible and stic while also being more resilient. Their bodies were even stronger than before and the feeling was amazing! In just a single day, they have improved more than they could''ve ever dreamed of. Mira really wanted to test out her newfound strength, but she has a few responsibilities to take care of first before she can do that. With the first one just now waking up.

    Dominique woke up a few minutes after they finished their Rank 4 pills. She walked out of the bedroom, spotted Mira, and immediately dove into her chest to give her a hug.

    "Wee back, Mira! Were you able to break through?" Dominique asked while her head was still in Mira''s chest.

    "Yes and I''m rather anxious to test out my strength, but there are a few things I have to do before that. I think it''s time for you to start training." Mira said as she examed Dominiques body. She now looked like an extremely healthy young child. Her body shouldn''t give out if Mira puts her through intensive training.

    Dominique''s eyes immediately sparkled when she heard this.

    "When do we start?!"

 Chapter 104 Dominiques Training

    "When do we start?!" Dominique yelled in excitement.

    "We will be starting right now. I''ll give you your training schedule and I want you to stick with it until you reach the Qi Condensation Realm. I''ll only watch over your training today to make sure you do everything I say correctly. From tomorrow onwards, you''ll have to do it by yourself. How much you get out of my training depends on how much you put in and I refuse to teach anyone who can''t put 100% effort into what I''m teaching them. I''ll know if you are putting in all of your efforts or not. And if you dare lie to me about your training, then I''ll throw you back to the vige you came from. If you can''t even be honest with me, you won''t be able, to be honest with yourself, and if you''re not honest with yourself, then you''re not using your maximum potential. Follow me!" Mira gave Dominique what seemed to be a pep talk right before a workout. Dominique lost her child-like behavior and nodded her head in determination and drive.

    Mira brought her to the little training area they had in their residence and as soon as Dominique stepped into the training area, she felt her whole body start to freeze.

    It was so cold that her movements immediately slowed, her breathing became rough, and her body started to shrivel up. She started to wonder if she would even survive if she took a step forward. But all of a sudden she got kicked in the back, sending her to the middle of the area.

    "What the hell are you standing around for?! You were so excited just a second ago! I didn''t realize that your resolve was so pathetic! Now get up and run until I say stop! If I see you slowing down at all, then I''ll be sure to let you know!" Mira yelled at Dominique and pulled out a whip.

    Maria was watching this scene from behind and just shook her head with a light smile on her face. She could tell that Mira is being especially hard on Dominique which immediately showed when even she started feeling chilly due to the training area. She noticed that Mira put 5 small ice balls in the training area, but they were extremely potent even though they were so small.

    ''I guess Mira is testing her along with strengthening her mind. I guess it''s better if she gets used to this sort of treatment early on because Mira truly doesn''t ept anything half-assed. She doesn''t care if you''re bad at something as long as you put in the effort to get better. I think that''s what makes her great. Talent doesn''t mean anything to her, though she probably wishes that at least 1 person has great talent in whatever she teaches. Well, hopefully, Dominique can survive today.'' Maria thought to herself as she continued to spectate from behind.

    Dominique had started trying to run, but it was extremely slow. She then felt an intense pain on her back.

    "You call that fucking running?! You''re barely walking! If you can''t even do the warm-up then you might as well just throw in the towel!! I don''t see you even trying to run!" Mira yelled as she whipped her again.

    "Argh!! I-I-I''m sorry! I-I-I''ll do better!" Dominique struggled to get out as she started moving faster, but Mira still wasn''t satisfied with her speed and knew she could run a little faster. So After a few seconds, Dominique got whipped again.

    "What did I literally just say?! I even told you that I wouldn''t ept anything less than 100% and you still have the audacity to make me watch this shit! What a disgrace! If I knew you were so useless, I would''ve thrown you out already like everyone else!! Even your own parents didn''t want you! I think I understand why now!" Mira yelled extremely hurtful and condescending words at Dominique, but this just made her start feeling all sorts of emotions. Anger, frustration, confusion, sadness, hatred, and reluctance. But what she really didn''t want to happen is for Mira to throw her away. She wanted to stay by her side, train with her, fight with her, go adventuring with her, and be taken care of by her. She then started to usher forth every bit of energy contained within her small body.

    "I�� Am�� Not�� USELESS!!" Dominique kept screaming as she ran at her absolute maximum speed. Mira was now satisfied with this result and let her run for about an hour.

    "Stop!" Mira yelled and Dominique immediately copsed. She looked like she was on the brink of death.

    "You have 15 minutes to use the cultivation technique, circte that Qi to help heal your muscles and warm you up. After you 15 minutes is up, we will move onto the next portion of your training." Miramanded and even though Dominique was on the brink of death, her survival instincts started to kick in and did exactly what Mira told her to do. Her body was slowly recovering and warming up, though you couldn''t say she was warm. She just wouldn''t die from the cold. Those 15 minutes went by quick, a little too quick.

    "Times up! Onto the next portion of your training! Your upper body!" Miramanded as Dominique slowly stood up.

    Mira actually brought out a bunch of different-sized rocks that seemed to be cut to look simr to dumbbells. She then proceeded to demonstrate every upper body workout she knew. This also included the core as well. Situps, pushups, bicep curls, different presses, curls, anything, and everything. She only showed them to Dominique once before she made her do them all on her own.

    Dominique was able to remember most of the workouts, but she eventually missed a few so Mira had to ''reeducate'' her. Needless to say, she didn''t forget them a second time. Dominique also had to take 10-minute breaks every 30 minutes so she wouldn''t die. Mira didn''t punish her for this as she truly would die if she didn''t have these breaks.

    This continued for around 4 hours before Dominique couldn''t use her upper body anymore. She just copsed on the ground and fainted. Mira picked her up and brought her back inside before pping her until she woke up.

    "Ahhh!!" Dominique screamed in surprise and pain when she was forcefully woke up.

    "You have 1 hour to eat and recover before we move onto the next half of our training. The lower body!" Mira said as she tossed a couple of rations towards her. Since Dominique couldn''t even move her upper body right now, there was no way to eat so she had to recover first.<sub> </sub>

    It took her a whole 45 minutes to be able to move her arms and she spent the rest of the time shoving her food down. After the hour was up, Mira came back.

    "Hour is up. Follow me!" Mira said as they actually walked out of their Residence and towards the rest of the Sect. Dominique has been waiting for this day for around a month and knew that Mira is taking her to the Sect''s Training Grounds to withstand the pressure.

    Not long after leaving their building, they reached the Training Grounds. There was an Elder in front of this ce as well seemingly keeping watch over the disciples. Mira went up to this Elder.

    "I''m sure you''ve heard from Elder Kendra, but this child here is allowed into the Training Grounds." Mira said bluntly to the Elder while pointing at Dominique. The Elder was surprised for several reasons and didn''t really know what to think at first. She didn''t expect Mira''s attitude to be like this, she also didn''t expect to see Mira today and had never seen Dominique before. But they were all told by Elder Kendra and the Sect Master that Mira just treats everyone this way and to not feel any disrespect from it.

    "Yes, I''ve heard. So is she going in them today? I don''t feel the slightest bit of strength in her, not to mention she already looks drained right now. Are you sure it''s a good idea to go to one of the Training Grounds today? Even the weakest one might kill her." The Elder asked out of your concern.

    "Whether she lives or dies is up to her. It is none of my concern. She will being here every day at this time for an hour without me. If you see her close to dying, then I ask you not to save her. If she''s going to die by some paltry pressure then she''s not even worth the effort." Mira said bluntly and walked over to the First Training Ground, the one with the weakest pressure. A few new outer disciples were already in it, and all of them looked over as they heard a familiar domineering voice. They all felt their spines tingle when they saw Mira.

    Mira told Dominique to get ready when they reached the training ground then pushed her in. Immediately, Dominique dropped to her knees and spat up a mouthful of blood. This pressure is not meant for a mortal like her. She felt like she was being ttened by arge boulder. Every fiber of her being was being forcefully pushed to the ground and she kept spitting up blood as the pressure started to rip apart her body. Mira just walked up and shoved a Rank 1 Rejuvenation pill down her throat.

    "Resist the pressure by sending Qi into your body to help repair yourself. You will do this for an hour." Mira said as Dominique kept screaming and gritting her teeth in pain. Whenever a part of her body healed, another part was being ripped apart. Blood leaked from her pores and the pain was driving her insane. The other disciples watched on in horror as this little girl was being ttened by the pressure and Mira just stood there with her arms crossed, watching her. No remorse in her eyes, like she didn''t care if Dominique lived or died.

    "Are�� Are you sure it''s okay to leave her like that? She''s only a child." The Elder came up to Mira and muttered.

    "She said that she wants me to train her and make her strong. I''m improving her body, mind, and resolve by putting her through this. Not to mention she gets to experience unending pain and torture, her body will also improve faster if it''s always at the brink of death. An hour of this will equal several hours to tens of hours worth of training. Like I said earlier, whether she lives or dies is none of my concern andpletely up to her." Mira said to the Elder which made the Elder''s mind go nk for a second. She couldn''t argue against her logic, but isn''t this a little too messed up to put on a child? She can''t be any older than 8 and she already has to experience this type of torture? The Elder then remembered the state that Dominique came in and couldn''t help but picture her going through a different type of torture beforeing here. Her body shook at the thought of being put through this and started to think she was lucky for being much older than Mira or else she might be in Dominique''s position right now.

    "Your hour is up. Looks like you lived, good for you. Recover your energy on the way back so you can get ready for the second half of your training." Mira said as she dragged her almost lifeless body out of the Training Grounds and forced her to stand up. She then put some more rations in her hands and walked back to their residence. The people watching this scene were dumbfounded. This poor girl is only halfway done?!

    Dominique shuffled her feet to get back to the room so she could save energy while she ate. She wanted to save as much energy as possible for her lower body training.

    Once they made it back to the room, they went straight to the training area and Mira just threw her back in the middle of the area.

    "I''ll begin showing you Lower Body workouts. Pay attention." Mira ordered and began showing Dominique how to train her lower body. Lunges, step-ups, squats, deadlifts, calf raises, and simr workouts were all shown to Dominique. Mira then just told her to work out until she couldn''t do it anymore.

    This went on for another 4 hours with 10-minute breaks every 30 minutes as well. Dominique then copsed onto the ground and Mira made her crawl out of the training area.

    "Eat and then go to sleep." Mira said and gave her some more rations. Dominique was still on the ground, but she could at least use her arms to eat and didn''t need to immediately recover. Mira walked off and went back to her room to cultivate.

    Once Dominique finished eating and could stand up, she slowly made her way towards Mira''s bedroom and copsed straight onto the bed. She wrapped herself around Mira and fell asleep instantly.

    Mira showed a faint smile on her face at this and continued cultivating.

 Chapter 105 Magical Beasts

    Mira kept cultivating and sparring with Maria until it was time for her next ss. Dominique also kept following Mira''s training schedule and did her best to do exactly what she was told yesterday. She also tried to remember the feeling of pushing her body to the limit like she did yesterday. But Mira was nice enough to spar with Maria during her lunch break so she could still watch.

    The training that Dominique was put through didn''t seem to get any better the next day as she knew that one mistake might very well cost her life. But she still continued and pushed through so she could get stronger while not disappointing Mira at the same time. Even though she experienced unending pain and torture, these were some of the happiest days of Dominique''s life. Working hard to reach one''s goal is amazing!

    p The days went by quickly and it was time for Mira''s next ss. Even though she really just wanted to charge out of the city and ughter some beasts, these sses were still mandatory and gave great information. So she kept holding in her raging and overflowing energy, but this only made her seem more terrifying and cold than before. Her aura was bing unruly and wherever she walked, the temperature dropped significantly.</anda>

    As Mira and Maria walked to their ss, they received a bunch of stares as most of them could feel Mira''s terrifying aura.

    Once they entered the ssroom and sat down, the disciples felt like they were about to freeze over! It was so damn cold! As they waited for all of the new disciples to walk in, almost everybody was shivering and had small ice crystals forming on and around them. Then finally Elder Kendra walked in to which she immediately addressed the issue.

    "Mira, is something troubling you? You''re turning the room into an ice cube." Elder Kendra asked with a slightly nervous voice as Mira''s force of presence right now is immense.

    "I''m fine. I''m just a bit pent up after my breakthrough and can''t properly control myself right now. I''m trying to contain myself right now so I don''t identally kill some of the weaker disciples. I''ll be going out in a few days to let loose. You can continue with the lesson." Mira said with an extremely cold voice that also had a hint of her killing intent in it. She really needed to just get out of here and go kill something.

    Elder Kendra could feel Mira leaking killing intent when she talked and knew it''d probably be best just to not talk to her. So she just let it be and ignored the ice crystals forming in the room.<sub> </sub>

    "Alright ss, today I''ll be mostly talking about magical beasts. The different types, weaknesses, growth, how to contract your own, the difference between contracts, and some other things."

    "First, I''ll get into the different types of magical beasts. I''m not going to just stand up here and start listing off every known beast species and if you want to learn more about the different species then you''ll have to go to the library and learn these things on your own. What I''ll be exining is that there are 5 main categories of magical beasts. Aviary, Land, Subterranean, Insect, and Aquatic are the 5 main categories of magical beasts. There are alsobinations of these as well. For example, a magical beast that can fight both in the air and on the ground. Or an insect that lives both onnd and underground. There are also aquatic beasts that can survive onnd as well. There are a few major differences that are generally correct among these categories with a few exceptions of course. Aviary beasts generally have weaker bodies but are much faster than most other types of magical beasts. Of course, if you were to look at mythical beasts like Dragons, then you''d know that this isn''t correct as Dragons were known to have some of the toughest bodies in the world. Land magical beasts are all different. Some have strong bodies but are incredibly slow some are specialized for assassination and have incredible strength in their legs but their body is rather weak, or some are even specialized in defense and have an extremely durable outer shell. There is the most variety ofnd beasts than any other magical beast category. Their weakness usually lies in their species. There are very few subterranean magical beasts and they are incredibly annoying. They are almost always underground and also live in small groups. A lot of them are blind, but they have incredible senses and can usually detect when danger is about to befall them. Their strongest body part is their ws and teeth. The rest of their body is generally weaker than most other beasts. Now onto insects. These are a bit rarer than other magical beasts but are extremely hard to kill. They usually have a tough carapace that is hard to break if you aren''t stronger than it by a significant margin. Also, if youpare them to other magical beasts at the same rank, then just based on power alone insects are stronger. But the thing that makes them a bit weaker is they have terrible senses. Most of them can''t see, their hearing isn''t that good, and they can only differentiate strong scents from others though they usually know what blood smells like. The way they see is by feeling the vibrations with their legs and antennas. And their weaknesses are usually their joints, their stomach, or any section that isn''t covered by their carapace. Lastly, aquatic beasts. These are simr tond beasts, but they live in the water. Their species vary greatly along with their weaknesses, but generally aquatic species'' weakness isnd." Elder Kendra paused before moving on.

    "A magical beasts'' growth is a little different from a human''s. They are separated into 10 Ranks and above Rank 10 for a magical beast is when they turn into an immortal beast. But once a magical beast enters Rank 6 then things like weaknesses I just described blur a bit. Just like how our bodies get stronger the higher in cultivation we go, this is also the case for magical beasts as well. Rank 6 for a magical beast is just like our Core Formation Realm, and beasts that make it this far undergo a qualitative change. Their bodies get much stronger than before, their strengths get stronger and they start making up for their weaknesses. Aviary beasts that generally have weak bodies will have a normal Rank 6 magic beast body in terms of toughness, while their speed vastly increases. A beast that solely focuses on defense will have more powerful attacks along with being able to move faster. When a beast reaches Rank 8 then they''ll gain a human form, and their next big change will be when they reach Rank 10. But I couldn''t tell you any other kind of changes they go through in these Ranks."

    "Aside from this, the way magical beasts increase their cultivation is extremely easy. Much easier than us. Most magical beasts have a limit to what Rank their species can bring them to. But this means that all magical beasts have to do is exist and they can advance in cultivation. But this doesn''t mean that a Rank 2 beast will only stay Rank 2. There are ways to bypass their species limitation and continue getting stronger, though it''ll be much more difficult. They will have to defeat and eat magical beasts that have a higher Rank than them. But they''ll have to continue eating magical beasts that are stronger than them if they ever want to advance. Or they can eat ones weaker than them, but this will take hundreds of times more than if they were to eat magical beasts that are stronger than them. This also brings me to the other way magical beasts can get stronger or grow faster. By eating other magical beasts or even humans. Basically, anything that contains Qi, magical beasts can eat it and turn it into their own, making them stronger. This might sound a bit more unfair, but it''s really not. Humans can use weapons, different arts, use their Daos, and cane up with strategies. Though we do have to work harder to get stronger, we have more ways to fight."

    "Onto the next thing I wanted to talk about, contracts. There are two types of Contracts, a Life and Death Contract, and a Contract of Equals. A Life and Death Contract is a contract that the beast itself has to initiate since it is their life they are forfeiting to you. If you have this sort of contract with a beast, then you are able to kill it at any time and if you were to ever die then they would also die. But this isn''t to say that the beast gets nothing out of this as well. If you''re in this type of contract, then you can actually provide some of your Qi to it and help raise its Rank this way. But doing it like this is incredibly inefficient. Just to bring your beast up from Low to Mid-Stage could take months or years depending on their current Rank. Plus you won''t be able to cultivate during this period of time, so you''ll lose months or years'' worth of cultivation time to barely raise the rank of your beast. As I said, it''s incredibly inefficient. Now, onto the Contract of Equals, this is a bit rarer and you are the one that actually has to initiate this with the beast and they have the choice to ept or reject it. You have to set your terms for the contract and both sides have to agree to it. Neither of you has control over your lives and the contract only prevents you from killing each other. The contract will generally end once you and the beast have fulfilled what you both agreed upon. If you''re wondering how the beasts will know what''s in the contract, then just know that even if the beast isn''t that intelligent, Heaven will send your intent directly into its brain, so even if it can''t understand you it will know what you want."

    "Magical beasts are everywhere and are seemingly endless. There are an innumerable amount of species and each beast has its own strengths and weaknesses. But I will end the lesson with some advice. If you ever see a magical beast staying or protecting a ce that they normally wouldn''t then they are protecting something. Sometimes this might be its child and other times it might be some kind of treasure. But regardless, it might be worth checking out. That''s it for today. You''re free to go." Elder Kendra said and all of the disciples rushed out of the room as quickly as possible. They could feel themselves turning into blocks of ice.

    Mira walked up to Elder Kendra and returned the books and scrolls about Ancient magical Beasts and Winged-Wolves then left to go and cultivate some more. Maria followed her of course.

 Chapter 106 God

    Somewhere in an unknown ce in the universe, there sat a man. This man was anything but ordinary. Surrounded by countless treasures and thousands of women, he seemed like a king and his kingdom is his own harem. The women that surrounded him were all perilous beauties that could topple worlds and all of them gave off enormous pressure. But the man himself gave off no pressure, almost like he was a mortal but this is only why he was so terrifying. It wasn''t that he didn''t give off any pressure it was just that he was so strong that even the universe didn''t want anything to do with this being and avoided him.

    He was currentlyzing around on an extremelyrge bed that seemed big enough to fit hundreds of people watching. He was surrounded by naked beauties that were feeding him fruit, massaging him, and pleasuring him. But this man justid there watching the screen with arge and mischievous smile on his face. Right now, the person on the screen was Mira, who was currently cultivating. But the man didn''t seem to care that she was doing nothing and continued to watch intently.

    "Haha! This girl is by far one of the most interesting woman I''ve ever seen in all my years of existence! She just keeps fighting and fighting so that she can kill me, but how many lives has she been through now?! This is her eleventh life, right? HAHA! Amazing, simply amazing!! Oh, how I wish to crush her spirit and take her body for myself!! Through all of the pain and torture I''ve put her through over her centuries of living, she still never gives up!! I think it''s only strengthened her resolve and determination to reach the pinnacle and kill me! Hahaha! Truly wonderful!!" The man said whileughing as he watched Mira cultivate. He really wanted Mira for himself, but no matter how strong he is, the universe will not simply allow him to do as he pleases amongst the worlds, realms, and nes of existence within the cosmos. The universe is something that is both the beginning and the end, while the end only brings a new beginning. And this man has been around so long to experience one of these rebirths.

    "Master, why are so interested in this tramp? Sure, she is beautiful but I see no other redeeming features about her. You already have so many wives and ves that want your attention, why are you so set on this one being that continues to reject you no matter what you do?" One of the women around him asked with an angry tone.

    "You don''t understand anything. There is no better feeling for a man when they conquer a woman. Especially a woman like this, who is not afraid to take not only her own life, the lives of her parents, but also the lives of millions just for the sake of her goals. She has not once thought of just submitting to me and only bes fiercer with each life. Even if I tortured her in the worst possible way for eons, she would still not waver and would do anything to kill herself so she''s not in that position. I also don''t want this kind of half-assed submission! I want to conquer everything, her mind, body, and soul! And I want her to ask me to do it! This is true submission! This is what I love!" The guy said with not a hint of shame. All of the girls around him frowned.

    "Most of us are thousands of years old or even older than that! What''s so special about someone who has only lived a few hundreds of years short of a millennium? We also had simr experiences and submitted everything to you!" Another womanined. They''ve been neglected ever since their Master found Mira.

    "You may have been through simr experiences, but it didn''t take long for your minds to crumble. Plus, if you''ve been watching you should understand that your experiences cannot evenpare to hers. I''ve made sure to put her through the worst types of hell that I could think of and she faces every single one of them without hesitation or fear. Part of me thinks that I may have created a perfect soldier that could very well be my downfall, but even if it doese to that. Wouldn''t it be incredibly interesting! Haha! What if she does gain the power to kill me?! Wouldn''t that be fun?! I haven''t fought for hundreds of thousands of years and this mortal dares to challenge me?! HAHAHA! And she does it knowing full well that beating me is a near-impossible task!! I can''t wait! Will she break first, or will she manage to break loose of her fate and defeat me?! I can hardly contain my excitement!" The man yelled with shiny eyes as he never took his eyes off of Mira.

    "You really have been rough on that poor girl, Master. Always sending people to kill her parents in every life, having endless amounts of people raping and abusing her even her Father in one life. You made her kill friends, family, worlds, herself, go through endless pain and torture, turning her loved ones against her, and more. Every single one of her lives was filled with endless pain and hardships because of you, yet she still persists. Truly admirable willpower. You even made sure to send those bandits to kill her parents in her current life. If anything, I''d say she''s less human and more like a caged beast whose only purpose is to ughter. How long has it been since she''s shown any sort of emotion other than cold and merciless? It has to be at least a few hundred years at the very least, probably more. I wish she would just give up and submit to you, Master. Her life would be much easier than this." The woman massaging his back said in an emotionless voice.<sub> </sub>

    "Hahaha! I only wanted to see how far she would go to reach her goal, and she has not disappointed me!! But things seem a bit different this time around. I really want to brainwash Maria and Dominique to have them betray her, but for some reason, my Mind Authority Treasure doesn''t affect them. Actually, I haven''t been able to touch anyone that''s been affected by Mira. Even I cannot tell why this is happening now. Is the Universe protecting those around Mira? Is someone else intervening? Or has Mira reincarnated so many times and defied fate so many times that these people wouldn''t even be alive right now if she weren''t there? Well, this only makes things more interesting!! Maybe she''ll even bring friends straight to my doorstep! HAHAHA! But this still won''t prevent me from making things harder for her!! She''s been getting rathercenttely and I think it''s about time to fix that!" The manughed as he pulled out several treasures. One looked like an extremelyplex magnifying ss and the other one was shaped like a brain.

    "Now, who should I look for? I don''t know if I should look for a male or a female. I kind of want to use that Sect Master or Elder Kendra to try and betray Mira, but I don''t think this would affect her mind at this point. I really want to use Maria, Dominique, or her subordinates, but they can''t be touched for some reason. Hmm, but I don''t really want to watch her go through another betrayal. That''s starting to get boring. I think I''ll just send a guy from another Sect over to Mira''s Sect. Mira''s been walking around without her masktely, so if this guy sees her then he''ll definitely want her. What will Mira do? What will the guy do? Will a war breakout? Will Mira get defiled? Will her friends die? HAHAHA! Yes! This is the best decision! I can''t wait to see what happens! Don''t disappoint me, Mira!" The man used his magnifying ss to start looking for a major character in one of the Sects surrounding Mira. And soon, one of them caught his eye. This man is a Sect Elder in one of the Sects in Gale City.

    He grabbed the brain-looking treasure and linked it with this man''s mind and soul. He then started to write on the brain in anguage unknown to most of the universe. But tranted, it said, "Go to the Battle Maiden Sect near Lunar Fox City to meet with the Sect Master about something important."

    The Elder immediately received the message in his brain and told the Elder he was talking to that he needed to go to the Battle Maiden Sect for something important. The Elder he was talking to was confused at first but reminded him that he has to stay for another 6 months due to the disciple recruitment that will be happening soon along with helping the new disciples adjust to the sect life along with various other responsibilities that he had as a Sect Elder. The brainwashed man went back to his normal self and just nodded his head, but told himself that after he finished all of his responsibilities then he would make his way towards the Battle Maiden Sect.

    "Hahaha! Things will be getting interesting now! I wonder if Mira will be able to advance from Low-Houtian to Mid-Houtian in these next 6 months? She really went all out with that breakthrough a couple of days ago. Well, if she only cultivates for the next 6 months and uses that Cultivation Cave every day, then that would be equal to around 10 years of cultivating for a normal person. She definitely doesn''t need 10 years to break through a minor stage like that. I guess we''ll find out! That Elder is only a Stage 1 Core Formation Expert and a rather weak one at that! If Mira can improve her strength a bit more, it''s not impossible to think that she can kill him! AAAHHH! I can''t wait!!" The ''Master'' said still enamored by the projection in front of him.

    This is the man that has ruined Mira''s peaceful life almost a millennia ago! The man that Mira hates more than any person in existence! The man who, unbeknownst to Mira, is the one making her go through this endless suffering! A grudge that with Mira no matter how many lives she has to live! This was the man that she would just call ''god''!!

 Chapter 107 Pent-Up

    Mira, who was currently cultivating was not aware of the things this god was doing to her throughout all of her years of living and through her multiple lives. At first, she may have spected that he was the one putting her through all of this, but at some point, she just stopped caring about what happened to her. She''d either kill anything that stood in her path or die trying and reset in her next life. It just became normal for bad things to happen to her and it would be weird if she were able to live a normal and peaceful life. She just takes life one step at a time, if someone decides to betray her then she''ll just kill them without hesitation. This is the resolve of someone willing to do anything for the sake of her goals.

    But life is a fickle thing. Unless life has been programmed with certain functions to deal with scenarios in certain ways, it is impossible to predict the future. One might say that what if Mira''s fate was to be trapped in an endless cycle of reincarnation and torture by some random dude within the cosmos? And all of her changes in emotion, ruthlessness, savagery, and more were all preset by the universe? But what would the end result be? She''s not being forced to keep living like this. She can choose to end this and be the man''s ve/concubine and end her suffering, but she refuses to! She may have gotten forced into this situation, but she always has a choice. This is proof that there is free will and that there is no predestined future. Just like how Mira''s choice right now is to cultivate rather than spend time with Maria, go train by herself, fight beasts,plete a mission or any number of other things she could be doing at this moment.

    All Mira wanted to do right now is finish her obligations then go on a killing spree in some forest or something. Cultivating is the only thing keeping her sane right now.

    The day passed by quickly and it was now time for Mira to start training the other disciples in unarmedbat for the next 3 days. And as soon as she walked into the arena, the air around the disciples started to freeze and they could feel Mira leaking killing intent. She looked like she was about to burst, but nobody wanted to say anything to her as just this small amount was enough to frighten them.

    These next 3 days were a bit rough for the disciples as even if they made the slightest mistake, they''d be ''corrected'' until they could barely stand. The disciples often looked at Maria for help and also wondered why Mira was like this and not her. But Maria wasn''t in a much better state. She looked pent up as well like she''s a dam about to burst. The only difference is that she doesn''t want to go on a killing spree. She just wants to find a ce to let loose for a bit.

    After these 3 days were over, Mira and Maria went to the Mission Hall to see if there were any missions that she could take while she''s out of the Sect. Since she''s a Core Disciple, she can look at all of the missions plus she''s also in the Foundation Realm now. She went to arge board that contained a bunch of missions for someone at her level.

    [Clear out a bandit camp.

    Bandits have been attacking disciples, people traveling, and merchants. Location is somewhere around 100 kilometers to the east of the Sect.

    The strength of the bandits ranges from Stage 5 to Stage 9 Qi Condensation. The Leader''s strength is unknown but is predicted to be in the Foundation Realm. Bring the head of the leader toplete the mission.

    Sect Points: 400

    Spirit Stones: 75 ]

    Mira immediately grabbed this mission and showed it to the Elder in charge of the Mission Hall.

    "Would you like to ept this mission? Alone?" The Elder said to Mira and Mira just nodded her head.

    "Sigh�� Very well. I''ll allow it seeing that you seem strong enough to handle the task, but if it''s too much for you then don''t be ashamed to run away ande back. We don''t want you to get killed out there." The Elder said as she gave the paper back to Mira.

    Maria also looked for her own mission and ended up taking 2 that were beast hunting missions. If shepleted both then she''d get 300 Sect points, but 100 spirit Stones. But the direction of her missions is in a simr direction to Mira''s.

    They both walked back to their room and Mira grabbed Rhydian and Dominique. This would be a good chance for Rhydian to stretch her legs a bit and she can also introduce Dominique to what the cultivation world is really like. Better to experience it now rather thanter. Maria wanted to say something, but she knew Mira that Mira would bring Dominique regardless of what she said.

    "Make sure Dominique stays safe. I don''t want to see her dead or taken hostage by some nasty bandits only because you wanted to teach her." Maria said, but Mira didn''t say anything and just walked out of the room with Rhydian and Dominique at her side. She just sighed and followed after her with Vulcan.

    It didn''t take long for them to exit the Sect and make their way towards their destination. Mira and Maria had to split up not long after leaving the city, but neither of them was worried about each other. They were both incredibly strong and had crazy strong Beast Companions.

    "Get on my back." Mira said to Dominique and she just jumped on Mira''s back. Mira then got into position and sprinted at full speed towards the direction of the bandit camp.

    "AAAHHHHHH!!!" Dominique started screaming as she didn''t expect Mira to be so fast. But she was also shocked to see Rhydian grow wings and start flying next to Mira. She also noticed that Mira put on another mask.

    It barely took them any time at all to reach the area that the mission described. Now all she had to do is look for is a bandit camp, but where else could it be other than in a wooded area? So that''s exactly where Mira went, and with how fast Mira was running it only took her around an hour to search the rtively small forest for something that resembled a camp. Mira stopped outside of the walls and stayed out of sight.

    "I''m going to ughter these bandits. Would you like to stay on my back and watch or watch from afar? I''ll let you know now that I''m going to be using my Ice Dao so it''ll definitely get cold. There is also a chance for you to get stabbed as well. Or you could stay here and watch. Which one?" Mira asked which stunned Dominique for a second. Mira was going to take her into battle? How could she pass up such an opportunity?! Even if she has to freeze over, she wouldn''t want to miss this opportunity!

    "I''ll stay on your back! I trust you not to even get hit by some lowly bandits! And use your ice as much as you like! Just try not to kill me with it, please." Dominique said as she tightly wrapped around Mira.

    "Okay. Let''s go, Rhydian. Time to let loose!" Mira said as she took out her scythe. She then used the Dual-ded Scythe Art she came up with. She could immediately feel a difference in durability and sharpness after she gained more understanding of her Absolute Ice Dao. Not to mention both of her des were around 2 meters long now and had blue lightinging off of them.

    Dominique was surprised to see arge scythe appear in Mira''s hands as she thought that Mira didn''t use a weapon, but it seems that today is going to be more amazing than she originally thought.<sub> </sub>

    "Kill anyone that tries to run, Rhydian. I''ll let you run wild after I''m finished, but just let me have this." Mira said and dashed towards the camp.

    She destroyed the front gate with a kick and wildly charged into the camp. Most of the bandits were asleep right now, but there were a few that were awake and Mira just twirled her scythe and cut them in half. Dominique didn''t expect it to be that easy for Mira to just cut someone in half like that. She looked at the bodies of the people she just sliced up and wanted to throw up. Their guts and blood were spilling out of their bodies. This was surely a sight to behold for a little 8-year-old who has yet to experience the world.

    "Come out, FUCKERS!! I''ll give you two choices! You can either die fighting me or die while sleeping! I have all of this pent-up energy that I need to get rid of so I''d appreciate it if you worthless maggotse out and fight!" Mira announced herself to the bandit camp.

    The bandits started to wake up due to Mira''s deration. Hundreds of bandits walked out of the buildings and made their way over to Mira with their weapons drawn and even the Bandit Leader came out to see what was going on. Mira noticed that everyone except for one person was in the Qi Condensation Realm, with the Bandit Leader being Mid-Houtian Foundation Realm.

    Almost 1000 bandits surrounded her with their weapons drawn, which surprised Mira a bit. She didn''t expect the bandit camp to be so big. Usually, they didn''t have so many people, but these bandits seemed to be doing rather well for themselves.

    "HAHAHAHA!!" The Bandits startedughing at Mira when they noticed that she was just a little girl. The only person notughing was the Bandit Leader.

    "A little girl dares to challenge all of us?! Don''t worry, Boss! We''ll take care of her real quick! I bet she''s a real beauty underneath that mask! Isn''t the right, boys?!"

    *OOOOHHH*

    The bandits cheered, but Mira just smiled under her mask.

    "Hehehe." Mira giggled sinisterly and created her Ice Domain. The surrounding area soon turned into a blizzard with ice shards shooting everywhere and lightning striking. Mira didn''t say anything and just disappeared from her position only to attack the nearby bandits.

    The blizzard that Mira formed with her domain was ripping apart the bandits. They could barely move due to the freezing temperature, but the shards of ice that were swirling around were ripping off chunks of skin. The bandits started to panic a bit, but the blizzard wasn''t the only thing they needed to watch out for. Mira was the biggest threat. In between every kill she shot massive ice des out that ripped tens of people apart. Then proceeded to finish them off with her scythe. With every swing and sh of her scythe, tens of people died in some of the most horrific ways possible. Dominique watched Mira take down these people with such intensity that she started to wonder who was the bad person in this situation. But she put these thoughts at the back of her head and continued to watch the massacre befall before her.

    Mira was already insanely strong in the Qi Condensation Realm, to the point that she might''ve been able to fight someone in the Low or Mid-Houtian Stage. But her strength right now is truly incredible and is not something that someone in the Low-Houtian Stage should have.

    These bandits were nothing more than chickens ready to be ughtered in front of Mira. Blood soiled the ground, limbs and guts flew everywhere, heads rolled, and some people tried to crawl around while their intestines were leaking out of their bodies.

    It only took Mira around a minute to clear up these weaklings before she came face to face with the leader.

    "Why did you do this? What have we done to you?! What did these guys do to deserve this?! Don''t you have any morals?! And to think you did all of this while carrying a child on your back! Did we kill her parents or something? Is that it? Did youe for revenge?" The Bandit Leader truly didn''t understand why this demon came. Sure they were bandits and he knew that someone would eventuallye to take them out, but he refused to believe that someone from a Sect was capable of this.

    Mira just stored her scythe and walked closer to him

    "Why? Well, my Sect put a bounty on your head. But I didn''te here for the bounty. I came here to release all of this pent-up energy! You just happened to be the unlucky bastard that I chose to fight!" Mira said as she walked closer to him.

    The Bandit Leader had nothing else to say after that. This girl came here because she was bored! She''s treating them like ythings! The more the Bandit Leader thought of this and how he could do nothing but watch his men get ughtered, the angrier he got. His eyes turned bloodshot and he crazily rushed at Mira while swinging his sword wildly.

    "Watch closely, child. I''m about to show you the possibilities of your fist!" Mira said to Dominique as she prepared her Earth-Shattering Fist Technique. She had all of this energy within her raging around her body, wanting to be released and release it she shall. Mira shoved 90% of her Qi into her fist. Ice and lighting started to coil around her right fist as she separated part of it into a ball and linked them together and waited for the Leader to get within range. Half a secondter, the Bandit Leader was within range of a punch. Mira dodged the sword and unleashed a massive punch in the Leader''s gut.

    ��

    *POP**BOOM*

    The Bandit Leader exploded into a bloody mess as he disappeared. The ground beneath Mira cracked and created a small crater. The ground in front of her had also exploded from the force and lifted chunks of the earth up out of the surface as everything within arge cone in front of her was erased into nothing.

    Mira retracted her fist with a light smile on her face.

    "I feel much better now."

 Chapter 108 Training Grounds

    <o>,m "I feel much better now." Mira said as her mind seemed to clear up.</o>

    She looked around her to see what kind of damage she caused and was rather surprised at how powerful her attacks were. Disregarding therge cone of destruction in front of her, there was a river of blood and bodies everywhere. Plus it seems that her attacks had enough force behind them that there were even small crevices made from her scythe. Everything around her was either frozen or ripped to shreds.

    "Damn. To think I did all of this without even trying. Plus that Earth-Shattering Fist felt amazing. The Leader literally exploded into a bloody mess even though I''m a stage lower than him. I think I could''ve achieved the same result with only 50% of my power, maybe a bit less than that. But using so much Qi in one move just feels so satisfying." Miramented over what happened, but now that her mind has cleared up a bit, she realized she made a bit of a mistake.

    "Fuck. I needed that guy''s head for the reward. Hmmm�� What to do? Seeing how everything is destroyed, I''ll just have to bring them the heads of the subordinates." Mira said as she took out her scythe and started shing off the heads of the dead bandits.

    While Mira was doing this, she felt Dominique start throwing up all over her. Mira kept slicing off heads as she talked to her.

    "Get used to this sight, kid. I took you out with me so you''d get to see and experience the truth of the cultivation world. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows just because you get a little stronger. In fact, the world only gets tougher and more brutal. You''ll have to fight stronger enemies, see scenes like this more than you''d wish to or you might even be the cause of such a scene. Take in everything that I did in this fight as it may very well save your life. I attacked without hesitation, killed everyone that stood in my way in the quickest way possible, and obliterated the leader before he could even think about doing anything. That''s how I was able to wipe out almost 1000 bandits plus the leader in around 3 minutes. If you were to watch Maria do something like this, it might take her 10 times as long, maybe more because even though she''se to terms with killing other people, there will most likely still be moments of hesitation and she''ll try to finish them cleanly." Mira said while cutting off heads. Dominique still trying to take everything that Mira was saying in.

    "Did�� Did you only do this because they were bad people? Because they were bandits? Dominique asked with a hoarse voice.

    "Huh? I don''t give a fuck what they are. They could be saints that feed the hungry and help the poor and weak for all I care. If you want topare good and bad, then I''d be the Devilpared to these Angels here. They were merely an annoyance to the general public, ostracized as bad people, then finally a bounty was put on their heads. They also seemed to mess with some of the Disciples. These guys were bandits because this was their way of trying to get stronger. I came here to kill them to help me get stronger. There is no good or bad in the cultivation world. People who say otherwise are just being hypocritical." Mira exined to the naive and ignorant 8-year-old, filling her head with venomous thoughts like this. Dominique took everything Mira said to heart and forced herself to look at the scene before her so she can try and prepare her mind for things like this in the future.

    After Mira collected all of the heads, she found Rhydian and told her that she can go wild for the rest of the day, as long as she came back here. Rhydian seemed to understand and just flew off, and not long after they started hearing loud ''booms'' and lighting flying everywhere. Mira just sat down to gather her lost energy back and then she started cultivating. Dominique sat on herp as she kept organizing her thoughts, but eventually dozed up.

    Hours went by and the day was drawing to a close. Rhydian came rushing back, covered in blood, but seemed incredibly happy. They found a nearby stream to wash up a bit then went back to the Sect. The way back was silent as Dominique didn''t know what to say and kept organizing her thoughts from what happened earlier. She didn''t know what was right and wrong, but she couldn''t argue with Mira''s logic and this was the internal struggle she was going through.

    After making it back to the Sect, Mira dropped off Dominique and Rhydian in her room and noticed Maria also made it back. She then immediately went to the Mission Hall to turn in her mission.

    She walked up to the Elder in charge and gave her the mission slip.

    "I''vepleted the mission, but I was unable to retrieve the Leader''s head." Mira said in a cool voice.

    "If you don''t have the Leader''s head, then unfortunately I cannot sign off this mission asplete and give you the reward." The Elder sighed.

    "The Leader blew up into a bloody mess, including his head. But I was able to gather all of the subordinate''s heads. This should be enough proof as I killed everyone in the bandit camp." Mira said as she started dumping hundreds of heads near the Elder. The Elder and everyone else just stared at this scene, not knowing how to react. They could see that the bandit''s faces looked like they were inplete horror before they died. This sent chills up their spines. Not only that, but Mira actually walked around and removed the head of every single person all because she blew up the leader?<sub> </sub>

    "Ah! You can stop now! I get it! They''re all dead. Even if the leader ran away, their raids won''t be able to continue now that his entire group is dead. I''ll just go ahead and give you the rewards for the mission." The Elder said with a tired face.

    Mira was handed her 75 spirit stones and looked at her bracelet to see that the [SP] section went from [-] to [400]. Mira nodded and left the ce, leaving all of the heads with the Elder. The Elder was about to speak up, but Mira was already gone.

    Mira walked back to her room and noticed that Dominique had gone to sleep and Maria was cultivating. She just shrugged her shoulders, went to her room, and cultivated through the night.

    The next day, Dominique woke up early to continue her training as she was finally able to organize her thoughts on what happened yesterday. She came to the conclusion that even if Mira is wrong, she doesn''t care. She wanted Mira to teach her and that''s what she did by taking her on that mission yesterday. Mira was doing that to make her stronger, mentally. Once she realized this, she knew that if she wants to stick with Mira in the future, then she''ll have to get used to those scenes whether she likes it or not.

    Mira and Maria did their usual thing, and went to the cultivation cave first thing in the morning, but after that Mira brought up something a little unexpected.

    "We are going to the Training Grounds!" Mira said and dragged Maria to the Training Grounds. They walked over to the Ninth Training Ground and could immediately feel an intense pressuree over their bodies.

    "So this is the Ninth Training Ground, Huh? Truly a great ce for training one''s body!" Mira said as she made her way over to the training gear.

    There were tons of dumbbell-like weights, but what surprised Mira the most was all of the bracelets and ankle bracelets. She went to pick one up and realized that picking one up is actually fairly difficult.

    "Put an ankle bracelet on each leg and a bracelet on each arm. We are going to spar until our bodies give out." Miramanded as Maria immediately wanted to cry. She saw Mira struggling to pick one up, and now they have to put on 4?! Even just moving might be difficult, not to mention fighting! But even though she wanted toin, she knew this day wasing and just epted it.

    "Oh! Let''s put on these vest weights too. I''ll make some Ice Balls to put around us as we train as well to improve the efficiency!" Mira said, putting on the vest weights and creating a bunch of head-sized ice balls to put around them. After the setup was finished, they began sparring.

    It was incredibly fun to watch them spar because their movements were slowed by around 90% or more. It almost looked like they were moving in slow motion. But if you were to look at all of the weights they were wearing, you would understand that these 2 are crazy. Halfway through their spar, they took out their weapons then continued. There was nobody in the Ninth Training Grounds right now, so nobody was there to see these two fight. But if one were to watch closely, they''d be able to see small improvements in their movements. Things that you wouldn''t notice when you''re always moving at full speed.

    After hours of this masochist training, their bodies finally copsed and they couldn''t move. After getting some energy back, they were finally able to remove the weights and exit the Training Ground, feeling like a mountain was lifted off of them.

    "We will continue doing this every day until we can spar normally with all of the weights on. Then we''ll just add more weights and continue!! Once there are no more weights to put on, we''ll move onto the Tenth Training Ground! Remember what the Elder said if we want to advance we have to prepare our body to be able to hold all of that Qi so this is necessary for our future growth. Noining!" Mira said sternly as this was actually extremely important. Probably more important than anything else right now other than cultivating.

    "I know�� But that doesn''t mean I have to like it. I''m only doing this because it''s necessary and I get to spend some time with you where you aren''t beating me up." Maria pouted as they walked back to their room to rest and cultivate.

 Chapter 109 Alchemy

    Mira and Maria now added the Training Grounds to their daily routine. Training their bodies is now extremely important since their bodies need to be iparably strongerpared to others at the same level. It''s even more important than cultivating since they won''t be able to cultivate without a strong enough body.

    Even though this was the case, both of them knew that the Training Grounds could only bring them so far. They might be able to utilize for a year or two, they''ll have to look for other ways to temper their body after that.

    Mira also thought about finding a quicker way of making themselves stronger, but she didn''t want topletely disregard something that was made to make them stronger. Even if it does make them a bit stronger.

    Time passed by quickly as they trained, sparred, and cultivated nonstop until the next ss. A few dayster it was time for ss.

    After everyone made it into the ssroom like usual, Elder Kendra walked up to the front.

    "Hello, Disciples. Today I''ll be going over one of the four main jobs that cultivators usually learn, Alchemy. Alchemy is one of the most popr and well-known professions out there. The reason for this is that alchemists make more money than any other profession. But this doesn''t mean it''s easy, in fact, alchemy is the hardest profession and very few are able to progress that far in it."

    "Alchemists are separated in Ranks from 1 through 10. A Rank 1 alchemist can make a Rank 1 Pill and so on. Pills are also separated into Ranks 1 through 10 and are further separated into 4 Stages for each Rank, Low, Mid, Late, and Peak. These 4 stages don''t determine how strong the pill is, only it''s quality and efficiency. I see some of you are confused so let me exin a bit more."

    "The 4 stages represent the quality of the pill, or how many imperfections and impurities are contained in the pill. A Low-Stage Pill can only bring out 10% efficiency of the Pill, Mid-Stage can bring out 50%, Late-Stage can bring out 75%, and Peak-Stage can bring out 100% efficiency of the pill. This can also trante to cultivation as well. Let''s take an Early-Houtian Foundation Realm cultivator for example along with a Rank 4 Pill. A Low-Stage Rank 4 pill would still be effective for this cultivator as the 10% efficiency would bring some of the desired results that the cultivator is looking for. But this pill would be useless for someone in the Mid-Houtian Foundation Realm as the pill''s quality is too low for it to be of use. But a Mid-Stage Rank 4 Pill would work just fine."

    "The higher the quality of the pill, the harder it is to make. This is also one of the reasons why it''s so hard to advance in cultivation as these pills also be harder and harder to make the higher in Rank you get. But I''ll let you know one thing, Rank 1 and 2 Pills are essentially useless if they aren''t at the Peak-Stage so normally we just refer them to Rank 1 and Rank 2 pills as only Peak-Stage Rank 1 and Rank 2 pills are sold."

    "Now that you know a bit more about the ranking, let me exin what pills can do. They can boost cultivation, heal wounds, cure poison, purify your body, strengthen your body, increase your strength for a short period of time, increase your beauty, and more. But you can''t just grab some random materials and cook them together and get a pill. Most pills have recipes. These recipes contain the materials needed and also the process for making a pill. But pill recipes are the life-blood of an alchemist so trying to get an alchemist to share his or her recipes is incredibly difficult unless they''re teaching you. But this is not always the case as there are plenty of pill recipes that can be consideredmon knowledge."

    Mira had stopped listening at this point. She does not want to be an alchemist. Sure they can make a lot of money, but talent ys a huge part in learning. Mira does not have the talent to be an alchemist, nor does she want to look for every opportunity to find Pill Recipes. All of her time would be spent trying to be an alchemist instead of getting stronger. She''d rather do something that isn''t so time-consuming.

    Elder Kendra continued exining things about alchemists. Like how there is an Alchemist guild that is one of the biggest organizations in the world. The Elder said that the Alchemist Guild reaches every continent and has a branch in almost every major city on each continent. Lunar Fox City also has an Alchemist Guild.

    She then demonstrated how one would perform alchemy. She said that it''s easier for someone with a Fire Affinity to be an alchemist since they can control the me better, but it''s not umon for those without a Fire Affinity to be alchemists too.

    Elder Kendra just demonstrated her skills in alchemy and made a Rank 2 Rejuvenation Pill for the ss. Not many people were marveled by the performance other than Maria as she''s never seen someone make a pill before.

    "Although Alchemy isn''t asplex as things like Arrays or Inscriptions, the reason it''s so difficult is the meticulousness that goes into Pill-Making. One small mishap could ruin the pill. But don''t let this scare you away from trying to learn alchemy. If you have the necessary talent and resources, bing a great alchemist is within your grasp. ss dismissed!" Elder Kendra ended the ss with that.

    She had barely even scratched the surface of Alchemy and some disciples left feeling a little dissatisfied.

    "Mira, what profession would you pick? Do you want to be an alchemist?" Maria turned and asked Mira as they walked out.

    "I do not want to be an alchemist. If I had to pick one, I''d say Forging or Inscriptions. Alchemy is too time consuming and boring, not to mention having to memorize all of those pill recipes and creating high-quality pills. I might as well kill myself now if I became an Alchemist. Arrays are too confusing and require immense knowledge and lots of time. Forging is rather simplepared to the other professions and inscriptions are great for enhancing things." Mira answered back.

    "I see! Well, I kind of want to be an alchemist! When I watched the Elder making that pill, I could tell when the other ingredients needed to be put in or when they needed to cool or heat up. And the Elder would always do what I felt needed to be done right afterward. I think I might have some talent in this field!!" Maira said with bright eyes as she clenched her fists. Mira just looked at her strangely.<sub> </sub>

    "If that''s how you feel, then you should go look for someone to teach you. Alchemists are very valuable and sought after. Killing an Alchemist will generally make you the number one public enemy as alchemists help people get stronger. The likelihood of you dying for some stupid reason may drop significantly." Mira slightly encouraged Maria to go for it. If Maria could be an Alchemist then she wouldn''t have to pay for their ridiculous prices when searching for a specific pill. Mira also knew that it wouldn''t be long before she needed to start purchasing pills from alchemists to get stronger.

    Maria''s eyes brightened even more as now she seemed to radiate a blinding golden light when Mira encouraged her to do it.

    "Hehe! Now I''m even more fired up to be an Alchemist! That was the first time you encouraged me to do something without beating me up first! If I don''t be an alchemist, then I''d be disgracing your thoughts of me! Alright! I will go find myself a master!" Maria said as she was about to run off, but Mira stopped her.

    "Do itter. We have to cultivate. Also, I''m sure that won''t be the only ss that will be about Alchemy. I''m sure that Elder Kendra will bring in people that are epting Disciples or somethingter on. Just be patient." Mira said as she dragged her to the cultivation cave. Mira also turned out to be right.

    Several more weeks went by as both of them kept training, cultivating, and teaching the unarmedbat ss. Also, the sses with Elder Kendra were all about alchemy.

    Though Mira didn''t care about any of this and just cultivated throughout the ss. Most of what Elder Kendra did during ss is make pills and provide amentary as she was making them. Sometimes she would have students interested in alchemye up and give it a try as she walked them through what to do.

    Maria of course would always volunteer and was actually quite skilled. She got the basics down rtively fast and the only thing she was missing is experience and knowledge.

    And finally, on the fourth ss about alchemy, other Elders entered the ssroom to watch the disciples make their own pills. There were a total of 35 disciples that wanted to be alchemist, but only around of these people would have the opportunity to be picked.

    These 35 disciples all went up to demonstrate their skills. Some failing to make a pill, some showing decent talent, and some were able to sessfully make a Low-Stage Rank 2 Pill. This is rather good considering they''ve only spent a few hours total over thest month. Maria wasst and was actually able to make a Late-Stage Rank 2 Pill. Maria was almost a Rank 2 Alchemist right off the bat. All of the Elders in the room wanted her, but Maria had her own thoughts.

    There were around 6 disciples this time that found an Elder to teach them, but Maria still hasn''t decided. But all of a sudden she pointed at Elder Kendra.

    "I want you to teach me alchemy!" Maria dered which shocked everyone. The disciples didn''t even know that Elder Kendra was a candidate, while the other Elders gave up on trying to get Maria.

    "Why do you think my profession is Alchemy? I could''ve just learned this stuff to demonstrate to the ss." Elder Kendra said with a smile.

    "Eh? No way! You making pills gives me the same feeling as when I''m sparring with Mira. You seem incredibly skilled in this area." Maria exined and Elder Kendra''s smile grew wider.

    "You''re correct. I''m the best alchemist in the sect, but I usually don''t take disciples in because I have other responsibilities and have no time for a disciple of my own. So tell me, why should I ept you?" Elder Kendra exined and then asked Maria.

    "Well�� Umm�� Ah! That''s right! You won''t have to spend that much time with me. Just help me drill the basics and I''ll be able to learn the rest myself. I''m a very diligent worker!" Maria eximed sounding 100% sincere. But Mira wanted to cough up blood when she heard that statement.

    ''Bullshit! You? Diligent? I''ve never once seen you take the initiative to train!!'' Maria screamed internally, but she didn''t want to ruin the opportunity for Maria to have a good master so she decided to keep it to herself.

    "Haha! Very well. I''ll take you in as a disciple. You also seem to be quite talented so I don''t believe it''ll be a waste to take you in. Plus, just looking at what Mira puts you through every day, I can see that you can be quite diligent and resilient to failure. Just what an alchemist needs!" Elder Kendraughed and announced that Maria would be her disciple from now on. The other disciples were all jealous of Maria, but they couldn''t do anything about it. Maria was more skilled than them. Besides, other than Mira, she''s probably one of the most hardworking disciples in the Sect. At least in their eyes.

 Chapter 110 Graduation

    Mira and Maria were now starting to settle into the Battle Maiden Sect now that they reached the Foundation Realm. They could be seen walking to and from ces a bit more instead of just holing themselves up and cultivating.

    The day after thest Alchemy ss came the unarmedbat ss that Mira taught. Except for this day, they finally switched up what they were practicing for thest 2 months.

    "Seeing everyone''s performance up until now, I have judged your basics as decent for a beginner. Since that is the case, we will be moving onto the next segment of the training which is grappling and chokeholds. Stay in your pairs and I will demonstrate a few of the grapples and chokeholds that you will most likely be using. These should not take you as long to reach a beginner level. Everything else will stay the same other than the contents of the training. The only difference is that I''ll choose the best 5 at the end of the training for you to fight Mira. It''ll take too long for me to beat all of you only using these techniques. Maria,e up!" Mira announced to the ss and brought Maria up to demonstrate.

    She then proceeded to show the various grapples and chokeholds that they will most likely perform. She also showed how to get out of them as well as she had Maria use the same techniques on her. Though this wasn''t required to learn, sometimes knowing how to break out will give you a better understanding of the technique.

    After giving a demonstration, she had them do this to their partners. She would go around ''correcting'' them and providing ''pointers'' on how they should fix it. By now, most of the disciples have gotten used to the searing pain of being whipped and mental abuse from Mira. Even though they were used to the pain, that didn''t mean they wanted to feel it as it still hurt like hell and woulde out of nowhere.

    This continued for the rest of the training session until Mira decided it was time to pick 5 people to challenge Maria. These 5 were almost always thest in every session, but even though they were the best in the group, they still couldn''t beat Maria. They were Cine, Audra, Nisha, Diana, and Sia. Sometimes a few other different disciples would be part of thest 5, but for the most part, it was these girls. Cine was by far the most talented, but because most of her experience is with her saber and not fists, she can''t beat Maria who has been relentlessly trained by Mira. Plus Maria always seemed to try and deal with Cine the quickest.

    This time wasn''t any different. They all lost to Maria rather easily as this was their first day practicing this. The session ended after this.

    The same thing happened throughout the next 2 days as well.

    Mira started to get slightly morefortable in the Battle Maiden Sect. She was in no immediate danger, no need to adventure, cultivating, and training all of the time, while also having sses about various topics. Quite frankly, this caused her to be a bit on edge. Usually, something annoying would''ve happened by now. Like she''d be forced to kill a bunch of people or someone would "unexpectedly" betray her. Things seldom went this smoothly for her for so long. This is what put her on edge. So, to calm her nerves, she has been taking some missions on her days without any sses to participate in or teach. Most of them were either just fetch missions in more hostile areas or kill missions where she''d have to go kill a certain beast. They normally wouldn''t take her more than an hour, so she''d grab several at a time that was around the same area. She''d spend a few hours per day doing this and started to wrack up more and more Spirit Stones and Sect Points.

    Maria also had her own thing to learn now, Alchemy!

    Elder Kendra didn''t immediately start teaching her, but just gave her a bunch of books to read and memorize about alchemy. They were filled with techniques, recipes, ingredient locations, ingredient properties and why pills form, and various other things about Alchemy. Maria was a bit disgruntled about this but didn''tin as this would free her from monotonously cultivating all day.

    Dominique was also training from Dawn until Dusk every day. She could feel herself growing stronger with each passing day. This is when she realized how amazing Qi is. Even without being a cultivator, as long as you know how to circte it properly, you can use it to help heal you which in turn makes you stronger. She was nearing the Strength Training Stage of the Body Tempering Realm, but even though she was getting much stronger, it still didn''t affect the difficulty of the training. It still brought her close to death every day. Dominique''s body was also adapting to this as well and started to instinctively make the rest of her body stronger as well. Mira noticed these changes but only felt that it was right for this to happen. That''s why she made the training so hard. Mira was also able to see how hard Dominique tried every day and was rather impressed. She didn''t think an 8-year-old could have such drive.

    A month quickly passed by like this. Nothing of interest was discussed in the sses for both Mira and Maria as they were about arrays. Maria tried to listen in on one of the lectures, but it was tooplex for her. Mira also had no interest in arrays. Sure, they can be useful, but they just don''t make sense to her as someone who has lived in worlds that were rather advanced in their technological development. Not to mention that arrays aren''t verybat-oriented and are usually used as support or for barriers.

    But after this month, Mira could safely say that the Disciples she''s been training can be considered beginners in her book. Well, normally she wouldn''t even ssify them as beginners as Maria is barely a beginner in her eyes, but all she had to do is teach them the basics. I guess she''d ssify them as beginners in the basics. She''s also taught them how to get out of a situation if they ever find themselves tied up.

    "You''ve now reached the point to where I can now call you beginners. But you are only beginners in the basics! If you want to be a true beginner then you''ll need a lot more practice than 3 times per week for 3 months! But enough of that. Since this might be myst day of teaching you lot, I''vee up with a perfect way for you to graduate from my teachings! It''s time for a field trip!" Mira said as she put on her mask and had the disciples follow her outside of the city. Elder Bridget also followed as she was curious about what this graduation will be like. She''d guess they''d engage in realbat but didn''t know where they''d find so many beasts to fight.

    The nearly 1000 disciples walking out of the city certainly caught the attention of many residents and they wondered what was going on.

    After they left the city, Mira started jogging towards a forest a few hundred kilometers outside of the city. After around an hour, they made it to the forest before Mira started making her way through the forest, leading all of them. Everyone thought that Mira was looking for beasts to fight and even Maria thought this as well, but she felt something was off. And when they came across arge structure that seemed to be a base of sorts, she immediately understood Mira''s intention.

    "This is a bandit camp. There are actually a few of them around this forest, so if there are not enough bandits here then we''ll just move onto the next one after we finish up here. As for what we''re doing here, well you all are going to use what you learned over thest 3 months to kill these bandits. But for now, just follow me and don''t do anything." Mira said and signaled them to follow. Mira took Rhydian with her this time as well and told her to kill any bandits that exit. It seems that Rhydian is getting smarter because she seemed to understand what Mira wanted to an extent.<sub> </sub>

    Mira just destroyed the front gate to announce her arrival.

    "Alright, filthy rats! It''d be best toe out now as I have a proposition for you!!" Mira yelled as soon as she entered and the bandits starteding out. They were a little weaker than the bandit camp Mira took out when she went to release her pent-up energy. There were only around 300 bandits that weren''t any higher than Stage 6 Qi Condensation while the Leader was Stage 9.

    "What the fuck do you want?! Do you think you can just barge in he-" The Leader started yelling, but got cut off as Mira already had him in a chokehold. She was too fast that the bandits couldn''t track her with their eyes.

    "Allow me to give you a demonstration of what I''m expecting from you to graduate. All you have to do is kill them, but there are several different ways to do that. I personally like this way." Mira said as she crushed the Leader''s neck, severing his spinal cord killing him instantly. The other bandits immediately started panicking and tried to leave.

    "I wouldn''t leave if I were you, that''s just instant death. But like I said before, I came here with a proposition! You bandits will dual with these disciples here 1 on 1. If you can kill them, then you''re free to go. Feel free to use any means necessary to kill them. While these disciples will only be using their fists and feet to take you down. Sounds better than instant death, right?" Mira said in a bit of a mocking tone. But a few bandits still tried to leave, but as soon as they left they were immediately blown up into a million bloody pieces and their fear reached new heights as they ran back into the camp to ept the crazydy''s proposition.

    "Good choice. I''ll give you disciples a bit of a warning before we start. These bandits are going to battle like madmen who have nothing to lose, so if you aren''t careful you might lose your life. And I will not step in to help you." Mira said to the disciples.

    ''And whose fault is that?! You''re the one that made them like that!!'' The disciplesined in their hearts.

    "Let''s start! Maria, you''re up! If you don''t kill him in 2 seconds, then forget about me having a day off with you." Mira announced.

    "Eh? Me? Why me? I didn''t know I was also part of this as well!" Mariained, but Mira just tossed her towards a bandit then threw a bandit towards her. Everyone then formed a circle around them.

    "You aren''t, but you need to get used to killing." Mira saidzily. Maria wanted toin some more, but the bandit was already attacking her. Maria tried to steel herself and go in for the kill. She''s worked so hard for the past 3 months and will not give it up just because of some shitty bandit who was already fated to die. She dashed in and did the same thing Mira did within her 2 second time limit.

    "Good. Next up is Cine!" Mira called out and Cine''s body trembled. Mira just walked up and grabbed her as she knew this girl wouldn''t be cooperative. She then whispered in her ear something.

    "Just know that if you don''t try to kill him, then you will die. I will make sure to put you up against one of them with higher cultivation." Mira whispered and Cine''s body shook again, but she just slowly nodded her head. She was almost Stage 4 Qi Condensation now, so the strongest person she''d be fighting would be in Stage 5, but that wasn''t the problem. It''s that she''s never killed a person before. In fact, that was the case for a number of the new disciples as well as some of the outer disciples. They just weren''t as dramatic as Cine was.

    Cine and a bandit were thrown into the ring together and the bandit crazily charged at her. This guy would normally never be her match, but her mind was in chaos right now.

    The battle went on and Cine started gathering small wounds before she closed in, grabbed the man in a chokehold, closed her eyes, then broke his neck killing him. She then ran back to the disciples crying.

    Scenes simr to this continued as the disciples were able to gain real-life experience with the techniques they learned over thest 3 months. They were even fighting for their lives which only solidified the knowledge and training that was crammed into them.

    After killing all of the bandits there, they had to move onto 2 more bandit camps before everyone had a turn. And by the end of it, though some disciples were rather close to dying, and many sustained minor injuries, there was nobody in critical condition. Mira also noticed that a lot of disciples were more brutal than she remembered.

    "Congrattions, you have all graduated from my course! I don''t know if the Elders will want me to continue teaching this course or not. Maybe they''ll make it an optional ss if enough people want to participate. But we can discuss this back at the Sect. But I''ve done my job and taught you all the basics of unarmedbat along with how to escape situations where you find yourself tied up and captured."

 Chapter 111 The Promised Day Off

    Mira announced the end of her training sessions. Many disciples started cheering as they wouldn''t have to take these tortuous sses anymore! Even though they found it useful and it could help them in the future, as long as they got stronger such things wouldn''t happen. But there were others who held a different opinion. There were actually quite a few disciples that enjoyed that style of fighting. They didn''t want to rece their weapons with it, but it was more like a hobby. A great way to relieve stress. Even though Mira is a demon when she''s teaching, they''d be able to vent out their frustrations in the ss.

    The disciples made their way back to the sect with mixed feelings. But regardless of what they were feeling, today was a day to celebrate! Most of the disciples went out with their friends to eat at a restaurant or walk around the city to celebrate their graduation from that hell ss.

    Meanwhile, Mira walked next to Elder Bridget.

    "Good job, Mira! I didn''t think they''d be able to lean within a few months. I guess your style of teaching can be very useful." Elder Bridgetplimented.

    "They would''ve been able to learn faster if things weren''t sofortable here. Though I guess that''s where Ie in." Mira said back bluntly. Elder Bridget just scratched the back of her head andughed awkwardly.

    "Ahaha. Yeah, things arefortable here. But you don''t need to make it sound like a bad thing. Violence may force people to get stronger faster, but it also kills talents that would''ve been able to shine as long as they lived. That''s why I have another offer for you." Elder Bridget said with an awkward smile. She didn''t really enjoy talking to Mira.

    "Oh? What is it?" Mira asked, but she could already guess what it is.

    "There will be arge tournamenting up where all of the sects around us will bring their top disciples to fight. This won''t happen for almost another 2 years, but doing well in this tournament is very important to the Sect. So, I want to send some of the disciples that have high potential to you to spar with. Us Elders will keep working with the Core Disciples that were here before you and some of the Inner Disciples with a lot of talent so you won''t have to worry about training them. I only have a list of around 25 disciples or so that I want you to spar with. You can even have Maria join you as an assistant or something since she also seems rather skilled. But before that, we want you to reach the top 3 in the Arena and Battle Tower to prove your strength to not only us but the other disciples as well. You and Maria can keep your tokens for daily use at the Cultivation Caves if you can do this for us." Elder Bridget proposed and Mira nodded.

    "I don''t have a problem with this. But you Elders should also work with them as well, including Maria. I only know how to use a scythe and fists. But I can be the whetstone to sharpen their skills." Mira suggested and Elder Bridget''s lips twitched. Of course, they aren''t expecting her to take over their jobs!! That''s the whole point of them being here!

    "Ahem. I''ll let the Elders and Disciples know of your decision. Please don''t take too long toplete our requirements." Elder Bridget said and then left.

    Maria then walked up nervously to Mira. She seemed quite flustered.

    "We''ll have a day off tomorrow." Mira said as she kept walking back to her room.

    Maria wanted to scream with joy, but she held it in and went to prepare everything.

    ***

    The next morning, Mira opened her eyes after cultivating through the night and saw a red dress and a purple mask that only covered half of her face ced on her bed. She also noticed that Dominique was already awake. She just sighed and put on the dress and mask.

    After putting on the dress, she walked out to see several other people in her home. Cine, Audra, and Nisha were also here and wearing beautiful dresses as well. Dominique was also wearing a long dark blue dress thatplimented her royal blue hair well.

    All of them were stunned by Mira''s beautiful appearance even though she has on a mask. It didn''t detract from her beauty at all and only made her more mysterious.

    Dominique ran up and held her hand, showing that she was ready to go.

    "Now that everyone is ready, let''s go! I have the whole day nned out!" Maria said as she led everyone out of the room.

    They immediately attracted the attention of the other disciples when they were making their way out of the sect.

    "Wow! I wonder where they''re going? And isn''t that Mira? I never thought I''d see her in such a fancy dress! So beautiful!"

    "KYAAA!! Mira! You''re so beautiful and cool! I wish I coulde with you!"

    "We love you, Mira!"

    It seems that Mira was starting to build a fan club. A strong, reliable, beautiful, and cold disciple like Mira is like their Prince Charming. Sometimes the other disciples forget that Mira''s a girl due to her ruthless and brutal behavior. But this is why so many of the disciples thought she was cool!

    "You sure are popr, Mira. Even the other females want you. No wonder you joined this Sect." Audra teased Mira and only received a re in response.

    "That''s not even the worst of it! Some disciples will evene up to Mira, asking her to punish them! Haha! Some of these girls are turning into real perverts haha!" Mariaughed as she recalled something that only happened one time!

    Mira just sighed and shook her head.

    They soon made their way out of the sect and into the city.

    "Let''s go to some food stalls for some breakfast!" Maria said as she walked next to Mira.

    They made their way down to the area with food stalls everyone and soon caught the attention of everyone. They were all beautiful women who radiated a strong aura. The owners immediately knew that they were from the Sect and knew that they could pay up.

    "Would you like to try our meat kebabs? They''re the best in the area!"<sub> </sub>

    "How about trying our egg sandwiches?! Perfect for a morning stroll!"

    "Why don''t you try our meat buns?! I can assure you that you won''t find better food in the city!"

    The owners of the stalls kept trying to sell their food and Mira''s group just bought a little of everything. It only cost them a few spirit stones for each person to buy everything.

    "Thank you for your business!!" The food stall owners yelled as Mira''s group left to walk around the city.

    They started walking around to explore the city a bit now as they ate and conversed with each other.

    "How''d you meet Mira?" Nisha asked Maria. Maria then proceeded to exin how they met to the group with fervor! This was the best thing to ever happen to her!

    "Wow, I had no idea that Mira would save anybody from trouble. How lucky you are." Nisha said in response to the story and everyone else nodded their heads.

    "Well, she said that she wanted information about where she was and what was outside of the forest." Maria exined which cleared things up a bit. Mira didn''t save her because she felt bad, she did it for information.

    What�� What about you�� Dominique, was it? H-How''d you meet Mira?" Cine asked hesitantly, but she wanted to be a part of the group as well.

    "I met her at the end of the tournament! She''s teaching me to get strong!" Dominique said proudly and the 3 of them paused for a second. So this little girl is Mira''s disciple? Bullshit!!

    "Why''d you take her in, Mira?" Audra asked curiously.

    "Her determination, heart, and drive aremendable. Plus she does what I say withoutints." Mira said without giving much of an answer. Though she didn''t lie. Those were the reasons that Dominique won the bet. But the others didn''t know what to say to that answer. Mira usually downys things and makes them seem worse or weaker than they actually are. So if she says that Dominique ismendable, wouldn''t that mean she''s godlike? They weren''t sure what to think.

    They kept conversing with each other as they walked around the city. Soon they came upon a ratherrge park. There was a lot of greenery and things for children to climb or y on as well. It seems that Maria wanted them to have a peaceful walk around this park and just enjoy the happy and peaceful atmosphere.

    They soon gathered a lot of attention from the parents, but the kids immediately ran over to them.

    "Wow! Youdies are so pretty! Wanna y?!"

    "I''ve never seendies as pretty as you! Are you from the Sect? My Mama talks about the sect and says they are full of strongdies! I''m going to be strong like you one day!"

    "Why are you wearing a mask, Miss? Are you trying to hide? You aren''t doing a very good job at hiding if I can find you!"

    Mira''s group was getting swarmed with kids. It''s not every day that they meet the disciples of the Sect. The ones getting the most attention were Maria, Dominique, and Mira. Maria and Dominique because they gave off a more childish and yful vibe and Mira because the kids felt safe when they were around her. Even though she always had a bad expression on her face and was rather cold there was no hostility.

    The parents came over and grabbed their children and apologized. But Maria just told them it''s fine and that they didn''t bother them at all.

    Dominique watched as the children reluctantly left and went back to ying with one another. She knew that she probably wouldn''t get any days like that since she wants to get stronger and stay with Mira. Part of her wanted to be able to be like those kids, but it was only reced with the drive to get stronger and stay with Mira. But she also saw some kids sitting on their parent''s shoulders and wondered if she could do at least that much. She tugged on Mira''s sleeve and asked.

    "Mira, can I get on your shoulders like how they are?" Dominique asked nervously. Mira looked around and noticed what she was talking about. Mira nodded her head and squatted. Dominique climbed on her shoulders and they continued walking.

    "Hahaha! I feel so tall! I can see so far! Thank you, Mira!" Dominique eximed when she sat on her shoulders.

    The other 4 were shocked by this scene. Was Dominique her disciple or a secret love child?! Why was Dominique treating her like a parent and Mira didn''t seem to object? What is going on? They yelled in their hearts but refrained from asking.

    They walked around the city some more and participated in various activities. They went into various shops to look around. Tried on different clothes. Looked at weapon shops. Maria also took them to a nice restaurant. They weren''t disturbed this time and were able to have an enjoyable meal. The girls were able to warm up to Mira a bit more as they asked her questions or advice on things. Mira''s domineering personality wasn''t as overwhelming today so they wanted to take full advantage of that to learn more about her.

    Mira answered some questions rather vaguely and didn''t talk much. They didn''t feel as distant as before and were able to have a nice time. Even the nervous Cine eventually calmed down and started joining in on the fun.

    After having dinner, Maria led them out of the city to a secluded area. They then watched the sun set and waited for the stars toe out. Dominique eventually fell asleep in Mira''s arms and they made their way back to the Sect after a while.

    Once they made it back to their rooms, Mira decided to say a few words to Maria.

    "It was a nice day. Something I haven''t had in a very long time." Mira said and walked away to her room.

    Maria just stood there stunned. She then started to tear up and had a warm smile on her face that was full of love.

    "I''m d."

 Chapter 112 Battle Tower

    Mira decided that she would go to the Battle Tower tomorrow. She was a little annoyed that she had to fight in the Battle Tower and make it into the Top 3, but it''s worth it to keep her daily use token at the Cultivation Cave. She had no such ambitions of making it to the top floor or take first ce. The Elders already knew she was strong and skilled and this is just a way for them to prove to the other disciples that she is strong enough.

    The next day, a few hours before dawn she found herself in front of the Battle Tower that is meant for Core Disciples. She was also able to see the leaderboards here as well.

    [1. Alexa - 98th Floor

    2. Cleo - 97th Floor

    3. Jade - 95th Floor

    ��]

    It showed the Top 10 disciples, but Mira only cared about the Top 3.

    ''So I just need to make it to the 96th Floor, huh? I wonder how difficult this tower is.'' Mira thought to herself.

    She then walked into the Tower and a mechanical voice yed itself.

    "Wee to the Battle Tower, Disciple. Defeat all of the beasts on each floor to progress to the next one. If you want to leave the tower, then just say ''I give up!'' and the tower will eject you.'' The mechanical voice gave a basic introduction.

    Then a Low-Stage Rank 3 appeared in front of her. Mira just took out her scythe and dashed towards it, killing it instantly. The beasts just disappeared after killing them. She then felt her body teleport to the floor above her and now there were 2 Low-Stage Rank 3 Beasts.

    Mira repeated the same thing with these two beasts and they died instantly as well.

    With each floor added another beast of the same rank. And Mira reached the 10th Floor in under a minute after instantly killing 10 Low-Stage Rank 3 Beasts. After all 10 beasts disappeared she was taken to the 11th Floor.

    "Wee to the 11th Floor." A mechanical voice rang out, seemingly just to remind her what floor she was on.

    This time a Mid-Stage Rank 3 Beast appeared, but this still didn''t change the fact that Mira could instantly kill it. She might be able to fight Low-Stage Rank 5 Beasts or at least Peak-Stage Rank 4. These low-ranking beasts were nothing but ants in front of Mira. She was taken to the 12th Stage where 2 Mid-Stage Rank 3 Beasts appeared and Mira felt like things would be way too easy for at least 50 floors. And she was right.

    The 20th Floor had 10 Mid-Stage Rank 3 Beasts.

    The 30th Floor had 10 Late-Stage Rank 3 Beasts.

    The 40th Floor had 10 Peak-Stage Rank 3 Beasts

    And the 50th Floor had 10 Low-Stage Rank 4 Beasts.

    It barely took her 10 minutes to reach the 50th floor as she was able to kill almost every beast instantly by just running at them and casually sweeping her scythe. Even the Rank 4 Beasts weren''t much in front of her even though they were supposed to be equal in strength cultivation-wise.

    The 51st Floor is when things got slightly more difficult because a Mid-Stage Rank 4 beast appeared. But this beastcked any form of intelligence, so Mira took out its eyes with a few ice needles and cut off one of its legs then finished it off by cutting off its head. Mira felt that if things continued like this, she might have to fight Rank 6 beasts on the upper floors. But she shook these thoughts out of her head and focused on what''s in front of her.

    The 52nd Floor contained one Mid-Stage Rank 4 beast and one Low-Stage Rank 4 Beast. She went for the easiest to kill first, beheading the Low-Stage Rank 4 Beast. Then just repeated the same thing she did on the 51st Floor with the Mid-Stage Rank 4 beast.

    Instead of her only taking around 10 seconds or less toplete a floor, it now took her almost 2 minutes. That''s over 10 times longer! But Mira kept this pace and even got better at killing Mid-Stage Rank 4 beasts. But since these beasts clearlycked intelligence and were just running like mad at her, they were essentially just a walking training dummy. A normal Rank 4 beast would not fight like this.

    But Mira didn''t care about this as even if that was the case, one still needed the strength to kill them. If they wouldn''t even cut the beast then all they can do is dodge or run, meaning failure to advance.

    Mira just kept advancing through the floors at a steady pace. She was able to beat the 60th Floor with rtive ease as well. There were only 2 Mid-Stage Rank 4 beasts and 8 Low-Stage Rank 4 Beasts. So the difficulty didn''t spike that much for her from the 51st Floor.

    The 61st Floor continued in a simr manner where a Late-Stage Rank 4 Beast appeared to which Mira had to dodge several of its attacks and repeatedly cut its neck before being able to sever its head. The battle actually took Mira almost 10 minutes toplete as the beast was much faster and tougher than the ones before it.<sub> </sub>

    The 62nd Floor had one Late-Stage Rank 4 beast and one Mid-Stage Rank 4 beast to fight. Things were getting progressively harder and were clearly not meant for someone at her cultivation, but even so, it still only took Mira a little over 10 minutes to clear this floor. The floors continued in a simr manner as before and she eventually made it to the 80th Floor after around 6 hours.

    As a recap of what happened on the previous floors, the 70th Floor had 2 Late-Stage Rank 4 beasts and 8 Mid-Stage Rank 4 Beasts. While te 80th Floor had 2 Peak-Stage Rank 4 beasts and 8 Late-Stage Rank 4 Beasts.

    The Peak-Stage Rank 4 Beasts were a huge pain in the ass for Mira to kill as they were extremely tough. But she was able to confirm her theory! As far as pure strength goes, her body is equal to a Peak-Stage Rank 4 Beast. But she felt like she was hitting the limit of her capabilities and could only hope that they didn''t introduce Rank 5 Beasts for Floors 81 to 90. But much to Mira''s dismay, this is what actually happened.

    When she made it to Floor 81, a Low-Stage Rank 5 beast appeared and she could immediately feel that if she had to fight this thing, she should be able to run, but actually killing it was a different story. But Mira wasn''t an idiot with no battle experience. She knew that these beasts aren''t very intelligent and she had the perfect technique for this! Her Ice Prison! Since the beasts can barely think for themselves, as long as she can run around for a while, then she''ll be able to immobilize the beast and just saw off its head after.

    This is exactly what Mira did! She didn''t even bother to keep out her scythe for this battle. She just shot a barrage of ice needles towards the beast, hoping one would enter deep enough for her to use. And after almost 5 minutes ofunching ice needles at the beast while running away, she was able to get one into its side. She then proceeded to use her Ice Prison technique. The Ice coursed through the beast''s body and after almost 5 minutes, the beast became trapped in an Ice Prison inside of its own body. Mira was surprised by the time it took to finish this, but she forgot that she had enlightenment in her Absolute Ice Dao during her breakthrough. She just didn''t realize it was this great. Maybe she needs to be focusing more on her ice attacks now that they are this strong as well.

    After those 5 minutes, the beast was immobilized so Mira just walked up to it and started to hack its head off.

    She made it to the next floor but wanted to try something a bit different. There was one Low-Stage Rank 5 Beast and one Peak-Stage Rank 4 Beast. Mira activated her ice domain, took out her scythe, and used her Dual-ded Scythe Art. And used her ice domain to unleash hundreds of ice needles, ice des, and even her blue lighting was able to cause some damage now after it''s been almostpletely integrated into her body.

    She was surprised to see that by only using her ice attacks, she was actually able to kill both of the beasts. And it also decreased the time it took to clear the floor by a few minutes. But she used up over double or triple her energy and also made her mind more fatigued as well. She didn''t want to stick with this idea as she didn''t get any breaks in between floors.

    Mira continued using her Ice Prison for the next 2 hours on the Rank 5 Beasts until she reached the 91st Floor.

    But she was rather shocked that the 90th Floor didn''t have any extra Low-Stage Rank 5 Beasts and only had 9 Peak-Stage Rank 4 Beasts.

    But the 91st Floor was different than the other floors. This one didn''t start with only 1 beast, instead, 100 beasts appeared. There was 1 Low-Stage Rank 5 Beast while the rest of them were Rank 4 in different stages. Mira already knew exactly what she needed to do. She was just going to stick to what she''s been doing. Kill off the weaker ones first to lower the number of beasts chasing her and then she can focus on the stronger ones. But she tweaked this n a little and decided to save a weaker beast as well. Mira unleashed her full power now. She made her Ice Domain, covered herself in Ice Armor, turned her scythe into a dual-ded scythe, andunched hundreds and thousands of ice needles and ice des at the beasts. She was able to ughter the beasts other than the Rank 5 rather quickly. Of course, during this onught, she found a weaker beast, removed its legs, and threw it in the corner of the floor. After only the Rank 5 beast was left, she put all of her Qi into her Earth-Shattering Fist. Her fistunched out like a rocket into the beast''s head. There was a loud thud, but only the beast''s brain was turned into mush. The floor just absorbed the impact, but there were no cracks or anything. She was rather impressed with the integrity of the tower. Mira was able to clear this wave of beasts in around 10 minutes, but she exhausted all of her energy to do so.

    She looked over and saw that the beast she saved wasn''t able to move. Mira took this time to return to her peak, except this time it took her around an hour to do so.

    After she returned to her peak, she walked over to the legless beast and put it out of its misery. She then advanced to the 92nd Floor, but she noticed that the number of beasts doubled. There were now 2 Low-Stage Rank 5 beasts. She had to tweak her strategy a bit, but the premise remained the same. The only difference is she''d use her Ice Prison on the other Rank 5 Beast and slowly tear apart its head until it dies, then use a full Earth-Shattering Fist on the remaining beast, while keeping a weak beast alive at the end so she can rest. This would be her strategy until she was forced to change it.

    Mira pulled this off wlessly as she took out the fodder, saved a weak beast by removing its legs and throwing it to the side, using her Ice Prison on one of the Low-Stage Rank 5 Beast and slowly chipping away at it until it dies, then using a full power against thest beast, killing it.

    This allowed her to advance to the next floor, where the number of beasts doubles again. Now there were 400 and 4 Low-Stage Rank 5. She used the same strategy as before and felt like she was about to reach her limit soon. It was getting incredibly hard on her mind to keep spamming her ice like this for so long. Even after an hour-long break. But she pushed her mind and body to the limit and was able to pass Floor 95.

    On Floor 95 there were 1600 beasts and 16 Low-Stage Rank 5 Beasts. This was Mira''s limit to these brainless beasts. She was now covered in wounds and blood, but luckily her vitality is incredibly high with her bloodline and higher cultivation so these wounds wouldn''t leave any scars. But she did need to have longer breaks at the end of every fight to heal her broken bones and wounds along with regaining her energy. It took her around 10 hours to get to Floor 96. But once she reached Floor 96 she sensed a Mid-Stage Rank 5 Beast with over 30 Low-Stage Rank 5 beasts.

    "I give up!" Mira yelled as was immediately shoved out of the tower. She noticed that it was around midnight now and knew that she was in the Battle Tower for almost an entire day. She made her way over to the leaderboards to see if it was updated.

    [1. Alexa - 98th Floor

    2. Cleo - 97th Floor

    3. Mira - 96th Floor

    4. Jade - 95th Floor

    ��]

    Mira realized that the leaderboards are based on what floor you made it to and not what was thest floor you beat. She assumed that if someone were to clear all 100 floors, instead of saying [100th Floor], it''d say [Cleared] or [Completed].

    Either way, Mira was satisfied and tiredly walked back to her room, got in her bed, and decided to go to sleep with Dominique.

 Chapter 113 3rd Place

    Mira had mentally exhausted herself from constantly draining herself in the Battle Tower. She missed an entire day''s worth of cultivation due to this, but it''s not like one day would make that much of a difference since she needs a tremendous amount of Qi to advance to the next stage.

    But the next morning, Mira woke up and carried out her normal routine of training and cultivating. But while Mira was busy doing her normal routine, her reaching 3rd ce at the Battle Tower started to spread across the disciples and even the Elders.

    "Hey, did you hear that Mira reached the 96th Floor in the Battle Tower, overtaking 3rd ce? I''ve heard that most people that make it that far are at least Late-Stage Houtian, but didn''t Mira just breakthrough into the Foundation Realm? Is she really that strong?"

    "Yeah, I heard the same thing too. I knew she was strong, but to make it to 3rd ce on her first try after she just advanced to the Foundation Realm is insane! The Elders really found someone extraordinary!"

    "Do you think she''ll be going for 3rd ce in the Arena as well?"

    "I don''t know, but I hope so! I really want to see Mira fight seriously! Even though we know that Mira is incredibly skilled, we''ve never seen just how skilled she is."

    Rumors started to spread and the disciples started getting excited about an uing fight between Mira and Jade, who was ranked 3rd in the Arena as well. This news eventually reached Jade as well.

    "So Mira beat me in the Battle Tower? I guess it''s not that surprising. We''re about equal in strength and she''s probably more skilled than me as well. If we were to fight, I bet I''d end up losing after a hard battle. But I think I heard one of the Elders mentioning that they wanted Mira to reach the Top 3 for the Core Disciples and have a sparring ss with some of the other disciples. Seems like it might be true. I guess I should prepare myself for a fight soon." Jade said to herself after hearing the news and wasn''t the least bit bothered by it. Mira being better or stronger than her had nothing to do with her. There were tons of people that are stronger than her in the world. If she cared about every single one of them, then she would be dead by now.

    This news also reached the Elders and they went to verify this information. As soon as they saw Mira''s name at 3rd ce they realized that this was true.

    "We just told her this the other day! I thought that she''d have to advance to the next stage to be able to aplish this but to think she''d be this quick about it. What a monster."

    "She truly is a monster. To make it to Floor 96 means she can fight beasts a full Rank above her own. Just how strong is her body?"

    "I guess we''ll have to get the disciples ready to start sparring with her since things are progressing faster than we originally thought. This might even start next week! But I''m notining! The sooner the better!"

    Many people were discussing this, but Mira didn''t care about any of this. The only reason she''s doing this is that it was one of the conditions she made to the Elder. Other than that, she has no reason to participate in the Battle Tower or the Arena. It''s not like anybody would challenge her either, so there''s no point in even advancing unless she gains extra benefits.

    But while Mira and Maria were on the Training Grounds, Maria decided to ask her about the battle tower.

    "Hey, Mira! I heard you got to 3rd ce in the Battle Tower! How was it? Was it difficult? Do you think I''d be able to make it to Floor 96 as well?"

    "The first 80 floors were rather simple, but Floor 81 introduced Rank 5 beasts which made it difficult for me. Floor 91 through 95 were basically beast hordes that doubled with every stage. I also had to fight a bunch of Rank 5 beasts. If you were smart, you''d be able to make it to Floor 91, but you''d probably have a difficult time after that. Your skills and arts are not really meant for 1 vs many battles. But they are much stronger in one on one fights. Killing 16 Rank 5 Beasts would probably drain you. I''m also assuming that thosest 5 Floors get exponentially harder." Mira gave an in-depth analysis to which Maria just nodded her head. She didn''t really care too much about the battle tower but seeing Mira do it made her want to try it out.

    "I guess I''ll have to give it a try tomorrow!" Maria said as they kept training.

    After they were done, Mira went over to the arena to schedule a battle with Jade, who was in 3rd ce.

    The Elder informed her that Jade was currently in the Sect and she could schedule the battle whenever she wanted to. Mira set it for tomorrow at dawn and Jade immediately epted it and this news spread like wildfire amongst the disciples. They all wanted to see this fight. Mira didn''t know this, but the Top 2 in the Sect were currently out doing some adventuring to hone their skills and look for lucky encounters. They''d reached a point where staying in the Sect wasn''t as beneficial for them.

    The day passed quickly and it became time for Mira and Jade''s fight. Disciples had already gathered in the arena by the hundreds to watch this fight. Mira and Jade showed up right at dawn and walked up to the stage. They didn''t speak to one another and just took out their weapons. Jade took out a sword and Mira finally revealed her scythe. There was a rumor going around that Mira used a scythe, but they''ve never seen her use it so they weren''t sure if this rumor was true. But this proved the rumor! Most people haven''t seen a scythe user fight, so this battle just became even more exciting.

    "Fight!" The Elder judging the battle announced.<sub> </sub>

    Jade wanted to keep her distance and attack from afar due to the scythe having a longer reach. Jade shot some casual earth-spikes at Mira just to test her. But Mira easily dodged those and continued to rush at her. She didn''t want to use her ice just yet and was also a bit hesitant to use it, since she might identally kill her opponent.

    As Mira was charging, Jade turned the ground Mira was about to step on into mud, which almost made her lose her footing. This is when Jade decided to attack, but Mira shot a few Ice des at her and multiple ice needles towards her vitals. Jade was forced to slow down which allowed Mira to regain her footing.

    Mira was impressed with Jade since this was the first time in a while she could fight someone who was around her strength and also good at fighting. She decided to take this a bit more seriously and donned her Ice Armor and Dual-ded Scythe. She''d wait to use her Ice Domain whenever she gets closer to her as that drains her faster than her other techniques.

    Jade also did something simr and surrounded herself with earth, and even made an earth sword which she put in her other hand.

    They both looked at each other with respect and dashed in. They were through with testing each other now.

    Mira immediately picked up momentum in her scythe and started attacking once she got within range of Jade. Jade wasn''t a slouch either and was able to deflect the scythe with one sword and try to attack with the other. She''d also use her feet to shoot ground spikes at Mira as well. Mira would form blocks of ice to prevent these spikes from touching her. But she''d also send ice des or needles in the opposite direction of Jade''s ground spikes. To which Jade would dodge, but Mira would try and capitalize on this dodge, only to have her movement slowed with the ground turning into mud.

    The battle became fiercer with each passing second as they both exchanged hundreds of moves. Mira was able to hit Jade a few times with an ice needle, but Jade was also able to hit Mira a few times. They were almost evenly matched, but Jade was slightly stronger than Mira in terms of power. She was a Late-Stage Houtian and wasn''t a weak one either. So it was understandable if she was stronger than Mira. She also contained more Qi so her attacks were a lot stronger than Mira''s.

    Mira knew that ying a battle of attrition is not what she wanted and knew it was time to use her Ice Domain. A Bone-chilling aura was released from Mira, and soon the stage turned into a blizzard. In her domain, ice attacks are easier to make and she can also make a ton of them.

    Soon, Jade was surrounded by tens ofrge Ice Spikes that circled around her and followed her wherever she went. Once Mira was ready, sheunched the Spikes at her. Jade formed an Earth Dome around her, but Mira was assuming that Jade might do something like this and already had an Earth-Shattering Fist prepared. Sheunched her fist at the Earth Dome and the thing exploded. She kicked Jade in the gut, making her tumble away then shot towards her and rested her scythe de against her neck.

    Mira dissipated the Ice Domain so the others could see and Jade just raised her hands in defeat.

    "Mira wins!" The Elder announced and the disciples watching cheered like crazy. That was such an epic battle! They were on the edge of their seats the entire time!

    Both of them put their weapons away and looked at each other.

    "I hear you are going to be sparring with some of the disciples to improve their battle prowess. Is that true?" Jade asked without any expression. Mira nodded her head in the same manner.

    "Mind if I join? I feel like we''d both be able to improve if we sparred with each other more."

    "I don''t care. Just talk to Elder Bridget first." Mira said and Jade nodded. They then both left the stage.

    After Mira left the stage, Elder Bridget came up to her.

    "It seems like you held up your end of the deal quite fast. I''ll gather up the disciples I had in mind and prepare them. When do you want to start?" Elder Bridget asked with a smile. Mira was a lot more skilled and stronger than she originally thought!

    "Same schedule as the unarmedbat training. Except for this time, I want to meet at the Training Grounds. Also, Jade said she wanted to join as well." Mira said and the Elder nodded her head and left to prepare.

    Mira walked out of the Arena and Maria caught up to her and started chatting with her. They then went about their day like normal.

 Chapter 114 Rejected

    Now that Mira was Ranked 3rd among the Core Disciples, the Elders were able to continue with their n of having Mira spar with some promising girls. Even though they would be helping in the training as they worked on improving their weapon skills. But practicing alone or against an Elder brings a different feeling than sparring with a partner or fighting in Life and Death battles. Even though they originally thought about sending them on dangerous missions and fight a bunch of different battles, Mira changed this n slightly. They now included sparring with her as part of their training as well. Sparring with Mira is like an all-you-can-eat buffet, one girl brings the whole package. Beatings after beatings, mental abuse, advice, almost experiencing death, and more fighting experience. They can also build moreradery with their fellow disciples. All they have to do is let Mira and Maria continue using the Cultivation Cave, which is of little use to the Elders. They get benefits from having strong disciples. This will also help improve Mira as well, they couldn''t ask for a better deal.

    While the Elders were preparing, Mira just continued her normal routine. And after a few days, her next ss started.

    "Wee back, disciples. I''ve taught you the basics of Alchemy and Arrays, but today I will be teaching you the basics of forging. But I can only give you theoretical knowledge as I''m not a forger and our forgers are a bit�� Unique. I asked them toe today, but they said that if you wanted to learn forging then you had to go to them. So, today, I will just impart my limited knowledge to you on this subject."

    "Though a weapon isn''t something that cultivators need to possess, it certainly is helpful when fighting battles or against beasts that have hard shells or skin. But the problem with having a weapon is that it needs to be able to withstand the pressure of high-intensity battles and this only gets worse the higher in the strength you get. But weapons are almost like the life-blood of cultivators now and that''s where forgerse into y."

    "There are several different ways to forge weapons and many smiths and forgers do something different so I''ll just exin the basics for you. The first and most important thing is the materials. This will help determine the grade of the weapon, how useful it is if the weapon is flexible or rigid, and more. You can''t just go pick random stones and minerals off the ground, melt them together and make a sword. The materials have to bepatible with each other and used in the right quantities. Even the slightest change in the bnce could affect the grade of the weapon. But once you''ve gathered your required materials then you can start forging."

    "The next step that most people follow is the Melting Phase. As the name suggests, this is where you melt the materials, but depending on the materials you might not do it all at once. But you''ll melt the materials and while they''re in liquid form, inject your Qi into the weapon. Or if it''s for a specific client then you''ll have them inject their Qi into the molten materials. The amount of Qi depends on the materials."

    "The next step is where things change depending on the smith and desired quality. For a low-quality product for the masses, a smith might just pour the molten material into a mold to shape it, then let it cool and continue from there. But if you''re looking for quality then you''ll turn the molten material into a block, but keeping it hot. Then you''ll fold it in on itself and hammer it, heat it up again until it bes one, fold it in half, and hammer it some more. This is a very crude description, but this is the process of tempering the metal. You''re pushing out any impurities when you do this and the quality will be higher as a result. But tempering metal can be an arduous process, just like tempering your body. There are also other techniques that forgers use, but I don''t know them and I''d rather not try to describe them."

    "Things only change more in the next phase depending on the forger. Some forgers can control the molten metal with their energy and start shaping it to how they want, while others hammer it to shape the weapon, and like I mentioned before some will just pour it into a mold and sharpen itter. There are all sorts of techniques people use and it really just depends on the person. If you are interested in forging then you''ll have to find someone to show you what they do and determine if that''s the correct fit for you."

    "I could talk a bit more about the process of forging, but I think that I should stop here. The processes differ too much and I don''t want to say one thing and deter you away from this profession. I''ll just answer some questions regarding this profession." Elder Kendra asked the ss if they had any questions and saw several people looking eager to ask more.

    "Is bing a forger hard? And how much money do they makepared to the other professions?" One disciple asked.

    "I''d say it''s the easiest out of the 4 main professions. I''d also say they make the least amountpared to the other professions on average. There are many people that want to be forgers out there, but usually, it''s the popr ones that make all of the money. While the lesser-known ones just pick up the scraps. But the nice thing about learning how to forge is that you don''t need someone else to make your weapon. As long as you have the materials and a ce to make a weapon, then you don''t have to rely on someone else." Elder Kendra exined and she could immediately some of the disciple''s faces drop after hearing that.

    Of course, they''d want to choose a profession like alchemy that can make tons of money, but the reality is often harsh and some people just aren''t meant to be alchemists.

    "What''s the difference in grades between weapons?" Another disciple asked curiously and a lot of people perked their ears up at this question.

    "A number of things, but really it''s just the materials used and the density of Qi used to make the weapon. There are other minor factors thate into y such as sharpness, durability, and other things. This also prevents a mortal from being able to make a Heaven or Immortal Grade weapon. They cannot handle such materials or Qi. This also means that you need to increase your cultivation to make stronger weapons. Sure you could make a weapon with precious materials, but no Qi. But the weapon will just be a very hard chunk of metal and won''t be able to keep up with the pressure of Qi that cultivators produce." Elder Kendra briefly exined the corrtion between weapon grades.<sub> </sub>

    "That''s about it for today''s ss. I know it was a bit short, but I don''t have anything else to talk about regarding this subject and if you are interested in forging then you should visit the Sect''s forgers. See you next week." Elder Kendra said as she walked out.

    Mira was a bit interested in forging as this could be a great way to strengthen her subordinates in the future. They''ll need better weapons and if she could provide that for them, then she wouldn''t have to rely on anyone else.

    Mira decided to go check out the forgers in the Sect and started walking towards the Forging District. Maria was also curious so she decided to tag along as this was a rare opportunity that Mira was doing something other than training.

    She found the Forging District and could only smell metal and fire. There also weren''t many forgers in the Sect. Only around 4 or 5 of them. Mira decided to walk up to one of them that wasn''t currently busy and expressed her interest in learning.

    "I''m interested in learning how to forge. Can you teach me?" Mira asked with an expressionless face.

    "Ahh?! You want to learn how to forge?! Sorry, I won''t teach you! Too cold! No spirit!" The Elder said in a loud voice as she immediately declined. Mira frowned, but didn''t say anything else and just left.

    She then walked up to another Elder but got rejected immediately again. Her frown grew deeper, but she left and continued asking the other Elders.

    Every reply was almost the same. They didn''t want to teach her, but thest one finally exined why.

    "You''re too cold and merciless. You can''t be like that when you''re forging! You have no spirit like you just want to forge because you feel obligated to. I don''t see any passion for forging in your eyes. Even if you were to be extremely talented in forging, I still wouldn''t teach you as it''d just be depressing. Sorry!" Thest Elder exined which left Mira speechless!

    ''What the fuck?! I don''t see anyone else trying to be a shitty forger and here you are rejecting the only person that is actually expressing interest?! I guess I''ll either have to learn on my own or look for a different profession!'' Mira thought to herself as she left with a deep frown on her face.

    "Hahaha! None of the Elders even wanted you even though you''re the only one expressing interest!" Mariaughed at her, but Mira just kicked her in the gut to shut her up.

    "Cough Cough, I''m sorry! Don''t worry, there are 3 other professions that you could try!" Maria got up and tried to cheer Mira up.

    The two of them just went about their normal routine until it was time for tomorrow. That''s when she''d begin sparring with some of the disciples.

 Chapter 115 Sparring

    The next day at dawn, Mira woke up from cultivating and prepared for her sparring sessions. She had a few ns that would be beneficial for her and the disciples she''ll be sparring with and one of those is to use the Training Grounds. What Mira wanted to do is have the disciples spar with her in a slow-paced battle so they understand the ws with their swings or thoughts. A lot of times you won''t notice these small things when you are moving at full speed and not paying 100% attention to every movement, but doing this will force them to pay attention and correct themselves. It can also help train their bodies as well, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

    This is what Mira is all about, efficiency! Even if she will just get reincarnated if she dies, why waste time? She''d rather get the most out of every second!

    Mira and Maria walked over to the training grounds and saw several familiar faces. Nisha, Audra, Sia, Anna, Hazel, Cine were all here which Mira expected. But Ellie and Diana were also here, the two girls that she met in the forest before joining the Sect were also here. The only other person that she recognized was Jade, the disciple she just fought a few days ago. The rest were a mix of Inner and Core disciples, both new and old. There were only 15 people here and 10 of those were people that Mira already knew. But she didn''tin as she could tell that these 15 all had the potential to be skilled fighters.

    "Hello, Mira. We decided that we should only bring these disciples over for sparring. Part of the reason is that some of the Elders didn''t want to hand their precious disciples over to you. But another part of it is those other disciples are out doing missions to gather experience and cultivating for the rest of the time. Even though we wanted to add sparring with you onto their schedule, it''s already full as is. We might send them over in the future to spar with you, but it''ll only be a few at a time. Oh! One more thing! We haven''t started working or teaching these girls yet, but they are just the ones that have caught our eye! Maybe in a few months or so, they''ll be able to find a master to teach them but for now, it''s just you. Good luck!" Elder Bridget showed up to talk to her then left after she was done talking.

    Mira just sighed as this makes things more annoying, but at least she gets to spar with some of the people that caught her eye as well. More specifically Cine and Nisha. Cine is extremely talented and Nisha has a unique fighting style.

    "Alright, everyone! Listen up! The reason that I brought you all to the Training Grounds is not only so we can spar! I will have you all put on waits that halve your movement and we will all enter Training Ground 7, which is meant for Early Foundation Realm Cultivators. Those of you not in the Foundation Realm might not need to put on any weights as the pressure should be enough. I''m not going to exin why I''m doing this as you should be able to figure it out when we start! Alright, now go gather the necessary weights from the proper Training Ground!" Mira said and walked into Training Ground 9 and grabbed 2 pairs of everything. The pressure in this Training Ground is already enough to almost halve her movement and with the added weights, she can hardly move.

    Needless to say, when she entered Training Ground 7, the pressure didn''t affect her much which is why she grabbed 2 pairs of weights. After putting them all on, she waited for everyone else. Cine was the weakest one here at Stage 5 Qi Condensation while most of the others were either close to the Peak of Qi Condensation or in the Foundation Realm. The reason she picked Training Ground 7 instead of 9 is because of Cine, she wouldn''t be able to handle the pressure. But even in Training Ground 7 she still felt suffocated and her movements were slightly under half of what they used to be.

    Once everybody gathered in Training Ground 7 and put on their weights is when Mira began sparring.

    "I don''t want to see any use of your elemental affinity or any weapon arts during our spar! You are here to improve your weapon skills! You wouldn''t be any different than a beast if you only relied on power and your elemental affinity might be up against a bad match! What you need is a steady foundation with your weapon skills that your elemental affinity and weapon arts revolve around! This is what will make you great fighters!" Mira announced and the only person here who was used to this is Maria. They almost never sparred with their ice or light, but the other disciples weren''t the same. They might not use weapon arts during a spar, but they almost always used their element.

    "Also, you will not just sit around and do nothing while waiting to spar with me! Find a partner and spar with them and we will rotate every so often! I''ll start with Maria, you lot find someone to spar with and we will switch!" Miramanded while everyone nodded. They were just wondering what they should do while they wait for Mira.

    Everyone soon began sparring with each other. The other disciples were a bit surprised that Mira and Maria''s spar was silent. When Mira trained, she''d often be very loud and demanding, but it seems Maria was different. The reason for this is because there is no need for Mira to yell at Maria anymore unless she does something very disappointing. Maria can tell what Mira wants based on her facial expressions. Neutral means she''s okay with it, a slight frown means that you just fucked up, and a deep frown means that you should be ashamed for showing such a pathetic show in her presence. And if she ever shows a slight smile, it means she found whatever you did interesting or was happy with the result, but this is extremely rare.

    After they sparred for a bit, Mira switched and started to spar with Cine. Mira already knew how she''d spar with Cine. Even though she''s a lot stronger than her, that doesn''t mean she can''t use that strength to better ''exploit'' her ws. A little mental abuse never hurt either.

    "What the fuck was that?! Are you blind?!

    "Your arms are too stretched out! It left you wide open! How useless can you be?!"<sub> </sub>

    "Get a grip, child! I initially had high hopes for you, but what the fuck are you doing?!"

    "You do realize I can move right?! I''m not just going to stand here and let you hit me! n ahead!"

    ? Mira continued to berate Cine, and whenever she left herself open she''d m her scythe into that part of Cine''s body, causing her to tumble. But Mira never let up. She could see the raw talent in this girl, but it wasn''t used to its fullest potential. Mira nned on using force to get Cine to use her full potential. She may not be able to do it today, but eventually, it should happen.

    After Cine got beat so bad that she could hardly move, they rotated and Mira started to spar against Nisha. Mira didn''t need to be as rough with Nisha as she was with other people, but she''d still take advantage of any blind spots or openings and ''correct'' her.

    Everyone kept sparring with each other until Mira got to thest person, which happened to be Jade. She really wanted to see how skilled Jade was without using her element. And she didn''t disappoint. Even though she wasn''t quite as skilled as Mira and kept getting mmed by a scythe due to the openings that she left. Mira was quite happy with the results as Jade was almost able to keep up with her. Not only that, Jade was slightly stronger than Mira, so she didn''t have to worry about holding back. She enjoyed sparring with Jade and Maria the most as both of them could keep up with her.

    Mira wondered if Maria could beat Jade and she figured that Maria should be able to. Maria''s instincts were rather incredible which is probably because of always being near-death whenever she''s with Mira. Dealing with this is incredibly annoying and something Mira even has a hard time sparring with Maria because of how sensitive she is. It''s just that Maria''s battle sense isn''t that good and she only relies on instinct to fight.

    Eventually, Mira called off the sparring session since she still had a schedule to keep. Also, cultivators at their level could spar like this for a very long time.

    "I had a lot of fun sparring with everyone! I was able to learn a lot from you and I hope that we can all get along!" Maria said to everyone.

    "Me too! I can''t wait for tomorrow! This has been a big help!"

    "Yeah! I also had a good time and could feel myself improving even just on the first day! Amazing!"

    "Me too!"

    Quite a few of the disciples responded to Maria, while the rest just nodded. They could all feel that they improved slightly after just one practice session. This is mainly because with Mira letting them know where they fucked up along with their movements being slowed, they were easily able to figure out what they did wrong and how to correct it. Just this one day alone might''ve been worth several days or even weeks of training for some people. Of course, it wouldn''t always be this efficient, and Mira knew that they''d have to incorporate what they learn here at full speed. But she was just building the foundation or fixing their foundation first. Even if she knew nothing about other weapons if there was one thing she is good at it''s fighting. And no matter the weapon, these are just the basics for learning how to fight. They can learn weapon techniques or better ways to utilize their weapons from someone that actually uses their weapon. The Elders had no idea how Mira was going to train and just thought that it''d be some simple sparring, but Mira''s clearly nned out how she wants these girls to get more skilled.

    This is also something that the Elders aren''t quite used to. Whatever Mira decides to do, she does the best possible job she can and strives for perfection. This is what makes Mira so terrifying, she''s always at 100%.

 Chapter 116 Side Chapter: Marias Parents

    Hundreds of kilometers away from the Battle Maiden Sect, in the Core Region of the Dark Moon Forest there were around 500 people participating in a trial.

    These are the people that Mira had sent there to get stronger along with a few members of the Zaria Family. Right now, they were just finishing up the 10th Stage.

    "Congrattions on passing Stage 10 of the Trial. You will soon be sent to a ce to rest for 7 days before continuing to Stage 11 of the Trial."

    All of the people participating in the Trial heard this voice at simr times.

    "AHHH! FUUUUCK!" Most of the women screamed in pain as their bodies were rapidly put back together.

    They''ve all been through a lot in these past 10 months. When they eventually got to the 1st Stage afterpleting the tutorial, they had been thoroughly pissed off. Bricks, bricks, and more bricks along with shitty traps and weak beasts. It was just a huge waste of time and they were hoping that the trial wouldn''t be like thister on. They all just wanted toplete this stage as soon as possible so they could get out. Even Cole, who was the strongest and most experienced couldn''t help but feel extremely annoyed. He really just wanted to destroy the walls and bust his way through, but he found this impossible as the bricks were too tough. He could only helplessly trudge through thiszily designed 1st stage.

    But things immediately changed when they reached the 2nd stage. For some reason, it went from being abyrinth to dropping them in hell. Of course, the stages were all based on their cultivation so Mira''s small army and Cole weren''t up against the same strength. But the girls were nothing special. The only experience they have in fighting is the daily spars between themselves along with killing beasts for food. But luckily for them, the 2nd Stage wasn''t actually that difficult for them. It was only filled with Low-Stage Rank 2 Beasts for them, which they could all deal with rather easily. But the issue is that the sheer number of beasts was rather terrifying. But after killing a beast and having it temper their flesh, blood, and skin the girls got exponentially stronger than before. Since their bodies have never been tempered like this, the amount the ming energy tempered was much more than it was for Mira and Maria.

    But this wasn''t the case for Cole. He is in the Mid-Xiantian Foundation Realm and so he was facing Mid-Stage Rank 5 beasts to start out with. And a lot of them too. Even though he''s in the Foundation Realm, that doesn''t mean he''s necessarily strong, and actually, he''s only around average maybe a little above average in terms of strength. If Mira were to advance a stage or two, she''d have no problem fighting Cole with how she is now. Anyways, fighting this many Rank 5 beasts is incredibly difficult and not to mention that if you can''t kill them quickly, then you just attract more with your battle. Even after killing one, he didn''t feel that the rewards were all that great. This is true, the creators designed it so that to get the maximum benefit out of the stage, you''d have to kill everything there. And with Cole being in a higher realm, it was naturally harder for his body to be tempered, and only truly skilled and strong warriors would be able to capitalize everything. He was only able to kill around 25% of the beasts in the 2nd Stage, which was much lesspared to the average 80-90% with the girls Mira brought. This is only because they are much stronger than some shitty Low-Stage Rank 2 beasts.

    The next stage, the Water World, is where most of the participants found difficulty. Killing the aquatic beasts was truly difficult, but the girls seemed to be much more innovative than Cole and the Zaria Family. This is mainly due to them having toe up with many different ways to tackle difficult situations. Where Cole and the others have not had to fight for their lives every day as they have. Also, Cole and the others were against much stronger beasts that could easily take a chomp out of them if they are careless. Needless to say that the kill percentage was around half this time around. Except for Cole, due to his strength and higher cultivation he can kill these aquatic beasts easier, so he was able to kill around 30-40%. But even so, they could feel major changes as their organs were tempered. Obviously, it was extremely painful for the women though, as their organs have never been tempered before. Actually, the only thing they''ll be facing from now on is pain, so many of them came up with a catchphrase whenever they''re in pain.

    "Mira''s beatings are worse than this!!" This is generally what the girls would think as the fear of Mira has been deeply ingrained into their bones. Just the thought of her would bring shivers down their spine and force them to work harder so they don''t get beaten senseless. But believe it or not, this is what motivated them to get through the stages. They were more afraid of Mira than they were of dying, so even if they had to die they''d rather do that than face Mira if they failed.

    The tenacity of these women was truly surprising. They were all able to progress further and further into the stages without dying or quitting. Most of this was because of Mira, but also theirradery. They didn''t want to be the only ones to fail, so they pushed on even when they almost died. Their resolve to push through actually topped Cole''s.

    If Mira were to hear Cole''s motivation to get stronger, she''d want to castrate him for being such a bad example to Maria. Cole just wanted to get stronger so he didn''t fall behind his daughter, but little did he know that his daughter was actually nearing his strength with each passing day. He loved his Maria more than anything and just wanted to create a warm environment that she coulde back to after she''s done adventuring.

    Erika, Maria''s Mother, actually had a better reason to get stronger, and believe it or not, it was because of Mira. Mira really left an impression on her due to her strong will, unwillingness to back down, and skills, this lit a fire under Erika that only grew more and more as she underwent the trial. She''s been the stay-at-home Mom ever since she became an adult and had Maria. While she never had any big ambitions or wanted strength, seeing Maria in very capable hands allowed her to put aside her worries for a second and want to gain strength. Cole was much stronger than her and she didn''t want to be a burden, and she also wanted to go explore the world with her husband at some point. They were still young and the world is open to lots of possibilities. She''d love nothing more than to travel, but that required sufficient strength. So she decided to take this trial extremely seriously. When she understood that these elemental stages will temper her body, she put in every ounce of effort and willpower to get as much out of it as she can.<sub> </sub>

    The stages actually went by rtively smoothly for the little over 500 participants. While it did get progressively harder with each stage, they were also getting progressively stronger. The only one out of everyone that wasn''t receiving as many benefits was Cole. The beasts were getting harder and harder to deal with, while his strength wasn''t rising as rapidly as the others. And the further he went in the stages, the wider the gap. He truly thought this was impossible, but just kept telling himself that Maria was able to pass these stages so how could he, her Father, give up? But he spent the majority of the time running instead of fighting even with that motivation.

    The girls were having it easier mainly because the gap in the Early Stages of the Qi Condensation Realm is not that big. As long as their body is strengthened enough, then they could deal with the next month of torture. As soon as they figured this out, they turned into crazy people whose only thoughts were to kill and not let down their teammates. Which would also result in them not getting beat by Mira.

    But just like Mira and Maria, there were 2 stages in these first 10 that were especially bad. The 7th Stage, the Lighting World, and the 10th Stage, the 8 Elements Stage.

    They had all actually died in the 7th Stage and had to go through unimaginable pain. They kept repeating their catchphrase but being struck by lighting for a month doesn''t feel very good. Even though they died, they still didn''t fear the trial. Since they were brought back to life, then Mira could still wish they were struck by lighting.

    But the 8 Elements World was a bit different. When they kept killing beasts and the pressure kept adding onto them, every bone felt like it would break whenever they moved. At first, it wasn''t so bad, but after 2 months of getting chased, hit, knocked around, and broken by the beasts along with the pressure this is definitely what it feels like to wish you were dead. Even so, this is the feeling they got whenever Mira would beat them within half an inch of their life. Except she''d bring them back from the brink of death only to beat them to that point again. At least in this stage, their sense of pain starts to get dulled over time.

    This thought process changed though when they finished this stage and reached this halfway point.

    "Dammit!! Mira must''ve been born thousands of years ago and coborating with the creators of the Trial!! Nobody else is as perverse as her!! Dammit, Mira!!"

    "I can understand why Mira rmended this ce! It''s just her without the body!! Are you watching Mira?! Are you satisfied!? Stop torturing us, please!! I know you love to watch us suffer, but isn''t this too much?!"

    "FUCK! SHIT! DAMMIT! I''m definitely going toin to Mira for taking us to a ce that does nothing but torture!!"

    All sorts of profanities and simr screams were said by everyone that was currently undergoing the trial. Little did they know that this was only the beginning of their hardship. The Poison Stage, Endless Battlefield Stage, and the Ascension Stage were all much worse than this. Even if they did know it wouldn''t make a difference. Mira wouldn''t allow failure among her subordinates.

    After reaching the halfway point and cursing at Mira, the only thing they felt afterward is extreme hunger and exhaustion. Most of the girls picked up the ring, saw what''s inside, and started eating to their heart''s content then fell asleep. While others immediately fell asleep and barely had enough time to eat when they woke up. But luckily they had the perfect poison dipping sauce in the next stage to go with their food!

    Cole and Erika both had different thoughts though. Most of which was respect for Maria. They didn''t expect her to be able to face such abominable pain. Though after realizing that she''s friends with Mira, they understood it. She was probably used to pain, but this only furthers their respect for Maria.

 Chapter 117 Inscriptions

    Back in the Battle Maiden Sect.

    The time for their next ss with Elder Kendra had arrived and Mira could only think of one topic left to be discussed, Inscriptions. She figured that the remaining time would either be spent on this and then maybe something likebat knowledge. But she wasn''t sure how they''d drag this out to 6 months long.

    Maria and Mira made their way over to the ss and waited with the rest of the disciples. Some disciples were giving them strange looks because they spectated Mira sparring with some of the other disciples in the Training Ground. They were slightly jealous that Mira was given all of these opportunities, but also wished they were picked as well. But their thoughts were interrupted when Elder Kendra walked in.

    "Wee back new disciples. Today, I''ll be talking about one of ourst subjects and after that, there will be no more weekly sses. Today I''ll be talking about inscriptions!" When Elder Kendra said this, someone in the ss raised their hand to ask a question. The Elder paused and let her ask.

    "Sorry to interrupt, but I''ve been curious for a while. Is there a weapon Dao? I know there are different daos for the elements, but I''ve never heard anything about a weapon Dao." One girl asked which surprised the other disciples in the room. They never thought about this and immediately became interested. Elder Kendra also had a strange look on her face when she heard this question.

    "Hmm�� Well, technically yes. You could say there is a weapon Dao. But none of the Elders here haveprehended anything like that. We only know some information on this topic. A weapon Dao is extremely mysterious and evasive. I''ve heard that one needs to be a heaven-sent talent to be able toprehend something like this or be incredibly lucky. I''d also guess that if you practiced enough and reached enlightenment about your weapon then you might be a step closer to this."

    "Regarding the strength of a weapon Dao, if one is able toprehend something like this then their battle prowess will undergo a drastic change. I don''t know how strong so you''ll have to figure this out by yourselves."Elder Kendra exined, but the disciples didn''t seem too satisfied with this answer.

    Even Mira wanted to know more as she''s never heard of anything like a weapon Dao. She hasn''t been using a scythe for that longpared to how long she''s lived, but she''s no slouch and she''s never felt or heard of anything like this.

    ''It seems there is something else on my list for things to learn. But since nobody here knows how to even unlock the path of a weapon Dao, then I''ll just have to keep sparring and trying to improve with each battle; no matter how big or small.'' Mira thought to herself then pushed this aside. There was nothing she could do and Daos are incredibly elusive.

    "That''s all I know about that so the only thing you can do is just keep working hard and improving. Now, onto the main subject. Inscriptions are thest main profession for Cultivators. Inscriptions can be used for several purposes, but the main one is enhancing one''s equipment. An inscription can increase the durability, sharpness, add attributes, strengthening, enhancing, and many other things."

    "The effect that an inscription can bring relies on the material used to inscribe, the object it''s being inscribed on, and what inscriptions are used. Along with other things like the uracy of the inscription and intent that you put into it."

    "There are many factors that y into being an inscriptionist and you can''t just take some beast blood, write some random scribbles on a sword, and call that an inscription. No, you have to understand what intent to put into your work, learning all of the symbols used to make certain inscriptions, and just learning the different types of inscriptions as well. Inscription making is by far the most meticulous profession for cultivators."

    "Honestly, I don''t really rmend learning this profession. There are fewer Inscriptionists out there than the other professions, but that''s just because of how difficult it is. It takes a lot of time to learn, uses precious resources that could be used for forging, and doesn''t make as much money as alchemists or Array Masters. This is mostly because while most people use a weapon to fight, pills to increase their strength, and arrays for defensive measures or traps. Inscription making is costly and the returns aren''t that great until you hit Core Formation and above. The difference in your equipment being 20% stronger or more durable when you start reaching higher realms bes much more significant."

    "If I were to put it into numbers with you being at 100 and someone in the Core Formation Realm being at 10,000. 20% of 10,000 is an extra 2,000 while 20% of 100 is only an extra 20. There are many ways to make up for that 20 at your levels, but this bes increasingly more difficult the higher you get as it''s not as easy to make up for that 2,000. This is why almost nobody gets their items inscribed before they reach this realm of power as not only does it cost too much, but the returns are too small. You also won''t be able to inscribe weapons for someone in the Core Formation Realm unless you are in that Realm as well."

    "But I will say this. If you learn now and keep honing your skills until you reach that realm of power then move somewhere closer to the Central Continent, you might make more than any other profession out there. That''s how popr it is among the higher realms. Even I have all of my equipment inscribed."

    "If you are interested in learning more about inscriptions, we only have one Elder here who can teach you. As I said, it''s the least popr profession so don''t be too surprised. Now that this is done, I guess I''ll demonstrate the difference between an inscribed weapon and one that isn''t." Elder Kendra exined all she knew about inscriptions. She then took out two swords, one that had arge number of symbols running down the side of it and the other didn''t. She then took out what seemed to be an extremely durable piece of wood. She took the non-inscribed sword and lightly shed it. The sword went around 60% of the way into the thick piece of wood. She then picked up the inscribed sword and used the same amount of strength, but this time she cut the piece of wood in half. The disciples were all rather surprised by this result and started to have different andplicated thoughts about inscriptions.<sub> </sub>

    "As you can see, inscriptions can be extremely useful and might even be the difference between life and death. Mira, Maria, even though you are only in the Foundation Realm I would advise you to find a weapon you like and get it inscribed. With your strength on top of an inscribed weapon, you will be an incredibly formidable opponent." Elder Kendra advised and both of them nodded their heads. But Mira furrowed her brows and thought of something.

    ''I wonder if spiritual weapons can be inscribed? Maybe I''ll ask that inscriptionistter.'' Mira thought to herself and became extremely curious. Spiritual weapons are incredibly rare and hard to make. Not only that but they are stored in the owner''s soul and get stronger with the user. Her scythe is currently a Peak-Stage Mortal Grade and will turn into a Low-Stage Earth Grade weapon when she advances to Core Formation. She was curious if the inscription would lose its value after the weapon increased.

    "What if someone uses a weaker inscription on a stronger weapon? What will the effects be?" Mira went ahead and asked part of her questions.

    "Hmm�� Though I''m not 100% sure I don''t think the inscriptions would be able to keep up with the pressure and get destroyed. This is why the materials used are important as weaker materials are used for weaker weapons and cultivators." Elder Kendra exined with only half confidence. But this was enough for Mira.

    Mira will have to go see this inscription master at some point to have some of her other questions answered, but it seems like she won''t be inscribing her weapon now. But a new thought popped into her head.

    ''Should I request a scythe be made? Then I''ll be able to get it inscribed. A Peak-Stage Mortal Grade should be able tost me until I reach the Core Formation Realm which I don''t expect to reach for at least 3 to 5 years at the minimum.'' Mira thought to herself and started to think this might actually be a good idea. Though it determines how much this will cost her. If it takes too much time to earn Sect Points and Spirit Stones to get a new scythe made and inscribed versus just training and cultivating then she''ll just give up on the idea. She''ll have to buy a new one once she reaches the Core Formation Realm anyway.

    "I''ll go ahead and end the ss today! And I''ll also inform you that there is one more ss after this that is mandatory. The rest will mostly be introductory battle sses or just general knowledge sses that arepletely optional. We might even have some of our disciplese in and try to get you more acquainted with our Sect. Anyway, this is the second tost mandatory ss. Congrattions on making it into the Battle Maiden Sect and Wee!" Elder Kendra announced to the ss and left. The disciples were rather shocked when they heard this. They were expecting another 2 to 3 months of this, but it turns out they don''t have toe back after this.

    The disciples started to get excited as they could finally take some of the longer missions that offer more money or even just go adventuring after another week!

    While everyone was overjoyed, Mira got up and left as she began thinking. She was seriously bing an inscriptionist. She''s learned many differentnguages that all use different symbols to convey different words. If all she has to do is learn some symbols and write them down, then how difficult can it really be? She can do that in her sleep!

    While Mira was considering different aspects of being an inscriptionist, Maria woke her up from her thoughts.

    "Mira! Geez�� What are you thinking about? Do you want to be an inscriptionist?" Maria asked curiously. This is the first thing other than training and fighting that Mira has shown interest in!

    "Sort of. I originally wanted to try out forging, but I don''t know if I''m suited for it. Maybe I''ll just read some books on it and learn it down the line. But inscriptions are rather interesting. We can''t stay at the Battle Maiden Sect forever at some point, we''ll have to leave and support ourselves. I''m only good at fighting, but that is most cultivators. I need to expand my skills." Mira said as she decided to choose whenever she met with the Inscription Master in the Sect. It wouldn''t matter if she refused to teach her.

    Maria nodded her head brightly as she felt like Mira was growing up! But Mira just kicked her in the gut as soon as she saw Maria''s face.

    ''I''m many times older than you and you look at me like I''m some child growing up?! I''ve never had any time to learn anything other than fighting!'' Mira yelled at Maria in her mind but didn''t voice her thoughts. She only looked at Maria with a very disappointed and angry look.

    Maria was amazed once again at Mira''s ability to read her thoughts, though it seems that Mira really didn''t like her look as that kick caused some minor internal injuries. Noted.

 Chapter 118 New Master

    Time passed by quickly for the Battle Maiden Sect and another week went by. Mira continued training, sparring, and cultivating while Maria did that plus study alchemy. Dominique also hasn''t stopped training ever since Mira gave her. Mira appreciated how hard-working this girl is and stopped paying too much attention to her training. She just told Dominique to let her know when the training bes slightly easier. Of course, Dominique immediately agreed even though she knew Mira would only make her training harder.

    Soon it came time for thest mandatory ss. All of the new disciples were excited because these sses were starting to lose their value for most of them. Almost all of the new disciples have found what profession they want to go into and have either found a Master or are studying hard so they can find a Master. Mira hasn''t talked to the Inscription Master yet since she hasn''t found time with all of her cultivating and training though she ns to go there next week now that they won''t be having any more mandatory sses.

    "Wee ss. Today is thest day for mandatory sses, but I won''t be going over much. I''m basically just here to inform you of an important uing event. I''ll also be announcing this to the rest of the Sect once everyone is present, but a lot of the other disciples already know about this."

    "There will be an Inter-Sect Tournament in a little over 2 years. This won''t be some ordinary tournament between the 5 Sects that surround Lunar Fox City. No, this will be a tournament between all of the Sects in the surrounding area. There will be a total of 17 Sects participating in this tournament and it''s a rather huge ordeal. Hundreds of thousands of peoplee to attend this event and cultivators from all overe to watch the next generation fight. But this tournament also has more than one purpose and isn''t meant to be for entertainment."

    "There is something that we call a Secret Realm thousands of kilometers away from here, but the thing is this Realm only allows a certain number of people to enter. This Secret Realm holds countless treasures, has a much higher Qi density than out here, and is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you to grow. Who knows what you might find there?"

    "The reason we have a tournament is to determine which Sect gets how many spots to enter the Secret Realm. Obviously, if a Sect wins the tournament then they get the most spots and the Sect thates inst gets the least amount of spots. This is a tournament that will have hundreds of peoplepeting so we also came up with a way to score each Sect based on each disciple''s cement. Essentially, the lower the number, the better. For instance, 1st ce gets one point, 2nd ce gets two points, and so on. This is so that one Sect doesn''t just focus on 1 disciple and forgets about the rest. We want to train and help all of our disciples instead of just choosing one and forgetting about the rest. But it also makes things fairer because what if one Sect takes the top 17 spots in the tournament? Wouldn''t only that Sect get to participate if we only took the Top 17?"

    "Well, another reason for the tournament is that all of the Sects around here have an agreement that allows every Sect to have a chance at participating in the Secret Realm. We don''t want a war to break out and turn this side of the continent into a wastnd so we all came to an agreement�� After some fighting of course. Hehe."

    "I''ll go into more detail about the Tournament and Secret Realm when it gets a bit closer and I announce it to the rest of the Sect. And in case you''re wondering, there is a benefit to us Elders if you do well in the tournament. We get the rights to more materials in the area, Spirit Stone mines, and also a special ce that only we Elders are allowed to enter." Elder Kendra exined with a wink.

    The new disciples were shocked by this as they''ve never heard of this Secret Realm, but nheless, they were excited about the thought of participating. But there were quite a few people that had questions.

    "What are the requirements to participate in the tournament? How often does the Secret Realm open? How many people get to participate in the Tournament from each Sect?" One disciple threw out a bunch of questions.

    "All good questions and I''ll get into thister. But the minimum requirement is to be in the Foundation Realm. The Secret Realm opens every 20 years. And 15 people get to participate from each Sect. It sounds like a lot, but even the smaller Sects will have around 15 people in the Foundation Realm. Most of our older Core Disciples are in the Foundation Realm, but not too long ago we had quite a few of them graduate or leave the Sect to go exploring. There are also a number of them that either get killed on missions or are captured by others that want to do wicked things to them. So the amount of Foundation Realm Disciples we have right now is rather limited, but there are quite a few of you that are close to entering the Foundation Realm and some of you that have already entered. I have no doubt that in 2 years'' time there will be an lt of you in the Foundation Realm." Elder Kendra exined with a smile, but when Mira looked at this smile she only saw a sly old fox.

    True enough this started to spark somepetition between the disciples. A lot of them weren''t that far from the Foundation Realm and to be able to participate in an event like this is not only a huge honor, but the number of benefits that they could get out of it might be incalcble. Cultivators will always fight for benefits no matter the gender or race and this littlement only increased their will to fight for what they want. Even Maria was starting to get hyped.

    As for Mira, well, she will just keep going at her own pace. Things like this will surely be beneficial and she will fight for it as it may be able to further increase her battle prowess, but she has no need to get so worked up over something like this. She doesn''t needpetition to spark her desire to get stronger.

    "I''ll go ahead and end ss today. If you have any more questions, please save them for when I announce this to the rest of the Sect. And just a reminder, this is thest mandatory ss, but I would appreciate it if at least some of you would show up for the next ss. Alright, you may leave now." Elder Kendra said this and left.

    Mira got up and left with Maria, but now she actually nned on seeing the Inscription Master here at the Sect to ask a few questions and also ask if she can teach her.

    The two of them chatted a bit on the way there. It didn''t take long for them to reach the Inscription Master''s ce. Mira opened the door and found a middle-ageddy inscribing a weapon. They both just waited quietly for her to finish what she was doing as it would be quite rude of them to disturb her.

    A few hourster, thedy seemed like she was done and put down the weapon and looked at the two of them.

    "Yes?" She asked with a nk face. Mira frowned slightly but decided to ask her questions. She took out her scythe and showed it to thedy.

    "Can this be inscribed?" Mira showed her the scythe. Thedy inspected it for a few minutes then just shrugged her shoulders and looked away. Mira''s frown got a bit deeper.<sub> </sub>

    "If a weapon already has been inscribed, is it possible to remove the inscription and put a new one on?" Mira asked. Thedy paused before answering.

    "...Yes." Thedy gave a brief answer.

    This time Mira squinted her eyes and felt like something wasn''t right. She was not satisfied with that answer but knew that she''d get nothing out of this Elder.

    "How much would it be to inscribe this weapon?" Mira asked and thedy thought about it for a minute. Then she held up two fingers and this time Mira really felt like facepalming.

    "200?" Mira asked, but thedy shook her head.

    "2,000?" Mira asked again and thedy shook her head again.

    "20,000?" Mira asked with a straight face and this time thedy nodded her head.

    "Why?"

    "Spiritual Weapon." Thedy answered which didn''t surprise Mira too much. There''s no way it''d cost 20,000 Spirit Stones to inscribe a normal weapon.

    "I see. What inscription would that get me?"

    "Crap."

    Mira felt a vein pop in her head as thisdy spoke too few words. But this isn''t the first time she''s dealt with someone like this. Though she really hates this kind of troublesome person as you always have to read between the lines to understand what they truly mean.

    "Can you teach me inscriptions?" Mira forced out the words with a sigh.

    Thedy just nodded and pointed at a stack of books. Mira walked over to the stack of books and stored them.

    "I''lle back when I finish memorizing them." Mira said and thedy nodded her head and went back to work with a slight smile on her face.

    Mira just shook her head and turned around to leave. Maria was standing there with her face full of shock. She could barely keep up with the conversation, no, this can''t be called a conversation. Both of them barely spoke anything but seemed to understand each other. Mira just dragged her out of the building to get back to their schedule.

    The Lady just turned around to watch them leave and was a little curious about this disciple that she''s never seen before.

 Chapter 119 Discussing Terms With Celaine

    Mira went back to her normal routine with Maria except this time she had books to study. Mira figured that she''d spend the night reading and going through the books while during the day she''d train and cultivate.

    Mira also began to think about the Trial after she heard that the tournament is over 2 years away. She didn''t know if she should make a deal with someone or multiple people and send them to the Trial. Sure it would make them stronger, but is it worth it? The cultivation benefits weren''t amazing, but what was truly beneficial were the first 10 stages and the rewards. The body tempering that the trial provides is truly amazing if you have the skills required to make the most out of it. It could also help improve their fighting style a bit as well. The only downside is that it''ll take almost exactly 2 years depending on how fast you canplete the Labyrinth and the Poison Stages. Plus, Mira believes that the trial is better for those in the Qi Condensation Realm rather than the Foundation Realm.

    The only person that Mira was considering sending there is Cine since she is the most talented and is only Stage 5 Qi Condensation. She should be able to finish the Trial at the Peak of the Qi Condensation Realm and with the rewards from the Trial, be able to advance to the Foundation Realm. Mira believes that she''d be at least 5 times stronger going through the trial and advancing rather than staying here.

    The only problem is that Mira isn''t going to tell Cine about this for free and also she won''t get to spar with her for a full 2 years. After thinking about the pros and cons for a couple of minutes, Mira decided that she''d just ask Cine.

    After theirst sparring session, Mira asked Cine toe back with her to her home. Cine was very nervous about what Mira wanted to talk about, but she hesitantly agreed since even though Mira liked to torture her, she was rarely wrong.

    After Mira, Maria, and Cine made it back to their home they sat down to have a discussion.

    "I have a proposition for you, kid. What if I told you about the ce that Maria and I used to get so strong, would you want to go?" Mira asked with her arms and legs crossed as she stared into Cine''s eyes. This pose only added to the pressure Cine was currently facing.

    "I�� Umm�� I-I don''t know. I guess I''d be somewhat interested." Cine said in a meek voice as she avoided eye contact.

    "I can take you to such a ce, but there are several problems. It will take almost exactly 2 years toplete and I won''t be taking you there for free. This ce will temper your body to the max and you should be able to advance to the Foundation Realm by the end of it as well. There are other benefits, but I don''t want to ruin all of the fun. If you are trying to learn another profession, then you''ll have to hold off another 2 years. Though it''s not like you can''t start learning after another 2 years." Mira exined to Cine with a slight smirk. Though this just made Cine shiver whenever she looked at Mira.

    "I-I''m o-only talented with the Saber, so learning those other professions proves very difficult for me. I only want to get stronger for now. W-W-What are your terms?" Cine asked as she trembled. She seemed to be interested in such a ce.

    "I want you to devote 20 years of your life to me after you leave the Sect." Mira said which shocked both Cine and Maria. They were sure she''d ask for Spirit Stones or materials or something, but she actually asked for this! Why? What''s her goal?

    "I don''t mind telling you why. You have great battle sense and your affinity with the Saber is top-notch. This kind of talent is very rare. The only problem is that you are too meek and weak-willed. I want to push you to your limits so I can spar with you. The better you are with the saber, the more I can improve with my scythe. Maybe I''ll even be able toprehend a Scythe Dao by using your talent as a catalyst. Those are my terms, there will be no negotiations. Decide." Mira exined, but this only further shocked both of them. Cine didn''t think that she was that talented and Maria didn''t think that would be Mira''s goal.

    "C-C-Can I have some time to think about it?" Cine didn''t know what to choose. She didn''t really want to hand over 20 years of her life to Mira, but at the same time, this might be her only chance to receive benefits like this.

    "No! You don''t have time to wait! I''ll only give you 30 seconds until I remove the offer and you lose this chance for good! Choose!" Mira increased the pressure and forced Cine to decide.

    Cine''s brain started racing for the next 30 seconds as she thought about the pros and cons. Most of it had to do with how Mira would be treating her for the next 20 years. But no matter how she thought about it, Mira''s strength is truly admirable and if she could reach that level of strength and higher by doing this and following Mira for the next 20 years then maybe it wouldn''t be so bad.

    "Okay! I''ll do it! I''ll devote 20 years of my life to you for this opportunity!" Cine closed her eyes and agreed to it.

    "We''ll leave in a couple of days. I suggest you stock up on Rank 2 and Rank 3 Rejuvenation and Blood Pills. Maybe some rations while you''re at it. It will be a long and tortuous 2 years so prepare yourself. If you are still meek and weak-willed like you are now, you''ll only end up dead or worse." Mira said with a faint smile while Cine just nodded repeatedly, barely paying attention to what she said.

    "Now go prepare." Mira said as she kicked her out. Maria then turned to Mira with aplicated expression.

    "Is that the only reason you want her to follow you for 20 years? I feel like there''s something else to it." Maria said with a hint of doubt.<sub> </sub>

    "There are several more reasons that I didn''t tell her. One, traveling alone or with only 2 people is very dangerous. A third person will significantly reduce the burden if we ever face arge group or a strong enemy. Two, you need to find a proper master to teach you how to properly use a sword during your stay here at the Sect. Having Cine with us will further your skills as well. Three, she is incredibly talented and it''d be a waste to let such a talented person go. Four, she can also help train those women that I saved. Having Cine with us will only bring me countless benefits at no cost. Sure, she will need Spirit Stones, pills, and various things but I don''t intend to caudle her for 20 years. She''ll have to get those things on her own." Mira exined to Maria with an expression that looked like she just won the lottery.

    Maria just stared at Mira with aplicated expression. Didn''t she just scam Cine? How is this even okay? Maria could foresee Cine''s next 20 years being filled with harsh training, killing, and cultivating nonstop and couldn''t help but release a sigh for her. Maria also felt that this 20-year deal wasn''t as simple as Mira just said. If what Mira just exined to her is true, then there is no way she''d let a gem like her slip after only 20 years. That 20 years might turn into 100 or several hundred. Yup, Cine''s future looks bleak.

    A few dayster, after Mira finished sparring with the other disciples she found Cine.

    "Are you ready?" Mira asked and Cine nodded her head.

    "Good, let''s go. If the Elders ask where you went, I''ll tell them that I sent you somewhere to get stronger. With my speed, it shouldn''t take us more than a day or two to get there. I''ll also be taking Rhydian with me as well." Mira said to which Cine just nodded slowly.

    The two of them plus Rhydian then left the Sect as well as the city surrounding the Sect quickly. Cine then jumped on Mira''s back and she started sprinting in the direction of the Trial with Rhydian running next to her.

    After a little under a day''s journey, they finally made it to the Core Region of the Dark Moon Forest. Mira found the small cave entrance after a few hours and took Cine into the ''ruins''.

    Cine found the whole ce amazing and also creepy at the same time. Everything was in perfect condition, but there were no signs of life. But the ce was truly extraordinary.

    After walking for about 30 minutes looking for the Caretaker, they finally found him. He frightened Cine quite a bit because she''s never seen anything that looked like him, but Mira exined that this golem-looking guy takes care of the ce and is also in charge of a trial here.

    "I''ve brought another person to take part in the trial." Mira said to the Caretaker while he just nodded his head and took Cine to her room. The Caretaker exined a bit about the trial and told her to get some rest before they start tomorrow. Cine nodded her head and decided to settle down in her room.

    Mira then found the Caretaker to ask him about Rhydian. After Rhydian showed him her wings, he was a little surprised but also didn''t know what to think.

    "I''ve never heard of or seen any winged-wolf before so this is a first. I don''t know what type of species it is nor do I know anything about it." The Caretaker said briefly.

    "I read somewhere that there was a winged wolf that came to thesends called the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf. Do you think she could be that?" Mira asked and the Caretaker paused to think.

    "Golden Empyrean�� Golden Empyrean�� AH! Yes! I''ve heard of my masters mention such a species before, but even they said that it was only spoken of in legends. They weren''t sure if it was true or not. This little wolf might be a member of that race, but I''ve never seen one so I wouldn''t know. But Rhydian is gold and is a Winged-Wolf so I''d say it''s pretty likely that she is part of that race of beasts. You''re quite lucky." The Caretaker said while Mira nodded, but she was sneering in her mind.

    ''Lucky? If anything, I deserve something like this after all of my years of torture and shit luck.''

    Mira left the Caretaker to go find Cine and give her a word of advice.

    "I''m about to leave, but I''ll leave you with a word of advice. If you want to get the most out of the next 2 years, kill everything you see and don''t hesitate. Don''t be in a rush, but you only have a little over 2 years before the tournament. So if you want to participate in it as well as the Secret Realm then do as I just said. Kill everything and don''t hesitate. I''lle back in 2 years to pick you up." Mira exined then left with Rhydian to go back to the Sect. Cine was a little confused but just nodded her head.

 Chapter 120 Chaos In The Sect

    After Mira returned back to the Sect with Rhydian she just went back to her normal schedule of training and cultivating. After about a week, the Elders asked her where Cine went as none of them have seen her around the Sect. Mira just told them that she sent her on a mission to get stronger and wouldn''t be back for a while. They were a little surprised and wanted her to bring Cine back, but seeing that she was already gone there wasn''t much they could do. They tried to ask for more information, but Mira just kept saying that she sent her to a ce that she used to get stronger. They then wanted her to send some of the other disciples there, but Mira just exined that they wouldn''t benefit as much from it as Cine would. Mira thought about Audra and Nisha, but they were about to hit the Foundation Realm within the next few weeks. If Mira took them to the Trial, they''d be forced to break through in the Endless Battlefield and would most likely die during their breakthrough or at least have it interrupted causing a severe bacsh. Also, with their cultivation almost reaching the Foundation Realm they''d most likely have to fight countless Rank 4 beasts while still being in the Qi Condensation Realm. Not to mention killing them, just surviving those stages would be a godsend. They probably wouldn''t even get 20% of the benefits that Cine would get plus they''d have their breakthrough disrupted or stopped. Those were to only 2 other people that Mira was willing to send there. She thought about Jade, but she only fought with Jade once and they''ve sparred a number of times. But she knows nothing about her and doesn''t want to risk having the Trial exposed.

    The Elders understood that Mira wasn''t willing to take anyone else and stopped bothering her. Though they were worried about Cine as she was really talented, there wasn''t much they could do unless they wanted to force Mira to tell them. The Sect Master strongly advised against this though.

    Months started to go by and the Battle Maiden Sect Disciples were getting more and more fierce. Duels were happening almost all day every day in the Arena. Countless people were going into the Battle Tower to test themselves and everybody was training or taking missions to get stronger. The Cultivation Caves were almost always filled up as the disciples would use all of their Sect Points to buy tokens for the Cultivation Caves.

    The city surrounding the Sect was a little curious as to what was going on in the Sect as all of the Disciples that left to go on missions would all have fierce or serious expressions on their faces, like they were always fighting for their lives.

    The Battle Maiden Sect soon turned into a mini battlefield and Mira was actually the cause of all of this. In just a few months'' time, the 15 people that Mira was sparring with all started to fill up the top slots. The Inner Disciples that she was sparring with soon filled up the top positions and even advanced into a Core Disciple. The Core Disciples she was training were always fighting over who was better. This caught the attention of the other Outer and Inner Disciples and caused a chain reaction. Soon there were hundreds of people that wanted to partake in Mira''s sparring lessons and would often show up unannounced to try and get in on the action.

    Mira then announced that she would only spar with the Top 15 Core Disciples and the Top 5 Inner Disciples. She''d also add a couple more if there were any Outer Disciples that caught her eye. This caused an uproar in the Sect.

    While not all of the Disciples wanted to spar with Mira and only wanted to soak up the benefits of their current disciple status, there were enough Mira fans to fan the me. Not only was Mira a top-ss beauty that could give anyone wet dreams, but her training was also extremely efficient and productive. This is what caused an explosion ofpetition to happen in the Sect. Disciples went to look for a Master to train under so they could try and participate in Mira''s sparrings.

    Even though Mira told them that she would only take the Top 20, there were still a lot of people that would show up or beg Mira to teach them. Mira started to get really annoyed and just wanted these crazy people to leave her alone. So she told them that unless their body is tempered to a high degree, they are in the Foundation Realm, and they are skilled with a weapon then she''ll test them out. If they meet her criteria, then she''ll start another group ss and charge then Spirit Stones to take part in this group training. This was the breaking point for the Disciples and what turned the Sect into a warzone.

    All of the missions in the Mission Hall were beingpleted faster than they wereing in and the Spirit Stone ie that the disciples were getting was slowing down. So disciples started betting on fights in the Arena to try and make more Spirit Stones. Body Tempering Pills and Cultivation Cave Tokens were the only things that the Disciples bought. They would also travel back to Lunar Fox City to go to the Alchemist Guild to buy Body Tempering Pills or pills to help increase one''s cultivation.

    Another thing worth noting is that Maria also became the center of attention, but instead of disciples being fanatic over her, they looked at her with hostility. Mira also felt like this would be a good opportunity for Maria. She then made another announcement saying that Maria is willing to reduce her strength down to their level and if they can beat her in a match of skill then she will consider sparring with them. But if they lose to Maria, then Maria will be the one to teach them with a limit of 20 people. Thus, Maria started getting challenged almost every day and was forced into a battle of skill. They all lost and ended up having sparring sessions with Maria, but after learning that sparring with Maria wasn''t so bad, this turned into a secondary goal for a lot of people. Sparring with the one closest to Mira wasn''t the worst thing and would actually be somewhat beneficial for them just not as much as it would be if Mira taught them.

    The Elders also tried to control the situation, but nothing seemed to work and the disciples only got fiercer. The Elders ended up taking more and more people under their wing to help train as more disciples started disying their potential.<sub> </sub>

    On Mira''s 8th month in the Sect, things started to settle down and be a bit more systematic rather than the warzone that was happening in the months prior. More and more missions were being created by not only the Elders, but the Sect Master also announced to the city that they would be epting missions at a discounted rate. So there was a huge influx of missions every day for the disciples. There were also a lot of disciples that were training under an Elder and the arena became more systematic rather than something like an underground fighting ring. The Elders added a betting option to the Arena so that things weren''t so chaotic.

    Mira and Maria also had their own groups to spar with and the two would oftenpete with each other. If someone in Mira''s group lost, then they''d switch with a person in Maria''s group. Things started to settle down on the surface, but the disciple''spetitive spirit didn''t diminish. Most of the disciples also started to copy Mira''s schedule to try and find some secret behind it or a reason why Mira is so strong and skilled. Though most of the reason is that the disciples just loved Mira''s unique and reliable charisma along with her beauty.

    Maria was somewhat flustered by everything that was happening around her, but after looking at Mira she would calm down. Mira just kept going at her own pace. None of this ever bothered her. She stuck with the same schedule down to the minute and would always just do what was necessary without worrying about others.

    In thesest few months, Mira was also learning more and more about inscriptions. But thedy, who she doesn''t even know the name of, just keeps giving her more books to study. Though Mira isn''t really bothered by this because of how confusing Inscriptions are. It''s like learning a whole newnguage except that the symbols only mean something when there are a whole bunch of them together unlike othernguages where every symbol has its own meaning. So Mira spent a lot of her time trying to make corrtions between the symbols, almost like she was trying to understand the very nature of them individually. This is grueling work that can''t bepleted in just a few months and might even take years since she''s essentially decoding and tranting anguage into terms she can understand. But she''s not in any hurry though sometimes she''ll go to thedy to seek help only to be given another book or notebook.

    It''s been around 6 months since Mira broke into the Foundation Realm, but she hasn''t been spending as much time cultivating now as she used to so she is still a bit farther away from reaching the Mid-Houtian Stage. If she were to guess, she''d need another few months at least.

    Dominique also came up to her within thesest few months to tell her that she feels like she''s undergone a qualitative change in her strength. This means that she was able to break through to the Strength Training Stage in the Body Tempering Realm. Mira increased her training and also made her go practice in the Second Training Ground. This is to help her breakthrough to the Bone Forging Stage because as soon as she walked into that Training Ground, her bones would start cracking and fracturing. Even though it was definitely much harder, Dominique didn''t have to stay in there so long due to her injuries. Mira just told her toe and find her when her bones stop cracking under the pressure. Even though Dominique could just take a few pills and almost immediately jump into the Qi Condensation Realm, Mira didn''t want to do this. It''ll be much better for her to not only learn about the pain that cultivators have to face but it''ll also be much more satisfying to break through each stage with her own effort. If she grasps everything with her own effort, then she won''t take her own strength for granted.

    Mira was feeling very satisfied with her progress in almost every area during thest few months. Her cultivation was increasing steadily, her scythe skills were slowly improving, her strength was increasing, and she was learning inscriptions. Joining a Sect turned out to be very beneficial for her.

    On this day, Mira was walking to her next destination with Mira when she spotted the Sect Master walking around with someone. The person next to her stopped and stared at her to which Mira also stopped walking. Mira''s rage soon started to bubble as she stared at the person and her aura soon started to get violent.

    "Fuck."

 Chapter 121 Creepy Elder

    "Fuck." Mira muttered under her breath. A deep frown formed on her face and she wanted to walk away, but it was toote for that as the middle-aged man walking with the Sect Master wasn''t that far away from her. Mira could feel that this man is in the Core Formation Realm and started thinking of how she can kill him. With her just entering the Foundation Realm around 6 months ago, the likelihood of her killing anyone on the Core Formation Realm is pretty much zero. The most she''d be able to do is exhaust all of her energy to injure him.

    The man on the other hand stood there stunned silly when he noticed Mira''s beauty. This soon turned into a creepy smile that onlysted for a second, but Mira was able to catch this, and the rage bubbling up inside her only increased. She could tell that this wouldn''t have good intentions as soon as he saw her.

    "Mira, why''d you sto-OH!" Maria turned around noticing that Mira stopped walking. Then she felt that the atmosphere around Mira became extremely heavy and noticed a middle-aged man starting to walk in their direction. She then started to panic and her thoughts started racing on how she should stop this man from doing anything weird to Mira. But Maria also caught a glimpse of the creepy expression this guy was making towards Mira. Her instincts were screaming to her saying this man was no good!

    The Sect Master also noticed that the Elder she was walking with stopped and started to walk in another direction. She was a little annoyed, but it wasn''t the biggest deal in the world and she initially didn''t n on stopping him. She looked over to see what he was walking towards and noticed Mira and Maria. She was about to just start following him but noticed something wrong. An icy mist wasing out of Mira along with a red haze like she was oozing hatred. She started to remember the incident at the tournament and realized things weren''t as simple as they seemed.

    "Elder Bates, let me continue taking you to my office so we can discuss the matters you came here for. Let''s not disturb the disciples." The Sect Master attempted to coax him away.

    "That won''t do Sect Master Jane. You never said that you had such a beautiful disciple! How can I just ignore her? I''m just going to say hello real quick. Haha!" Elder Bates licked his lips as he bellowed.

    The Sect Master immediately frowned at his words and started walking towards him to force him away, but he was already standing in front of Mira.

    "Hello, beauty. I believe this is our first time meeting each other. I''ve never seen such otherworldly beauty before. May I have your name?" Elder Bates said while looking down at Mira.

    Mira''s eyes shed and she just stared back at him as if she''s drilling a hole through his eyes.

    "Remove that filthy gaze of yours, wretch." Mira lifted a brow and said coldly with a hint of killing intent leaking out.

    Elder Bates was stunned for a minute as he never expected this beauty to be so cold and vulgar. The way she said that seemed more like amand like she was his superior.

    "Hahaha! A feisty one! Even better! And what will you do if I don''t?" Elder Batesughed as he looked at Mira with even more interest.

    "Hehe. What will I do? I''ll do the same thing to you that I''ve done to the millions before you." Mira smirked at such a ridiculous question and things soon turned eerily silent.

    "Oh? How interesting! Haha! And what might that be, beautiful?" He asked as he went to stroke Mira''s hair, but Mira easily dodged.

    Mira just evilly grinned at his question

    "NOOO! MIRAA-!" Maria yelled, but it was toote.

    ��

    *OHHM*

    A great pressure descended onto the Battle Maiden Sect! All of the disciples immediately fell to their knees and started choking while all of the Elders were also forced onto a knee. Even they found it difficult to move under such insane pressure. They also found it hard to breathe and were reminded of the Entrance Exam Tournament except for this time was much worse. They could feel the rage within the killing intent as it started to suffocate them.

    Maria was also forced onto the ground finding it difficult to breathe as the mountainous pressure didn''t allow her to get up. She looked up at Mira and saw apletely different person. The usually cold and indifferent Mira now had a sick smile on her face that looked like the smile of a bloodthirsty Demon Queen.

    Elder Bates was caught by surprise and was unable to prepare. He was the one who took the brunt of the killing intent and was forced onto his knees as he struggled to breathe. But the red hazeing from Mira started to enter his throat to keep him from breathing.<sub> </sub>

    Mira then slowly walked up to him and grabbed his throat. She then lifted him up to eye level.

    "I hate it when people don''t listen to me and to think you even dared to try and touch me. Truly a disgusting pig. Now, tell me how you should pay for your transgressions. Should I take your eyes from you or maybe something more important?" Mira took out her scythe and pointed it at his eyes and his crotch.

    Elder Bates started to panic and struggled to get out of Mira''s grasp. But the pressure exerted onto him was too much and he started to suffocate.

    "Haha! You''re right! Why don''t I just take both!?" Miraughed evilly as she got her scythe ready to dig out his eyes. The Elder couldn''t take it anymore and started frothing at the mouth and fainted.

    "Mira! Please put him down! We can''t afford to do something like that to him or we may have to go to war with their Sect or even their whole city! Even though I don''t like the way he acted towards you, I don''t think he deserves this kind of treatment!" The Sect Master yelled and slowly walked towards Mira.

    "You''re right, Jane. He doesn''t deserve this kind of treatment. He deserves�� Death!" Mira said as she dropped the man on the ground and put his head against the de. She was about to start sawing off his head when the Sect Master interrupted her again.

    "Wait! Don''t! How about this? I''ll give you a Mid-Stage and Peak-Stage Rank 4 Energy Gathering Pill in exchange for his life. I''ll even make sure that he forgets what happened here today. Deal? We can''t afford to kill him." The Sect Master made a quick deal before Mira started sawing off his head. Mira thought about it for a few seconds and agreed to these terms. If the Sect Master could make sure that this man would forget about their meeting then she could always kill him when she gets stronger. Mira stored her scythe and threw the man towards the Sect Master. She then stopped releasing her killing intent and it all sucked back inside of Mira. Mira then sealed it up and started feeling lightheaded and dizzy.

    ''It''s still hard to keep this up for very long.'' Mira sighed and soon went back to her cold and aloof attitude.

    "We''ll talk about thister. For now, let me go make sure this guy doesn''t remember what happened or at the very least thinks it was a dream. You should put on a mask or something in the meantime." The Sect Master said in a stern voice as she took Elder Bates away.

    "Cough cough�� Mira! Don''t do that with me so close to you! I can''t handle that amount of pressure yet!" Maria soon started yelling at Mira when she was finally able to breathe again. The whole thing barelysted 30 seconds and Maria was also prepared for it so she was able to stay conscious and watch the whole time.

    "Oh, you''re still alive huh? Well, as soon as I learn how to control it so I don''t get so dizzy afterward, then you''ll be facing it much more often." Mira said as she nced at Maria.

    "Of course I''m still alive! Don''t say it like you were expecting me to die! AH! Forget about that! What are you going to do now?" Maria pouted.

    "I''ll be doing what I''ve been doing, trying to get stronger. Don''t worry, that guy won''t be able to live much longer." Mira briefly exined.

    "That''s�� not what I was worried about! Anyways, were you really about to kill him?"

    "I really wanted to kill him, but the likelihood of me doing so is zero. He''s an entire Realm above me and his body is iparably stronger than mine. Me trying to kill him is like me trying to break a rock with an egg. Even if I sat there and tried to saw his head off, it''d still require time that I don''t think I had. The Sect Master would''ve stopped me from doing so. That''s why when she offered that deal, I immediately took it. I''lle for that man as soon as I get strong enough. It''ll be even easier without him knowing too." Mira exined.

    There was truly no way for her to kill that man. Even if she used all of her Qi for an Earth-Shattering Fist the most it would do is fracture a bone and if he was stronger than what Mira thought, then it''d only bruise him a little. And trying to control that much killing intent is extremely exhausting. If Mira was a Late or Peak-Stage Houtian, then killing him wouldn''t be impossible but it''d still require every ounce of her energy. With her strength, Low-Stage Xiantian would''ve been able to kill him. But that level of strength is still a few years away.

    "I see. Well, that man was pretty disgusting. I wish I could''ve prevented him from seeing you. Maybe things wouldn''t have turned out like this." Maria said while being a little dejected. This was her first time witnessing someone acting like that towards Mira and she didn''t know how to feel. All she knew was that the look in that man''s eyes was truly vile. She felt that if nobody was around then that man would''ve kidnapped Mira to have his way with her. She shivered at the thought of something like that happening to Mira.

    Even though Mira was surprised by today''s events, this isn''t the first time something like this has happened and it won''t be thest. She only felt that things were a little too coincidental. Her intuition was telling her that Elder Bates didn''t have a reason for being here other than for her. Why would an Elder of another Secte here over a year before the Inter-Sect Tournament? Why not the Sect Master? What would they even talk about? Aren''t we supposed to be something like rivals or at leastpetitors? Something was definitely strange about what happened today.

    ***

 Chapter 122 Suspicious Activities

    ***

    "Hahaha! Amazing! I love it! What a splendid job you did, Mira! I couldn''t have done any better myself!" A man watching a projection surrounded by women bellowed out as he watched Mira.

    "I just can''t get enough of you Mira! That scene was truly perfect! It even started giving me goosebumps, that''s how awesome it was! Hahaha! I wonder if you''ll do the same thing to me when you meet me? Oh! I can''t wait!"

    The women around him all just sighed in resignation. They had watched that scene as well and could feel the bloodlust and hatred emanating from Mira. It was so thick that it even made their skin crawl. Sure their Master may be one of the strongest people in existence, but nobody ever bothers him. So almost none of them have seen him fight before nor have they themselves been in a true life and death battle before.

    They were sure that he''s probably killed billions of people or more, but he just never showed that side of him. To them, they only saw a man with a weird fetish for women and didn''t think that he was such a bad person. Sure, he would force women to give their minds and bodies to him, but he never treated them badly after that.

    But Mira was different. Always vulgar, killing whenever she wanted, treating others like trash, and constantly threatening others. A girl that lives to fight and won''t take no for an answer. Honestly, some of the girls thought Mira was more manly than their master.

    "Master, are you going to keep tormenting the girl? Usually, when you do something like this, it makes a bit more sense, but there is almost no reason for that man to go to her Sect other than to bother Mira. I don''t think she knows that it was you, but she definitely knows that something is wrong." One of the women said without any expression.

    "Hmm. You''re right. I don''t want her catching onto me, or else there''s no fun in it. Though it could be interesting to see her keep wondering if every unfortunate encounter was because of her bad luck or because of me! But I don''t think she''d really care or handle things differently even if she knows. Hmmm�� I guess I''ll hold off for a bit. Things are going to get juicy soon anyways. Hahaha!" The Master answered with augh causing all of the women to shake their heads. While most of them didn''t like Mira, they really had to pity the girl for being so unlucky.

    ***

    Mira was now going about her daily schedule like normal, but there were a few things that were different. While her attitude was still the same, she was much more intense about everything. During the sparring sessions, she''d be a lot rougher and force her partner to put more effort into the spar. She also was cultivating much more than usual and putting more effort into studying. The aura that she radiated was also extremely fierce.

    This is because Mira really wants to kill that bastard as soon as possible and only strength can make that happen.

    On the Sect Masters side, she hadn''t done much to make Elder Bates forget about what happened. She only made him drink a sedative and gave him a couple of good smacks on the head then brought him to her office andid him down on a couch.

    After a while, the Elder finally woke up with a massive headache.

    "Ahh. What happened? Where am I?" Elder Bates started looking around and noticed the Sect Master.

    "Sect Master Jane?! What are you doing here all the way over here in Gale City? Why was I asleep? What happened?" Elder Bates started bombarding her with questions that puzzled the Sect Master.

    "Gale City? We are in the Battle Maiden Sect right now. You came here saying you had something important to talk to me about. Don''t you remember?" The Sect Master narrowed her eyes.

    "The Battle Maiden Sect!? What the hell am I doing here?! I have no reason foring here! I need to hurry back to Gale City!" Elder Bates panicked a little. He doesn''t even remember leaving the city, how could he have ended up here? This caused the Sect Master to be extremely suspicious about this situation.

    "Do you remember anything before you came here? Because you said that you came here to talk to me about something then met with one of our disciples and passed out. Do you mind exining yourself?" The Sect Master exerted some pressure onto the Elder which caused him to be a bit jumpy.

    "No! I don''t remember anything! Actually, thest thing I remember is finishing all of the work in Gale City, but everything else after that is nk! I promise that I had no reason toe here! I don''t even know how I got here or why!" Elder Bates pleaded and the Sect Master only found this situation extremely odd.<sub> </sub>

    ''Was he brainwashed? But why did someone brainwash him toe to my Sect? Usually, the Sect Master would''vee if things were so important, but then again why my Sect? If they needed something from Lunar Fox City, then he came to the wrong ce. It''s not like the Battle Maiden Sect has anything to hide and there''s no point for him toe in and steal something as he should know that anything important is always with an Elder. Not to mention after he fainted froming into contact with Mira, he seemed toe back to his senses. Was that just a coincidence or did someone send him here to mess with Mira? But I''ve never seen Mira show her face to anyone, but the disciples and she always wears a mask when she leaves. I guess I''ll just have to ask herter.'' The Sect Master thought to herself.

    "You may go, Elder Bates. If you need anything else, please send your Sect Master." Sect Master Jane said promptly and Elder Bates immediately agreed and left in a hurry. The Sect Master frowned after he left and called Mira to her office.

    Not long after, Mira walked into her office and sat down across from her.

    "I''m not going to scold you on your actions as he was truly acting out of line in someone else''s Sect. I don''t think you would''ve been able to kill him either, but you''re full of surprises so I just wanted to make sure you didn''t pull something out with the ability to kill him. I''ll give those two pills to you sometime in the future, but I''ll have to decrease your Sect Points a bit. Anyways, what are you going to do now?" The Sect Master asked in a gentle voice.

    "Get strong enough and when the timees, kill him. That man forfeit his life as soon as he looked at me like that." Mira said indifferently which caused the Sect Master to frown slightly.

    "What if I told you he was brainwashed toe here? Would you still want to kill him?" Hearing this, Mira was slightly shocked but didn''t reveal it.

    "Even if that was the case, doesn''t matter. Even if he was brainwashed toe here, the way he looked at me was not a face that a brainwashed person would make. The man was already thinking about ways to have his way with me in the middle of the Sect." Mira said coldly which surprised the Sect Master a bit.

    "Elder Bates said that he doesn''t even remembering here. He said that thest thing he remembers is finishing his work in Gale City then all of a sudden he''s here in my office waking up. Do you have any ideas as to what or who might''ve caused this?"

    Mira had to think about this question a bit. Doesn''t remembering here�� Seemed like he was brainwashed�� Only came back to reality after she knocked him out�� He didn''t seem brainwashed though almost like it was his own thoughts that brought him here�� Wait! This has happened once before in a different, but she ended up killing them anyway. They kept asking who she was and why she was doing this before his head got chopped off�� Is this a coincidence? There''s only one person that I can think of that can do something like this on different worlds. Mira then started connecting the dots and realized that the possibility of that Eldering here under the order of that shitty god is rtively high. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

    "Dammit! It''s him! You son of a bitch! So you''re the one that keeps doing all of this shit to me, huh?! Motherfucker!" Mira stood up and yelled angrily at the sky and she could swear that she heardughing. The Sect Master was surprised to see Mira''s reaction.

    "Do you know who might''ve done this?" The Sect Master asked solemnly.

    "I have a pretty good guess. It''s some asshole who''s been tormenting me my entire life. I should''ve known." Mira said while gritting her teeth.

    "Is there any way we can stop him? Do you know where he is? Can he brainwash more people like that?" The Sect Master kept throwing out questions.

    "Good luck finding him, much less stop him. And I doubt that he''s brainwashing people, it''s probably more of something like a suggestion. That guy wouldn''t send some brainless puppets to torment me, he''d make sure that it''s the real thing. This whole thing was probably just a setup to get that shitty Elder to have his way with me!" Mira didn''t give much information since this is a rather sensitive topic that she didn''t feel like getting into.

    The Sect Master didn''t know what to make of this information other than someone is targeting Mira and can affect people''s minds.

    "Okay, you can go for now. I''ll give those pills to you in a few days or so." The Sect Master said to which Mira just nodded and left. She then sat there thinking about a few things.

    Mira was also thinking about some things as well.

    ''If he truly can affect people''s minds, does that mean he can affect everyone''s mind? He hasn''t done anything to Maria or Dominique yet. Nor has he done anything to the 500 women that I saved. Plus, now that I know that he can do something like this he should know that I''ll be observing their behavior more now to see if I find anything off. But there have been plenty of chances for them to betray me unless he''s just waiting to wait until they gain my trust then stab me in the back. Maybe this whole thing was a y and he wanted me to find out he can do this? Ah! Forget it! I''ll just observe them until I feel like they aren''t affected. Though my intuition tells me that they should be fine. I''ll have to think more about this.'' Mira thought to herself as she went back to what she was doing.

 Chapter 123 Advancement

    Mira walked back to her room in an extremely bad mood. Not only did she specte that the shitty things that happened around her weren''t just because of her bad luck, but due to the person that put her in this situation. Obviously, she had no way to prove this as of right now, but she guessed that there was probably a 60-75% chance that it was due to him. Of course, she didn''t rule out her own bad luck. Mira was also upset because she didn''t get to kill her target, not only that but the guy wasn''t even punished by the Sect Master. This didn''t cause her too much trouble though since a few years to her is pretty much nothing.

    When she made it back to her residence, Maria and Dominique could instantly tell that Mira was in a bad mood. They both wanted to ask what happened, but Mira just red at them and went to cultivate in her room.

    Mira spent the next few days sorting out her thoughts about her newfound knowledge. She sifted through all of her memories and tried to remember if there was anything different about the people that made her go through so much hardship.

    After spending a few days thinking about this, Mira was able to find quite a few memories where someone did something unexpected which caused a snowball effect that eventually led to pain and suffering for her. She came to the conclusion that even if certain people had been ''brainwashed'' or manipted, it doesn''t really seem to affect their memories or nature but is more like a suggestion. Maybe like forcing them to do something that they wouldn''t normally do and if they continue down that path without interference then that will be their new life. Like how Elder Bates came here without consciously doing so, then forgot what he was doing after being knocked out afterward. Mira interfered with his suggestion as soon as he came to the Battle Maiden Sect, thus clearing his mind enough to consciously understand what''s going on around him. This is only her theory and it might not be 100% correct, but it seems probable. So basically, she just has to beat up Maria and Dominique more so they don''t do something weird.

    After sorting out her thoughts her mind felt much clearer than before. But this only caused Maria and Dominique''s heads to hurt a lot more due to Mira increasing the difficulty in the training. During the sparring sessions, she moved the group into Training Ground 8 and increased the weight that everyone had to wear. The sparring sessions were also much more brutal, to the point where bringing Rejuvenation Pills started to be a necessity.

    Mira also went to the Treasure Hall to see if there is anything that can help with her training outside of the Training Grounds. The main thing she searched for was ankle bracelet weights, bracelet weights, chest weights, body tempering pills, and an array that can provide pressure to her nonstop.

    She had umted around 5000 points after the two pills were deducted, at a reduced price, since she was epted into the Sect. Most of the time she''d take on a bunch of missions at a time and just spend a daypleting all of them and thus she umted this many Sect Points. After walking through the Treasure Hall for a while, she found a Late-Stage Rank 4 Pill called the Foundation Forging Pill and Late-Stage Rank 4 Core Refinement Pill. They were a bone tempering pill and an organ refinement pill. These cost her 4000 Sect Points. Then she found a few sets of weights for her to use. This cost her 400 Sect Points and she found a pressure array along with an energy gathering array that cost her 600 Sect Points. Mira nearly spent all of her Sect Points in this one trip to the Treasure Hall on things to train her body.

    Mira walked back to her room and forced Maria to buy the same things. Thus, both of them were now broke in terms of Sect Points.

    Mira walked to her room and popped in the bone tempering pill first. She immediately felt like someone was striking her bones with a hammer over and over again. Like she was a weapon being forged! Cracks formed in her bones and the energy from the pill entered those cracks to run rampant through her bones. Mira didn''t find the pain overwhelming as her whole body was being hammered by the pill. The cracks slowly started to heal as her bones got stronger. After a few hours, the hammering stopped and Mira felt like her bones had been reforged. She moved her body a bit and heard all of her bones popping as they got used to this newfound strength and after Mira felt like the pill had beenpletely used, she popped in the Core Refinement Pill.

    The effects of this pill were much different than the Foundation Forging Pill. They were much calmer, almost soothing. It was like a wave crashed into her organs, condensing them, then filling them back up. Her organs were bing much stronger than before as they became denser but more stic. After a few hours, the pill finally got used up.

    Mira''s strength increased quite a bit from those two pills, but the greatest boon was that her body became stronger allowing her to fill up her body with super condensed Qi.

    Maria also did the same thing as Mira and both of them were satisfied with the results, especially Maria as she didn''t have to go through that much pain this time.

    After both of them finished the pills, they found an Array Master Elder. They asked her to put the Energy Gathering Array and Pressure array on their backs. The Elder looked at them like they were crazy people and tried to tell that the purpose of those arrays is not for doing this, but Mira was unyielding and told her that this is how they will be used.<sub> </sub>

    The Elder just sighed and started to link the two arrays together, then ced the two arrays on their bodies. Their bodies were soon covered in weird symbols and lines that were made out of unknown materials. After the Elder finished she activated the arrays and both of them immediately felt the pressure. Their movements were almost halved and they became sluggish. Mira then took out the weights that she purchased and started putting them on right in front of the Elder.

    The Elder just watched her with her mouth slightly agape. She thought that the pressure from the array was already enough, but this training maniac went and added weights?! She''s just a walking Training Ground! She just showed them how to activate and deactivate the arrays then left, not wanting to interact with this training maniac anymore. She thought that she might ask her to dissect her body and put an Energy Gathering Array in there to improve her cultivation or something stupid like that.

    Mira just nodded in approval and started to walk away, much slower than when she came. Maria watched this scene with a strange look on her face and ended up putting on the weights and following Mira.

    Time went by quickly.

    Mira''s schedule became filled up with training, training, and more training. Even if she was sleeping or cultivating, she was training due to the pressure array. She spent less time learning inscriptions and more time trying to get stronger. The tournament and Secret Realm events wereing up soon and being as strong would increase her chances of participating along with surviving. Inscriptions were just something that she nned on using to gather money in the future. She didn''t participate in many missions and would only gather a few that happened to be in the same area, get them done in a few hours thene back. She didn''t forget about Rhydian though and went ahead and left her outside the Sect to go and hunt. She''d check on her while doing missions.

    Another few months went by and now it was Mira''s 10th month in the Sect. She was currently in the Cultivation Cave filling up her body with Qi. At some point in her cultivation, she felt like she hit a bottleneck and stopped. Mira''s body felt extremely full and it was actually veryfortable. It didn''t feel like her body was about to pop or anything like that but felt good instead.

    She took out the Mid-Stage Rank 4 Energy Gathering Pill that the Sect Master gave to her a few months ago and popped it into her mouth and soon started to feel overwhelmed with Qi. Mira waited until she started to feel a little overwhelmed with the amount of Qi in her body then began to condense it.

    Not every cultivator needs to take an Energy Gathering Pill to break through to the next stage but Mira and Maria are slightly different. Their bodies can handle more Qi than most people thus they can handle the side effects of doing this. It''ll also help them break through and consolidate their Foundation in the next stage.

    Mira continued condensing the Qi in her body for hours before she reached a point that felt like the maximum her body would be able to handle. Mira opened her eyes after she was done advancing and started to investigate her body and strength.

    Mira felt several times stronger than before, but she didn''t know exactly how much stronger she was. Nheless, she felt amazing! It took her almost a year to reach this point, but she knew that it would only get more difficult and take longer from here on out. She''s already able to cultivate around 10 times faster than normal people just because she''s a Core disciple with special privileges. This level of strength and advancement speed would not be possible without joining a Sect or having simr training and cultivation areas. If she was just a normal person, this advancement could''ve taken her a full decade though if she didn''t condense her Qi to such a degree during her breakthrough into the Foundation Realm, then this number would be significantly reduced.

    Mira got up feeling satisfied with these results and left the Cultivation Cave.

    ''It''s almost time those girls and Maria''s parents finish the trial. I''m looking forward to seeing the results. I guess I should also spend some timeing up with options for them seeing that a lot of them won''t be able to join a Sect unless they want to go to different Sects. I don''t know what the age limit for the other sects is and I doubt they''d be willing to go to any other Sect other than the Battle Maiden Sect. Hmm�� I''ll have to give this some thought.'' Mira thought to herself as she went back to her room.

 Chapter 124 Devil Empress

    Not long after Mira broke through to the Mid-Houtian Stage, Maria broke through as well. They still had around a year and a half until the tournament, but advancing to the next stage might not be possible unless they spend most of their time cultivating. This isn''t something that they can do as they also have to focus on training their bodies.

    Maria started getting excited because it was almost time for her mother and father to finish the trial. She wanted to show her parents everything she''s aplished in thest 2 years. If she was being honest, she really missed her parents, but she just hasn''t had the time to focus on sentimental things like that. Mira makes sure she is always busy with something whether it be cultivating, training, or studying her schedule is almostpletely filled up.

    Sometimes Maria misses the rxing times before she met Mira. Things were always peaceful. Her father would take some time away from his work to dote on her and her mother would take care of her and do things like going out shopping or trying new foods with her. Things were simple and she had no worries about the future. She had no ambition and only wished to spend time with her parents, make some friends, and enjoy life.

    Sometimes she would see her parents talking about what to do with her. They didn''t know if they should keep doting on her or have her experience what the world is really like. Her parents really wanted her to learn more about the world, but every time they looked into Maria''s innocent eyes they couldn''t bear the thought of ruining that. Eventually, they just couldn''t bring themselves to ruin her smile and kept doting on her.

    Even though Maria knew this, she didn''t have any problems with it. In fact, she preferred it this way. She didn''t want anything to do with the cultivation world. All she wanted to do is live a happy life with her family. This all changed when she met Mira though.

    The cold and indifferent eyes, apathetic attitude, and quite possibly the most pessimistic person she''s ever met. Her unyielding personality and beauty that stand above all else make for a truly unique person. She''s the type of person who sets a goal and will reach that goal no matter how difficult it is. She''s willing to do anything for the sake of her ambition. But Maria can tell that things aren''t as simple as they seem. Although Maria doesn''t really understand what''s going on, she knows that there is something that is always bothering Mira, like there is always something threatening her.

    There is just something about Mira that makes her want to follow her. Even though they are total opposites and havepletely different views, Maria wants to be with Mira and go on adventures with her. The things she''s experienced while following Mira haven''t been good experiences, but they are things that will change her life good. Honestly, sometimes Mira feels like a grandmother that is dissatisfied with the way her granddaughter was raised and decided to take over and fix her.

    Thinking about these things, Maria felt a bit mncholic.

    ''Mira is probably older than my grandma, hehe.'' Maria thought to herself as she went back to studying alchemy.

    A few more months went by and it was finally time for Mira and Maria to fetch the people they sent to the Trial. They both left the Sect and Mira went to grab Rhydian. After some thinking, Mira realized that she''s had Rhydian for almost 2 years as well. She''s grown a bit and Mira could feel that Rhydian just broke through to Mid-Stage Rank 4 as well. Mira nodded at her and the 3 of them set off.

    They ran for hours before they finally made it to the small cave at the edge of the Core Region of the forest. After walking into the cave, they went to go find the caretaker to see if they''ve finished.

    "You''re just in time. They''ve all finished and received their rewards not too long ago. They are just sleeping right now." The Caretaker briefly exined before walking away.

    The both of them just decided to wait for everyone to wake up as they both understand how mentally draining the trial is. They both decided to just cultivate until they wake up.

    A few dayster they started hearing people waking up.

    "Ahhh! That sleep was amazing! Probably the best sleep I''ve had in years! But damn, that trial sure was hard, huh. I didn''t think I''d be able to pass thatst stage! I had to start crawling up the stairs as all of my bones broke! I don''t ever want to experience that again!"

    "Right! That was definitely one of the worst stages, but I think my least favorite was the poison stage. Think about it! We were forced to drink and bathe in poison to build up a resistance to it. Only someone like the Devil Empress would think of something that messed up!"

    "I guess you''re right. That stage was pretty brutal. I almost died to thatst poison! But I think the Dark Stage was the worst. Sure, the other ones were painful, but this stage took away your senses! You can''t even tell if you are alive or dead! I can get through the pain, but the mental torture from that stage was brutal! I guess this is just what we Devil Empress subordinates have to go through."

    The girls started talking about their experiences in the trial with each other after waking up. Mira also stopped cultivating and was just waiting for everyone to wake up before she inspected them and took them to Lunar Fox City. But there was something that caught her attention.

    "Devil Empress? What the hell is that?" Mira''s eyebrows started twitching as she listened to people not only call her ''Devil Empress'' but themselves ''Devil Empress Subordinates''. Can''t theye up with something better?

    "I wonder what Maria''s doing. I hope she''s okay. Come on, Honey! I want to see my daughter already!" Erika eximed after she woke up.

    "I''m sure she''s doing just fine. She''s either still with Mira or at the Zaria Family. Also, didn''t she say she would meet us here when we''re done? Maybe she''s already on her way here." Coleforted his wife while she just nodded.<sub> </sub>

    When Maria heard the two of them talking, she immediately stopped what she was doing and charged towards them.

    "Mom! Dad!" She yelled as she dove into them, knocking them down. The two of them were surprised, but immediately embraced her as they knew that she was their daughter.

    "Did you miss us, Maria?" Cole asked and Maria nodded her head while tearing up. They stayed like this for a few minutes before getting up.

    The other girls that were talking around them had also stopped talking as they realized that Maria was there. And if Maria was here then Mira was probably here as well. Just as they thought about the Devil, she appeared.

    Mira looked at the women and noticed that they were almost all Stage 5 Qi Condensation. There were a few that were Stage 4, but it wasn''t many. She could also tell that they''ve all undergone a qualitative change. Their bodies are much sturdier and stronger than before. They are also more attractive than before instead of just looking like Viger A or Viger B. They look like normal cultivators. They also all had space rings on. Some of them had new weapons, some had beastpanions and some even had some type of light armor on. Mira also guessed that they have gotten weapon arts, elemental arts, and pills along with the more obvious things. She was very happy with their progress.

    "Did all of youplete the trial?" Mira asked, but she already knew that they all have.

    "Yes, Ma''am!!" They yelled at the same time.

    "Good. I''ve been thinking about what you lot should do next, but I think the best option for you is for you to gain some more experience in the world. Maria and I have recently joined the Battle Maiden Sect not long ago and they won''t be opening their Entrance Exam for another 2 years. They only ept disciples under 30, so I''m sure how many of you would even qualify. Regardless of that, they also won''t take all 500 of you in either. They''ll only ept 100 people or so. So, what I think you should do is to be mercenaries or adventurers. You can take on bounties or requests and get Spirit Stones for your efforts. You can use this time to learn more about the world and maybe even pick up another profession like forging or alchemy. I''ll also give you a piece of advice. Reaching the Foundation Realm should take priority for you. A lot more options will open up for you when you reach that stage. I''ll exin the Foundation Realm to you on the way to Lunar Fox City." Mira announced to everyone as they all nodded their heads.

    Mira then walked away from them and approached Maria and her parents.

    "Thank you for taking care of Maria thesest 2 years! Look at how beautiful and strong she is now! You even joined the Battle Maiden Sect! I can''t wait to hear all of the stories!" Erika came up to Mira and gave her a big hug. Mira noticed that Erika seemed to have a change in temperament, almost like she''s matured. She just nodded towards her and sized Erika and Cole up.

    Erika seemed to make it to the Low-Houtian Stage while Cole made it to Stage 1 Core Formation Realm. Mira could feel that Cole was stronger than before, but in terms of improvement, he paled inparison to his wife and the other girls. But either way, he''s in the Core Formation Realm now so beating him in a fight will definitely prove to be difficult. Honestly, Mira was a bit disappointed in Cole. Once Maria makes it to the Core Formation Realm, the two won''t even be in the same league anymore.

    "Why are you so weak, Cole?" Mira said as she kept sizing him up while the 3 of them froze. The more she thought about it, the more disappointed she got. She almost regretted sending him to the trial as he barely got anything from it. Mira''s frown grew deeper.

    "W-What do you mean? I made it to the Core Formation Realm! How can I be weak?" Cole said a bit nervously. Honestly, Mira''s aura was much more dangerous now than it had been 2 years ago and her looking at him with such disappointment made him a bit nervous.

    "You barely made any progress in thesest 2 years. Did you even kill anything? Don''t you want to set a good example for your daughter? Once Maria reaches the Core Formation Realm, she''ll be able to wipe the floor with you. Honestly, your improvement was the worst out of everyone here. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and you decided to waste it?! I even wasted my time helping you!" Mira scolded Cole and he just put his head down in shame. He really didn''t do a whole lot during the trial except for run and asionally kill a few things. He felt like he was being scolded by his mother right now.

    Erika and Maria tried tofort him a bit, but Mira hit where it hurt. After some time though, they all started to pack up and get ready to leave.

    They all said goodbye to the Caretaker and left for Lunar Fox City. Mira started exining the Foundation Realm to the girls while Maria was sharing all of her experiences over thest 2 years with her parents.

    They were very surprised and excited for Maria knowing that she''s such a strong young woman. But they knew that this wouldn''t have been possible without Mira. They both could never force their own daughter to kill people or train so hard that she doesn''t have any time to sleep. But even after all of her experiences, Maria still seemed like the same innocent child she''s always been and they were both ted to see this. They were d that the nasty side of the world hasn''t ruined her mindset. They only kept looking at Mira, thinking that she was secretly taking the burden that Maria might have by ordering her to do things she might''ve never done before. Sometimes this subtle difference can greatly affect one''s mindset because instead of Maria killing because she wants to, she''s doing it because Mira told her to. This will allow Maria to slowly get used to doing such dirty work until it just bes a part of life.

    They all made it back to the Zaria Family. Even the 500 women went back with them since Cole invited everyone. There was a sense ofradery among them because they allpleted the trial together.

    Over the next few days, everyone rxed with each other. Talking about their experiences, rewards, and showing off their beastpanions or beast eggs.

    After spending time with everyone for thest few days, it was finally time for Mira and Maria to go back to the Sect. The girls also found ces to stay and left the Zaria Family. They also went to form a mercenary group and adventurer group under the name ''Devil Empress.

 Chapter 125 Celaines POV

    I was just a normal girl growing up and my parents were just ordinary cultivators. They worked hard to bring home food for me and give me a wonderful childhood. Everything was great for a while, but they discovered my talent with a saber.

    I''ve always been drawn to the saber like it was my lifelong partner. Whenever I see one, I can barely resist the urge to walk over and pick it up. It just feels natural for me to hold a saber in my hands. My parents were terrified when they saw me always trying to reach out for one or whenever they caught me holding one. I''d even make stick sabers to carry around and swing around. My parents also noticed my strange affinity for the weapon and weren''t sure what to do.

    But one day, an elderly gentleman came to my house to take a look at my saber skills. This man gave off the feeling of an incredibly sharp saber and always had one at his sides. My eyes would sparkle every time I saw this man. He introduced himself as my grandfather and told me that he''d take me in to train me in the way of the saber.

    I then followed my grandfather to some remote ce near the mountains to practice. He didn''t care about the cultivation world and he said that the only reason he cultivates is to stay alive longer to practice with the Saber. Truly a man dedicated to his craft.

    I stayed with him for many years. I would asionally see my parents, maybe once a month or once every few months. My Grandfather didn''t teach me anything other than how to use a saber. We''d spar most days, while other days he''d make me do basic training so I can be a cultivator. My skills with the saber improved rapidly when I was staying with him, but once I reached the Qi Condensation Stage he was nearing the end of his life. He said that there wasn''t anything left for him to teach her as her skills with the saber were truly amazing. A one in a million talent. He just wanted to live out the rest of his days peacefully, but his dying wish was for me to learn more about the world and to improve my saber skills.

    I went back to living with my parents after my Grandfather died and asked them what I should do. I wanted to fulfill my Grandfather''s dying wish as he''s the one that helped me onto this path. They rmended that I join a Sect. After some thinking, I decided to try and join the Battle Maiden Sect. I''ve never spoken to boys before other than my father and grandfather. In fact, I''ve never spoken to really anyone other than my parents and Grandfather. I''ve always just been more fascinated with sabers than other people.

    When the Entrance Exam came for the Battle Maiden Sect, I was excited and scared. There were so many people and almost all of them were stronger than me. I decided that I''d just try to keep to myself as much as possible.

    After passing the Strength Test and the Test of Will, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Although I was far from the strongest, at least I wasn''t the weakest. But the pain from the Test of Will almost made me give up. I''d say I was lucky for being able to pass that test as I''ve never experienced pain like that before.

    The next test was the Group Hunt. I didn''t expect there to be a test where I''m forced to team up with others. Not to mention I''ve never even killed a beast! I''ve only sparred with my Grandfather! I''ve also never talked to other people before! How will I be of any help?!

    I didn''t know what to do and I didn''t know anybody, so I was the only one left out! I was forced to join this one group with a super outgoing and cheerful person, a quiet person, a battle maniac, and someone who made my spine crawl just by looking at her. The aura this person radiated was on another levelpared to the other people in the group. Whenever she looked at me, it was like she was determining how difficult it would be to kill me; I was very uneasy. I learned everyone''s names and found out this person''s name was Mira. I just hope this person doesn''t bother me too much. I want nothing to do with her.

    Turns out my wish didn''te true since everyone voted her as the leader and the first thing she decided to do is test everyone. I happened to be first and she made me go and kill a beast. I''ve never used my saber to kill anything before so I panicked! I couldn''t hit the beast and end up almost dying because I didn''t want to kill it. But this was only the beginning. Mira was not happy with me and threatened to kill me unless I killed the beast. I felt like she might actually kill me if I didn''t listen to her. Mira''s cold and apathetic eyes terrified me and I instinctively killed the beast so I could live. But this wasn''t the end of it. No, she dragged me around and made me kill any beast we came across for the next 24 hours! I just want this to end!

    But after 24 hours, things only got worse for me as Mira decided to use me as bait so they can fight a Rank 4 beast. I started having second thoughts about joining the Battle Maiden Sect as there is no way Mira wouldn''t be able to join.

    We sessfully killed the beast and returned sessfully. I thenpleted all of the tests after that and sessfully entered the Battle Maiden Sect! But this was only the beginning of my Hell! During the tournament, Mira was always watching me and I felt immense pressure from her. I didn''t know what she wanted, but she must''ve seen how talented I was with a saber and decided to see how I do. Honestly, disappointing her made me more terrified than disappointing my parents or Grandfather. She gave off the feeling that if she wasn''t satisfied then she''d put me through something worse than hell. So I tried to do my best and won every round by andslide. Mira would always nod after every battle and I''d finally be able to calm down. But one battle, Mira wasn''t paying that much attention. I thought that she already knew that I''d win so she wasn''t interested in another stomp. I let my guard down and didn''t expect the opponent to be so strong! This is all Mira''s fault!<sub> </sub>

    It was a hard battle, but I eventually won mainly due to luck. I nced towards Mira and could feel how upset she was under her mask. Like she wanted toe up on stage right now and thrash me for being so ipetent. I could only put my head down in shame and walk away.

    I eventually lost in the Group Finals against Nisha as she was just too strong and her fighting style was too weird. I wasn''t upset as I never expected to make it so far, in fact, I was quite happy. Mira didn''t seem to be upset with that loss either which is good. I then got ready to watch Mira''s fight. I knew she was strong, but I couldn''t tell exactly how strong. Only after her fight with Audra did I realize how terrifyingly skilled Mira is at fighting. It''s like she''s a battle-hardened veteran! No mercy! It was too brutal that I couldn''t even watch! Yup! I never want to get involved with her!

    The tournament ended and I actually became a Core Disciple! My parents were incredibly proud of me and I was quite happy with the results as well. Until I learned that Mira would be teaching all of us Unarmed Combat! Nooo!

    I got whipped a lot in ss as Mira seemed to have extremely high standards for me. Not only that but the usually cheerful looked at me with eyes full of hate! Like I just stole her husband or something! Why me?! It must be Mira''s doing! Dammit MIRA!

    Graduation day eventually came for the Unarmed Combat ss and in order to pass, I had to kill a bandit using moves that we learned in the ss. This was much more terrifying than killing a beast! I also have to use my own hands to do it! WHY?! But looking into Mira''s eyes, I knew that I''d have to do it. Or else she''d just make me kill more and more. I didn''t even have the choice to say no!

    After crying my heart out for a while, I learned that Mira will also be hosting a sparring ss with some of the talented disciples. I hoped that this wouldn''t involve me, but it seems God is against me! I was then forced to take part in these sparring sessions and after sparring with Mira one time, I knew that I never wanted to do it again! Every time she swung her scythe, it was meant to kill! We are on the same team! Why are you trying to kill me?! Even Grandfather wasn''t this tough!!

    One day, Mira came up to me with a deal. She said that she can take me to a ce that''ll let me get exponentially stronger as well as hone my skills. I was interested, but she said she wouldn''t do it for free. She said she wanted me to follow her for 20 years after leaving the Sect! 20 years?! Are you kidding me?! I don''t want to be with you for 20 years! She said that she would force out my saber potential so she can improve her scythe skills. I understand her thought process, but why me?! No! I have to say no!

    DAMMIT! I agreed! I just didn''t have the guts to say no to Mira. Okay, whatever! This isn''t the worst thing. My saber skills have rapidly improved after sparring with Mira, so I don''t think I''m losing much on this deal. It''s just that�� It''s Mira.

    After a few days, she brought me to these amazing underground ruins, but everything was perfectly intact. The only thing it was missing was signs of life. Honestly, it was a little creepy. Mira told me a bit about the trial here and told me to not hesitate and to kill everything. I don''t know what that means, but I have a bad feeling about this trial.

    After the Caretaker told me a bit more about the trial, he took me into the trial and started it. The first stage was only abyrinth. Though thisbyrinth was incredibly annoying! Bricks, bricks, and more bricks! They all look the same! It would take me forever just to solve the puzzle to leave the room.

    After passing that annoying stage, I made it to Stage 2 which I guess was the beginning of the elemental stages.

    It plopped me into this fiery hell world full of fire beasts. They immediately charged at me when I entered the stage. I was forced to kill them to survive, but it felt different than before. Instead of blooding out, they just disappeared into energy and dove straight into me! This fire energy then started tempering my body! AHHH! It hurts so much!! Now I understand why Mira gave me that advice! She wants me to get the most out of every stage by killing everything! Dammit, Mira!! Fuck you!!

 Chapter 126 Marias Sword Master

    Back in the Battle Maiden Sect, Maria started to make preparations for the uing Tournament. She knew that in terms of talent, she can''tpare to people like Nisha or Cine. If she wants to get stronger, the best way to do so is to find someone to teach her the correct way to use a sword. Of course, talent doesn''t necessarily equal strength or experience, but it definitely shortens the gap.

    The first person Maria thought of was Elder Bridget. She''s supposed to be one of the top fighters in the Sect other than the Sect Master. Maria didn''t have a problem with any of the other Elders, but Elder Bridget is the only one Maria knows. She took a day off from training to look for Elder Bridget. Maria walked around the Sect, asking some of the Elders where Elder Bridget was before finally finding her practicing in her courtyard.

    "Elder Bridget! Hello! It''s me, Maria! I''m here to ask you if you''ll teach me how to properly use a sword!" Maria yelled at the Elder while she was practicing.

    The Elder just froze in ce when she heard this and looked at Maria with a weird look on her face.

    "Can''t you see I''m training?! Wait for a second!" Elder Bridget yelled back at her, but Maria just ignored her and walked up to the Elder.

    "I''m sorry! But now that you aren''t practicing, you can teach me how to properly use a sword! Hehe." Maria said sweetly as she avoided eye contact.

    ''What the fuck? I never even agreed to do that!'' Elder Bridget cursed internally but found it hard to reject such an innocent little girl.

    "Why should I teach you anything!? Especially since you just disturbed me! I just want to practice in peace; I don''t have time for you!" Elder Bridget sized up Maria before she snorted.

    "I''ll work hard! I promise! I may not be talented with the sword, but I need to do something or I''ll fall behind Mira. You lost to Mira a few months ago, maybe if you train me I''ll be able to beat Mira and get your revenge! How about that?" Maria said as she tried to convince Elder Bridget. But the Elde just felt a few veins pop as her eyebrows twitched when she heard that.

    ''Dammit! These two are really nothing but trouble! This one evenes and brings up such a shameful loss!'' The Elder screamed in her mind. It took her a few breaths to calm down before she could answer Maria calmly.

    "Those reasons aren''t good enough for me to teach you anything. Every disciple here wants me to teach them and they are all willing to work hard. Plus, I only feel like you''ll bring me trouble all of the time! You don''t even look like you enjoy fighting!" Elder Bridget tried to shoo her away nicely, but Maria just shook her head.

    "That''s no good, Elder Bridget. Mira always tells me that people grow more in the face of adversity. How can an Elder of your status not be willing to teach a lowly disciple such as myself just because you feel it might be troublesome? Maybe you''ll also be able to grow, Elder. Hehe." Maria giggled as she kept trying to convince the Elder to teach her, but Elder Bridget didn''t find it funny at all. She really wanted to watch this idiotic disciple across the Sect.

    "AHH! Fine! I''ll teach you some stuff! Just show up tomorrow morning! Get ready for some brutal training!" Elder Bridget was so frustrated with her that she just wanted to get this girl away from her right now.

    "Yay!" Maria yelled as she skipped away.

    The next morning, Elder Bridget walked back to her courtyard only to find Maria already waiting for her there.

    "Elder! You''rete! You even made me wait all this time! What were you doing?" Maria pouted as she brought out her sword getting ready to practice. The Elder just looked at Maria strangely. Why was she getting scolded by her disciple? She told her tomorrow morning, why was she here so early?

    "When did you get here? And don''t scold me! I''m your master!"

    "I got here a few hours ago as you said, but you weren''t here, stupid Master."

    "A few hours ago?! I told you morning! Not in the middle of the night!"

    "But that is morning? When Mira was teaching me, we''d always practice this early in the morning."

    "I''m not Mira! Also, don''t call me stupid! From now on, show up at this time."

    "That''s no good, Elder. My schedule is very busy and I need to get as much practice as possible. I''m afraid I''m going to have to ask you toe earlier. Don''t you also want to see me as strong as possible, Master?"

    "Wha-! I''m an Elder you know! My schedule isn''t free all of the time either! I can''t just teach you whenever!"

    "Your schedule looked awfully free yesterday. Okay, enough of this! Let''s get started!"

    The two of them bickered back and forth until Elder Bridget felt so frustrated that her face was turning red. Why is this innocent little disciple so stubborn? She''s never like this when she''s around Mira!<sub> </sub>

    "Fine��"

    She then proceeded to show some proper techniques and moves for beginners to Maria. She tried to make it as difficult as possible for Maria, but she wasn''t really sure how to do that. The Elder doesn''t really take in disciples and just likes to fight.

    After a few hours of teaching Elder Bridget decided to stop for today.

    "That''s it? This is much less painful than Mira''s training! Are you sure it''s okay to make it this easygoing? Whenever I train with Mira, she always beats the training into me�� I feel like I didn''t learn anything today��" Maria said slowly as she avoided eye contact with the Elder.

    "Argh! Can''t you just be happy with how I''m training you!? Like I said before. I''m! Not! Mira! Do you really need me to spar with you to learn? Can''t you just figure it out after I demonstrate it to you?! Ahhh! Why''d I agree to this shit!?" The Elder seemed to be having a mini breakdown.

    "Let''s spar with what you''ve shown me today then!" Maria said and charged at the Elder with her sword. The two of them began sparring for a while against Elder Bridget''s wishes.

    After their spar, Maria left in high spirits while Elder Bridget looked depressed. She wasn''t in the mood to train anymore so she just went to go find something or someone to cheer her up.

    The next morning, Maria showed up at the same time she did before but didn''t see Elder Bridget. So she went ahead and took the initiative to find her. After searching around for around 20 minutes, she found the Elder sleeping soundly. Maria was a bit annoyed that her Master dodged the training time again so she decided to wake her up.

    "MAASSTTEER! Wake up!! It''s time to train!!!" Maria yelled and Elder Bridget jumped out of bed and readied her sword. She then looked around and saw Maria standing near the doorway pouting.

    "What are you doing here?! Why''d you wake me up?! It''s too early to start training! Go away!" The Elderined, but Maria just shook her head.

    "How can you shoo away your own disciple when they are so eager to learn from you? It''s never too early to train! Mira makes me stay up all night training so I don''t miss a single hour! I''ll never be able to catch up to Mira if you keep sleeping through our sessions! Let''s go, Master!" Maria rushed the Elder to wake up and start training. Elder Bridget started gritting her teeth as she deeply regretted epting this stupid child as her disciple. What the fuck did Mira turn this girl into?! There are other things to do other than training!

    Maria just ran up to her, grabbed her hand, and dragged he to the courtyard to start training. Which basically just ended up being them sparring for hours as Elder Bridget kept correcting her or trying to show her new techniques.

    Maria left in high spirits again and went back to her day that was full of more training. While Elder Bridget looked even more depressed than before. It''s not that she doesn''t like Maria, they just aren''tpatible. Elder Bridget is talented with a sword, Maria isn''t. Elder Bridget enjoys fighting tough opponents, Maria doesn''t. Elder Bridget learns by example or is talented enough to have a deeper understanding in the way of the sword, while Maria learns from experience. Also, Elder Bridget likes to do things at her own pace, while Maria has a schedule set for everything. The two of them just aren''tpatible. But Maria could not care less aboutpatibility nor is she thinking about that. She only wants someone to teach her, Elder Bridget epted her, therefore she wants to be taught. Maria isn''t thinking about anything else.

    A week went by and the two of them finally started waking up and training at the same time, but Elder Bridget kept wishing that she never epted this troublesome disciple. It always feels like she''s the one getting scolded for things or being dragged around. Dammit! I''m the teacher! Aren''t you supposed to listen to me?! This is what always goes through her mind. Maria also won''t let her take a day off. She just said that she needs to make use of every minute of training so she can catch up to Mira. Elder Bridget also asked her why she''s not like this with Mira, but Maria only replied by saying that Mira is scary. Even though you''ll make good progress with Mira training you, you always feel like you''re about to die. Avoiding her training is just a natural instinct.

    One day after teaching Maria, Elder Bridget walked around to find some friends in the Sect.

    "Hey, Bridget! I heard you got a disciple recently. How''d that happen? I thought you said you wouldn''t teach a disciple unless they meet your criteria." An Elder came up to her and asked curiously.

    "I don''t want to talk about it. That girl drags me out of bed to train hours before dawn and even tells me how I should be teaching her! It''s like she''s a training maniac! I thought she didn''t even like training seeing how she always tries to avoid Mira''s training! Why me?!" Elder Bridget started getting upset just thinking about Maria.

    "Why''d you ept her then? Can''t you just tell her you won''t be training her from now on saying that you two just aren''tpatible? Usually, you''re so direct with these things��"

    "I didn''t want to ept her! She just shamelessly said that I need to face adversity in order to grow and that''s why I should ept troublesome people like her! I even tried to shoo her away after I started teaching her, but she just came back the next morning like nothing happened and said ''How can an esteemed Elder such as yourself go back on your word now? It''s just some training.'' Then dragged me out of bed and started sparring with me! I just wanted to practice in peace! I knew this girl would be nothing but trouble!" Elder Bridgetined while the other Elders turned silent for a while and looked at each other.

    "Pfft! Hahaha! You can''t even handle a new disciple!? It sounds like she''s already got you by the ropes! Hahaha!"

    "You lost to Mira a few months back and now her friend has you wrapped around her fingers! Hahaha! These two girls must really have it out for you!"

    "Hahaha! Just ept your fate, Bridget! That Maria girl isn''t so bad. She''s incredibly sweet and innocent like a little child. She wants you to train her, you epted, now she''s only asking you to fulfill your duty! Haha! Good luck."

    The other Elders just startedughing at her. They all knew what Maria was like. A happy-go-lucky child that always looks like she has no problem. She''s probably incorporated some bad habits from Mira, but she''s still a good kid.

    Elder Bridget just left even more dejected and just resigned to her fate of teaching Maria. It''s not that she doesn''t like Maria, she just never wanted a disciple in the first ce. She continued training Maria every morning from that point on withoutint and Maria greatly improved because of it. Elder Bridget was also slowly improving as well due to them sparring all of the time and her being able toe up with new and better techniques.

 Chapter 127 Sect Master Meeting

    While Maria found herself a Master to help her, Mira could only spar with others while trying toe to her own conclusions on how a scythe should be used. The scythe is such a unique weapon that most people never even think about using it. Finding someone using a scythe is already hard enough, let alone finding someone to help her learn more about it. But just because it''s not popr doesn''t mean it''s a bad weapon. The scythe actually has one of the highest potential and utilitypared to other weapons, the only problem is it''s incredibly difficult to use and there are many different ways to use a scythe.

    Generally speaking, cultivators are the only people that can realistically use a scythe. They are heavy weapons and most of the weight is in the de. If you wanted to bnce out the weight, you''d only be making it heavier and more difficult to use. The point of using a scythe is for the momentum and utility that it can bring. Even though a weapon like a spear is simr in structure, they are two totally different styles ofbat.

    During Mira''s sparring sessions, she was somewhat missing Cine. Only because she wants to make use of her talent. Nisha, Audra, and Jade are also good, but Cine gets better after every spar, forcing Mira to learn and adapt more frequently. While Nisha, Audra, and Jade need to digest their sessions afterward only to improve the next day.

    Mira could also tell that Maria was getting more skilled as well. Maybe not major progress, but she can see that she''s incorporating new techniques and different styles into her fights. Mira guessed that she probably found someone to teach her.

    While Mira and Maria continued to get stronger, Cole had been invited to a meeting between the other major forces around Lunar Fox City.

    ***

    In arge room, there sat the Sect Masters of the surrounding Sects as well as the heads of the various families in the City. The City Lord was the one hosting this meeting and was the first one to speak.

    "Thank you all foring here today. We are here to discuss the uing Inter-Sect Tournament as it will be hosted by us this year. But first I must congratte Cole on reaching the Core Formation Realm. I never thought that you''d reach it in just a few years." The City Lord sized up Cole as he congratted him.

    "You''re too kind, City Lord. I just had a bit of luck, that''s all. I barely did anything." Cole said humbly but he also spoke the truth. He really didn''t have to do much.

    "That''s right Cole. How''d you get to the Core Formation Realm so fast? It should''ve taken you at least a decade if not more. But you were able to do it in around 2 years. You must''ve really found something amazing. With my old age, it''s hard to find opportunities to breakthrough." An old man asked. This old man being the Sect Master of the Immortal Sword Sect.

    "Haha." Cole justughed it off but didn''t answer. The old man squinted his eyes a bit but didn''t continue.

    "Okay, that''s enough. If Cole doesn''t want to share, he doesn''t have to. You all have your own secrets. We have to n for the other Sectsing here. There needs to be enough lodging, food, and figure out ways to limit fights outside of the tournament. Let''s begin." The City Lord said in a loud voice.

    They then began their discussion on how things should be run over the next year. There will be a lot of powerful cultivatorsing from other cities topete. Crimes will most likely go up, fights will happen more frequently, old grudges, arrogant assholes, and other problems that need to be addressed. They don''t want to offend the other sects, but they also can''t look weak in front of them.

    This discussion went on for many hours as different people were given different responsibilities. After they finished discussing these sorts of topics, the City Lord moved onto a less important subject.

    "Now that we''ve finished discussing this, I''d like to know if you have any promising disciples for this uing tournament. I''m mainly asking the Immortal Sword Sect, 8 Profound Elements Sect, and the Battle Maiden Sect, but if you other two are confident in any of your disciples then please speak up." The City Lord said in a voice full of authority. It''s not as though he was looking down on the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect or the Divine Beast Sect, they just don''t have the performance record like the other 3. Especially since the tournament doesn''t allow beastpanions to fight.

    "We are full of outstanding disciples! Our Immortal Sword Sect will take the number one slot this year!" The Sect Master from the Immortal Sword Sect was full of pride saying this. And it''s true, his sect generally performs the best. More people join the Immortal Sword Sect which means they get more talents.<sub> </sub>

    "We also have a few outstanding disciples. They are extremely talented with their prospective Daos and will surely ce high. We''ve also been grooming a few others that have promising talent and I believe they should be able to reach great results in the tournament as well." A mild-mannered middle-aged man said. This guy was the Sect Master of the 8 Profound Elements Sect.

    "Tsk. If this tournament allowed beastpanions to join as well, then we''d obviously wipe the floor with the rest of the Sects. We have a few talented disciples, but they probably aren''t as good as the Immortal Sword Sect or the 8 Profound Elements. But they do have amazing beastpanions!" A rough-looking middle-aged man said full of contempt. He was the Sect Master of the Divine Beasts Sect.

    "We will not be as good as the other 3 Sects, but our disciples are quite strong from the pills they''ve been making. They should fare well during the tournament. But you already know that we don''t focus on fighting as much as we do pill-making." An elderly gentleman said and everyone else nodded. They weren''t expecting them to do as well as the others. That''s not what their sect is for.

    Now everyone looked towards Sect Master Jane from the Battle Maiden Sect. She smirked at all of these old fools as they are in for quite the surprise.

    "Our Battle Maiden Sect is much more fierce this year. We have 2 disciples that we''ve been grooming for quite some time and I have high hopes for those two, but we have recently gotten a disciple who is extremely terrifying. She almost turned the Sect into a warzone a few months back and if I''m beingpletely honest, she even frightens me a bit. Her strength is quite extraordinary and she''s the most hard-working person I''ve ever seen. It''s almost like she was born for battle." The Sect Master boasted a bit to the others as they all looked at her withplicated gazes. They weren''t sure if they should believe this nonsense or not.

    "Oh! I heard something about that! A few months back I heard that the disciples in the Battle Maiden Sect started going crazy. They all had crazy looks on their faces like they werepeting for something. So it was all caused by this disciple of yours? I kind of find that hard to believe. How can a single disciple cause all of that? Also, how can you be frightened by a disciple? You''re the Sect Master!" The Immortal Sword Sect Master started at Sect Master Jane. Everyone else also listened to him and was shocked that something like this happened.

    "I don''t think it was only her. It was the new disciples that started it. They startedpeting for everything and challenging everyone while taking on missions all of the time. The other disciples didn''t want to lose their status and benefits so they started working harder. Most of them ran towards this specific disciple of mine who we''ve instructed to spar with some of them. And they fought over her like crazy. She might not have been the one to start it, but she''s the reason they went so crazy. As for yourst question, you''ll know why when you see her." Sect Master Jane lightly smiled towards him and exined the event. It wasn''t really a secret and they will find out who Mira is in around a year or so.

    "She sounds intriguing. Usually, the Battle Maiden Sect disciples aren''t as driven as some of the other sects. I can''t wait to see your disciples in action this year! Things might get interesting if it''s how you say it is. Maybe I''ll ask if she wants to join my sect! Haha!" The Sect Master of the Divine Beasts Sect said, but this caused Sect Master Jane to frown.

    "I strongly advise you don''t do that. Actually, it''s best if none of you approach her. At least not without me there. She can be a bit�� Vulgar. Also, please tell your disciples to hold in their lust towards my disciples this year. I don''t want any unforeseen idents to happen." Sect Master Jane said in a deep voice as she narrowed her eyes. Some of the people in the room frowned at this. It wasn''t that they had a problem with their disciples holding back their lust, but this seemed more like a warning. They weren''t sure what might be different this time around, but it''s best to be on the safe side and at least warn their disciples. A Sect Master wouldn''t give out this kind of warning unless there was a good reason to.

    When Cole listened to this the only person he could think of is Mira. Who else would be able to cause so much trouble even to the point that the Sect Master has to warn others about.

    ''Sigh, hopefully, Maria isn''t suffering too much because of Mira. It sounds like she''s really causing trouble over there.'' Cole could only resign Maria to her fate. If at all possible, he did not want to deal with Mira at all. She always makes him feel like crap and even bullies him even though he''s both stronger than her and in a higher position than her. Honestly, he has no idea how to deal with Mira.

    "Very well. I look forward to seeing the results. You guys are the pride of Lunar Fox City! Don''t let us down!" The City Lord said and ended the meeting.

    The Family Heads and Sect Masters all left the building and went back to their respective Sects.

    While Sect Master Jane was going back, she actually had a worried expression on her face. She was worried about Mira participating in the tournament. With her ruthless ways, the other Sects might not think too highly of this and try to do something to her. She also didn''t want any people to have any weird thoughts towards Mira or she might actually kill them causing tension between the other Sects.

    "Sigh, I just hope this Inter-Sect Tournament goes smoothly. I''ll need to have a chat with Mira about this to make sure she doesn''t cause trouble."

 Chapter 128 Picking Up Celaine

    A few days after Sect Master Jane made it back to the Battle Maiden Sect, she announced the Inter-Sect Tournament to everyone. She informed the disciples that the tournament will be held in Lunar Fox City and that only the Top 15 Core Disciples would be able topete in the tournament. Hearing these words straight from the Sect Master''s mouth made theirpetitive spirits soar.

    This wasn''t the end of it though as the Sect Master talked about the Secret Realm. She exined the various benefits that the Secret Realm can bring along with the treasures that are held within it. And only by doing well in the tournament would they be able to enter such a precious ce. This only further increased the disciple''s desire to get stronger.

    Though there was only a year left, that doesn''t mean that progress can''t be made. The disciples started to take things a bit more seriously now that the Secret Realm is within their grasps. This didn''t affect the training atmosphere that has gone through the Sect in the past year, but the mindset of the disciples was more determined than before.

    The Sect Master was pleased to see her disciples working so hard so she just left them to their own devices and waited for an opportunity to speak to Mira.

    After a few days, Mira was called to the Sect Master''s office.

    "Hello, Mira. I can see that you are improving little by little every day and I''m d that you''re helping our Elders by sparring with the other disciples." The Sect Master said with a gentle smile. Mira just slightly nodded her head waiting for her to get to the point.

    "Ahem, I brought you here today to discuss some things about the tournament with you. To be honest, I''m a little nervous to bring you to the tournament. As you may know, the cultivation world is mostly dominated by males. The Inter-Sect tournament is no different. Many hot-blooded youths will be participating and our Battle Maiden Sect is full of beautiful women. They mighte up to you trying to start some sort of trouble, but I hope you don''t take offense to their naivety." The Sect Master said with a calm voice.

    Mira narrowed her eyes when she heard this. She knew what the Sect Master meant by this. She wanted her to just be a good girl and deal with it. If things get out of hand, don''t do something that will put the Sect in a tough spot.

    "I''d rather kill the chicken to scare the monkey, Sect Master. If you want to prevent things from getting out of control then you''ll have to find another way to deal with it. But don''t worry, I know when and when not to cause trouble. As long as nobody tries anything funny, I won''t make a move." Mira said slowly. The Sect Master started feeling a headache.

    She knew that with Mira''s beauty, even if she wears a mask, there will probably be countless people trying to hit on her. She also knew that Mira wasn''t lying, she would definitely kill them if they tried to make a move on her.

    The Sect Master started rubbing her temples and sighed.

    "I got it. I''ll make some preparations beforehand, just don''t go looking for trouble." The Sect Master said lightly. The only thing she could think about right now is how troublesome Mira is. The Sect Master doesn''t want to see her disciples being taken advantage of, but Mira pushes this to the extreme. There''s also no good way to handle this. Mira''s not quite strong enough to protect herself from the Elders of the various Sects. Even if she has a good reason to kill a disciple from another Sect, she won''t be able to get out of it alive unless the Battle Maiden Sect protects her. The Sect Master could only sigh in resignation.

    Mira left the office and went back to her training. Time passed by swiftly.

    The disciples were making incredible progress during this period of harsh training. The fight for the Top 15 Core Disciples was unbelievably fierce. The Top 5 have basically already been decided. The Top 2 being Alexa and Cleo, 3rd being Mira, 4th is Jade, and Maria actually making it up to 5th ce in the Core Disciple rankings.

    Maria tried to fight with Jade in the arena on several asions and after many intense fights, Jade would barely win all of them. Though the gap between the two was slowly closing due to Elder Bridget''s teachings. Mira wanted to spar with Alexa and Cleo, but those two were never in the Sect so she never had a chance to fight them. If Mira could make it to the Late-Houtian Stage, she wouldn''t have to worry about her strengthcking while facing the two of them.

    Mira wasn''t sure if she should take a pill to boost her cultivation or not so she can make a breakthrough into the next stage. The reason she was a bit hesitant to take pills to help boost her cultivation was that she didn''t want it to ruin her foundation. Right now, she had a rock-solid foundation but if she uses a pill to boost her cultivation then she''ll have to spend more time consolidating it. Consolidating is the process of letting her body get used to her newfound strength. If your body doesn''t adapt and stabilize before your next breakthrough, then your cultivation will only get worse and worse before you find it impossible to continue cultivating. Of course, some pills and treasures can prevent this, but they are incredibly rare.

    Mira was extremely hesitant to do this and decided that she''ll see how far she can make it without any help. If she''s almost able to breakthrough, then she''ll take the pill to help push her over the edge, but if she''s not that close then she''ll just wait.

    Even though the disciples were training like crazy over these next few months, the Sect wasn''t that hectic.

    Dominique was also making great progress in her training and actually made it to the Meridian Opening Stage over thest year. She could''ve made it to the Qi Condensation Realm already, but Mira wanted her to grow a bit more along with prioritizing her physical body. The stronger her body is in the Qi Condensation Realm, the better it''ll be for her.<sub> </sub>

    The other disciples also loved Dominique. Seeing a little girl like her working so hard inspired quite a few of them. They all knew that Mira was training Dominique, so they didn''t have any problems with her staying here but there were plenty of rumors between the two.

    Some thought that Dominique was Mira''s that she ran away from home with. Others didn''t care as much and just thought of her as Mira''s disciple. But no matter what the other Disciples thought, whenever they''d see Mira with Dominique together they''d always think that she was her child. They both came out of nowhere, they both have different hair colors, and they are both crazy hardworking. Dominique also looks at Mira with eyes full of love and admiration which only furthers this thought.

    Dominique soon turned into something like a mascot for the Sect. Though Dominique didn''t realize this as she was only focused on training.

    The days passed by and soon they were only around a month away from the start of the Inter-Sect Tournament.

    On this day, Mira was on her way to pick up Cine. It''s been around 2 years since Mira dropped her off and she was looking forward to seeing her progress.

    When she entered the ruins and walked towards where she thought Cine might be, she felt some fluctuations in the air and wondered what was happening. When she walked over to the source, she saw the Caretaker watching over Cine as she tried breaking through to the Foundation Realm. Honestly, Mira was a bit surprised at how fast Cine made it to the Foundation Realm. Over two years ago, she was still in the early stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, and in a little, over 2 years she advanced an entire realm.

    Normally she wouldn''t have been able to do this, but the trial shaved off several years of cultivating and Mira guessed that she probably used the Energy Gathering Pill to help breakthrough to the Foundation Realmbreak through.

    After many hours of waiting, she felt Cine''s aura rise higher and higher. At the end of it all, she finally sensed that she sessfully broke through to the Foundation Realm. Cine slowly opened her eyes and had arge smile stered on her face. She slowly stood up and walked towards the Caretaker only to notice that someone else was standing next to him. Her body froze up as she stared at the person that was the cause of all her nightmares!

    "You!"

    Mira sized up Cine and slightly nodded.

    "It seems like you took my advice. At least you didn''t waste thest 2 years. Gather your things, it''s time to go." Mira said as she turned around to leave.

    "Not like I had a choice!!! I had to kill them all even if I didn''t want to! Why''d you send me to such a hell hole?! Do you know how much I suffered?! I know I got stronger, but I would''ve rather stayed at the Sect and slowly progressed! Then I wouldn''t have had to go through this crap!" Cine started to release the 2 years of pent-up rage she felt towards Mira.

    But Mira just ignored her and walked away. Though she was somewhat satisfied with the behavior Cine was showing. Not as meek and weak-willed as before. She was looking forward to sparring with her.

    Not long after, Cine gathered her things and reluctantly walked over to Mira. They left the area soon after that.

    On their way back, Mira informed her about some of the things happening in the Sect and that if she wants to participate in the Inter-Sect Tournament then she needs to be in the Top 15 Core Disciples. Before Cine left, she was already in the Top 15, but she slowly got pushed out after all of the battles and needs to regain her position.

    Mira knew that Cine shouldn''t have a problem with this. Cine also shared some of her experiences in the trial. She was able toplete it and most of the rewards were normal. She also got a Low-Stage Heaven Grade Saber. This one was many times better than her previous weapon and Cine immediately fell in love with it.

    The two of them soon made their way into the Sect where Cine would make her debut after being away for 2 years.

 Chapter 129 To The Tournament!

    Cine returning to the Sect spread like wildfire through the Sect. There were quite a few disciples who remember her being pretty talented, but then one day she just left and they haven''t seen her in 2 years.

    The Elders were also pleased to see Cine back as they had high hopes for her. They''ve been curious as to where she went, but Cine was pushed to the back of their minds after Mira said that she sent her somewhere to get stronger. Now that she was back, and in the Foundation Realm no less, they were looking forward to seeing how much her strength has increased.

    Cine spent a while greeting the other disciples and answering some of their questions. They were all curious as to where she went, but Cine refused to talk about it since this was something that Mira wanted to keep a secret.

    Cine was finally able to go back to her room after a few hours. She decided to get a good night''s sleep before making it into the Top 15.

    The next day, Cine immediately went to the arena to start challenging disciples only to learn that there were so many people fighting in the arena that she needed to schedule her fight a day or twoter.

    She just sighed and scheduled a fight for 2 days out. She needed to win around 10 Battles to make it into the Top 15 since her position was pushed down quite a bit.

    She decided to take part in the Battle Tower so she doesn''t have to fight so many battles.

    After leaving the arena, she went straight for the Battle Tower. Her experience was simr to Mira''s and it didn''t take her long to enter the Top 15 on the Battle Tower. This allowed her to get used to her strength as well.

    She was quite surprised to see how strong she was and her new saber felt amazing! She was absolutely in love with it! So sharp, so fast, amazing!

    On the day of her fight, she immediately destroyed her opponent in just a few moves then scheduled a fight for someone in the Top 15 right after that. Her disy of strength shocked the other disciples and they all looked at her with eyes full of envy! We all know you got this strong because of Mira! How lucky! These were their thoughts. Cine noticed the other disciples looking at her like this and was speechless. What''s there to be lucky about?! Mira brings nothing but endless pain and suffering! Who cares if you get stronger! But regardless of her thoughts on Mira, she was somewhat thankful for the opportunity she gave her. Her skills had improved quite a bit over thest 2 years and she increased her cultivation by almost an entire realm in a little over 2 years because of her.

    When Cine had her battle against someone in the Top 15, there were quite a few people paying attention to her. The Elders had high expectations and the disciples wanted to see how strong they could''ve been if Mira sent them to her secret training ce.

    The battle waspletely one-sided. Cine was just too talented with the saber and now that her strength has caught up she was able to soar! The other disciples were shocked! It''s been less than a week since Cine returned and she easily entered the Top 15?! What sort of dog shit luck is this?! Why didn''t Mira choose us?! We worked hard too!

    There were quite a few disciples that were dispirited after seeing Cine''s disy, but after thinking about it some more they renewed their determination. We''ll show you, Mira! That you should''ve picked us instead of her!

    After that day, Cine got challenged every day but nobody could beat her. The more people that lost to Cine, the more determined they got to try and beat her. Cine really wanted to cry! She couldn''t even walk out of her room without being challenged or looked at with eyes full of hate and envy! The way they looked at her was like she stole their husband from them! Cine wanted to tell them that it wasn''t her choice and Mira forced this onto her, but she knew it wouldn''t make a difference. She could only ept the battles and get through this next month.

    While she was having it rough with the other disciples, Mira also sparred with her every day as well. She could actually spar with Mira a lot longer now, but she''d still lose after a few minutes of intense sparring. Part of the reason she lost was due to Mira''s strength, but most of it was because Mira was just more skilled than her. This coupled with fighting against a strange weapon like a scythe always led to her inevitable loss. Mira also had amazing battle sense and could read the opponent like a book. Cine was just too green to be able to beat Mira.

    This didn''t stop Mira from fighting against Cine. Every time they sparred, Mira could feel her skill with the scythe increase and she knew that investing in Cine would be a good idea.

    She really wanted to curse at Mira nonstop, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of her cold eyes that were full of a hidden malicious intent she''d freeze up.

    The next month went by extremely quickly and it was finally time for them to head out and get ready for the Inter-Sect Tournament.

    The Sect Master has gathered all of the disciples together so she can announce the Top 15 that will be participating in the Tournament.

    "Thank you all for gathering here today! Today is a special day as I will be announcing the 15 people that will be participating in the Inter-Sect Tournament here in a few days. This is an incredibly important event not only for you but for the Sect as well. The better you do, the more slots we''ll have when the Secret Realm opens. The Sect will also receive better resources the better you do, so we might be able to provide more to you, but we might also be forced to lower the number of resources that are allocated to you if you don''t do well. But I have confidence in your abilities and hard work. I expect great things."

    "Now onto the 15 people who will be participating in the Tournament. Alexa, Mira, Jade, Cleo, Maria, Anya, Diana, Ellie, Hera, Cine, Nisha, Audra, Sia, La, and Anna. If you 15 will please step forward!" The Sect Master announced the Top 15 people and they all walked up next to her.

    Alexa and Cleo were both looking at Mira, who was wearing a mask, curiously. They returned back to the Sect not too long ago and heard a lot of things about Mira. They sized Mira up and couldn''t help but feel threatened by her presence. Even though they were both stronger than her by a significant margin, they felt the faint aura of death lingering around her. They''ve felt simr auras on their adventures from mercenaries or people who have fought in wars, but they all resembled little babies in front of Mira.

    Mira felt the two of them staring at them and nced at them. They both felt a chill up their spine and looked away.<sub> </sub>

    "Please congratte these 15 disciples as they will be representing you in the uing tournament!"

    *WWOOOO*

    "Go kick some ass! We''re counting on you guys!"

    "Show those other Sects how badass we can be!! The Battle Maiden Sect will reign supreme this year!"

    "I''ll be cheering for you, Mira! We''re leaving the Sect in your hands!"

    "Kick some ass out their Mira! We love you!"

    "Kyaa! I can''t wait to see Mira up there on stage!"

    "You''ll have to punish those naughty boys for us, Mira! We''re counting on you!"

    Mira''s eyebrows started twitching when she listened to these perverts screaming her name. But by now she was already used to this crap.

    The disciples standing next to the Sect Master all nced at Mira as well. There were actually a decent amount of people in the Top 15 people that wouldn''t have made it there if not for Mira or at the very least wouldn''t be as strong as they are today. With a rock like Mira to anchor themselves to, they all felt much better about their chances in the tournament.

    "Okay, that''s enough. You 15 should take the next few hours to prepare before we head out to Lunar Fox City. As for the rest of you, you''re wee toe along and watch the tournament. Okay, we''ll meet back here in a few hours!" The Sect Master finished announcing the Top 15 to everyone and everyone went back to prepare for their departure.

    Mira and Maria went back to their rooms to make sure they have everything with them. They also wanted to take Rhydian, Vulcan, and Dominique with them since they didn''t know when they''ll be back.

    "Really!? I get to go watch you fight in another tournament?! When do we leave?!" Dominique went crazy knowing she could watch Mira fight for real. She couldn''t wait to watch Mira beat some people up.

    "In a few hours. I don''t know how long we''ll be gone so gather your things." Mira said while Dominique nodded repeatedly and went to fetch her things.

    Mira then took a look at Rhydian and noticed that she is now a Late-Stage Rank 4 beast.

    ''It seems she''s been busy.'' Mira thought to herself seeing how Rhydian was a bit bigger now. Mira wasn''t sure how big Rhydian will get. She doesn''t know if she''ll only be the size of a normal wolf or an oversized wolf so she doesn''t know how far away she is from being full-grown

    She also noticed that Vulcan is a Low-Stage Rank 4 almost Mid-Stage. He''s also grown quite a bit over thest few years. He should be half-grown now.

    Looking at the two of them, she nodded in satisfaction. Rhydian can kill several stages above her own so as long as they don''t run into a Rank 6 Beast or someone in the Core Formation Realm, she should be fine.

    After a few hours, the 5 of them walked back to the ce the Sect Master told them to meet at. There were quite a few people curious as to why Mira and Maria are bringing their beastpanions and Dominique, but they just figured that they didn''t want to leave them alone.

    Soon, everyone gathered their things and met up where the Sect Master told them to. Then Sect Master Jane walked in front of everyone and made sure they were all here.

    "Let''s go!"

 Chapter 130 The Colosseum

    Mira and the other 14 followed the Sect Master to Lunar Fox City. Since they were so close to the city they didn''t have to prepare for a long journey.

    It only took them a few hours to reach the city and the first thing all of them noticed was how lively the ce is. People were preparing food stands, trying to promote their shops, walking around with friends, selling things, and much more. It looked like they were preparing for a festival.

    When they noticed the Battle Maiden Sect Disciples enter the city they all started cheering and rushing up to them to promote their goods.

    They just either ignored them or politely declined them saying they had other things to do right now. The people didn''t get disheartened hearing this and just moved onto the next person. They were like vultures.

    The Sect Master brought them to an inn that seemed to be close to where the Tournament will be held since they all noticed the massive structure not far away from the inn. It reminded Mira of a Colleseum, but the scale was many times bigger. She couldn''t even guess how many people this ce could fit!

    They were all in awe of this massive structure but were quickly interrupted by the Sect Master.

    "You can look at itter. For now, let''s get settled in. The tournament won''t start for another 3 days so you''ll have plenty of time to walk around the city after we settle into our rooms." The Sect Master said and took them into avish-looking inn.

    This inn was made out of stone and jewels rather than wood. It was also many times bigger than other inns and looked like it was made to house important people.

    The Sect Master already booked their rooms in advance so all she had to do is check-in with the receptionist to confirm that they were here, then she brought them to their rooms.

    Mira walked to her room with Rhydian and Dominique. When she walked in she was somewhat surprised. The room was ratherrge with a bed big enough for 4, a bathtub big enough for 2, a wardrobe, and even a ce for a beastpanion to sleep. It was also well-decorated.

    "Wow! This room is nicer than our room at the Sect! Okay, let''s hurry! I want to go explore the city!" Dominique said with sparkling eyes. Everything here was new and she wanted to explore all of it.

    Mira just nodded her head and walked out of the room with the two of them. Dominique went ahead and climbed onto Mira''s shoulders as they walked out of the room.

    The 3 of them then met up with Maria and walked out of the inn together. Then more people seemed to converge around the 4 of them as Nisha, Audra, Cine, Jade, Ellie, Diana, and a few others gathered around them.

    "Yo, you guys wanted to check out the massive Colosseum too? Why don''t we check it out together?" Diana asked everyone and they all nodded.

    "Let''s go! I want to try some food stalls too! It''s been a while since I''ve had anything to eat!" Maria eximed and everyone chuckled a bit.

    Their group started walking around the area, going to various food stalls. Dominique wanted to try everything and the people in the group didn''t have the hearts to deny her so they went to the surrounding food stalls to gather food for her. Dominique was overjoyed as she knew that Mira would probably reject.

    Mira saw everyone treating her so well and just shook her head. She was going to reject Dominique''s request, but if other people are going to pay for it then she doesn''t mind taking advantage of that.

    After gathering a sufficient amount of food, Mira''s group headed for the massive Colesseum. They were able to go inside of it and after reaching the middle of it was when they realized how massive it was.

    It was hundreds of meters in diameter and could probably house tens of thousands of people, if not several million. The Colosseum itself was rather basic and was only made out of normal stone, but barrier arrays were protecting the audience, and the stage itself was ck and looked much stronger than the rest of the Colosseum.

    They all felt their blood boiling looking at how big this ce was. They couldn''t wait to fight in such a ce! But they were knocked out of their reverie when they heard others approaching from different sides.

    "Well, if it isn''t the Battle Maiden Sect! Haha! I see that you guys were also curious about the Colosseum. You might as well soak it in now because this is as much stage time as you''ll be getting! Haha!" A loud and arrogant voice spoke from the side as they looked towards who just spoke and frowned.

    "Immortal Sword Sect��" Someone muttered as they saw a group of 15 people approaching them from the side with a tall and muscr man leading them.

    "That''s right! It''s us, the Immortal Sword Sect! The number one Sect in Lunar Fox City! Honestly, you girls should stop trying to y cultivator and go back to being stay-at-home moms'' whose sole purpose is to provide for us men! Haha!" The arrogant man boisterouslyughed again as their frowns deepened.

    They weren''t going to let such a shitty provocation bother them, but that doesn''t mean they don''t want to knock some sense into this idiot.

    p "Humph! Such paltry provocation. I guess that''s all I''d expect from someone who only thinks with their muscles. Hehe." Diana rebutted with a chuckle.</anda>

    "You! Only true men have muscles like these!" The arrogant man eximed as he started flexing. The people behind him just started sighing and shaking their heads. They also knew this guy was an idiot, but they''ve already gotten used to it. They were about to continue arguing when more groups walked into the Colosseum. It was the 3 other Sects from Lunar Fox City.<sub> </sub>

    "Oh! Battle Maiden Sect and Immortal Sword Sect disciples are here as well. It looks like we all had the same idea." The leader of the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect said.

    The 5 groups all started sizing each other up trying to gauge their strength. Alexa received most of the attention from the Battle Maiden Sect as she had the highest cultivation, Late-Xiantian Foundation Realm. Cleo received the second most as she was at Mid-Xiantian. But the one that radiated the most amount of danger was Mira. They didn''t know why, but the stronger people instinctively wanted to avoid her. Whoever her gaze crossed would feel a chill up their spine as well.

    While these disciples were just trying to measure how strong their opponents were, Mira would look at them and started calcting how she could kill them. Some people were about to call her out, but more groups started entering the Colosseum.

    One by one, more groups started making their way into the Colosseum and soon the middle was filled up with people.

    The Sects from the other cities were the ones that were in the Colosseum. There were now 17 groups all sizing each other up and the atmosphere turned heavy.

    The groups that got the most attention were the 2 Elven Sects. Most of the people here have never seen Elves before.

    Mira was also interested in them and snuck a few nces towards them. They were all taller than your average human at around 2 meters tall on average, with long blonde hair, and pointy ears. They were all skinny as well, but one could tell that this didn''t mean they weren''t strong. There were an equal amount of women as there were men, but it was honestly hard to tell them apart. They were all beautiful. They also radiated an aura of nature that was extremely peaceful.

    Quite a few humans were looking at them with lustful eyes, but the Elves just looked at them with disgust like they were looking at an insect.

    The Elves were sizing up the other Sects, but soon their eyes all fell on Mira and they all wanted to throw up. They could feel the unfathomable amount of bloodlust hidden within her and were appalled. They couldn''t even get a good look at the person as all they saw was someone covered in a thick killing intent.

    Elves are more in tune with nature and are more susceptible to things like intents, almost like a sixth sense. Their senses are also much stronger than humans as well. So it isn''t unnatural for them to be able to sense things like this.

    It didn''t take long for all of the Elves to be staring at Mira with wide eyes! The girls in the Battle Maiden Sect also noticed this and got out of Mira''s way to face the Elves.

    "Y-y-y-y-y-you!! What the hell are you?! A demon?! How many people have you killed?! What is such a wretched creature like you doing here?!" One of the Elves spoke, paralyzed in fear.

    Mira frowned but didn''t answer. She didn''t even know what this idiot was talking about. She just locked eyes with the leader and stared at him.

    "Answer me!!" The Elf Leader said as he took out his weapon. The other Elves also took out their weapons and pointed them at Mira. This only caused a chain reaction though as soon every sect had their weapons drawn and the atmosphere turned heavy. Poor Dominique started finding it hard to breathe as the people started releasing a suffocating pressure.

    "You can sense my killing intent even when I''m not releasing it? No wonder you look so frightened. How unlucky." Mira said as she raised an eyebrow.

    "I said answ-!"

    "Watch your tone boy before I add you to the list. I have no obligation to answer your questions." Mira said in a deep cold voice as she gazed towards the Elves. Then she turned around and left with Dominique and Rhydian.

    The atmosphere was still heavy after she left, but everyone put away their weapons and they could all breathe a sigh of relief. Nobody was in the mood to provoke others after that disy and they all just started leaving the Colosseum. But their minds were all focused on Mira.

    Why were the Elves so focused on her? What did he mean by those questions? Sure she was scary, but why did the Elves look like they had just lost their minds out of fright? These kinds of questions were going through their heads and they decided to pay more attention to her during the tournament.

    After Mira made it back to her room she looked at Dominique.

    "If you want to go out some more then you''ll have to go with Maria. I''m going to stay in here until the Tournament starts. Too troublesome to go out in the city now." Mira said indifferently.

    Dominique just shook her head and dived into Mira''s chest.

    "I''ll stay here with you," Dominique said emotionally. She felt like she needed tofort Mira after those people were so mean to her for no reason.

    Mira just pat her head and started cultivating.

 Chapter 131 Inter-Sect Tournament, Start

    During these next few days, quite a few disciples were trying to discover Mira''s identity. They wanted to know why the Elves were so terrified of her. They asked the locals, their Sect Elders, and even tried asking some of the Battle Maiden Sect Disciples, but the only information they had was that Mira wore a mask and had silver hair. When they asked the Battle Maiden Disciples they got different answers from them. Cold, cruel, beautiful, amazing, strong, tortuous, great teacher and other descriptions were said about Mira, but this information wasn''t useful at all! The only thing they learned after their short investigation is that they need to look out for her during the tournament.

    Soon, the day of the tournament came and the disciples spent time mentally preparing for this.

    "Time to go to the Colosseum, Mira!" Maria yelled from outside her door.

    Mira got up with Dominique and left Rhydian in the inn. She made her way out and noticed the other disciples had gathered and were already going towards the Colosseum.

    The 3 of them made their way towards the Colosseum and even realized that there was an exclusive area for them to sit at during the tournament. The Sect Master also passed her a token with a number on it, which was number 2, but she didn''t exin what the number is for.

    After all of the Sects and their disciples made it to their designated areas, arge muscr man stepped out into the middle of the arena. This man is the City Lord of Lunar Fox City.

    "Thank you all foring today to spectate this years'' Inter-Sect Tournament! It''s been a long time since our city has hosted the tournament so I''ll be going over some of the rules. There will be several parts to the Tournament this year. We''ll be having duels and group battles this year. For the Duels, we''ve split up the disciples into 4 groups of 64 and each group will be a part of their own battle royal to determine who the Top 16 of each group will be. The duels will then take ce after the Top 64 have been determined. I''ll exin the Group Battles when we get to it."

    "Now let me go over the rules of the tournament. Anything goes as long as you don''t kill the opponent, if your opponent surrenders then you have to stop attacking, and if they are knocked out then they lose the match. If you are knocked off the stage, that also counts as a loss. Now onto how to score points. During the Battle Royal Phase, making it into the final 16 will grant you 5 points and during the duels, every win is worth 3 points, but a loss will make you lose a point."

    "Alright! Let''s move onto the battle royal! Those of you with a token with the number 1 on it,e up to the stage!" The City Lord bellowed.

    *WOOO*

    The crowd started cheering as they were getting right into the action! Around 4 people from each Sect stood up and made their way towards the center. Mira noticed that Maria, Cine, Nisha, and Ellie were part of this group and was looking forward to seeing how they perform in something like a battle royale. Mira then felt a tug on her sleeve and noticed Dominique was trying to grab her attention.

    "How do you think they''ll perform? Do you think all 4 of them will make it to the final 16?" Dominique asked curiously.

    "I''d say 3 of them will make it to the final 16. Ellie is the weakest one in the group, but who knows? Battle royales are extremely messy so anything can happen." Mira exined and Dominique nodded her little head in understanding.

    The middle of the Colosseum started to fill up and soon all 64 disciples were out on the stage.

    Mira noticed Maria discussing something with herpanions and figured they must be discussing some sort of strategy, but this was nothing special since every other group was also talking with each other trying to discuss some sort of strategy.

    Mira just shook her head and knew this was why battle royales were so messy. Most people will want to stay in groups and will avoid frontal confrontations with another group. This is an effective strategy, but not if that''s what everyone does.

    After people realize that nobody is fighting because they want to pick off individuals is when the true battle royale begins. The main thing to worry about is not getting sandwiched between several groups. Mira was looking forward to seeing what kinds of strategy these 4 areing up with.

    "Group One, Begin!"

    The disciples on stage all formed their own groups and just looked at each other. They were waiting for someone to make the first move, but nobody was stupid enough to just rush out into the middle of everyone.

    Mira was watching carefully and noticed that Maria''s group was hiding Nisha in between the 3 of them. Nisha then cloaked herself in darkness and slowly walked towards the nearest group. Some of the other disciples noticed her, but they were too far away to do anything so they just waited.

    Nisha moved to the nearest group, snuck up behind them, and waited for the signal. Maria nodded her head 3 times then moved towards the group Nisha was positioned behind.<sub> </sub>

    Nisha immediately shed one of the disciples and threw him off the stage. The group that Nisha was at was too focused on trying to deal with Maria''s group that they didn''t even notice Nisha wreaking havoc behind them.

    Nisha did the same thing to another person in the group and by the time Maria''s group made it over, they already lost 2 people due to Nisha. As soon as Maria reached them, it didn''t take much effort for them to sh them a few times, knock them unconscious then throw them off the stage.

    This caused a chain reaction on stage as everyone started battling with each other. And like Mira predicted, the stage turned into a giant mess.

    At first, the groups tried to stick together to deal with the other groups, but since these disciples have never fought like this before, their synergy was extremely poor.

    The groups started to split up and the stage soon turned into a free-for all. Most skirmishes started as a one on one, but after one of them got defeated the winner would turn to their teammates to help them out making it a two on one.

    When some noticed that they were at a disadvantage, they fled towards where their Sect members were to seek assistance only to force their entire group into a worse situation.

    Mira didn''t care about any of this and just decided to pay attention to Maria''s group. She wanted to see what decisions they''d make in this messy battlefield and Mira was not disappointed. Nisha kept coating herself in her Darkness Element and doing hit and run tactics. Maria was the vanguard of the group, Cine acted as the middle-guard and provided support to Ellie and Maria, while Ellie was the rearguard and support. Nisha was the assassin that helped them take out groups with extreme efficiency.

    Maria''s group rampaged through the stage in a systematic manner. Finding Nisha was incredibly difficult to do in such a chaotic situation so most groups that fought against Maria''s group were always put into a disadvantage at the beginning. Taking out Maria and Cine is also not an easy feat since Maria is used to being in crazy situations with Mira and Cine is a crazy talented fighter. Thisbined with Ellie as the rearguard and support, their synergy was unbeatable.

    The people and disciples watching this battle royale were surprised to see a group move with such precision.

    The only other groups that was worth noting were the Elves as they also moved swiftly and cleanly through the battlefield, but this was to be expected. The Elves were the ones to win thest Inter-Sect Tournament and perform well in every tournament.

    Mira noticed something about one of the Elven Sects and it was that one of them had 16 people participating instead of 15. Mira asked the Sect Master and was told that because they won thest Inter-Sect Tournament, they get to have an extra person participate.

    The battles raged on and only got more intense with less people. There were a few lone wolves out there that were just running around trying to make it to the end of the battle. Quite a few groups tried to target them as they would be easy to take out, but other groups also used them as bait.

    Not much longer, there were only 16 people left.

    "That''s the end of Group 1''s Battle Royale! The 16 of you go wait near your Sect and wait for the battle royales to finish! As for the losers, you are no longer able to participate in the duels."

    The Battle Royale for Group 1 ended much quicker than everyone thought. There were only 2 full groups left at the end and that was one of the Elven groups and the Battle Maiden Sect group. The rest of the people on stage either got lucky or spent the majority of time fleeing after their group got defeated.

    Maria, Cine, Nisha, and Ellie raised their heads high, proud of being able to make it past this battle royale.

    The crowd roared at how amazing that first battle was and had high expectations for the future battles.

    The winners walked off the stage and the City Lord announced Group 2 toe up.

    "We''ll now move onto the next battle royale! Group 2,e up!"

 Chapter 132 Inter-Sect Tournament Part 1

    "We''ll now move onto the next battle royale! Group 2,e up!"

    Mira stood up and started walking to the arena, but got stopped by Dominique.

    "Go crush''em, Mira! I''ll be rooting for you!"

    Mira just nodded her head and made her way up towards the stage, but along the way, the other Battle Maiden Disciples caught up to her to discuss a n. Mira looked around and saw Jade, Audra, and Anna were also part of this battle royale.

    "What n do you have in mind, Mira? I know you have something." Audra looked towards Mira full of expectations.

    "You could say that. We''re going to do something simr to what Maria''s group did. Jade, you be the vanguard, Anna will be the mid-guard, and Audra will be the rearguard. I''m going to catch their attention so all you have to do is eliminate whoever youe across. When I give the signal, you start the massacre." Mira gave them their roles to y, but she didn''t exin what she''ll be doing.

    "What''s the signal? Why do you want to y as the bait?" Jade asked curiously. She knew Mira wouldn''t do something that would put her out of the tournament so she was curious as to what Mira would be doing.

    Mira just looked at them and smiled faintly under her mask then turned around and walked onto the stage.

    As soon as her figure walked up on stage, the Elves all started shivering in fear. They cursed at themselves for having such terrible luck that they have to be on the same stage as this devil.

    The Sect Masters of the two Elven Sects were wondering why their disciples were frozen in fear.

    "What''s wrong with all of you? Why are all of you acting like this?" They asked, but the disciples didn''t answer and just pointed at Mira.

    The Sect Masters squinted their eyes and looked towards Mira, but when they looked at her their eyes widened so much that their eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

    The Sect Masters also gulped in fear as they''ve never seen felt such a horrific aura before. The Sect Masters have seen people that spent their entire lives killing, they''ve seen people kill thousands, if not tens of thousands of people in wars, and have also met old monsters that have been alive for hundreds if not thousands of years, but all of those people couldn''t even make up a fraction of Mira''s aura. It shouldn''t be physically possible for someone like her to exist here.

    They wanted to stop the battle, but they were still frozen in ce staring at Mira.

    "Group 2 Battle Royale, Begin!"

    The same thing happened this time around as well and nobody wanted to make the first move. After a few seconds of waiting, Mira took out her scythe to start gathering momentum and walked towards the center of the stage. A frosty mist started emanating from Mira''s body as she walked forward that made the whole scene incredibly eerie. The atmosphere grew tense as the only thing one could hear was Mira''s footsteps.

    Everyone was silently watching her, waiting for her to make a move before they did anything. Their instincts were telling them that Mira was extremely dangerous and they should approach with caution.

    Mira took a deep breath and then unleashed a massive Ice Domain that threatened to cover the entire stage. The domain turned into an ice blizzard that unleashed hundreds of ice shards and ice needles. Blue lightning streaked across the domain and started to attack anything it came across.

    Jade, Audra, and Anna knew this was the signal that Mira was talking about and started to attack any nearby groups.

    The other groups didn''t expect such a scene to ur and were caught somewhat off-guard, but it didn''t take long for them to recover. Ice shards and Ice needles started to cut and pierce them and after being wounded a few times they knew that taking out Mira is a must.

    Some groups ran towards Mira to fight her and others tried to use fire to melt this domain, but they realized that it would require a lot of effort just to try and break the domain. They might even exhaust themselves in the process and not have enough energy to fight the others. They decided that they might as well make full use of the domain and attack other groups to secure themselves a spot.

    The people that ran towards Mira were the ones that received the worst beating. Not only because Mira was good at using others to cause coteral damage, but Mira was ruthless.

    She would dodge and deflect every attack that came for her while narrowing down her targets. She wanted to catch someone off guard so she can remove them from the fight. After being in the middle of several groups trying to attack her, she was able to find someone to attack.<sub> </sub>

    The person she chose was one of the weaker disciples and all Mira did is break his arms and legs with the blunt end of her scythe then she used him as a shield. Since they had to stay conscious all she could do is immobilize them. Mira used this unfortunate disciple as a meat shield and he ended up getting shed quite a few times and when the guy was actually nearing death, she threw him towards the meat shield''s group then charged at them after they were blinded by their ragdollpanion.

    They weren''t sure whether they should catch him or dodge and in their hesitation, Mira was already in front of them. Her scythe started ripping off chunks of skin, breaking bones, and leaving cuts all over their bodies. It only took a split second for the tables to turn in her favor and that entire group all ended up screaming in pain on the ground.

    Mira figured that these people would also be great meat shields so she decided to stay close to them. As soon as someone approached her, she''d just kick these poor people towards them then start her attack.

    Even though there was a frosty fog covering the stage that didn''t mean that the audience couldn''t see what was happening. Their eyes were glued onto Mira since the beginning of the match so when they saw how brutal Mira was they all gulped and tried to look away as the scene was just a bit too gruesome for them. The Sect Masters and disciples watching this unfold outside of the stage were all fuming with rage that someone would be this brutal during the tournament.

    Even though they heard the City Lord say anything goes except for killing, they all figured that everyone would at least have a bit of honor and not do what Mira is doing. The Sect Masters and disciples really wanted to go up on stage and kill Mira so they could satiate their rage, but technically Mira wasn''t breaking any rules so they could only sit quietly staring at her with eyes filled with hate.

    The Battle Maiden Sect Disciples could only shake their heads with slight smiles on their faces. They''ve all experienced this from Mira in thest 2 years and could only feel pity for the people on stage.

    Everyone just watched as Mira and her group rampaged through the arena, taking out anyone that was in their way.

    Meanwhile, the two Elven Sect Masters came up to Sect Master Jane to have a quick word with her.

    "Well if it isn''t the two Sect Masters from Elsum. What brings the two of you here?" Sect Master Jane said with a light smile on her face.

    "Sect Master Jane, what is that demon of a disciple? The one with the mask? I''ve never felt such a thick aura of blood from someone in my entire life! How can you ept someone like her as a disciple!? We''d be lucky if she doesn''t kill everyone here!" One of the Elven Sect Masters yelled.

    ''Shit! I forgot Elves were sensitive to that sort of thing.'' Sect Master Jane thought to herself.

    "I don''t know what you''re talking about. Mira''s done a lot for my Sect and is respected by all of my disciples. Sure, she might be a little rough, but she only brings good intentions." Sect Master Jane said gently, but the two Elves just scoffed.

    "Bullshit! Look at her right now! She''s literally torturing those poor fools on stage right now! You call those good intentions?! You need to do something about that girl lest she brings a cmity towards our continent! I can''t even imagine how many people she''s killed! Millions? Tens of millions? Maybe even more? I refuse to have such a dangerous individual roaming around my continent!" One of the Elves dered while the other nodded.

    Sect Master Jane narrowed her eyes and spoke in a deep voice.

    "Thank you for your advice, but it is not needed. Mira doesn''t run around killing whoever she wants, but if you attack her and have ill-intent towards her then whatever happens after is your fault. I advise you to proceed with caution. You may leave." Jane said seriously and the two Elves snorted at her and left.

    Sect Master Jane just sighed and looked towards where Mira was on the stage.

    "I hope they don''t do anything stupid," Jane muttered to herself.

    Group 2''s battle royale was finishing up right now as Mira was just tossing her meat shields off of the stage.

    After Mira threw thest one off the stage the City Lord spoke up.

    "That''s the end of Group 2''s Battle Royale! The 16 of you go wait near your Sect and wait for the battle royales to finish! As for the losers, you are no longer able to participate in the duels."

    The audience was silent for a while as they looked at the remaining people. Mira, Jade, Audra, and Anna were still left. There were a few Elves still up there, but the biggest winners this time were actually the Sects from Mysterious Verdant City. Most of them have a fire affinity and were able to deal with the ice to a certain extent. While the biggest losers were the Sects from the north. There were more people with Ice Affinities from the north and in the face of Mira''s Absolute Ice Dao they couldn''t really do much. They were easily taken out by Jade and the others.

    After a few minutes of silence, the crowd soon went wild! Even though what they just watched was brutal it was still amazing. They were even more excited about the uing battles!

 Chapter 133 Inter-Sect Tournament Part 2

    Mira and the others walked off the stage to watch the next groups. She was rather satisfied with how her battle yed out, but it seems there were quite a few people that were not. She noticed quite a few hateful res from quite a few Sects, so many that she just shook her head and sighed.

    Even though Mira knew why they were angry, she didn''t do anything wrong. The rules stated that anything goes aside from killing, so if they want to be angry, be angry at the rules rather than her.

    "We''ll now move onto the next battle royale! Group 3,e up!"

    Mira saw Alexa, Cleo, and Anya walking up to the stage now and got a bit interested. She wanted to see how the 2 strongest disciples fought.

    Mira also noticed that the peopleing up on the stage were all rather strong in terms of cultivation. She guessed that this battle royal will either be more intense than the others or just a stomp.

    "Group 3 Battle Royale, Begin!"

    The battles started immediately and instead of everyone fighting in groups and taking out other people efficiently, it was just a cluster fuck. It seems these idiots let their current strength get to their heads so they decided to work by themselves while leaving their teammates to fend for themselves.

    Alexa and Cleo weren''t much better, they both just went their own way and left the weakest member, Anya, to deal with others much stronger than her.

    Mira was already disappointed seeing how nobody worked together during this battle, but she did notice that Alexa was able to take out most people in just a few moves. She wasn''t only strong but had the experience to back up her strength. Mira could tell that the Sect put a lot of effort into training her and it was paying off, but there were still several things that Mira would''ve tried to improve.

    The same goes for Cleo as well, but Mira actually felt like Cleo is more talented than Alexa when ites torge-scale fights like this. Cleo was always keeping tabs on her surroundings and could also fight several enemies at the same time. Her movements were graceful and had ayer of finesse to them.

    After watching the two of them for a little bit, she changed her attention to Anya and the only thought she coulde up with is pity. Anya was just running around the battlefield, weaving in and out of enemies while being chased. But she did notice that Anya would at least attack unsuspecting people as she was escaping from her attackers. She figured that Anya knew her strengths and weaknesses quite well, so she decided that instead of taking these people head-on, she''d just try andst until the end. Mira nodded her head; at least she''s self-aware.

    The battles started to rage on for almost an hour and they were getting more intense as the number of people left reduced. This wasn''t too surprising because the disciples up there right now were some of their strongest in their respective Sects.

    Alexa, Cleo, and Anya were also working together now so they can end the battle royale quicker, but their synergy was awful. The timing of their attacks was off, they didn''t seem to know what the other person did, and there was no clear leader. If they were going to perform so poorly it would''ve been better if they didn''t even team-up.

    "That''s the end of Group 3''s Battle Royale! The 16 of you go wait near your Sect and wait for the battle royales to finish! As for the losers, you are no longer able to participate in the duels."

    The City Lord finally announced the end of this battle and the fighting stopped. The disciples that were currently on stage all red at each other, their eyes seemingly saying that they would''ve been destroyed if they fought. Then they walked off the stage to watch thest battle royale.

    "We''ll now move onto the next battle royale! Group 4,e up!"

    Thest 4 from the Battle Maiden Sect made their way up to the stage. These 4 were rather ordinary, but they weren''t weak. There was just nothing about these 4 that stood out, but Mira has been sparring with these 4 for almost 2 years now so she knew some things that other people didn''t. Even though these 4 looked ordinary, they were actually very calctive. Watching these 4 fight is more enjoyable than watching some moron use brute force to beat people up.<sub> </sub>

    "Group 4 Battle Royale, Begin!"

    The group from the Battle Maiden Sect was the third group to move. They split up into 2 groups and used hit and run tactics, but they didn''t knock out their opponents just immobilized them. After immobilizing quite a few people, the 4 of them grouped up again and started taking advantage of some of the weaker groups or sandwiching a group that was already in the middle of a fight.

    Their attacks weren''t anything special and they weren''t particrly skilled, but their coordination was much better than the other groups. Sparring against Mira and each other over thest 2 years allowed them to understand their teammates'' attacks which is why they were so coordinated. These 4 were using well-coordinated teamwork and strategy to take down tougher enemies.

    Mira was enjoying their battle and was happy that at least some people in her Sect could use their brains.

    After the 4 of them noticed that there were only a little over 20 people left on stage, they walked over to the people that they immobilized and started throwing them off the stage. The reason they immobilized them before instead of taking them out is they noticed that as the number of people reduced, the more intense the fights were. They weren''t confident in being able to survive under the pressure of thest groups so they prepared a bit beforehand. After they threw out a handful of people, the City Lord called the end of thest battle royale.

    "That''s the end of the Battle Royales! We will be ending the fights for today, but we will resume the duels tomorrow! The disciples this year are incredibly fierce so look forward to the duels toe!" The City Lord announced and everyone groaned a little in dissatisfaction. They wanted to keep watching!

    Everyone walked back to their respective Sects, some with smiles, some with frowns, and some with expressionless faces.

    After making it back to Sect Master Jane, they noticed a big smile stered on her face.

    "You all did amazing! I can''t believe that all of you made it past the battle royale and onto the duels! Usually, we lose at least a few people in the beginning, but this is such a blessing! We have a great chance at winning this thing!" Sect Master Jane eximed as she started patting their shoulders.

    A lot of the disciples just looked away shyly, they didn''t expect such praise from the Sect Master herself and started to get embarrassed.

    "It was all thanks to the sparring sessions with Mira over thest 2 years. I had a better understanding of not only my capabilities but also my teammates''.Mira also had us fight her in groups as well so not only did we understand our capabilities but we knew how to properly use them. Those experiences allowed us to make it through the battles even if we were weaker than them." One of the girls from group 4 spoke up but the others also nodded their heads and agreed.

    "I see. I''m d that those sparring sessions paid off! I look forward to your results in the duels and the group battles. Thanks for your hard work over thest 2 years, Mira." The Sect Master praised, but Mira just slightly nodded. She had already been paid for the work so of course she was going to do it.

    Alexa and Cleo looked at Mira curiously and didn''t know what to think of her. The only thing they felt from her was a cold-blooded killer, but it seems she''s greatly helped out the Sect and there are a ton of people who respect her as well. Their thoughts were conflicted when it came to Mira, but either way, their Sect was doing well because of them so they could only push these thoughts away.

    The Sect Master finished talking to them and the disciples started to disperse. Mira walked away and picked up Dominique then walked back to their inn. Dominique couldn''t stop talking about not only her fight but the other fights as well. She was d that she finally got to see Mira in action and it wasn''t just a stomp. It was full of crazy fights! Mira shared a few of her thoughts on the battles to give Dominique a better understanding of why certain people made specific choices or maybe what they could''ve done better. Dominique would just listen attentively and inscribe those words into her mind so she wouldn''t forget them.

    After making it back to her inn, Mira continued discussing things with Dominique and started cultivating when she finally went to sleep.

    A few hourster the sky darkened and night fell. It was a rather peaceful night for such a chaotic day, but if one looked closely they''d see a few dark shadows traveling through the night. They were quickly making their way towards a certain inn and all of the shadows had a look of hatred in their eyes.

 Chapter 134 Intruders

    Mira was currently sitting in her room cultivating with Dominique wrapped around her. The only thing one could hear in the room is Dominique''s light breathing.

    All of a sudden Mira''s eyes opened wide and she started to have a bad feeling. She wasn''t sure what it was, but it couldn''t mean anything good. She looked at the peacefully sleeping Dominique and started pushing her to wake up.

    "Wake up, child." Mira said in a deep voice as she put on her mask.

    "Yawn�� Huh? Mira? Why did you wake me up? Are we going somewhere?" Dominique asked curiously, but after looking into Mira''s eyes she felt they were much colder than before.

    "No. It seems we''ll be having some visitors tonight. Get under the bed." Mira said as she got up and stood in the middle of the room.

    "Visitors? Why do I need to get under the room if we ar-" Dominique was about to ask, but the re she received from Mira immediately shut her up and she crawled under the bed.

    Mira just stood there in the middle of the room with her arms crossed, waiting for someone toe into her room. She wasn''t sure who might be targeting her, but she''s sure that whoever it is won''t be leaving here alive. The probability that it''s someone in the Core Formation Realm is extremely low. Not only that but if they are caught there''d be a huge problem between their Sect and Lunar Fox CIty.

    Time slowly passed and Dominique was starting to wonder if Mira tricked her, but she dismissed the thought since Mira has never done something like this before.

    Not long after she heard the window in the room break and several figures darted in.

    Mira looked at the 3 people that just barged into her room and noticed that everything was covered in ck, even their faces were covered as well. All 3 of them were in the Foundation Realm and they weren''t even in the Xiantian Stage either. They were only Late and Peak-Houtian Stage cultivators. The three of them stared at Mira with eyes full of hatred.

    "Rhydian, feel free to have some fun." Mira said as she released a faint smile.

    Rhydian got ready and charged at the 3 of them. She looked like a streak of lightning before crashing into one of the attackers dealing a heavy blow. Blood started spraying everywhere as half of the intruder''s body was missing. Even though he was on death''s door, he still attempted to attack the little wolf. But before he could even raise his sword, his head exploded into mush and his body dropped to the ground.

    The other 2 watched this in shock as they haven''t even gotten the chance to move. Theirpanion didn''t even get the chance to open his mouth before he died! The other 2 of them started fuming with anger and took out their swords.

    "Demon! We won''t let you get away with this! Prepare to die!" One of them screamed in anger and charged towards Mira.

    Mira just scoffed. Mira took a good look at the blood that sttered all over the room and frowned.

    "You''re cleaning this shit up after this, Rhydian." Mira said and sent a death re towards Rhydian and attacked the intruder.

    The other intruder also charged towards Mira and tried to forget about the wolf. He knew that challenging Rhydian would just mean instant death.

    Mira waited for both of them to get close to her before she started to move. She started dodging and deflecting their swords with her fists. After getting close enough to them, Mira started aiming for their vital organs. She was strong enough that her punches would heavily damage their internal organs and they''d split up blood after every punch.

    After damaging their internal organs, she''d then focus on their legs. One kick from Mira would fracture their shins, another kick would break it, and the third kick would shatter it and they''d be forced to fall to the ground.

    The first intruder went down with his leg shattered and spitting up blood. The other intruder''s eyes went bloodshot in anger due to seeing hisrade getting beaten to such a state. mes started to form around his sword and even his body started to char from the intense heat.

    "AHHHHH!" He screamed and recklessly charged at Mira like a madman. Mira sent a kick towards his crotch and popped his testicles. The man scrunched up in pain and almost fainted from the intense pain, but he kept charging at Mira.

    After getting close to her, Mira grabbed his wrist holding the sword with one hand and grabbed his neck in the other.

    She gripped his wrist until he dropped the sword, but didn''t stop there.

    Crack!

    "Ahhhhh!"

    The man''s wrist shattered and his hand went limp. Mira pulled him closer and forced him to stare into her wine-red eyes.

    "I''m guessing that you have no intention of telling who sent you or if anybody even sent you, but I can at least give you a painless death if you do. How about it?" Mira asked coldly, but the man still looked at her fearlessly.<sub> </sub>

    "Go to hell demon! This isn''t over! My sect will be sure to kill you for what you did to them during the tournament!" The man roared in anger.

    Mira just shook her head and increased the strength of her grip around the man''s neck just enough to where he started suffocating.

    The intruder that was lying on the ground was gritting his teeth in anger as he watched the leader of their group being choked to death. He started crawling towards Mira his sword in hand, but Mira just kicked him away before he could do anything.

    Mira wasn''t sure how long it''ll take for a cultivator to suffocate, but she was ready to find out.

    After a few minutes, the man started to struggle but he wasn''t on the verge of death.

    After about 5 minutes, the man started trying to pry Mira''s hand away from his neck gasping for air.

    Around 10 minutester, the man''s face started turning purple and he was getting weaker by the second. And a few minutester, his eyes rolled back and his body went limp.

    Crack!

    Mira crushed his neck into paste and dropped the man. She then slowly walked towards the other man that wasying on the ground. The man stared at her with bloodshot eyes.

    "You won''t get away with this! We''ll know you were the one that did this! Haha! At least I''ll die knowi-!"

    Crack!

    Mira cracked thest man''s neck before he continued screaming. Mira then started to collect her loot. She took their space rings and weapons. After searching the space rings she checked them to see what she got.

    A few hundred Spirit Stones, 3 Mortal-Grade swords of varying quality, a few rejuvenation pills, and a few other things that were useless to her. She transferred everything from their space rings into her own, but she left a Late-Stage Mortal-Grade sword in there as well as 50 Spirit Stones and the pills in one of the space rings and stored the other 2.

    "Dinner time, Rhydian. Eat up. Be sure to leave this ce spotless!" Mira ordered and Rhydian walked over to a corpse and started eating them.

    "You cane out, Kid. Our visitors have left. They even left us with a few weing gifts." Mira called out to Dominique.

    Dominique was internally screaming when Mira said that.

    ''I''m not stupid, you know! I could hear you killing them! I can even see Rhydian eating them right now! Are you trying to hide it from me or ying around?! I can''t tell!'' Dominique thought to herself as she cralled out of the bed while trying to keep her eyes off of Rhydian eating the people.

    She wasn''t exactly sure how to feel about this scene. These people obviously came here with the intent to kill, but they aren''t even being treated as corpses! They are being treated as food mainly because Mira doesn''t want to leave a mess!

    Dominique nced towards Mira kicking the two other bodies towards Rhydian and gulped. Mira is too scary!

    Mira flicked a space ring towards Dominique after seeing her out from underneath the bed.

    "Here''s a space ring. It has a Late-Stage Mortal-Grade Sword in it with some Spirit Stones and pills. This will get you started when you reach the Qi Condensation Realm. You can also use the sword to practice with, but if you don''t want to use a sword then you''ll have to wait." Mira exined and Dominique''s expression immediately brightened when she heard this.

    "Thank you! And I''ve been doing some thinking. I don''t think I''m suitable for a sword, but I''ll still use this to gain experience in the meantime. Thank you for your consideration!" Dominique bowed towards Mira.

    Mira just waited for the bodies to be cleaned up by Rhydian before she and Dominique got in the bed.

    The room looked light it did before the intruders broke in. The only thing that was out of ce was the broken window, but Mira figured she''d just rece it with some ice when it''s time to leave this ce.

    Mira just went back to cultivating and Dominique held onto Mira with a blissful expression on her face before falling asleep again.

 Chapter 135 Inter-Sect Tournament Part 3

    The next morning Mira awoke from cultivating around an hour before the tournament started. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the attackers didn''t send anyone else to attack throughout the night, though this was within her expectations.

    She wasn''t sure what sect these people came from, but she had a few guesses. She originally thought that they mighte from one of the Elven Sects, but she didn''t see any characteristics that Elves usually have, such as long pointy ears, on the assants. They could be assassins that the Elves hired to kill her, but this didn''t make sense either. She hasn''t done anything to the Elves, even if they can sense the thick aura of murder and death from her, this shouldn''t be enough for them to want to kill her. She also hasn''t killed anyone from any of the other Sects, so there shouldn''t be any reason for people to want to kill her.

    Mira just ended up shrugging and was just going to wait and see if there are any suspicious people at the tournament.

    ***

    In another inn a few miles away from Mira.

    "Dammit! Where are John, Dave, and Charles?! I don''t see them anywhere! Did they sneak off somewherest night? Don''t tell me those morons got drunk!" One of the Elders of the ded Wind Sect in Gale City yelled.

    The disciples that were part of this Sect were running around the city looking for these 3 people as they are supposed topete in the tournament today. The Elders and Sect Master were extremely flustered right now as losing 3 people during a tournament like this is akin to losing.

    The Elders kept asking if they saw these 3 disciples, but everybody gave the same answer; they haven''t seen those 3 sincest night.

    As the tournament drew closer and closer, every member of this Sect was getting increasingly anxious and the only question that ran through their minds were, ''Where are those three assholes?!''.

    ***

    The time of the tournament drew closer and the Sects made their way back to the arena. Most of them had solemn expressions nted on their faces as this tournament was incredibly important.

    Mira also made her way towards the Arena with Dominique and the rest of the Battle Maiden Sect. She wasn''t too concerned with the results of the Tournament as there aren''t many people in the younger generation that canpete with her.

    Even though her cultivation may not be the most impressive out of the others, she was infinitely more skilled in an actual fight than these children. So even if they have more strength than her, so what?

    Mira didn''t share the news of people trying to assassinate her as she had no reason to do this until she could figure out who was behind the sudden attack and why.

    After all of the Sects made it to their respective sides, Mira looked around to see if any group seemed out of ce or held any ill-intentions towards her.

    After noticing that nobody was looking at her she was a bit puzzled. Who was it that attacked her? They said they were from a Sect, but maybe they were lying?

    Mira frowned and looked a bit closer only to see that one Sect seemed to be short 3 people and they all held poor expressions on their faces.

    Mira was sure that the disciples of this Sect tried to assassinate herst night, but it seems they didn''t inform anyone of their whereabouts as nobody was paying attention to her. Mira didn''t know the name of the Sect so she asked a nearby Elder.

    "That''s the ded Wind Sect that resides near Gale City. They are a formidable Sect that generally only epts disciples that have a wind affinity and use a sword. Eh? It looks like they are missing a few people." The Elder answered then grew puzzles, but Mira just nodded her head.

    ''ded Wind Sect? It seems like I''ll have to pay more attention to this Sect. They might have more reckless idiots thate for me in the future.'' Mira thought to herself as she swept her gaze across the other Sects.

    "Wee to the second day of the Inter-Sect Tournament! Today we will begin the duels! I have already chosen the brackets for the participants. The rules will be the same as yesterday, anything goes except for killing your opponent or unless someone forfeits. Will the first 2 peoplee up and get ready?!" The City Lord announced the beginning of the duels and the crowd went wild. This is what they''ve been waiting for!

    ***

    In another location hundreds of kilometers away from Lunar Fox City.<sub> </sub>

    A group of people was all donned in ck cloaks and ck masks that have gathered around arge and ominous table. They seemed to be discussing something important as the tones of their voices were extremely low and solemn.

    "Everything is going as nned, Head. We''ve been gathering arge number of Magical Beasts and are ready for attack at any moment. The Sects haven''t noticed our movements and arepletely in the dark."

    "Good job, Arms. What about you, Legs? How have your preparations been going?" The person named Head asked.

    "Smoothly. It won''t be long until we''ve gathered enough souls to resurrect our Ancestor. Once that timees, the only thing that those Sects can do is cower in fear!" Legs answered in a voice filled with killing intent.

    "Our preparations are also going smoothly. The army that I''ve gathered should be more than enough to tear down these worthless Sects." Hands answered in a hoarse voice.

    "Good job, Legs, and Hands. What about you two, Feet and Torso?" Head said with a cold smile on his face.

    "It won''t be long until our teleportation arrays are ready for use." Feet answered in a calm tone.

    "I''m almost done preparing a suit of armor for our Ancestor. By the time I''m finished, the whole continent will tremble in fear due to the immense pressure of the Ancestor!" Torso answered in a boisterous and loud voice.

    "Good Job, Brothers! The rise of the Soul Devouring Sect will once again cause the world to tremble in fear! Hahaha! Let''s start preparing for our uing conquest! Long Live the Soul Devouring Sect! Long Live the Ancestor!" Head yelled in a cold and domineering voice.

    "Long live the Soul Devouring Sect!"

    "Long live the Ancestor!"

    The 6 people in the room all shouted then left the room to continue on with their preparations.

    ***

    Back in Lunar Fox City, the Tournament was proceeding well. The first round was just about to end, but most of the Sects had sour expressions on their faces. This is because of how crazy the Battle Maiden Sect disciples are this year!

    They were currently the number one Sect right now in the tournament as they still had all of their disciples participating in this tournament. At first, the other Sects only thought that Alexa, Jade, and Cleo would be a problem, but it seems they were sorely mistaken. Alexa and Cleo were actually the only normal people from this damn Sect!

    The other disciples all fought with their full strength like their life was on the line. Also, the most terrifying person from this Sect was actually some girl named Mira. The Elves seemed to be terrified of her for some reason and her opponent didn''t evenst 10 seconds before he was knocked out cold.

    This made a lot of Sects start losing hope for getting first ce as the Battle Maiden Sect actually took up half of the slots in the duels. Out of the 32 participants left in the duels, the Battle Maiden Sect took up 15 of these slots. This was outrageous.

    What they didn''t know is that Mira had encouraged these disciples to do their best by offering them a week of personal martial arts training with her if they lost. As soon as the other disciples heard Mira''s ''offer'', their bodies trembled and their faces paled. Thest time they had this personal training with Mira, she forced them to spend their hard-earned Sect Points on healing pills and even then it still took them several weeks to fully recover. Participating in this torture is the same as throwing away your money and time, not to mention it hurts like hell.

    When Alexa and Cleo heard about this from the other disciples, they both shivered but still held some doubt. But whenever they recalled Mira''s cold and apathetic gaze, their minds were telling them that these words were true. They both didn''t know what Mira''s martial arts training was like, but they certainly didn''t want to experience it so they gave it their all to defeat their opponent.

    After the first round ended, Mira was satisfied with everyone''s performance. Although she doesn''t really care too much about this tournament, she can''t just turn a blind eye to the Secret Realm. Having more disciples from her Sect will be less troublesome than having more disciples from other Sects. She wants to make sure that she and Maria get a spot in the Secret Realm.

    "We will now begin the Second Round of Duels! Participants, get ready!" The City Lord''s voice resounded throughout the Arena.

 Chapter 136 Inter-Sect Tournament Part 4

    As soon as the City Lord''s resounded in everyone''s ears, the audience and disciples couldn''t stop their blood from boiling! The Battle Maiden Sect has be extremely domineering during this tournament and the other Sects can''t wait to knock them down a notch.

    With almost half of the contestantsing from the Battle Maiden Sect, almost every round will consist of one of their disciples. But as everyone took notice of the brackets, they couldn''t help shaking their heads.

    The Battle Maiden Sect was truly too lucky this time around. Not only did they not have to face off against each other in this round, but even the matchups are extremely favorable for them. At least half of them were probably going to pass this round, which would essentially guarantee first ce for them during the duels.

    <o>,m The first one up from the Battle Maiden Sect was Sia. She was up against the arrogant man from the Immortal Sword Sect. He was one of the ones that Mira guessed would make it rather far in thispetition. His cultivation is a lot higher than Sia''s and his aura was as sharp as a sword. Mira could tell that this man does nothing other than cultivating and swing his sword around.</o>

    Mira''s conjecture was right as the fight between the two of them barelysted 20 seconds. Sia kept up as long as she could, but he was just too strong for her.

    None of the girls felt bad about this and Sia didn''t feel bad either. This was within everyone''s expectations as only Mira, Alexa, and Cleo could possibly defeat him.

    Next up was Maria and Mira was rather looking forward to this fight. Maria was going up against an Elf whose cultivation was at the Low-Xiantian Stage, but Mira wasn''t the least bit worried. She''s been working Maria to the bone for many years now. Not only that, but Maria''s been receiving personal sword training from one of the Elders for about a year now.

    She''s notparable to the dumb little girl from when they first met. She now has the skill and experience of a battle-hardened veteran, though this isn''t what''s so terrifying about her.

    What''s extremely frightening about Maria is that one can''t help but underestimate her. She gives off the impression of a little girl and seems so pure and innocent. Her opponents are just children that can''t help but subconsciously lower their guard in her presence.

    As Maria and the Elf stood on the stage to face off against one another, the Elf did exactly what Mira predicted. His grip on his sword, his eyes, and shoulders all loosened. Elves seem to have a higher affinity with people''s nature and Maria''s nature isn''t much different than an 8-year-old''s.

    ''This shouldn''t be too hard. This girl may have decent cultivation, but I can''t feel any malicious intent from her. She gives off the feeling of a child who has yet to experience the world.'' The Elf thought to himself when he gazed towards Maria.

    "Battle!"

    The fight between the two started and Maria immediately charged towards her opponent.

    The Elf slightly squinted his eyes at this, but still felt that victory was assured. The two of them started shing towards each other.

    In terms of sword skill, Maria wasn''t any less than the Elf, but the difference in cultivation was a bit of a hindrance for Maria. Elves also have a rtively strong and flexible physique and even with Maria''s tempered body, it was still rather difficult for her to make up for this.

    Maria wasn''t the least bit worried though. She learned a few tricks while training with Elder Bridget and she was about to disy that trick.

    Maria''s next strike was a bit stronger than her previous strike and if one looked closely they would be able to see a mini star on her sword.

    Her next strike was even stronger and added another start to her sword.

    This went on for the next 7 strikes until there were 7 stars on her sword.

    Maria took a deep breath in and activating her light sword. Her sword was now like a mini star in her hand and also became longer.

    ''Seven Stars Strike!'' Maria screamed in her mind as sheunched her next strike. This strikebined with her Light Sword was incrediblypatible. The power behind this swing was many times more powerful than any normal strike. It was also more powerful than her Triple Draws Sword Art.<sub> </sub>

    The Elf was taken by surprise by the sudden burst of power and before he could even react, he felt something cold pressed up against his neck as blood trickled down.

    "Winner, Maria!" The judge called before the Elf could even process what just happened.

    Maria withdrew her sword and jumped with joy! She giggled while skipping over to Mira, leaving the stunned Elf in his ce. The Elf just subconsciously walked off the stage as his teammates started cursing at him for being so stupid.

    "Did you see that Mira!? Wasn''t that amazing?! That''s one of the things I''ve been learning from Elder Bridget! Maybe I''ll finally be able to beat you, who knows? Hehe." Maria giggled like a little kid showing off to her mother.

    Mira just nced at her and nodded indifferently. She was rather impressed that Maria was able to learn a move like that, but it still wouldn''t be enough to beat her. Her sword skills need to improve much more for that to happen.

    The tournament carried on smoothly and more Battle Maiden Sect Disciples were eliminated in this round.

    La, Sia, Hera, Anya, Anna, and Ellie were all eliminated this round. This means there are still 9 Battle Maiden Sect Disciples who are moving onto the next round. 9 out of the 16 disciples during the third round will consist of people from the Battle Maiden Sect. But this will have to wait for the next day as the sun was starting to set.

    As Mira made her way back to the inn with Dominique she felt a chill down her spine. She immediately looked around to see if anyone was directing any ill-will towards her but became extremely puzzled when she couldn''t find anything.

    This only caused goosebumps to crawl all over her skin and her awareness was raised to the peak. She took out her scythe and started emanating a bone-chilling cold around her. The other disciples around her looked at her and became vignt as well.

    "Mira, what''s wrong? Is someone going to attack you?" Maria asked cautiously as she knew that Mira was serious about something.

    Mira just ignored her as she was too busy trying to find what made her feel like that. She started to have a bad premonition. It was like death was looming right over her, but she couldn''t figure out why.

    Her silence only made the other disciples becme serious as they all know Mira''s temperament. If she''s this serious then there must be something happening.

    After a few minutes, Mira retracted her aura and stored her scythe, but her vignce was still at her peak. She looked around to see the other disciples looking at her curiously and seriously.

    Mira knew these girls were just children and there''s no way they could be so sensitive towards death as she was. She''s lived for almost a millennium, been through countless battles, killed millions of people, and even died 10 times. Her intuition was hardly ever wrong and she''s survived so long due to her ability to sense iing cmities. And right now she''s feeling like death ising for her.

    Since it isn''t something in her vicinity then there are only 2 options it could be. Either someone is scheming against her and they are nning on sending a Core Formation Expert to kill her or something huge ising for the city. The ded Wind Sect is the only thing she can think of who might send someone to kill her, but not only is it unlikely that someone in the Core Formation wille and kill her, but she also doesn''t have that kind of feeling.

    Usually, when someone is targeting her she can feel the killing intent that''s directed at her even if they aren''t near her. This is how she was able to know about the intruders earlier.

    But she didn''t feel any killing intent, only a faint premonition of death. If Mira was being honest, she''d rather fight against someone in the Core Formation Realm rather than some unknown cmity. At least this way she has a chance to live as she should be able tost long enough for an Elder from the Sect to notice.

    Mira calmed down a bit as she knew that there isn''t anything she can do right now. She took a deep breath and spoke to the other disciples that were waiting for her to speak.

    "It seems this city will soon face a cmity." Mira muttered in a low voice.

 Chapter 137 Siege

    Everyone was stunned when they heard that! What do you mean a cmity? Why don''t we sense anything?!

    "Ahaha. Mira, it''s not good to joke about things like that. What do you mean by there will be a cmity? Is this just your intuition or do you know something we don''t?" Maria asked with a strange expression on her face.

    Everyone else wanted to know this as well as they''ve never known Mira to be someone who jokes around.

    Mira narrowed her eyes when she looked at the girls around her. She was contemting whether or not she should exin things a bit more.

    "Intuition. Either believe me or don''t, but I''m getting a feeling of death lingering over us. Though I guess this isn''t something children like you would understand." Mira said indifferently.

    What child? You''re the child! The others wanted toin due to thatment, but that wasn''t the main point.

    The disciples around her didn''t know how to react to this. Everything was too vague and they didn''t feel anything, but they didn''t dare to call Mira a liar. There had to be a hint of truth to what she said, but so what? What can they do with a feeling?

    The only people who took this warning seriously were Maria and Dominique. Maria has personally experienced Mira''s intuition before and so far she''s never been wrong.

    Dominique has also personally experienced this and it was justst night! Her face went pale and she started trembling when she heard what Mira said. How was some weak little girl like her supposed to live through something like a cmity?! Even if she had Mira''s protection, there was no guarantee that she would live. The more she thought about this the more she trembled, but all of a sudden she felt a hand on top of her head.

    She stopped trembling and looked over to see Mira put her hand on her head. Mira started to walk away and she just subconsciously followed after her.

    Maria also left the group and went back to the inn to rest. She wanted to get as much sleep as possible.

    The others just stood there in a daze before going back to the inn as well.

    Once Mira and Dominique made it to their room, Dominique immediately burst into tears and embraced Mira.

    "I''m scared, Mira! Don''t scare me like that! I hope what you said isn''t true! I don''t want to part from you! I want to stay by your side, train with you, cultivate with you, go on adventures with you and so much more��" Dominique continued to cry her eyes out in Mira''s arms.

    Mira felt a bit touched by these words and a murderous glint shed through her eyes. She rubbed Dominique''s hair and let out a cold smile underneath her mask.

    Mira brought her to the bed and she decided against cultivating tonight. She figured it''d be better to get a decent night''s sleep. The two of them eventually fell asleep together.

    The next morning, Mira woke up with Dominique and went towards the arena with a solemn expression on her face.

    After she met up with the rest of the other disciples at the Arena, it didn''t take long for the City Lord to announce the beginning of the next round.

    "Wee back everyone to another spectacr day! Today should be thest day of the duels as ourst 16 contestants will face off against each other! These uing matches will surely be amazing as we''ll get to see the top disciples battle! Let''s begin!" The City Lord announced the beginning of the next round of duels.

    Alexa, from the Battle Maiden Sect, and the arrogant man from the Immortal Sword Sect, Jax, were the first to battle.

    Both of them had solemn expressions on their faces as neither one of them could afford to underestimate the other. They both had the same cultivation, they both used the sword, and they were both the top in their respective sects. They are both extremely skilled and talented as well.

    "Begin!" The judge announced.

    The two of them immediately dashed towards each other and started their onught from the very beginning.

    The look of surprise shed through Jax''s eyes, but it soon turned into excitement! It''s been a while since someone was able to keep up with him! He was also stronger than some of the Elders in his Sect so this was a pleasant surprise.

    Alexa felt the same way except she wasn''t surprised. This was within her expectations for Jax to be this strong, but she still felt some excitement from fighting against a worthy opponent.

    Jax''s shes were fierce and brutal while Alexa''s strikes were swift and precise. Their strikes caused mini shockwaves to spread out and the audience could feel their hair and clothes wave in the wind.

    ***

    While the battle was raging on between the top disciples in the Inter-Sect Tournament, in a hidden location hundreds of kilometers away there was an army of beasts and man alike seemingly waiting for something.

    The men all had bloodshot eyes and blood was actually dripping from them as well. They almost looked like some kind of undead, but they were still alive. They were just unable to control their bodies.<sub> </sub>

    The beasts were also getting impatient and are making a ruckus.

    Suddenly 6 cloaked people appeared in front of them and the pressure they exerted was enough for everyone to shut up.

    "Wee brothers and sisters for this is a day of glory! We''ve gathered you all here today for one simple purpose! To kill! We must kill those savages in those Sects so that we can revive our Ancestor, our God! This is the highest honor and you should take pride in being able to take part in something so magnificent!"

    "Our goal is the destruction of Lunar Fox City! Those ignorant fools are currently having a little tournament there and all of their strongest Elders and disciples will be there! It will be their honor to be ughtered by us to aid in the resurrection of the Ancestor!"

    "Our teleportation arrays have beenpleted and soon we will siege the city! Haha! des,e here!"

    20 people then shot out from the army and kneeled in front of the 6 men.

    "Lords, we are here!" They shouted.

    "Good, good! Haha! This will be a tough battle and they will surely have many Core Formation Realm Experts, but we''ll be leaving those flies up to you. We will handle the City Lord and the various other strong Core Formation Realm experts. Our army will then storm the city and ughter whoever theye across!" One of the 6 cloaked men instructed.

    "ording to your will, Lords!" The men named des said with reverence.

    "Very well! Let''s get this started!"

    The million-strong army of man and beast soon had glowing lights surrounding them as the space around them started to light up.

    It didn''t take long for everyone to vanish from their spot!

    ***

    The fight between Alexa and Jax was still raging on as neither one of them wanted to back down. It seemed that they had just reached the climax of the fight as they both started using their elemental affinities and Sword Arts.

    Alexa was actually starting to take the lead and the audience felt like she was about to win before they all felt an earthquake!

    "Look up there! What''s that? It looks like a man?"

    "When did someone appear above the city?"

    "What''s up with that earthquake? Was that caused by the fight?"

    The audience was confused, but they soon heard a hoarse voice filled with killing intent from the man in the sky.

    "Haha! Filthy mortals! We''vee to set you from your miserable lives for the sake of our Ancestor! But fret not for it is your glory to be a part of the process of reviving our Lord! Rejoice as you be the nourishment of our God! Hahaha!" The man in the skyughed as they soon found more and more figures flying up into the sky.

    The earthquake continued, but the citizens soon realized that this was no earthquake! It was the sound of Magical Beasts rushing towards their city!

    "What the hell is happening?! Who''s that maniac in the sky?!"

    "Run! Run! The city is under attack!"

    "Mommy save me!"

    The weaker people in the audience started to run away as the stronger ones were deciding on what they should do. Do they stay and fight or run away with the crowd? Can they even run away?

    Mira was also thinking this as well. She held no attachment to this city and if she''s being honest doesn''t care if it''s destroyed. What does that have to do with her? But she soon started to frown. She felt like things might not be as simple as they seem. This might also be a good opportunity for Maria and Dominique to experience war.

    While everyone was contemting what they should do, they all heard the booming voice from the City Lord!

 Chapter 138 Soul Devouring Sect

    "Wretched creatures! You dare attack my city?! Do you think of me as just air?!" The City Lord''s booming voice resounded in everyone''s ears.

    "Citizens and Guests of Lunar Fox City! These petty thieves wish to destroy our homes, our livelihoods! Are you just going to run away in the face of a bit of danger?! How can you face your family with such a pathetic outlook?! Our Lunar Fox City isn''t so easy to bully! Stand and fight these assholes who wish to take what''s yours!" The City Lord gave a short speech before turning to the cloaked men that showed up in front of him.

    OOOOHHHHH!

    The people of Lunar Fox City heard the City Lord''s speech and started to feel their blood pumping.

    "He''s right! This is our home! It''s just a few beasts! What can they do?"

    "Fuck''em up, City Lord! We''ll deal with these insects down here! Haha!"

    "This is where my home and family are! I refuse to give it up so easily!"

    The people started cheering and yelling, raising their morale.

    The cloaked figures just smirked when they saw this. They just decided to let them be for now as it''ll be more fun to see them fall into despair. An army of around a million isn''t just for show!

    "Kekeke. So you''re the City Lord? Nice to meet you! My name is Head from the Soul Devouring Sect. Please don''t mind us, we''re just strolling through this little city for an afternoon snack. Kekeke." The cloaked figure named headughed in a hoarse voice.

    When the City Lord and the Elders heard ''Soul Devouring Sect'' they all squinted their eyes. Not all of them knew what that Sect was, but the few that did all had bad impressions of them.

    They were a nasty Sect that caused the downfall of countless cities and millions of people a few hundred years ago. They were a veryrge and domineering Sect during its prime, but their cultivation methods were truly perverse.

    The way they grew stronger was through killing, so they treated viges like farm animals that would be ughtered every few dozen years. This may not sound very effective, but when thousands of viges are treated this way, it is sufficient.

    Just like their name implies, they enjoy devouring people''s souls which in turn helps them get stronger. Not many actually knew how they did it as disciples of this Sect never had a cultivation manual on them. From some investigations, they found out that disciples from the Soul Devouring Sect were not allowed to keep a cultivation manual on them as they didn''t want that information leaking out to the public.

    This Sect has always been somewhat clouded in mystery as not many people knew anything about their leader or if they even had one. It was also almost impossible to interrogate the disciples from this Sect because as soon as they did the disciples would eithermit suicide or they''d die before they could get any answers out of them.

    Not only that, but they''d also start wars, assassinate people, and were the main causes of murder and banditry during that era.

    They were extremely hard to deal with because they''d use all sorts of despicable means to kill. Not to mention they didn''t have something like a main base or something simr to attack. Their members were all scattered and would often go into hiding for long periods of time.

    The cities and Sects of that era often sent people out to kill their members, but not only was it a very dangerous job but it often yielded no results. It was a waste of resources and time to hunt down these criminals.

    But this all changed when the Sect''s main branches got sick of their appearance. They sent their disciples over as something of a training exercise with the goal being the extinction of this nasty Sect.

    Doing this also stabilized their Sects in this region of the Continent.

    Some of the Elders here were even a part of the massacre of the Soul Devouring Sect and they knew just how despicable these people were.<sub> </sub>

    The ones that have experienced these people were all cursing under their breaths at their bad luck. These people were truly a troublesome bunch that should''ve stayed dead and washed away through the sands of time.

    Naturally, Mira knew none of this. All she knew is that some asshole wanted to kill them. Nothing else really matters to her. Though it seems that they''ve truly wanted to stir the pot this time with the army they''ve brought with them.

    "Tsk. I knew I should''ve left this city yesterday." Mira muttered under her breath, but nobody was paying attention to her.

    ? All of a sudden, the auras of the City Lord, Sect Elders, and the cloaked men all erupted throughout the city causing many people to go pale and start shivering.

    Most people have never seen or experienced a battle of this caliber and from just the auras alone they knew that they might as well just try and fight off these low-level grunts on the ground.

    Dominique was shaking in fear as she held onto Mira tightly and even the disciples around her were all trembling. They could all feel the earth-shaking as the army that these cloaked men brought advanced towards them.

    Mira just sighed and lightly shook her head. These people are too young and green for something as brutal as war. No matter what world you''re in, war is never a pleasant thing, but it''s always inevitable.

    Mira pped Maria and put her hand on top of Dominique''s head then started speaking to the disciples around the arena.

    "It seems you children are about to experience the brutality of war. It also seems like you don''t really have a choice in the matter. From the sound of it, we are currently being surrounded by quite a few people. Since I''m sure you lot don''t want to die then you need to get your shit together." Mira spoke in a low, but loud voice to hopefully awaken the frightened disciples from their stupor.

    She then turned to Dominique.

    "Get on my back and take out the sword I gave you. This is a good opportunity for you to experience, but you''re too young and weak to participate in something like this. All you have to do is defend and watch my back." Mira said slowly.

    Dominique was knocked out of her fright when she heard Mira talking to her, but she involuntarily shivered when she heard her. Right now she felt like Mira was more of a demon than cloaked people in the sky. But Dominique still nodded and crawled onto Mira''s back.

    The others around shivered as well. For some reason, they felt like Mira was excited.

    Mira took out her scythe and narrowed her eyes. She started releasing a solemn and stifling aura that gave off the feeling of a battle-hardened warrior who''s been through countless battles.

    Mira stepped out in front of everyone with her scythe in hand and people couldn''t help but take notice of her. The Sect Elders didn''t have the time to spare her any thought, but the disciples and residents of the city standing not far from her.

    "I don''t have any intention of sitting here like a pig for the ughter. Hehe. It''s been a while since I''ve been in a war. I wonder if this is that assholes doing. Not like it matters." Mira muttered to herself as she started walking towards where all the rumbling was.

    The first people to wake up were the Battle Maiden disciples and they all looked at Mira like they were looking at a maniac. Was she just going to charge straight in and hope for the best?! What kind of dog shit strategy was that?!

    But what they didn''t know is that Mira''s been through these types of things several times before. She''s never been one to wait for death and if she is to do then she''ll be the one to choose how. If things get out of hand, she''ll just run away.

    All of a sudden Mira saw hundreds of people start making her way towards her position and she couldn''t help but narrow her eyes. It seems the enemy has already started to make its way towards her.

 Chapter 139 The Solitary Devil Empress

    As Mira watched people run in her direction, she immediately readied her scythe for battle. She wasn''t sure how these people got into the arena so fast, but that didn''t matter.

    It wasn''t until they got a little closer, that Mira actually recognized the people running towards her. They were the women that she saved at the bandit camp a few years ago. This gave Mira a slight shock as she didn''t expect to see them here.

    As soon as all of them women, all 500 of them, appeared in front of Mira they all kneeled. This made for a very interesting sight as most people had no idea what was going on and watched this scene with interest.

    "We are here to fight with you, Miss Mira! Pleasemand us!" Alicia, the leader of the group said.

    Now everyone was utterly shocked by this. Was Mira some sort of Royalty? Why have they never heard of her before? Where did these people evene from? Also, aren''t they a little too weak?

    After the initial shock, Mira came back to her senses instantly and observed the group of people in front of her.

    They now gave off a somewhat dangerous aura, like they''ve been a part of many battles. Mira checked to see if anyone has died, but to her surprise none of them have. This greatly pleased Mira as she could tell that their teamwork must be at an unprecedented level by now.

    Most of these women were around the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm and some of them have even broken through to the Foundation Realm. Their bodies were also tempered by the Trial, so even if they are only at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm or Low-Houtian Stage Foundation Realm, there shouldn''t be any problems with them fighting those above their cultivation.

    Mira let out a faint smile underneath her mask that sent chills down their spines. None of them dared look up at her.

    "Hmm�� This will be a good opportunity for you to experience war. War isn''t like those pathetic battles that you''ve been a part of prior. It also isn''t anything like what you went through in the Trial. War is a fucking mess. There is no right or wrong when ites to war and those that take part in it are seen as nothing more than insects. Adjust your state of mind and only deal killing blows."

    "Form groups of 3 then form a ''V'' shape behind me. All you have to do is kill and make sure you don''t get surrounded." Mira finished talking to them and soon thought of something else that would be very beneficial to this war. She then turned to the rest of the people in the arena and spoke in a loud voice filled with killing intent.

    "As for the rest of you swine, choose whether or not you will fight. If you will, then join the group. Strong on the outside and weak in the back. If you won''t fight, then make sure you get the hell out of my way before I turn you into mincemeat!" Miramanded which sobered up everyone real quick. In fact, a lot of people almost shit their pants when they heard Mira.

    Dominique just watched all of this unfold while holding onto Mira''s back with interest and confusion. She was wondering where these women came from and how Mira became so domineering. If she were to call Mira anything right now, she''d definitely call her handsome. Yes�� Handsome. But she knew to shut her mouth, lest Mira tosses her out into the middle of the pack.

    "Understood!" The women kneeling saluted and quickly moved into groups of three and formed a ''V''. Now it was time for everyone to be utterly dumbfounded by this. The speed and efficiency that they demonstrated were insane. It barely took them 10 seconds for them to do all of this, almost like they were prepared for such a thing.

    Mira said nothing else and started walking in the direction of the enemy. Maria quickly caught up to her and had nervous look on her face. This will be her first major battle and she was trying to calm her heart down right now.

    She was wondering if her parents would be alright and if they were going to take part in this fight.

    As Mira walked, more and more people decided to join the group or form smaller groups around hers. They either listened to what Mira said or did something simr.

    They soon made it to the edge of the city and saw a sea of beasts and people outside of the city.

    Everyone gasped and paled at this sight. They didn''t know exactly how many things they were facing, but it had to at least be in the hundreds of thousands.

    Mira was also a bit surprised but started to let out a coldugh. Her body was also emitting a red mist as her whole body was leaking killing intent. Although there wasn''t much pressure, the killing intent leaking from her was much more suffocating than an army of a few hundred thousand people.

    "Hehe, you lot should be more terrified of me than this pathetic army. I''ve brought worlds to extinction and these little shits think just trample over me with so few people?" Mira let out a terrifying chuckle as she slowly walked to the front of the army.<sub> </sub>

    The people that looked almost like zombies and even the magical beasts soon caught sight of Mira and felt all of their hairs stand on end.

    What the fuck kind of creature is this?! Is what was going through their minds as even the zombified people looked at her in fright.

    They all watched on in horror as Mira walked towards their army. The battlefield right now was strangely quiet, so quiet that it brought chills to those who were watching. This scene would be forever etched into the minds of many and would be passed down for generations. They wouldbel it as ''The Solitary Devil Empress''.

    The next thing they saw was Mira disappearing and reappearing in front of the army. Then began the ughter.

    Mira decided to save her Ice for now as she would use that when she''s through with this cannon fodder.

    Blood soon dyed the ground as Mira hacked her way through the army. One sh brought with it a force capaple of killing tens of creatures at the same time. Mira is only using her brute strength and weight of the scythe right now to ughter these ants. Using any Qi during this stage of the fight would be overkill. Not only that, but with Mira''s physical body she can fight like this for days without using any Qi, andbined with her mentality she is utterly terrifying on the battlefield.

    Heads flew, bodies dropped, and blood spewed wherever she went. Her scythe was twirling so fast that one could barely see it with the naked eye.

    Mira was soon soaked in blood and the only thing these lowly beings saw is a red blur before their heads flew.

    A river of blood slowly formed as the men and beasts started to panic. Their instincts were telling them to get as far away from this demon as possible! But there was no escape! They were trapped with this crazy bitch! Their only choice was to crazily run forward and try to surround her. But as they were focused on the bastard devil known as Mira, they forgot to take notice of the small army that Mira had following behind her.

    When Maria, Alicia, and the rest saw Mira run into battle alone they knew she was crazy. But they were also scared shitless by her. She was right, they should be much more terrified of her than this shitty army!

    "Charge!" Alicia shouted which woke everyone up as they just subconsciously followed the Devil Empress Army!

    The small army soon reached the enemy and they soon began their ughter. Some were a bit more disorganized than others as this was their first war, but the ''V'' shape helped alleviate some of that.

    The people weren''t as ruthless as Mira. They were a bit more righteous in their attacks as they didn''t just chop them up into pieces then leave them to scream in pain on the ground only to wait for death.

    They at least tried to show a bit of mercy by making sure to finish them off, but this thought soon left their minds when the first among them got stabbed to death.

    Losing one''s friend in war often makes people crazy and when people turn crazy they do idiotic things.

    Thepanions of the man that died all recklessly charged out of the group and began trying to ughter and vent out their anger and grief.

    The others watched on in pity but soon realized that the group of women, otherwise known as the Devil Empress Army, were doing something simr to Mira.

    They ruthlessly charged in and their groups of three all fought in perfect sync. It would be a beautiful sight if not for all of the blood and limbs falling all over the ce, but this only made for a somewhat mncholic and serene scene as well.

    These women showed no emotion as they walked further down the path of ughter behind Mira.

    But things soon changed when the enemy noticed how their army was starting to lose many of their people.

 Chapter 140 Rhydian Joins The Fray

    While Mira was busy with her ughter, back in a certain inn that the Battle Maiden Sect stayed at a certain little Winged Wolf was walking around in circles seemingly extremely bored.

    This little wolf is Rhydian and right now she is currently internally cursing Mira. Mira always leaves it behind afraid that she''ll cause trouble.

    Hmph! How can I, the majestic and beautiful Rhydian ever cause trouble?! Those people are just too weak to y with me! This is what Rhydian wanted to say, but unfortunately, she doesn''t know how to speak.

    Even right now, her master is out there in a tournament fighting against people while she''s stuck in this lousy inn, forced to walk around in circles. Vulcan isn''t even here for her to bull�� y with.

    After a few hours of being lonely and bored, Rhydian decided to be a little rebellious and break out of this stupid inn! Even though Mira is a nasty and stinky owner who only knows how to bully her, what is there to be afraid of?! She''s the majestic and beautiful, Rhydian! With her unlimited charm and power, even Mira will have no choice but to forgive her! Ho Ho Ho!

    With this in mind, Rhydian made up her mind and charged at the door with resolve! As soon as Rhydian hit the door it shattered into a bunch of tiny pieces.

    She looked back at the door that she just smashed into a million pieces, stuck out her chest proudly, and snickered in her mind.

    Rhydian then made a mad dash out of the inn only to see a bunch of people ying! People were ying in the sky, they were ying on the ground, and not only that there were so many toys!!

    Holy shit! Paradise!

    Now Rhydian was actually a little pissed that Mira didn''t bring her out to join in on the fun! Stupid Master! You always leave me behind! But not this time! Hmph! I''ll be ying with these people whether Mira likes it or not!

    With that in mind, she streaked across the sky to watch the people ying in the sky for a bit. She didn''t know why, but she found the people in ck to be incredibly smelly and immediately had a bad impression of them. If she were to y with anyone then she''d y with those smelly people first!

    The smelly people and the old people have been fighting for a while and have exchanged hundreds if not thousands of moves.

    Neither side had an advantage over the other side and they could only wait for one side to make a mistake first. But these are people who have lived for hundreds of years, honing their skills, how could they make mistakes so easily?

    The City Lord was currently having the hardest time as he was actually up against several Core Formation Realm Experts. He only had his higher cultivation to thank for him being able to fend off these people or else he''d be in serious trouble.

    But luckily, he was able to hold on by pushing his brain to the max. He was constantly needing to predict their movements and act within a split second. One mistake could cost him his life or at the very least seriously injure him.

    The cloaked men fighting him didn''t think much of this though. What they were mainly doing is trying to stall for time to resurrect their Ancestor. If they could revive him, then all of these people would be crushed with just a wave of the hand!

    Unfortunately for them, things weren''t going exactly as nned. The army that was supposed to be ripping apart the city and massacring the residents was currently being run down by some crazy bitch that ughtered them like chickens! Even the stronger ones in the army were nothing but fodder in her eyes!

    A lot of this had to do with the momentum Mira currently had while swinging her scythe. She even had a bit of inspiration for a new Scythe Art that would be extremely beneficial inrge-scale fights like this.

    The Scythe Art was something akin to abo attack where each time she struck something her next strike would carry more power behind it. She was still working out the kinks with the Scythe Art, but with every strike, she would improve it bit by bit.

    The longer she swung her scythe, the more fearsome she was in battle. Thisbined with any ice attacks and her Ice Domain made her look like some kind of Devil Ice Goddess.

    As Mira''s Ice Domain raged and more people died in it, the color soon changed from an icy blue to a shiny blood red color.

    Rhydian, who was currently streaking around the people fighting in the sky soon noticed Mira''s aura. She looked over to see what looked like a blood blizzard swirl around her with streaks of lighting bouncing everywhere.

    She licked her lips and made a mad dash towards Mira.

    In an instant, she made it at Mira''s side. Mira knew that this little wolf showed up next to her, but could barely spare a thought for her.<sub> </sub>

    "Go crazy." Mira only said this and continued with her ughter.

    *AWOOOO*

    Rhydian howled as thunder and lightning streaked across the sky, almost like she was calling for the heavens!

    Everyone on the battlefield heard this howl and couldn''t help but to stop and lookup. Golden lighting started streaking across the sky and everyone started to have a bad feeling in their hearts.

    This type of lighting was especially terrifying and caused fear in the hearts of many.

    "Heh." Mira let out a sneer that was neither loud nor soft but could still be heard by everyone.

    Rhydian wiggled her little but, unfurled her wings, and shot from her spot like a bullet.

    *BOOM*

    Rhydian broke the sound barrier as she took off and the only thing people could see is golden slighting streaking through the army! Wherever this golden lighting went, bodies exploded into a bloody mess.

    Rhydian killed so fast that these men and beasts were still conscious even after they died. It barely took a fraction of a second for hundreds to die.

    While Rhydian was busy blowing people up with her physical body, she was also raining down golden lighting from the heavens, decimating hundreds if not thousands of people with every strike.

    Everyone was utterly dumbfounded! The Sects and City Lord watched this scene, feeling a bitplicated in their hearts. Nheless, this raised their morale and made them want to work harder.

    <o>,m The cloaked watched this scene and anger soon burst forth! Unimaginable anger! All they saw was a blood blizzard and a golden streak running rampant through their army as the rest of them just watched this scene in horror. They were also feeling a bit depressed inside as they got all hyped up for nothing.</o>

    Even the Devil Empress Army girls could only smile bitterly at this scene. They were just d that they were able to kill tens of thousands of people in this war. If they joined a battle of this caliber there''s a higher chance of Rhydian killing them by ident than them dying from the enemy.

    Maria also watched this but was secretly feeling d. She had killed a few thousand people by herself in this war but she was questioning whether it was okay for her to cut these people down like chickens. They were too weak! She didn''t even have to put in any effort to kill them! It just doesn''t feel right for her to cut people down like this. Even Dominique would put up a better fight than these guys and she''s just a small child who hasn''t even reached the Qi Condensation Realm! Thinking about killing people weaker than Dominique really puts a bitter taste in her mouth.

    Meanwhile, the one in question was currently doing her best just to stay conscious! Mira is letting out so much bloodlust and with her surrounded by nothing but blood and death is really hard on her little mind.

    She''s managed to kill a few things that tried to ambush Mira, but this was after they were already on death''s door due to Mira''s interference.

    The cloaked men in the sky watched this scene and screamed out in rage!

    "You fucking bitches! How dare you massacre this Great One''s army! I will skin you alive and torture you until you beg for death! I''ll make you wish you''ve never been born you cur!!" One of them yelled in rage and tried to rush towards her only to be blocked by the Sect Elders.

    "Step in line, asshole." Is the only thing the man heard in response to his threats.

    This only angered him further as he started tosh out at these fucking Elders!

    "AAAHH!! Damn you! If I don''t rip you apart then may the heavens strike me down!" The cloaked man made an oath to the heavens in his wrath, but unfortunately for him, the heavens recognized this oath and if he was truly unable to rip her apart then he''ll be smitten by the heavens.

    Whether he will be smitten by the heavens or by Rhydian remains to be seen though.

 Chapter 141 May The Heavens Rain Lightning Upon The Wicked!

    While Mira and Rhydian were running wild in the middle of an army, the battle between the Sect Elders and the Cloaked Men was starting to heat up.

    The people from the Soul Devouring Sect were so enraged that they could barely contain themselves and right now all they wanted to do is rip Mira and Rhydian apart.

    All of their ns, years upon years worth hiding in the shadows, slowly building an army just for this day, were all crumbling due to a single person. The more they thought about this, the more aggravated they got!

    Maria and the Devil Empress Army couldn''t help but somewhat pity these people a bit. Sure, they wanted to massacre the city for some reason, but they never would''ve expected to meet someone like Mira, a demon among demons, in somece like this.

    There''s almost no way that these people are as bad as Mira. The only thing that''s on Mira''s mind is killing or training. Even if her parents died in front of her, her heart wouldn''t skip a beat much less these random people that she doesn''t know.

    "Does anyone know that person down there? I can feel a terrifying amount of bloodlust leaking out of them. Just looking at her makes my skin crawl! Even these idiots don''t make me feel this way! Why does that person down there seem eviler than these people?" One of the Sect Elders decided to speak up while fighting one of the members from the Soul Devouring Sect.

    "Sigh�� Her name is Mira. She''s a disciple from my Battle Maiden Sect. And I wouldn''t mess with her if I were you. She hasn''t even gotten serious yet or else none of us would be able to move. So please, don''t anger her. Especially you men, she really hates men." Sect Master Jane, the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect spoke up.

    This shocked everyone there, even the people from the Soul Devouring Sect couldn''t help but gulp. They could feel the subtle fear in Sect Master Jane''s eyes when she spoke about Mira. They didn''t know exactly what she meant by no one would be able to move, but they sure as hell didn''t want to figure it out.

    Just the ''little'' amount of bloodlust that Mira was leaking right now was enough for them to shiver and if she hasn''t even gotten serious, what would serious look like?

    What a terrifying little girl!! Where did such a demon evene out from?! Is it really okay for them to leave her be?!

    While the others thought this, one of the weaker Core Formation Experts from the Soul Devouring Sect escaped from the fight between them and made his way down towards where Mira was fighting.

    *BOOM*

    The mannded right in front of Mira and the pressure from that st caused Mira''s mask to split and fall off her face. Though it was already partly broken from all of the fighting prior.

    The man got a good look at Mira and was stunned by her beauty. He couldn''t help but subconsciously lick his lips at such a top-ss beauty.

    Even though she looks a little young and is t as an ironing board, she''s still a God-like beauty.

    Mira''s frown instantly deepened as this man looked at her with a lustful gaze. She started to wonder where this moron came from. They are currently fighting a war and this man can''t control his dick? Is he actually retarded?

    "Hehehe. Hello, little beauty. It seems you''ve been causing trouble in our army. I''vee down to put a stop to your little shenanigans, but I can forgive you this one time if you decide toe with me. How can I let such a beauty dirty her hands in such a war? Hehe." The man said as his eyes scanned Mira''s body.

    While Mira herself just went back to killing so herbo move doesn''t end.

    The man was stunned by this action and went furious!

    "You little bitch! I tried to give you a way to repent for your sins, but it seems I''ll have to force you to submit! Don''t worry, as I''ll be sure to leave you alive you little slut!" The man roared as he chased after her.

    The Elder who was fighting that man saw this scene and wanted to go and help, but was stopped.

    "Don''t! Come over here and help me fight this bastard! But I''ll give you a warning, prepare for one of the most terrifying pressures you''ve ever felt. It seems this war might being to an end soon. Everyone, prepare!!" Sect Master Jane spoke quickly and tried to quickly warn everyone of what''s toe, but she had to get back to her fight.

    The man stood there in a daze as he never expected the Sect Master to warn him. The other Sect Elders were also stunned and tried to mentally prepare for whatever Jane was warning them of.

    On the ground, Maria and the others went back to fighting in a location farther away from Mira and Rhydian, but once they heard what the man said to Mira, Maria instantly paled.

    She turned to everyone in fright before running in the opposite direction.

    "RUUNNN!! Mira''s going to get angry!" Maria said as she ran. The Devil Empress Army also paled in fright and started running away. They''ve never experienced Mira when she''s angry and they sure as hell didn''t want to start right now.

    The others were questioning them as they thought they were cowards for running away from the battle, but this all changed when the battlefield suddenly stopped. Even the battles going on in the air stopped and they all stared at a certain point in the army. Bloodlust of unfathomable proportions wasing out in waves from the little girl on the battlefield.

    *OOOMMM*

    Suddenly a pressure came crashing down on every living being in the surrounding area. The people in the sky couldn''t help bute crashing down as they were forced to kneel, the people on the ground were much weaker and fell to their knees as they started choking. The Devil Empress Army didn''t make it out in time and they paled in fright. So this is what Mira''s like when she''s angry�� Fuck.

    "Rhydian. It seems our visitors covet your master''s body. In all my years, countless people have had the same thoughts as these guests of ours. But the only thing that awaited them was�� Death!" A voice came out of the killing intent that sounded like it came from the depths of hell.<sub> </sub>

    Mira walked over to the person who said these things to her while keeping the momentum from her scythe.

    All of the blood in the man''s face instantly left and he even started to piss himself.

    "Wai�� Wait�� Wait! We can talk this out! I''m sorry! I didn''t mean to say those things to you! AHHH! You fucking demon!" Mira ignored his words and immediately crushed his genitals into meat paste. The man roared in man as tears ran down his face.

    Mira''s scythe right now carried the weight of a mountain so even if this man was a Core Formation Realm expert, after killing tens of thousands if not a few hundred thousand people, killing this man is as simple as swinging her scythe. But she wanted him to suffer a bit before he died.

    The others heard his guttural scream and started trembling.

    *SPLAT*

    The man''s head blew up and the whole battlefield went silent. They all knew that the man died a horrible death.

    "Well then. I suppose this might be a good opportunity for Rhydian to get stronger. Rhydian! Come here! This man kindly offered himself up to be your food!" Mira said as the rest of the people were now covered in cold sweat. Wasn''t this woman too ruthless!? Is she even human?!

    Rhydian looked at the man''s corpse with glittering eyes! She knew that eating this man would bring her strength to a new level!

    "Now then, I guess I could collect a few more corpses for you and Vulcan to munch on. Seeing how these people can''t keep their dicks in their pants. I''m sure part of this was set up by that shithead watching over me." Mira mumbled to herself.

    Up in the cosmos above Mira, the man watching couldn''t help but burst outughing.

    "Haha! Sorry to say that I had nothing to do with these morons! Hahaha!"

    Back on the ground, Mira walked her way over to the other Soul Devouring Sect members while killing everything in her path. It didn''t take her long to reach the first person, who was about the same strength as the man she just killed.

    "You bitch! I''ll kill yo- SPLAT!" The man''s head burst like a balloon and Mira just stored his corpse in her space ring.

    The only thing the people heard after that is Mira''s footsteps. Most of the people here still haven''t gotten used to the pressure caused by this killing intent and the ones that could withstand it were being blocked by the Elders that could also withstand it.

    "Demo-SPLAT!"

    "Bastard! Di-SPLAT!"

    AHHH-SPLAT!"

    Mira walked around and killed 7 of the weaker Core Formation Realm experts before strong their corpses and turning around back to the army. She wanted to kill more of the army and she also felt massive Qi fluctuations and lightning from where Rhydian was. Rhydian was currently getting stronger and bigger after eating the corpse. She was now a meter long with a wingspan of around 1.5 meters. But the funny thing was she still looked like a baby even though she grew so much.

    After Rhydian shot up to Mid-Stage Rank 5, or Mid-Xiantian Stage, the Qi fluctuations ended and the lighting retracted. But Rhydian wasn''t some simple Rank 5 beast, no, she is a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf! A beast that stood at the pinnacle even among all of the ancient beasts!

    Rhydian was extremely tired after breaking through several realms at a time and would need to rest for some time after this and probably wouldn''t be able to break through for a while either as her body has yet to adjust to its newfound power, but right now she finally found people to y with so how could she possibly fall asleep right now?!

    "Rhydian, you see those fools in ck cloaks. They''ve been having wicked thoughts about your master''s body. I also overheard that they enjoy ying with lighting. Why don''t you let loose a bit and show them what true lighting looks like?" Mira said with an evil grin on her bloody face.

    The others were a bit confused by this as not even Mira knew how strong Rhydian might be after breaking through to a Rank 5 beast.

    Rhydian nodded her cute head that''s a bit bigger now and unfurled her wings.

    *AWOOO**RUMBLE*

    Golden lightning covered the area as Rhydian shot out towards where the cloaked figures were. What happened after could only be described as apocalyptic as Rhydian rained down lightning onto these people.

    The man that cursed Mira before, making an oath to the heavens, also paled in fright. His will to fight started to dim out, but as it did the heavens seemed to get angry as dark clouds congregated above his head and started rumbling. Lightning then shot down repeatedly onto his body before he was nothing but a charred husk.

    This was truly an unforgettable sight.

 Chapter 142 End Of The Soul Devouring Sect

    As Rhydian was striking people down with her lighting, Mira was running rampant amongst the army. Right now they were basically chickens waiting to be ughtered as even moving was hard enough much less fighting.

    Mira''s mind was also starting to be consumed by her bloodlust as the more she killed the stronger it became. The only thing on her mind right now was to kill. Luckily her mental fortitude is incredibly high or else she might really be consumed by it and turn into a blood-crazed demon.

    The others weren''t able to take part in this war due to the pressure that Mira was exerting and they could only sit and watch.

    "Umm�� Is this really okay? I mean, I know that they came here with an army to raze the city to the ground and start a massacre, but isn''t this just too sad? I''m starting to feel bad for those cloaked men." One of the disciples watching Mira''s rampage asked.

    "I know how you feel, bro! Even though those people from the Soul Devouring Sect came here with ill intentions who would''ve expected someone like that crazy devil and her even more absurd pet?"

    "Right?! If I would''ve known there was some demon like her staying here I would''ve just stayed home and continue cultivating! Screw the Secret Realm!"

    "Now that you mention it�� Won''t she possibly be entering the Secret Realm?"

    ��

    Everyone went silent when they heard this. None of them here were in the Core Formation Realm, but that demon was able to one-shot those Core Formation experts from the Soul Devouring Sect. How the hell were they supposed to fight against someone like that?! Would there even be a point to them entering the Secret Realm?!

    As the army started to shrink, Mira began to retract her bloodlust. Her mental state was being affected by it, taking a bit of a toll on her mind.

    The pressure that held everyone down began to lift off of them and the battlefield went back to normal.

    The Sect Elders and the stronger members of the Soul Devouring Sect felt a bit awkward now. They weren''t sure if they should resume fighting or y that little demon who ruined all of their ns.

    Not to mention that damn wolf was reducing their members into ashes one by one. One might even say that these people died in the worst possible ways as they didn''t die from just a single lightning strike or a single hit from Rhydian. No, it took numerous lighting strikes and body ms to blow them up into a bloody mist.

    The area around Rhydian was filled with screams of pain and torture as they were forced to endure strike after strike until their bodies couldn''t take it anymore.

    Right now there were only a few members of the Soul Devouring Sect left that were in the Core Formation Realm and as soon as the pressure lifted they went mad and started charging at Rhydian like a bunch of crazy people.

    But this only made Rhydian more excited as her toys decided to finally y with her! Rhydian went ahead and shot a lightning bolt towards the closest man''s eye, which blinded him in that eye, then ran off hoping they would give chase.

    "You damn wolf! I''ll fucking kill you!" The man screamed as blood dripped out of one of his eye sockets.

    The Sect Elders just stood there for a second, watching everything unfold, as they found this scene very hard to digest.

    But their expressions paled when they felt an insane amount of blood start gathering around one of the Soul Devouring Sect members.

    This was the man named Head and he was holding out an orb that seemed to be halfway filled up with blood.

    "That stupid bitch ruined my ns! I didn''t want to use the blood of this army since it''s all tainted, but she''s forced my hand. I apologize, ancestor, it seems that I won''t be able to give you a pure body, but you can take out your rage on that little bitch once you revive." Head muttered to himself as more blood started to congregate around himself and get absorbed into the orb.

    Mira, who was still fighting on the battlefield sensed this change along with the other Sect Elders. She frowned and started to formte a n of attack as she didn''t want to leave her fate in the hands of those useless old people.

    She was a bit too far away to just charge in there recklessly, but then she had an epiphany. The end of her scythe, opposite of the de end, has a spear-like point on it that isn''t any less sharp than an actual spear.

    Numerous problems arise if she wants to use her scythe like a throwing spear, so she started formting a n.

    <o>,m Not long after she came up with a feasible n of attack.<sub> </sub></o>

    Right now, her scythe is containing a mountain-like momentum which will increase the power of her throw by many times. Next, she''ll need to insert a bunch of her Qi into the spear end of the scythe in order to make that side heavy, which will control the flight pattern. Next, she''ll create an ice de that is parallel to the main de, so the scythe keeps its trajectory. Now all that''s left is to get a good throw.

    Mira cleared out at area around her so she won''t be disturbed in the processing of throwing. She grasped the de end of the scythe and got a good running start. She put arge amount of Qi into her throwing arm and hand to increase the power of the throw, thenunched her scythe towards the man.

    *BOOM*

    The scythe broke the sound barrier as it shot out of Mira''s hands. The Sect Elders were also running to stop the man from whatever he was doing but were being blocked by the leftover members of the Soul Devouring Sect.

    It didn''t take them long to cut them down as there were just too many Sect Elders still alive and too few Soul Devouring Sect members left. They didn''t even notice the scythe flying in their direction.

    Almost instantly, Mira''s scythe came crashing into Head, piercing his heart and the orb in his hand. But the scythe didn''t stop there as the des made their way through his body before chopping him in half and continuing its flight until it crashed into the ground leaving a massive crater.

    Everything in the surrounding area got ttened by the impact and even part of the city wall crumbled along with numerous houses and buildings. Luckily there were no casualties though as everyone has evacuated by this point.

    The blood that was contained in the orb exploded out and rained down upon everyone. One could even hear a wailing sound as the blood fell to the ground.

    This all happened in an instant and nobody could even react to what happened.

    "NOOOOO! Cough Cough�� You dirty bitch! You fucking bastard! Curse you! Curse you and all of your future generations! Even if I die right now, I''ll be sure to hunt you down in my next life! I''ll make sure you never live a peaceful life!" Head yelled with bloodshot eyes as he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

    The man was already split in half and didn''t have much longer to live.

    ''What peaceful life? My life has never been peaceful. My life won''t be peaceful until I stand at the pinnacle.'' Mira thought to herself and just ignored this idiot''s ramblings as she used her connection with her scythe to recall it. Not long after recalling it did the scythee flying back into her hands.

    Rhydian also came flying over and opened her mouth as she tried to collect all of the blood raining down. Her senses told her that this was some high-quality blood that would even be able to help stabilize her cultivation.

    Everyone just stood there in shock as the man came crashing down onto the ground with only half a body still intact.

    The members of the Soul Devouring Sect just stood there with their mouths agape, as they weren''t sure how to handle this situation. They lost the ability to revive their ancestor, the leader of the Sect was just a pile of flesh, their army was being decimated and has almost been exterminated and that damn wolf was torturing the rest of the members with unending lighting.

    They wanted to retreat, but what''s the point in that?! Do they really need to sit and hide for the next hundred years to gather strength before trying this again?! What''s the point if they can''t revive their ancestor and the leader is dead?!

    The Soul Devouring Sect member''s eyes turned bloodshot as they crazily rushed towards the nearest living being, hoping to kill as many people as they can.

    Luckily the Elders of the Sect woke up from their stupor as they noticed their enemies trying to go on a rampage. They instantly went into action, but this time it was much easier since they could gang up on each person with multiple Elders.

    Their battles raged on for another 30 minutes before all of the Core Formation Experts of the Soul Devouring Sect were taken care of. Rhydian was busy munching on Head''s body, not because it contained any Qi since that all dissipated into the air when he got bisected. No, she was just trying to absorb as much of that sweet blood as possible and this man just happened to be covered in it.

    The disciples were busy cleaning up the army as Mira decided to leave the rest of the forces to them. She left them with around 100k left, but their morale was so low that they basically just rolled over dead. The men that were being controlled like zombies weren''t anything special either and were only good in numbers. But now that the numbers were reduced by 90%, there wasn''t much they could do.

    This allowed Maria, the Devil Empress Army, and the disciples to get a better feel for war without so much bloodshed on their side. Mira felt like she just created a war simtion and put it on easy mode.

    Dominique was currently resting in Mira''s arms as she took the brunt of Mira''s bloodlust even though Mira tried to control it just enough to where she wouldn''t be affected by it as much. But Mira was d that she got to experience the brutality of war and even got a few kills under her belt, though Mira doesn''t actually know how many.

    Not long after, Rhydian flew over to Mira, curled up her wings into her fur, and fell asleep.

    Mira brought the two of them away from the battlefield to let them rest and watched the disciples clean up. Mira wished she had some liquor and a meal right now as she watched the sunset descend onto the area, causing the ocean of blood to reflect, creating a mystical scene. One that Mira hasn''t seen in her near millennium years of life.

 Chapter 143 The Devil Heroine

    While Mira was enjoying the scenery, the Sect Elders had just finished cleaning up the rest of the Soul Devouring Sect.

    "What are we going to do about your disciple, Sect Master Jane? I''m grateful that she was able to contribute so much, but don''t you think she''s a bit too dangerous? What if she does exactly what those people from the Soul Devouring Sect did and wage war? Wouldn''t it just be a massacre?" The Sect Master of the Immortal Sword Sect asked.

    "Sect Master Axton, I know where you''reing from, but from what I''ve gathered about Mira, she isn''t like that. She usually just likes to be alone and unless there is a reason for her to interact with people, she won''t do it. The only thing she cares about is training." Sect Master Jane tried to exin, but this didn''t make the other people feel much better.

    "It''s not that we don''t appreciate her help in this endeavor, I just think this topic needs to be talked about. I mean, how many teenagers have you met who have the amount of bloodlust that she does? None, right? How many has she killed? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Tens of millions? We can also add on hundreds of thousands more after this battle today. There''s absolutely no way she''s just a little girl." The Sect Master from the 8 Profound Elements Sect said.

    "It''s also highly probable that she''s not even from around here. If there was someone who went around the continent ughtering millions of people, there would be news about it and they would surely be hunted down even to the ends of the earth. She might be from another continent who snuck over here." The Sect Master from the Divine Beast Sect said, but internally he was thinking about a way to snatch Rhydian from Mira. He''s never seen such an amazing Magical Beast before and it would be such a waste for it toy in Mira''s hands. Right now he just wanted to muddle the waters a bit.

    "That''s enough! You can specte all you want, but at the end of the day, it doesn''t matter. She not only saved us but millions of people living in the city. She also single-handedly brought an end to the Soul Devouring Sect, a Sect that killed tens of millions of people and even reared viges like cattle, back in their prime. You lot should know how to be grateful rather than trying to bite the hand that fed you. You might not know, but her pet even made me tremble a bit. I bet many of you won''t evenst 5 minutes with such a creature before you explode into a million pieces." The City Lord said in an authoritative voice.

    Everyone shut up when they heard what the City Lord said.

    "You''re right City Lord. Right now, we have should be grateful for her saving the city and our disciples along with it. I think we should certainly be nice knowing her character as we might just end up dead if she senses any MALICE or ILL-INTENT from us." One of the Elven Sect Masters tried to emphasize those two words as it wouldn''t exactly be good of them to try anything funny towards someone who can ughter an army all by herself.

    Everyone nodded at his suggestion and put any ulterior motives to the back of their head. These ulterior motives aren''t founded by greed, anger, or lust but rather fear. A person like Mira, once she reaches the Core Formation Realm, will be an utterly terrifying existence! There wouldn''t be a single person amongst them who could stop her! Even if all of them were to gather together, all Mira would need to do is call her wolf over and at that point, all they could do is die. They wouldn''t even have the chance to run away.

    This is why these Sect Masters were so afraid. If the current Mira gave them the chills, then a future Mira would leave them in constant fright.

    ***

    Maria, the Devil Empress Army, the disciples, and even warriors of the city have now finished cleaning up the battlefield and started making their way towards the city.

    Even though they only fought a fraction of the army and the enemy''s morale had plummeted, it was still a hard fight for them.

    Many of them were injured and some of them were severely injured, to the point that they were currently on death''s door. But the fighters all banded together and decided to help each other out. This teamwork and selflessness allowed for very minimal deaths on their side which made everyone extremely happy.

    But they could only be this happy because of the person who single-handedly took out 90% of the army, even if she did get some help from her little wolf.

    If Mira wasn''t here then at best, the death toll would be in the hundreds of thousands, and at worst, the city would''ve fallen and the residents were eradicated.

    As they walked back, they all saw Mira looking at the battlefield with cold and indifferent eyes which made them shiver a bit.

    None of them even got a chance to appreciate her beauty as her face and hair was died red. This apanied by her wine-red eyes really made her look like the Devil.

    Mira didn''t even spare them a nce as she stared at the scene before her. War is something that she is all too familiar with, but now she can truly appreciate the beauty of it.

    Maria and the Devil Empress Army all approached her, but when they saw that Mira didn''t even look at them either, they decided to sit next to her and rest.<sub> </sub>

    They were also covered in blood and wounds. As soon as they hit the ground, their eyes started bing heavy as a wave of drowsiness hit them.

    Their mental states were churning right now as this was their first war, an especially brutal war. They saw bodies cut into tiny pieces, bodies that exploded, headless bodies and bodiless heads, people that were bisected in half but were still alive left to suffer and blood, endless amounts of blood.

    The bodies of the enemy littered the ground and they looked like small hills as blood and limbs fell down them.

    The women began to treat their wounds with rejuvenation pills and wrapped them in bandages. The only thing on their minds right now was to go to sleep.

    Maria looked at the scene before her and many thoughts ran through her head, but at the end of it all, she could only sigh. She knew Mira wasn''t a good person and had already steeled her mind to it. She''se to terms with killing, but this kind of killing really left a bitter taste in her mouth.

    They barely even fought back towards the end but were still ruthlessly killed. There was only one thought ying through her head at that time and it was something that Mira often says to her. ''If you kill then you should be ready to be killed.''

    ''Mira''s right. If she wasn''t here then these people would''ve ended up destroying the city and everyone else along with it. I can''t pity them just because we were on the winning side.'' Maria thought and let out another sigh.

    After half an hour, Mira finally let out a light sigh and turned to look at the women around her. She nodded internally and was satisfied with the results of the battle.

    Mira then reached out and grabbed Maria''s shoulder. Maria looked at her with a confused face and Mira just patted her shoulder and nodded before looking at the rest of the women.

    "It seems you lot haven''t cked off in your training since you came to the city. If it weren''t for all of the hard work you put into your training and teamwork, the results of today''s battle might''ve been much different... Well, unless I didn''t intervene. Even with me taking part in this war, you lot should hold your heads up high since you were able to survive your first war. But remember, more eyes will be on you now as you also maderge contributions to the war. Only with hard work, strength, and wits will you then be allowed to survive in this world. Congrattions." Mira said tly, but this speech sobered everyone up real quick. They all almost had tears in their eyes when they heard Mira''s words. Mira''s finally proud of us!

    After taking a while to calm down, Alicia was the first to speak up.

    "Thank you, Miss Mira, but if it weren''t for your teachings we would''ve already died many times over. We owe you our lives several times over for all that you''ve done for us and I speak for everyone here when I say that you have our utmost loyalty and respect! You only need to say the word and we will be at your beck and call!" Alicia announced as she kneeled while letting out tears.

    The rest of them did the same as they truly felt like making a deal with the devil back then was the best choice they''ve ever made!

    Mira just nodded then let them get back to recovering from their wounds.

    Not long after that, Sect Master Jane, the City Lord, and a few other Sect Masters all walked up to Mira.

    "Hello, Mira. You really surprised me during the war earlier! I never would''ve thought you''d be so fierce and personally wipe-out almost the entire army and even have your beastpanion tear through their upper ranks as well. Your contributions to the war are so big that it wouldn''t be a lie to say that we won because of you. Therefore, we''d like you to follow us so we can present you with a reward and a title of Hero for your contributions!" Sect Master Jane spoke up first so the others wouldn''t say anything stupid.

    "Hero, huh. Heh." Mira let out a dry chuckle as she got up, put Dominique on her back, and carried Rhydian and followed them.

    The others also thought it was funny. The Devil getting the title of Hero? What a joke!

    They watched as a blood-soaked Mira walked towards the various Elders and couldn''t help but snicker. Even if she did save everyone, there is no way she did it out of the kindness of her heart. The most likely reason is to train the people following her. Another reason would be to gather food for Rhydian and Vulcan and thest reason would be because she''s bored. Mira is the farthest a person can get from being a hero!

 Chapter 144 Inter-Sect Tournament Resumes

    Mira followed the City Lord and the Sect Masters to collect her reward and receive her title. Mira didn''t really care about the reward nor the title, but she''s not going to say no to a free lunch. Though she isn''t very fond of the word ''Hero''. In her mind, a Hero is someone who puts their life on the line so that others don''t have to. A Hero is someone who is righteous and strives for peace and equality. A Hero is someone who is idolized for their courage and achievements, and noble qualities.

    Do any of the things that make up a Hero define Mira? The answer is a definite no! She doesn''t give two shits about some random person in some random city. She kills to make things more convenient for her and she''s never been an advocate for peace and equality, though she is tired of being bothered by other people though.

    While Mira was thinking about this, she made it to arge building that was still intact even after the war. As they walked in the hall, Mira took notice of all the artwork, sculptures, jewels, tall ceilings, and light grey walls with a gold floor. Mira guessed that this is where the City Lord lives.

    She looked around the building, but her face didn''t show the slightest emotion and she was impossible for the others to read.

    The City Lord made his way over to his throne and faced Mira and the Sect Masters.

    "Wee to my humble abode, Mira. I don''t know if you know me, but I''m the City Lord of Lunar Fox City, Ivan Anton. On behalf of Lunar Fox City, I thank you for your contributions during the war. If it weren''t for you, the war may have gone a lot differently. Luckily, you took action and selflessly put yourself in the face of danger to save this humble one''s city." The City Lord said calmly and slightly bowed his head.

    Mira just nodded indifferently as the details of what happened aren''t that important to her. It may look like she put herself in danger, but she never once felt like she was in danger while out on the battlefield. Thises from her vast experience along with hundreds of years of living and fighting alone. She also didn''t save the city because she wanted to save it, she just felt like it''d be inconvenient for her if the city were to fall. If that were to happen, war might break out on this entire side of the continent which would greatly affect her future. To eliminate such a nuisance, she felt it necessary for her to take action personally. But there was no point in correcting the City Lord as she just wanted to get this over with.

    "Due to your overwhelming contributions, we''ve decided to heavily reward you for your efforts. First off, we''ll be rewarding you with 5,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones and 2 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone. You may not know, but one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone is equal to 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Though they can''t really bepared like that as Mid-Grade Spirit Stones not only contain an immense amount of Qi, the Qi inside is also much purerpared to a Low-Grade Spirit Stone."

    "Next, we''ll reward you with a Qi Gathering Array, that''ll help you with your breakthroughs. We''ll also be giving you a recement mask, but this one is a bit special. This mask will help conceal your aura and make it so people under Stage 5 Core Formation Realm won''t be able to perceive your realm. It''s also a lot tougher than normal masks as it uses a Rank 6 beast''s bones as the foundation with several Rank 6 beast pieces to make the mask much more sturdypared to a normal mask. We call it the ck Tiger Mask."

    "We''ll also be giving you a pair of Daoist robes that are simr to the mask. They will also help conceal your aura, but the main advantage of these robes is their defensive properties. They were made with a Peak-Stage Rank 5 Golden silkworms silk. These silkworms aren''t known for theirbat abilities, but instead for the amazing defensive properties of their silk. Just one strand of it is able to withstand one blow from a Rank 6 beast."

    "From what I understand, you value training above all else so for thest reward we have decided to gift you with a set of pills. You''ll receive a full set of Mid-Stage Rank 5 Body Tempering Pills. One for your bones, muscles, organs, marrow, and even blood. I''ll also gift you with a Mid-Stage Rank 5 Energy Gathering Pill so that when you break through from the Houtian stage to the Xiantian Stage, you''ll have a much easier time."

    "This is it as far as the rewards go. To be honest, I feel like this isn''t much as you saved the lives of numerous Core Formation Realm experts, hundreds of disciples, and the entire city. But if I were to give you any more than this, it may incite greed even among the Core Formation Realm Experts. So this is the best I can do without bringing you more trouble. What do you think?" The City Lord exined everything carefully so Mira hears every part of it. The City Lord truly felt grateful to Mira and didn''t wish to see such outstanding youth killed before they could grow.

    Mira listened to everything with the same cid and indifferent face, but even she was a bit shocked after hearing the City Lord''s exnation. It seems this City Lord is a bitpetent.

    "You truly deserve the title of City Lord with such foresight. It also seems like you did your research beforehand so you didn''t give me something that I didn''t need. These rewards are more than enough for me. My biggest worry was breaking through to the Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm, but it seems you''ve mostly taken care of that for me." Mira said with a bit of respect as it''s not often you find someone who isn''t fucking braindead like the rest of these monkeys.

    The City Lord was satisfied with Mira''s answer as he also felt like Mira was much smarter than she seemed. She gives off an air of wisdom and experience, but he knew from what Sect Master Jane said that she has quite the temper and will be harshly blunt with her answers. The City Lord felt a bit more prideful after Mira mentioned his foresight abilities.

    He then motioned with his hands for one of his servants toe over. This servant came walking in with a spatial ring in his hand. He walked over to Mira and gracefully handed the ring to her then retreated behind the City Lord.

    Mira checked the contents of the spatial ring to make sure everything was there and sure enough, all of the rewards mentioned were there.

    She nodded her head and looked at the City Lord waiting for him to continue talking.

    "Very good. Now all that''s left is to grant your title of hero to the city, but first I think you should get cleaned up first. We can''t have our Hero covered in blood and guts now can we? Just follow my maids to the bath and you can wash yourself up there. And don''t worry, the room ispletely sealed off so nobody will be trying toe for you. If anybody does try anything then I will personally kill them to show my sincerity!" The City Lord said with a serious face and Mira just lightly nodded. She did want to go back to her room to bathe, but really just wanted to get this whole thing over with.<sub> </sub>

    She followed the maids to the bathroom with Rhydian and Dominique. The maids also offered to help, but Mira coldly declined.

    Mira then proceeded to spend the next 45 minutes washing off all of the blood off of her, Rhydian, and Dominique. Halfway through the bath, the two of them woke up, albeit in a groggy state, and continued with their bath.

    After Mira finished washing up, she took out the ck Tiger Mask and her new Daoist robes that were also ck and decided to wear them as her main outfit.

    She walked out of the bathroom with Dominique and Rhydian in tow and made her way towards the hall that she was previously in.

    The City Lord''s servants told her to follow him as he led the 3 of them to where the City Lord was currently at.

    When Mira got closer, she could hear the City Lord giving a speech to the residents. He was talking about the war, how it ended and how it affected the city. He then talked about the recovery of the city and his ns for that.

    The servant that led Mira walked over and informed the City Lord of her arrival. He nodded but continued on with his speech.

    "... And now for the person who risked her life to fight against the army of the Soul Devouring Sect! Not only did she and her beastpanion nearly singlehandedly kill off their army, but she also saved not only me but the Sect Elders and Sect Masters as well. I would even go as far as to say that she was the sole reason for us winning the war and with such an overwhelming victory on top of that! I proudly present to you, Battle Maiden Sect Core Disciple and the Hero of Lunar Fox City, Mira!" The City Lord proudly announced as Mira also made her way out and stood next to him.

    *WOO!*

    The crowd started cheering like crazy as soon as Mira made her way out and faced the crowd. How could they not cheer for the person that saved the lives of their family members and home?

    This went on for a while before the City Lord made them calm down a bit.

    "Now, I''ll allow Mira to say a few words to you." The City Lord said and nced at Mira.

    Mira shot a re at the City Lord as she was very displeased by this, but it wasn''t out of her expectations. It wouldn''t make sense for the Hero to just show up, wave hello, then leave.

    "Residents of Lunar Fox City, while I may be given the title of Hero, I do not feel like I did anything heroic. What I did was purely out of self-interest. If part of the continent went to war because I decided not to intervene, then my future would also be greatly affected and personally, I don''t feel like being in a constant state of war. The world is a dangerous ce and only those that are strong are allowed to survive. I was strong enough to handle the army, but what if I wasn''t here? What would you have done when an army of a million soldiers suddenly teleports to your front door and nobody here is able to take control? You lot are too weak to even protect your homes from outside forces. Pathetic! Whether you reflect on this situation and learn or continue to becent has nothing to do with me, but don''t think someone like me will always be around to carry your dead weight." Mira spoke without any emotion then walked off the stage, leaving a stunned and silent crowd. Even the City Lord was stunned by Mira''s words, but he soon felt grateful. What she said was true, they really are too weak.

    After they came out of their stupor the City Lord walked back onto the stage and continued speaking. He also announced that the Tournament would resume as soon as the City was recovered to a certain degree.

    Mira walked back to the inn she was staying at so she could sleep. She was mentally and physically drained after fighting for so long. Dominique and Rhydian were also drained as well and the only thing on their minds was sleeping.

    ***

    Two weeks went by and the City Lord along with the Sect Masters announced that the Tournament will resume!

 Chapter 145 End Of The Inter-Sect Tournament Duels

    During these 2 weeks of recuperation, the city made quite a bit of progress. The walls and buildings that were destroyed in the war 2 weeks ago were being repaired at an astonishing rate. It would probably only take a few more weeks to rebuild everything. But even though the buildings were being repaired, the minds of the residents had taken an impactful blow.

    At first, they wanted nothing more than for Mira to stay in the city, get stronger, and be something like a guardian of the City. But this was justzy and wishful thinking. Hearing that Mira had no ns in staying in the city, they realized that the war was a wake-up call and Mira''s speech only sent them over the edge.

    The people of the city wanted nothing more than to gain strength. Enough strength to where they could pull off what Mira did, but this was also wishful thinking as well.

    Mira''s spent most of her life on a battlefield, whether she''s at war or not, she has always always been fighting. Most of the time against more than one person at a time. It goes without saying that even if someone has lived for several thousand years, they might not have the same amount of experience in battle that Mira has.

    Even those old fogies from the Soul Devouring Sect couldn''t even reach a fraction of the amount of experience that Mira has umted. This also shows in the way they nned their war, merely gathering a bunch of people and teleporting them on top of the enemy. They were just throwing waves of people at a city, hoping to kill them off while they are still dazed by what''s going on, then using the higher-ups to distract the stronger people in the city.

    If Mira were inmand, this idea wouldn''t even pop into her mind due to how idiotic it is. But she can''t really me them. They''ve probably never been in a war or at the very least, never amanding officer in a war.

    Though Mira had these thoughts, it didn''t matter. They were dead and would no longer be able to bother her with such troublesome things like war.

    Mira nced at Vulcan and Rhydian, who were currently sleeping in her room. Mira gave Vulcan some of the Core Formation Realm corpses to Vulcan and let him eat to his heart''s content then gave the rest of them to Rhydian. Vulcan''s cultivation sky-rocketed to Low-Stage Rank 5 and he also grew quite a bit, though he wasn''t nearly as big as Rhydian. His mes became much hotter and just his breathing threatened to melt his surroundings. His fur would flicker with embers as though it was alive and his tail seemed like it was made of fire even though it was his fur.

    Rhydian also grew a bit during these 2 weeks as well, but she still had the face and fur of a cub. Mira was seriously wondering just how big this little beast would get. Her aura was also getting more and more fierce during her sleep. Her cultivation wasn''t rising, she was just consolidating it, but even while sleeping her strength was rising by leaps and bounds.

    Maria went to go check up on her parents to make sure they were alright during this time, but they said they didn''t even get to do anything during this war. Maria just gave them a bitter smile and chuckled. She was d that they were safe. Maria also decided to spend this time with her parents and left Vulcan in Mira''s care.

    Dominique stayed by Mira''s side this entire time, refusing to leave. It seems that this war was a bit too much for her to handle and the only ce she felt safe right now is by Mira''s side. But surprisingly, Dominique asked Mira a bunch of questions regarding the war, battles, and just fighting in general. She wanted to understand what went wrong, what they did right, why Mira was able to do what she did with ease, what Mira thinks about when she fights a group like that, how to control the flow of a fight, and various other things.

    Mira answered all of these questions to the best of her ability and Dominique even wrote what Mira was saying down so she could study themter. Dominique also requested Mira to bring her out into the city and look for a weapon that suited her, she wanted to begin practicing with it as soon as possible. Mira readily agreed as she wasn''t doing anything.

    After searching for a few days, they were able to find something that Dominique immediately fell in love with. Mira was surprised when she saw what Dominique picked as the weapon she picked was quite unusual. It''s not quite as rare as a scythe, but as far as the cultivation world is concerned this weapon is definitely a bit unusual.

    What Dominique decided on was a pair of Butterfly Swords. Butterfly swords are essentially just single-edged short swords with a rather wide de and a crossguard to block des and poles. The de is about 40 centimeters long, so much bigger than a dagger but only about half the length of a sword.

    Mira also knew quite a bit about the butterfly sword and knew that the butterfly sword is highlypatible with martial arts. In fact, out of all of the weapons that Mira''se across, Butterfly swords would be her favorite, second only to the scythe. This is because when one wields a pair of Butterfly Swords, the swords be an extension of the body in a literal sense. They aren''t too long nor too short and martial arts techniques don''t need to be altered due to the addition of a weapon.

    Mira was secretly d that Dominique loves this weapon as she''d be able to practice martial arts and with her Butterfly Swords at the same time. Dominique then proceeded to get used to her new des while Mira cultivated the rest of the time. Mira was feeling like she was close to breaking through to the Late-Houtian Stage and would probably only need a few more weeks max.

    All of this came to an end when Mira heard the announcement that the Tournament would resume in a few days. Mira continued to cultivate for the next few days as she was even less worried about the tournament after the war.

    The next few days went by quickly as it was now time for the Tournament to resume. The disciples all made their way back to the Colosseum to participate in the Tournament.

    Mira also made her way down to the arena with Dominique and on the way she was constantly getting looks of reverence and gratitude. It seems even after her speech the people still idolized her.

    After making her way over to the Battle Maiden Sect area, she was greeted by all of the disciples there who all had big smiles on their faces. Mira just slightly nodded at them and sat down and waited for her turn. Dominique, on the other hand, had her eyes glued to the arena. She wanted to try and memorize these battles then create a shadow with her mind to practice with since Mira refused to spar with her personally until she made it to the Qi Condensation Realm.

    "Wee back,dies and gentlemen, to the Inter-Sect Tournament! I know we got interrupted by the Soul Devouring Sect a few weeks ago, but we are back to resume where we left off! Also, I know that the Hero of Lunar Fox City will be participating, but I hope to see everyone trying their best despite that as this is still a tournament! Now, enough introductions! Let''s begin!" The City Lord announced and the crowd went wild.

    With the City Lord''s announcement, the duels began again and the disciples went at it with even more fervor! The war really riled them up as they spent thest few weeks trying to perfect their techniques as they felt their strength was severelycking.

    The first up was Alexa and her opponent was someone from the cial Sword Sect, a Sect that''s located in The Sparkling Expanse in a City called The Sleeted City.<sub> </sub>

    It wasn''t much of a battle as Alexa was easily able to overpower her opponent and win the match in just a few short minutes.

    Every battle after that contained a Battle Maiden Sect disciple and there was even one unlucky disciple that had to face Mira, though she just surrendered as soon as the battle started. There was no need for her to embarrass herself.

    Out of the 9 Battle Maiden Sect disciples that took ce during this round, only 4 of them made it through. Those 4 were Mira, Maria, Alexa, and Cleo. They were, without a doubt, the 4 disciples in the Sect right now.

    The next round of duels began shortly after and this time the Battle Maiden Sect Disciples were against people from different Sects, but the only noticeable disciple was Jax, from the Immortal Sword Sect, whose opponent was Cleo.

    Jax and Alexa actually fought beforehand, but they never got to finish their match and it seems that they redrew the lineup and Jax was able to fight someone else and proceed to the next round.

    The next round began, but it ended almost just as quickly. During Maria''s fight, the person let his guard down in front of her and she was able to take out her opponent very quickly by taking advantage of that.

    Mira''s opponent was so scared of Mira that he barely put up a fight. Alexa''s opponent was actually quite tough, but he was just unlucky that his opponent was Alexa. It was Alexa''s hardest fight yet, except for the fight with Jax, but in the end, she still won. Cleo, on the other hand, wasn''t able to pull through. Jax was too strong and too skilled with the sword and she ended up being overwhelmed and Jax took advantage of that and kept up the pressure until she couldn''t take it anymore.

    The battles in the next round then consisted of Mira vs. Maria and Alexa vs. Jax. The results were rather obvious as there was no way Maria was going to beat Mira and Alexa was also confident about beating Jax as she basically beat himst time.

    And like they had predicted, that''s what happened. Maria actually gave Mira a good fight especially with her new Seven Stars Strike and her newfound skill with the sword. But this was far from enough for Mira to get serious as Mira also had a strike that was simr to Maria''s Seven Stars Strike which was herbo strike. In the end, Maria got beat up quite badly due to Mira''s ''teachings'' and lost the fight.

    Alexa also had a hard fight with Jax, but she had learned quite a bit about him from their previous fight and used that to her advantage. Jax did the same, but Alexa was just a bit more tactful and ended up taking exploiting his weaknesses and won the fight.

    After this round, Jax and Maria ended up having a match for third ce, but the results weren''t too surprising.

    With Jax''s superior cultivation and his superior sword skills, it wasn''t too surprising that he''d win, at least in Mira''s opinion. Though Maria put up a fantastic might and showed just how potent her instincts were as she was able to predict and dodge a lot of attacks. Maria even got a few good hits in thanks to this, but in the end, she was just not as skilled, talented, or strong as Jax.

    Thest match was between Mira and Alexa, but truthfully, they didn''t even need to fight. They were part of the same Sect after all. But both of them decided to fight and it would be something like an Exhibition Match for the crowd to enjoy. Mira was also looking forward to sparring with someone like Alexa.

    The crowd went crazy when they heard that the two of them would be fighting as they''ve been looking forward to watching Mira fight, but her opponents became so meek in front of her. Even Alexa was rather submissive in front of Mira. She could still remember Mira''s overwhelming killing intent and every time she thought back to that she''d shiver.

    "We''ll now begin the final match between Mira and Alexa from the Battle Maiden Sect! Fight!" The City Lord announced and both of them immediately charged at each other.

    This is Alexa''s first time fighting against someone using a scythe and if there''s one word to describe how she felt it''d be ''annoying''. She would''ve never guessed that a scythe could be so useful in battle as it''s a very unorthodox weapon, but Mira uses it seamlessly and without gaps.

    The length of her scythe is the same length as a spear, but instead of stabbing or shing like one might do with a spear, Mira twirls that thing around at an insane speed that is barely noticeable to the naked eye and is able to perfectly block and counterattack every hit. To make matters worse, each strike from the scythe seemed like it was backed by the weight of a mountain. This is because Mira''s scythe weighs several thousand kilograms.

    Alexa felt like even if Mira just stood there and twirled her scythe around she''d still be able to win as she wouldn''t even be able to get in range of her.

    The battlested for a short while as Mira wanted to experience fighting against a skilled swordsman for as long as possible before she felt like she got what she needed out of it and quickly ended the battle. With her winning of course!

    Needless to say, the Battle Maiden Sect was now in first ce with a total score of 168 points which was a little under double what the 2nd ce Sect has.

    "This brings an end to the Inter-Sect Tournament Duels! We will allow the disciples to have a break and recover for the rest of the day before beginning the Group Battles tomorrow! Thank you for showing up and watching the Tournament and don''t forget toe back tomorrow!"

 Chapter 146 The Inter-Sect Tournament Group Battles

    After the City Lord announced the end of the duels along with the results, everyone left the arena to prepare for the next day.

    The night passed quickly and it was now time for the group battles.

    After all of the Sects gathered in the arena did the City Lord finally announce the beginning of the Group Battles.

    "Wee back everyone to the second stage of the Inter-Sect Tournament! We have now moved on from the Duels to the Group Battles! First, let me announce the rules of the Group Battles. Just like the duels, anything goes as long as you don''t kill your opponent, but we have some extra rules this time around. First, each Sect will only be able to form one group containing 5 people. I know that each Sect has 15 people participating, but this is non-negotiable. Each group will have to appoint someone as Captain and the Captain will be in charge of directing the battle."

    "The way to win is simple; Either defeat all of the members of the opposing group or defeat the Captain. Of course, you''re free to surrender as well, but only the Captain has the authority to decide that. Next, onto the points! Each win will grant that Sect 20 points. Oh! One more thing, seeing how there is an odd number of Sects participating, the first ce Sect in the Duels will face off against thest ce Sect in order to even things out! Alright, now that everyone understands the rules, let''s begin!"

    "Battle Maiden Sect and Quintessential Ice Sect, you have 30 minutes to prepare before you fight! That also goes for the rest of you as well." The City Lord announced and the Quintessential Ice Sect disciples paled. This was thest thing they wanted to hear! However, they could only grind their teeth and ept it as they were just too weak this year to do anything.

    Meanwhile, the Battle Maiden Sect disciples were ecstatic! This was essentially a free 20 points. Mira also couldn''t help, but look towards the Quintessential Ice Sect with a hint of pity. These cultivators mainly had an Ice Affinity, but too bad for them that Mira''s Absolute Ice Dao was a counter against other Ice Elemental users.

    The disciples of the Battle Maiden Sect all looked towards Mira as it seemed like they unanimously decided to make her captain. Mira just looked at these people helplessly.

    "I suppose I''ll take up the role as captain. Hmm�� Now for the 4 other people, I''ll go with Alexa, Cleo, Maria, and Jade. Alexa and Cleo will be the vanguard, Jade will be the mid-guard, while Maria will be the rear-guard. Since I''ll be acting as the captain then I''ll also be part of the rear-guard. Now, I know what you might be thinking. Yes, I could deal with them by myself and honestly it''d probably be decided quicker if I did that, but we''ll be up against better groups during theter rounds, so I''ll be using this as a training ground for you 4 and won''t intervene in this myself unless absolutely necessary. But honestly, if I have to intervene then I might as well just concede." Mira said indifferently and everyone just nodded. They weren''t offended by Mira''s words as they witnessed her frightening power just a few weeks ago. Also, if they truly did need Mira''s help to defeat their opponent, then they''d also just want to go ahead and surrender.

    Soon 30 minutes passed and it was time to start off the first battle.

    The 2 groups made their way up to the stage and the Quintessential Ice Sect had fierce expressions as they were determined to win, but everyone noticed that the Battle Maiden Sect Disciples also had fierce expressions as well. This was due to Mira''s ''motivating''.

    Mira just stood at the back and watched the other 4 with a cold expression. She wasn''t going to hold back against her own teammates if they fucked up.

    "Alright, let''s begin the first round of the Group Battles! Fight!"

    The two sides immediately rushed towards each other. The Quintessential Ice Sect wanted to try and end things as quickly as possible since they knew a drawn-out battle would spell their inevitable defeat. As they were about to begin fighting, they heard someone yelling on the Battle Maiden Sect side.

    "Jade, what the fuck are you doing?! You''re the mid-guard, so open your eyes! 3 people are charging towards Alexa, go give her a hand!"

    "Maria! Someone is trying to rush is trying to nk Cleo from behind! Get your head out of your ass!"

    "Cleo! How can you not see someone trying to attack you from behind?! Are you so troubled with your opponent that you can''t spare another thought?! Have some fucking spatial awareness! To think you are the second strongest in the Battle Maiden Sect! What a disappointment!"

    Mira''s harsh words were ringing out in everyone''s ears which left the audience speechless.

    ''Fuck! These are your own teammates! Not to mention you, even one of them could defeat all of them at the same time! Why be so hard on them?''

    This is what the people thought as they listened to Mira send one insult after another while trying to correct their coordination.<sub> </sub>

    She was truly treating the other Sect as training dummies to increase their group''s synergy, but what''s amazing is that it held visible results.

    After Mira ruthlessly pointed out their mistakes and sometimes even shooting ice needles at them when they messed up, they started learning extremely quickly.

    Nobody here could say that Mira was a bad Captain. In fact, she was probably the best Captain they could find within Lunar Fox City and the surrounding cities. This coupled with her vast amount of knowledge and experience caused the disciples in her group to advance by leaps and bounds in terms of team synergy.

    Once her group started to get the hang of fighting together, Mira actually walked over to the other team and began giving outmands to them as well. When their Captain tried to surrender, Mira just took out a piece of beast skin and wrapped it around her mouth, and every time she tried to remove it, Mira would shoot an ice needle at her.

    The other group members didn''t really know how to handle this, but they just went along with Mira. They knew they had no chance of winning, but Mira said that she''d surrender if they could take down 2 of the people on her side.

    After almost an hour of fighting, Mira told her team to end it as they learned as much as they could out of this one battle.

    After the battle ended, one couldn''t help but pity the Quintessential Ice Sect. They were extremely exhausted and helpless in front of the enemy. It was also mentally taxing as they had to listen to Mira''s endless insults!

    Even her own teammates seemed mentally drained from this fight. Mira really was too much!

    "Battle Maiden Sect wins!"

    They immediately went back to their section to recover their mental states as well as pay attention to the other teams.

    The next battle was against the Divine Beast Sect and the Storm Sect from Gale City. The Storm Sect held the advantage in terms of personal ability, but surprisingly the Divine Beast Sect was much more coordinated. This is probably because they train and fight with beasts. They have to be at least somewhat used to fighting with someone else.

    But after seeing Mira''s domineering disy, both sides wanted to do this as well as Mira made it look easy, but this was far from the truth.

    The Captains from both sides were leagues away from being on Mira''s level to read the battlefield. Mira was also extremely decisive in her decisions and very rarely were her decisions wrong. In fact, she was right so much that it was scary. The opponent felt like an open book in the face of Mira.

    With that being the case, both sides struggled for a while before the fight just turned into a brawl and the Divine Beast Sect pulled through with a win by taking out their opponent''s Captain.

    The next 6 battles passed by in a simr fashion as each sect tried their best to do what Mira did only for it to backfire. This also caused the battles to go on endlessly which became extremely boring to watch.

    But this all changed during the final battle of the round, which happened to be the Battle Maiden Sect again. But this time they dominated their opponent in just under a minute. They didn''t even overpower the other team with powerful skills or brute force, it was purely based on strategy and coordination. They were able to take out the Captain in under a minute like it was nothing.

    This shocked not only the audience but the other teams as well. This just showed how overwhelming Mira''smanding abilities are.

    At the end of the day, the Battle Maiden Sect had gotten another 40 points and it was currently impossible for them to drop to second ce even if they lose the next Group Battle.

    The other teams could only sigh and fight over second ce now as the Battle Maiden Sect was already guaranteed to get first.

 Chapter 147 The Inter-Sect Tournament Group Battles Part 2

    By the time the first round of Group Battles ended, it was already night. This was out of everyone''s expectations as it wasn''t supposed to take so many hours for 8 matches. Most people, including the City Lord, figured it only take around half a day at most to finish the first 9 battles and the next half of the day would be dedicated to the remaining 7 matches, but it took an entire day for the first round to end.

    The City Lord ended up announcing that the Second Round of the Group Battles will begin the next day and the people left with somewhatplicated expressions.

    Most of the fights today were incredibly boring for the most part and the only one that was interesting ended in under a minute. If you took too long to blink you''d miss it, at least that''s how the audience felt.

    Either way, they still wanted toe back the next day as most people only get to see a tournament like this a few times in their life.

    The next day.

    The Sects made their way towards the arena, but half were only allowed to watch this time.

    The audience also came back, but it was mainly for one person. The Hero of Lunar Fox City, The Solitary Devil Empress, Devil Heroine, Mira.

    By now, there isn''t a single person in the city that doesn''t know her name. Many people have been sharing stories about her ever since the war ended.

    Some people only know her as the one that saved their city, while others told stories of how she faced off the army alone, and others saying how freakishly terrifying she can be. By now, all of her titles have spread through every corner of the city.

    While Mira was waiting for the tournament to start, she felt an innumerable amount of gazes on her and couldn''t help but nce out towards the audience.

    Wherever her gaze swept, the people felt a chill up their spine. It felt like a ferocious beast just stared at them.

    "Amazing! So that''s the Devil Heroine, Mira! Even her gaze can instill fear! Haha! Wonderful! Get''em Devil Heroine! Show them how ruthless you are!"

    "Oh shit! I nearly pissed myself just from her looking at me! The Hero of Lunar Fox City really is amazing! I wish I could''ve seen her in action!"

    "Brother, let me tell you something. Seeing her in action is one of the most amazing yet horrific scenes I''ve ever witnessed in my entire life! She really lives up to her name as The Solitary Devil Empress!"

    Many people were talking about Mira as they waited for the show to start and the person in question could only feel her face twitch.

    p ''What''s with all of these titles? Solitary Devil Empress? Devil Heroine? Hero of Lunar Fox City? It seems I''ve been getting called a Devil a lot recently. Even Maria has mentioned me as a Devil.'' Mira thought to herself but was interrupted by the City Lord.</anda>

    "Wee to the Second Day of the Inter-Sect Tournament Group Battles! If everything goes as nned, this should be thest day of the Inter-Sect Tournament. Afterward, we''ll be tallying the points earned by each Sect and release the rankings after that. Though the Battle Maiden Sect is guaranteed toe in first ce right now even if they lose this next match That means it''ll be a battle for Second ce from now on! Let''s begin!"

    "Immortal Sword Sect and Divine Beast Sect, you''re up!" The City Lord announced.

    The two teams made their way up to the stage and got in position.

    The result of this battle is obvious, but they still had to fight it out. Who knows, maybe the Divine Beast Sect will pull through with another win?

    Also, what many people found surprising was that Jax, the strongest person in the Immortal Sword Sect, wasn''t the Captain. But for the people who knew him, this wasn''t a difficult decision. The guy is an idiot regarding anything other than the sword. Strategies? nning? Giving out orders from the backline? Nonsense! This guy only knows how to brute force his way through things!

    Regardless of these things, he is strong. So strong that he could take on the enemy team by himself.

    "Fight!"

    Jax was the first one to charge out and face the enemy head-on.

    "You damn brute! I specifically told you not to do that! We came up with a n of attack, but now it''s ruined!" The captain of the Immortal Sword Sect team screamed at Jax.

    "Haha! It''s fine, isn''t it?! I can take on all 5 of these people at the same time! In the face of absolute power, strategies are useless! Haha!" Jax justughed back as he began fighting with the enemy team.

    "Dammit! Don''t look down on our Divine Beast Sect you ape!" The Divine Beast Sect Captain yelled and began sending outmands to his teammates.

    Their goal was to try and take out their captain, but the only problem with that n was Jax. At least 2 people needed to be sent just to deal with him which makes it a 4 vs. 3 in the Immortal Sword Sects favor.

    Jax kept smashing into his opponents and it didn''t take him long to knock them out before he charged at the rest of the team.

    The battle went on for around 10 minutes before the entire Divine Beast Sect was unconscious!<sub> </sub>

    "Immortal Sword Sect wins!"

    The crowd yelled with joy at this sight.

    "Finally, a true fight! It seems today will be interesting after all!"

    "I knew it wasn''t a mistake toe today. That battle really got my blood pumping! Especially that huge muscr guy! He was really strong!"

    People were yelling in delight as they finally got to see some true battles!

    It didn''t take long for the City Lord to call up the next Sects to participate in the next match.

    The next two matches also ended simrly. Both sides would fight hard, using wits and strength to try and ovee the enemy.

    Finally, thest match of Round 2 of the Group Battles was the Battle Maiden Sect against the Battle Sect located in The Sleeted City.

    The disciples from The Sleeted City felt like they were incredibly unlucky to go up against the Battle Maiden Sect twice now.

    But they didn''t back down! Their Battle Sect is much different than the Quintessential Ice Sect. They specialize in fighting, whether it be solo fights or group fights, so they should be able to put up more of a fight. Though they don''t have much hope of winning.

    But they were mistaken. They didn''tst much longer than the previous team they fought at the end of yesterday.

    Instead ofsting under a minute, they managed tost a little over 2 minutes. This was already considered could since Mira''s team consisted of at least 3 people that are within the Top 5 regarding personal strength out of all of the Sects. This isn''t even taking into ount Mira''smanding abilities.

    Like that, the Second Round of the Group Battles ended and it was time to move onto the Semi-Finals with the Immortal Sword Sect, Grand Nature Sect, National Elven Sect, and Battle Maiden Sect taking up these slots.

    "Now it''s time for the Semi-Finals! Immortal Sword Sect, Grand Nature Sect of The Elven City of Elsum, you''re up!"

    "Fight!"

    Elves were truly a troublesome bunch to fight against as their physiques are naturally stronger than humans, they are a bit faster, have longer lives, and their senses are better. But Elves also have a harder time cultivating and need much more time and effortpared to humans. This is the Will of The Heavens. If they could also cultivate as fast as humans, then there would be a constant influx of Elf Immortals.

    But the Immortal Sword Sect isn''t a slouch. Even with all of the Elves'' advantages, this Sect doesn''t stand a chance against the Immortal Sword Sect. They are just too strong.

    During this fight, Jax once again went on a rampage! He''s extremely relentless and brutal. He also doesn''t care if he gets superficial wounds on his body as he charges you down. There is a stark contrast between his backwater style of fighting and the Elves, who look graceful on the battlefield. It was somewhatical to watch.

    But at the end of the day, nobody could stop Jax, which allowed the rest of the Immortal Sword Sect to eliminate them one by one and take the win.

    "Immortal Sword Sect wins!" The City Lord announced.

    "Next up, the Battle Maiden Sect and the National Elven Sect!"

    The two teams made their way up, but if one looked closely, they would see the Elves shivering.

    This was because Mira''s bloodlust was just too much for them to handle. Even without her releasing it, this was the only thing they could sense. It almost felt blinding the closer they got to her.

    "Fight!"

    "Alexa, I''ll leave this to you," Mira said calmly as she released a faint smile.

    Mira''s teammates were puzzled, but they still listened to her and understood Mira''s intention. She only wanted Alexa to fight.

    But she soon found out why. Mira was sending jolts of killing intent towards her opponents, which caused them to freeze up end be defeated.

    This happened 5 times and it didn''t take long for Alexa to defeat all of them.

    "Battle Maiden Sect wins! Now that the Semi-Finals are over, let''s move onto the Final Battle! Though this match won''t change the rankings of either team as the Battle Maiden Sect is guaranteed toe in First and the Immortal Sword Sect is guaranteed toe in second, I believe everyone wants to find out which team is better! Now, let''s begin!"

 Chapter 148 The Inter-Sect Tournament Final Battle

    The final 2 teams made their way up on stage as the crowd went crazy.

    As both teams approached the stage, Mira was discussing part of their strategy with the girls.

    "Alexa, make sure you are the one to handle Jax. You beat him once so you should be able to do it again. Their Captain will most likely either want to take care of you first or Maria. He should know that Jax is no match for me or Alexa, so you need to make sure that he doesn''t get the chance. You just need to stall if two people are attacking you. If you don''t feel confident in beating 2 of them then just stall as we defeat the rest of them. All of us are individually stronger than them so if we get into a one-on-one sh then it''ll be our victory. Find your opponents and strike fast and hard right from the start. I''ll be providing support to whoever needs it." Mira exined and the rest of the people nodded their heads.

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, the Immortal Sword Sect disciples were discussing their strategy.

    "Alright, our biggest worry this fight will be Alexa and Mira, but the other 3 aren''t exactly slouches. I''m willing to bet that Mira will want to send Alexa to face off against Jax since she''s already beat him once. Not to offend you, but I think we should send another person to try and take out Alexa as soon as possible. Then we''ll only have to deal with Mira. We could also try and send 2 people to attack their weakest members, but none of them are weak and it''ll definitely be troublesome especially with Mira as the Captain. I''m more inclined to try the former." The Captain exined and everyone nodded except for Jax.

    "Hmph! Just because I lost against that woman doesn''t mean I''ll lose to her again! I don''t need your help taking her down! My main target is Mira anyway!" Jax snorted at them and was just going to do his own thing.

    "Sigh�� Whatever, but I''m still sending someone else to help as this is a GROUP battle. We''ll y the rest by ear when we start fighting."

    By now, both sides have made their way up to the arena and got ready.

    "Alright! It''s time to decide the final victor of this year''s Inter-Sect Tournament Group Battles! Fight!" The City Lord announced.

    The two teams immediately went ording to their ns.

    Immortal Sword Sect sent another person with Jax to fight against Alexa while Alexa sought after Jax.

    The other Battle Maiden Sect already locked onto their targets and dashed towards them. This time, Mira also took out her scythe as she spotted the weakest link on their team.

    She knew that if they were to make it a 4 v 5 early on then it would essentially be a guaranteed win, but she didn''t act immediately and waited patiently for an opportunity.

    The element of surprise is often what can determine a fight and by just defeating one person, she could easily snowball it and swiftly take out the rest.

    The Immortal Sword Sect was also keeping his eyes glued onto Mira since she is the biggest factor, but he realized that the other disciples aren''t doing too well. One of them ended up facing off against 2 people, not only that but he was one of the stronger ones on their team.

    He wasn''t sure what to do since he wanted to follow Mira, but if the team lost someone so early due to this hesitation then they''ll surely lose.

    ''Argh! What to do?!'' He thought to himself then made his mind to help his teammate.

    But due to this hesitation, he took his eyes off of Mira for just a tad too long. Mira noticed that his eyes were off of her and dashed out towards the weakest person, Maria''s opponent. She gathered momentum in her scythe on the way, nced at Maria, then smashed her scythe into the man causing him to stumble into Maria.

    Maria understood Mira''s gaze as it told her to prepare to attack. When she saw her opponent get within range of her, she elbowed him in the chin which dazed him, then chopped the back of his neck with the pommel of her sword, knocking him unconscious. She didn''t want to seriously injure him, so she decided to go with this instead of using her sword. Plus, Mira definitely broke quite a few of his ribs and caused internal damage with that hit of hers. No need to add more to that.

    Mira grabbed his body and threw him off of the stage. She and Maria shared a silent gaze and nodded their heads. There was no need for them to talk after fighting and training together for so many years.

    This all happened right as the enemy Captain reached his teammate, who was already overwhelmed due to the girl''s onught.

    He soon discovered two auras approaching their position and he couldn''t help but gulp. He knew that this was already over. Nevertheless, he wasn''t going to back down from a fight.

    Mira and Maria quickly made their way towards the Captain and started attacking him. The Captain retreated to reposition since both girls came at him from two different sides.

    Jade noticed theming as well, nced at Cleo and both of them nodded. Cleo started attacking the opponent in front of her with more ferocity and Jade rushed over to the Captain in hopes to end this as soon as possible.

    Meanwhile, Alexa was facing off against two people but wasn''t incredibly overwhelmed. Since Mira told her that all she needed to do was to stall, then there is no point in wasting her energy in trying to defeat these two people right now.

    "C''mon, fight! You were fighting so fierce during the duels, why are you only running away now?! Are you scared? You must''ve used some wicked means to beat me earlier if you''re so scared of me now! Fight me you coward!" Jax tried provoking Alexa and it somewhat worked as Alexa frowned at his words.

    Even though Alexa was incredibly unhappy with those words, she knew better than to be provoked by an ape and just stayed silent and kept retreating and dodging.

    "Dammit! Fight me!!" Jax roared as his attacks got fiercer and fiercer.

    His teammate was also trying to sneak in attacks, but Alexa was doing a great job at controlling the battlefield and making sure to keep them at her pace.

    While Jax was solely focused on attacking, his partner noticed the Captain was getting besieged by 3 people.

    "Jax! The Captain is getting attacked by 3 people! If we don''t help him, we''ll lose!" The man said to Jax in a panic.

    "What?! Go help him then! I still haven''t gotten to fight yet!" Jax yelled as he kept trying to attack Alexa.

    The man frowned at his idiotic words, but now was not the time to argue. He soon ran off to help his Captain.

    Alexa just smiled faintly and then began to attack Jax. His expression lit up as he was finally able to get some action.

    "Haha! Finally!" He yelled and attacked back.

    At this time, Cleo defeated her opponent and threw him off of the stage. Now it was a 5 vs. 3. She looked around the battlefield and spotted a straggler trying to make his way over to his Captain. She knew that Alexa would be fine and there was no need to worry about Mira, Maria, and Jade. So this man ended up being her target.<sub> </sub>

    "Fuck! Get out of my way!" The man roared when he noticed Cleo appear in front of him and the two of them began to fight.

    The audience watching this scene was in awe at the coordination of the Battle Maiden Sect. They didn''t even need to talk to each other to understand what they should do. Things were just ying out too perfectly for them. They weren''t sure if they got lucky, if this was the difference in strength, or if this was due to the difference in Commanders but either way it was impressive.

    The City Lord also couldn''t help but squint his eyes at this scene. He knew that things were going perfectly because of Mira''s nning along with the first move she made. Things were just going to wlessly for their team as the Immortal Sword Sect was systematically dealt with in such a fluid motion. No special moves, no overwhelming strength, and even her strategies weren''t anything spectacr. Just the time and precision of everything was spot on that it became hard to even keep up.

    He came back to his thoughts when he saw someone else fly out of the Arena and could only sigh.

    "Battle Maiden Sect wins!"

    The one that was thrown out of the Arena was the Captain of the Immortal Sword Sect.

    "What?! No! What the hell were you guys doing?! It was just getting good!" Jax roared as he had to reluctantly stop fighting after they lost.

    The other disciple left also frowned, but not because they lost but because of this brainless idiot who only thinks about fighting!

    Either way, they had to walk off of the Arena leaving the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Jade, Maria, Cleo, and Alexa couldn''t help but let out a smile. The type of smile that one makes when they work so hard for something and get a perfect score. The type of smile when everything just fits perfectly into ce. Their hearts and minds werepletely satisfied after that battle. They knew this battle went so well and it felt amazing! They want more of this feeling!

    Mira just walked over towards them indifferently as this result was what she expected. Their win was inevitable, but these 4 did do quite well and didn''t require any external help. She was quite pleased with their performance so she decided to keep quiet and let them revel in this victory. Maybe it''ll make them want to train harder after this hehe.

    "Congrattions to the Battle Maiden Sect for winning first ce in the Inter-Sect Tournament with 268 points! We don''t have any physical rewards to hand out, but you will be getting the highest quota into the Secret Realm that will be opening not long after this. Even though you may not be getting rewards personally since you get to enter the Secret Realm, your Sect does get more rewards and special privileges. So look forward to that shortly!"

    "We''ll be announcing the results here shortly, so everyone stay tuned!" The City Lord announced happily.

    The Battle Maiden Sect disciples were all cheering as they actually got first ce this year! Even the Elders were ecstatic.

    When the 5 of them made their way back towards their section the other disciples congratted them on their win and they started having a mini celebration as they waited for the results.

    Around 20 minutester, the City Lord came back with the results and disyed them to the audience.

    "We have now calcted everyone''s scores! Here are the rankings! We will discuss the quotas with the Sect Masterster!"

    [Inter-Sect Tournament Rankings.

    1. Battle Maiden Sect - 268 Points.

    2. Immortal Sword Sect - 175 Points

    3. National Elven Sect - 150 Points

    4. Storm Sect - 143 Points

    5. Grand Nature Sect - 130 Points

    6. cial Sword Sect - 110 Points

    7. Cataclysmic Verdant Sect - 105 Points

    8. Battle Sect - 96 Points

    9. 8 Profound Elements Sect - 85

    10. Divine Beast Sect - 77 Points

    11. Heaven-Defying Pill Sect - 65 Points

    12. ded Wind Sect - 50 Points

    13. Frost Fire Sect - 40 Points

    14. Dry Inferno Sect - 36 Points

    15. Paragon Sect - 30 Points

    16. Ice Phoenix Sect - 24 Points

    17. Quintessential Ice Sect - 21 Points ]

 Chapter 149 Returning To The Battle Maiden Sect

    After the rankings were announced, most people weren''t surprised. There wasn''t anything upsetting with the points either.

    Even though the disciples that didn''t get good rankings were rather unhappy due to their low rank, but they couldn''t get mad over it. Most of them knew that they were too weak this time around as there were just too many monsters.

    Some were jealous of Mira and the Battle Maiden Sect, but after she disyed her strength and bloodlust during the war, any ill thoughts were wiped clean in an instant. They didn''t want to turn into pet food if they were to upset Mira, so they could only ept everything.

    Honestly, Mira was a bit surprised at how well-behaved the other disciples were acting. She was expecting some dumbass to speak up about how he can''t ept the results or someoneing up to her trying to challenge her, but there was none of that!

    They all gritted their teeth and epted it! But this is better for her since she just can''t be bothered to deal with idiots.

    "As you can see, these are the current rankings for the Inter-Sect Tournament. Congrattions to those who performed well and to those that didn''t, well there is always the next Inter-Sect tournament 20 years from now, but I doubt you''ll still be a disciple in a Sect by that point. Also, feel free to enjoy the City now that the tournament is over! Sect Leaders,e see me after this so we can discuss the quota limit for each Sect! You are all dismissed now! " The City Lord announced and walked off stage to wait for the Sect Leaders.

    The disciples and Elders from the Sects all up and left. Some wanted to explore the city, others wanted to go back to the inn and rest, while some were just eager to leave so they can start training for the Secret Realm.

    "Hey Mira, do you want to walk around the city and eat some food before going back to the inn? I''m sure Dominique would enjoy it!" Maria asked curiously.

    Mira nced at Dominique and saw that she was looking at her with expectant eyes, so Mira just nodded her head.

    "Yay!"

    The three of them walked around the City a bit. They bought walked down the streets and bought some food from the food stalls, but when they tried to pay the owners rejected and said that this is the least they can do for the Hero of Lunar Fox City.

    Mira didn''t reject as she didn''t want to waste any of her Spirit Stones on food even if it is only a few.

    This also made Dominique extremely happy since she got to stuff her face full of food and Mira would even give her share to Dominique as well. Eating essentially bes obsolete when one enters the Foundation Realm since their bodies are nourished by Qi, the energy of Heaven and Earth.

    If it doesn''t bring benefits then why waste time and money on it? This is Mira''s motto. If eating brought her benefits then she would eat, but since this food doesn''t then she doesn''t feel like eating it.

    The three of them walked through the city and chatted for a while before going back to the inn.

    Vulcan and Rhydian were still sleeping so Mira didn''t bother them.

    Dominique, on the other hand, wanted to practice with her new Butterfly Swords some more. Mira was going to begin cultivating, but she knew she might be gone for a while in the Secret Realm and she didn''t want Dominique to fall behind in her practice while she''s gone so she decided to give her some pointers and advice as she practiced.

    2 days went by like this and it was now time for the Battle Maiden Sect to return.

    "It''s now time to return back to the Sect. We have one month until the Secret Realm opens so you should spend this next month preparing. I''ll discuss the details about the Secret Realm when we return to the Sect. Alright, let''s head out!" Sect Master Jane said and they immediately made their way back to the Battle Maiden Sect.

    At their pace, it didn''t take them more than half a day to get back. When they returned, the Sect Master made an announcement for all of the Disciples to gather. After an hour, every disciple in the Sect made their way towards the Sect Master.

    "Hello disciples, I don''t know how many of you were watching the Inter-Sect Tournament, but our Battle Maiden Sect returned�� Victorious! We were able to ce first in this year''s Inter-Sect Tournament! This brings not only the Sect but you disciples various benefits!"

    "We will be receiving more resources, more treasures, and other things on top of that. Our training centers will be upgraded along with there being more of them. We''ll be getting more resources for various jobs like forging or alchemy. Essentially, you guys should be able to experience a rise in strength a bit faster."<sub> </sub>

    "Not only that but with the recognition that our Battle Maiden Sect has now after winning the tournament, there should be more requests which will allow you guys to make more Spirit Stones."

    "But the biggest thing is that we have more quotas for the Secret Realm. Since we achieved first ce, we will be getting 20 slots! The 15 that participated in the Tournament will be taking up 15 of those and as for the rest of the slots�� It''ll be based on your Ranking in the Arena! So if you want to take part in the Secret Realm exploration, then work hard and advance higher up on the rankings!"

    "As for the Secret Realm itself, well let''s just say there are treasures, inheritances, rare ingredients, rare magical beasts, and many more. But you will have to brave the dangers thate with it. You will be stuck in the Secret Realm for 3 months. The Secret Realm is a very hostile ce where anything and everything can kill you. The weather in there is also ever-changing with rain as sharp as knives, razor-like wind, sporadic lightning, scorching sun, and a freezing moon. But those who enter the Secret Realm always see a drastic rise in strength if they are able to return alive. Even if you do nothing in the Secret Realm and just survive, you''ll see a drastic increase in strength just due to the weather."

    "That''s all I have to say, now go prepare!" Sect Master Jane exined and the disciples started discussing this Secret Realm.

    "That ce sounds amazing! I''ve been feeling like my cultivation is taking forever to increase, maybe I''ll be able to find something there?"

    "Hmm... if even just staying inside of it will improve our strength then what about the treasures? I guess I''ll have to see if I can upy one of the remaining slots."

    "I''m going to go train right now! One of those slots is mine!"

    Everyone was interested in this Secret Realm. They all knew that if they want to progress further in their cultivation, then risks are a must! What cultivator here hasn''t taken some sort of risk before?

    Mira just ignored everyone and walked back to her room.

    When she came back, she spotted Dominique training with her weapons like there''s no tomorrow. Mira just shook her head a little at this sight but didn''t say anything. This girl was very talented with these Butterfly Swords and everything she said stuck to her like glue. Mira could also tell that she was simting the fights that she saw during the Tournament to shadow fight, which is very impressive.

    Mira started to feel like having this child around wouldn''t be the worst thing in the world whenever she saw her practicing. She then decided that she''ll give her a bit of help during this next month so she can spend the next 3 months absorbing everything.

    Mira went back to her room and the first thing she did is set up the Qi Gathering Array she got as a reward from the City Lord.

    This Qi Gathering Array is very good and is only slightly inferior to the Cultivation Caves here in the Sect. The main premise of the Qi Gathering Array is the take the atmospheric Qi and condense it into a specific area. One can also use their own Spirit Stones to increase the density.

    Just turning this Qi Gathering Array on makes the inside of it only slightly inferior to the Cultivation Caves within the Sect. But if Mira wants to reach the level of density of the Cultivation Caves, she needs to use her own Spirit Stones to help out. Though this isn''t a problem for Mira since she just received 5,000 of them from the City Lord a few weeks ago.

    After setting it up, Mira took a few Jade slips and paper so she can record down some things for Dominique.

    Mira proceeded to spend the next 48 hours writing, drawing, and recording stuff. Mainly tactics, techniques, footwork, and stances. She did this for both martial arts and Butterfly Swords, or at least from what she understood, but just this much should be more than enough for Dominique to spend the next 3 months practicing.

    Mira walked out of her room and over to Dominique.

    "If I see you making good progress with your Butterfly Swords during this next month, I have a surprise for you," Mira said and walked away, leaving the stunned Dominique.

    "Surprise? Did Mira really just say she has a surprise for me?! Hehe! I won''t let you down! I must get this surprise!" Dominique said with determination and started training even harder.

    Meanwhile, Mira made her way towards the Cultivation Caves.

    "Time to break through to the Late-Houtian Stage."

 Chapter 150 To The Secret Realm

    25 Days Later

    Mira was sitting in a Cultivation Cave in a lotus position gathering an insane amount of Qi. The Cave was even having a tough time keeping up with Mira''s consumption as her body greedily devoured the surrounding Qi.

    Not only that, but Mira was holding a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, absorbing the Qi within it.

    Her cultivation needed an insane amount of Qi for someone who was only a Mid-Houtian Stage. It wasparable to a Mid-Xiantian Stage cultivator and the gap would only widen when she breaks through.

    Right now she was filling up every bone, muscle, organ, blood, and cell in her body with Qi.

    When the Qi filled up her body she had to condense the newly-absorbed Qi to the same density as the rest of the Qi in her body.

    This is no easy task since Mira''s Qi is condensed to the absolute max, so every time she absorbed more Qi, she''d have to condense it to the level it was at when she broke through to the Mid-Houtian Stage.

    After an unknown amount of time, Mira hadpletely filled up her body with super-condensed Qi. She even absorbed a bit more, which caused her body to inte a bit.

    Now it''s time to condense everything and finally break through to the Late-Houtian Stage.

    Mira willed every ounce of Qi in her body to condense. Doing this is like folding a sheet of paper in half except for both halves get absorbed into each other, but keep the same amount of volume as before.

    Mira could stop here and advance to the next realm of power, but this would limit her growth and strength so she kept going.

    Hours went by and Mira finally hit a bottleneck. This isn''t some bottleneck that can simply be passed with will and determination. No, it''s more like if she were to continue condensing then her body won''t be able to handle it. But something told her that this is a good thing.

    Mira let out a faint smile and stopped cultivating. She opened her eyes, got up, and left the Cultivation Cave. Her strength had now skyrocketed. She guessed that she should be able to have a fair fight with almost anyone under the Core Formation Realm and she could probably fight with a Core Formation Realm Expert and not immediately lose.

    Mira doesn''t count killing those Core Formation Realm Experts during the war since that was the result of gathering Qi from her new Scythe Art after hundreds of thousands of kills and even more swings. That plus a lot of luck, pressure from her killing intent, and surprise attacks.

    Her true strength is nowhere near that perverted but is still pretty crazy.

    Mira returned to her room and noticed that nobody was there, but she wasn''t too surprised.

    Maria has been cultivating like mad and even her Sword Master, Elder Bridget, was helping her out by giving her some pills and a great ce to cultivate. It seems that Elder Bridget has taken a real liking to Maria.

    Dominique, on the other hand, was given her own training schedule by Mira so she''s not at their residence that often.

    Speaking of Dominique, she''s getting very close to entering the Qi Condensation Realm. Actually, she can enter it whenever she wants to since she''s now at the Peak of the Body Tempering Realm, but Mira hasn''t allowed her to breakthrough just yet.

    This is because Mira wants to train her body to an insane degree for a mortal and she''s seeded in creating a little monster. Even though she has yet to enter the Qi Condensation Realm, her strength is already on par with the average Stage 4 or 5 Qi Condensation cultivator.

    Now that Mira has a little under a week left before she leaves, she intends to help Dominique breakthrough to the Qi Condensation Realm which should make her power sky-rocket.

    Mira spent her time creating training manuals and techniques for Dominique when she''s gone. A few hourster, Dominique came back to the room drenched in sweat.

    Before she could do anything, Mira approached her.

    "Time to be a cultivator." Mira said and dragged her to the Qi Gathering Array.

    Dominique didn''t immediately catch on, but soon turned ecstatic! Mira''s finally letting me be a cultivator!

    After cing Dominique in the Qi Gathering Arra, Mira began to instruct her.

    Dominique knew all about breaking through to the Qi Condensation Realm by now since not only has Mira and Maria told her about it. But she''s been asking almost everyone in the Sect about their experiences breaking through to this Realm. Most were willing to tell her since they didn''t have the heart to decline such a cute little girl. Mira''s the only one in the Sect that would torture her so much!

    After listening to Mira, Dominique solemnly nodded and began to do what she was instructed. She started to crazily absorb the surrounding Qi into her meridians, then proceed to condense it. Mira told her to keep condensing it until she felt like her meridians might explode. With Dominique''s extremely sturdy body, this isn''t a problem for her at all and she kept absorbing the Qi like crazy.

    Mira was overseeing everything and couldn''t help but be a little shocked. When Dominique sessfully finished breaking through to Stage 1 Qi Condensation Realm, she noticed she was just as strong as she was when she broke through to the Qi Condensation Realm back at thevake.

    This will set up an amazing foundation for her and allow her to be a step ahead against cultivators in the same realm as her.

    Mira nodded in satisfaction and even had a tinge of pride looking at Dominique. Not proud of Dominique, but proud of herself for being able to forge something like Dominique.

    "Yes!! I''m finally a cultivator now!! Thank you so much, Mira! Now let''s spar! I know that you''ll kick my ass, but I hope you won''t be shameless enough to beat up someone as weak as me! I''ve been waiting so long for this!" Dominique jumped up and took out her Butterfly Swords.

    Mira thought about it for a second then nodded her head. Mira also felt a bit of pity for Dominique because she would be sending her to something akin to hell here pretty soon.<sub> </sub>

    After getting confirmation from Mira, Dominique beamed with joy.

    Mira formed an ice rod and took a stance.

    "I''ll only defend and attack any openings, Mira said indifferently.

    Dominique nodded and rushed at Mira, but before she could evennd a hit Mira had smashed her ice rod into her side. It wasn''t obvious wasn''t a full-power hit since Dominique would actually die if she did that, but it sure didn''t feel good.

    Dominique retreated, tried to figure out what she did wrong, then rushed back at Mira. This time she got a bit closer before getting hit. She could only groan in pain and retreat as she tried to deduce where she went wrong.

    After understanding where she went wrong, she rushed back at Mira.

    This went on for almost 12 hours before Dominique copsed from exhaustion.

    This time, Mira was actually surprised by how talented Dominique was. It wasn''t her talent with the Butterfly Swords that shocked her, but herprehension abilities. After every hit from her, Dominique would learn and evolve. Her growth during thesest 12 hours was astounding.

    Mira now felt more assured in her decision. She picked up Dominique and dashed out of the Sect towards a certain hidden area in a little forest.

    ***

    "Huh? Where am I?" Dominique whispered as she woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling.

    Mira noticed she was awake and walked over to her.

    "I brought you to a certain ce that will increase your strength rather quickly. How much your strength increases depends on your own capability and determination. The only catch is that it''ll take you 2 years toplete it. But I also have a feeling that it might not take that long so I left a talisman for you. Just crush it and it''ll notify me that you''re done." Mira exined and Dominique only became more confused.

    "2 years? Will you also be here with me during these 2 years? But you have the Secret Realm! No! You''re going to leave me aren''t you?! No! I don''t want you to go!" Dominique screamed as she started to tear up and hug Mira.

    "Child, this is something that you have to do without me. I''lle back when you''re finished. It''s not like I''m just ditching you here. I''ll be away for 3 months anyway. Maybe if you work extra hard during this training will you be able to see me sooner? Hehe." Mira gave an eerie chuckle, but Dominique''s determination shot through the roof when she heard that. She made up her mind right there that she would do her absolute best during this trial so she could see Mira faster.

    Mira nodded in satisfaction, not knowing if that''ll happen or not.

    "Anyway, here''s your surprise." Mira said and took out a book titled ''Dominique''s Personal Training Regimen''.

    The book wasn''t that thick, but when Dominique opened it and flipped through the pages she could only look at it in awe. It was filled up with stances, martial arts, stances, footwork, ways tobine her weapon with martial arts, and all of this waspiled into a fighting style that Mira felt would suit Dominique very well.

    This was all custom-made by Mira specifically for Dominique and her Butterfly Swords.

    Dominique started to tear up as she looked at it and then looked at Mira like she was a totally different person.

    "Try to study that a bit before you start your training. It''ll help you quite a bit. Now, I''ll show you around." Mira said as she walked out of the room.

    Dominique followed and was in awe by this underground city that seemed tock people. Mira gave her a small tour while also looking for the Caretaker.

    After introducing Dominique to everything along with telling her to find the Caretaker whenever she wants to start the trial, Mira also gave her a few words of advice and added a few things to Dominique''s space ring.

    She spent the rest of the day with Dominique then left. Dominique was, of course, extremely sad to see Mira leave, but she knew that she needed to face this challenge head-on. She immediately went into learning everything in her new training book.

    Mira spoke to the Caretaker beforehand and asked a few questions. She wanted to know if he was able to increase the difficulty a bit, to which he answered yes, then proceeded to tell him to make it a bit more difficult for her.

    After returning to the Sect, Mira decided to rest and take it easy. She knew that the uing 3 months were going to be hard, but she was looking forward to it.

    The day before it was time to leave, Maria came back to the residence. Mira noticed that she also broke through to the Late-Houtian Stage.

    The two of them were now fully prepared to enter the Secret Realm.

    During this month, Rhydian and Vulcan were still sleeping and showed no signs of waking up. Mira could only pray that Rhydian doesn''t cause a mess in the Sect or the surrounding cities for that matter.

    The day passed quickly. Sect Master Jane had already chosen thest 5 people who will enter the Secret Realm along with everyone else and announced the departure to the rest of the Sect. Soon, all 20 people gathered at the entrance.

    "Alright disciples, it''s now time to set off to the Secret Realm!"

 Chapter 151 Inside The Secret Realm

    Mira and the rest of the disciples followed Sect Master Jane for nearly an entire day before they finally made it to their destination.

    They were now standing in arge empty field with no indications that this would be where the Secret Realm is located.

    ? Mira couldn''t even sense any ripples in the air that would indicate that there is something here. No, they were just in arge open field with nothing special to it. The grass was overly green, but was just normal grass, there were no trees or beasts and you could even walk in this field with no trouble at all. There wasn''t anything like an invisible wall blocking them.

    The disciples were also a little suspicious since there was nothing here.

    "Sect Master, is this really the ce where the Secret Realm is located? I don''t sense anything." One of the disciples asked.

    "This is the ce and it''s not surprising that you can''t sense it. Even I can''t sense the Secret Realm. To be honest, we actually know very little about the Secret Realm. We only know that it only epts people under the Core Formation Realm and that it opens every 20 years. We don''t know what causes this phenomenon and we don''t even know everything about the inside of the Secret Realm. It''s in a constant state of chaos and the things that happen inside are always changing. But we do specte that the Secret Realm is actually a separate dimension or another world, but this is only a theory. We don''t actually know." The Sect Master exined.

    "I-I see. I guess we need to be careful then."

    "That you should."

    "I''ll give you a little bit of advice though. When one enters the Secret Realm, everyone will be brought to a different location once they step through. If you want to partner up with someone then you''ll have to hold onto them in some way." Sect Master Jane advised and the disciples started forming groups. Everyone wanted to be with Mira, but only Maria and Cine were able to stay by her side.

    As time passed by, more and more disciples from the other sects were arriving near the supposed location of the Secret Realm.

    They all greeted each other, but the other Sects couldn''t help but look at the Battle Maiden Sect with envy. They were able to send 20 disciples into the Secret Realm while 2nd ce was only allowed to send in 12 with that number reducing by one for each rank below that. The Sects that were Ranked 11-17 were only permitted 3 people to enter.

    With the strength of the Battle Maiden Sect disciples this year, there was a much higher chance that lucky encounters would be given to them. More than that, it was likely that most people here couldn''t fight with most of the Battle Maiden Sect members. They might even be forced to give up their lucky encounters.

    As the disciples and Elders were discussing amongst each other, all of a sudden a massive force erupted from out of nowhere.

    The Qi in the air became extremely turbulent and it seemed like the void was ripping apart right in front of them.

    The disciples couldn''t believe their eyes as it didn''t take long for arge crack to appear in the space in front of them.

    What they saw on the other side of this crack was rather daunting as well. Raging thunderstorms, tornados, and razer sharp rain was rolling through the Secret Realm. The tornados and lighting weren''t normal either. If someone were to get caught in one of them they''d surely get ripped to shreds.

    Forget about lucky encounters, could they really survive in such a torturous area?

    "The Secret Realm is now open! Form groups if you want or go solo, it doesn''t matter. Do your best to look for any lucky encounters, but most important of all�� Try to stay alive. You can''t use your lucky encounters if you don''t live! Now get ready! Once you enter, you won''t be able to leave for the next 3 months! Once your 3 months are up, you''ll be forcefully ejected! I''ll give you 2 minutes to prepare!" Sect Master Jane announced and the disciples immediately grouped up and started holding hands.

    Maria and Cine were firmly holding onto Mira''s hands, but Mira herself was actually rather excited to enter. That rain, that lighting, those tornados�� if she can survive and temper her body with them, how strong would she be after exiting? Forget about other lucky chances inside, just the atmosphere itself is a lucky chance. Plus, Mira has a faint feeling that the beasts that live in such a ce are anything but easy to deal with and extreme physical strength might be required to deal with them.

    As everyone was preparing, everyone turned to look at the first person to enter. He was going solo and didn''t seem overly strong, but he had an air of confidence and arrogance about him. But this changed as soon as he stepped in.

    One might say that this guy was just extremely unlucky as before he could even move in the Secret Realm, he was struck by lightning, turned into a piece of charcoal, and the fierce wind and rain scattered his ashes.

    The man didn''t even have time to scream before he died. This made everyone tremble. That man wasn''t strong nor weak, but he died so fast�� Too fast!!<sub> </sub>

    Even the Elders couldn''t help butment his terrible luck.

    Now everyone became hesitant to enter since they didn''t want to die right off the bat!

    Mira, seeing how the other disciples were afraid of entering, decided to step up with Maria and Cine in tow.

    "Hey, do you think the same thing will happen to her?"

    "Huh? It might be better if it does. She''s the Devil Heroine that defeated an army by herself. She''ll surely be able to hoard all of the treasures in there."

    "Hmm�� You may be right, but it''d surely be a pity if she did die like that."

    The disciples from other Sects couldn''t help but whisper.

    Mira just ignored them and stepped through the crack. Maria and Cine were both closing their eyes in fear and they gripped Mira''s hands so tight that if it was anyone else, their hands would be shattered.

    They weren''t immediately struck by lightning, to everyone''s dismay, and right after that, she vanished from everyone''s sight.

    "Damn, so she really made it in without any trouble."

    "I guess that guy was truly just unlucky. Poor fellow."

    "Heh. I guess it''s time to go in so that littless doesn''t take all of the good stuff!"

    Others started going through one by one. It didn''t take long for all of the disciples to enter the crack. There also weren''t any casualties after that first guy.

    Seeing how every disciple entered, the crack started to close up and after a few minutes, the chaotic Qi finally settled down and everything went back to normal.

    "Hmmm�� I feel like I forgot to mention something to them. Well, if it was important I would''ve remembered." Sect Master Jane couldn''t help but feel like she forgot to say something, but she couldn''t remember what.

    ***

    In the Secret Realm

    Mira, Maria, and Cine were teleported to some random location in the Secret Realm.

    *RUMBLE*

    Mira looked up and let out a wry smile.

    "What shitty luck��"

 Chapter 152 Tornado Tempering

    "What shitty luck��" Mira muttered to herself as she looked up.

    Cine and Maria also opened their eyes, realizing they weren''t dead yet, but their faces instantly paled.

    "W-W-Why did we get teleported here?!" Maria yelled in fright and Cine was also trembling.

    Right now the 3 of them were inside of a massive tornado with lightning streaking across the skies as well as inside the tornado.

    To make matters worse, razor-sharp ice crystals were flying everywhere, threatening their very existence.

    "This is very troublesome. The thunder wouldn''t be so bad, but this tornado is extremely dangerous. We also don''t know if this thing is going to remain in one spot nor do we know how long this tornado willst. But looking at the size of it, I''m guessing that it won''t be going away anytime soon." Mira calmly exined as she tried to examine everything.

    The ice and thunder aren''t too much of a threat to her since she controls one of those elements and her body seems to be able to absorb lightning or at least soften the blow. But she felt extreme danger from the winds of the tornado. She knew that she''d die if she were to try and cross it.

    Thinking this, they could either be considered lucky fornding in the eye of the tornado rather than getting ripped apart by it. But the fact still remains that they are stuck with no way to get out.

    "Let''s use this opportunity to temper our bodies. The lightning will be very beneficial for this and with the help from the residual wind and ice, the effects should be even greater. I''ll also set my Ice Domain up to increase the efficiency, though I rmend you strip and grab onto me since I doubt you''ll be able to handle this lightning yourself." Mira exined as she took off her clothes and stored them.

    She didn''t want her brand new mask and clothes to get ruined after all.

    "Ah! Mira!? What the hell are you doing?! Wouldn''t it be better to keep your clothes on?! I mean, you don''t want to get chopped up into minced meat do you?!" Maria yelled and Cine furiously nodded.

    Mira just red at her, clearly annoyed by such a stupid question.

    "I''m tempering my body. You better do the same if you don''t want to be turned to ash. I''ll give you 30 seconds!" Mira yelled at the.

    "Ah!"

    Both of them started stripping andtched onto Mira.

    She just nodded and unleashed her Ice Domain. The temperature around the 3 of them instantly dropped, but Mira didn''t make her Ice Domain that big, only around 2 meters wide.

    This clearly wasn''t enough to gather any lightning, so Mira made an Ice rod on top of her head in the middle of her domain. Then she unleashed her blue lightning.

    There were two reasons why Mira wanted to temper her body with the lightning here. One, she wanted to know to what extent the lightning in her body can do. Two, she wanted to see if she would be able to unlock more effects.

    Right now, she is highly resistant to lightning attacks, can absorb lightning, and use it to temper her body, and her vitality is much higher causing her wounds to regenerate much faster. Did her body gain an elemental affinity? Or is it due to her particr bloodline thatbined with her physique after her rebirth in the trial? Mira wanted to uncover these secrets more.

    As Mira''s blue lightning surrounded them, it started attracting the surrounding lightning. Almost instantly, Golden-green lightning shot towards Mira''s Ice Domain and was redirected at Mira.

    Mira clenched her teeth as she felt the vtile lightning course through her body.

    "AAAAHHHHH!!" Maria and Cine yelled in pain as they took in the residual lightning that spread out between the 3 of them.

    Lightning violently coursed through their bodies as it tried to destroy everything, but their bodies were naturally very tough due to Mira''s training. So the lightning wasn''t able to turn them to ash, especially since this wasn''t actually the brunt of it. They circted the Qi in their bodies, as they tried to strengthen and heal any injuries that were caused.

    Slowly, but surely their bodies were being tempered by this lightning. Muscles, skin, organs, even blood were all being refined and tempered from the constant influx of lightning. Mira''s Ice Domain was also doing wonders as it condensed and strengthened everything even more.

    Meanwhile, Mira was feeling the changes in her body. Not only was her body strengthening, but the blue lightning hidden in her body reacted as well. It was equally distributing the external lightning that coursed through her body, making it so there wasn''t a single inch on Mira''s body that wasn''t being tempered.

    Her regeneration was also spurred, so any injuries that were caused by the lightning were also healed because of it as well.

    Furthermore, she could feel her physique mutating bit by bit as well. Part of the Golden-green lightning was being absorbed by her blue lightning to strengthen her Mutated Extreme Yin Physique that hasbined with her Kuraokami bloodline as well as the lightning from the Trial, creating something very unique and strange.

    Mira was starting to if she should rename her bloodline and physique since they are no longer the same as before. But she shook her head at these thoughts and focused on tempering her body.

    ***

    Time passed by slowly for the 3 of them as they were forced to withstand this torture. Maria and Cine kept trying to get out of body tempering, but Mira would ruthlessly send more lightning to them and told them they can stop when they can bear the full brunt of the lightning.

    Mira was also secretly dragging the 3 of them closer to the edge of the tornado. She wanted to use this terrifying wind to help as well.

    The other 2 girls didn''t notice since they were already having trouble withstanding the lightning and didn''t have time to think about how their skin was constantly getting torn to shreds and repaired over and over again.<sub> </sub>

    Mira also noticed that she could send her blue lightning into Maria and Cine to help with tempering their bodies. Doing this only helps spread out the lightning coursing through their bodies more evenly. And as Mira kept absorbing more of it, her control was getting better as well.

    This helped to lighten the load on Maria and Cine.

    Hours soon turned into days as they spent every second tempering their bodies. The lightning in the tornado wasn''t reducing either and like the heavens were angry, the sky would often shoot lightning towards the 3 of them. Though, this only helped them speed up their body tempering session.

    After an undetermined amount of time, the 3 of them stopped feeling pain from the lightning as their bodies got ustomed to it.

    The 3 of them opened their eyes, and they were no longer holding onto each other. Their bodies were covered in blood and burns, but most of their wounds have healed. asionally they had to take a rejuvenation pill to heal some of the more serious injuries, but that was it.

    Mira frowned as they were still in the tornado and it didn''t seem like it had any ns of going away. She stuck her hand closer to it, but when it got too close, her skin started to rip apart. Her frown deepened since their bodies still weren''t strong enough to escape from here. It''s also not easy to temper the body using this kind of violent wind.

    "Why don''t we try attacking it?" Cine suggested, but Mira was a little hesitant. This tornado is way out of their league. Breakthrough with strength? Destroy the tornado? Run through? As if!!

    "Hmmm�� Why don''t we try digging under it?" Maria suggested and Mira''s eyes looked at Maria a bit strangely.

    "Since when were you capable of good ideas?" Mira asked in a serious voice.

    Maria got flustered by herment as she tried to refute it.

    "I''m full of good ideas, you just don''t appreciate them! Hmph!" Maria took out her sword and shed at the ground, but her sword barely prated the earth. She kept swinging harder and harder, but nothing barely anything happened.

    "Well, it would''ve been a good idea�� Hehe�� Heh." Maria averted eye contact and pouted, storing her sword.

    "Sigh�� If we did try to make a tunnel, we''d spend the rest of our time here trying to dig a hole to get out. Plus, we don''t even know howrge this tornado is. But the eye has around 10 meters in diameter of space inside, so I''d presume that the tornado is much bigger than 10 meters wide. I guess we can only continue to temper our bodies with this wind. How many rejuvenation pills did you bring?" Mira said calmly.

    "150," Maria answered.

    "125," Cine answered.

    It seems both of them prepared a lot, and Elder Bridget probably gave Maria quite a few supplies.

    "That''ll do for now. Try not to use them that often since we don''t know what we''ll encounter after this. Just make sure you don''t die." Mira said as she walked closer to the tornado.

    Skin started to peel off and her blood got soaked up into the tornado. Mira used her Qi to help heal these injuries and would slowly inch her way forward as her skin and flesh tempered.

    The other two groaned but joined Mira as they were tired of being here.

    ***

    "Huuu�� Huuu�� Finally! We''re out of that damn tornado!" Maria yelled as she gasped for air!

    "Finally�� We�� Don''t have to�� Suffer!!! No more torture!!! OOOHHHH!!" Cine gave a battle cry as they finally made their way out of the tornado.

    They didn''t know how long it took, but they knew that each of them spent around 50 rejuvenation pills during this time, along with retreating to heal their injuries on their own to save their pills.

    They also had to take quite a few Blood Restoration pills as well due to their overwhelming amount of blood loss. On top of that, they ended up eating quite a bit of their rations as well to help restore their lost blood.

    But after all of that pain, they were finally able to make it out of that damn tornado! And as soon as they made it out, they ran as far away from it as possible. Even Mira was quite tired of standing in the middle of a tornado as it ripped her to pieces.

    But of course, Mira didn''t want to lose out on such a perfect training ground. So while they were in there, Mira would often start attacking them out of nowhere, forcing them to spar as they were in the middle of tempering their bodies.

    Mira looked at the massive tornado in the distance that was probably at least 100 meters in diameter and was d that they made it out.

    She felt like her skin was like refined steel that was several times more durable than before. Her body was also at least twice as powerful due to the lightning as well. She also felt her physique and bloodline were stronger than before, but the offensive capabilities were still very low.

    "Hmmm��" Mira narrowed her eyes when she got a good look at the surroundings.

    The only thing she could see is an endless desert, but not a normal desert. There was no sand, only cracked ground, fire tornados, and she also noticed giant worms that spit poison at nearby entities.

 Chapter 153 Scorched Desert

    Maria and Cine finally caught their breath and were able to look around a bit, but immediately despaired when they saw the scene in front of them.

    "Really?! Why did we have to run into a scorching hell?! I''d rather be stuck in that damn tornado than this! Cough�� Cough�� Damn it!!" Maria yelled but inhaled a bunch of sand in the process.

    "I don''t think this ce is very suitable for me. I just wanted to go treasure hunting and maybe asionally kill some beasts! Why does it have to be like this?! Mira, I think you are the most unlucky person I''ve ever met!" Cineined as well.

    Mira just shrugged as she put on her clothes. Luckily her new Daoist robes are extremely durable and also very weather resistant.

    "I''ve never been lucky. In fact, I don''t think I''ve met anyone more unfortunate than me, but that''s beside the point. This is also an opportunity. Mira''s elemental affinity is Light, maybe you''ll be able to find some sort of treasure rted to that here. Also, Vulcan is a beast made from fire, so this is the perfect ce to find something for him. Cine has a wind affinity so finding something rted to that here is not probable, but not impossible. While for me, it''s highly unlikely I''ll find anything rted to ice here..." Mira paused there to let them soak in that information. The two of them were also feeling rather good about the possibility of treasures.

    "...There''s also another good thing about being here. Body Tempering! Hehe." Mira gave an evil grin and her twopanions couldn''t help but groan and shudder. They''ve been tempering their body this entire time and now they have to do more?! Are you fucking kidding me?!

    "Well, let''s not waste time. Let''s go." Mira said and started walking in a random direction.

    The others just followed along and groaned in pain as the scorching sun became hotter the farther they walked.

    ***

    Mira''s group has been travelling in this desert area for a while now, but since the sun doesn''t change positions it''s impossible to tell how long. Their current appearances look very haggard since they haven''t found a way out of the desert no matter how far they walk and the heat only seems to increase.

    They ran into quite a few giant worms, but with their ability dealing with them was as easy as breathing.

    During this time, the 3 of them haven''te across any treasures or any other people. The only thing that was of interest is them finding fire tornados to temper their bodies with.

    After their bodies would absorb one fire tornado they''d move onto the next one.

    Since they don''t have a destination and only spending their time walking would be pointless, Mira forced them into this.

    But it didn''t take long for the fire tornados to no longer have any effect on their bodies. So they ended up stop paying attention to the fire tornados and just tried to look for anything that stood out.

    This desert is void of any life except for the asional giant worm, but even these worms are rather weak and are useless to them.

    But Mira was secretly collecting their poison sacks since they might be useful in the future.

    At some point, Mira stopped and looked in a certain direction.

    "What?! Did you find something interesting?!" Maria asked excitedly.

    "Maybe, I feel an abundance of fire energy in that direction. Maybe it''ll be something good." Mira answered vaguely, but this was enough for Maria and Cine.

    "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let''s go check it out!" Cine eximed as she tried to run in the direction Mira pointed in but was grabbed by Mira.

    "Idiot, if there is something so good, it''ll definitely attract the nearby beasts'' attention. Let''s scope out the area first before just diving straight in." Mira said with an irritated voice. Even Maria knows this.

    Cine dropped her head dejectedly but didn''t lose her determination as she wanted to see what kind of treasure it would be.

    The three then made their way over towards the source and were surprised by the overwhelming heating from that area. It was many times hotter than the fire tornados and the sun. If they aren''t careful, they might even get burned as well.

    They also noticed quite a few giant worms gathering together, seemingly waiting.<sub> </sub>

    Mira''s group snuck around them but stayed far enough away that they wouldn''t notice them.

    They got as close as possible and were a little stunned by what they saw.

    It was a ming red lotus flower that was collecting all of the fire energy within the area. It seems that it hasn''t matured yet since it''s absorbing at such a crazy speed.

    "Let''s camp out here and wait for this thing to bloom." Mira suggested and the other two agreed.

    Time went by slowly and the lotus flower was still collecting the surrounding heat, but the range of absorption has increased, bringing in more giant worms.

    It seemed that it was finally about to bloom, but as soon as it did two massive centipedes came out of the cracked ground.

    They noticed each other immediately and started fighting.

    These beasts were on another levelpared to the giant worms. These things were hundreds of meters long, spat fire, had a poisonous stinger, and razor-sharp mandibles. Their exoskeleton also seemed imprable, at least from Mira''s perspective.

    She knew she stood no chance against a beast like that. Even with the help of Maria and Cine, they don''t have enough power to even break the shell. Even if Mira were to use herbo attack, beating it would only give her a less than 1% chance of winning.

    These beasts were Mid-Stage Rank 6 Magical Beasts, which is around a Stage 3 Core Formation Realm cultivator, but there was a huge difference between the two.

    To break through this centipede''s defenses, a Stage 6 or even 7 Core Formation Cultivator would be needed, much less them, who are not even in the Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm.

    All they could hope for is mutual destruction, which didn''t seem out of the question since insect magical beasts are rather stupid. They also did Mira''s group a favor by killing most of the surrounding giant worms and scatter the rest of them.

    "Those things just HAD to show up, didn''t they?!" Mariained a bit, but there was nothing they could do.

    "Right! That''s our treasure! How dare some stupid insects try to im it!?" Cine alsoined but knew it was pointless.

    "Shut up, you two! We can still get the treasure. One way is to hope for mutual destruction then just pick up the flower and leave. Another way is to wait until one of them is almost dead, sneak up on it and try to finish it off, but this will require some preparation. The third way is to sneak past them while their fighting and take it under their noses. Though I don''t really rmend this one, since their target will switch from each other to us."

    "I''d give the first option a 20% chance and the third option a 10% chance. Well, it might be a bit higher, but we have to outrun them which may prove difficult. I''d give the second option a 25% chance, but will be higher or lower depending on how injured the survivor is after the battle and how well we are able to prepare." Mira exined and the other two listened intently.

    They also knew of these options but just felt like it was impossible and after hearing Mira''s calctions they still felt it was unlikely, but Mira seemed to have a n.

    Mira then began exining her n for taking out an injured centipede. Maria and Cine couldn''t help but gasp when they heard Mira''s psychotic n, but regardless of how crazy it was, they felt like it might work.

    ***

    The two centipedes fought for many hours before finally one of them copsed with many holes in its body. Its reddish-purple blood started filling up the cracks in the ground, but then the lotus started sucking up its blood as nutrients.

    The other centipede had quite a few holes in its body as well and was near death, but if given time to rest plus this lotus flower, it would definitely recover as well as get much stronger.

    It curled up around the flower, protecting it while waiting for it to bloom.

    It didn''t know that someone was currently targeting it and was about to make their move.

 Chapter 154 Flaming Lotus Flower

    While the giant centipede was curled up around the red lotus flower, Mira and Maria were currently falling from the sky at extreme speeds. Mira had a pair of ice wings on her back and was using as much Qi as she could in them to output more power and speed. Maria was building up Qi in her fists as she waited for them to arrive on top of the centipede.

    ***

    10 minutes prior

    "So how do you want to deal with the centipede now that it''s weakened? Obviously, Mira will have to be the one to hit it, but I still feel like she doesn''t have enough power." Cine asked to which the 3 of them started to think.

    "Could you use thatbo attack skill you came up with? Maybe we could spar a bit and build up some power?" Maria suggested, but Mira shook her head.

    "That might be feasible, but there are a couple of reasons why it won''t work. One, we''ll definitely wake it up, and once that happens we can forget about grabbing the flower. Two, we''d need to exchange thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of moves. This will take a long time and you won''t be able tost that long either. Also, I don''t think it''ll work on that guy even if it''s a full-power hit." Mira exined and the of them went back to thinking.

    "Hmmm�� Let''s see. Ice, wind, light are the 3 elements we have. We need more power, so what can give us more power without us cultivating a bit more and getting stronger? Skills? Weapon or Elemental Arts? We have the Earth-Shattering Fist, which should be useful against this guy, but it won''t be enough. I bought a few pills that can increase my strength for a short while, but I''ll be weakened for a few days after that and the effects are negligible against that thing." Mira thought out loud and Maria''s eyes brightened after listening to Mira''s rambling.

    "I got it! What if we attack it from the sky?! Falling should be able to provide us with an extra boost! Plus, I can help Mira get up in the air with my light element!" Maria got all excited just thinking about it.

    "Maria, don''t be ridiculous! You''d have to fall from an extreme height that might kill you! This is too risky!" Cine rejected since this idea was too crazy, but Mira stopped her.

    "No, this could work. Cine can create an updraft with her wind element that can help us increase in altitude. I can make some ice wings and Maria can make some light wings along with shooting light beams from her feet. We''ll go as high as possible then drop right on top of its head. Not bad." Mira gave a slight nod and created some ice wings. Maria made a bright smile and created some light wings.

    "Are you fucking crazy?! You could die without even being able to kill that thing! I won''t do it!" Cineined, but she just got ignored.

    Mira and Maria already had their arms around each other''s shoulders and were preparing for lift-off.

    "Alright. Cine, make the updraft. We''re ready." Mira ordered and got into position.

    ''What the hell?! These two are just doing whatever they feel! Hmph! Fine, if you die then don''t me me!'' Cineined internally but started created an updraft.

    Mira and Maria nodded at her, squatted, andunched up into the air causing the ground below them to crack a bit from the overwhelming force.

    The two were pping their wings like crazy as Maria was forced to take on most of the work.

    It didn''t take them long to reach over 1,000 meters above ground, but they kept going until Mira said stop.

    Mira didn''t know at which height they''ll reach terminal velocity, but she knew that the higher the better. Mira also had a scythe that weighed thousands of kilograms and only weighed more the stronger she got. As soon as she pulls that out, their speed should skyrocket when they start falling.

    After a while, they could barely see the ground, but they could vaguely make out the centipede since they kept their eyes on it this entire time. Mira told Maria to stoped and they instantly started dropped towards the centipede''s head.

    Mira took out her scythe and they instantly broke the sound barrier and it was only going to take the two of them around 10 seconds to reach the centipede. Mira prepared to use the rest of her strength to throw her scythe and give it that extra bit of power while also blunting her fall a bit using the reactionary force.

    Right after she throws her scythe, her job is to immediately grab hold of Maria to help blunt her fall as well as making sure she gets off an Earth-Shattering Fist just in case.

    Time seemed to slow down for the two of them. They gathered their strength until they were about 1 second away from the centipede.

    Mira''s muscles bulged and her veins were showing as she grasped her scythe. She then threw it with her immense strength and with her other arm was wrapped around Maria''s waist.

    As soon as she threw it, it seemed like the two of them stopped falling, but this was just an illusion due to how fast they were falling before. Mira then used her other arm tounch Maria towards the beast, albeit much slower.

    *BOOM*

    *BOOM*

    *SCREEEEE*

    Mira''s scythe prated all the way into the centipede''s head, while Maria''s Earth-Shattering Fist followed up breaking through the cracks in its shell from the scythe and demolishing its flesh.

    The centipede started to writhe in pain and due to its immense vitality, it was able to live a little longer after having a scythe jammed into its head.

    Mira alsonded on the centipede''s head but was unable to do anything because of theck of energy. Still, even hernded on the centipede was like the final nail in the coffin and it eventually died.<sub> </sub>

    "Quickly, Cine! Come! The lotus is about to bloom! We need to leave immediately as soon as it does!" Mira yelled as she used her remaining energy to collect her scythe.

    Both of her legs were broken and she could feel some internal injuries, but it wasn''t life-threatening. Her arms were also fractured with some torn muscles due to over-using them to throw Maria and her scythe.

    She knew that Maria wasn''t in any better shape since she could barely stand up and both of her arms were ck and blue.

    Soon, Cine came running over and couldn''t help but sigh when she saw their conditions. She knew that it''d take at least a few days to regain some of their strength and probably around a week to get back to full strength at the very least.

    Cine stopped paying attention to them and waited for the lotus nt to finish blooming. After another 10 minutes or so, the ming red lotus flower sent out waves of intense heat and the petals on it started to bloom slowly.

    With each petal that bloomed, the heat became more intense. After 8 petals bloomed, the heat around it seemed to roar and continued to release waves of heat.

    "Snatch it! Quickly!" Mira ordered Cine.

    Cine gritted her teeth and made her way towards the flower. Each step was like stepping further into hell and her skin was even getting burnt just by being near it.

    Eventually, she made it next to the flower looking like a piece of charcoal but she wasn''t able to pick the flower with her bare hands. She had to use a spare knife to cut the stem before storing it in her spatial ring. After cutting it with that knife, her knife melted and became useless.

    After storing it, the surrounding temperature dropped and even though they were standing in the desert, it now felt cool. Mira stored the two giant centipede corpses, grabbed the now unconscious Maria, and started walking off to find a spot to hide.

    Cine didn''t say anything and just followed. None of their conditions were good, but they had to find somece toy low for a while.

    Even though this could be counted as a victory, none of them were that excited.

    ***

    The 3 of them were forced to walk for several hours before they could find a ce to rest.

    The ce they found could hardly be described as safe, but it was the best thing around.

    Essentially, they just found arge crack in the ground, dropped to the bottom and immediately started to recover.

    Maria woke up due to the fall, but didn''t say anything. She was too weak right now and her only thoughts were on recovering.

    The same goes for Mira and Cine.

    ***

    Around a week passed and Mira, Maria, and Cine were now almost at peak condition. Well, Mira healed up in a little under 3 days, Maria took a little over 4 days to heal, while Cine spent around 5 days to fully recover. Cine was actually in just as bad of a condition as Mira and Maria due to the overwhelming heat.

    This is the difference in Cultivation and bloodline between the 3 of them. Mira and Maria''s vitality was immense due to their strong bloodlines, especially Mira''s. While they are also stronger and can recover from injuries of this level much faster.

    "What should we do with the lotus? I mean, I don''t even know what it is or what it can do. Do either of you know?" Cine finally spoke up.

    "Based on what I''ve learned about flowers, lotus flowers, in particr, is that there are several ways to use it. One, the petals can be ingested raw and will bring different effects based on the nature of the flower. Two, the petals can be used as alchemy ingredients to create pills which may boost the efficiency of the effects. Three, the stamen, or bulb in the middle of the flower, can also be used in the same way but the effects will be much higher than the petals. This flower would be excellent for body tempering hehe." Mira exined and chuckled at the end.

    The other 2 didn''t want to continue tempering their bodies but they were also thinking the same thing. The only question is, do they save it forter or consume it raw?

    "I think we should wait and see. I don''t know a recipe for using this type of ingredient and even if I did, I''m not confident I can sessfully make it. Eating it raw right now would be a waste. How about we decide how to split it up right now and deal with the restter?" Maria suggested and the other two nodded their heads.

    "How about this. Maria will get the Stamen and 2 petals. While Cine and I will each get 3 petals. But don''t pluck them right now. The effects might diminish since we''re still stuck here for a while. Just wait until we get back to figure out what to do with this thing or save it for emergencies." Mira suggested and the other two thought about it before nodding.

    Mira and Cine can''t really do much with the flower except for use it as a body tempering source. While Maria has Vulcan, so it''s not surprising that she should get the best parts.

    After they finished that, the 3 of them went back up to the surface to continue with their journey.

 Chapter 155 Black Castle

    After exiting the crack, Mira''s group started wandering around the desert again. Since following any sort of direction is impossible and there are nondmarks for them to understand where they are, they are forced to just wander around endlessly until they find something.

    They don''t really have anything that can help them map out the area so the best thing they can do is just rely on Mira''s sense of direction.

    What they are looking for is any change in scenery or a change in temperature, whether it be hotter or cooler.

    Just like how they found that lotus flower, they scoured the desert until something of interest popped up.

    ***

    Just like the rest of their time in the Secret Realm, they haven''t encountered a single person. There were over 100 that entered the Secret Realm, but so far they haven''t met a single one. Mira was a bit suspicious of this because she felt like they should''ve encountered at least one, but unfortunately, there is nothing she can do about it.

    As Mira was thinking about this, she felt a subtle change in temperature. It wasn''t much, probably just half a degree celsius hotter than before, but was able to notice the slight difference.

    The other 2 also would''ve noticed it, but they weren''t paying as much attention to the temperature.

    Mira stopped them, backtracked a bit to confirm her suspicions, and when she backed up a couple of meters, she felt the temperature drop back to what it normally is.

    "What''s wrong, Mira? Did you find something?" Maria asked expectantly.

    "I''m not sure, but the temperature seems to get hotter in that direction. It could be something or it could be that the desert over there is just hotter. I say we go that way since it''s better than wandering around aimlessly." Mira told them what she found and they both got excited.

    Maybe they''ll be able to find another treasure!

    "What are we waiting for?! Let''s go!" Cine yelled and went towards the direction Mira pointed to.

    Maria and Mira followed up and started walking in that direction.

    After walking for a few hours, they started noticing that the temperature was increasing at a rapid rate the farther they walked in this direction.

    They still weren''t able to see anything other than cracked ground for as far as the eye can see which was quite unbelievable. They also noticed that the temperature from the sun didn''t change so it had to be caused by an external factor, but if it''s already so hot when they can''t even see it, how hot will it be when they can?

    They stuffed down this feeling of difort and continued on with their journey.

    With each step, the air became hotter and it didn''t take long before the air became as hot as the air around the lotus flower before it bloomed. The source was still out of sight at this point which made the three of them feel like they are walking towards a true hell.

    Hours went by and they reached a point where it felt like their skin was melting. It reached around the same degree of heat as the lotus flower after it bloomed, but their destination was still out of sight.

    Mira was constantly making ice to alleviate the heat a bit, but it didn''tst long due to how hot it was.

    They still pushed forward and after walking for a few more hours of walking, the source of the heat finally came into view.

    What they saw was a sight that they would never forget even if they died! It was both terrifying and amazing at the same time.

    What came into view was countless volcanos lined up parallel to each other. They all had a constant source ofva flowing down from them which all converged at the bottom.<sub> </sub>

    Theva formed avake in the shape of ava massive dragon that was thousands of meters long. The head of the dragon was spewingva, forming a river that seemed to flow throughout the area of the desert. Just looking at it gave one the illusion that the dragon was roaring, striking fear into the depths of one''s soul. While at the tail-end as well as at the end of the volcanos was a massive glossy ck castle with gold and white pirs.

    It was like a weing for a King and it gave off a sense of Majesty.

    Mira, Maria, and Cine just stood there, stunned as they took in this sight. Even if they weren''t able to enter that ce, just looking at it would be worth the journey.

    But, they didn''te here just to look at it, they came to enter it!

    They tried to step forward but were unable to. It wasn''t because there was something blocking them from entering, but they themselves. They were unable to move because they were frozen in fear.

    They knew that if something lives there, it would be able to kill them with a single finger. No, maybe it wouldn''t even take a finger to kill them. If the being breathed a bit too hard they might die.

    Even Mira was finding it difficult to move as her body and mind were telling her to get the hell away from this ce. Her instincts that she''s honed through hundreds of years of bloodshed are telling her that one wrong move equals death.

    She calmed her nerves, grabbed Maria and Cine, and stepped forward, steeling her nerves. If they were to die here then so be it, but they might also get an opportunity that doesn''te around very often.

    "Kyaaa-!"

    "Kyaaa-!"

    Both Cine and Maria screamed in fright when Mira grabbed them. But they finally awoke from their fear because of this.

    "Enough staring. It''s time to see what secrets this ce holds." Mira said with determination.

    Maria and Cine looked at each other before nodding. They were also curious as to what could be here.

    "Let''s go! I hope that we get to see something amazing!" Maria yelled with excitement.

    "We''ve been wanding this desert for so long, it''s about time we find something interesting," Cine said still trying to calm herself down.

    ***

    Countless hours passed before they were able to make it to the base of theva river. They haven''t even made it to the dragonke even after all this time since they kept having to stop and get used to this heat.

    Once they reached the base of theva river, they heard a booming voice resound throughout the area. It seemed toe from the glossy ck castle at the other end of theva dragonke.

    "Wee, Young Ones, to this Great One''s Domain! This Great One hasn''t had visitors in thousands of years and since this Great One is feeling especially benevolent, I will allow you to visit this Great One''s home! But you''ll only be able to make it here if you can survive! Good luck young ones!" The booming deep voice echoed for hundreds of kilometers before stopping.

    Then before the three of them can even react,va pirs surrounded them. They blocked off any exits and there was only one way they can go and that is towards the ck castle.

    "You have to be fucking kidding me?!" Cine despaired just thinking about the hellish trek to that ck castle.

 Chapter 156 Road To The Black Castle

    While Maria and Cine were despairing at having no choice but to cross this living hell, Mira was actually quite excited.

    Mira''s favorite activities are killing and training, so naturally, she will wee any form of training, especially body tempering.

    Cultivating Qi is incredibly boring, one has to spend hours after hours of absorbing and refining Qi just for a slight advancement while tempering the body is different. One actually has to use their brain when tempering their body so they don''t identally kill themselves. This is much more exciting than mindlessly cultivating!

    Mira went ahead and took the lead and started walking upstream. She wasn''t going incredibly fast since it was too hot, but she was going at a moderate pace.

    Maria and Cine also woke up and started following Mira. It''s not like they had a choice and they might be rewarded something good if they survive!

    ***

    Nothing interesting happened on their journey to the ck Castle. They didn''t meet any enemies, they didn''t almost fall in theva for some reason, nor did they turn into pieces of charcoal.

    The only thing of interest is the increasing heat, but this isn''t anything new. Mira was constantly using her ice which ended up bringing several benefits. Not only was herprehension of her Absolute Ice Dao increasing, but her control was getting better as well. This was on top of the ice cooling them down a bit.

    Whenever Mira got tired, Cine would take over and start using her Wind Affinity to keep some of the heat away from them.

    Maria was useless during this journey since her light element wasn''t any help.

    Mira thought about wanting to jump in theva, but she knew that she''d turn to ash before she could even hit the surface. It had nothing to do with willpower or determination, just a simple difference in strength.

    Just being within 100 meters of it was enough to make her skin want to melt.

    asionally, they''d have to stop to get used to the heat, but a wall ofva would form behind them and force them to continue.

    After many hours of hellish walking, they finally made it to theva dragon''s mouth.

    The volcanos were surrounding thisva dragon andva flowed from them continuously into theva dragonke.

    They tried to scout a path that they could take that wouldn''t result in them being burnt to a crisp, but s things wouldn''t be so simple.

    Not long after thinking that, a small ck pathway was erected from theva dragonke. It was just wide enough for one person to cross and it seemed to lead all the way to the ck Castle.

    It was only around 10 meters above theva dragonke, which was one-tenth the distance that they stayed at when traveling up theva river. Not to mention that thisva dragonke is much hotterpared to the river.

    Gulp.

    The three of them didn''t want to step on that death trap, but it seemed they''d be forced to if they wanted to get out of this situation.

    While they were waiting, a wall ofva formed behind them and started to encroach on their position.

    "Well, fuck. I guess we just have to go for it." Mira said while walking towards the ck pathway.

    Once her feet hit the first step, it felt like they were going to melt off. Just the heat alone basically forced her to continue walking just so she wouldn''t have to feel that unbearable heat anymore.<sub> </sub>

    Mira soon started to run along the pathway and the other 2 soon followed up.

    Maria was behind Mira and Cine was behind Maria, except there was a slight problem.

    The pathway behind Mira was dropping back into theva at a rapid pace and was quickly catching up to her.

    "AHHH! RUN! HURRY! THE PATH IS RETREATING BACK INTO THE LAVA!!" Cine screamed with all her might and ran as fast as she could.

    She even summoned her wings and used her wind to speed up the process.

    Mira and Maria heard her and quickly did the same thing. Except Mira was unable to since her ice wings would just get melted as soon as she made them. Mira was forced to try and cover her feet with ice for as long as possible and just book it!

    The 3 of them were running full speed ahead towards the ck Castle with the threat of instant death right behind them.

    At one point, the path was falling just a few centimeters behind Cine, but she wasn''t able to run any faster.

    "Waah!! Someone help me! Why''d I agree toe to this hell hole?! I want to go home!! Sniff�� Sniff�� AHHH!!" Cine started crying but didn''t give up on running.

    They have been running at full speed for a few hours now and were incredibly tired, but Mira and Maria eventually made it across theva dragonke.

    ? They both turned around and saw Cine crying her eyes out, but it was so hot that her tears would evaporate instantly.

    They both used up all of their power just to cross this damnke and wouldn''t be able to assist Cine.

    They could only hope that she doesn''t fall into theva dragonke and survive, but it seems that the chance of that happening isn''t high.

    The path was currently falling almost right under her feet and she wasn''t able to go any faster.

    Cine knew that this might be the end and decided to use the rest of her Qi into her wings and muster up every bit of wind that she could. She put every ounce of power that her body had into the next step and leaped.

    As soon as she leaped she used up as much wind power and Qi that she could and propelled her wings forwards.

    She shot forward like a bolt of lightning, but it seemed that she was still going to fall a bit short. Shended on the path again and was only 20 meters away from crossing theva dragonke, but wasn''t able to fully make it through. She didn''t have the strength to move anymore after thatst-ditch effort.

    Mira and Maria didn''t want to just sit there and watch Cine wait for death so they used whatever energy remained in their body and dashed towards her.

    Maria leaped forward and grabbed Cine''s hand. Mira then dashed forward, grabbed Maria''s leg, and tossed the both of them onnd.

    "Fucking hell��" Mira muttered before copsing next to Maria and Cine, who also copsed from exhaustion.

    Once the pathpletely retreated back into theva dragonke, the booming voice resounded throughout the area again.

    "Congrattions, young ones, on being able to make it to this Great One''s nest! Though this achievement is nothing since this is just the basic requirement for being able to meet with this Great One! Now onto the real trial! Mwahaha! Make sure to suffer properly for my enjoyment, young on-eh? Did they die? Did I perhaps go a bit too far?" The booming voice turned a bit sad and meek towards the end.

 Chapter 157 Kayda

    "Ugh��" Mira groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Her body was slightly sore after what happened yesterday.

    She noticed that Cine and Maria wereying on the ground next to her, sleeping. Mira then looked around and noticed that they were in an unfamiliar location. The walls around her were a glossy ck just like the ck Castle that they saw yesterday, but for some reason, the room was brightly lit up despite the walls being ck.

    ''I seem to recall a voice before fainting. I guess whoever that was probably dragged us into the ck Castle.'' Mira thought to herself and frowned, but was just d that whoever dragged them into the ck Castle didn''t kill her.

    She then took a bit more time to inspect the room and noticed something strange. The room waspletely empty except for a small mound of white dust in one of the corners.

    Mira felt familiar with this, but to confirm her thoughts she walked up to it and ced a small amount of it in her mouth.

    She immediately spat it out and frowned.

    "As I thought, it was bones that have long decayed into nothing. What a strange room to ce us in. Did whoever brought us in not have another room? Did they think we were dead? Is this person an idiot? I have a somewhat bad feeling about this." Mira already felt a headache just thinking about dealing with the master of the Castle. Her intuition was telling her that this person would be nothing but trouble.

    Mira decided to just wait until the other 2 were up so they can deal with it. Normally, she would just force them awake but it would be troublesome if she woke them up before they could cure their fatigue.

    ***

    After a few hours, Maria and Cine woke up with a groan. Their bodies were also aching, but they were at least smart enough to stay vignt of their surroundings noticing the unfamiliar atmosphere.

    Mira also noticed they were finally awake and decided to get up.

    "You two are finally awake. It seems the Master of this castle decided to bring us in. Though I might have to question their intelligence." Mira said which confused the other two. They didn''t understand what Mira was trying to convey nor did they care.

    "Well, seeing how we aren''t dead I guess we should go greet whoever brought us here? I mean, we can''t just stay in this room forever, right?" Maria suggested and Mira and Cine nodded.

    Mira decided to lead them out of the room and walked out into a small hallway. At the end of this hallway was a set of stairs that led up to the floor above them.

    Noticing this, Mira''s bad feeling was getting worse.

    The three of them looked at each other before nodding and walking over to the stairs, ascending them.

    After they ascended the stairs, they reached arge hallway. The walls were ck, but there were white pirs on both sides of the hall. The hall was also lit up by golden torches that emitted intense light and heat.

    The three of them were taking in this majestic sight, but their thoughts were interrupted by the booming voice.

    "Who dares enter this Great One''s nest! You are looking for de-Eh?! You three are alive?! I thought you guys die- I mean I figured my great trial was too difficult for weaklings such as yourselves! But it looks like I can enjoy your suffering a bit more! Heh Heh Heh!" The booming voice tried to intimidate them which seemed to work a little on Cine and Maria, but Mira knew better.

    They were currently dealing with an idiot! An idiot who is strong enough to crush them with just a breath!

    She wanted to get a refund for all of her hard work getting here and just continue on with her journey in the Secret Realm. Dealing with these people was just too frustrating!

    Everything became silent after that and the atmosphere became a little awkward. They were waiting for the Master of this ce to say something, but it seemed they didn''t have any intention of doing that.

    "Great one, we are travelers from a farawaynd and havee in search of opportunities. My name is Mira, this here is Maria, and this one is Cine." Mira kept the introduction short while doing her best to stay humble.<sub> </sub>

    "Eh? Ah! Yes! This Great One''s name is Kayda! Travelers from afar, since you have intruded into my domain then you must be willing to pay the required price. But rejoice, mortals, for you can rest easy knowing that it will be for this Great One''s enjoyment! Heh heh heh!" Kayda said in an arrogant and domineering manner, but Mira just couldn''t force herself to be intimidated by that.

    Not long after Kayda introduced herself, the three of them heard footsteps ahead of them. A figure then came out of the dark and into view. What they saw shocked them!

    Around 2 meters tall, a tall woman with tanned skin, ming red hair that came down to her waist, 2rge melons on her chest, a pair ofrge ck horns protruding from her head, 2rge red wings on her back, and a long red-scaled tail came into view. This woman was wearing a dark red Kimono with ck lining. She had a mighty aura surrounding her.

    She was an otherworldly beauty even with horns, wings, and a tail.

    "I-I-I-Is that a dragon?!" Cine muttered under her breath, but Kayda heard what she said and made a prideful expression.

    "Naturally, this Great One is a Dragon!! How can someone such as I be anything less than a Great Dragon?! Not only is this Great One a Dragon, this Great One is a Magma Dragon! Heh heh heh!" Kayda said, full of pride.

    Maria and Cine were in awe at such a deration, but Mira remained a bit skeptical. She would love to believe that, but she normally doesn''t have a habit of trusting idiots, no matter how strong they are.

    Kayda walked a bit closer to the three of them, showing off her greatness. But when she got a bit closer, her little nose twitched. She sniffed a few times before looking at Mira with aplicated yet somewhat fearful gaze.

    "W-W-W-What kind of terrible existence''s scent is on you?! Just the scent alone is somewhat suppressing my bloodline! Which should be impossible because I''m a mighty Dragon! The peak of power! The apex of the cultivation world! The strongest race in existence! What could possibly make me, a Dragon, fearful just by the scent?!" Kayda yelled in fright as she stared at Mira with a deep gaze.

    Mira, Maria, and Cine were also in a daze, not knowing what was going on. It was just the three of them and the only thing they''ve encountered is worms and centipedes. But that''s not something a dragon should be afraid of.

    Mira just shrugged her shoulders, but her mind immediately thought of Rhydian. If what little intel she''s gathered on Rhydian''s species is true, then it wouldn''t be weird for something like this to ur.

    "I don''t know what you are talking about, but if I were to guess, you might be talking about my Master and Beast Companion. In fact, it was my Master that sent me along with my 2 servants out to experience the world." Mira lied through her teeth. There was no need to tell this dragon anything and based on this Dragon''s behavior, they might even get treated better.

    Maria, Cine, and Kayda were shocked by Mira''s words, Maria and Cine in particr. They''ve never heard of Mira calling anyone Master before and they definitely aren''t her servants. They knew this was a lie, but then that begs the question. Why did Mira lie?

    Mira never lies, in fact, one could say that she''s probably the most honest person they know, maybe a bit too honest.

    When Mira mentioned ''Beast Companion'' they immediately thought of Rhydian and knew that Mira was trying to hint this at them. Only Maria understood a little about Rhydian, but she only knew that Mira got it from the Trial and she''s incredibly powerful.

    But it seems Rhydian is more amazing than she once thought.

    Thinking about these things, they decided to y along with Mira for now. They figured that she must have some sort of n that should be beneficial to them. Since, at the very least, Mira''s decision-making could be considered near perfection.

    "D-Did you just say ''Master'' and ''Beast Companion''?! Are you saying that something this terrifying is actually your Master?! Someone as weak as you?! Impossible!!" Kayda roared in denial, but Mira still kept up the act.

    "It''s because I''m so weak that she decided to take me in. Master said that there would be no point in epting immortals or legendary beasts as her disciples since it''d be too troublesome. If my Master hadn''t noticed my unique aptitude and physique, then how else would I be epted as a disciple from someone as great as Master." Mira made sure to add in a few words like ''immortals'' and ''physique'' to dismiss any doubts Kayda might have.

    Kayda then got a good look at Mira and started inspecting her. Mira just stood there calmly, but internally she was a little flustered. She felt like she couldn''t hide anything from Kayda and it made her rather ufortable. She just hoped that her unique physique and bloodline would back her up here.

    "Hmm�� You do have a rather peculiar physique and bloodline. In fact, they seem to be one and the same which is truly strange. This Great One has never seen such a unique physique and bloodline. I can feel the unlimited potential in it as well. As expected of a disciple of someone as great as your Master. This Great One can''t wait to watch the disciple of such an amazing person suffer! Heh heh heh!" Kayda continued with her idiotic lines, but Mira knew that she took the bait.

    Even if they did have to ''suffer'', it would surely be worth it.

 Chapter 158 Magma Dragon Body

    While Mira, Maria, and Cine were talking with Kayda, they also held high expectations for receiving something great! How could they not?! They suddenly appeared in front of a real dragon! How could they not be excited?!

    But before they could get too excited, Kayda decided to dump a bucket of ice water on them.

    "While I would love to watch you suffer unimaginable pain, unfortunately, I only have items that would cause you to explode. How could I enjoy your suffering if you died so quickly?" Kayda said with a smug look that seemed slightly disappointed.

    Mira and the other 2 also seemed a bit dejected hearing that, but what Kayda said next raised their spirits.

    "But fret not, weaklings, for this Great One has prepared a technique that can bring about the torture that I desire! Heh heh heh!" Kayda said full of pride, but Maria instantly had a bad feeling about that expression.

    Kayda''s expression right now was simr to when Mira threw her into ake full ofva years ago.

    "Miss Kayda, pray tell what kind of technique this is. It doesn''t have anything to do with all of theva around us, does it?" Maria asked carefully.

    "Foolish mortal! How could this Great One, a Magma Dragon, create a technique based on inferiorva?!" Kayda said with her head held high.

    Maria let out a sigh of relief, but it changed when she heard what Kayda said next.

    "Naturally, this Great One would make a technique based on my species! This technique requires magma instead ofva! Heh heh heh!" Kayda lightly exined.

    "Eh? Is there a difference?" Maria muttered subconsciously, but this seemed to enrage Kayda.

    "Of course there is a difference!! Lava isn''t even hot enough to bathe in! How could this Great One useva or anything?! Naturally, magma is much hotter! Magma is also a sub-element of Fire and Earth! What? You think thatva is also a sub-element of Fire and Earth?! Foolish! Lava is a bi-product of magma! How could the two evenpare?! I''ll be sure you''re thrown in first, weakling!!" Kayda roared at Maria which caused her to shrink back and lower her head.

    Cine could help but swallow her saliva watching Maria get yelled at by a dragon. She could only hope that she''s able to live, but she didn''t dare voice her opinion.

    "Kayda, is there anything we need to do in return for such a technique? I''m not one to believe in free lunches after all. Though there isn''t really anything we can offer to you with how weak we are." Mira said casually which caused Maria and Cine to suck in a cold breath and start sweating.

    Even Kayda looked at Mira in shock, but inside she was really d that someone is able to talk to her so casually even though she''s the Great Magma Dragon!

    ''How long has it been since I''ve talked to someone? Ten thousand years? No, probably much longer. Maybe one hundred thousand years? I don''t know, but I love it! More, talk to me more!'' Kayda thought internally but kept up her arrogant and prideful tone.

    "I naturally have to be a proper ho-I mean, of course, this is for this Great One''s entertainment! It''s been a long time since I''ve had such fun toys to y with and you three came right when I was getting bored! The longer you survive, the more entertainment you''ll bring me! Heh heh heh!" Kayda tried to keep up the act but almost fumbled.

    "Oh? What sort of technique did the Great Magma Dragon, Kayda,e up with that will bring such joy to someone as strong as yourself? If it''s as amazing as you say then I''ll even call you Sister Kayda hehe." Mira also kept up the act as well. She felt like this would bring them the most benefits and it also wouldn''t be a bad thing to be acquainted with a dragon. Even though she doesn''t like Kayda''s personality, her strength as a dragon is the real deal.

    ''S-S-S-S-Sister?!?! Hehehe! So, she''ll call me sister? Hehehe. I''ve never had a sister before! Most of my life has been spent here and I can''t even remember thest time I talked to someone else. Hehehe'' Kayda started giggling like a little girl in her mind while also letting her thoughts run wild.

    She pictured Mira and her running through a field, giggling and showing each other flowers. Then the scene would move to them swimming in magma together and eating various beasts. They''d sleep in the same bed, share each other''s food, fight enemies together, and enjoy life together while calling each other ''sisters''.

    "Hehehe-Ah! Ahem! I''ve called this technique the ''Magma Dragon Body''. Uponpleting this technique, one will obtain the physique and strength of a Magma Dragon! But don''t think it''s so easy toplete! There are 10 stages to this technique and each stage gets more and more difficult and requires more resources toplete."

    "Once one obtains the Magma Dragon Physique, they would be as strong as a Peak Immortal Magma Dragon, such as me! But of course, you would not be as strong as me, a real Magma Dragon! Heh heh heh!" Kayda exined which thoroughly shocked the three of them.

    Gain a Magma Dragon Physique?! As strong as a Peak Immortal Magma Dragon?! Amazing! Absolutely amazing! A priceless treasure that would probably be hard to find if not impossible even among immortals! Just knowing this technique would be sufficient for the rest of their lives!

    "Heh heh heh! Surprised? This technique was created by none other than I, Kayda, The Great Magma Dragon! Now, let me teach you the steps so I can enjoy your suffering!!" Kaydaughed as she took out a few ancient-looking books.

    Mira couldn''t even fathom how old these books are, but she could feel a very powerful and dominant aura radiating from them.

    Kayda handed them out and the three of them immediately began studying them. Even if they have to go through the worst kinds of pain, it would be worth it! Pain isn''t anything new to them anyways!

    The three of them read it over and over again. They wanted to make sure that even if they died, they wouldn''t forget such a technique.

    What they found out after reading it is that this technique is incrediblyplex. Especially the First Stage.<sub> </sub>

    The basis of the technique is simr to restructuring one''s body to contain the power of a dragon.

    They''d have to absorb magma into all of the meridians in their body, forcing the magma to consume all of Qi in their body, then begin restructuring their body into a physique capable of holding the power of a dragon.

    Doing this is extremely dangerous since they are essentially destroying their bodies and recreating them with Qi and magma. It isn''t just their bones either, they have to destroy and rebuild their skin, muscles, tissue, organs, and blood. Every part of their body needs to be rebuilt!

    Not only is this extremely painful, but they are essentially being reborn! They''d need an extreme amount of Qi-rich magma to begin this process and could not be interrupted from start to finish. If they lost consciousness for even a moment, they''d die. If they went too fast or too slow, they''d die. If they didn''t consciously control everything, their only end would be death.

    Mira figured she''d be capable of such intense pain and fortitude, but wasn''t sure about Maria and Cine. This type of pain was at the point that Mira would be able to feel it. That''s saying something since normal pain can''t even affect Mira at this point.

    Nevertheless, this isn''t an opportunity they can pass up and if they want to go through with it, then so be it. She is in no position to stop them.

    Mira just went back to studying and memorizing the technique while asionally ncing at Kayda.

    Kayda has been staring at Mira the entire time but would try to avoid eye contact with Mira.

    "This is really a great technique, Sister Kayda. I''m sure it was tough, even for someone as great as you, toe up with this. You have my respect and if you need anything then feel free to ask. Though it might be a while before I''m in any position to help." Mira said with a serious voice. She truly did respect Kayda foring up with something this amazing. She could also tell that Kayda was very pure and innocent even with that annoying personality. Even if this Dragon had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, she''s no different than a child in terms of mental age.

    Mira felt no ill-intent or hostility from her and only felt good intentions. Calling her ''sister'' might be a bit over the top for her, but doing this is the least she could do for such a technique. Of course, Mira isn''t going to roll over like some dog just to obtain a technique, but if all it takes is getting acquainted with this little dragon, she wouldn''t be so stupid to pass up this opportunity.

    This is a deal with no risk and maximum return. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Mira wouldn''t get even if she reincarnated a thousand more times.

    "Hehehe. Very well, if you insist on being this Great One''s sister then how can someone as magnificent as myself ignore your plea?! From now on, I will refer to you as Sister Mira! Now keep studying this Sister''s technique so I can enjoy the suffering that is toe! Heh heh heh!" Kayda said this in an arrogant manner, but inside she was screaming.

    ''Hehehe! I got a Sister! I finally have someone to talk to! It''s just a pity that this new sister of mine is so weak! Hopefully, this technique will allow her and her friends to get stronger. The outside world is scary after all.'' Kayda thought to herself and just wanted to do her best to help Mira out. She can''t have her new Sister die right after they just met.

    Mira could tell Kayda''s thoughts immediately since it was written all over her face. She let out a faint smile and went back to studying the technique.

    ***

    A week went by and Mira finally felt like she memorized all 10 Stages of the Technique to perfection. She can now recall every word and process like it was the back of her hand.

    She then turned to Kayda, who was still staring at Mira while slightly drooling.

    Mira figured it wouldn''t hurt to try and get some information about the Secret from Kayda, an immortal.

    "Sister Kayda, why are you staying in this realm? And what exactly is this Realm? The world Ie from is only able to ess this ce every 20 years and I can only stay in here for 3 months before I''m forcefully ejected from this ce. How are you still here?" Mira asked a multitude of questions, but Kayda just tilted her head.

    "Huh? I found this ce when I was traveling as a baby Magma Dragon. I sensed the abundant amount of magma here, made my nest, and spent most of my time getting stronger. You see, someone as great as me doesn''t need to cultivate, I only need to live long enough and I''ll eventually reach the peak. And finding a nest with such a dense amount of magma that isn''t already upied is quite rare."

    "Ah! Now that I think about it, this ce is very strange. When I first arrived here, this ce wasn''t sorge, but it seemed to keep growing over the years. It might just be luck that this ce even opens for you or maybe someone is in control over this realm and is trying to assist you, mortals. This is about everything I know of this ce." Kayda exined, forgetting about her tsundere character.

    "Hmmm�� Are you restricted to this ce or are you able to leave whenever you want?" Mira asked.

    "Eh? Why would I want to leave? The outside world is scary! Why would I want to leave my nest to go to such a scary ce?!" Kayda refuted, not wanting to leave this ce.

    "Ah. Nevermind then. Thanks for the information, Sister Kayda. Oh, by the way, I''ve finished studying this technique. I don''t know if you have any ce for us to practice it though?" Mira suggested, wanting to start right away.

    "Of course, this Great One has plenty of ces! Leave it to Big Sister to help you and your servants out! Heh heh heh!" Kayda pounded her chest with her fist in reassurance.

    Mira just nodded and waited for the other 2 to finish studying and memorizing it.

 Chapter 159 Cultivating The Magma Dragon Body

    A few dayster, Cine and Maria finishedprehending, studying, and memorizing the technique Kayda handed out to them.

    They got up and made their way over towards Mira and Kayda, who were in the middle of talking. Well, it was mostly Kayda talking, but Mira would asionally chime in.

    Mira noticed that people approaching them and looked over.

    "Good, you two are finally done," Mira said and got up. She was ready to begin. She could''ve started without them, but decided to spend this time getting more acquainted with Kayda.

    It seemed Kayda had the same idea and probably wouldn''t have let Mira begin even if she wanted to.

    "Heh heh heh! This Great One will now lead you, weaklings, to the ce where your suffering will take ce!" Kayda said with a smug look on her face and started walking away.

    The three of them followed after her and soon made it to a tunnel that was a slight angle to allow people to walk down.

    Kayda didn''t say anything and just started running down this tunnel. Mira and the others followed suit but their speed was no match for Kayda''s even though she''s probably only using a fraction of her speed.

    They ran for what seemed like hours, maybe days until they finally spotted a light at the end of the tunnel. Except for their hardship finallying to an end, this was only the beginning of the pain toe.

    ""FUCK!!"" The three of them cursed at the same time when they felt the heating from the light.

    "You might want to remove your clothes beforeing any further. They won''tst long down here. Heh heh heh!" Kayda''s voice resounded throughout the cave and the three started stripping.

    Kayda then came forward and blocked a lot of the heat for them so they could approach the magma at the bottom of the tunnel.

    The three could only grit their teeth and follow Kayda since they didn''t want to ruin this opportunity.

    It didn''t take them long for them to arrive near the magma and even with Kayda blocking most of the heat they could still feel how hot the magma was. They felt a heavy pressure weighing on them while standing in the vicinity of it which just showed how hot it was.

    "This is the coldest magma pool here. It is useless to this Great One and its only purpose is to torture weaklings such as yourself! Heh heh heh!" Kayda informed them which caused them to pale.

    Even Mira had little confidence in actually being able to seed and decided to voice her concern.

    "Are you sure we can even survive, Sister Kayda? I''m confident that we would turn to ash as soon as you retracted your aura. You wouldn''t get much entertainment out of us only suffering for only a second, now would you?" Mira chose her words carefully and was subtly asking for assistance from Kayda.

    Kayda heard Mira and put on a thoughtful expression like she didn''t think of this beforehand. Their bodies trembled when they noticed that Kayda hadn''t even thought of this. They almost died for nothing due to this idiot''s negligence!

    "Hmmm�� You are right, Mira! How can I enjoy your suffering if you die so quickly?! Very well, I will make sure you don''t die so quickly! That way, I''ll be able to enjoy the show that is about toe! Heh heh heh!" Kayda said which made the three sigh in relief.

    They didn''t feel good about leaving their lives in the hand of this idiot, but do they have any other choice? This is the perfect ce to cultivate this technique and they also had an actual Magma Dragon looking out for them. It doesn''t get much better than this.

    "Alright, puny mortals, let''s get on with it! Don''t make this Great One wait!" Kayda said and the three reluctantly stepped towards the magma.

    They stood at the edge and just couldn''t bring themselves to jump in the magma. Even Mira was a bit reluctant since her life and death were now in the hands of someone else. Someone that she didn''t deem smart enough to be able to handle things properly, but she could only shrug her shoulders and resign herself to her fate.

    Before they could even make a move, the three of them were lifted into the air and dropped into the middle of the magma.

    Each of them was separated by about 100 meters. They looked up and saw Kayda walking towards them while preventing any magma from actually touching them.

    "I said, don''t keep me waiting! Now, let''s begin!" Kayda said and removed part of her protection.

    Mira, Maria, and Cine''s minds shook as they felt the scorching hot magmae in contact with their skin.

    "NnnGGHH!!" Maria and Cine grunted in pain while Mira''s face contorted in pain.

    They regained their bearings and began to absorb the minuscule amount of magma into one of their meridians like the technique instructed.

    A tiny stream of magma made its way into their bodies and was sucked into their meridians. The magma ate away and burned everything in its path.

    The Qi in their meridians were instantly turned to nothing and this continued until there was nothing left.

    After finishing the process for the first meridian, they moved onto the next one.

    They had to do this for all Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Principle Meridians, so 20 times in total, before they could move onto the next step.

    Kayda noticed that theypleted this step and removed a bit more protection.

    They grunted in pain, but were more prepared this time and proceeded to the next step.

    This time, they used the magma inside their meridians along with the magma touching their bodies to destroy and rebuild their skin.

    "AHHHH!!"

    "NNgg!"

    Mira grunted while Maria and Cine screamed, but this didn''t stop them from continuing.

    Oneyer of skin began to turn to ash at a time, but they couldn''t begin rebuilding their new skin until it was all destroyed.

    This type of pain is on an entirely different level than anything Maria or Cine have experienced, but at least Maria has a bit of experience withva and was able to keep her mind steady for the most part.

    Cine, on the other hand, has never experienced this type of torture before and was having trouble keeping her mind steady. She stole a quick nce at Mira and Maria and noticed that even though they were in pain, they were able to stay sane.<sub> </sub>

    Cine''s determination rose through the roof and she tried to just suffer through the pain and tough it out until the end. This is the only way she would be able to live after all.  With her newfound determination, she kept destroying her skin into nothing.

    The three of them made sure not to rush this step and took their time.

    After an unknown amount of time, their bodies have been reduced to a mass of flesh, bones, and organs. They had no skin remaining on their bodies and looked like something only found in nightmares.

    Even Kayda, who was watching the entire process, felt her stomach churn a bit seeing such a horrifying scene.

    But the pain was only beginning as it was now time to reconstruct their skin.

    This process is much moreplex than destroying their skin since they need to create something new instead of just trying to heal their skin.

    They had to use the magma flowing through their meridians, the leftover Qi in their body, part of their vitality, blood, and the external magma to create their new skin.

    They sent the Qi flowing through their meridians to the location where their skin is supposed to be.

    After that, they urged some of the leftover Qi in their body and some of their blood and vitality towards the area where their skin should be.

    Now they had to merge these together before slowly incorporating the external magma into the mix, finally creating their new skin.

    One might think that their Qi and blood would immediately dissipate into nothing as soon as it touched theva, but this wasn''t the case. Using the magma in their meridians, they were able to use the Qi in the magma and the Qi in their body to help merge these together into something new.

    Even though their blood would dissipate, it wouldn''t escape from the magma and would instead be absorbed into it.

    It took a while to merge these different entities together, but after a while they finally did it. All they had left to do is merge the external magma into the mix and form their new skin.

    Kayda removed a bit more protection, causing them to groan in extreme pain but they used the extra magma to merge and create their new skin.

    This magma is much more rampant and violent than the magma that has been sitting in their meridians for a while now. But after a long time, the chaotic magma finally merged together and it actually looked quite beautiful.

    The magma was very smooth, contained no impurities, and looked very refined.

    Now it was time to start the long process of creating new skin. First, they set the refined magma along their body, then they pressed it onto themselves, forcing some of it to enter their body.

    As the refined magma seeped into their bodies, a simr scene began and their flesh began to turn to ash, but they were forced to ignore that for now and continued to form their new skin.

    It took a very long time toplete this process, but they were finally able to form a newyer of skin on their bodies. Their new skin was still scalding hot, but even so, it looked very refined and pure, like a fairy.

    The three wished they could rest their minds a bit after this, but unfortunately, they weren''t given that luxury.

    In fact, their bodies were quickly turning to ash at a rapid pace. They were forced to undergo a simr process to their flesh and blood. Leaving only skin, a skeleton, and organs. It looked like someone attached a vacuum cleaner and sucked out everything that was inside of their body except for the stuff that wouldn''t fit, like the organs.

    Their minds were constantly on the verge of copse due to how much pain they were in. So much so, that their subconscious was taking over and going through the motions. This just goes to show how much they studied this technique.

    While they were fixing their broken minds, their bodies were also being reconstructed as well. The blood that was consumed was directly absorbed into theva, merging together with it, forming new blood, flesh, and muscles.

    Mira was slightly surprised that her bloodline and physique haven''t reacted yet, but this wasn''t the time to worry about that. She had to focus on the task at hand.

    All that was left was her bones and organs. The bones were rather simplepared to the others, but the organs required finesse and absolute perfection.

    Mira, Maria, and Cine started with their bones and it didn''t take long for them to reduce to ash, merging with the magma, bones, and the rest of their body.

    The newly refined magma turned into bones, but unfortunately, their new bones wouldn''t beplete until they got a little time to cool off and solidify.

    This was part of the process though and didn''t discourage them at all. The only thing left was to refine and create new organs. This isn''t dangerous for the most part, but it would be problematic if they missed something like lungs or their heart.

    Kayda was now able to remove her protection entirely and could now sit back and watch themplete thest step.

    Maria and Cine''s mind was about to break, but adrenaline rushed through their bodies and their minds entered a strange state that was between life and death.

    Time slowed down to them and they were able to continue the process like they previously did. The only difference was that they weren''t entirely conscious and their bodies were just doing everything they could to stay alive.

    Mira, on the other hand, hasn''tpletely lost her mind. The pain that she faces during her forced reincarnations was still worse than this and she hasn''t broken yet. But she did have to admit that this is the second worse pain she''s ever felt by far.

    <o>,m An unknown amount of time passed for the three of them and the process went rtively smoothly.</o>

    Maria and Cine finished first and their minds copsed as soon as they were finished. They needed a good long rest before they would wake up.

    Kayda went ahead and dragged their bodies out of the magma and got a good look at them.

    Their bodies were incredibly hot, just about as hot as the magma in front of her, and their bodies were white-hot due to the heat. But they still looked incredibly beautiful.

    She brought them away from the magma and looked towards Mira.

    Mira was finishing up with thest step and it didn''t take much longer before she finally finished and she felt an insane amount of power rush through her body, but she felt like something wasn''t right. Her intuition was screaming at her, but she had no idea what was going on.

    ��

    "No no no�� Don''t start now! Fucking goddamit!! Nnnngghh�� aAaAAaAAAAHHHHH!!!" Mira cursed out loud and screamed in pain. A pain much worse than her forced reincarnations and the tempering she just went through.

 Chapter 160 Death?

    "No no no�� Don''t start now! Fucking goddamit!! Nnnngghh�� aAaAAaAAAAHHHHH!!!" Mira cursed out loud and screamed in pain. A pain much worse than her forced reincarnations and the tempering she just went through.

    Streaks of lightning roared inside her body, ice started to form around her, and the magma that she had just absorbed and refined trembled and a dragon-like roar seemed toe from her body. It felt like her previous physique was battling for supremacy against this new body of hers, but both sides were unwilling to give in.

    Mira was currently struggling to stay conscious from the pain that she wasn''t aware of what was happening around her.

    The surrounding Qi was being gathered around Mira to help her physique fight against this Magma Dragon Body.

    Ice and lightning started to encase Mira inside of an egg, but the magma that surrounded her was also trapped inside of the egg with her.

    A storm of elements was currently battling against one another with Mira''s body as the battlefield.

    Kayda watched all of this in shock and didn''t know what to do. Mira hadn''t screamed in pain through the entire process, but she couldn''t stop screaming now.

    Even Kayda''s mind might''ve broken from the pain that Mira and the others had to go through since she''s not used to pain.

    She was constantly praising Mira in her mind for her mental fortitude and pain resistance, but listening to her now made her skin crawl. She didn''t dare imagine what sort of abysmal soul-wrenching pain she was going through right now. Hell, she didn''t even know what was going on, but her instincts were telling her that if Mira survives this ordeal, she''lle out stronger.

    Hours went by of Mira screaming, but all of a sudden the screaming stopped. Kayda''s heart sank as she thought about the possibility of Mira dying.

    Tears ran down her face as she looked at the egg in front of her and she dropped to her knees. She just got her first friend and sister not too long ago, but to have her die so soon�� She felt like a piece of her heart was ripped out.

    She wanted to go on a rampage due to the overwhelming emotions consuming her, but what happened next forced her back to reality.

    The ground started shaking, the magma was shooting up, the ice above it soon turned into a frozen wastnd with lightning constantly striking the magma.

    There was also something rumbling above the surface and dark clouds started to form over the ck Castle. A sh of majestic golden lightning shot through the dark clouds and was gathering in the center. This caused the ground to shake and all beasts nearby to go into hiding.

    Kayda wasn''t aware of this as she was too focused on the scene in front of her. The war between Ice, Lightning, and Magma raged on and became more fierce.

    The blue lightning would strike the magma and did its best to restrict its movements. The lighting was also a conduit for the ice as the Ice slowly but surely started to imprison the magma.

    The imprisoned magma seemed indignant to resign to its fate and kept trying to break out, but the Ice Lightning forced into the egg.

    The Ice Lightning was slowly winning against the magma, asserting its dominance. The magma was also starting to learn its ce and became a bit more submissive in the face of the crazy Ice lightning.

    More ice, lightning, and magma surrounded the egg as a powerful aura radiated out of the egg.

    The golden lightning above ground was preparing to strike at any moment and as soon as it sensed that powerful aura, the heavens shook and lightning fell from the sky.

    The lightning phased through the ck Castle and the ground below it. It didn''t take long for the Golden Lightning to reach the egg Mira was in and strike it. The lightning cracked the egg and phased through it, striking Mira''s body!

    Kayda jumped far away as soon as she sensed that lightning and became even more shocked.

    "Lightning Tribtion?! Did Mira do something that goes against the heavens?! What is happening?!" Kayda yelled in fright as her eyes were fixed on the egg in front of her.

    <o>,m Meanwhile, inside the egg, Mira got hit by that golden lightning and her body trembled as it rampaged throughout her body and destroyed everything it came into contact with. Even her new body was nothing in the face of this lightning as a quarter of her body was reduced to nothing in an instant.</o>

    But this seemed to anger her mutated physique as her blue lightning started to fight against this golden lightning that was rampaging through her body.

    In the next instance, half of her body was reduced to nothing and Mira felt death approaching. But this was a different kind of death. Mira felt like if she were to die right now it would be true death, body, and soul. She didn''t know how that was possible, but she instinctively knew that if she died here there was noing back.<sub> </sub>

    This is the first time in nearly 1,000 years that she''s felt this.

    ''Is this fate? I''ve been working so hard so I could reach this point, so I can finally enter an eternal slumber and find peace. I''ve been working so hard so I don''t have to fight anymore, so I can join my family and friends in the afterlife. Even if I became immortal, reached the peak of existence, and became invincible what''s the point? The reason for that goal was to have my revenge while at the same time setting me free. I don''t even know what I''m living for anymore. If I can truly die right now then I''d be able to reach my goal much sooner than I thought.'' A true smile blossomed on Mira''s godly face, something that has happened in hundreds of years, but that face soon changed.

    ''But why? Why do I feel so angry? Is it because I don''t want to die? Is it because I haven''t killed that bastard who''s done this to me? Is it because I''ll be leaving behind those that were controlled and manipted by that bastard? I''ll also be leaving Maria and Dominque. Dominque�� What a good little child. If things were different, I might have wanted to adopt that little girl. Maria�� An idiot that always follows me around, but no matter what she follows me through fire and ice, thick and thin. A good girl that I saved nearly a decade ago. She is probably the only person throughout all of my lives that I feel like I can finally trust.'' Mira let out a bitter chuckle just thinking about those two. The golden lightning has now consumed most of her body with the only thing being left in her heart and head.

    ''Am I really going to leave those two alone? Am I really going to just ept death right now? What will I do even if I live? Have a family? No! Fuck that! Focus on my revenge? Yeah, if I live I''ll still be within that bastard''s grasp. Hmph! This is all that bastard''s fault to begin with! I was living a peaceful life with my parents, but that asshole just had to try and y god and fuck with me! How can I think about dying right now?! My scythe has yet to cut that bastard''s head off!! I will fucking kill him! Only then will my soul be at peace!! I guess I''ll also take care of Maria and Dominque in the meantime as well! I''ll be sure to turn them into the strongest warriors throughout all of the realms!! Warriors that I can trust my back to during the war between me and that bastard! AARRRGGHHH!!'' Mira roared in her mind as spatial fluctuations emitted from her.

    Red haze wasing out of what''s left of Mira''s body and it subdued everything in its path. The rampaging Ice Lightning, magma, and even the golden lightning halted for a second. Mira subconsciously ordered her body to begin repairing itself while dealing with this troublesome golden lightning.

    The area outside the egg started to calm down and everything became eerily quiet. Even the raging elements dared not move.

    "Hehe��" A guttural chuckle resounded throughout the area and echoed throughout this part of the Secret Realm. Things became extremely quiet and most beings stopped moving as they looked up towards the sky.

    "Kill..."

    "Whatever�� Comes�� My way�� Shall�� Die!"

    Killing intent sored as soon as those words were said.

    Kayda, who was now shaking, paled when she heard those wordsbined with the killing intent.

    It wasn''t the pressure or the words said that caused her to tremble, but who said it. She was wondering what happened to her new Sister while she was in that egg and was internally freaking out.

    She had no idea what she should do or how she should face Mira or if Mira would still be the same when shees out.

    She couldn''t bring herself to move and just stood there looking at the multicolored egg in front of her.

    Inside the egg, Mira''s body was being steadily reformed as the Golden Lightning was forced out of her before it could consume her. She wasn''t able to absorb it, but she also didn''t dare to try. This was lightning from a Lightning Tribtion after all.

    This time, ice, lightning, and magma all reformed her body. Her body was absorbing the surrounding magma, ice, and lightning to recreate her body.

    After a while, the egg around her began to crack and break down only to be absorbed into her body, reinforcing her new body.

    After everything settled down, Mira got a good look at her body. She felt slightly stronger than before, but the biggest difference was howfortable this body waspared to the Magma Dragon Body. This body felt like hers; like it was meant for her. She also noticed that she was at the Peak of Stage 1 in the Magma Dragon Body Technique.

    While observing the changes in her body, Mira caught sight of something interesting. Her once, Extreme Yin Physique, which mutated after being reborn in the trial, now has 3 elements associated with it; Ice, Lightning, and Magma. But the interesting thing is the color of the magma in her body changed from a bright red color to an icy blue color. She currently has ice, blue lightning, and icy magma flowing through her now.

    Mira figured that this must have something to do with the Extreme Yin Physique. Maybe it doesn''t only provide Mira with an unrivaled Iceprehension, but now that it''s mutated it can absorb other elements and convert them from yang to yin? This may require more testing and research.

    After briefly examining her new body, she looked over at Kayda, who was now on her knees staring at her with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Mira could also tell that she had been crying and she let out a faint smile.

    ''Perhaps this little dragon isn''t half bad either.'' Mira thought to herself then called out to Kayda.

    Sister Kayda, I''m feeling�� A bit�� Tired��" Mira couldn''t even say what she wanted to say before she copsed.

    Kayda jumped forward and caught her. She held Mira in her arms and let out another tear.

    "I''m d you came back to this Big Sister. Leave the rest to me." Kayda said with a smile and picked up Maria and Cine and started making her way towards the ck Castle.

 Chapter 161 Side Chapter: Gods Worries

    "Tch�� That shitty lightning always trying to make things difficult for me." A manly voice resounded throughout arge room.

    Thisrge room contained a massive bed and too many beautiful women to count. They were all watching a screen that just finished reying a scene where Mira''s physique experienced a drastic change.

    Amongst the women was an extremely handsome man that didn''t radiate any sort of pressure or aura, but nobody in their right mind would deem this man a mortal.

    This man was the god-like existence that has trapped Mira''s soul and forcefully reincarnated her up until this point.

    This man goes by many names, but his existence is also somewhat of a myth among the creatures in the universe.

    This is because he is a recluse that never leaves his home and only spends time with his women. Only the truly strong people know who this man is, but they dare not talk about him for that would bring a cmity upon them.

    Primordial one, God-Emperor, King, Master, The Strongest Man, these are the titles that he generally goes by. His name has been lost in time and, probably, he''s even forgotten it himself as even the women around him don''t know.

    Right now, this man had a frown on his face as he watched Mira, who was currently unconscious, on the projection.

    There were several reasons for this and some of them even made the man start to feel a bit of pressure.

    One was Kayda. He knew that Kayda was an Immortal Magma Dragon who has almost reached the peak of existence, at least in terms of dragon standards. But this wasn''t the issue that caused his displeasure. The issue was that he does not know of such a being.

    Dragons are incredibly rare existences, but the amount of power that they hold truly warrants them being rare as they stand at the peak of all races. Immortal Dragons are even rarer. This makes variant Dragons, like Magma Dragons, an almost impossible sight. This is because not only does the Dragon Race already have an extremely low fertility rate, but it''s significantly lower when two Dragons of different sub-species mate.

    To give birth to a Magma Dragon may take tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years at the minimum just to give birth to. Therefore, whenever a Dragon like a Magma Dragon is born, they are generally taken in and cultivated by some of the stronger Dragon Race Members so they won''t die until they be strong enough.

    p The god-like existence watching Mira also has a great impression of the Dragon Race and won''t easily make them his enemies. This is because the Immortal Dragon King is one of the strongest existences in the universe, only slightly inferior to him. But if they were to seriously fight, he isn''t sure that he''ll even be able to kill him.</anda>

    Knowing this information, he can''t help but frown when he looks at Kayda. He knows nothing about this girl. He doesn''t know when or how she was born, who her parents were, why she is in some remote ce meant for mortals alone, nor does he know why she''s so damn strong.

    He can feel that she''s not that far from being as strong as the Immortal Dragon King. She only needs another realm or two to be a peak existence like himself!

    This surprisingck of information caused him to be wary of this girl. His intuition told him that things weren''t as simple as they seemed. There''s no way someone isn''t protecting this girl!

    "Fuck! Someone find out where this little dragon came from!" The man ordered and one amongst the crowd of women answered.

    "Yes, Master!"

    The man rubbed his temples thinking about the other troublesome matters.<sub> </sub>

    The second problem was Mira''s physique? Bloodline? Constitution? He wasn''t even sure what to call it, but for the sake of simplicity, he''s going to call it a physique.

    Mira''s original physique, the Extreme Yin Physique, was a pretty good physique, generally meant for women. It makes their bodies a bit stronger, helps with theirprehension of the Ice Element, and is great for Dual Cultivating with, especially if their partner has the Extreme Yang Physique.

    But Mira''s physique has somehow mutated and evolved into something much greater, much more terrifying. It''s a physique that shouldn''t be allowed in this universe, a physique that never should''vee to existence, a physique that even Heaven deems necessary to destroy.

    This is a physique that has infinite potential to grow and could quite possibly hold every element and subelement within it. Meaning that if cultivated properly, Mira might be able to control Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Ice, Lightning, Light, Dark, and every sub-element from those 8. Not only will this increase her durability, but it will also cover for her weaknesses.

    If she''s able to properly wield every element while also absorbing it into her body, making her stronger, she''d be literally impossible to kill once she reaches the peak. The only solution then would be to use brute strength, but even that will be difficult.

    This wasn''t the most terrifying thing about the physique though, the most terrifying thing is that the properties of the elements change once they get absorbed.

    Yang turns to Yin and Yin elements get strengthened.

    "What the hell kind of physique is that anyway?! Did all of those centuries of things that I did to her pile up into an insane amount of luck and something inconsequential and impossible was made?! Fuck!" The man cursed, but even though he cursed he still had a light smile on his face.

    A smile that showed absolute confidence in his ability and was truly curious if Mira would be able to cultivate that physique to the peak. He wanted to see Mira defy Heaven, defy himself, before thoroughly crushing her! Only then would someone like Mira actually bow and submit to him!

    "Hahahaha! Just thinking about it makes meugh! Mira, continue cultivating, continue getting stronger! I''ll be waiting for your my darling! Hahaha!" The manughed while the women around him could only give bitter smiles.

    "Master, you''ve started cursing a lot moretely. It seems you''ve been influenced by Mira a bit and have picked up some of her�� more vulgar habits." One of the women said with displeasure.

    "Ahahaha! Have I? I haven''t noticed. But I have been enjoying ittely. Cursing really does help relieve some stress! Truly something only my beloved Mira would say with such confidence! Hahaha!" The man boisterouslyughed as he already saw Mira as his and the more he watched the more he wanted. The women around him could only sigh since this man has been like this for a long time now. They even call him a Mira-con in private since the only thing he cares about nowadays is her.

    But the man suddenly frowned upon thinking about thest thing. It was the fact that the treasure holding Mira''s soul cracked a bit. It''s not surprising that the object itself cracked since it''s not particrly durable, but what did surprise him is the changes in Mira''s soul.

    Her soul was once a bright white, pure and innocent when he first found her. Over time and hardships, her soul became dirtied and filled with ckness as it dimmed. This showed that Mira''s will to live dropped significantly and her experiences have turned her soul into a fucked up void-like soul.

    But everything changed all of a sudden and the man can only me the lightning from the lightning tribtion that almost erased her existence. Her will to live became stronger than ever, but at the same time, it wasn''t her will to live that became stronger. What she wanted to do, more than anything is kill him. It reached a point that went beyond hatred or revenge.

    It reached a point that her soul went from a dim light filled with ckness to a thick red haze. It seems that Mira''s thoughts are about nothing other than seeing his head fly and it reached a point that this was etched into her existence.

    "Damn�� How unlucky�� Even if this thing could reincarnate Mira, I don''t know how many times it has left. Mira, you better not disappoint me during this life because it may very well be yourst. But fret not for if I wille to save you before you truly die. Hehe." The man murmured to himself while looking at Mira''s soul.

    The man then lifted his head and continued watching the unconscious Mira, waiting for when she wakes up.

 Chapter 162 Confrontation

    Kayda dragged Mira, Maria, and Cine to her bedroom after they fell unconscious and waited for them to wake up.

    She had many questions that she wanted to ask Mira, but she knew that she should at least let Mira rest.

    After Kayda put them on her extremelyrge bed, which seemed just like a dog bed except it''s the size of a house.

    While waiting for them to wake up, Kayda has been feeling rather ufortabletely especially whenever she''s around Mira. She felt like she''s being watched and this feeling only increased when she''s around Mira, but it can''t be the girl herself because she''s unconscious right now.

    She also can''t feel any presence nearby, so the only remaining answer is someone is watching Mira from far away and consequently she is being watched as well.

    A deep frown formed on her face, but she wasn''t sure who was watching Mira. Was it that scary smell she found on Mira, Mira''s supposed Master? Was it someone with ill-intent? Whatever it is, she feels like it''s her duty as the Big Sister to do something about this.

    All of a sudden, a mischievous smile appeared on her face. She then took out an ancient-looking crest from her Spatial Ring.

    "Hehe, whoever is watching this Great One should surely know what this is, right? Fufu! Do you think this Great One would just forsake her new little sister knowing someone is watching her?" Kayda''s grin grew wider as she held the crest in her hand.

    All of a sudden a massive pressure came weighing down on her.

    "You dare?! You lowly dragon! I''ll kill you if you use that thing on Mira!!" An ancient-sounding voice resounded from the void, but Kayda''s grin reached all the way to her ears when she heard that.

    "So a wretch like you is actually peeping on my dear Sister? You certainly are very strong, but so what? With just this measly strength, do you think that you can actually take me on? Hmmm�� Maybe I should call my father to deal with you�� HAHAHA! What am I saying?! A measly ant such as yourself doesn''t warrant me calling someone as great as my father!! O''Primordial One��" Kayda revealed her canines in a fierce smile.

    The man on the other side of the pressure stiffened. His mind was racing as he tried to think of who this woman was, but no matter how much he thought about it he couldn''t recall anything! Not only does this woman know of him and his strength, but she also doesn''t even put him in her eyes as an opponent! She also said ''father'' meaning there is someone greater than her behind her. Now he started dripping in cold sweat thinking about the unknown. For the first time in eons, there is an unknown emotion taking root. An emotion known as fear.

    "H-H-H-How do you know my name?! Who are you?!" The man yelled into the void, but the only response he got was Kayda stretching out her hand.

    This hand seemed to reach the bounds of the universe and break through the void as it soon reached the man''s throat. Kayda''s arm has transformed into a scorching hot draconic arm and it grasped his throat with her ws.

    Kayda used her other hand to rip open the void and got a glimpse of the man. What she saw was an extremely handsome man with countless women by his side, but what caught her attention is therge projection in front of him that was focused on Mira. Kayda''s fearless smile turned into a deep frown and her mind quickly came up with possible scenarios, with none of them being good.

    "Hmph! I see you like peeping on little girls you scum! I''ll have to politely ask you to please stop peeping on my little sister or I might just have to reveal this location to my father. Hmmm�� I think a good excuse will be that you tried to **** me and tried to force me to submit to you using devious tactics. Surely that will enrage my father. I''ll just have to turn up the waterworks a bit. Hehehe! Ah! It looks like our visit will be cut short O''Primordial One�� Bye~Bye~" Kayda said sweetly as she removed her ws. The void trembled a bit before returning back to normal and Kayda let out a huge sigh of relief.

    Her whole body then started trembling, but she forced herself to move. She reached for the crest, input her Qi into it, then tossed it onto Mira''s body. The crest soon sunk into Mira''s body, causing it to shiver for a minute before finally calming down. The crest disappeared without a trace and only Kayda can sense it now.

    "DDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT!!!" A roar echoed throughout the universe, but Kayda paid no mind to it.

    "Huuu~ I''m d that I was able to bluff my way out of this one. There''s no way I could beat that man in a fight. I''d instantly die! Luckily he was too frozen by my sudden threats and the unknown to make a move, otherwise, I might really have to call Father. Luckily I didn''t have to do that as it''s still too early for me to see him�� Mira, this is all I can do for you. I hope when the timees, you will also be able to help me." Kayda muttered to herself as she stared at Mira.

    If Mira or her group saw Kayda like this they''d surely think they are looking at an entirely different person. But in reality, Kayda isn''t as dumb as she looks, though she may not be that great at actually talking to people. She actually has a very keen observation and isn''t quite as naive as Mira might think she is. Though, that might be debatable since she is truly terrible at interacting with other people.

    ***

    5 Days Later

    Maria and Cine woke up with newfound vigor. Their minds felt refreshed and their bodies felt stronger than ever!

    Before they even spoke to each other, they wanted to thoroughly examine their new bodies.

    After spending a good 30 minutes looking at their new bodies they couldn''t help but be amazed. Their blood was flowing through their bodies like magma, their bones were ck but looked like hardened magma, their skin was iparably smooth though a little more tan than what they used to be, and their organs felt like mini volcanos.<sub> </sub>

    They felt like they could take on the world right now, but knew that this was just their imagination to their newfound strength.

    Their cultivation also made a breakthrough. Cine was now at the Peak of the Mid-Houtian Stage and Maria broke through to the Peak-Houtian Stage.

    So not only has their body been strengthened and remade, but their cultivation also underwent a breakthrough.

    This was a very unexpected boon, but they weren''t going toin!

    The two of them turned to each other and let out huge grins!

    "We did it! We survived! Haha! Miss Kayda is really the best! Amazing! I wish I could be her little sister!" Cine yelled in delight to which Maria nodded.

    "I agree! Miss Kayda really is amazing! To be given such a technique�� I will surely engrave this favor into my heart and be sure to repay it someday!" Maria said with conviction.

    "Eh? You weaklings want to repay this Great One? What a joke!" A sneer resounded beside them. They both froze and looked at Kayda, who was looking at them with contempt, but knowing that she was there didn''t change their thoughts.

    "That''s right! Even if I can''t now, I will surely repay this favor in the future! Not only for providing us this amazing technique but for also being nice to Mira. You''re probably the first person to do something nice for Mira in a very long time. Though she''ll probably never admit it��" Maria said with a little bit of a self-deprecating smile. She wished she could do something like this for Mira.

    This time it was Kayda''s turn to freeze up. Seeing the innocent-looking Maria making such a im with such conviction was truly a sight for sore eyes. No deceit, no lies, just pure and honest innocence.

    Her gaze softened as she looked at Maria and she subconsciously let down her guard against her.

    "Hoh? Can you tell me a bit more about Mira? She does seem like she holds a lot of secrets." Kayda asked, but Maria looked a little reluctant and let out a bitter smile.

    "It''s sad to say that I''ve been traveling with Mira for around a decade now, but I actually know very little about her. I know her parents were killed by bandits not long after she was born. She''s extremely cold to other people, especially men. Uhm�� She''s also killed a lot of people and acts a lot older than what she looks like, sometimes it feels like I''m talking to my Grandma. I''ve been told that she''s much older than she actually is, but she doesn''t talk about that. Other than that, I think you should ask Mira." Maria lightly answered her question and just provided general information about Mira, but she honestly doesn''t know much more than this.

    Kayda narrowed her eyes slightly and started trying toe to conclusions. The only thing that she could conclude is that her life up until now has probably been something worse than hell. In fact, Mira probably wished she could be in hell right now just to escape her current situation.

    She could see that much from Mira''s eyes, especially when she was on the brink of death due to the Lightning Tribtion lightning. There was no panic or sadness when she was about to die, just pure bliss. Almost like she was looking forward to it.

    She doesn''t know what Mira has gone through, but she could tell that Mira just looked done. Kayda also got a feeling like ''Even if I die, it won''t change my situation'' kind of vibe from Mira.

    Kayda looked over at the sleeping Mira with sympathy and pity. She also vaguely sensed Mira isn''t something that is supposed to be here, but it was just a vague and ambiguous feeling that may or may not be reliable.

    This only made her gaze soften even more towards the sleeping Mira as she truly couldn''t tell how old Mira might be or what she''s gone through.

    Her thoughts were brought to an end by Maria.

    "Umm�� Is Mira okay? Usually, she wakes up before us." Maria asked worriedly as she looked at Mira.

    "Ah! Yes, she''ll be fine! Her feeble mind just umted too much stress." Kayda answered.

    "I see�� I''m d." The two rxed after hearing that and decided to wait for Mira to wake up before deciding what they should do next.

    ***

    A few more days passed and Mira''s eyes suddenly opened.

 Chapter 163 Training

    A little over a week passed and Mira finally opened her eyes.

    "Huuu��" Mira let out a sigh as she awoke and immediately checked her surroundings.

    She was in a massive room that was around the size of a house and was currentlyying on a massive bed that took up most of the space.

    Mira noticed the familiar ck walls and came to the conclusion that she was in Kayda''s room. It was the only thing that made sense after all.

    She didn''t feel any presence near her nor did she see Maria or Cine, but she wasn''t worried. This was because of Kayda. There shouldn''t be anything near this ce that can actually hurt Kayda and if Kayda actually attacked the two of them, Mira won''t be able to do anything.

    Mira decided to take this time to thoroughly analyze some of the changes in her body. The first thing she noticed was the newfound power that her body currently held. Her looks didn''t change much since they were already at the pinnacle, but all of the changes were what happened internally.

    Mira felt like her insides looked like a popsicle! They were all blue, even her blood, bones, muscles, organs, everything was some shade of icy blue. She could see that Icy Magma was flowing through her veins with streaks of lightning bouncing around. Her bones looked like they were made with a mixture of magma and ice, while her lightning was coursing through them as well.

    Having her understanding of this new physique deepening, she knew that the elements residing in her body were not the same as they once were. It was hard to confirm with just the lightning, but now adding Magma to the mix, she''s able to confirm some of her conjectures.

    Mira''s theory is that her physique, as long as she uses a technique simr to the Magma Dragon Body, she can cultivate and improve her physique. But a change happens to the element. If her guess is correct, it turns Yang elements into Yin and most likely strengthens Yin elements. Though thatst part is just a guess based on the benefits she''s getting from her physique towards the ice element.

    From these conjectures, Mira figured she should start calling her lightning and magma, Yin Lightning and Yin Magma since they aren''t the same as the original.

    She silently nodded and conjured an Ice Needle in her hand. A needle made of ice appeared in her hand that was crackling with Yin Lightning. There was also a thin line of Yin Magma in the middle of the needle.

    After putting her Ice Needle away, Mira also noticed her cultivation reached the Peak-Houtian Stage and the Qi in her body also seemed to condense to the maximum, which made her extremely pleased. The only thing Mira was a little bitter about is that it was going to take a while before she can actually break through to the Xiantian Stage.

    Mira nodded her head, satisfied, and finished examining her body.

    She got up from her position and walked out of the room to search for Maria and Cine.

    It didn''t take long until she heard the sounds of nking and she was a little surprised by what she saw.

    Maria and Cine were sparring with each other. It seems they probably wanted to test out their newfound power.

    Mira sat some distance away and watched without disturbing them. She also found Kayda on the other side watching them and nodded while giving her a faint smile. She was thankful for this Dragon.

    Something seemed to be different in Kayda''s gaze, it seemed to be filled with sympathy, pity, and determination when looking at her. This puzzled Mira, but she couldn''te up with any reasons why Kayda would think this way and decided to throw it to the back of her mind.

    Maria and Cine sparred for the next few hours, feeling satisfied.

    "Mira!"

    "Ah! Mira!"

    Maria and Cine noticed Mira''s presence after they finished sparring and ran up to her.

    "Let''s spar!!" Maria immediately yelled, feeling fired up.

    She felt like if it was the current her, then she should be able to contend with Mira.

    "Eh?! Maria, we just finished sparring and you want to start again with Mira?!" Cine let out in surprise.

    "Heh. Very well, I also wanted to test out this newfound power," Mira said, standing up and walking towards the location the 2 were sparring at before.

    Maria smiled brightly and ran to the opposing side. Mira also let out a faint smile and looked at Maria. She resolved herself to make Maria one of the best warriors across the realms, and that starts right now...

    The two didn''t need words to start Maria dashed towards Mira with her sword in hand.

    Mira went ahead and took out her scythe, but just waited for Maria toe at her.

    Maria was the first to strike and Mira could feel the weight of that attack. It was iparably stronger than the previous Maria. But Mira also knew that her body was also slightly stronger than Maria''s due to her physique just based on that single strike.

    Maria let out a bright smile as she fiercely attacked Mira. If Mira were to actually get hit by one of these, she might actually be seriously wounded, but this didn''t cause her any displeasure.

    Kayda was watching this scene with interest since it almost looked like these 2 wanted to kill each other with how fiercely they are attacking each other. She could tell that Mira was much more rxed than Maria, but she still couldn''t take her eyes off of Maria''s swings.

    She walked over to Cine.

    "Are these two always like this? It almost seems like they are trying to kill each other." Kayda asked curiously to which Cine nodded.<sub> </sub>

    "Yeah, whenever these two spar they always go at it will full force. They''ve been with traveling together for around a decade now and it seems they''ve trained with each other almost every day. I bet they''ve sparred together thousands of times by now. Oh! Mira''s also the one that touted Maria how to fight and Maria is always trying to win against Mira in a spar, but it seems she''s never once been able to even after knowing all of Mira''s moves and habits." Cine exined while watching them and Kayda became even more interested.

    "Hmmm�� Even though they have the same cultivation and their body strength is almost exactly the same, I can tell that Maria doesn''t have a chance at winning against Mira." Kayda muttered to herself and watched Mira with interest. When she watched Mira, she felt like she was watching a veteran warrior that''s been tempered through many battles.

    The two sparred for hours and eventually, the two of them started using Qi and their elements instead of just their bodies.

    Now that Mira had a decent understanding of her strength, she wanted to test out how her Yin Magma can be used.

    Mira used her Ice Domain and a blizzard spread out around Mira. Yin Lightning shot through the torrential blizzard, but now Yin Magma was congregating near the bottom of the domain.

    Maria immediately noticed the changes in her Ice Domain, but didn''t voice them out and charged at Mira.

    She was dodging all of the ice and lightning that came her way, but a small chunk of Yin Magmanded on her leg and she felt a burning pain on her leg. It was hot yet cold at the same time, but what she noticed is the Yin Magma seemed to be breaking down her skin almost like acid.

    She quickly scooped the magma off of her and threw it away before retreating.

    "It seems your Ice Domain changed, huh? Was it due to the Magma Dragon Body?" Maria asked.

    "It seems so though I don''t know what it does." Mira said.

    "Weird�� It seems that this weird magma stuff deteriorates by my skin almost like acid. It''s rather unpleasant, Mira!" Maria recalled what just happened.

    "Houu�� Interesting. Let''s end the spar here today, I want to test a few things out."

    "Okay!"

    Maria left the scene happily and sat down next to Cine.

    There they watched Mira together.

    Mira was also thinking of the different possibilities she could use this Yin Magma for.

    The first thing she did is have a massive amount of Yin Magmae into contact with her ice and lightning.

    What happened next was outside of her expectations. A dense fog started to roll in as she made the Yin Magma deteriorate her ice. This caused her Yin Lightning to condense more and more until a massive storm started to ur with Mira at the center.

    Mira kept this up for a while, but soon things started going out of control. The massive storm happening around her while intensifying and it didn''t take long for Mira to lose control.

    Yin Magma and Ice kept shing with each other and Mira felt something bad was about to happen.

    "Fuck�� Get back!" Mira yelled as she ran away from this massive storm.

    The dense fog made of Yin Magma, Yin Lightning, and ice started to copse on itself. Things then got strangely quiet after it shrunk to around a meter long.

    *BOOM*

    The surroundings shook and what Mira knew as a ''Steam Explosion'' took ce except the size and damage caused was a bit out of proportion as it seemed to cover over 300 meters with the explosion.

    Mira and the others ran a full kilometer away as they also had bad premonitions while Kayda didn''t feel like stopping it since she found it interesting.

    The 4 of them watched as their surroundings were covered in a dense fog.

    They nced at Mira, seemingly asking for an exnation but Mira just shrugged her shoulders.

    "Quite effective�� If I could somehow control this then maybe I will finally have some AOE attacks. If the scale was a bit bigger I might even be able to annihte small towns with this��" Mira muttered to herself thinking about the future possibilities.

    Maria and Cine trembled and even Kayda was wondering if she heard things right.

    ''The first thing she thinks about is taking out small towns from the result of a failure? A little ruthless, but I like it.'' Kayda thought to herself as she just kept watching.

    Once the fog cleared up, they made their way back towards the sparring area. There wasn''t much damage to the surroundings which was to be expected since they are near Kayda''s ck Castle.

    The three of them then continued to spar and Mira kept trying different ways to utilize her new Yin Magma. Sometimes, even Kayda would jump in and provide pointers, but she mostly just waited until Mira was finished sparring so the two of them could chat.

    Time passed by quickly this way and the 3-month time limit was approaching, unbeknownst to the three of them.

 Chapter 164 Goodbye

    Time passed by quickly for Mira, Maria, and Cine.

    They spent most of their days training and sparring with each other, trying to get used to their new bodies.

    Mira was alsoing up with various ways to utilize the new element residing in her body. She eventually learned that her Yin Magma had various destructive uses. There was one downside to this, though: the various uses she''s devised don''t reach her current power.

    After lots of trial and error, Mira was able to create miniaturized Steam Bombs, but the power from them was sorelycking. If she were to guess, then she wouldn''t use this technique 9 times out of ten. The one way she''d create a Steam Bomb is if it was on a massive scale, but those situations are few and far between.

    She''s alsoe up with a way for her Ice and Yin Magma to produce steam which might be useful. She''s also found that her Yin Lightning and Yin Magma be very destructive whenbined. Not a mass destruction ability, but more of single target destruction.

    The target starts to decay at a much faster rate and starts to turn to dust unless it''s stopped.

    Right now, the technique that gained the most power is her Ice Domain and Ice needles.

    Her Ice Domains destructive power was raised and the efficiency of her Ice Needles has exceeded her expectations.

    Mira found that when shebined her Magma with her other Ice techniques like Ice Armor, Ice des, Dual-ded Scythe, and others the efficiency starts to drop as it requires more of her mental energy to control.

    While her Ice Domain is essentially her letting loose and her Ice Needles have such a minuscule amount that it''s hard to notice the difference between before and now.

    The next most useful after those two would be her Ice des while the least effective is her Ice Armor. It doesn''t provide any benefit to her and only draws power and mental energy from her. In other words,pletely useless with Yin Magma and Yin Lightning.

    The only big difference that came out of the new element is just the difference in bodily strength, which was more than enough for Mira since her main attacks came from her strong body and her ice. Anything other than that is just extra.

    As Mira was thinking about the gains, she heard Maria and Cine walking towards her.

    "Hey, Mira! Are you ready to go back? I feel like it''s been around 3 months already, but it''s hard to tell since the sky never changes." Maria asked with a mixture of excitement and disappointment.

    "I suppose. Though it''s a bit regretful that we can''t stay in the Secret Realm much longer." Mira agreed, but in reality, she didn''t want to leave. This ce was just too good!

    "I know how you feel, I''m also a bit reluctant to leave." Cine chimed in and everyone nodded their heads.

    Mira got up and left the room, wanting to say goodbye to Kayda while Maria and Cine followed.

    It didn''t take them long to find her and Kayda just looked at them with a gentle expression.

    "Thank you for taking care of us, Sister Kayda. We are truly in your debt." Mira spoke up first and slightly bowed her head. Kayda just waved her hands, feeling a bit flustered by the sudden thanks.

    "No need for such things. We are sisters, aren''t we? There is no need for thanks between us!" Kayda said with a slight blush.

    Mira noticed her mood was slightly different than usual but decided not toment and continued.

    "Perhaps you are right, though we can only hope that things go the way we want�� Regardless, we''vee to say goodbye. I think we''re reaching the time limit we are allocated to stay inside the Secret Realm so I don''t know exactly when we''ll be ejected, but I''d like to at least say goodbye." Mira said and before she could say anything else, she was embraced.

    Mira immediately frowned her instinct was to push her away, but she refrained from doing so and just let herself be held. In fact, she felt rather calm being embraced like this.

    "Mm, I understand that you will be forced to leave, but I want you to know that I''ve had a great time with you here. I don''t know when we''ll meet again, but it will surely happen someday so I''ll see youter." Kayda whispered into Mira''s ear.

    Kayda kept hugging Mira for a while before she finally let go and looked at the other two behind her.

    "You two have good hearts and I can see how much you value Mira. Please take care of her on your journeys and make sure she doesn''t go too far." Kayda said with a light smile while Maria and Cien could only wryly smile and nod their heads.

    They''ve never once been able to control Mira in anything so she''s basically asking for the impossible. If a day everes when Mira gives in is the day that Hell freezes over and the sky falls. In fact, they figured that even if something like that did happen Mira still wouldn''t give.

    Kayda easily read their expressions but had nothing left to say. She learned of Mira''s harsh and unyielding character very quickly. Whenever Mira said something, it wasn''t a suggestion, it was amand. And if she didn''t want to do something then she''d take it to her grave without a hint of fear. Kayda''s never seen someone so stubborn!

    The three of them said their goodbyes and told Kayda that they''ll just cultivate until they get ejected and Kayda just nodded and watched over them.<sub> </sub>

    A day soon went by and nothing happened.

    Two Days

    Three Days

    A Week

    Two Weeks went by before they started to get really annoyed. It''s definitely been 3 months but they haven''t been ejected yet.

    They stopped cultivating and currently held troubled expressions on their faces. Mira got up and walked over to Kayda.

    "I''d like you to search this realm for people around our age and listen in on their conversations. See if they say anything regarding the ''Time limit of the Secret Realm''." Mira told Kayda and she just let out a faint smile. She could only let out a wry smile at the way Mira, who was as significant as an ant in her eyes, ordered her around.

    She tried telling Mira to ask her nicely one time, but all she got was a deep frown and a look that clearly said ''Stop messing around and do what I said.''

    This happened quite often as Kayda really wanted Mira to learn to speak politely, but she''d either get ignored or Mira would just repeat what she just said with an annoyed expression.

    While Kayda was thinking about that she just nodded and spread out her senses.

    It didn''t take her long to identify people with simr ages and cultivation to Mira.

    Most of what they were saying was a bunch of nonsense and it took around 30 minutes before something caught her attention.

    "So around 3 months have passed, huh? No, maybe a bit longer? That''s true, too short of a time to spend in this Secret Realm. There is just so much to gain here that it''s insane! Look, my cultivation also made a breakthrough recently!" One man said to hispanions.

    "Yeah, luckily that the three months that Sect Master mentioned is only three months in the outside world. In here it''s 3 years! Just imagine how far we''ll progress in these 3 years! Maybe we''ll even be Core Formation Experts by the time we leave! Haha!" Another man expressed his thoughts.

    "Yeah, but haven''t you guys noticed something strange��" Kayda stopped listening there and looked at Mira with a mischievous grin on her face. Mira noticed this but had no intention of listening to her idiocy so she spoke up first.

    "Let me guess�� The time we spend in this Secret Realm is much longer than what it actually is. They probably meant only 3 months in the outside world, right? How much time do we actually have in this realm?" Mira said with a sharp glint in her eyes which caused Kayda to pout.

    "Geez. You really are too smart for your own good, you know? It''s not good for ady like yourself to be so straightforward and demanding. Can''t you just let your Big Sis have a bit of fun? I''ve always wanted to tease a younger sister and now that I finally have the chance, you won''t even let me!" Kaydained, but Mira just frowned and stared at her.

    "And?"

    "Gah! Fine! I''ll tell you! I heard some people saying that the three months mentioned is only from the outside world''s perspective and that you will actually be staying in this realm for 3 years!" Kayda said bluntly hoping to catch a reaction out of Mira, but she only saw her narrow her eyes a bit.

    "3 years huh�� My guess was either a year or 3 years. I''m d that I had you confirm my thoughts." Mira said casually after knowing the truth. She wasn''t surprised by this answer at all.

    "Aren''t you surprised? You seem like you already knew this was going to happen. Are you teasing me?" Kayda asked while looking at Mira like she''s looking at an alien.

    "No, it''s just the conclusion I''vee to with the knowledge that I have." Mira gave a vague reply, but Kayda wanted to know more. She wanted to know how Mira''s brain worked.

    "How''d youe to that conclusion?"

    "Simple. My Sect Master said we will be in here for 3 months. It''s clearly over 3 months and we are still here. One might think, ''Well, maybe it goes to four or five months.'' but those people would be idiots. Who would make something so impractical? They''d either make it a year or make each month in the outside world a year in here." Mira said, but Kayda still didn''t understand how Mira came to this conclusion.

    What she got out of Mira''s exnation is basically that nobody would make something that messes with time so annoying if they were able to do it on such arge scale.

    She wasn''t sure if Mira was a genius or an idiot, but regardless Mira was right.

    "I don''t really understand, but okay." Kayda said with aplicated look.

    Mira just nodded her head and left, really taking advantage of the whole ''no need for thanks'' thing.

 Chapter 165 Goodbye For Real

    "So that''s how it is. We still have over two and a half years left in the Secret Realm." Mira just finished telling Maria and Cine about her findings.

    Both of them were slightly surprised, not that the time in the Secret Realm was extended but because of how much it was extended.

    They both figured that it''d probably be a year at most, but it seems that wasn''t the case. Like Mira, they also entertained the thought that their time in the Secret Realm would actually be 3 years, but that''s just because ''three'' months and ''three'' years both have the number ''three''. Of course, that thought was immediately rejected because of how silly their reasoning was.

    "Well, since we have so much time left, what should we do now? I want to explore some more, but I''ve grown fond of this ce along with Kayda." Maria asked.

    "I like it here as well, but I think we should leave soon. Two and a half years may sound like a long time, but over 10% of that time went by in the blink of an eye. We spent a lot of time trapped in that tornado and cultivating the Magma Dragon Body, and by just doing these two things took up 3 months of our time." Cine voiced her opinion which caused Mira to nce at her with a hint of amazement. At least one of them was growing during this journey.

    "I agree with Cine. I think we should stay here another week before heading out." Mira said and the other two agreed.

    They finished their discussion and walked over to Kayda to tell her their thoughts, to which she happily agreed.

    ***

    A week passed by quickly as the three didn''t do much.

    Mira mostly talked or hung out with Kayda, which thetter was very pleased with. Mira was growing rather fond of this Dragon girl and felt a sense offort being around her. Almost like she could rest her mind while in her vicinity.

    This is something that Mira never knew she needed, but up until this point her mind has never been able to fully rx. Something was almost always happening or about to happen and she''s never really had the chance to just chill.

    The opposite can be said for Kayda. Though she''s lived for an incalcble amount of time, most of her time is spent sleeping. In fact, even though Mira doesn''t even have a fraction of Kayda''s power or age, she probably has more worldly experience than Kayda.

    This allows them to be highlypatible with each other as Kayda loves listening to Mira talk and Mira is fond of being near Kayda.

    Cine and Maria just let the two of them be without disturbing them as they both could see that Mira''s mind seemed to be at rest when she was near Kayda.

    But this was alling to an end as it was time for them to leave.

    "It''s time to say goodbye, for real this time," Mira said to Kayda with Maria and Cien behind her.

    "Hehe, I guess I can''t keep you here forever seeing how this realm is a smelting trial for you three. I can bring you to pretty much wherever you want to go, do you have any preferences?" Kayda chuckled and asked.

    "A ce that contains ice, light, or wind would be preferred, but I don''t think the other ces will be any less useful so I don''t have any preferences�� Actually, rather than a specific location, a map of the ce or trail would be much better." Mira suggested and the other three were a bit surprised by her suggestion. They hadn''t even thought of something like that.

    Kayda had a thoughtful look on her face and soon spread out her senses.

    She stayed like this for a while beforeing back to her senses. She raised a finger towards Mira, Maria, and Cine, and a bright lightunched from her finger towards the three of them.

    They didn''t even try to dodge and it wouldn''t have made a difference even if they did. The light hit their foreheads and they grimaced slightly due to a headache, but once that went away they were shocked by what they found inside of their minds.

    It was a map, or rather a path, that Kayda seemed to think will bring them the most benefit. The path didn''t show them the biomes or anything specific, it only provided them with a sense of direction.

    "This should be what you''re looking for. I didn''t want to spoil your trial by providing you with a map along with all of the things to pay attention to in each biome as that would defeat the purpose. Plus, all of the stuff left here is trash in my eyes so I don''t even know what would be helpful to you or not. But I can assure you that the path that Iid out will most likely bring the most benefit to you if you choose to follow it." Kayda said to which they slightly nodded.

    Kayda smiled, walked up to Mira, and hugged her.<sub> </sub>

    "I''m going to miss you, Mira, but I do not doubt that you''ll survive and meet me again. I look forward to our next meeting and seeing how strong you''ve be. Also, there''s no need to be so tense, I''ve temporarily solved your little stalker problem." Kayda whispered with a wink.

    Mira''s aura red a bit and she frowned while staring at Kayda. Obviously, she knew who this stalker might be, but she didn''t think that Kayda would know.

    "borate," Mira said with a sharp look in her eyes.

    "I''ve temporarily hidden your presence from some creep and gave him a bit of a warning. But if you want me to actually deal with him I c-" Kayda was cut off there.

    "No. He will die by my hands. I will make sure he regrets forcefully reincarnating me so many times." Mira said in a voice that was neither soft nor loud, but it contained her unyielding rage and resolve.

    Mira also let it slip that she''s been reincarnated, but it''s not like it really matters. It''s just something that she has no reason to discuss since those lives are now in the past.

    Kayda also looked at Mira in surprise as things started to make a lot of sense. She didn''t know how long Mira''s lived, but she always felt that Mira gave off the feeling of an expert even though she''s just a teenager.

    If she''s being honest, Mira gave off the feeling of a grandma or ancestor that''s extremely strict to their grandchildren. Kayda always felt like she was talking to her parents whenever she talked with Mira which made her feel a bit weird.

    Now things started to click in her mind and with how perverted that ''Primordial One'' is, she''s sure that her life has been anything but easy. It''s probably been harder than at least 95% of people''s lives as that man has a reputation for trying to break females'' minds, bodies, and souls as theye crawling to his feet begging for him to stop.

    She doesn''t know much about his deeds other than some rumors, but she guessed that those rumors didn''t evene close to the actual thing. Just the thought of all of the hardships that Mira''s had to go through causes a chill to run up her spine. Her rage was about to burst, but she forcefully held it back.

    She can''t help but feel overwhelming admiration for Mira knowing that her mind is still intact even after all of this time. Her thoughts were stopped there as Mira started to speak.

    "If it is as you say, then that''s good. I appreciate your concern and hopefully, itsts long enough for me to prevent him from ever spying on me. He''s been a real pain in the ass for a while because of this. But nothing will change unless I personally remove that scourge from the universe. No matter how many years or lifetimes it takes, he will die and I will be the one to do it!" Mira said as she lightly gave her thanks. She didn''t want to say too much regarding this matter and knew that even if he did watch her, it didn''t really matter until she became an immortal. Mainly because nothing within the mortal realm, no matter how strong, can hope to kill him. Even if she were the strongest in the mortal realm, she would still be an insect in his eyes.

    She also didn''t know how this would pan out. Mira didn''t know if the man would go to more extreme lengths to piss her off or if he would just sit back and wait. If she were to guess, she''d say that he''d go to more extreme lengths since for some reason he seems infatuated with her which is why she wasn''t sure how to think of this situation.

    She honestly felt it might''ve been better to just leave things how they were and have her deal with it herself when the timees as that would surely make things more ''interesting'', at least ording to him.

    But what''s done is done and Mira can only go with what''s toe. Her thoughts were interrupted by Maria and Cineing over to Kayda and giving her a light hug.

    "We''ll see you again when we''re stronger, Kayda! It''s been a great time!" Maria eximed as her eyes started to tear up a bit.

    "I don''t know if I''ll be able to see you again, but if I''m still with Mira then I''m sure it''ll happen. Take care of yourself while we''re gone or maybe just take a short nap and we''ll be back here to say hi before you know it! Hehe." Cine said while scratching her nose.

    "Hehe, then I guess I''ll look forward to that day. Goodbye for now, I''ll see you when you be strong enough!" Kayda hugged them and said.

    She then backed away from them and stared at them with a bright smile on her face. Mira nodded her head while Maria and Cine gave bright smiles while waving their hands.

    Kayda waved her hand in front of her, causing space to distort around the three of them and they eventually disappeared from her sight.

    She gazed at where Mira just stood and let out a deep sigh. Her mind was thinking about the crest that she put in Mira''s body along with The Primordial One.

    "That''s all I can do to hide you from his sight. Get strong, fast, Mira since I don''t know how much time this will be able to buy you. I look forward to our next meeting." Kayda muttered to herself while releasing another sigh.

 Chapter 166 Breathing Techniques

    Mira, Maria, and Cine soon found themselves free-falling into the middle of a massive ocean. There was water as far as the eye can see with nond in sight. They also couldn''t see the bottom of this massive ocean.

    They didn''t panic, but this scene was a bit daunting knowing that they will soon fall into the middle of some random ocean with nothing in sight.

    "Of course we''d get sent to a ce like this! We just came from a fiery hell so it only makes sense to drop us in an ocean! Gah!" Maria yelled while she was still falling.

    Mira was also a bit confused by Kayda''s decision to drop them in the ocean. She didn''t know if this was just the start of the path that she set them on or if this ce held any significance, but it didn''t matter. This ce was inside the Secret Realm where treasures and danger go hand in hand, so even if they are in the middle of the ocean that doesn''t mean they are less likely to find something.

    Mira started trying toe up with ways to take advantage of this ce and quickly came up with some ideas. She was going to wait until theynd to voice them out though.

    *SPLASH*

    The three of them made a massive explosion when they hit the water.

    "Gather near me," Mira said and quickly started making a tform out of ice.

    After a few minutes, Mira made a huge chunk of ice that was half a meter thick and was 5 meters wide in every direction. Creating this chunk of ice caused Mira to exhaust quite a bit of her Qi and mental energy since she not only had to make it huge but condense the ice as well to make it sturdy enough against attacks.

    The three of them climbed on, but Maria and Cine found themselves freezing.

    Mira sat down, unfazed by the cold, and started talking about her thoughts.

    "I don''t know why Kayda brought us here, but it doesn''t really matter. This ce is probably full of treasures and has plenty of potentials as it is. If I were to guess, I''d say that if we want to find anything our best bet is to dive underwater. Of course, there might bendmasses on the surface, but there is nothing as far as we can see. We should take advantage of this opportunity and get used to fighting in the water along with improving our breathing." Mira suggested which caused the girls to contemte.

    This is a tough decision because there are so many different possibilities with each one of them being just as likely as the other. It''s possible that there arendmasses above the water and they just got unlucky.

    It''s also possible that thosendmasses have been cleaned out and are justrge chunks of rock in the middle of a vast ocean.

    The same goes for under the water, there might be treasures down there, but they will be much more difficult to reach and also might be looted or imed by any unknown sea creatures.

    They could also just try and head towards their next destination, but it''d be a huge waste of time if they just gave up on looking for treasures.

    They already knew Mira''s answer even if she didn''t say it. She wanted them to stay and train while also looking for any ces that stick out. If they think about things rationally and objectively, this is the best decision. Even if they find nothing, at least they didn''tpletely waste their time and they can say that they tried but were just unlucky.

    "As much as I hate to admit it, I think we should follow your suggestion, Mira�� Ugh!" Cine groaned just thinking about the drowni�� Training that Mira is going to put her through.

    "Even though I''d rather not, this is the best course of action and who knows? We might find something amazing like we did in that desert! Maybe we can even find something like a ''Sea God Body'' or ''Oceanic Hydra Body''! Wouldn''t that be amazing?!" Maria said while full of positivity.

    Mira and Cine just smiled wryly at her. As much as they wanted to dissuade her, they too wanted something like that as well especially Mira.

    "Very well. I havee up with a brief training schedule, but if I''m being honest I don''t know much about breathing exercises for cultivators. I know quite a few of them, but they are meant for mortals and I don''t know what sort of benefits they''ll bring to us." Mira said and then started exining the things she knew.

    She taught them things like circr breathing, 4-7-8 breathing, Diaphragmatic breathing, and various other breathing techniques that will not only help increase their lung capacity but also help themst longer while underwater. She even exined to them why breathing is necessary and what it actually does for the body so they can helpe up with ideas or their own techniques.

    Of course, these techniques weren''t meant for cultivators who can survive hours or even days without breathing to survive.

    Mira then shared her theories on how these techniques might be able to be improved for cultivators to use. Things like how Qi might be able to be used to circte oxygen throughout the body or maybe even drinking the seawater, try extracting the oxygen within, and circting it throughout the body.

    Maria and Cine were surprised by Mira''s weirdlyplex yet vast knowledge on the subject and were somewhat excited to try it out.

    This is one benefit of reincarnating on different worlds is that she''s not as narrow-minded and can fuse ideas to improve upon them.<sub> </sub>

    Mira only wished that she had a breathing technique that an actual cultivator came up with since that''d be much more efficient than trying to create one from scratch.

    Mira''s goal in all of this is to be able tost several days or even up to a week underwater without breathing. She also wanted to get used to fighting underwater as well, but these can be done at the same time.

    The three of them sat down and started trying out different breathing techniques to help expand their lung capacity and tried meditating on ways to survive longer without the need for breathing.

    Mira also wanted to test out their absolute max or staying underwater, so she hopped into the ocean under the ice block and waited until she felt like she was about to drown.

    Mira found that her absolute max for staying underwater, not even under pressure or moving is around 18 hours. That''s if she filled up her lungs with oxygen and did absolutely nothing.

    Mira also let herself start drowning, but found that this ocean is not like a normal ocean and found herself drowning much quicker than she thought she would. In fact, Mira felt like if it was normal water on a without cultivators or Qi then she should be able to survive for a while with her new body, but no, this ocean was drowning her rather quickly.

    This caused a bit of unease as she knew that if they get stuck underwater and aren''t close to a source of oxygen, then death wille for them very quickly. Especially if they are being chased by something or are in the middle of a fight.

    Mira shared her findings with herpanions and they also felt that they needed to be serious about this.

    ***

    One Month Later

    Mira and Maria were in a fierce spar several kilometers underwater with each other underwater as they shot through the water like mad.

    Mira added artificial fins and flippers with her ice to help her maneuver while also propelling herself with Qi to boost her speed.

    Maria was not like Mira and was taking advantage of her extremely flexible body to produce movements simr to how an eel would swim through the water.

    They were both wielding their normal weapons, but Mira was holding her scythe much differently than how she usually would. She''d often switch between having her hands closer to the de to allow faster swings or closer to the end to allow for longer reach.

    Maria was using her sword, but her motions were a bit different as she was trying to use it in tandem with her eel-like movements.

    Cine, on the other hand, was currently fighting a school of fish that were mostly Rank 3 and Rank 4.

    The way she moved was simr to Mira but was swifter and more refined. She had a pair of wind flippers to help with control, but would also use her wind affinity to help propel herself through the water. She was slightly faster than Mira and Maria underwater, but the degree of control she had over her movements was much higher, especially now after they''ve been practicing for around a month.

    Not only can Cine fight and move better underwater than the other two, but she canst much longer as well. She''s probably much better than people that actually have a water affinity since she''s figured out a way to use her Wind element to help extract oxygen from the water and circte it through her body.

    Even if there is no oxygen, at worst she can use her wind affinity to produce something simr that will help her survive for much longer.

    Mira will sometimes think back to what she''s learned about human evolution and how they evolved from fish. asionally, she''ll look at Cine and think that she regressed back to being a fish and can''t help but chuckle a bit in her mind.

    Needless to say, all three of them havee up with their own unique ways to stay underwater longer without the need for breathing.

    The three of them have been underwater for an entire week now and haven''t stopped moving or fighting.

    Once Cine finished killing off the school of fish, she made her way over towards Maria and Mira.

    The two of them noticed Cine and stopped fighting. The three of them went back up to the surface to discuss their ns for the future. It didn''t take them long to reach therge ice block above the water.

    "I guess it''s time to start exploring while traveling towards our destination, huh."

 Chapter 167 Dangers Of The Sea

    Mira, Maria, and Cine began their underwater after talking about what their next move will be.

    They wanted to split up, but there were so many reasons not to do that, and decided to just stick next to each other while traveling.

    The biggest reason for this is how dark it is underwater. Even going a few hundred meters underwater is almost pitch ck and there is essentially no light the farther down they go. They can only rely on Maria''s light element to help them search or lookout for enemies.

    The ocean can be considered one of humanity''s greatest enemies, no matter what world you''re in. Throughout history, even in some of the more primitive worlds she lived on, the sea was always mysterious and dangerous.

    There are always stories about legendary creaturesing out of the ocean and ughtering a bunch of people or travelers going out to sea only to never be found again, divers going down to explore only to die mysteriously or return to the surface in small chunks.

    Mira also knew that creatures that grow up in the ocean evolve faster than those onnd. Even creatures that have no cultivation can grow up to 50 meters and hundreds of thousands of kilograms.

    She can''t imagine what sort of creaturesy within the ocean in a cultivation world. The only thing she can think of is things beyond her imagination.

    When she was exining what she knew about the ocean to Maria and Cine, they could sense her reluctance and slight aversion towards the sea. They knew that Mira rarely feared things so if she didn''t like the ocean, that just further proves how terrifying it is.

    They had no idea what might be lurking in these dark waters, but they were in a state of awareness at all times. They didn''t want to be swimming through the ocean only to be chomped in half by some unknown entity.

    They moved extremely slow since they would often go back up to the surface to check their surroundings. The sky never changed with the sun beating down on them, but they instinctually knew which way to go thanks to Kayda''s path.

    They often came across strange creatures while moving underwater, but Mira just assumed that it was probably because of Maria''s light that was constantly searching for things.

    They weren''t particrly tough and were dealt with swiftly, but they knew that if they let down their guard against them, they might have a leg or an arm taken from them.

    The only worrying thing is that they haven''t found anyrge predators yet. It might sound good, but it was utterly terrifying for nothing strong to attack them as they always felt like they were being watched. Well, maybe not watched since that''s rather hard with how deep they are, but they could tell that something was always inspecting them.

    One of the problems came from the fact that they couldn''t tell where it wasing from. Or maybe it wasing from all around them? That''s what''s scary about the ocean.

    Mira went ahead and made a small Ice Barrier around them.

    While making the barrier around them, Mira also tried making something like a submarine but found it to be either useless or less efficient. Keeping the water out of the Ice Barrier was a problem in they wanted to move and even if Mira used her Qi to try and propel the makeshift submarine it wouldn''t move very fast.

    They also tried testing Cine''s wind element, but they''d have to make small holes in the ice which would cause water to enter.

    Therefore, Mira just ended up making something akin to an Ice mesh barrier to alert them if any enemies approach.

    ***

    The three of them didn''t know how long they''ve spent swimming in this ocean, but they felt like nothing here can actually be of use to them even with howrge this ce is Or more specifically, there is nothing other than things trying to kill them in this massive ocean.

    The attacks started increasing the further they went and they also had to avoid massive whirlpools underwater, water spouts and storms above water, or weird currents tried to drag them along.<sub> </sub>

    The number of things trying to kill them increased and they found that nowhere was safe. Above the water were monstrous waves that had a height of several kilometers along with storms that wouldst for days at the very least.

    Under the water had crazy sea creatures that were constantly trying to kill them and to make matters worse, whenever they did kill something more creatures woulde! That''s not even the worst of it!

    Sometimes they''de across something that looks like a cave, there will be walls that look like rock and even small items or skeletons in it only for it to turn out to be the mouth of a massive creature. They would end up having to dig their way out of this beast since as soon as they would enter they''d be stuck.

    asionally, they''d spot an area in the ocean that seemed to produce some light. And being deep in an ocean that''s pitch ck makes it hard to avoid these things. You never know, maybe it''s some type of treasure. Therefore, they''d always check out these lights, but every time they''d end up getting attacked by a fish that was at least 100 meters long and 50 meters tall. The light would dangle in its mouth and wait for its prey. If it didn''t catch its prey then it wouldsh its tongue out like a frog and try to grab it.

    They almost got nabbed the first time this happened, but after the 5th time they got pretty used to it and these creatures became rather easy to take down. They weren''t fast nor tough, but their teeth and jaws were incredibly strong and sharp.

    There were also sharks, tentacle monsters, schools of fish that would attack them in the thousands, nts, and even things that they''d mistake for rocks would attack them. Nothing was safe and even the things that looked safe weren''t. Sometimes smaller creatures would secrete some kind of poison or paralysis or others would try and leech off of their blood.

    They tried exploring a bit deeper into the ocean, but the three of them got whapped by something and ended up breaking quite a few bones and rupturing some internal organs. Luckily their bodies were much stronger than before or they might''ve turned into mean paste without even knowing what hit them.

    With nowhere to go and hide, the only thing they can do is keep moving forward. Though this was easier said than done as they''d often lose their way after being attacked or dragged along by a current and would end up having to backtrack.

    Currently, they were swimming underwater at a much faster pace than they started with. All three of their expressions said, ''Fuck!! Just get me out of this ce! Dammit!''.They''d rather be swimming in magma than through this goddamn ocean.

    One good thing though is that their eyesight is starting to adjust to their pitch-ck surroundings. This is mainly due to them agreeing on not using Maria''s light as much because they are attacked nonstop by sea creatures.

    After traveling for an unknown amount of time something interesting finally happened that wasn''t them being attacked.

    "Gurgle�� @#%^$!..."

    ��

    The three of them looked at each other when they heard some strangenguage.

    "@#$%^! @#%^$!"

    Mira''s expression said ''What the fuck?'' while the other two had question marks floating above their head. Being unable to talk underwater is such a pain in the ass...

    The three of them readied their weapons and waited for whatever was seemingly speaking to them toe.

    Off in the distance, they noticed a bright light pointed in their direction and a group of 5 beings approaching them.

    Cine and Maria might not know what wasing towards them, but Mira knew of them. They were creatures in every man''s fantasy, often depicted in mythology or stories. They are usually extremely beautiful or handsome and can live both onnd and underwater.

    ''Mermaids��?''

 Chapter 168 Mermaids

    It was hard to make out, but Mira clearly saw something that resembled both a fish and a human. With these things speaking in some foreignnguage, she was sure that it was an intelligent race and among the aquatic intelligent races she knows, they most closely resemble mermaids.

    Before they knew it, they were quickly surrounded and had tridents pointed at them. They could also sense that these mermaids were around the Peak-Xiantian Stage while their leader was actually in the Core Formation Realm.

    Mira didn''t know if they could win since they are probably many times better at fighting in the sea than them. She could barely react to them surrounding her so she was sure that they would just get pummelled if they were to fight.

    The three of them exchanged nces and ultimately decided to store their weapons. With that, the tension around the 8 of them dropped quite a bit.

    "#&$%! ***** #^$&"

    One of them tried to say something, but Mira just looked at gave her a look that she had no idea what she was saying.

    The head mermaid nodded her head once and gave a signal for them to follow her. Mira looked at her twopanions and shrugged. This expressed that Mira wasn''t against following them. The other two felt the same way and nodded.

    Like this, Mira''s group followed the 5 mermaids deeper into the ocean.

    Mira guessed that they probably don''t get visitors often as they didn''t apprehend them or at least do something to prevent them, unknown people, from causing trouble�� Not that she had any intention of causing trouble in the first ce.

    It didn''t take them long toe across a massive opening, almost like the entrance to a cave. The opening itself was at least several hundred meters in diameter. The only thing that made them realize that this wasn''t a cave was the terrifying aura that radiated from whatever this was.

    It wasn''t as terrifying as Kayda''s, but it was definitely above the Core Formation Realm. Mira couldn''t actually tell what realm of power this thing was at since there wasn''t any life force or Qiing from this thing. For all she knew, this could be where an immortal beast took itsst breath, or maybe this ce was this thing''s grave.

    Whatever it was, Mira could objectively say that this would be a great ce to stay if she lived in the sea. The aura surrounding this beast is enough to ward off any troublemakers and the fucking thing is massive! There shouldn''t be any problem making a small city within this corpse!

    Once they reached the mouth, the head mermaid turned to them and began speaking��

    "@&%..."

    Only to realize that they couldn''t understand her.

    She just shrugged and continued to lead Mira and her group into the mouth of the dead beast.

    Mira was surprised that the inside of the giant beast was still dark. She was sure that there would at least be some semnce of light or city, but it seems she guessed wrong.

    Well, that''s at least what she thought until she felt her body pass through a thin film-like barrier. She stumbled and almost face-nted before eventually catching herself.

    After catching herself she was able to take a look around and couldn''t help but feel shocked by numerous things.

    It seems there was a barrier that prevented water from entering this ce as the inside waspletely dry. Well, maybe notpletely dry as Mira could make out quite a few spots where water was located, but for the most part, the inside of the beast was devoid of water.

    The next thing that surprised her was the fresh air within this ce. This could only mean that the mermaids havee up with a way to produce fresh air underwater, which probably means they are a more advanced race.

    Thest few things that surprised her were that there was a massive city that looked like something out of a fairytale right in front of her. This along with mermaids walking on two legs made for a shocking and magnificent scene.

    "Wow!! This ce is amazing! It''s even more fantastical than Kayda''s ce!" Maria eximed with her eyes shining.

    "To think we were able toe across a ce such as this while in traversing this god-forsaken ocean! As expected of traveling with Mira! Our hard work always pays off!" Cine said in aplicated tone. She wasn''t sure if she should feel d about always going through various types of hell so they could find ces like this or not.

    Either way, she''d continue following and listening to Mira even if she knew she might die at any moment.

    Mira took her eyes off of the surroundings and focused on the mermaid leader that dragged them here.

    The mermaid leader noticed this and looked at her, but something seemed different. The mermaid was blushing and fidgeting while avoiding eye contact.

    Mira looked at the other 4 mermaids and as soon as her eyes swept across them they started blushing and averted her eyes.

    "Haaaa��" Mira sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headacheing on.

    "Oi! I''d like to speak with you, but I don''t understand yournguage. Understand?" Mira said while pointing at her throat along with the mermaid''s throat.

    The mermaid leader seemed to understand what Mira wanted and got a little flustered. She quickly left and came back with a beautiful ne and a stack of papers.

    The mermaid leader put the ne on Mira while breathing heavily and gave her the papers. The papers had pictures of objects along with what seemed to be the pictures used in a sentence.<sub> </sub>

    Mira looked at the mermaid leader for confirmation. The mermaid nodded and pointed at her throat and ne.

    Mira understood and began identifying the things on the paper into the ne. It took Mira a good hour toplete it but wasn''t sure what to do next. She just turned to the mermaid leader.

    "I''m finished," Mira said, but thenguage that came out was still her original tongue.

    "Ah! Yes, I understand you now, Goddess. I''m d that we can finally converse." Mira heard the mermaid speak in a sweet voice while blushing. It seemed that the ne tranted her words and directed them into Mira''s head, which was quite odd.

    The only thing that caught her by surprise was ''Goddess''.

    Hearing this, Mira had the urge to leave this ce as soon as possible. She felt no ill-intenting from the mermaids, but the hearts in their eyes and bated breaths made them look like bitches in heat.

    ''We are all girls! Why are you looking at me like some sort of breeding stud?!'' Mira thought to herself and took out her scythe, but she was just a bit too slow.

    The mermaid leader leaped at her and Mira felt something soft and deliciousnd on her lips while a slippery object invaded her mouth.

    "Mmmph�� Get�� The�� Mmph Fuck�� Off of�� Mmmph�� MEEEE!!!" Mira started beating on the mermaid that was currently wrapped around her body like a snake. The other mermaids were preventing her scythe from taking this bitch''s head, but they still held no ill-intent and only looked jealous of the mermaid currently making out with Mira.

    "Ahh�� Ahhh�� I apologize Goddess�� It seems I was unable to control myself and forced you to do something unsightly with this lowly one�� It''s just your aura, beauty, pheromones, and majesty are too much for me to handle�� If you could please restrain yourself a bit while covering up that may be for the best�� Again, I apologize so please allow me to make this up to you and your Mistresses!" The mermaid leader got off of Mira while breathing heavily and started kowtowing in front of her and banging her head against the ground.

    Right now, Mira and the girls were essentially naked as clothes hinder their movement while in the water.

    Mira had temporarily forgotten about this and immediately put on her mask, ck Taoist robes, a pair of ck gloves, and started to tie up her hair. She then did her best to restrain anything that was leaking from her body such as any type of aura, but she didn''t even know she was emitting pheromones or majesty and didn''t even know how to control that. All she could do is try and prevent any little aura from leaking out of her body.

    Once this was taken care of the mermaids calmed down a bit, but they still couldn''t forget the feeling that Mira gave off.

    One of the weaker mermaids still couldn''t take it and lept towards Mira, but this time Mira was inbat mode and jabbed her scythe into her body.

    "We didn''te here to cause trouble, but if you insist on continuing this unsightly behavior then it will be my pleasure to start a massacre and end as many of these shitty mermaids as possible," Mira said while sticking her scythe into the ground, preventing the impaled mermaid from moving.

    But Mira was surprised by the reaction that the other 3 gave off. Instead of fear or anger, they looked more like kittens who have submitted to a tiger, waiting to be dominated. Some were even looking at the impaled mermaid with envy like she was lucky to be pierced by her.

    Even said mermaid was releasing a scent that would cause men to go crazy with lust.

    "Wha-Wha-Wha-What the hell is happening?!" Maria and Cine studdered, barelyprehending what is going on.

    Mira continued to look at these mermaids with utter disgust and disbelief. In all of her years, she''s never experienced a situation like this where a group of females is lining up to be sexually dominated by her.

    Normally, Mira would just be irritated by such reactions, but one of them actually made a move on her!! She doesn''t even know what to do in this situation! If it were a male who did such a thing, she wouldn''t stop until either he was dead or she was.

    But even though these mermaids are looking at her with eyes full of lust, it''s more like they are looking at the ultimate stud. Like they couldn''t control their primal desires.

    She also didn''t think it was wise to immediately start killing them as soon as she entered the ce, but she''s not just going to sit there and be taken advantage of.

    There were also a couple of things that made her feel a sense of crisis and impending doom if she were to start a massacre.

    One, the mermaid leader here is in the Core Formation Realm. Now that Mira''s body has been tempered byva and her physique has improved, she has confidence in being able to fight against a Core Formation Realm expert, but that''s only if they are normal.

    Like right now, Mira could feel how tough the mermaid that got impaled by her scythe is while only being in the Foundation Realm. In a real fight, dealing with her might''ve taken Mira quite a bit of effort not to mention there are 3 more that are stronger than her.

    She can also sense many people in the Foundation and Core Formation Realm further into the city and could easily guess that there are beings that are above the Core Formation Realm, though she didn''t know how strong and could only assume.

    If these mermaids wanted to kill her, she might be able to take down 5-10, maybe a few dozen ifdy luck is on her side, but she would eventually get captured or killed.

    She could try to just kill these 5 and leave, which is probably her best option.

    Or she could try to resolve this situation and milk as much out of this ce as possible. The only problem with this is that there are too many variables and unknowns.

    "Now how should we resolve this, little fishies?" Mira said with an evil smirk.

 Chapter 169 Awkward Situation

    What was supposed to be a tense situation where Mira and her group fought to the death due to one of the mermaids being impaled turned into something�� much more disturbing. At least from Maria''s and Cine''s point of view.

    Their minds were having trouble keeping up with what is going on and the image of Mira being kissed by a mermaid kept reying in their minds, causing them to get all flustered.

    "Haa�� Haa�� Please impale us with yourrge rod as well, Goddess!!" The other four mermaids said with flushed expressions, causing Mira''s face to warp in disgust.

    Their tone and expressions almost make Mira not even want to kill these masochist mermaids. She''s experienced perverts and disgusting people before, but it''s always been the other way around where men are trying to dominate her instead of women begging to be dominated.

    ''This is nothing like those stories or legends about mermaids. Where is the kind that lures unsuspecting travelers with their beauty and voices, only to end up killing them? These are just a bunch of perverted masochist freaks! If anything, they are trying to lure me in just so I can kill THEM!!'' Mira thought to herself.

    "Umm�� Mira, why don''t you just let them go? I would really like to avoid causing trouble in a ce like this, at least for now." Cine muttered while Maria nodded.

    "Right!? I know that they kissed you without your permission, but they don''t hold any ill will towards you. If anything, they seem to hold a bit too much affection for you that it''s disturbing. Plus, you don''t even like men anyway, so what''s wrong with having all of these beautiful women wanting you? Hehe." Maria joked, but silence reigned in over the area after they heard what she said.

    ��

    Everyone was currently staring at Maria with wide eyes, as it seems she doesn''t really fully understand the situation. Even Mira was looking at her like she just got betrayed.

    "What?! Are you serious?! Goddess is only interested in beautiful women instead of those disgusting pigs known as ''men''?! Does that mean we can begin procreation?!"

    "The Goddess is interested in me, even going so far as to call me beautiful? Hehehe. I knew she was just being shy! As long as I can have the Goddess'' children, I can die without regret!"

    "So the Goddess pierced me to show her affection?! Cough�� Hehe."

    The mermaids each had a simr reaction to Maria''s words that seemed to only make things worse.

    "Dammit, Maria! Are you fucking braindead?! Keep your damn mouth shut from now on before you start making things worse!! I''m also thinking that it''s time to resume your poison immunity training after we leave this ce!" Mira yelled.

    "Wha-! Nooo! Please, anything but that! I''ll even jump back intova!!" Mariained, but everyone just ignored her.

    The mood started to be a little awkward now and even the thought of killing these mermaids was fleeting from Mira''s mind.

    Mira can also see that some of the surrounding mermaids are starting to hear all of themotions and are wandering over towards them.

    That coupled with the somewhat weird atmosphere made Mira give up on killing them for now as she really just wanted to leave.

    She took her scythe out of the mermaid that was currentlyying on the ground and looked around.

    "We''re leaving," Mira said these two words, walked over to herpanions, and started dragging them to the exit.

    But, the 5 mermaids, including the injured one, dashed towards the exit with fierce looks, preventing them from leaving.

    "At least stay here for two, no, one week before leaving. I promise that I''ll make sure your stay here is worthwhile, plus I still haven''t properly apologized for doing something so unsightly earlier. We mermaids are generally a peace-loving race and only kill for survival. You three are also probably tired from your journey seeing that your bodies aren''t meant for swimming like ours. So at least allow us to do this much to make up for what I did." The mermaid leader''s tone seemed to take a 180 as she said with a serious expression.

    "Thanks! We''ll take you up on that offer!" Cine and Maria eximed without hesitation before Mira could reject them.<sub> </sub>

    They''d rather stay here and rest than go back into that hell known as the ocean. Anything is better than traversing through the water in a pitch-ck environment, not being able to breathe, and constantly fighting difficult sea creatures for hours or even days on end.

    They didn''t realize how exhausted they are until now, but it hit them like a train. The only thing they want to do now is sleep and have a nice hot meal.

    Plus, if the mermaid leader is going to give them apology gifts then that''s just a plus, but of course, those will be Mira''s.

    ? Mira wanted to reject but got interrupted again.

    "Great! I promise that I will provide you with the best services and will not allow any of those other bitches toy their hands on you!"

    "Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Coralia and I''m the guard captain for our little settlement!" Coralia introduced herself to Mira and her group.

    "My name''s Maria, Mira''s best friend! Nice to meet you!"

    "Cine. Their travelingpanion."

    The three of them introduced each other and seemed to connect right off the bat.

    "Oh! So her name is Mira! Nice to meet you Goddess Mira and I apologize for my rude behavior by embracing your lips. We mermaids are a race that is very affectionate with our salutations. It isn''t odd for members of our race to caress each other on the first meeting or even go a step further if the two have a good affinity. I apologize if we offended you and please allow me to make it up to you." Coralia said full of sincerity as she deeply bowed in front of Mira.

    Everything she said was true as mermaids do have a different culturepared to other races.

    Mira understood that races generally have their own cultures, but she very much dislikes this one.

    At the end of the day, she can only curse her bad luck foring across a ce with such a disturbing culture and me herself for being too beautiful.

    She understands how divine her appearance is as it''s pretty much the only reason she''s on this quest for revenge anyways. Not only that, but most of her problems in the past have stemmed from her beauty. It''s just now during this life, her beauty is on a whole other scale.

    Mira didn''t know if she should praise for being blessed with such beauty or curse at it. Well, at the end of the day, all she can do is sigh and vow to keep getting stronger as almost everything can be prevented as long as you have strength.

    "Very well. We will be staying here for the next week. I don''t want what happened earlier to happen again or only death will follow. I''ll be waiting for your apology gifts as well, don''t disappoint me." Mira said in a tone that was a bit more domineering than usual.

    Since she can''t take her anger out on these bastards, and even if she did they''d probably only beg for more, she can only vent her frustration like this and take it out on Maria after they leave this ce.

    Just thinking about dumping Maria in a bath full of poison is raising her spirits a bit.

    "Yes, Goddess Mira!" Coralia said with a face full of excitement, but her true goal is to leave a good impression with Mira, hoping that she will bed her.

    "Stop calling me ''Goddess''. I don''t want to attract more attention than necessary." Mira said in an exasperated tone.

    "Okay! I will only call you that in private!"

 Chapter 170 Meropis

    Coralia helped her subordinate that was stabbed by Mira up, summoned a small pool of water, and tossed her into it.

    The mermaid''s injuries started healing at a rate visible to the naked eye and around 10 minutester she was fully healed.

    "We mermaids gain additional benefits when we are in water such as increased speed, strength, rapid healing, and various other things. While when we are onnd, our tails form into legs and we gain a bipedal form that allows us to walk onnd. You can probably guess the benefits for living on dryndpared to the sea." Coralia exined when she noticed Mira''s group looking at the once injured mermaid with interest.

    "I see. Those are some nice buffs and yes, I can guess a few things. Like making weapons and armor, safety, and other things that might be more difficult underwater." Cine answered in understanding.

    She understood it a bit better than the other two since she can live underwater much better than Mira or Maria can. If they are able to live onnd without trouble then it would be much better in the long run for them.

    "Correct. Now, why don''t I take you to where I currently live and can talk about the City on the way." Coralia asked and the three of them agreed.

    She stored the tub of water and told the other 4 mermaids to go back to their posts and wait for further orders.

    Coralia then led Mira''s group towards the city. The closer they got to the city, they could tell how advanced their society was.

    In the center of the City was arge white castle with a golden roof and golden pirs. The height of the castle nearly reached the top of the massive sea creature''s stomach which was at least 100 meters tall.

    Not only that, but the castle itself took up almost half of the entire space inside the beast. Mira didn''t even want to call it a castle since the building itself is almost a city in itself.

    But what made Mira impressed was that this massive castle was surrounded by water and had many bridges connecting the castle to other parts of the city. The architecture and design for these buildings weren''t much different than the castle itself as they were white with gold roofs.

    The buildings looked like they were made of marble, but Mira knew that this wasn''t the case. Whatever it was, they had to be much stronger and durable than something like marble.

    As the four of them made their way towards Coralia''s house, they started to take note of the inhabitants. The interesting thing they found was that there were no men, at least they couldn''t see any. Only beautiful mermaids.

    What was interesting about these mermaids was that some of them had different hair and leg(tail) colors. Some had green hair and legs while others had pink, blue, red, purple, or even ck.

    "The city that you see here is called Meropis and the massive castle that you see in the middle is where our current Queen lives along with much more. The castle isn''t just a ce where our Queen stays, it''s also a school, research facility, smithy, residential area, training grounds, and various other things as well. The Queen of our race is really just whoever is the strongest mermaid."

    "The Queen herself has a group of Ministers that help with her rule and they are usually the strongest people in the City, second only to the Queen. These Ministers are the leaders of Chiefs of things like our army, school, smithy, and the other professions."

    "Theyout of the Meropis is rather simple, the stronger you are, the closer to the Queen you live. There''s also another way to live in the castle and that''s if you have a job there."

    "The jobs themselves don''t require strength as much as they do talent and knowledge. Though if you do live in the castle then you''ll get more cultivation resources so your strength will eventually catch up to your peers. The strongest of each division are also those who have the most knowledge along with being the strongest."<sub> </sub>

    "The people that live in the residential areas outside of the castle aren''t just sitting by doing nothing either. They have to work as guards or patrol outside the giant beast we live in. Some even serve as search parties that travel outside to look for resources. Any questions so far?" Coralia briefly exined the inner workings of their society which impressed the three of them greatly.

    For the most part, it was a society that wasn''t solely based on strength other than the top positions, but even those positions require a massive amount of knowledge and talent, rather than just strength, in their fields to be the leader.

    They could also tell how peaceful it is in this city that it made them a bit envious. If only the human cities were like this then maybe they''d be able to advance in certain areas quicker.

    "What about the different colored mermaids? Are they different species or hybrids?" Maria asked curiously, looking at a mermaid with pink hair and legs.

    "Yes and no. Some are different species, some are hybrids, while sometimes it''s just gic. So you can''t really base what species they are based on their hair color as there are many different types nowadays. Oh! Just in case you''re wondering, we don''t discriminate against any species or color since most of our society is strictly based on strength and knowledge. After tens of thousands of years, the variety of mermaids has be a part of our culture. As I said, we are generally a peace-loving race, but we understand that strength is necessary to survive." Coralia exined.

    "How do you procreate if there are no men?" Cine asked which caused Coralia to blush.

    "There are a couple of ways for us to give birth. One is to sacrifice part of our life and cultivation and create an egg in our womb, but this isn''t used as much anymore now that there are so many mermaids."

    "We mermaids have actually evolved to the point where we don''t require a male to impregnate us as we can even use a female''s fluids in order to get pregnant as well. But the reason that you see only female mermaids here is that mermaids can only birth females. No matter what species we procreate with, we will always give birth to a female. Even if the woman in question is only 1% mermaid, she will still only birth females." Coralia exined while sneaking nces at Mira.

    Coralia was sure that if she gave birth to Mira''s child, then that child would certainly end up being the future Queen, leading their race towards greatness. Mira already possesses the temperament and aura of a Queen, no, even greater than a Queen! Her beauty is also unparalleled and Coralia was sure that their child would be even more beautiful!

    Mira noticed Coralia ncing at her and felt a chill run down her spine. She just ignored her and looked at the mermaids in the city.

    What she saw was rather weird as she could see mermaids greeting each other with makeout sessions or others were basically having sex as they walked into their homes.

    ''What the hell is wrong with this race?! Even a subus wouldn''t greet other subi like this!'' Mira thought to herself watching how crazy mermaids are.

    What also caught her attention was the strength of everyone she saw. She hasn''t seen anyone below the Foundation Realm, in fact, most are around her level or higher. Also, around 20% of the people here in the residential area outside the castle were in the Core Formation Realm!

    Mira''s noticed over 200 Core Formation Realm experts that would only be qualified as mere guard captains outside of the castle! What about the strength of those in the castle? They''d all be in the Core Formation Realm or higher!

    All they''d have to do is send 1 person from inside the castle to Lunar Fox City, and that''d be more than enough to annihte them! What the hell is up with this battle prowess! What the fuck is wrong with this Secret Realm and why are the weakest beings she''s found already around her strength or stronger?! Isn''t this supposed to be a test for the younger generation?!

    Mira had so many questions as she felt like this ce is should have a minimum requirement of Core Formation Realm or higher. Or maybe she''s just incredibly unlucky and keeps stumbling across ces that aren''t meant to be found by people around her strength.

    "We''re here! This is my house and you are free to sleep here for the duration of your stay!" Coralia interrupted Mira''s thoughts and stopped in front of a beautiful house.

 Chapter 171 Apology Gift

    Coralia brought Mira''s group in front of a 2 bedroom house with white stone walls and a gold roof.

    It was a beautiful work of art but looked exactly the same as every other house.

    "It looks good, but then again, so does every other house in this city. If we were topare these houses to the ones in Lunar Fox City, these houses would obviously be meant for royalty. Maybe even royalty wouldn''t be worthy of such luxurious homes." Cine muttered to which Maria agreed.

    "Eh? Human cities aren''t as advanced as ours? Even though we live in a dead beast?" Coralia asked with a surprised look.

    "I can''t say for sure as we live out in the boonies on our continent. Even though the houses are nice, the city that we live in is really just a massive vige, much bigger than the city you live in. The reason for the architecture not being that advanced is theck of resources, attacks from magical beasts, and internal conflicts. It''s just not worth building such luxurious homes in a city that is constantly being threatened." Maria answered calmly.

    "I see. It seems our way of life is much different. Anyways, pleasee into my home and allow me to show you around!" Coralia eximed and the three of them nodded.

    Coralia then led them into her home, which was extremely simple. There was a living room with arge pool of water in the center and a futon that surrounded it.

    There were 2 rooms that each had a small pool in them along with a bed, a small kitchen that looks like it''s never been used, and a small training ground.

    The house was extremely simple and didn''t have anything extra in it. If Mira and the others didn''t know better, they''d think that this house was vacant.

    Coralia led them into her living room and told them to wait so she can go prepare an apology gift.

    A few minutester, Coralia came back with 4 things. One was clearly a trident, a Peak Mortal-Grade Trident. Along with three sets of surprisingly beautiful clothes, but they could tell that these clothes were Low Earth-Grade clothes and one was even a Mid-Earth Grade set.

    <o>,m The clothes weren''t like Daoist robes and were instead tight-fitting dresses that went slightly below the knees. There was a hood attached to the back along with a robe that tightly draped around the chest and waist.</o>

    Coralia gave the Trident and the red dress with a ck robe to Mira, a white dress with a blue robe to Maria, and a purple dress with a white robe over to Cine. Of course, Mira''s dress was the Mid-Earth Grade Set.

    "The Trident is just something extra I had lying around, but it should be rtively useful for you if you face any more battles in the water. Not only does the trident have the ability to glide and pierce in the water like nothing, but its toughness and sharpness are also increased in the water, making it moreparable to an Earth-Grade weapon."

    "The dresses and robes are made from various fish bones and scalesbined with a certain type of fish that produces a substance simr to silk. This is the result of thousands of years of research and each person, even regr people, have weeks worth of these clothes. Wearing these clothes will also increase your speed slightly while swimming." Coralia said pull of pride which surprised Mira''s group.

    Mira held the trident and even though she would not be using it as her main weapon, it will definitely be more useful than her scythe. It could also be used as something like a throwing spear since its length is a little under 150 centimeters, not long enough to be considered a spear.

    The clothes were also greatly beneficial both in the water and onnd and Mira was also d to have another pair of clothes instead of just the one that she is always wearing.

    "Don''t you have any cultivation resources?" Mira asked while giving Coralia a suspicious nce.

    Coralia gave a wry smile while looking a bit awkward.<sub> </sub>

    "Not really. Everything I get from the castle is used immediately. The castle doesn''t provide useless resources and only provides an almost perfect amount of resources required or a breakthrough. Like I said, our society has been through tens of thousands of years of research. It''s reached a point where we can continuously produce Core Formation Realm experts while knowing exactly how much it will take." Coralia exined, but she was by no means dissatisfied.

    "This really is a utopia-like ce, huh," Mira muttered as she found this ce to be extremely pleasing.

    No men, a strength-based society that loves peace, resources evenly distributed to citizens that provide their worth, a city that has almost no chance of being attacked, and everything one could need to live a long and fulfilling life.

    She can also tell that mermaids are much kinder than humans. She can''t sense anything like greed or envy in the citizens and from what she can see, Coralia is very honest without being two-faced.

    If she were to create a society, she''d definitely want to make something simr to Meropis to live in.

    She quickly shook these thoughts out of her head and asked Coralia something.

    "Do you think we can earn cultivation resources here by providing help or our services to the city? I don''t want to justze around for the next week doing nothing." Mira asked while slightly narrowing her eyes.

    "This�� I don''t know. We haven''t had visitors before and honestly you three are very weekpared to most of the residents here. I don''t know what you''d be able to do to earn cultivation resources��" Coralia answered while looking slightly depressed.

    There isn''t anything that they are currently in need of, especially from people who haven''t even reached the Xiantian Stage in the Foundation Realm.

    Mira and the others looked a little sad, but there isn''t really anything they can offer. They aren''t geniuses in fields like alchemy or forging. Their cultivation isn''t that high and most of the beasts this deep in the ocean can kill them with rtive ease.

    The most they could think of is Mira''s battle knowledge, but this is a utopian society with no attackers. Even if that wasn''t the case, they have a history of tens of thousands of years and it''s a strength-based society, so fighting is still a must.

    Even if Mira could increase their battle prowess, it would only be to a negligible level and there is no use for them knowing various military strategies.

    They also don''t have anything that''d be worth trading so that''s out of the question.

    Knowing all of this, they almost felt like returning the gifts back to Coralia because right now the only thing they are doing is wasting air.

    It''s a blessing that they got this much from a ce that could be considered the peak of society.

    "Well, whatever. I guess we''ll be leaving sooner than we thought since there isn''t much point in staying here. But I guess we''ll stay the night and explore the city a bit tomorrow before deciding what we''ll do next." Mira muttered.

    "Good! Just leave it to me! I''ll be sure to escort you around the City!" Coralia eximed with a sharp glint in her eyes which gave Mira a slightly bad feeling.

 Chapter 172 Tour Around The City

    After Coralia finished handing out her gifts, she led the 3 of them into one of the rooms for them to rest.

    They gratefully epted as their journey through the sea has been both mentally and physically tough.

    As soon as theyid down, they felt a wave of fatigue wash over them and almost instantly fell asleep. Mira was no different as well.

    About an hourter.

    "Hehe��" A giggle was heard outside of their door and a naked Coralia came walking in. She was using all of the techniques she''s learned to silence herself and thin her presence.

    She could tell that Mira''s senses were incredibly sharp for some reason, almost to the point that it seemed like she could see the future or read minds.

    Coralia this much because whenever she''d think of something lewd or even just nce at Mira, she would know. It was like she was always on edge and ready to fight.

    This time was no different as Coralia took every precaution possible. She cleared her mind of all thoughts, didn''t even look at Mira, silenced her footsteps, hid her aura, and thinned her presence just so she could sleep next to Mira.

    What she didn''t know is as soon as her presence thinned, Mira already knew she was in the room. She''s been subconsciously keeping track of her this entire time and when she couldn''t feel her, she woke up.

    She was just too tired to say anything because unless she killed Coralia then she probably wouldn''t stop.

    With how tired she is right now, there would be a very high chance of Mira trying to kill her, and seeing that she held no ill-will she''ll just let something like this slide so she can rest.

    She stayed awake to see what Coralia was going to do, but all she did is sneak in between Cine and herself then cuddle into Mira''s chest with her arms and legs wrapped around her.

    Mira waited to see if she was going to try anything else, but when she noticed that Coralia went to sleep, then Mira settled down a bit and went back to sleep

    The next morning

    Mira woke up first and the first thing she saw is Coralia''s face right next to hers with a satisfied smile on it.

    Mira flicked her forehead, but she didn''t hold back and the force of the flick rattled Coralia''s brain a bit while leaving a huge bump.

    "Ouch! Goddess Mira, what was that for?!" She pouted.

    Mira ignored her and got up which caused the other 2 to wake up.

    "Why is Coralia in here? And why is she naked?"

    "Yeah, how''d she even get in here? I couldn''t sense her at all! Though I can guess that she came in here for Mira. So a better question would be, did Mira sense her?"

    Maria and Cine were both confused, but the only conclusion they coulde to is that Mira didn''t stop her. They didn''t even think that Mira didn''t know that she entered since they knew how sharp she was.

    But now they were starting to wonder if Mira was starting to have feelings for Coralia.

    "Ouch!"

    They both screamed in pain after getting kicked in the face by Mira.

    "What the hell are you two thinking about? Quit thinking about such idiotic things. It''s time to look around" Mira said while exiting the room.

    They felt a little ufortable about having their minds read so easily, but this is just how sharp Mira is. They barely changed their expression and gaze and Mira immediately knew what they were thinking.<sub> </sub>

    "Coming!" Cine, Maria, and Coralia yelled.

    After getting dressed, Coralia led the 3 of them out of her house and started showing them around.

    They got quite a few looks from the residents, but Mira was fully covered while restraining every bit of aura she could. She didn''t want these bitches in heat to flock to her like they did yesterday so she could only hope that nobody would notice.

    "This over here is the school��"

    "This is the training facility��"

    "This is where some of our forgers are��"

    "This is��

    ��

    Coralia kept showing them all of the ces located in the residential area outside of the castle.

    Mira concluded that the workings of the area outside of the castle were simr to inside the castle, it''s just these people are either trying to get into the castle orck the talent to get into the castle and be guards or assistants.

    The buildings all looked exactly the same so there wasn''t really much to see.

    Mira also noticed that most mermaids that they came across have simr personalities. They are all very nice, affectionate, talkative, and have simr strengths. Not just in cultivation, but how they fight. None of their fighting styles are different which made Mira frown at theck of variety.

    She could tell that the techniques that they practiced were meant for underwaterbat and not suited fornd. They also seemed like they were focused more on fighting aquatic creatures rather than bipedal ornd animals. Thus, Mira didn''t speak up since they don''t have a need to fightnd creatures, especially when they live many kilometers under a massive ocean.

    The chances of them fighting and creature could be said to be almost zero and even if one did find this ce, they''d most likely be scared off by the aura of the giant dead beast they live in.

    "Well, what do you think of the city? Pretty great, right?" Coralia asked while they continued walking.

    "More than the architecture, I think it''s amazing how everyone is striving to better themselves and their race. Not only that, but everyone is so nice! I''d prefer staying here versus our hometown!" Maria eximed and Cine agreed.

    "The people here are incredibly like-minded, your war potential is quite high along with how efficient everything is, it is vastly superior to the human towns that I know and have experienced. Not only that but there isn''t really a ss system in ce that discriminates against lower ss or weaker people. Even people that don''t have strength can still express their talents or get a job. It''s a utopia-like ce that man can only dream of��"

    "...But I don''t think I''d want to live in a ce like this, not yet at least. Even though you can rise through the realms that many people can only dream of, I can tell that your residentsck the strength and resolve thates with conflict."

    "Even though most of the people here are stronger than me, their minds are feeble. While the fighting techniques used are really only viable against sea creatures and aren''t suited for fighting againstnd or air creatures. I''m not speaking ill of your race as this is how you survived and gotten stronger over the years. There is also nothing wrong with what I''m saying and your way of life is perfectly suited for where you live." Mira gave an honest reply to Coralia''s question.

    Coralia just stood there with a dazed look, not expecting her question to be answered so seriously. She wanted to retort, but what Mira said made sense and she wasn''t saying anything bad, she just said what she observed and reminded her that this isn''t a ce that she would personally live in.

    *CLAP CLAP CLAP*

    "Haha! You are exactly right, human! I''m surprised you gathered all of that in just a few hours of walking around and I''m guessing that you didn''t even voice out all of your thoughts either. Truly splendid!"

    They heard a voice of a young girl, maybe around 16,ing from behind them.

    Mira''s hair stood on end as she had a bad feeling about this new encounter and she started to regret not leaving this ce yesterday.

 Chapter 173 Meeting The Queen

    Mira slowly turned around to see a youngdy walking towards them with arge smile stered on her face. Her face was extremely beautiful, probably the most beautiful person she''s ever seen. She had ck hair with blue highlights and her legs(tail) were half ck and half royal blue.

    She was wearing a white robe with purple lining which made her look incredibly majestic. She also had a certain air about her that would only be apanied by people who lead a nation.

    Mira also felt an unshakable power emitting from this youngdy, who looked around 16-17 years old, that could squash her like a bug. She wasn''t as strong as Kayda and most likely wasn''t an immortal, but she was definitely higher than Core Formation, probably by several realms.

    There is only one person thates to mind when Mira puts all of these things together��

    "Queen?" Mira muttered while looking at her.

    "My my, aren''t you sharp?! To think that someone who hasn''t even been here for more than a couple of days can identify me. Yes, I''m the current Queen, Asherah Maren, a pleasure to meet you! Now, I''d like to have a little chat with the three of you. Would you be so kind as to follow me?" Queen Asherah said in a polite tone, further proving the mermaid''s kindness.

    "My name is Mira and these are my twopanions, Maria and Cine. There is no reason for us to refuse an invitation from you, Queen Asherah. Thank you." Mira said, trying to be as polite as possible.

    She sighed in relief seeing that nobody was upset at her for speaking to their Queen like that.

    "Queen!"

    "Queen!"

    "Queen!"

    The surroundings all called out to Asherah, kneeling on the ground withrge smiles on their faces. One could see the immense pride and respect they hold for the current Queen, which was a nice change of pace for Mira.

    Queen Asherah just waved her hands, signalling her surroundings to rise, while also motioning Mira''s group to follow her.

    Mira just silently followed her with Maria and Cine, while taking note of the surroundings.

    It seemed they were making their way towards the castle, but the scenery still didn''t change much. The only thing of interest was walking over the bridge that separated the castle from the outside parts of the city, but even this wasn''t very special.<sub> </sub>

    Around an hourter, they made it into the Throne Room and Queen Asherah made her way onto the throne while looking down at Mira''s group.

    There weren''t any other people in the room and it also seemed like the Queen took a secret route into the Throne Room because they were able to avoid most people while walking in the castle.

    "So�� I guess my first question would be how you found this ce and what are your intentions?" Queen Asherah asked while narrowing her eyes, emitting the pressure of a Queen. Though this pressure didn''t faze the three of them since Mira unconsciously emits a dominating pressure around her that''s full of bloodlust, forcing Maria and Cine to get used to it.

    "I guess you could say by luck. We were just exploring the ocean for anything interesting while moving to our next destination when we were stopped by the guards patrolling the area. I don''t think we ever would''ve found this ce if we weren''t escorted here. We currently don''t have any intentions and if you''re suspicious of us being spies or something like that, then there is no need to worry. Even if we were spies, our hometown doesn''t even have a fraction of the amount of power that you hold. Not to mention finding this ce is nearly impossible." Mira answered calmly, slightly surprising Queen Asherah.

    "I see. I don''t sense any falsehood from you, but I still have to take the necessary precautions that you three might be invaders. How did you end up in the sea and how did you survive? Our Core Formation Realm experts have a hard enough time surviving in the ocean, much less you three."

    "We came up with various breathing techniques while also fighting in the water to get used to underwater battles. I guess you could also say that my senses are especially sensitive even if I lose my eyesight due to the darkness of being so deep. Apart from that, the rest is luck and body strength." Mira answered honestly since it''s not really a secret. There is also no reason to lie here and risk making an extremely powerful enemy.

    "Hou�� That''s quite impressive for a couple of weak humans such as yourselves, but your senses do seem especially sharp along with your intelligence. I suppose how I can understand how you three survived."

    The conversation carried on and the Queen started asking about human civilizations, what''s outside of the ocean, the strength of humans, different tactics, weapons used, and other things regarding either her kingdom or other cities. Mira didn''t answer all of them and either said that shecked information or it wouldn''t matter even if the Queen did know.

    p The topics started to take a weird turn though as Queen Asherah seemed to never want to stop talking with Mira. Whether it be to Mira''s unyielding nature and the fact that she talks to her like a normal person or maybe it''s because of Mira''s knowledge or understanding of things. Either way, the Queen enjoyed talking with Mira and started asking more personal questions or telling Mira personal things or grievances.</anda>

    Mira didn''t pay this any mind as she also found Queen Asherah to be an enjoyable person to talk to, simr to Kayda just more outgoing.

    Talking with Asherah like this brought Mira''s mind back to simpler times. Back during her first life when she never cared for power or revenge. Back when the only thing she wanted to do is help her family run a restaurant and go about her life like a normal person would.

    Mira started to remember a distant memory of having a younger sister during her first life. She was very simr to Asherah. She was very outgoing, smart, strong, but was slightly naive and a bit too kind for her own good.

    The image of this distant yet familiar person started to ovep with Queen Asherah and a flurry of emotions started to invade Mira''s heart.

 Chapter 174 Miras Beginning Part 1

    Nearly 1000 years ago on a distant unknown

    .

    .

    .

    "Waaaaahhh!!" A baby''s cry resounded through the room as the midwife held the newborn baby that just came out of the womb in her hands.

    "It''s a girl! Congrattions on giving birth to a beautiful baby girl!" The midwife announced which caused the mother to start tearing up as she reached for her baby.

    The midwife handed the baby girl to the mother and looked at the baby full of love.

    "Haa�� Haa�� My beautiful baby girl, you finally came out! Mama can''t wait to shower you with lots of love so please don''t grow up too fast." The mother muttered lightly while gazing at her child.

    The father tried to reach for his newborn daughter, but the mother didn''t notice him and kept holding her baby.

    "I''m d that everything went smoothly, Alyssa. Our baby girl is definitely going to be a looker in the future. I guess I''ll need to work harder to prevent any boys from pursuing my baby girl." A glint passed through the father''s eyes as he thought many years in the future.

    "Hehe, stop it, Kevin. That''s too far into the future and also she''ll need to get married so she can give me some grandbabies, hehe." The mother, Alyssa, lightly punched Kevin, the father, as she handed over the baby to him.

    Kevin held the little girl in his arms and felt his heart melt. Even though the baby was still crying, it was almost like they couldn''t hear anything as he swayed his daughter in his arms and looked at her with eyes full of love.

    "Thanks for your help, Jessica. It would''ve been a lot harder on me had you not been here to help." Alyssa said to the midwife, Jessica.

    "Thank nothing of it, Alyssa. This is what friends are for. So, what are you two thinking of naming her?" Jessica answered with a sweet smile.

    "Mira!"

    Both Alyssa and Kevin answered at the same time.

    "Mira, huh. That name suits here very well." Jessica felt that it was the perfect name.

    The three of them passed around Mira for a while before finally, shended in Alyssa''s arms and she and Kevin fell asleep with the baby.

    ***

    5 years passed in the blink of an eye for Mira and her family.

    Alyssa and Kevin were around 30 years old now and Mira was now 5.

    Mira now looked like the most adorable little girl. She had long brown hair, almond-shaped eyes with ocean blue iris''. She was only about 100 tall, which was a tad on the short side, but it only made her more adorable.

    She always wore long dresses or skirts that her mother, Alyssa made in her free time.

    Her favorite activity is to help out with the restaurant that her father, Kevin, runs. One can almost always spot Mira serving tables or helping her Dad out with small tasks, which helped boost restaurant sales as many people woulde just so they can see the adorable little Mira.

    Mira''s family lived in a small town called Liver Town. Their mainmodity is being a rest stop along with being a ce that you can buy various kinds of food.

    Liver Town was located on the outskirts of Suzdal Kingdom and they generally don''t get many visitors other than the asional merchant or traveler.

    For the most part, Liver Town is a self-sufficient town that doesn''t need any outside help. Most of the residents of the town do some kind of farming and if they don''t then they are either restaurant owners, apothecaries, stonemasons, cksmiths, etc.

    The stuff that gets sold to merchants is just the extra that wasn''t used.

    Mira''s family owned one of the more popr restaurants in the town and business was almost always booming.

    They were making enough money that the restaurant could probably be very sessful in the capital.

    "Can I get another jug of ale?"

    "Yes sir, on my way!"

    "Mira, can I order the steak and potatoes?"

    "Of course! I''ll be there in a second!"

    "Mira can I��"

    "Mira I''d like to��"<sub> </sub>

    "Mira��"

    Mira was currently serving as a waitress at the restaurant and soon got very busy as it was dinner time.

    Mira is a very hardworking girl that almost always exceeds everyone''s expectations.

    In a world where most of the poption doesn''t know how to read or write, Mira asked her parents if they could get her something to help her learn this for her fourth birthday.

    Kevin and Alyssa were very surprised to hear this request from a child that wasn''t even four yet, but they ended up buying something the next time a merchant showed up.

    It wasn''t much, just the alphabet, correct pronunciations, and a short picture book to help her study. Just these things alone cost her parents a chunk of their savings, but they would do anything if it was for their daughter''s future.

    Mira was ecstatic when she received the items on her fourth birthday and would study almost all day every day.

    Her parents wanted to scold her for studying too much, but Mira was already one step ahead of them and also spent some time outside.

    Sometimes she would y with the other children, but usually, she would collect things like around the vige, talk to people of other professions, or sometimes she would even watch the guards practice with their swords.

    One might think that the kids avoided her due to how weird she was, but she also had a decent rtionship with the other children.

    Mira wouldn''t talk to the other children like she was better or smarter than them and just treated them normally. Thisbined with how cute she was kept her rtionship with the other children at a good level.

    But Mira also had a good rtionship with the adults of the vige for different reasons and that was because of how knowledgeable and mature she was at such a young age.

    Her parents often talked about how fast their daughter was growing up and constantly thought about sending her to the capital to broaden her horizon.

    They eventually brought it up to Mira, but she just said��

    "It''s fine, Mom and Dad. I want to inherit the restaurant when I grow up, not live in the capital."

    They were shocked to hear that.

    "If you are worried about us, don''t be. If you want to go to the capital, I''m sure you''d make it big. You might even be able to be the king''s advisor or some high-up position." Alyssa asked with a reassuring smile.

    "That''s not it, Mom. It''s just that everyone in the vige is always so happy. It''s different whenever I see or overhear travelers or merchants though. They don''t ever look happy or satisfied, they look dejected or stressed. Even if they are making much more money than us, they don''t look any happier than us. Why would I want to throw away happiness for mary sess? I also enjoy living in this vige!" Mira said with a big smile on her face, but this answer shocked her parents.

    ''When did she learn things like this? This daughter of ours is really too smart for her own good.'' Both her parents thought and smiled wryly.

    "If that''s what you want, then I guess there''s no helping it. But if you ever change your mind, then let us know and we''ll support you." Kevin answered with a loving smile.

    "Un! I will!" Mira smiled.

    "Also, Mom, when is the baby due?" Mira changed the subject which caused Alyssa and Kevin to freeze.

    "H-How��?"

    "I''ve talked about and seen a lot of things around the town and I''ve learned and seen how pregnant women act. Sometimes I catch you throwing up, but you aren''t sick. You are resting a lot more than usual and Dad is taking care of your every need. Unless there is some special asion, which there isn''t to my knowledge, then this can only lead to you being pregnant!" Mira exined her reasoning like it was something any 5-year-old could figure out.

    Kevin and Alyssa just stared at her with their jaws wide open for a while before answering.

    "Your Mother is 2 months pregnant so the baby should be born in around 6 to 7 months," Kevin said nkly and Alyssa nodded.

    "Yay! I''m d that I''ll be getting a younger sibling! I hope it''s a little sister!" Mira eximed and ran off.

    "I guess we have nothing to worry about regarding Mira��"

    ***

    Seven months passed by quickly and Mira grew a little more, but that wasn''t the big difference. The biggest change in Mira was her intelligence. She grew a bit bolder and would often ask travelers or merchants to help her learn the basics of math. She could only learn bits and pieces at a time, but it didn''t take long before she was able to practice on her own.

    She''d often write down the problems that she tried and bring them to others to confirm. She''d learn from her mistakes if she got it wrong and would make sure to remember what she got correct.

    Mira also started testing out an easy version of the guard''s training. One would usually see her jogging around the area at sunrise and then see her carrying buckets of water or small logs.

    One of the cksmiths also made her a wooden sword to practice with in secret. Mira epted it and would constantly swing it around during her morning training, but something just didn''t feel right. Regardless, she still swung the wooden sword around.

    Right now, Mira was studying in her room when all of a sudden she heard her mother screaming.

    She ran into her room and saw that her Mother was now giving birth to her new sibling.

 Chapter 175 Miras Beginning Part 2

    A year and a half passed by in a blink of an eye and things were going well for Mira''s family.

    Alyssa sessfully gave birth to another beautiful little girl. This girl had white hair and crystal blue eyes which many people found to be ''holy'' or ''divine''. People also felt a bit calmer while in the presence of this child. The child''s name was Aurora.

    With Mira being so well-known in the town, Aurora also became extremely popr which caused another wave of customers to visit the restaurant. They would stop by for a chance at getting to see Little Aurora.

    Mira also started to mature at a much faster rate than before as she already began nning a little teaching course to put Aurora through when she gets a little older.

    She wasn''t sure how a big sister was supposed to act towards a little sister, but she wanted to dote and protect this little sibling of hers.

    The only problem with this is Mira started to notice some people looking at her with malicious thoughts. These people were mostly travelers or merchants, but Mira could tell by their greedy or envious looks that they meant trouble.

    She guessed that they might be after her intellect and thirst for knowledge. She was currently seven years old, but when one talked to her if they disregarded her childish looks, she had the mind of a middle-aged woman.

    In fact, Mira was most likely more mature than her own parents at this age. Her parents didn''t really know how to deal with Mira as she was truly too smart for her own good.

    It also didn''t help that Mira was basically in charge of the restaurant now. She dealt with most of the finances, negotiations with clients, and would often help her father determine who has ulterior motives or not when meeting unknown people.

    This was because not only was she smart, but she had very keen senses and could read people''s facial expressions rather easily.

    Mira was also extremely popr in the Town as she would often try to help others whenever she could either by talking with them or giving them advice. It was a strange sight to see, but most of the residents stopped treating her like a seven-year-old and took her thoughts seriously.

    She also was pretty good friends with the guards in town as she would often ask to either train with them or try out new weapons as a sword just didn''t fit her. It was like an innate rejection, but she knew that even with hard work she would never be able to wield a sword that well.

    She''s tried out many weapons, sword, spear, dagger, halberd, axe, bow and arrow, staff, saber, etc. The only weapon that felt a bit morefortable was a spear, halberd, dagger, and butterfly knives. Though these felt better, they still didn''t feel right.

    Even though that was the case, Mira would sometimes ask to have a light spar with some of the guards. This wasn''t so she could learn how to use the weapon better, this was so she can understand the flow of battle better.

    Obviously, Mira would never win any spars as she was just a little girl and had a terrible affinity with the weapons she used, she never stopped trying to spar.

    Due to her incredibleprehension speed, she would find mistakes in her form or strikes very quickly and be able to improve her battle sense with every strike during every spar.

    This coupled with her observing the guards train allowed her to offer several pointers to the younger guards. Although they might be helpful to the older guards, her advice was still useful as it made training a bit faster.

    With how hardworking Mira was, many people in the town often asked the same question��

    "Why do you work so hard despite having no ambitions?"

    Usually, Mira just gave them a mysterious smile, but that was only because she didn''t know the reason herself.

    Her parents, friends, and those around her always wanted to know what she wanted to do in the future, but Mira didn''t know what she wanted to do. She didn''t know if it was because everything she tried was too easy for her or if she truly didn''t enjoy anything.

    But asionally she would have a thought or a dream. The dream would be one of two things, she''d either be the Queen or Empress of a Nation which sounded somewhat exciting or there''d be another one that was terrifying yet exciting at the same time. It would be her standing on top of a mountain of corpses like a Goddess of Death!

    ***

    2 years passed<sub> </sub>

    "Little Aurora, follow me! I want to show you something cool!" Mira called out to her, now almost 4-year-old, little sister.

    "Okay, Big Sis!" Aurora ran after Mira with a silly smile on her face.

    Mira was currently running towards arge meadow full of flowers. This one is just one of the many times Mira brought her little sister to enjoy something cool.

    "Wooow! So pretty!" Aurora eximed, which made Mira happy. She loved seeing her little sister happy and wanted her to experience many things in her life.

    "Hehe I know right? These flowers also smell really nice too!" Mira sniffed a few flowers to prove her point and Aurora followed.

    "Mmm, they do!"

    The two of them yed in the meadow for a while before Aurora got tired and fell asleep in Mira''sp.

    Mira smiled and rubbed Aurora''s head while thinking about thest few years.

    Ever since Aurora was born, Mira has done her best to study children that had siblings and their rtionships.

    She wanted to know what know how a family''s upbringing or how talented orck thereof affected a sibling''s rtionship. She''d do her best to study poor households, medium-ie households, rich households, households with a talented child, households without talent, parental discipline, parental love vs none, and various other variables.

    She wasn''t able to gather all of the intel that she wanted, but she had enough toe up with an 18-year n that she would put into motion to make sure that she and her sister''s rtionship stays good.

    Mira knew that she was very talented in a lot of things, but it was really just because of her unusualprehension speed and intuition. She didn''t want this to cause a rift between the two of them, so she nned to try and nip this in the bud.

    Mira asked(interviewed) tons of people and learned a great deal of things about siblings and children. One that caught her attention was that it was easier to teach a child things rather than an adult. Not only that, but children need to socialize with other children. She also came to the conclusion that as a sibling Mira had to be soft yet firm as she didn''t want to force Aurora to do things she didn''t want to, but at the same time, she didn''t want to bend to her will too much.

    Like this, Mira filled Aurora''s room with the alphabet, numbers, and words. She''d also read some short stories that she came up with to her in order for her to grasp thenguage quickly.

    Her thought process was that of even if Aurora isn''t talented then all she has to do is make her talented before she can even realize it.

    This worked extremely well as when Aurora was able to speak, she learned extremely quickly and was also being taught how to write at the same time. This would make it easier for Aurora as it would be more difficult if she were to wait several years down the line to learn to write.

    This was the hardest part of Mira''s 18-year n and now all she has to do is take things a bit slower and wait and see. She had to determine Aurora''s nature before moving forward with anything else.

    This was until she understood that Aurora is a very calm and loving person that wouldn''t hurt a fly. This child never had any impure thoughts and could only feel that immense amount of loveing from Mira and her parents.

    Mira felt like there wasn''t a need for her n anymore and vowed that she would make sure Aurora doesn''t change. She just had to make sure that Aurora wasn''t naive so she can determine right from wrong.

    "Uhhh�� Big Sis, I''m tired. Can we go home?" Aurora woke up sleepily and woke Mira up from her thoughts.

    "Sure, let''s get my cute little sister in bed." Mira muttered softly before picking up Aurora and carrying her back to their house."

    "Hehe."

 Chapter 176 Miras Beginning Part 3

    The years went by and the rtionship between Mira and Aurora grew more and more. The older they got, the closer they became.

    Aurora might not have been as talented as Mira nor as intuitive, but she did have something that did make Mira a little jealous. That was being normal.

    The older Mira got, the more cynical she became. Her outlook on life started to distort bit by bit as she saw and experienced more things.

    She witnessed bloodshed, murder, ****, high taxation, greed, hate, anger, lust, and various other evils of the world. She would often hear stories of war and how people are treated like cattle or some of the men in the restaurant wouldment how they wished to have a woman to keep their bed warm at night.

    She started to grow disgusted at how sick people were, but also knew that there was nothing she could do.

    She wasn''t willing to risk herfortable life by going out and trying to help others. The only thing she wanted was to live a peaceful life with her family. She loved her parents, but more than anything she loved her sister.

    Her sister was the only person that she was able to show a genuine smile around. She wasn''t sure if Aurora knew of this or not, but it didn''t really matter.

    Mira also enjoyed taking care of the restaurant as she found it very calming. This was a time where she would be able to let her mind rest and not have to think about anything.

    Unbeknownst to Mira, Aurora was usually paying attention to her. She would notice the change in expressions and aura that surrounded Mira whenever she was with her or when she was working.

    Usually, Mira was always frowning or agitated about something and her aura was usually distant or reserved. But when she was working or around Aurora, Mira would calm down and rx.

    Aurora knew that Mira was a genius among geniuses and she would always deeply think about things. Her emotions grew colder as they grew up, but the warmth that she showed towards Aurora only increased.

    Mira spent most of her time training in hand-to-handbat or spending time with Aurora. She never did find a weapon that suited her and finally decided to give up after having no sess with a weapon for over a decade.

    Mira was now 15 and Aurora was around 10. Both of them were growing up into beautiful youngdies, Mira especially.

    One thing to note is the people in this world mature a bit faster so even though Mira and Aurora are 15 and 10 years old, they actually look much more developed than humans on worlds with longer life spans.

    Mira''s skin tanned a bit as she spent a lot of time out in the sun, but this didn''t diminish from her looks. She was definitely a beauty that would topple nations, if only she wasn''t always covered in callouses and sweat due to training or helping around their family''s small farm. She is skinny in ces that should be skinny and thick in ces that should be thick.

    Mira has had many suitors, but Mira would always politely decline them saying by giving some random excuse.

    Aurora was also growing into quite the beauty, but she still had a childish innocence about her. Her white hair grew down to her waist and her skin stayed fair. She always had a calming aura about her that greatly attracted people which caused many people to eat at their family restaurant just to enjoy this sensation. She wasn''t as well-endowed as Mira, due to her body still developing, but she was beginning to look like a young woman now.

    A lot of boys, after being rejected by Mira, would go for Aurora, but that''s when Mira would give them a fierce look. Almost like she''s looking at a dead person, which would cause a bunch of boys to give up.

    Mira would never let anyone with ill intentions go near her naive little sister! She''d even go so far as to kill them if she had to which somewhat startled Mira as she''s never killed someone before.

    Luckily they live in a small town with few visitors and the visitors they do get don''t stay for very long.

    "Big Sis, you''re so pretty, how have you not found a husband by now? Hehe." Aurora asked Mira, who was currently justzing around with Aurora.

    Mira froze and just looked at her little sister incredulously then sighed.

    "How can I find a husband when I have such a cute little sister? Not that I want any of those boorish mongrels as a partner anyways��" Mira muttered thatst part to herself.

    Aurora pouted but didn''t look upset. She loved being called cute by her big sister.

    "Am I really cute though? Boys have stopped talking to me recently and they always run away when I get near them. Mira, do you know anything about this?" Aurora asked while staring at Mira with a stern but cute look on her face.

    Mira just turned her head away and didn''t answer. She may have beat all of the little boys into submission until they agreed not to approach Aurora anymore.

    "Geez, Big Sis, you can''t just scare them away like that! How am I supposed to find a nice guy to settle down with if you keep beating them all up?! You''re worse than Dad!" Aurorained, but Mira just shrugged her shoulders and looked at her with a smug look.

    "Go find a girl then! Hahaha!"

    "Mou��"

    Miraughed while Aurora pouted, but she still had a smile on her face.

    She knew that Mira could tell people''s intentions just by looking at them and she also knew that Mira doesn''t do anything unnecessary. So she trusted Mira, but also knew that sometimes she''d go a bit overboard with this most likely being one of those times.

    The two of them kept talking until it gotte and decided to go to bed. The night passed by like any other night until Mira heard a scream��

    "AAAAHHHH!! Big Sis, Mira!! HELP ME!!! NO NO STOP!"

    A scream was heard across the hall and Mira''s eyes shot open with a murderous light.

    "Hehe, little girl, just hold *hic* still and let this *hic* big brother y with you! Haha!"

    Mira rushed out of her room and heard a drunk man in Aurora''s room while she was still screaming for help.<sub> </sub>

    Mira busts through the door to mind a half-naked Aurora and a middle-aged drunk man pulling down his pants.

    Her anger spiked and she rushed towards this man with all of the power she could muster and gave him a nice right hand to the cheek.

    "Guh! Who?! You bit-!" The man yelled in anger, but Mira didn''t say anything and just kept punching him in the face.

    "Argh!! Stop you fucking bi-!"

    Mira started breathing heavily, but her fists never stopped raining down. Teeth were flying and blood was spraying as the man''s nose shattered, but Mira didn''t stop.

    Mira grabbed the man''s hair and started mming it against the ground while using her knee to crack his ribs.

    Mira''s eyes were now bloodshot and the only thought in her mind was to kill this man forying his nasty fingers on her pure little sister.

    By this time, her parents came running into the room and saw beating a man on the ground and a half-naked Aurora crying in her bed. They immediately knew what happened and felt their blood boiling, but seeing as how things were dealt with now, they went over to Aurora and startedforting her.

    Luckily the man wasn''t able to go all the way, but it was still a traumatic experience for a little girl.

    What they failed to notice whileforting Aurora is Mira taking at a small dagger that she always keeps on her body.

    Mira definitely wasn''t in the right state of mind, but even if she was she only would''ve pulled out this dagger sooner instead of taking it out now.

    Mira saw a small little stick hanging out of this man''s groin and shed, cutting off this man''s dick.

    "Argh!" The man became conscious again due to the pain. He barely had time to know what happened when he went back unconscious. Blood was spraying everywhere, but Mira didn''t care as she raised her dagger towards the man''s neck.

    "Mira stop! Don''t kill him!" Her father yelled, but it was toote as Mira sent the dagger into the man''s neck, killing him.

    Mira''s eyes turned back to normal and then she looked over to see her family staring at her with scared expressions. Only Aurora looked at her with trust and love. Mira let out a faint smile and passed out from exhaustion.

    "Mira!" All three of them yelled and ran over towards her.

    She was covered in blood, but this mostly came from the man. Her hands and knuckles were bleeding and bruised due to how much she beat this man, but that was it.

    They sighed and were relieved that she was fine and only passed out from exhaustion, but now they weren''t sure how to handle this situation.

    That is until the guards showed up and started to investigate.

    Luckily it''s a small town and the man wasn''t anyone important. Due to eyewitness ounts and testimonies from the neighbors, they decided that the man was in the wrong. He broke into someone''s house, and not only tried to **** someone but a young girl at that. He would''ve been killed regardless if Mira had or hadn''t killed him.

    Overall, the residents couldn''t me Mira as they would''ve done the same thing as her. They also felt pity for Aurora, but luckily the man wasn''t able to go too far thanks to Mira.

    The days after that day wasn''t the same, but they didn''t change that much. People were more scared of Mira as she had actually killed someone and her parents constantly asked if she was okay, but Mira would always reassure them that she''s fine, which only made them worry more. In fact, they wanted her to not be fine like any normal little girl would, but they knew that Mira was anything but normal.

    Aurora also grew closer to Mira and the two almost became inseparable. That is until unfortunate events started to surround Mira''s household.

    At first, it wasn''t much, people would be a bit rowdier in the restaurant or would curse and defame Mira''s family behind their backs, but things started to get more violent.

    Nasty men were constantly trying to go after Aurora so Mira now slept beside her. Almost every day she was forced to beat some people up.

    Not long after that, they started going after her Mother, which only increased Mira''s anger and stress levels.

    Nothing as bad as what happened to Aurora before happened, but things only continued to get worse.

    Sometimes other men would try and get into fights with her father and he''d oftene home with bruises all over and even sometimes broken bones.

    This happened for almost a year until one day, he didn''te back that day. Mira knew something was wrong and ran out of the house, searching popr areas that her Dad went.

    She passed by a dark alleyway, only to look over and see a group of men stabbing her father to death.

    Mira''s anger and stress levels reached a peak until they finally popped like a balloon. She was eerily silent, but just took her, now double daggers, out and ran towards these men.

    These men did not have a good ending as they were torn apart, limb from limb. Flesh and blood was all over the alleyway by the time all of the men died. Mira knelt down next to her Father and let out a small tear.

    "I''m�� Sorry�� Mira�� Please�� Take care�� of your mother�� and sister��" He said these final words before his eyes went nk and died.

    "I will. I promise." Mira grabbed her father and carried his body back to her house with a heavy heart.

 Chapter 177 Miras Beginning Part 4

    Mira slowly walked back to her house carrying her dead father while covered in blood. She wanted to cry, but her eyes only exuded a coldness that wasn''t there before. She felt like she just lost part of her humanity seeing her Dad die like that, but she didn''t care about that as the only thing she cared about now was protecting her Mom and Sister from harm.

    When Mira made it back to her house, she didn''t know what to do. Should she go in like this or maybe she should clean her and her dead Dad up a bit? What will happen to her family now that one of them has died? Will her sister be sad? What will Mom end up doing when she finds out?

    She didn''t want any of this to happen to her family, but she knew it was impossible to go back to normal.

    The only thing she could do is just stand before the entrance of her home and prolong this misery that is about to fall upon her family.

    Unknowingly, tears began to fall from her eyes yet her expression never changed from her now cold and distant face.

    Mira stood at the entrance for a while before she heard the door click open. She saw her younger sister opening the door with a tired look on her face.

    "Big sis, did you find Dad ye-" Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth when she saw Mira covered in blood while carrying her father on her back.

    Her brain short-circuited while looking at this scene, seemingly trying to deny what''s going on in front of her. Tears ran down her eyes and it didn''t take long for her to start crying.

    Mira felt guilty watching her little sister cry and she wanted to me herself for not getting there sooner. She felt like she should''ve always been on watch, trying to protect her family, but failed at her job.

    Although this situation wasn''t her fault, she should''ve done a better job at trying to protect them. It''s just that she never expected anyone to want to kill her Dad. Their family isn''t rich and we are friends with everyone in town.

    Her Dad is also one of the nicest guys around and even hopes that a good man will marry his beautiful daughters. There is no reason for someone to want to kill him.

    She felt like someone was scheming against their family for some reason, but she didn''t know why. Does some bastard just enjoy watching a happy family crumble and randomly picked hers?

    These thoughts kept passing through her mind, but she found no answers.

    "Mira, are you b--KEVIN!" Mira''s mother came down and saw Mira holding Kevin and freaked out.

    She ran over to Mira and Kevin with a frantic expression on her face. Her brain didn''t know where to start, but she instinctively started to check her daughter for injuries, seeing how she is covered in blood.

    Then she looked at Kevin, who was on Mira''s back and didn''t know what to do. His eyes were open, but they were rolled to the back of his head, looking lifeless.

    "W-W-What happened, Mira?! Please tell me Kevin is alright! He''s okay, right?! Right!?" Alyssa yelled with tears streaming down her face.

    Mira just silently lowered him to the ground, cing him on his back showing all of the stab wounds. They had stopped bleeding already as it seemed he''s lost too much blood.

    "No no no no no, this can''t be happening. He was onlyte by a few hours, how can this happen?! Why did this happen?! Who would do something so horrific to such a nice man?!" Alyssa saw the stab wounds andck of breathinging from Kevin and knew that he had already passed, but she wanted to deny it.

    Mira could do nothing but walk over to her side and rub her back with her hand. She then walked over to Aurora and gave her a big hug.

    From this moment on, Mira''s family started to change.

    ***

    The years started to pass by and Mira''s family had changed drastically.

    Mira and Aurora were now young adults in their 20''s and became one of the most beautiful women in the entire Kingdom.

    Though that was the case, nobody would even think about making a move on Mira because even though she was beautiful, her gaze was enough to send a chill down one''s spine.

    Aurora on the other hand was perfect in every way. Huge breasts, long white hair, crystal blue eyes, had a nation-toppling smile, and always exuded a calm aura. She was the perfect wife that a man could wish for.

    The only thing preventing every man in the Kingdom from approaching her was her crazy sister.

    Another thing preventing others from approaching Mira''s family was the rumors about them. A lot of people are saying that their family is cursed. This was because the bad luck had never stopped over the years.

    After Kevin died, things never got better for Mira''s family. Alyssa fell into a great depression and would barely interact with Mira or Aurora. She also seemed to age much faster because of it as she looked like she was on death''s door for a while.

    Alyssa eventually passed away peacefully in the night, but Mira also found this strange. Her mother may not have been the most strong-willed person, but she wasn''t someone to wallow in anguish, misery, and despair for so long.

    Mira tried many times to get her mom toe back to normal, but it was like she was already looking at a dead person whenever she came into contact with her mom.

    The bad luck never stopped after that. Bandits started raiding their town more often, but they seemed to only attack the houses surrounding Mira''s ce. Sometimes they would try to raid Mira''s house, but usually, it was just their neighbors.

    Some of Mira''s neighbors even died from the raids and Mira''s reputation reached an all-time low.

    Nobody would eat at her restaurant anymore nor would people in town even think about living next to Mira. They also avoided her and Aurora like the gue which saddened Aurora as she liked talking with the townsmen, but Mira didn''t really care.

    After this happened, Mira''s house/restaurant somehow caught fire and burned down while Mira and Aurora were away.

    Even though Mira wasn''t a religious person, she still found herself cursing at god for being such an asshole.

    "Hey Mira, my boyfriend offered us a ce to stay at his house now that ours has burned down." Aurora timidly told Mira a few days after the restaurant burned down.<sub> </sub>

    "What?! You have a boyfriend?! Since when? Looks like I''ll have to go teach this little shit a lesson for approaching my little sister!" Mira sternly said to Aurora.

    "Please don''t! We really love each other and he''s very nice to me! And I met him a while ago, I just kept it a secret from you knowing how you would react." Aurora stomped her feet and protested.

    Mira kept grumbling but eventually gave in and decided to meet this guy and decide for herself.

    Aurora led Mira over to his ce which was somewhere in the middle of town. It didn''t take the two of them long to reach his house and while Mira was still grumbling, a tall, blond, and handsome ikemen type guy walked out of the house.

    "Hello, Aurora, Nice to see you again. Oh! And you must be her older sister, Mira. It''s nice to finally meet you! My name is Pete." Pete said with a blinding smile, but Mira didn''t say anything and just stared at him.

    "Mira, say hi," Aurora whispered, but Mira kept analyzing Pete trying to see if there is any malice behind his words.

    "Hmm.. Very well. I''ll permit you to see Aurora for now seeing how you hold no bad intentions, but if I find out you''ve hurt her in any way then we might be getting another ''sister''." Mira said while narrowing her eyes.

    Pete felt a chill down his spine and his crotch go numb when Mira said that. He vigorously nodded his head.

    "Naturally, I won''t do anything to Aurora. How could I hurt the one I love?!" Pete hurriedly said.

    He then led the two of them into his house, thus beginning a new chapter in their life.

    ***

    Around a year after moving in with Pete, the two of them found out that Aurora was pregnant!

    The two of them told Mira, but contrary to their belief, Mira was extremely happy for them. She had already epted Pete and knew that he loved Aurora more than anything else. If she didn''t ept him then Aurora might actually get upset and stop talking to her.

    Mira also made sure to give them plenty of space as she knew that she was just an extra in the house.

    ***

    A few monthster after Aurora got pregnant, something seemed to change in Pete.

    <o>,m All of a sudden, one day he just started beating on Aurora like a maniac. He punched and kicked all over her body for hours until she was unable to move. This all happened way too fast and Aurora didn''t even know how to react.</o>

    The two were deeply in love with each other, but now it almost looks like he doesn''t even know her.

    Every time she would open her mouth to scream, Pete would put his hand against her mouth while holding a knife against her throat.

    After she quieted down, Pete took the knife away from her throat and jabbed it into her belly, killing her baby instantly.

    "NOOOOOOOO! MY BABY!"

    As soon as Mira heard this, she came charging into the room. She saw Pete holding onto the knife that was in Aurora''s stomach and charged at Pete.

    Mira tackled Pete and knocked him unconscious, but in that moment something seemed to click in Aurora''s brain.

    Aurora grabbed onto the knife in her belly, took it out, and raised it above her heart. Aurora''s mind was a mess right now, but she didn''t know why she was doing this. Of course, a tiny part of her thought of dying with her baby, but that wasn''t even 1% of her thoughts. Yet, this part of her mind seemed to take over he body, causing her to lose control.

    Mira looked up and was about to run over to help Aurora, but she froze when she saw Aurora holding the knife above her heart.

    "Aurora, no! Stop!!!" Mira yelled and ran over to try and stop her, but it was toote.

    "Mira�� I don''t�� know what''s�� happening to me�� I can''t control my-" Aurora struggled to get the words out as tears fell down her face, but her body moved on its own and stabbed the knife into her heart.

    Mira''s mind nked when she saw this and didn''t know how toprehend what was going on. It all happened too fast.

    "Mira�� please help me�� Mira�� Mira�� Mira��"

    ***

    "Mira."

    "Mira!"

    "MIRA!!"

    Mira heard someone calling her and noticed that she was back in the Mermaid castle. She looked over to the person calling her and noticed it was Queen Asherah, but this image seemed to ovep with her memory of Aurora.

    "Aurora��"

 Chapter 178 Water Body Transformation Technique

    "Aurora��"

    Mira subconsciously called out the name of her first Sister, a name that she has almost forgotten about until this moment.

    "Eh? Aurora? Who''s Aurora? Is there perhaps someone that entered this city without my knowledge?" Queen Asherah looked at Mira with a weird expression. She felt there was something wrong with Mira right now, but she didn''t know what it was.

    "Ah! No, you just reminded me of a sister I used to have." Mira had a nostalgic look on her face as she answered.

    "You have a sister? And I remind you of your sister? I never thought that I would bepared to a human." Asherah answered with an innocent smile, but Mira just had a bitter look on her face and didn''t say anything else.

    Mira had a crazy thought that this mermaid in front of her might be the reincarnation of her sister, Aurora, but that thought left as quickly as it came. The reason being is that the chance of meeting her sister''s reincarnation after nearly 1,000 years in some random realm at the bottom of an ocean is�� Well, she has a higher chance of killing that ''Primordial One'' with her current strength than the probability of finding Aurora''s reincarnation.

    Also, it''s not like it would matter if Asherah was her reincarnation as she most likely doesn''t have memories of her past life. Mira''s unsure if reincarnated souls retain their memories, but if she had to guess, then she''d wager that they probably don''t.

    "Anyway, I don''t think me and mypanions should stay in this ce much longer. We only have a certain amount of time in this ce and there are still other locations for us to explore." Mira decided to change the topic.

    "Eh? Wanting to leave so soon? And I was starting to like you too��" Asherah pouted while looking at Mira. She clearly didn''t want Mira to leave.

    "It''s not like there is anything for us to do here. Not only is pretty much everyone here stronger than us, but you also have more knowledge than us. Not to mention you mermaids can fight much better in the waterpared to us. There is really no reason for us to stay here." Mira exined, but Asherah still pouted unhappily.

    "I know that, but I don''t care. I enjoy talking to you and that''s more than enough reason for you to stay here with me!"

    *Sigh*

    Mira sighed and started rubbing her temples. She was worried that if she kept pushing the subject that Asherah might just capture her and prevent her from leaving. If she were to do that, there would be nothing Mira could do. She had a feeling that even if she were to go all out against Asherah that she wouldn''t even be able to scratch her skin.

    "Even if I did want to stay here, in a little under 3 years I''ll be ejected from this ce anyway. I''ve already mapped out all of the locations I''d like to make it to and I doubt that I''d even be able to get to all of them during this time. I can''t afford to waste any more time here�� Unless there is a reason for us to stay here��" Mira tried to hint that she needed Asherah to make it worth her time here. She also chose this time to say it as Asherah''s guard was down while talking to her and practically begging her to stay for a bit longer.

    Asherah, however, knew what Mira was trying to do, but didn''t get upset. Even if she is a bit naive, she is still a Queen, but she also knew that Mira wasn''t lying. If they didn''t have a reason to stay here then there is no point in remaining.<sub> </sub>

    "Hmm�� Okay, I think I know what I can offer, but you won''t be able to take it with you nor will you be able to start using it now. You''ll have to wait until you get a bit stronger." Asherah got up and walked away after saying that.

    Mira was now curious what Asherah was going to offer.

    A few minutester, Asherah came back into the room with a scroll in her hands.

    She carefully passed the scroll over to Mira and then started to exin the contents.

    "This is a technique called the Water Body Transformation technique. Essentially, you are absorbing water to temper your body while also cleansing it of impurities. It also has the effect of strengthening your Qi and blood. There are also other benefits, but I''ll leave those forter. Now, I know what you might be thinking ''Why would I have to be stronger to cultivate this technique?'' Well, that''s because you need to stay in a ce where the water pressure is extremely high. At your strength, if you were to try cultivating this technique right now, your body would copse from the pressure." Asherah eximed, but Mira was still a bit confused.

    "I get that, but I''m fine swimming under such pressure right now. Why would my body copse if I cultivated this technique?" Mira asked.

    "That''s because you would be forcing tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of kilograms of pressure into your meridians, organs, blood, and other parts of your body. Can your body handle such pressure right now?"

    "I see. I suppose you''re right." Mira nodded in understanding.

    "Good, now it''ll probably take some time for you to learn that technique as it''s much moreplicated than how I just described it. I''ll also give your friends a downgraded version that most of the weaker citizens use so they won''t be bored. In the meantime, you''ll also have to talk to me while you are studying!" Asherah dered with a bright smile on her face.

    Mira nodded and briefly looked at the scroll in her hands, or it''d be more precise to call it a book with how long the scroll is. It described all of the steps one needs to go through in order to sessfully cultivate the technique along with the stages to the technique.

    It was a really interesting technique, but Mira wasn''t sure if she''d be able to incorporate it into her own physique. Well, she felt like she''d have to cultivate the technique topletion or at least nearpletion for that to happen. Either way, Mira felt satisfied and knew that as long as she was given time she''d be able to do it.

    "From what I''ve seen so far, this technique is truly amazing. In fact, I feel like it''s a little too good for what you''re getting out of it." Mira praised which caused Asherah to giggle.

    "Hehe. It''s not that big of a deal, everyone here uses some form of that technique. It''s not even the best technique that we have! This is just something that will help you reach even higher levels but offers little strength to your actual body. Also, if you feel it''s too good then you''ll just have to spend more time with me hehe." Asherah seemed satisfied and Mira could only shake her head.

    Mira then began to study and memorize the technique, but she felt like most of her time will probably be spent hanging out with Asherah.

 Chapter 179 Leaving Meropis

    Two weeks passed by in the blink of an eye from when Mira started studying the Water Body Transformation Technique.

    This technique was truly profound as there were many different steps on how to cultivate the technique. There are 8 Stages to the Water Body Transformation Technique, but what''s odd about these stages as they don''t necessarily get progressively harder the more you cultivate it.

    The only thing one needs to properly cultivate the technique is a certain amount of strength to withstand the pressure of the water, a peaceful ce to cultivate, and time. The stages go from 1 to 8 and are as follows:

    Stage 1: Meridian Cleansing

    Stage 2: Skin Cleansing

    Stage 3: Flesh Cleansing

    Stage 4: Bone Cleansing

    Stage 5: Marrow Cleansing

    Stage 6: Organ Cleansing

    Stage 7: Blood Cleansing

    Stage 8: Heart Cleansing

    From what Mira understood, the technique offers little in the strength department, but she understands that it''ll probably increase her strength by about 40% once it''s cultivated topletion. That''s a 5% increase every stage.

    This increase may not seem like much, but Mira understands the difference between having that 5% and not having it. That 5% is the difference between living and dying. Hell, even 1% is more than enough.

    Also, the benefit of the technique isn''t in its strength, but in the other benefits, it has to offer that is much better than just an increase of 40% in strength.

    The Water Body Transformation Technique is a technique that cleanses the body of all impurities. Not only that, but when cultivated topletion, the body will constantly be expelling any new impurities, always making sure the body is pure.

    The benefits thate from this are immense that the increase in strength pales inparison. Her body will be able to store more and purer Qi, she''ll be able to cultivation much faster, she''ll be able to consume pills without worrying about the lingering impurities in her body, and other things that Mira can''t even imagine.

    In addition to all of this, Mira is 70% sure that the Water Body Transformation technique will merge with her mutated physique, strengthening it and allowing her a certain control over water.

    This made Mira somewhat expectant to try out this technique, but after confirming some things with Asherah and with the scroll, she understood the reason as to why she can''t cultivate it right now.

    The main is getting past Stage 1, the Meridian Cleansing Stage. From what Mira gathered, apparently one needs to create a bunch of acupuncture points on their body, which will allow a highly pressurized stream of water into her meridians cleansing them.

    The only problem is that this stream of water is entering her meridians at many times the speed of sound. Naturally, her meridians would instantly rip apart with her current strength.

    However, it seems once one passes the first stage, then the rest of the stages are much more straightforward.

    Of course, it won''t be so easy that one she''ll be able to just breeze by one stage after another as she''ll need to go deeper underwater for each subsequent stage, requiring stronger meridians.

    Although the technique may seem reliant on one''s cultivation, it actually just requires one''s meridians to be as tough as steel, which oftenes with higher cultivation.

    This made Mira feel a bit better but at the same time a bit bitter. Finding ways to strengthen one''s meridians is very rare and even if Mira were to find something like that, it''s a huge risk to try and temper one''s meridians.

    Either way, Mira wasn''t satisfied by the requirements at all since the benefits are just that good. If it was something easy then Mira would be a bit suspicious.

    After two weeks of studying and talking with Asherah, mostly conversing with Asherah, Mira has finallymitted the technique to memory so that even if she were to die she''d remember this technique in her next life.

    Mira has gathered in the Throne room with Maria, Cine, and Queen Asherah.

    "It''s about time for us to leave, Asherah," Mira said curtly while looking at Asherah.

    "Mou~ Even though I don''t want you to leave, I understand that this is something necessary for you to get stronger. In fact, let me give you something before you leave." Queen Asherah walked over to Mira and handed her two things.

    One was a round metal token with a picture of a crowned mermaid on it while the other thing is a small red pill.<sub> </sub>

    "This is a token that will notify you if you are ever near me. I also have a token that does the same thing except it''ll notify me whenever I''m near you. I''m not ready to part with you so I''ll work hard to be an immortal! You have to do the same! I''ll find you whenever you ascend! Ah! As for the other thing, I''ll keep that a secret for now but I''ll give you a hint. Take that pill when you reach the Core Formation Realm, it''ll help give you a headstart." Queen Asherah winked at Mira while keeping things mysterious.

    Mira had some doubts about the pill that she received. It''s not that she didn''t trust Asherah-well, actually, that is part of it. Another reason is Mira isn''t just going to swallow some random pill she knows nothing about, even if it is from someone she trusts. Of course, there''s no reason for Asherah to try and harm her in such a lengthy process as she''s nothing more than a bug in front of her so this alleviated some of her worries.

    "Sure and I''ll be waiting for you after I ascend," Mira smirked almost like she''s the stronger of the two.

    "Hehe, I suppose I''ll have to work extra hard then. I''ll miss you during this time of separation, but we''ll have all of the time in the world after we ascend so that''ll be my motivation to work harder!" Asherah pumped her fists in excitement as she felt like she''ll be able to enjoy many new experiences with Mira after bing an immortal.

    There have been quite a few mermaid ancestors who have ascended into immortality and onto a new ne of existence so Asherah knew that it was possible for her to do the same as well.

    Although she can''t say that Mira is especially talented in cultivation, her strengthpared to her cultivation is extremely abnormal. Her body has actually been tempered to a point where it''s stronger than her actual cultivation base.

    Asherah also has a feeling that if she and Mira had the same cultivation, she''d stand no chance in a fight against her. This is just a difference in experience as Mira has fought in wars, gone through tens of thousands if not more battles, and has been honing her battle sense almost every day for nearly 1,000 years.

    Even cultivators who have lived for ten times that amount of time may not have the amount of experience Mira does when ites to battle as cultivators spend a lot of time�� well, cultivating.

    "Well, whatever. I just hope that you won''t be useless when you reach that point." Mira said this while still smirking as she knew that Asherah has very little battle experiencepared to herself.

    "Hmph! You don''t have to worry about that!" Asherah pouted but didn''t look displeased.

    She then approached Mira and gave her a big hug.

    "Make sure your lifees first. I don''t want you dying before we can see each other again." Asherah whispered.

    "You too��" Mira also muttered while patting her on the back.

    "Alright, it''s time for you 3 to go. If you stay here any longer then I won''t be able to hold myself back from keeping you here." Asherah backed away and said.

    "Sure, I''ll see youter." Mira waved her hand and turned around.

    "Bye-bye! It was nice spending time with you Miss Asherah! Thanks for your hospitality and kindness. I''ll be sure to repay it when I ascend as well!" Maria eximed while waving her hand. She also held a favorable impression of Asherah.

    "Although I don''t know if I''ll be able to ascend, it seems that I''ll also have to try my best to be stronger so I can repay you for your kindness." Cine calmly stated while waving her hand.

    Queen Asherah just nodded her head and smiled. She also likes these twopanions of Mira''s as they were both nice to talk to and never held any ill-intentions even knowing how many resources her city had.

    As she saw the three of them off, Asherah let out a small tear but reaffirmed her decision to get stronger and ascend.

    On Mira''s side, Maria and Cine caught up to Mira and asked her a question.

    "Should we go say goodbye to Coralia?" Maria asked, but Mira replied without hesitation.

    "Fuck no."

    "Wha-?! Why? She wasn''t that bad and she even gave us gifts and a ce to stay." Mariained.

    "No. Knowing that pervert she''ll ask toe with us. Even if we say no, she''ll probably follow us anyways, making the situation worse! And those gifts and ce to stay was payment for kissing me! Actually, that''s letting her off lightly! She shouldn''t even be alive right now and you think I''ll even give her the chance of following me?! Hell no!" Mira got angry and started to speed up while concealing herself.

    Maria and Cine got shivers knowing that Mira might actually try and kill her should she follow them and gave up on the idea of saying by to Coralia.

    At their current speed, it didn''t take them long to reach the exit. The guard stopped them, but Mira showed them the token that the Queen gave her which made them give way to Mira and herpanions.

    After exiting the city and getting back into the sea, Mira felt relieved that they hadn''t run into Coralia as she didn''t want to deal with that troublesome person.

    ''Goodbye, Meropis, the City of Mermaids!" Mira motioned to her twopanions and the 3 of them swam off into the ocean.

    Unbeknownst to the three of them, there was already a pair of eyes on them as soon as they left the city and entered the water.

 Chapter 180 Pearls!

    Mira, Maria, and Cine started back on their journey after that little detour in the Mermaid City.

    After getting back out to sea, the 3 of them were slightly tempted to try cultivating the Water Body Transformation technique, but the thought of imploding made them stop.

    They also became slightly depressed after entering back into the ocean as it was pitch ck, they can''t breathe like normal, they are constantly being watched and attacked, and it''s highly unlikely that they''ll find something good in this situation.

    They decided to swim up to the surface to regain their bearings after staying in the Mermaid City for a few weeks.

    After making sure they are heading in the right direction, the 3 of them went back underwater. The thought of finding an ocean treasure was too great as that''s pretty much the whole point of being here and they probably still have at least a few weeks worth of swimming before they reach their next destination. It would be a waste to only stay above the water during this time.

    Luckily, they had the gifts that Coralia provided them which made underwater travel a bit easier plus the dresses supplied considerable defense.

    Mira also pulled out the trident when she was underwater as it seemed like it wasn''t affected by the water at all. Her handling of the weapon is very poor, but it doesn''t really matter as all she needs to do is stab things with it.

    Like this, the three of them continued their journey in the water until they reached their next destination.

    ***

    Not much has happened during Mira''s journey through the ocean. They fought aquatic beasts and swam, that''s pretty much it.

    Their underwater skills have stagnated as there is only so much they can do with their current strength and constitution. Well, except for Cine, who was able to traverse the sea like it''s her home.

    Their boring life of underwater travel abruptly changed when the scene in front of them switched from almost pitch-ck to having some light. Well, there may be light, but its radiance is almost nothing. If a candle were to be lit underwater and the fire didn''t go out, that''s the amount of light radiating from the area in front of them.

    It''s just that the number of these dim lights is rather significant, probably a few dozen.

    Mira''s group has encountered enough aquatic beasts with lights as bait to understand that this is most likely not the case. Those beasts'' light is much brighter than this.

    As they got closer, they were able to see a small army of ms! And the things that were giving off light were the pearls inside of the ms!

    Obviously, they can''t just leave these precious pearlsying around in such a dangerous ocean, so ''reluctantly'' they decided to shoulder the burden of handling these pearls. The only question now was how?

    Are these ms dangerous? Is there something looking out for these ms? Are these pearls just bait to lure them in? What can these pearls even be used for?

    These thoughts ran through Mira''s mind as she did her best to remember any type of shellfish she has run into in the past.

    Generally speaking, ms are not dangerous and they don''t even have a brain to process information. From what she understood, ms do have a sense of touch, but it''s more reactionary and it''s only inside their shell that they can feel.

    The only problem is that these are clearly not normal ms since they are about the size of two adult men and the pearls are bigger than the size of a fist.

    These ms aren''t giving off any kind of cultivation so she can safely assume that they aren''t some rare magical beast. But Mira can guess that their shells are probably abnormally hard if they can live in the sea.

    If they were to close their ''mouths'' it may be incredibly hard to break their shells to get the pearls from inside. She would probably be able to break it if they were onnd, but right now they are in the middle of the ocean, and even if they brought them up to the surface there is nond in sight.

    Mira also had other worries like how did the ms even end up here, but right now she only had questions that were nearly impossible for the current her to answer.

    ''I''m tired of swimming through this goddam ocean and finding absolutely nothing! Even if these pearls turn out to be useless, I don''t care!'' Mira thought to herself.

    She gestured towards Cine to get ready and for Maria to stay on the lookout for any dangers lurking.

    Maria wouldn''t be much help in this operation anyways while Cine can actually swim much faster than Mira can so she''ll definitely be able to help retrieve these pearls.

    After a bit of gesturing, the two of them came up with a n. They were going to split up to try and gather as many pearls as they possibly can. Mira is going to use her scythe to scoop up pearls while holding the trident to make sure their mouths don''t close on her weapon. While Cine is just going to speed by them and take as many as she can in one fell swoop.

    3�� 2�� 1�� Go!

    The two of them darted off as Maria swam around to check the surroundings.

    Cine swam as fast as she could and in just a few seconds, picked up her first pearl. Barely half a second after she grabbed the pearl and swam off, the m shut its ''mouth''. She didn''t even bother to looks back and just kept swimming with all of her might.

    Mira wasn''t quite as fast as she had to use her Qi to try and dull her scythe while also making sure she didn''t break the pearl while scooping it up. This was tricky as she barely had a fraction of a second to scoop up the pearl, but thanks to Mira''s quick reflexes and control over her strength, she was able to scoop out her first pearl.

    Almost as soon as the pearl left the m''s mouth, it closed.

    During this time, Cine was able to gather 3 pearls while Mira only managed to get 1.<sub> </sub>

    This continued on for a few minutes until the number of pearls gathered reached 30, but after this, the rest of the ms shut their mouths.

    They tried breaking their shells, but as Mira thought, they were extremely durable. They could break them if they spent some time sitting there cracking them and they were actually nning on doing that, but it seemed they had run out of luck.

    Maria came frantically swimming back with a scared look on her face. All she did was point behind them and keep on swimming.

    Mira and Cine hurriedly stored the pearls and looked behind them. They saw a massive dolphin-looking creature charging towards them with red eyes. Clearly, it was pissed!

    It was in the Core Formation Realm, and not a weak one either. Mira couldn''t tell exactly what stage it was at, but it was at least Stage 4 or 5 in the Core Formation Realm.

    The two of them immediately started to flee as they didn''t want to get caught up against that thing.

    The two of them started swimming faster than they ever have before, but Cine was clearly much faster than Mira.

    The dolphin was also incredibly fast as it was a creature that was actually born to live in the ocean.

    Mira could feel it right behind her and knew that she was in trouble. This fucking dolphin was just way too fast for her.

    But she''s not going to just roll over and die either. The dolphin''s mouth was closing in on her legs and opened wide like it was about to take a chomp out of her.

    Mira didn''t try moving her legs out of the way as she knew it was impossible, but she did surround her foot in ice spikes that had a bit of Yin Magma in them.

    The dolphin tried taking off Mira''s foot as an appetizer, but as Mira''s foot was in its mouth it didn''t realize that it was surrounded by spikes.

    It bit down and felt a chunk of something in its mouth along with delicious-tasting blood. It saw Mira still swimming away while leaving a trail of blood behind and knew that it was only a matter of time.

    It kept chasing after Mira while munching on what it thought was Mira''s foot, but the dolphin soon realized that there was also pain in its mouth and wondered what it might be. What it felt was not only its tongue starting to break down due to the traces of Yin Magma, but there were also small wounds from the ice spikes that impaled the inside of its mouth.

    The dolphin grew confused and knew that the only thing that could do this was its prey that it had just taken a bite out of. Soon, the dolphin became enraged and swam after Mira much quicker than before.

    Mira was doing all she could to try and create as much distance as she can while also heading up to the surface. Her leg was all bloody and mangled from the dolphin trying to take a bite out of her, but at least she kept her foot.

    It didn''t take long for the dolphin toe ramming into her side, breaking several ribs, rupturing some internal organs, and even broke her arm as well.

    The dolphin went to try and take another bite out of Mira''s broken arm. This time, Mira didn''t try the same trick as before and instead took out her scythe.

    As soon as the dolphin bit down to take a piece out of Mira''s arm, she exchanged ces with her scythe so that when the dolphin bit down, it didn''t take her arm butnded on her scythe.

    As soon as the dolphin bit down onto the scythe, it felt like its teeth might shatter, but that wasn''t all. Mira used this time to strike back as she had plunged her trident into one of the dolphin''s eye before taking it back and darting off. She didn''t have to worry about her scythe as all she has to do is just summon it back.

    Like that, she now has both of her weapons back and was now gaining distance on the dolphin.

    She also spotted the surface of the water as well as Maria and Cine. It seemed the two of them had the same idea to go to the surface as well.

    The dolphin was now screeching in pain, not only because of its teeth but also from having its eye stabbed. It had lost its focus on Mira for a few seconds so she was able to gain a considerable amount of distance before it actually started to charge at her again.

    Before long, Mira was about to reach the surface, but it seemed the dolphin was done ying around. It swam back after her, but not quite as fast as before as it seemed to be charging up an attack.

    The dolphin then released a highly pressurized water canon from its mouth towards Mira.

    Mira felt an attack heading her way and began to move, but the attack was too quick and ended up taking a chunk out of Mira''s side.

    Mira gritted her teeth due to the pain but didn''t stop swimming. Once, she neared the surface, she created a set of ice wings on her back and then started to soar as high as she possibly could.

    The dolphin also jumped out of the water in an attempt to kill Mira, but Mira was already falling down. She had grasped her scythe and threw it with every ounce of strength she had in her body. Her body was now incredibly strong after all of the temperings that she''s done and if she were to guess, she''d say she now has the strength of a Core Formation Expert with just her body alone.

    The only thing that was hindering her movements and strength was the water. Now that she''s out of that, she can use her full strength to deal with this bastard.

    The scythe made a sonic boom as it came crashing into the dolphin''s mouth and the de had started to dig into its head.

    Mira had fainted right afterward, but she knew that the dolphin wasn''t dead. At this point, all she could rely on is Maria and Cine, who also had simr strengths to Mira.

    ''Hopefully, they can deal with this guy or we are really in deep shit��'' Mira thought to herself as thest thing she saw is Cineing towards her.

 Chapter 181 Onto Their Next Destination

    ''Ugh.'' Mira groaned as she regained consciousness and started to examine her surroundings.

    She immediately knew that they were still at sea as she was still surrounded by water.

    Next, she started to observe her wounds as she was still in pain from the dolphin''s attacks.

    She looked down and saw that the hole in the side of her stomach was still recovering, but at least the hole was closed up. It also seemed like her broken bones were almost healed as well. Her biggest worry was that there were still internal injuries, but it seemed that most of them are almost fully healed.

    Mira let out a sigh of relief as injuries at this level would only be a matter of time before they heal fully.

    After Mira knew that her life wasn''t in immediate danger began to observe her surroundings a bit more.

    Right now, she wasying down on a raft made out of arge mshell and various other bones to keep it afloat. Also, it seemed like although Maria and Cine weren''t right next to her, she could feel them swimming around the raft probably making sure no danger befalls her.

    Mira felt content with havingpanions like Maria and Cine who she can leave her back to. One might think she would be mad at them for ditching her, but Mira knew that she was the slowest swimmer or at least is the same speed as Maria, but Maria had a bit of a headstart.

    If they were to try and fight it out in the water against the dolphin, their end would most likely not be good. Their best bet would be to try and fight above the water which would increase their chances of winning tremendously.

    Luckily, their teamwork has vastly improved and there is no need to verbally talk about such things as they should already know or at the very least Maria should know.

    "Mira! You''re awake! Thank goodness! I don''t know what I would''ve done if you died! I''m sorry for ditching you back there! I should''ve stayed back to help you defend against that dolphin bastard! I was only thinking that it would be more beneficial to fight above water and didn''t stop to think that you might be in trouble before you can even reach that point! I''m sorry, Mira!" Maria saw that Mira had awoken and flew right into Mira''s arms and started tearing up.

    "Me too, Mira. If I had known that things would''ve turned out like this, I would''ve stayed with you to help out. Maybe we could''ve killed that thing if we all fought it together while staying underwater. If I did that, then maybe you wouldn''t have been so hurt." Cine also apologized with her head down.

    "Hmm�� Maybe we could''ve killed that dolphin underwater, but I think our chances of winning would''ve been less than 50%. Not to mention even if we did win, our injuries would most likely be much worse than what they are now if we fought it in the water. We hold a massive advantage above water and our chances of winning are probably around 80-90%. This was also my train of thought and it''s only natural that the slowest yet strongest take up the rear guard. And who do you think I am!? Injuries of this level can barely be considered a flesh wound! I only passed out from exhaustion!" Mira exined which calmed the two of them down a bit, but they were still a bit reluctant to ept that.

    "Anyways, did you two kill that dolphin?" Mira decided to change the subject.

    "Of course! How could we not kill it after you did so much damage as well as fighting on our own terms!" Maria eximed while flexing her muscles with an overly happy grin on her face.

    "I see. It''s good that you two were able to finish that thing off. I would''ve been disappointed if you couldn''t. Now, how long have I been out?" Mira asked.

    "Um�� It''s hard to tell, as the time of day never changes, but I''d guess at most a few days. It didn''t really feel that long." Cine answered.

    "Hmm�� Not bad. My vitality and recovery speed is really impressive, especially after tempering it in magma." Mira muttered, feeling satisfied.

    "I think we should just focus on heading towards our next destination at this point. I''m sick and tired of swimming through this damn ocean." Cine made a suggestion.

    "I agree, but I think that we should spend around half of our time swimming underwater. We may not be able to find anything amazing, but who knows how long we have until we find our next destination." Mira nodded, but still didn''t want to give up the chance of finding aquatic treasures. After all, there is no ocean even remotely close to where they are back on the Western Continent.

    "Fine��" Cine and Maria reluctantly agreed as well.<sub> </sub>

    After the three of them talked a bit more and Mira made sure she had both her scythe and trident, they started their monotonous but dangerous journey of swimming through this god-forsaken ocean.

    ***

    On their journey through the ocean, Mira''s group confronted many more difficulties, but none nearly as dangerous as the dolphin they encountered before.

    They swam through the ocean with the intention of not killing everything on sight unless the enemy initiated it first, but this proved how ignorant they were.

    Everything in the ocean was out to kill, even the nts. Even if they thought that a beast might not approach them due to their non-aggressive behavior, they''d still end up getting attacked!

    But Mira felt like this was a good thing for Maria and Cine as it forced them to be more decisive and ruthless in their attacks. It also made them hone in on their senses as there are quite a few aquatic beasts that can avoid their detection. Some of them can almost even bypass Mira''s senses.

    They encountered all sorts of aquatic beasts such as a Shadow Tiger Shark, a shark known for its stealthiness, a Bane Fish that secrets a toxic poison upon contact, man-eating nts that would use their leaves as tentacles to tie them up while slowly devouring them. This was only the tip of the iceberg as there were many more types of aquatic beasts trying to kill them, but luckily none were as strong as that dolphin.

    They kept every corpse, nt, and even rock that they came across. For the most part, they had no clue what they were grabbing, but as for the nts, Maria could tell that most of the nts they grabbed were at least Earth-Grade, or nts that are generally used by Core Formation Cultivators.

    They also guessed that the pearls might be Peak Earth-Grade or maybe even Heaven-Grade materials. They also gathered quite a few Mortal-Grade ingredients and materials which included various unknown rocks, aquatic herbs, and the skin or bones of the beasts they killed.

    Right now, they are unfamiliar with the specifics of everything they grabbed like what their names are and what they are used for. Whenever they find out though, they should be able to make some quality stuff!

    After 2 whole months of swimming through this damn ocean, the three of them finally caught sight of something different.

    "Look, look! I can see something on the horizon!" Maria eximed while pointing ahead of them.

    "Oh! I see it too! I wonder what our next destination will be?" Cine wondered.

    Mira watched in silence as they grew closer to this change in scenery.

    When they got closer and were able to get a better look, the sight made Maria and Cine''s to a frozen ocean. Fuck!" Maria also cursed as memories of Mira putting her into a block of ice hearts drop.

    "Damnit!! We just spent thest couple of months swimming in this fucking ocean, but now we have to deal with a frozen tundra?! Where''s the wind?!" Cine cursed.

    "What''s the saying? ''Out of the frying pan and into the fire''? Except we are going from an ocean to a frozen ocean... Fuck!" Maria also cursed as memories of Mira putting her into a block of ice resurfaced.

    Mira, on the other hand, although her expression didn''t change seemed excited. Unlike her twopanions, and of ice is like a second home for her and is a ce where she can expect the most growth not only in cultivation but also in her Absolute Ice Dao as well.

    "About fucking time!"

 Chapter 182 A World Covered In Ice

    Mira was the first one to step onto the frozen tundra, but a strange change urred as soon as her footnded on the ice. Maria and Cine weren''t far behind either as the ice was better than the ocean.

    The scenery around them began to change and started to look almost surreal. The ocean behind them disappeared as well as the bright sun.

    All that was left, in every direction, was a world of ice. Arge moon hung overhead as it showered the icy ins in front of them with its silver luster. The reflection of the light of the moon on the ice made for an especially beautiful scene as things were peacefully calm.

    Mira felt her body yearning for such an environment as just breathing in this environment was providing insights into her Dao and increasing the Qi in her body bringing her closer to a breakthrough.

    It''s been a long time since she''s progressed in her Dao as the power of her ice has fallen behind the level of strength she currently has.

    All of this will soone to an end though as she can feel this ce will be able to provide her with an exponential rise in strength.

    Mira already felt the need to meditate and digest the insights overflowing into her. In fact, once she finds a nice ce to stay without being disturbed she will definitely go meditate and digest everything.

    Meditating out in the open in an unknown and most likely extremely dangerous environment is probably the worst thing she could do.

    First, they have to explore a bit, search the surrounding areas for any dangers or treasures, and find out the strength of the enemies they''ll be facing from here on out.

    After the three of them took everything in, Cine and Maria started to feel a chill seemed to want to freeze every fiber of their being.

    The two of them have faced Mira''s worst, swam in the depths of the ocean, tempered their bodies with magma, and felt like they should''ve been able to stand the cold, at least a little, but they were wrong. All of that seemed useless in this ce!

    What they didn''t know was that if their bodies weren''t much stronger thanks to Kayda, then they might''ve be blocks of ice already and Mira would have no way of helping as this ce was beyond her level currently.

    They felt their skin and bones constricting as their fingers started to be slightly numb. To warm up their bodies, they had to channel a bit of Qi into their fingers, but this only helped a bit.

    "Umm, Mira? I think we might need to find a ce to stay as soon as possible. My body is already going numb from the cold and I''m only able to warm myself up by circting my Qi, but once I run out I don''t know how long I''ll be okay. I think Maria is the same, although she looks just slightly better than me." Cine said with ttering teeth.

    Maria didn''t look much better, but being with Mira and experiencing ice for almost half of her life now, she was able to build up a bit of tolerance.

    "Eh? Oh, I see. It''s certainly cold here, but I didn''t think it was that cold. I suppose it''s due to my physique?" Mira started to get lost in thought again and started to ignore them. These two alwaysin when it''s cold and this time was no different.

    It was only when Mira got a good look at them did she start to notice that their skin was already turning blue and ice was already forming on their body.

    "Mira! We need to find a ce to warm up!" Maria yelled and started to run ahead of her. Cine also followed after Maria.

    "It seems that we must. I highly doubt you''ll find a warm ce, but if you find a cave then that should help alleviate some of the cold." Mira said while running with them.

    The two of them nodded and immediately started looking for any signs of a cave.

    This ce wasn''t just a t icy tundra, no, it almost looked like a world that had ayer of ice put on top of it.

    There were Forests of Ice, where the trees seemed to be made of ice. Ice mountains, Ice canyons, Ice ins, even a ce that looked like a desert of ice. The desert of ice had tiny grains of crystal ice that looked almost like sand, it was quite incredible.

    The three of them weren''t able to take note of everything as they just ran in a direction that was sure to have a cave of some sort, the canyon.<sub> </sub>

    Sure, they could probably go anywhere but the nds and desert to find a cave, but finding a cave in a forest is like finding a needle in a haystack and they had a feeling if they charged to the mountains recklessly, the only thing awaiting them is death.

    They thought that a canyon would surely have beasts as well, but finding a cave would be many times easier as all they have to do is open their eyes.

    It didn''t take them long to reach the canyon as it wasn''t that far away from where they started.

    The ce was eerily quiet around the canyon which made the three of them feel uneasy. On their way to the canyon, they didn''t spot any beasts or hear any noises either. The whole ce was quiet as nothing moved or made a sound, there wasn''t even any wind. Even stepping on the ice hardly made any noise, if any at all.

    Their hairs were standing on end as their bodies and minds screamed danger, but there was nothing.

    They were just waiting for some random beast toe out and attack them, in fact, they were hoping for that at this point. It would be much simpler if that were the case.

    The three of them tried to push this to the back of their minds as they formed wings on their backs and jumped into the canyon to start looking for a cave.

    The canyon was incredible, unlike anything one would ever see in their lifetime. It was tens of kilometers deep with ice covering every inch of it. The moonlight reflected off of the sides of the canyon which made it much brighter than on the surface.

    It also made it much easier to find a cave as they were able to detect every hole along the walls of the canyon.

    The three of them made their way towards a small entrance that was barely big enough for one person to fit through, but after making their way inside, they found it to be big enough to fit 4 people if they scrunched together.

    The first thing Maria and Cine did is get close to each other to warm them up while Mariayered herself in light to see if that''ll warm them up, which it did a little.

    Mira, on the other hand, was feeling conflicted. This ce was perfect for her to grow, but the only problem was that wherever she went, she felt danger.

    Even in this cave, she didn''t feel any better and felt like she was going to die at any moment.

    ''Why am I getting this feeling of death no matter where we are? What''s wrong with this ce? Is it a beast? Is it the climate? What''s wrong with this ce?'' Mira asked these questions but found no answers.

    "I''m going to block the entrance just in case. You two just warm up and we can discuss our situation after." Mira said to them, but they were too cold to hear what she said and focused on warming up.

    Mira walked over to the entrance and startedyering it in ice, albeit much weaker than the ice that is already present.

    After that, she sat near Maria and Cine and tried to help them warm up a bit as well.

    ***

    In this world of ice, on the highest peak, a being slowly opened its eyes and looked in the direction Mira''s group was running.

    It thought of something for a second before closing its eyes. It seemed that, for whatever reason, Mira''s group narrowly escaped death as this entity chose to ignore them for now.

    Even though it''s been a long time since it''s had any visitors in this ce, that is of no concern to this being. It only wants to stay in this frozen world and cultivate in peace.

    Although this being was not human, it was highly intelligent maybe even more intelligent than humans, and was getting close to being able to gain its human form. It didn''t want to take any risks even if the trespassers were weak. It seems to understand that even a weakling is capable of amazing things if it''s cornered.

 Chapter 183 Closed-Door Meditation Part 1

    After Maria and Cine warmed up a bit, they were finally able to discuss their current situation.

    "This ce is really weird. Although I wasn''t paying too much attention to our surroundings on our way here due to how cold it is, there is just something about this ce that just feels off. We haven''t run into any beasts, nothing has tried to kill us, and even the environment isn''t that dangerous, it''s just extremely cold. Yet, why do I have this subtle feeling of danger? Why are there no beasts around here? Hell, I don''t think I even saw any nts or herbs on our way here!" Cine was the first one to voice her thoughts.

    "So you have that feeling too, huh? I agree with Cine! I don''t like this ce, it gives me the chills, in more than one way hehe." Maria joked but still agreed.

    "I have no clue. I felt something watching us while we were running towards this canyon, but it seemed to take its eyes off of us when we entered this cave. I doubt that whatever was watching us is not able to sense us and we merely survived based on the whims of this creature. I suggest that we stay here so you two can get used to the cold while I go into closed-door meditation to digest the insights that have been flooding into me for a while now. I''ll also be attempting to break through to the Xiantian Stage as well." Mira suggested to which they agreed.

    "I think that''s all we can do. Even if we go out there now, not to mention something trying to kill us, Cine and I are more likely to die from the cold before we die to a man or beast. I''ll also try to break through as well, but I think I''ll be a bit slower than you." Maria said while Cine nodded.

    Maria and Mira were both at the Peak-Houtian Stage while Cine was at the Mid-Houtian ready to break through to Late-Houtian at any time. Cine wanted to breakthrough while they were in the ocean, but it''d take a few days for her to break through and they were being attacked by aquatic beasts several times a day so there wasn''t an opportunity.

    Although it was cold as hell in this ce, the group was happy that they could finally take a break and cultivate. They''ve either been tempering their body or fighting beasts for months straight and haven''t found the time to cultivate properly.

    <o>,m "I''ll head to the back of the cave and wall myself off as to not disturb you two. I have a feeling that I might create amotion if I were to meditate near you." Mira said and walked to the back, created a wall of ice, and shut herself in.</o>

    Mira sat down and began to meditate on her Absolute Ice Dao. Over thest few months, without her even noticing, she was actually umting many insights about her Dao that she hadn''t even thought about.

    When she showed up in the frozen world, everything that she''s experienced up until now started to rush into her mind like a river.

    As soon as Mira started meditating, she actually started to enter a state of enlightenment as her own ice started to release from her body, encasing her. There was no Yin Magma or Yin Lightning as it was just pure ice.

    Mira started to understand the mysteries of ice much faster and also what it means to go down the path of the absolute.

    The first thing she noticed when she first stepped into this icy world, was how there was no other element other than ice. It seemed that this world used to beposed of different elements, but everything ended up being encapsted in ice.

    It even looked like time hade to a standstill for this world yet somehow the world still seemed alive.

    At first, Mira only wanted to go down the Absolute Ice Dao path so her ice will reign supreme, but she mainly wanted to use it as a way to rule over ice while being an insane defense measure against the other elements.<sub> </sub>

    It wasn''t until she cultivated the Magma Dragon Body and gained control over Yin Magma that she understood why her Dao hadn''t progressed much. It was because she didn''t truly understand what it meant to reign supreme and go down the path of Absolute.

    But now that she has Yin Lightning and Yin magma under her control, she is starting to understand what it means to use her ice to dominate the other elements.

    This, coupled with the Frozen World that happens to be the perfect location for Ice Dao users and Mira''s Mutated Extreme Yin Physique, which she has decided to rename to Extreme Overlord Yin Physique due to how domineering it is over the other elements. All of these thingsbined have boosted herprehension of her Dao by arge margin.

    Mira stayed in this state for a little over two weeks.

    During these two weeks, if one were to look at the ice that Mira was incased in, they''d be able to see changes happening to it.

    Gradually over time, the ice that used to be transparent was now turning into something that looked like a bright azure metal. Its sharpness, durability, strength, weight, and every aspect about it was bing stronger at an incredible pace.

    After a week, Mira''s Yin Lightning and Yin Magma also seeped into the ice encasing her, but instead of running rampant like they usually did, they were now docile like a servant waiting for orders.

    During the second week, not only did the strength of Mira''s ice increase along with her understanding of her Dao, but her Yin Lightning and Yin Magma also started to increase in effectiveness, albeit not as much as her ice.

    Mira soon reached a bottleneck, but apparently, she had umted enough insights that she was able to break through this bottleneck and reach the next stage in her Dao.

    She felt something click in her mind, almost like she just went through a major breakthrough, and soon the ice that was incasing her was sucked back into Mira''s body.

    Mira opened her eyes that held an icy glint and made an ice shard hover in her hand.

    This shard looked more like azure steel than it did ice and felt like it too. She used the tip of the shard to prick her finger and after applying a bit of pressure her finger started to bleed. Although she was a bit surprised, she didn''t find it that odd. After all, she just had a major breakthrough in her Absolute Ice Dao.

    She inserted some Yin Lightning and Yin Magma into it and found them to be much more docile than before which was a nice surprise. Mira began to get a feel for how these elements behaved, but what she found out is they just listened ording to her thoughts. If she wanted them to run wild then they''d run wild and if she wanted them to be precise then they''d strike where she wanted them to. It was less random and more orderly than before which was an unexpected benefit.

    "Hmmm�� I benefited a lot from this meditation, but I think I need more information on Daos and their path. Although one''s chosen Dao path is something that one must traverse themselves, there must be some sort of power ranking or scale. Or maybe there isn''t and I''m just overthinking it. Either way, it''s time to break through to the Xiantian Stage. I wonder if something unexpected will happen during this breakthrough?" Mira muttered to herself as she prepared to break through to the next major stage in the Foundation Realm.

 Chapter 184 Closed-Door Meditation Part 2

    Mira began preparing for her breakthrough into the Xiantian Stage. She took out her Qi Gathering Array, 500 Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and the Mid-Stage Rank 5 Energy Gathering Pill. All of these items were things that she had received as rewards in Lunar Fox City for ying a major role in defeating the Soul Devouring Sect army.

    After everything was ready, she started to clear her mind, making sure she would have no thoughts other than breaking through.

    Although Mira has 100% confidence, she still doesn''t want to take any risks. Breaking through into the Xiantian Stage is simr to breaking through a major realm or some might say that it''s even more important.

    The Foundation Realm does exactly what the name implies, it sets one''s foundation. In the Houtian Stage, a cultivator absorbs and cultivates Qi in their body and will only be able to gather a certain amount of Qi based on their body''s potential or otherwise known as how strong their body is.

    While cultivating in this stage, one must increase their bodily strength to keep up with the amount of Qi present in their bodies. Of course, the Qi present in one''s body will slowly nourish their skin, bones, organs, blood, and everything else, but there is a limit and it doesn''t continue indefinitely.

    The Xiantian Stage continues this process but adds in an extra step. This extra step is one of the most crucial steps during one''s entire cultivation journey.

    This is because one has to create an origin point in their dantian. While a cultivator is in the Foundation Realm, their Qi has no point of origin or a storage ce. It''s just roaming around the cultivator''s body aimlessly.

    This origin point is the first step to bing a Core Formation Expert and if one were to mess up during this step they will never be able to advance to the Core Formation Realm.

    As Mira thought about this, she became extremely serious. She''s hasn''t reached the Xiantian Stage before, even in her past lives, so this will be a new experience for her.

    She was only able to reach the Peak-Houtian Stage before dying, but even if she did advance to the Xiantian Stage, she was sure that reaching any higher realm was only a pipe dream.

    Things were different now though, she was fairly young for someone in her realm of power, her body already has the strength of a Core Formation expert, and she has plenty of resources to help her.

    Even a pig could break through if they were in the same situation as Mira.

    A few hourster, Mira started absorbing Qi that had condensed around her due to the Qi Gathering Array.

    Qi was being absorbed into her body like crazy as Mira continued to suck what seemed like an endless amount of Qi from the surroundings.

    After almost all 500 spirit stones turned to dust, Mira had reached the point where she could breakthrough into the Xiantian Stage, but Mira knew her current body could handle much more than that.

    She quickly dumped another 500 Low-Grade Spirit Stones into the array and continued to cultivate. She wanted to reach a point where it felt like her body may explode due to how much Qi was in her body.

    The hours went by as Mira started to grit her teeth due to the pain. Her body was slowly expanding like a balloon and her organs and bones felt like they were going to pop out of their designated locations, but Mira pushed through as she knew her body could handle more.

    Her body''s strength was already somewhere in the Core Formation Realm so she knew that after she broke through to the Xiantian Stage, she should have no problem breaking through to the Core Formation Realm while just relying on her current body strength.

    Mira soon had to put down another 500 Spirit Stones, but it didn''t take her long to reach the absolute peak amount of Qi her body could handle.

    Mira''s body had now expanded quite a bit and was around 2 timesrge than before. It was incredibly painful, probably one of the most painful experiences Mira had gone through. Her lips were bleeding and her nails had pierced her hands while the ice underneath her showed signs of cracking under the pressure.

    Mira smiled and started the next process, condensing all of the energy as much as possible.

    She popped in the Rank 5 Energy Gathering Pill to assist her and contrary to what some might think, it does require more Qi to help during the process of condensing.

    She soon began the tedious process of condensing all of the Qi in her body.

    Every time she condensed, her aura would rise higher. Anyone watching Mira breakthrough would be shocked to see how strong Mira''s aura is. This is because if they didn''t know better, they would''ve guessed that Mira is trying to break through to the Core Formation Realm!<sub> </sub>

    Days started to pass as Mira continued to condense the abnormal amount of Qi in her body and these days soon turned into weeks.

    Three weeks went by before Mira''s body had shrunken down to its normal size and all of the Qi in her body had been condensed until she was unable to condense it anymore.

    While the current amount of Qi she had stored in her body only looked like a tiny droppared to what it was before, this small amount of Qi was much more potent than what she had before.

    That''s not to say that Mira has less Qi in her bodypared to before as that couldn''t be further from the truth. She was several times more powerfulpared to before, although she didn''t know how much exactly.

    But the process wasn''t over yet, she had to create an origin point in her dantian, linking the Qi in her body to that ce.

    She focused on the Qi located in her body and started to drag a piece of it towards her dantian that started to stretch almost like slime, signifying that it was still connected to the rest of the Qi in her body.

    When this piece of Qi was ced inside of her dantian, Mira started to circte her cultivation technique, The Hell Scythe Essense Cultivation Technique. The Qi started to transform into a vortex like normal, as proof that Mira was about to sessfully break through. But two sudden changes started to happen as soon as it reached this point.

    First, the vortex started to turn into something akin to a small blizzard. Outside of Mira''s body was starting to ice over. The Qi inside her body also started to gain ice properties yet still flowed through her body like water. It was quite strange.

    Mira felt her affinity with the ice element grow along with her control, but this wasn''t the only change that surprised Mira.

    Her soul had also formed a link with this vortex and her body was crazily sucking in the remaining Qi around her, sending it inside her soul.

    Mira didn''t expect this to happen and quickly checked her soul and was shocked yet ecstatic at what she saw.

    Her scythe, The Abyssal Sea Scythe, started shining as it sucked in more Qi. Mira kept circting her Cultivation Technique and it didn''t take long for her weapon to stop glowing and reveal itself.

    (A/N: The ''Sea'' part of the Abyssal Sea Scythe does not mean it is good for underwaterbat. It merely means that the scythe was made out of materials located in an abyss at the bottom of the ocean possibly even forged at the bottom of the abyss. The make might''ve also intended it to be used by a water element user. Again, this does not mean that it performs better underwater!)

    Her scythe looked a bit different than before. The size and shape remained the same, but its crystal blue veins running along it had be more ice-like. The de that used to be ck, now had an icy-blue hue to it. Mira also felt the temperature around the scythe had dropped significantly as well. It seemed much more suited for her as her connection with it became stronger.

    Not only that, but the grade of the weapon had also increased. It had gone from a Peak-Mortal Grade weapon to a Low-Earth Grade weapon, increasing its sharpness and durability by a significant amount.

    Mira kept circting her technique until she felt all of the changes were done and sighed in relief and excitement!

    She checked her dantian and the blizzard vortex was still there, perfectly stable, and could finally stop cultivating.

    She opened her eyes and had a huge grin on her face, something she hasn''t done in many years.

    ''I have now surpassed my previous lives in cultivation and in terms of potential and strength, I vastly outss any of my other lives! Not only that, but my weapon had upgraded and it seems like the vortex formed in my dantian is a mutated version of what it was supposed to be, but I can feel that it was a good thing! Hehe, this is the life where I finally kill that bastard! Haha! Wash your neck for me, asshole god for I will be the one to chop it off!!!'' Mira thought to herself while clenching her fists in determination.

    She took some time to settle down before going back to her normal aloof self and destroyed the ice barrier between Mira and the two girls.

    She noticed that the two of them were talking with each other so she walked over to them with a slight grin on her face.

    This has been one of the happiest days of her life, how can she not be happy?!

 Chapter 185 Exploring The Canyon

    Maria and Cine turned around and saw Mira walking towards them with a slight grin, a genuine grin. The two of them were caught in a daze looking at such a beautiful smile on such a beautiful face. If they were men they would have surely been lovestruck as even as women they couldn''t stop their hearts from beating faster. They didn''t want to say anything just so they can fully take in this moment as long as they can before Mira''s expression goes back to normal.

    Just like they suspected, Mira started to frown when she saw how intently the two were looking at her.

    "Tch!"

    "Tch!"

    The two of them clicked their tongues when Mira stopped grinning and their mood became somewhatplicated, but luckily Maria went back to her normal self.

    "Congrattions on breaking through! I assume that something good must''ve happened for you to be so happy. Hehe." Maria asked but didn''t forget to tease.

    "I see you broke through as well. And I guess you could say I got a few unexpected benefits due to the increase in cultivation." Mira nodded and noticed that Maria also broke through to the Xiantian Stage.

    Cine also had a breakthrough into the Late-Houtian Stage. This cultivation session has been very beneficial to Mira''s group.

    Mira sat down and started to exin that her scythe got a bit of an upgrade and something special happened when she broke through, but she''s not quite sure how it will affect her.

    She then showed off her scythe a bit which gave off a dangerously cold aura. Maria and Cine were in awe at how cool Mira''s scythe was. Although Cine''s saber is a higher grade than Mira''s scythe, her scythe seemed almost as strong as her weapon along with radiated a dangerous aura. This is just the difference between a spiritual weapon and a normal weapon.

    Even though Mira''s scythe isn''t that high of a grade, it''s not because the quality of the materials is bad, it''s just that her cultivation is too low to show off how amazing her scythe really is.

    "Do you two want to continue cultivating or go explore? It doesn''t matter to me." Mira suddenly asked after the three of them chatted for a little.

    "I don''t care. It might take a while for me to break through to the Mid-Xiantian Stage so I doubt I''ll be getting stronger anytime soon. At the same time, I''m a little scared to go outside as I can feel danger looming over us. It''s up to you to decide, Cine." Maria said.

    "Hmm�� Part of me wants to stay and cultivate because I know I''m the weak link, but it''ll take me a while to reach the Peak-Houtian Stage and even longer to break through to the Xiantian Stage. We might as well go explore this canyon some while making this little cave our base." Cine suggested a pretty good idea.

    Mira and Maria didn''t really want to waste their time cultivating as it''ll be a while until they have another breakthrough and they only have a limited time in this ce that is filled with treasures and opportunities.

    "Sure, let''s do that then," Mira said while Maria nodded.

    There wasn''t much to pack up, so it didn''t take long for the 3 of them to exit their little cave.

    As soon as they left, a wave of freezing air hit them which sent shivers down their entire body, well, except for Mira. This was like home to her, she can even feel her body wanting it to be colder than this.

    Luckily, Maria and Cine were able to get ustomed to some of the cold, but due to the cave being closed off it was slightly warmer in the cave than it was out there. They still couldn''t get used to this piercing cold weather.

    Mira didn''t say much and created some ice wings then jumped down into the canyon. They still had many kilometers to go before they reached the bottom which made everything look surreal.

    Maria and Cine could only sigh and followed Mira.

    Almost an hourter, Mira''s group finallynded at the bottom of the canyon and they couldn''t help but look at their surroundings in amazement.

    Everything was still covered in ayer of ice which wasn''t surprising, but what amazed them was how bright it was.<sub> </sub>

    They looked up and could barely see the sky much less the moon, but it was still so bright down at the bottom. What made it more beautiful was they could see silvery rays of light refracting off the sides of the canyon until they made their way down to the bottom.

    "Wow! This ce is amazingly beautiful! If it weren''t for how damn cold it is, I''d want to live here! I wonder what happened to this world for it to freeze over like this or if it was always like this?" Maria stared in amazement as Mira and Cine did the same.

    "Who knows? It''s not like we can do anything about it, but you''re right. This ce is really beautiful." Mira muttered.

    They spent a few minutes taking the sight in before they began their exploration.

    The first thing they noticed was tons of animal tracks on the ground, though they seem like they''ve probably been frozen for years. With no leads and nothing better to do, Mira''s group started to follow these footprints, which all seemed to lead in the same direction.

    Following these tracks, they didn''t run into anything interesting, in fact, they didn''t run into anything at all. No ice herbs, beasts, or even a change in scenery. It was almost scary how quiet everything was.

    What Mira was hoping to find, other than increasing herprehension in her Dao, is an Ice Elemental Essence.

    After Mirapleted the Trial, one of her rewards was an Ice Elemental Essence and although it was just a basic one and didn''t offer much help, she knew that if she were to find a powerful Ice Elemental Essence, her power would skyrocket.

    This world was probably the best ce to find something like that, but whether or not she''ll actuallye across one really just boils down to luck.

    Elemental essences are incredibly rare, one of the rarest resources in the cultivation world, and not only are they rare, but finding one in the element you use makes it even harder to find one.

    If one were to use a different Elemental Essence from their own element, then it will definitely cause a bacsh while also losing all of its effects.

    Mira might be able to, but it''s not like they are just cabbage that she can pick up whenever she wants.

    Mira shook these thoughts out of her head and continued following the tracks.

    After a few days of walking, they finally came across something different. What they saw looked like a ratherrge cave built into the side of the canyon. The entrance was 2 meters wide and 4 meters tall and there were 2 pirs encased in the ice next to the entrance of the cave.

    "This is interesting," Mira muttered as she noticed the animal tracks leading into the cave in front of them.

    "What do you think is in there, Mira?" Maria asked.

    "I''m not sure. There might be nothing or the cave might be filled with beasts. We''ll only know if we explore it. But this cave is really giving off a dungeon-like vibe." Mira said hinting at them that she wants to explore this cave.

    "Well, we came all this way to explore and this seems to be the only interesting thing in this massive canyon. I say we explore it." Cine said to which the other two nodded.

    "Very well, let''s explore this cave, but don''t let your guard down. We don''t know what''s in there, if it''s filled with traps, if there are beasts, or if it is someone''s home. I''ll go in first followed by Cine andstly Maria." Mira ordered as she took out her scythe and prepared for battle.

    The other two did the same as Cine wielded her saber while Maria took out her sword.

    The two of them slowly made their way towards the cave with serious expressions.

 Chapter 186 Dungeon Exploration Part 1

    Mira, Cine, and Maria began to slowly make their way towards the cave, but the atmosphere changed when they entered.

    What used to be so cold that they felt like they were about to be an ice cube started to be a bit warmer. It wasn''t by much, but with how sensitive they are they were able to feel the slight temperature change.

    Needless to say, the interior was still covered in ice on all sides, but due to Mira''s ice affinity, she could feel that the ice in this cave was slightly less dense than the ice outside of the cave.

    The three of them walked a bit further and started to see bones, both encased in the ice and above the ice. The more they walked, the more bones they started to find until the ice became less ice and more bones along with the ground beingpletely covered in them as well.

    "This is a bit�� creepy. It almost seems like whatever came down here wasn''t able to escape and ended up dying before they could reach shelter. I wonder if anything was able to live?" Maria muttered.

    "Even if they were able to live, how long do you think they were able to live? I mean even beasts that have an affinity for ice would find it hard living in this tortuous environment unless they are way stronger than us." Cine spoke up while also finding this cave extremely creepy.

    Mira just ignored their bbering and kept moving forward.

    It didn''t take them long before they reached the end of the cave, or at least what they thought was the end.

    What they found at the end of the cave was a set of stairs that led downwards below the cave.

    "This is turning into something more akin to a dungeon rather than a cave. How peculiar��" Mira muttered.

    "Did you say something, Mira?" Maria asked.

    "No, let''s go down. Maybe we''ll find something good." Mira shook her head and started walking down the stairs with her scythe ready.

    Mira slowly walked down the stairs, but what she saw on the next floor was surprising, to say the least.

    Entire beasts were encased in ice as it looked like they were trying to destroy the ice on the walls. This second floor was massive, much bigger than the first and if there was a third floor then these beasts must''ve not been fast enough to make it there.

    Mira guessed that in their final moments, these beasts probably went crazy trying to escape their doom, but whatever turned this world into a frozen wastnd spared nobody.

    w marks were all over the ce and tens of beasts were frozen. Mira walked up to one of the ice statues to get a better look and noticed that in their final moments they had a look of fear, insanity, and desperation in their eyes.

    "Wha-what happened here? Now my curiosity about what happened to this world is starting to rise! Did someone attack this world by freezing everything? Did this happen naturally? I want to know!" Maria said while looking at the scene in front of her.

    She wasn''t scared or disturbed about the things she''s seeing as she would often see much worse while apanying Mira, but it wasn''t every day she gets to see something like this!

    "Who knows? If I were to guess, I''d say someone attacked this world, but it also isn''t umon for a world to go through a bit of a cold spell. Either way, this has nothing to do with us, we are just here to loot!" Mira chided causing Maria to pout.<sub> </sub>

    "Mou~ Don''t be like that Mira! I know you want to know what happened to this world as well! Maybe we''ll be able to find better loot with that knowledge! Hehe~" Maria teased Mira a bit, but only got ignored.

    "Hehe, Mira''s so shy, she-" Cine started to tease Mira along with Maria, but the two of them felt a chill down their spines that seemed much colder than the surrounding area and the two of them stopped talking.

    Unbeknownst to them, Mira had a faint grin on her face.

    ''Getting bolder, huh. Well, at least they''re growing up a bit.'' Mira thought to herself as she continued to walk forward.

    The strange thing that she noticed about this dungeon was that the further they walked, the denser the ice got.

    Another thing she noticed was that the beasts that were encased in the ice had no Qi or energy left in their bodies.

    These findings could mean several different things, but with how limited her information is it''s difficult toe to a conclusion. The only thing they can do is continue searching this ce for anything that might be interesting.

    The three of them slowly made their way towards the third floor, where they saw simr scenes to that of the second floor.

    The ice was slightly denser than it was on the previous floor along with more frozen beasts.

    This scene reyed until they finished exploring the fifth floor and made their way towards the sixth floor.

    On the sixth floor, although the scene looked simr, it waspletely different.

    This floor was covered in beast carcasses and although they were frozen, they weren''t in a block of ice like how the beasts were on the previous floors. They were frozen just because of how fucking cold it was in this dungeon.

    Not only that, but these beast carcasses didn''t have any flesh on them, only bones.

    "I guess this means that some were able to live in this harsh condition, but with ack of food, these beasts were forced to eat each other. I wonder how many beasts were able to live?" Maria guessed.

    "No use thinking about it now, let''s continue. Maybe you''ll find an answer to that question when we reach the end of this dungeon." Mira said as she examined the floor.

    "I know, but it''s still exciting! It''s like we are uncovering a mystery!" Maria eximed happily.

    Mira and Cine just shook their heads and continued on with their journey.

    Mira was also feeling slightly more excited, but for a different reason. The ice in the dungeon kept getting denser the farther they went and Mira was eager to see why that is. She couldn''t care less about what happened to this world or its inhabitants, only loot. And loot is what she was hoping to find!

 Chapter 187 Dungeon Exploration Part 2

    Mira''s group found themselves looking forward to going through this dungeon. Mira held high hopes for finding some sort of treasure while Maria and Cine were just d to do something other than training.

    All they''ve been doing is cultivate, fight, or temper their body over thest few years. This is especially so for the fighting part. There is more to the world other than killing things and that''s why they are so excited about doing some exploring that didn''t involve killing or tempering.

    Mira, on the other hand, was slightly dissatisfied when she noticed all of the beasts in the dungeon were already dead. Isn''t a dungeon supposed to be a ce where one fights waves of beasts? It''s no fun if all of the beasts are already dead.

    The only reason she was continuing on with this journey is for the potential of finding some sort of treasure.

    The 3 of them continued to explore the sixth floor before finding the stairs that led down to the seventh floor.

    The seventh floor was simr to the sixth, but with a few slight changes. One, there were fewer dead beast carcasses, and two, the ice was denser than it was on the sixth floor and by a rather significant amount as well.

    The beast carcasses this time looked like they were barely being held together. The only thing left of them were bones that have been frozen in ice, but even these bones held no Qi within them.

    Mira couldn''t even determine what rank these beasts were when they died, but if she were to guess Mira would say they are at least Rank 6 beasts or higher. That means that, if her guess was right, all of these beasts were simr in strength to Core Formation Experts.

    Just the thought of all of these beasts being ughtered like cabbages made caused her to shudder a bit.

    Mira turned around and saw Maria and Cine walking through the ce like they were some sort of detectives. They were inspecting the bones, floor, walls, anything they could think of to look for clues.

    Mira''s eyebrow twitched but decided not to say anything. If they weren''t even able to guess the strength of the beasts they were inspecting then they''d truly be useless fools. She also felt like even if she did remind them of the dangers this dungeon possessed, they wouldn''t listen to her.

    This could also serve as a form of training if things went wrong so the two of them never take anything lightly, even if it''s just some empty dungeon only containing dead beast carcasses.

    The three of them kept walking through the dungeon at a steady pace to make sure they don''t run into any traps.

    Soon they reached the eighth floor, which was simr to the seventh except it was much smaller, the ice was much denser, and there were fewer dead beast carcasses, but these beasts were at least twice as strong as the ones on the previous floor if not stronger. Yet, even these beasts didn''t contain any Qi within them.

    Even if Mira was a fool, she figured that either the ice in this dungeon wasn''t as simple as it looked or these bones have been like this for tens of thousands of years.

    This is because bones from Rank 5 beasts or higher didn''t just simply rot away. They would still contain Qi even after the beast died and it would only dissipate after a significant amount of time or if something extracted it. Sure, all of the meat was either eaten or absorbed by something, but even if that was the case there should still be Qi left within the bones.

    Mira was leaning towards there being something peculiar with the ice because even if these beasts have been dead for tens of thousands of years, they were preserved in ice.

    Either way, they''d most likely find out when they reached the bottom of this dungeon.

    <o>,m It didn''t take them long before they reached the ninth floor, but things were clearly much different on this floor.<sub> </sub></o>

    There were only 5 dead beast carcasses encased in ice here and Mira could tell just by looking at these beasts that they were significantly stronger than the dead beasts above. The bones were much thicker and one could still feel the power from those bones even without Qi in them.

    The other thing Mira noticed was the ice in this room seemed to be slightly different than the ice on the previous floors. She could feel two different types of ice, one was the ice thatyered the rest of the world while the other type seemed to be a bit malevolent.

    "I suspect that the next floor may be thest floor to this dungeon. I sense two different types of ice in this room and I suspect that the origin is probably on thest floor." Mira turned around and said to her twopanions.

    "Got it! Maybe thisst floor will allow us to put together the mystery of this dungeon and maybe even what happened to this world!" Maria eximed optimistically.

    "Understood!" Meanwhile, Cine readied her saber and got ready for battle.

    Mira ignored Maria and just nodded her head. She turned around and started walking towards the tenth floor.

    As soon as they found the stairs, they were hit with an extremely oppressive cold that seemed to want to slip into their bloodstream to suck out any Qi contained within their bodies.

    Maria and Cine narrowed their eyes and controlled their body to prevent anything weird from happening while Mira revealed a slight grin with a sharp glint in her eyes.

    The first thing Mira thought about was an Ice Elemental Essence or some sort of treasure. It could be some sort of rare beast, but she found that it probably wasn''t a beast.

    Why would a beast who can control ice to such an extent never leave this ce even after sucking everything dry? Also, she''s never heard of any sort of beast that can absorb someone else''s Qi with only its aura. Wouldn''t such a beast be even more overpowered than Rhydian? Even the legendary Dragons and Phoenix''s would have to bow down to such an unreasonable creature!

    Mira didn''t bother checking on the two behind her and continued to walk down the stairs.

    When she reached the bottom she saw a weird sight in front of her and let out an evil grin, like a grave robber who just found a treasure!

    She saw a massive tiger-looking beastying down in the middle of the room, except only its bones remained. Even though there wasn''t a hint of Qi left in its bones, Mira understood that this beast was king. The skeleton was over 7 meters long and 4 meters tall and just its paws were almost half of Mira''s size.

    Mira had a feeling that if this beast were still alive, she would be nothing more than an ant in front of it. No, possibly even less than an ant. An ant might be able to survive if it idently got stepped on due to how small it is, but she would undoubtedly die if she got stepped on by such a creature.

    But this isn''t what made Mira so happy like she just found a wonderful treasure. What made her happy was the small ice mist that hovered above the massive tiger skeleton.

    It was mostly ice blue but contained a hint of red that almost looked like veins on the icy mist.

    "Is this what people call a lucky encounter? Myst significant true lucky encounter was probably the scythe inheritance I stumbled upon in my previous life. Even though this one isn''t quite as good, it''s exactly what I was hoping to find during my stay in this ice world. Are the heavens finally taking pity on me or is this perhaps a trap? When have I ever have such luck to actually find what I''ve been looking for? Ah, fuck it! Whatever, let''s just catch it and absorb it while I still can!" Mira thought to herself as she prepared to catch this Ice Elemental Essence!

 Chapter 188 Capturing The Ice Elemental Essence

    ira felt her body craving for the Ice Elemental Essence in front of her. She instinctually knew that if she were to absorb this, her battle prowess would increase by a vast amount.

    Luckily, it seemed the Ice Elemental Essence hasn''t noticed her yet or things might''ve already be troublesome. This is because Mira has been concealing her aura as much as possible while exploring the dungeon, the same goes for Maria and Cine.

    Various ns were racing through Mira''s mind at this moment as she tried toe up with the best n that will allow her to snatch and absorb this treasure.

    After a few seconds of thinking, Mira was able toe up with what she thinks is the best solution in order to capture this thing.

    She immediately created a barrier blocking the stairs that led up to the next floor. While this prevented the Ice Elemental Essence from escaping, it also blocked Maria and Cine from entering, but this wasn''t too much of a problem. They probably wouldn''t be of much use due to how cold it was in this room.

    The Ice Elemental Essence finally noticed someone has intruded into its space and started to panic. Even though it may seem like it''s alive, in truth and Elemental Essence only has a few thoughts; Grow old, Get Strong, Run away from everything, and asionally fight back if they feel threatened.

    Elemental Essences get stronger due to two reasons, age and the amount of their specific element that''s nearby. The older an Elemental Essence is, the stronger it''ll be and if an Elemental Essence, for example, this Ice Elemental Essence, is surrounded by an overabundant amount of rich and dense ice then its growth may elerate. Even with an abundance of that specific element, age is still the main factor as it takes a very long time for Elemental Essences to gain more power.

    Mira didn''t bother saying anything and just dashed in closer to the Ice Elemental Essence.

    But how could the Ice Elemental Essence just sit there and be captured by some random thief?

    The Elemental Essence dodged out of the way and started to flutter around the room like a scared baby cub.

    Mira, instead of needlessly chasing this annoying thing around, decided to try out how effective her Absolute Ice Dao would be after making a breakthrough in herprehension not too long ago.

    She focused on sensing the fluttering Ice Elemental Essence and it didn''t take her long until she was able to ''feel'' it.

    She let out a deep breath and unleashed the full might of her Absolute Ice Dao!

    The room they were in started to tremble and Mira felt like she descended upon this room not as a human, but as a deity.

    Then an iprehensible amount of data flooded her mind due to her connection with all of the ice in the surrounding area. She was able to feel every little thing all of the way up to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

    She could feel Maria and Cine standing on the ice right outside this room, she could feel the Ice Elemental Essence''s aura and even figured that she had to capability to contain it, the same goes for the rest of the ice in the surrounding area. She felt like she''s able to control the temperature to some degree. Although not as much as she''d like due to how strong the surrounding ice is.

    She felt like a sovereign who had absolute control over ice and even basic control over lightning and magma.<sub> </sub>

    Unknown to Mira, an ice crown was slowly nted on her head as if to recognize her as the ruler over ice. This crown had many slots on it and most were empty at the moment except for four. These slots contained an azure-me gem, lightning gem, an earth gem, and arge ice crystal in the center. One thing to note though is these gems only took up a minuscule portion of the slots.

    While the ice crystal probably took up around 1% of the slot, the other 3 gems didn''t even makeup 1% of their slots.

    Mira was unaware of this, but even if she was it wouldn''t have made much of a difference right now as there is nothing much she can do about it. The only thing she might be curious about is why there is a fire and earth gem rather than a magma gem, but that''s rather easy to figure out. Magma is a sub-element of fire and earthbined.

    But none of this mattered to Mira right now as all she cared about was snatching and absorbing this Ice Elemental Essence.

    All the while, her target felt so terrified that it dare not move.

    Mira looked at the now stationary Ice Elemental Essence and grinned. She raised her hand and beckoned the Ice Elemental Essence toe forth.

    The Elemental Ice Essence didn''t even get a chance to reject as it was forcefully pulled over to Mira andnded right in her hand.

    She inspected it a bit while somewhat admiring the Elemental Ice Essence. The icy mist had blood-red streaks going through it while emanating a somewhat malevolent aura.

    Normal people might be slightly frightened or apprehensive to absorb something vicious like this Ice Elemental Essence that seemed to be able to either grow stronger by absorbing others'' blood or maybe that''s just how it was born, but Mira weed it! Good and evil are subjective and the only thing that reigns true is strength! She''s killed an incalcble amount of people and if she had the ability to absorb their blood to get stronger, then she wouldn''t have hesitated to use such an ability!

    Mira turned toward the ice barrier she created and dissipated it.

    "I''ll be going into seclusion for a bit to absorb this Ice Elemental Essence. Guard me!" Mira order while tossing out her Qi Gathering Array and some Spirit Stones for them to cultivate.

    The two of them barely had any time toprehend what was happening, but after a few seconds, they understood that Mira found a great treasure in this room, an Ice Elemental Essence! Knowing that Mira can''t afford to wait for a better time to absorb it, the two of them decided to pick up the Qi Gathering Array to cultivate while Mira absorbs it.

    Meanwhile, Mira had already sat down and absorbed the Ice Elemental Essence into her body.

    Usually, an Elemental Essence would start rampaging around the body of the one that absorbed it, but Mira''s case was a bit special. It could barely do anything under the pressure of the Absolute Ice Dao and on top of that, Mira directed a portion of her killing intent at it as an extra measure.

    There was only one ending for the Ice Elemental Essence and that is to be used as a stepping stone for Mira''s rise in power!

 Chapter 189 Absorbing The Elemental Ice Essence And A Sudden Rise In Strength

    Once the Ice Elemental Essence entered Mira''s body, it went straight into her heart. While normally this would cause immense pain and in some cases internal injuries, Mira''s situation is a bit different.

    Not only was her Dao, the Absolute Ice Dao, but her physique and bloodline are also special.

    That being the case, the Ice Elemental Essence didn''t even have a chance to struggle, and neither would it have dared to.

    Mira also decided topletely absorb this Ice Elemental Essence as the benefits should be much more than just increasing herprehension of her Dao and slightly changing the nature of her ice.

    Soon, a blood-colored ice mist started flowing from Mira''s heart into her veins, meridians, and slowly her body.

    It didn''t take long for the bloody-ice tendrils to reach her dantian and soon a connection was formed with her dantian and the Ice Elemental Essence.

    Now the ice-vortex in her dantian had bloody-red streaks, but things weren''t over yet. Due to all of the vitality and Qi that the Ice Elemental Essence had umted by sucking the dead beasts dry, there was an overwhelming amount of Qi held within these blood-red streaks.

    This Qi was washing over Mira''s body like a tidal wave as she had to put her entire mind into condensing this overwhelming Qi.

    Every time Mira condensed some Qi, more would instantly take its ce and it seemed like this wouldn''t stop anytime soon.

    From an outsider''s point of view, Mira''s body was constantly expanding and deting due to her body constantly filling up with an overwhelming amount of Qi.

    Fortunately, or unfortunately, Maria and Cine were also cultivating and didn''t notice what was happening to Mira. This was because Mira wasn''t sucking in any of the surrounding Qi as the Ice Elemental Essence had more than enough for her.

    Soon, Mira broke through to the Mid-Xiantian Stage and she was already getting exhausted due to pushing her mind and body to condense all of that Qi, but it didn''t stop there as she was only able to take in about 30-40% of the Qi held within the blood-red streaks.

    As soon as she broke through, her body that only held a small amount of highly condensed Qi has instantly filled up again as her body started to inte.

    Mira was once again forced to start condensing it or her body may explode. Luckily, her body was already extremely tough due to cultivating the Magma Dragon Body, or else she definitely would''ve died if she tried to absorb this Ice Elemental Essence without it.

    After an unknown amount of time, Mira''s body expanded once again before it soon deted. The only difference this time is the overwhelming power that radiated from Mira''s bodypared to the other times.

    She was able to break straight through into the Late-Xiantian Stage with the help of the Ice Elemental Essence, which Mira decided to name the Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence.

    During this time, although she was able to break through into the Late-Xiantian Stage, not all of it was due to the Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence, she also had the help of one of her Mid-Grade Spirit Stone which helped a lot. Though she did end up using about half of it in order to break through.

    Now that has finishedpletely absorbing and integrating the Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence into her body, she decided to do a bit of introspecting.

    The first ce she looked at was her heart, where she saw a small ice crystal with blood-red veins on it floating in the middle of her heart.

    The next ce she checked out was her dantian, which looked slightly different than before. The blizzard vortex was much denser than before and was holding strong as the soon-to-be origin point for her Qi whenever she reached the Core Formation Realm.

    Mira then looked over her body to make sure everything was fine, to which she found out that everything was not only fine but much stronger than before due to her breakthroughs.

    The only problem that Mira felt was that her Qi was catching up to her body''s strength, but this wasn''t too much of a problem as she should be able to breakthrough into the Peak-Xiantian Stage and maybe even the Core Formation Realm with her current physical strength.<sub> </sub>

    Also, if she just waits for her body to adjust to its newly found strength, she''ll easily be able to break through those two stages with no issues at all.

    Next, Mira decided to check out her scythe which was currently sitting in her soul. She quickly noticed that its sharpness, durability, toughness, and even its affinity with ice were raised by another level. The Abyssal Sea Scythe was now a Mid-Earth Grade weapon, but Mira guessed that she wouldn''t see her weapon upgrade again until she reached the Core Formation Realm, but even with that she was still extremely satisfied with the results.

    A Mid-Earth Grade weapon was already a weapon that a Stage 4-6 Core Formation Realm Expert would use. Not only that, but since the Abyssal Sea Scythe is a Spiritual Weapon, it''s alreadyparable to Late or even some Peak-Earth Grade weapons.

    Thest benefit that Mira felt was her increasedprehension in her Absolute Ice Dao, although not as much as she would''ve liked. Nheless, she can''t be greedy and was already more than satisfied with the results.

    Mira opened her eyes after feeling satisfied with the results and soon made a small ice crystal appear in front of her. This ice crystal was simr, but a bit different than before. It was sharper, tougher, denser, but the main difference is there were now small red veins in the ice crystal. This is a characteristic of the Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence, which made Mira fairly excited.

    She wondered if she''d be able to increase her cultivation by killing things and sucking their blood, but Mira also figured that it probably wouldn''t be so easy.

    She''ll have to do a bit of testing, but just she already instinctually knew some of the limitations due to fully absorbing the Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence into her body.

    One, it wasn''t very efficient to absorb blood and refine the Qi held within it; two, the entity that she''s absorbing blood from needs a certain quality of blood and Qi in their body in order for her to refine it which only gets more limited the stronger she gets.

    This rules out the idea of just going to a bunch of viges and low-level towns and massacring everyone in order to increase her cultivation as the disadvantage outweigh the advantages.

    Mira also guessed that using it on low ranking beasts and Qi Condensation Realm humans is essentially useless as their blood won''t hold much Qi if any and the quality of beast blood is rtively low as well.

    This still needs to be experimented on though as it should work rtively well on Rank 4 beasts and higher as well as humans at the Foundation Realm and higher.

    Feeling satisfied and even somewhat excited about testing out her new ability, Mira stood up and walked over to Maria and Cine, who were quietly cultivating.

    The two of them sensed someone walking over and knew that it was Mira, so they both stopped cultivating and looked over towards her.

    "Are you finally done?" Maria asked while Mira nodded.

    "Good! We can finally leave this ce! We''ve had to sit here for nearly 10 days you know?! How are you going to repa-WHAT?! Late-Xiantian?! HOW?!" Maria yelled, flustered by Mira''s rise in strength.

    Cine also widened her eyes but wasn''t quite as shocked as Mira. asionally she''d pay attention to Mira during thesest ten days as asionally she''d sense a dense and oppressive Qiing from Mira so she assumed that something good must''ve happened. But still, it was quite shocking to see Mira''s sudden rise in strength.

    "The Ice Elemental Essence helped quite a bit as it seemed to be holding a reasonable amount of Qi that was just waiting to be absorbed by me, hehe," Mira said as she gave them an evil grin.

    "Let''s spar. I''d like to see how much stronger I got."

    "No thanks!!" They both yelled and started to run away.

    Mira''s evil grin got wider as she collected the Qi Gathering Array and leftover Spirit Stones before dashing after them.

 Chapter 190 Improvements

    In a dungeon covered in ice, there was godly beauty sitting on an ice throne looking down at two women with an impassive expression on her face.

    "Too weak! I even suppressed my strength to your level! Did you two be retarded in the short while we''ve been in this world?!" The girl on the ice throne, Mira, was yelling at Maria and Cine while they were bothying on the ground in pain.

    "How can you say such a thing with a straight face!? You''re just too overpowered! It''s not like we''ve ever beaten you before so how do you expect us to win now that the power gap has grown?! Shameless!" Mariained as she started to heal her body.

    "Maria''s right!! Why''d you even force us to spar with you in the first ce? Did you just feel like bullying us now that you are so much stronger than us?! Also, why''d you have to use that ridiculous that new ice power on me? I felt like I might die from blood loss!" Cine yelled with an extremely pale face and also looked a bit skinnier as well.

    "Do you see any other beasts or cultivators around for me to use as test subjects? No! Just count yourself lucky that I didn''t identally kill you. Now stopining about your loss and heal up already!" Mira ordered and then ignored the two of them as she thought about her previous sparring session.

    She can confirm that her power has increased by several times and that''s only regarding how strong her body isbined with her cultivation realm and her Magma Dragon Body. Her ice powers are not evenparable to what they were before she entered this world. In fact, that might be her strongest asset right now even more than her physical body.

    Through sparring with Maria and Cine over thest few hours, she can confidently say that she can probably fight an ordinary Stage 4-6 Core Formation Realm Expert. Though it is a bit hard to tell because both Cine and Maria are also not too far behind her. They are probablyparable to Stage 2-3 Core Formation Realm experts.

    Mira''s never actually fought with someone in the Core Formation Realm so she can''t say for sure how strong she is, but at the very least she is invincible in the Foundation Realm. It''d actually be a miracle if a Foundation Realm cultivator could even hurt her at this point especially if she covers herself in a set of ice armor.

    Another thing Mira noticed is how fucking strong her scythe is! Not only does the thing weigh as much as a mountain due to the increase in grade, but its sharpness is iparable to what it was before. Mira also found it incredibly easy to channel her ice element through it which is a huge plus.

    Sometimes Mira can''t help but think that her weapon is actually a club instead of a scythe as she has a constant urge to just explode her enemy''s heads with the blunt end of the weapon.

    This turned out to be a bit of a problem during her spar with Cine and Maria because she all of a sudden got the urge to smash their brains in. Due to this urge, Mira stopped using her scythe and entered hand-to-handbat instead, much to herpanion''s dismay.

    Mira also found her thirst for blood has increased after absorbing the Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence. Even though that may be the case, Mira isn''t bothered by it because she''s already walked down the path of ughter.

    After testing this new Elemental Essence on Cine she started to piece together some of the limits, at least from what she gathered. One, she can indeed use other''s blood to increase her cultivation, but the efficiency is quite bad not to mention that blood doesn''t hold that much Qi even for cultivators in the Foundation Realm. The conversion ratio is around 10-20% in Mira''s opinion which is actually quite good, but the real limitationes after absorbing the blood.

    The Qi that she absorbs from the blood is filled with impurities and takes longer to digest and condense than atmospheric Qi and Spirit Stones. Not only that, but if Mira were to absorb too much at a time it may affect her cultivation causing it to turn chaotic. It may even affect her foundation and slow down or even halt her progress to higher realms altogether, but this is just a worst-case scenario.

    This didn''t cause Mira to worry though, on the contrary, this news made Mira somewhat happy. If she is just careful with the intake and takes her time to digest everything, this will only be beneficial for her.<sub> </sub>

    Mira also thought about the first Ice Elemental Essence that she received as a reward forpleting the trial and from what she understood is that the two of them merged together into one, which Mira was somewhat expecting to happen. She initially nned on trying to nurture the Lunar Ice Elemental Essence but figured that she might as well let the Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence absorb it.

    Although it didn''t increase her power by much, she can feel her control over ice is slightly better while the moon is out and in this world, the moon is always out.

    After Mira finished gathering her thoughts she decided to cultivate until Maria and Cine finish healing.

    After a few hours, the three of them are ready to go.

    "Well, what do you want to do now? Mira''s cultivation has increased by three whole stages after she entered this ce and I''m itching to go to a ce filled with light to look for my own lucky encounters, but I know this is still a great opportunity for Mira and there may be even more treasures. Who knows, maybe she''ll be able to enter the Core Formation Realm before we leave this ce for the next world." Cine said as the three of them started to make their way out of the dungeon.

    "Although I am jealous that Mira was able to increase her cultivation by so much in such a short amount of time and I want nothing more than to surpass her so I can finally give her a good beating, I think we should stay in this world a bit longer. Also, it''s not like we won''t find our own opportunities either, it''s just his ce is much more suited for Mira due to her elemental affinity and physique." Maria suggested.

    "You two can do whatever you''d like, I will be exploring this icy world a bit more. Although I can feel danger looming over us this ce is just too good of an opportunity for me to pass up." Mira said with an expressionless face. She couldn''t care less if the two of them stayed with her or not as there are advantages and disadvantages to both.

    "Don''t worry, Mira! How can I leave your side? We''ve been together for so long and I know you''d get lonely without me here! I can''t possibly leave my dear Mira alone now can I?  Hehe." Maria eximed which caused Mira to frown.

    "I won''t be leaving you either, not after everything we''ve been through together," Cine said.

    Mira just nodded and didn''t say anything else. Deep down she also didn''t want the two of them to leave and if she''s beingpletely honest she''d feel betrayed if they did decide to leave to the next world by themselves.

    The three of them kept talking as they made their way out of the dungeon and it didn''t take much longer for them to reach the entrance.

    *ROAR*

    All of a sudden a massive roar and the only thing they saw was a white blur rushing towards them.

 Chapter 191 Life-And-Death Battle

    Unfortunately, Cine hasn''t received as much of Mira''s ''special treatment'' as Maria has, so she was a tadte in reacting to the white blue. Instead of being struck directly in the chest, the beast only hit her left leg.

    *Crack*

    Cine could feel her bones breaking as her body somersaulted through the air.

    *BOOM*

    Her body mmed into one of the walls of the canyon and immediately knocked her unconscious.

    "Cine!!" Maria yelled as she just watched her friend nearly die. In fact, she would be nothing more than a clump of meat right now if not for the Magma Dragon Body she cultivated a few months back.

    Maria was just about to run over to Cine when��

    "Get your head out of your ass! If she''s dead then there''s nothing we can do about it and even if she isn''t we still have this shithead to deal with! I don''t remember teaching such a weakling!" Mira yelled as she readied her scythe.

    She didn''t even spare Cine a nce which started to cause Maria''s blood to boil seeing Mira''s indifferent face. She couldn''t even see any change in her expression which caused someplicated feelings to enter her heart.

    "But��"

    She didn''t even have time to say another word as the white blur, or now that they can see what it looks like, some sort of White-Ice Tiger charged at her next.

    She didn''t even have time to defend herself and she could feel death staring at her right in the eyes. This is one of the first times she''s felt like this where she feels so helpless. She''s unsure if her friend is dead or alive, Mira doesn''t seem to care at all, and now she''s about to die herself.

    Just as she was about to resign herself to her fate, a scythe entered her view that threatened to chop off the Tiger''s head.

    "Mira-"

    *BAM*

    Mira kicked Maria in the stomach which sent her flying then turned back towards the beast.

    "Since you''re so fucking useless then get out of the way! I have no intention of dying here today so you either wake up and help or stay out of it! See if I don''t beat your ass after we survive this ordeal!" Mira yelled and charged at the Tiger.

    *ROAR*

    The Tiger felt somewhat offended that this puny human decided to challenge it and darted towards her at supersonic speeds.

    Maria was dazed for a second before she eventually looked up and started to get a better look at the situation.

    Mira was fighting head-on with the Tiger, which seemed to be a Mid-Stage Rank 6 Magical Beast, which equates to the cultivation of around Stage 5 Core Formation. Only, this beast is obviously a bit stronger than what its actual cultivation is and its actualbat prowess is probably close to the Late-Stage Rank 6 or somewhere around the Stage 8 Core Formation Realm, plus or minus a stage or two.

    Then she looked over towards Cine, who looked like a ragdoll,ying on the ground. However, if she looked close enough she can see a faint rise and fall of her chest indicating that she''s alive.

    She sighed in relief and looked towards Mira''s fight. She could tell that Mira was far more skilled in actualbat than the Tiger, but the difference in strength between the two is hindering her quite a bit.

    For the most part, Mira is keeping her distance while using any ice attacks that she knows. Her Ice Domain hase out at full force and is much stronger than it was before.

    Every time the Tiger gets close to the domain, things don''t exactly end up well for him. The shards of ice flying around along with her Yin Magma start shredding it to pieces. Also, every time it loses a bit of blood Mira''s Ice Elemental Essence starts to suck as much of it out of the Tiger as it can.

    Sometimes, the Tiger will charge at her with full force, but Mira will simply just keep backing up and whenever the Tiger does end up getting close she uses her scythe to attempt chopping off its head.<sub> </sub>

    Nevertheless, Mira''s condition also doesn''t seem to be that amazing. Although it''s hard for Maria to tell at this distance, she can see arge gash on the side of Mira''s stomach, a dislocated shoulder which Mira just popped back into ce, problem a few broken ribs, and most likely a few broken bones in her arms and/or legs as well.

    Maria gave onest look at Cine before firmly grasping onto her sword and pushing her Light Dao to the max.

    The Tiger wasn''t expecting the other ant to charge at its nk and started to be enraged.

    Mira let out an evil grin which caused Maria and even the Tiger to shiver.

    She cancelled her ice domain, stepped away from the fight, and crossed her arms.

    "Why?!" Maria noticed this and immediately understood Mira''s intentions.

    "This is your punishment for beingpletely useless and causing all of my training to go to waste! How about this? You have 10 minutes, if you can''t kill it in this timeframe or if you make me intervene, then I''m leaving you and Cine behind while going on my own. But if you can kill it within the timeframe, I''ll give you a reward after we leave this Secret Realm. Hmmm�� I''ll even let you decide what you want." Mira said to Maria causing thetter to feel wronged.

    Just because she cared about her friend and hesitated for a split second she now has to go through a solo life-and-death battle with this Mid-Stage Rank 6 White-Ice Tiger. She was unsure if even she and Mira can kill it let alone herself!

    However, seeing Mira''s pissed expression along with all of her cursing is enough to make her understand that she is clearly very displeased with how she handled the situation just now.

    "Fine! But you better give me an exnation about all of this after I kill this bastard!" Maria cursed at Mira and decided to go all-out from the start.

    The muscles in her arms and legs flexed to the max, light wings appeared on her back, she used her Light Sword to extend her reach a bit as well as using her Triple Draws Sword Art.

    The Tiger roared at her and ice particles started to condense around its body. It had a hard time using any of its ice abilities while fighting Mira due to her Absolute Ice Dao, but Maria clearly doesn''t have such an ability.

    Right as the two of them got close to each other, the White-Ice Tiger aimed for her heart, but Maria dodged and surprisingly she didn''t swing her sword yet. Right before the Tiger lunged at her, she took out a spare sword with her free arm and stabbed it into the side of the Tiger''s head.

    <o>,m The sword was unable to pierce through the tiger''s head, which was rather obvious considering the sword wasn''t even Earth-Grade and the extrayer of protection around its body. But the sword was able to stagger the Tiger for a second which was all of the time she needed.</o>

    Mira''s other sword came crashing down onto the Tiger''s neck at full force, nearly decapitating it. Unfortunately, Maria doesn''t have the strength topletely decapitate, but this was a full-power attack that used up over half of her Qi while pushing her muscles to the max.

    The battle between the two was over as soon as it started, which wasn''t that surprising to Mira, but Maria seemed quite surprised by the results. She looked down at the now-dead Tiger and couldn''t help butment.

    "How�� did I kill it so fast?"

    "There are several reasons why you were able to kill it so fast. First, it clearly underestimated you. This Tiger seems to have a lot of useless pride in itself which immediately gave you an advantage. Second, it seemed like it wasn''t used tobat or at least it hasn''t fought anything in a while. Third, it was already somewhat injured by me which dropped its power by probably around 10-20%. Fourth, you are much stronger than you think you are with your physical body, in fact, I bet you are probably much stronger with your physical bodypared to your Qi and Dao. Also, that''s just how life-and-death battles are. They can be over in an instant. There are more reasons, but I don''t think I need to keep going, do I?" Mira exined.

    "I see, but howe you didn''t kill it before I coulde help?" Maria asked.

    Mira just looked at her but didn''t answer.

    "Ugh! I know, it''s because you were already put in a disadvantageous position while saving me. Not only that, but you probably saved it just for me as well!" Maria pouted, clearly unhappy with the results.

    Mira nodded.

    "Correct! But also, that thing is quite the pain in the ass to deal with due to its speed. That''s not my specialty so it was really annoying to deal with. I also had quite a few abilities I wanted to test out as well, which I was able to."

    "That makes sense. Ah! Cine!" Maria got up and ran over to Cine. She immediately shoved a Healing Pill into her mouth and started to help her digest it.

    Mira looked over and just shook her head then started sucking the blood out of the White-Ice Tiger with her Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence. This is what she really wanted to test and this just happened to be the perfect test subject.

 Chapter 192 Testing And Healing Celaine

    After Mira was done absorbing all of the Tiger''s blood, she felt the blood-infused Qi flowing through her body. She let it roam around her body in order to exam it a bit more.

    Then she tried separating the blood from the Qi while adding thetter to her cultivation. After she was done separating a bit of blood and Qi, she now had a bit of excess blood which she was a bit unsure what to do with.

    Can she use it to help heal her injuries? Will her blood and this magical beast''s blood conflict with each other? Will the blood add impurities to her body? Can she just force the excess blood to leave her body? If so, how? Also, if she can expel it from her body, can she send it into other people''s bodies?

    She had too many things to try and understand, but luckily this was a perfect situation to test out these things.

    First, she tried using the excess blood to help heal her or at least try and make up for any lost blood.

    She sent the blood into her bloodstream and saw it seamlessly integrate into the rest of her blood.

    Mira also noticed that all it did was help replenish some of her lost blood while also helping to heal some of her injuries. It''s not like she was gaining the bloodline of the White-Ice Tiger, it''s just that the blood in the blood-infused Qi she absorbedcked the properties they once held inside the Tiger, causing it to seamlessly integrate into her own blood.

    The only downside is that Mira''s vitality is too high for this to be super effective and she''ll most likely have to absorb much more blood and spend a bit of time separating the Qi from the blood in order to show significant results.

    One important thing to note though is that the Qi she absorbed didn''t immediately integrate into the Qi already refined and condensed in her body. It had a simr effect to that of water and oil and would most likely need some time to consolidate. Either that or she would have to spend some time on her own to help speed up the process a bit.

    Thest thing she noticed was that although doing this caused impurities to build up in her body, with her Magma Dragon Body, Extreme Overlord Yin Physique, and Bloodline this effect was minimal at best. Rather, she''d probably gain more impurities by absorbing pills.

    Mira went ahead and separated the Qi and blood from the rest that she absorbed from the Tiger then walked over to Cine. She now wanted to test out if she could send this blood into other people.

    Maria was busy trying to deal with her injuries and didn''t have the time to notice Mira approaching.

    Mira didn''t say anything and just kneeled down beside Maria and put her hand against Cine''s chest.

    "What are you doing?" Maria asked doubtfully with a hint of anger. She still didn''t like how indifferently Mira treated this whole situation. She could also see that Mira wasn''t looking at Cine with concern, but more like a test subject. This only increased Maria''s anger, which was slowly rising.

    "Testing something out," Mira said indifferently then ignored Maria and put her attention on Cine.

    She could sense several Healing Pills and even some Blood Restoration Pills that were currently in her body, but her injuries were pretty bad. Not to mention she was unconscious and Maria was forced to try and control this energy to efficiently heal her body.

    Most of her bones were broken or fractured, there was plenty of internal and external bleeding, her Qi was in somewhat disarray, and she was pretty much on the brink of death.

    She was lucky to be alive right now and the only thing that saved her life was the dress she was wearing, which was actually a Low-Earth Grade piece of clothing that was given to her by Coralia the mermaid. It was part of the apology gift that was given to Mira''s group. If not for this, Cine would be nothing more than roadkill right now.

    Mira began taking out the excess blood she had removed which was a rather slow and somewhat painful process and then she forcefully shoved it into Cine''s body.

    The blood started to integrate into her bloodstream which seemed to be greedily absorbing it as if its life depended on it.

    Mira could see Cine''s injuries starting to heal at a rapid pace due to the overflowing amount of blood and vitality now in her body. Her external wounds were also starting to close up as well to stop the leakage of blood which was a good sign.

    All that''s left is for all of her fractured and broken bones along with the rest of her internal injuries to heal.

    One thing that also helped Cine heal much faster than it should have was the bloodline that she gained from the Trial. Cine actually had a rare Sylph bloodline. This helped to increase her Vitality while also increasing herprehension of her Wind Dao. Sylphs are known as Wind Spirits so obviously, their bloodline would hold these properties.

    Seeing Cine''splexion getting better, Maria sighed in relief then looked at Mira with aplicated gaze. She wasn''t really sure what to think about Mira right now. They''ve known each other for over a decade and she knows that Mira only cares about one thing: Strength.<sub> </sub>

    She couldn''t care less about someone''s feelings, problems, future, past, or anything regarding inter-personal rtionships. If you get in her way, she''ll cut you down or die trying. She''s cold and aloof most of the time unless someone makes her angry, which is quite hard to do and whenever that happens she''s worse than any devil.

    Mira''s a terrible, awful, selfish, self-centered, narcissistic, and cold person. There are only a few good traits about her, one is her resolve and the other is herbat prowess.

    Maria''s always known this, but�� but she can''t help but feel sad and disappointed about how Mira treated Cine like an extra that didn''t matter. They''ve known each other for years and she''s even put in a decent amount of effort to train her, but she didn''t even blink when Cine nearly died. She can''t help but feel that Mira doesn''t actually care about Cine and merely finds her ''somewhat useful''.

    ''Does Mira also think of me like that? We''ve known each other for so long and I''ve even spent almost half of my life with her but I still don''t know if she actually cares about me. What if that was me that nearly died? Would she get angry? Would she do her best in order to save me? If I actually died would she even get sad?'' Maria had these thoughts entering her mind as she nkly stared at Mira.

    "Don''t think too much about it, Maria. If you really want to know, yes, I don''t hold any feelings towards Cine other than her being apanion that''s following us on this journey. Sure, I''ve helped to train her a bit, but she''s still far away from the level of strength that I''m looking for. Although I do hold a somewhat favorable impression towards her and look forward to her future achievements as she''s a genius with the saber, that''s it as of right now. Until she reaches a level of strength I''m satisfied with will I start to hold her in high regards." Mira said and took a short pause before continuing.

    "I doubt you''ll understand my position, but I want you to realize that I''ve lived many lives and have seen most of my friends throughout these lives die, some even by my hand. Cine might be trustworthy, but she''s too weak to freely live in this world! So what if she''s trustworthy?! So what if I''ve known her for several years and even helped with her training?! It makes no difference if she''s dead! I can''t go around guarding her 24/7 either or else even if she bes strong, she''ll be weak in almost every other area! Not to mention I also have to get stronger!"

    "I''ve trained a lot of people over thest few years, do you expect me to watch over and protect them like some sort of mother?! NO! Of course, you don''t! Sure, Cine is ourpanion right now and it''s great that you became friends with her, but I''m not here to protect her. I''m here to get stronger! She and even you need to go through life-and-death experiences in order to get stronger. If you do, when you be a true powerhouse, you will be a frightening existence!"

    "How do you think I got so good at fighting? By frolicking through the flowers? Lazing around while having someone else protect me? No. I became like this through thousands, tens of thousands, or maybe even more battles! Cine will never get stronger if she doesn''t go through these experiences. You should already know this." Mira finished talking and let Maria soak it all in.

    ''Strike while the iron''s hot'' is what Mira''s doing right now. She knew that Maria is in a vulnerable state right now and nned to take advantage of that.

    Maria started to tear up after hearing that as she found it extremely cold and unfeeling yet she couldn''t refute it. It''s true that she hasn''t experienced what Mira has and neither does she know what she''s gone through. All she knows is that Mira has had an incredibly rough time that still shows no signs of holding up.

    It''s just hearing these things only made her heart feel worse. She started to feel that she was only an eyesore in Mira''s mind and this feeling only started to increase the more she listened to Mira.

    "But�� what about me? What if I was the one who nearly died? Would you even feel anything?! Would you even be sad if I did die?! Am I really that insignificant in your eyes that even after all of this time you still don''t care about me?!?!" Maria started to cry and even began to try to run away and hide.

    Mira was slightly confused at first because she thought this issue had to do with how she treated Cine, but who would''ve thought that this was actually about Maria?

    Mira didn''t really know what to do or say at this point as obviously, she holds Maria in high regard. Her life has been much more colorful ever since she entered her life, but she''s had a wall put up for so long and she''s tired of watching friends die because of her whether it be directly or indirectly.

    That''s why she wants Maria to get stronger so that she can protect herself and safely live and follow her. If Maria was at the peak of the mortal realm while being one of the strongest cultivators below immortals then she wouldn''t have a problem epting her as a friend. The likelihood of her dying at that point is much lower than a Foundation Realm ant.

    But it seems she has to rearrange her thoughts a bit if she wants Maria to stay around for the long road. Mira''s sure that she won''t find a better friend other than Maria in the future, but also can''t find it in her to open up to her.

    This is one of the first times in a long time that Mira has hesitated and doesn''t know what action to take. Should she let her go? Should she confront her right now? What would she do after? What if Maria doesn''t want to follow her anymore?

    After several scenarios yed through her mind, Mira decided to try something that she hasn''t done in many lifetimes.

    She soon appeared in front of the crying Maria that was running away.

    "What are you doing? Go awa-"

    Maria was about to dart off again but was interrupted when Mira suddenly embraced her in a hug. She then heard Mira whisper into her ear��

    "I''m the only one that''s allowed to kill you..."

    Although it was quite possibly the worst thing to say right now in order tofort Maria, she couldn''t help herself but start crying in Mira''s embrace yet this time they were out of happiness and relief.

 Chapter 193 Resolution And Talks Of The Future

    Mira and Maria stayed like this for some time before eventually, Mariaposed herself. The only thing she''s wanted all this time was to be friends with Mira, or at the very least cause some wave in Mira''s heart.

    It seemed like all of the trials she''s gone through up until now haven''t been for not.

    ''It seems she finally sees me as something more than a corpse in the waiting, hehe.'' Maria joked to herself.

    "Let''s go back to where Cine is and find a ce that isn''t quite so open. It''ll be troublesome if we run into another surprise attack while trying to protect her." Mira suggested and let of Maria.

    Maria just nodded her head and followed after her.

    It didn''t take long for them to reach the still unconscious Cine. They went ahead and dragged her back into the dungeon as that is probably the safest ce around here that is immediately essible.

    Mira wanted to start cultivating while waiting for Cine''s injuries to heal, but it seems Maria had other ideas.

    "Sorry for acting like that earlier. I know it was childish of me, but I just want you to show some sort of care towards me. I mean, I''ve done my best to apany you over the years and you still haven''t shown any semnce of friendship or even acquaintances towards me. You''re right in that I don''t understand why you won''t allow yourself to connect with me, but I just want you to give me a chance!" Maria apologized and bowed towards Mira.

    Mira just nced towards Mira and nodded. After a moment of silence, she finally started to speak.

    "It''s fine. I actually expected this to happen much sooner considering your personality, but it seems that you somewhat exceeded my expectations. Just remember that being these trials you are going through is just the price you have to pay for my friendship. This is just the beginning as well. At some point, you will have to go out into the world by yourself to temper yourself and find your own path. The only thing I can teach is how to fight. I can''t teach you how to use your Dao, the sword, alchemy, or really anything else. We might be separated for tens or maybe even hundreds of years, but if you can survive these trials by fire then I will reciprocate your feelings with utmost respect and sincerity." Mira said seriously.

    Maria was a bit sad to hear that one day they will have to split, but when she gave it another thought she understood why. Her growth is rather limited staying with Mira. Sure, she might be able to temper a great battle sense, but ultimately that''s all Mira has to offer in terms of skill.

    Mira can teach her a thousand different ways to kill a person, but will that help when she is concocting pills? Can her hand-to-handbat sessions teach her how to properly wield a sword? Mira doesn''t even use the same element as her so that''s also out of the question.

    That''s not to say that Mira''s teaching is useless, far from it. What Mira is teaching her is the ability to survive, how to make split-second decisions, showing her the harshness of the world, and how to know when to be merciless. This knowledge may be more useful than any sword techniques, pill recipes, or Daoprehension as that''s all useless if she ends up dead!

    "I understand. And about going our separate ways�� when do you think that''ll happen?" Maria asked in a soft voice.

    "Whenever I feel you are ready. Right now your mentality and strength are too weak. You almost got yourself severely injured or killed just because yourpanion almost died. You need to be able to keep a level head at all times or you might as justmit suicide right now��" Mira paused after saying that.

    "...I n to send you out on your own after you hit the Core Formation Realm as you should have the strength necessary to survive then. Also, unless some unforeseen circumstances happen while we are in this Secret Realm, we will not be separating. This ce is way too dangerous, even for me. Also, we are heading towards the same areas anyway so it doesn''t make sense for us to split up now." Mira exined and then began cultivating without waiting for Maria to answer.<sub> </sub>

    Maria didn''t know what to think of all that, but right now she was just happy that Mira had no ns of splitting up with Maria anytime soon. As for them splitting after she reaches the Core Formation Realm and they leave the Secret Realm�� well, we''ll just have to wait and see!

    ***

    A few weeks went by and Cine''s injuries were just about fully healed and returned to her peak.

    It took her a few days to wake up after falling unconscious. Needless to say, she was scared shitless after Maria exined to her what happened. She soon came to the realization that she is lucky to be alive, or more like it''s nothing short of a miracle that she actually lived.

    This was one of Cine''s first times ever experiencing something this traumatic, but she didn''t let this get her down. On the contrary, this experience caused her determination to get stronger to soar.

    She will use this situation as a reference so nothing like this ever happens again. The most frightening thing to her is to die without even knowing how. She didn''t even have time to dodge and just a casual body m nearly killed her.

    Cine spent the next few weeks using every ounce of energy to tend to her wounds and bring her back to her peak.

    Mira was happily surprised to see that this experience didn''t cause Cine any bacsh or heart demon. How is she supposed to use her as a practice dummy if she bes useless?

    After Cine returned to her peak, the three of them decided to leave this dungeon and head out to explore some more. Although they don''t necessarily have a destination, there is a ton of unexplored or uninhabited ces in this Icy World that are just begging Mira to loot them.

    But they weren''t even able to take two steps out of the dungeon entrance before a terrifying aura filled the sky and a ck shadow came diving down towards them.

    "For fucks sake, didn''t this same situation happen already? Couldn''t you have greeted us in the dungeon? Why must you make a scene just like that shitty Tiger did a few weeks ago." Mira muttered under her breath while Cine and Maria nodded vigorously.

    If these beasts wanted them dead so bad, why can''t they just go ahead and kill them? Why all of the trouble?

    The only difference this time is that whatever was greeting them now was on apletely different level than that Tiger they ran into a few weeks ago. Even if they had another 20 of them it wouldn''t matter. They even doubted if they would be able to leave a scratch on whatever wasing down to ''wee'' them.

    It was only a few secondster when a massive bird covered in icy feathers and radiating frost mesnded in front of them with a *BANG*.

    "Greetings humans."

 Chapter 194 Frost-Fire Phoenix, Elenei

    "Greetings humans."

    Mira, Maria, and Cine heard a majestic female voice go straight into their minds which startled them and caused them to feel somewhat ufortable. The three of them haven''t experienced anything like that because even Kayda, the Immortal Magma Dragon, and Asherah, the Mermaid Queen never used such ability even if they could.

    Mira finally understood why she felt danger looming over her. The being in front of her was the cause for such a reaction. Maria and Cine also came to the same conclusion as they knew that fighting such a being would be worthless.

    "Greetings. My name is Mira and the two beside me are Maria and Cine. Might I ask for what reason you have sought us out, or more likely me out? I can only think of a handful of reasons why someone at your strength would seek out a couple of Foundation Realm children." Mira cooly said while taking the lead. There was no reason to be so cold and distant since she can''t sense any killing intent, but that doesn''t mean she''ll just simply roll over like an obedient dog.

    On the other side, the Frost-Fire Phoenix was somewhat surprised at the tone this lowly human spoke to her in and this interested her. She knew that this human wasn''t as simple as she seemed. Not only was she crazy strong for her Realm, but also had a cold and domineering personality, simr to herself.

    "It seems you are smarter than the other humans that I''ve met. Let me introduce myself. My name is Elenei and I''m a Frost-Fire Phoenix. My father was a Fire Dragon and my mother was an Ice Phoenix. Phoenix''s can only give birth to females so I ended up taking both attributes from my parents causing me to be an extremely rare Phoenix variant. I havee here to discuss something with you, Mira." Elenei introduced herself to Mira and the others, but this greatly shocked the three of them.

    Even Mira could barely hold her shock. She suspected that this beast was some type of Ice Phoenix, but she didn''t think that it was actually something much rarer! She''s never even heard of a Frost-Fire Phoenix and just assumed that this giant bird probably had some Phoenix blood in it, but wasn''t a full-fledged Phoenix.

    While Maria and Cine were still gathering their thoughts, Mira had calmed herself down enough to start having a conversation with it.

    "First, let''s discuss what exactly you want from me. Let me be clear, even if you were to kill all three of us and loot everything we have, you would find nothing that would be of use to you. But I assume you didn''te for that. If I were to guess it''s either because of my Dao or my Physique and/or bloodline. Is that correct?" Mira said calmly while talking to such a legendary creature that probably doesn''t even exist in legends!

    "You are correct, but slightly off. I came because of all three of those factors, not just one of them. Well, there is also another reason, but I was only able to determine this after meeting with you face-to-face; your personality. Needless to say, you have exceeded my expectations!" Elenei said indifferently with a hint of satisfaction.

    Mira didn''t say anything and waited for her to continue speaking.

    "First, let me give you a bit of background so you understand my situation. Don''t worry, I''ll try to keep it brief so we can get back to our discussion. So, you already know that I''m a Frost-Fire Phoenix born from a Dragon and a Phoenix, but you don''t what implications this brings. You should be aware of how dominant a bloodline from either a Dragon or Phoenix is and normally this wouldn''t be much of a problem in normal circumstances. Dragons and Phoenix marry or procreate with one another all of the time as they are able to produce strong children and the Phoenix race are all women so they are forced to mate with others outside of their species."

    "Both the Dragon Race and Phoenix Race are primarily of the Yang element, especially the Phoenix race. Rare variants are asionally born, but the chances of that happening are extremely rare and only happen under certain extreme conditions along with a lot of luck."

    "Normally when a Dragon and a Phoenix have a child together, either a female dragon with some Phoenix blood is born or a female Phoenix is born with some Dragon blood. Usually, whichever parent has the highest cultivation will determine which bloodline is more dominant and if they are the same, then it will most likely be born as a Dragon with Phoenix blood."

    "Now, onto why my situation is a bit moreplicated. So, I told you that my Mother is an Ice Phoenix which is already extremely rare, probably one of the rarest creatures in the universe. Naturally, my mother''s bloodline is extremely strong and dominant. When my mother gave birth to me with a Fire Dragon, a problem urred when I was born. I gained both the innate bloodline properties from both of my parents, Ice and Fire, which was all well and good, but these two elements wouldn''t submit and merge together due to the qualities of both bloodlines that I gained. Instead, the two elements(bloodlines) are constantly fighting for supremacy causing my cultivation to stagnate."

    "Due to this, I was born only as a Rank 2 Frost-Fire Phoenix, when I should''ve been born as either a Rank 9 or 10 Phoenix or even an Immortal Frost-Fire Phoenix due to my parent''s cultivation. Needless to say, both of my parents were shocked to find out how weak I was and searched for anything that could help. The only problem is that because I was so weak, yet had one of the rarest bloodlines in the universe, there is almost nothing that can assist me."

    "I''ve thought about many solutions, one of them is going through nirvana, and being born anew. But I knew that just this wasn''t enough to ovee my situation. I also tried to find a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf, but one of those hasn''t been spotted in millions of years. It''s more likely that I swallow some random pebble that turns out to be a peerless treasure than it is for me toe across a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf. This is until I met you."

    "When I first felt you enter this world, I was surprised as I haven''t seen a human enter this ce in a long time, but I thought nothing of it and just let you be. It wasn''t until your fight with that Tiger that I was able to feel your Bloodline, see your unique Physique, and your incredibly domineering Ice Dao. I knew that you are probably my only hope in helping me ovee this ordeal so I waited until your friend healed and immediately rushed over here once I sensed youing out of seclusion. I seek your assistance in this matter as my time is limited before I am forced to go through Nirvana and be reborn." Elenei finally finished speaking which left the three of them speechless.

    Mira didn''t think that this situation would turn into such a mess, but she also understood why Elenei sounded somewhat desperate. Sure, she was the legendary Immortal Bird, but who wants to just spend their life as a weakling, constantly being reborn into a weakling while at the same time having limited control over your own powers? Not many may be able to understand Elenei''s situation, but Mira had a pretty good grasp over it as she''s in a simr situation.<sub> </sub>

    This didn''t mean that Mira felt any pity or sympathy for Elenei though, she merely understood her situation.

    "I see. I understand your situation, but I''m not sure what you want me to do. Even though my Ice Dao is somewhat special, its strength right now is limited. I bet even though you don''t even have full control over your powers, they are still stronger than my Dao by many folds. Sure, I also have a unique physique, but this won''t help you and I also have no idea what''s going on with my bloodline. It''s simr to my physique and seems to be somewhat tied to it, yet is slightly different. I doubt all you''d need is just a drop of my blood as well if that''s what you''re after. You''d probably need enough blood from me that it would leave me dead 100 times over. Also, I have no idea how I''d even help other than providing you blood."

    "Now, let''s say that I was somehow able to assist you. What can you provide me in return?" Mira countered while getting down to business.

    "Let me say this first, for this to work I''d have to go through nirvana which will revert me into an egg. From that point on, you''d need to provide me with ice made from your Ice Dao, your blood, probably even that blue magma stuff that you can control, and of course a ton of Qi. I will most likely have to be your Beast Companion for this to work, but I''ll warn you right now. I won''t be forming a Life and Death Contract. I''d like to stay alive in case you do die." Elenei exined.

    This caused Mira to have to seriously think about her words. She knew that it wouldn''t be that simple. While Elenei is back inside her egg, her blood isn''t just going to magically fix everything like some sort of panacea. She''ll probably end up having to help infuse her blood into Elenei''s body even if Elenei is still conscious while inside her egg.

    She''ll have to bleed herself dry hundreds or even thousands of times, provide so much ice that it''d be enough for worlds such as Earth to live off of for years, she''ll probably have to find a way to control fire separately from her magma, and there is no need to mention how much Qi this stupid chicken will absorb!

    Is doing all of that worth having this Phoenix as a Beast Companion? Normally, Mira would answer yes, but she also has to take into consideration Elenei''s parents and their background. Those two are probably immortals and not weak ones. Who knows what sort of cmity she''ll bring herself in the future by contracting their daughter as her Beast Companion.

    Also, having a Frost-Fire Phoenix sounds like a huge pain in the ass since once the Dragon race and Phoenix race find out, there might just be a universe-wide man-hunt for her if she ys things wrongly.

    On another note, it''d be nice to have another flying mount so she can conceal Rhydian as a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf which will most likely bring her endless trouble in the future as well.

    Elenei was starting to get anxious seeing how Mira hasn''t answered in a while and decided to add another condition.

    "How about this? I''ll provide most of the resources necessary for me when I''m in my egg form and during this time I''ll even help you reach the Core Formation Realm!" Elenei said with a hint of anticipation and desperation.

    Elenei thought about just kidnapping Mira and trying to see if she can fix her issue without going through a rebirth but seeing Mira express no fear towards her even while knowing her strength caused some doubts to form in her mind. She knew Mira wasn''t as simple as she seemed and things would only get moreplicated if she went down this route.

    She also thought about holding herpanions hostage, but she saw how Mira treated them indifferently even when one was on the brink of death and figured this would only backfire. Not to mention if she actually killed herpanions then she''d have no leverage over her. As an intelligent being, she knew when to negotiate and when not to. There is no reason to make an enemy out of quite possibly the only person that can help her. Doing that could very well destroy her one day.

    Mira''s eyes shined for a second hearing that Elenei would assist her in breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, but she instantly calmed down. Her reaching the Core Formation Realm is only a matter of time and she''s in no hurry. The thing that was a bit more enticing was her providing her own resources during the time she''s in her egg. This will lift a huge burden off of Mira''s shoulders.

    "Alright, I agree, but I have a few more conditions. Don''t worry, they are rather simple and you don''t have to do much. One, I want you to gather as many fire element materials or herbs for me to examine so I can have my physique produce and control Yin Fire. Two, during this time we are in this realm, I''d like you to asionally wash my body with your Frost-Fire mes for me to examine as well as use to temper my body. Three, I want you to be our mount for the next 2+ years while we are in this realm while scaring off any beast that''s too strong for the three of us to kill. If you don''t want to be our mount that''s fine, you can just protect us, but that''ll significantly slow down our progress in this realm while looking for lucky encounters. The first two conditions I feel are necessary in order for me to assist you so you''ll have to do them regardless." Mira agreed while stating her conditions.

    Since she''ll be on the losing end of things as soon as Elenei goes back into her egg, Mira wants to make the most of the situation by having this Phoenix helping her, Maria, and Cine out while they are in this Secret Realm.

    Elenei was a bit pissed at first when she heard that Mira wanted to use her as a mount, but understanding her reason for suggesting that calmed her down. This realm is massive and traveling by foot will take forever. She didn''t have a problem with the other two conditions as she also felt that they might be necessary.

    "I''m okay with that. Alright, now that that''s settled, let me bring you three back to my residence so we can further discuss the details." Elenei said and reluctantly squatted her giant body down closer to the ground for Mira, Maria, and Cine to grab onto.

 Chapter 195 Beast Core

    Flying across the sky of a world filled with nothing, but icepletely devoid of life, a massive bird with 3 females is soaring towards the tallest mountain.

    This massive bird has a 30-meter wingspan, is almost 20 meters long, and seems to have razor-sharp ice as feathers. But if one were to look closely they''d see that radiating off of this being are zing blue mes that threaten to burn everything in sight to ash while also causing an insatiable cold.

    These 4 beings are Elenei the Frost-Fire Phoenix, Mira, Maria, and Cine. Mira''s group is currently flying on Elenei''s back, but they aren''t the least bitfortable. It''s so damn cold on top of Elenei''s back, but that''s not the worst of it as it''s cold everywhere in this world. The worst part is they feel this cold trying to burn them to ash, which is an extremely disconcerting feeling.

    Mira seems to be the only one that''s not having it rough, either that or she''s just not showing it.

    It didn''t take them long for the giant Phoenix to make her way up on top of the tallest mountain, where her current residence is.

    Once they reached this spot there are a few things that Mira and her group noticed. The first thing is how dense the Qi here is, but this isn''t too surprising considering a Phoenix lives here. Another thing they noticed was how cold it was on top of the mountain. This isn''t a normal cold either. To their surprise, there is no wind at the top of the mountain just like how it is for the rest of the world which only proves just how naturally cold it is on top of this mountain. Mira''s the only one out of the three who finds her body screaming in joy rather than pain and suffering.

    They also immediately noticed the...garden? They aren''t sure what to call it because they''ve never seen any of these nts or herbs before. The ce is packed full of icy flowers, mushrooms, roots, shrubs, grass, moss, and other things they''ve never seen or heard of before. There are also various mineralsying around that they''ve never seen or heard of before. All of these things seem to radiate tons of Qi into the area which only further increases the Qi density.

    Then there is arge cave that seems to be where the Phoenix cultivates. This cave looks ordinary except for arge number of beads strung out all over the ce which puzzles the three of them. The only thing they know is that these beads are radiating a very chaotic yet massive amount of Qi. They are sure that each of these beads most likely holds more Qi inside than tens maybe hundreds of them.

    "Wee to my abode, humans. As you can see it isn''t much, but this is pretty much everything that this world has to offer, well at least on the surface. There are probably other things hidden, but most of these things are useless to me so I quit searching after I found everything easily avable." They heard the majestic voice of Elenei flowing into their minds as they were brought out of their reverie.

    "It is quite humble, but I like it! There''s no need for such extravagance when you literally have everything in the world and the best spot to cultivate!" Maria chimed in excitedly. She was hoping to make the most out of this ce and do her best to catch up to Mira.

    Elenei was a bit surprised at how cheerful Maria was, but she couldn''t help loosening up seeing her pure and innocent face. Even though Elenei is sure that Maria''s gone through some shit while hanging out with Mira, she still hasn''t lost that childhood innocence which is something extremely rare to see in a cultivator.

    "Miss Elenei, I have a question. How are you able to speak into our minds like that?" Cine asked curiously.

    "When a magical beast bes Rank 7 they gain this ability, well that is if they are intelligent enough to use it. Rank 7 should be equivalent to your human''s Nascent Soul Realm which is the Realm above Core Formation. When you reach that realm, you''ll be able to project your soul out of your body into what''s called Soul Sense. Soul Sense will allow you to search for things around you, levitate objects with your mind, and even send telepathic messages to other sentient beings. There are more uses, but those are the most basic." Elenei exined, which excited Maria and Cine, even Mira was listening in closely.

    "What are those beads in the cave, Elenei? I''ve never seen anything like that before!" Maria asked with shining eyes.<sub> </sub>

    Elenei looked at them a bit strangely and started to wonder where these country bumpkins came from. They don''t even know something as simple as this?

    "That''s a beast core. They start to form when a magical beast bes Rank 6, just like how you humans enter the Core Formation Realm. Those beast cores that you see in there are Rank 7 or above Beast Cores. In fact, that Tiger you killed a while back had a beast core. Didn''t you know?" Elenei spoke like this wasmon knowledge. Well, it wasmon knowledge, it''s just these three haven''t done anything other than train for who knows how long.

    "What?!" Cine and Maria were dumbfounded and even Mira was shocked. Mira immediately took out the stored corpse of the Tiger and started ripping the bloodless body apart for the core.

    Sure enough, Mira found a golden bead around the size of a thumb in the Tiger''s abdomen.

    ...

    "What can these cores be used for?" Mira asked after a long period of silence.

    "Lots of things. Arrays, forging, alchemy, cultivating, formations, and more. Not only are beast cores used for this, but you can also use human cores as well." Elenei said.

    "Dammit��" Mira cursed under her breath as she thought back to the time when she killed numerous Soul Devouring Sect Core Formation Realm experts. Luckily it wasn''t a total waste because Rhydian seemed to have her fill with cores, but Mira would''ve liked to use those cores for herself.

    Mira looked at the Tiger beast core in her hand and wondered if she could absorb it. Elenei sensed her thoughts and decided to warn her.

    "If you are thinking about absorbing a beast core, then let me give you a warning. When absorbing energy directly from any core, human or beast, the Qi contained within it is much more chaotic and difficult to absorb than the ambient Qi. This is because this is the energy that belonged to said beast or human before they died. It was collected, refined, andpressed into their cores making it something that is only for them. Cores are much more efficient when used on pills, forging, arrays, etc. because Qi is Qi even if it was someone else''s. But if you choose to absorb it, the efficiency is quite bad unless you have a formation or something to help deal with the chaotic energy."

    "Another thing to note is that beasts have an easier time absorbing beast or human cores than humans do. Well, maybe not all beasts, but most beasts generally have an easier time and are able to absorb more than their human counterparts. We just have an easier time absorbing the chaotic energy in these cores." Elenei exined, but it didn''t make Mira feel hesitant about absorbing the Qi within a beast core. Even if she''s only able to take in a fraction of the amount of Qi held within it, a beast core is vastly more valuable than tens maybe hundreds of Low-Tier spirit stones.

    Mira nodded and stored the beast core and the tiger as thoughts started churning about going on a beast massacre in the next world they enter.

 Chapter 196 Sending Elenei Out Looting

    With some new knowledge at hand, Mira''s group was reinvigorated with the desire to hunt, but their hopes were shortly destroyed after Elenei''s next words.

    "If you three are thinking about finding beasts to hunt on this world, then forget about it. That tiger you came across was a mere lucky encounter and I don''t feel like escorting you girls on my back for a few fights. We''d have to travel all over the ce and honestly if you just sat here and cultivated it''d be much more efficient than battling those beasts." The Frost-Fire Phoenix exined cooly.

    "Then how are we supposed to get used to our newfound strength after we three just rose in cultivation not too long ago? I''d rather fight against some beast than against Mira!" Maria asked half curious and halfining.

    She received a deadly re from Mira and a somewhat amused look from Elenei.

    "Well, you''ll probably learn more from fighting against her than these beasts." Elenei could only say these words but received betrayed looks from both Maria and Cine.

    "Noooooo! Sister Elenei, how could you do that to us?! I was trying to hint at you to send Mira away so she can battle! At least we might only end up with a few bruises, maybe some fractures, and the asional broken bone! But NOOO! We''ll be half-dead when Mira''s done with us! Tell me, Sister, have you ever had your bones hit with such force and precision that they will not only break, but the break is so clean that repairing them is rtively easy? How about that happening over and over again until you start bleeding from your pores? What about-No, Mira I''m sorry! Don''t do this, please don''t do this! Sister Elenei, no, Ancestor Elenei save meeee!!"

    Soon Elenei could only hear the wails of both Cine and Maria as they were dragged away by Mira.

    She was about to speak up but caught a glimpse at Mira looking back at her with a vicious glint in her eyes.

    That re actually sent a shiver down her spine. The feeling she got from Mira just then was of someone who has gone to hell and back more times than she can count. She could sense the seething rage, not directed towards herself or herpanions but just in general, cruelty worse than any demon, a coldness that could put any Ice Phoenix to shame (at least in terms of personality�� for now), and the mountain of bodies that she''s left in her wake.

    Yet, the most terrifying thing about all of this was that it was all hidden and controlled under a sharp and intelligent exterior.

    Once Mira gains enough power, she might very well be one of the most terrifying beings in the known universe.

    What made Elenei more astonished was that although she was probably much older than Mira was, at least ording to her current body''s age, her worldly experience pales inparison.

    She''s mostly spent her time cultivating and/or looking for ways to fix her bloodline problem. She tends to try and keep a low profile due to how valuable a weak Phoenix like her is, not to mention her unique bloodline. There''s absolutely no way she can just run around wherever she wants to cause trouble or go exploring in some random ce.

    Elenei ced a lot of hope on this world that she''s in right now, but so far everything has turned out useless. At least until Mira entered the picture. Now, she''s d that she stayed in this ce as she was actually able to find exactly what she needed!

    She shook these thoughts out of her head, but nevertheless, she still felt that she made the right decision to make a deal with Mira and follow her. Having someone exceedingly ruthless can be a good thing, as long as they''re on your side hehehe.<sub> </sub>

    p ��</anda>

    After Mira spent some time ''re-educating'' Maria and Cine, the three of them came back to where Elenei was staying.

    Elenei looked at Maria and Cine only to be shocked speechless by the sight in front of her. They were covered in blood, scratches, gashes, some limbs were in the wrong direction, and they only had a sliver of Qi in their bodies currently which was being used to its maximum to heal their messed up bodies.

    She turned towards Mira but didn''t see any trace of emotion as she walked towards her majestic self.

    She silently gulped and decided to ignore the gazes of Maria and Cine as they were looking at her like she was their biggest enemy.

    "I suggest you look for the items I mentioned before in this Realm. I''m sure there''s some fiery world connected to this one, I just don''t know what direction it''s in but that shouldn''t be too difficult for you. Just look for anything that produces heat and can be used for tempering the body. Ores, minerals, herbs, nts,va, basically anything hot is good. I''ll be spending my time consolidating my foundation as well as analyzing a new ability of mine. I''ll try to make as much progress in using the power of fire, separate from my magma, but I doubt I''ll make a breakthrough in it by the time you get back. And since you said that nearly everything in this world is gathered here on this mountain, there is no reason for me, or rather us to leave this mountain until we''ve gotten as much out of this world as possible." Mira ordered, already securing the leader position between the two of them.

    Luckily, Elenei wasn''t that offended and even found it somewhat suitable. She thought about Mira''s words and found them agreeable. She didn''t have anything to do in the near future other than escorting Mira''s group and seeing that they aren''t going anywhere there is nothing for her to do other than wait.

    Since there is no need to continue searching for her long-awaited solution, she can finally do something else!

    "Very well, I''ll get going immediately. With my senses, strength, and speed the trip shouldn''t take me much longer than a month. Maybe two if something unexpected happens or there is more loot than I expected." Elenei was oddly enthusiastic and optimistic about this journey which put a frown on Mira''s face.

    Oh well. It didn''t really matter to her if things went well or not. Even if this Phoenix were to die in the midst of her journey, Mira wouldn''t care as it would save her the hassle of dealing with any future trouble. The only thing she''d be annoyed about is how she would''ve wasted her time waiting.

    "I''ll give you three months. If you aren''t back in three months then we are leaving this world for the next one. Our time in this realm is limited and considering everything is already right here, three months is already pushing it." Mira said.

    "Sure, I''ll be sure to be back within three months. I can''t lose my only hope of fixing my bloodline so easily now can I? Hehe. See you in a few months!" Elenei chuckled and unfurled her wings.

    A huge force came out from under her wings as sheunched into the air and shot off into the distance faster than Mira could even see.

    "Two to three months should be just enough time to solidify my foundation, analyze how efficient absorbing blood to boost my cultivation is, examine and test to see if I can find a way to control a strand of Yin Fire and get used to my current abilities. Maria and Cine should also be able to make a breakthrough in their cultivation during this time as well. *Sigh* Looks like things are finally starting to look up." Mira couldn''t help but mutter somewhat expectant to what the future has to offer.

 Chapter 197 Testing Part 1

    Mira walked towards a small cave in the mountain that currently housed Maria and Cine. She found that both of them were currently healing from their injuries so she just disregarded them and walked towards a small corner of the cave to begin consolidating her foundation, fully integrating the blood-infused Qi she gathered after killing the tiger, seeing if she can find a way to control Yin Fire separately, and finally testing how useful absorbing Qi from a beast core will be.

    The first thing she went into was integrating the Qi she absorbed from the tiger''s blood. She first took a small drop of Qi and began just trying to forcefully shove it into the Qi she''s already absorbed and integrated into her body.

    As she assumed, the two were like water and oil; they just don''t mix, at least not easily. She essentially has to try and convert oil into water which already sounds annoyingly tedious.

    Of course, she could just not mess with this and it''d probably convert and integrate on its own, but Mira wanted to fully understand the limitations of her ability. By doing so, she''ll find out whether or not it''s even worth absorbing blood from others to boost her cultivation. And if it isn''t, then maybe she can find ore up with a technique that can make up for this fault.

    Seeing how just forcefully shoving this blood-infused Qi into her own didn''t work, she began trying out other ideas. Doing the same thing, but with even smaller clumps of Qi, running it through her meridians in hopes of refining it, absorbing atmospheric Qi and using that to help refine it, and even doing full rotations of her cultivation technique.

    She wanted to test out every way that is currently avable to her, in order to gauge just how efficient each method would be.

    After a while, Mira found that all of these methods worked, but the efficiency in which they worked differed greatly.

    p The least efficient by far is forcefully trying to integrate it no matter how big or small, not surprisingly. The next least efficient method she found was actually running it through her meridians in hopes of refining it. If Mira were to guess, she''d say that it''s probably twice as effective as using force, but that''s not really saying much.</anda>

    Next up would be absorbing atmospheric Qi and using that to refine it. This one was actually very close to the most effective method, using her cultivation technique and using this Qi along with the ambient mana around her. This is simr to the previous method, but it just cuts out a step, making the process a bit faster.

    Mira wasn''t quite satisfied with the results because if she were to cultivate normally, she''d actually have progressed more than if she were to do this. Not to mention, she has to focus a lot more when doing this than she does when cultivating like normal.

    Another downside is that the amount of Qi she actually received from the tiger''s blood most likely wasn''t even worth the effort. She might''ve been able to make more Spirit Stones from selling the blood of the beast than actually using it for cultivation.

    Final conclusion, her Vampyric Ice Elemental Essence is quite good in terms ofbat effectiveness, but its uses are limited in terms of cultivation.

    She went ahead finished refining and integrating the rest of the blood-infused Qi then decided to move on to the next thing on her list.

    Next up on the agenda was absorbing Qi from the beast core. She pulled out the thumb-sized golden core of the tiger beast.

    She felt the chaotic Qi in the core and hoped that this wouldn''t be another annoying process like her previous testings.

    Without thinking any further, Mira started to draw the chaotic Qi out of the beast core and into her body. This chaotic Qi entered her body and started going crazy. It was thrashing around violently like a caged beast, but almost immediately after Mira''s Physique lit up and seemed to be pressuring this unruly Qi for causing such a ruckus.

    The chaotic Qi soon went from a violently raging beast to a domestic little puppy as soon as it felt Mira''s physique pressuring it.<sub> </sub>

    Mira was shocked at this oue but soon came to a realization. This White-Ice Tiger naturally had an ice affinity which most likely affected its Qi to some degree as well. If this overpowered physique, which can seemingly absorb and fuse with anything, can''t even subdue its own element, how sad would that be?

    Mira felt bittersweet with this oue as it''s nice that she can easily absorb the Qi from this beast, but she isn''t able to gauge just how difficult it would be to absorb Qi from a beast core of a different elemental affinity.

    ''Whatever. From what I felt before my Physique kicked in, absorbing Qi from a beast core would be a huge pain in the ass. I''ll just use the Qi contained within this beast core to consolidate my foundation.'' Mira thought to herself and was quite happy about killing two birds with one stone.

    ***

    While Mira was consolidating her foundation, she felt the energy within the surrounding area being sucked away from her and towards something else.

    She stopped cultivating and looked over to see who is causing all of this only to find arge vortex above Maria''s head.

    This didn''t surprise Mira as the Qi here is incredibly dense. The density of Qi within this entire Secret Realm is already several times that of Western Continent she lived, but its density at the top of this mountain along with all of the herbs and treasures in the area made this something of a cultivation heaven.

    Maria''s foundation and body are already incredibly strong, much stronger than what is needed to break through so there is no need to worry about a shabby foundation.

    Around a dayter, this phenomenon finally calmed down.

    "Sess! Mid-Xiantian Stage! Look out Mira, I''ming for you! We''ll see who''s beating who up when I make it to the Late-Xiantian Stage! Hehe." Maria opened her eyes and shouted.

    "It seems someone is excited. Seeing how confident you are, why don''t we have a little spar? You just made a breakthrough and should be much stronger than yourst lesson, what do you say?" Mira said with predatory eyes.

    "Hehe, you''re on! Just be sure to go easy on me so as to not break any bones, doing that will only slow down my progress in catching up to you. Something I know that you don''t want!" Maria eximed with a giggle and marched out of the cave, knowing full well she was going to lose.

    Mira wryly shook her head and walked out of the cave to do something she''s done with Maria thousands of times. It''s almost something of a ritual or hobby at this point and Mira did somewhat enjoy these spars with Maria.

    Cine just watched Maria challenge Mira and could only think of one word to describe Maria''s behavior:

    Masochist.

 Chapter 198 Testing Part 2

    After almost an entire day, Mira and Maria made their way back to their cave, and surprisingly, Maria was only slightly bloody with a few scratches and gashes but nothing too bad.

    However, Maria looked dead tired like she used every ounce of energy contained within her body. Yet, none of these things could contain therge smile stered on her face.

    Cine noticed this and her respect towards Maria started to drop as she thought that Mira might''ve knocked a few screws loose with how often she gets beaten up. Anyone who cane back smiling after getting beat must be a little insane.

    Nevertheless, she pushed these thoughts away and decided to greet them.

    "Did something good happen, Maria? It looks like you just got beat up like usual." Cinemented.

    "Yeah! I was actually able to get a few good hits in on Mira! Well, she was suppressing her strength to equal mine, but to be able to get a few good hits in is already enough for me�� at least for now!" Maria eximed while doing a victory pose, even though she''s the one that got beat up.

    Cine was surprised to hear that, but it wasn''t anything too shocking. These two probably know everything there is to know about each other when ites to sparring. Rather, it would be more surprising if Maria was never able to do anything to Mira even after all of this time and training.

    Mira didn''t say anything and just looked like her usual indifferent and aloof self, but inside she was rather happy. Being able to get a few good strikes in on her is huge progress.

    Mira went through almost a millennia worth of life-and-death experiences which led to her current battle sense, while Maria has only been with her for around a decade and has already reached the point where she can cause a few marks on her body.

    Either Maria''s talent for battle is above average or she is just a great teacher!

    Jokes aside, Mira knew that it was neither. This is just the umtion of quite a few life-or-death experiences, and sparring close to every day for thest decade. Maria also got herself a master to help with her swordy, which has drastically improved herbat prowess.

    "That''s amazing! Let''s continue working hard so that one day we''ll be able to take Mira down!" Cine raised her fist at Maria, to which thetter responded with a fist bump.

    "Yeah! Watch out Mira, this is only the beginning! Hehe." Maria chuckled yfully, then sat down and immediately fell asleep.

    At this point, Mira decided to speak to Cine.

    "Whether you reach the point of being able to spar with me as equals is up to you, but your talent with the saber is surely high enough for you to reach that point with a bit of hard work. As you can see, even an idiot like Maria can reach this point, but it was only through blood, sweat, and�� well, maybe not so many tears but definitely lots of blood and sweat. Haste makes waste, remember that." Mira chose to give a couple of words of encouragement to Cine due to her being in a good mood before walking away, leaving the baffled Cine to herself. Mira was also looking forward to that day as her scythe-arts might be able to make a qualitative leap with such a talented saber user to spar with.

    After a while, she finally came back to her senses and her mind finally processed what just happened. She looked up in the sky to make sure it wasn''t falling or the universe wasn''t imploding.

    ''Did Mira just encourage me to work hard?! Why? Why do I feel like the world is about to end after hearing such a thing? Is she telling me I need to work harder? No! If that was the case, she''d just drag me out of this cave and fight me until I''m half-dead! Furthermore, herst words�� Haste makes waste�� I don''t know if that''s her motto, but I guess I can kind of see it. Even though she does fill up almost every second of every day efficiently, she never really rushes anything and only relies on the tidbits of umtion that build up every day.'' Cine let out a huge sigh before going back to her cultivation.

    Meanwhile, on Mira''s side, she decided to go back and finish consolidating her foundation with the beast core.

    ? It shouldn''t take much longer as her body doesn''t need to get used to its current cultivation since her physical body is still stronger.

    Like that, 2 weeks went by and Mira felt satisfied. The only reason it took even this long was Mira would take some time to spar with Maria and asionally Cine.

    Now that Mira has gotten all of these things out of the way, it''s time for her to dive into trying to and gain the ability to control Yin Fire. At the very least, she wanted to gain some insight into it before Elenei came back.

    She sat down and immediately began analyzing her Yin Magma flowing through her body. Her Yin Magma looked like if magma suddenly gained the color of ice except a few dark-golden brown spots were flowing through it as well, which happened to be the earth element that makes up magma. With the earth element being something of a neutral element that can take on both properties of Yin or Yang depending on the circumstances, the properties of this element hadn''t changed much, with the major change happening on the fire element side.

    Mira didn''t pay attention to the earth element located in her Yin Magma and instead focused on the part fire part of her Yin Magma.

    She had no idea where to start as she didn''t even know a whole lot about her Yin Magma! Herprehension of this element was rather limited and her control is solely based on its link to her Physique. That''s not even mentioning that this isn''t even fire, it''s magma!

    She decided to stop thinking about these things and just jump right in. Mira tried the first thing that came to mind, which was attempting to separate the earth''s properties in her magma, leaving on the fire properties.<sub> </sub>

    But she quickly realized that such a task was borderline impossible. She could control the magma as a whole but was unable to control specific parts of it. This is mainly because herprehension of fire and earth is incredibly limited, almost non-existent.

    Seeing how doing this would be a huge waste of time, she tried going about this another way.

    She summoned her Yin Magma outside of her body and began observing it. She moved it around her, used on her surroundings, tried prying into what actually makes up her Yin Magma, used it with her ice and lightning, and even brought Maria out to test its effects in battle, but she felt like she was barely making any progress.

    There were a few problems that she did take note of, that may have been overlooked before which was her understanding of her Physique and just Physiques in general. She knew what the original Extreme Yine Physique does, but that was only basic information that she heard in passing.

    Mira''s never had a physique before and never made it a priority in learning about them since there were other things that took priority.

    So, not only does Mirack basic knowledge about Physiques in general, she knows even less about such a heavily mutated and borderline overpowered one that she currently has.

    Not only that, but most of Mira''s knowledgees from worlds that have nothing to do with cultivation. In those worlds, fire means something different than it does in a cultivation world. In those worlds, people aren''t able to summon fire out of their fingertips and are only able to utilize it by utilizing things that happen to be mmable or finding some external way to manipte heat.

    In the cultivation world, fire isn''t as simple as just oxygen, heat, and fuel. One can gain understanding andprehension of an element, increasing its effects and usability.

    Fire is also actually considered to be an element instead of just a byproduct of one.

    The same thing goes for the other elements as well, which is something that Mira finds herself forgetting.

    Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and other elements are what make up the world in the cultivation world rather than atoms that contain differing amounts of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

    The fundamentalws of these worlds are different which is something that Mira has some trouble getting used to.

    It''s like if one were to study physics and then all of a sudden get transported to another universe where the physics in that world arepletely different.

    It''s not easying from a world where 2+2=4 and then transported to a world where that isn''t the case. That''s the kind of situation that Mira is in.

    This is one of the major problems that Mira has concluded is obstructing her progress, her own mentality.

    She needs to separate to be able to somehow separate these previous world''sws from the world that she''s currently in. Only then will she be able to move forward in this endeavor. Until then, she''ll most likely be stuck unless she finds another way to go about it, which is what Elenei is for.

    In conclusion, she needs to fix her mentality and understanding about this world''s building blocks and learn more about not only her Physique but Physiques in general.

    Even though Mira was dissatisfied with not making any progress, she wasn''t upset at all but rather thankful that this happened as knowing this will greatly affect her future.

    Knowing what needs to be done, Mira came up with a schedule.

    11 hours per day for cultivating.

    11 hours per day for analyzing and studying her Physique and its abilities/limitations.

    2 hours per day for testing/sparring to confirm her understanding and theories.

    Naturally, Maria and Cine spared no effort during this time to cultivate, especially Cine. Her goal was to try and reach the Xiantian Stage during this time period, which might be possible due to the density of the Qi here and her abnormally strong foundation and physical body.

    Like this, a little over 2 months went by since Elenei had left and she had finally returned.

 Chapter 199 Elenei Returns

    All of a sudden, an oppressive aura reigned over the world, unfortunately only a few creatures were alive to experience this. Three of those creatures being Mira, Maria, and Cine.

    They instantly stopped cultivating and walked out of their little cave to greet Elenei, who should be there any second.

    As they thought, only a few secondster, a massive Frost-Fire Phoenix gracefullynded in front of them.

    "I have returned, Mira. I do hope my findings bring you sess so that you may better assist me." Elenei greeted curtly, neither arrogant nor humble.

    She shook off arge ne and dropped it in front of Mira, which she assumed was some sort of Spatial Ne.

    Mira picked it up and briefly looked inside, but was utterly shocked by what she saw. It''s not that she was expecting something like this, but actually seeing it happen is another thing. It really makes one wonder why they struggled so much for the pitiful amount of loot that took them months, if not close to a year to gather when they can just instruct a giant bird to loot everything in their surroundings and bring it to them.

    She saw mountains of fire elemental treasures in this Spatial Ne. Ores, ingots, herbs, buckets ofva and magma, weird orbs that are radiating a ton of fire essence, fire-rted beasts, stones that seemed to be Spirit Stones except having a fire affinity, and there was even a weak Fire Elemental Essence in there as well.

    She wasn''t sure if all of these items will be needed or if she''ll need more, but this should be sufficient for a while.

    "Almost all of the items in there are Rank 6(Core Formation) and above, with a few like the Fire Elemental Essence that is for ranks below that. Let me exin a few things that you might not know about, mainly the Fire Essence Core and the Fire Spirit Stones. The Fire Essence Core is the orb-looking thing and this thing is what usually producesva or magma in a Volcano. They can be found in other ces, but they are mostmonly found in volcanoes. The Fire Spirit Stones are just like how they sound. They are Spirit Stones, except with a fire affinity. One thing to note though is that they are less effective than regr Spirit Stones for people that don''t have a Fire Affinity and are more effective for people that do." Elenei exined and Mira nodded.

    "I don''t know if this will be enough, but I''m sure that with all of these resources and you washing me with your Frost-Fire, I should be able to make significant progress in controlling the element I call Yin Fire. Having that ability will give me more confidence in being able to assist you." Mira said, pleased with the direction things are going in, but Elenei was a bit confused.

    "Yin Fire? I think I heard you mention something like that, but what do you mean exactly?" Elenei knew what Mira wanted to do, but it seemed things were slightly different than what she had originally thought.

    Mira didn''t say anything and just summoned her Yin Magma.

    Elenei was immediately drawn towards such a peculiar ability and started to examine it.

    "This is what I call Yin Magma since it''s magma, but the properties and abilities differ from the original. My Physique assimted magma into it as I was tempering my body, granting me this ability, yet changing it to something of Yin nature rather than Yang." Mira exined.

    Elenei was listening but didn''t take her eyes off of this weird ability. She touched to see how it would affect her, and to her surprise, it was quite simr to how her Frost-Fire ability worked.

    The only difference being that it wasn''t trying to turn her into ash or freeze them to death, but was simr to poison or acid yet was slightly different. She couldn''t figure out what topare it to as it was extremely unique. It just felt like this Yin Magma had control over whether it wanted to heal/assimte with her or destroy her. Right now it wasn''t threatening, but Elenei was sure that if this ability was a bit stronger this would be an extremely terrifying ability.<sub> </sub>

    She almost wanted to tell Mira that there was no need to go any further and to just use this ability on her, but the only problem was the Earth element mixed in. What she needed were Fire and Ice, anything other than those two elements wouldn''t bepatible with her.

    "Very interesting. I''ve never seen such a peculiar yet terrifying ability. I understand now why you need these Fire elemental resources. If you were able to use this Yin Firebined with your ice, then the chances of sess are significantly raised. Alright! From now until I go back into egg-form, I will do my utmost to look for anything fire and ice rted!" Elenei dered with excitement.

    She didn''t tell Mira, but she was almost 100% sure that if Mira provided this stuff to her while she''s in her egg form, she''lle out into something unique, horrifying. She might even be able to rival the Golden-Empyrean Winged-Wolf!

    Mira nodded and started transferring all of the materials into her Storage Ring before handing the ne back to Elenei.

    "Hey Sister Elenei, won''t you be sad to lose the cultivation you''ve worked so hard for over the years? I know I would be devastated about having to restart everything and I''m only in my twenties!" All of a sudden Maria spoke up and asked Elenei.

    ? "Not really. With my current cultivation, it would take a miracle for me to break through to the next major stage. Actually, Mira is that miracle. And I think you''re mistaking something here. When I go through my rebirth back into my egg form, I''ll still be cultivating albeit subconsciously as I''ll be asleep through it all. With Mira providing me resources and fixing my bloodline problem, I might even be born in a realm of power close to my current one. I have no idea how strong I''ll be when I''m reborn, but I know it won''t be weak!" Elenei spoke with pride, but these remarks only caused all three of their faces to turn dark.

    These damnable mythical beasts have it so nice! They are able to be born stronger than most people and can sometimes even be born as an Immortal! What horseshit is this?! Why can''t we be born as a fucking overpowered chicken or an oversized lizard?!

    The more Mira and the others thought about it, the more frustrated they got.

    "Hmph! I''ll be sure to put that ''strength'' to good use when you hatch and draw out your full potential." Mira muttered while staring intently at Elenei, which caused a shiver to run down her spine.

    She was sure that her life would be anything but easy after her rebirth isplete and she hatches.

    "Alright! Enough of that! Let''s talk about our ns moving forward now that everyone''s here. We can either stay on this mountain for a few more weeks before heading out or leave for the next world right now." Mira said, but Maria and Cine didn''t need any time to think about their decision.

    "Let''s stay here for a few more weeks. I''m close to a breakthrough and staying on this mountain is extremely beneficial." Cine said.

    "I agree with Cine. I might not be close to a breakthrough, but this mountain is incredibly beneficial to my cultivation! Plus, we have Sister Elenei here to transport us! That''ll save us plenty of travel time!" Maria suggested which caused Mira to nod.

    "Very well, we''ll stay here for the next few weeks. Elenei,e with me. I want to try absorbing a sliver of your Frost-Fire to test its effects." Mira said before turning around and leaving.

    Elenei followed after Mira, as she was also curious to see what would happen as well.

 Chapter 200 Leaving The World Covered In Ice

    Author''s Note:

    Me: Wow, I made it to 200 chapters! Amazing! It took me a bit longer than I expected, but we did it!

    Mira: So you finally fucking made it, huh Author? Took you long enough! How long do you n to prevent me from killing that fucking Guy!!! Hurry up and write goddamit!

    Me: I-I-I''m sorry, Mira! It''s just that�� you know�� life happened and-

    Mira: Huh? What the hell do you know about life, eh?! All you do is sit around and read whenever you aren''t doing homework and you call that life?! What about the rest of the day? That should be spent continuing my story! I got shit to do, but you, my shitty Author, are the only thing preventing me from aplishing my goal!

    Me: Look, I''m sorry Mira, but unfortunately for you, you are just a hobby of mine. I continue your story whenever I feel inspired and when I''m confident in my work. Sometimes I am just out of ideas and I''d rather not write anything rather than write a load of crap!

    Mira: I see. I suppose I need help ''fix'' this mentality of yours so you can feel more ''inspired'' to continue my story.

    Me: N-N-Nooo! We can talk about this Mira! Listen, there is no need to bring out the schedule! No please, not the daily quota either! Okay, okay, I''ll do-WAIT! Why are you handcuffing me to my desk?! NOOOO!

    Mira: Hmph! Fuckingzy ass Author! *SLAM* See if I don''t break your fucking legs to make sure you can''t escape!

    Heyo! Author here! Hope you all enjoyed that little skit, but in all seriousness thank you to all of the people that have stuck with me since the beginning. Although there are only a few of you, I''m d that all of you are on this journey with me.

    I''m d that I decided to upload my novel to the public as you all have truly helped me with this story a lot. Whether it be little things like reminding me of certain details that I may have missed or bigger things like helping mee up with future plots or ideas.

    Cheers for another 200 chapters and may this novel continue its slow, but steady journey to the peak! One day, we will rise up and take our stand against the mainstream novels on this site! I may not be the most talented, creative, driven, or ambitious person in the world, but I believe this novel will reach greater heights for I am Dreyerboys!!!

    I guess it''s time to end this little rant now. Please enjoy this chapter!

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After Mira and Elenei made it deeper into the cave, Mira sat down in front of her Phoenix friend and prepared herself.

    "Let''s start off with just a wisp of your Frost-Fire first. I don''t know what''s going to happen or how your Frost-Fire will react with my body, so start with as little as you possibly can." Mira said with a solemn expression.

    She didn''t feel like being killed on ident because Elenei couldn''t control her powers.

    "Sure. I''ll also react as soon as I see anything going wrong." Elenei said.

    "Alright, go ahead."

    Elenei started to release some of her Frost-Fire but stopped after just a tiny wisp of it hovered in front of her.

    She didn''t know if such a minuscule amount would kill Mira, but it shouldn''t be able to kill her instantly�� hopefully.

    Mira nodded at Elenei and thetter slowly urged the wisp towards Mira before it eventually entered Mira''s body.

    "Ugh��" Mira let out a soft grunt as she felt her body going through a myriad of temperatures. One second her body would start burning and the other second it started freezing over.

    Luckily Mira''s affinity was with ice, which slowed down the destruction process, or things would''ve been much worse for her.

    Mira had to focus all of her attention on trying to spread the Frost-Fire evenly across her body, tempering herself, but the Fire portion of Elenei''s Frost-Fire wasn''t being very cooperative and the destruction of her body only quickened when the two were separated.

    Luckily, it was only a wisp of Elenei''s Frost-Fire that entered her body or she might''ve really died or be critically injured because of it.

    That''s not to say that Mira wasn''t injured, no, she was very injured at the moment. Pieces of bone were missing,rge chunks of skin had fallen off leaving her burnt and crystallized flesh exposed, and some of her internal organs were in disarray.

    This all happened in the span of a few minutes with Mira doing everything she can to disperse the energy.

    Elenei was looking at Mira weirdly as she just went through such an inhuman level of torture, having her body melting and freezing over and over again, but she only let out a small grunt. She didn''t even look like she was in pain.

    Not only that, but she was quite surprised by Mira''s resistance. She was expecting much worse, but it seemed Mira lived which is a good sign.<sub> </sub>

    "Let me heal these injuries before we resume," Mira said calmly before dealing with her injuries.

    Elenei just nodded her head and waited for Mira to finish healing. She could tell that Mira wasn''t even able to cover her entire body with that wisp of energy and knew that this wasn''t going to be a short process.

    It might even take more than a couple of weeks before her body can even handle a fraction of a wisp of her Frost-Fire.

    A few hours went by and Mira was in good condition. Elenei did the same thing as before and created a wisp of Frost-Fire then shot it into Mira''s body, to which Mira continued tempering her body with it.

    ***

    Over a month went by with Mira tempering herself and Maria and Cine cultivating.

    Maria tried as hard as she could to reach the Late-Xiantian Stage, like Mira, but unfortunately, she just isn''t able to absorb Qi fast enough even with it being so abundant around her.

    Cine, on the other hand, was able to make a breakthrough into the Low-Xiantian Stage which made her extremely excited. Now she and Maria are able to spar on somewhat equal ying fields as Cine is only a minor stage under Maria.

    The reason the four of them stayed on this mountain and in this world a bit longer than what they originally nned was mainly so Cine can break through.

    This mountain is such an amazing ce to cultivate, but they had to leave it eventually. Kayda left them a map to follow and they still have more worlds to explore.

    Although the Qi is so dense on top of the mountain, it''s not like they are going to be running out of Qi any time soon.

    Elenei has a literal mountain of treasures and part of that also happens to be Spirit Stones. Thosebined with Mira''s Qi Gathering Array, their cultivation won''t slow down by much even when they leave this world.

    The extension of their stay in this world was also a good thing for Mira as it allowed her body to get somewhat used to a wisp of Frost-Fire. Well, that''s a wisp that has been spread throughout her entire body, so even that tiny wisp''s power was greatly diminished.

    Still, Mira was satisfied with this progress but felt like it was about time to get out and stretch her bones now that Cien has finished breaking through.

    The four of them were now collecting all of Elenei''s loot that she kept on the mountain. Most of it will be for Mira or Elenei when she''s in her egg form though.

    It didn''t take them long to finish collecting everything before Mira''s group gathered around Elenei, ready to take flight!

    "Ready?" Mira asked and Maria, Cine, and Elenei nodded.

    "Let''s go!"

    The three of them jumped on Elenei''s back and prepared for take-off!

    "Don''t go too fast so I can make sure we are actually going the right way," Mira warned Elenei.

    "Got it."

    Mira pointed in the direction that the map in her head was telling her to go.

    *SWOOSH*

    The four of them flew at breakneck speed, easily making it to the other side of the world in just a few moments.

    Mira looked back at the empty, frozen, lifeless, wastnd behind her and felt a bit mncholic. She didn''t want to leave this icy world since she felt the mostfortable here. The only problem is that there is nothing for her to kill or do!

    She wants to go on a ughter spree to collect beast cores, she wants to fight life-or-death battles, she wants to improve her scythe usage, and even if she can''t do any of that then at least let her temper her body, but no! This ce barely allowed her to do any of that and she doesn''t even need to be in this world to temper her body, she only needs to stay with Elenei!

    Ah! Just thinking about theck of killing she''s done over thest few months has made her a bit itchy for battle!

    Wherever she''s headed to next, the only thing she''s hoping for is how much blood she''ll spill!

 Chapter 201 A Bright New World

    As the four of them were flying through the sky, Mira, Maria, and Cine were thinking about the different possibilities and advantages of having an overpowered Phoenix as their guardian.

    No more wanderingnds aimlessly, lucky encounters would be a little less lucky and more intentional, and they''ll finally have someone who can answer their questions.

    They didn''t n on relying on Elenei every time they encountered a crisis though as Mira surely wouldn''t allow such a thing. It just felt nice knowing they had a bit of backup whom they could rely on whenever they are against an opponent who is way out of their league.

    They were right not to rely too much on Elenei as Mira already had a n in mind for when they reach the next world.

    While each of them was thinking about the future, it didn''t take much longer before they crossed an invisible barrier and the scenery around them changed drastically.

    The temperature went from deathly cold to rather hot, but it was nowhere near as hot as the Fire World they were in a few months ago where they met Kayda.

    Not only that, but thend in front of them was incredibly bright, almost blinding. They couldn''t tell how many, but definitely, more than 2 suns were being projected in this world.

    Along with the brightness, thend in front of them was filled with tons of lush greenery, glistening ponds andkes, and weird-looking golden crystals that also seem to be producing light.

    While flying on Elenei''s back, they can easily spot numerous beasts starting from Rank 4 and above. Mira spotted quite a few Rank 5 and 6 beasts as well, but there was something unique about all of these beasts. They all had a golden crystal somewhere on their body.

    Mira was a bit dejected to see that as she assumed that the beast cores probably had a high light elemental affinity. They might be great, or at least better, for Maria to absorb but the efficiency would drop if she tried to absorb them.

    Now for the next question, what are those golden crystals?

    "What are those golden crystals?" Maria asked excitedly.

    "Just call them Light Crystals and they have several different uses. They are simr to Spirit Stones since they hold Qi within them, albeit not that much. For those beasts that have them attached to their bodies, they have a higher affinity with Light and will find their powers boosted in areas containing lots of that element. For you, they can help increase yourprehension in your Light Dao, but you''ll need a ton of them if you want to make any significant progress." Elenei exined, but Maria was already satisfied with that.

    She was already feeling herprehension in her Light Dao increasing right now and all she needs to do is go into seclusion to consolidate her gains, but she didn''t n on doing that. She was already bored of sitting around cultivating, it''s time to go on an adventure!

    Cine, on the other hand, was feeling a bit down seeing how this ce didn''t cater to her element, but she was also excited about exploring a new ce.

    "Let''s find a nice ce tond," Elenei said. She felt Mira getting a bit restless on her back and some of her killing intent was leaking out while she was looking at the beasts below her.

    The three of them agreed and Elenei found a nice secluded ce they couldnd.

    As soon as they hit the ground, Mira was the first to jump off and she even had her scythe ready.

    "I''m going to let loose a bit. Maria and Cine, you two go and have fun on your own. Elenei, there is no need to follow them, just keep an eye on them to make sure no Rank 7 beast or higher goes after them for some reason. This location will be where we will rendezvous whenever you two are done exploring. I need to continue tempering my body with Elenei''s Frost-Fire so when I''m done letting loose, I''ll being back here." Mira gave her instructions and ran off in a direction where she sensed numerous Rank 5 and 6 beasts.

    "Wait! Aaaaannndd she''s gone! Ugh!" Maria tried to say something before Mira left, but thetter was too fast.

    "Well, you can''t me her too much. It''s probably been close to a year since she''s been able to let loose. Actually, the only time I saw her really let loose was during that war between Lunar Fox City and the Soul Devouring Sect. From what I know about her, she''s not one to just sit still unless there is a legitimate reason to." Cine pondered with her hand on her chin. Although she said that she was still a bit unsure why Mira was so fidgety and determined to kill.<sub> </sub>

    "From what I know, Mira''s always been like that. It''s almost like she isn''tfortable unless she''s killing something. Maybe it''s her way of relieving stre-" Maria''s words were cut off when she sensed a horrendous bloody and murderous intent spreading from the direction Mira ran off to.

    "Ah! Looks like she''s really pent up! But at least she isn''t angry or this pressure would definitely be much worse!" Maria said nonchntly and Cine nodded.

    Elenei, on the other hand, was busy wondering if Mira was actually a demon in disguise. She could guess that Mira has definitely killed millions of people, but her eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets when she heard Maria.

    "You mean to tell me that this is merely just Mira letting loose her pent-up aggression? What would she be like if she''s angry?! Is she really human?!" Elenei asked Maria in shock.

    "I don''t really know. I''ve only seen Mira actually upset a couple of times, but I don''t think she was angry. I don''t n on finding out either. All I know is that just being in her presence when she''s upset is enough to bring me to the brink of death." Maria exined while unconsciously trembling, remembering Mira''s terrifying killing intent.

    Elenei''s expression turned grim after hearing that and an awkward silence hung over the three of them.

    "Ah! But don''t worry about trying not to offend Mira! As long as you don''t bring up men and you don''t betray her trust, she''s surprisingly easy-going and tolerant!" Maria said innocently.

    Cine''s face turned ck after listening to Maria''s words. Easy-going? Tolerant? Mira? Are you fucking stupid?! I''ve never met such a petty and short-tempered person before! Are you sure Mira didn''t identally cripple your brain after all of the beatings?!

    Cine smacked Maria on the head with an angry expression.

    "Ow! What was that for?!" Maria cried.

    "Sister Elenei, don''t listen to this idiot! Easy-going? Tolerant? The fuck are you saying? Are you trying to get Sister Elenei killed?! Listen, Mira is the embodiment of unreasonableness! If you didn''t meet her expectations, prepare to be punished�� harshly. If you try to slight her in any way, you might as well be asking for a beating! If you say something stupid, she''ll definitely curse you out while beating you. If you make a mistake in battle, Mira might just kill you herself. What sucks even more is even if you are stronger than her or have some sort of advantage, you''ll still only get beaten! She isn''t afraid of death and is apathetic towards everything so threats don''t work on her. She might hold some favorability towards Maria due to how long they''ve spent together, but she only sees me as a training dummy who holds a bit of talent with the saber. Morale of the story, don''t fuck with her." Cine finished exining, but Maria really wanted toin; Elenei was quicker though.

    "Isn''t that too much? Why are you following her then if she''s such a terrible person?" Elenei was speechless at how low Mira''spanion thought of her.

    Cine and Maria both let out a wry smile after hearing Elenei''s questions.

    "Those are the reasons why, at least for me. Sparring with Mira is probably more effective than hundreds of spars with other people. Not only that, but if you don''t adapt quick enough, she will really kill you. Also, what I stated before is really only if she is guiding you. I guess you could say that she is somewhat tolerant of us because if Maria and I were just some random people following her, she might just kill us for bothering her too much. At least with us she only leaves us injured or at most half-dead." Cine let out a chuckle, but her words didn''t make Elenei feel any better.

    She wasn''t too worried about Mira doing anything to her right now as she''s much stronger than her, but what about after she is reborn and hatches from her egg? Even if her cultivation ends up being higher than Mira''s when she''s born, it probably wouldn''t be by much.

    Her expression became worse as she thought about her future.

    Maria and Cine just ignored Elenei as it was her fault for making a deal with Mira before knowing what kind of person she is.

    The two of them talked with each other as it was somewhat refreshing not having Mira constantly down their throats.

    Eventually, Elenei stopped thinking about it and started talking with Maria and Cine about random things like their adventures, family, wants, the future, and various other topics that Mira doesn''t talk about.

    The three of them talked for hours before it was about time for Maria and Cine to go explore this new world and gain some experience without Mira''s assistance.

 Chapter 202 Away From Mira

    "Well, shall we get going, Cine?" Maria got up and asked.

    "Yeah. I guess it''s about time we head out or Mira will definitely ''spar'' with us when she gets back." Cine agreed and got ready to leave.

    Mira was still wandering around killing things so she probably won''t be back for a few days at the very least, but that''s only a guess. Mira coulde back at any time and they didn''t want to still be here when she does.

    "I suppose you two are going to be collecting those Light Crystals? I''ll be sure to keep an eye on you two if any beast far above your capacity to deal with gets involved, but anything other than that, you two are on your own." Elenei spoke lightheartedly with Maria and Cine.

    Elenei had a favorable impression of Maria and Cine, especially Maria. Not only were the two of them extremely nice and saw her as a friend, but their loyalty towards Mira is impressive.

    Elenei was also able to get a feeling for the group after spending some time with them and although she didn''t know everything, she got the gist of it. Mira was hard to get along with, but a great leader and teacher in all things battle-rted. Maria was childish but extremely hard-working and persistent. Her always cheerful attitude and smiling face kept the morale of the group high, but she had one problem and it''s that she could be very shameless at times. Cine was more of the quiet type, but her determination and talent weremendable. She was also very intelligent for someone who hasn''t lived very long, at leastpared to herself.

    What''s great about this group of three is that although Mira is the leader, she doesn''t actually hold the group together and even if she''s not with them the group won''t fall apart. That''s mainly because all three of them are both intelligent and strong, able to fend for themselves without external help.

    That''s not to say that having Mira with them doesn''t make a difference, because Elenei can tell that she definitely does. Her decision-making is top-notch and her ability to analyze the battlefield as a whole in an instant is amazing. Elenei herself doesn''t even think that many people canpare to Mira when ites to this even among immortals.

    "Thanks, Sister Elenei! But we will do our best not to disturb any big shots! I don''t want to die just yet hehe." Maria eximed and picked a direction to walk in.

    "Have fun. I''ll be sure to keep Mira busy when shees back." Elenei nodded seriously which only caused Maria to smile mysteriously.

    Cine nodded her head towards Elenei and stood next to Maria. They both looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

    "Well, we''re off!" Maria eximed and ran off with Cine.

    Elenei watched them run off and shook her head at how Maria was treating this world. She was treating it like she was going on a pic except she was surrounded by beasts that were trying to kill her.

    She instinctively wanted to scold Maria, but she knew that this was just her personality. On the inside, Maria knew exactly what she was getting herself into.

    Elenei stretched out her Soul Sense and made sure to keep track of Maria and her surroundings. After a few seconds of watching them, she turned her sense back to Mira but was still surprised that Mira was still fighting beast after beast.

    After killing dozens of beasts, her killing intent was starting to dissipate a bit. It seems that she still needs to let loose a bit more or maybe she''s looking for a particrly strong beast to get her blood pumping, Elenei isn''t sure.

    At first, Elenei found this action idiotic as Mira was intentionally looking and making trouble with a strong beast, but she also understood that Mira was killing these other beasts just way too fast.

    "Oh well, as long as she doesn''t die, it''s not my problem." Elenei sighed and continued to watch Mira, Maria, and Cine.

    ***

    On Maria and Cine''s side, the two of them were traveling through the lush greenery, killing the asional beast and taking their Light Crystal and whatever else looked important. The two of them were also collecting any other Light Crystals they came across, which were quite a few as they were everywhere.<sub> </sub>

    It''s already been several hours since they started their journey, but it only felt like a few minutes as they were able to go at their own pace rather than Mira''s pace.

    "It''s nice to be able to take a break from Mira, huh? It almost feels like we are on vacation right now!" Cinemented.

    "Well, I can''t really disagree with you, but I also kind of miss being with Mira. That way I don''t have to make any decisions! Haha!" Maria joked.

    Cine wanted to facepalm at that but also found it funny. She also didn''t feel toofortable making decisions that could decide her fate on her own, but also knew it was necessary.

    What she didn''t know was that Maria wasn''t actively making decisions on what to do or where to go right now. She was only walking in random directions and as long as she didn''t get any closer to Mira then everything is fine.

    "I don''t know about you, but I''m ready to leave this Secret Realm. It feels like we''ve been doing nothing but fighting ever since we entered." Cine said as she decapitated a beast.

    "Homesick, huh? Well, not like I don''t understand. I''d love to see my parents, but this is also a great ce to train! It would''ve taken me years to reach where I am right now if we hadn''t entered this ce. I bet I can even kick my Dad''s ass if we were to leave right now, but I''m not ready to go back! There''s still so much to see and so much to aplish!" Maria pumped her fists that were full of Light Crystals she looted from dead beasts.

    "You must really want to catch up to Mira, don''t you? I guess you are probably used to this though seeing how much time the two of you spend together." Cine said with a sigh.

    "You''re not wrong that I''m pretty much used to this, but I need to be like this if I want to stay with Mira. You know how Mira is. Every second is being used as efficiently as possible and she never stops unless there is a need to. Sure, I''d love to take a break right now that we are away from Mira, but I know she''s not taking a break. Plus, have you not seen how much you''ve grown ever since meeting Mira. You now and you back then can''t even bepared." Maria exined which caused Cine to think about how much she''s grown.

    "Haa�� I suppose so."

    An awkward silence descended after that, but the two of them kept killing and looting without stopping.

    That is until they noticed something interesting in the distance. Smoke was rising into the air and with their heightened senses they could tell that whatever it was smelled delicious.

    Maria was already started to drool just thinking about food and even Cine was feeling a bit hungry.

    Even though the two of them don''t necessarily need to eat, at least not for a long time, they haven''t been at this level for very long. Maria also loves eating and has been forced to eat tasteless dried food for a long time because of Mira.

    The two of them didn''t even need to say anything as they started to cautiously make their way over towards the smell.

    They didn''t let their guards down just because something smells delicious as it could easily be a trap.

    They crept closer and closer until they started to hear voices.

    "Humans!"

 Chapter 203 Approaching The Humans

    "Humans!" Maria eximed when she saw 5 people huddled around a campfire.

    Cine was also rather surprised that they encountered humans as well. Seeing how they''ve spent close to a year already in this Secret Realm without encountering another human, she was starting to think they might not run into one until they left.

    There were 5 people surrounding the fire, 3 male and 2 female and all 5 of them wore the same multi-colored clothes, seemingly from the same Sect.

    Cine started searching through her memory if she''s ever seen these robes before and soon came to the realization that these people were probably from the 8 Profound Elements Sect from Lunar Fox City.

    Thinking even further, she tried to remember the rank their Sect got in the Inter-Sect Tournament and realized that they ranked 9th which gave them a 5 person quota.

    This made her feel a bit better about meeting knowing that they hadn''t killed or betrayed each other over their own greed or desperation, but something inside her was telling her not to trust them too easily.

    It was like the devil, Mira, was whispering in her ear reminding her that this could be a trap, maybe these 5 aren''t even from the 8 Profound Elements Sect and were instead their killers, or these five might be terrible that has killed anyone theye across.

    Naturally, these ideas weren''t very probable, but they were possible which caused Cine to put on a serious expression.

    To greet or not to greet? Part of her wanted to greet these people since she hasn''t had any human interaction besides Maria and the beatings she got from Mira. On the other hand, her instincts were telling her that this group was weak, or at least even all 5 of them couldn''t beat her in a fight, and hanging out with them would probably only be a waste of time.

    But before they did anything, she needed to warn Maria not to do something stupid.

    "Maria, I know you probably want to go say hi, but I think we should stay cautious. We don''t know this group of people nor do we know their motives. Don''t mention anything about our journey in detail and only reveal basic information." Cine said with concern.

    "Got it! Let''s go!" Maria answered half-heartedly and was already walking towards them.

    Cine could only sigh and follow after her all the while hoping Maria doesn''t fuck things up for them.

    *Rustle* *Rustle*

    Maria didn''t even bother hiding her presence at all and walked straight through the shrubs into the people''s sight.

    "!!!"

    rmed, the 5 of them immediately drew their weapons while creating some distance between Maria and Cine.

    Mariapletely ignored their actions and started talking, walking towards the food being cooked.

    "Ah! That smells amazing! Would you mind if I have some of your food? Seeing how you all jumped away from the food like scared cats, I suppose it''s fine if I take a few bites! Can''t let any food go to waste, can I? Hehe~" Maria had already grabbed a piece of cooked meat as soon as she finished speaking.

    Meanwhile, the group of 5 were dumbfounded seeing how everything was ying out.

    ''What the fuck is going on and what''s wrong with this beautifuldy?! Does she have a screw loose or something?!'' was the only thing going through their minds.<sub> </sub>

    Cine also stood there, facepalming, seeing how Maria just shamelessly took their food. She should''ve known that Maria would do something stupid, but she forgot that this is how she normally acts when she''s not around Mira.

    Nobody can really me her though, Mira seriously hates that shit. Maria doesn''t like to talk about her punishment for acting like that in front of Mira, but from what she understands Mira trapped her in an ice cube until she started suffocating, lost consciousness, and almost died.

    Just thinking about it sends shivers down her spine and now Maria doesn''t act like this in front of Mira anymore because of what happened.

    The six of them just silently watched as Maria wolfed down all of their food like a starving beast only then did someone from the group of 5e back to their senses.

    "Oi! You bastard! What the hell are you doing?! That was our food! You can''t just walk up and steal someone''s food like that!" One of the males, who seems to be the leader, yelled.

    Maria stopped eating for a second and looked at him like she was looking at an idiot.

    "Huh? You clearly hopped away from this ''nasty'' food *munch* and even drew your weapons at it *munch*. Why would you me me *munch* for eating food that you were too scared to eat *munch*?" Maria spoke while continuing to eat their ''nasty'' food with a delightful expression on her face.

    The six of them were all astounded at how shameless Maria was when she tantly stole their food right in front of them! It was clearly her that they are wary of! Why does she keep thinking they are scared of their own food?!

    Another wave of silence descended upon the campfire as Maria finished eating everything that was being cooked.

    Maria then got up, turned towards the group of 5, and spoke with an excited expression.

    "Okay! Now that I have removed the enemy, why don''t you five some join me? I was just thinking about cooking some food!" Maria eximed while taking out a dead Rank 4 magical beast she and Cine killed earlier.

    Once again swept up in her pace, the six of them just stared at Maria withplicated expressions.

    Cine finally decided to try and mediate the situation a bit seeing how the other group''s faces were starting to turn various shades of red with very displeased expressions. She walked up to them and stopped a few meters away, pped her fists, and slightly bowed.

    "I apologize for my friend. She''s kind of a childish idiot who has a�� unique personality, but we mean no harm. We saw smoke rising in the air and smelled something good not too long ago so we decided to check it out. We didn''t expect to run into any humans. We haven''t encountered anyone from the Western Continent at all during our journey." Cine humbly said which seemed to pacify them a bit.

    After hearing Cine, the group started to calm down, and realizing that Maria and Cine seem to hold no ill-intent, at least for now, they started to calmly assess the situation.

    "Wait you two are from the Western Continen-AH! I think I remember you two! You both are from the Battle Maiden Sect, right? But wait, I remember there being three of you when you entered the Secret Realm. What happened to the third? Mira, I think her name was." One of the females in the group asked in a surprised voice.

    "Correct. We are both from the Battle Maiden Sect and�� yeah, Mira is part of our group. Anyways, are you guys from the Paragon Sect from Gale City? What happened to the rest of your group? Have you guyse across anyone else from the Western Continent?" Cine lied knowing full well what Sect they''re from and how many people from their Sect entered the Secret Realm. She just wanted to make sure these people are actually from the 8 Profound Elements Sect.

    "Ahaha! We are actually from the 8 Profound Elements Sect and believe it or not, but since we came in 9th during the tournament, our quota only allowed 5 of us to enter this Secret Realm. And no, we haven''te across anyone else since we entered." The woman chuckled awkwardly seeing Cine probe them like that, but there was nothing they could.

    The two were going to continue talking but were interrupted by Maria.

    "Alright alright! We can talk more over dinner! Right now I need to borrow your spices in order to show you guys how to properly use them! Hehe~" Maria giggled innocently.

 Chapter 204 Introductions

    Reluctantly, the group from the 8 Profound Elements Sect made their way over towards Maria, who had already butchered a beast and started cooking.

    This wasn''t because they decided to trust Cine, no, the main reason why they decided to y along with Maria and Cine, for now, was because of their group leader.

    The feeling he got from Cine was the same feeling he got when was in front of the Sect Leader, maybe worse. The look in her eyes and the aura she gave off were anything but simple. For some reason, he felt like if they tried anything funny it wouldn''t even take a fraction of a second for his head to roll.

    Another huge deterrent is knowing that crazy devil, Mira is a part of their group. If these two are already so strong then surely Mira wasn''t any weaker than them. The only difference is she''s a psychopath.

    The other four in the group also felt somewhat suffocated in Cine''s presence, but seeing Maria act so casual and carefree eased some of their worries.

    Soon, more food was cooked and the 7 of them sat down together.

    "Why don''t we introduce ourselves? I''m Aaron, the leader of our little group. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The leader of the 8 Profound Elements Sect, introduced himself.

    Aaron was rather tall, around 180 centimeters, short brown hair, brown eyes, and gave off an earthly feeling. It wasn''t too hard to guess that his elemental affinity was Earth. Everything about him screamed average but reliable.

    "The names Flint! I have a fire affinity, I''m 190 centimeters tall, Mid-Xiantian Foundation Realm, and I''m single! I''ll be in your care!" Flint, the second guy, introduced himself.

    Flint had long red-orange hair that was tied up in a bun. He had sharp eyebrows and it seemed like his personality matched his element. He had decent-looking features, but nothing too eye-catching.

    "Stop being an idiot, Flint! Sorry about that, he''s been desperate to get a girlfriend for a few years now. Anyway, my name is Vivian. Nice to meet you." Vivian smacked Flint upside the head then introduced herself.

    Vivian has long beautiful purple hair, hazel colored eyes, a serene yet beautiful face, and a well-endowed 160-centimeter tall body.

    "M-My name is Valery. Please take care of me!" Valery nervously stated.

    Valery was a meek-looking 155 centimeters tall girl. She had brown hair with blue highlights, royal blue eyes, and was most likely had a water elemental affinity.

    "Ike." Ike, thest guy, and member of the group introduced himself.<sub> </sub>

    Ike was around 175 centimeters tall with ck hair and ck eyes. He seemed to be the quiet type seeing how he only stated his first name.

    "Pleasure to meet your all. My name is Cine, from the Battle Maiden Sect." Cine said, keeping her introduction short.

    Meanwhile, Maria, who was now gorging down food didn''t seem to realize it was her turn to introduce herself.

    "*Ahem* Maria, why don''t you say something to the people who are treating us so nicely even after you ate their ''unwanted'' food." Cine said while rubbing her temples.

    "Eh? It''s my turn already? Very well! My name is Maria Zaria from the Battle Maiden Sect and Mira''s best friend! Don''t forget that ''Mira''s best friend'' part, okay? That''s very important! If you need anything, feel free to ask me or Cine, preferably Cine! Thanks for allowing me to eat such delicious food!" Maria greeted with a somewhat serious look on her face, especially when describing herself as Mira''s best friend.

    Cine just stared at Maria exasperated. She was seriously considering if she should just ditch her and go off on her own, but then again Maria might really do something stupid if left alone.

    She was also wondering why Maria said that she''d prefer them toe to her if they have any problems, but soon understood why.

    ''Ugh! You can''t just push the responsibility onto me because you''re scared of Mira''s punishment if you said anything stupid or unnecessary! I also don''t want to get another beating! Dammit!'' Cine soon started cursing at Maria inside her mind.

    "Ahaha! So you''re pretty close with Mira, huh? I witnessed some of her fights during the tournament and they were pretty impressive even though she was significantly weaker than her opponents. Speaking of which, where is Mira right now? Did you three get separated?" Aaron started trying to probe them and before Cine could even say anything Maria spoke with shining eyes.

    "Naturally we''re close! We''re like sisters, no, closer than sisters! And I guess you could say we got separated, but that was intentional since Cine and I are supposed to be out here gathering experience while she''s�� well I''m not exactly sure what she''s doing right now." Maria said with fervor while pointing in the direction Mira''s in. Cine, who was listening hurriedly spoke up before these people go and get themselves killed.

    "I wouldn''t head in that direction though. She will most certainly kill you as soon as you enter her senses. The only question would be whether you know how you died or not. Don''t get me wrong, I''m not looking down on you, but she''s seriously terrifying to the point where even if Maria and I gang up on her we wouldn''t even be able to scratch her. Even if we were to apany you five, there is still an 80-90% chance that she''ll kill you on sight. You 5 seem like decent people so I''m just giving you a little heads-up." Cine exined with a serious expression.

    The faces of the 5 of them started to change drastically after hearing her exnation. They went from shock to anger to surprise and in the end, they weren''t sure what to think.

    "I see. Well, I knew she was definitely crazy but it seems I underestimated it. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up. Now, onto what I really wanted to ask. What are your ns after this? Are you going hunting, looking for treasures, or just exploring? Or are you just here to eat out food? Haha!" Aaron asked.

 Chapter 205 Joining The Group

    "I see. Well, I knew she was definitely crazy but it seems I underestimated it. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up. Now, onto what I really wanted to ask. What are your ns after this? Are you going hunting, looking for treasures, or just exploring? Or are you just here to eat out food? Haha!" Aaron asked.

    "Eating your food, obviously!" Maria immediately answered then started giggling.

    Everyone just stared at her for a second and then unanimously agreed to just ignore her as nothing useful everes out of her mouth.

    "Ahem�� We were just wandering around collecting those Light Crystals for now, but we didn''t really have a goal in mind. It''s probably not too surprising, but Maria here has a Light Affinity so we were just going towards anything that radiated the Light element. From the looks of it, none of you seem to have the Light Affinity, so if you don''t mind we''d like to join you for a bit. Ah! But don''t think we are just going to horde all the treasures. We will only be searching for anything that can help Maria. Everything else can go to you and if there is any treasure that isn''t rted to light, we can see if we can work something out. What do you think?" Cine asked politely.

    She knew that Maria would probably love to spend time with other people and even she, herself, was missing normal human interactions. Fighting and training all day is great and all, but she also enjoys the asional conversation betweenrades or friends. Mira is all work, no y�� literally.

    Maria nodded her head listening to Cine''s words.

    "I agree with her! Plus, this isn''t a bad thing for you guys as well. We are quite strong. If we get into trouble, Cine and I will help deal with it. Just think of us as bodyguards and the Light Crystals as payment! Hehe~" Maria said with her head held high. Now that she''s not in front of Mira, she can finally show off a bit.

    "Arrogant! Do you really think you two are so much stronger tha-!" Flint began spewing nonsense, but��

    *Swish*

    Both Cine and Maria moved before they could even react and were already holding 4 of them hostage.

    Flint had a sword pressed against his neck, Vivian had a Light Sword pressed against the back of her neck, Valery had a saber to her throat, and a wind de streaked across Ike''s face leaving a small cut on his face.

    Gulp��

    Five audible gulps were heard and silence followed afterward. The ''hostages'' finally understood what just happened and their eyes went wide and jaws dropped.

    The most surprising was Maria since she seemed so childish and yful. They knew she had some ability, but they didn''t think she''d be so decisive. They expected that kind of attitude from someone like Mira and the feeling Cine gave off was simr to that, but not Maria.

    Aaron, who also couldn''t react in time, was the first toe out of his reverie and realized why these two seemed so carefree around them. It''s because the five of them could never pose a threat to them even if they ganged up on them. At least four of them would die instantly and the fifth would be finished off just as quickly if he/she wasn''t already dead in the initial attack.

    He understood that Cine asking for permission was just her being polite.

    "Hehe~ Don''t be so nervous~ We look forward to working with you from now on!" Maria returned to her spot while smiling and giggling, but this only sent shivers down their spine.

    Seeing how she acted so innocently only made things worse. At this moment, they felt like they''d rather be against someone like Mira, who although was crazy, at least seemed like a straightforward person.

    "Sigh�� Do whatever you want, it''s not like we can stop you. I only ask that you allow us to collect some of the Light Crystals as well. I mean, they''re everywhere. Surely you don''t need every single one of them, right?" Aaron could only sigh in defeat and reluctantly ept. It wasn''t a bad thing to have such skilled people with them.

    "True, we don''t need to collect every single Light Crystal, but we''re unsure exactly how many we should collect. Hmmm�� Alright, how about this. We''ll take 75% of the Light Crystals and any Light element-rted treasures and after we''ve collected enough of them you guys can take everything." Cine offered which made the five of them sigh in relief. At least these two were decent people and didn''t take everything just because they''re stronger than them.<sub> </sub>

    "Although I''d love to ask for more, I suppose this is probably the best offer we''ll get. Wee to the group." Aaron sighed again and stuck his hand out for a handshake.

    Cine reached out and shook his hand, thus concluding their negotiations.

    Maria and Cine were satisfied with this since these people didn''t seem unreasonable, they proved that they weren''t to be fucked with, and now they get to temporarily join a group that DOESN''T contain Mira.

    Meanwhile, the other 4 in the group, excluding Aaron, were still reeling in from the shock of almost dying. Their shock and fear were still evident on their faces even after Cine and Aaron finished talking.

    "Hey, idiots! How long are you going to sit there like that?! Wake up!" Aaron yelled at his teammates who still haven''t said anything.

    "Huh?! Aaron? Wha-What''s going on?" Flint was the first one to speak up and the others followed shortly after.

    Aaron exined to them that Maria and Cine will be joining them for a little bit and mentioned the terms as well.

    Naturally, the 4 of them didn''t voice any opposition. It also seemed like there was a bit of relief mixed in their expressions as well. Either because they get to live another day or because of the dangers of this world and having strong teammates will increase their survivability.

    "W-W-We''ll be in your care, Maria, Cine!" Valery, the blue-haired meek woman, bowed and said nervously. She seemed to be the happiest about having two strong teammates.

    Maria nodded and gave her a big thumbs up, telling her not to worry.

    "When do you guys want to set out? Maria and I can leave whenever you are ready." Cine mentioned.

    "Hmmm�� Why don''t we get some rest and leave the next day? We had just spent a rather long journey prior to this and were about to eat and sleep before you two showed up." Aaron suggested, noticing how drained his teammates seemed to be.

    Maria and Cine''s eyes beamed hearing such foreign words.

    ''Rest? Sleep?! My god!!! When was thest time we had such luxury?! How lucky these people are to have such a leader who cares about them!'' The two screamed internally while briefly recalling the past�� who knows how long.

    Maria had shbacks of her having to sleep while pretending to cultivate. She had to sleep sitting up while also subconsciously controlling her breathing and muscles in order to fool Mira! What bullshit!

    Cine''s in the same boat as well, except she hasn''te up with such a genius idea and therefore is forced to train with barely any rest. Sometimes going weeks and possibly months before getting any semnce of rest.

    "Yes. Yes!! Rest�� Rest�� Ahahaha!! Yes, we''ll rest with you!" Maria and Cine were practically drooling while saying that.

    Everyone just looked at them like they were crazy.

    ''What happened to them?'' Was the only question in their minds.

 Chapter 206 A New Journey With New People

    After some well-needed rest, Maria and Cine felt their minds clear up and the world around them seemed to be much clearer than before.

    Although they weren''t able to sleep with 100% ease due to them not fully trusting their newpanions and even with that thought in the back of their mind they still sleptfortably.

    "Everyone ready?" Aaron spoke after everyone was awake and they all nodded their heads.

    "Alright! Let''s move out!"

    Everyone took out their weapons on his call, even Maria and Cine readied their weapons in case something unexpected happens.

    They began moving in a direction opposite of the area where Mira was presumably at and began their journey.

    They trekked through the area collecting Light Crystals, killing beasts, and picking up anything that seems interesting for several hours while Maria and Cine walked at the back, bored. There were several reasons for this, but the main one is that their newpanions were just too weak and their enemies even weaker.

    But there were a few things that they took note of while watching them act and it gave them new insights on how to function properly as a group.

    The first thing Maria and Cine noticed about this group was how coordinated they were for a 5-man party. Another interesting thing was they all seemed to have different weapons with a fairly well-bnced team.

    Aaron was the leader and seemed to be part of the vanguard, along with Flint. He used a spear and his Earth affinity to mainly obstruct enemies and keep them at a distance. Flint used his sword and mes to deal more damagepared to Aaron. Most enemies never got past him.

    Ike seemed to hover in the middle of their group, protecting their nks and blind spots. He seemed to be more of an assassin with the way he handled his daggers and Darkness affinity, but he was much more useful in a battle concerning multiple enemies.

    Valery and Vivian were the rearguards where one focused on single-target damage and precision while the other specialized in AOE or high output techniques.

    Valery used her bow to hit the weak points of their enemies from a distance while also using her Water affinity to help heal her injured teammates.

    Vivian was a bit different, using a weapon that neither Maria nor Cine have seen before: a staff. From what they gathered, the staff helps to boost her lightning abilities damage output while keeping her Qi usage at a minimum. Her role in the team was to basically just lob a bunch of lightning bolts.

    Their lineup intrigued the two of them because everything Mira taught was how to be a one-man army, or in their case a one-woman army. They need to be strong and fearless like the vanguard, agile like an assassin, and capable of ranged or AOE abilities like the rear-guard. Not only that, but they need to train their sixth sense enough to be able to sense when enemies areing from behind while training and improving their instincts enough to dodge an attack in their blind spot without even seeing it.

    So basically, they just need to go through so many battles that this bes second nature.

    And while they haven''t reached the realm Mira is at, the two of them aren''t necessarily bad at handling multiple enemies as long as they aren''t stronger than them.

    Whenever they watched the five of them battle, Maria and Cine would put themselves in their shoes, except instead of 5 people having 1 role, it''s 1 person with all 5 roles. They were trying to extract and understand what the five of them are doing in hopes of it helping their ws or at least inspiring them.<sub> </sub>

    The only downside was�� They were too bored!!! There was no need for them to step up since these beasts are way too weak for them, but they didn''t enjoy walking around doing nothing.

    "Hey! Why don''t Maria and I take over for a bit? I''m sure you guys would like a break." Cine offered.

    <o>,m "Are you sure? If you are worried that we''re too tired, don''t. This is also good practice for us to sharpen our skills and coordination." Aaron countered, but part of him was also a bit bored with dealing with these weak-ass beasts.</o>

    "It''s fine. Maira and I have been getting a little bored seeing how you all are having all the fun. Maria, why don''t you go to the front? I''ll stay at the back." Cine said with a smirk.

    Maria nodded her head with arge smile while the others started to get worried. They all felt like putting Maria as the leader was about the same as putting a child up there.

    "Umm�� Are you sure that''s okay��?" Aaron asked nervously and before Cine could answer, Maria shouted.

    "Not to worry! My sense of direction and luck is quite good! For example, one time I was in thisbyrinth and I never got a single turn wrong despite that being my first time in abyrinth! Actually, I didn''t even know it was a maze until after the fact! We will surely be rich was someone as great as me leading the way! Hehe~" Maria pounded her fist in the air while giggling.

    She didn''t even wait for a response before she started marching in a random direction, totally different from the straight line Aaron was going in.

    They were a bit hesitant to follow such an idiotic reason until Cine walked up to them and started to exin.

    "It''s true, her sense of direction is abnormally good. I don''t know if it''s her instincts or just in old luck, but regardless following her will most likely be better than following me or you�� Even if it doesn''t make sense. Plus, it''s not like there is any downside. We aren''t looking for anything in particr so just go along with it for now." Cine said before following after Maria.

    "Sigh�� Might as well follow her. Cine is right, we don''t know where we''re going either and if she does have great instincts or high luck then we''ll only benefit from this." Aaron said with a sigh.

    "I suppose so. Hopefully, she doesn''t lead us to our deaths though." Vivian said, having a somewhat bad feeling about this.

    She knew that Maria and Cine were both much stronger than them and their lucky encounters might involve things or beasts out of their league. At the same time, they might be able to acquire items that are above them.

    "I vote to follow them! Maybe we''ll get to witness them battle against a Rank 6 beast! And if they are that strong then we might even be able to gain something just by watching them fight!" Flint argued with zing eyes.

    The other two didn''t say anything, but nodded their heads showing their support.

    "Well, that answers that. Let''s follow her for the time being." Aaron finished and the 5 of them caught up with Maria and Cine.

    What they didn''t know was that they are about to experience the might of not just one, but two one-man armies!

 Chapter 207 Miras Back

    With Maria as the new leader and Cine taking up the rear, there has been a significant increase in speed. Part of the reason for that is they have both gotten used to Mira and another reason is they are much stronger than Aaron''s group.

    Rank 4 beasts won''t willingly approach them and Rank 5 beasts get cut down without the ability to retaliate.

    Like right now, a massive Late-Rank 5 Crystal Tortoise, a tortoise that has a giant Light Crystal on its back, is currently charging up a beam attack in its mouth. Before it could even try sniping them from a distance, Maria was already in front of it holding its decapitated head while Cine dismantles it.

    The two of them are so perfectly in sync that it makes Aaron''s group look like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.

    It doesn''t matter what type of beast tries to attack them, they always end up dead in a single hit. Most of the time Aaron and the others don''t even realize something was about to attack them until they notice Maria or Cine holding the head of a beast off in the distance.

    "Gulp�� I''m starting to feel bad for the beasts now. What did these poor beasts do to deserve such treatment? At least show a little respect and let them show off their abilities!" Flint muttered to the rest of his team with a depressed look on his face.

    "All I can say is I''m d we didn''t end up fighting those two or else we might''ve been in the same position as them." Vivian, the lightning user, said.

    The rest of them felt a shiver run down their spine and vigorously nodded their heads.

    "But there is one thing that confuses me. Where the hell are we going?" Aaron wondered, but nobody could answer him.

    That''s because none of them knew what was going through Maria''s mind, not even Cine.

    Maria has been leading the group for a little while now, but she''s constantly switching directions or just straight up walking without even paying attention to where she''s going.

    For the most part, it seemed like she was going towards wherever she sensed anything light-rted. Be that either Light Crystals, beasts with crystals attached to them, Light affinity beasts, or anything simr.

    They just had no idea how Maria was able to know where these things were, but remembering what Cine said it could be blind luck, instinct, or a mixture of both. Either way, they are also profiting from Maria''s choices since whenever they find something that wouldn''t be helpful to Maria, Cine, or Mira they give it to Aaron''s group�� for a small price of course. That price being a few Spirit Stones.

    Another thing that nobody noticed was that Maria was intentionally going towards areas that contain numerous beasts. This wasn''t just to dismantle them, but to also try to strengthen her Light Dao and gain more insight into it.

    Unfortunately, they haven''te across any Rank 6 beasts to kill so she can take their Beast Cores, but that doesn''t matter to Maria as she''s just going to keep hunting, adventuring, and looting until she''s satisfied.

    ***

    A few days have passed since Maria, Cine, and Mira split up and Mira finally returned to Elenei, the Frost-Fire Phoenix.<sub> </sub>

    She was soaked in blood andbined with her icy silver hair and wine-red eyes made her look more monstrous than any monster.

    Elenei immediately noticed that the aura surrounding her, although bloody, was less murderous than it was before she went on a rampage.

    Her eyes were much clearer and she seemed a bit more rxed. Mira would describe this as a phenomenon simr to post-nut rity that men might experience after ejacting.

    "Wee back, Mira. You seem much more rxed now than you were a few days ago." Elenei greeted.

    Mira nodded while taking out a few buckets of water to wash with.

    "How''s Maria doing?" Maria asked, not caring too much about Cine.

    "She''s been exceptionally happy ever since she and Cine stumbled across another group of humans. It seems they have formed a group and are now adventuring together. It seems this group is somewhat trustworthy not to mention that Maria and Cine are many times stronger than this other group of humansbined." Elenei gave a report on Maria''s situation which caused Mira to frown.

    "Oh? I hope they don''t do anything stupid��" Mira''s eyes shed and the temperature around her significantly dropped for a split second.

    "Ahaha. I don''t think they''ll do anything. I''ve been watching for a while now and they seem to be pretty reasonable and upright people. I think they made some sort of agreement, but that seems to just be a pretext so Maria can have other people to talk to besides you and Cine." Elenei said awkwardly.

    p Mira didn''t reply since it''s hard for her to rte to what Maria is feeling. She''s spent most of her life alone and has been betrayed or backstabbed an incalcble number of times. To Mira, there is no point in wanting to interact with other people since to her, humans are the most vicious, two-faced, and greedy race in existence.</anda>

    "If you see anything suspicious happen, Elenei, don''t do anything until thest second. I want Maria to understand the dark side of humanity first-hand. Just stop them if she is about to die or if she''s about to be raped." Miramanded in a cold heartless tone.

    Elenei was surprised by Mira''s words and almost wondered if the two of them are even friends seeing how Mira wants the worst-case scenario handled. Well, at least she had the heart to tell her not to let Maria die, but then again�� what about Cine?

    "Are you sure? Don''t you think that''s going a bit too far to prove a point?" Elenei asked carefully.

    "It''s fine and this is not going too far. That girl never listens to me when I tell her how shitty humans are. I don''t know if this group she found will try to backstab her, but I''m sure if they are put in a situation where they have the opportunity to kill Maria and Cine they will certainly think about doing it. It won''t take much for an ounce of greed or lust to consume them once the thought arises. And if they don''t do anything�� they will get to live a little longer." Mira said with certainty.

    She''s experienced this scene many times before and sometimes the people that ended up backstabbing her while she was down were friends or family, not random strangers.

    "Alright! Enough of that! Bring out your Frost-Fire and let''s get to tempering!" Miramanded while taking numerous fire-elemental resources to help boost her Yin-Fireprehension.

 Chapter 208 Light Drake Part 1

    After traveling for a while, Maria kept walking in random directions until finally, something interesting happened.

    *ROAR*

    A mountainous roar was heard in the distance with caused Aaron''s group to freeze in fear while Maria and Cine readied their weapons.

    Not long after the roar was heard, arge, scaly creature was seen soaring through the air towards their position.

    "You might want to back up a bit," Cine spoke to Aaron and the others to which they subconsciously nodded and backed away.

    The creature soon came into view and they nearly mistook it for a dragon, but it wasn''t nearly as intimidating as the Frost-Fire Phoenix.

    It was covered in bright yellow scales with a 5-meter long wingspan and looked like a mini version of a Dragon.

    "Mid-Rank 6 Light drake��" Vivian muttered seeing the beast and decided to back up a bit more.

    Maria didn''t say anything as this beast might be a bit of a problem. Although she''s sure that she and Cine can kill it, things might not go so smoothly due to it being a beast with a dragon bloodline.

    It''s just�� thinking about the sweet sweet loot from this drake makes her want to salivate. Whether it be the scales, blood, heart, or the crystals attached to the scales, they will surely bring her immense benefits and increase herprehension in her Light Dao, cultivation speed, and she can even temper her body.

    Cine was thinking about something simr, but she wasn''t going to be greedy. Maria would be able to make the most out of this drake while if she were to use its body, sure, she''d experience some growth, but it would be better to just give it all to Maria.

    As soon as the drake came into full view, Maria wasted no time and jumped straight in, attacking it.

    Cine moved at exactly the same time as Maria, proving just how coordinated the two of them are.

    The drake seemed to be nning on shooting some sort of light beam out of its mouth, but Maria and Cine didn''t want to give it a chance to do so.

    Maria aimed for the stomach while Cine tried to make her way on top of the drake, but of course, things wouldn''t be so easy.

    The Light Drake swung its tail at Cine while swiping its w at Maria. Maria was forced to defend herself and shed at its w instead but was unable to deal any sort of damage to it.

    The same goes for Cine as her saber only left a mark on its tail, not even causing it to bleed.

    Their moods turned somber as they realized that this was going to be much harder than they originally thought.

    The drake, seemingly perfectly fine, also squinted its eyes a bit as it understood that these two girls pack a serious punch. It didn''t want to admit it, but it felt that it might actually get injured if it was careless. Nevertheless, they trespassed into its territory so they must pay the price!

    The three had a bit of a stare-off for a few seconds before dashing at each other.

    The Light-drake decided to take out Cine first since she''s clearly the weakest of the two, then dealing with Maria will be a bit easier.<sub> </sub>

    Cine, understanding this fact, knew that her doing any real damage to this drake without attacking its weak spots is unlikely. She did have one thing going for her though: her speed! In air,nd, and sea she''s the fastest out of Mira, Maria, and herself.

    She''s confident that she can keep this overgrown lizard busy while Maria deals the real damage. She can also look out for any weak spots and strike those whenever she finds a chance.

    The two didn''t need to say anything as this was how they usually worked together when they spar against a stronger opponent, mainly Mira.

    Seeing how the drake''s full attention was on Cine, activated her Light Sword and prepared a Triple Draws attack.

    She knew that most beasts that have a dragon bloodline are incredibly durable, but the sides of their stomach and the section underneath them are usually their softest body parts.

    Maria didn''t dy any longer, she sprouted Light Wings on her back and circted light around her feet as well. She didn''t want to give the Light Drake the chance to react.

    With everything ready, Maria shot across thend light a bolt of light leaving only a trail of gold in her wake.

    The Light Drake sensed danger, but before it could even respond to the danger, arge gash appeared on its side as blood started shooting out of this wound.

    *ROAARRR*

    The drake roared angrily as these puny humans dared to injure it. He, the great Light Drake, actually got injured by a couple of weaklings?!

    The drake understood that although it wasn''t going to die from this injury, it wasn''t going to heal anytime soon. Itsbat power might even dip if it doesn''t deal with this injury soon! It swung its tail as fast as possible at Maria and understood that this human is actually dangerous, more dangerous than it originally thought.

    Maria retreated as fast as possible, but the drake''s tail was able to graze her, sending her flying.

    She felt her internal organs shuffling around with that hit and it definitely broke her arm and a few ribs at the very least.

    Seeing Maria soar through the air, Cine knew things weren''t going as well as they had hoped, but she wasn''t too worried about Maria.

    She understood more than anyone that Maria was just like a cockroach, a masochist cockroach. In fact, she wouldn''t be surprised if Maria spends more time having broken bones than being n peak shape. Taking that hit from the Light Drake basically put her in her mostfortable state, injured.

    Unfortunately, she was the only one who knew that Maria had broken bones on a daily basis because of Mira. Aaron''s group watched Maria soar through the air and their faces turned pale.

    Maria didn''t care about any of this and twisted her body in a position that allowed her tond.

    "Sigh�� stupid lizard, that hurt. How will I be able to face Mira now? She''ll definitely drill me if she ever finds out I got injured because of a beast like you! Take responsibility and die stupid lizard!" Maria pouted seeing how part of her chest caved in, her shoulder dislocated, and a bone protruding out of her arm.

    Cine wanted to facepalm hearing Mariain like a child but wasn''t given the time to retort as she chased after the drake who was currently chasing Maria down.

 Chapter 209 Light Drake Part 2

    Maria wasn''t able to waste any time trying to heal herself as the Light Drake came charging at her, full-speed.

    "Sigh�� Stupid lizard, can''t you at least take responsibility for injuring me by giving me a bit of time to heal?" Maria nced at her dangling arm and asked the Light Drake.

    *ROAR*

    The Light Drake felt a blood vessel pop on its forehead listening to Maria''s idiotic request. Meanwhile, the others watching weren''t sure if they should praise Maria''s bravery orment on her shamelessness. The only thing they could do is sigh and pity the Drake.

    The only thing on the Drake''s mind now was to destroy this shameless human!

    Cine, who was nearing the Drake, was now being left in the dust and was forced to put in more effort into catching up to it.

    The Drake was charging up an attack and when it neared Maria, it shot a massive Light Beam at her. Aaron''s group was unable to even notice the Light Beam before it actually hit the ground, it was so fast.

    *BOOM*

    An enormous explosion appeared where Maria previously stood followed by a dust cloud that covered an area of around 50 meters in diameter.

    The Light Drake wanted to think that this shot killed this annoying human, but he couldn''t as he still sensed her presence. Not only that, but the weak human behind it was catching up.

    It didn''t dy so as not to allow Maria the chance to counterattack so the Drake lept towards the direction it sensed where Maria was.

    Suddenly, before it could even reach Maria''s location, it was bombarded with a myriad of attacks. These attacks mainly consisted of much smaller, weaker Light Beams and Light Swords, but they were all aimed at its eyes.

    The Drake shut its eyes to block these attacks as it didn''t have any time to dodge, but this, unfortunately, gave Maria enough time to close in on the Drake.

    "I think it''s about time I punish the naughty lizard. You didn''t even wee us properly when we came knocking on your territory! I mean, what kind of host attacks its guests out of nowhere?! Who taught you your manners? Mira? Hehe~" Maria giggled as she appeared on top of the Drake''s neck.

    Her attack was already charged with her Triple Draws, Light Sword, and Seven Stars Strike. Her sword resembled a shining star as she swung it down towards the Drake''s neck. The strike left a nasty gash on the back of its neck, but it wasn''t enough to kill.

    Maria didn''t panic and continued with her Seven Stars Strike, trying to sh the Drake as fast as possible before it regains its senses after being cut in the neck.

    2 Hits!

    3 Hits!

    4 Hits!

    5 Hits!

    6 Hits!

    The light surrounding Maria''s sword had now condensed into and although it wasn''t as bright, the power emanating from it was truly terrifying.

    The Drake had a sudden sense of crisis and overwhelming dread when it felt the aura of the next strike and woke up from its daze, moving immediately.

    Maria had already predicted something like this to happen so she had already jumped off of the Drake and into the direction she predicted the Drake to go in.

    She was slightly off in the exact direction, but the Light Drake was so big that it hardly made any difference.

    *ROAR*<sub> </sub>

    The Drake roared in anger as it was determined to live and if it couldn''t live then it was going to take this pathetic human down with it.

    It swung its tail and ws at Maria, but she was just a bit quicker as her swing had already fallen down onto its neck.

    She wasn''t able to perfectly strike the same gash she made with her previous six strikes, but she also knew that this strike would kill it.

    *SNAP*

    And kill it she did as Maria heard the satisfying sound of her chopping through its spin, killing it instantly.

    "Haha! Gotcha, stupid liza- Blergh!" Maria ended up celebrating, but this momentarypse in judgment caused her to get punctured by one of the Drake''s tail spikes.

    The spike entered the side of her body and reached at least 15 centimeters deep inside her stomach.

    "Maria!" Cine yelled in fright when she saw Maria getting stabbed by that spike and brought to her knees.

    Luckily, Cine was nearby and could still calmly assess the situation. She knew Maria wouldn''t die from something like this, but it''s still not a good thing to see your best friend getting stabbed and was currently bleeding out.

    "Hehe�� Cough *Splurt*... I got it!" Maria giggled while throwing up more blood and gave Cine a thumbs up.

    Cine didn''t bother dealing with Maria and decided to treat her. First, she cut the spike off of the Drake, leaving it inside Maria''s body with a portion of it sticking out. This will prevent her from bleeding out any more than she already was and will give her an ample amount of time to heal with minimal loss.

    She then popped in a few Rank 5 Healing Pills and proceeded to dig out the Beast Core from inside the Light Drake.

    After digging out the bowling ball size Beast Core from inside the Light Drake, she handed it to Maria in hopes of aiding her recovery.

    Maria decided not to y around anymore and sat down to focus on healing her body while Cine collected the Light Drake''s corpse.

    After Cine finished collecting all the loot, she walked over next to Maria in order to guard her until she''s healed.

    Not much longer after that, she heard noises near her and sensed 5 people walking towards them, in other words, Aaron''s group.

    "Wow! I can''t believe you actually killed that thing! I knew you and Maria were strong, but I didn''t think you were this strong! That battle was amazing! Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to catch most of it due to how fast you guys were moving, but I could feel just how intense everything was!" Flint eximed with shining eyes.

    Aaron nodded as well.

    "That was surely an eye-opening fight. I don''t think most of our elders would''ve been able to fight that beast head-on and kill it. You two must''ve really gotten lucky throughout your time here in the Secret Realm, huh?" Aaron said while still trying to prod for a bit of information. Unfortunately for him, Cine wasn''t stupid and caught on to what he was trying to do.

    "Hmm�� Well, I didn''t do much of the fighting, it was mostly Maria. If I were to try and fight that beast alone, although I might not lose, I don''t think I''d be able to win either." Cine humbly avoided the question.

    "As you can see, Maria got a little injured so we are going to take a break here. I don''t know if you guys want to continue following us or not since these are the types of battles and enemies we are hoping to face. I''m sure you understand that although you might encounter treasures that can assist with your cultivation while grouping up with us, the likelihood of death is incredibly high. And it most likely won''t be the kind of death where you died valiantly in battle, but the death where you get crushed like in ant caught up in the midst of our battle." Cine cautioned them. She didn''t particrly care whether they joined or not, but due to this group of people being surprisingly kind to them, she didn''t want to see them dying by some random attack that wasn''t even meant for them.

    Aaron''s group sobered up after hearing Cine''s warning and also got a better look at Maria. She was covered in blood, her chest was partially caved in, one of her arms was dangling, and she had a spike stuck in her side.

    This was the cruel reality of the situation. Even with how strong Maria was, she still ended up in this state. They could easily surmise that they didn''t even need to get hit by the Drake''s w or tail and the wind pressure alone created by its attacks was more than enough to deal with the likes of them.

    Aaron''s eyes narrowed as he contemted whether he should prioritize the safety of the group over the possibility of treasures or vice versa and will he be able to deal with the guilt if one of his teammates died due to a decision he made by a momentarypse in greed.

 Chapter 210 Goodbye

    Aaron and his group discussed what Maria said. Part of him wanted to stay with Maria and Cine, but Aaron also realized that they couldn''t even join in on the fight against the Light Drake. Not to mention that they''d receive the lesser treasures and they''d even have to split them amongst 5 people.

    If they found anything that wasn''t of the Light element then perhaps they''d be able to gather some decent loot with Maria and Cine as the group leaders, but sadly, it would be quite rare to find any treasures like that considering this world has a huge affinity for light.

    Maria didn''t say anything else and focused on recovering.

    Cine stood guard, making sure that nothing could sneak up on Maria.

    After around 10 minutes, Aaron and his group came back to Maria and Cine withplicated expressions.

    Maria opened her eyes and gave them a bright smile, but she seemed to already know what their answer is.

    "It seems you''vee to a consensus?" Maria asked.

    p "Yeah�� I think we are going to head out. I can''t, in good conscience, lead my group into the jaws of death with barely anything to show for it. I''m sure we could probably work out a deal for the treasures, but we don''t have much to offer. Maybe if we were just a bit stronger then we could apany you, but right now there is pretty much no point for you to keep us with you." Aaron said calmly, but his teammates didn''t have the same look.</anda>

    It seemed the battle with the Light Drake only proved to them that not only are Maria and Cine extremely strong, but the beasts here are equally as strong if not stronger. It would be stupid of them to challenge any Rank 6 beast, hell even a Late and Peak Rank 5 Beast is hard enough.

    "Hehe, don''t worry too much! I had a great time being able to talk with someone other than Mira! She only cares about training, training, and more training! I would say that you guys should meet her, but even if you 5 do somehow manage to live, she''ll definitely tortu-I mean train you guys into the ground seeing how weak you are, hehe~! Anyway, we should definitely meet up after the Secret Realm is over! I''ll try and convince Mira to see you guys as well! Should be fun!" Maria giggled at the thought and sent a beautifully innocent smile towards them.

    Unfortunately, Maria''s smile didn''t make them feel any better and instead sent shivers down their spine.

    Valery, the meek archer with a water affinity was the first to speak up.

    "N-N-No, that''s okay! We wouldn''t want to bother Mira with all of her training!" Valery fumbled her words.

    Aaron''s group had a decent understanding of Mira, but Valery seemed to know a bit more about her. She was the one that paid the most attention to Mira ever since the Inter-Sect Tournament.

    She also paid quite a bit of attention to Mira when she dove headfirst into an army! When Mira was killing people of the Soul Devouring Sect, Valery took note that Mira didn''t seem to be at a disadvantage at all while being surrounded by enemies. No, it looked like she was thriving in such a chaotic and horrifying environment.

    asionally, she''d catch a glimpse of Mira''s eyes when she was fighting, and whether it be at war or on stage, she always had a cold but malicious look in her eyes just waiting to be released.

    "Ahaha�� Well, as long as she doesn''t intentionally try to harm us then I''ll take your word for it." Aaronughed awkwardly.

    "Hehe~ Also, you are wee to stay here a bit longer while I''m healing. It''ll probably take a few hours or maybe even a few days before I''m fully healed." Maria offered with a warm smile.

    Aaron and Flint blushed a little seeing how beautiful Maria''s smile was and were in a trance for a few seconds before shaking it off.

    "S-Sure, I guess we''ll stay for a bit. What do you think, guys?" Aaron avoided eye contact while muttering.

    "Y-Yeah."<sub> </sub>

    "Sounds good!"

    "It''s not like we had any ns, to begin with."

    "I-I guess that''s fine."

    Hearing everyone agree, Maria jumped up excitedly��

    "Hurra-Ouch!"

    ... but instantly regretted it.

    Everyone chuckled a bit at that and started to make a small camp for them to stay at for at least a few hours.

    ***

    Back on Mira''s side, Elenei was informing Mira about Maria''s situation.

    "So far, nobody has tried to harm Maria while she''s weakened, but I can''t rule out that Cine has anything to do with this. They should understand that Cine isn''t much weaker than Maria and it''s really just her cultivation that''sgging behind a bit. I''ve also heard from Maria that she intends on trying to convince you to meet with these people in the future." Elenei reported while Mira was still meditating, trying to gain understanding into Yin Fire.

    "I see," Mira muttered without opening her eyes.

    Elenei, however, grew curious about what Mira will do. From what she understands, Mira is very anti-social, has trust issues, and has a deep hatred for men. It would certainly be interesting to see her engage with these regr folk.

    "What will you do about it?"

    "Who knows. Normally, I''d say no immediately, but I feel like this could be a good way to ''inspire'' Maria to work hard. She''s always asking for rewards from me like some kind of puppy and I usually don''t have anything to offer other than training. But then again, I''d rather not meet up with them." Mira said before going back to meditating.

    Elenei was surprised at first, but after a bit of thought, she understood Mira''s reasoning for her decision and Elenei also found it to be a good decision if she goes through with it.

    Elenei could tell that Mira basically has nothing to offer as a reward besides training advice. Her personality is warped, she hates interacting with others, has no hobbies other than fighting and killing, hardly ever sparks up a conversation, and only cares about getting stronger.

    "I think that''s probably a good idea. I think it''ll also be good for you to interact with oth-" Elenei was speaking casually, but before she could finish her sentence she felt an overwhelming amount of malicious intent washing over her followed by Mira''s blood-red eyes.

    Gulp.

    Even though Elenei is inconsequentially stronger than Mira, the amount of murderous intent that Mira can let loose is still unnerving.

    The two didn''t say anything else and went back to what they were doing beforehand, but the atmosphere around them was much heavier than it was before.

 Chapter 211 Light Drakes Lair

    Mira didn''t bother with Elenei anymore and went back to what she was doing. She didn''t want to stop trying toprehend her Yin Fire since it was much more difficult than she originally thought.

    There''s still around 2 years left in this Secret Realm, but Mira realized that if she doesn''t put in all of her effort inprehending the element of fire then she may not be able to keep her end of the deal with Elenei.

    Originally, she was going to spend around a year cultivating and at least reach the Peak of the Foundation Realm maybe even breaking through to the Core Formation Realm if she''s lucky, but it seems that''s nothing but a pipe dream!

    Most likely, she won''t be able to cultivate at all during these next 2 years!

    But Mira''s not too upset by this. Or really, it''s probably a good thing. What''s 2 years'' worth of cultivatingpared to nurturing a Frost-Fire Phoenix? Something that Immortals would fight wars over to get their hands on?

    Even if had to give up 100 years just toprehend Yin Fire in order to nurture a future Immortal, it''d be worth it!

    Doing this might cause some trouble amongst the Immortal Dragon and Phoenix ns, but that''s something that future Mira will worry about. She''ll leave Immortal problems for when she is near or actually bes an Immortal.

    With that though, Mira went back toprehending the Yin Fire element.

    Elenei saw that Mira seemed to have be a bit more focused and cast an approving gaze at her. Mira is herst hope at progressing further in her cultivation and it''d be better for both of them if she puts in as much effort as she can.

    ***

    It took a few days for Maria to fully recover from her injuries and during this time, they said goodbye to Aaron''s group.

    Cine was pretty much fine after their fight with the Light Drake and Aaron''s group wouldn''t be very helpful against an enemy that Cine herself couldn''t handle.

    Originally, after saying goodbye to Aaron''s group, the two of them wanted to go back to Mira, but then they realized that they haven''t looted the Light Drake''sir! Surely such a strong beast wouldn''t be so poor, right?

    Maybe itsyer will be filled with rare herbs, precious metals, and maybe even the loot of other people!

    The only problem is they don''t know where itsyer is located! So the only thing they can do is guess.

    Both of them remembered the direction that the Light Drake came from and started off from there.

    "I wonder what we''ll find at the Light Drake''sir. What do you think will be there, Cine?"

    "I don''t know, but I''d be happy as long as there is something there. Who knows, that stupid lizard may have eaten all the good stuff in order to reach its level of strength."

    Maria was stunned when she heard Cine''s answer and felt what she said mighte true.

    What if that Light Drake wasn''t originally a Light Drake and only evolved into one because of the resources it found?

    "No no no, how can that be? Surely there would at least be something leftover even if that was the case. Also, how can someone as lucky as me meet with such misfortune?"

    Maria said with confidence to which Cine just shrugged her shoulders.

    The two of them continued talking as they searched for this shitty Light Drake''sir.

    .

    .

    .

    A few dayster, the two of them stumbled upon arge cave that held a dense amount of Qi inside and there were tons ofrge footprints around the outside of the cave.

    Maria and Cine beamed as this cave is most likely the ce where the Light Drake lived.

    "Hehe looks like we finally found it!"<sub> </sub>

    Maria eximed.

    Cine nodded with a slight smile as she too was a bit expectant to see what''s inside.

    Although the two of them were excited, they didn''t let their guards down. In fact, they raised their guards. Who knows what kind of dangers are lurking around this cave just waiting to loot it.

    The two of them slowly snuck their way into the cave and other than the dense amount of Qi, there was nothing special. But that''s fine, they are still near the entrance!

    They slowly crept through the cave and it didn''t take long for them to find the end of the cave and what they saw left them dumbfounded.

    The first thing they noticed was the overabundant amount of bones, in particr beast bones. The sides of the cave were filled to the brim with beast bones.

    The next thing they noticed is the whole ce smelled like shit! Literally! It smelled like someone used this ce for thest hundred years as an outhouse and didn''t bother doing anything to mask the smell.

    And finally, thest thing they noticed was�� That there is nothing else in this cave!!

    "Are you kidding me?"

    Maria felt like crying right now. Where was her loot? Where were her precious herbs and rare metals? At least give me a Spirit Stone as a constion prize!

    All she got was a bunch of shit and bones!!

    "Sigh�� From the looks of it, the Light Drake must''ve recently evolved and decided to move out. This smell isn''t the smell of poop, but the smell of impurities cleansed from the body. Also, if you look closely you can see the skin it shed as it evolved. I guess an ''I told you so'' is in order hehe."

    Cine tried to tease Maria a bit to ease the tension.

    "Shut up! What do you know?! Maybe there is something extraordinary in this poop! Maybe that big dumb overgrown lizard forgot some of its loot in its excitement after evolving!" Maria yelled with vigor.

    "Haha! If that really is the case, then I''ll eat its shit if you can really find something like that."

    Cine said casually.

    "You said it! Don''t go back on your word when I find my priceless treasure!"

    1 Hour Later

    "Hahaha! It looks like I won''t be eating any shit! Hahaha!"

    Cine wasughing at Maria, who at this point was covered in�� unique substances.

    Over thest hour, Maria had sifted through every ounce of this cave. She tore apart the bones, poop, impurities, shed skin, and even dug a bunch of holes in the ground.

    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that she turned this cave upside down, but even after all of her hard work, all she ended up doing was washing her clothes in freshly shat poo.

    "That damn useless lizard! How dare it call itself a Light Drake?! What Drake doesn''t have a secret stash of loot?! Argh!"

    Maria wailed.

    "Alright. Alright. Seeing as you literally tore this cave apart, I think it''s time we head out of here and get ourselves cleaned up. Although it seems this Light Drake consumed all of its treasures, we still have its corpse. We can also keep adventuring to make up for our loss today."

    Cine tried to calm Maria down as there was nothing they could do at this point.

    "Argh! Whatever, let''s just get out of this ce and go take a bath! I''m tired of smelling like this!"

    The two of them ended up leaving the cave with nothing to show except for extraordinarily smelly bodies.

 Chapter 212 The Plan To Beat Up Mira Part 1

    Maria and Cine left the Light Drake''sir full of enthusiasm, but unfortunately, this vigor was swept away within the next few days.

    "That shitty drake! Not only did it eat all of its own treasures, but it looted everything useful in the surrounding area! Are you kidding me? No wonder it was so useless! It could only consume precious resources to force itself to evolve! What a waste!"

    Mariained.

    The two of them have been scouting the nearby area for several days only to realize that there is nothing useful around them other than the overabundant Light Crystals.

    They both still collected these Light Crystals even though they have thousands of them at this point. That''s because not only are they useful to Maria, but they can also be sold or traded when they exit this Secret Realm.

    Something that the two of them realized on this trip to the Secret Realm is they are really poor, at least in terms of Spirit Stones. Mira''s the one that keeps most of the Spirit Stones and she only has what she was awarded due to her contributions to the war. That along with what she collected from the people she''s killed, but those people were poorer than them!

    Another thing to note is that Mira goes through treasures like she''s eating candy! Just look at what she''s doing right now! She''s literally consuming and/or studying anything rted to the fire element while making Elenei wash her with her Frost-Fire.

    By the time they make it out of here, Mira might''ve used up all Fire rted resources!

    Luckily the three of them were able to enter this Secret Realm or they''d still be a couple of poor blokes begging for resources!

    So now that they have the chance to grab resources, the two of them are going to make sure they take anything of use.

    "Hey Maria, you know what I just thought about?"

    All of a sudden, Cine asked.

    "I know what you''re thinking! Why is this Light World so poor yet it''s filled to the brim with these useless crystals and weak beasts? That''s what you were thinking, right?"

    Maria answered with a forlorn expression. Cine was a bit speechless that Maria was still thinking about that.

    "No! I was thinking that this might be our only time to catch up to Mira. Not only catch up to her but surpass her as well. This might be our only chance to pummel Mira like she always does to us!"

    Maria stopped walking when she heard what Cine just said. Her brain was working in overdrive right now trying to process what Cine just said.

    Sure enough, although she wants to be able to beat Mira, subconsciously she hasbeled Mira as an invincible and unbeatable existence in her mind.

    She''s lost count of how many times Mira has utterly destroyed her without even trying. Sure, she is a bit stronger than her, but the difference is negligible. The main reason she always loses is that Mira is just too good at fighting.<sub> </sub>

    Sure, Mira is decently skilled with the scythe and her Ice is really annoying to deal with, but Maria has also be rather skilled with the sword and her Light Element usage.

    So then why is she always destroyed in a fight with Mira? Well, to put it simply, Mira is just too versatile and can read her opponent like an open book. When you prepare to make a move, Mira has already grasped your intention and made preparations to counter it. And if you ever think you''ve grasped Mira''s next move, then jokes on you! She''ll switch it up at thest moment and catch you unprepared. Or if you think she''ll switch things up, then she won''t do what you think and still catch you off guard.

    The only thing Mira could be said to be unrivaled in is hand-to-handbat and herbat sense. The rest of her skills are fairly average or below average for her level of strength.

    Now that Maria is thinking about it, these two years might be their only chance to beat Mira up or at the very least fight her to a draw!

    Mira is most likely going to be spending all of her time trying toprehend the Yin Fire element. She won''t have time to practice her scythe or ice skills. Nor will she have the time to cultivate.

    Even when she doesprehend the Yin Fire element and is actually capable of using it, there is a 90% chance that it''ll be essentially useless to the current her. She might be able to use it for weapon forging or something like that, but she definitely won''t be using it in actualbat.

    All of these things equal a period of around 2 years where Mira isn''t growing stronger, but they are allowed to explore this Secret Realm and look for opportunities!

    Even if they don''t be much more skilled with their respective weapons or elements, they can still cultivate. So what if they don''t be more skilled, in the face of overwhelming power what can you do?!

    Wouldn''t they be able to crush Mira if they reach the Peak of the Foundation Realm? Mira probably wouldn''t even be able to touch them if they enter the Core Formation Realm!

    Although thatst part might be a bit unrealistic��

    The Peak of the Foundation Realm is already pushing it considering how strong their foundations are.

    "Holy moly, Cine, you''re absolutely right. If we can surpass her in cultivation while also growing our skills over the next 2 years I think we might have a 70% chance at beating Mira if we work together! It''ll be hard, but if we focus on the right areas then it''s totally doable! Heck yeah! I''m already pumped just thinking about it! Hehehe~"

    Maria started giggling foolishly while imagining Mira sprawled out on the ground while her foot is pressed against Mira''s stomach.

    She''ll finally be able to look down on Mira and not the other way around! Just thinking about it sends chills down her spine in anticipation.

    p Hehe~</anda>

    Cine watched all of this happening quietly, but a weird thought couldn''t help but surface in her mind��

    "Is she really a masochist?"

 Chapter 213 The Plan To Beat Up Mira Part 2

    "Alright, that''s enough, Maria. We won''t get anywhere just by daydreaming. We need a n! What should we focus on? What are Mira''s weaknesses? How can we progress in the shortest time possible without ruining our foundation? These are things that we need to know."

    Cine cut off Maria from her fantasies.

    Maria blushed a bit after she realized that she was lost in her own world, but then started to seriously consider what Cine said.

    "I think our cultivation is the most important thing. Even if we mainly focus on our weapon skills over the next 2 years, we won''t be substantially better unless we get lucky. Not to mention that even if we do make substantial improvements, we''d probably only be a bit more skilled than Mira in the weapon department. As for Mira''s weakness�� Well, as far as I can tell Mira''s main weaknesses are herck of creativity and long-range attacks. Her ice skills are also rathercklusterpared to her cultivation."

    Maria thought seriously.

    "You''d know her better than me so I don''t really have anything to add on that front. But I understand that my cultivation is my weakest point. I think as long as I go through plenty of life or death battles then I''ll be fine. I doubt I''ll be able to make decent improvements to my Wind Dao during this time so unless I find something that can help improve that, I''ll just be fighting and cultivating."

    Cine already knew what her weaknesses were and what she needs to work on. Originally, she wanted to focus on improving her Wind Dao before her cultivation and saber skills, but her talent with the saber is already abnormally high so she doesn''t need to do anything other than fight to stimte her talent.

    Her Wind Dao is essentially useless if she were to fight against beasts or people at the same stage or higher as her. She mainly uses it as an auxiliary tool to assist her in fights rather than it being one of her main attack/defense methods.

    Her fighting style is very reminiscent of Mira''s except Mira has higher cultivation and is more experienced inbat than her. It''s no wonder she can''t evene close to beating her or even putting up a decent fight against her.

    "Well, unlike you two meatheads, I actually focus on improving my Light Dao and incorporate it into my fighting style. Hehe~"

    Maria teased Cine knowing full well she''s barely put any effort into improving her Wind Dao over the years. The same goes for Mira, she''ll only focus on improving her Ice Dao when it''s convenient or whenever she''s not cultivating.

    "Yeah, yeah. Anyways, it looks like we''ll be traveling together a bit more seeing as we have the same training goals. Plus, this world is a great ce to train your Light Dao!"

    "Yes! Let''s gooo!! Wash your neck, Mira! We''reing for you! Hehe~ I always wanted to say that��"

    Maria yelled and ran off in a random direction while giggling. Cine just face-palmed and followed after her idiot friend.

    ***

    Elenei was listening in to everything that the two of them were discussing and was rying the information back to Mira since she found this whole scenario quite entertaining.

    Surprisingly, Mira wasn''t angry, no, she seemed a bit amused when Elenei finished recalling what just happened. Still, even though she was amused and knew that what they said wasn''t wrong, she couldn''t help but sneer.

    "Heh. So the two of them think I''m not that skilled with my scythe and I''m essentially useless with my Ice Dao? I suppose they aren''t necessarily wrong. I heavily rely on mybat sense and brute strength for most things. BUT! Will getting a bit stronger or having higher cultivation really be enough? NO! I have crawled my way out of the deepest depths of hell leaving a sea of blood in my wake! Was I ever stronger than my opponents? No! Yet, they still died under my hand! Those two won''t be any different. At the end of the day, they will still fall under my de." Mira proimed in disdain.

    Elenei was a bit stunned by Mira''s words since she didn''t fully understand what Mira was saying other than she was better than them and there is nothing they can do.

    "You know, you should really take their words to heart. Your scythe skills are fairly average and the only reason your Ice Dao is useful is, strictly speaking, because of the Dao you chose. If it weren''t because of that, your Dao would be useless right now. As long as you improve yourprehension of your Ice Dao, your strength will skyrocket! You won''t even need to use anything other than your ice to fight!"<sub> </sub>

    Elenei decided to advise Mira since the stronger she is, the better things will be for her. Plus, as long as she improves her Ice Daoprehension, her other auxiliary elements like Yin Fire, Yin Magma, Yin Lightning, and so on will improve with it as well, albeit they won''t be nearly as strong as her Ice element.

    "Sigh�� I know. But there''s only so much I can do and these things take time. From where Ie from, nobody uses a scythe, so finding someone with the same weapon type as me to spar against is pretty much impossible and there are also no Scythe Manuals for me to learn and study. My Ice Dao, well, you can probably guess why that one is so weak. It needs tons of rare resources if I want fast and stable progression and if I don''t have those then I either have to hope I get lucky and enter some sort of enlightenment or just spend a long ass timeprehending it. The faster way to improve my strength, at least right now, is to cultivate."

    Mira exined her circumstances with a neutral expression. She wasn''tining or trying to gain any sort of pity. She chose this route all the while understanding the downsides. These are just the facts.

    Sure, she has the Extreme Overlord Yin Physique, but that can only boost herprehension so much.

    Naturally, Elenei understands this as well.

    "I know what you''re trying to say, but this is just advice from a humble Frost-Fire Phoenix who was birthed by two Immortal Phoenix. Your Dao Comprehension and weapon skills will be astronomically more useful than your cultivation the stronger you get. It''s best if you start early or else forget bing an Immortal, you probably won''t even make it past the Core Formation Realm."

    Elenei gave Mira herst piece of advice before closing her eyes and going silent.

    Mira was a bit surprised to hear that since she figured that cultivation is everything. Her thoughts were fairly simple on this matter. There probably aren''t a lot of people who are more skilled than her in battle so why does she need to improve her weapon skills? As long as she gets stronger, she can win pretty much any battle.

    But Elenei reminded her that she isn''t living among mortals anymore. Sure, battles among mortals, she is unrivaled. But how much individual power do mortals truly have? A few hundred kilograms at most.

    Cultivators can split the seas, destroy countries, tten mountains, or rain hellfire. At a certain point, they can be considered gods!

    Right now, she''s still at a point where people haven''t truly grasped the elements and are still rtively weak. Close quartersbat is the general trend among Qi Condensation and Foundation Realm experts so the battles aren''t that different from mortal battles, they are just on a bitrger scale.

    But Mira has never truly experienced a battle among real experts. Battles where the only time the opponents get close to each other is just to make sure the other person is dead.

    This was a wake-up call. A very important one at that.

    "Tha-"

    Mira tried to say ''Thank you'' but it got stuck in her throat. She''s not sure when thest person that helped was, but it was probably years and several lifetimes ago. At some point, she stopped trusting other people, and even if they did help, she could never know if it was some scheme to destroy her.

    Over time, she has not only built up a wall around people, but she''s able to take a certain pride in it. She hasn''t needed anyone to help her and she''s gotten to where she is by herself.

    So right now, she''s having an internal struggle with her pride, but it seems her pride and stubbornness won out as she just let out a sigh and continued trying toprehend the Yin Fire Element.

    Elenei cracked a subtle smile at that and went back to observing Maria and Cine.

 Chapter 214 The Plan To Beat Up Mira Part 3

    Back on Maria and Cine''s side, it''s been a few days since they confirmed their ns and the two of them were doing exactly what Mira has been teaching them to do over the years.

    Fighting!

    Yes, they''ve been fighting nonstop ever since that day they came up with the n ''Beat Mira up''.

    They''ve been fighting Mira for years and so far she''s definitely the most difficult opponent they''ve faced to date. And while they''ve learned a lot from sparring against her and from her teachings, they can''t just spar against Mira for their entire lives. Well, maybe they could since she''s just so versatile. BUT! That''s so boring! They don''t just want to lose because that''s what''s going to happen if they fight against Mira. They will lose.

    Both of them are tired of that! They want to win! They want to see Mira under their feet just like she''s seen them underneath hers!

    That''s why they''ve been fighting nonstop over thest few days. The only time they stop is when they need to rest, but other than that they are fighting or at least searching for a proper opponent to fight.

    They decided not to split the days up alternating between cultivating and fighting. This is for several reasons, but the main one is so they can better digest what they learn from their fights while cultivating. They don''t know how many fights they''ll have to go through in order to stimte their potential and give them something to meditate on. Neither do they know how long their meditation and cultivation sessions willst.

    So they ultimately decided to just fight as many life-or-death battles as they can until they feel the need to meditate. Then they will meditate and cultivate until they noticed substantial gains. Then rinse and repeat.

    Or in other words, they are just going to wing it!

    Wow, what a great n!

    Though their n might be dogshit and in reality, they have no idea what they are doing, it''s not really about the n. It''s more about their mindset going into this long training retreat. They are going into this with a goal, one that might be almost impossible to achieve, but is totally possible as long as they put in the work. Not only do they have a goal, but this goal has a lot of meaning to them and would be the most satisfying and euphoric experience if they canplete this goal.

    It could almost be said that Maria and Cine don''t even care about their families as much as they care about this goal! Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No, they might not even get this chance if they lived several lifetimes.

    So really, it doesn''t really matter what their n is, as long as they keep this mindset throughout their training, then their strength will surely soar.

    This world is also a Holy Land for Maria since it''s not only filled with treasures of the Light Element, but even the beasts have a Light Affinity. So she can kill many birds with 1 stone just by fighting these beasts.

    Her Light Daoprehension, sword skills, and Light Element skills will rise just by fighting the various types of beasts here. Not only that, but even the beast corpses can be useful for her cultivation or at the very least her Light Dao. This isn''t even taking into consideration the loot that some of these beasts have or how fighting them will help stabilize her cultivation.

    This could be said to be the best ce for Maria to get stronger.

    Cine, on the other hand, isn''t quite as fortunate as Maria but it isn''t like staying in this world is useless for her. She can still boost her Wind Dao, saber skills, and Wind Element skills and usage by fighting these beasts it''ll just be to a lesser degree than Maria.

    But that''s okay since she''s weaker than Maria in cultivation and surviving in this Secret Realm by herself would be extremely hard. No, it wouldn''t just be hard. The most likely oue for her is death. The beasts in this Secret Realm are just too strong! Just take Elenei for example! What the hell is she supposed to do about that?! Or worse, take Kayda the Magma Dragon. She''s probably stronger than Elenei!

    Want to know why she was able to survive and not just survive but also gain something from those encounters? Because of Mira! Not her strength, but her uniqueness and potential.

    But what does she have? Talent with the Saber? Why would Kayda or Elenei care about something like that?<sub> </sub>

    She would certainly die if she ever encountered those two by herself!

    "But maybe that''s exactly what I need in order to get stronger faster."

    Cine muttered to herself while deep in thought.

    "What''d you say?"

    Maria turned around and asked.

    "Ah! I was just thinking that maybe me going solo would be able to stimte my potential and boost my strength more than staying with you would."

    Cine exined.

    "Are you saying you don''t want to be with me anymore?"

    Maria asked with teary eyes, but Cine wasn''t buying it. She just looked at her with a deadpan expression.

    "Hehe~ Sorry sorry. Honestly, I think it would be a good idea, but you should first advance your cultivation to the Mid-Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm. Your chances of survival will definitely improve after that."

    Maria offered a piece of advice that Cine thought about seriously and found it reasonable.

    "You''re probably right. Who knows what sort of shit I''ll encounter in this Secret Realm and every bit of strength counts. I guess I''ll be in your care a bit longer, partner. Hehe~"

    "Don''t worry! Your Mommy Maria will take care of you and make sure you don''t ck off! Haha!"

    Maria hugged Cine and caressed the back of her head as a mother would to her child. Then before Cien could get angry, she startedughing and ran off.

    Cine felt her face twitch when she heard Maria call herself ''Mommy'' and instantly regretted her decision to stay.

    She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before putting on her usual neutral expression. She looked in the direction that Maria ran off in and couldn''t help but sigh onest time.

    "Why must you run off like this every time? I don''t enjoy chasing after your idiot self! You don''t even know where you''re going so how the hell am I supposed to know?!"

    She couldn''t help but grumble while tracking Maria down.

 Chapter 215 Celaine Leaves

    8 Months Later

    Cine opened her eyes and smiled seeing how she finally made a breakthrough into the Mid-Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm.

    She''s been working exceptionally hard to increase her cultivation and fighting prowess over thest 8 months and couldn''t help but feel proud of what she achieved. Although her cultivation has only gone up a single Minor Realm, her actual strength has grown significantly more. Especially her saber skills.

    It could be said that her talent with the Saber is very exceptional and she would probably even be considered a genius in ces like the Central Continent.

    She doesn''t even need a teacher to help her increase her Saber Skills as her talent is more than enough to make up for that, at least for now that is. Every day her skills be more and more refined especially now that she has a goal in mind.

    She tries to hop into a life-or-death situation almost every day in order to stimte her potential since she knows that this is the fastest way for her strength to rise.

    Maria and Mira are already ahead of her both in cultivation andbat skills so if she wants to catch up with them, she needs to work extra hard but it wasn''t all for naught.

    Her gains over the past 8 months have been quite substantial, but it''s still not enough to beat Mira as she is still a Minor Realm higher than her. However, in terms of weapon skills, she feels that she''s not too far off from Mira''s level.

    Well, that''s at least how she feels. She''s not sure if she''s ever seen Mira''s limit and even when she fought in the war against the Soul Devouring Sect, it seemed like she was just casually swinging her scythe around since the enemies were so much weaker than her.

    Nevertheless, she''s confident in her talent and hard work! A month of training for her might be the equivalent of several months worth of training for other people or perhaps even more than that.

    As long as she keeps up this pace over the next year and a half, she has full confidence in beating Mira�� with Maria''s help of course.

    "Sigh�� I suppose it''s about time I leave Maria now that I''ve broken through, but I can''t really be too sad about it. I can only handle so much of her before I lose my damn mind."

    Cine got up withplex emotions when all of a sudden she heard a voice.

    "You can only handle so much of what?"

    Cine knew it was Maria talking and her face fell. She couldn''t help but sigh again as she walked out of her little cultivation cave.

    "It''s nothing. I was just saying that it''s probably about time for me to leave."

    "Oh? I thought you were saying how you were about to lose your mind if you stayed with me any longer�� *Sniff* *Sniff* I''ve taken such great care of you over thest 8 months and this is the thanks I get? I only have you to keep mepany, I''ll die of loneliness if you leave!"

    Hearing this, Cine just looked at Maria expressionlessly with a face that said: ''Bitch, please. You always run off on your own to do your own thing and leave the dregs for me to deal with! Nothing will change for you if I leave!''.

    Of course, she didn''t say that and just kept staring at Maria.

    "Hehe~ Well whatever. As much as I hate to say it, I also think it''s a good idea for you to go off on your own. A baby bird needs to leave the nest at some point. Sigh�� They grow up so fast."

    Maria said this while looking up at the sky with an exaggerated expression.

    Cine felt her eyes twitch a couple of times listening to this nonsense but figured it''d be better for her mental health if she didn''tment and just ignored her.

    "Yeah�� I''ll probably go back to Mira and ask Elenei to take me somewhere so I can train my Wind Dao."

    "Oh! That''s a good idea! I never thought of that. Tell Mira I said ''Hi'' when you see her again."

    "Sure, whatever. I''m sure she probably already knows everything we''ve been doing over the past 8 months anyways."

    Cine said nonchntly, but her words caused Maria to freeze up.

    "W-What? W-Why do you say that?" She stuttered.

    "It''s obvious, isn''t it? She''s probably had Elenei keep an eye on us to make sure we don''t die or something like that. But don''t worry, I''ll make sure to send your regards to her hahaha!"

    "Fuck�� NO! I must train harder or she''ll definitely leave me bedridden for at least a few weeks!" Maria couldn''t help but panic a little at the thought of Mira knowing everything they''ve talked about.

    "Anyways, I''ll see you in about a year! Have fun! Hehe~"

    Cine had a triumphant smile on her face and dashed in the direction Mira is staying at.

    "NO! Cine! Wait! Tell Mira I didn''t mean what I said and I was just teasing her! Caaiiiinnneee!"

    Both of them knew that Mira seems to enjoy beating Maria up more than she does Cine. Or maybe it''s not enjoyment, but more annoyance. Although Maria is surprisingly a fairly intelligent person when she actually decides to use her brain, most of the time she''s an idiot who does everything without thinking.<sub> </sub>

    Cine is a bit different. When she''s being beaten up, it''s in the form of training and those wounds are there to symbolize what she did wrong. Very rarely is she beaten up because she did or said something stupid.

    In fact, Cine understands that Mira has high hopes for her and it''s actually a good thing for her if Cine gets stronger and more skilled. That way, Mira can use Cine''s talent to help refine her Scythe skills.

    If Mira was truly listening in to what they said through Elenei, then she''ll understand the difference between Cine''s and Maria''s goals.

    Cine wants to defeat Mira because so far she''s the most difficult opponent she''s ever faced. She''s someone worth looking up to. She''s something that can be a goal for Cine and someone that she hopes to surpass.

    Maria, on the other hand, just wants to see Mira beneath her foot for a change. Not even out of pettiness or revenge, but just because she''ll find it amusing.

    So while they both have the same goal, the reasons behind it arepletely different and Mira is smart enough to understand that so naturally Cine wasn''t all that worried about Mira overhearing their conversations.

    .

    .

    p .</anda>

    A few dayster, Cine had reached the area where Mira was staying and sure enough, she spotted a giant Frost-Fire Phoenixying down staring at her.

    "Wee back. I see your adventure has been fruitful." Elenei greeted with a warm smile. She''s grown to like Cine over the past 8 months. Whether it be in talent, strength, or temperament, Cine is very exceptional and also very mature.

    "Yeah, I suppose it did. I''m sure you know why I''vee back. I want to ask if you can drop me off somewhere I can train my Wind Dao better."

    "Fufu~ Yes, I can do that. I''m also interested to see how strong you''ll be in the uing months. I hope that you and that other child can be strong enough to deal with this Little Devil. Seeing Mira lying on the ground in defeat would surely be my best memory before I undergo Nirvana and transform back into an egg." Elenei giggled with a mysterious smile.

    "I just hope I can put up a good fight against her. Whether or not I can beat her��" Cine didn''t finish her sentence, but Elenei understood the meaning.

    "I see. Well, just tell me when you''re ready to go and I can take you to your destination. I have just the ce in mind."

    "I''m ready to leave now. I''m afraid if I take a break now, I might not be able to keep the same resolution as before."

    "Haha, very good! I can see potential in you! If you work hard enough and with a bit of luck, I have no doubt you''ll be able to take down this Devil! Alright, hop on!"

    Elenei said excitedly and lowered her back in front of Cine.

    Cine didn''t waste any time and hopped on her back then she looked over at Mira and figured she should say a few words.

    "Oh yeah, Mira. Maria said that she can''t wait to see you under her foot! She said to wash your neck since she''sing for you. Pfft."

    Cine could barely hold back herughter just thinking about those cringy lines.

    "Hehe."

    Mira just let out an evil chuckle and opened her eyes slightly to look at Cine.

    Cine shuddered a bit and almost felt bad for Maria�� almost.

    The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before nodding. There was no need for words at this point as both of them understood what the other person meant.

    They both just challenged.

    Cine face the front and was now ready to go.

    "I''m ready."

    "Alright! Let''s go!"

    Cine and Elenei shot were about to take off when she heard Mira''s voice in her ears.

    "Don''t disappoint me."

 Chapter 216 Celaines New Training Ground

    Elenei speedily flew through the air and crossed world after world until they reached the location she was looking for.

    Cine recovered from the flight and looked out at the world that they just entered and felt a mixture of emotions, but the most prevalent emotions were excitement and fear.

    Yes, fear!

    This ce is truly terrifying! There is no surface, only air! That''s a bit scary, but it''s not much to Cine as she can spot quite a few small floating inds tond on. The truly terrifying thought is, what happens if she falls and can''t suspend herself in the air anymore? Does she just fall into the void? Is there actually a ground? Or is this ce a sphere and she''ll eventuallye back to where she was?

    Not only that, but with just a quick look, Cine can see such an amount of avian beasts that it''s not even funny.

    For a human like her, even if she can fly, avian beasts will almost always have an edge and are also a pain in the ass to take down.

    There are also Tornados, Cyclones, Wind Tunnels, and even wind so sharp and hard that you can actually see it! There are probably more dangerous natural disasters as well in this world, but she just can''t see it.

    Essentially, the ce where Maria is training is like a kiddy ygroundpared to this hell! What kind of person in the Foundation Realm can even survive in this ce? Looking at the hell that Elenei brought her to she couldn''t help but want to go back as she figured her odds of survival were 30% at best! That''s without even knowing the full extent of this aerial hell!

    Luckily, it seems like the majority of the beasts are around her strength or maybe slightly weaker, but she can also sense some beasts that are plenty stronger than her.

    "Umm�� Miss. ''beautiful and majestic'' Frost-Fire Phoenix Elenei, I think you took me to the wrong ce. As you can see, there''s not even a ce for me to stand here, how am I supposed to survive and train for the next year and a half?"

    Cine turned to Elenei and said with her best puppy dog eyes, but Elenei just ignored her and yed dumb.

    "What are you talking about? How can I take you to the wrong ce? No, no. This is the right ce, I''m sure of it! Well, off you go! I''ll see you in about a year! Have fun!"

    Elenei kicked off Cine and flew away.

    "AHHH! Fuck you, you dumbass bird!! If I make it out of here alive, I''ll be sure to turn your egg into scrambled eggs and eat you for my next meal!!! FUCK!!"

    p Cine cursed at this shitty Phoenix while thinking that she was worse than Mira! At least Mira will let you know what you''re going to do! Elenei just tossed her in like a sack of potatoes and left without saying another word!! Fucking chicken!</anda>

    Cine used her Wind Dao to help stabilize herself in the air and immediately put the matter of eating Elenei at the back of her mind as she sensed a few aerial beastsing her way.

    "Dammit! I will surely kill that bitch when I get back!"

    ***

    Elenei didn''t actually fly that far away, but she made sure she was out of sight so she could spy on Cine for a bit.

    She couldn''t help but chuckle at Cine''s misfortune. A misfortune that she inflicted on her.

    "Fufu~ No wonder Mira likes to tortu-I mean train these two! They are just too amusing! Hehe~ I just wish I could be the one giving her a beating in there, wouldn''t that be so much fun? Hahaha!"

    Elenei chuckled as she really found Maria and Cine very interesting. They were both incredibly tolerant people. Mira can beat them up every day and they won''t feel any hatred towards her. If Mira says to jump in a pit ofva then they''ll jump. If Mira wants to break all of the bones in their body in the name of training, they can only ept it.

    Elenei found this quite amusing and wanted to see how far the two of them would go and tolerate in the name of training. Because from what she''s seen so far, the two of them will probably even kill themselves if it was some form of training.<sub> </sub>

    Elenei wishes she could order Mira to do something unreasonable like what she just did to Cine, but doing that will surely bacsh knowing Mira''s extreme character. Some things you just can''t settle by force.

    "Well, whatever. If Cine can truly survive in there, then there is actually a good chance she''ll be able to fight against Mira on equal footing. Though she''ll probably still need quite a few lucky encounters and near-death experiences to reach that point though."

    Elenei just shrugged it off and flew back to Mira.

    What Cine didn''t know is Elenei left her a little present just in case she''s really in trouble because that ce is truly terrifying for someone of her strength.

    ***

    "Did you drop Cine off there like I told you too?"

    Mira asked Elenei as soon as she got back.

    "Yeah. She wasn''t very happy about it though. Fufu~She even said that she wanted to eat my poor little egg if she survives. I''ll be relying on you to keep me safe, ''Master~''."

    Elenei teased Mira a bit, but she soon lost interest seeing her unfazed.

    "Geez�� You''re no fun."

    Elenei pouted.

    Mira just shook her head and thought a bit about the ce Cine was sent to. Elenei and Mira had discussed this a while back when they understood that Cin will probably go solo after she breaks through.

    Mira told Elenei to look for any interesting ces that could help boost Cine''s strength in the shortest amount of time and that torturous ce was her first pick.

    There were several other worlds that were a bit easier or less deadly than that one and Cine would probably thrive in those ces and progress at a steady rate. But that''s not what Mira wanted!

    She didn''t want Cine to thrive! She wanted her to struggle and grind her way to the top with nothing but her own two hands!

    That''s how Mira''s training has always been: Do or die!

    "You really are a sadist, you know that?"

    Eleneimented.

    "Wrong. I don''t derive pleasure from watching them suffer�� well, maybe a little when ites to Maria, but usually I don''t. I put them through situations that I, myself, would do. Nothing more, nothing less. If they don''t like it, they can go. But do you see them going anywhere? No, theye back for more! That''s because they are getting stronger every day. You might not understand this, but the feeling of progressing every day is a special kind of feeling, one that can''t be reced by anything else. That''s why even if they are tortured every day or are constantly on the brink of death, as long as they see themselves improve then it''s worth it."

    Mira exined and went back toprehending Yin Fire.

    Elenei looked like she wanted to say something, but seeing Mira get back to work she decided to just stay quiet.

    Time quickly passed for the four of them and soon a few months had already gone by.

 Chapter 217 Marias Training Part 1

    It''s been 4 months now since Cine left Maria to go train on her own and thetter has made tremendous gains over thest year.

    First of all, her cultivation was able to advance from the Mid-Xiantian Stage to the Late-Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm. It may seem like this is fairly slow progress since it took her over a year to reach this point, but remember that Maria needs much more Qipared to others to breakthrough because of how strong her Foundation is. Her body can hold several times more Qi than a normal person and therefore she needs several times more Qi to advance.

    Considering that, 1 year actually isn''t that long since even the average person from Lunar Fox City or the Battle Maiden Sect would possibly need years just to advance 1 Minor Realm.

    That''s why this Secret Realm is a godsend opportunity though since not only is the Qi many times denser here than it is on the outside world, but the opportunities one can find in this Secret Realm can increase one''s stage at an incredibly fast pace.

    Now, Maria may not have found any ''amazing'' lucky chances, but she has been working very hard.

    She''s basically been doing the same thing Cine spent doing during her training: Fighting.

    Exceptpared to how the fights went for Cine when she was still traveling with Maria, thetter''s fights are a bit different.

    In Maria''s words, the beasts here are a huge pain in the ass to deal with!

    That''s mainly because they are using the same element and unlike the beasts who instinctively know how to use the Light Element to fit their needs, Maria''sprehension is very elementary.

    Maria, knowing these next 2 years are training, doesn''t just want to brute force her way through and kill them but instead wants to use everything in her arsenal. Especially her Light Dao.

    But because of that, Maria''s gains in her Light Dao have made tremendous strides and as of now, it''s finally reached a point where it''s somewhat useful as an offensive tool in battle. It''s stillparatively weakerpared to her Sword Skills and Cultivation, but still�� It''s gone from being something that was either used only for support or on weaker opponents to something that can scratch those of the same level as her just based on her Light Daoprehension.

    Speaking of Sword Skills, these have also undergone a bit of a change over thest year. Maria has realized her weakness as being too linear of a fighter and she needs to be a bit more unpredictable. She''s been working hard to incorporate that characteristic with the sword, but that''s easier said than done.

    For example, most people generally have a preference when they fight whether that be they favor their right side, left side, using long-range attacks, using short-range attacks, attacking with your fists, attacking with your legs, or maybe they telegraph their movements.

    Everybody has a preference and everybody has a pattern that their mind and body tend to lean towards and just trying to understand this is difficult not to mention changing it.

    Maria doesn''t necessarily want to change or create a new style since she''s not naive enough to think she can do that in a few years without any proper guidance. Maybe if Mira or Cine was with her every day pointing out what she needs to do and fix, they most likely wouldn''t do that even if they weren''t already busy. Actually, Mira might not even need to watch her and should just be able to tell her what she needs to work on or look out for��<sub> </sub>

    That''s when an idea struck her!

    "Elenei! I know you can hear me! Can you ask Mira what it is I need to work on in order to not telegraph my movements and also help me make my moves a bit more unpredictable?"

    Maria yelled at nothing looking like a crazy person while waiting for a response, but after a few minutes, she didn''t receive a response. She thought that Mira was just going to ignore her and make her find out herself, but then she finally received a response from Elenei in her mind!

    "Mira said ''You finally learned to ask the right questions, idiot. She said that the eyes are the window to the soul and are one of the biggest indicators for an opponent to read your movements. Control where you look and you''ll not only be able to prevent others from reading you, but you''ll be able to deceive them with enough proficiency. The next thing you should look out for is your limbs. It''s easy for an opponent to grasp your attack and defense pattern based on the movement of your limbs. Since you already don''t have many blindspots due to my training, just make sure that each of your movements flows naturally. You don''t want any choppy attacks except in certain scenarios. You can also create a bunch of attack, defense, movement, and auxiliary techniques and constantly switch between with smooth fluid motions, but that''s impossible for you to do in just a bit over a year. Lastly, try to switch up your timing of attacks.'' That''s all she said! Happy Training!"

    Elenei transferred Mira''s advice then cut off the connection.

    ? Maria took in everything that Elenei said and immediately starteding up with ways she could improve herself.

    "Thank you!"

    Then she ran off to try it out first hand!

    From that point on, Maria''s sword andbat training became much more efficient than it was before and she was able to fight stronger beasts for longer in order to hone her skills.

    That is, until today when she spotted a gigantic light pir that shot up all the way past the sky and beyond.

    Maria was so excited that she ran full speed ahead, ignoring everything in her way. The beasts that were gathered around the pir were all roaring and chasing after her trying to prevent her from getting close to the light, but she was like a slippery eel dodging everything!

    Her bodily strength plus her cultivation and upgraded Light Dao have made her exceptionally fast when ites to running away and there aren''t many beasts in this world who can catch her. Even Mira would find it annoying to catch her!

    There were tons of beasts roaming around this Light Pir, but for some reason, they were unable to enter.

    Whatever the reason is, it doesn''t matter to Maria so without even thinking about the consequences she dived right into the Light Pir, but just as she got her body through the barrier her body crashed onto the ground due to the pressure.

 Chapter 218 Marias Training Part 2

    Maria felt an enormous amount of pressure bearing down on her, but it was unlike any sort of oppression she''s ever felt before. It''s not like how she can suppress weaker beings while ring her aura or how Mira can bring people to their knees with her killing intent.

    If she were to try and exin it properly, it''d feel more like what she''s feeling right now is the world suppressing her or more specifically the Laws that make up the world. She can feel and sense all sorts of mysteries about the Light Law surrounding her, but herprehension and strength are too weak to resist it.

    Maria guessed that even if she were to spend the next decade in this Light Pir, she wouldn''t even scratch the surface of the mysteries contained within this Light Pir.

    Another thing she noticed is the Qi in this Light Pir is so dense that she can almost see it.

    "Sigh�� If only there was somewhere here with me to spar with, then this would be the perfect ce to cultivate."

    Maria couldn''t help but sigh regretfully, but a certain Phoenix who was watching her had the sudden urge to beat the shit out of her after hearing her say that.

    Elenei would definitely say ''You entered one of the best ces for cultivating andprehending your Dao and you still have the guts toin!? You can''t even fucking stand and you want somebody to spar with?!''

    She might even kick Maria out due to her stupidity!

    Mira couldn''t help but shake her head while listening to Elenei''sints because she knows that Maria is simply hopeless.

    Meanwhile, Maria was still trying to get her face out of the ground and properly sit on the ground, but the mysteries of Heaven and Earth are something a mere ant like her can contend with.

    She wasn''t even able to twitch her body without it being suppressed!

    A few hourster, Maria could only ept her current situation and try to make the most out of it. First and foremost, she needed to progress herprehension in her Light Dao so that she can at least change positions! Cultivating cer!

    She closed her eyes and started concentrating onprehending her Light Dao and she was almost instantly overwhelmed by all the information contained within this Light Pir. She was barely able to understand even 99% of what entered her mind so she could only focus on what she had alreadyprehended and go from there.

    She knew that a chance like this might not appear for the rest of her life so, at this point, Maria decided to just say ''fuck it'' and she nned to stay in this pir until she was either kicked out of the Pir or kicked out of the Secret Realm.

    ***

    6 Months Later

    Inside the Light Pir, Maria could be seenying on her back with her eyes closed, but her aura was much different than it was 6 months prior. She still hasn''t been able to get up, but at least she was able to role over onto her back rather than her stomach.

    She had actually made a breakthrough into the Peak Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm and was working her way towards the Core Formation Realm.

    Although she spent most of her time trying toprehend her Dao, with how dense the Qi in the pir as it was inevitable that she would breakthrough. She barely had to concentrate on cultivating and just breathing in this Light Pir was more than enough for her to break through to the Peak of the Foundation Realm and into the Core Formation Realm.

    That is until she heard an extremely serious voice from Elenei entering her mind.

    "Don''t break through to the Core Formation Realm in there. The Core Formation Realm might be the most important Realm in all the cultivation Realms and even Immortals don''t dare underestimate this Realm or take it for granted."<sub> </sub>

    Elenei exined to which Maria immediately stopped cultivating.

    "What? Why? Are there, like, several tiers of cores that can be formed? Even if that''s the case, wouldn''t I just need a bunch of Qi to form it and be fine? If that''s the case, then this ce is perfect! I won''t find a better ce than this Light Pir!"

    The normal idiot Maria was gone and it was reced by a Maria who actually uses her brain and IQ to the fullest.

    "While I don''t know the specifics, since you know, I''m not a human and I don''t cultivate the same way as you do, but this is only from what I heard from when I lived with my parents in the World of Immortals. While it''s true that you probably do need a massive amount of Qi to form an amazing core, you will also need special materials such as herbs or maybe even natural treasures. From what I can remember, there are basically an unlimited number and types of Cores that can be formed. It''s all based on several factors such as the foundation you set in the Foundation Realm, your Dao and yourprehension, Elemental affinity, physique, bloodline, amount of Qi used to form your core, any treasures and herbs you used to help, and anything else that might affect it."

    What the heck?! Why have I never heard of anything like this back at the Battle Maiden Sect?!"

    Mariained to which Elenei just snorted.

    "Hmph! It''s because you three bumpkins live in the middle of fucking nowhere! Mira said that the strongest people in your Sect and City were in the Core Formation Realm and even then there were only a few. With your pitiful amount of resources and atmospheric Qi, it''s no wonder you''ve never heard of this. I''m sure if you go travel somewhere that isn''t in the middle of nowhere, Foundation Realm and Core Formation Realm people will be a rathermon sight!"

    "Ugh! Shut up! Who wants to go live in a ce with a bunch of shitty kids anyway?! And also, what do you mean there are infinite possibilities for forming my core?! What am I supposed to do with that information?? I didn''t even know this was a thing before you brought it up!"

    Now Maria was back into idiot mode��

    "Why''d you be stupid all of a sudden?! Just go to a fucking city that has this information! I''m sure it''s probably public knowledge after all! As for how to form your core? How the hell should I know?! You, humans, have always been rather resourceful and crafty so I''m sure they''vee up with a form for Top-Tier cores. So just ask someone."

    "Oh yeah! I never thought of that, but then again I don''t want some generic core that someone else can use! The only way for me to step o-I mean spar with Mira is if I form my own unique core!"

    "Well, you do you. I''ll help you, Mira, and Cine out with gathering some resources that might be useful in this Secret Realm, but it''s best if you study up on how to actually form a core that''s unique to you rather than just using random resources and hoping for the best."

    "Hehe, Big Sister Elenei, you really are the best! I knew I could count on my beautiful and majestic Big Sister to help me in my time of need!"

    "Who''s your Big Sister?! I don''t want a shameless and idiot Little Sister such as you!"

    "Hehe~"

    Maria chuckled at Elenei''s reaction, but then her face turned a bit serious as she started contemting what type of Core she wants to form.

    However, even after thinking about it Maria still had no idea what to do or where to even start.

    Ahh! Whatever! I''ll think about itter. For now, I just need to stall my breakthrough and work onprehending my Light Dao more."

    She eximed and immediately closed her eyes to try and understand the mysteries this Light Pir held.

 Chapter 219 Therapeutic Killing

    Time passed rtively quickly for Mira, Maria, Elenei, and Cine. Well, maybe not so much for Cine. Unlike Maria and Mira who are just meditating on either an element or their Dao and Elenei who is either just sleeping or collecting loot from other worlds in this Secret Realm, Cine was having a bit of a rough time.

    Actually, that would be an understatement. Cine was having an absolutely terrible time! The ce she''s in is like a living nightmare! She was already ying on ''Hard Mode'' by entering the Secret Realm, but Elenei brought her to a ce that skipped ''Nightmare Mode'' and went straight to ''Impossible Mode''!

    During the time that she''s been in this world, she''s barely gotten an ounce of rest. No, an ounce of rest would be nice! She hasn''t gotten any rest!

    What sucks about this world with no ground is that there is no ce to hide. Sure, there are little inds floating in the sky, but they are pretty small and wide open! There is hardly any cover on them at all!

    That would be all well and good, but all the beasts there are avian beasts that are constantly fighting over the inds to withery their eggs, mate, or rest. If a beast isn''t on an ind then they are in the sky searching for food.

    So Cine can''t even get a good rest when she conquers an ind because she''ll just have to deal with some territorial dispute right after with hardly any time to rest.

    That''s not even the worst of it though! The worst part of this world is the world itself. It''s way too unpredictable and the air currents are constantly changing. Natural disasters will appear randomly and sometimes an ind will get sucked through a wind tunnel and all of its inhabitants get torn to shreds.

    So not only does Cine have to watch out for territorial disputes when she ims an ind, she has to watch out for the natural disasters of the world so she doesn''t die without even knowing how.

    The fights are also 98% of the time in the sky with very fewnd battles. For a human who has hardly any experience fighting aerial battles, this is a huge pain in the ass. Normally, she would barely be able to fight these beasts while airborne, but since she has an affinity for air, she doesn''t really have to worry about her normally limited flight time.

    The only good thing is that these inds are literal treasure troves! They might be small, but for whatever reason, they are packed with natural treasures, ores, herbs, and even Wind Spirit Stones. These Spirit Stones are basically normal Spirit Stones but can hasten one''s cultivation as long as one has a wind affinity.

    So Cine has been able to gather a substantial fortune just by looting a few of these inds. Not only that but her cultivation has also broken through to the Late-Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm because of all the resources she''s pumping into her.

    Normally, breaking through this fast would destabilize one''s foundation and they''d need to take some time to consolidate it, but Cine doesn''t have any of these troubles. She''s basically fighting for her life every day which is speeding up this process and the Natural Treasures and Wind Spirit Stones she''s been consuming have been incredibly easy for her body to digest and absorb. Using these treasures has also caused her Wind Daoprehension to skyrocket as almost everything here has some sort of Wind Affinity.

    It''s not all sunshine and rainbows though as she literally needs to breakthrough just to survive in this incredibly harsh environment. Cine''s goal is to just try to make it to the Peak of the Foundation Realm. Breaking through to the Core Formation Realm is not possible. Not only is there not enough time, but even if there was, it''s basically suicide if she were to go through such a Major Breakthrough in a ce that''s always at war.

    Still, at the pace she''s progressing, Mira''s in for a surprise when they meet each other in around half a year.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira just opened her eyes with an annoyed look on her face.

    "I''m bored. Take me somewhere interesting. I need to let loose a little."<sub> </sub>

    Mira ordered Elenei who just woke up. She looked at Mira with a bewildered expression and was left speechless. Did Mira suddenly turn into Maria? Why can''t she hang on just a bit longer and finishprehending her Yin Fire?

    "Don''t give me that look. As I said, I need to let loose a little. All this meditating is making my head throb and is incredibly frustrating. Comprehending something as obscure as Yin Fire isn''t exactly easy and I''m constantly going in and out of meditation due to the difficulty. As soon as I get a few good fights in me, I''ll be ready toe back and finish the task. So just take me somewhere I can let loose."

    Mira exined and now Elenei was able to understand.

    She has no doubt that Mira is probably incredibly frustrated with not even being able to gain any semnce ofprehension in Yin Fire even with her Frost-Fire mes and all the resources at hand.

    Mira''s a person of action and not being able to do anything but sit down and meditate on something as abstract and obscure has probably left her with some pent-up emotions.

    ''Fufu~ If only she had a partner to relieve her of her stress~ Maybe she wouldn''t be so grumpy.'' Elenei thought in her mind but didn''t dare say it out loud.

    "Very well. Hop on and we''ll go somewhere for you to ''relieve'' your pent-up stress~" Elenei emphasized ''relieve'' with a teasing expression.

    Mira felt a vein pop in her head, but said nothing and just hopped on her back. She didn''t want to argue with someone who was about to turn into an egg in a few months.

    The two of them traveled around from ce to ce as Mira went through several Life-or-Death battles.

    By the end of the week, Mira asked Elenei to bring her somewhere where there are a lot of weaker beasts.

    Elenei didn''t quite understand but did as she was told. She was quite surprised to see Mira ughtering them all, but still kept a cold expression on her face.

    She wanted to understand why Mira wanted to kill a bunch of weaker but never got the chance to ask as Mira just hopped on her back when she was done and told her to go back to where they were.

    Mira didn''t say anything as she knew this was a weird quirk she gained over time. After shedding so much blood and going through so many reincarnations, killing has almost be something therapeutic to her. Especially when ites to killing mindless beasts because she can just shut her mind off and ughter.

    The two of them went back to the Light World in silence while Mira''s head was much more clear than it was before.

    Everything went back to normal for the two of them and it wasn''t until a few monthster that something interesting happened!

 Chapter 220 Yin-Fire, Comprehended!

    Just 3 months before the Secret Realm will expel all of the participants due to the time limit, Mira finally felt something happening during her meditation. She couldn''t help but reveal a slight smile as she''s had about enough of trying toprehend Yin Fire.

    Her body soon started to feel weird and she started to feel a change in her soul as well. She felt all of herprehension in the Fire Element start to increase at a surprising rate and at the same time, it started to mutate.

    Her Physique seemed to understand that Mira had someoneprehended the Fire Element, but her Physique won''t allow her to utilize this kind of fire and it started to mutate in what Mira perceived Yin Fire to be.

    This is why it took Mira so long just to reach the entry-level barrier ofprehension. It''s because not only did she need toprehend the Fire Element, but she needed to understand what Yin Fire is or at the very least what she perceived it to be.

    Mira''s perception of what Yin Fire should be is simr to that of a corrosive poison fog in the shape of a me. Its properties are corrosive and will dissolve everything it touches simr to how Fire turns things into ash, but because its properties have switched from Yang to Yin it''ll contain a burning type of chill. If her Yin Fireprehension increases, Mira should even be able to freeze people into something like an oobleck-type substance except it''ll have the opposite properties of oobleck. If she used it on a person and they stopped moving then they''ll start freezing up and eventually be an ice sculpture, but if they move they''ll start turning into a jelly-like substance and their bodies will start to corrode.

    Sounds overpowered, right? That''s what Mira thought as well, but there are some rather harsh limitations and the main one is how slow acting it is. She can''t just toss her pitiful Yin Fire at someone and they can only ept death. No, she''ll have to continuously provide her Qi and mental power into her Yin Fire if she wants to continue using it. Right now, with herprehension, she''d need to spend at least 10 minutes pumping Yin Fire into someone of her strength in order for it to start taking effect and that''s if they don''t deal with it beforehand.

    So despite its overwhelming power, its usage, consumption, and effectiveness with herprehension, make using it in battle essentially useless to her right now.

    Not that it really matters to her anyway. Her main element will always be ice and her main weapon will always be the scythe. It''s also much easier for her toprehend the ice element versus any other element, especially fire. She can control magma and lightning to an extent mainly because her body has beenpletely destroyed and rebuilt by these two elements giving her a unique constitution and mutating her Physique. But Mira''sprehension of those two elements is even less than her Yin Fire.

    Mira put these matters aside as she felt her connection with the Yin Fire Element deepen and start to affect her body. Simr to how she gained the Lightning and Magma Elements, she felt her Yin Fire try to strengthen her body in order to amodate it, but it was simply too weak to do much of anything against her Magma Dragon body.

    So although her body was tempered slightly, the results are negligible, but now she can freely use her Yin Fire!

    Mira didn''t wait any longer and summoned an ice blue me that held a ck ember in the center of it.

    ''That''s weird.''

    Mira thought as she didn''t expect the colors to be like that. She was assuming it''d be fully ck considering the properties of it, but after thinking about it a bit more she understood that it was simply too weak.

    It''d probably turnpletely ck once she fullyprehends the element, but she''s barely at the beginning.

    "Congrattions, Mira! Looking at this fire, I''m now 95% sure that it''s exactly what I''ve been looking for. Now all that''s left is for me to use the help of this me to undergo nirvana, enter your Soul Sea in my egg form, and have you nurture my egg with your Yin Fire and Ice elements! Haha! Finally! I can finally advance further in my cultivation and go back to my family!"<sub> </sub>

    Elenei couldn''t help but shout in happiness. She''s spent her entire life searching for a method to advance so she can finally reunite with her family, but it was simply impossible. Now, a semnce of hope has presented itself that''ll finally allow her to achieve her dream of bing an Immortal Phoenix and reuniting with her family!

    "Calm down there. There are still 3 months left until we are kicked out of this Secret Realm and you promised to be my mount until then. Not only that, but you still haven''t fulfilled your condition of making us Core Formation Realm experts. So for the next 3 months, you are going to make yourself useful before you go into an egg for who knows how long!"

    Mira''s chilling voice woke Elenei up out of her thoughts and practically dumped a bucket of ice water onto her.

    After remembering back to the deal she and Mira made, she can remember agreeing to be her mount until the end of the Secret Realm and to make Mira and herpanions Core Formation Experts.

    Shepletely forgot about these conditions! She''s basically been doing nothing ever since she started traveling with Mira.

    Cine is off training, Maria has been sitting in the same Light Pir for almost a year now, and Mira has been trying toprehend Yin Fire ever since they made a deal with each other.

    That''s when she remembered that she hasn''t told Mira about what she knows about the Core Formation Realm for humans. She''s already told both Maria and Cine, but Mira has been too busy and she didn''t want to disturb her.

    "Fine! But I want to undergo Nirvana as soon I can after exiting this Secret Realm. Also, there is something I need to tell you about the Core Formation Realm."

    Elenei then proceeded to exin what she knows about how there are various tiers of cores that can be formed and that the Core someone forms can affect their talent and strength. So essentially, if Mira doesn''t form a good enough Core, she''ll likely never be able to ascend!

    Mira was a bit surprised to hear this, but it wasn''t a total shocker to her. She thought there might be something like this, but she had the same thought as Maria on this matter. She felt like it was dependent on one''s Foundation and the amount of Qi that''s used to form one''s Core.

    Well, this is fine too as having near-unlimited options allows her plenty of freedom to create a core that suits her perfectly.

    Mira decided to put these matters to the back of her mind and focus on the present. She stared intensely and Elenei with a greedy expression on her face.

    "It''s time to go looting."

 Chapter 221 Fight (1/?)

    In the middle of an isted section of grasnd, Mira, Maria, and Cine are all staring at each. The atmosphere around the 3 of them is extremely tense and their auras are ring wildly as if they are fighting for superiority.

    Maria''s aura is the strongest due to her cultivation and her higher Dao Comprehension. Cine''s is only slightly weaker than Maria''s, but there is a thick murderous intent around her aura due to all the killing she''s done over thest year and a half.

    While Mira''s aura isn''t quite as strong due to her lower cultivation, it isced with a vicious, bloodthirsty, and inhuman aura that makes one have the illusion that they are drowning in a sea of blood and corpses.

    Unfortunately, Maria and Cine have gotten used to Mira''s savage aura and they themselves have already formed a fairly dense killing intent due to all the beasts they''ve killed.

    The three of them are staring at each other with narrowed eyes and even Mira has a somewhat serious expression on her face.

    ''These two have gotten pretty strong over thest 2 years, huh.''

    She couldn''t help thinking to herself and it''s true. Maria and Cine have worked exceptionally hard to grow in strength, especially Cine.

    All of a sudden and without warning, the 3 of them summoned their weapons and charged at each other without saying a word as no words needed to be said.

    Cine and Mira were the first to sh head-on as they started off the battle purely based on weapon skills.

    When Mira''s scythe and Cine''s saber shed, they only had one thought:

    ''Heavy.''

    It was only at this moment that Cine truly understood how strong Mira was. In the past, she couldn''t quite tell as she was either pummeled by her or Mira was barely using any of her strength.

    But now that her strength has gotten close to Mira''s, she understands that Mira is more of a monster than she initially thought.

    Mira, on the other hand, was a bit surprised at Cine''s newfound strength. It had just crossed the threshold to provide her with a bit of pressure.

    A small smile grew on their faces as they realized that this battle is going to be much more fun than they initially thought.

    The two of them continued to unleash attack after attack and soon their attacks grew quicker and fiercer until barely a fraction of a second passed between each attack.

    Whenever Mira attacked, Cine would parry her attack and use that momentum to attack only for Mira to borrow Cine''s strength to twirl her Scythe around and block Cine''s parry. Then would keep the flow going and use the momentum built up to counter-attack Cine.

    They both left so few openings that trying to capitalize on each other''s mistakes was surprisingly difficult. That''s not to say that they were perfect and both Mira and Cine were able to spot each other''s openings extremely quickly, but fighting against highly skilled people like themselves, it''s hard to determine if that opening is there on purpose or not.

    As the battle raged on, Mira started to realize that this truly is the cultivation world where people, at a high enough level, could even attack at light speed.

    Just imagine trying to make calcted thoughts constantly every fraction of a second. It''d be like having to do a Calculus Test, but you''d only have .01 seconds to not only find the answer but also write down said answer with your work shown.

    That''s what Mira and Cine are going through right now, except that they are using weapons instead of pencils and instead of doing Calculus problems, they are trying to kill each other.<sub> </sub>

    Needless to say, they both had a smile on their face as they continued to swing their weapons harder with every attack.

    Although Mira was thoroughly enjoying her fight with Cine, she was still waiting for Maria to attack as well. Mira knew that one well-ced attack from Maria might even be enough to turn the tides of the battle.

    But what she didn''t know was that Maria and Cine had agreed prior to this that Maria would let Cine and Mira duke it out for a bit before she joined in. Not out of fairness or any bullshit like that, but because it would be much more useful to Cine''s growth. They''d also be able to get a decent look at Mira''s strength.

    Even though Maria said that she would still attack Mira if she noticed any real openings to take advantage of. Cine''s saber skills can growter, Mira''s defeat can''t.

    So she stayed a bit away and watched, but was always on guard. Still, she was impressed with how well Cine was holding up just based on her saber skills and strength alone.

    1 minute��

    2 minutes��

    5 minutes��

    10 minutes��

    30 minutes went by and Mira and Cine were still fighting. If it could even be called that. If any of their attacks were to get a clean hit on one another, then they would surely be severely injured or at worst, one of them might even die!

    And just because they don''t have any killing intent towards each other, it could be said that they are really trying to kill each other!

    Elenei, who was watching this scene in the air, was speechless watching these two ''friends'' actually trying to kill each other! Some of their attacks were even aimed at their heart, neck, and head! What the fuck is this?! What happened to just a simple spar between friends?! What happened to ''just testing out each other''s strength''?!? Why are you two going so far??

    At least that''s what Elenei wanted to scream, but she didn''t want to disturb their ''spar''. Also, she''d probably get some stupid answer from Mira like:

    ''It''s not a real battle unless you put your life on the line.''

    And she''s right, Mira would probably say those exact words and Cine would probably agree with them as well. Maria and Cine didn''t want to beat Mira in a spar, they wanted to beat her while she was at full strength!

    Well, that''s their excuse, but in reality, Mira is too much of a pain-in-the-ass opponent to fight against in a spar and they would most likely just get trampled on. Even if they did beat her in a spar, Mira''s proficiency isn''t even in spars but killing blows. Almost all of her moves are designed to either cripple or kill someone.

    Naturally, the three of them have spent enough time with each other that they don''t even need to talk to each other in order toe to a tacit agreement for this kind of ''deathmatch''.

    ''It seems the battle has reached its climax. I suppose it''s my turn to join the fun! Hehe~''

    Maria thought and started to look for an opening to join the battle.

 Chapter 222 Fight (2?)

    Over thesest 2 years, Maria has begun to learn how to control her eyes better than before to help avoid the senses of especially sensitive people like Mira.

    She has a pretty good idea of just how sensitive Mira is to stares and it could be said that not only can she determine a person''s intentions based on their stare, but she can also determine a lot about a person based on that as well.

    So if Maria stared at Mira with the intention of joining the battle, Mira would definitely be alerted. Tobat this, instead of watching Mira closely and waiting for a mistake, Maria decided that she will watch Cine and attack Mira based on where Cine is leading her.

    She slowly made her way towards Mira''s blindspot and prepared her attack. She was going to use her fastest move which just so happened to be the simplest, Light Beam. Basically, she''s just going to shoot a supercharged beam of light at Mira and just hopes she can catch her off guard.

    Maria waited for the perfect moment�� until��

    ''NOW!''

    Maria shot a Light Beam towards Mira''s heart as soon as she took a step back to block Cine''s attack.

    Faced with such a quick attack, Mira didn''t have any time to produce an Ice Shield or block it with her scythe so she ultimately decided to dodge, but doing so created a small opening for Cine to take advantage of. To which she did.

    Instead of going for her neck or body, Cine decided to go for the leg in hopes that Maria will be able to follow up.

    As soon as Maria shot her Light Beam, she formed Light Wings on her back while forming several Swords of Light around her that she''ll be able to block and attack with.

    As Maria charged at Mira, she shot 2 Swords of Light at thetter''s heart and head.

    Seeing them work so well together, Mira had a slight smile on her face that soon morphed into a smirk.

    She moved her scythe in a way that allowed the curved end of her de to block Cine''s saber and used the shaft to block the two Swords of Light.

    Mira then kicked her right foot on the ground and shot a barrage of ice towards Cine''s feet. Right afterwards she moved positions so Cine was standing right in front of her, blocking Maria''s view of her.

    Cine was forced to move her feet ording to Mira''s will and by the time she realized that Maria was no longer in an advantageous position, it was toote.

    The three of them just stared at each other for a second and all thought the same thing.

    The warmup is over!

    Mira was the first to start off the attack, but she came at Cine much more fiercely than before. Now the fight will no longer be based purely on one''s weapon skills, but Dao, strength, tactics, and adaptability.

    While Mira was attacking with her scythe, she was no longer going for killing blows only but decided to mix in plenty of non-lethal attacks to create a bit of insurance in case the fightsted a long time.

    Cine was unable to grasp this aspect and just thought that Mira was going at it much more fiercely than before.

    Mira didn''t only attack but also tried to restrain Cine by creating Ice Vines on the ground in hopes of entangling her feet all the way pushing her in Maria''s direction.<sub> </sub>

    While in secret, she was also preparing for an attack on Maria as well, but she didn''t show it.

    Maria, on the other hand, was having a rough time trying to take advantage of Mira''s weakness, ranged attacks. She constantly is trying to move around on the battlefield in hopes of getting in Mira''s line of sight but to no avail. It''s like Mira had a 360-degree view of the battlefield and could predict her movements perfectly as every time she moved, Mira would do something to Cine in order to push her in the right direction to block her line of sight.

    ''Truly a pain in the ass opponent. Both me and Cine are stronger than her in terms of both cultivation and our Daoprehension, but we still can''t take the lead in battle.''

    Mariamented as this was why she hated fighting against Mira. Every time they fought, she would always feel a sense of helplessness, like whatever she did wouldn''t matter. What''s even worse is Mira doesn''t even have to look at her to know what she''s nning, she just knows!

    But that''s why they are taking this risk today to fight her while they are currently stronger than her! Because they know that right now is probably the furthest Mira will be away from them in terms of power.

    What''s worse is that Maria can tell that Mira is evolving in this battle. It''s slow, but she can tell that Mira seems slightly different. It almost felt like Mira is starting to shed her mortal mindset and is epting herself as a cultivator. It was a very random and ethereal feeling and Maria might be totally wrong, but she felt like she knew Mira the best out of anyone in this world.

    She knew Mira didn''t step onto the path of cultivation to grow stronger or to go on fun adventures, she did it to take revenge. Cultivation has always been a means to an end to her and was only necessary in facilitating her goals.

    Deep down inside, below all of her hatred and bloodthirsty thought, Mira never regarded herself as a cultivator. The feeling she gave off was more like a savage mortal who was the perfect fighter, who suddenly gained supernatural powers. Now instead of using her experience as a mortal to fight with those powers, she''s starting to integrate them into her very being in order to grow and evolve.

    ''What a terrifying individual. Hehe~ I''m d I''m her friend!''

    Maria let out a big smile and shot up into the air above as she knew that if she wanted to attack Mira she''d either need to fight in close-quarters or fly in the air and keep attacking from afar.

    Unfortunately, Mira isn''t that stupid and had already made preparations for this ahead of time.

    Mira tossed a spiked ice ball up in the air and as soon as it came within 10 meters of Maria��

    BOOM

    It blew up and pieces of icy shrapnel scattered everywhere at the speed of sound. Maria was caught off guard with this attack and was blown away until she smashed into the ground, forming a small crater around her.

    She coughed up a bit of blood and was about to start cursing Mira out until things took a turn for the worse.

    The shrapnel from the explosion ended up hitting Cine as well. Many tiny pieces of ice are now embedded into her back and explosion and pain caused her to lose focus for a split second. That was enough for Mira as she threw another spiked ice ball at Cine which caused her to tense up and prepare a few WindShields to prevent being struck by the st, but instead of the ball exploding into a million pieces, it just went ''Poof'' and formed a dense cloud of toxic smoke filled with Yin Magma and Fire.

    Cine was caught off guard by this, but as soon as Cine''s vision was blinded, Mira used her Ice Vines to wrap Cine''s ankles, rooting her in ce. Cine was stunned at how fast the turn of events yed out and how everything went wrong in a second, but she had no time toin when she saw Mira''s scytheing for her head. In a hurry, she used her saber to block it, but Mira quickly followed up with another attack and was able to score a direct hit on Cine''s abdomen. Causing her to fly through the air and ending upnding next to Maria, forming an even bigger crater.

    She coughed up a mouthful of blood and could feel several broken ribs and some damage to her internal organs. Normally, an attack like that wouldn''t cause too much damage, but Mira''s scythe weighed an exorbitant amount which was able to cause significant blunt trauma.

    Maria and Cine looked at each other and smiled wryly at this turn of events, but they knew things weren''t over and the true battle was just getting started.

 Chapter 223 Fight (3/?)

    Mira knew that although both Maria and Cine were hurt, it wasn''t nearly enough to take them down so as soon as sheunched Cine through the air, she followed up to continue putting on the pressure.

    Cine and Maria understood Mira''s intentions and hurriedly got up and startedunching all sorts of ranged attacks to create a bit of distance between them.

    Maria was constantlyunching Swords of Light and Light Beams while Cine created a Pseudo-Domain of Wind des in front of her. She got this idea from the world Elenei sent her to. Essentially, Cine makes the air around her turn chaotic, deadly, and sharp, but the reason she considers it a Pseudo-Domain is she doesn''t have full control over it. She can still get hurt if she steps inside it.

    Mira was forced to stop for a second as she felt a bit of danger from this Pseudo-Domain. It wasn''t enough to kill or severely injure her, but it was more than enough to cause a bunch of scratches and gashes all over her body.

    She could probably dodge or make her way through it with minimal injuries, but with Mariaunching a bunch of annoying-ass spells at her�� Even she would be forced to take some unnecessary injuries.

    Unbeknownst to Mira, this was all part of their n and not just some makeshift escape n.

    Mira decided to just go around the chaotic space Cien created as that would be much quicker.

    You might be wondering why Mira has barely used her Dao or Ice abilities and in truth, Mira didn''t want to start using some of her more overpowered abilities just yet. Why would she end such a great battle before it can even start?? She wants to see how much Maria and Cine have grown over thest 2 years! She wants to be able to learn and evolve through this battle just like how those 2 have grown and evolved over thest 2 years! Brute forcing her way to victory would be such a waste!

    So instead of taking a more optimal route like covering herself in an Ice Armor and bulldozing her way through Cine''s Pseudo-Domain, she decided to just go around.

    Maria and Cine also took notice of this, but they weren''t surprised as they too have cards they don''t want to use or show just yet.

    However, this made things easier for Maria to corral her towards a direction she wanted Mira to go.

    Mariaunched Swords of Light one after another and would asionally mix in a very weak Light Beam, but these Light Beams were a bit special. Maria wasn''t sure if Mira would notice the difference in the middle of an intense battle like this so she was forced to use all kinds of Light Beams that ranged from big to small and from weak to strong, switching between special and normal all so she could try and fool Mira.

    ''YES!''

    Maria shouted in her mind when she felt one of her special Light Beamsnd on Mira. Actually, that''s been Maria''s goal this entire time other than creating distance between her and Mira.

    Maria didn''t actually care if any of her Swords of Light or Light Beams actually hit and only cared if one of her ''special'' Light Beams hit.

    Luckily, her Light Beams are incredibly fast and with Mira not sensing any danger from it, she lets it hit her in a non-vital area on her body. This was because she was forced to dodge the bombardment of Swords of Light. Naturally, she would have to take some hits as Maria''s Light attacks are just too fast.

    Achieving her goal, Maria started backing up a bit more and slowed down her bombardment to prepare for her next skill.

    Cine, understanding what Maria''s doing, decided to rush towards Mira but with her Pseudo-Domain still active.

    Seeing Cine run at her again, Mira smirked and covered herself in a beautiful ice dress that yed the part of the armor. Sheyered her head in frost and covered the front of her face with an icy veil that acted as a helmet.

    She looked like a Queen that just descended onto the battlefield.<sub> </sub>

    Elenei watched this with interest as she hasn''t seen Mira use this ability yet and wondered why she just didn''t create a set of full-body ice armor, but what she didn''t know is that Mira doesn''t like wearing armor. They restrict her movement and even light armor restricts her movement slightly.

    But a dress made of her ice gives her a full range of motion while also protecting her from any superficial injuries.

    Knowing this, Mira didn''t hesitate to walk straight into Cine''s Pseudo-Domain, as she was mostly protected, thanks to her dress. Of course, she also sustained light injuries over some parts of her body, but that can mostly be ignored.

    While charging at Cine, Mira started to cover the ground around her in ice while making the air a bit foggy, essentially turning the space around her into a Pseudo-Domain that will force Cine''s movements to slow.

    Mira then started to release ice spikes from the ground towards Cine while creating mini crystalline bombs from the icy fog that will explode on impact.

    Two Pseudo-Domains were now stacked on top of each other, but they weren''t conflicting and were actually synergizing quite well... At least for Mira. Her mini bombs were constantly moving in random directions thanks to the chaotic air around her, but naturally, she wasn''t worried about getting hurt by her own creations.

    The same can''t be said for Cine as these mini bombs and random ice spikes were truly a huge pain to deal with in this fog.

    Barely a second after this, the two of them shed with their weapons and started going at it again just like they did at the beginning of the fight. Except for this time, Cine was using her Wind Dao to try and force Mira to stagger or move in ways she wanted her to move. While Mira was constantly creating spikes in the ground, shooting extremely thin ice needles, forming mini crystalline bombs, or trying to entangle Cine in some way.

    Surprisingly, Cine actually wasn''t on the losing end of the battle this time as her Wind Dao is stronger than Mira''s and she''s also learned many auxiliary and defensive ways to use her Wind Dao.

    Like any time Cine was about to get entangled, she''d shoot out a burst of air from that part of her body, blowing away the vines. She can also use her Wind Dao to help sense things in the air around her, helping her dodge those tiny crystalline bombs and needles.

    There wasn''t much she could do about the ice spikes except stay light on her feet.

    Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, neither of them was able to escape a significant amount of injuries that ranged from light scrapes and bruises to deep cuts and/or fractured bones.

    They kept fighting for 2 minutes until the entire battlefield changed in an instant!

    All of a sudden, a rain of light suddenly assaulted Mira from 2 different sides. It was like she was being targeted by a mini-gun from a helicopter except the bullets were made of light!

    Before Mira could react, she was already peppered with countless ''Light Bullets'', or at least that''s what she decided to call them for now.

    Her ice dress became shredded and multiple spots on her body were inflicted with severe wounds.

    Unfortunately, this wasn''t the end for her yet as Maria dropped from the sky behind Mira with a full-powered sword attack at her neck. Cine, working in conjunction with Maria perfectly,unched a full-powered saber attack at Mira''s chest.

    Mira felt extreme danger for the first time and managed to bring her scythe behind her to block Maria''s attack and create a makeshift ice shield to protect herself from Cine''s attack.

    But it was too little toote as both attacksnded and she wasunched like a ragdoll at the speed of sound while tumbling on the ground.

 Chapter 224 End Of The Fight

    "Hahaha! We did it!"

    Maria wasughing with an expression overflowing with sadistic pride, but unfortunately, her happy thoughts were cut short by Cine.

    "Shut it, you idiot! There''s no way Mira''s out with that attack! We both know that Mira wille back and she won''t be as nice as she was before!"

    Cine scolded Maria with a grave expression. Not just grave, but it felt like she was an inch away from death.

    After Maria snapped out of her wild imaginations, she too felt the same dread that Cine was feeling.

    The scariest part was that they couldn''t even feel any killing intent or auraing from Mira. If they didn''t know better, they would''ve thought this feeling came from someone or something else. All they knew was that their instincts were screaming at them to run, but how can they run from the reaper? Death is in the air and it hase to collect.

    The slumbering beast has awoken��

    "Ahhh�� It''s been a while since I''ve been out. Feels great as always! Sigh�� If only I could be out all the time, how fun would that be? Hehehe~"

    A deep, cold, hoarse, grating, yet yful voice came out of Mira that made everyone''s skin crawl. Even Elenei was no exception. For some reason, she felt that Mira seemed different. She seemed more dangerous. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to make her feel ufortable.

    Unfortunately, the same couldn''t be said for Maria and Cine. The person in front of them reeked of death and made it feel like thousands of insects were crawling under their skin.

    Suddenly, ''Mira''s'' blood-red eyes focused on the two of them which sent a shiver down their spines.

    "Hm? Oho! So, it was you two who awoke me from my slumber! Amazing! It''s been hundreds of years and lifetimes ago since I was awakened and it only took 2 little girls! Truly amazing! I really know how to pick''em, don''t I? Hahaha~"

    ''Mira''ughed amusedly as she examined the two kids in front of her.

    "Who�� Who are you? You''re not Mira."

    Cine tried to ask but ended up stuttering a bit.

    "Eh? Me? I am Mira! You could even consider me the true Mira or maybe the original? Hm�� Whatever. I guess you could say I''m bipr�� No, that''s not exactly right. The Mira you see most of the time is still me. That''s the version that I show to the world. That''s me at my highest efficiency and will do anything to achieve my goals. As for the me that is standing before you��"

    Mira''s grin grew wider into something almost sadistic and demonic.

    "I''m for when things get serious."

    Then her expression went back to what it was and she said in a yful voice.

    "Or whenever something looks fun! And you two look fun! So do your best to keep me entertained!"

    "Wai-"

    Maria tried to say something but was immediately cut off by ''Mira''.

    "Oh, and try not to die! Hehe~"<sub> </sub>

    Without waiting for a reply, Mira unleashed a flurry of attacks. An icy magma hand came out of the ground under and inserted a bunch of mini spikes into Cine''s feet and calves. Icy tridents also appeared around her and shot at her from multiple angles.

    Maria wasn''t much better as Miraunched an ice spear at her, but this one had a ball of Yin Fire and Lightning at the tip. Naturally, Maria dodged, but unfortunately for her, Mira never intended it to hit her target and it blew up next to Maria''s hip.

    This explosion was much bigger due to the two other elements and was able to seriously injure Maria with that one move before sending her flying.

    That wasn''t the end of it either as Maria perceived intense dangering her way. She moved her sword to block it and noticed that it was Mira''s scythe tied to a long ice chain that hit her. However, even though she blocked it, Maria still felt her hands go numb and was mmed into the ground under such a heavy attack.

    Cine was in even worse condition as she had a trident stuck in her stomach and her legs were bleeding profusely after finally getting out of those icy hands. She didn''t waste any time removing the trident and popping a healing pill in her mouth.

    "Hahaha~ Amazing! You two are truly amazing, not dying to those attacks! Let me see more! Surely, that''s not all you got, right? Hahaha!"

    Miraughed as she charged at Maria while at the same time doing everything she can to attack or bind Cine''s feet. It didn''t take long for an ice chain to wrap around her ankles and as soon as it did, Mira whipped the chain around to where Cine was positioned right under the falling Maria.

    When the two were positioned perfectly, Mira jumped up and swung her scythe overhead like a hammer right at Maria''s gut, causing the two of them to crash into each other, hitting the ground at nearly the speed of sound.

    *Boom!*

    Arge crater formed on the ground and if not for Maria and Cine''s strong bodies they would''ve been turned into meat paste.

    As soon as they hit the ground, they immediately went unconscious as the pain and damage was too much for their bodies to handle.

    "Tch! And here I thought I could finally have a bit of fun. Sigh�� It seems that these two kids really are too green for me to y with right now. Oh well! I''ll surely train them into magnificent ythings for the future! Fufu~"

    Mira looked at the two unconscious children in disappointment. Then noticing that their auras were weakening and they might actually die at this rate, she looked up at Elenei.

    "Hey, birdie! Heal these two girls for me! Please~"

    Mira smirked and said in a yful manner.

    Elenei felt her lips twitching at everything Mira just said. She wanted to say something back, but from the smile on Mira''s face she could tell that''s exactly what she wanted her to do. Also, Maria and Cine''s auras were getting weaker so she decided to just put the matter behind her and heal them.

    "...okay��"

    "Good birdie! Anyways, I''ll be going now. Look after myself and these girls, will ya? Or else I''ll turn you into a plushie! Hehe~"

    Mira gave a dark chuckle which made Elenei feel cold all over and before she could say anything, the dangerous atmosphere vanished. No more stench of death.

    Mira also returned back to her usual cold and aloof self and from the look on her face one could tell that she wasn''t confused about what happened.

    It''s just like what the other Mira said, they are both the same person and it''s just her current self is essentially just a version of training maniac version of Mira who has her other personality traits turned off. That''s why it''s not exactly correct to say she''s bipr as they aren''t two separate entities. Or it could be the other way around. Either way, both are part of the real Mira, they are just separated into different entities as not only a way to cope but also a way to make sure she never strays from her goal��

    To kill that son of a bitch that forced all of this upon her!

 Chapter 225 Before Leaving The Secret Realm

    Mira stood and watched Elenei heal Maria and Cine with an impassive expression almost like she didn''t care about the life and death of these 2 people at all. Well, in truth she did feel a bit sorry for them as she might''ve gone a bit overboard, but she didn''t regret it.

    These two were actually able to cause some significant damage to her and if she were to keep fighting in her current state�� She might''ve actually lost! That''s why she talked to them for so long and ''switched'' her personalities as well. All to catch them off-guard with thatst attack and finish the fight once and for all!

    Sure, it may have been a bit underhanded, but how can she let these two greenhorns beat her?! No way! She''s spent hundreds of years on the battlefield, murdering millions on top of millions of people! She''s had her experiences built upon a mountain of corpses, failures, and even sometimes, her own death!

    She will not let all of that go down the drain all because these two gained a bit more power than her!

    Of course, what she said to them before wasn''t a lie. She really has sealed away parts of her personality and emotions in order for more efficient training. Normally, doing this consciously would be impossible, but let''s just say this is one of the benefits of being reborn numerous times and suffering numerous tragedies.

    But still, even with her cold and aloof self right now, Mira can''t help but praise Maria and Cine. They truly are two unpolished gems��

    Unfortunately, Mira can''t continue acting tough anymore as she started losing strength rapidly and soon fell to the ground, unconscious.

    Elenei looked over at the unconscious Mira and couldn''t help but sigh. She was wondering why Mira went so far just to win and didn''t just let Maria and Cine have it. But deep down she knew why. Mira''s pride simply wouldn''t let her take a loss, especially to those she''s personally trained.

    "Sigh�� I hope this troublesome child doesn''t die before I''m able to hatch again."

    Elenei muttered and started healing Mira as well.

    .

    .

    .

    A few days passed by until Mira, Maria, and Cine woke up, but they were still far from being in perfect condition. They still had numerous internal injuries and even some broken or shattered bones still weren''t healed. They had also lost a lot of blood and it''ll probably take another week or two until they are able to reach their peak again.

    This was instantly fast for people of their strength as normally they might not be able to move for months or even years before getting back to their peak state.

    They have their Magma Dragon Body and Elenei''s healing to thank for their fast recovery time.

    Luckily, the three of them nned ahead and started this fight 2 weeks before they were kicked out of the Secret Realm knowing that the chances of being severely injured in this fight were rtively high and even death was a possibility.

    Now that they are awake and have plenty of time to kill��

    "Mire, what was that? Why did you turn into apletely different person? Was that really you? What happened to you? Are you really bipr?"

    ��Maria couldn''t help but bombard Mira with questions. Cine and Elenei also listened in as they too were interested.

    "Shut up! Yes, that was me. It was just a version of me that had a different setup of personality traits unlocked."

    Mira exined, but the three of them just looked confused. Mira saw them and sighed knowing that Maria won''t stop bothering her until she exined further.

    "Basically, you could say that I have the ability to seal off certain aspects of myself. For example, what you see right now is me with most of my emotions and personality traits sealed off. This will help me stay focused when training and get stronger. What you fought against was me with my yful personality trait unsealed and one other trait unsealed but I won''t tell you what it was."

    Mira further exined in a way she hopes they can understand and from their expressions she can tell that they got it.

    "But wait, are you meaning to say that if you were to unseal every part of yourself, you''d be a yful trickster like what we fought before? That''s too different! There''s no way I''ll believe you can be yful like that!"

    Maria yelled as if such a thought was impossible.

    "Ugh. Stop screaming! To answer your question, no, that would not be the case. I have never been nor will I ever be a yful person, but that''s not to say I can''t be like that. It''s just that what you saw was more pronounced because that was basically the only trait that was unsealed. What you see right now is closer to what my true self is�� what I used to be��"<sub> </sub>

    Mira''s expression darkened towards the end just thinking about her past self and the atmosphere became heavy.

    Nobody really knew what to say as this was clearly a sensitive topic to Mira, but the way Mira looked��

    They could tell she looked incredibly sad and lonely at the moment. She gave off the impression that she was against the entire world alone with little no future in sight where no matter what she did she wouldn''t be able to escape her fate.

    It''s not an exaggeration to say she''s alone against the world either as that has happened several times in the past where she was literally against the entire world.

    The three of them wanted to say something. They wanted to say that it''ll be okay or that they will have her back, but they couldn''t bring themselves to say anything even with how much they loved and appreciated her. It''s not that they had any ns of betraying or leaving her, but they knew that actions spoke louder than words, especially to a person like Mira.

    The four of them sat in silence and it wasn''t until a few hourster that the mood lightened and they started talking again.

    Elenei continued healing them until one day, she brought up something that has been on Mira''s mind ever since the two made a deal with one another.

    "Do you want to sign a Beast Soul Contract with me, Mira?"

    "What''s that?"

    "A Beast Soul Contract is simr to a contract you''d sign with a beast to make it your beastpanion, but slightly different. A Beast Soul Contract is a contract that can be used either between beasts or between a beast and another creature. It doesn''t matter who signs the contract as long as one of the parties is a beast. A Beast Soul Contract will tie our souls together allowing the beast(s) to not only be able to enter person/beast''s soul, but they''ll also be able to sense each other''s location, speak telepathically, partially gain each other''s affinities, partially gain each other''s strength, and various other benefits. The downsides are if one party dies then the other party will not only be significantly weakened, but heart demons will be amon urrence making it almost impossible to progress. You won''t die if I die and vice versa, but you will feel like dying as not only will your soul be damaged but your mental capacity andprehension will be affected due to the soul damage. You also won''t be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation if you die and your soul will be gone forever."

    The three were shocked to hear what Elenei just said, especially Mira. No reincarnation? Doesn''t that mean if she dies, she won''t have to put up with that bastard''s schemes?!

    ''No no no, I bet it''s not that easy to find such a ring loophole in an item that basically captures my soul when I die and forces me to reincarnate with my memories. Fuck!''

    Mira inwardlyined, but her judgment wasn''t wrong. She doesn''t know exactly what that artifact is or does, but she knows it''s not so simple that a measly contract can break it.

    Mira thought for a few seconds before ultimately agreeing to what Elenei said and from the way Elenei looked, it seems she doesn''t have much of an option either.

    "Sure, I agree."

    "Very well. Let''splete this now so I can get back to healing you guys. Enter your Soul Sea and try to sense me. Once you can sense me, extend your Soul towards me and I''ll do the same. Once we connect our souls, we''ll cut open our hands and connect ourselves by blood as well. The contract will start after that and all we''ll have to do is wait."

    Elenei exined to which Mira nodded.

    Both of them sat right in front of one another, closed their eyes and entered their Soul Sea. Mira saw her scythe floating in the middle but ignored it and started trying to sense Elenei''s presence. It took a bit of work, but it wasn''t hard for Mira to sense Elenei''s extremely overbearing Soul Sea. She released a small tendril in her direction and met with Elenei''s midway.

    Then the two of them cut open their palms and pressed them against each other. The contract immediately started and Mira could feel herself growing closer and closer to Elenei. Soon she was able to feel her presence, then she was able to sense her location, then something magical happened. She felt her ice affinity andprehension rise ever so slightly and strength started to flood her body. It wasn''t much but she could definitely tell she was a bit stronger than before.

    A few minutester the contract waspleted. Both of them opened their eyes and could tell that they were much closer on a spiritual level than they were before.

    Before Mira could open her mouth, Elenei started talking.

    "We can test out our abilitiester. First, you three need to finish healing."

    Elenei didn''t say anything else and kept healing the three of them to the best of her abilities, but if one looked closely they could see an excited glint in her eyes.

    ***

    Two weeks went by in a sh and it was now the day of their departure from the Secret Realm

 Chapter 226 Leaving The Secret Realm

    Mira, Maria, Cine, and Elenei were all standing in the first world they were transported into when they first entered this Secret Realm. It was still a chaotic mess just like they remembered, but unlike thest time they were here, they didn''t feel much danger.

    Over thest 2 weeks, Mira, Maria, and Cine were able to return to their peak condition thanks to Elenei and decided to just take it easy. Even though Mira felt extremely ufortable justzing around doing nothing, Maria would bother her whenever she was awake and due to her injuries, she was basically forced to take a break.

    It''s not like they could do much anyway as their injuries after their fight were really bad.

    Still, most of the time Mira decided to just sleep or meditate to calm her mind as Maria would talk her ears off if she wasn''t doing those two things. Thesest 2 weeks have been nothing but pure torture for her!!

    Now that it''s time to leave, Mira is more excited than anything because she won''t have to listen to Maria bber on and on about pointless topics!

    Cine and Maria were also feeling somewhat expectant to leave, but more than anything, they were ready to get the fuck out of this hell hole disguised as a Secret Realm! They just want a semnce of peace instead of constantly running into things way out of their league! They''ve almost been sliced apart, burnt to a crisp, frozen to death, drowned to death, met crazy mermaids, a real Dragon and Phoenix, and seemed to always be fighting! Then they ended the adventure by almost dying at the hands of their ownpanion in a ''spar''!

    They are tired!

    <o>,m "When we get back, I''m going to eat to my heart''s content! I''m tired of cooking and eating beast meat with no seasoning! I want a proper meal!"</o>

    Maria eximed with a little bit of drooling out of her mouth.

    "As much as I hate to agree, I am looking forward to having a proper meal."

    Cine chimed in with a hint of expectation just thinking it. Mira, on the other hand, seemed indifferent to it all. To her, being able to eat high quality beast meat whenever she wanted was already considered a luxury. In fact, she hardly ate at all as cultivators don''t need nearly as much food to keep their bodies running as mortals do.

    And although Mira wanted to get out of here to escape Maria''s grasp (mouth), she was also feeling a bit dejected as this ce would allow for the most growth in the quickest amount of time.

    ''Oh well. I still need to gather as much information as I can about the Core Formation Realm, something that doesn''t seem to be possible here. Or at least, Elenei hasn''t found anything of the sort during our looting travels.''

    Mira was already thinking about the future and what steps she needs to take in order to move forward in her growth.

    She''d also like to find some scythe manuals to study and research as she''s hit a bottleneck there.

    So far, everything is leading her towards the decision of leaving the Battle Maiden Sect to travel the continent. Only then will she be able to realize her full potential.

    Mira stopped thinking about this and looked over at herpanions. Seeing how the two of them seem to be enjoying themselves, for some reasons unknown to her Mira felt like putting a damper on their good mood.

    So she did��

    "Are you guys so sure that we''ll even be teleported back to the Sect?"<sub> </sub>

    Mira voiced out which caused Maria and Cine to look at her with questioning eyes.

    "I''m just saying, during my travels with Elenei, we''ve seen all sorts of people. People who I''m sure didn''te from Lunar Fox City, the surrounding Sects, or even the cities surrounding the City. Some were even different races! What if we get teleported to another continent filled with demons?"

    Mira exined and soon their expressions snake and start to pale in fright! Mira chuckled inwardly as she didn''t think this would happen either, but she wouldn''t be too bothered by it if it did. The only thing she''d worry about is Dominique, her disciple. Mira wasn''t too worried about Rhydian as she is pretty much invincible in Lunar Fox City and the surrounding Sects.

    "M-M-Mira! Don''t say such nonsense! That''s impossible! How can we be teleported to some random ce? I haven''t heard of anything simr happening in the past! Don''t try to scare me like that!"

    Maria yelled, but deep down she started worrying about this exact situation. She didn''t want to leave Lunar Fox City, at least not without saying goodbye to her family and leaving on her terms. Not to mention she doesn''t want to leave Vulcan, her beastpanion!

    She also wanted to eat good food, but it had to be good food by human standards! She didn''t want to eat Demon food or fish food! Hell no! Maria also wanted to go shopping, socialize a bit, beat up her father, and many other things! She didn''t want to be a ve of a demon and used as a ything, only to be used up and eaten!

    Maria''s imagination started running wild as she''s always heard stories of how horrible the Demon Race is and how their favorite food is human flesh.

    Cine was also worried, but for apletely different reason. She didn''t want to go on any new adventures right now! She''s about had enough of them after living and fighting in that ce Elenei tossed her in. She wasn''t too worried about Demons or whatever as she''s met several other races during this trip in the Secret Realm and was able toe to the conclusion that some races just have different cultures or ways of thinking. Even if Demons enjoyed eating human flesh�� So what? Of course, she doesn''t want to be eaten, but there are plenty of creatures and races out there that, if given the choice, would definitely eat humans.

    Just like how if she was given the choice to eat a Dragon or a Phoenix, she wouldn''t hesitate to do so!

    Mira smirked at their reactions but remained indifferent. The same goes for Elenei as she is going to enter Mira''s Soul Sea and travel with her anyways. It doesn''t matter if they teleported to the bottom of the ocean or another Realm, her only goal is to go through Nirvana and evolve into something greater, something that will allow her to pursue greater heights.

    "I''m going to enter your Soul Sea now, Mira."

    Elenei interrupted the three of them and before anyone could say anything, turned into a ball of light and entered Mira''s be.

    Mira felt another presence in her Soul Sea and knew that it was Elenei.

    Soon the hours started to tick by and not long after, Mira, Maria, and Cine''s body started to be surrounded by motes of light.

    "Please bring us back. Please bring us back. Please bring us back. Please bring us back. Please bring us back. Please bring us back. Please bring us back."

    Maria kept repeating the same thing with her eyes closed while Cine clenched her fists in worry.

    A few minutester, the three of them disappeared from their spot!

 Chapter 227 Out Of The Secret Realm

    "Thank god!!"

    Maria yelled as soon as she saw where they were teleported. From the familiarndscape to the familiar Qi density and noticing the familiar people waiting for their return! They are finally back home and didn''t get dragged into some random space warp that took them somewherepletely random!

    Cine was also delighted to see this as well and had a slight smile on her face, but Mira was a bit disappointed. If she''s being honest, she was kind of hoping they got teleported to some random area as things would be a bit more fun that way.

    ''Hehe~ It seems that I''m truly not the protagonist of this world and don''t have golden opportunities dropping onto me from the sky. Oh well, it doesn''t matter. I''ll just have to make these golden opportunities myself. But this is fine as well since I can just get Elenei to take us wherever we want to go. There shouldn''t be many beings in this world that can kill her. Even if her cultivation isn''t the highest in this world, it should still be hard for even those old monsters at the peak of this Realm to kill her. I mean, she''s a Phoenix for fuck sake! Not just any Phoenix, but a Frost-Fire Phoenix!''

    Mira was already thinking of the future when she eventually leaves this backwater city and Sect. Shepletely ignored the mix of joyous and somber atmosphere around her. She just nkly followed Maria and Cine while still stuck in thought.

    Meanwhile, the atmosphere around the Sects was somewhat heavy as they realized that the casualties were rather high.

    On average, it seems only around 30-40% of the disciples that entered the Secret Realm made it out alive. Even the Battle Maiden Sect only had a 70% survival rate as only 14 out of the 20 disciples that went in, made it out alive.

    Mind you, most if not all of these disciples were trained by Mira in some form or fashion. Even if she didn''t spend much time increasing their skills, Mira''s teachings aren''t only about how to kill, but they can also beprehended on how to survive. So while the other Sect''s disciples might have more skill or killing power, the disciples from the Battle Maiden Sect should be more trained in how to survive.

    "Greetings, Sect Master Jane!"

    "Greetings, Sect Master Jane!"

    "Greetings, Sect Master Jane!"

    The Battle Maiden Sect disciples ran over to the Sect Master and greeted her, Maria and Cine included.

    "Good! Good! Good!! It seems all of you made substantial progress during your time in the Secret Realm! Unfortunately�� sigh�� 6 of your sisters were unable to make it back. If any of you know what happened to them or have their remains then please let me know."

    Sect Master Jane greeted them back with a smile before turning sad knowing that 6 of her prized disciples died in the Secret Realm.

    Everyone looked at each, other than Mira, to see if anyone heard what happened to them or seen their fellow sisters.

    "I haven''t seen or heard anything about our fallen sisters. My group was teleported to a world full of exotic beasts and nts that were constantly trying to kill us. Surviving in that ce was already hard enough and we didn''t even get the chance to travel anywhere else."<sub> </sub>

    "Same here, my group was teleported to an underground maze city that was nearly impossible for us to escape. Luckily this ce contained an extremely dense amount of Qi, ores, essence crystals, and other treasures making our stay worthwhile."

    "Lucky! We barely got the chance to do anything other than cultivating as we were surrounded by colonies of giant bugs! EEK!! Just thinking about those disgusting creatures makes me want to puke!"

    The girls started sharing their stories and Sect Master Jane listened closely, trying to determine if any of them were lying, but so far everyone seemed to be telling the truth. Not to mention that the 6 that died were separated into 2 groups of 3 and there wasn''t a single group of the survivors that had any teammates missing.

    After listening to them, Sect Master Jane could only conclude that those disciples just got unlucky and weren''t backstabbed by their own sisters. Maybe they were killed by the other Sects, but that''s somewhat unlikely.

    At this time, Mira decided to speak up as she saw through what Sect Master Jane was trying to do.

    "Those fallen disciples probably just got unlucky and were teleported to some incredibly dangerous world. The things in that Secret Realm�� let''s just say that they aren''t simple. Even we three almost died countless times and caught a glimpse of beings whose power is beyond ourprehension. We should just count our lucky stars that 14 of us survived as that ce is not meant for Foundation Realm cultivators."

    The atmosphere became somber when everyone heard Mira''s words because although they were blunt, they couldn''t deny what she said either. Most of them are just lucky to have survived and have experienced near-death experiences countless times in thest 3 years.

    That''s why everyone that survived was now in the Core Formation Realm or at the Peak of the Foundation Realm and not just any normal Core Formation or Peak Foundation Realm cultivators either. Almost all of them should be able to fight those at a higher cultivation than them.

    Sect Master Jane saw everyone''s expressions and figured what Mira said to be the truth. She could also feel that most of her disciple''s auras were as strong if not stronger than the Elder''s auras. Some seemed to be even stronger than her while girls like Cine and Maria gave off an oppressive feeling even if they are only at the Peak of the Foundation Realm.

    Part of the reason for this is that Maria and Cine have been surrounded by so much killing and death over thest few years that their auras and natural disposition are much more wild and threatening than they used to be.

    While she couldn''t feel Mira''s aura clearly as thetter had reigned it in, whenever she looked at Mira she felt like she was staring at an ancient beast. But this actually had more to do with Elenei resting in Mira''s Soul Sea than Mira herself, but Sect Master Jane didn''t need to know such details.

    "I see. I will inform their families of what happened and do what I can for them, but in the meantime why don''t we head back to the Sect. I have something to discuss with you all, seeing how strong you''ve be."

    Sect Master Jane said as she gave her disciples onest deep look before turning around and started walking in the direction of the Battle Maiden Sect.

    The disciples didn''t have anything against following her so they all started walking after her. Even Mira stopped thinking about her future ns and was somewhat intrigued by what Sect Master Jane has to say.

 Chapter 228 Back To The Sect

    A few hourster, Mira and the disciples made it back to the Battle Maiden Sect without any trouble. Things looked pretty much the same as they did before. Well, it would be weird if things weren''t the same since only three months have passed in the outside world, unlike the 3 years that went by in the Secret Realm.

    Throughout their journey back to the Sect, the disciples started talking to each other about their experiences in the Secret Realm. Maria and Cine were no exception as there wasn''t much to hide except for Kayda the Magma Dragon, and Elenei.

    Mira didn''t really care, but she was also a bit interested to hear about the other kinds of worlds in the Secret Realm and the more she learned, the more she understood that the Secret Realm is definitely not simple. She already knew that with how many worlds she visited during the final 3 months of their stay there, but knowing that there were even more unique ces only reconfirmed her suspicions. Right now, she just felt lucky to be able to get out of there alive.

    p Maria and Cine, however, were jealous of their fellow disciples and how ''easy'' they had it. Most of the other disciples were able to just sit and cultivate while picking up treasures after the initial scare when they got teleported. Either that or they were transported into easy to medium level difficulty worlds and were able to progress at a steady pace while collecting an abundance of resources.</anda>

    This was nothing like Maria and Cine''s experiences in those that could be ssified as ''Hell'' or ''Impossible'' level difficulty!

    Although theyined, it seemed like Maria was having a good time sharing her experiences with the others.

    Once they all made it back to the Sect, it wasn''t an exaggeration to say that most of the surviving disciples felt like a weight was lifted off their shoulders and that''s when they fully understood just how relieved they are to be back home and how exhausted their bodies and minds were.

    "I''m sure you''re all tired so before we discuss your future, why don''t you all take the week off to just rest or do whatever you want. We can deal with the serious stuff after you all get a good rest. Off you go!"

    Sect Master Jane smiled and waved them off when they reached the entrance of the Sect. Everyone slowly made their way towards their rooms as they all felt a wave of fatigue wash over them.

    Mira was no exception as she also started to feel mentally exhausted from staying on guard for thest 3 years. She can finally let her mind and body rx a bit before going right back into training!

    A few minutester, Mira and Maria made it back to their room, and thankfully everything was exactly as they left it.

    "Vulcan!"

    *Arf*

    Maria yelled as she ran and picked up Vulcan, her Beast Companion, who was now slightly bigger and now a Mid-Stage Rank 5 Beast. Vulcan was also extremely excited to see his Master and jumped into her arms and started whining in delight!

    Mira ignored the two of them and walked into her room where she found Rhydian, her Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf Beast Companion, still sleeping in the same position she left her in. However, her aura told Mira that she had advanced and be a Late-Stage Rank 5 Beast. That''s pretty much the same as herself!<sub> </sub>

    Mira walked over to Rhydian and started stroking her fur as the little wolf let out a low growl in delight that its Master was finally petting her again. However, the little wolf never opened its eyes as she was still in a deep sleep, cultivating.

    Miraid down on her bed next to Rhydian with a slight smile and was about to go to sleep, but was rudely interrupted by the Phoenix in her Soul Sea.

    "Ummm�� Mira, what the hell kind of beast is that and why does my bloodline feel so afraid?? What the fuck did you do?!"

    Elenei asked while on the verge of freaking out. She didn''t know what was going on and only knew that she felt an instinctual fear towards this sleeping winged wolf, something that shouldn''t even be possible! She''s a Frost-Fire Phoenix, a mix between an Ice Phoenix and a Fire Dragon! Something that is already almost impossible to exist in this universe and reigns at the top of the food chain in terms of bloodline and power! How could a puny Rank 5 beast cause her to feel such fear?!?!

    Mira was confused for a second before she finally understood the problem.

    "Ah! You mean, Rhydian? While I wasn''t 100% sure what her species was, hearing you now I think I can confirm my previous suspicions. If I''m not wrong, Rhydian should be a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf."

    Mira said indifferently as she was too tired to care right now and just wanted to get the conversation over. However, fate has different ns in store for her.

    "A Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf?!?! Are you fucking kidding me right now, Mira?! This is noughing matter and must be taken seriously!! There''s almost no chance this creature is a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf! They haven''t been seen in millions of years and were thought to be extinct! But there''s no way this bloodline suppression is fake and if this truly is a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf then this is definitely not good! Not to mention you tamed the damn thing!! What the hell were you thinking?!?!"

    "Haaa? What are you talking about? How was I supposed to know anything about a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf? Much less she hatched out of an egg! I thought she was going to be a bird or something!"

    "You! You ignorant mortal! You basically painted a giant target on your back by making ''Rhydian'' your beastpanion! In fact, that makes things worse! If Rhydian was just your friend orpanion then it wouldn''t be that big of a deal, but you are basically her Master. That essentially means that once Rhydian reaches her peak, you will be able tomand a being who could reign supreme in the Immortal Realm! At that time, even if all of the top Beast ns and Sects in the Immortal World try to take down you and Rhydian, their chances would not only be slim, but their losses would be severe! That only means that once they find out you are the master of a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf, every n, Sect, cultivator, and beast will strive to hunt you down! You will be the most wanted person in the entire Universe at that point!"

    Elenei slowly exined but seemed to be losing a part of her rationality the more she talked.

    Mira listened to her whining but didn''t really care about all this nonsense. Sure, she might be hated and wanted by every cultivator in existence, but so what? If Rhydian really will get to be that strong in the future, then it''s definitely worth the risk. Plus, she''s sure that if such a time everes, Rhydian will be the least of everybody''s worries. Mira''s goal is to be invincible! An existence that even the Heavens themselves can''t touch! Wouldn''t she be hated even more than Rhydian if someone caught wind of her goals after she reaches a certain level of strength?

    "I see�� Whatever set that aside for now. Why don''t you tell me everything you know about Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolves?"

 Chapter 229 Information About The Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf Race

    Silence permeated the air as Elenei stared at Mira speechlessly. She honestly had no idea what to do with this crazy bitch who only knows how to fight and train. Elenei couldn''t tell if Mira was just ignorant, stupid, or crazy, but what she did know was that no sane person would react this way.

    Elenei just continued to stare at her for a few minutes not knowing what to say. Should she scold her for being arrogant and crazy? Should she provide some information so she''s no longer ignorant about the Immortal Realm? Does she just ignore her and move on? What makes it worse is she knows that Mira isn''t an idiot.

    In the end, she decided to ignore her and move on because even she is ignorant of most of the happenings in the Immortal Realm. Nheless, she knows that an Immortal''s power is not something a mortal canprehend.

    "Sigh�� Whatever. Sure, I can tell you a bit about the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf, but I''ll warn you now. I don''t know much because like I said earlier, Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolves has supposedly been extinct for millions of years."

    "Let''s start with what I know about the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf race. Keep in mind that these are only legends and stories that have been passed down over millions of years so take what you hear with a grain of salt. First off, ording to the legends, the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf race was created by ident or by mistake. No, it wasn''t because some crazy person experimented with a bunch of different bloodlines and somehow created the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf race. That would be impossible and I''m a living example of why. This is where the legends are a bit controversial because nobody knows how this race came to be. We only know that it was a mistake."

    "Some legends say that the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf race is actually Heaven''s creation, but Heaven mistakenly gave it too much power thus creating a near-invincible race. Some say that the progenitor of the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf race reached the absolute peak of cultivation and even stole part of Heaven''s power thus creating the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf race. Some even say that they came from a ce above the Heaven''s and mistakenly ended up here. Nobody really knows how they came to be so we can only specte."

    "However, what we do know about them is that they are existences out of Heaven''s control with near-infinite growth potential. They are creatures that seem to be specifically made for war and death because of a single terrifying innate ability. The ability to devour and assimte almost anything. I''m sure you''ve already experienced a part of this power with Rhydian and how she gains the ability of pretty much anything she eats. Anywhere from Low-Grade Spirit Stone all the way up to Peak Immortal Beasts, a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf can devour and assimte anything."

    "It''s just that they have one major weakness and it''s that they have to go into a deep slumber in order to assimte what they devour. Well, as long as it''s a new ability or a boost in cultivation. That''s also really the only time you can kill them; when they are sleeping like how Rhydian is. As you can see, you could probably punch her in the face and she wouldn''t wake up right now. That''s how deep they need to sleep in order to assimte new powers. Anyways, that''s pretty much all I know about them. However, I do know more about why they were hunted down if you want to know that."

    Elenei finished exining what she knew about Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolves to Mira which cleared up some of her doubts. Numerous thoughts were going through her head, but if Elenei were to hear any of them�� She would undoubtedly beat the shit out of Mira right here and now.

    ''Damn! So I basically got an oversized trash can as a pet! I have so many treasures right now that I don''t even know what to do with it all. Actually, I''m sure that Lunar Fox City and the surrounding Sects can''t even afford to buy even 20% of my loot at market price! I won''t be able to use most of the stuff I gathered anyway and selling them would only be a waste�� Fuck! Rhydian really is the perfect waste disposal! She can even get stronger by eating my trash! How lucky!''

    Mira looked at Rhydian and her opinion of her beastpanion rose by a notch.<sub> </sub>

    ''It''s really good to know that my pet isn''t picky with the food it eats, unlike some beasts who need me toprehend random-ass elements, help them undergo nirvana, nurture their egg, hatch them, and help increase their strength like I''m some sort of fucking parent. Sigh�� Elenei won''t even be as useful as Rhydian in the long run either��''

    "I feel like you just thought of something rude, didn''t you?"

    Elenei asked, feeling wronged. Mira just stared at her withplex eyes and Elenei could swear she just saw Mira''s opinion of her drop by a notch.

    "Yes, I did. Why couldn''t you be like Rhydian? Look! She''s not picky with her food and can even grow stronger without me even doing anything, but you? You need so much work and you won''t even be as useful! Not to mention I''m Rhydian''s master while you and I have equal status in our contract! Why is the difference between you two sorge?"

    "Wha-! What the hell are you talking about?! Why are youparing me to a being that only exists in legends?! Plus, you also get something out of our contract! Don''t forget that you get a part of my power and affinities as well! Hmph!"

    Mira just stared at her for a few seconds before opening her mouth.

    "You''re also a being of legends. All I want to know is why the difference between you and Rhydian is sorge. I have to put in so much work to raise you, but Rhydian just has to eat my scraps! And I don''t want to hear that bullshit of gaining a part of your power and affinities! I already have your affinities and more! The power will be nice, but once you go back into egg form you''ll be useless to me! Fortunately, you won''t bepletely useless as apanion after you hatch. Whatever, I''m too tired to argue. I''m going to sleep."

    "You!"

    Mira almost instantly fell asleep when her head hit the pillow while Elenei sat there gritting her teeth in anger.

 Chapter 230 Checking Herself Out

    Mira slept like a baby that night and almost felt like she was reborn. She didn''t have to worry about being attacked, she was constantly on edge, and she was able to take a break from all of the training and fighting.

    Even during thest 2 weeks in the Secret Realm were still a bit stressful since she needed to focus on healing her body. Some might say that she was just being paranoid when she literally had a Phoenix to watch over her, but Mira would definitely spit in their face at those naive thoughts! What is a mere Phoenix in the face of an Immortal? What if there was a being like Kayda hiding in the Secret Realm and they hold malicious intent towards her??

    Knowing just how truly dangerous the Secret Realm is made her extremely wary and stressed even when she felt rtively safe.

    After making it out of the Secret Realm and back to the Sect, naturally Mira wouldn''t feel worried about any enemies. Even if someone at the Peak of the Mortal Realm showed up at her doorstep for whatever reason, she still wouldn''t have much of a reason to be frightened.

    She could just hop on Elenei''s back and run away if things went south, but the possibility of something like that happening is, in her mind, zero. There is no way some old monster would confront a bunch of newbies for such insignificant resources.

    With these thoughts, Mira was able to sleep with no worries in her heart. By the time she woke up, an entire day had passed.

    Mira woke up with a yawn and decided to do some light stretches, something she doesn''t normally do. After she was done stretching she walked over to the mirror in order to get a good look at herself.

    Believe it or not, but Mira actually hasn''t had a good look at herself in a long time. All she knows is that she''s a beauty, or at least her face is. Her body, although extremely fit and delicate looking, doesn''t have the curves or charms of a more mature woman. She doesn''t have that ssic hourss figure, but Mira doesn''t mind. She actually prefers her current body rather than having a subus body.

    As for her face, how should she know what she looks like? She''s wearing a mask 24/7.

    So when Mira stood in front of the mirror and got a good look at herself, she was stunned at just how beautiful her face was. Thatbined with her naturally cold and aloof expression made her look like a pure and untouchable beauty, almost like a goddess.

    Her face was silky smooth without a single blemish, her lips were neither toorge nor too small and they had a shade of pink to them that only furthered her charm. Her nose was quite small, but it fit her face perfectly. Her cheeks had a natural red tint to them and were plump and full of life. Mira might even say that they are very ''pinchable'' cheeks�� if someone wanted to get their hands cut off, that is. Just these features alone made her look like a princess, but her truly striking features were her eyes and hair.

    Her once wine-red eyes had now changed slightly and looked blood-red. It was a subtle change, but brought with it significant consequences. If one were to look into her eyes for too long, someone with a weak will or mental capacity would feel as if their soul was dragged onto an ancient battlefield. Blood, limbs, guts, and corpses littered the ground forming literal mountains with small streams of blood dripping down these corpse mountains, soaking into the ground painting it red. On top of the highest mountain sat a lone woman with long silvery hair and blood-red eyes. It was impossible to tell anything else about the woman as there isn''t a spot on her body that isn''t tainted by either her blood or her enemy''s.

    Although Mira was ignorant of how she looked, she wasn''t so stupid to think that nothing happened and this change was normal. That being said, she knew what caused this change and there''s not much she could do about it.

    She sighed and looked at herst major feature, her hair. She knew her hair used to be a bright silver and it still is, there are just a few changes. Her silver hair now had streaks of icy blue highlights running down her hair while the shine her silver hair gave off was cold and icy versus the brightness it used to have.

    "Damn. I really am beautiful in this life. Even I would fuck myself. I bet my face could even make women lust after me. Sigh�� I really am so good looking that even I''m jealous of myself."<sub> </sub>

    Mira murmured to herself while a certain Phoenix felt her lips twitching at how Mira shamelessly praised herself, but she did have to admit that Mira''s face really is too beautiful. Even in the Immortal Realm, such beauty is hard toe by and she''ll only get prettier the further along she goes in cultivation. Even she is slightly tempted by that beautiful face. She couldn''t help feeling a bit envious of Mira and at the same time felt a sense of defeat looking at Mira''s face.

    After thoroughly checking herself out, Mira also noticed that the aura surrounding her body was quite different than in the past. In the past, she gave off a cold, untouchable, and unapproachable aura, but now her aura gave off the feeling of dread and death. It wasn''t by much and one would have to examine her carefully to notice it, but it''s definitely there.

    Mira sighed once again knowing that this is the consequence of her actions when she ''switched'' personalities during her fight with Cine and Maria.

    Thinking back on it, using this aura back then was definitely reckless and wasn''t needed to win the fight, but she couldn''t help it. It''s been a long time since she was knocked around like that and her emotions were bing unstable at that point. Anger, shame, humiliation, a bit of pride, more anger, enjoyment, a sense of defeat, and even more anger.

    Mira wished she could say someme excuse at how she normally isn''t like this, but that simply isn''t true. She has her own pride, the pride of someone who has crawled their way to the top time and time again. The pride of someone who has died and forced to restart in a new world, only to reach the peak of strength in that world too.

    She probably wouldn''t feel so bad if she was defeated by someone who''s lived for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years, but her pride won''t allow her to be defeated by a couple of brats. Brats that she helped train, no less.

    So, in her flurry of emotions and haste to contain them, this dreadful aura filled with death came to light. Something that should''ve stayed hidden deep inside her, never toe out.

    Mind you, this aura is far from normal. It''s not like killing intent where it grows the more she kills, nor is it a kind of aura like the cold and unapproachable one that she gives off. It also has nothing to do with Qi or the body.

    It''s a bit hard to describe, but in a way, this aura is simr to killing intent in the way that it can grow when someone dies. Except the person that has to die for it to grow is not someone else, but Mira herself!

    Yes, this is an aura that only people who have died and lived to tell the tale can have! And how many times has Mira died? 10! 10 Times!

    Even if someone did die and for whatever reason they were resurrected or reincarnated or something, it''s pretty much impossible for it to happen that many times. And even if it did, their aura wouldn''t be nearly as scary as Mira''s.

    This is mainly because even when Mira''s body dies, she is still painfully aware of what happens after. Her soul is trapped inside her dead body until it''s forcibly removed and imnted into another body that''s never had a soul: i.e a fetus.

    The more Mira thought about this the more depressed she became so she had to stop thinking about such things before she does something she''ll regret��

    "Whatever. I''ll deal with this shitter. For now, let''s just go see if the others are awake and maybe take a walk around the Sect."

 Chapter 231 A Day To Herself

    Mira put on her ck Sect robes and left her room; without her mask. Now that there isn''t really anyone that can defeat her in the surrounding area, a mask isn''t really necessary. Not to mention that she is just going to be walking around the Sect, an all-girls Sect.

    As she walked out of her room, she noticed that Maria was still asleep which wasn''t too surprising. She and Cine have worked their asses off over thest 3 years, even more so than Mira.

    ''This is also good. I''ll be able to spend a bit of time by myself.''

    Mira thought and began her walk around the Sect. As it was in the middle of the day, most of the disciples were busy training, cultivating, or learning, but there were a few disciples here and there that were just rxing or walking around.

    Naturally, with Mira''s beauty and aura, she attracted a lot of attention. Almost everyone who saw her blushed and looked away in shame. One girl even felt a certain area getting wet just thinking about Mira on top of her, dominating her.

    Mira was stunned at the reactions of these disciples! What the fuck is going on?! Even though she admits that she''s beautiful, this is a bit too much, right?

    But all of a sudden, she felt something strange well up inside her. She really wanted to tease one of these girls to see what would happen.

    So like any reasonable person, she went towards the disciple that was leaking from her forbidden garden. That disciple felt her knees going weak when she noticed Miraing toward her, but she tried her best to keep up appearances.

    Mira walked up to the girl, held her chin in her hand, and forced her to look Mira in the eyes. The disciple gulped in anticipation, but Mira only brought her face closer to her ear:

    "I can smell your scent from all the way over there. Do you really want it that badly?"

    Then Mira blew in her ear, causing the disciple to faint on the spot and fall to the ground.

    <o>,m Mira snickered in her mind while keeping an indifferent expression on her face. But she was also shocked at just how charming she was. She didn''t remember being able to do such a thing before entering the Secret Realm. Mira tried to remember what she did that might have caused this and it didn''t take long for an idea to take root.</o>

    ''Elenei, has my charm exploded because I made a contract with you? That''s the only thing I can think of that might be the cause of these�� lustful looks the girls are giving me.''

    Mira asked Elenei telepathically.

    ''You could say that. The Phoenix race naturally stands at the top both in terms of beauty and charm. The only other race that cane close or might even surpass us is the fox race, but those things are just a bunch of vixens! Since we made a contract with each other your charm and beauty have gone up a notch while weaker-willed people or people with lower strength than you might feel a subconscious need to be dominated by you. This is just one side-effect of my bloodline, though most immortals wouldn''t sumb to something as low-leveled as this. The only reason it works on these disciples is because they are much weaker than you!''

    Elenei exined and although Mira still felt something was wrong, she didn''t think too much about it and just went with that exnation.

    Nevertheless, that cleared up some things and she started to regret not wearing a mask now. Even though she could just pull one out of her Spatial Ring, she decided against it. She went out to walk around without a mask on and by god, she''s going to walk around without her mask on!<sub> </sub>

    Mira then went on to continue walking around the sect while ignoring the stares the other disciples are giving her.

    "Hey, who is that? I don''t remember seeing a disciple like her around the Sect, but why does she seem so familiar? Huh? She''s a Core Disciple? Now I''m even more confused!"

    "Isn''t that�� Mira? Yes! That has to be Mira! I''d never mistake that aura even if I died! I didn''t know she was such a beauty underneath her mask! Now I can die happy now that I''ve seen my goddesses face hehehe~"

    "That''s Mira?! Damn, she''s sexy! If only she could dominate me in bed like she does during training��"

    "I know how you feel, girl! Screw having a man! I just need to lure Mira back to my room so we can do this and that and she can stick her fingers in�� and we can do�� with�� then I''ll be able to�� like a fountain. Ahhh~ Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine."

    [A/N: I''ll leave those nk spots up to your imagination. ;)]

    "What the fuck?"

    "Gross!"

    "Don''t say that out loud! Keep it to yourself like the rest of us!"

    Mira felt her lips twitch listening to the raunchy discussions her fellow disciples were having about herself. Still, she kept an indifferent look on her face and continued to walk around the Sect.

    In reality, there is no reason for her to walk around the Sect. She doesn''t need anything and even if she did, she probably still wouldn''t buy anything. That''s because she has a metric fuck load of loot. So much that she doesn''t even know 75% of what she has! All she knows is that most of her loot should be rare herbs, treasures, ores, and other items.

    She thought about maybe going to an auction house and selling a bunch of her left overs, but even then they probably wouldn''t be able to afford it. Not to mention that most likely, these auction houses wouldn''t even know about the items she has.

    Still, that didn''t stop her from having a rxing walk�� okay, maybe semi-rxing walk with how many stares she''s getting from the other disciples.

    Mira spent the rest of that day eating some kebabs from a couple of food stalls,ying on the grass and taking a short nap, watching the other disciples train, looking around the shops to see if she finds anything interesting, and doing her best to ignore everything around her.

    All in all, when she returned to her room at night, her mind and body felt reset and refreshed. She felt like when she went back to training, she''d be even more efficient than she already was! But she didn''t have any ns for training until the end of the week since she''s 100% sure that Maria and Cine will drag her ass around to do "girly things".

    But knowing that didn''t necessarily upset her and she went to bed that night with a slight smile on her face.

 Chapter 232 A Relaxing Day With Friends Part 1

    Mira woke up rtively early feeling refreshed and then proceeded to get ready for the day. When she was about to leave her bedroom, she stared at Rhydian for a few minutes wondering when thiszy wolf was going to wake up. She hoped that he would wake up soon because she really doesn''t want to have to carry her when they leave the Sect. Plus, she''d make a great mount!

    Mira shook her head at these thoughts and decided to just wait. She''s not in too much of a hurry to leave since she hasn''t even broken through to the Peak of the Foundation Realm. Though aplishing that shouldn''t be too hard since she only needs a little push to break through to that stage.

    This is all thanks to the pure and dense Qi in the Secret Realm. She hardly had to focus on cultivating there and even though she wasn''t focused on cultivating during thest year of her stay, the environment still helped her push her cultivation near the Peak-Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm.

    Still, she probably won''t be cultivating over the next few days to a week. Her mind has been cluttered and she''s be a bit ''moody'' after having that fight with Maria and Cine. Her usual indifferent self is in an almost constant state of fluctuation. Sometimes she feels extra indifferent while other times she feels the urge to tease and be yful. She also has the asional urge to bezy! What nonsense is that?!

    All in all, her mind is not stable right now and the death aura exuding from her seems to be increasing slightly by the day. It isn''t by much, probably somewhere around a .1% growth from what it was previously, but that tiny percentage is more than enough for her to worry.

    Just by remembering thest time this aura was fully unleashed sent tiny shivers down her spine. Even for someone like her, who treats life with borderline hate and won''t hesitate to cause a mass genocide, those scenes were something that she would not even want to use on her worst enemy. In fact, she hopes that she can kill that sicko ''god'' without having to do something that atrocious.

    "Fuck me. Hopefully nothing too bad happens in the foreseeable future or until I get this shit under control."

    Mira muttered under her breath and walked out of her room. Although she said that, there wasn''t much she could do at this point. So far the only reliable way she''s found to cease this death aura from growing is for her to die. Sounds ironic that she needs to die in order to get rid of this nasty aura, but for whatever reason that''s how it is. And it''s not like this kind of thing happens often. So far, this is the 3rd time she''s having to deal with this. She can control it to an extent, but she still has no idea how to stop it from growing.

    Anyways, Mira pushed those depressing thoughts to the back of her mind when she found Maria ying with Vulcan outside of her room.

    "Mira! You''re awake! How was your sleep? Did you sleep well? Because I slept like a rock! No, maybe even a rock wouldn''t have slept as well as me hahaha!"

    Mira nodded her head at Maria''s questions.

    "I woke up yesterday, but I was able to get a good rest."

    "Oh? You woke up yesterday? What''d you do yesterday? Did you cultivate? Or maybe you trained? I assume Cine wasn''t awake yesterday as well so you must''ve been alone. Oh! Has Rhydian woken up? I know she went into a deep sleep before we left for the Secret Realm."

    Mariaunched one question after another and Mira started getting a slight headache. She almost forgot that Maria will talk her ears off if she''s not already doing something.

    "I walked around the Sect yesterday."

    Mira said briefly without exining, but this information still shocked Maria to the core.

    "WHAT?! You did that?? Willingly? And by yourself, no less?? Are you okay, Mira? As much as I want to be happy about this information, for whatever reason I feel more concerned than happy. Now that I think about it, you''ve been acting kind of weird ever since our fight a few weeks ago�� Did you going into that weird scary mode do something to you? C''mon Mira, you can tell me! If you need any help, Cine and I are more than willing to do something!"

    ''Fuck! Why is she acting all smart right now? Where''s the usual Maria?''<sub> </sub>

    Mira cursed in her mind since she didn''t think that Maria would be able to connect the dots with just 6 casual words.

    "Sigh�� It''s not much of an issue, just a few of my personality traits are a bit jumbled that''s all. I''ll just need to meditate for a few weeks to stabilize my situation and I should be fine, but if you truly want to help then try keeping the problems and/or conflicts to a minimum."

    p "I see. I''ll do my best and don''t worry! No problems will arise with me here! On a side note, do you want to go for a walk with me and Vulcan today seeing as you''re not going to be training or cultivating?"</anda>

    Mira thought for a few seconds before ultimately agreeing.

    "Sure. I don''t mind."

    "YES!! FINALLY!! Cough cough�� I mean, I''m thrilled that we are going to be spending the day together. Wait right here, let me get changed!"

    Mira didn''t say anything and just sat down to wait for Maria.

    A few minutester, Maria came out in a stunningly beautiful bright red dress with a golden phoenix embroidered on the back of it. The dress entuated her assets almost perfectly and matched her golden blond hair. She walked in front of Mira, did a couple of spins, and finished in a sexy pose before asking Mira''s opinion.

    "So? How do I look? Great, right? But I do have to say that the phoenix on the back barely resembles the real thing. Maybe we should have Eleneie out and pose for the clothing designers so we can get a properly embroidered Phoenix! Hehe~ Come out here Little Elle! Big Sis has a favor to ask of my beautiful, majestic, and fluffy Lil Sis!"

    Mira and Elenei were speechless at Maria''s shamelessness. Did she not know that Elenei could hear her or is she just doing this on purpose?

    "Who the hell is your Little Sister?! I''m dozens of times older than you and you still im to be my Big Sis? Also, I will never ept a sister as stupid and shamless as you! And don''t call me ''Little Elle''!"

    "A~ Don''t be shy Little Elle~ I''m sure you''ll be a great model! C-C-Could it be you don''t like your Big Sister? Sniff�� I just wanted to have your beautiful form embroidered on my dress so I can show off to the world how awesome my Little Sister is�� Sniff�� Sniff�� I just didn''t know you hated me so much. I''m sorry if I ever did something that caused you to not like me."

    At this point, Mira and Elenei seriously wondered if Maria has some sort of brain damage or mental disability from all the beatings she''s taken over the years. They didn''t even think a person could be this shameless and annoying! She even started creating fake tears, for crying out loud!

    Elenei finally couldn''t take it anymore and came out of Mira''s Soul Sea.

    "Fuck you! I will not have my pride as a Phoenix shamed by lowering myself to being a mere model so you can have prettier clothes! It seems Mira hasn''t given you enough beatings so I''ll be the one to discipline this naughty mouth today!"

    Elenei then appeared behind Maria and started spanking her bottom and didn''t stop until her ass was twice as big from the swelling. Mira watched all of this happen from the side with a small smile on her face.

 Chapter 233 A Relaxing Day With Friends Part 2

    After Elenei finished spanking Maria, she went back into Mira''s Soul Sea. Elenei doesn''t want to stay outside too long because she doesn''t know what might happen. There are all sorts of unusual things and people in this world and some of these people might be able to track her or feel her presence if she stays out in the real world too long.

    Of course, the probability of this happening is extremely low, but she is a Phoenix. Her bloodline and aura are incredibly unique and unmistakable. If anybody had a way to notice her presence and track her that would definitely spell trouble since it definitely wouldn''t be some weakling who showed up to hunt or subdue her.

    She didn''t want to take any unnecessary risks, but Maria deserved a good beating! How can she treat her, a mighty Phoenix, like a mere model just so she can have better looking clothes?!

    Mira looked at Maria and noticed that her dress was barely able to hold in her ass, but Maria just acted like nothing happened and ran up to Mira.

    "Alright! I''m ready! Let''s go!!!"

    Maria started dragging Mira out of their residence and while Mira was being dragged she couldn''t help but feel her yful side surfacing. Her hand subconsciously lowered right above Maria''s butt and��

    SLAP

    "AH! Mira! What the heck was that for?! Why did you just p my butt?! It still hurts, you know?"

    "Heh! That''s for making me wait so long."

    "Wha-! What do you mean?! How was that my fault?! That was clearly Elenei''s fault for spanking me so long! I''m the victim here!"

    Mira ignored this idiot and continued walking, but Elenei was rendered speechless listening to Maria put all the me on her. She had the urge toe out and give Maria another beating, but Mira and Maria were already out of their residence and walking around the Sect.

    The two of them didn''t make it far when they ran into Cineing out of her residence.

    "Hey guys. I heard you two arguing so I figured I might as welle out and join you."

    Cine walked over and greeted them.

    "Hey Cine! Did you have a good rest? I bet you were pretty tired especially with what you went through in that crazy floaty world with no ground!"

    "Yeah, it''s nice being back home. That was by far the best sleep I''ve ever had in my life."

    The three of them started to walking together while making small talk until Cine could no longer hold it in.

    "Umm, Maria. Why does your butt look like that? Did you pad it or something to make it look bigger? I didn''t know you were that type of person. Plus, who are you trying to show off for anyways? We live in an all-girls Sect!"

    "NO! You''re wrong! This is all Elenei''s fault! I woke up this morning and for whatever reason she just started bullying me! Do you see what she did to me?? Now I can''t even sit down without my bottom stinging!"

    Cine didn''t say anything else and almost instantly knew that Maria caused some trouble and pissed off Elenei. She''s already gotten used to how this ''innocent'' looking girl behaves, but Elenei was not used to such behavior and she was fuming inside Mira''s Soul Sea.

    The three of them made their way towards the food stalls since Maria wanted ''real food''. They didn''t stop at just one either, no, they visited all of them! After they made their way through all the food stalls, their hands were filled with different kinds of food and they decided to find a nice ce to sit.

    It didn''t take long for them to find a nice wide open space that some of the Outer and Inner court disciples use to train, spar, clear their mind, or just rx. To Mira, this was the cultivation world equivalent of a park.

    Once they sat down, Maria immediately started shoving her food down her throat like some kind of beast!

    "Ahhh! Itsh sho nice ta ave weal food again!"

    (It''s so nice to have real food again!)<sub> </sub>

    "Ugh! Gross! Eat with your mouth closed, dammit! You''re getting spit all over my clothes!"

    Cine pushed Maria away and started eating her food much more delicately.

    Mira just looked at the two and slowly ate her food in silence. She felt at peace right now and wished that such a thing couldst forever or at the very least a little longer. However, she didn''t lose sight of her goals, but for now�� this is enough.

    While Mira was rxing, Maria had already shoved most of her food down her throat and started eating Cine''s.

    The two of them argued and fought a little bit, but in the end Maria was still able to take most of her food and moved onto Mira. However, to her disappointment, Mira had already finished her food.

    Contrary to what Maria and Cine believed, Mira was actually fairly hungry and seeing Maria steal Cine''s food, she started to eat hers a bit faster.

    "Phew�� That was good stuff! I really missed the taste of seasonings and vor instead of the nd garbage we usually eat! Hey, how about we go shopping? We can even pick up some spices so that we can actually have good food during our travels!"

    Maria didn''t wait for a response and just grabbed Mira and Cine''s hands then ran off in the direction of the shops.

    Of course, the first shop they walked into was a general store that had all sorts of stuff, but Maria only came here to grab some spices and cooking utensils.

    "Hello, how may I help you three beautiful youngdies?"

    A middle-aged woman greeted the three of them at the door.

    "Please bring us all of your spices and some cooking utensils, Auntie! My group and I can''t go another day eating nd food!"

    Maria announced which stunned thedy before she giggled softly.

    "Hehe~ Of course. You can buy as much as you can pay for."

    "Don''t worry, Auntie. We have more than enough money to buy everything. The question is, do you have enough in stock? Hehe."

    Maria and the woman started giggling while the woman brought them around the shop and showed them all of her spices and cooking utensils.

    Surprisingly, she had many Human and Mortal Grade spices which Maria promptly grabbed. She didn''t leave a single spice for anyone else to buy. Then they moved onto the cooking utensils and Maria ended up choosing a Low-Earth Grade pan and a Late-Mortal Grade Pot with various other Mortal grade cooking utensils.

    Mira, Maria, and Cine were stunned at the quality of items in this store since an Earth-Grade item isn''t something you''d normally find in some random store like this. Therefore, they decided to ask the middle-ageddy and her response made them look at her in a different light.

    "You might not know this, but although most of my businesses from the Battle Maiden Sect, I have plenty of customers thate to my store that aren''t part of the Sect. As for why I have a Low-Earth Grade pan here, well, although that pan can be considered Earth Grade, it''s probably the lowest of the low and even some Late or Peak Mortal Grade items might be better than this pan. But the reason it''s Earth Grade is because of the metal used to make it. The ore it''s made from ismon Earth Grade ore called Titanite Ore and it''s a very heavy metal that has extremely poor Qi conductivity. It''s also extremely brittle for an Earth Grade ore and the only thing it''s really good at is retaining heat which makes it good for cooking."

    "So, it''s basically useless in most aspects and cooking just happens to be one of the things it''s good at?"

    Cine asked to which thedy nodded.

    "That''s correct. Anyways, your total is 200 Spirit Stones and some change, but I''ll round it down to 200."

    Thedy winked at them and Maria just took out the Spirit Stones and left in high spirits. She was extremely pleased with her purchase and couldn''t help but think about how bright the future looked now that they can make good food.

 Chapter 234 A Relaxing Day With Friends Part 3

    After they finished shopping for spices, Maria suggested they go look for some new clothes. This wasn''t just for fun either. The three of them truly needed some new clothes since most, if not all of them were destroyed or almost destroyed during their time in the Secret Realm. Now, other than the new Sect robes they just got, the only outfit they have now are the dresses they received from Coralia, the crazy mermaiddy who wanted to mate with Mira.

    Those clothes have been what they''ve been wearing ever since they got them and they are still in fairly good shape. They are Low to Mid Earth Grade clothes so it''s only right theyst this long. However, they are a bit shy and someone smart will easily be able to determine their quality so having some backup clothes to wear casually or to specific situations wouldn''t necessarily be a bad thing. Also, having backup clothes is never a bad thing, especially for women. You never know when you''ll get into a fight and walking around naked is probably one of the worst things a woman can do in the cultivation world.

    Those were just Mira''s thoughts, but Maria and Cine didn''t share the same reasoning. Maria wanted to buy clothes because it was fun and Cine just wanted to have more variety.

    The three of them started walking around in search of a clothing store, but it didn''t take long until they found arge store called ''Maiden''s Wardrobe''. Two young attendant girls were standing at the front of the store greeting anyone that approached the store while advertising some of their products.

    The three girls were impressed by how professional-looking this store was and decided to check it out.

    The two attendant girls'' expressions brightened when they saw Mira, Maria, and Cine approach. They were shocked speechless by how attractive they were, but they tried not to let it show on their faces and kept a professional smile on their faces.

    "Wee! Wee! Thank you for visiting ''Maiden''s Wardrobe'' and we hope you three find what you''re looking for! Currently, we have long-sleeved dresses and robes on sale right now. That includes Hanfus and Kimonos. Do check those out if you get the chance! We also have an abundance of strapless dresses and short-sleeve clothes."

    The two girls announced at the same time as they entered. Maria''s eyes were shining at the word ''sale'' while Mira''s eyebrows were twitching. She didn''t expect a clothing store in a cultivation world to be so�� lively. From her experience, most stores and their owners hardly ever promote their wares like this. Also, sales? It''s been a long time since she''s heard that word.

    People kill each other in this world for something as petty as being rude. Some people die merely because they were standing in the way of a bigshot. Killing in the cultivation world is asmon as grass! One of the main factors of that is money and/or wealth so it''s not weird that Mira''s never heard the word ''sale'' in a long time. Someone who says something like that is either lying or brain dead and Mira tends to lean towards the former. Most likely, this is just a marketing technique and if it is then Mira''s impression of the owner of this store has risen by a notch.

    The three walked into the store and found it to be massive! At leastpared to the other stores in the area. The size of the store is roughly the size of a mansion. It has 2 stories and from what Mira can tell, the first floor is open to just about everyone and the second floor is restricted either by cultivation or status.

    Regardless, the three of them weren''t bothered by any of this, and to be honest, any clothes they find, even if they happen to be Low-Earth Grade clothes won''t provide any more protection than just their bodily strength can provide.

    Maria didn''t waste any time and started dragging Mira and Cine around the store. A few employees noticed them and their Core Disciple robes and tried to offer help, but Maria just ignored all of them as she picked out anything that might fit the three of them.

    Cine could only try to politely send them away since she knew damn well that Mira probably wasn''t even paying attention to her surroundings. She happened to be right as Mira was currently trying to stabilize her raging emotions. No, she wasn''t angry or anything like that, more like she felt conflicted. Part of her really wanted to try on a bunch of sexy clothes to show off her hot body while another part of her wanted to keep her current style of showing as little skin as possible. That wasn''t the end of it either because asionally she would feel the urge to raise the ce to the ground and everyone in it.

    Needless to say, she''s having a bit of a rough time, but she tried to take this as a blessing in disguise. Maybe she''ll be able to stabilize her condition faster if she can get through this shopping spree with Maria and Cine.

    Anyways, Maria had already raided about 20% of the first floor and was currently making her way up to the second floor with Mira and Cine in tow. They didn''t even get checked or anything since their Sect robes were more than enough to give them ess to the second floor. The quality and defense of the clothes on the second floor were definitely above those on the first floor but that made little difference to the three of them. Unless they found a few Mid-Earth Grade clothes or higher, the difference in quality of the clothes doesn''t mean much to them.

    Most women''s garments are made out of silk anyways with the only thing changing is the type of beast they get their silk from.

    As Maria was storming the second floor, Cine noticed someone approaching them and from their appearance and bearing she could assume that this person was most likely the owner. She was a rather young looking woman and looked to be around 28-30 years old. She had long legs, and hourss figure, D-cup boobs, long brown hair, hazel eyes, and everything she was wearing was red. Her heels were red, her dress was red, even her lips were red. Her looks were definitely above average, but there wasn''t anything else special about her appearance. However, she had the aura of a sly fox who was proficient in business.

    "Hello, esteemed guests. Is there anything this humble servant can help you with? You three have picked out quite the number of outfits. You beautifuldies must be quite popr in the Sect yet I don''t think I''ve heard of anyone as pretty as you three before. Oh! Where are my manners! My name is Sophia and I''m the owner of this humble shop."

    Sophia said with a smile on her face as she stuck out her hand to greet the three of them however Maria wasn''t even paying attention to her and before Cine could say anything back, Mira spoke first.

    "Tsk. I''m Mira, this is Cine and that''s Maria. I''m sure part of the reason you came over is to make sure we can pay for everything or that we don''t steal anything. I don''t know how much this idiot grabbed, but here''s 100 Spirit Stones as a deposit. We can discuss whatever you want to discusster because Maria here isn''t even paying attention and she probably won''t stop until we''ve tried on everything she''s picked out. See yater."

    Mira greeted quickly before tossing a bag of 100 Spirit Stones towards Sophia then she was dragged by Maria towards more clothes. The reason Mira tried to get away from her as quickly as possible is she didn''t want to have to deal with a fox like her right now.

    Sophia just stood there, stunned, and didn''t move until a minute after Mira left.

    "Fufu~ What an interesting child. I suppose I''ll just wait until they''re finished since I''ve been caught."

    Sophia muttered and walked off.

    Meanwhile, Maria didn''t stop her rampage until almost an hourter! They walked towards the dressing room before Maria finally stopped running around and started handing out the clothes she picked out for each of them.

    "We aren''t leaving this store until we''ve tried on every single one of these outfits! That includes you as well, Mira! Also, I want everyone to give their honest opinion to each other after trying on the clothes! Alright, Mira�� Hehehe~... You first."

    Maria was almost drooling when she finished saying that. She can''t help it, okay?! Mira''s face is just too sexy! Thatbined with the outfits she picked out�� She might be renouncing her sexual orientation by the end of today!

    Mira sighed but nodded nheless. She got up with the clothes and walked into the dressing room to begin.

    After a few minutes, she changed into a new dress and walked out of the dressing room to ''show off''.

    "Yes! Fuck yes! You look so hot! Hurry, try another one!"- Maria

    "I don''t know�� The white and ck stripes don''t really match your eyes and hair."- Cine

    A few minutester, Mira came out in another dress.

    "Hehehehe~ Fufufufu~ You look so cute with those pink frillies. It makes me want to pick you up and carry you princess style!"- Maria

    "Although the outfit is indeed cute�� It doesn''t really match your aura or face. You look like a psychotic murder child."- Cine

    Mira didn''t say anything and just got changed again.

    "*Splurt* (nose bleed) Oh! My! God! I don''t think I can go back to being straight after seeing this."- Maria

    "I have to agree with Maria here. You look way too good in this outfit. Though I highly doubt you''ll wear it, I highly suggest you buy it."- Cine

    This went on for almost 2 hours before Mira finally finished trying on every outfit.

    "You''re buying them all! Don''t try and argue with me! I won''t take no for an answer!"

    Maria immediately dered as soon as Mira was done, but thetter just shook her head.

    "You can pick out 7 outfits that you''d like me to buy. Cine can pick or discard the rest. You can work out what outfits you want to pick with her. That''s as far as I''m willing to go."

    After Mira said that she sat down and closed her eyes,pletely ignoring the bbermouth trying to convince her otherwise.

    After a few minutes, Maria finally caved since she knew that if Mira didn''t want to do something then it''s impossible to convince her.<sub> </sub>

    "Fine! Cine, it''s your turn! Get up and start changing!"

    Cine just nodded and walked into the changing room.

    The same scene continued with Mariamenting on Cine''s dresses while Mira just makes shortments like "Good", "Pretty good", "Hmph", "Hmmm", and "No". However, Maria learned to distinguish what Mira meant by those words.

    "Good" means that the outfit looked around average and her tone of voice determined how average it was.

    "Pretty good" means that the outfit was definitely above average and looks good.

    "Hmph" means she''s not much of a fan of the outfit but she doesn''t hate it.

    "Hmmm" can mean several different things, but depending on her tone she either means they look really good or she can''t tell if it''s good or bad.

    While "No" means she hates it."

    It''s crazy how Maria can determine all of this and it just goes to show how much time the two have spent with each other.

    Another hour and a half went by with Cine trying on different outfits before it was finally Maria''s turn!

    "Finally! It''s my turn! I want you two to be honest and tell me how I look in each dress! That includes you, Mira! I don''t want these one word answers anymore."

    "... Fine. You asked for it."

    Maria left for the dressing room, overjoyed, but she would soon figure out that she should''ve just stuck with the one word answers.

    So when Maria came out with the first outfit on, she was speechless at Mira''s reply.

    "You''ll definitely get kidnapped looking like that."

    Maria and Cine didn''t know what to say after that and Maria could only try and take that as apliment, but instead of feeling good about wearing a sexy dress all she could think about were scenes of groups of rough men kidnapping her because of it.

    "Okay! I''m sorry! I shouldn''t have said anything! Can you go back to your one word answers now?"

    "No. This is what you wanted, right? I''m only doing what you wanted."

    "I didn''t think it would end up like this! Please! Just say anything else but that!"

    Maria tried to plead, but Mira ignored her pleas. So now instead of saying "Good", "Pretty good", "Hmph", "Hmmm", and "No".

    She''s saying "You''ll definitely get kidnapped", "You might get kidnapped", "Depends on whose kidnapping", "Only someone desperate would kidnap you", and "Not even a beast would kidnap you".

    Maria really felt like crying listening to these nonsensical answers, but after a while she just got used to it because even when Mira was saying that dumb shit, she wasn''t lying at how the clothes looked on her.

    A few hours went by like this and their shopping spree has finallye to an end. Maria picked out the clothes she wanted Mira to wear while Cine picked out and discarded the rest. Maria and Cine did the same for their stack of clothes.

    At the end of it all, the three of them decided to keep around 20-25 pairs of clothes each. They then finally made their way towards the counter to pay where they met Sophia again.

    "Hello, esteemed guests. It seems like you found everything you wanted. I must say that you three have good taste fufu~"

    "Yes we did, Miss Sophia! You truly have a wonderful store! Let me tell you just how hot my friend Mira looked in her outfits! I had her put on all kinds of dresses, but I think my personal favorite one is the pink frilly dress I had her try on! *Whistle* She looked just like a little princess and I''d be her-"

    "Shut up, Maria! Miss Sophia, please tell us the price for all of this and we can be on our way."

    Mira pped the back of Maria''s head and asked Sophia.

    "Hehe~ No worries. Your totales out to 350 Spirit Stones, 237 gold coins, and 99 silver coins."

    Mira just looked at thedy with a neutral expression that said: "Really? You think we carry around gold and silver?"

    "A~ Don''t look at me like that. That''s just how the prices are and I''m afraid that''s the lowest we can go. As you can see, we sell everything here at the cheapest possible price while trying to retain the quality of each product."

    Mira just stared at her for a few seconds before sighing and bringing out 251 Spirit Stones. Sophia took the bag and counted them with a smile.

    "Would you like your change, Ma''am?"

    "Tsk. No. Can we go now, little fox?"

    "Fufu~ Yes, you''re free to go now, esteemed guests. Thank you for shopping at Maiden''s Wardrobe. It was a pleasure doing business with you!"

    Tsk.

    The three of them stored their new clothes and noticed that it was getting dark outside. It was then that Maria noticed they had anotherpanion with them�� Vulcan!

    She was so caught up with shopping and trying on new outfits that she totally forgot about Vulcan.

    Well, it didn''t really matter much since the little guy basically just slept through it all.

    After leaving the store, the four of them walked around a bit more before finding some food to eat.

    After eating a rtively light dinner, they made their way back towards their residence since it was now dark outside and they were all pretty tired. Nheless, they all had smiles on their faces when they retired to their rooms before peacefully falling asleep.

    At the end of it all, Mira couldn''t help but think that she was just a little bit closer to herpanions. Whether that''s a good or bad thing, only time will tell.

 Chapter 235 Talking With The Sect Master

    The next few days went by rtively quickly for Mira as she spent most of her time meditating, trying to control her emotions and urges. Sometimes she would go out with Maria to walk around and just rx, but she didn''t really do much else other than that. She also made sure to get at least 6 hours of sleep every night since she''s not sure when the next time she''ll have the luxury of sleep.

    Maria and Cine also noticed Mira''s weird state, but didn''tment on it. Maria already informed Cine about what Mira said to her and she took this matter seriously. She wasn''t stupid and knew that something was wrong with Mira''s emotions. If Mira''s weirdly erratic state became worse due to any unforeseen problems, wouldn''t the surrounding areas be a bloodbath? Who would even be able to stop Mira if she went crazy?!

    Just the thought of Mira going crazy caused inexplicable fear within her because she might die as well!! For that reason, whenever Mira left her residence Cine decided that she would be something like Mira''s bodyguard.

    Mira noticed Cine doing all of this for her, but she was actually quite thankful to her even if she didn''t show it. Although Mira is usually indifferent towards killing and wouldn''t hesitate to cause a massacre, there is no reason for her to do such a thing here. There would be no benefits and would instead cause irreparable enmity amongst not only the disciples of the Sect and the residents around it, but she would most likely be hunted by the other Sects as well. Who knows, word of her ''deeds'' might even spread across the continent.

    Although that situation is the worst case scenario, Mira still doesn''t want such a thing to even be possible so she ended up just spending most of her week off meditating.

    Like that, a week has gone by since they exited the Secret Realm and it was now time to meet with the Sect Master.

    In arge room stood 14 disciples with ck Sect robes that symbolized them as Core Disciples. In front of these disciples sat Sect Master Jane as she looked at them with a slight smile on her face though inwardly she was sweating a bit.

    ? Most if not all of the disciples in front of her were stronger than her. Not only that, but now that she got a good look, she realized that Mira''s aura made her feel like she had fallen into an abyss where the only way out is death. That wasn''t even the worst of it! When she tried to look into Mira''s eyes she saw scenes that no human being should have to see.

    Right now, she just wanted to get the fuck out of here! Unfortunately, she still had to uphold her dignity as a Sect Master and couldn''t run as far away from this room as possible, like her instincts were telling her to do.<sub> </sub>

    "Ahem�� Thank you all foring and I hope you''ve had a good rest over thest week. It looks like all of you have been rtively sessful in the Secret Realm, but that isn''t the reason I brought you all here. The reason I wanted to talk with you all is that you 14 are too strong. You''re already almost invincible in the surrounding areas and there isn''t much left here for you. So, I''m here to give you a few options to help you guys determine your future."

    "First, if any of you, for whatever reason, don''t have any ambition to gain more strength or feel the need to stay here, then I can offer you a position as an Elder here in the Sect. I realize that most of you are probably a bit young to be considered an Elder and any gains you''ve made in your professions are probably lesspared to the current Elders. I don''t expect any of you to choose this option since you''re basically cutting off your future in cultivation."

    "Second, I can give you a token that will help you register at the Main Battle Maiden Sect on this continent. Beware that this token won''t automatically grant you entry into the Main Sect, but merely gives you the right to try out. This is nothing against you, it''s just that there are many Battle Maiden Sects spread out around the Continent and all of these Branch Sects feed into the Main Sect. I bet you can imagine just how many disciples want to enter the Battle Maiden Sect. Honestly, I highly rmend this option. All of you are incredibly talented and there''s an 80% chance that all of you can make it while some of you are almost guaranteed to make it in."

    "The third and final option is to leave the Sect and be a rogue unaffiliated cultivator. You might be thinking, why would I do something stupid like that when I am almost guaranteed to enter the Main Sect? Let me exin. Choosing this optiones with several pros and cons and it''s hard to say whether the cons are bad, it just depends on your personal strength and views. Bing a rogue cultivator is generally frowned upon in society as most of these cultivators make up the majority of criminals such as thieves, bandits, and raiders. So your social standing will be at the absolute lowest while only being above mortals.

    "You will also only be able to rely on your own strength and connections. I won''t say anything more on that aspect since this is neither a pro or a con. The biggest advantage of being a rogue cultivator is your freedom, but at the same time that''s one of the biggest disadvantages. I''ll let you in on a little secret and tell you that the Main Sect, or rather, all Main Sects are incrediblypetitive. The strong eat the weak and if you aren''t strong enough when you enter the Main Sect, the most likely scenario is you bing someone elses ve, literally. I''ll let you think about that by yourselves."

    "Thest con to bing a Rogue cultivator and leaving the Sect is you have to essentially pay the Sect back for the resources that we used to nurture you. You might think this is unfair since you paid and worked for everything yourself, but Sects aren''t just something you can join and leave whenever you want. When you join a Sect, you are basically agreeing to joining a secondary family! Well, that might be more the case here rather than the Main Sect, but that''s how I feel and that''s my condition for leaving and cutting ties with the Sect."

    "Now, what decision will you all make?"

 Chapter 236 Decision

    Mira, Maria, and the other disciples all stood there in silence weighing the different options in their minds. Though it wasn''t really that difficult to decide. Bing an Elder would be a huge waste of their potential, especially after they came out of the Secret Realm.

    The only real choices are joining the Main Sect or bing a rogue cultivator, something that is actually much harder to decide than the disciples initially thought. Even Mira wasn''t sure what option would be the best. On the one hand, she prefers to have her freedom, but on the other hand that might slow her growth. And it''s not like the Battle Maiden Sect has treated her badly, quite the contrary. The Battle Maiden Sect has treated her very well.

    Even though Sect Master Jane said that the Main Sect is much morepetitive, that''s not really a bad thing in Mira''s mind. Plus, how bad can a Sect full of women be? Okay�� never mind, a Sect full of women could be pretty brutal, but Mira can''t see it being worse than a normal Sect full of both men and women.

    The positives in joining the Main Sect are a steady stream of resources, background, a ce to stay without worry, and ess to higher-tier resources. While there are others, those seem to be the main advantages of joining. Really the only negatives are exposing some of her secrets and she''ll be tied to the Sect to some extent.

    While the positives of being a rogue cultivator are freedom, the biggest negatives are ack of resources,ck of background, limited information about treasures, and limited ess to better resources.

    Mira can totally see her killing some disciple or multiple disciples from several different Sects and being hunted down. In her opinion, the likelihood of this scenario happening is very high. Having some sort of background would definitely help prevent her from being hunted down in the open and save her some trouble.

    As Mira''s thoughts reached this point her decision became firm. She looked around to see if she could gather any clues about what Maria, Cine, and the others would choose but it seemed she wasn''t the only one as the 13 other disciples were also looking at each as their faces became firm.

    ""I''ll join the Main Sect!""

    All 14 disciples said at the same time, including Mira. Mira''s main reason for wanting to join the Main Sect is mainly because of her secrets. She''s not too afraid of them being exposed, but she''s afraid of them being exposed to the wrong people. Whether it be her scythe, physique, Dao, Rhydian, Elenei, unique elements, Magma Dragon body, the Water Body Transformation Technique, her killing intent, death aura, and her beauty. Pretty much all of these are treasures that even Immortals would probably kill for or at least want to dissect her for, much less a bunch of shitty mortals.

    A Sect is the best ce toy low while staying right out in the open. Her secrets will only be revealed to a select number of people while it''s almost impossible for people to discover or even know about most of her secrets.

    Sect Master Jane looked at everyone in slight surprise, but she wasn''t shocked by their decision. Choosing to join the Main Sect has the most advantages with the least amount of disadvantages and even if they aren''t strong or talented enough to enter then bing a rogue cultivator is always there so it''s not like the option will disappear.

    "Very good. I figured you all would choose this option. Here are your tokens. If you have any questions feel free to ask, I''ll do my best to answer them."

    Sect Master Jane asked with a smile while handing over their tokens. The token was a circle about the size of a palm with a valkyrie-lookingdy with a sword and shield in the middle.

    The disciples took the token a put it away before they started asking questions.

    "So now that our decision has been made, do we need to leave the Sect right now?"

    "No, you don''t have to leave right now, but the sooner you leave the better. After all, there isn''t much left for you here anyways and anything that you can learn here, you can learn it and more at the Main Sect. Say goodbye to your family, settle anything you need to do before you go, just try and inform me before you leave."

    "Do you know when the next Selection Test will be to join the Main Sect?"

    "I''m not too sure, but I''d assume that it''ll probably be held in 1-3 years. They always try to hold on not long after the Secret Realm closes. I''ll let you figure out the rest."

    "Do you know what the test will be like so I can prepare for it beforehand?"<sub> </sub>

    "No, I don''t. They change it up every time and even if I did know, I wouldn''t tell you."

    "I feel bad just leaving you and this Sect like this. Is it okay if I donate some of my resources to the Sect for the generations toe?"

    ��

    Everyone was a little stunned by the question that was asked, but then they started thinking about how well the Sect has treated them over the years and couldn''t help feeling a bit sentimental. They too also wanted to give back to the Sect even if it''s only a little bit.

    "Me too! I''d like to donate some resources to the Sect!"

    "This ce was like a family to me and I don''t feel right just leaving them like this. I think it''s only right for me to donate some of my resources as well."

    Everyone started speaking up about donating some of their resources to the Sect. Sect Master Jane started to feel a bit overwhelmed at the fervor disciples were showing, but she let out a smile thinking:

    ''They truly are good girls. I hope they can make it to the Main Sect. We''ll gain plenty of promising disciples.''

    Maria and Cine even spoke up about donating some of their resources to the Sect while Mira stood there in thought. It wouldn''t necessarily hurt her if she donated some of her trash to the Sect. As the saying goes, ''One man''s trash is another man''s treasure.''. However, in her case, her trash are treasures, it''s just useless to her. Not to mention she has way too much of this ''trash''.

    Who knows, maybe she''ll gain some good karma from this! Ahahah~ What a fucking joke! Even if she did get some good karma, it wouldn''t even make a dent in how much bad karma she''s umted!

    Mira just shrugged those thoughts away and walked up to Sect Master Jane. Everyone soon became silent and some people even had cold sweat running down their backs. The Sect Master was no exception. For some reason, they were all ready for Mira to go on a rampage.

    However, unlike what they expected, Mira just started unloading various items. Herbs, ores, crystals, wood, a few beast carcasses, and more. Not just that, but the grades of these items varied from Low-Human Grade to Mid-Mortal Grade. It didn''t stop there as Mira continued dumping simr resources but of different elements.

    After around a minute, Mira had dropped a small hill of loot in front of Sect Master Jane before walking towards Maria and Cine.

    "That was just around 10% of the trash I picked up while you two were busy. If you two want to clear out your spatial rings, only give away the stuff that''s useless to us. I''ll be off, Sect Master. We''ll talk when it''s time for us to leave."

    Mira whispered to Maria and Cine before announcing her leave to the Sect Master and leaving.

    Everyone was stunned with how much stuff Mira just dropped in front of them but soon they started doing the same thing. Although they didn''t have nearly as much loot as Mira, Cine, and Maria they still had more than enough to share without hurting themselves. In total, most of the disciples only gave around 5% of their loot away and most of it was lower grade stuff that wouldn''t sell for much, but with how much stuff they had, this turned out to be quite a bit. Definitely enough for the Sect tost for several years toe and if they push it, maybe even until the next opening of the Secret Realm.

    This was mostly thanks to Mira, Maria, and Cine though. They had so much stuff that it was actually doing them a favor getting rid of some of it here.

    Like this, everyone left Sect Master Jane''s room in high spirits, while the one with the highest spirit was the Sect Master herself.

 Chapter 237 The Future

    Now that Mira has basically finished everything here in the Sect, it''s time to n for the future. Since she''s decided to join the Main Battle Maiden Sect, then her first course of action should be to learn when they''ll hold the next Entrance Exam. She can then use that information to n for the immediate future.

    Right now, her options are open. She can basically travel anywhere she wants with Elenei without having to spend a significant amount of time. Who knows, she might even be able to cross the continents, however, it would probably be pretty stupid if she were to go to the Central Continent with her pitiful strength.

    Although she''s not sure how strong the average cultivators in the Central Continent are, just based on the information Sect Master Jane provided about the Main Sect on this continent was more than enough for her to guess.

    If being a Peak Foundation or Core Formation expert is just enough to even think about gaining entry into the Sect then Mira can safely assume that''s most likely a base requirement just to live freely in the Central Continent.

    Sure, she might be overestimating the Central Continent, but surely it wouldn''t be by much. She might even be underestimating it and maybe Nascent Soul Cultivators are normal over there. With her dangerous aura, all of her secrets, and especially Elenei, she would be seeking death if she were to travel to the Central Continent right now.

    However, she could travel to the Northern Continent to collect some resources for Forming her Core. She''d probably have to ditch Cine and Maria if she were to do that so they can find their own resources.

    That might not be so bad though and it''s not like they''d be away forever. They''d meet each other on the Entrance Exam and they''d be able to find their own way into the Core Formation Realm without her interference.

    "I should probably wait for Dominique to finish her trials. Or maybe I could juste back in around a year and a half to fetch. Sigh�� I''m not used to this shit."

    Mira muttered to herself as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. For most of her life and through most of her previous lives, she''s done almost everything alone. Having a friend or someone to rely on has never been something to even cross her mind. She wasn''t even allowed to dream of such a fantasy and slowly lost her hope in humanity.

    Friends have always just been a way to backstab her or scheme against her. Knowing this, the only reason Mira made friends was so she could control who her eventual backstabbers would be and could kill them without remorse.

    So having to think about Maria, Cine, and Dominique is something entirely new to her and if she''s being honest, she''s not sure how to feel about it. She''s still guarded against them in the event that they eventually betray her trust, but deep down Mira hopes that such a thing never happens.

    She''d never admit it, but having those 3 around has made her life a bit more colorful. However, it''s for this reason that their betrayal would hurt so much more.

    "Maybe separating from each other could do us some good. If they truly care, then things should still be fine even if we haven''t seen each other in a few years."

    It seems that Mira has forgotten all the times where her and Maria were separated. They are actually separated quite often and sometimes for years at a time. One example being the trial they both went through. That ordeal took a whole 2 years! And the most recent example is the Secret Realm. They were separated for a little under that time. Sure, it''s not like they were truly ''separated'' but they were each off doing their own thing by themselves.<sub> </sub>

    "Sigh�� Whatever happens, happens. I should first stabilize my state of mind then start cultivating to reach the Peak of the Foundation Realm. Hopefully, Rhydian will wake up during that time since I really don''t want to leave her here and I especially don''t want to carry thiszy dog around! After that, I''ll find out when the Entrance Exam is, then hopefully I can gather the proper resources to break through to the Core Formation Realm."

    Mira thought to herself out loud, but was interrupted by her supposed ''friends''.

    "Mira!! What are you mumbling to yourself? You seem all serious! Don''t tell me you''re thinking about leaving without telling us? That would make me�� sniff�� sad you know?"

    ''Fuck! This bitch is too sharp sometimes! How did she evene to that conclusion? Is she secretly a psychic?''

    Mira cursed in her mind, but decided to answer anyway.

    "I was just thinking that we''ll probably have to split up soon. You guys need to find your own paths forward and I do too. Remember, the Core Formation Realm will bring not only a qualitative change to our strength, but also our talent and other things as well. I also need to search for my own path because I don''t even know how I want to form my core."

    "Oh? I guess you''re right. We can always meet each other at the Main Sect''s Entrance Exam so no problem there! It also seems like you don''t n on forming your core strictly with ice treasures. Why is that? I thought for sure that ice was your main and most powerful element."

    "It is and that''ll still be the case after I breakthrough, but I have to take my Dao and Physique into ount as well."

    "Hmm~ I guess you''re right. Well, you''re on your own there! I have no idea how to help you with that! Hehe~"

    Maria said with pride and Mira really wondered how she could say something like that with a face full of pride.

    The two of them continued talking as they made their way back to their residence and eventually Mira ended up in her room. She was going to focus on meditating for the next few weeks before trying to break through to the Peak of the Foundation Realm. If everything goes as nned then it should take at maximum 2 months for her to do this and hopefully it won''t take more than a month.

    She has plenty of resources to help her breakthrough to the Peak of the Foundation Realm, so she should basically be able to directly breakthrough whenever she''s ready. Not to mention, she''s basically on the cusp of a breakthrough right now and only needs a slight push. However, she doesn''t want anything going wrong with her mind being unstable so for now she can only wait.

 Chapter 238 Meditation, Emotions, And Cultivation Part 1

    Mira informed Maria and Cine that she nned on not leaving her room until she broke through to the Peak of the Foundation Realm. They both understood her and decided to focus on doing their own things. For example, Maria can still try and learn more about alchemy while Cine�� Well, she was just going to consolidate her gains during her time in the Secret Realm. Her saber skills have advanced rapidly over thest 3 years and she''s barely had any time to meditate on them so she might as well do it now.

    As for the matter of leaving the Sect and making it in time to advance to the Core Formation Realm and take part in the Entrance Exam of the Main Sect? The three of them aren''t worried about this in the slightest. Having Elenei with them can literally save them months of travel, even if they are going to separate. So it''ll actually be quicker for Maria and Cine if they just wait for Mira to finish her business before they leave.

    Mira stopped paying attention to everything around her and immediately started focusing on her emotions. Even while sitting here doing nothing Mira can feel a myriad of emotions trying to take over.

    Sometimes she''ll feel rage at the fact Rhydian hasn''t woken up yet. Other times she''ll feel happy that she can take a break and stay here for a while. asionally she''ll feelzy while a part of her mind keeps telling her that she''s done enough and it''s time to just rx a little. Then a feeling of cold indifference will wash over these emotions, suppressing them until they are no more. However, they aren''t totally gone and after a few minutes they''ll reappear and a simr cycle will continue.

    What''s weird is that Mira knows that she doesn''t actually feel any of these things. For example, why would she feel angry at Rhydian for sleeping, which is basically her form of cultivating? The truth is, she doesn''t. Sure, she might feel a bit of annoyance that Rhydian won''t wake up even if she threw her across the room, but that''s it.

    Most of what she''s feeling right now is simply her emotions and personality going haywire for no rhyme or reason.

    If it were other people, this type of thing might drive someone crazy! I mean, who in their right mind would want to live without even being able to control their emotions. A good example of this is pregnant women! Their hormones go all out of whack and they start doing, wanting, or saying crazy shit that they don''t actually want or believe! Sure, such a thing might not happen for long, but it can definitely drive not only the person themself but the people around them crazy.

    However, what a pregnant woman has to go through is nothing inparison to what Mira is going through. The current Mira might feel many different emotions in the span of just a few minutes while this process repeats itself over and over again all day every day. Lucky for her, she''s experienced this before and is an expert at controlling her emotions, or else this could get very out of hand.

    Mira''s only goal during her meditation session is to essentially make all of her emotions submit to her usual cold, indifferent, and apathetic self.

    Imagine this, all emotions like rage, hatred, sadness, happiness,ziness, love, pride, fear, depression, shame, embarrassment, etc. All of these emotions are surrounding a main overarchingrger emotion of cold indifferent apathy. Each of these is linked to the overarching emotion by a small string making them something akin to subordinate emotions.

    So when Mira feels anything other than indifference, these other emotions will send a ping notifying Mira that she feels something like fear, embarrassment, rage, etc. But even though Mira gets this ping of fear or embarrassment, such a thing will never overtake her normal indifferent emotion.

    Even though Mira would love to just eradicate everything like fear, happiness, love, pride, anger, etc., there isn''t really a point in doing so. In fact, doing such a thing will only hurt her or perhaps kill her.

    How good would her instincts be if not for fear? Fear can help her stay careful of dangerous enemies and it can help alert her of dangerous attacks. Having pride is almost like a form of self-acknowledgment. Mira takes pride in her knowledge and experience which in doing so allows her to determine her worth and capabilities. She can take pride and acknowledge what she knows which will help her understand what she doesn''t know or what she can do to better herself.<sub> </sub>

    All of these things are incredibly useful if used correctly and being able to keep a cool head in all situations is the best way to utilize these emotions. That''s why Mira prefers being apathetic and indifferent on almost every asion because it allows her to keep a level head at all times.

    However, now instead of these emotions surrounding and tied to her overarching indifference, they are now all jumbled up together, each one trying to take over and be the Main Emotion.

    What Mira''s trying to do during her meditation is unscramble these emotions while plucking each one of them out of the Main emotion slot, turning them back into subordinate emotions.

    Yes, it''s a huge pain in the ass to do so because emotions aren''t just fucking cabbages or flowers that one can just pick up and put wherever they want. No, they are pretty much the foundation of a living entity. Babies, adults, animals, and even nts can feel things, especially in a cultivation world. Hell, sometimes even robots have feelings or they can at least be programmed to. If something doesn''t have any emotions then Mira would say that such a person can no longer be considered living.

    Some might disagree with Mira and others might say that she''s being a hypocrite because Mira rarely feels anything, but that''s simply not true.

    Mira wants revenge! She wants to kill those who have wronged her! She wants to get stronger! She wants to be free! Sure, she might not care for human life, but at least she cares about her own!

    Anyways, that''s why doing this is a huge pain in the ass because Mira is basically rearranging the foundation of her very being.

    Another reason why it''s anything but easy is because, if she focuses on one emotion for too long then slowly that will be the only thing she feels until it''s subordinated again.

    Like right now, Mira is plucking away her rage and in doing so she can feel her veins popping, her teeth gritting, her eyes turning bloodshot, and an oppressive need for ughter. Such a feeling will only get worse until she unscrambles and subordinates it.

    Luckily for Mira, although her emotions were raging her mental capacity is very high and she can restrain herself from doing something crazy.

    Mira continued separating and subordinating her emotions for the weeks toe until she was left with her usual cold indifferent self��

 Chapter 239 Meditation, Emotions, And Cultivation Part 2

    Now that Mira''s condition has stabilized the only thing left for her to do is make a breakthrough and although she may only be a step away, this breakthrough is incredibly important.

    However, as long as she pushes herself to the max and continues doing what she''s been doing with every breakthrough in the Foundation Ream, then she''ll be fine.

    Mira proceeded to spend the next few days adjusting her mind and body to their peak state. She didn''t want to make any mistakes and it''s better to be safe than sorry when making a breakthrough.

    After her mind and body reached their peak readiness, Mira started taking out a few items from one of her Spatial Rings. This Spatial Ring was filled with anything rted to the ice element. Be it herbs, nts, trees, ores, beast corpses, or even ice itself this ring had almost everything one could imagine when ites to ice-rted items.

    Mira proceeded to take out arge b of pinkish-blue ice and as soon as she did, the entire room''s temperature dropped to abnormally low temperatures. The air started to freeze almost immediately and soon the walls surrounding her were beingyered in ice. Even Mira felt a slight chill and although she might be affected if she stayed here for an extended period of time, it wasn''t life-threatening.

    Maria, on the other side of the residence, was even startled a bit by the drop in temperature, but she knew that Mira must be preparing to make a breakthrough. She smiled and went back to what she was doing.

    Although both Mira and Elenei had no idea what this b of ice was, they knew that it was special and that it could not only benefit Mira both in cultivation speed but also in her Daoprehension. Needless to say, this was a treasure that a puny Foundation Realm expert like her wasn''t supposed to have.

    After setting down the b of ice, Mira proceeded to sit on it, and almost instantly the clothes she was wearing started to freeze. Mira sighed in resignation and was forced to remove her clothes and sit on the b in her birthday suit. She knew that it wouldn''t take more than a few seconds for her Sect Robe to turn to ice and start cracking before inevitably crumbling into a thousand pieces.

    When Mira sat on the b of ice without any clothes, she felt the Qi inside her start to be a bit restless, almost like they were screaming at Mira to start cultivating. Mira didn''t pay any attention to this but was more focused on the pinkish-blue icy veins forming over her skin. She started feeling some connection with this b of ice. The more veins formed over her skin, the closer she felt and the more restless her Qi became. The b proceeded to inject an icy aura into her body and Mira felt her Absolute Ice Dao Comprehension heighten.

    Her currentprehension didn''t instantly turn her into an unparalleled genius and there were surely limitations to such a magical treasure, but Mira did feel like she could shave off a few years'' worths ofprehension just by sitting on this b.

    After she was finished examining her current condition, Mira stopped paying attention to this b''s effects and started bringing out more resources. The first and mostmon thing she brought out were ice-elemental Spirit Stones. They are basically Spirit Stones that are more beneficial to those with an ice affinity. They won''t do anything like increase herprehension or increase the effectiveness of her affinity but they do make it easier for ice affinity users to absorb Qi from them thus increasing their cultivation speed.

    Mira also set down a Qi Gathering Array to further increase her absorption efficiency.

    Several more treasures started piling up in front of Mira such as berries that she calls Arctic Berries. These berries contain dense amounts of icy Qi in them, but unfortunately, the amount of Qi in each berry is rtively small. Luckily Mira has a whole bunch of them! However, what''s great about these berries is that the Qi inside them is very easy to digest and absorb, making them very useful for cultivators in her realm when used inrge batches.

    There were also a number of flowers surrounding Mira. Each of them had 5 petals made of ice with arge bulb in the middle that almost looked like some sort of egg. The bulb was violet in color and released a calming aura despite it being extremely cold to touch. Most of these flowers were Mid-Mortal Grade with a handful of Late-Mortal Grade.

    Usually, an item of that grade wouldn''t be very useful to Mira, but these flowers were special. They had the effect of stabilizing one''s foundation as long as that person had an incredibly high affinity with the ice element. Mira called them the Tranquil Yin Flower.

    Unfortunately, nobody in this area even knows what a Tranquil Yin Flower is, so making pills out of them is out of the question and she doesn''t have enough of these flowers to waste on experiments.

    That''s it for the main items she''ll be using during her breakthrough. However, she also brought out a few other items to assist her in case anything goes wrong. She brought out a few tea leaves that have the effect of suppressing one''s emotions leaving only cold indifference.

    Mira brought these out just in case something happens to her emotions.

    Last but not least, and although Mira didn''t actually bring this one out of her Spatial Ring, there is a dual element (fire and ice) flower that she was prepared to bring out and eat during her breakthrough. Although the flower itself actually isn''t that useful, it does have a special effect that could be useful in body tempering.

    The level of this flower is far from being able to temper her body now that shepleted the First Stage of the Magma Dragon body, Mira did find a use for it that could help her umte more Qi during her breakthrough if used at the right time.

    Her n is to eat the bulb right at the climax of her breakthrough. The bulb will first spread fiery energy across her body, but due to how strong her body is there won''t be much of an effect. However, with how much her body will have heated up, her body will be a bit more malleable just like how rubber bes if you put it over a fire.

    She''ll then umte more Qi thanks to the increased malleability of her body and then once the fiery energy has run out, that''s when she''ll proceed with condensing her Qi so by the time the icy energy permeates through her body, it won''t really do anything.

    Elenei tried talking Mira out of doing something insane like this since one slip up and there might actually be a possibility of death, but Mira refused to listen.<sub> </sub>

    Looking at everything around her, Mira nodded in satisfaction.

    ''Sigh�� Possessing wealth is truly amazing.''

    Of course, Mira doesn''t actually need to use all of this stuff to break through and she could easily make a breakthrough without any help, but now that she''s rich, why shouldn''t she put all of this wealth to good use?

    Most of this stuff won''t be very useful to her when she breaks through to the Core Formation Realm anyway, so she might as well use it up while she can!

    "Time to get started."

    Mira muttered then proceeded to close her eyes. With a deep breath, Mira started absorbing the surrounding Qi like crazy! If not for the Qi Gathering Array and the amount of Spirit Stones around her, she would''ve started sucking up all of the surrounding Qi within her residence! And she hasn''t even started her breakthrough yet!

    After that, she proceeded to plop a few Arctic Berries in her mouth and after she finished eating 10 Arctic Berries, she ate a bulb from a Tranquil Yin Flower to keep her foundation steady and prevent the Qi entering her body from going berserk.

    The Qi inside her was increasing at an abnormally fast pace and even with all of the Qi surrounding her and the berries she was eating, the surrounding atmospheric Qi started dropping at an rming rate.

    Mira could break through to the next stage right now, but her body can handle more Qi so she kept going.

    She continued eating berry after berry and flower after flower until she finished eating 200 berries and 20 Tranquil Yin Flower bulbs.

    She also started throwing out more Ice-Elemental Spirit Stones as they were crumbling by the second. She ended up throwing out almost 2,000 Ice Elemental Spirit Stones before her breakthrough reached its climax.

    Her body was extremely bloated right now and if one looked closely one would even be able to see cracks forming on Mira''s body. However, Mira didn''t stop there as she took out the dual-element flower and plopped the bulb in her mouth.

    Soon a fiery energy spread throughout her body trying to wreak havoc, but due to her body''s strength it couldn''t harm her and could only increase the temperature.

    Now instead of having just a bloated body, Mira had a red bloated body with smokeing out of her pores due to the heat contained within her. Right now she was on the verge of exploding into a million pieces while at the same time turning her surroundings into a wastnd, killing anything and everything in it. Right now, she''s like a walking miniature nuke.

    However, Mira didn''t think about this and started absorbing more Qi thanks to her body''s current malleability. Her body kept bloating more and more until at some point Mira felt death approaching and approaching fast. She knew that she had reached the end of how much her body could handle so she started stuffing her face with a few Tranquil Yin Flower bulbs and started condensing the Qi contained in her body.

    Her current body size was about 4 times the overall size of her normal body. She looked like how a person might look if they turned themselves into a balloon.

    After 1pression, her body reduced to only twice her normal size while the density of Qi in her body doubled.

    After a secondpression, her body returned to her normal size, but she still wasn''t clear of the danger.

    After several morepressions, the fiery energy in her body finally diminished and an icy energy coursed through her body. Though, this icy energy was insignificant and did absolutely nothing to Mira other than cooling down her body and healing some of the cracks that formed on her.

    Mira proceeded with the breakthrough like normal and continued to condense her Qi until she was unable to condense the Qi within her body anymore.

    Now she has finally broken through to the Peak Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm.

    Mira let out a frosty breath that froze the surrounding air before she started consolidating her breakthrough.

 Chapter 240 The Past

    A few hours after Mira broke through, she awoke from her cultivation session and started putting away the ice b and the leftover resources that she didn''t use. Soon after, warmth was returned to the room and the ice started receding. It wasn''t melting, but literally disappearing, returning the room back to its original state.

    Mira was a bit amused by this result, but she didn''t pay too much attention to it. That b of ice was a very magical treasure so of course, its effects would be magical as well.

    She put on her red and ck dress robes that she received from the mermaids since she doesn''t n on staying in the Sect much longer after she broke through.

    Mira walked out of her room but didn''t sense Maria nor Vulcan nearby, but she wasn''t bothered by this.

    She noticed that it was somewhere around midday and assumed that Maria would be back probably around night. Mira didn''t feel the need to leave her residence and say goodbye to some of the members of the Sect she helped train. Nor did she feel any sort of sentiment orradery with other members of the Sect.

    It seems that she''s back to her normal self again, making things much easier. Mira stopped thinking about that stuff and walked over to Rhydian, who was now around 80 centimeters, about the size of a normal wolf. However, Mira could tell that Rhydian was still in her growth phase and who knows how big she''ll be once she''s fully grown.

    While petting Rhydian, Mira started to sort through her storage rings to organize them into groups of ''incredibly useful'', ''useful'', ''useful under conditions'', ''not useful'', and ''unknown''. Even though almost all of the items technically fall under the ''unknown'' category, she doesn''t need to know what they are to find out if they can be of any use to her. For example, pretty much anything in the Human Grade is useless to her even if it can be used for pills.

    However, Mira naturally wouldn''t waste her precious time picking up a bunch of Human-Grade treasures and would only grab them if they looked interesting. Most of the stuff she has are Low-Mortal and Mid-Mortal Grade which would only be useful to her under certain conditions, BUT with the amount, she has they''ll definitely make her a lot of money. Also, she can give some to Maria to practice Alchemy with and Mira can use the ores to practice forging with.

    Mira also has a lot of Late and Peak Mortal-Grade treasures that are still useful to her. Thanks to Elenei''s help, Mira has also gathered many different Earth-Grade treasures as well. Unfortunately, Mira doesn''t know what they are nor their effects. But what''s most surprising is Mira has a few Heaven-Grade Treasures as well. Naturally, this was all Elenei''s doing since the beasts that surrounded those treasures had the equivalent strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator or higher.

    This just goes to show that the two of them were busy during their little ''looting expedition''.

    Day turned into night as Mira continued organizing her storage rings until she sensed two presences entering her residence. She immediately stopped what she was doing and walked out of her room to see them.

    Maria''s eyes lit up when she saw Mira walking toward her and she couldn''t help but notice that Mira seemed like she was back to normal. Although something was bothering her about the current Mira. She couldn''t put her finger on it so she stopped worrying about it.

    "Mira! Congrattions on breaking through to the Peak of the Foundation Realm! It''s about time you''ve caught up or I might''ve left you in the dust, hehe~"

    Mira ignored herment and went straight down to business.

    "I''m ready to leave. There''s nothing left for me to do here."

    Maria shook her head at Mira''s behavior since she was already missing the moody Mira. At least she talked more��

    "Hmph! I''ve already visited my parents and told them I''ll be leaving for the Main Sect near the Central Continent. They were both a lot stronger after going through the trials and they said they''ll probably leave to go on an adventure after settling some matters in Lunar Fox City. It''d be nice of you if you went and said bye to them as well. They really wanted to thank you for everything you''ve done for my family."

    Maria said with sincerity, but Mira''s face remained stoic as she just stared at Maria.

    Mira wasn''t that surprised about their decision to go on an adventure. That''s probably been their dream, but neither of them was all that talented in cultivation to begin so they saw no point in adventuring. Neither of them was naive enough to think that they would survive with their pitiful strength, but things are different now after going through those trials.

    Their cultivation probably skyrocketed, their body and strength soared, and their mentality was strengthened. You could even say that their talent has improved. Considering all of those things, it''s not surprising that they would want to make the most of what they were given.

    Mira also doesn''t feel the need to say goodbye to them. She''s wasted enough time as it is and seeing Maria''s parents will only further dy her��

    Yup, she''s back to her normal self again.

    Maria pouted seeing Mira''s expression and she knew that getting Mira to visit her parents was impossible.

    "Ugh! I knew this would happen after you went into seclusion! Where''s moody Mira?! Bring her back! She would''ve said goodbye to my parents! Whatever! I''m ready to leave as well. I just talked to Cine earlier today and she said that she''s good to go whenever we''re ready. All that''s left is to inform Sect Master Jane and we can head out."<sub> </sub>

    "Good. We''ll leave tomorrow. We don''t exactly have time to waste if we want to be Core Formation Realm experts and make it to the Main Sect''s Entrance Exam."

    Maria sighed but nodded in acknowledgment. She knew what Mira was saying was true, but she couldn''t help feeling a little sad. She''s going to miss this ce. The Battle Maiden Sect has been so good to them and has done everything in its power to see them advance as quickly as possible.

    Sect Master Jane and the Elders were all very nice people who only wished for the best for their disciples. There was no such thing as in-fighting or people scheming behind others'' backs. The disciples were all very nice for the most part and treated everyone like a family. Although there was plenty ofpetition, everyone knew not to take things too far.

    Although the information and training for the various jobs were subpar, that didn''t mean they were bad. It''s just the location of their Sect doesn''t have enough resources to constantly train new disciples. However, there was plenty of theoretical knowledge for the disciples to build their foundations.

    Maria is also going to miss Lunar Fox City and her parents. Although the City wasn''t perfect and crimes happened every day, the people, as a whole, weren''t bad people. The City Lord did his best to protect their City and everyone did their part along with the City Lord.

    This is also the ce where she met Mira. Someone who changed her fate from being a naive little girl who would probably be forced into an arranged marriage to someone that will be able to travel the world and see the Stars.

    As a little girl, her parents always told her stories of the outside world and how many amazing things there are to see, and although she may seem a bit naive and clueless about the world, she wasn''t stupid. She knew she wasn''t particrly talented, both in cultivation and fighting, and she didn''t have the courage to ovee this limitation.

    Getting into life-or-death battles is scary, after all. What if she dies?! She won''t be able to achieve her dream if she dies!

    However, that all changed when she was saved by a little girl in a forest one day. She was supposed to die that day. She was abandoned by herpanions and her fate was sealed. She could feel it. Deep down, she understood that this situation was inevitable-this was her fate. A naive little girl doomed to die because of her ignorance and blind trust in herpanions.

    Mira changed all that�� She didn''t only save her life but reversed her fate. She was constantly pushed to her absolute limits after meeting that little girl who saved her life until one day she was strong enough to hold her head up high.

    The naive little girl was no more and in her ce was�� well�� a naive girl, who although didn''t quite understand the vicious and brutal nature of the world, was now at least strong enough to fight against it.

    Maria started tearing up thinking about all Mira has done for her. Her life, her strength, her fate, everything she has right now is thanks to the ice-cold woman in front of her. Mira might deny it and say that it was because of the hard work she put in, she was able to achieve this much, but Maria knows otherwise.

    She would''ve never made it this far by herself nor if someone else were to train her. Ironically enough, she''s only standing here today because of Mira''s stubbornly cold nature andck of morals. Who in their right mind would make a child experience things worse than death over and over again just to prevent her from beingzy? Probably only Mira would waste her time doing such a thing.

    However, despite how cold Mira looks on the outside, Maria knows the truth. She knows that Mira is lonely and not just the type of lonely like her parents are dead or she just wants attention. But the type of lonely like she''s one against the world. The type of loneliness where death isn''t something she fears, but something she can only dream of.

    And although Mira never talks about it, Maria knows she''s suffering and the only way she''s able to keep going is if her emotions are sealed. Just the thought of Mira being forced to do such a thing makes her want to just bawl her eyes out. Even if she knows that there''s nothing she can do except getting stronger and be there for her when she needs help.

    Maria could no longer contain herself as tears fell down her eyes and she leaped into Mira''s embrace.

    "Sniff�� T-Thank you�� F-For everything�� Sniff�� O-O-One day, we''ll break your fate too��"

    Mira wasn''t sure what was going on, but when she heard what Maria said she froze up for a second however she went back to normal immediately after, but her eyes softened a bit as she looked at Maria crying in her embrace.

    She gently rubbed her back in silence as memories of her time with Maria surfaced. She couldn''t help but marvel at the growth that Maria showed over the years. Not only in strength but as a person as well.

    Mira started thinking about her life before Maria and she knew that the naive and innocent girl in front of her had brought about a change in Mira. She''s the cause of a certain feeling resurfacing after being buried for so many years:

    Happiness.

    ''No, thank you for apanying me on my journey thus far.''

    Mira thought to herself��

 Chapter 241 A New Adventure

    Maria ended up falling asleep in Mira''s arms which surprised Mira a bit since she didn''t expect Maria to get so emotional. Mira could only shrug her shoulders and carry Maria to her bed so she can rest properly.

    After Miraid Maria down on her bed she walked towards the door, but right before she left she turned around and looked at the sleeping Maria with softened eyes. However, that disappeared almost instantly before they turned ice-cold again and her face hardened while leaving the room.

    Only Mira knew what she was thinking��

    The next morning, Maria woke up and looked around confused. She didn''t remember falling asleep yesterday. She thought about thest thing she remembered and felt her face turn red in embarrassment but she had a slight smile on her face.

    "Kya~ I actually fell asleep in Mira''s embrace! I bet she even princess carried me to my bed! Hehehe~ So dreamy~ I wonder if she gave me a goodnight kiss? No no no! Mira would never do something so brazen! Oh well, I guess I''ll have to settle with the princess carry for now."

    Maria hid her face under her sheets just thinking about something so lewd��

    What a hopeless girl��

    That''s when she remembered that they were supposed to be leaving today so she quickly put her ''lewd'' thoughts to the back of her mind and started gathering her stuff. Not! All of her stuff is already in her storage ring.

    The only thing she needed to grab was Vulcan, so that''s what she did. She scooped up the little fox while he was sleeping, but even after being picked up, he didn''t open his eyes. Maria was already used to this by now so she didn''t pay any more attention to him and walked out of her room.

    Out in the middle of her residence, she saw Mira holding Rhydian by the scruff on her neck with a somewhat annoyed look on her face.

    It didn''t take a genius to know that Mira was quite annoyed that Rhydian was still sleeping. She''s been sleeping for almost 6 months after all!

    "You ready to go, Mira? Because I know I am! I''m ready to break through to the Core Formation Realm!"

    Mira gave a slight nod and didn''t say anything else. She took out her mask and put it on her face to prevent any unwanted trouble from popping up when she leaves the Sect.

    Maria knew why Mira put on the mask, but she still felt a little disappointed that she won''t have any eye candy during their trip.

    "I''m already missing your beautiful face, Mira. You need to hurry up and be invincible so I can have my eye candy back! Or maybe I should be invincible so I can prevent others from looking at you."

    Maria had a thoughtful expression on her face when she said that. Mira didn''t feel the need toment on that.

    "It''s time to leave."

    Mira was already halfway out of the residence when she said that causing Maria to awaken from her thoughts.

    "Coming!"

    Outside of their residence, the two of them saw Cine waiting with her eyes closed. She sensed 2 people approaching and opened her eyes only to see Mira and Maria.

    "It''s about time you two came out. Anyways, I guess it''s time to go?"

    Mira and Maria nodded and the three of them started walking toward Sect Master Jane''s office to say goodbye.

    It didn''t take long before they stood in front of her door.

    Knock Knock

    "Come in!"

    The trio walked in and saw Sect Master Jane doing what looked like paperwork. The Sect Master looked up and was a bit surprised to see the three of them, but then she let out a wry smile as she guessed what they were here for.

    "I guess this is goodbye, huh?"

    Maria and Cine were a bit surprised, but Mira was expecting this. Sect Master Jane was an intelligent person after all.

    "Yes, it''s time for us to leave. We have important business to take care of before leaving to go to the Main Battle Maiden Sect."

    Mira exined briefly, but her words caused Sect Master Jane''s eyes to shine a bit. Even though she might not know Mira that well, she knows that Mira isn''t someone to exaggerate. So if she says that something is important then it must mean that whatever she has nned will greatly affect her future��

    Future��<sub> </sub>

    ''All three of them are at the Peak of the Foundation Realm�� Ah!"

    "You three must have something special nned for your breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm, huh?"

    Once she said that even Mira was a bit surprised that she could guess that based on a single sentence, but Mira wasn''t an idiot either and was able to gather some clues based on her words.

    "I guess you already know that breaking through to the Core Formation Realm isn''t as simple as gathering Qi. Though it makes sense, you are a Sect Master that''s tied to one of thergest Sects on the Continent even if this one is only a Branch Sect."

    Sect Master Jane smiled as she really enjoyed talking with intelligent people like Mira.

    "Yes, though it''s not as much as you might think. This kind of knowledge is generally withheld from the public as only major ns, Families, and Sects are privy to it. I''m sure you can understand why."

    "Of course. How else can those ns, Families, and Sects maintain their superiority if something as important as this is known to the public? Not only can they monopolize the resources needed to form specific Cores, but they can use this knowledge to gain followers if used correctly."

    "Hahaha! That''s right! However, that''s not to say that this knowledge isn''t known to the public because people aren''t that stupid. In fact, you can buy this kind of knowledge for the right price, but you definitely won''t get anything spectacr. What these big ns and Families have done is release the theoretical knowledge for breaking through to the Core Formation Realm rather than directly giving away the form to form a certain Core."

    "So that''s the case. With only that kind of knowledge, people are more likely to form trash cores rather than something extraordinary. Though I''m sure they''ve tampered with the theoretical knowledge ever so slightly as a preventative measure."

    "Yes! It''s so nice to talk to smart people! I''ll tell you what I know about the Core Formation Realm, but take my words with a grain of salt. Who knows if what I''m saying is actually the truth. All I know is that the Formation of someone''s Core can greatly affect a cultivator''s future. You don''t necessarily need external resources to form a fantastic Core and neither do external resources guarantee that you''ll get a fantastic Core. There is essentially an infinite number of options when ites to what Core you''ll form and if you have the right resources then the chances of you creating a Core that''s better than what you would''ve originally created is higher."

    ''But! If you are already talented and you want to improve on that talent then it might not necessarily be worth it to use external resources to help create your Core. You might be doing more harm than good if you don''t find good enough stuff to use. That''s really all I can tell you. If you want to know more, then you''ll have to gather this information by yourselves."

    Sect Master Jane exined and the trio all had thoughtful expressions on their faces. All three of them could be considered talents. Maybe not geniuses or supreme geniuses but they are definitely top-tier talents when ites to cultivating.

    All three of them had unique bloodlines, strong bodies, and have made great strides in their Daoprehension. Their cultivation is neither quick nor slow, but they all have perfect Foundations or maybe even beyond that.

    Mira also has a unique Physique and a bond with two mythical beasts. So although they may not be supreme geniuses when ites to strictly their cultivation, their potential is extraordinarily high.

    And if what Sect Master Jane is saying is true, then they might need some very unique resources to improve their Core, but who knows. Maybe if they were to form a Core right now then it would be incredibly ordinary despite their potential.

    All three of them groaned when they came to this conclusion since they are basically forced to do their own research, find unique materials, and have a bit of luck to create something that may or may not be better than a Core they would have formed without any help.

    "Haha! Don''t think too much about it. As I said, my knowledge of this subject is very limited and I only happened upon this knowledge by chance. Although the source I heard it from might not be entirely credible, the uniqueness of the Core Formation Realm is entirely real. I''m sure you three will figure it out."

    The three of them nodded and decided to put this information in the back of their heads. First, they have to do some research on their own.

    "Well, I won''t keep you guys here any longer since you''ll need all the time you can get if this is what you''re nning on doing. Be safe out there and if you are ever in the area thene visit me. I''d love to see how you guys are doing and how far you''ve progressed."

    Mira nodded and nobody could tell what she was thinking underneath her mask. Cine also just nodded but she had a somewhat sad expression on her face. Meanwhile, Maria��

    "I''ll miss you, Sect Master! We''ll definitelye to see you if we are ever in the area! Hopefully, you aren''t dead by then! Try not to stress yourself out too much or you''ll die early!"

    "What?! You haven''t even left yet and you''re already killing me off?! I''ll have you know I''m still in the prime of my life! I''ll definitely outlive you three brats! Get out!"

    "Hehehe~ Look! Your face is already turning red even though I just told you to take it easy! At this rate, you''ll definitely die in just a few years. Please take better care of your health, Sect Master!"

    "You!! Get out! How could I have epted such a shameless disciple into my Sect?! Hopefully, the Main Sect will be able to teach you some manners! Ugh!"

    "Oh no! Sect Master, your face is turning purple now! You need to breathe! Breathe! Help! Somebody help! The Sect Master is trying to suffocate herself to death! Don''t worry Sect Master, I''ll definitely go find you some help! Come on Mira, Cine, let''s go!"

    "Fuck!! GET OUT!! *Splurt*"

    The Sect Master spat out a mouthful of blood due to rage as the trio left her office. The only thing she heard after was Maria''sughter as the three of them ran away.

    The trio plus Rhydian and Vulcan soon made their way out of the Sect with Mira and Cine shaking their heads at Maria''s behavior. The two of them have really tried to get Maria to stop doing things like that, but instead of bing less shameless, she''s only gotten worse.

    When they reached the entrance of the Sect, Maria turned around and bowed slightly before pumping her fist in the air and announcing:

    "Time to start our next adventure!"

 Chapter 242 Good Samaritan?

    High in the sky, far above even the tallest of trees, soared a massive bird. This bird was flying so fast that most people would barely be able to catch a glimpse of it, yet the strange thing was that no aura emanated off of this beast. One would think that such a massive beast would be exceptionally strong but this beast seemed like nothing but a weak Rank 1 Beast.

    However, that couldn''t be farther from the truth as this beast flew faster than every bird in the sky.

    This beast was Elenei and although she looked like a free and unfettered bird from the ground, the beast in question was feeling anything but free!

    Not only was she forced to conceal her aura, slowing down her speed, but she had to carry 3 people and 2 beasts on her back! That''s not even the worst of it! She even has to use her Qi to protect the 5 entities on her back because they are flying at such high speeds that their bodies will be damaged without any sort of protection.

    Mira, who''s now back to her original self, alsomanded her to fly without breaks until they see something interesting!

    What the fuck is this?! I''m a Divine Beast, you know?! Are we reallypanions?! Why do I get the feeling that I''m your ve instead?! We''ve been flying for over a week, at least give me a break!!

    That''s what Elenei wanted to say, but she decided it''d be better to just shut up and deal with it. She still hasn''t kept her end of the bargain, which was making Mira a Core Formation Realm expert and Mira definitely won''t help her until that happens.

    So although she wanted to voice out her grievances, there wasn''t much she could do at this point. She just had to work hard to make Mira a Core Formation Realm expert as soon as possible. Then she''ll be able to undergo Nirvana and not have to deal with this insufferable woman for a while!

    However, Elenei wasn''t the only one who was having a bad time. Maria, Cine, and Vulcan also weren''t having the greatest of times. Mainly because flying at such high speeds is abnormally loud! They can''t focus on cultivating, they can''t talk to each other, and they can''t even move! The only thing they can do is sit and wait!

    Vulcan, on the other hand, was so scared that if not for being on the back of a giant Phoenix, he would''ve already shit himself! Just the aura of a Phoenix is already terrifying enough, but now he''s forced to sit on the back of one as they fly across the sky! What if he falls?! He can''t even glide, much less fly! He''ll definitely die if he falls!

    Mira was different from the rest, she was looking at the scenery with a calm expression on her face. It''s at times like these when she realizes just how beautiful the cultivation world is. Everything is so full of life! The grass is greener, the trees are taller, the mountains are higher, and the rivers are wider.

    Back in those worlds that didn''t have any Spiritual Energy, Mira never cared about the environment or how pretty it looked. And although there were plenty of other reasons for this other than her just not caring, the main reason is there wasn''t anything that interested her in those worlds.

    A cave in a mortal world without Spiritual Energy didn''t have the possibility of leading to an Immortal Inheritance. Tea leaves couldn''t cause enlightenment and climbing up mountains was akin to suicide with a mortal body.

    Everything was just�� boring. Being a mortal is boring. Having a lifespan limited to 100 years is�� worthless in Mira''s eyes. Around 30% of that time is reserved for sleeping. The first 15-20 years of a mortal''s life is for growing up and once a mortal gets to around the age of 60-70 their physical and mental capabilities are limited and start deteriorating and that''s if you are in good shape! Realistically, a mortal has a good 30 years to live their lives to fullest and even then, 10 of those years have to be used for sleeping.

    Thinking up to this point, Mira felt that mortal''s really have pitiful lives. However, her opinion on the matter is most likely an unpopr opinion amongst both cultivators and mortals. Cultivators, at least the more experienced ones, think that mortal''s lead more fulfilling lives than cultivators. They can live peacefully while chopping wood or some shit as a job, get married, have children, and have a family surrounded by peace and love. You grow old and let your children and grandchildren take care of you, then die peacefully.

    However, Mira calls horseshit. What she mentioned as a ''fulfilling life'' is the best case scenario! It doesn''t matter if it''s in a Cultivation world or not, such a peaceful situation is generally nothing but a pipe dream! Wars, famine, disease, infighting, bandits, beasts,ck of resources, and many other things control the lives of mortals. Being able to live a peaceful and happy life is incredibly rare.

    As Mira''s thoughts drifted off, her eyes caught sight of something below her that caused unwanted memories to surface. Soon she started gritting her teeth and clenching her fists so hard that blood started dripping. She wanted to ignore what was going on down there and carry on with her journey. She''s not one to meddle in other people''s business even if people are causing wanton ughter, but this just happened to be one of her reverse scales. So before her mind could evene to a decision, her body did it for her and she jumped off Elenei''s back.

    "Mira!"

    "Mira! What the hell are you doing?!"

    "!!!"

    Maria and Elenei yelled while Cine looked rmed but it was already toote.

    Mira subconsciously took out her scythe and formed ice wings on her back to prevent her from going st!

    "... H..e��p... M�� S�� m�� n... P��e.. s��e! Help�� SomeONE! PLEASE HELP ME! STOP STOP! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!"

    Mira heard the scream of a little girl as she was plummeting to the ground, but shepletely disregarded her. She didn''te down to save this girl�� She came down to:

    KILL!!

    *BOOM*

    Spalt!

    "AAARRRGGHHH!"

    "What the fuck?!"

    "What just happened?! What just exploded?!"

    "Boss!!! Boss!! Are you okay, boss?!"

    Mira looked down and noticed that when shended she identally crushed the man who was trying to r*pe the little girl. Well, crushed is saying it mildly�� The man is nothing more than a pool of blood and flesh right now.

    It can''t be helped. The man was only in the Qi Condensation Realm and Mira''s physical body is abnormally dense after going through the Magma Dragon body tempering. Thatbined with her speed at which she fell, it would be a miracle if the man wasn''t squashed like a bug.

    However, the girl didn''te out of this inscathed. She was flung back from the explosion, but the damage was minimal. She has plenty of cuts and bruises, but at worst she''ll have a few fractures and maybe a broken bone. The girl was also in the Qi Condensation Realm, but she was only at the first stage unlike these�� scum who were at Stage 4 or higher.

    Mira looked over her shoulder and finally got a good look at the girl. She was probably around 15 or 16, had dirty blonde hair, olive skin color that showed she stayed out in the sun for long periods of time. She wasn''t the prettiest girl, but she wasn''t ugly either. Her body was also normal-looking as well. She looked how a 15 year old girl would look�� young.

    However, Mira didn''t pay any attention to these things as the only thing she noticed was the girl was stripped naked. She was still wearing clothes, but they were clearly ripped to shreds to show off her chest and sacred region.

    The girl, who was frightened by everything that was happening, regained her bearings as quick as possible in hopes of running away until she felt a gaze so terrifying that it made these r*pists seem like upstanding citizens.

    Her body froze, unable to move, as her body started shivering in fright under those blood-red eyes. Her eyes frantically looked around for anything that might help her in this situation, but she identally looked into those blood-red eyes. What she saw in those eyes was something far worse than what she could''ve ever imagined.

    Blood�� Rivers of blood.

    The ground itself looked like it was made out of the flesh of people and mountains of corpses and limbs as far as the eye can see.

    That''s all she could see when the scene disappeared and her consciousness was back in her body. The girl immediately started puking after witnessing something so horrific.

    Mira stopped looking at the girl, but she felt her rage rising as memories of being in the same position as the girl surfaced in her mind.<sub> </sub>

    She looked over at the remaining 6 men and sneered in disgust. These people were really too ugly.

    "Wha-What do you want?! You just killed our boss!!! How are you going topens-AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

    Mira didn''t say anything and chopped off the man''s legs with her scythe. She wasn''t here to listen to nonsense. Blood sprayed out of his stumps as the man fell to the ground in agony.

    "What the fuck, bitch?! I''ll kill you! Guys! Kill this bitch! We can have fun with her body even after she''s dead!! I bet she''s a real looker! Jijiji~"

    "Hehehe~ You''re right! GET HER!"

    "KILL!"

    The men surrounded her and dashed forward to attack, but Mira didn''t pay attention to these weaklings. They won''t even be able to create a scratch on her robe, much less her body.

    She just walked forward towards the man holding his leg stumps screaming in agony and held her scythe like a hammer before mming her scythe down.

    *BOOM*

    St!

    The man''s body exploded into a million pieces as blood and flesh came raining down on everyone as a small crater formed on the ground. However Mira wasn''t done with the man��

    *BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM*

    She mmed her scythe in the same spot over and over again until the man''s blood was now a mist.

    ''Fuck''

    *BOOM*

    ''You''

    *BOOM*

    ''How''

    *BOOM*

    ''Do''

    *BOOM*

    ''You''

    *BOOM*

    ''Like''

    *BOOM*

    ''Getting''

    *BOOM*

    ''Fucked!?!?!''

    p *BOOOOOM*</anda>

    The remaining men didn''t even have time to scream as Mira shifted her focus onto them and for the next couple of minutes mini-explosions happened several times per second.

    A blood mist covered the surrounding area and no bodies or even flesh was in sight. Only blood��

    The ground was also covered in cracks and craters that looked less like the cause of a person and more like a giant monster ran through the area.

    Maria, Cine, and Elenei made it to the scene and watched everything unfold from the very beginning. They didn''t know why, but Mira seemed incredibly angry right now. When they saw the girl, they instantly understood the situation but they were still confused why Mira helped.

    Even if this girl was getting tortured, Mira wouldn''t have cared and would''ve turned a blind eye to it. However, now all of a sudden she''s feeling charitable? Suspicious��

    They could also tell that Mira didn''t give 2 shits about the girl which only made them more confused.

    However, the person who was the most bewildered was the girl! All of a sudden this masked womanes from the sky and starts beating her assaulters into a blood mist! Sure, the girl wanted nothing more than to kill them herself, but she would''ve only slit their throats or stabbed them in the chest a few times to vent her anger.

    But this maniac kept mming the ground with her scythe until even their blood was disappearing! They didn''t even do anything to thisdy!! It was me they were trying to r*pe! Why does it seem like you''re angrier than me?!

    At least that''s what the girl wanted to say, but she was afraid she''d end up like them.

    Everyone watched as Mira continued her rampage for another 10 minutes until Maria had enough and decided to intervene!

    "Mira!! Mira!! That''s enough! They''re already gone! Not even a pool of blood is left for you to smash! You''re going to kill the girl you just saved if you keep going like this!"

    Hearing Maria''s words, Mira finally stopped smashing the ground but she decided to do one final thing. She waved her hands and froze all the surrounding blood then shattered it causing it to scatter in the wind.

 Chapter 243 Lily

    Now that Mira has calmed down she was able to get a good look at her surroundings and was surprised by what she saw.

    The surrounding 100 meters looked like they were bombed all to hell! The ground was sunken in by about 2 meters with cracks all over the surface. However, the destruction isn''t what surprised her but theck thereof. Mira felt that she should''ve been able to cause more than what she''s seeing because she wasn''t pulling her punches! Although she might''ve only used a maximum of 50-70% of her strength, that definitely should''ve been enough to cause more devastation.

    Mira thought about it for a second but soon came to a realization.

    How could the world be so weak that someone with only her level of strength can basically ruin the surface of the world? This world has to house people dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of times stronger than her and if it can''t even deal with someone of her strength then how can it survive against those stronger than her?

    Mira decided to just chalk it up to cultivation world bullshit and stopped thinking about it.

    She looked around and noticed Maria and Cine looking at her with concern while the girl was looking at her with terror evident in her eyes. She didn''t see Elenei but noticed that at some point she retreated into her Soul Sea.

    When Maria noticed that Mira had calmed down, she ran up and grabbed hold of her hands.

    "Are you okay, Mira? What was that? Why were you so angry? Did you know those people? Or maybe you only wanted to help a poor child?"

    "I''m fine�� I just don''t like people like them. It brings up unwanted memories. Okay, forget about that. Now that I finished my business, we should get going."

    Maria noticed how Mira was trying to change the subject and tacitly understood that she didn''t want to talk about it.

    "...Yeah, I guess we should get going. It shouldn''t be long until we find a major city near the Main Battle Maiden Sect. But first, we have to make sure the girl is fine! You almost killed her as coteral damage, after all!"

    "...Whatever��"

    Mira, Maria, followed by Cine all walked over to the naked a bruised little girl sitting on the ground looking at them like they are some sort of monsters.

    Maria walked up to her with a warm smile on her face, but that didn''t make the situation any better since both Cine and Mira were looking at her like she was just a piece of meat.

    "Hey, little girl! What''s your name? My name is Maria! It''s nice to meet you!"

    "..."

    "You don''t have a name? Very well, I''ll just call you Viger A because you look incredibly average! Hehe~"

    "Wha-! My name isn-"

    "Well, Viger A, I''m sorry that my friend almost killed you, but aren''t you a little too weak to be wandering around all by your lonesome? I mean look at yourself, Viger A! You almost got squished like a bug just because my friend fell from the sky! Dang! The world is such a scary ce! You really should be more careful."

    "Will you lis-"

    "All''s well that ends well, I suppose! You didn''t get�� taken advantage of�� by those ugly fellows and my friend here earned herself some good karma! You also got to meet three beauties like us! You''re such a lucky person, Viger A!"

    "FUCK!! Are you stupid or just mentally ill?! My name isn''t Viger A!! It''s Lily! LILY!! And what the hell are you talking about??! Lucky?! I was almost molested! Then some crazy bitch fell from the sky and almost killed me! Then she went on a rampage and would''ve killed me if I didn''t run away from her as fast as possible! Now, I have to sit here and talk with you!! Tell me, what part of this do you think is lucky!?!?"

    "Ummm�� I guess the part where my friend here almost stepped on you? I and many others would absolutely love it if my friend would dominate them like she almost did with you. You also got to see someone as cute and pretty as me! I''m almost starting to think I should charge you money for giving you such an opportunity!"

    "You! You! You fucking PSYCHO!! What do you mean ''stepped on''?! She almost squashed me like a bug!!! I should be the one asking forpensation from you!!"<sub> </sub>

    "Hmph! You''re just too weak to ept her love!!"

    By this point, Cine had already turned around while covering her face with her hands. She really, REALLY wanted to beat the shit out of Maria right now. She can''t wait to make it to a city so she can get away from this shameless woman! Who the hell talks to a kid like that?! It''s so embarrassing.

    Even Mira was feeling awkward about this whole situation. She knows that Maria''s just trying to distract Lily from what she just saw to calm her down but��

    ''Why does she need to drag me down with her as well? Whatever, I''ve had enough of this nonsense.''

    Mira walked up behind Maria and roundhouse kicked her in the hip causing her to shoot to the side and tumble to the ground several hundred meters away. Although most people would definitely be injured by such a kick, Mira knew that she probably only gave her a bad bruise at worst. That''s how strong Maria''s body is.

    "What?! Why''d you do that?! Wasn''t she your friend?? How can you be so brutal?!"

    "Shut up, kid. Why are you worrying about that masochist? She probably wasn''t even hurt."

    "It''s true. She enjoys taking a beating so I''m sure she''s�� pfft�� happy that Mira kicked her."

    Cine chimed in with a chuckle, but her words sent a shiver down Lily''s spine as any respect she had for Maria just went straight down the drain.

    "That''s enough! I have a question for you, girl. You seem especially strong for a child. Where are you from? Have youe from some Sect? Or maybe you''re a spoiled child who ran away from home? As far as I know, there is literally nothing for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers except grasnds and forests."

    Mira looked at her intently, something that an inexperienced little girl couldn''t possibly handle. Just Mira''s stare made Lily feel like a titanous monster was staring down at her.

    "I-I-I r-ran away from my vige��"

    Lily managed to stutter which caused Mira to stop looking at her so intensely. Lily let out a huge breath of hot air when she felt the pressure on her lift. However, Mira wasn''t actually releasing any pressure, it''s just her presence is ratherrge.

    "Vige? I didn''t see any viges when we were flying through the air. I''m sure I would''ve noticed something like that."

    ''Elenei, did you see anything?''

    ''Nope. Though I admit, I wasn''t exactly looking for something like a vige. So I might''ve missed it.''

    ''Hmmm��''

    Lily didn''t know Mira was talking to Elenei and thought that Mira was waiting for her to continue so she reluctantly answered.

    "M-My vige is closed off from the world. I wanted to get out because I was bored and wanted to explore the outside world. Who knew that something like this would happen? Sniff�� Sniff�� I wanna go back home! Waaaaa! Mom and Dad were right! Sniff�� The outside world is too scary!!"

    Lily fell on her butt and started bawling her eyes out, but Mira ignored her and started thinking about the vige. Part of her wants to take a look, but another part thinks that it''s a bad idea. The only reason she would want to see the vige is to sate her curiosity. Other than that, Mira doesn''t see any benefits in visiting such a ce. Maybe she can use the excuse of saving this little girl and ask for some sort ofpensation, but that might end up backfiring. This little girl will most likely just say that although Mira saved her from those ruffians, she almost died because of her ''savior''.

    ''Whatever. Maybe there''s something special about this vige that''ll make it worth visiting and this girl could be our ticket in.''

    "Mira!!! I leave for a few seconds and look! You already made the girl cry! Shh�� Shh�� It''s okay, Viger A. I''ll protect you from this scary woman!"

    While Mira was lost in thought, Maria had already dashed in and started coddling Lily. Unfortunately, this didn''t make the girl feel any better as her crying just became louder.

 Chapter 244 Invisible Village

    It took a few minutes for Maria to calm Lily down, but that didn''t make the situation much better. She was still fearful of Mira and now that Maria was back, she wanted nothing more than to go back home.

    "Hey, kid. Are we able to check out this vige of yours? It sounds interesting."

    Lily was startled when she heard Mira''s question and immediately sobered up.

    "NO! No! No, you can''t. Like I said before, my vige is isted from the outside world. Meaning, that outsiders are not allowed inside and even if you were, then you''d either be killed, forced to stay, or imprisoned. The people inside the vige�� just want to live a peaceful life, away from all the killing, betrayal, and wars."

    Lily hid how one can enter and exit the vige because that''s her only way to get back home. If Mira takes it, then she''ll be left outside with this masochistic psychopath (Maria)! What she didn''t know is that Mira''s not an idiot and knows that Lily probably has the key to enter, but she couldn''t care less about that after hearing what she said.

    Clearly, this vige is just a ce full of hypocritic pussies! Mira would feel much more interested in this vige if they sent their youngsters out of the vige to train or maybe they are preventing some ''disaster'' or something from spreading into the outside world. But Mira has no interest in visiting cowards.

    "Tch. Whatever. You can go back now, kid. We have shit to do so we''ll be on our way."

    "Language, Mira!! She''s just a child!"

    "..."

    Although Lily was a bit frustrated with how the two of them were treating her, she could only bite her lip in frustration. Even though she''s only talked with these two for a short amount of time, it doesn''t take a genius to know that they definitely wouldn''t listen to her.

    Mira didn''t say anything else and started walking in the direction they were originally headed before she jumped off of Elenei. Cine, who hasn''t said anything, quietly followed after Mira. She also saw no point in going to this vige if they are just a bunch of cowards. It''s impossible for them to know if they are missing out on something good, but even if they did have enough resources tost them thousands of years without any need for outside help, those resources most probably wouldn''t have much effect on them.

    Plus, there could be Nascent Soul Realm experts in there. This isn''t Lunar Fox City, after all. They are getting closer and closer to the Main Sect on the Western Continent. Not only is the Qi denser and more abundant, but even themon resources have elevated a notch.

    Maria pouted a bit when she saw Mira walking away, but there wasn''t much she could do. At this point, Mira definitely wouldn''t let her try and convince Lily to let them enter the vige. So she stopped hugging Lily and started running after Mira so she was not left behind. While she was running, she waved goodbye to Lily.

    "See youter, Viger A! If you want to see my beautiful face again,e to the Battle Maiden Sect, east of here!"

    "Damn it! My name isn''t ''kid'' or ''Viger A''! My name is Lily! And who wants to see your ugly face again!?"

    "Hehehe~"

    The only thing Lily heard after that was Maria''s giggles��

    .

    .

    .

    After the three of them got far enough away from Lily and made sure there weren''t any witnesses around, Elenei came out and they hopped on her back to get back to their journey.

    .

    .<sub> </sub>

    .

    A few hourster, the trio was riding on Elenei''s back but instead of sitting around doing nothing, all three of them were looking down as if they were watching something.

    That''s exactly what they were doing. Down on the ground, there was a silhouette of a person running in a certain direction. They''ve been following this person for thest couple of hours and yes, this person was Lily.

    A few hours ago, when they all hopped on Elenei''s back, Mira informed them that she wanted to know where this vige was. Both Cine and Maria were wondering why Mira was so intent on knowing, but she just said that it''s good to know where invisible viges were�� Just in case.

    The two of them, and even Elenei, didn''t understand what she meant by that, but they weren''t against the idea. They also felt like it was a good idea to know where something like this was. Doing this also won''t take too much time off their journey and the only reason they haven''t found the vige yet is because of how slow Lily is.

    But after a few hours, she finally slowed down and after looking around for a few minutes, the girl up and disappeared! Vanished into thin air!

    "Woah! So she wasn''t lying about her vige being isted from the outside world. However, it''s hard to say whether they''re really isted or just hidden by a massive array."

    Maria jumped in surprise.

    Mira didn''t say anything, but for some reason, she felt an urge to have Elenei shoot massive fireballs into that empty space Lily disappeared into. Part of the reason for this is it would be fucking amazing to bombard a city from the sky and even more importantly�� The ce is invisible! Bombing the ce would definitely make it visible again or at least give her a rough outline of the vige.

    Maria and Cine both felt chills down their spines and looked over to see Mira staring at the ce where Lily disappeared with wolf-like eyes!

    "NO! Mira, stop thinking about whatever it is you''re thinking about! We can''t destroy this vige; a vige full of people who only want peace! I know it may seem satisfying to bomb a vige, especially an invisible one, from the sky, but we can''t do that!"

    Cine started nodding her head vigorously, but then she felt like something was off with how Maria phrased it. However, she started thinking about that scenario and realized that it would be really interesting if Elenei just started blowing the ce all to hell!

    Who can resist such a temptation of having Elenei drop bombs from the sky as they flew by.

    "Fuck! No! We need to get out of here! If we stay too long, Elenei will definitely start dropping bombs on this vige! I''m sure they''re all good people and Lily was super cute even if she was a little stupid."

    "Ah! Yes! Viger A! How can I forget? Yes, we can''t bomb the city because she''s in it! Alright Elenei, let''s leave this ce."

    Cine and Maria convinced themselves to not do anything, but what they didn''t know was that Elenei wasn''t going to do something stupid like that even if all three of them begged her to.

    The fuck? Why would she risk exposing herself so these idiots can enjoy watching a bit ofrge-scale destruction? Not a chance!

    Elenei didn''t say anything to them and turned around and left. However, not long after she left, her head turned to the side as she sensed something interesting��

    "Hey guys, there''s actually something interesting not far away from that vige. I don''t know if it''ll help you guys out in your breakthrough, but it''s definitely worth checking out."

    Elenei decided to drop a bomb on the trio instead!

    [A/N: Hehe, did you like that? It''s cheesy I know, but I don''t care!]

 Chapter 245 Unique Biomes

    In the Mortal World that Mira''s currently residing in, the Western Continent is one of the more unique Continents.

    The Northern Continent is, for the most part, covered in snow and ice. Mountains that exceed the sky and cold temperatures all-year-round. This Continent is a great ce for those who have an affinity for ice and water. However, this Continent isn''t suitable for life to thrive so the amount of humans living on this Continent is barely a fractionpared to the other Continents.

    That''s not to say that the Northern Continent is some sort of Death Zone where the death rate is abnormally high. On the contrary, those that live there either have a high affinity with ice and water or are strong enough to disregard the abnormally cold temperatures. This makes it essentially the second strongest Continent in terms of quality, only behind the Central Continent.

    The Southern Continent is the exact opposite. Deserts as far as the eye can see. Scorching temps that could turn any mortal man to ash. An uncountable number of volcanoes. This ce is not for the faint at heart and can be considered the most dangerous continent for humans to live and explore.

    The Eastern Continent is a paradisepared to the other Continents. This Continent has the highest poption of humans living on it as the Continent itself basically screams life. Perfect temperatures all-year-round, high-quality soil that allows for herbs and treasures to grow faster and healthier, and plenty of beasts to raise and/or hunt.

    However, like most things, the goodes with the bad, and the bad in this case is�� Overpoption.

    Yes, there are too many humans and beasts living on the is Continent causing the paradise to be turned into a living hell for the weak. Human lives are worth less than grass, very is extremelymon, and death happens every day for the pettiest of crimes.

    The worst part is there''s nothing that can be done about this unless the peak powerhouses of the world start fighting, causing millions or even billions of people to die, lowering the poption to a rtively stable manner. Unfortunately, this is only treating the symptom and not the root of the problem. Life would still flourish and the Continent would overpopte again in a matter of centuries, maybe less.

    So the Central Continent allows the atrocities of the Eastern Continent to continue while using those people as their source of trade. In fact, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that everyone, from the weakest person to the strongest, is a ve on the Eastern Continent. The only difference is the amount of strength and privileges each ve has.

    Meanwhile, the Western Continent is different from those other ces. While those other Continents could be described as hell holes, the Western Continent is much more neutral. There are all kinds of biomes and the terrain is constantly changing. Forests are the main biome, but there are mountains, tundras, deserts, grasnds, volcanoes, and even unique biomes such as ces filled with an overabundant amount of the elements.

    Another interesting thing is that the number of humans living on the Continent fluctuates between 5-10 billion people, plus or minus a few billion. That may seem like a lot, but that amount is so pitifully low that it''s actually weird that there aren''t more humans living on the Continent. The reason why that''s considered low is because of how massive the Western Continent is.

    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the Western Continent is probably big enough to house several hundred billion people before things start getting overcrowded. In Mira''s perspective, the Western Continent is at least 20 timesrger than Earth.

    The main reason for the low poption of the Western Continent is a number of factors, but the main two being the terrain and the Central Continent''s recruitment.

    p Like what most people know, the Central Continent is the major force of this Mortal World and although part of the reason for that is that the environment on the Central Continent is basically a holynd for cultivators, the Central Continent also recruits and epts plenty of people from the other Continents. Normally, they only take geniuses, but the Western Continent is a bit special.</anda>

    Most cultivators on the Western Continent are a head above the rest even in terms of the other 3 Continents. It''s not that their weapon arts are better or their Dao Comprehension is higher, but ites down to real-life experience. Sure, all of the geniuses on the continents are strong in their own right. The Northern and Southern Continent people have to survive against the harsh weather and fierce beasts and on the Eastern Continent�� well, luck ys a major role there.

    But the Western Continent is different. Most of the Continent is actually filled with beasts of all different kinds, killer nts, and insanely strong insects. That being said, the geniuses on the Western Continent are almost always fighting. Not out of enjoyment, but out of necessity. Beast Hordes aremonce and one can barely take 2 steps out of a City without being attacked by some sort of beast.

    Another reason for the Western Continent''s geniuses being more experienced is the number of biomes or unique situations that they run into. Like mentioned earlier, the Western Continent is filled with unique ces and the terrain is constantly changing. One day, an area might be a grasnd, while a few yearster, the ce could be turned into a desert.

    Needless to say, the death rate on the Western Continent is actually the highest out of all the other Continents. Well, if you don''t count the number of deaths that humans cause amongst themselves on the Eastern Continent, but in terms of death by natural causes, beasts, or environment, the Western Continent has the highest death rate.

    That''s the primary reason for the low poption and as Mira and the others were traveling, they can clearly see this fact. Although they mostly came across forests, it wasn''t weird for them toe across a random mountain or a tundra out of nowhere. They also barely came across any cities, or at leastrge ones that''ll have millions of people living in them. Most of the ces they saw during their flight were viges of several thousand to tens of thousands.<sub> </sub>

    However, this time it seems Elenei was able to spot one of the unique biomes the Western Continent has to offer. From above, the trio was able to see and filled with death. Or at least that''s what the ce looked like from a distance. The ground looked like it was rotting, the trees were bone white, almost like they were made of actual bones. The ponds and rivers were red almost like they were formed by blood. A purplish-ck fog covered the area causing it to reek of poison and death.

    Another strange thing is that the ground looked like it was bubbling. Yes, bubbling. Portions of the ground would literally arise into a bubble before popping, releasing more of that fog.

    Yet, they couldn''t see any beasts, but that didn''t make them feel any better. On the contrary, that just made the whole ce more eerie.

    The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the ground bubbles popping, everything else was still and quiet. Almost like the ce was trapped in time, unable to move.

    Maria and Cine did not want to enter such a ce. The revulsion was clearly evident in their eyes and they might not even be willing to go even if Mira forced them. They could feel that their chances of dying here are abnormally high and yet they didn''t know why. That thought alone sent shivers across their entire body as their hairs stood on end.

    The fact that they can feel death encroaching just by being near the ce was incredibly terrifying.

    Even Elenei underestimated this ce. At first she just spotted something interesting, but now that she''s here she can confidently say that this is one of the most dreadful ces she''s ever been to. It''s not the most terrifying or dangerous, but the whole ce leaves her lingering with fear and uncertainty.

    To make matters worse, her Soul Sense can''t prate the poison fog which should be almost impossible considered she''s a fucking Phoenix in the Mortal World!

    [A/N: Soul Sense is basically Spiritual Sense that you''d find in other worlds. I can''t remember if I''ve mentioned it in the past, but here''s a reminder. ;)]

    "What a wretched ce. I''ve never seen something so revolting and disgusting in my entire life. I almost regret bringing you here since even I can''t sense or tell what''s in this ce."

    Elenei said in disgust.

    "Well said, Little Elenei! I''m definitely not going in there! Even if you break all of the bones in my body and toss me in, I''m crawling my way out! I''m sitting this one out!"

    Maria held her nose and said nasally while even the usual silent Cine decided to speak up.

    "Yeah, I''m not going in there either. I can feel that I won''t survive long if I go inside and I don''t really feel the need to risk my life for something that pertains to poison, death, necromancy, or whatever."

    Mira was only half listening to them as she stared at the ce curiously. She also feels what they''re feeling. This ce revolts her as well, though not nearly as bad as what herpanions feel.

    Her intuition is telling her that her chances of dying in this ce exceed 60%, but she can''t help but want to enter. It''s not like anything is calling her or she feels a sense offortability to this ce, but she has a feeling that she might find something incredibly useful for her future if she enters this ce andes out alive.

    "I guess it''s time for a solo adventure."

 Chapter 246 Trying To Enter

    "Are you sure you want to go, Mira? I''m sure you know how dangerous it is! Is there really a need for you to risk your life for just a bit of adventure?"

    Maria asked nervously, but she already knew that it was impossible to convince Mira to not go.

    "Mmhm. I feel like I might find something useful here. Do you want to go in, Elenei?"

    "No thanks. I''ll stay here and protect these two. If anything goes wrong just contact me through our link. I''ll do my best toe and get you."

    Elenei morphed into a small tweety bird and sat on Cine''s shoulder. Mira nodded at the three of them and walked towards the fog with both anticipation and a bit of dread in her heart.

    When she was in arms reach of the fog, she decided to do a bit of testing. She''s not dumb enough to just walk in a purplish-ck fog without knowing what it can do.

    Mira stretched out her hand and pointed her finger at the fog then shot out a piece of ice into it. As soon as that piece of ice touched the fog it instantly turned purple and disintegrated into dust.

    Mira just stood there dumbly as she realized that this ce might be more dangerous than she initially thought.

    Maria, Cine, and Elenei watched this scene and were dumbfounded. Sure, Mira''s attack might not have been the strongest but it was still an attack that could kill a Late-Xiantian Stage Foundation Realm Expert. For it to turn to dust in an instant�� Fuck! This fog might be able to insta-kill Core Formation Realm experts or even higher! What kind of shit hole did Elenei find?!

    Maria and Cine stared at Elenei intently, but thetter didn''t pay much attention to them as she felt cold sweat all over her body.

    When Mira shot that piece of ice into the fog, Elenei was able to better understand what and how strong the fog was and what she found shocked her to the core. She was secretly d that she didn''t decide to follow Mira into that hell hole because although the fog wouldn''t be enough to instantly kill her, it would be incredibly annoying for her to deal with.

    However, she still didn''t know exactly what this fog was as she found it to be extremely unlikely that such a thing will just randomly appear in some Mortal World.

    Mira, on the other hand, wasn''t too bothered. Sure, she was shocked by how potent it was, but she refused to believe that there wasn''t a way to deal with it.

    So instead of continuing her tests, she decided to observe the fog and the ground. She started walking around this weird biome, trying to find any secrets that will allow her to enter without turning into dust.<sub> </sub>

    After almost an hour of looking around, what she found the most interesting was neither the fog nor the ground was spreading. It was almost like they were trapped in a barrier that didn''t permit them to extend.

    After a few more tests, Mira came to a few conclusions about this ce. One, it was made by a person to keep people out of his/her territory. Two, it was made by a person to trap and kill any unsuspecting adventurers seeking fame and fortune. Three, this ce was naturally made and is basically a dead zone. Four, there is a poor little treasure in there that needs crying because it needs Mira to pick it up. Five, it''s someone''s inheritance.

    Or maybe it''s none of those ideas and something totally unexpected is going to happen. It''s not like Mira is some all-knowing sage and the world is vast with unlimited possibilities. For all she knows, this could be the butt of a giant beast and this is the remnants of its farts.

    Although this ce could be anything, Mira can make some deductions about the likelihood of certain circumstances. For example, the chances of it being a trap are extremely low and/or nonexistent. The reason being, who would make a trap in the middle of fucking nowhere?! The only vige around here is isted from the outside world and has been like that for thousands of years. Plus, this ce isn''t even close to where that vige is located.

    Sure, it didn''t take Elenei that long to get here from the vige, but that''s simply because her flight speed is beyondprehension!

    This ce also isn''t a trap because why would someone make it so their trap can be seen to everyone.

    In fact, this reason alone is enough for Mira to rule out anything man made. So that leaves it either being some sort of treasure, a naturally urring biome, or beast farts. And if Mira''s being totally honest, the possibility of it being any of those three is about the same.

    She''s leaning more towards it being a natural treasure simply because she feels she''ll find something useful here but who''s to say that a naturally urring biome can''t contain useful treasures for her? And also a beast that can fart poison deadly enough to make Elenei feel a bit scared would be incredibly useful!

    Still, this means that the possibility of this ce being made by Heaven and Earth is around 67%. If that''s the case, then she should have a chance at entering without dying all she has to do is find it. However, if that''s not the case�� She''s fucked.

    This thought made Mira feel a bit better since her thinking about it being a beast was more her imagination and a ceholder for anything unexpected. It''s highly unlikely that this is some beast or else this Continent would''ve been decimated already if an abomination like this, a beast that can kill Nascent Soul Realm experts with just its gas, existed.

    Mira stopped theorizing and decided to do a bit more testing before taking action. The first thing she did was form a shovel out of ice to see if she could dig her way under the fog. However, that idea didn''t do much since as soon as her shovel touched the ground it started rotting away, but it was at a much slower rate than the fog. The second thing she noticed was when she dug up a bit of the ground, both the fog and the ground around it filled in the hole she made, returning the hole back to what it was originally.

    However, this begs the question, if the ground and fog are pretty much the same thing just in different forms why did it take longer for the shovel to disintegrate?

 Chapter 247 Entering The Fog

    Mira came to a few conclusions as to why her shovel disintegrated slower than the piece of ice she threw in the fog. One is that her shovel was much denser than the piece of ice she threw. Now, this is probably true even if it''s not the main reason, but with how powerful the fog is, it would still disintegrate in an instant, but one instant will be a bit longer than the other.

    Another reason is the ground might not be as toxic as the fog. However, Mira has some serious doubts about that. The ground is literally a purplish-ck color, almost like it''s been contaminated for years. Not to mention that the ground seems to be the source of the fog or at least tied to the source. If anything, the ground should be several times more toxic than the fog.

    Thest reason is because she was holding the shovel. It sounds crazy and highly imusible, but that''s thest thing that was different. So maybe this fog isn''t so deadly to people? Or maybe the fog is sentient and it feels like Mira is a good person?

    Mira decided to put her theory to the test since it''s the only lead she has. She extended a long piece of ice from her finger and touched the fog with it. If Mira wasn''t back to her usual self, she might''ve jumped for joy seeing her test yielding positive results!

    The ice that touched the fog, although it was still disintegrating, Mira could actually see the process instead of it being destroyed in an instant.

    The fog was entering the ice, corroding it, then when it was fully corroded, that piece of ice would turn into dust.

    Mira was happy to see this result since she finally found some clues! That being said, she still needed to run a few more tests just in case. She threw the rest of the ice in the fog and started running more tests.

    She threw a rock in the fog and watched it disintegrate in an instant.

    She had Maria and Cine shoot wind des and light beams into the fog, but they weren''t even able to prate the fog before being corroded and destroyed. However, they didst longer than the rock.

    Mira formed arge ice hand to carryrge amounts of dirt into the fog and watched as the dirt instantly disintegrated within the ice hand as the ice hand was slowly corroded.

    However, Mira''sst test kind of stumped her. She took out a low-level beast from her storage ring and threw it into the fog, but instead of it living or at least slowly corroding, the thing up and vanished leaving only its bones. However, not even its bones were spared as they sank into the ground.

    Mira, Maria, Cine, and Elenei were speechless when they saw that. That was a Rank 4 beast! It was a creature that was, at one point, alive.

    Thistest test confirms one of three things.

    The fog only epts living beings into it.

    The fog doesn''t ept beasts.

    Or the fog doesn''t ept anyone into it unless they are strong enough to handle the consequences.

    However, thatst one seems a bit unlikely since even Elenei feels a bit of trepidation while looking at the fog and Mira isn''t about to throw her into the fog just to see if she''ll die or not.

    "Elenei! Fetch me a living beast! It doesn''t matter how strong it is!"

    "Got it!"

    Elenei shot off of Cine''s shoulder and within a minute Elenei was back with arge boar in tow. The boar was only a Rank 3 beast, but it''ll do just fine.

    "Alright. Toss it into the fog."<sub> </sub>

    Elenei nodded and tossed the boar into the fog. The boar screeched and roared as it saw itself being thrown into the fog but there was nothing it could do.

    However, what happened next was beyond their expectations! The boar was actually able tond on the ground without dying! Even the boar was in disbelief! It thought that it was surely going to die when it saw this creepy ce.

    It woke up from its stupor and started roaring happily, but that didn''tst long and before their very eyes the boar was literally vaporized leaving only its bones. But the bones didn''tst long as they got sucked into the ground.

    Everyone, even Mira and Elenei, felt chills run down their spine when they saw that scene. Especially Elenei. She was so d she didn''t recklessly charge in there with Mira or decide to follow Mira into such a wretched ce!

    However, although Mira was shocked and a little terrified, she was also excited since she gained some valuable intel thanks to that boar. From what she could tell, since the boar was able to safely enter the fog and evennd on the ground without dying, this means that this ce epts living beings. However, it seems this ce doesn''t take kindly to beasts so as soon as it realized that a filthy beast entered its ce, well you know the rest. It died without even knowing how.

    Rest in peace, poor beast, for you sacrifice will not be in vain. You can die knowing that Mira''s chances of getting a treasure were raised thanks to your help��

    So that basically confirms that this ce epts living beings, but now it''s just a matter of how does this ce deem if someone is worthy enough to enter?

    <o>,m Does it base it off of strength? Race? Affinity? Or maybe it epts anything that isn''t a beast?</o>

    These are the questions that Mira has, but they''ll pretty much stay unanswered. Sure, she could try and collect various races of different strengths and different affinities to test out her theories, but that would take forever! Plus, she might as well give this opportunity to someone else if she''s going to waste all of her time testing the limits of this ce.

    Mira came to a conclusion and decided to do something that she almost never does��

    Gamble!

    She''s going to take a leap of faith! This isn''t something she can just give up on! She can feel that this ce will be useful to her even though her instincts scream danger!

    She decided to finally act like a cultivator! Ready to brave dangers and risk everything in order to reach the peak! That''s what a true cultivator is like!

    As soon as Mira came to that conclusion, an ethereal feeling washed over her, almost like a mountain was removed from her mind and body. It was a weird feeling but not a bad one. Her mind felt a bit clearer and her body felt a bit lighter.

    No, she didn''t all of a sudden get smarter and stronger, she merely lifted the shackles that her mind subconsciously ced since she''s lived for almost a thousand years as a normal mortal!

    Now, she finally started understanding what it means to be a cultivator!

    Mira straightened her back and stored her mask and changed into normal robes. She didn''t want her stuff getting destroyed by this shitty fog, after all. After she was finished changing into something that she''s fine with getting destroyed, she stared at the fog with anticipation evident in her eyes.

    "Whelp�� Here goes nothing!"

    ��And she jumped straight in!

 Chapter 248 Dark Thoughts

    "Mira!"

    "Mira!"

    Maria and Cine were horrified when they saw Mira jump into the fog and disappear from their sight. There was no warning, no sign, just�� POOF�� gone! They were both left in a state of shock and despair as they couldn''t help but think their friend,panion, and savior just died right before their eyes.

    Tears were already falling down their faces and they fell to their knees imagining a world where they won''t be scolded by Mira, beaten up by her, trained by her, going to wars with her, and won''t be able to see her god-like face again!

    However, they were shaken out of their thoughts when they heard Elenei''s voice in their mind.

    "She''s not dead. She just got transported to a different location. While I can''t say she''s fine, her life isn''t in danger right now."

    The atmosphere turned a bit awkward because they didn''t even think about something like that and immediately killed her off when she disappeared��

    "Ahahaha did she now? Well, I guess it''s only natural that Mira won''t die from an oversized fart. That''d be a little too anticlimactic, right? If Mira were to die, then she''ll die on the battlefield like a crazed Demon God!"

    Cine and Elenei looked at Maria with dead eyes as soon as she said that.

    "What nonsense are you talking about now, Maria? If Mira is going to die then it''ll be from training too hard! It''s only a matter of time before she decides to do pushups with a mountain on her back, but ends up getting squished!"

    "No! No! And No! If Mira''s going to die, then it''ll definitely be at the hands of my father! As soon as he finds out I contracted with a human, he''ll definitely smite her ass into oblivion! Who knows? My father might already know that I''ve been contracted to a human and is ready to chunk a few meteors in her direction!"

    "What the hell!? That''s so scary! Please tell your Dad that if he''s going to send down any meteors, at least do it when I''m away! I don''t really feel like being crushed and it wasn''t my fault Mira contracted with you."

    ***

    A few minutes ago

    Mira jumped into the fog with reckless abandon and immediately felt a surge of fog surrounding her, scanning her. It was terrifying, even for someone like Mira. The aura she felt surrounding her and scanning her was overwhelmingly dreadful. Just the aura alone had her seeing illusions of her dead friends and family from her past lives while at the same time being tortured phsyically. Even her soul felt like it was being ripped to shreds.

    Now she knows why this ce freaked everyone, including her, out so much. This was indeed a terrifying ce that wasn''t meant for any sane person to enter and this was just from her being scanned by something.

    Fortunately, the things she was seeing and feeling were an illusion or else she definitely wouldn''t be as calm as she is now. Who could possibly remain calm in a situation like this? Sure, Mira was a bit bothered seeing her dead friends and family and was ufortable with the physical torture, but the Soul torture was something else.

    It fucking hurts. It''s a certain kind of pain where no matter how much you experience it, you won''t ever be able to get used to it.

    However, Mira''s mind and soul wasn''t so weak that she''ll be overwhelmed just by a little illusion that''s merely a side-effect of the aura surrounding this ce.

    She''s been through much worse than this, after all, she hasn''t died and been forcefully reincarnated 10 times for nothing.

    She was stuck in this state for around 30 seconds before the feeling of dread left and her body dropped to the ground. However, something was different�� She couldn''t feel her body. In fact, she couldn''t feel anything!

    She couldn''t hear, see, smell, touch, or taste anything. Even her intuition, her sixth sense, was barely working.

    Honestly, she started panicking a bit now that it''se to this. This felt eerily simr to when whatever treasure her ''captor'' used to reincarnate her with her memories intact. First, her mind, body, and soul would go through excruciating pain as it was forcefully excavated from her body instead of going to wherever the souls of the dead are supposed to go. Then after the soul-wrenching pain, her soul will sit in what felt like the void, but she''s not sure since, you know, she''s lost all of her senses.

    But the worst part about this is she''s still conscious when her soul is in the void. At that point, she starts to feel a different kind of pain. The pain thates from loneliness. No friends, no family, nopanions, no enemies. Nothing. Hell, she doesn''t even get to have a body that she can at least take somefort in. All she has are her memories, but most of her memories aren''t exactly good.

    So she''s left in this state for who knows how long and the only thing she''s able to do is essentially repeat the torturous lives she''s already lived and died in. Sure, she can meditate to try and clear her mind, but for how long? What if she''s in this void-like state for hundreds or even thousands of years? You don''t know, and that''s the problem. All she knows is she''s forced to essentially relieve her life over and over again until she either breaks, gets a new body, or bes a cold, unfeeling, machine.

    What''s worse is that even if she did meditate on, let''s say, martial arts. What''s she going to do? It''s not like she can practice! She doesn''t have a body!

    Though, it''s not like she can''t ''improve'' as she can improve her theoretical knowledge, but doing so takes a tremendous amount of time and a ton of first-hand experience and knowledge to begin with. You can''t be a boxing expert just because you''ve read how to throw a punch, after all. You have to physically punch, thousands upon thousands of times. But even that''s not enough since you need experience as well, which means getting into fights. Only then can you im you know how to throw a punch properly.<sub> </sub>

    That''s why Mira learned so many different martial arts over her several lifetimes. Because she can''t improve upon them if she doesn''t know nor has she experienced those martial arts.

    That might sound all well and good, but it''s not like Mira can actually practice when she''s in that void-like state. She can''t go around trying out various punches or kicks. After some time, it bes difficult just to picture a physical body.

    So most of her knowledge ends up being theoretically useless until she reincarnates again and only then will she be able to practice. However, Mira''s goal wasn''t to be proficient in a martial art that can be used by everyone. She wanted to practice a martial art that only she can use. As one could guess, that''s no easy feat, especially for Mira who will end up switching bodies anyway.

    The only way to counteract this is toe up with theories pertaining to every type of body she might have and when she eventually gets her new body, that''s when she''ll go down a specific path that''s made just for her body.

    This is where Mira''s obsession with Martial Arts came into y. When she no longer cared about the deaths of her friends and family, the betrayals she encountered, the physical and mental torture she endured, and the indecent things that were forced upon her, the only thing left was her will to survive and kill all those that stand in her path towards vengeance!

    Parents, siblings, friends, strangers, those things had very little meaning to her anymore. Unfortunately, things aren''t all sunshine and rainbows just because she knows martial arts. She will still be reborn as a baby and it''ll still take 15-20 years to grow up properly. Not to mention she''s a female. Even if she started lifting weights in the womb, the average mortal male can still crush her with ease. Like it or not, but gics y a big role in how strong someone can get and this is why Mira always suffered.

    Well, that''s only part of the reason why.

    Can you imagine being stuck in a state where you have no body, no senses, not even a sense of time or space, and are left with a never ending darkness apanied by only your thoughts and memories?

    Well, imagine being freed from that! What would you feel? It''d probably feel like you just went to hell and back. Being happy and grateful would be an understatement as just being able to have a body again can make you feel emotions that you didn''t even know you had.

    Well, that''s how Mira feels too. Even if she had already shut off her emotions and closed off her heart, just this feeling alone can open her back up again. This is when Mira is at her weakest and this is where that ''god'' likes to set the stage. However, even if Mira knows all this, what can she do? It''s like a lone ant trying to take down an omniscient dragon. Even if the ant does everything in its power to take down the dragon, it most likely won''t even be able to touch the dragon without dying. But not because the dragon intentionally killed it, but merely because it''s an ant in the presence of a dragon.

    At least that''s how Mira always felt. Even if she guarded her heart and mind, somehow the man always got her. In fact, sometimes that only made things worse.

    During one of her lives, on a called Earth, Mira read an interesting story that reminded her of the situation she''s in.

    Ragnarok.

    Odin knows that Ragnarok is going to happen and that he''s going to die when it does so he spends all of his time trying to prevent it from happening, but the actions that he takes to prevent it are what causes Ragnarok to happen.

    Mira felt like Odin in this story since even though she knows what''s going to happen and takes measures to prevent it from happening, that only serves to make it worse.

    Mira couldn''t help but feel a bit emotional thinking up to this point. Since at some point Mira not only gave up caring about those around her, but she also stopped caring about herself as well. So what if she died? So what if she got tortured? Betrayed? R*ped? Jailed? Or was forced to run?

    Slowly but surely, her mind was breaking and was giving in to the temptation of essentially being god''s ve for the rest of eternity. Her fate was set the moment that manid eyes on her. Just like Odin''s fate was set as soon as he heard about his death during Ragnarok.

    Dark thoughts started consuming her mind when she reached this point and unknown to her, Mira''s body was releasing a dark and dreadful aura and even some of the poison fog was entering her body yet for some reason it didn''t cause any damage.

    However, as soon as the fog entered her body, Mira momentarily woke up from that state and immediately realized that she wasn''t dead. Her mind was so consumed with thoughts of the past that she forgot she was still in a living breathing body.

    That''s not really her fault though as this situation was forced upon her by the fog, biome, and whatever aura scanned her body earlier.

    It''s his moment of rity that Mira remembered she wasn''t helpless anymore. She''s currently in a world full of cultivation. A ce where even pigs can be gods! Sure, everyone around her is monumentally stronger than the mortals were in her past lives, but interestingly enough, this ce has more equality than those mortal worlds.

    Women and men basically stop being different after the 1st Realm of cultivation and even humans and beasts have the same level of strength. If one isn''t talented then all they need to do is work hard or die trying.

    <o>,m Well, that''s really the only part where everyone is fairly equal. Everything else is much worse than the secr world since the strong reign supreme.</o>

    Nheless, Mira was d to be here since she finally has some semnce of control over her fate!

    As soon as her thoughts reached this point, her senses were returned to her and she immediately felt herself being teleported somewhere else.

    Leaving Mira wondering what the hell is going on?

 Chapter 249 Body Test? (R-18+)

    [A/N: I should probably give a little warning before the start of this chapter. The scenes that will y out are pretty gruesome and if you don''t like that kind of stuff then feel free to move on. There isn''t any r*pe or anything like that. Just gruesome torture scenes, but like I said, if you guys don''t like that stuff, then feel free to skip this chapter. I''ll give a brief recap of what happened in the next chapter. You''ve been warned!]

    .

    .

    .

    After a while, Mira finally regained her senses and she immediately started searching the area to find out where she was. Unfortunately, Mira seriously underestimated this ce��

    "What the fuck?!"

    That''s when she finally realized that she wasn''t able to move her body. It wasn''t just her hands and legs that were bound, but every joint in her body was bound! She literally couldn''t move a single part of her body. Somehow, she couldn''t even move her eyes to look around! Mira didn''t even know how such a thing was possible without her noticing!

    However, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that she was bound by those bone trees she saw before entering this ce. Though she never would''ve guessed they''d be used to bind her and just thought they were a by-product of this wretched ce.

    At this point, she finally realized that she''spletely at the mercy of whatever or whoever is in control of this ce. Her mind isid bare, she lost control of her body, and even her soul is at the mercy of whatever is in control here.

    Mira started squirming, trying to see if she could break free, but for whatever reason, she felt no strength in her body. She tried using her ice powers, but those didn''t respond either. Lastly, her soul and cultivation were sealed! She couldn''t even contact Elene or bring out her scythe!! She was nothing more than a pitiful mortal at this point.

    However, even with everything going against her, she didn''t panic. From what she gathered so far, it''s fair to say that whatever''s in control of this ce is testing those who enter. Anyone who enters that doesn''t meet certain requirements gets insta-killed. No questions asked.

    Those who enter that DO meet the requirements, from what she can assume, have to go through a series of tests. The previous ''test'' she went through was either some sort of willpower test or maybe it was testing her mind. The reason she thought this is because the previous test sealed off all her senses and essentially forced her to recall the various misfortunes throughout her past lives.

    Honestly, she''s not 100% sure how she passed that test because she was indeed losing herself in her memories but something shook her and gave her a moment of rity. So maybe she needed to re-affirm her resolve to reach the peak and get revenge? Who the hell knows?! All she knows is her mind was tested and she passed!

    Now, from the looks of it, her body will be tested. Or if what she thinks is going to happen actually happens then both her mind and body will be tested. If that was the case, then Mira has the utmost confidence that she''ll be able to pass with flying colors! She didn''t underestimate this ce though. Just from the previous test, she realized that whatever is in control here has the ability to simte true death while keeping the soul intact and the body alive.

    That might not sound like much because sure, there might be plenty of people out there that can put others into aatose state and make them experience what true death is like, but that''s not the case here. She''s not in aatose state and whatever happened during herst test wasn''t an illusion! It was real! Everything was real! Well, except for the torture that her mind, body, and soul went through prior to the test if it was anyone else they wouldn''t be able to find the difference. Mira only can because she''s actually died before, but if she were being honest those sensations felt almost exactly like how true death actually feels. That''s probably the only reason she passed that test was because she knew she was still alive.

    So if even Mira was almost fooled by this ce then it goes without saying that anyone else who enters here and goes through that first trial will almost always believe they are dead. They might not think like that in the beginning, but having no senses wears down a person�� quickly. If Mira were to guess, she''d assume that 99.99% of people who enter this ce die during the first test. Again, that''s just an assumption with no information to back it, but she doubts that she''s too far off.

    That''s why Mira didn''t dare underestimate this ce. It can already put one in a state almost exactly like how true death feels. What else can''t it do?

    From the looks of it, she''ll most likely be tortured, and although Mira isn''t exactly new to torture and it could even be said that torture is essentially useless on Mira��

    She was a bit afraid of what''s toe.

    That was herst thought before a pain so intense that it made all other forms of pain and torture seem more like a fluffy cloud came to caress her rather than her limbs being cut open and bones smashed to pieces.

    "URGH!!"

    Mira grunted but that was it. Her pride didn''t allow her to scream out in pain! She''s gone through too much that the mere thought of screaming in pain was humiliating even if there was nobody there to see it. It may sound weird to pride oneself on being able to take significant amounts of pain, but this is more of an aplishment to Mira. Her pain endurance is something that has apanied her throughout multiple lifetimes and is one of the only things she can actually take pride in.

    So her screaming in pain is equivalent to her disregarding all of her previous ''achievements''. At least that''s how Mira sees it.

    However, Mira acknowledged that she might really have to scream if this gets much worse. She tried to look around with her eyes to try and distract her a bit, but that seemed to make things worse.

    Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see parts of her body and from what she saw�� it wasn''t looking so good.

    Her skin was turning a purplish-ck and started bubbling. Yes, her own skin was forming giant bubbles right underneath the surface and after a while, Mira saw one of those bubbles�� POP!

    "UGH!!"

    Mira grunted loudly and noticed that the bubble that popped released a purple fog and soon, bubbles all over her body started popping. Each and every one of those pops was gut-wrenching. It was like those bubbles targeted her nerve endings and pain receptors!

    Oh, how right she was. That''s exactly what those bubbles are doing! They are targeting her pain receptors while making the scene as gruesome as possible! She literally has to watch as her body deteriorates into nothing more than a purplish-ck mess while going through pain that is worse than death!

    What the fuck is this?!

    How can there be such a perverted existence in this world?! This is something that even Mira can''t fathom!

    She''s no stranger to the human body and its workings so she knows what ces can make one feel the most pain, but this�� this goes beyond that. A human, even someone who has a significant amount of cultivation can''t directly attack one''s nerve endings and pain receptors with precision. They are too small! Even if a cultivator could do something like that, they wouldn''t be able to make someone feel pain like what Mira''s going through.

    What she feels is more like someone or something''s manifestation or interpretation of what ultimate pain and torture feel like. It feels like these bubbles are downloading a sequence to her brain from her nerve endings that are basically telling her brain that she should feel the ultimate form of torture. It''s a weird, but ultimately very painful feeling.

    Mira was so lost in this pain that she didn''t even notice that her skin had dissolved and now her flesh and blood were up next. However, if one looked closely, they''d be able to see that for some reason Mira''s nerve endings and pain receptors were still intact and even lowered onto what''s left of her body.<sub> </sub>

    Now, her flesh and blood were turning into a purplish-ck color, but instead of turning into bubbles, she just started dissolving. Her flesh and blood would go up in smoke, or rather fog, as everything down to her bones was being reduced to nothing.

    "KUH!!! UGH!!!"

    Mira kept gritting her teeth in pain, but there wasn''t much left of her teeth at this point since they had been ground down to dust at this point.

    Honestly, Mira should''ve lost consciousness at least a dozen times by now, but she couldn''t even do that.

    Actually, that''s not all. Mira couldn''t even die if she wanted to. She is basically nothing more than a pile of bones at this point since even her head was dissolved into nothing, but even with no blood and all of her organs falling out of her body, she''s still alive.

    Well, I guess that''s a lie. If Mira really wanted to die right now then this ce would just kill her. The point of this test wasn''t hard to understand. Endure the pain. But the problem is there''s no time limit, there''s nothing to inform her what''s going on, nothing to tell her how much pain she has to endure, or if this is just going tost indefinitely.

    Mira won''t even know if she''s passed the test or not until she''s out of this god-forsaken ce! She could be suspended here, going through this torture, for eternity as some sort of sick joke by whatever''s in control of this ce and she wouldn''t even know it!

    What Mira didn''t know is that this was just the start, no, after she became nothing more than a pile of bones, that''s when the test truly started.

    Soon, her bones were reduced to dust, leaving only her nerve endings and pain receptors. Even Mira''s brain was out in the open for all to see. Her body was no more at this point and the only thing left in one piece was her brain. However, it didn''t take long for that to start dissolving either.

    Mira wanted to scream out in pain at this point, but she didn''t have a mouth! She couldn''t even think as all of her senses were disappearing, leaving only pain and suffering. Her memories started vanishing and she even started forgetting her own name and goal. The only thing left was pain. A pain so intense that even her soul could feel it even though none of it was directed towards her soul.

    However, just when her brain was about to turn into nothing more than a pile of mush, her body started regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Her memories were returning and even her other senses wereing back to her.

    "FUCK!!! FUCK!! FUCK!!! DID I FUCKING PASS?!?! ARGGGHH!!"

    Mira let out a guttural roar when she finally got her body and memories back until she noticed that she didn''t get her original body back. No, what she''s stuck with now was nothing more than a ball of flesh, literally. Whatever destroyed her body literally reconstructed it into a giant ball of blesh, blood, bones, skin, and everything else that makes up a person. However, what Mira didn''t know is that she now has more pain receptors all over her body that are more sensitive than her original ones.

    She literally endured this torture only for her body to be reconstructed into a format that is more receptive to pain!!

    Where are the rewards?? Didn''t she pass?! Even if she didn''t pass, can''t you make things a bit easier?! Was what she went through nothing more than a tutorial for the real thing?! How much more of this shit does she have to go through?!

    Mira didn''t get an answer to any of those questions as her new ''body'' started bubbling��

    "AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH"

    At this point, Mira didn''t give two shits about her pride! What is pride?! Can you eat it? Will it lessen the pain?! Will it make her feel better?! NO! She can say with absolute certainty that this is the worst pain she''s ever experienced. No, not only that. All of her previous pain and suffering added up doesn''t equal what she''s going through right now!

    After around an hour of this gut-wrenching pain, Mira''s ''body'' bubbled up and exploded into a purplish-ck fog only to be quickly reconstructed again, and just like before, she had more pain receptors that were more sensitive than before.

    This went on for 2 days straight��

    ***

    "AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH"

    Maria, Cine, and Elenei listened to Mira''s screams over the past 2 days. They didn''t know what Mira was going through, but they knew that this was quite possibly the worst thing Mira''s ever experienced.

    Cine and Elenei might not know, but Maria knows Mira quite well. After all, they''ve been friends for over a decade now and Maria has spent a ton of time with her.

    Throughout their entire friendship, Mira''s expression almost never changed. Even if it did, it would be imperceptible like a tiny smile or a small smirk, maybe even a deep frown, but that''s it. Mira almost always has the same unchanging neutral cold expression on her face. She''s seen Mira get her body torn to shreds, jump in pools ofva/magma, almost suffocate in an ocean, and many other painful asions, but she''s never seen Mira''s expression change, and the most she''s ever heard might be a light grunt, but that''s about it.

    Now, however, she''s literally listening to her scream out in pain. Not just any scream but one that says ''she''d rather die than go through this shit''.

    What makes things worse is for some reason Mira''s screams became worse and worse after almost every hour.

    The three of them didn''t know what was going on in there, but they knew that if Mira was screaming in pain, then even demons from the depths of hell would have long been dead from the pain.

    Maria and Cine wanted to go in there to help her, but Elenei, thankfully, stopped them. Even though the giant bird hasn''t known Mira for long, she knew that Mira is someone who was no stranger to misfortunate events. And if someone like Mira could barely handle what''s going on in there, then there is no way in hell Maria and Cine would be able tost.

    In fact, they''d probably die as soon as they entered.

    The only thing the three of them can do now is to wait and hope Mira gets through this disaster��

 Chapter 250 Bones

    After 2 days of what seemed like never-ending torture, Mira''s original body was remade and this dreadful ce had finally stopped ripping her apart.

    "Fucking hell! Finally! My body is back! Does that mean I passed? Fuck! Of course, I passed. If not I''d be dead right now�� Sigh, what the hell did I get myself into? I sure hope whatever is at the end of all this is worth it��"

    Mira barely got to finish that thought before she was forcefully teleported to another ce. A small shiver went down her spine as she mentally prepared herself for whatever this ce would throw at her.

    Right now, she wanted nothing more than to leave this shit hole. Normally she wouldn''t be like that, but this has got to be one of the worst ces she''s evere across in all of her existence. What''s worse is that she walked into it willingly��

    However, she''s not going toin or make any excuses. She''s a big girl who can take responsibility for her actions and see it through to the end.

    When Mira''s body was being teleported, she was fully preparing her soul for whatever crazy soul torture this ce will do to her. That would make sense, right? This ce first tested her mind with, then her body, and the overarching theme of these tests was her willpower or more precisely her will to live. It would only make sense that the next test would be Soul Torture, right?

    That''s what Mira would like to think��

    However, reality is often disappointing.

    After a few seconds, Mira was finally teleported to her next destination and immediately checked the state of her body.

    She was happy to know that she can actually move around. Not only that but none of her limbs are bound and her strength isn''t sealed. She sighed in relief as having full control over her body brought some level offort to her.

    After Mira checked out her body, she checked out her surroundings and that''s when her expression froze.

    She was in a massive colosseum except this one looked a bit weird. There were no seats for the audience nor was there anyone or anything present. The ground was cracked and these cracks were filled with a purplish-ck substance that almost looked like veins.

    The whole arena reeked of death in more ways than one.

    *ROOOOOAAAARRR*

    Mira was shaken out of her thoughts when she heard a terrifying roar. She took out her scythe and distanced herself from where that noise came from. Mira was extremely grateful that she took such an action because the ce where she previously stood blew up and arge beast? was standing there looking at her.

    Well, Mira would like to call it a beast, but it was actually nothing more than a bunch of bones. There was no skin, fur, blood, or flesh on this thing. It was just an amalgamation of bones that somehow gained the ability to move.

    Honestly, Mira''s not even sure how that thing just roared nor could she even figure out where its face is located.

    The thing, that she''ll be referring to as a ''Bone Chimera'' from now on, had what looked like 10 legs of different sizes, 12 arms, 3 necks but only 2 heads, 4 tails, and 5 wings. Yes, that''s 5 wings and not 5 pairs of wings. It really didn''t look like anything other than a huge mess. All of the bones that made up this Bone Chimera were from a bunch of different beasts.

    Not only that, but it was really fucking ugly. However, even if that was the case Mira couldn''t disregard its strength.

    She could tell that the force contained in that punch just now would seriously injure her. She mused that she can probably take at most 2 of those punches before she''s reduced to a pile of mush.

    What''s worse is that she''s not even sure what the goal of this test is. Is she supposed to kill this thing? Is she supposed to survive for a certain period of time? Or maybe she''s supposed to die from it? She wouldn''t be surprised if that was actually the case knowing first-hand how fucked up this ce was.

    Mira sighed to herself and shook those thoughts out of her head. The tests so far have wanted to push her willpower to the absolute limit and then go beyond that.

    "Well, it doesn''t matter. I just need to beat the shit out of this guy. It seems the feeling is mutual seeing as how this guy has a BONE to pick with me. Hehe~"

    Mira chuckled at her ''humerus'' joke�� Ah, fuck she''s at it again with the terrible skeleton puns.

    The two stopped ying around and dashed straight towards each other. When Mira noticed how idiotic this Bone Chimera fought, she started losing interest. Sure, the thing might be strong, but it''s not overwhelmingly stronger. If this is all that this thing amounts to then Mira''s a bit disappointed.

    She dodged its fists and smashed her scythe into its rib cage. Surprisingly, she broke a number of its bones. However, a split secondter, those bones regenerated and the Bone Chimera was back to full health.

    Mira saw that and felt a headacheing on.

    "Tibia honest, I''m not looking forward to this bone-breaking event�� Hehe~"<sub> </sub>

    Well, at least she can keep making shitty bone puns��

    The fight raged on, but Mira found the whole thing boring and uninteresting. The Bone Chimera was so telegraphed with its attacks that Mira could fight this thing with a blindfold on and a hand tied behind her back.

    The only annoying part was that its bones would regenerate almost immediately after Mira destroyed them.

    She tried using her ice powers and Qi attacks on it, but for whatever reason this thing was immune to those. Hell, the thing was even immune to the portion of her scythe. The only way to damage it was by dealing damage with the blunt end of her scythe or with her fists.

    This made Mira a bit confused and she wasn''t quite sure what the intentions of this test were. It was too easy. Maybe whatever''s in charge didn''t take into ount Mira''s physical strength, fighting prowess, or scythe skills? Or maybe this is some kind of never ending battle where she''s supposed to keep her concentration at the max since just one hit from that thing and she''s pretty much done for? That sort of made sense. However, Mira barely needs to use any of her brain power to deal with the Bone Chimera.

    This whole thing might be incredibly difficult for someone who has limited experience and low physical strength, but that wasn''t the case for Mira.

    In fact, Mira was somewhat enjoying herself as she was able to keep making bone puns as she fought the Bone Chimera!

    "Goddam, you''re such a numskull! How could you think that such an attack could hit me?"

    ROAR

    "Come on! Put your back into it! Oh wait, you don''t have a back! Hehe~"

    ROOAAR

    "What the hell? Did your creator remove your funny bone or something because that was a good one!"

    ROOAAAARR

    "Motherfucker! If you have the guts, I dare you to say that again��! Oh, wait. You don''t have any guts! Hahaha!"

    The fight raged on for several hours with Mira constantly making�� ''witty''...ments about the Bone Chimera. The giant amalgamation of bones was never even able to hit Mira a single time. Actually, it didn''t evene close to hitting Mira.

    It didn''t matter if it used its arms, legs, heads, tails, and wings at the same time, Mira would always be able to predict its next moves and act ordingly.

    In truth, Mira was barely paying attention to the fight. She could literally see through the guy so figuring out his next moves was child''s y for her. It might''ve been a bit more difficult if this thing had some skin covering its bones, but it didn''t.

    However, Mira did notice that the purplish-ck veins on the floor were receding ever so slightly when it regenerated its smashed bones.

    So she just kept bludgeoning its bones until the veins on the ground were almost gone and after a few hours she had the feeling she was almost done with this test.

    When the purplish-ck veins on the ground were almost gone, Mira went in for onest attack with a smirk.

    "Bone-voyage!"

    Then she smashed her scythe into the Bone Chimera to which the thing finally reduced to dust and stopped regenerating.

    Mira said nothing else and decided to use this little bit of time to recuperate. She didn''t know what her next test will be but being at her peak is never a bad thing.

    Unfortunately for Mira, she only got around 10 seconds to regain a bit of her energy before she was forcefully teleported to another location.

    When Mira finallynded in her new location, she sighed.

    "I should''ve known��"

 Chapter 251 Fade To Black

    Mira looked around her only to find an almost identical-looking arena, only this one was slightly bigger and had a few more purplish-ck veins on the ground.

    "Sigh�� What is this? Can''t whatever''s in chargee up with something a bit more�� original? At least give me new enemies to fight! Or maybe you could seal my strength and make me fight beasts that would normally be impossible for a mortal to defeat! But this�� This is just annoying!"

    Believe it or not, Mira really didn''t want to fight another one of those Bone Chimeras. She gains pretty much nothing out of fighting them except for tiring herself out. They are big, stupid, rtively slow for their size, and every move of theirs is telegraphed. Basically, as long as she''s strong enough to break their bones then fighting them isn''t a problem.

    However, if it ever gets to a point where she can''t easily break its bones, or worse, she can''t break its bones then it merely bes a game of cat and mouse.

    Unfortunately,ining won''t get her anywhere nor will trying to forfeit in order to leave this ce. It''s kill or be killed. That''s the way it''s going to be until she reaches the end of this.

    It didn''t take more than a few seconds for a giant bone monster almost identical to the previous one to leap into the arena. It was slightly bigger and the bones were slightly denser but that''s it.

    After a few attacks, Mira gauged that the Bone Chimera was around 10% stronger this time around, but that didn''t mean it was more difficult to beat. The thing was still an idiot with nobat sense. However, it did take Mira a bit longer to defeat it as she was trying to conserve as much energy as possible.

    She has this nagging feeling that this shit isn''t going to end anytime soon�� Much to her dismay.

    Oh, how right she was.

    .

    .

    .

    7 Days Later

    Mira fell to the ground gasping for air as sweat and blood covered her entire body. She''s been fighting nonstop for the past 7 days and Mira can confidently say that this was definitely one of the most annoying 7 days she''s ever experienced.

    She can only hope that the Bone Chimera she defeated was thest one until she moves on to whatever torture this ce hase up with next.

    The Bone Chimera that she just defeated was her 50th Bone Chimera and although that one might''ve been the shortest battle, it was by far the worst.

    She had shattered bones, ruptured internal organs, and many torn muscles. Honestly, she should be dead right now. She''s not only lost too much blood but most of her internal organs have decided to switch ces.

    However, it seems she''s not allowed to die unless it''s from one of those monsters. Although she knew that her life and death were no longer under her control the moment she entered this ce, she didn''t think it was to this extent. She''s literally alive with barely any blood left in her body and most of her internal organs aren''t working. Even her heart is beating weirdly, almost like it''s being forced to beat by an outside force.

    After getting to this point, Mira knew she had no strength left in her body. No, that would be overestimating herself. Right now, she can''t move at all. In fact, even if she wanted to move, she wouldn''t be able to. Her limbs have basically turned into mush at this point to where even wiggling a finger or a toe is simply impossible.

    She ced all of her bets on winning thatst battle in hopes that one will be the final Bone Chimera.

    As she was starting to lose consciousness, let''s go back to the second Bone Chimera battle.

    That fight was pretty much the same as the first except she took a bit more time to conserve her energy.

    It only took her a few hours to defeat it with minimal effort, but things kept getting worse from there.

    Every subsequent battle after that had the Bone Chimera getting around 10-20% stronger than the previous fight so by the time she reached the 10th fight, the Bone Chimera was ridiculously strong. Its bones were basically made out of metal at that point and the fightsted for almost 12 hours since just breaking a single bone took Mira several swings.

    Mira thought that fight would be thest, but before she knew it, she was transported to a simr arena except this time she had to fight two Bone Chimeras. The only caveat was each Bone Chimera had the strength of half a single Chimera from the 1st round. Honestly, they weren''t that strong, but Mira had to pay a bit more attention to her surroundings since even if they were only at 50% strength, each punch could still deal some major damage to her.

    Luckily, Mira''s battle sense is amazing so dealing with these Bone Chimera wasn''t too difficult. In fact, it was easier than the first 10 rounds because they only had half the strength.

    So she blew through rounds 11-20, but things only got more difficult from then on.

    Round 21 was exactly the same as Round 11 except one of her senses was blocked, her sense of touch.

    That wasn''t so bad, but it was still extremely annoying since she wasn''t able to gauge her power urately nor was she able to gauge how much she was straining her body. However, Mira has swung her scythe too many times for something this trivial to do much to her. Sure, sometimes she might''ve used a bit too much strength or a bit too little, but the results were marginal.

    What Mira was dreading were the next rounds. Round 22 took away her sense of taste which didn''t obstruct her at all.

    Round 23 took away her hearing.

    Round 24 took away her sense of smell.

    And Round 25pletely closed off all of her senses, leaving her with only her intuition.

    Luckily, the Bone Chimera''s didn''t get much stronger than before so she can take a hit or two and be�� okay. Well, okay, as in, only a few fractured bones and maybe some damage to her internal organs.

    Mira was a bit worried at this point, but it wasn''t too bad since her Battle Sense is amazing. She can feel danger from kilometers away, much less when things are trying to beat her up.

    However, she definitely fought more like a brute since she wasn''t sure how strong the Bone Chimeras were nor could she really tell how much strength she had to put into each swing in order to break its bones.

    This went on until Round 30 as the Bone Chimeras became progressively stronger. Mira also got hit 4 times and 3 of those were in Round 30. So she ended up with a few broken bones and damaged organs.<sub> </sub>

    Once she was teleported to Round 31, Mira regained her senses and noticed that her body was extremely sore and worn out due to using too much strength with every swing of her scythe.

    To make matters worse, she noticed that some of her strength was sealed. Not all of it, but a good chunk of it.

    When a Bone Chimera showed up, Mira knew that the strength of this Bone Chimera was just below the limit of what someone of her strength could face.

    p Needless to say, the battle wasn''t actually that difficult for Mira and was only a bit annoying.</anda>

    But Mira didn''t say that out loud. She was sure that her strength would keep getting lowered as her enemy''s strength was rising.

    That''s exactly what happened except the only part she got wrong was that her enemy''s strength wasn''t necessarily rising, maybe only by a percent or two. It was her strength being lowered that was the real problem as she ended up facing enemies that were way out of her league for someone of her strength.

    She ended up taking several beatings as more bones started breaking in her body, cuts and gashes were taking up more of her skin than actual skin, and her blood was no longer properly circting. However, as long as her brain and heart remained intact, she still lived.

    Honestly, it was creepy. She was constantly in a state of neither life nor death. Mira hated this feeling. If she''s going to die then she''d rather just die. Being in a state where the state of her body doesn''t matter and only her heart and brain matter? What kind of fucked up concept is that? Isn''t this just another form of torture? Can it even be called a test at this point?

    The first 20 Rounds could''ve been called a test. The rest? No, that''s just torture in the form of battles.

    However, that wasn''t the end of it. At Round 41, Mira''s body had the strength of a mortal and not a very strong one either. She couldn''t even lift up her scythe as it was too heavy.

    Luckily, this ce has some form of conscience as the Bone Chimera she faced only had the strength of someone at Stage 1 Qi Condensation Realm. Also, the arena was tiny so she didn''t actually need to break that many bones in order to defeat it, but still. A mortal killing someone in the Qi Condensation Realm is normally almost impossible.

    It''s not impossible as there are ways to do it, but it''s pretty much certain death for those who are too stupid to make use of all their advantages.

    For example, the Bone Chimera she''s up against on Round 41 had a core in its body and if she destroyed said core then she wins the round.

    That was Mira''s saving grace. If these Bone Chimeras didn''t have a core, then there would be absolutely no way she could kill one. She was just a normal girl at this point and her strength was limited. Just breaking a normal person''s bones would be hard enough, much less a monster who has the strength of someone in the Qi Condensation Realm.

    These battles were incredibly short as they were essentially determined by whonded the first blow. If Mira got hit, she was as good as dead. If Mira was able tond a hit on the Bone Chimera''s core, then she''d win. If she hit anything other than the core, she was as good as dead. At the very least, she''d be severely injured just by the recoil of hitting its bones with her fist.

    Mira kept progressing through these stages rtively quickly with only ''minor injuries''. Well, they weren''t exactly minor since every time she hit the core, bones in her hand and arms would break.

    She had also taken a few ''light'' hits from these Bone Chimera throughout the stages, causing her body to be riddled with severe injuries. However, Mira always protected her brain and heart.

    Over the rounds, the Bone Chimera also went up a Stage in strength so even a tap from these things was more than enough to shatter a few of her bones.

    When Mira was on Round 49, she went in for the core, but the Bone Chimera was able to roar and let out a mighty punch right before shended the hit. Its punch didn''t actuallynd, but just the roar and the shockwaves were enough to break almost every bone in her body. Leaving her in a state of, well, what should be death.

    However, Mira knew that the next battle, Round 50, would be nearly impossible. No amount of strategizing would work as she assumed that the beast would have the strength of someone in the Foundation Realm. Even if the Bone Chimera couldn''t think or see anything and just ran around in circles, Mira still wouldn''t be able to do anything without getting hurt or dying.

    So what did Mira do when the 50th Round started?

    That''s right! She charged right at the Bone Chimera! She was going to sacrifice the rest of her body in order to get a hit on the core!

    She knew that she wouldn''t be able to fight anymore after this, but that didn''t matter! This was the 50th Round! This ce has already tortured her enough with all this nonsense! How many more rounds can ite up with to test her?! Mira can''t think of anything! So she decided to put all of her eggs in one basket in hopes that this was the final round!

    And just like she assumed, most of her body was ttened as she rammed into the Bone Chimera, however, she was able to get a solid hit on the core right before she almost died.

    The Bone Chimera soon disappeared and Mira''s body fell to the ground, essentially on herst breath.

    She tried protecting her heart as best as she could, but it still took damage. It didn''t take a genius to know that she was dying�� and fast. She might be able to live for another 10 seconds or so.

    Time seemed to slow down a bit for Mira as she started to think that she might actually die. Even if there isn''t a next Round, she barely has any time left to live.

    The only thing she could do at this point is either wait until she died or wait until she was teleported and hope that this ce still intends to torture her.

    Honestly, neither sounds all that good. If this was one of her past lives, Mira might''ve actually opted for the former. Yes, dying sucks but she''ll get a new body and she also won''t have to go through this shit anymore.

    However, she didn''t want to die in this lifetime. She has her favorite weapon, a solid cultivation foundation, a unique Physique, a Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf as her Companion Beast, a Frost-Fire Phoenix contracted to her, and decent friends.

    Not only that but she''s also made a few rtively strong friends along the way. Dying in this life would be such a waste. She''d be throwing away all of these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities! Actually, for Mira, these might be things she might not even receive after multiple lifetimes. Rhydian and Elenei are pretty much one of a kind. Her unique Physique was formed due to certain circumstances that are almost impossible to replicate.

    She''ll also lose all of her loot! Impossible!

    Too bad that her life or death is not up to her at this point and even if it was, there''s nothing she can do about it.

    Those 10 seconds went by extremely slowly until she felt her consciousness slipping. Regret slowly started to seep in but it was already toote.

    Her consciousness faded and everything went ck��

 Chapter 252 Introspection

    When everything went ck, Mira found herself in a strange ce. This ce was about the size of a bedroom and was entirely ck except for one of the walls. This wall was almost transparent, but for some reason, it reminded Mira of a T.V. from Earth.

    She looked around a bit more but saw nothing else. She then checked herself out and instead of seeing her normal body, she found herself floating in mid-air with the body of a wisp. Or at least something simr to a wisp.

    This wisp body of hers was a mixture of colors, but the main colors are red, ck, and blue. From the red, Mira could feel boundless hatred, anger, and killing intent. From the ck, she could feel death, a desire for power, along with something evil. And from the blue, she could sense a frosty aura emanating from it. Except this aura didn''t only contain her ice powers, but emotions as well.

    There was one more color that was faint, but perhaps contained the most mysterious feeling and that color is a Royal Purple. This color seemed to represent her ambition and pride which gave off a sovereign feeling.

    There were other colors there as well, but these four were the most prevalent. Looking at this, Mira felt like she could understand herself a bit better and she wasn''t sure how to feel knowing this information.

    She''s basically a walking bundle of anger whose sole goal in life is to kill her oppressor. She can feel that the only reason that the purple color even showed up is that the person who has made her suffer for all these years has god-like power.

    It''s a bit sad to know that her only redeeming features are her desire for power and vengeance. Everything else is merely secondary or inconsequential. Even though Mira felt it was a bit sad, she didn''t think too much about it.

    So what if she desired power?

    So what if she desired vengeance?

    She just wants to be in control of her life! If she wants to die then she should be able to do that! If she wants to live, she should be able to do it on her terms!

    Some might say she''s naive for thinking of such a thing. Sure, let''s say that this god-like entity wasn''t constantly trying to push her to the limit, she wouldn''t necessarily be in control of her fate.

    All those things that have happened to her might still have happened even without that god''s intervention. Who knows if her life would''ve turned out better or worse without his intervention, but that doesn''t matter to Mira.

    If she didn''t have some god-like entity constantly interfering in her life, then she would be able to make her own choices! Even if said choice meansmitting suicide! She would be able to choose and would only be able to me herself for her fate.

    However, Mira was never given a choice! Sure, she can choose to keepmitting suicide, but is that really a choice? At that point, her choices are to either constantly live in a state where she has no body for who knows how long until she goes insane? Or, she can live in whatever hell that god has nned and done her best to escape such a miserable fate.

    Either way, she loses.

    Not just lose, but utterly defeated. At least if she decides to live, she has a chance to escape her fate. At least that''s the case in a Cultivation World. There''s pretty much no chance for her to escape her fate in a Mortal World without any Spiritual Energy.

    That''s because she can gain power!

    Power! Power!! POWER!!!<sub> </sub>

    As long as she has power, she can kill that son of a bitch and free herself from his grasp! How she gets there, doesn''t matter.

    Friends? Family?

    Those things have lost their value a long time ago. Sure, she enjoys spending time with Maria and Cine, but that''s on the premise they never stop growing stronger. She has no use for weaklings. That may sound rather elitist and cold, but Mira couldn''t care less.

    A strong friend will not only be able to take care of themself, but will also be able to live as long as she once she reaches the peak, or at least near the peak, of power.

    Be that as it may, Mira knows that this is somewhat cold and harsh. I mean, shouldn''t friends care for each other regardless of their strength or status? At least, that''s what most people think��

    In all honesty, Mira wishes she could think like that too. Friends aren''t supposed to care about that kind of stuff, but Mira doesn''t have that luxury. She''s literally up against a god-like entity and so most, if not all, of her time goes into raising her individual power.

    So if that god-like entity doesn''t kill her friends then their short lifespans will because Mira won''t stop pursuing power until she kills him. Naturally, the pursuit of power is a long and arduous journey that may take thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Maybe even longer than that. With that being the case, she either has to not make any friends, make strong friends, or raise strong friends.

    Mira decided on thetter with Maria and Cine as both of them have a rather high affinity with her. Cine, with her drive for power and reaching the peak with her Saber.

    While Maria�� well, she''s like a psycho girlfriend who can''t stand the thought of leaving her lover. Mira knows she feels indebted to her for saving her life, but that''s most likely only secondary.

    In truth, Maria most likely just wants to spend time with Mira and if training and cultivating allow her to do that then she won''t hesitate to get as strong as she needs to be in order to spend more time with her��

    See? Fucking crazy!

    Yet, this is the trait Mira likes the most. It may be annoying sometimes�� no, a lot of the time, but at least she''s reliable in her thoughts and intentions.

    Just as Mira was about to continue further with her introspection, the ''screen'' in front of her lit up and showed a fetus on the screen. Without even knowing what was going on, Mira instinctively knew that the fetus on the screen was her, or at least it will be. Maybe��

    Honestly, Mira''s not sure what the hell is going on! How can that be her when she''s right here? Is this some sort of dream? Did she actually die? Will this be her new body? Why is she still in this room if that body is hers?

    To make matters worse, Mira started to be able to feel what the fetus was feeling and see what the fetus was seeing. Yet, at the same time, she had no control over the fetus'' mind or body. The only thing she knew was this ce is not the ce she''s normally sent to when she dies. However, Mira wasn''t sure whether that was a good or bad thing at this point��

    She only had one question on her mind at this point:

    "What the fuck is going on?!"

 Chapter 253 Samsara? Part 1

    On the screen, Mira watched as the fetus grew and grew until it reached a point where it was time for it to be born.

    What''s weird was Mira knew that this body was hers, but she had no control over it. She could only sit in this room and watch it from a third-person point of view. If she were to try and exin how she''s currently feeling, she''d say that it''s like she''s like an extra soul that''s been sealed in this baby''s body.

    She has no control over the body''s thoughts or movements, but she can feel everything that the body feels, know everything that crosses this body''s mind, and shares the experiences that this body has to go through.

    She felt like a passenger in someone else''s life. Except this ''someone'' is her.

    Not only that, but time seemed to go by extremely fast. The 9 months that she was a fetus felt like a few minutes. Actually, it did only take a few minutes for those 9 months to go by, it''s just time goes by at a different rate in the ce her soul is sitting versus the body she''s ''residing'' in.

    A few secondster and the ''fake Mira'' was born. She was born as an incredibly cute little baby. So pure and innocent,pletely untainted by the darkness of the world.

    However, Mira felt nothing watching this scene even if the baby she was watching is actually her. She can understand why people think those that have the heart to kill children are monsters, but such a thought is not something Mira has ever had the luxury to care about. The pure, innocent, and naivety of childhood is what makes children terrifying.

    Mira wasn''t allowed much time to ponder this as she watched the baby grew up at an extremely fast rate.

    She learned that the ''current'' Mira was born in a world that was simr to Earth in the 1600-1800s. Wars were fought with swords, spears, and other simr weapons. Nobility was prevalent during this time andmoners were essentially nothing more than glorified ves.

    This Mira grew up in amoner household. She had loving parents, 2 older brothers who loved her dearly, and was able to eat a decent meal 2 times a day. The only reason for this was because Mira''s parents were bakers and her brothers worked in the mines. So they were able to eat a bit more than your averagemoner household.

    As time went on, Mira was able to experience a satisfying childhood, free from worries, and got to enjoy ying with a few friends she made around town. She didn''t get to spend much time with her parents or brothers, but that was fine because she understood that they were working hard for their families. She knew her family loved her and that''s all that mattered.

    However, after Mira turned 7, disaster struck the family as her mother died from an illness. Mira''s father went into depression and his bakery business started deteriorating because he couldn''t handle the workload.

    Her brothers had to work harder in order to take care of their family, but this only made things worse as they not only had to work more, but they only made enough money to eat once a day.

    It seems Mira''s mother was the pir of support the family had��

    That''s not exactly true. Every member was a pir of the family and things would''ve gone south if anything happened to any of them.

    Mira, seeing her family''s situation getting worse by the day, decided to spend all of her time learning a skill that she could support her family with. She was too weak to be a guard. She hadn''t received a formal education so being a schr was out of the question and she didn''t have the energy to be a baker like her father.

    That''s when she saw an olddy sewing. She immediately knew this was the best way for her to make some money for her family.

    She stopped ying with the kids around town and turned all of her attention into being a seamstress.

    From that day on, Mira went around the neighborhood learning everything she could about what it takes to be a seamstress. She would watch olddies from afar, study various articles of clothing, and even sneak in to watch professional seamstresses work.

    After a few hours of studying, she would go home and work on her skills. It was difficult to practice because her family barely had enough money to eat, much less buy stuff so Mira can learn to sew. But Mira made it work.

    A yearter, Mira realized she didn''t have much talent, but that didn''t stop her as she could feel herself getting better every day. By the time she reaches adulthood, 14 years old, she''ll be able to make ordinary clothes formoners rtively quickly.

    Mira did nothing else but practice her skills from then on. She was determined to be the best seamstress in her town and then she''ll keep working on her skills and be the best seamstress in her country! Maybe, if she works hard enough, she''ll be the best in the entire world!

    With her goals set, Mira spent every waking hour practicing her skills. Other than eating, sleeping, and spending what little time she has with her family, she spent the rest of her time practicing.

    Her Father and Brothers were aware of what she was doing and tried to get her to spend some time with her friends, but Mira adamantly refused. She knew her family probably wouldn''t live much longer with their way of life. They ate very little food, worked for more than 16 hours per day, and weren''t able to get much sleep. They''d be lucky if they lived until Mira''s 14th birthday!

    The years passed by and Mira turned 12 years old. By this time, Mira was already able to sell some of her products and lift some of the burdens off of her family.

    Now her family only had to work 12 hours per day and were able to have 2 meals per day.

    A few more years went by and Mira became an adult (14 years old). Now she was renowned in her vige for producing high quality for a cheap price. Her clothes didn''t rip as easily and carried more warmth during winter than other clothes so almost everyone in the town had at least one article of her clothing.

    Now, her family was able to eat a full 3 meals per day while only working 10 hours per day all thanks to Mira.

    However, Mira wasn''t proud of her achievements. Sure, she was the best seamstress in her town, but she''s still only working with low-quality goods so the things she can make are only of low quality even if they are much better than those around her.

    Mira''s father wanted Mira to take it easy now that they were living a decent life. He wanted Mira to go out and find a husband she can settle down and have children.

    What her father didn''t expect was for Mira to almost spit in his face after hearing his words.

    Husband? Children? Settle down? She doesn''t have time for that shit! Hell, they''d just be a burden at this point! She barely makes enough to help support her family right now! If she leaves the family or worse, adds more people into it then things will only go downhill again. Their shitty life will return and her children will have to eat nothing but a few pieces of bread in a bowl of water every day.

    Even now, they are only able to have 3 meals a day mainly because it''s bread and rice. They don''t even get to eat any meat!

    Mira adamantly refused to have a husband and children until she earned enough that they could at least eat decent food every day without worry.

    That day, her rtionship with her family was a bit strained as her Father and Brothers were constantly trying to push her into a rtionship. In order to avoid them, Mira dove into her work and did everything in her ability to push her skills to the next level so she can start selling to a different audience.

    So most of her time was spent improving her skills and looking for ways to sell her products to those in the middle and upper ss.

    6 years passed by in a sh and Mira was now 20. Her father had already died at the ripe old age of 40. It wasn''t due to an illness or anything. It could be said that he died due to old age. It also wasn''t strange for people, especiallymoners, to die at this age because of their poor living environments.

    Mira missed her Father and was sad to see him die, but she was mentally prepared for this. Her Father hardly took care of himself after losing her Mother and Mira knew he wouldn''tst long. However, her Father''s death only strengthened her resolve. She would make sure to be the best seamstress this world has ever seen!<sub> </sub>

    At this point, Mira was basically on her own. Her brothers each had their own families to take care of and she no longer needed any help. Still, she provided as much money as she could to her Brothers because they need it more than she does. She didn''t want her Brothers dying before their kids could even grow up.

    The years went by as Mira''s name started to be more known among the middle and upper ss. She was often seen with disdain due to her origins, but nobody could deny her ambition.

    When one thinks of a seamstress, people tend to think of a very nice, loving, and gentledy, but not Mira. She was like a fierce tigress! If there was a way to improve her skills or make more money, she would find it! If you got in her way, she''d trample you and devour everything you had!

    Many people hated her because she was taking away their business, but her customers loved her. It didn''t matter if they were men or women, they loved her clothes. Men loved her because she made things that would make them look better in front of thedies. Ladies loved her because her clothes would help them seduce rich and powerful men. They might even catch the attention of nobility with her clothes!

    When Mira reached this point, her poprity started to skyrocket as she was producing better and better clothes now that she was making more money.

    By the time she reached 25, her clothes were already popr amongst the nobles and even royalty! Nobody could deny her now and since she was a seamstress, there weren''t any people after her head. On the contrary, most people wanted to protect her since the quality of her clothes were always top notch.

    When she reached 28, Mira was invited to be a seamstress at the Royal Pce and Mira epted with a condition. Her condition was to be able to make and sell clothes to the public while also being able to experiment with various materials in order to promote her skills.

    The King didn''t think much of it and agreed to her condition so long as the quality of her products she sells to the public is below those of royalty. Mira didn''t have a problem with that so she agreed.

    With that, Mira moved into the Royal Pce to continue her work there. She was now able to eat good food every day, 3 times per day. Live in a nice clean ce and was able to practice her skills on a daily basis.

    She also received numerous marriage proposals, but she denied all of them. She truly had no care or desire in having a husband or children. She didn''t particrly care about passing down her bloodline and she certainly didn''t want to be used as some sort of trophy wife to satisfy some man''s ego.

    Her pride just wouldn''t allow her to do such a thing. By now, she was less of a tiger and more of a Phoenix. How can a Phoenix settle with these idiots whoze around all day in their wealth that''s earned by themon folk? Even the King didn''t have the right to marry her! He was just azy fat man who only got the crown because he was born into royalty! Pathetic!

    That guy even tried to force himself on her one night, but luckily Mira always carried needles on her. Some might think this was normal since she was a seamstress, but Mira was also worried about this idiot King.

    So when the King tried to force himself on her, she sent a needle into his p*nis! Then as he was screaming in pain, she jabbed a needle into his ear, puncturing his brain. The King died before he could even think about what was going on.

    Naturally, blood leaked out of his ears and penis, but Mira cleaned it up. Then she removed the needles and started screaming in horror, yelling "The king is dead! The king is dead!".

    The royal guards and physicians showed up quickly and surrounded the ce. Mira was captured for further investigation, but people weren''t too suspicious of her. The King looked perfectly fine. In fact, there wasn''t a scratch on him.

    The royal physicians did an autopsy to see if they would find any poison, but they found nothing and just said that he died from a heart attack due to his old age and terrible lifestyle.

    With that, Mira was let go and free to improve her skills. However, what she didn''t know was that the Queen knew what happened that night. Although she didn''t know the exact situation, she knew that the King was visiting Mira to r*pe her and that he was perfectly fine earlier that day.

    When she saw Mira being taken away, she noticed the smirk and look of disdain she held whenever she looked at the King.

    However, she didn''t say anything because she hated the King, butcked the guts to do something about it.

    She swore that day that she wouldn''t make an enemy out of Mira. For her to be able to kill the King in his own house without anyone knowing�� she only had one word to describe that: terrifying.

    She didn''t want to mess with someone who could kill the King without batting an eysh. She could only warn her children not to mess with her for fear that they might suffer the same fate.

    Mira, on the other hand, felt nothing when she killed the King. In fact, she felt more like herself in that moment when she killed him. At that moment, she was enlightened and instantly knew that the thing she''d be best at is killing. She was absolutely sure that if she put in some effort, she could be a killer that was feared by the world. She even had a sudden urge to kill a few more people, but she held back.

    She was over 30 at this point so it was a little toote to get into the business of killing. Not to mention she put in decades of hard work to be the best seamstress in the world. Mira still hasn''t achieved that so she continued working hard, but she also added one more thing to her agenda.

    Practicing her hidden weapon, or needle, skills. She wanted to practice using her needles as a weapon. Mainly throwing and stabbing, but she also made a few holsters to store her needles in case of an emergency. Luckily, she was a seamstress! Hehe~

    So the decades went by and Mira was able to live until the age of 52 before her life eventually gave out due to old age.

    By that time, her works were known throughout the world and she was regarded as the best seamstress in history and sparked a revolution in the clothing department. Commoners, Royalty, and everything in between saw a drastic improvement in clothes which not only allowed for peoples armies to be stronger, but the average person lived longer thanks to being able to survive the harsh climates.

    In total, Mira''s clothing was a catalyst to push the world into a perpetual state of growth.

    At the end of her life, Mira never married or had any children. She also never epted an apprentice and never made any friends. People wanted her to have children or at least take in an apprentice to pass down her skills to, but Mira refused! She worked her entire life to reach this point, why the hell should she pass down her effort to some shitty brat who didn''t deserve any of it?!

    Plus, she didn''t give a fuck about the world, the country, or the people. She wanted to be the best seamstress because that''s what she decided on doing. At first, she did it for the money but that was merely secondary. She needed money to eat. She needed money to make better clothes. She needed money to live in a better environment, but that''s it. If she could get those things without spending any money, then she wouldn''t care about making money.

    She merely wanted her name to be written in textbooks and spread throughout the world! That''s the only way she''ll be regarded as the best!

    However, even when she became the best, she never stopped improving. She didn''t only want to be the best in the past and present, but also the future. Sure, she wasn''t so naive to think that better products won''t be made after she dies, but that doesn''t mean they are better than her. She wanted to be known as the Ancestor or Founder of sewing! So she came up with all different types of sewing skills and different ways to make clothes all in hopes of being the first and number one seamstress!

    When she was on her deathbed, she had no regrets. She knew, from the bottom of her heart, that she will forever be the best seamstress this world has ever seen!

    When everything went ck, the real Mira who was watching everything from a third person perspective, was astounded by what she just experienced. Mira''s entire life took no longer than an hour for the real Mira to experience, but thetter felt like she became a pro at making clothes. At least by mortal standards. Naturally, she would need to put this knowledge into practice, but this information was already crammed into her brain.

    "Is that the end? What did I just watch? Was that really me? Or I suppose another me? Is this ce showing me and making me experience previous iterations of myself? Or am I watching me in a parallel universe? So many questions�� So little answers. I suppose all I can do is wait at this point. Hopefully, everything will be clear by the end of this whole ordeal."

    As Mira was mumbling this, the screen changed and showed another unborn fetus.

    "Here we go again."

 Chapter 254 Samsara? Part 2

    The second life Mira was experiencing was very different from the first one. She was born in an extremely primitive world where the inhabitants struggled to survive. Mira was born in a small vige as the daughter of the Vige Chief and grew up being taught how to weave baskets, prepare food, and make clothes.

    However, Mira didn''t want to do any of that.

    It started when Mira snuck out of the vige and followed the warriors of the vige on their hunt. Towards the end of their hunt, the warriors were able to kill arge boar. At that moment, when Mira saw the blood of the boar sprayed all over the ground, she knew that she wanted to be able to do that as well.

    She was only 5 years old at the time, but there was something inside her that screamed at her to be strong, to hunt, to kill. She had no idea why she felt this primal urge to kill when she should be feeling scared at the sight of the dead boar, but she knew that fighting this urge would do more harm than good.

    When she ran back to the vige that day, she asked her father to teach her how to fight, but he always refused and told her that women have no right to fight. The only thing they are good for is giving birth and cooking.

    When Mira heard that, a disgusted and disdainful look appeared on her face. She didn''t exactly know what it meant to give birth, but she wasn''t stupid. She saw men and women in the vige doing weird movements and making weird noises. She knew that doing whatever they were doing somehow made a baby.

    But when she saw how the men were dominating, conquering, and pounding the submissive women underneath them, she had never felt so disgusted in her entire life. No, it wasn''t because she saw them having sex, but because the mere thought of submitting to someone else made her cringe in revulsion.

    If having a baby meant submitting to a man, then she would rather die than have a child!

    After that day, she stopped bothering her father about bing a warrior. Not because she gave up, but because there was no point. Her father would never see her as a warrior even if she became strong. He only saw her as a baby maker.

    So she took it upon herself to get strong on her own. She started sneaking around the vige to watch the warriors train and would go backte that night to practice on her own.

    Life continued until she became 12 years old. Now she was considered an adult in her tribe and was supposed to partner up with one of the males of the vige to procreate.

    However, Mira had different ns for this day��

    Her father called her early in the morning to get ready for the marriage ceremony. Naturally, as the Vige Chief, her father chose the strongest warrior of the vige for Mira to marry and procreate with.

    Mira offered noints and did everything her father told her to do. She dressed up in traditional tribal clothes and applied body paint all over her body ording to the traditions. Her clothes were rather revealing as they only covered her private parts and Mira couldn''t stop trembling in rage and disgust.

    But after calming down a bit, a sinister smile soon reced her rage filled one. She can''t wait for what''s toeter today��

    A few hourster, everyone in the vige gathered around the Vige Chief''s house, ready to celebrate the marriage of his daughter to the strongest warrior in the vige.

    Everyone stood in arge circle and in the middle of this circle stood three people. Two were Mira''s mother and father while thest person was a man. This man was around 2 meters tall, had rippling muscles, scars all over his body that proved his status as a warrior, and an angr face.

    This was the strongest warrior in the vige, Max, and this wasn''t his first time going through a ceremony like this. As the strongest warrior in the vige, he naturally has multiple wives. Well, not just multiple, but almost a quarter of the women in the vige have slept with Max in hopes of getting pregnant with his child.

    There might even be more women cheating on their husbands to sleep with Max in hopes of giving birth to a strong baby.

    However, Max was the most excited about this ceremony for several reasons. First, he was marrying the Vige Chief''s daughter which will improve his rtionship and status in the vige. Secondly, the Vige Chief''s daughter, Mira, is a real beauty. She was by far the most beautiful woman in the vige. In fact, she looked more like a goddess than a human woman.

    As a man, the thought of pushing such a woman down and having her submit to his rod was not something he could give up.

    As Max was thinking about what he''ll do to Mirater that night, the woman herself had finally shown up to the ceremony.

    Max and everyone else was stunned by her beauty and the former couldn''t even bother to hide his lust at this point as he examined the beautiful woman in front of him.

    He walked towards Mira as Mira walked towards him, both with different thoughts running through their minds.

    When the two of them got close enough to touch each other, Mira lowered her hands and reached around her waist. When she got a bit closer to Max, she pulled out two daggers. Before Max or anyone else could react, she used one of the daggers to sh one of the tendons in his leg forcing him to kneel as she held the other dagger at his throat.

    Nobody knew what was going on and Max was already on his knees, at the mercy of Mira''s daggers before anyone could do anything.

    The Vige Chief and the warriors were the first to react as they immediately surrounded Mira with weapons drawn.

    "Mira! What is going on?! Why did you just attack our strongest warrior, your husband?! Put those daggers down right now before you do something you''ll regret!!"

    The Vige Chief yelled, his face red in anger. Mira sneered as she answered.

    "I never wanted to marry a brute like this, ''Father''. I told you before, right? I wanted to be a warrior not some whore who only knows how to give birth. Now, I''ll give you 5 seconds to make a decision, o''Great Vige Chief. Cancel this marriage and allow me to be a warrior or Max loses his head!"

    Everyone was stunned! Why was the Vige Chief''s daughter acting like this? Why didn''t anyone know that she wanted to be a warrior? Actually, why does she want to be a warrior anyways? She''s a woman!

    The Vige Chief''s face kept getting more and more red until he became so angry that his face eventually turned ck.

    "You unfilial daughter! That was years ago! And I told you that you have not the strength nor skills to be a warrior! You are a woman! Your duty is to give birth to strong children for the future of our tribe-!"

    "5."

    "You wouldn''t dar-!

    "4."<sub> </sub>

    "Don''t make me do this, Mira! If you don''t stop this right now, I''ll-!

    "3."

    "Guards! Get her!"

    *SLASH*

    As soon as the Vige Chief''s words fell, Max''s head flew. Everyone stood there, stunned. They didn''t know how to react. The Vige Chief''s daughter just killed the strongest man in the tribe without batting an eye!

    "Tsk tsk tsk�� Father, I thought you''d be smarter than that. The man didn''t have to die if only you granted my two requests. Oh well, I predicted this would happen. Hehe~"

    Everyone felt a chill run down their spine when Miraughed and when they saw her sinister smile on her face, they gasped in horror.

    They didn''t know the Vige Chief was harboring such a demon who would enjoy killing her own tribe members!

    "Anyways, it seems I''m no longer wee here, so I''ll be on my way."

    Mira dashed out of the encirclement before anyone could react and by the time the Vige Chief and the vigers regained their wits, Mira was already gone!

    "That damned worthless daughter!!!!"

    That''s thest thing Mira heard as she ran out of the vige. However, she was unfazed by that and even had a smile on her face as she left.

    From that point on, Mira lived like aplete savage. She would hunt anything that moves. From frogs, to birds, to even bears. She spent pretty much all of her time hunting. It got to the point where even the animals and predators in the nearby area feared her. Not necessarily because of her strength, but because she reeked of blood and death.

    Over a decadeter, an adult Mira was facing a pack of nearly 100 wolves. This may seem like a lot, but this pack originally had 300 wolves in it. Yes, that may sound like a lot, but these wolves did it for survival! Mira was hunting everything in the area to extinction so they were essentially forced to group up so they won''t die for no reason.

    Mira ughtered her way through the wolves with nothing more than stone weapons and leather clothes.

    Blood and guts sprayed all over the ce and Mira was also covered in wounds. Some even went down to the bone.

    Mira knew this would most likely be herst moment so she held nothing back and stopped caring about her body. Her reason for doing this?

    She was bored and dying. Even though she was only 25 years old at this point, she could tell she wouldn''t live for much longer. All of the injuries she umted over the years had worn down her body. However, Mira didn''t want to go down as someone else''s prey! She was going to choose how she dies and fighting a massive pack of wolves seemed like a glorious battlefield to die on!

    That''s why she hunted everything in the surrounding area to extinction and forced these wolves to gather! All so she could present herself with a battlefield and an enemy worthy of dying to.

    Mira ughtered her way towards the Alpha and several hourster it was only her and the Alpha facing each other. The Alpha wolf had bloodshot eyes as it looked at Mira in fury, but other than that, he was perfectly fine. He used all of those beta wolves to tire Mira out so he could finally take her down when she was exhausted.

    Mira, on the other hand, was basically dead at this point. Her body was covered in wounds, many of her bones were broken, and she had an immense amount of internal damage. However, she still had a slight smile on her face that proved she was happy. If she were to die right now, she would have no regrets.

    The Alpha wolf couldn''t take it anymore and rushed at Mira, but his instincts screamed at him to run when he got close to Mira, however it was toote. Mira pulled a stake out of her ass and aimed it at the wolf''s head. The wolf knew that if it stopped now to try and back away it would die so instead it charged forward and went for her neck.

    *BAM*

    The wolf grabbed her neck as Mira jammed a stake into its head. The wolf died instantly, but Mira had a few breaths left in her before her eventual demise. She used thest of her strength to take the stake out of the wolf and jab it into her own heart.

    With her dying breath, she said:

    "Only I, myself, have the right to kill me. You, I''m afraid, are not worthy! HAHA!"

    Mira let out onest maniacalugh before her heart stopped beating and she died.

    Back in the ck room, the real Mira watched and experienced everything that happened with a weird but proud look in her eyes.

    "Damn! This version of me was a fucking savage! What a great line at the end there! As expected of me! Too bad the skills and knowledge I inherited are basically useless to me. I don''t need to know how to make stone weapons or hunt weak ass animals. But that version of me was quite clever and sneaky unlike me who is a bit more straightforward. Too bad she didn''t live long enough for me to actually inherit something useful. I just hope, if there''s another one of these, that the next version of me actually learns something useful. I really wonder if I''m actually watching versions of me or if this is all an illusion��"

    Mira''s thoughts were stopped as a fetus appeared on the screen and she started experiencing a new life.

    But Mira was disappointed to learn that she was born in another Mortal World with no spiritual energy. She really wished she could just skip these experiences as the amount of knowledge and experience they provide her is essentially useless.

    Okay, maybe not useless as they set a good foundation for her in case she ever wants to progress these skills in the future, but in the short term, they are useless. Even in the long term, they aren''t incredibly useful.

    Take sewing for example, seamstresses in the cultivation world don''t even use the techniques that mortals use! Not only that, but silk, leather, wool, and other clothing materials are vastly different from those that mortals wear. These things only get more extreme the stronger one gets, as well.

    So the 50+ years of knowledge Mira has on sewing isn''t incredibly useful and is not nearly enough to warrant her practicing this skill in the future. After some studying and practice, she might be able to make clothes that are slightly above average, but that''s it. She''d have to put in a lot more effort if she wants anything amazing. Doing that will take away too much of her time from training!

    Well, that''s a thought for another time as Mira was now experiencing her third life�� Or her third parallel self''s life��

 Chapter 255 Samsara? Part 3

    During Mira''s third life, she actually ended up being a cksmith, which the Mira watching was pleased about. She''s been wanting to get into smithing, but hasn''t found the time to learn. However, the only downside was she was born into a rather primitive world simr to the previous two worlds.

    But that didn''t bother Mira too much since any kind of forging and smithing experience is valuable for her. As long as she can carry these techniques over to the Cultivation World, then every bit of knowledge and experience is precious.

    Mira also concluded that the knowledge and experience pertaining to sewing might be useful for her as well when ites to forging. Mainly because cksmiths in the cultivation world don''t just make weapons and armor, but they should also be able to make clothes as well and mix the two together.

    Another thing Mira noticed is that for some reason all of her incarnations, reincarnation, parallel selves, or whatever you want to call them always seem to have the same goal in mind and behave in a simr manner.

    They always seek to be the best in whatever field they study in. Her first parallel self was the best seamstress the world has ever seen. Her second parallel self strived to be the best hunter. Her third self strived to be the best cksmith.

    Another interesting thing Mira noticed is that for some reason, she was always incredibly prideful in all of her lives. It wasn''t a pride that stemmed from being the best or the most talented or the richest, but more like a pride that came from her own belief in herself.

    However, she was never arrogant about it. Well, actually she was extremely arrogant, just not outwardly. Although she would look down on people, it wasn''t for superficial reasons. For example, when Mira experienced life as a seamstress, she noticed that that version of herself almost always felt herself above the other seamstresses. Not because of their poor talent,ck of wealth and status, orck of customers, but because these people were satisfied with what they had. They never strived for more once they reached a certain point!

    Some of those seamstresses dreamed of being the best and either they became ''the best'' or they realized that the amount of work they had to put in versus the amount of wealth and status they''ll receive is just not worth the effort.

    Mira, however, never cared for wealth or status. Wealth and status were just a means to an end since she needed them in order to progress her skills. If she didn''t need wealth nor status, then she wouldn''t strive for it. But humans areplicated creatures and things aren''t that simple.

    Thest thing Mira noticed from these three lives was that she never thought about entering into a romantic rtionship with someone. In fact, she always abhorred the thought of being romantic with someone. Although that may be the case, that didn''t mean Mira wasn''t able to make friends. During Mira''s third life as a cksmith, she was able to make many different kinds of people and developed friendships with all kinds of people. She wasn''t aplete loner like she was in not only her two parallel lives, but also quite a few of her reincarnations.

    Mira watched her parallel self making friends and connections with a somewhat bitter look on her face. It''s like she''s watching what her life could''ve been like without any interference. She could''ve lived a happy life with her friends and family as she strived to be the best in the world in whatever she was passionate about.

    She could live a life without pain and suffering. A life without regrets. A life where she has control over her future.

    But she was also somewhat happy that she could at least experience what it''s like to live a peaceful life full of love and happiness. Even if she can only experience it from a third person perspective.

    Mira continued watching these parallel lives with aplicated expression, but one that was mostly filled with mncholy, sorrow, and a bit of joy.

    She stayed in that ck room filled with nothing but her and a giant screen on one of the walls as she kept watching and experiencing her parallel lives. It didn''t take long until she finished experiencing her fourth life. Then her fifth��

    6th

    7th

    8th

    9th

    ��

    19th

    20th

    Finally, on Mira''s 21st life, she was brought into a world that was in a world different from the previous 20 worlds.<sub> </sub>

    She was born in a world where not only humans but all the creatures in the world were able to temper their bodies in order to strengthen it. There still wasn''t any Spiritual Energy, but there was a different type of energy in the world that the inhabitants just called ''Body Aura'' since absorbing this energy into one''s body would increase their vitality causing one''s strength to rise.

    Not only that, but ingesting or using various nts could increase the strength of one''s body as well.

    Unfortunately, this information wasn''t incredibly useful to the current Mira who was watching everything. Sure, it might be nice to have this information and maybe she could use it in the future as the inhabitants of this world have deep knowledge of the human body, but they ultimately used two different energies.

    Qi and Body Aura werepletely different types of energy. Or it could be said that Qi is just a more advanced version of Body Aura since Qi can do everything. It can strengthen one''s body, energy, and soul. Hell, it can even enhance weapons, be used to make arrays, inscriptions, alchemy, and everything else. Qi is an omnipresent entity while Body Aura is more like if Qi took a shit and threw its excrement onto another and made that ce its toilet/dump.

    Body Aura was filled with impurities and had very limited use. It didn''t even extend one''s life span whenever someone absorbed it! There weren''t stages of Body Aura so there weren''t really any bottlenecks.

    Okay, maybe not extending one''s lifespan was a bit of a lie, but it wasn''t far from the truth. The only thing Body Aura did was make the body stronger and healthier. So the inhabitants of the world generally had longer lifespans on averagepared to worlds that didn''t have advanced medical knowledge. But people who absorbed Body Aura generally didn''t live much longer than 100.

    What kind of bullshit is that?!

    These people spend their entire lives getting stronger only to die as a pitiful mortal who can still barely live past 100.

    What sucks even more for these people is if you don''t absorb this energy for most of your life then you''ll definitely die young either to those stronger than you or to the environment.

    So essentially, in order to survive, you have to do nothing but absorb this energy and risk your life finding various resources in order to make your body stronger to simply have the lifespan of a normal person.

    What a sad life.

    And Mira got to experience this sad life first hand as her parallel self spent her entire life strengthening her body. Except, she was actually able to live her life to the fullest as she enjoyed killing not only beasts and monsters, but people as well.

    That''s another thing Mira noticed while watching her various parallel selves is for some reason, they always had a thirst for blood. Well, that''s if they ever thought about it in the first ce. If they never experienced killing someone or never saw someone being killed, then they would never ''awaken'' their thirst for blood.

    However, if they were exposed to death, murder, and simr experiences then they would 100% have an urge to�� let loose a bit. That didn''t mean they were psychopathic maniacs who only knew how to kill as they could control this urge, but they would be more prone to thoughts of killing another person and if they ever got the chance to kill, they would definitely take it.

    This is extremely simr to her current self since she often has the urge to ughter, but is able to control that urge. However, she''s reached a stage where she almost has to release a bit or else she might go berserk. This is simply due to the number of people she''s killed and how often she''s almost forced to end someone or something''s life.

    Mira knew that most people don''t feel this urge even if they were to kill billions or even trillions of people. Sure, those kinds of people might find amusement or enjoyment out of someone else''s death, but Mira''s slightly different. The urge to kill is something innate and performing that action fulfills her primal urges.

    That being the case, Mira''s 21st life involving Body Aura was much more bloody than any of her previous parallel lives.

    The girl was a fucking savage and as a Mira herself, Mira respected such actions! A Mira should be an unyielding, upromising, hard-working, savage!

    So even though most of the knowledge and experiences she received from this parallel life was mostly useless, at least she had a good show! The only useful thing she learned during this life was she understood the human body just a bit more, but that knowledge still wouldn''t be of much help in the Cultivation World since she can just use her consciousness to understand her body; down to the very cells within if she focuses hard enough!

    Now that she was watching and experiencing worlds that contained energy like ''Body Aura'', things were much more interesting for her.

    She continued to watch parallel life after parallel life until she finally finished watching her 99th parallel life and by this point, Mira''s worldview has vastly expanded since she didn''t only experience Mortal Worlds with no types of energy and worlds filled with energy like ''Body Aura''. She also saw worlds much more advanced than those and learned things that would be hard to learn even if she tried.

 Chapter 256 Samsara? Part 4

    When Mira finished experiencing her 99th parallel life, she felt�� How should she put this? More well-rounded?

    Yeah, she felt like she was more than just a killing machine who was only good at two things: training and murder.

    That''s not to say she isn''t any less of a killer, no, it could be said that after experiencing 99 more lives, she was more of one. The number of people, beasts, and other creatures she killed throughout all these lives was immense.

    However, what''s strange is that even though she killed billions of people throughout all 99 lives, it still only added up to a few billion more than the 10 actual reincarnations she''s gone through.

    That just goes to show that Mira was nothing short of a psychopath whose sole purpose in life is to ughter during the reincarnations she was controlled by that shitty god.

    But now Mira knows what it''s like to experience a life that wasn''t built upon mountains of corpses. Though she was sometimes forced to do such a thing if she wanted to see her goal to the end throughout some of her parallel lives.

    One might think that experiencing all of these different parallel lives would affect Mira''s original personality by making her a bit more kind to those around her or maybe a bit more epting of others, but that couldn''t be farther from the truth.

    Mira had experienced many different things throughout all of these parallel lives, but at the end of the day, they were all pretty much the same. Some of her other selves could continue living their lives with a smile on their face as they became the best they could be. While others grew cold and distant due to some childhood trauma or just from the number of lives they''ve taken.

    But there was one irrefutable fact that every Mira had inmon��

    They all worked hard to achieve their goal or died trying. Nothing was more important than achieving their goal! Friends? Family? Responsibilities? All of that was secondary whenever Mira set a goal.

    That''s rather strange, don''t you think? How can 99 different versions of Mira all be pretty much the same? Sure, each version of Mira is a bit different due to their individual circumstances, but their personalities were almost always the same with only a few slight differences.

    They all put their entire life on the line toplete their goal. They all never got into a romantic rtionship. They all never had kids. They all were incredibly prideful. They all had a sadistic urge to murder whenever they experienced something that would awaken it. And if they were 100% sure they were going to die by someone else''s hand, they would kill themselves before their killer could finish them off.

    It didn''t matter if they were born from royalty or in a world where just about everyone was equal. It didn''t matter if they grew up rich or poor. It didn''t matter if they had a loving family or not. Whatever situation Mira was born into, those things remained the same.

    Really, the only difference between each Mira were their goals and their expressions. Some could smile while others couldn''t. Some wanted to be a Queen while others wanted to be the greatest warrior.

    Not only that, but generally, Mira would set a goal between the ages of 7-12. So, one could say that how Mira grew up, directly influenced her goal. Just like how in her first parallel life, she wanted to be the best seamstress. That''s because it was the only thing she could feasibly learn at the time. Also, she barely knew what a king was since she practically grew up in the slums.

    The original Mira, who was watching and experiencing all of these parallel lives, was quite intrigued by this. She was also extremely proud of herself since even if she died and was reincarnated without any of her memories, she wouldn''t be that different from her original self.

    However, when Mira thought about this, something struck her. She hadn''t thought about it much before, but seeing her parallel lives broadened her horizons.

    What if these were her past lives? What if what she was experiencing was actually her own experiences, but she just can''t remember them because these memories were erased in the process of reincarnation? Also, why was she pretty much the same throughout all of her lives? From what Mira knew, this was definitely impossible. Maybe it''s not impossible for it to happen a few times, but Mira has experienced 99 parallel lives and all of them have pretty much the same personality.

    Is it possible that her soul or maybe her original personality was so strong that after reincarnation after reincarnation she''s still the same?

    But if that''s the case, what does this mean for her? Will she get some kind of cool soul power now that she''s gone through this experience? Will she receive some sort of inheritance from the original Mira, a Mira before all of the reincarnations?

    However, if Mira was really some super expert from the distant past, maybe even in a past so distant that it was before the current universe was created, she felt that maybe her original self was rted to the god that has been torturing her.

    What if they were enemies in the distant past and the original Mira had to use some special technique so that her reincarnations wouldn''t lose her personality and would always prioritize their goal?<sub> </sub>

    When Mira reached this point in her thinking, she felt as if weight the size of a came crashing down onto her shoulders. If such a thing was possible, how strong was she back then that she could even influence herself possibly billions of yearster? Then that begs the question, how strong is the god that forced her into such a situation?

    Mira was frozen in her thoughts for a while, before eventually snapping out of it.

    She didn''t know anything about anything. She didn''t even know if there was even a super-expert immortal Mira who started all of this. She could very well just be a special case. Not only that, but it might not be the god torturing her right now that forced the original ancient Mira into this position. It could''ve been someone else. Someone much more dangerous. And this god found out about ancient Mira''s circumstances and started looking for her reincarnations.

    He could just be some bottom-feeder asshole who just wanted to pick up the scraps! Just thinking about that possibility made Mira tremble in rage.

    However, a few secondster, Mira calmed down and decided to push this matter aside. It wouldn''t do her any good to think about any of this since even if she knew, she wouldn''t be able to do anything. In fact, she wouldn''t be able to do much even after bing an Immortal. Right now she''s not even worthy to be called a spec of dusk in front of someone near the peak of the Immortal Realm.

    Right now, she can only focus on improving her strength.

    Putting those thoughts aside, Mira started reflecting a bit on the experiences she gathered throughout her 99 parallel lives, past lives, or however you want to call it.

    She realized that around 40% of those lives, she was born in a primitive Mortal World with no unique energy. Around 25% of the worlds she was born in were simr to the worlds that had a unique energy like ''Body Aura''. Another 20% of those worlds she was born in were rtively advanced worlds simr to Earth. They didn''t have a unique energy in them, but humans had advanced enough where such a thing was unnecessary. 10% of the worlds she was born in were fantasy-like worlds that had different races simr to Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and various other unique races. These worlds also had a form of energy in them that was a bit more advanced than ''Body Aura'' in the fact that it increased strength as well as lifespan, but the people in these worlds were unable to ascend to a higher Realm. In fact, the strongest they could be were somewhere around the Core Formation Realm in the Cultivation World.

    Thest 5% were high-tech sci-fi interary worlds where humans have conquered sr systems and gxies. Also, technology had advanced enough where the aging process could almost be halted and human bodies could be incredibly strong. That''s not to say that their lifespan was infinite since that''s impossible without Qi, but humans could live around 500-1000 years if they wanted to.

    Honestly, Mira was the most fascinated by these worlds because they were the most simr to the Cultivation World but without any Qi. Also, who wouldn''t want to be born in such a ce where one can traverse gxies and conquers as a daily urrence.

    During these worlds is when Mira racked up the kill count. During the 5 lives she experienced in these worlds, she killed just about the same number of people as she had during her reincarnations.

    One might think this is nonsense. How could someone who is literally conquering worlds kill only a few billion more people than a normal mortal on worlds not nearly as advanced as these super high-tech worlds?

    Well, that''s because Mira was never alone in her escapades. She would often have to conquer a world filled with thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of other people. All of these people hoped to kill as many or more than the next guy so as to gather more merit. Also, traveling from to takes time and so does actually conquering one. It might take years or even decades to conquer a single and it might take years to go from their headquarters to said and back to headquarters. All in all, sometimes one of these missions might take upwards of 50 years and Mira will only be able to kill a few million. Tens of million if she''s lucky.

    Not only that, but most of the time these missions aren''t only about killing but also resource gathering. Or maybe she''ll be sent to a that doesn''t support life, but has a shit load of diamonds on it or something like that.

    So even though Mira was sent to conquers, it''s not like she could just nuke it and be done with it. Believe it or not, but nukes were almost never used on these types of missions since that would ruin the they are trying to conquer!

    After reminiscing about the types of worlds she experienced, Mira also started sorting through the knowledge and experience she gained from her parallel lives.

    Most of the upations her parallel selves took up were usually some type of warrior or soldier. Even if that wasn''t her primary upation, Mira''s parallel selves almost always learned the basics just in case. However, if given the chance, Mira would almost always jump into being a soldier.

    There was one time where she was a Queen which Mira found amusing. Other than that, Mira pretty much just picked up the first thing she saw or the first thing she was interested in.

    Chef, cksmith, seamstress, farmer, CEO, doctor, etc.

    Most of the variety in upations came from Mortal Worlds without highly advanced technology or any sort of unique energy.

    Mira was about to continue sorting through all the information she received until the space around her shook and her ethereal form was transported somewhere else.

 Chapter 257 New Body

    Mira felt her ethereal soul form being dragged to another location, but she wasn''t too worried about where she was going. Actually, she was looking forward to reaching her destination. There are only two ces that she can think of, that could possibly be her destination. Either she''s going to the next test this wretched ce has to offer or she''s going back to her body.

    If she is going towards the next test then all she has to do isplete it before going back to her body. That''s why she''s looking forward to her destination since it doesn''t really matter where she''s going, she just wants to be back in her body.

    And just like she thought, her ethereal form soonnded in front of her still mangled body. Actually, now that she got a good look at it, this body was basically dead. The heart stopped beating and it was already cold and a bit shriveled. Though Mira can tell that she actually hasn''t been away from her body for too long. Maybe a day or two.

    But that freaked Mira out quite a bit. How can she experience thousands of years within the span of a day or two?! Were those really her own experiences and she was merely tapping into the long-lost memories of her reincarnations? Or is the time dtion in that room just that high? Wouldn''t that make it like a 1: 3.65M where every day in the outside world is 3.65 million days in there? What kind of bullshit is that? Even gods shouldn''t be able to pull off something that outrageous!

    Mira didn''t get much time to ponder this as her ethereal form was forced back inside her body. Strangely, Mira didn''t feel much difort now that she was back inside her body. Well, except for the pain of having most of her body smashed into meat paste. What she meant by ack of difort was her brain. It seemed her brain had been well-preserved even after the body died. She hadn''t lost any of her memories, motor functions, or anything like that.

    That wasn''t the end of things though as Mira felt her body squirm without her doing anything. If one looked closely at Mira''s body, they''d see her skin, bones, organs, blood, marrow, and everything else in her body literally turn into worm-like things and start squirming and positioning themselves in their respective positions inside Mira''s body.

    Quite frankly, it looked and felt disgusting. It looked like worms were digging under her skin and crawling around drying to devour her. Surprisingly, this wasn''t too far off from the truth except the worms wiggling in her body are�� well�� her own body.

    As Mira watched her body reform, she felt like she was going under some fucked up version of nirvana. Although she didn''t know what someone undergoing Nirvana looked like, she was sure it didn''t look like this. Not only that, but Mira could only feel a slight amount of Qi entering her body in order to strengthen it. Most of these worm-like things in her body were being absorbed into one another and Qi was only being used to erge them a bit to reach their optimal state.

    It didn''t take long for Mira''s internal organs to start forming and cing themselves in Mira''s body. However, Mira could tell that her organs weren''t being ced in the same ce as they were before.

    Her heart was settling in the middle of her chest rather than on the left side. Her digestive tract wasn''t nearly as long as before and her stomach was erged. Her dantian was also widened by about 30% and strengthened as well. While this wouldn''t be of much help right now, it''ll definitely make her much stronger when she enters the Core Formation Realm.

    The rest of her organs were organized inside Mira''s body, making her more bnced than she was before.

    Once all of her organs were finished, flesh and bones started forming and cing themselves ordingly.

    There weren''t really any differences here except Mira felt like her body was much stronger than before. However, there was a slight problem. She seemed to be a bit smaller than how she was previously.

    Mira pushed that thought aside as muscle, blood, and skin started forming. Her blood felt heavy and had a bunch of tiny ck runes forming on each cell. Mira was startled upon seeing those small ck runes that gave Mira the feeling of death. She searched her body to see if she just didn''t notice those ck runes before, and sure enough, there were tons of tiny ck runes all over her body.

    They weren''t noticeable to the naked eye and would even be hard for one to notice if someone used their soul sense, but Mira knew her body well enough that she could tell.

    She wasn''t sure what was going on, but she didn''t feel any different than before these appeared.

    Mira decided to push these to the back of her mind as she waited for her body to finish restructuring and rebuilding��

    Around an hourter, Mira stopped feeling those weird worm-like entities crawling around her body, rebuilding it.

    She tried moving her fingers and toes and almost yelled out in excitement! She finally had her body back!

    She took a few minutes to get used to the sensation of moving around limbs again and tried standing up.

    When she stood up and looked down at her body, she noticed something odd. The ground seemed much closer than it was before all this shit. Not only that, but her once growing boobs had now disappeared! She was tter than a washboard now!

    She looked at her arms and legs and noticed that her clothes were way too big for her!

    She hurriedly summoned a b of ice in front of her to look at her reflection and was stunned.<sub> </sub>

    "The fuck?! Why do I look like a fucking child! FUCK! Even my voice sounds like that of a child! Goddammit! I never should''vee to this ce! Is this some sort of sick joke that this shitty ce decided to y? Ugh!"

    Mira huffed in anger as she looked at her new body. She had the body of a fucking 9-10-year-old child! She was around 133 centimeters (~52.5 inches) tall. However, her face still looked more mature than that of a 9-year-old child. It still had the same level of maturity that her face had before.

    One thing Mira noticed about her face was that it looked exceptionally colder and more dangerous than before. One might even say that her face was more beautiful than before, which Mira found slightly surprising considering how beautiful she looked before.

    Her eyes were still blood red, but now there was a small ck run in the middle of her pupils which gave her a deadly chilling look.

    Her hair was also a bit different, though not by much. Just the roots of her hair were as ck as night and it transitioned well into her silvery-blue hair making her look even more deadly and beautiful than before.

    Her skin was snow-white, but she noticed her fingernails change colors. Instead of natural pinkish color, they were now a deep ck which contrasted well with her snow-white skin.

    Although Mira couldn''t reallyin about her looks, in fact, Mira was more than happy to be more beautiful. It''s just�� Why did her body have to regress?! She liked her previous body''s size as it was pretty much perfect for her!

    Mira grumbled in her mind before checking to see how much stronger she got after going through that weird rebirth.

    She threw a casual punch at the ice b in front of her and it instantly exploded into a million pieces!

    Mira was slightly surprised by this but not overly so. She could''ve shattered it with a casual punch even before this rebirth, but she would''ve had to exert a bit more strength than that.

    She made a few more ice bs and continued punching them. After a few minutes, she determined that her body was around 15-20% stronger than before which was a pleasant surprise to Mira.

    Not only that, but Mira also felt like her body had been ''perfected''. She''s not quite sure how to put it, but she feels like her body has reached a state of perfection. This has nothing to do with body tempering or anything like that, but more like she had evolved as a human.

    Normally, humans are born without any cultivation so they are born with things that a mortal human body needs in order to survive. But these things start losing value as one progresses further down the path of cultivation. Food and water be useless, even breathing bes unnecessary at a certain point. Most likely, once one gets to a high enough stage, even one''s heart and brain be pointless.

    However, that doesn''t mean that humans shed these useless organs as they progress further in their cultivation. On the contrary, they stay in ce and can even be fatal weaknesses to a cultivator!

    Normally, it''s almost impossible for a human to shed off these unnecessities, but Mira''s different. After going through that rebirth, she had shedded off the unneeded parts of her body or at the very least, they were reprogrammed a bit  to make them more useful.

    Mira didn''t exactly know what she lost and what she gained and she doesn''t really have the time to focus on that right now since she''s sure that she''s going to be sent to another test soon.

    After she finished examining her body, Mira came to the conclusion that the trade-offs were worth it. Not only did her strength rise, but also her body was perfected for her current Realm and all she lost was her more mature body.

    Now that she thought about it, she never had a mature body to begin with so it''s not like she''s taking a huge loss here anyways.

    "Sigh�� I''m just not looking forward to meeting Maria and Cine again. I''m sure Maria is going to pester me nonstop after seeing my current appearance. Sigh��"

    Mira let out a few deep sighs just thinking about Maria''s reaction, but her thoughts were interrupted as she felt her body being forcefully teleported somewhere. She let out a fight smile full of fighting spirit, ready to test out her new body.

    "Bring it on!"

 Chapter 258 Soul Pain Part 1

    Mira was soon transported into a very inconspicuous room. The room was ratherrge, maybe 30 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 30 meters tall. However, there were a few strange things about this room.

    One, there was no ceiling, only an endless void of nothing. When Mira looked into the void, her instincts were screaming like crazy to never approach such a ce. Only death awaited if she ever fell into such a ce.

    Another strange thing about this room was that at the very top of the walls, the tiles werepletely white. There couldn''t possibly be anything whiter than those tiles at the top of the walls. However, the tiles became progressively darker down the wall and this continued even onto the floor. At the very center of the floor were tiles so ck that they looked simr to the endless void above. The only difference between the two is Mira being able to stand on the tiles in the center of the floor while only instant death awaits her in the void.

    Besides those two things, there was nothing else in this room. No other people, beasts, items��nothing.

    Mira wasn''t sure how to feel about this room, but the whole ce gave off an eerie feeling. She had a feeling the endless void that was above her came into y somewhere, but she wasn''t sure how.

    It also didn''t take a genius to know that the different colored tilese into y as well, but she wasn''t about to be testing out different theories. What if she fucks up and the whole cees crumbling down and she falls into the void? No thanks!

    After Mira''s brief examination of the room, she looked down at the pitch-ck tiles underneath her and noticed there was only 1 square meter of space on the pitch-ck tiles underneath her.

    Mira sat down on those pitch-ck tiles because she felt it was the safest ce to stand and she didn''t really feel like wandering around this death trap of a room. At this point, she could only wait for the test to begin.

    And just like what she''s experienced before, the test started without any warning and Mira instantly knew what this ''test'' was about.

    "Urgh!"

    She felt a stinging pain in her soul like someone was pricking it with a needle. These little pricks were enough to cause damage to her soul, but ''thankfully'' this wonderful ce healed any injuries almost immediately.

    That wasn''t the only problem either because when Mira grunted in pain, the white tiles at the top of the walls crumbled and revealed an endless void behind them.

    "Fuck! Are those tiles a countdown or something? Why did they-Ah!"

    As Mira talked, more tiles started crumbling and Mira almost started cursing out loud again.

    ''Dammit! These tiles react to how much noise I make! So does that mean depending on how much or how loud I scream in pain, more and more tiles will crumble? What the hell?! What kind of fucked up creature even thought of such a method of torture?! Not only do I have to resist the pain in my soul, but I can''t let out a peep! I was already wailing like a pig when this ce tortured my body, I can''t even imagine how much pain I''ll have to go through now! Goddammit!"<sub> </sub>

    So instead of cursing out loud, Mira decided to do it in her mind, and rightfully so. The tiles do react to how much noise she makes and depending on how loud she is, depends on how many tiles crumble.

    That in itself isn''t too bad because as long as she has enough self-control to stay on the pitch-ck tiles in the center, she should be safe for a while. She can also scream her heart out as much as she wants, so long as she isn''t so loud as to crumble the pitch-ck tiles beneath her.

    One could say this ce tested the limits of the test taker''s will, pain tolerance, and self-control. If theyck any one of these things, then death is inevitable. For example, most people at Mira''s Realm, or most Realms for that matter, don''t experience pain in their souls. Even if they do, they would at most experience a shit load of pain before either dying or bing a mentally handicapped cripple.

    However, with this test they will neither die due to damage to the soul nor will they be a cripple. Hell, even falling unconscious from the pain is basically impossible. No, they are forced to endure the pain to their soul until they either die by falling into the endless void or they have to have enough will to live, self-control, and pain tolerance to beat the test and move on.

    Now, you might be wondering just how sensitive the tiles are to sound because if they weren''t sensitive enough then this trial would be way too easy.

    Well, just for reference, Mira''s little outburst when she cursed under her breath caused 5 meters worth of tiles to crumble! 5 meters! Almost a whole 10% of the room disappeared because she cursed under her breath. Just imagine if she raised her voice! The walls might just crumble leaving only the floors! If she didn''t have the proper amount of self-control to not only deal with the pain but still be aware of her surroundings, she might idently wander over into the endless void that was revealed after the walls crumbled away!

    That''s why this test is so frightening because the more one starts to lose their mind in the pain, the higher probability there is of death. And if one, for whatever reason, left the center and started wandering around the room in pain, they might not even know how they died before falling into the void.

    So, staying on the pitch-ck tiles in the center of the room is pretty much a necessity.

    Naturally, Mira didn''t see through all of these things in an instant. She just knew that staying on these pitch-ck tiles was probably for the best.

    But honestly, Mira felt like this test wasn''t going to be that difficult. She''s experienced excruciating pain to her soul multiple times and the only reason she let out a grunt, in the beginning, was because she was just surprised.

    The pain in her soul started to increase as time went on, but Mira had barely let out a sound throughout it all and had only grunted a few times which caused another 5 meters of tiles to crumble off of the walls.

    The sensations went from needle pricks to scratches, to scrapes, to stabbing, and it wasn''t until Mira felt something literally cutting her soul into pieces that she started letting out loud grunts in pain.

    "ARGH!"

    The rest of the tiles on the wall crumbled in an instant revealing an endless void beyond the walls. Now, only the floor remained and Mira was starting to feel a little less confident in passing this test.

 Chapter 259 Soul Pain Part 2

    Mira did her best to keep her mouth shut as she took out a piece of cloth from her storage ring and shoved it in her mouth. Not only did she want to prevent any noise from leaking, but she also wanted to prevent her teeth from breaking. Who knows if they''ll heal even after passing this test.

    Unfortunately, the pain only became worse over time and Mira couldn''t help but let out a grunt or two as she felt her soul being torn apart!

    Luckily, those grunts only took out another 2 meters worth of tiles leaving Mira in a 28 by 28 meter room.

    Mira also noticed that when those 2 meters worth of tiles fell, the void appeared below where those tiles crumbled. Not only that, but it seemed like the void was encroaching on her as well. Now Mira was slightly freaking out because if the pain in her soul only became worse and she identally let out a scream, doesn''t that mean the void will be within arms reach? Wouldn''t she just straight up die if she touched the void?

    ''Fuck this shit hole! Fuck the creator of this ce! Fuck you god! Fuck you death! And fuck me for participating in these shitty tests!''

    Mira started cursing obscenities in her mind as the pain in her soul gradually became worse. Now instead of the feeling of something cutting her soul, she felt like something was corrupting it, causing parts of her soul to disintegrate.

    Of course, how can this ce allow the testee to die from its tests so easily? So whenever a portion of her soul decayed and crumbled, it would heal right back up.

    At this point, Mira felt not only her soul crumbling, but her mind as well. While this was partly due to the pain she was experiencing, most of it was because damaging one''s soul can cause one''s mental faculties to deteriorate and if the damage is bad enough, they can bepletely braindead, incapable of forming thoughts. At that point, one would be nothing more than a living vegetable with no consciousness or will at all.

    Mira was constantly being put in a near-vegetable state only to be taken right out of it. Naturally, something this fucked up would mess up her mind no matter how strong Mira''s will was.

    Just imagine losing any capability of forming any rational thoughts for about a second only to be back to normal in the next second. This is what''s happening to Mira over and over again and the rate at which the switch happens is only bing faster.

    Without Mira even knowing, it''ll soon reach a point where Mira won''t even be able to process anything and her body and mind will only be able to react on instinct to any external interference.

    Of course, right now Mira''s main external interference is pain. So much pain. If it were any other person, once they lost their mind, their body would no doubt start screaming bloody murder which will inevitabley lead to their ultimate demise in the endless void.

    However, Mira was much different from a normal person. Hell, she was much different from even top-level cultivators in the Mortal World. Her body, mind, and soul have been forged through hell and hardships. Not only that, but Mira''s soul even has a bit of experience inside of void-like entities.

    <o>,m That''s not exactly correct since Mira''s soul wasn''t exactly resting in the void waiting for reincarnation. It just seems that way because Mira lost all of her senses when she was in that state making it seem like she was in a void.</o>

    Not only that, but Mira''s will and self-control have been tested so many times that there shouldn''t be many people better than her in this area. At least not in this Cultivation World.

    With that being said, even as Mira''s soul was decaying, corrupting, disintegrating, and regenerating on repeat, Mira''s mind, body, and soul still followed her bodies orignalmand and basic instinct: Don''t fucking die!

    That''s right, Mira''s only goal is to not die. And in this room, where any sort of noise leads her closer to death, even without Mira''s conscious actions, her mind and body did its best to prevent any screams from leaking out.

    Unfortunately for her, the test decided to ramp things up a bit so now on top of the constant disintegration of her soul, explosions and shes were rampaging through her soul. So for a split second, Mira''s soul would essentially bepletely destroyed and the only thing left of it were a bunch of tiny little fragments.

    However, immediately after the destruction of her soul and before it could dissipate, her soul would reform only for the process to repeat itself over and over again.

    Naturally, this didn''t feel good-<sub> </sub>

    "AAAAHHHH!!"

    -And Mira''s broken mind was unable to prevent itself from letting out a quick guttural scream before her body worked to shut its mouth.

    But that didn''t stop the surrounding tiles around her from crumbling as the void came closer and closer to Mira until it wasn''t even an arms length away.

    That scream was incredibly loud and the only tiles left were the pitch-ck tiles Mira was sitting on. The one-square meter worth of tiles was the only thing separating Mira''s life from imminent death.

    Even a simple raise of her hand would most likely end her life at this point, that''s how close she is.

    The situation would be incredibly stressful for even the most powerful and batte-tempered warriors because this is a test where strength, background, intelligence, knowledge, and even one''s tolerance to pain don''t matter anymore.

    The only thing that matters at this point in the test is how good the testee''s instincts are. One needs to have reached a state where both the mind and body''s instincts can still function even if the host has lost the ability to form any sort of rational thought.

    However, that begs the question, is it really the body and mind''s instincts that are controlling Mira at this point or is Mira''s will so strong that even when her mind is broken, she can still control her body even if it''s only based on instinct?

    If Mira were to answer, she would definitely go with thetter. She hadn''t gone through all of those lives and the shit she experienced in them only to rely on something crude like her body and mind acting independently from her.

    To prove this point, Mira''s body started bleeding from every orifice in her body as blood even started leaking out of her pores to prevent any sound from leaking out. Her body was under so much stress right now that internal injuries started forming just because Mira was trying to hold in the pain.

    However, this all changed when all of a sudden, Mira''s soul crumbled and the pain didn''t stop at only her soul. She felt this pain in both her mind and every fiber of her body.

    This was by far the most painful thing Mira has ever experienced and probably will ever experience, but somehow she was able to hold on for a second before she couldn''t hold it in anymore:

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

    Mira let out the loudest roar she''s ever released in all of her lifetimes. Even counting the 99 lives she witnessed earlier, this was the loudest yell Mira has ever released. It was so loud and forceful that even her lungs were starting to be damaged. However, Mira couldn''t stop yelling.

    Luckily, she felt her soul regenerating back to what it was before all this shit, but that didn''t stop the tiles underneath her from cracking.

    *Crack* *Crack*

    *Boom!*

    Mira''s roars were so loud that even the pitch-ck tiles under her cracked and crumbled, causing Mira''s body to fall into the endless void��

    However, luckily or unluckily, Mira''s mind was still broken at this point as she kept yelling without even knowing she was falling into the void��

 Chapter 260 Tomb Of Heaven Part 1

    "GASP!"

    "Haaa�� Haaa�� Haaa�� Blurgh�� Haaa�� Haa�� Haaa��"

    Mira fell on her hands and knees gasping for air while also puking in between breaths. She couldn''t believe what just happened!

    One second she was screaming in agony as she fell into the abyss then the next second her body was teleported and thrown onto the ground like a rag doll.

    Her senses, memory, soul, and body were slowlying back to her, but that couldn''t prevent her from throwing up and gasping for air.

    As memories of the pain she just went through came back to her, Mira''s body started to shudder and she could still feel the phantom pain of the torture even after she passed the test.

    She felt her soul trembling at the mere thought of having to go through whatever the fuck that messed up torture session was. She would almost prefer to die rather than having to go through such a thing again.

    In fact, the only reason she hasn''tpletely lost her mind right now isrgely due to this ce not permitting such a thing. Especially now that she passed the previous test, whatever this ce is has made sure to put back into tip top shape for another round of torture.

    Recalling everything she''s experienced up until now, Mira can say with absolute certainty that she is terrified right now. This ce scares the hell out of her! Unfortunately, she can''t leave even if she wanted to. No, she can''t do anything that''s not in line with the rules of this ce.

    Even if she wanted to die, this ce wouldn''t make it easy! At this point, Mira truly understood what it means to be a ve or worse. At this point, being a ve would be considered a good because at least a ve would still be able to make some choices for themselves.

    She doesn''t even have a choice. She either suffers and dies or she suffers and lives. Either way, she has to suffer. The only difference between the two is how long one has to suffer.

    Actually, no, that''s not even correct. This ce is so fucked up that maybe even those who die aren''t even able to rest in peace but are kept around after death to suffer for the rest of eternity.

    It wouldn''te as much to a shock to Mira if the people who ''died'' during one of these tests are the ones who are truly suffering��

    That thought just freaked Mira out even more. Just the thought of having to go through another round of that soul pain she just went through caused Mira to shiver.

    Mira continued throwing up while her body shuddered from phantom pains for a few more minutes before, somehow, she was returned back to her peak state.

    If one looked closely they would still notice her body shivering asionally, but her body was perfectly fine, her soul was in perfect condition, and her mind was working properly.

    She stood up and looked around, but simr to every other room she was thrown into prior to this, there was basically nothing. The room waspletely empty except for a massive staircase in the center of the empty room.

    However, this staircase gave off an extremely ominous feeling. It was unlike anything Mira has ever felt before. She felt small, tiny, weak, helpless, and despair just by looking at these stairs. Not only that, but these stairs didn''t lead up, they led down. Mira felt like she was looking at the stairs that would lead her straight to hell.<sub> </sub>

    A purplish-ck fog covered most of the staircase except for the first few steps and Mira immediately knew that she didn''t want to touch that fog. If she had a choice, she would definitely not want to be in the same room or even within kilometers of this fog. She would very much like to get as far away from this ce as possible.

    But what choice did she have? None! Not only that, but the longer Mira stood there NOT descending the stairs, the more her instincts screamed at her that something bad was about to happen.

    She assumed this must be a ''safety'' measure that was put in ce to make sure the people being tested were actually�� tested.

    As Mira walked a bit closer to the stairs, she noticed a sign right next to the entrance of the staircase. It said:

    TOMB OF HEAVEN

    ABYSSAL TORMENT STEPS

    ��

    "Wow~ That totally doesn''t sound ominous at all~ Just the name alone makes me feel like I''m walking into a lush green field as the crisp autumn breeze brushes against my face~ NOT! FUCK!"

    Mira said sarcastically to try and put herself in a better mood, but it was impossible. If even this fucking shit hole is warning her of the dangers these stairs possess, then it must be bad. Worse than bad, actually! Things probably couldn''t get much worse than these fucking stairs in front of her.

    p With ''happy'' thoughts like that, Mira stepped closer to the staircase as the feeling of dread and helplessness within her increased. It wasn''t to the point that she couldn''t deal with it, but it was incredibly annoying. But that''s not what bothered Mira. What bothered her was that she was already feeling like this and she hasn''t even started descending the stairs!</anda>

    She also has no clue how many steps there are! Will there be 100? 200? 1,000? 10,000? How will she feel then? Probably much worse than she feels right now!

    However, Mira''s instincts were now screaming at her that if she didn''t start descending�� she will definitely meet a bad end.

    So with a heavy heart, Mira took her first step down the ABYSSAL TORMENT STEPS and as soon as both feetnded on the first step, a multitude of things happened.

    She felt her mind being invaded by the fog as thoughts of suicide, dread, helplessness, and weakness flooded her. Naturally, these thoughts were rather weak and Mira could ignore them without a problem. She also felt tiny pricks attacking her soul and although it didn''t damage her, it was quite annoying. Like an itch you can''t scratch.

    Then came a pressure bearing down on her body which made it harder to move but with her strength and will, the pressure wasn''t much at this point.

    However, none of these things were what mattered. What mattered is that her body caught fire as soon as she stepped onto these stairs!

 Chapter 261 Tomb Of Heaven Part 2

    Despite the pressure bearing down on her, the pain in her soul, and the thoughts invading her mind, Mira didn''t care about a single one of them. She''s already gone through that shit before and at this point, she could barely feel those things.

    What Mira truly cared about was how her body caught fire. Not only that, but her body was literally melting at a rather fast pace! Mira was shocked that this fire was even hot enough to melt her. How could she not be shocked?! She literally bathed and reconstructed her body in a pool of magma and started cultivating the Magma Dragon Body. How can fire like this possibly be hot enough to threaten her life?!

    Mira tried using her ice to counteract the fire, but she quickly found out she couldn''t use it. She then tried using her Qi, but that also seemed to be sealed even though her strength wasn''t sealed.

    It seemed that although this ce allowed her to keep her strength, she wouldn''t be able to use any of it and could only rely on her physical strength.

    But instead of feeling d that she at least got to keep some semnce of strength with her, she felt like she was being mocked or made fun of. Mainly because even with her strength, it''s not like she can do anything. She can''t put out this fire that''s about to turn her body into a pile of ashes. She can''t prevent the pressure from bearing down on her. She can''t prevent her soul from being hurt nor can she prevent those nasty thoughts from invading her mind.

    She''s just as powerless as she''s always been in this ce!

    The only thing she could do is try and take the next step down, but as soon as she took a step forward she was blocked by some kind of barrier.

    "It seems I either need to deal with this fire or let the fire deal with me in order to take the next step. And seeing how it''s literally impossible for me to deal with this fire, I''m assuming that I have to ''die'' to it before being allowed to take the next step. Sigh�� I''m really sick of this ce."

    Mira muttered to herself and decided to just wait it out. She looked around a bit to make sure she didn''t miss anything that could be used in order to prevent herself from burning, but there was absolutely nothing. Only the stone gray stairs and the purplish-ck fog were around her.

    So instead of putting up a fight, she sat down and waited for her inevitable doom.

    Luckily, she didn''t have to wait long as her skin started peeling off, then her muscles, bones, organs, and even blood.

    Soon, her body was nothing more than a pile of ash while her soul floated out of her body above those ashes.

    In the next second, it almost looked like someone turned back time as her body started to rebuild itself, opposite to how she died from the fire. A few secondster, the ashes that had fallen on the ground had turned into an extremely beautiful loli.

    Mira looked exactly how she did right before she caught fire.

    Loli Mira sighed in both exasperation and bafflement at how omnipotent this ce seemed. And aside from the fear she felt from this ce, she was also excited to see what she''ll get by the end of all this.

    She''s been tortured, died and resurrected, experienced multiple lives, and now has to go down these god-forsaken stairs only to be forced to ''die'' who knows how many times. At this point, it''s hard to say she''s actually dying and probably more urate to say her body has merely changed forms andposition in order to allow her to experience what death is like.

    Another thing that fascinated Mira was how little strength meant in this ce. Sure, when she fought those Bone Chimeras, she needed strength, but those things were most likely scaled to her level.

    She could probably enter this ce as a mortal and as long as she has a strong enough will and self-control, she could probably get to where she is currently.<sub> </sub>

    However, finding a mortal with no cultivation that has such a will is infinitely close to impossible. Only a cultivator or someone who has experienced the vicissitudes of time, watched as their loved ones died from old age as they continued to live on, and someone who has experienced the horrors of the world can have such a will.

    A mortal could almost never hope to experience such a thing and that''s why 99.9999% of mortals who enter this ce, no matter how high their will to live is, will definitely die. Not just die, but they most likely won''t be able to get past the first test as soon as they enter this shitty ass ce.

    That''s why Mira found this ce so interesting even though she was also terrified by it. Because while there isn''t any need for strength or cultivation, only cultivators who have lived for a long time could ever hope to pass any of these tests and even then it would be nearly impossible.

    Although Mira''s not going to confirm this line of thought, she''s sure that if she ever thinks something along the lines like "I should just give up", she''s dead. Call it instinct or a woman''s intuition, but Mira knows that someone or something is keeping a close watch on her mental state.

    She has no way to prove it, but she''s been through enough shitty situations to know when she''s being observed. These instincts have even been honed enough to where she can almost feel it when someone just has thoughts of harming her.

    That''s why Mira has decided to try and go down these stairs in a nonchnt manner with her head clear of all thoughts other than reaching the end of these stairs.

    When her body was rebuilt, she didn''t waste any time and took another step. Her theory proved correct as she no longer felt a barrier preventing her from descending to the next step.

    However, when Mira reached the second step, the pressure on her increased a bit, the disturbing thoughts invading her mind were a bit more forceful, the pain in her soul was a bit stronger, and now instead of catching fire she felt like she was drowning.

    Honestly, the feeling of drowning is terrible even if she is a cultivator who can survive underwater for hours or even days.

    Though it seemed things wouldn''t be so easy because it didn''t take long for her lungs and throat to fill up with water and slowly every part of her body was being filled with water until there was no chance of any air entering or circting through her body.

    Mira struggled to breath and was trying to force the water out of her lungs and throat, but some external force was keeping the water in her body, making sure not a single drop escaped.

    She wanted to stop her body from reacting to this suffocation torture, but she couldn''t prevent her body''s natural responses. She can only try and close her mind off and wait until she dies from asphyxiation.

    Minutes went by as her body kept trying to force the water out of her body, but to no avail. Soon, this torture went on for a few hours until all of the oxygen in her body was pushed out and her brain shut down.

    Mira''s body fell down limp and stayed like that for a few seconds before water started leaking out of every hole and pore on her body. Within a minute, Mira''s body was back to how it was before she even set foot on this step.

    "GASP! Fuck! That wasn''t pleasant! No wonder people always say that drowning is one of the worst ways to die��"

    Mira muttered to herself trying to calm down a bit before taking another step down the staircase.

 Chapter 262 Tomb Of Heaven Part 3

    After Mira passed the second step and started descending down the staircase, she didn''t experience any deaths worth paying attention to for a while�� Though, she''s not exactly sure whether or not it''s a good thing to be categorizing the ways she dies. Honestly, at this point, she''s started getting used to it.

    That''s not to say that these deaths didn''t bother her, it''s just that they weren''t enough to scare her anymore. As long as she keeps a strong will, this ce will keep reviving her until she either breaks or passes.

    Funnily enough, Mira wasn''t too bothered with the deaths that came after the whole drowning incident. For the most part, they were rather swift deaths.

    She got crushed by a mountainous sized rock, sliced apart by the wind, was repeatedly struck by lightning, consumed by darkness, and was pumped full of so much light that she burst apart.

    Ironically enough, she also froze to death! Although Mira wasn''t surprised by this, she still found it quite funny. Her whole personality, Dao, affinity, many of her battle styles, and even her natural aura was cold or rted to the ice element in some way. Yet, she, an Ice Queen, died by freezing to death? How can she not find that funny?!

    Mira wasn''t too bothered by this though. By now, she had grasped that this ce is pretty much omnipotent in its domain. Hell, she was even able to experience alternate versions of herself! She was able to live and experience thousands of years all within a few days!

    She also knew first hand just how fucked up this ce was with its tests and if she got worked up over something little like dying to her own element, then there''d be no way she would pass this test.

    So Mira kept walking down the stairs trying her best to keep a clear mind, but this only became harder and harder the further down she went.

    Surprisingly, the difficulty of this ce wasn''t even because she needed to experience a different form of death just to pass onto the next step. No, the most difficult part about all this is the pain in her soul and the thoughts invading her mind.

    The pressure bearing down on her body also became stronger with every step she took and she''s sure it wouldn''t be too long before it''ll take several minutes before she can even walk to the edge of a step. Not only that, but if the pressure keeps getting worse, she might end up having to crawl down these stairs!

    To her, it seems like the true challenge of this trial is hidden behind the deaths she needs to experience.

    Plus, Mira''s 100% sure that this is only the beginning. She doesn''t know how many steps there are, nor does she know what''s going to happen within each step. Everything around her is just gray. The walls are gray, the stairs are gray, and the ceiling is gray. Another thing to note is the fog keeps getting denser the further down she walks so she can barely see a few steps ahead of her.

    However, none of this deterred Mira. Not after she''se this far. She is going toplete this damn test even if she has to die 10,000 times! Even if she has to drag her body on the floor using her teeth, she''s going toplete this damn test!

    Oh, how naive she was��

    Time passed extremely slowly for Mira, but eventually she made it to the 100th step. When Mira reached this point she had died 100 different times in 100 different ways. Yes, that''s right. She actually died 100 different ways.

    Some were slow deaths while some were instant. For example, there was one time she died by exploding into a million pieces and another one where her organs dissolved into mush.

    Probably one of the worst ways she died was dying due to falling. As soon as she descended onto the next step, she was thrown up high in the sky and literally dropped. All the bones in her body shattered and most of her internal organs were damaged, but for some reason she was still alive. So she could do nothing but wait for her slow yet inevitable death.

    From that point on, Mira swore she would always be careful when flying through the air. She did not want to end up like that again!

    At this point, she was also getting a bit sick of dying. Not only was it extremely painful, but it was also extremely boring! I mean, all she can do is literally just wait for death! How boring is that?! Can''t they at least give her something to do or at least look at? All the gray is starting to get a bit irritating.<sub> </sub>

    Anyways, Mira also noticed 1 very important fact. The pressure, invading thoughts, and soul pain, all increased by 1% with every step she descended. And no, it''s not an additional 1% based on the first step of the staircase, but an additional 1% of whatever the previous step was at.

    For example, let''s say the pressure, invading thoughts, and soul pain at the first step was rated at 100. The second step, Mira would feel a pressure, invading thoughts, and soul pain at a rating of 101. BUT, on the third step, instead of feeling a pressure of 102, Mira would instead feel a pressure of 102.01. This may not seem like a big difference at the time, but the problem is that with every step, this number is multiplied.

    So now that Mira is on the 100th step, she''s feeling a pressure at around ~270.5. This will only get worse from here on out as well. By the time Mira reaches the 1,000th step the pressure she''ll be feeling will be around ~2,095,916. That''s almost a 21,000 times increase versus when Mira first took her first step onto the staircase.

    Mira did the calctions and knew that these stairs had more than a thousand steps or even 10,000 steps. Well, it''s safe to say she''s fucked! Her original pledge ofpleting these stairs even at the cost of dragging her body with her teeth might not be so far from the truth.

    She can only hope that the stairs give her a bit of mercy and stop increasing the pressure so much after a certain point and instead add different things to make her journey more difficult.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have any more time to think about these issues as a massive headache hit her. This headache got worse and worse over time and Mira knew that this would definitely be the way she died on the 100th floor. Death by headache.

    What a pain in the�� head! Teehee!

    Mira tried making a pun in her mind, but it was so bad that it only made things worse!

    After a certain amount of time, her headache became so bad that she literally couldn''t think of anything else and before long her mind copsed and she died��

    Her body fell limp on the ground, but almost immediately her mind was restored and she was back in peak condition.

    "Wow. That fucking sucked. That one is definitely going in the top 10 worst deaths. Hehe~"

    Mira giggled to herself with her cute little kid voice causing Mira to remember that she''s now a fucking loli!

    Her mood soured after remembering she''s no longer in the body of a teen, but she''s now in the body of a child.

    So, in order to shake these unnecessary thoughts away, what should she do?

    That''s right! Jump onto the next step and allow this wretched ce to kill her! That should do the trick!

    That''s exactly what she did, except things didn''t go exactly as Mira nned as things seemed to change a bit on the 101st floor.

    She was now face to face with what looks like abat mannequin.

 Chapter 263 Tomb Of Heaven Part 4

    Mira was surprised that she now has to face abat mannequin on top of the pain in her soul, pressure bearing down on her, and intrusive thoughts. She wasn''t too worried about the current battle, but she was definitely thinking about how shitty these fights might get another 100 steps from now or even more.

    Mira also knew there was more to thisbat mannequin than meets the eye. For thest 100 steps, Mira has been forced to die in order to continue. She found it strange that all of a sudden, this staircase would start being benevolent and allow her to kill others for the sake of descending the stairs.

    The only thing she could do at this point is engage the mannequin inbat. Unfortunately, the space was too narrow for her to bring out her scythe, but that didn''t matter too much.

    Before the mannequin could do anything, Mira was already in front of it and hadunched a punch toward its head. Thebat mannequin was so weak that its head exploded without even being given the chance to retaliate.

    Mira was about to see if she can descend the staircase now that she''s defeated thebat mannequin, but before she could move, her head exploded!

    A few secondster, Mira''s body was back to how it was before, but Mira still didn''t move. She just stood there, ck-jawed.

    "The fucking mannequin''s life is tied to mine�� What the fuck!! Who would even think of such a thing?! So now instead of the staircase killing me however it sees fit, now it wants me to essentially kill myself! Sigh�� hopefully just its life is tied to mine and not the damage I do to it that is reflected back on me��"

    Mira muttered thatst part, but she wasn''t hopeful. Her head had exploded right after she exploded the mannequin''s head. Although it could be a coincidence, Mira knew this ce didn''t work with coincidences��

    <o>,m Forcing herself out of her thoughts, Mira again started her journey down the stairs andnded on the 102nd step. Just like before, the pressure on her increased a bit and anotherbat mannequin appeared in front of her. This one seemed a bit stronger than the previous one, although not by much.</o>

    Mira decided to run a few tests to see if any damage done to the mannequin is reflected back to her.

    Before the mannequin could do anything, Mira charged at it and ripped off its left arm. When the mannequin lost its left arm, Mira felt a force wrap around her left arm and rip it off. She paid no mind to the lump of an arm left and proceeded with her tests.

    She started punching it just enough to cause some bruises, enough to break bones, and strong enough to shatter bones. She also used a piece of ice to cut into the mannequin to see just how far the damage reflected back to her goes.

    However, Mira was left disappointed that any damage done to the mannequin is reflected back to her in exactly the same manner. She tried defending against it, but no matter what she did she couldn''t prevent herself from getting hurt.

    It may have been a long shot, but she was at least hoping for some type of loophole to exploit. Like maybe using her Dao or Qi causes the damage reflected back to her to be lessened. But she was ultimately disappointed.

    Not only that, but she also allowed the mannequin to hit her as well in order to see if the mannequin''s damage to her will be reflected back to it.

    However, it only took one hit from the mannequin to know that the mannequin took no reflective damage from attacking her.

    So basically, thebat mannequin is free to hit her as many times as it wants without suffering any of the consequences while she is forced to injure and kill herself in order to pass on to the next step.

    "Bullshit. This test is absolute bullshit. I''m really starting to think that I''m just being yed for someone else''s enjoyment. What sucks, even more, is I can''t do anything about it! Even if someone is ying with my life, the only thing I can do is keep moving forward or else I might really die! Even if someone is watching me and I happen to reach the end of the tests and they decide to kill me now that I''ve fulfilled my purpose, it''s still better than dying a dog''s death in these shitty tests!"

    Mira cursed under her breath as she renewed her resolve to keep going. She''s been led by the nose by all-powerful beings before. So what if it happens again? She''s still alive and kicking even with a god breathing down her neck!<sub> </sub>

    At this time, Mira was reminded of a saying that has stuck with her through multiple lives:

    The winner isn''t the strongest, but the one who lives the longest.

    Meaning, as long as you''re alive, that''s all that matters. Revenge, power, status, wealth. All of that can''t be enjoyed if you''re dead.

    Mira was well aware of this fact, but she also knew that having strength was just as important. Nothing can go against absolute strength, after all.

    Mira''s goal is to reach that stage, the realm of absolute strength, but right now she''s far too weak to even think about such a thing. So the only thing she can do is survive. Survive and grow stronger until she reaches her goal.

    With her eyes burning with vigor and resolve, Mira charged down the next step to�� well, kill herself.

    And that''s exactly what she did. As soon as shended on the next step, she didn''t waste any time and charged at the mannequin before ripping its head off.

    With that said, Mira stormed down the stairs like a raging bull! She didn''t care how many times her head was forcefully torn off or how many times her heart was ripped out of her chest due to her vicious attacks on thebat mannequins.

    However, Mira was pleasantly surprised by how easy she could pass these stages and move on to the next steps!

    What she didn''t know was how long she was going to have to fight these shittybat mannequins.

    Soon she passed the 200th step mark.

    250 steps��

    300 steps��

    400 steps��

    450 steps��

    499 steps��

    Mira fought thesebat mannequin''s for the next 400 steps until she finally reached the 500th step.

 Chapter 264 Tomb Of Heaven Part 5

    Starting on the 500th step, when Mira went in to attack thebat mannequin, she immediately noticed that there was no more rebound effect. Not only that, but when she tried taking off the head of thebat mannequin, she found it to be nearly impossible, which she found weird.

    Usually, she would be able to remove the head with little to no effort but now things seem to have changed. Mira then tried to remove the ''heart'' of thebat mannequin, but quickly found out that she was unable to prate the mannequin.

    Even though she hadn''t used her full power to attack, she did use around 40% of her power. Just with that knowledge and with how her attack felt while hitting the mannequin, Mira knew with absolute certainty that even if she used her full-powered attacks, she wouldn''t be able to damage the mannequin.

    Another thing to note is that Mira''s current prowess is a bit less than when she started descending these stairs. That''s mostly because the pressure weighing down on her is around 150 times stronger than when she started this journey. That might sound like a lot, but the pressure barely affected her on the first step so even though it''s around 150 times stronger now, it could be said that only now is she starting to feel the pressure.

    With that being said, herbat prowess has dropped around 1%. That might not sound like much, but after a few hundred steps, she''ll start seeing a significant decrease inbat prowess. By the time she reaches the 1,000th step, she might barely be able to utilize a few percent of her truebat strength.

    At this point, Mira was also getting rather tired. No, it is more urate to say she was fucking exhausted! She''s barely had a single second of rest for who knows how long! She''s been either getting tortured, fighting, or had her soul ripped out of her body to experience otherworldly things.

    Not only that, but now she has to descend down these stairs while not only fighting, but also dealing with thoughts that are constantly telling her to give up, to just end it all right here and now, to forget about her goals and revenge, and to just ept her fate as someone else''s ything.

    That coupled with the constant pain in her soul is really starting to wear on her. Worst of all, if she decides to take a break then for all she knows, she''s as good as dead or perhaps worse. All she knows is that taking a break is thest thing she wants to do even if it''s exactly what she needs right now.

    She doesn''t even know how far down these stairs go! But for some reason, she highly doubts it ends at just 1,000 steps! Her hunch is telling her that there are most likely 10,000 steps to descend.

    If that''s the case, then she''s literally only 5% of the way through this shithole and she''s already exhausted.

    "To think it will only get exponentially harder from here on out��"

    Mira muttered to herself as she just did her best to dodge thebat mannequin''s attacks.<sub> </sub>

    Fortunately, she was extremely skilled in hand-to-handbat and the mannequin wasn''t particrly amazing so dodging its attacks was rtively easy for her.

    However, after exactly a minute passed, Mira felt her heart stop and she instantly died!

    A few secondster, thebat mannequin disappeared and Mira miraculously came back to life with a gasp!

    "Gasp! Fuck! So that''s how it''s gonna be from here on out. I''m unable to damage the mannequin and am forced to dodge until I reach the end of the time limit. Not only that, but it seems the stairs didn''t return me back to my peak. I can feel some bruises left by the mannequin that I purposely let leave in order to test some things out. GREAT! AMAZING! I can''t wait to umte a bunch of injuries over the course of however many steps this will go on! Not only that, but as I descend further, I''ll be getting weaker while thebat mannequins will be getting stronger. I''m also 100% sure that the time I need to live/dodge will increase with each step I descend. How troublesome��"

    Mira cursed out loud in anger. Normally, she wouldn''t be this upset or at least she wouldn''tsh out like that, but her emotions are starting to go out of control due to the constant pain and exhaustion she''s feeling.

    It''s times like this when if anyone were to see Mira, they would know that she''s human just like the rest of them. She has feelings and she can feel mental, physical, and emotional pain just like everyone else. She needs sleep and time to rest just like most people, especially after going through something this taxing.

    But that''s exactly the point of these tests, to push the person to their absolute limit and beyond. Not only that, but its goal seems to push them to the brink of insanity in every possible way. Well, for most people, these types of things would push them not to the brink of insanity, but they would''ve already gone insane long ago. Just the torture her body went through in the beggining was more than enough to break even the most battle-hardened heroes. Not even someone who was trained to be tortured would be able to withstand that kind of fucked up pain since that kind of thing is not within the realm of what human''s are capable of.

    Mira stopped thinking about unnecessary things and pped her face to get her head in the game!

    "Alright! Let''s just charge down these fucking stairs and get this shit over with! I just want to grab whatever treasure is at the end of all these tests and get out of here! I''ve already made it this far and if you think this is enough to take me down then�� then�� fuck you! I''ll show you that this baby shit won''t stop me from aplishing my goals!"

    Mira did her best to keep her morale and resolve at an all time high, but she''s not exactly in the right state of mind right now so it may havee out a little�� different than what she had hoped.

    But at least she got her point across and so began her journey after the 500th step!

 Chapter 265 Tomb Of Heaven Part 6

    Mira slowly started descending past the 500th step, but every step past that point became increasingly more difficult and slowly but surely, Mira was starting to lose her mind.

    How can she not lose her mind though? These stairs are basically forcibly injecting thoughts into her mind with the sole purpose of making her go insane!

    "Why don''t you just stop here and get some rest?"

    "You look tired, are you sure you can keep going?"

    "Why do you want revenge on those who have wronged you? Wouldn''t it be smarter to just die here so nobody can ever control you like they did before? You would be able to fulfill your wish of eternal rest!"

    "You are trying so hard and for what? There might not even be something at the end of all this!"

    "Maybe taking a break is exactly what this ce wants you to do. Wouldn''t that mean that you could possibly be doing these torturous trials for all eternity?"

    "Haven''t you had enough? Enough of life? Enough of humanity? Enough of constantly trying to struggle against your fate? Why don''t you just let nature take its course?"

    "There''s nothing to be ashamed about wanting to end your life. In fact, it''s an incredibly difficult decision to make and you know damn well that''s what you want. These stairs can prevent that god from controlling you, so why don''t you just fulfill your deepest desires right here? Isn''t that your ultimate goal? To just be able to rest in peace without being in someone else''s control?"

    These are just some of the thoughts that are being forced into her mind and no matter what Mira does, she can''t get rid of these thoughts!

    The worst part of it all is that these thoughts stem from her subconscious so it''s hard to say that they''re wrong. No, in fact, it''s impossible for Mira to deny those thoughts because she truly is tired.

    That''s the best way to describe her current self. Tired.

    Not the kind of tired that will be solved after a good night''s rest. Nor is it the kind of tired that one feels after a long day of work.

    It''s more like the kind of tired one might feel after working their entire life to achieve their dream, but by the end of it all they be homeless, without any friends or family, and it''s now impossible to achieve their dreams because now they are too old and weak.

    That''s the kind of tired Mira feels except she''s worked hard for a millennium and across several lifetimes yet she''s only at the starting line of achieving her dream.

    Worst of all, if anyone were to ask what she wants to do after achieving her goal, Mira wouldn''t be able to answer that question. Mainly because once she''s strong enough to kill that god, she''s basically at the pinnacle of strength. So, not only will she have gotten her revenge, but she''ll basically be at the peak of strength within the Immortal Realm. Sure, she might be able to advance her strength a bit and that would be a nice ''short term'' goal, but she has nothing she wants to do after that.

    Maybe she could spend some time nting flowers or some shit like other old people, but what really sounds nice to her is just being able to die peacefully. No reincarnations. No weird backstories. None of that nonsense! Just a ce where her body, mind, and soul can sleep for the rest of eternity.

    At least that''s how she currently feels. Who knows, maybe she''ll find something worth living for between now and then, but that''s impossible to know right now.<sub> </sub>

    It''s also not worth it, at least in her mind, to search for something worth living for as that''s not something one can just find whenever they want. Not only that but having something worth living for would only be a weakness for her current self.

    Mira also had things or people she would happily give her life for so they can live, but they have all been forcibly taken away from her. So how can she open up her heart to someone or something if the possibility of it being taken from her is extremely high?

    She can''t, in good conscience, do such a thing as that will not only hurt her but whatever she cared for. However, at the end of the day, she''ll be the biggest loser. She''ll have to live with the guilt that she ultimately caused the downfall of the people and things she loved.

    That''s why Mira has such a hard time dismissing these ''intrusive'' thoughts because they are things that she also thinks about and it''s not just these stairs teasing her or trying to get her tomit suicide or give up.

    "How can a sinner like you even look at yourself in the mirror? You''ve even killed your own parents just to stop yourself from getting hurt! Aren''t you more of a demon than demons themselves? How can you even hope to live a peaceful life after everything you''ve done?! NAIVE!"

    That was the straw that broke the camel''s back as Mira''s eyes started turning bloodshot and rage started to take over.

    "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

    "SHUT THE FUCK UP! I''M DONE LISTENING TO THIS SHIT! STOP TRYING TO CONTROL ME! GODDAMMIT"

    "Mira oh Mira. Who are you trying to fool? We both know these are your thoughts. Thoughts that you''ve pushed down and ignored for the longest time just so you can focus on your goal without any inconveniences. But is that how you really think of the loved ones you''ve killed? As mere inconveniences? Now that''s a new low, even for you, Mira."

    "FUCK! BASTARD! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! JUST LET ME GET DOWN THESE SHITTY STAIRS! ARGH!!"

    "Oh my! Are you actually starting to feel some semnce of emotion? And here I thought you were some great sage who had evolved past the point of sumbing to one''s emotions and desires. Still, this is so like you. The first emotions you''ve truly felt in a long time aren''t love, happiness, pride, greed, sadness,ziness, or anything like that. No, the first thing you went towards is rage! HAHAHA! How funny is that? Why are you even getting mad? Is it because I''m also an ''inconvenience'' to you? Now that I think about it, wouldn''t those 3 waiting outside this ce for you also be ''inconveniences''? We both know they are going to die at some point just because they are hanging out with you. Whether you''ll be the one to kill them or not is the only real mystery here. Hehehe~"

    "ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"

    "Hahahaha! Yes! YES!! Come on! Get angrier! Let your inner rage take over! At this rate, you really will be the one to kill them by the time you leave this ce! HAHA! Isn''t that great? Now we know how your friends are going to die! Hahahaha~"

    Mira tried blocking out the voices, but she was unable to as they kept taunting her more and more. The only thing she could do at this point is to try and at least take out some of her anger on thesebat mannequins.

    Unfortunately, they are pretty much invincible and with her not being in the right state of mind, injuries started to umte on her body and things started to be much worse the farther down she went.

    Not only was the pressure starting to be a bit unbearable, but the pain in her soul, the constant deaths, and the negative thoughts pouring into her mind were driving her insane and irrational.

    At some point during her descent, Mira reached her limit.

 Chapter 266 Tomb Of Heaven Part 7

    The longer Mira stayed on this staircase and the more she descended, the worse she started to feel.

    Around step 700, the thoughts that were invading her mind had now upied most of her rational and subconscious thoughts making it so the only thing she could even think about is giving up, suicide, or even just taking a break.

    Not surprising is the fact that after these thoughts started consuming most of her mind, Mira found it more and more difficult to focus on thebat mannequins she was forced to fight.

    Just this alone was more than enough to almost break Mira, but once you include the pain in her soul and the pressure on her body�� let''s just say it makes for a test where even the words ''pain'' and ''suffering'' sound more like blessings rather than curses.

    Around step 800, the pain in her soul had just about reached the amount of pain she went through during thest test where she was trapped in that room full of tiles and was forced to endure that suffocating torture.

    Honestly, Mira could still endure that kind of pain if that was the only thing she needed to do. If she could just scream and endure, then even if she lost her mind she had confidence that she''d be able to pass. That''s how much self-confidence and willpower Mira has.

    But having to ''fight'' against someone, if you could even call it that, while enduring that amount of pain is inhumane! Mira wouldn''t even do this shit to her worst enemy, the god who has been messing with her for her entire life! She only wanted to kill that bastard and be free!

    But this ce and these tests? This shit is just wrong! Even if the treasure at the end of all this is some heaven-defying fate-altering treasure that can make her go from someone ordinary to a powerhouse. Hell, even if this ce directly made her an Immortal, the torture she''s having to go through would not be worth it!

    Mira would dly quit this crap if that option was avable to her! Whatever''s at the end of all these tests cannot be worth all of this nonsense and even if it was, Mira felt like she wouldn''t need it to aplish her goals.

    Unfortunately, she can''t quit and since she can''t quit then she must go on. But as one might expect, fighting while enduring crappy thoughts and intense pain in the soul definitely isn''t pleasant.

    She''s ended up with several injuries merely because she can hardly focus on what''s going on in front of her.

    Now the cherry on top is the pressure. Around step 900, the pressure bearing down on Mira was enough to slow down her movements by around half. The pressure she felt was extremely odd as well. It felt like someone was pressing down on each individual cell in her body instead of someone pushing down on her shoulders like if someone were to re their aura at her.

    Needless to say, fighting, or really, dodging is not easy under these conditions. Actually, fighting would be impossible if she were really forced to endure this shit and try to kill someone at the same time.

    Mira can say with confidence that 9 out of ten of her hits would definitely miss and thest 10% would be lucky shots.

    Luckily, she only has to survive!

    ��

    If you can even call that lucky�� but Mira was at least a bit thankful that she didn''t need to attack.<sub> </sub>

    She is great at dodging and surviving. It could even be said that her will to survive is what keeps her going. It''s how she''s stayed sane throughout all those lonely years sitting in what she thought was the void as her soul was waiting to be reincarnated. It''s how she''s pushed through every troublesome encounter, every difficulty, and every hardship in her life. She''ll even wipe out civilizations, worlds, and even universes if she has to if it means she can survive!

    And what''s the reason she wants to survive so badly? So she can kill that bastard of a god, that''s why!

    These thoughts have been ingrained into every fiber of her being and it''s even ingrained into her soul!

    If all she has to do is survive, then Mira has confidence that she''ll be able to pull it off and that''s especially the case now since she might actually die or end up in a ce worse than what that would do to her if she gave up and sumbed.

    That god who has kept ying with her, only wants to break her will and essentially force her to be his concubine, but these stairs or whatever''s in charge of these tests might turn her into a mindless beast or put her through endless torture for giving up. At that point, she''d be no better than a mindless beast if she was forced to go through that. She''d be considered lucky if she actually got to experience true death!

    Knowing that, Mira''s will to live red as she basically ran around each step like a headless chicken! At this point, Mira was actually happy she was reduced to a loli! She never thought she would be feeling happy to have the body of a child, but right now she is incredibly happy!

    Her body being smaller means she''s a much harder target to hit. And what does that mean? She gets injured less and can dodge attacks much more easily. Unfortunately, the good also usuallyes with the bad because conversely, if she does get hit then each hit will be more lethal than it was before.

    For example, if she gets hit in the stomach, then almost all of her internal organs get damaged to a certain extent. If she still had the body of a teenager, then only the internal organs in the area that was hit would get damaged.

    So while she is harder to hit, if she does get hit then she''ll take more damage. But Mira couldn''t care about that. Even if she had the body of an adult woman, if she got hit by one of thebat mannequins on step 900 or above, she wouldn''t be in good shape. Sure, it might reduce how many internal organs get destroyed, but some would still be destroyed and the ones that weren''t would definitely be injured.

    Mira would have to turn into a giant if she wanted to reduce the total amount of damage to her body, but that would only cause her to take more hits so the tradeoff wouldn''t really be worth it.

    Also, when she crossed step 900, things became exponentially harder with each progressive step she took. Thebat mannequins were stronger, faster, and smarter while her mind, body, and soul were slowing down.

    Not only that, but she now had to survive each mannequin for 460 seconds starting on the 900th step with each step after that adding another second.

    That''s another 14 hours of this shit that will only get exponentially worse the more she progresses.

    It''s reached the supposed final stretch, at least that''s what it''s like in Mira''s mind, but honestly Mira''s not sure what she''s going to do because it won''t be long before she''s forced onto her knees due to the pressure and once it reaches that point, she''s only a few steps away from having to army crawl her way through each step��

    In that scenario, Mira would still be at least 20 steps away from the 1,000 step milestone��

    When Mira thought of such a scenario, despair started to seep in as failure started to seem like the inevitable oue.

 Chapter 267 Tomb Of Heaven Part 8

    Just like Mira had spected, steps 900 to 960 were, although nearly impossible, weren''t impossible. She was constantly injured and was in the midst of losing her mind and sense of self, but she somehow managed to get through them.

    It wasn''t until the 961st step that Mira knew she had hit a wall. By this point, the pressure on her was intense that she literally couldn''t walk. Luckily, she could still stand and could somewhat wave her arms around, albeit slowly.

    She tried walking but found that unless she shuffled her feet across the ground, it was basically impossible to move her body.

    However, Mira knew this wasing and had made ns beforehand so that even when her mind was going insane and her soul was constantly being ripped apart, she could still go on.

    It wasn''t much of a n since she was only able to give simplemands to her body in her current state, but it should be more than enough to get her through at least a few floors.

    Her n was to encase her entire body inside the hardest and densest ice egg she could possibly create as soon as the pressure around her became so intense that she couldn''t move her body.

    Naturally, there were a few problems that Mira faced whening up with this idea. The number one problem being, how is she going to descend the stairs if she''s inside an egg?

    To this, Mira didn''t even have to think for very long and knew that this wasn''t a problem, to begin with. She''s been descending these stairs for long enough and has experienced firsthand just how impatient this entire ce is. She doesn''t even have to move onto the next floor! She''ll be teleported to the next step whether she likes it or not after a few seconds afterpleting whatever trial the step has to offer!

    In fact, this has happened several times over the course of over 900 steps. Sometimes she''ll need a short breather after a tough fight or a rough death, but instead of getting that breather she''ll just be sent to the next step and forced to go through the next trial.

    Mira was also worried about whether or not the egg she creates will be able tost until the 1,000th step. It has to be able to withstand several hours'' worth of beatings from thebat mannequins and Mira isn''t sure whether her current powers are enough to be able to resist such an onught.

    However, although Mira didn''t know if her current power would be enough for her to make it to the 1,000th step, she didn''t care. That was her only option at this point.

    So, as soon as she appeared on the 961st step, Mira started encasing herself in ice, Yin Fire, Lightning, and Magma. She also withdrew most of the blood contained in her body, to the point where she shriveled up into a husk of her former self. One can''t forget that she has the bloodline of a mythical beast, a Kuraokami. She''s never done something like this and she''s absolutely sure that she''ll be out ofmission for a while after this whole ordeal, but she still chose to do it as she needed every bit of power her body held.

    Fortunately, Mira didn''t withdraw the origin of her bloodline, or else she would lose her bloodline for good after using it this one time. It simply wasn''t worth it to throw away the bloodline of a mythical beast just for a chance of making it to the 1,000th step. She still had to think about the future even if it may look bleak right now, but she also knew that even if she unleashed the full power of her bloodline, the results would be negligible. There''s absolutely no way that it would be enough to prevent the onught that''s about toe.

    It might allow her to pass the steps from 961 to 980, but it wouldn''t be of much use after that. Honestly, the biggest hurdle out of all these steps would be going from step 999 to 1,000.

    This didn''te as a surprise to Mira, but she knew that she could only rely on luck at that point.

    That''s the main reason why Mira was unwilling to let go of her bloodline because it wouldn''t make any difference in the grand scheme of things and if she somehow lived through all this, then she''ll still be able to keep her bloodline. Even if she didn''t make it and this is where she died, she wouldn''t regret her decision.

    Mira also used every ounce of Qi in her body to reinforce the egg while also tapping into the powers she got from her Frost-Fire Phoenixpanion, Elenei. She used anything and everything in order to boost the power of the egg surrounding her!

    Finally, Mira took out her scythe and held it in her hands. She used the de of the scythe to cover her face and the pole to cover her heart. She knew she wouldn''t be able to use it actively, but she could at least use it to defend her vitals.

    As long as her head and heart were destroyed she would be fine. She couldn''t care less about the rest of her body because she knew this ce had the means to reconstruct her body back to its original form within seconds. In fact, this ce could literally revive her dead body without any repercussions, but the trials she''s going through right now are a bit different. If she were to die to one of thesebat mannequins then she would surely die. There would be no resurrections and she wouldn''t be able to continue taking these tests.

    With her preparationsplete, Mira was allowed a brief moment of rest where she didn''t have to focus on controlling her body. The only thing she had to do now is prevent herself from giving up due to the pain in her soul and the torturous thoughts that became worse and worse with every step.

    Gradually, she started losing connection with her body as she used herst bit of remaining willpower to keep herself from failing. Funnily enough, the only thing that kept her going was the fact that after around 7-8 minutes, the pain in her soul and the thoughts became worse meaning that the egg idea was working.<sub> </sub>

    If one were to look outside of the egg, they would see abat mannequin constantly attacking the egg as hard as it can, but hardly being able to leave a scratch. Mira''s blood and her Yin Magma were the firstyers of defense and their job was to lessen the force of each attack as much as possible. Small tendrils woulde out of the egg as soon as an attack was about to hit and would take the brunt of the force. Next, Mira''s Yin Fire and Lightning would approach the attack while trying to corrode and dissipate any remaining energy used in the blow. Lastly, there was a thin Qi barrier right outside of the ice egg that was made up of any remaining Qi that Mira was unable to use to reinforce her ice egg.

    Only after the attack made it through all of those would thebat mannequin''s fist finally make contact with the outer shell of the egg.

    However, most of the attacks were too weak to leave any dents or cracks on the egg and would instead push the egg around so thebat mannequin couldn''t keep raining down hits on the same spot.

    This was part of the reason why Mira chose an egg instead of any other shape. For one, she now had a connection to a Phoenix and it almost seemed normal to encase herself in an egg made of ice instead of a sphere or a triangle or any other shape. But the most important reason is that eggs are surprisingly durable under the right circumstances.

    She has thousands of years of experience as a mortal so she naturally understood that even if an egg might look weak and brittle, there are a few asions where an egg can be surprisingly tough.

    Have you ever held an egg in your hand and squeezed it, but were unable to break it? Mira applied the same characteristics here except her egg is weak or brittle. She''s also using the pressure of the stairs to her advantage since the pressure isn''t justing from above or below but from every direction. Therefore, the pressure bearing down on her is unable to break her egg purely on pressure alone.

    Any other shape would have most likely cracked soon after forming.

    Mira felt like a genius foring up with such an idea under such intense pressure and torture.

    Unfortunately, things went about as she expected and on the 991st step, the egg shattered, but Mira had no idea that such a thing had even happened. Her soul was under such tremendous pain and her mind had been consumed by the dark subconscious thoughts that were trying to force her into giving up. All that was left was a tiny sliver of willpower that would resist until the bitter end. This tiny sliver of willpower, although small, was like a white speck on a ck canvas. Even though it''s only a speck, one can''t help but gravitate towards that speck.

    Even with her mind consumed and her soul constantly being ripped apart, Mira still held onto her scythe tightly.

    Almost immediately, as soon as the egg popped, Mira fell onto her back still holding the scythe over her head and heart. Her eyes were hazy and out of focus and the only reason she''s still alive right now is because of that speck of white that is her sliver of willpower.

    For the next 9 minutes, Mira''s body was ravaged by thebat mannequin. It rained down punches on every part of her body and kept trying to attack her head and heart but found itself unable to.

    Thebat mannequin also tried removing the scythe from her hand but found it rather difficult to aplish since the pressure bearing down on Mira also applied to her scythe as her scythe is technically a part of her.

    So it attacked every other part of her body. Over the course of the next 9 minutes, there wasn''t a bone in Mira''s body that wasn''t broken or fractured in some way. She wasn''t bleeding much since she used most of her blood to help form the egg.

    After the time was up, Mira''s broken body shed and was teleported to the next step where the beatings continued.

    This continued until she couldn''t even be called a body at this point.

    Her legs and arms had been removed from her body. In fact, from her sr plexus and below, there was nothing left except for leftover entrails. Her jaw had been ripped off of her head and even the sides of her face and cheeks had been destroyed. However, even through all this, her scythe stayed in the same position. It covered her heart and brain.

    Mira had no idea what floor she was on or how far she had gotten. She couldn''t even scream at this point as she didn''t have vocal cords at this point.

    She couldn''t do anything at this point and even if she proceeded to the next step, it was basically guaranteed death. All thebat mannequin has to do at this point is reach into her chest and rip out her heart or even decapitate her. Those are the only two things that are left of her body.

    With that said, Mira''s body shed once again, except this time she never appeared on the next step��

 Chapter 268 The Guardian

    "Oh? What do we have here? A mere Foundation Realm pup was actually able to make it this far? How fascinating! Let''s see, let''s see�� OH! How amazing! To have experienced so many reincarnations and so many tragedies, it''s hard to say whether this little girl is lucky or unlucky! But one thing''s for certain. She has unyielding willpower and pride to the point that she would rather die if she ever faced a situation where she was forced to admit defeat. How wonderful!! Finally! Someone worthy has shown up!!"

    A deep, maic, powerful, and demonic voice reverberated through the void. This voice shook Mira''s entire existence and it was to the point where even if her soul was on the brink of destruction, her mind was in shambles, and her body was torn apart, she was forced to regain consciousness strictly from the power emanating from that voice.

    *Snap*

    The entity who just spoke snapped its fingers and Mira''s nonexistent body, shredded soul, and consumed mind instantly healed up to her peak state.

    Right now, Mira was feeling very confused. At one point, all she saw was ck and endless pain as she tried to hold on, but now she was perfectly fine like nothing happened. She quickly scanned her body and immediately noticed there were no injuries in or on her body at all! In fact, it seemed like her body evolved slightly and her bone structure readjusted itself slightly to amodate her fighting style better.

    However, Mira knew something wasn''t right when not too long ago she felt her entire existence shudder. It felt like something terrified not only her present self but also her past and future selves as well.

    She raised her guard to the absolute maximum and started searching the surrounding area, but almost immediately she found the root of her fear and anxiety.

    What she saw made her blood turn cold and even with her years of experience, she still couldn''t help herself from freezing up and her mouth hanging wide open.

    Standing in front of her was a�� man? Let''s go with a man. He was over 3 meters tall and at first nce, he was extremely handsome. He was wearing an all-ck suit with a ck tie, but even this couldn''t hide the rippling muscles underneath. His body was perfectly proportioned even with his massive size. His face was angr, symmetrical, and sharp. Mira could only describe it as perfect. However, his skin was extremely pale, to the point that it was almost see-through.

    Yet his eyes, hair, and forehead stood out the most to her. His eyes were entirely ck. cker than even the deepest darkest pits in the abyss. His pupils were also unique as his left pupil was in the shape of a scythe and his right pupil had the shape of something Mira thought she''d never see again. It was in the shape of an Ankh; A symbol that represented life. Meanwhile, in between his brows was the tattoo of a skull and crossbones.

    The man also had hair that for some reason seemed infinitely long yet infinitely short, almost as though they contained a universe within each strand of hair.

    But what made Mira''s blood run cold is the man''s aura. Just looking at him almost directly sent her into a cycle of Samsara, of death and rebirth. It made her feel like she was looking at a forbidden existence��

    "Are you done checking me out? You should at least introduce yourself first. However, seeing as how this is probably the first time you''ve ever met someone as great as me, I''ll let you off for now. I can''t tell you my name as just my name alone might wipe out your existence from the annals of history. For now, just call me "The Guardian". Yeah, that sounds good."<sub> </sub>

    ''The Guardian'' tried to ease the situation with a light joke and a smile, but Mira wasn''t buying it and just continued to stare at him silently. In truth, she had no idea what to say yet at the same time she had so much to say. Why was she here? Did she fail? Did she pass? Is this hell? Or worse? Who the fuck are you? Why are you even here, in a ce that was located in some low-leveled area in a Mortal Cultivation Realm? Isn''t this�� I don''t know�� a bit below your paygrade?

    Naturally, ''The Guardian'' could see through her thoughts without even trying and was a bit amused. In the entirety of his evesting life, it''s been a long, long time since anyone has not only been so calm in front of him but even questioned him. He was also 90% sure that the little girl in front of him most likely knew he could read her mind or at least know what she was thinking based on her expressions.

    But this only increased his impression of her instead of diminishing it as even among people of his caliber�� okay, maybe not quite his caliber, but maybe a few notches under him, it''d be hard to find someone as smart and quick-witted as the child in front of her. Although she kept guessing his identity and some of what she said was wrong, she understood almost everything she needed to understand in just a few sentences.

    Mira knew that this man was far from simple and it only made sense for someone like this to have some sort of connection to the trials and tribtions she just faced. From his voice alone, Mira gathered that this man was definitely an Immortal, and a strong one at that. She wasn''t sure how strong since he could be doing something to make his voice appear stronger or maybe it was just an innate ability of his. Next is the name ''The Guardian''. It only makes sense that he''s associated with whatever being or treasure is located at the end of all these tests.

    Maybe he''s actually the Spirit of the treasure that has the ability to transform into a human-like appearance. Or maybe he truly is a Guardian of some sort.

    Nevertheless, whatever is at the end of these tests has to be something or someone beyond her wildest imagination if such a being like the entity in front of her is rted to it.

    ''The Guardian'' smile grew as he read Mira''s thoughts and his impression of her was constantly rising. It''s already good enough that she hasn''t lost her mind in his presence, but she can even make such deductions with not only limited information but also doing so even in the face of absolute power.

    Aftering to several conclusions and doing a few calctions along with seeing the happy expression on the ''Guardian''s'' face, Mira felt it was in her best interest to speak up.

    "My name is Mira, Mister Guardian. I''m normally not one to make any sort of small talk so I apologize if I offend you in some way, but I doubt someone of your stature would get upset at a little girl like me so I''ll get straight to the point. What''s going to happen to me now that I''m here?"

    Mira tried to talk to him with as much respect as possible, but Mira�� just couldn''t bring herself to be any nicer than that. She''s never once feared the strong, so why would she do so now that she''s in front of someone who is so much stronger than her that his mere name can erase her existence? She''s always been a little girl, an ant to the truly powerful. Now she''s just an even smaller ant, in front of an even bigger dragon. There isn''t really much of a difference.

    That being the case, she also felt like someone of this level of strength wouldn''t get offended by something so trivial. Hell, even Mira doesn''t give two shits what some mortal without any cultivation thinks or says about her.

    Of course, Mira still tried to choose her words as carefully as possible. She wanted to ask why she was here and who he was or perhaps what she''s been fighting and getting tortured for, but in the end none of that really mattered right now. What truly mattered is whether she was about to end up as a mindless beast tortured for eternity, or if she is going to live and perhaps even get her hands on that treasure she''s been working so hard for.

 Chapter 269 Successor Part 1

    "Hahaha! As expected of someone who''s able to make it this far even after going through all those little tests! You truly don''t beat around the bush, do you? I mean, any normal person definitely would be reacting as nonchntly as you are. Shouldn''t mortals, I don''t know, fawn over higher beings such as myself? Aren''t you all supposed to respect and fear the strong? What''s with thatx attitude of yours? You do know I can do things to you that would make those stairs seem like child''s y, right? It won''t even take an ounce of effort on my part either!"

    ''The Guardian''ughed and started questioning Mira, but even though he said all that, there weren''t any ill intentions behind his questions. He was just curious about the little mortal child in front of him. Not only that but it''s also been some time since hest spoke to anybody and he can''t help but want to continue his conversation with her since he found her somewhat amusing.

    "...While everything you said isn''t wrong, that''s not exactly how I see things."

    Mira was a bit hesitant to answer at first, but she figured that lying would do her no good as this guy can most likely read her mind or at least understand what she wants to say based on her subtle facial expressions.

    "Oh? Do tell�� How do you see things?"

    "Though you''re not wrong to say that I fear and respect the strong, that''s only in regards to one''s strength. For example, I''m not going to challenge a dragon with my current strength because I know even at my best, I won''t even be able to enter its vicinity without being reduced to nothing. Out of respect and fear of the dragon''s strength, I''ll do everything I can to stay as far away from it so I don''t die a meaningless death. The strong deserve at least that much respect from me. BUT! That doesn''t mean I respect the dragon! Someday, I''ll be strong enough to kill it! Why should I respect my prey? It should just do what prey does best and sit and wait for me to devour it!"

    "So what if you''re strong? So what if you can kill me with nothing more than an afterthought? So what if you can torture me for the rest of eternity?!"

    "There''s a saying that I like to live my life by and it goes like this. Respect is for those who deserve it. Not for those who demand it."

    "Wealth, power, status, strength. None of these are enough for me to respect someone, but it''s how someone got those things or how they keep getting those things that deserve my respect."

    "Though, for the most part, I don''t give two shits whether someone is strong, rich, or has some insane status. I generally only care about two things. Willpower and mentality. For my entire life and through both known and unknown reincarnations, my willpower and mentality have always been my strength. Intelligence, talent, bodily strength, cultivation, status, money, all of these things were almost always severelycking and even if they weren''t it didn''t matter because only with the right mentality and enough willpower will I achieve my dreams."

    When Mira finished her little rant, her face almost went red in embarrassment and anger. She wasn''t angry at ''The Guardian'', but at herself for letting loose like that. She''s not sure whether it was because of her pent-up emotions after struggling to survive and being tortured for so long, but for whatever reason, she felt the need to release a bit of the boiling anger and rage that was rumbling in the depths of her very being.

    She was also a bit embarrassed that she talked this much with a total stranger. Maybe it''s because she''s sure this guy already knows her thoughts or maybe it''s because she felt that she and ''The Guardian'' were like kindred spirits. They both have simr auras even if ''The Guardian''s'' is much stronger and maybe that lowered her guard a bit to know that she''s around someone whose thoughts and ideas are most likely simr to hers.

    It''s impossible to pinpoint the exact reason why, but Mira can at least tell that he and she are simr people in that they are both honest with their thoughts and emotions. She''s 100% sure that the man in front of her doesn''t care if she''s a pitiful mortal in the Foundation Realm and although he''s treating her like a child, she can''t really me him for doing that. Not only does she look like a child, but even if she didn''t it''s probably difficult for someone who has lived for eons to see her as anything but a child.<sub> </sub>

    It''s not easy toe across someone like this and the only other person Mira has met that''s like this is Maria. Cine is simr, but even she can''t be totally honest with not only herself but those around her.

    Maria, on the other hand, although she might be a bit shameless and yful at times, has never once lied to herself or Mira.

    Back to ''The Guardian, the man was frozen for a split second before instantly regaining hisposure fast enough that Mira didn''t even know his face froze. Then, he startedughing so loud that the surrounding void started shaking!

    "HAHAHA!! How arrogant! How brazen! Child, you sure got guts to say something like that right to my face! I don''t know if you''re just ignorant, stupid, or simply that arrogant, but regardless I must apud your boldness! As expected of the sessor, you truly act like how a cultivator should act! Everything in this world is your prey, even the heavens should be nothing more than stepping stones on your rise to the top! Honestly, I can see why that guy has been harassing you for all these years. You truly are one of a kind."

    ''The Guardian'' keptughing his ass off after saying all that, but Mira was stuck in a daze listening to what the man just said.

    Sessor? What''s that? Did she actually pass?

    "Oops! It looks like I identally spoiled the big surprise! That''s right, you''re more than qualified to be the sessor of this ce! Congrattions!"

    She waited for him to finish talking, but Mira felt her lips and eyes repeatedly twitching when she looked at ''The Guardian''s'' expression. He was looking at her with high expectations like he wanted her to see her shocked expression or see her speechless.

    Mira wasn''t exactly sure what to do. She wanted this guy to exin what being a ''sessor'' really means, but seeing his expectant eyes she knew this guy wasn''t going to say anything else until he gets what he wants.

    However, Mira needed more information! So instead of being shocked, she looked at him with an unamused gaze and said:

    "...What?"

 Chapter 270 Successor Part 2

    "Hmph! You''re no fun at all! Aren''t you happy? Don''t you know what it means to be the sessor of this ce? Oh, wait! You didn''t get to experience the rest of the games this ce has to offer, so how could you possibly know?"

    ''The Guardian snorted at Mira''sck of reaction, but Mira just stared at him with a deadpan look that said "please get on with the exnation".

    "Alright, alright. I''ll tell you a little about this ce and what benefits you get for inheriting everything here. First, I''ll start off by saying you didn''t make it to the 1,000th step of those stairs you were just on. Surprisingly, you made it to the 999th step, but you weren''t going to make it if you had kept going so I pulled you early. And before you say anything, no, you didn''t actually have to make it to the 1,000th floor. Realistically, it didn''t really matter what step you made it to. You only have to reach your limits, then exceed your limits to the point where you''ll die."

    "Don''t look at me like that! It''s your fault for not understanding the trial! No-"

    "Bullshit! How was I supposed to understand anything!? It''s not like there were any instructions telling me what to do or how long I needed to survive or what each test actually entails!"

    "That''s exactly the point. Wouldn''t you subconsciously limit yourself if you knew you only needed to reach the 500th floor in order to pass? There are several other reasons for yourck of knowledge of each test. The first is to test your intelligence. The second is to test how well you do under extreme pressure. The third is to test your deduction skills. Lastly, is to test your will to survive. Thatst one might be the most important. Everyone wants to live, but many people have a breaking point. This is the case for both mortals and immortals, even gods have a breaking point. Honestly, you wouldn''t understand just how many immortalsmit suicide or force themselves to reincarnate due to boredom."

    "Back to what I was saying, the point of the stairs is to die�� sort of. You''re supposed to reach the point where you will definitely die while still struggling to live even under such hellish conditions. If at any point, you were relieved that you''d finally be free from the pain when you die, then you''d fail the test. Surprisingly, almost every being in existence goes through a myriad of emotions before they die. Some feel unwilling, some feel sorrow for leaving their family, while others feel a mix of relief and eptance. Oftentimes, people will go through almost every emotion possible before they die and when it finally happens, they ultimately ept their fate."

    "Those are not the type of people tost very long in these tests! We don''t need weaklings like them to taint this ce! That''s what the previous tests are for, to weed out the dregs! You, on the other hand, are different from everyone else. Even when you lost your mind, you held on. When your soul was constantly being ripped apart, you didn''t lose your will. When your body was torn apart and death had its scythe pressed against your neck, you still fought on. You weren''t just unwilling to die there, but you weed it! Not because you wanted to die, but because that feeling of death meant you were still alive and breathing and as long as you''re alive then nothing can stop you!"

    "That''s exactly the type of person that deserves to inherit this ce. The type of person who isn''t afraid of death and will even use it for your own gain."

    ''The Guardian exined with a fervent look on his face. It seems he was really happy that someone like Mira finally showed up. Mira, on the other hand, was stunned by his exnation! Although, she didn''t quite understand some parts, like why doesn''t it matter what step she made it to? She knew that things probably weren''t as simple as they seem on the surface. Isn''t that the whole point of these tests in the first ce?

    What she was stunned about is how highly ''The Guardian'' thought of her. Though he wasn''t exactly praising her, he was indirectly saying that he respects her to a certain extent.

    She also wasn''t sure whether she should be happy or not. Her goal was to make it to the 1,000th floor, but in the end, she failed. Even with all her preparations and nning, she wasn''t able to make it. Yet, even though she didn''t reach that goal, shepleted another and that was to seed in passing that test.

    In the end, she was left with a bittersweet feeling in her chest. However, she quickly shook off those thoughts when she thought about the benefits of getting past the stairs.

    "Okay, now that we''ve established how amazing I am, why don''t we get onto the benefits I get for being amazing?"<sub> </sub>

    Mira asked with a faint smug grin on her face. ''The Guardian'' was a bit shocked to hear Mira''s words as he didn''t expect her to say such a thing, but in the end, he just startedughing.

    "Hahaha! You have the nerve to say you''re amazing in front of this deity?! How bold!! Hahaha!"

    "What? You said it yourself that I''m literally better than everyone else, so how can I not be the best and most amazing person in existence?"

    "Heh! Second only to me!"

    Mira smirked when she heard that.

    "Really? We''ll see about that�� ''Mister Guardian''."

    "Wha-!"

    "Speaking of which, why don''t you be a good Guardian to this sessor here and tell me what I get for being this ''sessor'' or whatever it is."

    Now it was ''The Guardian''s turn to be speechless. Never, in all of his life, has he ever been treated like this by someone else, much less a little girl who''s still wet behind the ears. A girl who isn''t even worthy to be the grass beneath his feet or the earth at which he stands on.

    This girl just ordered him around like he''s some kind of servant or something. He''s reminded of the saying ''If you give an inch, they''ll take a mile'' except Mira wasn''t satisfied with just a mile. No, she wanted the whole damn world!

    Just how arrogant can one person be?! Though, if he''s beingpletely honest, Mira does have the right to be arrogant, at least in terms of her mentality and willpower. Her strength might be pitiful, but she has a bearing that isn''t much inferior to his.

    ''The Guardian'' should be feeling angry from such ament said by an ant directly to his face, but he knew that Mira didn''t actually mean it. Sure, she wanted him to exin the benefits of what being a sessor meant, but she also had a weird sort of respect for him. Not due to his strength, but because he was willing to talk to her as equals, as another person, even with his strength, status, and background. He knew she didn''t mean anything bad by what she said and truthfully, he found it amusing!

    "HAHAHAHA~ Very well, let''s get on with the benefits of being a sessor. Here, I''ll show you around the ce so you can see exactly what you''re getting. Though I can assure you, that the things you''ll receive will be more than worth your pain and suffering. In fact, any one of the things I''m about to show you is more than enough to make up for it, but you don''t only have to pick one, because you get it all!!"

 Chapter 271 Successor Part 3

    The Guardian snapped his fingers and both he and Mira teleported. When Mira regained her vision after teleporting, she looked around and was astounded at what she saw.

    In front of her was a massive castle-like structure made out of dark purple stone with a white and ck checkerboard floor. However, this badass-looking castle looked more like it was underground since there were no windows and she couldn''t see the sky.

    It would also most likely be pitch ck if it weren''t for the torches hanging on the walls, which for some reason seemed to light up much more area than what they seemed capable of.

    "Well,e on! Don''t just stand there! We haven''t even gotten to the good stuff yet!"

    Mira was interrupted by The Guardian and saw him walking ahead of her. Mira quickly caught up to him and began following as The Guardian started exining what exactly she''ll be inheriting.

    "So, I''m sure by now you are wondering what this ce is and what it has to offer you. Before we get into that, let me first start off by saying that what you are inheriting is the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life. Sounds badass, right? Anyways, although it has a badass name and quite honestly literal heaven-defying opportunities, you are way too weak to even make use of even 1% of what this ce has to offer."

    "You might now know this, but the trials you just went through aren''t unique to just your world. The entrance to these tests can actually be found in every world with at least a bit of Qi that allows for cultivation. It was even on other continents in just your world alone. However, it''s not like people can just keep lining up to try and inherit this ce. No, The Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life has a consciousness of its own and will subconsciously guide those it deems worthy enough to attempt its trials. So, although the entrance to those tests is on other continents and even other worlds, it would be impossible for one to find it unless it wanted to be found."

    "Alright! Now that we know what you''re inheriting, let''s get on with what inheriting this ce can do for you. To put it simply, this ce offers everything you could ever want! Resources? Check! Dao Comprehension spaces? Check! Techniques? Cultivation Manuals? Body Tempering Manuals? Check! Sparring partners? Check! A ce to endlessly torture your enemies? Check! There''s even a ce that will help you make the most out of a Dual Cultivation session!! Haha!"

    Mira was a bit overwhelmed with what she just heard. If the man in front of her wasn''t joking around, which she knew he wasn''t, she couldn''t stop thinking of the endless possibilities this ce held! It has basically everything she''scking! Actually, the most important thing this ce seemed to offer her is that it gave her a sense of direction on her journey to the top.

    She knows next to nothing about the Cultivation World. Her best items so far are her scythe and the cultivation manual that came with it. But anything regarding Dao Comprehension, Weapon Comprehension, and techniques or abilities that can make the most out of one''s strength? Nope, she hardly knows a thing! And it doesn''t help that she grew up in a backwater part of the world as well.

    If she made full use of this ce and her title as the Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, then her path to the top would be much more steady than it was before.

    A faint smile crept onto her face when she thought about being able to kill that son of a bitch who has been messing with her for so long. With the help of this ce, she''ll be able to have her revenge much faster!

    However, The Guardian wasn''t about to let her get lost in her thoughts as he said words that made her immediately snap out of her daydreams.

    "Don''t go thinking that you can just run amok wherever you want now that you essentially own this ce. That''s not how things work here. You should know by now that nothinges free in this world and naturally, nothing herees free either. Or else, wouldn''t you be able to just stay in this ce until you reached the peak?"

    Mira looked at him, feeling a bit wronged. She had already been tortured so much by this ce, what more does it want?! Could it be that she has to go through more of that shit to unlock certain benefits?

    "Haha! It''s pretty much exactly how you''re thinking! You have to go through certain trials and tribtions to get what you want. Even just asking for a simple Cultivation Manual will force you to undergo specific trials where there will be certain conditions you''ll have to meet in order to pass."<sub> </sub>

    "Every technique. Every Manual. Every resource. Every Dao Comprehension space. Even specific sparring partners. All of these things have conditions ced on them and in order for you to unlock them, you will have to undergo various trials."

    "If you want a specific herb, even if it is just a Human or Mortal grade herb, you''ll still have to go through a trial. Now, that trial might not be very difficult for such a weak herb, but you''ll still have to do it nheless."

    "Honestly, at your strength, it''d probably be easier and faster to just get what you want in the outside world. But if you need a specific herb or something that is unreachable or too difficult to attain with your strength then you can alwayse here and try your luck."

    By now, Mira started realizing why she was forced to go through all of those trials before she could even reach this point. It''s to prepare her for what''s toe. If her willpower wasn''t high enough, she might very well be overwhelmed by this ce and its difficulty and end up never utilizing it. Who would actually want to go through numerous pain-in-the-ass trials just to get a fucking herb? Hell, even Mira wouldn''t want to do that unless it was ast resort! She might be ustomed to pain, but that doesn''t mean she likes it and this ce really knows how to make one feel pain!

    She was a bit dissatisfied with the benefits so far since they are less like benefits and more like work. Can''t she be like every other Sessor that gets all this shit for free? Why does she still have to work her ass off even after she became a sessor? Why does it feel like she''s ying a gacha game where instead of using money, the currency is pain and suffering and she just hit a pay wall? Those were Mira''s current thoughts and The Guardian could see right through her.

    He smiled and continued to talk��

    "Although I might have said everything here is locked behind some kind of trial, you do have certain benefits that are already unlocked for you now that you are the Sessor. Well, I guess you could say they don''te free as the condition for unlocking them is to be the Sessor and in order to be the Sessor, you have to go through all that stuff you just experienced not too long ago��"

    "Anyways, let me show and exin what you already have ess to!"

    The Guardian stopped in front of the entrance to a room and opened the door, showing a massive garden that seemed to go on forever! The climate here was perfect for most types of herbs and the Qi in this ce was incredibly dense. It was dense enough to crush Mira into meat paste and the only reason she wasn''t is simply that she''s the Sessor.

    "This ce is called the Infinity Garden. This Garden is a bit special. As you can see, the size of this ce is extremely big and that''s part of the reason it''s called the Infinity Garden. Though, another reason for its name is that anything can be nted here. No matter what kind of nt it is, whenever it''s nted here, the Infinity Garden will iste it and provide the exact amount of nutrients it needs to grow. This is the case for almost every nt in existence and can even work on nts that have never been discovered before! Amazing, right? Oh, also right now this ce has a time dtion of 1:1,000 so 1 day outside is actually 1,000 days in here. Though this only works for the herbs. You can increase that number, but you''ll have to take certain trials in order to do that."

    Mira was astounded, to say the least! She would''ve never guessed that such a treasure could exist! Although this ce wasn''t very useful for her since she has no thoughts of bing an Alchemist, this ce is still beyond useful.

    For example, if she finds a rare herb that can sell for tons of money, well, she can just grow them herself and then sell them for an insane profit! Or, if Maria keeps going down the alchemy route, she could just be her walking herb garden and force her to concoct everything she needs!

    There are many other uses for this ce than she can even think of right now, even if she isn''t an alchemist!

    "Okay, let''s move on to the next thing!"

 Chapter 272 Successor Part 4

    The Guardian dragged Mira along to another location to which Mira was very much looking forward to seeing what else she''ll obtain!

    A few secondster, The Guardian teleported Mira in front of what seemed to be some sort of mine, and much to Mira''s surprise, it was actually a mine!

    "This right here is a Low-Grade Spirit Stone Mine. I''m sure I don''t have to exin how beneficial having one of these can be. This mine will produce around 100,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones every year. Unfortunately, right now there are only 10,000 Spirit Stones avable for you to take and use at your leisure. Things can''t be too easy, now can they? However, you won''t have to go through any trials or anything like that to use this Spirit Stone Mine."

    Mira nodded her head, not feeling happy or sad about having a Low-Grade Spirit Stone Mine in her possession. Sure, 100,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones per year might sound like a lot, but with her Foundation, once she reaches the Core Formation Realm, 100,000 Spirit Stones won''t be anything special. If she were to cultivate every day, she might blow through 100,000 Spirit Stones in a few weeks! Well, that''s if she uses a high-level Qi Gathering Array and is constantly throwing Spirit Stones into the Array. So the likelihood of her using so many Spirit Stones all in one sitting is not that high, it still shows that 100,000 Spirit Stones isn''t all that much for her current and future needs.

    However, she won''t turn down a free 100,000 Spirit Stones per year. She can use that as spending money or something.

    Although Mira wasn''t too excited about the Spirit Stone Mine itself, she is excited about the implications of one being here. It means she can obtain more! How can a seemingly omnipotent treasure possess only a single Low-Grade Spirit Stone Mine? Impossible! There should be even more Spirit Stone Mines that she can obtain along with Mid-Grad, Late-Grade, and even Peak-Grade Spirit Stone Mines! Naturally, she''ll have to go through some trials to obtain them and Mira doubts that they''ll be easy, but if she can get her hands on more of them, then she won''t have to waste her time doing missions!

    Before she could go any further with her thoughts, she was interrupted by The Guardian.

    "Calm down there child. Sure, it would be smart to get your hands on a bunch of Spirit Stone Mines, but do you really think things would be that easy? First, let''s talk about how many Spirit Stone Mines you might need to keep up with your current cultivation speed and a few other factors. You''d probably need around 10-15 of these Low-Grade Spirit Stone Mines to keep up with your usage. That''s quite a bit, especially since it''ll only be you and maybe your 2 friends using those Spirit Stones. You''d also have to go through various trials to unlock those Mines and the trials get progressively harder for each Spirit Stone Mine you want to unlock. And let me say this, those trials aren''t easy. It might take you months or even years to unlock a single one if you aren''t lucky. And that''s if you are going through those trials every single day. Obviously, you wouldn''t be able to do that as you''ll have other matters to attend to as well. It might very well take you over a decade to gather that many Spirit Stone Mines!"

    Mira''s face dropped when she heard that. She was seriously starting to doubt whether or not she was being scammed. Was this person in front of her really a bigshot or was he just acting like one in order to scam her into taking this shitty inheritance??

    "Hey! I''m a respectable man! How can you call someone as powerful and handsome as me a scammer?? Just so you know, a decade isn''t even enough to qualify as a nap for me! Here you areining about a decade when most people won''t even be able to get their hands on a Spirit Stone Mine in their entire lives! Also, what are you trying to do with so many Spirit Stone Mines anyways? You''ll turn into a hermit if you do that! Go out and experience the world!"

    Mira calmed down a bit and understood what he was getting at. These mines are here to assist her on her journey as a kind of support, they aren''t here so she can spend all of her life in a cave cultivating.

    Mira nodded her head in understanding to which The Guardian gave her a light smile and started teleporting her to the next area.

    "Alright! On to the next one!"

    Soon, Mira found herself in front of arge room. This room wasn''t anything special except that all the sides of the room were white. Mira waited for The Guardian to start exining what this room did which didn''t take him longer than a second to open his mouth.

    "Here we are at your next reward, thisrge empty room! Don''t underestimate this room as this will essentially be your new Spatial Ring. You can store just about anything in this room other than living beings. However, that is something that can be unlocked at ater date. Not only that but everything you store in this room will automatically be organized without you having to do anything! Just throw in your loot, and leave the rest for the room to sort through and organize! Last but not least, there is a spell ced on this room that essentially stops time for the items ced in this room. Food won''t spoil, hell, it won''t even change temperature. Herbs won''t wilt or die if they''re ced in here. And those panties you stole from that little girl, Maria won''t lose their scent! HAHAHA!"

    Mira''s face turned ck when she heard thatst part. Right now, she really wished she was stronger just so she could beat this guy ck and blue!

    "Fuck you! Why would I want her panties?! What do you take me for? Some kind of sick pervert?"

    "HAHAHAHA!"

    The two of them bantered a bit more before moving on to the next reward. This room, although it wasn''t that spectacr, was pretty useful. The only thing Mira was confused about was how she was going to carry everything around. Obviously, she can''t just walk around with a near-infinite garden on her back. She tried asking The Guardian, but he just shook his head and told her to be patient.<sub> </sub>

    The next reward was something Mira was actually ecstatic about. This reward came in three parts. The first part was that her cultivation manual, the Hell Scythe Essence Cultivation Technique, was perfected. Any ws that were present in it before were now gone. Not only that, but Mira could even cultivate all the way to Immortality without having to spend any time researching how to do that. There were also versions made so that Mira could keep cultivating this technique even after she ascends to Immortality, but those are locked behind a pay-wall or as Mira likes to call it, a ''pain-wall''. She''ll also have to be an Immortal first before even thinking about unlocking those versions.

    The second part of the reward is that not only were the hidden imperfections in her body fixed from cultivating a partially wed technique but her body was also changed slightly so that it perfectly suited her cultivation technique.

    Mira had no idea what that even meant until she asked The Guardian for rification. After listening to him, she started to understand the importance of cultivating a technique that is perfectly suited for oneself. She also asked if having ws in a cultivation technique is normal, to which he said that it was pretty much the norm for Cultivators that haven''t be Immortals yet and even most Immortals have ''wed'' techniques.

    ording to what The Guardian said, having a cultivation technique that is perfectly suited for oneself isn''t exactly all that important. It might raise the strength of a cultivator slightly and increase the speed of their cultivation a bit, but the real reason and pretty much the only one is that it prevents any hidden ws or that slight sense of dissonance one might feel if they were to cultivate a technique that didn''t suit them. This will, in turn, make one''s cultivation journey just a bit smoother.

    However, apparently, these things don''t mean much to mortals. That''s simply because every cultivation technique created by mortals is wed in some way. It''s simply impossible for a mortal to create a technique that perfectly suits them all the way up to bing an Immortal.

    But does this prevent mortals from ascending and bing Immortals? No, it doesn''t. Mortals ascend quite regrly even with their wed techniques. It''s just that most people, after ascending, give up their mortal cultivation techniques for ones created by Immortals. That isn''t necessarily bad, but it can make their future journey much more difficult.

    There is, however, a logical reason behind why mortals give up their original mortal techniques for Immortal ones.

    After ascending to Immortality, one''s body will essentially undergo a rebirth. So, thinking that any ws that were created by their techniques were wiped clean, most newly ascended ditch their shitty techniques for amazing Immortal Cultivation Techniques. It makes sense. Why would they keep using a technique that was meant for mortals when they can either create a better new one or find a different one.

    This isn''t inherently wrong, but it can drastically limit one''s growth potential as an Immortal since although their bodies are essentially remade after ascending, they are still remade in ordance to what their body was before ascending. So although one''s body might be near-perfect after ascending, there will still be a few very minor ws left in their body.

    In fact, many Immortals aren''t even aware of this. This is simply due to the power difference between an Immortal and a Mortal. Even if there was a w in their mortal body, so what? Their body effectively evolved after ascending so why should they care about a w that was left in their mortal body.

    However, just like how a speck of white on an all-ck painting can effectively ruin the painting, the same applies here.

    It was only after The Guardian exined this to Mira in detail did she begin to understand that her future would have been much more difficult if she had kept on going like this. Worst of all, there isn''t anything she can do about it. She''d still have to use a wed technique to cultivate Immortality. She also most likely would''ve ditched her Hell Scythe Essence Cultivation Technique and used something else after ascending.

    <o>,m She also understood that the benefits of these changes now most likely won''t be seen until she ascends.</o>

    Andst but not least, the reward that Mira was the most stoked about so far, even surpassing the Infinite Garden��

    "A recipe that will allow you to create the perfect Core when you break through to the Core Formation Realm! This core will make full use of your Dao, weapon style, bloodline, physique, Foundation, the various elements you''ll be able to control not only now but in the future as well, the scythe sitting in your Soul Sea, your connections to those two little beasts you''re contracted with, and even your title as the Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life. I''ve also listed out a few instructions on what to do about some of the harder requirements and/or ingredients on the recipe."

    Mira was struck speechless as she stared nkly at the piece of paperying in her hands. She thought she might have to go robbing some families and killing some young masters in order to get her hands on something like this and that''s only to get her hands on some trash recipe. Now, however, she doesn''t have to do any of that nonsense! All she has to do is collect the necessary materials on this sheet of paper and she''ll be fine! Easy!

    Oh, how naive Mira was to even think of such a possibility�� Easy? No, when has anything ever been easy for her?

 Chapter 273 Successor Part 5

    Mira looked at the recipe in her hands and noticed she only recognized a few items on the list. That wasn''t all as Mira was also shocked at just how long the list of ingredients was. It didn''t just include herbs, but also various types of metals, beast blood, and beast cores, there were even some things that Mira didn''t even know existed!

    Like what the hell was a Dao Comprehension Stone?

    She also needed things like Phoenix Blood, Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood, and various herbs for almost every type of element she could think of.

    Looking at the list of ingredients that definitely exceed over 30, Mira almost coughed up a mouthful of blood just thinking about how much time she''s going to have to spend searching for these obscure ingredients. Even if she were to go through the various trials to try and unlock these ingredients, Mira has no doubt that, at the very least, she''s going to spend years trying to get these ingredients!

    However, there were 2 things in this recipe that caught Mira''s eye. One of them being something called ''Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life'' and thest thing that caught Mira''s attention was not an ingredient, but a warning!

    It read:

    ''You have 2 years to gather all of the ingredients and break through to the Core Formation Realm. Should you fail toplete this task within the given time limit, the recipe will be destroyed and Sessor Mira XXXX will have her memory wiped of all knowledge regarding this recipe.

    Good Luck.''

    <o>,m Now Mira really wanted to curse at not only The Guardian but whatever being created the recipe! So that''s what she did!</o>

    "Fuck! A time limit? Are you kidding me?! How am I supposed to gather all this crap?! It''ll take me a total of two years of just travel time to find this shit, not to mention actually getting them? What? You want me to go through all these shitty trials just to get a single herb or metal? Fuck you! Who knows how long that''ll take?! I might be stuck doing a single trial for months if they are really that hard!"

    Mira started cursing out loud, but there was also another thing that didn''t fail to escape Mira''s attention. It''s that Mira''sst name was hidden. Actually, it wasn''t exactly hidden, it''s just Mira couldn''t understand what it said nor could she read what was there.

    This caused Mira to think of something that she''s never thought about before��

    In all her life, she''s never had ast name. Or if she did have ast name, she can''t remember it. Even when she spectated all of her various lives after one of the trials, she can''t seem to recall any of her past or parallel selves having ast name.

    Yet, her first name was always Mira��

    That in itself was already weird. To always have the same name in every reincarnation, in different worlds, in differentnguages, and even in different timelines.

    Her name has always been Mira and has always been pronounced the same regardless of thenguage. However, what''s even more strange is theck of ast name. It''s not like she was always born in some remote vige in a primitive world wherest names weren''t a thing. Most worlds she was born in, almost everyone had ast name.

    However, Mira can''t ever recognize having ast name.

    She felt a chill run down her spine, but before her mind could keep wandering, she was interrupted by The Guardian.

    "No need to feel too shocked about the items on the recipe. Actually, you have quite a few of the ingredients with you already. I think your friends out there even have a few of the ingredients with them as well. Also, it shouldn''t be difficult for you to get the blood of a Phoenix and a Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf. You''ll just have to look for the more�� obscure�� ingredients. And before you ask, no, I won''t help you identify those ingredients. I''ll leave that up to you. I''ll only help you with one of the ingredients."

    Before Mira could say anything, the Guardian waved his hand and a Pinkish-blue b of ice appeared in front of them. Yes, it was the same b of ice Mira used to sit on to cultivate not too long ago.<sub> </sub>

    "This b of ice is actually a small chunk of ice that was carved out of a piece of ice called Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice. Honestly, I have no idea how you actually got your hands on something like this. Even if this piece is just a fragment and can''t even begin topare to the real thing, it''s still not something that should be in the hands of a Foundation Realm pup. Even Immortals would kill each other for a chance at obtaining a piece of Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice and although you only have a small fragment that''s lost most of its power, it''s still not something that should appear in the hands of someone like. However, this is also a good thing as the Core you''ll be able to form when you break through to the Core Formation Realm will be even better than before and having this thing also reduces the number of ''pain-in-the-ass'' ingredients you''d need to fetch by quite a bit."

    Mira was quite surprised that The Guardian had such a high opinion of this b of ice. However, it made sense because even Mira felt like this pinkish-blue b of ice was quite special.

    "I don''t think I need to exin the benefits of you sitting on this thing to cultivate, but in case you don''t know I''ll exin. It boosts your affinity with the ice element, boostsprehension speed in both your Dao and any techniques, as long as they are rted to the ice element, boosts your cultivation speed, increases your resistance against the ice element, and it also prevents any deviations in your cultivation. However, that''s not the best part! The best part is these effects will continue to grow the stronger you get! Isn''t that insane?! Instead of this thing getting weaker over time, the effects only grow stronger!"

    "If you use something this god-like as an ingredient for your Core, your Core will gain all of these properties as well. Not only that, but using the other ingredients on the list to help form your Core, it''ll turn into something that even the real Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice could only dream of bing!"

    Now, Mira was shocked to the point that she didn''t even know what to say. Wouldn''t her potential basically be unlimited if she gathered all of the ingredients on this list and used them to form her Core?

    Forget bing an Immortal, wouldn''t she be able to turn into a God, or in her case, a Goddess of Ice if she continued down this path? Maybe one day she''ll get strong enough where she can even beat the shit out of the guy in front of her! How great would that be?!

    "Hey!!! How dare you think about beating me up?! What did I ever do to you?! I''ve only ever given you good things and this is how you repay me?!"

    The Guardian felt his lips twitching as he read Mira''s mind. Not only was she dreaming of bing a Goddess, but she was also dreaming of ruining his beautiful face! He could even see scenes going on in her mind of her pushing his face into the dirt as she dug her heels into the back of his head!

    He immediately stopped digging through her mind as he saw more and more scenes of Mira turning him into an ice statue or Mira using him as a test dummy for her ice powers.

    He knew this was Mira''s way of telling him to stop going through her mind.

    "Alright! That''s enough with this prize! On to the next one!"

    He snapped his fingers and brought Mira to what looked like an arena.

    "There are only a few more rewards that are avable to you right now and I think you''ll find this one the most fascinating! I like to call it ''The Abyssal Battle Ladder'', but in reality it''s nothing more than an arena where your opponents get stronger the more you defeat. However, there are a few key things that make this ce special."

    "First of all, this ce is based on your cultivation and whenever you have any sort of breakthrough in your cultivation, then your progress will reset."

    "Second, there is no limit to the number of stages you canplete. How far you progress will be entirely dependent on yourbat prowess. I will warn you though that at some point you will hit a wall that can''t be ovee with skill."

    "Thirdly, you can earn points here by winning battles here. These points can be used to purchase almost anything and everything Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life has to offer. You want an herb? You can use points to acquire it! You want to increase the Time Dtion in the Infinite Garden? Just use your points! Now, you can also go through the specific trials in order to unlock whatever it is you need, but this is a much more direct way and you won''t have to waste your time doing something so annoying."

    "The points you earn also increase exponentially depending on how many stages you can win. So for example, if you win 5 stages, you''d earn 62 points! 2 points for the First Stage, 4 points for the Second Stage, 8 points for the Third, and so on."

    "Lastly, you get to keep your points even after your breakthrough and the Abyssal Battle Ladder resets. However, do keep in mind that the number of points you''ll be earning will reset as well."

    Mira''s eyes lit up as she listened to the Guardian exin the specifics of this arena!

 Chapter 274 Successor Part 6

    Mira was ecstatic that there was something that would allow her to skip some of those trials that the Guardian talked about. As much as she wants to get stronger, Mira really doesn''t want to go through any of those trials if they are going to be anything like what she just went through.

    "Oh! I forgot to mention that if you were to lose three times in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, then not only will you be banned from battling until your next breakthrough, but you''ll lose all of your current points. Oops! Hehe~"

    Mira''s face fell when she heard what the Guardian said.

    "Why? Isn''t the purpose of this ce to test your limits? Why put a limit on it? Also, why do you have to take away my hard earned points if I were to fail 3 times? I think it''s more than enough to ban my entry in the Abyssal Battle Ladder until I make another breakthrough!"

    Mirained, but the Guardian didn''t lose his smile as he exined.

    "You''re correct that this is a ce to test your limits, but it''s more than that. You need to be able to properly assess your opponents while also knowing your own limit and how far you can push it. Also, if you could just keep battling the same opponent over and over again until you can predict all of its moves, then it wouldn''t really be training would it? Things can''t be too easy or else you might be able to unlock everything here without having to go through any trials! That''s a big no no!"

    Mira wanted to argue, but what the Guardian said made perfect sense. She was just a bit overwhelmed with all the possibilities of this ce. In truth, Mira doesn''t really have a problem with that limitation.

    p!

    "Alright! Let me take you to the next reward before showing you the final reward! Well, the next thing isn''t really a reward per se�� but it is avable to you right now in case you want to use it!"

    When Mira heard that, she was starting to sweat as she had a bad feeling about this next ''reward''. She soon started having shbacks of a certain wretched set of stairs that almost caused her mind, body, and soul to break.

    As Mira''s instincts have been honed through countless life-or-death situations and even death itself, she can clearly tell when she''s about to run into something bad. Right now, Mira''s instincts were not just yelling at her to get the hell out of there, but they even forced her to get as far away from the Guardian as possible so he wouldn''t teleport her to that god-forsaken ce!

    Unfortunately, escaping a near omnipotent being isn''t so easy so before she could even move, she was already teleported and was currently standing in front of Abyssal Torment Steps. Her face paled and her body was now covered in cold sweat, but she did her best not to show her fear on her face as she just stared ahead with a neutral look. The Guardian clearly knew what she was feeling, but he decided not toment on it as even he knew that these stairs are dreadful. To the current him they are nothing, but if he was in Mira''s shoes right now he wouldn''t be any better. Actually, that first part isn''t exactly true as even he is a bit put-off by some parts of these stairs and he''s essentially an almighty god! An unparalleled existence!

    But of course, he isn''t going to share any of that with Mira!

    "As you may know, these are the Abyssal Torment Steps. Technically it''s called the Tomb of Heaven, but that''s only when you reach the bottom. The stairs themselves are called the Abyssal Torment Steps. Now, I don''t really have much to say about these steps as I''m supposed to let you figure it out, but I will say that you shouldn''t neglect these steps. Not only is this a Core part of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, but descending these steps will train you in ways you never thought possible."<sub> </sub>

    "They might not be able to assist you in increasing your cultivation speed,bat prowess, or even help you learn new techniques, but they can reinforce your willpower and mentality. Also, I''ll give you a piece of advice. Although willpower and mentality are sometimes way underrated or evenpletely overlooked in most of the Cultivation World. This is the case even for Immortals. The truth is that there is nothing more important than those two traits. Talent? Background? Status? Resources? Strength? None of these really matter and wille in due time as long as you have the willpower and mentality to keep going even when all is lost."

    "That''s why the test for this inheritance has nothing to do with strength because in truth, strength doesn''t matter here. As you''ve seen and heard, this ce pretty much has everything you could ever want as long as you have the drive to work for it."

    "However, there is one important factor that I feel I should point out about these stairs. Most of the trials for things like increasing the time dtion of the Infinite Garden or maybe you want to redeem a few rare herbs or something, most of those trials actually have a minimum requirement before you can even attempt them."

    The Guardian''s smile grew a bit seeing Mira''s reaction to thatst statement and he could tell she knew exactly what he was going to say next.

    "Hehe~ That''s right! There''s actually a prerequisite for how many steps you''ve descended on the Abyssal Torment Steps! Some things might only need you to make it to step 50 while others might need you to make it to step 10,000 or even more! Hahaha!"

    "Truthfully, this is for your own good because some of those trials aren''t easy. For example, if you want something but the prerequisite to start that trial is to actually make it to step 999, that means that the difficulty level of that trial is going to be somewhere around step 999. However, that''s just a baseline because you might have to experience that level of difficulty for weeks or maybe even months or certain trials instead of just a few minutes like you experienced on the stairs."

    "However, there might also be cases where you want to take a trial, but you haven''t met the prerequisite number of steps on the Abyssal Torment Steps. In those cases, you can actually take the trial as long as you aren''t too far off from the number of steps required. For example, if the prerequisite is 999 steps and you''ve only made it to step 901, then you can actually take the trial as although there is a spike in difficulty between the two steps, it''s not insane like how the difference between step 500 and 999 is. Do keep in mind though that this number may vary. This is especially the case the farther you descend down the stairs because by then, the difference between a single step is actually quiterge."

    The Guardian stopped speaking after that to allow Mira some time to take it all in. He knew that this might be a bit of a shock to her, but he also knew just how important these stairs are.

    Mira, on the other hand, didn''t know what to say. She really wanted to curse out loud at how this ce seems to be more and more like a scam, but she also partially understood why the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life would use these stairs as a prerequisite. This ce demands nothing more than hard work and willpower and what better ce to hone those two skills than these stairs?

    Justpare the current her to the version of herself before she even walked into that weird biome. Her current willpower is several times higher than it was before entering this ce! It took her hundreds of years and constant life-or-death scenarios for her to hone her willpower to its current state, but after only what? A week? A few weeks, maybe? Her willpower has effectively evolved to its current state!

    Not only that, but Mira''s survival instincts are much sharper than before and she''s sure that if she were to get into a life-or-death fight now, she would definitely be able to learn and grow a bit fasterpared to before.

    Once Mira came to these conclusions, she calmed down a bit. She looked at the Guardian and nodded slightly. The Guardian smiled and nodded back to her.

    "It''s time for me to take you to your final reward. Well, it''s hard to say that it''s a reward because in reality, it''s just an item that proves you are the Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life. Once you receive and bind this item to you, you''ll finally be the true Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life. However, this item also brings several benefits to you by itself other than just giving you full control over everything here and its functions. Now, let''s go finally crown you as the Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life!"

 Chapter 275 Successor Part 7

    The Guardian and Mira soon appeared in front of arge ck altar. On top of that altar sat a purplish-ck orb. The orb wasn''t very big, only slightlyrger than an adult''s palm, but one didn''t even need to look at it to know that this orb was far from normal.

    Quickly, Mira''s eyes gravitated toward this orb and as soon as she got a good look at it, she almost lost her mind, her soul was nearly destroyed, and she almost died. She instinctively knew that this death would be the worst kind of death. Not only would she not be granted reincarnation, but her entire existence would be wiped from the river of time! Her past, present, and future would be gone and anyone who ever knew her would have forgotten she ever existed.

    If not for her being the True Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life (F.L.D.I.L for short) then that would''ve been her fate.

    Mira was already drenched in sweat at this point and just hoped that she would get through this encounter alive. Consequently, she failed to notice that even The Guardian dared not look directly at the orb.

    "This is thest reward that I told you about. The Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life! I told you before that this thing not only gives you control over this space and all of its functions and is proof that you are the true sessor, but once it enters your body it will provide countless benefits to you. Go ahead and take it. Once you put your hands on it, the orb will do the rest for you."

    The Guardian smiled and urged Mira to start walking towards it. Mira, who was barely in her right state of mind, found herself walking towards it subconsciously. She didn''t need the Guardian to tell her because after looking at the orb, she felt like it was a part of her body that she''s been missing all this time. Like a limb, she never thought she had or maybe a second brain that was taken away from her.

    The closer she got the stronger this feeling became and even the orb started to vibrate in her presence as if it was excited.

    It didn''t take long before she reached the altar. She stared at the orb for a few seconds before slowly raising both her arms and grasping the orb with her hands.

    As soon as she touched the orb, new information was pouring into her mind, but she was unable to focus on that at the moment because as soon as she touched the orb it started melting as she actually started absorbing it into her body!

    She felt some pain, but it wasn''t nearly enough to put so much as a frown on her face.

    She just focused on what was going on inside her body at the moment and was a bit surprised to see the melted orb taking shape around her dantian, almost like an eggshell. And her conjecture wasn''t wrong based on the information that appeared in her mind about the orb.

    One of its functions is to enhance her core, but since her Core hasn''t been formed yet, it''s now going to act as something akin to an incubator for her core until she finally makes a breakthrough. It''ll also help in refining the items she needs to form a perfect Core for herself. Now, Mira understood why there were so many ingredients in the recipe and why there were plenty of items that even if she had gotten she wouldn''t be able to use them, either due to the strength of the item or the energy contained within them.

    Take the Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice as an example. Even if she were to sit there and hack at it with her scythe, she might not be able to leave a scratch on it even if she kept at it for a hundred years! How could she possibly use such a high-level ingredient for her core if she can''t even damage it much less absorb it?

    The orb forming around her dantian will take care of everything for her while using everything at its maximum potential. Truthfully, Mira wouldn''t have been able to form a ''perfect core'' without this orb, however, Mira wasn''t surprised by this. How can something made by a Foundation Realm ant like her be considered ''perfect''? If she were to form her Core by herself there would''ve been some ws and she would''ve had topromise a bit simply because she neither has the resources, wealth, or background to collect everything she would''ve wanted.

    Even if she did, it''s not like she''s ever formed a Core before and it''s simply impossible for her to make a perfect one on the first try.<sub> </sub>

    However, things are different with the orb in her body. Not only that, but she received a recipe that the orb itself created for her so she could form the perfect Core that held unlimited potential. She also knew from the knowledge she received that the recipe was created based on the items she currently holds in her possession.

    Somehow, it knew all of the things Mira had gathered in the Secret Realm and used that as a baseline. Apparently, she''s gotten a few really good things like the Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice. Not only that but having the blood of a Frost-Fire Phoenix and a Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf are priceless items that hold immense power and unlimited potential, even if they are incredibly weak right now for their respective races. Those three, along with a few other rare items she''s obtained had really made things a lot easier for Mira in terms of items needed for her to form a perfect Core.

    Honestly, just the blood of either one of those beasts is more than enough for most people to form a top-notch core that might not show up in a moral cultivation world for millions of years.

    It was only now that Mira understood how heaven-defying the blood of those beasts was. However, her thoughts slowly drifted in a weird direction as she thought of draining a bit of Rhydian''s blood and giving it to herpanions.

    They wouldn''t need anything else and could just use that to create an almost unparalleled Core. If they go out and find their own unique items then they can create a Core that would only be below hers in the entire mortal cultivation world.

    Back to the process of her body absorbing the orb, Mira saw that it might take a few minutes for the orb to finish forming around her dantian, so she started sorting through the new knowledge she obtained.

    Surprisingly, she received a bunch of knowledge from the orb that went into a bit more detail about what exactly she''s inheriting. She also received knowledge on all the items that are currently in the ''store'' that can either be bought with points from the Abyssal Battle Ladder or that she can redeem by going through whatever bullshit trials this ce has to offer.

    However, she was only limited to every item that has a prerequisite of reaching Step 999 or below on the Abyssal Torment Steps. Anything above that was sealed and will only be unlocked when she reaches the required steps.

    Aside from that, Mira actually learned that this entire ce including the Infinite Garden, the Storage Space, Abyssal Battle Ladder, and even the Abyssal Torment Steps will be directly transported to her Soul Sea when she leaves this ce.

    Though from her understanding, that''s just where it''ll be ''anchored'' because it won''t really be in her Soul Sea. It''ll be in a different dimension that only the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life has ess to. So whenever she wants to use its functions, her physical body will actually be sent to that different dimension so she can do whatever she needs to do in this ce.

    There are a few exceptions though. She can ess the storage room and Infinite Garden through her Soul Sea without having to actually be teleported inside this ce.

    However, with pretty much everything else, she''ll need to teleport her physical body here in order to ess the rest of the functions.

    As for the functions of the orb itself and the benefits it can bring to Mira other than helping her form the perfect Core, all she knows is that once she breaks through to the Core Formation Realm is when she''ll start receiving those benefits. For now though, she has no idea what they actually are, but she has high expectations.

    A few minutes passed by in a sh and the orb was now fully formed around her dantian. As soon as that waspleted, the room around her started to tremble, but it wasn''t because she did anything. No, it was from the Guardians boomingughter that was so loud it caused the room to shake!

 Chapter 276 Successor Part (End)

    "Pfft-HAHAHAHAHA! Finally!! It''s been so long! I''ll finally have something to do after all these years!! HAHAHA!"

    The Guardian startedughing hysterically which caused Mira to feel somewhat conflicted at the moment. For one, she''s not sure why a being who is as strong and has lived as long as him is even acting like that. Secondly, now Mira was almost certain she had just gotten scammed.

    Right after the orb finished merging with her, Mira felt an intangible, ethereal, and enigmatic force surrounding her. It felt nothing like energy or some sort of aura and if she were to put it into words, she felt like her karma just took a nosedive.

    Normally, it would be impossible for her to even sense her own karma or anyone''s karma for that matter, but right now her karma has been affected so drastically that she can feel it dropping!! While she''s not 100% sure that this is ''karma'' or ''luck'' or whatever you want to call it, she''s sure that she''s at least not too far off.

    She''s also not quite sure how high or low her karma was prior to this, but she was quite confident that it was rtively neutral. Sure, her luck might be terrible, but that''s not really her fault. She was just unlucky to catch that ''god''s'' attention and everything after that basically had nothing to do with it.

    Not only that, but she''s also sort of cheated death by reincarnating with her memories still intact. Well, this is just her making assumptions, but after going through those 99 different versions of her life, Mira could tell that her karmic luck was rtively neutral. She generally kept to herself, didn''t make too many friends, and tried to reach the peak in whatever she did. She may have negatively affected some while affecting others in a positive way. Either way, she was always a neutral party.

    However, now she''s sure that her karmic luck is plummeting!

    When she came to this conclusion, her face darkened, almost equalling the color of her newly obtained karmic luck!

    The Guardian finally stoppedughing and looked over at her and could instantly tell what was going on.

    "Ah! Yes, I may have forgotten to mention that part. Essentially, after bing the Sessor and merging with the orb, your ''karmic luck'' as you call it, will reach rock bottom. There won''t be another person, alive or dead, that will have worse luck than you! How great is that?! Your journey will now be full of hardships at every turn and most people will instinctively hate you upon seeing you! Oh, but don''t worry, this won''t change your everyday interactions with people because most people already have a bad impression of you whenever they see you. HAHAHA!"

    Veins started popping on Mira''s face as she had the sudden urge to cough up blood that this ''supposed'' Guardian''s remarks. She really wanted to beat him up right now, but she could only suppress this desire as she''s too weak right now.

    "Hmmm�� I also forgot to mention that you may or may not receive enemies regrly chasing after you in hopes of being the next Sessor of the F.LD.I.L. Luckily, you won''t receive enemies that you have no chance of winning against. It''ll just be a tough fight where you''ll have to put your life on the line. We can''t have the Sessor gettingzy, now can we?"

    "However, rejoice! As there are also prizes for defeating these kinds of enemies! You''ll have the chance to unlock any item or function for free at or slightly above your Abyssal Torment Steps level! How generous! Praise be the orb! HAHAHAHA!"

    With that being said, Mira finally had enough of this shitty guardian and took out her scythe and charged at the man! She swung with all her might at him and kept doing so even though she knew she would never hit him.

    "Please stop attacking me, Mistress! Why are you worrying about such trivial matters?! Anyways, it''s not like you had much of a choice. You either ept the inheritance or die!"

    However, thatst statement only further enraged Mira!

    "So, I would''ve died for not epting this shitty inheritance, huh?! What was even the point of all this then?! Why do I feel like I just got tricked by a used car salesman into buying the worst car in their lot?! Aren''t inheritances supposed to be good things?! Why does mine only want to kill me?!"

    "Don''t say that, Mistress! How can youpare this ce to a used car?! This is truly a heaven-defying treasure! No, it literally is heaven-defying! It only wishes for you to reach your full potential!"

    The two of them kept arguing for a bit as Mira didn''t stop chasing the Guardian down with her scythe, but after nearly 30 minutes she stopped because it was truly impossible for her to hit him.

    However, there was something that caught her attention. The Guardian seemed to be a bit more ''respectful'' to her, if you could even call it that. It was more like, the way he addressed her was more respectful than before, with all that ''Mistress'' nonsense.

    When she finally calmed down a bit, she decided to ask him.<sub> </sub>

    "So, what''s the deal with you calling me ''Mistress''. It honestly sounds kind of creepying from you."

    "Well, I am the Guardian of this ce. So, you being the Sessor, wouldn''t that make you my Mistress?"

    "��I suppose I can''t argue against that. But then why did you say you''ll finally have something to do? I highly doubt you''ll interfere with my life, at least not for a while."

    "Haha! Of course, I have something else to do! I get to spectate your life from now on! How great is that?! It''ll be like watching those Reality TV shows you saw in one of your past lives. Oh! But don''t worry, I won''t peek should you ever decide to get frisky with that girl, Maria. Hahaha!"

    "Fuck you! Don''t you have something better to do?! Go do whatever God things you have to do and leave this pitiful mortal alone! My life is not some TV show that you can just watch!"

    "Impossible! How can I, as a Guardian, not watch my Mistress grow up?! As a perfect Guardian, I must know everything about you, including your love life!"

    "Just why are you so interested in that, for fucks sake?!"

    "Plus, what responsibilities do you think I even have? I''ve been here for billions of years already, just what kind of responsibilities would I even have other than watching over you?"

    "This��"

    "Well, I say that, but even if you were about to die I still wouldn''t save you.

    "..."

    "But I will make an exception! If, for whatever reason, Maria was going to prate you with�� let''s say some kind of strap-on, and some BASTARDes in to kill you at that moment, I will without a doubt annihte that fool!! To be able to see you submit to someone else willingly, I would even go so far as to�� AHEM! Excuse me, it seems I spoke a bit too much there. Please forget you heard that."

    "..........."

    "..."

    Mira started leaking a bit-no, all of her killing intent at this shameless bastard next to her. If she was strong enough right now, his head would''ve already left his body. Unfortunately, Mira could only stare at him with hateful eyes. To make matters worse, he just stared back at her with the same carefree smile. Oh, how badly she wanted to wipe that smile off his face.

    However, soon a smirk appeared on her face. She knew this bastard was constantly reading her mind, so she decided to give him a little ''present'' as an act of revenge.

    And just like she nned, after seeing what appeared in her mind, he backed away from her, covering his body with his arms.

    "How could you even think of doing something like that to me and my perfect body?! Stop! STOP!! Alright! I''m sorry! I won''t interfere even if Maria is going to prate you! Are you happy-NOO! I''ll stop talking now, just stop picturing that!"

    Mira cleared her mind and nodded her head, satisfied with the results.

    "Alright, let''s get going. I''m tired of being here."

 Chapter 277 Leaving

    Mira didn''t need the Guardian to help her leave this ce now that she was in full control. All she has to do is think about leaving and she''ll be teleported back to where she entered this ce.

    The Guardian didn''t say anything to her as he watched her turn around to teleport out of this ce. He kept the same carefree smile on his face, but underneath it, all his feelings wereplicated. He was happy that a sessor was finally chosen, but he also knew that things would''ve been much easier for Mira should she not have be the Sessor.

    She could''ve cultivated freely without too many troubles except for those she caused herself or those sent by that so-called ''god'' that''s been messing with her. Eventually, she would''ve ascended into the Immortal Realm where she would go through simr experiences, just on a different scale.

    After a few thousand years or so, she would''ve reached the level where she could finally take revenge and settle down for a bit. She could find a ce to rest, have a family, and live a happy life for the rest of her days.

    Her journey would have still been long and arduous and even if she died again, he was sure she''d find a way to get back up and try again, but eventually, she''d achieve her goal.

    That''s why he''s feelingplicated about Mira bing the Sessor. Now that she has inherited The F.LD.I.L, her journey will be anything but easy and it''ll stay that way until she reaches the absolute peak an existence can reach. Either she bes the strongest existence that anyone and anything can reach or experiences eternal damnation. There are no other options.

    However, there are also plenty of benefits thate with something that''s such a high risk. First, her potential has skyrocketed, so much so that she now has the potential to reach that kind of power. Second, everything in the F.LD.I.L are unique treasures that don''t exist anywhere else. The Infinite Garden is just one such example. Such a thing can only be found in the F.LD.I.L.

    Third, Mira has ess to all kinds of ores, herbs, materials, resources, alchemic recipes, weapons, armor, etc. Even stuff that can''t be found in her world or that''s so rare in her world that only the major powers have ess to it, she''ll be able to acquire it so long as she works for it. That in and of itself is priceless because that means even if she doesn''t join a Sect or any sort of power, she''ll still have ess to resources. Sort of�� For most of themon resources, it''ll be much easier for Mira to obtain them as long as she joins some sort of Sect.

    There are many more benefits to inheriting the F.LD.I.L, but most of those won''t start showing themselves untilter on in her journey.

    Fortune in misfortune perfectly describes Mira''s situation right now because while her life will probably suck for a while, her growth rate will explode along with her new potential. However, that''s not what''s making the Guardian feel soplicated.

    What''s making him feel soplicated is thinking about what Mira will be after achieving her lifelong goal of killing the man who has caused her so much unwanted pain and suffering.

    Will she be able to keep moving forward or will she break when she realizes that her revenge means nothing to The F.LD.I.L?

    Shoving those thoughts to the back of his mind, he watched as Mira finally disappeared and returned to the area where her friends are.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    Mira was finally able to leave that hellhole and when she was finally teleported outside before she could even look around she felt the ground around her shake. Then after a few seconds, something flew into her Soul Sea.

    Mira knew exactly what it was, but just in case something happened she decided to check it out.

    When she looked in her Soul Sea, she saw her Scythe floating there, and right beside it she saw a dark and ancient looking castle that released an aura of death around it. She knew right away that this is The F.LD.I.L. Looking at it, Mira could also feel that she could teleport back inside whenever she wanted to.

    After she finished checking out her Soul Sea, she was finally able to get a good look around her. She wasn''t surprised to see that the unique biome that was filled with bone trees, poison fog, and poison dirt was now gone, and in its ce was a grasnd full of life.

    However, all of a sudden she felt 3 gazes fall on her and she knew exactly whose gazes those belonged to.

    She turned around and saw Maria, Cine, and Elenei looking at her with their weapons drawn and vignt eyes, but for some reason when they saw her face, the 3 of them froze.

    Mira was a bit confused why they were looking at her almost like they didn''t recognize her and it wasn''t until Maria started screaming did she finally understand why they didn''t recognize her at a nce��

    "Kyaaaa!! Is that you, Mira?! Oh my god! You look so cute!! Look at how small you are! What happened in there that caused you to be so irresistibly cute!? Well, not that I''mining. I much prefer this Mira versus the mean teenager Mira! Hehehe~ Even with your emotionless face, you still look so cute! Oh! Just look at your clothes being a bit too big for your current size! You look just like a child who wanted to wear her Mommy''s clothes! Hehehe~"

    Maria wasted no time running over to her and examining her body. Mira could''ve jumped away from her to prevent this humiliation, but it was only after she left that ce did the built-up exhaustion finally hit her.

    Right now, she didn''t have any energy left to spare so she could only grit her teeth as she let Maria pinch her cheeks, hug her, and even mess with her hair. Soon, her eyelids started bing heavy, but before she passed out, she decided to say a few words to Maria to let her know she''s fine.

    "Talkter. Need�� Sleep."

    "Mira!"

 Chapter 278 Rough Journey

    Maria unconsciously caught the unconscious Mira and couldn''t help but feel worried about her. She ended up checking her body for any injuries but was both surprised and d to find that Mira was perfectly fine. Actually, she was more than fine, to an abnormal degree.

    Her body was covered in muscles that her baby-like skin simply couldn''t hide. Even though her body was the size of a child around 9-years old, that''s the only thing about her that seemed young. Her muscles felt like they were forged out of steel. Her skin, although soft, also felt like they were forged out of silk as tough as metal. Her face also looked like it was forged beyond perfection. Maria could say with absolute confidence that no matter the age, gender, or sexual orientation, Mira would be able to attract anyone and everyone with just her face alone.

    Maria also noticed her hair was darker at the roots and the aura she now exuded was different than before. If before she just gave off an ice-cold and unapproachable feeling, now she gave off an icy death-like aura that gave one the feeling they would be encased in ice until they died and even beyond that.

    However, Maria didn''t care about any of this! When she realized that Mira was fine and only seemed to be exhausted, she couldn''t help herself and started checking out her cute loli body! She might never get this chance again and who knows when or if her body will grow up, so she needs to get her fill in now while she''s still unconscious!

    She picked her up in a princess carry and started rubbing her hair, pinching her cheeks, pinching her nose, and was even imagining the different clothes she can dress Mira up in while she was still unconscious.

    Meanwhile, Cine and Elenei were looking at this scene and were unsure of what to do. At first, they were worried about Mira, but looking at Maria acting like a creepy pervert all of a sudden, they knew she was fine and was just tired.

    However, they weren''t sure if they should stop Maria from doing�� whatever it is that she was doing or if they should ignore it and go on with their day.

    In the end, they decided to ignore it. Out of sight, out of mind.

    Suddenly, Elenei''s head perked up as she sensed numerous beasts running in their direction.

    "It looks like we gotpany. Why don''t you guys hop on my back and we can finally get out of here? Our journey will still take a while and I''ll slow down a bit so Mira can sleep without any difficulties, making the journey slightly longer as well."

    Cine and Maria nodded their heads as they also didn''t want to stay here any longer. They also knew that Mira would definitely agree with this n if she were still awake. Soon, the two of them hopped on Elenei''s back with Mira still in Maria''s arms. The Phoenix didn''t waste any more time and immediately took flight in the direction they were heading towards, to begin with.

    Maria and Cine looked down and saw hundreds of beasts charging at their previous position like�� well�� wild beasts. They were shocked seeing this scene as they didn''t understand why those beasts would even run towards their position. There was literally nothing there!

    However, what confused them, even more, was that when the beasts didn''t find what they were looking for, they looked up at the sky and started roaring at them!

    "What the fuck?! What''s wrong with those beasts? Why do they have those looks like we ughtered their entire family? I don''t even remember killing any beasts over thest week or so!"

    "They are acting a bit strange. However, I doubt it was a coincidence that they encroached on the area that Mira just returned from. Maybe she has some treasure on her that they want or maybe she just smells really good to beasts? I don''t know. Elenei, do you feel anything different?"

    "I don''t feel like eating her if that''s what you want to know."

    The three of them thought in silence for a bit before they decided to stop thinking about it. They can ask Mira about it when she finally wakes.

    In the end, they just went back to what they were doing. Maria started pulling out dresses for the unconscious Mira to wear, Cine started meditating, and Elenei focused on flying.<sub> </sub>

    However, not long after they were once again disturbed by something.

    "Iing!!!"

    Elenei warned the two of them and before they could even react, a bunch of eagle-like beasts started bombarding them! Luckily, Elenei was a Phoenix so they didn''t have to worry about much as she just dodged a few and killed a few before going on her merry way again.

    "Again!? We just barely started flying and we''re already being attacked by eagles! What''s strange is that they straight up ignored Elenei''s natural overbearing Phoenix aura and kept charging at us! What the hell did Mira eat that made her so delectable in front of these creatures!?"

    Maria eximed and started smelling Mira to see if she could tell a difference, but other than her natural pure and untainted smell, she didn''t smell anything that made her want to attack her even if it meant death.

    Elenei and Cine were both a little curious and also worried at the same time, but they could do nothing other than wait for Mira to wake up. They thought that maybe since they are still close to that ''unique biome'' the beasts can still sense something important on or about her. They could only hope that things would be better once they get a bit farther away��

    Unfortunately, they are in for a world of disappointment because for the next week they ran into one unfortunate encounter after another.

    Sometimes they would be flying over a group of people and those people''s attack would miss their target, to the point that it seemed to be aimed at them.

    Most aerial beasts they encountered would try and kill them.

    If theynded, a group of bandits would be in the area for some reason and start attacking them.

    Hell, they even encountered a massive storm that basically forced them to either go around it ornd on the ground and wait it out. Sure, Elenei could probably pass through it without much difficulty, but with their shit luck, one of them would definitely be struck by lightning! Neither of them really wanted that to happen so they opted to wait out the storm.

    But that didn''t seem good enough as the storm seemed to be hellbent on chasing them! Maria, Elenei, and Cine just had to say "fuck it" and charge into the storm while creating barriers around their body to prevent any lightning from hitting them.

    Luckily they chose to do so because as they traveled through the storm, they were repeatedly struck by lightning almost like it was searching for them!

    "Fuck! Mira, what did you eat?! Even the world seems to want to kill you!!"

    Maria cursed while forming several barriers around her to prevent another lightning strike from hitting her and Mira.

    Luckily, it didn''t take them more than a day to make it out of the storm and after that little event, they stopped encountering so many things and were able to fly with rtive peace. Though that didn''t mean those unfortunate events stoppedpletely.

    It wasn''t until 9 days after Mira returned did she finally wake up from her slumber.

 Chapter 279 Reunion

    After 9 days of being unconscious, Mira''s eyes finally trembled, but she didn''t open her eyes just yet. Normally, the first thing she would do whenever she wakes up is to check out her surroundings, but Mira didn''t even need to do that to know that she was on Elenei''s back flying through the sky.

    So, she decided to take things slow for now and just enjoy this brief period of respite while she still can. With that said, she felt absolutely amazing right now! She didn''t know how long she was out, but she guessed that it was probably somewhere around a week. Mira also wouldn''t be surprised if she was asleep longer than that. She knew just how tired she was and she knew exactly how exhausted her mind, body, and soul were.

    Not only had she basically died several times or at least came extremely close to death, but she was tortured and healed countless times. While, yes, she was always brought back to her peak condition at the end of every torture session, it still puts a huge strain on her body, mind, and soul. Especially her mind and soul.

    Not to mention she also experienced 99 other lives and the things she witnessed have yet to be fully integrated into her mind as well.

    Honestly, Mira was expecting to be out cold for at least half a month due to all the shit that she went through.

    She was also thankful that herpanions aren''tplete idiots and decided to keep traveling even while she was unconscious. It would have been a serious waste of time if they were to stay in one ce for however long she was unconscious.

    However, Mira also thought something was strange.

    ''Why are we still flying? Elenei should''ve been able to make it to our destination by now. I guess I''ll have to wake up and ask them what''s going on.''

    Mira thought to herself before she finally opened her eyes. Once she finally opened her eyes and saw what was in front of her, she froze.

    Meanwhile, Maria was about to start stroking Mira''s hair and cupping her cheeks, but she froze when she made eye contact with Mira''s now open eyes.

    That''s when Mira noticed that she was lying in a weird position. It only took her a few seconds to notice she was in Maria''sp!

    They just stared at each other in silence for a while and Mira swore she could hear a boisterousugh that sounded awfully simr to The Guardian''sugh!

    Mira''s face darkened and her eyes narrowed as she thought back to the times he would tease her about her having a romantic rtionship with Maria.

    She really wanted to beat the shit out of a few people right about now, but now wasn''t the right time for her to get angry. She took a few deep breaths and somehow she was able to reign in her anger, but that still didn''t prevent her from ring at Maria.

    Maria, not being able to withstand Mira''s re, turned her head and started whistling like nothing happened.

    Mira quickly got out of Maria''sp and that''s when Cine noticed that Mira was finally awake. However, Mira noticed there was something off about Cine''s current appearance. She looked like a beggar with dark bags under her eyes!

    "Mira! You''re finally awake! Tell us! What the hell did you get while you were inside that creepy ce?! Please, whatever it is, turn it off or throw it away! For some reason, the entire world seems out to get us! We won''t even be able to make it to our destination at this rate!"

    "Mira''s finally awake!? Thank goodness!! Mira, please tell us what happened while you were inside that ce and why everything seems like it''s out to get us!"

    Cine and Elenei both eximed at the same time when they noticed Mira was awake.<sub> </sub>

    Seeing how anxious the two of them looked and hearing what they just said, Mira immediately knew why they hadn''t made it to their destination just yet.

    "Ahhhhhh�� Yeah, that might be my fault. I was fucking scammed and I didn''t even realize it before it was toote."

    Mira then proceeded to exin to them what happened inside that ce, though she did leave out some of the important bits like the Orb, the name of the inheritance, and The Guardian.

    However, she told them just about everything else. She told them all about the tortuous events she had to go through, a few of the rewards that she received, and the fact that her Karmic luck had taken a significant drop after she became the sessor to the inheritance that was in that ce.

    Maria, Cine, and even Elenei were all shocked by what they heard and felt a chill run down their spines as all their hairs stood on end. They were so d they didn''t follow Mira into that ce because they knew that they don''t have the willpower that Mira has nor do they have such a high pain tolerance. Death was the only oue for them if they entered. No, ording to Mira''s exnation, they would be considered lucky if they actually got to die.

    She also told them that she got a recipe that will allow her to form a perfect core and that she received a space simr to a Spatial Ring where she can store and grow nts and at the same time store other items.

    She didn''t feel like telling them just how amazing her Infinite Garden and the Storage Space were. It''s not that she didn''t trust them because she did, for the most part. She knew Maria and Cine wouldn''t go around spewing nonsense and Elenei was contracted to her so even if she wanted to do something, it would only hurt her.

    Mira didn''t trust other people and it was only after meeting The Guardian did she know that someone out there might be capable of reading someone''s mind or stealing information straight from someone''s mind.

    While Mira herself is confident that anyone below the Immortal Realm won''t be able to read her mind or if they can then they''ll definitely pay a price. Maria and Cine aren''t the same while Elenei will end up knowing more about it eventually so there''s no need to share everything right now.

    It took a while for Mira to finish recalling everything she went through and it wasn''t until she finished did she notice Maria was looking at her with tears in her eyes and Cine was looking at her with a bit of sympathy and pity in her eyes. Mira assumed it was because she went through all that shit and got barely anything to show for it.

    Maria pulled her into herp and hugged while shoving her face into her voluptuous chest while stroking Mira''s hair.

    "It''s okay, Mira. I''m here for you. We''re here for you. You can let it all out if you need to. There''s no need to hide."

    Mira''s icy heart warmed up a bit, but her expression didn''t change nor did any tears fall from her eyes. Sure, it was probably the worst pain she''s ever felt and she has serious doubts as to whether things could actually get worse in that aspect, but that''s not the type of pain that could ever make Mira weep.

    However, that doesn''t mean she''s going to stop Maria from crying for her. Maybe it''s because she experienced all those other lives or maybe the threat of true death and eternal damnation still weighed on her mind, but she felt like she should probably be a bit more considerate towards herpanions.

    So, instead of pushing Maria away like she would normally do, she let her do whatever she wanted to right now.

    The journey was silent for a while before Mira decided it was time for her to ask her own questions.

    She slowly got out of Maria''s embrace and looked at everyone before asking the number one question that was on her mind.

    "So, why are we not at our destination yet?"

 Chapter 280 Natural Formation

    An awkward silence hung in the air after Mira asked that question. It''s not that Elenei didn''t want to answer, it''s just that she was too embarrassed. She, a Phoenix, a creature that could basically run amok in this mortal world unmatched, could not even make it to the other side of this continent.

    After a few seconds, Elenei finally opened her mouth and said something that not only shocked Mira, but The Guardian who was watching over her was also slightly bemused.

    "I��I''m��lost..."

    ��

    Mira just stared at the Phoenix in silence as she truly didn''t expect such an answer. She felt like she heard wrong, she felt like she just heard a Phoenix, a queen of the skies, say she was lost.

    "What? I''m sorry, I didn''t quite catch that. For some reason, it sounded like you just said you were lost."

    Elenei hung her head low in shame as she didn''t expect this situation either.

    "...I''m lost. I have no idea where we are at the moment."

    Elenei then proceeded to exin to Mira how unlucky they were during their travels. From constant beast attacks to bandit attacks, to terrible weather, everything seemed to be hell-bent on making sure they didn''t reach their destination.

    Elenei then described that at one point during their journey, she felt like they entered a weird space but she didn''t know what it was and since it wasn''t hurting her, she put it to the back of her mind. She also said that she could keep traveling like nothing happened, but it was only after a few days of this happening did she feel that something was wrong, but she didn''t know what it could be.

    Mira asked a few questions such as if the scenery changed as she traveled or it repeated, but was shocked to find out that the scenery around her was constantly changing as she traveled so she ruled out that she was in some sort of loop.

    She also thought they might be trapped in some type of Illusion Array, but unless such an array was made by someone at the peak of the mortal world, then Elenei wouldn''t be affected by it and even then she would still know she was in some type of Illusion. That''s just part of the benefits of being someone born from both a Dragon and a Phoenix. Even if her bloodlines are constantly fighting for control, she still isn''t someone that ignorant mortals can confuse with their trashy Arrays.

    But even with her vast knowledge and power, she still had no idea where they were or what happened to them. So, she just resorted to trying to find the escape whatever ce she entered by constantly flying around.

    That''s when Mira heard a voice in her head.

    "It seems like what you guys entered is a Natural Formation and it''s an Illusion and Space type Formation. A pretty high-leveled one at that. Natural Formations are Formations that are naturally formed from Heaven and Earth. Trying to forcefully break through this Natural Formation would be impossible for the current you. No, even if you were 100 times stronger, you probably couldn''t break this Natural Formation. Damn, you really are unlucky to be able to run into something like this so early on. However, there is one good thing about Natural Formations and that''s that they hold various high level treasures!

    "If you are able to locate these treasures then you and your friends would be set for a while. That''s all the advice I''ll give you. Whether or not you can survive this ordeal and leave with your pockets full of loot is up to you. Oh! But I will give you guys a little prize should you sessfully leave within the next 2 weeks. I''ll give your friends a Core Formation Recipe so they can form a Core that will only be a step or two below yours."<sub> </sub>

    Mira tried to ask the Guardian a few questions, but she got no response so she quickly put that idiot out of her mind. However, her ears perked up at the thought of Maria and Cine forming Top-Tier Cores. They naturally won''t be as strong as hers, but they would at least allow them to keep up with her strength and progress as long as they worked hard.

    Mira also didn''t have much of a problem staying here for the next 2 weeks. The Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam was still a ways away and she didn''t have to go about researching how to form a perfect Core.

    <o>,m However, that''s only if they stayed here for a maximum of 2 weeks. If they were trapped in this ce any longer than that, it wouldn''t be worth it. Unfortunately, Mira''s thoughts didn''t matter because she didn''t have much of a choice. She either worked on a way to get out of here or stayed trapped inside this Natural Formation.</o>

    "I think this is a Natural Formation that has Illusion and Spatial properties."

    Mira finally voiced out her opinion, but her answer caused her 3panions to look at her weirdly. Mira knew Maria and Cine didn''t even know what a Natural Formation was while Elenei was giving her a skeptical look. She knew what they were, but she''d need to run into an incredibly high-leveled one for her not to notice. Not to mention, they are incredibly rare. Most cultivators will never even run into one, much less hear of one in their entire lives! Also, how rare was a Natural Formation that had both Illusion and Spatial elements?? There might only be a few of such Formations in the entirety of the Mortal Realm! Not just a singr World, but the entire damn Realm!

    If they really entered what Mira just suggested then they were basically f*cked! Sure, they could probably find more treasures than they can hold, but how would they even know what''s real and what''s not? If it really is a Formation with Illusion and Spatial elements then even if they put something inside their Spatial Ring, it could be that they just transferred the illusory object into their Spatial Ring and they wouldn''t even be able to tell the difference until they leave this ce!

    They might spend their entire lives digging up fake treasures!!

    However, Mira didn''t seem to be done talking��

    "Also, if we can break out of this Natural Formation in 2 weeks, I''ll give you two, Maria and Cine, something good. I''m sure you two want to form the best Cores possible for when you breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm. As long as we get out of here within the next 2 weeks, I''ll be able to give you such a thing."

    Maria and Cine''s eyes went from doubtful to sparkling with just a few words. They knew that whenever Mira spoke of such matters, she never lied. So they didn''t doubt her for a second. If she said she had the recipe to form a Top-Tier Core then she had it. Soon, however, they wondered why Mira didn''t just give it to them. Sure, she was usually extremely harsh, trained rigorously, and pushed them to their limits, often beat them for doing something wrong�� hardly ever passed out rewards even if they did something outstanding... Nevermind, this was exactly how the usual Mira acted.

    But they knew Mira would never hand out an award of this magnitude unless their object was equally as difficult.

    It looked like they were in for a rough 2 weeks��

    Meanwhile, Elenei almost fainted from shock when she heard Mira''s goal of not only getting out of here in 2 weeks, but also giving them Top-Tier Core recipes!

    She really wanted to give Mira a good beating!

 Chapter 281 Eleneis Blood

    After Mira announced such a generous reward to her twopanions, they began trying toe up with some sort of n. The keyword here is ''trying''. The three of them didn''t actually know anything about Natural Formations. They didn''t even know much about normal Formations!

    Elenei came out of her shock and watched as the idiot trio kepting up with ideas to get out of this ce and realized that they knew nothing about Natural Formations, much less one that has illusion and spatial elements to it!

    She couldn''t understand why Mira would even guess such a thing. It was almost like��

    Elenei just thought of something that left her a bit unsettled, but she was sure that her spection wasn''t too far off. Someone or something was watching them from afar and provided Mira with the necessary information.

    All the clues point towards this conclusion. Core Formation Recipes. Knowledge on something that she shouldn''t have evere across in some backwater town like Lunar Fox City and the Sects surrounding it. Elenei also had a vague premonition that she was being watched ever since Mira came back. Don''t underestimate the instincts of a Phoenix. They aren''t one of the most fearsome races of the Universe for no reason.

    Elenei didn''t know if it was the one who gave Mira the inheritance or if it was the inheritance itself that was watching over them, but Elenei knew enough about the Universe to understand that whatever Mira received in that nasty ce was definitely not ordinary so it wouldn''t be that shocking if she now had a protector following her around to make sure she doesn''t die by some old monsters.

    With her thoughts now sorted out, Elenei decided to finally speak up.

    "If this really is a Natural Formation, then we must first find the Core of the Formation. The Core is almost always at the center of the Formation and for any normal Natural Formation, it wouldn''t be too difficult for me to find it, but if this Natural Formation is truly what you say it is, then we can safely assume that finding this Core will be incredibly difficult, especially if you want to do it within the next 2 weeks."

    Elenei paused to let the information sink in before continuing.

    "Natural Formations are also filled with resources and various treasures and this one shouldn''t be any different considering its rarity. You could say that the possible resources we could get our hands on in this ce would make us wealthy even among some of therger ns or families in the Center Continent, but that''s only if we can find them."

    "As for how we can get out of this ce, there are several ways to go about doing it. First, we can wait until the Core runs out of energy, but the problem with that is we have no idea when that might be. Second, we can find the Core and break it. That''s probably the easiest method though breaking the core will definitely take some effort. Thirdly, we can look for ws in the barrier of the Formation, but considering what type of Natural Formation we''re in�� Let''s just say it''d be equivalent to looking for a needle in a stack of illusory needles. And considering Mira''s karmic luck, this possibility drops to basically zero. Lastly, when we find the Core, one of you can try and be the Master of this formation. Thatst option could either be the easiest route or the most difficult, it really just depends on the person. Don''t forget that although this Natural Formation is technically ownerless, it was born from Heaven and Earth. So unless you have the capability to go against the Heavens or are epted by the Heavens then bing this Formation''s owner won''t be possible."

    After Elenei finished talking, everyone had thoughtful expressions on their faces. They weren''t too concerned with the options to leave this ce because as long as they find the core, then they''ll be able to find a way out. Yes, as long as they find it. That''s where the real problem lies.

    It''s great to know that it''s in the Center of the Formation, but where is the center?

    All of a sudden, Mira''s eyes lit up as she thought of a possible solution.

    "I think I might have a way for us to find the center of this formation, or at leaste close to it. So, this whole ce should be in the shape of a sphere, right? All we need to do is travel in opposite directions, leave marks every 10 meters or something like that, then after a certain amount of time, let''s say 6 hours, we retrace our steps counting how many marks we made and start making assumptions on our current location based on those results. Then rinse and repeat until we find the center."

    Mira exined her thought process which caused Maria and Cine''s eyes to beam in excitement that there was such an easy solution. Unfortunately, there were a few ring ws in her n and Elenei was soon to point them out.

    "That would work great if this was a normal Natural Formation, but this one has illusory and spatial properties! What if we get randomly teleported somewhere? What if the Formation mimics our marks and makes it seem like we are always in the center, when in fact we aren''t? Wouldn''t we be walking around in circles without even knowing it?"

    Those were exactly the reasons why this Natural Formation was tricky. Luckily, Mira already had a solution to those problems. A very simple solution!<sub> </sub>

    "Your blood!"

    Elenei was stunned and felt like she just heard something ridiculous.

    "Excuse me? My what?"

    "Your blood! Hehe~ We just need to use your blood as the marks we''ll be using to track our location. Your body contains the bloodline of two Top-Tier Immortal Beasts, right? I doubt even the Heavens of this Mortal World can mimic your blood, much less a Formation. It can try to simte it and can probably get pretty close to the aura your blood exudes, but I doubt it can mimic it perfectly and as long as it can''t do it perfectly then it''s fine. As for getting teleported around? That sounds like a huge pain in the ass, but as long as we can sense your blood, then everything should be fine. It''ll just take some extra work."

    "Oh! We could also use Rhydian''s blood as well because I don''t even know how high her bloodline is rated. She has the word ''Empyrean'' in her species name so it can''t be that low."

    Elenei turned speechless at Mira''s reply and wanted to retort, but found herself unable to say anything. It''s true that her blood is not something that this Formation can even hope to replicate even if it''s just an illusion.

    But�� But�� to use her blood for something like this��

    It''s just degrading that her, a majestic and powerful Phoenix, is stuck in a situation where she needs to use her blood as a tracker!

    She still has her pride as a Phoenix, you know?! Her blood isn''t just some random pigeon''s blood that one can find just about anywhere! Just a drop of her blood would cause wars even in the Immortal Realm! Yet, Mira wants to use it like it''s some random cabbage she can pick up by the roadside?!

    BLASPHEMY!!

    She''s unwilling to do such a shameful act!

    Elenei took a few deep breaths to calm down before looking at the three girls in front of her.

    "Unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not use my blood in such a manner. Rhydian''s blood will be more than enough and I''m sure her blood would actually be more potent than my blood in this scenario. Plus, that dumbass wolf might finally wake up if you start draining her blood."

    Elenei grumbled, but none of them were upset with her. Mira wanted to say something, but immediately stopped herself. She was about to start dismissing her pride as irrelevant, but Mira knew that saying that would be a bit too hypocritical. She also has her own pride and she would also be angry if someone wanted to stomp on that pride.

    She also felt like it was about time her useless beastpanion finally woke up and contributed a bit.

    "Alright. We''ll do as you say."

    Mira nodded and started walking over to her ''pet'' with a slightly demonic grin that sent shivers down herpanion''s spines.

 Chapter 282 Frustration

    After extracting a significant amount of Rhydian''s blood, Mira distributed it to herpanions. However, even after draining Rhydian of quite a bit of blood, she still didn''t wake up! Not only that, but she seemed perfectly fine even after she lost all that blood.

    Mira truly started wondering how it was possible to have such azy pet that can still sleep even when her life is being threatened. Or was her life really threatened since she looks fine?

    Regardless, Mira retrieved her blood and now they can begin their search for the Core.

    After Mira handed out Rhydian''s blood to Maria, Cine, and Elenei, she started walking in a random direction.

    "Let''s get moving. We don''t have any time to waste. Let''s start off by doing this for 12 hours before meeting back here. Remember to keep track of the marks that YOU made, not the marks that the illusions want you to think you made. Also, if you get teleported, just keep an eye out for any marks and follow them until you either reach someone or are able to retrace your steps."

    "Sounds like a n!"

    "Alright."

    "Ugh�� What a pain."

    Her threepanions responded and started walking in their respective directions. Every 10 meters or so, they would mark the area with Rhydian''s blood then continue on their merry way. It didn''t take long for them to get the hang of it and so they were able to speed up, but unfortunately, things wouldn''t go that smoothly for them.

    Mira, unsurprisingly, was the first of the 4 to experience something that she would have really liked for it not to happen so early.

    She was jogging at a decent speed, leaving a marker every few seconds, but then all of a sudden her next step disoriented her, teleported her, and put her right in the middle of a bunch of markers that looked exactly the same as the ones she just ced.

    Mira felt like she was thrown into a mirror room except she couldn''t just take out her scythe and start shing. This is also when Mira experienced the full terror of this Natural Formation! She could sense the auraing from those marks was highly simr to the aura left by Rhydian''s blood. Although she knew they weren''t the same, spotting the real ones in this situation is anything but easy. Who knows if there is even a real tracking marker within all of these illusory ones! She might be surrounded by a bunch of fakes when in reality she is kilometers away from any marker.

    Although this was infuriating, it wasn''t enough to discourage Mira. So, she began searching for any tracking markers that might be real, but when Mira took her first step, she saw that the illusions kept adding simr-looking tracking markers within her field of vision.

    Mira already expected something like that so she wasn''t all that surprised, even though she found it slightly annoying.<sub> </sub>

    From that point on, Mira spent the next few hours running in various directions, trying to spot something real. One might think she would have to take it slow, but she knew that she''s sensitive enough that as long as a real marker is within her vicinity, she''ll be able to spot it. Also, Rhydian is her contracted beast, how can she not tell the real versus the fake?

    If Maira or Cine were in this situation, they might have a bit harder time, but even if they did, they would still be able to spot the real thing as long as they''re near it. That''s just how powerful and unique Rhydian''s blood is. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that it''s the only one of its kind! How can a mere Mortal Natural Formation perfectly replicate such a thing?

    As for Elenei, well, she''s not only much stronger than the three of thembined, but she''s also a Phoenix. She probably wouldn''t even need to be near Rhydian''s blood to know which one is real. Honestly, it''s probably a simple matter for her to find that as Elenei''s bloodline most likely feels a bit of suppression from Rhydian''s blood.

    So, really, being teleported around and shown these illusions is nothing more than an annoyance to Mira''s group. As long as they kept trying, making markers, and exploring this damn Natural Formation, they would eventually make it out of this ce. It would probably take them around a month or so to do that, but that''s a rtively short amount of time considering the level of Natural Formation they are currently in.

    Getting out of here isn''t exactly the problem at this point, it''s the 2-week time limit. ording to Mira''s calctions, just finding the damn center of this ce will take at least a few days under perfect conditions. That means no illusions, random teleports, or any of that nonsense. The main reason for that is they don''t know how big this ce really is. It could span only a few kilometers in diameter or hundreds! If it''s thetter, then forget about getting out of this ce in 2 weeks. It''ll take at least that amount of time just to find the general area of where the center is supposed to be.

    Then it''ll take some time to find the Core and also the treasures. That doesn''t even ount for trying to actually leave this ce. Mira doesn''t even know how long that''ll take! In that case, they might be stuck in here for at least a month, probably 2.

    But if this Natural Formation isn''t that big, they could probably cut this time down, but to make it out of here in 2 weeks? That''s still pushing it.

    Again, this is also considering the fact that nothing too out of the ordinary happens. As you can see, that''s nothing but wishful thinking as it hasn''t even been half a day yet and Mira was already teleported and forced to spend hours and hours searching this damn ce trying to retrace her steps!

    As for how the others are doing? Well, let''s just say Elenei is the only one that''s doing somewhat fine since she''s much stronger, faster, and more sensitive than her humanpanions.

    ***

    Maria started off like the rest of them and was actually much luckier than them as well. She was able to keep going in a straight line for hours and was actually able to travel several kilometers before something happened.

    Well, this wasn''t too shocking considering Maria does have a reputation of having high luck and is also incredible at detecting dangers. Though it would be nearly impossible for her to sense any dangersing towards her, even if she knew something was about to happen, what? Could she dodge it? Would she even know where it''sing from? Probably not.

    Unfortunately, Maria''s luck didn''t hold out for long as soon she was teleported away, but instead of her being sent to a ce simr to where Mira was thrown to, Maria actually ended up underground!

 Chapter 283 Troubles

    Maria looked around and noticed she was in some sort of cavern, but surprisingly it wasn''t dark inside the cave. While that in itself was already a bit odd, another thing Maria immediately took note of was the dense amount of Qi present in the cavern. It far surpassed the density of Qi above ground. Normally, this would cause Maria to get excited thinking she just found a ce full of treasures or Spirit Stones, but she honestly couldn''t tell whether all of this was real or not.

    Even if it was real, the chances of it being a trap are exceedingly high.

    She didn''t want to believe that a formation can simte a higher density of Qi with just illusions, but after thinking it over, she felt like she might''ve been too naive. All it has to do is make one feel like the density of Qi is higher and it''s not like such a feeling is unique. Every cultivator can feel a difference in Qi density and it feels the same for everyone regardless of their strength.

    All the illusions have to do is make it feel like the Qi density is higher, that doesn''t actually mean it really is.

    So Maria, who can''t see through the illusions of this Natural Formation, wouldn''t be able to tell the difference no matter how hard she tries.

    Still, it''s not like something would happen by just standing there. Who knows, maybe this ce really is full of treasures and resources? Or maybe, if she''s extremely lucky, she was teleported to the Core of this Natural Formation!

    Shaking her head at such an impossible thought, Maria started moving deeper into the cavern. However, it didn''t take her long to find the source of light in this cavern.

    A Spirit Stone Mine!

    Maria could thousands of fist-sized rocks releasing a subtle yet resplendent glow. She could even see at least a few dozen rocks releasing a brighter glow and although Maria had never seen or experienced one, she knew that those brighter stones were Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!

    She was shocked speechless for a few seconds before she finally realized she struck it rich!

    Maybe��

    She still didn''t know if this was an illusion or not, but at the same time�� who cares??

    Mira might be less inclined to mine out these Spirit Stones as she would definitely view it as a waste of time as her ultimate goal here is not to gather treasures but to leave this ce. Mining Spirit Stones where the chances of them being fake are around 50%? Mira would never bet on them being real unless she really had to.

    But Maria was different. She also wanted to leave this ce within the 2-week time limit to get that recipe, but she also understood how important resources are and Mid-Grade Spirit Stones could be considered high-level resources at her current strength.

    So, without thinking too much, Maria began mining these Spirit Stones. It isn''t a difficult process and instead of ''mining'', it''s more like she''s plucking the Spirit Stones like one would berries in a bush or apples on a tree.

    After ''mining'' the first Spirit Stone, she ced it in her Spatial Ring and was happy to see that it entered without any problems, but then she remembered the conversation between Mira and Elenei.

    They said that the Natural Formation can even keep its illusions active inside a Spatial Ring thanks to the Spatial elements of this Formation. While they weren''t 100% certain of this possibility, it is still possible.<sub> </sub>

    Maria''s mood soured at that thought, but that didn''t stop her from collecting more Spirit Stones.

    ***

    Cine, on the other hand, was having an equally bad time as Mira or perhaps worse depending on how one looks at it.

    She started off just fine, just like everyone else, but after a few hours of setting down tracking markers with Rhydian''s blood, all of a sudden a giant Low-Rank 6 ck Tiger appeared in front of her!

    That had truly caught her off guard as she didn''t feel or sense anything around her and could only curse this Formation and its illusory and spatial elements!

    Luckily, she is a bit too strong for an ordinary Low-Rank 6 beast to kill her and after the initial surprise, she was able to take it down with rtive ease.

    However, that was only the beginning of her nightmares!

    Sometimes the beasts that came after her were small, about the size of a palm, while others were exceedinglyrge. Some attacked from underground, some attacked from the sky, and some appeared out of thin air!

    All of these beasts ranged from Low to Late Rank 6. Not only that, but she also had to protect her blood markers which generally meant getting further away from them when fighting. There is also another reason for her distancing herself from those tracking markers. She doesn''t want the blood of the fallen beasts to distort the aura that Rhydian''s blood releases. She didn''t know that such a thing is basically impossible, but one can''t me her for her ignorance. Although she knew that Rhydian was strange and abnormally strong, she didn''t know the extent of Rhydian''s peculiarity.

    Regardless, Cine was having a tough time dealing with the onught of beasts while also trying to ce and protect her tracking markers.

    ***

    Lastly, Elenei was peacefully soaring through the skies while using her Soul Sense to ce her blood trackers on the ground every ten meters. She didn''t have much to worry about now that she knew exactly what she was dealing with. She might not be able to sense any traps or anything like that, but how can she still call herself a Frost-Fire Phoenix if she can''t even prevent herself from getting teleported or fooled by this mortal formation?

    Part of the reason she got stuck in this ce, to begin with, was that she wasn''t paying too much attention to anything other than flying. And why would she? Truthfully, Elenei wasn''t that worried about finding the center of this ce. Even if she was teleported around against her will or shown illusions that look no different from reality, she would never mistake the feeling of Rhydian''s blood. Plus, she can fly almost as fast as this ce can teleport if need be. So even if she keeps getting teleported, she can find her previous location in just a few minutes.

    It would be quite annoying if that happened over and over again, but that''s all it would be�� annoying.

    She also knew that Mira was secretly betting on her to help them find the center of this ce as quickly as possible because she knew that it would definitely take a while if the three of them tried to do it by themselves.

 Chapter 284 Meeting Up

    Elenei didn''t run into any troubles as she continued flying through the air using her Soul Sense to ce the tracking markers, but even if this formation did want to do something to her like sending various enemies at her or even if this Natural Formation teleported her outside of it, Elenei still wouldn''t face any troubles.

    At least that''s what Elenei thought��

    The hours went by extremely quickly for the Phoenix and on the third hour of cing tracking markers, Elenei reached a point that she believed to be the edge of the Formation.

    She couldn''t exin it clearly, but when she looked ahead of her she felt like she was looking into a mirror. It felt like she was looking at an exact replica of what she just flew through except without the tracking markers.

    Naturally, as Phoenix and as someone with a high cultivation in the Mortal World, Elenei''s memory is exceptional. Although she can''t say she was paying much attention to her surroundings, that doesn''t mean shepletely disregarded them and from what she can remember, the things she''s seeing ahead of her are almost, if not exactly, the samepared to her currentndscape.

    To top it off, Elenei also had a feeling that this was the end of the Natural Formation. She refused to believe that it could span any further. By this point, she had already traveled hundreds of kilometers, which she already felt was extremelyrge even by Natural Formation standards.

    While it''s true that they are in a very unpopted area on the Western Continent, if this Natural Formation spanned thousands of Kilometers, people would definitely know about it. Not only that, but the energy needed to sustain such arge formation would be massive even if it was created by the Heavens. Adding illusory and spatial elements only increases the energy consumption as well.

    She didn''t even want to imagine how much Qi or Spirit Stones this thing would need if it was any bigger than it already was. At that point, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that this Formation was sucking the entire continent dry!

    Thankfully, it shouldn''t be that long. Elenei seriously doubted that the direction opposite to her also went on for hundreds of kilometers. She guessed that there were probably another 50 kilometers or so in the other direction.

    Now that she''s reached the end, she did a bit of recon around the area to see if she could find anything, but after not being able to sense anything unique around the area, she decided to stop searching and head back to wait for the rest of the group to finish their jobs.

    ***

    Surprisingly, Elenei''s estimate wasn''t too far off as Mira, who was walking in the opposite direction of Elenei, actually reached what looked like a mirror except without the tracking markers in its reflection. By this point, she had only walked around 75 kilometers or so, however, it took Mira much longer than 3 hours to get here.

    In fact, at around the 3-hour mark, Mira was back where she started. She had finally walked her way out of that shit that made her feel like she was surrounded by Rhydian''s blood in all directions and by the time she came out of it, she was already back at the start.

    Luckily, it didn''t take long for her to get back to where she was before she was sent to some random ce.

    From then on, Mira decided to take it a bit slower to take in her surroundings and she was also curious if she could sense if the Formation was about to do something to her if she focused hard enough.

    The answer to this is that yes she can sense if something is about to happen to her, but she has no idea what it will be when it wille, and which direction it''sing from.

    That being said, Mira was still getting swept up in traps that the Formation set for her and had basically no way of avoiding them. Luckily, this Formation didn''t seem to be dead set on killing her and instead wanted to do its best at confusing her and preventing her from reaching the Core, but part of Mira also wanted this ce to try and kill her. Then her battle-hardened instincts would be much more useful and she also wouldn''t have to go through all this shit. She could just run in the direction where the traps get more and more deadly and should eventually find the core as long as she survives. She could be in and out of here in a few hours if that was the case!

    Unfortunately, she''s in this annoying ce that keeps sending her in random directions and making her see things that she can''t tell if they are real or just an illusion.<sub> </sub>

    It took Mira the full 12 hours just to reach a point where she felt like she wasat the edge of this Formation. It was around 75 kilometers from where she began, but what made Mira a bit frustrated was that she definitely ran a lot more than 75 kilometers in the past 12 hours.

    Once she made it to what she believed to be the edge, she walked up to what seemed to be the barrier and was about to keep walking to see if she would be able to just walk out of here without having to go through all this trouble, but as soon as she almost crossed the barrier, she stopped. Something told her that if she were to touch that mirror-looking barrier, she definitely wouldn''t have a good time. She didn''t feel any dangering from it, but he felt like her life would be annoying as hell should she take another step.

    So without hesitation, Mira turned around and started running towards the rendezvous point where she''ll meet up with Maria, Cine, and Elenei.

    Mira knew that she might be giving up on an opportunity, but she didn''t care. She''s always trusted her instincts and right now they are telling her that it''s better if she doesn''t try and step through that barrier.

    The only thing she can do at this point is hope that herpanions do the same thing as her. Okay, she knew Elenei definitely wouldn''t touch the barrier and Cine most likely wouldn''t as she''s an extremely responsible girl who would do what she''s told instead of trying to investigate things on her own without informing the group.

    Maria, however�� Mira was worried that she would f*ck everything up and jump straight at the barrier with no thoughts other than "I wonder what''s on the other side!".

    "Hopefully that idiot didn''t fuck everything up or I''ll definitely have to give her a good beatingter!"

    Mira muttered to herself as she made her way back to where they started.

    ***

    In an underground cave somewhere in the Natural Formation, Maria was still mining Spirit Stones when she felt a chill run down her spine.

    "Oh no! Mira must be thinking about me! Have 12 hours already passed? Is that why she''s mad? Well, whatever. I''ll finish up here before going back! I''m almost done and it''d be a shame to lose all of these Spirit Stones!"

    Maria thought out loud before ignoring the ever-growing chill down her spine and going back to mining.

    ***

    Cine had a simr experience to Mira, but instead of being teleported around and confused by what was going on, her troubles stemmed from the near endless battles she had to go through over thest 12 hours.

    Luckily, she reached what seemed to be the edge of the Natural Formation as not only did it look like a very realistic mirror, but beasts also stopped spawning or appearing right in front of her when she reached this point.

    She was a bit curious about what''s on the other side, but she felt like it would be a while until she was able to meet up with the rest of her friends if she kept moving forward. So, instead she took a short break before turning around and making her way back. She could also use this time to count how many tracking markers she set so she can know exactly how far she walked. It was a bit hard to keep track of this information since she was battling almost nonstop over thest 12 hours.

 Chapter 285 The Core?!

    p It took almost the same amount of time for everyone to regroup than it did for them to actually finish marking their route. That''s not to say that it took Cine Maria, Elenei, and Mira each another 12 hours to make it back as that was only the case for Cine.</anda>

    Elenei had made it back to the meeting point in about half an hour. She would''ve made it back sooner, but she decided to keep her guard raised so she doesn''t fall in some random trap. One mustn''t forget that she reached the edge of the Formation in about 3 hours.

    Even after making it back to her original position, she still had to wait almost 9 hours before the rest of herpanions would even start making their way back.

    Mira was the next one to make it back, but it still took her several hours after reaching the edge of the Formation toe back. It turns out that being teleported to random locations during her journey actually helped her get back to her original location slightly faster. The experience gained from retracing her steps in this environment is what helped her understand which direction she needed to walk in even if she was teleported away from her markers.

    Maria was the second tost person to show up as she spent most of her time mining Spirit Stones and even continued doing so past the 12 hour mark. When she was done mining and made her way back to the surface, she realized that she had no idea where she was because she didn''t see any tracking markers anywhere in sight.

    She just had to walk in a random direction and hope she ran into a tracking marker and follow it back. Thankfully, Mira and her group made tracking markers that pointed in the directions they were walking so all Maria had to do was go in the opposite direction and she should make it back to her group.

    Luckily, it didn''t take her too long to find a set of tracking markers to follow, but even then it still took her 10 hours after the 12 hour mark to make it back.

    Cine was thest and probably the unluckiest person of the group. Not only did she have to fight for nearly 12 hours straight while cing down tracking markers, but she also had to deal with the same thing going back while trying to count how many markers she ced.

    Sometimes she would be so focused on fighting that she would forget the number and had to restart which only made things worse!

    Needless to say, the girl was exhausted when she finally made it back and the rest of the group could spot numerous wounds all over her body and her clothes were ripped up.

    Now that everyone has made it back, Mira finally decided to start to discuss everyone''s progress and their findings. She''s been waiting for Cine to finally show up as she didn''t want to repeat herself.

    "First, I''d like to start off by saying how many markers I was able to ce before I reached what seemed like the edge of the Formation. I ced a total of 7,500 markers, which equates to roughly 75 kilometers. How many did you ce, Elenei?"

    "I ced around 42,500 markers before reaching the edge. That should equate to somewhere around 500 kilometers."

    When Elenei finished, Cine decided to speak up, albeit briefly.

    "7,500 markers."

    When Cine finished, it was now Maria''s turn to speak up, but thetter was sweating as she didn''t even make it 75 kilometers before she got teleported and distracted by the Spirit Stone Mine.

    All eyes were now trained on her as they looked at asking for confirmation. If she also ced around 42,500 markers then this would mean the Natural Formation is in the shape of a sphere and finding the center from here would be rtively easy, especially with Elenei. It shouldn''t take them longer than half a day to find the center!

    Maria, not knowing what to do, just started emptying her Spatial ring of all the Spirit Stones she collected.<sub> </sub>

    Mira''s face went ck at this sight and she instantly came to a conclusion that only made her mood plummet further.

    "Maria��"

    "Umm�� Yes? W-W-What is it�� Mira?"

    "Why are you pulling out all of these Spirit Stones?"

    Maria went silent for a few seconds as she lowered her head in shame, but then remembering just how many Mid-Grade Spirit Stones she found and the weird metallic dodecahedron she picked up at the end of the Spirit Stone Mine, her mood lifted.

    With a bright smile and a smug expression, she said:

    "Because I spent thest half a day mining! I mean, just look at all of this loot! There are tens of Thousands of Low-Grade Spirit Stones and even hundreds of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones! I''ve probably collected the equivalent of close to 1 million Low-Grade Spirit Stones!"

    Mira, Cine, and even Elenei were taken aback for a few seconds as they realized the gravity of her words. If these Spirit Stones were in fact real, then they''ve really made it big this time! However, if they were just an illusion, then she just wasted an entire day!

    "Also, look at this thing I found at the end of the Spirit Stone Mine! I''m sure this has to be something special as I can feel a tremendous amount of Qi contained within it."

    Their eyes instantly shot to the metallic dodecahedron that Maria pulled out of her Spatial ring and although the rest didn''t know what it was, Elenei knew exactly what this thing was!

    "The Core! It''s the Core of the Natural Formation! How the hell did you find it?! Exin what happened to you. Don''t leave out any details!"

    Eleneimanded and Maria nodded and proceeded to recount her journey. The three of them listened closely as they didn''t want to miss out on a single detail, however when Maria described how she was drawn towards the Spirit Stone Mine and how she essentially wasted almost 10 hours mining something she didn''t even know was real or not they started cursing at her.

    It was only after she found what Elenei said to the Core of the Formation did they stop looking at her like roadside garbage.

    Maria also mentioned that she was quite far from any tracking markers they ced which made the group think that maybe she was actually teleported to the center of the Natural Formation.

    There was only one problem. This was a Natural Formation that could almost turn illusions into reality.

    "How do we know if this is the real thing or a fake?"

 Chapter 286 Solution

    Maria, Cine, and Elenei weren''t sure how they should test if it was real or not. They could try bing the Master of the Core, but that''s easier said than done even if they had the real thing. The main problem with this is even if they do be the ''master'' of the Core, who''s to say they didn''t just waste all of their time bing the ''master'' of a fake core?

    The same issue applies to the other possible solutions as well. They could try and destroy it, but if it was fake then they would have just wasted much of their time and energy on something that brought them no benefit.

    But, they are only worried about these things because they are short on time. If they had more time to spare, then things would have yed out differently.

    Mira stood by with a slight smirk on her face. She had alreadye up with a viable way to counter this Formation. Her storage space in the F.LD.I.L! Since that ce is technically in another dimension, if she were to ce the items from this Natural Formation in her storage space, any illusory items should dispel as soon as she tries to ce them in the F.LD.I.L.

    It''s only a theory as Mira hasn''t found anything to test this theory out, but she''s confident that she''s correct. If she is, then it would save their group a lot of time. No, not just that, but they probably won''t even need to be the ''master'' of this Natural Formation. She should just be able to put it in her storage space and the Formation should disappear. In theory, at least.

    With her thoughts organized, Mira walked up to Mira and took the Core from her hands, and tried putting it in her storage space. She watched as the Core vanished from her hand and entered her Storage Space, but it immediately fizzled out of existence as soon as it entered.

    She was a bit disappointed that this wasn''t the real thing, but at the same time, she was happy that her theory was correct. All she needs to do is ce any items from this Natural Formation in her Storage Space to know if they are real or not.

    Maria was a bit stunned that Mira would take the Core from her without saying anything to her, but she didn''tin. She knew that Mira had a good reason for taking it away from her.

    Without any emotion on her face, Mira opened her mouth.

    "It''s a fake."

    Herpanions didn''t know how to react to that and just looked at Mira weirdly. They were waiting for an exnation, but seeing as Mira didn''t say anything afterward they realized she wasn''t going to exin herself. Well, until Elenei spoke up.

    "Can you borate? How do you know it''s fake?"

    Mira looked at her for a second before sighing. She already told them about her Storage Space a few days ago, but it seems they either forgot or they didn''t realize how unique it was.

    "Remember when I said that I received a Storage Space from the Inheritance I got a few days ago?"

    Seeing all of them nod, Mira continued.

    "Well, that space is technically in another dimension that only I can enter."

    Mira didn''t say anymore because that''s all the information they should need to figure out the rest.

    Just like she thought, herpanions almost instantly caught on to what she was trying to say and were amazed that Mira received such a good thing! Elenei especially knew the benefits of having such a Storage Space. Basically, Mira could never be robbed unless she let herself be robbed. Not only that, but she can ce items that might have some sort of tracker on them in her Storage Space without having to worry about being hunted down.<sub> </sub>

    "That''s awesome! Hey, how about you check out these Spirit Stones to see if they''re real or not. If they are real, then we''re rich! Hahaha~"

    Maria eximed to which Mira nodded her head as she was going to do that even without her reminder.

    Standing in front of the small mountain of Spirit Stones, Mira released a wave of Qi from her palm and encapsted all of them into her Qi before bringing her hand to the Qi around the Spirit Stones and willing them into her Storage Space.

    The mountain of Spirit Stones disappeared from everyone''s view, but inside Mira''s Storage Space only a few hundred Spirit Stones remained. Luckily, they were all Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!

    Mira took them back out and dropped them in front of Maria.

    "These are the only real ones out of that entire pile. You can keep them since you''re the one that found them."

    Maria was ecstatic that all of the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones were real! Sure, she lost out on a bunch of Low-Grade ones and wasted the better part of the day mining them, but this is still more than she could have asked for. She immediately started putting away those Spirit Stones in her Storage Ring.

    Mira waited for her to finish before speaking about what they should do next.

    "I think everyone can agree that Maria is an idiot who failed to do her job properly, we don''t really need her results to know what we should do next. Although we can''t be 100% certain, we can assume that the edge of the Formation from here to the end of her side is around 425 kilometers as well since Cine''s was 75 Kilometers. I think everyone should understand what to do now. We choose one of the two 425-kilometer-long sides and walk 175 kilometers from our current position. Then from there, we just make our way to the center of the Formation. We should also make the tracking markers a bit more unique this time so we can differentiate between them."

    Mira gave Elenei a deep look after she finished thatst sentence and thetter knew that unless she came up with a better idea to make the tracking markers more unique, Mira was going to suggest using her blood.

    .

    .

    .

    Unfortunately for Elenei, she couldn''te up with a better idea and was almost forced to use her blood to make the new tracking markers more unique.

    However, she said she''ll only give them a drop of her blood. Mira can dilute it as many times as she wants, but she''s only getting a drop. Elenei also made them promise that when they are finally out of this ce, they are going to wipe out any traces of her and Rhydian''s existence from this ce.

    Although Mira didn''t know the reason why, she could tell that Elenei was serious about this and she also didn''t have a problem doing that so she agreed.

    It''s now time to begin their journey to the center of the Formation!

 Chapter 287 The Center

    While riding on Elenei''s back, Mira''s group quickly made their way towards the center of the Formation. They also left it up to the flying Phoenix to ce down the tracking markers as well.

    So, right now Mira and the rest were just enjoying the ride.

    It had to be said that Elenei is a really great mount. Not only is she extremely powerful, but she''s intelligent as well. Mira also likes the fact that she doesn''t talk much and only interferes when necessary. In the future, Elenei mightpletely rece Rhydian as her exclusive flying mount since that dumb wolf seems to enjoy sleeping a little too much.

    Luckily, Elenei couldn''t hear Mira''s thoughts or she would definitely beat her ck and blue and would stop assisting her in their escape out of the Natural Formation.

    As Elenei flew through the air, she ran into a few problems like being teleported away or having beasts thrown at her. It also tried to confuse her to make Elenei think she was in a loop, but nothing seemed to work. No, that''s not entirely correct.

    Elenei did fall for these traps as they are nearly impossible to spot, but it didn''t really matter. They had already left tracking markers all over this Formation and thesetest ones even had her blood in them. If she can''t even locate her own blood then she might as wellmit suicide on the spot!

    These traps were nothing more than a nuisance to Elenei as not only was she too strong, but she was so fast that even if she was trapped or teleported away she would be back a few minutester.

    Plus, sending out so many traps, illusions, beasts, and things of that nature uses up tons of energy. Not only that, but the Natural Formation was also trying to adjust to Elenei''s strength, but if it were to do that then it might as well just hand them the Core. The amount of energy the Formation would have to use to dispatch Elenei would be enormous and even then it might not be enough.

    Killing a Phoenix, or any mythical beast for that matter, is an extremely difficult task as they are nearly invincible in the same realm against those of weaker bloodlines or races. They can even fight above their Realm or sometimes even multiple Realms!

    If this Natural Formation really wanted to deal with Elenei, the action with the highest probability of sess is to blow itself up. The st from such an explosion would most likely take out Elenei, but it would also remove a significant chunk ofnd and Qi from the Western Continent.

    Of course, the Natural Formation would never do such a thing. It may have basic intelligence and was at least smart enough to determine what is a threat to it and know what precautions it should take to prevent such a threat from reaching its Core, but like every living thing, it didn''t want to die. It especially didn''t want to die by blowing itself up.

    However, that''s about the extent of its intelligence. If Mira were to describe it, she would definitely say it''s simr to a low-level artificial intelligence with very basic code.

    Although it tried its hardest, it couldn''t stop Elenei from reaching the Core of the Formation, unfortunately. Maybe if it had been a Natural Killing Formation then it could have already gotten rid of them, but all it had were illusions and space. These two elements might be extremely deadly in the right hands, but unfortunately, it was too young and inexperienced.

    It was used to dealing with lower-level beasts that only act on instincts or the asional wandering cultivator. It could just teleport them into a horde of illusory beasts and kill them off or keep showing them illusions until they starve to death.

    There was so much more that it could do, but it was simply not used to dealing with these kinds of situations and Elenei was so fast that it could barely react in time, much lesse up with new ways to use its powers.<sub> </sub>

    Half a dayter, Elenei finally made it to where they assumed the center would be. They didn''t know what to expect when they finally made it here, but they figured it would be a bit different than the rest of the areas in the Formation.

    However, that wasn''t the case at all. It was still an empty grasnd. There was no metallic dodecahedron, no altar for the Core, not even anything that signified this ce held any relevance to the Natural Formation.

    Mira''s group simultaneously cursed as now they had to physically search for the damn thing. It was most likely underground, but they can''t rule out the fact that the Core could be hidden in some illusion right under their nose without them even knowing.

    Elenei started making her way down since she knew exactly what Mira wanted to do, but before she could reach the ground, something happened.

    Thousands of metallic dodecahedrons started appearing around them. At first, one might think that these were just illusions forming right in front of them so it shouldn''t be hard to tell them apart and find the real one, but they would be wrong! Instead, it was like the illusions were being formed somewhere else then teleported near them in theirplete form so they wouldn''t be able to tell the difference!

    It was right in its assumption because they couldn''t! They only knew what the Core looked like and even that was pushing it because this ce could simply cast an illusion on the Core to change its appearance.

    Almost like it was sensing their thoughts, that''s exactly what happened. Now, illusions were forming around the fake, or maybe real, Cores to randomly change their appearances.

    <o>,m Mira''s group saw the changes happening right in front of them and started cursing out loud.</o>

    "What the heck?! How shameless! You can''t deal with us like normal so instead you force us to sift through this endless amount of fake, but potentially real, Formation Cores?! How shameless can a Formation be?!" (Maria)

    "Are you fucking kidding me? Before this, I was forced to fight wave and wave of beasts and now I have to go through this shit? Sigh�� I''m feeling tired just looking at it." (Cine)

    "I should''ve known something annoying like this would pop up once we reached the center. I suppose all we can do now is rely on Mira''s Storage Space and hope we get lucky." (Elenei)

    "How troublesome��" (Mira)

    What Mira''s group had once thought would be the end of their journey appeared to only be the beginning��

    The beginning of a massive headache��

 Chapter 288 Found It!

    The uing days were filled with an unending amount of irritation as Mira''s group was forced to sift through all of the Fake Cores because they didn''t know what the real one''s appearance might look like nor could they tell the real from the fake.

    To make matters even more annoying, Mira was the only one who could actually tell which one''s were fake due to her Storage Space.

    Mira tried wrapping her Qi around a bunch of the Fake Cores and transporting them to her Storage Space, but doing that exhausted her much too quickly that it was faster to grab them one by one or by doing just a few at a time.

    When they first started this little project, Mira was constantly checking her Storage Space to see if they actually found the right one, but that didn''tst for long.

    After the first day, Mira stopped checking her Storage Space and would only look at it once every few hours. It was just faster this way.

    Mira also wanted Elenei to fly straight up from the center to see how many kilometers the barrier is from the surface, but that idea was almost immediately rejected. It''s not that it wasn''t a good idea, but it would be a huge waste of time. Also, Elenei was the one who has contributed the most in finding the Core since she can easily scoop up hundreds or even thousands of them at a time and ce them in front of Mira.

    It would be unrealistic of Mira to send her best worker on a wild goose chase that most likely won''t produce any results. She can''t ce tracking markers in the air, so keeping track of her position and how high she is will be much more difficult.

    Sure, there might be ways she could figure out the height of the Formation, but to them it seemed realistic to keep her on the ground.

    Instead, Mira had Maria start digging down and clearing out some of the surrounding area to see if the Core is actually hidden somewhere below them.

    She also ordered Cine to search the space above the ground just in case the real Core is actually covered in an illusion, floating in midair somewhere and they can''t see it.

    Elenie is the wild card of this operation. She would scoop uprge amounts of Fake Cores and put them in front of Mira for her to check them. Then she would help out Cine and Maria as they were too weak to finish this task in a reasonable amount of time.

    This continued on for several days, but what they never expected was how shameless this Natural Formation was. Not only did it make a bunch of copies of the Core to waste their time, but it kept on sending them! If they searched through a thousand, it would send a thousand more. If they checked ten thousand, then it would send ten thousand more.

    Mira, who spent days, weeks, or who knows exactly how long, getting tortured in the F.LD.I.L even found her eyebrows twitching asionally.

    Doing this is far from any form of torture nor is it causing her any sort of pain, but Mira found herself getting mildly infuriated from all this.

    It felt like someone was poking her with a stick while saying "Am I annoying you?" over and over again.

    She just wanted to scream "Goddamit! Yes! Now fucking stop!" and she wasn''t the only one. The rest of her group was constantly cursing how shitty and unscrupulous this Natural Formation is.

    Finally, sometime near the end of the sixth day since they''ve been stuck in this Natural Formation, Mira reached for the next fake Core in front of her, but before she grabbed her desired Core, her handnded on the next Core, but it wasn''t the one she originally wanted to grab.

    She wasn''t paying too much attention to where her handnded because she''s spent almost the past week grabbing cores.

    What she didn''t know was that whatever she just grabbed was actually invisible. In the end, Mira transferred it to her Storage Space without her even knowing what she just grabbed.

    Suddenly, everything changed!

    The Fake Cores in front of her all disappeared without a trace and she no longer felt like she was suffocating.

    Mira blinked her eyes in surprise that everything around her started to feel so much more�� real.

    The grass she was sitting on felt slightly different than before, the air she breathed felt more fulfilling almost like it was slightly polluted before but now it''s clean. The sky above her didn''t seem so�� unnatural and programmed.

    With all that said, Mira knew she had finally grabbed the real Core and canceled out this shitty Formation.

    She checked her Storage Space and saw a small metallic pyramid with a small vortex swirling around the top that wasn''t in here before. Since there''s nothing in this Storage Space other than  this pyramid, it doesn''t take a genius to figure out that this is the Core of the Natural Formation.

    The pyramid was only around 50 centimeters tall, so it wasn''t veryrge, but Mira noticed that there were thousands upon thousands of small engravings all over this thing. She had no idea what they meant, but she could feel a profound meaning contained within those engravings that made her feel like she was looking at a vast illusory space.<sub> </sub>

    She stopped looking at it a few secondster and started contemting what she could do with this thing.

    She could probably sell it for an overwhelminglyrge amount of Spirit Stones, but she felt like that would be a waste. Not only that, but if she had to fight against a n, Family, Sect, or whatever and they had gotten their hands on this item��

    Wouldn''t she essentially be shooting her own foot if such a situation ever happened and knowing her luck, it would definitely happen.

    Thinking about it some more, Mira realized that this thing could actually be quite useful. If she could study and learn those engravings, then she might be able to engrave them on her scythe!

    Just the thought of shing her opponents across space and confusing them with illusory scythes made her blood boil.

    In the end, Mira decided to keep it and study itter.

    After briefly examining the Core, she left the Storage Space and noticed herpanions were in front of her looking around, confused.

    "What happened? Where''d everything go? Did Mira finally grab the right one?"

    "It looks like she did. I guess we should go ask."

    Cine and Maria approached her and before they could open their mouths, Mira spoke.

    "That''s right. It seems we finally found the Core. I don''t want to bring it out just yet because who knows what might happen if I do. I don''t really feel like going through this shit again so I''ll just keep it for now. We can look at itter. For now, I say we take a break and then start searching the surrounding area for any treasures or resources. I''m sure there weren''t only a few hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones in this ce to begin with."

    Their eyes lit up as soon as Mira mentioned ''treasures'' because they almost forgot about that part. Now that they thought about it, they remembered that they would receive a Core recipe if they broke out of this ce within 2 weeks.

    Well, it hasn''t even been a week yet and they''ve already taken down the Formation��

    So not only will they get a recipe that will help them form their Core, but they will be able to snatch the loot that this ce has to offer!

    What a deal!!

    Now, they were almost d they went through all that annoying bullshit as the rewards are more than worth it.

    What they failed to realize was that this was basically only possible because they had Mira and Elenei with them.

    When Maria and Cine eventually separate from Mira to go do their own things for a while, they''ll realize just how much they rely on the icy princess.

    Though, it''s not like Mira isining. She knew this would happen when she ''took them in''. She knew they wouldn''t be of much help to her and even though there were times when they were able to assist her, they were few and far between.

    Now, they were strong enough and skilled enough to go out there and face the world. It was about time for Mira to let them go so they can face their own struggles and figure out their own path.

    Perhaps they''ll meet again in the future or maybe they won''t and they''ll move on from Mira to go do their own things. Only time will tell.

    Anyways, now that they aren''t stuck in this Formation anymore, the stress that has been umting over the past week has dissipated and they can take a break without worrying they won''t meet the deadline of getting out of here within 2 weeks.

    The group spent the next several hours rxing before they couldn''t take it anymore. The thought of treasures beneath their feet was too exciting, so they jumped back into work with more gusto than ever!

    Mira found it quite interesting how Maria hated the idea of digging holes for a week straight in order to find the Core, but now that there might be treasures involved, she started tearing up dirt like there was no tomorrow.

    Just like that, a week went by and it was time for them to leave. Hopefully this time, they''ll actually make it to their destination��

 Chapter 289 Quake City

    Mira''s group was currently flying through the air on Elenei''s back. Cine and Maria had just gotten the Core Formation recipes from The Guardian, though they didn''t know it was from him as information just appeared in their mind about what items they needed to gather and what procedures they needed to take when they are ready to break through.

    They only thought that this had something to do with Mira''s inheritance and technically they weren''t wrong.

    Mira, however, received a message from the Guardian right after he sent those two their respective recipes.

    "I provided the two of them recipes that should increase their potential and strength quite a bit when they breakthrough, but I want you to keep in mind that they will be nowhere near as strong as you, and that gap will only widen as you progress. Well, you''ll start to see a real difference when you ascend as the difference in strength between Mortal Realms can only get sorge. For example, let''s say you and Maria are in the same cultivation Realm near the Peak of this Mortal World. You might be strong enough to destroy arge Mountain while Maria will only be strong enough to destroy a medium-sized mountain. In the end, you both are capable enough to destroy mountains, it''s just your attacks will be a bit more destructive. So, your little friends will still be able to help you in times of need in this Mortal World, but unless they find ways to keep up after you ascend, then they will only fall farther and farther behind."

    "Oh! One more thing. I know that since you and your friends grew up in the middle of nowhere, your knowledge of herbs, ores, beasts, and pretty much everything else is very limited. So, I took it upon myself to take the resources that you or friends might need for when you break through and put them in the Spatial Rings of who actually needs them. But I assure you, I didn''t touch anything else!"

    "And just so you know, I didn''t put a time limit on your friend''s recipe. They can take all the time they need. Well, it wasn''t me who gave you your Core Formation Recipe and was instead the F.LD.I.L. That''s all. See ya~"

    Mira always felt slightly irked listening to that man, but she didn''t say anything back and only slightly nodded.

    She didn''t care too much that herpanions had fewer limitationspared to her since she understood her position.

    Instead, Mira felt somewhat d that they didn''t have to go through the same crap she had to go through. She''s already gotten used to the mindset of going against the world, but Maria and Cine are only little baby chicks in her eyes and wouldn''t be able to handle the stress that apanies her goals and hardships.

    She looked at the two girls, no, women in front of her and a sudden realization hit her that the three of them will be parting soon. She wasn''t quite sure how to feel about this as she''s gotten used to their presence over the years. Mira was never the over-emotional type, but there was one thought that rang in her mind.

    ''It''ll definitely be a lot quieter without them around.''

    She wasn''t sure if she was looking forward to it or not, but for some reason, the rest of the journey held a mncholic undertone whenever the three of them talked to each other.

    ***

    Only a few hundred miles away from Mira''s group''s current location was arge City called Quake City.

    This City is several times bigger than Lunar Fox City and the Sects that surround itbined, but there are a few odd things about this city.

    ? For howrge it is, the number of people that actually live there is very few. There are a few reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is that it''s a Mercenary City. Mercenariese here to take jobs, exchange information, buy unique resources, or even indulge in their primal desires.

    To put it mildly, Quake City is a ce where people from all walks of life gather together to trade in various goods and services.

    To put it bluntly, it''s awless wastnd where people can do whatever they want, when they want, without having to face any sort of consequences. Well, that is if they have the strength to back it up. There is now enforcement, no families or ns to keep any kind of order, and all sorts of atrocities happen in broad daylight yet nobody blinks an eye.<sub> </sub>

    Weaklings have no right to stay in this ce nor do those with righteous ideals. If you aren''t willing to kill then your only fate is to either be enved or killed.

    However, there is one ce that nobody tries to mess with and it''s said that anybody who does never meets a good end. Whether they die, are enved, or are used for some other purpose, nobody knows, but what they do know is that those who mess with this ce are never seen again.

    That ce is the Mercenary Association!

    Part of the reason nobody messes with this ce is that everyone in Quake City knows that this is the only ce they can make some money or trade for various items. Why would they want to destroy their only source of ie? They may be stupid, but nobody is that stupid!

    However, the main reason nobody messes with this ce is because of how mysterious the Mercenary Association is. They randomly appeared in this ce a few thousand years ago and ever since then they''ve basically taken control of the city. Of course, they haven''t taken control like how the leader of a n or Family might take control of the City they reside in. The Mercenary Association doesn''t care about the people in Quake City, they only care about profit and results.

    In fact, that''s all they need to care about as the people of Quake City will sort themselves out without any outside intervention. Rules in this ce would only hinder the growth of the city and the Mercenary Assosiation.

    As long as the Mercenary Association profits, they couldn''t care less about what atrocities the people in the city perform.

    What''s scary about this ce is nobody knows the true strength of not only the employees of the Mercenary Association but the Head as well. Hell, they don''t even know if there is a Head of the Association as they''ve never seen or heard of anyone like that. The public can only specte who it might be, but they''ve alle to the same conclusion. Whoever is at the top�� is strong.

    Aside from these few points, Quake City is actually very uniquepared to its surroundings and even the rest of the Western Continent. It might not be so unique if it was on the Southern Continent or maybe the Center Continent, but here it is.

    Quake City actually experiences earthquakes quite often. They appear anywhere from multiple times a day to once every few days, but hardly a week goes by when Quake City doesn''t experience an Earthquake.

    Unsurprisingly, that''s where Quake City gets its name.

    But what truly makes Quake City unique is everything around it. Quake City, from a distance, looks almost like a wastnd. Cracks in the ground, no grass or trees, hot and sunny all day for months on end, and tons of beasts that have a hard exoskeleton or shell.

    However, Quake City is actually incredibly rich in resources and the Qi density of this ce is much higher than the surrounding area.

    All around Quake City are deep chasms and ravines in the ground that go down for tens or even sometimes hundreds of kilometers. Some people have also found a few chasms that are thousands of kilometers deep, but those are so dangerous that almost nobody takes their chances.

    These chasms actually release tons of Qi which makes the surrounding area on the surface have a higher density of Qi than the surrounding area. This also means that the farther down you go in the chasms, the higher density of Qi and the more resources one might find.

    This is the main reason why not many people actually live in the City as they are busy making caves in these chasms to cultivate in. Or they are out exploring trying to make some money.

    On this particr day, the people of Quake City were experiencing their normal daily lives of debauchery and had no idea that a massive Phoenix justnded a few dozen kilometers away as a girl who looked no older than 8 years old got off the back and slowly made her way towards the city.

 Chapter 290 Goodbyes And... Confession?

    Around 100 kilometers away from Quake City, a massive Phoenixnded on the cracked ground.

    Mira, who was on the back of this Phoenix, looked at the sad expressions of her twopanions and didn''t know what to say. She''s never been very good at goodbyes and it seems she still isn''t very good at them.

    Truthfully, Mira didn''t mind leaving them or being alone and if she had it her way, she would have just said "Bye" and ran off to the city up ahead.

    Should fate allow it, they''ll meet again in two years anyway. To Mira, this amount of time was nothing. With how busy she''ll be, she has no doubt that these two years will go by in a sh.

    Part of Mira wished they''d be separated for longer because that amount of time is not enough for her baby chickpanions to spread their wings.

    "Are you sure we can''te with you, Mira? I promise we won''t get in your way!"

    Maria tearfully said, but Mira shook her head.

    "I have my own path and my own things that I must aplish within these next two years. I will barely have enough time to take care of myself much less try to keep track of you two. Even just having Rhydian with me is pushing it. Luckily, Elenei will be able to babysit thezy wolf while I''m busy. If not, I might have left her with you two instead."

    Elenei''s mouth twitched as it seemed her status in the group had gone down yet again. Now instead of a mount, Mira sees her as nothing more than a babysitter! How long will thisst before her status is reduced again and instead of being a babysitter, Mira starts seeing her as a baby?!

    ''Shit! That''ll actually happen when I undergo Nirvana! I''ll actually be a baby that she''ll have to continuously take care of until my Nirvana finishes and I effectively evolve!''

    Ignoring the grumbling Phoenix, Maria was about to speak up again, but before she could open her mouth Mira continued.

    "This is also something you need to do. If you follow me for the next two years, I can guarantee that you''d fall behind me in strength and cultivation. I thought you were nning to keep up with me? Didn''t you want to reach the peak of the Mortal World with me? What about ascending to Immortal Realm? If you don''t find your own path now, I''ll only leave you in the dust. Listen, in two years, I n on breaking through to the Core Formation Realm using my personalized Core Formation Recipe. I expect you to break through even faster considering it''s probably much easier for you to break through with your recipe than it is for me. We both needpletely different things to break through to the next Realm and I can guarantee you that I won''t be going out of my way to help you get the things you need."

    Mira finished speaking and the usually silent Cine decided to chip in this time.

    "She''s right, Maria. We have to go out there and explore the world ourselves. We have to find our own paths and find our own ways to grow in strength. Sure, Mira can take us to dangerous ces, teach us how to survive, and provide excellent pointers that can elerate our growth, but she has her own path that she needs to take in order to grow. If we follow her, even if we are pretty much equal in raw power right now, not only will our cultivation start to stagnate, but so will Mira''s. We simply need different environments and resources. Plus, it''s not like we''ll never see her again. This is only a temporary goodbye."

    Everyone was surprised because Cine rarely ever talked so much, but her words seemed to calm Maria down a bit. It took her a few minutes to reel herself in. She knew they were correct, but she didn''t want to separate from Mira just yet. It felt like their journey just started and now it''sing to an end just like that?

    Still, she noticed the look of impatience in Mira''s eyes that told her if she didn''t hurry up, then she was just going to leave. So she held back her tears, ran up to Mira, and gave her a big hug.

    "I know this is the right thing to do, but I''m still going to miss you. You better not die on me, you hear? I better see you in two years at the Battle Maiden Sect Recruitment or I''ll have to hunt you down myself! And don''t worry about my strength! The next time you see me, I''ll be so strong that you won''t even be able tost 10 moves against me!"

    Mira gave a faint smile and patted her head lightly.

    "I''m looking forward to it."

    The two stayed like that for a while and right before Mira was about to wiggle her way out of the hug, Maria leaned in and whispered something in her ears that made her mind go nk.

    "...I love you, Mira. Please take care of yourself."

    She then felt a light peck on her cheeks before Maria ran away, hiding herpletely red face with her hands.

    Mira just stood there with the same expressionless look on her face, but in reality, her mind had stopped working and she didn''t know what to do or say.

    Meanwhile, in the F.LD.I.L, the Guardian was raging in his room as he watched all of this unfold.

    "Dammit, Maria!!! What kind of shitty confession was that?!?! Don''t be a fucking pussy and take her lips, dammit!! Fuck me!! You have to make things clear for this idiot because I guarantee she''s only thinking you like her as a sister or maybe a best friend!! ARGH!! And what''s with you running away after your confession?!?! How is that supposed to seduce her?! FUCK!!"

    Back at Mira''s group, only Elenei heard what Maria said, but she decided not toment on it. Cine, not having any idea what Maria just said or done, opened her mouth to say goodbye to Mira.

    "I look forward to our reunion, Mira. Hopefully, my skills will have exceeded your expectations by the next time we meet and we can have a proper spar."<sub> </sub>

    Mira finally snapped out of her daze and replied to Cine like normal.

    "That would be much appreciated as my scythe skills have stagnated. Hopefully, all of my time spent training you won''t go to waste and you''ll finally be useful."

    Cine smiled wryly at what Mira just said, but she wasn''t offended. She understood that this was Mira''s way of saying goodbye. She nodded at Mira who nodded back before sitting down.

    Their way of saying goodbye was a bit odd, but it suited them well. They both understood each other enough to know that nothing more needed to be said or done.

    A mncholic silence filled the surrounding air and Mira took this chance to send them on their way.

    "You know what to do, Elenei. Take them a bit further towards the edge of the Continent and drop them off at a ce you feel would be good for them. Also, take Rhydian with you because I don''t feel like lugging her around. Come back to me when you''re done. Also, while you''re at it, try and wake up that dumb wolf."

    Elenei nodded and before they took off, Mira gazed at Maria.

    "Try not to die. I''ll see you in two years. I''ll be making a stop by Lunar Fox City right before the Sect Recruitment to pick up Dominique."

    Maria stopped, removed her hands from her face, looked at Mira, and smiled shyly before covering her face again.

    Mira sighed but was sure she got her point across to her. With all that out of the way, Mira said nothing else, turned around, and started walking in the direction of Quake City.

    Nobody said anything after that, but Mira could hear Maria silently sobbing as she walked away from Elenei.

    Eventually, the Phoenix took flight, and Mira was left all alone.

    She felt a bit conflicted on the inside, but she knew this was for the best. Truthfully, Mira actually nned on having them apany her in Quake City to gather experience and to try and break through to the Core Formation Realm, but those ns all changed when she inherited the F.LD.I.L.

    She knew that there would be endless troubles on her path to power and she didn''t want herpanions to be caught up in these troubles. At least not yet. If they grow strong enough in the future and they know what they''re getting into, then Mira wouldn''t mind letting them join in on the ''fun'', but right now they would only be a hindrance.

    Also, over the years, Mira has started to like those two as they reminded her of the friends she used to have a long time ago. She didn''t want to be the reason they died when she just started to like them.

    As much as she boasted that she wouldn''t care if the two of them were to die, Mira knew that statement was false. At least right now. In the past, she most certainly wouldn''t have cared if they died.

    But things are a bit different now as Mira has started seeing them as acquaintances. Maybe she''s even started seeing them as friends, but it''s just been so long since herst friendship that she can''t remember what it even feels like to have friends.

    Anyways, she wouldn''t feel good if she was the reason her potential friends died.

    Then, there was what Maria whispered in her ear. Mira didn''t even know where to begin with that so she just pushed it to the back of her mind and decided to think about itter.

    Truthfully, over time, the word love has lost its meaning to Mira. Many times someone said those three magical words to her and many times the same person who said those words to her ended up trying to kill her or take advantage of her.

    To the current Mira, the word ''Love'' is associated with a feeling of betrayal. That''s why she doesn''t know how to process what Maria just said because to her, Maria''s words just put a timer on their rtionship.

    Based on Mira''s past experiences, it was only a matter of time before Maria tried to kill her. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before her scythe removed Maria''s head from her body.

    Mira didn''t want to think of such a scenario, so she decided to ignore it and focus on the present; such as making her way to Quake City.

    It didn''t take her long before Quake City entered her sights and all she had to do was enter, join the Mercenary Association, take some jobs, get the resources she needs, and leave.

    But of course, things would never be so smooth sailing for Mira and she was already stopped at the front gate of the City by tworge men who were looking at her like a delectable snack.

 Chapter 291 Inside Quake City

    Mira didn''t miss the lecherous expressions stered on the two burly men''s faces and she couldn''t help but curse in her heart.

    She didn''t understand why these fuckers even had those expressions on their faces. Not only does she look like an 8-year-old child, but she''s wearing a baggy robe and a ck mask. Hell, she probably barely looks like a girl right now. The only sign that might give away her gender is her hair, but even that is tied up in a bun to not get in her way. Even if they were degenerate scum, there should be a limit, right?

    Mira originally thought that the people who lived in this kind of environment should have fairly reliable instincts. She knew that she had an icy death aura that was constantly surrounding her and it was almost impossible for her topletely hide the malice deep within her eyes. These two men should have been able to notice the danger she poses, but it seems their minds were already too far gone.

    Mira was able to sense their cultivation as they got closer and found that these two men were in the 1st Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

    Although they were a Stage above her in cultivation, Mira felt no danger from them and figured that they probably forcefully raised their cultivation to this level.

    "Hehehe! Hey littledy, how about you follow this big brother here? I can protect you from all the baddies in this-!"

    Mira didn''t have the time nor patience to deal with such nonsense, so she formed an ice de and swiftly removed their heads from their bodies.

    Mira didn''t move for a few seconds after she did that as she took in the scene in front of her. Her mood and seemingly her whole personality started shifting as she reverted back to how she was before grouping up with Maria and Cine.

    She''s felt restricted for a long time, constantly suppressing her desires, and having to always choose a more peaceful route when she took Maria in. Now, she no longer has to suppress herself!

    If she wants to kill, then she''ll kill. If someone has a treasure that she needs then she''ll take it by force. She can finally keep her interaction with people to a minimum. There''ll be no need for peaceful solutions unless absolutely necessary. To top it all off, Mira won''t have to deal with these types of situations anymore! Death is the only oue for those who approach her with ill-intent!

    After a few seconds, Mira came out of her daze, took the two spatial rings from their bodies and slowly walked into the City. She looked exactly the same as before she killed those two men, but the air around her waspletely different. It was much more unapproachable and murderous.

    Not only that, but if one was paying attention they''d notice her eyes took on a more demonic red color rather than the usual wine-red.

    Mira slowly made her way in the city and was surprised that nobody really cared about the two dead bodies in front of the city gates.

    There were a few people who were curious about her as they''ve never seen a little girl in this City before, but that was the extent of their thoughts. These people didn''t miss the thick stench of death that loomed around her, unlike those two men from before, and knew that she wasn''t simple.

    Mira slowly walked around studying the city trying to get a decent grasp of the situation and it didn''t take her long to understand that this ce was a shit hole.

    She didn''t even feel like it deserved to be called a city because most of the houses and buildings were rundown. People were fighting and killing each other out in the open. The only buildings that seemed to have any sort of business were bars and liquor stores. She could hear the sounds of people having sex in some of the rundown buildings and even saw several gangbangs happening in a few of the alleyways.

    There was no sense of order, noradery, no half decent people, no stores, nothing. Just chaos, disorder, and debauchery.

    Beforeing here, Mira had heard a bit about this city from Sect Master Jane, but the woman didn''t know much. All she told her was that it was awless ce that the Mercenary Association controls, but that''s it. Naturally, Mira wanted to check-out such a ce because she thrives in ces like this.

    Though it seems Sect Master Jane was putting it lightly when she said this was awless ce. No, this was a den of wolves where each wolf seemed to be from a rival pack. Everyone was at each other''s throats!

    Well, it''s not like Mira''sining as she preferred this kind of ce where everything is done out in the open versus those other cities where the same kind of stuff happens but only in the dark.

    Here, it doesn''t really matter if her luck is good or bad because everyone in this city is the lowest of the low. She has to be careful of everyone here which in a way is refreshing. Plus, she doesn''t have to worry about killing some young master and having his family chase her to the ends of the earth before eventually dying.<sub> </sub>

    She can kill whoever she wants here!

    A few hours after she entered the City, Mira felt her first Earthquake. That''s when things started to make more sense and she started to understand why this ce looked so rundown. The Earthquake she felt was more than enough to cause significant disasters back in her previous lives and would probably kill many people while destroying many cities or even small countries. And ording to the locals, that was just an average quake that happens nearly every day.

    Thankfully, this is a world of cultivation and everything is stronger so hardly anyone was killed and the damage was minimal, but Mira understood why nobody lived here.

    Unless one had an overabundance of materials necessary for rebuilding and repairing their house or shop, then living here is nothing more than a joke. Especially if those types of Earthquakes happen everyday. It would be a huge waste of resources to try and build something on the surface. They would undoubtedly fall apart within a week or so if they weren''t built out of strong, sturdy materials and had a deep foundation.

    Another reason why nobody would do this is that such a building would definitely be overrun by people who wanted to take it for themselves. The original owner of the building would either be forced to run away or die in such a situation unless they were strong enough to protect it.

    But that''s the thing. If they were that strong to fend off so many people, then why would they live in a shitty ce like this when they can go into the chasms, create a cultivation cave isted from the rest of the world, and just live there?

    After nearly half a day of looking around the city, Mira had a basic understanding of how the city worked.

    It seems that, in general, the majority of people prefer to keep to themselves and stay out of trouble but arge minority of people don''t care about this and prefer to do most of their business out in the open.

    Not business like they are opening up a shop and selling things because that was quite rare in the city. More like theymitted crimes like stealing, murder, r*pe, fighting, and other simr activities.

    Those are the kinds of people who live on the surface in general, but they aren''t the only people. There is a constant stream of people, otherwise known as mercenaries, who are both heading down into the chasms and/or who are returning from the chasms. These are the people who prefer to avoid useless trouble unless absolutely necessary.

    Another thing to note is that everyone in this city is part of the Mercenary Association. That wasn''t surprising to Mira because from what she gathered, the Mercenary Association building is pretty much the only ce where one can buy and sell goods and services.

    From what Mira could tell, the Mercenary Association had a monopoly over every type of industry in the city. What she found interesting though was that they didn''t charge abnormally high prices for everything even when they had full control over the market.

    Basically, the value of a Low-Grade Spirit Stone didn''t change much which Mira thought was weird, but she soon understood why.

    The people who live in Quake City and in the chasms are all decently powerful cultivators who could make money just about anywhere. From what she could tell, most of the cultivators here were at least in the Core Formation Realm.

    The only reason they are here is because they feel like they can make more money and increase their cultivation speed herepared to other ces. Obviously, if the Mercenary Association made people pay sky high prices for low-level items, nobody would stay.

    Not only that, but people woulde here, take whatever they can find in the chasms, leave the city and sell those items in a ce where they will fetch a reasonable price.

    Of course, the Mercenary Association could prevent this but that would cost an abundance of manpower and time for no extra gain. Not only that, but they''d lose their workforce! A workforce that was more than willing to work for them under the right conditions.

    Mira found this whole situation funny because the bnce between the Mercenary Association and the people living here is only tied by a thin thread. Part of her felt a sadistic desire to break this bnce, but she knew she wasn''t strong or rich enough for that to happen.

    Anyways, Mira''s found out everything she wanted to know about the city and its people. Now it was time for her to step into the Mercenary Association building.

 Chapter 292 Mercenary Association

    In the center of Quake City stood a five-story-tall obsidian building. It was the only building that didn''t look destroyed, run-down, or on the verge of copsing. In fact, it looked brand new like it was built yesterday.

    The ground around this building wasn''t cracked like it was for the rest of the City nor were there any fighting, stealing, gangbangs, or anything of that nature going on around the obsidian building.

    This building is also the tallest building in the City so it''s impossible to miss. Anybody with half a brain would understand that this building is where the Mercenary Association is located.

    Mira was on her way there and noticed quite a few people were entering and exiting the building and knew she must be at the right ce.

    Not long after, she appeared in front of the entrance of the building and noticed the doors were made of the same obsidian-like stone the rest of the building was made from.

    She noticed quite a few people around her giving herplicated looks, but she paid them no mind and went to open the door.

    As soon as she entered the building, it was like she entered apletely different ce. The walls and ceiling weren''t obsidian ck like the outside of the building but were instead a marble white color and wood floors.

    It looked like a professional building meant for business. At least that''s what Mira thought.

    As she was looking around the inside of the building, Mira sensed that all of the mercenaries inside were looking at her with their weapons drawn with traces of fear in their eyes and their auras fully released.

    She inwardly nodded at how skilled these mercenaries were. It seems like this city isn''t full of fools, but battle-hardened veterans just like she hoped it would be.

    Her body trembled a bit, but not out of fear.

    No, she was excited. Very excited. She''s lived in a region where the majority of people are weak and unskilled. Her strongest opponents so far have only been a bunch of beasts. She''s tired of fighting unintelligent beasts! She wants to fight humans! Strong humans! Actually, it doesn''t have to be humans specifically. Anything that stands on two legs and has a bit of intelligence is more than enough.

    Under her mask, Mira released a predatory smile as her eyes glossed over the people in the room.

    Everyone tensed up and felt a chill down their spine when their eyes met her demonic-red eyes. Just meeting her eyes gave them the illusion that they were transported into a bloody battlefield littered with corpses and oceans of blood.

    The people with stronger wills and sharper senses felt something worse though. The little girl in front of them reeked of death, but that wasn''t all. They felt like they were in front of the grim reaper itself who hase to pass judgment upon their souls.

    The first-floor upants were stuck in this face-off with Mira for several minutes. The whole ce was so quiet that it was almost creepy. The tension in the air was dense enough to slice through and the pressure released from everyone was causing the floor and walls to vibrate.

    Suddenly, Mira reigned in her aura, so now instead of giving off grim reaper vibes, she seemed like a normal 8-year-old girl��

    Not!

    These mercenaries weren''t fools and could detect the malice hidden deep within her eyes and could still smell death exuding from every fiber of her being.

    However, this feeling was much different than before. Now, it was more like their instincts were trying to warn them that messing with her would only end in death and that the little girl in front of them was no stranger to ughter. They had no idea how many people this seemingly innocent-looking girl has killed, but they knew it was many times more than every person in this roombined.

    The mercenaries on the first floor eventually reigned in their auras and put away their weapons, but they still looked at the little girl with baggy robes and a ck mask with caution.

    Mira ignored everything around her and approached the receptionist, who appeared to be a beautiful busty blonde in her mid tote twenties. Mira wasn''t too surprised by her appearance because it''s only natural for a receptionist to be a hottie in this crime-ridden city. She''s probably attracted tons of attention and kept many of the Mercenariesing back to work for them in hopes of catching her attention. Also, who wouldn''t rather have a hot blonde as a receptionist versus a guy. Even Mira would rather the receptionist be a hot chick rather than some savage-looking dude.

    Looking at the woman in front of her, Mira felt an incredible amount of danger. It wasn''t to the point that she would die instantly if they ever got into a fight, but she would definitely have to use everything she has in order to beat her. Even then, Mira felt it was unlikely she would be able to kill her.<sub> </sub>

    Mira also couldn''t tell if the woman in front of her was still in the Core Formation Realm or not. She figured she probably isn''t in the Nascent Soul Realm because even for Mira, jumping two Major Realms to fight someone should be impossible.

    Still, there was no change in her expression when she noticed this fact and she calmly walked up to the busty blonde.

    "I''d like to be a mercenary. What do I need to do?"

    The receptionist flinched slightly but was surprised to hear a little girl''s voice behind that mask. She quickly regained herposure, but her actions hadn''t escaped Mira''s eyes.

    "H-Hello! My name is Robin and wee to the Mercenary Association. Here at the Mercenary Association, we ept people from all walks of life and all kinds of backgrounds and we''d be more than happy for you to join us. Weak or strong. Poor or rich. We wee anyone with open arms! To be a Mercenary, all you need to do is provide us with a one-time fee of 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. After doing so, you''ll immediately start off as a Bronze-Ranked Mercenary regardless of your strength."

    Robin stopped exining for a moment to let all of that sink in before she started speaking again.

    "Once you join, you''ll then be able to start epting missions for the Mercenary Association. These missions could range from anything between hunting, scouting, resource acquisition, herb collecting, or anything in between. These missions will reward you with Contribution Points that can be used to purchase materials, resources, pills, etc. from the Mercenary Association. There are no restrictions to what missions you can take as long as they are within your designated rank. Take caution though because if you pick a mission too difficult for your current strength and die, the Mercenary Association will note looking for you. We will mark you as dead and issue another mission. Do you understand everything so far?"

    Mira nodded her head in understanding, but she did have a few questions.

    "How does one advance from a Bronze Rank to a Silver Rank or whatever the next rank is?"

    "Great question! To go from a Bronze-Rank Mercenary to a Silver-Rank Mercenary, you would have toplete 100 missions with at least a 90% sess rate. Once you''ve done that, you''ll have to take a test given to you by the Head of the Mercenary Association, and you''ll have to spend some of your Contribution Points or Spirit Stones will also work in this case, but the rate of conversion will be much higher than it normally is."

    Mira stood there silently as she took in the information. Although she thought that the requirements for advancement were steep, she understood why. Since they are allowing anyone to join and these people cane from all walks of life and have any background, the Mercenary Association can''t just let certain people join their upper ranks without giving a significant amount of time and resources to the Mercenary Association first.

    Mira also figured that the so-called tests were most likely designed to test your loyalty and desire to stay affiliated with the Mercenary Association.

    Though, from Mira''s experience and understanding of these types of situations, she knew things weren''t so simple.

    They probably had to run investigations, background checks, check your strength and cultivation, and several other requirements before they''d let some random person join their ranks.

    However, none of this had anything to do with her. She''s currently not affiliated with any Sect, n, Family, or background. Shees from the middle of nowhere and she has no living rtives. Her strength and talent are also exceptional for her cultivation so she should have no problem bing a Silver-Ranked Mercenary. Not that she has any desire to do so in the first ce.

    She''s only here to get what she needs to break through. If this ce doesn''t have any of the items she needs, then she''ll just leave. If she needs to be a Silver-Ranked Mercenary to get the said item then she''ll be a Silver-Ranked Mercenary, get the item, and leave.

    With her strength and experience, bing a Silver-Ranked Mercenary shouldn''t take longer than a few months if she can take multiple missions at the same time. That would normally be fine, but she''s kind of on a time limit here.

    If she has to spend the next few months just to get the chance of obtaining a single item, then it would probably be better if she found an alternative.

    Hell, Mira doesn''t even know what items she already has for the Core Formation Recipe and what she needs to get.

    ''I guess that should be my top priority before I do anything else. The Guardian said I had more than half of it already, but that man is a sleazebag who likes to hide the truth until the veryst moment. Putting my trust in such a person will only lead to my downfall. Who knows, I might only have 10% of the items needed to break through ording to the recipe.''

    Mira thought to herself before nodding. She took out 1,000 Spirit Stones from her Storage Space and dropped them on the counter.

    "Sign me up."

 Chapter 293 Bronze Rank Mercenary

    "Here''s your badge, Miss. Now let me tell you what this badge does. For one, it can be used as a form of identification, but with you being a Bronze Rank, nobody will really care. Next, your contribution points are shown on the front and your active missions are disyed on the back. Lastly, this badge also allows us to track if you died during a mission. This way, we can simply reissue the mission without having to waste time searching for your dead body. Don''t worry though. It doesn''t track your location or anything like that. Technically, it doesn''t even keep track of your life or death. The badge is set to cancel your active missions if you were to die or unbind the badge. That''s about it, do you have any questions?"

    After receiving the payment, Robin took out a bronze hexagonal badge and handed it to Mira. Thetter bit her finger and a drop of blood fell on the badge, binding it to herself. She double-checked the badge to make sure it was working properly and then put it in her Storage Space.

    After binding the badge, she looked back at the receptionist who twitched in response under her cold, unfeeling, murderous eyes and started asking the questions that really mattered.

    "Do you have any books rted to herbology, metals, ores, minerals, and things of that nature? If so, can I pay for it in Spirit Stones, or do I have to purchase them with Contribution points?"

    The receptionist almost subconsciously blurted out ''Why?'' because it was truly an odd question, but she quickly restrained herself.

    "Yes, we do have such items, but unfortunately everything within the Mercenary Association can only be bought with Contribution Points. Fortunately, very few things in this location are locked for Silver Ranked Mercenaries and above so you should be able to find exactly what you need bypleting a couple of missions."

    Luckily, Mira wasn''t a fool and suddenly understood something crucial based on this interaction. She could buy higher ranked items as a Bronze Rank, but it would cost significantly more Contribution Points than if she were a Silver Rank. Why else would they not limit the products Bronze Ranks can buy?

    Most of the people here probably don''t give a shit about the Mercenary Association and even if theypleted the 100 missions, passed the test, and paid the required number of Contribution Points, they still wouldn''t give a shit.

    How can the Mercenary Association, a ce based on mutual benefit, allow such people to rise through the ranks? They can''t simply because of the fact that a Silver Ranked Mercenary means infinitely more than a Bronze Ranked one.

    From what Mira understood, this was merely a branch location of the Mercenary Association. The headquarters is most likely located somewhere on the Central Continent and has branch locations all over the world.

    Such arge and powerful group might have billions of Bronze Members, making the Bronze Badge effectively useless anywhere other than a Mercenary Association building.

    But then what about Silver Rank? How many of those Bronze Rank Mercenaries actually strive to be Silver Rank? How many Bronze Ranks actually be Silver Rank? A few million maybe? Probably not even that many.

    Then what about Gold Rank? How many Gold Rank Mercenaries are out there in the world? Mira had no idea, but she guessed that there probably weren''t that many. Based on the nonexistent barrier of entry, Mira could easily assume that the requirements to rise through the ranks only got harsher the higher up one went.

    Now that she thought about it, the 100 mission requirement seemed a bit too easy��

    "It''s not so simple to be a Silver Rank mercenary, now is it? I doubt they would make the requirements to rise through the ranks so easy. What''s the catch?" Mira asked, but to Robin, it felt more like amand.

    Robin was also surprised that the little girl in front of her figured this out with only basic information.

    "It seems like you''re smarter than you look. You''re right, there are a few hidden requirements needed to Rank-up. For example, the 100 mission requirement. Not just any mission will go towards this count. Only missions rated above your Cultivation go towards this number. Not only that, but ten of them have to be a full Major Realm above you in cultivation. Lastly, only kill missions go towards this count. Herb picking, mining, scouting, none of these count towards your progress even if you are in an area rmended for those above you in cultivation. It''s not that these aren''t important, but there are plenty of cowards who are afraid to fight more powerful foes. The Mercenary Association doesn''t need cowards rising through the ranks. Anyways, those are just a few of the hidden requirements. There are more, but I''m not supposed to tell you as that would defeat the purpose."

    Mira nodded in understanding and wasn''t shocked by this information. With those requirements, unless you were an exceptionally rare talent or had really good friends then rising through the ranks would be impossible.

    Mira also made some connections about these other so-called hidden requirements but decided not to voice her thoughts. From what she understood, she didn''t need to worry about them. At least for now.

    The same couldn''t be said for the mercenaries around the room listening in on their conversation. They were shocked, bewildered, and angry because many of the missions they''ve been taking are meant for those with weaker cultivation. So, hearing that most of their hard work was useless, of course, they''d be angry.

    Although just about everyone in Quake City only saw the Mercenary Association as a means to an end, that didn''t mean they didn''t want to rise through the ranks! Who wouldn''t?! With all the added benefits thate with being a Silver Rank mercenary, why would they not want that?!

    "Bullshit! Are you telling me that the 50 missions I''ve done up til now were all a waste?! Fuck you!"

    "I worked my ass off to do these missions only to find out they don''t count? What the fuck?! What a scam!"

    "Exin yourself! What do you mean we have to take missions above our cultivation level?! How do you expect us to do that when even the Missions below our cultivation are already hard enough?! That''s simply impossible!"

    The crowd grew louder and louder as they stormed Mira and the receptionist. Mira noticed the slight smile on Robin''s face and felt even more annoyed.

    ''It seems this receptionist is quite the character��''

    Mira thought, but she didn''t really care. What she did care about was that a bunch of nasty men started crowding around her like a bunch of beasts.

    ''Maybe I should just cut them down? Hmmm�� Killing a few shouldn''t hurt. I can also loot their bodies as an added benefit.''<sub> </sub>

    Mira idently let out some of her killing intent as those thoughts shed through her mind which caused the surrounding people to shiver uncontrobly.

    Luckily, the receptionist came to their rescue as they felt their lives sh before their eyes.

    "SILENCE!!"

    Robin yelled and right after an immense pressure came crashing down on the mob of people crowding around her forcing them to back off.

    Seeing this, Mira let out a sigh of disappointment and stopped doing whatever it is she was about to do.

    "Like I told this littledy, the Mercenary Association doesn''t need cowards or weaklings! You lot are all lucky enough that we settled down in this shithole and are even given the option to benefit from us! If you don''t like how we set things up, so what? Do you think we care about your useless opinion? If you have anyints, feel free to take it up with the President of the Mercenary Association on the Central Continent. I''m sure he''ll love to have a ''nice talk'' with you about the way we run things. Now piss off!"

    The mercenaries scurried like rats after Robin''s little outburst. In the end, only Mira and Robin were left on the First Floor.

    Robin stared at Mira with aplicated expression, but Mira could tell what emotion she was feeling the most: fear. It was well-hidden and concealed within the depths of her eyes, but Mira has seen that expression more times than she can count. Even more so if you count the alternate lives she experienced in the F.LD.I.L.

    It seems the slight killing intent she released just then frightened the girl, but Mira couldn''t really me the girl. Counting the deaths she''s caused in her alternate lives and her past lives, the number reaches the billions or maybe tens of billions. Maybe even more than that. Honestly, Mira didn''t know because at some point it doesn''t matter.

    Her killing intent, if released at full force, is tangible at this point and is something that normal people wouldn''t be able to handle. Even strong-willed people wouldn''t be able to handle it.

    This receptionist girl is probably pretty tough for being able to stay in a ce like this, but that''s about it. From this brief interaction, Mira could tell that this girl has yet to truly experience the horrors of this world. No, that''s not quite right.

    It''s just that she doesn''t understand the extent of what this world and its inhabitants are capable of.

    After Mira was finished examining the girl, she spoke up.

    "Where can I look for missions?"

    "O��On the Mission Board, right over there." Robin shakily replied.

    Mira nodded and walked in the direction she pointed to and started searching for missions to take.

    Robin almost let out a deep breath now that the little demoness was away from her, until she heard her voice again.

    "How many missions can I take at one time?"

    "Ah! Five. You can take five missions at a time, but you can also take more if they are all located in the same area. You''ll just need to get permission if you want to do that." Robin exined to which Mira nodded again and continued searching for missions.

    Robin waited a few more seconds to see if Mira had any more questions, but seeing the little girl absorbed in looking for missions, she let out a deep breath that she didn''t know she was holding in.

    A few minutester, Mira walked back to the counter with five missions in tow. Robin barely gave them a nce before signing off on them. She was mentally exhausted right now and just wanted Mira to go away.

    "Oh, one more thing. I''d like a list of the things I can buy with my Contribution Points." Miramanded and Robin followed her orders.

    She reached under the counter, pulled out a jade slip, and tossed it to Mira.

    "That jade slip should tell you everything you can buy as a Bronze Rank Mercenary."

    Mira put the Jade Slip in her Storage Space and nodded. She didn''t have any more questions so she left the building without saying another word.

    Robin released another deep breath now that the little demoness was gone and soon a serious expression was stered on her face.

    "I must notify the Head about that little girl. She''s�� dangerous."

 Chapter 294 Shes Dangerous

    After Mira left the building, Robin closed the front door to prevent others from entering the building and made her way up the stairs hidden behind the counter.

    She felt that she needed to tell the Branch Head about that little girl as soon as possible. Robin had an extremely bad feeling about that girl and felt that she might ruin their ns if they don''t do something about her right now.

    A minuteter, Robin reached the top floor and carefully knocked on the door although she was sure that the Branch Head already sensed her.

    "Come in." A deep and powerful voice came from inside.

    Robin nervously opened the door and when she entered, her attention was immediately drawn towards the burly-looking man sitting behind a desk. He had extremely short brown hair, a scar over his left eye, and had an incredible physique that radiated power.

    "What do you need, Robin? Did something happen?" The man asked, not even looking up from whatever he was doing.

    "Ah! Yes, something, or rather, someone came in asking to be a mercenary, but this person�� How do I say this? She is an incredibly dangerous individual." Robin tried to exin the best she could, but soon realized she knew basically nothing about the little girl. She didn''t know her name, face, strength, cultivation, or even her abilities. She was so focused on the menacing aura surrounding this girl that she forgot to probe her strength and abilities!

    "So? What''s the problem? If she''s dangerous, that means she''s strong. If she''s strong then she can be of use. Why do you look so flustered talking about this girl? Care to share?" The man finally looked up from his work, looked her in the eyes, and asked her.

    "Well, that''s pretty much all I know about her, but this girl''s presence is absolutely terrifying! She''s like a demon, no, even demons would be terrified of her!" Robin was still a bit shaken from her encounter with Mira and almost yelled this at the Branch Head.

    Now, the Branch Head was a bit intrigued by the person who made his receptionist feel such fear.

    Suddenly, a domineering aura was released from him and crashed into Robin. The poor receptionist girl paled in fright and was forced to kneel on the ground as she felt her bones cracking under the weight of this pressure.

    "Oh? Do you think she''s stronger than me?" The man released a sinister smile and retracted his aura, allowing Robin to stand up and catch her breath.

    "With all due respect, Branch Head, this isn''t about strength. I didn''t manage to catch her strength, but I doubt she''s as strong as you. What I do know is that the scent of death lingers around her like it''s her ve and her killing intent is so immense that I don''t even dare to guess the number of people she''s killed. It also seems like she has very little patience for those who she doesn''t like or for those who get in her way. She was about to ughter the entire First Floor simply because they crowded around her like a bunch of wild animals! Such a person is anything but normal."

    Robin hurriedly exined and it seems her words had some effect, but ultimately the man wasn''t too interested in this person. He only cared about people as strong as him. Why should he care about a little fish who he can kill with a flick of his fingers?

    "Whatever. As long as she''s not causing too much trouble, just let her do what she wants. She''s just another wolf in an already overpopted den of wolves. It''s not like you or I care about what happens to the people here. I still don''t understand why we don''t just enve the lot of them and so we can finally leave this god-forsaken city! Alright, I''ve heard enough about this girl. As long as she doesn''t disrupt our ns, who cares what kind of person she is or what she does? You can go now. " The Branch Head soon lost interest in this matter and motioned for her to leave.

    Robin sighed and mentally shook her head, but did as he said. She knew he wouldn''t take her seriously, but what can she do? She tried to convince him to look into the little girl, but it''s too bad her boss is a muscle-brained idiot.

    She thought back to those demonic-red eyes of the girl and shivered. Her presence waspletely different to the Branch Heads. While he was able to pressure her due to the difference in cultivation, the little girl was different. When the eyes of the little girl locked onto her, it felt like an icy scythe of death had wrapped itself around her neck.

    Plus, the way the little girl looked at her was like she was looking at a bag of meat instead of a human being.

    Robin slowly made her way back to the first floor with a heavy heart.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira had already left the city toplete her missions. She chose five missions, all of which are kill missions.

    However, before that she wanted to do something rather important. Mira had already dumped everything from her Spatial Rings into her Storage Space on the way to Quake City, but she ended up forgetting something quite crucial.

    The Infinity Garden!<sub> </sub>

    She has tons of herbs, bushes, trees, and seeds from the Secret Realm, the Natural Formation, and even some from when she was back in the Battle Maiden Sect. It would be aplete waste to not throw them in her Infinity garden and let them grow, multiplying what she already has.

    Not only that, but every day in the outside world is equivalent to 1,000 days in the Infinity Garden. That means that the 2 year time limit is equivalent to 2,000 years for any nts she may have.

    This is a godsend for her because what if she needs a 1,000 year-old nt, but can only find an 800-year-old one? She can just toss it in her Infinity Garden and let it age for a few months, in outside world time, and then she has a 1,000 year-old nt!

    Mira looked at all the nts in her Storage Space and mentally ordered for them to be dumped into the Infinity Garden.

    Luckily, the Infinity Garden automatically sows and organizes any nts that enter it so she didn''t have to do any manualbor.

    Now that that''s settled, she took out the Jade Slip Robin gave her and started going through it.

    She was surprised by the amount of things avable for purchase as it''s definitely much more than a little Branch like the one in Quake City can handle.

    This had nothing to do with her though and it''s not like she needed to think much about it. The Mercenary Association is definitely a major power that has branches all over the world. Who knows what such arge organization is truly capable of?

    Removing these unnecessary thoughts, Mira searched for the items on her list that she needs for her Core Formation Recipe.

    After searching through all the items for over an hour, Mira returned the Jade Slip to her Storage Space and released a faint smile.

    Surprisingly, the Mercenary Association actually had quite a few of the items she needs for her Core Formation Recipe.

    There are 32 items on her Recipe List and she knows she has four of those items in her possession.

    Those four items are Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice, 1 Liter Frost-Fire Phoenix Blood, and 1 Liter Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood.

    Those are the four things she knows she has in her possession or can get without any trouble.

    On the list of items she can buy with Contribution Points, Mira noticed she can purchase 16 of the items on her Recipe List.

    That still leaves another 12 items she needs to either find orplete their respective trial in the F.LD.I.L.

    However, that''s not counting the nts, ores, and various other necessary items she is keeping in her Storage Space and Infinity Garden. Once she buys those books and learns more about the items she currently has in her possession, only then will she know exactly what she needs to buy and what she needs to find.

    ording to the Jade Slip, the books she''s looking to buy will cost her a total of 4,000 Contribution Points. Thankfully, she took 5 missions, each at 1,000 Contribution Points, so she should have enough for the books when shepletes these missions.

    She was a bit skeptical about the price because most of the other items of simr value weren''t even worth half as much, but she didn''t think too much of it. She''ll just ask Robin when she gets back.

    It should only take Mira a few days to a week at most toplete these missions as she only needs to kill a few Early-Rank 6 beasts.

    With everything sorted out now, Mira finally started making her way towards her destination so she canplete her missions as fast as possible.

 Chapter 295 [Bonus Chapter]Books

    1 Week Later

    In a small undergroundir, a small girl who looked to be no older than 8-years-old was fighting off a hoard of worms with her scythe. This girl had silvery hair that was ck as night at the roots, a ck mask covering her face, and was wearing an oversized ck robe.

    This girl was, of course, Mira who is currently in the midst ofpleting herst mission. However, this mission wasn''t as simple as she thought it would. None of them were.

    She had five missions toplete and all five of them have been a huge pain in the ass. For her first mission, she needed to kill a Low-Rank 6 Chimera. This, in and of itself, wasn''t too hard for Mira. Her strength has already leapt past beasts of this rank so it probably wouldn''t take her more than a few moves to kill it.

    What she didn''t expect was a bunch of Desert Eagle Beasts to bombard her in the process. These Desert Eagles were only Rank 5, but they flew so fast under the sun and always attacked her inrge flocks that she could barely hit the damn things!

    To make things worse, once she killed one, it was like they became enraged and not only attacked her with more ferocity, but called their friends to help them out!

    She spent more time dealing with those fucking birds than she didpleting the mission!

    For her second mission, she had to kill a Low-Rank 6 Sand Lizard, but she didn''t expect the damn lizard to be able to turn the ground underneath it into quicksand. It wasn''t even using an ability to pull this off! Its steps just turned the cracked ground beneath it into quicksand.

    Fighting, killing, and looting should have only taken a few hours at most, but as soon as she killed it, a swarm of locusts swept by and tried to steal her prey.

    She spent the better part of that day fending off locusts��

    These kinds of experiences kept happening with every mission and Mira was starting to get sick of it.

    She understood that there was an influx of beasts, insects, and resources because of the chasms and the dense amount of Qi, but she didn''t think it would be this annoying and problematic.

    For every mission, she spent more time getting to the destination and fighting off the local wildlife than she spent doing the actual mission.

    Luckily, she got to kill a lot of creatures to help cope with her annoyance or else she would definitely be in a bad mood when returning back to the city to turn in her missions.

    How ironic�� All the extra killing is making her agitated, but it''s the extra killing that''s keeping her from needlesslyshing out��

    Right now, she is currently fighting a bunch of worms in a small underground tunnel, but much to Mira''s dismay, she''s already killed herst mission target. For herst mission, she needed to kill a Low-Rank 6 Cavern Centipede, which as one might expect, lives underground.

    It didn''t take her long to find it because it started its burrows on the surface and Cavern Centipedes are big so it was kind of hard to miss.

    However, for some reason, now a bunch of Rank 5 Tremor Worms are flooding these burrows to attack her.

    Fortunately, they were just brainless beasts that Mira could kill with her eyes closed. Of course, she would never do something so foolish. How can she miss picking up all this fresh loot?!

    Mira knew that these Tremor Worms probably weren''t worth much, but there was an ongoing mission for them back at the Mercenary Association. It wasn''t worth many Contribution Points, 200 Points for 50 Rank 5 Tremor Worm corpses, but at least it was something.

    The same goes for the Desert Eagles that she killed. A simr mission was posted for their corpses as well.

    Around 30 minutester, Mira finally made it out of the burrow after killing all of the Tremor Worms.

    She wasted no time resting and immediately started making her way back to Quake City.

    It only took her a few hours of running to reach the entrance of Quake City. She ignored the stares of the people around her and kept walking until she reached the Mercenary Association building.

    When she opened the doors, everyone in the room quieted down as their instincts screamed danger. Everyone, again, had their weapons drawn, ready to attack her at a moment''s notice. Even the people who saw herst week were no different.

    Mira ignored these people and walked up to Robin, who had a stiff expression on her face.

    Mira didn''t even bother talking to her and instead took out 5 beast corpses.

    "I''vepleted my missions." Mira said in her naturally cold voice that didn''t sound cute even though she was in an 8-year-old''s body.

    "Sorry? Ah! Yes! You''vepleted your missions. Just let me verify everything and I''ll get you your Contribution Points." Robin replied, flustered.

    Mira nodded and waited for her to finish checking them.

    Ten minutester, Robin stored the five beast corpses and notified Mira that she had finished.

    "I''ve confirmed that you havepleted your missions and loaded the Contribution Points onto your badge. If you''d like to purchase something, walk over to that counter over there. Just put your badge into the slot and choose whatever you want to buy. It may take a few seconds to a few minutes for your item to appear, so just wait patiently." Robin spoke with a forced smile.

    Mira checked her Bronze Badge to make sure she received her Contribution Points. When she saw ''[Contribution Points: 5,000]'' she nodded slightly and walked over to the counter Robin pointed at.<sub> </sub>

    When she made her way over to the counter, she was a bit confused as she''s never seen anything like this. She had no idea what this counter was for since she didn''t see anything amazing or anything at all except for the slot that her badge is supposed to go in.

    Curious, Mira put her badge in the slot and suddenly Mira felt like she was transported to a different space. It didn''t feel like she was teleported yet at the same time it did.

    Mira''s brows furrowed and she took out her scythe in preparation for an attack, but after 30 seconds of nothing happening Mira''s frown deepened and her confusion grew.

    However, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a massive list of items that looked identical to the Jade Slip she received a week ago.

    ''I guess this is what Robin meant. Well, seeing nothing else around here I might as well give it a try. If that little girl really dared to lie to me then I might have to give her a few customerints. Hehe~''

    Mira snickered a bit before walking over to the giant list of items and choosing the books she wanted to buy.

    4,000 Contribution Points were immediately deducted from her badge and a few secondster a light shed in front of her. After the light dimmed, there sat the books she just bought.

    ''Amazing! How did they do it? Do they have arge vault somewhere and have Spatial Channels tied to all of the Mercenary Association Branches? Or is it something else? If they can do something like this, what else can they do? Also, how strong is the Mercenary Association to be able to pull off something like this?''

    Mira felt like the Mercenary Association was even more mysterious than she originally thought. She originally thought that maybe it was on par with the Big Sects on the Central Continent, but now she was starting to think differently.

    Mira kepting up with theories and spections, but eventually she just shook her head, grabbed her books, and left his ce. She had better things to do other than thinking about the various powers and organizations of the world.

    When Mira appeared back in the Mercenary Association building, she didn''t say a word to anyone else and just grabbed her badge and left.

    ''I need a ce to stay for the next few days so I can study these books. Ah! Now that I think about it, I can just go to a nearby chasm and make my own cultivation cave.''

    With that decided, Mira made her way to the nearest Chasm. It wasn''t very far away as there are dozens of them all around the city so it didn''t take much time for Mira to get there.

    However, when she looked down into the chasm, she instantly became annoyed.

    ''There are no spots to make a cultivation cave! Fine! Fuck it! I''ll just go take someone else''s!''

    Mira chose a random cave, jumped down into the Chasm, and walked into the cave.

    Obviously, the guy cultivating inside the cave felt her presence and immediately stopped what he was doing. He was about to get up and attack whoever it was that entered, but before he could do or say anything, his head was separated from his body.

    Mira had no patience in dealing with such low-lives and didn''t care about his background or feelings.

    She probably could''ve gotten the guy to leave without a fight, but it''s simply too much work to have to talk it out with someone when she can just kill them.

    ''That''s the whole reason I wanted toe here. No rules. No regtions. No authority. I can do whatever I want here and nobody will try to stop me! Hehe~''

    Mira chuckled inwardly while looting the guy''s body. She looked through his Spatial Ring, but was disappointed by how poor that guy was.

    She didn''t think too much about it though, and proceeded with phase 2 of her n. Turning this ce into an ice cave!

    Mira began releasing her Ice Dao to coat the entire cave in ice and then she blocked off the entrance.

    Now that she had a ce to stay and was all alone, she finally took out the books she just purchased.

    [Mortal Realm Herbology (Part 1 of 2)]

    [Mortal Realm Metallurgy (Part 1 of 2)]

    [Mortal Realm Unique Treasures (Part 1 of 2)]

    [Mortal Realm Unique Treasures (Part 2 of 2)]

    Surprisingly, most of Mira''s contribution points actually went towards the [Mortal Realm Unique Treasures (Part 2 of 2)] book. 3,000 Contribution points to be exact.

    She paid 500 for [Mortal Realm Unique Treasures (Part 1 of 2)] and 250 each for the remaining two. She wasn''t too surprised by this though.

    Herbology and Metallurgy books are rathermon even amongst small ns and even some big viges. Everyone uses metal and nts at some point in their lives, even those who don''t go down the path of cultivation. Unique treasures, on the other hand, are apletely different story. Unique treasures can help boost one''s own strength,prehension, and even talent by arge margin. They are also incredibly rare so having two whole books on them was astounding to Mira.

    Without wasting any more time, Mira opened the first book and began reading.

 Chapter 296 Core Formation Recipe List

    A few dayster, Mira just finished reading and memorizing the contents of the books. The books that she bought weren''t very detailed and did not exin where she can find the various herbs, metals, and treasures. They only showed a picture and a brief exnation, but even the exnation was minimal.

    Mira felt like she''d been scammed because she just paid 4,000 Contribution Points for books that have no use other than identification purposes.

    However, she didn''t think too much about it because these books are more important to her than a few easy missions she canplete in a couple of days. These books, although basically useless, will be the very reason she can find the necessary resources to break through.

    Now that she''s finished going through these books, it was time to check her Storage Space and Infinity Garden to see how many items she has in her possession from the Core Formation Recipe.

    First, she checked the list of items one more time so she knows what to look out for.

    [Mira''s XXXX Core Formation Recipe]

    .

    .

    .

    [Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life]

    [Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice]

    [1 Liter Frost-Fire Phoenix Blood]

    [1 Liter Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood]

    [Dao Comprehension Stone]

    [1 Samsara Dogwood Tree]

    [1 World Tree Seed]

    [Chaotic Silk]

    [A jar of liquid metal]

    [Blood Essence of a Legendary Ice Beast]

    [Ice Elemental Essence]

    [Fire Elemental Essence]

    [1 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source]

    [Cubic Meter of Abyssal Sea Metal]

    [A pond of Yin Qi Water]

    [1 ton of Heavy Qi Water]

    [10 tons of blood (any kind)]

    [1 Liter of Venom from a Peak-Rank 6 ck Death Cobra]

    [1 ton of magma]

    [10 Kilograms of ck Gold]

    [Peak-Earth Grade Qi Gathering Array]

    [1,000 year-old 7-Colored Lotus]

    [1,000 year-old Soul Cleansing Flower]

    [1,000 year-old Heavenly Yin Flower]

    [1,000 year-old Dragon Ginseng]

    [Core of any dual Fire and Ice Peak-Rank 6 beast]

    [Beast Core of any ice-type Low-Rank 7 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any fire-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any earth-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any wind-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any lightning-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any dark-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    Looking at this list of resources, it''s no wonder Mira didn''t know many of them. Other than a few of them, the rest are either so rare that they are nearly impossible to find or they are herbs, trees, or nts that aren''t even in any of the books she bought.

    Now, it''s time to tally up the items currently in her possession and the ones that she needs to get. It also seems like she''ll have to go through a few F.LD.I.L trials to get a few of the items she needs. From the names of those items, Mira can tell that those trials will be anything but easy. She might even need to descend further on the Abyssal Torment Steps��

    Mira seriously hoped she didn''t have to go back to those stairs anytime soon.

    Anyways, it''s time for Mira to check her inventory so she can properly n ahead.

    Luckily, it didn''t take her too long to scan through all the items she has in her Storage Space and Infinity Garden because they are all neatly organized.

    From what she saw, right now she has 16 of the items from the Core Formation Recipe, exactly half.

    She has the:

    [Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life]

    [Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice]

    [1 Liter Frost-Fire Phoenix Blood]

    [1 Liter Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood]

    [1 ton of magma]

    [1 ton of Heavy Qi Water]<sub> </sub>

    [10 Kilograms of ck Gold]

    [1,000 year-old Soul Cleansing Flower]

    [1,000 year-old Heavenly Yin Flower]

    [1,000 year-old Dragon Ginseng]

    [Beast Core of any fire-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any earth-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any wind-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any lightning-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Beast Core of any dark-type Peak-Rank 6 Beast]

    [Core of any dual Fire and Ice Peak-Rank 6 beast]

    All of these items came from the Secret Realm when Mira and Elenei were going around the different worlds looting anything and everything. They killed tons of beasts, collected any resource that looked useful, and took whatever they could.

    Usually, this behavior would be unlike how Mira usually acts. Mira doesn''t usually care for extra resources unless they can benefit her in some way, but her time in the Secret Realm was different. Everything in there was useful! Even the lower-tier resources were superior to those in the outside world.

    Unfortunately, her Core Formation Recipe didn''t call for those lower-tier or moremon resources or else she would have been able to break through as soon as she was ready.

    After Mira determined the resources she currently had in her possession, she pulled out the Jade Slip Robin gave her around a week ago to search for the other items she needs.

    Nearly, half an hourter, Mira stopped searching through the Jade Slip and let out and sigh. She wasn''t sure whether she should be happy or not with the results��

    What she found when searching through the Jade Slip is that the Mercenary Association has 11 of the items she needs. That may sound good and all, but Mira wasn''t too happy with this because nearly every item she needs is incredibly expensive.

    If she were to try and get those 11 items from the Mercenary Association with Contribution Points, she''d need over 1,000,000 of them!

    Normally, such an abnormal amount of Contribution Points would probably take more than a decade to get if she were a normal person. Even for her, earning 1,000 Contribution Points per day would probably be stretching it.

    It''s not that the missions are too hard, but the environment she''s in doesn''t allow her to finish these missions quickly. If she didn''t have to deal with waves of enemies every time she needed toplete a mission, then she could earn several times that amount and get the necessary Contribution Points in a little over a year.

    Maybe when Elenei gets back she canplete her missions a bit faster, but riding on a giant Phoenix might bring unwanted attention. No, it would definitely bring unwanted attention.

    This attention would definitely prevent her from breaking through within the next 2 years.

    In the end, using Elenei to helpplete her missions faster wouldn''t be worth it. Maybe if Rhydian was awake when Elenei came back, but Mira can''t see the efficiency rising much even if she is.

    Rhydian isn''t exactly the smartest or most reliable pet. Sure, she''s powerful and is probably just as strong as Mira''s current strength, but she likes to do her own thing unless Mira forces her otherwise.

    Mira can easily picture Rhydian running into a mob of enemies willingly just so she can cure her boredom.

    On the other hand, if Rhydian isn''tpletely useless and actually helps her with the missions, then she might be able to get the required Contribution Points in under 2 years.

    That''s all well and good, but what about the 5 items that she doesn''t have and can''t get through the Mercenary Association. She might be able to get 27 of the 32 items on the list in under 2 years, but that still leaves 5 more.

    These 5 items are:

    [1 Samsara Dogwood Tree]

    [1 World Tree Seed]

    [Chaotic Silk]

    [Blood Essence of a Legendary Ice Beast]

    [1 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source]

    She''s never even heard of 3 of those items. Hell, even the other 2 items should be nearly impossible for her to get her hands on unless her luck is astronomical.

    She already has the bloodline of a Legendary Ice Beast, but apparently she needed another. Either the one she has right now isn''t good enough or it''s so thin that the F.LD.I.L didn''t even consider using it.

    As for the other 3 items?

    She''s absolutely certain that she''ll have to go through the specific F.LD.I.L trials to get those items. Mira has some serious doubts that those 3 items are even in her world. No, these things don''t even sound like items that could appear in the Mortal Realm! She could spend her entire life searching for those 3 items and never find a single one!

    This is what gave Mira aplicated feeling.

    How long will it take her toplete those 5 trials? From her experience, at least a month, but that''s being a bit too optimistic.

    Conservatively, Mira felt like it''d probably take a month for each trial, but that''s if she''s working her fucking ass off and experiencing hell every day.

    Mira would like to be able to set aside an entire year toplete those 5 trials just in case they took her longer than expected��

    ''Fucking hell! I guess I won''t be getting any sleep for the next 2 years! Hopefully, Elenei woke Rhydian up so she can finally be of use. I don''t see me aplishing this without her. She doesn''t even need to help me on my missions. As long as she bes my mount then I think I should be able to do this if I push myself a bit. Sigh�� I hate to say this, but I''m counting on you, Elenei.''

    Mira thought to herself before leaving the cultivation cave to ept more missions.

    ***

    Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the Western Continent sat a Giant Phoenix and next to this Phoenix is a sleeping golden wolf.

    "Wake up you dumbass puppy!! I know you''re awake so hurry and get up before I start beating the shit out of you!"

    The Phoenix yelled in rage as icicles formed around it, but the wolf kept on sleeping.

    "Argh!! Fine! I don''t care anymore! I don''t care that you might be thest of your species! Maybe you''ll learn not to be sozy in your next life! DIE!"

    The Phoenix shot a torrent of icicles at the wolf, but seeing the wolf still not moving, the Phoenix sighed but didn''t stop the icicles.

    The icicles came centimeters away from the wolf''s body, but suddenly the wolf opened its eyes, unfurled its wings, and jumped away. Soon after, it red menacingly at the one who woke it up, but then it finally sensed that it was a massive Phoenix who is many times stronger than her.

    The wolf didn''t know what to do. It didn''t want to fight such a beast, but that didn''t mean it was going to roll over and beg for mercy.

    As it was going through its options, the wolf heard a voice in her head that made her brain stop working for a moment.

    "You finally woke up, Rhydian! Good! Now that you''re awake, we can head back to Mira! Come on, jump on my back so I can take you to her!''

    Rhydian, the golden wolf, didn''t know what to do, but once she calmed down and got a better look at the Phoenix, she smelled a familiar scent and knew that it was the scent of her Companion, Mira!

 Chapter 297 Rhydian Awakens

    Without knowing that Rhydian had finally woken up, Mira made her way back to the Mercenary Association building to take on more missions.

    On the way back, she thought more about whether she should go through the F.LD.I.L trials first or not. Part of her wanted to go through the trials first because she doesn''t know how long they''llst, but another part of her felt it would be foolish to do such a thing.

    The trials will always be there, but the resources at the Mercenary Association might not be. Also, she mighte across one or two of those items during her mission.

    The Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source might not be too far out of reach, all she has to do is find one. This is the one item that Mira felt wasn''t worth going through the trouble of doing an F.LD.I.L trial.

    Spirit Stone Mines aren''t that umon in the Cultivation World and new ones are constantly forming. The only problem is that the various organizations of the world generally upy these before anyone else can get their hands on them.

    A Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine shouldn''t be too rare in the entire Mortal Realm and if Mira only needed to find one to gather Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, then things would be much easier.

    Unfortunately, she needed a source.

    Spirit Stone Mine Sources are incredibly rare for any Spirit Stone Mine to have even amongst Low-Grade Mines.

    A Spirit Stone Mine Source is exactly as its name describes. It''s the reason for a Mine to keep producing Spirit Stones at a constant rate until the Qi in the Source runs.

    However, not every Spirit Stone Mine has a Source. Most Spirit Stone Mines are formed because Qi has seeped into the Earth for a long enough period of time for the ground to crystallize, turning into Spirit Stones.

    That''s a way oversimplified version of the process, but that''s essentially how things work, but if a Mine has a Source then it can keep producing Spirit Stones even after they''ve all been harvested.

    One can imagine just how amazing such a Mine would be for any organization. It''s for this reason that the Mercenary Association doesn''t sell Spirit Stone Mine Sources and it''s these Mines that are probably the reason why the Mercenary Association only deals in Contribution Points instead of Spirit Stones.

    Suddenly, Mira was shaken out of her thoughts by a voice in her head.

    "I''m on my way back to you. I should be there in a few hours at most. Let''s meet at the location I dropped you off at previously. Also, I''m bringing back a little surprise for you. I''m sure you''ll like it." Elenei''s voice reyed in her mind.

    ''Alright, I''ll wait for you to arrive before doing anything else.'' Mira responded back and that''s where the conversation ended.

    She switched her destination from the Mercenary Association building to the area Elenei dropped her off at when she first showed up here at Quake City.

    It didn''t take her long to make it there and now all she had to do is wait. Having nothing else to do, Mira sat down and decided to meditate until Elenei arrived.

    A few hours passed by in a sh, and Mira was awoken from her meditation session as she sensed Elenei and Rhydian approaching.

    With a sh, a giant icy Phoenixnded in front of Mira and before the two could greet each other, a golden silhouette hopped off of the Phoenix''s back and jumped on Mira, licking her face.

    Mira didn''t defend herself as she knew exactly who it was, but she was surprised that Rhydian had finally woken up. She let herself be licked by thiszy wolf for a few seconds until she got sick of it and pushed her off.

    With Rhydian now off of her, Mira was able to get a good look at her beastpanion. She could tell that the wolf made a breakthrough and was now a Peak-Stage Rank 5 Beast. She was a lot bigger now and was getting close to two meters tall.

    In her previous body, Mira would still be taller than Rhydian, but now that she''s in the body of an 8-year-old, Rhydian towered over her.

    A suffocating aura also surrounded Rhydian and Mira could tell that just based on her aura alone, this wolf should be able to take on Mid-Stage Rank 6 Beasts or even higher. She wasn''t quite sure because just like humans, beasts also go through a qualitative change once they reach Rank 6. Their bodies be stronger, any hidden potential in their bloodline is revealed, a Beast Core is formed in their bodies, their intelligence increases, and several more benefits.

    At least, that''s the case for normal beasts, but Rhydian isn''t a normal beast. No, she''s a beast that shouldn''t have even appeared in the Mortal Realm and is part of a species that once dominated the Heavens!

    If she wasn''t able to fight beasts above her in cultivation, then she would be a disgrace to her species!

    Looking at the wolf in front of her, although they had the same cultivation, Mira''s instincts screamed danger.

    Likewise, Rhydian stared at Mira in disbelief because her instincts were also screaming at her that Mira was dangerous. She''s always known Mira was dangerous, but that''s just because she was a little cub who didn''t know how to fight and barely had any cultivation. Now that she''s grown up a bit and reached the Peak of Rank 5, Rhydian was sure she would be much stronger than her even if they had the same cultivation, but it looks like she was wrong. Terribly wrong.

    Rhydian started to panic a little on the inside because she knew herpanion rtively well. She knew Mira is a sadistic bitch who loves making her train! Before, she could kind of get away with it because she was stronger than Mira, but now it looks like she won''t have a choice.<sub> </sub>

    Sure, she could probably defeat Mira if the two of them went all out, but it would be a hard-fought battle that would leave both parties severely injured by the end of it. However, it''s not guaranteed that she''d be able to beat Mira because she knew that the silver-haired little girl in front of her had way more experience in battle than her.

    Fighting someone like that is thest thing Rhydian wants to do right now.

    The two of them continued to stare at each other for a while and although Rhydian couldn''t speak just yet, Mira could understand her thoughts and intentions and vice versa.

    Right now, Mira could sense a trace of panic in Rhydian when she learned of her strength and she couldn''t help but chuckle darkly.

    "Hehe~ Little Rhydian, how was your sleep? Was it good? I sure hope it was because I''ve been dragging yourzy ass around for a while now and I think it''s about time for you to prove your worth. Me and you are going to be busy for a while to make up for all the time we missed together. Isn''t that great?" Mira said in a tone that sounded way too sweetpared to her normally cold voice, but this only made Rhydian''s stomach drop further.

    She was about to run away from her dementedpanion, but before she could move Mira appeared beside her and tackled her to the ground.

    "Now, now. Why would you want to leave all of a sudden? Didn''t you miss me? I even prepared a few missions for us toplete as congrattions for waking up. Are you really not going to ept my kindness?" Mira said in a sweet voice that only made Rhydian try harder to break free from her grasp.

    Unfortunately, Mira is an expert grappler and even though Rhydian is much bigger than her, their strength is about the same so the wolf wasn''t able to break free. In the end, Rhydian could only cry out with a loud howl and protest to Mira through their link.

    *Awooo!*

    Hearing her howl, Mira bonked Rhydian''s head and scolded her in a cold voice.

    "Shut up, idiot! Do you want to attract all the attention here? Do it again and I''ll be sure to pick a difficult mission and use your dumbass as bait!"

    *Awooo��*

    Rhydian howled in a lower voice, much to Mira''s satisfaction.

    "Good! Also, put those wings away for now. We aren''t strong enough to deal with the consequences if someone finds out what species you are."

    *Woof! Woof!*

    "I know you hate doing that, but I don''t care. I also would like you to keep your wings out as that would be more convenient, but we are too weak right now if the world learns of your existence. If you want to keep your wings out, then get stronger!"

    *Woof! Woof! Woof!*

    "Sigh�� Yes! I actually did prepare missions for us. Or, well, we''re about to go get our missions. I need to do these missions in order to advance in my cultivation. We''ll probably be busy for around a year or so."

    *Awooo?*

    "What''s your job on these missions? To be my mount, of course! I can''t take Elenei around everywhere for risk of her getting exposed and me having to go on the run because of this. So that leaves you! I''m sure you can fly at extreme speeds with those wings of yours. They should prove quite useful in our uing adventures."

    *WOOF!*

    "Fuck you! You either be used as a mount or you be used as bait! Choose! If you be my mount then you can at least fight with me, but if you don''t want to be my mount then you can only be used as bait! If you don''t want to choose one, then I''ll make you do both!"

    *....Woof...*

    "That''s better. Alright, let''s get going. We don''t have time to waste. Elenei, go into my Soul Sea so the strong people here don''t detect you. We can talk while you''re in there."

    "Alright!" Elenei nodded then turned into a ball of light that shot toward Mira''s be and into her Soul Sea.

    Mira nodded and ran back to Quake City with Rhydian in tow.

 Chapter 298 Chasms

    Just like before, when Mira entered the Mercenary Association building, everyone in it was shocked when their instincts started screaming that there was danger.

    However, most of the people were used to it by now and knew that the threatening aura that flooded their senses was Mira.

    However, this time, along with Mira''s death-like aura, an oppressive beastly might appeared with her that made the surrounding Mercenary''s hair stand on ends. Most of the mercenaries lowered their heads as they didn''t even dare to look at the beast.

    Robin, the receptionist, also felt danger looking at Mira and the beast she was riding on, which greatly surprised her because, unlike Mira who seemed to be covered in a veil of mystery, she could easily tell what Rank the golden wolf was at.

    She could sense that it was a Peak-Stage Rank 5 Beast, but that only made her more confused. How can she be threatened by a mere Rank 5 Beast? Even some Peak-Stage Rank 6 beasts aren''t her match and if she went all out, she could probably fight with a Rank 7 Beast! It should be impossible for her to feel danger from a Rank 5 Beast!

    Not only that, but when Mira stepped into the building, Robin felt a gazend on her that made her whole body freeze and made her feel like her soul was about to be sucked out of her body. She knew this gaze didn''t originate from Mira or her beast, but from something else. She just didn''t know what it could be.

    Luckily, whoever was behind the gaze didn''t seem interested in her and stopped staring, much to Robin''s relief.

    Mira ignored everyone like normal and started searching for missions. Now that she has Rhydian with her, she feels morefortable taking the more difficult missions. Mira normally wouldn''t depend on someone else like this, but these missions would be incredibly annoying if she did them on her own.

    It''s not that she couldn''t do them, but she would have to spend a significant amount of timepleting them and it simply wouldn''t be worth the extra effort.

    As Mira was looking through the current missions, she was pleasantly surprised by the amount of higher-level missions.

    There were hundreds of them and not only that, but many of them were ongoing missions that were avable to the general public. Many of the ongoing missions were about mining a certain kind of ore, killingrge hordes of beasts, scouting the chasms, or clearing a path in certain areas of the chasms.

    Mira didn''t care much for any missions other than hunting ones, but these ongoing missions offered more Contribution Pointspared to the others. Seeing this, Mira decided to take a few of the ongoing missions along with her regr kill missions.

    To increase the efficiency of gathering Contribution Points, she also needed these missions to be in the same general area so she can take more than 5 at a time.

    Mira proceeded to grab 10 missions that were all located either in or around a medium-sized chasm and walked over to Robin for her to approve them.

    Looking at the missions in front of her, Robin released a bitter smile.

    ''Normally I wouldn''t allow someone of her strength to ept so many difficult missions without a group because the chances of them seeding are rather low, but it seems like I''ll have to make an exception here. This little girl and her pet are anything but ordinary. Even I feel some danger from them which I originally thought was impossible. The two of them are clearly never-before-seen talents. I wonder where they came from and what their background is.''

    Robin thought to herself as she signed off on the missions for Mira after which thetter left the building without saying a word.

    ''It seems I''ll have to report this to the Branch Head as well. Hopefully, he''ll take this a bit more seriously.''

    Robin immediately became dejected at the thought of meeting with the Branch Head and decided to wait until after her shift was over to tell him about today''s encounter with Mira.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    Mira quickly left the city with Rhydian so the two of them can get these missions over with. Once the two of them left the city, Mira made Elenei check the surrounding area to make sure nobody was looking at them.

    "Alright, you can spread your wings and fly now. Remember to only go where I tell you to go. We don''t have the time to waste on your shenanigans right now. Let''s go!" Mira ordered.

    Rhydian grunted in displeasure but still followed Mira''s orders as she could sense the urgency in Mira''s voice.

    Nevertheless, flying through the air felt great for Rhydian and she was happy that she could at least do this much.

    Only thirty minutester, Rhydiannded near their destination, which was arge crack in the ground.

    Mira was d that they were able to make it here so fast because this trip would have taken her at least a few hours to get here by foot. Although that might not sound like much, who knows how much time she''ll save by the end of the year. At the very least, she would have saved days worth of travel time and might even be able to save several weeks'' worth of time depending on how far away her missions will take her.

    Mira hopped off Rhydian, who was now hiding her wings, in a good mood and decided to check out the chasm in front of her. She could feel a dense amount of Qi emanating from it, but that wasn''t the only thing that caught her eye.

    When she looked down into the chasm, she could spot all kinds of things. Caves, Spirit Stones, ores, minerals, beasts of all Ranks, and even some nts.

    Mira wanted to look deeper into the chams, but she could only see up to a certain point. Anything after that was covered in darkness and gave Mira an ominous feel. Actually, it wasn''t the darkness that gave her an ominous feeling. She can''t sense anything below the darkness and it''s the fact that she can''t sense anything that gives her an ominous feeling.

    "These chasms are quite peculiar. I can sense arge threat at the bottom of these chasms, but I can''t pinpoint where or what it is. It''s almost like whatever''s down there is purposely blocking any and all perception below a certain point. But there is something I know. The dense amount of Qiing from these chasms is just a by-product of whatever''s down there. And anything that can release such a dense amount of Qi as just a by-product is bound to be powerful. Be careful when heading down into these chasms." Elenei''s voice resounded in Mira''s head.

    ''Don''t worry, I''ll be careful. I''m just here toplete these missions. Unless I find out that whatever''s at the bottom of these chasms can help me, then I''ll just ignore it for now. I don''t have any time to waste exploring these chasms. Maybe I can do it after I''ve broken through, but not now.'' Mira replied but didn''t get a response back, but she knew that Elenei nodded and didn''t feel like saying anything else.

    They both knew that they didn''t truly care about the other''s well-being. Elenei just doesn''t want someone she''s contracted with and someone who can potentially solve her bloodline problem to die before actually helping her.

    p Rhydian, on the other hand, didn''t know that Mira and Elenei were having a conversation and started examining the chasm curiously. She''s never felt so much Qi in one ce before and was excited at the thought of entering such a ce.</anda>

    She can sense all kinds of beasts she can y with inside the chasm and was only waiting for Mira''s order before she charged in there and started killing everything!

    Luckily, she didn''t have to wait for long before Mira hopped on her back and told her to go on down.

    "Alright, let''s go down and get these missions over with. Our goal is toplete these missions within the next two weeks! Remember Rhydian, no ying around. I repeat, no ying around! I know you want to let loose a little bit after sleeping for so long and I''m not disapproving of this behavior. Just be sure that when you want to go wild, to do it during one of our missions. Okay? Good! Let''s go!" Mira felt the need to remind her beastpanion that they aren''t here to y around.

    Hopefully, she actually listens because she really doesn''t want to waste time scolding her wolf when she could be ying enemies or mining ores for her missions.

    Rhydian didn''t waste any time and immediately dove into the chasm with a wild look on her face.

    Mira was d that Rhydian was excited, but she was also slightly worried that the wolf would be a bit too excited. Nevertheless, at least her beastpanion wasn''t against the idea of fighting waves of enemies because it would''ve been a huge pain if Rhydian just wanted toze around and not do anything.

 Chapter 299 Missions

    As soon as Rhydian dove into the chasm with Mira on her back, Mira started ordering her around.

    "Just head to any of the nearby caves. We don''t know where our targets are located so we''ll basically have to make our way through this entire chasm. What a pain��" Mira muttered thatst part. She wished that the Mercenary Association had information on where the ores, beasts, and herbs are, but unfortunately they don''t.

    No, that''s not exactly right, it''s not that they don''t have knowledge on the chasms, but that any information they have is pretty much useless. The chasm ecosystem is constantly shifting due to the massive amount of beasts. One day, a beast might be in a specific cavern, but the next day it might be in apletely different one or even dead.

    Mira understood this as soon as she started examining the chasm, but she was still a bit frustrated. It might take them days just to find the right ce! She doesn''t have that kind of time to waste.

    Anyways, now''s not the time to beining when she has a job to do.

    Rhydian dove into the first cavern and as soon as shended, Mira noticed that the entire cave was covered in spider webs. Normally, she would be a bit annoyed, but she actually cracked a little smile.

    "It seems we might be in luck, Rhydian. One of our targets is a Mid-Stage Rank 6 Earthen Venom Spider Mother. I don''t know if this is where it''s located, but there is a good chance of it being here. We might be able to knock out one of our missions on the first day!" Mira said with a hint of excitement.

    "Alright, Rhydian. First, let''s deal with these spider webs and see if we can draw out the hatchlings. With our power, we shouldn''t have to work too hard until we eventually face the mother."

    *Woof!*

    Rhydian pped her wings and in an instant, the spider webs started freezing. This is exactly what Mira wanted. Although ice might be the best counter to webs, it is one of the cleanest methods.

    Fire is more suited to fighting spiders and destroying their webs, but it can be a huge mess. The hatchlings will burn to a crisp, the eggs will be destroyed, the silk will turn to ash, and it might reduce the mother to nothing before they can even get there.

    This would be great if their only objective is to kill it, but they need to bring back its corpse intact. Everything else can also either be sold or traded for Contribution Points if there is a mission up for them, which there most likely is.

    However, ice, if used properly can preserve the silk and kill the spiders while leaving their corpses perfectly intact.

    Not only that, but they don''t have to worry about destroying any precious herbs or treasures while using their ice abilities.

    p There''s one more boon to using ice instead of fire which Mira''s about to see first-hand right now.</anda>

    Just like Mira expected, the spiders who created these webs sensed the disturbance and came charging, but when they reached the area where Rhydian froze the webs, they slipped off. Now, they were forced to approach them on the ground instead of in many directions if they could still use their webs.

    This made wiping them out extremely easy. Mira didn''t even need to lift a finger to deal with these small fries.

    Rhydian just pped her wings creating a gust of icy wind and all the hatchlings in front of her turned into statues.

    The wolf looked toward Mira with eyes that were asking for praise. Mira relented and gave her a small pat on the head before collecting all the loot and making her way further into the cave.

    Mira and Rhydian continued doing this exact thing until they reached the end of the cavern where the brood mother was and her guards.

    Mira grew ecstatic when she saw the giant Mid-Stage Rank 6 Spider mother. It was dark brown in color with dark green markings all over its body and a greenish-brown substance leaking from her mouth. Mira knew from these signs that this was one of her targets; an Earthen Venom Spider Mother.

    She looked around the cave and spotted 8 otherrge spiders that looked simr in color and height, but had fiercer auras than the mother. These 8 spiders were clearly her guards and were Low-Stage Rank 6 Beasts.

    She also spotted hundreds of eggs behind the Earthen Venom Spider Mother and grinned. She loved fighting spider mothers because they gave the most bang for their buck and were always the easiest to defeat.

    Spider mothers generally care a lot about their children because not only are they the future of their species, but they will also be her protection when they hatch. Spider mothers don''t have muchbat power individually and are forced to rely on their children to protect them, but this is also what makes them so easy to defeat.

    The most troublesome part of fighting a spider nest is the process of getting to the mother, everything after that is easy.

    "You deal with the 8 guards. I''m going to finish off the target real quick and thene back to help you out. Go!" Mira ordered and then ran off to deal with the mother.<sub> </sub>

    Rhydian let out a bark in eptance and charged at the guards. She could probably kill these guards without much trouble by just using her ice powers, but it''s been a while since she''s been in a physical altercation and now''s the perfect time to do so.

    Mira took out her scythe while running towards the mother and while she was making her way towards her, she formed a few dozen ice swords and aimed them toward the eggs.

    The Earthen Venom Spider Mother saw this and screamed in sorrow and rage knowing that she can''t save all the eggs.

    *SCREE*

    The spider mother moved to protect what eggs it could, but that''s exactly what Mira wanted and it''s why spider mothers are so easy.

    The spider mother stopped paying attention to Mira for a split second, but that''s all the time Mira needed to deal with the weakling in front of her.

    With a swift sh of her scythe, the Mid-Stage Rank 6 Earthen Venom Spider Mother lost its head and died on the spot. Mira collected its head and body before making her way towards the guards.

    She didn''t feel any sort of pride or happiness in defeating such a beast and why would she? Her training dummies are tougher opponents than this trash in front of her.

    The guards, seeing their mother and queen die so miserably by a lowly human, screeched in rage but unfortunately that''s all they could do. As soon as their tiny brains stopped paying attention to Rhydian, it was already toote.

    Their heads were smashed into meat paste by the wolf''s powerful body before they could even realize what happened.

    Mira walked over nonchntly and collected their corpses as well before giving Rhydian a few pats.

    Normally,pleting a mission like this would be cause for celebration or at least a few congrattory words, but both Mira and Rhydian were frowning.

    They were disappointed. Very disappointed.

    This mission was too easy. In fact, it was so easy that Mira only swung her scythe a single time and Rhydian barely had to do anything at all.

    This mission was more like a walk in a park than it was a deadly battle between them and a beast several stages above them.

    Of course, Mira was happy the mission ended so quickly and without any problems, but as someone who wants to use her time as efficiently as possible Mira also wants to improve her battle prowess through these missions as well.

    Rhydian, on the other hand, thought nothing of the sort. She''spletely fine withzing around and wasting her time, but when she does fight she wants it to at least be enjoyable.

    Fighting against these spiders was not enjoyable in the slightest.

    "Alright, let''s get onto the next mission. Maybe our next target will be a bit tougher than this one."

    *Woof!*

    The two quickly made their way out of the cave. Right after they exited the cave, they immediately began searching for another one before choosing the closest one and entering it.

    The two were already in a sour mood so they ended up storming through the next cave, but not only did they not find their next target, it was even easier than the first cave!

    So, without stopping their conquest, the two of them began searching every cave in this chasm and ughtering everything in their path without rest.

    What Mira didn''t expect was for her luck to be so terrible that they were forced to stay in this chasm for another week past her original deadline.

 Chapter 300 Annoying Chasms

    Three weekster, Mira and Rhydian finallypleted all 10 missions Mira gathered back at the Mercenary Association.

    They haven''t gotten a second of rest over thest 3 weeks and it shows. The two of them were rather sluggish and had bags under their eyes as they left the chasm. They were covered in blood and guts that made them look like a couple of psychopaths and were also subconsciously releasing some of their killing intent due to the sheer amount of ughter they''vemitted over thest 3 weeks.

    Mira left the chasm in quite a bad mood because they ended up spending an extra week in the chasm. The worst part of it all is that it wasn''t even their fault!

    Maybe part of it was because of Mira''s terrible luck, but that''s not exactly something she can control.

    There were just too many beasts in this chasm and too many caves that contained armies of insects and/or beasts. Not only that, but the earthquakes that happened almost every day also messed up the ecosystem and destroyed some of the caves in the chasm while at the same time revealing new ones.

    While the two of them were exploring the caves there were more than a few times when the two of them were almost crushed to death because of the earthquakes causing the cave that they were in to copse.

    Luckily, Mira and Rhydian reacted fast enough to create a barrier around them to prevent themselves from being crushed, but that didn''t mean everything was all well and good.

    No! After a cave copsed, they had to dig their way out and because the ground here is quite a bit denser and tougher than the ground back in Lunar Fox City, it would end up taking them a few hours to dig their way out. If they were deep inside a cave, it might take upwards of an entire day.

    That in and of itself was already more than enough to annoy Mira, but that''s only part of the reason why these chasms are so bothersome.

    Sometimes these earthquakes would actually kill or severely injure their target so they''d either have to search for its corpse, find another one to kill or give up on the mission. There were also a few times that they were forced to dig through a few old caves to find the ores they needed to mine.

    Luckily, they never needed to give up on a mission.

    The next thing that Mira and Rhydian were extremely annoyed by is that the beasts here seemed to go crazy whenever they killed something! It''s almost like they''ve lost all their rationale at the scent of blood. This only became worse the deeper they delved into the chasm.

    Normally, this wouldn''t be so bad, but with so many beasts lurking in and around the chasms, this makes it so every time they killed a beast, the two of them are forced to fight off hordes of enemies.

    Mira didn''t even understand why these beasts were acting like this. She knew that beasts, especially Rank 5 and 6, should have sharper instincts and sensespared to humans in the same Realm. Rhydian''s domineering aura alone should be more than enough to ward off most of the more intelligent beasts and that''s not even counting the killing intent that was leaking out of her.

    These beasts should know that encountering the two of them is nothing more than certain death, but it''s like they didn''t care about this and proceeded to charge straight at them without any care for their lives.

    One might think that a battle maniac like Mira would enjoy these scenarios because she can fight to her heart''s content, but that couldn''t be farther from the truth.

    Fighting wave after wave of weaklings is not something that excites Mira. Skill has nothing to do with who wins or loses. It all depends on if Mira''s stamina canst or not and if there''s anything Mira is confident in then it''s her stamina; at least amongst those at the same rank or below her.

    Her physical strength has already surpassed the Foundation Realm due to the Magma Dragon Body, her body structure has been perfected to her current Realm by the F.LD.I.L, and Mira has always had near perfect control over her body. Not to mention her Qi reserves are quiterge and her Foundation is perfect.

    With all these things going for her, fighting hordes of enemies is extremely boring for Mira. Even more so now that Rhydian is here with her.

    It''s simply a waste of time.

    Unfortunately, running away from them is pretty much impossible. They''ll continue chasing her no matter where she goes and they won''t stop until one side perishes.

    She can''t even remember how many hours and days were wasted because of this but what she did know was that it wasn''t a small amount.

    Her only saving grace is her and Rhydian''s ability to storm through caves in as little as a few minutes and at most a few hours. The two of them also split up quite often to cover more ground. They could transmit their thoughts to one another as long as they weren''t too far away so Mira only told Rhydian to look out for the mission objectives and to let her know whenever shees into contact with one.

    Mira was extremely d that she had Rhydian with her because they ended up having to explore almost 90% of the caves in the chasm beforepleting all of the missions Mira epted!<sub> </sub>

    She would''ve had to stay in that chasm for over a month if Rhydian wasn''t with her and that''s already being generous.

    This experience served as a reminder to Mira that gathering the necessary Contribution Points in the next two years would be impossible by herself, much less one year. So even though she didn''t show it, she was extremely grateful for Rhydian being there for her in her time of need.

    However, all of that''s not to say the extra week they spent in the chasm waspletely useless. With how many beasts she''s killed and how many ores and herbs she collected, Mira''s sure that she should be able toplete a few other missions when she returns to the Mercenary Association.

    ording to her estimations, the original 75,000 Contribution Points that she''d receive from those 10 missions should jump to around 100,000 Points. It''s not quite as efficient as Mira would''ve liked but at least it''s better than nothing.

    Anyways, at least Mira learned early on just how annoying these chasms can be and how things will hardly go her way while she''s in them.

    With that in mind, Mira hopped on Rhydian and ordered her to return to Quake City.

    ***

    Meanwhile, inside Quake City''s Mercenary Association Branch building, a meeting was happening on the top floor.

    There were a total of 5 people in this meeting, two of which were the Branch Head and Robin. There were 3 other men besides those two people and the auras that they exuded were only slightly less than the Branch Head himself.

    These men all looked extremely fierce. They had scars all over their bodies, weapons strapped to their backs, and expensive armors covering their torsos.

    Robin, who was sitting the closest to the Branch Head, was sweating profusely. She was by far the weakest in this room and she wasn''t much of a fighter, to begin with. That''s not to say she can''t fight because she''s more than capable of doing so, but it''s just her skills lie elsewhere.

    After sitting in silence for a few minutes, the Branch Head finally opened his mouth.

    "How''s the n progressing?" He asked in a deep voice to no one in particr and Robin was actually the first to answer him.

    "From the reports that I''ve received and what I''ve heard from the mercenaries about the situation in the chasms, everything is proceeding smoothly. It shouldn''t be too much longer before we can move the n to the next stage. From my estimates, in about six to eight months, we''ll be ready to move forward." Robin answered in a professional voice.

    "Good! Keep sending out missions like normal, actually, no scratch that. I want to leave this shitty town as soon as possible so try and send out more missions! You could even up the reward a bit to encourage those shitheads on the first floor to work harder!" The Branch Head spoke in a slightly irritated voice which made the rest of the people shake their heads and sigh, especially Robin.

    "You know we can''t do such a thing, Branch Head! I know that this n is very important not only for us, but for the Mercenary Association as a whole, but there''s no need to up the reward for the missions! The only reason most of them people in Quake City can live a decent life here is because of us. If they want to stay here and keep living a decent life then they will keep doing the missions we post. There is no need to entice them further!" Robin scolded the Branch Head, but the guy wasn''t even listening to her.

    "h h h! I don''t care! Up the reward for each mission by 10%! That should stimte those greedy cowards a bit! Gwahaha!" The Branch Head waved his hand in dismissal and ordered her.

    Robin wanted to say something, but in the end she closed her mouth and nodded. She knew that no matter what she said, the man wouldn''t listen to her so she could only obey.

    "Okay, now that that''s decided, have you three learned anything about the chasms and what''s below them? Don''t leave out any details because this could decide how we proceed with the n!" The Branch Head turned to the three men and asked.

    One of the men, a bald man, was the first one to speak up.

    "Yes and no, Sir. We''ve figured out that the chasms surrounding Quake City are actually giant Spirit Stone Mines or at least they were at some point. From what we''ve gathered, each chasm used to be filled to the brim with Spirit Stones. Actually, we believe these chasms are just the remnants of an extremelyrge Spirit Stone Mine deeper into the ground. While we don''t know exactly what''s below these chasms, we can safely assume that it''s just like the Mercenary Association Headquarters has spected. We might be witnessing the outer remains of a Late-Grade Spirit Stone Mine that has a Source. It might actually be more than that. There might even be Mid-Grade and Low-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Sources along with the High-Grade one!"

    The Branch Head and Robin''s eyes went wide when they heard the man''s report!

 Chapter 301 Expedition Part 1

    Six months passed in the blink of an eye and Quake City along with its citizens have undergone several changes during this time.

    <o>,m Ever since Robin announced that each mission will give out 10% more contribution points, more people started taking missions. Don''t look down on such a seemingly small number because for most of the mercenaries, this amount is huge.</o>

    One must remember that the people of Quake City aren''t the most ambitious, power-hungry, or strongest people in the world. Most people in the city would rather murder or steal their resources rather than do some silly missions that could potentially put their lives at risk.

    That''s not to say that they won''t take missions from the Mercenary Association, just that they would prefer not to do them.

    While that may be their general outlook on life, everyone in the city understood that if they wanted to get a little stronger while living a decent life in Quake City, they needed to take missions from the Mercenary Association.

    So, when the Mercenary Association announced that there will be an increase in Contribution Points, the residents immediately jumped at the opportunity like a bunch of rabid dogs.

    This, in turn, made the city even worse than it already was. Stealing, murder, and fights were more than twice as prevalent as they were before Mira showed up. People were slowly umting more resources to grow stronger, therefore they had more to lose, but that also means that others have more to gain should they kill you.

    From the minds of the people of Quake City, they only needed to rob or kill 10 people and they''d get 11 people''s worth of resources! Not only that, but many people were doing this, so chances are that a single person might have stolen the resources of several other people making it so that a single robbery might them several times more than what it normally did.

    This caused a palpable tension to rise in Quake City as the people were fearing for their lives and resources.

    This went on for around a month after Robin made this announcement, but everything changed after Mira came back from one of her mission runs.

    When Mira came back to turn in the missions that shepleted at the medium-sized chasm, she was pleasantly surprised by the increase in Contribution Points. She was a bit skeptical of the reason for the rise in Points, but in the end, she didn''t really care. As long as she can get the items she needs, the Mercenary Association people can do whatever they want with the chasms and the city.

    After Mira received her Contribution Points from both the missions she consciously and subconsciouslypleted, she ended up with around 100,000 Contribution Points just as she assumed.

    Normally, this would be a huge number that should be able tost Mira for a while, but that wasn''t even 10% of what she needed. No, it was closer to 5% of the total amount of Contribution Points she needs.

    That amount was barely enough to purchase the cheapest of the items she needed from the Mercenary Association. That item being the [100-year-old 7-Colored Lotus]. Yes, that amount of contribution points only allowed her to purchase the 100-year-old version of the flower she needs.

    She didn''t even have ess to a 1,000-year-old 7-Colored Lotus and Mira assumed she needed to be a Silver Rank Mercenary to get it, but she didn''t care. She wouldn''t have bought it even if she had ess to it. All she needs is the 100-year-old version so she can toss it into her Infinity Garden to allow it to age over the next year until it bes a 1,000-year-old 7-Colored Lotus.

    Then, she took as many missions as she possibly could, to which it seems she was allowed to take up to 20. This made Mira extremely confused and when she asked Robin, thetter said that they''ve removed the cap on missions for the next 6 months or so.

    This made Mira quite happy because that meant she didn''t have to make as many trips back to the city in order to turn her missions in. Essentially making her Contribution Point farming much more efficient.

    After Mira epted 20 missions all in the same area, she immediately departed and holed herself up there for around a month.

    After a month of constant ughter, Mira returned in a decent mood. She was content with how fast she couldplete each mission and she figured that it would probably be tough to beat her current efficiency. She couldplete a single mission in around 36 hours which was neither fast nor slow considering how strong she is and the types of missions she is taking, but that''s if you don''t consider the type of environment she''s in.

    That kind of pace is extremely fast considering theck of intel on the missions, the overabundant amount of psycho beasts there are, and how tedious searching the chasms can be.

    Normally, missions like the ones she''s doing would take at least 3-4 days and that''s with a group of at least 3-5 people.<sub> </sub>

    One must also remember that those people would end up splitting the reward when they return which further decreases how fast someone in Quake City can gather Contribution Points. Then, those people might be forced to spend some of those Contribution Points on healing items while they spend the next few days resting and recovering. In the end, for the types of missions Mira is doing, the average person might only make around 1,000 Contribution Points per week while most of that goes to healing items and Spirit Stones, leaving very little for other cultivation resources.

    On the other hand, Mira''s out here doing around 5 missions per week and doesn''t need to share the reward with anyone. She''s effectively earning 25 times more than the average person in Quake City. The number of contribution points she earns in a month might be several years'' worth of Contribution Points for someone else.

    Thus, one can only imagine Mira''s good mood when she returned to Quake City afterpleting 20 missions in only a month.

    However, her good mood was instantly ruined when some idiots tried to rob her! It wasn''t just a few either! She sensed a bunch of people eyeing her as if she was their golden goose!

    Mira wouldn''t care about this unless they actually acted on their thoughts, but these guys apparently had a death wish and felt it was worth the risk.

    Obviously, Mira cut them down mercilessly, but that wasn''t the end of it as these thugs thought that teaming up on her would be enough to take her down.

    Needless to say, Mira ''politely'' led them on their way to the underworld. After having to deal with tens of these people and noticing that many other people were still eyeing her, she had a sudden thought.

    ''Why don''t I just make an example out of the rest of these people so they don''t bother me with this nonsense in the future?''

    So that''s exactly what she did, or more precisely that''s what she tried to do.

    As she was in the middle of her murder spree, Robin ran out of the Mercenary Association and stopped her from running amok and killing off the rest of their mercenaries.

    Honestly, Mira didn''t really care about these people. Whether they lived or died mattered very little to her and it''s not like she had some grudge against them either. She just wanted them to stop annoying her and seeing that she got her point across she decided to stop causing trouble.

    However,ter that day Mira decided to ce the heads of those that tried to kill her on stakes all over the city as an example and a reminder. A reminder to everyone that it will be their heads on those stakes should they decide to mess with her.

    It may have been a bit brutal and unnecessary, but it worked. The whole city was horrified when they noticed those stakes and from then on nobody dared to mess with her. Not only that, but the crime rate in the city plummeted as the residents were terrified they would offend the ''little demon'' with their actions.

    The months continued to tick on by as Mira was quickly umting more and more Contribution Points and she became more ustomed to the environment causing her to earn Contribution Points even faster.

    She and Rhydian also started taking a few slightly more difficult missions to not only hone their battle prowess but to earn a few more Contribution Points as well.

    For that very reason, over thest 6 months, through constant battles and even a few life and death situations, Mira started feeling like she was on the cusp of something profound. Something she assumed to be Weapon Intent, but couldn''t be 100% sure because her knowledge of the subject is very shallow and she''s never seen anyone using Weapon Intent before.

    Naturally, this discovery caused Mira to be ecstatic and shepleted her missions with even more fervor than before.

    However, when she returned back to Quake City to turn in her missions and take some more, Robin informed her that the Mercenary Association is going on an expedition into the deepest and most dangerous cavern in two months.

    When Mira heard this, she immediately lost interest. Why should she waste her time going on an expedition into one of the most dangerous ces in the area when she can just steadily earn Contribution Points steadily over the next few months without any issues.

    That is until Robin informed her of a few things that changed her mind.

 Chapter 302 Expedition Part 2

    "Don''t turn it down too quickly. The rewards for this expedition are more than generous. Also, we won''t be giving out any missions throughout the duration of the expedition so this will be your only option in a few months." Robin exined before handing over a piece of paper to Mira.

    Mira frowned when she heard what Robin said, but when she took a look at the paper, she was surprised by what she saw.

    The paper that Robin handed over mentioned the details of the expedition and the rewards for joining.

    Apparently, the Mercenary Association is nning on diving into thergest chasm in the area and are nning to reach the bottom. The goal of the expedition is to scout the area, kill the majority of the beasts in the chasm, collect anything useful, and fight whatever''s at the bottom if there is anything.

    It seems the Mercenary Association estimated that the expedition should take anywhere between 1 to 3 months before they return.

    As someone who has experienced diving into the chasms over thest half a year or so, Mira knew that this expedition would probably take upwards of 2 months. It seemed unlikely that they would finish any sooner than that. The chasms are incredibly dangerous and if they are nning on conquering thergest one, then it''s only that much more dangerous.

    With that thought in mind, she looked at the rewards for the expedition and was almost dumbfounded by what she saw.

    ''100,000 Contribution Points just for participating? And that''s the bare minimum? You can turn in treasures, beast corpses, and nts for Contribution Points as well? Fuck, just killing beasts can earn you Contribution Points?! Also, any information on whatever treasures at the bottom can reward you with Points as well?? What the fuck?! Isn''t this way too much? How the hell can they even supply so many Contribution Points to so many people?? What kind of expedition is it really?'' Mira almost epted it immediately just based on the rewards.

    She''s confident that she can kill and collect more beast corpses and treasures than any other mercenary so these rewards are nothing but a godsend to her. She might be able to earn double or triple what she earns in a month if she went on this expedition.

    However, Mira wasn''t so naive to believe that this expedition would be easy with how generous the rewards are. Just from the rewards alone, Mira could gather that the Mercenary Association fully expected probably at least 90% of the people who join the expedition to die.

    Why else would they open a mission like this to the public without putting a cap on how many people can join?

    ''From the looks of it, the Mercenary Association just wants us to serve as cannon fodder for this mission while they reap all the rewards. Also, by saying they won''t be giving out missions during the expedition, they are practically forcing the people of this city to join. How cunning. Well, since they''re trying to scam me with this bullshit expedition, don''t me me for squeezing you dry. Hehe~'' Mira chuckled inwardly which sent shivers down Robin''s spine and made her look wearily at the little girl in front of her.

    For some reason, her instincts were screaming at her, saying that letting Mira go on this expedition would be the worst possible thing she could do, but before she could say anything Mira opened her mouth.

    "I guess I don''t have much of a choice then, do I? Sure, I''ll join this expedition of yours. It''s in two months, right? Then I''ll be back in two months after doing some more missions. Oh, I do have a question though. Are you guys still going to be here after the expedition is over?" Mira asked in a neutral voice, but herst question caused Robin''s eyes to narrow and her expression turned serious.

    The question Mira just asked could be considered an odd question to most people because why would the Mercenary Association just up and leave after an expedition? This ce is extremely rich in resources and they could probably keep handing out missions for a few hundred more years at the minimum without any trouble.

    However, Mira was different. She knew that these chasms are very weird and unique from Elenei. Using that information and some of the details from the expedition, Mira could guess that they must''ve found something at the bottom of the chasms and that something must either be strong, dangerous or have arge army. Hence the need for a bunch of cannon fodder.

    That being the case, if the Mercenary Association finally got their hands on what they wanted from these chasms, why would they stay in this shitty city with nothing but a bunch of ruffians? If it were her, Mira would up and leave this ce as soon as she got what she wanted. Actually, that was her n from the very beginning.

    ? This ce is literally nothing without the Mercenary Association even if the chasms have an overabundant amount of resources. This is because most of those resources can''t even be utilized since thousands of strong beasts already upy them!

    From that simple question, Mira was essentially saying that she already got the gist of what this expedition is about.<sub> </sub>

    "No, we won''t leave this city until most of the resources from the chasms have been extracted. That being said, we probably won''t stay here much longer than a few years if the expedition goes well." Robin said professionally without revealing too much information.

    Mira nodded and didn''t say anything else. The answer to her question didn''t matter too much. All she needed to know is if they were going to pack up immediately once they got what they wanted. If they were, then that would pose a bit of a problem to Mira because she''d probably need another month or two worth of missions after the expedition ends before she can buy all of the items she needs.

    Still, depending on how well she does during the expedition, she might be able to redeem her Contribution points for everything she needs.

    Right now, she''s sitting at close to a million Contribution Points and if she works really hard over the next two months then she should have well over a million. That would only leave a few hundred thousand left which she might be able to get during the expedition. Even if she doesn''t reach the necessary amount of Contribution Points from the expedition, it shouldn''t take much longer until she eventually does.

    Mira then grabbed a whole bunch of missions, got Robin to sign off on them, then left the building. She wanted to earn as many Contribution Points within the next two months as possible.

    After Mira left, the whole City went into an uproar when Robin publicly announced the expedition. In just a few days, there wasn''t a single person who didn''t know about the uing expedition and everybody wanted a piece of the action.

    Who wouldn''t? That''s 100,000 Contribution Points at the minimum! That''s enough for most people in Quake CIty to live off of for years toe!

    And just like the Mercenary Association wanted, thousands of people signed up to participate in the expedition. Sure, there were some people who were skeptical about the whole thing, but those people eventually signed up too. The rewards were just too generous for them to pass up.

    However, there were a few people who saw Mira signing up for the expedition and decided to not participate in it. The people who have seen Mira in action knew just how brutal the little girl could be and wanted nothing to do with her.

    For those people, the rewards didn''t matter to them. Staying on an expedition with such a devil is thest thing they want to do. They might as well kill themselves now and save Mira the trouble of doing it herself!

    Word started to spread that Mira was going to be on the expedition, but most people didn''t care. Sure, they all knew just how brutal and ruthless the girl was, but that doesn''t mean that she can just run amok on an expedition hosted by the Mercenary Association.

    During this time, Robin also informed the Branch Head about Mira and how she was going to join the expedition, but the man didn''t care. In fact, he seemed happy that they were going to have such a good seedling join the expedition.

    The Branch Head has already examined Mira from a distance and although her aura was weird and her killing intent was immense, he didn''t sense any danger from her. As a man who loves to fight, his instincts have always been sharp and he could tell if an opponent was dangerous to him or not just by his instincts. So far, he didn''t feel thating from Mira.

    Sure, she felt abnormally strong for her cultivation, but that''s it.

    Robin kept trying to warn him that something didn''t feel right about Mira and that they should watch out for her on the expedition, but he just dubbed whatever she was saying as nonsense.

    To him, how could someone weaker than him disrupt their ns? Even if her stealth skills were top notch and she had plenty of life saving treasures, she''d need more than that to escape from him after disrupting their ns or stealing their loot. She''d need to be strong!

    Oh how wrong he was. If only he had listened to Robin''s advice��

 Chapter 303 Expedition Part 3

    Two monthster

    It was finally the day of the expedition and a massive crowd of people had gathered around the Mercenary Association building.

    Thousands of people have signed up to take part in this expedition and it''s only after seeing so many people gathered around the building that people started to think that something was off.

    There''s no way a normal expedition would need thousands of people to participate in it. Right now, they look more like an army that''s about to march straight into enemy territory!

    The mercenaries began ncing back and forth between the people around them, understanding that this wasn''t going to be a simple expedition. No, this was going to be a ughter with the majority of them being fodder.

    Quite a few of the weaker people began feeling uneasy about this whole situation and started leaving the group. Their instincts were telling them that their chances of dying on this mission were extraordinarily high and the risk wasn''t worth the reward for them.

    The remaining mercenaries watched those leaving in disdain, but deep inside they weren''t feeling much better about this whole thing. They only decided to stay because they had confidence in their strength or ability to survive.

    As time passed, the air around the Mercenary Association building was filled with anxiety, but most people tried to make conversation with those around them trying to ignore their fears.

    Suddenly, simultaneously, every mercenary felt their skins crawl and their hairs stood on ends. A dreadful aura washed over the surrounding area and with how tense everyone was right now, they ended up drawing their weapons and then turning to see where the aura came from.

    However, when they saw a little girl inrge ck robes that were clearly too big for her and a ck mask while riding a golden wolf, nobody felt any better despite knowing where the aura came from.

    The more experienced people put away their weapons while the people who have juste out of seclusion or are new to the city had no idea what was going on.

    "Fuck! The Little Demoness actually showed up! I was hoping that she would have left the city by now or died on her previous missions considering she''s been gone for so long!"

    "Dammit! Why would the Mercenary Association invite this fucking demon child?! Don''t they have eyes!?! Even a two-year-old child could tell that she''s bad news!!"

    "Umm�� Who is that little girl riding the wolf and why does everyone seem so scared of her?"

    "Do you really need an exnation or are you just retarded?! You felt her aura, right? You don''t get such an aura by being a saint! She also went on a rampage in the city a few months back simply because a few thugs annoyed her and then ced their heads on stakes throughout the city to serve as a reminder to anyone who thinks of messing with her! She''s fucking crazy!"

    "What the hell?? Such a thing actually happened? Good thing I was cultivating during that time��"

    Everyone was talking about Mira as she rode on Rhydian''s back toward the Mercenary Association building but she ignored them all.

    Unfortunately, it seems a few people didn''t get the memo from those around them and felt the need to end their lives prematurely.

    "Hey! You think you can just-" One of the men who walked up to her didn''t even get to finish his sentence before he ended up with an ice spike in his head and his body turned into an ice sculpture.

    Mira didn''t spare the man a nce and simply killed him for trying to waste her time which caused anyone who had any sort of thoughts about confronting her to back down.

    One can''t really me Mira for this though because she doesn''t have much time to turn in her missions before they have to depart for the expedition. Who knows if she''ll be able to turn them in after the expedition. The thought of this is putting Mira slightly on edge right now. She''s umted about 250,000 Contribution Points over thest two months and she''ll be damned if those go to waste!

    Luckily, she made it to the Mercenary Association just in time, or else she would have been seriously pissed off.

    She approached Robin and without saying anything began dumping all of her mission objectives in front of her. Robin gave her a look full of dissatisfaction because in a few hours she''ll be going on an expedition with the rest of the Mercenary Association yet here''s Mira piling on a bunch of work for her to do right before they leave.

    However, it''s not like she can express her dissatisfaction because this is her literal job up until they leave.

    Nearly an hourter, Mira left the building with a faint yet tired smile on her face. She''s worked incredibly hard over thest few months with Rhydian and has barely had any time to just sit down and rest.<sub> </sub>

    That being said, she''s going to use this opportunity to its fullest and take a short break while waiting for the Branch Head to announce the start of the expedition.

    She found herself a nice spot away from the giant crowd, closed her eyes, and began to take a nap. She wasn''t worried about someone hurting her or missing the expedition because Rhydian is more than enough of a deterrent. Even if she isn''t, Mira wouldn''t allow herself to be attacked or left behind so easily.

    A few people looked at her weirdly, but in the end, nobody bothered her.

    A few hours went by in a sh when eventually the front door of the Mercenary Association building opened and out came 5 people.

    Of those 5 people, the crowd only knew one of them and that person is Robin, but they could feel the overwhelming amount of power radiating off from the other 4. Especially the big guy in the front.

    As soon as they left the building, their heads, besides Robin''s, immediately shot in Mira''s direction. They couldn''t help it. Her aura was simply too�� dangerous. Their instincts were sending them mixed signals. They could tell that the girl couldn''t beat them in a fight, but they still felt like they were staring at death when they looked at Mira.

    Feeling a few powerful eyes on her, Mira opened her demonic-red eyes and stared back. Instantly, the five of them were drawn into an illusion of a sea of blood and mountains of dismembered corpses.

    A deep frown formed on their faces when they noticed this, but they weren''t too affected by this scene. It was still extremely disturbing, but their mentality, willpower, and higher cultivation were more than enough to prevent this scene from affecting them.

    The man in front was especially surprised and gave Mira a deep look as if he was trying to figure her out. Unfortunately, he could only sense that she was at the Peak of the Foundation Realm and nothing else.

    However, he lost interest almost immediately after seeing how weak she was and instead focused his attention on the rest of the mercenaries. After giving them a good long stare which caused most of them to sweat, he finally opened his mouth.

    "Alright, you useless bunch of dog shit! Listen up! I''m the Branch Head of this Mercenary Association Branch location and on this expedition, we are making our way down towards the deepest part of thergest chasm! You lot will serve as cannon fodder to make our lives easier! That''s your only job! You kill who we tell you to kill and you loot what we tell you to loot! Naturally, you''ll be rewarded for your efforts, but whether or not you die is up to you and your ability to survive! I fully expect most of you cowards to die and if I''m being honest I want that to happen! Less of you means fewer Contribution Points we have to hand out! If you want to survive, then prove me wrong! Alright, let''s move out!" The Branch Head announced then began walking away.

    However, nobody moved as they were stunned speechless by the man''s words. Even Mira felt like there was something wrong with the man''s brain. She looked at the expressions of Robin and the 3 other men besides her and could tell that they too didn''t expect him to be so blunt.

    ''That man is dangerous, Mira. Be careful of him.'' Suddenly, Elenie''s voice rang in Mira''s head. Thetter nodded to the Phoenix''s words as her instincts told her that if the two of them were to fight, she''d die instantly.

    ''I know. However, it seems that except for a slight amount of intrigue, he doesn''t care about me. Well, it''s not like I''mining since I don''t want some idiotic brute constantly breathing down my neck.'' Mira inwardly shrugged at Elenei as she hopped on Rhydian''s back and told her to follow after him.

    The rest of the mercenaries were still stunned by what the man said before they turned enraged, but before they could say anything a heavy pressure descended preventing them from saying anything.

    "I know that what the Branch Head said may be unsightly and a bit blunt, but he''s not wrong. This mission will be dangerous and the chances of you losing your life are rather high, but the rewards should more than make up for the dangers. If you do your job properly, you could be set for the next decade or so or you might even be able to jump a few Minor Realms. If you''re really lucky then you might be able to jump an entire Major Realm! Anyways, you''re free to stay, but just know that the missions after this expedition won''t be nearly as profitable. We''ll go into more details about the expedition when we make it to the chasm." After Robin finished saying that, she too left in the direction that the Branch Head went off in, followed by the 3 other men that were standing near her.

    When Mira heard her words from a distance she couldn''t help but praise the receptionist at her ability to bullshit. An entire Major Realm? Really? Who was she trying to fool?

    At least that''s what she thought until she heard the words of the mercenaries after Robin finished her speech.

    ''Nevermind. She only needs to fool a bunch of brainless apes. She thought to herself.

    "Argh! Dammit! To think I almost gave up on such an opportunity! Can I really call myself a cultivator if I don''t brave through dangers?!"

    "Yeah! He''s right! Fortune and misfortune go hand in hand! Who knows? Maybe I''ll finally be able to make it to the Nascent Soul Realm!"

    "Fuck me! I''m still pissed at that Branch Head guy, but I won''t let that brute''s words prevent me from reaching my goal! Maybe I''ll finally be able to impress Robin through this expedition!"

    One after another, the mercenaries formed their own delusional conclusions before following after Robin and the Branch Head.

 Chapter 304 Hells Pit

    A few hourster after following the Branch Head, all the mercenaries who chose to participate in this expedition were now in front of a massive ravine. It was so deep that you couldn''t even see the bottom.

    However, the strange thing was that the ravine wasn''t that long or wide. It was probably only a few dozen to a hundred kilometers long and maybe 20 kilometers wide. Mira''s even seen bigger canyons on other Mortal Worlds without any Qi!

    Some of the other chasms around Quake City are longer and wider than this one! Many of the mercenaries were surprised by this, but the Branch Head, Robin, and the 3 other men that came with them weren''t surprised.

    p They knew that this wasn''t a canyon, but the remnants of a Spirit Stone mine that has already been excavated and that this chasm was probably muchrger than what it looks from the surface.</anda>

    "We''ve now reached what we like to call, Hell''s Pit. I''m sure you don''t need me to exin why we call it that. You guys'' job on this expedition is to help us clear a path to the bottom. We''ve taken out some of the more troublesome beasts, created five routes down, and have scouted out some of the areas, but we can''t do this ourselves. There are simply too many beasts, insects, arachnids, and all sorts of creatures that inhabit these chasms, and more keeping every day."

    "I''m sure you''ve noticed by now that the beasts in the chasms behave a bit weirdly. Although we don''t exactly know why that is, we specte that it''s either because of a super powerful beast controlling them or whatever treasure is at the bottom is causing them to lose their minds. That''s part of the reason why we need so many of you. Sure, the five of us are incredibly strong by ourselves, but there are plenty of beasts in this chasm that can harm us. If we have to not only deal with those beasts but every other little creature as well, then we''ll never get anywhere."

    "There''s also something that we didn''t mention about this expedition before we left, but we''ve decided that you guys can keep whatever you find here. Of course, for this mission only, you can turn whatever resources you find in for Contribution Points, but honestly, we don''t really care about the resources this chasm has to offer. We only care about the good stuff at the bottom. Though beware, should we ever catch you trying to smuggle the treasures we''re looking for, then you will be killed without mercy!"

    "Also, in case you''ve forgotten, you can earn Contribution points for every beast, insect, arachnid, etc you kill. Your Mercenary Token will keep track of your progress for you just in case you try to cheat the system."

    "Lastly, we will be splitting up into five different groups and please try to make the groups somewhat equal. Each group will be heading down a different route, but your job stays the same no matter who you follow. I hope you all came prepared because we might not leave this chasm for the next few months and even with howrge the groups are, you probably won''t get many breaks from fighting. Alright, that''s about it! Everyone group up!!"

    Robin announced before the Branch Head could say anything. She didn''t trust that brute for a second not to say something that could be taken the wrong way. Although she doesn''t care about the lives of these mercenaries, she still takes her job seriously. If she didn''t properly exin the rewards and the objective, then how will the people following them know what to do?

    Mira didn''t waste any time and lined up behind Robin. Part of the reason was that she''s the weakest of the five, but honestly, Mira didn''t care about that. In fact, she would''ve liked Robin to be a bit stronger.

    Mira chose her simply because she''s a woman and a smart one at that. She can tell just by looking at the Branch Head and the other 3 men that they''re muscle heads. Mira has no desire to spend the next 3 months with a bunch of brutish men who are much stronger than her! Who knows what they might do to her?! And even if they don''t do anything, who''s to say that the other mercenaries won''t? Will those brutes step in to stop them? Unlikely.

    Although she knows that Robin doesn''t like her, she most likely won''t just stand by and watch her get sexually assaulted.

    At least, that''s Mira''s logic behind her choice. In all honesty, the chances of something like that happening in the first ce are extremely low and if anything does happen, she can just kill pretty much all of the mercenaries that might attempt something like that. The only people she really has to watch out for are the Branch Head and the 3 men that came with him. She won''t be able to kill them.

    Well, that''s not exactly true. She could bring out Elenei and have her wipe out everyone, but she''ll only use her as ast resort. Unfortunately, she still needs them to live so she can use the Mercenary Association to buy her items.

    With those thoughts in mind, Mira patiently waited for groups to form. Luckily, the mercenaries weren''tpletely brainless and didn''t only flock to Robin''s group. That and Robin stopped letting people join her group after a certain point.

    Not long after, everyone was finally ready to go. Robin scowled a bit knowing Mira was in her group, but she wasn''t too bothered by it. Although to her, Mira was nothing but a ticking time bomb, there''s no doubting her strength. She''s seen how many missions Mirapletes in a month and the numbers are staggering. Those missions weren''t easy either!

    So having Mira in her group might be a blessing in disguise for her. She can also keep a closer eye on her since her 4panions won''t.

    "Alright, let''s get going!" Robin shouted and began walking down her designated path.<sub> </sub>

    Mira was right behind her while riding Rhydian and as soon as they stepped into ''Hell''s Pit'', she could feel the ultra dense Qi in her surroundings. She could instantly tell that the density of Qi in this chasm is several times more than any other chasm she''s entered.

    If she could sit and cultivate in a ce like this, she wouldn''t even need to use Spirit Stones to cultivate! Just cultivating like normal in this chasm would be like if she cultivated with Spirit Stones back in Lunar Fox City.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t make use of the dense Qi right now because she has to suppress her breakthrough until she gets all the necessary items to form her Core!

    As their group kept walking down the chasm, Robin started feeling a bit awkward walking in front of Mira and Rhydian. It felt like she was being stared down by a wild beast just waiting for her to drop her guard so it could eat her!

    So, to ease some of her anxiety, she slowed down to walk beside Mira to make some small talk. Of course, it wouldn''t hurt to try and gather a bit of information on her as well. She did hire someone to try and look into her past, but nothing came up. No wanted posters, no bounties, no rumors about a little demon girl. Nothing! It''s almost like she just popped out of thin air! Hell, they didn''t even know her name even after almost 9 months of her taking missions!

    "So, ummm�� Now that I think about it, I don''t know your name. How may I address the youngdy?" Robin carefully asked as she walked down the path in the chasm.

    Mira nced at her and partially understood her intention, but she didn''t sense any ill-intent behind her words.

    "You can call me Mira and this here is my pet, Rhydian." Mira indifferently answered. It''s not like her name is a secret or something. She just never felt the need to talk to anyone in this city for more than a few seconds.

    Robin was ted that Mira actually answered her question, but tried not to show it.

    "Nice to meet you, Mira and Rhydian. Well, Mira, if I may be so rude as to ask, I''ve always been curious about where you came from. I''ve done my research and I don''t remember seeing or hearing about anyone with your name, looks, or pet. I know it may be a bit blunt, but I''m just wondering why you became a mercenary with your skills." Robin said truthfully. For some reason, she felt like she might be able to hold a conversation with Mira as long as she told the truth.

    This time, Mira didn''t answer immediately and instead stared at Robin for a few seconds. To Mira, she was just trying to detect the intentions behind her words, but to Robin, it felt like Mira was staring directly into her soul. It was definitely ufortable, but luckily Mira turned away and answered her questions.

    "I came from one of the Branch Battle Maiden Sects. As for why I became a mercenary�� Coincidence, I guess? You have a few items I''m looking for and I''ve been looking for a town like Quake City to let loose in. Unfortunately, I''ll probably have to leave the city soon after this expedition." Mira briefly exined, which surprised Robin as she didn''t expect Mira to freely hand out this information. She always thought that she was a very secretive person, but it seems like she might''ve judged Mira a bit too fast.

    However, she got the chills when Mira said that she''s ''been looking for a town to let loose in.''. She wasn''t the only one who felt that way either. The group behind them also felt a chill run down their spines when they heard Mira say that. They immediately knew what she meant by ''let loose'' because it''s already happened a few times in the past!

    "Oh? Are you nning on joining the Main Battle Maiden Sect in a little over a year?" Robin asked to which Mira nodded.

    "Amazing! Well, I''m sure with your talent you''ll be able to get in there easily. I''ve also heard plenty of good things about the Battle Maiden Sect. Unlike the other Sects who like to use their weaker disciples as ves and canon fodder, the Battle Maiden Sect actually cares about all of their disciples. Well, maybe not everyone, but for the most part they are a very tight-knit group. In fact, their internal structure isn''t too different from the Mercenary Association. It''s just that the barrier to entry is much higher." Robin exined which Mira was a bit surprised by.

    "I see. That''s how the Branch Sect was like. It''s good to hear that the Main Sect''s reputation isn''t much different."

    The two of them kept chatting with each other, enjoying these peaceful moments while theyst. Mira also didn''t mind talking with Robin because the girl was sincere about everything she said and didn''t ask overly personal questions.

    Unfortunately, they won''t be able to keep up their peaceful conversations for much longer. There''s a reason why they call this chasm Hell''s Pit, after all.

 Chapter 305 Earth Elemental

    Mira and the others leisurely made their way down the chasm. Well, only Mira was acting carefree about it. The other mercenaries, including Robin, were constantly on their toes waiting for something to attack them.

    They all knew what the chasms were like and knew that letting down your guard is thest thing you want to do.

    Mira, on the other hand, wasn''t too worried, at least for now. She''s practically lived in the chasms over thest 9 months, so dealing with the little critters near the top of the chasm is nothing to her.

    What she was more worried about was whatever is lurking at the bottom. The further down they went, the more Mira''s instincts warned her that something terrifying was dwelling at the bottom of the chasm and she had no intention of engaging such a foe.

    Of course, she''d still do her job to the best of her abilities as she can plunder more loot and umte enough Contribution Points that way, but she wasn''t going to needlessly throw her life away fighting something that is way out of her league.

    Suddenly, only a few hours after entering the chasm, Mira''s group was swarmed with bats! These bats were all only Rank 4 or Rank 5, but there were hundreds, possibly thousands of them!

    "Shit! Bats!" Someone yelled and everyone got in position, ready to attack, but then something extraordinary happened.

    Mira waved her hand and nearly all the bats turned into ice sculptures. Afterward, Mira waved her hand again and put all of the corpses into her Storage Space.

    That one move cost her around 15% of the Qi in her body, but she didn''t mind. The Qi inside the chasm is so dense that she''ll be back to full in about a minute.

    After all of the bats were dealt with, Mira, without turning around said, "It''d be for the best if you guys used your heads. I don''t particrly want to start fighting wave after wave of enemies right from the get-go. However, if you guys want to die quicker then, by all means, attack like a bunch of brainless monkeys."

    With that said, Mira kept walking down the pathway as everyone stood there, stunned. They were so stunned that they almost forgot that Mira just collected a decent chunk of points from those bats while barely having to do anything.

    They wanted to curse at her for saying such things, but any words wanted to say were stuck in their throats. Everything Mira said was true, even if it was a bit blunt.

    The group kept moving forward, except this time they took Mira''s words to heart. Although they wanted to earn some easy Contribution Points, they didn''t want to have to fight hordes of enemies to get it. They had to live first before being able to make use of any Contribution Points.

    Slowly but surely, Mira''s group made their way down the chasm while seamlessly taking out anything that got in their way. They tried to make as little bloodshed as possible and if any blood was shed then they would be sure to clean it up afterward so that the beasts wouldn''t keep hunting them down.

    Two weeks passed by and Mira''s group had barely taken a break. They were all cultivators in the Core Formation Realm, except for Mira, and could go months or even years without sleeping or eating. There was no need to set up camp or anything like that. In fact, doing so would make their trip much worse than it already was.

    Over thest 2 weeks, about 10% of the people in Mira''s group died. That number wasn''t high nor low and was about what Robin expected. No matter how hard they tried to prevent a horde of beasts from chasing them, in the end, it was impossible.

    There are too many people in the group and most of them aren''t the most intelligent so of course, there''ll be slip-ups.

    Unfortunately, one slip-up is more than enough to cause a chain reaction. So for the past 10 days or so, they''ve been fighting enemies almost nonstop.

    Mira was by far the biggest winner over thest two weeks, mainly because of Rhydian. To the Mercenary Association, the two of them counted as one person meaning any kills Rhydian gets also count towards Mira''s overall kills.

    So, while others might have to reluctantly take a break and switch with someone, Mira can just rest on Rhydian''s back for a few minutes before she''s ready to fight again and vice versa. For that very reason, Mira and Rhydian were able to spam destructive AOE attacks that can take out tons of weaker enemies.

    Meanwhile, others have to preserve their energy in case of an emergency because they can''tpletely trust their backs to someone.<sub> </sub>

    This all caused Mira''s group to have mixed feelings about the girl. On the one hand, she was hogging all of the potential Contribution Points. On the other hand, she was saving their lives by taking outrge amounts of enemies.

    Robin might be the only one in the group who was happy about having Mira in her group. The more lives Mira saves now, the more cannon fodder she can useter in the chasm.

    As they were walking, they were dealing with swarms of beasts like normal when all of a sudden, the ground started to shake.

    This wasn''t too big of a deal because such things have happened at least every day ever since they journeyed into the chasm, but Mira and Robin felt something was off. Their instincts were warning them that this earthquake wasn''t so simple.

    ''It''s an Earth Elemental! Mira, dodge!!'' Elenei''s voice rang inside her head and Mira didn''t waste a single second hopping off Rhydian and dodging. Rhydian, seeing herpanion dodge, did the same thing because her instincts were warning her of grave danger.

    "FUCK! NOO-!"

    "I DON''T WANT TO DI-!"

    "SAVE ME!"

    Right after the two of them dodged, Earth Spikes shot out of the ground and walls, impaling hundreds of mercenaries on the spot!

    After dodging, Mira took a good look around and almost felt like she was inside a giant Earthen ''Iron Maiden''. Earth Spikes covered the walls and ground nearly preventing anyone from walking. Luckily, they didn''t cover the entire area as gaps were still left in between the spikes, but that didn''t make Mira feel any better.

    Without even bothering to look at her injured and fallen group members, she turned to look at the neer. The Earth Elemental, as Elenei calls it.

    The Earth Elemental basically looked like a giant golem made out of stone. It was almost 10 meters tall and incredibly bulky, but Mira noticed a few things that made it unique. It had 8 tentacle-like arms made of stone on its back and its head is in the shape of a cannon. The chest of the Earth Elemental was made out of some sort of crystal and Mira had no idea what it actually did. Lastly, its hands and feet were made out of metal, unlike the rest of its stone body.

    Facing this titanous creature, Mira felt like an ant, both in size and power. Yes, this thing, although she didn''t know how powerful it was, was powerful nheless. Much more powerful than her current strength could handle.

    Luckily, she wasn''t alone and had thousands of mercenaries with her to help along with Robin.

    However, after ncing over at Robin, she knew that the receptionist also found this situation quite bad.

    ''Mira, let me give you a brief overview of Earth Elementals. First off, all Elementals have a Core and this Core contains all of an Elementals Essence. From the looks of it, you''ve actually absorbed an Ice Elemental Essence, albeit a very weak one. Essence is essentially an incredibly pure form of Energy and is something that can only be formed under certain circumstances. This Essence is the foundation of an Elemental, but it''s not what actually creates them. The Core that forms around their essence is what makes an Elemental, well, an Elemental. So, by destroying the Core, you can kill the Elemental while keeping the Essence inside of it.'' Elenei''s exined quickly.

    Mira immediately understood what to do, but she also had a few questions regarding Essence before jumping straight into things.

    ''But wouldn''t the Essence dissipate once I destroy the core? How can I keep the Elemental Essence if that''s the case? Do I need a special item to store it in?'' Mira asked while dodging the next set of spikes.

    ''No, because Essence isn''t Qi. In simple terms, it''s a purer form of Qi, but in actuality, the two arepletely different. Although that may be the case, Qi is actually able to turn into Essence. It''s just that Essence isn''t able to revert back into Qi. If you want more details, ask me after the battle. For now, you should figure out how to deal with that thing as it doesn''t look happy.''

    Elenei stopped talking after that and Mira focused on the Elemental in front of her because things already aren''t looking good and the fight''s just started.

 Chapter 306 Fighting The Earth Elemental Part 1

    Looking at the hulking monstrosity in front of her, Mira was at somewhat of a loss. She knew just by looking at it that she stood no chance against it in a head-on fight. She might be able to damage it, but she had a feeling that even if she were to draw out every bit of energy from her body and every ounce of physical strength, she still wouldn''t be able to severely damage it, much less kill it.

    Mira also didn''t necessarily think that having so many people here was a good thing because the people in Robin''s group are nothing but a bunch of cowardly people who prefer fighting the weak. As for their strength, even if they are all in the Core Formation Realm, they are probably the weakest types of people in their respective realms.

    As someone who trains hard every single day, Mira can tell the difference between someone who has a perfect understanding of their strength versus someone who only knows how to cultivate and uses their superior cultivation to kill or fight others.

    Looking at the group of mercenaries around her, Mira can see that at least 90% of them rely purely on brute strength.

    That''s not to say brute strength isn''t important, but Mira believes that reading your opponent, countering their attacks, ying mind games, knowing when to retreat and when to advance, and being able to gauge an opponent''s strengths and weaknesses, all the while trying to stay clear minded and flexible in battle are all just as important if not more.

    Sure, using various battle techniques, martial arts, weapon arts, and elemental techniques are important too, but so far Mira has found it better to create your own techniques that suit yourself more rather than relying on techniques that someone else made.

    You never know what kind of an opponent you''ll face in the future and amon sword technique might not be able to do the trick.

    Anyways, right now Mira was running various simtions in her head on how they can beat this thing, but she can''t figure out a way to beat it.

    ''It seems I''ll have to rely on Robin for this one. Hopefully, she doesn''t know this is an Earth Elemental and only thinks of it as a golem. After all, I would like to keep the Earth Elemental Essence inside its core. I should be able to get a bunch of Contribution Points from it if I sell it. Hehe~'' Mira thought to herself before shouting at Robin.

    "That''s an Earth Golem! A strong one at that! From what I know about golems is that they always have a Core somewhere on their bodies. As long as we destroy it, then this golem will die! While I don''t know where exactly the Core is located, I think we can safely assume it''s behind the crystal shell on the golem''s chest!" Mira shouted.

    Hearing what Mira said, the remaining mercenaries immediately began firing at the crystal shell on the golem''s chest.

    All sorts of spells and techniques started recklessly flying through the air as the mercenaries started to blow everything they had onto the Earth Elemental.

    Robin frowned seeing this, but she also had the same thoughts as Mira. It''s just that she didn''t expect to meet something this dangerous so early. They aren''t even close to reaching the bottom of the chasm, yet they already have to face something so deadly?

    She stared at the ''golem'' for a few seconds, feeling somewhatplicated. It could be said that she is in an extremely disadvantageous position against this golem. Her elemental affinity is wind and she doesn''t focus on using it offensively. She can if she needs to, but most of her techniques are more geared towards recon, intelligence gathering, assassination, etc.

    However, these aren''t exactly useful in the current situation. At least until Mira began speaking again.

    "Robin! What''s your elemental affinity and what do you primarily use it for?" Mira asked while dodging a boulder that the ''golem'' flung at her.

    "Wind! I mainly use it for recon and assassination!"

    There was a brief period of silence in between, but it onlysted a second or two until Mira replied, "Alright! Then I want you to form little air drills and aim them for a spot right under the crystal shell on its chest. Try to aim it at an upwards angle if you can. I''ll try to restrict its movements!"

    Robin instantly understood what Mira wanted to do. She wanted her to drill a hole through the stone of its upper body in order to reach the core. What she didn''t understand was why.

    However, it was clear to her that Mira noticed something that she didn''t, so instead of arguing with her, Robin decided to go with this n for now. It''s not like she has a better one.

    "Alright! I don''t know if I''ll be able to do it, but I''ll try! Just try and keep its movements locked!"

    "Already on it!"<sub> </sub>

    Robin''s assumptions were right because Mira did notice something when the mercenaries were attacking it. The Earth Elemental made no moves to protect its chest, almost like it had confidence in its ability to protect the core. Another thing she noticed was that the attacks thatnded on its chest almost look like they were deflected. They just slid off as soon as they made contact with the crystal shell.

    Seeing that, Mira starteding up with a makeshift n until someonees up with something better. From what she saw, she doubted that anyone would be making their way past the crystal shell, which made things much moreplicated because that means they either need to have the strength to simply shatter it or find another way to reach the core and for that, Robin will need to be a key yer.

    Her Qi density and strength are much higher than Mira''s or anyone else here so if there''s anyone who could reach the core then it''s her.

    Now knowing what to do, Mira and Robin went into action. Rhydian also joined in as well and helped Mira with restraining the Earth Elemental.

    Mira and Rhydian immediately split up, running to two different sides of the Earth Elemental. At nearly the same time, they began forming ice chains that would wrap around its legs, arms, and rock tentacles.

    Mira decided against taking out her scythe right now because it would be useless in this situation. She might as well leave her hands free in case of emergencies.

    Robin also began creating mini air drills around her that she would asionally throw at the spot right under the Earth Elemental''s crystal shell.

    Some of the other mercenaries began catching onto what Mira and Robin were doing and realized that they had basically just wasted their time and energy on randomly tossing out abilities in a panic.

    From then on, they started using their abilities to try and restrict its movements or aim for the spot right under the crystal shell where Robin was shooting.

    Unfortunately, most of them were rather useless. Hell, even Mira wasn''t exactly useful in this battle.

    Most of her and Rhydian''s ice chains broke right after touching the Earth Elemental. The most they could do in order to ''restrain'' it is to just keep pumping out ice chains and vines in order to annoy it. The thing was just too strong.

    Robin wasn''t having an easy time either. Trying to aim at the exact same spot on a moving target that is constantly chunking boulders, manipting the earth around you, andunching Earth Spikes from the walls and ground isn''t easy.

    Doing so requires pinpoint precision while also being able to keep creating attacks that are strong enough to be able to prate the stone the Earth Elemental is made out of.

    Needless to say, Robin''s using every bit of concentration she has in order toplete the task ahead of her.

    Mira, on the other hand, was still analyzing her opponent, trying to figure out any of its weaknesses. Well, even if she did find one, she wasn''t sure if it even mattered. She tried using her Yin Fire and Yin Magma on it, but those had even less of an effect on it than her ice did!

    She tried recollecting what she knew about giant opponents and from what she knew, taking out their legs is key to winning the battle. Normally, that would be the case, but this opponent is a little different.

    It''s a fucking Earth Elemental! Even if they brought it to the ground, it wouldn''t matter! This thing could be lying on its stomach and still kill them with rtive ease!

    See, Elementals in general are much differentpared to humans or any of the other races. Elementals don''t have a set body and merely take the form they feel mostfortable in. Meaning, their vision and senses aren''t limited only to what''s in front of them. Meaning that they have a 360 degree view of their surroundings.

    Elementals also have near full control over their respective Elements and don''t need to use their own energy to unleash attacks. They can simply control the environment around them to attack!

    Knowing all of this, Mira understood that toppling it over was useless, but even if she disregarded all of that, it still wouldn''t make much of a difference. Those Earth Tentacles on its back and earth cannon for a head are more than enough to kill them!

    Well, that is if they don''t die to their surroundings first��

 Chapter 307 Fighting The Earth Elemental Part 2

    As the battle with the Earth Elemental raged on, the amount of deaths on the mercenaries side began to decrease. They seemed to understand that although the Earth Elemental is exceedingly powerful, it isn''t very intelligent. Or maybe it is, but it''s been corrupted by whatever''s sitting at the bottom of the chasm.

    Another important fact that they learned is just how useless they are in the face of overwhelming power. There are thousands of mercenaries in the Core Formation Realm and yet they haven''t been able to put so much as a scratch onto the Earth Elemental.

    Even Robin, the strongest person in their group, has barely been able to damage it even with Mira taking most of its attention away!

    The only saving grace in this fight is that the Qi in the air is so dense that they can basically keep spamming abilities without worrying about having to take time to replenish their reserves.

    At least that''s what most of the mercenaries thought. Some of the more intelligent people knew that they weren''t the only ones receiving this benefit. The Earth Elemental and all the other beasts in this chasm also don''t have to worry about their reserves running out.

    Mira and Rhydian have been doing their best trying to restrain it or damage the Earth Elemental in some way, but it was all for naught. Actually, Mira had an idea, but she would have to umte enough energy for at least 5 to 10 minutes without being disturbed.

    However, there are a few problems with that n. One, there''s a risk that umting that much energy will cause her to identally break through. Two, if she doesn''t break through then after she releases such an abnormal amount of energy, then the bacsh from such a technique would, at best, turn her into a cripple. Worst case scenario, she''d die on the spot. Third, there''s no guarantee that she''d even kill it if she unleashed such an abnormal amount of energy!

    That was only one such n that Mira thought of and it seemed like the most feasible one. The most reliable is to wait for Robin''s wind drills to dig into the Earth Elemental and then break the Core that way, but how long will that take? Hours? Days? By that time, even if they do end up killing it, they''d most likely get devoured by the surrounding beasts!

    Unfortunately, they might not even need to wait until they kill the Earth Elemental for that to happen!

    Soon after the mercenaries regained their wits and started using their brains, the situation took an unexpected turn for the worse.

    Snakes, thousands of them, began slithering out of the walls, ground, and up from the chasm! These snakes were almost entirely ck and ranged from 50 centimeters long to tens of meters long. There were even a few Peak-Stage Rank 6 snakes.

    Nobody in the group could identify these snakes, well, except for one person�� err�� Phoenix.

    ''FUCKING HELL, MIRA!! What kind of dogshit luck did that inheritance bestow upon you?! You and Rhydian better get the hell out of here NOW before you, me, and everyone around you dies without ever knowing how!!'' Elenei screamed and almost emerged from Mira''s Soul Sea to buy Mira a bit of time.

    Mira, on the other hand, has never heard Elenei so panicked, so without hesitation she started running while informing Robin and Rhydian.

    "Dammit!! You two, we need to get the fuck out of here now!! Something much worse than this Golem is about to show up and I don''t feel like sticking around to see it!" Mira yelled before running away as fast as she could. Rhydian, feeling Mira''s emotions, also didn''t hesitate to follow after her. In fact, she even approached Mira and allowed her to jump on her back as the two of them ran away.

    Robin didn''t quite understand the situation, but almost immediately after Mira ran off a feeling of dread washed over her. Her intuition was telling her that if she didn''t leave now, it was instant death.

    Usually, she''s not one to rely too much on her instincts because instincts can''t be used as proof, but she''s still a rtively strong cultivator. Her intuition is countless times better than a normal person''s and has saved her life more than a few times in the past. Now, it seems that she''s going to have to rely on it again.

    Also, she trusted Mira''s judgment because although the little girl might be a bit anti-social and indifferent, she always does things that give her the best chance at survival. At least, that''s what she learned by apanying her over thest few weeks. Well, that and her ability to sense danger is off the charts!

    Barely half a secondter, she too was running for her life in the same direction Mira went,pletely ignoring the mercenaries getting devoured by the thousands of snakes popping out of the ground. They were brought here as canon fodder, they were told upfront that they are canon fodder, now it''s time to serve their purpose!

    They were going to die anyway, they might as well make themselves useful by stalling whatever''sing for a few extra seconds.<sub> </sub>

    Not only that, but Mira and Rhydian are way more useful than this ragtag team of mercenaries ever could be. The two of them together,bat prowess, might even be able to fight evenly with her! They stand almost no chance in even hitting her, but Robin seriously doubts that she could kill them.

    Essentially, she didn''t need this group of mercenaries as long as Mira and Rhydian were with her.

    Just a few seconds after Robin and Mira disappeared, all of the mercenaries were devoured by the snakes. Yes, it was extremely fast, but one must understand that they were already in a state of panic and were fully focused on the Earth Elemental. They didn''t have the time nor ability to keep track of their surroundings. So by the time the snakes showed up, it was already toote.

    As soon as they all died, a massive serpent, hundreds of meters long, seemingly crawled out of the abyss and before the Earth Elemental could even process what was going on, it vanished into the belly of the mighty beast!

    Mira, Rhydian, and Robin took a peak behind them to see what just appeared, but they could only catch a glimpse of the beast before a primal fear took over their bodies and they almost turned straight into stone statues!

    ''You idiot!! Don''t look back at that thing! What just appeared before you is known as a Basilisk and from the looks of it, it seems to be a mutated one as well. If I''m not wrong, it''d be more correct to call it a Cursed Basilisk! I don''t know if it''s a pureblooded one or not, but that thing definitely has Basilisk genes in it! With how powerful it is, you would be turned to stone in an instant should you look it in the eye. Actually, you''re quite lucky that it hadn''t spared you three a nce. If it did, you definitely would''ve died on the spot! I guess you can only count your lucky stars that you''re weak right now!'' Elenei scolded and exined.

    ''FUCK! Why didn''t you tell me what it was beforehand?! If I knew it was a fucking Basilisk, then I wouldn''t have looked back just now!''

    ''Hey, that''s your fault for being a dumbass! Who asked you to try and examine a mythical creature!?'' Elenei rebuked, causing Mira''s mouth to twitch, but she was able to calm down a bit thanks to that.

    That''s when she suddenly thought of something that made Elenei seriously question her sanity.

    ''Goddammit!! That bitch stole my loot! I was going to collect the Earth Elemental Essence from the core, but that fucking snake just had to steal my prey! To make matters worse, that beast wasn''t even a mythical or legendary beast of the ice element! That could''ve saved me from having to do a trial!'' Mira inwardly cursed at the Cursed Basilisk.

    Elenei, on the other hand, felt like she was losing her mind when Mira just said that.

    ''Are you crazy?! It would be a miracle if you and that girl Robin could even take down that Earth Elemental, much less that basilisk! How do you n on extracting its Blood Essence if you won''t even be able to look at it without dying!?'' Elenei began scolding Mira again which caused thetter to go silent.

    The crazy thing is what Mira said, she actually meant. She''d almost rather die than have to go through five trials set up by the F.LD.I.L.

    She also thought it was a shame to lose out on the Earth Elemental Essence because even if she couldn''t sell it, she could give it to Rhydian.

    That''s when she thought of something weird.

    Why didn''t it look at them? Rhydian is a beast with a bloodline that even the Heavens can''t control while Mira''s sure that some of the more powerful beasts should be able to sense the aura of a Phoenix on her. Shouldn''t those be like treasures of the highest grade for any beast?

    As if sensing her thoughts, Elenei cleared her doubts even though she was a bit skeptical as well.

    ''If I''m being honest, I have no idea why it didn''t chase after you. Maybe it was because Rhydian is a beast that should never exist in a Mortal World to begin with and therefore it couldn''t sense her bloodline. Or maybe it''s because you two are ants in its eyes and even if it did eat you and Rhydian, there wouldn''t be any benefits. I think that''s the more likely solution because it''s not like beasts get the bloodline of those they eat. Even if I, the basilisk, or any other mythical beast consumed Rhydian as she is now, they''d barely be able to fill the gaps in their teeth. That''s why I''ve never thought about consuming Rhydian. Thest reason I can think of is because someone or something told it not to.'' Elenei exined.

    Mira epted her reasoning because she couldn''t think of anything more usible. In any case, Mira was just d she was still alive. Still, that didn''t stop her from running even further away from where that Basilisk came from, but she''ll remember that Basilisk and should the opportunity present itself, she''ll definitely take back the loot that was rightfully hers!

 Chapter 308 Cultivation Paths

    A week after the Basilisk showed up, Mira and Robin went back to descending further into the chasm. They both wanted nothing to do with such a beast so they decided to camp out in one of the caves for a week until they were sure the threat had passed.

    They probably would''ve been fine to start their journey again after a day or two, but Elenei rmended they wait a bit longer just in case. Mira agreed with her suggestion and told Robin that it would be better for them to wait.

    Although Robin was a bit worried that she would be too far behind the Branch Head, she was more worried about her life.

    Now, after a week of resting, the two of them plus Rhydian began making their way down the chasm again, except this time things were a bit more peaceful. It wasn''t hard to guess the reason why as they literally just encountered the beast and its minions.

    However, Mira was not happy about such an oue. She came here to collect Contribution Points by killing beasts and collecting loot, but that damn snake came in and not only stole her Earth Elemental Essence but the rest of her prey as well.

    Nevertheless, the three of them were able to make their way down the chasm at breakneck speeds for this very reason.

    Meanwhile, Mira and Robin haven''t talked much ever since their encounter with the Basilisk and Robin was starting to find the atmosphere a little ufortable. She was still a little on edge from their encounter with such a deadly beast and traveling in silence even while having apanion wasn''t helping.

    That''s when Mira began talking to her.

    "Do you know anything about Body Cultivation, Robin?" Mira asked as she might be able to get some proper information about the topic.

    "Body Cultivation? Well, a bit. From what I know, although Body Cultivation Techniques are a bit rare, they aren''t umon. Even I cultivate one, but it''s just a standard Body Cultivation Technique that''s handed out to anyone who works for the Mercenary Association. Why do you ask?" Robin exined.

    "Well, I was just thinking about how I could have defeated that golem and I think having an especially strong body would be a huge help, but I think you got the wrong idea of what I''m trying to ask. I also cultivate a Body Cultivation Technique, but that one has very specific requirements. What I''m asking for is if there is a standardized Body Cultivation System just like there is for Qi Cultivation? Do you know anything about that?" Mira asked with somewhat hopeful eyes.

    Robin pondered over Mira''s words for a moment. She was a bit surprised that Mira also cultivated a Body Cultivation Technique and now she understood why she was so strong given her current Realm.

    She also thought about what to say to Mira in regards to her question. The truth is, she does know a bit about the Body Cultivation Path, but she''s not really supposed to share it with other people. In fact, the true Body Cultivation Path is generally only known to the Upper Echelon of each Continent.

    It might be more widespread in the Central Continent where thepetition between cultivators is exceedingly fierce, but again, she''s not supposed to tell others much information, if any at all, regarding the Central Continent.

    However, she''s grown quite fond of Mira over thest few weeks. As a fellow cultivator, she respects Mira for her strength and drive to move forward. As a fellow human, she admires her honesty and how genuine she is even if she''s a bit cold and brutal. And as a fellow woman, she''s inspired by Mira''s strong will and unyielding personality.<sub> </sub>

    All in all, she can tell that Mira isn''t actually a bad person. Cruel? Definitely. Ruthless? 100%. Decisive? Maybe a bit too much. But she''s generally a person who won''t step into other people''s business and won''t do anything unless you provoke her.

    At least, that''s the kind of feeling she gets from Mira. The feeling of someone who just wants to be left alone most of the time��

    "Ahem! It''s not that I don''t know anything about the Body Cultivation Path, but it''s not really something that''s meant to be shared. I''m only a little receptionist at a Branch location and I don''t have the authority to share this kind of information with outsiders. You must understand that this is one of the reasons why the Big Sects can stay at the top. I''m sure even you can tell that your battle prowess is much higher with a strong body." Robin exined and Mira nodded her head in understanding.

    "So there really is a Body Cultivation Path, huh. Is there anything more specific that you can share? Like what the Body Cultivation Path is meant for. Is it purely for increasing the strength of the Body? Does it raise the body''s potential? Is there a unique source of energy that one needs to absorb in order to start cultivating it?" Mira bombarded her with questions causing Robin to smile wryly.

    ''Is the only thing this girl cares about cultivation? Well, whatever.''

    "As far as I know, besides making the body stronger, the main reason for cultivating one''s body is that with each stage you progress, you are essentially evolving as a life form, unlike Qi Cultivation. I don''t know if you know this or not, but everytime you enter a new Major Realm in the Qi Cultivation Path, you are only increasing your life level. Simply put, your body''s resistance to Qi, lifespan, strength, andprehension abilities increase, but at the end of the day, you are still a human. You are just a human who has gone down the path of cultivation. However, the Body Cultivation Path is different. With each stage of true Body Cultivation, you are evolving, turning into something much better than a normal human. So while it''s safe to say, yes, you are increasing your potential, but that''s just a side effect. I don''t know if I exined it that well since I haven''t actually gone down that path, but hopefully you get the gist of it." Robin let Mira know as much information as she could while trying to keep things vague.

    As much as she admired the girl, she didn''t want to be killed by the Mercenary Association for spreading information that others weren''t supposed to know in the first ce.

    Mira understood this and she wasn''t bothered by it at all. The two of them weren''t friends and could hardly be considered colleagues or teammates. The fact that Robin was willing to answer some of her questions was already more than enough for Mira and it gave her plenty to think about.

    From what Mira could tell, things were not as simple as Robin made things out to be. From what she knew, evolving for any species is a serious topic. Evolving isn''t as simple as just absorbing enough Qi to break through to the next Realm to improve one''s capabilities. Just take humans and apes as an example. On some of the worlds she reincarnated into, the people believed that humans evolved from apes. But in this Cultivation World, apes won''t turn into humans just because they cultivated a little. Even if an ape ascends and bes an immortal ape, that still won''t change.

    However this is where Mira got a bit confused because from what she knew, evolution has many different pathways and takes millions of years. Also, evolution is something that is passed down through one''s genes not something that someone can impose on themselves.

    ''Elenei, what about beasts? Can''t they evolve? Also, do beasts have 2 separate Cultivation Paths?'' Mira decided to ask Elenei to clear up some of her doubts.

    ''Yes, beasts can evolve, but their evolution is much differentpared to humans. You see, a beasts'' talent is highly dependent on their bloodline. Their bloodline determines whether they''ll have a strong body, good eyesight, sharp sense, powerful regeneration, etc. However, their bloodline is also what hinders them. Take Rhydian as an example. Her bloodline allows her to devour anything and consume its power while also being able to take her all the way to the peak with hardly any bottlenecks. However, not every random beast can do this. Most beasts have a bloodline restriction that only allows them to go so far.''

    ''Say, for example, a bear only has the ability to cultivate up to Rank 2. No matter what it does or how hard it cultivates, it won''t be able to break this restriction. It''ll have to find some way to evolve or refine its bloodline in order to go further. While this might not be so difficult for weak beasts with trash bloodlines, the farther a beast goes down the cultivation path, the harder it bes. Take that bear as an example. If it wants to be a Rank 3 bear then it essentially needs to change species or dig deep into its ancestral bloodline in order to keep progressing. That''s how beasts evolve, through their bloodline. However, it seems things are different for you humans.'' Elenei exined which helped solve a few of the mysteries around the evolution process.

    This information gave Mira a lot to think about. Not only that, but her intuition was telling her that she''d need to go down this path if she wants to be able to fight with those closer to or in the Central Continent.

 Chapter 309 Making A Choice

    After their talk, Mira and Robin continued to descend down the chasm without much issue. Hardly any beasts disturbed them and they barely found any useful treasures along the way.

    It had to be said that Mira''s luck was really quite bad. The only reason she joined this expedition is that she can earn Contribution Points faster by killing beasts and collecting loot, but now she can''t do either one of them!

    Normally, one would be happy with not having to fight so many beasts and Mira''s no exception to this either. However, this time she actually needed to kill them if she wanted to aplish her goal and yet they all up and disappeared because of that damn Basilisk!

    Unfortunately, there''s not much she can do about this. It''s not like she can chase after and kill every little beast she can find in the chasm. Doing that would be a huge waste of time, which is the only thing Mira doesn''t have an abundance of right now.

    The days went by as Mira, Robin, and Rhydian continued making their way down the chasm. The two of them didn''t talk much simply because Mira isn''t normally one to spark up a conversation and the only things she did want to talk about, Robin was incapable of sharing because she''s part of the Mercenary Association.

    It didn''t take long until the three of them reached a point where the route that the Mercenary Association made prior to this expedition disappeared. More precisely, they reached a point where the only thing ahead of them was a steep drop off. They couldn''t see anything further ahead exceptplete darkness.

    This wasn''t only the case in front of them, but to their right side as well. The only ces they could realistically go now is behind them or they can try and dig in the wall to their left.

    They could jump down into the unknown abyss around them, but doing that is nothing short of suicide!

    Mira and Robin looked at each other and thetter released a bitter smile.

    "It seems something must''ve happened to the path ahead of us. If I had to guess who did this, I''d me it on that giant serpent that almost killed us a few days ago. Well, it''s not like that matters. Right now, we need to figure out how to keep descending down the chasm without killing ourselves. Any ideas, Mira?" Robin asked.

    "We can either dig our way down or jump. I guess we could backtrack but something tells me we''d run into a simr situation even if we went down another route." Mira''s response made Robin''s eyes twitch as she was looking for more�� practical answers. Though, something Mira said did catch her attention.

    "Oh? Why do you think we''de across a simr situation no matter where we went? Before you answer, let me tell you that our scouts have already made paths down the chasm that descend much further than this. It wouldn''t really make much sense if this happened to the other routes we made as well." Robin asked back but even though she said that, she also got the same feeling as Mira.

    "There isn''t much that I can say that you don''t already know. This whole chasm is like a living organism. The earthquakes are constantly changing the environment. Extremely strong beasts that could tten countries live here. Millions of beasts are fighting every day and strange creatures keep popping up no matter where we go. Hell, our team got wiped out in just a few seconds by that serpent''s minions! You can''t honestly say that you really expected everything to go smoothly on this expedition, right?" There was one more thing Mira didn''t mention, but was probably arge part of the reason why the paths would be destroyed:

    Her absolute trash luck.

    This isn''t the type of bad luck where one can still find fortune in misfortune. No, this is the type of luck where its sole goal is to try and kill her. The most recent example of this was the encounter with that Basilisk over a week ago! If she left a second toote or if she was too strong then she would have most likely been its food! Sure, it may have saved her life by killing the Earth Elemental, but she wasn''t too worried about dying to that thing.

    It would''ve been a pain in the ass to kill, but it was too stupid to actually kill her. However, not only did Basilisk swoop in and take her loot and almost kill her, but it even had its minions steal her kills as well!

    Where''s the ''finding fortune in misfortune'' in that scenario? That''s right, there is none!

    The same thing is happening right now. Mira''s essentially given a choice. To risk it all by trying to find a way down on the off chance that she finds something useful or to give up and go back to the city.

    Right now, her intuition is telling her that going any further down the chasm than this is almost certain death. Mira doesn''t have any problem with this as she''s used to living on the edge between life and death, but that doesn''t mean she wants tomit suicide for no reason.<sub> </sub>

    Furthermore, she doesn''t even know if jumping down into the abyss will bring her any benefits. For all she knows, she might juste face to face with the Basilisk and die instantly.

    However, going back is a huge no for Mira. She''s already made it this far! She doesn''t need that many more Contribution Points to get all of the items she needs and if shepletes this mission sessfully then she should have more than enough. But, if she quits then not only will she not have enough and will have to waste more time doing annoying missions, but she might also have to look for the items elsewhere depending on if the Mercenary Association just ups and leaves Quake CIty after the expedition!

    When she reached this point in her thinking, the answer was obvious, but she still had no idea how to safely descend into the chasm. That is, until a voice that she hadn''t heard in almost a year appeared in her mind.

    "Just jump, Mira! I can assure you that going down right now will bring you many benefits and treasures as long as you survive and y your cards right. You should also bring along that little girl next to you. She may prove to be useful in the near future. Well, that''s only if you do what I have in mind. Anyways, just jump! It''spletely safe! I promise!" The Guardian startedughing after he said that and part of Mira felt her lips unconsciously twitch listening to this dumbass.

    ''Why the hell would I jump? Don''t you see how far down this goes? I''ll go st as soon as I reach the bottom! Wouldn''t it be better to just dig straight down? That way we can safely reach the bottom without too many troubles. And what do you mean about the benefits going down would bring me? You make it sound like I''ll get more than just a few exotic herbs and ores.'' Mira asked numerous questions which caused the Guardian to chuckle.

    "Just toss that wolf off the edge and jump on her back with that girl Robin. You might get a little hurt once you reach the bottom but you''ll survive. I''d also advise you not to create any tunnels or dig into the Earth. One, it would take you forever to dig deep enough to reach the bottom. That''s because the earth around you is filled with Qi and is extremely dense, almost like metal. Two, you''d be disturbing all of the beasts who have created their own habitats in the ground. I''m sure you don''t want to fight so many beasts in such a tiny enclosure. As for the benefits, let''s just say there''s a High Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source at the bottom of the chasm. I''m sure you know what that means."

    When the Guardian finished hisst sentence, Mira was a bit stunned. She knew exactly what he meant and just thinking about the possibility brought a smile to her face. Yet, she was still a bit doubtful if she could actually use it.

    ''Can I even use a High Grade Source in ce of a Mid Grade one for the Core Formation Recipe?'' Mira asked.

    "Of course! However, I do have to warn you that doing so won''t increase your potential anymore than it already will once you gather all of the items. Your potential will already be limitless once you form your new core with that recipe. But! Doing so will bring other immediate benefits to you that I''m sure you''ll love!" The Guardian exined which immediately cleared up Mira''s doubts. Although she still didn''t fully trust the guy, she knew he wouldn''t joke around with things like this.

    She was slightly disappointed by the benefits that using a High-Grade Source will bring her, but she didn''t care about that. As long as she doesn''t have to go through a shitty trial, then she''ll dly do her best to plunder that High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source! Anything other than not having to do a trial is just extra.

    With that said, Mira turned and began approaching her. Seeing this, Robin immediately felt like something bad was going to happen. She was just about to back away when Mira quickly dashed in, surprising her, and grabbed her by the arm.

    "WHA-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Robin began to panic, but Mira still didn''t say anything. She already had Robin in her grip and with her body''s strength the girl wasn''t going to escape any time soon.

    While dragging Robin, Mira also walked up to Rhydian before kicking her off the edge and sending her into the abyss.

    *AWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOooooooo*

    Rhydian screamed and unfurled her wings as she descended into the abyss. Then Mira tossed Robin off the edge like a ragdoll before she herself also jumped.

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo...��."

    The only thing that could be heard in the chasm were Rhydian''s howls and Robin''s screams.

 Chapter 310 The Fall

    "MIRA!!! WHAT THE HELL?!" Robin screamed as she fell into the abyss. She tried to use a Core Formation expert''s ability to fly, but for whatever reason she was restricted from doing so. Then she tried using her air affinity to fly, but that didn''t help at all. That only made her panic more as she seriously wondered why Mira tossed them all off the edge.

    While Mira was free falling, she looked at Robin expressionlessly for a few seconds before straightening her body and diving onto Rhydian''s back.

    Seeing this, Robin was dumbfounded at the sight of Mira wanting to dive faster into the abyss. That is, until she looked down and saw Mira safelynding on Rhydian, who had her wings out.

    She was about to do the same thing as Mira, but before she could do anything Mira''s eyes turned cold.

    "Robin! I''ll let you on Rhydian''s back as long as you swear to the Heavens that you won''t share any information about Rhydian. Actually, I want you to repeat after me! ''I, Robin [insertst name], hereby swear that I will not leak any and all information regarding Mira''s beastpanion Rhydian. Should I do so, may the Heavens strike me down, both body and soul!'' As long as you say that, I''ll make sure you don''t go st!" Miramanded.

    "WHAT?! Mira!! This is not the time to be joking?! Just let mend on the damn wolf!! I swear I won''t tell a soul!" Robin started to panic even more after listening to Mira and no longer hesitated at trying tond on Rhydian''s back.

    However, Mira wasn''t having it and took out her scythe.

    "Not good enough!! Swear to the Heavens now or you turn into a meat patty!" Mira ordered and started summoning ice weapons around her as well.

    Seeing this, Robin knew that she would definitely die if she didn''t swear to the Heavens. She could try and forcefullynd on Rhydian''s back, but realistically doing so would be difficult. Not only is Mira only a bit weaker than her, but she''s literally free-falling right now and any attacks she could use would be severely weakened. Also, Rhydian can just dodge and she''ll have a one-way ticket to hell.

    "Fuck! Fine! I''ll do it! I, Robin Elsher, hereby swear that I will not leak any and all information regarding Mira''s beastpanion Rhydian. Should I do so, may the Heavens strike me down, both in body and soul!" Robin swore and immediately after a wave of power descended onto her, scouring her body and soul until eventually binding her to her promise.

    Robin felt very ufortable at having to go through such a thing as not even the Mercenary Association made her swear to the Heavens. But her life was more important than any information on Mira''s pet.

    She wasn''t going to mention it to anyone anyways because it''s not like Mira has been trying to hide Rhydian. She''d probably mention her wings to someone in passing, but she didn''t think much of it.

    However, Robin was an intelligent woman and knew that if Mira was even going so far as to force her to swear to the Heavens over such a trivial matter, clearly things are much bigger than she can imagine.

    On the other side, when Mira heard Robin''s swear she put away her scythe and ice weapons.

    "Alright, you cane down now!" Mira yelled then turned away from Robin and began meditating. She wasn''t worried about Robin trying to kill her, at least not after she''s just gotten another lease on life. Therefore, she stopped paying attention to her without any worries.

    Robin felt her lips twitch, but in the end she didn''t say anything back. She only slowly descended onto Rhdyian''s back before letting out a huge sigh. She briefly glossed over her body and felt it was really good to be alive.

    She then looked at Mira with mixed feelings, not knowing whether she should be angry or not. However, after thinking about it, she partly understood why Mira forced her into such a situation. Well, that is, if Rhydian is really as unique as she''s specting.

    In the end, she couldn''t really be too mad about that. Mira just wanted to keep her secrets safe and she understood that, but what she couldn''t understand is why they had to jump off the damn cliff in the first ce!

    "Mira�� Why did you really throw me off the cliff?" Robin asked slowly and with narrowed eyes.

    Mira turned around and looked at Robin like she was looking at an idiot.

    "To get to the bottom. Obviously."

    Her reply made Robin speechless.<sub> </sub>

    "You know that''s not what I''m asking about!! Why didn''t you consult with me on this decision?! Who knows what the hell we''ll run-ahem fall into! There were other less�� radical options that we could have taken! Why''d you have to throw me off without even talking to me?!"

    Mira pondered for a second before the face of an idiotic and shameless blonde immediately appeared in her mind. Her face ovepped with Robin''s before Mira shook her head to get any thoughts about her out of her head.

    "Hmm�� Force of habit I guess." Mira briefly replied then turned around to continue mediating.

    However, her response didn''t make Robin feel any better. Instead, she felt like she was being messed with right now.

    ''What do you mean ''force of habit''? Do you often throw people off cliffs without their consent?'' Robin wanted to ask, but she felt like it was probably better if she keeps such thoughts to herself.

    The two didn''t say anything after that and began preparing their mind for what''s toe. Luckily for them, Rhydian could glide down without too much trouble. She obviously couldn''t fly up, but her wings were just big enough that she didn''t need to worry about exploding into a bloodmist when they reached the bottom.

    Now, that didn''t mean they would be perfectly fine when they eventuallynded. Rhydian was still falling at extreme speeds, it just wasn''t enough to kill them. In all honesty, Rhydian would probably break many bones in her body and possibly even damage a few internal organs when they touch the ground. Mira and Robin wouldn''t fare much better, but at least they''d be cushioned by the fall a bit.

    Mira didn''t necessarily like the feeling of being the cause of her beastpanion''s pain, but the circumstances forced her to take drastic actions. Mira swore that she''d treat Rhydian a bit better after this expedition is over as they''ve had a roughst few months.

    Her only constion through all this was that Rhydian''s regenerative abilities are off the charts. Even if she were to break all of the bones in her body and rupture several internal organs, it probably wouldn''t take more than a few hours to a few days to heal all of that. Plus, with such dense Qi around her, those injuries would heal even faster.

    ording to Mira''s calctions, Rhydian probably wouldn''t need more than an hour to fully recover from such a state. That''s why Mira wasn''t too worried about Rhydian. The little wolf was more cockroach than wolf with how hard it was to kill her.

    Not long after Mira''s group jumped into the abyss, darkness quickly consumed them. They couldn''t tell which was up or down nor could they see anything in front of them. It wasplete darkness.

    This made Robin and Rhydian quite ufortable, but they didn''t panic. Well, Rhydian definitely would''ve started panicking were it not for Mira''s calm state of mind soothing her. Robin, on the other hand, wasn''t a Core Formation Realm cultivator for nothing. She wouldn''t freak out because of a little darkness. Plus, she knew that if she moved then she was dead.

    Slowly, a few hours went by inplete darkness before the scenery around them changed. After the darkness passed, Mira and Robin opened their eyes and gasped! Even Mira was no exception!

    She couldn''t help it as the scene around them was too astonishing. It was like they entered another world!

    Although they seemed to enter some sort of giant cave system, it didn''t look much different from the surface. Lush green grass everyone, giant trees, tons of nts, ponds, streams, rivers, beasts, insects, glowing crystals on the wall, basically anything one could imagine was living in this giant cavern! The ecosystem also looked abnormally stable. It was a bit weird, to be honest.

    There were no fights, no noise other than the sound of nature, and no deaths. It was extremely peaceful.

    To make matters even more weird, the amount of beasts living in this massive cavern is way too many. Just from a brief nce, Mira felt like half of the space in this cavern was upied by beasts! What kind of nonsense is that?! How can there be so many beasts?!

    As shocked as she was, Mira still regained her wits extremely fast before ordering Rhydian.

    "Rhydian, try tond in one of those trees or a pond or something. Maybe that can break your fall!"

    Rhydian didn''t need to be told twice as she tried controlling her wings to a spot she felt she had the highest chance of sustaining the least amount of injuries!

 Chapter 311 Myriad Beast Tree

    As Rhydian fell from the sky, she tried pping her wings in an attempt to fly, but for some reason, she still couldn''t do such a thing. However, she did find that the restrictions that seemed to be ced on her have lifted every so slightly.

    She also nced around the massive cavern and saw several flocks of birds flying freely through the air. She wondered why they could fly but she couldn''t. Rhydian felt it was unfair that she, a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf, was unable to fly yet these basic birds could soar through the air!! How could she allow herself to suffer such a loss?!

    At that thought, her bloodline started surging and she started pping her wings with more ferocity until she felt Mira knock on her head.

    "What the hell are you doing? Are you feeling upset that you can''t fly while those other beasts can? Quit being so petty and just focus onnding safely." Mira scolded, causing Rhydian to pout, but in the end, she still listened to her.

    A few minutester, Rhydian crashnded into a tree and after tumbling around in the tree for a few seconds, they eventually reached the ground with only minor bruising and a few fractures.

    Robin took out a healing pill to bring her back to her peak condition, but Mira and Rhydian weren''t worried about these injuries at all. Both of them had astounding regenerative capabilities andbined with the density of Qi in this ce; they''d be back to their peak condition in just a few minutes.

    That being said, Mira and Rhydian, after crashnding, instantly stood up and began assessing the surrounding area. They''ve both experienced a lot over thest 9 months and knew better than to be caught off guard just because they sustained a few ''light'' injuries.

    Looking around, they were stunned at just how beautiful their surroundings were. If Mira were beingpletely honest, this ce reminded her of the Infinity Garden. Just that this ce was infinitely smaller, the density of Qi couldn''tpare, and there was no time dtion, but that''s to be expected. On the contrary, this ce seemed like the perfect ce to grow herbs and nts.

    She''s only nced around to make sure they aren''t in any danger yet Mira could make out an over-abundance of herbs, fruits, trees, and other nt life.

    Seeing all of this precious loot, Mira unconsciously licked her lips at the thought of plundering it all. If it was the usual Mira who hung out with Maria and Cine, she''d probably be a bit more reserved. However, the whole reason for hering to Quake City is so she can loot, plunder, and kill whoever she wants without consequences.

    This is especially the case for naturally grown nts. To Mira, nts are made by the Heavens and Earth for the sentient beings to use as they wish. Naturally, as a fellow sentient being, Mira has to do her part and humbly take what was given!

    When her thoughts reached this point, Mira almost started uprooting the trees, bushes, and herbs around her, but quickly held herself back.

    ''I can do thatter. First, we need to scout out the area.'' Mira thought and was about to start informing Rhydian and Robin of her n, but before she could say anything Rhydian took off without warning.

    "Rhydian! Tsk! That fucking wolf, can''t she just wait for my orders before running off to do her own thing?" Mira cursed and quickly followed after her.

    Robin didn''t know what was going on, but she also went after the two of them.

    Just a few secondster, the three of them appeared in front of a sapling. This sapling was barely a meter tall and looked like it would fall over at any moment. However, on one of its branches was a fruit about the size of a peach.

    Robin, Rhydian, Mira, and even Elenei had no idea what this sapling or fruit was, but they could sense a dense amount of Qi, lifeforce, and another kind of energy that seemed oddly simr to Elemental Essence yet not at the same time.

    However, there was one person who knew exactly what this fruit was and he was a bit bewildered how such a thing could appear in front of Mira. Though, most of his bewilderment came from the fact that Mira met such a lucky encounter with her dog shit luck. Other than being surprised about Mira''s luck turning around, he wasn''t too surprised. Sure, that fruit is incredibly rare and one might not even be able to find it even if they searched 10 entire Mortal Worlds, but at the end of the day, it was still a mortal item. The Guardian would never be surprised that a Mortal Item appeared in the Mortal Realm.<sub> </sub>

    "Girl, you should nt that sapling in the Infinity Garden as soon as possible. That sapling will mature into something called a Myriad Beast Tree and will produce Myriad Beast Fruits just like the one hanging from its branch there. I know the name sounds reallyme, but there''s a reason for it."

    "The Myriad Beast Fruit is actually a unique fruit and doesn''t have a grade. That''s because to some beasts this fruit is an ultimate treasure while to others it''s borderline useless. This fruit can actually stimte one''s potential and even has a small chance of causing the one who eats it to evolve. I know that may sound great and all, but you see not every fruit grown by the Myriad Beast Tree is the same nor do they affect every beast who eats one of its fruits the same."

    "Sometimes a beast with low potential will eat one and just feel a mediocre rise in strength while the rest of the fruit is wasted. While other times, a beast with high potential will feel its strength rise quickly, its bloodline evolve, and its affinities increase. In essence, the effects of the fruits thate from this tree are random. Well, sometimes there are anomalies like this little wolf you have with you that can probably digest every fruit to its fullest potential, but she''s truly one of a kind. Either way, if there''s one thing you should get out of this trip it''s this sapling. Even that High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source isn''t as rare or important as this Myriad Beast Tree." The Guardian exined.

    Hearing what he just said, the way Mira looked at the little sapling in front of her changed. Now, instead of looking at it like just another nt to be plundered, she was looking at it like it was a treasure.

    Meanwhile, Rhydian didn''t waste any time and directly consumed the fruit. Through her mental link with Mira, she told Mira that she could use this fruit to break through to Low-Stage Rank 6.

    Hearing that, a rare smile appeared on Mira''s face, unfortunately nobody could see it as she had a mask on. She knew that this breakthrough would lead to a qualitative change in Rhydian as she''d finally be forming her Beast Core.

    From what Mira understood, Beast Cores are formed and work differentlypared to Human cores. There''s no need for any kind of Core Formation Recipe or anything like that for Beasts. For one, their cores are solely based on their current bloodline. If their bloodline improves then their Beast Core Improves. Two, Beast Cores are mainly used as just a more efficient way of storing and using Qi inside their bodies. Beasts also use their Beast Cores to store much more Qi.

    Lastly, Beasts can actually start cultivating like humans after they form their Beast Core rather than just focusing on increasing their bodily strength and waiting for their bodies to mature in order to grow in strength.

    Of course, beasts can''t use the Cultivation Manuals that humans use, but the process of collecting and condensing Qi is still simr.

    There are also other benefits to having a Beast Core, but those are unique to each Beast and their bloodline.

    While thinking of all this, Mira deftly scooped up the sapling and threw it into her Infinity Garden to grow.

    Rhydian soon started feeling a bit sluggish and slowly walked over to Mira''s side before plopping onto the ground, officially starting her breakthrough to Rank 6.

    Unfortunately, whether it was because of her terrible luck, fate, or maybe she just became incredibly stupid for a few seconds by allowing not only Rhydian to eat the fruit, but for her to even plunder the sapling, the surrounding beasts began roaring as if they went insane.

    Then Mira and Robin felt an insane amount of bloodlust directed towards them. That''s when she knew she fucked up.

    "Goddammit! Why did I allow that stupid wolf to eat that fruit?! I should''ve been more cautious! Sigh�� Oh well. At least I can collect some more beast corpses and a bunch more Contribution Points this way. Maybe I''ll even kill so many that I can start looting this ce until it looks less like a paradise and more like a wastnd! COME AT ME YOU SHITTY BEASTS!! COME AND BE MY CONTRIBUTION POINTS!" Mira yelled at the enraged beasts which seemed to only make them angrier.

    Meanwhile, Robin really felt like crying right now. How did things go from eating a fruit to fighting an army of beasts? Not just any beasts at that, but a fucking army of Rank 6 Beasts!

 Chapter 312 Evolved Ice Wings

    Listening to the enraged roars around them, Mira and Robin immediately took out their weapons and prepared for battle.

    "Protect Rhydian until she can finish her breakthrough! I can guarantee you that she will be several times stronger once she wakes up!" Mira said to Robin who also thought the same thing.

    She knew how strong Rhydian was without forming her Beast Core and bing a Rank 6 Beast. She can only imagine just how strong she''ll be after she breaks through.

    Just a few seconds after the two of them prepared for battle, they were surrounded by all kinds of beasts. From Crystal Golems to giant frogs and everything in between. Hell, Mira even noticed a few sentient nts approaching them!

    Mira quickly formed an Ice Dome around Rhydian as a preventative measure and took a defensive stance.

    Normally, Mira would want to be a bit more proactive and jump into the middle of the army of beasts, but she figured that might not be the smartest move this time considering she has to protect Rhydian.

    She also knew that doing so would only make things more difficult for Robin which in turn would make things harder for both her and Rhydian.

    There''s just a slight problem with being on the defensive and it''s that she''s more vulnerable and open to attacks than if she were to take the initiative.

    Mira wasn''t too bothered by this though because with her new body she''s not only a harder target to hit, but her body is more suited for high-level fights after its pseudo-evolution in the F.LD.I.L.

    That, along with her already strong body, quick regenerative traits, and the dense amount of Qi in the atmosphere that allows her to spam high-damage AOE abilities makes her a truly frightening person against a bunch of beasts who have nearly lost their minds.

    She quickly formed a dense set of Battle Armor around her with her ice and Qi. This armor was much different than the usual Ice Dress she makes as this one looks more like a knight''s suit of armor. The only piece she left out was the helmet as that would affect her field of view.

    She also formed a small ice shield to hold in her left hand. Mira contemted on whether she should use some sort of shield or not, but in the end, she felt like she should if she was going to be ying on the defensive. At least, until Rhydian wakes up.

    Sure, the shield will limit how well she can use her scythe, but for this kind of battle, she felt like it''d be more practical in the long run. A shield will allow her to protect her vitals much easier.

    On the other hand, Robin was sweating buckets. She doesn''t have thebat experience that Mira has nor is she as flexible as her when ites to abilities and weapons that she can expertly use.

    In these types of situations, Robin''s field of expertise is more of a backline character who attacks from afar using her wind affinity. As for close-range battles, short swords and daggers are her primary weapons, but those aren''t exactly useful in this situation.

    As for her affinity, well let''s just say that wind isn''t quite as versatile or destructive as the ice element. At least, not in her hands. Though it wouldn''t be wrong to say that''s how most people in the Cultivation World feel about the wind affinity. Cultivators often see it as an affinity that''s great at doing swift attacks and having extremely quick movement speed.

    Of course, that''s not necessarily wrong, but most people fail to understand the full potential of the wind element.

    Mira has seen thismonality in both Cine and Robin, but even if she knows there''s not much she can do about it. Especially in a situation like this. It would do Robin more harm than good to be trying out new techniques that she''s never used or heard of before.

    Still, as the one who has much more experience when ites torge-scale battles like these where she''s at arge disadvantage, Mira couldn''t let Robin just run around blindly.

    "Robin, just try and dodge their attacks as much as possible. Don''t focus on retaliating just yet! You should first get used to fighting in such a chaotic battle! Once you getfortable, only then should you think about taking the initiative! For now, just try and distract them as I try to deal with the beasts who aren''t paying any attention to me!"

    Mira didn''t know how well Robin would be able to deal with situations like this because on their way down the chasm, they''ve only been dealing with rather weak beasts and it doesn''t take a genius to know that fighting hordes of weaklings is much easier than fighting a horde of opponents of simr or equal strength.

    "Alright! I''ll do as you say!"

    Robin wanted to say more, but she knew this wasn''t the time or ce. Though she had to admit that Mira''s words did calm her down a bit.

    With that said, the battle between them and the beasts erupted as soon as Robin''s words fell.

    Robin, who was being attacked from all sides did as Mira said and only focused on dodging for now. The battle was simply too chaotic right off the bat for her to focus on anything else.<sub> </sub>

    She had beasts who were more inclined for physical battles chasing after her trying to beat her to a pulp meanwhile, various nts and other beasts who could use long-range attacks shot at her from afar!

    There were even attacksing at her from above and below as well! The grass beneath her feet extended, trying to grab onto her while aerial beasts dive bombed from above trying to take her head off!

    There were just too many things for her brain to focus on and she didn''t have the time nor the experience required to unleash any attacks without being severely injured in exchange.

    Well, that''s not exactly true as a true expert would be able to attack, defend, and dodge all at the same time, but that''s only the case for those battle-hardened warriors who have lived for thousands of years.

    Robin is neither a battle-hardened warrior nor a thousand year old monster��

    Needless to say, she''s going to have a rough time in this battle.

    That being said, things weren''t much better on Mira''s side either. While she may be used torge scale battles like this, even she''s not used to battles as messy as this! From her point of view, these beasts have truly lost their mind. The ranged attackers don''t care if they hit or kill their allies as long as they can get to her and the front-liners don''t care if they get hit by their allies as long as an attack can reach her.

    Another thing she noticed is that the beasts seemed to be a bit more enraged than they were in the upper section of the chasm. However, they also seem to be stronger than what they should be at the cultivation level in exchange for the berserk state.

    As for how she knows, well she can easily tell that her ice attacks don''t cut nearly as deep as they used to and the damage done to her body when she''s hit with an attack is slightly worse than what it would be against beasts in the upper levels of the chasm that have the same cultivation.

    Unfortunately, she wasn''t as quick as Robin nor could she soar into the air so it''s inevitable that she would get hit with a few attacks. Even with her sharp instincts and incredible battle experience, Mira still couldn''t grasp the entirety of the situation and ended up taking a few hits from behind and underneath her.

    Luckily, Mira already guessed that something like this might happen and had already started preparing for it ever since she entered this cavern.

    Actually, this is something that Mira has thought of for a while now, but she''s been unable to put it into practice due to several factors, the main ones being the mental burden and the cost of using this new ability.

    This ability is actually derived from her Ice Wings ability, but instead of the wings being attached to her body as a singr entity, these wings will hover around 30 to 50 centimeters away from her back.

    Not only that, but these wings won''t be considered as a single entity or, in this case two entities since there are two wings. No, these wings are merely hundreds of ice feathersid out in a way that they look like wings.

    In theory, this ability is the same as her normal Ice Wings ability, but in practicality it''s much different. In this way, Mira has to control each individual ice feather with her mind as each ice feather is a separate entity. Doing so may put arge strain on her mind, but the tradeoff is that it allows for much more versatility.

    She can disassemble the ice wings into hundreds of small ice feathers and have them revolve around her as some sort of shield or she can shift these feathers into a weapon and use it to both defend and attack. She can even control the feathers to block her enemy''s path and many other things.

    Essentially, this new ice wing ability can be whatever she wants it to be. However, the Qi consumption of such an ability is vast as she has to wrap each individual ice feather in its own Qi thread so she can control them and use them at her will.

    Of course, she can create them without having to wrap them with Qi and attach a thread of Qi to them, but her reaction speed won''t be nearly as quick, the power and defensive capabilities will drop, and the range of motion for each ice feather won''t be asrge or quick without it.

    Naturally, doing something like this takes a bit of time, but luckily Mira started preparing ever since she heard the first beast roar.

    So, after about a minute since the battle started, thousands of small ice feathers began gathering above Mira''s back forming two huge ice wings with a wingspan of about 3 meters!

    Mira also decided to pump each feather full of her Yin Lightning, Fire, and Magma as well, essentially creating a bunch of mini bombs on her back that she can use in case of emergencies! This only further enhanced the beauty of her wings as lightning crackled around each feather, magma flowed through them making it seem like they have veins, and a cold blue fire intertwined with the lightning.

    Luckily she started creating each feather ahead of time or else she would have needed to wait for her Qi to replenish several times before creating more. However, that''s not to say Mira''s done with the creation of these wings.

    No, she''s only just finished creating them. Right now, these wings are rather weak and can only protect her from weaker beasts and abilities. However, all she has to do right now is stay alive and continuously pump more Qi and ice into each feather making them denser, sharper, and more powerful.

    Only after that''s done will she be able to unleash the full potential of her Evolved Ice Wings! Only then will she be able to go crazy amidst the sea of Rank 6 Beasts!!

 Chapter 313 Cyclone

    A few minutes passed since the beginning of the fight, yet nothing in particr happened. Mira and Robin kept dashing around the battlefield, dodging as many attacks as possible.

    Mira, of course, wouldn''t be Mira though if she didn''t retaliate and even when she''s pushed to such a state, she still managed to kill off a few beasts. Unfortunately, even though she was able to take a few of them out, she was only able to kill a few of the beasts who dared to attack her head-on.

    If not for her sending all of her Qi and Ice Daoprehension into her wings, she would''ve been able to take out a few more, but doing so would be a huge waste of time and energy. Once her new wings are finished, she''ll be able to go on aplete ramage rather than only being able to aim for the weaker ones while being careful of attacks from behind and above.

    The only problem she might have is dealing with some of the stronger Rank 6 beasts who have yet to appear in front of her.

    ''Well, that''s what Rhydian''s for hehe~''

    Mira chuckled to herself as she dodged a barrage of fireballs thrown at her from a few of the long-rage beasts.

    Watching those fireballs literally destroy everything in their path, Mira''s disdain towards these mindless beasts increased.

    ''Sigh�� This is why sometimes less is more. Oh well~ It''s not like I''mining as that''s the only reason why I can be so casual.''

    What Mira meant by that is if there weren''t nearly as many beasts surrounding her and trying to attack her at the same time, then she might really be in danger. This is simply because not only are the beasts killing their own, but they are also wasting the power of their attacks by attacking her at the same time.

    For example, many nts are trying to pierce, bind, and trap her, but they can''t because of the beasts that areunching one fireball after another. When these fireballs miss, or even if they hit her, they still affect the surrounding nts, nearly killing them. Some of them have even died because of this!

    This isn''t the only example either! The beasts who don''t have elemental affinities and only use their fists are constantly climbing over each other or sometimes even straight up killing each other just to get to her!

    Mira''s sure that as long as she lives, she doesn''t even need to do anything before these beasts eventually kill each other off!

    That''s why Mira felt almost no fear in this situation, simply due to how chaotic it is. Well, this only applies to Mira. After all, she''s been in situations much worse than this as a mortal. She can remember fighting off groups of people who have archers, knights, shieldmen, and cavalry!

    Can you imagine facing this kind of line-up as a normal person? Not only does she have to fight off people on horses, but she has to do so while calcting the timing and trajectory of the bowmen!

    Naturally, Mira didn''t get out of such battles unscathed and was normally on the brink of death every time she encountered a simr situation, but that only proves that her capabilities have far surpassed what a normal person, even a cultivator, could do.

    And if Mira can survive and even win against well-trained men who fight methodically and with intelligence, then she can easily survive against a group of beasts who aren''t using any of their intelligence or instincts.

    Unfortunately, Robin didn''t share this sentiment and doesn''t have eyes in the back of her head like Mira does. Consequently, she keeps getting hit by one ability after another and is forced to eat healing pills like candy.

    Thankfully, they''re in a ce full of a dense amount of Qi so her injuries heal up extremely quickly, but that doesn''t make her feel any better. On the contrary, when she asionally catches glimpses of Mira''s fight, she can''t help but feel a bit inferior.

    Mira''s over there dodging attacks almost like she knows when and where they''re going to appear. Meanwhile, she''s still fumbling around like a child!

    Thinking like this, her eyes narrowed and she immediately shook those thoughts away.

    ''No! If Mira can do something like that, then so can I! How can I, someone approaching the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, lose to a Foundation Realm brat?!''

    With her thoughts now stabilized, Robin knew that she had to do something to go from being the hunted to the hunter!

    From the brief nces she took at Mira, she knew that she was using the overabundant amount of Qi and her intelligence to her advantage. Her mind started working in overdrive trying toe up with something that can turn her situation around.

    That''s when a thought hit her.<sub> </sub>

    What''s her biggest problem right now?

    The number of beasts? No.

    The strength of her enemies? No.

    The number of attacks flying at her from all over the ce? YES!

    Currently, her number one problem is the frequency at which attackse flying at her. So, how can she turn such a situation around?

    Easy! She just needs to redirect those attacks so instead of hitting her, they hit her enemies instead!

    And what''s the best way to do such a thing? Of course, it''s to use her Wind Affinity! Sure, she can try and keep dodging, but clearly, that''s not working out.

    That''s when a memory of a tornado popped into her mind. She saw people shooting fireballs, ice spears, lightning bolts, and all kinds of things at the tornado. Yet, the tornado spun with such speed that it carried those attacks in its current and shot them in random directions.

    Now, if only she could harness a simr power and control the direction of the attacks, then it''d be perfect!

    So, that''s exactly what she nned to do! Luckily, her Qi reserves are ratherrge as a Core Formation Realm expert and the dense Qi in the area allows her to replenish her Qi at an extreme speed so she didn''t need to worry about the consumption of such a technique.

    Now knowing what she needs to do, Robin began using her understanding of her Wind Dao to create a cyclone about 2 meters in diameter. This cyclone would act as a vacuum, sucking in the projectiles into it and then spitting them back out the other side, which will be wherever she''s pointing the cyclone at the time.

    This technique also consumes arge amount of Qi just like Mira''s, but she didn''t have to worry about that here and could almost keep it up indefinitely just like how the beasts around her could keep attacking her without rest.

    After she formed her new ability, she immediately put it into action. Seeing a group of ice spikes fly in her direction, she decided to use those as her test subjects.

    She controlled the back end of the cyclone to engulf the ice spikes and then watched how they traveled in the cyclone, then shot out the other side impaling a nearby beast!

    "Yes!! I did it! Alright, let''s test this thing out a bit more!" Robin got excited at being able to create her own ability and began experimenting with other attacks that were thrown at her.

    From fireballs to light beams, Robin gained a lot of useful knowledge regarding this new ability and how powerful it is and from what she can tell, it''s quite powerful.

    So far, her cyclone isn''t fast enough or strong enough to bend light and darkness so those abilities are out of the question until she gets more powerful or finds a way to counter this, but most other attacks can get caught in her cyclone. Even other beasts can be captured in her cyclone and thrown around as long as her cyclone is big enough.

    Of course, there are still limitations to that, but it made her happy nheless.

    With this new ability, the number of injuries she racked up started to lessen. While the number of beasts she started to kill or wound increased drastically.

    Mira caught sight of Robin using this new ability of hers and released a faint smile. She had to give Robin credit because the girl really came up with a good idea and was able to implement it on the spot.

    She could tell that this girl was a diamond in the rough and as long as she had the right teacher, she would go far in her Cultivation journey. However, even though Mira felt like she was a talent, she wasn''t going to do anything about it. As much as she had a favorable impression of the girl, they walked different paths.

    Shaking her head from these thoughts, Mira realized that her wings are nearlyplete. Right now, she can tell that the power held within each feather is like a mini nuclear bomb. They were sharper than her scythe, more durable than her body, and each one weighs several hundred kilograms due to their density!

    Now, she could finally begin her rampage!

 Chapter 314 Rampage

    "Hehe~ It''s time to begin the ughter!" Mira chuckled with a sadistic grin on her face.

    Now that her Evolved Ice Wings (she really needs toe up with a better name) arepleted, she can finally take the initiative in this skirmish without having to always look over her shoulder.

    However, she held her desire to rampage in for just a few seconds so she can wait for the right moment for this new ability of hers to make its first appearance in the world!

    She waited for just the right moment��

    ''NOW!!''

    As soon as most of the long-range enemies released their skills, Mira jumped up in the air and used her wings to propel herself a bit further. Once she reached a proper height, she decided to show off her Evolved Ice Wings Ability with a bang!

    FWOOSH!!

    Mira released the thousands of tiny ice feathers and scattered them in all directions! She wasn''t aiming for any part in particr as she wanted to see how muchrge-scale damage she could cause just by doing that.

    As she quickly fell back down, Mira looked around and noticed that hundreds, if not, thousands of beasts nowy dead and many more were injured withrge holes through their bodies.

    Mira was amazed at the raw power held within each feather! They were like a bunch of Mid to Late-Grade daggers, but they were so much more than that! They could be a shield, a weapon, a pair of wings, a bomb, etc. They could basically be anything she wanted them to be!

    Of course, the power of these feathers is only natural due to how much power was pumped into each one of them.

    In any normal environment, Mira would never be able to utilize such an ability as just the initial cost of it was over 10 times the amount of Qi she had in her body. That''spletely disregarding the cost of maintaining the skill. She''d have to have probably 20 to 40 times as much Qi as she has right now if she wants to utilize the skill freely and without repercussions.

    If she were to guess when she''d finally be able to actually use this skill, she''d say that she''d probably have to wait until Stages 5 to 7 of the Core Formation Realm.

    Also, she''d need to increase her Ice Daoprehension as well in order to keep up with the cost and power of the skill.

    Nevertheless, Mira was satisfied with its current power. She hurriedly recalled the ice feathers and quickly formed a beautiful pair of ice wings above her back.

    Mira also put away the shield as she has no more use for it then charged straight towards the oing beasts!

    As she was approaching the beasts in front of her, she could sense various attacksing at her from behind and to the sides, but she didn''t need to care about that now.

    She simply disassembled part of the wings and transformed them into mini shields that protected her sides and back.

    Mira felt numerous attacksnd on her shields, but they weren''t able to get past them. The feathers were slightly damaged, but she just supplied more energy to them and they''d be fixed up in no time.

    Mira smiled knowing that her new ability is working just like it was supposed to and felt even freer about going on a rampage.

    A subtle yet thick killing intent started to leak out of her body at the thought of killing so many powerful enemies, but the only other being who seemed to notice this was Robin. Although she''s felt Mira''s thick killing intent several times before, it still gives her the chills.

    However, the beasts weren''t in the right state of mind to notice this and kept attacking her as if they were in a frenzy.

    Without wasting any time, Mira charged at the nearest beast and swiftly chopped off its head with her scythe. In order to build up momentum, Mira didn''t stop twirling her scythe and kept running straight ahead chopping down anything that stood in her way.

    Meanwhile, she took full advantage of her Evolved Ice Wings and formed a few ice feather swords on either side of her, then began chopping at anything that came close to her.

    Luckily, no allies were around her at this time or they would have surely died. That''s one of the only downsides of Mira''s attacks; they don''t discriminate between friend or foe. She just kills everything around her.

    Robin, who is using her cyclone to thin out the crowd, now has the time to watch Mira fight and she seriously wondered how such a little girl could be so brutal.

    Heads, limbs, bodies, and guts were flying everywhere around her. It was like she was in a damn meat grinder! Those ice feather swords around her just impaled and sliced everything around her making a bloody mess of her surroundings.

    Meanwhile, Robin could see the ice feathers on her back disassemble into small shields to revolve around her as they blocked any iing attacks.<sub> </sub>

    Honestly, it was an amazing sight. One she''ll never forget. It was like watching a living legend. With how fast Mira could react to any signs of danger without even having to see it or with how quickly she could cut down the beasts in front of her. It was a work of art. A masterpiece. Even though it may be a brutal and bloody masterpiece. It''s still a masterpiece nheless.

    She was also entranced in the beauty of it all. Mira''s icy feathers surrounded her like stars in the night sky while Mira herself was like aet piercing through anything that stood in her way.

    Robin was so entranced that she almost allowed herself to get hit by an iing attack!

    Luckily, she was able to dodge it in time as it would''ve been really embarrassing if she actually let it hit her.

    However, now that she''s been distracted away from Mira''s performance, she figured it was time to up her game a bit seeing how fast Mira was butchering her way through enemies.

    She also let out a smile and began throwing out her own offensive abilities now that she''s taken control of her side of the battlefield.

    ***

    A few hourster, both Mira and Robin were standing nearly 20 meters apart panting like dogs. Right now, they''ve killed thousands upon thousands of beasts each, but they still kept oning.

    Not only that, but the beasts only became tougher and tougher over time. So instead of only needing one ice feather to kill a beast, now Mira might need 5 or even 10 if she wants to deal with one beast.

    That may not seem like a lot out of the thousands of ice feathers she has, but it almost decreased her killing efficiency by a factor of ten! Maybe even more than that since she needs to use more of her brain to focus on killing the beasts unlike how it was in the beginning when she could just randomly shoot any ice feather or ice feather sword and kill a beast.

    She also had to waste a few ice feathers by blowing them up in order to deal severe damage to a few particrly tough beasts. Actually, they were mainly used to injure the sentient nts that kept trying to kill her. Those things were a huge pain in the ass to kill.

    For one, their defensive capabilities are ridiculously annoying. They can also use other weaker nts to hide, they can cast illusions, they have great binding abilities, and oftentimes Mira can never tell where the core is. They all look the same to her.

    So in order to kill them as quickly as possible, Mira opted to just blow up the surrounding area and then destroy everything that was still alive after the explosion.

    It was a very brutish way of dealing with things, but Mira didn''t care. She had other things to worry about other than sentient nts.

    One of those problems was a group of beings that she called Crystal Golems. These golems are actual golems, not Earth Elementals, and seemed to have been formed by the crystals that covered the walls.

    These guys had an insanely high defense when they had the same strength as Mira. Actually, that''s pretty much all these golems were good at. Their actual attack power came from how much they weighed, but that amount is negligible to Mira so what should be very strong attacks felt more like pillows whenever they hit Mira. But the thing is, they were incredibly annoying!

    Mira couldn''t easily kill them without blowing up a few feathers, but doing so would be a huge waste considering theirck ofbat power! One has to know that the damage caused by one of her feathers exploding is simr to a Stage 8 or 9 Core Formation Realm expert blowing himself up!

    Yet, she has to waste a feather or perhaps even multiple feathers on killing a fucking golem with no realbat power?? Hell no!

    ��Yet, she was almost forced to do it anyway.

    These golems yed as the first line of defense between her and the beasts that were trying to kill her. Needless to say, wherever the beasts went, they followed and did their best to block any of her attacks.

    She felt extremely bitter about using up her feathers like that, but she had no other choice if she wanted to keep up her killing efficiency.

    Another thing to note is that using so many ice feathers for so long caused a huge strain on Mira''s mind. Right now, after hours of fighting, Mira felt like her head was going to explode! She was starting to get dizzy and the world around her started to twist. She also felt abnormally tired and knew that if she were to fall asleep now, she would definitely be out for at least a few days.

    Now, although both she and Robin have full Qi reserves, they are incredibly exhausted. Though who can me them. Over the course of thest few hours, Mira probably used several hundred times the amount of Qi her body can naturally hold.

    Robin wasn''t much better as she''s used dozens of times more Qi than she has in her reserves.

    Both of their bodies are extremely sore and they probably wouldn''t be able tost much longer. Actually, it''s a surprise that they couldst this long! Normal people would have already fainted by now. The two of them are only holding on due to sheer willpower.

    Though, it looks like they won''tst much longer as their eyelids started to feel droopy��

 Chapter 315 Tough Fight

    Mira and Robin stood there, forcing themselves to stay awake after overworking their bodies so much. It was much harder than they thought as even Mira, who went through hell in the F.LD.I.L found it difficult to stay awake.

    However, this can''t be med on her as she''s already overworked her body way past its limit. In fact, she should have long since copsed and the only reason she can still stand is because of her experience in the F.LD.I.L.

    It''s in times like these where Mira truly understands the meaning of ''the mind limiting the body''.

    In many situations, one can push through so long as they have the willpower to do so, regardless of their body''s condition. Of course, that doesn''t mean they won''t face the consequences of their actionster because they most certainly will, but that doesn''t mean you can''t push through a difficult situation even if your body is breaking down.

    However, it seems there are still limits to how far one can push their body and Mira just learned hers today. Any more than this and Mira can tell that she''ll eventually cause irreparable damage to her body that would ruin her body''s perfect foundation.

    In spite of all that, Mira stood her ground with a smile on her face. She felt truly alive in these moments of desperation, where she has to put in 110% effort just to survive. It''s in these moments where she learns the most about herself and her abilities.

    It could be said that Mira gained more than she could have imagined just in thest few hours than she had in years. Not in terms of cultivation or strength, but in knowing her own limits.

    Over thest few years, Mira has almost never truly felt challenged by anything. The only time that she truly felt like she was in a difficult position was that time right before she left the Secret Realm and fought with Maria and Cine.

    Those two really pushed her quite a bit there and even though she doesn''t want to admit it, she did have to struggle for a while there in order to beat them.

    In fact, the only reason she one so easily was because the two of them are simply too young and naive when ites to battles. They haven''t quite understood that there are no good or bad methods in a fight. There is only kill or be killed and Mira just so happens to understand this concept quite well.

    It''s because she understands this that Mira knows she''s in a really bad spot right now. Over half of her ice feathers have either been destroyed or blown up. She''s battered all over her body, and she''s cycled so much Qi through her body that she can feel it''s going to start breaking down if she doesn''t stop using it.

    So, even though Mira felt a bit of heartache doing it, it''s time to say goodbye to her Evolved Ice Wings and start fighting with her life on the line.

    Therefore, without hesitation, Mira shot her ice feathers in all directions, narrowly missing Robin, trying to hit as many beasts with her feathers as she could.

    Then, she willed each ice feather to explode��

    BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

    The sounds of explosions around her were like a beautiful symphony to Mira''s ears. Blood and guts flew through the air as many beasts foundrge chunks of themselves missing after the explosions.

    *ROAR*

    The beasts around them became even more enraged that the tiny bipedal ant was actually able to severely injure them.

    Mira, on the other hand, felt like a mountain was lifted off of her mind and body, but she also felt a bit empty.

    Those Ice Wings are truly amazing and Mira truly wished she could have them active all the time even when she''s not in battle. She feltplete with such an ability and the saying ''it''s like giving a tiger wings'' couldn''t be more urate.

    She truly felt like she could unleash all of her potential with those wings. Unfortunately, she''s just too weak to use them if not for this unique situation.

    Mira clenched her fist, promising herself to get stronger faster so she can use this ability again.

    That''s when Mira finally caught notice of hundreds of wounded beasts running in her direction and she finally paid a bit more attention to them.

    Unfortunately, Mira wasn''t quite sure how she was going to get herself out of this situation. Most of the beasts that are charging at her are Late-Stage Rank 6 Beasts or even Peak-Stage Rank 6 Beasts.

    She can probably take on a few Late-Stage Rank 6 beasts by herself or one Peak-Stage Rank 6 Beast at most, but that''s it. Even then, given the situation she''s in, that''s being generous.

    Right now, her body''s overall strength is severely reduced due to how much she overworked it. She can hardly use her Qi if she doesn''t want her foundation to be unstable, and she''s mentally exhausted beyond belief.

    However, even with all of those things going against her, she still chose to charge head first into battle against the oing beasts!<sub> </sub>

    "Just survive long enough for Rhydian to finish her breakthrough! Only then will we be able to get out of this shit alive!" Mira shouted at Robin before embedding her scythe in the nearest beast''s skull.

    Hearing what Mira said, Robin was shaken back awake, but she didn''t charge at the beasts since she understood what Mira wanted her to do.

    She doesn''t need Robin to try and kill the rest of the beasts, she only needs her to distract them while Mira kills the beasts in front of her in hopes of surviving longer.

    Although, it might sound a bit counterintuitive for Mira to charge in head first so that she can have a higher chance of surviving, but Mira didn''t see it that way. The way she saw it, she would die as soon as she stopped moving. As long as she kept moving then she could live and while moving she might as well take care of a few beasts.

    The two of them also knew that if one of them fell, then it''d be the end for both of them.

    In their current states, they couldn''t deal with the beasts if they attacked them both from all sides.

    Just like that, the two of them built up a near-perfect bnce where Mira uses the strength of her physical body and her scythe to cut through the waves of beasts while Robin tries to distract the beast''s attention away from Mira and onto her so Mira can deal with the beasts more easily.

    Unfortunately, Mira''s body started wracking up more and more injuries over time and her body''s natural regeneration has started to slow down despite the dense Qi in the area.

    With that being said, slowly over the course of the next ten minutes or so, Mira started to umte injuries such as broken ribs, damaged internal organs, broken fingers and hands, fractured legs, and many popped blood vessels.

    Robin was also slowly umting injuries as her movements slowed and she couldn''t dodge as many attacks.

    Thoughts of giving up started entering her mind as more and more bones in her body started to break, but seeing Mira work so hard even though she was covered in her own blood made her keep pushing.

    She couldn''t let down Mira''s trust in her nor did she feel like dying yet. She knew that if she cked off for more than a few moments, then the two of them were as good as dead. So seeing how Mira hasn''t quite given up forced her to keep pushing her body and mind past their limits.

    Then, Mira said something that nearly gave her an extra boost of strength.

    "We just need to hold on for a few more minutes! I can feel that Rhydian is nearing the end of her breakthrough!" As soon as Mira''s words fell, the two of them seemed to receive a second wind.

    Robin''s eyes lit up and her speed increased even though the pain she was feeling was torture. She began dodging the beasts and taking their attention off of Mira with more fervor than before as she only had one thought in her mind:

    Survive!

    She needed to do everything she could in order for not only her to survive, but Mira as well! With only that thought in mind, she took out her daggers and began shing at any beasts she passed by.

    She didn''t always kill them in one strike, but she was running around the battlefield so fast that all she had to do was circle back around and sh at them again and again until they finally fell.

    It was an exhausting and torturous method as she could feel the bones in her body start to fracture and break the more she ran around the battlefield, but that pain is nothing as long as she can survive!

    Then, all of a sudden, a sound reverberated throughout the cavern causing not only Robin to slump to the ground in exhaustion but Mira as well.

    *CRACK**CRACK**CRACK*

    *BOOM*

    "AWWWWOOOOOOO!!!"

    A ferocious howl filled with power resounded all throughout the cavern causing the weaker beasts to kneel on the ground and the stronger beasts to cease their attacks.

    Hearing that howl, Mira revealed a small smile before immediately falling unconscious due to exhaustion. She was only able to leave a few words before going into a deep slumber.

    "Kill them all, you dumb wolf��"

 Chapter 316 Rank 6 Rhydian

    Now standing before Mira''s unconscious body stood an imposing 2.5 meters tall and nearly 5-meter-long golden wolf. This wolf also had wings that spanned over 4 meters long. However, what truly stood out was the small crown on top of its head that gave off an imposing air.

    This aura radiating around this wolf was immense, much more than any Low-Stage Rank 6 Beast should be able to exude. In fact, its aura was so strong that it even eclipsed those at the Peak of Rank 6!

    This beast looked at Mira with aplicated expression before wrapping her tail around her and lifting up her unconscious body onto her back.

    Obviously, Rhydian knew that Mira almost died because of her carelessness and felt bad, but she also thought of this as a little form of revenge.

    Mira''s always bullying her into getting stronger, making her go through constant battles, and mostly using physical means to correct her, but at the same time, Mira''s not doing any of it out of hate.

    No, Mira genuinely likes Rhydian and thetter can feel it through the connection that they share. Mira wants nothing but the best for her. It''s just that she doesn''t know any other way to discipline someone other than being physical.

    In the end, Rhydian felt bad that she almost made Mira die because she wanted to break through.

    Now done dealing with the unconscious Mira, Rhydian looked around at the onught of beasts menacingly before taking in a deep breath and��

    *FWOOSH*

    She released a breath of fire, simr to Dragon''s Breath, out of her mouth and began incinerating the nearby beasts and nts.

    Then, she pped her wings and quickly turned their roasted bodies into ice statues. The mindless beasts didn''t even get a chance to retaliate as most of them couldn''t even move due to the bloodline suppression.

    The stronger ones could still move, but they weren''t in the right state of mind to properly defend against Rhydian''s attack and ended up taking the brunt of the damage.

    After dealing with the immediate threats, Rhydian turned around and did the same thing to the beasts and nts chasing after Robin.

    In just a few seconds, Rhydian dealt with the majority of the beasts that were left!

    Robin watched all of this happening and felt like she was going crazy! The beasts that were giving her and Mira so much trouble were being dealt with like flies by Mira''s giant wolfpanion!

    However, after being momentarily surprised, Robin soon felt an overwhelming amount of relief before she too fell unconscious.

    Rhydian gave her a nce then swept her up with her tail and tossed Robin on her back along with Mira.

    Now that she doesn''t have to worry about protecting Mira and Robin, Rhydian can start finishing off the rest of the beasts.

    She began building up another me in her throat, except this time she was going to do something a little different.

    Once the me in her throat reached a high enough temperature, Rhydian began spitting balls of golden mes at the leftover groups of enemies.

    *BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM*

    These fireballs not only caused massive explosions but just being near the st radius of one of them is enough to sear one''s skin.

    Her n worked like a charm as the beasts devolved further into chaos.

    Satisfied with the results, Rhydian coated her tail in ice, essentially turning it into a sword, and recklessly charged at the remaining beasts.

    Truthfully, Rhydian didn''t actually need to attack the remaining beasts head-on and could continueunching various fireballs, ice spikes, and me breath, while shing anything thates near her into meat paste with her paws, but she saw no fun in that.

    Just because Mira''s injured and unconscious doesn''t mean Rhydian can''t have a bit of fun while protecting her!!

    Anyways, Rhydian made quick work of the remaining beasts in just a few minutes, but she wasn''t satisfied with that! She just woke up several times stronger than before and full of energy, how could she be satisfied with so few enemies?!<sub> </sub>

    So, Rhydian began sweeping the entire cavern and killed anything that moved! nts, golems, beasts, insects, you name it she killed it!

    Of course, Rhydian was a bit confused at first why not all of the beasts in the cavern tried to kill Mira and Robin, but it wasn''t until half a dayter that she understood��

    The cavern that they dropped into is huge!!

    It''s literally like its own separate world, so it''s no wonder not all of the beasts went after Mira and Robin.

    Of course, that didn''t stop Rhydian from hunting them all down to extinction. Instead, hunting in this new environment was even more fun since this cavern wasn''t anything like the upper levels of this chasm or any of the other chasms around Quake City.

    There weren''t thousands of worms randomly popping out of the ground and walls trying to kill you nor were there any dangerous surprises lurking in the various caves that could catch them unprepared.

    It''s just a normal ce filled with an overabundant amount of beasts. The perfect ce for Rhydian to hunt and test out her strength.

    However, she was still left unsatisfied even after killing everything in this cavern. She was just too strong and too fast that none of the beasts here could serve as a challenge to her.

    p That''s a given though because most of the beasts in this ce only have amon bloodline, meaning they are just normal beasts that got lucky because of how dense the Qi in this ce is.</anda>

    In fact, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the beasts in this cavern are by far the weakest in their respective cultivation levels. Most of them have basically been forcibly pushed to their cultivation without actually raising their talents via their bloodline.

    This is very rare, but it can happen if a weak,mon bloodline beast stays in an area of extremely rich and dense Qi for an extended period of time. However, this would rarely happen as ces like these are already the territory of stronger beings and most stronger beings, especially beasts, don''t like their territory being encroached on.

    Lucky for these beasts, this chasm used to be a massive spirit stone mine or perhaps was even multiple Spirit Stone Minesbined into one and even an extremely strong beast can''t reign over such arge territory.

    Unfortunately for these beasts, they met Rhydian, who didn''t care about their circumstances and just wanted to fight a strong beast with her newfound strength.

    Well, since there were no strong beasts that could give her a challenge, Rhydian was left disappointed.

    In her disappointment and boredom, she was just going to find a nice spot to rx while she waits for Mira and Robin to wake up, but then she thought of something that might be able to cure her boredom.

    She might even get a few pats from Mira!

    Before Rhydian ate that Myriad Beast Fruit, she felt Mira''s desire to plunder this cavern of all its nt life. She also knows how much Mira hates to waste time. Those two thingsbined with her boredom gave her the perfect opportunity to plunder this cavern for Mira and put everything all into one area so she can easily store everything without wasting any time.

    Rhydian knew this was going to be a big project, but that only made it more exciting! Especially at the thought of receiving pats from Mira!

    Lost in her thoughts, Rhydian created 6rge ice hands around her and dozens of smaller ice hands around them and began her deforestation!

    Rhydian used therge ice hands to uproot trees andrge nts, while the smaller ice hands were used to gather herbs, fruits, saplings, and basically anything that wasn''t a tree.

    If one were to look at this scene from afar, they''d see a rather peculiar sight. Arge golden winged wolf surrounded by tons of ice hands kept disappearing and reappearing all over the cavern while lugging around all kinds of nts before piling them up all in one spot.

    Naturally, Rhydian wasn''t actually teleporting, but it''s just that she was so fast that she could travel several kilometers in mere seconds making it look like she was teleporting.

    Funnily enough, Elenei was actually watching this scene from Mira''s Soul Sea and didn''t know what to think. She never would''ve guessed that a Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf was actually reduced to a mere porter. Not only that, but the wolf did it of her own volition!

    Elenei truly didn''t know whether tough or cry watching this scene and just decided to curse at Mira for corrupting thest descendent of such a mighty race!

    This went on for almost an entire week before she finished and surprisingly enough, that''s when Mira woke up from her slumber.

 Chapter 317 Leaving The Cavern

    A weekter, Mira''s eyes slowly started to open before she immediately shot up and looked around her only to see that she was sitting in arge bed of fur.

    Feeling a strong link with this pile of fur, Mira knew exactly who she was sitting on: Rhydian.

    However, she was quite shocked at how big and strong Rhydian had be!

    While she did expect a serious boost in power, Mira didn''t think it''d be by so much that she didn''t stand a chance against her because that''s how Mira felt about the current Rhydian. For the first time in a long time, Mira felt powerless.

    Not only by the sheer power Rhydian has but also by Rhydian''s raw talent. She felt a bitter feeling rise in her chest seeing how Rhydian barely has to put in any effort to be strong. She only needs to kill a few beasts, eat a few treasures, and sleep! Everything else wille naturally.

    Of course, Mira wasn''t feeling jealous of Rhydian''s talent, but more like she understood that hard work simply isn''t enough to reach the heights she wants to reach. It''s this realization that gave Mira a bitter feeling because she always believed that hard work would always trump talent as long as one worked hard enough, but seeing Rhydian, Mira knew that her thoughts were too naive.

    In the cultivation world, talent is the foundation of one''s limits. Humans each have their own limits, along with beasts and every other race. Although this is only spection right now, Mira also believes that even gods have limits.

    It''s only right now that Mira felt truly lucky to havee across the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life because with it she can form a Core that will increase her natural cultivation talent to heights that were unimaginable to the previous her.

    Of course, those heights are still a mystery to the current Mira, but she knew that as long as she survives, she''ll be able to learn more about the truly strong people, like the Guardian, in this Universe.

    Mira felt like her mind was lifted of some kind of burden that she didn''t know was there after she reached that conclusion. It felt like she just got closer to the truth of cultivation, but Mira could tell that although she had gotten closer, she was nowhere near close to the truth.

    A few seconds after Mira sorted out her thoughts, she finally noticed that Robin was sleeping peacefully right next to her.

    She had sustained many injuries and overworked her body to the max, so Mira wasn''t surprised to see that Robin was still injured even after recuperating for a week.

    Seeing how Robin was still injured, Mira began thoroughly checking her body and it didn''t take her long to figure out that she was basically in perfect condition.

    It seems because of her bloodline, tempered body, and the dense amount of Qi, Mira didn''t have to worry about her injuries taking too long to heal.

    Mira then hopped off Rhydian to get a good look at her and the surroundings, but she was quite confused by what she saw.

    Right in front of her wererge piles of trees, herbs, bushes, fruits, saplings, and even grass. It didn''t take long for her to understand that this must be Rhydian''s doing. Knowing that made Mira even happier as it seems her teachings haven''t gone to waste!

    *Woof*

    Mira turned around and saw Rhydian looking at her while wagging her tail and knew exactly what she wanted.

    Sighing, Mira walked up to her and started rubbing the top of her head. Rhydian closed her eyes in bliss and had what seemed to be a smile on her face as Mira rubbed her head.

    "Good job, Rhydian. Now I don''t have to spend the next few days looting this ce."

    *Woof!*

    After a few minutes of head pats, Mira then began throwing everything in her Infinity Garden. She didn''t bother trying to find out the names of each nt because doing so would take too long and she probably won''t even use most of them other than to sell.

    After Mira was done storing all of the nts, she figured it was probably about time to wake up Robin as she really doesn''t want to stay in this ce longer than she needs to, especially after plundering this entire cavern.

    She walked up to Robin and after a few ps to the face, the girl woke up in a fluster.

    "Wha-what''s happening?!" Her words were a bit slurred as she just woke up, but then immediately regained her wits and jumped back while taking out her daggers.

    It was only after realizing that she wasn''t surrounded by enemies did she calm down and begin assessing her situation.<sub> </sub>

    Her body was still a bit stiff and a number of her injuries have yet to heal, but her condition is much better than she thought it would be.

    Mira walked over to her and tossed her a few fruits before pulling out a few for herself.

    "Let''s have a bite to eat."

    Robin nodded as she was feeling famished even though her body no longer needs food in order to sustain itself.

    The two of them ate in silence as Robin focused on eating and healing her body.

    After eating, Mira decided to discuss their future ns.

    "After doing a bit of searching and also based on what Rhydian found during the week that we''re unconscious, it''s impossible for us to leave this cavern through the way we came in. Although I don''t know where we are in the chasm or how close we are to the other groups, that doesn''t matter right now. We really only have two options. Stay here and wait until somebody finds us or continue heading deeper into the chasm or whatever this ce is. However, I will say that I have a really bad feeling about going much further. I can sense something much more dangerous than that serpent that almost killed us a while back. We might very well lose our lives without even knowing how should we continue."

    Robin thought seriously about Mira''s words and although her trust in Mira has fallen a bit due to the incident of being thrown down into the abyss and being forced to make a vow to the heavens, she knows that Mira doesn''t say useless things.

    After giving it some thought, Robin realized that she really didn''t want to continue any further into this chasm.

    She''s had enough fighting and would very much like to just meet up with the Branch Head and the others and then get out of this ce safely.

    However, she also knew that waiting for the Branch Head and the others toe and rescue her is nothing but a pipe dream. She''s only a low-level member of the Mercenary Association and knows that the Branch Head doesn''t give two shits about her other than her being slightly useful against the onught of beasts.

    She couldn''t help but sigh at this conjecture, but she wasn''t mad or anything. She understood that these were the consequences of being an untalented low-level member of the organization.

    Hell, she''d probably get better treatment as a Silver Rank Mercenary, but she knew that such a thing was impossible for her. While she is adept at reconnaissance and assassination, she isn''t on the level as a Silver Rank mercenary should be.

    So, that only leaves one choice and she''s sure that Mira is having the same thoughts as her.

    "Let''s continue. Who knows, maybe we''ll be able to find a way out or maybe we''ll somehow be able to regroup with the Branch Head." Robin said with determination in her eyes.

    "Yeah, well, it''s not like we have a choice. We can''t return and I''m not waiting in this ce on the off chance someone finds us. We might as well test our luck by descending further down the chasm." Mira said while grabbing her arm and hopping on Rhydian.

    "Alright, lead us further into this chasm, Rhydian!"

    *Woof!*

    ***

    Meanwhile, far away from Mira and Robin''s current position, the Branch Head was bulldozing down the cavern walls as he charged in the direction that he felt the Qi getting denser.

    All of the mercenaries he brought along with him have all died by now so he didn''t need to waste his time searching through these little caves in hopes of finding the right direction.

    He''s been doing this for a few weeks now and he felt like he''s about to reach the source of what''s causing this insanely dense Qi and couldn''t help but grow excited.

    He knew the rewards for finding what''s on the other side of this cavern were immense, so immense that as long as he had enough talent, he could probably rise to the peak of the mortal world without much issue.

    Just the thought of being that strong made his blood boil and caused him to start breaking down cave walls at an even faster pace!

    Not long after, he broke through another wall and finally reached the source of all this dense Qi.

 Chapter 318 The Source

    When the Branch Head finally reached the source of these chasms and their extremely dense Qi, his heart beat wildly.

    He''s spent years of nning and staying in such a shitty town filled with nothing but trash cultivators who have fallen into debauchery. He''s given up years, if not decades, of cultivation all for this moment. The Mercenary Association sent him on this mission all those years ago because he wasn''t someone who was too important to them, but he was trustworthy and strong.

    More importantly, he was a guy who did what he wanted, when he wanted. If he wants to go to another continent then he will go to another continent. If he wants to exterminate a n or a city, then he''ll do just that. If he wants to cultivate for years on end, then there''s nothing anyone can do to stop him.

    That''s the main reason the Mercenary Association sent him on this mission because nobody would watch or suspect his movements. While he was a rather well-known figure across the Major Sects, he wasn''t strong enough nor did he have any powerful backing besides being part of the Mercenary Association so his threat level was rather low. Well, low enough that the other ns and powers couldn''t be bothered to investigate his disappearance.

    Now, all of his pain and suffering was about toe to an end. Not only that, but the rewards he''ll receive by bringing back a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source are immense. They are more than worth everything he''s had to do and give up over the years. In fact, he thought that what he was doing was too little for what he is going to receive.

    However, he knew that the benefits the Mercenary Association will reap by having a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source will be much more than what they are offering him. More than likely, the Mercenary Association will continue to flourish for thousands of years even after he dies or ascends to the Immortal Realm.

    That''s how important a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source is. Having a constant supply of High-Grade Spirit Stones can deepen the foundation of a worldly power, allow for faster cultivation, power higher-cost formations with more efficiency, and that''s not even the end of it. After the Mercenary Association''s foundation deepens for a few hundred or thousand years, they can even start a world war with the intent of bing the sole power in this Mortal World.

    They will control the flow of resources, the prices of things, and the lives of billions, while also having the ability and freedom to be the first to discover any secrets this world has to offer.

    Nothing will be beyond their grasp and if they''re lucky enough to survive for tens, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, then they might even be able to establish a power in the Immortal Realm!

    At least, those are the thoughts and aspirations of the Higher-ups in the Mercenary Association. Tons of things can go wrong in between, but that''s not what matters. What matters is that the spark of all this is gaining ess to a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source!!

    Although the Branch Head didn''t know of their aspirations, he knew the importance of having a High-Grade Source like the one he was staring at.

    The High-Grade Spirit Stone Source is actually nothing more than a pink translucent crystal in the shape of an octahedron. It was about the size of an adult human''s head.

    Surprisingly, this crystal doesn''t possess any energy. Spirit Stone Mine Sources don''t actually contain any Qi inside of them. Well, maybe when they were first created they contained Qi inside of them, but they lost all of that after creating their first Spirit Stone Mine. After that, they lose all of their energy and instead turn into something akin to a Qi purifier.

    Spirit Stone Mine Sources suck in the surrounding Qi, refine it, condense it, remove any impurities, then release a much denser and purer form of Qi. This Qi is also highly susceptible to turning the surrounding Earth into Spirit Stones.

    The density and purity of the Qi released are based solely on the grade of the Source.

    Of course, there may be other uses for these sources, but there is very little research on that and most ns, sects, and powers are unwilling to use Spirit Stone Mine sources as test subjects. They are just too rare and important to risk losing.

    Anyways, when the Branch Head broke into this room and saw the Source, although he was surprised and ted he calmed his emotions while at the same time realizing something important.

    This room was entirely empty besides the Source. No Spirit Stones, no beasts, no nothing. It was just arge empty space, yet for some reason, looking into this room, he felt something in his heart that he hasn''t felt in a long time: fear.

    Yes, he felt an overwhelming amount of fear and dread when he looked at this Spirit Stone Mine Source. However, he didn''t know where it wasing from.

    All he knew was that without the proper preparations, his death was set in stone if he took another step into this room.

    Fortunately, he wasn''t idle during the time he spent on this mission. He''s had plenty of time toe up with preparations and contingencies.

    He never expected to get this Source without a fight and just from his intuition, he knew that a fight was inevitable.<sub> </sub>

    With a slight grin on his face, the Branch Head took out numerous items. One was a Late-Stage Heaven Grade Spear. It had a ck shaft with a golden de at the tip. The aura released from this Spear caused the very air to tremble from its might.

    Not bothered by this, the Branch Head took out a few more items such as arrays, pills, formations, and armor. All of these things had various uses, but there was one thing they all had inmon. They were used to increase hisbat power while decreasing his enemies.

    Before even knowing who his enemy was, he consumed a few pills which caused his muscles to bulge and his cultivation to rise. The pills he just took was a Heaven-Grade Limit Breaking Pill and a Heaven-Grade Blood Boiling pill. These pills increase his bodily strength and cultivation for an extended period of time and since they are Heaven-Grade and he already has a high cultivation base and a strong body, the bacsh is rather negligible.

    He could probably take 5 to 10 of these pills before the bacsh really hit and then he''d be out ofmission.

    Then he tossed the arrays and formations into the room while putting on his armor which was also ck with gold trimmings.

    The Branch Head felt his heart bleed using all of these things, but luckily the Mercenary Association gifted him a few for the missions while also discounting the others. Otherwise, he''d have to spend his entire savings and call in a few favors if he wanted to receive every one of these items.

    He truly didn''t wish to use these right off the bat, but his instincts told him that if he didn''t do so then he''d surely regret it and while he may be a muscle-head, he wasn''t stupid.

    Sure, he likes fighting and isn''t afraid of death, but he doesn''t want to willingly throw his life away because he got arrogant. More importantly, he didn''t want to fail this mission because of his arrogance and desire for battle.

    He''s spent too much time and resources on this mission and he will see it through to the end with a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source in his hand!

    With all of his preparations set, he jumped near the Source and acted like he was about to grab it in order to draw out whatever was protecting it.

    *ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR*

    Sure enough, just as his hand was about to make contact with the crystal, a thunderous roar reverberated throughout the room. No, not just the room, but the entire chasm! It even reached all the other chasms and found its way towards Quake City!

    The ground shook violently as an ancient yet vtile aura descended across the area causing the weaker beings to cough up blood and faint, while the stronger ones felt their internal organs shake and their minds buzz.

    Some people and beasts even died on the spot just because of this beast, no, this monster''s powerful roar!

    The Branch Head, being the closest to this roar, also took the brunt of the damage, but fortunately he made ample preparations beforehand and wasn''t affected by it.

    The ground beneath him started to shake right after the roar before it quickly broke apart and something within the depths of the earth rose up.

    In the darkness, a pair of golden snake-like eyes met the Branch Head''s eyes as it tried using its ocr technique in hopes of killing this puny human on the spot for daring to covet its treasure.

    Unfortunately for it, things wouldn''t be so easy as its opponent did a lot more than just prepare a fewst minute items before having a fight of this magnitude.

    The Branch Head grinned wildly and immediately jumped into the abyss that this creature was sitting in.

    "Haha! Let''s fight you monstrous creature! Let''s see who''s truly deserving of taking advantage of such a treasure!"

 Chapter 319 Curse

    When Mira heard the roar and felt the ground shake because of it, she knew something big was happening.

    Although she didn''t quite understand what caused such a beast to be so angered, she could tell just from the power behind its roar that it was most likely the guardian of the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source and whatever other treasures this ce holds.

    Just knowing that, Mira could deduce a few possibilities, but the most likely one was that someone either reached the Source of the chasms or did something of simr magnitude.

    She felt that her guess was most likely correct because there''s simply no other reason for a beast at the caliber of the one that just roared to awaken and make a move by itself unless it was an emergency.

    Her theory could be further proved by Elenei''s attitude towards her, Maria, and Cine when they entered the Ice World in the Secret Realm. Even though Elenei knew they were intruding in her territory, they were so weak that she couldn''t be bothered to deal with them. Plus, they weren''t going after anything precious to her so she didn''t care what they did.

    Most beasts have this mentality, at least beasts with higher-tier bloodlines, and although this attitude might backfire on a few of them, most beasts with a strong bloodline rarely have to worry about dying to beasts or cultivators that are weaker than them.

    That''s because they''re strong. Much stronger than those at the same cultivation as them.

    It seems whatever was resting at the bottom of this chasm didn''t have a different mindset and almost had its treasure stolen because of it. Who knows, maybe it did even get its treasure stolen and now it''s raging!

    However, Mira seriously hoped it wasn''t thetter. How would she be able to steal-*cough*-borrow the Source if that was the case?

    More urately, she wanted to steal it without killing the Branch Manager. She still needed to cash in her Contribution Points after all!

    It''s unlikely that the Mercenary Association would continue to stay open once its Manager dies!

    If it wasn''t because of that, Mira would just order Elenei to go roast him and then take his loot.

    ��Now that she thought about it, why doesn''t she just use Elenei to kill whatever beast is at the bottom of this chasm and then steal whatever loot is down there for her?

    As if reading her thoughts, Elenei immediately replied, "Don''t even think about it! What''s resting at the bottom of this Chasm isn''t just a Basilisk, but a true pure-blooded Cursed Basilisk along with many of its descendants. Although its strength isn''t as high as mine, it''s not too far off. At the very least, it''s strong enough that I''m not able to one-shot it."

    "However, even if I was strong enough to one-shot it, I wouldn''t. I don''t think you understand the implications of killing a Mythical Beast, so let me give you a brief rundown. As you know, Mythical Beasts are essentially pinnacle existences under the Heavens. Humans, Elves, Mermaids, Demi-Humans, and any other creatures are nothing before a True Mythical Beast! At that point, cultivation barely matters. If a Mythical Beast wants someone with a lesser bloodline dead, then it will be so."

    "Naturally, thises with its own limitations, but I won''t get into that. However, what you need to know is that the death of a Mythical Beast, especially a pure-blooded one such as myself or this basilisk will alert all other Mythical Beasts both in the Mortal and Immortal Realms!"

    "That''s not even the end of it! This Cursed Basilisk has a truly terrifying ability that will cast should it die. It will use up the power of its bloodline, body, soul, and cultivation to curse whoever killed it. This curse isn''t avoidable and is basically a death sentence for anyone who receives it. Not only will you be hunted by every other Mythical Beast, both Mortal and Immortal, but you''ll likely die before any of these beasts can hunt you down due to the nature of the curse.

    "The curse is called the Aeon Ruination Curse. It essentially turns someone into a very unlucky person. However, that''s putting it mildly. A person drowning in bad luck can still survive if they''re smart or if they''re strong enough, but that''s not the case for this curse. The Aeon Ruination Curse affects the host''s mind and will lead them to constantly drive them into unfortunate situations in hopes of killing them."

    "There''s no way in hell I''m going to be branded with such a curse. In fact, I''d strongly advise you and Rhydian to get out of here as quickly as possible. Actually, I have half a mind to drag you out of here, but it seems you''re determined to get something and this something is probably near that Basilisk. Knowing you, as long as there''s a chance you''ll want to retrieve whatever this item is."

    Listening to Elenei, Mira was a bit shaken. Now she understood Elenei''s hesitance in dealing with this cursed Basilisk. In fact, Mira felt like she should stop whoever was fighting with it in the off chance that they''re actually able to kill it!

    She doesn''t particrly want this world to be bombarded with Immortal Mythical Beasts��

    However, that didn''t mean she was willing to give up on the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source! How could she willingly give that up when it''s practically sitting right in front of her!?

    Although she knows she has no chance of getting it with her pitiful strength, that doesn''t mean Elenei can''t fetch it for her!<sub> </sub>

    Normally, Mira wouldn''t rely on external forces like Elenei for stuff like this, but this isn''t the time to be picky as this will determine her future potential when she breaks through to the Core Formation Realm!

    Seeing how powerful Rhydian was, Mira''s desire to reach her level and even go beyond was ignited. She didn''t want to be below her beastpanion in strength! Although she likes Rhydian very much, she felt utter disdain at the thought of being weaker than that dumbass wolf!

    How could she, someone who''s struggled with every step she took, be weaker than a beast who only knows how to eat and sleep all day?!

    IMPOSSIBLE!!

    Not only that, but she still has to properly ''thank'' the Mercenary Association for nearly forcing her to be cannon fodder for them. Although she technically wasn''t forced into it, she knew that she didn''t have much of a choice in this matter. If she didn''t join then she might not be able to get the items she requires from them. At least, she wouldn''t be able to get them within the next 2 years.

    That''s essentially crippling her potential, forcing her to live a life of mediocrity! As if she would allow something like that to happen!

    And what better way to pay back these grievances than to steal their precious treasure right out from under their noses?

    With a malicious grin on her face, she directed her thoughts towards Elenei, causing her to shiver, "I''m after a treasure. It''s a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source. This item is very important to me as it''s one of the items I need in order to construct a Core that''s most suitable for me. You''re pretty fast. I think you might be the most suitable of the three of us to retrieve this item for me. Hehe~"

    Elenei''s face darkened when she heard Mira''sst sentence, but under that she was incredibly shocked.

    ''A High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source is one of the ingredients on her list?! What the fuck kind of list was she given?! I know she''s been buying a bunch of high-grade and rare itemstely, is that what those are for?! All of those are purely for forming her Core?!?! Also, from the way she was speaking, it felt like Mira didn''t think much of it other than greed at wanting to acquire such a high-level and rare item without much effort! Does that mean that there are items on that list that are even more rare than a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source?! Are there fucking immortal items on that list too?!''

    Those were Elenei''s inner thoughts, but she didn''t voice them out as Mira most likely wouldn''t tell her.

    She knew that even though they have a contract together that basically prevents the two of them from harming each other, Mira still doesn''t trust her yet.

    Anyways, she was truly shaken by Mira''s words, but at the same time she was also curious. She wondered how strong Mira will be and how high her potential will be after forming such a unique core.

    Also, stealing such an item under the noses of the two beings fighting wouldn''t be a problem for her. She''s a pure blooded Frost-Fire Phoenix at the peak of the Mortal Realm!! Her speed eclipses nearly every other beast and cultivator in this Mortal World by arge margin! Even that Basilisk wouldn''t be able to catch her coat tails even though its strength isn''t too far off from hers.

    That''s simply because the Basilisk mainly focuses on its defense and ocr abilities. Its strength and speed are severelycking, at least in terms of other Mythical Beasts.

    In fact, Elenei could turn this entire chasm into a sea ofva and snatch the item within a few seconds, but she obviously wouldn''t do that as that would put the Basilisk''s life at risk along with the Branch Head''s life.

    However, it''s not like the only thing she knows how to do is cause mindless chaos and destruction. She can use her brain as well!

    So that''s exactly what she did.

    She was a little shocked at how easily she took Mira''s order, but it wasn''t without reason. Basically, the stronger Mira is when she breaks through, the more likely her Nirvana will be a sess and who knows, there might be some extra benefits as well?

    Though thatst part is nothing more than wishful thinking, a Phoenix can have dreams, right?

    The two of them spent the next minute or so formting a n before eventually settling on something that will make it so no one will suspect Mira''s involvement, the Branch Head and the Basilisk will still live, and she''ll be able to cash in her Contribution Points right after they return from this mission!

 Chapter 320 Thievery

    After a minute of nning, the two of them were able toe up with a rather simple n. Part of the reason for its simplicity is because they don''t have much time to make aplicated n and another reason is that there is no need to do so.

    They only had to keep 4 things in mind while making this n:

    1. Steal the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source.

    2. Make sure nobody suspects Mira of stealing the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source.

    3. Don''t kill the Branch Head.

    4. Don''t kill the Basilisk.

    As long as those 4 requirements are met, then Mira will be able to get a Spirit Stone Mine Source without having to lift a finger. Of course, they both knew that things wouldn''t be so simple as they are dealing with a Mythical Beast and a high-level cultivator who has been nning this expedition for years.

    However, Mira wasn''t too worried about anything going wrong. The only thing she was worried about was Elenei actually getting the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source. Everything else can be dealt with ordingly.

    That being said, time was of the essence. They could still feel the Basilisk and (presumably) the Branch Head fighting and they both knew that high-leveled fights like this can end in an instant. All it takes is a single mistake from either party for the fight to spiral out of control. Either that, or it''s a battle of attrition, to which the Basilisk will undoubtedly win.

    So without wasting any more time, Elenei polymorphed into a small bird around the size of a palm. She also had Mira''s Spatial Ring around her neck so that she could ce the Source in it as soon as she got her hands on it.

    As for the polymorph ability, most beasts, especially higher-tiered bloodline beasts, have this ability so it wasn''t so shocking. The only thing that shook Mira a bit was how small Elenei could turn herself. She wondered why Rhydian couldn''t turn herself into a little puppy instead of being forced to stay in such arge body, but Elenei just told her that it was because she hadn''t fully matured yet.

    Then with a swoosh, Elenei sped out of Mira''s Soul Sea. She was so fast that neither Rhydian, Mira, nor Robin noticed anything. All Robin felt was a cool breeze brush across her face, but she didn''t think much of it. The literal world was crumbling around her, how could she possibly care about such an insignificant detail?

    Mira and Rhydian also kept their expressions stoic and continued doing what they were originally trying to do: that is getting the fuck out of this chasm!

    ***

    Meanwhile, on Elenei''s side, right after she flew out of Mira''s Soul Sea she directly went in the direction of the battle.

    From what Elenei could sense, the treasure was still located there, but the fight between the Cursed Basilisk and the Branch Head was about to reach its climax. To make matters worse, they were fighting right next to the treasure!

    Those idiots!!

    Although a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source is incredibly sturdy for what it is, it''s not invincible. Far from it. A few direct hits from either one of those two will shatter it into a million pieces!

    How could they be so careless?!

    Not only that, but from what she could see, theypletely ignored it altogether and were solely focused on each other!!

    How stupid can they be?! They are clearly fighting for ownership of the treasure, why are they so fixated on one another?!

    Although Elenei thought this, she wasn''t actuallyining. More than anything, she just felt ashamed to be even remotely associated with such an idiotic Mythical Beast!

    Still, its idiocy made her job easier. Not only that, but these two werepletely wasting the potential of a High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source!

    Just think about what a Spirit Stone Mine Source actually does! It converts atmospheric Qi into something purer, denser, and easier to ingest. Creating Spirit Stones is just a by-product of this! In truth, if used correctly a Spirit Stone Mine Source could speed up herb growth, create Elemental Essences, act as a natural Qi Gathering Formation, and so many other things.

    Hell, if one used it correctly they could even use it to purify herbs and pills, increasing their grade, efficiency, and potential!

    There''s truly an unlimited number of ways one can use a Spirit Stone Mine Source and these people only wanted to use it to produce Spirit Stone Mines or to use it for cultivation?!<sub> </sub>

    No, that second part couldn''t even be considered true. As a Mythical Beast, its cultivation probably only sped up by at most a percentage or so because of this High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source.

    While that may seem like a lot, in truth this little bit of increased cultivation speed means very little to Mythical Beasts. They are nigh immortal even before entering the Immortal Realms, what is a few extra years of cultivation?

    Elenei honestly couldn''t understand the thinking of this Cursed Basilisk. Sure, it cultivated slightly faster than normal, but it''s not like its cultivation speed was slow, to begin with! It was using this High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine in such a useless manner that Elenei felt like she was doing the world a favor by taking it away from the Basilisk!

    If before Elenei was a bit reluctant to do this, now she didn''t think so. This Cursed Basilisk was clearly a shame to all Mythical Beasts for not using its brain and wasting the benefits such a treasure could bring it.

    With those thoughts in her mind, Elenei sped through the ground at break-neck speed towards the Source.

    She just covered herself in mes and directly charged into the walls,pletely incinerating them before her body even made contact.

    With such a methodbined with her speed, it only took Elenei a few seconds to appear before the Cursed Basilisk and the Mercenary Association Branch Head.

    The two of them immediately stopped fighting, feeling the terrifying auraing toward them, but before they could do or say anything a small figure shed in front of them and appeared on top of the Source.

    They then saw a small bird sitting on the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source, then it touched the Source with its wing causing it to disappear before rushing off in a different direction, away from Mira.

    The two of them were so stunned by this series of events that they didn''t even know how to react for a few seconds. In truth, Elenei moved way too fast that their brains couldn''t evenprehend her existence until it was already toote.

    The two of them stood there in shock and disbelief as they stared at the spot the Source had been just moments ago.

    They couldn''t believe that while they were fighting, a third party could make its way in without them noticing, steal the treasure then leave without them being able to do anything.

    They both felt an unprecedented amount of rage building up in their chests when they realized this wasn''t an illusion or some dream. No, it was real, very real.

    *ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR*

    "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!! GET BACK HERE!!"

    Without hesitation, the two of them put aside their differences for now and immediately chased after the small bird that had just stole their precious loot!

    The two of them burst their way through the walls of the chasm in hopes of catching up to the small bird, but how could their speed possiblypare to that of a Phoenix?

    By the time they realized that the Source was gone, Elenei was already long gone. In truth, if Elenei were to fly at her top speed, they wouldn''t have even been able to catch a glimpse at her figure!

    The only reason she went so ''slowly'' was because this was part of Mira''s n. To lead them away from her so nobody would suspect her of anything.

    What Mira didn''t know was that even if Elenei flew in her direction, nobody would suspect a thing. How could they? She''s only a Foundation Realm brat! How could she possibly possess such a frighteningly fast creature?

    Another reason for this is because Mira didn''t want to be identally killed by the Basilisk and the Branch Head''s chase.

    Of course, Mira had other thoughts on this as well. With those two gone, wouldn''t she be able to plunder this chasm without having to worry about these two high-leveled entities?

    That way, not only can she take the ultimate treasure of this ce with her, but everything else as well! Well, that is if there even is anything to begin with. Who knows, that Basilisk might''ve eaten or distributed all of the good stuff to itself and its descendants.

    ''Well, at least I can kill a few of its descendants and collect their corpses in hopes of doing something with them in the future.'' Those were Mira''s thoughts on the matter.

    With those thoughts in mind, Mira turned to Robin and Rhydian and said, "Let''s go see what''s going on!" Then she ran off.

 Chapter 321 Out

    Unfortunately for Mira, she was bound to be disappointed when she reached the area where the Cursed Basilisk and the Branch Head were fighting.

    The entire area was obliterated due to their fight. Even if something did survive, it would be utterly useless as it would most certainly be destroyed.

    Luckily, Mira found quite a few snake carcasses, or what she believed to be Basilisk descendent corpses. Though Mira could faintly tell that their bloodline wasn''t nearly as strong as that serpent that showed up and swallowed the Earth Elemental, much less soparable to the real thing.

    However, even after collecting numerous Basilisk Descendant corpses, Mira barely felt happy about it. Mainly because she felt Rhydian''s desire to consume them. She was baffled by this as she had no idea why she wanted to eat them, but then she remembered that this beastpanion of hers can actually grow stronger through the things she eats.

    Though she was very skeptical that eating them would actually bring Rhydian any tangible benefits as most of what she ate were just cannon fodder that could hardly be of any use to her.

    Just like she thought, even after eating her fill, Mira couldn''t sense any changes in her and could only sigh at the loss of such little treasures.

    Anyways, Mira, Robin, and Rhydian quickly swept through the ce, but were unable to find anything of value. Not only that, but they hadn''t run into a single beast on their way here.

    That''s not too surprising though as the Basilisk''s enraged roar probably killed a bunch of them while knocking the rest unconscious. How could a bunch of beasts who have already lost their minds possibly resist such a terrifying roar?

    Mira could only stay conscious for a number of reasons, the main one being that Elenei had secretly protected her, but even without that Mira would''ve been fine. Rtively fine��

    Her mind definitely would''ve been shaken and her body injured, but she would''ve survived without much issue.

    As for Robin and Rhydian, thetter has a rtively high cultivation and can protect herself from such things especially since the roar was from so far away. Rhydian, on the other hand, is a beast that is presumably above Mythical Beasts. The echoes of a roar caused by a high-level beast can''t do much to her.

    Essentially, as long as one wasn''t too close, had a clear mind, and wasn''t too weak they''d be able to stay conscious after the Basilisk''s roar.

    Fortunately for Mira''s group, most of the beasts here fell under the second category.

    A few hourster, Mira''s group were standing back in the middle of the ce where the Source was supposedly located.

    "So what do we do now? Do we wait for the Branch Head toe back? Or can we finally leave this shit hole?" Mira asked without any hint of emotion.

    Robin was silent for a bit because she also had no idea what to do. They are clearly standing in the area where the Source was located, but forget finding the Source, they haven''t found anything other than a few dead beasts!

    To make matters worse, she had no idea where the Branch Head even was! He clearly ran off for some reason, but he probably forgot that he even has subordinates.

    Actually, now that she thought about it, he didn''t even bother waiting for her or the 3 other men that came with them! He just went straight into things like he always does!

    Robin''s face darkened when she reached this conclusion and she could almost guess what happened.

    Something unexpected happened that he wasn''t prepared for and now he''s currently facing the consequences of his actions.

    While she knew that she probably wouldn''t be much help against whatever released that roar, she could easily take hold of the Source while the Branch Head deals with the main enemy. In fact, that''s literally what her job was going to be!

    The original n was for her to be the one to collect the loot while the Branch Head and the other 3 men fought the guardian of the treasure.

    It was that simple! In fact, if she knew exactly where the Source of all this was, she could''ve made it there in a few hours at most!

    Mira watched on as Robin''s expression changed numerous times from frustration to anger to helplessness, then finally resignation with a hint of the previous emotions.<sub> </sub>

    She snickered in her heart even while knowing full well that she probably messed up Robin''s life in some way by stealing it.

    For a moment, she felt a bit weird at the thought of something bad happening to Robin, but immediately after her expression hardened into cold, hard, indifference.

    She would never put herself at risk of ruining her potential for someone she barely knows. Plus, it''s not like Robin will actually be able to use the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source. It''ll most likely be directly given to the Mercenary Association Headquarters, so it''s not like she''s outright stealing Robin''s possessions.

    ''Sigh�� This is just how the world works. At the end of the day, not everyone can get what they want. While I think Robin is a sweet girl who has great potential, my life will always be what''s most important.'' Mira thought to herself before Robin finally answered her previous question.

    "...Let''s try to find a way to return. Knowing the Branch Head, he''s probably already forgotten we even exist. Actually, no, I''m 100% certain he has. Who knows, depending on how long we take to get out of this chasm, we might actually meet him at the Mercenary Association building��" Robin released another sigh at the end before eventually walking off in a direction that seemed like the quickest way out of this ce.

    Mira nodded and didn''t say anything else. She''s had enough of this ce by now. So long as she can still cash in her Contribution Points when she gets back, nothing else matters.

    ''Hopefully Elenei has found a nice hiding spot to camp out at for the next few days or so.'' Those were Mira''s thoughts as she followed behind Robin along with Rhydian.

    ***

    Meanwhile, high in the sky above the chasm, Elenei watched as the Branch Head and the Cursed Basilisk scrambled about trying to look for any traces of her.

    Unfortunately for them, even if they knew where she was, they''d still never be able to find her. Even in the off chance that they did, now that she''s out in the open, there is no way they''d be able to catch her.

    However, watching them running about below her as they searched for any trace of her aura is quite amusing.

    She also felt a slight pity for them because before they even emerged from the chasm, Elenei had already scattered her aura all over the ce. Actually, the only reason they could even track her aura was because she wanted them to.

    Now that she doesn''t want to be found, it''s pretty much impossible for those two to find her. Well, maybe not so much for the Cursed Basilisk, but from what she could tell�� it''s a dumbass. At least ording to her and most Mythical Beast standards.

    With a soft snort, Elenei stopped paying attention to those two and started leisurely flying in some random direction. If it were up to her, Elenei would already be back inside Mira''s Soul Sea right afterpleting the mission, but Mira directly told her otherwise.

    Although Elenei thought she was just being overly cautious, she didn''t go against it because Mira wasn''t wrong.

    Right before Elenei left to go steal the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source, Mira said this, "Don''t return to me immediately after you grab the Source. Go find a ce to hang out for a while and onlye back once things have settled down a bit, I get what I want from the Mercenary Association, and finally leave this city."

    Elenei knew why she said this, it was because she didn''t want the Branch Head or the Basilisk to sense her aura on Mira. She tried appealing to Mira that such a scenario is nearly impossible to happen, but Mira was adamant about this part. Actually, Mira might''ve been more serious about this part than any other part of their n.

    If only she knew Mira''s luck has basically hit rock bottom so that .1% chance of someone finding out that she''s tied to the creature that stole the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source will essentially turn into 100%.

    Unfortunately, she doesn''t know or doesn''t quite understand just how bad Mira''s luck is and can only grumble at Mira''s ''entric'' thoughts.

    ***

    Two weeks slowly passed by before the raging of the Branch Head and the Basilisk eventually calmed down from their murderous rampage in search of the small tiny bird that swooped in and stole their treasure.

    It was also on this day that the Branch Head finally returned back to the Mercenary Association!

 Chapter 322 Leaving Quake City

    A somber atmosphere has weighed heavily over Quake City during thest 2 weeks. Over 90% of the residents of the city are either confirmed dead or missing and presumed dead. All of this is just from a single expedition into ''Hell''s Pit''.

    Although the Mercenaries were warned of the dangers before the expedition started, most thought that it wouldn''t be so bad. It wasn''t until the Branch Head returned did the remaining residents learn that nearly everyone who dove into the chasm died.

    To make matters worse, those who did survive received so few Contribution Points that they could''ve just done a normal mission and gotten the same amount without the dangers involved.

    The survivors couldn''t evenin about the Mercenary Association''splete disregard for their lives as they were too weak to even get past the receptionist, Robin!

    Robin was also able to make substantial progress in her cultivation and battle prowess during her time in Hell''s Pit, so beating her up was even less likely.

    She was able to make it to Stage 8 of the Core Formation Realm due to the density of the Qi. She just needs to consolidate her current cultivation and soon she''ll be able to enter Stage 9 which would make her quite the talent using normal standards.

    Unfortunately, she was the only one in the group to make any progress in her cultivation as Mira is holding back her breakthrough until she possesses all of the required items. Meanwhile, Rhydian needs a massive amount of energy in order to break through so although she did make some progress, it wasn''t much.

    Mira felt it was truly a shame that she couldn''t make use of such a dense amount of Qi, but she knew that creating the best Core she possibly can is infinitely better than a few days of cultivation in an energy-rich environment.

    That being said, the two weeks she spent waiting for the Branch Head weren''t in vain. She used this time to dive into Hell''s Pit a few more times to be more proficient with her Evolved Ice Wings, or the new name, Paragon Wings.

    She felt that name suited the ability best because of how multi-purpose they are. They can be used as weapons, shields, bombs, or actual wings. They can basically do anything and as she grows stronger so will her Paragon Wings.

    However, the main reason for calling them such is that these wings don''t necessarily need to be made out of ice. She learned that she can use Yin Magma, Fire, and Lightning to make her wings, they just won''t be as strong because her understanding of those elements isn''t nearly as high as it is for ice. It also takes much longer to form them when she uses other elements so right now it''s not very efficient, but hopefully, these variants will be more useful in the future.

    When Mira heard from one of Elenei''s long-range voice transmissions that the Branch Head finally returned to the Mercenary Association, Mira stopped what she was doing and made a beeline for the building.

    She didn''t want to waste another day of waiting as she had F.LD.I.L Item Trials to pass and who knows how long she''ll be stuck doing that!

    Of course, Mira has tried receiving her mission rewards from Robin and cashing in the Contribution Points, but it seems that all the arrays and formations that are tied to her Bronze Rank Token are offline because the Branch Head isn''t there.

    Luckily, Robin was able to tell her how many points she was going to receive from this expedition and Mira was ecstatic when she heard the number!

    She would finally have enough Contribution Points to buy everything that she needed to buy from the Mercenary Association and then some!

    How could she not be happy about that? Now she didn''t have to waste any more of her time doing shitty missions!

    Now that the Branch Head was back, Mira was finally able to cash in!

    Not long after Mira left Hell''s Pit, Mira made her way inside the Mercenary Association building. She walked up to Robin, who gave her a nod and a smile to which she nodded back, and tossed her Bronze Rank Token onto the counter.

    Robin smiled wryly but knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted her Contribution Points for the expedition.

    Without saying anything, Robin took Mira''s token, and urately counted up the Contribution Points, before adding them to her Token and then returning it.

    Mira took it without hesitation and gave Robin a deep look before giving her a slight nod and walking off. Robin was a little speechless by Mira''s behavior, but she wasn''t too bothered by it. She knew that Mira rarely ever said anything. In fact, over thest almost year that she''s known Mira, she''s barely heard her talk and almost never received a nod from her.

    The only time the two ever really talked was during their time in Hell''s Pit, but that was mostly the two of them trying to coordinate during fights.

    So, when she received a nod from Mira, she felt a little bit of happiness surge in her heart knowing full well what Mira meant.

    Mira, on the other hand, directly went to the shop and hurriedly bought the rest of her items before anyone else could take them. Luckily, they were all still there and she didn''t need to look elsewhere for them.

    She was even able to buy a few items that will help Rhydian in her cultivation with her leftover Contribution Points.<sub> </sub>

    Mira decided it would probably be for the best if she spends them all today as she can''t see herselfing back to the Mercenary Association anytime soon. She also felt a little ufortable staying here because she did technically rob them blind of a resource that would allow their Association to rise in power.

    She didn''t feel bad or anything, but she just didn''t want to get caught for some inexplicable reason. With her luck, getting captured by them for something they have no evidence of is entirely possible.

    With those thoughts in her mind, Mira hurriedly spent the rest of her Contribution Points on things that Maria or Cine might be able to use or maybe just random items she can toss into her Infinity Garden.

    After buying everything she needed, Mira left the shop and was about to leave the building before she felt an odd sensation in her heart which caused her to stop. She didn''t know what this feeling was, but when she looked around the room and made eye contact with Robin, she instinctively knew what she needed to do.

    So, with a little hesitation, Mira started walking over to Robin, startling the poor girl.

    The two didn''t say anything as they just stared at each other as Mira continued closing in on her.

    When Mira was a few feet away from Robin, she said,"You''re a good kid, Robin. I can see that you''re an extremely talented and intelligent girl so don''t sell yourself short. You''re much more capable than what you think you are. Try not to waste the rest of your time doing this. Find a teacher or someone that can help you further your Wind Dao and try to get into more fights to further ourbat prowess. Stay true to yourself. I''ll see you, hopefully a much stronger version of you,ter." With that said, Mira turned around to leave not waiting for a response from Robin.

    To be honest, Mira quite liked the girl as she is basically a more mature version of Maria. Well, maybe not quite, but she gave Mira a simr feeling. A feeling she''s only felt around Maria.

    Unfortunately, their paths are different and Mira knew that she shouldn''t get too attached to someone she was going to surpass in the near future. Although this was extremely cold of her, Mira would always put herself first and hanging out with Robin would only halt her progress.

    Still, she felt like she should say something before she left for good. She hoped that with these words Robin would have an easier time surviving in this harsh world and maybe one day, they''ll meet in the future.

    Mira felt that the likelihood of this happening was abysmally small, but maybe after hearing her words Robin will finally start using her talent and intelligence properly instead of just being a pretty face for an organization that doesn''t care about her.

    Robin was immediately stunned and speechless when she heard Mira''s words. Those words, that were normally as cold as ice, seemed just a tad gentler and infused with a bit of warmth. Her words also left quite the impact on her psyche for a multitude of reasons.

    Tears started forming in the corner of her eyes and her fists clenched so hard that her nails dug into her palm. She wanted to run up and give Mira a hug, knowing that this might very well be thest time she sees her, but she stopped herself from doing so.

    ''I''ll give you a hug the next time I see you. Thank you for your words Mira, I truly needed them.'' Robin''s eyes soon became firm as dozens of thoughts started running through her head.

    ***

    On the Fifth Floor of the Mercenary Association building, the Branch Head had kept a close eye on Mira ever since she entered the building. Lately, he''s had this nagging feeling that one of the Mercenaries in this city is somehow rted to the small bird that stole his treasure.

    So, he''s been thoroughly checking every person who walks into the Mercenary Association. He has his suspicions and although Mira wasn''t his prime suspect, he''s had this weird feeling regarding her.

    When she entered the building, he thoroughly analyzed every centimeter of her body and even checked her aura and spatial ring!

    Unfortunately, all of his checks came out normal. She didn''t have anything useful in her Spatial Ring, there were no signs of that bird in her aura, and thest thing that dispelled his suspicions was that she actually showed up!

    He was sure that whoever or whatever stole the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source was already long gone by now.

    "Sigh, it looks like I''ll have to continue searching for the person responsible for this. Hopefully, I can find them before having to report back to Headquarters�� Sigh��"

    ***

    Mira spent the next day riding Rhydian out of the city until they got far enough away that nobody would even have any hopes of sensing Elenei''s aura.

    Only then did Mira finally call for Elenei to return so she can collect her loot and finally start the F.LD.I.L Item Trials!

 Chapter 323 Item Trial: Chaotic Silk Part 1

    Once Mira and Rhydian met up with Elenei, thetter transferred the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source to Mira and then they set off to find a ce where Mira can enter seclusion andplete her F.LD.I.L tests.

    Luckily, Elenei can fly incredibly fast so it barely took them a few hours until they found a nice secluded cave with no signs of life in the nearby area.

    Once they entered the cave, they immediately sealed off the entrance so no unwanted visitors entered the cave, though it was unlikely such a thing would happen with Rhydian and Elenei here.

    "Okay, I''m going to enter the space of the inheritance I received about a year ago toplete a few tests. I don''t know how long I''ll be gone, but if my estimations are correct, I shouldn''t be gone longer than a few months to a year. If I''m not back in a year or maybe a little longer, then you can assume the worst, though I''m sure Elenei will immediately know if I were to die." Mira briefly exined her circumstances to her two beastpanions.

    Rhydian didn''t quite understand what Mira was saying and just knew that she was going to be gone for a while, which she was somewhat happy about. She''s been tired of the endless battles over thest year and felt like she needed a well-deserved break.

    Elenei, on the other hand, was a little shocked that Mira had ess to a ce she could teleport into toplete a few of her inheritance trials. Though, she wasn''t too surprised because she could tell that whatever Mira received about a year ago was anything but ordinary.

    The two of them nodded which elicited a faint nod from Mira before she vanished into thin air.

    ***

    In the F.LD.I.L, Mira was teleported to the hall where she received the Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, except now instead of an altar being there, it was reced by a throne made of ice and skulls.

    It seems it was tailor-made to Mira''s preferences��

    As if it was natural, Mira walked up to the throne and sat on it before mentally essing the ''Item Trials'' that are avable to her.

    She quickly found the trials for [Chaotic Silk], [Blood Essence of a Legendary Ice Beast], [World Tree Seed], and [Samsara Dogwood Tree]. Unfortunately, she wasn''t given any info regarding these trials, so she decided to call out the Guardian.

    "Hey, old man, what exactly are these trials, and what do they entail?" Mira shouted at nothing, but she knew her words reached the Guardian.

    Almost instantly after she said those words, he appeared right in front of her, almost like he was always there just hidden.

    "Oi! You should really learn to respect your elders! Don''t you know how much you hurt my feelings by saying things like ''old man''? I''ll have you know that I''m still in my bachelor years by God standards!" The Guardian pouted, but Mira wasn''t amused as her eyes narrowed and the limits of her patience were about to be reached.

    The Guardian sighed and put his hands up to surrender then said, "Geez! You''re no fun. How are you supposed to get that Maria girl to go on a date with you if you keep that nasty attitude of yours�� Ugh! Whatever!"

    "In regards to those ''Item Trials'', there''s not much to say, or it''s more like there isn''t much I can say. You just need to know that each trial is unique and that the instructions are generally unclear. For example, in some trials, you might need to gain the trust of someone or something in order to pass, while in others you might need to ughter gxies. Some are extremely simple and just want to test certain aspects of yourself, while others are far moreplex."

    "All you need to know is that every trial is different and that there usually isn''t a time limit ced on them. If there is a time limit, the trial should tell you. Though, that might not always be the case as there are probably a few trials in there that have time limits and won''t tell you about them��"

    "Let''s see�� What else is there��? Oh, that''s right! Don''t worry too much about how much time you spend in the trials. One day in the outside world could very well be equivalent to hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years. Just focus onpleting them. Okay, that''s all I can share with you for now! Good luck!"

    After saying all of that, the Guardian disappeared, but Mira wasn''t upset by his behavior. She was too busy taking in all of that information. Just from that little amount of information, Mira knew that these trials are definitely not simple. Although she already guessed that, it was nice to have some confirmation.

    Unfortunately, even though she learned a bit more about the ''Item Trials'' she still doesn''t know much.<sub> </sub>

    Despite that, Mira has never been one to shy away from a challenge and decided to immediately start her first ''Item Trial''.

    The first item she chose was the [Chaotic Silk]!

    When she mentally selected that trial, Mira''s consciousness was pulled from her body and dragged into a different space where she will undergo her trial.

    ***

    When Mira was finally able to regain some semnce of her consciousness, she realized that she was in a very peculiar state. It felt oddly simr to when she was dead and was in the process of being reincarnated but different at the same time.

    She couldn''t quite figure out how it was different, but she knew that it was.

    Other than that, Mira immediately noticed that her thoughts, emotions, and desires were all in a very chaotic state! Not just that, but her ''body'' or whatever form she was in currently, was also seemingly ever-changing!

    One second she''d notice that she''s in the form of a me while the next second she took the form of thunder. This continued for every other element, but it didn''t just stop there. Sometimes Mira felt like she was brought back in time to experience exactly what she just went through while other times it felt like she''s been through thousands of years of being in this state.

    To make matters worse, Mira could hardly form a single coherent thought without her emotions going out of control.

    Sometimes she''d feel extreme hatred, while other times she''d feel lust. This lust wasn''t directed at anything in particr, but two things did pop up in her mind when she felt this overwhelming amount of lust: herself and Maria. The former is obviously because she felt the need to please herself, but she had no idea why she had lustful thoughts toward Maria.

    However, that wasn''t the end of it all as Mira would also feel extreme hatred for everyone and everything, including herself and Maria.

    This was something Mira was not used to at all. For nearly her entire life, she''s always been one topartmentalize her troubles and handle everything with a rational mind. These raging thoughts and emotions, which were out of her control due to the trial, were already something that she didn''t know how to deal with.

    She also couldn''t keep a single thought for longer than a split second before she was forced to think of something else or feel something else.

    Her form was also constantly shifting between realities, dimensions, timelines, universes, elements, and bodies.

    She literally couldn''t make heads or tails of this situation, but fortunately, she''s always had a strong mind that was only further tempered by the F.LD.I.L trials she had to do in order to be its sessor. If it weren''t for that, Mira might''ve never been able to figure out the objective of this ''Item Trial'' and most likely would''ve lost her mind immediately after beginning this trial.

    Although it took her a while to form a single coherent thought in her mind, Mira finally understood the meaning of this trial: To not lose oneself.

    That may sound extremely vague, but Mira felt like she was right. She assumed this was a mental endurance test so as long as she kept her wits about her and devolved into a chaotic mess who can barely differentiate between life and death, then she should be good.

    Mira also knew that this trial was going to be anything but simple and if she''s learned anything about F.LD.I.L trials, it''s that they get worse over time.

    Will she really be able to keep her sanity after going through whatever shit this trial is going to throw at her? Or will her mind crumble, essentially crippling her? Right now, just after experiencing a few minutes of this nonsense, Mira wasn''t too confident in her ability to not be mentally handicapped! That''s simply because each fraction of a second her thoughts, body, emotions, and desires changed.

 Chapter 324 Item Trial: Chaotic Silk Part 2

    Mira had no concept of time during this trial so she had no idea how long it''s been or how many years she''s experienced. No, it could be said that Mira has experienced thousands of years, if not more, but at the same time, she hasn''t spent any time in this trial.

    All she knew was that the longer she was stuck in this trial, the worse it became.

    At first, it only messed up her emotions, thoughts, desires, and form, but as time went on, the trial started affecting her memories, even going so far as to imnt new memories.

    Every few seconds, Mira would outright lose a portion of her memories, causing her to lose her sense of self. Although it didn''t happen immediately and was a gradual change to Mira, it all seemed to ur simultaneously as her timeline was all messed up.

    However, the trial wasn''t going to make things so easy for Mira by simply erasing her memory and imnting her ones. asionally, she would get her memory back and would have to prepare her mind in that split second that she was able to form rational thoughts.

    Of course, although Mira usually has outstanding control over her emotions and is almost always able to calmly deal with any problems thate her way it was incredibly challenging to do that in this situation.

    During that split second, she was allowed to form thoughts with her authentic memories, she was too busy trying to take in the situation that she couldn''t properly prepare her mind for what was toe.

    In the end, she could only allow this trial to take over her mind and body. There was no stopping it, so she might as well just ept it.

    p Naturally that�� didn''t work.</anda>

    How could an F.LD.I.L trial be so easy to pass?

    If Mira was in the right state of mind, she might''ve been able to figure out the true purpose of this trial. Of course, she knew that it was made to push her mind to the limits. What she didn''t know was that is only a byproduct of the trial''s true objective.

    Mira didn''t know that some of the trials are personally designed to address the sessor''s needs and/or weaknesses.

    That''s why this trial is so hard because it was designed for Mira to acknowledge, challenge, and ovee one of her greatest weaknesses: Her Mind.

    Of course, this doesn''t concern her willpower or mentality. Those are already incredibly strong for her age, cultivation, and experience. No, one of Mira''s greatest weaknesses is her inability to show or acknowledge any other emotion other than indifference.

    That doesn''t mean Mira doesn''t feel things like rage, happiness, sadness, etc., it''s just that she views such emotions as weaknesses and therefore represses them so much until she feels nothing but cold indifference.

    That''s probably why her affinity with the ice element is so high, but that''s for another time.

    Apparently, the F.LD.I.L has decided that Mira''s perception of emotions is incredibly wed. Emotions are only weaknesses if not used or controlled properly, but they aren''t inherently bad.

    Every living being in the Universe, regardless of race and gender, contains emotions and desires. Hell, in the Cultivation World, even rocks can have emotions if they are old enough or contain enough Qi.

    Mira, on the other hand, has bottled up nearly all of her emotions for hundreds, if not close to a thousand years!

    So, although the purpose of this test, at least on the surface, is to test her mind and willpower, it''s really giving Mira a safe space where she can properlye to terms with herself and her emotions and desires.

    What better way to do this than to make Mira lose her memories, rece her old memories with new memories, change her form between various elements, and even mess with her perception of time?

    Well, there are probably several better ways to go about this rather than having her do it during a trial, but the F.LD.I.L knew that it wouldn''t have a better time to provoke this change in Mira''s mindset so it decided to use this trial. Unfortunately, it still had to go with the theme of the item she''s trying to get, [Chaotic Silk], or else it probably would have used a different medium for Mira to properlye to terms with her emotions.

    Anyways, Mira had no idea of this trial''s true purpose and was instead forced to go through these mind-numbing experiences.<sub> </sub>

    However, at some point, deep in Mira''s subconscious, she started feeling something she never thought she''d feel.

    She felt an intense desire to keep her memories! Although she''s experienced what seemed like hell for so many years, it''s those memories that make her, well, her!

    She wouldn''t be what she is today nor where she is today without those memories and experiences! Although she may hate to admit it, she would never in good conscience ask someone to erase those memories from her.

    They may be things that will scar her forever, leaving a part of her mind partially broken, but there are also many things she''s learned from those horrible experiences.

    She''s learned how much pain one can feel due to the betrayal of a loved one. She''s learned that everyone has a dark side, no matter how nice they may seem on the surface. She''s learned that, at the end of the day, one can only rely on themselves. Relying on other people is something only weak people do.

    Of course, she has to acknowledge the power that a group of weak people can wield, but that leads to the next thing she''s learned through all of her hardships. That everyone, no matter who they are, has desires, and sometimes those desires end up being more important than the group of people they were relying on.

    That being said, a group of weak people trying to be strong will almost always strive to change their status from someone weak to someone strong. Of course, weak and strong are all rtive as in some worlds, the ''strong'' are the rich, while in other worlds, ''strong'' means physically being strong.

    After all, who in their right mind would want to stay weak?

    At the very least, Mira has met very few people who don''t want to move up in the world. Although Mira has heard of a few people who are content with being lower-ss citizens, their hearts are often fickle and are subject to change as soon as someone gives them an offer that is impossible to refuse.

    It''s these kinds of experiences and memories that have shaped the person she is today, and she''d be damned if she let some trial y with her memories like they are some kind of joke!

    She knew that it wouldn''t be easy for her to take control of her mind, or at the very least prevent her memories from being lost, but she knew she had to at least try.

    She didn''t know how long she was going to be stuck here going through this shit or if there even was a time limit. So she might as well have a goal in mind and right now her only goal is to rey every memory of her life, starting all the way back with her first life!

    Although she was only given ''fraction-of-a-second'' increments to remember these memories, she was determined to use that time to the fullest until she made it all the way through each of her lives until this very moment!

    If that didn''t work, then she''d do it again! And if that still didn''t work then she''d do it again!

    She''d do this so many times that even if the trial were to erase her memories, they would still be present in her subconscious! They would still be with her even if she became brain-damaged and couldn''t form coherent thoughts.

    Every thought, every emotion, every desire, every interaction, every scene, every friend, every love, every foe.

    She would remember it all until her very existence could no longer forget it!

    She simply couldn''t stand this trial removing pieces of her life like that! The very thought of losing all of her memories filled her mind with a seething rage. A rage that couldn''t be quelled unless she got revenge on the trial for doing something so impudent!

    Unfortunately, she was unable to physically beat up the trial, and even if she was physically able to do it, she was most likely too weak to be able to do any real damage to it.

    Doing this was the only way she could think of that would allow her to get her revenge on the trial while also trying to pass it without her mind crumbling and her sense of self diminishing.

    Whether or not Mira would be able to pass the trial by doing this remains to be seen, but at least she has a goal and is doing everything in her power to reach that goal!

 Chapter 325 Item Trial: Chaotic Silk Part 3

    "Hehe~ Don''t touch there Maria, it''s sensitive~"

    "Goddamit Rhydian! You stupid fucking wolf! I outta just kill you now!"

    "*Slurp Slurp*"

    "...Maybe I should get rid of Cine so Maria can only spend time with me��"

    "..."

    "I''ve decided! Instead of killing that god, my new goal will be to neuter every male in existence! Actually, I should just get rid of that gender altogether! Who needs men anyway? Alchemic pills can do much more than any man can~"

    "*Sob Sob*"

    "GASP! Finally, I can remember-!"

    Mira''s thoughts couldn''t be much more chaotic. However, now instead of erasing Mira''s memories and recing them with new ones, a sign that Mira is heading in the right direction toplete the trial, now her emotions are all out of order.

    These aren''t any ordinary emotions either, but things that she''s truly felt or thought about at some point or another. Some of them may be fleeting thoughts that she didn''t pay any attention to while others are things she genuinely felt, but instead of properly dealing with them, she suppressed them.

    Now, she''s almost forced to experience or remember every single thought and emotion that has ever passed through her brain.

    Unfortunately, whenever Mira essentially relives those thoughts, she''s not fully aware of what''s actually going through her mind. Of course, the moment she experiences those memories, she can feel and understand them, but a secondter, those emotions and thoughts disappear and are reced by new ones.

    Regardless of all this, Mira kept using those brief seconds of rity to keep reying her life from the beginning until now.

    She didn''t know if it was actually helping herplete the trial, but her intuition in those rare moments of rity told her that as long as she keeps going down this route, she''ll eventually find the end.

    In the outside world, time quickly passed as the weeks went by, but for Mira, she felt like she''s experienced thousands of years.

    Then, all of a sudden, a month after she entered the trial in the outside world, something happened.

    Slowly, a thread started to form in front of Mira. Itsposition looked almost identical to spider silk, but it was slightly thicker and much more enigmatic. The whole thread radiated an aura of chaos and disorder. After only ncing at it for a second, Mira could see all sorts of colors sh within the thread.

    Mira felt like she was looking at the beginning, the end, and everything in between when she started at the thread, however, this feeling was fleeting.

    Strangely enough, Mira could also tell that this thread was connected to something, but when she traced her eyes along the thread to its ends, she saw nothing but an empty void.

    Suddenly, a thought entered her mind after looking at the thread in front of her.

    ''Chaotic Silk?''

    Yes, this was Chaotic Silk in its purest form!

    After that thought entered her mind, more Chaotic Silk was created quickly until there was so much that Mira didn''t even know how long this spool of Chaotic Silk must be.

    However, it seemed like the trial felt like it gave her enough time to sort out a few of her thoughts before sending her back into that chaotic state, but something was a bit different this time around.

    She started remembering her first life, starting from the moment she could properly form thoughts.

    Everything she ever thought of or experienced was being yed out by her right now. She nearly felt like she was thrown back in time, back when things weren''t soplicated. Back when she was happy��

    Luckily, the trial decided to leave her a semnce of her original consciousness so she could rewatch these scenes, but she still didn''t understand the purpose of doing so.

    She witnessed the moments of her happy childhood. When she used to help out with the restaurant. When she used to train to be stronger.

    Then she also witnessed the moments of her family''s tragic death��

    How she watched her sister and her unborn baby die right in front of her��

    She was forced to remember how depressed she was after that. She wanted to shout at whatever higher being was out there and curse their entire family line for causing her to feel such intense pain.

    She didn''t understand why her family and sister were taken away from her�� They were good people. People who never did anything wrong. People who didn''t deserve such a cruel way to die��

    No, that''s not right.

    Mira felt like it was too cruel and merciless for them to die in such a manner right in front of her.

    Howe she didn''t die?

    Why was she forced to live with this burden?

    She just couldn''t understand!!<sub> </sub>

    Worst of all, her life was rtively easy after that! Nobody tried to do anything to her. Nobody tried to kill her, r*ape her, or torture her because of her beauty, talent, and natural bearing.

    In fact, all of the criminals left that town not long after her sister killed herself��

    When Mira found that out, she felt like she was going insane. She starteding up with all sorts of conspiracy theories about how she''s cursed or that there is a higher power messing with her.

    It made her incredibly stressed, depressed, and easily agitated. She overthought and overanalyzed everything because could never know if her neighbors down the street dying of old age was really because they were old or if it was because of a higher power or her ''curse''.

    As the decades went by, she tried her hardest to live the best life she could all for the sake of her dead family, but she just couldn''t.

    She was unable to cope with their deaths and with how nothing made sense surrounding their deaths, she couldn''t stop her mind from wandering.

    Eventually, Mira just couldn''t take it and killed herself. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of her problems��

    Experiencing her first life again like this, Mira''s repressed emotions began spilling out as tears ran down her face.

    Then all of a sudden, the Chaotic Silk unraveled a part of itself and extended a little bit.

    Mira, however, wasn''t able to see this as the memories shifted from her first life to the first time she encountered the ''god'', that ruined her life.

    In the back of Mira''s mind, she was pleading, almost begging the trial to stop showing her these memories, but unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears.

    "So you were finally driven insane with those nasty thoughts of yours, huh, Mira? Well, I guess you weren''t wrong though. I''m just a little disappointed that you ended upmitting suicide instead of letting your life y out normally."

    A deep yet yful voice resounded in Mira''s�� ears�� wrong, she didn''t have any ears. In fact, the Mira in this scene didn''t have a body. She was just in an incorporeal soul form!

    "What�� What''s going on?! I�� I-I thought I just killed myself. Why am I not dead?! Who are you?!?!"

    "Fufu~ Who? Me? I''m who you''ve been searching for after your family died! Weren''t you always thinking that something or someone caused their deaths, you just didn''t know who or what it was? Well�� Ta-da! Here I am! Though I must say that it was incredibly amusing watching you me yourself for your family''s death when in reality, that was never their fate."

    "WHAT?!?! SO IT WAS YOU?!?! YOU FUCKING BASTARD?! WHY DID YOU DO SUCH A THING TO MY FAMILY?!?! THEY DID NOTHING WRONG!! THEY DIDN''T DESERVE THAT KIND OF DEATH!! I DIDN''T DESERVE IT!!"

    "Wow~ You really believed me just like that? You really shouldn''t be so trusting, Mira. That being said, it really was me so I guess I can''t fault you for that. As for why I did it? I just find you amusing. I''ve been watching you ever since you started growing up, but I got bored after seeing how boring your life was! I mean, where''s the family drama? The betrayals? The fights? Death? I want to see how you react to every situation!! So, in a way, I guess it really was you who caused the death of your family because if you weren''t in the picture, then I would''ve left them alone and they would''ve lived a long happy life! HAHAHA~"

    Mira became frighteningly silent after hearing that. In truth, she didn''t even know how to process all of this information. She was made, sad, resentful, vignt, disgusted, grief, apprehension, and a little bit of eptance that everything was her fault.

    "HAHAHA~ That''s it! That''s it right there! That expression! Those thoughts and emotions! That''s why you''re so amusing! No other mortal would ever act this way upon meeting me. Alright, I''ve decided! I''m going to take you as my concubine! Unfortunately, I''m unwilling to drag you from the Mortal World and force you to be with me. Where''s the fun in that, right? No, I want you to willingly be my concubine! Though, I might have to give you a bit of a push hehe~"

    "What�� What are you going to do to me��?"

    "That''s. A. Secret. HAHAHA~ I guess you''ll figure out in your next life, my future concubine!"

    Mira''s soul was then trapped in some sort of object where she was stuck in her thoughts until she reincarnated.

    From then on, Mira began experiencing the rest of her lives, right up until the moment she entered this trial.

    During all of this, Mira has experienced the most emotions she''s probably ever felt in her entire life.

    Love, joy, awe, optimism, embarrassment, hate, jealousy, rage, terror, fear, trust, betrayal, death, etc.

    p Every emotion one can possibly feel, Mira felt not only in real time but in these scenes as well.</anda>

    After everything was over, through her tear-covered eyes, Mira was able to see the Chaotic Silk was almost extended to its full length. All that was left to unravel was just a little sliver of the thread and now that she''s been given some rity after going through that emotional rollercoaster, Mira knew exactly what it wanted.

    It wanted her to fully ept this part of herself. To fully ept that she is a living being that has emotions and desires just like everyone else.

    It wanted her to know that although her past is bad, it shouldn''t hinder her from being happy with herself and always striving to be a better person.

    Mira found this rather difficult to ept because it''s much easier to go through life suppressing everything, at least until shepletes her goal. She''s been the way she is, cold and indifferent, for so long now that it''s basically a part of her.

    However, now that she had just went through that emotional rollercoaster, she knew this thinking was wed. The trial wasn''t asking her to not be indifferent to others. It couldn''t care less about that. In fact, doing so is probably for the best now that she''s in a world where strength reigns supreme.

    No, the trial was telling her that she can''t be cold and indifferent to herself. As for why, she didn''t know, but for some reason her instincts were telling her that she''ll only benefit from this.

    Once Mira reached this conclusion, although she still had a bit of difficulty epting such a thing, it wasn''t as hard now that she basically had her entire lifeid out in front of her.

    From here on out, Mira would work on dealing with her pent-up emotions and bing someone her loved ones could be proud of.

    Suddenly, the thread fully unraveled and Mira was sent out of the trial!

 Chapter 326 Item Trial: Legendary Beast Blood Essence Part 1

    On Mira''s throne in the F.LD.I.L, Mira''s body suddenly shuddered before her eyes opened wide-open and she started gasping for breath.

    While Mira was adjusting to her body, arge spool of Chaotic Silk appeared in her hands.

    Mira didn''t even look at the item she worked so hard for as her mind was in too much of a mess at the moment.

    Right now, Mira wasn''t sure what she should do or feel. A myriad ofplex emotions arose from within her simultaneously, making her feel like she was a dam on the edge of bursting.

    However, since she said that she''d stop being so hard on herself back in the trial, Mira decided to just let it all out.

    Tears started running down her face as her mouth took on many different shapes. Sometimes she was frowning, while other times she was smiling.

    asionally she''dugh. Sometimes she''d wail.

    This was the consequence of her releasing all of these pent-up emotions all at the same time; she didn''t know what to feel. All she knew was that she needed to feel something.

    This went on for the next few hours before Mira could get control of herself and stop these raging emotions from taking over any more than they already have.

    Of course, Mira hadn''t been able to release everything she''spartmentalized over thest thousand years or so in the span of a few hours, but it was enough to make Mira feel like a boulder was lifted off of her shoulders.

    However, now wasn''t the time to deal with this. She didn''t have the luxury of being able to spend days or even weeks dealing with her newfound emotions as she needs toplete these trials.

    Unfortunately, she needed to do the very thing the trial told her not to do. She needed to suppress these emotions for now.

    That being said, now that she has starteding to terms with her past and after going through that trial, Mira knew that she had to properly vent after all of these trials arepleted.

    Right when her thoughts reached that point, The Guardian suddenly appeared right in front of her with an unreadable expression. He nced at the Chaotic Silk in her hand before chuckling and saying, "It seems you were sessful in your first trial, Congrattions. I take it that it wasn''t too difficult seeing how youpleted it in just about 2 months. Though, you should hurry up and start your next trial, the [Blood Essence of a Legendary Ice Beast] trial. I have a feeling that you will need more time toplete that trialpared to the rest of them. I know you just went through a lot in thatst trial, but you''ll have to deal with thatter. Well, unless you don''t want to form your Core with that recipe that was given to you when you became the sessor of the F.LD.I.L." As soon as he finished saying that, he disappeared again, making Mira sigh.

    However, she knew he was right. She doesn''t have any time to waste right now. She can deal with everything after this is all over. Her goal, no matter what, is to get stronger and she will not let anything get in her way.

    Also, who knows, maybe she''ll be able to vent a little bit in her next trial.

    With those thoughts in mind, Mira mentally epted the [Blood Essence of a Legendary Ice Beast] trial.

    Immediately, Mira''s consciousness was sucked out of her body, taken somewhere else, and dumped into a new body.

    Mira wasted no time in checking out her new body and she was dumbfounded by what she saw.

    "What the hell?! Why am I a fox?! Specifically, an Arctic Fox!?"

    That''s right, Mira''s new body was in the form of an Arctic Fox! A baby Arctic Fox!

    Not only that, but Mira discovered a timer at the bottom left-hand corner of her field of vision. This timer was counting up and Mira could tell that it was timing just how long she''s spent in the trial.

    1 Second��

    1.000001 Seconds��

    1.000002 Seconds��

    1.000003��

    1.000004��

    The number kept rising and Mira wasn''t sure how to feel about this development. Although she liked having a timer with her, she didn''t like it at the same time. She felt that, if the number got too high, she might start getting a bit stressed out and might start making bad decisions due to impatience.

    However, from what she can gather from this timer, there is a massive time dtion between the trial world and the outside world. A 1:1,000,000 seconds time dtion. So 1 second in the outside world is actually a million seconds in the trial world or about 11.6 days.<sub> </sub>

    Doing a bit of quick math, Mira figured out that she had a time limit of about 26 million seconds, or about 10 months, of time left in the outside world before she''ll forget about that Core Formation Recipe and will be unable to form such a Unique and perfect Core.

    That means, at an absolute maximum, Mira can only spend around 822,000 years inside the trial. However, using up that much time means she won''t be able toplete the two other trials.

    Realistically, she''d like to have this trial done in under 300,000 years as that should give her plenty of time toplete the two other trials, at least if she''s using the Chaotic Silk trial as a standard.

    Still, that didn''t make Mira feel much better for several reasons. One, she can''t even fathom living 300,000 years! Even if it''s only in a trial space, 300,000 years is a long time.

    Secondly, the F.LD.I.L clearly gave her this trial knowing that she hasn''t lived that long and has barely lived a fraction as long as 300,000 years, much less 822,000 years! Clearly, there was something fishy going on here, but she just didn''t know what yet. And to bepletely honest, she wasn''t very eager to figure it out either. 300,000 years is a long time, but it should be more than enough, much more than enough, toplete this trial!

    Hell, she might not even need that amount of time to be a powerhouse in the Immortal Realm! How could she spend so many years on a trial meant for a lower-leveled Mortal?!

    Lastly, just from knowing about the abnormally long time she can spend in this trial, it will be anything but easy.

    Once Mira came to these conclusions, she became vignt, but at the same time calm. She was vignt due to the supposed difficulty of the trial but was calm because of how long she can spend here.

    As mentioned previously, 300,000 years is a long time, more than enough for her toplete this trial with ease! Although she hadn''t quite figured out the goal of this trial, it definitely won''t take 300,000 years to figure out, and seeing how she''s in the body of a small arctic fox, she can already make a few guesses as to what she''s supposed to do.

    If the goal of this trial is what she thinks it is, then it might only take her a few thousand years, maybe a few tens of thousands of years at most, until she finishes the trial.

    Now that she''s figured all of that out, Mira decided to immediately take her first steps into this new world and officially begin this trial!

    Although she knew she had 300,000 years toplete this trial, that doesn''t mean she shouldn''t trypleting it in the shortest time possible. She was still worried about the trial giving her so much time.

    Unfortunately, Mira''s bad luck doesn''t just affect her real body, but it can also affect her trials as well.

    As soon as Mira, with her tiny fox body, walked out of the cave she seemed to be born in, a massive tree fell down right on top of her and crushed her into meat paste!

    Before Mira could even process what was going on, words started appearing in her mind.

    It read:

    "Sessor Mira ***** has died during the [Blood Essence of a Legendary Ice Beast] trial. Would Sessor Mira ***** like to respawn in a different location with the same body or would Sessor Mire ***** like to quit?

    WARNING: Should Sessor Mira ***** quit, the trial will disappear from the [Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life] until further notice.

    WARNING: Due to Sessor Mira *****''s failure inpleting the trial, the Sessor may face certain consequences upon respawning."

    Although Mira didn''t know exactly what happened, apparently she died, but the trial was giving her a second chance and after hearing that she won''t get any more chances if she were to quit, she was forced to choose the respawn option.

    "I''d like to respawn!"

    "ACKNOWLEDGED!"

    As soon as that word entered her brain, Mira was transported to a different location but with the same body, she was in before.

    However, she immediately saw something very, very wrong when she saw the timer at the bottom corner of her vision.

    Immediately, Mira could tell that the time dtion of the trial just changed, and not for the better.

    No, it went from a 1:1,000,000 time dtion to a 1:100,000 time dtion.

    Meaning that Mira''s original 300,000 years just took a steep drop, and now she only has 30,000 years toplete the trial, or 82,200 years at the maximum!

    "FUCK!!"

 Chapter 327 Item Trial: Legendary Beast Blood Essence Part 2

    Mira cursed, but unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about this situation. She could only ept it and move on, which Mira did immediately.

    Now, she felt like she definitely didn''t have the time to be sitting around. Her once ample amount of time has now been reduced to a tenth of what it was and although she felt like that was still plenty of time toplete this trial, it might not be enough to where she can act carefree and take her time.

    Raising her vignce to the maximum, Mira walked out of her new birthce, which seemed to be some type of igloo.

    Mira had a few things she wanted to test out, so she searched the surrounding area for some prey she can feast on.

    After leaving the igloo, it didn''t take Mira long to find a lone Penguin walking around the snow and ice.

    She knew that as a baby fox, she wouldn''t be a match for the penguin in a direct confrontation, but if she can sessfully sneak attack it, then there should be no problem killing it.

    Mira also noticed, that as an Artic Fox, she could manipte ice and snow to a certain extent, but it was only enough to serve as a form of camouge. She''d probably have to grow up a bit more if she wanted to use stronger abilities.

    Still, that didn''t stop her from using this ability to the fullest as it''s exactly what she needs in the situation.

    Covering herself in snow, Mira slowly approached the penguin, and when she eventually got in range of it... She pounced on its neck!

    *SKREE*

    The penguin managed to get a screech out before Mira sessfully ripped open its throat, killing it.

    Mira wasn''t strong enough to carry away an entire adult penguin, so it could only eat it right then and there. She wasn''t too worried about retaliation from the penguins though as they aren''t exactly the smartest species. More than likely, when the other penguins heard the terrified cry of one of their brethren, they''d already fled the area thinking that a pr bear or something was hunting them down.

    Mira was able to finish eating the penguin in peace, but as soon as she finished eating it, something weird happened.

    Her body began growing and maturing at an abnormally fast pace, and she felt her body getting stronger. Not only that, but her affinity with ice was slowly rising, although not as much as her body and strength.

    Seeing all of this happen to her body, a few of Mira''s questions about this trial were answered.

    "So, I''m guessing that I need to hunt, kill, eat, and evolve in order to pass this trial. Although that is just a guess, I''m 90% sure that''s what the trial wants from me. It wants me to be a Legendary Ice Beast! Does that mean that the Blood Essence that I''ll receive will actually be the Blood Essence of the Legendary Beast I evolve into? Also, what are the bloodline rankings in this trial? Are there humans? What Legendary Beast should I shoot for now that I''ve started out as an Arctic Fox? I suppose the only logical solution is to try and evolve into a 9-tailed Fox that has dominion over the element of ice!"

    As Mira came to a few conclusions, more questions were raised.

    She felt like this trial was a bit too easy if she only needed to kill and consume beasts to increase her strength and bloodline. Not only that, but things were clearly different in this trial world. In her world, beasts don''t just grow stronger and increase in size by consuming other beasts. That especially doesn''t work for trying to raise the strength of a beast''s bloodline. Doing that takes talent, resources, and luck in her world, but here all she needs to do is eat a few beasts and she''ll be fine.

    Wouldn''t that mean she canplete this trial in a few years if that was the case?

    This also begs the question, is she the only one who has this ability, or is every beast in this world able to evolve like her?

    Her intuition was telling her that it was thetter and that every beast in this world could evolve so long as they keep consuming other beasts.

    Mira shook these thoughts out of her head and began running around, hunting more penguins. Now that she was a bit bigger and stronger, she had more confidence in taking them head-on. Not only that, but now she could kill them without them ever releasing a sound, making Mira''s growth much more explosive.

    Unfortunately, after killing about 100 penguins, Mira found that her strength no longer rose after killing and eating these penguins. Whenever she ate a penguin now, she would feel a tingling sensation in her bloodline, almost like it was telling her that it needs stronger prey in order to grow.

    Mira was never one to disregard her body''s instincts, so she immediately began looking for stronger prey and sure enough, it didn''t take her long before she came across a pr bear. This pr bear was only slightly bigger than a normal mortal pr bear and was probably only slightly stronger, but Mira knew that there was basically no way she could kill this thing even if she tried killing it with a sneak attack.

    Right now, she only has the strength of a fully grown Arctic Fox, which wasn''t much, to begin with. Her ws and fangs probably weren''t even long enough to deal any severe damage even if she managed totch onto its neck!<sub> </sub>

    However, she wasn''t willing to give up just like that. She knew that, as a fox, she''d have trouble taking down anything much bigger than her so even if she didn''t try to kill this pr bear and went after something else, she''d still be in the same predicament.

    That being said, Mira began thinking of ways she can take down this pr bear and consume its flesh.

    Wait for it to die to another beast or at least get injured by one? No, that''s too time-consuming and who knows if it''ll actually happen. Plus, what if it actually dies? Not only will she lose her prey, but she''ll have to deal with an even stronger predator.

    Wait for it to go to sleep and dig her ws into its skull while it''s sleeping? It could work in theory, but there is a bit too much risk with this n. If for some reason the pr bear wakes up before she''s able to kill it, she''s done for.

    "It seems the only answer is to create a trap and I think I know exactly what kind of trap to make. Hehe~" Mira''s fox face turned into a vicious smirk before she ran off to start making her traps.

    ***

    A dayter, Mira appeared in the same spot she was yesterday and observed the pr bear, who was just wandering around the frozen tundrazily. Mira''s already sadistic grin grew at this sight and without hesitation, Mira jumped out of the snow so the pr bear could see her. Then she opened her mouth ad began yapping at the pr bear.

    *Yap!**Yap!**Yap!*

    The pr bear, who was just walking around doing nothing, immediately shifted its head in Mira''s direction. When it saw a little fox jumping around in the snow, yapping at it almost like it was looking down on him, the pr bear grew furious and roared.

    *ROAR!!!*

    After that terrifying roar, the pr bear charged at Mira with the intent to kill her.

    Mira, seeing this, turned around, and shook her butt to taunt the pr bear, before running off.

    The two of them yed a game of cat and mouse for a while before Mira reached arge conspicuous pine tree. When Mira saw this tree yesterday, she wasn''t sure what to think as she didn''t know trees could actually survive in this harsh weather, but who was she to question nature?

    Mira, with her small fox body, was able to swiftly jump onto the tree from a few meters away and start climbing it without much difficulty.

    A few seconds after Mira began making her way up the tree, the pr bear charged head first at the tree in hopes of running it over, but before it could even reach the tree, it fell down into a 5-meter deep pit!

    The momentum of its fall caused the tree the violently shake and because it shook so hard, a massive icicle broke off of one of the tree''s branches, falling onto the pr bear and prating its neck.

    *ROAR!*

    The pr bear screamed in pain and rage and was about to get up in hopes of at least bringing that damn fox down with it, but how could Mira possibly be outsmarted by a dumb bear?

    Mira had already jumped off of the tree as soon as the icicle fell and began digging into the pr bear''s neck with her teeth and ws.

    The pr bear kept screaming in agony, but that didn''tst very long as it soon breathed itsst breath.

    Seeing this, Mira was incredibly happy and didn''t waste any time consuming her prey! As she ate the pr bear, she could feel her body slowly growing along with her strength, but the discovery that shocked her was that she could feel her species and bloodline evolving!

    Although she probably won''t be able topletely evolve just off of this one pr bear, it was still a groundbreaking discovery! Just this alone cleared up many of her doubts as she felt much more confident about the goal of this trial!

    Unfortunately, Mira would soone to know that evolving one''s bloodline is much harder than she originally thought, even in this unique trial world.

 Chapter 328 Item Trial: Legendary Beast Blood Essence Part 3

    After Mira finished eating the entire pr bear, her size and strength were now equivalent to arge dog or a medium-sized wolf. However, she felt like she was approaching the limits of her species and bloodline.

    Her instincts as a beast were telling her that she would only be able to kill and consume a few more pr bears before she reached her body''s maximum potential.

    So, that''s exactly what Mira did. She didn''t want to begin thinking about how to evolve before she reached her maximum potential.

    Over the next week, Mira was able to kill and consume four more pr bears using a simr strategy that she used to kill the first one.

    Her size and strength have also grown considerably. Now, she''s about the size of arge wolf, which is absolutely massive for an Arctic Fox.

    Once she reached this point, Mira felt something stir in her bloodline and deep within her very core. She felt like her body was trying to guide her in some way, but it wasn''t explicitly telling her what she needed to do��

    No, that''s incorrect, her body is telling her, it''s just that there is more than one way to evolve causing Mira not to be able to make heads or tails of what her body is trying to tell her.

    At this point, she could only use her intelligence, experiences, knowledge, and myths trying to solve the puzzle of evolution.

    From what she knew, at least back in the outside world, most beasts once they reach their maximum potential either need to search for some treasure, refine their bloodline, or somehow tap into their ancestral bloodline if they have one.

    There are probably other ways to increase a beast''s potential, but those are the most mainstream and sessful.

    However, this wasn''t of much help to Mira. She didn''t have a treasure, she didn''t know how to refine her bloodline, and she didn''t know if an Arctic Fox even had an Ancestral Bloodline.

    Not only that, but this world clearly worked differently than the outside world, so who knows if those methods will even work.

    For all she knew, she''d need to do all three of those methods or maybe none of them.

    Since that wasn''t of much help to Mira, she decided to tap into her memories of legendary beasts and their myths back when she lived on worlds without any form of cultivation.

    More specifically, anything about foxes. From what she knew about foxes in mythology, they gain more tails the longer they live.

    From what she can remember, a fox would grow another tail every 100 years, and after 1,000 years, it will evolve into a 9-tailed fox and ascend to the Heavens.

    However, there wasn''t anything credible about this information and she''s not about to waste 100 years just to see if she''ll grow another tail. Also, she can''t see that actually helping her evolve her bloodline.

    Right now, she''s just a normal Arctic Fox! She''d be lucky if she actually lived past 5 years old, much less 100!

    However, she can take a few things away from these myths, helping her decide which direction she wants to evolve in.

    Thinking about this, all of a sudden, Mira had an epiphany and went into a state of enlightenment.

    In this state, she was able to better deduce what her body was trying to tell her and the multiple ways she can evolve.

    Mira wasbining this knowledge with her own preferences in hopes ofing up with something that will not only perfectly suit her but will also allow her toplete this trial.

    A few hourster, Mira exited her enlightenment. Her eyes shone with rity as she was able to figure out how to evolve!

    The method of evolution that she''s going to use is ratherplex and much moreplicated than the other avenues of evolution avable to her, but it was also the method with the most potential which is exactly what Mira needs.

    What she needs to do is basically a mix of everything. She needs to refine her bloodline using the surrounding snow and ice to enhance her affinity, use arge amount of energy to mutate her bloodline so she can add extra tails, infuse her Ice Daoprehension into her bloodline, and use an ice treasure to speed up the process of refinement while also increasing her strength, then kill and consume a beast with a higher-leveled bloodline than her to use as a catalyst to support her evolution.

    Hopefully, she can refine and create a mutated version of her bloodline that will give her near-infinite growth, essentially bing the progenitor of her bloodline.<sub> </sub>

    From then on, she just needs to keep doing the same thing whenever she reaches her current body''s maximum potential. She''ll refine her bloodline some more, find another ice treasure, infuse more of herprehension, add another tail, and consume a beast with a higher-leveled bloodline to promote her growth.

    This may all sound incredibly easy, but Mira knew that she might run out of lifespan before she can evenplete her first evolution! Normally, it wouldn''t be that long, but Mira wants to not only change and mutate her bloodline but also base the foundation of her new mutated bloodline on her Ice Daoprehension and the level of ice, snow, and cold she''s able to infuse into her bloodline during the refinement period.

    Naturally, there were other easier ways to evolve that she was able to discover during her enlightenment.

    In fact, she could technically evolve right now. She could use up her body''s potential to increase her bloodline level and evolve into a new species but doing so would mean ruining her future as she wouldn''t have any more potential left in her body.

    She could also look for a beast with a higher-level bloodline and consume it to evolve, but Mira knew that although this may look good in the short run, she''ll have to deal with the consequences of doing thister down the line.

    Even if she were able to be a Legendary Ice Beast by using this method, she would never ept such a bloodline as it wouldn''t be of much use to her.

    There were also a few other ways, but Mira found them all severelycking.

    In the end, she found this method to be perfect for her. There may be better methods that she can use to evolve, but that didn''t matter too much to Mira. As long as the method suited her and allowed her to be an exceptionally strong Legendary Ice Beast by the end of it all, then she didn''t care if there was a better method.

    Having set her goals, Mira wasted no time inpleting them as she immediately set off to start the evolution process.

    ***

    Five yearster

    In an iglooy a small baby fox. This fox has pure white fur, crimson eyes, and two tails. One tail is white with faint blue stripes running down it, while the other tail is silvery-white with faint icy blue stripes running down it.

    However, don''t be fooled by this little fox''s appearance as the aura that wasing off of its tiny body is several times stronger than that of a pr bear. There was also something else mixed in with this aura, something that proved its identity as a beast with a higher-tiered bloodline.

    Suddenly, a burst of power was released by the fox, and not long after it opened its crimson eyes.

    "I finally did it! I finally evolved my bloodline and species! Damn, that took much longer than I originally thought it would! Oh? It also seems like my body was reset back to its infant stage. However, I feel much stronger than I did 5 years ago. No, much stronger would be an understatement. With my current strength, I feel like I could casually p a pr bear to death!"

    That''s right, the fox in the igloo is Mira who justpleted her first evolution!

    Over thest five years, she has worked all day every day in hopes of evolving. She''s killed off most of the penguins, many of the pr bears, a few sharks, tons of fish, caribou, etc. Basically, anything that could be eaten and turned into energy was killed by her.

    However, she vastly underestimated the amount of energy needed to refine and mutate her bloodline while adding an extra tail.

    Not only that but finding a treasure to use while also the process of infusing the ice energy and her own Ice Daoprehension into her bloodline took much longer than she thought it would.

    Part of the reason for this is that she wanted to refine her bloodline to the utmost limits through this method.

    Another reason is that most of her Ice Dao Comprehension she has outside of the trial world doesn''t work here. She doesn''t know exactly why, but she does have a few theories.

    However, none of that really matters. What matters is that since she can''t use a majority of her Ice Dao Comprehension, she now has to restart.

    So, most of her time was actually spent in meditation or trying to gleam into the secrets of this world in order to improve her bloodline''s affinity with ice.

    Now, after 5 years of nonstop hunting and meditation, Mira has finally taken her first step toward bing a Legendary Ice Beast!

 Chapter 329 Item Trial: Legendary Beast Blood Essence Part 4

    Knowing exactly what she needed to do to evolve, Mira didn''t waste any time trying to be a Legendary Ice Beast.

    She explored newnds, killed new beasts, consumed their flesh, grew more powerful, and searched for any ice treasures that could be useful to her.

    asionally she''d find a nice, cold area to meditate, but most of Mira''s time was actually spent hunting.

    Years went by, and there wasn''t anything different in Mira''s routine. She hadn''t found any humans, so there were no civilizations. The beasts in this world, especially the stronger ones, do not generally stay in groups because any and every beast in this world is merely seen as arge piece of flesh by other beasts.

    Even Mira would kill weaker beasts because they are an easy source of energy.

    That being said, there wasn''t anything in this world that could distract her frompleting her goal. No humans or other humanoid races were blocking off certain areas because of a treasure or something like that. No beast societies were made, which could hinder her quick progress.

    The one and only rule of this world is survival of the fittest. Only the strong can survive. You die and be food for the strong if you aren''t strong yourself.

    The beasts here don''t care about the deaths of their brethren, as such a thing is typical here.

    In this world, Mira can kill whoever or whatever she wants without worrying about the possibility of revenge!

    Well, another reason for that is because the beasts in this worldck the emotional intelligence that the beasts outside of this trial world have.

    However, Mira''s not one toin about such a thing as it makes her job easier. She can run around killing whatever shees across without facing the consequences! The only thing she has to worry about ising across a more powerful enemy, but so far, she hasn''t had a problem with this.

    Foxes are known for their intelligence, which,bined with Mira''s own intelligence, intuition, and instincts, make for a fearsomebo that can allow her to gauge whether an area is dangerous based solely on her instincts.

    All she has to do is nce at an area to know if there is a high chance of her dying in the said area!

    This ability has saved her life on more than one asion, and Mira can''t wait to see how powerful this ability is once she bes a Legendary Beast. Maybe by then, she''ll also be able to use this ability to search for treasures!

    Soon enough, 30 years passed by in the blink of an eye, and Mira had done nothing other than eat, sleep, hunt, meditate, and work on evolving.

    During the first five years, Mira spent most of her time trying to reach her body''s maximum potential before working on her evolution.

    The following 25 years were spent forming her third tail, refining her bloodline, increasing herprehension, and hunting down more beasts for more energy.

    Then finally, after 30 years, Mira was finally able to evolve her bloodline and species again! Although she didn''t know what kind of fox she was now, she knew that as long as she became a 9-Tailed Fox with ice set as her foundational powers, she''d be able toplete the trial.

    However, there was one thing she was a bit confused about. She still didn''t know how bloodlines rank in this world or if there even is a ranking.

    For example, she has to evolve six more times to be a Legendary Beast, but wouldn''t that mean there are nine different bloodline rankings? No, there are probably beasts in this world with a higher-leveled bloodline than just Legendary.

    That thought left Mira even more confused than before because she felt there were probably only 5 or 6 official bloodline tiers or rankings in this world. Well, that''s just her theory and can''t actually be proven, especially in this world where the intelligence of the creatures isn''t high enough to categorize themselves.

    In the end, Mira could only put that thought to the back of her mind as it doesn''t matter a whole lot. At the end of the day, she still needs to evolve six more times.

    Anyways, now that she has evolved her second time and formed her third tail, Mira''s power and strength have skyrocketed!

    Another thing to note about this evolution is that Mira can feel her tails bing heavier and more dextrous. She felt like they could now be used in battle and not just get ripped to shreds before she could even use them.

    Her body size also shrunk back to its infantile stage, but that didn''t bother Mira. Yes, it was a bit of a pain to reach her new body''s full potential again, but at the same time, it allowed Mira to get used to her newfound strength.

    Mira also understood that she''s not actually reverting back to when she was just a baby fox. It only looks that way because, during the evolutionary process, all of her body''s power and potential is condensing. That way, her new body will have plenty of room to grow after she evolves.

    That being said, her body''s maximum potential will exponentially increase after each evolution. This goes for her size as well.

    If she''s not wrong, then to reach her maximum potential after thistest evolution, she might grow to the size of an elephant or even bigger!

    Who knows how big she''ll be after bing a Legendary Beast! She might very well be the size of a city!

    Mira didn''t even want to think about how much energy she''ll need in order to reach that size. She might very well have to consume entire continents'' worth of beasts to sustain her growth!

    Mira put these thoughts to the back of her mind and prepared herself for another period of hunting and meditation.

    The only thing Mira found challenging about this trial so far is the long years of mind-numbing meditation and the constant hunts she has to go on. Other than that, this trial is rtively straightforward, but it''s times like these when Mira is thankful for the Abyssal Torment Steps.<sub> </sub>

    Perhaps if she hadn''t refined her will through such a torturous process, she might not be able to keep her cool in this trial once the years started piling up.

    She will definitely be fine during the beginning years, but give her a few thousand years, and she might start going crazy if the only thing she can do in this world is kill, consume, and meditate.

    Now, after going through such pain and torment to her mind, body, and soul for what felt like hundreds or even thousands of years, Mira''s will wouldn''t be shaken by something as simple as this.

    The only thing that bothers Mira regarding this trial is the time it takes to evolve. She''s only evolved twice, and it''s already taken her 35 years! At this rate, she might actually need over 100,000 years to evolve into a Legendary Beast!

    She doesn''t have that long! She has, at maximum, around 82,000 years, but that will leave her with no time to finish the other two trials, meaning she won''t be able to form her desired Core!

    Mira felt a sense of urgency after her second evolution and knew that if she wanted to be a Legendary Beast within a reasonable amount of time, she''d have to put in a bit more effort.

    ***

    Time quickly passed for Mira as she sped through each of her evolutions.

    For her third evolution, it took her another 100 years before she was able to evolve.

    Then it took her another 250 years to evolve for the fourth time.

    From then on, the time it took her to evolve increased exponentially.

    It took her 500 years for the fifth evolution.

    Another 1,000 years for the sixth evolution.

    2,000 years for the seventh evolution.

    5,000 years for the eighth evolution.

    Then finally, an entire 30,000 for the ninth and final evolution!

    That''s right, in total, it took Mira 38,885 years to be a Legendary Ice Beast.

    Well, thosest 30,000 years include reaching the full potential of her Legendary Beast Bloodline.

    When she finally did, she waspletely and utterly wrong about howrge she would be and how much energy she''d need to reach that state.

    Once she reached her full potential, Mira was the size of a small country, and just to reach that size, she needed what seemed like an entire world''s worth of nutrients.

    Of course, she didn''t have too much of an issue reaching that state as this trial world seemed nearly infinite.

    That''s just one of the many things Mira has learned about this trial world over thest almost 40,000 years. Another thing she learned is that there is no other environment other than ice and snow in this trial world.

    There are no deserts, forests, ins, jungles, or anything like that. There are a few oceans, but they are frozen over on top while the temperatures under the surface are sub-zero. In truth, some of the coldest ces in this trial world are at the bottom of the ocean.

    As for Mira''s appearance, her body is entirely white. There isn''t a speck of another color on her body. Her tails, however, are each different colors. They are white, silvery-white, icy blue, pinkish blue, pink, turquoise, gold, sapphire, and ck. Each color represents different parts of Mira''sprehension of the Dao of ice. There are also no more stripes running down each of her tails.

    She has a small ice crown on her head, which symbolizes her status as a progenitor of a Legendary Beast Bloodline.

    Her eyes have gone from crimson to blood-red from all the killings she''s done over thest nearly 40,000 years.

    She looked incredibly majestic and beautiful but at the same time extremely deadly.

    Now that Mira had finally be a Legendary Ice Beast, she knew it was time for her to be sent out of the trial. She didn''t understand why she knew; she just did.

    However, right before she was sent out of the trial, Mira clearly felt her body and bloodline urging her to try and evolve again.

    Feeling this, Mira grew ecstatic because she knew that although she hadpleted the goal of the trial and wouldn''t be able to stay in this world any longer. If the Legendary Beast Bloodline she received was indeed the bloodline she worked so hard on to evolve, then it means it can grow stronger!

    Those were her final thoughts as she was thrown out of the trial world.

 Chapter 330 [Bonus Chapter]Item Trial: Samsara Dogwood Tree

    When Mira''s consciousness appeared back in her original body, a 10 Liter jug of blood appeared on herp simultaneously.

    It took Mira a few minutes to adjust to her body, especially after spending almost 40,000 years inside of the trial world, but oddly enough, those 40,000 years felt like nothing more than a blip of time.

    It didn''t feel like she had just spent thest 40,000 years as a beast; instead, it felt like she only spent a few months as a beast, and there was this weird disconnect between her mind and body.

    After about 15 minutes, Mira was finally able to adjust to her body, and the first thing she did was look down at the massive jug of blood in herp.

    As soon as she looked at it, pieces of information about it entered her mind.

    ''Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence''

    Apparently, there hasn''t been another 9-Tailed Fox to control the power of ice, making Mira the progenitor of the bloodline in both the trial world and the real world.

    That''s not to say that other 9-Tailed Foxes can''t or don''t control the power of ice. It''s just that they possess other elements as well. For example, many 9-Tailed Foxes specialize in illusions, or if they control the elements, they can control all of them.

    9-Tailed Foxes rarely specialize in a single element like ice; even if they did, they certainly wouldn''t specialize in ice. Fire, Light, or Darkness would be the most likely elements for 9-Tailed Foxes to specialize in, but Mira wouldn''t know that.

    As for what it means to be a progenitor of a race, well, there are many benefits, one of them being her strength andprehension in whatever her bloodline specializes is on another levelpared to those that aren''t progenitors.

    As for the rest of the benefits, Mira will have to discover those herself as the F.LD.I.L didn''t provide her with any more information.

    Mira was also curious as to why she had so much Blood Essence, but when she remembered back to her gigantic body, it made sense. Her heart was the size of a vige or maybe even a city. It would only make sense if she had stored multiple liters of Blood Essence in her body.

    If she only had a small drop of Blood Essence in her body, as her human body does, then there''s simply no way she''d be as strong as she was.

    There''s that and the fact that this was one of the benefits of her bloodline and also her being a progenitor.

    Mira stared at the massive jug of blood in front of her for a bit longer, feeling a sudden urge to devour and absorb it right then and there, but she managed to stop herself from doing so. Although the benefits would be massive if she were to absorb it right now, they would be even more significant if she used this blood to form her Core. She didn''t know how it would be better for her to wait or what kind of benefits she''d get from waiting, but she knew they''d be significant.

    Mira stared at it for a bit longer beforemanding the F.LD.I.L to put it in her Storage Space.

    It wouldn''t be long before she''d be able to put that Blood Essence to good use��

    "How much time is left until my two years are up?" Mira asked seemingly nobody, but she knew The Guardian was listening.

    Sure enough, a voice resounded in her head a second after she asked that.

    "You have around 160 days left until your two years are up." The Guardian said before going silent.

    Mira didn''t say anything after she heard that number, but she would be lying if she said she wasn''t nervous after hearing what the Guardian said.

    That''s only a little more than five months left! Five months toplete two trials! Just thatst one took her roughly five months, and now she has toplete two of them within that time frame?!

    Unfortunately,ining about it won''t solve anything. In fact, that''s the worst thing she can do at this moment, as every second counts.

    Right now, she has to decide which trial to do next, but Mira has long decided which one she needs to do next.

    She figured it would be best to choose the Samsara Dogwood Tree trial next. She felt like this trial, in particr, had a set amount of time that she''d be in it. Just from the name of the item alone, Mira could make a few guesses as to what this trial will be about, and all of these guesses led her to believe that no matter how long she was in the trial, only a set amount of time will pass in the outside world.<sub> </sub>

    Well, it''s not like it really matters which trial she actually picks first. She still has to do her best either way, and if she doesn''t finish in time even after doing her best, then she can only say that she wasn''t fated for this Core Formation Recipe��

    At least that''s what Mira wished she could say. In reality, she would be fucking pissed if she wasn''t able to form that Core after spending so much time and effort in trying to do it.

    So, without wasting any more time, Mira mentally epted the trial for the [Samsara Dogwood Tree].

    Immediately, the F.LD.I.L dragged her consciousness out of her body and sent it inside the trial world.

    ***

    Mira''s consciousness was ced inside a sapling in the trial world, but the strange part was that Mira couldn''t think or do anything. The only thing she could do was, well, be a tree.

    She couldn''t try to determine the trial''s goal, and she couldn''t look for any solutions to get out of her current predicament; hell, she couldn''t even formte any thoughts.

    All she could do was follow the instincts of a tree. She spread her roots in search of more water and nutrients. She moved her branches so the leaves could absorb more sunlight and used these nutrients to promote her growth, but this was all she could do.

    Time quickly passed, and soon 200 years went by, yet Mira still couldn''t formte any thoughts. In fact, she didn''t even know that she couldn''t formte any thoughts. All she knew was that she was a tree and needed to grow.

    However, after those 200 years, the tree Mira was in withered and died, but this wasn''t the end for Mira.

    Throughout the tree''s life, it dropped many seeds, and as the tree died, Mira''s consciousness was quickly transferred into one of those seeds.

    Then, she went through the same exact process again. She absorbed the nutrients around her, grew up, and died around 150 yearster.

    This process kept repeating itself over and over again for thousands of years. Mira went through countless cycles of life and death for what seemed like hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years, until one day, something extraordinary happened.

    All this time, Mira''s consciousness has upied the offspring of the same tree she started in. There wasn''t anything special about this tree. No heaven-defying fruits, no incredibly long life, it didn''t gain sentience, nor was its wood very strong. It was just an ordinary tree.

    However, the only thing special about this specific tree was that whenever it died, a new tree would sprout in the exact same ce, and Mira''s consciousness would always be in these trees without fail.

    So, whether it was because these seeds had Mira''s consciousness inside them or something else, after so many years of death and rebirth, the tree began to change.

    However, this wasn''t something that could just happen in a few years. No, the change happened slowly over another countless cycles of death and rebirth.

    Slowly, the leaves on the trees began to change, where half of the leaves would be white while the other half would be ck, and a mysterious power started surrounding the trees.

    After another few hundred thousand years, the tree had finished its change and became something else entirely. Now, instead of the tree dying and another seed taking the dead tree''s ce, it would revert itself back into a seed and regrow from there when the tree reaches the end of its life.

    After the tree''s transformation, it continued to undergo countless more deaths and rebirths, although this time, saying that the tree died wouldn''t necessarily be urate.

    After another unknown amount of time, the tree trunk started to turn a different color. Now, instead of brown, the trunk was turning into a yellowish color.

    It wasn''t until another few hundred thousand years that the tree trunk hadpleted its transformation.

    Once it finished its transformation, Mira''s consciousness was suddenly taken out of the tree and ced back inside her real body. Yet, strangely enough, Mira''s body remained unresponsive��

 Chapter 331 Item Trial: World Tree Seed Part 1

    Every trial in the F.LD.I.L is unique in some way, but that doesn''t always mean that ''passing'' the trial is the end.

    Life itself is, at its core, a constant repetition of trials. For mortals with a limited lifespan, their trials may include finding enough food to eat for the day or looking for a significant other to start a family with.

    Of course, there are many other things that ordinary people must ovee if they want to live a sessful life until their eventual death.

    Cultivators, on the other hand, especially ones with higher cultivation, have their own set of difficulties that they must ovee.

    One of those difficulties is time itself. More specifically, going into seclusion for thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years if you''re strong enough.

    Only doing one thing, cultivating, for so long can easily mess with someone''s sense of self. If one is too focused on getting stronger, cultivating, or meditating on their Dao, then if they don''t have a strong enough will, they may lose their identity, bing something they initially weren''t.

    While this is extremely rare among weaker cultivators who have only been alive for a few hundred years or so, this phenomenon is actually moremon than one might think amongst higher-level cultivators and immortals.

    That''s what the trial for the Samsara Dogwood Tree is all about. In fact, the trial isn''t over even after Mira was sent out of the trial world.

    Sure, she may have ''sessfully''pleted the trial and received the Samsara Dogwood Tree as her reward, but if she can''t regain her sense of self, she can''t use the item.

    This trial may have been the most brutal of them all for the simple reason that Mira is too young and inexperienced, but there is also a reason for this. Although it may have gone to the extreme, the F.LD.I.L is trying to teach Mira a lesson she should never forget.

    It wants Mira to understand that she isn''t just an emotionless tool meant for ughter and revenge. That there''s more to her than her unhealthy need for power.

    It wants to remind Mira where she came from and that she wasn''t originally an ice queen who only cared about herself.

    Sure, she didn''t care for random people, but she loved her friends and family. She loved the connections that she made. She sought strength, not for revenge or because she wanted to feel superior to others. She wanted to get stronger and learn more about fighting because she enjoyed it!

    People change over time, and the F.LD.I.L knew that. It also knew that the more tragedies one faces, the more they be indifferent to everything around them. However, the F.LD.I.L knew the importance of staying true to oneself.

    This stuff might not be necessary right now, or anytime soon for that matter, but being able to stay true to oneself will definitely help her in the long run. It''s not like there are any downsides to it either.

    Unfortunately, Mira wasn''t fully conscious and couldn''t try and figure all of that out right now.

    Currently, her consciousness was inside a giant void and in front of her was the silhouetted of a girl. Around this girl were a bunch of fragmented memories.

    These fragmented memories contain Mira''s entire existence; from what she can tell, she''s supposed to put these memories inside the girl''s silhouette.

    However, there''s just a slight problem. There are way too many fragmented memories! Not all of them can fit inside the girl! From what Mira could tell, less than 1% of the fragments could fit inside.

    That being said, Mira did what she felt was best. She began searching through these fragmented memories and decided to only ce the most important ones inside the girl.

    Naturally, this took a bit of time as she had to sift through her entire life in search of the most important or her favorite memories.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    Two monthster, Mira''s eyes finally opened, and she felt a sort of sublimation and rity she''d never felt before. She almost felt like, for the past who knows how many years, someone else had taken over her body and was living in her stead.

    Now, she was awake and had taken back control of her body.

    Well, maybe it wasn''t to that extreme, but that''s just how it felt to Mira. She felt like she was finally whole again, or at least partially whole.

    She still needed to understand what was happening to her and why, but that will have to wait as the Guardian just appeared right in front of her.

    "Wow! You passed that trial pretty fast. I thought it''d take longer! You may not know this, but you were inside the trial world for only a month. However, you spent two months outside the trial trying to figure yourself out. Though, I think you should probably hurry up and start thest trial. You only have 70 days toplete it." The Guardian said, much to Mira''s shock.

    "That long?! I didn''t think I took that long for thatst trial. Ugh! I hope I can make it in time��" Mira muttered.

    The Guardian put on a pondering expression as he stared at Mira. After a few seconds, he spoke up, "I think you should be fine as long as you don''t screw things up in the beginning. This trial will probably be the easiest for you toplete, that is, if you can reign in your impulses. Just be patient with thisst trial, and you''ll be fine. Oh, and try to be a little nicer than you usually are. Doing that will bring you a long way with thisst trial."

    "I thought you weren''t supposed to know anything about the trials. Weren''t they supposed to be unique to my circumstances and the item I''m trying to receive? How do you know what I''m going to face?" Mira asked with a skeptical expression.

    "Oh please, little girl. You underestimate me too much. Although I don''t know exactly what you''re going to face, I can make urate guesses, and my guesses are rarely wrong. Even if I am wrong in this situation, it won''t be by much." The Guardian said with pride written all over his face.

    "Is that one of the perks of being a god-like entity?" Mira asked curiously.

    The Guardian had to think for a second before she answered her, "Yes and no. All gods are incredibly intelligent beings. No, I guess the right word would be that theirprehension speed is insane. It''s simply iprehensible to a mortal like you. It''s so fast that most gods are considered omniscient just based on this fact alone. However, that doesn''t mean all gods are wise. That is especially so if they were in a ce like this��the F.LD.I.L. I can only guess what trial you might face because the F.LD.I.L has allowed me to guess since I''m technically your Guardian. Anyways, forget about this stuff. You should start your trial right now."

    Mira nodded her head, put away the Samsara Dogwood Tree in her Storage Space, and mentally epted the trial for the [World Tree Seed]. Just like the other three times, her consciousness was pulled out of her body and sent inside the trial world.

    However, when she appeared in the trial world this time, she wasn''t inside a new or different body. Instead, she was inside an exact replica of her real body.

    After inspecting her body, Mira realized there was something off about the situation that she was in. Her feet and hands are in chains.

    Then she got a good look around her and noticed that she was surrounded by what seemed like Elves, and they didn''t look too happy whenever they looked at her.

    She was about to break out of her chains and massacre everyone around her for daring to chain her up like some sort of animal, but then she remembered the Guardian''s advice.

    She decided to try being patient and see where all of this is leading. Who knows, maybe something good will actuallye out of it.

    Of course, if they try anything funny, she won''t hesitate to make the streets fill with the blood of elves.

    The Elves saw her being cooperative and began dragging her to their destination. It didn''t take long until Mira was pulled in front of a majestic castle.

    This castle wasn''t too big like the ones that human rulers often made and wasn''t nearly as luxurious either, but when Mira entered it, she felt more at peace. She felt closer to nature.

    Mira kept being pulled along even after she entered the castle, and she wasn''t stopped until she came face to face with one of the most beautiful beings she''s evere across, other than herself, of course.

 Chapter 332 [Bonus Chapter]Item Trial: World Tree Seed Part 2

    The Elf that sat in front of Mira on her beautifully handcrafted wooden throne was the Elven Queen.

    She looked down on Mira with slightly cold eyes, almost like she was trying to look into her soul. The Elven Queen could feel the immense amount of bloodlust within the girl in front of her and knew she was anything but simple.

    She could also tell that the human girl in front of her was strong, really strong. She was powerful enough to break out of those chains holding her and kill everyone in this room. Well, except for her and a few others, but that''s a given. How could the Elven Kingdom be so weak that they couldn''t even handle a little girl?

    However, what confused the Elven Queen was why this human girl allowed herself to be captured. With her power, she shouldn''t have a problem escaping from the guards.

    The Elven Queen could only think of two possibilities as to why she allowed herself to be captured and brought here. Either she wanted to kill her, or she wanted something that only the Queen of the Elves could give her.

    And seeing as she wasn''t trying to kill her right now despite being in front of her, the Elven Queen was leaning more towards thetter.

    "So, human child, why are you here? Answer honestly. I can tell that you are powerful. Strong enough to break out of those chains and escape this ce rtively unscathed. So, tell me, what do you seek?" The Elven Queen asked elegantly without any change in her expression, but her words caused a storm amongst those present, especially the guards who captured her.

    They immediately turned pale and almost pissed themselves, knowing that they could''ve died without even knowing how if the little human girl wasn''t as cooperative as she was.

    Mira stared at the Elven Queen for a second, not really knowing how to answer. All of this was really too sudden. She didn''t even know why she was detained in the first ce.

    However, she knew that this was probably a turning point in the trial. If she answered wrong here, then she might screw up the rest of the trial.

    So, she looked the Queen directly in the eyes and said,"I seek a World Tree Seed, Elven Queen."

    "IMPUDENT HUMAN!"

    "IMPOSSIBLE!!"

    "KILL THIS HUMAN, YOUR MAJESTY!! SHE DARED TO DISRESPECT THE GUARDIAN OF OUR RACE!!"

    The surrounding Elven Ministers shouted and cursed at Mira, immediately wanting to kill her. However, the Elven Queen just stared at her without changing her expression even once. At least, that''s what the crowd saw, but Mira noticed her brows furrow for a split second before returning to normal.

    The two stared at each other for a few more minutes before the Elven Queen waved her hand to shut up the surrounding Elves, then she began to speak.

    "Unfortunately, I can''t give you a World Tree Seed as I don''t have the rights to do so. However, if you genuinely do seek a World Tree Seed, then there might be a chance for you to obtain one. But let''s put that aside for now as I have a question to ask you. Do you truly know what you''re asking for? You could''ve asked for a fully grown World Tree, but instead, you asked for one of its seeds. Why? You should know that taking care of a World Tree Seed is nearly impossible."

    The surrounding Elves wanted to say something, but the Elven Queen gave them a stern look which kept them quiet.

    Mira, without hesitation, shook her head. She barely knew anything about a World Tree, much less one of its seeds.

    "No, I don''t. All I know is that for me to advance in my strength, I need a World Tree Seed. As for what it does or its significance, I never really cared." Mira answered honestly as she saw no reason to lie.

    "Interesting. So you know what it is you seek, yet you don''t know why you seek it. Well, seeing how you''ve been honest with me up until now, let me share a piece of information that you might find helpful. The World Tree, otherwise known as the Tree of Life or even the Cosmic Tree, is a very special existence. The World Tree in and of itself is more like a Realm than an actual tree. It holds up the Heavens with its branches, connects to the Underworld via its routes, and forms a connection with the two with its trunk, or in other words, the Mortal World."<sub> </sub>

    "The World Tree can also create life. Whether it be humans, Elves, beasts, or any other race, all of them originate from the World Tree. At least that''s how it is in our Realm. For us Elves, the World Tree is equivalent to our Ancestor and Guardian. It stands to protect us from outside forces so long as we worship and live within its grasp."

    "I don''t know if this information is beneficial to you, but you may use it as you will. As for the significance of a World Tree Seed. Well, as you now know, a World Tree is a magical existence. It''s not something that can easily be replicated. If you intend to grow one, you may find it incredibly difficult as even we Elves have no idea how to do so, or else we''d have many World Trees around us."

    "There''s also only one way for you to get a World Tree Seed, and that''s through the World Tree itself. So, if that''s truly what you seek, then you have appeared in front of the wrong person. Though, I suppose I can take you to the World Tree if you are willing to do us a little favor."

    After the Elven Queen said all of this, she stared at Mira.

    Mira knew that the Elven Queen was probably only using this situation to extort something from her, but she couldn''t do much in this situation.

    For one, she has no idea where the World Tree even is. She didn''t see a giant tree standing anywhere around this castle. Plus, from what she just heard, the World Tree might not even be entirely present in this Realm!

    If the Elven Queen can take her to see this powerful yet elusive existence, then she has no qualms doing a bit of the Elven Queen''s dirty work.

    Mira nodded slightly, and the Elven Queen released a smile for the first time since she started this trial.

    "Great! I only have three requests. If you canplete both of them, then I''ll dly lead you to the World Tree. One, a nearby Human Kingdom, has been looking to invade our territory for a while now. We''ve entered quite a few minor skirmishes with them over the years, but nothing too bad as neither of us wants to alert the other Kingdoms. However,tely, they''ve been attacking, kidnapping, and even r*ping innocents of our race and have even started massacring small viges. Unfortunately, there''s not much we can do because if we announce we''re going to war with this Kingdom, then the other Human Kingdoms won''t let this slide and will attack us as well. If you could take care of this problem for us, I''d be most grateful." The Elven Queen exined, which caused the room to turn downcast.

    Mira, however, thought that the Elven Queen would request something a lot more difficult. She didn''t expect her first request to be so easy!

    "Isn''t it just a Human Kingdom? I''ll be through with them within the day. What are your other two requests?" Mira asked, to which the Elven Queen nodded, not surprised by her answer.

    "The second request is for you to take down a beast. There is an Earth Dragon in the Mountains to the West that has been bothering us for a while now. I request you to join me on an expedition to defeat this y once and for all."

    Mira nodded her head without giving it much thought. From the Elven Queen''s words, it seems this Earth Dragon is a bit stronger than her, or else she wouldn''t need help taking it down. However, Mira didn''t feel much dangering from the Elven Queen, so if this Earth Dragon was only a bit stronger than her, then it shouldn''t be too difficult for the both of them to take it down.

    Seeing Mira nod so easily, the Elven Queen''s smile grew, and she voiced out herst request.

    "As for myst request, it''s a bit more private, so I''d like you toe to my chambers after this meeting, and we can discuss it there." After she spoke, her cheeks took on a healthy shade of pink, and her eyes moved away from Mira''s for a split second, almost like she was embarrassed.

    However, the Elven Queen immediately regained herposure and stared at Mira like nothing ever happened, leaving her speechless.

    ''Why do I have a foreboding feeling about thisst request?'' Mira thought to herself before inwardly shaking her head and giving the Elven Queen a nod.

    "Good! Good! Haha! Alright, this meeting is now over. Human girl, if you could please follow me back to my chambers, we can get myst request started immediately." The Elven Queen pped her hands, got up from her throne, and began walking towards her room.

    The surrounding Elves looked like they wanted to say something, but before they could even speak up, the Queen gave each and every one of them a fierce re.

    Mira didn''t know what was going on, but the faster she could get these requests over with, the faster she couldplete this trial. So, hesitantly, she followed the Elven Queen back to her room.

 Chapter 333 Item Trial: World Tree Seed Part 3

    Soon, the two of them entered the Elven Queen''s room. When the door closed behind Mira, and the two were finally alone, The Elven Queen turned around to face Mira and slowly removed her clothes.

    Mira saw this, and her mind went nk for a second. For one, the Elven Queen''s body is perfect. Plump breasts, wide hips, long legs, slender arms, and a t but toned stomach. The Elven Queen''s body is more than enough to charm both men and women alike, and although Mira''s usually indifferent to these sorts of things, that doesn''t mean she can''t appreciate beauty.

    She also didn''t expect the Elven Queen to immediately start stripping in front of her the moment they entered the room. She thought that maybe she wanted to ask Mira to do something that she didn''t feelfortable asking in front of arge audience; she just didn''t expect it to be something this�� personal.

    "Umm�� Miss. Elven Queen, why are you stripping in front of me? I thought you called me in here to discuss yourst request." Mira asked directly while scanning the Elven Queen''s body without a hint of shame.

    "Leah�� You may call me Leah. And this is myst request. Or I suppose you could say that instead of a request, this is just a selfish wish of mine. If you don''t want to do it, then just forget about thisst request of mine. Just deal with the other two, and I''ll take you to see the World Tree. I just hope that you can fulfill this olddy''s wish." Leah, the Elven Queen, said with a hint of a blush on her face.

    Mira smirked at this scene and felt like teasing the Elven beauty in front of her.

    "Oh? And what wish might that be? You''re going to have to be more specific, Leah." Mira teased with a slight smile on her face but didn''t move an inch.

    "Sex. I want you to have sex with me! You''re so beautiful that I can''t hold it in anymore! You might not know this, but we Elves value beauty very much. I guess you could say that''s part of the reason why the Elven Race is so handsome and beautiful because other than nature and the World Tree, beauty takes precedence over everything else. The only reason why you haven''t had Elves jumping on you as soon as you entered my territory is because of this little girl form you''re in. However, how can I, the Elven Queen, not see that your actual bone age is that of a young woman? I don''t know why you''re in this form, but I know that you''ll be the most beautiful person I''ve ever seen in your adult form. If I could have sex with such a beauty, I''d have no regrets if I were to die right after." Leah exined with a straight face, though her red cheeks and the pheromones leaking out of her body told a different story.

    Mira was shocked to hear her answer in such a straightforward manner, but she didn''t mind.

    However, she did have to give this some thought. It''s not that she''s opposed to having sex with Leah, and it''s not like she''s never thought about doing it with other girls in her past lives. She may have had many terrible experiences with men, but that doesn''t mean she hates women. In fact, her sexual preferences, even before going through all of that shit, have always been women.

    She''s just never been able to take action either due to all of the crap that she has to go through or because she''s been too focused on surviving and getting stronger.

    Now, she can actually fully enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. It''s not forced upon her. Her partner isn''t forced.

    Then, she thought about Maria. Does she actually like Maria romantically? Does Maria like her romantically? Would she be betraying Maria by doing this if she does see her as a potential romantic partner?

    All sorts of questions entered Mira''s mind, but it didn''t take long for her toe to a conclusion.

    No, she wouldn''t be betraying anyone if she were to agree to this. She and Maria are merely friends, nothing more. That''s subject to change in the future depending on their feelings for one another, but there''s nothing there right now.

    Mira also felt like now would be a great time to give into one of her desires: Lust. Throughout all of her lives, she''s felt lust for numerous women; she''s just never been able to release her pent-up lust. It could be for multiple reasons; either the girl she wanted was straight, or maybe she just didn''t have the time to do such a thing.

    In most of the worlds she lived in, the concept of same-sex rtionships was almost nonexistent. This is even more so in the Cultivation World. Just the mere thought of same-sex rtionships has never entered most people''s minds.

    However, now she''s been given the option to release a few of her pent-up emotions and desires. Not only that, but the person who is asking her to do this kind of stuff is an incredibly gorgeous woman.

    "Hmmm�� Sure, I can do that with you, but I have a condition. If we are to do such a thing, I don''t want to be trapped in this kid body. If you want me to have sex with you, then you''ll need to figure out a way to turn me into an adult." Mira agreed.

    When Leah heard Mira agree along with her condition, her eyes sparkled, and she revealed a bright smile before walking over to her bedside drawer and pulling out a small vial.

    "Great! And don''t worry about that condition of yours. I have everything ready right here. This vial contains an Elixir that is unique to the Elven Race. You see, Elves live much longer than other races, which consequently means that our bodies mature much slower. This Elixir will actually force your body to enter its fully developed state for about a day before the effect wears off. This Elixir is usually taken by younger Elves that get married but want to experience their first time with their fully grown bodies." Leah handed the Elixir over to the skeptical Mira.

    Mira examined the vial to ensure this wasn''t actually poison or some sort of aphrodisiac. Well, even if it were, such a thing wouldn''t work too well on Mira unless the poison or aphrodisiac is incredibly potent.

    One mustn''t forget that she''s tempered her body with the Magma Dragon Body Tempering Technique. Her body is much stronger and more durable than an ordinary cultivator''s body.

    So, Mira walked into the dressing room with the Elixir in hand, leaving Leah all alone. When Mira was alone and had some privacy, she removed her clothes, so she won''t rip them when her body grew and drank the Elixir without hesitation.<sub> </sub>

    Almost immediately after drinking it, her body started growing, and it wasn''t until a few minutester did her body finally stop growing.

    Mira looked in the mirror and started examining her body but was stunned by what she saw. Her body didn''t look anything like the Elven Queen''s plump and seductive body.

    She didn''t haverge breasts, maybe only C-cup, and her hips weren''t particrly wide. However, she was tall! Very tall!

    She was definitely over 2 meters tall! She had long legs that were slender yet packed with muscle. The same goes for the rest of her body as well. Her skin was soft, smooth, and healthy, but each and every inch of her body was packed with muscle.

    She could also tell that her body was perfectly symmetrical. To Mira, it really looked like someone sculpted her body to utter perfection, and she hadn''t even gotten to her face yet.

    When Mira finally gave her face a good look, she nearly fell in love with herself! She was so goddam hot! She couldn''t even begin to describe how her face looked. The only word that came to mind was: Perfect.

    She looked like a Goddess Empress who ruled the universe. Cold, blood-red eyes that looked down on everything. Long silvery-blue hair. A perfectly symmetrical face. Lips that were red and plump, but not overly so. Sharp eyebrows.

    She was literally the epitome of a Queen or Empress with her looks!

    After admiring her adult body for a while, Mira decided to stop keeping the sexy Elven beauty in the other room waiting. She loosely put on her robe, which strangely almost fit her new body, and walked out of the dressing room.

    When Leah, who was nervously waiting in the bedroom, heard Mira''s footsteps, she immediately looked over and was stunned speechless by what she saw.

    A tall, imposing beauty loosely wearing a ck robe to cover up her naked body walked out, causing Leah to gulp while taking a step back.

    Each step the domineering beauty took was filled with power, making the Elven Queen''s body heat up and her lower region to start tingling.

    The slight murderous intent that lingered around the beauty, giving her a wild and dangerous vibe, made the Elven Queen feel like a little kitten in front of a big bad tiger.

    While Leah was in her own little world, Mira slowly walked up to her and scooped her up in a princess carry.

    "Kyaa~" Leah screamed in surprise and immediately tried to get out of Mira''s hold, but unfortunately, she couldn''t budge. Mira''s physical body was too strong.

    Knowing that she couldn''t escape, the Elven Queen became incredibly embarrassed by this whole situation, a situation in which she was supposed to dominate, and could only bury her head in Mira''s chest in hopes of escaping.

    Mira looked down and chuckled, then said in her new sexy mature voice, "Well, Little Leah. I think it''s about time I fulfill the selfish wish of a lustful lesbian Elven Queen. What do you say?"

    Leah meekly nodded her head, causing Mira to smirk as newfound sadistic and dominating urges began to emerge from within her.

    Mira carried Leah over to the bed and then threw her on it.

    "Ahhh!"

    Leah yelped in surprise, but Mira wasn''t done yet. While Leah''s mind was still a bit hazy, Mira waved her hands, created ice cuffs around her hands, created an ice chain around the cuffs, and tied her hands to the headboard.

    "Well, let''s get started."

 Chapter 334 Side Story: Dominating An Elf Queen (R-18+ NSFW)

    [A/N: I just want to say that this chapter brings almost nothing to the story. In fact, I was a little hesitant to put it in there at first, and if you guys don''t like it, then I''ll change it up a bit, so the two of them don''t end up having sex with one another, but to me, I think this is a necessary step for Mira. As I said, the chapter itself doesn''t bring any value to the plot or story, and I could have easily just started this chapter off by saying that they had sex, but I felt like the impact wouldn''t be nearly as significant rather than if I wrote an entire sex scene. You''re wee to leave your thoughts in thement section. I''ll look over them and consider your suggestions. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy it!

    P.S: This is my first time writing a sex scene, so it might not be perfect in terms of actual sex or getting you (the readers) off, but I think it conforms well to the story and Mira''s personality. Again, any suggestions or tips you guys might have, feel free to leave them in thements. I''d really appreciate it.

    Anyways, I''ve taken up enough of your time, now enjoy the smut!]

    Mira slowly approached the bed with a sadistic smile on her face.

    After being thrown on the bed, Leah finally realized that she had been chained to the headboard and looked at Mira in a slight panic.

    "Wait, Human-EEK!" She didn''t even get to finish her sentence before Mira turned her over on her stomach and smacked her ass.

    "Human? No, you will address me as ''Mistress.'' Each time you don''t call me as such, you''ll get punished. Now, let me hear you say it." Mira ordered in a cold tone causing Leah to shiver slightly, but her pride as the Elven Queen didn''t allow her to do so.

    She red at Mira while trying to break out of the cuffs, but before she could do anything, Mira smacked her ass again, except this time she used a bit more force, leaving a red hand print.

    "Ahn!! Stop hitting me, Hum-!"

    *PAH!*

    "Mistress! There! I said it! Now, stop pping my butt!"

    "Oh? Are you trying to order me around? I thought I made myself clear, but in case you haven''t figured things out yet, let me spell it out for you." Mira said in an authoritative tone and then crawled on top of Leah, got close to her ear, and whispered, "Tonight, you are my little Elf ve, Leah. You will listen to ALL of my orders, or else you''ll be punished. I can''t let my little Elf ve ordering me around, now can I?"

    Leah shivered in both fear and anticipation at Mira''s words. She couldn''t exin it, but Mira''s strong, sexy body, her cold murderous eyes, and that deadly smirk on her face made the Elven Queen want to let herself be dominated.

    It was a totally different feeling from being dominated by a man. To her, the only reason a man can dominate a woman is that they can make a woman''s pussy feel extreme pleasure as long as they hit the right ces. Also, the positions in which men and women have sex are generally all geared towards male domination. Even in the cowgirl position, the woman has to bounce up and down just to make the two of them feel any sort of pleasure. Sure, the woman might be on top, but she is hardly in a dominating position. At least ording to what she''s experienced and heard.

    However, Mira isn''t trying to dominate her through sex. No, she''s trying to force her to mentally and physically submit to her before the sex even starts. Mira wants her to fully understand her role in all of this before she even starts. She doesn''t need a rod or any sort of tool to make her submit. Just her natural bearing and charm are more than enough for that.

    This kind of sex�� to Leah, is both degrading and exciting.

    Leah lightly nodded before turning her head away in embarrassment.

    Even if it is exciting, it''s still embarrassing for her, the Queen of an entire race, to be treated in such a manner.

    "I''m sorry�� Mistress. I''ll be more careful with my speech from now on." Leah said in a barely audible voice, but Mira was satisfied with such an answer.

    "Good. Now, how should I reward this little Elven Queen for being such a good girl?" Mira whispered in her ear and then abruptly took Leah''s mouth, kissing her.

    Leah was surprised by this sudden turn of events but was happy nheless. At first, their kiss started off slow and light, but as time passed, it became more passionate and heavy.

    Their tongues entered each other''s mouths and began wrestling. They bit each other''s lips, sucked on each other''s tongues, and mixed their saliva.

    Leah wanted totch onto Mira''s body and start feeling her up, but unfortunately, her hands were still tied, and her body was at Mira''s mercy.

    As their kiss continued, Leah''s body slowly started heating up, and her lower region released a suspicious liquid.

    Mira could smell the sweet scent that the Elven Queen was releasing and knew she wanted more.

    Mira also felt a strange sensation after tying up the Elven Queen, climbing on top of her, and dominating her lips.

    She wanted more. She wanted to dominate and y with more of Leah''s body. She wanted to make it so Leah would beg and crave her very touch!

    However, she knew that such a thing wouldn''te easy. She''d first have to�� tease�� the sexy elf below her.

    Mira brought her mouth away from Leah, but it seemed Leah wanted more as she stuck her neck out, trying to reim Mira''s lips.

    However, Mira wasn''t going to allow her little ve to try and take control of the situation; she lifted up Leah''s ass and gave her a fierce smack.

    "AHN!"

    "My lips are not for you to im, Little Leah. Have you forgotten your ce? Or do I need to remind you?" Mira said with a sadistic smirk on her face.

    "No, Mistress! I''m sorry, Mistress!" Leah shouted with hazy eyes.

    "That''s a good girl." Mira stroked the side of Leah''s hair, causing the elf to shiver.

    "Now, originally, I wanted to have you please me before we get into the main act, but I just thought of something better that will make your Mistress feel much better instead. What do you think, Little Leah? Would you like to make your Mistress feel better?" Mira asked, but her tone of voice was ordering, not asking.

    "Yes, Mistress, I''d love to please you!" Leah yelled, which caused Mira''s smirk to grow as her eyes seemed to take on a deeper shade of red.

    "Alright, since my Little Leah wants to make me feel good, then how can I allow her to wait?" Mira asked before gently and slowly gliding her fingers across Leah''s body. From her neck to her breasts, to her nipples, to her stomach, to her pussy, and all the way down her legs to her feet.

    Sometimes Mira would circle her fingers around Leah''s sensitive areas causing the Elven Queen to squirm and moan slightly in both anticipation and irritation. However, Mira didn''t stop. When her hands went all the way down Leah''s body, Mira softly and lightly glided her fingers back up, taking a slightly different route while gently circling and touching her erogenous zones before exploring the rest of her body.

    Leah kept being teased by Mira and brought her to the edge of climaxing for the next 15 minutes, but Leah finally couldn''t take it anymore and shouted, "Please, Mistress! Let me cum! I''ll do anything! Just please stick your fingers in my pussy! Stir me up! Fondle my breasts! Anything! I can''t take it anymore!"<sub> </sub>

    "Oh?" Mira was amused and then suddenly pinched Leah''s nipples, causing the Elf Queen to yelp as a little bit of fluids squirted out of her ''little sister''.

    "AHN! YES! MORE! PLEASE GIVE ME MORE! I''M ALMOST THERE!" Leah yelled, but Mira didn''t continue. Instead, she smirked and got off of the Elven Queen.

    "It seems my Little Leah has forgotten her ce and needs to be punished, but I''m a fair and just person. So, how about this? If you can make me cum within five minutes using only your mouth, I''ll let you cum. Sounds fair, right?" Mira teased, but she meant every word.

    "NOOOO!!! WHY?! WHY WON''T YOU LET ME CUM?!" Leah yelled in rage and despair, causing Mira''s eyes to turn cold.

    Leah shivered under her cold eyes, but Mira wasn''t done. She grabbed Leah''s neck, making her unable to breathe, and then shoved her face down towards her pussy.

    Even then, Leah still wasn''t allowed to breathe or say anything as Mira locked her head in ce. Mira released Leah from the headboard but still kept her hands cuffed together and said in a cold voice, "You have until you pass out from ack of air to make me cum. Our little session is over if you pass out before making me cum."

    Leah''s entire body shivered, but she didn''t waste any time trying to make Mira cum. She stuck out her tongue and stuck it inside Mira''s pussy in hopes of making her cum, but little did she know that Mira wasn''t your average sex partner.

    She''s quite literally been to hell and back after what those F.LD.I.L sessor trials did to her. That,bined with her natural unfeeling and indifferent personality, makes her a nearly impossible person to judge.

    So, even when Leah''s tongue was roaming around her pussy, Mira''s expression never changed. She didn''t let out any moans, her mouth or eyes didn''t twitch, and her body showed no signs of feeling any sort of pleasure.

    Now, that''s not to say Mira wasn''t feeling anything. No, she was feeling fantastic. Leah was excellent, but Mira felt like it would be beneath her to give this random Elf Queen the satisfaction of listening to her moans. Those are reserved for her lovers only. This Elf Queen is merely a one-night stand. Something she can use to vent some of her pent-up emotions and desires.

    Not only that, but in her mind, Leah is just a simtion created by the F.LD.I.L for her trial. Once Mirapletes her trial, this trial world would naturally disappear, and Leah would disappear along with it.

    Ten minutester, Leah felt a surge of juices appear in her mouth. Interestingly enough, these juices tasted fresh and pure, almost like they came from straight off of a cier.

    Then, she felt the pressure on her head fade as it seemed she was finally able to satisfy her Mistress.

    "Drink it all up�� Good girl. Alright! Now do it again! If you can do it again, then I''ll let you release, and we can get on with the main act." Mira ordered, and Leah nodded half-consciously before returning to pleasing Mira. Except for this time, she was allowed to breathe.

    Fifteen minutester, Leah felt a surge of juices flow into her mouth, and she hurriedly swallowed them all.

    "Good girl, Little Leah. I suppose I should reward you now for all of your hard work." Mira smirked and began teasing Leah''s body a bit more to get her used to her touch.

    Then, she abruptly stuck two of her fingers inside Leah''s pussy and began stirring up her insides while also fondling her breasts and pinching her nipples.

    "Ahn�� Ahn�� Yes! MORE! AHN! I''M ABOUT TO CUM!" Leah shouted, but before she came, Mira pushed her back onto the bed and imed her lips.

    Leah couldn''t handle the pleasure anymore and squirted all over the ce.

    "AHHHHNNN!! YES! DON''T STOP!! FUCK ME! FUCK ME MORE! IT FEELS SO GOOD, MISTRESS!"

    "Hehe~ I wasn''t nning on stopping any time soon, Little Leah. Though, I think it''s about time we get on with the main act." A sadistic grin formed on Mira''s face as the urge to dominate this elf emerged, forcing her to submit in mind, body, and soul.

    ***

    8 Hours Later

    *PAH!**PAH!**PAH!*

    Mira was ramming a strap-on made of ice in and out of Leah''s pussy, while using a paddle to smack the Elven Queen''s juicy ass.

    Leah, on the other hand, was face down into the sheets with her eyes rolled back and her tongue hanging out as saliva dripped all over the ce.

    However, Mira didn''t allow her to stay in that position long as she lifted up Leah''s body with the strap-on still in her pussy, got up from the bed, stood up, and began pounding the elf again.

    "Ahn�� AHN�� AHN�� AHN�� CUMMING! I''M CUMMING!"

    Leah kept moaning and yelling, but Mira didn''t stop for even a second. However, if one looked closely, they''d see streams of juices running down Mira''s legs every time Leah shouted. It was as if Mira got off just from the act of dominating this sexy Elf Queen under her.

    Well, that wouldn''t be wrong because Mira certainly felt euphoric just knowing that Leah had submitted to her mentally, physically, and sexually.

    However, she wasn''t feeling nearly as much pleasure now as she when she first started, as Leah had basically lost her mind by this point.

    So, Mira pulled back for one final thrust before ramming it into Leah''s pussy.

    "AHHHHHHNNN!! YES! YES! I''M CUMMING!"

    Leah squirted all over the strap-on, and then Mira took it out beforeying Leah down on the bed.

    Mira nced over at Elven Queen, who once looked so regal, majestic, and beautiful, now looked like nothing more than amon whore.

    More liquids fell down Mira''s legs as she thought about thest 8 hours. However, she was a bit tired after working so hard for so long and decided toy down next to the Elf Queen beside her.

    Shortly after, the two unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

 Chapter 335 Item Trial: World Tree Seed Part 4

    Mira was the first to wake up as she was already someone who would rather be doing something useful than sleeping.

    Suddenly, she remembered what happenedst night and quickly looked to her side. There, she saw the beautiful Elven Queen, Leah, in the nude with a satisfied smile on her face, but Mira felt nothing seeing this.

    No, that''s not quite right. She did feel something. Something she hasn''t felt in a very long time. She felt like she had made a mistake. And she also felt�� better? Almost like another shackle was lifted off of her mind and body.

    It was an odd mixture of feelings, and although Mira didn''t regret doing what she did, she felt she was probably a bit too impulsive.

    Sure, having sex with the Elven Queen felt good, not just physically but emotionally as well. More so emotionally.

    She knew, in the recess of her mind, that she''s always carried with her an unhealthy burden after being sexually abused so many times in her past life. This burden has affected her in many ways, but Mira has never been able to vent her frustrations properly.

    While she may have killed everyone who did such a thing to her, that just wasn''t enough for her mind to feel any better. She''s still had to live on, knowing full well all of the shit that''s ever happened to her.

    That being said, when she was having sex with Leah, part of her saw Leah not as a beautiful Elven MILF, but as all of the people who have ever abused her.

    And she wanted these people to suffer! She didn''t want them to die, at least not anytime soon! No, she wanted them to beg for death! She wanted them to grovel at her feet and even say "Thank you" as she tortured them! For daring to touch her body, death would be a mercy for such people!

    ? So, with those thoughts in mind, she unleashed some of her deepest darkest desires onto Leah.

    However, it''s not like she was being an asshole the entire time; she still kept her sanity and could both vent and pleasure Leah simultaneously.

    It''s just that�� it came out in the form of some rather dark sadism.

    Well, it''s not like Mira wasn''t a sadist, to begin with. Just look at the way she trains people! How could someone right in the head possibly train people like that?

    She''s just not usually this much of a sadist.

    Shaking her head of these thoughts, Mira stood up from the bed and realized that she was back in her little kid form again. A hint of irritation swelled in her heart. She was tired of being in a kid''s body, and her adult form was just too sexy not to want. Even her, someone who doesn''t care what she looks like, felt pride in knowing she would be such a sexy and beautifuldy when her body finally matures.

    Shaking her head of these thoughts, Mira put on her robes, left Leah a note, and went off to finish the first request Leah asked of her; To deal with the Human Kingdom that was bothering their race.

    ***

    A few hourster, Leah woke up and quickly noticed that she was the only one in the room. She also spotted a piece of paper that wasn''t there before, and a bitter smile appeared on her face when she read it.

    She figured Mira was the type of person who didn''t like to waste time on anything and held no genuine affection for her. Though, it''s not like she''s one to judge.

    She only asked Mira to have sex with her because of Mira''s beautiful, domineering, and bloody appearance. She''s never seen a body of such perfection and knew that she had to bed such a beauty.

    She, too, felt nothing for Mira other than sexual desire, so it''s not like she can judge the human girl. No, she should just be happy that she got what she wanted.

    Mira didn''t have to have sex with her. Not only that, but Mira was strong enough that if she wanted to get away, probably nobody in the Elven Kingdom could stop her.

    Still, she couldn''t help but feel bitter inside.

    "You could''ve at least stayed to cuddle for a few hours, right? I would''ve loved to smother your cute little kid face in my breasts!"

    Okay, maybe there was also something wrong with Leah as well��

    ***

    Nearly two dayster, Mira appeared inside Leah''s bedroom with a slightly bloody appearance as she had just finished dealing with the Human Kingdom that was bothering the Elves.

    It was actually a bit challenging as the Humans had plenty of trump cards that were incredibly annoying to deal with, but in the end, she still managed to kill all of the leaders, their entire family lineages, all high-ranking officials, and even massacred most of the people in the Kingdom as well.

    Though, calling it a Kingdom was a bit��

    To her, it was more like arge city, and most of this city was filled with ordinary people with no powers. She barely spent any time and energy killing those people. The annoying part was just the sheer number of ordinary people and having to chase them down.

    She still let a few get away; even for her, it was impossible to kill everyone without being stronger than she already was.<sub> </sub>

    Then again, what can a few ordinary people actually do? If they wanted to get revenge, well, that''s simply impossible. They can tell other Kingdoms about her, but it''ll take them days or even weeks for that to happen, and it''ll only be linked back to her and not the Elven Kingdom. Even if the other Kingdoms wanted to kill her, what could they do?

    Mira gave herself a quick wash in Leah''s shower and then waited in her room so she could report. She doesn''t really feel the need to gather an audience just to say she was finished with the task Leah gave her. In fact, she would be highly disappointed if they didn''t already know.

    Luckily, she didn''t have to wait much longer as soon after Mira sat down, Leah appeared in her room, not surprised by the fact that Mira was in there.

    She gave Mira a bright smile and said, "I see that you''ve alreadypleted the first request I gave you. Though I must say, you were much quicker than I thought you would be. I figured it take you at least a week or two, but who would''ve thought you would just show up on their doorstep and start killing everyone."

    Mira shrugged, "Well, what can I say? If there''s one thing I''m good at, it''s fighting and killing. You should know. I''m sure you can partially sense how many beings I''ve killed. I''ve heard Elves are really sensitive to that sort of thing."

    Leah nodded, but she didn''t lose her smile, "Yes, well, that''s part of the reason I find you so sexy~."

    Mira ignored that littlement and asked, "When will we deal with that Earth Dragon? I''d like to meet the World Tree as soon as possible."

    Leah pouted, seeing that she didn''t get the reaction she wanted, "We can go tomorrow. I still need to make a few preparations before we go a few rounds with a dragon. In the meantime, why don''t you and I go a few ''rounds'' tonight? I''m sure that''ll get us nice and warmed up for tomorrow''s battle."

    Mira was unperturbed by the sexy Elven Queen in front of her and said, "Last night was just a one-time thing. Don''t expect anymore unless there is a valid reason for me doing such a thing with you other than for pleasure."

    Leah pouted some more but didn''t say anything after that. In truth, Leah was just asking because she knew that after Mira met with the World Tree, they''d probably never see each other again. She wasn''t actually in the mood for sex right now. Most of her body was still sore fromst night! Wouldn''t she die if they were to go another round tonight?

    ***

    Time passed by quickly, and soon it was morning. Leah hadpleted her preparations for the battle with the Earth Dragon, and they left early in the morning so she could make it back in time to continue running her Kingdom.

    It only took them an hour to make it to the Earth Dragon''sir due to one of Leah''s flying artifacts.

    When they arrived at the spot where the Earth Dragon''sir wasst spotted, Mira immediately started conjuring and throwingrge chunks of ice at the mountain to get the Earth Dragon out of itsir.

    The two of them discussed thisst night, or really, it was just Mira telling Leah what to do after Leah gave her all of the information they had on the Earth-Dragon.

    It''s not that Leah couldn''te up with a strategy. It''s just that most of her strategies were much tooplex.

    Battles against other high-level beings are incredibly difficult to strategize and even more so when facing an enemy muchrger than yourself.

    There is mainly just one rule of thumb that should always be followed when facing an enemy muchrger than oneself; cripple its movement. Whether that be trying to force it to its knees, actually trying to remove its legs, or simply blocking off its paths.

    Then, the next one that should be followed is to attack its weak points. This one''s rather obvious and isn''t always necessary since bigger doesn''t always mean stronger.

    High-level fights are generally pretty chaotic, so other than that, all you can do is improvise, adapt, and ovee.

    At least that was the n, but when the Earth Dragon finally showed up at the surface, Mira pulled out her scythe, ran up to it, and quickly jammed it into the Earth Dragon''s eye. Then she used that opening to form a bunch of ice threads at the tip of her scythe and start slicing apart the inside of the Dragon''s head.

    The Earth Dragon didn''t even get a chance to scream in agony before its brain was turned to mush and was killed.

    Both Mira and Leah stood there in shock when they realized that the Earth Dragon was dead just like that, and they both started wondering if they had actually killed the right target.

    Maybe they killed one of its offspring?

    Mira collected its corpse and began throwingrge chunks of ice at the mountain to see if any more Earth Dragons surface, but it seems they killed the right one as no more Earth Dragons came up.

    Mira just shrugged her shoulders as fights like these often end in a simr fashion. Plus, that Earth Dragon seemed a bit too stupid and arrogant to not even bother defending itself when it surfaced.

    Did it expect her to talk to it or something before attacking? Or was the Earth Dragon just not used to fighting as who would dare to attack it?

    Mira didn''t know, nor did she care.

    She just left along with a slightly disappointed Leah and was ready to finally meet the World Tree and end this trial once and for all.

 Chapter 336 Item Trial: World Tree Seed Part 5

    On the way back, Leah kept trying to make sexual advances on Mira, but thetter wasn''t paying her any mind.

    Mira''s mind was in a totally different ce, thinking about how she could finally get this trial over with and start her breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm. She knew her power would rise exponentially once she broke through, and she had a feeling that this breakthrough would provide her with more benefits than she could possibly imagine.

    It wasn''t long before the two of them entered the Elven Kingdom, but Mira demanded that Leah take her to see the World Tree right away instead of resting.

    Leah could only reluctantly agree even though she wished for them to do�� other things.

    The two made their way through a part of the Elven Kingdom that only the Queen was allowed ess to.

    After nearly 30 minutes of walking, they appeared in front of arge wooden door, but there was something unique about this door. For one, to Mira, it only looked like a standard wooden door. However, her intuition told her that this door was anything but ordinary.

    For Leah, this door, although still wooden, had numerous intricate engravings. The engravings depicted scenes of Heaven, Hell, the Mortal World, and the World Tree itself.

    Mira didn''t know this, but this door would only appear if someone connected to the World Tree appeared next to it. In this case, Leah was the one connected to the World Tree, or at least she was given ess to visit it directly; therefore, Mira was able to see the door, albeit not in its true form.

    Luckily, Mira took the Guardian''s advice when she started this trial, or she would''ve had to find a different way to reach the World Tree or find a World Tree Seed, which is nearly impossible.

    However, unbeknownst to both of them, several other conditions must be met in order for this wooden door to appear. One of those conditions is that the one connected to the World Tree muste of their own free will.

    Mira watched as Leah pulled out a small dagger, cut her palm, and dripped a bit of her blood on the door.

    As soon as the blood fell, the surroundings went white, and before they could even process what was going on, they were already standing in apletely different ce.

    When Mira regained her sight, she was a bit surprised by what she saw. No, she didn''t see some abnormally huge tree or anything like that.

    Instead, she seemed to be in some sort of waiting room. She was sitting on a wooden chair, along with Leah, and in front of them stood a humanoid tree, about 3 meters tall.

    Then, Mira heard an androgynous and somewhat mechanical voicee out of the humanoid.

    "Wee, visitor from afar. It seems you havee in hopes of acquiring one of my seeds. I must say, that''s quite ambitious of you to covet one of my seeds. I''ll have you know that in my entire existence, ever since I became what you mortals call a World Tree, only a few have ever asked for one of my seeds. And do you know what I tell them when these impudent mortals ask for something of mine? Something beyond their understanding?" The humanoid tree leaned in as if trying to intimidate Mira, but thetter''s expression didn''t change as she silently waited for the being in front of her toplete its speech.

    "I told them�� ''Sure! As long as you are worthy enough to hold one of my seeds. One of my offspring.'' You see, me giving you a World Tree Seed is the equivalent of me saying that you are worthy of being the Master of a World Tree. Do you even know the importance of such a title and the responsibility thates with it? Being the Master of the one that upholds the Heavens and connects to the Underworld? The one that supports all known life in the Universe? DO YOU?!"

    At this point, Mira came to a sudden realization. She had entered a crossroads. With what this humanoid tree just said, she could determine that this is either a physical representation of the World Tree that she can easilyprehend and talk to or, at the very least, some sort of World Tree representative.

    From the moment it entered, it seemed to already know about her and what she wanted, meaning it''s been watching her ever since she entered this trial world. Then from its most recent words, it thinks that she intends to nt and grow herself a World Tree.

    However, although Mira didn''t know what the World Tree Seed is used for in the Core Formation Recipe, she knew that she wasn''t going to be growing it. There won''t be any ''Master-Servant'' rtionship when she uses it for her cultivation. It will just be hers.

    What responsibility? What title? What Heavens and Underworld? What about supporting all life in the Universe?

    She won''t have to deal with any of that shit!<sub> </sub>

    The most likely scenario is that the World Tree Seed''s power is used to catalyze the growth of certain body parts when she breaks through.

    Now, knowing this information, she has two choices. She can either say nothing and let this tree continue what it was saying, and then it''ll probably say some shit like she has to earn its acknowledgment. Or, she tells it that she has no ns of growing her own World Tree and that she is using it for other means.

    The first option is the safest but probably the longest route.

    The second option is the most dangerous because the chances of the World Tree getting angry that she ns to use the seed for anything other than growing are fairly high, seeing how intense its reaction was by just describing how incredible it is.

    She really wants to take a gamble with the second option, but the first option would pretty much guarantee shepleted the trial. Of course, she''d still have to work hard to achieve it, but she''s confident in her ability to ovee whatever this trial throws her.

    However, the problem with taking the first option is that she doesn''t know how much the time is dted or if it even is at all.

    For all she knows, she might only have around 66 days left both in the trial and outside of the trial. She might not have the time to spend years trying to prove herself in this trial! Although she doubts that there isn''t any sort of time dtion, that''s the problem with these trials. You don''t know!

    As soon as those thoughts entered her mind, she firmed her resolve and went with the second option!

    "Actually, I have no intention of growing a World Tree Seed if I were to obtain one." As soon as Mira said this, the ce went quiet.

    Both the humanoid tree and Leah went silent as they stared at Mira in disbelief.

    The humanoid tree felt the need to clear its ears as it couldn''t believe what it had just heard.

    "I''m sorry, what? Can you repeat that? Did you just say you don''t n on trying to grow a World Tree for yourself?" The humanoid tree asked in a severe tone, but it was also a bit amused by the sudden change of events.

    In its long life, this is the first time it''s ever encountered such a situation, and it also felt an emotion it hadn''t felt in a very, very long time: Curiosity.

    That''s right! Curiosity! The World Tree was actually curious as to why Mira wanted a World Tree seed but didn''t want to grow it.

    "That''s right! I don''t intend on growing it. I don''t want to be some Master of the Heavens or anything like that. Rather than creating and giving life, I''m far more suited to taking and destroying life. As for why I want the World Tree Seed. Well, I want to integrate it into my body, taking its power for myself so I can increase my strength and talent. And since I can''t have a real World Tree, I can only settle for the seed of one. If I can''t do it, then I''ll die trying, but I won''t settle for anything less than a World Tree Seed." Mira decided to be honest with the supposed World Tree. Well, it''s not like she can straight up lie right in the World Tree''s face. Even sprinkling a few lies with the truth would probably do her more harm than good.

    It''s also true that she would rather die than have some mediocre talent. Although she doesn''t have any grand ambitions like wanting to rule the Immortal Realm or the Heavens or anything like that, she does need to be incredibly strong to get her revenge.

    But more importantly, she doesn''t want to suffer eternal damnation at the hands of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, and not forming her Core with that Core Formation Recipe is pretty much asking for that!

    When Leah heard what Mira said, she was so flustered that she almost passed out on the spot! Not only did she have the guts to ask the World Tree for one of its seeds directly, but she also said something so sphemous, like wanting to integrate its power into her body to use for herself!

    ''So fucking hot!!!!'' Leah felt her body heating up, and the urge to pounce on Mira right here and now grew.

    "Interesting��"

 Chapter 337 [Bonus Chapter]Item Trial: World Tree Seed Part 6

    "How interesting. Now, answer me this, visitor from afar. Why do you think I would allow you to use one of my seeds to do such a thing? My question from before still stands as well. What makes you think you are WORTHY of doing such a thing?! What''s stopping me from killing you right this second for saying such words right to my face?!" The surrounding area began to quake as the humanoid tree questioned.

    ''Well, fuck��'' Mira cursed in her mind as it seemed she made a slight error in judgment.

    From her experience, all these old monsters, who have been alive for countless eons or maybe since the beginning of time, should be indifferent to anything that doesn''t directly affect them. Her wanting to use a World Tree Seed for herself should have no direct or indirect impact on the World Tree. It''s probably got plenty of seedsying around that will never be used.

    Mira assumed that she''d probably still have to go through some bullshit trial to earn the World Tree''s trust.

    She also thought that by going this route, she might end up making the World Tree mad because of herck of respect and brutal honesty, but Mira also felt like the World Tree wouldn''t outright kill her.

    It''d be like sending an Immortal on a mission to kill a small orphan mortal child with no background whatsoever.

    At worst, she figured the World Tree would just tell her to go away or not toe back until she gave the World Tree an answer it liked.

    However, it seems she misjudged the World Tree''s character and the importance it ces on its seeds. Or maybe it''s not the importance of the Seeds themselves that it cares about, but the possible repercussions it might face if one were to sprout.

    Now, the possibility of her failing this trial just rose exponentially! She doesn''t have a good answer to the question, "Are you worthy?". In fact, pretty much the entire reason she''s trying to get the World Tree Seed is to make her worthy! Worthy of being called the Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life! Worthy enough to be qualified for revenge!

    The way she is right now is definitely not worthy of receiving the World Tree Seed without having to put in the work��

    Wait! That''s it! The Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life! Although she doesn''t currently have the cultivation talent required to possess it, she is still its current Sessor! Her talent in Willpower and mentality is nearly unmatched against those with the same cultivation as her.

    If only she could tap into some of its power to prove her worth��

    That''s when Mira''s eyes lit up!

    ''The Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life!! It''s inside my body even in this trial world! That should be more than enough to prove that I''m more than worthy enough to receive a World Tree Seed!''

    Mira closed her eyes and quickly turned her attention to the orb that was surrounding her Dantian.

    Leah and the World Tree were a bit confused by her actions, but they both saw her eyes light up before closing with a serious expression on her face.

    ''Interesting. Is she going to bring something out in order to prove her worth? I wonder what it''ll be?'' The World Tree thought to itself.

    ''Damn! She looks so sexy with her serious face! I want to fuck her again!'' Leah still couldn''t get rid of her perverted thoughts��

    Soon enough, Mira grasped a wisp of the orb''s power, a power that contained part of the F.LD.I.L, and manifested it outside her body.

    Instantly, the surrounding light started getting absorbed, the wood around her began to wither, and both Leah and the humanoid tree felt their lifespans being slowly drained and consumed by whatever power Mira manifested.

    They both looked on in horror, but the humanoid tree''s expression was much more severe. Leah was just worried about how her lifespan was draining. It wasn''t at a very fast rate, but she could feel it.

    The World Tree felt the same thing Leah did, but it understood what this meant.

    It meant Mira, or whatever power was behind Mira, was capable of turning it, a World Tree that spans across Realms, into nothing more than firewood!

    Seeing the power Mira could disy, the World Tree made a split-second decision. It decided to just give Mira what she wants and not get involved in this mess any more than it already has.

    Arge fist-sized seed soon appeared in front of the humanoid tree before it tossed it into Mira''sp.

    "Okay! I get it! Put that thing away! Here''s your seed! Now, please, get out of my sight!" The humanoid tree waved its hand, and their vision went ck for an instant before they reappeared outside of the wooden door.

    Leah and Mira were so shocked by the sudden turn of events that they could barelyprehend what was happening. It wasn''t until Mira felt a weight in her hands that she finally returned to her senses.<sub> </sub>

    She turned to Leah, who was even more shocked her, and a trace of gentleness appeared in her eyes. Mira knew that in just a few seconds, she would disappear from this trial world, and this trial world would disappear along with her.

    However, Leah was the first person she''s ever had consensual sex with, and knowing that she would never see her again caused a few unfamiliar emotions to surface within her.

    While Leah was still recovering from her shock, Mira spoke up as she could feel herself being pulled out of this trial world.

    "May we meet again in a different Universe and in a different timeline, Leah. If somehow Ie across a version of you in my homeworld, I''ll be sure to approach you and say hi." A faint smile appeared on her face as she said that.

    Leah turned to look at Mira, shocked by what she said andpletely forgetting about the experience with the World Tree. She wanted to say something, but then she noticed that Mira''s existence was growing thinner and thinner.

    She didn''t know what to do, so she just followed her instincts. She ran up to Mira to embrace her onest time as she felt like she''d never get to hold Mira again if she didn''t, but when she made it to where Mira stood, instead of embracing a little human girl, all she grabbed was air.

    Tears immediately started falling as she and the world around her began crumbling until soon, nothing was left.

    ***

    Mira appeared back in her original body sitting on her throne with a fist-sized seed in herp, but instead of feeling good about ending the trial early, she felt somewhat empty.

    It was only now, after she lost it, that she realized that she quite liked being in thepany of the Elven Queen. Sure, their rtionship may have started as purely sexual, but their personalitiesplimented each other rather well.

    They hadn''t known each other for very long, but even in that short period of time, Mira felt the budding of a new friendship and possibly love.

    However, now it was gone. It was all gone. She would never see that person again because she technically didn''t exist in the first ce. Leah was just a creation made by the F.LD.I.L to serve a purpose. Now that her purpose has been fulfilled, she is no longer needed.

    Maybe Leah''s entire purpose was this. To have sex with her, get close to her, form a rtionship with her��

    Mira felt even more bitter, cold, and empty inside when these thoughts surfaced.

    ''Was the rtionship we had even real?''

    She didn''t know, and so she turned to the only person that could possibly answer her questions in these confusing times.

    "Hey, Guardian, are the trials that the F.LD.I.L creates even real? Is what I experience in them all set up in a way that the F.LD.I.L wants? Am I even in control of my own actions in these trials?" Mira asked, and soon after, the Guardian appeared right in front of Mira.

    "Hmmm�� I don''t know." The Guardian shrugged and said casually.

    Mira frowned and said in a slightly deeper voice, "What do you mean, you don''t know?"

    "I mean, I don''t know. It''s not like the Firmament tells me everything and gives me ess to everything. As I''ve said before, I''m just a Guardian. Your Guardian. I may know many things, but I certainly don''t know everything. However, if you want my best guess, I''d say that the trials aren''t real for the most part. There may be trials that take ce in a real world where you use your body, but I don''t know which trials those might be."

    "But! What I do know is that everything you experience and everything you choose to do in these trials is entirely up to you. The F.LD.I.L may set the stage for you, but other than that, it doesn''t interfere with anything else. Your only goal is toplete the trial. It doesn''t matter how you do so, but you should also keep in mind that every trial has a theme, and there will be ways toplete the trial that are better and more efficient than others," The Guardian exined.

    Mira didn''t need to hear anything else. There were many ways toplete thatst trial, but the theme was trust. Or, more specifically, trusting and relying on others.

    She wouldn''t have been able toplete thatst trial as fast as she did if she didn''t trust and rely on Leah to take her to see the World Tree.

    The World Tree also kept asking whether or not she was ''worthy'' of possessing a World Tree Seed, which in a way, is another form of trust. She has to prove that she''s trustworthy enough to obtain a World Tree Seed.

    Well, she would''ve had to do that if she didn''tpletely fuck up the trial by unleashing the powers of the orb.

    Now that she didn''t have to spend any more time doing trials or collecting materials, Mira decided to ask a few more questions about the F.LD.I.L and the orb that''s residing in her Dantian.

 Chapter 338 Out Of The F.LD.I.L

    "Alright, let''s forget about that for now. What can you tell me about the Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life? Because the World Tree in thest trial seemed pretty shaken up when a pulled a wisp of its power out of my body." Mira asked.

    The Guardian, however, just smiled and said, "Why would I tell you? Just get stronger, and you''ll eventually learn more."

    Mira frowned slightly but didn''t say anything else. She was going to continue asking a few more questions, but the smile on his face spoke louder than a thousand words.

    He wasn''t going to answer anything she asked.

    So, she decided to change the subject.

    "Whatever. Anyways, Ipleted the final trial and gathered up all of the materials for my breakthrough. I guess that means I finished thest trial before my two-year time limit was up since I can still remember the recipe. How much time do I have left until I''ve run out of time?" Mira asked.

    "You still have 65 days to break through to the Core Formation Realm, but you shouldn''t wait until thest day to breakthrough. Due to your unique Core Formation Recipe, it might take a bit longer to break through." The Guardian said.

    "Oh? How long do you think it''ll take me to break through?" Mira asked with a serious expression.

    "I''m not entirely sure. It could only take a few hours, or it could take up to a few weeks. This will be the first time I witness such a unique mortal breakthrough, so there''s not much for me to say, but I doubt it''llst longer than a month. It''s still the Core Formation Realm, after all." The Guardian said after giving it a few seconds of thought.

    Mira nodded her head and figured she should start her breakthrough soon, but before doing so, she has some things to take care of, one of those being her chaotic mental state.

    She''s gone through a lot over thest year or so, and she''s had barely any time to deal with all of the changes that have happened to her.

    However, Mira has no idea how to deal with it. She''s not used to so many emotions guing her mind.

    She had a feeling that if she were to try dealing with it by herself, she''d just fuck herself up again.

    ''Maria��''

    She still remembered the light kiss on the cheek Maria gave her when theyst saw each other. Just that little peck on her cheek made her feel all tingly inside in a way sex with Leah never could.

    Mira smiled just thinking about that sensation and thought, ''Maybe I can ask Maria to help me with this shit. She should know a thing or two about emotions considering she disys just about every single one of them on a daily basis.''

    Mira got up from her throne as it was now time to leave the F.LD.I.L. She''s been in here for almost a year, all so she could gather thest four items she needed to break through.

    Thinking about it like that, it sounds a bit sad, but at the same time, amazing. Sad, because it took her a year just to acquire four items, but amazing because the items she got are all Heaven-defying treasures that most people may never get a chance to even look at in their entire lives.

    With a thought, Mira''s body left the F.LD.I.L and appeared in the cave that she chose back when she first started the trials.

    When she appeared in the cave, she startled Elenei and Rhydian, who were just sleep-ahem-meditating, but when they sensed that it was Mira, they calmed down.

    "I''m back," Mira said with a slight smile, but this smile caused both Elenei and Rhydian to shiver, and they both had the same thought:

    ''What the fuck is wrong with Mira?!''

    The two of them have barely ever seen Mira smile, and if she does, she usually has a mask on so nobody around her can see it.

    Even then, if she smiles, it''s usually out of disdain, amusement, or some strange sadistic pleasure she gets from torturing or killing her enemies.

    However, when was thest time they saw a genuine smile on Mira''s face? Not oneced with malice?

    NEVER!!

    They''ve never seen something like that from Mira! She always just looks at them like some piece of meat!

    Now, however, she''s looking at them like twopanions! Like two living beings that have thoughts and feelings!<sub> </sub>

    What the fuck?!?!

    Mira ignored their shocked expressions and said casually, "Alright, I need 1 liter of blood from each of you."

    ''Dammit! We were tricked!!''

    That thought ran through their minds as soon as Mira''s words resounded in their ears.

    Mira didn''t wait for an answer. She took out her scythe, made a ''small'' incision on Rhydian''s body, and started draining her blood into a jug.

    *YELP*

    Rhydian yelped in pain, but when Mira started stroking her head and ears, a shiver ran down Rhydian''s spine, and a conflicted feeling between pain and pleasure coursed through her body.

    Just a minuteter, Mira had drained a full Liter of Rhydian''s blood and allowed the wolf to patch up the incision.

    Mira put the blood in her Storage Space, and when she looked at Elenei, she found that Elenei had already extracted a liter of blood and ced it in a jar in front of her.

    Mira nodded, happy that she didn''t have to repeat herself or try and coax Elenei to give her some of her blood.

    Mira stored Elenei''s blood in her Storage Space as well, then turned to look at the two of them.

    "I''m going to break through into the Core Formation Realm soon, but first, I need to adjust my mental state to its peak condition. So, don''t allow anyone to disturb me during this time. Oh, and Elenei, you can start undergoing your Nirvana after my breakthrough. Now that Rhydian is awake, I won''t be needing you as a flying mount for the time being. It''s also probably a good thing you didn''t start it earlier as you may receive some unexpected benefits after I obtained that inheritance," Mira exined.

    Elenei grew excited upon hearing Mira''s words! It''s been about two years since they exited the Secret Realm. It''s been longer than that since she first made the contract with Mira!

    She''s been waiting all this time for this moment, and finally, FINALLY, it''s about toe! Her time to evolve! To sublimate and merge her bloodlines! To undergo Nirvana using two unique elements and Daos!

    She''ll finally be able to progress in her cultivation! She''ll finally be able to reunite with her parents after she bes an Immortal Phoenix! Her life''s mission. Her parent''s life mission! All will be fulfilled soon enough!

    On top of that, Mira even said she might receive an unexpected benefit now that she''s obtained some rare inheritance! Although Mira might be acting a little weird now, Elenei knows she can trust her words.

    "Don''t worry, Mira! During this time, until your breakthrough, nobody will disturb you! I swear it!" Elenei solemnly said, and she meant every word.

    She would not allow anyone, not even Rhydian, to disturb Mira during this time!

    Elenei turned her head towards Rhydian and gave her a deep look.

    Rhydian didn''t quite understand what was going on, but seeing the look Elenei was giving her, she decided to go back to sleep.

    Mira nodded, found a good ce to sit down, and then closed her eyes to begin her meditation. However, she''d soon find out that trying to control these newfound emotions is much harder than she initially thought.

    ***

    The Guardian watched on as Mira entered a deep state of meditation and gently shook his head.

    "Sigh�� It seems like even venting some of her pent-up frustrations during sex didn''t help her emotional state much. All it did was make her more confused and unstable than she already was. Well, at least she''s not nearly as angry as she was before. Hopefully, she can deal with this shit soon, or who knows what sort of situation we''ll have on our hands. It''s all up to you now, Maria! You need to stabilize this chaotic girlfriend of yours before she starts doing stuff that she regrets! I''ll leave her in your hands. Well, that is if she is able to break through sessfully."

    "Sigh�� Be careful, Mira. This breakthrough will be unlike what anyone breaking through to the Core Formation Realm has ever experienced. Your mental state is more important during this breakthrough than you might think. Please try to stabilize your condition before trying to break through, as your chances of surviving will skyrocket if you were to do so. Well, whatever. If something really does go wrong, then I''ll intervene, but things might get annoying if I do, so please don''t be a dumbass!"

    The Guardian spoke to himself as he watched Mira with rapt attention.

 Chapter 339 Breaking Through To The Core Formation Realm Part 1

    After almost a month of mediation, Mira finally opened her eyes. Her once muddle-headed mind was now as clear as day. All those emotions guing her before have now sessfully been pushed to the recess of her mind.

    Unfortunately, there wasn''t any other choice than to do that. Mira would''ve very much liked to deal with all this shit right now before breaking through, but she felt like her state of mind might not be in the right ce once she began her ''self-help bullshit''.

    Anyways, after nearly a month of meditation, Mira finally cleared her mind enough, so she only thought of one thing: breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.

    She looked at her two Beast Companions and said, "I''m ready to break into the Core Formation Realm now. You two should exit the cave and as I said before, make sure nothing disturbs me! My breakthrough will be somewhat unique, and I''ll need to use all my concentration during this process."

    Elenei and Rhydian nodded before exiting the cave, leaving Mira alone.

    Mira sat down and started bringing out all the items necessary to form her Core. She then rearranged them in the order in which they''ll be used.

    This caused the items to be separated into three different groups.

    1. Foundational

    2. Supplementary

    3. Tertiary

    ording to the Recipe, the Foundational items are exactly that; they directly affect Mira''s Foundation along with her future strength, talent, and cultivation.

    Supplementary items are used to help Mira breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm along with adding a few extra benefits, but they won''t directly affect Mira''s strength, talent, and cultivation.

    Tertiary items are items that neither directly nor indirectly affect Mira''s Qi cultivation but will still be used to increase her overall strength.

    In truth, the Tertiary items aren''t needed for Mira to break through and form her Core. Still, they are included in the Recipe because not only will Mira benefit from integrating these items into her body, but they will make Mira''s future life much easier.

    Mira also won''t get a chance like this again. A chance to seamlessly integrate items into her body that would otherwise take months or even years to do so.

    Now that she has all the itemsid out, Mira can begin the process of breaking through, which is oddly simple despite all the items she''s using.

    All she has to do now is control every ounce of Qi in her body and move it into the Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life to begin her breakthrough.

    However, the Recipe stressed that she must bring out everyst drop of Qi! If she doesn''t, then it may affect her foundation! Even the tiniest bit of Qi left in her body is more than enough to cause her Foundation to destabilize!

    Although Mira didn''t know how having such a minuscule amount of Qi left in her body after she began her breakthrough would ruin her Foundation, she wasn''t about to test it out.

    If the Recipe said it would, then it would.

    So, Mira began to control the Qi in her body and carefully transfer it into the Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life.<sub> </sub>

    This actually took much longer than Mira thought it would have because after she transferred all of her Qi into the Orb, she kept inspecting her body for any bit of Qi she may have forgotten about or hadn''t noticed.

    She took the Recipe''s warning very seriously, and thankfully, she did because there were a few ces where her Qi resided that she would never have thought to check.

    One of those ces is her brain. Yes, Mira never realized that her brain actually contained bits of Qi mainly because she never actively umted Qi there.

    The amount of Qi in her brain was also negligiblepared to the rest of her body, so it was easy to miss if you weren''t explicitly looking for it.

    Mira wanted to think about the reason why Qi was in her brain without her knowing but now wasn''t the time, so she could only push these thoughts to the back of her mind and continue her breakthrough.

    It wasn''t until an entire dayter did Mira finally felt confident that she had extracted every bit of Qi in her body and transferred it to the Orb. Strangely enough, during this entire process, Mira''s body hadn''t passively absorbed any more Qi to replenish her reserves. It was almost like something was preventing her body from doing so.

    She just assumed this was the Orb''s doing and moved on to the next step of her breakthrough!

    Now, it was time for her to integrate the Qi she had just transferred into the Orb and effectively merge the two of them together.

    Currently, the Orb, although it is technically hers and has been residing in her body for the past two years, isn''t actually a part of her. It was just sitting around her Dantian because she is the Sessor of the F.LD.I.L.

    By merging her Qi with the Orb, she is effectively making it a part of her. Well, only partially for now. She''ll have toplete this breakthrough for it actually to be a part of her body.

    However, by merging her Qi with the Orb, she effectively makes it a Pseudo-Dantian that she can bring outside her body, using it to refine the items she''s ced around her.

    There''s also another reason for doing those, which is also the main reason for her needing to merge her Qi with the Orb.

    Her Qi is what will be used to refine the items into something that will directly affect her Foundation, Talent, Strength, Comprehension, etc. If her Qi isn''t what''s being used to refine them, then there will be a sense of incongruence after she finishes the breakthrough and the Orb bes a part of her body.

    That will, in turn, affect her Foundation and may even severely limit her growth. She may not face too many issues because of this while still in the Mortal Realm, but once she ascends, she''ll most definitely face problems in her Cultivation that will be nearly impossible to fix or just outright impossible.

    It has to be known that Foundation is everything in the Cultivation World. Gods, Immortals, Demons, Beasts, Humans, and every other race that wants to cultivate, have to worry about their foundation.

    Having a strong foundation is even more important than talent in the Cultivation World, or it could even be said that having a sturdy foundation is what makes someone talented.

    That''s why these beginning steps of Mira''s breakthrough are so important and why she''s in no hurry toplete her breakthrough right now; because these steps serve as the Foundation for the rest of her breakthrough, and just the slightest mishap could affect her future.

    With that said, Mira spent another entire day fully merging her Qi with the Orb, making sure that there wasn''t one spot that had more Qi than the others and that there were no mishaps.

    Mira didn''t actually need to go that far and could''ve finished this step in a few minutes to a few hours if she just let the Orb do most of the work, but she didn''t know that the Orb would actually take control over the situation. Even if she did, she probably would have done it herself to ensure nothing went wrong.

    Now, afterpleting that step, Mira can move on to what makes this breakthrough so unique.

 Chapter 340 Breaking Through To The Core Formation Realm Part 2

    The next part of Mira''s breakthrough is rtively simple. All she has to do is toss the Foundational items into the Orb,mand the Orb to refine the items, and integrate them into itself and Mira''s Qi.

    Then, she just needs to repeat this process with the Supplementary and Tertiary items, and she''ll be on thest step of her breakthrough.

    So, that''s what Mira did. She immediately began tossing the Foundational items into the Orb.

    This includes the [Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice],

    [1 Liter Frost-Fire Phoenix Blood],

    [1 Liter Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood],

    [Dao Comprehension Stone],

    [1,000-year-old 7-Colored Lotus],

    [Peak-Earth Grade Qi Gathering Array],

    [A jar of liquid metal],

    [World Tree Seed],

    [High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source],

    [Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence],

    [Chaotic Silk],

    p And [1,000-year-old Heavenly Yin Flower].</anda>

    When all of these items entered the Orb, Miramanded it to begin the refining process. When Mira gave the order, the Qi stored inside the Orb started refining the items inside.

    This process went rtively smoothly as the Orb worked like a furnace and used Mira''s Qi as its fire to turn the items inside into energy.

    Looking at the various forms of energy swirling about in the Orb, one might think that the items had effectively been destroyed and became useless, but that couldn''t be farther from the truth.

    The Orb merely turned these into a form Mira could easily devour and integrate into herself. All of their original properties and abilities were still there; they had just taken on a different form.

    After the Orb refined the Foundational items, it stored this energy inside its shell. This energy will be used once Mira enters her breakthrough''sst phase.

    Mira moved onto the Supplementary and Tertiary items, and unknowingly a few more days passed.

    Now, the Orb has threeyers of energy stored in its shell, just waiting to be used, and Mira could finally move onto thest stage of her breakthrough.

    However, before doing so, Mira felt a sudden danger flood her instincts. It was a strange feeling. She knew that there wasn''t an enemy nearby as Elenei and Rhydian were more than enough to handle anything that might want to attack her.

    It just felt like if she continued with her breakthrough, something bad would happen, almost like the threat of death was looming over her.

    That''s when the Guardian''s voice entered her mind.

    "You aren''t wrong. The threat of death is looming over you. Literally. Once you begin thest phase of your breakthrough, the Heavens will finally be able to take notice of your presence and what you''re trying to do. You see, that Orb you''re using and the amount of strength and talent you''ll gain from this breakthrough aren''t supposed to be possible. By continuing your breakthrough, you are quite literally defying Heaven''s will. Naturally, doing such a thing will earn Heaven''s punishment, so you can look forward to going through a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion."

    Mira''s never heard of such a ''Heavenly Punishment Tribtion'' before, so she decided to ask the Guardian before she''s forced to go through it.

    He said, "Well, a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion is just like a normal Heavenly Tribtion except much stronger, and it''s actually trying to kill you rather than testing whether or not you''re worthy enough to breakthrough. Anyways, enough worrying. Just keep breaking through like you were doing, fight off the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion, andplete your breakthrough! Easy peasy!"

    Mira''s face darkened when she heard the Guardian talking like it was no big deal! She''s definitely not strong enough to face the Heavens head-on! If she went through a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion now, she''d be turned into ash on the first lightning strike!"

    "What ''easy peasy''? Fuck you! I''m clearly going to get one shot by this damn tribtion! Do you have any tips so I can somehow live through this shit?!" Mira cursed and hoped he had a solution, but she was once again left disappointed by his answer.

    "Tips? Hmmm�� I think you should use your scythe and Ice Dao to fight it. Your Yin Lightning might be useful as well. Okay, now enough talking! Hurry up and breakthrough!" The Guardian said before going silent.<sub> </sub>

    "No shit, dumbass!! Ugh!! Whatever! Let''s just get this shit over with!" Mira eximed before moving on to thest stage of her breakthrough.

    Mira looked at the deep ck Orb in front of her and mentallymanded it to enter her body. The Orb did exactly as Mira said and moved back to where it was before she started breaking through, around her Dantian.

    Now, ording to the recipe, all Mira has to do now is merge the Orb with her Dantian, and the breakthrough will be finished��

    Well, not quite finished, but all that''s left after that is to let her new Core distribute the energies it''s contained inside its shell to the rest of her body and let the breakthrough happen naturally.

    Without any hesitation, Mira began the merging process, which actually didn''t take much longer than a few minutes as the Orb was designed to merge with her body without any problems.

    However, just when the merging waspleted, the distribution of energies never came. It was like the Heavens prevented them from doing so.

    Then, all of a sudden, Mira heard a deep rumbling noise above her. She quickly dashed out of the cave as her intuition told her that it would be better for her to do so. She looked up to see the sky turning darker and clouds forming above her head.

    Elenei and Rhydian came running back to Mira to see what was going on and if she had sessfullypleted her breakthrough.

    However, upon seeing Mira, Elenei knew that she still hadn''t reached the Core Formation Realm, but she could tell that Mira was on the cusp. She looked up at the sky, and her instincts told her that Mira''s breakthrough and the rumbling in the sky had something to do with each other.

    ''It''s as if she''s called forth a Heavenly Tribtion, but why does this one seem much more dangerous than a normal Heavenly Tribiton?'' Elenei wondered so she decided to ask Mira.

    "What''s going on, Mira?" Elenei asked.

    "It seems like the Heavens are mad at me and are sending a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion my way," Mira answered as she prepared to take on this Tribtion.

    "WHAT?! HOW?!" Elenei yelled in panic, but Mira just shrugged her shoulders.

    "Apparently, it doesn''t like the method I''m using to breakthrough. Or maybe because my talent will be too high once I form my Core. Well, the items I used to create my Core weren''t ordinary either, so maybe it''s punishing me for using those. I don''t really know why. All I know is I made the Heavens angry, and now they want to kill me." Mira answered as she readied her scythe, her eyes never leaving the clouds above her.

    She also had flickers of Yin Lightning surrounding her and a full suit of ice armor on. Mira decided not to focus so much on offense during this fight as there''s no way she can possibly kill the Heavens.

    Her only goal right now is to survive.

    Fortunately, she is much stronger than your average Foundation Realm expert and can even defeat Core Formation Realm experts. So, her chances of surviving this Heavenly Punishment Tribtion should be higher than ordinary people''s chances.

    However, those thoughts didn''t make Mira feel any better because normal Foundation Realm Cultivators wouldn''t be in such a situation!

    Mira kept staring at the sky and watched as more clouds gathered overhead and blood-red lightning shot through the clouds.

    As time passed, Mira''s danger sense only increased, and her instincts told her to run! But she knew that there was nowhere to run or hide. This Heavenly Punishment Tribtion would follow her anywhere she wanted to go.

    Mira took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and as soon as she steeled her resolve, the clouds above her finished gathering and prepared tounch their first lightning strike at her.

    Mira''s gaze hardened while her hands gripped her scythe so hard that her knuckles turned white.

    The blood-red lightning gathered into a singr point, and then without warning��

    *BOOOM

    ��The first bolt came crashing down onto Mira!

    Mira barely had any time to react and attempted to swing her scythe in hopes of blocking the strike, but unfortunately, she was just a bit too slow, and the bolt of lightning fell on her body without any obstruction.

    Almost instantly, her ice armor was reduced to nothing, her skin charred, and her internal organs started burning. The only thing that may have saved her was her Yin Lightning, which took on the damage''s brunt.

    However, that didn''tst long as Mira even felt the blood-red lightning enter her soul in an attempt to kill her!

    Seeing that her Yin Lightning is her only saving grace right now, she channeled all of her energy and concentration into forming the most potent form of Yin Lightning she could create to stop the blood-red lightning from ravaging her existence!

 Chapter 341 Breaking Through To The Core Formation Realm Part 3

    Although Mira''s Yin Lightning was able to keep the Heavenly Punishment Lightning frompletely destroying her body, that''s all it could do.

    However, that was more than enough for Mira. As long as she lived, nothing else mattered.

    As Mira struggled to contain the rampant lightning inside her body, the clouds above her suddenly rumbled again!

    *RUMBLE*

    Mira panicked a bit, seeing the ck clouds above her charging up another shot. Her mind started working in overdrive as she tried toe up with a way that could save her life!

    While subconsciously knowing she didn''t have much time left before the next strike fell, Mira''s body began moving on its own.

    She created another suit of ice armor, except this time sheyered it with more Yin Lightning than before. Although the ice armor wasn''t too effective, it still prevented the lightning from reaching her body for a fraction of a second. Now, with more Yin Lightning covering her, it might take the Heavenly Punishment Lightning a quarter of a second to reach her instead. Hopefully, the effects will also be diminished once the lightning reaches her.

    However, that wasn''t all Mira did. She also spread out ayer of ice on the ground and covered it with some of her Yin Magma.

    Mira knew that although magma isn''t exactly a great counter to lightning, her Yin Magma isn''t ordinary.

    It might not be able to counter such powerful lightning, but it should be able to distract it or cause some of the damage to spread out instead of focusing solely on her.

    Lastly, Mira began twirling her scythe, trying to build up some momentum. She had no intention of actually taking the Heavenly Punishment Lightning head-on with her scythe. Instead, she would toss it up in the air, hoping it would take the brunt of the damage.

    All of this barely took a few seconds until the next charge of the Heavenly Punishment Lightning was ready to be sent down.

    Feeling like death itself was about to im her life, Mira didn''t hesitate to throw her scythe up in the air.

    *RUMBLE**BOOM*

    As soon as Mira threw her scythe up in the air, blood-red lightning fell from the sky, immediately striking her scythe��

    *BOOM!*

    ��causing her scythe to reverse its momentum as it shot towards the ground with intense power!

    *BOOOOM!!*

    When Mira''s scythe hit the ground, it caused the surrounding earth to shake and a small crater to form nearby Mira.

    However, her scythe wasn''t nearly enough to stop the lightning as it came crashing down on Mira!

    When it eventually reached her, just like she spected, the Heavenly Punishment Lightning took slightly longer than a fraction of a second to break past her defenses and reach her, but a lot happened during that time.

    As the Heavenly Punishment Lightning hit her Yin Lightning, it immediately spread to the rest of her body, slightly lessening the effects, before her Yin Lightning shield burst like a bubble.

    Then, as the lightning passed through and touched her ice armor, the effects of the Heavenly Punishment Lightning actually scattered to theyer of ice she created on the ground.

    As the lightning passed through and destroyed thatyer of ice and reached Mira''s Yin Magma, the Heavenly Punishment Lightning actually became attracted to it and started funneling into the Yin Magma.

    Unfortunately, this didn''tst long as the lightning was too strong and quickly vaporized the Yin Magma, but that still caused enough of the Lightning to disperse into the earth below Mira that she could take the rest of the damage head-on without immediately turning to ash!

    Luckily, Mira''s preparations worked as she actually faced less damage from the second bolt than the first bolt!

    Though that certainly doesn''t mean Mira came out unscathed. Just from that second bolt alone, many of her internal organs were damaged, her skin was peeling off, her muscles were torn, and her bones cracked.

    Needless to say, she was in horrible condition. Yet, despite that, she didn''t let out a grunt of pain orin. This kind of pain is nothing to her!

    "Seven more strikes��"

    Mira heard a familiar voice appear in her mind, causing her calm expression to break.

    "Fuck!"

    Mira immediately started making preparations for the next strike, and seeing how sessful she wasst time, she decided to stick with that except for making a few minor changes.<sub> </sub>

    Although her ice powers weren''t working too well in this situation, that doesn''t mean they can''t be useful.

    If she were tobine her ice, Yin Lightning, and Yin Magma into a bunch of little balls instead of just creating one giantyer for each of them, theny out those balls a meter away from each other, she might be able to reduce the Heavenly Punishment Lightning''s effects even more by the time it reaches her!

    Of course, this was all just theory based on the effects of thest two strikes. She could bepletely wrong and end up dying instantly!

    After Mira was done creating these balls, she quickly retrieved her scythe and turned it into one giant ball of ice, Yin Lightning and Yin Magma.

    She felt her scythe was the perfect lightning rod to attract the Heavenly Punishment Lightning, and due to the effects of the various elements surrounding it, it should definitely be able to diminish some of the lightning''s power.

    *RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!*

    Mira heard the dark clouds above her rumbling and knew that more blood-red lightning was about to rain down on her!

    So, without hesitation, she threw her scythe and the balls up in the air just before the lightning fell!

    "BOOM!!*

    The Heavenly Punishment Lightning fell from the sky and was immediately attracted to the giant ball of powers containing Mira''s scythe.

    Almost instantly, the ball was destroyed, and the scythe was thrown to the ground, but Mira could tell that the power contained within the lightning had diminished slightly, although not as much as she would''ve liked.

    Then, the lightning ping-ponged between the balls of power floating in the sky, disintegrating them almost immediately before making its way toward her.

    However, this time, Mira felt like she could finally fight back against the tribtion. So, instead of just taking the lightning and letting it rampage throughout her body, she concentrated a dense ball of ice, Yin lightning, and Yin Magma in her fist and punched out with all her might!

    *BOOOOOOOOM!!!*

    The surrounding earth and space quaked as Mira''s fist met the blood-red lightning!

    Neither side came out unscathed, as Mira''s right arm was essentially destroyed. It was still attached to her body, but all of the muscles, bones, tendons, and skin were basically just mush at this point.

    However, with that punch, the damage that the rest of Mira''s body faced was almost nonexistent, causing Mira to release a faint smile.

    After surviving thatst strike, she knows what she must do to survive this Tribtion.

    *RUMBLE!*

    Mira didn''t need to look up to know that the next strike was about toe, so she quickly repeated what she didst time with the balls, but she switched it up a bit to make it more efficient.

    Instead of just tossing them up into the air like an idiot, she lined them up with the ball her scythe was in high up in the sky, and the rest of the balls sat still in a vertical line until thest one touched the ground, where she made a small pool of Yin Magma and Yin Lightning that rooted itself inside the earth below her.

    This way, more of the Lightning''s energy would diffuse before it even touched her!

    *BOOOOOMMM!*

    The lightning fell from the sky, struck the balls, and destroyed them one by one until the lightning reached the small pool of Mira''s powers, diffused into the ground, and then struck Mira!

    However, this time, Mira didn''t attack and only defended herself!

    Luckily, the power of the Lightning wasn''t nearly enough to incinerate Mira after diminishing so much beforehand. Mira was also able to find a way to somewhat evenly spread the damage over her entire body, so it wasn''t just her internal organs getting fried.

    This made it seem like Mira was taking less damage than she actually was because the damage was spread throughout her entire body rather than just a singr area or a few areas.

    Mira did the same thing with the next lightning strike seeing how well this one turned out, but even after doing so much to prevent the Heavenly Punishment Lightning from instantly killing her, she still ended up on death''s door by the end of the fifth lightning strike!

    There are only four strikes left, and from the look of things, Mira would be lucky to survive the next lightning strike, but she would for sure die on the seventh strike!

    However, now, it was time to put Mira''s n into action! A n that will determine whether she survives this Tribtion or not!

 Chapter 342 Breaking Through To The Core Formation Realm Part 4

    Facing her imminent demise against the sixth strike, Mira let out a maniacal grin thinking about the n she devised to survive. Her n was insane, no, downright fucking madness! However, because the Heavens were dead set on killing her, she didn''t have much of a choice but to go with this suicidal option.

    Mira went with the same setup she used on the fourth strike to diffuse some of the lightning''s power as it''s falling from the sky.

    She created a bunch of balls filled with her power along with cing a small pool of Yin Magma and Yin Lightning below her to help absorb some of the lightning''s power.

    However, this time, she coated her left arm in ice and Yin Lightning, Magma, and Fire.

    *RUMBLE!!!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!*

    The lightning quickly passed through the orbs, destroying them. Then, just as it was about to strike the small pool below her, Mira threw out a full-powered punch.

    After the Heavenly Punishment Lightning destroyed the small pool below her and discharged part of its power into the Earth, it charged at Mira!

    Luckily, Mira threw her punch early, or else she never would''ve gotten the opportunity to attack.

    Suddenly, Mira''s fist and the lightning collided��

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!*

    And an enormous shockwave was created due to their collision, causing the earth beneath Mira to sink by a few meters.

    Mira felt her skin disintegrating, her muscles tearing, and her bones cracking. Her blood didn''t even get a chance to spill as it evaporated as soon as it made contact with the blood-red lightning that ravaged her arm.

    Luckily, Mira was able to contain the damage to only her right arm due to the use of her unique elements, but after the lightning''s energy had finished destroying her arm, there wasn''t much left.

    All that was left of her arm was a ck char that looked like it might blow away with the wind any moment now.

    The damage to her left arm was clearly much worse than the damage to her right arm, a sign that the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion is getting stronger with every strike, but Mira was d that she didn''t allow her body to take the lightning head-on.

    The power contained within thatst strike was more than enough to fry her brain, damage her soul, and stop her heart if she allowed the rest of her body to take the brunt of the damage.

    Even if, by some miracle, she managed to survive, she would be nothing more than a vegetable waiting to be cut down by the next strike!

    For that reason, Mira decided that if she wanted to survive this Tribtion, she had to sacrifice her limbs!

    However, doing that leaves Mira with a slight problem.

    What about thest strike? How will she handle that?

    Naturally, Mira had a n for that��

    *RUMBLE!!!*

    Anyways, now wasn''t the time to think about the future! She has to focus on surviving this next lightning strike!

    Not being able to use her arms puts her at a severe disadvantage, and although she was a bit worried about this next lightning strike, she was confident in her ability to survive it as long as she didn''t screw up.

    Unfortunately, without her arms, Mira couldn''t pick up her scythe and toss it in the air, so instead, she tied it to her right leg with a few ice threads and coated her leg and the scythe in all of her powers. However, the scythe is obviously a bit too big to be attached only to her leg, so she used her ice to extend her left leg so she could stand properly.

    Then she just repeated what she did with the previous strike, and with that, she was ready!

    *BOOOOOM!!!*

    The lightning followed the same pattern as before, and as soon as Mira saw the lightning reach the small pool of Yin Magma and Yin Lightning below her, she used the leg attached to the scythe tounch her most powerful kick!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

    The shockwave created this time by their collision was much bigger and more devastating thanst time.

    Everything within a 30-meter radius was turned to dust, and a fiver meter-deep crater was formed underneath Mira.

    Instantly, Mira''s legpletely disappeared. There weren''t even any ashes as those were burnt and destroyed along with her leg.

    The lightning started spreading to the rest of her body, but fortunately, it could only fry her stomach and some of her intestines.

    *RUMBLE!*<sub> </sub>

    Left with only one appendage remaining, her left leg, Mira''s expression turned even crazier.

    She didn''t even bother wasting her concentration and powers on any more orbs and instead used it to attach her scythe to her remaining leg, then coated her leg and scythe in the leftover power she saved up for this next lightning strike.

    Finally, in a desperate attempt to build up as much power as she could, Mira used her ice tounch her high up in the air, and as she was falling, she began spinning.

    She curled her body up to spin faster and generate more power.

    Mira had no idea if this was even working or not, but even if it only reduced the lightning''s power by 1%, that was enough.

    Who knows, maybe that 1% would be enough to save her life so she can face thest strike.

    As long as she can make it to thest strike��

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!*

    A cataclysmic sound came from the clouds above her. The space around her shook, and the Earth rumbled. The surrounding Kilometers were dyed red as the lightning fell from the dark clouds above, and Mira felt it��

    She felt her death approaching.

    As Mira was spiraling downwards, the lightning became attracted to herst remaining leg, and instantly, the two opposing forces met.

    There wasn''t even an explosion when her leg met the lightning. Mira just felt her leg turn to dust, then everything from the waist down was disintegrated, but the lightning didn''t stop there.

    It began wreaking havoc on the rest of her body. All her internal organs were reduced to ash, her skin had turned ck, and the bones ground to dust.

    However, surprisingly, her Dantian was fine, and her meridians weren''tpletely destroyed, though they were anything but fine. Only the meridians surrounding her Dantian were rtively fine. The rest were burnt to a crisp, but even after they were damaged to such an extent, they didn''t disappear.

    Although they were nearly impossible to see, if one were strong enough, they''d notice microscopic lines were dangling where Mira''s arms and legs are supposed to be.

    The blood-red lightning wanted nothing more than to destroy thempletely, but seeing that it was unable to, it turned to the rest of her body, or more specifically, her soul.

    It didn''t have quite enough power topletely kill her off after it entered her body and started dismantling her. So, instead, it decided to focus on the next best thing: damaging her soul.

    Immediately, the lightning entered Mira''s soul and started ripping it to shreds. Mira wanted to scream but didn''t have any vocal cords left.

    Although she''s gone through simr pain before, Mira doesn''t think she''ll ever get used to the feeling of having her soul ripped apart.

    Once the lightning ran out of power, it soon fizzled out of existence, but by the time it was done, Mira was already in a semiatose state.

    However, her willpower wasn''t tempered in the F.LD.I.L for nothing. Thanks to those long years spent in the item trials and the torturous pain she had to go through to be its Sessor, with her willpower alone, Mira could keep her body and mind conscious.

    Although she could barely sense anything around her and was quickly dying, Mira could still keep her body and mind frompletely copsing.

    Subconsciously knowing that she had reached her goal, Mira''s body released a small smile, or she would have if her entire body weren''t charred.

    Due to Mira''s immense desire to stay alive, thest of Mira''s consciousness released and covered herself in every bit of Dao Comprehension she could muster.

    Layers uponyers of ice and Yin Fire, Magma, and Lightning were stacked on top of her, protecting her.

    She wasn''t using these powers very efficiently, but Mira couldn''t care about that right now. She just wanted to unleash every ounce of power her mind and body could muster before thest lightning strike of the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion fell.

    *RUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEE*

    The dark clouds above Mira began condensing as it built up all of its remaining power for thest strike.

    Soon, the dark clouds that once covered tens or even hundreds of kilometers had now condensed into a singr point. At least, that''s what it looks like from the ground.

    <o>,m Once they were finished condensing, the dark clouds started turning blood-red, and lightning began loudly crackling.</o>

    *BOOOOOM**BOOOOOM**BOOOOOM**BOOOOOM**BOOOOOM*

    Just the sound of the lightning crackling was more than enough to disrupt the surrounding space, sending shockwaves across thend and sky.

    Then suddenly, the world shed, and the sky turned red��

 Chapter 343 Rebirth And Core Formation Realm!

    Mira didn''t even stand a chance against such a powerful strike. No, to be more urate, there were probably only a handful of people in the entire Mortal Cultivation World that could survive the final strike of the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion.

    That''s the terror of Heavenly Tribtions, especially a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion.

    The entire reason for there being a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion is to kill those who are attempting to break ''Heaven''s Rules''. Although the Heavens have to y by their own rules as well, many of those rules no longer apply once the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion is activated.

    Not only that, but the Heavens aren''t dumb. Although the Heavens don''t exactly have emotions, they are able to sense how dangerous and troublesome someone is.

    Take Mira, for example. Even though her luck is abysmally low, she''s still been able to survive up until this point due to her own intelligence, strength, mentality, and starting ce. Such a person should have long since died.

    However, against all odds, Mira has not only lived but also thrived! When the Heavens sent the Tribtion to kill her, it did so knowing that it needed to send a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion way beyond her current strength if it wanted to make sure she died.

    It wasn''t until today Mira learned that the so-called ''defying the Heavens'' phrase, which seems to not only be amon quote amongst cultivators but mortals as well, is nothing but a joke!

    How dare people say that with enough hard work and talent, one can defy the Heavens!!

    Just look at her right now!! She didn''t even get a chance to say or do anything before her body burst apart and disappeared without a trace!

    That''s the result of one who wishes to defy the Heavens: death!

    Or is it��

    Surprisingly, although Mira''s body was destroyed during the final attack and her soul was continuously damaged, both her dantian and her soul were still intact even after thatst lightning strike.

    As soon as thest lightning strike fell and the world turned a deep shade of red, the ominous clouds overhead soon dispersed.

    The clouds leaving meant several things, but most importantly, it meant that the restriction ced on Mira, the one that prevented her from breaking through, was lifted!

    As soon as the restriction was lifted, an iparably strong force erupted out of Mira''s dantian. Immediately, the silhouette of a tree with a yellow trunk and white and ck leaves appeared where Mira''s body oncey.

    This was the [Samsara Dogwood Tree''s] power!

    Then a cool and soothing aura shot out of Mira''s dantian and into her soul, dispelling any remnants of lightning and healing it. Not only that, but it was also strengthening her soul!

    This was the power of the [1,000-year-old Soul Cleansing Flower]!

    Next, the powers of the [Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice],

    [1 Liter Frost-Fire Phoenix Blood],

    [1 Liter Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood],

    [A pond of Yin Qi Water],

    [1,000-year-old 7-Colored Lotus]

    [Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence],

    [1 ton of magma],

    [10 Kilograms of ck Gold],

    [1,000-year-old Heavenly Yin Flower],

    [1 ton of Heavy Qi Water],

    [1,000-year-old Dragon Ginseng],

    And the [1 Liter of Venom from a Peak-Rank 6 ck Death Cobra] burst forth from Mira''s dantian and began taking the shape of a person.

    Slowly, the Frost-Fire Phoenix and Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood merged together along with the Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence to form bone marrow and a heart.

    The bone marrow, once formed, had an icy blue color with specks of gold. The same goes for the heart, though if one looked closely, they''d be able to see that it held various shades of blue that each gave off a different feeling.

    There was still some leftover blood, which would be usedter when more of the body had been formed.

    Next, the other item energies, besides the [Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice], [1,000-year-old 7-Colored Lotus], and the [1,000-year-old Heavenly Yin Flower], began merging and taking shape in the form of bones, muscles, tendons, skin, internal organs, etc.

    ck goldid the foundation for her bones and was further tempered by the magma and Heavy Qi Water. Meanwhile, the rest of her body used Yin Qi and Heavy Qi water as the foundation as ck Gold, Magma, and the Dragon Ginseng energies strengthened them further. Then, the Venom from a Peak-Rank 6 ck Death Cobra was merged into the rest of Mira''s body, granting her a certain amount of immunity against poisons.

    In just a few minutes, all of the parts Mira''s bodyprised before her destruction were created. However, this wasn''t the end. No, this was merely the beginning!

    The energies that were formed from the[Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice], [1,000-year-old 7-Colored Lotus], and the [1,000-year-old Heavenly Yin Flower] spread throughout the rest of Mira''s body. The changes these three items caused to Mira''s new body were immense yet mysterious. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Lightning, Ice, Dark, and Light elements all revolved around Mira''s body, with ice being vastly stronger than the rest of them.

    However, that wasn''t all. The elements other than ice didn''t look how their respective elements normally looked or behaved. They looked more like Mira''s Yin Elements, like her Yin Lightning or Yin Fire��

    It also seemed like Mira''s Extreme Overlord Yin Physique evolved or became something else entirely, but Mira would have to discover its effects on her own.<sub> </sub>

    Once these energies finished merging and forming into Mira''s new body, something strange began to ur in Mira''s bloodline and her appearance. As Mira''s Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Bloodline was partially merged with the blood of a Phoenix and Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf blood, it was strengthened and caused certain changes to ur both inside and outside Mira''s body.

    Soon, 9 various colored tails popped out of Mira''s back, and two silvery-blue fox ears popped out of her head! Also, the affinity her bloodline had with the ice element was also resonating with the rest of her body, causing various changes to happen inside her body!

    However, that was only the beginning! Only half of the Foundational items were used in Mira''s new body''s initial creation, but that doesn''t mean the other Foundational items aren''t important. It''s just that the other items needed Mira''s body to be made before they could be integrated.

    Once Mira''s new body was formed, it was time to imnt her new meridians! The energies containing the [Peak-Earth Grade Qi Gathering Array], [World Tree Seed], and [Chaotic Silk] items burst forth!

    Before these energies even touched Mira''s body, the [World Tree Seed] and [Chaotic Silk] energies merged into one, creating something entirely unique, and began spreading out in Mira''s body, starting at her dantian.

    If Mira were still conscious right now and was able to examine her body during this process, not only would she be shocked, but she would probably be going through some of the worst pain she would ever feel in her life.

    Actually, it was so painful that even though she was unconscious, her body still convulsed from the pain!

    However, that''s not why she would be shocked. She''d be shocked to find out that her new meridians were spreading out like branches in a tree, with her dantian being the trunk!

    Then, she''d start making connections as to why the [World Tree Seed] was part of the Core Formation Recipe. It was for this very reason! To form her new meridians!

    Although it was just the seed of a World Tree and wasn''t actually the real thing, it still contained the powers that made up a World Tree. The World Tree is an entity capable of spreading its roots and branches across Realms. It can shoulder the Heavens and sustain the Underworld! And although its primary purpose isn''t to transfer energy across Realm, it''s capable of doing so, and it does a damn good job at it too.

    Wouldn''t forming one''s meridians using the energy of a World Tree Seed make their meridians basically invincible?!

    That,bined with the properties of the [Chaotic Silk] item, would make for some meridians that are capable of more than just absorbing and transferring energy.

    Not only that, but with how many new meridians are being created in Mira''s body, her control over her own Qi would vastly outss other cultivators.

    There were also a few meridians being created that actually led directly into Mira''s soul as well! This would normally be impossible, but this bes possible because her meridians are made from the energies of both a World Tree Seed and Chaotic Silk.

    Naturally, this was partially done because of Mira''s cultivation technique and how it actually revolves around her scythe, which was now sitting in her Soul Sea.

    However, this would''ve happened regardless of Mira''s cultivation technique, as having meridians in one''s soul is just too beneficial in theter stages of cultivation.

    Anyways, in just a few minutes, countless small meridians were formed inside Mira''s body, and now it was time for the energy of a [Peak-Earth Grade Qi Gathering Array] to begin integrating itself into Mira''s body.

    The energy quickly started forming various runes and inscriptions on Mira''s dantian and meridians, which only took a few seconds until the whole process wasplete.

    After this process waspleted, the energy of the [Dao Comprehension Stone] burst out of Mira''s dantian and went straight into her brain and soul. The energy was split in half as it moved toward both ces and merged. Although this was the quickest process so far, the benefits were beyond imagination.

    Now onto the second tost Foundational item, [Liquid Metal], along with the [Abyssal Sea Metal].

    The energies made up of these two items erupted out of Mira''s dantian and charged straight into Mira''s Soul Sea, where her scythe is located, and began merging with her scythe.

    Almost instantly, Mira''s scythe was turned into a liquid before everythingbined, making apletely new scythe that was stronger and had higher growth potential. That''s not to say it couldn''t already grow and evolve alongside Mira, but it''s just that the scythe wasn''t originally made to evolve alongside its user.

    It can only do that because it''s a spiritual weapon, and Mira is using a cultivation technique that revolves around this scythe. Sure, Spiritual Weapons can partially grow alongside its user, but doing so wouldn''t make them top-tier weapons among their respective ranks.

    In fact, that''s partially the reason Mira hasn''t been using her scythe as much over thest few years. Her ice abilities have just been more useful and stronger than her scythe.

    However, that all changes with these upgrades! The upgrades done to her scythe aren''t as simple as it just being able to evolve alongside Mira. No, it will perfectly suit Mira''s strength whenever she makes a breakthrough.

    If she''s in the Core Formation Realm but has the strength of those in the Nascent Soul Realm, then her scythe will be able to amodate Mira''s strength.

    Essentially, the two of them will now have the same cultivation. Mira''s scythe can no longer be categorized by normal weapon standards such as Human, Mortal, Earth, and Heaven Rank!

    Once a new scythe formed inside Mira''s Soul Sea, it was time to move on to the next part of the breakthrough.

    The [10 tons of blood], [Fire Elemental Essence], and [Ice Elemental Essence] energies shot out of Mira''s dantian and started integrating into her body. Though, only about 15% merged with her body. The rest of the energy merged with her soul and mind increasing Mira''sprehension of her Absolute Ice Dao and Yin Fire.

    The blood energy, however,bined with Mira''s soul and eyes, increases her killing intent''s effectiveness.

    Now, unless Mira specifically withheld it, anyone who looked into her eyes would shoulder the weight of Mira''s massive killing intent! There were other benefits as well, but Mira would have to discover those slowly when she wakes up.

    Mira''s breakthrough has finally reached its final phase after thosest three items merged with her!

    All of a sudden, a burst of pure Qi erupted from her dantian that contained the energies of the [Beast Core of a Fire and Ice Peak-Rank 6 beast], [Beast Core of any ice-type Low-Rank 7 Beast], and [Peak-Rank 6 Beast Cores of a Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning, and Dark beasts].

    The pure Qi cycled through her new meridians, nourishing and revitalizing not only her meridians but her body, soul, and scythe as well.

    Strength and power began coursing through every ounce of Mira''s body and acted as the catalyst for Mira''s breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm.

    Soon, the energy from thest item, the [High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source], burst forth but didn''t leave Mira''s dantian. Instead, it settled in the center of her Dantian, forming a crystal that continuously produced Qi, which consequently spread to the rest of Mira''s body, prompting the final step of Mira''s breakthrough.

    The [Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life] seamlessly merged with Mira''s dantian, causing ancient ck runes to be inscribed on her icy blue dantian.

    After the runes finished inscribing, Mira''s entire body burst with power and a deathly aura erupted out, causing the nearbynd to freeze, wither, and disintegrate; thus,pleting Mira''s breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm!

 Chapter 344 Marias Adventures Part 1

    While Mira was going through trials and tribtions to reach the Core Formation Realm, her twopanions, Maria and Cine, had also undergone shocking changes in thest two years.

    After Elenei dropped Mira off at Quake City nearly two years ago, she brought Maria and Cine closer to the border between the Western Continent and the Ocean. Over there, ording to what Sect Master Jane said, talents run amok, resources are abundant, and the atmospheric Qi is incredibly dense.

    Of course, Mira didn''t want to send them to a ce that was too dangerous. They are still only Foundation Realm weaklings, after all.

    However, they needed to find the resources required to build a Top-Tier Core in under two years, which can''t be done in just any ordinary ce. Only in ces that are rich in resources can they find the necessary ingredients to break through!

    Unfortunately, nobody in Mira''s group knew much about this Mortal Cultivation World, so Elenei had to spend a decent chunk of time looking for ces suitable for them.

    p Maria, for one, needed to find many Light rted materials for her Core Formation Recipe. So, Elenei had to spend a while finding a ce where the Light element is abundant.</anda>

    Although it was a bit annoying, Elenei did end up finding a ce that seemed promising. It may not have had an abundant amount of Light Element materials, but from what Elenei could tell, it at least had a few.

    Of course, Elenei''s ''few'' isn''t just a handful. No, she''s talking about hundreds or even possibly thousands of various materials that contain the Light Element.

    However, these items are quite spread out and are of varying ranks, so Maria would have not only to spend quite a while searching for what she needs, but she''ll have to brave many dangers as well.

    Luckily, having a Light Element affinity is quite rare among most races, meaning not very many people are that interested in these materials. To add to Maria''s luck, even though items with a Light affinity are rare, they aren''t overly expensive��

    No, that''s not quite right.

    In general, they aren''t that expensive, but the people who need them will payrge sums of money in order to procure them.

    Anyways, after Elenei dropped off Maria in this seemingly random location, she didn''t immediately charge off to start looking for the items she needed.

    Hell, she doesn''t even know what some of them look like! So, instead, she made her way to the nearest city to obtain the necessary information about where she was and what she needs.

    Fortunately, Elenei wasn''tpletely heartless and told her the direction of the closest city.

    Maria quickly made her way to the city, paid the entry fee, and learned that this city was called Peacemaker City.

    Apparently, the reason for this name is that the city is a strategic outpost owned by the Mercenary Association, or so Maria was told.

    From what she could see, it looked nothing like what she imagined a strategic outpost to look like. There weren''t any military men patrolling the area, nor was there anything like a barracks.

    On the outside, it looked just like a normal city; upon further research, that''s exactly what it is.

    This city, instead of being used as a stronghold in times of war, is ced where it is in case the surrounding sects ever go to war.

    See, Peacemaker City is actually in the middle of severalrge Sects. Since the Mercenary Association technically owns the city, the Sects are forced to only engage in small skirmishes, bring theirrge-scale wars to faraway locations, or risk offending the Mercenary Association.

    Hence, the name ''Peacemaker''.

    However, just because this is a ''normal'' city, there are a few strong members from the Mercenary Association stationed there just in case something does happen.

    Maria was shocked by this discovery and wondered why the Mercenary Association wanted to prevent a war between the Sects. They should want a war to start between the Sects!

    Although she was curious, Maria didn''t really care either way. Whether the Mercenary Association wanted a war or not had nothing to do with her. She was only here to obtain the necessary materials to make a breakthrough. Coincidentally, after knowing a bit more about the Mercenary Association, she decided to join, just like Mira!<sub> </sub>

    Unbeknownst to the two of them, this Branch of the Mercenary Association worked slightly differently than the one Mira joined. Mira''s Branch allowed the Mercenaries ess to the Mercenary Association''s entire repository! The reason for this is to incite the greed in the mercenaries stationed there so they canplete the missions there at a much faster and more efficient rate.

    However, the one Maria is at doesn''t have such a thing. They still offer Contribution Points forpleting missions, but you can''t buy anything at the Mercenary Association Building. These Contribution Points are actually used as currency for everything in Peacemaker City. Of course, one can pay using Spirit Stones, but the prices will be slightly higherpared to paying with Contribution Points. It''s not a lot, but when makingrge purchases or if you were to stay in the city for an extended period of time, the cost differences start to add up.

    It could be said that nearly everyone in the city has some connection with the Mercenary Association.

    After bing a Mercenary, Maria began asking around about the ce containing all of the Light Element resources, but she was shocked by what she heard.

    That ce is called Luminescent Ridge and is one of the Forbidden Zones around Peacemaker City. The reason it''s a Forbidden Zone is because there are several Rank 7 beasts and even one Rank 8 beast residing there.

    Although the Rank 7 and 8 beasts hardly make a move on humans weaker than themselves, that doesn''t mean they won''t attack if one encroaches on their territory.

    Aside from the Rank 7 and 8 beasts, there is also an abundance of Rank 6 beasts, and one must be conscious of when they enter that ce.

    Learning of this, Maria frowned. She may be confident in her strength and can take on several Low and maybe even Mid-Stage Rank 6 beasts at a time, but anything more than that, and she''s doomed.

    She would certainly die if she were to charge into such a ce recklessly. Even if she didn''t die, she definitely wouldn''t be able to obtain the items she required.

    ''It seems I''ll need to form a team. But first, I''ll gather some information on the items I need to break through ording to my Core Formation Recipe.'' Maria thought to herself and immediately searched for information regarding those items.

    A few dayster, Maria was able to find the necessary information and learned that she already had over half of the items she needed!

    Although she was shocked, when she thought about it rationally, it made sense. Most of the items that her Core Formation Recipe called for were things she, Mira, and Elenei obtained in the Secret Realm.

    Many of the items they obtained in the Secret Realm are things one might note across in their entire life! Naturally, they''d be suitable for her Core Formation Recipe!

    Elenei had also collected literal thousands of items of the Light element! Most of them weren''t too useful to her and the rest of the group, but there were plenty of items that would make the various Powers of the Mortal Cultivation World drool in desire.

    Unfortunately, despite knowing more about what she needs to break through, Maria doesn''t know if she''ll be able to find the items she doesn''t currently have in her possession at Luminescent Ridge.

    All she can do now is look for a team to travel into Luminescent Ridge with or hire some Mercenaries to protect her as she searches for the items she needs.

    After plundering that Natural Formation, she can be considered quite wealthy, even by the standards of those with a higher cultivation base.

    Thinking about it for a while, Maria decided to first look for a team who was already venturing in that direction. Even though she was wealthy, she didn''t want to start spending that wealth immediately after getting it. Those Spirit Stones will be her cultivation resources for when she eventually breaks through into the Core Formation Realm!

    Unsurprisingly, it seems like luck is on Maria''s side as only a few dayster, she caught word of a team taking a mission to kill one of the Rank 7 Beasts at Luminescent Ridge.

    The team consisted of two Nascent Soul experts and 8 Core Formation Realm cultivators. There were four women and six men on the team, with one of the Nascent Soul experts being a woman.

    Maria wasn''t one to give up on such a heaven-sent opportunity and immediately asked them if they could take her along. Of course, they rejected her at first since she is merely a Foundation Realm weakling.

    To convince them of her strength, Maria bet with them that if she could fight their weakest member head-on for 10 minutes, they''ll allow her to join.

    Naturally, their curiosity was aroused, and they agreed. Maria and the weakest person on their team began fighting soon after, and surprisingly, Maria was able to fight them head-on for 10 minutes.

    The team was stunned, but they kept their word and allowed Maria to join them.

 Chapter 345 Marias Adventures Part 2

    Maria instantly hit it off with her new team, but that''s not surprising. Maria is charismatic, attractive, strong, kind, and enjoyable to be around. Even in this world where people will kill their own mothers for cultivation resources, it''s hard not to like Maria.

    Naturally, the guys in the group had no issues with her other than her cultivation. However, this was also a good thing after they thought about it some more. They''d be able to show off their manly and righteous side if they were to protect Maria from danger. Then who knows, Maria might start taking an interest in one of them��

    The women weren''t annoyed by Maria''s presence either. In terms of beauty, although they might not be quite as radiant as Maria, they are still beauties in their own right. They are also stronger, have better gear, possibly higher status, and are richer than Maria. Why would they be jealous?

    The only thing the team wished to know was Maria''s background, but she never revealed anything to them, only saying that she wished to breakthrough so she could join the Battle Maiden Sect.

    That''s something Mira told her to say because if people knew she was born in some backwaters town in the middle of nowhere, people might try to force her into things that she didn''t want to do.

    The team didn''t probe any further since it seemed Maria didn''t want to talk about it.

    A few dayster, after the team finished their preparations, Maria and the others finally made their way toward Luminescent Ridge. Maria was excited to start a new adventure, and although she missed Mira, she was d she could experience something like this.

    It didn''t take them long to make it to Luminescent Ridge, and Maria immediately began searching for any Light element items.

    The group wanted her to stay close, but Maria just waved them off and continued going about her business. How could she just hide in the middle of their group when she came here specifically to search for items needed for her breakthrough? She''s not weak either and can take care of herself as long as the opponent isn''t too many stages above her.

    Plus, she only asked to follow them as a way to ward off the truly strong beasts in this area. As long as she''s not too far away, she should be fine.

    Luckily, before the team even encountered the Rank 7 beast they wanted to kill, Maria was actually able to find one of the ingredients needed to form her core!

    Maria wasn''t satisfied with just this, though, and wanted more! She knew that when Mira eventually breaks through, she''ll be crazy strong! She might be able to keep up if she breaks through ording to the Core Formation Recipe, but she wanted to form her Core as soon as possible so she can get a headstart over Mira!

    Time went on as Maria and the team made their way towards the den of the Rank 7 beast, and it wasn''t until a few dayster that they eventually arrived in its territory.

    Maria knew she wasn''t going to be of much help and decided to stay away from the fight so as not to be a burden, but that didn''t mean she wasn''t going to watch from afar.

    She wanted to understand the true power of Rank 7 beasts and Nascent Soul experts!

    However, a few hourster, she was left somewhat disappointed.

    Sure, the battle was fearsome, and the destruction was massive, but there wasn''t anything special. Or maybe she was just too used to Mira''s way of fighting, that watching people who had no real skills and only a bunch of power only lookedckluster in her eyes.

    Mira may be brutal in her attacks and likes to confront her enemies head-on, but to Maria, it''s quite elegant. She''s able to read her opponents like an open book, adapt to their strengths, learn their weaknesses, and end it all in a single strike.

    It''s truly beautiful and amazing to watch.

    This team, however, just keptunching abilities and whacking at it until it eventually died. Sure, they did try to make use of its weaknesses, but it''s not like a Rank 7 beast is braindead. They can understand their own weaknesses and can make amodations for them.

    In the end, it turned into a battle of attrition, and Maria''s team ended up winning with only some light to medium injuries.

    However, this did open her eyes to how many people in this world fight. Most of them seem to rely more on brute strength than anything else. Although their techniques and weapon arts were quite powerful, Maria didn''t think it was because of the techniques specifically, but instead the user''s power that made the techniques strong.

    Maria also noticed that it seems like most people tend to specialize in a single fighting style. For example, there are five ranged and five close-ranged attackers in the team she''s following.<sub> </sub>

    However, Mira always taught her to be flexible in her attacks. She must know how to attack from afar and up close so she never falls to a disadvantage.

    Suddenly, as they were looting the dead Rank 7 beast''s body andir, Maria sensed something.

    It wasn''t an attack, beast, or another human; instead, it was the same feeling she got when there was a treasure nearby.

    Maria let her teammates know that she was going to search the area, and although they were against it, Maria had already left the vicinity.

    She followed her instincts and ran in the direction of the lucky chance. When she closed in on it, she felt not only her instincts re but her Light Dao as well.

    It seems she may have sensed something that could be incredibly beneficial to her cultivation and Light Daoprehension!

    After a few hours of running, Maria felt like she had passed through some sort of barrier, then all of a sudden a golden staircase made of clouds descended in front of her!

    She was about to start charging up the stairs but heard a feminine voice appear in her mind when she neared the staircase.

    "Make it up the stairs and gain the qualifications to be a candidate for my inheritance! Beware! You could lose your life on these stairs if you aren''t worthy or don''t possess an affinity toward the Light Element!"

    Maria was shocked that she actually stepped inside some sort of inheritance, but she was also excited!

    ''If I can gain this inheritance, maybe I won''t be so far behind Mira in the future!''

    <o>,m Those were her thoughts, but little did she know that Mira''s inheritance trials were far more terrifying than she could''ve ever imagined. Although Mira did share a few of her experiences with them, she didn''t go into full detail.</o>

    For one, when it came to the ''staircase'', Mira wasn''t even given a choice. She either did it or faced eternal damnation!

    At least here, whoever the owner of this inheritance is was kind enough to warn her of the dangers and even told her that she entered an inheritance space! Mira didn''t even know she would get anything! All she knew was that if she gave up, she would die!

    It could be said that just based on these facts alone, the quality of Mira''s inheritance vastly outsses the one Maria just entered. After all, danger often coincides with fortune in the Cultivation World.

    However, that''s not always the case, so for now, Maria can only make her way up the stairs, do her best to gain the qualifications for the trials, and try to gain the full inheritance!

    So that''s exactly what she did. She began making her way up the golden staircase, hoping to be this inheritance''s sessor.

    As Maria went up the staircase, at first, she didn''t know what it was trying to test. There wasn''t any pressure, nor did she feel anything invade her body. In fact, Maria felt increasingly more peaceful the farther up she walked.

    Time continued to pass, and slowly, Maria entered a state of enlightenment. As soon as that happened, her surroundings began to change. One moment, the surroundings were a vast night sky filled with stars, then it would change to a golden sun! Afterward, the scenery would shift to a ck hole sucking in all the surrounding light!

    Essentially, anything that has to do with the Light element, its uses, its effects, its weaknesses, and how it appears in nature all shed through Maria''s head.

    She had no idea what most of these scenes even were or what they meant, but she tried to make the most of what was shone. At the very least, even if she failed, she wanted to increase herprehension of her Light Dao.

    Luckily, that''s the point of this test; it''s to test herprehension ability and natural affinity towards the Light Element.

 Chapter 346 [Bonus Chapter]Marias Adventures Part 3

    After several hours of enlightenment, Maria finally opened her eyes and revealed a bright smile. During her enlightenment, she clearly felt theprehension of her Light Dao increase explosively, and she even began the creation of a unique Light element ability.

    The ability that she was creating took the ck hole scene as the foundation, but it was slightly different. She doesn''t have the strength to forcefully suck in all the light around her like a ck hole, nor does she have an affinity for darkness, so going that route is out of the question.

    However, she took that as a base and found a way to absorb the surrounding light in her hands and then discharge it as an attack. That''s only the beginning of this ability, though, because if she can properly absorb light from her surroundings, then the possibilities are endless. She can strengthen her body, release powerful long-range attacks, have a nearly endless supply of light she can use, and so much more.

    However, the problem with this ability is that it''s mentally taxing. With her current strength andprehension, Maria could probably only keep this ability active for a few seconds before fainting.

    Now that her enlightenment was over, Maria was able to get a good look at her surroundings and immediately noticed she was standing on a giant cloud. The sky was exceptionally bright, and she saw arge golden pce in the distance.

    "Did I pass? Did I make it up the stairs? Wait. Were those stairs even important in the first ce?" Maria thought out loud, but nobody answered.

    "Well, I guess if I want answers, that golden pce will be my best bet."

    Maria then began walking towards the golden pce in the distance, and when she finally got close enough to enter, the same feminine voice entered her head likest time.

    "Congrattions on passing the Steps of Comprehension. It seems your natural affinity towards the Light Element and yourprehensive ability are high enough to qualify for my inheritance. Now, to receive my inheritance and be my sessor, you must prove to me that you aren''t just a pretty face. The Cultivation World is rough, and one must not only possess talent but drive and resolve to reach the top! Show me your resolve, candidate!"

    Maria didn''t give much thought to the words the voice said, but she was excited that she had a shot at bing this person''s sessor and receiving their inheritance. From how the stairs were capable of putting her in a state of enlightenment and seeing how grand everything was, Maria had high expectations.

    Since she''s gotten confirmation that this golden pce is the continuation of whoever inheritance she''s in, Maria opened the door of the pce and was immediately blinded by a bright light!

    When she opened her eyes, she was on a tform in the sky.

    "Your first test is toplete the ability that youprehended earlier! You have one week! If you fail toplete it within a week, you''ll be kicked out of my inheritance space and barred from ever entering again! Good luck, candidate!"

    The feminine voice spoke again, much to Maria''s shock.<sub> </sub>

    "Huh? That''s it? You do know that I''ve almostpleted the basics for that ability, right? It shouldn''t take me more than a few days toplete it! Plus, where''s the danger and possible death you talked about earlier?! Those stairs didn''t have a hint of danger, and neither does this test! Was that just a lie?! Is this a scam?! Mira told me one time never to take things at face value, and all of this gold and grandness kind of makes it feels like you''re ovepensating for something. GASP! Don''t tell me you''re jealous of my body?! Tsk! How can a powerful cultivator like you be so petty? But you shouldn''t worry about being t. As long as you have a nice face, I''m sure someone will love you." Maria voiced her opinions and could''ve sworn she heard the sound of something popping.

    "Well, whatever. I''llplete this silly test for you. When I''m done, I can even give you some pointers on how you can increase your breast size!"

    "..."

    Maria then spent the next few days perfecting the basics of her ability. After she was done, Maria lifted her hand, and instantly, the surrounding light began to gather around her hand, forming a ball of light.

    Although it wasn''t the effect Maria was going for exactly, she knew she had reached the basics. Right now, she reached the first stage of her ability, Light Transference, or so she dubbed it!

    In this stage, Mira is able to control some of the surrounding Light and transfer it into whatever form she wants it to be. The light that she takes control of and transfers isn''t actually her power, despite having control over it. When she releases her control, the Light will return to where she took it from.

    The next stage that she came up with, the Light Absorption Stage, is where she''ll be able to turn the surrounding Light into her own power. Although there will be limitations on its uses and won''t directly increase her strength, it will allow her to recover some of her energy to keep fighting partially.

    The third Stage, Light Snatch, will allow her to steal the surrounding Light to increase her strength partially. She''ll be able to recover her energy reserves more, discharge the stolen Light Element to create a powerful attack, use it to strengthen her body for a short amount of time, or anything else.

    Thest stage, Light Devourer, will be able to absorb the surrounding light, almost like a ck hole, and will be hers to do as she wishes. She can use it to increase herprehension, to attack, defend, heal, etc. It''s hers to do what she wants.

    Maria used thest few days toe up with these stages and also to reach the first stage. She knew that even if she couldprehend and use Light Devourer right now, it would basically be useless to her. So instead, she separated this ability into stages. This way, she''ll be able to use a limited portion of Light Devourer''s effects without having to deal with the bacsh due to herck of strength.

    When she gets stronger, so will this ability.

    "...Congrattion, candidate, for passing this test andpleting your ability! You will also receive a bonus reward for dividing your ability into stages so that you can use it at your level of strength. Should you fail any of the next tests, you''ll receive your reward before you''re thrown out, but should you sessfully be my sessor; then I''ll give you a little surprise that doesn''te with my inheritance.

 Chapter 347 Marias Adventures Part 4

    When those words entered Maria''s mind, a blinding light appeared, causing her to shut her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was in a different area.

    "Wee to the next test, Candidate! Now that you have proved your affinity, talent,prehensive abilities, and capacity for making unique skills, it''s time to move on tobat prowess! In the Cultivation World, only the strong reign supreme! Talent means nothing if youck the strength to keep you alive! Prove your worth by defeating all of the enemies! However, should you not be able to pass this test, your only other option is death! Good luck!"

    For some reason, when Maria heard the feminine voice this time, there was a hint of anger in its voice. She wondered if maybe an actual person was watching over this inheritance, but then she shook her head of these thoughts.

    Whether or not a real person is watching her doesn''t matter; she only cares about the inheritance. This is likely her only chance at being able to keep up with Mira''s rise in strength.

    All of a sudden, Maria sensed someone charging at her. She looked over and noticed that it was the silhouette of a person at the Peak of the Foundation Realm.

    Maria didn''t say anything and instead took out her sword and directly chopped the silhouette in half in one strike.

    After she killed the first person, two more at the Peak of the Foundation Realm appeared and charged at her.

    Maria shook her head and cut them down just like the first. This went on until she was surrounded by 50 people at the Peak of the Foundation Realm.

    Still, Maria was able to cut them down without much trouble. Though it''s not like these guys are weak, she''s just incredibly strong. Her bodily strength is far higher than what her cultivation shows due to tempering it with the Magma Dragon Body Technique.

    She''s also gone through countless brutal training sessions against Mira and has been forced to fight in numerous life and death battles. Those in the Foundation Realm are simply not a match for her.

    After defeating thest group of Foundation Realm silhouettes, this time, a Peak-Stage Rank 5 beast silhouette popped up and charged at her.

    Maria sighed and cut it down just like the others. She was a little disappointed in this test as she wanted to fight stronger beings. She wanted to know just how strong she truly was.

    A whileter, Maria cut down 50 Peak-Stae Rank 5 beasts, and someone stronger finally showed up! A Stage 1 Core Formation Realm silhouette showed up and charged at her!

    Maria grinned and began shing at it with her sword. Unfortunately, it was still a bit too weak, and she was able to take it down in under 20 blows. Maria would''ve been able to defeat it quicker, but she hasn''t really fought against any Core Formation cultivators yet and wanted to test just how strong they are.

    When she defeated it, two more Stage 1 Core Formation Realm silhouettes popped up and charged at her.

    Maria used this time to get used to fighting against numerous Core Formation Realm enemies as she assumed that she''d have to keep facing numerous of them in battle until she reached the end of this test.

    It turns out Maria was right because every time she killed all the silhouettes, even more, would pop up and charge at her.

    Luckily, she only needed to face 10 Stage 1 Core Formation Realm experts before it switched over to Low-Stage Rank 6 beasts.

    This continued until she could defeat 10 Low-Stage Rank 6 beasts at once. Afterward, she was finally given a break!

    She utilized the next hour well and was able to refill her energy and staminapletely.

    After the break, Stage 2 Core Formation Realm silhouettes started popping up, which took her a bit longer to defeat as they were at least 50% stronger than those Stage 1 silhouettes. Still, they didn''t prove to be much of a problem until she had to face 5 of them simultaneously.

    Unfortunately, unlike the other battles, she wasn''t able to get awaypletely unscathed. She received a few cuts and bruises, but it wasn''t enough to affect herbat ability.

    When she defeated the 5 Stage 2 Core Formation Realm silhouettes, a Stage 3 silhouette popped up and attacked her.<sub> </sub>

    Fortunately, Maria was ready for the attack, but when their weapons met, it was clear that Maria was reaching her limit. She used her Light Transference ability to increase her power a bit more, but the two of them still went over 100 blows before Maria was finally able to defeat the opponent.

    She also came out of the battle with numerous cuts, gashes, and bone fractures. These injuries would affect herbat power slightly, but she could still fight at almost full capacity if needed.

    Luckily, she didn''t need to, as she was given a break to rest and heal up after defeating the silhouette.

    When Maria was nearly healed up, two more Stage 3 Core Formation Realm silhouettes appeared and attacked her, but after fighting the previous one, she gained a bit more experience, so she wasn''t nearly as sloppy as before.

    Of course, things didn''t go quite as she had wished since she was facing two enemies that were multiple stages above her in cultivation, but after trading hundreds of blows, Maria was finally able to take them down. However, she suffered the consequences of fighting enemies slightly above her in power.

    She had many bone fractures, several deep gashes, and several broken bones by the end of the fight, but thanks to Mira''s hellish training, she could still fight even under such circumstances. By this point, she could barely feel the pain of breaking a bone as Mira would break her bones nearly every day!

    Although she used to hate it when Mira would bully her like that, it''s in times like these that she really cherishes those experiences. Because of those experiences, she can continue fighting in situations like this.

    After defeating two Stage 3 Core Formation Realm silhouettes, she was given multiple days to rest and recover, which she took full advantage of.

    Fortunately, her body is full of vitality, thanks to the Magma Dragon Body technique, her bloodline, and the Light Element. In just a few days, she was able to make a full recovery and was ready to face her next and hopefully final enemy.

    Just like she thought, a Stage 4 Core Formation Realm silhouette popped up and immediately charged at her. However, Maria noticed that this silhouette was at least twice as strong as the Stage 3 silhouette she had faced before!

    Maria had no intention of going into a battle of attrition against an enemy that was clearly stronger than her and had much more energy to spare. So, instead, she decided to put 85% of her power into her first strike, hoping to end the battle before it even began!

    She increased her power with the Light Transference ability to empower her body, gathered all of her Qi around her sword, and covered it with her Light Dao.

    *WHOOSH*

    The air shook, and her sword looked like it had vanished only to reappear behind the silhouette. The silhouette stopped moving, and soon after, its head flew in the air, and it disappeared.

    Maria fell to her knees, gasping for air. Using all of her energy like that ces an incredible burden on her body. Luckily, she didn''t use 100% of her energy on that strike, or else she would''ve passed out right after the attack.

    It''s also great that her body is so strong, or else she wouldn''t have been able to defeat the silhouette.

    For the next few days, Maria spent her time recovering her energy reserves and reflecting on thest few battles. At first, she thought that thest silhouette should be her final battle, but then she remembered that at the beginning of the test, she fought beasts of simr power as well.

    She assumed that her next battle would be against a Mid-Stage Rank 6 Beast, and she was proven right in a few days. However, when she faced off against the beast, she didn''t feel the need to use a full-powered strike right off the bat. From what she could tell, although the beast was stronger than a Stage 3 Core Formation Realm cultivator, it wasn''t as strong as a Stage 4.

    So, Maria used this time to gain some experience against Mid-Stage Rank 6 beasts and how powerful they are.

    After exchanging nearly a thousand blows, Maria finally put an end to the battle. When the beast disappeared, a blinding light shone around her, and Maria knew she had finally passed thebat prowess test.

    ***

    Thank you to Zg_Happy for gifting me a Castle worth 5000 coins! I really appreciate the support! I''ll be uploading another chapterter today as well, but that probably won''t be for at least another few hours.

 Chapter 348 [Bonus Chapter]Marias Adventures Part 5

    "Congrattions on passing thebat prowess test, candidate! However,bat prowess isn''t everything in the Cultivation World, especially as someone with a Light Affinity! You must also know how to heal yourself by using your element properly! In the entire world, the Light Element has always excelled at healing and is a necessary skill should you want to reach the peak! For this next test, you will be given ess to a unique healing technique. Toplete the test, you must learn up to the Second Stage of the technique and use it to heal yourself and those around youpletely! You have one week toplete this test! Good luck, candidate!"

    Maria heard the feminine voice in her head after shepleted thest test and appeared in a new room.

    In the middle of this room was a pedestal and a book sat on this pedestal. Around the room were also ten human-like mannequins. These mannequins looked almost identical to humans, except that they didn''t have a face. They also seemed to have numerous problems like broken bones, dislocated joints, and other issues.

    Maria looked around curiously a bit more, but seeing nothing else, she decided to walk up to the pedestal to inspect the book.

    When she reached the book, the title read "Transcendent Restoration".

    "What a domineering title for a healing technique." Maria thought out loud and began reading the technique.

    After spending the next few hours reading the technique, she was shocked by what she saw. The technique was split up into four stages:

    Stage 1-Mortal Regeneration

    Stage 2-Earthly Invigoration

    Stage 3-Heavenly Reconstruction

    Stage 4-Transcendent Restoration

    Each stage is defined by its ability to heal certain types of injuries. For example, the Mortal Regeneration stage can only heal minor wounds and light internal organ injuries.

    The Earthly Invigoration Stage can mend broken bones, heal ruptured organs, and even heal vital organs like the heart and brain.

    The Heavenly Reconstruction Stage can reattach limbs, heal shattered bones, and can keep people alive even if their heart is destroyed.

    Thest stage, the Transcendent Restoration Stage, can do much more than that. It ims it can heal meridians, wash away all hidden injuries, heal damaged dantians, and even regrow limbs.

    That shocked Maria because from what she knows, healing damaged meridians and dantians is nearly impossible unless one finds heaven-defying treasures to do so. The same goes for regrowing limbs and healing all hidden injuries. Although alchemy can technically do this as well, the cost of one of those pills is more than what most small ns and Sects can afford.

    Now, she understands why the name is "Transcendent Restoration" because it''s literally restoring your body back to its perfect state.

    Maria didn''t waste any time and beganprehending the first two stages of the technique.

    It only took her three days to finishprehending the first two stages, but that''s only because her Light Daoprehension is higher than what someone at her cultivation should have. She also has a fairly vast understanding of the human body due to how many times she''s been injured, along with Mira''s help.

    However, she could tell that learning thest two stages takes more than just Light Daoprehension. She needs to learn more about cultivation, meridians, life, dantians. She also needs to have a more in-depth knowledge of the human body and how Qi interacts with it than what she already has if she wants to learn thest two stages of the technique.

    Maria wasn''t dissatisfied with this, though, because just the first two stages are more than enough for the current her.

    Suddenly, as soon as she finished studying the first two stages, a strong pressure wrapped around her body and began breaking her bones, tearing her muscles, ripping apart her skin, rupturing her organs, and even damaging her heart.

    Maria''s face distorted a bit as she let out a few grunts of pain, but she held on and waited for the pressure to disappear.

    It wasn''t until a few minutester did the pressure finally vanish, and she dropped to the ground. She didn''t waste any time and began using the Earthly Invigoration Stage of the Transcendent Restoration technique on herself.<sub> </sub>

    When she activated the technique, a milky white light washed through her body and began mending her bones, restoring her skin, healing her muscles, fixing her organs, and restoring her heart.

    This went on for a while, but even after using all of her energy, she wasn''t able topletely heal herself. However, that''s only because her body is much stronger than her cultivation. It needs more resources to heal itself.

    Maria also noticed that somehow her bloodline wasn''t helping the healing process, so her body wasn''t able to return to its peak condition as quickly as it usually does.

    Over the course of the next day or so, Maria spent the entire time using Earthly Invigoration to heal her body back to its peak state.

    Maria was a bit unhappy that it took her so long to heal her injuries, but she understood that if her Qi cultivation matched her body strength, it probably wouldn''t even take a fraction of the time.

    Now that Maria was fully healed, she spent the next few days practicing and healing the mannequins scattered around the room. By the end of the sixth day, she had fully healed herself and the mannequins, making her feel quite aplished with herself.

    When she finished, a bright light surrounded her, and she heard the feminine voice appear in her mind again.

    "Congrattions, candidate, on passing the previous test. As a reward for proving yourself worthy, you''ll receive the full Transcendent Restoration technique should you fail to be my sessor! For the final test, I will proceed to ask you a series of questions. Answer these questions honestly! I will know if you don''t and immediately kick you out! Are you ready, candidate?"

    "Sure!" Maria happily eximed.

    "Question 1: What would you do if you ran across a child injured in the middle of a forest?"

    "I would do my best to heal them and take them back to safety."

    "Question 2: What is the Light element to you?"

    "Hmmm�� I guess the Light element to me is exactly that. It''s my light. It''s a way for me to pave through the darkness of life. There isn''t another element that represents me better than the Light element."

    "Question 3: Why do you seek power?"

    "Well, I wouldn''t necessarily say I seek power. I would be perfectly fine with being a normal person without any cultivation and living an ordinary life in some remote vige. However, now that I''m on this path, I suppose the main reason I seek power is to keep up with my friend, Mira. I want to travel the world with her and support her in whatever ways I can, but to do that, I need an equivalent amount of power."

    "Question 4: What are you seeking from my inheritance?"

    "I don''t know. When I first entered, I was just looking for items that my Core Formation Recipe called for, but after entering and going through those tests, I want to learn all of the techniques you have! What Ick the most at the moment are powerful Light Element Techniques. Whether it be Cultivation Techniques, Weapon Arts, or even Auxiliary Techniques like that Transcendent Restoration techniques. I want to learn them all!"

    "Question 5: What is your name?"

    "My name is Maria Zaria!"

    "Very well. Congrattion, Maria Zaria, on sessfully passing all of my tests! From now on, you are Sage A''s sessor! You will now be brought to the main hall of my golden pce to receive my inheritance!"

    When thosest words reached Maria, a bright light appeared around Maria and teleported her to the pce''s main hall.

    ***

    Thank you to Zg_Happy for gifting me a Castle worth 5000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s the second bonus chapter for supporting me!

 Chapter 349 Marias Adventures Part 6

    When Maria could open her eyes again, she saw an incredibly beautiful half-transparentdy sitting on a golden throne. The woman had hair so blonde it was basically golden, massive breasts, long thick legs, and a tender smile on her face.

    Seeing this, Maria gasped, "So you weren''t actually t! And to think I even took the time to think of some tips for you��"

    Hearing this, the smile on the woman''s face faded, and her lips started twitching. She really wished she could give Maria a good beating, but she felt it was beneath her to punish a junior in such a way, even though she''s technically her sessor.

    So, she ignored Maria''s words and said, "Child, before I hand over my inheritance to you, I want to tell you something very important. Although my inheritance contains many treasures, techniques, weapons, and various other items, those are all secondary. What I want you to inherit is actually my Cultivation Technique."

    "You see, I began experimenting and creating this technique when I had already reached the peak of the Mortal Cultivation World. I knew that I wouldn''t be able to ascend to the Immortal Realm even after reaching the peak, so instead, I spent my time creating a Cultivation Technique that I could pass down my legacy to a talented junior. With this Cultivation Technique and your talent, you should be able to pass the Heavenly Ascension Tribtion and ascend to the Immortal Realm, something I was unable to do."

    "However, if you want to cultivate this technique, you''ll have to abolish your cultivation and start all over. Fortunately, you haven''t broken through to the Core Formation Realm, or else it wouldn''t have been worth it for you to cultivate this technique. Here, why don''t you take a look at this Cultivation Technique before deciding?"

    Sage A tossed an ancient-looking book over to Maria, who was still a bit stunned by what she heard. Maria subconsciously caught the book and took a look at the title:

    "Primordial Heavenly Lights"

    ''Another domineering name for a Light Element technique��'' Maria thought to herself but continued to read more about the technique.

    However, the more she read, the more shocked and excited she became. Even after just reading a small portion of the technique, Maria had already decided that she would cultivate it. It would suck to abolish her cultivation, but she was sure that with the help of the resources here,bined with her natural talent and this technique, she''d regain her cultivation extremely quickly.

    The foundation of this technique is to turn neutral Qi into elemental Qi, or more specifically, Light Qi. This Light Qi can be used to enhance Light Element techniques and abilities and can also be used in tandem with her Light Dao.

    That''s just the foundation of the technique as well. Although just having Light Qi is more than enough for Maria to want to cultivate it, Sage A didn''t stop there. Instead, she created a way to transform the body into something that can better handle Light Qi and further increase the power of any Light-based techniques or abilities.

    For example, in the Qi Condensation Realm, she''s supposed to integrate the Light Qi into her meridians, creating something akin to Rays of Light in her body. Doing so will allow Qi to flow faster through her meridians while also increasing the efficiency of Light-based abilities and techniques.

    In the Foundation Realm, she integrates Light Qi into the rest of her body, creating something like a Golden Aurora.

    In the Core Formation Realm, she uses this Light Qi to form a Golden Core, which will act as a kind of sun, filling every inch of her body with Light Qi.

    With every transformation, her power and efficiency, affinity with the Light Element, cultivation speed, and purity of her Light Qi is further increased. Her body will also be more flexible and slightly stronger than others at the same cultivation as a benefit of cultivating this technique.

    Her cultivation speed will also increase by several times during the day or in ces filled with Light.

    Of course, there were a few downsides as well. For one, her cultivation speed will be abysmally slow during nighttime or in ces with no light. Her weaknesses will also be more apparent. For example, if someone cultivation Darkness Qi, then she might have a hard time in a battle against them even if she has a higher cultivation. Though, the chances of there being someone like that is extremely low.

    However, Maria felt like the benefits vastly outweighed the demerits of cultivating this technique. To make up for the weaknesses of this technique, she just needs to make her body strong and practice more with the sword.

    The only problem she saw was how the Core Formation Recipe would interact with this new cultivation technique��

    ***

    "Oh? It seems like Mira''s little lover found something interesting. Hmmm�� Primordial Heavenly Lights? What a domineering name! Let''s see here. Oh! Now, this technique is really interesting. Whoever came up with this is a genius! Well, at least for this Mortal World. However, even in the Immortal Realm, these kinds of techniques are quite rare, but I''ve never seen one that transforms the body as well as turns one''s Qi into Elemental Qi. Maybe with this, she won''t face as many problems as those people in the Immortal Realm face when cultivating a technique like this. Alright! I''ve decided! I''ll give you a bit of help, but only because Mira is kind of overpowered now. You''ll need the extra help if you want to keep up with her, Maria!"

    ��

    "Done! Now go get strong so you can support your future wife, Maria. She''ll need it."

    ***

    Suddenly, the Core Formation Recipe in Maria''s mind began changing, and when she saw the contents and instructions, she was stunned.<sub> </sub>

    ''What just happened? Why did the recipe change? Is it because of this technique? But that doesn''t make sense! Wasn''t Mira the one who gave me this technique? She''s not even here, so how can she change it?! Wait! Mira said that she got the recipe from her inheritance. Maybe it has something to do with that? Was there someone like Sage A in the inheritance following Mira around? Is that who gave me the recipe? Well, that would make more sense than Mira giving me one. Oh well, my instincts are telling me that cultivating this technique and using this Core Formation Recipe will bring me endless benefits!'' Maria thought to herself but soon pushed those thoughts out of her mind.

    "Alright, Sage A, I''ll abolish my cultivation and cultivate with this technique going forward. But can you tell me when you think I will reach my current Realm again? I have something important to do in a little under two years, and I need to be at the Core Formation Realm by then." Maria agreed to cultivate the Primordial Heavenly Lights technique, making Sage A ecstatic.

    She didn''t give much thought to Maria''s question and said, "It''ll probably take you a bit over a year to cultivate the technique back to your current Realm. With my cultivation resourcesbined with the vast amount of Light energy in this inheritance space, it shouldn''t take you long. If you hadn''t already cultivated to the Peak of the Foundation Realm, it''d probably take a bit longer, but since you have, it significantly cuts down the time needed. Remember, it''s not like I''m crippling you. I''m just removing your cultivation."

    Maria nodded her head in understanding and said with a resolute expression, "Alright, do it! I''m ready to start cultivating this technique!"

    Sage A nodded and waved her hand.

    When she waved her hand, Maria immediately felt her cultivation regressing!

    Late-Xiantian of the Foundation Realm

    ? Mid-Xiantian of the Foundation Realm

    Low-Xiantian of the Foundation Realm

    Peak-Houtian of the Foundation Realm

    ��

    Low-Houtian of the Foundation Realm

    Stage 9 Qi Condensation

    ��

    Stage 1 Qi Condensation

    Body Tempering Realm: Marrow Tempering

    ��

    Body Tempering Realm: Strength Training

    Mortal!

    In just a few minutes, Maria went all the way from the Peak of the Foundation Realm to a normal Mortal without any strength. Well, that''s not entirely true, as her body was previously tempered with the Magma Dragon Body Technique and isn''t something that can just be taken away.

    However, the strength of her body, even after being tempered, was limited because she is just a normal Mortal without any cultivation. Though, as soon as she reaches the Qi Condensation Realm, her body will regain its previous strength.

    Maria felt incredibly weak and tired at this moment, but she didn''t think too much about it. She sat down and immediately began cultivating. In the Body Tempering Realm, all she has to do is restore her body with Light Qi. Since she''s already sessfully cultivated through this Realm and has all of her meridians opened, she can breeze past this Realm. There are no body transformations in this Realm.

    .

    .

    .

 Chapter 350 Marias Adventures [End]

    Over a yearter, Maria was sitting on the ground surrounded by a golden cocoon. A few minutester, the golden cocoon burst apart, and the pressure of someone at the Peak of the Foundation Realm erupted from her!

    If one were to look inside her body, one would see a golden aurora rippling inside her body with several Rays of Light shing around.

    Maria clenched her fist, feeling more powerful than she did when she was at this Realm over a year ago before she cultivated the Primordial Heavenly Lights technique. She used her Light Transference ability; it felt at least 50% easier to use and was over twice as efficient as before!

    She was happily surprised by this discovery and felt like, with her current strength, she could fight two of herself before she cultivated this technique!

    Then she thought of how much stronger she''ll be after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm and grew excited.

    Sage A, who was watching over Maria, was also satisfied with her sessor''s progress and talent.

    "Great! Now, let me give you the materials needed for the Core Formation Recipe I came up with specifically for this cultivation technique." Sage A said and was about to start taking out the materials before Maria interrupted her.

    "No need, Sage A. I already have my own Core Formation Recipe that should work just fine!" Maria said confidently.

    "Hmph! Brat, don''t joke with me. I''m the one who created this technique. How could you have a Core Formation Recipe better than mine?!" Sage A countered, offended.

    "I''m not lying! Here, let me write it down for you so you can take a look!" Maria quickly wrote down the recipe and handed it to Sage A.

    Although she was skeptical, Sage A decided to humor this unfilial sessor of hers, but when she began reading the recipe, her skepticism turned to shock. When she finished reading, her shock quickly turned to fear and reverence.

    "W-W-Where did you get this recipe, Maria?! Why do the instructions for using this recipe specifically mention the Primordial Heavenly Lights cultivation technique?! This technique isn''t even known to anyone other than you and me! How could anyone else learn of this?!" To be honest, Sage A was terrified right now.

    Although the recipe was something greater than she could ever hope toe up with, that''s not what she was worried about.

    "Hmmm? Ah! That recipe actually changed to what it is currently right before I started cultivating this technique. I''m guessing it has something to do with my friend, but I''m not willing to say more." Maria said lightly, not thinking about it too much. She was hoping Mira would tell her about it when she felt ready.

    Sage A took a few minutes to calm down. She realized that her sessor knew more about this than she did and didn''t look worried about it at all, so she decided to think about thister.

    "Well, we can talk about thister. For now, you must use this recipe! This thing perfectly matches my cultivation technique! If you were to create this Core, you would be a one-of-a-kind genius in the Mortal Cultivation World!"

    Maria nodded, but inwardly she shook her head thinking that Mira would still be more talented than her even with this cultivation technique and Core Formation Recipe.

    Sage A and Maria quickly pulled out all of the materials needed for Maria to form her Core ording to the recipe. Don''t look down on Sage A''s treasure vault. She''s an ancient genius who was once at the peak of the Mortal Cultivation World! The number of treasures she possesses might surpass that of a medium-sized or even a weak Top-grade Sect! Naturally, she should have all the materials Maria needs for her to form her Core ording to the recipe.

    Maria then spent the next few weeks clearing her mind of all thoughts, preparing for her breakthrough. This was a changing point in her life, and she didn''t want anything to go wrong.

    After a few weeks, Maria was finally ready to begin her breakthrough! However, Maria didn''t have an Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life to refine the various treasures for her. Instead, she had Sage A refine the treasures into a pill for her to refine. Well, this was also included in the instructions for the Core Formation Recipe.

    When Sage A finished creating the pill, Maria immediately devoured it and began her breakthrough ording to the instructions.

    A burst of energy erupted from her stomach, and Maria''s breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm began!

    Her body was shrouded in a golden light as various changes started to take ce in her mind, body, and soul!

    Her meridians were being coated in liquid gold. Her dantian was slowly turning into a Golden Core. A small white star was formed in the center of her dantian. A whitish-gold substance flowed through her veins, and her heart turned spherical and changed from fleshy red color to a dense white color.

    A small star-shaped tattoo appeared on her forehead that emitted waves of light. Maria also felt her soul take on a golden hue, though the changes there were much lesserpared to the changes she felt in her body.<sub> </sub>

    On her back, two angel wing tattoos formed, giving Maria the appearance of an angel from Heaven. Though, she didn''t actually sprout wings.

    The breakthrough continued for a few more hours until her dantian hadpleted its transformation into a Golden Core, thus signifying the end of her breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm!

    Maria opened her eyes after she broke through and clenched her fists, feeling the vast amounts of power flowing through her entire body.

    She felt several times more powerful than she did before. Not only that, but the world around her seemed clearer. She felt like she could more easily perceive the mysteries of her Light Dao.

    Maria wished she could fight Mira right now as she felt she could beat her up as long as Mira hadn''t broken through as well.

    A bright smile appeared on her face at that thought, though for some reason, this smile seemed much brighter than before.

    Sage A inspected her sessor and nodded with a satisfied expression on her face. She felt that, with Maria''s current power, she should be able to fight Stage 5 or even Stage 6 Core Formation Realm cultivators just based on aura alone.

    That''s before Maria even consolidated her cultivation! After she consolidates her cultivation, who knows how strong she''ll be.

    "It seems that Core Formation Recipe was even better than I thought it would be. You must thank that friend of yours for giving you this opportunity, Maria. I''m sure she''ll be incredibly surprised by your current power now that you''ve broken through. Maybe she''ll be the one relying on you now instead of the other way around!" Sage A said.

    Maria''s smile changed into a scowl as she shot Sage A a disdainful look.

    "Tch! You know nothing! I''m sure Mira will be at least as strong as me when she forms her core! She''s way more talented than me when ites to cultivating and fighting. I just hope that when you eventually see her, you won''t fall in love with her," Maria spat.

    "Hmph! Me? Fall in love with a junior? What nonsense are you saying now? You do know that I''m just a spirit, right? My physical body has long since died! I''ve been in this state for thousands of years, it won''t be much longer until my spirit eventually vanishes from this world! How could I possibly fall in love given my circumstances?" Sage A scoffed.

    "Bleh! What do you know? My Mira is so beautiful that she can even charm gods and demons with her looks alone! You know what, forget it. You''ll be able to see her in a few months anyway." Maria said before inspecting her body.

    After giving her body a thorough scan, she nodded her head with a smile and then turned to Sage A.

    "Alright, I think it''s about time I leave this ce. Is there anything you need to do before we leave?" Maria asked.

    "Yeah. I''m going to transfer this entire inheritance space into a spatial Ring so you can take me and my inheritance with you on your journey." Sage A said, and Maria nodded her head as they had already talked about this before.

    Sage A didn''t say anything else and teleported Maria out of the inheritance space. Then she unleashed what little power she still had to move the inheritance space inside a spatial ring.

    On Maria''s side, she appeared inside the Luminescent Ridge Forbidden Zone, where she found the inheritance space.

    Suddenly, the space in front of her shook, and her surroundings changed! Now, instead of there being stairs in front of her, all she saw were trees. Then, she noticed a small spatial ring drop to the ground in front of her.

    She hurriedly picked it up and sent her consciousness inside of it before releasing a sigh of relief. She saw the stairs, the golden pce, all of the materials that the inheritance contained, and finally, she saw Sage A sitting on her chair with her eyes closed like she was resting.

    Maria also noticed that her transparent body just became a bit more transparent and knew that she had used up the rest of her power with thatst action.

    Maria wanted to say something, but she decided to wait until Sage A was in better condition, so instead, she felt like now was a good time to test her strength. After testing her newfound strength a bit, she''ll go back to Peacemaker City, then begin heading back to Lunar Fox City to meet up with her parents and wait for Mira to pick up Dominque.

    A beautiful smile appeared on her face thinking about Mira, and with butterflies in her stomach, she ran off to test her strength.

 Chapter 351 Flee

    Back to where Mira was undergoing her Heavenly Punishment Tribtion. Elenei and Rhydian, who had both run far away when Mira called down a Heavenly Tribtion, watched Mira be repeatedly struck down with awe and terror written all over their faces.

    Elenei, the more knowledgeable of the two, knew that what Mira was going through was no ordinary tribtion. In fact, calling down a Heavenly Tribtion for breaking through into the Core Formation Realm is supposed to be impossible. No matter how talented one is or how great of a Core they form, they are ultimately too weak to face the might of Heaven.

    Heaven has no need to waste its power on testing weaklings. After all, not even 1% of geniuses will reach the peak of power just based on the Cultivation World functions. From the Core Formation Realm to the peak of the Mortal Cultivation World, it might take a genius hundreds or even thousands of years to reach that point. That''s thousands of years where something could go wrong and end up costing them their lives.

    Although Elenei didn''t know much about the Heavens nor its rules, she learned from her parents that Heaven doesn''t usually bother interfering with the lives of Mortals. At least not until they reach a certain Realm, then Heaven will begin testing them to see if they are worthy of ascending.

    However, Mira clearly hadn''t reached that point, nor did this Heavenly Tribtion feel like a test. No, it felt like a death sentence!

    From what little she knew, there was another tribtion where Heaven punished those for trying to break its rules. That tribtion was called a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion!

    Clearly, Mira did something that Heaven very much disliked. To the point where the Tribtion it sent down was enough to kill even her, a Mythical Frost-Fire Phoenix who is just about at the pinnacle of strength in the Mortal Cultivation Realms! Even if her cultivation hadn''t quite reached the peak, there should not be many people who could threaten her, yet Heaven sent down such a Tribtion for a Core Formation Realm weakling?!

    It seemed that instead of calling it a ''punishment'', Heaven feared what Mira might be if she were allowed to live!

    Watching Mira struggle to survive, Elenei knew she wouldn''t live to see another day. It''s not that she doubted Mira''s strength or will, but what can Mira do in the face of such power?

    She watched as Mira slowly lost parts of her body, and when that final lightning strike gathered and painted the world red, Elenei knew it was over. Even she would have a hard time surviving that strike, and even if she did, she''d be severely injured or perhaps crippled!

    When the clouds eventually passed, and Elenei could get a good look at the scene, she shook her head when she saw nothing there. After thatst strike, there wasn''t even a corpse or a speck of dust left of Mira''s body!

    However, as the seconds ticked by, the more confused Elenei became.

    She and Mira were essentially soul-bonded, so naturally, if one of them were to die, the other should feel a severe bacsh. However, that bacsh never came.

    Suddenly, Elenei felt a burst of power appear where Mira''s body was, and immediately, the shadow of a tree with a yellow trunk and white and ck leaves appeared.

    That''s when it all started; when Elenei felt her worldview overturning.

    Over the next few minutes, Mira''s once destroyed body was reconstructed, and it was done so by something that Elenei couldn''t identify. No, forget about the object doing the reconstruction; Elenei couldn''t even identify the tree silhouette hovering above Mira''s newly constructed body!

    However, she could tell that Mira''s aura grew with every subsequent burst of power. Not only that, but whatever changes these bursts of power were making to Mira''s body were clearly Heaven-defying.

    Now, the reason for the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion started to make more sense. From the changes she could sense in Mira''s body, she would also probably want to kill Mira if she was in Heaven''s ce. What was happening to her Mira were things that shouldn''t be possible! Even in the Immortal Realm, such a thing isn''t possible!

    Sure, those in the Immortal Realm can form near-perfect Cores during their breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm, but they''d never be able to reconstruct their body like what Mira was undergoing! At most, their talent and affinities would rise exponentially, while their strength also rose, but not nearly as much as the former two.

    However, what Mira was undergoing was aplete rebirth! Every aspect of her body evolved into something better, something more suited for cultivation!

    Even she, a Phoenix, can''t do what Mira just went through when she undergoes Nirvana and is reborn. She especially can''t do so by just making a breakthrough to be a Rank 6 beast. Just take Rhydian as an example. Although she broke through and became a Rank 6 beast, other than her strength and some previously locked abilities, not much has changed. At least, not much inparison to Mira!

    For the next few minutes to an hour, Elenei watched as Mira''s entire existence was altered in such a way that could only be described as perfect.

    Then when the process was over, a naked body was left lying on the ground, unconscious. However, the sheer power radiating from this body was something that a Stage 1 Core Formation Realm cultivator shouldn''t have.

    However, Elenei was taken out of her stupor as she sensed several frightening existences waking up and charging at Mira''s position right now!

    She quickly grabbed Rhydian and Mira with her Qi, dropped them on her back, flew up in the sky, and took off!

    From the auras she just sensed, the peopleing over to investigate were no weaker than her! There was only a handful, but Elenei had no intention of putting herself, Mira, or Rhydian in danger because of some greedy old bags.<sub> </sub>

    If a fight were to break out between her and them, Mira and Rhydian would undoubtedly either die or get captured unless she protected them.

    However, that would severely limit herbat ability, and she would either be severely injured or forced to do something she really didn''t want to do.

    Mira had just been reborn into an unfathomable existence. After she had broken through to the Core Formation Realm, Elenei could now undergo Nirvana to refine her two bloodlines into one, so they stop fighting for control. She can finally progress forward in her cultivation afterward and reunite with her family!

    Even if it''s a disgrace to her bloodline and heritage to run away from a fight, she will do so without hesitation if it means she could finally grow stronger and ascend to be an Immortal Phoenix!

    Her instincts also told her that something special would happen if she underwent Nirvana with Mira''s new powers. She didn''t know what it might be, but she knew it was something extremely beneficial to her.

    So with that in mind, Elenei didn''t hesitate to take Mira and Rhydian away from here and get them to safety.

    ***

    A few seconds after Elenei took Mira and Rhydian away, five old men and three old women appeared above the area where Mira underwent her Heavenly Punishment Tribtion.

    When they appeared, they looked at the scene in front of them with narrowed eyes as there was absolutely no Qi in the surrounding areas. In fact, there was no life at all! Compared to lush green forests and ins around the area, the ce where Mira underwent her Tribtion was now devoid of any signs of life and probably wouldn''t birth anything for at least the next few thousand years.

    "What exactly happened here?" One of the old men muttered.

    "It seems like a Heavenly Tribtion appeared here, but why does it feel different than other Heavenly Tribtions? Usually, Heavenly Tribtions don''t cause the area it appeared above to be devoid of life. Actually, isn''t it the opposite?" Another old man asked.

    "This was no test. This was an execution," An old woman said.

    "What do you mean, you old hag?" A third old man asked rudely, causing the woman''s face to scrunch up in displeasure, but she answered him anyway.

    "One of my n''s ancient texts read that if someone did something that went against Heaven and its rules, then a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion would be sent down to kill them. This scene seems quite simr to what was described in the texts." The old woman said.

    The surroundings went quiet as they took in what the old woman said. They also sent out their senses to try and find any clues as to why this might have happened, but unfortunately, the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion erased any traces that might''ve been left behind.

    Worst of all, they didn''t even know if the person died from the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion! If they were dead, then everything was fine.

    However��

    If they somehow lived��

    A somber look appeared on their faces as they all looked at each other, nodded, and began scouring the surroundings to see if they could find any clues.

    Unfortunately for them, Elenei wasn''t the only one watching over and protecting Mira from any threats far beyond her reach.

    These eight old people spent the next weeks searching the entire continent for any clues regarding this mysterious person who underwent a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion only toe up with nothing.

    In the end, they were forced back into seclusion, where they worked even harder to get stronger as soon as possible as they felt a cmity was about to hit the world, and they wanted to be ready for it.

    ***

    A day after Elenei took Mira and Rhydian away, a low grunt came out of Mira''s mouth as her eyes slowly quivered open.

 Chapter 352 Inspection

    "Ugh��"

    A small grunt leaked out of Mira''s mouth as her eyes quivered. Slowly, her eyespletely opened, revealing to the world a mesmerizing yet terrifying set of crimson eyes with vertical cat-like pupils that exuded an unrestrained bloody pressure.

    The killing intent unconsciously leaking from Mira''s eyes startled Elenei and Rhydian, who were currently flying through the air.

    "Mira! You''re awake?!" Elenei eximed in shock, and even Rhydian looked at Mira in bewilderment.

    "Ugh�� I guess I survived, huh�� Ha�� Haha�� Hahahaha�� HAHAHAHAHA! I SURVIVED! I knew that orb and those items wouldn''t let me die so easily!! I guess my gamble really did pay off!! HAHA! But damn, who knew the Heavens were so overpowered. I thought I was really going to die for a while there." Mira let loose a heartyugh full of various emotions when she realized that she was alive. She was happy, angry, and a bit downcast all at the same time as she understood that she really was nothing but an ant in front of an almighty power like the Heavens.

    She really wanted to start cursing at the Heavens right now, but as she had just narrowly escaped death, she didn''t feel like being struck by lightning again.

    It took her a while toe back to her senses, but before she could say anything or inspect her body, she heard the Guardian''s voice appear in her head.

    "Congrattions on breaking through to the Core Formation Realm and surviving the Heavenly Punishment Tribtion. I thought you would really die for a minute there, but it seems I was worried for nothing! HAHA! Just look at you now! Stronger and more beautiful than ever!"

    Mira had many things she wanted to ask him, but part of her also felt like it was better not to interact with him more than needed. He clearly knew that she would face a Heavenly Punishment Tribtion when she tried breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, but he didn''t bother telling her.

    Of course, she''s not some child that would get mad at him over this. The man clearly stated that he would take a non-interference stance in her life as long as theing troubles weren''t far out of her reach.

    Maybe others would me him for not sharing such crucial information, but Mira didn''t. In fact, she liked the fact that he didn''t interfere in her life more than necessary.

    They both had a mutual respect and understanding for each other. They both knew that if he were to interfere and protect Mira from all external threats, she''d never grow.

    Instead, Mira was more curious about something else.

    "What rules did I break for the Heavens to try and kill me like that? And will the Heavens keep trying to kill me with every subsequent breakthrough? Because if that''s the case, then I''ll surely die, except this time I won''t have the chance to revive." Mira asked.

    "Well, let''s just say that youmitted several taboos by using that orb and those items to breakthrough. For one, your talent is not something that should be allowed under Heaven''s rule, but if it was only that, you probably could''ve survived the Tribtion with just your strength alone. What the Heavens were truly furious about was that orb that merged with your dantian. Let''s just say that there''s a lot more to that orb than it simply acting as a furnace for your breakthrough." The Guardian said, but he didn''t reveal more information than necessary.

    Mira nodded and didn''t ask anything else, understanding that he wasn''t willing to share any more information. She was already satisfied, knowing the benefits that orb would bring weren''t over yet.

    Mira then began inspecting all the changes that her breakthrough caused in her body and couldn''t help but be a bit shocked.

    Although she expected major changes, she didn''t think they''d be so big! She didn''t even look or feel human anymore!

    Well, feeling the 9 tails on her backside and the furry fox ears on her head, she knew that she had definitely stopped being human. However, she wasn''t sure if it was correct to call her a demi-human either.

    She seemed more like a mythical beast that had taken human form, but that also wasn''t quite right since she wasn''t born a beast, nor could she instinctually feel the ability to transform into one.

    Instead, she felt more like a perfect fusion between a human and a beast. She kept most of her human features but gained a few beastly features as well.

    Mira could also tell that she didn''t have the body of a little girl anymore! Finally! Her current body is actually simr to the body she had in the World Tree Seed trial.

    She''s over two meters tall with long silvery-blue hair with ck highlights. She has two silvery-blue fox ears on her head and nine different colored tails. The colors are white, silvery-white, icy blue, pinkish blue, pink, turquoise, gold, sapphire, and ck.<sub> </sub>

    These tails weren''t normal either. They were like nine extra limbs on her body! Each tail contained massive amounts of energy, and any random swing from one of them could contain the strength of Mira''s full-powered punch.

    The colors on each tail also represented their different properties and effects. For example, the gold tail was much heavier than the others and was definitely the most dangerous in a physical confrontation. Maybe even stronger than her actual body!

    Her body was incredibly toned, and she could only think of one word to describe her body: perfect.

    She had long legs and arms, a t stomach that showed her abs, and about C-cup-sized breasts that wouldn''t get in the way when she was fighting.

    She didn''t have that perfect hourss figure that many women desire, but she had a body that looked incredibly domineering and was perfect forbat. One could say that her body matched her personality almost perfectly.

    However, what surprised her a bit were the ck runes running down both sides of her body. The ck runes started at the base of the backside of her neck and ran down her shoulders, arms, torso, hips, and legs. They also ran down her spine to her waist.

    Though Mira described them as runes, she actually had no idea if they were or not. She just assumed they were runes, but they looked more like tattoos that only added more to her domineering beauty.

    Those were just the changes to her outward appearance! When she inspected the inside of her body, she could barely recognize herself! Her blood was no longer red but instead icy-blue with specks of gold. Her bones were ck iid with gold. Her organs and muscles were still red, but they looked more like magma than organs and muscles!

    Her skin even changed from the abnormally white skin she had before to something a bit more tan, giving her a more wild and exotic beauty.

    Her heart was made up of the same colors as her tail and continuously pumped her Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Bloodline to the rest of her body, filling her entire body with strength.

    She also noticed that her meridians had undergone a massive change. There was no longer just her Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Principle Meridians. Now, there were thousands of meridians filling her body! They branched out from her dantian like a tree reaching every part of her body, including her soul!

    Her meridians also weren''t just one color. They were constantly changing colors, probably due to the Chaotic Silk properties.

    She also realized that Qi seemed to flow through her meridians seamlessly. As long as she willed it, the Qi inside her dantian would instantly pass through her meridians to the desired location.

    There were also array runes integrated all along her meridians and dantian, subconsciously pulling in the atmospheric Qi.

    Mira also felt like she had begun cultivating the Water Body Transformation Technique, but she''d have to revisit that thoughtter as there are currently more things she needs to check out. Mainly her mind and soul.

    When she woke up, she felt like the world around her was much clearer. The mysteries of Heaven and Earth seemed more open to her, and her ability toprehend these mysteries went up several notches.

    However, when she inspected her mind, she didn''t see anything different, so she could only shrug her shoulders and move on to her soul.

    When she inspected her Soul Sea, she noticed that there were meridians in it as well. The majority of them just weaved around the edges of her Soul Sea, but there was a particrlyrge one that attached itself to a bubble in the middle of her Soul Sea. This bubble actually contained her new scythe!

    When she saw her scythe, she was ecstatic! Although it seemed like it regressed in rank and power as it was once a Mid-Stage Earth Grade Scythe, and now it was�� well, a Stage 1 Core Formation Scythe, it''s actually much more powerful than it was before Mira''s breakthrough.

    Her scythe also looks quite different than it did before. Now, it has an icy blue de, a silver shaft with blue runes running down it lengthwise, and an icy-blue point at the bottom of the shaft.

    All of these were just some of the changes that Mira could see both inside and outside her body and soul. She could also feel her affinity towards the elements had increased, and her Physique had changed or evolved into something else as well.

    However, she''d have to explore these things more in-depthter. Right now, she needed to ask Elenei some questions and also go pick up Dominque back in Lunar Fox City.

 Chapter 353 Back At Lunar Fox City

    After Mira understood her new body, she turned to Elenei and asked, "How long was I out? And why are we in the air right now?"

    When Elenei heard Mira''s voice, she was confused at first as she didn''t remember Mira sounding so mature!

    That''s when she realized that she hadn''t gotten a good look at Mira''s new body, so she turned her head around and saw an unparalleled naked beauty with nine fox tails and two fox ears staring back at her with those deadly crimson eyes which unconsciously leaked out killing intent.

    Elenei was so stunned for a second that she almost forgot to fly!

    "M��Mira? Is that really you? Why do you look like that?! What''s with those tails?!" Elenei frantically asked, but Mira crossed her arms and remained quiet. She wanted her questions answered first.

    Seeing this, Elenei coughed a few times and would be blushing in embarrassment if she wasn''t in her Phoenix form.

    "Ahem! Excuse me for that sudden outburst, but the difference between the current you and the previous you is just too huge that I couldn''t help but be surprised. Anyways, I''d say you were only unconscious for around a day. We are in the air right now because your Heavenly Punishment Tribtion caused quite themotion and attracted some terrifyingly powerful beings to your location. If those old folks were to catch wind of you, they would either outright kill you or force you to be their disciple. Well, given your current looks and power, there''s also the chance they''d want to take you away to turn you into ab rat."

    Mira snorted but didn''tment. Although it was true that such actions disgusted her, it was also true that she was currently too weak to do anything about it.

    "Hmph! If those weaklings dared to force you to be their disciple, I''d let them know the true meaning of despair, consequences be damned!"

    Mira heard the Guardian''s disdainful voice in her mind, causing her expression to turn strange.

    ''Why? Do you wish to be my ''master'' that badly?'' Mira asked.

    "While that would be amusing�� No, I have no intention of being your master, nor am I suitable for such a role. Remember, you are the sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life. You need no master, and nobody in all the Realms is capable of teaching you anything anyways. Your path is differentpared to others, and it''s your duty to traverse this path. The Firmament will help you pave the way, but everything is ultimately up to you," the Guardian exined, but Mira didn''t understand what he meant.

    He could easily see through her thoughts but didn''t say anything as she''ll find out what he meant soon enough.

    "I see. Well, thank you for taking us away before anything happened, Elenei," Mira said, but her words nearly caused Elenei to drop out of the sky.

    ''WHAT?! What did she just say?! Did she just say thank you?! Not once in all my time with Mira have I ever heard her say those words!'' Elenei thought with shock.

    When Mira felt Elenei''s reaction, she realized she had said something she normally wouldn''t have and knew she was slowly changing into a different person after undergoing those item trials.

    However, she didn''t say anything and instead asked Elenei, "Where are we going? You''re not just taking us to some random part of the continent, are you?"

    "What? Of course not! We''re on our way to Lunar Fox City. You said you needed to pick someone up there, and you would also meet up with Maria. It''s also a good ce for me to undergo my Nirvana as there won''t be any powerhouses in the area that could sense it."

    Mira let out a sigh of relief when she heard Elenei. There currently wasn''t much time left until the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch starts this year''s disciple recruitment. Although Lunar Fox City is quite far from the Main Branch, even without Elenei''s help, Rhydian should be more than fast enough to get her there on time.

    Mira also really didn''t want to leave Dominque behind in Lunar Fox City. She''s the only disciple she''s ever taken in throughout all of her lives. How can she leave her just like that?

    "Good. However, you should speed up a bit as we are a bit short on time," Mira said to which Elenei nodded and immediately sped up.

    Mira used this time to put on some clothes, though it seems she''ll have to buy all new clothes as none of her robes or dresses fit her anymore with her new body.

    As a substitute, Mira used her ice to create a set of clothes to cover up her body andyered the outside in Yin Magma, so it wasn''t see-through.

    However, that''s when she noticed something weird. The dress she made was lined with tiny ck runes, simr to those on her body.<sub> </sub>

    Mira knew this was somehow rted to her breakthrough, but she didn''t know what these ck runes did, nor did she understand their purpose.

    She wanted to see whether these ck runes would always be there or if it was just a one-time thing she did unconsciously, so Mira began creating all sorts of objects with not just her ice but Yin Fire, Lightning, and Magma as well. She also tested it with just her normal Qi as well.

    However, no matter what she did or created, everything was lined with small ck runes, but when she tried interacting with these runes, nothing happened.

    This was very peculiar, but Mira decided to test the effects of these ck runester because her instincts told her are extremely vtile.

    So, for the next few hours, Mira spent her time reviewing the Water Body Transformation Technique because she felt like her body now had a growing affinity for Water.

    "We''re here!" Elenei announced whilending on the ground, waking Mira up from her study session.

    Mira and Rhydian got off Elenei and immediately noticed Lunar Fox City just a few kilometers away.

    Mira was about to tell Elenei to stay in her Soul Sea, but before she could speak, something extraordinary happened.

    Elenei''s giant Phoenix body was surrounded by a bright light for a few seconds before the light, and the Phoenix disappeared before Mira''s very eyes. However, what was in its ce was an incredibly beautiful tall woman with vibrant red hair, sapphire blue Phoenix-shaped eyes, plump round breasts, and icy-blue Phoenix wings on her back, all wrapped in a beautiful blue dress with a Phoenix and a Dragon embroidered on it.

    Both Mira and Rhydian didn''t know what to think of this and could only stare at this scene with their mouths agape.

    The woman turned to look at the two of them and furrowed her brows a bit, " What? Did you guys think I couldn''t change into a human form? Well, normally, I disdain the thought of polymorphing into my Human form as I believe my Phoenix form is much more beautiful and majestic. But this might be thest time I''m able to change into my human form for a while, so I thought I''d transform just this once before undergoing my Nirvana."

    Mira and Rhydian stared at her for a while, both having their own thoughts about this situation, before Mira shook her head and began walking toward Lunar Fox City.

    "Well, whatever. We might attract a bit of attention with our appearances, but it''s not like anyone in this city can do anything to us even if they all ganged up together. Come on, let''s go. I can sense that both Maria and Dominque are in the city already." The thought of meeting Maria again made Mira''s tails sway, and her ears twitch.

    Elenei noticed this but didn''t say anything and just followed next to Mira.

    "Oh, Mira. You might want to reel in the pressure exuding from your eyes. You might identally kill everyone you look at in this city if you don''t." Elenei said, but it''s not like she cared about the people of this city.

    She just felt it would be a pity for such a nice city to face its destruction all because Mira couldn''t control her powers properly.

    Mira stopped for a second, examined her eyes real quick, and realized that she was actually exuding a strong bloody aura out of her eyes. She quickly reigned it in as she didn''t want to identally kill Dominque.

    She also made sure that the rest of her body wasn''t exuding any strange pressure that might identally kill Dominque or injure Maria.

    However, even after controlling her aura, she still couldn''t change how effective and deadly her eyes were on those with weaker wills and strength than her.

    When Mira''s group walked up to the entrance of the city, all it took was one nce from her crimson eyes to make the guards unconscious.

    There''s also the fact that Mira could feel the lust deep in their eyes when they looked at her, so she may have been a little rough on them. However, that was already strange because normally, Mira would''ve straight up killed them for daring to look at her like that, but right now, she wasn''t even thinking about that.

    Right now, her mind was filled with Maria.

 Chapter 354 Reunion

    Mira, Elenei, and Rhydian casually walked around Lunar Fox City without bothering to conceal themselves or their identities. However, nobody dared to approach them because�� well, although they were incredibly beautiful, the aura radiating off them was terrifying.

    Frankly, most people were more afraid of the wolf than the two beauties, though the ones that identally looked into Mira''s eyes would think otherwise. If one looked into her eyes for too long, they''d see things that would make ordinary people''s minds copse.

    Fortunately, Mira withheld her bloody aura, or else the weaker-willed and ordinary people of Lunar Fox City might copse, never to wake up again.

    Elenei didn''t do or say anything as they walked through the city toward the Zaria residence where Maria and Dominque are located.

    In fact, to everyone in the city, she was the least threatening of the three. Even if the City Lord came, he woulde to the same conclusion. However, that doesn''t mean he''d try and fight them. As the City Lord, he naturally knows that Rank 8 beasts can take on a human.

    He can barely handle a Rank 6 beast. How could he possibly deal with a Rank 8 beast?! He might die from the bacsh of trying to hit them!

    Mira paid no attention to her surroundings as her mind was entirely focused on her reunion with Maria and Dominque. It''s been such a long time since she''s felt this way, so she''s not quite sure what to do.

    Is what she''s feeling, love? She doesn''t know.

    Fortunately, or unfortunately, Lunar Fox City is a small city, and it wasn''t long before Mira''s group appeared in front of the Zaria residence.

    Mira woke up from her stupor when she noticed she was in front of the Zaria residence. From here, she could easily sense Maria and Dominque''s aura and scent. It was quite an odd feeling being able to smell them from such a distance, but she just attributed it to her new beastly characteristics.

    However, that''s when she fully realized she was part beast, or at least not human anymore! Of course, she had noticed this before, but she didn''t think much of it. She''s never been one to care about what race she was. As long as she got stronger and didn''t look like an ugly monster, she didn''t care what she became.

    However, that''s just how she thinks! What would Maria think when she sees her tails and ears?

    Inwardly, Mira panicked a little as she didn''t want Maria to hate her for something like this, but outwardly, Mira''s expression didn''t change.

    Fortunately, her mind has been continuously tempered over thest few years, so she could regain herposure in just a second or two.

    Mira nced at the two trembling guards, but it seemed her gaze was a bit more than they could handle, and they fell unconscious.

    Now, her face showed signs of panic as she quickly reeled in any possible aura that might be leaking out of her eyes and body.

    She thought she reigned it all in before, but it seems it wasn''t enough.

    However, after inspecting herself more, Mira concluded that even if she could control the bloody auraing out of her eyes, her gaze was still more than enough for weak people''s minds to copse.

    Part of this has to do with her evolution when she broke through to the Core Formation Realm, but most of it stemmed from the fact that she''s just killed too many beings. A normal person couldn''t withstand the burden of even a fraction of the number of deaths she''s caused, so it''s only natural that their minds copse when they experience it.

    Mira looked at this scene and sighed. She was going to ask these guards to go tell Maria that she was here, but now that they were knocked unconscious, she didn''t feel like waking them up to perform such a menial task.

    Mira turned away from the guards and walked towards the mansion.

    Just as she was about to announce her arrival, the front door shot open, and a beautiful busty blonde appeared with a bright smile.

    "MIRA-eh?"

    The girl was about to jump and embrace Mira in arge hug but stopped herself when she noticed that what appeared in front of her when she opened the door wasn''t a small loli with an emotionless face, but instead a tall domineering beauty with nine tails and fox ears.

    Mira showed a small smile, took a step forward, and then swiftly wrapped her arms around her in a gentle hug.

    "Nice to see you again, Maria."

    ��

    Maria''s brain shortcircuited when she was swept up in a hug and heard the mature and sexy voice of the woman in front of her. She knew that the woman in front of her was Mira, as she''d never mistake Mira for someone else no matter what form she took, but the differences between the Mira she knew two years ago versus the Mira who''s now hugging her were too much for her brain toprehend in a short amount of time.

    Mira could easily see through her thoughts, so she just whispered, "It''s really me. If you still have some doubts, look behind me. I brought Rhydian and Elenei with me, though Elenei is currently in her human form, so you might not recognize her."

    Those words dissuaded any of Maria''s doubts as only three people knew of Elenei. Mira, Cine, and herself. Thatbined with the golden wolf standing behind her, Maria knew that the woman embracing her was Mira.<sub> </sub>

    "MIRA!"

    Maria returned the hug and shoved her face into Mira''s chest as thetter was nearly a head taller.

    <o>,m The two stayed like that for a while before Maria let go and immediately began inspecting Mira''s body, specifically her tails and ears.</o>

    "Woah! You have tails and fox ears now! SO CUTE!" Maria eximed and reached out to stroke Mira''s fluffy tails.

    Before Mira could say anything, she felt a shiver run up her spine when she felt Maria rubbing her tails.

    As Mira was lost in the sensation of having her tails rubbed by the one she held affection toward, Maria reached for her fox ears and began caressing them.

    "Mmmmm." A soft moan unconsciously left Mira''s mouth, but she quickly closed her mouth, hoping Maria didn''t notice.

    Unfortunately, Maria''s hearing is much better now that she broke through to the Core Formation Realm, and when she heard Mira''s soft moan, her mind went nk.

    She felt like she just heard something she wasn''t supposed to, yet for some reason, she wanted to hear more.

    So, whether she did it consciously or unconsciously, she began stroking Mira''s ears and tails at the same time.

    Mira had to bite her lips to prevent herself from releasing any weird noises. After a dozen seconds of this, Mira knew she wouldn''tst much longer, so she decided to try taking Maria''s mind off of her for a second.

    "Mmm-Maria, I think that''s enough for now. I would like to see Dominique. We can talk about my new appearanceter."

    Maria released a smile when she heard Mira slur her name in a half-moan, but she did as Mira said and stopped rubbing her tails and ears.

    "Alright! Let''s go meet with Dominque! I''m sure the girl will be ecstatic now that you''re finally here. You two cane inside as well." Maria said and led Mira''s group inside the mansion.

    Meanwhile, as the four of them were walking inside the mansion, Sage A was observing them from inside Maria''s spatial ring and couldn''t help but be shocked.

    Although her senses aren''t nearly as strong as they were back when she still had a physical body, they aren''t weak either.

    However, when she tried to probe Mira, she felt something that scared the absolute shit out of her. She felt she was looking at a primordial bloodthirsty demon who thrived on blood and death when she tried probing Mira.

    Mira felt someone probing her and narrowed her eyes as she nced in the direction she felt the probe. When she noticed that it came from Maria''s ring, she stopped paying attention to it, but not before sending whoever tried probing her a threatening gaze.

    Sage A had cold sweat dripping down her back as she realized she was caught red-handed. So, instead of bothering Mira, she focused her attention on the phoenix-like woman behind her.

    However, she didn''t even get a chance to do anything before she felt the woman staring directly into her soul. Then she heard a voice in her head, absolutely shocking her.

    "It seems like you''ve grown senile ever since you lost your body, but let me give you a piece of advice considering you are that Maria girl''s fortuitous encounter. If you want to live out the rest of your life peacefully, you should be careful who you probe."

    Sage A repeatedly nodded and was now drenched in a cold sweat. She wanted to probe the golden wolf walking next to the phoenix-like woman as she could tell it wasn''t simple either, but she decided to take Elenei''s advice and stop before she really died.

    However, before she could sit back and rx, she heard an incredibly ancient and powerful voice appear in her mind, which almost killed her on the spot.

    "Oh? So you''re the one who created that cultivation technique? Why don''t we have a little chat? Hahaha~"

    Sage A couldn''t even control her body as she was forcibly teleported out of Maria''s ring into apletely different location.

    Her only thought during all this was:

    ''What the fuck is wrong with this group?! Maria, please don''t die on me! I want to see what heights you can bring the Primordial Heavenly Lights technique!''

    Unfortunately, nobody could hear her thoughts, but they probably wouldn''t care even if they did.

    Maria led Mira''s group into a bedroom where a small girl who looked like she was in her early teens with royal blue hairy.

 Chapter 355 Reunion With Dominque

    When Miraid her eyes upon the sleeping Dominique, her eyes couldn''t help but soften a bit. How could she not? The girl saw her as a mother figure. Before she went through those trials, she might''ve looked at her with the same indifferent eyes she looks at everyone with, but she is trying to get better with that now.

    During all those years she spent in those item trials, especially the Legendary Ice Beast Blood Essence trial, she''se to understand that only caring about power is incredibly dull! Although she loves power and the benefits thate with it, she''d also like to have something or someone to apany her on such a long journey to the peak of power.

    If she''s too indifferent to those that care for her, she might end up pushing them farther away if she shows no signs of changing.

    Mira might not care about that kind of stuff at the moment, but she knew she would undoubtedly care about things like this as she grows older and more powerful.

    Having people around her can also keep her grounded, something she desperately needs, but she didn''t know it until she underwent those item trials.

    Well, even though her disposition may have changed, Mira also knows just how important having power is. Whether it be in a world where money is power or in the Cultivation World where might makes right.

    Essentially, the more powerful you are, the more freedom you have. The richest man in a world run by money can do pretty much anything and get away with it.

    In this Cultivation World, this truth is even more prevalent. The strongest people in the world can actually do whatever they want, and nobody weaker can stop them. If they want you dead, then you die. If they want something you have, then you don''t have any other choice than to give it up. Nobody can stop if they want to have sex with someone else''s romantic partner.

    Power and freedom go hand in hand, but unfortunately, one cannot have freedom without power.

    Mira, who has been at the whims of the powerful for so long, understands this truth more than anyone else. She longs for that kind of freedom. The freedom to do whatever the fuck she wants, and nobody can tell her otherwise!

    Maybe once she reaches that point, she''ll be able to be truly happy. However, until then, she''ll have to keep pushing herself and those around her to their limits.

    Once Mira reached that point in her thinking, she felt her mind lighten up. She gazed at Dominque''s sleeping face, sat down next to her, and began stroking her head.

    Suddenly, Dominque''s eyes shot open when she felt an unfamiliar hand touch her. She didn''t feel any danger as she could sense Maria nearby, nor did she sense any ill-intent from the hand that touched her.

    So, instead of getting up, she just turned her head to look at who was touching her but immediately froze when she gazed upon the most beautiful woman she''s ever seen. Although Maria is quite the beauty, she still feels like a mortal. However, the woman petting her could only be described as ethereal.

    There''s only one person she''s met in this world who had a face that came close to this person''s, and seeing how Maria apanied her, Dominque began putting two and two together.

    "Mother��?" A slightly uncertain voice left her mouth.

    When Mira heard the word that came out of Dominque''s mouth, a small smile grew on her face, and she nodded. Maybe in the past, she would be reluctant to ept such a title. Well, she still is, and part of her feels unworthy of bing someone''s adoptive mother, but she felt like it''d be better for Dominique if she epted her role as the girl''s mother. She didn''t want to deprive the child of a mother''s love that Dominque so desperately desired. A love that Mira had long forgotten and experienced until she was forcefully reminded during her time in the trials.

    Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, and even the Guardian almost missed it, a minuscule portion of Mira''s Blood Essence, soul, and another unknown energy, shot out of Mira''s body and into Dominque''s. The damage done to her body was healed instantly, making Mira none the wiser.

    "Mm. It''s me, Mira. It seems you''ve grown quite a bit over thest few years. I''m sorry for abandoning you so soon after we met, but I''m here now and will be in the future. You''ll have to tell me about all you''ve experienced over thest few years," Mira said while gently stroking Dominque''s head.

    "Mother! You''re finally back! Uwaaaaahh!" Dominque shot up and dove straight into Mira''s arms, crying.

    Luckily, Mira was prepared for such a situation and partially removed parts of her ice armor to avoid making the girl ufortable.

    The others watched this scene and were surprised. Not only were they surprised by how quickly Dominque''s demeanor changed, but also by how Mira handled the situation. Right now, she looked more like a loving mother rather than her usual cold, indifferent self.

    Maria turned to Elenei and couldn''t help but ask, "What happened during the time we were separated? Why does Mira seem like an almostpletely different person? Well, it''s not like I''mining. I''m just curious."<sub> </sub>

    Elenei stared at Maria for a few seconds before answering, "I�� don''t really know. For the first nine or ten months, she ughtered people left and right for no particr reason other than because she could. However, she disappeared for almost an entire year, then came back and seemed like a different person. But it wasn''t until she broke through to the Core Formation Realm did she really feel like a different person. If you want to know the details, you''ll have to ask Mira."

    Maria squinted her eyes but didn''t say anything and just nodded. She would be lying if she said she wasn''t worried, but her intuition told her that the Mira in front of her was the same Mira she''s known all these years.

    ''I guess I can only hope Mira talks to me about what''s going on.'' Maria thought to herself before throwing these thoughts to the back of her head.

    Ten minutester, Dominque finally calmed down, and she was finally able to get a good look at Mira''s body. However, her eyes were immediately drawn to her tails and ears.

    "Woah! Mother, how''d you get those tails and ears? Will I be able to grow tails when I get stronger? Do these tails serve another purpose other than being cute and soft? Wait! Now that I''ve gotten a good look at you, you''re eyes look fox-like as well!! Have you always been part fox?" One question after another flowed out of Dominque''s mouth, causing Mira''s eyebrows to twitch a bit.

    Dominique even began caressing and stroking her tails, but fortunately, Mira didn''t feel the same sensation she felt when Maria did it.

    Seeing this, the smile on Maria''s face grew, and she really wanted to rub Mira''s tails to hear those�� ahem�� lewd noises again.

    Mira felt Maria''s gaze intensify slightly, but she acted like she didn''t and answered Dominque''s questions, "Let''s just say that my situation is a bit unique. No, I was 100% human before I broke through to the Core Formation Realm. I''ll go into more detail about the processter. However, I can assure you that my tails are crazy strong. Do you see that golden one? That tail weighs more than enough to cause the entire residence and everyone in it to turn into nothing more than dust. My other tails may not weigh as much as that one and have other uses, but they are still more than enough to wreak havoc on the surroundings based on physical strength alone."

    Dominque wasn''t the only one who froze at those words, but everyone except Elenei froze and immediately stared at Mira''s tails with slight fear in their eyes.

    While others may not know, Elenei knew that the tails of nine-tailed foxes are all terrifyingly strong. It''s actually those tails that allow nine-tailed foxes to fight evenly with Mythical bloodline beasts even though they are only Legendary Grade.

    Well, most nine-tailed foxes are supposed to only be Legendary Grade, but Mira''s bloodline feels stronger than that, even though Elenei can feel her bloodline hadn''t quite reached the levels of a Mythical beast bloodline.

    Mira could feel Maria''s slightly fearful gaze on her tails and turned her head slightly to look at her, then released a predatory grin, showing off her canines, for a second before returning her attention to Dominque.

    Maria saw this and felt somewhat ashamed, yet at the same time provoked. However, she didn''t do anything and decided to wait until the two of them were alone to get her ''revenge''.

    Dominque was about to pull her hands away from Mira''s tails as she didn''t want to identally turn into meat paste, but Mira swiftly wrapped her lightest tail around her, preventing her from escaping.

    "No! Mother! Put me down! How could you trick me into thinking your tails were so cute and fluffy?! If I knew your tails were so meaty, I never would''ve touched them!" Dominque yelled as she tried to escape from Mira''s ''meaty'' tails.

    Mira''s lips twitched, and she replied, "You brat. You were just enjoying how soft and fluffy my tails were a second ago, but now you''re calling them meaty? I''ll have you know that they are only so heavy because not only are they filled with energy, but theirpositions are quite unique. Here, I''ll even prove to you how soft they are!"

    Mira then shoved Dominque into her eight other tails and forced her to melt into the soft and fluffy sensation that her nine tails provide!

    Feeling such aforting sensation, Dominque had to admit that Mira''s tails really are unparalleled in terms of softness andfort. However, she couldn''t fully enjoy it because��

    "...Mudder�� pwease�� stawp��"

    ��she was suffocating.

    Mira chuckled and removed Dominque from her tails. From then on, the two of them yed around a bit more before they were interrupted by something��

 Chapter 356 [Bonus Chapter]Teasing

    When Mira sensed peopleing in her direction, her expression went from gentle and yful to neutral. She may havee to ept these new emotions she''s feeling, but that doesn''t mean everyone is worthy of seeing them.

    At her very core, she''s still the same Mira who would ughter men, women, and children alike if it aligned with her goals.

    However, when she saw who it was, her face was no longer so cold.

    When she looked over towards the doorway, she saw two people who looked oddly simr to Maria. Naturally, these two are Maria''s parents, Erika and Cole Zaria!

    A few minutes ago, they just got a report that two unknown beast-like individuals entered the residence along with a giant golden wolf. When they heard this, they immediately stopped whatever they were doing and ran over to where these people werest spotted.

    They were a little suspicious since they could also feel Maria in that direction. They also knew from Maria that Mira was supposed to visit the city and possibly the house at some point, but the Mira they knew didn''t have fox tails, so they didn''t corrte this incident with her.

    However, now that they had finally seen the two beast-like beings, they were too shocked to say anything. Even Erika couldn''t help but stare in shock and awe at the two beauties in front of her.

    Of course, this is only natural for those with such powerful bloodlines, especially the Phoenix and nine-tailed fox species; they are some of the most beautiful creatures in the universe, after all.

    Everyone just stared at each other for a while before Maria coughed in embarrassment and decided to break the ice.

    "Ahem! Mom, Dad, you remember Mira, right? Well, this is her! However, don''t ask me why she looks like this because she just got here and we haven''t had any time to talk. The woman over there with the wings is Elenei, and well�� let''s just say she''s a good friend of ours. As for that golden wolf, that''s Rhydian, Mira''s beastpanion."

    Even after Maria said all that, the two of them still couldn''t help trying topare the being in front of her to the Mira they knew.

    Of course, they found some simrities. However, nothing else looked the same except her face, eyes, and aura.

    Mira stood up to properly greet them, with her tail still wrapped around Dominique of course, and maybe it was due to Mira''s height, but the two of them felt like a mighty being was looking at them.

    "Erika, Cole, I see those trials benefited your cultivation greatly. Stage 2 Core Formation Realm, not bad." Mira looked them up and down, causing their bodies to tremble, feeling such a dangerous and predatory gaze roaming their bodies.

    They could tell from that gaze alone that they stood no chance in a fight against the being in front of them.

    "Mira! Stop bullying my parents! Look at how pitiful they are, trembling from your gaze alone! Why didn''t you guys react like that whenever I looked at you? I might be slightly weaker than Mira, but I''m more than strong enough to beat the two of you up!" Maria said while looking at them with an aggrieved expression causing her parent''s mouths to twitch.

    The two of them red at Maria before coughing to change the subject.

    "Ahem! I see! I see! So you''re Mira! You grew up to be quite the beauty, huh? Well, I always knew you would with that face of yours. Though I must say, you gave my family quite the scare with how you just strolled inside the residence. Anyways, it''s good to see you again after all these years." As Cole spoke, he felt his wife and daughter look at him with sinister eyes, especially when heplimented Mira''s beauty��

    Mira, on the other hand, ignored thepliments and said, "It''s not my fault that your guards are so weak that they fainted before I could even tell them to go fetch you."

    Cole''s eyebrows now started twitching, and he quickly changed the subject, "Ah! I just remembered I still have work to do, so I''ll let you guys catch up. We can talk moreter!"

    After he said that, Cole ran off under the judgemental stares of his wife and daughter.

    Erika regained herposure and stared at Mira and Elenei for a second before asking, "So, what''s up with the tails and wings and stuff? Were you always part fox? Or is this some kind of mutation?"

    Mira replied, "Well, for me, this is because I recently acquired a bloodline and the way it merged with my body was quite unique, so it turned out like this."

    Erika could take a hint and could tell that Mira wasn''t willing to say anymore regarding this, so instead, she said, "Well, it seems like you got much stronger from it. Anyways, since when did you be such a hotty?! Is this also because of your bloodline, or are you just a natural beauty? You know, I''m sure if you were to walk around looking like this, you''d attract the attention of both males and females alike. How are you going to deal with such situations as I''m sure they will happen quite frequently in the future?"

    When Mira heard Erika''s words, her expression turned mischievous, like that of a fox, and she walked up to her and said, "Oh? What are you trying to say, Mrs. Zaria? In front of your daughter, no less."<sub> </sub>

    Mira tilted Erika''s chin up and stared at her directly in the eyes. Erika blushed slightly before pushing Mira''s hand away, then stared back at Mira while ignoring the angry look on her daughter''s face.

    "I''m serious, Mira. You can''t just kill every person that stares at you, can you? How are you going to prevent all the troubles that will eventuallye your way? I don''t think a simple mask will be able to cover up your beauty now that you look like this."

    Mira didn''t answer her immediately and instead walked over to Maria before swiftly picking her up in a princess carry.

    "Kyaa~" Maria yelped, not knowing what was going on.

    "I think you''re asking the wrong person here, Mrs. Zaria. You should really be asking this little girl what she''ll do when all those peoplee proposing to me, wanting me to be their wife."

    "Eh?"

    "Eh?"

    Maria and Erika said in surprise, but Maria''s entire face went beet red immediately after, and she buried her head in Mira''s bosom to try and hide her embarrassment.

    Erika was surprised by Maria''s reaction but then gave her a knowing look and said, "I see. Well, I''ll let you girls catch up with each other. It''s good to see you''re doing well, Mira."

    Erika waved goodbye and left.

    The room fell silent for a while, and it became slightly awkward, but Mira didn''t like wasting time by simply standing around doing nothing, so instead, she carried Dominque and Maria over to the bed.

    She made Maria sit in herp and put Dominque to her side while lightly wrapping her in her tails.

    "Why don''t you tell me all that happened over thest few years, Dominque?" Mira asked lightly.

    "Okay, Mother!" Dominque said excitedly before sharing her story.

    She talked about her experiences in the Trial, which weren''t too far off from Mira''s expectations. However, she was surprised by how skilled Dominque had be with her dual Butterfly Swords.

    Mira also learned that Dominque has an affinity for the Water element, but she wasn''t too shocked by this discovery. However, she was happy because she would be able to offer some help if Dominique ever had any questions about the water element.

    Well, after she broke through to the Core Formation Realm, Mira can feel that she has at least some affinity toward most of the eight elements, excluding light. She also has the Water Body Transformation Technique, which Dominque should be able to make better use of than her considering her affinity with water.

    Other than that, Mira learned that Dominique had just entered the broke through to the Foundation Realm not long ago, which Mira was happy about. She could also tell that Dominque''s foundation when she broke through was incredibly solid. Though it seems Dominque has been training hard every day to reach her current strength.

    Part of Mira felt bad that Dominque was working so hard for her sake, but she knew that this was necessary. If Dominque wants to follow her, she has to be strong.

    As for the rewards that Dominque got from the trial, it seems she went a different routepared to what she and Maria wanted for rewards. Of course, for her first reward, she took a pair of dual Low-Grade Earth Rank Butterfly Swords.

    However, it seems the Caretaker took a liking to her and gave her a few bonus rewards. So, she obtained the strongest Water Elemental Essence he had, an ancient Water Cultivation Technique, a few weapon techniques, and even a few body tempering pills.

    However, when she asked Dominique if she could take a look at the Cultivation and weapon techniques, the girl shook her head and refused. She said she wanted to surprise Mira.

    Unfortunately for Dominque, Mira has a near-omnipotent being in her Soul Sea and decided to ask him. The Guardian said that the technique Dominque was cultivating was very good and suited for the little girl.

    That''s all Mira needed to hear, so she stopped worrying about it and continued listening to Dominque''s story until the little girl eventually fell asleep due to the long, eventful, and peaceful day.

 Chapter 357 *Title At The Bottom*

    Noticing that Dominique had fallen asleep, Mira gentlyid her on the bed, pulled the sheets over her body, and gave her head a few pats before getting up and looking at Elenei and Rhydian.

    "Elenei, you should prepare yourself for your Nirvana. We''ll do that either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Rhydian, you stay here and protect Dominique," Mira paused and looked at Maria, "As for you. Why don''t you lead me to your room so we can talk in private?"

    Elenei nodded excitedly while Rhydian immediatelyid down and fell asleep.

    Maria nodded meekly as a blush crept up on her neck before getting up and gently pulling Mira along with her.

    Soon, the two of them entered Maria''s room, where the two of them stood in silence for a few minutes.

    "...I know you''ve been growing feelings for me, Maria. Although I don''t know if you see me as a possible romantic partner, I know you seem to have strong feelings toward me." Mira paused when she noticed Maria tense up.

    "I��" Maria was about to say something, but Mira put a finger over her mouth to prevent her from saying anything and continued.

    "You may have noticed that my personality or, I guess, my emotional range has changed. I''m still the same Mira you''ve always known. I''ve juste to a few realizations over the time we''ve been separated. Well, that''s what eons alone can do to a person."

    Maria was confused by thatst sentence, but she stayed quiet and decided to let Mira finish talking before she opened her mouth.

    "Let me give you some background first. Do you remember that inheritance I got two years ago?" Maria nodded, so Mira continued, "Well, there''s a lot more to that inheritance than you can imagine. Hell, even I don''t know everything about it. However, one of the functions of the inheritance is that it''s actually linked to my existence and is currently resting in my Soul Sea. You might not think this is important, but I assure you it is."

    "The inheritance is much more than just resources and techniques. No, it has literally everything in existence, or at least so it ims. However, I don''t have free ess to all those items, resources, techniques, and stuff. I have to go through trials in order to unlock them. If I fail these trials then�� actually I''m not quite sure what happens but I can assure you nothing good happens."

    "Anyways, I have to go through trials in order to get ess to these items, techniques, etc. So, during thesest two years, I underwent four trials. However, these trials are insanely long. While only a few months may pass in the outside world, thousands of years or even longer could have passed in the trial world. That''s exactly what happened to me. While you may have only experienced a few years, I''ve gone through countless."

    "During all that, I''ve had a lot of time to reflect. Well, some of the trials were also geared towards me reflecting on my life so far, but let''s forget about that. Over the years, I''ve had a lot of time to reflect on my previous lives, my current life, and what I want for the future."

    "I guess you could say my current state is a result of my reflection. My past is still haunting me as there''s someone strong, someone most likely in the Immortal Realm, who''s trying to force me to be his ve, or in his words, concubine. However, I now have a certain level of protection from that person, at least for now. So I won''t have to worry about him corrupting your mind or the minds of those around me�� Hopefully�� I''ll have to discuss this further with the person who considers himself the Guardian of my inheritance, but from what I understand, he won''t let that person do anything to us directly until we reach a certain level of strength-"

    "You''re right, Mira! I won''t let that bastard mess with you, Maria, Dominque, or anyone close to you! Now, go fuck Maria''s brains out already!"

    Both Maria and Mira heard an archaic voice appear in their minds, and while Maria was stunned, Mira felt a few veins on her forehead burst. She took a few deep breaths to calm her raging emotions and began talking again.

    "-Anyways, now that I have some form of control over my life and the foreseeable future, I can now finally ask myself what I want with my life. Do I only want power? Do I want a family? Do I want to explore the pleasures that life has to offer now that I have some freedom? Maybe I can start a Sect? Or maybe I can just give up on my revenge and live out a peaceful life with someone I love?"

    "That''s when I came to understand a bit more about myself. I want power! I want enough power to ughter all my enemies! I want to be so strong that nobody can tell me what to do! I want to be able to destroy worlds with a flick of my fingers! I want to be immortal and invincible! Only then will I feelfortable experiencing what this Realm and other Realms offer!"

    Maria did her best to prevent her expression from changing, but she truly couldn''t hide her feelings. She felt delighted that Mira was willing to confide in her about her ambitions, but she also felt incredibly bitter and depressed that Mira wanted power over everything else.

    Mira felt her fluctuating emotions but didn''t mention them and instead kept talking.

    "However, do you know what I realized after living through countless millennia alone?"

    Maria perked up at that question and shook her head, signaling Mira to continue.

    "I learned a few things, actually. I learned that the longer I stayed alive, the less I valued power. Now, that''s not to say that I wouldn''t stop pursuing it. I would never give up on that, not until I reached my absolute peak. I just realized that when you live for countless years, the less you actually use the power you''ve gained. Instead, you start valuing rtionships and other things more and more."

    "During all those years alone, I came to a realization. I don''t want to go through this journey alone. I want someone or maybe multiple people to apany me on this long and treacherous journey. This kind of stuff might not mean too much to the current me as I can grow in cultivation and strength rtively quickly, but I know that''ll it''ll mean much more to me when meditation sessions end up being hundreds or even thousands of years long."

    When Mira reached this point, a light blush appeared on her face, and she said in a softer voice, "What I''m trying to say is that I want you to join me on this long journey. I want you to be that special someone that I can rely on, that can keep me grounded, and that I can enjoy eternity with. I know it''s a selfish request, as eternity is a long time, but that''s just how I feel. Take all the time you need-"

    "NOO! I mean, yes!! I''ll do it! Let''s do it! Let''s be girlfriends!"

    "G-G-Girlfriends??"

    "Of course! That''s what you were asking me, right? You wanted to be my wife, right?!"

    "Wife?!?!"<sub> </sub>

    "Right! The person you have sex with and make babies with! At least, that''s what my Mom said when I asked her what it means to be someone''s wife!"

    "B-babies?! SEX?! M-Maria, aren''t you getting a little too ahead-"

    "NO!! I''m not! We might be at that stage right now, but that''s the kind of rtionship I want to have with you! One where we both love each other and want to start a family with one another. Isn''t that what you want as well?"

    "Ah? Well, yes, but it''s too soon to try starting a family. First of all, we''re too weak, and I have an enemy that would do anything to make my life a living hell, so having a child is definitely a no. Secondly, I don''t even know how it''s possible for us to have children. Maybe there''s an alchemic pill or so-"

    "YESS!! I''LL START RESEARCHING IT IMMEDIATELY!"

    "Anyways, no family. At least, not until I deal with my personal matters."

    "But we can still have sex, right? My Mom said it feels amazing."

    "Well�� I guess? Wait! Why are you asking your mom all of these things?"

    "Who else am I going to ask? Cine is away, and how is a ghost (Sage A) supposed to teach me anything?"

    "I��I see. I guess that makes sense."

    "Right?! Now, let''s go consummate our rtionship to celebrate this asion! I really want to know what this thing called sex feels like."

    "Ummm�� Maria, do you even know what sex is?"

    "Hmm? Of course! It''s where two people sleep in the same bed and touch each other!"

    Mira facepalmed when she heard Maria''s answer and spent the next few minutes exining what sex was. When Mira was done with her exnation, Maria''s entire face was bright red, and she really felt like finding a hole to bury herself in right now. She also decided that the next time she sees her mother, she''ll be sure to give her a good beating for creating this misunderstanding.

    Things were quiet for a while until Mira opened her mouth and said something she immediately regretted.

    "Ummm�� Maria, there''s something I feel like I need to tell you before we start this rtionship. In one of my trials, I actually had sex with one of the women in there."

    "........what��.?"

    ***

    Mira proceeded to spend the next half an hour clearing up the misunderstanding by saying that it wasn''t a real person and it was basically just an illusion. She also said she wasn''t in the right state of mind then as all of her thoughts and emotions were out of whack.

    She also exined that she might not be as emotionally stable as she is right now if she didn''t go through that experience.

    Maria was still a bit irritated, but she understood that they weren''t in any sort of romantic rtionship at that point, and she knew that Mira wasn''t lying to her about her emotions being all chaotic.

    The room turned silent as Maria sat on Mira''sp, but suddenly Mira swiftly turned Maria around, so they were facing each other.

    The two stared into each other''s eyes for a while until Mira slowly closed the distance.

    Their hearts began speeding up, and when their noses touched, they closed their eyes.

    Slowly, their lips touched��

    ��----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 357: Mira Confesses!

 Chapter 358 Their First Time Part 1 (R-18+)

    Mira and Maria felt like an electric current had run through their bodies as soon as their lips touched. It was unlike what either of them had experienced before. This was especially so for Mira.

    She never knew that a kiss could be filled with such love and care. What made it even better was that she was doing it with the person who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

    It was such an addicting sensation that Mira wanted this moment tost forever. So, she wrapped one of her hands around Maria''s waist and put the other one behind her head to gently stroke Maria''s hair.

    "Mmm~"

    Maria let out a light moan in Mira''s mouth when she felt Mira pull her in closer and increase the intensity of the kiss.

    When Mira heard that, she felt as if a fire was lit inside her. She wanted to hear more!

    Her grip around Maria tightened as Mira pulled her in as close as possible. She then wrapped her tails around Maria and started using them to gently explore Maria''s body.

    "Mmmmmmm~"

    Maria''s moan was much more audible now, and as she was about to pull her face away and say something to Mira, thetter decided to use this opportunity to increase the intensity of the kiss even more.

    When Maria''s mouth opened slightly, Mira''s tongue swiftly invaded her mouth and began exploring.

    A surprised yelp escaped from Maria when she felt the odd but electrifying sensation of a soft and wet tongue entering her mouth. She didn''t know what to do in this situation, and truthfully, Mira didn''t either. She was just following her instincts.

    After exploring her lover''s mouth, Mira''s tongue then began wrapping itself around Maria''s tongue, causing their minds to go nk.

    Mira''s instincts red, and she wanted nothing more than to devour the girl wrapped in her arms and tails. She opened both of their mouths further and began using her tongue to wrestle with Maria''s.

    Maria''s eyes shot open as her body trembled from the unique and pleasurable sensation.

    "Ahhhhhnnnnnnnn~"

    A moan filled with desire erupted from Maria inside Mira''s mouth. Mira felt Maria''s body go limp from the pleasure and decided to end this little makeout session so her lover could regain her bearings.

    A string of saliva was formed as Mira''s mouth separated from Maria''s. With that, Maria''s body finally copsed as the girl snuggled into Mira''s body, gasping for air.

    Mira gently stroked her golden blonde hair while slowly loosening Maria''s robes and undoing her ice dress.

    Maria trembled slightly from Mira''s touch, but her mind was still too cloudy to realize what was happening around her.

    However, she''s not a Core Formation Realm expert for nothing, so a few secondster, her hazy eyes cleared up, and she finally caught her breath.

    She realized that her clothes were slowlying off her body, but she didn''t do anything to stop it. Instead, she looked up at Mira and said meekly, "That was amazing�� I never knew a kiss could feel so good."

    Mira''s smile grew, fully revealing her canines, when she heard what Maria said. She then stared into Maria''s eyes and said, "It''s only going to get better from here on out," Mira paused and leaned in to begin nibbling on Maria''s ear before saying, "but don''t worry, I''ll be sure to be gentle."

    "Mmmmm~ Please do."

    With that said, Mira held onto Maria and abruptly stood up, causing Maria to yelp in surprise!

    "Ah!"

    Maria quickly wrapped her arms and legs around Mira, so she didn''t fall. Mira looked at the girl wrapped around her body with desire leaking out of her eyes, causing Maria''s body to shudder involuntarily.

    "Ahhhh~ You''re just so cute, Maria, that I want nothing more than to devour you whole right now. What do you think? Would you like to continue this nightly session of ours? Or do you think we''re moving too fast and want to take a step back? I''ll let you choose."

    Maria looked into Mira''s eyes for a few seconds before slowly answering, "I�� want more. I want you to make me feel even better."

    An unknown feeling began to wash over Mira as her smile widened, and her eyes turned into crescents when she heard Maria''s answer.

    A feeling of desire, possessiveness, love, and domination began emanating from Mira''s body. She gently stroked Maria''s head as she said, "That''s a good girl."

    Then she tossed Maria on the bed.

    "Strip."

    Mira ordered, taking Maria by surprise, but she still did as she was told and began removing her clothes.

    Mira had also entirely removed her ice dress, revealing her tall, imposing, naked body to Maria.

    When Maria had finished removing her clothes and looked back at Mira, she gulped. She couldn''t help it. Mira''s body is just too sexy!<sub> </sub>

    Her entire body looked like it was forged for battle! Slim but defined muscles rippled across her entire. Firm breasts that were neither too big nor too small. All of this, along with the fox tails and fox ears, made Mira seem muchrger and more imposing than she already was.

    While Maria was examining Mira''s body, Mira was doing the same to Maria.

    Maria''s body was almost theplete opposite of Mira''s. She''s probably only 170 centimeters tall, hasrge plump breasts, white skin with a slight tan, and a smooth and soft body with only a hint of muscle.

    Maria could be said to have the dream-like hourss-shaped body that many women desire. She was skinny and plump in all the right ces!

    Mira licked her lips as sheid her eyes upon Maria''s sexy body and slowly walked toward her.

    Maria could feel the burning desire in Mira''s eyes and shivered in embarrassment and anticipation. She subconsciously moved her hands to try and cover her breasts, but that only made her look even more delectable in Mira''s eyes.

    When Mira appeared in front of Maria, she stretched out her tails to wrap around Maria''s hands and removed them from her breasts.

    "There''s no need to be embarrassed, my dear. Let me see that sensual body of yours in all its glory."

    Although Mira said that, Maria wasn''t given much of a choice as Mira''s tails had already captured her wrists and removed her hands from her breasts.

    She blushed furiously and could only give Mira a nod of eptance.

    Seeing this, Mira couldn''t stop herself from leaning in and giving Maria a quick but passionate kiss before whispering, "Mm. You''re such a good girl. Now, just continue listening to me, and I''ll be sure to make you reach euphoria over and over again tonight."

    Maria gave Mira another nod, to which Mira smiled and dove in to begin tasting Maria''s body.

    She started off by taking Maria''s lips and shoving her tongue inside her mouth. While Mira kept Maria''s upper lips busy, her hands and tails began roaming Maria''s body.

    Two of her tails gently wrapped around her feet and began rubbing and tickling them, causing Maria to moan inside Mira''s mouth.

    "Mmmmm~"

    Mira then used two of her tails to keep her body above Maria''s as her hands began to roam her body.

    She started from Maria''s neck and began lightly trailing across her body. From her neck, down to her shoulders, down and up her arms, then she began gently massaging the areas just outside of Maria''s breasts, but not touching them just yet.

    As she was doing all this, Mira could feel Maria squirming and moaning underneath her, filling her with even more excitement and desire.

    Mira wanted nothing more than to begin devouring Maria''s body, kissing, licking, and marking every inch of her body, but now wasn''t the right time. She first had to increase Maria''s sensitivity, bringing her to the point where she''s practically begging for more before she moves on to the next phase.

    She wanted Maria''s first time having sex to be amazing while at the same timepletely dominating her body.

    With those thoughts in mind, Mira kept teasing Maria''s body by trailing along the outsides of her breasts and by traveling near her pussy but never touching it. As time passed, she found many of Maria''s sensitive spots and began teasing her with them. She would neverpletely touch these erogenous zones but would get infinitely close to the point where Maria''s body was practically begging for more.

    However, that wasn''t enough! She wanted Maria to actually be begging for more!

    After nearly 20 minutes of teasing, Maria finally couldn''t take it and separated her lips from Mira before screaming, "Mira! I''m starting to feel weird! I can''t take the teasing anymore! Please make me feel even better!"

    "Oh? Are you saying you''re about to cum?"

    "Yes! Yes! I want to cum!" Maria answered, barely registering the words that wereing out of Mira''s mouth.

    "Then, where would you like me to touch to make you cum?"

    "My��I don''t know! Just make me cum!"

    "Hmmmm? Only if you ask me properly, my dear~ Hehe~" Mira whispered sensually in Maria''s ear.

    Maria seemed to know exactly what Mira wanted to hear, so she immediately yelled, "Please, make me cum, Mira! I''m begging you! I can''t take it anymore! I''m almost there!"

    "Hehe~ Good girl~ Alright, I''ll give you your reward for properly listening to me."

    Mira slowly brought her hands near Maria''s breasts and pussy. Then suddenly, all at once, Mira began rubbing Maria''s clit and massaging one of her boobs before leaning down and taking one of her nipples in her mouth and began nibbling on it.

    "AHHhhhhhnnnnn~~~! YES! THERE! AHHHH!"

    Maria''s back arched, and her body began spasming as she had her first ever orgasm.

 Chapter 359 Their First Time Part 2(R-18+)

    Mira pulled her hands away, allowing Maria to catch her breath, and began gently stroking her hair, causing Maria''s body to tremble subconsciously.

    It took Maria about 20 seconds or so for her body to stop spasming and for her cloudy eyes to clear up.

    Her body was now glistening with sweat, and her plump breasts rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath.

    She looked at Mira and said in between breaths, "That�� That was amazing, Mira. I had no idea sex could feel so good!"

    When Mira heard that, she smirked, showing off her canines.

    "Sex? My dear Maria, that was just forey."

    "W-What? Then-"

    Mira interrupted Maria by stealing her lips, causing Maria to involuntarily moan in surprise as her body is still quite sensitive after orgasming.

    "Mmmm~"

    Mira''s hands slowly roamed Maria''s body, except this time, she also teased her sensitive spots.

    Once Mira felt Maria''s body was ready, she separated from Maria and licked her lips, savoring Maria''s sweet saliva.

    She brought her left hand down to Maria''s crotch and began gently rubbing her clit.

    "AAhhhhhhnnnnn~ Right there!"

    Maria moaned and squirmed, but Mira couldn''t take it any longer. She didn''t know whether it was because of her new beastly instincts or a new blooming possessive nature, but she felt a need to mark Maria''s body, essentially iming her as her mate.

    She dove her face into Maria''s neck and began sucking, licking, and lightly biting.

    "Ahhhh~ Mira~ Aaahhnn~ What are you doing~?"

    Maria said in between moans, but Mira didn''t stop. Instead, she slowly increased the intensity with which she marked her and even began biting, licking, and sucking other parts of her body.

    Mira went from Maria''s neck to her shoulder, to her breasts and stomach, leaving marks all over her body. However, Mira controlled her strength enough to where Maria might only feel a slight prick. Well, with how strong Maria''s body is and how high her pain tolerance is, she would probably only feel pleasure instead of pain from Mira''s marking.

    Soon, Mira''s mouth made its way down towards Maria''s pussy.

    When Mira smelled Maria''s nectar, she gulped but didn''t go down and eat her out.

    Instead, she rose and took a good look at Maria''s body. What was once a perfect body without any blemishes was now filled with hickeys and bite marks. She nodded in satisfaction, then lowered her hand, and before Maria could evenprehend what was going on, she stuck her middle finger inside Maria''s pussy!

    "MMMMMMMmmmmmmm~"

    Mira could feel how tight Maria''s hole was when she stuck her finger inside, but it only became tighter as Maria orgasmed from the abrupt pration.

    It was so tight that Mira could barely move her finger. However, that didn''t stop her from slowly moving her finger inside Maria''s pussy, trying to find her sensitive spots.

    "AAhhhnnnn~ Mira~ Mira~ Something weird ising again!"

    "Oh? Is my little Maria going to cum again?"

    Mira kept slowly fingering Maria''s insides until all of a sudden, Maria''s back arched!

    "AHhh! Right there~!"

    Mira smirked and began rubbing that spot inside her pussy continuously while also using her other hand and tails to tease the outside of Maria''s body.

    "Mm. You''re such a good girl for telling me where you feel good. Here, I''ll give you a little reward. Hehe~"

    Mira infused a bit of ice into her finger, causing a literal chill to run up Maria''s spine.

    "AAAAHHHHHHH~ YES!! MORE!"

    Mira didn''t stop fingering Maria''s pussy even as she orgasmed, which caused Maria''s sweet nectar to leak out of her body!

    She also grabbed the back of Maria''s head with one hand and forcefully took her lips, causing Maria to loudly moan inside her mouth while using her tails to wrap around Maria''s breasts and tickling her nipples.

    "MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm~ AAhhhhhhnnn~"

    Maria''s eyes rolled back inside her head, but Mira didn''t stop!

    She wanted to hear more, and although Maria was still climaxing, Mira felt she could make her feel even more pleasure!

    So, she pushed her middle all the way inside Maria''s pussy in one swift movement until she couldn''t go any further.

    "MMMMMMmmmm~ AHHHHHHHHH~ Mira~! Mira~! Mira~!"

    Maria kept moaning inside Mira''s mouth, but she eventually separated from Mira and began calling out her name.

    Then, Maria orgasmed so hard that she lost consciousness for a moment.

    Only when Mira noticed that did she finally stop and remove her hand.

    Maria''s breathing became erratic as she tried catching her breath and regaining her bearings, which caused her bountiful chest to rise and fall.

    Seeing those beautiful melons gently swaying in front of her, Mira''s instincts surged, and she dove in and began rubbing, licking, and nibbling, causing Maria''s body to tremble incessantly.<sub> </sub>

    After a minute of enjoying Maria''s breasts, Mira stopped and finally allowed Maria to catch her breath.

    However, she was really holding herself back right now. Smelling the sweet scent of Maria''s sweatbined with the nectar leaking out of her pussy, Mira wanted nothing more than to start devouring Maria.

    If she were the same person she was when she had sex with the Elven Queen, she undoubtedly would''ve kept going without caring about Maria''s feelings. However, now that she''s striving to start a real romantic rtionship with Maria, she has to be considerate about these things.

    So, to calm her raging desire, she brought the middle finger that was inside Maria''s pussy to her mouth and began licking up the sweet nectar.

    Unfortunately, this only seemed to increase Mira''s desire for Maria''s body.

    Her nose twitched slightly when she smelled the fluids leaking from Maria''s pussy.

    Slowly, her head lowered down towards Maria''s pussy, but when she got about halfway there, she stopped��

    ��and she lifted Maria''s legs, putting them over her shoulders, cing Maria''s pussy right in front of her face.

    For some reason, she had an instinctual rejection of lowering her head in such a manner.

    So instead of bringing her face to Maria''s pussy, Mira decided to bring Maria''s pussy to her. That way, the sexual hierarchy remains. Well, at least that''s how Mira''s subconscious perceives things.

    Luckily, during this time, Maria partially regained her senses. This was especially so when she felt her butt being raised up in the air as only her upper back, shoulders, and head were left on the bed.

    "M-Mira? W-What are you doing?"

    Maria was a bit nervous being in such a position, but she was also looking forward to what Mira was going to do to her.

    She was a bit tired after thatst orgasm, but she also wanted to experience more! Well, there''s that and the fact that she hasn''t even gotten to do anything to Mira yet. Hell, she hasn''t even been able to explore Mira''s sexy nude body properly!

    Ever since they stripped, Mira has takenplete control of the situation, not allowing her any chances to pleasure the sexy fox girl in front of her.

    "Oh? Are you finally awake, my dear? Well, as you can see, I''m about to devour all of this sweet nectar leaking out of this little honey pot~ What? You don''t want me to?" Mira asked with a sexy smirk on her face, causing Maria to blush.

    Feeling Mira''s slightly cool breath on her pussy, her body slightly trembled as she moaned a bit.

    "Mmm~ That''s not it. It''s just�� I also want to make you feel good��"

    "Hehe~ What a good girl you are~ However, I''m not finished with you just yet, so just sit back and let me teach this lewd body who its new owner is~," Mira said while rubbing Maria''s upper thighs.

    Maria blushed at Mira''s words and quivered from her touch. She wanted to say something else, but Mira had already brought her mouth to her pussy and began licking it.

    "Kyahhhhhhhhhhnnnnn~!"

    Maria let out a light yelp before moaning and tightening her legs around Mira''s neck. Mirapped up all the juices leaking out of Maria''s pussy before shoving her tongue inside Maria''s honey pot.

    "Mmmmmmmmm~ Mmmmmmm~ Yes~ That feels sooooooo~~ good!"

    Mira began eating Maria out with even more fervor once she heard her moans. She even brought one of her hands up to begin rubbing Maria''s clit, making the girl feel even better.

    The slightly cool sensation of Mira''s tongue caused Maria''s entire body to tremble whenever it made contact with the insides of her honey pot.

    Due to how sensitive Maria''s body was after numerous orgasms, it didn''t take long for her to climax once again, except this time, Mira was there to devour all of the juices she released.

    However, once Mira got a taste of her nectar directly from the source, she couldn''t hold herself back anymore.

    She wanted more! More! More! MORE!

    She stuck a finger inside Maria''s pussy along with her tongue and began doing everything in her power to make Maria cum.

    She used one of her tails to gently slide down Maria''s spine, two to caress her breasts, and two for her feet.

    "AHHH~ AHHHHHH~~ AHHHHHHH~~ YEEEEESSSS~~!"

    The sounds of Maria''s moans filled the room, but the girl could only handle the overwhelming pleasure for so long before her eyes rolled back inside her head, and she passed out.

    Mira continued devouring Maria''s pussy for the next few minutes causing Maria''s body to quiver continuously, but the busty blonde hadn''t regained consciousness even after that long.

    Mira also noticed that Maria wasn''t climaxing anymore, so she finally decided to stop pleasuring Maria.

    She gentlyy Maria back down on the bed, and that''s when Mira noticed that she had already fallen asleep. Or, more like she was still unconscious as Mira kept ruthlessly pleasuring her even after she had lost consciousness.

    Fortunately, Mira was able to get her fill of Maria''s body by doing so�� at least for now.

    She sat there beside Maria for several minutes, waiting for the girl to wake up, but it seemed like she was too exhausted after experiencing one orgasm after another and ended up falling asleep.

    Mira shrugged her shoulders, epting this situation, not wanting to wake Maria up to continue their session.

    She gently lifted up Maria''s sleeping body before properly cing her on the bed and tucking her in.

    Seeing Maria sleeping with her sexy naked body free for all to see, Mira decided to sleep with her tonight.

    That way, if anyone were to take a peek at Maria''s body, she''ll be there to kill-ahem-warn them.

    Mira arranged the both of them in the spooning position, with her being therge spoon obviously, and shut her eyes. It didn''t take long for Mira to fall asleep, and she did so with a blissful smile on her face.

 Chapter 360 A Peaceful Morning

    After a good night''s sleep, Mira woke up feeling refreshed. Although she''s usually not one who likes to waste time sleeping, Mira felt d that she decided to sleep with Mariast night. She probably still won''t sleep every night despite howfortable it is embracing Maria, but she''ll definitely do it should Maria ask her nicely.

    Mira noticed that Maria was still asleep, and the two of them were still in the spooning position. She smiled and tightened her grip on Maria, pulling their bodies closer to each other.

    Unfortunately, it seems this little action caused Maria to wake up. For a moment, she was confused. She didn''t remember falling asleepst night, but then she remembered that when Mira was eating her out, she felt so much pleasure that she passed out.

    It seems she ended up falling asleep, and it doesn''t take a genius to figure out who was spooning her.

    "Goodmorning, Mira. It looks like I ended up falling asleepst night. I''m sorry that I couldn''t-"

    Before Maria could finish that sentence, Mira had already leaned over and took her lips into a passionate kiss.

    "Mmmm~"

    Of course, Maria was surprised and unconsciously let out a soft moan. She then turned her body over so it was facing Mira. The two embraced each other, causing their passionate kiss to be even more intense.

    Their tongues intertwined as if wrestling for dominance, and their hands began roaming each other''s bodies.

    Mira then rolled Maria onto her back so she could take control of the situation, but then suddenly, she pulled away from the kiss.

    "Good morning, my dear. There''s no need to be sorry aboutst night. I still need to finish training your lewd body and teaching it to who it belongs." Mira said while holding Maria''s chin and staring into her eyes.

    Hearing Mira''s words, Maria blushed deeply and said, "H-Hmph! What are you talking about? Of course, my body belongs to me!"

    Mira trailed her fingers lightly across Maria''s body, causing her to tremble slightly, and smirked, "Hehe~ Sure. Sure."

    Mira bent down and gave Maria a quick deep kiss before saying, "Now, why don''t you give me a pair of clothes? As you can see, my clothes don''t exactly fit me anymore. You wouldn''t want me to go out looking like this, would you?"

    Maria gave Mira''s body a once over and quickly shook her head.

    "No! Absolutely not! But why do you want to get dressed so soon? Can''t we just stay like this for a little longer?"

    Looking at Maria''s shy face when she asked that, Mira felt her resolve to get out of bed diminish.

    "Mmm. Alright. We''ll stay like this for a little longer, but you should know that I''m actually quite busy today, and we need to get ready to leave the City within the next few days if we want to join the Battle Maiden Sect."

    Maria nodded in understanding, but she didn''t care. All she wanted was to spend some quality time with Mira right now.

    Miraid back down on the bed, and Maria quicklytched onto Mira by wrapping an arm and a leg around Mira and putting her head on her shoulder.

    Mira put one of her arms around Maria and began rubbing her back and head.

    The two stayed in this position for a while without saying anything as there wasn''t a need to. At this moment, the two of them felt at peace. They weren''t thinking about the future or the hardships they''d have to ovee.

    They were just enjoying the feeling of being in each other''spany.

    At this moment, Mira also felt an unfamiliar emotion well up in her chest. She wasn''t sure whether she could call it love or a possessive desire toward Maria, but she knew that Maria''s ce in her heart was steadily rising.

    Only time will tell whether this unfamiliar emotion will be something stable and healthy.

    However, their peace was disturbed a few hourster when Mira heard someone approaching Maria''s door.

    A cold frown appeared on her face when she realized that she and Maria were still naked. Hearing the sounds of footsteps approaching, her crimson eyes began to glow slightly. The surrounding temperature began to drop, but then suddenly, the footsteps stopped.

    "Mother! When are you and Auntie Maria going to get out of bed?"

    Mira heard Dominque''s voice outside the door, causing her frown to turn into a light smile and her eyes to stop glowing.

    "One second, sweetie. Your�� Pfft-Auntie and I will be out in a few minutes." Mira said with an amused smile on her face, but Maria wasn''t amused at all.<sub> </sub>

    "Oi! Who are you calling, ''Auntie''?! I''m more of a big sister, if anything! You got that, Dominique? You should call me Big Sister from now on!"

    "I understand, Auntie Maria!"

    "Argh! You brat! Just you wait! I''ll make you call me Big Sister for sure!"

    "Hehehe~"

    The two of them heard the sound of Dominque giggling as she ran away.

    Mira was alsoughing as she slowly got up from the bed.

    "I guess it''s time to get out of the bed, isn''t that right, ''Auntie Maria''?" Mira teased, causing Maria''s face to turn bright red in embarrassment.

    Without saying anything, Maria got up from the bed and flung herself at Mira.

    "What do you think you''re doi-Mmmmm~."

    Mira identally let out of light moan of surprise when she felt Maria ying with her tails and fox ears.

    "Hmph! This is what you get for calling me Auntie!"

    Maria then kept ying with Mira''s tails and ears, but aside from it feeling really good, Mira didn''t let out any more moans. Although she''s still not quite used to the sensation of having fox tails and ears, she can at least control herself enough not to make any weird noises.

    The two kept messing with each other for the next few minutes until they both decided it was time to get dressed and meet up with everyone.

    Maria gave Mira a set of ck Daoist robes that fit her surprisingly well�� Actually, it was suspicious how well they fit��

    She did have to create a hole in the back for her tails to go through, but other than that, the robes fit almost perfectly��

    "Ummm�� Maria, why do you have clothes that fit me?"

    "Hmmm? Oh! Ahahaha�� Well, you see, ever since your body turned into that of a little girl''s, I had this thought. ''What if one day your body matures just like how it shrunk?'' When I had that thought, I immediately went out and bought clothes that will fit you in many different sizes."

    When Mira heard that, the unfamiliar emotion in her chest increased once again as Mira''s gaze became gentler when she looked at Maria.

    "Haha! Well, I guess you weren''t wrong, as something like that really did happen. To think you even thought about such a possibility. I guess I have a lot to learn when from you when ites to rtionships."

    Mira didn''t say it, but Maria understood what she must be feeling. Ever since the two of them met, Mira''s only done three things: Kill, train, and fight. Not only that but her entire personality was centered around those three things as well. If she wasn''t training, fighting, or killing, she didn''t have much of a personality other than being incredibly stubborn.

    Those traits might be great to have in a romantic partner if Maria was weak or didn''t have any ambition of getting strong, but she does.

    However, those aren''t the only reasons why Maria loves her.

    Maria came up from behind Mira and gave her a big hug.

    "Don''t think too much about it. I know you love me and sincerely want to spend the rest of your life with me. All I need is for you to care and love me genuinely. Everything else will eventually fall into ce as long as that''s the foundation of our rtionship. If you want to change something about yourself, then you''re free to talk to me, and we can work something out."

    Mira nodded, but what Maria said really struck a chord in her. It was just a few sentences, but those few sentences lifted a burden that had been weighing on her heart. When she came to the conclusion that she wanted to get involved with Maria romantically, she constantly questioned whether she was worthy of such a thing or not.

    The only thing she''s good at is causing chaos and destruction. How can she start and build a life with someone else if the only thing she''s good at is ruining lives?

    However, Maria basically just told her that it didn''t matter. As long as they love each other and want nothing but the best for each other, then the rest will all fall into ce.

    She didn''t know if that was true or not, but it gave her affirmation and something to think about.

    The two of them finished getting dressed and finally walked out of Maria''s room. Now, it was time to deal with Elenei''s Nirvana!

 Chapter 361 Eleneis Nirvana Part 1

    "Mother! Auntie Maria! You''re finally awake!"

    The first thing Mira and Maria saw when they left the room was Dominique running over to them and leaping into Mira''s arms.

    "Looks like you got a good night''s sleep, huh, Little One?" Mira asked as she scooped up Dominique in her arms.

    "Nn! I was just so happy that I got to see you again!" Dominque answered immediately, and Mira could tell that she didn''t say those words lightly.

    She could tell at a nce just how much Dominque has grown over thest few years. She''s also experienced those trials first hand, and although they are nothingpared to the current shit she has to go through, they are more than enough to challenge a child.

    Dominque has probably been on the brink of death more than a few times over thest few years but has sessfully pulled through and even experienced elerated growth because of those dangers.

    However, at the end of the day, Dominque is still a child. There''s no way a child could possibly have Mira''s willpower and mental fortitude.

    Mira might not be used to these new emotions and isn''t quite sure how to channel them, but she''s an expert in dying and/or fighting on the brink of death. Being on the brink of death is just another day for her, but that isn''t the case for Dominique.

    Although Mira felt a little bad for dropping the child off in such a ce, she didn''t regret it, even now. If Dominique is going to go on adventures with her, she needs to learn how to take care of herself. She needs to get used to fighting more powerful enemies, killing, and going through life-and-death battles.

    It might sound harsh, but this is just what Mira expected from herpanions.

    In fact, when she gets some free time, she will definitely work Dominique to the bone!

    All of a sudden, Dominique felt her heart turn cold, and her body trembled slightly.

    She knew this feeling�� She knew this feeling all too well��

    She slowly turned her head, and her eyes met Mira''s crimson eyes that held a peculiar glint to them.

    ''NOOO! Mother''s thinking about training me, isn''t she!?! But she just got back! I don''t want to start training just yet!'' Dominique screamed internally but didn''t dare voice her thoughts.

    She wouldn''t be fooled by this new Mira, who seemed all smiley, happy, and talkative! She knew that even if Mira became a bit more�� human�� she was still a demon inside! She didn''t know if it was her new instincts that had been hardened during the trials or if she just had some sort of unknown connection to Mira, but she could tell just from looking into Mira''s eyes that she wouldn''t hesitate to ughter anyone who gets in her way.

    Actually, for some reason, she felt like the current Mira was much more dangerous!

    She was like a dormant volcano just waiting for the opportunity to erupt!

    "Ahaha~ Mother, what''s with that look? Is there something on my face?" Dominique asked, clearly trying to divert Mira''s attention.

    "Oh, I just felt like the reason you came looking for me so early in the morning is that you wanted me to begin training you. Was it not?" Mira asked teasingly.

    Dominique was speechless for a second and didn''t know how to respond, but Mira began talking again before she was even given a chance to.

    "Anyways, I''m going to be a bit busy today. However, if you want, you can join me. After I finish up my business today, we''re going to go on a little journey. Would you like to apany me on this journey?"

    Dominique was a bit sad to hear that her Mother was going to be busy, but when she heard she could join her, her sadness turned to joy. Then, when she heard that they were going on a journey, her joy turned to excitement!

    "Yes! Please bring me along! I know I might be weak right now, but I promise I''ll catch up soon!" Dominique pledged without hesitation.

    "Haha! Well, if you say it like that, how can I refuse if you say it like that? Don''t worry, Little One, I''ll turn you into a real warrior in no time! Hahaha!" Miraughed while putting Dominique on her shoulders and walking off to go meet Elenei.

    "Err��" Dominique immediately regretted her words and began cursing at herself.

    Maria chuckled but didn''t say anything. She was just d that Mira seemed to be having a good time with Dominique.

    Soon, the three of them met up with Elenei.

    "Are you ready?" Mira asked, and Elenei gave a firm nod to her.

    "Alright, I''m sure you have a ce you want to carry it out. You can take us there. Oh, can you also bring Rhydian and Vulcan along with us? I''m sure this will be a valuable experience for them."<sub> </sub>

    Elenei nodded and wrapped Mira, Dominique, Maria, Rhydian, and Vulcan in her Qi. Then suddenly, they all disappeared!

    ***

    On a small mountain dozens of kilometers away from Lunar Fox City, Elenei, Mira, Dominique, Rhydian, and Vulcan appeared.

    Of course, the two most shocked by this were Vulcan and Rhydian as they were enjoying their sleep-Ahem-cultivation when suddenly they were teleported to some random location!

    Vulcan was the most terrified, but seeing Maria, he calmed down. However, before he could leap over to Maria''s side, his senses picked up on an extremely terrifying being. One who seemed to be suppressing his bloodline, which he couldn''t quite understand.

    He looked over and saw a woman with nine fox tails radiating a strong aura. For some reason, this being seemed familiar, but he couldn''t quite remember who she reminded him of.

    Well, that is until he heard Elenei''s voice.

    "Alright, Mira. I''m ready to begin whenever you are." Elenei said to which Mira nodded. However, Vulcan''s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he heard the name ''Mira''. He would never forget that name, even if he lost his memory!

    With that said, he immediately leaped over andnded on Maria''s shoulder as if he was seeking protection from his natural enemy!

    Mira paid him no mind and told Maria and Dominique to give them about 50 meters of space at a minimum.

    "I know you will probably have plenty of questions, Dominique, and after this whole ordeal is over, I''ll answer them, but for now, just sit back and watch carefully. Be sure you don''t miss a single second of this process. I don''t know if you''ll gain anything from it, but I do know that you''ll probably never see anything like what''s about to happen for the rest of your life. That goes for you too, Maria, Rhydian, and Vulcan. Watch closely as what you''re about to see might be incredibly beneficial to your future!" Mira warned with a stern expression causing everyone to nod with serious expressions.

    They all knew that Mira wouldn''t lie about something like this, so they took her words seriously.

    Seeing this, Mira gave everyone a deep look before giving Elenei a nod.

    Elenei returned the nod and suddenly began undergoing a change. Her human-like body was swiftly changing into something incredible, something majestic!

    Icy-blue mes surrounded her as her human body transformed into a massive bird, but this wasn''t just any bird.

    No, this was a Phoenix! A beast only heard in myths and legends!

    *CREEEEE!!*

    Elenei released a cry of excitement, almost like she was announcing to the world that she was about to undergo a Heaven-defying change!

    "Woah! So that big sis was a Phoenix!! Doesn''t that mean Mother is friends with a Phoenix?! AWESOME!! I knew Mother was the best!" Mira heard Dominique''s childish voice in the background and didn''t know whether tough or cry.

    However, Maria actually felt like crying when she heard Dominique calling Elenei ''Big Sis''!

    ''Dammit! That Phoenix is probably older than my great-great-great-great-grandparents, and you dare to call her ''Big Sis'' while calling me ''Auntie''?! Hmph!'' Maria inwardly screamed and swore to herself that she''d change the image Dominique has of her in her mind.

    Vulcan, on the other hand, was about to shit himself! Suddenly, he was teleported to some random mountain without any warning. Then he met Mira again, which he thought was already bad enough.

    However, who would''ve thought he''de across a fucking Phoenix! A PHOENIX!

    Although he knew nothing about Phoenix''s, he didn''t particrly want to find out! After all, he''s just a measly Fox who was born from an overabundant amount of fire energy. He didn''t even know what bloodline he obtained or exactly what species he was!

    Mira and Maria called him a ''Nova Fox'', but that''s just some random species they came up with to identify him!

    That''s all the more reason why he didn''t want to encounter something dangerous like a Phoenix! What if it sought after his unique bloodline, species, or birth and ate him to increase their strength further?

    Fortunately, his worries were unfounded as Elenei slowly came down and sat in front of Mira.

    The two of them sat facing each other, and that''s when something amazing began to happen!

 Chapter 362 Eleneis Nirvana Part 2

    Elenei began releasing her Frost-Fire at full force without holding anything back. Normally, such power would be capable of wiping out empires or maybe even a small continent, but Elenei wasn''t externalizing her power.

    The target of her Frost-Fire was actually her body. Of course, doing this couldn''t significantly damage her, much less allow her to undergo Nirvana. This was a unique step in the process of undergoing Nirvana that Elenei came up with.

    Ever since she was forced to leave home due to her unstable bloodlines and inability to progress any further in her cultivation, she''s been thinking of ways to ovee this obstacle.

    She''se up with numerous ways, such as finding a Heavenly treasure or maybe eliminating one of her bloodlines entirely, but those options are somewhat unrealistic. For one, finding a heavenly treasure that can actually affect her bloodlines already isn''t easy. Most of those treasures are mainly used for increasing the purity of one''s bloodline, but she''s never had an issue with purity.

    Actually, that''s most likely what started the problem, to begin with. Her Fire Dragon and Ice Phoenix bloodlines have the same purity and constantly fight for dominance. They refuse to merge or submit to one another, so instead, they conflict with one another, preventing Elenei from reaching the heights that a Phoenix and/or Dragon is supposed to reach.

    Of course, if Elenei can ovee this trial, then she''lle out stronger than ever before.

    As for trying to remove one of her bloodlines, let''s just say Elenei would have to be brain dead to consider doing that!

    Forget about the horrific bacsh of doing something like that; even if she survived, and the bacsh was rtively light, she would still be untalented trash amongst the Phoenix race. Hell, she might not even be able to be considered a Phoenix if she were to go this route!

    Think about it, right now, Elenei''s bloodline is exactly 50% Ice Phoenix. If she were to somehow get rid of her Fire Dragon bloodline, that means there''s another 50% of her bloodline that needs to be filled.

    Doing so would drastically reduce the purity of her bloodline, at least in theory. Nobody is actually dumb enough to try such a thing, and the amount of times such a thing has happened amongst Mythical Beasts is infinitesimally small, so it''s not like there are many test subjects.

    In theory, there are a few ways this scenario could y out.

    1. Elenei gets incredibly lucky, suffers no bacsh, the process goes smoothly, and the purity of her remaining bloodline doesn''t drop.

    2. Elenei suffers a horrible bacsh, loses most of her potential, and essentially bes a cripple of the Phoenix or Dragon race. She''ll most likely die not long after due to the bacsh, and since she''s lost most of her potential, her cultivation rises extremely slowly.

    3. The bacsh isn''t too severe, but her bloodline purity significantly drops. Her bloodline purity could drop from almost 100% to under 50%. At that point, she couldn''t even be considered a Phoenix or a Dragon with that level of bloodline purity! Her talent, strength, cultivation speed, status, everything will be reduced so much that she''d probably be better off dead. Of course, she could use items to increase her bloodline purity again, but Elenei knew things wouldn''t be that simple.

    Those are the three most likely scenarios, well, instead of the first one. That one is only there just in case the Heavens are willing to intervene and help Elenei out.

    Knowing this, the only reasonable option for oveing this obstacle is going through Nirvana. However, therein lies a problem.

    She''s not entirely all Phoenix. Despite her bloodline purity, she can only be considered a half-Phoenix. She may look like an Ice Phoenix, but that''s simply because she took after her mother in that regard.

    Can she really sessfully undergo Nirvana even with her Fire Dragon bloodline? And would doing so even make a difference?

    No, those aren''t even the real problems, as Elenei knows Phoenixs that are able to go through Nirvana while being 49% Dragon. However, they are able to do so because their Phoenix bloodline is the dominant bloodline. Going through Nirvana for them will only further suppress their Dragon bloodlines.

    But that''s not the case for Elenei. When she goes through Nirvana, she might very well cause an imbnce between her bloodlines, and if such a thing were to happen, who knows what the consequences might be?

    Everything might go smoothly, her Phoenix bloodline finally getting the opportunity to suppress her Dragon bloodline, and she''s finally able to progress in her cultivation.

    However, there''s also a chance that something could go wrong during her Nirvana and Elenei''s instincts told her that only death awaited her should she undergo her first Nirvana in her current state.

    When she told her parents what she felt from her instincts, they stopped pressuring her to undergo Nirvana as the instincts of a Mythical Beast aren''t to be looked down on. If Elenei said she felt like she would die, then she would most likely die. Of course, there are exceptions, but very rarely do they happen when ites to someone''s Nirvana.<sub> </sub>

    Most Phoenixs undergo Nirvana in one of two ways. Either by chance or when their instincts tell them to. However, even if it were to happen by chance, that only means that they were capable of going through Nirvana but were just waiting for the right opportunity to do so.

    So naturally, if Elenei''s body was telling her that she wasn''t ready, then she wasn''t ready.

    Elenei understood this as well, so during her years of istion, she was constantly thinking of ways that she could escape such a fate.

    However, no matter what she came up with, none of it seemed possible! That is until she met Mira!

    Her incredible affinity toward the Ice Element, unique physique, and Yin Fire gave her hope! Especially the Yin Fire part!

    One must know that something like Yin Fire doesn''t ur naturally! The only beings that might be able even to wield such an obscure power might be some form of undead or residents of Hell.

    However, using the undead to help her go through her Nirvana is unrealistic, and nobody knows where Hell is, even in the Immortal Realm. They know it exists, but that''s about it.

    There might be other beings or ces that have Yin Fire or something simr to it, but her lifespan might run out before she can find something that''s actually usable.

    So, seeing Mira wield Yin Fire was like a godsend for Elenei! Well, that and the fact that Mira has an incredible affinity for ice.

    See, Elenei has two affinities, Fire and Ice, but due to her bloodlines conflicting with one another, so do her affinities, though it may not seem like they do. For one, Elenei should be able to use her Ice and Fire abilities separately, but that''s not the case.

    When she wants to use one, the other onees out as well as though trying to prove its superiority. This turns into something Elenei has juste to call it Frost-Fire, as it''s the product of two powers trying to destroy each other but unable to.

    Consequently, unlike her bloodline problem, this actually makes her abilities more explosive and powerful at the expense of her energy running out faster.

    If only she could either use these abilities separately or merge them into a singr power instead of two conflicting powers.

    Well, that''s where Mira''s Yin Fire and Icee into y. If she can use those two elements as fuel for her Nirvana, she might have a chance of merging her bloodlines. Even if she couldn''t merge them, maybe they''d stop conflicting with one another as long as she could slightly alter her Fire Dragon Bloodline with the Yin Fire.

    She would then use Mira''s ice as a catalyst or as a mediator so she can have a higher chance of evolving into something that can actually take her to the heights someone of her status should be able to reach.

    At least, that''s what she initially thought. However, seeing Rhydian and after Mira''s breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm, her instincts were screaming at her to take a slightly different route.

    Mira''s Yin Fire and Ice were still essential to her Nirvana, but what was even more important were those ck runes that appeared not only on Mira''s body but on her energy as well.

    Those ck runes and Elenei''s understanding of how Rhydian''s bloodline works allowed Elenei toe up with a way to make the most out of this Nirvana!

    When she first saw those ck runes, she felt an existential dread for some reason. Not necessarily because they were powerful, but more because of what they could do and their potential.

    However, it''s because of those reasons that she''s able to do what she''s about to do.

    After Elenei fully released all of her energy inside her body, she nodded toward Mira.

    Mira gave a firm nod back and began sending her Yin Fire, Ice, and Qi inside Elenei''s body!

 Chapter 363 [Bonus Chapter]Eleneis Nirvana Part 3

    When Elenei felt Mira''s energying into contact with her body, she immediately lowered all her defenses. She even had to go so far as to reduce her natural defense as she''s just too strong.

    It can''t be helped. Mira is just too weak right nowpared to her. Unless she wanted Mira to hurt her, such a thing would never happen, even if she stood there without doing anything.

    After she lowered her defenses and took in Mira''s energies, she wrapped her own Qi around them, forcing them to ''merge'' with one another, essentially linking her power with Mira''s.

    Such a thing normally wouldn''t be possible, but due to their simr nature and the ck runes lining Mira''s Qi, ice, and Yin mes, Elenei was able to do this.

    Though calling it a link isn''t exactly correct. It''s more like Mira''s ck runes parasitized Elenei''s Qi and is using it to fuel itself.

    Of course, this was only because Elenei allowed it to happen. If Elenei wanted to, she could immediately wipe out this strange power that was trying to invade her Qi and body.

    Though, right now, Elenei is acting purely on instinct. She''s only doing what her body is telling her to do, and right now, it''s telling her that it needs those ck runes to parasitize her body.

    This also benefited Mira because her energy reserves, despite being massive at her cultivation, are not nearly enough to fuel Elenei''s Nirvana!

    Mira kept on injecting all of her energy into Elenei''s body until she ran out of energy.

    However, thanks to the ''link'' between the two, Mira''s energy reserves were refilling at an incredible rate as the ck runes sucked in every avable source of energy from Elenei''s body.

    Mira knew her only job during this time was to keep injecting energy into Elenei''s body until she was told to stop, so that''s exactly what she did.

    Minutes slowly turned into hours, and by now, Mira was drenched from head to toe in sweat.

    Although she looked incredibly sexy at the moment, nobody was able to focus on that as something amazing yet terrifying was happening to Elenei''s body!

    The outside of her body is slowly being covered in small ck runes. The same goes for inside her body, but that was mostly engulfed in Mira''s Yin mes and Ice.

    Another few hours passed by, and slowly, Elenei''s entire body was covered not only in Mira''s Yin mes and Ice but those ck runes as well!

    Suddenly, Elenei''s instincts red, and she knew now was the most crucial part of this whole thing! If something went wrong during this next step, she would die!

    Mira kept injecting every bit of energy she had left, but it didn''t take long for her to run as every bit of Elenei''s energy had been parasitized and consumed by those ck runes.

    As soon as shepletely ran out of energy, Mira passed out.

    ''NOW!'' Elenei internally yelled, took out a red pill covered in golden runes, and quickly consumed it.

    Then, Elenei did everything in her power to call forth her Nirvana!

    As soon as that pill reached her stomach, Reddish-gold mes erupted and engulfed Elenei''s entire body!

    When this happened, Maria, Dominique, Rhydian, and Vulcan all saw Elenei be surrounded in reddish-gold mes as she slowly rose in the air.

    Her body was slowly disintegrating from these mes, but then she did something that would very wellbel her as a suicidal maniac should other Phoenix''s hear of it.

    She used her slight control over Mira''s Yin mes and Ice and forced them to merge with those reddish-gold mes!

    Luckily, right now, a terrifying amount of Mira''s Yin Fire and Ice is inside Elenei''s body, so such a thing is actually possible.

    However, that''s not what''s truly important at the moment. The whole reason Elenei wanted them to merge was because of those ck runes!<sub> </sub>

    When the reddish-gold mes met with Mira''s ice and Yin Fire, the two began attacking each other, causing Elenei''s body to disintegrate at a much faster rate, but this also allowed those ck runes to infect the reddish-gold mes slowly.

    Another hour went by as Mira''s ice and Yin Fire slowly consumed the reddish-gold mes thanks to the ck runes.

    By the time those mes were consumed entirely, there wasn''t much left of Elenei''s body. However, contrary to what others might expect, this is exactly what Elenei hoped to happen.

    This is exactly what it means for a Phoenix to undergo Nirvana, after all. Their body has to be destroyed in its entirety only for it to be rebuilt into something better and stronger. There are also other benefits for a Phoenix to go through a Nirvana other than an increase in strength, but those all pale inparison to what Elenei is hoping to gain.

    Unfortunately, sacrifices must be made for this to happen, and one of those sacrifices was Elenei''s cultivation base.

    That''s right! For Elenei to go through this kind of nonsensical and crazy Nirvana, she had to sacrifice her cultivation base! However, Elenei couldn''t care less about that! If she was in the Immortal Realm, she could regain her cultivation base in a few months or at most a few years!

    What''s the point of her ''high'' cultivation if she can''t even ascend and be an Immortal Phoenix?! She would dly give it up if it meant she had the potential to be something more; to be something capable of reaching heights that even her parents hadn''t reached!

    That''s what she felt from Mira, her unique elemental affinities, and those ck runes! She felt like she could evolve into something amazing, with the only price being her cultivation!

    Although Mira didn''t know that Elenei was sacrificing her cultivation base to fuel the expansion of those ck runes, she probably wouldn''t care too much. Elenei knew way more than her when it came to Phoenixs and their unique Nirvanic rebirth ability.

    In fact, if Mira knew that Elenei wanted to evolve and only needed to give up her cultivation base, she would probably encourage her to do so.

    The reason being: What''s better than having a Half-Ice Phoenix Half-Fire Dragon ally?

    Having an evolved Half-Ice Phoenix Half-Fire Dragon!!

    She might get into a bit of trouble with the Dragon and Phoenix ns when she eventually ascends, but that''s for another time! Why should she care about something so far in the future?

    Well, first, Elenei needs to finish going through her Nirvana!

    After a few minutes, Elenei''s body was nothing more than dust, yet even this dust wasn''t spared and was absorbed by those ck runes.

    All that was left of Elenei was her soul and her Blood Essence! Her soul swiftly imnted itself into her Blood Essence.

    Once her soul was safe inside, Mira''s ice powers and Yin Fire that had consumed the reddish-gold mes now made their way toward the blob of Blood Essence.

    However, contrary to what everyone thought would happen, the ice and mes didn''t try consuming the Blood Essence. Instead, the ice and Yin mes entered inside Blood Essence and began refining it as ck runes slowly formed a barrier outside it.

    Then suddenly, the glob of Blood Essence flew toward Mira''s be, and before anyone could react, it entered Mira''s body.

    However, it didn''t settle inside Mira''s body but instead went inside Mira''s Soul Sea before it eventually settled down and stopped moving.

    Unbeknownst to anyone right now, though Mira will surely find out when she wakes up, this glob of blood essence was slowly consuming part of Mira''s energy reserves, but fortunately, it was slow enough that her natural recovery rate could keep up with it.

    Outside of Mira''s body, silence pervaded the area. Nobody dared to make a sound as they could hardly believe what just happened! After all, it''s not every day one can witness a Phoenix undergo its Nirvana!

    ***

    Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 5000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s a bonus chapter for supporting me! I''ll upload another er tonight as a thank you for the support!

 Chapter 364 [Bonus Chapter]Leaving Lunar Fox City

    While everyone was staring ahead of them in silence, Mira was able to wake up from her unconscious state.

    She looked around and immediately noticed that Elenei wasn''t there.

    ''Hmm�� I guess she finished going through her Nirvana? No, if that were the case, she''d probably be standing in front of me. Then I suppose she''s still undergoing her Nirvana.'' Mira thought to herself.

    She could still feel her connection with Elenei, so she knew the Phoenix was still alive.

    That''s when Mira felt something draining her energy. Fortunately, her natural recovery rate could more than make up for it, but Mira still wanted to check what was draining her.

    Her consciousness entered her Soul Sea, and not far away from her scythe, Mira noticed a glob of blood wrapped in ck runes being refined by a peculiar fire and ice.

    "That must be Elenei. I guess even after spending all that time and energy, she still couldn''tplete her Nirvana in one go. Well, whatever. As long as this ball of blood doesn''t siphon too much of my energy, then I don''t really care. I just wonder how long it''ll take for her to finish."

    Mira thought out loud before exiting her Soul Sea. She didn''t put too much thought into this matter. She didn''t really have much of an opinion about Elenei. Mira considered her a useful ally, while Elenei wanted to evolve. That''s about the extent of their rtionship.

    Now that Mira was awake and wasn''t trying to release all of her energy continuously, she could finally understand some of the benefits that her breakthrough brought.

    p For one, her energy reserves are at least a dozen timesrger than when she was at the peak of the Foundation Realm. Not only that, but the energy she released was much denser and purer as well. Meaning, she is several times more efficient when using her Qipared to before her breakthrough.</anda>

    Just based on that fact alone, she can confidently say she''s probably at least 20 to 30 times stronger than when she was at the Peak of the Foundation Realm. Now she finally understood why the Core Formation Realm was a turning point for all cultivators!

    Of course, she''s this strong because of her unique breakthrough. If it were any normal person, they might only be 2 to 5 times stronger than they were at the Peak of the Foundation Realm. A genius who was able to form a strong core might be 7-10 times stronger if they are incredibly lucky. Absolute monsters might be able to be up to 15 times stronger, but such cases are incredibly rare!

    That doesn''t mean Mira is only 50% stronger than those absolute monsters. One must remember that her Foundation could be considered perfect when she broke through.

    This essentially means that even those geniuses who could be considered the peak of humanity can''t even bepared to Mira.

    Mira''s not even taking into ount herprehension of her Dao, her bodily strength, bloodline, or the strength of her new scythe. There''s also the fact that she can unleash more power through her meridians as they are incredibly durable and numerous now.

    Who knows how strong she really is if Mira were to fight with everything she has?

    Just thinking about fighting someone in her current state caused Mira to get fired up!

    Feeling the bloody auraing from Mira, the people surrounding her woke up from their stupor.

    "Mira! Are you alright?!"

    Maria was the first one to rush over to her and began examining Mira''s body to make sure she wasn''t injured anywhere.

    "Of course, I''m fine. I was just a bit tired as I had to continuously drain my energy for nearly half a day."<sub> </sub>

    Dominique, Rhydian, and Vulcan began approaching Mira as well. When Dominique saw that her Mother was alright, she began bombarding her with questions:

    "Who was that? Was that woman really a Phoenix? What just happened? Did she kill herself? Where''d that sphere of blood go when it entered you? Will we ever see that woman again? Can you also turn into a beast?"

    The others, besides Maria, were also interested in the answers to these questions, and Mira didn''t want to disappoint her daughter, so she had no choice but to exin what had happened.

    However, she had to spend a little longer exining things than she originally thought because Dominique knew very little about the Phoenix Race.

    Around half an hourter, Dominique finally understood who Elenei was and what had happened to her.

    During this time, Mira had also recovered all of her energy and was ready to go back to Lunar Fox City, say goodbye to Maria''s family, and head toward The Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch!

    Dominique and Maria were a bit sad that they had to leave this peaceful city, but they all knew that they wouldn''t be able to make it to the Entrance Exams if they didn''t leave soon.

    In fact, even Mira didn''t want to leave the city yet and wished she could spend a few weeks sorting out the gains from her recent breakthrough, but unfortunately, she''d have to do that on Rhydian''s back.

    It didn''t take long for them to make it to Lunar Fox City, where they met up with Maria''s parents and spent the rest of the day hanging out with them.

    That night, Mira and Maria had another passionate night where Mira made Maria reach the peak of ecstasy for several hours until, eventually, the busty blonde copsed and fell asleep.

    Mira may have been a bit rougher this time as she didn''t know when the next time they''d be able to have sex would be.

    The next day, Mira, Maria, Dominique, Rhydian, and Vulcan said goodbye to Maria''s parents and left Lunar Fox City.

    However, before they left, Mira wanted to have a conversation with Alicia (A/N: One of the girls Mira trained in the bandit camp she destroyed during ch. 28-33), but apparently, Maria had already talked to and told Alicia and the rest of ''Devil Empress Army'', or so they call themselves, to head towards the Main Branch of the Battle Maiden Sect. She gave Alicia a map and told her the safest way to get there.

    Maria also warned them not to break through to the Core Formation Realm yet as they can form a unique Core that can increase their strength and boost their potential as long as they find the right recipe and materials.

    Naturally, Mira was happy to see that Maria had decided to handle this matter for her because although Mira hadn''t spent much time with those women that she trained, she was unwilling to give up on them.

    Where else would she find such loyal subordinates? Especially ones she can train from the ground up? At the very least, Mira doubted she''d be able to find such people where she was going.

    With that issue dealt with, Mira no longer had any reason to stay in Lunar Fox City! Now, it''s time to leave this city, head towards the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch, and hopefully meet up with Cine!

    ***

    Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 5000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s a bonus chapter for supporting me!

 Chapter 365 Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 1

    After Elenei dropped Maria off near Peacemaker City two years ago, Cine was thest person she needed to drop off.

    However, there was a bit of a problem.

    They didn''t know where to go!

    Part of the reason for this is that there are simply too many ces where she can find wind-element items, but that doesn''t mean every ce will have what she''s looking for. Also, after telling Elenei what items she needed to form her Core, she knew that she''d need to find a few rare wind-element items.

    Since the wind element is a fairlymon affinity, there''s a rtively high demand for these kinds of treasures. So, if Cine wanted to get her hands on these items, she''d either have topete with wealthy scions in an auction, try toe to an agreement with powerful cultivators or families, or find them herself.

    That''s all considering she can find someone who either has the items she needs or is selling them.

    So, Cine did the only thing she could think of:

    "Can you please help me search for my items?"

    She shamelessly asked Elenei to help her out! She didn''t have extraordinary luck like Maria, nor did she have Mira''s battle experience. She didn''t have themunication skills necessary to form connections. Her background is essentially nothing. All she has is her skills with her saber and a bit of talent with her Wind Dao.

    However, everything she''s gotten so far has been due to her hard work. Even her fast progress in her Wind Dao is only because she''s willing to put her life on the line.

    Unfortunately, her saber talent can only take her so far. This is especially so when she''s all alone and has to search for all of these rare items in under two years!

    Therefore, the only path forward that she can see is to ask Elenei for help.

    Elenei was quiet for a while after hearing Cine''s plea for help, which made Cine quite nervous.

    "Alright. I''ll offer you a bit of help. Well, you probably wouldn''t be able to catch up to Mira or Maria without it, and I like you the most out of the three, so I''ll help you find all the items needed to break through to the Core Formation Realm."

    From that point on, Elenei traveled with Cine for a few days collecting all of the necessary resources she needed to break through.

    It''s truly fortunate that Cine was able to travel on top of Elenei because every day, they spanned thousands or sometimes even tens of thousands of kilometers.

    Of course, on their first day, they had to stop in a city so Cine could obtain more knowledge on the items she needed, but after that, Elenei sped across the Western Continent like it was nothing.

    Well, it''s also not like Cine was searching for Immortal-Grade items, and since the Western Continent is filled with forests and ins, wind-element items are incrediblymon.

    Elenei also decided to ''invest'' in Cine a bit as well. As a Phoenix who was born from both an Ice Phoenix and a Fire Dragon, the number of treasures in her possession is more than most people can fathom. Unfortunately, most of those treasures are ice and fire elemental items, but during her time searching for ways to break through, she''d also collected numerous treasures of all kinds.

    Her parents had also given her treasures of all elements since they thought that maybe using a different elemental treasure could help Elenei ovee her obstacle.

    All of those treasures have just been collecting dust in her Spatial Ring, so she figured she might as well hand some of them over to Cine and put them to good use.<sub> </sub>

    Of course, she didn''t just give her a bunch of random items. She only gave her items that could be considered the upgraded version of whatever she was already using.

    For example, if Cine needed a 100-year-old herb, then Elenei would give her a 1,000-year-old version or maybe even a 10,000-year-old version of that herb if she had it.

    It could be said that Cine struck gold this time when she asked for Elenei''s help��

    ***

    "Ah! Who would''ve thought that little Phoenix would take a liking to that girl so much! She''s even handing her such treasures that Cine would never be able to get her hands on even if she spent 1,000 years looking for them! Well, seeing how enthusiastic everyone is, I should join in on the fun as well! Hahaha! Alright! Here''s a little gift for you, Cine. Use it well, and be sure to use your newfound power to give Mira a good beating for me! HAHAHA!"

    A light shone out of the Guardian''s finger and shot into Cine''s head.

    "Work hard, little girl."

    ***

    Suddenly, new memories started appearing in Cine''s mind. When Cine saw what those memories contained, she was shocked.

    One, the Core Formation Recipe changed into something new, and just from a brief look, Cine knew that it seemed to have adapted to the new items she received.

    The second thing that appeared in her mind, however, was something incredible. It was a cultivation technique called Wind Saber Cultivation Technique. Oddly enough, this Cultivation Technique and the new Core Formation Recipe seem to go hand in hand.

    In order to cultivate this technique, one has to form a very specific Core, a Wind Saber Core. Once she forms this Core, then she''ll be able to use this technique.

    Another thing to note is that this technique won''t conflict with the Cultivation Technique she was using previously. Once she forms this Core and breaks through to the Core Formation Realm, she''ll be able to start using the Wind Saber Cultivation Technique immediately and can forget about the other cultivation technique.

    Lastly, switching to this cultivation technique won''t endanger one''s foundation. Well, it''s not like Cine''s foundation would be in any danger to begin with. The Realms before the Core Formation Realm are pretty much all the same for nearly every single cultivation technique.

    Even Mira''s cultivation technique, which has a scythe linked to it, isn''t any differentpared to other Cultivation Techniques before the Core Formation Realm. Well, except for the fact that she also has to feed Qi to her scythe��

    But the way she cultivates her body is still the same as the other techniques!

    Now that Cine received a Cultivation Technique like this along with a recipe for a unique Core, she won''t fall behind Maria and might even be able to stay even with Mira!

    However, there''s just a slight problem.

    To form this Core, one of the main ''ingredients'' is actually��

    Saber Intent!

 Chapter 366 Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 2

    Yes, that''s right! What Cine needs in order to form this Core and use this Cultivation Technique is toprehend Saber Intent.

    From what Cine knew, Saber Intent, or any Weapon Intent at that, is what separates the ordinary people from a master, at least in terms of their respective weapons.

    One can only ess or form Weapon Intent when their understanding of the fundamentals of their weapon reaches the maximum. It can also be considered the First Realm of Weapon Cultivation. The *insert any weapon name* Intent Realm.

    Weapon Cultivation is Simr to one''s Dao. Well, some Masters say that it''s actually the beginning, or the Foundation, of one''s own Weapon Dao, but Cine wouldn''t know anything about that.

    However, Intent is quite the unique power as it''s hard to categorize. It''s just a materialization of one''s understanding of one''s weapon. Depending on multiple factors like willpower, mentality, and Intent Comprehension, the power of one''s intent can vary greatly.

    Although that may be the case, anyone who is able to Comprehend Weapon Intent certainly isn''t an average person. Therefore, generally, anyone who is able to do such a thing will be treated highly by most ns, Sects, and/or Families.

    That''s why Cine was so surprised because the basic requirement of the Wind Saber Core and Wind Saber Cultivation Technique is being able to use Saber Intent!

    "Ummm�� Elenei, it seems like I''m going to need a bit more of your help. The Core Formation Recipe I received from Mira just changed. Not only that, but I received a Cultivation Technique along with it!"

    "What?! What do you mean?! How is that even possible? What are the new ingredients you need?"

    When Elenei heard what Cine needed, she was both shocked and a bit scared because when she looked in her storage ring, she realized that the new items on the recipe were her best wind-element items.

    She was shocked because she had never heard of a Core Formation Recipe needing such items.

    However, she was scared because it seemed who or whatever changed the recipe knew what was in her spatial ring or could at least peek inside without her knowledge.

    Although those treasures had little meaning to her, she didn''t want to give them up to some Mortal in the Foundation Realm she''s only known for a few years.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t seem like she had much of a choice. The new Recipe was clearly formed because of the items in her possession. If she were to go against someone who not only had the power to create such a Core but could also peek into HER spatial ring without her knowing��

    She shuddered just thinking about it!

    With a slightly pained heart, she handed over those items like a good little Phoenix.

    After receiving the items, Cine could now begin focusing on trying toprehend Saber Intent.

    "Hey Elenei, can you drop me off on some mountain? I''d like it to be close to the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch and not have any beasts higher than Rank 7 on it. After you drop me off, you can go back to Mira." Cine gave Elenei onest request, much to thetter''s dismay.

    However, she''s already gone this far for Cine, so she might as well see it through to the end.

    Elenei nodded her head, and in just half a day, they found the perfect ce for Cine to spend the next, who knows how long, training.

    After dropping Cine off, Elenei immediately fled the area! She didn''t want that mysterious entity to suddenly decide that she needed to give more of her treasures to Cine!<sub> </sub>

    ***

    "Hahaha! That silly Phoenix really thought I''d force her to hand over her treasures to that little girl! Well, I guess I can kind of understand why she would think that, but it''s not like I threatened her or anything! It was all a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"

    "Well, whatever. Anyways, I should probably limit my interactions with Mira''s friends. I really shouldn''t be interacting with them this much, but I just can''t bear to see them fall out with Mira because they can''t keep up with her strength. Being strong is lonely, and I don''t want Mira to have to bear that kind of pain in the future."

    The Guardian thought aloud as he watched Cine before switching his focus on Mira again.

    ***

    When Cine was dropped off at the base of the mountain, she quickly made her way through the forestation in search of a ce she could iste herself for days or even months at a time.

    Luckily, it didn''t take her long to find a cave hidden on a cliffside that was perfect for her needs.

    At least, that''s what she thought when she first entered, but it wasn''t until she reached the cave''s end that she found something that somewhat shocked and confused her.

    There in front of hery a woman, seemingly in her mid-twenties. She had ck hair, was about 175 centimeters tall, incredibly pale, and was covered in wounds.

    She had a small hole in the side of her stomach, one of her shoulders was dislocated, and both arms looked to be either fractured or broken. One of her legs was bent in the wrong direction, and there were countless scratches, burn marks, and various other wounds covering her body.

    However, despite all that, she still seemed to be alive, albeit barely. Well, Cine assumed it''s probably because of the girl''s cultivation which was Stage 1 Core Formation Realm. She also seemed stronger than your average Stage 1 Core Formation Realm expert, as Cine didn''t think she''d be able to handle her just based on the woman''s Qi fluctuations alone.

    Now, she has a few options avable to her at this moment.

    1: She can help try and nurse the woman back to a state where she doesn''t look like a breathing corpse.

    2: She can ignore this whole situation and find another cave.

    3: She can kill the dying woman in front, plunder any valuables she may have, and forget about this encounter.

    Of course, Cine would never choose option number 3. Unless the person in front of her were an enemy, she would never wield her saber against an unarmed person that is on the verge of dying.

    As for ignoring the dying woman in front of her, Cine didn''t think she could do that. This may be a world filled with blood, death, and betrayals, and she wasn''t so naive to think that just because a person is on the brink of death like this doesn''t mean they weren''t the ones in the wrong in the first ce.

    The woman in front of her could be a notorious mass murderer or someone who tortured and ate babies.

    ''Wait, aren''t I already friends with a mass murderer?'' Cine joked to herself and came to a conclusion.

    She would help nurse the woman back to health!

 Chapter 367 Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 3

    Although Cine decided to help the woman, she first had to plunder *ahem*-check if the girl had a spatial ring, and if so, she needed to check whether she had any healing pills or elixirs.

    However, after thoroughly searching the girl''s body, she didn''t find any spatial rings, pills, or elixirs.

    This gave Cine a bit of a headache because she doesn''t have very many healing pills in her spatial ring. Those pills are for emergency use only! Her body and vitality are strong enough that she can recover from most injuries with just some food and Qi.

    She really didn''t want to hand over one of her healing pills to some random chick, but it seems she doesn''t have much of a choice.

    But before she does anything, she first needs to ''fix'' a few things on the girl''s body.

    With a slightly sadistic grin on her face, she bent down over the girl''s body.

    ''Ah. Finally, someone other than Maria and me can experience Mira''s torturous ways of fixing our bodies whenever we''re injured. Don''t me me for what I''m about to do, woman. I''m only doing what I was taught. If you want to me someone, me Mira!'' Cine thought to herself before grasping the girl''s dislocated shoulder and shoving it back into ce.

    "Ugh!" A grunt escaped the unconscious woman''s mouth, but Cine didn''t stop.

    She slowly worked her way down the girl''s body. If there were any broken bones, she pushed them back into ce. If one of the bones seemed fractured, she cut open the skin and dug out the fragments. Any dislocated joints got pushed back into ce, and she made sure to remember any spots that looked fractured.

    After going through years of Mira''s hellish training, her understanding of the human body and how to piece it back together is at a fairly high level for someone at her cultivation and background.

    Well, most of her knowledge came from Mira, who has countless years of experience and probably knows the human body more than the majority of people.

    Cine took out one of her healing pills and forced it into the girl''s mouth. Then she ced her hands on the girl''s abdomen and used her Qi to help circte the pill throughout the girl''s body.

    However, the pill wasn''t that effective since it''s meant for those in the Foundation Realm. It also wasn''t made to handle this level of injuries. It''s meant to deal with light to medium injuries, but this woman was clearly suffering from numerous light, medium, and severe injuries all over her body, and who knows what sort of shape her internals are in.

    Cine obviously knew this beforehand, but what else can she do? She can at least try and use the efficacy of the pill to try and deal with some of the more severe wounds.

    A few minutes passed by and all the energy within the pill ran out, but the woman didn''t look much better. The hole in her stomach was slightly smaller, but that''s only because Cine used a lot of the pill''s effects to try and close up the hole to stop some of the bleeding.

    Cine sighed, seeing this, and knew that if she wanted the girl to live, she''d have to sacrifice the rest of her healing pills.

    ''Well, I''ve already given her one. What''s a few more?'' Cine thought to herself before taking out the rest of her healing pills and shoving them down the woman''s throat.

    ? Cine then spent the next half an hour dealing, trying to heal the most severe injuries in the woman''s body while also preventing her from dying of blood loss.

    Luckily, it seemed the woman was given an extra lease on life due to her efforts!<sub> </sub>

    After dealing with the most severe injuries, Cine took off the woman''s clothes and began wrapping her body in bandages. She naturally has an overabundant amount of bandages leftover from Mira''s hell training��

    Then she took out some water and forced it down the woman''s throat.

    After all that, she took out about 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and tossed them on and around the woman to hopefully try and improve her recovery rate or at least help her gain consciousness.

    Cine had no idea if this would work, but she''s got a bunch of Low-Grade Spirit Stones, so it''s worth a try.

    She knew that once someone reaches the Core Formation Realm, you can basically live off of Qi alone and no longer have to consume food and water in order to survive. That''s not to say that food and water arepletely useless in this Realm, but they aren''t needed.

    Once Cine fixed up the woman as much as possible, she ced her in the corner of the cave, then sat down with her saber to meditate.

    She used this time to review all of her previous fights in her mind, examine them, find out what she did wrong, and conclude how she could do better.

    This mediation session went on for about a week before Cine finally opened her eyes, stood up, and began practicing with her saber.

    During that meditation session, she had a few insights on how she could improve her Saber fundamentals, but it wasn''t nearly enough for her toprehend Saber Intent.

    Cine wasn''t expecting to learn how to use Saber Intent after just a week of meditation. That''s why she requested Elenei to drop her off in the mountains. She needs live targets to practice on!

    When Cine felt like she had consolidated all her gains through that week-long meditation session, she nced over to ensure the woman was still alive, then left the cave to fight some beasts.

    Whether the woman was still alive or not by the time she came back was up to fate.

    ***

    Two weekster, Cine returned back to the cave covered in beast blood after going through numerous life-and-death battles and immediately noticed that although the woman was still alive, she still hadn''t gained consciousness.

    Cine just shrugged her shoulders, walked over to the woman, changed her bandages, and forced some water down her throat, then went back to meditating.

    Over thest two weeks, she had made decent progress in her Saber fundamentals and was going to spend some time consolidating those gains before going out again.

    ***

    One yearter, the unconscious woman finally opened her eyes!

 Chapter 368 Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 4

    After an entire year, the woman''s eyes suddenly opened! She panicked for a second and immediately tried sitting up��

    "UGH!!"

    Only to realize that she can''t! Her body was in too much pain!

    She sent her consciousness inside her body and was thoroughly shocked. Many of her internal organs were damaged, numerous fractured or broken bones, torn muscles, and even her skin were still covered in light wounds.

    She didn''t know how long she was out; no, she''s not even sure how she''s alive right now! She should have died!

    The woman turned her head to try and figure out where she was, but she was still in the same cave that she jumped in when she was on the brink of death.

    However, after examining the cave for a bit, she saw something suspicious. There were remnants of someone recently making a fire.

    She knew that she wasn''t the one who made the fire, so that could only mean one thing.

    Someone found her.

    Killing intent leaked out of her eyes when she thought of being at the mercy of someone else right after she had just escaped death!

    However, seeing as how nobody is here right now, she was determined to heal herself and leave this ce immediately.

    With those thoughts in mind, she shut her eyes and began circting her Qi throughout her body to try and heal all those wounds.

    She guessed that it''d probably take her at least a few weeks to a few months just to be able to walk again and around a year to reach her peak state. That is if she only uses her Qi and doesn''t take any pills or elixirs to speed up her recovery.

    "Ugh! If only these injuries weren''t so deep and I could treat them sooner, I would be able to heal myself in at most a few weeks!"

    The womanined but still kept circting her Qi in hopes of healing her body sooner.

    This continued for a few days until the woman was interrupted when she heard someone enter the cave. Her eyes narrowed, and she was ready to put her life on the line again, should her captive have any weird thoughts toward her.

    Not long after she heard those footsteps, the appearance of a beautiful young woman with long green hair and green eyes holding a bloody saber entered the woman''s eyes.

    The green-haired woman seemed to sense a gaze on her and turned toward the woman with a hint of surprise in her eyes and said, "Oh? It looks like you''re finally awake."

    ***

    Cine had just returned from a long hunt and entered the cave like usual. However, this time, when she entered, she felt someone staring at her.

    She saw the ck-haired woman that she''d been ''nursing'' staring at her with hatred in her eyes. She was a bit surprised by this turn of events, but she was able to calm her emotions quickly and said, "Oh? It looks like you''re finally awake."

    The woman seemed surprised by Cine''s words but kept her guard up and didn''t say anything.

    Cine facepalmed, looking at this stubborn girl who seemed hellbent on not trusting her. Although she wasn''t expecting anything in return, a ''thank you for saving my life'' would be nice.<sub> </sub>

    "In case you''re curious, I''ve been taking care of you for about a year now. I don''t know how long you''ve been injured, but based on your wounds about a year ago, you looked like you were injured recently since you were on the brink of death. Oh, my name is Cine, by the way." Cine said indifferently and was about to begin meditating when she heard the woman''s voice.

    "Why��?"

    "Hmm? Why what?"

    "...Why''d you save me?"

    Cine stared at the woman for a few seconds with the same nk look on her face, which made the woman feel somewhat ufortable.

    "Because I wanted to."

    "Eh? But why?!"

    The woman was confused and demanded a real answer from Cine.

    Hearing the woman''s words, Cine had a sudden urge to knock her back unconscious, but she decided against it. She''s spent nearly a year taking care of her all in hopes of the woman regaining consciousness. She can''t knock her out as soon as she wakes up, right?

    "Look, I just felt like it. I found this cave, and since it fit my requirements perfectly, I decided to make it my temporary home. However, I discovered your unsightly body knocked out at the end of the cave. You didn''t have any loot on you, and I don''t feel right killing someone I don''t know who is on the brink of death. Since this cave was perfect for my needs and because I didn''t feel like killing your pitiful self, I can''t simply let a nearly dead person rot away in my temporary home. That being the case, I decided to use all the healing pills I had me all in hopes of you regaining consciousness. Essentially, you lived because I didn''t want to dirty up my little cave."

    The woman''s eyes and lips were twitching nonstop as Cine spoke, and she began regretting questioning this crazy woman''s motives.

    "Ahem! I-I see. Thank you for saving me. I''ll be sure to repay this favor in the future. Oh, my name is Asami Sasaki, by the way." Asami said, avoiding eye contact with Cine.

    "Asami, huh. Well, I''ll be staying here for the next ten months or so. If you need help with anything, feel free to ask me. Though I''ll warn you again, I don''t have any more healing pills. Oh, but I do have plenty of food with me. That should help with some of your blood loss. I need to meditate now, so try not to disturb me."

    Cine tossed a spatial ring full of food near Asami and immediately started meditating.

    Asami''s lips twitched uncontrobly, but she didn''t say anything as Cine had already done more than enough.

    It''s just:

    ''Why do I feel so irritated whenever she opens her mouth? Can''t she just speak normally?''

    Asami thought to herself.

    However, soon her expression turned into shock when she felt a unique aura radiating around Cine, who was deep in meditation.

    ''No way! Has this girl actuallyprehended Intent?! No, this isn''t quite Intent, but she''s not that far from achieving it. A genius! She''s a fucking genius! How old is she? She''s only at the Peak of the Foundation Realm, so she can''t be that old! But why is she out in the mountains? Wouldn''t it be better for her to meditate in a safe ce in a city or Sect?''

    Asami tried specting Cine''s origins, but she''s never seen or heard of a person who looked or acted like Cine, nor has she heard the name Cine before.

    ''Well, whatever. Cine said she''s going to be staying here for another ten months or so. I should be able to learn more about her during this time. But first, I have to heal these nasty wounds.''

 Chapter 369 Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 5

    For the next six months, the two of them hardly interacted. This wasn''t because they didn''t like each other, but Cine was on the cusp ofprehending Saber Intent. Asami knew this and didn''t bother Cine at all during this time. She knew just how rare it is for someone toprehend Intent, much less someone so young, and she didn''t want to be the reason why such a person couldn''tprehend it.

    Then, one fateful day, Cine was meditating in the cave. Suddenly, her mind cleared up of all unnecessary thoughts and only focused on the Saber. Her entire mind was focused onprehending the profundities of the Saber and how to advance her proficiency in the weapon.

    Quickly, she felt her understanding of the Saber reach its peak, but then she hit a bottleneck. Fortunately, Cine''s talent with the saber is abnormally high, and her foundation is rock solid, so it didn''t take long to break the bottleneck blocking her progress!

    Immediately after breaking the barrier, a sharp and domineering Intent washed over Cine''s mind and body, increasing her strength, willpower, and Saber proficiency!

    Yes, this was it! This was Saber Intent!

    Her body was constantly releasing this Intent as if it was excited that Cine had finally reached this Realm.

    However, Cine''s enlightenment hasn''t ended yet, and she didn''t want to waste this opportunity. So, she stood up with a saber in her hand, coated it in Saber Intent, and began practicing her Foundational techniques.

    *Swish**Swish**Swish**Swish*

    Her moves may look simple, but they are refined to perfection, and since her saber was coated in Saber Intent, the destructive power contained in each strike was incredible.

    Asami watched all of this happening with her mouth agape as she didn''t expect Cine toprehend Saber Intent so fast!

    Not only that, but even she was a little terrified of those strikes. She didn''t even know how such a thing was possible as she should be nearly invincible among those at the same cultivation as her or even a few stages above her.

    Now, a girl at the Peak of the Foundation Realm actually has the power to fight her head-on! Although Asami is confident she would be able to beat Cine if the two were to battle to the death, she certainly wouldn''te out unscathed.

    Asami wasn''t sure how to feel knowing that. She always thought she was a monstrous genius, but it seems it''s just like her parents always said.

    ''There''s always a sky above the sky, huh? I guess I''ve been thoroughly humbled by this mysterious girl in front of me. If only Cine can form a strong Core when she breaks through to the Core Formation Realm, she''ll actually be invincible among those at the same cultivation level.'' Asami thought to herself as she stared at Cine, who was still in the middle of her enlightenment.

    Asami also thought about handing over her family''s Core Formation Recipe, but she immediately dismissed that idea.

    Who knows what sort of trouble Cine will get into should her family find an outsider using their Core Formation Recipe?

    Asami shook her head of these thoughts and decided to just spectate Cine for now. She didn''t want to miss this opportunity. Although she doesn''t use a saber, just watching someone break through andprehend Weapon Intent might be able to help bring her a bit closer to realizing her own Intent.

    Asami watched in silence, enraptured by Cine''s performance until Cine finally opened her eyes 30 minutester.

    "Huuu~ What an amazing feeling. I feel like I''ve been unshackled." Cine muttered after letting out a sigh of amazement.

    She felt like her body and mind were much lighter than before and knew that it was because she finallyprehended Saber Intent. She didn''t know why she felt such a change and just attributed it to her recent enlightenment before pushing those thoughts out of her mind and focusing on the thing she was looking forward to the most.<sub> </sub>

    Her breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm!

    Now that she has finally reached the basic requirements for her new Cultivation Technique and Core, she can finally break through!

    A smile broke out on her face when she thought of how strong she''ll be after breaking through. That smile grew when the thought of using that strength to beat the shit out of Mira surfaced.

    She really wanted nothing more than to give Mira a piece of her own medicine, and now that she''sprehended Saber Intent, she felt like such a thing was possible.

    Asami saw Cine''s unusuallyrge and genuine smile but only thought it was because of her recent breakthrough. That is until she heard something weirde out of Cine''s mouth.

    "Hehe~ Now, Maria and I should be able to defeat you, Mira! Last time you may have won by catching us off-guard, but not this time! This time, I''ll be able to return all the pain you''ve inflicted on me over the years! Hehehehe~~."

    Cine''s dark chuckle sent chills down Asami''s spine, but she also felt like now might be her opportunity to gather some information about Cine!

    "Oh? It seems you have a lot of built-up resentment against this Mira person. Is that person your rival or something?"

    After hearing Asami''s voice, Cine realized she had forgotten she wasn''t the only one in the room. Her smile slowly faded, and she stared at Asami for a few seconds, wondering if she should answer that question.

    She knew that Asami was trying to probe her with that seemingly innocent question, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, she concluded that it didn''t really matter. Mira''s name will probably sweep through the continent soon anyways, as her strength and talent in fighting are simply unmatched.

    Although Cine hasn''t seen what the geniuses from the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch are like, she''s confident that Mira isn''t any less of a geniuspared to them.

    "Hmmmm~ I guess you could call Mira a friend,panion, and trainer. She''s the one who pushes me to be the best version of myself. I probably wouldn''t be where I am today if it weren''t for her."

    Cine''s answer surprised Asami because from the way Cine said Mira''s name, it sounded more like the two were enemies.

    "Eh? Then why do you want to beat her up so bad if she means that much to you?"

    Cine just looked at her with lifeless eyes when she remembered Mira basically torturing her during what she called ''training sessions''. She can''t even remember how many times Mira broke her bones for not performing up to her standards!

    "Hmph! If you want to know, how about I introduce you to her? I''ll even ask Mira to train you so you can get first-hand experience! I''m sure you''ll want to beat her up after going through that shit as well!" Cine said before turning around, ignoring Asami.

    Asami was stunned by Cine''s aggressive answer but didn''t think much of it. Instead, her curiosity about this Mira character reached its peak. She really wanted to know what kind of person could make Cine feel such emotions.

    Interacting with Cine, Asami felt the future looked a little more interesting and less depressing than before she met Cine.

 Chapter 370 [Bonus Chapter]Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 6

    Now that Cine finally learned Saber Intent, it was time for her to break through to the Core Formation Realm.

    Just thinking about breaking through caused Cine to tremble in anticipation. There are other reasons for her excitement other than being strong enough to give Mira a beating. That is, of course, her new Cultivation Technique and Core!

    She can tell that the benefits she''ll gain from the technique and Core won''t just increase her strength but will also create something unique within her. It might also increase her talent with the Saber! Well, at least she hoped it did. If she can further increase her only talent, then wouldn''t she be able topete with monsters like Mira?

    Cine then spent the next week meditating, calming her mind, so she has no distracting thoughts for when she attempts to break through.

    Asami watched Cine meditate over this past week and wondered what she was doing. At first, she thought that maybe Cine was just consolidating her Saber Intent, but she dismissed that thought almost immediately.

    For one, Cine''s Saber Intent was consolidated during her enlightenment. Two, Cine wasn''t releasing any energy fluctuations.

    However, she knows that it''s incredibly rude to disturb someone when they''re meditating, so Asami kept quiet.

    Then, after a week, Cine finally opened her eyes and looked at Asami.

    "I''m going to break through to the Core Formation Realm, so don''t bother me until I''m done."

    Asami was stunned and unconsciously blurted out, "Wait! Don''t!"

    Cine stared at Asami without any change in her expression, "Why?"

    "If you break through just like that, you might hinder your potential! There are these things called Core Formation Reci-"

    Cine cut off Asami, "Core Formation Recipes? Yeah, I know what they are. I''m going to be using one for my breakthrough, so be quiet and stop bothering me until I finish breaking through. Actually, you should rejoice that I''m even allowing you to witness my breakthrough�� Ah! Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn''t allow you to watch me form my Core. What to do?"

    "I, Asami Sasaki, hereby swear that I will not leak any and all information regarding Cine''s Core Formation Breakthrough or the Core she has formed. If I do so, may the Heavens strike me down! There, will that allow me to watch your breakthrough?" Asami didn''t hesitate to swear to the Heavens. She wanted to know just what kind of Core Cine would form because she had a feeling that the reason why she spent her timeprehending Saber Intent instead of breaking through was for this Core.

    Although she had no evidence regarding this conjecture, Asami had her suspicions.

    1: Cine can clearly break through whenever she wants. So, why wait? She could be searching for ingredients in the mountain, but that didn''t make much sense because Cine spent a lot of her time meditating on her Saber Intent. If she was really only looking for ingredients, there was no need to waste her time meditating in a cave.

    2: Cine decided to break through to the Core Formation Realm right afterprehending Saber Intent. From what she knew, there''s no benefit to learning Intent before or after a specific Realm like the Core Formation Realm. It''s a totally independent power system. Since that''s the case, why did Cine decide to break through only afterprehending Saber Intent?

    Now, after hearing that Cine already knew about Core Formation Recipes and was going to use one to break through, her suspicions were all but confirmed. There has to be something unique about her Core Formation Recipe, and Asami wasn''t going to let this opportunity pass her by!

    She''s never heard of a Core Formation Recipe requiring an Intent, and if her conjectures are true, then what she''s about to witness will be groundbreaking! She''ll be able to witness something that could shake the very foundation of the Cultivation World!<sub> </sub>

    How could she pass up such an opportunity?!

    If all it takes is swearing an oath to the Heavens, then she''ll dly do so as long as she can witness what''s about to happen!

    Cine stared at Asami in surprise when she heard the Heavenly Oath, but when she noticed the look in her eyes, she sighed.

    "You know, you''re too smart for your own good. Well, whatever. I''ll allow you to stay and watch. It''s not like you could replicate it anyway. Now, just sit there and be quiet! I won''t repeat myself again!" Cine felt like thest week of meditation was bing useless the more she interacted with this woman.

    Asami nodded her head repeatedly and stopped talking. Seeing this, Cine took a few deep breaths before taking out all the ingredients needed for her breakthrough.

    When Asami saw the ingredients, Cine was pulling out, her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets!

    ''WHAT THE FUCK?! WHERE''D SHE EVEN GET THIS STUFF?!'' Asami internally screamed but didn''t dare say anything.

    Now, Asami was even more curious about Cine''s background. How could she not be? The stuff Cine is taking out are things that even the top families and Sects in the Central Continent can''t get their hands on easily! No, she can''t even recognize a few of the items, but based on their aura, she can tell that they are beyond extraordinary!

    Cine paid no mind to her spectator and soon finished taking out all of the items needed to form her Core.

    Now, things start to get a bit moreplicated. She now needs to materialize all of her Saber Intent into a single point, and then she''ll be able to start forming her Core!

    However, it isn''t easy to materialize all of her Saber Intent and condense it into a single point. Since the use of Saber Intent relies on one''s mind and willpower, externalizing all of it should result in her falling unconscious, causing the externalized Saber Intent to dissipate.

    Cine didn''t have a way to ovee this, and it seems like that''s also the point of this process. So, Cine could only brute force her way through it; if she fails, she''ll try again. She''ll try again and again until she can finally stay conscious even after externalizing all of her Saber Intent!

    Although she thought that way, Cine also didn''t have any ns to repeat this process. She''s confident in her ability to stay conscious even when she should be knocked out cold.

    The basis of her confidence? Of course, it''s Mira''s training!

    In times like these, Cine truly appreciates the hellish training Mira put her under. It''s because of that training that she''s able to face any situation with confidence.

    ''Let''s do this!''

    ***

    Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 15000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s a bonus chapter for supporting me!

 Chapter 371 Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 7

    Cine''s mind stirred as a small thumb-sized saber began materializing in front of her. This small saber was slowly filled with all of Cine''s Saber Intent.

    The more Saber Intent that went into this mini-saber, the more realistic it looked.

    Once Cine released 99% of all the Saber Intent she could muster, she began experiencing sharp pains in her mind, but the pain wasn''t unbearable. She also started to lose focus, but she could still go on.

    Cine clenched her teeth and summoned the remaining 1%. As soon as that happened, several things happened.

    For one, the mini saber didn''t look like a materialization of Saber Intent and instead looked like an actual saber.

    Secondly, the pain in her mind became many times worse! Before, it felt like someone was poking her mind with a needle, but now it feels like someone is trying to rip it apart!

    This feeling only became worse with every second she stayed conscious.

    Understanding that she probably won''t be able tost much longer, Cine initiated the next step of the process.

    She used the mini saber to create a cut on the palm of her hand and dripped her blood all over the Core Formation Recipe items. Then she opened her mouth and said, "-----------!"

    Cine didn''t know what she was saying, nor could she hear the words that came out of her mouth, but whatever she said caused the items, her blood, and the mini saber to glow.

    Suddenly, a connection was formed between her blood, the items, and the mini saber using Cine''s blood and Qi.

    When the connection was formed, the items immediately flew towards the mini saber and began trying to merge.

    That''s when Cine opened her mouth again.

    "---------------!"

    However, again, so words could be hearding out of her mouth, yet it seems whatever she did was a trigger for something. The items in front of her began to melt and merge with the mini saber one by one until only the mini saber was left.

    After the mini saber absorbed all of the items, it changed from a clear color to a bright green. The mini saber was also ced in the middle of a green helix that swirled around the outside of it.

    "--------------!"

    Another iprehensible sound left Cine''s mouth, causing the mini saber to tremble slightly before it shot toward Cine and swiftly entered her dantian.

    Once it made its way toward the center of her dantian, it stopped moving and began releasing all of the energy it absorbed from the Core Formation Recipe items.

    If Cine''s mind weren''t in so much pain right now, she''d be able to feel all sorts of changes taking ce both inside and outside her body, along with more mysterious changes that aren''t so easily quantified.

    However, although she left like her mind was being split in half, she had to keep going. She hasn''t even begun breaking through to the Core Formation Realm yet! She had only just finished setting up the preparations.

    Without wasting any more time, Cine forced herself to circte the Wind Saber Cultivation Technique that''s been imprinted in her mind.

    Then something terrifying but amazing started happening! The energy being released by the mini saber rushed through her meridians, absorbing all of the stored energy in her body and sending it back into the mini saber in her dantian.

    ? The mini saber used this Qi to help fuel the Core Formation process while also altering the properties of the Qi that was being absorbed.<sub> </sub>

    In just a few minutes, all the Qi contained in Cine''s body was absorbed and sent into the mini saber inside her dantian.

    Once the mini saber was done collecting every ounce of Qi inside Cine''s body, it released all of the energy inside it to begin forming her core.

    Waves of sharp Saber Intent and wind energy began swirling around Cine''s dantian, causing it to undergo a shocking change.

    Her dantian began changing into what looked like a ball of wind. It changed to a bright green color as sharp winds seemed to surround the core.

    Over time, the core became sturdier and sturdier. Then a few minutester, Cine''s core was sessfully created, but the changes weren''t over yet. The mini saber located in the middle of her core released the rest of the energy within it and sent it into her core, body, mind, and soul.

    Her skeletal structure seemed to be in the process of modifying. Her Slyph bloodline was undergoing a metamorphosis. Her affinity with the wind element was rising, and her meridians began strengthening.

    All in all, her body was evolving into something better suited for the saber and cultivation.

    Once this energy swept through her body, the pain in Cine''s mind also disappeared, and she was able to see and feel the changes happening.

    Feeling the energy surging through her body, Cine felt her strength rising at an unprecedented rate! She also felt herself falling into a state of semi-enlightenment as herprehension of her Wind Dao rose by another level, along with the strength of her Saber Intent.

    The euphoric pleasure of feeling every aspect of herself improving was something that Cine would never forget.

    The energy contained within the mini sword in the middle of her dantian kept washing over her core, mind, body, and soul for the next half a day before Cine finallypleted her metamorphosis and entered the Core Formation Realm!

    Cine exited her semi-enlightened state and immediately began inspecting her body after sessfully breaking through.

    The first ce she checked was her Core.

    Her new core looked like a green ss ball. A sharp wind constantly circted around this green ss ball, which confused Cine. She tried inspecting what it was that circted around her core and was shocked to find that it seemed to be abination of Saber Intent and her wind element.

    Wanting to find out more about his phenomenon, she looked inside her Core and was shocked to find that the mini saber was still located in the center! Not only that, but Cine could sense that the mini saber was now the source of her Saber intent!

    This worried Cine to the extreme, and rightfully so! Weapon Intent is an ethereal form of energy that is created based on one''s understanding. There isn''t a physical container for this energy source as it''s all based on one''sprehension, mind, and willpower.

    However, Cine''s new Wind Saber Core and Wind Saber Cultivation Technique seemed to defy logic and created a physical container to house the source of her Saber Intent.

    Strangely enough, Cine still felt her Saber Intent was connected to herprehension, mind, and willpower and would only grow stronger by those factors. It just seems like her Saber Intent is also linked to her Core and Qi in some way.

    She''s not exactly sure what kind of benefits she''ll receive from this, but for some reason, she knew that this wasn''t a bad thing.

    Cine was going to begin inspecting the rest of her body but was interrupted by Asami.

    "What�� What the FUCK just happened?!?!"

    ***

    [A/N: Here''s one bonus chapter for making it to the Top 25 of the Golden Ticket Rankings! Thank you guys so much for the support! Over the uing week, I''m going to try and upload 3 chapters per day as a thank you for all the gifts and support I receivedst month!]

 Chapter 372 Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 8

    Cine looked over and saw a pale-faced Asami staring at her in shock and horror.

    "...What are you screaming about?"

    Asami stared at Cine in disbelief when she heard her nonchnt answer.

    "You�� Do you really not know the significance of what just happened?! Let''s forget how you pulled out a bunch of extremely rare items. Just the fact that you formed a Core using her Saber Intent is already enough to shake the Cultivation World!"

    Cine wasn''t sure how to answer that. The truth was she really had no idea how amazing the Core Formation Recipe she received was. She''s only interacted with a few Core Formation Realm experts, and those people were rtively weak and ignorantpared to those closer to the Central Continent.

    How could she possibly know how strong and talented the real geniuses of this world are? How would she know how strong she is in rtion to those geniuses?

    She''s spent most of her time around Mira, who has always been pushing her yet is still able to suppress her. To her, no matter how much stronger she gets, she still feels weak in front of Mira.

    Under such circumstances, it''s no wonder Cine never thought she was talented or special, therefore not thinking about how strong she ispared to others at her cultivation base.

    Not only that, but most of the enemies she''s faced over the years have had higher cultivation than her. She''s already surpassed the point where people in the same cultivation realm as her provide any sort of challenge.

    However, it''s only now, after Asami started yelling at how amazing her Core Formation Breakthrough was, that she realized she might be more amazing than she thought.

    "I don''t know what you''re trying to say, Asami. You saw for yourself that replicating this Core Formation Recipe is nearly impossible. Actually, even if you could replicate it, you wouldn''t be able to use it. I guess you could say this Core Formation Recipe was made specifically for me."

    Asami naturally understood what Cine was saying because even she didn''t understand what was going on! All she knew was that something amazing happened whenever Cine''s mouth moved, but she couldn''t understand what Cine was saying despite that. So, even if she somehow gathered all the ingredients andprehended Saber Intent, it would be useless to her.

    Though, that''s not exactly what Cine meant by that��

    You also needed the Wind Saber Cultivation Technique to be able to make full use of the Core. If you didn''t have it, then most of the benefits that came with the Core would be useless, but Cine wasn''t going to clear up Asami''s misunderstanding.

    "I understand�� It''s just I''ve never seen anything like your breakthrough. To be honest, it makes mine seem a little insignificant��"

    Cine narrowed her eyes and began thoroughly examining Asami. She felt what Asami said was bull shit. Insignificant? No, definitely not. Even though Asami is still weakened, Cine can feel the overwhelming strength inside her body. It was to the point where even after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, she still felt threatened by her. Of course, she''d most likely win in the end, but she still mustmend Asami on her strength.

    Maybe if she went through the sort of hell Mira put her through every day, the two of them would be able to fight on equal footing��

    Thinking this far, her gaze sharpened. She didn''t know what this girl''s background was, but she felt it was a shame for such a talent not to bloom.

    "Hey, what are you going to do after you heal?" Cine asked.<sub> </sub>

    "Huh? Ummm�� I-I''m not quite sure yet. I want to get revenge on those who tried to kill me, but I don''t think I''ll be able to aplish that feat any time soon��" Asami hung her head down and said sadly.

    "Ah! Then, have you ever thought about joining a Sect? At least until you gain enough strength for your revenge?"

    A look of disdain appeared in Asami''s eyes when she heard the word ''Sect'', but she didn''t say anything immediately.

    While it''s true that she looked down on the Sects, it''s also true that she has nowhere else to go.

    "No, I''ve never thought of such a thing."

    Cine noticed the disdain in Asami''s eyes but didn''tment on it. She figured that Asami''s identity wasn''t simple, but what did that matter? Right now, she was just a��

    "Then why don''t youe with me to join the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch? I mean, it''s better than nothing, right? Just look at you! Even beggars are richer than you! No spatial ring! No money! Torn-up clothes! Not even a weapon! At least in a Sect, you''ll have a ce to live and a continuous stream of resources. You can also meet up with my friends. I''m sure you''ll like�� Ah, no, you probably won''t like them at first. But I think you''d be able to fit right in. So, what do you think?"

    Asami''s lip twitched nonstop when she heard what Cine said. Although she wasn''t wrong, why did she have to say it like that?!

    Worst of all, she couldn''t retort any of it! Everything she said was the truth!

    However, what she said also gave her something to think about. She currently has nothing but her cultivation, but even that is barely enough to survive in this world. Trying to raise her strength on her own sounds nice and all, but who knows how long it''ll take to raise her strength doing that? Also, should the people that tried to kill her ever find out she''s still alive, then they''ll definitelye after her again. And next time, she most likely won''t be so lucky��

    Joining a Sect in such a situation might not be a bad thing. She''ll have a rtively safe ce to grow, and as long as she stays rtively low profile, nobody should be able to figure out her identity.

    "Alright. I guess I''ll apany you and join the Battle Maiden Sect." Asami said with a hint of reluctance.

    "Good. I was afraid I''d have to beat some sense into you, but it seems like you''re not as stupid as I thought. Congrattions." Cine said with some surprise.

    Asami''s lips twitched uncontrobly, and veins popped on her forehead.

    "Dammit!! You''ve been saying whatever the hell you want for a while now, but I won''t stand for it anymore! When I''m fully healed, be prepared for a good beating!" Asamished out, causing Cine to smirk.

    "Hehe~ I''m looking forward to it."

    Cine chuckled and went back to inspecting her body.

 Chapter 373 [Bonus Chapter]Celaines Unique Breakthrough Part 9

    The months started to pass by, and soon five months passed by in the blink of an eye.

    During thesest months, Cine and Asami underwent several changes. For one, the two of them started to be a bit closer now that Cine wasn''t spending all her time meditating or fighting beasts in the mountains.

    Cine was still fighting beasts and cultivating, but she took some time out of her day to talk to Asami as well. Now that she had finally broken through to the Core Formation Realm, the pressure on her shoulders had vanished. Right now, she just wanted to consolidate her cultivation and learn more about her capabilities before the Battle Maiden Sect''s Entrance Exam.

    During this time, Cine has learned of many shocking changes that have happened to her after she broke through.

    For one, she felt like it was easier to handle her saber after breaking through, almost like her body was made for it. This didn''t directly improve her power, but it allowed her more efficient use over her body whenever she used a saber.

    This might not seem like much, but after a few battles, Cine began to understand just how amazing this change was. Not only can she save stamina by not using any unnecessary movements, but the speed and strength behind her attacks are slightly amplified simply because of theck of waste in her movements.

    She''s also learned that because of her Core and her new Cultivation Technique, she can produce a new type of energy. From her understanding, this source of energy is abination of Saber Intent, Qi, and her Wind Dao and is stronger and more vtile than normal Qi.

    She decided to call this new source of energy Wind Saber Qi.

    Her attacks be sharper, faster, stronger, and more mysterious whenever she uses this Wind Saber Qi.

    Of course, it''s not without its downsides.

    Compared to just using normal Qi, using Wind Saber Qi consumes not only her Qi reserves but also her mental strength and willpower.

    However, the benefits far outweigh the downsides, mainly because she doesn''t consume energy any faster than if she were just to use one of those energies. Wind Saber Qi also isn''t just Saber Intent, the Wind Dao, and Qi stacked on top of one another, but it''s all three of them merged together.

    The strength of this new form of energy is at least two times stronger than if she were to try and ovep these three energies on her own.

    Another thing Cine noticed about Wind Saber Qi is that although her core automatically produces it, that doesn''t mean she can''t use her Qi, Saber Intent, or Wind Dao separately. This discovery made Cine quite happy because she could use her Wind Saber Qi as a sort of trump card.

    Cine also realized that her talent, both with the Saber and her Wind Dao, has also increased. Though, the biggest talent increase is probably her Qi cultivation talent.

    She can feel that her ability to gather energy and refine Qi had increased by several timespared to before she broke through to the Core Formation Realm.

    However, consequently, because of the level of Core she formed, she needs to absorb and refine much more Qi to break through than a normal Core Formation Realm expert, but Cine would dly ept such a trade-off.

    Additionally, Cine has also found her body to be stronger than before, her Qi purer, and her mind clearer after her breakthrough.

    Lastly, and probably her favorite benefit, is that whenever she''s wielding a Saber, she''s not only able to enter an ultra-focused state, but the strength of her Qi, Saber Intent, and Wind Dao also rise. This rise in power also includes her Wind Saber Qi as well.

    This can make her appearance outside ofbat quite deceiving. However, that''s only a side-effect. The real advantage to this is that herbat experience ind ability take a steep rise whenever she enters such a state.

    So far, those are all the changes that have happened to her body after forming her unique core and entering the Core Formation Realm.

    Besides that, Cine has unlocked a new ability after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, and that''s the ability to fly!

    She had to get Asami to exin to her how to fly, and it barely took her a few hours to learn it. Apparently, after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, you gain the ability to use Qi in such a way to propel yourself through the air.

    However, Cine was left disappointed when she started flying through the air. Not only does it consume her Qi like crazy, but she doesn''t even fly that fast! Both running and using her Wind Dao are faster than using her Qi to fly.

    Thoughbining her Qi and Wind Dao can make her fly quite fast, so it''s not entirely useless.<sub> </sub>

    On the other hand, after five months, Asami was able to heal all of her injuries. She now no longer looked like a beggar! Now, other than a few scars that she wasn''t able topletely get rid of, she looked wless!

    Cine also had to admit that Asami is quite the beauty, though not nearly at the level of Mira, but that didn''t surprise her. Mira is the most beautiful person she''s ever seen, and she didn''t think she''d be changing her opinion any time soon, if ever. However, other than Mira, Asami is probably the most beautiful woman she''s seen so far, but that''s not really saying much.

    She grew up in the middle of nowhere, after all.

    Now, after nearly two years, it''s finally time for Cine to leave the mountains and make her way towards the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch!

    "Well, are you ready to go?" Cine looked at Asami and asked with a hint of excitement.

    "I guess. I''ve never joined a Sect before, so I''m not really sure what to expect." Asami said with lingering regret. She still didn''t like the idea of joining a Sect, but she''d be lying if she said she wasn''t curious.

    "Oh? I thought you''d say that you wanted to spar with me. What was it that you said a few months ago? That you''d give me a beating once you''re fully healed? Well, here I am!" Cine provoked Asami causing thetter''s face to turn red in anger and embarrassment.

    "Ahem! T-There''s no need for violence. I did just recover, you know? I don''t injure my body right after healing myself."

    What Asami said wasn''t wrong. Although she would most likely lose if the two of them sparred right now, it''d still be a hard-fought battle. She had to admit that Cine''s current battle prowess is rather frightening.

    She''s snuck out a few times to watch Cine fight the surrounding beasts and was always surprised by how strong she is.

    She wanted to attribute it to Cine''s amazing Core, which is definitely part of why she''s so strong, but that''s not the only reason. From what she''s observed, most of Cine''s strength actuallyes from her Saber and battle experience!

    In terms of pure power, Asami felt like she and Cine were about even, but Asami isn''t nearly as good at handling her powerpared to Cine. Asami assumed it was because of how many battles Cine has gone through that she''s able to hone her control and increase her experience.

    Asami''sbat prowess also doesn''t lie in upfront confrontations like Cine''s, so she''s already at a disadvantage in a dueling environment.

    There''s also the fact that she doesn''t have her weapons with her, causing her battle prowess to drop even further.

    Due to all these factors, Asami had no intention of fighting Cine.

    Cine smirked, seeing how dismissive Asami was about fighting her, but she was also a bit disappointed. She wanted to force Asami to spar with her, but she''s not quite as heartless as Mira, nor is she as terrifying.

    When Mira spars with you, it really feels like she''s out to kill you! She saps out every bit of potential and willpower in you and forces you past your limits. Cine could try and imitate Mira, but she knows it won''t be the same.

    ''That''s why we need to hurry up and meet with Mira! This girl is a diamond in the rough, but shecks the drive and willpower to move forward while extracting all of her potential! It''s such a shame for such a talented girl to rot away without ever trying to reach the limit of their potential. I''m sure with Mira''s help and my weapon skill, we''ll be able to help Asami realize her true strength!'' Cine thought to herself while staring intently at Asami.

    For some reason, Asami felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the intense look in Cine''s eyes.

    "A-Alright! Let''s go! Ahahaha��" Asami chuckled awkwardly and began leaving the cave.

    Cine snapped out of her thoughts and caught up to Asami.

    Then, the two of them left their little cave abode and began making their way towards the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch.

    ***

    Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 15000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s a bonus chapter for supporting me!

 Chapter 374 Ancient Beast Mountain Range

    On the eastern side of the Western Continent, there was arge Mountain Range called the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. The origin of its name is because rumors im that there are beasts from ancient times lying deep within the Mountain Range. Well, that''s only spection, but rumors have toe somewhere.

    The Ancient Beast Mountain Range spans most of the Western Continent from North to South, and in the center stand some of the tallest Mountains on the entire Continent.

    These mountains contain an uncountable number of dangers, from beasts to nts that have gained sentience to the terrain, but with those dangerse opportunities. On the entire Western Continent, you''d be hard-pressed to find a better ce to search for treasures than the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    The Qi density on and around the Mountain Range is more than enough for most people to want to settle near.

    In fact, it''s rumored that at the top of the Mountain Range, the density of the Qi is so dense that it''s turned into a mist!

    With such dense Qi and an abundant amount of resources, is there a better ce for the Sects of the Western Continent to stay?

    Unfortunately, the Sects can''t actually reside on top of the mountain because of the ever-changing dangers. They could create walls to keep out the weaker threats, but those walls will be useless if they are overrun by too many enemies or if a severe threat appears.

    The ones who will suffer in such scenarios are the newer and weaker disciples. How could a Sect be able to grow if the younger generation is constantly being killed?

    They can''t. It''s just that simple.

    Sure, the older generation could always try and protect the younger generation from such threats, but then they wouldn''t be getting any stronger.

    In the end, the Sects were pretty much forced to settle near the base of the Mountain Range. However, that didn''t stop them from building residences higher up the mountains, so those who have a higher status or cultivation could have the opportunity to improve at a rapid pace.

    That being said, the foundation of the Sects are still mostly contained at the base of the mountains.

    It''s also at the base of the mountain where any disputes between the various human powers are resolved.

    The name ''Ancient Beast Mountain Range'' isn''t just for show. Havingrge-scale fights on the mountain is a surefire way to awaken some of the more terrifying creatures in the mountains and get both sides killed.

    Although it''s unfortunate, humanity has never been able to conquer this Mountain Range and rid it of all the terrifying dangers hidden within.

    That''s not necessarily a bad thing, though, as the resources the various sentient beings on the mountain can provide are seemingly unlimited. Beast bodies can provide ingredients for all kinds of side upations. The various nt species can grow rare and unique herbs that humans would never be able to cultivate.

    The dangers in the mountain can also act as a kind of smelting ground for the disciples to get stronger.

    A few kilometers above the surface near the center of the Mountain Range resides the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch. This is where those who pass the Entrance Exam stay, but it''s not where the actual Entrance exam will take ce.<sub> </sub>

    In the past, it may have taken ce there, but now that the Battle Maiden Sect has grown to such a great extent and people from all over the Continente to try and join, forcing all of them to climb partially up the mountain only creates chaos and will ruin the mountain ecosystem.

    So, the Battle Maiden Sect began doing their Entrance Exams on the surface at the base of the mountain, and due to this, a City was actually formed. This city is called Snow Maiden City, clearly named in honor of the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Over the years, Snow Maiden City has continuously grown in size and now houses millions of people along with several prominent ns, but everyone within it is technically considered to be subordinated to the Battle Maiden Sect.

    It''s in this city where the Entrance Exams will take ce.

    That being the case, the city is now overrun with people from all over the Continent. Since the Battle Maiden Sect''s roots spread throughout most of the Western Continent, it shoulde as no surprise that when it''s time for their recruitment, peoplee flocking.

    p Most women who have heard of the Battle Maiden Sect wish to join.</anda>

    The same goes for the fathers of those women. After all, what father would want to send his daughter into a den of wolves?

    Well, that''s only part of the reason why these women''s fathers want them to join. If that were the only reason why people wanted to join the Battle Maiden Sect, then the Sect would have long since copsed.

    The real reason is that they are strong and don''t lose out in overall power and depthpared to the other Sects!

    So, not only are they an all woman Sect, but they are also powerful! Why would the women of the Cultivation World not want to join?! They can hang out with like-minded people, learn techniques that are more suited to their gender, and can cultivate in peace without having to worry about being courted by horny men!

    Thatst reason is what many women seek when they want to join the Sect. Only women would understand how much time they waste and the pressure they face when dealing with guys who want nothing more than to vent their frustrations and desires on them.

    Just by eliminating that, they might be able to save days, weeks, or even months of nonsense along with future headaches and can instead invest their focus on getting stronger! They won''t have to exit their seclusion so they can deal with some idiot who wants to wife them up. They won''t have to worry about their families being threatened by a higher-status boy.

    Once they join the Battle Maiden Sect, they can cultivate and learn in peace, to a certain extent.

    Of course, there are exceptions, and things still happen even to those in the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch, but the chances of such things are greatly reduced.

    For that reason alone, many women and their fathers risk their life and wealth to journey from all over the Continent just for a chance to join.

    ***

    [A/N: Here''s one bonus chapter for making it to the Top 25 of the Golden Ticket Rankings! Thank you guys so much for the support! I''m going to try and upload 3 chapters per day until this weekend as a thank you for all the gifts and support I receivedst month!]

 Chapter 375 Elements

    A week before the Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exams, outside Snow Maiden City were lines of people waiting to enter the city. Although the city has multiple entrances for scenarios exactly like this, the lines to enter were still incredibly long.

    However, these lines are only for people that don''t have a permit to enter the city or some form of identification that proves they are part of the Battle Maiden Sect.

    A few kilometers outside the city, arge golden wolf was flying through the air with three people and a small fox on its back.

    Seeing the people lined up outside the city and not wanting to cause trouble, the golden wolfnded a ways away from the lines.

    "Wow~ Look at those mountains! How beautiful!" The blonde-haired woman eximed, seeing the mountain range behind the city while holding onto a small red fox.

    "Alright, we can get a better look at the mountainster. For now, we need to enter the City and learn and gather some information about the Entrance Exam. Dominique, remember to stay close to me. I can feel a lot of strong people in and around the city. I don''t want you to get lost." A tall woman with nine fox tails and cute fox ears said sternly.

    Dominique, the blue-haired child, nodded her head and said, "Alright, Mother," and held onto the woman''s hand.

    These five are Mira, Maria, Dominique, Rhydian, and Vulcan. Thanks to Rhydian''s new speed, they were able to make it to Snow Maiden City quickly all the way from Lunar Fox City.

    Unfortunately, they weren''t able to take any stops along the way, so Mira was unable to test the limits of her new strength. She did find that her Ice Daoprehension has increased and that she''s actually able to use the Yin version of all the basic elements except for Light. So, the elements that she''s now able to use are Yin Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Magma, and Lightning. She can also use the Ice and Dark Elements, but those are already Yin-type elements, to begin with.

    Well, Earth and Wind are more neutral, but due to Mira''s physique, they lose their yang properties and have their yin properties strengthened.

    Mira also found that every element other than her Ice and Yin Fire the other elements are incredibly weakpared to her current strength. Naturally, her Ice element is the strongest, with her Yin Fireing at a not-so-close second. Surprisingly, her third strongest element is actually the Dark element.

    Although Mira now had ess to all these elements, she had little to no interest in specializing or actively learning more about them. The only reason she''s even able to use these elements to a certain extent is because of her physique and her Absolute Ice Dao.

    After breaking through, she''s gained a bit more insight into what it means to walk down an ''Absolute'' Dao. It''s not as simple as just being the strongest. That''s certainly part of it, but to be absolute, you have to be perfect, universally valid, and something that''s able to exist without the need for anything else. At least, that''s what Mira understood. She could be wrong, but she didn''t think she was too far off.

    However, the ice element is only a part of a whole. Ice can''t exist without the other elements. So then, how can she follow the path of the Absolute Ice Dao? Mira figured there were two ways to go about this. She can either try and separate the ice element from the other elements or integrate the other elements into her ice.

    She''s nowhere near strong enough to even think about removing an element from needing the other seven elements, nor could she evenprehend how to go about doing such a thing. Since that''s the case, she can only try and integrate the other elements into her ice element!<sub> </sub>

    That''s the reason for her being able toprehend other elements!

    Though, Mira was still a long way away from being able to do such a thing. She''d probably have to reach 100%prehension in each element if she wanted to seed in such a thing. Only when she fully understands the profundities of each element will she be able to understand her Dao fully.

    There''s just one thing she was a bit confused about. She can''t use the Light Element! No, it''s more like her body rejects the thought of trying to understand the Light Element. Not only that, but it seems she''s weak to the Light Element as well!

    During their journey, she made Maria create a Light Sword and use it to make a small cut on her arm, but she could feel her defenses copse a bit in front of Maria''s Light Element.

    Mira didn''t understand why she was suddenly weak to Light, and the Guardian only said that it''s technically not Light she''s weak to, but he didn''t exin any further.

    Naturally, Mira was a bit frustrated, but what could she do? She can only keep moving forward, and hopefully, once she''s strong enough, the answers wille naturally. Either that or she gets strong enough to beat the answers out of the Guardian!

    Other than that, Mira also learned that not only is her cultivation speed incredibly fast, but she doesn''t even have to actively cultivate in order to raise her cultivation! Her body naturally draws in the surrounding Qi and refines it in her Core, though the process is incredibly slowpared to if she were to focus on cultivating.

    Thest thing Mira learned during her journey to Snow Maiden City is that her Hell Scythe Cultivation Technique seemed to have undergone some sort of change. She knew that something happened to it when she epted the F.LD.I.L inheritance and became its sessor, but she wasn''t able to see the changes until now.

    No, saying it changed isn''t exactly correct. It''d be more urate to say it waspleted. Not only is it a technique that Mira can keep using until she ascends to the Immortal World (she''ll need to unlock the next version in a F.LD.I.L trial to continue cultivating it after ascending), but the effects of using such a cultivation technique are now more clearly defined.

    For example, when Mira looks in her Soul Sea, her scythe is now surrounded by a reddish-ck aura lined with small ck runes.

    Whenever she cultivates, this aura gets stronger and more refined.

    p Although Mira hasn''t been able to test the effects of this aura, she can feel it''s quite dangerous.</anda>

    Those are the only things Mira was able to learn about herself during her journey to Snow Maiden City. There are plenty more mysteries to unravel about her new powers, but that''ll have to wait.

    Right now, she has to focus on getting into the City without causing too much trouble because of her tails��

 Chapter 376 [Bonus Chapter]Entering Snow Maiden City

    During their journey to Snow Maiden City, Mira spent the majority of her time trying to find a way to hide her tails and fox ears. She didn''t have much of a problem hiding her fox ears as she could just lower and cover them with her hair, but her tails are different.

    No matter how hard she tried, she could not find a way to hide them. Maybe if she only had one tail, she could just wrap it around her body and cover it with a slightly oversized robe, but having nine tails is a different story.

    Her tails are essentially a new set of limbs that also act as a secondary energy container. Since she can''t polymorph her arms or absorb them into her body, it''d only make sense that she also can''t do it for her tails.

    She can, however, move the energy within each tail into her body which will tten them out a bit, but there''s a slight problem in doing that.

    It causes an imbnce of Qi in her body, and from what Mira could tell, leaving it like that for an extended period of time could leave irreparable hidden damage to her body. Such a risk just to hide her tails is not something Mira is willing to take.

    Even if she has to risk not being able to join the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch because of her tails, she''d never do something that could possibly hinder her future.

    At this point, she can only hope that her tails don''t cause too much of amotion, or else things will be a huge pain in the ass in the future.

    Although Mira couldn''t care less about the opinions of others, not being able to enter cities would seriously hinder her growth. Sure, she has the F.LD.I.L that can help her gather resources, but she''d rather not have to go through those trials just to get some rtivelymon items.

    Also, each trial only gives one of the specified items unless said otherwise. She should be able to repeat the trials formon items, but she''d still have to spend an insane amount of time for some things she can buy for a few hundred to a few thousand Spirit Stones!

    Lastly, the whole reason she wants to join a Sect isn''t because of cultivation techniques, rare items, or anything like that. Part of the reason is that she''ll have ess to things in this world that she wouldn''t otherwise have if she wasn''t part of an organization. Being in a ce where she can buy and sell items also isn''t bad, but the main reason is that she''s still mostly ignorant of the Cultivation World!

    She needs information!

    What better ce to gather information than a Sect that has existed for thousands of years, or perhaps much longer than that!?

    The Battle Maiden Sect has branches all over the Western Continent. Such a Sect should be loaded with all kinds of information.

    Interesting Techniques,plete or at least almostplete knowledge of the side-upations, information on rare herbs or items that can boost one''s strength, knowledge of ces that can increase one''s Daoprehension, information about the other Continents, etc. These are all things that Mira can''t find an abundance of anywhere but arge Sect like the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Then, there''s the fact that it''s an all-girl sect.

    If Mira can''t enter this Sect because of her tails, then her future will no doubt be annoying.

    The only thing she can do now is to approach the city with a calm, confident, and steady gait.

    Maria walked next to Mira with concern in her eyes. She knew that this wasn''t as simple as being able to join a Sect or not. Right now, it''s not about whether she can join a Sect or not, but about whether this world will ept her��

    Before Mira appeared before any people, she put on a fox mask to prevent her overly beautiful face from causing any more issues and walked towards the entrance where only those with some form of ID rted to the Battle Maiden Sect could use.

    Unsurprisingly, when she started walking past people, they all stared at her, or more specifically, her tails.

    "Look! That woman over there has tails! Is she someone from the Fox race? Is she a beast? But then why does she look like a human?"

    "Shut up, idiot! If she was a beast, then that''d mean she''s a Rank 8 beast who was able to take on a human form! Do you want to piss off a Rank 8 Beast?!"

    "RANK 8?! Are you sure?! Then why don''t I feel a beastly auraing from her?"

    "Now that you mention it, she really doesn''t feel like a beast. How peculiar��"

    "Hmph! All of you guys are idiots! Who cares if she''s not releasing any beastly aura!? Her tails alone tell you that she''s not an ordinary woman!"

    "I guess you''re right.

    "Yeah, now that you mention it, she''s definitely not an ordinary person or beast."

    "That woman is probably nothing but trouble. I''ll be sure to keep my distance from her if possible."

    One might think that Mira or Maria would be upset listening to these whispers, but on the contrary, they actually released a sigh of relief. She might not necessarily be epted, but at least they didn''t start trying to kill her for no reason. Though, it could also be said that they just didn''t want to involve themselves with someone troublesome like her.

    Mira had her unique Core to thank for this. Unless she deliberately reveals her cultivation or if someone is especially sensitive, it''s nearly impossible for someone to sense her cultivation Realm. That,bined with her natural aura, can give off the illusion that she''s someone strong.

    Of course, there are most likely people who can tell what her general cultivation or strength level is just by looking at her or by their intuition, but that''s only an approximation. That''s why nobody confronted her.

    Well, they are also right outside Snow Maiden City, and nobody wants to cause trouble with some unknown person that may or may not be rted to the city or Sect.

    Some of the more knowledgeable people knew that humans aren''t the only race on the Continent or in the World and were only a bit surprised that someone like Mira showed up.

    Just like that, Mira was able to make her way to the entrance of Snow Maiden City without any issues.<sub> </sub>

    When the guards at the entrance noticed Mira, they too were quite surprised. Although they''ve heard of beasts being able to gain a human form after advancing to Rank 8, they''ve never actually seen one.

    They also knew there was a possibility that she was not a Rank 8 Beast and instead some other race, but that wasn''t their job to figure out. Their job is to ensure no wanted criminals enter the city, collect the entrance fee, report to their superiors any suspicious activity they find, and ensure that only authorized people are allowed into the City.

    "Wee to Snow Maiden City! In case you didn''t know, this entrance is only for those who are either a resident of the city, a disciple at any Battle Maiden Sect Branch, or a disciple at the Main Branch. If you don''t have some form of identification, you''ll have to go to the back of one of the lines over there. If you have any form of identification, please show us now so we can allow you into the City!" One of the guards said in a slightly authoritative tone.

    Mira nodded and inwardly praised this guard for their professionalism.

    Mira and Maria both took out their tokens, proving that they were part of a Branch of the Battle Maiden Sect.

    The two guards were surprised that Mira actually had a form of identification but quickly regained theirposure and began inspecting the token.

    "It seems these tokens are real. Now please allow me to ask a few questions to confirm your identity as a disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect!" The guard said to which Mira and Maria nodded.

    "Which Branch Sect did youe from?"

    "The one near Lunar Fox City," Mira answered indifferently.

    The guard nodded and asked her second question, "Who was the Sect Master of the Branch Sect outside of Lunar Fox City?"

    "Sect Master Jane."

    "What is your name?"

    "Mira."

    "Maria Zaria."

    Mira and Maria said at the same time.

    "Do you have ast name, Mira?"

    "No."

    The guard nodded her head and said, "Thank you for your cooperation. Now, if you don''t mind, can you please wait here while I go confirm your identities?"

    Both Mira and Maria nodded, and the guard left the entrance to go into a nearby building.

    The other guard stood there, a little ufortable. She clearly wanted to say something but didn''t know if she should.

    Mira noticed this but didn''t care. She had an idea as to what the guard wanted to ask, but she couldn''t be bothered to answer her curiosity.

    A few minutester, the other guard came back.

    "Thank you for waiting. I have officially confirmed your identity as someone of the Battle Maiden Sect. You two are free to enter, but if you want to bring this little girl and those two beasts inside, there will be a fee. The girl, since she''s only at the Foundation Realm, will cost 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. While the beasts will cost 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones each, and you''ll have to put a cor on them to signify that they are your beastpanions." The guard said.

    Mira nodded at the price and conditions as she expected something like that. Although it was a bit pricey, she understood why.

    She took out 2,100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and tossed them over to the guard, who grabbed them without any change in her expression.

    The guard then took out a small token with the silhouette of a woman in white on it, along with two cors that had the same symbol.

    Mira grabbed them, gave Dominique the token, and put the cors on Vulcan and Rhydian.

    "Thank you for your cooperation, Mira, Maria. I hope you all enjoy your stay in Snow Maiden City!" The guard said with a light bow.

    Just like that, Mira, Maria, Dominique, Vulcan, and Rhydian were able to enter the city without encountering any trouble!

    However, after they left, that same guard ran off to go inform her superiors about Mira and her unique appearance.

    ***

    Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 15000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s a bonus chapter for supporting me!

 Chapter 377 Royal Maiden Inn

    When Mira entered the city, she received the stares of almost every person inside. Thankfully, Mira pinned her token on her dress to prove that she''s someone rted to the Battle Maiden Sect to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

    With how close the Entrance Exams are and with how busy everyone should be, Mira figured that the majority of people wouldn''t cause any trouble with her as long as she showed off her token.

    However, not long after entering the city, Mira felt numerous prying eyes on her from people that seemed to be hidden in the shadows, but not feeling any ill-intent, she stopped paying attention to those eyes.

    ''I guess either of those guards thought of me as suspicious.'' Mira thought to herself as that''s the only realistic conclusion she coulde to. Sure, the eyes on her could be from curious residents who don''t want to show themselves, but with how they are watching her every movement, she doubted that.

    "Do you think Cine has already arrived? I''d like to see her again," Maria suddenly said.

    "Who knows. We''ll probably see her when the Entrance Exam starts. For now, we should look for a ce to stay for the next week. Though�� that might be hard considering how busy the city is," Mira said.

    She was right. Finding an inn or a ce to stay won''t be easy with how many people are in the city at this time. Most of them are probably already fully booked.

    "Oh? It seems that little friend of yours has already booked an inn. If you want, I can lead you to them!"

    Mira''s lips twitched when she heard the Guardian''s voice appear in her head.

    ''What happened to the whole non-intervention thing? Why are you trying to lead us to Cine?'' Mira asked, clearly irritated. It''s not that she didn''t want to see Cine. She just didn''t have much desire to see her right now.

    "Oh,e on! Look at your Lover! She clearly wants to see her friend! If you won''t go see her for yourself, at least do it for Maria! Plus, if you go, you won''t have to find a ce to stay," The Guardian said, trying to get Mira to go meet Cine.

    Mira looked over and saw Maria''s happy and smiley face and felt her lips twitching again.

    ''Yeah, she looks really depressed�� Ugh! Whatever. Just lead us to Cine. It''s not like we have anything else to do.'' Mira sighed and decided to listen to the Guardian.

    The looks she''s been receiving from everyone have started to make her feel a bit ufortable, even for her, and she felt like if she stayed out in the open much longer, she''d have to deal with some annoying bullshit.

    "Yay~~! Alright! Just listen to my directions!"

    Mira really wanted nothing more than to give the Guardian a good beating, but unfortunately, she''s just too weak.

    "It seems the old man that''s part of the inheritance that I received found Cine''s location and wants us to go there. Do you want to go?" Mira turned and asked Maria, whose eyes brightened when she heard what Mira said.

    "Yes! Let''s go!" Maria eximed.

    Mira nodded and began leading her little group toward Cine''s location.

    Around an hourter, they appeared in front of a massive luxurious inn. It was at least ten stories tall and took up nearly an entire block. The building itself looked like it was made out of a stone simr to granite but much more luxurious and expensive.

    The sign on the building read, ''The Royal Maiden Inn''.

    Looking at the decor and the name, Mira felt like this inn was somehow rted to the Battle Maiden Sect.

    "It seems Cine is in this building," Mira said.

    "Woah! Why would she stay in a ce like this? I bet it''s super expensive!" Dominique eximed. She''s never seen such a fancy building in all her life.

    "Who cares? Let''s just go see her!" Maria said and opened the front door to the inn.

    When Maria and Dominique saw the interior, they were both shocked and impressed. Pure white walls, dark brown wooden floors, lights all over the ce, several paintings of the mountain range next to the city, and a scent that smelled like spring.

    The receptionist noticed that people had entered the building, and her gaze immediatelytched onto Mira, then she froze.

    The receptionist is a Stage 5 Core Formation Realm expert and has been working at the Royal Maiden Inn for several years now. She''s seen all kinds of people during her time as a receptionist here at the inn. She''s seen different races, all kinds of beastpanions, strong people, weak people, young people, old people, and everyone in between.

    Although she wouldn''t go so far as to say she''s the most cultured person in the City, she isn''t too far off.<sub> </sub>

    However, when her gazended on Mira''s body, she felt her skin crawl. Her intuition as a receptionist who had seen all kinds of people told her one thing when she looked at Mira:

    This woman is dangerous! Really dangerous!

    She didn''t call Mira dangerous because she thought Mira was powerful. No, she called her dangerous due to Mira''s mentality. From Mira''s bodynguage, the receptionist felt like she was a bubbling volcano just waiting to blow up and destroy everything in its wake.

    She couldn''t tell what Mira''s cultivation was, nor could she feel her hidden killing intent, but she knew Mira was dangerous.

    Still, as a professional who has greeted all kinds of people from all walks of life, she quickly regained herposure.

    "Greetings! Wee to the Royal Maiden Inn! My name is Olivia! Do you have a reservation, or are you looking to book a room?" The receptionist said with a professional smile on her face.

    Mira could simrly tell what the receptionist was thinking about her, but she couldn''t help but inwardlymend her for how quickly she regained herposure.

    ''Is this the difference between the Main Sect and the Branch Sects? Interesting,'' Mira thought to herself before answering Olivia, "Our friend, Cine, should have booked a room for us to stay in."

    "Okay! I''ll contact her to tell her that you''re here. May I please have your names?"

    "My name is Mira, this is Maria, and that little girl there is Dominique."

    "Alright, I''ll go contact her for you. Please wait a moment."

    Olivia wrote down their names and walked into the room behind her for a minute beforeing back out.

    "I appreciate you waiting patiently, dear customers. I just contacted Cine, and she''s currently on her way down to greet you." Olivia said politely with a smile.

    Mira nodded indifferently and stood there waiting for Cine toe down. Sure enough, just a few secondster, Mira and Maria heard hurried footstepsing down the staircase. Not long after, a pretty young woman with vibrant green hair came into view.

    "Cine! Long time no see!" Maria ran up and immediately embraced Cine in a big hug.

    "Maria? Wait-!" Cine muttered in confusion after being hugged by Maria. She saw Rhydian, Vulcan, and Dominique, but when her eyesnded on a tall woman with nine tails and fox ears, she was confused.

    "Who are you?" Cine said in a deep, almost threatening voice. Although the tall woman had a familiar aura to her, Cine didn''t associate her with Mira. After all, Mira looked like a little girl thest time they saw each other.

    How could she change from a little girl to a tall woman with fox tails in a span of merely two years?!

    "That''s Mira, silly! Why don''t we go up to your room so Mira can take off her mask and show you? But I think the fact that Dominique and Rhydian are here should prove that''s Mira��" Maria suggested, and Cine subconsciously nodded.

    "Is that really you, Mira?" Cine stared at Mira and asked in disbelief.

    Mira lightly nodded and said, "Of course. Lots of things happened over thest two years."

    Although Mira''s voice was a bit deeper, much more mature, and more imposing, Cine knew from that tone of voice that the person in front of her was definitely Mira.

    This greatly shocked Cine as she continued staring at Mira, but after around 30 seconds, she had calmed down enough to turn to the receptionist and say, "Thank you for letting me know they''re here. I''ll lead them up to the room."

    Olivia smiled and nodded, "Of course, dear customer! I''m d to be of help!"

    Cine then turned to Maria and said, "Alright,e on up to the room. We can talk there."

    With that, they all headed to Cine''s room.

    ***

    [A/N: Here''s one bonus chapter for making it to the Top 25 of the Golden Ticket Rankings! Thank you guys so much for the support! I''m going to try and upload 3 chapters per day until this weekend as a thank you for all the gifts and support I receivedst month!]

 Chapter 378 Asamis Bleak Future

    When Mira and the others entered Cine''s room, they immediately noticed an unknown presence. Mira was the first to look over and saw a beautiful ck-haired woman who seemed to be in her early twenties sitting on a couch, nervously looking back at them.

    However, when she felt Mira''s eyes on her, Asami felt her blood run cold, and a shiver ran down her spine. Her back immediately straightened, and she looked like she was about to prepare for battle.

    Of course, Mira wasn''t trying to provoke Asami. Her gaze is just incredibly threatening.

    Cine face-palmed looking at this scene as she forgot to tell Mira and the others that a friend was staying with her.

    "Whoops. I forgot to mention that a friend was staying with me. Anyways, thisdy is Asami Sasaki. Asami, these people are my friends that I told you about. The woman with fox tails is Mira, the blonde is Maria, the blue-haired child is Dominique, the red fox is Vulcan, and the wolf is Rhydian." Cine introduced them to each other.

    "Nice to meet you, Asami!" Maria said and went up to shake Asami''s hand.

    "...Hello," Dominique said in a slightly timid voice.

    Mira just nodded while the two beasts just looked at Asami for a second before doing their own thing.

    Mira picked up Dominique, walked over to a chair, and sat down while plopping Dominique on herp. Then she took off her fox mask, revealing her perfect face to the world. Cine wasn''t surprised by Mira''s beauty in the slightest, but she did have to admit that she liked this version of Mira more than the little-kid version.

    Asami, however, was gobsmacked when she looked at Mira''s face. She literally couldn''t take her eyes off of Mira!

    Cine and the others just ignored her and began conversing with each other.

    "So, Mira, I have to ask. What happened? You look�� a bit differentpared to thest time we saw each other." Cine couldn''t hold back her curiosity anymore. She didn''t even care that Asami was still in the room.

    "Well, it''s a bit difficult to exin because even I''m not entirely sure what happened. I guess you could say I died and was reborn into what you see now, all thanks to my Core Formation Recipe and the items I had to obtain. What about you? I can feel something unique about you." Mira said, trying not to reveal too much information. It''s not that she didn''t trust Cine or that she was worried about Asami, but the fewer people know about how unique her Core Formation breakthrough is, the better.

    By now, Cine understood Mira''s personality quite well and knew that if the answer was vague, it meant it was something that would only harm her if she knew.

    "Hehe~ I was able toprehend Saber Intent and was able to incorporate it into my Core! I won''t tell you too much because I want you to experience it first-hand."

    Mira''s eyes lit up when she heard Cine say ''Saber Intent'', and she knew she had made the correct decision back then to help push Cinebat prowess further.

    Her scythe skills have stagnated for far too long, and since scythe users are incredibly rare, she''s stuck traversing this path blindly. However, having a friend who is incredibly talented with a weapon and has highprehensive abilities is the next best thing. That way, she at least has a direction on how she can progress her weapon proficiency.

    "Finally! It''s about time my effort has paid off! When we get some free time, you''re going to spar with me and show me just how amazing your saber skills are." Mira demanded, but Cine wasn''t bothered by this.

    Instead, she smiled and said, "I look forward to it. This time, I feel like I might have a chance at beating you."

    "Oh? It seems you''re more powerful than you seem. Well, I haven''t been cking over thest two years either. My scythe proficiency might not have risen much over thest few years, but I''m quite strong."

    Cine grinned but didn''t say anything. She already knew that Mira was strong. In fact, based on raw power alone, Mira outsses Cine by at least a minor Realm. She can also tell that those tails aren''t just for show.

    "Anyways, what''s up with this girl? She also seems quite powerful for someone in her cultivation. Actually, I wouldn''t be surprised if she''s nearly as strong as you and Maria." Mira asked while staring at Asami.

    Feeling such an intense stare, Asami snapped out of her stupor and looked back at Mira for a second before she blushed and looked away. She couldn''t help it, okay?! Mira''s face and body,bined with her tails, are just too alluring!<sub> </sub>

    Everyone chuckled, causing Asami to blush harder as she tried hiding her face.

    "Yeah, she definitely has the potential to be someone strong, but her current self is too useless! That''s part of the reason why I wanted to bring her along with me. This girl is definitely a diamond in the rough, but she''s toozy andcks battle experience. I was hoping that maybe you could give her some ''motivation'' to work harder."

    Mira''s eyes lit up, and the way she looked at Asami began to change. Now, instead of looking at her like she would a roadside pebble, Mira looked at her like a fat piece of meat!

    "Oh? It seems you think highly of her." Miramented.

    "Yeah, well, when I found her, she was on the brink of death and was like that for almost a year before she even regained consciousness. She has decent willpower, is strong for someone at her cultivation, and has two elemental affinities, but shecks the drive a proper cultivator should have! If she had that drive, maybe she''d be able to beat Maria or me in a few years'' time."

    "Hmmm�� We''ll see. If you just want me to give her the proper ''motivation'' to work harder, then that''s something I can do, and I can certainly spar with her every so often to help improve herbat prowess, but that''s about it," Mira said.

    "Great! That''s all you need to do. I can take over the rest. After all, I''m the only one among us who''s learned a Weapon Intent."

    Mira''s lips twitched slightly as it seemed Cine was going to keep rubbing in the fact that she''s learned Weapon Intent before her.

    On the other hand, Asami was unsure what to think of this situation, but she knew that if she let the two of them continue, something terrible would happen to her!

    "Umm, why are you two making decisions without even consulting me? I''ll have you know that I''m only following Cien because I have nowhere else to go! I have no intention of spar-!"

    ""Quiet!!""

    "-EEEK!!"

    Mira and Cine red at Asami, causing her to shrink back and stop talking. She started regretting her decision to follow Cine-no, this demon.

    "Hey! You two, stop scaring the poor girl!"

    Asami''s eyes lit up when she heard Maria''s voice, and she looked at the blondie like she was looking at an angel.

    "We must first figure out how to ease her into Mira''s beat-ahem training. After all, just look at how weak she is! She''d probably lose her mind after only one training session." Maria continued speaking.

    When Asami heard what Maria said, now she no longer looked at her like she was an angel and instead gave her a look full of resentment.

    Then Cine chimed in, "You''re right, Maria. Although when I found her, she was on the brink of death, she was so useless that she couldn''t even stay conscious to try and keep herself alive! She might very well die during Mira''s spars if she can''t even handle a few cuts and broken bones."

    From then on, Maria, Mira, and Cine began discussing ways they could increase Asami''s pain tolerance without the woman actually dying.

    Asami wanted to enter the conversation andin, but something told her that they might start testing out some of their ideas on her right now if she did so. Since she didn''t want to be frozen in a block of ice until she nearly suffocated to death or tossed into a pit of darkness full of beasts and forced to kill all of them to survive, she decided to keep quiet.

    The three of them kept chit-chatting for a while until Mira began asking Cine about the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch and the Entrance Exams.

 Chapter 379 [Bonus Chapter]Information About The Main Branch

    "So, have you learned anything about the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch and the Entrance Exam?" Mira asked Cine.

    "A bit, but only what''s known by the general public. Like most Sects, the Main Branch is separated into Outer Court, Inner Court, Core, and Direct Disciples. From what I''ve gathered, the separation in the hierarchy is almost entirely based on cultivation. For example, Outer Court Disciples are almost all Core Formation Realm experts, Inner Court Disciples are all Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, and Core Disciples are Soul Transformation Realm cultivators. As for Direct Disciples, their cultivation can be anything." Cine paused and allowed Mira and the others to take in this information.

    "So, the next Realm after the Nascent Soul Realm is the Soul Transformation Realm, huh," Mira muttered but signaled for Cine to continue.

    "Direct Disciples are named that way because they are, well, a Disciple of one of the Elders or the Sect Master herself. The benefits of having a higher status here are immensepared to the differences at the branch locations. For one, the higher your status, the higher up on the mountain you can stay. This might not sound like much, but just going up the mountain a few extra kilometers can raise your cultivation speed several times with how dense the Qi up there is."

    "You''ll also have more ess to higher grade techniques, rarer items, information about the world, and various inheritance locations that you wouldn''t get to know with a lower status. I also heard that information on the Side upations is restricted, and you can only learn bits and pieces of them if you are an Outer Court Disciple."

    "The only other information I was able to find was about the Outer Court itself, which is also tied into the Entrance Exam. So, apparently, Outer Court Disciples are like the dregs of the Sect. They have to take mandatory weekly missions along with having toplete a certain number of tasks per month. The pay for each mission isn''t all that much, and the information and techniques you have ess to are expensivepared to how much you actually make."

    "However, the Entrance Exam to get epted into the Sect is extremely simple. As long as you have a sturdy foundation, decentbat prowess, and survival skills, you''ll be epted as an Outer Court Disciple. I know what you''re thinking. ''If that''s the case, then they must be epting thousands or even tens of thousands of Outer Court Disciples every few years.'' And you''re not wrong, but they also kick out thousands of Outer Court Disciples every year."

    Mira and the others took in this information, but Mira was the only one who really understood what the Battle Maiden Sect was doing here.

    "So, they are using the Outer Court as a ce to weed out the weak,zy, and ipetent disciples while also testing those who are worthy enough to be Inner Court Disciples. I''m sure thepetition is fierce among Outer Court Disciples, and depending on your contribution to the Sect, whether it becking or sufficient, you''ll either be kicked out of the Sect or rise up. This is also an easy way for the Sect to make money. How smart! I''d probably do something simr if I were the Founder of a Sect. No wonder they have their roots spread all across the Western Continent." Miramented and her opinion of the Battle Maiden Sect rose a notch.

    Although being an Outer Court Disciple sounds rough, it separates the talented from the trash. The only thing Mira was confused about was how long one is able to stay as an Outer Court Disciple before being automatically kicked out.

    Bing a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator can''t be easy. It would probably take most people decades or even centuries, depending on one''s talent and the environment they''re in. Still, Mira assumed that maybe the information was just restricted and only known to those with higher status.

    "Then howrge is the Outer Court of the Sect? It must be huge seeing how many people get epted into the Sect every time they recruit more disciples." Maria spoke up this time.

    "Yeah, I''ve heard that they''ve basically created a small city on the Mountain for the Outer Court Disciples, but I have no idea exactly how big it is. Remember, tons of people are getting kicked out of the Sect every year, which reduces the number of people that are actually full-time residents there," Cine answered.

    Honestly, Maria wasn''t quite sure of what to think of all this information. She thought that the Main Branch would be simr to what she experienced back at Lunar Fox City, but it seems she was too naive.

    Thepetition is much fiercer here, and it seems the Sect ces more importance on personal strength rather thanradery, at least for those with lower status and cultivation.

    She remembered how Sect Master Jane told them that the Main Branch would be much morepetitive, but she didn''t pay much attention to her words.<sub> </sub>

    Maria also didn''t want to have to perform all those tedious tasks and missions that are required of Outer Court Disciples, as she knows just how talented and strong she is for her cultivation. If the Sect Elders and Master weren''t braindead, they''d do everything in their power to invest in her.

    However, seeing the approval in Mira''s eyes, she knew she was being too naive again.

    Mira could tell what her lover was thinking and decided now was a good time to educate this ignorant bimbo, "Maria, a Sect isn''t a charity. They need to make money to provide for everyone. They also can''t invest in everyone, but sometimes it''s not easy to determine who is worth investing in and who isn''t. Think of it like this. A genius who doesn''t work hard is more useless than an average person who constantly pushes themself to the limit. That''s probably why the Entrance Exam is so easy because it''s hard to determine these things over a few tests."

    Maria''s eyes brightened, and she quickly understood what Mira was trying to say, and her eyes also shone with approval. Although she was still annoyed at having to do some menial tasks to stay as a Disciple of the Sect, isn''t that what the Sect is trying to weed out?

    They are effectively saying those who don''t want to provide anything to the Sect and just want toze around and cultivate in a great environment have no ce in the Sect!

    "Oh! There''s one more thing that I''ve learned that I''m sure you''ll like, Mira. Apparently, once you be a Disciple of the Sect, you can recruit your own servants. The Sect calls them Trial Disciples, but they are essentially servants. These Trial Disciples have to be below the Core Formation Realm and are tied to your name. They are your responsibility. However, that''s all I know about that. If you want to know more, I''m afraid we''ll have to actually enter the Sect." Cine said.

    Mira was surprised by this information but was also excited. This means she can finally keep those girls she trained all those years ago close by. Although she''s never really been one to take on subordinates, having a small group of people to be her hands and feet sounds quite nice, especially now that she has so many things on her te.

    She needs toprehend all kinds of Elements, learn new techniques, learn more about forging and other side upations, increase her Weapon Proficiency, utilize the capabilities of the F.LD.I.L, learn more about the Body Cultivation System, find resources to help improve her cultivation, andstly, she needs to cultivate.

    She has tons of things to do, so the less she has to focus on menial tasks, the more she can focus on getting stronger.

    "Good! I guess I''ll have to go find Alicia and the others before the Entrance Exam so I can tell them to be on standby," Mira eximed.

    Dominique was also happy to hear this because that means she won''t have to separate from her Mother again.

    After revealing everything she learned about the Sect, Cine began sharing her experiences over thest two years with everyone.

    After that, they all began chit-chatting untilte at night.

    ***

    Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 15000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s a bonus chapter for supporting me!

 Chapter 380 Meeting Alicia

    The next day, Mira asked the Guardian to find Alicia''s location. He tried teasing her, but she just ignored it and waited for him to tell her. She knew that if she tried searching for Alicia alone, she''d probably spend the rest of the week looking for her in this city.

    However, Mira had no ns of actually going to see Alicia, at least not yet. Her current appearance is just too eye-catching, and she didn''t want to attract any trouble in this city. She can feel many strong auras all over the city and had no intention of getting involved with any of them for no reason.

    Of course, the only reason Mira wanted to avoid any trouble right now is that she''s afraid she might not be able to hold back if someone bothers her too much. She might just snap and start going on a killing spree��

    In a ce like Quake City, Mira would dly wee trouble and would be able to attack without caring about the consequences, but here things won''t be the same. She can''t just kill someone because they pissed her off, not unless she wants to be captured or, worse, executed.

    She might be a little paranoid right now, which felt quite weird for her, but Mira decided to send Maria to tell Alicia and the others to be on standby.

    Just like that, Maria left the ''Royal Maiden Inn'' following the directions of the Guardian.

    ''So, uh, you''re called the Guardian, huh? Why is that? What are you guarding Mira from?'' Maria inwardly said in hopes that the Guardian was listening to her. From what she knew from Mira, he could read minds, and since she didn''t want to seem like a crazy person, she asked inside her mind.

    "Threats that Mira is currently too weak to handle. Oh, turn left here." The ancient voice of the Guardian was heard inside Maria''s head, surprising her.

    ''Wow! You sound like an old man! Are you sure you aren''t just bored and using the excuse of protecting Mira as an excuse? Ugh! Why did Mira have to attract a perverted old man like you?! Look, I know she''s pretty, but she''s mine! She''s too young, and her skin is too smooth for someone like you! If you want to find a wife, I know someone! She''s not exactly alive, but that shouldn''t matter to you, right?''

    The Guardian almost fell out of his chair when he heard what Maria had just said.

    "What the hell?! When did I say I wanted Mira to be my wife?! I''m her Guardian! GUARDIAN!! And I''ll have you know that I''m a healthy young man! I don''t need that wrinkly old woman! What was her name��? Ah! That''s right. She went by something like Sage A. I don''t need to settle for someone like that! With my looks and power, I can have any woman I want within this Universe!" The Guardian dered, but Maria sneered.

    ''Hmph! You can''t have Mira and me, you perverted old man.''

    "Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you?! I''m not an old man, and I''m not a pervert! Look, I don''t even watch when you and Mira are having sex! Would a pervert do that?"

    ''You�� You even know when we have sex?!?! I knew you were a shifty old man! To think that you''re shameless enough to call yourself Mira''s guardian! You''re no better than a third-rate street thug!''

    "Dammit, woman! Just listen! I''m really over here protecting Mira! Do you know that guy that Mira briefly told you about? The one who Mira wants revenge on? Yeah, I put that guy in a little timeout so Mira won''t have to worry about his antics for a while. She''s already got enough on her te as is and doesn''t have time to deal with his nonsense."

    Maria went silent after that as she wasn''t sure what to say. She knew who the Guardian was talking about, but she hardly knew anything about what he did or why Mira hates him so much.

    Nheless, if he really did that, then it seems like he''s not totally useless.

    ''I''m sure Mira wouldn''t say it, so I''ll say it in her stead. Thank you for doing that. BUT! I still don''tpletely trust you. Who knows what sort of nefarious thoughts are going on inside that perverted old man brain of yours?''

    Veins began popping on the Guardian''s head, "Look, child. Even if you don''t trust me, what can you do? All you have to know is that I would never do anything that isn''t for Mira''s benefit. Like I told you before, I''m her guardian. I''m technically her subordinate, though she doesn''t have quite enough strength or authority to boss me around. That''ll change once she gets enough power."

    Maria was surprised to hear such sinceritying out of the Guardian''s mouth and decided to stop arguing with him.

    ***

    A few hourster, Maria appeared in front of an inn and immediately saw a few familiar faces. Likewise, they recognized her as well and immediately ran up to greet her.

    "Hello, Miss Maria! Are you here to see Leader Alicia?" One of the girls asked.

    Maria nodded, "Yes. I''m here to tell you guys some important information on Mira''s behalf. Can you please lead me to her?"<sub> </sub>

    The girl nodded and immediately led Maria towards where Alicia was staying. They walked inside the inn, which was clearly rather low-ss, and made their way towards Alicia''s room. The receptionist nced at Maria, but because Maria was being led by someone who had been staying in the inn for a while, she didn''t bother saying anything.

    A minuteter, they appeared in front of Alicia''s room. The girl knocked on the door and said, "Leader Alicia. Miss Maria is here to see you."

    Right after she said that, the door was opened, and there stood an above-average-looking woman. She has shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes with an authoritative aura.

    "Greeting, Miss Maria. Pleasee in." Alicia said gracefully with a slight bow. Maria nodded with a smile and entered the room. Alicia thanked the girl that brought Maria and closed the door behind them.

    The two sat at a nearby table, and Alicia immediately started the conversation.

    "I''m d to see you made it to Snow Maiden City safely, Miss Maria. However, I doubt you came looking for me just to say hello."

    Maria sighed but nodded, "Yes, I''m here on Mira''s behalf as we just learned some useful information."

    Alicia''s eyes lit up when she heard that, "Oh? Mistress Mira is here? Will shee to visit us soon?"

    Maria nodded slightly, "Mhmm. She would''vee today, but her appearance right now is a bit�� eye-catching. I came here to tell you that the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch allows Outer Court Disciples to select servants, otherwise called Trial Disciples, and are allowed to bring them up the mountain and stay at the Outer Court."

    Alicia''s eyes narrowed slightly as she instantly realized what this news meant, and she said with a hint of excitement in her voice, "I see. So we really will be reuniting with Mira soon. We even get to join the Battle Maiden Sect without being in the Core Formation Realm. Please send my regards to Mistress Mira for giving us this opportunity."

    Alicia stood up and bowed toward Maria.

    Maria waved her hand, "It''s fine, it''s fine. Mira was never going to abandon you all in the first ce. You guys will be her hands and feet in the future, so this is the least she can do. I''m actually surprised that you girls are somitted to getting stronger. You even made it all the way here so quickly!"

    Alicia sat back down and looked at Maria with a serious expression, "Of course, we''remitted. We want to live a life of our own free will instead of being at the mercy of someone else. Getting stronger is the only way to do that."

    Maria was a bit confused by this statement, "If you want that kind of freedom, why are you so willing to subordinate yourself under Mira?"

    Alicia didn''t answer her immediately and instead gave Maria a deep look.

    After around 30 seconds of silence, Alicia finally spoke, "I think you should know this better than us, but I don''t particrly want to betray Mira''s trust. I''m sure you know what sort of hell we''ll be put through should that happen. However, let''s forget about that for a second. Mira was the one who put us on the path of strength. She''s the one who helped create our foundation for a brighter future. She''s the one who saved our pathetic lives. Yet, what have we done to repay her? Nothing! Even now, Mira is handing us an opportunity that we would never have gotten. We aren''t shameless enough to take everything Mira has given us without giving anything back."

    "However, that''s not the only reason. After we spent some years by ourselves, training, and building our strength, we realized something. The weak don''t have the right to freedom, and you know what we are? Weak! That being the case, why wouldn''t we rather subordinate under a strong person like Mira, our savior? At least that way, we have a choice."

    Maria was silent for a while after hearing that. She was surprised by the mentality of Alicia and the others. Just listening to her reasoning made Maria feel privileged, but it also made her realize something important.

    ''Aren''t I in a simr situation? I''m only here, with this level of strength, because of Mira. It''s my and Alicia''s blessing to be rted to Mira in some form��'' Maria thought to herself and felt her mindset was subtly changing.

    The two were quiet for a while until Maria felt it was about time to leave. She reminded Alicia to gather the other girls and be on standby, then left the inn and began making her way back to the Royal Maiden Inn.

    ***

    [A/N: Here''s one bonus chapter for making it to the Top 25 of the Golden Ticket Rankings! Thank you guys so much for the support! I''m going to try and upload 3 chapters per day until this weekend as a thank you for all the gifts and support I receivedst month!]

 Chapter 381 Talent

    Six days went by in a sh, and today is the day of the Battle Maiden Sect''s Entrance Exam.

    Tens of thousands of young women made their way toward the edge of the City where the recruitment would begin. There were women from all walks of life making their way over to where the Exam will take ce. There are even a few different races, such as elves, humanoid beings with red skin, and even those who have beast characteristics.

    However, those that had some characteristics of beasts were nothing like Mira. While Mira looked like a perfect union between man and beast, these women were just a bitrger, hairier, and had longer nails than an average human.

    Needless to say, this just goes to show that the Battle Maiden Sect is fairly open-minded, at least on the outside.

    Mira also felt this way when she made her way toward the area where the Entrance Exam would begin. It also made her realize that this world is muchrger and deeper than she originally realized.

    Due to her starting out in an environment like Lunar Fox City, which is pretty much isted from the rest of the world, Mira concluded that humans must have already dominated this world.

    ''Well, that''s also good. It''d be boring if there were only humans and beasts in the world.'' Mira thought to herself as she, Maria, Cine, and Asami walked toward their destination.

    They decided to leave Dominique, Rhydian, and Vulcan back at the Royal Maiden Inn because they didn''t think beastpanions would be allowed, and bringing Dominique along, might wee unwanted trouble. Not only is Dominique weak, but she is just a little girl. Who knows what might happen to her while they aren''t around?

    It didn''t take long until they reached arge clearing near the city border.

    In this clearing stood thousands upon thousands of people! Mira and the rest were stunned by the sheer amount of people that havee to try their luck at the Entrance Exam.

    "Are all these people here to join the Battle Maiden Sect?" Maria muttered/

    "I know, right? I thought there''d be more." Mira said calmly, and everyone looked at her weirdly.

    "What do you mean, you thought there''d be more?! There are already thousands! No, perhaps there are even tens of thousands of people here!" Maria eximed, and Cine and Asami both nodded in agreement.

    "Look, I''m not saying it isn''t a lot, but how many people live on this continent? At least several hundred million, right? Most likely, the number is in the billions! Yet, there are only tens of thousands of people here for one of the biggest Sects on the Western Continent''s Entrance Exam? That doesn''t seem low to you?" Mira questioned, and nobody could refute as her words made a lot of sense.

    If billions of humans are on the Western Continent, doesn''t that mean less than .001% of women showed up for this Entrance Exam?<sub> </sub>

    However, that''s when Asami decided to speak up, "Although, in theory, you''re correct, it does indeed sound too low, but you have to take in several factors when making this calction. For one, not everyone has a talent for cultivation. I don''t know if you know this, but many people in this world aren''t born with any meridians. And even if they are, there are tons of people who are barely able to sense Qi, along with other problems that prevent them from cultivating. That''s why there are countless viges full of people who haven''t even made it to the Qi Condensation Realm."

    "Just the number of people who have incredibly poor talent is immense, but even for those who can cultivate without too much trouble and have decent talent, they are probably already struggling to advance in their own small cities, ns, Sects, or whatever. Just those two reasons alone probably take up the majority of people. Then, there''s also the trip here to Snow Maiden City. I''m sure you already know this, but the world is a dangerous ce, and anything can happen. Unless you have money, status, strength, or are incredibly lucky, just making it here alive is hard enough."

    "You also have to remember that this is a girls-only Sect. Just that alone reduces the number of applicants by at least half simply because they don''t ept the opposite gender. Then there''s the other Sects, ns, Families, etc-"

    Suddenly, Mira cut off Asami, "Alright. I get it. I guess I underestimated how many people couldn''t cultivate. I always figured that every human could cultivate."

    Maria also chimed in, "That''s what I thought too! Now that I think about it, I always hear people talking about talent, but what exactly defines one''s talent?"

    Mira and Cine were also curious about this and waited for Asami to answer.

    Asami pondered for a few seconds before saying, "In essence, one''s talent is generally defined by how fast you can absorb and refine Qi. However, this is determined by many factors. For example, if you can''t even sense Qi, then you''ll never be able to step onto the path of cultivation, no matter how good your body is. Though usually, to determine one''s talent, we would look at how well your body can take in Qi, how much Qi can flow through your meridians, your ability to sense Qi, how quickly you can refine this Qi and make it your own, and how much Qi can actually be stored in your body and/or Core."

    Hearing this, Mira thought about how her new body has so many meridians that she could barely count how many there are. Not only that, but her meridians are extremely durable after beingced with Chaotic Silk. Wouldn''t just these two things make her the most talented person in the Mortal Realm? That''s not even counting everything else that boosts her talent!

    "I see. How interesting." Mira muttered but soon stopped thinking about it. Maria and Cine also didn''t think much about it, though they did feel that trying to determine one''s talent seemed quite difficult as so many factors go into it.

    After that, Mira and the others stayed silent, waiting for the Entrance Exam to start.

    Soon, an hour went by, and the clearing they were in was now full of people. Some people gave Mira strange looks, but they were too busy mentally preparing that they didn''t spare Mira more than a nce.

    Suddenly, a loud and authoritative voice covered the area.

    "Wee to the Battle Maiden Sect''s triennial Disciple Recruitment��!"

 Chapter 382 [Bonus Chapter]Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 1

    "Wee to the Battle Maiden Sect''s triennial Disciple Recruitment! You may call me Elder Sandra, and I''ll be the Overseer of this year''s Entrance Exam! I''m d to see so many young and talented women this year. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way let''s begin the recruitment!" Elder Sandra floated above everyone and announced.

    "Alright! I''m sure most of you know what we are looking for in our disciples, but just in case you haven''t done your homework, let me tell you. Here at the Battle Maiden Sect, we are looking for strong-willed and talented young women! You must have the drive to move forward in the face of any adversity and the talent to assist you along your journey!"

    "However, although we''re looking for talents, sometimes hard work can prevail over talent! That''s why to be an Outer Court Disciple of our Sect, as long as you have the minimum required talent, we will ept you!"

    Elder Sandra paused and took in everyone''s expressions after she said that. She saw indifference, excitement, relief, caution, sadness, and various other expressions among the women present and smirked.

    "BUT!! Our Sect doesn''t ept useless people! If you are nning to enter the Sect,ze around, and slowly umte your strength while abusing your newfound authority, you''re in for a rude awakening! With this Entrance Exam, we will filter out those who are useless and those who have the potential to rise to the top!"

    "Now, for the first phase of the Entrance Exam, all you have to do is sit down and cultivate until I tell you to stop. We''ll be using arge-scale array to test your talent. So, when you feel a strange energy wash over you and start examining your body, don''t try to fight it! Alright, now you know what to do, so�� START!"

    Although Elder Sandra came off as overbearing and some of the women wanted to ask a few questions before the Entrance Exam actually began, they didn''t dare to say anything now that she announced the start of the Exam. Instead, they all sat down and began cultivating.

    Mira, Maria, and the others also sat down and began cultivating immediately after Elder Sandra said ''Start''.

    As soon as she started cultivating, Mira felt a strange energy wash over her and started trying to examine her body, meridians, and core. She was confused for a second since it seemed like whatever the Sect was using to examine her talent was having a hard time doing so, but then she remembered that her new body was anything but ordinary.

    In fact, at this point, she can''t even be called a human anymore. So, of course, whatever was trying to examine her would have a hard time doing its job.

    Mira inwardly sighed in relief and allowed the energy to find and examine her meridians, core, and body. Since she only felt it examining her Qi refining speed and nothing else, she wasn''t worried about exposing herself.

    This went on for about an hour before��

    "STOP!!"

    Elder Sandramanded, and all the women cultivating immediately stopped.

    "Phase one is now over! For those of you who passed the talent test, a small ck token with a snowke on it should have appeared in your right hand! If you have this token,e forward and prepare for the next phase of the Exam! As for those of you who failed the talent test�� GET OUT!!"

    After Elder Sandra said that, around 15% of the women who took the Talent Test were enraged!

    "What''s the meaning of this, Elder Sandra!? How did I fail the talent test?! On what basis are you examining our talent!?!"

    "That''s right!! I''m 33 years old and a Stage 2 Core Formation Realm cultivator! How is that not talented?!"<sub> </sub>

    "If you wanted to get rid of some people, why go about doing it with this nonsensical test?! We demand an exnation!!"

    Elder Sandra''s face was turning crimson as her body trembled in anger. Finally, she couldn''t hold in her rage anymore while listening to these ignorant peasants!

    "YOU FUCKING TRASH!! You dare question me!!! ME?! You trash think you deserve an exnation from me?! Fine! Here''s my exnation!! You have one minute to leave before I start dropping bodies!!"

    Elder Sandra released her killing intent onto those who wereining, causing them to shiver in fright. They no longer had the willpower to stay here and realized that they had made a huge mistake angering an Elder of the Sect and immediately ran off.

    After a minute, all those who failed the talent test were gone, and all those who passed had moved forward.

    Elder Sandra nodded and began examining the stillrge crowd of young women below her. There were a few that caught her eyes, but none that were too special. That is until she noticed Mira''s group.

    However, her eyes were drawn to Mira despite feeling that the girls around her were also extraordinary talents.

    Mira raised her head when she noticed Elder Sandra staring at her, and her crimson eyes stared back into the Elders.

    Elder Sandra was surprised by the pressure that Mira''s gaze put on her mind, as that''s not a look that someone in the Core Formation Realm should have. No, even those in the Nascent Soul Realm or Soul Formation Realm shouldn''t have that sort of gaze.

    Elder Sandra felt like those were the eyes of a deadly old monster instead of a young woman who had just entered the Cultivation world.

    ''Oh? Interesting. It seems the Outer Court will be quite rowdy when this woman and her little friends enter the Sect. I''ll have to inform the other Elders and tell them to keep an eye out for this group of people.'' Elder Sandra thought to herself before examining the others.

    It only took her a few minutes to finish inspecting the young women below her.

    "Congrattions to you all for passing the Talent Test, but you shouldn''t be proud of this achievement. The requirements to pass this test are extremely low, considering we are one of the top Sects on the Continent. If it were any of the other Top Sects, I guarantee that at least 30 to 40% of you would''ve been disqualified. Like I said before, we value hard work and drive more than talent here at the Battle Maiden Sect. And that''s what the next and final Phase of the Entrance Exam is supposed to test!"

    "For your final test, you just have to climb this mountain until you reach the Outer Court of the Sect!"

    ***

    Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 15000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here''s a bonus chapter for supporting me!

 Chapter 383 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 2

    Silence reigned over the area as the young women questioned whether it was that easy.

    Elder Sandra smirked when she saw their confused yet slightly hopeful expressions.

    "Hehe~ Of course, things won''t be that easy for you. You have exactly 24 hours to make it there."

    The expressions of everyone present turned ecstatic except for a few that were skeptical of this whole thing.

    "I know what you guys are thinking, and I''m sure that many of you can make it to the Outer Court in under an hour without too much trouble, but I assure you that it won''t be that easy. Plus, to give you guys a bit of an incentive to fight each other, the top ten people with the most tokens will be able to request one thing from me. You name it, whether that be a technique, mentorship, resources, pills, or weapons. Of course, there''s a limit to what I can hand out, but as long as you don''t ask for anything outrageous, I''ll do it."

    Elder Sandra said with a sly smile causing the expressions of everyone to change. She nced in Mira''s direction, but because she was wearing a fox mask, she couldn''t see her expression, though she felt like it was still one of indifference.

    She looked at Mara, Cine, and Asami, but even their expressions didn''t change. She was a little disappointed that she didn''t get much of a reaction from them, but she didn''t care that much.

    What she didn''t know was it''s not that Mira''s group didn''t care about the possible bonus reward, but it''s just that they were quite good at controlling their emotions in situations like this. However, part of it is that they are quite ignorant of the possible rewards and wouldn''t even know what to ask for, even if they could request anything.

    For example, Mira would most likely ask for a Scythe Technique, but she also felt like that would be a waste since not only has she not mastered the basics of the scythe, but there are way better things she could ask for with such a request. She just didn''t know what.

    The same goes for both Maria and Cine as well.

    Well, except for Asami. She actually didn''t care about the bonus reward.

    "Alright! I think that''s enough chit-chat! Just climb the mountain and reach the Outer Court within 24 hours. However, I''ll give you a reminder before you let you go. You could lose your life during this test. I''ll try to save you if you''re about to die, but there are a lot of you, so I might not be able to make it fast enough. If you want to back out now, you''re free to do so. Oh! Also, if I do have to save you, then you''re disqualified."

    Elder Sandra said before unleashing her Qi and wrapping it around all the young women below her.

    "Your 24 hours start now! Happy hunting! Hehe~"

    She chuckled before tossing them all randomly across the mountain''s base.

    ***

    Mira hurriedly got up after being thrown in some random direction and immediately began searching her surroundings. She didn''t notice anything out of the ordinary with her surroundings, nor did she notice any people or beasts.

    ''I guess I''ll just work my way up the mountain for now and deal with whateveres my way.'' Mira thought to herself before starting her trek up the mountain.<sub> </sub>

    However, she didn''t get very far before she felt a seal appear on her body. She quickly inspected the seal, and, surprisingly, she felt her strength being sapped away. It wasn''t by much, maybe only .0001% of her total strength, but it was still able to seal her strength nheless.

    Not even her unique body and Core could prevent this seal from sealing her strength.

    After inspecting it for a minute, Mira knew that this must be part of the test, and since there wasn''t anything she could do about the seal, she was forced to give up on trying to remove it and could only focus on making her way up the mountain.

    She took a step up the mountain but stopped when she felt another tiny portion of her strength being sealed.

    "So it''s like that, huh? The farther we go up the mountain, the harder it gets and the slower we be. Not only that but there are likely beasts and traps along the way. That Elder also wanted us to fight each other to steal one another''s tokens. Sigh�� what a pain in the ass."

    Mira didn''t necessarily like getting her strength sealed, especially before she could even test out her limits after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.

    "Whatever, this can also work out in my favor." Mira quickly formed a n, albeit a sleazy one, and began making her way up the mountain.

    She wasn''t worried about this test at all. In fact, it could be said that, other than Maria and Cine, she''s probably the most confident among those who are participating in this Exam.

    Right now, she guessed that many of the other participants were probably panicking or trying to rush up the mountain as fast as they could after realizing how difficult this might be in theter stages of the climb.

    Well, it''s not like Mira is much different. She, too, began charging up the mountain at a fast pace, but it wasn''t out of fear of failing. No, she had something else in mind.

    ***

    Just like Mira thought, the other participants were freaking out, knowing that the higher they climbed, the more strength they''ll lose and the harder it would get.

    One must remember that most people in this world only experience life as a normal mortal without any strength for a very short period of time throughout their life. They''ll temper their bodies as kids, and when they fully develop, they''ll break through to the Qi Condensation Realm.

    So the amount of time they spend as a mortal without any strength is probably only a few years at the max.

    It''s only natural that they''d freak out a little once theye to the realization that they might not only have to climb a portion of the mountain in such a state, but they might also have to fight in such a state!

    ***

    [A/N: Here''s one bonus chapter for making it to the Top 25 of the Golden Ticket Rankings! Thank you guys so much for the support! I''m going to try and upload 3 chapters per day until this weekend as a thank you for all the gifts and support I receivedst month!]

 Chapter 384 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 3

    On another side of the mountain, Cine was charging up the mountain just like the rest of the disciples, but simr to Mira, she had no fear on her face. On the contrary, she looked incredibly calm.

    Well, that''s a given since even if her strength is sealed, her Saber Intent can''t be sealed so easily. Intent is the materialization of one''sprehension and is rted to one''s mind and, on a deeper level, one''s soul. So, if the Battle Maiden Sect wanted to seal her Saber Intent along with her cultivation, they''d need to ce a seal on her mind and soul.

    However, they''d probably never go so far as to do that, as creating such seals is not onlyplicated and expensive, but it''s also dangerous to imnt such a seal on someone. It might not be dangerous if Cine was in the Nascent Soul Realm or the Soul Transformation Realm, where her soul is stronger than what it is currently, but right now, she''s too weak to handle a seal like that without facing some sort of bacsh.

    The Sect can only say that it''s Cine''s good luck that they chose this way of testing the new disciples this year.

    Unfortunately, Saber Intent doesn''t exactly increase the strength of her body or Qi, so Cine is still going to have a bit of trouble climbing the mountain.

    Her Saber Intent will onlye in handy when she''s forced to fight someone or something.

    Not long after Cine began climbing the mountain, a Mid-Stage Rank 5 beast popped out of the bushes beside her.

    She scoffed that such a weak beast dared to confront her. She pointed her finger in its direction and thenunched a thin stream of Saber Intent in its direction.

    *St!*

    The beast''s body turned into a blood mist when Cine''s Saber Intent came in contact with it. Even though she tried to control the output of her Saber Intent so that it would only make a small hole in its head, the beast''s body was too weak even to withstand such a minuscule amount of intent.

    ***

    From above, Elder Sandra felt something that she''s only felt a few times throughout her long lifeing from one of the young women climbing the mountain.

    She immediately sped off and quickly reached the area where a pretty green-haired youngdy was at. She saw her point her finger at a beast and unleash a semi-transparent, sharp, and domineering��

    ''INTENT?! Has this little girlprehended Intent already?!''

    If her conjecture was right, this Entrance Exam might end up being conquered by a single person!!

    So, despite it being against the rules, Elder Sandra flew down andnded in front of Cine, surprising the poor girl.

    "Hey! What was that just now? Was that Intent?" Elder Sandra looked into Cine''s eyes and asked, no, ordered her to answer.

    Cine stared at the Elder in surprise and took a few seconds to regain her bearings before answering, "Yes, Elder Sandra. That was my Saber Intent."

    She tried to answer as calmly as she could, but one could see her body shaking due to the pressure Elder Sandra was releasing.

    "Show me!" Elder Sandra ordered again.

    Cine nodded, opened her palm, and created a small semi-transparent saber with her Intent.

    Elder Sandra''s eyes opened wide as she was able to confirm that it truly was Saber Intent! A little girl who probably wasn''t even 30 was able toprehend Saber Intent!! How amazing!!

    "Hahahaha! It really is Intent! Amazing! Girl, tell me your name! I''d like to take you in as my disciple! If you be my disciple, you''ll immediately rise to the position of being a Direct Disciple, one of the highest positions in the Sect! You''ll have everything you could ever want! I''ll provide money, treasures, techniques, resources, whatever you want! What do you say? " Elder Sandraughed and immediately offered Cine an apprenticeship.

    Now, it was Cine''s turn to be shocked. She stared at the powerful middle-aged woman in front of her with a dumbfounded look on her face. Cine''s expression, much like Mira''s, rarely changes, and she''s able to keep her cool in almost every scenario due to Mira''s training, but now she felt like all that training has be useless.

    Elder Sandra didn''t say anything and patiently waited for Cine to answer as she knew that this probably came as a shock to the girl.<sub> </sub>

    It took Cine almost a full minute before she regained herposure, and she began to consider Elder Sandra''s proposal seriously. If she''s beingpletely honest, she never intended to ept someone as a master. Even more so after she broke through to the Core Formation Realm.

    Now that her cultivation talent has skyrocketed, she doesn''t have to put all of her energy into cultivation and can spread out her time to keep learning more about the Saber.

    With her saber talent, she felt that she wouldn''t need someone else''s help as long as she worked hard enough. Quite the contrary, she felt it might be detrimental to her progress if she didn''t figure things out herself.

    She didn''t need a new cultivation technique as the one she has right now is perfect for her. Resources wille once she joins the Sect. The only thing she felt might actually be useful in bing this Elder''s disciple are the Techniques and Treasures she''ll have ess to. Well, she might be given ess to special hidden Realms or locations that are used for training purposes as well, but those are probably rare opportunities that won''t happen often.

    In the end, she couldn''t make a decision and started asking Elder Sandra questions.

    "What can you teach me about the saber, Elder Sandra?" Cine started off with this question because even though she didn''t want anybody''s help, that doesn''t mean that Elder Sandra doesn''t have a special way of learning the Saber, or maybe she knows something that she doesn''t��

    "The saber? Why would I know how to use a saber? I''m a sword user!"

    "..."

    Cine stared at Elder Sandra with a deadpan expression when she heard that. Her opinion of this Elder dropped by a notch just by that answer alone.

    "If you don''t know how to use a saber, then what would you teach me?" Cine asked carefully.

    "Of course, I''ll teach you how to fight!! Oh, I''ll also give you one of our best cultivation techniques, and we even have a way to reform your Core in case you formed a shitty Core when you broke through to the Core Formation Realm! I can teach you our Sect''s signature techniques as well."

    Hearing this, Cine''s opinion of the Elder dropped by another notch. However, she hasn''t made her decision yet. She wanted to learn more about the benefits of being a Direct Disciple.

    "What about things like ess to Secret Training Realms, areas to boost my Dao Comprehension, or my responsibilities to the Sect?"

    "You''ll have priority over such ces as long as you''re my disciple. As for your duties to the Sect�� all you have to do is what I tell you to do!"

    That was the nail in the coffin for Cine. Her eyes started twitching, and if the difference in strength between the two wasn''t sorge, she would definitely feel like giving this Elder a good beating!

    ''Fuck! This is literally just very with extra steps! Who the hell is this Elder, and why did the Sect allow her to oversee the Entrance Exam?!'' Cine cursed in her mind. She really wanted to curse out loud, but she felt like she might actually be beaten to death.

    So, while being as nice as possible, she turned down Elder Sandra''s proposal.

    "I''m sorry, Elder Sandra, but I don''t think I can ept your proposal. My dream is to reach the peak of the Saber through my own effort and understanding. I know it''ll be hard, but I believe the benefits of following my own path will outweigh the cons." She tried to keep her words short, and to the point so Elder Sandra couldn''t use her own words against her.

    Elder Sandra, however, was a bit surprised that Cine turned down her offer, and contrary to how Cine thought she would react, Elder Sandra beganughing.

    "HAHAHAHA! Interesting! Interesting! Good! That''s how women these days should be! We should all be trying to pioneer our own path!" Elder Sandra then paused to calm down and continued, "But, you should also know that it''s not necessarily a bad thing to take the advice of others. While I may not use the Saber, there are things I know that should be able to help you regardless. You should also know that since you rejected my offer, the path ahead of you won''t be easy. You could''ve had a free ride to the top, but now you''ll have to work hard in order to reach that position."

    Cine nodded with a firm expression and said, "I understand, and thank you for your words, Elder Sandra. However, I prefer being in such an environment. I find that my growth is not only faster but more efficient when there ispetition."

    Now, it was Elder Sandra''s turn to look at Cine with a dumbfounded expression before she burst outughing, "Pfft-HAHAHAHA! That''s right, girl! Only in such a tough andpetitive environment will you be able to grow the most! What a good mindset you have for someone so young!"

    "Well, no matter. You may have rejected my offer to be my disciple, but that doesn''t mean I can''t teach you anything. I''ll be sure to keep an eye on you once you join the Sect. Actually, this whole test is probably meaningless for you, right? In fact, your presence would probably ruin this entire test. So, I''ll directly admit you into the Battle Maiden Sect and remove you from this test."

    After Elder Sandra said this, she waved her hand and removed the seal on Cine, then wrapped her in Qi and took her to where she was spectating before she flew over to Cine.

 Chapter 385 [Bonus Chapter]Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 4

    Up in the sky, Elder Sandra and Cine looked down and watched the disciples run up the mountain. Some were fighting beasts while in their weakened state, while others were attacking other participants in hopes of collecting more tokens. Then there are the ones who just want to reach the Outer Court without any trouble.

    asionally, Elder Sandra will have to save a participant''s life, and when that happens, she just wraps her Qi around them and throws them off the mountain while leaving a message in their head that says: "You failed."

    A few hours went by, and Elder Sandra was starting to get bored, so she decided to talk with Cine.

    "Is there anyone in this exam you find particrly interesting? Maybe those three friends you were hanging out with earlier?" Elder Sandra asked.

    Cine pondered for a second before shaking her head, "It''s hard to tell. From my point of view, they all look rtively talented and hard-working. They are all determined to make it to the top, even at the risk of their lives. As for my friends, there''s not much for me to say. They are in a league of their own."

    "Oh really? What makes you say that? I can tell they are definitely unique and strong for their cultivation, but this isn''t a test of strength."

    Elder Sandra''s curiosity was piqued when she heard Cine''s im.

    "Well, although the blonde-haired girl, Maria, might be an idiot, she''s also strong. I doubt the seal ced on her is causing her any real problems other than a loss of strength. The ck-haired girl, Asami, is a bit of a mystery, but she should be able to ovee this trial without much difficulty. As for the woman with fox tails, Mira�� Well, once she reaches the top, this will no longer be a test but a ughter."

    Elder Sandra''s sight immediately locked onto Mira when she heard what Cine said, as she was curious why a talented young girl like Cine would have such high praise for another.

    What she saw surprised her quite a bit.

    Mira was just strolling up the mountain with her hands behind her back, almost like she was out for an afternoon walk, but with her extraordinary senses, Elder Sandra could tell that Mira was properly adjusting her pace to keep up with her loss of strength.

    Although Mira wasn''t running up the mountain like the others, she would definitely be the first person to reach the top since she''s able to keep such a steady pace proportionate to her strength.

    Another thing Elder Sandra noticed was that whenever a beast came close, Mira would nce in its direction, release a bit of her bloodlust, and keep walking. Just from that sliver of killing intent that was released, Elder Sandra could easily determine that Mira was a dangerous person. Anyone able to release such terrifying killing intent is definitely not ordinary.

    Suddenly, Mira stopped and looked up in the sky in Elder Sandra''s direction. Although Elder Sandra was camouging herself and Cine with her Qi, she still couldn''t fully escape Mira''s senses.

    Still, Mira wasn''t able to see them and only knew that someone dangerous was staring at her, but since she didn''t feel anything other than curiosity, she stopped looking up at the sky and continued marching up the mountain.<sub> </sub>

    "Who�� Who is that girl?" Elder Sandra gulped and said with a hint of excitement and also anxiety. She didn''t feel anxiety for herself but the other participants. If such a dangerous person appeared in front of them and released that sliver of killing intent toward them, it really would be a ughter.

    Only those who have been embroiled in war before would be able to keep their minds sane after experiencing such a bloody killing intent.

    Cine sighed, then revealed a slight smile and said, "That''s Mira. Other than knowing where she was born and grew up, I don''t know much else, but I do know that she has an immense amount of battle experience. I''ve fought her hundreds of times, and every time, it feels like I''m facing an army rather than a single person. That''s why I''m saying this will be ughter once she reaches the top because from what I know about Mira, she''ll probably stop just right outside the Outer Court and take down anyone thates near."

    Although Elder Sandra didn''t know anything about Mira, she could tell just from her aura and the killing intent that she was an experienced warrior.

    "Well, she probably won''t kill them since this is just a test, but she won''t be gentle," Cine said before focusing on the other participants. She had no interest in watching Mira beat down a bunch of rookies.

    Elder Sandra didn''t say anything but kept watching Mira for a few more minutes before going back to spectating the others.

    Soon, around 16 hours passed by, and unsurprisingly, Mira made it to the top before anyone else, and just like Cine predicted, she stopped not far outside the Outer Court and waited.

    About half an hour passed after Mira reached the top, and finally, the second person appeared.

    "Hey, Mira! I had a feeling you''d be blocking the finish line! Hehehe~ Don''t worry, I''m not here to fight you. I''m here to help! We''ll split the tokens we steal *ahem* earn in half. How about it? That''s a good deal, right?" Maria said as she approached Mira with a smile.

    "Do as you like, though I don''t really need your help, to begin with." Mira waved Maria off and said.

    "I know, I know, but isn''t this more interesting? Now, you have to leave your back to me and trust that I won''t fail you." Maria chuckled and sat down next to Mira.

    Mira sighed, but she couldn''t refute Maria''s words. It is a little more interesting like this though it still felt like a drag. Fighting against people who can''t use Qi and barely have any strength just isn''t interesting.

    This is especially so now that she has nine extra limbs, those being her tails.

    Fortunately, it seems she can take a small break as they wait for other people to appear.

 Chapter 386 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 5

    At the 20-hour mark, Mira finally stood up when she sensed someone approaching. Maria also felt it, but she continued sitting down with a smile on her face. She knew Mira would want to beat this person up herself, and she wasn''t wrong. Mira didn''t want nor did she need any assistance.

    A few minutester, a young woman with fair skin and auburn hair came running up, panting and sweating, but before she could even notice that two other people were in front of her, Mira attacked!

    When Mira appeared in front of the girl, she turned to the side and swung her tails onto the girl''s back.

    *Crack!*

    Mira could tell that she definitely broke a few ribs as the girl facented into the ground and immediately lost consciousness.

    She then collected the token, dragged the girl''s body to where she and Maria were sitting, and waited for more people to show up.

    When Elder Sandra saw the girl lose her token and lose consciousness, she wasn''t quite sure what to do, but since there were still four hours left and the girl wasn''t in any danger of dying right now, she let it be.

    "Wow! Your tails are a lot stronger than they look! You injured the poor girl so badly with just a little smack." Maria eximed, wondering how such soft and fluffy tails could be so dangerous.

    "Yeah, I was a bit surprised by their power, too though it does make sense. Each tail is equivalent to another arm or leg, and I just smacked that girl with nine of them. I would hope she''d get injured by something like that." Mira said while staring at her tails. She barely used any power to hit the girl, yet it broke a few of her ribs and even knocked her unconscious.

    ''It seems I''ve underestimated the power of my tails.'' Mira thought to herself as she wished she could test the limits of her newfound power.

    "What are you going to do with this girl, Mira? Isn''t she disqualified since she lost her token?" Maria asked.

    "Well, it''d be a shame if such a talented girl couldn''t enter the Sect because she faced someone she had no hopes of winning against. She even made it here before Asami, who is just about as talented as you and Cine. Also, that Elder said that only if we don''t make it to the Outer Court before 24 hours or are about to die will we be disqualified. She didn''t say that losing our tokens means immediate disqualification." Mira exined as she nced at the unconscious girl.

    Maria nodded in agreement. She also felt like it''d be a shame if the girl couldn''t enter the Sect.

    "Speaking of Asami, where''s Cine? She should''ve been here by now." Maria asked, causing Mira to look up into the sky.

    "While I''m not exactly sure, I felt Cine''s eyes on me from somewhere up there along another dangerous gaze, which I assume is Elder Sandra''s," Mira exined, and Maria nodded her head in understanding.

    She didn''t question how Mira knew such a thing as she''s always known that Mira''s senses are abnormal, and now that she seems to be part beast, those senses have most likely been amplified.

    "I see. Well, I doubt she almost died, so that can only mean that the Elder wanted something from her." Maria concluded, and Mira agreed.

    Not long after, another person walked up the mountain, but neither Maria nor Mira got up as they knew who this person was: Asami!

    Maria got up and greeted her, but Mira didn''t bother doing or saying anything. She wasn''t close with Asami, nor did she know anything about her.

    Asami also wasn''t toofortable interacting with Mira yet, though Maria is a different story. It''s hard not to like such a nice and bubbly person.

    Not long after Asami showed up, the unconscious girl beside Mira woke up and was immediately startled.

    "Wha-?!"

    "Oh? You''re awake?" Mira turned toward her and said indifferently.

    The girl gulped nervously when she felt Mira''s gaze, but soon after, her expression hardened, and she resolved herself for battle.<sub> </sub>

    Mira chuckled, but instead of saying anything, she just moved one of her tails and smacked the back of the girl''s head ''lightly'', causing her to facent into the ground again. Fortunately, Mira didn''t hit her hard enough to knock her unconscious again.

    "If you really want to fight, I can keep beating you up until you disqualify, or you can be a good girl and listen to what I have to say," Mira said without any emotion. Although she thought it would be a pity if such a talented person couldn''t enter the Sect, she didn''t care much. If the girl was going to be a pain in the ass, she''d just get her disqualified and save herself the trouble.

    The girl gritted her teeth and looked at Mira with murderous eyes but didn''t say anything. She clearly understood the situation she was in after that hit and knew she wouldn''t be able to do anything to the woman in front of her.

    "Good. Now, if you want to pass the Entrance Exam and enter the Sect, you have to fight. You have to go beat someone up and take their token! Or, I suppose you could walk over to the Outer Court and hope that you will be able to pass the Entrance Exam without a token, though I doubt that''s the case. Otherwise, why would we need these tokens and fight each other over them to increase our ranking?" The girl sighed in relief when she heard that Mira wasn''t going to hold her hostage here or try and kill her, but unfortunately, Mira wasn''t done yet.

    "Of course, it won''t be that easy. You''ll have topete with me and those two over there for the other participant''s tokens." Mira said with a smirk.

    ''This''ll make things a bit more interesting, hehe~." Mira inwardly chuckled, thinking about the uing chaos.

    However, this was only the beginning of what Mira had in mind.

    Maria shook her head at Mira''s antics, but she didn''t hate it. In fact, Maria''s thoughts were simr to Mira''s. This Entrance Exam was a bit too boring, and if they really wanted to, the two of them alone couldpletely dominate this entire thing, but where''s the fun in that?

    The girl gritted her teeth as anger burned in her eyes as she stared at Mira. She wanted nothing more than to give Mira a good beating, but she knew she wasn''t a match for her even when their strength should be simr.

    The keyword here is "should".

    She could clearly feel from that tail smack that their strengths were on two different levels even though their strength should be sealed! She wasn''t sure how that was possible but seeing how Mira wasn''t disqualified yet, that just means that Mira''s strength can''t bepletely sealed.

    She just gave Mira a deep look before taking out a healing pill to heal some of her injuries so she could prepare for the uing battles.

    Mira smirked and got up as she sensed a whole group of people approaching. Maria and Asami noticed Mira staring in a certain direction and knew that people were approaching. They didn''t want Mira hogging all the tokens, so they too prepared for battle.

    In a few minutes, a group of over twenty people appeared in the line of sight, and Mira immediately shot out and began attacking them.

    The women who showed up were already exhausted from charging all the way up the mountain in a weakened state and weren''t expecting an attack. When they noticed someone charging toward them, it was already toote!

    Mira was already next to them and began swinging her tails, knocking them out in a single blow. They couldn''t even try and gang up on her as she was just too quick.

    Maria and Asami didn''t have unrealistically strong bodies like Mira, which is part of the reason why Mira is still so strong despite most of her power being sealed. They were unable to keep up with Mira''s pace and were unable to get any tokens from this batch of people.

    Well, Maria did try and steal-*ahem*-scavenge any tokens Mira might''ve missed, but unfortunately for her, Mira used her tails to pick up the tokens so she could focus on taking out the participants.

    They could only watch as Mira collected the tokens with ease. Of course, they didn''t n on falling behind!

    Just like before, when Mira attacked the girl with auburn hair, she didn''t attack to kill this time either. Hell, she didn''t even attack them hard enough to leave them unconscious for too long.

    However, this time she didn''t bother picking them up and moving them. Instead, she left them right where they were.

    ''Soon, things will finally be a bit interesting. I can''t wait to see how these kids will react. Hehehe~'' Mira thought to herself as a sadistic smile crept up on her face.

 Chapter 387 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 6

    A few momentster, the people Mira beat up awoke and were immediately furious when they recalled what just happened.

    "Dammit! To think We''d be ambushed as soon as we neared the Outer Court! Give me back my token, you bastard!"

    "That''s right! How can you be so underhanded?! At least allow us to catch our breath!"

    "Fucking hell, why am I so unlucky?!"

    Mira stared at these women with a sadistic smile on her face, a smile which, although nobody could see since she was wearing a mask, still sent shivers down their spine.

    "Hmm? Was I too gentle with your beatings? Anyways, since you have the energy to bitch andin, you should have enough energy to fight! If you want your tokens back, you''ll have to take them from me by force! Or, you could do what I did and go attack others for their tokens." Mira said while fiddling around with the numerous tokens she''s collected.

    The women''s eyes reddened as they stared at Mira with eyes full of anger, and without thinking, they charged at Mira in hopes of reiming their tokens.

    "Bastard! So it was you who ambushed us! Now that you have nowhere to hide, I''ll-"

    The girl couldn''t even finish her sentence before a long fluffy tail smacked her across the face and sent her tumbling.

    Mira didn''t even spare the girl a nce and muttered, "Fool." She then eyed the rest of the women and announced, "Anyone else want to try?"

    The other women stared at Mira as if trying to see through her, but how could it be so easy? Mira hasn''t even started using her mastery in close-quartersbat yet. She''s just beating people up with her tails.

    However, these women also aren''t normal and wouldn''t be so easily frightened just because they met a tough opponent.

    Seeing the looks in their eyes, Mira sighed, but then she revealed a slight smile under her mask.

    "I see you all have misunderstood something," Mira immediately charged at the nearest person, catching the woman by surprise. She tried backing away to dodge, but Mira was too quick. A tail swept out, crashing into the girl''s face, sending her tumbling.

    "Don''t worry. I''ll help you all understand."

    Mira charged at the nearest person, who was only a few meters away, and despite having been prepared, all it took was two smacks from Mira''s tails before the girl was sent tumbling.

    She even suffered worse than the girl before her since she tried to use her hands to block Mira''s attack. So, not only did her face get smacked but her arms as well.

    "You lot are too weak to force me to hand over MY tokens. Hehe~" Mira chucked, which only enraged the other participants.

    "Fuck you, bitch! I''ll kill you!"

    "Give me back my damn token, you arrogant bastard!"

    "Dammit! If I don''t beat you up, then I''ll-ACK!"

    The remaining women all charged at Mira, but how could these newbies have the ability to even touch her, much less injure her?

    Not even 30 secondster, those women once again had their faces in the dirt, unconscious.

    However, Mira wasn''t through with them just yet��

    ***

    "ACK! Okay, I get it! Just please sto-"

    "What did we do to deserve this��---!"

    "Okay! Okay! We''ll stop attacking you!"

    ***

    For the next few minutes, Mira continued beating up the participants until their faces were ck and blue, and they had bruises all over their bodies.

    Of course, around halfway through, they surrendered and stopped trying to attack her, but Mira wasn''t so forgiving. She had to teach these newbies a lesson for trying to fight her. Honestly, if they weren''t in this Entrance Exam, Mira wouldn''t be leaving them with such ''light'' injuries. There''d definitely be broken bones, and if they pissed her off enough, some of them might be dead by now.<sub> </sub>

    "Do you guys finally understand now?" Mira asked while looking down at the injured women. They all repeatedly nodded their heads, but when they heard Mira''s next words, they froze.

    "Good! Now, you can begin attacking other disciples for their tokens when they finally show up, but of course, you''ll have topete with me for them. Hehehe~"

    They all stared at Mira with aggrieved eyes, but that only made Mira''s smile widen.

    "What�� What would happen if we did manage to steal another''s token? Would you still try to take it from us?" One of the girls spoke up.

    Mira inwardly praised this girl for catching onto things so quickly, but on the outside, she slightly nodded her head and said in a domineering voice, "Naturally. Only I can pass this year''s Entrance Exam! Weaklings like you have no ce being here!"

    The women went pale hearing Mira''s words, and they began inwardly cursing their bad luck for having to take the Entrance Exam with such a psycho!

    However, that''s when one person spoke up.

    "Guys, don''t lose hope yet! Although we can''t beat her with just us, there''s no way she can take on everyone! As long as we gather more people and band together, we''ll be able to take this psycho down!"

    Her words seemed to reignite their morale, but this didn''t make cause Mira''s smile to fade. On the contrary, this is exactly what she hoped would happen.

    Now that the seed has been sowed, it''s time to reap what she sowed.

    She turned her head when she sensed a ratherrge group of people charging up the mountain. In fact, she even sensed a few battles going on.

    She then nced in Maria and Asami''s direction and noticed Maria was standing there smiling in her direction. She gave Maria and nod, causing the blonde''s expression to brighten, before she focused on the uing battle.

    Mira, Maria, Asami, the auburn-haired girl, and the other women all waited until the peopleing up the mountain got a bit closer. When they finally entered their sight, they didn''t hesitate to attack them!

    Maria and Mira were the first to reach the iing participants. However, although the two of them were technically on the same side and were going to split their tokens, they also wanted to have a friendlypetition with each other.

    Fortunately for the women that Mira subdued just a few minutes prior, Mira and Maria weren''t fast enough to take out everyone before they could reach them, but little did they know that Mira did this on purpose.

    She wanted to leave a few people for those women to beat up, but she didn''t want the entire group to regain a taken. So, whenever she saw that too many of them managed to retrieve a token, Mira would run over, smack them across the head with her tail, take the token, and go back to hunting.

    After a few minutes, most of the iing participants were taken down, and the women that Mira beat up before were only able to collect five tokens among them.

    Mira turned to them and smiled, "You know, now that you have a token, you could just run to the Outer Court and immediately pass the Entrance Exam. You won''t have to risk losing your tokens to me. Sure, you might lose the reward Elder Sandra proposed, but if I''m the only other person to enter the Sect, wouldn''t that mean you still made it into the Top 10?"

    They were stunned when they heard what Mira said. They couldn''t believe they had forgotten about this! They don''t need to collect tons of tokens. They only need one!

    Although they didn''t believe that Mira would be the only other person to enter the Sect, it isn''t entirely impossible. They were smart enough to know that the other participants wouldn''t all show up at the same time. They woulde up in waves, which is to Mira''s advantage.

    They firmly believed that Mira was pretty much invincible against a small group, so if Mira kept taking out small groups of people like she just did, she''d eventually be able to collect a vast majority of the tokens.

    Once that happened, Mira could just enter the Outer Court, disqualifying all the other participants.

    Of course, they were also suspicious of Maria and Asami as well. Mira hasn''t once tried to intimidate them. No, in fact, she seemed to be acquainted with them! However, that didn''t matter much right now. What difference did two other people make?

    They''d still be able to enter the Top 10 as long as they entered the Sect!

    Once they came to this conclusion, the looks in their eyes changed as they eyed theirrades wearily. Compared to fighting against Mira, they had a much higher chance of taking each other''s tokens!

    Suddenly, one of the girls who was able to possess a token after this wave of people began running towards the Outer Court.

    The others that weren''t able to collect a token were stunned, but then a few of them immediately chased after her!

    "Oh no, you don''t! That token is mine!"

    Seeing things taking a turn for the worse, the other four that possessed tokens also made a beeline for the Outer Court, causing the rest of the group who didn''t possess tokens to chase after them.

    Mira smiled sadistically and formed a few ice crystals in her hand.

 Chapter 388 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 7

    When the five women with tokens were around 100 meters away from the Outer Court, Mira threw the ice crystals at them. Before they even had the chance to dodge, the ice crystals crashed into their waist, causing them to lose their bnce and fall. This resulted in the participants chasing them to be able to catch up and began fighting them for their tokens.

    Mira chuckled, seeing how chaotic things were going, but she didn''t sit still either.

    She ran over towards them and waited until the skirmishes reached their climax. Luckily, this didn''t take long.

    As soon as Mira saw the glimmer of hope in their eyes, she charged in!

    "NOOOOOOO-! ACK!"

    "YOU DEVILISH BASTARD! WHY?!"

    "FUUUUUCC-!"

    Mira smashed their faces into the ground once again and took their tokens.

    "Hehe~ You''ll have to try harder next time. Alright, seeing how pathetic you lot are, I''ll give you guys a chance. I''ll leave 10% of the tokens from the next batch of people that show up to you. Whether that means there are 20 tokens or 200 tokens, they are yours to fight over. However, just know that this time around, you''ll bepeting against those who just got their tokens taken by me this time around." Mira chuckled and walked away.

    The other women''s expressions darkened, never feeling so humiliated and angry in their entire lives. Worst of all, they can''t do anything about it! If they want to enter the Sect, they need a token.

    Sure, they can try and rally other people to attack Mira, but what if Mira just decides to run away and waste their time? There probably isn''t a single person here that can catch Mira if she doesn''t want to be caught.

    A few minutester, the people Mira knocked unconscious woke up and began behaving just like the first batch of people she beat up.

    However, this time Mira handled things a bit differently. While she could beat them up over and over again, that''s simply a waste of time and isn''t interesting at all.

    So, when therge group of people threatened Mira that they would attack her en masse, she ''reluctantly'' gave up a few of her tokens.

    "Alright! Alright! Since you guys are all going to attack me, I''ll return your tokens."

    After Mira said that, she threw over ten of her tokens and then ran off, leaving these words behind, "Fight over these tokens yourself. If you want the rest, you can either waste your timeing after me, or you can take them from the other participants."

    The participants were immediately enraged when they noticed Mira only threw out ten tokens when she must have over one hundred, but they also noticed that she was too fast for them to catch up to. That being the case, they could only fight over the ten tokens that Mira threw and then wait for the next wave of participants to show up.

    From afar, Mira watched the 200+ participants fight amongst themselves over who should get a token. She snickered at the chaos that was ensuing, but she also had a reason for doing this other than just having fun��

    In less than five minutes, most of the women fighting over those ten tokens had been knocked out, so only 30 remained. These 30 are clearly much more skilled and intelligentpared to the rest as they were able tost this long.

    Well, that''s not too surprising since 20 of them are the first batch of women Mira beat up. Those 20 are faster, stronger, and have a higher battle IQpared to the others, even with their strength sealed.

    Of course, they are still newbies in Mira''s eyes, but for kids who haven''t seen much of the world, they aren''t bad.

    Unfortunately, before the 30 of them could fight it out, Mira had already snuck up and began beating them up before collecting the ten tokens she tossed out.

    "Dammit! WHY?! Can''t you just give us one?! You probably have over a hundred!! With how many people you can take down, you''d undoubtedly be able to enter the Top 10! Why not just give us one!?"

    One of the women who had been getting beaten up by Mira repeatedly screamed. She was at her wit''s end right now! Every time she felt like she was about to pass the Exam, she would get smacked in the face with a tail!!

    "Hmph! I''ve already told you this. I''m the only one who can enter the Sect this year!" Mira said as she looked at the woman in disdain.<sub> </sub>

    "Then what about them?! Why aren''t you beating them up?!" The woman pointed at Maria, Asami, and the auburn-haired girl.

    Mira nced in their direction for a few seconds before saying, "Well, the blonde-haired woman and ck-haired chick are with me, so why would I beat them up? As for the other girl, I''ll deal with herter."

    The girl was stunned and didn''t know what to say. Mira didn''t wait for her answer either and walked away from them to wait for the next wave of people to beat up��

    ***

    "Ummm�� Little Cine, do you know if your friend has a few screws loose? Why is she doing this? I mean, I''m notining as I''m able to examine each person better, but I have no idea why that Mira girl would want to do this." Elder Sandra asked Cine as they watched Mira y with the participants like they were little children.

    Cine, on the other hand, was a bit shocked, but not for the reason that Elder Sandra thought.

    ''Maybe she''s also curious why her friend would do something like this?'' Elder Sandra thought to herself as she waited for Cine''s answer.

    "While I can''t say that I know Mira like the back of my hand, I''d say that I have a pretty good understanding of her personality. From what I know of Mira, she''s probably just bored." Cine said after giving it some thought.

    "Bored?!" Ender Sandra was both stunned and confused. Bored? Why would Mira be bored?

    Cine had a strange expression on her face as she wasn''t sure how to exin it.

    "Ahem! That''s just a guess of mine, but it''s not without any basis. As you can see, Mira''s strength, even sealed, is more than enough to take care of the other participants. She''s generally not the type of person to bully the weak just because she''s stronger, as she finds no joy in doing so. Well, unless she has a purpose for beating them up. So, she probably wanted to spice up the Entrance Exam to make it a bit more interesting, so it doesn''t feel like she''s just beating up a bunch of weaklings." Cine exined, and now it was Elder Sandra''s turn to have a strange expression on her face.

    "Is that really the case? It seems to me she''s having a good time beating them up." Elder Sandra said.

    Cine wanted to say something, but she couldn''t really argue with that as it really seemed like Mira was enjoying it.

    "Ahaha�� Well, she''s always been pretty heavy-handed. I think she''s enjoying the chaos she''s making right now rather than the act of beating them up. As for the other reason, I think she''s doing this�� I believe it''s to find hidden gems."

    "Hidden gems?"

    "Yeah. Mira''s always had a weird quirk where she likes to find talented people, and if she can''t find anyone talented, then she''ll just beat them up until they learn to be talented."

    "Oh? It sounds like you speak from experience." Elder Sandra''s interest was piqued when she heard the bitterness in Cine''s voice.

    "....Yeah. Years ago, not long after I started my cultivation journey, she thought of me as someone talented and began forcing me to train like my life depended on it�� Actually, now that I think about it, I think my life did depend on it. Maria is another example of this, though she wasn''t very talented, to begin with. From what I understand, Mira wants to use these talented people to further her own skills. For example, she wants to use my talent in the Saber to try and better understand Weapon Intent."

    "Interesting�� She seems really interesting. Although her cultivation is low, she seems to have a lot of worldly experience. At least, those eyes aren''t something that can be found in a child who has only reached the Core Formation Realm. It really makes one think she''s the reincarnation of some top expert or something." Elder Sandra said those words without thinking much as she stared intently at Mira, causing her to miss Cine''s shocked expression.

    One has to know that although Cine doesn''t know much about Mira, she knows that Mira has her previous life''s memories.

    Luckily, Cine controlled herself in just a split second before trying to change the subject.

    "Anyways, that''s what I think Mira is trying to do. She''s just trying to scope out thepetition and look for anyone that might prove to be useful in the future, all the while curing her boredom."

    "Ah! Yeah. Well, whatever. I''m also interested to see how things y out and what she''ll do next, so I won''t intervene. After all, this is what the Outer Court is going to be like if they enter the Sect. If they can''t handle this much, then they aren''t worthy of my Battle Maiden Sect!!" Elder Sandra announced.

    Cine lightly shook her head, but she was also curious.

 Chapter 389 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 8

    After regaining their consciousness, some of the more intelligent people immediately realized that dealing with Mira was a huge pain in the ass and decided not to mess with her. So, instead ofpeting against Mira on the same ying field, a few of them decided to run down the mountain to steal someone''s token without Mira''s interference.

    Most of the people that made it to the top of the mountain hadn''t even considered this, and for a good reason. They just spent thest 20 hours climbing up a mountain. Why would they want to go back down?

    However, they soon concluded that dealing with Mira was much more annoying than running down the mountain to ambush an unsuspecting participant. Not only that, but as long as they aren''tplete idiots, taking a token from someone who is still running up the mountain should be easy.

    So, after seeing a few people running down the mountain, more and more people that Mira beat up began doing the same thing. They didn''t have time to waste trying to deal with Mira, nor did they feel like getting beat up again.

    To them, trying to take any tokens from Mira was a losing battle. Of course, a few wanted to stay behind and fight Mira, but after seeing all theirrades running down the mountain, they also realized how foolish their actions were.

    Of course, Mira didn''t care either way. If they wanted to fight, then she''d give them a good beat down, but if they wanted to run down the mountain in search of tokens, then they are free to do that as well.

    In fact, Mira preferred it this way. She just hoped that the people who just ran down the mountain don''t immediately charge back up withouting up with some sort of n.

    As she was looking forward to what kind of ideas those women wille up with, she noticed Maria, Asami, and the auburn-haired girl walking over.

    "You''re really evil, you know," Asamimented while staring intently at Mira. She could see what Mira was trying to do, but she just didn''t know why.

    "Hmph! They''re just lucky I didn''t kill them for daring to challenge and curse me. If we met anywhere else, their heads would''ve already flown! Also, I''m just setting the stage for what this Entrance Exam is supposed to be."

    Asami and the auburn-haired girl felt chills run down their spines when they heard what Mira said as they were sure she wasn''t kidding.

    However, out of the two, Asami was the most shocked. She''s known Mira for about a week now, and from what she could tell, although Mira was a little rough around the edges, she wasn''t a bad person.

    She sometimes seemed a little crazy, but who in this world isn''t?

    But now, it seems like the Mira she''se to know was just the tip of the iceberg!

    Well, she couldn''t really be med for thinking like this, though. When they met, Mira and Maria had just started their rtionship, and Mira was no longer consumed with thoughts of growing stronger and murder. Instead, her heart was slowly filling up with the unfamiliar emotion called love.

    When Asami first met Mira, it could almost be said that she met her during Maria and Mira''s honeymoon phase. So, of course, Mira would be a bit different than how she normally acts.

    It''s only now did Asami begin to understand that Mira wasn''t normally like that.

    As for Maria, she didn''t particrly care about the first half of what Mira said. Instead, she was curious about something else.

    "What do you mean by what this Entrance Exam is supposed to be?"

    "Before I answer your question, let me ask you something instead. What do you think the purpose of this Entrance Exam is?" Mira asked back.<sub> </sub>

    Maria pondered for a few seconds before answering, "Well, I think the sealing of our strength is to test our control over our bodies, how well we can pace ourselves, our ability to adapt, and our foundations. They probably want to differentiate those who only know how to rely on their cultivation versus those who have worked hard every step of the way to get to where they are today."

    "As for why we are climbing up a mountain, there''s probably not a better way to test these things in a short amount of time than a mountain. Lastly, we have Elder Sandra''s reward for the tokens. I''m guessing it''s probably just a quicker way for tens of thousands of people topete rather than doing apetition." Maria revealed her thoughts on this test.

    Mira nodded her head as she also came to a simr conclusion, except for thest part.

    "I think you''re half right in the fact that putting us against each other in this kind of battle royale scenario is much faster than doing somemepetition, but I think Elder Sandra just wants to see what kind of real-world experience we have. Have we ever gone hunting before? Do we know the basics of hiding and sensing others'' presence? How well do we make use of the terrain? Things of that nature. However, this isn''t necessarily a battle royale. It''s more like a ''King of the Hill'' game."

    "King of the hill?" They questioned.

    Mira nodded her head and exined, "Yes, just think about it for a second. How many people probably had the idea that when they get to the top, they''ll block the entrance to the Outer Court and attack anyone who shows up? Probably most of the participants, if not all. I mean, what''s more efficient, trying to find and hunt people on a giant mountain or having the peoplee to you? None of the people here are idiots and can be considered to be in the top 1% of women in our generation. Who doesn''t believe they can sit at the top, gather as many tokens as they can, make it into the Top 10, then enter the Sect?"

    The others finally understood what Mira was trying to say. This isn''t only a way to see who can hold the ''hill'' the longest, but it''s also a way for Elder Sandra to see how people deal with these kinds of situations.

    For example, if Mira wasn''t so strong, she probably would have been ganged up on, beaten up, and had her tokens stolen. However, after she was defeated, then a fight would start to see who would possess all those tokens. In the end, thest one left standing would take everything and could either cash in and enter the Outer Court or keep waiting for more people to collect more tokens.

    Well, they could also split the tokens ande to some sort of an agreement, but Mira didn''t think such a conclusion was very likely.

    Asami, the auburn-haired girl, and Maria all understood what Mira was trying to say. Even though they hadn''t thought that far, they wanted to reach the top of the mountain first for the very reason Mira just exined. They, too, wanted to gatekeep the Outer Court and take down anyone who approached all in hopes of gathering more tokens.

    "Hehe~ However, where''s the fun in something like that? I could just sit here and take on everyone at once, but I already know the result will end with me winning. Since I already know I''m going to win, why not make it more interesting? I just hope those kids who just ran down the mountain don''t do something stupid, but I believe they''re intelligent enough to understand that fighting me head-on won''t work." Mira chuckled, but Asami and the auburn-haired girl looked at her like she was crazy.

    "Aren''t you a little too arrogant? I get that you''re strong even with your strength seal, but taking on everyone in this Entrance Exam with your level of strength isn''t possible!" Asami said, but Mira just looked at her like she was looking at an idiot.

    Before Mira could say anything, Maria decided to butt in and change the subject, "Heh! Do you really think you can beat me so easily? I''ve gotten really strong over the past two years! I''m sure I could probably give you a run for your money."

    Mira examined Maria for a few seconds before shaking her head, "Not with your strength sealed like that. Maybe if you were at your full strength, you could put up a good fight, especially since I haven''t properly adjusted to my new power after breaking through, but not right now. Though, you could probablyst several times longer than the other people."

    Mira tried praising her lover, but it came out�� strange.

    "What do you mean I canst several times longer?! Those people can''t evenst a single hit! Are you saying I can''t evenst more than a few of your hits?!"

    "Y-" Mira was about to say ''yes'', but her instincts told her she probably shouldn''t say that. So instead, she said, "Well, maybe because of my training, you could still go a few rounds with me, but it''d be hard for you to defeat me because of my tails and with how strong my body is."

    Maria smiled but didn''t say anything else. She was just happy to know that she could still put up a fight against Mira in her current state. She already knew there was no hope of her winning, but she just wanted to tease Mira a bit.

    The four of them continued chatting away until around the 22.5-hour mark, when they noticed arge group of peopleing up the mountain.

 Chapter 390 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 9

    A few hours prior, right after the women who made it near the Outer Court ran back down the mountain, things were going ording to Mira''s n.

    The people running down the mountain immediately began searching for other participants. Unsurprisingly, the women still climbing the mountain had no idea they were about to be ambushed from above and were easily taken down.

    With how many participants were still in the Entrance Exam, it didn''t take long until the 200+ Mira beat up all regained their tokens.

    However, thenes the problem. If they run back up the mountain, they''ll only be beaten up by Mira again and forced to hand over their tokens, but they also can''t team up with the women they just beat up.

    It also doesn''t make sense to team up with others who still have their tokens because everyone''s goal in this Entrance Exam is to collect as many tokens as possible to make it into the Top 10.

    Since they are allpeting against each other, why would they team up together?

    So, that begs the question: What now?

    To try and figure that out, they all regrouped to begin discussing this issue.

    "So, what should we do now?"

    "Well, we can''t very well charge back up there and face that demon again. We''ll only get beaten up and have our tokens taken away again!"

    "I agree!"x200

    "Alright, since everyone agrees, then we''ll have toe up with another way to get past her."

    "Why don''t we gather a bunch of people? While we don''t know if Mira can handle hundreds or even thousands of people at the same time, that doesn''t really matter. All we need to do is make sure we aren''t the people facing her."

    "So you mean you want to gather people to use them as bait so we can sneak by her and enter the Outer Court?"

    "Exactly! That''s the only way I can see us making it past her!"

    "It''s a good idea, but the problem is gathering that amount of people! Don''t forget. This is essentially apetition. One where the reward is a favor from an Elder of the Sect! Such a thing is probably only possible for a select few Core disciples along with the Direct Disciples! Even now, I still want to take out as many of you guys as possible to collect tokens so I can make it into the Top Ten!"

    "..."

    Nobody could say anything after hearing that as they were also thinking the same thing. All of them wanted the reward that Elder Sandra proposed. However, they were also smart enough to look at the big picture. If they can''t even make it into the Sect, then what good is the reward?

    "What about this? We can just do what that fox girl at the top did to us. We go hunt and beat up a bunch of participants. That way, we canpete for the top ten. Then we me their missing token on that fox girl that''s gatekeeping the Outer Court!"

    "Hmmm�� That''s not a bad idea, but we can''t get caught. If we''re caught, then it''s over, and we''ll have thousands of people after us."

    "Alright, let''s do that! We can search for the other participants on the mountain for around an hour and a half to two hours. Then we''ll blend in with the people we beat up and make our way up the mountain to deal with the fox girl."

    "Sounds good."

    "Well, it''s the best idea so far."

    "Seems possible."

    Everyone outwardly agreed to that proposal, but inwardly they were thinking something different, but this wasn''t too surprising. They arepeting against each other, and even though they might be having a hard time against Mira, they can''t easily let go of the reward Elder Sandra presented.<sub> </sub>

    After everyone agreed, they took off in separate directions and began secretly taking out as many participants as possible.

    Not only that, but they even tried hunting each other as well. Unfortunately, the people that Mira beat up aren''t ordinary people and won''t be defeated so easily. They might not have the strength or hand-to-handbat skills that Mira has, but they also aren''t people who only know how to sit inside and cultivate all day.

    These people had insider information about the Battle Maiden Sect''s Outer Court. They know it''s not a ce for the weak orzy. So, to make sure they don''t get kicked out of the Sect, they also trained in the wilderness and entered their own life-and-death battles. Sneak attacks from those on the same level as them wouldn''t work unless the person attacking is especially skilled in stealth.

    Unfortunately for the people whose supposedrades attacked them, it probably would''ve been better if the sneak attacks were sessful. At least that way, they wouldn''t have gained so many injuries trying to defend themselves.

    Around an hour and a half went by, and those who were sneak attacking others on the mountain stopped attacking and instead met up with those they robbed tokens from.

    "Hey, did you get your token stolen as well?"

    "Yeah, why?"

    "I heard that others also had their tokens stolen by ady wearing a fox mask and has fox tails."

    "Really? I couldn''t even get a good look at who attacked me."

    "Me too! I was only able to get a glimpse right before I was knocked out. I think I saw a fox tail, but I''m not entirely sure!"

    "Then what should we do? I need to get my token back so I can enter the Sect!!"

    "I''m not sure, but if I were the fox girl, I''d probably be sitting right outside the Outer Court waiting for any more participants to show up!"

    "Really?! Then let''s go up there right now and get our tokens back!"

    These kinds of conversations were happening all over the mountain among many of the participants who had their tokens stolen. Unfortunately, they didn''t know that the ones who took them were the ones standing right next to them.

    That being said, those who ran down the mountain were now making their way back up the mountain, intermixed with those they stole tokens from.

    The amount of people now marching up the mountain to deal with Mira is in the thousands!

    ***

    "Damn! Those guys sure are ruthless, but I have to say that their n is pretty ingenious." Elder Sandra eximed as she watched thousands of people rally up the mountain to deal with Mira while unknowingly ying in the palms of someone else''s hands.

    "Mmmhmm. Though, I don''t think these guys stand much of a chance against Mira and the others. For one, just look at how injured and exhausted they all are. Even if they were to hit Mira, they probably wouldn''t even be able to bruise her in their current state!" Cinemented.

    Elder Sandra nodded as she too noticed that many of the women rallying up the mountain were limping, a bit disoriented, bruised, or just straight up exhausted. That goes for everyone, especially those that Mira beat up previously.

    "I wonder if Mira will really start attacking them all. From what you said previously, it seems like she doesn''t really want to deal with them personally." Elder Sandra pondered, but she didn''t think about it for too long.

    Cine gave a bitter smile as she had a few ideas, none of which the participants would like.

    Either way, she knew Mira woulde out on top.

 Chapter 391 [Bonus Chapter]Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 10

    Mira, Asami, Maria, and the auburn-haired girl watched on as thousands of people appeared a few hundred meters in front of them.

    With Mira''s superior eye-sight, she could easily make out the people who previously ran down the mountain and released a slightly bitter smile. This wasn''t exactly what she had in mind, but at least it was better than nothing. Still, she could y this out in her favor without having to deal with all of them personally.

    Seeing how they were mixed in with the crowd, she could deduce that they probably wanted to use thisrge group of people to distract her as they sneaked through and made their way into the Outer Court.

    "It''s the fox girl! Hey! Give us back our tokens!!!"

    "How dare you sneak attack us like that?!"

    Hearing what the women in therge group were saying confirmed Mira''s thoughts.

    Therge mob of people looked like they wanted to charge at her but were also unwilling to be the first to attack her.

    However, Mira wasn''t one to stand around wasting time, so before they could do anything, Mira dropped all of her tokens on the ground.

    "SILENCE!" Mira yelled, "It seems you all have been misled and forced to believe that I was the one who took your tokens. However, as you can see, I only have a little over a hundred tokens in my possession! There''s absolutely no way for me to have all of them."

    Therge mob of people was a bit puzzled by what they saw. Although they didn''t know exactly how many tokens were on the ground in front of Mira, it definitely wasn''t in the thousands.

    "You''re lying! You could be hiding the other tokens just to fool us!"

    One of the women Mira beat up immediately shouted, causing the others to realize the same thing.

    "Hmph! You guys should know just as well as me that I''m not lying. Here, I''ll even have mypanions show you their tokens to prove that we didn''t touch you guys." Mira said, which shut them up.

    She then nced at Maria, Asami, and the auburn-haired girl, signaling them to show their tokens.

    After they revealed their token, Mira said, "As you can see, the number of tokens we have simply don''t match up to the number of people in your group. We could be hiding the tokens somewhere on the mountain, but what would be the point in that? I think it''s safer to say that there''s a traitor amongst you who is trying to pin the me on us rather than the four of us being capable enough of taking you all out. Just think about it. Did you see someone like me attack you? I mean, I''m pretty hard to miss with my fox tails and all."

    The mob of people began eyeing each other suspiciously as what Mira said made sense. The probability of four people handling all of them without anyone knowing is rtively low, much less a single person.

    "Don''t listen to her! I saw her attacking others lower on the mountain! How else would she already have so many tokens!?"

    The women Mira beat up in the crowd began yelling, trying to get the mob to believe that Mira was the culprit, but unfortunately, the women who have made it this far aren''t idiots. They know how messed up and two-faced people in this world can be.

    They may have believed it before because there wasn''t another argument, but after hearing Mira''s side of the story, they began to feel like something was amiss here. Besides that, the stronger and more sensitive people could feel the danger radiating off of Mira.

    The feeling Mira gave off when she looked at them was like how an apex predator looks at its prey.

    Sure enough, the people who could feel how dangerous Mira was, began murmuring.

    "Guys, I don''t think she did it."

    Whoever said this caused the mob to go silent as they all shifted their eyes to the woman.

    "Huh? Why do you say that?"

    "Just call it intuition or whatever, but based on her posture and how she''s looking at us, it feels like she doesn''t need to ambush us. You guys can believe whatever you want, but I''m not attacking her if I can help it. In fact, I''m more inclined to believe her words."

    <o>,m "You mean, you think there''s someone among us who was trying to force us against this girl with fox tails?"</o>

    "Exactly. Also, if she really did have our tokens, why doesn''t she just enter the Outer Court? She''ll no doubt be ced in the top ten if she has all of them. No, most likely, she''ll be number one. What''s the point in waiting here for us if she can already be number one?"

    "Now that you mention it, that does make sense. There are thousands of us here right now. If she really did have all of our tokens, she''d only be wasting her time by not going into the Outer Court."

    Discussions like that began taking ce within the mob, making the ones who nned all of this out furious.

    "Don''t listen to her! She said she wanted to be the only one to pass the Entrance Exam! That''s why she''s h-" The woman who was yelling immediately stopped after realizing she had said too much.

    Unfortunately, it was toote.

    "Eh? And how would you know such a thing?"

    Everyone went quiet after that and then, without warning, the people surrounding the woman attacked her!<sub> </sub>

    It only took a second to knock her out. They then began searching her body and surprisingly found something that they didn''t have.

    "Look! She was hiding 32 tokens within her robe! It seems we really were fooled!"

    After that, everyone stared at each other wearily before quickly putting distance between one another.

    They weren''t sure who to trust at this point as anyone of them could have been lying.

    They stayed like this for a while, waiting to see if anyone else would make the same mistake as the girl before, but nothing of the sort happened.

    Seeing how things were going nowhere, Mira decided to give them a little bit of�� encouragement.

    Her crimson eyes glowed slightly, and a bloody pressure came pressing down on the mob in front of her!

    "Urgh!"

    "W-What�� What the hell is happening?!"

    "What''s this pressure!"

    Mira chuckled, seeing the girls in front of her struggling to breathe, and said, "Now now�� What''s the point of staring at each other while doing nothing? Only action will produce results! If you don''t want to die, then start attacking each other! So what if you attack the wrong person?! All these people are yourpetition!! They are your enemies!! So stop standing around like children and get to fighting!!"

    Even after saying that, nobody moved, or more like they couldn''t move, as Mira''s killing intent was still pressing down on them.

    "Hmph! I guess I''ll have to give you a bit of motivation!"

    Mira extended her nails and leaped at the nearest person. Her hand was going straight for their neck, but the girl disappeared before she could reach her.

    Mira turned her head and nced up in the air for a second as she knew that the one responsible for teleporting her prey away was Elder Sandra, but she couldn''t help but feel a bit annoyed.

    Fortunately, seeing this happen allowed the others to regain their wits as they realized they actually felt the threat of deathing after them!

    Mira also stopped releasing so much killing intent when she noticed that this wasn''t going to go anywhere if she kept that up. After all, these children''s minds haven''t been properly tempered to face her killing intent head-on.

    Mira backed away from the mob and said, "As you can see, I''m not going to just sit here and wait for you guys to resolve this. Either you start attacking each other, or I start disqualifying you!"

    Her words seemed to wake everyone up as they no longer hesitated.

    "Ugh! Fuck it! Attack!!"

    "I''ll teach you bitches a lesson for trying to deceive me!"

    From then on, something akin to a dog fight began, causing Mira to reveal a satisfied smirk.

    ''This is more like it. Hehe~''

    ***

    "Your friend really is a little crazy. To think she would actually try to kill that girl just now! She would''ve died if I hadn''t protected her and teleported her off the mountain." Elder Sandramented in disbelief.

    Cine could only chuckle awkwardly, "Ahahaha�� Yeah�� I told you she''s always been a bit heavy-handed�� Although she knew that you''d save the girl, I think she''d still go for the kill even if you weren''t here. I guess you could say she wanted to make an example out of the girl to prove that she''s not here to fuck around."

    "Sigh�� It seems like the Outer Court will be in chaos once she enters the Sect. I''ll have to let the Elders in charge of the Outer Court Disciples know about her." Elder Sandra mumbled but didn''t try and stop what was going on.

    Although she felt like Mira was a bit too much, she also believed that the Outer Court wasn''t any less dangerous. Maybe it wasn''t so dangerous while inside the Outer Court, but the missions, training,petitions, and just the mountain itself are all incredibly dangerous. Many Outer Court Disciples lose their lives every year for these reasons, either because they aren''t strong enough or they are just simply unlucky.

    So, in a way, Mira was introducing these somewhat naive little girls to what the world of cultivation really is.

    ***

    Thank you, @ArchThrene, for the 5000 coin gift. Here''s a bonus chapter for you guys! I''ll be posting another bonus chapter for you tomorrow as well!

 Chapter 392 Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam Part 11

    Mira watched the huge mob of people turn into a chaotic dogfight with a slight smile on her face, but she was also using this opportunity to analyze her fellow disciples. She was also going to intervene and deal with anyone she thought wasn''t worthy of entering the Sect as she had no intention ofpeting with those she felt had no ce standing on the same ground as her.

    But it seems her worries were unfounded. Most of the women here had the mindset of someone who wanted to give their all to fulfill their potential.

    One might wonder how Mira was able to determine this with just a few nces, and she wouldn''t be able to give a satisfactory answer to that question other than intuition. She could tell that the girls here wanted to enter the Sect so they could grow stronger just by the look in their eyes when they fought the other participants.

    However, suppose she saw that anyone of them was scared to fight just because the situation wasn''t very advantageous. In that case, she''d intervene, meaning she''d attack with the intent to kill, knowing that Elder Sandra would teleport them off the mountain before Mira could actually deal any irreparable damage.

    It wasn''t until a little whileter that Mira got bored and decided to join the fight as well. Maria saw this and was also prepared to join the fight. She knew Mira probably wouldn''t need her help, but she still wanted to let her lover know that she had her back.

    Thus, without warning, Mira and Maria shot out and began ''ughtering'' their way through the mess of a dogfight. Of course, they weren''t actually ughtering and were only dealing enough damage to knock them unconscious, but that doesn''t mean their hits were light.

    No, Mira''s strikes were powerful enough to break bones and injure organs. At the same time, Maria''s body wasn''t nearly as strong as Mira''s in her current state, so she was forced to use more power behind her punches to deal significant damage.

    Mira''s tails swung wildly, crushing anything that dared to enter within her vicinity.

    Furthermore, there were nine tails, so the amount of destruction Mira was waving around behind her was immense and left the people she attacked with multiple broken bones all over their bodies.

    She wished she could take out her scythe, but unfortunately, it was much too heavy for the current Mira to use. If most of her strength weren''t sealed, she''d be able to use it without any issue.

    That''s only part of the reason why she didn''t take out her scythe. She also didn''t want to needlessly ughter a bunch of kids who were just trying their best to enter the same Sect as her.

    Mira knew that if she were able to wield her scythe in her current situation, most of these people would end up disqualified or crippled, as her scythe isn''t something that these kids can handle while their strength is sealed.

    Not only is its weight absolutely insane, but the sharpness and the new aura surrounding her scythe are more than enough to chop through these girls like a hot knife through butter.

    However, Mira swore that when she finally got some free time, she''ll go hunting to test out her new scythe! She was also very much looking forward to sparring with Cine! Maybe she''ll be able to gain some insights on how to improve her scythe skills by fighting her. Who knows, she might even be able toprehend Scythe Intent ifpetent enough, though she''s not optimistic about that.

    Anyways, Mira and Maria continued wreaking havoc among the participants. Even Asami and the auburn-haired girl joined in on the fun, utterly defeating them in around half an hour.

    At the end of the skirmish, Mira and Maria both had over 3,000 tokens each, while Asami had around 600 and the auburn-haired girl had 350.

    Mira stared at the young women who were currently groaning in pain on the ground with disappointment as she hoped they would be able to put up a better fight. Unfortunately, it seems she thought too highly of them. These people were too used to using the strength of their Qi to use strong abilities or techniques andcked a proper foundation.

    While she didn''t think there was anything wrong with relying on these kinds of things, Mira was a firm believer in having a steady foundation. For example, these girls barely knew how to fight as a mortal!! Someone without superhuman strength and mystical abilities.

    From what Mira experienced, they were all probably rtively strong if they could use their cultivation bases properly, but since that wasn''t the case, they were pathetic in Mira''s eyes.<sub> </sub>

    Of course, this was just because Mira''s standards were too high. These standards have only risen after experiencing all of those parallel lives in the F.LD.I.L. She could easily see through all of their wasted movements, unused muscles, poor footwork, sub-par coordination, and decent perception.

    Hell, she didn''t even need to look at them to understand this! Just her instincts told her that they were all style and no substance! That''s how she was able to crush each and every one of them with her fists and tails alone.

    She even restricted her strength beyond what it currently was to give them a fighting chance, but Mira couldn''t stand witnessing such a piss poor disy of foundational skills!

    It was to the point where she wondered what the people in this world were teaching their kids!

    This was supposed to be the top 1% of women of her generation in the entire world?! THIS?!

    ''No, maybe they just learned this shit to try and boost their chances of getting into the Sect, and those within the Sect will focus more on strengthening their Foundation and battle instincts?'' Mira thought to herself and felt it like that might be the case.

    After all, this is a world filled with people who can live for thousands of years. There should be no reason that they can''t understand how important foundations are. Or maybe she''s just missing something crucial that''s unique to the Cultivation World.

    For example, these girls mayck a proper foundation because they are waiting for an expert to guide them properly.

    Mira understands that everyone has a different build and physique. Thus they must train differently.

    Well, she could just be overthinking things here as most of the fights were hand-to-handbat, and they didn''t seem to be using their preferred weapon, probably for the same reason, Mira wasn''t. Their weapons were just too heavy for their current strength.

    Either way, this had nothing to do with Mira. She''s going to continue doing what she feels is right. Not many people use the scythe, anyways. So, she''s on her own, to begin with.

    Shaking her head of these thoughts, Mira opened her mouth to speak to these young women, "What a shit show. To think that so many of you couldn''t even injure me! Truly pathetic! Anyways, I''m bored now, so I''m going to enter the Outer Court. There''s still about an hour left until the deadline. If any of you want to join the Sect, then you better get your asses moving and start looking for other tokens, or else it''s only going to be me and mypanions entering this year! Hehehe~"

    Mira nonchntly walked to the Outer Court under the hateful gazes of the injured participants. Maria followed soon after and wrapped her arms around Mira. Asami sighed and decided to enter the Outer Sect as well.

    The auburn-haired girl wasn''t sure what to think, so she just stood there without moving. In the end, she decided not to follow after them. She wanted to see if she could collect a few more tokens.

    After Mira left, the injured women gritted their teeth, trying to ignore the pain, and stood up. They couldn''t give up here. No, they refused to fail here after getting so far! They would collect a token, pass this Entrance Exam, enter the Sect, and be strong enough to beat the shit out of Mira!

    When they finally stood up, their eyes were burning with anger and desire. A desire for revenge! Of course, they didn''t want to kill her or anything like that�� well, maybe a few of them did, but what they really wanted was to feel Mira''s bones breaking under their own strength!

    So, without saying anything and ignoring the pain in their bodies, they walked down the mountain to look for other participants.

 Chapter 393 [Bonus Chapter]Joining The Battle Maiden Sects Main Branch

    After Mira, Maria, and Asami entered the Outer Court, they immediately found themselves standing in front of arge courtyard. This courtyard wasn''t anything special and was essentially just arge open field with arge ancient building sitting at the end of it.

    They assumed that this was the ce for those who had sessfully passed the Entrance Exam would wait, so they made their way near the ancient building and took a seat.

    The three of them didn''t say anything for a few minutes, but Maria finally couldn''t hold back her curiosity.

    "Why did you say all that at the end there? Was it really just to motivate them to get stronger, or were you just bored and felt like bullying them a bit?"

    Mira was quiet for a few seconds as she, too, wasn''t entirely sure why she did what she did. Normally, she wouldn''t care about other people like that, and while she hasn''t had a change of heart, she definitely did something a bit out of character.

    It wasn''t until she finally gathered her thoughts did she answer Maria, "I think�� I just don''t want people in the same Sect as me to be useless canon fodder. If I''m going to join a Sect, then I want those around me to all be phoenixes among women! How could I join a Sect where the majority of people in it are useless?! From what I saw just now, those people are all useless! Only with proper motivation can they find the drive to turn into something, and if all it takes is a few beatings and a few words to fuel that drive, then I might as well do something. As for what happens after that�� that has nothing to do with me."

    "I see," Maria nodded her head in understanding. Something simr happened outside of Lunar Fox City in the Branch Sect, though that was mainly because Mira was paid for her services. Still, Mira put her all into training those young disciples, something she didn''t necessarily need to do.

    On the other hand, Asami was a bit confused by Mira''s words as she had no idea why Mira felt so passionate about this, but she just chalked it up to one of Mira''s quirks and stopped thinking about it.

    Furthermore, she still felt a little ufortable hanging around Mira, especially with Mariatched onto her arm.

    The two kept chatting for a little while, and soon an hour passed. Over thest hour, more and more people trickled into the courtyard, most of them filled with injuries. These people also noticed Mira and stared her down with eyes full of anger.

    Of course, Mira didn''t care about them and kept chatting with Maria.

    Once the 24-hour mark was reached, the courtyard was surprisingly filled with thousands of people. Mira noticed many familiar faces, or more particrly the bruises that her tails left, and knew that they must''ve worked hard fighting other participants to collect a token and make their way back up the mountain to pass the Entrance Exam sessfully.

    This caused Mira''s opinion of them to rise slightly as she realized they might not be as useless as she thought they''d be.

    Mira also noticed the auburn-haired girl, who she never got the name of, somewhere within the crowd, but she wasn''t too surprised. That girl was a talent that would''ve been able to dominate this year''s Entrance Exam if it weren''t for Mira and Maria.

    Immediately after the 24 hours was up, Elder Sandra sent away everyone who hadn''t made it into the courtyard yet and ced them off the mountain. Then she appeared in the sky above the ancient building along with Cine.

    Many were confused to see Elder Sandra appear with a Core Formation girl, while others recognized Cine and were incensed, but by now, they understood Ender Sandra''s temper and didn''t say anything lest they get kicked out of the Sect right after entering it.<sub> </sub>

    Elder Sandra looked down at the disciples who passed the Entrance Exam with a satisfied smile and said, "Congrattions to you all for passing this year''s Entrance Exam and entering the Battle Maiden Sect. Although this year we may have had some�� unique participants, it seems you all have learned or gained something through this experience. I hope that you all can use this experience to learn and grow, but enough about that."

    "Now that you all have sessfully entered the Battle Maiden Sect and are now Outer Court disciples allow me to give you a brief understanding of what your life here in the Outer Court is going to be like. For one, you will have a quota of missions you mustplete a month. The quota is generally four missions per month or one per week, but this also depends on the difficulty of the mission."

    "Your ranking within the Outer Court is partially decided by the number and/or difficulty of the missions you take. What is this ranking, you may ask? Well, this ranking is essentially there to show the Sect who among you has the highest potential, works the hardest, and is the strongest. In order to be an Inner Court disciple, other than being in the Nascent Soul Realm, you''ll have to be high up on the ranking list."

    "As for those who are at the bottom of the ranking��" Elder Sandra paused, then said in a menacing tone that made the disciples gulp, "You''ll be kicked out of the Sect! We don''t need useless wastes taking away resources from those who are actually trying."

    "Of course, asionally there are exceptions, so if we see you all working hard and doing your best, then we''ll talk to you and try and work something out, but that''s only if you are trying your best! You have no ce here if we see you aren''t doing your best and will be kicked out!"

    "Other than that, here at the Outer Court, we also require disciples to take on a side profession. Although our main focus is to train warriors, we aren''t a Sect full of brutes. Every disciple here should be capable of providing for not only yourself but the Sect as well. Don''t worry, even if you are trash at side upations, we can always use assistants. However, your ranking can also change based on your side upation results."

    "Alright! That''s all I feel like exining to you for now. You''ll have to figure out more about the Outer Court itself."

    Elder Sandra paused before taking out thousands of white robes and medallions and dropping them in front of each disciple in the courtyard.

    "Here are your Sect Robes and Sect Medallion. You should keep these with you at all times within the Sect as they are proof that you''re a disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect. Now that all that''s out of the way, it''s time to move on to thest thing before I let you go. Your residences."

    "This maye as a surprise to some of you, but we don''t actually have any buildings for you to stay in. Here at the Outer Court, you have to find and build your own home. You can make a house, live in a cave, or live underground. It doesn''t matter. As long as you report your residence and its location to the Sect, we don''t care where or how you live."

    "I think that''s about it�� Oh! Onest thing. Go to the Mission Hall sometime this week to collect your first mission. You have this entire week off to settle your affairs, create a residence, and learn a bit more about the Outer Court, but after this week, you''ll have to begin taking missions. Alright, that''s about it. All of you may go, and once again�� Congrattions, and wee to the Battle Maiden Sect!"

    Many of the new disciples felt their lips twitch listening to Elder Sandra, but there was nothing they could do. They could only listen to her half-hearted exnations and leave this courtyard to figure out more about the Outer Court.

    However, there were ten people who weren''t moving as they heard Elder Sandra''s voice in their head telling them to stay.

    ***

    Thank you, @ArchThrene, for the 5000 coin gift. Here''s a bonus chapter for you guys!

 Chapter 394 Rewards

    After everyone left the courtyard, only ten people were left behind, not including Cine. Of course, Mira, Maria, Asami, and the auburn-haired girl were in this small group, while the other six were women recognized as she had given them quite a few beatings.

    They were part of the first group of 20 to make it up the mountain.

    Elder Sandra looked at the girls present, including Cine, and said, "Congrattions on you guys making it into the top ten! Well, there''s one of you who technically didn''t make it into the top ten, but I deemed this Entrance Exam unnecessary for her as her strength is more than enough to collect more tokens than all of youbined!"

    "Now, let''s move on to what sort of favor you want from me. It could be anything. Weapons, pills, techniques, rare abilities, a ce to boost your Daoprehension, mentorship, and information. As long as it doesn''t exceed a certain limit, I''ll do it for you. I''ll give you a few minutes to decide. However, if you don''t have an answer when the time limit is up, then you''ll lose this chance."

    Some of the disciples began to panic as they thought they could hold on to this favor until they really needed to use it. Right now, they barely understand what might be best for them in their current state.

    Even Mira, Cine, Maria, and Asami felt the same way. For Mira, she really needs scythe techniques, but she highly doubts that the Battle Maiden Sect will have any high-ranked scythe techniques. Plus, she could just get a scythe technique from the F.LD.I.L, though she had a feeling that the trial would be quite annoying��

    Other than that, Mira didn''t need much. The environment and Qi density on the mountain are already good enough for her current needs. So asking for resources would be pointless. Ice techniques aren''t of utmost importance as her talent and control over the ice element are extremely high. Although having a proper technique might boost her power and reduce its consumption, it''s not enough for Mira to want to waste a favor from a powerhouse like that.

    She didn''tck a good cultivation technique, nor did she need a ce to boost herprehension, at least not right now.

    What she needed the most right now was information, but not just any kind of information. She needed to know more about what a Dao really is, along with Weapon Intent or anything simr.

    Learning these kinds of things from someone who was part of the top echelon in this Mortal Realm isn''t something she can pass up on.

    Oddly enough, Maria and Asami were in the same boat as Mira. Maria has Sage A for most things, so she only needs sword techniques. While Asami�� well, perhaps the only thing she reallycks right now is a good weapon and proper resources. The resources wille naturally as she doesn''t n to ck off during her time in the Battle Maiden Sect. Thus, she decided to ask for a weapon.

    Cine''s choice was obvious. She was going to ask for a proper Saber Technique, which can hopefully make full use of her Saber Intent.

    After allowing them to mull it over for a few minutes, Elder Sandra interrupted their thoughts and said, "Alright! Times up! Say what it is you want now or forever lose your reward! We''ll start with you." Elder Sandra pointed at a girl standing opposite of Mira''s position.

    The girl''s expression brightened, and she immediately said, "I''d like you to mentor me, Elder!"

    Elder Sandra sighed, almost wanting to facepalm as she immediately regretted her decision to say she''ll offer a mentorship.

    However, she''s not one to go back on her words, so she merely nodded and said, "Very well. I''ll mentor you for one month. Depending on your performance during that month, I''ll think about taking you in as my direct disciple."

    Her words caused the other disciple''s expression to change, and seeing this, Elder Sandra felt the urge to punch herself in the face for opening her big dumb mouth!

    ''FUCK!! Why did I have to say thatst part?! Now I''m going to have to waste even more of my time on these children!!'' She cursed inwardly but ultimately just let out a sigh and moved on to the next person, even though she already knew what they were going to ask for.

    "Alright, now on to the next person. What do you want?" Elder Sandra asked with a forced smile.

    "I''d like you to mentor me as well, Elder!"

    ''FUCK!!''

    Elder Sandra mentally cursed again but outwardly kept her cool. She slowly nodded her head and repeated the same thing she had told the previous disciple.

    This happened four more times until she finally reached Mira''s group. Right now, Elder Sandra couldn''t even be bothered to keep a fake smile on her face. Instead, she had a slight frown, and her eyes looked droopy.

    She looked at Asami with a look that said, "If you ask for me to mentor you as well, I might send you flying."

    Fortunately, Asami didn''t wish for anything like that.

    "Elder, I''d like to ask for a Heaven-Grade Weapon��specifically, a fan," Asami said in a calm voice.<sub> </sub>

    Elder Sandra was a bit surprised by Asami''s request, but she was also grateful. She didn''t want to have to mentor anyone else!

    However, Heaven-Grade fans are quite rare. The Battle Maiden Sect might have a decent amount of Heaven-Grade Weapons, but she''s not quite sure if they have a fan lying around.

    This made her previous relief turn into a scowl as she realized that she''d probably have tomission a Heaven-Grade fan herself! This might not be as annoying as mentoring those newbie disciples, but at least she doesn''t have to pay for that!

    Unfortunately, she can''t really deny Asami''s request as she''d normally be able to procure as many Heaven-Grade weapons as needed if she asked for it. It''s just that Asami''s request was a bit too unique.

    "Alright. I''ll have to check and see if we have any Heaven-Grade fans, but I don''t think we do. I might need tomission one, so you might want to get yourself a ceholder until I''m able to provide you with the fan." Elder Sandra nodded and exined.

    Asami wasn''t bothered by this at all and calmly nodded her head in understanding.

    Elder Sandra looked at Maria and Cine as they were next.

    Maria said, "I''d like to look for a suitable Sword Technique."

    While Cine said, "I''d like to look for a suitable Saber Technique."

    Elder Sandra nodded and told them she''d bring them to the library that only Elders are allowed to look at.

    She then turned to the Auburn-haired girl, who said, "Elder, I''d like to look for a suitable Cultivation Technique."

    This piques Elder Sandra''s curiosity, but she didn''t bother saying anything other than, "Alright, I''ll bring you to a ce where you can choose a suitable cultivation technique."

    Finally, she turned to Mira, who she was most interested in. Mira''s performance during the Entrance Exam was shocking, and she believed that only a genius like Cine would be able to rival her.

    Mira looked at Elder Sandra calmly and said, "I''d like some information."

    Mira''s answer piqued everyone''s interest, including Elder Sandra''s, with that answer. The Elder never thought someone would ask for information.

    "Hmm�� What kind of information do you want?" Elder Sandra asked with curiosity gleaming in her eyes.

    "I''d like to know more about what a Dao is, the various cultivation Realms in the Mortal Realm, including Body Cultivation, Weapon Cultivation such as Intent, and even Soul Cultivation, if that''s a thing. I also want information on Heavenly Tribtions, the grading system for weapons, pills, arrays, etc. If possible, I''d also like to have information on how to create techniques or something like that."

    Elder Sandra stared at Mira intently as she wondered why such a monstrous genius would ask for such things, but she didn''t really care. Most of what Mira asked for wasn''t actually that valuable, but then there were also a few things that Mira wanted that was actually quite valuable.

    This caused Elder Sandra''s expression to turn a bit serious as she thought seriously about these things, but then a good idea popped up inside her mind.

    "Alright, I can do that, but I''ll only be handing you the books regarding these topics. I won''t actually exin them to you. Whether you can gain something from it is up to you. I''ll send these books to you whenever you finish finding or creating your residence. You should be able to pick them up whenever you register. Your name is Mira, right? I''ll put them under your name."

    Mira nodded as she was more than satisfied with this arrangement. She didn''t really want or need Elder Sandra''s help or teachings.

    After everyone revealed what they wanted, Elder Sandra looked at the eleven disciples in front of her with a slight smile.

    "Alight! That''s enough of that. I''lle to look for you once your rewards are ready. You may go now!"

    With that said, she disappeared, leaving the disciples a bit bewildered.

 Chapter 395 [Bonus Chapter]Outer Court Part 1

    After Elder Sandra left, Mira and the others decided that there was no point staying in this courtyard anymore and also left.

    However, right after they left, they were greeted by the sight of hundreds of disciples waving and yelling as if they were trying to catch their attention.

    "We''re selling information on everything you need to know about the Outer Court here! Just 10,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones per person!"

    "If you join my group, we''ll provide you with weapons and resources! We''ll be sure to nurture you into a powerhouse that can take this Outer Court by storm!"

    "Do you wish to join the Alchemy branch of the Battle Maiden Sect? Well,e sign up now! Currently, we''re giving away one Spirit Gathering Pill for anyone who joins today!"

    All kinds of people from all kinds of groups were yelling, trying to either sell something or bribe them into joining their group or organization.

    Mira and the others felt a bit weirded out and overwhelmed by it all as they had just joined the Sect and know next to nothing about its inner workings.

    Furthermore, they aren''t even sure if they can trust these people! What kind of idiot would join a group they''ve never even heard of before right after entering the Sect?

    ''Ah, never mind. It seems I spoke too soon.'' Mira thought to herself as she saw several disciples who passed the Entrance Exam walk over and talk to some of these people.

    However, Mira would be lying if she said she wasn''t interested in a few of them other disciples shouting here. For example, the one who was selling information about the Outer Court piqued her interest.

    Mira naturally didn''t want to waste her time trying to learn the various nuances of the Battle Maiden Sect''s Outer Court. Plus, right now, she''s pretty rich. Thus, tens of thousands of Low-Grade Spirit Stones isn''t much to the current her.

    Maria could easily guess what Mira was thinking and led them over to the one who was selling information.

    Soon after, they appeared in front of a schrly-looking young woman. The woman''s expression brightened when she noticed four people approaching her, so she quickly took out four jade slips and said with a smile, "Wee, customers! If the four of you would like to know more about the Outer Court, you''vee to the right ce!"

    "What kind of information is in there?" Maria was the first one to ask but regretted it immediately afterward as the people around her looked at her like she was an idiot.

    "You''ll have to pay for it first if you''d like to know!" The woman said, not losing her smile.

    Mira didn''t say anything and just handed over 40,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. The woman took them with a smile on her face before handing over four jade slips.

    "Just press the jade slips to your forehead, and the information will enter your mind. It was a pleasure doing business with you!"

    Although Mira felt like she was definitely scammed as 10,000 Spirit Stones for this kind of information is pretty outrageous, she didn''t care. Now, if the information inside the jade slips were useless, then she might be a bit angry, but her intuition told her that although thatdy was definitely a scammer, the information should be real.<sub> </sub>

    Mira and the others pressed the jade slips to their head and received the information inside. The process didn''t take long, and about 30 secondster, they removed the jade slip.

    "I see. What a unique Sect�� But I''m notining. This is how things should be!" Mira muttered.

    She was truly surprised by the information inside the jade slip. It revealed quite a bit about the Outer Court and its inner workings, which Mira was both surprised and pleased about.

    Her expectations when she resolved herself to join the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch were pretty low.

    While the Branch Sect outside of Lunar Fox City was decent, and the disciples were all rtively friendly and united, it was mostly filled with low ambition wastes. Even the Elders and Sect Master of the Branch Sect didn''t have any ambition.

    They didn''t want to be the best Sect in the area, nor did they have much desire to be stronger. They were just content with guiding the younger generation. This in and of itself wasn''t a bad thing. In fact, Mira felt like this mindset was quite admirable in its own right, but it''s not right for her.

    Mira has lofty ambitions that even go beyond the Mortal Realm. Being in that kind of ce caused Mira''s opinion of the Battle Maiden Sect to take a slight hit. The only reason she still considered joining the Main Branch is for the simple fact that they only ept female disciples.

    If it weren''t for that, she probably wouldn''t have joined the Sect, but after reading through the information in the Jade Slip, her opinion of the Battle Maiden Sect changed, and now she was genuinely happy she joined.

    From the information she received, the Battle Maiden Sect, especially the Outer Court, is highlypetitive. Morepetitive than what Elder Sandra implied. It''s not just in strength either, which made Mira quite happy.

    It''spetitive in literally everything! Whether that be in strength, duels, the number of missions onepletes, techniques one wants to learn, side upations, and more! Everything is apetition, and the better one does, or the more one improves, the higher the benefits.

    Whether it be ess to certain locations, private tutoring from an Elder to better understand a technique, more resources, or even benefits to one''s residence. The higher ranked one is among the Outer Court disciples, the more they can receive.

    However, the same goes for those who don''t try as hard. They will receive little to no resources and will be limited to the ces they can go and the techniques they can learn. Their residence will be forcefully downgraded to something worse than trash, and even if you try to create a new residence, then you''ll get kicked out of the Sect.

    Then, by the end of the year, if you''re still considered trash, you''ll be thrown out of the Sect. There''s a chance you''ll be able to join again during the next Entrance Exam, but that doesn''t necessarily mean you can start over like you are a brand new disciple.

    Mira smirked underneath her mask when she recalled everything she learned from the Jade Slip.

    ''It seems things won''t be as boring as I thought they''d be.''

    ***

    A/N: I know this is a bitte, but here''s one of the two bonus chapters for us reaching the Top 100 in the Power Stone Rankings. Thank you for all the support!

 Chapter 396 [Bonus Chapter]Outer Court Part 2

    After having a brief understanding of the Outer Court, Mira''s group began walking around to get a feel for the Sect, but they quickly realized that the Outer Court is massive!! For a ce located in the middle of a mountain, they thought that it''d be simr to a mountain vige, but they were wrong. Completely wrong.

    No, the Outer Court is more like an actual city than a mountain vige, at least in terms of size, but this wasn''t without reason. For one, the number of Trial Disciples and servants living in the Outer Court is immense, muchrger than the number of Outer Court Disciples.

    There are already tens of thousands of Outer Court Disciples, maybe more. So, it goes without saying that the number of Trial Disciples is probably somewhere in the hundreds of thousands.

    With so many people living in the Outer Court, it has to berge, or else nobody would be able to live here.

    Before learning more about the Battle Maiden Sect and the Outer Court, Mira was confused about why they allowed so many Trial Disciples in, but after receiving the Jade Slip and learning more about the inner workings of the Sect, she began to understand.

    Part of the reason is because the Outer Court needs people to manpower and the disciples just aren''t enough. Not only that, but the disciples are often too busy to even think about taking care of the Sect. Most of them are either on a mission, dueling, cultivating, learning a new technique, or practicing their side-upation.

    They don''t have time to be assistants for others, make sure the Sect is clean, act as a receptionist for some ces, or things of that nature.

    However, that''s not the only reason why the Sect allows its Disciples to take in their own Trial Disciples.

    Another reason is to allow their Disciples to nurture their own force. This may seem quite dangerous and crazy to the other Sects, but the Battle Maiden Sect understands how important it is for their disciples to have a proper force underneath them.

    It''s for this reason that they''ve been able to reach their current status in the world, and it''s also because of this that the other Sects don''t mess with them unless necessary.

    You simply never know if the person you offend has an army of people just waiting to kill you!

    Lastly, taking in Trial Disciples allows the Battle Maiden Sect to find and nurture those who have the drive, ambition, and talent that they may have otherwise missed. Over the years, they''ve found that these Trial Disciples often show some of the most promise among their peers.

    It''s for these reasons that the Outer Court is massive. Well, there''s that and the fact that battles, duels, arenas, testing facilities, and side upation buildings are all over the ce! If the ce weren''t so big, these kinds of things would definitely disrupt the other disciples who are either trying to cultivate or are meditating.

    Although the Core Formation Realm might not be strong in the grand scheme of things, the amount of noise and destruction one can cause in this Realm is nothing to scoff at. All-out battles may be able to cause damage within the nearest few hundred meters!

    Now, imagine thousands of fights happening every day or every few days. Nobody would be able to get anything done if the ce wasn''t sorge!

    Mira also figured that the Trial Disciples probably cleaned up these messes every day, but that''s not important.

    What was important was the responsibilities Trial Disciples have in the Sect. ording to the information on the Jade Slip, Trial Disciples don''t have many responsibilities like the disciples do, and most of what they are allowed to do are voluntary. However, they are able to earn Merit Points based on the tasks or missions theyplete. With these Merit Points, they are able to purchase items from the Sect or ess areas that are otherwise inessible to them.

    But Mira was skeptical about that and felt like not all the information was there. For a Sect that is sopetitive, hard-working, and united, it''s impossible for them to allow these people to stay here rent-free without consequences yet enjoy the benefits that the Outer Court Disciples enjoy.

    Although she wasn''t sure, Mira felt like it was probably much more dangerous to be a Trial Disciple than it was to be an Outer Court Disciple. This was just what her intuition was telling her, and Mira has always trusted her intuition.

    Still, that doesn''t mean she won''t bring Alicia and the others in with her. In fact, the more dangerous it was, the more Mira liked it. She didn''t want to have an army full of burdens. She wanted them to be her arms and legs in the future. In order to be that, they needed to be strong.<sub> </sub>

    Therefore, the more dangers they encounter and ovee, the stronger they''ll be both mentally and physically.

    Anyways, putting these thoughts aside, Mira found the Outer Court to be quite beautiful. The roads were clean and well taken care of, the buildings looked new yet had an ancient aura around them, and the whole ce was enveloped with an aura of life and vigor.

    Although Mira hadn''te across too many disciples by just walking around aimlessly, she could tell that the people here truly wanted to do everything in their power to get stronger and rise up the ranks.

    Feeling all this, a small smile broke out on Mira''s face.

    ''Ahhh~ Finally, a ce where I can truly thrive.''

    Mira didn''t quite know why she thought that, but she knew that the more she learned about this ce and the longer she stayed here, the more she liked it.

    ***

    After walking around the Outer Court aimlessly for a few hours, Maria felt it was time they found a ce for the residence.

    "So, Mira, what kind of ce do you want us to live in?" Maria turned to Mira and asked.

    However, just when Mira was about to open her mouth, Maria frowned and yelled, "No! We are not living in a cave!"

    Mira was bewildered for a second by Maria''s sudden outburst before she unconsciously mumbled, "How''d you know I''d want to live in a cave��?"

    "How could I not know?! For as long as I''ve known you, the ce you''ve spent the most time in has to be a cave! I don''t know what it is about you and caves, but I''m not living in one! I want to live in a real house. One with rooms and a proper bed, venttion, and privacy!"

    Mira didn''t understand why Maria seemed so upset, but she had no intention of arguing with her.

    It''s true that she prefers to live in caves, but it''s not that she doesn''t like houses. She just finds living in caves to be much easier. She doesn''t actually care where they live.

    So, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Fine."

    Maria smiled and began pulling Mira along to find a ce where they could put their house!

    ***

    A/N: I know this is a bitte, but here''s the second bonus chapter for us reaching the Top 100 in the Power Stone Rankings. Thank you for all the support!

 Chapter 397 Residence

    Cine and Asami left Mira and Maria to their own devices as they wanted to walk around the Sect''s Outer Court a bit more.

    Now that the two of them were alone, they held each other''s hands, flew up in the sky, and began searching for a ce to set up their new home.

    Although the two of them had different ideas on how and where they wanted to live, they both wanted a ce that was isted and hard to find. The two of them have secrets that they don''t want to share with the world, so a ce that''s hard to find is a must.

    It''s just that Maria''s requirement for wanting to live in a house made things a bit more difficult. From Mira''s experiences, the best ce to live if you want to be isted from the world is in caves!

    Houses simply attract too much attention!

    That''s when Mira suddenly got an idea!

    "Hey Maria, what if we build a house inside a cave? Simr to the ce where we took those trials in the forest outside Lunar Fox City." Mira asked with a gleam in her eyes.

    At first, Maria wanted to reject it, but she wasn''t totally opposed to the idea after thinking about it a bit more.

    The only problem is finding a cave big enough to build a house in, or perhaps they''d have to create a cave big enough to put a house in. It seems like a lot of work just for a ce to live in, but it did fit all of her requirements.

    "Fine. I don''t have any problems with that. At least we''ll still be living in a proper house." Maria sighed but agreed in the end.

    With that being said, the two began flying around the Outer Court in search of a good ce to live.

    Over the next few hours, the two of them came across small mountainous forests, istedkes, cliffs,rge crevices, rocky terrain, and t ins. They came across nearly every type of biome and terrain just in the Outer Court!!

    However, even if that''s the case, they still haven''t found a ce they were satisfied with. The other ces were all partially upied by people, which is something that both of them don''t want. They want a ce that''spletely isted from other people.

    Fortunately, after a few more hours of flying around, they spotted a unique-looking valley. This valley has a river running through the bottom of it and steep drop-off cliffs on both sides. However, these cliffs are almostpletely blocked off by the massive trees inside the valley.

    The valley was also covered in a dense fog that gave it a very eerie vibe, which is probably the reason nobody wants to live there.

    But this wasn''t enough to scare Mira off. In fact, she preferred it like this.

    Maria''s eyes also glowed with excitement when she found this ce.

    "This is it! We''re living here!" Maria dered, and luckily, Mira thought the same.

    "I guess we should either begin looking for a cave or find a ce to create one. Though, I think over there seems pretty good. It''s surrounded byrge jagged rocks, covered in trees, and it seems like it''d be easy to hide the entrance." Mira pointed at a spot near the base of the cliffs.

    Maria looked over where Mira pointed and agreed. The whole area gave off a feeling that said: "you are not wee here." Although Maria preferred a ce that was a bit more inviting, she knew that Mira wouldn''t yield on this.

    Still, despite that, Maria quite liked the ce Mira chose.

    "It looks like we''ll have to start excavating immediately if we want to live here, though. Remember, we only have a week to get our residence made and registered. Luckily, I already have a house ready, so we don''t need to spend our time on that." Maria reminded Mira with a smile, but Mira was confused by thatst sentence.

    "What do you mean you already have a house ready? Did youe here knowing that this would happen? Creepy��" Mira stared at Maria weirdly, but Maria shook her head.

    ''Remember how I told you about Sage A and how I inherited her legacy?" Maria said to which Mira nodded. Therefore, Maria continued, "Well, that includes her pce! Hehehe~ We won''t just be living in some hut, but a full-on pce! Isn''t that great?! It only makes sense for people as great as us to live in something so magnificent!"<sub> </sub>

    When Sage A heard what Maria said, she immediately began cursing, "You stinky brat! That''s my pce! How dare you think about using it!"

    Maria just ignored her and looked at Mira with expectant eyes. Seeing this, Mira sighed.

    "That''s cool, and all, but isn''t a pce too big? I don''t want to have to destroy the entire cliff just so we can live in a pce." Mira said, but Maria immediately shook her head.

    "No, it''s fine. Sage A was a loner, so her pce is actually pretty small. She''s just got a few bedrooms, a throne room, a treasury, training grounds, and a few misceneous rooms. In reality, her pce is probably only a bit bigger than my family''s residence in Lunar Fox City."

    When Sage A heard Maria''s words, if she had a physical body, her face would have no doubt turned red in shame and rage.

    "You-! Fuck you! Who are you calling a loner?! I spent all my time creating that Cultivation Technique and the various other techniques I showed you! Do you think I had the time to spend on other people?! I even died while trying to achieve my goals! You should be praising me instead!"

    Maria just waved her off and said dismissively, "Yeah, yeah. That only proves you''re worse than a loner! You were a crazy loner! Wait-! Could it be that nobody wanted to be around you because you were-"

    "SHUT UP!! URGH! If I weren''t in this form, I''d strangle you to death right here and now!"

    Maria shrugged her shoulders and said nothing else. Instead, she looked at Mira, waiting for her answer.

    "Sigh�� If that''s really the case, then it''s fine. I don''t really care where we live, but I''m sure this pce is of higher quality than anything we could make by ourselves. The only problem is we''ll still have to excavate out arge portion of this cliff to fit it in here. Well, I guess I can just go fetch Alicia and the others and have them join us. Then we can make this process go a bit quicker."

    Maria''s smile beamed when she heard Mira''s answer.

    "Alright, you go get them. I''ll start nning out the excavation! See ya~~" Maria pushed Mira away and immediately began examining the cliff and the area around it.

    Mira lightly shook her head and smiled, then quickly left the valley to go to the ce where she could register Trial Disciples.

    From the information in the Jade Slip, the ancient-looking building in the courtyard she appeared in afterpleting the Entrance Exam is actually where she can register Trial Disciples.

    It didn''t take her long to reach the building, and after walking in, she noticed a receptionist who greeted her with a smile.

    "Wee. You must be one of the new disciples here. First off, congrattions on making it into the Battle Maiden Sect. Secondly, are you here to register any Trial Disciples?" The receptionist asked.

    Mira nodded and said, "Yes, I''m here to register 501 Trial Disciples and 2 Beast Companions. Can you make that happen?"

    The receptionist didn''t lose her smile even after hearing Mira, as if this kind of thing is normal, and said, "Of course, I can help you with that. However, I''ll warn you that Trial Disciples are not allowed to stay in the Sect without providing something. Also, we''ll have to search through their minds in case any of them hold hostility towards the Sect. But don''t worry, although we''ll be searching through their minds, it''s not like we can see everything. We are only searching for any ill-intent they may have toward the Sect. Everything else is inessible to us."

    "After we confirm they are here purely for the sake of learning and getting stronger, only then will they be considered a Trial Disciple. Upon bing a Trial Disciple, they''ll be given their own robes and Sect medallion, along with a week probationary period where you can help them get settled into the Sect. After that, they''ll have to return here toplete their first assignment."

    Mira was a bit skeptical about this whole thing, such as them searching through their memories along with the ''first assignment''. So, she decided to voice her concerns.

    "What guarantees can you give me that you won''t be searching through their memories for any of their or my secrets? Also, what''s this about a first assignment? From the information I was given, most of the work Trial Disciples are allowed to do is voluntary."

    With the same smile, the receptionist calmly answered, "As a guarantee, I can allow you to go through the process of searching their minds with me, so you understand that we aren''t actually looking into their memories but are just making sure they are loyal to you and the Sect. As for the first assignment, you didn''t think they''d be able to stay here for free, did you? No, they have to work! The Battle Maiden Sect needs to get something in return for them staying here. This isn''t a charity."

    Mira was a bit taken aback by how blunt the receptionist was, but she didn''t dislike it. She also felt like the woman wasn''t lying. So, after giving it some thought, Mira nodded her head in understanding, thanked the receptionist for the information, and left to go get Alicia, Dominique, Rhydian, Vulcan, and the others.

 Chapter 398 Bringing The Army To The Sect

    Half a dayter, Mira was back in front of the ancient building with Dominique, Rhydian, Vulcan, Alicia, and the others. It took her a bit longer than expected to bring them all to the Outer Court since they had just entered the Foundation Realm not too long ago.

    Luckily, it didn''t take her too long to convince them that she was Mira. Though, it was mainly Rhydian and Vulcan that gave this away, along with her crimson eyes that seem to radiate killing intent. There can only be so many coincidences, so it was rtively easy to convince Alicia and the others. In fact, Alicia knew she was Mira as soon as they met.

    Alicia had also sessfully gathered all of the other members of Mira''s little army, so they were able to leave immediately as soon as Mira showed up to fetch them.

    When they showed up at the Outer Court, Mira immediately took them to the ancient building to get them registered.

    After that, they each received a pair of green robes and a medallion, then the receptionist brought out a device that was supposed to search their memories in order to see if they had anything against the Sect.

    Mira was still skeptical about this process, but it was actually much simpler than she thought it was. All they had to do was press a small device up to their forehead and leave it there for a few seconds. If they held any ill-intent towards the Sect, the device would sh red; if they didn''t, it would sh green.

    After about an hour, everyone was tested and showed green lights. They were then told to write down their names in a book and stamp it with a bloody fingerprint.

    Upon being asked why they needed to do that, the receptionist told them that it was to keep track of their achievements, the jobs they''ve done, their ranking among other Trial Disciples, and the merit points they''ve umted.

    She also said that Mira would have to go through the same thing when she finishes creating her residence and officially registers.

    After all that, the receptionist handed each of them a small que that looked something like this:

    [Trial Disciple que

    Name:

    Ranking:

    Active Missions:

    Number of Completed Missions:

    Merit Points Avable:

    Total Merit Points umted:

    Duels(W/L):

    Years in the Sect:]

    This que allowed the disciples to better keep track of their progress within the Sect and can also act as a form of identification.

    Mira and the others were pleasantly surprised at how well organized everything was. Well, this was also a good thing for them.

    Anyways, after everyone finished registering, the receptionist gave Mira two cors that she needed to put around Rhydian and Vulcan''s necks to signify that they belonged to someone.<sub> </sub>

    Finally, after all that, Mira could bring them to the little valley she and Maria decided to live.

    Alicia, Dominique, and the others were amazed at how beautiful the Outer Court was. It felt like it was full of life! The grass was a vibrant green, the air was clean, the Qi was dense, and the environment seemed rtively untouched despite humans living here.

    When they reached the little valley, although it was covered in fog, they still felt the environment.

    "Is this where we are going to be living from now on, Mother?" Dominique asked with wide eyes.

    "That''s right. We''ll probably be living here for a while, so getfortable. Though, you''ll probably be pretty busy starting next week." Mira answered.

    "Don''t worry, Mother! I''ll work hard to get stronger so I can help you with your missions!"

    "Hahaha~ Don''t worry about that. Your mother can take care of herself. For now, you should just focus on building a good foundation. If I really need help, I can just ask your Aunty Maria." Mira chuckled.

    Dominique pouted but didn''t say anything else. She knew her mother was right, but she still felt dissatisfied that she wouldn''t be able to help her anytime soon.

    Mira didn''t think too much about it and instead brought them over to where Maria was currently creating a cave big enough to put a small pce inside.

    Surprisingly, Maria made quite a bit of progress in the time Mira was gone. Although the cave she excavated wasn''t big enough to fit a house inside yet, it was at least big enough for a small family to live infortably.

    Sensing that Mira was back, Maria came out of the cave with a smile on her face. She talked with Mira, Dominique, Alicia, and the others for a while before taking charge of the excavation process.

    Mira, Rhydian, and Vulcan are going to be the backbone of this operation as they are more suited to excavating a cave with their strength and build. Meanwhile, Alicia and the other women will work on removing the rocks and dirt that Mira and the two beasts will create. They''ll also work on expanding the floor of the cave while also recing the rocky floor with wood.

    Since they didn''t have any time to waste, everyone started immediately after Maria assigned their roles.

    ***

    Six dayster, the ''cave'', if it could even be called that, was finished! On the outside, there was just a small entrance that was only about 3 meters tall and 2 meters wide. There wasn''t anything special about the entrance, and it was well-hidden due to all of therge rocks, trees, and bushes surrounding it, but if one were to walk about ten meters inside, you''d find out that this cave is anything but ordinary!

    About ten meters inside, the gravel floor changed to hardwood flooring, the walls of the cave are covered in glowing crystals, and there is a pce in the middle of the cave! This pce had everything Mira and Maria would ever need. A bedroom, bath/shower, training ground, an office, throne room, multiple guest rooms, and a vault.

    Aside from that, there are quite a few smaller caves leading off from the room the pce is in, where Alicia and the other members of Mira''s personal army will stay temporarily.

    Unfortunately, they didn''t have enough time to build their own houses either within the cave or in the valley, but that didn''t matter too much to them. They were used to staying in caves and the outdoors, and they knew that they''d be able to make their own homes within a few weeks.

    Right now, they were just thankful that Mira gave them a chance to enter the Battle Maiden Sect, even if they were only Trial Disciples.

    After they finished the cave and put the pce inside, it''s now time for Mira and Maria to register!

 Chapter 399 [Bonus Chapter]Mission Hall

    Afterpleting their residence, Maria and Mira finished their registration at the registration office. They had to undergo the same treatment as the Trial Disciples during their registration. However, aside from a que, they were also given a token to ce outside their residence.

    This token is technically just a tracker that will allow the higher-ups to find Mira easily without wasting so much time if they ever need to talk with her personally or need her for something.

    Mira also picked up the books Elder Sandra said she''d give her as a reward.

    After settling everything, the two of them spent the rest of the day rxing until it was finally time for them to go to the Mission Hall to ept their first mission.

    This was what Mira was the most excited about! She''d finally get a chance to test out her new powers!

    "Wee to the Mission Hall! You two must be new Outer Court Disciples! Since this is your first time in the Mission Hall, let me exin more about your monthly quota, how you can earn Merit Points, what Merit Points are for, and what''ll happen should you fail a mission." The receptionist greeted Mira and Maria with a smile, not minding Mira''s fox tails or ears at all.

    The two of them nodded, motioning for the receptionist to continue.

    "So, your monthly quota isn''t actually in missions like you thought it might be, but it''s in Merit Points, which is four Merit Points per month. That''s the minimum you need just to stay in the Sect. That is to say, you won''t get kicked out of the Sect immediately should you fail to meet that quota. You will be immediately expelled from the Sect if you fail to meet the quota three times. However, this resets every three years. So, it could be said that every three years, you have three strikes, but unfortunately, you can''t umte strikes."

    "Now, onto how you can earn Merit Points. Of course, one way is to take on missions. Merit Points will be given to you by the Sect itself as one of the rewards forpleting the mission, but that''s not the only way to gain them. You can earn Merit Points in duels or make products such as weapons, pills, arrays, etc., and sell them to the Sect. You can also earn them by teaching others an ability or technique that you''ve learned. In truth, Merit Points can be earned in any number of ways. You can also passively earn Merit Points per month for ranking in the Top 10."

    "Now, you might be wondering, what''s the point of doing missions if you can earn Merit Points by doing something else? Well, that''s where there''s a little bit of a grey area. You see, although we understand that some people aren''t suited forbat, and their abilities are better used elsewhere, we don''t care. We are all cultivators here. Thus we need to know how to protect ourselves. That''s where the quota of four merit pointses into y. As long as you do enough missions worth four merit points per month, then you''ll meet your quota."

    "Furthermore, we value talent and recognize strength here at the Battle Maiden Sect. Therefore, if you are able toplete missions meant for those above your cultivation, you''ll earn bonus Merit Points. Generally, for every stage above you, you''ll earn 100% more Merit Points."

    "HOWEVER! This is also the case should you fail a mission! Any Merit Points you would have gotten if youpleted it will be taken away. For example, let''s say you take a mission worth 2 Merit Points, and it''s rmended for those one stage higher than you in cultivation, making it worth 4. Should you fail this mission, you''ll lose 4 Merit Points.

    "As for what you can use your Merit Points on�� Well, you can basically use them on anything! Hell, with enough Merit Points, you can even buy your way to be a Core Disciple! Weapons, pills, techniques, mentorship, information, arrays, materials, formations, ess to Secret Realms, and much more! You can literally buy anything!"

    "I''ll also give you one piece of advice. Try to earn more than 4 Merit Points per month. If you only do the bare minimum here, the Sect will definitely kick you out by the end of the year."

    "Well, since I''ve gotten that out of the way, you''re free to choose whatever mission you like. Oh! By the way, you look through all of the missions avable over there." The receptionist pointed to something simr to a projection containing all kinds of missions.<sub> </sub>

    Mira and Maria nodded and began searching for a mission. It didn''t take long for them to find something they liked.

    The two of them didn''t want to start out with anything too serious since this was their first time on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Who knows what sort of terrifying existences are lurking around? It''s better to be safe and scout out the area a bit before taking on any dangerous missions.

    Plus, the reason Mira''s excited right now isn''t that she can earn Merit Points, but so she can understand her power.

    So, Mira took a Mission to kill a Low-Rank 6 Rocky Boar. The reason she took this mission despite knowing she can easily crush a Low-Stage Rank 6 beast is that she wanted to understand if maybe beasts in these mountains are stronger than the beasts on the rest of the Continent.

    She doesn''t want to ept a mission to defeat a Mid-Stage Rank 6 Beast only for them to be overpowered existences and not something she can easily face without making a huge mess.

    Ever since she entered this Mountain Range, her instincts have been telling her not to underestimate this ce. She''s not exactly sure what she should be weary of besides some of the peak-level existences living on this mountain, but she was going to listen to her instincts nheless.

    Meanwhile, Maria did something simr and epted a mission to kill a Low-Stage Rank 6 Nightwalker Snake.

    These two missions are both worth 1 Merit Point each and will also reward them with 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones each.

    Returning to the Receptionist, they sessfully epted their first missions!

    Looking at their que, they saw that their missions appeared underneath the [Active Missions] section.

    After choosing their respective missions, the two of them left the Mission Hall to start hunting immediately.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you, Nyviria, for the 5,000 coins! Here''s one of the two bonus chapters! I really appreciate all the support!

 Chapter 400 New Abilities Part 1

    After Mira and Maria left the Mission Hall, they both went their separate ways toplete their missions.

    As Mira was making her way out of the Outer Court, a grin crept up on her face. She couldn''t hide her excitement to finally test out her new powers!

    Thus, she quickly made her way to where the Rocky Boar wasst seen. Fortunately, it wasn''t too far, and with her speed, Mira was able to make it there in a little under an hour.

    When she entered the area, her entire demeanor changed. Her eyes glowed with a crimson hue, her newly acquired beastly instincts were raging, and power surged through her body.

    This didn''t happen because there was a dangerous enemy or anything of the sort. No, Mira just wanted to hunt! She''s been restraining herself all this time, and now she''s finally able to let loose!

    She took out her scythe, which was now surrounded by a crimson-ck aura that seemed toe straight from the depths of hell!

    Feeling the weight of the scythe in her hand, Mira gave a satisfied nod as it had been a while since she''s actually held her scythe in battle.

    Suddenly, her senses picked up on a nearby beast, so she immediately took off in its direction.

    Scythe in hand, Mira soon appeared in front of arge boar with a small mountain of rocks on its back.

    Sensing its impending doom, the boar red in Mira''s direction and screamed as if trying to intimidate her.

    *SCREECH!*

    Naturally, Mira wasn''t fazed by the boar''s screech and continued to rush at it.

    Seeing this and feeling the wild and savage aura radiating around the thing in front of it, the boar immediately took off in the other direction. It had enough intelligence to know that it would certainly die if it faced Mira, and so it turned around and ran without hesitation.

    Mira was, of course, a bit surprised by this behavior as most of the beasts she''s met up until now have been brainless weaklings who only know how to fight.

    Still, that didn''t prevent her from approaching the boar, and with Mira''s speed, there''s no way it would outrun her.

    Like she thought, just a few secondster, she caught up to the boar, and with a-

    *SWOOSH*

    Her scythe came crashing down on its body, slicing through the rocks on its back as if she was cutting through butter, and without any resistance, the boar was cleanly cut in half.

    Even after cutting through the boar, her scythe didn''t stop until it ended up cutting about a meter into the ground.

    Mira stared at her scythe in astonishment as she wasn''t expecting it to be so sharp! To be fair, she did put a considerable amount of strength in that attack, probably around 40%, but she didn''t think that''d be enough to slice through a Low-Stage Rank 6 beast who clearly seemed more defense-oriented in one strike.

    Although a Low-Stage Rank 6 beast is nothing to her, and she could take them on while she was still in the Foundation Realm, it wasn''t so overwhelming. She still needed a few strikes to take them down.

    This all seemed�� a bit too easy.

    So, she collected the corpse and then began reying the scene in her mind to try and understand why she killed it so easily. She didn''t believe for a second that her physical strength alone allowed her to cut through it so easily.

    If that were the case, the cut wouldn''t have been nearly as clean.

    She figured it must have something to do with the aura surrounding her scythe, and after reying the scene, she found this to likely be true.

    Right when her scythe was about to touch the boar, the crimson-ck aura condensed around the de, seemingly increasing its destructiveness and sharpness.<sub> </sub>

    However, Mira''s instincts were telling her that that wasn''t the end of the benefits brought by the hellish aura. Unfortunately, she killed the boar a little too quick for her to understand this, so for now, she could only look for another target.

    She''s got plenty of things to test out, after all.

    Mira tried remembering some of the other missions, and although she could remember the targets for the other missions, she had no idea where they were.

    However, it''d be a waste to go back now, so Mira decided to just go around killing-no, practicing her abilities on every beast shees across and hoping there''s a mission rted to them.

    Focusing her beastly senses on the surrounding area, Mira was able to track the locations of some of the nearby beasts partially. Luckily, they are all Low-Stage Rank 6 or above, so Mira didn''t have to be picky.

    Without a second of dy, Mira traversed the rocky environment and soon made her way near arge goat-like beast!

    This goat was also a Low-Stage Rank 6 beast, and this time, Mira was going to use it to do some actual testing.

    She used her Core Formation cultivation to fly up in the air and dove at the goat, not giving it any time to react.

    Thus, before the goat even had time to move, Mira already had its neck in her hand with her vice-like grip.

    The goat screamed, kicked, and fought for her to let it go, but it was too weak to do anything to Mira, especially in its current state.

    Mira floated down onto the ground, conjured a few ice vines to tangle around the goat, and released a murderous smile.

    Seeing it safely secured, Mira took her scythe and controlled the hellish aura to condense around the de; she cut a few centimeters into the goat''s skin.

    It screeched in pain, but Mira''s facial expression didn''t change. Instead, she stared at the goat as if she was examining it.

    However, the goat just kept screeching in pain��

    ''No, that''s not pain. Although the cut should have hurt, it''s not enough to screech like that. Looking at its body, this goat has clearly received more severe wounds. Therefore, its pain tolerance should be considerably high. But for some reason, it''s acting like I just chopped its legs off and ripped its tongue out! What the hell��'' Mira thought to herself.

    She had a few theories as to why this might be the case, so she used her scythe and the hellish aura to make a few more cuts on the goat.

    After another cut, the beast seemed like it was losing its mind. After the third cut, Mira noticed that tears of blood wereing out of its eyes. Finally, after the fourth cut, its eyes rolled back, and it passed out.

    It was then that Mira realized that the aura didn''t just simply sharpen her scythe, but it also attacked the target''s mind.

    However, she also noticed that the aura around her scythe had dimmed considerably after those few attacks, and she''d probably only be able to unleash a few more.

    This made her wonder:

    ''Can I control this aura''s output and effects?''

    If she could do that, then she wouldn''t have to waste so much of the hellish aura on all three of its known effects. She could make it, so the aura only attacked the mind, increased the sharpness of her scythe, or increased her destructive power. There''s no need for all these effects to work in tandem unless she absolutely needed it, but with it only being able tost a few strikes at full power, Mira knew that she had to tone down its effects a bit if she wanted it to be useful.

    Still, these discoveries put a smile on Mira''s face as she was truly happy to see how powerful her scythe had be after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.

    "Let''s keep testing it out! Hehehe~"

 Chapter 401 [Bonus Chapter]New Abilities Part 2

    Just like Mira thought, she only had enough of the hellish aura tost another two hits before she ran out.

    She also discovered that controlling the hellish aura is nearly impossible. Mira thought she''d be able to separate the aura''s effects, but it seemed she was too naive. From what she could tell, things aren''t as simple as increased sharpness, destructive power, and mind attacks. It''s more like the aura is hellish not because of these effects, but the cause of these effects is the aura itself.

    To put it in simpler terms, if she were to try and control the hellish aura to only focus on a single aspect, it would no longer be ''hellish''. Therefore, she would also lose out on the benefits gained from the aura.

    It sounds a bitplicated, but Mira just knew that there was little she could change about the hellish aura. Fortunately, that doesn''t mean she can''t improve her control over it. Right now, she''s using it at full force without even trying, so every swing of her scythe is a full-powered strike.

    Even those small cuts were considered full-powered attacks based on Mira''s control over the hellish aura.

    Right now, she needs to control the output of the hellish aura properly so she''s not wasting so much of it with every strike.

    And that''s what the goat is for!

    Mira waited for a while until her aura was back at full capacity, then began tormenting the poor goat.

    However, even after several hours, Mira could still barely control the output. She could lower it a bit, which was progress, but it seems like it''ll take much longer than she initially thought to gain full control over it.

    Nevertheless, Mira wasn''t sad about this. Instead, this only proved just how powerful the aura around her scythe was, and if she were to gain full control over it, it''d be even more amazing!

    To Mira, it''s only natural that good things are difficult to achieve, so she wasn''t burdened by the difficulty of controlling the hellish aura.

    Still, this didn''t give Mira a proper understanding of her scythe''s sharpness without the aura. Since she can''t control the hellish aura right now, most of her fights, especially some of the more difficult ones, she''ll only be able to rely on her scythe''s natural sharpness.

    So, Mira emptied her aura reserves and then hacked at the goat, cutting it in half just like the boar. Except for this time, Mira felt a slight amount of resistance. It was an amount that could be ignored as she still cleanly cut through the goat, but Mira knew it wasn''t as smooth as when she used the hellish aura to cut through the boar.

    That time, it barely felt like she was swinging her scythe against another living being and instead felt more like she was swinging at air.

    Doing this gave Mira a better understanding of how amazing the aura surrounding her scythe is.

    However, now, Mira wanted to move on and begin learning more about her other abilities, or more specifically, her tails.

    Just from her body''s instincts alone, she can tell that each one of her tails has a different ability. For example, her golden tail is extremely dense, almost like it''s made out of metal.

    Since that one''s the easiest to test out, Mira isted her golden tail and smashed it into the goat''s corpse.

    *BOOM*<sub> </sub>

    Blood sttered everywhere, and the ground underneath her cracked, forming a small crater. The goat''s corpse, unfortunately, exploded into a million pieces, but Mira couldn''t care less.

    Right now, she was amazed at the raw power her golden tail contains. Just that casual smash was already at least 40% to 50% stronger than her physical body! However, there are various limitations to this kind of attack.

    The most obvious ones being it''s way too simple, and she has to pretty much be on top of her opponent for it to work.

    Nheless, it''s insanely strong! It''s so strong that it can be considered a trump card. However, Mira felt its best use would be to use it as a kind of shield. At least, that''d be the case if she were to face ranged attackers. Against closebat enemies, it could easily be used as a finishing move.

    Mira released a smile seeing the power of just one of her tails, but she wasn''t satisfied with just this. She wanted to know the limits of its power!

    So, she raised her Golden tail up in the air and mmed it on the ground with all her might!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOM*

    The ground caved in and had spider web cracks spreading tens of meters. Any nearby trees, rocks, or bushes were blown away. At the same time, anything that was directly underneath her tail was pulverized into dust.

    Hell, if Mira hadn''t controlled her body, she too would''ve been blown away by the impact! In fact, the rebound of such a high-powered attack injured her slightly!

    After reorientating herself, she muttered, "What the hell?! What''s up with this power? I knew I was strong after my breakthrough but isn''t this a bit much? Also, this is just one of my nine tails! If just one of my tails is already like this, what about the rest of them?"

    The more Mira thought about it, the more excited she became. She wasn''t worried about the fact that she caused herself a few light injuries from her own attack. That can be solved with time and training. No, she was both surprised and shocked at the power and potential that just one of her tails contains, the most basic one, no less.

    From her body''s instincts, she can tell that her other tails are much moreplex, but that made Mira happy.

    Although her other tails are physically strong as well, it''s only to the point where they are simr to another arm or leg. However, they have their own unique attributes that make up for this ck'' of power.

    Of course, Mira didn''t feel like her tails werecking in any power. Just the fact that they are as strong as her limbs is already more than enough for Mira, but seeing the power of her gold tail changed her mindset.

    They need to be overpowered! How can her tails be normal?! No, all of them must be unique, just like the golden one!

    Mira''s eyes gleamed brightly like how a kid would look if he found a new toy, and she immediately began testing out the abilities and limits of her other eight tails.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you, Nyviria, for the 5,000 coins! Here''s the second bonus chapter! I really appreciate all the support!

 Chapter 402 New Abilities Part 3

    The following tail Mira decided to test out was her white tail. Based on the physical characteristics alone, this tail is the weakest. The fur, although tough, can''t be used to attack, and its strength is weaker than Mira''s other limbs, but Mira''s instincts told her that the ability provided by this tail is actually quite useful.

    So, without waiting any further, Mira channeled the energy stored in her white tail, and immediately after, a blizzard-like domain began to expand around Mira.

    The domain kept growing until it reached around 15 meters in diameter, but that wasn''t all. After the domain formed, Mira could instinctively understand what this blizzard domain does and how she could use it.

    The blizzard around Mira can block off the enemy''s perception, dim her presence, boosts her senses inside the domain, and she can even meld her body in the domain and essentially teleport anywhere inside it onmand. Of course, this uses up energy, but it''s still an incredible ability.

    However, that''s not the only thing! This domain actually requires very little energy to keep active. If she were to keep it in its current state, Mira could probably keep it active for over an hour!

    Mira then tried melding with the domain and teleporting to find out how much energy that consumes.

    Inside the blizzard, Mira''s form flickered before it looked like she merged with the surrounding snow and ice, then she immediately appeared on the other side of the domain. However, that one teleport used up 60% of the energy stored in her tails!

    That may sound like a lot, but Mira wasn''t the least bit disappointed. It''s a trump card that can save her life! The blizzard domain is already quite good, and its utility is superior to Mira''s gold tail.

    Mira wanted to find an enemy to test out this domain on, but she managed to calm herself down as she still has 7 other tails to test out.

    The next tail she decided to test out was her silvery-white tail. The physical characteristics of this tail are slightly above her other limbs, but only by about 5% or so. The fur on this tail is also quite coarse, but for good reason!

    This tail has two abilities:

    1. Mira can channel the energy in this tail to shoot out her hair like a porcupine. However, unlike a porcupine, Mira can control each individual hair should she want to. She can also use the energy contained within the tail to regenerate her fur.

    2. She can merge other elements with each individual hair to increase their lethality.

    Mira found these abilities to be quite interesting. At first nce, they don''t seem all that useful. Mira can easily create a bunch of ice needles that can essentially do the same thing, but there are a few things she can''t do.

    For one, she can''t create ice that''s hard enough nor sharp enough with only the size of a single strand of hair. Sure, she can create needles made of ice with a high amount of piercing power, but if the enemy is paying attention, they''ll be able to dodge, deflect, or block those without much trouble.

    Also, her ice needles are mainly only used as a distraction. However, the hairs on her tail are different! Not only are they tiny and sharp, but as long as her enemy doesn''t know she can release her hairs, they can also be deadly!

    There''s also the fact that, just like a porcupine, if Mira suddenly gets ambushed from behind, she can just shoot out the strands of hair on her tail like a shotgun, catching the enemy off guard! If the enemy isn''t too strong or isn''t prepared for such an attack, she might even be able to kill them or at least severely injure them with that as well!

    Worst of all, little barbs form at the ends of her fur when they shoot out, making them a pain in the ass to remove.

    Aftering to these conclusions, Mira decided to finally try it out! She walked up to a nearby tree, extended her silvery-white tail, so it''s only about a meter away from it, then channeled the energy within the tail!

    Without any dy, all the hairs on her tail exploded out and struck the tree!

    Mira took a look at the tree and was surprised by what she saw. Her fur actually managed to prate the tree and even went all the way through it! Each hole was barely noticeable, and Mira probably wouldn''t have noticed it if so many strands of hair didn''t go through the tree.

    ''It seems like I got another trump card. Hehehe~'' Mira chuckled in her mind, and a smile also crept up on her face.<sub> </sub>

    She was extremely happy right now, especially seeing how powerful this tail was. Of course, going all the way through a tree isn''t the benchmark for how powerful an ability is, but it does prove its potential and lethality.

    Normally, strands of hair aren''t supposed to be capable of such feats. Forget about going through a tree, they shouldn''t even be able to scratch a tree!

    Sure, Mira can punch the tree or slice it up with her scythe with little effort, but that''s not the point of this ability.

    The point of this ability is to catch enemies who are trying to ambush her by surprise or to protect herself in times of danger. It''s not supposed to be a killing move! It can be if she got lucky and faced someone with poor defenses or who wasn''t ready for such an attack, but Mira would never bank on it actually killing someone.

    After partially confirming this tail''s base power, Mira moved on to regenerating her fur, infusing the strands of hair with other elements, and controlling each individual strand as well.

    Mira channeled the remaining energy in her silvery-white tail, and within a couple of seconds, all the fur that was gone was reced with new fur! The only problem is this actually took a significant amount of energy! Suppose she wanted to do a full-powered st like what she just did. In that case, she''ll have to wait a bit for more energy to replenish, or she can substitute it with the energy located in her Core, but Mira could already tell that doing such a thing is highly inefficient.

    The energy located in her tails is there for a specific purpose: to use their abilities. Although the energy in her tails isn''t totally independent of her meridians and Core, and the two can be interchanged if needed, they aren''t exactly the same either.

    Mira would have to ''process'' the energy before transferring it to any of her tails, which not only takes time but is incredibly wasteful. It''s not exactly a 1:1 ratio, and Mira would have to spend over twice as much energy just to get the amount that would be naturally recovered in her tails.

    This is simply because the energy in her tails contains different properties. For example, the energy in her white tail can only be used to create the blizzard domain. If she wanted to channel her Yin Fire with this energy�� its effects would be worthless. She could probably do it, but why would she do that when she can create perfectly fine Yin Fire without her tail''s energy?

    That being the case, the energy stored in her tails isn''t actually that muchpared to the Qi contained within her Core. If she wanted to replenish her Core''s Qi from empty all the way to full, she''d probably have to use all of the energy stored within her 9 tails to aplish that.

    So, using her tails as extra batteries wouldn''t be very effective considering how powerful and useful her tails are.

    Nevertheless, Mira stopped thinking about this and moved on to testing out the rest of the effects of her silvery-white tail.

    She infused the strands of hair with ice and plucked out a strand of hair to control. Surprisingly, controlling a single strand of hair is quite easy, especially with her improved mental faculties after breaking through.

    Mira then continued plucking out more strands of hair until there was nothing left on her tail. Flying around Mira were countless thin strands of hairyered in ice.

    Mira found it quite easy to control all of them, almost like it was the most natural thing in the world.

    After ying around with them for a few minutes, Mira targeted a nearby tree and sent all the strands of hair to attack it.

    Instantly, the strands of hair carved their way through the tree while also filling the holes with ice. The hairs all made their way through the tree, but it wasn''t nearly as fast as when she shotgunned them out of her tail.

    This gave Mira a pretty good understanding of the tail''s purpose and the limits of her ability.

    ''It seems like it''s pretty much a life-saving ability. Each strand of hair, although strong, isn''tparable to an ice needle. At least not when I try and control them. Maybe if I had better control over them and could make them fly faster, then they''d have more attack power, but I doubt they''d be better than any of my normal medium-ranged attacks. Though maybe controlling just a few strands could be quite useful��''

    Ideas kept churning in Mira''s brain as she grasped the limitations of this ability. However, all these ideas will have to wait until she can find a suitable enemy to test them on. For now, she still has six other tails to test out.

 Chapter 403 New Abilities Part 4

    Mira moved on to her next tail, the icy-blue one after she had a decent understanding of the Silvery-White one.

    This tail''s much stronger, physically,pared to her white tail. From what Mira''s instincts told her that its ability isn''t veryplex either. Its ability is to increase Mira''s ice affinity, making it stronger and more efficient.

    As for how much, well, that depends on how much energy she uses from her tail.

    To test things out, she conjured an ice crystal before using the tail and after noting down how much Qi she used and how strong it was. Then, she used up 1% of the energy within her tail, conjured another ice crystal, andpared the differences.

    After inspecting them andparing how much energy was used, Mira concluded that the ice crystal she summoned after using her tail was 2% stronger and more efficient than the other ice crystal.

    While this didn''t sound like much, Mira felt like she could keep this up pretty much indefinitely. So essentially, this tail gave Mira a free 2% boost in power, not including how much she can boost her strength by using up more energy.

    Mira then kept using up more energy until she reached 10%. Therefore, making her ice 20% stronger and more efficient. However, she knew that she couldn''t stay in this state indefinitely. She could probably only stay in this state for a few hours until she needed to use more energy, but it made sense.

    If she could stay in such a state for any longer than that, this ability would be quite overpowered, even whenpared to her other abilities.

    That said, there''s still onest thing she had to test out with this tail: to consume all the energy within the tail at once.

    Mira proceeded to wait for the energy in her tail to refill, and when it was full, Mira directly channeled all the energy in her tail at the same time. Immediately after her tail was drained of all its energy, Mira shined in an icy-blue light, and she felt her affinity towards the ice element take a huge jump.

    Unfortunately, Mira knew she wouldn''t be able to stay in this state for very long, so she immediately got to testing. First, she summoned an ice crystal just like before, but this one was clearly different.

    No, it could be said that this ice crystal and the previous one weren''t evenparable! The density of the ice, the speed at which she created it, and how much Qi it actually took to make it vastly outssed the previous ones.

    From Mira''s estimates, her ice affinity took a 400% boost in strength and efficiency, much to Mira''s delight.

    However, she could also tell that this state would onlyst for about 5 seconds. That might not sound like much, but Mira can do a lot in 5 seconds, especially with such a boost in strength!

    For one, she can spam any ice-rted abilities without having to worry about her Qi consumption! So, that''s exactly what Mira did!

    For the next 5 seconds, Mira spammed as many ice needs, crystals, swords, domains, vines, etc. Anything she could think of, she made!

    But when the 5 seconds were eventually over, Mira felt a wave of exhaustion crash into her mind.<sub> </sub>

    ''Ugh! It seems it''s a bit too much to just spam abilities like that. I''ll have to learn how to control that state a bit better.'' Mira thought to herself as she dispersed everything she had made.

    However, overall, Mira was pleased with the power this tail unknowingly contains. It''s quite simr to her golden tail in the sense that they are both incredibly simple but powerful.

    Nevertheless, Mira likes these kinds of abilities that just improve her raw stats.

    Anyways, since her icy-blue tail is now out of energy, she can only move on to the next tail. Fortunately, she already understood the limits of this tail.

    As for the next tail she chose to test out, it was the pinkish-blue one. This tail is physically as strong as her other limbs. It''s also her second fluffiest tail, with the fluffiest one being her pink tail.

    In terms of aesthetics, this was the tail that Mira liked the most. Normally, she only likes colors like ck, red, and blue, but this pinkish-blue color is actually really pretty.

    Aside from that, Mira also found the ability of this tail to be one of the most unique andplex. While the description her instincts gave her wasn''t that difficult to understand, the multitude of uses and how much time it''ll take to master the powers of this tail fully are definitely more significantpared to her other tails.

    The only thing she knew about this tail was that she could create illusions with it. However, as someone who has never once used any kind of illusory powers, not in her past lives, the parallel lives she experienced, or her trials, she knew it wouldn''t be easy for her to use this power to its full potential.

    Mira, at her core, has always been someone who preferred to face her enemies head-on. Sure, she might go for an ambush if they''re stronger than her and will usually try to win either by using overwhelming power or taking advantage of how proficient she is inbat, but she hardly ever uses tricks or traps unless needed.

    That being the case, using illusions is way out of herfort zone. No, they are something that Mira has never even thought about using. However, she also can''t deny how useful illusions can be in battle.

    Also, now that she has this power, it would be aplete waste not to make use of it. Still, she underestimated just how hard it would be to make use of this power��

    Although she had no idea what she was doing, Mira immediately tried testing out this power by creating a simple rock.

    Well, she was able to make the rock without any problems�� NOT!

    "This looks like shit! Fuck! Is this supposed to be a rock? Why does it look bugged out as if it''s glitched? What did I do wrong? How do I improve this? No, more importantly, where do I even start? Ugh! I guess it''ll be a while until I''m actually able to use this power in battle. For now, I should just put this on hold until I can find some time to learn more about illusions and practice." Mira thought out loud as she stopped trying to create more illusions.

    She didn''t want to waste all her time out here when she still has other matters to attend to and other abilities to test out.

 Chapter 404 [Bonus Chapter]New Abilities Part 5

    Now on to her fluffiest tail, the pink one! Unsurprisingly, this tail isn''t much different from the previous one. While her pinkish-blue tail focuses more on illusions, her pink tail can increase her ''charm''.

    The meaning behind this is a little abstract, and Mira''s not exactly sure what it means to increase her ''charm'', but Mira felt it was simr to her illusionary ability, just that the illusion here is that she''s changing how others perceive her.

    From what Mira knew, 9-tailed foxes all have a certain charm ability that they can use to make others have a favorable impression of them. Or, if their charm ability is high enough or the difference in cultivation isrge, Mira''s even heard of myths where 9-tailed foxes can essentially enve others and force them to do their bidding.

    Mira didn''t know much about this as they are mostly myths and rumors, but based on what her instincts told her, there should be some truth to them.

    To properly test out this ability, Mira needed to find a victim. So, she immediately sped towards the nearest beast.

    When she appeared in front of the beast, although it was enraged that someone dared to target it, it was also cautious because it didn''t even feel Mira approach it.

    However, before it could do anything, Mira channeled the energy in her pink tail, and soon, a pink mist came out of Mira. When the beast smelled the scenting off of Mira, its anger and caution disappeared like the wind, and it approached Mira as if she was the love of its life.

    Obviously, this disgusted Mira, but she didn''t stop releasing this pink mist and instead controlled it to wrap around the beast.

    After a few seconds of absorbing this mist inside its body, the beast was under Mira''splete control.

    Unfortunately for the beast, it wasn''t ustomed to these kinds of mental attacks, so it waspletely at Mira''s mercy. Well, that''s not too surprising since it is a beast. Even if it is a Rank 6 beast, its intelligence still hasn''t reached a level simr to humans. Unless it was a species bred to resist these kinds of attacks or if its cultivation is much higher than Mira''s, then it would never be able to escape this kind of attack.

    Mira was extremely surprised by this result as she essentially just created a ve who is willing to do anything for her. Well, at least until she runs out of energy.

    After experimenting a bit more with the beast, Mira got bored as it could only respond to simplemands like ''attack'' or ''walk''. She really wished she could test this ability out on a human, as they should be able to understand moreplexmands, but that''ll have to wait.

    So, Mira eventually killed the best and decided to move on to the next tail, the turquoise one. This one also happens to be anotherplex ability that has a multitude of uses, but contrary to the other abilities, this one is difficult to quantify.

    The only description she got from her instincts was ''Time Perception''. She didn''t know what that meant. Did that mean she could change her perception of time? Or can she change her enemy''s perception of time?

    She had no idea, and she''d probably have to meet up with Maria or someone to get a better idea of how this ability worked, but for now, she could only try it out on herself.

    Mira channeled the energy within the tail, and almost immediately, Mira felt her perception of the world around her change. It felt like she could process information at a higher rate!

    Therefore, everything felt like it was moving slower than it really did. Mira was ecstatic about this because if everything around her seemed to slow down due to how fast Mira was processing the information, she could easily dodge or block attacks that might normally be too fast for her to react to.<sub> </sub>

    No, fighting isn''t the only action where this ability is useful. If she were to focus on smithing, this increased perception would help her exponentially!

    There also seemed to be more than meets the eye about this ability as well. Her instincts were telling her that this might be one of her most useful abilities in high-intensity situations. No, not just that, but she had a feeling that this ability would be crucial for her growth.

    One must remember that Mira isn''t quite ustomed to these high-level fights where people are fighting in the air, and their attacks can cause the ground to crack and crater. Her instincts might be insanely sharp, but she can''t rely on that forever. This ability should help Mira grow ustomed to such fights.

    However, that seemed to only be a part of this ability, causing Mira to grow excited at the future possibilities, and she couldn''t wait to meet up with Maria to test out the rest of the effects.

    For now, though, Mira could only shelve these thoughts and move on to the next tail, the sapphire one.

    This is one that Mira is probably the most excited about. No, it wasn''t some super overpowered attack or anything like that. Quite the contrary, actually. The ability of this tail is a defensive ability.

    As for how great of a defensive ability it is, Mira''s instincts were telling her that it was extraordinary!

    So, without wasting any time, Mira channeled the energy within the tail. However, much to her surprise, all the energy in the tail was immediately drained while a sapphire blue shield appeared around Mira''s body.

    Although Mira didn''t know exactly how strong this shield was, she knew that even with her strongest attack, she wouldn''t be able to break it. Her strongest attack should contain the power of someone in the 5th or maybe 6th Stage of the Core Formation Realm, so that alone should prove how strong this shield is.

    However, it onlysted for a split second before it dissipated. Mira was a little disappointed that it could onlyst for a split second, but on second thought, it made sense. This defensive ability would be way too overpowered if she could keep it up for several seconds or perhaps even longer.

    This shield is meant to be used when facing an attack that she can''t handle. It''s not there, so she can battle others without having to worry about her life. Also, she''s only in the 1st Stage of the Core Formation Realm! Her body might be strong, and she should be able to face those several stages above her, but so can pretty much everyone in the Sect.

    That''s not to say that others are more talented or stronger than her in the same cultivation Realm. In fact, she''s pretty much invincible when facing those that have the same cultivation as her.

    However, Mira also understands that the difference isn''t nearly asrge while here in the Sectpared to other ces on the Continent.

    Someone talented at the 3rd or 4th Stage of the Core Formation might be able to fight evenly with her or even defeat her.

    Of course, this is all just an assumption on Mira''s part. She''s not exactly sure how strong she currently ispared to others.

    Mira shook these thoughts out of her mind and focused on her final and most deadly tail: the ck tail.

 Chapter 405 New Abilities Part 6

    DEATH!!

    That''s the only thing that came to mind when Mira thought about her ck tail. The aura of death that surrounded her tail was so immense that even Mira, the owner of the tail, felt reluctant to use its ability.

    Her instincts were telling her not to use its ability so lightly and that it should only be used in times of extreme danger.

    Although she didn''t know why she felt this way, that didn''t matter. She trusted her instincts.

    However, that doesn''t mean she can''t specte what her ck tail would actually do should she activate its ability.

    From what she could tell, there must be some connection between her tail and the ck runes that appeared all over her mind, body, soul, and Qi.

    Well, that''s only spection, but Mira felt like she wasn''t too far off from the truth. Now, what she can do with this information is a different story. She has basically no information on the ck runes or what they can do.

    She only knows that they can seemingly steal someone else''s Qi to replenish her own, but the specifics of this are a mystery.

    The only time she truly experienced the might of the ck Runes was when she was helping Elenei undergo her Nirvana. However, she basically did nothing except insert her Qi into Elenei''s body. Everything else was left to Elenei, and Mira''s not even sure she knew what she was doing.

    "Well, I guess there''s really only one way to find out," Mira muttered to herself before going in the direction of the nearest beast.

    Soon, she reached the beast, which happened to be another boar, and did the same to it that she did to the goat.

    She wrapped ice vines around its legs, tied it up, and began using it for testing purposes.

    First, Mira went ahead and began trying to test out the effects of the ck runes. She used all of her new elements to damage it, created a few cuts with her Qi, and even shed at it with her scythe, but there was no reaction from the ck runes.

    Mira was confused by this since they reacted when she helped Elenei, and all she had to do was insert her Qi into her body.

    However, now, nothing seemed to work, but then Mira suddenly got an idea.

    She cut off the head of the boar, killing it, then inserted some of her Qi into its dead body. That''s when something interesting happened!

    The vitality and Qi seeping out of the boar''s dead body were slowly absorbed by the ck runes and transmitted back to her body. Mira felt her Qi begin to refill and even felt the light injuries she suffered when testing out her golden tail''s power heal.

    It wasn''t much, and the efficiency was bad, but she could clearly feel her body returning back to its peak condition. However, there are some downsides to this.

    First of all, when absorbing the remains of the boar, Mira could feel that she was basically taking away everything that made its corpse�� useful.

    Humans use beasts to create weapons, armor, clothes, pills, arrays, formations, etc. In fact, most side upations revolve around the use of beast corpses. However, Mira is removing anything that makes them useful, which is the dense vitality and Qi contained within every aspect of their body.

    If someone were to try and use this corpse to create weapons, pills, armor, or anything of the sort, they''d fail.

    Sure, it''s great that she can rejuvenate herself by absorbing the energy leftover in corpses, but it feels a bit too niche. Most of her ie and livelihood is from killing beasts and bringing them back in a condition that can be of use.

    Luckily, it seems she''s able to control the ck runes, so they only absorb what she wants to absorb, but she also found these ck runes to be a bitckluster. Despite being in every part of her existence, they don''t seem to be anything all that special.

    At least that''s Mira''s first impression of them.

    However, Mira also knew that anything rted to her Core or the F.LD.I.L isn''t ordinary.

    ''Maybe I''m just not strong enough to properly wield these ck runes, or maybe my understanding of them hasn''t reached a high enough level yet. Either way, they are definitely something unique that shouldn''t be ignored. Unfortunately, it seems for now I can only be satisfied with this. Hopefully, everything will reveal itself with time.'' Mira thought to herself.

    Mira put the idea of testing out the effects of the ck runes on hold for now as she felt it would only be a waste of time.<sub> </sub>

    ''I''ll just wait until Elenei is reborn. Maybe she can offer me some insights on these ck runes and what they can do.''

    With that those thoughts in mind, Mira left the corpse and began hunting more beasts in the surrounding area.

    Her reason for doing this is to see if she canplete numerous missions at once while also getting used to her new powers.

    By the end of the day, Mira had a decent understanding of her current prowess and how her abilities affect living targets.

    She also learned what''s her most effective abilities against beasts. While they are all useful, some are more efficient than others. Her charm ability is probably the most effective against beasts of the same strength or weaker than her. Using that, she barely needs to do anything to y them.

    In fact, once they are under her control, she can evenmand them tomit suicide, and they''ll do it. So, technically, she doesn''t even need to lift a finger to kill them.

    The other tail she likes the most is her golden tail.

    Something about feeling their bones crunch underneath such overwhelming force and seeing them explode into a blood mist is extremely satisfying. Although it''s incredibly wasteful when using it against weaker opponents since there is nothing left of their bodies, Mira also felt like her golden tail will be the most useful against beasts.

    Beasts often have stronger physiquespared to humans, even in the same cultivation realm, which is also part of the reason that most of them are close-range fighters. They can still use Qi, especially after forming their Beast Core and bing a Rank 6 beast, but that doesn''t mean that they will all of a sudden turn into ranged fighters.

    That being said, Mira''s golden tail, which is basically a dense chunk of metal in the form of a tail, is great against these kinds of strong bodies.

    Normally, Mira would just use her scythe as its weight is nothing to scoff at, but a scythe isn''t exactly supposed to be used as a blunt object.

    Now that she actually has something that can be used as a blunt object, Mira can fight others how a scythe user should.

    Her other tails also proved to be quite useful, though Mira felt like they''re better suited for fighting humans. For example, her white tail, the one that can create a blizzard domain, isn''t all that useful against beasts, especially ones with lower intelligence.

    Sure, they might get disorientated and can''t sense her, but then they just be annoying by running around like a headless chicken trying to find her. It might be useful against tougher opponents, but against those that are about the same strength or weaker than herself, Mira found it to be a waste of time and energy.

    Her turquoise tail (time perception ability) and the one that increases her ice affinity are probably the most consistent. These abilities never let her down, as they are essentially just a boost to her raw stats.

    Mira also felt the mostfortable using these two tails, aside from her golden tail.

    She tried using her illusion ability over the course of the day, but Mira also found it to be a waste of time and energy. Putting aside her horrendous proficiency with the ability, Mira still probably wouldn''t use it all that much even if she mastered it. At least not against those who have a simr strength to her.

    It''s an ability that is more suited for fighting humans rather than beasts. Although it might seem like the opposite, a beast''s instincts are much sharper than a human''s. Unless she''s a master at illusions, it''d be hard to fool a beast''s instinctspletely.

    Still, it''s part of her repertoire now, so Mira felt obligated to master the art of illusions to some degree.

    By the end of it all, Mira had a decent grasp over her own strength, the level at which the beasts on the mountain are at, and the limitations of her abilities. While she still had a few more things to test out, she could do that when she returned to her residence.

    For now, she just has to-

    Suddenly, Mira''s eyes narrowed, and she looked in a particr direction. All her hair stood on ends as her body warned her of incredible danger.

    From what her instincts were telling her, she stood no chance of winning against whatever wasing her way.

    So, without hesitation, she darted in the direction of the Outer Court. Unfortunately, she ventured pretty far away with all her hunting.

    It also seemed like whatever or whoever was near her wasn''t there by ident because soon after she started running, an enormous pressure came crashing down on her, nearly making her fall to the ground if it weren''t for her incredibly strong body and willpower.

    Right after the pressure came crashing down, Mira heard a man''s voice enter her ears��

 Chapter 406 Targeted

    "Oh? It looks like I found myself a little foxy. How surprising!" An amused voice of a male came from behind Mira, but she had already known he was there. Unfortunately, it seems the difference in strength was a bit toorge, making her unable to escape, at least at the moment.

    She was a bit worried about this whole situation, but she didn''t panic or feel nervous at all. She''s been in situations simr to this most of her life! In her previous lives, she was always fighting against seemingly stronger opponents! In those other reincarnations that she experienced in the F.LD.I.L, many of her opponents were stronger than her.

    During the item trials when she was born a fox, nearly every opponent she faced was stronger than her!

    How could she possibly despair when she''s been in a simr situation many times before?

    Although Mira thought that way, she also knew that there was probably very little hope in her actually killing this person. Just based on his aura alone, Mira can confidently say he''s in the Nascent Soul Realm.

    She''s not sure what stage, but it doesn''t really matter. Fighting an entire Major Realm above her own, at least in her current state, is nearly impossible. She''d probably have to pull out every one of her trump cards if she wanted any chance of escaping here alive.

    Mira calmly turned around and faced the young man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties. He had dark hair, hazel eyes, and a handsome appearance,bined with an amused smile on his face.

    Underneath her mask, she kept a neutral expression on her face, but underneath it all, she still felt an overwhelming amount of disgust.

    Throughout thest few years and with all she''s experienced, Mira''s matured a bit, but despite that, she still can''t get rid of her hate towards the male gender. It''s almost like she has an innate dislike towards them.

    This man is no different, and although he might not be looking at her with lust in his eyes, she can still feel it within the depths of his soul.

    No, instead of it not being there, Mira felt it was more usible that he came here for a specific purpose, which doesn''t include using her body to satisfy his desires. If it weren''t for that purpose, he would definitely try to do something to her body��

    "There''s no need to be nervous, little foxy. I''m only here to kill you. You see, I''ll even make your death quick and painless. Be grateful! Hahaha!" The man said lightly before chuckling, but Mira just stayed silent. She had an idea as to why this asshole showed up, but it''s too early to make any conjectures, and it''s not like the reason matters. He''s still here to kill her��

    "Hehe~ Not gonna say anything? Well, based on your reaction, it seems you aren''t too surprised as to why I''m here to kill you. It seems fate really does want you to die! But don''t worry, I''ll make sure to make good use of the treasure in your possession!" The man said as he stretched his limbs a bit, and Mira was thankful that he was such a bbermouth.

    She was preparing something, and she wasn''t quite ready as she didn''t know if she could even do it.

    ''Ah! So it really was because of that.'' Mira thought calmly to herself. She remembered what the Guardian said when she became the sessor to the F.LD.I.L.

    ***

    "Hmmm�� I also forgot to mention that you may or may not receive enemies regrly chasing after you in hopes of being the next Sessor of the F.LD.I.L. Luckily, you won''t receive enemies that you have no chance of winning against. It''ll just be a tough fight where you''ll have to put your life on the line. We can''t have the Sessor gettingzy, now can we?"

    "However, rejoice! As there are also prizes for defeating these kinds of enemies! You''ll have the chance to unlock any item or function for free at or slightly above your Abyssal Torment Steps level!"

    ***

    That''s what the Guardian said after she became the sessor, and it seems he wasn''t lying. This man is clearly here to kill her and snatch away the F.LD.I.L.

    Though Mira doubted he actually knew what he was looking for. He probably only knew that he needed to kill her, and he''ll gain something that could change his fate.

    "Alright, I guess that''s enough talking for now since you don''t seem very interested in a strong and handsome man like me. Well then�� Please, DIE!!"

    After the man said that, he disappeared from his position, and although Mira could still sense his position, she was unable to move her body fast enough to dodge.

    *BAM*

    The man''s fist collided with her stomach and sent her flying! Mira could tell that most of her ribs were broken and a few of her internal organs were damaged, but she was still alive!

    Thankfully, her body evolved after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, so even such an injury wouldn''t kill her.

    The man seemed to know that Mira wouldn''t go down with just that, so he immediately charged at her again.<sub> </sub>

    Fortunately, this time, Mira used her turquoise tail to perceive his movements faster, which allowed her to narrowly dodge his attack!

    *BOOOM!!*

    The man''s fist crashed into the ground, and he realized that Mira had somehow dodged his attack, despite the huge cultivation difference.

    "Is this the benefit of having that treasure? Now I must get it! I guess it''s time I start taking this a bit more seriously." The amused smile on the man''s face was reced with seriousness as he felt that dealing with the woman in front of him might be more trouble than he initially thought.

    Besides that, he''s also technically not supposed to be here, and if anyone from the Battle Maiden Sect were to find him��

    Well, let''s just say that would be extremely bad.

    While Mira didn''t know what he was thinking, she felt the change in atmosphere and knew that if she didn''t act fast, she''d definitely die today!

    Suddenly, Mira''s instincts warned her of extreme danger, but it didn''t matter as they were too close to each other.

    Luckily, her back was facing the direction of the man, and as if on instinct, her silvery-white tail released all the strands of hair on her tail, shotgunning them toward the man at extreme speeds!

    It used up all the energy within the tail, but that didn''t matter to Mira. If she didn''t use that much, then she''d never be able to damage him!

    The man obviously wasn''t expected such an attack and was left unprepared despite resolving himself to take this situation seriously.

    He never thought he''d have to defend himself against someone so much weaker than him!

    Unfortunately, the two were just too close to each other, so he was unable to defend against Mira''s needle-like hairspletely and could only raise his arms to defend his face and vitals.

    *SWISH!**SWISH!**SWISH!*

    *Puchi!**Puchi!**Puchi!*

    Hundreds of tiny needle-like hairs embedded themselves into his skin, making him grunt in pain. No, it''s not that the needles themselves hurt, but Mira was able to imbue them with her Ice and Yin Fire right before they shot out.

    One must remember that these two abilities of Mira''s are nothing to scoff at, especially after Mira broke through while also helping Elenei undergo her Nirvana. While they probably aren''t enough to deal with this man, she should be able to injure him if she can catch him by surprise.

    And to her joy, it seems like she was able to do so!

    However, Mira didn''t waste this split second of extra life that she''d taken for herself! While she was still preparing for an overwhelmingly powerful attack, she first had to live long enough to use it!

    So, without hesitation, she activated her white tail, forming a blizzard domain around her. This probably wouldn''t be enough to block his perception as the difference in strengthpletely is quiterge. That''s not what she needed.

    What she needed from the blizzard domain was the ability to meld with the snow and instantly teleport to another location.

    Based on her estimates, this should give her a bit of extra time and an extra life should she y her cards right.

    Hopefully, preparations for her attack will be finished by then!

    Seeing Mira being surrounded by a blizzard made the man furrow his eyebrows, but he was still able to see and sense Mira clearly. He wondered what sort of other tricks she had up her sleeve, but he couldn''t care about that right now.

    Even though he only attacked her a few times, the man understood that Mira was a troublesome opponent. From how calm she is to her ability to assess the situation at a moment''s notice, one can see that Mira''s talent inbat is overwhelmingly high. High enough that she can even survive against his attacks! Something that ought to be impossible with how much stronger he is!

    His furrowed eyebrows deepened, and he decided to go all out in order to prevent her from escaping!

 Chapter 407 Eyes

    When Mira sensed the iing danger, she didn''t hesitate to merge into the blizzard and teleport to the other side of her domain.

    *BOOOOOOM!!*

    Just like she expected, right after she teleported, the surrounding area got blown to pieces, and the shockwave dispersed Mira''s blizzard domain.

    Luckily, Mira wasn''t too injured by the aftermath as she had teleported as far away from it as she could. Still, she couldn''t escape the aftershock of a talented Nascent Soul Realm cultivator''s attack unscathed.

    She felt her arms and legs turn to mush from the shockwave alone, and if it weren''t for her new body after breaking through, she would have died.

    However, now was not the time to be celebrating. No, the struggle for survival just began! Luckily, Mira had just finished with her preparations and was only waiting for a chance to strike.

    More urately, she had to create a scenario where she could sessfullynd a hit on his body.

    For that, she already had a n in mind. Therefore, while dust and debris still filled the air, partially blocking the man''s perception of her, Mira used this chance to dart in the direction of the Outer Court.

    She had no hopes of actually reaching it before the man could catch up to her, but it would make things more efficientter on if she were facing it.

    As Mira was running away, Mira moved on to the next step of her n: To make him anxious/angry.

    That''s correct. Mira wanted to try and force him to kill her quickly! Whether he got angry, flustered, nervous, or whatever, it didn''t matter. As long as his decisions making and rationale took a hit, she would be satisfied.

    And what''s the best of doing this?

    Well, he came here for one thing and one thing only: the supposed treasure. However, from what she could gather, he has no idea what he''s actually looking for. All he knows is that he gets the treasure as long as he kills her.

    The key point here is that HE has to kill her��

    "Boy, weren''t you looking to kill me and take whatever treasure fate is leading you to? Do you even know what sort of treasure you''re looking for? No, better yet, do you think you''ll still get the treasure if you don''t kill me? Ah! Now that I think about it, since there''s no way for me to win, I might as well just kill myself to prevent your grubby hands from taking my shit!" Mira''s cold and emotionless voice rang out and entered the man''s ears.

    His head shot over in her direction, but the next thing he saw made his blood freeze and caused him to tense up.

    Mira had unknowingly created an ice dagger and had already sliced partly into her own neck while showing no signs of stopping. Seeing the emotionless look in her crimson eyes, eyes that felt no pain or remorse at the thought of ending her own life. Eyes that showed her resolve and conviction to prevent him from getting the treasure he so desires.

    Truth be told, he''s never seen eyes so terrifying in his entire life! He couldn''t fathom the depths held within those eyes as they seemed to want to suck the life out of him. Just looking into them for a split second made his body shiver in dread.

    Mira doesn''t know this, but the man is actually part of a Sect that practices ''Evil'' cultivation methods. This Sect isn''t well known to the public, and only those that have a certain cultivation base or status are privy to such information, but that doesn''t mean they aren''t strong.

    On the contrary, they are an exceedingly strong force.

    Needless to say, growing up in an environment where everyone is against you and only the strong survive, he''s seen his fair share of tragedies, ughters, deaths, torture sessions, and all kinds of debauchery.

    He''s seen the eyes of those who relish in ughtering droves of weaklings, along with the eyes of people who love to physically and mentally torment their subjects until they lose their sense of self.

    People often say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and he couldn''t agree more. However, when he looked into Mira''s eyes, it wasn''t anything like looking into the eyes of others and seeing their tainted and partially corrupted souls. No, instead of being ''tainted'' or ''corrupted'', Mira''s soul felt entirely ck! The icy sensation of death was hidden behind those eyes, and the man seriously wondered what kind of experiences the woman in front of him had gone through where death seemed normal to her.

    Whether it be rted to her own death or the death of others, he didn''t know, but at this point, he also couldn''t care!

    Mira was about to kill herself at this moment, and he felt that if he didn''t kill her now, not only would he lose the treasure, but if she somehow managed to survive, he would spend theing days in fright. Something that he''s never, not once in his life, felt.

    Soon, however, his eyes went bloodshot, and all the muscles on his body contracted as he screamed, "ARGH!! I''ll kill you!!!"<sub> </sub>

    Deep in his mind, he wasn''t sure why he was so agitated. Maybe it was because he felt that the treasure within Mira''s possession could change his fate and turn him into someone peerlessly powerful.

    There''s no way he''d lose such a precious treasure because the owner decided to kill herself in spite just so he wouldn''t get it! Although he knew Mira could be lying about that, for some reason, he felt like she wasn''t.

    It wasn''t necessarily because he trusted Mira, but more like since he was led here to kill her, why would he get the treasure if he doesn''t kill her?

    He would rather not leave it up to chance, even if he can get the treasure without actually killing her.

    There''s also the fact that the woman in front of him is terrifying. Whether it be her cold, emotionless eyes that won''t hesitate to kill herself or her top-notchbat prowess that someone at the 1st Stage of the Core Formation Realm shouldn''t have.

    He didn''t want there to be any possibility of her surviving this mess! He needed to kill her, and he needed to do it right now!!

    So, before Mira could actually go through with her suicide attempt, the man disappeared from his spot and appeared right before Mira, all while charging up a full-powered strike!

    It might be a bit overkill to use such power against someone with Mira''s cultivation, but he couldn''t care at this point!

    Mira had already predicted that the man would charge at her with everything he''s got. So, right before he disappeared, Mira had already started twisting her body, and just as she finished doing aplete 360, the man appeared before her while releasing a punch that contained his full power.

    Mira felt an unprecedented amount of danger and knew that if she took this strike head-on, she would die! She''d most likely explode into a bloody pulp without even leaving a body intact.

    Fortunately, Mira had already nned ahead. So, while she was in the midst of rotating, she activated her sapphire tail, causing a blue shield to appear around her.

    She knew that it wouldn''t be strong enough to block his attackpletely, but she could at least prevent herself from getting insta-killed.

    The man didn''t even have time to process what the blue shield around her was as his fist collided with her body.

    ? The shield around her absorbed almost 40% of the impact before it shattered, allowing the remained 60% to smash into her, crushing her bones, rupturing her organs, and rattling her brain.

    However, at the same time, Mira''s golden tail, which was now glowing brightly, had swung out and made contact with the man''s face!

    *CRACK*

    "ARGH!!"

    A cracking noise followed by a grunt could be heard after Mira''s golden tail made contact with the man. Surprisingly, Mira''s tail caused the man to be sent flying tens of meters. Unfortunately, Mira was also sent flying through the air at supersonic speeds as a result of the sh.

    But this was Mira''s goal from the beginning!

    Using all of her willpower to stay conscious right now, Mira channeled all of the energy within her icy-blue tail, boosting her affinity with the ice element by 400% for 5 seconds. Immediately after, she used her Paragon Wings technique while also shoving every other element she could control within each ''feather'', hoping to boost its strength by even a little.

    Thanks to her 400% boost, Mira was able to create these wings in just a split second.

    So, while using the momentum that resulted from her sh with the man, Mira powered up the wings and quickly sped off to the Outer Court!

    With her current speed, she''d reduced the time it would take her to make it to merely a fraction of what it would''ve taken her otherwise.

    Luckily, she''d also gained a few seconds due to her supercharged hit with the golden tail, but she still wasn''t out of the woods yet. That man will probablye charging back at her with even more fervor than before!

    All she can do now is make the most out of the next 5 seconds and hope that she won''t have to take drastic measures in order to survive.

 Chapter 408 Chance

    *ROOOOOOOAAAARRR*

    A loud roar filled with rage erupted from behind Mira, but she didn''t stop flying. Instead, she tried flying even faster than before, but she was already being pushed to the limits.

    Suddenly, she felt a powerful presence approaching from behind her, and she knew that the man was chasing after her again. However, after creating her Paragon Wings, she was no longer quite so helpless.

    Fully utilizing the increased perception from her turquoise tail Miraunched volleys containing 10 ''feathers'' and detonated them as soon as they got close to the man.

    *BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM*

    "ARGH! YOU FUCKING BITCH! GET BACK HERE!!" The man screamed in pain as those explosions were nothing to scoff at. If he wasn''t careful, he could''ve been seriously injured!

    Based on the power of those feathers, the man had a vague premonition that Mira might even be capable of killing him under the right conditions!

    ''What the hell am I thinking?! How can a mere ant like her possibly kill me? I''m a genius who can fight several stages above my cultivation! Does that mean this bitch is even more talented than me?! How is that even possible?! Is it because of those tails? Wait�� When I got hit by that golden tail, I felt the bones in my face breaking�� How fucking strong is that tail?!? Ah! That''s right! The treasure! This is all because of the treasure in her possession!! I MUST GET THAT TREASURE!!'' The man wondered internally before bursting out with power and charging at Mira.

    Unfortunately for him, due to how intensely he was staring at her, Mira could easily find his position and kept shooting volleys of ''feathers'' from her Paragon Wings.

    The man tried to evade them, but if he wanted to keep up with Mira''s speed, then he had to take a few of them head-on since Mira spread them out enough that he''d have to go far out of his way if he wanted to dodge the sts.

    During this entire time, Mira''s brain was working in overdrive as she tried to devise ways to counter or kill him. She''s not one to take a one-sided beating without taking something in return! If the man wanted to keep pursuing her, he''d best be ready to sacrifice something!

    If she can''t kill him, then she''ll be sure to take an arm! If she can''t take an arm, then she''ll take a finger! If she can''t take a finger, then she''ll leave him with some sort of psychological damage or heart demon!

    If she can''t do anything to him, then the least she can do is kill herself and prevent him from stealing HER treasure!

    "That''s right! As long as he doesn''t kill you, he doesn''t get the treasure!" The Guardian chimed in, but Mira barely acknowledged him and kept focusing on the task at hand.

    Her Paragon Wings will soon start draining her Qi like crazy once her 5 seconds are up, but thankfully her Qi reserves increased exponentially after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm. Not only that, but because of how unique her meridians are, the efficiency at which the Qi from her Core is delivered to her Paragon Wings is much more efficient.

    It shouldn''t be a problem for her to keep her Paragon Wings active for another minute or so, but they''ll lose some of their power once the 400% ice affinity increase is over. But Mira was still content with that. Her Paragon Wings are freakishly strong, to begin with, as they are essentially an amalgamation of all her powers.

    Suddenly, Mira felt the man right behind her, and her instincts warned her of danger, but Mira also knew this was an opportunity. The man was clearly not in the right state of mind, so now was the best time to strike!

    She only had 2 seconds left of her 400% ice affinity increase, so without hesitation, when the man reached out his hand to grab her leg, Mira controlled her Paragon Wings to slice at the man''s arm��

    *SWOOSH!*

    "ARGH!! FUUUCK!! MY HAND!!"

    Surprisingly, Mira''s Paragon Wings were so sharp and powerful at the moment that they sliced right through his wrist, cutting through his flesh and amputating his left hand.

    The man couldn''t believe that such a thing had happened to him! However, if the man knew any better, he shouldn''t be that shocked. His body, while strong, is not tough like body cultivators. He''d need to coat himself in Qi if he wanted to block Mira''s attack, but in his madness, he neglected this fact and charged at her without any defenses.

    Well, this might also be a result of his cultivation technique. Since he''s originally from an ''Evil'' Sect, his cultivation technique is probably not normal, and for the power that he gains, there has to be some sort of drawback.

    It could also be said that Mira got lucky to have this man as her opponent. He was so tunnel-visioned on getting the F.LD.I.L that he could barely think of anything else. The only thing on his mind right now is killing her, which for Mira, is a good thing.

    While the man was dumbfounded by what just happened, Mira was theplete opposite.

    ''CHANCE!''

    She knew that this might be her only chance to kill this fool! Without caring about the damage done to her, Mira controlled half of the ''feathers'' making up her Paragon Wings and shot them at the man!

    The man flinched when he sensed an overwhelming amount of danger and tried to retreat, but he was unable to stop his momentum fast enough, causing a few of the ''feathers'' to pierce his body.<sub> </sub>

    The wounds weren''t deep enough to cause any serious injuries, but that wasn''t Mira''s goal��

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

    All the feathers that surrounded the man exploded!

    The two of them flew in different directions, but Mira ignored the pain and forced herself to keep up the pressure!

    She was going to kill this man here and now!!

    Mira took out her scythe, and despite her partially mangled body, she was somehow able to hold it.

    In a split second, she found the man lying on the ground, trying to regain his consciousness, but Mira wasn''t going to let him!

    She jumped on top of the man and began shing her scythe, pounding her golden tail, and attacking with what was leftover of her Paragon Wings!

    Her increased ice affinity ability may have just run out after that huge explosion, but Mira didn''t care. She just wanted to kill this man!

    Unfortunately for her, he was somehow able to form a shield around his body, protecting him from her attacks, but Mira kept up the pressure!

    In just a few seconds, Mira''s attacks were able to form cracks in his barrier, letting her know that her attacks were working!

    After about 10 seconds, Mira saw the barrier shatter, so she immediately backed away, then controlled the rest of the ''feathers'' to pierce into the man''s body and explode!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    The explosion wasn''t quite as big or deadly as the one before since her increased ice affinity ran out, but it was still powerful nheless.

    When the dust finally cleared, Mira saw the man''s mangled body lying on the ground, twitching. He had chunks of flesh missing, his bones were protruding, and Mira could even see some of his internal organs!

    However, somehow, the man was still alive!

    ''Hmmm�� If I''m not mistaken, that attack should have killed him. How is he still alive? Well, whatever, I''ll just kill him no-'' Mira thought to herself and began walking over to the man''s body, but before she could make it near him, she felt her blood freeze.

    She felt an unprecedented amount of danger, but she could also tell that it wasn''ting from the man lying in a pool of his own blood. No, it wasing from something else.

    Just then, a transparent figure of an evil-looking old man appeared above the mangled young man.

    He turned his head and looked at her in surprise.

    "So it was you who turned my disciple into this mess, huh? A mere pup who had just advanced to the Core Formation Realm was able to put him in such a state. I don''t know if I should be impressed by your strength or disappointed in my disciple." The old man looked intently at Mira, and although she knew this man was strong, very strong, she wasn''t scared.

    No, more than anything, she was angry! Angry that her prey was going to get away, and there was nothing she could do about it! Although the old man didn''t explicitly say he was going to take the young man away, she understood that since he showed up, she wasn''t allowed to finish him off for good.

    The old man kept looking at her as if he was trying to see through her secrets, but that''s easier said than done, especially since this isn''t even his real body.

    "You''re a strange one, child. I''ve never seen someone as peculiar as you. Even with my strength and experience, I can''t see through you at all. Tell me, what are you?" The old manmanded in a tone filled with authority, but Mira wasn''t bothered in the slightest.

    Her eyes twitched when the old man called her ''child'' as she was sure that her mental age probably surpassed this old man.

    However, she wasn''t in the mood to answer this foolish elder. Instead, her eyes narrowed and glowed crimson. Mira also channeled the energy in her pink tail, but instead of using it to target someone''s mind, Mira controlled that pink mist, so it entered her eyes.

    Then, before the old man could react, she unleashed all of her killing intent!

 Chapter 409 Over

    Before anyone could react, Mira''s killing intent crashed into the young man on the ground at full force! Even to the transparent old man, it felt like a mountain of corpses fell on him, threatening to crush him into meat paste.

    He''s been alive for a long time and has seen all kinds of people, but even he hasn''t felt such killing intent before! Of course, with his willpower and strength, it didn''t affect him at all; it merely surprised him.

    However, that split second where he was surprised was already too long. By the time he regained his calm, it was already toote.

    He looked at his disciple, and his face drastically changed!

    ? "What did you do, woman?!" He bellowed as if trying to threaten Mira, but she didn''t pay attention to him and kept releasing her killing intent until she felt satisfied.

    The old man waved his hand, creating a shield around the young man to prevent any further damage.

    He stared at Mira hatefully, but he couldn''t care about her right now. First, he has to take care of his disciple!

    He looked down and saw his disciple convulsing on the ground with the whites of his eyes showing.

    After a simple inspection, the old man immediately found out that his disciple not only had damage to his soul and mind, but a heart demon had formed as well. He didn''t know what Mira had just done, but it was clear that she was trying to cripple his disciple!

    Just the thought of that made him tremble in anger. He turned toward Mira and was about to kill her right then and there, but before he could do anything, Mira opened her mouth.

    With a sneer, she said, "Don''t look at me like that, geezer. This is a consequence of preventing me from killing my prey. Hehe~ Though you''re wee to kill me now, I don''t think that''ll fix your poor disciple. You should know it too. If he wants to ovee this situation, he will have to kill me with his own two hands. Well, I suppose that''s not the only way, but it''s definitely the fastest and most efficient. Who knows, he might even get stronger after all this."

    The old man stared intently at Mira as if he wanted to devour her whole, but he did nothing. In truth, he wasn''t even sure what happened. Why did she release her killing intent like that? Even if she did release her killing intent, it shouldn''t be enough to do something like this to his disciple. Also, what''s with this attitude? Why does it feel like the girl in front of him isn''t scared at all? Does she also have an expert like him watching over her?

    The old man had numerous questions running through his head as he considered his options. The girl in front of him was simply too mysterious. Not only was she able to put his disciple in such a state, but she could even carry on a normal conversation with such heavy injuries herself.

    Actually, now that he got a good look at her, Mira should be screaming in pain right about now, but from the look in her eyes, he could tell that she wasn''t bothered by her injuries. Such a thing isn''t normal, even in unorthodox Sects like the one he''s from. Sure, they might be used to pain, but not to such a degree.

    He''s also never seen someone as talented as the girl in front of him before. In his mind, it''s nearly impossible for a junior to reach such a level by themselves. Either they have some sort of heaven-defying treasure or arge backing.

    Either way, the old man didn''t want to unknowingly offend someone he shouldn''t have and risk not only his and his disciple''s life but the Sect''s as well.

    This was a problem his disciple started, so he should be man enough to see it through! Fortunately, it seems he''ll get another chance to kill this wretched woman, but even then, he felt his disciple would only be running to his death even if he managed to kill Mira.

    Ultimately, he decided to just leave Mira be for now.

    ''This is something you must ovee by yourself, my disciple. You started this mess, so you should be the one to end it. However, if any old monsterse and ask for your head as a consequence for killing this little girl, then your Master will, of course, step in and stop them.'' The old man thought to himself as he stared at his dying disciple.

    Seeing that he didn''t have much time left until his disciple actually died, he decided to leave.

    The old man stared back at Mira before threatening, "We''ll be back, little girl. However, the next time you try and do something sneaky like that in my presence, I won''t hesitate to kill you, regardless of whether it''ll harm my disciple or not."

    Mira felt her veins popping on the side of her head at being called a ''little girl'', but she wasn''t one to lose her temper so easily��

    "I look forward to it, boy. Hopefully, next time, that little kid will actually be able to give me a good fight."

    ��Okay, maybe she''s a little bit pissed off at being called a ''child, but how could she not be? Just because her body is youthful and sexy doesn''t mean she''s not an old soul! How dare this fucking geezer look down on her as if she''s some sort of child?!<sub> </sub>

    Now, it was the old man''s turn to feel his lips twitch. It''s been ages since someone has called him a ''body'', and it was done by a little girl, no less! However, he wasn''t going to sit here and argue with her about it. Right now, he just wanted to get out of here and heal his disciple.

    So, without saying anything else, the old man waved his hand, and the two of them disappeared from Mira''s sight.

    "Phew��!"

    Mira let out a huge sigh of relief when those two finally left. She may have acted all nonchnt in front of the old man, but the aura he exuded was enough to make all her hairs stand on ends.

    Although she''s still quite angry at the fact that she wasn''t able to kill that man, she also felt like this might actually turn out to be a good thing.

    Not only did she learn a lot about her strength and powers in that fight, but she also learned more about what she''scking.

    That whole time during the fight, Mira felt like she should be able to defeat that man. Maybe not with ease, but it should''ve been a hell of a lot easier to beat him if she was using her power to its fullest potential.

    However, that was far from being the case. Mira had no choice but to try and scheme her way to victory.

    But looking back on it, that may not have been the case. Although she wasn''t confident in winning against the man in a head-on battle, she shouldn''t be so weak that she could only get thrashed around.

    Just her Qi reserves alone should match those in the mid tote stages of the Core Formation Realm, and along with her powerful evolved body, her tails, and her new scythe, she should''ve been able at least to fight him for a while with her current power.

    Therein lies the problem. She couldn''t, or more urately, she didn''t know how to. The only ''proper'' ability she has is her Paragon Wings, but even that''s fairly rough. With how many meridians she has in her body, she should be able to make itst longer and be far more powerful than what it was.

    It also seems like there are some hidden abilities within her tails that she doesn''t know about that could also further increase her battle prowess.

    For example, the reason she was able to break a few bones in the man''s face with her golden tail is that she''s actually able to channel Qi from her Core into her tail to increase its weight and density.

    That''s something she only tried on a whim, but it worked! There''s also her charm ability from her pink tail.

    She can actuallybine her ''charm'' with her eyes, so when she unleashes her killing intent, it can actually do damage to them. Not only that, but the man seemed pretty susceptible to suggestions, so Mira was able to enter the man''s mind and force him to watch himself be tortured to death by her own hands.

    Although it was technically just a figment of his imagination, what he experienced in his mind felt real. He felt the pain of his skin tearing apart and his soul ripping to shreds. He felt the pain of his bones being plucked out of his body and his organs being dissolved.

    That''s not something any normal person can go through without forming some serious mental trauma, hence the reason for his heart demon.

    However, doing such a thing isn''t easy. If she was in the middle of a fight, she wouldn''t be able to do it as it would take most of her concentration.

    Those were just a few of the factors as to why she was able to win, but Mira also knew that if she had used her powers correctly and efficiently since the beginning, she never would''ve needed to run away with her tails between her legs.

    She could''ve beaten him in a fight, fair and square!

    ''It seems there''s still much for me to learn. When I get back, I''ll immediately start looking at ways I can improve my power!'' Mira thought to herself with a small smile on her face.

    She always looked forward to improving herself.

    With that said, Mira turned around and started making her way toward the Outer Court. For now, she really needed to meet up with Maria and get the girl to heal her. She''ll think about everything else afterward.

 Chapter 410 Mortal Cultivation Realms

    Slowly but surely, Mira made her way back to the Outer Court. Fortunately, she wasn''t too far away after that battle. Thus, she was able to make it there in about an hour or so.

    Walking through the Outer Court, she got many stares as she was drenched in blood, and anyone with eyes could tell she was severely injured. However, nobody stopped to help her. This was partly due to the Outer Court''spetitive environment but also because everyone was busy with their own things.

    The Outer Court is no ce for the weak, and that''s something that the older members preach along with the Elders of the Sect. It''s not a ce for making friends or having a good time. It''s a ce for creating warriors! Although teamwork can be important, as a whole, anyone in the Outer Court is nothing but canon fodder in times of war.

    Sure, there''ll be times when those in the Outer Court will have to go on team missions or learn how to cooperate together, but individual strength will always be more important.

    As the saying goes, a team is only as strong as the weakest link, and the Outer Court strives to weed out those kinds of people.

    That''s why, although many people felt like the right thing to do would be to help heal Mira, they kept it to themselves. They understood that Mira needed to ovee this herself.

    However, there''s one more, very simple reason why nobody wanted to help Mira.

    She looked way too scary right now!

    Those crimson eyes, clothes, and tails covered in blood, mangled limbs, and the savage aura radiating around her made her seem like a demon straight out of hell! What sort of crazy person would help her? She''s too scary!

    Mira just ignored all the stares and slowly made her way back home. Luckily, when she reached the valley, her subordinates noticed her and immediately brought Mira to her cave mansion.

    Maria, who was sitting in the bedroom cultivating, immediately sensed that something was wrong!

    She nearly had a heart attack when she came out and saw the state Mira was in!

    "Mira!! What in the world happened?! No, wait! Forget that! Let me heal you!"

    Maria rushed over to Mira, gently picked her up, and carried her into a room that Maria transformed into an infirmary while Mira was out doing missions. She had a feeling that they''d be needing something like this, but she just didn''t expect them to need it so soon.

    After beingid down on a soft mattress, Maria immediately began using the [Tranedent Restoration-Earthly Invigoration] technique. That,bined with Mira''s natural high natural recovery rate, allowed her to heal extremely quickly.

    Unfortunately, due to Mira''s severe injuries along with her strong body and overwhelming strengthpared to her cultivation, it''ll take Maria about a day or so to fully heal Mira.

    However, neither of them were sad about this. Just take Asami as an example. It took her nearly a full year to naturally heal from her injuries, and some of them weren''t even as bad as Mira''s!

    Granted, she doesn''t have a special bloodline or technique that can boost her recovery rate, and she was also unconscious for half of that time. This time definitely could''ve been sped up should she have any pills that could help heal her or if she was conscious for the first six months, but it still took her almost an entire year to heal nheless.

    This just goes to show how powerful Maria''s new Light Qi and Healing Technique is. Though, Mira also spected that part of her quick recovery speed is also attributed to the Phoenix blood running through her veins after she broke through.

    Although she doesn''t have a Phoenix Bloodline, it seems her bloodline did take on some of the characteristics of Phoenix.

    ***

    A dayter, Mira was sitting in her bed with all the books she received from Elder Sandra ced in front of her.

    Over thest day, Mira turned in her mission along with a few other missions that she inadvertentlypleted and received 6 Merit Points.

    She also told Maria everything that happened yesterday, though there''s not really much either of them can do there except getting stronger.

    Mira also asked Maria to go do missions over the next few days and to also find Cine. She was going to use them as sparring partners to help get used to and learn more about her powers.

    For now, though, Mira wanted to learn a bit more about the Cultivation World.

    The first book Mira started with was called [Mortal Cultivation Realms]. Just like the name implies, it''s a book about all the Mortal Cultivation Realms.

    The first three Realms, the [Body Tempering], [Qi Condensation], and [Foundation] Realms, are all rtively straightforward.

    In the [Body Tempering Realm], one has to prepare the body by strengthening it to allow Qi to be collected in the body without bursting apart.<sub> </sub>

    In the [Qi Condensation Realm], one has to absorb Qi into their meridians while constantly condensing for 9 stages. Doing so will allow the body to limate to having a higher density of Qi inside it while simultaneously strengthening it.

    The [Foundation Realm] is simr to the [Qi Condensation Realm], except that instead of absorbing Qi into one''s meridians, one has to absorb Qi and spread it out equally throughout the rest of one''s body.

    It''s this Realm that truly separates the talented and hardworking from thezy because there isn''t exactly a set standard for when one should break through to the [Core Formation Realm]. While each person might have a different limit for how much Qi their body can store, you don''t actually have to reach that limit to breakthrough into the [Core Formation Realm].

    As long as you go through the necessary steps to break through the Stages in the [Foundation Realm], then you can break through to the [Core Formation Realm]�� supposedly.

    Fortunately, when Mira, Maria, and Cine broke through to the [Core Formation Realm], their bodies were at the absolute limit of what they could handle in the [Foundation Realm].

    Just as the name implies, the [Foundation Realm] sets a foundation for what your cultivation journey will be built on. Then, in the [Core Formation Realm], you try and bring this foundation to its fullest potential.

    Although oddly enough, the [Core Formation Realm] isn''t too different than the [Foundation Realm]. However, instead of collecting and condensing Qi equally throughout your body, you only do it inside your Core.

    However, there are still a few differences that separate the [Core Formation Realm] from the [Foundation Realm], all of whiche from the Core.

    One''s Core is essentially a materialization of one''s foundation. Using a Core Formation Recipe can help increase the depth of this foundation if used correctly while also adding other benefits as well.

    It''s this foundation that sets a limit to how far you can rise in the cultivation world. If you didn''t spend enough time or resources deepening your Foundation, then you''ll eventually reach a bottleneck that is impossible to cross no matter what kind of treasures you have.

    The reason being?

    Your Core won''t be able to handle the pressure of the Qi needed to breakthrough. The density of Qi inside your Core will be too much for it to handle, and it''ll burst apart, causing all of your cultivation to go down the drain.

    This is why so many people in the cultivation world preach about deepening one''s foundation because it''s literally your potential!

    The next 5 Realms after those are the [Nascent Soul Realm], [Soul Transformation Realm], [Mortal Shedding Realm], [Divine Sea Realm], and the [Ascension Realm] or otherwise known as the [Immortal Ascension Realm].

    ording to the book Mira was reading, these Realms are essentially there to help set the foundation for when you try ascending to immortality. This is because an Immortal isn''t as simple as just someone who is capable of living forever. No, those ssified as ''immortals'', are higher forms of life.

    They are superior to mortals in every way possible. In fact, calling them gods instead wouldn''t be that much of an exaggeration.

    The book doesn''t go into much detail as to why these Realms are necessary to breakthrough, much to Mira''s disappointment. But it made sense.

    Fortunately, it did go into some details for each Realm. For example, the [Nascent Soul Realm] is about turning the ever-elusive soul into something tangible and then making it stronger.

    The [Soul Transformation Realm] is about turning your soul into a personification of your ''path'', whatever that means, and further refining it through the various minor Realms. Mira didn''t quite understand this one, but she wasn''t too bothered by this.

    The [Mortal Shedding Realm] is all about, well, shedding your mortal shell and prepping your body for its ''Ascension''. The book didn''t go into a whole lot of detail about this Realm except that during this stage, your appearance will transform back into its peak form.

    For example, if an old and decrepit-looking person went through the stages of the [Mortal Shedding Realm], they''d turn back from an old person to someone who barely looked a day over 20. Doing this will help bring out your full potential.

    As for the [Divine Sea Realm] and the [Ascension Realm], there was hardly anything written about them in the book, but Mira wasn''t too surprised by this. In fact, Mira had some serious doubts as to whether the Battle Maiden Sect even had someone at the Ascension Realm.

    This book seemed to be made based on first-hand experience along with testimonies of other cultivators, so it''s only natural that information on the two highest Realms in the Mortal World wouldn''t be recorded in some book that any Elder of the Sect can get their hands on.

    All this information was great and helped broaden Mira''s horizons. However, what truly surprised Mira was thest paragraph in the book.

    It talked about how these Realms are more like guidelines. While one needs to go through these Realms in order to Ascend, that doesn''t mean that everyone will go through them equally or the same.

    One''s understanding, cultivation technique, bloodline, physique, Dao, affinity, and more all y into one''s cultivation path.

    This surprised Mira as it made her think about her own path and how different it would bepared to others.

 Chapter 411 Dao

    Knowing more about the Cultivation Realms after the Soul Transformation Realm helped Mira to realize that one''s Dao isn''t as simple as she thought it was. It seems like the two were more intertwined than she previously thought.

    Throughout most of her cultivation journey so far, Mira hasn''t spent that much time focusing on her Dao, the Absolute Ice Dao. For one, she just didn''t fully understand the importance and intricacies of her Dao.

    <o>,m She knew that if she used her Absolute Ice Dao properly, it could be a very powerful weapon, but just based on her previous experiences, the amount of power she got in exchange for using it was negligible. She felt like her time was better spent elsewhere.</o>

    However, now it seems her thoughts have been incorrect. Her Dao is essentially for breaking through some of theter Realms. Who knows, she might need to reach a certain point in her Dao to ascend to the Immortal Realm!

    That leads to the next book Mira started reading after the [Mortal Cultivation Realms] book she had just finished. This book is called [Dao for Dummies].

    Mira ignored the name and began reading. It took her several hours to read andprehend everything contained within the book, but by the end of it, she had a much clearer understanding of what a ''Dao'' really is. Of course, most of it is up to interpretation, and different people will have different views, but this is how Mira understood it.

    Essentially, one''s ''Dao'', at its core, is what you want to do. Some people love fighting, while others love sewing, or maybe you like making weapons. At its core, one''s Dao is one''s way of life.

    However, things aren''t so simple here in the Cultivation World. In other worlds where there''s no concept of a ''Dao''. People''s ''way of life'' can differ and change throughout their lives. You can be a cksmith, guard, King, and farmer all in the same life.

    Although you can also do that in the Cultivation World, one''s Dao, or in other words, their way of life, is, quite frankly, their life.

    It''s the core of their existence. To not follow the path that you yourself set is the same thing as denying your existence. That''s why one''s Dao is extremely important! Worst of all, you can only have one Dao.

    When Mira read this, she thought: What the fuck? Is this a scam?

    But it wasn''t without reason.

    Life is unpredictable, and a single thought or encounter can change your outlook on life forever. If you''re unable to be a bit flexible, aren''t you just a ve to your own Dao?

    However, it seems that things aren''t as bad as she thought. For example, Mira''s Dao is the Absolute Ice Dao.

    Her ''way of life'' is for her ice to be ''absolute''. This doesn''t mean she can''t use her scythe or fight with her fists. It just means that she wants to use her ice to rule over everything. She''s still free to have a family, create a Sect, and live a peaceful life, among other things, should she want to.

    However, when her innate desire to have her ice be absolute changes, she''ll find it quite difficult to progress any further. Not only that, but all the progress she put into increasing herprehension of her Dao will be removed, and depending on how far she''s gone, she''ll probably face a bacsh.

    This is simply because her desire to get stronger, her reason for cultivating, her path forward, the reason for her existence thus far, has just been denied by none other than herself.

    Of course, things aren''t so simple. For one, changing a cultivator''s innate desire is not easy. This is the reason they are cultivating, for crying out loud! How could their thoughts change so easily?!

    Upon reaching this point, although Mira understood what the book was trying to say, she also didn''t understand it at all.

    Like, what if someone''s Dao is ''revenge''? Would that mean that once they get their revenge, they''ve reached the end of their Dao? That makes no sense!

    However, ording to the book, that''s not the case. One''s Dao cannot and will not be something as flimsy and unreliable as ''revenge''. This is the innate desire of a cultivator, not something, and it''s based on fragile things like emotions.<sub> </sub>

    This is the path that you, as a cultivator, want to take! Not you as a person!

    Take Mira as a prime example. Her entire life, for as long as she can remember, has been a life where nothing other than revenge has been on her mind. By now, it should be something that has been engraved in her mind, body, and soul. Yet, her Dao has nothing to do with revenge.

    It''s a culmination of Mira''s extreme affinity for ice, her innate desire to stand on top, and even her desire to rule. No, it''s not necessarily a desire to rule over people or over a kingdom or something like that. It''s just that, as someone who wants to stand at the pinnacle, how can she havepetitors? Only she can be the best; nobody else can! If someone triespeting with her, then she just has to force them into submission.

    The ones she''s forcing into submission here are the various other Elements that make up the world.

    At least, that''s how Mira understood things. Whether or not she was actually right remains to be seen, but she felt like she probably wasn''t far off from the truth.

    Knowing this stuff is all well and good, but Mira wanted more! She wanted to know if there were various Realms or how a Dao differs from one''s affinity. Things of that nature.

    Luckily, the book had all this stuff in there.

    ording to it, in the Mortal Realm, there aren''t any specific Realms for one''s Dao. This is because, unlike cultivation, it''s hard to quantify one''s way of life or goal. Well, Mira could probably do it, but her Dao is a bit peculiar.

    The book just said that once you''ve ''hit a wall'', that''s when you know you''ve reached the limit of what you can achieve with your Dao in the Mortal Realm. There wasn''t anything other than that and Mira was lucky to even get that information!

    How many people in the Mortal Realm have actually reached the limit of their Dao before ascending? Mira didn''t know, but she''s sure that the number is probably staggeringly low.

    As for how a Dao differentiates from one''s affinity, that should be quite obvious. One is simply how in tune one is with the elements, and the other is one''s path. At least for most people, that''s the case, but Mira''s situation is a bit unique. Her path and her affinities are one and the same.

    Her Dao is solely based on the ice element, and since her affinity and Dao essentiallye from the same source, i.e. her existence, they can be counted as one. So, whenever Mira increases herprehension of ice in rtion to her Dao, she''s also increasing her affinity at the same time. This goes for the other elements as well.

    However, this is just what Mira was able to conclude based on her understanding of what the book was trying to say. Even then, she was still a bit confused about some parts.

    For one, she didn''t quite understand what the book meant when it said, "you can enforce your Dao upon the world with enough willpower!"

    Such vague sentences were quitemon in the book, but Mira took these words to heart as she figured she might eventually understand their meaning in the future.

    By the end of it all, she pretty much got everything she needed to know out of the book, and just from this amount of knowledge, Mira understood the things she needed to improve upon.

    There are still plenty of mysteries surrounding her Dao and how to increase herprehension in it, but those mysteries will eventually reveal themselves in due time, so she wasn''t too worried.

    However, Mira understood that she should probably start meditating more often to learn more about her path and what it means to be ''absolute''. Besides that, she needs to learn how to control her Dao!

    The segment, "...enforce your Dao upon the world��," really struck Mira, and she was eager to learn how to properly enforce her Dao upon the world. She knew that her Dao wasn''t so simple and that she should be utilizing it more in battle as it could prove vital, especially against those with the same affinity as her, but again, she just hadn''t felt much of a need to use it in battle.

    At least, not until now. After almost suffering at the hands of that young man yesterday, she knew she needed to improve in every way possible, or else she''ll really die the next time the F.LD.I.L sends someone to kill her.

 Chapter 412 Other Forms Of Cultivation

    There were still a few more books left after Mira finished going through the [Mortal Cultivation Realms] and [Dao for Dummies] books. She still had books on Weapon, Body, and Soul Cultivation, along with books regarding the grading system for items and how to make techniques or abilities.

    Although Mira was excited to learn more about body cultivation, she had a feeling that the information in the book wouldn''t be of much use to her. The same goes for Soul Cultivation. Now that she''s the inheritor of the F.LD.I.L, she felt like her path would be slightly differentpared to what''s known by most people.

    Still, these were all things she needed to know in case she ends up facing a body or a soul cultivator in the future.

    So, the next book Mira read was the book on Weapon Cultivation, though calling it a book is a bit of a stretch. There are only a few pieces of paper on what Weapon Cultivation is.

    After a few minutes of reading, Mira understood the gist of Weapon Cultivation and why it''s so sought after.

    She can also use what she learned from Cine to make sense of the things written here as well.

    Weapon Cultivation is different from other forms of cultivation and can''t really be called ''cultivation'' at all. Though it''s often called Weapon Cultivation, some people seem to refer to it as Weapon Endowment as well.

    To progress further down the path of a weapon is all about one''s foundation,prehensive ability, and luck.

    The foundation is, to put it simply, how well you''ve attuned your weapon to your body structure and fighting style. If you just copy someone else''s moves and fail toe up with your own to perfect your own style, your foundation will be severelycking.

    You need a highprehensive ability because just training without understanding what you''re actually doing is pointless.

    As for luck, well, to reach the next Realm, you first need to be enlightened. This enlightenment will help pave the way forward for you based on your foundations and understanding of your weapon.

    Of course, this enlightenment can also go hand-in-hand with one''sprehensive ability, but most people need some form of luck to reach a state of enlightenment.

    All of this sounded pretty vague to Mira, but seeing how little people actually know about the Realms of Weapon Endowment, it makes sense.

    All she was able to get out of it is that one''s Weapon Endowment is unique to each person and that as long as she trains her scythe to the point where she can bring out its maximum potential with her body alone, she''ll be able to progress to the next Realm: Intent.

    Just as the name implies, Intent is when you reach a point in your understanding that you''re able to enforce your will(intent) on the world around you.

    For example, Cine''s Saber Intent is nothing but her understanding of the Saber forced upon the world with her willpower.

    However, of course, things aren''t necessarily that simple. Although Mira''s willpower is abnormally high, she can''t just force her understanding of the scythe to manifest outside her body by sheer willpower before even reaching that stage.

    Not only will doing that be a waste of time, but even if she seeds, it wouldn''t be nearly as powerfulpared to if she went through the process naturally.

    <o>,m That''s what the enlightenment is for! It''s to help one fully understand their path and foundations while also helping them turn this understanding into something tangible.</o>

    Not much else other than that is known about Weapon Intent. The primary reason for this is that people who haveprehended Weapon Intent are already rare, to begin with. Lastly, nobody wants to share their secrets with the world. Those who are able to progress down the path of Weapon Endowment have a natural advantage over others inbat.

    Weapon Intent and the Realms after it are not only harder to defend against, but how much one can use it is solely reliant on their willpower. So, if someone has extraordinarily high willpower like Mira uses, they have a near-infinite source of power that doesn''t rely on any outside forces!<sub> </sub>

    Unfortunately, there are a few ''downsides'' to Weapon Endowment. Such as, the quality of one''s Intent is dependent on one''s understanding. It can''t be increased in any other way. So, if Mira were to use Scythe Intent, despite how much willpower she has, she won''t be able to increase the power of her Scythe Intent without the necessaryprehension.

    To put it simply, one''s Willpower is the quantity, one''sprehension and foundation are the quality, and enlightenment is the way to break through each major Realm.

    As for the actual Realms of Weapon Endowment, there are only 3 known Realms in the Mortal World: [Intent], [Manifestation], and [Ruler].

    Unfortunately, there is no information about the [Manifestation] and [Ruler] Realms. At least, Mira doesn''t have the necessary credentials for this information. As for what Qi Cultivation Realms these corrte to, [Intent] corrtes to the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realms. [Manifestation] corrtes to the Soul Transformation and Mortal Shedding Realms. While [Ruler] corrtes to the Divine Sea and Ascension Realms.

    This doesn''t mean that Cine is as strong as someone in the Nascent Soul Realm with her Saber Intent. It just means that the limits of power of someone who hasprehended [Intent] are between the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm. The actual power one holds is based on theirprehension.

    Unfortunately, Mira couldn''t do much with this knowledge. She was hoping that maybe there would be something a little more useful in these papers about Weapon Endowment, but it seems she''ll just have to keep training with her scythe until she eventually is able to create Scythe Intent.

    Moving on to the next subject, Mira decided to focus on the other two forms of cultivation she was interested in: Soul and Body Cultivation.

    She knew that Body Cultivation was a thing, but she didn''t know if one could cultivate their Soul as well.

    Unfortunately for Mira, there wasn''t much information regarding Soul Cultivation, and it was all just theories.

    This is because several Realms, like the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realms, exist in Qi cultivation that focus on the Soul; not many people want to waste their time focusing on something that they''ve already done.

    The theories only state that Soul Cultivation might be possible or other races might focus more on the Soul than their body and Qi, but for those following the Qi Cultivation path, it''s not necessary to focus on cultivating the Soul and is only a waste of time.

    The papers also state that Qi Cultivation is almost like the best of both Body and Soul cultivation because as one absorbs more Qi, their bodies get stronger as well. Not as much as a Body Cultivator, but it still has to be strong enough to hold all that Qi.

    The same goes for the Soul. Since there are Realms that focus more on the Soul in Qi Cultivation, it, too, grows stronger the farther one progresses.

    As for Body Cultivation, the papers Elder Sandra gave Mira didn''t mention much other than there are various forms of Body Cultivation and that they vary per race as well. To start out with, there are technically two types of Body Cultivation: External and Internal.

    External Body Cultivation is when someone uses a technique like Mira''s Magma Dragon Body Tempering Technique to strengthen their body. External Body Cultivation uses techniques, pills, or other forms of training to strengthen one''s body. There''s nothing wrong with doing this, and often times these techniques or training can bring benefits other than strengthening the body.

    However, Internal Body Cultivation is more focused on bringing out the maximum potential of one''s body. In a sense, this form of body cultivation is more like evolution than actual cultivation. For example, Humans have various ''gates'' hidden in their bodies, and by unlocking them, a human gets closer to reaching the apex of what their race is capable of.

    Unlocking these gates not only can make the body stronger, but it also provides various abilities for each gate that''s opened.

    Elves, Demons, Mermaids, and all other races have different ways to raise their Internal Body Cultivation, and the effects are different as well. Elves, for example, also have their own Internal Body Cultivation, but it doesn''t raise their physical strength muchpared to humans and instead is more focused on their affinity for the elements and Qi.

    That''s the extent of the information Mira was allowed to read, but she was satisfied with just this amount. Mira was no longer human, actually, she''s not quite sure what race she is. Therefore, this information helped prevent Mira from needlessly trying to cultivate a Human''s Internal Body Cultivation technique.

    However, at the same time, she felt like her roots were still intertwined with humanity, so she might be able to take inspiration from their Internal Body Cultivation to help her find her own.

 Chapter 413 Grades

    Mira decided to leave the book on how to create your own techniques forst as she felt it would be the more impactful and focused on the one describing the various ranks for Weapons, Pills, Arrays, Formations, Techniques, treasures, ores, etc.

    After a few minutes of reading, Mira learned that there are 7 different rankings for the items in the Mortal Realm, with Grade having 4 substages-Low, Mid, Late, and Peak.

    They are:

    Human Grade: Meant for those in the Body Tempering Realm.

    Mortal Grade: Meant for those in the Qi Condensation and Foundation Realm.

    Earth Grade: Meant for those in the Core Formation Realm.

    Heaven Grade: Meant for those in the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realm.

    Mystical Grade: Meant for those in the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    Divine Grade: Meant for those in the Divine Sea and Ascension Realm.

    Origin Grade: Can be used in any Realm, and the power varies depending on the user and what''s being used.

    Many things go into how something is graded, but it''s mostly based on the density of the aura released by the product. Or in cases like Arrays and Formations, it''s determined by their power, efficiency, and the quality of Spirit Stones they use.

    As for pills, they are mostly graded by the ingredients used to make them, along with the effects of the pill.

    Well, there are many other ways to grade an item, but these are the ones used the most.

    However, there are rare items that don''t belong to any of these grades and thus fall under the Origin Grade. These are items that could be the most useless trash in one person''s hands while also being an ultimate treasure in another''s.

    Unbeknownst to Mira, along with the rest of humanity, Mira was actually able to purchase an Origin Grade product from the Mercenary Association: [Liquid Metal].

    That''s because this metal is too hard to work with, and humans have been using it wrong this entire time.

    On the surface, this metal is seemingly useless. It has a low boiling point, needs excessively cold temperatures to turn into a solid, and loses its form quite easily as it is a liquid. Making a weapon out of it using normal means is virtually impossible, and even if someone did manage to create one, it would just turn back into a liquid not long after.

    Hell, even if someone were a cksmithing genius at the Ascension Realm, they still wouldn''t be able to use this metal properly. Its properties are just too unique.

    However, Mira''s Core seamlessly merged it with her scythe, which is also tied to her cultivation, effectively making it an Origin-Grade growth-type weapon that will grow alongside the user. That''s why calling Mira''s scythe a Stage 1 Core Formation Realm scythe isn''t necessarily wrong.

    Unfortunately, even now, Mira still doesn''t know how amazing a resource like [Liquid Metal] is or how it merged with her scythe, and even if she did know, she probably wouldn''t understand it.

    Well, frankly speaking, several of the items used during Mira''s breakthrough were Origin-Grade items.

    The Immemorial Dao Comprehension Ice, Chaotic Silk, World Tree Seed, Samsara Dogwood Tree, and it wouldn''t be a stretch to say that Mira''s bloodline is an Origin-Grade bloodline as well though that wouldn''t be exactly correct.

    Also, with how Mira''s Core used the [Dao Comprehension Stone] during her breakthrough, that could also count as an Origin Grade item, though Dao Comprehension Stones are a bit unique.

    These kinds of stonese in all different shapes and sizes. They can also be used for different things, but most of the time, they are used to help people attain enlightenment. However, they affect each person differently and only really help when you are already on the cusp of enlightenment.

    It''s not like having one around you will put you in a constant state of enlightenment.

    Unfortunately, aside from that, these stones don''t have much of a use. There are different grades of Dao Comprehension Stones, but their effects remain the same. Only the quality is increased.

    However, when Mira merged with one, it allowed Mira to enter a pseudo-enlightened state as long as she focused hard enough.

    Such effects could only be categorized as something within the Origin Grade!<sub> </sub>

    So, unknowingly, Mira''s existence contains many different Origin Grade items that will constantly grow as her cultivation rises.

    Aside from that, Mira was curious about why Divine Grade items are split between both the Divine Sea Realm and the Ascension Realm. She thought for sure that those in the Ascension Realm would use Immortal Weapons or at least Psuedo-Immortal Weapons, but it seems that''s not the case.

    The book doesn''t borate much, but based on her limited knowledge of the Immortal Realm and Immortal beings in general, there''s a substantial difference between something that can be called ''Immortal'' and something that is not.

    Even just referring to something as a half-step Immortal or Pseudo-Immortal is impossible. Someone or something is either Immortal, or it''s not. There is no in-between.

    Actually, Mira was also curious as to why every other Grade corrted to two Realm while the other Grades only corrted to one.

    But, ording to the papers, it just says that it happened to turn out like that. Part of the reason, though, is because of Spirit Stones.

    Spirit Stones are also separated into 4 stages-Low, Mid, Late, and Peak-but the cultivation Realms that these stages are useful for vary greatly.

    Low-Grade Spirit Stones are meant for those in the Core Formation Realm and below.

    Mid-Grade Spirit Stones are meant for those in the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realms.

    Late-Grade Spirit Stones are meant for those in the Mortal Shedding Realm, while Peak-Grade Spirit Stones are meant for those in the Divine Sea and Ascension Realms.

    As for the reason why 3 different grade ssifications are for the 4 Realms that Low-Grade Spirit Stones are useful for? That''s simple!

    Those in the Body Tempering Realm can''t use Qi and are still just normal humans with a bit of strength. Thus, the items they can use are limited to what normal humans can use. People are unable to store Qi in their bodies at this stage and have no use for Spirit Stones.

    Those in the Qi Condensation and Foundation Realm can use Qi and have officially started their cultivation journey, allowing them to use items containing Qi. It''s only obvious that Low-Grade Spirit Stones are useful for these people.

    As for Earth Grade items meant for Core Formation Realm experts, those items are fundamentally differentpared to Human and Mortal Grade items, but even then, Low-Grade Spirit Stones are pretty much the limit for these items.

    Since 1 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone is equivalent to 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones, the jump to using Mid-Grade Spirit Stones is quiterge. That''s not to say that using Mid-Grade Spirit Stones at a lower Realm isn''t useful, but Low-Grade Spirit Stones work just fine in these Realms.

    The efficiency only takes a steep decline once one hits the Nascent Soul Realm and are almost forced to rely on Mid-Grade Spirit Stones unless they want to unload tens, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of Low-Grade Spirit Stones every time they cultivate for extended periods of time.

    This only gets worse for those in the Nascent Soul Realm as they might go into Seclusion for years or decades at a time, causing them to waste countless Spirit Stones if they were to only use Low-Grade ones.

    That''s part of the reason for several different item grades among lower cultivation Realms, but there''s something else that Mira found quite odd.

    Why are Late-Grade Spirit Stones only meant for those in the Mortal Shedding Realm?

    Hell, even Peak-Grade Spirit Stones are separated into two different Realms! Logically, it doesn''t make sense, but maybe that''s the reason why this Realm has its own Grade as well, the Mystical Grade.

    Mira figured there must be something special with the Mortal Shedding Realm, but she decided to put that in the back of her mind. Even the book she read on the Mortal Cultivation Realms also had very little information on the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    That''s about everything there is on the grading system of the Mortal Realm. Mira figured there were probably a few other things she was missing, but this was more than enough for now.

    Thest thing she decided to get to is the book on Heavenly Tribtions, but this one was especially short. It just said that for every Major Realm after the Core Formation Realm, one will have to go through a Heavenly Tribtion.

    These tribtions are meant to test one''s foundations and help provide the necessary energy to break through to the next Realm. Basically, as long as you didn''t use forceful means to break through, the tribtion shouldn''t be too hard.

    There was some other nonsense about Heavenly Tribtions, but Mira didn''t care about that. She wanted to know more about Heavenly Punishment Tribtions!

    Unfortunately, it seems she is either not permitted to learn about this information or the Battle Maiden Sect doesn''t have any records on it.

    Mira put the papers down and turned her sight to thest book, the one about how to create Techniques!

 Chapter 414 Techniques And Abilities

    Now, after getting through all that information, Mira was finally able to move on to thest book! The one about creating techniques!

    She wasn''t expecting much, as Mira felt like it would be counterintuitive to teach disciples of the Sect how to create their own techniques. If they were to do that, then what would be the point of selling their techniques?

    But as long as she understood the theory behind creating a technique, she''d be able to go from there.

    The book this time also wasn''t very big and only took Mira around an hour to read andprehend the entire thing, and from what she found out, everything boiled down to one''s meridians and imagination.

    However, before delving into the specifics of how a technique is created, first, we must understand the differences between techniques and abilities.

    At first nce, the two are nearly identical. They both use Qi to perform some type of action, but that''s about all they have inmon.

    To begin with, Techniques are simr to martial arts stances in multiple ways. For one, to use a technique correctly is to follow a certain pathway through one''s meridians, simr to stances in a martial art.

    And just like martial arts, a single stance or move doesn''t make up the entire martial art. It is a culmination of simr tactics, stances, and moves that make up a martial art.

    The same goes for techniques! A technique is not just a single attack, defense, or support action. It is a string of simr actions, all with the same foundation.

    An ability, on the other hand, is like Mira''s ice needles. The meridian pathways one takes aren''t necessary, and there are no follow-up abilities to capitalize on the momentum of creating an ice needle.

    However, that doesn''t mean meridian pathways aren''t meaningless. They are simply unnecessary for the most part. The reason they don''t matter is that most abilities use very little Qi, to begin with. What difference would it make if the meridian pathways were slightly more efficient? The power would be the same, and the amount of Qi used would practically be the same.

    Even Mira''s Paragon Wings don''t necessarily need to follow a specific meridian pathway. She just needs to get the Qi out of her body to transform it into feathers that will ultimately make up her Paragon Wings.

    Next, Mira learned the reason why all of this is possible: Qi.

    Qi is a very mystical and near-omnipresent entity. The number of things one can do with Qi or simply what it can do by existing is too many to count. The limit of what Qi can do is, quite literally, the limit of one''s imagination.

    From what the book says, to create your own technique, you must clearly understand what you want to happen. Then you will use this understanding to find the best possible meridian pathways one must take to execute it.

    This is what sets the foundation for the technique. Each step from then on must follow a simr pattern as to what the foundation has been set to.

    Of course, there are exceptions to everything, but this is generally how techniques are created.

    This might not seem thatplicated in theory, but that couldn''t be farther from the truth. Creating a Technique, especially a powerful one, not only takes time but can be incredibly dangerous.

    One wrong move, and your meridians could be severely damaged. In more extreme cases, you couldpletely destroy your meridians, crippling your ability to cultivate, or just simply die!

    This is why they don''t teach hot-blooded youths how to create their own techniques because if they did, they are essentially crippling part of the future generation of disciples.

    Plus, it''s not like it''s bad to use someone else''s technique. Unless their situation is unique, most humans have the same number of meridians. For the most part, these meridians are also in simr positions within one another''s bodies.

    That''s not to say they are in the exact same spots since that''s impossible, but they are close enough where there is no risk in following someone else''s Technique.

    In many cases, it''s probably better to use someone else''s Technique.

    This is also the case for many humanoid races like Elves, Mermaids, and Demons. Unless a technique is specifically for a particr race, then it can most likely be used by other races as well.

    However, Mira''s situation is a bit different. She has countless meridians running through her body. This is both good and bad. It''s good because she can make her Techniques more powerful and efficient than if she were just following others. The downside is that she has to find the correct pathways when creating Techniques.

    It also shouldn''t be a problem for her to use Techniques other people created because of how many meridians she has, but they just wouldn''t be nearly as good if she were to make her own.

    That being said, she also can''t pass down any Techniques she creates to others since nobody has as many meridians and possible pathways as she does.<sub> </sub>

    Lastly, Mira doesn''t have to worry too much about facing a possible bacsh if she were to fail when creating a technique. Her current meridians, which are lined with Chaotic Silk, aren''t so weak that they can''t take a few hits.

    This would make things easier for Mira, but that doesn''t mean that it''ll be easy to create her own Techniques. It just means that she can experiment at her own leisure without having to worry about leaving hidden injuries in her body.

    After going through all this information, Mira began thinking about what sort of technique she wanted to create, but it seems despite having the perfect body for creating them, Mira couldn''te up with a single thing.

    All she knew was that she wanted to develop some sort of Scythe Technique that could incorporate all of her abilities into one technique, especially the small ck runes, but that''s all.

    Well, it wouldn''t do her much good even if she was able to visualize what kind of technique she wanted because she still hadn''t fully grasped all of her powers yet. Not to mention, she needs to refine the fundamentals of how she uses the scythe.

    Maybe once she is able to create Scythe Intent, will she be able to start working on a personalized technique.

    Once Mira was done reading, she put stored all the books and immediately began meditating.

    Her goal with this meditation wasn''t to try ande up with a technique or anything like that. She merely wanted to let all of the information she soaked up over thest few hours to sink in.

    All of the things she''s learned has given her an insight into what she''scking and how she should move forward from now on.

    A dayter, Mira released a deep breath and opened her eyes, which shone with rity that wasn''t present before.

    "I now have a general idea of how I should progress from this point on," Mira muttered to herself before looking at the door.

    "You cane in now, Maria."

    Right after Mira said that, the door opened, and Maria stepped through with a smile on her face. The smile looked natural and didn''t have any particr meaning behind it, but Mira found herself almost entranced by it.

    She could tell that the smile wasn''t forced and that Maira was genuinely happy.

    It''s this smile that has been slowly but surely mending Mira''s cold, dead heart. For the first time in a long time, Mira felt the need to protect something. She wanted to protect that smile��

    "Hey, Mira! Did you finish your little study session?"

    Mira''s thoughts were interrupted by Maria''s voice.

    "Mhm. I learned a lot. I''m d Elder Sandra gave me these books to read. I can see my path forward more clearly now," Mira said.

    "That''s great! You''ll have to share some of the information with meter. Hehe~ As for right now�� I have something else in mind~~" Maria said in a seductive voice as she sauntered her way over to Mira.

    Looking at Maria''s lewd body, Mira felt her eyes narrowing like a beast that was about to pounce on its prey.

    Maria inwardly smirked, seeing the way Mira was looking at her as she just loved the fact that Mira coveted her body. What woman wouldn''t want their lover to desire their body?

    Soon, Maria sat on Mira''sp, and the two shared a deep passionate kiss. Momentster, the two were naked, with Mira hovering imposingly over Maria''s body.

    "You know, I was worried about you after you came home with all those injuries. How are you going to make it up to me?" Maria asked in a seductive voice.

    "Hmph! Maybe I shoulde home like that more often if you''re going to act this sexy~~."

    "No, you shou-Ahhhnn~!"

    From then on, for the next few hours, the two of them shared a hot and steamy night where Mira thoroughly ravished her lover.

 Chapter 415 Sparring With Celaine Part 1

    In one of the training rooms, Mira and Cine were currently standing opposite of each other, ready for battle.

    "Are you sure you''re fully healed, Mira? I would find no satisfaction in beating you if you weren''t in perfect health." Cine asked while pointing her saber at Mira.

    "Heh. There''s no need to worry about me. You should know me by now. Even if I were injured, my battle prowess would only take a slight drop, which would still be more than enough to beat you." Mira sneered as she took out her scythe.

    "Yeah, yeah. So, how do you want to do this? I know that our spars can get a little�� out of hand, but I assume the whole reason you want to spar with me is to hone your scythe skills. Therefore, would you prefer we go all out, or do you just want to start out with our weapon skills?" Cine asked as she wasn''t given much information.

    Maria only told her to stop by their home when she was free. Of course, Cine figured that it was because Mira wanted to spar with her, but that was about it.

    "It wouldn''t be much fun if we went all out from the start, and I''d really like to see how far you''vee with your saber," Mira said, and Cine nodded.

    Cine could instinctively feel how dangerous the current Mira was. She had the feeling that if they were to go all out, she''d need to defeat Mira on the first strike, or else her chances of winning would basically crumble to nothing.

    However, no matter how amazing her Saber Intent is, defeating Mira on the first strike is also nearly impossible. Mira''s instincts are just too strong, and even if she was caught and forced to take a hit, it''s almost guaranteed that Mira would be able to avoid damage to her vitals.

    On the contrary, in a spar only involving weapon skills, Cine felt she had a pretty good chance of beating Mira! The only thing she has to worry about in this kind of fight is Mira''s overwhelming amount ofbat experience.

    Mira, though, was excited about this spar. She''s been looking forward to this day for a while now, and now that Maria has that godly healing technique, it doesn''t matter if they get hurt! As long as they don''t lose any limbs or anything like that, she should be able to be as brutal as she wants!

    Mira unconsciously released a demonic smile that showed off her canines, causing the surrounding people to feel a chill run down their spines. This goes for Maria, Dominique, Alice, and a few others who are watching on the side. Asami was also watching, but she hadn''t been tortured-ahem, trained by Mira before, so she wouldn''t understand the terrors thate along with that smile.

    "Try not to do too much damage to each other, especially you, Mira. You just finished healing from all those serious injuries! If things get too dangerous, I''ll step in to stop you guys." Maria said while looking at Mira in concern.

    Mira nced at her and winked, "You say that, but I bet you''re looking forward to taking advantage of my weakened and vulnerable state like you did the other day."

    Maria''s face turned a bit red, but she''s always been quite shameless, so this level of embarrassment wasn''t much to her.

    "T-That''s right! It''s fine if you get a little injured. Cine, I''m counting on you! Just make it so she''ll be bedridden for a few hours!"

    Cine suddenly had the urge to beat up Maria instead, but she figured the best course of action would be to just ignore Maria''s words entirely and focus on the spar with Mira.

    So, she just focused all of her attention on Mira, and she could tell that Mira was doing the same thing.

    Soon, the tension in the air seemed almost palpable, but neither Mira nor Cine said anything.

    That''s because the spar has already started.

    Asami, who was watching from the side, was surprised by the sudden change in atmosphere. It almost felt like the two were ready to kill each other!

    ''Aren''t they supposed to be friends? What''s up with this tension? Also, is this how their spars usually are? Where''s the countdown or referee? I thought they were just going to have a friendly sh where they test out each other''s skills!!'' Asami thought to herself in a slight panic.

    So, to try and understand what exactly is going on, she asked Maria.

    "Oh? Are you confused about what''s going on? Ah! I almost forgot that you don''t really know Mira that well. You see, Mira''s spars are a bit different. Actually, calling them ''spars'' isn''t exactly correct. It''s more like a death match. No countdown, no referee, and no limits. The match isn''t over until�� actually, since Mira always wins, it''s not over until she says it''s over or until you''re dead! But at least so far, nobody has died! Hahaha~" Maria''s carefreeugh resounded throughout the training hall, but nobody paid attention to her.<sub> </sub>

    Well, nobody but Asami, who felt like she might have just entered a lion''s, no, a dragon''s den by bing friends with Cine.

    Before she could say anything else, Mira and Cine finally made a move!

    To the weaker people watching, it was almost like the two of them had disappeared, but as Asami and Maria had simr strength to Mira and Cine, they were able to see what had happened. However, Asami was still shocked by their speed. She knew that if she were in either one of their ces, she''d nearly have to go all out just to match that speed!

    Mira and Cine''s first sh ended in Cine''s favor as she was able to close the distance between the two quite fast. That''s one of the downsides to using a scythe; if the distance is closed, then it''s just an oddly shaped spear.

    Mira knew this, but she wasn''t sparring with Cine to win. She was doing so to learn. Ever since she was reincarnated into this world, her scythe skills have barely increased. She''s gotten a bit more familiar with the weapon, but that''s about it. Aside from that, Mira hasn''t used her scythe in her current body.

    Even when she was fighting against that man a few days ago, she had only taken her scythe out at the end to execute him. At that time, she was just mming her scythe into his body; absolutely no skill was involved.

    Now, things are different. She wants to get a firm grasp on the scythe''s weaknesses and strengths during this spar while also thinking of ways she can reinforce her fundamentals.

    To focus solely on her scythe skills, Mira has to nerf the rest of her abilities, such as her overwhelming physical strength, instincts, and battle experience.

    Essentially, she has to act like a total newbie, so she can hopefully build a firm foundation that she can build on now that she has a proper goal in sight: Scythe Intent!

    Cine was surprised by the sudden sh as she assumed Mira would try and keep her distance, but it seemed Mira wanted to do things a bit differently during this spar.

    ''No matter. As long as I can put you in the dirt, nothing else matters! This will be the time I''m finally able to get revenge for all those times you nearly killed me!'' Cine inwardly thought to herself as a faint smile crept up on her face.

    Not giving Mira any time to prepare, sheunched another attack, much quicker than the previous one. She aimed the attack at Mira''s off-hand, and just as she was about to sh it, Mira stepped aside and counter-attacked from the opposite side.

    Cine was expecting something like that and casually blocked Mira''s attack, but Mira did something unexpected and tried to pull her saber out of her hands with the de of the scythe.

    <o>,m Cine wasn''t expecting such an action, but she reacted immediately and was able to move her saber out of the way before Mira took it with her.</o>

    Unfortunately, this action allowed Mira to gain some momentum in the fight, but Cine wasn''t too worried.

    Now that Cine was in perfect striking range of her scythe, Mira decided to take advantage of that to keep her there.

    Mira went in for a sh from Cine''s left side, but thetter was able to deflect it. However, before Cine could counter the attack, Mira had already taken a step back to continue building up her momentum.

    This kind of back and forthsted for a while where Mira would advance, but as soon as Cine was about to advance, she''d retreat.

    Normally, Mira wouldn''t do such a thing as she tends to only focus on attacking rather than defending, but this time, Mira was barely attacking.

    It felt like the two were evenly matched to the ones watching, and in truth, they were. However, it could also be said that this was merely a warm-up. Mira was trying to learn more about how to fight with a scythe, while Cine was trying to figure out what Mira was trying to do since she felt like Mira was acting a little different today.

    To Cine, who has fought with Mira countless times, it almost felt like Mira was trying to get a feel for a new weapon she''s never used before.

    ''Alright, Mira. I''ve let you have your fun for a while. Now, let''s take it up a notch!''

 Chapter 416 Sparring With Celaine Part 2

    The look in Cine''s eyes changed, causing the atmosphere to turn deadly. Mira smiled as this was what she was looking forward to. It wouldn''t be much of a practice if they continued at their current pace!

    The only way she would truly grasp the essence of the scythe is by putting her life on the line!

    Without any warning, Cine charged at Mira, but this time her footwork and the way she held her saber were much harder to read.

    Mira could feel danger from the current Cine, but she had no intention of backing down. Instead, her smile grew, and she prepared herself for the onught of attacks that were soon toe.

    Mira kept her eyes trained on Cine like a hawk. She didn''t want to miss a single movement, even down to the tiniest muscle! Unfortunately, she vastly underestimated what it meant toprehend an Intent.

    Comprehending an Intent means one has perfectly understood the fundamentals of their weapon and can execute them onmand without fail. This doesn''t simply mean knowing the correct way to swing the weapon and knowing what stance to use for each action, but it alsoes down to proper muscle usage, timing, and knowing the limits of each strike.

    Cine has reached this point and is able to focus on which muscles to use for which action while also controlling the power she can unleash and the timing in which she releases it.

    To put it simply, there were little to no ws Mira was able to take advantage of during this fight.

    Sometimes, Mira would sense an attack iing, only for it to slow down right when she moved her scythe to block it, then speed up when it was about to hit her.

    Mira could also barely read Cine''s moves as the girl was just trying to make contact with Mira''s body. She wasn''t focused on a particr area, making it hard for Mira to read her eyes. Besides that, Mira also couldn''t read Cine''s moves based on her muscles, as Cine was just too good at controlling them.

    Therefore, Mira was now the one being pushed back while simultaneously sustaining injuries.

    All sorts of cuts started appearing on Mira''s body, but the woman in question couldn''t care less about this level of injuries.

    In fact, with her enhanced regeneration, these superficial wounds will recover by the time she gets new wounds. Not that it mattered much to Mira in the first ce. Even if her bones were fractured and her muscles torn, she would still fight until one of them fell.

    Seeing injuries appear on Mira''s body excited Cine, but she didn''t let this get to her. She knew the consequences of acting hastily against Mira because just one mistake, one slip-up, is all Mira needs to take advantage of the situation.

    Patience is the name of the game against Mira. As long as she can keep this momentum going, hopefully, she''ll be able to create an opening where she can take Mira down in one fell swoop.

    Unfortunately, no matter how many steps ahead she nned, Mira would always be able to adapt to the situation to make sure she suffered as minimal damage as possible.

    The battle raged on like this for another 15 minutes, with Cine constantly pushing Mira back but never able to go further.

    However, it was then that Mira was able to enter a hyper-focused state, thus using her pseudo-enlightenment ability.

    Cine could feel the change in Mira''s demeanor as soon as she entered that state, but there was nothing she could do.

    Even if Mira suppressed her instincts and physical strength and didn''t use any abilities or Qi other than her raw scythe skills and footwork, her battle prowessbined with her experience is too high.

    With every strike, Mira is able to learn and grow, and even though Mira''s scythe skills aren''t nearly as good or refined as Cine''s saber skills, Mira''s rawbat ability is higher than Cine''s.

    This is the product of 1,000 years of first-hand experience along with many more millennia of experiences gained through the F.LD.I.L trials and those parallel lives she witnessed.

    A mere pup who has wielded a saber for barely 2 decades can''t easily surpass that gap just because her fundamentals are perfect.<sub> </sub>

    Although now that Mira has entered a pseudo-enlightened state, she still didn''t begin to take the initiative in the fight against Cine.

    It''s not that she doesn''t want to, but for one, Cine really is skilled. Using only her scythe, Mira would be hard-pressed to defeat Cine in her current state. The difference in skills in this area, although not vast, is more than enough for Cine to control the state of the fight.

    However, Mira also knew that this would be a good time to get a decent grasp on how to defend against an enemy like Cine, who has a perfect grasp over her abilities while only using a scythe, a weapon that isn''t particrly good for defense.

    So, on Cine''s next strike, Mira was able to block it, but due to the state she was in, she was able to clearly understand what she could do better.

    Her stance was slightly off, decreasing the efficiency and sturdiness of the block by a few percent, while she also didn''t control the muscles used to block perfectly.

    She also had a feeling that she could be holding the scythe better. All of this wasted precious time and energy while reducing the power behind her defense. It may have only wasted a split second or so, but these split seconds can add up, especially after hundreds or even thousands of exchanges.

    However, that wasn''t all Mira was able to gain from that single block. Something told her that she could''ve handled that strike much better, to the point where she might''ve even been able to take advantage of the situation, but she just didn''t know what it was.

    All these thoughts only took a split second as her mind was working at speeds she''s never experienced before. Luckily, she was able to subconsciously process all this information before the next strike came in.

    It was another weird strike where Cine controlled the speed of the strike as it was iing to catch Mira off guard. Once again, Mira wasn''t able to block itpletely and a cut formed on the side of her neck.

    Mira was also able to gain valuable information from this strike, like how she could''ve positioned herself better.

    However, what Mira truly learned was what she learned from watching Cine. Each attack is well-nned andfortably flows into the next attack with minimal effort. She''s using the angle of her sword swings, the control over her muscles, her understanding of how much momentum she''s carrying, and the power of each strike to lead to the next strike, which will hopefully be slightly faster and more powerful.

    There were no fancy techniques involved or any outside power. She was only using her understanding of the Saber and how it suited her body.

    To Mira and the others watching, it was like Cine was dancing, and they were entranced by it. Who wouldn''t? It''s not often they get to someone this skilled!

    Mira also thought that maybe the only way she could achieve this level of fluidity and power would be through her martial arts. She''s always been much more talented with her legs and fists. And with her martial art skills, she is probably at the same level as Cine. If it was possible, it probably wouldn''t take much effort to reach something like ''Fist Intent'' or something like that.

    Well, it''s also for this reason that Mira hasn''t lost to Cine yet. Her perception and control over her body are too high for that to happen in the short run.

    It''s this level of grace, fluidity, and raw power that Mira wanted to be able to wield with her scythe, but unfortunately, martial arts are vastly different than scythes. She''s already learned and implemented all she can from her experience as a martial artist into her scythe skills.

    Cine continued to sh, hack, and stab at Mira, but to her, it seemed like every time she attacked, Mira grew stronger. She was not physically growing stronger, but her control over her scythe grew at a speed that it felt like she was getting stronger.

    Seeing how Mira was just using her as a whetstone to sharpen her skills and had no intention of attacking, she decided to ''force'' Mira to attack. Of course, she wasn''t going to just retreat and lose all the momentum that she had gained up until this point.

    No, she had to get Mira to attack her!

    And what''s the best way to do that? To purposefully leave openings that even Mira won''t be able to ignore.

    Naturally, Mira will be suspicious, but by now, she''s pretty much grasped Mira''s intention behind this defensive stance.

 Chapter 417 Sparring With Celaine Part 3

    As soon as Cine switched up her strategy and began leaving openings, Mira knew exactly what she was trying to do.

    However, even if she knew, she didn''t have much of a choice other than to go on the attack. For one, Cine was no longer performing actions she could learn from. Secondly, Mira could barely hold in her urge to attack, seeing Cine leave so many openings.

    Fortunately, Mira had learned plenty from being on the defensive, so there was no reason not to attack right now.

    But as someone so experienced in battle, Mira wasn''t going to attack the next opening Cine leaves. There''lle a time when the ''fake'' opening Cine creates isn''t fake.

    ''You''ve gotten quite cocky, haven''t you? To think you even dare to bait me into attacking. Hmph! I guess it''s time for me to show you the difference between skills and experience!'' Mira thought to herself and began nning her counterattack.

    The first step is obviously to show Cine that she''s nning something. To most, this would sound ridiculous as Mira would be leaking information to her enemy, but since Cine already knows how fearsome she is inbat, it''s a different story.

    If Cine saw that Mira was barely trying to counterattack, she''d turn skeptical and would immediately raise her guard. Cine knows that Mira isn''t so stupid that she can''t see the openings she''s leaving, so if Mira wasn''t taking the bait, it meant that she was nning something.

    Therefore, by showing Cine that she has taken the bait, she can lessen that skepticism. Of course, Cine will still be on guard, but hopefully not as much since the girl knows her openings are fakes.

    The next step of the n is to force Cine into a state where the next opening she ''creates'' won''t be fake and will be an actual opening for Mira to take back the momentum in the fight.

    However, this is where things get tricky, and Mira can only do this against Cine because the two have fought against each other so many times. Even if Cine''s fundamentals are perfect and her movements are nearly wless, her foundation is still the same.

    If Mira were against someone else, she wouldn''t bother taking this approach, but since it''s Cine, it shouldn''t be a problem.

    Just like Mira suspected, over the next few strikes, Cine learned of Mira''s intentions to strike back and prepared herself for Mira''s attack. However, Mira kept slowly directing Cine''s saber in ways where 15 moves or so from now, an opening would appear.

    The people watching could clearly tell that something was about to happen and held their breaths in anticipation. They''ve never seen someone at the same cultivation force Mira back to such an extent!

    Although they were all grateful to her and the opportunities Mira granted them, they still couldn''t help but want Mira to take a little beating herself. Of course, they only wanted someone within Mira''s little group to beat her up, not some outsider. They wanted to return all the beatings that Mira gave to them back to her!

    Maria was also thinking something simr, but for a totally different reason. Mira''s injured body is so defenseless when she''s badly injured, allowing Maria to kiss and touch her body all she wants.

    Although she feels bad about Mira getting injured, she can''t let go of such an opportunity, can she?

    So, while everyone was cheering for Mira''s loss for different reasons, Cine''s eyes narrowed as she sensed danger.

    She had just left an opening for Mira to take, but for some reason, right after creating the opening, she felt like she shouldn''t have done that.

    Unfortunately, it was toote, and Mira had already swung her scythe towards her with enough force to rip her body apart if she took it head-on without any defenses.

    Cine had no intention of trying to block or deflect such an attack, so her only choice was to dodge.

    In the middle of her dodge, she sensed another attack iing, causing her to wonder what was going on.

    Just a second ago, Mira was on the defensive with seemingly no hope ofing back, but everything went wrong in just a split second!

    Now, Cine not only lost all the momentum she had built up throughout the spar, but Mira was quickly taking over the fight and progressing at a rapid rate!<sub> </sub>

    Mira didn''t allow Cine to gather her thoughts as she went on the offensive. With every twirl of her scythe, she gathered more momentum, causing her scythe to spin faster.

    Mira was also using this time to understand how she could make her attacks more potent. From her experience and observations so far, wielding a scythe is all about timing, momentum, spacing, footwork, and deflections.

    To Mira, all of this boils down to one thing: to never stop moving. As long as her scythe and feet are constantly in motion, then she''s on track to bringing out the full potential of a scythe.

    The scythe is a weapon unlike any other weapon, with itsrge frame, awkwardly shaped curved de, and unique center of gravity. Although they are simr to a halberd or a battle axe, their curved des drastically change the way they are used.

    A scythe is a weapon meant for reaping lives if used properly. Every swing is meant to be a killing blow! Even if the de just grazed someone, it should be more than enough to cause medium injuries due to the nature of a curved de.

    However, the downside of the scythe is its attacks arerge, easy to read, and slow. At least, that''d be the case for someone who wanted to swing a scythe like a spear. That''s why gathering momentum by always keeping the scythe in motion and spinning it is so important. That way, a scythe''s weight, awkward center of gravity, andrge swings can be turned into something fast and dangerous.

    Truth be told, for these reasons, scythes are not all that great in spars like what Mira is in right now. Unlike weapons like sabers, swords, and spears that can be picked up and used at full potential without any preparation, a scythe takes a while to build up power, especially against a skilled opponent.

    However, this is a weakness that Mira wants to circumvent! She felt that if she could find a to go from 0 to 100 in a split second, then she could sessfully call herself a master with the scythe! Unfortunately, things weren''t so easy, so all she could do now was to keep drilling the fundamentals.

    The battle between the two raged on as Mira learned more about which muscles to use, how much she should use them for various actions, what kind of footwork she should be using for specific attacks, when she should retreat and advance, how to keep up her momentum no matter the situation, and many more things.

    And although all these factors were improving at a rapid rate due to her pseudo-enlightened state, they were still nowhere near perfect. She''d have to fight against all kinds of people, beasts, and weapons if she ever wanted to reach the point where she couldprehend Scythe Intent.

    Maybe if she was only using her martial arts, she could have achieved Intent by now, but shecks the necessary experience with her scythe to be able to do that right now.

    After another half an hour of fighting, Mira and Cine had reached an equilibrium where neither of them were able to hold the advantage for very long. asionally, Cine would be able to push Mira back, and other times, Mira was able to push Cine, but neither of them were able to finish things.

    Knowing that they reached a point where no matter how hard they tried, they won''t be able to gainpletely win, Mira and Cine looked at each other, nodded, then jumped away from each other at the same time.

    The people watching all knew that they were preparing for a final attack and watched on with bated breath!

    Mira spun her scythe, allowing it to reach its maximum potential, while Cine got in a peculiar stance that showed she was ready to end this in a single blow.

    The two waited for each other until their preparations were done, showing their respect for one another as warriors.

    Then, without warning or the need to say anything, the two disappeared from their spots and shed!

    *BOOM!*

    That single sh caused the ground the fracture and dust to fly everywhere, making it, so the ones watching could not see the battle''s conclusion.

    They all leaned forward, hoping to see a saber held against Mira''s throat! The only person who was unconcerned and even a little disappointed about this whole thing was Maria. She didn''t need to be able to see, to know what the oue was.

    She shook her head lightly while thinking, ''Dammit, Cine, couldn''t you have at least broken a few bones?! How am I supposed to get my cuddle time with Mira if you end it just like that?!''

 Chapter 418 Smile

    By the time the dust settled, what the girls watching saw was Mira and Cine face to face with each other. The de of Mira''s scythe was pressed up against Cine''s neck as if she was trying to cut her in half diagonally.

    On the other hand, Cine''s saber was pressed against the left side of Mira''s chest where her heart should be��

    Cine stared at Mira for a few seconds, then said with a big beautiful smile, "It looks like it''s a tie, huh? I''m honestly surprised that you were able to tie with me while only relying on your scythe skills."

    Hearing this, Mira smirked. Seeing this smirk, Cine felt like something was off, but she couldn''t quite figure it out. Luckily, Mira didn''t wait long to exin.

    "Ahhh~ A tie, huh�� You''re right. This would''ve been a tie if my heart was actually in the location your saber is pressed against."

    Seeing how Cine didn''t understand what she was saying, Mira decided to exin further.

    "You see, my body right now isn''t exactly human. Therefore, a lot of my internal organs have either moved, evolved, or been removed. The same goes for my heart. While there is still a heart in my body, it isn''t in the same spot as where it used to be. So, technically, the area you would''ve prated, although it would leave me with some serious injuries, is not something that would kill me," Mira giggled as she exined.

    Hearing this, Cine''s expression changed numerous times from disbelief to unwillingness to eptance.

    If it were anyone else, Cine surely would''ve called them a liar and refused to believe this nonsense, but Mira isn''t one to lie about something like this. Even if she was furious to tie in a duel with her, Cine knew Mira wasn''t the type of person toe up with something like this to avoid losing.

    Mira is more mature than that, and Cine trusts her words.

    "I can prove it to you if you want," Mira said with a slight smile, but Cine just shook her head.

    "No need. I know you''re not lying. You wouldn''t lie about something like this. So, I guess it''s technically my loss since you were able tond a killing blow while I wasn''t." Cine said with a hint of disappointment.

    She thought she had finally reached a point where she and Mira could be considered equals, but it seems she''s still too naive to deal with someone like Mira so soon.

    "There''s no reason to look like that, Cine. That was an amazing fight. You''ve worked hard, huh? It''s been a long time since I''ve enjoyed a fight like this so much. So, thank you for sparring with me today." Mira unconsciously gave one of the brightest smiles she''s ever made in her long life.

    That smile thoroughly entranced everyone who was looking at Mira. It was like Mira was a blindingly bright light that, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn''t look away from.

    That smile dazed even Maria and Cine, and a blush unconsciously crept up on their faces. They couldn''t help it! Mira was just too beautiful!

    It also didn''t help that Mira is part 9-tailed fox! Or, maybe she is a 9-tailed fox. Honestly, Mira''s not sure what race she is exactly, but that''s beside the point.

    Right now, the part of Mira that was a 9-tailed fox influenced her smile, enhancing her beauty and charming everyone in the vicinity.

    Mira''s face slowly returned to being neutral, but when she looked around, she was a bit confused.

    ''Eh? What the hell happened to everyone? Are they that stunned because of my smile? I mean, I know I''m extraordinarily beautiful, but they seemed fine earlier. How peculiar��'' Mira thought to herself before walking up to Cine and tapping her on the shoulder.

    "Ah! M-M-Mira?!" Cine yelped and jumped back with a face as red as a tomato.

    Her yelp caused everyone else to regain their bearings, but they were equally as confused as Cine.

    "W-W-What the hell happened?! Did�� Did I just have l-l-l-lewd thoughts about Miss Mira?!"

    "Haaa�� Haaa�� That smile�� Huehehehe~"

    "I�� I never knew Leader Mira could be so�� beautiful."

    The crowd had various reactions to Mira''s smile, but the most shocked were definitely Asami, Maria, and Cine.<sub> </sub>

    "Mira!! I never knew you could smile like that!! You should really learn to smile more often! You look much more�� captivating~" Maria shouted while running over to her and nting a passionate kiss on her lips.

    Asami and Cine, on the other hand, were too busy dealing with some internal issues.

    ''What the hell? Was I really just dazed by her smile? And why is my face so hot?! Don''t tell me�� am I seriously into girls?!'' The two of them inwardly thought.

    However, whether they are into girls or not has nothing to do here. In truth, with how high Mira''s natural beauty isbined with the charm of a 9-tailed fox, if Mira wanted, she could charm anyone regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation.

    A few minutester, Mira decided to announce something which greatly excited everyone present.

    <o>,m "Alright, everyone, listen up! Now that we''ve all been reunited and since I''m in a good mood right now, over the next few days, I''ll be evaluating everyone''s skills. Go tell the other girls that no matter the time or asion, they are free to attack me with everything they''ve got. You cane at me in the middle of the night, during a spar, when I''m resting, or whenever you want. You can also team up against me if you want! Anything goes! I''ll be offering pointers to anyone who wants to attack me during this time! Maria will also be on standby, so if any of you get hurt, just run to her, and you''ll be fine! That''s it! You''re all dismissed!"</o>

    "Yes, Ma''am!!"

    With that, all of Mira''s subordinates left the area to inform theirrades.

    After Mira said that, Maria gave her a look saying, "you better reward me properly for this," to which Mira nodded with a predatory smile.

    Then, Mira turned to Cine and asked, "Want to go another round? However, why don''t we ditch the weapons and fight with our fists? I think I might be able to learn some sort of Fist Intent or something if I go all out. What do you say? Actually, you can join in on this too, Maria. Knowing how to fight with your fists could be extremely beneficial for you."

    Cine and Maria cringed at Mira''s words and immediately backed away. Their bodies unconsciously shuddered, remembering the times Mira drilled them on hand-to-handbat. They were lucky toe out of those training sessions alive!!

    Mira was just too brutal during those training sessions, as it was almost like she was incapable of holding back. In fact, they''d rather be hacked and shed at than beaten like a rag doll with Mira''s fists!

    All of her attacks are meant for breaking, crushing, and destroying her opponent. One mistake could lead to a broken leg or arm. If Mira ever put you in a chokehold, no matter how hard you tapped, she was putting you out cold. It didn''t matter if you were on the brink of death. If Mira said you were good to go, then you were good to go.

    Actually, that''s what was so horrific about those training sessions, was that Mira would seem like she was trying to kill you!

    They never wanted to go through that experience again if they were given a choice, but based on the look in Mira''s eyes, it seems like she wasn''t asking for their opinion. Her asking was merely a formality, or maybe it was some weird sadistic desire to see their bodies unconsciously react to those words.

    Nevertheless, whether they agreed or not, Mira was going to fight with them. Disagreeing would only make their fate worse.

    ".............................Sure..."

    "....I''d....love.....to."

    The two of them said through gritted teeth, but when Mira released another bright smile, they were caught off guard and immediately charmed again.

    "Hehe~ It seems you two are really looking forward to it. Don''t worry. I''ll be gentle as long as you do your best. Why don''t you join in as well, Asami? You must be getting bored sitting over there." Mira chuckled.

    Cine and Maria almost screamed out "NO!" but when Mira narrowed her eyes and smiled maliciously, they didn''t dare say anything. In fact, they didn''t even dare to look in Asami''s direction, too scared that Mira might actually beat the living shit out of them during their uing spar.

    Asami was extremely puzzled by their reactions, but before she could say anything, she felt someone appear behind her, grab her by the neck, and then she suddenly appeared next to Cine and Maria.

    "Ah! It seems you also wanted to join in on the fun as well! Good choice, Asami. I guarantee you won''t regret it." Mira said with a slight smile, sending a chill down their spines.

    A few minutester, the four of them were around 10 meters away from each other, waiting to begin the ''spar''.

 Chapter 419 Subordinates

    Over the next few hours, Mira beat-ahem-sparred with Maria, Cine, and Asami. Furthermore, to Mira''s surprise, they were actually able to hold out fairly well, especially Cine. From what Mira could tell, although Cine''s actions were still a bit choppy and awkward, she had great fundamentals.

    She could control her body extraordinarily well, and the force behind her punches was extraordinary. It seemed like the only thing holding her back was theck of knowledge and experience in the martial arts area. Other than that, Mira couldn''tin about her performance.

    Asami was also surprisingly talented in martial arts, and although she wasn''t quite as skilled as Maria and Cine, Mira could see that the girl wasn''t just a pretty face. She knew her way around a fight, and with her weapon being a fan, this made sense. Although Mira has never used a fan as a weapon and probably wouldn''t ever, she could at least picture how someone with a fan would fight.

    So, it should be no surprise that Asami was actually skilled in these close-quartersbat fights.

    On the other hand, Maria was probably the worst out of the bunch, but that was only in terms of talent. Mira has been training with Maria for years, so she didn''t lose out to the other two despite her disadvantages. Though, to begin with, Maria has never been someone who was very talented in fighting.

    Despite going through years of hellish training with Mira, she still isn''t all that impressive. Of course,pared to those around her age, she is a prodigy among prodigies, but ording to Mira''s standards, she''s about average.

    Unfortunately, there wasn''t much Mira could do about this. She could only keep training Maria to make her stronger despite knowing about her limited talent. Mira knew that she wouldn''t always be with Maria, and this was her way of protecting her.

    The world is cruel, especially this world, and to someone like Mira, individual strength is more important than anything else.

    Nheless, Mira was still satisfied with her progress and abilities.

    Lastly, over thest few hours, Mira felt herself reaching a certain wall in her martial arts. It almost felt like she was reaching the end of what she was capable of, yet at the same time, it felt like she was approaching a new beginning.

    That''s when she knew that she was approaching the illusory ''Intent''! At first, Mira thought it would just be something like Fist Intent, but that was clearly wrong. This intent seemed to involve her entire body. That being the case, Mira decided to call it ''Martial Intent''.

    However, Mira had no idea what sort of properties or effects this Intent would bring. Cine''s Saber Intent was sharp, domineering, swift, and silent. In a way, it felt like a personification of Cine.

    Regardless, Mira was looking forward to acquiring her first Intent! At the same time, Mira also felt likeprehending this Intent would help pave the way for herprehension of Scythe Intent.

    She figured that the prerequisite to learning Martial Intent is perfect control over every aspect of one''s body. It would make sense that such a thing would be extremely beneficial to learning other kinds of Intent.

    Hell, with just that, Mira was sure that she''d be able to use almost any weapon without much effort! That''s how amazing it is to have perfect control over one''s body!

    She wanted to keep pounding on her friends until sheprehended it, but after a few hours, they stopped putting up a fight. Although they, too, wanted to see what kind of Intent Mira wouldprehend and how strong she would be after that, they had no intention of being her punching bags for however long it''s going to take her toprehend it!

    Luckily, Mira made an announcement to all of her subordinates that they coulde and attack whenever and wherever. Actually, that''s the whole reason Mira made that announcement. She knew that Maria and the others wouldn''t let her beat them. She also knew that Cine and Asami probably had other responsibilities, and she didn''t want to get in the way of that.

    In fact, Mira wanted nothing more than for Cine to grow stronger as quickly as possible!

    Mira could probably get away with beating up Maria for a while, but she was too trash at martial arts that it wouldn''t be worth it.

    As for her subordinates, well, they probably weren''t any better than Maria, but if she suppressed her strength to their level, she felt like they could probably put up a decent fight. Not only that, but she could find out how much progress they''ve made over the years while giving them pointers on what they can do better.

    Sure enough, after Mira''s little spar with Cine, Asami, and Maria, her subordinates began pouncing on her.<sub> </sub>

    Some took the direct approach and decided to engage in hand-to-handbat, while others came at her with weapons. Some even decided to attack her from a distance!

    What surprised Mira, though, was their teamwork. They all moved in perfect sync with one another without even needing to say anything. Based on that, Mira could tell how much work they''ve put into bing stronger.

    That''s not the kind of teamwork that can just happen overnight. They must''ve gone through many life-threatening battles and fought many different opponents.

    Not only that, but Mira could see that despite their impressive teamwork, they didn''t stop focusing on their individual strength. While they relied on each other in fights, it didn''t look like they were dependent on one another.

    This was something Mira was very happy to see, and she could only assume that it was Alicia that helped instill this idea into everyone. Although Mira has always talked about individual strength and its importance, that''s not what she was initially looking for from this group of women.

    She wanted them to be one cohesive group who are absolutely terrifying in group settings. Other than that, Mira didn''t care much for anything else.

    However, it seems they took the initiative here to improve themselves without Mira even needing to say anything.

    This was good because it showed how intelligent and autonomous they were. Mira couldn''t be happier to have such subordinates! She didn''t want to have to waste her time telling them what they should and shouldn''t do. If they could find ways to strengthen themselves with only a little bit of help, that would be for the best.

    The only problem that they''d probably face is forming a decent Core, but Mira already had ns for that.

    While finding a good Core Formation Recipe would be difficult for most, that was not the case for Mira. Her inheritance, the F.LD.I.L, was like its own universe with all the treasures one would ever need. Part of those treasures is, of course, Core Formation Recipes!

    Yes, the F.LD.I.L actually has Core Formation Recipes! It had a bunch of them, in fact, but Mira wasn''t about to go do hundreds of trials to acquire different Core Formation Recipes that suited each one of her subordinates.

    She hasn''t quite figured out what she is going to do as she still needs to take some time to learn more about her inheritance, what she can do with it, and what it has to offer.

    Regardless, Mira was going to help them with their ''Core'' problem.

    Since she was already going that far, Mira also decided to try and spend a bit more time with her subordinates. That''s another reason why she wanted to know what they were capable of.

    Mira''s not too good with small talk, and most of her subordinates probably thought of her as some cold-blooded killer, which is wrong, so this is the only way Mira could think of where she could spend time with them while not having the experience feel awkward.

    So, over the next few days, Mira was attacked countless times in all kinds of ways. Sometimes they''d charge at her in a group; other times, they''d try and distract her. She even got sneak attacked and ambushed several times. They didn''t hold back either. They wereing at her with the intent to kill.

    Not in any malicious way, but they knew that if they didn''t have that level of resolve, they''d never be able to catch Mira off-guard enough for them tond a hit.

    Seeing them not hesitate to go for the kill made Mira extremely happy. She was incredibly satisfied with their growth. While they weren''t anywhere near her level of skill or even Maria''s level, it was more than enough for now.

    Mira was constantly giving out pointers in hopes that they would further improve, and to her surprise, they would try to implement those ideas immediately.

    Mira also used this time to adjust to using martial arts in her new body. It was a bit more difficult than she originally thought, but after almost four days of nonstop battle, Mira was finally able to adjust and break down the barrier that prevented her from progressing further!

 Chapter 420 [Bonus Chapter]Martial Intent

    Suddenly, Mira entered enlightenment during a fight with one of her subordinates. The aura around her became heavy and suffocating, causing the women around her to back off in fright as they felt their life sh before their eyes.

    Maria noticed this anomaly and immediately went into action, quietly pushing everyone away from Mira so as not to disturb her.

    She whispered to everyone, "It seems like Mira is going through some sort of enlightenment. You guys can stay here and watch, but be sure to stay behind me. We don''t want Mira identally turning you girls into meat paste, now do we? Hehe~"

    Maria chuckled lightly, but this sent shivers down the girls'' spines. They had no idea how strong Mira was currently and had forgotten about this fact as she seemed to have lowered her strength to face them.

    The girls quickly huddled behind Maria, but their eyes didn''t leave Mira''s body. They could feel the aura around her growing.

    At first, it only felt heavy and suffocating, but soon it turned chaotic and violent, almost like a rabid beast. The suffocating feeling didn''t leave but instead became worse as time went on. It felt like they were facing a massive monster that could swat them away like flies.

    They had no idea why this aura came out of Mira, and only Maria had some ideas. Over thest few days, Cine woulde and go to spar with Mira for a few hours every day, and during that time, Maria learned more about what Intent is.

    Apparently, from what Cine described, the aura around Mira is essentially a personification of how Mira views martial arts. From that alone, Maria could see that Mira viewed martial arts as a way to smash, destroy, and kill her enemies.

    This didn''te as a surprise to Maria, though. Mira has always been more brutal whenever she fights barehanded. It''s almost a guarantee that bones will be broken. Sometimes, it''ll even feel like she''s about to snap your neck if she gets you in a chokehold!

    That''s not to say she isn''t brutal with her scythe, but it doesn''t feel quite as bad.

    The feeling of getting pummeled is just�� too humiliating.

    Mira''s aura grew until it eventually became tangible, but then it did something nobody expected. The aura began wrapping around Mira''s entire body.

    Once the aura was fully condensed and wrapped around her body, Mira began practicing her martial arts.

    First, she just threw a standard punch.

    *CRACK**BOOM*

    Her fist alone caused the air around her to quake, but a cracking noise could also be heard from Mira''s body. To everyone present, this was unmistakably the sound of a bone cracking. They''ve heard this sound too many times not to recognize it!

    Maria frowned, but she made no moves to help Mira. She could tell that instead of doing any damage, these cracks seemed to be enhancing Mira''s body.

    Mira went through her entire self-made martial arts by throwing various kinds of punches and kicks. She also included her tails as well!

    While all of her tails seemed to be physically improving due to Mira''s enlightenment, the one with the biggest improvement was unmistakably her Golden Tail.

    Not only that, but Mira seemed to be adding her tails into her own self-made martial art as well by making full use of her enlightenment!

    While this was amazing to watch and seemed to affect everyone who was watching, it was also incredibly terrifying. No, it wasn''t her talent that terrified those watching her, but it was how Mira looked.

    She looked way too intimidating! It was like every strike contained killing intent! Literal killing intent!

    Feeling Mira''s killing intent directly caused most of the women to go pale, but they were tenacious. They didn''t want to miss this moment no matter what, so they gritted their teeth and pushed through the terrifying killing intent to keep watching Mira.

    Hours passed by, and eventually, arge crowd full of Mira''s subordinates gathered around her in order to spectate her enlightenment.

    The ''cracks'' and ''booms'' grew louder and more fearsome with every attack, causing everyone to wonder how Mira was able to stay in her enlightenment despite feeling the pain of having her bones broken. Or at least, that''s what they assumed was happening whenever they heard a loud crack.

    From what they knew, enlightenments are very rare and precious, but also fragile experiences. For most people, they''d need to sit down in an area of peace and quiet to make sure nothing goes wrong during their enlightenment, but here''s Mira cracking her fucking bones, yet it seems that these cracks are only sending her deeper into her enlightenment!

    What kind of nonsense is that?! That''s not something someone should be capable of doing.<sub> </sub>

    Not only that but there isn''t even a change in her expression! It''s almost like she can''t tell that her bones are breaking!

    However, if they knew that Mira truly didn''t feel anything, they probably wouldn''t even believe her.

    Well, who would? Throughout her life, having a broken bone was basically the only constant in her life. That''s not even considering the tests that she had to go through in the F.L.D.I.L. Now, her pain tolerance has basically reached a point where as long as her soul is getting damaged or her body is being crushed, she can barely feel anything else.

    Of course, Mira still feels pain. It''s just that her mind no longer registers this kind of ''pain'' as painful. At most, it feels like someone is pinching her. That''s especially so after she evolved. Her brain is much more advanced now and can almost work in ordance with her will.

    Therefore, as long as the damage to her body doesn''t leave any hidden injuries or she''s dying, then any ''pain'' she experiences will essentially be null.

    So, Mira can''t even see these cracks as something painful, allowing her to continue with her enlightenment.

    Unbeknownst to everyone watching and even Mira herself, the Intent that the reason for these cracks is that the Intent Mira wasprehending was actually being ingrained into her very body. It wasn''t just her bones, but every part of her body was having this Intent ground into them.

    The main reason for this is that Mira''s body is, well, technically, not a weapon. At least, not a weapon in the conventional sense. Sure, her body can be used as a weapon, but it''s not like a sword or saber that was forged for a specific purpose: to be a weapon.

    One''s body is used for so many other things, but disregarding all that, Mira''s body is alive, unlike something like a sword or a saber. She''s a living, breathing entity that can make her own conscious decisions.

    The Weapon Endowment path is all about enforcing one''s will andprehension on the outside world, but this is mostly used in tandem with the Weapon in question. For example, Cine can use her Saber Intent to increase her saber''s speed, sharpness, and power.

    However, Mira''s Martial Intent is slightly different since she''s using her own body as the weapon. She doesn''t need to ''endow'' her will andprehension onto the outside world since her weapon is her own body.

    That doesn''t mean she can''t, but the whole point of going down a Weapon Endowment Path is to enhance one''s weapon.

    And that''s exactly what Mira''s going through! She''s endowing herself with her Intent, resulting in it being ingrained down to her very bones!

    It could almost be said that Mira''s entire body is being tempered to be something simr to arge hammer that can smash her opponents into meat patties! While her strength might not be rising directly, her body is being transformed into something that can better handle martial arts. She''ll be more flexible, durable, faster, and slightly stronger after everything''s done. Not only that but when she uses her Martial Intent on herself, the power of her body will be greatly increased!

    A few more hours passed by, and eventually, no more cracking sounds could be heard. Only the sonic booms caused by Mira''s punches and kicks resounded through the training hall.

    Her aura, which had been getting stronger, also stopped growing and seemed to be fully condensed in and around Mira''s body.

    However, suddenly, her aura spiked, and Mira stomped on the ground, causing small cracks to form.

    Then while releasing a battle cry, she threw the most powerful punch she''s ever thrown!

    "HAAAAAAAA!!!"

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

    The punch was so powerful that just the sonic booms alone were more than enough to injure the surrounding people if Maria wasn''t there to protect them. The force of the punch also didn''t seem to diminish until it hit the wall in front of her. Luckily, this training room was reinforced, so Mira''s attacks only caused light cracks to form, which immediately regenerated. The same goes for the ground she was standing on.

    The cracks that were formed soon returned back to normal, as if there was no damage, to begin with.

    After thatst punch, Mira finally opened her eyes while releasing a deep breath.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 421 Goals

    A long turbid breath was released from Mira''s mouth the moment her eyes opened. She looked at her fist in amazement and muttered, "Damn! I feel amazing!"

    She felt like she could fight for weeks on end in her current state!

    ''Is this what it means toprehend Martial Intent?'' Mira thought to herself.

    She felt like she had boundless energy, but at the same time, she also felt like there was no need for ''energy'', almost like if as long as she had the will to fight, then she would be able to fight.

    That''s the feeling her body gave her, but it makes sense. Through that enlightenment, Mira had essentially turned her body into a weapon, and since Weapon Endowment is heavily reliant on one''s willpower, it would make sense that after ingraining Martial Intent into her body, she''d be able to keep fighting as long as she had the will to.

    While this was amazing, Mira could immediately spot the downsides to Martial Intent, and that is cultivation.

    At Mira''s current cultivation, as long as she didn''t face severe injuries and overused her Qi, she could fight nonstop at full power for at least a few days. However, as her cultivation grows, her body''s natural stamina grows as well.

    Therefore, once Mira reaches the Nascent Soul Realm, she probably won''t have much of a need for her Martial Intent.

    Now, that''s not to say it''spletely useless because that couldn''t be further from the truth.

    For one, now that Mira has learned Martial Intent unless someone is able to block her from using her Intent, her physical strength can''t be reduced from its current state.

    Secondly, now that she has learned Martial Intent, her bodily foundations are perfect. If she wants to learn a Movement Technique, other weapons, Weapon Techniques, other forms of martial arts, or pretty much anything that uses her body, she can learn them without much issue.

    That''s a benefit of having perfect control over one''s body. All she has to do is learn the right meridian pathways to channel her Qi, and she shouldn''t have any problem learning Techniques.

    Of course, she''ll still have to practice, but it won''t take nearly as long.

    Thest reason why Mira''s Martial Intent isn''t useless is because it''s an Intent! There isn''t much else to say other than that. No matter what, an Intent is still an Intent, and this is especially so for the one Mira just learned.

    Mira stopped introspecting and finally turned around to see arge crowd of girls huddled behind Maria, staring at her in astonishment. Even Maria wasn''t much different.

    "Congrattions, Mira, on learning your first Intent!" Maria said with a smile as she approached Mira.

    "Congrattions on your breakthrough, Leader Mira!!" The girls behind Mira all shouted at the same time.

    Mira nodded with a light smile. She was in an exceptional mood right now as she didn''t expect such an enlightenment toe so soon.

    And who better to share this excellent mood of hers other than Maria?<sub> </sub>

    Without warning, Mira appeared next to Maria, picked her up in a princess carry, and quickly made her way to their room, only leaving these words behind to her subordinates.

    "I''m going to go attend to some personal matters. I''m pleased with your progress so far, but I think you all could do better. In a few days, I''ll prepare a report about everything I noticed over thest few days. We''ll go from there after that."

    With that said, Mira took Maria back to their room, and the two shared an extremely passionate night.

    The next day, Mira spent her time rxing with Maria while nning out her future. She now has a perfect grasp of her physical strength, used the abilities that each of her tails has to offer, and has even learned Martial Intent.

    However, aside from that, Mira still has much to learn, but right now, she feels like her scythe is her only weak point.

    Her body is plenty strong for someone at her cultivation, the quality of her Qi is several stages above what it''s supposed to be, her tails are all crazy powerful, and she can even use her martial arts at a high level now.

    Therefore, what she should focus on now is catching her scythe skills up to speed. Other than that, she needs to learn more about the other elements she can use now.

    Those are her two immediate goals, but Mira knew that there were plenty more areas she could improve on. Her cksmithing is a good example of this. It''s been a while since she''s even thought about a side upation, and after the battle with that young man, she felt like she should pay more attention to them.

    Not just cksmithing, but all of the side upations!

    She realized that after the battle with that man, she needed more trump cards, preferably one-time-use items.

    While she could probablymission the items, Mira didn''t like the thought of that. Doing such a thing is basically giving away her secrets and trump cards to the public. No, not just that, but if someone wanted to make and sell her ideas to the public, then wouldn''t a bunch of people have trump cards simr to hers?

    p Besides making trump cards, side upations would also be a great way to make money, merit points, and connections. Plus, once she gets things started, she can hand things off to her subordinates, so they finally start being of some use to her!</anda>

    Mira also wanted to find out what her Internal Body Cultivation Technique is. Then there''s also the Water Body Transformation and Magma Dragon Body techniques that she could cultivate.

    Those are just a few of the things Mira felt like she should focus on for the immediate future.

    Luckily she can passively cultivate, or else she would have to put that on hold for a while.

    Now that she''s got a decent idea of what she should focus on in the future, she immediately went to work and began training with her scythe!

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 422 Orders

    After spending a night of passion with Maria, Mira proceeded to make a highly detailed report of how well her subordinates fought against her. Thanks to her enhanced brain functions, Mira was able to remember the names of all her subordinates, every detail of their attack patterns, teamwork, strength, and leadership abilities.

    Mira also gave her input on what they can do better, how they should consider training going forward, how to make their team more efficient, and the necessary qualities a leader should have.

    p After putting all her thoughts into a jade slip, Mira found Alicia and gave it to her.</anda>

    "I know I said my report would be ready in a few days, but I decided to just get it out of the way now. All my thoughts regarding you guys'' progress are in this jade slip. However, there is one thing I''d like to tell you in person that you should share with the other girls as well," Mira said with a light smile.

    Alicia took the jade slip and nodded seriously at Mira''s words, waiting for her to continue.

    "I can see that you all have just entered the Foundation Realm not too long ago. Naturally, I''m d that you girls were able to make it progress so fast, but now I want you all to slow down to consolidate your foundation. I don''t just mean in terms of cultivation either."

    "While you should do your best to reach your absolute limits during the Foundation Realm, you shouldn''t forget your physical training or weapon skills. You saw firsthand how powerful an Intent could be. Now, I''m not expecting you all toprehend some form of Intent, but I do want all of you to have perfect mastery over your weapon''s basic moves while trying to make them your own as well. All of these things will allow you to have a perfect foundation when you eventually reach the point of breaking through to the Core Formation Realm."

    "If you can do this for me, I''ll give each and every one of you a Core Formation Recipe, and depending on whose mastery of their weapons is higher when you all reach that point, I''ll give them their own specialized Core Formation Recipes."

    "I don''t know if you''ve heard of what a Core Formation Recipe is, but it''s basically a recipe that can enhance the Core you make when breaking through to the Core Formation Realm. As you can see, my new appearance is thanks to my Core Formation Recipe."

    "Obviously, I''m a unique case, but that doesn''t mean the Core Formation Recipes I n on handing out are weak. Take Cine as an example. She was able to fight evenly with me, partly thanks to the Recipe I gave her. Though most of that is just her natural talent, but if it weren''t for the Core, her body wouldn''t have been strong enough to be able to face me head-on like that."

    "Anyways, all you need to know is that a Core Formation Recipe increases your strength, deepens your foundation, and boosts your potential. That should be more than enough incentive for you girls to work hard!"

    Mira exined, and Alicia''s mouth couldn''t help but drop. She''s never heard of such a ridiculous thing, and yet, here''s Mira was saying that she''d give something like this out to everyone as long as they focused on their basic weapon skills, foundation, and physical strength.

    If that''s all they need to do, then, of course, there''s no reason to hesitate! However, at the same time, Alicia felt like they were undeserving of all this.

    Ever since they met Mira, they''ve only been on the receiving end. Not once have they given back for everything Mira''s done for them. To the girls following Mira, subordinating themselves to her, she was nothing more than a god to them!

    When they were stuck in that bandit camp, being used as nothing more than toys for the men there, Mira came in and saved them. When they felt like their lives lost all meaning, Mira helped them out of their slump! Although she didn''t use conventional means to help them, and it could only be described as physical and partly emotional torture, Mira still helped them find purpose.

    If that wasn''t enough, Mira trained them, taught them how to cultivate, and showed them how to fight. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that Mira opened up a whole new world for the girls.

    For once in their lives, they were able to live without having to depend on someone else. Although it was at the cost of Mira teaching them, they weren''t in need of her assistance after her training.

    From that point on, they spent their time doing missions, hunting beasts and humans alike, all for the sake of boosting their cultivation in hopes of catching up to Mira.

    Just when they felt like they had reached a decent cultivation level with a sufficient amount of power, Miraes in and drags them to one of the top Sects on the Western Continent.

    Now, Mira''s sitting here telling them that as long as they keep working hard, she''ll give them something that can boost their strength and potential to ridiculous degrees?!?!

    What have they done to deserve such kindness?!?

    NOTHING!!

    For years, their goal has been to be of use to Mira, but forget about giving back, they''ve only been receiving more help!<sub> </sub>

    How are they supposed to repay all this? No, better yet, are they even able to repay Mira? They already owe her their lives several times over, but now Mira is also giving them a brighter future.

    Such a thing is probably worth more than all their livesbined thousands of times over. Actually, if Mira isn''t lying, they wouldn''t be able to repay this debt even if they had a million lives!

    Alicia knows better than anyone else that the women under Mira aren''t all that talented. There are a few good seeds, but they aren''t what anybody would call ''talented''. Alicia is by far the most talented one out of all of them, but even that''s stretching it.

    One must remember that before they were captured and thenter turned into cultivators, they were just simple vige girls.

    They picked berries in the forests, knit clothes at home, and cooked and cleaned for the family. Forget about fighting and growing stronger; they barely left the safety of their viges! It doesn''t help that many of them missed the glory days of learning and cultivating.

    At this point, the only realistic way for many of them to grow quickly is through constant repetition and life-and-death scenarios.

    Mira knew this as well, and although she wasn''t against them taking such measures to grow, hard work can only take them so far. If they wanted to even think about being of any use to Mira, they needed their talent raised, and foundations deepened.

    That''s why she made this request.

    Actually, Mira was going to give them the Core Formation Recipes regardless of whether she brought this up, but she figured they might be more motivated if she made this request.

    Though Mira would be lying if she said she wasn''t experiencing the effects of the sunk cost facy right now. She''s already put in so much effort to help and invest in these girls. It would be a huge waste if she just threw them away because they were no longer useful.

    Alicia and Mira stared at each other for a good while before Alicia lowered her head and whispered, "...Why?"

    "Hmmm? Why, what?" Mira was confused by the sudden question.

    "Why are you so good to us when we''ve done nothing for you?" Alicia looked up and questioned right to Mira''s face.

    However, she realized that what she said might''vee out wrong and quickly exined herself.

    "I didn''t mean to say it like I''m questioning your intentions and what you want to do with us. Each of us would dly give up our life if it meant we could be of use to you. I just don''t understand why you haven''t asked for anything in return yet! I mean, we are your subordinates! We are here to be your hands and feet! Just say the word, and we''ll do our best to aplish what you want!"

    Mira stared deeply into Alicia''s eyes as if she were looking into her soul as she said that. Alicia trembled slightly, but her gaze didn''t leave Mira''s.

    Around a minutete, Mira sighed and released a slight smile.

    "I think you''ve got the wrong idea here, child. As you girls are right now, you are of no use to me. What can Foundation Realm weaklings do around here where the average person is at least at the Core Formation Realm? Don''t get me wrong. If we were back in a city like Lunar Fox City, I would absolutely be ordering you girls around, but here there''s nothing you can do. Hell, even I''m rtively limited! With my strength, I can probably deal with most people in the Core Formation Realm, but even I will be troubled by those in a higher Realm. Only by reaching the Core Formation Realm will you lot gain the right to be of use to me."

    "As for right now, just keep training and getting stronger at a steady pace. Once I know you guys have the strength and potential to stay with me in the long run, only then will I start ordering you around."

    With that said, Mira got up and left, leaving the stunned Alicia alone with her thoughts.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 423 Hunting

    Alicia took a few minutes to digest everything that Mira said as she hadpletely forgotten about that fact. As they are right now, they really aren''t of much use to Mira.

    "Investing, eh? Haaa�� You really shouldn''t say those kinds of things right to someone''s face. If it was anyone else, I''m sure they would''ve been offending, but I guess that''s part of the reason we want to follow you. While I can''t exactly say you''re kind, you''re an honest person, Mira. I guess that''s just one of your charms, though. Anyways, I swear I''ll work those girls to death to follow your instructions! Since you put so much faith in us, then how can we, your subordinates, not meet those expectations?! No, we will seed your expectations!!" Alicia muttered with a firm gaze.

    Although the task Mira gave them wasn''t exactly a form of repayment, it''s the first order they''ve received from Mira.

    Alicia gazed in the direction Mira had just left and softly said, "Just wait, Mira. We''ll show you how amazing the subordinates you chose to invest in are. I''ll personally see to it that nobody cks off!"

    ***

    Mira left her residence and went towards the Mission Hall. She was going to hunt beasts anyways, so she might as well make some Merit Points. Honestly, she''d rather spend her time sparring against Cine as she felt like that''s probably the most efficient way for her to grow until a certain point, but Cine was also busy with other things, and this Sect is pretty strict.

    Sure, they might be able to meet the monthly requirement in a few hours, but that doesn''t guarantee they won''t be kicked out of the Sect by the end of the year.

    Merit Points are also incredibly important in the Sect as they can literally buy anything. If Cine wants to expedite her growth, gathering as many Merit Points as possible is really the only way to do so.

    Mira knew this, and that''s why she didn''t force Maria or Cine to keep sparring with her until she was satisfied, but it''s not like Mira is any different. She also wanted to earn Merit Points as possible. There are a few techniques she''s quite interested in, and she also wanted to learn more about the side upations.

    To do that, she needs Merit Points and a lot of them.

    When Mira reached the Mission Hall, she selected a bunch of missions that seemed to be near each other and immediately left toplete them.

    The only thing she was a bit worried about wasing across another asshole trying to steal her treasures like thatst guy.

    However, Mira wasn''t so much of a coward that she''d stop doing what she wanted just because someone strong might be out for her life. In fact, she weed strong opponentsing to challenge her!

    While thatst guy may havee at an inopportune time, Mira was still d that she was able to fight him. She learned a lot through that fight. It was just a shame that she wasn''t able to kill him.

    Mira shook her head of these useless thoughts and proceeded to hunt anything within range of her senses. While she may have selected a bunch of missions, Mira had no intention of actually focusing only on them.

    As long as something appeared near her, she was killing it. If she saw any nts that looked interesting, she would collect them, and if she were lucky enough to find any ores, then she''d mine them.

    It couldn''t be helped. There were just too many missions in the Mission Hall! It was almost like there was an infinite amount of them. This wasn''t only including missions that have been there for a while. No, new missions were also constantlying in.

    Mira found that extremely weird, but she just chalked it up to the peculiarities of the Mountain Range the Outer Court is on.<sub> </sub>

    Based on the things she''s heard, this Mountain Range is something even more ancient than legends and myths. Countless mysteries surround it, but for some reason, nobody dares to try and uncover them.

    Mira would be lying if she said she wasn''t curious, but the constant feeling of extreme dangering from deep within the mountain immediately washed away all of that. Call her a coward or whatever you want, but Mira knew that she''d be lucky to die if she entered such a ce carelessly.

    She had no intention of poking a sleeping dragon and could only tell herself that she''lle back and explore this ce when she''s strong enough.

    However, there''s another thing that Mira found a bit weird about this Mountain Range as well, and it''s that magical beasts and herbs seem to have something like a ''respawn timer''. Maybe that''s not the best way to put it, but Mira found it weird that there seemed to be designated areas where one could find a specific type of beast or herb.

    That in itself isn''t all that weird, but with how many times these beasts and herbs are plucked every year, Mira felt like this part of the mountain range should be a barren wastnd!

    But far from being a wastnd, it was brimming with life and potential.

    After a week of continuous hunting, Mira finally got curious and asked someone, but all she got was a shrug as an answer.

    Apparently, nobody really knows why this is the case. All they know is that it''s one of the reasons why the Battle Maiden Sect is able to keep its spot as one of the Continent''s top Sect, but that was fairly obvious to Mira.

    The Sect literally has a constant stream of resourcesing in, thanks to the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    After that, Mira stopped worrying about unnecessary things and put her entire focus on improving her Scythe skills in hopes ofprehending Scythe Intent.

    Just like that, time quickly passed for Mira, and before she knew it, Mira had been a part of the Sect for 2 months!

    During this time, Mira did nothing but hunt beasts, spar with Cine, Maria, Asami, and her subordinates, and focus onprehending Scythe Intent.

    She didn''t care about anything else, but it was at this time that she felt like she had hit a wall. A wall that wouldn''t be ovee with just simple training.

    Luckily, trouble came looking for her just at the right time!

    ? ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 424 Crimson Slayer Sect

    Rewinding time to about 2 months prior, right after Mira defeated the young man, but was stopped due to the interference of an old man.

    The old man, the young man''s master, looked at his disciple withplicated eyes. Truthfully, he was a bit hesitant to save him back there. Their Sect is not like the Orthodox Sects like the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Comradery? Sense of duty? Responsibilities toward the Sect?

    None of those things exist there. There are only two kinds of people in their Sect: the strong and the weak.

    The weak are merely there as either fodder for the strong or to find a potential strong person.

    Their Master-Disciple rtionship is more contractual than anything. The old man is nearing the end of his lifespan and is grooming his sessor, but the truth is the old man couldn''t give two shits whether he has a sessor or not.

    He, just like most of the other members of the Sect, only cares about himself. To him, a disciple is merely a nuisance that can help him pass the time before he either breaks through and extends his life span or dies.

    However, after teaching someone for decades, he''d be lying if he didn''t hold some feelings for his disciple. However, these feelings are merely limited to what one might feel when one stumbles upon an abandoned puppy and decides to offer it shelter until someone elsees along and picks it up.

    After sheltering it for a while, it''d be a pity should the puppy be taken away or die, but that''s about it. He wouldn''t cry over it and would probably get over it after a few hours.

    His disciple in this story is just an overgrown puppy who he''s taken care of for decades and allowed to feast on his knowledge and resources.

    Actually, his feelings toward his disciple aren''t too differentpared to Mira''s feelings toward her subordinates.

    While Mira would certainly feel upset that someone killed her subordinates, she wouldn''t feel too bad about their actual deaths. More than anything, she''d feel pissed off that someone decided to ruin her investment!

    She''s taken time out of her day training them, thinking about them, and providing them resources to advance and improve their talent. How can she let one of them die so easily?!

    No! They owe her their lives several times over, so if they''re going to die, then they can only die by her hands!

    The old man''s thoughts about his disciple aren''t all that different.

    The only reason he saved his disciple back there is because it would be a huge waste should he die.

    However, now he''s having serious doubts about his disciple''s strength. He nearly lost to someone who just entered the Core Formation Realm as someone at the Nascent Soul Realm, after all!

    The girl might''ve been heavily injured as well, but he could tell that the girl who nearly killed his disciple wasn''t bothered by them.

    Honestly, without even consulting with his disciple, he can already tell what happened just based on their injuries.<sub> </sub>

    He probably severely underestimated her due to her low cultivation, but the girl was probably much stronger than he initially thought, causing him to increase his power bit by bit.

    However, the tables must''ve turned, allowing the girl to take advantage of his momentary weakness, and from that point on, he had already lost the battle.

    Due to the nature of their cultivation techniques, it''s easy for one''s intelligence to drop if one were to get too agitated.

    There are ways to ovee this side effect, but they all pretty much require a firm will. The only problem with this is that most of the people who use their Sect''s cultivation techniques don''t have an excessive amount of willpower, at least not at first.

    That''s the point of the harsh trials they are forced to undergo in the Sect. It''s to help temper their minds along with their bodies and Qi.

    ''Maybe I''ve been too soft on my discipletely. Regardless of the situation or how strong that youngdy was, he should''ve been able to kill her. I could see that she had no treasures to protect her and the only things that were unique about her were her tails. Even then, he should be able to kill her without much issue as long as he used his brain properly. Sigh�� maybe this''ll turn out to be a blessing for him should he get over it. However, that girl��'' The old man felt his soul shake for a second before returning to normal.

    ''That girl is not normal. That killing intent�� How many beings has she killed for it to be so dense and terrifying? Even I, who has lived long enough to participate in numerousrge-scale wars, haven''t killed so many people. I don''t know why my disciple decided to fight to the death with her, but I''d rather he not get involved with that girl anymore. She reeks of trouble.'' The old man sighed, thinking about Mira.

    He really didn''t want to get involved with someone like that. As someone who has lived for thousands of years, his ability to sense danger is extremely high, and for some reason, he felt that should he decide to kill Mira, he would be wiped out of existence. No, actually, he felt like he''d be lucky if that was the case!

    It was an extremely weird feeling that he had no idea how to exin. He was one of the strongest people not only on the Continent but there aren''t many people stronger than him in the entire world!

    There are probably only a few hundred to a few thousand people who can actually contend with him, but even then, he''d still be able to put up a decent fight. And if he couldn''t fight, then he had his ways to escape, but facing Mira, he felt like all of that was useless.

    No, it probably wasn''t Mira who made him feel that way, but whoever was watching over or training her.

    ''Could an immortal''s remnant spirit have taken her in as a disciple? Just what was that feeling that shook me to my very core?'' This thought weighed heavily on his mind, but before he could think about it too deeply, he reached his Sect.

    ''Sigh�� Whatever, I''ll just go bring my disciple, heal him up, then force him to go under intensive training for a while. If he wants to go to his death by fighting that girl again, I won''t stop him.''

    The old man thought as he walked into a random wall. However, far from crashing into the wall, the two seemed to faze through it!

    Once they were inside, they were met with a gate with the words ''Crimson yer Sect'' written on it.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 425 Speculation

    After passing through the gate, the old man and his disciple seemed to be transported to another world. Unlike what one might expect from the inside of a cave, the scenery in front of them was a massive underground city. No, it might not even be truly underground and is only made to look that way.

    Unorthodox Cultivators aren''t the most trustworthy people, after all, and having one''s base underground coulde at a huge disadvantage, especially if some of the stronger people on the continent decided to get involved.

    That being the case, only a select few in the Crimson yer Sect know the true location of this city.

    Besides that, the city is very much real and functions simrly to how any other Sect would. The only major difference is that the disciples have a bit more freedom to do what they want within the Sect than in Orthodox Sects.

    However, while the disciples of the Crimson yer Sect might have more freedom within the city, their loyalty towards the Sect is forced upon them, preventing them from ever betraying the Sect.

    The old man didn''t even nce at anything and continued making his way toward his residence.

    Soon, the two of them appeared inside an ancient-looking house that looked like it had stood for thousands of years.

    The old man walked through the house and set down his disciple''s body in front of another old man that looked exactly like the spirit that carried his disciple all the way here.

    Then the spirit flew into the old man''s be and disappeared from the outside world. Looking down at his disciple and the condition his body is in, the old man sighed again.

    After a few seconds of contemtion, he took out a small green pill and popped it inside his disciple''s mouth.

    Immediately after, the young man''s wounds began to at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    In just a few minutes, most of the life-threatening injuries were healed, and he was only left with a few minor cuts and scratches that would heal soon after.

    After about an hour, the pill''s effects wore off, and the young man finally regained consciousness.

    "Ugh! What hap-AH! THAT FUCKING BITCH! HOW DA-Ouch! Master, why''d you hit me?!" The young man immediately started cursing as soon as he regained consciousness, but the old man quickly pped him over the head.

    "Shut up! What are you cursing so loud for as soon as you woke up? Don''t tell me you''re immediately thinking about your revenge? Tsk Tsk. Look at yourself. You''re this old, but you still need your master to take care of you. You should first learn how to take care of yourself before you run off on some stupid revenge. No, can it even be called revenge? You were the one who attacked her out of nowhere, yet you still lost! If anything, she should want to hunt you down to finish the job!" The old man clicked his tongue and berated his disciple.

    However, the young man wasn''t in the mood to listen. "What are you talking about, Master? Of course, I need to have my revenge! How dare that little girl almost kill me like that! If I truly went all out, she wouldn''t have been able to survive a single move!"

    *Smack*

    "Ouch! Master! Stop hitting me!"

    "FOOL! So, you know what you did wrong, yet you refuse to reflect on it? I know we are Unorthodox Cultivators, but at least have a little shame! I bet the girl you attacked is probably already thinking about how to kick your ass the next time two see each other! I know she''s only a Core Formation Realm brat, but that same Core Formation Realm child nearly killed you! Sigh�� I even had to waste one of my precious pills to heal you from your wretched state!" The old man was relentless and wasn''t going to let his disciple go so easily.

    It''s already a shame that he lost to someone an entire major Realm lower than him, but far from reflecting on his actions, he was about to go recklessly charge at that girl again!<sub> </sub>

    What sort of brain-dead disciple has he been raising this entire time? Is this the result of the heart demon that the fox woman put in him?

    "Also, what were you doing near the Battle Maiden Sect''s territory anyways? I''m sure I''ve told you not to mess with those maniacs! Those ''women'' over there can barely be called women! They are sometimes more savage than our Crimson yer Sect disciples! Especially when ites to someone hurting their own in their territory. You could''ve unintentionally started a war between the Battle Maiden Sect and us! ARGH! Just thinking about it makes me want to return you to the state I found you in!" The old man raged and gave his disciple a few ps to the back of the head.

    "Master, I couldn''t help it! I felt something leading me towards her, and I knew that would be the best opportunity to attack! She was a few hours away from her Sect''s Outer Court, and seeing her low cultivation, I assumed she was probably a new recruit. Therefore, it wouldn''t make much sense for her to immediately catch the eyes of an Elder. Even if she did, they wouldn''t be watching over her like a hawk. I know I shouldn''t have entered their territory recklessly like that, but I felt like that was going to be my best shot at killing her." The disciple exined, and thankfully, his master gave him a nod of appreciation.

    "I see. Well, at least you aren''t aplete idiot, but why did you even need to kill her in the first ce? Was it a treasure? Or maybe her blood? I was only able to see her for a short time, and even I was unable to see through that girl. I find it hard to believe that you, someone in the Nascent Soul Realm, were able to find something about the girl that I wasn''t." The master gave his disciple a scrutinizing look that was basically telling him to exin himself.

    The young man scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, "Ahaha. Actually, I don''t know either. All I know is that she had something on her body that would assist me in my cultivation, but in order to get it, I needed to kill her. The closer I got, the stronger this feeling became, and soon I was unable to hold back. But now that I think about it, it did kind of feel like something was leading me to attack her��"

    The two of them pondered with serious expressions on their faces. Unfortunately, they couldn''te up with any reasonable conclusions.

    "Could some expert be�� trying to hone her skills by sending various enemies her way? That''s pretty much the only thing I can think of that would cause you to act like this based on your words. But even if that''s the case, who would want to temper that little girl and why? Aren''t the risks involved in doing something like this too high if they want to train their disciple?" The old man thought out loud, but even that sounded a bit too odd.

    He''s lived a long time, and while he does advocate for this kind of training, he wouldn''t brazenly send random people after his disciple to try and kill him.

    The only reason he would do this kind of training would be to weed out potential seedlings amongst arge group of people. Or, at most, he would send his disciple to dangerous ces so he could temper himself.

    But wouldn''t his conjecture basically mean that whoever is behind that girl(Mira) is intentionally sending people to kill her, all in order to train her?

    That''s already crazy enough, but what''s worse is that the people that are going after her are entire Realms above her in cultivation!

    What sort of psycho-training bullshit is this?!

    Fortunately, or maybe, unfortunately, the old man-disciplebo might never know the truth. Though, if they ever came to find out whatever was behind all this was actually trying to get Mira killed, who knows how they might react.

    That''s right, Mira''s inheritance, the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, is literally trying to kill her. No, it''s not because it wants a different sessor, but it''s that it found no meaning in half-assed bullshit.

    Mira needed to grow at a certain pace and have a certain amount of strength to even be worthy of handling the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life. If she was going toze around while not using its powers and her potential to the fullest, then she was better off dead!

    Nothing came free in this world, and even though Mira went through hell to be its sessor, that''s far from enough. The capabilities of the F.LD.I.L are, unironically, limitless. Gods and Immortals alike would dly go to hell and back or go to war at a chance of obtaining such a treasure.

    Yet, Mira was able to get it by only experiencing a ''little bit'' of pain. Such a cheap price to pay for such a heaven-defying treasure, literally.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 426 Capture

    The master and disciple duo put these thoughts to the back of their mind and began talking about something else.

    "Master, I understand what I did wrong. I should''ve used my full strength from the beginning, but why is it so wrong of me to approach the Battle Maiden Sect''s Outer Court? I know you mentioned that we shouldn''t approach their territory carelessly, but isn''t the Outer Court just full of weaklings? We can be considered a demonic or Unorthodox Sect, so why do we have to care about the rules of those goody-two-shoes?" The young man asked, only to receive another p to the back of the head.

    Ouch!

    "Idiot! I don''t care if you go around ughtering low-level cultivators from the other Sects, but the Battle Maiden Sect is a different story. Unlike some of the other Sects who don''t care too much about their lower-level cultivators and will ept just about anyone, the Battle Maiden Sect is different. While the requirements to enter aren''t exactly all that high, they are still high enough that only some of the strongest females on the Continent can even think about joining. However, that''s not what separates them apart from the other Sects. What truly sets them apart is the only people who are capable of staying in the Sect are a bunch of fucking maniacs!"

    "Those�� those savages in the shapes of beautiful young women only care about training and strength! However, they also love their Sect and its disciples more than anything. Should one of the higher-ups find out that you caused the death of a talented young disciple, they wouldn''t hesitate to find our location and ughter you. Those people are known for being quite overbearing when ites to their own. That''s why nobody wants to mess with them. You''re lucky that girl is only an Outer Court Disciple and new to the Sect. If her status was a bit higher��"

    The old man didn''t need to go on as his disciple understood the point he was getting at. If the girl he wanted to kill had a bit higher status or was more famous throughout the Sect, he might''ve had a mob of psycho bitches who''d love nothing more than to chop him up into little pieces.

    "As I said, Zander, you can do whatever you want. You can ughter men, women, and children alike. I don''t care. However, messing with the Battle Maiden Sect is definitely a bad idea, and you should avoid doing so at all costs. You might unintentionally cause the downfall of our Sect should you cause too much trouble or kill someone you shouldn''t have killed. If it was a girl from any other Sect, I wouldn''t have cared so much since we aren''t so weak that we need to bow down to those big Sects."

    Zander, the young man, was inwardly cursing out his master at how cowardly he was.

    They are just a bunch of women. How strong can they be? Our Sect, although not as renowned as the Orthodox Sects, isn''t much weaker than any one of them. Why is his master so scared of them?

    The old man could tell what Zander was thinking based on his expression and felt like beating him to a pulp, but he refrained from doing so. Since his disciple didn''t believe him, there was nothing he could do.

    He''ll just have to experience it for himself.

    The Battle Maiden Sect''s roots are deep, and its foundation is strong. Truthfully, out of all the major Sects on the Western Continent, no, maybe even the world, the Battle Maiden Sect is one of the most terrifying.

    Although many of the Sects on the Central Continent are technically stronger than the Battle Maiden Sect, that''s only when ites to the number of high-level cultivators. For example, those Sects on the Central Continent have more Divine Sea and Ascension Realm cultivators than those on the Western Continent.

    Hell, they might not even have Ascension Realm cultivators on the Western Continent!

    That being said, in terms of unity, the Battle Maiden Sect might be number one in the entire world. Despite how they act and train their disciples, those in the Battle Maiden Sect all consider each other sisters and would die for one another.

    That level of unity amongst so many people is not normal and is the main reason nobody fucks with them.

    However, Zander wouldn''t know such a thing as he''s never experienced the true terrifying might of this unity.

    "Sigh�� Anyways, enough about that! For wasting my time and resources, you are going to be stuck with me for the next year, training! I need to get it through your thick skull to always use your full strength when hunting down an opponent, especially one from that Sect! Until I see you have understood my teachings, you are not taking a single step outside the Sect!"

    Zander wanted toin, but seeing the expression on his master''s face, he knew this wasn''t up for negotiation.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    Unfortunately, after a month and a half, the amount of hate and fear Zander had towards Mira grew to unstable levels.

    Forget about teaching him anything. The old man would be lucky if Zander could even understand what he was saying.

    Seeing his disciple like this, he knew he needed to do something.

    He would love to go there and deal with Mira himself, but he didn''t wish to die just yet. Even if Mira didn''t have the backing of a supreme expert and was only part of the Battle Maiden Sect, he still didn''t want to go into that den of wolves.

    The Sect Master and other elders of the Battle Maiden Sect would definitely sense his existence if he came strolling into their territory in his main body.

    No, even if he didn''te in his main body, it would be hard for him to escape their detection. He knew that the Battle Maiden Sect wasn''t as simple as it appeared on the surface. There have been many people throughout history who have ''gone missing'' after trying to sneak in there.

    The only thing he could think of doing right now was to send some disciples who didn''t have many connections with the Sect to retrieve Mira and bring her to him.

    He needed Zander to be able to kill her if he ever wanted to get rid of his heart demon.

    So, he found a team of five inconspicuous disciples, 1 Stage 2 Nascent Soul Realm, 1 Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm, and 3 Stage 9 Core Formation Realm cultivators, to go capture Mira.

    He gave them a picture of what she looked like ording to his memory, though she was wearing a mask, and sent them off.

    He made sure that even if these people were caught, there would be no evidence leading back to the Crimson yer Sect.

    The old man would''ve loved to send higher-level cultivators, but he knew the chances of them being caught were rtively high, and it would be a shame if the Sect were to lose anyone in the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Those in the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm could still be considered rogue cultivators that decided to go up the mountains to hunt or search for opportunities.

    However, there are very few Soul Transformation Realm cultivators on the Western Continent who aren''t part of some power, and this would cause the Battle Maiden Sect to grow suspicious of their origins.

    Those in the Soul Transformation Realm also wouldn''t be hanging out around the level that the Outer Court was at, and with the Battle Maiden Sect''s hidden security, they''d catch onto this immediately.

    Thus, the old man was forced to send these lower leveled disciples in hopes of being able to overwhelm Mira. Since she was in such a bad state after fighting against his disciple, who hadn''t even used his full power, he figured that as long as he sent a group of people, they should have no problem capturing her alive.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 427 Sneak Attack?

    After receiving the mission from the old man, the 5 disciples from the Crimson yer Sect set off to scout the area around the Battle Maiden Sect''s Outer Court.

    They knew just how dangerous this mission could be, and even if the old man hadn''t exined the dangers, they still would''ve been careful.

    "Hey, Number One, what do you think about this mission? Don''t you think it''s a little too dangerous? I mean, I''ve heard stories about how crazy those from the Battle Maiden Sect are. If possible, I really don''t want to get involved with them." Number Two, the second strongest, asked.

    They decided to use an alias for this mission per the old man''s orders, and the simplest one is to just go from Number 1 to Number 5, with Number 1 being the strongest and Number 5 being the weakest.

    "I don''t know. I''ve never fought against anyone from the Battle Maiden Sect, but I''d be lying if I said I wasn''t interested." Number One responded with a grin.

    The other four members sighed seeing this but didn''t say anything else. They knew their leader liked to fight, or more urately, he liked to kill and use the blood of his victims to boost his cultivation. The more talented the person he kills, the better the benefits.

    So, it would make sense that he''d be looking forward to fighting with talented women. Maybe he''ll even get to have a taste of her before giving her over to the old man.

    "Hehehe~" Number Oneughed creepily, which sent chills down the other''s spines.

    "You know we aren''t going there to kill anyone, right? We are only supposed to capture her. Also, don''t you remember the warnings the old man gave us? If even he''s telling us to be mindful of our target, then that means we need to be careful." Number Two reminded everyone.

    "Tsk." Number One just clicked his tongue in annoyance, but even he had to agree.

    That old man has quite the reputation in the Sect, so not taking his words seriously would be utter foolishness.

    A few hours went by, and eventually, they were about ended up near the area where Zander and Mira fought with one another.

    "Alright, everyone, let''s stick together! Our priority right now is not to capture the target but to scout out the area, learn the target''s habits, and attack when her guard is at its lowest!" Number One ordered.

    The others nodded and spread out a little, but only so much that they were still within range of one another.

    Almost two weeks went by like this, and during this time, they had spotted Mira quite a few times, but they were unable to go in because there was always another disciple not too far away.

    The old man told them not to cause any unnecessary casualties, so they were forced to wait until Mira waspletely alone.

    Fortunately, their waiting paid off, and only a dayter, Mira wandered a bit further away from the Outer Court than she usually does, away from all her fellow disciples.

    The men couldn''t help but lick their lips at her drop-dead gorgeous body, and even though she wore a mask all the time, they were sure that she was a beauty underneath.

    How could she not be beautiful? With that kind of body and is rted to foxes, there''s absolutely no way she isn''t a beauty!

    "It looks like we''re having fun tonight, boys! Hahaha!" Number Oneughed as he imagined himself on top of Mira.

    The others also chuckled as their eyes overflowed with lust.

    Although they were still a bit cautious about Mira, it wasn''t nearly as much as when they first appeared outside the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Disregarding Mira''s low cultivation, if they were to only take into ount her skills, they wouldn''t say that she''s anywhere near strong enough to contend with them.

    During this time, Mira has only used her scythe and nothing else. Not only that but she''s only fought Low and Mid-Stage Rank 6 Beasts. With only that much strength, there''s almost no way she can deal with their group, even if she has some sort of special technique.<sub> </sub>

    However, suddenly, for some reason, Mira began running in their direction. At first, they didn''t think much of it but seeing how she didn''t stop, they grew skeptical.

    "Hey, do you think she knows we''re here?" Number Three asked.

    "Impossible! We''ve been here for over two weeks, and she''s never discovered us. Why would she all of a sudden know where we are? She could just be trying to make it to her hunting ground as fast as she can, and it just so happens to be in this direction." Number Four said.

    The others couldn''t help but nod at his conclusion, but Number One couldn''t shake this suspicion that maybe they weren''t as sneaky as they thought they were.

    His suspicion was then proved when his eyes met the murderous crimson eyes of their target. For some reason, he felt a chill run down his smile, and his mind went nk for a second before quickly regaining his wits.

    "Shit!! We''ve been discovered! Fortunately, she''sing to us, so be sure to go all out!" Number One yelled and charged out.

    "What?!"

    "Impossible!"

    "How did she discover us?!"

    The others yelled back, but they still followed Number One. He was the leader and strongest of the group, so they were obligated to listen to him. Still, they found it rather hard to believe that they were spotted so easily.

    "Just shut up and prepare for battle! It doesn''t matter if she knows where we are. We outnumber her, and our strength is higher! Go all out from the state! We don''t want to drag this out and risk other disciplesing over to check out the noise!" Number One ordered while unsheathing his sword.

    "Yes, Leader!"

    The others took out their swords as well and made their way toward Mira.

    Since their leader told them to go all out from the start, they began channeling their Qi outside their bodies to use all kinds of Fire Elemental abilities.

    mes swirled around each of their swords, except for Number One, who had both his arms and his sword covered in mes.

    The surrounding temperature immediately skyrocketed, but Mira didn''t stop running at them.

    Oddly enough, Mira did nothing to try and protect herself from the mes. This confused them greatly, but they didn''t have any time to think about it as in just a few seconds, Mira was within attack range.

    However, before they could attack, they heard the girl''s melodious but, at the same time, murderous voice.

    "I could feel your lust from all the way back in the Sect. I came out here to check it out, but it turns out I only found a couple of horny dogs. Sigh�� And here I thought I''d be able to fight something other than beasts. Oh well. Even if you are beasts, I still need to punish you for viting my sacred body with your filthy dog eyes."

    Veins popped in all their foreheads, listening to this weakling of a girl calling them dogs, but they were still a bit weary of her. Anyone who could detect them from so far away was anything but normal. That,bined with the words of the old man, forced them to reevaluate the young woman in front of them.

    Unfortunately for them, their opponent wasn''t one to sit around and wait for them to getfortable. So, without warning, Mira immediately attacked the weakest member!

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 428 Taunts

    Number Five was a bit caught off-guard by Mira''s sudden attack, but it was only for a split second. Before Mira''s scythe could cut him in half, he blocked the hit.

    ''Heavy!'' Number Five thought as he blocked her attack. He couldn''t believe that he, someone at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, would be pushed back by someone so far below him in strength.

    Albeit he wasn''t pushed back much, it was still more than enough for him to think that maybe their target was more than meets the eye.

    The others didn''t feel the need to sit around and watch, so while Mira was focused on Number Five, they decided to attack.

    *Swoosh**Swoosh**Swoosh**Swoosh*

    Their swords came crashing down on Mira''s position, but Mira had already jumped out of the way and began charging at Number Four.

    Number Four wasn''t expecting an attack from Mira as he was also preparing an attack, so he was caught off guard by her sudden aggressiveness.

    However, before Mira''s de could reach him, it was blocked by Number Two, who suddenly appeared in front of Number Four.

    "Pay attention! Our opponent is stronger and more skilled than we originally thought!" Number Two warned before counterattacking.

    More and more mes swirled around Number Two''s sword, and a split secondter, he swung his sword vertically, causing mes to shoot out the end of his sword, cutting through the air and the ground in Mira''s direction.

    The strike was fast, much faster than Mira, but somehow, the girl seemed to be able to predict his action and moved out of the way before it could even reach her.

    Number Two was surprised that his attack was missed, but that didn''t stop him from attacking again.

    Unfortunately, his attack caused their team to be slightly split up as the weaker members had to dodge so they wouldn''t be caught up in the mes.

    However, they were quite used to this as they''ve fought together as a group on more than one asion. So, their attacks didn''t slow down at all.

    Meanwhile, Number One was watching from the sidelines, trying to find a way to capture Mira alive and without too many injuries.

    ''Damn that fucking old man. How are we supposed to capture this bitch without taking a few limbs? It''s only been a few exchanges, but I can see she''s much stronger than we initially thought. Was she hiding her power? Did she know we were watching this entire time? Is she even at Stage 1 of the Core Formation Realm? How strong is she, really? Ugh! Fuck! This would be so much easier if we could kill her!'' Number oneined inwardly.

    Their group, no, their Sect in general, isn''t used to capture missions. Their name is the Crimson yer Sect for a reason; it''s because they always kill their targets.

    Missions like this, where they are supposed to capture a person, especially someone as annoying as Mira, is not their forte. It''s even harder to do so when trying to make sure they don''t hurt her too badly.

    Number one was the most concerned about this as he''s not one known for holding back.

    As he was analyzing Mira, the girl was also repeatedly ncing at him.

    Seeing this, Number One felt a little insulted as it proved to him that she wasn''t worried about the others. The only person she was worried about was him!

    ''ARGH! Fuck it! Let''s just get this over with! If she dies, she dies!'' Number One screamed internally before making his move.

    However, before he could even do anything, it seemed like Mira suddenly got a boost of power and immediately switched her attention to Number Five.

    Before anyone could do anything, Mira had already appeared next to Number Five and cleaved her scythe through his heart!

    Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events, and while they felt a little bad that their teammate died, they weren''t that close, to begin with. So, the death of their teammate didn''t hurt them emotionally, but it did bring down their overallbat power and morale.

    But that wasn''t the end. Mira didn''t simply stop to remove her scythe from Number Five''s body. No, she kept her momentum going, slicing through his body before moving on to her next target.

    "This fucking bitch! Alright, that''s it! Screw the mission! I''m going to kill this little fox!" Number Three yelled, and the others nodded. Even Number One started to feel things might get out of hand if they let this go on.

    Either they end things right here and now, or they escape, but knowing their Sect and who gave them the mission, escaping is essentially killing themselves.

    So, rather than run away and face certain death, they''d rather kill Mira now and go back with her body to ask for forgiveness. That way, at least, they have a chance at living. Capturing her alive can only be considered a bonus at this point.

    "Change of ns, everyone! We''re going for the kill!" Number One shouted.<sub> </sub>

    The atmosphere changed as soon as those words left his mouth as the surrounding area was filled with killing intent.

    Facing this dense killing intent, Mira waspletely unbothered by it.

    She even chuckled lightly, as if she found their attempts to scare her cute.

    "Hehe~ That''s it? How cute. If you want to scare me, you''ll have to try a bit harder. But what can I expect from someone else''s hunting dogs? Well, I suppose I should thank your owner for sending you to me. I was really in need of a few practice dummies. Hahaha~!"

    Miraughed as she continued twirling her scythe, building up momentum. However, her opponents didn''t find her funny at all.

    They all had veins popping out of their forehead and were gritting their teeth in anger. Although they''ve faced humiliation and criticism before in the Sect, that was understandable. They were weak and pathetic back then, much differentpared to their current selves and status.

    They''ve ughtered countless innocent people either for fun, for missions, or for their cultivation, all so they can get stronger. They''ve gone through hell and back in the Sect just to survive.

    Yet, this little girl in front of him is treating them as if they are no more than cute little kids. Even the way she''s fought up until now has shown that she hasn''t thought much of them. In her eyes, they really are just someone else''s dog.

    "Fuck you, wench! If I don''t tear you apart today, then I''ll cut off my dick and turn into a woman!" Number Four yelled, surrounding himself in mes, and charged at Mira.

    The other three weren''t much different and beganunching all sorts of fire abilities her way.

    Mira chuckled and retreated tens of meters away to escape the st radius of all those attacks.

    "Hahaha! Did I strike a nerve, little boy? Wait, maybe I should be calling you little girl now since you''ll be cutting off your little willie here in a few minutes! Maybe this was what you were after all along; the chance to turn into a woman! Well, as a woman, I approve of your decision! As you can tell, we are superior to horny dogs like you all! Hahaha~~!" Mira continuously taunted and teased, causing their expressions to morph, and they attacked her with even more ferocity.

    "Why are you all so angry? I''m just ying around. But if you really do want to switch genders, maybe you lot wouldn''t be so fucking ugly. Is that why you guys are so horny? Women don''t actually want to spend a night with your monkey-looking ass-"

    "SHUT THE FUCK UP!! I''LL KILL YOU!!"

    Mira was interrupted by a loud scream. Following the scream was Number Four, who came charging at Mira recklessly while swinging his sword around like a maniac,unching mes all over the ce.

    Mira was hoping for this reaction, and as Number Four seemingly lost his mind, Mira waited for the right moment to strike.

    p Sure enough, he wasn''t paying any attention to his defense as the only thing he cared about right now was trying to kill her.</anda>

    Therefore, Mira took advantage of this. Her muscles bulged, she stomped on the ground, and with all the momentum from her scythe, she sliced horizontally, cleanly cutting through his waist.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

    However, even after losing his lower body, Number Four was still alive and could only scream in pain and agony.

    "Oops! I was trying to turn you into the girl, but it seems like I swung too hard. My bad, my bad. Hehehe~"

    Those words were the straws that broke the camel''s back. The others were already pissed off beyond belief, and watching Mira y around with them like this only served to anger them further.

    The downsides to their cultivation techniques were starting to show as they were quickly losing their minds to anger.

    Fortunately for them, Number One wasn''t aplete idiot.

    "Snap out of it, guys! She wants you to get angrier! Didn''t you see what happened to Number Four? If you don''t calm down, the same thing will happen to you!" Number One shouted, which helped the rest of his group to calm down a bit.

    Mira clicked her tongue but knew that now she had to get serious.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 429 Dance

    With rage simmering in their eyes, Number One, Two, and Three focused on Mira and didn''t make any careless moves. For some, they couldn''t catch Mira, even if they tried to predict her moves.

    It may seem like Numbers Four, and Five died way too easily, without being able to put up a fight, but in reality, they were doing their best to take Mira down. It''s just that Mira was using their attacks and blind spots against them.

    However, what they couldn''t figure out was how Mira was doing this. Normally, she shouldn''t be able to react fast enough to their attacks, and even if she could perceive them, she shouldn''t be able to move her body in time.

    But Mira was not only perceiving their attacks but dodging them as well.

    They wouldn''t know that Mira hadprehended Martial Intent, giving her perfect control over her body, and with her enhanced brain, there is no dy between perceiving an attack and reacting to it.

    As soon as she sensed danger, she was already on the move. Combined with her turquoise tell, which increases her perception, she can face enemies stronger enemies.

    Her Martial Intent has also increased the strength of her already strong physical body, allowing her to cut through higher-level cultivators as well. Maybe if they were body cultivators, she wouldn''t be able to cleave them in half like that, but since they are just Qi Cultivators, Unorthodox ones at that, she''s able to defeat them with rtive ease.

    The only problemes from those in the Nascent Soul Realm. Although she has gotten stronger since herst fight against a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, she''s still not too confident in being able to take full-powered strikes from one.

    Thinking back to how injured she was in thest fight, she decided to proceed with caution. If she ys her cards right, she can repeatedly dodge a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator''s attacks, but if she wants to actually kill one, especially one that ising at her with everything they have, it''ll be troublesome.

    She merely got luckyst time, but this time she probably won''t get so lucky. These guys are obviously weaker than thest guy she fought, even the Stage 2 Nascent Soul Realm guy, but it''s not by so much that it makes her job any easier.

    ''I also want to see how far I can go with my scythe alone. I''m out here trying toprehend Scythe Intent, after all. What better way toprehend it than in a life-and-death battle?'' Mira grinned as she thought to herself.

    While they probably won''te at her while only using their sword skills, Mira''s fine with that. She can still learn and grow even if they onlyunch attacks at her from afar.

    On the other hand, the three men had solemn expressions on their faces.

    "You two try and attack her blind spots. I''m going to be the one to fight her head-on. Let''s just get this over with." Number One growled and approached Mira. Number Two and Three nodded their heads and ran around to either side of Mira.

    Mira looked at this and shook her head slightly. She knew that if she were to stay in her current position, she''d be put in a bad spot as getting surrounded is one of the worst things that can happen to a ''one v many'' fight, but she figured she could handle it.

    In fact, it''s this kind of stressful situation that she was looking for, to begin with! Fighting the beasts around here, while they are intelligent, aren''t smart enough for her to need to go all out. Fighting against stronger beasts is also a waste of time while trying toprehend Scythe Intent because technique and skill don''t matter against them, only brute force. If she''s not strong enough, then no matter what she does, it''s all useless.

    Suddenly, the Number One dashed at Mira, with mes circling all around him and his sword. The mes not only converged around his sword but formed fireballs above his head as well.

    Mira had no intention of taking his sword head-on, but dodging also wasn''t much of an option since the two guys on either side of her wereunching fire attacks in her general direction. They weren''t particrly aimed at her, which made it harder for Mira to guess their trajectory.<sub> </sub>

    ''Ah! It seems I may have gotten a bit too excited.'' Mira thought to herself as she sighed. She didn''t want to have to use her tails, ice, or anything else for this fight. She only wanted to use her scythe, but it seems she fucked up.

    Mira loaded her Golden Tail with Qi and used it to protect one side of her body from attacks. That way, she can take Number Three''s attacks head-on while simultaneously dodging Number One and Two''s attacks.

    *Boom!*

    Number Three''s attacks hit her Golden Tail but fortunately didn''t do any real damage. It only burned a few of the hairs on her tail.

    ''Okay, now I can reset. Let''s not do what I just did again.'' Mira thought to herself.

    She was fine with facing one person shooting long-range attacks at her while someone attacks her at close range but having two people shooting long-range attacks at her while their strongest person deals with her up close is not something Mira can face.

    That being said, she just needs to disrupt the field a bit. If she can force Number Three and Number One to engage her with their swords while Number Two attacks from afar, then she might be able to get a good fight in.

    She thought about having both Number One and Two deal with her up close, but she didn''t think she could take two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators head-on. Well, maybe she could, but it was far too risky. Not to mention, she''d never be able to kill anyone!

    At least against Number One and Three, she has a chance at killing one of them! So, taking advantage of her Golden Tail''s durability, she ran in Number Three''s direction while simultaneously facing Number One.

    Number Two and Three kept firing attacks at her, while Number One kept trying to hack her apart with his sword, but Mira was able to either dodge or endure the attacks until she finally broke the encirclement.

    Number Three''s attacks weren''t working on Mira, so he decided to face her with his sword as well.

    Number One and Two didn''t have anything against that since his Fire attacks were pretty much useless.

    ''This damn fucking cockroach! Just die!'' Number Three shouted in his mind as he shed at Mira with his sword from her blind spot, or what seemed like her blind spot.

    Unfortunately for him, Mira could still perceive his attacks due to the overflowing killing intent. So, Mira was able to expertly sidestep his attack while using the momentum of her scythe to try and counterattack.

    ''Now, let''s dance!'' Mira grinned.

    ***

    A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for the support! Last month, we made it to the Top 10 of the Golden Ticket Rankings, so here are an extra 10 chapters as thanks for all the supportst month!

 Chapter 430 Found

    ''Now, let''s dance!'' Mira grinned and stepped forward to attack Number Three.

    "Oh no, you don''t!" Number One''s ming sword came crashing down on Mira!

    *BANG*

    Mira raised her scythe and blocked the attack, but she was still sent flying by the sheer power behind the attack.

    ''Fuck! I could barely react to that attack! Is this the true power of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm?'' Mira thought to herself as she somersaulted in the air and gracefullynded on her feet.

    The yful grin was now wiped off her face, and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

    ''It seems I may have underestimated them, but no matter. I''m not the same person from two months ago.''

    Mira quickly regained her bearings and decided to focus on Number One for now. With her perception and instantaneous reflexes, she should be able to dodge Number Two and Three''s attacks for now.

    Number One noticed that Mira wasn''t injured despite taking a hit from him. Although she did block it with her scythe, that attack still should''ve done considerable damage to her if she were a normal Stage 1 Core Formation Realm expert.

    ''It seems that old man was right. This girl is far from ordinary. No, I can''t let her live past today! Who knows what kind of trouble she''ll bring to the Sect! I''m sorry, old man, but even if we have the choice of capturing her, she still has to die today.'' Number One thought to himself.

    Killing Intent exuded from his body as he stared maliciously at Mira.

    He took a unique stance and began gathering Qi around his sword, legs, and arms. mes began swirling around him, and the temperature in the surrounding area rose greatly.

    The trees caught fire, and the ground turned ck.

    Number Two and Three looked at Number One in surprise, but they, too, prepared their own attacks.

    Mira felt immense danger from whatever Number One was preparing to do, and for the first time in a very long time, she wasn''t sure what she should do.

    Normally, in a situation like this, she would unhesitatingly charge in and disrupt this power-up, but she felt like it was already toote to do that. By the time she reached Number One, the attack would''ve already been unleashed, and she would then be forced to take the brunt of the damage.

    However, she felt like running away wouldn''t solve anything. In such close proximity and with how fast someone in the Nascent Soul Realm is, she''d still get caught up in the attack.

    She could try and dodge, but her instincts told her that she wouldn''t be able to dodge this attack. Although Mira didn''t know why she felt that way, she trusted her instincts.

    All that''s left are her tails, but most of them wouldn''t be very useful in this situation. The only ones that might be of some use would be her Golden Tail and Sapphire Tail(Shield). Maybe her Icy Blue tail would also be useful if she used her increased ice affinity and strength to create a shield around her.

    However, she doesn''t have nearly enough time to create a shield that could possibly block this attack in time.

    ''Heh. It seems like you''re trying to take me out in a single blow, but do you think I''ll just let you take my life just like that?!'' Mira smirked and gripped her scythe with all her strength.

    Instantly, she entered a fully focused state. Her brain was quickly analyzing the situation at near instantaneous speeds.

    After it gathered all the necessary information, she immediately took action on how she could make the most out of the situation.

    Her Sapphire and Icy Blue tail were activated, creating a blue barrier around her while also boosting her ice affinity.

    Mira used every bit of her Qi to create a super dense and sharp edge around the de of her scythe. She could''ve chosen to create an ice shield around her now that she''s entered a pseudo-enlightened state, but subconsciously, Mira felt like doing that would be wasting some of the advantages she could take in this situation.

    While turtling in a shield might be the best way to survive a deadly attack in some scenarios, this is not one of them.

    The attack that Number One is charging up is plenty strong enough to go through both her Sapphire Tail''s shield and an ice barrier. To make things worse, if she used everything on defense and still survived, she would be unable to attack. At least like this, she''s still able to attack and can hopefully deal damage to her opponent as well.

    Mira then flexed every muscle in her body that''s used when swinging her scythe horizontally.

    With the remaining time left until Number One attacked, she built up whatever momentum she could in her scythe and pushed her Turquoise Tail''s ability(Perception) to the max.

    Lastly, Mira coated her scythe in all of the hellish aura made by her cultivation technique.<sub> </sub>

    At this exact moment, Mira felt a jolt of electricity run through her body and mind. No, it wasn''t an attack, but it was more like her body and mind were in perfect sync right now.

    Her body and mind were one at this moment, perhaps one of the most dangerous yet exhrating moments in Mira''s life!

    She felt perfect, almost like she had reached a new profound understanding of her body.

    Her eyes opened slightly, and although they were glowing with a crimson light, they were as calm as ake.

    mes continued to condense and swirl around Number One for another two seconds before his eyes shed, and he made his move.

    *SWOOSH*

    *ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR*

    Number One seemingly disappeared from his position, but what was left in his ce was the formation of arge serpent made of fire''

    ''Descent of the Fire Serpent-First Stage! Die you bitch!'' Number One shouted in his mind as he unleashed his technique and dashed at Mira.

    The head of a ming serpent formed around his sword as he jumped in the air above Mira''s head and descended on her like a guillotine ready to behead its victim!

    Surrounded by mes in the form of a giant fire serpent dozens of meters long, Number One fell from the sky, not giving Mira any time to react!

    "DIE!"

    Number One yelled as his sword fell on Mira''s body.

    Mira watched all this happen with eyes as calm as the surface of ake. With her body primed and her scythe ready to kill, she used her golden tail to create a counter-force to help her not only partially sidestep the attack, but to create just a bit more momentum.

    Then, with seemingly casual movements, her scythe horizontally swiped the air where Mira predicted Number One would be in another fraction of a second.

    In that instant, Mira felt like the wall preventing her from learning Scythe Intent was quickly crumbling, and if she were given a bit more time, maybe she would''ve been able to make a breakthrough. But unfortunately, Mira didn''t have that luxury.

    As soon as Mira had that feeling, she and Number one collided.

    *Ting*

    ��

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

    An apocalyptic explosion resounded throughout the surrounding area. Apart fromrge chunks of the ground flying and scattering about, two silhouettes also shot through the air like a ragdoll at extreme speeds.

    Unfortunately, dust and ash covered the area, so visibility was extremely low, causing Number Two and Three to lose sight of Mira and Number One.

    The two of them were preparing attacks to back up Number One in case Mira was still alive, but they didn''t know that he would cause such massive destruction! All life, except for them, was incinerated, and arge cobweb of cracks spread for hundreds of meters, maybe more around the st radius.

    Aside from that, such an explosion definitely caught the attention of all the surrounding disciples and, most likely, even a few of the nearby higher-ups of the Sect. Number Two and Three instantly realized this and knew they were in quite a predicament.

    To them, as disciples of an Unorthodox Sect, getting captured is guaranteed death. Due to the nature of those in an Unorthodox Sect, the Sect hase up with a way to prevent their disciples from leaking sensitive information.

    The way they prevent this differs from person to person and is also different in almost every generation, but the result is the same. Anyone who tries telling information to anyone not rted to the Sect will die! It doesn''t matter whether they are conscious of it or not. As long as the informationes from them, they will die.

    So, without hesitation, they began looking for Mira and Number One. They didn''t have much time as they could sense that numerous people were currently on their way over right now.

    Luckily, the two of them are rtively strong and can search the surrounding area quickly.

    "I found them!"

 Chapter 431 Taken

    Right after the explosion created by Mira and Number One''s attacks, the two of them flew back at supersonic speeds in opposite directions.

    Mira felt like her body was about to copse from the impact alone as all the bones in her body broke, her muscles were ripped apart, and her internal organs were crushed under the intense pressure.

    But somehow, she was still alive and conscious! She may be a little dizzy and could barely move her body, but at least she was still alive.

    All the Qi in her core was spent in thatst attack, but she still has some energy stored in the rest of her tails. She might not be able to do much with them in her current situation, but it''s still nice knowing that she still has a few cards left.

    Fortunately, her regenerative powers are insanely high, and she can feel her body trying to repair itself even when she''s in such a bad state.

    However, if she wanted to deal with the other two people, her body wasn''t healing nearly fast enough.

    When Mira eventually hit the ground, she tumbled for dozens, if not hundreds of meters, further injuring herself before she finally stopped.

    "Huff�� Huff�� Blergh!" Mira ended up coughing up a bit of blood in the process of trying to catch her breath.

    ''Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Those two other assholes will definitelye look for me after that st! If I can just hold on for a few minutes, I should be able to survive this ordeal! I can already feel multiple auras approaching this location! If I can just turn my body over on my stomach, I might be able to stall out long enough for the people approaching to finally distract these idiots!'' Mira thought to herself as she wanted to use her Silvery-White Tail(needle-hair ability) to try and injure them.

    ''I still have my ck tail in case things get really bad, but I feel like using it on these small fries would be a waste. Although I have no idea what it does, I know it''s incredibly powerful; both to its user and the target. Well, whatever. If it can save my life or prevent me from getting captured, then I''ll use it without hesitation, but for now, I''d like to save it.''

    Mira thought to herself as she tried forcing her body to turn on her belly. Although she didn''t need to do this, it''ll be much better for what she''s trying to aplish.

    Her body felt like it was on hire as she ripped her muscles and broke her bones even further, but she didn''t let out so much as a grunt. In the F.LD.I.L, she had to go through the grueling torture of having her body forcibly turned into nothing more than a ball of flesh and bones while keeping her consciousness and pain receptors active. If she can''t withstand this little bit of pain, then what use was all that torture?!

    In the end, she was still able to turn her body on its stomach ''without much issue'' and prepared for someone to find her-

    "I found them!"

    ''Ah! Right on time.'' Mira inwardly chuckled and waited for the guy to approach her. She couldn''t tell whether it was Number Two or Number Three, but at this point, it didn''t really matter. Regardless of who called that out, they would both be near her soon.

    Not long after, Mira felt someone approach her with resentful eyes. He stared at Mira''s body, and while at first, he felt lust, now he only felt rage and hatred.

    "Haha! Look at you now, bitch! You not only killed two of mypanions and injured my leader, but you made us make so much noise to capture! Now, we have to run for our fucking lives all because you wouldn''t obediently get captured by us! Fortunately, you are still alive, so that old man won''t kill us for failing the mission." He said that while reaching down to pick Mira up, but right as his hands were about to touch her, he felt a burst of Qie from her tail.

    This dumbfounded him, and since he wasn''t expecting Mira to be able to have any energy left to attack, he had let his guard down. Unfortunately, this mistake will be his downfall!

    *Swoosh*

    "Argh! My fuckin eyes! You bitch!! I''ll kill you!" The man was unable to react in time to the barrage of hair-like needles thatunched from her tail and prated his face.

    Mira, feeling the killing intent in the man''s eyes, knew she only had a split second to deal with this man before he pushed the hairs out of his body. So, after her tail hairs hit him, she focused in on them and used every bit of her willpower to push them further inside his body.

    Then, she transferred some of her energy from her Pink Tail into her core, and although she wasn''t able to gather much, it was enough to insert a few wisps of Qi containing her Yin Lightning, Yin Fire, and Ice elements into each hair.<sub> </sub>

    "Brbrbrbrbrbrbr" The man felt like his insides were being turned inside out, but Mira kept forcing her hairs through his body until they eventually reached his brain.

    Before he could even think of defending himself, her hairs had already drilled into his brain and killed him.

    The man''s eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell on Mira''s body, dead.

    Mira, on the other hand, didn''t waste any time using this dead body to her advantage. Since she was already touching the body and her tail hairs were inside him, she willed her ck runes to absorb every wisp of energy and vitality contained within his body.

    Within seconds, the man''s body shriveled up to nothing other than skin and bones. Mira felt her Core being replenished and her body healing at a rapid rate. However, the efficiency of her ck runes was rather bad, she was only able to refill about 5% of her core''s energy reserves, while her body still needed tons more time and energy to heal.

    ''Though I would like it if I recovered a bit more, this should be enough to keep my body going without actually dying. Now, I just have to worry about the other guy and Number One. Hopefully, Number One is in too bad of shape to actually do anything because I''m sure he will kill me as soon as he sees me. I could tell from his eyes that he was adamant about putting me six feet under.''

    ''Sigh�� Is it really that old man that I encountered a few months ago who''s setting this up? His disciple should be in a pretty bad state then if he''s going to such lengths to capture me. However, how can a disciple of someone as strong as that old man have such weak willpower that he was only able tost a few months after what I did to him? If I was that old man, I would have already killed his pathetic ass and found a new disciple!''

    Mira felt a bit angry about this whole situation. She wasn''t entirely ming the old man for her current situation. She was just confused as to why he cared so much about that useless disciple of his. If she were to me anyone, she would only me herself for being weak.

    Hell, even if Maria or Cine get severely injured by someone, even though Mira cares for them greatly, she wouldn''t go so far as to kill the ones who did it to them. As long as they weren''t dead or crippled, Mira would stay out of it as she felt that doing so would help fuel their growth.

    Revenge can be great fuel for growing stronger. Mira would know since revenge was, and still is, her main reason for getting stronger.

    That''s why Mira is confused and frustrated by this whole thing. It''s not like that young man was useless. If he can ovee his heart demon, he wille out stronger.

    However, a spark of anger entered her heart when she thought about how that fucking old man decided to interfere in a battle between the younger generation.

    ''Hehe~ Old man, I''ll be sure to repay you for the ''kindness'' you''ve shown me today.'' Mira inwardly chuckled.

    "Ah! Number Three! What happened? What did that bitch do to you?!" Mira heard Number Two shouting from some distance away.

    Fortunately, her control over her body was perfect, and she was able to make it look like she was unconscious.

    Number Two quickly came over and checked Number Three, who was lying on top of Mira, and shook his head.

    "It seems this conniving bitch still had a few tricks up her sleeves. Sigh�� While it is a pity, that just means I''ll get more of the reward for myself." Number Two stored Number Three''s body in his spatial ring and picked up Mira like a sack of potatoes.

    Mira, knowing that her ck tail is the only ability she has left that might be of any use in this situation, lets herself be picked up. Although she was inwardly cringing at the thought of a man touching her, and she would make sure to rip this guy''s skin off when she gets the chance, there''s nothing she can do about it right now.

    She mentally sighed and tried to hold back her bubbling rage, and as she felt like she was going to explode, she felt numerous auras converging around her location.

    "Shit!" Number Two cursed as he knew he was in trouble now.

 Chapter 432 Running

    Thanks to Number Two''s cultivation, he was able to find Number One''s body right after picking up Mira. He was both unconscious and severely injured, with a deep cut in his abdomen and many of his bones fractured or broken, but he was still alive.

    The only reason he fainted was that he bore the brunt of the explosion caused by his and Mira''s collision. He wasn''t expecting Mira to be able to have so much power behind her attack, nor did he expect to encounter a very sturdy shield to form around Mira at thest second, which was the main reason for therge impact.

    Number Two would''ve loved to help Number One deal with his injuries as he might actually die if he doesn''t receive treatment or regain consciousness here soon, but unfortunately, the situation didn''t allow him to do so.

    Feeling the numerous auras approaching, Number Two immediately dashed in the direction he felt he would run into the least opposition. He didn''t want to needlessly kill Battle Maiden Sect disciples, as the old man made it quite clear when he gave them this mission.

    He said, "Don''t fuck with the other disciples. Just capture the girl and make it back here with her alive. Killing the disciples of that Sect is the same thing as us dering war against them, so unless you want to start a war, then don''t cause unnecessary bloodshed."

    Number Two, being a bit more intelligent than Number One, knew that if the old man was saying this, then it must be true.

    He nced at Mira, and although the thought of killing her had crossed his mind before, quite frankly, he didn''t want to start or join a war between their two Sects, so all thoughts of killing her soon dissipated.

    He still wanted to enjoy life! What''s the point of being part of an Unorthodox Sect if he can''t do whatever the hell he wants?! That''s the reason he likes being in the Crimson yer Sect!

    He can kill whenever and whoever he wants, par some people that they shouldn''t think of touching. He can have sex with all kinds of women! He can enjoy the unique euphoria of the Unorthodox Cultivation Techniques. These are just a few of the reasons why he likes his life in the Sect.

    If he were to unintentionally offend some bigshot by killing his/her disciple(Mira) and start a war between the two Sects because of that, wouldn''t his good life be ruined?

    It''s not like he can run away, either. He''ll either be killed on the spot for causing the downfall of their Sect, or he''ll be used as cannon fodder in the war. Either way, he dies a pointless and miserable death.

    ''Fuck! I shouldn''t have taken this godforsaken mission! If only Number One wasn''t aplete fucking idiot, I wouldn''t have to go through this nonsense! I mean, our goal is to capture this girl! Why does he then have to go alert the whole goddam Sect of our presence with that ultimate move of his?! Should I just kill him now, so he doesn''t end up creating more trouble for me?'' For a brief second, Number Two looked at Number One with killing intent in his eyes before he eventually shook his head.

    ''No, I can''t do such a thing. Not yet, at least. I may need his power to escape this shithole sometime in the near future.'' Number Two''s killing intent receded when he thought of this.

    He kept running as fast as he could to try and escape this encirclement, but it seemed luck was not on his side today as he ran into a Battle Maiden sect disciple.

    To make matters worse, this wasn''t some ordinary Outer Court Disciple either. She was most likely one of the Top disciples in the Outer Court, as he could feel her Stage 9 Core Formation Realm aura.

    ''Are you fucking kidding me?! What is someone this strong doing here?! Shouldn''t she be off doing missions further up the mountain?!'' Number Two started panicking, and for a good reason. He could feel dangering from the woman in front of him!

    Meaning she could threaten his life if he wasn''t careful!

    The woman, who stood around 175 centimeters tall, with ck hair and brown eyes, stood imposingly in front of Number Two with her sword drawn and her aura ready to fight.

    The woman nced at the man for a second before her attention was drawn to Mira''s body. She tried searching through her memory of a tall fox-like girl with 9 tails, but nothing came up. However, seeing the white robes wrapped around the fox girl''s body, she figured that the girl must be a new disciple who had just joined the Sect recently.

    Then, she noticed that the fox girl was in horrendous shape. No, it would be more urate to say that she has no idea how the fox girl is even still alive right now!<sub> </sub>

    Seeing one of her juniors in such a state filled her with endless rage! The woman pointed her sword at Number Two and said, "Filthy vermin! Unhand my junior this instant, and I will allow you to keep your measly life on ount that she is not dead! You have three seconds to decide before I attack!"

    Number Two was stunned, but then he startedughing!

    "Pfft-HAHAHA! You? Kill me? With that little bit of strength? Woman, although I admit that you are talented and can certainly harm me if I''m not careful, killing me is just wishful thinking on your part! Should I decide to escape, there is nothing you or anyone else around here can do to stop me!" Number Two said with a tone full of mockery, but the woman''s face didn''t change.

    She just said, "I see��", then took out a talisman.

    After inserting a bit of Qi inside the talisman, she said in a concerned but also anger-filled voice, "Master, some man infiltrated the Outer Court and has captured one of our most talented juniors, the one with the fox tails! I''m currently standing in front of him, but I have no confidence in taking said junior back! I implore master toe and help me seize this man, or I''m afraid my junior''s purity will be taken from her!"

    Number Two was stunned silly when he heard the woman''s words, and he wasn''t sure how to react. At first, he thought it was just a bluff, but then he felt the mountain below him rumble along with an angry shout on the other side of the talisman in the girl''s hand.

    "Are you sure?! Does this junior of yours have different colored tails?!"

    "Yes, Master! All her tails are different colors!"

    "!? WHICH FUCKING BASTARD DARES TO ENTER OUR SECT AND CAPTURE ONE OF OUR DISCIPLES?! SEE IF I DON''T SKIN THAT INSECT ALIVE AND PUT HIS HEAD ON A STAKE! Ahem! Good job, disciple! I''ll be there shortly! Just stall that filthy mutt for a few minutes!"

    After her short talk with her master, the woman smiled and stared at Number Two with a ''kind'' expression. If Number Two didn''t know any better, he almost would''ve felt like the woman was doing him a favor by sending her master after him.

    He just stood there, dumbstruck by this chain of events.

    "You�� You�� You�� WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?! DON''T YOU HAVE ANY PRIDE OR HONOR AS A BATTLE MAIDEN SECT DISCIPLE?! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU CALL YOUR MASTER?!" Number Two screamed in rage and almost charged forward to attack the woman. Thankfully he had enough self-control that he didn''t do such a thing, or else the person on the other side of that talisman might actually be able to catch him.

    The woman, however, just shrugged her shoulders and said in a nonchnt voice, "Hmph! You said that I wouldn''t be able to catch you if you decided to escape, so I called someone that would. Why should I risk my junior''s life because of a bit of pride? I mean, look at how beautiful she is! Although she''s wearing a mask, she''s definitely a beauty underneath it all! Who knows what sort of filthy things you''ll do to her once you''re alone? I can''t allow that to happen!"

    Mira, who was faking her unconscious state, was both intrigued and impressed by the woman''s behavior. A smile would have appeared on her face if she wasn''t trying to act.

    ''It seems this Sect is even more impressive than I originally thought. I wonder what the higher-ups of the Sect do to establish such unwavering trust andradery amongst the disciples.'' Mira thought to herself before putting this thought to the back of her mind and focusing on the situation before her.

    "FUCK!" Number Two yelled and instantly used a good chunk of his Qi to use his movement technique.

    Red light shined underneath his feet, and within the next second, he zoomed past the woman and began running through the mountain range like his life depended on it, which in fact, it did.

    The woman didn''t expect Number Two to be so fast, but she wasn''t worried. However, she still gave chase and followed his trail just in case her master was unable to find them.

 Chapter 433 Escaped

    "Dammit! How is that nobody so fast?! Argh! Whatever! As long as I follow their general direction, Master should be able to find them!" The woman chasing after Number Twoined, but there wasn''t much she could do.

    While she was confident in being able to face the man head-on in a fight, she would be hard-pressed to be able to catch up to someone in the Nascent Soul Realm if they focused solely on fighting.

    "Maybe I shouldn''t have been so hasty in calling master�� No, no, no, what am I saying?! That disgusting pig clearly had no intention of fighting me! It''s best if I let Master know now so she might be able to save that Junior Sister of mine!" Although this is what the woman thought, it was also a bit hypocritical.

    Normally, she wouldn''t care how many of her Junior Sisters died as not only the Outer Court but the world is a vicious ce.

    The missions provided to the disciples in the Outer Court are equally as dangerous, and many young disciples die every year to beasts and humans alike. At least, that''s how the Outer Court is for the weaker disciples or those who don''t try and force out every bit of potential within them to rise up in the Sect.

    So, even if she feels pity for those who die in the Outer Court, there''s only so much she can do about it. Since ancient times, the world of cultivation has been rife with dangers. Resources might be rtively abundant for those without much cultivation, but there''s an extremely limited amount of resources avable for those with higher cultivation.

    However, this situation is different! A Nascent Soul Realm expert has invaded their territory and captured their disciple! This doesn''t just involve the life of a disciple, but the entire Sect as a whole!

    Naturally, the woman knew this, but she also couldn''t tolerate seeing one of her Juniors being captured and taken away right in front of her.

    "Sigh�� I hope master can get here soon, or else that despicable man will really take that girl away and do who knows what with her!" The woman muttered as she ran after Number Two.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Number Two was busy cursing out the Crimson yer Sect, the old man, Number One, and nine generations of his ancestors.

    "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! Dammit! Why did that dumbass have to go and blow everything to hell?! Sure, this girl is strong and clever, but there''s no way she can beat us in a battle of attrition! We just needed to quietly stall things out, capture her, and be done with it!" Number Two cursed out loud while running at full speed.

    Of course, he wasn''t worried about that woman catching up to her. He was more concerned about that woman''s master!

    Although he might not know much about the Battle Maiden Sect, he knew that the women were all known as maniacs by the general public. Usually, they just keep to themselves while slowly umting their resources and strength, but in reality, they are like a slumbering giant.

    Their training methods are nearly as ruthless as Unorthodox Sects, but the difference here is that they areced with good intentions. While the Unorthodox Sects don''t care about anyone and are basically just a den of selfish bastards, the Battle Maiden Sect genuinely care about their disciples.

    Number Two did not want to be the one to wake the sleeping giant, but it seemed their target wasn''t as simple as they originally thought.

    "Just who is this girl, and why did that elder seem so angry when she heard about her capture? Is she that talented? Or maybe she has a master higher up in the Sect who deeply cares about her? Old man, who the fuck did you want me to capture?!" Number Two really felt like crying right now, but he had no tears.

    Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and he felt an overbearing and overwhelming power sweep the area he was running in.

    "FUCK! Did that psycho bitch''s master find me?! Don''t tell me, do I really have to use that to get out of here? Sigh�� If I make it out of this ce alive, I''m going on a vacation." Number Two muttered out loud as he knew he needed to make a decision and fast.

    In the end, he could only release another troubled sigh before taking out a talisman.

    "I really don''t want to have to use this, but it seems like I''m not left with much of a choice. Ugh��" Number Two felt like clutching his heart in pain at the thought of using one of his beast treasures and trump card to escape from a situation that wasn''t even his fault.

    He nced at Number One, who was over his shoulder, and his face turned fierce.

    "Since this is your fault to begin with, I''ll let you deal with the aftermath, hehehe~"

    He dropped Number Two on the ground and then looked over at Mira.

    "Now, what should I do with you? I would really love to just drop you off as well, but I don''t feel like living the rest of my life on the run from that old man once he realizes I failed the mission he gave me. Ah, whatever! I''ll just restrain you and cripple you once we leave this ce." The thought of having his way with Mira''s body also entered his mind, but not for long as he heard a booming voice.

    "THERE YOU ARE, YOU INSECT! STAY RIGHT THERE, AND I PROMISE I WON''T TURN YOU INTO A WOMAN AND LET THE BEASTS PLAY WITH YOUR BODY!"<sub> </sub>

    Number Two felt a chill run down his spine, and he unconsciously covered his crotch as if to protect his manhood.

    ''I knew it! These bitches are all psychos!! I need to get the fuck out of here!''

    Number Two thought to himself and no longer hesitated. He crushed the talisman, causing both him and Mira to be covered in a grey bubble before disappearing a secondter!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

    Right after Number Two and Mira disappeared, a wild-looking middle-aged woman with red hair and a fiery aura came crashing down on their position!

    She released her senses and began looking around, but the only thing she found was a young man whom she almost crushed to death, lying on the ground.

    No matter how far she spread her senses, she couldn''t sense Mira or Number Two, causing her already frowning face to contort into one of rage!

    "Motherfucker! Don''t think you''re safe just because you escaped from me!! I''ll be sure to track you down and skin you alive while shoving your own testicles down your throat!" She yelled in rage, then immediately turned her attention to the half-dead young man below her.

    She wanted to rage and squash this guy like the ant he was for daring to infiltrate their territory, but she knew she might be able to get some valuable information out of him.

    So, while letting her rage simmer, she picked up Number One and seemingly disappeared from her position.

    She nced in her disciple''s direction and sent her a voice transmission, then went back to the Sect.

    ***

    Not long after, back in the Outer Court, an announcement was made.

    "Attention all Outer Court disciples! There have been sightings of suspicious activity around the Outer Court! From what we''ve gathered, they are a group of men who are looking to capture unsuspecting disciples. We aren''t sure of their motive or backing as of yet, but our Elders are currently working on finding this out! While we won''t prohibit you from leaving the Outer Court, just know that you are doing so at the risk of getting captured by a group of horny men!"

    "For now, our Elders have already chased or killed all of the suspects already, but until we find out who is behind this and why, it''s better to be cautious! Remember, the only way to stay safe is to be strong! You won''t have to worry about scum like this if you are strong enough! That''s all!"

    To say that the disciples in the Outer Court were shocked would be an understatement.

    They were shocked, scared, and nervous, but most of all, they were angry! Part of it was directed at the Sect for not being able to keep them safe from this kind of treatment, but most of it was directed at the ones who wanted to capture them!

    The main reason why the Battle Maiden Sect is so loved and popr by women is because they don''t have to deal with the brutality and savagery of men.

    While women are far from perfect, at least here, they don''t have to think about things like sex, rtionships, or any of that nonsense. For the most part, they are able to concentrate on getting stronger, and with how intense the Battle Maiden Sect trains their disciples, there''s hardly any time for the disciples to even think about hating each other.

    However, now their lives and purity are once again being put at stake! How can they not be angry?!

    Naturally, this was part of the reason the Elders decided to make this announcement. While they might receive some bacsh from the newer disciples, they would still feel pressured to get stronger by this sudden news.

    This was only the case for the Outer Court disciples, though. There wasn''t much of a need to make this announcement to the Inner and Core disciples, not to mention the direct disciples.

    For one, they are strong enough to fend for themselves. Two, nobody on the Western Continent would dare to try and invade those ces. Unless a Divine Sea Realm or Ascension Realm expert came, only death awaited them. Even then, a Divine Sea Realm would still have a hard time going unnoticed.

    Meanwhile, there was one person in the Outer Court who had a bad feeling about this whole situation.

 Chapter 434 Identify

    Maria immediately stopped what she was doing when she heard the announcement and a bad feeling permeated throughout her body.

    For some reason, she had a feeling Mira was rted to this announcement in some way.

    Emotions that she''s never truly experienced before surfaced in her heart, and quite frankly, she wasn''t sure how she should feel or what she should do.

    She felt angry that someone dared to covet her woman, but at the same time, she felt helpless.

    Maria knew Mira''s strength, so if she was somehow captured, then it either means the person she was fighting was vastly superior to her in terms of strength, or she wanted to be captured.

    However, Maria didn''t understand why Mira would want to be captured, so she naturally assumed that the attacker was way stronger than Mira.

    Knowing this, she wanted nothing more than to charge out there and begin looking for Mira, but her rational side prevented her from acting recklessly.

    "Be safe, Mira. I''lle for you soon." Maria muttered to herself with her fists clenched.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in a dungeon somewhere underneath the mountain, the middle-aged woman and Number One were having a ''nice'' conversation with one another.

    "AAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!" Number One howled in pain as the middle-aged woman began skinning him alive, starting from his feet.

    "Hmph! Weren''t you very daring a few hours ago? You even dared to trespass onto our territory and kidnaped one of our disciples! Where''d all that go? Don''t tell me you can''t even handle this little bit of pain. Tsk, what a fucking pussy!" The woman said while peeling off more of his skin.

    In this dark room, Number One had his strength sealed and was bound to a table with all kinds of torture tools around him. The scent of blood and death permeated the area, but oddly enough, there were no bodies or prisoners.

    "Before we get started, why don''t you tell me why the Unorthodox Faction is making trouble with the Battle Maiden Sect? I doubt you came here of your own volition, but those old farts shouldn''t be dumb enough to try and make trouble with our Sect, not after what happenedst time. Or maybe it''s been so long that some of them have forgotten��" The woman asked.

    Number One stopped howling in pain and looked at the middle-aged woman in shock!

    "How�� How did-"

    "How did I know you were from the Unorthodox Faction? Simple! You people from the Unorthodox Faction all have the same disgusting aura. You may be able to hide it from others, but as someone who has killed plenty of you insects, I would know!" The woman raised her chest and said proudly.

    Now, the fear in Number One''s eyes was reced by confusion mixed with rage!

    "IF YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS, THEN WHY ARE YOU TORTURING ME?!" Number One bellowed, but what he got in return was one of his toes being ripped off.

    "ARGH! YOU BITCH! I''LL KILL YOU!"

    "Yeah, yeah. I''m sure~~ you will. Hehehe~ As for why I''m torturing you�� it''s mainly because that other guy disappeared somewhere, and I have no idea where he might be. However, I promised him that I''d skin him alive, turn him into a woman, and let the beasts have their way with him before eventually killing him. I already made this promise, and as an Elder, I can''t go back on my word! But since he''s gone and is nowhere to be found, you''ll have to take his ce! But don''t worry, when I find him, I''ll allow him to experience the same thing you''re about to! Hehehe~"

    Number One nearly fainted from rage and fear, but the pain of being skinned alive forced him to stay conscious.

    He couldn''t even kill himself by trying to spill sensitive information about the Crimson yer Sect because the woman just kept ying him like some sort of animal!

    Just from this alone, Number One could tell that the woman had no intention of asking him any questions as if she knew what the oue would be. At this point, he could only ept the fact that she was torturing him simply because he dared to trespass on her territory!

    ''Fuck me! Fuck that old man! Fuck everyone who even thought of wanting to kidnap Battle Maiden beauties! Who would want to have sex with these crazy bitches?! They''ve all lost their minds!'' Number One roared inwardly as he deeply regretted taking this mission.

    Half an hourter, the middle-aged woman looked at the torture table that Number One was on and nodded in satisfaction.<sub> </sub>

    On the table was someone, no, something that looked like it crawled out of the abyss! It looked like a human, except it had no skin, and blood was constantly leaking out of it. Next to the table, on the floor, was the missing skin.

    The woman did such a good job at skinning Number One that she was able topletely remove all his skin without cutting it into pieces. So, the skin on the ground nearly resembled a person, just without the insides.

    The woman also decided to cut off his genitals and cripple his cultivation.

    "Alright! Time to hand you off to the beasts! Have fun!"

    One of the walls nearby opened up upon her saying that, and she threw Number One into the dark room.

    Then immediately after, she shut the doors as even she didn''t want to witness the horrors that were about to go down in that room.

    Afterward, Elder Sandra appeared in the room and looked at the middle-aged woman expressionlessly before saying, "Did you find out anything, Elder Ange?"

    The middle-aged woman, who Elder Sandra called Elder Ange, stared at Elder Sandra for a few seconds in slight surprise before saying, "It''s rare of you to be so interested in a disciple, especially an Outer Court Disciple, Sandra. Is that fox girl really as amazing as you say?"

    "She''s more amazing than I originally thought she was! You might not know this, but I''ve been checking in on her every once in a while over thest two months, and you know what she learned during this time?" Elder Sandra said excitedly.

    This piqued Elder Ange''s interest as normally Elder Sandra is indifferent to everyone and everything unless it can benefit her or the Sect. So, for her to act like this was quite surprising.

    "Well, don''t leave me in suspense! Spit it out!" Elder Ange spat and looked at Elder Sandra with half-expectant eyes.

    "She learned Intent! However, the Intent sheprehended is quite peculiar as even I don''t know what it''s for or what it can do. All I know is that when I checked up on her progress a few weeks ago, I sensed something different yet familiar about her. And having just been with the girl''s friend, Cine, who has learned Saber Intent, I could easily tell from the aura that Mira learned some form of Intent!" Elder Sandra said with shining eyes.

    Elder Ange was shocked when she heard this. How many people in the Sect, no, on the Western Continent have learned some form of Intent? Maybe a handful? A few dozen? Who knows? But she does know is that anyone who can learn Intent is almost guaranteed to be a powerhouse should they survive long enough to reach that point.

    That''s because not all the Realms of cultivation require only an umtion of Qi. In fact, every Realm after the Core Formation Realm needs something other than just Qi to progress.

    One''sprehension bes a big part of whether one''ll be able to break through to the next Realm or not. Therefore, if someone is able to learn some form of intent, it generally means that theirprehensive abilities are quite high.

    Of course, just because someone doesn''t have highprehensive abilities doesn''t mean they can''t learn Intent or break through some of theter Realms.

    Intent is a very mysterious and fleeting power. Talent is important, but one''s foundation with their weapon is equally as important. It could even be said that younger people have more of a chance of learning Intentpared to those who are a bit older or who have advanced deep into their cultivation journey.

    However, that''s just a theory and can''t be proven since Intent is already hard to learn on its own.

    Thus, knowing that Mira, someone who recentlyprehended a form of intent, got captured��

    "THOSE UNORTHODOX BASTARDS! I''LL KILL THEM ALL!"

    �� would, of course, send Elder Ange into a fit of rage!

    Mira can already be considered one of the strongest disciples in the Outer Court despite only being at Stage 1 of the Core Formation Realm! Now that they know she''s learned an Intent as well, it wouldn''t be an underestimation to say that she might grow up to be one of the future pirs of the Sect!

    It took Elder Ange a while to calm down as she wanted nothing more than to go storming the Unorthodox Factions and start ughtering them, but when she eventually calmed down, she looked at Elder Sandra with a serious expression.

    "We should report this to the Sect Master!"

 Chapter 435 Sect Master

    At the top of the mountain that the Battle Maiden Sect is on stood a building. This building wasn''t toorge, maybe about 5,000 square feet, but the aura radiating off of the building was more than enough to force anyone from approaching if they weren''t strong enough or didn''t have permission.

    The building seemed to be made out of several different kinds of materials, some of which one could easily tell came from the stones and trees on the mountain.

    The trees and stones near the top of the mountain have all been saturated with an extremely dense amount of Qi for countless years and have long be Mystical and Divine Grade treasures.

    Thus, it wouldn''t be wrong to say that the building standing at the top of the mountain is a Divine Grade treasure in and of itself!

    Elders Sandra and Ange approached the building with slightly nervous steps. Although they''vee here quite a few times, the top of the mountain always leaves them in awe. The density of the Qi, the divine auraing from the building, and the view are all things that they only get to see every once in a while.

    That said, the mountain that the Battle Maiden Sect is on is one of the smaller mountains in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. However, that is not by choice. If anything, they are lucky to be able to take over the mountain they are currently on!

    That doesn''t just go for the Battle Maiden Sect, either. Every other Sect, whether they are part of the Orthodox Faction or Unorthodox, is in simr positions as well.

    The Ancient Beast Mountain Range is massive and spans almost the entire length of the Western Continent, separating the maind from the ocean. Naturally, in such an area, terrifying creatures lurk about. It''s these entities that have essentially given their permission for the human Sects to reside on the Mountain Range and take advantage of its excessive resources.

    It''s this view that always reminds the Elders of the Sect that they are not the kings of this mountain. While they might not be the subjects either, they are far from being the strongest force in the Mountain Range.

    Of course, things aren''t quite that simple. The powers from the Central Continent also have something to do with this as well, but that doesn''t necessarily make things better��

    Elder Sandra and Ange both had solemn expressions on their faces as they observed the Mountain Range before quickly making their way toward the building.

    When they neared the building, a heavy pressurended on them, but not only were they strong enough to resist it. They had permission to be here as well, so they weren''t slowed down in the slightest.

    Suddenly, they both knelt down at the same time and said, "We havee to seek an audience with the Sect Master! We bring urgent news!"

    A few moments after, a calm, ethereal voice reached their ears.

    "Come."

    Elder Sandra and Elder Ange got up and entered the building. Immediately after entering, they entered the throne room and noticed a woman who didn''t look older than 30 sitting on a golden throne with red velvety cushions.

    The woman had ashy-colored hair and violet eyes. The aura around her gave others the feeling that she was much more than meets the eye, and they wouldn''t be wrong. She''s the Sect Master for a reason.

    "Sasha, Ange, what brings you here today, and in such a hurry at that?" The Sect Master, Aelina Verlice, asked with an even voice.

    Elder Sandra stepped forward, "Answering the Sect Master! We came here to inform you that someone from the Unorthodox Faction invaded the territory around the Outer Court and kidnapped one of our disciples!"

    Aelina''s face didn''t change when she heard this, and she calmly asked back, "And? What would you like me to do about it? One of you, Elders, is more than enough to deal with this situation. Why have youe to me about this issue?"

    Elder Sandra gulped nervously because although this seemingly young woman on the throne might look calm, everyone who''s been in the Sect long enough knew that she, too, has a nasty personality once someone steps on her bottom line.

    And one of the things she hates most is people wasting her time.

    "Ahem! You''re correct, but I''m afraid the disciple they kidnapped is a bit�� special." Elder Sandra said bitterly, and this time, a glint of surprise shed through Aelina''s eyes.

    ''Hmmm�� I guess if Sandra is saying this, then this situation probably isn''t as simple as I initially thought.'' Aelina thought to herself before signaling Elder Sandra to continue.

    "I''m not talking about this disciple''s background or anything like that. From what I know, she was raised in a vige in the middle of nowhere and came here at the rmendation of one of our Branch Sects. However, this disciple is extremely talented. Probably the most talented person I''ve ever seen, and I have a feeling that''s only the tip of the iceberg!"<sub> </sub>

    Now, Elder Sandra had officially captured Aelina''s interest.

    "Hoh? If it''s you saying so, then they must be quite the talent. Alright, tell me more about this disciple." Aelina responded in the same voice as before, but Elder Sandra could hear the slight amount of intrigue in her voice.

    "Yes, Sect Master! From what I found out, Mira is��"

    Elder Sandra then proceeded to tell Aelina everything she knew about Mira, from her past to her feats at the Branch Sect, all the way to the present. She told the Sect Master everything, including her fox tails, Intent, unique friends, subordinates/trial disciples, along with Mira''s estimated strength.

    It has to be said that Elder Sandra wasn''t sitting around doing nothing over thest few months. With talents like Mira, Maria, and Cine training in their Sect, she needed to know everything about their background.

    Normally, they would only begin looking deeper into a disciple''s history once they make it to the Inner Court, but Mira and her friends were just too unique. Well, Elder Sandra was also interested in them as well. Therefore, she was unable to hold back her curiosity.

    Lo and behold, after looking into their history, they really did grow up in the middle of nowhere!

    Elder Sandra even knew about how Mira dealt with the Soul Devouring Sect''s invasion of Lunar Fox City!

    The only thing she was curious about was how Mira got her tails because, from her information, Mira didn''t have tails when she left Lunar Fox City toe to Snow Maiden City. However, she just chalked it up to a lucky encounter, something that Mira seems to have quite a lot of.

    Elder Sandra was even able to learn about Mira''s time in Quake City and how she joined the Mercenary Association for about a year beforeing to the Sect.

    Naturally, she didn''t leave anything out when telling the Sect Master about Mira. Aside from things that Mira never showed to the public, it could be said that Elder Sandra managed to dig up most of Mira''s history.

    That, along with what she''s observed during the two months Mira''s been in the Sect, allowed Elder Sandra to paint a pretty good picture of how talented Mira is.

    "...Lastly, I''d like to say that, based on my observations, Mira may have the strength of someone at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm or above while only being at Stage 1 of the Core Formation Realm."

    Aelina went through numerous emotions listening to Elder Sandra report her findings on Mira. At first, she didn''t want to believe Sandra''s words since they were too unrealistic. Even now, she was a bit skeptical about all this. Perhaps if it wasn''t Elder Sandra who was saying this, or if she hadn''t already gathered so much information about Mira, to begin with, Aelina definitely would have thought she was being pranked right now.

    However, Aelina knew all the Elders of the Sect fairly well, and Sandra wasn''t someone who would lie about stuff like this. No, more urately, she wasn''t someone to spend this much time gathering information in the first ce!

    Just that alone showed how highly Sandra thought of Mira!

    However, although she trusted her, Aelina was still a bit skeptical, but how could she not be? Being as strong as someone at the peak of the Core Formation Realm or higher while only being at Stage 1?

    What kind of nonsense is that?!

    It must be said that the difference between someone at the peak of the Core Formation Realm and someone who just entered it is monumental! Depending on one''s foundation when entering this Realm, they might end up being dozens of times stronger or, in some cases, even more than that!

    So, saying that Mira is as strong as someone at the peak of the Core Formation Realm while only being at Stage 1 means that she''s a never before seen talent, and Elder Sandra''s saying that it''s possible she''s even stronger than that?!

    ''If what Sandra''s saying is true, this Mira girl might very well be able to lead our Battle Maiden Sect to new heights! From the sound of it, Mira''s not only strong and talented, but she''s intelligent, ruthless, and can keep calm in almost every scenario. If trained properly, wouldn''t she make a perfect leader?''

    When Aelina''s thoughts reached that point, her eyes widened slightly before narrowing.

    "I see. Now tell me everything you know about how Mira was captured and these Unorthodox Faction cultivators."

    Although Aelina''s voice didn''t change, it still sent a shiver down Sandra and Ange''s spines as they knew the Sect Master had gotten serious.

 Chapter 436 Meeting The Sect Master

    Elder Sandra spent the next few minutes reporting everything they learned about Mira''s capture to Aelina.

    "I see. So, Mira was able to take down three Stage 9 Core Formation Realm enemies and severely injure a Stage 2 Nascent Soul Realm expert. Unfortunately, she was knocked unconscious by the st from their impact and was captured by the remaining enemy, a Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm enemy." Aelina muttered without a change in her expression, but the two elders could tell she was thinking deeply about this scenario.

    "Alright! I understand the situation, but I have a few questions I''d like to ask you, Sandra." Aelina narrowed her eyes in Elder Sandra''s direction, causing her to gulp nervously.

    "P-Please ask away, Sect Master."

    "First off, I''d like to ask why I was not informed of this Mira girl sooner. You, more than anyone, should understand that if trained properly, she could grow up to be a pir of the Sect or maybe even the future leader. With her talent alone, she''s more than qualified for such a position once she bes strong enough. This isn''t a simple disciple we''re talking about here. No, this is someone who might be able to lead the entire Sect to greater heights!" Aelina questioned.

    Elder Sandra wasn''t quite sure what to say and just looked at Aelina as if she should already know the answer.

    Seeing this, Aelina couldn''t help but sigh.

    "...I understand that every disciple we take in must survive the Outer Court and sessfully enter the Inner Court, and I have nothing against this. In fact, if it were up to me, I would force Mira to take even more dangerous missions to temper herself with. There is simply no need for her to do missions way below her strength level. However! You should have told me about this matter as soon as you learned of her talent! At least then, I could keep track of her progress and maybe even have her do a few missions for me." Aelina reprimanded.

    Elder Sandra lowered her head and apologized.

    "Please forgive me, Sect Master! I did not think things through that far and was only nning on telling you after she joined the Inner Court, as per the Sect''s rules!"

    Aelina released another imperceptible sigh at the way Elder Sandra phrased her words, essentially ming the Sect''s rules for her failure.

    Waving her hand dismissively, Aelina said, "What''s done is done. But next time, you should inform me of anyone who was able toprehend Intent before joining the Sect. As for my next question..."

    Aelina was about to continue questioning Elder Sandra but stopped when she saw the awkward look on her face.

    "What''s wrong?"

    Elder Sandra coughed awkwardly.

    "Ahem... Well, you see, umm, how should I put this? I may have forgotten to mention that Mira has a friend who joined the Sect with her who also learned an Intent, Saber Intent, to be exact. Not only that, but the person she''s living with right now has an incredible Light Element Affinity and practices a profound healing technique that can bring back someone from the brink of death without any issues. In truth, her abilities are barely less than the other two."

    Aelina and even Elder Ange stared at Elder Sandra intently in both astonishment and disbelief.

    Part of their disbelief stemmed from the fact that so many talents entered the Sect at the same time, but they also couldn''t believe how stupid Elder Sandra was for not reporting this!

    "Sandra! Do you think these kinds of talents are like some random cabbage you can pick up by the side of the road?! Why haven''t you informed anyone of this sooner?! These people barely have a reason to be in the Outer Court! Were you just going to let them stay there for a few decades, wasting away their talent before you reported this matter?!" Ange was so furious that she began screaming at Elder Sandra, and rightfully so.

    Mira, Maria, and Cine all being talented and all being close to one another can''t be a coincidence. Besides that, for people who have alreadyprehended some form of Intent, being stuck in the Outer Court would only limit their growth.

    Although the Sect does have rules saying that all disciples must rise up from the bottom, there are always exceptions.

    Even Aelina gave Elder Sandra a subtle usatory nce. She can be magnanimous and forgive Sandra based on the fact that she followed the Sect''s rules, but when a group of people with unparalleled talent show up, she can no longer look over this slight.

    "Alright, enough. We''ll deal with Sandra''s punishmentter. For now, I still have a few more questions. Do you know why someone would want to capture Mira? Also, how did they enter our territory without us noticing?" Aelina asked.

    "This... I-I don''t know. Forgive me, Sect Master!"

    "Sigh... Well, then, if you don''t know, let''s just go ask someone who might." Aelina got up from her throne and said.<sub> </sub>

    "Someone who might?"

    "Yes. Now, take me to see those friends of Mira''s." Aelina said while walking out of the building, leaving the two elders stunned.

    "Wait! You''re going to personally meet them?! There''s no need for that, Sect Master! You can just leave this to your subordinates! There''s no need to bother yourself with this!" Elder Sandra said while chasing after Aelina.

    "Why can''t I go meet them? I''d like to see for myself how talented these juniors of mine are." With that said, Aelina disappeared from her position and soon appeared above the Outer Court.

    Elder Sandra and Elder Ange looked at each other for a moment before shrugging their shoulders and following after Aelina.

    ***

    In the Outer Court, Maria had been busy giving a fewmands to Mira''s subordinates. She was finally going to try putting them to use. Although Mira said they wouldn''t be useful until the Core Formation Realm, Maria didn''t quite agree with that statement.

    They might not be useful outside the Sect, but inside the Sect is a different story. All they need to look out for are rumors about a tall fox woman with multi-colored tails.

    Aside from that, she was going to spend all of her time and effort on getting stronger. Whether that be by sparring with other disciples, taking on more difficult missions, or using all of her Merit Points on cultivation resources, she wasn''t going to spare any effort.

    Maria knew that for Mira to get captured meant that whoever she was against was strong enough that she needed to let herself be captured.

    Thus, if Mira could only be captured, that means she has little to no chance of surviving should she go look for Mira right now. If anything, recklessly searching these mountains might end up doing more harm than good, not only to herself but Mira as well.

    Suddenly, just as she was about to start cultivating, three women appeared in her room.

    "Elder Sandra! What are you doing in my room?! Don''t you know it''s rude to barge into ady''s room like this? What if I was doing something lewd?" Maria eximed while covering her breasts and crotch with her hands.

    Elder Sandra felt her mouth twitch and a vein pop in her forehead, listening to her nonsense.

    "Brat! Why can''t I enter your room? I''m an elder of the Sect, you know?"

    "So, just because you''re old, you get to enter a young maiden''s room? Although I admit that my body is amazing and I can be considered the number two beauty in the Sect, that doesn''t mean you can abuse your age as an excuse to take a sneak peek!" Maria countered, causing more veins in Elder Sandra''s forehead to pop and her fists to clench.

    "Brat! You know I could kill you for saying something like that to an elder of the Sect?" Elder Sandra tried intimidating Maria, but thetter just smiled.

    "Hmph! I''ve long heard of how magnanimous and kind Senior Sister Sandra is! Why would you want to kill this talented and beautiful junior sister of yours over a few words? As long as you look past this, I''ll even forgive you for wanting to spy on my beautiful figure."

    "Fuck! Who''s your senior sister?! I don''t have a junior sister as shameless as you!"

    "So, you''re saying that if I wasn''t shameless, then I could be your junior sister? I always knew you were kind, Senior Sister Sandra!"

    Aelina and Elder Ange both found this sight quite amusing as they never expected this little girl to be so brazen. Most, if not all of the disciples, in and out of the Sect, look up to the Elders in awe and fear, but here''s a little girl teasing her as if it was natural. The most amazing part was Elder Sandra was even trying to put pressure on her to intimidate her, but Maria just stood there with the same smile on her face.

    Unfortunately, Aelina had to cut off this amusing interaction before Elder Sandra really lost her mind and killed Maria.

    "Alright, that''s enough, Sandra. Hello, Maria. My name is Aelina Verlice, and I''m the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect."

 Chapter 437 Mysterious

    "Alright, that''s enough, Sandra. Hello, Maria. My name is Aelina Verlice, and I''m the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect."

    Maria was stunned! She never expected that she would meet the Sect Master of the Sect so soon. She''s just a weak little girl from the Outer Court. Why would she need to meet the Sect Master? No, why would the Sect Master actuallye and see her?

    ''Ah! She must be here to talk about Mira.'' Maria thought to herself, then nced at Elder Sandra.

    ''Mira did say she felt like she was being watched every so often ever since we joined the Sect. It seems it was Elder Sandra who informed the Sect Master of Mira''s talents. I can already guess what they want to know.''

    Aelina was inspecting every little movement Maria made and was a bit surprised to see that Maria had probably already pieced together their reason for being here.

    ''It seems she much more intelligent than she lets on. Is this her true self, or is she usually like how she acted with Sandra? Interesting��'' Aelina smiled internally but outwardly kept a neutral appearance.

    "Ah! Nice to meet you, Sect Master Aelina! My name is Maria Zaria! And I hope you don''t take offense to this, but you have quite an impressive aura. I always wondered what the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect would be like with all these crazy Elders running around, but I must say, I''m impressed. You''re nothing like the others I''ve seen so far." Maria cupped her hands and bowed politely towards the Sect Master.

    Normally, she wouldn''t do such a thing since the only person she respects enough in this world to bow to is Mira alone, but from just a nce, she could tell how amazing Sect Master Aelina was.

    Call it her intuition or instinct, but just from the way Aelina conducts herself in the presence of someone like her, although she couldn''t say she had already grasped her personality or strength, she could tell that Aelina is extraordinary.

    "Hahaha! You sure are bold, kid! To talk to the Sect Master so brazenly, I wonder who gave you the guts to do such a thing?!" Elder Ange roared inughter. She couldn''t help but find Maria incredibly amusing.

    Even Aelina couldn''t help but raise a brow, and a glint of interest appeared in her eyes as she looked at Maria.

    "Oh? What do you mean my aura is extraordinary? I''m sure that I''ve hidden it quite well. Forget someone like you, even the Elders of the Sect shouldn''t be able to learn anything from my aura." Aelina asked.

    "That''s why you''re so extraordinary. Everyone, no matter who they are, whether they are ordinary people without any cultivation or experts like you, radiate an aura unconsciously. I guess calling it an aura isn''t exactly correct, but that''s beside the point. This aura is essentially an amalgamation of your current emotions and personality. For example, that person behind you with crazy hair gives off the aura of a maniac who enjoys war and torture. Elder Sandra''s aura is more indifferent but also has hints of bloodlust and admiration." Maria exined and thoroughly shocked the three in front of her.

    Even Aelina was now looking at Maria more intently as the glint of interest in her eyes intensified.

    "How interesting. Then, what kind of aura do you see from me?" Aelina asked as she was quite curious as to what answer Maria will give.

    However, Maria just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

    "I don''t know. I can''t tell."

    "Eh?"

    Although they might not have been expecting much, they were willing to listen to Maria as she might be right. On the off chance that she was able to see through the Sect Master with only a Core Formation Realm cultivation base, their priority in nurturing Maria would''ve risen a notch.

    "Before you say anything, let me exin. That''s why I said that the Sect Master is impressive. I can''t sense any kind of aura. What I feel from the Sect Master is nothing. It''s almost like I''m looking at a normal person. Keyword being ''almost'' because even an ordinary person would still have some kind of aura around them. I can only sum up Sect Master''s aura in one word: mysterious. That,bined with your purple eyes and ashy-colored hair, everything about you screams mysterious! That''s why I said she is so impressive! I''ve only met one other person who has such perfect control over her emotions, and that''s why you have my sincerest respect, Sect Master!" Maria exined and ended with another bow.

    However, she wasn''t just respectful towards the Sect Master for that reason alone. While being able to control one''s emotions and aura to such an extent is amazing, it''s not so amazing that only a handful of people in the world are capable of doing it.

    No, she respects that the Sect Master has even thought about doing something like that. Most people don''t even realize that only controlling one''s outwardly appearance doesn''t mean you canpletely hide your inner feelings.

    Those who have extraordinary intuition can sense the changes in one''s emotions regardless of their bodynguage or tone of voice.<sub> </sub>

    Most, if not all, people don''t care about learning ways to hide this, as those with such extraordinary intuition are incredibly rare. Maria wasn''t sure how rare they are exactly, but she''s never encountered someone other than Mira who was able to read people regardless of their appearance.

    So, just the fact that Sect Master Aelina focused on such a small detail and trained it to such an extent shows proves that she''s an incredibly meticulous person who doesn''t want to leave any chinks in her armor.

    That''s a person she can respect!

    This time, Aelina was actually stunned! Although on the surface, what Maria said wasn''t hard to figure out. Most people who interact with her think she''s impossible to see through, but that''s pretty much all they think.

    On the other hand, while Maria still couldn''t see through her, she still gained some insights into her personality, how she interacts with others, how she wants to portray herself, along with the time and training she''s put into controlling her thoughts and emotions. From this, she was able to conclude that she was a good leader and someone she could respect.

    ''This girl�� Her intelligence and intuition are frightening. To think that with me barely having said anything, she was able to gain so much. Now I''m starting to get more and more curious about this Mira girl.'' Aelina thought to herself.

    "I see. However, you seem to be quite the mysterious person yourself. To be honest, I can''t fully see through you either, despite being several Realms higher than you. I wonder, was it Mira who taught you this?" Aelina asked, neither confirming nor denying Maria''s conjectures.

    "Yes and no. I''ve always had a fairly good judge of character, but I was too naive to realize it back when I was young. Mira just helped point me in the right direction."

    Aelina nodded her head but didn''t continue this conversation. Instead, she wanted to get to the reason why they were here.

    "Anyways, let''s stop talking about that now. The reason why I''m here is partly because of Mira. A group of people had trespassed on our territory and captured Mira. From what we know, Mira shed with a Stage 2 Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, and the resulting impact knocked her unconscious, causing her to be captured. I was wondering if you might have any leads into who was the one behind this."

    Contrary to what they expected, Maria smiled brightly after hearing Aelina''s words, then let out a huge sigh of relief.

    "Haaaa�� Good. It seems Mira is going to be fine."

    "Hmm? What do you mean?" Aelina raised a brow and asked.

    "Well, you see, for as long as I''ve known Mira, she''s never fallen unconscious in the midst of battle. Hell, I bet even if she died, she still wouldn''t lose consciousness! So, if what you say is true, then she probably let herself be captured. As for the reason why you''d have to ask her."

    "Now, for the reason why she was captured, Mira told me some young man with a murky red aura tried to kill her not long after we joined the Sect. Unfortunately, the young man was saved by a transparent old man. Oh! She did say that she gave the young man a heart demon and that he was a Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. That''s pretty much all I know." Maria said, feeling like a weight was lifted off her chest.

    Now that she had gotten confirmation about what had happened to Mira, she wasn''t too worried anymore.

    She was still going to ask Alicia and the other subordinates to look out for any information about Mira, but she wasn''t too worried about Mira''s survival.

    "I see. Thank you for the information. We''ll look into the reason behind her capture along with the perpetrators and properly serve justice to those who dare to trespass on my territory. I''ll also send someone to inform you should we find any information on Mira. Sandra, Ange, you two go gather the other avable Elders and meet with me tomorrow morning back at the top of the mountain. I''m going to stay here for a little longer."

    "Understood!" x2

    Elder Sandra and Ange didn''t dare to question Aelina and left without a fuss.

    Maria stared at the Sect Master, curious as to her reason for staying here.

    Aelina released a slight smile and said, "Let''s have a little talk, shall we?"

 Chapter 438 [Bonus Chapter]Talking With The Sect Master

    "What is it that you''d like to talk about, Sect Master?" Maria asked as she walked over to a nearby table to sit down.

    Aelina sat on the opposite side of Maria and said, "I''m just curious about you, Mira, and that other friend of yours�� I think her name is Cine. From what Sandra told me, you three are the most talented people she''s ever seen. She''s generally not someone topliment another like that, so I decided to check you out for myself."

    "Ah, I see! Well, Elder Sandra''s not wrong. I am a supreme talent! The second most talented person in the Sect!"

    For some reason, Aelina had the urge to roll her eyes at Maria''s arrogant statement, but she decided not to say anything.

    "So, are you saying Mira is the most talented? That''s a pretty bold statement for someone who has only been in the Sect for barely two months." Aelina asked.

    "Yes, whether it be her hardworking nature, body and qi talent, beauty, orprehensive abilities, Mira is superior to me. In fact, it wouldn''t be wrong to say that I''m where I''m at today because of Mira. However, there is one aspect Mira loses out to me: luck! She will never be as lucky as me! Hard work? Talent? Hmph! I just need to go on a little journey, and my luck will more than makeup for myck of talent." Mira raised her head and said righteously.

    Fortunately, Mira wasn''t here, or else she would definitely be taking a beating right about now.

    Even Aelina felt like it might not be so bad to give Maria a nice smack to the head.

    They are training warriors here, yet this girl wants to justze around all day and rely on something unreliable as luck?

    However, she was the Sect Master for a reason. If she lost her cool over something like this, she never would''ve be the leader of the Sect.

    "Anyways, I heard you have some amazing healing abilities. Is that something you are looking to specialize in, or can you also fight as well?" Aelina asked neutrally, not trying to look down on Maria as she could tell that she should have been trained inbat.

    "Well, I haven''t really thought about that too much. I mean, when I first started my cultivation journey, it was basically because there was nothing better to do, and it looked kind of interesting. I''ve never been one who enjoys fighting and killing. My talent inbat is rtively average. No, I guess in this Sect, it could be considered below average. However, if I want to stand alongside Mira, I don''t really have much of a choice other than to learn how to fight and kill. So, while I would love to just focus on learning auxiliary or support abilities and techniques, I''m more than capable enough in a fight." Maria said with a determined look on her face.

    Maria knew Mira''s path would be littered with corpses, and as her wife, she naturally can''t stand on the sidelines and let her do all the hard work! If she''s not able to fight and defend herself, then she''ll only be a burden to Mira.

    Maria knew that should she ever getzy or be a burden, Mira would still keep moving forward. Regardless of how she felt, Mira would keep moving on and would, at some point, be out of reach for Maria.

    "I see�� It seems like you understand your path forward. Alright, I won''t question you too much on that topic. However, it seems you might need a little extra help, so I''ll offer some ''advice''. Alright, based on my understanding of your strength, you should be able to fight someone around the 6th Stage of the Core Formation Realm, right?"

    Maria nodded, so Aelina continued, "Then I order you not to take on any missions below that Stage. Meaning, you should only take subjugation missions for Late-Stage Rank 6 beasts or higher. Or, if there''s a bounty on someone''s head, they can''t be under the 6th Stage of the Core Formation Realm. Do you understand?"

    Hearing this, Maria immediately began cursing in her mind.<sub> </sub>

    ''Dammit! Why did I have to run my big mouth?! If I had just said I could fight, this scenario might not have happened! Fortunately, the Sect Master isn''tpletely insane and didn''t order me to only take missions meant for those at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm or maybe even Nascent Soul Realm.''

    "......I understand, Sect Master."

    "Good! Now, onto my next piece of advice. You should use your Merit Points to buy a certain set of books that should help increase your battle prowess alongside polishing and deepening your foundation. These books are [Foundational Sword Arts] and [Foundational Movement Arts]. These books are pretty much the standard for anyone who wishes to rise in the Sect, especially the [Founational Movement Arts]. I won''t bore you with the details. Just know that you should buy them as soon as possible. They will be extremely beneficial to your future as a warrior." Aelina advised.

    Maria nodded gratefully as even though the Sect Master didn''t really say much, just having this knowledge could possibly save her months, if not years, worth of time.

    She knew her talent inbat was fairly limited. Even when she had someone teach her how to properly wield a sword back in the Branch Sect, she was only able to get so far because Mira would beat the shit out of her while constantly throwing her into dangerous scenarios, forcing her to learn.

    Maybe with the help of these books, she can make up for herck of talent with a sturdy foundation, given she works hard enough for it.

    "Many thanks for the suggestion, Sect Master!"

    Aelina nodded slightly and was about to get up to have Maria demonstrate her healing andbat abilities, but she froze when she heard Maria''s next words.

    "Oh, also, I''m nning on bing an alchemist as well! I haven''t been able to spend too much time learning how to be one, but I feel like I''d be pretty good at it."

    Aelina couldn''t find the right words to say this as she was so concerned with Maria''s ability to heal and fight that she didn''t even consider alchemy!

    ''This girl wants to be an alchemist?! Why didn''t I think of that?! With her intellect and intuition, she could turn out to be a fantastic alchemist. Although she doesn''t have fire affinity, a light affinity isn''t actually that bad. In fact, with the right techniques and mentor, it might even be better! Perhaps if she sticks with it, we might be seeing another future pir of the Sect!'' Aelina thought to herself as her mind instantly beganing up with ways to make the most use out of Maria''s talent and intellect.

    In the end, she just said, "Alright, leave this matter to me. I''ll find someone who can teach you how to be the best alchemist in the Sect and maybe even the entire Continent! I''m not an alchemist myself, so I''d like to refrain from giving any advice, if possible."

    With that being said, Aelina got up from her seat and began walking toward the exit. Just before she left the room, she looked back and said, "What are you sitting around for? I want to take a look at your healing andbat capabilities."

    ***

    Thank you, Nyviria, for the 15,000 coins!

 Chapter 439 History

    A few hourster, Aelina left the Outer Court and appeared back on her throne. In front of her knelt 15 Elders of the Sect, each at the Mortal Shedding Realm or above.

    "I''m sure most of you have an idea as to why I called you here. A few rats seemed to have been ordered to trespass onto our territory. ording to our investigations, the ones who invaded us were part of the Unorthodox Faction. However, from my understanding of the evidence, I believe the Crimson yer Sect was the real perpetrator behind this. Your job is to appear outside their Branch Sects secretly. Once there, wait for further instructions." Aelina announced and waved her hand, signaling them to leave.

    "By your will, Sect Master!" x15

    With that said, the 15 Elders hurriedly flew out of the building and headed toward their destination.

    "As for me�� I suppose I''ll pay a visit to that little pocket space they are hiding in. Hehehe~" A cold smile appeared on Aelina''s face as she vanished.

    ***

    To this era''s younger generation, the Battle Maiden Sect is only known to be one of the best Sects on the Western Continent and possibly one of the best Sects in the entire world for women.

    Their roots are deep. Their standards are high, and they are known for focusing more on hard work than talent.

    They are greatly respected by the general public, which is part of the reason they are able to stand at the top of the Western Continent.

    Around 50% of the human poption is made up of women, and what woman would dislike a Sect created for the sole purpose of nurturing women? So, even if some women don''t want to join the Battle Maiden Sect or are unable to, they still hold a deep respect for them.

    However, contrary to popr belief, very little is actually known about the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch. Spies from opposing forces are only capable of making their way into the Outer Court, and that''s if they''re lucky. With how high the Battle Maiden''s standards are, most spies are weeded out before they can even enter the Sect.

    Even if they did make it into the Outer Court, the information, techniques, and resources avable to those in the Outer Court are very basic.

    Aside from that, spies have to work their assess off just to stay in the Sect! Therefore, most of the spies that make it into the Sect are kicked out without even exposing themselves!

    The Battle Maiden Sect also rarely involves themselves in worldly matters. So, the chances of seeing a disciple from the Inner Court or above are extremely rare.

    So, for the younger generation in other Sects and opposing forces, they can''t help but look down on the Battle Maiden Sect a bit. Well, that is if they can even remember them in the first ce.

    However, it''s also for these reasons that nobody dares to act recklessly around the Battle Maiden Sect regardless of their background.

    Humanity has always feared the unknown, and the Battle Maiden Sect is a big question mark to most people. The only ones who know of their true nature are those part of the older generation. They''ve lived for generations and have seen firsthand the cruelty, strength, and ruthlessness the women from the Battle Maiden Sect are capable of.

    There was once a rumor of a n that was on the rise in the cultivation world thousands of years ago.

    This n, in just a few hundred years, was already approaching the power of the Top 7 Orthodox Faction Sects on the Continent.

    However, one day, they got a bit too full of themselves and their own power and decided to invade the Battle Maiden Sect. On the official Sect rankings at the time, the Battle Maiden Sect was number 7, so this n thought they would be the easiest target to increase their fame and prove their power.

    They also had ideas of wanting to enve the women, plunder all the treasures, and destroy the mountain that the Battle Maiden Sect resided on.

    This n nned for years until they felt like they were ready to take down the Battle Maiden Sect in one fell swoop.

    One must know that battles in the Cultivation, includingrge-scale wars, don''t actually take that long. With the right nning and preparations, a war that might''ve taken a year to win might only end up taking a few days.

    These major powers and top cultivators could be equal to nukes Mira has seen in the mortal world. Just a single nuke can level cities and kill tens or even hundreds of thousands in minutes. A few nukes can even cripple a small country in under a day, and that''s what the n wanted to do.

    They wanted to take down the Battle Maiden Sect in one fell swoop.

    However, their arrogance got the better of them. Despite their efforts to gather information about the Battle Maiden Sect, they could not gather any useful information. Their strength, numbers, defensive measures, etc. None of that was known. Hell, they didn''t even know who the Sect Master was!

    But the higher-ups of this n did not heed these warning signs and continued with the invasion.<sub> </sub>

    The entire Western Continent was in a state of upheaval during this time as tension between the top powers grew. The general public disproved the n''s barbaric ways, but what could they do?

    Some of the other Sects were excited to see what might happen and were ready to take advantage of the situation. Others were concerned as they felt it would be a loss to humanity as a whole should the Battle Maiden Sect fall, while the rest stayed neutral.

    Many felt that the Battle Maiden Sect would surely fall because everyone knew how powerful the n was, yet they had no idea the level of power the Sect held.

    When the n finally invaded the mountain, it was already toote.

    The n didn''t even realize they had walked into a ''trap'' before it was toote. No, it couldn''t even be said to be a trap, but just the difference in power and intel.

    While the Battle Maiden Sect had fewer disciples overall, each one of them was head and shoulders above the rest. They have gone to hell and back to reach their current stage, whereas the members of the n were just pumped full of resources, severelycking inbat ability.

    In under a day, all the n''s members, Elders and Leader included, had their blood spilled on Battle Maiden Sect soil.

    It couldn''t even be considered a battle, as the n was ughtered without even being given a chance to retaliate.

    The world didn''t even have time to be in shock as everything happened too quickly. Overnight, the n was wiped out of existence. Not only that, but their headquarters and any other locations or people rted to the n were destroyed, looted, and killed.

    It all happened too quickly, and before anyone knew it, a major power was gone.

    Nobody knew how to react!

    What happened? How was the n wiped out? Did the Battle Maiden Sect call in reinforcements? Were they waiting for this opportunity? Did a powerhouse from the Central Continent intervene?

    These kinds of questions rang in the minds of everyone, including the other Sects and major powers.

    Although everyone had taken a step back when the n invaded the Battle Maiden Sect, they''d be lying if they said they weren''t interested. The Battle Maiden Sect has always been mysterious, and this would be a good time to gauge their level of power and trump cards.

    However, everything ended too quickly! To make matters worse, someone killed anyone who witnessed the battle, so there were absolutely no information leaks!

    Surprisingly, after the ''war'', nothing was heard from the Battle Maiden Sect. They just returned to what they were doing, making this situation even more mysterious. It was almost like nothing had even happened!

    This wasn''t the only time in history that something like this happened, but simr to this situation, no evidence was left behind.

    Therefore, unless one was a fool, nobody dared to mess with the Battle Maiden Sect. They just treated them like a sleeping dragon that shouldn''t be poked. Their strength and numbers were unknown. Their allies were unknown. Their techniques were unknown. And even many of their higher-up''s faces were unknown.

    All information about their major battles was lost, destroyed, or killed.

    Of course, there are exceptions, but the Sect was able to handle that as well.

    That leads us to the present, where the Crimson yer Sect decided to send a few disciples into their territory.

    A lesson must be taught, and Aelina was more than happy to dish it out.

    ***

    <o>,m A few hundred kilometers away from the headquarters of the Crimson yer Sect, Aelina hovered in the air, concealing herself.</o>

    "Hehe~ I guess it''s time to stretch my legs a bit." Aelina smiled coldly, reached out her hand, and released a tremendous amount of Qi.

    Soon, in front of her appeared a genderless and faceless semi-transparent humanoid entity.

 Chapter 440 [Bonus Chapter]Explosions

    The technique that Aelina used is a secret technique that is part of the foundation of the Battle Maiden Sect. It''s a technique that all the higher-ups of the Sect must learn and is part of why nobody can learn anything about them despite the number of wars and battles they''ve had throughout history.

    It''s a technique that lets one create an ''avatar'' or a clone, but it''s a little moreplicated than that.

    The technique itself isn''t about creating avatars and is just one of its many uses. However, for what Aelina tends to do, all she needs is the clone in front of her.

    After filling the ''clone'' up with Qi, Aelina had it put on some clothes along with a veil to hide its face, then waved her hand and sent it into the pocket space where the Crimson yer Sect''s headquarters is located.

    Honestly, Aelina felt a bit bitter about sending in a clone. She would have loved to go in there herself and wreak havoc, but she knew that there might be untold consequences should she do that.

    "Whatever. At least I can still have some fun with this technique." Aelina smiled and focused her consciousness on the clone she had just sent into the Crimson yer Sect.

    ***

    When Aelina''s ''clone'' entered the Crimson yer Sect, the first thing she did was fly straight toward the area where all the powerful auras were located. The strength of this clone has about 75% of her total strength, and as one of the strongest in the entire Battle Maiden Sect, 75% of her power is more than enough to trample anyone in this Crimson yer Sect except for maybe its ancestor.

    Even then, she wouldn''t necessarily lose. No, it''s pretty much impossible for her to lose even if she couldn''t fight him head-on, but she didn''t n on doing anything too rash�� probably.

    ''Let''s see. Maria said that Mira saw an old man take away the young man who attacked her. There aren''t too many people among those in the Mortal Shedding Realm or the Divine Sea Realm. The only people I can think of would be the Sect Master or the Ancestor. Though, I suppose it could be someone else.'' Aelina thought to herself while mentally shrugging her shoulders.

    She doesn''t pay much attention to Sects full of weaklings like the Crimson yer Sects. In fact, she doesn''t put any of the Unorthodox Faction Sects in her eyes. They all use cultivation techniques that allow for quick progression, but their foundations are dogshit.

    Aelina already considers herself near invincible among those in the same stage as her, and this is even more amplified when she''s against weaklings from the Unorthodox Factions.

    So what if they have a few more Mortal Shedding Realm and Divine Sea Realm powerhouses? They are nothing more than little children in front of her!

    With these thoughts in mind, Aelina''s clone flew straight towards the Sect Master''s abode!

    In just barely a second, she arrived in front of the building, gave it a nce, and began walking towards the entrance.

    Unfortunately, she was topped by a few guards who pointed their swords at her preventing her from entering.

    Aelina''s main body smiled as she figured she might as well cause a little ruckus before entering.

    "Halt! This is the Sect Master''s residence! If you don''t have an appointment, turn back now!" One of the guards, someone at the Soul Transformation Realm, shouted.

    In an androgynous voice that sounded slightly static, Aelina''s clone said, "Tell your Sect Master that the Battle Maiden Sect sends their regards."

    Although the clone''s voice slightly threw off the guards, they didn''t lose their bearings and instead shouted, "What Battle Maiden Sect? Quit speaking nonsense! Since you don''t have an appointment with the Sect Master, then leave! Or else don''t me me for using force!"

    "Sigh�� I see. I figured the old man would''ve been smarter and predicted my arrival, but it seems he''s more foolish than I thought. Well, I guess that''s the Unorthodox Faction for you. Brainless, as always." The clone said.

    Immediately, anger appeared in the guards'' eyes, and without hesitation, they attacked Aelina''s clone.

    "You bitch! You dare to nder our Sect Master! DIE��!"

    The clone just smiled and gracefully waved its hand. Although this movement looked simple and weak, the two guards weren''t even allowed to move before they were turned to dust.

    Even their blood was spared as they seemingly vanished from the clone''s simple attack.

    "I guess I''ll just let myself in. Hehehe~" The clone''s slightly static voice rang out as it calmly walked into the Sect Master''s building.

    Unfortunately, Aelina barely made it a step in when a powerful aura locked onto her.

    "Identify yourself!'' An old, slightly archaic voice rang out.

    "There''s no need to feign ignorance. Although you might be stupid, surely your brain isn''t so muddled that you can''t figure out where I''m from and why I''m here." Aelina could almost feel the old man freeze up after she said that.

    "...I have no idea what you''re talkin-"

    *Snap*

    Before the old man could finish his sentence, Aelina''s clone snapped.

    ***

    Back where Aelina''s main body was located, she had already pulled out a talisman, inserted some qi into it, and said, "Sandra, do it."

    "Understood, Sect Master!" Elder Sandra''s voice replied back.<sub> </sub>

    *BOOOOOoooooooom*

    A few thousand kilometers away, a massive explosion was heard.

    ***

    In the Crimson yer Sect, the Sect Master heard Aelina''s clone snap and felt the vibrations of an explosion happen.

    His expression darkened as he could already guess what just happened, and just like he thought, someone immediately came running into his office without even bothering to knock!

    "Sect Master, bad news! One of our Branch Sects just got wiped out!"

    The old man waved his hand.

    "I know. I''ll handle it. You can leave."

    The person bowed his head and quickly left the old man''s office. He felt that if he stayed another second, with the look on the Sect Master''s face, he might actually die.

    When the young man left, the Sect Master cursed out loud.

    "FUCK! It seems those bastards I sent out got caught! What do I do?!"

    ��

    The old man''s mind was racing, but he couldn''t think of anything. This was already the worst situation possible. The only thing he can do now is to try and solve this peacefully before his Sect ispletely destroyed!

    "FUCK!"

    He couldn''t help but curse again as he quickly appeared in front of Aelina''s clone.

    ***

    Aelina''s clone looked at the old man in front of her and released a fake sigh.

    "See, old man. If you didn''t decide to y dumb, I wouldn''t have had to blow up one of your Branch sects. Maybe now we can finally have a ''nice'' conversation. I''d really love to know why a few of your disciples entered my territory without my permission. They even dared to take one of my disciples." The clone said and teleported into his office while the old man''s face darkened once again.

    ''Goddamit! This crazy bitch!''

    The old man thought to himself before he also teleported into his office.

    They both sat down and sat in silence for a while, as the old man wasn''t quite sure what to say. However, Aelina didn''t like to waste time, so she raised her hand to snap her fingers again, causing the old man to freak out.

    "Ah! Wait! I''d first like to say-"

    *Snap*

    *booooom*

    *booooom*

    Two more explosions rang out, shaking the mountain a bit after Aelina''s clone snapped her fingers again.

    "Listen, old man. I want answers, not excuses. Why were there disciples on my territory, and why did they capture one of my Sect''s disciples? You have 10 seconds to answer truthfully, or I don''t mind having a little bit more fun." Aelina''s clone said.

    ''DAMMIT!'' The old man''s face twitched as he screamed internally.

    Although he didn''t care much about those Branch Sects, he knew that the person in front of him knew this as well. Her blowing them up is more of a countdown. Once the countdown reaches zero, in other words, his branch sects, that''s when he will blow up!

    Right now, it could be said that the Battle Maiden Sect was being ''lenient'' by notpletely destroying the Crimson yer Sect''s headquarters.

    Fortunately, his only offense was sending a few disciples into their territory and capturing a disciple of theirs. If it was anything worse than that, he was afraid his head might''ve already been removed from his shoulders��

    "Fine! I''ll talk, alright? Just stop blowing up my branch sects!"

    ***

    Thank you, Nyviria, for the 15,000 coins!

 Chapter 441 Compensation

    "So that''s how it is, huh?" Aelina''s clone muttered after old man Cyrus, the Sect Master of the Crimson yer Sect, finished exining everything.

    He didn''t leave anything out. He exined how his disciple attacked Mira for her treasure, but he almost died to her, so he was forced toe out and save him. However, Mira nted a heart demon in his disciple, and in just a short two months, he began losing his mind. So, in order to save his disciple and dispel his heart demon, he ordered a few people to go capture Mira.

    Cyrus figured that if his disciple killed Mira, then that should dispel his heart demon. He also said that he never ordered them to infiltrate the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Aelina listened to his exnation, but truthfully, she didn''t care too much about the fact that they captured Mira. As someone who has the potential to be a pir of the Sect in the future or perhaps even the next Sect Master, Mira will have to go through things worse than this.

    If she can''t even survive something like this, then Aelina can only say that Mira and the Battle Maiden Sect weren''t fated.

    What Aelina really cared about was how little Cyrus thought about her Sect. The Battle Maiden Sect has many secrets, none of which should be exposed to the world lest a cmity befall the Sect.

    While it''s unlikely that the team sent to capture Mira would uncover some of these secrets, it''s not impossible. Anything is possible in this world, and Aelina wasn''t so arrogant to think that she knows of everything in this world.

    "Alright, enough about that. Let''s talk aboutpensation now. I think 10% of your reserves should be more than enough topensate me for my losses!"

    Cyrus nearly vomited blood, hearing Aelina''s demand.

    ''What losses?! This bitch not only killed disciples of my Sect but also blew up three branch Sects! That shitty fox disciple of hers also imnted a heart demon in my disciple! If anything, I should be asking forpensation, you fucking thief!'' Cyrus screamed inwardly but didn''t dare say anything out loud.

    He didn''t want more of his Branch Sects to be destroyed!

    Still, he couldn''t give up 10% of his Sect''s reserves so lightly. That''s decades, if not centuries, worth of resources! Doing that is the same as crippling the foundation of the Sect!

    "10% is impossible! Please be a bit more reasonable. And before you say: "I can just kill you and take all of it." I assure you, you won''t get a single thing if you kill me now." After saying that, Cyrus became oddly calm, and Aelina couldn''t help but inwardly click her tongue.

    ''Tch. Old fox. Whatever. I don''t care about this trash''s resources anyways. I came here with another thing in mind. Hehe~'' Aelina smirked inwardly.

    "Fine, I''ll settle for 2% of your Sect''s reserves, a copy of all Human and Mortal Grade techniques you have in your possession, and 2 Peak-Grade Spirit Stones. That should be more than enough incentive to leave my Sect alone~."

    Cyrus was a bit confused by her new demands. Although 2% of the Sect''s reserves would hurt, for arge Sect like his, it would only set them back a few decades, which is nothing to a Sect with a history of thousands of years. Human and Mortal Grade Techniques are useless to them, so he''s not really losing anything on that front. Every disciple in the Sect uses at least Earth-Grade techniques.

    However, surprisingly, the 2 Peak-Grade Spirit Stones would hurt the most.

    Peak-Grade Spirit Stones aren''t like Low, Mid, and Late Grade Spirit Stones. For the most part, up until the Divine Sea Realm, Spirit Stones technically aren''t needed. While using them can help boost one''s cultivation speed without affecting one''s foundation, they aren''t needed for cultivation.

    However, increasing one''s cultivation in the Divine Sea Realm and above is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, without Peak-Grade Spirit Stones. There are a few reasons for this, but the main reason is the atmospheric Qi simply isn''t dense enough to keep up with the absorption rate of someone at that level.

    For example, although the density of Qi at the top of the mountain the Battle Maiden Sect resides on is almost dense enough to liquefy, to keep up with Aelina''s absorption speed, she''d probably end up hogging all the Qi on the mountain!

    Even then, that probably wouldn''t be enough.

    That''s where Peak-Grade Spirit Stonese into y. Peak-Grade Spirit Stones have so much Qi that just a single one would be enough to increase one''s stage in the Divine Sea Realm by one.

    Of course, it''s not like that''d happen overnight. It takes years or even centuries even for someone at the Divine Sea Realm to extract and refine all the Qi within Peak-Grade Spirit Stone.

    There are also many other uses for Peak-Grade Spirit Stones. Still, most people just use them for cultivation because aside from alchemic products or special treasures, that''s really the only way for people in the Divine Sea Realm or above to cultivate.

    At least, that''s how it is for people on the Western Continent.

    Cyrus knew this, and that''s why he felt very reluctant to give up any Peak-Grade Spirit Stones, especially to someone he considers an ''enemy''. Although he has more than two in his possession, each one is still incredibly precious.<sub> </sub>

    Cyrus nned on giving them all to his sessor to use, as his lifespan would probably run out before he could make use of them.

    Thus, what Aelina proposed could almost be considered as crippling the future Sect Master of the Crimson yer Sect!

    "Err�� I really can''t give you 2 Peak-Grade Spirit Stones. I can give you one, along with a few Late-Grade Spirit Stones, but two is too much." Cyrus countered, and Aelina pretended to consider his offer for a few seconds before surprisingly agreeing.

    "Alright, that''s fine."

    Cyrus'' eyes lit up as he could finally get rid of this bandit, but before he could go fetch the agreed-upon items, Aelina''s clone spoke up again.

    "Oh, I almost forgot. I''lle back in five years to fetch that kid who tried to kill my disciple a few months back. The two need to settle their differences without us, the older generation, interfering, don''t you think? Don''t worry. Even if she dies, I won''t pursue this matter. However, I expect the same thing from you. Alright, now you can go get the stuff I asked for." Aelina''s clone waved her hand in dismissal, causing the old man''s face to darken once again.

    When has he, the Sect Master, ever been treated in such a way?

    This bitches into his home, kills his people, steals his resources, and even dares to order him around like he''s some measly servant?! If it weren''t for the fact that he knew he couldn''t win against the entity before him, he would''ve already attacked!

    However, he knew it was useless even if he did attack. The thing in front of him wasn''t even a real person! It was just a clone or an avatar! So, even if he did attack, it''d just be a waste of time and energy.

    Not to mention, the resulting impact of their sh would obliterate his Sect''s headquarters. He might also lose all his Branch Sects as well, effectively destroying the Crimson yer Sect as a whole.

    There''s too much risk involved in attacking the entity in front of him with literally no benefit.

    Therefore, he could only grit his teeth and do as she said. At this point, he was just d she didn''t loot the entire fucking treasury!

    With a slight nod, the old man left, and within a few seconds, he returned with a spatial ring with everything she asked for inside it.

    He silently tossed it over to Aelina''s clone, allowing her to inspect what''s inside.

    As soon as she saw what''s inside, Aelina''s main body smiled widely. This was an incredibly abnormal urrence, considering her face was always neutral, but Aelina couldn''t help.

    With little to no effort, she got a Peak-Grade Spirit Stone, 2% of the Crimson yer Sect''s wealth, and 20 Late-Grade Spirit Stones.

    But that''s not the reason why she was so happy.

    She found 2 Cultivation Techniques she''s been searching for, for a long time.

    One was the Human-Grade technique, [Blood Extraction].

    The second was a Mortal-Grade technique called [Blood Infusion].

    Although on the surface, these techniques are considered evil and trash as they force one to absorb the blood of other living beings to cultivate, leaving the user with one of the worst foundations imaginable. That''s only on the surface.

    In actuality, these two techniques have a much deeper history, one that Aelina was looking forward to uncovering.

    The clone grasped the ring and said, "It''s a pleasure doing business with you."

    With that said, the clone disappeared, leaving an extremely angry Cyrus behind.

 Chapter 442 Underground

    Aelina left the Crimson yer Sect without ever asking about Mira. Of course, there was a good reason for this. For one, that wasn''t the reason she made this little trip. No matter how talented Mira was, that''s all she was: a talent. Sure, her potential is limitless, but until she reaches that potential, she''s just like every other disciple.

    If she had to leave the Sect to confront every person who dared to kill one of her disciples, she''d never be free!

    Sure, she can order the other elders to go in her ce, but why should she do that to them? Most of them are busy cultivating, researching, concocting, creating, or on some other mission, she''s already given them.

    They don''t have time to take care of every casualty in the Sect, nor should they have to.

    Now, if Mira were a Core Disciple, Direct Disciple, or Elder, that''d be a different story. Everyone who possesses one of those titles is unique and irreceable to the Sect.

    However, Mira is only a talented Outer Court Disciple. Even if her strength has reached the bare minimum for the Inner Court, she''s barely contributed anything to the Sect.

    Not to mention, Aelina has never seen Mira before.

    Therefore, why should she make a move personally for a disciple she knows little to nothing about?

    Going to the Crimson yer Sect to look for her was only secondary.

    The second reason she didn''t ask Cyrus about Mira is that she could not sense anyone who looked like Mira in the entire Crimson yer Sect. This isn''t only limited to their headquarters but all the branch sects.

    The Elders know to keep an eye out for anyone who looks like Mira, but they all reported there is no such person.

    So, Aelina concluded that Mira was not in the Sect, but if it were just that, then she would''ve asked Cyrus about Mira''s status.

    However, she didn''t feel a need to inform the old man that Mira had been sessfully captured and was currently en route to the Crimson yer Sect. Wouldn''t that only put Mira in more danger?

    It''s better to have old man Cyrus think that Mira was safe and sound in the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Plus, ording to Maria''s knowledge of Mira, thetter was most likely fine, to begin with.

    Thus, she just got what she wanted and left. Maybe when she gets back, she''ll have a few disciples or Elders keep an eye out for Mira''s whereabouts, but other than that, she''d leave Mira''s status up to fate.

    Once the clone appeared in front of Aelina''s main body, she reabsorbed the Qi, took out the talisman, and said, "Mission aplished. Let''s head back to the Sect."

    "Understood, Sect Master!" x15

    With a slight smile, Aelina sped off towards the Battle Maiden Sect, excited to research the two techniques she came here for.

    ***

    Cyrus sat in his study, clutching the sides of his head. Despite his earlier thoughts, he knew that the Sect had taken a hit today. It wasn''t anything reversible, but losing Late and Peak Grade Spirit Stones isn''t exactly something they can recover because they want to.

    They don''t have very many of them, to begin with, but Aelina dropped in, took a few, and left. So, now their already limited reserves have been decreased, and for what?

    His disciple going insane? The Crimson yer Sect''s disciples being killed? Barely trespassing on Battle Maiden Sect territory?

    Bullshit!

    ''It''s only my Sect suffering losses, yet that thieving bitch still came in and demanded so much just because someone walked a little too far on her mountain?!''

    A seed of hatred slowly formed in old man Cyrus'' mind.

    ''I''m a Sect Master, for fuck''s sake! Yet she dares to treat me like some random servant?!''

    "Battle Maiden Sect, huh�� Are they truly as invincible as history makes them out to be?" Cyrus muttered as a n slowly formed in his mind.

    After a while, a sinister smile appeared on his face.

    "I guess we''ll see soon enough! ahahaha-Hahahahaha!"

    ***

    Going back in time by about a day, deep underground in an unknown location, Number Two, who was holding Mira, suddenly appeared.

    Number Two immediately checked out his surroundings as he was hoping he''d either be inside the Sect or at least close to it, but��

    "Where the fuck is this?!"

    The talisman he used to escape the Battle Maiden Sect''s territory was something he found in an ancient inheritance site. It was the only thing he was able to take from the site since he was too weak to get anything else at the time.<sub> </sub>

    The description of the talisman was quite mysterious. All it said was, "It''ll teleport you where you need to go."

    Naturally, the word ''teleport'' caught his attention, and since the other items he could choose from weren''t all that good, he picked this talisman.

    However, he didn''t use it right away.

    Why?

    Because who knows where it''ll teleport him!

    What if it sends him to a ce full of Rank 8 beasts? Wouldn''t he die without a grave? So, he nned to save it and use it either when he gets stronger or as a means to escape.

    But what''s with this? Why is he in a fucking cave?!

    He NEEDED to return to the Crimson yer Sect! He didn''t need to end up in a cave!

    "Haaaa�� Let''s calm down. What''s done is done. At least I teleported away from the Battle Maiden Sect and kept my life intact. Who knows, there might be something good down here. This could very well be a blessing in disguise!"

    He thought like this because the Qi in this cave is much denser than it was on the surface.

    Mira, who still acted like she was unconscious, noticed this as well and began refilling her core with Qi while focusing on recovering. She wanted nothing more than to kill this fool and leave this ce.

    Her intuition was telling her this ce was incredibly dangerous. Even worse, she couldn''t sense the presence of anything other than Number Two.

    Once Number Two was done inspecting the surrounding area and was unable to find anything, he turned his gaze towards Mira.

    It had to be said that even though Mira wasn''t quite as voluptuous and seductive as one might expect despite her rtion to the fox race, her body and natural aura made Number Two have the urge to conquer.

    A tall, domineering, and prideful woman like Mira�� What man wouldn''t want to have a woman like that under him, at the mercy of his c*ck?

    ''Should I? I mean, I don''t sense any dangers nearby, and this might be my only chance to enjoy a beauty of this caliber. Plus, I really want to see what kind of face is under that mask! I don''t believe that this girl is not a heaven-defying beauty!'' Number Two tried justifying himself in his mind as he slowly walked over to Mira.

    Sensing this, Mira''s mind stirred.

    ''Fuck! This idiot! Are all people from whatever power this guy came from brain dead?! First, it was that young man two months ago who never used his full power, and now it''s these fools who can''t think before they act! I thought this guy would be smarter than hispanions, but it seemed I was wrong!'' Mira became infuriated just thinking about it.

    She wasn''t worried that she would get r*ped because she still had her ck tail, but she didn''t want to use it against this idiot as she''s in an unknown environment with unknown dangers lurking about.

    In a few seconds, Number Two hovered over Mira''s body. He lowered his body and stretched out his hands to begin stripping��

    Sensing this, Mira roared in her mind.

    ''You motherfucker! Are you really going to force my hand?! I would rather not use my trump card on a cretin like you, but you are really pushing your luck here!''

    ��

    Number Two''s hands slowly touched the hem of Mira''s clothes and the bottom of her mask.

    Suddenly, something appeared above them. Neither Mira nor Number Two were able to sense it, but a shadow had appeared above them.

    ? The shadow seemed to look at Mira for a second before its gaze fell on Number Two. It sensed that Number Two was the stronger of the two people below it, so without hesitation, it struck!

    A ck w descended from the ceiling and swiped at Number Two, blowing up his head like a watermelon!

    The w then grasped Number Two''s body and carried it toward the ceiling.

    *Crunch* *Crunch*

    *Gulp*

    The shadow''s ''gaze'' then fell on Mira''s body, causing thetter to stiffen.

    She could feel that Number Two had just died, but she didn''t know how or who did!

    However, she could feel something look at her after Number Two died. Something much more dangerous��

    ''Ah�� It seems I might be forced to use my trump card anyways.'' Mira bitterly thought to herself, ready to kill whatever was looking at her.

 Chapter 443 Death!

    While Mira''s body was recovering at an extremely fast rate, it''d still take her a few days before she''s able to even think about putting up a fight against something that could one-shot a Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm expert.

    It would also take her at least 15 minutes to fill up her core with Qi, even in this environment.

    That being said, she stood no chance against whatever was staring at her.

    ''As the saying goes, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. At this point, I can only hope I don''t get attacked and prepare my ck tail.'' Mira thought to herself while feeling slightly bitter about this whole situation.

    ''At least I don''t have to use my trump card on that idiot. Ahaha��''

    Suddenly, Mira felt an overwhelming amount of danger and knew that the creature had decided to attack her.

    ''Of course, it''d attack��''

    Then, with a thought, Mira waved her ck tail and activated it.

    ''Ugh!'' Mira grunted, not out of pain but surprise and disbelief. She felt her life force being sucked into her tail! Meaning that her ck tail''s ability uses her lifespan as fuel!

    It kept sucking her vitality into her tail until about 10% of her lifespan was absorbed into her tail.

    Then, as if it had a mind of its own, a vortex as ck as the void appeared around her tail, obliterating everything in the surrounding area. The rocks, walls, ceiling, floor, minerals, and even the shadow that was about to attack Mira were sucked into her tail!

    If one looked closely, one''d be able to see that this ck vortex was entirely made up of the same ck runes that had etched themselves into Mira''s existence.

    The shadow wanted to run as it felt its life sh before its eyes, but death isn''t so easy to escape.

    It tried sinking further into the ground, but death had already locked onto it!

    The ck vortex absorbed everything in the way between it and the shadow and eventually reached this so-called shadow. The shadow was actually a chimera-looking beast that seemed to be abination of a bear, bat, cat, and some kind of mist-like creature.

    It had a bear body, cat legs and tail, and bat wings. However, a ck mist seemed to cover the outside of its body, making it look like some sort of formless entity.

    The chimera tried sinking further into the ground, fully utilizing its mist-like body, but the vortex had already reached it.

    Once the ck vortex touched its body, all it felt was unbearable pain, but sadly, it wasn''t even able to release a sound as the ck vortex consumed its body and soul.

    After killing the chimera creature, the vortex continued rampaging, destroying, and absorbing everything around Mira until it was satisfied.

    The vortex shrunk and quickly returned to Mira''s ck tail.

    However, although the vortex was gone, the ability wasn''t over. Part of the vitality that the vortex absorbed from the chimera was returned to Mira. Unfortunately, this vitality didn''t go towards her missing lifespan and was instead used to heal all the injuries in Mira''s body.<sub> </sub>

    Aside from that, Mira also felt a few more changes inside her body. For one, her core waspletely filled up, and Mira felt her cultivation rising at a rapid pace as well.

    Sensing this, Mira knew this was an opportunity, so she didn''t waste any time sitting in a lotus position to cultivate.

    Like the stages before, the Core Formation Realm was all about condensing Qi, but that''s not all. It''s called the Core Formation Realm for a reason. Although the main reason for the name is because to break through into this Realm, one must form their core, that doesn''t mean one''s core isn''t subject to change throughout the stages in this Realm.

    Aside from gathering and condensing Qi inside one''s core, one must also use this Qi to expand their core.

    Naturally, this is extremely dangerous because expanding one''s core too much might damage the core, at best. At worst, one may even die if they aren''t careful.

    That''s also why the Foundation Realm is so important. Not only does it form the foundation of one''s cultivation, but it also gives you experience in handling Qi like this. Of course, breaking through Foundation Realm stages isn''t nearly as dangerous as the Stages in the Core Formation Realm.

    However, Mira is a bit differentpared to other people. Her core is extremely strong. While this is great because only someone much stronger than Mira even has the capability of crippling her, it has its downsides as well.

    One of those is that perfectly breaking through to the next realm needs an abundant amount of Qi and time. Of course, Mira could just fill up her core with Qi, barely expand her core, then condense it all and break through to the next Stage, but she would be wasting so much of her core''s potential if she did that.

    In the end, Mira could only keep absorbing Qi into her Core to slowly expand her core. It''s also at this time that Mira realized she would be unable to rely solely on atmospheric Qi for her cultivation.

    Well, she could, but it would drastically slow her cultivation, especially when she''s ready to break through to the next realm. Just like right now, if she didn''t suddenly receive arge influx of Qi, part of which was absorbed from the chimera and the rest from the cave that was destroyed and absorbed, it''d take her forever to break through!

    After an unknown amount of time, Mira had finally digested all the Qi that her ck tail absorbed, but even then, she wasn''t able to break through perfectly. She still felt like her core hadn''t reached its limit, even though she absorbed enough Qi that should be more than enough for a normal person to break through at least 2 Stages.

    Fortunately, she expanded her core by about 25%, allowing her to store more Qi than before.

    Mira finally opened her eyes and released a turbid breath, but then she felt ovee with weakness. Despite being full of energy and having all her injuries healed, she felt even weaker than before.

    ''It must be because I lost so much of my vitality at once. Now that I think about it, I just lost 10% of my lifespan in a few seconds. Fucking hell�� No wonder I always felt apprehension about using my ck tail. Although it''s definitely powerful, using my lifespan as fuel is a bit�� Should I say ironic? Using my life to bring about death, huh.''

    While Mira thought like that, she also felt like it was a fair trade. She only had to use 10% of her lifespan to save her life.

    But at the same time, with such a strong ability, what is there to fear?

    ''NO! What the hell am I thinking? This isn''t an ability that I should rely on. I should only use it when death is certain, and there''s no escape. Other than that, I shouldn''t even think about using it.''

    Mira regained her bearings and began checking her surroundings but was shocked by what she saw.

    ***

    Thank you, Nyviria, for the 15,000 coins!

 Chapter 444 Scythe Intent

    Mira sat in the middle of a massive empty sphere. She was obviously still underground, but her ck tail''s ability obliterated everything within a few hundred-meter radius. However, this also confused Mira slightly.

    Her instincts told her that her ck tail''s ability was DEATH, but she wasn''t sure exactly what that entailed. She thought it could only be used against living beings, but looking at the destruction around her, it seems her tail doesn''t differentiate between animate and inanimate objects.

    Or maybe, this is just an aftereffect of using such a deadly ability.

    Though, it technically wouldn''t be wrong to say she didn''t ''kill'' the stone and minerals around her as they no longer exist.

    Mira shook these thoughts out of her mind and focused on her surroundings. Although it was dark in this cavern, she could still see rtively well. So, she was able to make out many small tunnels stemming from the cavern she identally created.

    Most of them were only a meter or two in diameter, but there was one that was much bigger than the others. It was in that direction that Mira felt a dense amount of Qi emanating from it, but also the most danger.

    In fact, she felt certain death from that tunnel. Her instincts, which seemed to be a bit more attuned to death, told her that she stood absolutely no chance if she went in that direction.

    Therefore, Mira immediately rejected the thought of going down that tunnel.

    Fortunately, her instincts told her that the other tunnels wouldn''t lead her to certain death, but Mira knew she shouldn''tpletely rely on her instincts here.

    That chimera creature managed to escape her senses and instincts. Mira was only able to sense it because it killed Number Two and gazed at Mira.

    She''s always been extremely sensitive to gazes, and thanks to that, she was able to tell that something was looking at her and where. If not for that, she might''ve really died here in this cavern!

    However, Mira wasn''t exactly sure what she should do to look out for creatures simr to that chimera. What if the next creature is more mist-like and doesn''t necessarily have a ''gaze''? How is she supposed to sense something like that?

    Wouldn''t she die without even knowing how?

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have an answer to those questions and could only keep her guard raised to the maximum and hope she could react in time if one of those chimeras decides to attack her.

    ''Forget it. I''ll just keep an eye out for any shadow-like creatures. Thatst chimera was clearly extremely strong. Combined with its racial characteristics, it''s no wonder it was able to elude my senses for so long. Maybe I''ll be able to sense them if they''re a bit weaker. I guess I''ll find out.''

    After Mira finished examining her surroundings and sensing no immediate danger, she sat back down and focused on recovering. While her injuries have been healed and her core replenished, her body still felt stiff due to the aftereffects of using her ck tail.

    So, before she recklessly ran into one of the many tunnels around her, she decided to wait until she reached her peak state.

    However, sitting here wasting time like this isn''t in Mira''s nature, so she took out her scythe and began meditating. Even though she''s still facing the bacsh of her ability, that doesn''t mean she can''t try andprehend Scythe Intent.

    Back during her fight with Number One, she was actually able to break down the wall preventing her fromprehending Scythe Intent.

    Unfortunately, she got blown up after reaching that state and was unable to meditate further and actually break through andprehend Scythe Intent.

    Thus, now was a great time to do that!

    Mira closed her eyes and focused on the fight she had with Number One, along with all the other battles she''s gone through over thest few weeks.

    These scenes yed over and over in her mind and ovepped with the fight she had with Number One.

    She recalled the feeling she had when entering that trance-like state. She felt like her footwork was perfect, she had just the right amount of momentum and was controlling it perfectly, and she maximized the power of her attack by utilizing her perfect control over her body.

    There were no wasted movements, and she brought out the full potential of her scythebined with her body.

    She grasped onto that feeling and reyed the other battles she''s gone through over thest month or so.

    Through this, Mira was able to determine the ws she had made during her previous battles and how she could prevent them.

    Still, this wasn''t enough for Mira to fully break through and learn Scythe Intent.

    She needed to put what she learned into practice!<sub> </sub>

    Therefore, Mira stood up, ignoring the bacsh, and began swinging her scythe in ordance with what she had learned.

    Quickly, all that knowledge and experience began consolidating until it reached its climax, and Mira felt like she had been enlightened!

    A savage, murderous, and death-like aura began radiating around Mira once she reached this point. Subconsciously, this is how Mira thought of the scythe; a weapon used to reap the lives of her enemies in whatever way possible.

    Suddenly, the hellish aura emanating from her scythe began to infuse itself with Mira''s newly formed Scythe Intent!

    Mira subconsciously realized this, but she did nothing to stop it, as she sensed it was anything bad. On the contrary, this would make her scythe and Scythe Intent more powerful!

    Mira''s enlightenment went on for an unknown amount of time until the aura around her receded, and she opened her eyes.

    She looked at the scythe in her hands with widened eyes as she could immediately feel its power had been raised by another notch.

    More importantly, Mira felt plete'' as soon as she learned Scythe Intent. It was almost like her cultivation technique, the Hell Scythe Technique, was waiting for this moment.

    Although she knew that the F.LD.I.L improved it far beyond what it was before, she still hadn''t examined her new cultivation technique in much detail.

    ''It seems I''ll need to ask the Guardian about my new and improved cultivation technique since it doesn''t seem as simple as before.''

    Speak of the devil, and he shall appear��

    "It''s about damn time you asked about your cultivation technique! I know you barely spend time cultivating, but this is quite important, you know? Your new cultivation technique isn''t just a means of absorbing Qi to break through the next stage!" The Guardian said in an animated voice.

    ''Alright, then, can you pass me all the information you have on it?''

    Suddenly, Mira felt a prick in her mind, and all information regarding the Hell Scythe Cultivation Technique entered her mind.

    She quickly sorted through the information before letting out a sigh of relief. It seems she was actually quite lucky toprehend Scythe Intent before breaking through to the next stage of the Core Formation Realm.

    ording to the information she received, her scythe, Scythe Intent, and hellish aura were the foundation of the technique. While she still needed to go through the regr process of filling up her core and expanding it to break through each stage of the Core Formation Realm, she also needed to do something simr with her scythe.

    From the information she received, her scythe is almost like a second core, but instead of storing Qi, it stores Scythe Intent and hell aura, or in other words Hell Scythe Intent.

    While her scythe will grow stronger just by relying on the Qi in her core, that isn''t the true potential of the improved cultivation manual.

    To maximize the potential of her scythe in the Core Formation Realm, she''s supposed to integrate the Hell Scythe Intent into her scythe until it reaches its limit.

    Breaking through to the next stage will then consolidate that Intent while making room for more. She''ll repeat this until she reaches the Peak of the Core Formation Realm.

    It sounds simple, but Mira knew just how annoying and tedious this would be if she wanted to maximize the potential of this cultivation technique.

    ''Doesn''t that mean I have to constantly increase my Scythe Intentprehension? What sort of scam is this?!'' Mira thought to herself.

    "How could you think like that? You should know that there aren''t very many techniques like this in existence that essentially allow you to have another separate Core! All you have to do is go fight a few enemies, meditate on your ws, improve, infuse thisprehension into your scythe, rinse and repeat! I can almost guarantee that you won''t have many issues regardingprehension with this new body of yours!"

    Mira shook her head but didn''t respond. There was no point in arguing with him as she''d soon understand whether it was as easy as he said it would be or not.

    That being said, Mira sat down and started meditation, waiting for the bacsh of using her ck tail to pass.

    ***

    After an unknown amount of time, Mira finally opened her eyes.

    "I guess it''s about time to check out what''s in these tunnels."

 Chapter 445 [Bonus Chapter]Nightbringer Ants

    Mira stood up, injected Hell Scythe Intent into her scythe, and began swinging it around.

    After a few minutes, Mira was quite impressed with the results.

    "Not only is the de sharper, but I can use this Hell Scythe Intent to help me gather momentum quicker and make my attacks more lethal. Truly amazing! I was beginning to doubt this cultivation technique for a second and thought that maybe I should''ve used a technique more suited for my affinities and Dao, but now I''m sure this is the right path forward." Mira thought out loud.

    "You''re correct in thinking that way! With your Absolute Ice Dao, there isn''t really a need for an ice-attribute cultivation technique. Sure, such a technique might make it easier and more efficient for you to use your affinity, but with your Dao and unique Physique, there''s no need for this. As long as you keep continuously boosting yourprehension of your Dao, your control over ice and the other elements wille naturally."

    "Therefore, it''d be a waste not to use a different cultivation technique that can work in tandem with your affinities! The Hell Scythe Technique is perfect for that! It keeps your Qi neutral, so you can use all of your affinities at will while also boosting the power of your scythe!" The Guardian''s voice rang in her mind, and Mira couldn''t help but agree.

    That being said, Mira still wasn''t too convinced about her cultivation technique. Sure, it''s powerful, but needing to continuouslyprehend Scythe Intent is a bit much.

    Mira decided to stop thinking about this and began thinking about which tunnel she should enter.

    Her instincts weren''t telling her much other than that they were all rtively dangerous. She wouldn''t instantly die as long as she was careful, but that doesn''t mean they will be easy. That''s the kind of feeling she''s getting from the tunnels.

    In the end, she just decided to choose one at random.

    "Fuck it. My luck is trash anyways, so it probably doesn''t matter which one I enter first. I nned on entering all of them anyways. I can''t let any possible loot enter someone else''s grasp now that I''m here, can I?"

    Mira then entered a tunnel at random and walked into it. The tunnel was narrow, and with her height, she had to crouch a little just to fit.

    Unfortunately, she had to store her scythe, but at least this gave Mira a chance to practice using her other elements.

    Not long after Mira entered the tunnel, she encountered her first enemy. It was arge ant, about a meter tall, ck as night, and hadrge mandibles. It seemed to be a Peak-Stage Rank 6 beast, much to Mira''s surprise, as she could feel several more ants of the same strength behind the ant.

    From her knowledge, this ant was called a Nightbringer Ant. They have extremely hard exoskeletons, mandibles and legsced with poison, and are extremely coordinated when in a group.

    Seeing these ants, Mira couldn''t help but mentally curse.

    ''Fuck! Why does it have to be ants? Seeing ants here means there''s a queen as well. Should I just go down a different tunnel and hope I don''t see ants? Literally, anything is better than facing these fuckers!''

    Mira might love to ughter, but ants are really annoying to fight. Not only are they coordinated, but they are extremely vengeful. Killing one essentially means going against the whole nest, and they won''t stoping after you until one side is dead. Worst of all, they reproduce way too fast, so unless you can quickly kill the queen and all the eggs, they will keeping after you with even more numbers!

    And seeing how strong these ants were, Mira felt hesitant to attack. If an army of these guys swarmed her, then even she''d be in trouble.

    Unfortunately, ants are also quite territorial, and Mira had already stepped into one of their tunnels.

    Unless she can escape and hide from them, the Nightbringer Ants in front of her won''t leave her alone.<sub> </sub>

    ''Whatever. I don''t really have anywhere else to go or hide. If I want to find a treasure, then I''ll have to deal with these ants anyways.''

    Mira coated her hands in ice gauntlets, prepared her golden tail, increased her perception, and charged at the iing ants.

    In Mira''s experience, blunt force is the best way to take down someone with a hard exterior. And since she can''t bring out her scythe in this tight space, her fists, and Martial Intent will have to do.

    The Nightbringer Ant reacted quickly to Mira''s attack and attempted to crush her with its mandibles, but Mira wasn''t so stupid to get caught by such an attack.

    She summoned two two ice pirs and used them to prevent its mandibles from closing.

    Of course, Mira wasn''t hoping the ice pirs would actually keep the mandibles at bay; the ants were too strong for that. No, she just needed them to stall the attack by a second, so she could sessfully close in on the ant.

    Just like she nned, the ice pirs stopped the ant''s attack for about half a second before they were crushed, and the mandibles closed.

    However, by then, Mira had already appeared on top of the ant''s thorax. In this position, there wasn''t much the ant could do, which is one of the ants'' major weaknesses. Other than trying to throw Mira off or crashing her into the ceiling, the ant had no way of reaching her, much less attacking her.

    Mira knew this and decided to take advantage of this major weakness.

    Now that she was on top of the ant, Mira used her Martial Intent and began raining punches and tail ms onto the ant''s head.

    Surprisingly, it took almost 30 hits before Mira''s attacks were able to break through its hard exoskeleton, destroying its brain. She also had to continuously pump Qi into her gauntlets as they would crack after each hit.

    Fortunately, with her strength and skill in martial arts, she can rain down 30 punches in barely a few seconds, but that still left Mira disappointed.

    She knew that if she were to face an army of these insects, a few seconds would be way too long! She''d be lucky if she got a second to rain down punches before being overrun with ants!

    ''Maybe they are weak to fire? If that''s the case, then I might be able to reduce the number of hits it takes to kill one!'' Mira thought to herself while storying the Nightbringer ant''s corpse, not allowing her ck runes to consume it.

    She looked at the other Nightbringer ants in front of her, who were now raging as they saw their brethren get killed right before them, and released a sinister smile.

    ''You all will make great test subjects before I eventually face your queen!'' Mira thought sadistically before charging at the next ant.

    ***

    Thank you, Nyviria, for the 15,000 coins!

 Chapter 446 Elemental Missiles

    Mira fought her way through hoards of Nightbringer Ants, all Peak-Stage Rank 6. Fortunately, and unfortunately, at the same time, the tunnel is extremely narrow, only allowing the ants to file in one by one.

    It''s fortunate because Mira doesn''t have to fend off waves of ants all trying to consume her, but unfortunate because avoiding their mandibles became more difficult over time.

    After she killed several Nightbringer ants in the same manner, they began learning and adjusting to her habits, something Mira was quite shocked about.

    Although they''ve shown signs of intelligence, most beasts she''s encountered were still beasts at the end of the day. However, these ants showed intelligence beyond their race.

    ''Have they mutated? Great��''

    Mira also had a feeling that their carapace seemed a bit too hard. Her full-powered punches fueled by her Martial Intent,bined with her ice gauntlets, should be enough to kill an average Peak-Stage Rank 6 beast.

    Of course, that''s only if she can sit there and beat on its head without any interference. If she had to face a Peak-Stage Rank 6 beast with only her fists, she''d have to spend a bit more effort since beasts, on average, have tougher bodiespared to humans.

    Seeing the ants learning from her attacks, Mira decided to switch things up a bit as well. Unfortunately, just her ice alone isn''t enough to kill them directly without spending tons of Qi while also amplifying it with her icy blue tail.

    However, she hasn''t fully explored the uses of both her Martial Intent and Hell Scythe Intent. While her Hell Scythe Intent is definitely stronger when used with her scythe, that doesn''t mean she can''t use it without her scythe.

    First, Mira triedbining Martial Intent with her Hell Scythe Intent, but that didn''t was a huge failure. From that one try, Mira knew that it was impossible tobine Intents.

    The second thing Mira tried was using her Martial and Hell Scythe Intent to attack from a distance. Even if she couldn''tbine them, she could still use them side by side.

    So, Mirayered her fists in Martial Intent and Hell Scythe Intent, then from a distance, Mira began throwing one punch after another toward the Nightbringer ants who were chasing her.

    With every fist thrown, she shot out ''lumps'' of Martial and Hell Scythe Intent. Each shot was perfectly timed and would shoot out with maximum power.

    Oddly enough, her attacks'' power didn''t diminish much, even when she attacked from a distance.

    That''s when she got an idea.

    Right now, she was basically just tossing lumps of power at her enemies, hoping to do some damage, but the attacks themselves weren''t very refined.

    She also used a lot of stamina by throwing tons of full-powered punches. So, to add a bit more lethality to her attacks, Mira created her version of a ''missile''.

    The shell of the missile was created with her ice. She coated the tip using her earth affinity. Her Martial and Hell Scythe Intent were housed in the tip of the missile, while Yin Fire filled up the rest.

    At the end of the missile, Mira also created ''thrusters'' using her Yin Lighting to increase its velocity.

    Lastly, Mira coated the whole thing using her wind affinity to decrease its wind resistance.

    Creating something thisplicated would normally be a burden on one''s mind, and if it were before Mira broke through to the Core Formation Realm, she would also be feeling it.

    With Mira''s increased mental faculties, she could handle an ability of suchplexity with rtive ease.

    It used about .5% of her Qi reserves to create a single Elemental Missile, but if it could do more damage than her fists, it''s worth it.

    With that being said, Mira hurled the Elemental Missile at the closest Nightbringer Ant, and without even giving it a chance to defend, it collided with its head.

    *Boom!*

    A small explosion urred when the two hit, and what Mira saw greatly pleased her. She cracks on the ant''s exoskeleton while her Yin Fire and Hell Scythe Intent try eating through its carapace.

    Based on this, Mira assumed that she''d only need to use 2 or 3 more Elemental Missiles to kill a Peak-Stage Rank 6 Nightbringer Ant!<sub> </sub>

    That was only a prototype, yet she was able to cause such damage! Maybe after she perfected this ability, it''d only take 1 or 2 Elemental Missiles to kill one of them!

    Just the thought of that excited Mira, so over the next few hours and after killing over 100 Nightbringer Ants, she finally felt like she couldn''t improve her Elemental Missile much more, at least not against these Nightbringer Ants.

    Mira originally thought that using blunt force against the ants was the most efficient method, and in terms of Qi usage, it is. However, Mira would rather attack from a distance in this narrow tunnel against creatures that can crush her instantly if they catch her.

    Not only that, but Mira could sense many ants trying to burrow around to nk her. Naturally, Mira wouldn''t let herself get surrounded by these insects, so fighting from a distance was the way to go.

    That being said, using something like the Elemental Missile to carry her Martial and Hell Scythe Intent created something that had both prating power and blunt force. Her Yin Fire would then cause an explosion, which not only increased the damage but, due to the fire''s characteristics, would also try and ''dissolve'' the ant''s carapace.

    After perfecting the Elemental Missile, she only needed 2 of them to kill a Nightbringer Ant while only using .5% of her Qi per missile.

    On paper, this meant Mira could only kill 100 Nightbringer Ants with her Qi reserves, but if one takes into her ount her improved passive Qi recovery and her ck rune''s ability to absorb the vitality and Qi of anything she kills, Mira can seemingly solo an army of these ants!

    However, Mira didn''t want to absorb every ant she killed because their corpses are quite useful and could sell for a decent chunk of money. Their carapaces should be great materials for any Peak-Earth Grade armor.

    Well, she didn''t need to have her ck runes absorb every corpse to replenish the used Qi. Just her passive Qi recovery rate and asional absorption of a Nightbringer Ant would keep her core nearly full at all times.

    Thanks to this, Mira was able tofortably ughter her way through the tunnel until she eventually reached a crossroads.

    Mira could feel several powerful entities at the end of one of the tunnels, while the other one seemed to be filled with an army of ants.

    Given a choice, Mira didn''t hesitate to choose thetter!

    ''I''m not about to go charging into the Queen''s home without killing off all the underlings! I have no intention of getting overrun by ants while I''m in the middle of a boss fight!''

    Mira knew if she went to go fight the queen right now, she would have to face an army of ants while also facing the Queen.

    Her time in Quake City and the surrounding chasms wasn''t for nothing. During her dives into the chasms, she often faced various species of ants, and anytime she went straight for the Queen, she was swarmed with fodder!

    Worst of all, the ant minions were always suicidal maniacs! They''d charge at her without any regard for their own life!

    It could be said that since she''s not facing the Queen directly right now, the Nightbringer ants are less suicidal, but she knew that as soon as the Queen was in danger, they''d throw their survival instincts out the window!

    Right now, Mira''s only about 60% confident in taking down the Queen without the interference of a bunch of suicidal ants, but that percentage drops to around 25% if she has to fight an army on top of the Queen and her guards.

    So, before her face-off with the Nightbringer Ant Queen, Mira decided to ughter as many of the minions as possible before the Queen eventually realized that her kin was being massacred.

    Naturally, Mira spared no effort in doing so. She supercharged her Elemental Missiles, using more Qi in the process, but giving her enough power to one-shot the Peak-Stage Rank 6 ants. Then, she had her ck runes absorb every bit of energy from their corpses, so she could continue her neverending ughter!

    *SCREEEEECH!*

    Unfortunately, Mira''s shenanigans couldn''t be kept hidden from the queen for too long, and she soon heard a furious screech after killing a few thousand of her kin.

    ''Don''t worry, Queen. I''ming for you next! Hehehe~'' Mira inwardly chuckled, sensing the rage and grief in the Queen''s screech.

    Mira continued her ughter until she felt confident in defeating the Queen. Calmly walking to the room the Ant Queen was staying in, Mira prepared for her attack.

    She knew this battle would be difficult and had no intention of underestimating her opponent. This was a Nightbringer Ant Queen who had probably mutated; she needed to be careful.

 Chapter 447 [Bonus Chapter]Eradicating A Nightbringer Ant Colony

    With all the abilities that Mira has at her disposal, it would be surprising if she didn''t have anything that she could use to take care of the Nightbringer Ant Queen and her guards.

    When she first came across the Nightbringer Ants, Mira had already beguning up with a n to take her down.

    However, Mira knew that if she were to face off against a Rank 7 insect, especially a mutated insect focused on defense and intelligence, she wouldn''t be able to deal with it unscathed. From her predictions, the Nightbringer Queen was at least a Low-Stage Rank 7 insect. Most likely was a Mid-Stage Rank 7 Nightbrigner Ant Queen!

    As for the guards, Mira had the same assumption.

    Actually, it was the guards that Mira was the most worried about. Ant Queens generally aren''t that strong, even with a high cultivation. Their jobs aren''t to attack, to begin with. Their jobs are toy eggs and take care of therva.

    In this case, the Ant Queen seemed to have something simr to a hive-mind ability as well, but that''s not an ability designed for attacking.

    Therefore, Mira wasn''t worried about the Ant Queen at all, even if it was much stronger than her. While it might still be difficult for her to break through its exoskeleton, it''ll eventually fall.

    However, the guards are a different story. After massacring multiple ant nests, Mira has learned that the guards are the real threat. Their entire existence is meant to protect the queen, so how could they not be strong?

    Still, at the end of the day, they are just ants. Even if they are more intelligent than they are supposed to be, as long as there is no Rank 8 insect in the colony, Mira isn''t too worried.

    In fact, it could be said that her ''species'' as a 9-tailed fox is an exceptional counter to ants. Most antsmunicate using various pheromones, and before Rank 8, even if they have a bit of intelligence, most of their actions are still instinctual.

    Although Mira wasn''t quite sure how powerful her charm ability was, she knew that it could be her most dangerous weapon under the right circumstances.

    With a n in mind, Mira entered the room where the Queen, guards, and the eggs were.

    What she saw was about what she expected.

    There were 5 guards in front of the Queen. Each one is a Low-Stage Rank 7 insect. The exoskeleton around their heads and joints seemed reinforced with extra defense, making them even harder to kill. Lastly, their entire bodies were covered in tiny barbs covered with poison.

    They stood about 3 meters in height and 5 meters long.

    Meanwhile, the Queen sitting at the back stood about 4 meters tall and 9 meters long. She was a Mid-Stage Rank 7 insect, but surprisingly her aura wasn''t nearly as dangerous as the guards in front of her.

    However, a few things stood out on the ant Queen. Her antennae were much longer than a normal ant queen, and they radiated a dense amount of Qi. Also, her abdomen was bigger than it normally should be.

    Mira nced at the eggs behind the queen and understood the reason why her abdomen was so big. She was giving birth to bigger and stronger babies!

    *SCREEEEEECH*

    The Nightbringer Ant Queen screeched, seeing someone entering her chambers.

    Hearing how angry their queen was, the guards immediately charged at Mira.

    Seeing this, Mira smirked and focused on the guard closest to her.

    Suddenly, her pink tail glowed, and a dense pink mist appeared around Mira.

    ''Go!'' Mira waved her hand and sent the mist over to the nearest guard. For a moment, not just the guard Mira focused on, but the 4 other guards as well all smelt the addictive fragrance and froze.

    However, the guards with no pink mist around them felt their antennae twitch and regained their senses.

    They looked at Mira with even more hatred than before as they almost betrayed their queen and mother because of a scent!

    With renewed vigor, they charged at Mira even more fearlessly than before.

    Of course, Mira was already expecting this, but she had no intention of fighting these 4. She knew her raw strength wasn''t enough to take down these guards in a short amount of time.

    So, while running and dodging, she ensured her charming mist hovered around that one guard. She even forced some of the mist into its body!

    Not long after, Mira could feel a slight connection to the guard and knew that she had sessfully ''seduced'' it.

    While she felt bitter that she had to charm a disgusting ant, she had to admit that this ability was a bit too powerful on creatures with tiny brains and little to no self-awareness.

    With a thought, shemanded it through that faint connection.<sub> </sub>

    ''Attack.''

    The guard under Mira''s control didn''t hesitate to attack itsrades! The other guards and even the Queen weren''t expecting this at all, so it was able to wrap its mandibles around one of the guard''s head and decapitate it!

    *SCREEEEEE-!!!*

    As the Queen screeched in anger, Mira used this chance to take some of the attention off of her ''ve''.

    With a swing of her scythe, she sent a wave of Hell Scythe Intent at a cluster of eggs, obliterating them.

    She didn''t stop there. She kept swinging her scythe, sending more and more waves of Hell Scythe Intent towards the eggs behind and around the Nightbringer Ant Queen!

    The Queen''s antenna''s twitched fiercely, and she sent outmands to her guards to attack Mira immediately and not let any more eggs die.

    ''Sigh�� what a pitiful existence. She cany thousands, if not tens, or even hundreds of thousands of eggs, but she is willing to risk her life and the life of her guards for a few hundred at best. However, it''s also for this reason that I fucking hate fighting against ants.'' Mira shook her head in disdain, sensing the Ant Queen''s decision.

    Maybe if she were alone and unable to control one of the guards, she''d be in trouble, but since they were ordered to focus on her and defend the eggs, that left her little ''guard ant ve'' free to do whatever it wanted.

    Naturally, Mira wouldn''t miss this chance and ordered it to go all out.

    Her ''ant ve'' opened its mouth and spat a ball of poison toward its fellow guard ants. Then it leaped on the ones it missed and swiftly decapitated them with its mandibles.

    The one hit by the poison had a few of its legs melted and its carapace damaged, slowing it down.

    Thus, after it was done killing the other two, it ran over and decapitated the poisoned guard.

    Now, all that''s left was the Queen, and not wanting to leave anything up to chance, Miramanded the ant guard to quickly finish it off.

    However, it seems the instincts of the ant guard were stronger than she initially thought as the ant guard hesitated to kill the Queen. So, as the Queen screeched and thrashed about trying to take control of the ant guard, Mira had already moved behind the Queen.

    Then, with a jump, Mira unleashed her strongest abilities. She coated her body in Martial Intent, her scythe in Hell Scythe Intent, filled her golden tail with Qi, increased her ice affinity by 400% with her icy-blue tail, and created her Paragon Wings.

    With one swift motion, all these attacks came crashing down on the Nightbringer Ant Queen''s neck!

    At the same time, Mira ordered her ''ant guard ve'' tomit suicide, to which it exploded its tiny beast core without hesitation!

    *BOOOOOOOM!*

    The room shook from the explosion, but surprisingly, the ceiling didn''t cave in due to the explosion.

    Mira flew off the Queen after the explosion, slightly injured, but not enough that it''d prevent her from fighting.

    Once the dust settled, Mira saw bits and pieces of the guard''s flesh and carapace all over the room and the Ant Queen''s mangled head dangling from its body.

    However, despite that, the ant queen still wasn''t dead, but with the insides of its head exposed, Mira just released a few needle-like hairs from her silvery-white tail and jabbed them in its brain until it died.

    She then looked around and noticed that there was still a sea of Nightbringer ant eggs, so she didn''t waste any time ughtering them,pletely eradicating this colony of Nightbringer.

    After everything was dealt with, Mira walked around and collected anything that might be of value. Naturally, this included the Ant Queen and her guard''s bodies, but Mira also wanted to see if these ants held any treasures.

    How could she not? All the worker ants she fought were Peak-Stage Rank 6. For an entire colony of ants to have that amount of power birthed from a single Ant Queen with only a Mid-Stage Rank 7 cultivation was seemingly impossible in Mira''s eyes. There should have been many weaker ants in this colony!

    Thus, she searched all the tunnels connected to the Ant Queen''s room.

    Soon, Mira finally found what she was looking for, and her eyes couldn''t help but light up!

    ***

    Thank you, Nyviria, for the 15,000 coins!

 Chapter 448 Loot

    Mira''s eyes sparkled as she finally found what she was looking for.

    The room in front of her was filled with an abundance of energy-rich items. Most of them were corpses of various creatures, but among those corpses, Mira found what allowed for the rapid growth of the Nightbringer ants.

    ''Spirit Worms!'' Mira shouted inwardly.

    ording to her knowledge, Spirit Worms are a species that have little to nobat power. While they can still cultivate, they don''t actually gain much strength from having a higher cultivation.

    However, Spirit Worms y arge role in the cultivation world, especially regarding the creatures that live underground. Their job is to improve the quality of the ground. They eat the stone, dirt, y, etc., underground and excrete a version of it with fewer impurities and more Qi infused with it.

    That being said, the higher a Spirit Worm''s cultivation, the more impurities it can extract, and the more Qi is infused with the ground.

    Doing this can bring many benefits to the creatures living deep underground as Spirit Worms enrich the environment they live in and facilitate the growth of various kinds of treasures, minerals, nts, beasts, and so on.

    Most creatures that live underground refrain from hunting and killing Spirit Worms because not only are they harmless, but they improve the quality of their ''home''.

    However, that''s not to say that hunting Spirit Worms isn''t lucrative because it very much is.

    Spirit Worms, like every other beast, insect, etc., form a Beast Core after bing a Rank 6 Spirit Worm. However, most of their Qi is actually still stored in their body to help clear out the impurities of the things they eat, fill it with Qi, then excrete it.

    So, eating a bite out of a Spirit Worm is like eating Spirit Stones; perhaps it''s even better and more efficient than using Spirit Stones since you don''t have to actually extract the Qi from a Spirit Worm''s body.

    Thus, seeing arge pile of ''fresh'' Spirit Worm corpses, Mira felt both excited and disgruntled. Normally, she wasn''t one to care about the environment and only cared about her own desires, but even she would be reluctant to kill a Spirit Worm.

    Their entire existence revolves around improving the world! Although they are born that way and don''t know how to do anything else, it''s rare to see such selfless beings who spend their entire lives doing their best to improve the earth''s condition for another''s benefit.

    ''It seems no matter what world you''re in, ants are always a scourge.'' Mira thought to herself, feeling even better that she had eradicated this colony of ants.

    Still, even though Mira wouldn''t go out of her way to kill Spirit Worms, since they''re already dead, she might as well take them.

    "It''s better for me to have it than someone else. This amount of meat should be more than enough for me to break through a few stages. Hahaha~" Mira chuckled as she stored all the Spirit Worm Corpses. Most of them were Rank 6 Spirit Worms, but she noticed a few of them were Rank 7.

    After collecting all the Spirit Worms, Mira walked around and stored the rest of the corpses. Although they aren''t nearly as valuable as Spirit Worms, she should still be able to sell them.

    Unfortunately, corpses filled up most of this room, but there was one thing that had caught Mira''s attention ever since she first entered.

    In the corner was a small sapling, not much more than a meter tall. On this sapling were two fruits. At a nce, these fruits looked entirely ck, but upon closer inspection, they looked more like the night sky.

    There were many microscopic multicolored dots all over the fruits, but aside from that, they also hadrge silver stars on them.

    One of the fruits has 2 stars, and the other has 3. The fruit with 2 stars was bigger and seemed like it would be ready to eat soon. On the other hand, the one with 3 stars seemed like it would need a while until it was ripe.

    Mira had never seen or heard of a fruit like this. Luckily, the Guardian decided to chime in.<sub> </sub>

    "Well, aren''t you lucky? No, I guess it''s the ants who were lucky or maybe that little fool everyone called Number Two who was lucky, and you just got dragged along. To think these ants not only found and killed arge amount of Spirit Worms, but they even found an Earthly Star Fruit! You should definitely store that in the Infinity Garden." The Guardian said.

    "Earthly Star Fruit?" Mira questioned.

    "It''s a very rare fruit and can almost be considered a natural treasure. In order for it to grow, its seeds need to be soaked in the energy of the stars above for hundreds of years. Then, once the seeds have been saturated, they need to be nted deep underground in a nutrition-rich environment."

    "These fruits that are born are filled to the brim with a rich and dense Qi. There''s also a chance a beast can evolve their bloodline to the next level by eating one of these fruits. However, the chances of sess vary depending on their current bloodline and the number of stars shown on the fruit. From the looks of it, that Nightbringer Ant Queen must''ve eaten one, causing her bloodline to mutate. Fortunately for you, it hadn''t fully evolved its bloodline to the next level, or else you might''ve had a harder time." The Guardian exined, and Mira had already stored it in her Infinity Garden.

    "So, what''ll happen if I eat one of the fruits? Will I also have a chance at evolving my bloodline?" Mira asked curiously, but she wasn''t all that hopeful.

    And just like she thought, the Guardian immediately dismissed that idea.

    "Nonsense! How can your bloodline evolve so easily? You already have the bloodline of a 9-tailed fox with a few characteristics from the Phoenix and the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf races! Even if you had a Nine Star Earthly Star fruit, you still wouldn''t be able to evolve. For that, you''d need items beyond mortal limits. Anyways, enough about that. If you were to eat that fruit, although you wouldn''t evolve, you''d still be able to absorb all the Qi that''s umted inside it. It should still be very beneficial to you."

    Mira nodded her head and looked forward to when those fruits will ripen.

    After storing the Earthly Star Fruits, Mira looted the rest of the ce, but aside from those two things, there wasn''t anything else that caught her attention.

    However, Mira wasn''t going to leave just yet. She needed to make sure she thoroughly plundered everything!

    So, over the next few hours, Mira scoured the rest of the colony but could not find anything as great as the Spirit Worms or Earthly Star Fruit.

    After doing all that, she decided to head back to the Ant Queen''s chambers to break through!

    Or at least that was her original n until the Guardian chimed in again, this time sounding frustrated.

    "Oi! When are you going to enter the F.LD.I.L and utilize The Abyssal Battle Ladder? You do remember it resets after every minor Realm, right? You already missed the chance to use it and collect arge number of points when you were at the Peak of the Foundation Realm, don''t miss the chance to earn a bunch of points now as well!"

    "Oh, right, that was a thing," Mira muttered, finally remembering the benefits of The Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    "So, I can use the points I earn from The Abyssal Battle Ladder to buy whatever I want from the F.LD.I.L, right?" Mira asked.

    "Right. However, the items avable to you are limited by how far you''ve gone on the Abyssal Torment Steps. The farther you progress, the more and better items you''ll have ess to." The Guardian answered.

    "I see. That''s actually quite helpful. Well, I''m not one to give up on free loot(points), so I''ll do that before consuming this Spirit Worm meat and breaking through to the next stage."

    Mira made her own little cave in the side of the wall, just big enough for her to sit in, then covered it up so nothing will disturb her while she''s in the F.LD.I.L.

    With a thought, Mira''s body shed into the F.LD.I.L and appeared in front of the area where The Abyssal Battle Ladder will take ce.

    "It''s about damn time you''ve entered this ce! I know you''re busy and whatnot, but you should understand that nothing in the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life is useless and is more than meets the eye. The Abyssal Battle Ladder isn''t just about gathering points to buy stuff with. In truth, that''s only part of it. Now, go fight and do your best not to die!"

 Chapter 449 [Bonus Chapter]Abyssal Battle Ladder

    [Wee Sessor Mira XXXX to the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    Transferring all information about the Abyssal Battle Ladder over to Sessor Mira.]

    Suddenly, information about the Abyssal Battle Ladder appeared in Mira''s mind. She closed her eyes to sort through all the information. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and revealed an excited expression.

    There was that much information about the Abyssal Battle Ladder, but that''s not because it isn''t valuable. On the contrary, ording to the information she received, the Abyssal Battle Ladder might be one of the most useful facilities in the entire F.LD.I.L.

    While the Abyssal Torment Steps can help temper her willpower, the Infinity Garden can store and grow all kinds of nts, and the storage room is convenient. None of these directly affect Mira''sbat power.

    Sure, the Infinity Garden can grow nts that can increase her cultivation, but it doesn''t help her control that power to make full use of it.

    That''s where the Abyssal Battle Ladderes into y.

    The Abyssal Battle Ladder is separated into Stages and rounds. Each Stage will have 10 rounds, and with each subsequent round, an additional enemy will appear.

    For example, Round 1 will put Mira against 1 opponent. Round 2 will put her against 2. Round 3 will put her against 3, and so on.

    Each additional opponent will also have a different elemental affinity and use a different weapon than the ones she''s already fighting. As for the ones she''s already fighting, although the weapons will stay the same, their fighting style will differ.

    This is to make sure that every round is new.

    In fact, she isn''t only subject to fighting against humanoid opponents. Various kinds of beasts will also appear.

    After she wins all ten Rounds, she''s able to either stop there and exit the Abyssal Battle Ladder or move on to the next Stage.

    Each Stage is in rtion to Mira''s cultivation.

    For example, right now, Stage 1 will put her against Stage 1 Core Formation Realm opponents. Stage 2 will put her against Stage 2 Core Formation Realm opponents, and so on.

    However, if Mira were a Stage 2 Core Formation Realm cultivator, Stage 1 of the Abyssal Battle Ladder would put her against those at the 2nd Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

    The amount of points she gets forpleting a stage is double what she earned from the previous stage, starting at 2 points for Stage 1.

    The point chart looks something like this:

    Stage 1 = 2 points.

    Stage 2 = 4 points.

    Stage 3 = 8 points.

    Stage 4 = 16 points.

    Stage 5 = 32 points.

    Stage 6 = 64 points.

    Stage 7 = 128 points.

    Stage 8 = 256 points.

    Stage 9 = 512 points.<sub> </sub>

    Stage 10 = 1024 points

    And so on��

    Therefore, if Mira were toplete 10 stages in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, she''d actually earn 2046 points, a hefty sum.

    However,pleting 10 or more stages in the Abyssal Battle Ladder is anything but easy. The enemies Mira will be put against in the Abyssal Battle Ladder will be nearly perfect beings. Their understanding of their body, teamwork, power output, and techniques will be near-perfect.

    Not only that, but Mira won''t be fighting the ''trash'' she''s been put up againsttely. All her opponents will be considered talents, even in the eyes of the F.LD.I.L.

    Meaning their strength will already be far above their cultivation, but Mira wasn''t disturbed by this. There wouldn''t be any point if she could just steamroll through everyone in the Core Formation Realm and earn a bunch of points for free.

    The F.LD.I.L. understands that Mira''s actual strength is far above her Realm. Thus, it would put her against opponents that would challenge her.

    Everything in the F.LD.I.L. is supposed to be extremely challenging, and the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    So, with how high the difficulty is, Mira should have a rtively difficult time even passing the first Stage. She has to continuously fight against beings that don''t feel pain or emotions, have strength higher than their cultivation, and are able to control their weapons, body, and techniques perfectly.

    However, aside from earny points, there is a benefit to utilizing the Abyssal Battle Ladder, and it''s the reason why Mira was so excited.

    Her ability to improve is increased as she fights in the Abyssal Battle Ladder!

    ording to the information she received, this isn''t a direct increase to herprehensive abilities, nor does it directly increase herbat prowess.

    What happens is when she fights in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, she''ll slowly enter a state where she wants nothing else other than to win. It''s simr to her Pseudo-enlightened state, but only works when she''s in battle.

    This ability to improve herself will also increase depending on how many rounds she wins.

    Lastly, Mira can only ''fail'' 3 times in the Abyssal Battle Ladder. A ''failure'' is when Mira forfeits a round. Failing a round means the Stage she was on will be reset and the next time she attempts the Abyssal Battle Ladder, she''ll have to start from that Stage.

    Failing 3 times means Mira not only can''t use the Abyssal Battle Ladder until she breaks through to the next stage, but she loses all of her umted points as well.

    Mira thought that a failure would also include when she dies, but that''s when she remembered the Guardian''s warning to "try not to die".

    ''It seems I can actually die here. I''ll need to be extra careful then.'' Mira thought to herself.

    After she finished sorting through all the information, Mira couldn''t help butin to the Guardian.

    "Damn, you should''ve reminded me of this ce sooner! I had no idea the Abyssal Battle Ladder was so amazing!"

    "Bah! Why should I remind you of anything? This is your treasure, so you should know its functions! You''re just lucky I decided to be nice and let you know you''d be losing out on a lot of points if you were to break through to the 2nd Stage of the Core Formation Realm right now." The Guardian rebuked and Mira was unable to disagree with his logic.

    It is her fault that she hadn''t utilized all of the F.LD.I.L''s functions until, but she''s had other things on her mind recently that she forgot about it.

    "Whatever. At least I''m here now and didn''t miss out on too many points." Mira muttered and entered the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    ***

    Thank you, Nyviria, for the 15,000 coins!

 Chapter 450 Control

    When Mira entered the Abyssal Battle Ladder, a humanoid shadow entered therge arena with her. The Shadow held a sword and was at the 1st Stage of the Core Formation Realm. ncing at it, Mira barely felt any danger.

    Her raw power and newly acquired Intents were more than enough to kill it, but when Mira thought about having to face 10 simr beings, she knew she''d have to put in a bit of effort, but that''s about it.

    The simple saying, "Nothing matters in the face of absolute power." fits this situation well. While Mira doesn''t have absolute power, nor can she be considered invincible even against her current opponent, to say that she''d have to try and lose would be an understatement.

    However, Mira didn''t want to do that. Fighting against this Shadow is a chance! A chance for her to understand the power of a true prodigy! A chance for her to see someone utilize every ounce of potential!

    Even Mira is still unable to use all of her potential in a fight. Sure, she has perfect control over her body, but that''s not her only weapon. While she''s learned Scythe Intent, that''s merely her setting the foundation for her growth.

    Lastly, Mira''s use and control over her Qi are sub-par at best. For the most part, she''s just been relying on her deep Qi reserves to st out power with overwhelming might. She doesn''t even have to worry about the consequences of doing this because of her quick Qi regeneration and ck runes.

    If Mira could maximize the power of her Qi, her strength would skyrocket!

    Therefore, Mira wasn''t going to immediately strike down her opponent with overwhelming might.

    She wanted to use her shadow opponent as a training tool to help refine her current powers.

    Seeing Mira appear, the Shadow immediately charged at her. Mira was curious about its attacks, so she decided to take a defensive position.

    When the Shadow got within range of Mira, it shed its sword, but Mira felt like this sh was extraordinary.

    Surprisingly, she actually felt a bit of danger from that sh, and if she were to just stand there and take it, she''d definitely get hurt.

    Not only was it fast and concise, but it was beyond what a normal Stage 1 Core Formation Realm cultivator is capable of.

    However, the most shocking thing was that Mira had a hard time reading how, when, and where the Shadow was going to sh.

    Most people, even if they try and hide it, telegraph their attacks to some extent; more so when they are involved in a deadly fight.

    Even Mira, who has been fighting for most of her life, can''tpletely hide her intentions. Of course, it''d take someone either really powerful, really sensitive, or experienced to see through her.

    ''To think that the first opponent I face is able to hide their intentions until the veryst second. I wonder if it''s because they''re shadows? Is this the reason they can be considered ''perfect''?'' Mira thought to herself as she continued defending.

    Time passed as Mira stayed on the defensive, letting the Shadow do whatever it wanted.

    The longer this went on, the more reluctant Mira felt when she knew she''d eventually have to end this match.

    There were too many things she learned, and that was only from the first opponent!

    First, she learned that the Shadow was able to mask its attacks and hide its intentions.

    Second, its Qi control is amazing! Throughout the entire battle, the Shadow and its sword was wrapped in ayer of Qi. This by itself was nothing amazing, but upon closer inspection, Mira realized that the Qi wrapped around its body was separated into tiny countless threads. These threads were then woven together to create a tougher, more durable, and flexible armor.

    Aside from that, its sword was also coated in a fineyer of Qi that boosted its power and sharpness by a considerable degree.

    It didn''t just stop there, either. By just using attributeless Qi, the Shadow used it to empower itself, move faster, create strong long-range attacks, and deflect her attacks.

    Mira couldn''t help but be in awe at the Shadow''s Qi control.

    Unfortunately, it would take her time to reach such proficiency, and isn''t something she can learn in the span of a few minutes or even a few hours.

    She''d need days, weeks, months, or even years to reach such mastery; it all depends on how much time she''s willing to spend practicing it every day.<sub> </sub>

    ''Maybe if I make it through a few stages, I''ll be able to speed up the process.'' Mira excitedly thought to herself.

    Third, just fighting the Shadow on equal footing helped boost Mira''s battle prowess. Its footing, the way it attacks, and how it makes decisions based on the circumstances all helped Mira understand what she could do better.

    Lastly, it used a technique! She''s finally gotten a good look at what a technique is supposed to look like!

    Granted, the technique it used was rather simple, but at least Mira was able to experience a technique without being blown up, like what happened against Number One.

    The technique it used was an osciting wave of darkness, and with each subsequent attack, the number of waves increased, and the oscition speed quickened.

    The final move of the technique was a giant tidal wave of darkness that consumed everything in its path!

    The power behind each move of the technique was at least 2 to 3 times its normal attack power. While the final attack was at least 5 times higher! That amount of power was more than enough to cause some damage to Mira if she decided to take it head-on.

    Of course, with how strong her body is, she wouldn''t die, but it definitely wouldn''t feel good.

    However, seeing the Shadow use a technique made Mira feel both excited and bitter at the same time. She was excited since she might be able to gain some inspiration on how she should make her own technique. But bitter because she knew the uing battles just got that much harder if all her opponents knew how to use techniques while she didn''t know a single one.

    No, forget about knowing a technique. Mira''s control over her powers is already severelyckingpared to these shadows! The only thing she has going for her is her two Intents, experience, and overwhelmingly high raw power.

    However, once her opponent''s raw power is equal to hers, she''ll start having a hard time.

    ''And here I thought that I could breeze through the Core Formation Realm Stages and earn myself a few thousand points. It seems there''s still much for me to learn.'' Mira thought to herself as she cut the Shadow in half.

    She had learned pretty much all she could from that round. There''s only so much she can gain from an opponent that''s weaker than her. If she wanted to improve at the fastest possible rate, she needed to fight with someone on even ground.

    Thus, it was time for her to move on to the next round and see for herself just how good the teamwork between the shadows was.

    Immediately after ''killing'' it, the Shadow''s body reformed while a second one appeared next to it. This time, the second Shadow was using a bow.

    Other than that, Mira could immediately tell that the swordsman had switched styles. The way it held the sword and its bodynguage told her so.

    Without any sort of warning, the two attacked, and Mira noticed how even before they made any attacks, they were already working in tandem.

    The swordsman and the archer were trying to position themselves so that Mira would be forced to focus on only one of them.

    The swordsman was the first to initiate an attack, sending a sh toward her neck. As the sh came, the archer in the distance released an arrow at her legs.

    Mira wanted to dodge the sword, but as she dodged, the sword seemed to follow.

    This caused Mira to be unable to use her scythe to block the arrow, and she was forced to cover her legs in ice to defend herself.

    Mira didn''t need to experience anything else to know that these two were working in perfect sync, almost as if a single mind was controlling both of them.

    A slight frown formed on her face as she realized that her future in the Abyssal Battle Ladder looked bleak.

    ''Fuck! Have I been fighting trash all my life, or what? I''ve fought against duos and groups that have been together almost their entire lives, but even they weren''t so perfectly in sync. No matter how great they were, there would always be a bit of a dy between attacks. However, there was absolutely no dy there. It''s as if they know each know the statistics of their attacks in real-time and can adjust ordingly! Are these guys robots or what?'' Mira thought to herself as her expression turned more serious than before.

    ''It seems that if I want to win this round unscathed, I''ll have to quickly adjust to how in sync they are.''

 Chapter 451 Overcome

    p Mira fought against the shadow duo for over half an hour before she finally got used to their teamwork.</anda>

    That doesn''t mean Mira has found a way to ovee it; she''s just no longer being led around by the nose.

    She also realized that unless she relied on her overwhelming strength, she''s going to have a hard time beating this duo.

    If she tried attacking the swordsman, the archer would interrupt her, and hitting the archer with long-range attacks was easier said than done. It was constantly on the move, aiming for parts of her body that she hardly bothered defending.

    That made the archer especially annoying because it never went for any killing moves. It only wanted to hit her; it didn''t matter where.

    The shadow duo''s ability to read and adjust to the situation was also impable. Somehow, they were able to tell when she wanted to attack, defend, parry, or counterattack, and they could even tell when and where her attacks were going tond!

    Mira quickly understood that she was telegraphing her intentions, but she wasn''t sure how. She was controlling her muscles, suppressing her killing intent, and she never focused on the part of their bodies she wanted to attack, but they still seemed to know her next move!

    If it wasn''t any of those things, there were only a few ways they could possibly detect her next moves, most of which Mira felt were impossible, even for these shadows.

    One, they can sense her intentions based on the way she twirls and moves her scythe.

    Two, her footwork wasn''t as good as she thought, and it was projecting her thoughts unknowingly.

    Three, they can urately predict who she''s going to target with her Qi based on how it moves through her meridians.

    Four, mind reading, but Mira doubted this to be the case.

    Five, these things are literally robots in the form of shadows and can urately simte and predict her intentions based on her actions so far.

    Lastly, they have some sort of insight ability that lets them see a few seconds into the future.

    To be honest, it could be all of them or, at the same time, none. Mira''s not omnipotent. She doesn''t know everything the cultivation world has to offer. They might be able to read the vibrations in the air to predict her next moves for all she knows!

    Anything is possible, and this frustrated Mira to no end. She knew they were taking advantage of her, but she didn''t know how, nor did she have a solution!

    ''Fuck it! Since I don''t know how they''re doing it, I''ll just improve it all and hope it works out.''

    Yes, Mira decided to stop thinking so hard about how the shadows were taking advantage of her and instead focus on improving in all the areas she felt like her intentions were leaking.

    It would be an arduous task since she has to improve almost every aspect of herself, but that''s the whole reason she''s ''training'' with the shadows. They are literally the perfect training partners! That''s not an exaggeration, either.

    To Mira, they can be considered the epitome of perfection at the 1st Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

    Fighting against such beings for so long not only tells her what she can improve upon, but when she does improve, she should be able to see immediate results.

    This time around, Mira had no intention of ending the round so soon. If anything, she wished she could stay in this round until she could fix at least some of her issues.

    Unfortunately, nothing in the F.LD.I.L was that easy, and after staying in this Round for an hour, another shadow, a spear user, suddenly appeared.

    ''What the hell? So, I can only stay in a Round for an hour before I automatically win and move on to the next? Then, what happens in Round 10? Do I automatically fail? Or maybe I have more time? I mean, an hour seems kind of short when I have to kill 10 seemingly perfect shadows.'' Mira thought to herself but was unable to continue thinking as the trio of shadows attacked.

    For the next hour, Mira dealt with a simr situation she was in during Round 2, except this time, the number of deadly attacks was more frequent, and it was even harder to hit them.

    Still, Mira could feel the pressure building, forcing her to improve or else she''ll soon hit a wall.

    Although she still couldn''t feel much danger from the shadows due to the difference in power, the gap in skill made Mira feel weak.

    Such a thought only spurred Mira on as she felt a sense of urgency! How strong will the shadows at the 2nd Stage of the Core Formation Realm be? Will she even be able to fight against them without relying on the gap in raw power?

    What about the 3rd Stage of the Core Formation Realm?<sub> </sub>

    The 4th?

    Will she even be able to fight them at the 5th Stage even with her power and all her abilities?

    If she gets 1 hour per round, that means the 5th Stage is less than 2 days away!

    Two days is nothing! Even in the mortal world, 2 days is nothing!

    If she doesn''t hurry up and improve, then in 2 days, she might actually end up failing even to reach the 6th Stage!

    ''Fail?''

    When that thought entered Mira''s mind, she felt her mind and body jolt. It was unknown whether it was out of anger, shame, disappointment, or fear, but regardless of the reason, she felt her mindset slowly changing.

    ''Me? Fail?''

    Mira remembered all the times she was tortured, abused, and forced to do things she didn''t want to do.

    Then, she remembered the voice of the god always forcing this shit upon her.

    ''No! I refuse to fail at something like this! I''ve ughtered an uncountable number of foes! I''ve had my body, mind, and soul tortured until there was barely anything left! I''ve gone through so much shit, and for what? To fail to meet the bare minimum standards for the power I''ve earned? NO!''

    Thinking this far, Mira stared at the three shadows like a hungry beast and growled.

    "Come at me, you little shits! I''ll take that so-called ''perfection'' of yours and shove it up your ass!"

    The shadows didn''t react to what Mira said and just continued attacking her as if nothing had happened, but Mira was slowly entering a hyper-focused state where nothing else mattered other than the 3 shadows in front of her.

    On the outside, it might look like Mira was afraid of failing, but that couldn''t be farther from the truth. She''s ''failed'' many times throughout her life and never felt this way. Actually, Mira felt that failure wasn''t a bad thing as she considered it fuel for her growth.

    However, this situation was a bit different. From her estimations, the shadow''s raw power is about 3 to 4 stages higher than the average Core Formation Realm cultivator. Mira, on the other hand, Mira''s raw power is about 7 to 8 stages higher, putting her near the Peak of the Core Formation Realm without any amplifications.

    So, the Stage 5 shadows should have an equal amount of raw power as her. To Mira, although she is still young in the ways of cultivation, there should be no reason for her to lose against someone who''s equal to her in raw power.

    Not only that, but the Abyssal Battle Ladder has given her everything she needs to improve. So, if she still can''t win even under such circumstances, she''d be doing a disservice to the power she''s received.

    Would she really be worthy of wielding this power for the sake of her goals if she can''t even get over a hurdle she should have already gotten over?

    From this moment on, Mira''s mindset changed. At first, she just wanted to learn from the shadows. Oveing their skill right now just didn''t seem possible, but that sort of mindset was simply asking for failure in this situation!

    If she wanted to sessfully pass Stage 5 and be able to move on to Stage 6, she needed to learn how she could ovee this gap in skill!

    Mira''s eyes burned like a zing fire as she took in every little detail from her own body, the surroundings, and the shadows.

    ***

    The hours went by, and eventually, Mira passed all the Stages and made it to Stage 5.

    It wasn''t easy for Mira trying to perceive, analyze,prehend, and implement everything happening in and around her.

    And although she was able to make it this far, she still wasn''tpletely confident in being able to pass Stage 5. It wasn''t the early rounds she felt would be a problem, but theter rounds.

    Nevertheless, Mira was still a bit excited to see how much she''s grown and if she was right about the Stage 5 shadows having about the same raw power as her.

 Chapter 452 Idea

    After about 2 days, 40 rounds, and 220 opponents, Mira finally made it to Stage 5 of the Abyssal Battle Ladder!

    Through so many fights, Mira has learned many things and has improved her abilities tremendouslypared to before.

    Her Qi control has grown significantly over thest 2 days and is probably what experienced the most growth. That''s not surprising, though, since Mira has never focused on controlling her Qi, as she didn''t even know that was a thing.

    She''s always just been focused on her cultivation this entire time, and since she wasn''t in an area where many people could kill her with a flick of their wrists, she was able to steamroll through any opposition with her experience of countless years of fighting.

    However, it''s only now did she understand how useful having a fine control over her Qi can be. Aside from using it to coat her body to improve her defense or coat her weapon with it to improve its lethality, there are many other ways to apply such fine control over Qi.

    For one, she can better control the output and efficiency of her attacks. For example, if she were to create an Ice Needle, having a fine control over Qi would allow her to keep its potency while decreasing the energy needed to create it.

    At the same time, she can better increase its prating power should she decide to put more Qi into it.

    From what Mira understood, this was just the basics of Qi Control! However, even then, Mira hadn''t been able to master Qi control. No, it could be said she was still far away from reaching the control the shadows have over Qi.

    Nevertheless, Mira was a step closer to reaching their level, which brought her more confidence not only in the Abyssal Battle Ladder but in reality as well.

    Mira also felt her battle experience deepen through all these battles. Her steps, decision-making, thought process, ability to read an enemy''s attacks, and just her overall ability to read the battlefield all improved.

    As for how much they had improved, Mira couldn''t be sure, but she knew she had. Surprisingly, this actually increased herprehension of both Martial and Scythe Intents.

    Sadly, Mira still couldn''t figure out how they were reading intentions. All she knew was that it wasn''t limited to just her attacks. They could predict how and when she was going to defend, parry, counterattack, and dodge.

    However, Mira also spent time trying to mask her intentions, which ultimately ended up improving her battle power.

    After improving so much, it wouldn''t be a lie to say that her current self is iparable to her past self. If she fought against Zander and Number One now, she was confident in being able to kill them without having to almost die in exchange!

    She''d probably still end up being injured, but it wouldn''t be nearly as bad.

    Finally, throughout thest 2 days, Mira hasn''t used her tails even once. She felt like she''d be adding too much to her te if she tried improving her control over her tails'' abilities.

    But it''s not like everything she learned and improved upon over thest 2 days wouldn''t help her control her tails.

    ''Now, it''s time to see just how far I''vee.'' Mira thought.

    Suddenly, a shadow with twin daggers at the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm appeared in front of Mira.

    This time, unlike the shadows before, Mira''s instincts were screaming danger. She could tell that their raw power was fairly simr. She was probably a bit stronger in that regard, but with how much the shadows are able to empower themselves,bined with their skill, Mira knew this would be a difficult battle.

    Still, she was more excited than anything else.

    She still didn''t want to fail, but this was also probably her best opportunity to learn and improve. Against this shadow, she can go all out without worrying about overpowering it.

    Without warning, Mira and the shadow disappeared from their positions and reappeared in the center of the arena, weapons shing.

    From then on, a high-speed battle took ce! Mira incorporated everything she had learned over thest 2 days into y as the shadow kept trying to whittle her down with its twin daggers.

    Mira had coated herself and her scythe in Qi while also using some of it to empower her bodily strength.<sub> </sub>

    She made full use of her Martial and Hell Scythe Intents to keep the momentum going and used her elements whenever necessary.

    Thanks to her practicing her Qi control, the power she''s able to unleash with elements other than Ice, Yin Fire, and Darkness were much stronger without much more effort.

    This also allowed her to weave together multi-element abilities faster and make them more powerful as well.

    However, Mira didn''t know any Techniques, so although she had been improving in all other aspects, her power actually fell behind the shadow whenever it used its techniques.

    Fortunately, her body is extremely tough, her stamina is high, her regenerative abilities are incredible, and her Qi reserves are deep, so she can continue fighting as long as she doesn''t get one shot.

    But it''s not like Mira spent thest 2 days doing nothing. Fighting against so many seemingly perfect beings allowed Mira to adapt to their fighting style.

    If there''s one thing she''s learned over thest 2 days, it''s that no matter how the shadows switch up their fighting style, there can only be so much variety.

    For example, a dagger user only has so many options it can choose from if it wants to attack. No matter how perfect and unique its movements are, in the end, a dagger is still limited in what it can do.

    The same goes for all the other weapons. While some may have more options, there can only be so many variations of a sh, stab, or cut.

    Since Mira has properly adjusted to the shadows, she doesn''t need to rely on a battle of attrition to win. While she is still having a hard time reading their attacks, she can put herself in a position where she can limit the number of attacks they are able to pull off.

    The shadows can still read her intent even when she''s doing this, but in a one-on-one scenario like this, there''s not much they can do other than fall for it.

    That''s another thing Mira''s learned over thest 40 battles. The shadows seemed to be ''programmed'' to use the most efficient methods to kill her. Standing back and waiting for her to attack doesn''t seem to be part of their programming.

    In every fight she''s had against the shadows, if they weren''t attacking, they were trying to create an opening that they could attack.

    It''s this one simple ''weakness'', if you can even call it that, that Mira felt might be her win condition when she''s on the 10th round of the 5th Stage.

    The battle continued to rage on until it almost reached the 1-hour mark before Mira suddenly got an idea.

    ''What if I''ve been looking at this the wrong way? So far, I''ve been trying to learn how to hide my intentions better. However, I''ve hardly seen any progress in this area. While I''m certain that I''m no longer telegraphing my attacks, I have no idea how they know what I''m going to do next. What if I stop trying to conceal my intentions and focus more on how many actions I''m able to make in a single move?''

    ''For example, what if I dodge an attack, but instead of only dodging, I parry the attack and throw a kick all in one fluid motion? These things might be able to predict my moves, but what if I throw in more variables in my actions? Even if they can predict my actions, will it matter? If they are in the middle of attacking, do they have the time to focus on other aspects of my body?''

    Mira thought excitedly.

    The idea was simple yet confusing at the same time. How is she supposed to dodge, parry, and kick all at the same time? In one fluid motion at that? Wouldn''t she just be creating more openings by doing that?

    Normally, yes, that would be the case, but the cultivation world wasn''t normal. Just like how anything is possible with Qi, there are many more things she can do with her body than when she was just a mortal without any powers.

    ''It''s worth a shot! Who knows, maybe I''m onto something, and if I am, then I might finally be able to face off against these detestable shadows on equal ground!'' Mira thought and immediately began putting it into practice.

    Of course, it was much harder than it looked, but Mira''s foundation inbat was already incredibly deep, so it didn''t take her long to understand what she needed to do and how she needed to go about doing it.

    Unfortunately, the 1-hour time limit on the round ran up, and a second shadow appeared.

 Chapter 453 [Bonus Chapter]Chaos Body Martial Art

    Testing out a new fighting style against beings that can actually kill her if she''s not careful is not only dangerous but incredibly stupid. Yet, Mira did just that. She used the entire hour against the duo to hone her new fighting style, which she found both difficult and extremely rewarding.

    It was almost like she was trying to create a brand new Martial Art in the midst of a life-or-death battle!

    The basics of this Martial Art is to have an incredibly strong body. High regenerative powers would also help, as the moves she performs can damage the body due to the amount of force she''s generating.

    For her to perform several contradictory actions at the same time, Mira essentially needs to flood certain parts of her body with Qi, so she can explode with power to counteract the force generated from her contradictory actions.

    For example, let''s say Mira dodges back but at the same time throws a kick and shes with her scythe at the same time. Obviously, her kick and sh willck the normal power they contain because of the force generated from her dodge.

    So, in order to increase the power of her attacks, she needs to flood her legs and arms with Qi to neutralize the momentum of dodging backward in those parts of her body. Using that Qi, her leg and scythe will explode with the same amount of power as if she was charging at her enemy.

    At least, that''s the theory behind it. Getting it to work is another story entirely, and just from the hour she had tested it, she could tell that a strong body is needed.

    Without a strong body, she''ll just end up tearing her muscles apart, and she might even end up breaking her bones.

    However, that''s not all there is to this new Martial Art. In some cases, just flooding the body with Qi won''t be enough. In those cases, she''ll have to utilize both her ability to fly and create small tforms beneath her feet she can use to stop her momentum and push off of.

    There are probably even more ways to utilize and improve this new fighting style, but Mira just hasn''t figured them out.

    Mira decided to name this new fighting style ''Chaos Body Martial Art'' since using this style puts one''s body in a chaotic state.

    After an hour of using her Chaos Body Martial Art, a third shadow appeared, this time with a fan as a weapon, but for some reason, she felt the danger the three shadows presented was lower even though there''s more.

    ''It seems I''m really on the right track. Still, the following battles won''t be easy. For now, I should just focus on refining this new Martial Art to prepare for thest round. That''s the only one that really matters.'' Mira thought.

    She was confident that with this new Martial Artbined with her strength, she should be able to make it to the 10th Round without too many injuries. Well, as long as she just focused on surviving instead of killing.

    With her current ability, if she tried to kill the shadows every round, she''d most likely not only be injured but would run out of Qi despite her deep reserves and quick Qi regeneration.

    However, regardless of what she does, making it to the 10th Round won''t be easy.

    Besides that, if she doesn''t win a single round by killing all the shadows, she''ll only be making the 10th Round harder.

    ***

    The hours ticked by, and eventually, Mira made it to the 10th Round of the 5th Stage. However, unlike her appearance a few hours ago, now she looked haggard, to say the least.<sub> </sub>

    Her clothes were ripped to shreds, and she had wounds all over her body, despite her increased regenerative abilities.

    [Starting the 10th Round of the 5th Stage.

    Sessor Mira XXXX has killed 18 shadows in the 5th Stage.

    Adding 18 minutes to the allotted time avable for the 10th Round.

    You now have 33 minutes toplete the 10th Round of Stage 5.

    Should you fail to kill all the shadows in the allotted 33 minutes, you will fail the 5th Stage.]

    Mira heard the F.LD.I.L''s systematic voice in her mind, and soon 10 shadows appeared in front of her.

    Seeing these shadows appear in front of her, a bloodthirsty grin appeared on her face. She can finally go all out!

    That''s not to say that she hasn''t gone all out in the previous Rounds, but she severely underestimated the difficulty of the Rounds in Stage 5 and was forced to take a few unnecessary injuries so she could save all her Qi for Round 10.

    Well, she also took plenty of attacks simply because she was unable to dodge or block them, but to Mira, each injury was a learning experience.

    Over thest few hours, her Chaos Body Martial Art has improved significantly. Part of the reason for this is due to the unique effect of the Abyssal Battle Ladder, allowing Mira to improve her battle prowess faster than she would back in reality.

    However, Mira also spent every millisecond of her battles analyzing and improving her Chaos Body Martial Art.

    By now, Mira has learned to not only perform three contradictory actions at the same time, she''s also able to use her elemental abilities and her tails in the midst of her actions.

    In fact, it''s thanks to her tails that the Chaos Body Martial Art has improved so much! Her tails are like 9 other limbs and can take some of the load off the rest of her body when she''s performing those unique and disorderly moves.

    Her Chaos Body Martial Art wasn''t the only thing that improved, though. Her Qi control has also made substantial strides, making Mira much more confident about this uing battle.

    With her body primed and ready, Mira wielded her scythe and faced off against the 10 shadows in front of her.

    ***

    [Thank you all for the support! Last week we made it in the Top 200 of the Power Stone ranking, so here''s an extra chapter.]

 Chapter 454 Did It

    Mira readied her scythe and quickly weaved together a set of Paragon Wings while activating her icy-blue tail, increasing the power of her ice by 400%. Although doing this would put a drain on her Qi, it was also her best bet at winning against these shadows.

    She might have her Chaos Body Martial Art, but it''s far from perfect. Hell, even if it were perfect, she''d still have a hard time winning against 10 people with simr power to her, all moving in perfect sync.

    If she had unlimited time in this Round, Mira wouldn''t mind ying a battle of attrition, slowly whittling down the shadow''s numbers while also trading injuries for chances to kill them. However, she only has 33 minutes, which in her opinion, is nothing.

    That''s barely over 3 minutes per shadow!

    So, Mira decided to go all out from the start. If she wins, she wins. If she loses, then�� well, hopefully, she doesn''t lose despite putting in so much effort.

    The shadows weren''t just going to stand there and watch Mira use one of her best abilities, so they immediately worked together to take her down.

    Mira expected them to do this because in every battle so far, the shadows try and take the initiative.

    Right now, she was up against 4 ranged and 6 melee attackers, a perfectbination, in Mira''s opinion. The ranged attackers shot her with Fire, Lightning, Wind, and Darkness abilities. Meanwhile, the melee attackers used a sword, shield, spear, fan, twin daggers, and warhammer.

    Mira found this lineup particrly annoying because of how well-bnced and destructive their teamwork is. They have Long, Mid, and short-range covered with a shield user always jumping in the front to tank the hits.

    They also have a high destructive power from the Lightning, Fire, and warhammer users, making Mira constantly have to watch out for them.

    For a simr reason, Mira figured her Paragon Wings would be an amazing counter to these shadows. This,bined with her Chaos Body Martial Art, Martial and Scythe Intents, and tails��

    She''s basically a one-woman army!

    However, Mira''s not actually sure whether her Paragon Wings will be useful. She hasn''t gotten the chance to use them against the shadows as they simply cost too much Qi for her current self, even after she''s improved her Qi Control by leaps and bounds.

    Taking the initiative, Mira knew the best way to end this quickly was to restrict the shield user, take out the ranged attackers, then slowly take out the melee attackers. So, she used about 20% of her Paragon Wing''s feathers to try and restrict the shield user as she ignored the other melee shadows and charged at the ranged ones.

    However, the shadows aren''t going to just let her do whatever she wants. So, the 5 other melee attackers surrounded her and attacked in perfect unison. Sometimes multiple would attack at the same time, while other times, they''d attack one after another in different positions to try and catch her off guard.

    She was able to avoid, deflect, or counter most attacks thanks to her Chaos Body Martial Art, scythe, and tails. In fact, since her tails were just about as strong as her arms and legs, besides her golden tail, which is significantly denser and more powerful, she could theoretically pull off over 10 attacks all in one move.

    Well, that only works in theory. Being able to flood her body with Qi to strengthen it, control her Paragon Wings, use all her tails, and control her Martial and Scythe Intent while constantly analyzing 10 near-perfect enemies so she can determine her next moves with her Chaos Body Martial Art��

    Doing all that is extremely taxing on her mind and body. Even if her willpower is abnormally strong, doing something like that without adequate training is just not practical.

    So, Mira spent most of her time using her Chaos Body Martial Artbined with her Martial Intent to dodge the attacks from the shadows while using her golden tail, legs, and scythe to counter-attack.

    Of course, there are exceptions, and if the shadows are constantly attacking her from behind, she''ll switch things up and begin using her tails more frequently.

    Her Paragon Wings, however, acted more like a guardian angel. They hovered above her, helping Mira distract the shadows around her so she could take out the ranged attackers.

    If she saw an opportunity to take out any of the melee attackers, she''d use it on them, but from the over 200+ shadows she''s fought, it''s the melee ones who are the hardest to take out. Their movement and weapon skills allow them to seamlessly dodge or block most of her attacks, making them useless.

    Fortunately, her Chaos Body Martial Art has taken great strides, and Mira was able to catch up to the ranged attackers while only suffering a few injuries.

    Since she might not get such an opportunity again, Mira bombarded all four ranged attackers with 80% of her Paragon Wing''s feathers!

    *Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

    The shield, fan, warhammer, and spear shadows, but that''s when Mira took this opportunity to bombard the shield user with the remaining feathers! Not only that, but Mira took this opportunity to charge at the shield user and reign down attacks with her Scythe, Hell Scythe Intent, Martial Intent, and golden tail.

    The sword and twin daggers shadows weren''t going to sit by and just watch, so they attacked Mira when they saw an opening.

    This opening left by Mira was there on purpose, or more urately, it was inevitable with what she had nned.

    She wanted to take out the ranged and shield users all at the same time, as she knew these shadows would be a huge pain in the asster on. Especially the shield user. If it''s not taken out soon, all it literally has to do is sit in front of her with its massive shield, and most of her viable options are reduced.

    So, in order to take it out along with the ranged attackers in one fell swoop, she knew she had to sacrifice something. She needed to put all her attention into removing these threats, and for that, she couldn''t use her Chaos Body Martial Art. She needs POWER! And while she''s still powerful with her Chaos Body Martial Art, it''s more meant for flexibility and confusing her opponents.

    It''s not a Martial Art focused on overwhelming power.<sub> </sub>

    Therefore, if all she has to do is trade a few injuries for this to take out these 5 shadows, she''ll dly do it.

    *Stab* *Stab*

    The sword and twin dagger shadows stabbed Mira''s body, but fortunately, Mira didn''t leave herselfpletely open and still moved her body just enough so her vitals weren''t hit.

    In fact, Mira can very slightly move a few of her vitals, thanks to her Martial Intent. So, although her body was filled with holes, she kept mming her scythe, legs, and golden tail down on the shield shadow until it eventually disappeared.

    Immediately after, she filled her arms and body with Martial Intent and the rest of her Qi and shed her scythe at the two shadows who had their weapons stuck in her body.

    She contracted the muscles in her body to prevent their weapons from leaving and beheaded them right as they let go of their weapons to dodge.

    Now, with nobody nearby, she inspected the arena.

    ? The Fire, Wind, and Darkness ranged shadows died, but unfortunately, the Lightning one was able to get away. However, it wasn''t unscathed.

    Unfortunately, these shadows aren''t human and don''t feel pain. Even if it was injured, it would still be able to fight at full capacity unless its limbs were directly removed.

    It was a shame that the lightning shadow was still alive, but Mira had achieved her goal, so she wasn''t too disappointed.

    After all, fighting 4 shadows is countless times better than fighting 10. In fact, in Round 4 of the 5th Stage, she was able to kill all 4 shadows in the hour she was given. It was difficult, but now that she''s a bit more experienced with fighting against the Stage 5 shadows, it should be a bit easier.

    However, right now, she''s bloody and broken and has virtually no Qi left in her Core. Her body is working on recovering, but her wounds were too bad and would most likely take days to heal.

    Luckily, she saved a few trump cards that can almost give her a guaranteed win as long as she ys it right. Those trump cards are her tails! Her tails have their own Qi storage, separate from her core, so even though she''s running on empty, she can still use her tails'' abilities.

    Without hesitation, Mira ran toward the remaining shadows, activating her white and silver-white tails. A blizzard domain quickly appeared around her, along with a bunch of thin needle-like hairs.

    Mira charged at them like a maniac! The shadows were already preparing their techniques to take her down once and for all, but Mira paid no mind to that.

    Her injuries were really bad, and she needed to end this quickly, or she might really die of blood loss!

    A split secondter, Mira was only a few meters away from the four shadows, but by then, they''d already finished their techniques andunched them at her!

    *WOOSH!*

    *ROAR!*

    A ded tornado, a lightning dragon, a massive illusory hammer, and the image of a massive spear all came crashing down on Mira!

    However, Mira''s attention never left the four shadows.

    Right as the techniques were about to hit Mira, she activated her sapphire tail, and a thin blue shield appeared around Mira,pletely blocking all the techniques.

    The shadows reacted immediately to this, but by then, it was already toote. Even if they could have predicted this, it didn''t matter. They were already inside Mira''s blizzard domain!

    At almost the exact same time, Mira teleported 4 times inside her blizzard domain, and in one fell swoop, 4 shadow heads fell on the floor.

    However, Mira wasn''t exempt from this either, as she, too, fell on the floor.

    [Congrattions to Sessor Mira XXXX for-]

    "Shut up and bring me out! While you''re at it, use some of my points to buy a pill that can heal me!" Mira interrupted, using most of her remaining energy.

    The F.LD.I.L did exactly as she said and transported her out of the Abyssal Battle Ladder, along with cing a pill in her hands, which she promptly took.

    "I fucking�� did it," Mira muttered while lying on the ground, waiting for her injuries to heal.

 Chapter 455 Bad Premonition

    Mira spent the next 24 hours healing her injuries. All of the holes on her body had already been healed. There were only a few minor injuries left, but Mira wasn''t worried about those.

    After most of her body was healed, Mira left the F.LD.I.L with 50 Points left over after clearing 5 Stages in the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    She had earned 62 Points frompleting 5 Stages, and the pill she bought cost 12 Points, leaving her with 50.

    That might not sound like a lot, and in truth, it wasn''t. Sure, she could buy a few resources that could be beneficial to her, but she could also get simr things without the F.LD.I.L.

    The things she wanted to buy cost hundreds or even thousands of points!

    This got Mira thinking, isn''t her current Stage the best chance she''ll have at earning points? In the Core Formation Realm, she should be invincible! Despite that, Mira also felt that defeating a Nascent Soul Realm shadow was probably near impossible.

    On the flip side, despite being so heavily injured afterpleting the 5th Stage, Mira felt like as long as she caught up to the shadows in terms of Qi control and refined her Chaos Body Martial Art, she might be able to clear Stage 8 or even Stage 9.

    Naturally, she wouldn''t just go hop into the 6th Stage of the Abyssal Battle Ladder right now, but where is she right now?

    She''s deep underground, surrounded by all kinds of unknown and powerful enemies. What better ce is there other than here for her to improve?

    Therefore, instead of immediately breaking through after clearing the 5th Stage of the Abyssal Battle Ladder, Mira went out of the Nightbringer Ant Queen''s chambers and began searching for any enemies she could fight!

    Knowing just how trulycking her abilities are, Mira decided it would be in her best interest to perfect her current powers.

    Just like that, 3 months passed by in a sh, and Mira continued to improve every day as she bulldozed her way through the surrounding tunnels.

    However, what she didn''t know was that her actions had caught the attention of some unsavory beings.

    ***

    Deep underground, below Mira''s location, an 8-meter-tall humanoid creature stood in front of an altar with arge sphere of blood floating above. The creature looked oddly simr to the chimere beast that Mira was forced to use her Death Tail against, except it wasn''t covered in ck mist.

    The creature''s body was simr to that of a bear. It had feline limbs, a scorpion-like stinger, two antennae on its head, andrge ck bat wings on its back.

    This creature was clearly Rank 8, not only from the aura it''s releasing but also by the simple fact that it''s a beast in human form. Not just that, but that power radiating signified that it wasn''t a Low-Stage Rank 8 beast either.

    No, it was a Peak-Stage Rank 8 beast!

    The chimera beast looked at the sphere of blood in front of it and frowned.

    "The amount of blood collected this month has decreased as well. Something must''ve gone wrong with one of the farms. Do you guys know anything?" The chimera beast spoke to the others in the room with a deep voice.

    That''s right! The chimera beast wasn''t the only one in the room! Other than it, there were 5 other Rank 8 beasts. However, they were clearly much weaker than the chimera.

    There was an ant-like humanoid, a beetle-like humanoid, a humanoid bat, a small humanoid cat, and a massive humanoid bear. Although it was a bit weird for a few of these beasts to be living underground, it''s not that odd.

    The Ancient Beast Mountain Range is full of mysteries and dangers!

    The 5 humanoid beasts eyed each other wearily, almost as if they were afraid to speak out, but they could tell that the chimera''s patience was running thin.

    The humanoid ant was the first to speak up.<sub> </sub>

    "I have noticed a decline in my colon-farms over thest few months, but at first, I didn''t think much of it. They are just low-intelligence beings and would naturally fight each other for resources. We all know how amazing yet dangerous the Mountains are."

    "However, it wasn''t until this past month that I noticed something was seriously wrong. I was losing my connection to too many of my farms! So, I sent someone to investigate, but in the end they were killed. Fortunately, it was able to send a message of the being wreaking havoc on our farms."

    A strand of Qi left the humanoid ant''s head and entered the chimera''s head, transmitting an image of the being destroying their farms.

    "A fox, huh? Why is fox here? From the looks of it, that''s not an ordinary fox either. Strange. I don''t remember ever offending the Fox n��" The chimera muttered out loud before turning to the other four humanoid beasts.

    "Do you four have something simr to report?"

    "Y-Yes, Master. ording to our investigations, it is that fox that''s wreaking havoc amongst some of our lower-tier farms. However, this month, it seemed to have moved on to some of our mid-tier farms. Although the pace is much slower than when it was attacking our Lower-Tier Farms, I''m afraid that with how fast she''s advancing, our middle-tier farms will soon be destroyed." The humanoid cat answered as the others nodded.

    The chimera took all this information and appeared thoughtful. However, a frown soon appeared on its face.

    "I''ll deal with your punishment for not informing me of this earlier. For now, we should first deal with this little problem. If that girl really is from the Fox n, then dealing with her carelessly may very well kill us all."

    "However, I have some serious doubts that she''s actually from that n. For one, if she really were a Rank 8 Fox who has taken, then she wouldn''t be dealing with those dregs. Secondly, a Rank 8 Fox would''ve been able to sense us. Her noting here means she either can''t sense us or she''s not worried about us. However, based on her actions, she''s most likely just not strong enough to sense us."

    "That brings us to the question of ''what is she?'' Well, I''m sure most of you know the answer. She''s most likely a filthy beastman! A being that is part human, part beast! If that''s the case, then she''s definitely not part of the Fox n."

    As soon as the chimera said this, the other humanoid beasts in the room all showed a look of disgust and disdain.

    "Than, Master, what should we do with her? Should we just go and get rid of this pest once and for all?" The humanoid bear asked, but the chimera shook his head.

    "No, one of you should just go capture her. Despite her being a beastman, those 9 tails signify that she has an extraordinary bloodline. You might not know this, but from what I know, 9-Tailed Foxes have bloodlines almost on the same level as Dragons! Just capture her so we can sacrifice her. At least that way, she can make up for all the losses we''ve incurred over thest few months. I have a feeling that her blood is worth more than all those farmsbined times 1000." The chimera exined, causing the other beast''s eyes to widen.

    They''ve lived their entire lives underground and were lucky enough to be Rank 8 beasts and gain their human form, so their knowledge of the outside world and its history was limited.

    However, even though they''ve spent most of their lives underground, they know of Dragons. What beast doesn''t know of Dragons?

    For 9-tailed foxes to have a bloodline almostparable to dragons��

    The fox woman terrorizing their farms must have an extraordinary bloodline! If what the chimera said was true, then they really scored big!

    A weak humanoid fox with an extraordinary bloodline appeared right in theirp just when they were in need of blood! If this wasn''t Heaven''s blessing, then they didn''t know what was.

    "Alright, enough about that. Go capture that girl and bring her to me. We need to make the most out of her bloodline." The chimera ordered.

    "Yes, Master!" The five humanoid beasts/insects affirmed and immediately left to go capture the fox girl.

    However, right after they left, the chimera suddenly had a bad premonition; he felt like capturing that fox girl might be one of the worst decisions he could possibly make.

    He didn''t know why he suddenly felt this way. His instincts told him she was just a little girl who got lucky.

    ''Yet, why am I feeling like this? Is she actually part of the Fox n? Was I wrong in my analysis? No, I''m sure I''m right! Then, howe I feel like I''m about to drag a tiger into my den? Should I call them back?'' The chimera thought, but it was already toote.

 Chapter 456 Multiple Breakthroughs

    Mira was currently in a series of tunnels hunting down beasts known as Six-wed Metal Moles. Just as their name implies, they have six ws made of metal on each foot. Their tails and the crown of their heads are also covered in a metal-like substance as well.

    The strength of these Moles was, at the minimum, Low-Stage Rank 7, with quite a few being Mid-Stage Rank 7.

    Over thest three months, Mira''s strength has improved by leaps and bounds, thanks to the Abyssal Battle Ladder, Spirit Worms, Star Fruits, and the abundant amount of enemies around her.

    In her three weeks., Mira spent most of her time hunting down all the surrounding beasts and insects to improve her Qi control and Chaos Body Martial Art. Simultaneously, herprehension of Hell Scythe Intent and Martial Intent also increased.

    After those three weeks, Mira felt confident in challenging the Abyssal Battle Ladder, and surprisingly she was able to beat Stage 6 and Stage 7 all in one go, but unfortunately, she failed on Stage 8.

    However, herbat prowess improved significantly thanks to the nearly 20 hours of Psuedo-enlightenment she spent in the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    Still, she needed to consolidate her gains, so for the next 3 weeks, Mira hunted down as many beasts as she could to practice.

    Once she felt like she hit a bottleneck, she went back into the Abyssal Battle Ladder and was able to push herself to beat Stages 8 and 9, but she ultimately stopped at Stage 10.

    Due to all the fighting and pseudo-enlightenments she''s had over thest month and a half, Mira actually gained enlightenment into a Scythe Technique.

    After gaining enlightenment, Mira was able to create the First Move of her Scythe Technique, the Boundless Scythe Technique.

    She thought about calling it the Frozen Hell Scythe Technique, but at a fundamental level, it neither needs her ice nor her Hell Scythe Intent to work.

    She called the first move Atmospheric sh. Essentially, she''ll control the Qi in her body in such a way she can control the surrounding atmospheric Qi to increase the power of her attacks. Not only that, but each sh will affect the atmospheric Qi in such a way that each attack will extend beyond her body.

    Of course, with how much power Mira has, a punch of hers carries enough force that something several meters away can still feel it.

    p However, the Atmospheric sh is different. It doesn''t just extend her attacks using atmospheric Qi but empowers them as well. She can also imbue her shes with any one of her elements.</anda>

    Now, what''s the best part of this move?

    It hardly cost any Qi!

    Well, that''s not actually quite right, but it''s not entirely wrong either. See, to gain partial control over the surrounding Qi, she has to circte her Qi in a simr fashion to when she cultivates.

    Because of this, she absorbs quite a bit of Qi, which is then recycled into her next attack. So, in theory, the cost of her Atmospheric sh is close to zero as long as she doesn''t do anything to empower her attacks.

    Mira spent the next 2 weeks refining this technique and went back to the Abyssal Battle Ladder to challenge the 10th Stage.

    It was a brutal half a day, but Mira was able to beat it.

    With her newfound confidence, she tried the 11th Stage, but she couldn''t even make it past the first found before she got pummelled so hard she was forced to forfeit.

    The reason being? She was forced to fight against a Low-Stage Rank 7 Dragon!

    Sure, she''s been able to kill many Low-Stage Rank 7 beasts and some Mid-Stage Rank 7 over thest 2 months, but this waspletely different! The Dragon clearly had the power of a normal Low-Stage Rank 8 beast, or perhaps higher!

    That''s just in terms of raw power as well!

    So, it''s no wonder she lost so miserably.

    After that, Mira decided to break through to the 2nd Stage of the Core Formation. She had to eat a few chunks of Spirit Worm meat to help expand her Core to its limit. After pushing it to the limit, Mira then condensed her Qi to its limit, thus concluding her breakthrough.

    For the next month, Mira spent her time hunting, in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, and cultivating.

    Now that she felt like she had created a stable foundation in the Core Formation Realm, she wasn''t too worried about increasing her power in a short amount of time.

    Her strength rose to the 3rd Stage of the Core Formation Realm, and she amassed a total of 4050 points in the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    She had no ns of slowing this pace down either. With so many beasts to test her strength on, she was going to keep breaking through until she ran out of Spirit Worms, and Star fruits were no longer that effective on her.

    At least, that was her n��

    Unfortunately, she will have to put a hold on that idea.<sub> </sub>

    As she was hunting the Six-wed Metal Moles, a bad premonition suddenly struck her. A feeling of overwhelming danger, simr to what she felt facing the Dragon in the 11th Stage in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, overcame her.

    She wanted to run away or find somece to hide, at the very least, but it seemed it was already toote.

    Before she knew it, 5 humanoid beasts/insects, all radiating a Rank 8 level of power, emerged around her.

    However, there was something that confused Mira, someone who is extremely sensitive to emotions and intentions.

    They weren''t radiating any killing intent. Instead, they seemed more excited than anything, like they were looking at a delectable piece of meat or some kind of unique treasure.

    This caused Mira''s eyes to narrow as she assumed that these beasts were here for a specific purpose, and seeing how they weren''t releasing any killing intent, they were clearly here to capture her alive.

    ''What are they after?''

    Nevertheless, Mira wasn''t afraid even if they were there to kill her. If they really wanted to fight to the death, she still had her Death Tail, but she wasn''t really in the mood to lose even more of her lifespan right now.

    So, as to not give anything away, she put on a fearful yet vignt appearance and asked with a shaky voice:

    "W-Who are you? And why are you here?"

    Although she said that, she wasn''t expecting much of a response. However, to her surprise, one of them answered.

    "We''re taking you to our Master to be sacrificed! Your bloodline should be incredibly useful to our Master''s evolution!"

    Mira wasn''t given a chance to ask anything after that as one of the beasts grabbed her and forcibly dragged her deeper underground.

    Hearing words like ''sacrificed'', ''Master'', ''bloodline'', and ''evolution'', Mira partially understood why they captured her and what they needed her for.

    At this point, Mira knew it was probably useless to try and struggle. Even if she somehow managed to kill these 5, there was still someone strongermanding them.

    However, that doesn''t mean Mira is just going to let herself be manhandled like this without taking revenge.

    A n was already forming in her mind. All she needed to know was how strong this ''Master'' was, and she could finalize her n.

    Soon, she was dragged to the room where the altar and giant blood sphere was located. At the end of the room was a massive chimera Peak-Stage Rank 8 beast.

    Seeing this, Mira sighed in relief.

    ''Fortunately, it wasn''t a Rank 9 beast or higher.'' Mira thought and began finalizing her n, but first, she was actually quite interested in this ''sacrifice'' thing they were talking about.

    She assumed it had something to do with the altar and blood sphere, but she wasn''t 100% sure.

    "Oh! It seems this little mixed breed found himself something quite unique." Suddenly, the Guardian''s voice rang out in her mind.

    ''What do you mean? Are you talking about that altar?'' Mira asked.

    "Yeah, that thing is kind of interesting. It''s actually able to absorb one''s blood essence and refine it. However, it''s incredibly inefficient, and the refined blood essence isn''t all that great, either. It''s mostly used to help beasts with lesser bloodlines improve their potential." The Guardian exined.

    ''Then, what would happen if it were to extract my blood essence?'' Mira asked curiously.

    "Bah! That''d be a huge fucking waste! This altar can, at most, refine trash bloodlines into something less trash! Your bloodline is a mixture of a 9-tailed fox, Frost-Fire Phoenix, and Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf! If anything, this altar will degrade your blood essence! This mix-breed chimera would be literally retarded if he chose to go that route." The Guardian raged.

    Mira nodded her head and asked her final question, ''I see. Then, here''s my final question. Is this thing useful to me?''

    The Guardian was silent for a moment, almost as if he was contemting something.

    Then, after a few moments, he answered.

    Hearing his answer, an imperceptible grin formed on her face.

 Chapter 457 Disk

    "So, you''re the little fox who''s been disrupting my ns. You''re a lot weaker than I thought you''d be." The giant chimera said in a deep voice.

    Mira looked at him silently for a few seconds before saying in a neutral voice, "And? What does my strength have to do with anything? Get to the point. What do you want from me?"

    The 5 Rank 8 beasts surrounding Mira almost attacked Mira for disrespecting their Master, but the chimera raised his hand to stop them.

    "Hmph. I just had a few questions. What''s your rtionship with the Fox n? You are clearly not a full-blooded beast, so why do you have those tails and such a high-tiered bloodline?"

    Although the Chimera asked this, Mira could tell he had alreadye to his own conclusions and was probably just asking out of curiosity.

    ''Fox n? The way he said it seems to imply that there are other beast ns. Interesting��''

    Mira thought to herself before answering.

    "So, you were after my bloodline the whole time. What? Do you n on using that little altar to help you evolve?"

    The chimera''s eye twitched at Mira''s tant disregard for his question.

    "You lowly half-beast! How dare you speak to Master like-" The humanoid bear spoke up but was cut off by the chimera.

    "Enough. I was just curious about your origins, but since you don''t want to answer, that''s fine as well."

    The chimera then grabbed Mira by the hair andunched a palm strike toward her abdomen.

    *Puff!*

    The chimera''s palm struck Mira''s core, and her aura started to diminish rapidly. Within a few seconds, her cultivation seemed to have disappeared. It was almost like she was just an ordinary person.

    Mira''s eyes, which were neutral this entire time, grew bloodshot. Blood leaked out her mouth, but she paid no attention to that.

    She just stared at the chimera hatefully with killing intent leaking out of her eyes, but she never once made a sound.

    To be honest, the chimera was slightly creeped out by this. He''s crippled humans and beastmen before, and they''d almost always start cursing at him, swearing to kill him, but Mira didn''t do that.

    She just stared at him with an expression full of hatred but, at the same time, eptance. It''s almost like she expected something like this to happen��

    Suddenly, the bad premonition he felt a few minutes ago came back, but it was much stronger this time.

    ''Why? Why am I still feeling like this? I''m sure I just crippled her. I can''t sense even an iota of Qi in her. Then what''s this feeling? Am I really just imagining things because I''m anxious? That''s right! I''m just getting a little jittering because my evolution is approaching. With this girl''s blood essence, I might be able to raise my bloodline even further!'' The chimera thought as he dragged her over to the altar.

    He also thought about just killing Mira and consuming her blood essence directly in hopes of evolving, but he ultimately decided against doing that.

    For one, Mira herself is quite weak. Although her bloodline might be amazing, it''s still the bloodline of someone at the Core Formation Realm. Sure, he can still gain a lot from it, but it''d be like killing a baby dragon and absorbing its blood essence.

    While it is a dragon, it''s still a baby. The gains from absorbing a baby dragon''s blood essence and an adult dragon''s blood essence are like night and day.

    Lastly, he felt like he might be able to elevate the effects of absorbing her blood essence if he sacrificed her to the altar andbined it with the countless other blood essences he''s acquired.

    While he did feel that Mira probably has an extraordinary bloodline, his assumption of her having a 9-Tailed Fox bloodline went down the drain the moment he saw her.

    He didn''t feel any kind of bloodline suppression from her, which he was sure he''d feel if he was in the presence of a real 9-tailed fox. So, he just assumed that maybe she had 9 tails because of some weird mutationbined with a bit of a fox''s blood essence.

    So, in the end, he decided to offer up her body to the altar and extract her blood essence that way.

    The chimera stood in front of the altar with Mira in tow and nced at her. She still had the same hateful look on her face, and the killing intent leaking out of her intensified, but for some reason, that bad feeling swept over him again.

    However, he pushed it aside, confident in his nning, intelligence, and strength.

    With a tug, he lifted Mira and threw her into the blood sphere. He then ced his hand on the altar and sent his Qi into it, activating the altar.

    Immediately, wounds started to appear on Mira''s body. Her blood then started to merge with the blood sphere slowly.

    The chimera''s confidence soared seeing this, but for some reason, that bad feeling washed over him again, this time much more forcefully.

    Now, his instincts were warning him that something terrible was about to happen! He looked around the room, focused his senses on the area around him, and examined the 5 other Rank 8 beasts in the room.

    However, everything was normal. It was just like how any other sacrifice should go, but he could feel it. His instincts were telling him to either stop what he''s doing or hurry the fuck up!

    That''s when his eyes met Mira''s. While she was still leaking killing intent, she had an amused smile on her face.

    This shocked him to the core.

    ''Why? Why is she making that face? Did I miss something? What''s going on?'' He wanted to look around, but for some reason, his eyes were glued to Mira.<sub> </sub>

    Suddenly, a disk about the size of his head appeared in her hands.

    "!!!"

    The chimera''s eyes nearly popped out of his skull as the amount of danger he felt from that disk was enormous. The other 5 beasts in the room also felt something was wrong and immediately looked at Mira.

    Like the chimera, their hair stood on end, and they instinctively retreated.

    Mira''s smile distorted into something more maniacal, seeing their reactions. And before they could do anything, she tossed the disk out of the blood sphere at the chimera''s feet.

    On instinct, the chimera stopped inserting his Qi into the altar and jumped away from the disk.

    Thanks to that, blood was no longer being sucked out of Mira''s body, and she could now move.

    Slowly getting out of the blood sphere, she looked at the chimera with a bloody smile on her face.

    "Ahhh! Those are some nice expressions you have there." Miramented lightly, snapping the other beasts out of their thoughts.

    She chuckled, seeing the incredulous looks on their faces.

    "What. Is. That?" The chimera growled as he kept ncing at the disk on the ground.

    "Oh, that? Ah! That''s just a little present for you guys."

    Mira didn''t say anything else and just turned around to face the blood sphere. She ced her hand on the altar, and then much to the surprise of the beasts; she unleashed a torrent of Qi.

    "Impossible! How are you using Qi?! I clearly crippled you?!" The chimera yelled before, quickly getting up and shooting towards Mira,pletely ignoring the disk on the ground.

    Mira didn''t bother saying anything and just continued with what she was doing. She had no intention of satisfying his curiosity. In fact, inwardly, she was seething. If not for the fact that she could not win in a head-on fight, the chimera''s head would''ve already left his body!

    On the other hand, the chimera felt something terrible would happen if he didn''t rush at her right now.

    Unfortunately, it was toote.

    Just before he could reach her, Mira pulled out a talisman and crushed it, disappearing with the altar.

    *Swoosh!*

    The chimera stood on the ground where the altar was ced, his eyes staring nkly into space.

    "What�� What just happened?" The chimera muttered, but nobody answered��

    *Tick*

    The beasts were snapped out of their thoughts hearing this and turned toward the disk.

    *Tick*

    All the Qi in a 10-kilometer radius started rapidly converging on the disk, causing the chimera''s expressions to change.

    He didn''t know what that disk was or what it did, but he had no intention of finding out.

    "RUN!!" He shouted and darted out of the room��

    *Tick!*

    ��

    Everything went still for a second on thest tick, and then��

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

    An explosion of apocalyptic proportions! The area around the disk was vaporized, all the tunnels underground copsed, and the earth shook!

    It wasn''t just the surrounding area that was affected by this explosion either. The mountain above shook, and the sleeping giants deep underground woke up. Many weak beasts died just from the vibrations alone.

    Widespreadndslides appeared on the mountain, altering the terrain, causing many beasts to run rampant, alerting the nearby Sects.

    The earthquakes onlysted for a dozen seconds at most, but the result was devastating.

    However, many also saw this as an opportunity��

 Chapter 458 Mayhem

    Due to the explosion deep underground, the beasts around the mountain the Battle Maiden Sect was on went wild. Landslides destroyed their territory and changed thendscape of the mountain.

    Many Rank 6, 7, and even Rank 8 beasts were forced to relocate.

    However, everything wasn''t all bad.

    Although beasts under Rank 8cked human intelligence, they were smart enough to know that this was also an opportunity to fight and create their own territory.

    So, amidst the chaos, the beasts fought and killed each other for a chance to find their own ce to settle down.

    The Battle Maiden Sect was no different. They knew that although the chances of their disciples getting killed were higher during such a situation, it was also an opportunity.

    Due to all the beasts killing themselves and the change inndscape, the Sect can use this as an opportunity to expand! Their expansion won''t happen overnight, but they cany the foundation through the chaos ensuing on the mountain!

    So, the Elders of the Sect quickly made an announcement to the entire Sect!

    They said, "The beasts have started rampaging around the mountain, killing everything in sight,peting for new territories now that thendscape of the mountain has been altered! For anyone who wants to participate in this chaos, we will reward you with one month''s worth of cultivation resources for every 25 beasts killed! There will also be extra rewards for those who ce in the Top 3!"

    Naturally, this got the blood of every disciple in the Battle Maiden Sect pumping!

    One month''s worth of resources for 25 beasts?! In a time like this?!

    For those who have reached a decent level of strength, they can ughter that amount in a few minutes to a few hours!

    By the end of all this mayhem, they might be able to rack up a few years'' worth of cultivation resources in just a day!

    So, without dy, all disciples, Outer, Inner, Core, and even Direct, all ran out of the Sect and began killing beasts!

    Maria, Cine, and Akira were also a part of this force as they weren''t going to miss such an opportunity! With their talent and strength, they should be able to kill hundreds of beasts before this is all over!

    However, they weren''t the only outstanding disciples that decided to take part in this hunt. Many of those disciples who have been in seclusion for several years havee out of their caves.

    Unfortunately, the Battle Maiden Sect and the beasts on the mountain weren''t the only ones to experience the explosion Mira created.

    Some of the old monsters hidden deep underground awoke from their slumber, sensing a disturbance.

    Beast ns, both under and above ground, felt the need to start preparing for what was toe. For those ns that have existed for thousands of years, they knew that whenever there''s arge disturbance on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, many want to take advantage of the pandemonium.

    Most just hoped that nothing too serious would happen. However, beasts don''t particrly like having their homes (the mountain) shaken and destroyed.

    A few of the Sects around the Battle Maiden Sect also took notice of this event. Fortunately, they just took a neutral stance, as this wasn''t the first time something like this had happened on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    The Battle Maiden Sect also wasn''t so weak that they''d fall because of an earthquake, but the possibility was always there.

    That''s how unpredictable the mountains were.

    ***

    Amidst all the confusion and chaos, somewhere on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, a person with 9 fox tails and a face as beautiful as a goddess suddenly appeared. She hastily looked around and sighed in relief.

    The person who just appeared was naturally Mira, who had just escaped from the hands of Peak-Stage Rank 8 chimera.

    However, the light smile that previously hung on her face was now gone. What remained was a cold, slightly murderous look.

    She inspected her body and took note of all her internal injuries. Fortunately, her Core was fine. It was a little shaken and looked a bit unstable, but that was it. She''d just have to be careful and do her best to prevent any more attacks to her abdomen like that in the near future, and it should be fine.

    To be honest, Mira wasn''t expecting the Chimera to be so decisive in crippling her! Luckily, her Core was extremely durable, and he didn''t use his full strength, or else she would be crippled!

    What prevented the Chimera from knowing she was crippled was that Mira''s aura and Qi control had grown exponentially! Her meridians and Core are also unique, so if Mira really wants to, she can prevent any aura from leaking out of her body, even going so far that not even a Peak-Stage Rank 8 beast can''t sense it!<sub> </sub>

    However, normally she doesn''t do so because that would, in fact, only draw more attention to her, at least in the Sect.

    Everyone in the Battle Maiden Sect has some form of cultivation, and her robes prove she''s an Outer Court Disciple, telling the world she''s a Core Formation Realm expert. There''s simply no reason to conceal her aura, and doing so would only make people weary of her.

    Although Mira doesn''t care what other people think of her, if doing this can prevent unnecessary trouble, she will.

    Now, as to how Mira escaped��

    "That fucking beast! I almost had 5,000 Abyssal Battle Ladder points saved up, but he just had to go and force me to spend 500 of them! I swear, the next time I see a chimera, I''m going to kill it, no questions asked! For making me waste so many precious points, their entire race deserves death!" Mira cursed out loud with killing intent leaking out of her eyes.

    "Woah there! You can''t just subject an entire race of beasts due to your carelessness! Maybe if you hadn''t hunted down so many beasts and insects in those tunnels, they wouldn''t havee after you. These are just the consequences of your actions." The Guardian admonished, but his face was saying something else. Unfortunately, Mira couldn''t see this��

    "Whatever. Those beasts would have eventuallye after me even if I hadn''t killed them. I had no way of escaping those tunnels, and from what I saw, that chimera was sacrificing many of them to that altar. Plus, where else was I going to find such an abundant amount of practice dummies?"

    "Hahaha! I guess you''re right! Perhaps you should even thank that chimera! Not only did he give you a perfect ce to hone your skills, but he even gave you that altar! What a generous little beast! Hahaha~!" The Guardian chuckled in amusement.

    That''s right! The only reason Mira was able to escape was because of the Abyssal Battle Ladder Points she racked up over thest 3 months!

    After being taken captive by 6 Rank 8 beasts, Mira had no other choice but to utilize them. She didn''t have anything currently in her possession that could get her out of that situation.

    Well, she had her Death Tail, but she had a feeling she''d lose more than just 10% of her lifespan if she were to try and consume the Chimera. That doesn''t even take into ount the other Rank 8 beasts!

    Chances were, she''d lose her life before she even got the chance to kill them all!

    So, Mira asked the Guardian for a way to escape. He proposed numerous solutions. The cheapest, of course, is to buy a Mystic-Grade Teleportation Talisman. This would cost her around 200 points.

    The reason she''d need a Mystic-Grade more than a Heaven-Grade Talisman is because if the chimera was smart enough, he could use his Qi to prevent Mira from teleporting if it was only a Heaven-Grade talisman.

    For this reason, Mira didn''t feelfortable buying a Heaven-Grade talisman, even if it could save her another 150 points.

    However, the biggest reason she didn''t go this route is that she wouldn''t be able to deal any damage to the bastard that tried to cripple and drain her blood essence!

    So, the Guardian suggested she buy a Mystic-Grade Talisman along with a Low-Tier Mystic-Grade Earth-Rupturing Array Disk.

    This would cost her a total of 500 points, but it would allow her to kill that chimera bastard and those other 5 Rank 8 beasts.

    The Earth-Rupturing Array Disk would absorb all the surrounding Qi, connect to the earth, and then implode in on itself, causing widespread destruction! The shockwaves from this st would then spread for hundreds of kilometers, affecting everything it touches!

    Although it was only a Mystic-Grade Array, the destruction it''s able to cause to the surrounding area is no less than some weaker Divine-Grade arrays!

    Mira ultimately decided to go this route, as it would not only allow her to kill those bastards, but she could also escape.

    It also wouldn''t set her too far behind in terms of reaching her goal of 5,000 Abyssal Battle Ladder points. Right now, she''s sitting at around 3,500. Although she would''ve reached her goal during her next breakthrough, this only set her back another breakthrough.

    However, that''s only if she doesn''t spend any more points. If she''s forced to spend another 500 points, she might actually have to wait until she reaches the Peak of the Core Formation Realm to reach her goal of 5,000 points!

    Luckily, the altar she ''received'' makes up for some of her loss.

    As Mira was ruminating over her losses, her ears twitched, hearing a nearby bush rustle.

    Her mind stopped all unnecessary thoughts and went straight to battle mode��

    The reason why?

    Because she couldn''t sense anything approaching at all!

 Chapter 459 Suspicious Little Girl

    Mira''s scythe appeared in her hands, and she used her ice to freeze the bush and whoever was hiding in it. Then, she shed from her position and appeared behind the bush with her scythe pressed against the being inside.

    In a cold voice leaking with killing intent, she said, "Who are you?"

    It was silent for a few seconds before��

    "...Sniff��Sniff�� WAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

    ��Mira heard the cries of a child.

    ''What the��! A child?'' Mira wondered but didn''t remove her scythe. She refused to believe that a small child was able to escape from her senses.

    Therefore, Mira destroyed the bush the ''child'' was hiding in to get a better look at her little stalker.

    What appeared before Mira was a girl seemingly no older than 6 years old. She had beautiful dirty blonde hair, pearly white skin, and a cute appearance. The kid was also wearing a pink kimono with flowers embroidered on it. This kimono was special, but Mira couldn''t tell what.

    Lastly, the little girl wore a ne with a silver crescent moon pendant. Again, Mira felt like this pendant was quite special, but she couldn''t sense anything from it, so she just ignored it for now.

    Mira found everything about this girl strange, but she didn''t know why. Her instincts were telling her that something was off with this girl. However, no matter how Mira inspected her, she didn''t find anything wrong.

    In the end, Mira stopped examining the girl after not sensing any danger.

    What''s important right now is to figure out who this child was, why she''s here, and how she was able to escape from her senses.

    "Kid, I asked you a question. You have three seconds to tell me who you are and why you were sneaking up on me before I kill you." Mira threatened while releasing more of her killing intent.

    She''s never been all that good with children and wouldn''t make any exceptions, especially for a child as suspicious as this one.

    However, contrary to what she thought would happen, the child''s cries intensified!

    "Wow! This is a new low, even for you, Mira. To think you''d make such a cute little girl cry so much. You''ve really opened my eyes." The Guardian mocked, but Mira could tell he wasn''t the least bit disturbed by the situation.

    If anything, he probably found it all amusing.

    Unfortunately, Mira wasn''t in the mood to y around. She felt like the ''child'' in front of her was nothing but trouble!

    "Shut it! This girl is clearly suspicious! We''re clearly still somewhere on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, yet a little girl with no power and incredible stealth skills just ''coincidentally'' appears before me? Like hell, I''d fall for something like this!" Mira rebuked and pressed her scythe against the child''s neck further, causing a drop of blood to fall.

    "Last chance, kid. Tell me your identity and purpose for being here, and I won''t kill you right now." Mira warned, and it seemed like this was enough to ignite the kid''s survival instincts.

    She stopped crying so loudly and turned to look at Mira with teary eyes.

    "S-So�� So, you''re saying�� you might kill meter��?" The girl stuttered.

    "That depends on your next words," Mira said without a hint of emotion.

    "Hiik-!" The girl shrunk back, terrified, but still attempted to introduce herself.

    "My�� My name ��is Hana Silvermoon." The little girl, Hana, said in between breaths.

    "Alright, Hana, what are you doing here, and why were you watching me?" Mira asked while distancing the de of her scythe from her throat by a centimeter.

    Hana calmed down a bit now that the scythe wasn''t pressed against her throat.

    "I-I was already hiding in the bush when you suddenly appeared out of nowhere." Hana didn''t exin further, but Mira understood the girl''s underlying meaning.

    ''So, it''s my fault? Are you fucking kidding me? Wasn''t that Teleportation Talisman supposed to teleport me somewhere random? How the hell did I end up right next to this suspicious kid on this gigantic mountain range?! Ugh�� After this, I''m not buying any more teleportation talismans!'' Mira inwardly cursed.

    So far, all her experiences with teleportation talismans have been bad! The first one was when Number Two teleported the both of them into a dangerous cavern underground. Because of that, she was forced to lose 10% of her lifespan, 500 Abyssal Battle Ladder Points, and almost got crippled.

    Now, she found herself in another troublesome encounter after using a second teleportation talisman.

    "Alright, that exins that, but I''d like to know something else as well. How did you escape my senses? When I appeared, I was sure there was nobody around me. You''re just a kid without any cultivation. How is it possible for you to deceive me?" Mira said, staring at Hana intently.

    Hana felt ufortable under her gaze and was clearly hesitant to answer Mira''s question.

    "I apologize, beautiful big sister, but my Mommy told me never to share this information." Looking into Hana''s big, beautiful, and innocent eyes, even Mira was hesitant to try and force more information out of her.

    Mira also remembered that she wasn''t wearing a mask right now as it had long been destroyed, but she wasn''t in the mood to care about that right now.

    "Fine, we''ll leave it at that, for now. However, what''s a little girl like you doing in a ce like this? You know it''s extremely dangerous here, right?" Mira asked.

    "I''m hiding from the bad guys, Big Sister! Mommy said that sometimes the best ce to hide is often in the most dangerous ces!"

    Mira almost had an urge to facepalm because, with her luck, the bad guys should be��

    "I can sense the girl''s location again! She''s over here!"

    ''Ah�� The bad guys are here already�� How surprising~~.'' Mira inwardly sneered and was about to run away, trusting her instincts that were telling her not to get involved in this mess, until she felt a tug on her robes.

    She looked over and saw a pale-faced Hana giving her an usatory stare.

    "They''reing! Big Sister, this is all your fault! If you weren''t so pretty, I wouldn''t have been distracted and would''ve been able to stay hidden! Mommy always told me that one should be responsible for their actions, so please take responsibility, Big Sister!"

    Mira was speechless by what she had just heard, and slowly, Hana''s face ovepped with Maria''s. Maria was the only person she knew who was shameless enough to shift her own me onto someone else so brazenly.<sub> </sub>

    Then, suddenly, the urge to give Hana a good spanking emerged in Mira''s heart.

    She stared at Hana''s face, trying to make a decision; to abandon her or not.

    "Fine, I''ll help you just this once, but I''m not doing it for free. I expect some kind of reward." Mira didn''t wait for a response from Hana and began making her preparations.

    Arge pair of Paragon Wings quickly appeared behind Mira, and she gripped her scythe tightly.

    Hana watched all this in confusion.

    "Ummm�� Big Sister, what are you doing? Hurry up and run away with me! We need to escape right now!" Hana cried out, but Mira had already jumped into the air.

    After hearing Hana''s words, Mira looked down and sneered.

    "Run away? Why should I run away from those weaklings?" After saying that, she shot off in the direction of Hana''s pursuers.

    Seeing this, Hana slumped on the ground with a face full of despair!

    "It''s over�� It''s all over�� I''m sorry, Mommy�� Sniff�� Sniff��" Hana started crying and just epted her inevitable capture.

    Even though Hana felt Mira was pretty strong, she didn''t think she was strong enough to take out a whole team of people!

    Suddenly, Hana heard explosions in the distance, followed by screams of pain.

    "Argh!! Who are you?! Why are you doing th-!"

    "You bitch! Do you know who we-!"

    "I''ll kill you!"

    "Die, bitch!"

    *Boom**Boom**Boom**Boom*

    "N-N-NO! I don''t want to die-!"

    "Please spare me-!"

    "Why are you killing us-?!"

    This went on for a few dozen seconds before everything quieted down, and Hana saw something flying in her direction.

    At first, she was scared that it might be one of her pursuers, but then she saw Mira''s iparably beautiful face and sighed in relief.

    Mira quicklynded next to Hana, and before thetter even got a chance to open her mouth, Mira picked her up and��

    *Smack!*

    "Ouch! Big Sister?!"

    ��gave Hana a spanking.

    "Be quiet! This is your punishment for trying to shamelessly drag me into your problem. Now quietly ept your punishment!" Mira said, then gave her another smack!

    *Smack!*

    "AH! Stop it!! How dare you spank me, Big Sister! Even Mommy won''t treat me like-"

    *Smack!*

    "I said, be quiet. Until you reflect on your actions, I won''t stop spanking you! Now, tell me what you did wrong?"

    "Big Sister, that''s not fair! I didn''t-"

    *Smack!*

    "Ack! Stop it! I didn''t do anything-!

    *Smack!*

    "Ugh! Please�� Please stop smacking me, Big-!

    *Smack!*

    "Sniff�� Sniff�� I''m sorry�� I was wrong�� I won''t do it again��"

    "What won''t you do again?" Mira asked, preparing to deliver another spank.

    "I won''t needlessly drag you into my problems. Next time, I''ll be sure to ask for your permission first!" Hana yelled with her eyes closed.

    ? Mira''s eyes twitched at this response, and she gave her one final smack before standing up.

    "Not exactly the response I was looking for, but we can work on thatter. Now tell me, what should I do with you now that I''ve already gotten involved in this mess?"

 Chapter 460 Babysitter?

    Hana met Mira''s eyes for a second before she became ufortable and looked away.

    "How�� How about you be my bodyguard, Big Sister? Just like you said, you''re already involved in my situation, so you might as well go all out!" Hana gathered her courage and said.

    Mira was bewildered by Hana''s response and felt an urge to give her another spanking, but controlled herself and asked, "Why?"

    "Eh? W-What do you-?" Hana stuttered but was interrupted by Mira.

    "Why should I go out of my way to babysit you? Do you know how much trouble that''d bring me? Just so you know, those guys I killed were Nascent Soul Realm cultivators! You telling me to be your bodyguard is essentially telling me that those men aren''t the only ones trying to catch you. So, if you want me to help keep you safe, you need to offer something in exchange." Mira exined and inspected Hana''s expression.

    Seeing how she wasn''t too surprised by the strength of her pursuers answered a few of Mira''s questions, but it also raised more.

    "Eh? U-Umm�� Isn''t hanging out with such an adorable kid like me enough of a reward? I don''t really have anything else to offer other than that��" Hana said in a mosquito-like voice.

    Mira''s lips almost twitched, and she nearly cursed out loud, but she wasn''t going to lose her cool over the ramblings of a child.

    "Really? I beg to differ. If you tell me how you escaped my senses, I''ll help you." Mira threw out her condition.

    Although she felt Hana was in a bad situation, she had no desire to help her for free.

    She had no sympathy for Hana, nor would she feel bad about abandoning her on the mountain. With her hiding skills, getting caught is very unlikely as long as she''s not an idiot��

    ''Nevermind. She''ll definitely get caught if I leave her here.'' Mira thought, but she still had no intention of helping for free.

    Hana clearly looked troubled by Mira''s response but didn''t outright reject it.

    She stood there in silence, seemingly weighing her options. Mira waited patiently for several minutes until Hana finally opened her mouth.

    "O-Okay�� I''ll tell you how I hid from you, but I can''t promise you''ll be able to do the same thing. This is something unique to my family, after all. However, you have to promise you''ll protect me indefinitely!" Hana agreed, surprising Mira, but thatst sentence made her brows furrow.

    "Protect you indefinitely? What do you mean? I''m not a fuc-ahem, a freaking babysitter! I don''t have the time or patience to care for a kid. Can''t I just protect you for a few months, then return you to your mother?" Mira asked, unwilling to have a mysterious little girl follow her around everywhere.

    "No! We can''t go back to where Mom is! That''d make her sacrifice useless!" Hana started to tear up after saying that, but Mira wasn''t fazed.

    Instead, she ruthlessly asked, "So your mom''s dead?"

    However, contrary to Mira''s expectations, Hana shook her head.

    "I don''t know."

    That''s all Hana said, causing Mira''s frown to deepen. Unconsciously, her guard was raised to the max against Hana.

    On the outside, she looked like a cute little girl, but Mira felt like there was much more to her than meets the eye.

    At first, Mira assumed Hana was just a princess or young miss of a n or Kingdom that had gotten involved in a power struggle, but now she wasn''t quite sure what to think.

    ''Is she really just a little princess?'' Mira thought as the mysteries surrounding Hana''s existence increased.

    Now, it was Mira''s turn to think if all this was really worth it. Is Hana''s stealth technique really worth all this trouble?

    Also, Mira felt her trust in Hana decreasing by the second. Whenever she looked into Hana''s eyes, although they looked like any other child''s eyes, innocent, Mira felt something wasn''t quite right.

    Aside from that, Mira doesn''t know anything else about the little girl in front of her. She only knows her name and that powerful people are after her.

    She''s never heard of the Silvermoon family either, so even her name might be fake.

    Hell, the person in front of her might not be a little girl at all! It could be some old monster who just wanted to mess with people as a little girl!

    Although the likelihood of that scenario is quite slim, it''s not impossible. Mira''s met all kinds of weirdos throughout her life, and since this is a world where almost anything is possible, Hana might actually be some decrepit old man ying around.<sub> </sub>

    Just the thought of that sent shivers down Mira''s spine, and her eyes turned cold.

    If she were going to take this mission, she wouldn''t take any chances.

    "I can agree to your conditions, but you''ll have to do something else for me. If you want my help, you''ll have to swear to the Heavens that you won''t backstab me, betray me, or share my secrets." Mira said in a cold voice, shocking Hana.

    "B-Big sister, how could you be like that?! Don''t you trust me? Why would I betray you?!" Hana began tearing up again, feeling hurt by Mira''s words, but thetter didn''t care.

    "That''s right. I don''t trust you. There are too many mysteries around you, and I have no intention of leaking all my secrets to someone who won''t share hers. So, you either swear to the Heavens or no deal." Mira said in an upromising tone.

    Hana looked down, not allowing Mira to see her expression. After a few minutes, Hana lifted her face and smiled.

    "Fine. If that''s all I have to do to earn your trust, then I''ll do it. By the way, what''s your name, Big Sis?"

    "Mira."

    "Alright, Big Sis Mira, I''ll swear to the Heavens now."

    "I, Hana Silvermoon, swear that I''ll never betray, backstab, or leak any of Mira''s secrets or information! Should I fail to uphold my promise, may the Heavens strike me down!"

    The sky rumbled slightly as if epting Hana''s deration, then shortly after, returned to normal.

    Mira nodded and said, "Alright. Now that we''vee to an agreement, tell me how you hid from me, and we can finally be on our way."

    Hana looked a bit hesitant after Mira said that, but she still decided to fulfill her promise.

    "Okay, I''ll tell you, Big Sis, but just like I said before, you probably won''t be able to learn it. This is a technique that''s unique to my family, after all. There also isn''t a specific technique as it''s just one of our abilities." Hana exined again, but Mira just waved her hand.

    "You let me worry about that, okay? Just tell me how you did it. I''ll be able to figure out the rest." Mira said confidently, but Hana was still skeptical.

    She wanted to give Mira another warning, but she could clearly sense Mira''s patience running thin.

    "Fine! Don''t say I didn''t want you! If you can''t learn it, don''te crying to me! You agreed to protect me for this information!"

    Mira nodded indifferently, so Hana went straight into the exnation.

    "All I did was merge my senses with the world."

    Mira waited for more, but after 10 seconds of Hana not saying anything, she realized that was it.

    "That''s it? What kind of bullshit exnation is that?! How did you do that? What do you mean you merged your senses with the world? How does doing that make you able to escape my senses?" Mira asked with a deep frown on her face.

    She felt like she had just been scammed! Her grip on her scythe tightened, and her patience with the mysterious child thinned even more.

    Hana, realizing she was in deep trouble, quickly exined, "Ah! What I mean is everything in this world is alive��the trees, rocks, dirt, grass, air, etc. Everything thing has its own unique way of sensing and perceiving the world."

    "For example, trees grow roots searching for nutrients and extend their branches to catch more sun. If I can change my senses and aura to be like a tree''s, then I can essentially merge with the tree. Although I won''t actually be part of said tree, the outside world won''t be able to tell me apart from the tree."

    "I was able to escape your senses because I matched my aura and senses with the bush I was in, making it seem like I wasn''t even there in the first ce."

    Mira partially understood what Hana was saying, but at the same time, she didn''t. She could understand what matching her aura meant, but she didn''t understand how it was possible to ''merge'' her senses with something like a bush.

    Seeing how Mira was still a bit confused, Hana exined even further, "I see that you''re still not quite understanding, so let''s take the bush I was hiding in as an example. That bush, although it doesn''t have eyes, ears, mouth, or a nose, the bush can still see, feel, taste, and hear the world. Not just that bush, but the trees and grass around us as well. You just don''t notice this because they aren''t particrly looking at you. So, I guess if you want to learn this technique, start by trying to feel the gazes of the trees around you."

    "That''s about as much as I know how to exin. What you understand is up to you."

 Chapter 461 Nexus Lake

    Mira understood the theory behind Hana''s exnation, but that didn''t mean she could do it. Even someone like Mira, who is sensitive to others'' gazes, couldn''t feel the trees ''looking'' at her.

    She wanted to begin practicing this technique immediately but now wasn''t the time.

    Right now, she''s in an unknown environment with a mysterious little girl who''s being hunted.

    Dangers lurk about everywhere in this mountain range, and if her encounters with Hana and the chimeras told Mira anything, it''s that her senses aren''t as reliable as she thought they were.

    So, before she proceeded any further, Mira decided to have a general understanding of where she was.

    With a leap, Mira flew up in the air and began scouting out the area, trying to find anything that might look familiar.

    However, once Mira began looking around, she sighed.

    "Sigh�� I figured it''d be like this. I have literally no idea where I am or how I can get back to the Battle Maiden Sect. Luckily, I had gained quite a few Merit Points, so I shouldn''t be kicked out of the Sect even if I''m gone for the next year." Mira thought out loud as she flew around to observe her surroundings.

    After about 15 minutes, Mira returned next to Hana and thought about her current situation.

    After understanding that she''s lost, Mira''s first instinct is to look for a way out of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. If she can do that, she should be able to find a human city, and from there, it shouldn''t be much of a problem for her to return to the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Unfortunately, even after flying around, Mira couldn''t tell which way would lead her out of the Mountain Range.

    She knew that as long as she traveled West, she would eventually leave the mountain range, but it seemed her bad luck wasn''t done messing with her as thick clouds blotted out the sky, preventing her from knowing which direction was west.

    Fortunately, she knew that she was no more than 10,000 kilometers away from where she used the Mystic-Grade Teleportation Talisman. Although she didn''t know the grade Number Two''s talisman was, she figured it probably wasn''t above Mystic-Grade. More than likely, it was a Heaven-Grade Talisman that could teleport him up to 5,000 kilometers.

    So, Mira guessed she was at most 15,000 kilometers away from the Battle Maiden Sect. As long as she knows which way to go, she should be able to return in just a few months if she travels at full speed.

    When Miranded, she looked at Hana and asked, "Do you know where we are? Or how we can leave this mountain range?"

    Hana thought for a moment before shaking her head.

    "Sorry, Big Sis, I don''t know where we are or how to leave."

    Mira was actually quite surprised by this and grew skeptical.

    If Hana didn''t know the area well, then how did she end up hiding in a ce with no beasts nearby? Was it just a coincidence?

    This mountain range is filled with countless dangers, even for someone of Mira''s strength. A little girl with no cultivation traversing a mountain where the weakest beasts start at Rank 6��

    The more Mira thought about it, the more skeptical she grew.

    ''This girl�� She''s lying�� but why?'' Mira wondered, but she didn''t call Hana out on it yet.

    Although unlikely, it could be that Hana is just lucky, and her hiding skills are too good.

    However, she is just a kid, and one mistake could cause her death, so Mira felt luck wasn''t the only factor at y for Hana''s survivability.

    "Okay, then, which direction do you think we should go in? My luck is quite bad, you see, so I have a feeling that whichever direction I choose might lead us to our death!" Mira said seriously, but she wasn''t lying.

    Hearing the seriousness in Mira''s voice, Hana felt a chill run down her spine, but just like Mira, she too felt skeptical.

    ''Is Mira just saying that to scare me, or is her luck really that bad? Well, regardless, it seems like we''re not going to move unless I choose a direction. Although I don''t know where Mira wants to go, I suppose it wouldn''t hurt to help her out a bit.'' Hana thought to herself before pointing in a direction.

    "How about we go that way, Big Sis? I feel like we might find something interesting if we go over there!" Hana eximed.

    Mira looked in the direction Hana pointed in and nodded. Although they''d have to walk up the mountain they''re currently on, it''s not all that tall, so they shouldn''te across any beasts that Mira can''t handle.

    "Alright, let''s do as you say." Mira nodded, picked up Hana and coated her in Qi, then began running in that direction.

    "AHHH! WAIT!! SLOW DOWN!!" Hana screamed in surprise, but Mira ignored her and kept running.

    She had no intention of walking at Hana''s speed.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    A few dayster, Mira and Hana appeared in front of a massiveke in a valley surrounded by mountains.

    Just like Mira suspected, they hadn''t run into anything more powerful than a Low-Stage Rank 7 beast on their way here.

    During this time, Mira was also able to heal most of the injuries she sustained from her encounter with the Rank 8 chimera.

    Her core was still a bit shaken, but as long as she didn''t overuse her Qi, there shouldn''t be any problems.

    Arriving in front of theke, Mira felt a cooling sensation run through her body, soothing her exhaustion and invigorating her. She didn''t know what it was, but from this, she knew that there was something special about thiske.

    She wanted to bend down and take a sip of the water as she felt it was extraordinary, but her instincts warned her of danger before she could touch it.

    Mira quickly brought her hand away from the water and stared at theke, but she didn''t notice any ripples or anything that looked like it might be dangerous.

    "You shouldn''t do that, Big Sis! Despite how they look, Nexus Lakes are actually quite dangerous! If you aren''t strong enough, attempting to drink that water is suicide!" Hana spoke up but quickly covered her mouth, realizing she had made a mistake.

    "Oh? So, you do know where we are. Well, care to exin?" Mira turned around and said without a change in her expression.

    Hanaughed ufortably and said, "Ahahaha~ Big Sis, when you asked me a few days ago if I knew where we were or how to get out of the mountains, I really didn''t know. However, I never said that I didn''t know how we could find out. That''s why I brought us here!"

    Mira''s eyes narrowed, and seeing that Hana instinctively covered her butt.

    She didn''t want to get spanked again, after all!

    "H-Hold on, Big Sis! There''s no need to spank me, right? I wasn''t lying, after all. You just failed to ask the right questions! If anything, this is your fault for getting-!"

    *Spank!*

    "Ouch! Why?!" Hana yelled in displeasure as Mira gave her another spanking.

    "Enough about that. I knew you were lying-

    "Wrong! I was just withholding information, not-"

    *Spank!*

    "-Oww!"

    "As I was saying, I already knew you were lying. So, why don''t you start telling me what a Nexus Lake is and why it''s so important?" Mira asked.

    "Ugh! Fine! A Nexus Lake is a special ce in the mountain range that helps wandering beasts or travelers traverse the mountains. For example, do you see that mountain over there?" Hana pointed at one of the surrounding mountains.

    Mira nodded, so Hana continued, "Do you see the arrow near the top of the mountain?"

    Mira focused near the top of the mountain and noticed arge arrow pointing upwards, then nodded at Hana''s question.

    "That arrow is pointing North. Also, those blue flowers you see all over the mountain release a peculiar scent that lets some of the less intelligent beasts know that that direction is North." Hana briefly exined.

    "How interesting. So, how did you know a Nexus Lake was here?" Mira asked.

    "I came from this Nexus Lake! Before I met you, I had run across this Nexus Lake. How could I not remember where it was at?"

    Mira squinted her eyes at this response as she didn''t fully believe Hana, but she didn''t outright deny it since this was entirely possible.

    After a few seconds, Mira stopped caring whether Hana was lying or not as she began feeling ufortable. This was a feeling she was all too familiar with.

    "Alright, it''s time to go! We''re heading West so we can leave this godforsaken mountain range!" Mira grabbed Hana like a sack of potatoes and began running West.

    She sensed troubleing and wanted to leave as soon as possible��

    "There she is!! Everyone, head west!" A booming voice behind Mira yelled.

 Chapter 462 Beastmen

    Mira stopped running when she felt arge number of people approaching rapidly. Despite running near her full speed, she still felt the people getting closer. She turned around to get a better look at her pursuers but was shocked by what she saw.

    Aside from the hundreds of people running on the ground or flying through the air, a massive floating boat was soaring through the sky!

    Mira could sense many powerful beings on this boat, some of which she wasn''t fully confident in defeating.

    Not only that, but the features of around have of the people chasing her weren''t quite human. Some had tails, while others had beast-like ears, and some just had hairier bodies or longer nails.

    In terms of beastly characteristics, they weren''t too different from Mira, but their features were less prominent than hers.

    However, Mira could tell they weren''t beasts from their cultivation and aura. They still followed the human cultivation system, meaning they weren''t beasts.

    "I see. So, these must be the so-called demi-humans I''ve heard about. It''s my first seeing them in person." Mira said indifferently.

    With a pale face, Hana looked at Mira strangely, hearing herment.

    "They aren''t called demi-humans. They are called beastmen, Big Sis. Also, you do realize you''re a beastman, too, right? How could this be your first time seeing them?" Hana didn''t even bother asking Mira why they stopped.

    She could see that those people would catch up with them sooner orter.

    Mira nced at Hana but didn''t say anything. If she were being honest, she would notbel herself as a beastman.

    She could clearly feel beast bloodlinesing from all the beastmen pursuers, but it was so diluted and faint that calling it a ''bloodline'' would be a disgrace. Mira could tell at a nce that they were hardly any differentpared to regr humans.

    They might have some innate ability thates with their ''bloodline'', but their ability will be severely limited due to how diluted their bloodline is.

    Due to this reason, Mira could tell that they weren''t the same. She was basically the perfect fusion between man and beast, while these people are just a couple of knock-offs!

    Still, Mira didn''t feel the need to exin this to Hana. It wouldn''t do the girl any good, anyways.

    "It seems you''ve pissed off quite a few people, huh? This is quite the lineup just to capture a little girl without any cultivation like you." Miramented, watching everyone approach her.

    "Hmph! They''re just a bunch of shameless cowards who feel the need to steal from a cute little girl like me!"

    Mira raised an eyebrow at what Hana said and took another nce at the crescent moon hanging from her neck and her clothes. Those two objects are clearly quite special, and Mira would be lying if she said she wasn''t curious about them, but she kept quiet.

    Her instincts told her that they weren''t of much use to her. Maybe Hana''s kimono might be useful if it was her size, but it wasn''t, so Mira didn''t feel the need to possess it.

    Suddenly, Hana turned to Mira and gave her a serious look. She quickly took off her ne and tried handing it over to Mira.

    "Please keep it safe for me." Hana pleaded.

    Mira gave her a suspicious look and asked, "Why?"

    "Just take it, please. I''d feel morefortable with it being in your hands." Hana said, refusing to exin.

    Mira looked at the silver crescent moon pendant, and after a few moments, she decided to take it.

    She didn''t know what Hana was doing as this pendant was clearly very important, but she didn''t feel any ill intenting from Hana.

    Even if she did have any ill intent, it didn''t matter. Once any object is ced in her Storage Room, it''s basically cut off from the rest of the world.

    Plus, Mira''s generally not one to turn down a potential treasure!

    However, unbeknownst to Mira, Hana made a surprised face as she stored her pendant.

    "Well, I guess it''s about time I go greet our guests. You should just find somece to hide. Or if you''re not confident in doing that, I can put a protective barrier around you, but if one of those strong guys on the boates down, it probably won''t hold." Mira pulled out her scythe and grinned.

    Hana shivered under Mira''s bloodthirsty gaze, but she still managed to answer.

    "I-I''ll find somece to hide, but you��" Hana looked like she wanted to say something else, but Mira had already left.

    Hana sighed but quickly found a good spot to hide, and in just a few seconds, it was almost like she was never there, to begin with!

    On Mira''s side, she had just appeared before the army of people.

    Many of the beastmen visibly paled when Mira red her aura as they could feel her bloodline. More urately, they could only feel how pure and extraordinary it was.<sub> </sub>

    However, the humans couldn''t feel such a thing and reacted differently upon seeing Mira, with lust being the most prominent emotion.

    Right now, Mira wasn''t wearing a mask, so her unparalleled beauty was on full disy to the world.

    Although they could sense the savage aura surrounding Mira, her natural beauty and charm were more than enough to distract them from this.

    "Hey, beauti-ACK!"

    A man at the front tried approaching Mira with lust leaking out of his eyes, but before he could even take two steps, Mira swung her scythe and removed his head.

    This was more than enough to wake everyone up from their lust-filled states, and they jumped back in shock with their weapons drawn!

    "Bitch! You didn''t have to be so ruthless!"

    "That''s right! Just because you''re a little beautiful doesn''t mean you can just kill whoever you want!"

    Many cursed at Mira, while others just shook their heads.

    That was, until Mira opened her mouth.

    "I assume you guys are after a little girl?" Mira asked to confirm. However, from the look in her eyes, it was clear that their fate was already decided regardless of their answer.

    Still, a Stage 3 Nascent Soul Realm leopard beastman, who seemed to be the leader of this group, answered.

    "That''s right. The Sun Lion n hired us to capture the Silvermoon girl. We don''t want any trouble and aren''t looking to kill her. If possible, I''d prefer not to fight. However, if you''re going to continue standing in our way��"

    Mira was a bit confused about why the man would give away their employer so freely, but when she nced at the people aboard the giant floating ship and saw beastmen with lion-like features and powerful auras, she understood.

    There was simply no reason for them to hide their employer''s identity.

    Mira shook her head and said, "Unfortunately, I was hired as that girl''s bodyguard. I can''t just simply hand her over to you guys. Not after I had already received my payment."

    "That''s a pity. I really don''t want to have to kill such a beautiful and talenteddy such as yourself."

    "Hmph! You''re wee to try, but you should know that you''ll need more than this little group of weaklings if you want to kill me." Mira said in disdain before sheunched a series of Atmospheric shes.

    Tens of people were bisected without any time to react, but Mira didn''t let up.

    "Argh!"

    "What the hell?!"

    "What is this?! How is this bitch so strong?!"

    The men began to panic as theirrades were ruthlessly murdered without being able to defend themselves!

    Mira took advantage of this chaos and jumped into the middle of the small army of people! Most of the people in the army are only Core Formation Realm cultivators, which is nothing more than cannon fodder in Mira''s eyes.

    She''s spent thest few months constantly fighting against Rank 7 beasts and shadows with perfect control and teamwork. These people can''t even hold a candle to what she''s been through!

    Actually, if Mira wanted to, she could just use her Paragon Wings and wipe out everyone on the ground in a few seconds.

    However, she still needs to limit her Qi usage so as to not put more pressure on her Core. Plus, she needs to save her strength for when she eventually fights the beings on the flying boat.

    The leopard beastman paled when he saw his subordinates and allies being mowed down like ants by the beautiful foxdy!

    So, to prevent his remaining subordinates from being ughtered, he made a move. His specialty lies in his speed and assassination, so he tried attacking Mira from behind, but when he was in the middle ofunching an attack, he saw a golden tail aiming for his head.

    It was already toote to retreat, and the golden tail was too fast for him to block, so he was forced to take it head-on.

    Unfortunately, it seems he took that a bit too literally as his head exploded on impact against the golden tail.

    Seeing the death of their leader threw everyone into disarray, and it wasn''t long before Mira killed the few hundred people on the ground.

    With an indifferent look, she turned to look at the flying boat and waited for them toe down.

 Chapter 463 Played

    Contrary to what Mira thought, the people on the flying boat barely spared her a nce. It was almost like they couldn''t care less about the people Mira killed.

    Instead, they kept staring in the direction they hadst sensed Hana.

    A scowl formed on Mira''s face as she felt like her mission just became that much harder. On the boat, Mira clearly sensed several people at theter stages of the Nascent Soul Realm, along with one person at the Soul Transformation Realm.

    If they really only cared about capturing Hana and had no intention of dealing with Mira, although she hated to admit it, there wasn''t much she could do.

    She might have be much stronger over thest few months, but much less dealing with someone at the Soul Transformation Realm, she''d have a problem defeating those in theter Stages of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    In fact, she could be considered lucky that those people weren''t even sparing her a nce. If they really wanted to kill her, while she wouldn''t go down so easily, she''d definitely have to waste more of her Abyssal Battle Ladder points if she wanted to survive.

    Was Hana''s life really worth her precious Abyssal Battle Ladder points?

    Mira didn''t even need to think about that answer.

    No. No, she wasn''t.

    In fact, the only people she felt would be worth them were Maria and Dominique. Maybe Cine, since she still has uses beyond what Abyssal Battle Ladder points can give her, but that''s it.

    However, Mira still has her pride. She''s not so shameless that she would back out of a job just because the difficulty was raised.

    She had already promised to be Hana''s bodyguard, and she had already received payment for it as well.

    At this point, Mira was stuck at a crossroads.

    Should she risk her life to defend Hana, or should she stay out of this and allow the girl to be captured?

    Mira watched as the flying boat hovered over the area Hana was hiding. Although Mira knew Hana''s hiding was almost perfect, she couldn''t turn invisible.

    It was only a matter of time before Hana was found and captured.

    In the end, Mira sighed and walked over to the location near Hana''s hiding spot.

    ''I can''t just let the little girl get captured without putting up a fight. Who knows, maybe we''ll be able to find a way out of this situation.'' Mira thought, but she knew she wasn''t beingpletely honest with herself.

    Hana reminded her a lot of Maria. If Maria were in Hana''s position instead, Mira wouldn''t hesitate to throw herself into danger to keep her from getting captured.

    Mira also felt like Maria would do something, anything, in hopes of saving the child. So, with those thoughts in mind, Mira valiantly stood before the flying boat with her weapon drawn.

    Although her rational mind told her that risking her life to save someone she barely knew was ridiculous, she did it anyway.

    In fact, even she barely knew what she was doing and why, and she didn''t have time to think about these matters either.

    A minuteter, 10 lion beastmen jumped off the boat andnded around Mira. All of them were at the 7th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm or above, with the leader being in the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Now that Mira was standing between them and their goal, they were forced to take notice of her.

    While they all showed hints of lust in their eyes due to Mira''s beauty, they didn''t act on their desires. Just like how Mira could sense their bloodlines, they could sense hers as well.

    They had never sensed someone with such an amazing bloodline before! They had thought that their Sun Lion n had one of the Top beastman bloodlines, but Mira''s existence caused them to realize how wrong they were.

    Because of that, they didn''t dare to act rashly in front of Mira for fear of creating an enemy they couldn''t afford to offend.

    "My name is Azaar Lionel, the eldest son of Marcus Lionel, the Patriarch of the Lionel Family! May I ask who you are and where you hail from, beautifuldy?" Azaar asked politely.

    Mira just stared at them coldly and didn''t say anything.

    This caused not only Azaar but the others around her to feel not only ufortable but a little pissed as well.<sub> </sub>

    Azaar felt like he had already given the foxdy in front of him enough respect for someone so weak. Normally, he''d barely nce at someone in the Core Formation Realm!

    Still, he didn''t let this little bit of irritation get to him. While he might be quite prideful about his n and bloodline, he also understood that his family wasn''t that strongpared to some of the major powers on the Western Continent.

    ''If she''s part of some ancient n or a disciple of an Elder that''s part of a Sect, things might get troublesome if we act rashly. Anyone with a brain can tell just how talented this girl is, and I refuse to believe she doesn''t have some sort of backing. In the best-case scenario, we get what we need and leave without causing a ruckus. Worst case, we kill her and pin the me on someone else. Hopefully, that''ll be enough to throw whoever''s behind her off our trail.''

    Azaar was alreadying up with all kinds of scenarios in his mind. After numerous calctions, he decided to speak up once more.

    "Look, we don''t want any trouble. We''re just here for the girl. We don''t even want to kill her. In fact, it''s quite the opposite. So please allow us to take her with us without any trouble." Azaar exined in a noticeably less polite tone.

    However, his words and tone only made Mira even more confused than she already was.

    ''What the fuck? Why is this little girl running away as her life depended on it, then? I didn''t detect any lies from him either, so he''s most likely telling the truth. Hell, do I even need to protect this little girl?! It almost seems like these guys are more than willing to do that for me!'' Mira almost felt like it''d be better for her to just get out of the way and allow them to take Hana.

    No, she actually did think doing that would be the best course of action.

    ''Fuck me! To think I almost risked my life for that little girl without even understanding the entire situation. I must be growing senile��'' Mira thought, about to lower her weapon and step out of the way before Hana actually jumped out of her hiding spot and walked over to Azaar.

    "Alright, I''ll go with you! Just please don''t do anything to Big Sis! She''s innocent in all this!" Hana eximed while walking over.

    Mira almost started cursing out loud, watching Hana waste all her efforts at trying to protect her.

    "Hana! Juste back without causing any more trouble. I''m tired of searching this godforsaken mountain! I want to go home! Look, you even dragged some random person into this mess! She even killed all those mercenaries for you!" Azaar scolded Hana, almost like how a big brother would scold his little sister.

    Hana approached Azaar, but before reaching him, she turned around, winked at Mira, mouthed something, then proceeded to stand next to Azaar.

    "Fine. Just promise you won''t do anything to Big Sis." Hana pouted ''innocently'', but Mira could see hatred, sorrow, and reluctance within her eyes.

    Now, Mira had even more questions than before, and she was beginning to wonder if this was all a y.

    It almost felt like a higher being was ying with-

    When Mira came to such a conclusion, her eyes narrowed, and her killing intent almost burst out!

    Fortunately, she had enough willpower to prevent that, but that didn''t stop her eyes from shining with an eerie crimson light.

    Now that Azaar had Hana in his possession, there was no longer any reason for him to stick around.

    He grabbed Hana''s hand, gave Mira onest nce, and then signaled everyone to return to the ship.

    Azaar, and even Hana, wanted to say something else to Mira, but they could clearly tell that her mood was anything but good. So, he kept his mouth shut and leaped onto the ship with Hana in tow, not wanting to start any unnecessary trouble.

    Mira watched this all happen with the same indifferent expression on her face, but inwardly she felt incrediblyplicated.

    In fact, she wasn''t even sure what she should feel.

    Should she be angry? Happy? Sad? Shameful?

    She didn''t know.

    However, what she did know was that she was ufortable with this whole situation. Everything happened too fast, and nothing went ording to Mira''s calctions.

    Then, Mira remembered how Hana had given her the silver crescent moon pendant, and she couldn''t help but curse.

    "That fucking child knew this was going to happen from the very beginning!"

    Now, she really felt like she was being yed like a fool!

 Chapter 464 Hanas Plan

    Mira felt like shit. She felt like she had been used as some sort of scapegoat; to make matters worse, it was done by a child.

    Now that she thought about it, that whole stealth technique might beplete bullshit as well! Mira didn''t want to brag or anything, but with her current talent,prehension, and senses, she felt like she should''ve at least reached a basic mastery of such a technique by now.

    However, forget about mastering it; Mira barely understood the premise of it!

    Feel the trees'' gazes?

    Bullshit!! What gazes?! They are just fucking trees!!

    The more Mira thought about it, the worse she felt. She felt like she had been scammed. However, instead of losing money, Mira was dragged into the middle of all this mess.

    She sent her consciousness into her storage room and stared at the silver crescent moon pendant with aplicated look. She didn''t dare to bring it out in case there was some sort of tracking mechanism on it.

    Mira felt the urge to destroy it, but there wasn''t much of a point in doing that now.

    She already had a vague premonition that Azaar and his men would soon be back to search for her.

    Since both he and Hana knew what she looked like, it would be difficult for her to hide. Even if she wore a mask, it wouldn''t matter. Her tails are too unique.

    How many beastmen in the world have 9 tails, much less 9 multi-colored tails? If Mira had to guess, she''d say��

    None!

    There probably isn''t a single person that looked like her, even disregarding her perfect face.

    So, if Azaar and his men wanted to find her, it wouldn''t be particrly difficult. Unless she made it back to the Battle Maiden Sect, that is.

    Mira looked in the direction the flying ship left in, Northwest, then nced West. Her best bet at making it back to the Sect would be to travel west, so she can leave these damn mountains and enter a human city.

    But, could she really do that?

    The safest and most rational choice would be to head West and return to the Sect as quickly as possible.

    However, Mira''s pride was telling her not to take this lying down��

    "Argh! Fuck! If I don''t beat some sense into that little girl, I don''t think I''ll be able to calm down!" Mira screamed with malice leaking out of her words.

    Right now, she really wanted to kill something to help calm down, so that''s exactly what she did. She began running Northwest and killed everything in sight!

    ***

    On the flying ship heading Northwest, Hana and Azaar were sitting in one of the cabins staring at each other in silence.

    On the surface, they both had neutral expressions, but if one looked closely, one''d notice the emotions hidden deep within their eyes.

    Azaar seemed to feel a mixture of happiness, bitterness, and relief. Inparison, Hana felt reluctance, sorrow, and anger.

    The two continued to stare at each other for a few more minutes until Azaar finally couldn''t take it and spoke up.

    "What made you finally decide to stop running? Don''t tell me it was really because of that beautifuldy back there. Although I do admit she''s beautiful, she''s way too dangerous. Even when she was facing me, despite knowing she was several Realm weaker, she showed no fear. I could also tell that if she truly felt like her life was about to end, I''d most likely die or have to flee." Azaar said calmly, though he couldn''t help but feel a bitplicated.

    Honestly, he wanted to know a bit more about Mira and her background, but his instincts told him that getting involved with that foxdy would do him more harm than good. So, when Hana offered herself up, he immediately grasped onto her and left, not wanting to stick around Mira any longer.

    The main reason for this is that he felt inferior to Mira just being in her presence. As someone with the Sun Lion bloodline, this was a huge hit to his pride, but what he hated the most was that even if he attacked her to ''prove his superiority'', he wouldn''t feel anything.

    Mira was 2 Major Realms weaker than him! How could he feel good about beating up someone in the Core Formation Realm?

    Doing so would only make him feel worse as it''d almost be like him admitting he stood no chance against Mira if they were in the same Realm.

    So, Azaar just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. He could also feel the dense killing intent leaking out of Mira and concluded that she was probably a fucking psychopath!

    Although he''s not averse to killing, Azaar feels no pleasure in hunting everything that moves.

    However, Mira''s killing intent,bined with her gaze, made him understand that the foxdy felt nothing for the lives around her.<sub> </sub>

    Hearing Azaar''s words, Hana was shocked!

    "What?! Big Sis would''ve been able to fight you?! Dammit! If I had known that, I wouldn''t havee out!" Hana muttered.

    "So, you really dide out for that woman?" Azaar questioned again.

    "Hmph! Who do you think I am? Why would I do something so stupid for someone I barely met? Plus, that woman spanked me for several days as punishment for dragging her into all this. I wouldn''t help her even if she paid me to! Even mother doesn''t treat me like that!" Hana snorted while simultaneously feeling a sting on her butt.

    Azaar burst outughing hearing that, "HAHAHAHA~ So, that woman grew tired of your bullshit as well? Honestly, I''m surprised you lived, considering how dense her killing intent was."

    Azaarmented lightly, but thatst sentence caused Hana to freeze up for a second as she remembered that she really did almost die��

    However, before Azaar could notice, her expression returned to normal, and she snorted again.

    "How could she bear to kill someone as cute as me?" Hana said shamelessly, but only she knew how close to death she really was.

    In fact, she could still feel the de of Mira''s scythe pressed against her neck at this very moment��

    Suddenly, Azaar stoppedughing, and he stared intently at Hana''s chest, or more specifically, her corbone.

    Then his expression froze.

    "You�� you�� What the hell did you do with the ne?!?" Azaar roared in disbelief and anger.

    He jumped up from his seat and immediately began searching Hana''s body, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn''t find it.

    The whole time he was doing this, Hana watched with a smile filled with disdain.

    After a few minutes, Azaar stopped searching and stared at Hana with bloodshot eyes.

    Seeing her smile full of disdain almost made him want to strangle her to death, but he stopped himself from doing so.

    "What. Did. You. Do?" Azaar could barely form sentences at this point, nearly lost in anger, but Hana continued to smile like this had nothing to do with her.

    "Oh? Are you talking about the treasured ne of MY n that''s been passed down for generations and is the reason why the Silvermoon n exists today?" Hana giggled as she asked, seemingly enjoying Azaar''s worsening expression.

    "Hehe~ Now that I think about it, where did I put it? Ah! Now I remember! I left it in that foxdy''s possession before you came and took me away!" Hana continued tough as she knew that the only reason Azaar and his n wanted her was because of that ne.

    Well, she''s equally as important, but she''s basically useless without that ne��

    Azaar''s mind went nk when he heard that, as he never thought Hana would be so reckless that she would willingly give that thing away to some stranger.

    ".............why?" Azaar managed to ask through gritted teeth.

    However, Hana didn''t bother to exin and merely chuckled.

    Azaar could no longer be bothered with Hana as he rushed out of the cabin to order the crew to turn around.

    Hana watched all this and inwardly sneered.

    ''Heh. Do you really expect me just toe to willingly after all you''ve put me through? You''re too naive, Azaar. As for why I gave it to Big Sis Mira�� Let''s just say there''s no better person to give it to than a crazy person like her who won''t hesitate to kill children. She''ll surely put you guys through hell without caring about the consequences, hehehe~'' Contrary to what one might expect, Hana had this whole thing nned out ever since she crossed paths with Mira.

    Although she was still lucky to escape with her life, her instincts told her that the safest ce for her n''s most precious treasure would be in Mira''s hands. She also felt like Mira was strong and crazy enough to, hopefully, cause major problems for the Lionel Family.

    Sure, Mira will probably have a hard time because of Azaar and his n, but Hana just considered that as part of Mira''s punishment for spanking her so many times.

    ***

    Meanwhile, back in the mountains, Mira again felt ufortable and decided to go into hiding. She assumed that Azaar was probablying back to look for her, but Mira had no intentions of being captured a third time!

    Fortunately, she could control her aura and Qi well enough that as long as Azaar couldn''t see her physically, it''d be extremely difficult to find her.

 Chapter 465 Northwest

    Azaar immediately turned the ship around to search for Mira, but he wasn''t all that hopeful. They were only able to chase after Hana because she was just a mortal, and the pendant she always wore released a particr aura.

    As long as they were in Hana''s general vicinity, they''d be able to sense this aura.

    Of course, Hana could just drop the crescent moon pendant somewhere so she wouldn''t get caught, but that''s pretty much thest thing she''d want to do.

    For one, Azaar and his family would still find it, and since she''s only a mortal, she''d be unable to create enough distance between herself and the pendant before she got caught.

    She might have her impable stealth skills, but as a mortal, there are only so many ces she can hide in the mountains without getting killed. Additionally, her stealth skills are only at their full potential when she''s standing still.

    With Azaar''s entire family and gangs of mercenaries looking for her, it''s only a matter of time before she''s either captured, killed by a random beast, or starved to death.

    While Hana might not like Azaar and his family, she didn''t want to die for them.

    However, things would be different if the pendant was in Mira''s hands! Due to Mira''s beauty, talent, and strength, Hana assumed that her background was anything but ordinary.

    So, she could just hand herself over to the Lionel family, ensuring her safety while also fucking them over!

    Azaar knew this, and that''s why he was so mad!

    Aftermanding his crew to turn the ship around, he approached Hana and said in a stern voice, "For the sake of your mother and n, you better hope we can find that foxdy, Matriarch."

    Hana''s expression hardened, but she just kept quiet. Azaar scoffed at this and left to go help find Mira.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira just found some random cave with a Low-Stage Rank 7 beast and decided to camp out in it. She swiftly knocked it unconscious, then created her own little area in the cave.

    Afterward, she concealed her Qi and aura and began waiting until Azaar eventually left the area.

    She knew that with Azaar''s ship, his strength, and the strength of his subordinates, there was absolutely no way she could run away. So, her best bet would be to hide, but hiding in an empty cave is too obvious.

    That''s why she only knocked the beast unconscious instead of killing it, to help mask her presence. Mira was banking on the fact that Azaar would never think she was crazy enough to hide near a beast that could kill her.

    Fortunately, her gamble seemed to pay off because nobody barged in looking for her, even after several hours of staying in the cave.

    However, she did have a few problems with the beast.

    After several hours, the beast eventually woke back up and charged at Mira immediately.

    "Sigh�� You know I just knocked you out without any effort, right? What are you gonna do, charging at me like that?" Mira said, then pped the beast back to sleep.

    Mira shook her head and continued to wait. She could still vaguely feel Azaar''s presence searching the mountains around her.

    A few hourster, the beast woke up, but this time it didn''t immediately charge at Mira. It understood that it was no match for Mira and that its home was stolen by some stranger.

    So, with a depressed look on its face, the beast walked over to the exit, ready to leave. That is until he heard the indifferent voice of the homewrecker behind it!

    "Did I give you permission to leave?"

    That''s all he heard before he was knocked unconscious again.

    Another few hours passed until it woke up again, but it didn''t dare make any moves this time. It was smart enough to understand that the evil foxdy wanted it for something. It just didn''t know what she wanted!

    "Be a good boy and stay right there. I don''t want to have to keep knocking you unconscious." Mira said with a smile, but this smile made the beast tremble in fear.

    It didn''t quite understand Mira''s words, but it understood her intent.

    The beast vigorously nodded its head and sat right there without moving.

    Mira gave it a satisfied nod and said, "I''m going to cultivate. Every time you bother me, I''ll cut off a foot. However, if you stay quiet and leave me alone, I''ll give you something good."

    She then took out a star fruit and showed it to the beast.<sub> </sub>

    The beast trembled at first when it heard Mira''s first words, but as soon as the Star Fruit appeared, its attitude took aplete 180. It almost wanted to attack Mira and steal that fruit from her!

    However, as soon as it stepped forward, it felt pain in one of its feet. It looked down and saw a line of blood on its ankle.

    "That''s just a warning. The next time you do something like that, I''ll remove that foot. Now go over there and sit." Mira pointed at a corner in the cave.

    While trembling, the beast followed Mira''smand, sat in the corner of the cave, and then proceeded to stare intently at Mira.

    However, Mira ignored it and began taking out handfuls of Spirit Worm meat. She still had quite a bit of it, which she would use to break through as many times as possible.

    Fortunately, she could still conceal her aura while using Spirit Worm meat and Star Fruits to cultivate.

    ***

    It wasn''t until two monthster did Azaar finally stop looking for Mira and left on his flying ship.

    During this time, Mira was able to make it to the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm, and she also amassed a total of 5050 Abyssal Battle Ladder Points!

    She could only break through so many Stages because of the Spirit Worm meat and Star Fruits. However, now she had finally run out of Spirit Worm meat, and Star Fruits weren''t nearly as effective on her anymore.

    This wasn''t too surprising because Mira had eaten quite a few of them over thest 5 months, and her body had built up a tolerance against the energy contained in the fruits.

    During this time, she had also given 2 Star Fruits to the beast in the cave, allowing it to be a Mid-Stage Rank 7 beast.

    Of course, when it broke through, it thought about attacking Mira and kicking her out of its home, but when it thought about its precious foot��

    Needless to say, he preferred having it attached to its body.

    After Mira sensed that Azaar was finally gone, she knocked out the beast onest time and left the cave.

    "It looks like that bastard finally left. That pendant Hana left must be quite important for him to search these mountains for so long. Do you know anything, Guardian?" Mira asked out loud.

    "Of course, I know what that pendant is." The Guardian said smugly.

    "Then, why don''t you tell-"

    The Guardian interrupted, "No! I''m not going to tell you what it does or what it represents. Where would be the fun in that? Plus, it wouldn''t be of much use to you even if you did know. Just know that it''s something very important to that little girl. Though, even I don''t know what that Azaar guy wants with it��"

    Mira bitterly smiled but didn''t respond to that. By now, she expected that kind of answer.

    She gazed in the direction Azaar left, contemting whether she should chase after them.

    During this time, her feelings of anger have had time to simmer down, and if she were being honest, she really didn''t want to waste her time on this petty ''revenge'', if it could even be called that.

    Mira just wanted to give her a few spanks, maybe break a few bones, then force Hana to hand over her stealth skills.

    On the other hand, she felt like the best form of revenge might be to simply head back to the Battle Maiden Sect and forget about the pendant. Since it was so important, Hana would eventuallye looking for her.

    Mira was also worried about Maria and wanted to let her know that she was alright.

    She didn''t know how long she would be gone if she did try and get her revenge on Hana. She might end up being gone so long that she gets kicked out of the Battle Maiden Sect!

    "Thankfully, Rhydian is with Maria to let her know I''m not dead," Mira muttered, and in the end, she chose to get her revenge on Hana.

    The main reason was that her Stealth skills were too amazing that Mira didn''t want to give up on obtaining them.

    She can focus on the various professions like alchemy, cksmithing, and arrayster when she returns to the Sect, but she might never get a chance to obtain such amazing stealth skills again if she gives this up.

    With her mind made up, Mira started running Northwest, in the direction Azaar''s ship left!

 Chapter 466 Brightclipse City

    About a weekter, Mira hade across her first city. She was still in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, only now she was on the outskirts.

    She knew this because the average strength of the beasts she killed significantly dropped. Instead of constantly running into Rank 7 beasts, now she saw mostly Rank 6 and even Rank 5 beasts.

    During thisst week, she had seen more and more beastmen the further North she traveled. It wasn''t just one race of beastmen either, but many. However, what stood out to Mira was that most beastmen hardly had any ''beast-like'' features.

    For example, Mira never saw a random beastmen who had beast-like ears. Tails were a bit moremon, but even then, they were few and far between.

    Most beastmen she came across actually looked like normal humans and could barely be called ''beastmen''.

    They had no distinct features that made one think they were beastmen. However, Mira could tell because of several reasons.

    For one, their vitality and bodies were slightly higher than regr humans at the same cultivation.

    Two, Mira could detect a very, very faint bloodline hidden within them. It was just that this bloodline was so faint and diluted that it was almost like it didn''t exist in the first ce.

    Other than that, there wasn''t much of a difference between them and normal people, at least not from what Mira could.

    So, from her short time observing beastmen, Mira hypothesized that those who have more beast-like features, the stronger their bloodline is. However, she seriously doubted this didn''te with drawbacks.

    This is because, for beasts, their bloodline determines their talent and potential.

    Therefore, Mira assumed that, for beastmen, this probably wasn''t that different. Their bloodline is both the stimnt they need to reach new heights while simultaneously being their shackle.

    However, Mira felt things were probably a bit moreplicated. A human''s talent doesn''te from one''s bloodline or ancestry but from abination of factors that they may or may not have control over.

    Thus, Mira felt like a beastman''s talent was determined by abination of what bloodline they have, the purity of said bloodline, and their talent as a human.

    This revtion caused Mira to think about her own situation as someone who is both human and beast, yet neither at the same time.

    Is her bloodline also her shackle? What is her potential? How does she differ from beastmen? How is she like them? Can she even be considered one?

    Ultimately, Mira didn''t have an answer to these questions and could only save them forter as she was approaching the city.

    Over thest week, Mira had already figured out a way to conceal her tails so Azaar or his family wouldn''t immediately discover her.

    For this, she actually used a tail that she has basically never used except for a single time when she tested out all her tails'' abilities. This was her pinkish-blue tail, the illusion tail!

    What she did was very simple. She cast an illusion over all her tails to make them the same color: ck.

    Then, she clumped all her tails together, so they only looked like a single giant ck tail instead of 9 tails.

    Of course, Mira couldn''t keep this up indefinitely, but luckily slightly changing the colors of her tails didn''t cost all that much Qi, so she could at most keep it active for an hour if she used it sparingly and only needed to fool those around the same strength as her.

    This time decreased exponentially for those stronger than her.

    She might be able to keep it active for a full day if she only needed to fool those weaker than her, but then it''d be pretty much useless if someone at the same cultivation or stronger looked at her.

    Luckily, the guards stationed in front of the City were only in the 2nd Stage of the Core Formation Realm, so Mira could easily fool them with her shoddy illusions.

    With her face covered with an ice mask and her aura withdrawn, she approached the entrance of the city.

    "Halt! Please show us some form of identification before you enter!" One of the guards, a beastman with a red cat-like tail, yelled.

    With Mira''s aurapletely withdrawn, these guards were naturally unable to sense Mira''s strength and bloodline, so her entrance into the city shouldn''t cause any suspicions.

    "Would a Mercenary Association badge work?" Mira asked with an indifferent voice.

    The two guards nodded, and Mira took out her Bronze Rank Mercenary Badge and handed it over.

    Slight disdain appeared on the guard''s faces seeing the Bronze Badge, but they didn''t say anything and just inspected it. After inspecting it, he wrote something down, then returned it to Mira.<sub> </sub>

    After a few minutes, they nodded, and the cat-tail guard said, "Thank you for your cooperation, Mercenary Mira. Please enjoy your stay here at Brightclipse City!"

    Mira nodded, stored the Bronze Rank badge, then entered the city.

    From the outside, this city looked massive and well-kept. It hadrge walls made out of a mixture of Late and Peak-Stage Mortal Grade stones and Low-Stage Earth Grade stones.

    However, what appeared in front of her was nothing like she expected! Instead, it was a total shithole!

    Everywhere she looked were rundown houses, people who looked like they were starving, the roads weren''t well-kept, and the whole ce smelled musky.

    Not only that, but the ce was full of weaklings! Nobody around her had even entered the Core Formation Realm!

    The residents of the ce eyed Mira wearily, but Mira could tell they seemed to be just waiting to pounce on her.

    However, Mira couldn''t even be bothered to nce at these ants. If they dared to approach her with ill intentions, she''d just ''lightly'' p them away.

    Instead, her focus was elsewhere.

    ''Hmmm�� If I were to make a guess, I''d say Brightclipse is probably separated into three tiers or rings. The Outer Tier or Ring is where the weaklings andmoners reside. The Middle Tier or Ring is probably where those who hold a little bit of strength stay. Then, there''s the Inner Ring, where the rulers of this city stay.'' Mira thought to herself.

    She''s seen this kind of setup too many times in her past lives, and it makes sense to have thisyout in ces like the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    Brightclipse City most likely faces beast tides quite often, so this Outer Ring will act as a buffer for the rest of the City. Since it''s only full of weaklings andmoners, nobody will care too much if it gets destroyed.

    Even if those in the Middle and Inner Ringse over to defend the city, they don''t have to worry about the damage since the Outer Ring is only full ofmoners.

    Meanwhile, the Middle and Inner Rings are where all the business is done and where those powerful families or ns reside.

    Although it''s a very elitist way to create a City, the Cultivation World is a very elitist kind of world. The weak can only be ves to the strong, and there''s nothing they can do.

    To be honest, Mira didn''t care about all this. She was just slightly annoyed that she had to walk through this shit hole in order to enter the Inner Ring. She also guessed that she might run into some trouble when trying to enter the Middle Ring.

    ''On second thought, maybe this isn''t too bad. I might be able to gather information in the Outer Ring about this City, Hana, and Azaar without arousing any suspicion. I can''t keep my disguise up indefinitely, and someone in the Middle Ring might see my real appearance. I don''t know if Azaar and Hana are actually here, but if they are, then someone seeing my 9 tails would only bring me trouble.'' Mira thought to herself.

    From experience, Mira found that oftentimes, the best ce to gather information is in rundown ces like this.

    Now, all she has to do is wait for an opportunity��

    ''Ah! Speak of the devil��'' Mira smiled as she sensed a group of 5 people approach her with knives.

    These people were barely in the Qi Condensation Realm and could be considered ants in front of Mira. Most people would feel ufortable at the thought of killing someone so weak, but Mira didn''t care.

    One of the men approached Mira and was about to say something, but��

    *p!*

    *St!*

    Mira bitch pped the man in the face, causing his head to blow up like a balloon. The remaining 4 all stepped back with terrified expressions. They wanted to run, but they soon felt an overwhelmingly powerful forcee crashing onto them, preventing them from moving.

    "Would you be so kind as to take me to your leader? You do have a leader, right?" Mira asked.

    ''You just killed him, you psycho!'' The four shouted in their minds, but they didn''t dare to speak up.

    "Well, it''s fine even if you don''t have a leader. Just take me to the strongest person in this shit hole. If you don''t feel like it��" Mira didn''t need to finish that sentence for them to understand, so they quickly nodded their heads.

    "Good! Alright, lead the way!" Mira pped and removed the pressure off of them.

 Chapter 467 Information About The Lionel Family

    The four bandits led Mira around the city for around 5 minutes before they appeared in a deserted alleyway and at the end of it was a steel door.

    "T-The man you seek is through that door. Well then, since we''ve escorted you here, we''ll take our leave." One of the bandits bowed politely and then quickly ran off with his 3 friends.

    Mira didn''t spare them a nce and walked through the steel door. Immediately, she was greeted by threatening gazes from dozens of buff men. They stealthily reached for their weapons, ready to attack at a moment''s notice.

    Of course, just because they had a lot of muscle didn''t mean they were strong.

    Most of them were in the Qi Condensation Realm, while Mira sensed a few in the Foundation Realm.

    Mira couldn''t be bothered with these weaklings. Her focus was on an old man seated around 4 middle-aged men trying to conceal their auras.

    These men were also eyeing her wearily, but they seemed to exude more confidence than the other few dozen people in the room.

    Mira, unconcerned by all the gazes, walked toward the old man''s table.

    As she approached, numerous people jumped out of the seats with their weapons drawn and stood between her and the old man.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed slightly.

    If possible, she didn''t want to ughter these people simply because she gains nothing from doing so.

    However, if they wish to die, then she has no problem sending them to the underworld.

    Mira snorted and was about to ''lightly'' push them out of the way before the old man spoke up.

    "Stand down. Our guest didn''te here looking for a fight. Isn''t that right, youngdy?"

    The men seemed unwilling to back down, but they also couldn''t deny the old man''s words. So, they just nodded and moved out of the way.

    Mira saw this and inwardly praised the old man and the warriors.

    ''Although they''re weak, they are well trained and follow their leader''smand without questions. Whoever trained and disciplined these men did a fine job.''

    While Mira still disliked men, she wasn''t a person who couldn''t acknowledge someone else''s efforts.

    "It wouldn''t be much of a fight anyways," Mira said dismissively as she approached the old man. The surrounding men grit their teeth in anger, hearing how little some random beastman with no cultivation thought of them.

    However, before they could cause a ruckus, the old man raised his hand, signaling them to calm down, then chuckled.

    "Hohoho! I don''t doubt that." The old man chuckled.

    "Well, it''s true that I didn''te here looking for trouble. I just want some information about this city."

    "You must be new to the city if that''s all you want to know." The old man said while stroking his beard.

    Mira nodded, and the old man continued, "Then what would you like to know, littless? Just so you know, even though you''re strong, stronger than me, I won''t give you anything for free."

    The old man stated firmly, clearly not afraid of Mira.

    Mira''s brows almost twitched at being called a ''littless'' as she was definitely older and stronger than this old fart, but she didn''tment on it.

    "Whatever. Just give me all the information you have on Brightclipse City, the Lionel and Silvermoon families, any notable events that have happened recently, and a general description of any nearby cities or powers." Mira stated, but this time it was the old man''s eyebrows that twitched.<sub> </sub>

    "You''re really asking for a lot, you know? What makes you think I even have everything you''re looking for? You do realize that you''re in the slums of the Outer City, right? Our information-gathering ability is limited here. If you went to the Inner City, you''d certainly be able to find this information without even having to go through someone like me."

    Mira stared at the old man for a few seconds as if she were trying to see through him.

    The old man felt extremely ufortable under such a heavy and malicious gaze that he couldn''t help but tremble slightly.

    Although Mira wasn''t exerting any pressure or releasing her killing intent, her crimson eyes seemingly symbolized her thirst for blood and death.

    As someone who has seen all kinds of people from different walks of life, the old man could tell that a monster in the form of a young woman was standing in front of him.

    ''How can a person have eyes like that? She''s looking at me like I''m not even a living, breathing person! To her, I''m just an ant�� No, I''m less than that. I''m probably just some pebble by the side of the road!'' It was now that the old man fully understood that his life and the life of his subordinates were no longer in his hand.

    Whether they lived or died waspletely at the whims of the person in front of him.

    "Heh. Boy, you might be able to fool others, but you can''t fool me. Your strength and aura are not something someone in this shithole should have. So, why should I go to the Inner City when you are sitting right in front of me? I bet you have more information about this ce than anyone I could find there." Mira sneered, snapping the old man out of his thoughts.

    "Ahaha�� I guess I can''t fool you, huh? Sure, I can get you that information, but it''ll cost ya. Information on the Lionel Family, the Inner City, and the Center City are not easy to get, after all. I can also give you a basic rundown on the cities surrounding Brightclipse, but even I don''t know much about them. As for the Silvermoon Family�� I''ve never heard of them." The old man said, and Mira couldn''t help but feel a little disappointed.

    The whole reason she came to this ce is to get her revenge on Hana, the little scammer.

    Normally, she wouldn''t care about this city or the Lionel Family, but since she has Hana''s pendant in her possession, she is forced to care.

    "Alright. Just tell me everything you know." Mira tossed over a Spatial Ring with 10,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. She didn''t know if that''d be enough, but with it, she could let the old man know she wasn''t poor.

    Plus, Low-Grade Spirit Stones aren''t of much use to her anymore. While she can still use them, her cultivation speed will be drastically reduced if she only uses Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

    The old man caught the ring and inspected it, not showing any surprise at the amount of Spirit Stones.

    "It''s a little low, but I suppose this is enough to show your sincerity. You can pay thest half after I give you the information you seek."

    Mira nodded, understanding that she''d have to pay another 10,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. While it did seem expensive, she knew that information about the Lionel Family was probably expensive, considering the Eldest child is a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator.

    From this, Mira assumed the Patriarch was probably a Mortal Shedding Realm expert! It could be said that 20,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones in exchange for information about such an expert is cheap.

    "Brightclipse City is divided into threeyers; Outer City, Inner City, and Center City. Those who live in the Outer City are all moners''. Generally speaking, themoners don''t ever surpass the Foundation Realm. On the other hand, the Inner City is basically reserved for anyone in the Core Formation Realm or above. It''s here where most shops and businesses settle down as well. Lastly, the Center City, or as most people call it, Lionel City; it''s where the Lionel Family resides."

    "The Lionel Family runs the entire city. However, unless something major arises, they don''t interfere with the interworkings of the city. That does not mean they''re weak! Rumor has it that the Patriarch of the Lionel Family is a 2nd Stage Mortal Shedding Realm expert, and the Ancestor is an 8th Stage Mortal Shedding Realm expert!"

    "I''ve also heard that the Lionel Family has many Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation Realm experts as well. However, even I''m unsure of the specific number."

    "Thetest news I''ve gathered about the Lionel Family is that the Patriarch''s Eldest son seems to have a fiance. Unfortunately, nobody has ever seen this supposed fiance or knows her name. It could just be a rumor that''s been going around the Inner City."

    "Ah! I did also manage to hear that the Lionel Family has been acting a bit strangetely. Almost as if they are preparing for war�� I''m not exactly sure what that''s about. Anyways, that''s about it for any recent news about the Lionels. These jade slips should have more information regarding the city''s and the Lionel family''s history and the surrounding powers."

    The old man finished exining and passed a few jade slips to Mira.

    She nodded, took out another 10,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones, tossed them to the old man, and walked out of the building.

    Once she was gone, everyone let out a deep breath and visibly rxed.

 Chapter 468 Sneaking In

    "Master, who was that woman? Why did she seem so scary even though I couldn''t sense any aura or strengthing from her?" One of the men near the old man asked.

    The old man smacked him on the back of the head and said solemnly, "That woman�� That woman was incredibly dangerous, even for me. I''m afraid that if any of you were to attack her, you all would''ve died without an intact corpse."

    Not just the man who asked the question but everyone in the building was shocked by what the old man just said.

    They weren''t sure how to respond to that. The strongest person they knew was the old man in front of them, who was a 9th Stage Core Formation Realm cultivator.

    So, for that woman to be stronger than the old man, she had to have the strength of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm!

    ''To think we almost attacked a Nascent Soul Realm expert!'' That thought shed through nearly everyone''s head.

    However, they were also a bit confused. Why would someone of such strength conceal their aura? And for what reason did she appear in the Outer City?

    The old man understood their thoughts, but he didn''t know the answer to their questions, and quite frankly, he didn''t want to mess with such a woman who would kill him the moment he annoyed her.

    The room descended into a heavy silence, but they all felt like they had just escaped the jaws of death.

    ***

    After Mira left, she quickly went through all the information she received, then found an isted ce where she could undo her illusion without being seen.

    ''It seems the Inner City is mostly full of Core Formation Realm and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. The heads of the various businesses, shops, and families there might have a Soul Transformation expert, but they are few and far between.''

    ''It seems that even with the Lionel Family''s strength, they don''t want to allow too many Soul Transformation experts to stay in their city. Well, I guess that''s not too much of a surprise since the rumored highest cultivation someone has on the Western Continent is the Divine Sea Realm.''

    Mira thoroughly analyzed the information she received.

    With the strongest people in the City being Mortal Shedding Realm experts, Mira could assume that the number of Soul Transformation Realm people in the Lionel family probably didn''t exceed a few dozen.

    Another reason for this conclusion is because of the location of Brightclipse City. It is located at the very edge of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range and is even lower in elevationpared to the Battle Maiden Sect''s Outer Court.

    The Qi in the surrounding area is probably only dense enough to naturally bring people to the Core Formation Realm, given they have the talent and the right cultivation technique.

    The Nascent Soul Realm should be possible with enough time, talent, and resources.

    However, the Soul Transformation and Mortal Shedding Realms are different. One would need a constant influx of talent, resources, connections, time, and luck to be able to reach this Realm in Brightclipse City.

    So, from Mira''s shallow understanding of beastmenbined with the information she received from the old man and her own inferences, she could assume that the number of Soul Transformation Realm beastmen in the City is not high.

    This gave Mira a bit more confidence in infiltrating the City, finding Hana, and having her revenge!

    Unfortunately, since Azaar captured Hana, she was most likely in the Center City with the Lionel Family.

    ''I guess I should make my into the Inner City to scope out the area and see if I can learn anything that the old man wasn''t able to find out.''

    Mira thought, but she didn''t intend to go into the Inner City the normal way��

    ***

    In Blightclipse City, there existed 3 walls that separated the Center City from the Inner City, the Inner City from the Outer City, and the Outer City from the wilderness.

    The Outer City''s Wall was nothing more than stones stacked on top of each other, but the Inner City and Center City''s walls had extra preventative measures to keep intruders out.

    This includes formations, extra guards, arrays, and various traps.

    To enter the Inner City without being deemed an intruder, one needed a specific token that would let the Formation around the Inner City know you are allowed entry. To gain this token, one would need to reveal their identity, strength, affiliation, and reason for entering and would also need to pay a corresponding price.

    If one entered the Inner City without this token, they''d be marked with a location tracker by the Formation, and the authorities would be notified, and the intruder would be chased.

    At the same time, this formation would alert the Lionel Family that someone had invaded their territory. Although it''s highly unlikely that they wille down to deal with the intruder immediately, they would receive reports about it.

    Mira knew this, which is why she had thought of a way to go around this. To not alert the Lionel Family, Mira had to somehow sneak into the Inner City without giving them any of her information.<sub> </sub>

    If she only had to record her strength and affiliation and pay the price to enter, she''d be fine with that, but she couldn''t allow them to catch a glimpse of her identity.

    Even if she could conceal her tails, she wasn''t skilled enough to create a different face with her illusions. So, if they asked her to remove the mask, Mira felt that the possibility of her getting reported to the higher-ups was extremely likely.

    After all, who is more beautiful than Mira in this world? A transcendental beauty like her entering the city would definitely cause amotion.

    Over thest 5 months or so, Mira has been captured twice by beings more powerful than her.

    Naturally, she was sick of it!

    Thus, this time, she was going to do things a bit differently��!

    ***

    "Why do we have to guard this gate? It''s not like any of those Outer Citymoners would dare toe here." A beastmen with a wolf tail said to his buddy, who was guarding an entrance to the Inner City with him.

    "C''mon, you know it''s not like that. We aren''t guarding against the Outer Citymoners, but those that are trying to use the Outer City to sneak into the rest of Brightclipse." The wolf beastman''s friend, a bear beastman, replied.

    "Ugh! I know, but isn''t that what the formation around the walls is for? We spend 99% of our days doing nothing! I could be cultivating or spending time with my family rather than doing this shit!" The wolf beastmanined, causing his friend to sigh.

    "At least we''re getting paid, right? Our talent isn''t that great, to begin with. Stage 9 of the Core Formation Realm is our limit. At least by doing this job, we can help pave the way for our children." The bear beastman replied, and one could tell that although he wasn''t fond of his job, he would dly do it if it could make his children''s lives easier.

    The wolf beastmen couldn''t say anything to rebuke his friend, but that didn''t mean he felt any better.

    He was only a few hundred years old, a young man in the world of cultivation! And like any young man, he didn''t want to be stuck doing this shitty job for the next few hundred, to possibly even 1,000 years!

    No, he wanted to get out there and explore the world! He wanted to break through his limits and obtain the power he had always dreamt of!

    It was agonizing for him to be stuck at the 9th Stage of the Core Formation Realm without any hope of going any further!

    However, he knew deep down it was nearly impossible to break through his limits.

    The wolf beastman wasn''t the only one to feel this way in this world. In fact, it could be said that the majority of people in this world will feel or have felt the exact same way.

    The wolf beastman kept grumbling for a while, and while he wasining, a pink mist slowly crept up to him, quickly entering his orifices.

    Soon after, illusory hears shone in his pupils, showing that he had sessfully been charmed.

    Immediately after, amand entered his mind, one he couldn''t refuse.

    -Prepare a token that will allow me to enter the Inner City, but make sure your buddy doesn''t get suspicious of you.

    After receiving themand, he turned toward the bear beastman guard and said, "I''m gonna go take a short break to cool off. Can you cover me for a few minutes?"

    The bear beastman sighed but nodded anyways, almost as if he expected this.

    "Fine, but be sure toe back soon."

    With that, the wolf beastman left his post and entered a small building right inside the Inner City. He quickly filled out all the necessary forms, prepared a token, and after a few minutes, he came back out.

    -Now punch your friend in the face and throw the token about 100 meters to the west. Be sure to hit him hard enough to knock him out.

    The bear beastman released a sigh of relief, seeing his friende out, but what he didn''t expect was his friend to suddenly punch him!

    *Bam!*

    Without warning, he was knocked unconscious. At the same time, a token was thrown out of the hands.

    Mira caught the token, bound it with her blood, and entered the Inner City, leaving the two guards and the Lionel Family none the wiser.

 Chapter 469 Connection

    Mira had no problem charming the wolf beastman since he had a rtively weak mentality, which was the reason why she didn''t try charming the bear beastman.

    While she had confidence in being able to charm both of them simply due to the difference in strength and bloodline, she didn''t want to take any chances.

    Part of her still felt a bit despicable that she had to resort to using such means, but she''d be a fool not to use all the cards in her hands.

    After entering the Inner City, it was like she walked into apletely different world! The roads were well taken care of, the air felt cleaner, and the people looked happier.

    Unfortunately, Mira couldn''t take in the sights as much as she would like as she had a time limit on how long she could keep up her illusion, and with so many Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators around, that time was reduced.

    She needed to find an inn, and fast, so she doesn''t reveal her true form to everyone.

    Mira quickly walked through the Inner City and entered the first building that looked like an inn. It looked a bit busy, but she didn''t care.

    When she entered, she naturally attracted a lot of attention. It wasn''t on purpose, but her bearing, aura, and figure were too unique.

    She didn''t bother trying to conceal her aura once she entered the Inner City since it would make her seem like she had something to hide. She didn''t want to possibly bebeled as suspicious, after all.

    Well, it''s not like it matters all that much, even if everyone knows her cultivation, as her strength is far above that.

    "Hot damn! Is that a fox beastman? It''s been a while since I''ve seen one of those around!"

    "I know, right? She seems to be quite the looker if she''s hiding her face under a mask too."

    "Meh. She''s a bit too t for my tastes. I thought fox beastmen were supposed to be curvy!"

    "..."

    "What the fuck are you talking about!? Just look at those long muscr legs!! How can you not fall in love with such creations?! I think I could die happy if I could just be crushed to death under those legs!"

    "Bro�� are you okay?"

    Mira faintly listened in on the banter as she felt their disgusting gazes crawling all over her body. Still, she didn''t get upset. She knew her body could objectively be considered perfect, and with that came the gazes of others.

    Nevertheless, all these men were just a bunch of weaklings in the Core Formation Realm. Why should she care about the stares of ants?

    With even steps, she walked over to the counter and said in a cold yet melodious voice, "I''d like a room."

    "Y-yes! That''ll be 10 Low-Grade Spirit Stones per night!" The female receptionist stuttered.

    Mira nodded and tossed over 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and received a key in exchange.

    Without saying anything, Mira left the lobby and headed for her room, not even bothering to nce at the other people in the room.

    This upset a number of people as they wanted to shoot their shot with her. Fox beastmen are rather rare to see, especially in a big city like this, but they are rumored to be some of the most beautiful creatures in the world.

    Naturally, most men wanted to try and court a beautifuldy like Mira. However, as soon as they stood up to block her path, they felt a dreadful killing intent lock onto them, nearly knocking them unconscious.

    They didn''t know where it wasing from since Mira''s back was turned to them, but it was enough to stop them in their tracks.

    This was only possible because Mira''s control over things like her aura and Qi had increased by leaps and bounds over thest few months.

    When Mira made it to her room, she let out an inaudible sigh of relief and undid her illusion.

    "I guess when I get back to the Sect, I''ll need to find something that can help me improve my illusion capabilities because this is a real pain in the ass. No, actually, it''s these eye-catching tails that are the real problem! Sigh�� Anyways, it seems like I won''t be able to enter the Center City without getting caught." Mira muttered, but she already had a n regarding this.

    Ever since entering this city, she never once thought of entering the Center City, to begin with. She knew she was no match for the Lionel Family, and her illusions couldn''t fool Soul Transformation Realm cultivators.

    In fact, fooling anyone above Stage 5 of the Nascent Soul Realm already took everything out of her. That''s why she was in such a hurry toe to an inn.<sub> </sub>

    However, from the beginning, she did not need to enter the Center City because she could just make Hanae to her!

    That''s right! Mira nned to use the crescent moon pendant she received from Hana to call for her.

    During thest 2 months, Mira thought long and hard about how Azaar was able to find Hana, and the conclusion she came to was that they were able to track her because of the pendant.

    Although Mira wasn''t exactly sure how they tracked it, she figured that it either released a specific aura or there was a tracking array on it.

    This n might be a bit risky as there''s a chance that the Lionel family could sense the pendant as well, and she couldn''t be sure that Hana was able to sense its location. But this was the quickest possible way for her to get her revenge.

    So, without wasting any more time, Mira took out the pendant. She only left it out for about 3 seconds before storing it again as she didn''t want the Lionel Family toe barging into the inn.

    ***

    A few minutes prior, in the Center City, on the top floor of a giant mansion, Hanay on the bed with a listless look in her eyes.

    She''s spent thest few months in the Lionel Family''s custody, locked in a room with nowhere to escape. She had people watching over her 24/7 to make sure she didn''t escape again, and she had no freedom.

    Even when she was on Azaar''s ship looking for Mira, she was stuffed inside a room and observed like some sort of caged animal!

    She''s spent most of her time reflecting on her past actions, mainly the fact that she gave Mira her pendant and even swore an oath to the heavens to protect Mira''s secrets!

    Part of her felt like she would have been treated better if she hadn''t given up her pendant before being captured. To make matters worse, Mira hadn''t even killed anyone from the Lionel Family like she was supposed to!

    It was clearly out of her expectations that Mira was able to prevent Azaar from tracking her even when she had the pendant.

    Well, it''s toote for regrets now. Here she is, captured, with nowhere to run, and she willingly gave up the very thing that gave her life purpose.

    The murmurs she often heard from her guards made her feel even worse.

    "To think we have to stand guard for a mortal child whose only purpose is to bear the young master''s children��"

    "Shhhh! Don''t say that kind of stuff out loud. Although her status is reduced to a breeding horse, she''s still going to be part of the Lionel Family."

    "I know, I know."

    It''s these kinds of whispers that made her time here worse than it already was. While she didn''t fully understand these adult topics, she wasn''tpletely ignorant.

    She could feel the disdain and contempt in the gazes around her.

    While Azaar didn''t treat her badly, it certainly wasn''t out of the kindness of his heart. If he truly cared about her, he would''ve let her visit her mother by now!

    Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried or how much she begged, they forbade her from visiting her mother.

    She even threatened to kill herself, but their response shocked her.

    "Go ahead, but remember, your mother''s life is tied to yours."

    She didn''t know if they were bluffing or not, but she couldn''t take that chance! She couldn''t allow her mother to die because of her own foolish actions.

    That''s why she has so much hate toward the Lionel Family! If she could, she would wipe them out of existence, down to theirst descendent!

    As Hana was falling deeper and deeper into despair, she felt a familiar connection, something she never thought she''d feel again!

    ''My pendant! Did Azaar actually find Mira and take it?! No, no, no, that doesn''t make sense. We just arrived here a few days ago! Then, does that mean Mira-!'' Hana couldn''t continue her line of thinking as she felt her connection disappear after a few seconds.

    ''It''s Mira! She really came to the City!!'' Hana inwardly screamed, knowing Mira was probably the only person who could make her lose the connection she had with the pendant!

 Chapter 470 Sneaking Around

    Hana paced around the room, wondering if Mira really had entered the city.

    ''Did she reallye here? But why? Does she have some sort of grudge against the Lionel Family?''

    ''Or could it be that she''s here for me? Was her taking out the Silvermoon pendant and then storing it a few secondster supposed to be some sort of message?''

    ''But if that''s the case, why would she risking all this way instead of just going back to where she came from? Don''t tell me�� she figured out that I scammed her!''

    ''That still doesn''t make sense, though! Why would shee here just because of that?! It''s not like she got hurt or anything! She was also able to escape Azaar''s pursuit! So, then, why did shee here?''

    Thoughts raced in Hana''s mind, but she couldn''t wrap her head around Mira''s motive foring here.

    Even if Mira was angry at her, Hana doubted that someone like Mira woulde all this way just to deal with a little kid.

    ''She has to be after something-! Ah!''

    That''s when Hana remembered how adamant Mira was about learning her stealth techniques.

    ''Fuck!! She must''vee to force them out of me! Why couldn''t she just be satisfied with what I told her!? It''s not like what I said was wrong�� I also warned her that only Silvermoon''s could practice that technique!'' Hana began panicking because she''d rather be in the Lionel Family''s hands than Mira''s if she were being honest.

    ''That woman is simply too unreasonable! First, she almost killed a small, weak, mortal child like me! Then, she made me traverse the mountains for days without rest. She also made me swear a heavenly oath not to spill any of her information! I didn''t even see anything during my time with her!! I might really die if she gets her hands on me!''

    To her, Mira was like an incarnation of evil! While the Lionel Family might be ckmailing her by threatening to kill her mother if she does anything stupid, at least they don''t treat her likeplete garbage!

    She could probably still live out a below-average life in their hands, but at least she''ll have a life; something she might not have if she were to fall into Mira''s hands!

    However, that''s only if the Lionel Family can find her pendant because, without that, she''s useless. If after enough time passes and they still can''t find it, well, her end will definitely not be good.

    Mira, on the other hand, is a wildcard. With enough benefits, she might even be able to get Mira to take revenge for her, but if she can''t prove her worth, then she might lose her head or, worse, be tortured.

    ''She might also just give the Lionel family the pendant just to spite me. Wouldn''t I never be able to escape this ce if she did such a thing?'' Hana frustratingly thought.

    To her, there weren''t really any good options. She might''ve been able to fool Mira once, but that was only because Mira didn''t have any time to try out her ''stealth technique''.

    Now that Mira had lost all her trust in Hana, it would be close to impossible to fool Mira again. She''d have to show tangible proof if she wanted to get Mira to move.

    Hana thought long and hard about what she should do.

    Should she ignore Mira or not? If she decides to see Mira, then what? Escaping this ce is almost impossible for a weak little girl like her.

    There''s only one exit in her room, which is always guarded by two people at the Nascent Soul Realm.

    There is a window, but it''s over twenty meters above the ground. She''d be lucky to survive if she jumped out the window.

    Thus, sneaking out was pretty much impossible. Her only chance would be if she could jump out of the window, but she wasn''t nearly strong enough to�� do��

    "Wait. That might be able to work. It''s crazy, but it''s the only shot I have! Hehehe~"

    Hana chuckled and began formting a n.

    ***

    An hour soon went by after Hana felt her connection to her pendant, and everything was seemingly normal.

    Suddenly, they couldn''t sense Hana''s presence anymore!

    "What?!"

    "Don''t tell me the girl escaped!"

    The guards rushed into the room but were baffled by what they saw.

    Hana was rxing on the bed, not doing much of anything. However, even though she was sitting right in front of them, they still couldn''t feel her presence.

    Hana hastily looked up, struggling to hide her smirk, and said in a panicked voice, "W-What? What are you guys doing, barging into a youngdy''s room like that?! Don''t tell me�� you, the distinguished Lionel Family guards, are interested in my b-b-b-b-bo-!"<sub> </sub>

    "NO! You''re wrong! We just couldn''t feel your presence for a second there! In fact, I still can''t sense your presence, youngdy. Are you trying to pull a prank on us or something? Because I can tell you right now, it''s not funny." One of the guards said sternly.

    However, Hana wasn''t fazed by this.

    "Eh? Aren''t you guys just trash, then? How''d you be guards of the Lionel Family if you can''t even sense a little girl? I mean, I have no cultivation and am sitting right in front of you guys. How can you still not sense, then me me for your trashy senses? Sigh�� No wonder you were reduced to mere guards��"

    The guards felt a few veins pop on their heads and their eyes twitch, but they withheld their anger. If they were to harm Hana in any way, they might very well lose their heads. Plus, what Hana said wasn''t wrong.

    She''s just a girl without any cultivation. How could she purposefully escape their senses?

    They weren''t exactly sure what to say as they weren''t warned about any of Hana''s abilities. All they knew was that they needed to guard this room and prevent the girl inside from escaping.

    Without being able to say anything to rebuke her, they walked out of the room.

    As soon as they left, a smirk couldn''t help but appear on Hana''s face.

    ***

    Nine days passed by in a sh, and Hana learned that her guards rotate every 12 hours. From sunset to sunrise and from sunrise to sunset. The guards she initially fooled were part of the night shift, fortunately.

    During thest nine days, Hana only hid her presence when the night shift guards came to help solidify their trash sensory capabilities.

    However, Hana was smart enough to know that they would never report their inability to the Lionel Family since they didn''t want to lose their job or, worse, get killed for being unable to watch over her properly.

    This was all part of Hana''s n to escape. She knew that if she tried to escape immediately, the night shift guards would find out almost immediately and would report it to the higher-ups, thus running her n.

    So first, she had to make them drop their guard. She needed them to understand that even if they couldn''t sense her, there was nowhere for her to go.

    And finally, after a week, they had dropped their guard. Maybe notpletely, but now they only checked on her every 6 hours or so. That gave Hana plenty of time!

    However, she still had to wait another few days until she could finally escape this prison.

    Therefore, after another 2 days, at around midnight, Hana looked up into the sky and saw a full moon.

    She felt strength fill her body while basking in the moonlight, and in a few minutes, silver wolf ears with ck stripes and a short fluffy silver wolf tail with ck stripes appeared out of Hana''s body.

    It didn''t stop there. Her canines and nails extended, her hair grew, her eyes sharpened, and her whole body morphed to look like something akin to a werewolf.

    Lastly, a silver crescent moon tattoo appeared on her forehead.

    However, even though all these changes took ce, she was still just a mortal without any cultivation. Although it wouldn''t be a problem for her to kill normal humans like she was slicing up cabbages, she wouldn''t stand a chance against someone who had tempered their bones.

    Still, she was at least strong enough to survive a 20-meter drop! So, without hesitation, Hana jumped out the window!

    She suppressed a scream using all her willpower and, in a few seconds, hit the ground.

    *Thud!*

    *Crack!*

    "Ugh!"

    Unfortunately, her body still wasn''t quite strong enough to take a drop like that without sustaining any injuries, and she was unable to suppress her groans.

    "Hey! I think I heard something over there!"

    Hana heard a guard in the distance shout.

    ''Shit! I need to hurry up and leave this ce!'' Hana quickly ran off while suppressing her presence to the maximum.

    Thankfully, the full moon bolstered this particr ability, making it easier for her to escape the guard''s senses.

 Chapter 471 Hanas Background

    A few hours after Hana''s escape, Mira, who was sitting on the bed, cultivating, slowly opened her eyes and sighed.

    "That little shit sure has kept me waiting. If she doesn''t show up by tomorrow, I might have to think of another way to get to her." Mira muttered.

    However, for some reason, her intuition told her that something was going to happen tonight.

    "I guess I''ll just have to wait and see."

    Mira looked out the window and stared at the bright full moon in the sky.

    Suddenly, as she was staring out the window, she caught sight of a small shadow running across the streets. It was only for a split second, but Mira was sure she saw something.

    She couldn''t see the shadow well because arge ck cloak covered its body, but it had the same build as a child.

    The appearance of a shameless brat popped up in Mira''s mind. Now, Mira''s curiosity was piqued.

    "I guess I''ll have to go check it out."

    Mira ran out of the inn and went in the direction the shadow ran off. She extended her senses, but when she couldn''t sense anything, she was sure:

    "It has to be her."

    Mira ran through the streets, and quickly she came across a small child draped inrge ck robes.

    "B-Big Sis! Good to see-"

    *Smack!*

    "Ack!! Why?!"

    Before Hana could even finish her greetings, she was already in Mira''s arms, getting spanked.

    *Smack!**Smack!**Smack!**Smack!*

    "Awoooooo! S-Stop!! Stop!" Hana howled in pain, but Mira didn''t stop spanking her.

    This went on until Hana''s butt was bright red and covered in palm prints.

    Hana had tears in her eyes, feeling extremely humiliated, but there was nothing she could do now that she was in Mira''s hands.

    ''I knew I never should havee here��! Boohoo!''

    Mira didn''t bother with the stares of the surrounding people and quickly took Hana back to the inn, keeping her covered with the robe.

    After they were back inside Mira''s room, she removed the cloak and was now able to see Hana''s new appearance.

    "So you were a beastman too, huh? And it looks like you aren''t just any normal beastman either." Mira muttered, not feeling too surprised.

    She nced at the full moon and was able to make some connections.

    "I''m guessing this only manifests on a full moon?" Mira asked.

    Hana reluctantly nodded before copsing to the ground, grunting in pain.

    Mira watched all this indifferently, having no intention of helping her.

    "It seems you went through quite a lot trying to escape the Lionel Family." Shemented expressionlessly, causing Hana to feel worse than she already was.

    Hana nodded her head slightly while gritting her teeth due to the pain she was feeling in her legs.

    "I think you have some exining to do. Let''s start with you telling me about the situation you''re really in." Mira crossed her arms and said imposingly.

    Hana swallowed nervously at the pressure radiating around Mira.

    "I-I wasn''t really lying when I said that I was running away from bad guys. As you saw, the Lionel Family wants to capture me. I don''t know the specific details, but I''ve heard from some of the guards and other members of the family that they want me to be the ''young master''s breeding horse''." Hana said, carefully watching Mira''s face for any change in her expression, but much to her shock, Mira''s face didn''t even twitch.

    She still had the same cold, indifferent look on her face!

    "And? Is that all? Because to me, it seems like they actually treat you fairly well. Plus, you''re still a virgin, so at the very least, that man, Azaar, isn''t aplete degenerate. I don''t really see the problem here." Mira said.<sub> </sub>

    These were her true thoughts as well. Hana''s circumstances couldn''t even be called badpared to most of the people living in this world.

    "N-No! That''s not all! They''ve taken my mother captive, crippled her, and are using her life to make me obedient!"

    Mira nodded her head, now understanding the situation a bit better.

    "Then how did you end up in the mountains where we first met? Did your mother sacrifice herself so you could escape or something?"

    "Y-Yeah�� We used to live not far from where you appeared, maybe a few hundred kilometers away. However, it seemed Azaar caught wind of our bloodline and decided to investigate. After that, he understood that our bloodline grade was higher than his, but since our bloodline purity was incredibly low, he normally wouldn''t care. That is until he learned about my pendant''s ability."

    Now, Mira''s interest was piqued. This whole time, she''s been wanting to understand the mysteries behind the silver crescent moon pendant, but she could never figure out anything.

    "Oh? What does your little pendant do?"

    "First, let me give you a bit of my family, the Silvermoon''s background. ording to the legend passed down through generations, we are a distant rtive of one of Fenrir''s children!"

    This time, Mira finally had a change in expression.

    How could she not? This kid just dared to say that she was basically a descendant of a god!

    "Fenrir? You mean, like the god of wolves, Fenrir?" Mira rified, and to her shock, Hana nodded.

    "Alright, enough bullshit! Are you seriously trying to tell me you''re rted to a god?! Do you take me for a three-year-old?!" Mira yelled, ready to give Hana another spank!

    Hana panicked, "I-I''m really not lying!! From what I''ve been told, we Silvermoons'' are really a distant rtive of Fenrir!"

    "Don''t give me that crap! You are probably thousands of generations down the family tree, if not more! How can you shamelessly spout about Fenrir being your ancestor? Plus, isn''t Fenrir supposed to be like a god? What would he be doing in the Mortal Realm?" Mira rebutted Hana''s ridiculous ims.

    "I''m just telling you what I was told! I don''t actually know if we are or not!" Hana yelled, feeling aggrieved.

    "Anyways, like I was saying. ording to legend, we are distant rtives of one of Fenrir''s children, Skuljt. That being the case, apparently, my ancestor Skuljt had many children in hopes of finding someone worthy�� Well, I don''t really know the reason, but that doesn''t matter."

    "Now, onto why the pendant is so important to me and what it''s capable of. From the information it''s given me since I''ve connected with it; apparently, it is only connected to those it deems worthy. For example, my mother has never connected with this pendant."

    "Once I be an adult, it''ll merge with me and improve my bloodline grade and purity, provide a cultivation technique, and more that it still hasn''t told me about," Hana exined but was once again shocked by Mira''sck of reaction.

    Hana didn''t know that Mira really didn''t care about any of that.

    Bloodline grade and purity? She was already a progenitor of the Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox bloodline. Meaning her bloodline purity is already at 100%, and she''s not even sure what grade it could be ssified as.

    But she knew that the little moon pendant wouldn''t do her any good.

    As for a cultivation technique? Mira didn''t need that.

    "So, you''re saying Azaar caught wind of this? Are you trying to tell me you and your mother were discussing stuff about this pendant out in the open?"

    Hana turned red in shame, and she avoided eye contact with Mira.

    Now the pieces started toe together. Mira could now understand why the Lionel Family would want to capture Hana and turn her into a baby-making machine.

    When her bloodline purity and grade increase, a child between her and Azaar will be extremely talented. In a few thousand years or so, they might be able to birth and raise enough talents topete with the Sects that rule the continent!

    Mira could tell when she first met Azaar that he was quite talented, and his bloodline was rather good. He should be able to be a Mortal Shedding Realm expert or maybe even a Divine Realm expert if he''s lucky enough.

    On the other hand, Hana''s talent wouldn''t be any lesser than his with her outstanding bloodline. So, not only would the Lionel Family gain a future powerhouse with Hana, but there''s a chance that she and Azaar will be able to pump out talented babies for generations toe!

    "So that''s how it is. I can see why Azaar and his family would want to capture you now." Mira nodded her head.

    Hana''s expression brightened, "So you''ll help me, right?! Do you finally realize how despicable the Lionel Family is now?!"

    Mira raised an eyebrow at her outburst, "Huh? What nonsense are you spouting? I never said I''d help. Actually, the only reason I came here was to beat the shit out of you for daring to drag me into your mess!"

    Hana''s brain seemed to have shortcircuited after Mira said that.

    "......eh?"

 Chapter 472 Leaving Brightclipse City

    "What? Did you think you could escape from me so easily?" Mira sneered.

    Hana almost subconsciously nodded, but thankfully she stopped herself.

    "Anyways, I didn''t juste here to give you a good beating. I''m sure you can guess the other reason why I came to this city."

    This time, Hana nodded her head and muttered, "You want to learn my stealth technique��"

    "Correct. I understand that I was unable to protect you from the Lionel Family, but this time, I promise that as long as you follow me, the Lionel Family won''t be able to touch a single strand of your hair. All you have to do is teach me and my subordinates your stealth technique." Mira said with confidence.

    Her confidence wasn''t without reason, either. If she is able to make it back to the Battle Maiden Sect, it''s true that the Lionel Family wouldn''t be able to touch a single strand of Hana''s hair.

    In fact, they''d have trouble just finding Hana, to begin with, much less capturing her. Even if the Patriarch and Ancestor of the Lionel Family showed up at the Battle Maiden Sect''s doorsteps, there''s a higher probability of them being killed than them taking Hana away.

    "I-" Hana began speaking but was quickly interrupted by Mira.

    "This is non-negotiable. You only have two options: Toe with me willingly, or I drag your ass with me."

    Hana frowned deeply at Mira''s words and unconsciously blurted out, "Then what makes you better than the Lionel Family?!"

    Mira stared at Hana for a few seconds before a savage grin appeared on her face.

    "Heh. When did I say I was better?"

    Hana paled upon hearing Mira''s words and deeply regretted ever getting involved with this woman!

    However, Mira wasn''t done talking.

    "Actually, I don''t think this is a bad offer for you at all. All I want is your knowledge. In exchange for your safety and�� ''freedom'', you just have to teach me and my subordinates your stealth technique. Once I have what I want, you are free to do whatever you want."

    Hana still didn''t know Mira''s background, but since Mira was so confident in her safety, she was inclined to believe her.

    This caused her to fall deep in thought, and after thinking for a few minutes, she could only sigh in resignation.

    As much as she hated to admit it, Mira''s "offer" wasn''t all that bad. She would be free from the Lionel Family''s influence and could do what she wants after teaching Mira her stealth technique.

    However, the only major downside is that her mother will still be in their hands.

    "That''s good and all, but what will happen to my mother when the Lionel Family finds out I''m gone?" Hana asked.

    Mira fell into thought for a moment before answering, "I don''t know, but I can guess. From my experience, people like those from the Lionel Family will do one of four things.

    One, they will kill or torture your mother in a fit of rage.

    Two, they will turn her into a ve, kind of like what you were supposed to be.

    Three, they will try and use her as bait to kidnap you again.

    Or four, they''ll realize that the best course of action they can take if they want your obedience in the future is to let her be. Of course, they could decide to do somethingpletely different, but those four are the most likely oues."

    Hana''s already pale face seemed to turn white upon hearing that. She wasn''t quite sure what to say. A part of her wanted to deny Mira''s ims immediately, but she also knew that everything she said was true.

    "That is if she isn''t dead already." Mira suddenly added, to which Hana immediately denied.

    "She''s not dead! They promised they wouldn''t touch her as long as I submitted to them!"

    "Hmph! You''re too naive, little girl. When was thest time you''ve actually seen your mother?"

    The sudden question shook Hana''s mind.<sub> </sub>

    "I��I��" She stuttered.

    Thinking back on it, she realized that thest time she had seen her mother was when the Lionel Family captured them and crippled her.

    Hana fell to her knees as tears pooled up in the corner of her eyes and fell down her cheeks, but Mira didn''t seem to care.

    Instead, she ruthlessly added, "More than likely, she''s either already dead, being abused, or is in a state close to death. Even if she is alive, I bet she won''t survive long anyway. It all depends on your mother''s strength before she was crippled and how long she lived; remember, now that she''s crippled, she''s not much different from a normal mortal. Of course, I could bepletely wrong, and she''s actually doing just fine. I''m just guessing based on the evidence avable."

    Mira''s words certainly didn''t make Hana feel any better, despite barely hearing them.

    It might sound harsh of her to say this kind of stuff to a little girl, but with how intelligent Hana is and how she reacted to her questions, Mira could already assume that she had her doubts.

    She''s probably been thinking nonstop, ''Why can''t I see my mom?''

    Sure, the Lionel Family might actually be keeping her alive, but then there''s literally no reason for them not to allow Hana to see her mother. In fact, keeping Hana''s mother away like that will only cause suspicion to rise in Hana''s heart and her ''loyalty'' to diminish.

    Based on the few words Hana said, Mira could understand she already had her suspicions, and as someone who couldn''t be bothered to sugar-coat her words, she gave her opinions.

    Whether or not Hana believed them, she didn''t care. She just wanted to make Hana aware of her situation.

    Mira waited for Hana to regain herposure, but after about a minute, Mira''s patience had worn thin. Not to mention, they are on the clock. Mira had no intention of confronting the Lionel Family, and she wasn''t sure when they''d find out Hana was gone and lock down the city.

    "While I''d love to sit here and watch you cry your heart out, we don''t exactly have that much time. So? What will it be? Will youe with me willingly? Or will I have to drag you?" Mira''s words were like a bucket of cold water, causing Hana to snap out of her emotional state immediately.

    She looked up, stared at Mira with her swollen red eyes, and muttered, "...I''ll go."

    Mira got up and was about to say something until Hana pulled out a few sheets of paper and handed them to her.

    Curious, Mira took the papers, and her eyes widened upon reading the title:

    "Hidden World Technique"

    After calming down slightly, Hana exined, "...This is the technique I used to hide from the Lionel Family. This isn''t the original copy and is just my understanding of what my mother taught me, but I believe this is what you''re looking for. However, this technique was only meant to be used by those who are part of my bloodline. I don''t know if you''ll be able to use it. I left out the important parts, but this should be enough to show my sincerity."

    Mira nodded her head, but inwardly she was surprised by Hana''s foresight. She could tell by the paper and the penmanship that this was written in a hurry.

    From this, she could tell that Hana was prepared for this situation. Once again, she was blown away by her intelligence.

    She skimmed through the pages and knew that Hana was telling the truth. She had really omitted the keyponents of the technique, and while she could try and force it out of her, there wasn''t much of a point in doing that.

    "I''m sure you already know, but if this technique is a sham, your head will roll. However, if it''s the real deal, even if I can''t practice it, I''ll be sure to bring you to a safe space where you can grow up, train, build up your strength, thene back and see if your mother is still alive. And if this technique is really as great as it looks, you might be able to find out the status of your mother sooner rather thanter." Mira hinted, not willing to reveal her background just yet.

    Though, to be honest, her background really isn''t anything special, at least not in her opinion. She''s only a regr Outer Court Disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Hana nodded, not the least bit scared of Mira''s threat, but her eyes shone with a hint of hope and desire hearing herst sentence.

    "Alright, then, I guess it''s about time for us to leave this city. I don''t really feel like dealing with the Lionel Family right now." Mira said while hiding her tails in an illusion.

    Before Hana could even say anything, Mira had already picked her up and dashed out of the inn. She didn''t stop there and ran full speed toward the nearest exit.

    She showed the guards at the exit her token, then quickly entered the Outer City. Then, before long, she was out of Brightclipse City.

    During her time waiting for Hana, she had already asked about the Battle Maiden Sect, and while nobody knew exactly where it was, they knew the general direction, South.

    So, as soon as the two of them left the city, they headed South.

 Chapter 473 Hidden World

    A few hours after Mira and Hana left, the Lionel Family caught wind of Hana''s escape and put the entire city on lockdown.

    The guards in charge of guarding Hana''s room were beheaded, and the whole family went into a frenzy.

    It wasn''t just Azaar who was anxious because even the Patriarch had a dark expression on his face.

    While it''s not like they lost anything, nor has their family''s position changed, that''s exactly the problem. With Hana gone, the Lionel Family''s position in the world won''t change!

    Hana was their ticket up in the world! Now that she''s gone, all their ns have be null and void!

    So, as soon as they learned of her escape, every family member went out and began searching for her.

    Unfortunately, nobody had seen Hana directly as she was covered in arge ck robe. Not to mention, it was in the middle of the night when the Inner City was less active.

    However, the guards that saw Mira leave the city did say they saw a "fox beastman with a ck tail carrying a child with a dark robe."

    That wasn''t much to go on, but it was all they had. Plus, fox beastmen are rarely seen, so for one to appear in Brightclipse City and for this same beastman to leave the night Hana escaped is incredibly suspicious.

    When Azaar returned to the family after capturing Hana, he had already told his father and other key members about his encounter with Mira. So, while it was a bit of a stretch to say that the "ck-tailed fox beastman" was Mira, they felt like this made the most sense.

    Even if it wasn''t Mira, they felt like things were certainly tied to Mira.

    How many fox beastman out there in the world would be interested in Hana besides Mira?

    Not many, if any.

    Therefore, after learning about a ck fox leaving the city, the Lionel Family immediately sent out nearly all their members at the Nascent Soul Realm and above to search outside the city for any traces of them.

    Soon, they were able to pick up on a few of her tracks, but after around an hour of searching, those tracks fizzled out. Part of the reason is that Mira''s ability to control her aura and Qi fluctuations has reached a very high level after continuously tempering herself in the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    Another reason is that Mira is just good at covering her tracks.

    Lastly, Mira had already been gone for almost 6 hours before they even caught wind of Hana''s escape; it was eventer when they began tracking a ck-tailed fox beastman.

    After several hours of fruitless searching, the Family had a meeting regarding what they should do.

    In the end, they decided to send out 10 Soul Transformation family members and their subordinates to all the surrounding cities to be on the lookout for any fox beastmen.

    It didn''t matter if they found a fox beastman with a ck tail or 9 tails; they just needed to be on the lookout for any fox beastman.

    They assumed that, at some point, Mira and Hana would end up stopping in one of these cities, and that''s when they''ll swoop in!

    ***

    Mira and Hana had a decent understanding of what the Lionel Family might do, but at the same time, Mira vastly underestimated Hana''s importance to the future of their Family.

    It wasn''t just about Hana pumping out talented babies one after the other with members of their family. No, Hana''s own talent was very important as well! Given enough time and resources, she''d eventually be a top-level figure on the Western Continent!

    If they could tie Hana down to their family, then they''d eventually gain someone who could lead the family toward greater heights!

    Aside from that, Hana''s stealth technique was incredible! Despite her only being a mortal, she could hide from the senses of a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator!

    How fucking amazing is that?!? How could they let someone like that go?!?!

    Because Mira was ignorant of this, she never once thought they''d send out many of their powerhouses to all the surrounding cities in hopes of searching for Hana.

    Of course, Mira wasn''t aplete idiot. She understood that they''d definitelye looking for her, and with her experience of having to hide from Azaar for about 2 months, she figured they wouldn''t just stop looking after a few hours.

    Nevertheless, she was confident in covering her own tracks, and since nobody knew where she was headed, she wasn''t too worried about this.

    However, Mira never nned to stop in any nearby cities to begin with.

    During Mira''s time in Brightclipse City, she had asked around a bit and gained a better understanding of the surroundings, the various powers near the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, the Top Sects, and some of the ''Danger Zones''.

    She had also learned which direction to go in if she wanted to reach the Battle Maiden Sect. As one of the Top Sects on the Continent, there are very few big cities that don''t know the general location of all the Top Sects.

    That''s because these Sects generally don''t discriminate against who can join. As long as you have the talent, you can join! Thus, most people inrge cities have a decent understanding of where these Sects are located.<sub> </sub>

    She learned that cities around Brightclipse were all pretty much the same. A beastman family ruled them, and each family had someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm as the Patriarch.

    While the cityyouts, economy, and citizens were probably different, every city was pretty much the same.

    Therefore, Mira saw no need to visit these cities. No, visiting these cities would be a huge waste of time!

    The only reason Mira would go to one of them is so they can sleep in a nicefy bed in an inn or so Hana can conveniently eat food, but since when did she care about that?

    Also, entering those cities would just attract needless attention, so Mira saw no need to go there.

    Instead, her first stop would be a city called Plum Blossom City, as it was outside the Lionel Family''s influence. It would take Mira about a week to arrive there at her current pace.

    From there, Mira should be able to get a better idea as to how far away she still is from the Battle Maiden Sect.

    ***

    While running through the mountainous hills on the outskirts of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, Mira carried Hana.

    It had been about a week since they left Brightclipse City, and the two had barely said a word to each other. Hana was too preupied with her own thoughts and emotions to care about anything else, while Mira was thinking about the Hidden World Technique.

    From the papers Hana gave her, she had a rudimentary knowledge of the technique, but just that was more than enough to give Mira something to think about for a while.

    Mira found this technique so fascinating because you don''t have to be a cultivator to practice it.

    There are 7 Stages to the Hidden World Technique:

    1. Breathless Steps

    2. Silent Wind

    3. Masked Scent

    4. Deste Earth

    5. Heavenly Connection

    6. Worldy Aura

    7. Hidden World

    Each stage is entirely different from thest, but they are somehow interconnected, which Mira found particrly odd. With how different each stage is and without the need for Qi, Mira didn''t understand why you couldn''t just pick and choose which stage you wanted to learn. Instead, you''d have to start at the 1st Stage and work your way up, with no exceptions.

    Mira also discovered that when Hana first told Mira about the technique, she was describing the 5th and 6th stages!

    So, technically, Hana never lied to Mira back when she first described it. She just "forgot" to mention that there were 4 stages before that she needed to master.

    Her eyes couldn''t help but twitch, and this once again reaffirmed Mira''s opinion of Hana.

    ''She really is a smart and cunning little girl. I wonder how someone so young could be so smart. Does it have something to do with that pendant?'' Mira wondered, almost amused.

    Looking back on her first interactions with Hana, Mira realized that the girl hardly ever lied. She didn''t even mix lies with her truths! Everything she said was the truth or what she believed to be the truth, which helped her gain Mira''s trust.

    This made Mira feel a bitplicated, but overall, her trust in the little girl rose slightly. She would just need to make sure to be on her toes whenever the two of them have a serious conversation.

    As Mira was lost in thought, she finally caught a glimpse of Plum Blossom City off in the distance.

    Hana also snapped out of her thoughts when she caught sight of the city. She was mentally and physically exhausted, hungry, and ready to leave Mira''s arms! Not only that but her legs are still broken as well!

    They''d been running almost nonstop for an entire week, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep on a nicefy bed!

    This time, Mira made her tails look pink and wore a ck mask she bought in Brightclipse City.

    Without any further dy, the two of them made their way to the entrance.

 Chapter 474 Yin-Yang Sect

    Plum Blossom City, as the name describes it, is a mountainous city surrounded by a forest of plum blossoms.

    On thergest hill is where the rulers of the city, a Branch of the Yin-Yang Sect, are located around a massive plum blossom tree.

    From the outside, pink flower petals surrounded the entire city, and Mira could discern a slightly pink aura radiating from the city. Though, she assumed that had nothing to do with the plum blossoms.

    From the information Mira gathered about the Top Orthodox Sects of the Western Continent, the Yin-Yang Sect is one of them. While they certainly aren''t the strongest and have always stayed neutral throughout history, they are still a force to be reckoned with.

    There are 7 Top Orthodox Sects on the Continent which are, in order from ''strongest to weakest'':

    1. Immortal Sword Sect

    2. Profound Elements Sect

    3. Heaven-Defying Pill Sect

    4. Battle Maiden Sect

    5. Hidden de Sect

    6. Divine Weapons Sect

    7. Yin-Yang Sect

    Of course, this ranking is merely based on the public perception of these Sects. In terms of overall power, each of them is about the same. They all have at least 1 Divine Sea Realm expert and 20 Mortal Shedding Realm experts.

    However, in terms ofbat ability at their cultivation level, Sects like the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect are probably the lowest out of all 7 Sects. It''s their connections and public opinion that has ced them so high on the list.

    Nobody is willing to mess with them since not only do they have ties to the Central Continent, but they have customers all over the Western Continent.

    Hell, they even have connections with the Mercenary Association! Therefore, fighting the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect is like fighting against the world. Nobody is willing to do that.

    There are also a few Sects that Mira has actually encountered before back in Lunar Fox City. They are the Immortal Sword Sect, the Profound Elements Sect (the 8 Profound Elements Sect back in Lunar Fox City), and the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect.

    With the Top 4 Sects having awork of branch sects that can basically span the entire continent, it''s not odd that they are perceived as stronger than the other 3.

    The Yin-Yang Sect is slightly different from the others and is sometimes not even ssified as an Orthodox Sect because they are a Dual Cultivation Sect!

    Meaning the primary way they cultivate is through constant sex and exchange of energies.

    It''s a highly controversial Sect, and the only reason they are considered Orthodox is that their cultivation techniques aren''t inherently evil. They don''t have to go around ughtering babies or r*ping countless mortal women/men to be stronger.

    Mira didn''t quite understand how they cultivated or what kind of techniques they used, but she''d be lying if she said she wasn''t interested.

    Obviously, she wasn''t interested in the sex portion, but she wanted to know how they got stronger by exchanging energies.

    Mira felt like there was something to gain from their cultivation techniques, and they might be able to help increase her strength even further.

    One of her biggest problems right now is her Dao and all the different energies and affinities she''s able to use.

    She has Yin Lightning, Yin Fire, Earth, Wind, Ice/Water, and Dark affinities. Yin Fire and Yin Lightning are affinities that are originally Yang elements. Earth and Wind are more neutral and can go either way, while Ice/Water and Dark are Yin elements.

    The problem is that her Dao requires her to improve herprehension of all these elements.

    But how long will that take?

    Too fucking long!

    She''ll probably spend more time trying toprehend the depths of these elements than she will cultivating!

    Therefore, in the back of Mira''s head, she''s always been thinking about ways she can speed this process up.

    The fastest and probably best way is to use her FLDIL, but things that can improve herprehension are expensive! Not to mention, she can''t even think about unlocking them right now because she hasn''t made any more progress in the Abyssal Torment Steps.

    Thus, when Mira heard that the Yin-Yang Sect''s cultivation techniques were all about exchanging energies to improve one''s own, she felt like there was something to be gained there.

    She was a bit reluctant to enter a city controlled by a Dual Cultivation Sect as she could smell trouble, but it didn''t really matter to her. It was just a branch of the Yin-Yang Sect, anyway.

    The Sect Leader is, at most, someone in the Soul Transformation Realm. She should be fine if she doesn''t threaten the entire branch. There''s no way the Yin-Yang Sect''s Main Branch would dispatch their Mortal Shedding Realm elders to y Sect Leader at a branch sect.

    Thus, Mira and Hana entered the city with confidence!

    As soon as they entered, their noses were flooded with a fruity scent that seemed to rx the mind. However, it seems there was a light aphrodisiac within the air as well. Although it didn''t affect Mira, Hana''s face became a little red, and her body warmed up.

    Mira sent her Qi into Hana''s body to remove this effect and frowned.

    "It seems this city isn''t very child friendly."

    Hana wasn''t sure why Mira said that or what had just happened, but her opinion of Plum Blossom City dropped.

    "Let''s go find an inn to stay at. I''ll also keep a lookout for any healing pills you can use. I think having your legs broken for a week while being carried through the mountains is enough of a punishment."

    Relief washed over Hana''s body when she heard that, and she vigorously nodded.<sub> </sub>

    Fortunately, these things were easy to find. As a city that encourages fornication, inns are everywhere, and since Hana was just a mortal, Mira didn''t need to buy any high-grade healing pill. Just a Human or Mortal Grade pill would do the trick.

    By the end of the day, Hana was back to full health, sleeping on a nicefy bed with a rxed smile on her face.

    Mira also had a smile on her face, but for a very different reason. She was about to go fishing��

    She removed her mask, nced at the sleeping Hana, then left the inn.

    Naturally, her face, figure, and pink tail attracted a lot of attention.

    "O�� Oh my god!! Look at that woman! She''s almost like a goddess!"

    "Where did someone like here from?!"

    "Is she here to join the Yin-Yang Sect? I guess even someone like her can''t resist the temptation��"

    "Damn! Do you think I''ll have a shot with her if I join the Yin-Yang Sect?"

    "Hell no! Take a look in the mirror! You look about as handsome as my father''s asshole!"

    "What did you say?!"

    Mira heard all kinds of murmurs from the surrounding people, but she didn''t react to them.

    She made sure that the aura she released was just frightening enough to keep the annoying flies away but with not so scary that she''ll dissuade any ''big fish'' from approaching her.

    Mira walked a bit closer to where the Yin-Yang Sect was located. She didn''t want to go inside but just wanted her presence to be known.

    There were a few male disciples at the Core Formation Realm hanging around near the edge of the Sect who managed to see her.

    They were so awestruck by her appearance that they weren''t able to until Mira was already gone.

    However, this sparked a discussion between them.

    "Did you see that beautifuldy?"

    "So you saw her too, huh? I thought I was going crazy for a second there!"

    "Me too. I never thought there could be a woman so beautiful before!"

    "Say�� what do you think it''d be like to cultivate with such a woman?"

    "This�� I don''t know, but I can''t imagine dual cultivating with a beautiful girl could be bad. She was a fox beastman on top of that!"

    "You''re right! I bet dual cultivating with her would be ten times more efficient than the women in the Sect."

    "Let''s go look for her."

    "Alright!"

    That night, there were people, mainly men, searching all over the city for an outrageously beautiful fox woman.

    However, she was only said to have been spotted roaming around the city for a few hours before she disappeared.

    News of this reached the disciples of the Yin-Yang Sect, so more and more disciples went down into the city and began searching for a beautiful fox woman the next day.

    They searched for hours until a few noticed arge crowd of people surrounding a particr inn.

    Curious, the disciples and the surrounding people went over, and sitting near the window was perhaps the most beautiful woman they''d everid eyes on, eating across the table from a little girl.

    Mira, who was eating with Hana, didn''t pay any attention to these people. They kept trying to talk with her or sit down at her table, but whenever someone got too close, they''d feel the brunt of her killing intent.

    Those people would either fall unconscious, foaming at the mouth, or piss themselves and run away.

    After a while, everyone seemed to understand that getting too close to Mira wouldn''t do them any good, so they waited for her to say something.

    Hana was confused by what Mira was doing, but the small smile on Mira''s face sent shivers down her spine, so she didn''t dare ask.

    She knew Mira was nning something and couldn''t help but feel pity for the poor soul who Mira wanted to mess with.

    The two continued to eat in silence as more and more people surrounded her.

    However, after a while, the crowd began to part as if they were making way for someone important.

    Hana then heard Mira say something under her breath.

    "It seems I was only able to catch a medium-sized fish�� Oh well, he''ll have to do."

    Mira didn''t even bother looking at what was happening to the crowd and kept indifferently eating her food.

 Chapter 475 Lured

    Next to Mira stood two people, a male, and a female, who wore red robes with a yin-yang symbol over their hearts, proving their status as a disciple of the Yin-Yang Sect.

    The man had long ck hair tied in a ponytail, sharp eyebrows, brown eyes, a handsome face, and a tall stature. He also had a refined aura that attracted people to him.

    The woman was almost theplete opposite. She was short, had silver hair, a beautiful appearance, and a cold, intimidating aura.

    The two of them stared down at Mira, expecting her to greet them, but after a minute, neither Mira nor Hana even looked up at them.

    Their eyebrows twitched at Mira''s disrespect, but they weren''t going to throw a tantrum over it.

    "Ahem!"

    The guy cleared his throat, hoping to catch Mira''s attention, but the two kept acting like he wasn''t there.

    However, he was someone from the Yin-Yang Sect! He''s basically a glorified prostitute that cultivates by having sex! His skin is thick enough not to be fazed by this.

    "My name is Derek, and this is mypanion, Lisa. We are Core Disciples of the Yin-Yang branch sect here in Plum Blossom City. May we have the honor of knowing the name and affiliation of a beautiful woman like you?" The man said in a slightly hoarse voice with his chest puffed out, trying to act tough in front of Mira.

    The woman, Lisa, rolled her eyes hearing his words, but one could tell she was also interested in the beautiful fox woman in front of her.

    After his introduction, Mira finally raised her head, but instead of answering, she just asked in an indifferent voice, "Can I help you?"

    The two were taken aback, not by her words but by her tone and the weight behind her words.

    It sounded less like a question and more like a threat that said, "I''ll get angry if you keep bothering me."

    Lisa felt like something was wrong as her womanly instincts told her not to trust this woman. She wanted to warn Derek, but he was already too enthralled by her beauty that he probably wouldn''t listen to her.

    "Actually, I do need a bit of help," Derek said in a slightly downtrodden voice.

    Mira raised an eyebrow, gesturing him to continue. Derek saw this and tried to keep the sides of his lips from raising.

    "You see, one of my arms is missing a beautiful woman like yourself on it. Do you think you could help me out with this little problem of mine?" Derek asked confidently.

    Lisa''s eyes narrowed, but she wasn''t upset. In fact, if Derek could score a beauty like Mira, she''d be happy knowing her man was good enough to attract someone like Mira.

    On the other hand, Hana was surprised by how good his pickup line was.

    "Aren''t you a little too greedy when you already have a beautiful and powerful woman like her by your side?" Mira asked.

    They were both Stage 2 Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, which was quite powerful considering they are only part of a branch sect where the leader is probably only at the Soul Transformation Realm.

    "Hahaha~! Maybe I am a bit greedy, but who here wouldn''t be greedy for a beautiful woman like you? Oh, and I can assure you that Lisa wouldn''t mind you apanying my other arm, either. She''s been helping me look for my ''right-hand woman''." Derek said while showing off his empty right arm.

    "Ah! Also, if you''re worried about her getting jealous during sex, don''t be. She''s also into women as well. That way, we can all have fun without leaving anyone out!" He added.

    Lisa blushed, but her expression never changed. However, Mira''s eyes almost twitched, and she couldn''t help but nce at Hana.

    ''Why does it seem like I only attract shameless people like this?'' Mira thought, forcefully suppressing her irritation.

    Maybe if there weren''t so many people around, she would''ve already killed him for daring to say something like that to her face, but she didn''t want to start any more trouble than she was already in.

    Thest few months have been quite annoying, and she just wanted to make it back to the Battle Maiden Sect without being hunted down�� again.

    Therefore, she kept her killing intent under control and somehow managed to smile. Even though it was a forced smile, her face was too beautiful that it''d be hard to notice.

    "...Very well. Why don''t we discuss this in my room, where we won''t have any�� distractions?" Mira suggested before getting up and walking to her room with Hana in tow.

    Derek was ecstatic, and thergest smile he could make appeared on his face.

    ''Hahaha! It seems even a beauty like her can''t resist my charms!'' He thought internally, not even realizing he was the one who was charmed.

    Lisa, however, felt that something wasn''t right. In fact, this feeling only grew the longer Derek talked to Mira. She couldn''t quite determine what it was, but she felt overwhelming dangering from the beautiful fox woman.

    She''s heard stories about fox women, whether they be beastmen or beasts that have taken human form. In stories, they are often portrayed as roses: beautiful but dangerous.

    But for some reason, she felt like Mira''s thorns weren''t like a normal rose. Instead of thorns, she was covered in poison daggers that would kill anyone who dared to approach too carelessly.

    This may be because she felt overwhelmingly inferiorpared to such a beauty, but there was also something in the recess of her mind telling her to be wary of Mira.

    Unfortunately, it was toote.<sub> </sub>

    Derek was already halfway up to Mira''s room, so she had no other choice but to follow. She had to make sure he didn''t do anything stupid, after all!

    The crowd that had gathered around Mira was clearly disappointed that she had actually taken a liking to a Yin-Yang Sect disciple, but it couldn''t be helped.

    "Sigh�� I guess we normal folk can''t evenpare to someone from one of the Top 7 Sects on the continent."

    "Hmph! He''s just from a branch sect. Why would that beautiful woman allow that man into her room?"

    "Shhh! Don''t say stuff like that out loud. Even if he is from a branch Sect, he will probably end up going to the main Sect. Didn''t you see how young and powerful he was? There''s no way he''ll stay here in this little city!"

    "So, you think that fox woman thought this as well and wanted to get in his good graces before he eventually bes part of the main Sect?"

    "I guess you''re not as dumb as you look, huh?"

    "Fuck you!"

    The crowd dispersed dispiritedly, but they weren''t that unhappy. Most of them knew they''d never be able to attract a beautiful woman like Mira. They were just there in hopes of getting lucky.

    As the crowd dispersed, Mira finally entered her room with Hana, Derek, and Lisa.

    Now that they were finally alone, Derek began undressing.

    To Derek, there was only one reason why a girl would invite a man into her room: to have sex! He was confident in his body and little brother, so there was absolutely no shame in his eyes as he removed his clothes.

    Lisa was stunned by Derek''s actions; even though he was quite shameless, he was never so bold.

    Mira''s eyes visibly twitched upon seeing this, and she finally couldn''t contain herself. A scythe appeared in her hands, and without warning, she shed at his neck.

    Lisa''s eyes went wide.

    "NOOOOO-!"

    She tried to jump in front of Derek to block it, but it was already toote.

    *Swish!*

    *St!*

    Before she could jump in front of him, Derek''s head was already removed from his body.

    She looked up with bloodshot eyes and saw Mira staring down at Derek''s body in disgust.

    "Finally, I no longer have to hear that vermin''s nonsense," Mira muttered and turned to look at Lisa.

    Thetter felt her body go cold in fear upon contacting Mira''s cold, emotionless eyes. It was like Mira was staring at a dead piece of meat instead of an actual person.

    ''How could I not have noticed this before? Was she hiding her true nature under that pretty face? Is this the end? Why did she kill Derek?'' All kinds of questions went through her mind, but she didn''t have an answer to a single one.

    Thankfully, Mira decided to answer them for her.

    "You might be wondering why I killed him. I guess you could say I just didn''t like him. Maybe he would''ve lived before he said all that nonsense and started stripping. But did he think of me as some lowly whore, ready to give my body to him just because of a few words? I''d rather die than let scum like him touch me!" Mira said while picking up his spatial ring and searching through his clothes for anything valuable.

    Lisa was speechless.

    "S-So you''re saying he died merely because of that?" Lisa stuttered.

    Mira turned and stared at Lisa before sneering.

    "Merely? He''s lucky I didn''t torture him for his insolence! Anyways, I''m partially d he was a bbering fool who only knew how to fuck. If he were a bit more aware or a bit stronger, I would''ve had a harder time killing him silently like that. So, I guess, in a way, it''s good that he was a weak idiot."

    Lisa didn''t know what to say. All she knew was that she needed to get out of here��!

    "Hmm?!"

    However, for some reason, she couldn''t move! She tried opening her mouth to scream, but something had already wrapped tightly around her throat, preventing her from doing so.

    "You seem a bit more intelligent than that guy. If you don''t want to die, don''t scream, and do your best to answer my questions. Don''t worry. I won''t be asking for any kind of sect secrets. I just want to know a bit about your cultivation technique."

 Chapter 476 Energy Transference

    Mira searched through Derek''s spatial ring and found a jade slip titled "Yin-Yang Energy Transference Technique". With a quick scan, Mira understood the basic principles of the technique.

    This technique was more of an Auxiliary Cultivation Technique because it mainly taught you how to absorb and refine your partner''s fluids during sex. For women, these fluids were described as Yin energy, while for men, they were Yang energy.

    What Mira found interesting was how men were able to take a woman''s ''yin energy'' and refine it into something they could use and vice versa. Unfortunately, it didn''t go any further than that.

    The technique didn''t mention anything about boosting one''s Dao Comprehension or improving one''s affinity, but Mira wasn''t expecting something like that in the first ce. Perhaps not even the elders of the Main Yin-Yang Sect kept stuff like that on them, much less a kid at a branch Sect.

    She also didn''t find Derek''s primary cultivation technique that served as his foundation, but Mira was satisfied with this.

    Just the "Yin-Yang Energy Transference Technique" was enough to give Mira a few ideas on how she could boost herprehension of the elements.

    After skimming through the technique a few more times and rummaging through Derek''s spatial ring to ensure she didn''t miss anything, she sat on the bed with her legs crossed and stared down at Lisa.

    She wasn''t doing anything special, but from Lisa''s point of view, Mira looked imposing.

    "Exin to me more about the Yin-Yang Energy Transference Technique," Mira ordered, but Lisa bit her lip and didn''t say anything.

    Mira couldn''t help but sigh, seeing this, "Listen. I already have the technique in my hands; whether you stay silent or not doesn''t matter. I''m just a bit curious, that''s all. Who knows? Maybe if I like your answer, I''ll think about sparing your life." Mira said while also letting Lisa know that, right now, she was no different than a dead man walking.

    She''d have to give satisfactory answers if she wanted to lose her ''dead man walking'' status.

    Lisa''s body shook upon hearing Mira''s threat, and although she didn''t want to, she decided to answer. Her will to live was much higher than her loyalty to the Sect. Plus, it''s not like the Yin-Yang Energy Transference Technique is some big secret. It''s given to nearly every disciple at the Yin-Yang Sect!

    <o>,m Feeling her mouth free, Lisa spoke hesitantly, "Y-You really won''t kill me if I answer all your questions?"</o>

    Mira tilted her head, "Hm? No, I said I''ll think about it. Honestly, I''d prefer to kill you to tie up any loose ends. I don''t need you bbering about me to the higher-ups of your Sect, but it also doesn''t matter too much if you do. How far is the Yin-Yang Sect willing to go for someone who''s only part of the branch sect and only at the Nascent Soul Realm?"

    Lisa paled in fright as Mira was exactly right. Killing her would be for the best, but even if she didn''t, it wouldn''t matter in the grand scheme of things. If Lisa went to the Sect''s elders, they''d probably be angered, but it wouldn''t be because Derek specifically died.

    They''d only be upset because someone killed their Sect''s disciple in their own territory. Other than that, they probably wouldn''t care.

    Not only that, but the other disciples would most likely be happy that Derek died! Male dual cultivators vastly outnumber female dual cultivators in the Sect, and with Lisa''s partner dead, she''s now free to cultivate with someone else!

    Lastly, Derek wasn''t well-liked among the men in the Sect because of his personality. Hell, even the elders and Branch Sect Master probably considered him a nuisance!

    In conclusion, there was no benefit to Lisa even if she warned the Sect of Derek''s death.

    At this moment, after she came to this conclusion, Lisa suddenly thought, ''This is more of a brothel than a Sect. The unity is absolutely horrendous��no wonder the Yin-Yang Sect is stuck at the bottom of the Top 7 Sects on the continent.''

    A seed of regret was imnted in Lisa''s heart, and the unwillingness to share information disappeared.

    ''Why should I care about a Sect that doesn''t care about me? If I can survive in exchange for providing bits of information about the Sect, I''ll dly do it.''

    "The Yin-Yang Energy Transference Technique is just like the description says. It''s basically a technique solely used to transfer Qi to one another, refine it, and use it to boost your cultivation. It''s a fairly simple technique and is given to pretty much all Yin-Yang Sect disciples." Lisa answered truthfully.

    Mira''s eyebrows rose in surprise at her honesty, but seeing the look in Lisa''s eyes, she understood why.

    ''So, she doesn''t have much loyalty to the Sect, if any. Interesting.'' Mira thought.

    "Are there any techniques that branch off of the Yin-Yang Energy Transference Technique? For example, is there a technique that can be used to boost the power of your affinity or anything like that?" Mira asked.

    "Ummm�� Maybe? I''ve never seen one, but I have heard that the Main Sect has some extraordinary cultivation techniques that can do more than just boost one''s cultivation. What they do exactly, I''m not sure." Lisa answered as honestly as she could, but at the end of the day, she was just a branch sect disciple.

    Thus, her knowledge was limited to only what a branch sect disciple would know.<sub> </sub>

    Mira nodded and asked, "What''s your primary cultivation technique, and what benefits does it provide you?"

    For some reason, Lisa blushed in shame, but she still answered.

    "The Sect calls it the ''Yin Essence Consititution'' cultivation technique, but the disciples just call it the�� Ummm�� the ''Yintercourse technique. It basically makes my body more sensitive and my sex fluids more abundant in energy."

    "..."

    Mira was speechless.

    ''Is there really such a cultivation technique? It sounds grand, but it''s actually so useless. Well, I guess it''d be useful to dual cultivators.''

    "Ahem�� Is there anything else special about this cultivation technique? For example, maybe your affinity for ice is higher or something like that." Mira asked.

    "Well, I guess you could say my affinity towards the elements that are considered to be Yin Elements has risen, but it''s not like I suddenly turned into a genius. Though, now that you mention it, my womanly charm and beauty have increased quite a bit since I started cultivating this technique." Lisa answered after giving it some genuine thought.

    Mira''s opinion of the cultivation technique dropped again, but she refused to believe a technique given to every Yin-Yang Sect disciple was so useless. This was one of the strongest Sects on the continent! There had to be something unique to it.

    For example, the cultivation technique given by the Battle Maiden Sect to all Outer Court Disciples can temper the body, hasten their cultivation, and temporarily increase their strength whenever you enter battle.

    Although that''s all great, there are some downsides to it. For example, your cultivation will be slower than what other techniques provide outside of battle. That''s just one of the downsides, but for those who join the Battle Maiden Sect, the pros outweigh the cons.

    That''s just the basic cultivation technique serving as the foundation for all future Battle Maiden Sect cultivation techniques as well. When one rises in status, they are given a higher-graded version of the technique.

    Thus, she didn''t believe Lisa''s cultivation technique would be so useless.

    "Use that technique to cultivate for a bit. I want to see its effects in real-time." Mira ordered, and Lisa nodded.

    Qi began circting inside Lisa''s body, and Mira didn''t notice anything abnormal, except that after the Qi was refined and sent to her soul and core to boost her cultivation, some energy went to her uterus.

    Other than that, it was just a standard cultivation technique.

    However, Mira could tell that the energy resting in her uterus was quite unique. She didn''t know exactly what it was but guessed that it should be the ''Yin essence'' part of the cultivation technique.

    "Do you have a copy of this technique with you?" Mira asked, but Lisa shook her head

    Mira expected this and just noted in the back of her mind that she''d need to pay the Yin-Yang Sect a little ''visit'' when she gets stronger.

    Everything about "Yin Essence" and "Energy Transference" interested Mira and might be her ticket to swiftly increasing her power.

    Those were all the questions Mira had, and before Lisa could say anything, Mira appeared behind her and chopped her neck, knocking her unconscious.

    She then picked up Hana, destroyed all the evidence of Derek being killed, then left the inn. She had attracted a bit too much attention earlier by removing her mask in public and didn''t want to coincidentally run into an Elder or the Sect Master of the branch Yin-Yang Sect.

    "Why didn''t you kill her?" Hana suddenly asked as they were leaving.

    "Why should I? She''s a good kid who just happened to be at the wrong ce, at the wrong time, with the wrong person." Mira answered nonchntly.

    "Hmph! Are you sure it''s not just because she''s a girl?"

    "..."

    Shortly after, the two managed to leave Plum Blossom City without trouble!

 Chapter 477 Back At The Sect

    After leaving Plum Blossom City, Mira and Hana continued heading toward the Battle Maiden Sect while asionally stopping at nearby cities to allow Hana to rest up. She was only a mortal and couldn''t handle the stress of traveling at full speed in Mira''s arms.

    Thankfully, Mira wasn''tpletely indifferent to her well-being and stopped at various cities and towns along the way.

    It took them two weeks to reach Snow Maiden City, and during that time, they heard a lot of strange rumors.

    "Hey, did you hear about the trouble the Battle Maiden Sect is causing?"

    "Yeah, I''ve heard they are killing anything and everything that appears in their territory!"

    "I''ve heard from my brother''s wife''s second cousin that the Mercenary Association is trying to take advantage of the chaos going on around the Battle Maiden Sect!"

    "Really? I''ve also heard that the Hidden de Sect and the Crimson yer Sect have been hunting in that area as well."

    "Hunting what?"

    "I-I''m not sure, but from what I know, the beasts all over Maiden Mountain have been running wild, wreaking havoc and destroying everything in sight."

    "Maiden Mountain? What''s that?"

    "Ah! That''s what people are calling the mountain the Battle Maiden Sect resides on."

    "So, you''re saying that the beasts are running wild? Why?"

    "I''ve heard a massive earthquake shook the mountain around 3 months ago, which caused all sorts of devastation, waking up the slumbering beasts. Now they are rampaging, trying to find new territories to settle down in."

    "Then wouldn''t this be the perfect chance for the Battle Maiden Sect to expand? If they can kill a lot of the rampaging beasts and take over the unimed territories, they might be able to increase the size of their Sect!"

    "Yeah, I think that''s why some of the major powers and Sects are getting involved. Although the Battle Maiden Sect generally stays out of the limelight, their power and influence are nothing to scoff at. If they are able to grow, they might eventually be the number one powerhouse on the continent!"

    "You''re thinking too much! How can a bunch of women possibly dominate us, men, into submission?!"

    "Hmph! Why don''t you go say that to your wife''s face?"

    "Ah-ahahaha. There''s no need. No need. Women can dominate me all they want! In fact, I prefer being dominated!"

    "..."

    These kinds of rumors became more prevalent the closer Mira neared the Battle Maiden Sect.

    She didn''t know exactly what was happening, but she was sure that the Sect had a rough time over thest few months, and it was partly her fault.

    However, Mira was mostly indifferent to the news. She was a little concerned about Maria and Dominique, but she had confidence that the Battle Maiden Sect wasn''t so weak they couldn''tst more than a few months.

    After two weeks of traveling, Mira and Hana finally arrived in Snow Maiden City.

    "So, you''re a Battle Maiden Sect disciple, huh? It seems I, and everyone else, overestimated your status. To think you were only an Outer Disciple. Tsk. Tsk. Poor Azaar would be fuming right now if he knew." Hanamented as they made their way to the Sect.

    Mira didn''t respond, silently agreeing with Hana, but she also thought Hana was underestimating the Battle Maiden Sect. While she is merely an Outer Court Disciple, she is still an Outer Court Disciple of one of the Top 7 Orthodox Sects on the Continent.

    A few Inner and Core disciples from any of the Top Orthodox 7 Sects would be able to run rampant among the Lionel Family without consequences. The only way to stop them would be if the Patriarch and Ancestor of the family got involved, but that would risk them being hunted by Mortal Shedding Realm experts from any one of the Sects.

    Even Azaar wouldn''t want to offend someone from one of the Top 7 for fear of messing with the wrong person.

    Mira walked around Snow Maiden City a bit and gathered information on the Battle Maiden Sect''s situation, and just like she thought, they were doing just fine.

    The only thing that concerned Mira was that the number of people entering Snow Maiden City had increased significantly over thest 3 months. Many of these people wandered outside the Battle Maiden Sect''s territory as if they were scouting the area.

    Still, Mira didn''t understand why the other Sects and powers were moving around the Battle Maiden Sect. Even if they became the number one power on the Continent, it''s not like they would immediately go to war with all the other Sects.

    ''I''m probably missing something important; I just don''t know what.'' Mira thought after examining all the information.

    She knew she was still fairly ignorant about the cultivation world as a whole.

    "Are you ready to see your new home?" Mira asked Hana as they appeared before the mountain that would take them straight to the Outer Court.

    Hana stayed silent and nodded, butplex emotions were hidden deep within her eyes.<sub> </sub>

    ''I''ll bide my time here, grow stronger, and then storm the Lionel Family''s mansion to confirm what happened to my mother!'' Hana thought with clenched fists.

    The two of them quickly made their way up the mountain and appeared outside the Outer Court in a few hours.

    Mira didn''t have any trouble entering. She had to get Hana registered as a Trial Disciple, but she passed the test without any issues.

    The two of them then began walking around the Outer Court, but they quickly noticed it was basically empty!

    All except for two spots: The Mission Hall and the Healing Center.

    However, the Healing Center wasn''t there before Mira disappeared from the Sect around 6 months ago.

    Curious, Mira walked over to it and noticed tens of disciples lying on beds with all sorts of wounds and numerous other disciples treating them.

    Suddenly, Mira felt a familiar aurae charging at her like a golden bullet, but she didn''t bother dodging it.

    Mira smiled, opened her arms wide, and caught the ''golden bullet''.

    "MIRA!!! You''re finally back!!" Maria yelled as she dove into Mira''s chest, tears staining her clothes.

    Mira gently stroked the back of her head and wrapped Maria''s body with her tails.

    "It''s only been six months; what are you crying so much for?" Mira teased, but Maria didn''t seem to hear and continued embracing her.

    Hana looked at this scene with wide eyes as she''s never seen Mira have such a soft and gentle look on her face. The entire time they were together, Hana had only seen Mira with a cold, indifferent expression. Even when she smiled slightly, it still looked cold in Hana''s eyes.

    "I�� I knew you''d be fine. I just�� I just couldn''t help but worry about you. Y-You were gone for so long��" Maria muttered, and Mira silently listened.

    Truthfully, Mira did feel a bit bad for disappearing so suddenly, but that wasn''t exactly something she could control.

    The two of them embraced each other for a few minutes before Maria finally let go.

    Mira could see that Maria had plenty of questions but was tactful enough not to ask them in public.

    "When did you get back?" Maria asked.

    "Just now. When I returned, I saw something that wasn''t there before I disappeared and got curious. What''s this whole ''Healing Center'' thing about?"

    "Oh! That''s because I saw an opportunity to make some money and took it!"

    Maria then went on to exin how the Healing Center came to be.

    It took around 10 minutes for Maria to finish exining, but apparently, the Elders and Sect Master noticed Maria''s healing talent. With all the chaos going on around the Sect right now, Maria decided to ask for permission if she could earn some Merit Points and Spirit Stones by offering her healing services to the disciples.

    They readily agreed since Maria''s healing capabilities were so good that, she alone might contribute the most toward the expansion of the Outer Court. Her ability to get the disciples back to peak condition was amazing. As long as they weren''t dead or hadn''t lost a limb, Maria could bring them back to peak condition without any issues.

    Plus, the Sect wouldn''t need to overwork the Alchemists to pump out healing pills continuously, allowing them to work on more important tasks.

    Maria''s abilities allowed the disciples to fight more, which would let them earn more Merit Points. More disciples fighting also meant more disciples getting hurt, which meant more Merit Points for Maria!

    It was a positive feedback loop that served as the backbone of the Outer Court during these chaotic times.

    Thus, the creation of the Healing Center!

    Mira was impressed by Maria''s ingenuity and ability to take advantage of the situation.

    Not to mention, Maria wasn''t the biggest fan of killing, to begin with. So, if she could earn more by helping people than hurting them, she''d rather do that in a heartbeat.

    "That�� That''s pretty amazing, but what exactly is going on around here? I had heard rumors about beasts rampaging and other Sects invading, but I''m not sure what to believe."

    "Well�� I''ve been here healing most of the time, so I''m not really too sure what''s going on. All I know is that the Elders made an announcement about three months ago that basically said they are giving away contribution points for every beast they kill. Various rumors are going around, but it''s hard to tell what''s the truth and what isn''t. I''ve had your army running around collecting information for me, but there''s a limit to what they can find."

    Mira was surprised by this as she was sure someone as sociable as Maria would be able to gather information rtively easily.

    "Anyways! Enough serious talk! Why don''t you follow me back to my office and introduce this little girl?" Maria asked with a smile.

 Chapter 478 Maniac

    Mira, Maria, and Hana walked into Maria''s office and began chatting.

    "Hello, my name is Hana Silvermoon, and I''m Mira''s teacher! I can see that you and my disciple have-OUCH!!"

    Mira chopped Hana''s head, interrupting her "introduction".

    "What disciple? I would never ept someone as shameless and unscrupulous as you as my master." Mira felt a chill run down her spine just saying the word "master".

    She couldn''t fathom ever deeming someone so superior to her that she''d be willing to call them master.

    "Pfft-Hahaha!" Maria chuckled a bit and began ruffling Hana''s hair.

    "How cute! To think Mira didn''t kill you for spouting such nonsense. You two must''ve gotten quite close!" Mariamented, causing the two of them to scowl.

    Close? They''ve hardly talked at all over thest few weeks. They could hardly be considered acquaintances and are, at most, partners in crime.

    Seeing their faces, Maria could tell they were rather indifferent to each other and knew there was probably a story. Still, she just kept chuckling because Mira''s expression was quite peculiar.

    "Anyways, my name is Maria Zoller. I''m an Outer Court Disciple at the Battle Maiden Sect and Mira''s wife!"

    Mira nearly lost her bnce hearing Maria call herself "Mira''s wife," and she couldn''t help but look wide-eyed at her golden-haired lover.

    Hana''s mouth went agape, and her eyes widened as she never would''ve guessed they were actually wife and�� wife.

    "You�� Y-You two are actually married?! I thought you were just good friends or something!!" Hana yelled. Thankfully, the room was soundproof so that nobody could hear her.

    Maria blushed slightly and kept ncing at Mira as if asking for permission to be called her wife.

    Mira noticed this but had no idea what to do or say.

    ''I mean, we''re indeed lovers, but married? I�� I don''t know about that.'' Mira thought, but seeing the pleading look in Maria''s eyes, she couldn''t help but nod slightly.

    ''Whatever. If she wants to think of us as married, then so be it. I''m not letting go of her in this lifetime, so I guess she''s not wrong.'' In the end, Mira shrugged her shoulders and didn''t overthink it.

    Maria was already stuck with her, whether she liked it or not.

    Maria beamed, stuck out her chest, and said proudly, "Yup! I''m her wife! So, feel free to call me Mistress, Hana!"

    Hana cringed but didn''t reply.

    After introducing each other, Mira shared her experiences over thest 6 months with Maria. She didn''t bother leaving out any details, even though Hana was next to them. It''s not like she did anything that needed to be kept a secret!

    "What?! So, you''re the one who caused all this?! Mira, how could you be so careless to use a bomb that can shake the entire mountain?!" Naturally, Maria was surprised when Mira told her about the time she was taken captive by the chimera and blew him up.

    "What else was I supposed to do? That bastard wanted to drain me of my blood essence! Therefore, he and his minions had to die. And the cheapest way to do that was to blow them all to hell." Mira defended herself, but Maria still rebuked her.

    "Couldn''t you have just used the teleportation talisman to get out? You could''ve escaped, gotten stronger, and killed themter."

    "Ugh��" Mira couldn''t refute her, so she just stayed silent.

    However, the look in her eye told Maria everything.

    She didn''t regret a thing!

    With a sigh, Maria signaled for Mira to continue talking.

    They talked for another few hours until they felt amotion outside Maria''s office.

    "What''s going on?"

    Maria quickly got up and left the room, followed by Mira and Hana.

    What they saw after was shocking! There were tens of disciples being brought into the Healing Center, all covered in blood. All of them had missing limbs and were gushing blood, while others had their organs falling out of their bodies, showing they didn''t have long left to live.

    Hana covered her mouth at the horrific scene as she hadn''t seen anything so vile in her entire life. She had to prevent the urge to throw up, but it didn''t work as she puked up her guts immediately after covering her mouth, with tears running down her eyes.

    Neither Mira nor Maira bothered covering the poor girl''s eyes��

    "What''s happening? Why are so many disciples like this?!" Maria asked one of the girls carrying an injured disciple.

    "O-Outside the Sect, a man is running wild, killing everything in sight, calling out for a fox girl with multi-colored fox tails. H-He looked like he had gone insane! These girls were the lucky ones. At least we''d be able to bury them." The girl said in a shaky voice.<sub> </sub>

    The entire Healing Center went silent, and they all looked at Mira. It''s pretty hard not to miss her multi-colored tails as she''s the only one in the Outer Court with them.

    In fact, Mira''s the only one in the Outer Court with fox tails! If she wasn''t the one the crazy man was screaming about, then who was?

    However, none of the girls did or said anything to Mira. Maybe if this were any other Sect, they would''ve already ganged up on Mira and thrown her in front of that maniac outside, but they didn''t.

    Although some felt a bit aggrieved by this whole situation, they didn''t me Mira. This was all the fault of some crazy bastard who had lost his mind!

    Mira sighed and couldn''t help but curse her luck.

    ''I had just gotten back, but I already have to deal with this shit.''

    She pointed at the girl who answered and ordered, "You there! Lead me to him. Let''s see what this bastard, who disturbed my reunion, wants."

    "Y-Yes!" The girl, for some reason, felt like saluting as an imposing aura erupted from Mira''s body.

    She quickly set down the injured disciple in her arms and began leading Mira to the crazy man.

    Within a few minutes, they appeared outside the Outer Court.

    Mira could hear signs of battle nearby and hurriedly made her way over. There she saw what looked exactly like a battlefield. There was blood everywhere, with missing limbs all over the ce, but there were no bodies.

    In the middle of it all, she saw a handsome young man with dark hair and bloodshot eyes. As soon as she saw him, she knew who he was.

    ''It''s him! It seems he''s gone crazy after I gave him that heart demon. Tsk. Tsk. What a pathetic man.'' Mira inwardly sneered in disdain.

    Yes, the man was Zander, from the Crimson yer Sect, who tried to kill Mira a while back to take the FLDIL from her.

    Although she could feel the man was much more powerful than before, she didn''t feel threatened.

    He was now at the 5th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, but since he was acting like a wild beast, Mira felt no danger.

    He had essentially lost his ability to think rationally, one of the main reasons why humans end up as the apex predators no matter what world she''s reincarnated into.

    Therefore, Mira didn''t put him in her eyes. If he were a few stages higher or in the Soul Transformation Realm, she''d have to be extremely careful, but with his current power, she felt like she could kill him.

    Without warning, Mira unleashed her Paragon Wings and dropped in between him and the girls he was chasing.

    "Who-?!" Zander froze upon seeing the person he''d never forget for the rest of his life!

    "You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! IT''S YOU, YOU BITCH!!!"

    The man screamed, and his already bloodshot eyes seemed to turn a shade darker.

    "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID TO ME?!" Zander screamed like a demon, but Mira was indifferent to it all.

    "Who are you, and why are you calling for me?" Mira asked, just to mess with him.

    Just like she thought he''d react, she could see veins popping on his head.

    "DON''T FUCK WITH ME!! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO I AM!!"

    "Ah! That''s right! You''re that dumb bastard who tried to kill me a while back but failed miserably. Tch. Unfortunately, your shitty master got in the way before I could finish the job." Mira spoke in disdain.

    "ARRRRGH!! I''LL KILL YOU!!" Zander roared and charged at Mira like a beast, but she easily dodged him.

    "Tsk. Tsk. You need to try harder if you want to catch me, little beast." Mira said as she kept dodging his attacks.

    "STOP DODGING AND DIE!!" Zander roared as he flew up in the air and attacked.

    "It seems you''ve only gotten dumber since west met. Are you seriously asking me to die because you''re too ipetent to kill me? Pathetic." Mira spat in disgust, further angering Zander.

    Those words seemed to be the straw that broke the camel''s back as his eyes had now turnedpletely red in anger.

    "AURURURHGHGH!" He released some strange roar and began rampaging around, destroying everything in sight.

    However, Mira just released a slight smile as if everything was going ording to n.

 Chapter 479 An Elder Appears

    By the time Zander began rampaging around like a wild beast, all the disciples still alive had already left the area. They were all in the Core Formation Realm, so they knew they weren''t a match against him.

    They watched as Mira hovered in the sky, dodging all of his attacks effortlessly, but they couldn''t help but wonder why she was so intent on making him angry.

    "Isn''t she making things harder for herself by taunting him like that? Just look at how angry he is! He doesn''t seem like he''ll stop attacking until one of them dies!"

    "Don''t you think that''s her objective, though? The angrier he gets, the more rationality he loses. Although he looks stronger than before, aren''t his moves much simpler and easier to predict?"

    "You''re right! Even I could dodge some of those attacks despite his overwhelming power advantage. But then, how is she nning on killing him?"

    "Fool! Obviously, she''s not nning on killing him! We can all clearly tell she''s only at the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm. How could she kill someone who''s an entire Realm above her?! No, even if she had the ability, she''d have to use all her abilities and trump cards for a chance at winning. Did you forget that our mountain has been swarming with people from other powers?"

    "Hmph! While we can sit here discussing this fight, I really want to know how that guy even made it this far into our territory. Wasn''t our security supposed to have been increased?"

    Everyone fell into deep thought upon hearing that because she was right. The crux of the issue here was how that guy got so close to the Outer Court and killed so many disciples without alerting anyone.

    While they were thinking about this, Mira''s fight reached its climax. Mira was still dodging all his advances, showing no signs of counter-attacking, but not because she didn''t want to orcked the strength to do so.

    On the contrary, she very much wanted to kill this bastard, but like one of the girls mentioned, she''d have to go all for that to happen, and even then, the battle would take a while and attract tons of attention to herself.

    Attention she wasn''t quite ready to have.

    With all the rumors going around the Battle Maiden Sect right now, Mira didn''t want to expose her true strength to the world just yet.

    If she showed she had the power to kill someone an entire Realm above her, that would ce a giant target on her back, one she wasn''t confident in surviving.

    Therefore, Mira nned to have Zander make as much noise as possible to attract the attention of the Sect elders. Once one of them appears, they will stop Zander''s rampaging.

    Of course, she would much rather kill him with her own two hands, and she had the confidence in doing so; now wasn''t the right time.

    She could feel the eyes of numerous people on her that weren''t any of her fellow disciples.

    With this thought in mind, Mira kept dodging all of Zander''s strikes until the entire situation changed around 5 minutester.

    In the middle of the battlefield appeared a middle-aged woman. She had a deep frown on her face and exuded a murderous aura.

    "Is that�� Elder Sandra?!"

    "Elder Sandra''s here!!"

    "Finally! An Elder hase to resolve this problem!"

    That''s right! The Elder that appeared was Elder Sandra, who did not look happy at the moment.

    Suddenly, Zander felt a mountainous pressuree crashing down on him, wrapping around his body and preventing him from moving.

    "MMMMMFFFFMMMM!!"

    He tried screaming but couldn''t open his mouth.

    Mira smiled, seeing this scene, andnded on the ground not too far away from Elder Sandra.

    ''Took you long enough.'' Mira thought.

    "It seems these bastards from the Crimson yer Sect don''t like you, Brat. I wonder if they''re all impotent not to like a beautiful youngdy like you. Especially this idiot. What''d you do to make them so angry, steal all their resources or something?! Hahaha!" Elder Sandra chuckled, knowing it was the Sect Master who actually went and stole-*ahem* asked forpensation from them.

    "So he''s from the Crimson yer Sect, huh? Good to know. Anyways, it took you long enough to notice all themotion, Elder Sandra."<sub> </sub>

    Elder Sandra turned serious and didn''t bother correcting Mira''s rude behavior as she would also like to know how someone caused so much death and destruction in their own territory without her knowing.

    In fact, she wouldn''t have even known if someone didn''te barging into her residence to inform her!

    ? She searched his entire body, and her expression changed when she noticed a dark orb embedded in his chest.

    "To think this little boy would get his hands on the Orb of Deception! Where did he even get such an item? I didn''t know it was in the Crimson yer Sect''s hands. Or could it have been something else?" Elder Sandra ripped the orb out of his chest and began examining it.

    "Orb of Deception?" Mira asked while curiously looking at the orb.

    "That''s right. If I''m not mistaken, this should be a treasure called the Orb of Deception. The owner of this treasure will be able to escape detection formation and arrays, Soul Sense, and will be undetectable unless they make their presence known." Elder Sandra briefly exined.

    "That''s�� pretty amazing. A little too amazing for someone like him, if you ask me." Mira pointed out, and Elder Sandra couldn''t agree more.

    "You''re right, but you don''t need to worry about that right now. I''m going to take this-"

    Mira interrupted, "Actually, do you think I could apany you, Elder Sandra? I''m sure you know, but I have a grudge against this man, and I won''t be reconciled unless I remove his head with my own abilities."

    Elder Sandra stared deeply into Mira. She hadn''t gotten a proper look at her until now since most of her focus was on Zander, but she could feel that the Mira in front of her was a totally different girlpared to when she first entered the Sect.

    She could feel a deep, unfathomable power from within Mira that didn''t seem possible for someone at her cultivation level.

    This caused her to nod, impressed by her strength, but she couldn''t help but say, "Really? Although I admit that you''re much stronger than when you left, I don''t think you can kill this man with your current abilities."

    However, Mira nodded with a faint smile, "You''re right, my power is a bitckingpared to his, but I don''t think I''ll lose. When else would I be given such an opportunity to fight against someone who seems to be just beyond my limits?"

    Elder Sandra paused for a few seconds, then let out a boisterousugh, "HAHAHAHA! That''s right! This opportunity might note again! Very well, you can follow me back to my residence, and we can discuss this further. Now that I think about it, the Sect Master also wanted to have a conversation with you."

    "The Sect Master?" Mira was stunned, wondering why such a big shot was suddenly interested in her.

    "Yeah! Apparently, she had taken a liking to your friends Cine and�� that brat�� M.A.R.I.A." She couldn''t help but grit her teeth upon saying "Maria''s" name.

    Mira chuckled as she partly knew why Elder Sandra was so annoyed with Maria.

    "So, you''re the Senior Sister Sandra she was talking about."

    "SHUT UP! Don''t call me that!! Just thinking about that girl�� Ugh! It''s probably for the best if she stays in her little Healing Center! She might end up making both allies and enemies alike start killing themselves if she opened up that mouth of hers on the front lines!"

    Mira smiled and couldn''t agree more. Even she, someone who''s able to keep her emotions in check no matter the circumstances, can feel her control slipping whenever she talks to Maria.

    "Alright! Enough about that girl! Let''s go back to my residence!" Elder Sandra wrapped the three of them with her Qi and flew up into the sky.

    However, before she left, she looked at the surrounding disciples and said, "I will take this scum of a man back with me to extract any important information out of him. The other Elders and I will ensure another situation like this never happens again! For now, just return to the Outer Court and await further instructions. Your revenge wille soon enough, so just wait patiently, my fellow Battle Maiden disciples!!"

    "Yes, Elder Sandra!!"

    The disciples bowed and ran back to the Outer Court.

    Afterward, Elder Sandra, Mira, and Zander flew up the mountain to where one of Elder Sandra''s houses resided.

    It only took them a minute or so to appear outside a small hut in the middle of the mountains, about halfway between the Outer Court and Inner Court.

    "Wee to my humble abode!"

 Chapter 480 Mira Vs. Zander Part 1

    <o>,m When Mira appeared inside the hut, it was like she had entered an entirely different world. Contrary to what was seen on the outside, the inside of the ''hut'' was huge! Though, it seemed Elder Sandra kept the rustic aesthetic with the wooden walls and floors.</o>

    It looked like a countryside house a rich old person would stay in after retiring.

    ''That''s probably not too far off the mark.'' Mira chuckled inwardly, eyeing Elder Sandra.

    "Is this ce covered in an illusion or concealment array or something?" Mira asked.

    Elder Sandra wasn''t shocked by Mira''s sudden question and replied, "It''s an illusion array. There''s no need for a concealment array since there''s nothing important here. I only stay in this residence whenever I have to visit the Outer and Inner Courts frequently."

    Mira didn''t even need to look around much to know she was right. Other than thefortable and rxing atmosphere, there was nothing special about this ce.

    "Anyways, what are you going to do with him?" Mira pointed at Zander, whose maddened state worsened.

    "Originally, I was going to interrogate him to see if I could uncover any noteworthy information about the Crimson yer Sect, but it seems like his heart demon has corrupted his mind already. Though, it seems like you''re his heart demon. I wonder how that came to be?" Elder Sandra asked, curious as to what Mira did to make him end up in such a pitiful state.

    Mira just shrugged her shoulders and said nonchntly, "Well, since his shitty master appeared to save him, I had to leave a little present for the man who tried to kill me. I just didn''t expect his willpower to be so poor that he couldn''t even handle the brunt of my killing intent."

    Now, Elder Sandra''s curiosity was officially piqued, "Oh? That''s all it took? Now I''m curious as to just how fierce your killing intent is for it to make a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator go insane."

    While it sounded like Elder Sandra was asking out of pure curiosity, there seemed to be something deeper as well. However, Elder Sandra could be considered an old monster; thus, reading her emotions was incredibly difficult.

    "Why do you want to know?"

    "Facing someone''s killing intent is a great way to build willpower artificially. I''m sure you already know this, but killing intent is essentially a manifestation of all the lives you''ve taken and your resolve to keep reaping lives. It''s not as simple as just expressing your desire to kill."

    "Against someone with such tremendous killing intent is the same as facing a wall of death. However, new, sturdier walls appear with every life you''ve reaped, further increasing the necessary willpower to surpass them."

    Elder Sandra exined, and Mira nodded since she already knew all this.

    "So, you''re basically saying that depending on the intensity of my killing intent, it could be a great training tool," Miramented, causing Elder Sandra to chortle.

    "Exactly!"

    "Then, why don''t you and the other Elders do it?"

    "Eh? Do you really think we''re so free? Also, why should we do something so troublesome for free? You should also know how burdensome it can be to release your killing intent constantly."

    Mira nodded deeply, knowing full well how troublesome it was. Not just that, but without sufficient willpower, just suppressing one''s killing intent was hard enough!

    "Then you can probably imagine the consequences of having a Mortal Shedding Realm elder running amok in the Sect."

    Mira didn''t even want to think about it.

    "You''re right. Preferably, I wouldn''t want to die without even knowing how."

    "Hahahaha! Precisely! However, it''s fine if a weak little brat like you does it." Elder Sandraughed.

    "Hmph! Anyways, If you really want to know ''my resolve'', then I''ll show you during my fight with that guy." Mira pointed at Zander, and Elder Sandra''s expression turned strange.

    "Well, whatever. However, just know that if you are close to dying, I won''t save you. Even though it would be a huge loss to the Sect, this is what you wanted. Me interfering would be a huge insult to your resolve as a cultivator!" Elder Sandra said firmly, and Mira couldn''t agree more.

    In fact, she preferred it this way.

    The three made their way into the basement of the house, where arge room, at least several kilometers wide, appeared before them.

    Mira wordlessly looked at Elder Sandra, and the two nodded simultaneously. Then, Mira walked to the middle of the room, took out her scythe, and prepared herself.

    Elder Sandra gave Mira onest look before tossing Zander into the room. She then crossed her arms and proceeded to watch the battle unfold.

    As soon as he was free from Elder Sandra''s grasp, Zander released a howl filled with anger and malic.

    "ARRRRRGHRGRGRGRGRGR!"

    A dense amount of crimson qi appeared in one of his hands, creating a long sword that looked like it was made out of blood. At the same time, 4 bloody-red semi-illusory arms holding giant greatswords appeared out of his back.

    This,bined with his maniacal red eyes, almost made him appear as an asura.

    Mira didn''t want to be outdone and used her strongest ability, her Paragon Wings. She also partially activated her ''Perception Tail'' so her mind could fully keep up with his movements.

    Suddenly, the two seemingly disappeared from their positions.

    *ng!*

    Their weapons shed against each other, and Mira was pushed back a few tens of meters!<sub> </sub>

    ''Heavy!'' She couldn''t help butment in surprise.

    Just from that one sh, she could tell that his strength was above hers. However, that''s all he has going for him.

    "KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!"

    By now, his mind was already gone, and he was only acting purely on instinct.

    After pushing Mira back, Zander kept wildly charging at her, swinging his swords around. Since most of his attacks were extremely simple and easy to read, she had no problem deflecting them, but the power behind each of his attacks was still a problem.

    Aside from that, Mira also couldn''t find a way to close in and attack, despite his simplistic movements.

    Nevertheless, Mira still felt like she could win as long as she took the fight''s momentum from him. She still had plenty of cards up her sleeves that she hadn''t yed yet.

    Right now, she was just testing the waters, attempting to gauge Zander''s true strength. However, after going a few rounds with him, it became clear to her that this would be an easy win as long as he couldn''t react or instinctively predict her movements.

    Fortunately, Mika knows just the right martial art that''s perfect for this situation! She hadn''t spent several months constantly fighting seemingly impossible enemies in the Abyssal Battle Ladder for nothing, after all.

    The Chaos Body Martial Art! This,bined with the first move of her Boundless Scythe Technique-Atmospheric sh, should allow Mira to grasp victory!

    All of a sudden, the atmosphere and aura around Mira became harder to read andprehend, making her almost seem like a ghost going in and out of existence.

    Her footwork turned strange, the way her body moved waspletely different, and the areas she attacked were seemingly random.

    Elder Sandra raised both her eyebrows, and her eyes shone with interest as she watched Mira''s movements.

    ''What is she doing? Is that some kind of movement technique? No, it''s not just a movement technique. Every action she takes is seemingly random and chaotic, with no set patterns, yet at the same time, they seem calcted. How interesting! Show me more, Mira!''

    She was also slightly impressed by Mira''s Atmospheric sh, but she was much more excited about the Chaos Body Martial Arts.

    Zander, who was now unable toprehend Mira''s movements, was forced to go on the defensive after taking one Atmospheric sh after another.

    Wounds slowly started building up all over his body, which only seemed to fuel the hate and rage in his heart!

    "ROAR!!"

    A beastly roar left his mouth once he reached a breaking point and his aura grew!

    6th Stage Nascent Soul Realm.

    7th Stage Nascent Soul Realm.

    8th Stage Nascent Soul Realm.

    His body grew, and his muscles bulged in tandem with his raging aura, but Mira could tell he was sacrificing his lifespan for this burst in power.

    However, this didn''t make her feel any better. Although his realm of power was forced and temporary, he had still be much more powerful. He could also probably stay in his current state for a while since a Nascent Soul Realm''s lifespan isn''t exactly short.

    With how young he looked, Zander definitely had thousands of years of lifespan at his disposal if he was really ready to give it all away.

    Still, she wasn''t too worried, even with his newfound increase in power.

    "Did you perhaps lose even more brain cells after using such a suicidal technique?! Just because you became bigger and uglier doesn''t mean you can suddenly beat me!" Mira yelled whileunching a flurry of feathers at him from her Paragon Wings!

    *Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

    "ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!" Zander screamed in anger as the feathers exploded after prating his skin.

    Chunks of flesh separated his body and covered the ground, but he just used more of his lifespan to heal his wounds quickly.

    Mira opened her arms wide provocatively while hovering in the air and said, "Come at me."

    So, that''s exactly what Zander did! He lowered his stance, flexing his muscles, then exploded out with power, flying toward Mira at supersonic speeds!

    *Boom!*

    He instantly closed in on Mira and swung all of his swords, but Mira didn''t move. She just watched all this happen with a bloodthirsty smile on her face.

    When the swords collided with her body��

    *Poof!*

    She exploded into a mist, shocking both Zander and Elder Sandra!

 Chapter 481 Mira Vs. Zander Part 2

    Ever since Mira left the Sect, she''s been thinking about how to use the powers of her tails effectively. In particr, she wanted to fully understand the practicality of some of her more ''useless'' tails.

    The one that caught her attention the most was her White Tail, the Blizzard Tail. This one is probably the mostplex of everything in her arsenal, even when considering her charm and illusions tails.

    It can reduce an enemy''s eyesight while boosting Mira''s senses and dimming her presence. She can even meld into the blizzard domain and teleport in it at will! All of this within the power of one tail is simply amazing!

    However, over thest few months, Mira has learned that her tails aren''t as amazing as she initially thought.

    Actually, that''s not entirely correct. The powers of her tails are incredibly overpowered, but the problem is that they don''t scale with her Qi Cultivation. Neither the energy contained within them nor the physical strength of her tails increases much whenever she makes a breakthrough.

    Sure, just like the rest of her body, their physical and energy attributes do increase, but it''s not enough to keep up with her current power. Perhaps only her golden tail, whose strength corresponds to Mira''s physical body, can keep up with her growth, but even that will fall off once she breaks through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Then, how can she use her tails when their power isn''t increasing at the same rate as her growth?

    The answer is simple! She just needs to supplement their power with her own Qi!

    While the two energies don''t intermix, Mira didn''t need that. She has all these affinities; if she can''t use them properly, what''s the point of having them?!

    With a *Poof*, Mira''s body exploded into an icy mist right as Zander''s swords were about to hit her. This icy mist quickly increased in size until it reached 15 meters in diameter, then the mist began to change.

    It became denser and denser, turning into a blizzard that swirled around Mira, filled with ice shards that were sharp enough to tear apart anyone who dared to enter.

    She didn''t allow Zander any time to react, shing at the only arm not holding a sword, then utilizing the blizzard domain, teleported right behind Zander.

    Due to the difference in cultivation, Zander could sense that Mira was behind him, but because everything happened simultaneously, he couldn''t react.

    *Swish!*

    "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!*

    Thus, Zander ended up losing an arm.

    It wasn''t a huge loss, considering he still had his other arm and the four illusory blood-red arms behind him, but it did hamper his ability.

    She could''ve gone for the head or his sword-wielding arm, but even with the aspect of surprise on her side, she wasn''t confident in removing his head or that arm. He''s someone who is at the 8th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, after all, even if it was forced.

    Therefore, she went for the guaranteed attack! Having one less arm would still make things easier on her.

    Zander roared in rage, and Mira seriously doubted he could get any angrier. He swiftly turned around and attacked with all 5 of his swords, but Mira had already teleported behind him. This time, aiming for his other arm!

    Since Zander hadpletely lost his mind and every attack contained his full power, there was a split-second in between every attack that he used to regain the momentum of his onught.

    Mira used this to her advantage when she appeared behind him again and was able to take his second arm without him being able to do anything!

    Thatst teleportation used up the rest of the energy within her ''Blizzard Tail''. However, the blizzard was still going strong! She lost all the abilities her ''Blizzard Tail'' provided, but that wasn''t a huge loss.

    Zander was strong enough to ignore most of the effects, but that was never Mira''s reason for using this tail, to begin with.

    ''Now, I can begin unleashing the real potential of this blizzard domain!'' Mira thought with a smile.

    Zander might have lost both arms, but she still didn''t dare to underestimate him. Her n was to take him down as systematically as possible. There was no need for her to trade injuries with every attack. That would be foolish, especially when she''s up against a mindless beast.

    No, calling him that would be an insult to mindless beasts! At least they still had a semnce of intelligence and could rely on their instincts, but this man�� This man was just recklessly charging at her like a puppet without a will.

    If she had to trade blow for blow with such a man, then all the experience she''s umted until now might as well be worthless!<sub> </sub>

    Mira smiled and integrated the feathers of her Paragon Wings into the blizzard! If everything went ording to n, her feathers would hit him and explode before he could even realize what was going on!

    Like the mindless puppet he is, Zander just charged at Mira, barely even realizing he had lost both of his arms, and just as Mira expected, he ran into many of her Paragon Wing feathers swirly around in the blizzard!

    *Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

    The blizzard began turning red from all the blood, and Mira even noticed chunks of flesh circling her. However, she just kept running around, staying as far away from Zander as she possibly could while dodging his attacks.

    However, Zander kept sacrificing his lifespan to heal his injuries, making him seem like an immortal! The man didn''t even bother protecting his body! He was a fucking maniac!

    She could feel his lifespan decreasing, but he could probably still go on for at least another hour or two at this rate.

    Suddenly, after about a minute of being bombarded, Zander stopped, and his entire atmosphere changed. A dense bloody crimson aura began emitting from his body, which turned into threads. These threads then shot in every direction, piercing everything in their path!

    Mira didn''t expect this kind of attack and was fortunate enough to have only her legs, arms, tails, and upper abdomen pierced. Maybe if she still had the body of a human, these would be serious injuries, but to the current her, they''re nothing much.

    However, Mira quickly realized that although she wasn''t badly hurt, she might end up severely injured if she wanted to get out of this situation alive.

    The threads that Zander released were still pierced through her body and had stuck to the wall behind her. Thus, to get out of this situation, she''d either have to forcibly remove the threads from her body or try and cut them. But seeing that Zander was about to charge at her, she didn''t have time to try and cut them!

    She needed to move!

    Therefore, she grabbed hold of the threads and ripped them out of her body, yanking out chunks of flesh, blood, and bone, then quickly repositioned herself while ensuring she didn''t run into any more threads.

    Her dense, viscous blood, which had be icy blue mixed with tinges of red and gold due to her evolution, leaked out of her body, but she never released a sound of pain.

    Zander had now regained the momentum in the fight, and the entire battlefield changed. Due to this, although Mira was able to dodge, she wasn''t able to get out unscathed.

    He had swung his four remaining swords in all directions, sessfully removing more chunks of flesh from Mira''s body.

    Mira could feel her body working in overdrive, trying to heal her as quickly as possible, but her wounds were bad enough that they''d take at least a few days to recover, even with Maria''s [Tranedent Restoration] technique.

    Fortunately, her vitality was extremely high, so she wasn''t in immediate danger of dying, but that wouldn''t be the case forever. Death will approach her if she doesn''t heal her body soon.

    However, Zander was in an even worse position. His lifespan couldn''t recreate his severed arms, and he used up many years of his lifespan just to stop the bleeding.

    They stared at each other from a distance for a few seconds, almost as if they had a prior agreement, before immediately jumping back into action.

    Mira learned her lesson with that previous attack and didn''t dare to take Zander head-on. He was just too strong! Any one of his strikes was enough to severely injure or even kill her! But that didn''t mean her strategy had changed; she just needed to be more careful.

    She ran around the battlefield, filling up the space between the threads with ice to increase her mobility whileunching Atmospheric shes. Right now, those attacks were the only thing that could be a threat to Zander if he let them carelessly hit his body.

    It seems Zander''s subconscious also realized this and was forced to dodge or block those attacks.

    The battle raged on for a few more minutes, but it seemed Zander''s patience had run out.

    Mira gasped as she could feel his lifespan dropping at an elerated rate while his power increased exponentially!

    "This crazy bastard!!"

    Even Elder Sandra felt this situation was getting ridiculous.

    "This is why I hate those brainless monkeys from the Unorthodox Faction! Sigh�� Even if he kills her, he''ll be nothing more than a dried-up corpse afterward!"

 Chapter 482 Mira Vs. Zander Part 3

    Watching Zander give up his life for a momentary increase in power, Elder Sandra had the urge to step in and stop the fight. Mira had basically won at this point. Zander was going to die after this battle; that was a fact.

    However, she immediately decided against doing anything. Just like she said before the battle started, she wasn''t going to intervene even if Mira was going to die.

    It''s not like Mira''s death was guaranteed, either. All Mira has to do is survive, and Zander will eventually die. Still, Elder Sandra felt that it was a pity that Mira would most likely die here today.

    ''If things look terrible and she''s really about to die, I''ll step in. I can''t just let such a talented disciple perish because some idiot decided to kill himself for power.'' Elder Sandra said inwardly, preparing to intervene at a moment''s notice.

    On the other hand, Mira couldn''t help but release a wry smile.

    ''It seems I underestimated this bastard''s resolve to kill me. Or maybe this is my punishment for not killing him when he first attacked me? I guess it doesn''t really matter. One of us has to die here today, and it sure as hell isn''t going to be me.'' Mira shrugged.

    ''But do you really think I''ll just sit idly by, watching you power up?''

    Now that Zander was using his lifespan to increase his strength rapidly, Mira couldn''t just sit and do nothing.

    To be honest, even Mira was uncertain if she could kill him without using her ck tail, which is something she''d like to avoid. Losing another 10% of her lifespan didn''t sound all that appealing. She was also unsure if she''d ever regain her lost lifespan.

    In fact, she wasn''t entirely sure that this lifespan would return even if she broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm!

    If it were a permanent loss of lifespan, even across cultivation realms, then she''d be better off going about life as if she only had eight tails!

    ''Fortunately, I''m notpletely helpless in this situation. You''re even kind enough to give me time to prepare.'' Mira thought with an excited smile.

    "Elder Sandra, I''m about to do something rather�� dangerous. If you''re not careful, even you might be in danger." Mira said with sincerity.

    "Hmph! Brat, do you seriously think you can injure me with your measly power? But�� if you really are capable of such a feat, I''ll give you something nice." Elder Sandra snorted but was excited nheless.

    Mira was much stronger than she had originally thought and proved herself as an incredible talent! Thus, when Mira said she was going to do something that might injure her, she couldn''t help but be exhrated.

    However, Mira was seriously underestimating the power of someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm. Not only that, but she was someone who could fight beings at a higher stage! If a Core Formation Realm kid could injure her, she wouldn''t be worthy of being an Elder of the Battle Maiden Sect!

    ''Show me what you got, kid!''

    Mira''s closed her eyes, reaching to the deepest parts of herself until she touched upon her Absolute Ice Dao. While enigmatic and ethereal, one''s Dao is a fundamental part of one''s existence. Touching upon this mysterious power is the same as touching the core of your being.

    Thus, when Mira connected with her Absolute Ice Dao, her atmosphere and aura instantly changed!

    The once partially seductive, indifferent, and murderous Mira was gone and reced by a cold, condescending, emotionless aura.

    An ice crown with six different colored gems manifested above Mira''s head, and as soon as she was crowned, an icy aura filled the entire room!

    *Swoosh!*

    The surrounding walls, floor, and ceiling started to ice over, but that wasn''t all. The surrounding air and Qi were beginning to crystallize into ice as well! All of which fell under Mira''s rule!

    Mira could hardly believe the amount of power that was currently at her fingertips! Thest time she used this ability was back in the Secret Realm to capture an Ice Elemental Essence, and she didn''t feel nearly as powerful back then as she does now.

    With a wave of her hand, a throne of ice appeared behind her.

    Sitting on the throne, Mira clenched her hand, and all of Zander''s threads, which were covered in ice, exploded!

    She turned her attention back to Zander, who had also finished powering up, and said, "Let''s finish this, shall we?"<sub> </sub>

    Zander didn''t seem to hear Mira''s words as he shook off the ice growing on him andunched toward Mira.

    If any other person at the Core Formation Realm were in Mira''s position, Zander''s movements would''ve been so fast that he would have disappeared in their eyes, but Mira was different. Her perception was enhanced, and she had nearly the entire room under her control.

    Mira waved her hand, and numerous ice hooks tied to chains came flying out of walls, prating Zander''s body!

    "RRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRR!" He roared like a wild beast, trying to destroy the hooks, which took a few hits even with his power. However, every time he destroyed one, another would take its ce, causing his charge toe to a halt.

    Meanwhile, Mira formed a massive ice spear above her head to take down Zander once and for all. Once she almostpleted the ice spear, Mira activated her icy-blue tail, increasing her affinity by 400% for the next 5 seconds.

    Finally, Mira unleashed all her killing intent to fulfill her promise to Elder Sandra!

    *OOOOHHHMMM*

    A bloody aura thick enough to touch filled the entire room and even threatened to spill out of Elder Sandra''s house and onto the rest of the mountain!

    The aura then transformed into what looked like a battlefield, but this was no ordinary battlefield. Even the most horrific wars in this Mortal World''s history could hardlypare to the scene in front of them.

    Rivers of blood, mountains of mangled corpses, even the earth had turned red due to all the blood! No, if one were to look closely, the ground wasn''t made of dirt and stone but more bodies, which had been ground down into a powder by the blood and bodies above them.

    Atop the tallest corpse mountain sat a beautiful fox woman with crimson eyes on an ice throne, who looked down, indifferent to all the bloodshed.

    Zander, witnessing this scene, felt a primal fear build up deep within his heart. Back then, when Mira had pressured him with the brunt of her killing intent, he had already partially lost his mind due to fear, causing a heart demon to appear.

    However, this time it was much worse! It was like the weight of Mira''s sins were ced onto his body and soul,pletely shattering his will to live. Even the heart demon controlling him had difficulty fighting off the fear he felt within his soul.

    Elder Sandra stood by the side, frozen at what appeared before her. Part of her was frightened, but she''s someone who has lived for many millennia and has gone through all sorts of hardships. Something of this level wasn''t enough to shake her mind or spirit.

    Rather than being frightened by Mira''s killing intent, she was more afraid of her as a person.

    ''Did I just idently allow a bloodthirsty demon to enter our Sect? Someone capable of killing this many people and living life like usual is definitely insane and inhumane! There''s got to be billions of bodies here, and even then, I feel like that''s an understatement!'' Such thoughts crossed Elder Sandra''s mind as she couldn''tprehend how someone could even kill that many beings!

    If someone were ughtering billions of beings on the Western Continent, that person would be hunted down and killed by every major and minor power on the continent! So, then, how could someone as weak and young as Mira kill so many people without anyone noticing? Elder Sandra didn''t understand.

    Suddenly, she heard Mira''s slightly hoarse yet demonically charming voice from atop the corpse mountain. She looked up and saw herzily pointing at Zander.

    "Die knowing you are just another number, another body, added to the mountain of corpses beneath my feet. Your life was insignificant, and your death even more so. However, you can take sce in the fact that at least your death will be a stepping stone for my growth." Mira waved her hand,unching the ice spear.

    "Now, begone."

    Mira''s voice fell as the ice spear prated Zander''s body, destroying everything from the chest down.

    Mira calmly watched as the man tried screaming out in pain and rage but couldn''t because he had lost 90% of his body.

    Mira waited until the life in his eyes eventually disappeared, then canceled and retracted all her abilities, returning the room to normal.

    Mira turned her attention to Elder Sandra as a heavy silence formed between the two, but Mira just lightly smiled, sending a shiver down the elder''s spine.

    "It seems I wasn''t able to injure you, huh? What a shame."

 Chapter 483 Disciple?

    [Congrattions, Sessor Mira XXXX, for exterminating your first challenger and obtaining the right to choose one item from the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life as long it''s avable within your Abyssal Torment Steps rank.]

    Mira paused when she heard the F.LD.I.L and had to prevent a smile from appearing on her face.

    ''Finally!''

    The reason why Mira wanted to fight and kill Zander so badly was precisely for this reason. She remembered the Guardian telling her that the F.LD.I.L would asionally pick opponents for her to fight, and she''ll be rewarded for defeating them.

    ''There are so many items to choose from, especially now that I also have 5,000 Abyssal Battle Ladder Points. I wonder what I should purchase?'' Mira thought, but she already had an idea of what she should buy.

    However, her options have opened up a bit now after receiving this kind of reward.

    ''I should probably spend more time in the Abyssal Torment Step so I can unlock more items.'' She thought and couldn''t help but feel a shiver run down her spine. If there was any ce she was afraid of in this world, it was definitely that staircase.

    "You should know that even if you go in and raise your rank now, the options for what you can use your reward on won''t change. Only the items at your current Abyssal Torment Steps rank will be free." The Guardian chimed in.

    Mira''s eyes twitched slightly, ''And why didn''t you tell me this sooner?''

    "Hmph! You looked like you were busy, and I believed it''d be better not to bother you! So, instead of getting angry, you should be thankful I didn''t burden you with such knowledge until now!"

    Mira felt it would be better to ignore him because he was partly right. She really didn''t have the time to dedicate an unknown amount of time to the Abyssal Torment Steps. Also, the things she wants to buy are already avable to her.

    Therefore, rather than wasting her time on a shameless old man, she decided to use her time more wisely.

    "What''d I say, Elder Sandra? I told you I could kill him. Though I must say, I had no idea the Unorthodox Faction had such�� crude techniques. Are they all like that?" Mira asked nonchntly.

    Elder Sandra was about to respond, but she realized Mira was in horrible condition. Her face was pale as a sheet, chunks of flesh were missing from multiple parts of her body, she had countless gashes that reached her bones, and she could even see her organs in some spots.

    Yet, what truly baffled Elder Sandra was how slowly Mira''s blood leaked from her body. It was almost like her blood was sentient, and was reluctant to leave! Of course, that was impossible, but it proved just how dense and full of vigor her blood was.

    Suddenly, before she could say anything, a beautiful woman with ashy-colored hair, violet eyes, and a mysterious aura appeared in front of Mira!

    ''WHAT?!'' Mira froze, and her mind went nk for a second.

    ''Was this woman watching the entire time?! How did I not know?! How many more beings on this continent can escape my senses?!'' Mira internally screamed, feeling less and less confident in her abilities.

    "That was quite the impressive fight. Although that man had lost his rationality and merely behaved like a mindless drone, his power was undeniable. I''d even go so far as to say that toward the end there, he could''ve almost matched the power of a Rank 8 Beast or Stage 1 Soul Transformation Realm cultivator. It''s truly amazing that someone at the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm can unleash so much power." Aelina, the Battle Maiden Sect''s Sect Master, said, then turned around to look at Elder Sandra.

    "Sorry to drop by unannounced like this, Senior Sister Sandra. I just had a hunch that something interesting was about to happen and came to check it out, and I wasn''t disappointed." Aelina teased, causing Elder Sandra''s face to turn bright red in shame.

    "Please don''t tease me, Sect Master! All the other Elders have been making fun of me ever since word got out about that little shit-ahem brat Maria calling me her Senior Sister. Anyways, you are wee to visit this ce anytime you wish. That is your right as the Sect Master, after all." Elder Sandra bowed, trying to hide her embarrassment.

    ''Sect Master?'' Mira was bemused but kept staring nkly at the two women, not knowing how to react.

    "Fufufu~ That little girl sure is amusing. Alright, enough about that." Aelina waved her hand and turned her attention to Mira, "I''m assuming you''re Mira, right? I''ve heard a little bit about you, but you''re much more impressive in person."

    Mira raised her guard and nodded slightly. She didn''t like having her secrets exposed without her even knowing. Elder Sandra watching her duel against Zander is one thing, as it is inevitable, and her personality is rtively straightforward. But Mira didn''t feelfortable around someone who could spy on her without her ever knowing.<sub> </sub>

    "Oh! Pardon me. Where are my manners? My name is Aelina Verlice, and I''m the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect." Aelina cupped her fist as a greeting.

    Mira quickly regained her wits and cupped her hands as well. "It''s nice to meet you in person, Sect Master Aelina. Just like you said, my name is Mira. I heard from Elder Sandra that you wanted to talk to me.

    Aelina raised an eyebrow sensing the distrust, vignce,ck of respect, and prideful nature in Mira''s attitude, posture, and greeting, but she wasn''t offended. On the contrary, she''d find it weird if Mira wasn''t any of those things.

    From this one interaction alone, coupled with the fight she had just witnessed, Aelina coulde to a decent understanding of Mira''s personality.

    ''It seems she''s pretty honest despite being distrusting and cynical. Status and power don''t invoke reverence, and she thinks quite highly of herself, so highly that she seems to hold no fear standing in front of me. I wonder what makes her so prideful. Is it her talent? Hard-work? Experiences? Ambitions? Or maybe a mixture of both? Well, I guess it doesn''t matter. As long as I''m sincere, I''ll be able to earn her trust; that much is obvious.'' While Aelina was analyzing Mira, thetter was going the same.

    ''She''s quite a mysterious person. Her expressions are hard to read, and her aura is weird, but I don''t think she''s a bad person. From how Elder Sandra looks at her, she''s clearly a great leader, at least in the eyes of the Elders. Also, with how the Sect is run, I feel her true personality isn''t much different than mine. She''s just a better and more experienced leader than me.''

    "You''re correct, Mira. I had wanted to talk with you, but you were already gone when I heard about you. I''m d you have made it back safely and much more powerful than you were around 6 months ago."

    "I''m d I made it back safely, as well." Mira nodded.

    "Truthfully, I thought about sending a search party after you upon hearing of your disappearance, but I rejected the thought since you were an unknown kid who had just entered the Sect. However, I was able to scam the Crimson yer Sect because of you, so you have my gratitude for that, Mira. Hahaha~" Aelina chuckled, and Mira smiled slightly as well, but Elder Sandra didn''t seem amused.

    "It seems like they''re the golden goose of the Battle Maiden Sect." Mira then pointed at Zander''s corpse, "That guy over there was kind enough to bring us an Orb of Deception. Who knows what other unique items they have stored away in a vault somewhere."

    "Oh? How generous! Maybe I should go knock out their Sect Master to see what kind of goodies he''s hiding in his spatial ring." Aelina pped with a smile.

    "Sect Master!! How can you say something like that so carelessly?! Doing that could start a war between our two Sects! No, it might even warrant a war between Factions!" Elder Sandra cried out.

    Aelina nonchntly waved her hand, "Now, now, Sandra. You know I wouldn''t do something like that."

    Elder Sandra almost sighed in relief, but Aelina kept talking.

    "There''d be no fun in that. It''d only be interesting if somehow I forced him to hand over his spatial ring and everything in it!"

    Elder Sandra''s mouth went agape, and she wasn''t sure what to say.

    ''The Sect Master isn''t usually like this!'' She turned to Mira, ''Don''t tell me she''s trying to catch this girl''s interest�� That can''t be�� right?''

    Mira was also wondering why Aelina was so easygoing with her words, but she wasn''t dissatisfied. One of the things she hates most in a person is when they somehow feel superior to others just because of their status.

    Strength? Mira can partially understand that as that''s tangible and real. She''s not a fan when the strong bully the weak, but she can at least understand it, especially in this cultivation world. To a certain degree, the strong here can be considered superior to the weak.

    However, when someone throws around their status to make themselves FEEL superior, that''s what Mira can''t stand.

    Therefore, Mira''s opinion of Aelina rose because she wasn''t unconsciously distancing herself from Mira because she''s stronger and higher in status. She''s behaving like a semi-normal person.

    "Enough about that. The reason I showed myself today to you, Mira, instead of waiting until you be an Inner Court Disciple, is because of how amazing you performed in your fight against that Crimson yer Sect boy. There are many things I want to discuss with you, but it all boils down to one thing."

    "Be my disciple, Mira!"

 Chapter 484 Status

    Elder Sandra and Mira were bewildered by Aelina''s statement and weren''t quite sure how to react. However, Mira was much calmer as she didn''t even need to think about her response, but she was curious why Aelina would suddenly say such a thing on their first meeting. She doubted things were so simple.

    "Why?"

    Aelina''s eyes quivered for a split second before she smiled, "Who wouldn''t want a disciple as talented as you?"

    Those words might''ve been enough to fool a simpleton, but Mira wasn''t that stupid.

    "Then, what can you offer me that I don''t already have? What can you teach me that I won''t be able to figure out myself? Just like you said, I''m extremely talented, right? Then, why do I need you?" Mira ruthlessly questioned, not giving the Sect Master any face, but she didn''t care.

    Everything she asked was legitimate questions. Her Cultivation Technique is unique. She already has an amazing External Body Cultivation Technique, and Inner Body Cultivation Techniques are unique to each person and race. She''s learned Martial and Scythe Intent by herself. With the FLDIL, she can buy unique resources. She''d rather create new techniques and abilities suitable for her without anyone else''s interference.

    There''s also the Guardian. As unreliable as he is, he''s still a godlike being with infinitely more experience and wisdom than Aelina.

    Thus, why did she need to subservient herself to someone whose power she''ll eventually reach and surpass so long as she doesn''t die?

    None. There''s no reason.

    "Arrogant brat! How dare you speak to the Sect Master like that?! You should be on y-" Elder Sandra rebuked Mira, but Aelina waved her hand to stop her from saying something she shouldn''t.

    On the other hand, Aelina felt irritation budding inside her at being questioned by a junior, but she wasn''t the Sect Master of one of the strongest Sects on the Western Continent for nothing.

    "I can assist you in creating unique techniques for yourself, improve your Qi control, offer you resources you wouldn''t be able to receive alone, and your status would be unmatched among your generation. Essentially, you will receive the best this continent has to offer without reserve, and I''ll put my all into making you a powerhouse of the Sect."

    Mira stared at Aelina for a moment before responding with a sigh.

    "Sigh�� Sect Master Aelina, I think there''s a misunderstanding. I don''t need any of that; if I did, I would get it myself. I''m not trying to look down on your or anything. In fact, I genuinely think me and you could get along quite well. I like this Sect and am impressed by the way it''s managed. From what I''ve seen, you seem like a good leader, and I am even willing to help the Battle Maiden Sect in times of need."

    Mira paused, and by this point, Elder Sandra''s face had turned red in rage, but Aelina kept her quiet and listened to Mira''s speech without interrupting. A part of her had the urge to force Mira into a discipleship, but for some reason, she sensed indescribable danger when that thought crossed her mind.

    She felt she would be thrown into the deepest darkest pits of hell if she were to go through with that idea. It was at that moment she understood.

    ''Something or someone is protecting her��someone much, much stronger than me. What a pity, but oh well.'' Aelina thought.

    Mira continued, "But I can''t and won''t subservient myself to another no matter the benefits. Even if you offered me the world, I still wouldn''t agree. What''s the point of cultivating if you don''t forge your own path? For those who follow a set path, there wille a day when they will reach their limit. On that day, they''ll realize how foolish they were to have followed someone else''s path. I do not want to be that person. Therefore, I have to decline your offer."

    After having said all that, Mira smirked.

    "Though, it seems there''s another reason why you asked me to be your disciple, other than me being talented."

    Aelina pondered over Mira''s words for a few moments, then suddenly started chuckling.<sub> </sub>

    "Fufufu~ Hehehe~ HAHAHAHA~~ To think I was seen through by someone so young! You are really bold, Mira! If you said that to anyone else, they would have already removed your head from your body."

    Mira just shrugged her shoulders upon hearing that.

    "Well, you aren''t wrong. Wanting to take you in a disciple would be the icing on the cake and would make the future slightly more straightforward if you were. Just forget I ever brought up the topic of you being my disciple. What I really want is to make you the Prime Disciple or Holy Maiden of the Sect, whatever title you prefer."

    "Prime disciple?" Mira asked curiously.

    Aelina nodded, "That''s right. I''m sure you''ve heard that the Sect has Trial, Outer, Inner, Core, and finally, Direct Disciples. However, there''s one tier above all of those: Prime Disciple. This status gives you nearly all the authority an Elder has but more freedom and autonomy. However, you will have to do a few things for the Sect in return for this status."

    Aelina paused, allowing Mira to soak this information in before continuing, "You''ll be the face of the Sect shown to the public. You must be there for any events involving our Sect and other major powers. You will have to take on missions that bring significant long and short-term benefits to the Sect. You have to participate in all Continental Tournaments. However, conversely, this also means you will have first priority to enter ancient ruins, inheritances, unique locations, etc."

    Mira silently contemted Aelina''s proposition for a while, but she was extremely hesitant to agree. Although the benefits sounded amazing, as she''d have the full support of the Battle Maiden Sect, she was also restricted by this.

    There were still many ces she wanted to go, like the other continents, and she might be away from the Sect for years at a time. Not to mention, she has no ns on staying in this Mortal Realm all her life. She still needed to kill the bastard who''s made her suffer for so long!

    There wille a time when she will eventually have to leave the Battle Maiden Sect, whether they like it or not.

    On the flip side, if she were to ept a position such as being the Holy Maide, Prime Disciple, or whatever, she wouldn''t choose any other Sect or Power other than the Battle Maiden Sect. This is a ''safe'' space for women who want to pursue strength above all else.

    The disciples normally keep to themselves, but they are still rtively nice people. She hadn''t seen anything like ''in-fighting'' among the disciples either, not counting duels.

    Individual strength determines one''s status in the Sect. However, what Mira liked the most about the Sect is that while everything is based on strength andbat power, it''s not an elitist society.

    There are countless ways for a weaker person to be strong as long as they puts in the effort. Even if they can''t be strong, there are still ways for them to be useful, and they are kicked out if they be useless.

    The Sect doesn''t need dead weight, which is most likely why the attitudes of everyone in the Sect are so serious. Lording over people like a tyrant isn''t an option. While one can have subordinates or form their own groups, that has nothing to do with one''s status.

    Mira shared all her concerns with Aelina, but thetter didn''t seem surprised.

    "Well, of course, you''d eventually leave the Sect. I''m not shameless enough to try and hold someone back just because they might be useful for the Sect! Once you''ve fulfilled your duty and fulfilled your role, you can do whatever you want. Everyone here is always striving to reach a taller mountain. That''s the foundation of the Sect.

    Mira was slightly surprised by Aelina''s answer because a normal Sect would try and tie Mira down with as much bullshit as possible to prevent her from leaving. Therefore Mira couldn''t help but be a bit skeptical, but she wasn''t going to waste her and Aelina''s time by being doubtful.

    Everything about this Sect was to Mira''s liking, and there were hardly any downsides to epting Aelina''s proposition, but Aelina still hadn''t answered her original question.

    "Why? You still haven''t told me why you need ME for this. This is the first time we''ve met, and without even getting to know each other, you suddenly want me to be this ''Prime Disciple''? This whole situation feels extremely rushed, and I''d like you to exin why before I make any decisions."

    Aelina''s indifferent face changed slightly to reveal a bitter look upon hearing Mira''s words, "Well, I guess it''s alright for me to tell you. With your talent and mindset, you''ll eventually run into this problem that everyone on the Western Continent, regardless of status, faces."

 Chapter 485 Decision

    "You are most likely unaware of this, but the Central Continent is the only ce in the world where one can break through to the Ascension Realm." Mira was stunned by this information, but Aelina continued, "This is because only the Central Continent has the specific energy necessary to break through to the final Realm of the mortal world."

    "Does that mean the Ascension Realm uses an energy other than Qi?" Mira questioned.

    "Yes and no. From what I know, you need to use something called Origin Qi, otherwise known as Immortal Qi, to break through. Unfortunately, that''s all I know, so take it with a grain of salt." Aelina shook her head ruefully, "Here''s the problem with this. The Central Continent ispletely blocked off from the rest of the world. I''m not sure how they did it, but nobody is allowed in or out of the Central Continent without authorization. Not even I, the Sect Master, cannot go through without permission from the Central Continent''s higher-ups."

    Mira scowled and was surprised they were able to block off an entire continent from the rest of the world.

    "How does this pertain to me being this Sect''s Prime Disciple?" Mira asked, tired of Aelina''s roundabout exnations.

    "I''m getting there," Aelina smiled and continued her story, "However, going against the entire world is impossible, even for those in the Ascension Realm. If the whole world, including all the beasts, teamed up, we would be able to storm the Central Continent. I don''t know if we''d be able to take over, but we can, at the very least, cause them to waste thousands of years of resources. The formations, arrays, talismans, etc. that they use to protect the Continent aren''t free, after all.

    "Therefore, instead of allowing the other Continents and beast ns to team up against them, the Central Continent decided it''d be better for us to be against each other. So, every 100 years, they hold a tournament involving the younger generation of every major power worldwide, including those on the Central Continent. The Top 3 Powers in thepetition will not only receive numerous benefits but will also receive authorization to relocate and stay on the Central Continent until the nextpetition." Aelina finished exining, and Mira didn''t even have to think to understand the results of such apetition.

    "Let me guess. The Central Continent Powers take the Top 3 ces in everypetition."

    Aelina sneered at herment, "Just the Top 3? No, they even take up all the Top 10 spots! There''s not even a chance for the rest of us. The only ones who can get even remotely close are the beast ns on the outer Continents, but even they are still outdone. The Central Continent''s environment is just too good for raising cultivators!"

    Mira gawked at Aelina, hardly believing what she had just said!

    "What the-! How are you guys so useless that you can''t even enter the Top 10?"

    Aelina sighed,pletely understanding Mira''s point of view.

    "Sigh�� To make a long story short, the Central Continent is a veryplex ce, and the powers there are even more so. It''s hard to put into words, but I guess a simple exnation would be that it''s like a perpetual battlefield."

    Mira''s eyes lit up, feeling enlightened. Now, so many things started making sense.

    Qi, although sometimes seen as omnipresent, isn''t unlimited. However, on the Central Continent, thousands, perhaps millions, of talents are using this limited resource. Obviously, the density of Qi would decrease rapidly over time, and there wouldn''t be enough left for the people at the top to use. This shortage would then trickle down to the lower-level cultivators until there was no more Qi to use.

    So, then how would one go aboutbating this issue? Decrease the number of people using said resources.

    What''s the best and most efficient way to do that? To kill them, of course. However, for the deaths to impact the Continent''s environment, countless strong people would need to die. This wouldn''t just be limited to the younger generation either. Mira could see even those at the peak of this world eyeing to kill each other!

    Therefore, Mira could easily assume that geniuses died left and right on the Central Continent, serving as nutrients for the survivors. This way of life is extremely brutal, but the ones left standing would be invincible! They would be supreme geniuses with tons of battle experience and the best resources avable! What other major power outside of the Central Continent couldpete with that?

    "No wonder only the beast ns are the only ones who coulde close to entering the Top 10," Mira muttered out loud. Aelina was surprised by her statement but didn''t take it to heart.

    ''She''s still underestimating the brutality of the Central Continent.'' She thought but didn''t correct Mira''s misunderstanding.

    It''s impossible to put into words just how crazy it is over there.<sub> </sub>

    "Alright, I think I got the gist of it now. You want me to be the Battle Maiden Sect''s Prime Disciple, so you can pump resources into me without reservation, hoping I earn us a stop in the Top 3?" Mira asked, finally knowing the full details behind Aelina''s proposition.

    "Correct, but you should also know that you''re more than talented enough to deserve this position. If you aren''t qualified to be my Sect''s Prime Disciple, then who is?"

    "You''re quite decisive, aren''t you, Sect Master? To think you''d offer me this on our first meeting." Miramented with a smile. Her reluctance to agree to be the Sect''s Prime Disciple lessened greatly.

    Aelina also smiled, "Thates with the job. Plus, there are only 20 years left until the nextpetition! That might sound like a lot of time to you now, but the minimum required cultivation to enter thepetition is the Soul Transformation Realm! Getting you there from your current stage is already hard enough, but if you want to actually win thepetition, entering the Mortal Shedding Realm is almost a necessity!"

    Mira frowned and rubbed her temples, "This�� Why didn''t youe to me about this sooner?"

    Aelina scratched her head awkwardly, "... I didn''t think you''d actually be able to help, if I''m being honest. Like you said, 20 years isn''t that long. That''s the average time it takes a genius to cross the Core Formation Realm. If you were a slightly more talented genius, maybe you''d be a Stage 3 or 4 Nascent Soul Realm expert, but that''s still not enough to qualify you."

    Mira couldn''t necessarily me her for thinking like that. She had just joined the Sect, after all.

    The two went silent for a while as many thoughts passed through their minds. Mira was busy going through numerous scenarios in her mind, trying to calcte if it was even possible for her to reach the Soul Transformation Realm in 20 years.

    However, this situation is extremely beneficial for Mira. By this point, there are basically no downsides to epting this proposition. Sure, she''d still be tied to the Sect, but if everything Aelina said was true, that wasn''t necessarily bad.

    Meanwhile, Aelina was inwardly sweating, hoping Mira would agree. Naturally, as a cultivator and one who pursued power above everything else, Aelina refused to stop at the Divine Sea Realm.

    She wanted to be an Ascension Realm expert or even an Immortal! However, she''s stuck on this continent, hardly able to progress in the Divine Sea Realm, much less reach the Ascension Realm!

    Unfortunately, Aelina has never had the privilege to enter the Central Continent, but Mira changed everything.

    She could see the light at the end of the tunnel. She could see the continuation of her path to power in Mira. Not just for her, but for the entire Sect as well!

    To a certain extent, she was even willing to get down on one knee and beg Mira to ept bing the Sect''s Prime Disciple! That''s how much this meant to her.

    Eventually, after almost half an hour of silence, Mira opened her mouth.

    "I hope you understand just how difficult this will be. I''ll just say this now, but if I do ept this, I''m going for broke. There''ll be no turning back. We either make it, or we crumble! The number of resources I''ll need to reach that level in such a short time�� Well, I hope you''re ready to bankrupt the Sect. It''ll be difficult, nearly impossible even��"

    Mira paused, building up a bit of suspense, before continuing.

    "...But I think we might be able to do it with the right nning, training, and resolve. I also expect you to treat me as an equal. That''s the least you can do, considering I''ll have to go through literal hell to reach that level of power in 20 years. But if you''re willing to do everything in your power to assist me, then I''m willing to do everything in my power to help you."

    "I agree. I''ll be this Sect''s Prime Disciple!"

 Chapter 486 Mission And Secrets

    Both Aelina and Elder Sandra were momentarily stunned by Mira''s answer. They would never have thought Mira would so readily tie herself to the Sect. A Sect that she''s spent very little time a part of.

    They would understand if maybe she''s spent most of her life here and this is her way of repaying the Sect, but that clearly wasn''t the case here.

    Nheless, Aelina smiled, "It seems you''re also quite the decisive person. I figured it''d take more to convince you, but this is a pleasant surprise."

    Mira raised an eyebrow, "I know an opportunity when I see one. Being the Battle Maiden Sect''s Prime Disciple will be my starting line to a higher stage. What is there to be indecisive about? Plus, this is a partnership. You help me, and I help you," Mira paused for a second, "However, you should know that if I''m not satisfied with your performance, this partnership is over. The same can be said for you as well. If you aren''t satisfied with me, then feel free to strip me of this position, and I''ll work to return everything you gave me."

    Elder Sandra almost instinctively began scolding Mira, but Aelina let out a boisterousugh before she could!

    "HAHAHAHAHA~! You''re absolutely right, Mira! This is a partnership, one where we both stand to gain enormous benefits. However, you must prove yourself before I dere you as the Sect''s Prime Disciple."

    Mira frowned as she thought she had already done that in her fight against Zander. She killed someone over an entire major Realm above her, after all! If that''s not proof, then she didn''t know what was.

    "You have to prove to the Sect that you''re worthy. A Prime Disciple symbolizes peak talent, hard work, discipline, leadership, and skill for people to look up to. You are new to the Sect and haven''t contributed anything. For this reason, the other disciples and Elders won''t ept you. I can use my authority as the Sect Master to disregard theints, but that''s not the way of the Battle Maiden Sect. Whatever you want, you have to earn."

    "Normally, I would give this position to someone who has contributed the most to the Sect for years. However, as we are a bit short on time, and since you are by far the most talented in the entire Sect, I''ll give you a mission that will allow you to gain the most fame in the shortest amount of time. Afterpleting it, you can return and ept your position as Prime Disciple. For now, this is a private deal between you and me." Aelina exined.

    Mira pondered her words and felt like everything she said made sense. That''s how the Sect is run, by power and contributions. So, it would make sense that the most powerful, the most talented, and the one who made the most contributions should have the title of Prime Disciple.

    "Alright, what''s the mission?" Mira asked.

    "Go steal 5 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines from the Unorthodox Faction! Your reward is all the loot from the people you kill and half of the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from the mines you steal. You have one month. I''ll provide all the information. Everything else is on you."

    Mira could hardly believe her ears.

    ''What the fuck did she just say? Five Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines? And within a month at that?! Impossible!''

    Mira rarely used the word "Impossible"; that''s just how difficult this task was. Maybe it''d be possible if the mission was only to find Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines, but stealing them from a major faction? No, not possible!

    The reason is that Soul Transformation Realm experts will undoubtedly guard those ces. She can''t fight someone with such strength right now. It''d be possible after she breaks through to the Nascent Soul Realm, but not right now.

    Aelina could easily discern Mira''s thoughts from her expression and couldn''t help but chuckle.

    "Don''t give me that look. I''ll send along a few disciples to help you. I''ll also give you two weeks in the Sect to help prepare yourself for this endeavor." Aelina winked.

    Mira''s ears perked up, "Give me a month to prepare, and you got a deal." She then nced at Elder Sandra, "Also, I''d like to talk to you in private. Since we are now partners, I feel like I should share a few details that can significantly increase our chances of sess in cing Top 3 at the next Central Continent Competition."

    Aelina was happily surprised by that, immediately wrapping Mira in Qi, then disappeared, leaving Elder Sandra all alone.

    "Sigh�� It looks like a storm is about to hit not only the Sect but the Western Continent as a whole. Let''s hope the Sect Master made the right decision in choosing Mira." She muttered before walking out of the basement.

    ***

    Somewhere on the mountain in one of Aelina''s private chambers, Mira and Aelina appeared out of thin air.

    The two sat down at the nearest table and began discussing the details of their partnership and Mira''s mission. The discussion didn''t take long, as they had covered everything beforehand.

    However, that''s not why Mira wanted to talk to Aelina alone��

    "...I have an item that can speed up the growth rate of nts and herbs by 1000 times."

    "..."

    The room went deathly silent, but Mira continued as if she didn''t notice.<sub> </sub>

    "I''m telling you this as a sign of trust and because I feel this is the only way for us to reach our goals within 20 years. There also isn''t much you can do, even if you know. That''s why it would be in your best interest if you didn''t get greedy for it. This item is linked to my soul and can''t leave my possession. If I were to die or if you were to try and take it from me, it would disappear along with me and most likely you as well."

    "....Are you serious?" Aelina asked solemnly, and the whole aura around her changed. Her once mysterious aura was now fierce and threatening, but Mira didn''t waver.

    "That''s right. I''m sure you understand what this means. Not just me, but you can even raise the level of the entire Sect if used properly! Hell, you might be able to raise your cultivation as well! I don''t know what stage you''re at right now, but wouldn''t it be great to be at the Peak of the Divine Sea Realm the next time you enter the Central Continent? If I ce within the Top three, you''d just need to find an opportunity to break through into the Ascension Realm!"

    Aelina''s eyes shone with a mysterious light, making it clear her emotions were getting agitated. The spark of hope she had seen in Mira had now evolved into a smoldering ember. She could see the path ahead more clearly as dozens of thoughts crossed her mind every second.

    Ever since she reached the Divine Sea Realm, natural treasures, pills, and items that can boost her cultivation have be exponentially more difficult to find and create. This is especially so for pills.

    Most of the ingredients in Divine-Grade pill recipes are 10,000-year-old nts or perhaps even older than that. Not only are those types of nts very rare, but one has to be incredibly lucky to get them.

    Thus, what Mira just said is aplete game-changer! If she could transform thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of nts into 10,000-year-old nts, she could create tons of Divine-Grade Pills!

    It didn''t stop there, either! She could raise the strength of the entire Sect, possibly enough that they could even rival some of those powers from the Central Continent!

    The possibilities were endless, and for a split second, she couldn''t help but feel a sliver of greed appear.

    ''Why does this little brat have such a good thing?''

    ''I''ve worked hard for countless years to reach my position. If I had such an item, I''d surely do more with it than this kid.''

    ''Should I just enve her, turning her into nothing more than a glorified gardener?''

    Such thoughts unconsciously entered her thoughts, attempting to take over her mind. She couldn''t help it! Anyone in her position would think the same thing!

    <o>,m At least, that''s what she told herself to try and justify those thoughts.</o>

    Suddenly, she pped herself awake and raised her head.

    "I swear I won''t leak this information to anyone or try to steal this item from Mira! I also won''t force her to use it for my benefit! Should I fail to uphold my promise, may the Heavens strike me down!" Aelina swore, cutting off any thoughts that might hurt her partnership with Mira.

    She didn''t want those greedy and dangerous thoughts lingering in the back of her mind. She''s seen first-hand how greed can grow and slowly get out of hand and didn''t want that happening here.

    Like Mira, Aelina knows an opportunity when she sees one, and Mira is her opportunity. If she fucked it up because of this, she would never forgive herself!

    Mira shed a small smile, understanding Aelina''s thoughts perfectly. In fact, if she were in Aelina''s position, she probably would''ve done the same thing.

    She''s always been rtively greedy for loot and an item that can speed up a nt''s growth rate by 1000 times is hard to pass up on.

    After swearing to the Heavens, Aelina turned to Mira with a smile and said, "I look forward to working with you, partner."

    Mira smiled, "Me too, Miss Aelina."

    The two chuckled. Now that they had discussed everything that needed to be discussed, it was about time for Mira to leave, but Aelina said a fewst words right before she left.

    "I''lle to find you after a few days to deliver the nts. If you need anything, feel free to tell me. Also, here''s amunication talisman you can use to contact me whenever you need something." Aelina tossed her a palm-sized sheet of paper with thousands of tiny inscriptions filled with Qi.

    Mira stored the talisman and nodded. Aelina then waved her hand, sending Mira near the Outer Court.

    Now that she was finally alone, a massive grin broke out on her face.

    "Hahahahaha~~ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~~! Finally!! An opportunity has finallye!! My dream now no longer seems so far away! HAHAHAHAH~~!"

 Chapter 487 Potential Calamity

    Mira appeared inside the Outer Court, dragging her mangled body to Maria''s Healing Center, a small smile hanging on her face.

    She felt quite a few people gazing at her and could even hear people talking about her, but she was in too good of a mood to care.

    ''Today''s a great day!''

    However, suddenly her feet stopped, and she scowled. A mountainous weight came crashing down onto her, pushing her heart into the pits of her stomach.

    ''The�� The day''s not over yet. No, in fact, this could very well be the beginning!''

    She quickened her pace, running full speed toward the Healing Center! Mira has always followed the rule that "Fortune and misfortunee in pairs". Today, Mira received one of her life''s most significant fortunes.

    Conversely, what''s the thing she treasures most in this world? Undoubtedly, her rtionship with Maria.

    Thus, her feet became a blur; before she knew it, she was standing in front of the Healing Center.

    Maria''s bright and colorful aura flooded Mira''s senses, filling her with relief, but her brows were still wrinkled.

    ''It''s too early to let my guard down.''

    Mira barged into the building, opening the door with a "bang", then charged into Maria''s office.

    Maria jumped in surprise at the unexpected intruder, but joy took over, noticing it was Mira. However, that quickly changed into panic upon seeing Mira''s injured body.

    "Oh my god! Are you alright, Mira? Come here; let me heal you!" Maria ran over to Mira and began scanning her body, but Mira grabbed her hands to stop her.

    "We need to leave the area, Maria."

    Maria''s body trembled for a second, feeling the seriousness in her voice. Still, Maria needed an exnation. She has a business to run, after all.

    "What? Why? What''s going on, Mira? What happened to you while you were away? I heard you went somewhere with Elder Sandra and that crazy guy who was killing everyone. Did Elder Sandra-"

    Mira cut her off, "No, she didn''t do anything to me. I fought against that guy and killed him. These injuries are the result of that battle," Mira pointed at herself, "What happened after is a bitplicated, and I''ll exin on the way, but for now, pleasee with me."

    Maria''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets!

    ''Please? Did Mira just say please?! In all the years I''ve known her, I don''t remember her saying ''please'' or ''thank you'' a single time! What the hell is going on to get Mira so agitated?!''

    At this point, what else could she say? If she didn''t leave with Mira right now, wouldn''t that make her a bad wife?

    However, before she could even respond, Mira had already picked her up in a princess carry, grabbed ahold of Hana, and flew off in the direction of their cave castle.

    As they flew through the air, Maria asked, "Now that I''m in your arms, can you finally tell me what''s going on?"

    Mira took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Too many good things have happened today. I fear that something terrible will happen soon, and I don''t want you to be on the receiving end of this misfortune."

    Maria''s mind went nk, her mouth agape. She stared at Mira as if she was looking at an alien. Of all the things she thought woulde out of Mira''s mouth, that was not one of them.

    However, sorrow shone deep in Maria''s eyes. She felt that Mira''s outlook on life was really depressing.

    ''To not even be able to receive goodwill without corrting it to hostility�� How�� painful.''

    She still didn''t know what happened to Mira, but from her tone, she could tell that it wasn''t something small and probably affected Mira''s future significantly. And because of Mira''s belief that nothing is free in this world, she assumed that something bad would happen.

    "Okay? That''s not much to work on, but you seem serious. So, what should we do? What are your ns?" Maria asked.<sub> </sub>

    "...I''m not sure. For now, let''s just get back home," Mira said, but the weight on her heart didn''t decrease. Instead, it became so heavy that Mira felt it burdensome to fly.

    ''Something ising! I don''t know what, who, or when, but a cmity ising for me!''

    Mira turned and stared into Maria''s eyes with aplicated expression. Maria stared back with eyes filled with unconditional love that seemed to say, "It''s okay. We''ll get through this together."

    The two stared at each other for a while before Mira whispered in Maria''s ear, "Let''s focus on getting stronger."

    Maria nodded, "Nn."

    ***

    A few minutester, Mira, Maria, and Hana appeared in the valley outside their cave castle. A few of her subordinates saw her flying through the air with Mira and ran over to greet her. Mira lightly nodded but offered no words.

    When shended, she let go of Hana and gave her a brief exnation of the valley.

    "I''lle to get you in a few days. For now, get used to the area and the people, as this will be your new home, and they will be your students. If you need anything, find a person named Alicia. She''ll help you out." Mira left these words with Hana as she carried Maria into their room.

    After they were finally alone, Mira began exining the events that happened over the past day while Maria healed her. She didn''t leave anything out and even told her how the F.LD.I.L rewarded her.

    By the end of it, Maria was at a loss for words! Mira had only been gone for half a day. How could so many life-changing events happen?!

    "That�� that�� Wow. It seems like you''ve had quite an eventful day, huh, Mira? Hahaha~" Maria chuckled, "But this doesn''t exin why you kidnapped me."

    Mira''s eyes softened as she pondered how to put her feelings into words, "I''m just worried. You should know by now that my luck isn''t particrly good, and it has only worsened after epting the F.LD.I.L. If so many good things happen to me all in one day, it''s almost guaranteed that something terrible will happen. It might not be today, but one can never be too careful."

    "I see��" Maria hummed, not taking Mira''s words lightly.

    She knew how reliable Mira''s instincts were, especially toward danger. Not only that, but Mira would never lie about something like this. So, if she was this scared, then it''s highly likely that something would happen.

    "But what should we do about this? I mean, we can''t very well live in this cave for the rest of our lives. Plus, you have to go on a mission in a month!" Maria asked.

    "Hmph! What do you think? Obviously, we just need to get stronger! I wouldn''t be worried about any uing cmities if I had absolute strength!" Mira proimed, but Maria gave her a deadpan stare.

    "Do you really think I don''t know that? Of course, we need strength! I''m asking how we can get enough of it, so you stop feeling worried." Maria countered.

    "I''ll just ask Aelina to give you a bit of extra attention. I''m sure she wouldn''t disagree, either. You and Cine are both extremely talented. Plus, you are an incredible healer. I can''t think of any leader who wouldn''t want to train someone who can potentially regrow limbs in the future."

    Maria nodded. Everything Mira said made sense. It''d be stupid of the Sect Master not to give her a little help.

    "That will certainly be helpful, but I don''t want to be given resources for nothing. I''d rather the Sect Master give me a mission just like you! Better yet, why don''t I just join you on your mission?"

    Mira smiled, "What? Did you think you weren''ting with me? Do you even know just how useful that healing technique of yours is? I have to steal 5 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines. Me and whatever group Aelina sends with me will inevitably be injured. If someone is there to heal us, that''ll increase my chances of sess by arge margin. Don''t forget. I only have a month toplete this mission. I can''t waste days healing my injured body."

    Maria''s smile became so bright that she was almost shining, "I had no idea you thought of me so highly! Hehehe~"

    She embraced Mira, herughs echoing throughout the room.

    "Ahh�� Well, y''know�� I have to give credit where credit is due. You will be essential for this mission. In fact, if Alicia and the others were strong enough, I''d bring them as well. This would be a good experience for them, after all." Mira said while avoiding eye contact.

    The two talked for a little longer until Mira decided it was time to search through the F.LD.I.L for items to pick out with her Abyssal Battle Points and the reward for killing Zander.

 Chapter 488 Guiding Mortals And A Mortals Guide

    Inside arge empty room in an unknown location, an iparably handsome man sat alone on a bedrge enough for 100 people to sleep on. The man''s eyebrows were creased and a deep frown formed on his face. asionally, one of his eyelids would twitch.

    "Who is it? Who would dare to prevent me from interfering with Mira''s life?!" A few people popped up in his mind, but he instantly disregarded them.

    "Nobody should even know about Mira. She''s just a measly mortal, but if it wasn''t someone I know, then it could only mean an unknown third party has decided to intervene. Either that or Mira found herself a backer without my knowledge." His eyelid twitched again.

    He recalled the events leading up to this situation, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Mira was on her way to Quake City when she stumbled upon a unique biome. Only after entering that ce did his connection to Mirapletely cut off.

    "More importantly��" He nced at the crackedntern that allowed him to reincarnate Mira into another body with her memories intact.

    "Whatever Mira encountered in there was able to crack this treasure, making it basically useless. If I push it, I might be able to reincarnate Mira one more time, at most three times, but that''s it." His eye twitched again.

    *Twitch*

    "Not only that but whatever it is she encountered could indirectly affect not only her fate but the fate of those around her! Meaning I can''t even interfere with herpanions! What kind of bullshit is this?! Only I should be able to interfere with Mira''s life. ME! ONLY ME!!" A light of madness shone in his eyes.

    *Twitch*

    Fortunately, he calmed himself down quickly and began analyzing the situation. A wrench had been thrown into his ns, and not just an ordinary wrench, but a-sized one! Therefore, he needed-sized solutions.

    However, he wasn''t titled ''The Strongest Man'', ''The Primordial One'', ''God-Emperor'', etc., for nothing. He''s been alive for more years than he can count and his means are innumerable. If he wants something to happen, then it shall be so!

    "Whoever or whatever is backing Mira is obviously a powerful existence. The problem here is Ick too much information. I know nothing about this person or object. But who knows how much they know about me? No, it''s safe to say they know about my presence, considering thentern cracked. Then what can I do to turn this situation around?" He rambled on, trying to find a solution, but all his problems stemmed from one thing: Ack of information.

    If he knew about the other party''s existence, he could make ample preparations to deal with them, but the situation became many times more dangerous and annoying now that a powerful unknown party was involved.

    "Sigh�� It seems I won''t be able to get involved personally until I learn more about what''s going on, " A sly smile appeared on his face, "But that doesn''t mean others can''t get involved."

    He pped his hands, and a beautiful woman appeared inside his room.

    "How may I help you, Master?" She bowed with closed eyes.

    The man didn''t even spare her a nce and just waved his hand, "Go fetch Sue Ming for me and tell her to bring ten of her most talented and powerful mortals. They should be at least in the Mortal Shedding Realm."

    "Understood, Master. I will follow your orders." The woman bowed again and disappeared.

    Within a minute, a short but curvy, beautiful pink-haired woman entered the room, followed by ten other women. This woman was Sue Ming, and the ones behind her were her subordinates. They are still within the Mortal Cultivation Realms, even Sue Ming.

    "Greetings, Master! We are here per your orders!"

    The man nodded, satisfied, "I will be sending you to a Mortal World soon. Your job will be to find a girl there named Mira and acquire any information you can about her and report back to me using this." He tossed a palm-sized cube at Sue Ming, "For now, just stick with manipting the residents of that world to learn more about Mira''s secrets. Once you have learned everything, you can make your presence known and begin making her life a living hell! And when she questions ''why?'' or ''who?'' be sure you tell her I ordered you!"

    "We will follow yourmand, Master!"

    The man nodded and sent them away. He trusted his women to get the job done.

    He gazed out the nearest window with a wistful look in his eyes.

    "Soon, I''ll be back in your life, Mira. Wait for me!"

    ***<sub> </sub>

    Meanwhile, Mira, sitting on her bed preparing to look through all the avable items she could purchase, felt a chill up her spine as her premonition worsened. But she just pushed that feeling to the side as there wasn''t much she could do now.

    She focused her mind on the F.LD.I.L item list, and all sorts of items entered her mind, but she didn''t even need to think about what she''d use her reward on.

    [Mortal''s Guide to Inner Body Cultivation]-[5,000 Abyssal Battle Ladder Points]

    Mira fought many life-and-death battles in the Abyssal Battle Ladder for this item! Of the items currently avable to her, this one is probably the most expensive, and for a good reason. This item didn''t just exin Inner Body Cultivation for a single race.

    No, it exined the profundities of Inner Body Cultivation as a whole. Your race, gender, bloodline, or species don''t matter. Just like the title, it''s a Mortal''s guide. Thus, this item will be useful if you are alive and aren''t immortal.

    The only problem with it is the fact that it''s a guide and contains no specifics on what each race''s Inner Body Cultivation should look like.

    However, Mira didn''t care about that. The knowledge she''d gain from this item would help her, Maria, Cine, and all her subordinates. Though, she probably won''t be giving this information out for free to her subordinates.

    "Buy!"

    Mira didn''t hesitate to buy it! What she needed the most right now wasn''t a way to quickly boost her cultivation, nor did she want to rely on something like that. She already found a backer to help provide her with all kinds of resources to boost her cultivation.

    What she needed was something that could provide her more survivability, deepen her foundation, and increase her strength over time. She doesn''t need to be invincible by tomorrow.

    She just needs to be invincible in 20 years at the Central Continent''s Competition! To others, that might not be a long time, but Mira knew how much she could maximize those twenty years.

    A book appeared in Mira''s hands, and knowledge about Inner Body Cultivation flooded her mind.

    [Inner Body Cultivation is different from External Body Cultivation or Qi Cultivation, yet it is simr to both. While External Body Cultivation focuses mainly on the body''s power and Qi cultivation focuses on the energy contained within one''s body, Inner Body Cultivation is about releasing the shackles that bind you. However, Inner Body Cultivation can also increase the strength of your body and improve the energy you''ve cultivated depending on your race, species, bloodline, talent, gender, etc.]

    [Everyone in existence has a slightly different Inner Body Cultivation system, and that''s because everyone is slightly different. No two existences are exactly the same. There will be something innately different about them. Don''t be fooled by the"Human race Inner Body Cultivation" or "Dragon Inner Body Cultivation" manuals you might find. Sure, those manuals can help you increase your Inner Body Cultivation, but it won''t take you as far as doing it yourself would.]

    [To do it yourself, you must look deep inside you for the shackles that bind you, hiding your true potential. However, be mindful that these "shackles" don''t always appear as shackles. Sometimes they appear as gates, doors, stars, and holes. They could manifest as anything. The important thing to note here is there is something deep within you, closed off from the rest of your body.]

    [Another thing to remember is that these shackles don''t have a specific ce they could appear. One shackle might be located in several different locations, making it nearly impossible to find. However, that doesn''t matter. You can link the rest with enough patience and hard work if you can find a single shackle.]

    [The next step is toprehend this shackle, understand why it''s there and how you can break it. Sometimes, this information mighte naturally; other times, it''ll take a while, but be patient. Your body will tell you when you''re ready to break it.]

    That was the introduction to the book, as there was more to it, but Mira just sat there with a nk look on her face, not looking impressed at all.

    "That''s it? That''s worth 5,000 points?"

    Suddenly, the Guardian chimed in, "Hmph! You''re looking down on that information, but you should know that although what you just read didn''t seem groundbreaking, its importance in Inner Body Cultivation is unparalleled. Think about it. Without that knowledge, would you have even known where to start?"

    Mira thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No, I wouldn''t. That''s why I bought this book."

    "Exactly! This book provides you with the correct knowledge to take your first step, which is the most important for this type of cultivation!"

    Mira seemed skeptical, but she couldn''t refute his words as she knew next to nothing about Inner Body Cultivation.

    "Alright. I''ll take your word for it," Then, she smiled, "Now, what other items should I choose? Hehehe~"

 Chapter 489 Shopping

    After thinking long and hard about what she needed both in the short and long term, Mira realized she needed many items.

    Her fight with Zander taught her many things. The first and foremost being, "Unorthodox Faction disciples are really fucking annoying to kill!"

    He was like an unkible cockroach that got stronger the longer the fight went on. Even though this boost in strength cost him his life, he almost brought her down as well!

    That''s when Mira decided, "I need a technique like that!"

    If she was going to try and steal Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines from the Unorthodox Faction and fight against enemies much more powerful than her, she needed a technique that could temporarily boost her strength in exchange for something.

    Thus, Mira searched through these kinds of Techniques in the F.LD.I.L, and it didn''t take her long to find the right one.

    [Blood Burst Technique]-100 Points

    It didn''t have a Grade since the effects depend on one''s blood rather than energy.

    The [Blood Burst Technique] is a technique that revolves around burning one''s blood in exchange for strength. There are four Stages to the Technique, and they are as follows:

    1. Blood Burn: Burn the blood running through your body in exchange for strength.

    2. Heart Ignition: Burn your blood directly from your heart, increasing strength by another notch.

    3. Blood Essence Eruption: Use your Blood Essence in exchange for power. Blood Essence can be regenerated after use.

    4. Blood Burst: All three previous Stagesbined and uses your lifespan in exchange for strength.

    The reason why Mira picked this technique should be obvious. Instead of directly killing herself for strength like Zander, she only has to face a severe bacsh after using this technique.

    However, for a normal human or someone without a special bloodline, this technique is rtively useless, and there are far better temporary strength-enhancing techniques out there for those people, but for Mira, this one is perfect.

    "Buy!" Mira bought it, and instantly, all kinds of information about the technique entered her mind. Simultaneously, arge scroll appeared in her hands, containing all the information imprinted in her mind.

    The technique was rtively simple, so Mira didn''t take long to grasp all the information.

    "It''s simple yet powerful. Definitely a worthwhile purchase." She nodded in approval, then moved on to the next item.

    Another thing Mira noticed during her fight with Zander is that although her raw power is incredibly high and her Qi control has improved a lot, she still can''t make full use of it.

    The Scythe Technique she created, Atmospheric sh, is extremely powerful, but it''s only one move and easy to read. It can be used as a great ranged attack to keep the enemy at a distance if she needs time, butnding a hit after the first attack isn''t so easy.

    She alsocks a great Ice Technique, which can fully use her extraordinary ice affinity and Dao.

    "While I''d love to sit in a cave for 20 years, creating and polishing various techniques, I don''t have that kind of time. I need one now!"

    Oddly enough, only two techniques, one scythe and one ice were avable for purchase. Although the F.LD.I.L offered more techniques, she could only purchase those two.

    [Ruler of Death Scythe Technique Part 1]-750 Points

    [Ice Empress Technique Part 1]-750 Points

    The titles alone appealed to Mira, and the basic information she received after inspecting them sold her on them, so she instantly bought them.

    However, unlikest time, information wasn''t imprinted in her brain; instead, two thick old-looking books appeared on herp.

    Picking them up, Mira almost felt the need to blow dust off of them; that''s how old they looked. She tried briefly skimming through them, but��

    "Huh? Why won''t they open?"

    ��She couldn''t open them. To be exact, she could only open the book to the first page. She tried prying open the books until all her muscles bulged and her face turned red, but they still wouldn''t open.

    "Whatever, I''ll get to themter." She felt she should wait until there were no distractions to read them.

    There were still numerous things left for her to buy, anyways.<sub> </sub>

    Next on her list were Core Formation Recipes for her subordinates and Dominique! Surprisingly, Core Formation Recipes were fairly cheap, but Mira understood why. The recipe itself doesn''t cost anything, especially for a treasure like the F.LD.I.L.

    The materials are the true cost of any Core Formation Recipe! Just take Mira as an example. She needed many items that were nearly impossible for a single person to gather, but if she didn''t gather those items, her recipe would be virtually worthless.

    So, Mira bought a bunch of Core Formation Recipes to hand out to her subordinates, along with one that seemed perfect for Dominique.

    Of course, she only bought recipes that would allow her subordinates to at least somewhat keep up with her pace and talent. They wouldn''t be as strong or talented as Maria or Cine, but they''d be a step below. Probably on par with Asami or maybe slightly higher, which was more than enough for Mira.

    She spent about 500 points on all the Core Formation Recipes, but she wasn''t upset in the slightest. Instead, a smile formed on her face.

    "I''m looking forward to seeing their improvement. Once they reach the Core Formation Realm, they''ll actually be useful."

    Earlier, she sensed that many of them were nearing the Peak of the Foundation Realm, so this was the perfect time to hand out Core Formation Recipes.

    Even after Mira spent 2,100 Abyssal Battle Ladder Points, she didn''t stop shopping. She went ahead and bought an assortment of pills that could help boost her cultivation, temporarily raise her cultivation, or be used as bombs.

    Then, she bought a set of Peak Heaven-Grade full-body armor for 200 points. However, instead of a giant bulky chunk of armor, it came in the form of a beautiful dress. Since it was full-body armor, everything was included!

    The dress, shoes, stockings, underwear, bra, gloves that went up to her biceps, a veil to cover her face, a hairpin, and a tiara to protect her head. The dress was entirely ck except for the icy blue lotus flowers. The veil, tiara, and shoes were crystal blue, matching the dress.

    Originally, Mira wasn''t going to buy armor from the F.LD.I.L and was going to ask Aelina for one, but this one was just too perfect to pass up. Plus, Mira doubted Aelina would have a Peak Heaven-Grade armor dress avable, and she wasn''t going to wear something big and clunky that could dull her movements.

    Mira then purchased a Late Heaven-Grade Qi Suppression Array for 200 points. Just like the name implies, a Qi Suppression Array suppresses the Qi in a given area. This does a few things to those in the array.

    For one, controlling Qi bes much harder. Their cultivation base is suppressed by, at most, an entire major Realm, depending on their cultivation.

    It should be fairly obvious why Mira bought it. Not only is it good to have on hand, but she will definitely need it when invading those Spirit Stone Mines.

    Thest things Mira bought from the F.LD.I.L was:

    [Charm Control Manual]-[100 Points]

    [Illusion Control Manual]-[100 Points]

    She needed to learn how to control her Charm and Illusion tails better. Learning those would make her time infiltrating the Spirit Stone Mines much easier, and she could even conceal her identity if she ever gets caught!

    Thus, Mira felt these were essential.

    She could probably ask Aelina for something that could help her control those two powers, but the F.LD.I.L''s way of transmitting the information to her brain is much quicker, and the information itself is easier to understand. In the end, she might be able to save at least a few days to a few weeks of timeprehending this information, as all she has to do now is put it into practice.

    There were a few other things Mira wanted to buy, but she figured Aelina should be able to get them for her. She''ll buy them from the F.LD.I.L in case Aelina can''t get them.

    "Now, I just have to practice these techniques and raise my strength as much as possible over the next month," Mira muttered as she exited the F.LD.I.L.

    Maria, who was cultivating next to Mira, opened her eyes, noticing that Mira had finished her business.

    "Did you find everything you need?" She asked with a smile.

    Mira faintly smiled and nodded back.

    "Yeah. Now I just need to train, and I should be ready for the mission Aelina has given me."

    Maria rolled her eyes, "Hmph! You''re always thinking about training," but a sly smile slowly formed on her lips as she got on all fours and crawled toward Mira, "Why don''t we have a little fun, instead? You''ve been gone for half a year, after all!" Maria purred.

    Mira smirked and grabbed Maria by the waist.

    "Kyaa~~" The busty blonde squealed cutely.

    "I suppose it is my duty to take care of my wife''s needs." Mira leaned in and quickly sealed Maria''s lips.

 Chapter 490 Competition

    The next day, at the top of Maiden Mountain, Aelina called for a meeting between herself and the Elders. They were all puzzled as they were going about their business like usual; cultivating, training the disciples, pill refining/weapon forging/array or formation creation, etc. When suddenly, the Sect Master, who rarely calls for a meeting, told them:

    "Come to the top of the mountain tomorrow. I have an important announcement to make."

    Something the Sect Master deems "important" is something that could change the fate of the Sect. So, without hesitation, they finished their work and headed up the mountain the next day.

    Now, all 50 Elders of the Sect sat in front of Aelina, who was on her throne, silently staring at them with her signature mysterious gaze. A few Elders squirmed under her gaze, as it was incredibly ufortable, but nobody said anything and waited for Aelina to say the "important news".

    The atmosphere in the room was suffocating as they could almost feel the seriousness of the situation oozing out of Aelina''s body.

    Finally, Aelina opened her mouth, "I have picked out who our next Prime Disciple should be."

    The faces of all the Elders, except for one, instantly changed as their heads shot in Aelina''s direction. With narrowed eyes, they stared at her as if they were trying to dig holes through her skin!

    After a moment of silence, one of the Elders spoke up, "Why so suddenly, Sect Master? You should be aware that the Central Continent Competition is only 20 years away. If you wanted to pick a new Prime Disciple, you should''ve done so 80 years ago!"

    Although her tone was a bit disrespectful, Aelina just smiled and didn''t mind it at all.

    "What you said isn''t wrong, Irene. I indeed should have picked a Prime Disciple before now to help our Sect better prepare for the uing Central Continent Competition, but none of them were up to my standards. It would''ve been a waste of time and resources to send them to their inevitable death at thepetition."

    Elder Irene''s face turned red as she mmed her hand onto the table, "How can you say that, Sect Master?! My disciple, Nova, has a Mid Heaven-Grade Physique, the Heavenly Sunfire Physique, which grants her a unique me and unprecedented control over the fire element! She''s only 68 this year at the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. If you granted her the position of Prime Disciple, she might be able to break through the Mortal Shedding Realm within the next 20 years!"

    None of the Elders bothered reprimanding Elder Irene for her actions and words, as they had simr thoughts.

    Aelina raised an eyebrow in amusement but, instead of responding, asked a question, "At thest Central Continent Competition, how strong was ourst Prime Disciple, Ariel?"

    The entire room quieted down. Even Elder Irene recoiled from the question, and her red face turned slightly pale.

    "She was at the 7th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm," Aelina answered.

    The Elder''s heads dropped, and they didn''t want to hear what Aelina was about to say next.

    "What grade was her physique? How talented was she? How much work did she put in? How many resources did we spend on her?"

    With her hand on her chin as if she were pondering something, Aelina stared at them. Suddenly, she pped.

    "Oh, right! She had the Late Heaven-Grade Physique, the Water Queen Physique! She also had a unique set of meridians that allowed her to absorb and utilize more Qi than her fellow disciples. She also formed a unique core that gave her more Qi storage, made her use of Qi more efficient, and even increased her water affinity. Do you remember what happened to her at thest Central Continent Competition?"

    The Elders couldn''t say anything as they firmly pressed their lips together, but a sliver of killing intent leaked out of their eyes.

    Aelina mmed her fist on the table as a mountainous pressure enveloped the room!

    *Bam!*

    "She was brutally humiliated and killed by a kid in the Mortal Shedding Realm! She died without even being able to scratch one of those Central Continent bastards! Someone we trained and pumped resources into for decades died! And you want me to nominate Nova, who is objectively inferior to Ariel, as our Sect''s Prime Disciple, only for her head to get chopped off in 20 years?!" Aelina said while ring at Elder Irene, who lowered her head, not daring to look her in the eyes.

    "....I understand, Sect Master. I apologize for my insolence. Please forgive me." Elder Irene muttered and the pressure enveloping the room disappeared.

    Aelina''s stern eyes softened, and she said in a neutral tone, "It''s fine, Irene. I understand you just want the best for your disciple, but I will not keep sending talented disciples to their deaths every century," Then she turned and looked at the rest of the Elders, "That goes for you and your disciples as well. Although they are all plenty talented and hardworking, they are nothing in the face of overwhelming power."

    The Elders nodded in understanding. However, this got everyone thinking:

    ''What kind of person did the Sect Master find to be the Prime Disciple?''

    Aelina chuckled and answered as if she were reading their thoughts, "The disciple I chose is an Outer Court disciple."

    "..."

    The Elder''s mouths opened wide and stared at Aelina in disbelief! They could hardly believe what they were hearing!

    ''You just spent thest few minutes lecturing us about not sending our disciples to their deaths, but what''s this?! You chose someone in the Core Formation Realm to be our Sect''s Prime Disciple! If you wanted to kill her so badly, why don''t you just do it yourself and get it over with?!''

    Simr thoughts passed through the minds of every Elder in the room.

    "Don''t look at me like that," Aelina said, "I truly believe she might have a chance at cing within the Top 3 at the next Competition! In fact, I just watched her kill someone at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm despite only being at the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm."

    "..."<sub> </sub>

    "What?!"

    "Impossible!"

    "Are you trying to prank us, Sect Master? Because it''s not funny!"

    Needless to say, the Elders were outraged by herment, but there wasn''t much Aelina could do. She knew just how ridiculous it sounded, but it was the truth. Her shoulders slumped as she watched the Elders go into a frenzy.

    That is until Elder Sandra raised her hand and opened her mouth, "It''s true. I was there with the Sect Master when it happened. Do you remember that Crimson yer Sect boy who was causing trouble in the Outer Court?" Some of the Elders nodded their heads, but a few looked confused as not all of them kept up with matters in the Outer Court, "Well, I took him and Mira, Sect Master''s Prime Disciple candidate, away, and the girl ended up fighting and killing him."

    The rest of the Elder gawked at both Elder Sandra and Aelina, unsure what to believe! Although the two of them are trustworthy, this news was still a shock to them.

    After a moment of silence, another Elder spoke up, "For argument''s sake, let''s say what you said was true. The other disciples won''t easily ept you randomly choosing a nameless Outer Court Disciple to be our Prime Disciple. You should know this more than anyone, Sect Master."

    Aelina nodded, "Of course. That''s why I n on sending her on a mission to capture five Mid-Stage Spirit Stone Mines from the Unorthodox Faction within a month to build her reputation. I''ll send a few disciples with her to "help" her out. If she seeds, she can return and ept her position as Prime Disciple."

    Everyone knew what Aelina meant by sending her "help". Besides assisting Mira with the mission, their main job is to witness her talent and strength firsthand.

    Still, a few Elders felt that wasn''t enough and decided to speak up.

    "I know we''re in a bit of a rush, but you know that won''t work, Sect Master. Being the Prime Disciple of the Sect means you receive everything the Sect has to offer! What disciple wouldn''t want that, even if they had to fight in the Central Continent Competition? They will definitely fight for that position with everything they''ve got, regardless of your position. You can shut them up with your status and power, but��"

    Aelina sighed, understanding what she was trying to say, but there was only so much she could do. Whether the disciples liked it or not, Mira had to be the Prime Disciple! In order for the Sect to rise, it had to be her!

    "Can''t we use this to our advantage?"

    Everyone nced at the one who said this, who happened to be Elder Ange.

    Aelina waved her hand, signaling her to continue.

    Elder Ange smirked, "A little friendlypetition never hurt anyone."

    Everyone''s eyes lit up hearing that!

    "Hahaha! That''s right! Youngsters need this kind of motivation!" The Elders chuckled and understood what Ange was trying to say. Aelina also smiled.

    "By the way, Sect Master, how talented is this Mira girl? What''s her physique? Does she have special meridians? What about her core? How strong is her physical body? What weapon does she use? Does she know any amazing techniques?" One Elder turned to Aelina and began shooting questions left and right, causing Aelina''s smile to stiffen.

    The room instantly quieted down as they, too, were curious.

    "..."

    She coughed and tried to change the subject, "Ahem! Anyways, back to what we were talking about. I think a resource-gatheringpetition would be excellent for the Prime Disciplepetition��"

    "..."

    "Teehee~"

    "..."

    The Elder''s eyebrows twitched, looking at Aelina with deadpan expressions.

    "Dammit! Sect Master! Are you sure you''re not pranking us?!"

    "Don''t tell me you don''t know anything about this girl!"

    .

    .

    .

    In the end, it took Aelina several minutes to calm them down by promising she''ll take them to see Mira in a few days after she''s prepared a few things.

    After the meeting ended, the Elders went back and immediately informed their disciples of the uing Prime Disciplepetition and the Sect Master''s candidate, Mira!

 Chapter 491 DO NOT BUY!! WRONG CHAPTER!!

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]<sub> </sub>

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    ? [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

    [DO NOT BUY! I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED A CHAPTER FROM MY OTHER NOVEL!!]

 Chapter 492 Others Reactions

    A few kilometers outside the Battle Maiden Sect''s Core Disciple Court, a tall woman with auburn hair and red eyes at the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm faced off against a Mid-Stage Rank 8 Cougar.

    Although it was a Rank 8 beast and could transform into a humanoid form, most beasts never even considered doing something like that. There are several reasons for this, but the number one reason is pride. They were born a beast, spent their life as a beast, and didn''t see a need to conform to human society.

    However, there are other more practical reasons, such as most beasts'' life''s worth ofbat experience is in their beast form. Fighting and living in their humanoid form would be going against all the experiences they''ve built up over their entire lives, along with their natural instincts.

    Besides, although Rank 8 beasts can take on a humanoid form, that does not mean they have be humans, nor do they suddenly obtain a human physiology. Their Beast Core doesn''t change into a dantian, and the way they use Qi doesn''t change, as beasts actually use Qi slightly differently than humans because they don''t have meridians.

    Until Rank 6, beasts store all the Qi they cultivate throughout their bodies. Then, when they break through and be a Rank 6 beast, a Beast Core forms, shifting their cultivation path into one simr to humans. However, since beastsck meridians, the only way for them to use their Qi is to forcefully withdraw chunks of it from within their core, giving them a severeck of control that humans have.

    Thus, there is no practical use for a beast to switch into its humanoid form. Their proficiency with weapons is nonexistent, they can''t use human techniques, and their physical andbat capabilities are limited.

    That''s why, even though Elenei had surpassed Rank 8, she never once changed into her humanoid form. Well, that and Mira only used her as a mode of transportation, not even giving her the option of taking on human form.

    Due to all those reasons, the cougar stayed in its beast form as it fought against the woman.

    Meanwhile, the woman was calmly eluding all its attacks with azy look in her eyes. She used a long spear with a red metal de. She would use her spear to keep the cougar at a distance, and whenever it found an opportunity to lunge at her, she sidestepped the attack and went back to defending.

    Gradually, the woman grew ustomed to the cougar''s attacks, so much so that the cougar couldn''t get past her spear!

    *Meow~~!*

    <o>,m It screeched as its Qi surged, and stone began wrapping around its ws until they reached around 30 centimeters in length. It raised its leg and swung it diagonally in the woman''s direction.</o>

    The stone around its ws extended until they became dozens of times bigger,pletely dwarfing the woman. The woman watched all this with a nk expression. She raised her spear to take the stone ws head-on and swung, seemingly without much force.

    *Swoosh!*

    The cougar sneered in its mind, wondering what such a weak strike could do, but then its expression changed as its stone ws cracked and,

    *BOOM!*

    Burst into a million pieces!

    All its hairs stood on ends as its instincts warned that it was no match for this human, but before it could run, a faint, indifferent voice tickled its ears.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    Numerous tiny suns formed at the tip of the woman''s spear, and she thrust, shooting firesers out of the mini suns.

    *BOOM!!**BOOM!!**BOOM!!**BOOM!!**BOOM!!**BOOM!!**BOOM!!**BOOM!!**BOOM!!*

    The woman turned around when she felt the cougar''s aura disappearpletely, indicating she had obliterated it with that move.

    "You really need to rethink the name of that move, Nova. It''s way too long and difficult to say."

    The woman, Nova, heard a familiar voice from above her, and a small smile formed on her face.

    "I like the name. Doesn''t it suit that attack perfectly?" She said while leaning her head upwards.

    "Greetings, Master. How did the meeting with the Sect Master go?"

    "Sigh�� Simply put, the Sect Master had chosen a Prime Disciple." Elder Irene, Nova''s Master, said with a hint of regret.

    Outwardly, Nova appeared calm, but inwardly she was quite shocked.<sub> </sub>

    ''Prime Disciple? Now? Isn''t it a bit toote for that?'' She thought, and she was able to gleam into some of the facts by her Master''s words on tone.

    "...So, the Sect Master didn''t pick me," Nova said dejectedly.

    She hadn''t exactly been vying for the position since it seemed like the Sect Master had given up on picking a Prime Disciple this century, but now that the Sect Master had given the position to someone else, she couldn''t help feeling bitter.

    Among the juniors under 100 years old, she was definitely one of the strongest and most talented in the entire Sect! With her Heavenly Sunfire Physique, her destructive powers were higher than anyone in the same stage as her! Thus, her dejection, shock, and disappointment were warranted.

    Aplicated expression appeared on Elder Irene''s face hearing her disciple''s words. Something that Nova didn''t miss.

    "What''s wrong, Master? Who ended up getting the position? Was it Eden? Seraphina? I wouldn''t be surprised if it were Everly. Don''t tell me�� was it that bitch, Rayna?" Nova listed off the names of a few disciples who couldpete with her, but Elder Irene''s face looked even more awkward for some reason.

    "Ahahaha," Elder Irene chuckled ufortably, "It''s actually neither of them. In fact, the Sect Master chose a young brat who had just joined the Sect less than a year ago."

    Nova froze in ce, her light smile wiped from her face. She stared into her Master''s face, looking for any indication of this being a joke, but the seriousness in Elder Irene''s eyes told her everything she needed to know.

    "..."

    "..."

    "...What?" Nova couldn''t believe what she was hearing!

    ''Did the Sect Master go crazy?! Why would she choose a nobody, a weakling, who just joined the Sect to be the Prime Disciple?!'' She screamed inwardly, but then a light of defiance sparked in her eyes.

    ''No! I cannot ept this! I could have epted this if it was Eden or Seraphina, as they are about as strong and hardworking as me. But a random Outer Court Disciple?! HELL NO!!''

    "Master! Please exin to me what''s going on! Why did the Sect Master choose a new disciple over me-no, over us Core and Direct Disciples?!" Nova asked with firm eyes that burned in indignation.

    However, Elder Irene wasn''t sure how to answer that question because even the Sect Master had limited information on her own Prime Disciple candidate. If anything, the Sect Master chose Mira based on her intuition and the fight she and Elder Sandra apparently witnessed.

    As much as she wanted to believe Aelina, her story was a bit too farfetched.

    ''I mean, what kind of monster is capable of someone over an entire major realm above them?! That makes no sense! There''s a fundamental difference between someone at the Core Formation Realm and Nascent Soul Realm, after all. Normally, it''d be impossible for even a Stage 9 Core Formation Realm expert to kill a Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!''

    Therefore, Elder Irene and the other Elders couldn''t help but doubt the Sect Master''s words.

    ��Well, what Aelina told them wasn''t exactly wrong, but it definitely wasn''t the whole story. She may have left out the part where Zander had lost all brain function and was doing more harm to his body than Mira was by using up his lifespan like that.

    "I''m not really sure what''s going on myself. Anyways, we''ll meet this person in a few days, so be patient for now. Also, it''s not like the Sect Master will immediately appoint this girl as the Prime Disciple. There''s still a chance for you and the other disciples to take that position!" Elder Irene then exined thepetition that she and the other Elders proposed.

    After a few minutes, Nova''s lips curved upwards, and she giggled, "Hehehe~ Who knew you guys woulde up with such a crazypetition? But you know the other Sects aren''t going to like it, right?"

    "Hahaha! Isn''t that what makes it so interesting?! Nurturing a Prime Disciple isn''t cheap, y''know?"

    ***

    Simr conversations happened amongst many Core and Direct disciples of the Sect. Many were enraged that some random nobody had stolen their spot as the Prime Disciple, but they, too, looked forward to thepetition that would decide who deserved that position.

    However, right now, all of this was still a secret between the upper echelon of the Sect. News of the Prime Disciple selection had yet to reach the ears of the Inner and Outer Courts.

    Meanwhile, as the Battle Maiden Sect was in an uproar, a hidden power had just obtained news that could lead to unforeseeable consequences.

 Chapter 493 Foxes

    Somewhere in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range

    A small orange fox dashed through the mountainous terrain, skillfully avoiding all the beasts in its path. The little fox didn''t release any aura, but the speed at which it ran was faster than what any mortal could aplish.

    After traveling for nearly an entire day, the fox stood in front of arge boulder. On the outside, this was a normal boulder. Even a Divine Sea Realm expert would think it was just an ordinary boulder.

    But, when the fox touched it with its paw and began inscribing hundreds of symbols, all in a specific sequence and timing, the small orange walked straight through the boulder and seemingly entered an entirely new world.

    Gone were the rough, jagged edges of the mountain range��instead, a vast open space with rolling hills, forests, and a clear blue sky appeared.

    The small orange fox didn''t stop to look around and kept running. Along the way, it spotted numerous other foxes, both in their beast and human forms. Seeing the orange fox run, they all smiled, nodded, and returned to what they were doing, though the former didn''t acknowledge them and kept running.

    Soon, it entered arge human-like city. There were tall, multi-storied buildings everywhere. The roads were made of a smooth, greyish stone with tons of humanoid foxes walking around.

    Every fox had a smile as they wandered around the city. They all gave respective nods whenever they noticed the small orange fox.

    Eventually, the small orange fox emerged before a massive pce and ran up the steps without hesitation. The humanoid fox guards at the entrance saw the orange fox running up the stairs, nodded at her with a smile, and let her in. The maids did the same thing as the guards and let the orange fox go wherever she wanted without question.

    Finally, the orange fox stood in front of arge pair of doors.

    "Come in, Cami." A seductive, mature, sultry voice came from behind the doors.

    The orange fox, Cami, shapeshifted into her human form, opened the doors and walked into the room.

    At a desk in front of a window sat a beautiful, busty, and curvy woman with pink hair, a delectable set of fox ears, and 7 tails. Her skin was smooth and without any blemishes; even from a distance, Cami could tell it looked soft to the touch.

    In fact, in terms of appeal to the opposite sex, the pink-haired fox beauty would surpass Mira! While Mira''s body proportions were perfect, in the end, her body was meant for battle, not sex. Therefore her�� assets�� weren''t as appealing to men as this pink-haired seductress.

    Cami came forward and kneeled in front of the woman.

    "Cami greets the Empress!"

    The woman waved her hands dismissively, "Maa~ Maa~ No need for the formalities, Cami. Just call me Mistress Lisica like you usually do," Lisica smiled, "Anyways, seeing as you have returned, you must''ve brought back some important news."

    Cami stood up, "Yes, Mistress Lisica. I have brought back some interesting news," she said emotionlessly.

    "Oya? Interesting news? Not important? Now you''ve got me curious."

    "That is correct, Mistress Lisica. As you know, my job is to roam this continent, gathering every bit of information I can find that might prove to be useful. That''s when I overheard something unusual in Snow Maiden City," She paused for a second as if contemting her following words, "It seems there have been sightings of a 9-tailed fox."

    "..."

    The yful smile on Lisica''s face disappeared and the surrounding air stilled. She stared at Cami in silence for a few moments, who stood there like a statue, before asking in a solemn voice, "Is the information you received reliable?"

    Cami didn''t hesitate to answer, "I don''t know, Mistress Lisica. I haven''t personally seen a 9-tailed fox, but there do seem to be numerous eye-witness ounts. From the testimonies I''ve gathered, this rogue fox joined the Battle Maiden Sect a little under a year ago. Other than that, there''s very little information about this being."

    Lisica tapped her finger on the desk; her head lowered as she went deep into thought.

    ''A 9-tailed fox appeared? Impossible! Those beings from legends don''t just pop up out of nowhere! But Cami isn''t one to lie, so either someone is parading around looking like a 9-tailed fox, the eye-witness ounts were mistaken, or there is one out there wandering the world. It''s also possible that it was just a mirage or an illusion. But still, the Battle Maiden Sect, huh? How annoying.''<sub> </sub>

    All kinds of thoughts formed in Lisica''s mind, but there was too little information to go off of for her toe to a concrete conclusion.

    This might very well be a trap to lure her out of her little hole. She has no shortage of enemies and admirers that would go to great lengths to drag her out in the open. Though, if it was a trap, it was incredibly poorly done. Still, Lisica wasn''t going to make any rash decision just because she didn''t think it was a trap.

    For a 9-tailed fox to just casually appear out in the open like that is too suspicious. They were the prestigious fox race! If they want to hide, who in the world can find them?! How could a being from legends be seen so easily?!

    Thus, there were only a few scenarios that Lisica thought might be possible but still not very likely.

    ''There shouldn''t be any 9-tailed foxes left in the Mortal Realm. Therefore, this is most likely either a trap or fake news that spread through one of the human cities.''

    Thetter wasn''t that umon, as myths, rumors, and stories spread incredibly fast through human societies. The information might not even be true, but it will still spread like wildfire, and many will believe it to be true without even verifying it. So, Lisica couldn''t help but be skeptical.

    "Is that all the information you were able to gather?" Lisica asked.

    "No, Mistress Lisica. Some people stated that the woman had 9 different colored tails and had the aura of a human, not a beast," Cami stated.

    Lisica gripped her chin, "Hmmmm~ How peculiar. All of our tails are usually the same color. Could she be a beastmen?" She thought but immediately shook her head, "Impossible! If that were the case, that would mean a genuine 9-tailed fox was still in the Mortal Realm and mated with a human."

    There were too many holes and inconsistencies that Lisica couldn''t make sense of.

    "Did you try to enter the Battle Maiden Sect to see if this was true?" Lisica asked, but she already knew the answer.

    Cami shook her head, "No, Mistress Lisica. When I learned of this information, the Sect was already on high alert, and I didn''t want to encounter Sect Master Aelina. I apologize for not being better, Mistress Lisica."

    Lisica waved her hands, "No need to be so stiff, Cami. I didn''t expect you to go running in there anyways. Aelina is an incredibly annoying opponent that even I would like to avoid fighting. Though, I certainly wouldn''t lose against her��"

    "Ahem! Anyway, I''ll have to pay a little visit to Aelina and confirm for myself if what you''re saying is true."

    Cami''s head, tails, and ears lowered despondently, making Lisica realize Cami had misunderstood her words.

    So, she hurriedly exined herself, "Ah! It''s not that I don''t trust you, Cami. It''s just that the information avable is too limited, and the significance, if it''s true, is too high�� kind of," She then fell into deep thought, "It''s not like our n really needs a 9-tailed fox. We''re doing fine by ourselves. But it wouldn''t heart to make some connections, now would it?" She smiled.

    Cami returned back to her normal, emotionless face, but Lisica could see the slight twitch in her tails and ears, indicating she was happy.

    "For now, go gather as much information as you can. I don''t want to leave because a few humans got fooled by an illusion or something," Lisica ordered.

    Cami kneeled, cing an arm over her chest, "By your will, Your Majesty!"

    Lisica pinched her brows, "Sigh�� How many times do I have to tell you? There''s no need for you to call me that."

    However, she noticed Cami had already disappeared and left toplete her mission.

    "What a troublesome little girl. Though, she was right about one thing. She certainly did bring back some interesting information. Fufufu~ I''m curious to see if there really is a 9-tailed fox out there or if it''s just a fake. However, I have some serious doubts that it''s actually a genuine 9-tailed fox, as they would never get spotted by a bunch of weaklings. Maybe my time spent on the Western Continent won''t be so boring after all."

    This whole situation was rather interesting to Lisica, and she couldn''t wait to find out what was true and what was not.

 Chapter 494 Factions Leaders

    Inside the Crimson yer Sect, Cyrus, the Sect Master, sat in his office holding a broken Life Tablet, which is essentially a jade slip with inscriptions on it that are tied to someone''s life.

    The Life Tablet in Cyrus'' hands was tied to his disciple, Zander''s, life and had just broken, signifying his death.

    He stared at the Life Tablet for a few minutes, with no change in his expression. His eyes were as still as ake, not showing any wrath or anger, as he had foreseen this situation as soon as Zander escaped the Sect.

    ''Sigh�� If only I had stopped him back then, he might still be alive.'' Cyrus thought while pinching the bridge of his nose.

    However, he knew there was nothing he could do even if he captured Zander and brought him back to the Sect. His mind was already too far gone by that point, and if he didn''t kill Mira soon, he''d lose his sanity and bepletely useless.

    "I guess it''s my fault for choosing such a shitty disciple!" Cyrus cursed his bad luck, but the me wasn''t entirely on him.

    Zander had never seen the true face of the Cultivation World until now. Most of his cultivation and battle experience was from killing and absorbing those weaker than him with overwhelming power, after all.

    The Unorthodox Faction, their cultivation techniques, way of life, and teachings all cater to people who have no problem abusing the weak. There are several reasons for that, but the crux of the issue is that those who are part of the Unorthodox Faction are generally much weaker than others at the same stage.

    It isn''t so noticeable in the lower Realms when the difference between minor Realms isn''t huge, to begin with, but things start to change after the Core Formation Realm.

    The cultivation techniques of the Unorthodox Faction prioritize fast growth over everything else, but there''s a price one must pay for this growth. Whether it be from the impure Qi they''re absorbing or using up their lifespan to cultivate, there are consequences to this fast growth rate.

    Generally, the quality of one''s Qi takes a significant drop, lowering their battle prowess by several folds. But since most people who join the Unorthodox Factions are generally one of two people, untalented trash or psychopaths, this means nothing to them.

    Being a Nascent Soul Realm expert with low-quality Qi and other issues with their foundation is still much better than being at the Foundation Realm or Core Formation Realm. If someone wanted to get stronger but didn''t have the talent for it, the only ce they could turn to is the Unorthodox Faction.

    In fact, due to the practices of those from the Unorthodox Faction, they used to be called Demonic Sects, and it wasn''t after thousands of years and many wars did the world as a whole decided tobel those kinds of Sects as part of the Unorthodox Faction.

    The Orthodox Factions, over time, realized that it was nearly impossible topletely eradicate these Sects and their cultivation techniques, as not everyone is talented, but everyone wants power.

    That''s why Cyrus could only me himself in this situation for forgetting the fate of those who use Unorthodox Faction techniques.

    "Quantity over quality, huh��."

    Cyrus knew that Zander died at the Battle Maiden Sect, as that''s the only ce he would if he wanted to find the one who caused his mind to crumble.

    "The Battle Maiden Sect again! It seems like all of my problemstely have been because of them! While it may be true that the natural order of things is for the strong to prey on the weak and stupid, both of which are traits of myte disciple, he was still MY disciple! I spent years training and pumping resources into him! Battle Maiden Sect, beware because I''ming for you!" He dered before taking out a golden red talisman and injecting Qi into it.

    "Yo~ Cyrus, what''s up?" A cheerful manly voice came out of the talisman.

    "I have something to discuss with you, Faction Head," Cyrus answered.

    "Oho? Interesting! You never call me for these kinds of things! Let''s hear it!"

    ***

    On the other hand, in a hidden location in the mountains, numerous leaders of the Orthodox Faction appeared in a small courtyard to discuss the recent events surrounding the Battle Maiden Sect.<sub> </sub>

    There were only 4 leaders out of the 7 top Orthodox Sects in the meeting.

    At the head of the table, a tall, handsome man with lean but explosive muscles and a sharp aura sat with a longsword tied around his waist. His name is Alexander Pierce, and he''s the leader of the Immortal Sword Sect.

    To his right sat an elegant beauty with a refined aura, who looked more like a schr than a cultivator, but nobody underestimated her power. Her name is Flora Lozano, and she''s the Sect Master of the Profound Elements Sect.

    To Alexander''s left sat a man with a ck cloak and a mask. He didn''t reveal any aura, and his presence was concealed. In fact, if the other leaders weren''t looking right at him, they would barely notice he was there! People called him the Ghost Reaper King, as he was the Sect Master of the Hidden de Sect.

    Lastly, across from Alexander sat arge burly man who released an overbearing aura that seemed to want to destroy everything in its path. His name is Damon, and he''s the Sect Leader of the Divine Weapons Sect.

    Alexander started the meeting by saying, "Thank you for answering my call and agreeing to meet with me to talk about the Battle Maiden Sect''s recent issues with all the beasts rampaging throughout their territory. I invited the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect and Yin-Yang Sect as well, but they didn''t seem all that interested."

    Damon snorted in disdain, "Hmph! Those pill fanatics and sex maniacs wouldn''t be very helpful in sieging the Battle Maiden Sect''s territory, anyways."

    Flora then chimed in, "Now, now. Nobody said anything about sieging anyone''s territory. If anything, I''m more inclined to help Aelina out. That is if she asks for it."

    However, Damon didn''t like that answer and yelled in her direction, "You''d actually assist them?! Don''t you realize that this is a unique opportunity for us?! The Battle Maiden Sect sits on a mountain full of treasures, literally. Why would you not want to take advantage of this situation?!"

    Flora red at Damon and responded coldly, "My Sect is doing fine without needing a near-endless supply of high-ranking beasts, herbs, and ores! Plus, going to war with them would do me more harm than good," She then turned to the Ghost Reaper King and said, "Even you, Ghost Reaper, should know it''s hardly worth attacking the Battle Maiden Sect."

    The Ghost King Reaper silently nodded but didn''t say anything!

    However, Damon wasn''t satisfied with that. He mmed his fists on the table and shouted, "While you might not have any ambition or desire to enter the Central Continent, I do! My Sect deserves to be the number one in the world, and the only way I see that being a possibility is my Sect obtains at least a portion of the Battle Maiden Sect''s resources!"

    Flora crossed her arms, looked at Alexander, and muttered, "You should first try bing the Number One Sect on the continent before you dare think about entering the Central Continent."

    "Bitch-!" Damon''s veins popped, and his knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists and red at Flora.

    However, Alexander intervened before things got too out of hand.

    "Alright. That''s enough. I didn''t invite you here to argue like children," He said calmly, "But I will say that I partially agree with Damon."

    Flora scowled, and Damon smiled as Alexander continued.

    "I''m sure you understand why. The mountain the Battle Maiden Sect resides on contains many natural resources, some of which can even help beings at our cultivation level. If we could obtain even a portion of those resources, our chances of entering the Central Continent would be much higher."

    Everyone nodded, but Flora couldn''t help but argue, "I understand what you''re saying, but you should know that even with all those resources, the Battle Maiden Sect has still failed to make it into the Central Continent even once. Also, the number of beasts they have avable to fight didn''te from nowhere. There''s a reason why they have so many beasts to fight. I''m sure you can think of a few possibilities as to why this is the case."

    "Heh! Those ignorant women don''t even know how to make full use of the resources they''re obtaining! That''s also probably why they insist on cowering on their little mountain, afraid to go out into the world and make a name for themselves! If I had everything they had, my Sect would undoubtedly be Number One!" Damon dered, but the surroundings turned silent. Flora coldly red at Damon while Alexander rubbed his head.

    After a while, Alexander opened his mouth with a sigh, "Haa�� Listen, I just said that I agreed with you more than Flora, Damon. I never said I epted your proposal. You should know the Battle Maiden Sect is anything but weak. With Aelina still in charge, they are anything but so. Anyways, let''s get into what I really wanted to talk about."

 Chapter 495 Take Control

    "You all should be aware of this, but the Central Continent Competition is only 20 years away." Alexander began. After everyone nodded, he continued, "Do you think your Top Disciple of the younger generation will be able to enter the Top 3 this year?"

    Everyone''s heads dropped as they fell deep into thought, but after a few minutes of thinking, they shook their heads.

    "As much as I hate to admit it, I don''t think my Sect''s Prime Disciple will be able to make it, but if he works hard enough, maybe he can make it into the Top 10," Damon said without his usual arrogance.

    However, his answer surprised the others as they didn''t think Damon would think so highly of his Prime Disciple.

    "I feel pretty much the same way. Maybe if my Prime Disciple gets lucky sometime within the next 20 years, she could enter the Top 10, but it''d be hard to get higher than that." Flora answered.

    The Ghost Reaper King didn''t answer and instead held up a piece of paper with poor handwriting that said, "Assassins have a hard time during thesepetitions."

    Although what he said was short, there was a lot of meaning behind those words or ack thereof.

    The Hidden de Sect is essentially a den of assassins. They work in the dark and kill pretty much anyone for money. Their headquarters is unknown, and even most of their Branch Sect locations are unknown. The only known ones are the ones the Hidden de Sect wants to be known, but even then, the general public is left unaware.

    The foundation of a great assassin organization is secrecy. What good is an assassin if you know they''reing?

    The next thing that makes a great assassin organization is the ability to gather and control information. The world is massive, and if every one of their assassins has to spend days, weeks, or months collecting basic information about their target halfway across the world, then that severely limits their business. For any great assassin, speed and efficiency are essential; the same goes for the organization.

    But it doesn''t stop there. Assassins must also learn not to leak any information that could jeopardize the whole Sect!

    So, naturally, as one of the strongest Sects on the Continent, the Hidden de Sect has reached the pinnacle of these practices.

    Therefore, the Ghost Reaper King did everything he could to limit any information the other leaders could gather about himself or his Sect. In fact, none of the leaders present even knew if what sat before them was his real body.

    However, what he said wasn''t wrong. Assassins generally do have a hard time inpetitions, even ones that aren''t staged. That''s because even when thrown into a Battle Royale-like environment, thepetitors are on especially high alert against assassins. This goes for almost anypetition.

    So, nobody was surprised by what the Ghost Reaper King said.

    Alexander continued, "I also don''t have any hope for my disciple entering the Top 3. In fact, I''m probably worse off than you guys. I don''t even think he''ll enter the Top 10, like every other year. Too many people use swords, after all. This doesn''t change on the Central Continent. Instead, most people are used to fighting against sword users. Either that or their techniques are much more advanced," He sighed, but nobody ridiculed him for his words.

    What he''s describing is like if you were forced to fight a clone of yourself, except this clone had 100 years of experience, had trained all their lives, had a better weapon, and had higher physical attributes. The oue is obvious; the clone would win 100% of the time.

    Central Continent swordsmen are the clone in that example. Everything about them is superior to those in the Immortal Sword Sect. Their cultivation. Their weapons. Their techniques. Their experience. Everything.

    Although that''s nearly the case in every aspect, it''s more prevalent amongst the swordsmen since that''s basically the default weapon.

    Still, just because the Top Swordsmen of the younger generation are superior in the Central Continent doesn''t mean Alexander''s Prime Disciple is weak and untalented. All Prime Disciples of the Top 7 Sects are talented and shouldn''t be looked down on. They just aren''t as good as those from the Central Continent, and that''s the problem.

    "Now, let me ask you this. What kind of resources or training do you think we should give our disciples so they can match up to those from the Central Continent?" Alexander asked.

    They all fell deep into thought, but they were unable toe up with a definite answer.<sub> </sub>

    "I''m�� I''m not really sure. There''s not exactly one thing that would raise the strength of our disciples by a notch. Pills, Inheritance sites, Ancient Battlegrounds, Uncharted Lands, arrays, etc. All these things are capable of that." Damon muttered, and everyone agreed with him.

    Flora added, "Yes, but the level of these things is still a grade below those from the Central Continent. However, the Ancient Beast Mountain Range is an exception to this."

    Alexander pped his hands, "Exactly! So, forget about invading the Battle Maiden Sect! What we should really be focusing on right now are the beasts! They control all the good stuff on this Continent! Whatever the Battle Maiden Sect has is just a piece of the pie. No, they don''t even have a fraction of what''s here!"

    The other leaders were shocked for a moment, except for the Ghost Reaper King, who showed no reaction due to his mask.

    They had never thought of that! While they kill droves of beasts every day, it hardly urred to them that they should invade the territories of the beast ns. Fending off the weaker beasts on the outskirts of the Mountain Range is already hard enough, after all.

    How could they possibly invade the beast ns residing in the middle of the Mountain Range?

    "Are you crazy, Alexander?! Thest time the Top Sects dared to do something like that, they were wiped out. After that, the beast ns came to a consensus and ''gifted'' us our current territories! They''d destroy us before we could even set foot on theirnds!" Flora yelled, and the others agreed.

    "That''s right, Alex! It''s impossible for us to take a firm foothold on the Mountain Range!" Damon dered.

    Alexander snorted coldly, "Hmph! I don''t know about you guys, but I don''t particrly like living under the beast''s watch and rules. Although we aren''t exactly their subordinates, we aren''t far from it. I want us to be treated as equals! I want my disciples to have ess to all the resources the Mountain Range has to offer!"

    "You aren''t the first person to think like that, and you probably won''t be thest, but the beast ns have dozens, if not hundreds, of Rank 10 (Divine Sea Realm equivalent) beasts! Our Human Race, at least on the Western Continent, at most has a few dozen Divine Sea Realm experts, and that''s being generous." Flora raised her voice.

    "Not only that but there are enough creatures all over the mountains to wipe out our Sects 1,000 times over! If we were to try and do something like that, forget about entering the Central Continent, we''d all be annihted!"

    Hearing all that, Alexander smiled, "Do you think we could even the ying fields a bit if we could match all those Rank 10 beasts?"

    The three of them thought for a second before shaking their heads.

    "It''s not just about the number of Rank 10 beasts. The beast ns'' foundations are deeper than ours. They''d surely have countermeasures against invaders. Hell, they''re beasts, for crying out loud! They probably invade each other all the time!" Damon said.

    "I agree. To add onto that, if we leave our Sects, who will stay behind to defend them and our disciples? We don''t have the strength or manpower to keep up with the onught of beasts that is sure to attack the moment we show ourselves." Flora added.

    The Ghost Reaper King held up a piece of paper that said, "I''ve heard rumors about an Ascension Realm beast living in the depths of the mountain."

    That one statement, though not said, sent shivers down the leaders'' spines. Although he said, that was just a rumor, that still wasn''t a statement they could take lightly. There is no Ascension Realm human on the Western Continent, so if there really is an Ascension Realm beast, there''s not much they can do.

    Alexander took this information especially hard. After all, he had numerous ns to conquer parts of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range!

    "Are you sure about this information?" He asked solemnly, but the Ghost Reaper King shook his head, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

    He regained hisposure and released a wide smile, finally nearing the end of this meeting, "As long as there''s not an Ascension Realm beast, I have found a way we humans might be able to fight back against the beasts and finally take control of a piece of this Mountain Range!"

 Chapter 496 Crack

    <o>,m "There is always a higher mountain to climb"- a famous saying among the myriad of worlds, regardless of status, power, race, or gender. It doesn''t stop there. Although the wording might change, the meaning is always the same.</o>

    It means there is always something higher to aim for, whether that be power, status, strength, knowledge, or whatever it is you want to excel at. You can always be better and should always strive for something better.

    Cultivation, at its core, is essentially the manifestation of this saying. For a normal vige child, someone at the Qi Condensation might be the top of the mountain for them. While for a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, it''s the Foundation Realm or the Core Formation Realm.

    For a Divine Sea Realm expert, the top of the mountain is the Ascension Realm. That''s not only the case for Divine Sea Realm experts either. The Ascension Realm is the peak for all in the Mortal Realm!

    A true cultivator''s primary goal in life should be to want to reach this peak, surpass it and transcend, giving themselves a new set of mountains to climb! This is what makes cultivation and the power thates with it so addictive, as it is tangible proof that you are improving.

    However, this could be said about any hobby, profession, or livelihood.

    For example, a new cksmith might only be able to create shoddy daggers initially, but as they practice and gain experience, someday, they might be capable of making legendary items that can throw the world out of bnce!

    However, what if you were just one step away from reaching the peak of your profession and were about to take the final step in creating the best weapon in the history of the world, only for the materials to be monopolized by another party?

    What if they had absolute power over you and would ughter you and your entire bloodline for daring to confront them about this matter?

    How would you feel?

    Lost? Angry? Resentful? Bitter? Depressed? Like your life had just lost all meaning?

    Probably a mixture of all those feelingsbined with a few more.

    Now, what if you had to live with that feeling for thousands of years? There would always be that sliver of hope of taking that final step, reaching heights you''d only dreamt of, but despite your best efforts, everything was in vain.

    Nothing mattered. The other party was too strong. Even if you built an empire of cksmiths or maybe�� a Sect full of talented young cultivators who could help you in your quest�� it mattered not.

    You could never take down the absolute overlord reigning over you like a tyrant.

    That''s how those in the Divine Sea Realm on the Western Continent feel, with the Central Continent being the tyrant preventing them from going any further on their journey to power.

    This is especially so for beings like Aelina and Alexander, who have lived a very long time, wanting nothing more than to reach the apex of what the Mortal Realm has to offer, only for their oppressor, the Central Continent, to shoot them down like worthless ants!

    These people would go to great lengths and would almost do anything just to get a glimpse of hope of reaching the peak!

    The thought of rallying the 4 continents and waging war against the Central Continent was always in their minds. What stopped them from acting on this was simply the fact that they wouldn''t win. It wouldn''t even be close!

    They have Ascension Realm experts there! Not just one or two either, but multiple! Hell, there might even be people at the peak of that Realm! Just a handful of Ascension Realm experts were more than enough to dismantle the 4 other continents, killing all the Divine Sea Realm experts.

    This isn''t mere spection either but runs deep in the history of the Continents.

    There have been numerous wars against the Central Continent, with every single one of them ending in thetter''s victory. No, it could hardly even be called a war. It was more like entertainment for the higher-ups who use these so-called wars as "training grounds" for their Divine Sea Realm cultivators.

    Simply put, it''s nothing more than a silly farce for those in the Central Continent. One those bastards might even look forward to.

    Nevertheless, it goes without saying that someone like Alexander would want to do everything in his power to break the shackles that bind him and find a way to be an Ascension Realm expert.

    So far, the only option is to wait for a heaven-defying disciple to show up and enter the Top 3 in the Central Continent Competition, but that doesn''t mean Alexander or even the other Sects have stopped looking for alternative ways to breakthrough.

    One of those alternatives is the Ancient Beast Mountain Range! It was only spection, but this Mountain Range has always been mysterious, even today. He refused to believe that there was nothing that could help them break through to the Ascension Realm.

    The rumor the Ghost Reaper King mentioned only solidified this ideal!

    "As long as there''s not an Ascension Realm beast, I have found a way we humans might be able to fight back against the beasts and finally take control of a piece of this Mountain Range!"

    Flora, Damon, and The Ghost Reaper King were both shocked and skeptical at Alexander''s bold statement. They were also wondering why he shared this information with them.<sub> </sub>

    Knowing exactly what they were thinking, Alexander exined, "I''ve discovered that the Battle Maiden Sect''s Sect Master has a unique cloning technique that can essentially turn a one-on-one situation into a two-on-one!"

    "..."

    Silence fell over the four of them as the atmosphere turned heavy. Even the Ghost Reaper King''s aura fluctuated slightly, indicating this news flustered him.

    They all understood the underlying meaning of his words and couldn''t help but think,

    ''Doesn''t that make them the strongest Sect on the Continent?!''

    Damon felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about it. He was a rtively new Sect Master, and although he was also in the Divine Sea Realm like the others, he''s never seen Aelina in battle.

    Still, he didn''t need to know. He was confident he''d win against almost anyone, especially a woman, in a one-on-one scenario, but he knew better than to challenge two people at her level.

    If she really had a technique like Alexander said,

    ''I''d be fucked!''

    Meanwhile, Flora thought about what Alexander was trying to get at by telling them this information.

    ''He''s saying that if we can obtain this technique, we can effectively double humanity''s powerhouses and might be able to put up a fight against the beasts. That''s all well and good, but I doubt this technique has no side effects.''

    "Where''d youe to learn this information?" Flora asked.

    Alexander just smiled but didn''t say anything. She understood what he was trying to convey and decided not to pursue it.

    Still, she had to confirm something, "How reliable is this information?"

    Alexander pondered for a moment, which was a bad sign in Flora''s book, and said, "Around 80%."

    Flora and the Ghost Reaper King nodded, satisfied with that answer. Learning anything about Aelina was hard enough, so if he was 80% confident in the reliability of this information, then there''s most likely some semnce of truth there.

    "Alright, but what do you want us to do about it? Like I said before, I have no intention of waging war against the Battle Maiden Sect for such a technique. It would also be counterintuitive for you to want to kill Aelina as she would be of great assistance in a fight against the beast ns."

    Alexander nodded, "You''re right. I don''t want to wage war against her, nor do I want to kill her. Instead, I want to bargain with her. Not just her, but you three as well."

    "Bargain?" The three of them tilted their heads. What could he possibly have to barter?

    "What if I have information pertaining to an ancient inheritance site in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range that can help not only our disciples increase their strength and cultivation but us as well?"

    *Boom!*

    It was like a bomb went off inside their heads as three enormous pressures leaked out of their bodies, crashing into Alexander, but he just sat there with a faint smile on his face.

    "Now, now. I didn''t say I actually have this information. I just asked, ''what if''. However, it looks like you guys are fairly interested! Hahaha!" He chuckled before narrowing his eyes and shrugging the pressure off of him, "Now, shall we get down to business?"

    ***

    Meanwhile, as multiple conversations were taking ce among the upper echelons of the Western Continent were taking ce, high in the sky, above Lunar Fox City, arge crack appeared.

    Out of this crack came 11 beautiful women who examined their surroundings.

    After a few moments, the woman who seemed to be the leader nodded and said, "It looks like Master dropped us off at the right ce. Now, let''s get to searching for this Mira girl!"

 Chapter 497 Unjust Death

    "It looks like Master dropped us off at the right ce. Now, let''s get to searching for this Mira girl!" Sue Ming, the leader of the girls who appeared out of the crack, said.

    "I''ll visit Mira''s previous Sect Master. You ten should investigate the surrounding area for any clues rting to Mira." Sue Ming ordered her subordinates.

    "As youmand, Mistress Ming!" They soluted and scattered.

    Sue Ming nced around and saw a Branch of the Battle Maiden Sect in the distance. She stepped forward, crossed hundreds of kilometers in an instant, and hovered above the Sect.

    Then, with another step, she appeared in Sect Master Jane''s office, right in front of her.

    Sect Master Jane jumped up in shock, pulled out a sword, and pointed it at Sue Ming, "Who are you?! How did you get in here?! What do you want with me?!"

    She stared wearily at the otherworldly pink-haired beauty in shock, fear, and confusion.

    ''How strong is this woman to appear in my office without me knowing? No, a better question would be, why is she here? I don''t remember offending anybodytely. I definitely don''t remember offending anyone who could send such a powerhouse.'' She thought as cold sweat dripped down her back.

    Sue Ming released a beautiful smile that could bring men and women alike to their knees. No, in fact, it actually did.

    Sect Master Jane''s eyes turned lifeless with a pink hue, and she kneeled in front of Sue Ming.

    "So many questions from such a weak little ant. Instead of contaminating the air around me with your breath and talking, you should be groveling at my feet like the inferior being you are." She said in a soft, silky, and enchanting voice.

    Sect Master Jane followed hermand and crawled to her on all fours. Sue Ming lifted her foot and pressed it against Jane''s head.

    "There you go. Now you understand the right attitude to have when you''re in my presence," She nodded, "Now, little doggy, can you tell me a bit about Mira? I want to know her looks, temperament, attitude, actions, strength, and friends. Don''t leave a single piece of information out."

    With her head still looking at the floor, Jane answered in a monotone voice, "Mira is a very beautiful girl. The most beautiful woman I''ve ever seen. I don''t think even goddesses are as-"

    *sh!*

    *Splurt!*

    One of Jane''s arms fell from her body, but the woman couldn''t even scream as she had no control over her mind.

    "Tsk. Who''s prettier than a goddess? Can she be more beautiful than me?! Stop praising the woman and give me a description!" Sue Ming clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

    As blood leaked out of her shoulder, Jane continued answering in the same monotone voice, "She has silver hair, red eyes, looks to be in her mid-teens, has dense muscles, and always has a slightly murderous expression."

    "Good! Now tell me more about her."

    "She has a crude personality. Doesn''t mix well with others. Indifferent. Trains all the time. Will kill you if you annoy her. Is incredibly strong in her cultivation Realm. She only has two friends, Maria and Cine," Janes''s sentences were choppy and blunt, but it was enough for Sue Ming to form a rough outline of Mira''s appearance, personality, and habits.

    "Where did she go after she left your Sect?"

    "A few years ago. To the Main Branch. But she''s a free spirit. Who knows where she actually went?" Jane answered in the same choppy manner.

    ''So, she left this Branch Sect a few years ago to the Main Sect, but this person is right. I feel like Mira would be more inclined to travel alone. So, it''s possible she never went to the Main Sect and decided to explore the world instead.'' Sue Ming thought, but this was good information, nheless.

    ''I''ll have to stop by the Main Sect, but I''ll save that until after I confirm her actions.''

    "Tell me a little about her friends," She ordered, and Sect Master Jane didn''t disappoint.

    "Maria. Blonde. Curvy. Beautiful. Outgoing. Shameless. Caring. Nice. Closest to Mira."

    "Cine. Green hair. Pretty. Saber. Training maniac. Quiet. Reliable. Mira''s training partner."

    A rough image of Maria and Cine formed in her mind, but it was hardly enough for her to understand their personality and habits.

    "Is there anything left for you to tell me? Any secrets those girls might have?" Sue Ming asked.

    "..."<sub> </sub>

    Sect Master Jane was silent for a while before eventually shaking her head, "No. Mira didn''t trust anyone. Even me."

    Sue Ming nodded in understanding and didn''t press for answers.

    "Well, if that''s all you know, then it seems your worth has run out. Bye-Bye~~" Sue Ming swiped her hand, removing Sect Master Jane''s head from her body.

    Just like that, someone Mira had a history with and had grown to respect was murdered. There was no epic battle, nor did she die peacefully from old age. She was just unlucky enough to have some connection with Mira and paid the price for this sin with her life.

    Sue Ming didn''t spare Sect Master Jane''s corpse another nce and teleported out of the room to the sky above Lunar Fox City.

    After waiting a few minutes, her subordinates returned to her and began reporting.

    "I interrogated the City Lord, and he said that Mira singlehandedly destroyed a Sect called the Soul Devouring Sect."

    "I asked around and learned of a group linked to Mira. It seemed to be called the Devil Empress Army. Apparently, they helped Mira when she destroyed the Soul Devouring Sect."

    "I found the Zaria Family, which shares a connection to Maria, Mira''s closest friend. They told us that Mira shared a trial area where one can grow stronger."

    Sue Ming turned to the one who said this and asked, "Did you kill or capture them all, Diana?"

    Diana shook her head with a disappointed expression, "No, Mistress. It seems like Maria''s parents disappeared and haven''t been spotted ever since. I saw no point in killing them if they weren''t directly rted to Maria."

    Sue Ming nodded and didn''t press any further. Still, she felt the need to remind her subordinates of their reason for being here.

    "That''s fine. Killing Maria''s distant family wouldn''t do anything and is just a waste of time. However, I want to make sure you understand Master''s orders and why he sent us down here."

    She nced at her ten subordinates and said, "We are here to make Mira''s life a living hell! Don''t forget that!"

    "Yes, Mistress!"

    "Good! Now, let''s keep scouring this city for anything useful. I want to know everything about Mira''s first years in this world!"

    "As youmand, Mistress!"

    Afterward, they spread out around the city and began digging deeper into Mira''s past, scouring for every little detail.

    They need to do this, despite having ess to Mira''s life 24/7 in their Master''s room, because not everyone in his harem wants to sit down and watch Mira''s life and thus wouldn''t know everything about it.

    Most, if not all, of his harem members, don''t derive joy from watching him torment poor, innocent women into bing his ves. How could they when the same thing happened to them? And watching Mira''s life is too pitiful.

    Nearly all the women by the god''s side never passed their first life before caving in and epting them as their Husband and Master. A minority passed their first life and caved in their second life, while the rest caved in their third.

    Having a god torment you and abuse you mentally, physically, and spiritually for decades while whispering sweet nothings in your ear about how "if you ept me, then all the pain will disappear" is hard to bear. Especially for ordinary, mortal women who grew up and lived normal, happy lives.

    The average person couldn''t possibly bear that pain, shame, and agony for so long. So, watching Mira fight through that, despite knowing her inevitable end, is too tragic for most of the girls to watch.

    At most, they''d watch snippets of Mira''s life, but for the most part, they tried not to look. To some, it was even more agonizing to watch Mira suffer than remembering what he did to them.

    Mira spends every waking second defying him, pushing through in hopes of getting revenge. However, what can a normal person do against a god? Even if she bes the strongest being on her, that''s far from enough. To fight a god, she has to be a god herself. But how difficult is that?

    Nearly impossible!

    Plus, the rest of her life was rather boring whenever the god wasn''t torturing Mira. She trained, trained, trained, and trained some more when she had free time. If she wasn''t training, then she was killing. If she wasn''t doing either of those things, then she was either dead, eating, or sleeping.

    Therefore, nobody wanted to watch her life as it was not only pitiful and miserable but boring as hell!

    Sue Ming was one of the women who didn''t feel like watching Mira''s life and, thus, didn''t know anything about it. However, that didn''t matter much as she and her subordinates were great at gathering information.

    It would only take them half a day to a full day to learn everything there is to know about Mira''s life in Lunar Fox City and the Battle Maiden Sect''s Branch outside of it.

 Chapter 498 Conquer The World

    After nearly half a day of "interrogating" the people of Lunar Fox City, Sue Ming and her subordinates regrouped.

    "So, what else did you learn about Mira, Maria, or Cine?" Sue Ming asked, causing her subordinates to lower their heads in shame.

    Sue Ming squinted her eyes, "Did you guys not learn anything new?"

    They reluctantly shook their heads.

    "Then what were you doing for thest half a day?" Sue Ming asked in a calm voice.

    Diana chose to speak up, "We tried to find out more about them, but Mira is like a ghost! Nobody knew more than basic information about her. Everyone just said she was a training maniac. Meanwhile, Maria''s case is a little different. There is plenty of information avable, but it''s all useless. We just know it''s been a while since Maria hase back. Lastly, we couldn''t find any information about Cine besides that she was a Battle Maiden Sect Disciple."

    The others nodded, as the information they obtained wasn''t much different.

    Sue Ming could only sigh at this, "It seems Mira has severe trust issues," Then she thought about her own past and muttered, "Though, it''s not like I can me her."

    She was once in Mira''s position, after all. However, she didn''t feel pity for Mira. Maybe when she was much younger, she would''ve felt bad for the girl and was reluctant to follow her Master''s orders, but she''s been through and seen too much to feel any sort of pity.

    ''Also, it''s not like Master mistreats me now that I''m his woman. I can live my own life and do my own thing. If anything, I''m happier now than I was before I met him. I just have to be ready to drop everything whenever he calls for me. I''m sure Mira would also be much happier if she just epted Master.''

    Of course, she''s not following her Master''s orders because she wants Mira to be happy. She''s just doing this because he told her to do it.

    Sue Ming quickly discarded these thoughts, "It seems there is no more information to gain from this city. We know that Mira went East after she left, so let''s follow her trail."

    "Yes, Mistress!"

    She didn''t immediately rush over to the Battle Maiden Sect''s Main Branch as she was new to this world and its people. Suppose she blindly rushed into one of the Top Sects on the Continent. In that case, she might end up making unnecessary enemies that could make her life very troublesome for the foreseeable future.

    Although she''s at the Peak of the Divine Sea Realm and can even fight weak Ascension Realm beings, she''s far from invincible.

    Therefore, she was going to take a slow, methodical approach to gaining information about Mira.

    Sue Ming nced back at the city before facing east and shooting off along with her subordinates.

    ''You can''t hide from me forever, Mira.''

    ***

    If there''s one ce the people on the Western Continent dubbed as the ce with the most significant opportunities, it would be the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. However, that doesn''t mean the rest of the continent is useless.

    Quite the contrary, the entire Continent, no, the world is a ce full of opportunities. For example, some old experts, who lived a lonely life and died with nobody by their side, might settle down in a remote ce, leaving their inheritance to someone worthy enough to im it.

    That''s just one example, but it is far moremon than people might think.

    The same goes for Associations, Sects, Families, ns, and Kingdoms. Although most people know about the Top 7 Orthodox Sects on the Continent, that doesn''t mean only those Sects are powerful. Nor does it mean that being near the Ancient Beast Mountain Range will make one powerful.

    The Continent is toorge, and there are far too manynds of opportunity to simply say there are only 7 widely known powers on the Continent.

    Of course, many people know about the Unorthodox Sects, but they tend to stay in the dark, so their influence isn''t nearly asrge as some of the other groups. It''s not just them who prefer to hide their power either. Many ces and people just want to be out of the spotlight.

    In the center of the continent, on a spire overlooking a valley, a young, tall, lean, muscr, blonde man sat staring at the scenery with a massive greatsword on his back. He stared at the valley, a ce he had called home for who knows how many years, and sighed.

    Suddenly, a beautiful woman wrapped in a white dress with long white hair, wizened blue eyes, and a bountiful chest appeared next to the man, seemingly out of thin air.

    Although the young man couldn''t feel her presence, he knew she was there.

    "Master." He said without turning his head.

    The woman chuckled, "Was I too obvious?"

    The young man nodded, "Yes. For some reason, you always enjoy sneaking up on me whenever I''m deep in thought about something."

    The woman shrugged and sat down next to the young man, "What do young men like you have to think so hard about? You should be out there conquering the world, not staring at a shitty valley!"<sub> </sub>

    The young man sighed again, "What''s so fun about conquering the world? I can do that whenever I want. I''d much rather spend my time more meaningfully."

    "Like training?" The woman asked sarcastically, to which the young man nodded.

    "Aren''t the techniques you passed onto me one of the best in the world? I should spend my time mastering them and eventually improving upon them. Why do I need to go out there and explore the world?"

    The woman snorted, "Hmph! I didn''t ask you to explore the world! I asked you to conquer it!"

    The man''s eyes sunk, and his lip twitched, "What does that even mean, Master? Conquer the world? If it has anything to do with managing a Sect or a country, I''d much rather die!"

    The woman flicked his head at his idiocy.

    "Ouch!"

    "What I mean by conquering the world is to go out and make a name for yourself. You should man up and show the world that you''re the best!" The woman preached, but the young man wasn''t convinced.

    "Master, that doesn''t make any sense. Why do I need the validation of others to tell me I''m the best? I''m confident that nobody in my generation canpete with me. Thus, since I''m already the best, there should be no need for me to leave."

    *Smack!*

    "Ouch! Stop hitting me, Master!"

    "Well, maybe if you weren''t so stupid, I wouldn''t hit you! I never said you needed others'' validation! For a fighter such as yourself, the best way for you to confirm you''re the best and most talented is through beating up others!"

    "Is that why you stopped my training and told me to go challenge those around my age?" The young man asked.

    The woman pped, "Exactly! You need to leave this ce so you can experience life!"

    The young man raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure it''s not because you were bored?"

    The woman puffed up her chest, "Of course, I was bored! While I love watching you train�� I really don''t. We''ve been here for 50 years. I''m sick of watching you hit trees and kill beasts! I want to watch you beat people up! I want you to pummel some arrogant young masters! I want to see beauties flock to you like chickens! What''s the meaning of life if I can''t watch my own disciple grow?!"

    The young man turned his head, his mouth wide open, as he stared at his Master. He was speechless!

    ''My life is not a drama meant to entertain you, Master! Also, why do you want me to beat people up so badly?! Aren''t you a bit too violent?!'' He inwardly screamed.

    The woman understood what he was thinking and asked with upturned eyes, "Won''t you do me this tiny little favor, my handsome disciple, who I spent my blood, sweat, and tears to train for thest 50 years? Wuuu~ Wuuu~ My disciple, who I passed on my legacy to, can''t even do one thing for his poor old master."

    The young man''s brain stopped working as he cringed in disgust, "Ugh! Fine! I''ll go be your entertainment for a few years! Just please don''t call yourself old when you look like a girl in her twenties. It''s off-putting!"

    The woman wore aplicated expression, not sure how she should feel by those statements. On the one hand, he said she looked young, but on the other hand, he called her old by saying it was off-putting.

    *Smack!*

    "Ouch!"

    She didn''t know what to do, so she just smacked him across the head.

    "What was that for, Master?! I agreed to your nonsense!"

    "Hmph! You just called me old! You should know better than to mention a woman''s age!"

    Once again, the young man was shocked speechless!

    However, before he could recover, the woman grabbed him like a sack of potatoes and flew up into the sky!

    "Since you''ve agreed, let''s start now! It''s time to entertain-ahem, conquer the world, Little Ryuu!" The woman dered.

    The young man, Ryuu, slumped his head exhaustively, "Yes, Master Izaria."

 Chapter 499 Arcus Family

    A few hourster, Ryuu and Master Izarianded in Arcfield City, a city controlled by the Arcus Family. The Arcus Family is a fairly renowned power on a simr level as the Lionel Family Mira encountered. They have several Mortal Shedding Realm experts, a dozen or more Soul Transformation Realm, and many Nascent Soul Realm experts.

    However, in terms of battle prowess, the Arcus Family is weaker than the Lionel Family, considering they are a merchant family, but that doesn''t mean they aren''t strong.

    Only the strong can umte wealth in this world; if they didn''t have the power to protect themselves, they would have already copsed.

    Of course, one can''t discredit their connections either. As a merchant family with close ties with many other cities, families, powers, and strong individuals, the power they show on the surface is just a cover.

    Ryuu didn''t know anything about the Arcus Family, nor did he care. He wouldn''t even be here if it weren''t for his Master.

    Ryuu and Master Izaria walked down the city''s streets, taking in the sights until finally, Ryuu couldn''t take it anymore.

    "Master, why did you bring me here? Do you really want me to challenge this family?" He asked.

    Master Izaria nodded, "Of course! Why else would I take you here?"

    Ryuu closed his eyes and searched the surrounding area with his Soul Sense, an ability one gains when they reach the Nascent Soul Realm, and muttered, "But they seem so weak. I highly doubt the people around my age could even handle a fraction of my pinker finger!"

    Although his statement was incredibly arrogant, neither Ryuu nor Master Izaria saw it that way. What he said were the facts, and he had the confidence and strength to back up those words.

    Master Izaria smiled mysteriously, "So? Don''t you want to see what the average strength of those in your generation is? This family is the perfect stepping stone on your quest to world domination!"

    Hearing his Master speak of such topics so lightly, he couldn''t help but pinch the bridge of his nose, "Sigh�� First, you asked me to conquer the world, and now you want me to dominate it? Why should I do something so troublesome?"

    "Hmph! Are you still a man, Little Ryuu? Don''t tell me�� Gasp! Did you identally cut off your peni-?!

    "STOP! Please stop talking, Master! People are staring at us!"

    "...I just wanted to know if my precious disciple lost his testica-" Master Izaria pouted, but Ryuu quickly covered her mouth with his hands.

    "Please stop talking, Master. I''m fine! You should already know this!" He said exasperatedly, then nced at all the people staring at them.

    They were looking at them as if they were a couple of degenerates! Shame and embarrassment washed over the young man; he wanted nothing more than to leave this city!

    "Can we hurry up and finish whatever business you had nned for me?" He asked, but Master Izaria didn''t waste this opportunity to tease him.

    "A~ Is my cute little Ryuu shy? There''s no need for that. Once you show off your power, you''ll have copious amounts of women flocking toward you! Then, you''ll be able to utilize that other greatsword of yours!" She winked at him.

    Ryuu cringed but didn''t respond to her teasing. He knew if he made any sort of reaction, she wouldn''t stop.

    Master Izaria knew what he was thinking and sighed, "You''re no fun, Little Ryuu. Ugh�� Fine, we can finish what I brought you here for."

    Suddenly, the two of them disappeared from their location and appeared in front of a giant mansion. There were multiple guards at the Nascent Soul Realm guarding the mansion, who were surprised by the sudden intruders.

    However, they reacted immediately and dashed to them. Or, at least, they tried. Somehow, without them knowing when, a dense amount of Qi had wrapped around their bodies, preventing them from moving.

    Master Izaria gave them a sidelong nce but didn''t spare them any more attention. She raised her head toward the mansion and yelled in a booming voice amplified by Qi, "Arcus Family scum! Come out right now and face your death!!"

    Her voice was so loud that it broke all the windows and even cracked the ground. Those in the Core Formation Realm inside the mansion fainted immediately, while the residents in Arcfield City had blood dripping out of their ears.

    Ryuu facepalmed and really wished he could give his Master a proper smack-

    *Smack!*

    "Argh! Fuck! Master, stop hitting me!"

    *Smack!*

    "Ouch!"

    "Hmph! This is punishment for thinking of smacking me and cursing at me!"<sub> </sub>

    Ryuu rubbed his head despondently and thought, ''One day, I''ll give you a good smack as well, Master!''

    "WHO DARES CAUSE TROUBLE AT MY ARCUS FAMILY?!" A loud booming voice came from within the mansion, and soon, a man appeared above Ryuu and Master Izaria.

    The man locked his eyes on the two of them and was about to berate them further but stopped himself. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the two of them wearily as he focused on the beautiful woman in white.

    ''Why can''t I sense her power? That voice just now clearly came from this woman, and it was amplified by Qi, so she couldn''t be a mortal. She also broke all the windows in my home and even made most of the servants faint. She''s at least at the Soul Transformation Realm, but since I can''t sense her cultivation, she either has a treasure, a technique to conceal herself, or she''s stronger than me.'' He calmly and quickly analyzed the situation without letting his feelings cloud his judgment.

    As the head of a merchant family, his eye for people, ability to sense danger, and ability to analyze situations were top-tier. Although he might not be the best fighter, he had full confidence in his ability toe to quick, concise conclusions with whatever information he was given.

    Therefore, in this situation, he concluded,

    ''I shouldn''t provoke these two for now. I don''t know who they are, where they came from, or how powerful they are. Since I know nothing about them, I should proceed with caution.''

    Still, as the head of the family, he couldn''t allow himself to lower his head to a few unknown outsiders.

    With an authoritative but serene voice, he said, "My name is Aurelius Arcus, and I''m the head of the Arcus Family. I don''t think I''ve seen you two before, nor do I think we have a feud with one another. May I ask why you two have intruded upon my family, asking for our deaths?"

    Master Izaria nodded and chuckled. Ryuu looked at his Master and was suddenly struck with a bad feeling.

    Therefore, before she could say any more nonsense, he decided to speak up, "Sir Aurelius, don''t listen-"

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t finish as Master Izaria cut him off, "Hmph! What foolishness! How could you not know us when your bitch of a daughter cucked my poor disciple after they had already promised to marry one another?! It seems the Arcus Family''s shamelessness knows no bounds! Or should I say, as expected of a merchant family!?"

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    Ryuu''s jaw dropped, and his mind went nk. He stared at his Master''s beautiful face, wondering why she hade up with such an embarrassing lie!

    ''Marriage? Cuck? Master, the only girl I''ve seen in thest 50 years, is you!'' He screamed inwardly, but he couldn''t muster any strength to speak.

    Meanwhile, Aurelius was even more incredulous about this whole situation. However, irritation rose inside him as he felt like he was being pranked.

    But as the head of a merchant family, he quickly regained hisposure and spoke, "Ahem. Miss, I have no idea what you''re talking about. I, Aurelius Arcus, don''t have any daughters."

    "..."

    Master Izaria froze, but she quickly returned to normal. With a shit-eating grin on her face, she chuckled, "Hehehe~ I know. I was just messing with you. Sheesh. Can''t an old man like you take a joke?"

    Ryuu and Aurelius'' faces twitched, but Master Izaria continued talking, "I just needed an excuse to drag you out of that home of yours. The real reason I''m here is to let my disciple beat up a few of your juniors! Rejoice! For your family will be his stepping stone to conquering the world! You will forever go down in history as the first losers!"

    Aurelius'' face twitched again as veins bulged in his forehead. He was trying to be nice and polite to these two unknown people in consideration of their identity and power, but his patience was limited.

    "Listen, woman, I don''t know what you''re trying to do, but-" He spoke in an annoyed tone, but before he could finish his sentence, an enormous pressure crashed onto him, dropping him out of the sky.

    ''A Divine Sea Realm expert!'' His face went pale, and his body trembled, knowing his fate and the fate of his family was no longer in his hands.

    He looked up and saw the smile on the beautiful woman''s face, causing him to shiver even harder.

    "You should go fetch the juniors of your family while I''m still asking nicely." She said in a sweet voice that sounded like the voice of a demon to Aurelius.

    In the end, he could only nod his head.

    "...Yes. I will do as you say."

 Chapter 500 Chaotic Times

    A few minutester, Ryuu stood on a battle tform with a bored look in front of 50 youths, all under 100 years of age. He still had arge greatsword on his back but showed no intention of reaching for it.

    Master Izaria smiled brightly and waved at Ryuu, "Wooo~~ Kick their asses, Little Ryuu!"

    Ryuu ignored her words and staredzily at the young men, "Let''s get this over with, shall we? I don''t want to be here anymore than you want me here."

    One of the young men from the Arcus Family finally couldn''t take it and hopped up on the battle tform. He took out his sword and yelled, "My name is Benjamin Arcus! I''m a-"

    Before he could finish, Ryuu interrupted him, "Haaa�� I don''t care who you are. Just attack me already. I''ll suppress my cultivation to give you a fighting chance." He released the aura of a 3rd Stage Nascent Soul Realm expert.

    A vein popped in Benjamin''s head, but Ryuu''s words caused him to frown inwardly.

    "Heh! Still trying to act tough, huh? Well, whatever! I''ll be the one to wipe that arrogant smirk off your face!" Benjamin dered as he charged at Ryuu.

    ''Smirk? Since when did I smirk?'' Ryuu wondered, barely registering Benjamin''s presence.

    Benjamin closed in on him in a fraction of a second and smiled, thinking, ''Since you''re not even paying attention, I''ll end this in an instant!''

    However, right as he was about to swing his sword, Ryuu punched in his direction without even looking.

    *Boom!*

    *Splurt!*

    The shockwaves of his punch were enough to reach Benjamin and send him flying, coughing up blood. He immediately fainted, and it was unknown whether he was still alive after that casual attack.

    Aurelius, who was observing the fight in the air, could hardly believe his eyes. Just like how Ryuu had suppressed his strength to the 3rd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, Benjamin was also in the 3rd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Though he doubted Benjamin would win, he assumed he''d at least be able to get a hit in! But what was this?!

    He couldn''t even reach hispetitor before he was beaten!

    ''Sigh�� It seems this Master-Disciple duo is much more troublesome than I expected. I guess I should just be satisfied that they don''t seem to have any ill intentions.'' Aurelius thought, feeling bitter about this whole situation.

    Meanwhile, the other youngsters of the Arcus family stared at Ryuu with wide eyes and open mouths.

    "Who''s next?" Ryuu''s voice woke them up from their stupor, but nobody had the courage to face him. Benjamin was already one of the stronger members of their generation. If he could take care of him so easily, he could certainly deal with most of them without any effort.

    Seeing nobodying at him, Ryuu grew annoyed, "If none of you are going to challenge me, then I''ll juste to you!"

    Right after his words fell, he disappeared from his position and reappeared in front of the 49 other youths.

    The strongest amongst them was only at the 6th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, so he limited his strength to that and punched!

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    ��

    The shockwaves from that one punch were enough to send the rest of the youths flying, coughing up blood, and ultimately falling unconscious!

    "..."

    The surroundings turned deathly silent, as those from the Arcus family didn''t know how to react to such a domineering disy of strength. The older members of the Family stared deeply at Ryuu, trying to understand the depths of his strength, but were unable to gather anything.

    "Wooo~! Hell yeah! Way to go, Little Ryu!" Everyone''s attention snapped over to Master Izaria, who was waving her hands, cheering like a fan girl!

    Their expressions were extremelyplicated, but Aurelius had already warned them that she was a Divine Sea Realm expert. So, they could only swallow theirints and stare dryly at the woman.

    Ryuu shook his head and turned to his Master, "Can we go now?"

    Master Izaria smiled, causing Ryuu to frown, and she walked over to him, "A~ Has my Little Ryuu not had enough fun yet? Fufufu~ I never knew you were such a violent guy, but I''m notining~."

    She grabbed Ryuu''s shoulder, channeled her Qi, and the two of them disappeared from the Arcus Family, not leaving any traces behind other than 50 bloodied juniors.

    Aurelius and the other family members just stared dumbly at where the Master-Disciple duo disappeared from, extremely confused.<sub> </sub>

    "Did�� Did they seriously just barge into our family, beat up the youngsters, and leave without saying anything?" One of them spoke aloud to nobody in particr.

    "...I guess?"

    "Aurelius, do you know anything? Why did those two appear?"

    They all turned to Aurelius, but he shook his head, "I know as much as you do. All I know is that woman is a Divine Sea Realm expert. I don''t know about the kid, but he''s clearly not simple. We should just be d that nobody died."

    Everyone nodded in agreement.

    This situation was a perfect reminder to them that anything can happen in this unforgiving world and that they shouldn''t act needlessly arrogant lest they suffer the wrath of someone they can''t afford to offend.

    "...I have a feeling the world is about to get chaotic," Aurelius muttered, and they couldn''t agree more.

    ***

    He wasn''t wrong.

    After Ryuu and Master Izaria left, they visited other cities and families to beat up all their talented juniors, then disappeared like the wind after they were done. There wasn''t anything those cities or families could do, either.

    None of them had a Divine Sea Realm expert to keep Master Izaria in check, so they could only ept the rampant behavior of the Master-Disciple duo. To make matters worse, they arrived and left so quickly that those families couldn''t even warn others of the entric duo.

    Through these battles, Ryuu was able to show off his overwhelming might as he was able to take down all of his opponents in a single punch.

    No Qi, no overpowered techniques, no unique martial arts, nor did he use a weapon. He simply beat all of his opponents with his strength.

    However, what humiliated the families he visited more than anything was the fact that he always limited his strength to his opponent''s level. Despite that, he could still end every battle with a single punch.

    Nobody knew his true cultivation or strength, as nobody was strong enough to bring it out of him. That''s not to say his opponents were weak, but he was just too strong.

    After a day of traveling around, teleporting to one family after another, Ryuu and his Master appeared before a massive mountain range that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    "So, this is the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, huh? I''ve heard a bit about it, but I don''t know much. Care to enlighten me, Master?" Ryuu asked, his expression cid as he stared at the endless mountain range fraught with danger.

    Master Izaria shrugged, "What''s there to say? It''s a bunch of hills with even more mangy mutts."

    Ryuu nodded, "So there''s a bunch of mountains and even more beasts, got it."

    "Yeah, but we don''t want to go there," Master Izaria said with a disgusted expression.

    Ryuu saw this and got a little curious, "Why? Is it too dangerous, even for you, Master?"

    She scoffed, "Heh! Dangerous? For me? Nonsense! I just don''t want to go there because most beasts are ugly in their human form! I refuse to allow my disciple to pound ugly women!" she said righteously.

    Ryuu was once again speechless. Still, he couldn''t 100% agree with that statement, "What about the Fox n? I''ve heard they have the most beautiful women in the world."

    Master Izaria''s expression becameplicated, but she still had to agree with him, "They are an exception! Their women are truly beautiful, but you have to remember, you''d still be fucking a beast! No matter how beautiful or human-like they appear, a beast is still a beast! You''d still bemitting beastiality!"

    Ryuu blushed in embarrassment and avoided his Master''s gaze, something she didn''t miss. An even more disgusted expression appeared on her face, and she stared at her disciple like a piece of human garbage, "Eh? Don''t tell me�� Is that your kink? You like fucking beasts?! OH MY FUCKING GOD! Is that what you''ve been doing in the valley this whole time?! I thought you were training!!!"

    Ryuu''s face turned bright red, and he wished for nothing more than to disappear right now.

    "M-M-Master�� Master, that''s not it! I''m still a virgin! I just think touching those ears and floofing their tails would be super satisfying. Wouldn''t it be nice toy your head in one of theirps as they caress you with their tails?"

    Master Izaria pictured the scene in her head. She would beying on a humanoid fox''s plump thighs as the rest of her body is cuddled in the soft embrace ofrge fluffy tails. Their fur might lightly brush her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

    She nodded her head and agreed that such a thing would be incredibly satisfying.

    "Alright! I''ll believe you�� for now. However, you need to go beat up more people for scaring me like that!"

    With that said, the two of them disappeared and headed to the nearest Sect, the Yin-Yang Sect!

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    [A/N: We made it to 500 Chapters! Thank you guys so much for the support! It''s been a long journey, and I feel like my ability as a writer has improved drastically over thest year and a half since I started the novel. I appreciate all of you guys who stuck with me through it all.]

 Chapter 501 Team Members And Elders

    A day after Mira''s talk with Sect Master Aelina, she sat on her bed, meditating. She was preparing to go into closed-door cultivation for a month to refine her techniques and study all the new ones she had just received.

    The only thing stopping her was the Sect Master, who should be bringing tons of herbs, seeds, and nts for her to put in her Infinity Garden.

    *Vwoop!*

    ''Speak of the devil, and he shall appear,'' Mika thought, feeling a disruption in space behind her.

    "It''s rude to teleport straight into someone''s bedroom, you know?" Mira spoke with a frown, dissatisfied with the person who had just intruded.

    "I''m already doing you a favor by letting you know I was entering. If I really wanted to intrude, you wouldn''t even know." A neutral yet maic voice said.

    Mira opened her eyes and turned around, staring straight into a pair of violet eyes.

    "Did you finish picking out what herbs, seeds, and nts you wanted to give me, Aelina?" Mira said casually, causing Aelina to lift an eyebrow.

    "Aelina? I didn''t know we were so close to address each other so casually." She questioned.

    Mira shrugged, "The only people allowed in my personal bedroom are those of equal standing with me. Since you entered unannounced, you''re telling me we are of equal standing. Why should I add honorifics if that''s the case?"

    ''What sort of twisted logic is that? And since when was I forced to conform to it?'' Aelina wondered but quickly dropped the topic. She didn''te here to talk about this nonsense, nor did she care what Mira called her.

    "Whatever. Anyways, yes, I prepared all the items for you. Some of them are extremely valuable, so don''t die or get captured before returning them to me, or else I''ll be quite upset." Aelina said lightly, but Mira could feel the pressure behind those words.

    She could tell Aelina would be a lot more than just "upset" if she lost them.

    Aelina flicked over a spatial ring to Mira, who caught it and began inspecting the contents but was thoroughly shocked by what she saw!

    Thousands upon thousands of herbs, seeds, and trees of various grades were in the spatial ring. The grades ranged from anywhere between Earth-Grade and Mid-Divine Grade! Not only that, but each item was of superior quality in its own grade!

    "Damn! Did you loot your entire treasury or something? Where''d you even find so many nts?" Mira asked after she tossed the ring in her Storage Space.

    Aelina nodded, "You aren''t too far off the mark. I looted my treasury and multiple Sect Gardens. I also went around the Mountain Range and plucked anything that looked interesting or useful."

    Mira looked at the Sect Master incredulously, "You didn''t take everything, did you?"

    Aelina scoffed, "Do you think my Sect is that poor?"

    Mira shook her head. She doubted what was in her possession was even 1% of the Sect''s wealth.

    "Alright. I''ll get these nted and will let you know when they are ready to be harvested," Mika then shooed Aelina away, "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I have to go into closed-door cultivation to prepare for your little test."

    However, contrary to what she expected, Aelina shook her head.

    "That''ll have to wait. I mentioned you being the Sect''s Prime Disciple to the Elders, and they didn''t seem to like the fact that I picked someone in the Core Formation Realm when the Central Continent Competition was only 20 years away. So, you''ll have to meet them first."

    An annoyed look appeared on Mira''s face, "Why? Why do I have to go now?"

    Aelina chuckled, understanding Mira''s circumstances, "They want to meet the person I have my eye on as soon as possible. Oh, and I''ll use this time to introduce you to the people who will be joining you on your mission."

    Mira felt irritation rise up within her as she couldn''t give two shits about the Elder''s opinions or her future team members, at least not right now.

    She''s busy, after all! She''s got multiple techniques to learn!

    Unfortunately, Aelina doesn''t look like she''ll be leaving without her, and Mira doesn''t have the strength to resist.

    Suppressing her irritation, she sighed, "Fine. But you have to throw in arge Low-Stage Heaven-Grade Knife and a set of Mid-Stage Heaven-Grade Throwing Knives for my troubles."

    Aelina nearly lost herposure upon hearing Mira''s brazen request, "What do you need those for? And why should I give them to you?"<sub> </sub>

    "I''ll use them on the mission. Spirit Stone Mines are narrow, and my scythe is too big to be used in them."

    Aelina pondered for a moment but eventually agreed. Although Heaven-Grade equipment isn''t necessarily cheap, all Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm disciples have at least one.

    Since Mira can fight someone at the Nascent Soul Realm and is about to embark on a near-impossible quest, it makes sense for her to need Heaven-Grade equipment. Plus, knives are rtively cheap inparison to other weapons.

    "Sure. I''ll give them to you before you leave," Aelina nodded before walking over and grasping Mira''s shoulder, "Alright, now let''s go meet the Elders and your fellow team members."

    Just as she was about to leave, Mira stopped her.

    "Wait! Let''s take Maria, as well. Due to her healing capabilities, I will take her with me on the mission."

    Aelina found her request reasonable and teleported next to Maria, grabbed her by the should, then brought the two of them to the mountain''s peak.

    Maria was clueless about what was going on, but seeing Sect Master Aelina, she decided to voice her questionster.

    Soon, the three of them appeared in the middle of arge room, surrounded by 50 Elders and several younger women. They all raised an eyebrow seeing Mira''s unparalleled beauty and her 9 multi-colored tails.

    Although they were somewhat ignorant of what a 9 tailed fox signified in the foxmunity, they''ve all read the legends. 9 tailed foxes were supposedly beings nearly on the same scale as Dragons and Phoenixes.

    However, Mira clearly wasn''t a beast, indicated by her cultivation and aura.

    A vast pressure crashed onto Mira and Maria as countless eyes drilled into their bodies, inspecting every centimeter. Maria squirmed in difort while Mira''s face contorted into a frown, but she didn''t do anything as it was basically impossible for these people to learn any of her secrets by staring at her.

    After a few moments, Aelina pped her hands, dispelling the Elders'' auras, "Alright, that''s enough inspecting. Can''t you see you are making them ufortable? Anyways, I''ll let them introduce themselves."

    Mira inwardly sighed, still annoyed that she had to deal with this shit, but acquiesced nheless, "My name is Mira. I look forward to working with you."

    Many of the Elders frowned at her impassive and disrespectful attitude, while the disciples watching seemed to have gained interest.

    Meanwhile, Maria took a few seconds to gather her bearings before speaking up, "Hello, Elders! My name is Maria Zaria, and I''m Mira''s wife! I''m at the 4th Stage of the Core Formation Realm and have an affinity for light. Nice to meet you!"

    The Elders'' frowns lessened upon hearing Maria''s enthusiastic introduction, but they were confused about why Aelina brought her here.

    Seeing their confusion, Aelina spoke up, "She will be joining Mira and the other disciples in the mission to steal Unorthodox Faction Spirit Stone Mines. Her healing skills are quite impressive and will certainly be useful, so I decided to bring and introduce her to the other disciples."

    The Elders'' nodded in understanding but soon brought their attention back to Mira. Although they could tell Maria was extremely talented, at least at the level of their top disciples, they were more interested in Mira.

    No matter how much they inspected her, the only thing they could gather was her cultivation level.

    Physique, Core, Meridians, Tails, and even her internals, such as her organs and bones. They couldn''t sense any of it. It was as if a fog had covered her entire body, which spiked their interest and doubt as they couldn''t tell how talented she was.

    Something like this has never happened in the past, and they couldn''t help bute up with all sorts of conclusions.

    ''Is she really that talented?''

    ''Why can''t I sense anything unique about her? Is she hiding something? Or is the reason I can''t sense anything because she''s too talented?''

    ''There must be a reason why the Sect Master spoke so highly of her!''

    All sorts of thoughts passed through their mind, but they were interrupted by a cold voice.

    "So, you''re Mira, huh? The girl that the Sect Master wanted to give the Prime Disciple position to. You don''t seem that strong to me." A woman with auburn hair approached Mira with steady steps.

    Mira turned her head and stair at the woman approaching and narrowed her eyes slightly.

    ''She''s powerful!''

 Chapter 502 Confrontation

    A few moments before Nova spoke, she had been observing Mira intently. She wanted to know everything about the person who the Sect Master chose to be the one to lead the Sect.

    From the moment Mira appeared before her, she could tell that Mira was special. Whether it be her temperament, aura, or beauty, Nova wasn''t disappointed. However, that was all. She couldn''t feel the limits of Mira''s strength, but her instincts, honed from countless years of battle, knew she wasn''t a threat.

    No, Mira was far below what a threat should be, but this wasn''t all that surprising to Nova. How could someone in the Core Formation Realm threaten her? If that were the case, she wouldn''t mind throwing her pride away, conceding the Prime Disciple position to Mira.

    But that wasn''t what left Nova disappointed.

    What made Nova dissatisfied was that she felt like Mira wouldn''t even be able to put up a good fight against her, even if they were at the same cultivation level!

    This wasn''t because of ack of strength on Mira''s part. No, she was plenty strong, but Nova, one of the most talented women under 100 on the Western Continent, sensed Miracked battle experience.

    ''No, that''s not right. This woman has plenty of battle experience. Judging from the murderous aura constantly leaking out of her, she''s used to killing. However, battles among high-level cultivators or talented cultivators are different. It seems she has yet to experience that.'' Nova analyzed, but it wasn''t just her who came to that conclusion.

    The other disciples in the room and all the Elders could tell she wascking in this area, but then again, they couldn''t necessarily fault Mira for that.

    From the little they know about Mira, she came from a Branch Sect in the middle of nowhere. Thus, it wouldn''t be surprising if Mira could steamroll all her opponents with minimal effort.

    But things are different over on this side of the Continent, where the Top Sects are. She now joined a Sect where only the top 0.00001% of people get to join.

    Having tons of experience against fighting weaklings and beasts isn''t going to cut it. Mira needs to know how to fight against other humans in the top 0.00001% of talent, as mistakes aren''t allowed in these fights.

    Qi control, techniques, abilities, maneuverability, adaptability, ability to read your opponent''s moves and techniques, aerialbat, weapon skills, perception, and just in old experience.

    Those are just the fundamentals for high-level fights. Having an edge in any of those areas can significantly improve your chances of winning, and things get even moreplicated the stronger one gets.

    Obviously, strength is essential, but that''s a given. Everyone in the Top 7 Sects is strong. Affinities, physiques, unique meridians and cores, and equipment also y an essential role in determining who might be the strongest or the most talented, but they are only there to build on the fundamentals.

    Thus, everyone could tell that although Mira''s base strength is extraordinary, if she were to encounter an experienced yet talented cultivator only slightly stronger than her, it''d be a hard fight.

    Of course, they didn''t ount for all of Mira''s unique abilities or unknown powers, but they didn''t need to because if Mira only relied on that, she''d stand no chance against those from the Central Continent.

    Aftering to this conclusion, Nova couldn''t sit still. She knew her judgment could be wrong as many things about Mira were hidden under a veil.

    ''It seems the only way for me to understand her fully is for us to fight.'' Nova thought as she walked in front of Mira.

    When Nova stood before Mira, although thetter was taller, her eyes still looked down.

    "So, you''re Mira, huh? The girl that the Sect Master wanted to give the Prime Disciple position to. You don''t seem that strong to me," Nova said, not out of arrogance or contempt but as a fact.

    Mira matched her gaze with a slight frown.

    ''She''s strong!'' Her instincts red as she knew her chances of winning against this woman were 0.

    The aura around Nova was like a bubbling volcano, ready to burst at any time. It was quiet yet overbearing and pressed down on Mira like a mountain.

    Intensifying the pressure, Nova continued, "I''d like to experience for myself the strength of the person Sect Master chose."

    Knowing this was a challenge and seeing how nobody intended to stop this, Mira knew she''d have to fight this woman whether she wanted to or not.

    So, she nodded, "I''m also curious about the strength of one of the Sect''s top disciples."

    Nova didn''t say anything else and made some distance between her and Mira, then pulled out her spear. Mira did the same and took out her scythe.

    None of the Elders berated them for their behavior as they were curious about Mira''s power. There''s also no need to change locations, as it''s literally impossible for them to destroy anything in the building. Especially not with so many Elders and even the Sect Master present.

    "I''ll suppress my cultivation to your level so we can have a fair fight," Nova said and suppressed her cultivation to the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

    The two readied their weapons and stared at each other for a moment.

    "Start!" The Sect Master announced.

    The two of them dashed at each other at the same time.<sub> </sub>

    *ng!*

    Their weapons collided with the same amount of force. The two were controlling their strength right now to test each other out.

    However, as Mira was in the midst of spinning her scythe to attack Nova again, thetter had already thrust her spear.

    With no other choice, Mira dodged it, canceling some of her momentum, but as someone who had attained Scythe Intent, she easily regained it and counter-attacked.

    *nk!*

    Nova deflected the attack and thrust forward once again, trying to close in on Mira, reducing the effectiveness of her scythe.

    Mira sidestepped, blocking the attack, and used a forward momentum to try and smash Nova with the blunt end of her scythe.

    Nova hopped back, but only enough that the end missed her by less than a centimeter. Before Mira''s attack even moved out of the way, Nova had closed in again and shed.

    Mira did exactly the same thing and dodged the sh by a hair''s width, thenunched a flurry of attacks.

    This went on for a few minutes, with the two constantly trading attacks, using a simr amount of force, but neither of them could gain the upper hand. With one attack, Mira might push Nova back, but it''d only take a few more rounds until thetter pushed Mira back.

    It was almost like the two were dancing, but in reality, they were just making sure that the other party was even worthy of being a challenge.

    Before all the extra concepts one must know in order to fight high-level cultivators, one must have a basic understanding of how to wield a weapon.

    If Mira lost to Nova in this stage of the fight, it''d prove that Mira is unworthy of the Prime Disciple position.

    The Central Continent Competition is only 20 years away, and if Mira has to focus on perfecting her weapon skills on top of everything else, then there''s no way she''d be strong enough for them to even think about entering the Top 3.

    Why should she be the Prime Disciple if that''s the case?

    That''s what Nova is trying to prove by this short bout. She wants Mira to prove to not only her but everyone that she at least has the basics of the basics down.

    After another 10 minutes, the battle between the two became extremely fierce that even when one of them was pushed back, it didn''tst more than a second. On the outside, it looked as if the two were standing still; that''s how fast they were moving.

    Yet, even under such an intense spar, Mira kept her ground, something the Elders acknowledged.

    "It seems she at least has some skill."

    "What I find more impressive is she''s reached this level of skill with a scythe! Especially at such a young age!"

    "I agree. From her youthful aura full of vitality, it seems like she''s probably not over 30. How can she reach such skill with the scythe without a master teaching her?"

    "How do you know she doesn''t have a master?"

    "Hmph! Are you stupid? How many scythe masters live on the continent?"

    "I�� I don''t know. I haven''t seen any. If there are any, they''d probably be among the Unorthodox Faction Elders."

    "Exactly! Not only are scythe-users rare, but they are almost exclusively part of the Unorthodox Faction! Since Mira is in our Sect, how could she have a Master from the Unorthodox Faction?"

    "Well�� Your logic is a bit off, but I agree that she probably wasn''t taught. Those moves and footwork aren''t something you would have if a master taught you. Not at her age, at least."

    "She also has great insight and can read her opponents well."

    "Her body is also strong since she can keep up with Nova like that without any Qi."

    The Eldersmented on their battle and were satisfied with what they were seeing�� for now.

    Suddenly, the atmosphere around Nova changed and a fiery surrounded her spear, gathering at the tip.

    "Ah! It seems Nova is done testing Mira. Time for the real battle to begin!"

 Chapter 503 Sparring With Nova Part 1

    Mira''s expression changed when she noticed Nova charging up an attack she wasn''t ready for. She hastily created a shield of ice, but it was already toote.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    A beam of fire shot out of Nova''s spear into the ice shield in front of Mira, but it didn''t stop there.

    *Tssss*

    The fire melted through the ice and smashed into Mira''s body!

    It burnt all the way through the outeryer of her skin before it stopped, leaving a coin-sized burn on her abdomen.

    Fortunately, she has a strong body, or else that shot might have put a hole through her stomach!

    ''What? What happened?'' Mira wondered.

    She had no idea how Nova''s attack was so powerful as it was clearly within the limits of a 5th Stage Core Formation Realm cultivator.

    However, she didn''t have time to ponder as Nova had already prepared another shot!

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    A fire beam shot toward her at a speed that left her unable to dodge, so Mira created another ice shield, much bigger and denser.

    *Tsssss*

    Still, the fire burned through it like paper and still carried enough power to do significant damage to her body.

    Thus, another coin-sized wound appeared on her body.

    Mira grimaced, not at the pain, but because she didn''t understand how her ice was so weak to Nova''s me. On the surface, it didn''t look like anything special. She added no extra power to her attacks, and they were still well within the range of what a 5th Stage Core Formation Realm cultivator is capable of.

    It was such an average attack that Mira was at a loss for words.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    ��

    Nova kept using the same move over and over again, but Mira still didn''t quite understand what was happening.

    She tried coating her whole body in armor, along with an added shield on the outside, but that didn''t work. Though, she was able to lessen the damage because of that. Still, she used too much Qi just to be able to stop a basic attack.

    She could have dodged many of them, but she didn''t see a point in doing so. Doing that could allow her to take less damage and stay in the fight longer, but it wouldn''t solve the root of the problem.

    That''s also why she didn''t use her tails, abilities, or techniques. What Nova was doing seemed very basic, and she felt it would be disingenuous to the battle if she tried to overpower her opponent''s attack with brute force.

    Plus, her taking the hits head-on, without changing her expression, would at least prove her extraordinary tenacity, courage, and pain resistance, if nothing else.

    However, after taking 15 shots head-on, Mira understood a few things about the attack.

    One, the sphere at the end of Nova''s spear, was like a power conductor. It stored Qi that Nova could use whenever she wanted.

    Two, the fire beam wasn''t actually a beam of fire. It was actually a highly concentrated bolt, like a bullet with a sharp tip, that left a stream of fire in its wake.

    Three, Nova uses the strength of her spear thrust to boost the prating power and speed of the projectile.

    Four, the projectile explodes when it can''t prate her skin, simr to a hollow-point bullet.

    Five, Nova can shoot these projectiles in rapid session and use up hardly any Qi.<sub> </sub>

    Six, the only thing that could reliably stop the projectiles was her scythe.

    Mira couldn''t help but marvel at the ingenuity of this technique. It was simple, fast, powerful, efficient, and effective. Combined with the power of Nova''s mes, it was near perfect!

    If it weren''t for Mira''s strong body, she''d be littered with holes right now!

    ''So, how should I go about counteracting this attack? I could strengthen my ice shields, but I feel like the cost-to-efficiency ratio would make this approach not worth it.'' Mira pondered.

    Of course, one answer is just to tank the hits with her body since she''s strong enough to resist them, but that isn''t sustainable long-term, nor is it intelligent.

    "Is that all you got? If so, I''d be severely disappointed," Nova''s indifferent voice rang out, snapping Mira out of her thoughts.

    "..." Mira didn''t respond; truthfully, there wasn''t much to say. She had many abilities, but none couldpare to Nova''s technique. She had her Paragon Wings, Elemental Missiles, and Atmospheric sh (the closest thing to it), but the former used a shit load of Qi, the middle wasn''t nearly as powerful as Nova''s attack, and thetter wasn''tplete.

    ''Well, I guess my Atmospheric sh is simr, but looking at those me beams, I feel it''s iplete.'' Still, she decided to use it to see how Nova would handle it.

    "This is a technique I just created a few months ago. It''s iplete, but it shouldn''t fall too far behind your ming spear shot," Mira said, readying her scythe.

    However, her words shocked the crowd, including Nova and the Sect Master!

    ''What?! Did she just say she created her own technique? At such a young age?''

    They couldn''t help but grow skeptical; the same goes for Nova.

    ''Although my Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot is a technique specifically created for me, I wasn''t the only one working on it. The Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot was based on another technique in the Sect''s library, and along with the help of my Master, the Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot was born!'' Nova shook her head, noticing Mira was about to attack.

    Mira raised her scythe and swung, releasing a sh that cut through the air, using the surrounding Qi to empower it.

    Everyone''s eyes widened in awe at what Mira just did!

    Nova was also impressed, but she didn''t feel any danger. She pulled her hands to the middle of her spear, inserted Qi into it, and twirled.

    "Sunfire Spear Sphere!"

    A ball of fire surrounded her spear as she twirled it, and Mira''s Atmospheric sh fizzled out when the two collided.

    Elder Irene, Nova''s Master, facepalmed at the name once again, as she genuinely hated it, and she wasn''t the only one.

    Although her names made sense, they were too difficult to say!

    Mira was surprised that Nova so easily canceled her attack, but she didn''t let up. She twirled her scythe, and with every rotation, another Atmospheric sh was released, but none could reach Nova as she kept her Sunfire Spear Sphere active.

    "I must say, that attack is very impressive and would be enough to defeat me in terms of power, but it''s too simple and blunt. Itcks versatility, and all those elements you have in there have dulled its edge. As you can see, this simple defense technique of mine can ruin it. If you can improve upon these points, this will be a wonderful attack you can use in the future, more than you could think," Nova sincerely advised, as her respect toward Mira went up a notch.

    It''s not easy to create a technique; she knew that. In fact, everyone in this room knew that. Thus, they had to give credit where credit was due. Mira created something that was outside their expectations.

    However, that was it! Other than that, Nova could see that Miracked in many ways, and they hadn''t even begun fighting like people in the Core Formation Realm and above generally fight: in the air.

    ''Though, her biggest w, from what I''ve seen, is just ack of creativity and versatility. She didn''t figure out a way to stop my Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot, and that sh is way too easy to predict.'' Nova concluded, but she wasn''tpletely dissatisfied with this.

    Considering Mira''s background and age, the fact that she canpete with her like this, to begin with, is already amazing.

    ''But that''s not enough. Eighty years ago, I would''ve happily conceded the position of Prime Disciple to her. She''s like a nk te right now, a very powerful nk te. However, the time it will take to train her to a suitable level is too short.'' Nova and many others thought.

    Shaking her head, Nova stopped using the Sunfire Spear Sphere and shot a few more Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots, but this time, instead of making a shield or taking them head-on, Mira did something different.

    She created a small ice bowl around the size of a palm with a spike in the middle made of her Yin Magma.

    That way, when then the projectile hit, the Yin Magma spike would absorb some of the force and cause the projectile to blow up. Then, the ice bowl would catch the fragments, ensuring she wasn''t hurt.

    At least, that was the theory. But the Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots still ended up puncturing her as the durability of her Yin Magma spike wasn''t high enough.

    Nova raised an eyebrow at this, and her respect for Mira went up another notch, ''So, she urately gauged where the shot was going tond and attempted to create a suitable defense to counter it. While it didn''t work, I can see the potential�� How interesting��''

 Chapter 504 Sparring With Nova Part 2

    Nova and the rest found Mira''s tenacity and adaptability respectable. She didn''t back down when things got tough and constantly looked to ovee the wall that was before her.

    While Nova''s Sunfire Sphere Spear techniques weren''t the most powerful in her repertoire, they weren''t something an average person could handle. If she were to fight against anyone in the same Realm as her that wasn''t part of the Top Sects, she''d be able to defeat them 80% of the time with just her Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots.

    So, the fact that Mira was still fighting proved she wasn''t ordinary and that, if nothing else, she has a strong mind and body, which is what the Battle Maiden Sect looks for, beyond just talent.

    "I take back what I said before. Your talent certainly is impressive, but even if that''s the case, I don''t believe you''re ready to be the Sect''s Prime Disciple. There are only 20 years left until the Central Continent Competition. In twenty years, you''ll have to be apletely different person if you want to even think about winning!" Nova gave her honest opinion without a hint of jealousy. She only wanted the best for the Sect.

    Mira nodded, not refusing her sincerity. She could feel Nova only had good intentions.

    "I understand it''ll be difficult, extraordinarily so. But I wouldn''t have epted Sect Master Aelina''s offer if I didn''t think I could do it," Mira said casually as if she really believed she could do it.

    Nova and the Elders were speechless! Although they couldn''t feel any arrogance and only confidence in her voice, they couldn''t help but be a little angry.

    Nova''s eyes narrowed, and despite the mes surrounding her, her voice seemed much colder than before, "Then prove it! Prove you have the capabilities!"

    With that said, Nova jumped up in the air and dashed at Mira!

    Stab!

    Stab!

    Stab!

    Sheunched three consecutive Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots, one at her head, heart, and abdomen, and dove at her!

    Mira turned her head to the side, dodging one, and created Ice-Yin Magma bowls to block the other two. This time, she put a bit more Qi into them.

    Bam!

    Bam!

    The shots hit her skin again but didn''t prate quite as deep.

    With a slight smirk, Mira thought, ''I''m making progress!''

    However, she couldn''t get excited yet as Nova had already appeared above! However, this time, a sphere about the size of a watermelon appeared around the de of her spear.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shockwave!"

    Mira raised her scythe to block the attack.

    nk!

    BOOM!

    The sphere blew up as soon as the two weapons collided, sending Mira flying! She hurriedly used her tails to stabilize herself, but she wasn''t fast enough as Nova was already on top of her.

    Nova fired a few point-nk Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots at Mira, which she could not block or dodge, and thrust her spear. Mira hurriedly brought her scythe and Golden Tail around to block it, but,

    BOOOM!

    The strength behind that attack was too much, sending Mira flying again. She ignored the pain in her arms, which she was sure were at least fractured and jumped in the air to take away the high ground from Nova.

    However, thetter sneered at her decision, "Hmph! Do you really think you''ll be able to do anything against me in the air? A newbie cultivator like you?"

    She created jet thrusters on her feet and shoulder des, then shot at Mira at supersonic speeds!

    "Sunfire Spear Surge!"

    mes coated her entire spear, and when she was only a few meters away, she swung!

    SWOOSH!

    An intense wave of golden-red mes burst out of her spear and crashed into Mira, who was caught unprepared by such a powerful attack and hastily formed a set of ice armor around her entire body, hoping to protect her from the boiling mes.

    *Tssss!*

    Unfortunately, the attack was much more powerful than Mira expected, and the mes quickly burnt through her armor, scalding her skin! But that wasn''t the end!<sub> </sub>

    Nova appeared above Mira and hit her shoulder with the blunt end of her spear!

    Bam!

    Mira shot to the ground, but fortunately, she positioned it so her Golden Tail would take the brunt of the fall!

    *Boom!*

    She crashed onto the ground with an extraordinary force that would''ve normally created a small crater, but the floor in this room was so durable that she couldn''t even make a dent.

    "You should just stay on the ground if you don''t know how to fight in the air properly," Nova said, hovering above Mira.

    Nova could tell she had broken Mira''s arms and shoulders from that attack, and most of her skin was seared. She probably even had some internal damage as well. Most people would call it quits after seeing the difference in power between them.

    Her body is broken, she doesn''t have momentum in the fight, her experience in these kinds of high-level fights is severelycking, and she has no abilities that canpete against Nova. There''s literally no chance of her winning!

    However, when she looked down and saw Mira standing up without a change in her expression, she became perplexed.

    ''Why is she still fighting? Does she not feel pain? Or maybe she has something up her sleeve.'' Nova thought, but she couldn''t figure it out.

    All she saw when she looked down were a pair of glowing crimson eyes that looked at her like she was a fat piece of meat waiting to be devoured. Nova felt ufortable under Mira''s gaze as she could feel the fox woman''s murderous intent rise.

    Nova could tell Mira wasn''t directing it at her, but that didn''t make her feel any better. On the contrary, it seemed that instead of killing intent, what leaked out of Mira was a will for battle.

    Once Nova understood this, she smiled, and her respect for Mira grew by another notch.

    ''Hehe~ I''m starting to like this girl more and more!'' She thought, but she couldn''t help but shake her head ruefully, ''Unfortunately, she was born a few decades toote.''

    Suddenly, Mira''s icy blue tail glowed, and she used her Paragon Wings ability. Massive multicolored ice wings appeared above Mira. Nova raised an eyebrow at this, and her body tensed. She could tell those wings were unique and dangerous, even for her.

    Although they were essentially just sharp shards of ice full of power, if there''s one thing Mira doesn''tck, it''s power.

    *Swoosh!*

    She pped them and immediately appeared before Nova. Although most of her skin was burnt and charred, Mira''s vitality worked overtime to heal her broken body, causing patches of dead skin to fall off her body continuously.

    "The other people I''ve faced in the past were all weaklings who could barely control their bodies, much less their Qi. You''re the first opponent I''ve fought who wasn''tpletely useless." Mira said, and although everyone assumed that was the case, they couldn''t help but be surprised.

    Mira continued, "I''ve never seen techniques like those before, and that''s got me curious."

    Then, with a distorted smile and her eyes shining in a crimson light that threatened to swallow Nova whole, she said in a demonically charming voice, "I wonder what else you''re capable of!"

    She raised her scythe and a bloody pressure exuded from her body, enveloping Nova and everyone else in the room. Nova gulped as she''d never felt such vile, disgusting, and terrifying pressure in her life.

    While most pressures weighed down on the physical body, the bloody aura around Mira weighed on their minds.

    "I want to know what else you can do!"

    "Show me!"

    "Show me what one of the Sect''s top disciples is capable of! This can''t be everything you''re capable of! I refuse to believe you''re so weak that you can''t even take down a newbie cultivator like me!"

    "Hehehehe~"

    Mira''s words grated against her skin, making it feel like tiny ants were crawling around inside her body, but she quickly regained herposure. She was an extraordinary talent in the Soul Transformation Realm, after all!

    She wouldn''t be so easily intimidated by someone in a lower Realm than her.

    Fighting off the bloodthirsty pressure weighing on her mind, she smiled back at Mira, "You want to see what I''m capable of?"

    Slowly, a golden sun began appearing behind Nova, sucking in all the surrounding Qi, converting it into a fire called the Heavenly Sunfire, and sending it straight into Nova''s body, empowering her!

    "I don''t mind showing you a taste of what true power looks like," Then, with a contorted smile, she asked, "The only question is: can you take it?"

    The two hovered in the air, staring face-to-face with one another, ready to initiate perhaps the final phase of their battle.

    They, and everyone else, knew who would win. That fact was clear, but they couldn''t help but be eager for the uing few minutes! Everyone wanted to see where Mira''s limitsy and how long she couldst!

 Chapter 505 Sparring With Nova Part 3

    Nova hovered in the air, with a golden-red sun behind her, radiating a golden aura. She grasped her spear with both hands, pointed it at Mira, and said, "I''ll let you have the first attack."

    Mira frowned since she felt like Nova was looking down on her, but she understood. Nova was more skilled than her.

    "Then I won''t stand on ceremony," Mira said while lowering her stance.

    She channeled Qi into her scythe, gathering Yin Fire around the de, something she hadn''t used for the duration of this fight.

    Seeing the pale blue fire, Nova raised an eyebrow as she felt something different about that me.

    Although it looked like a fire, Nova, who has a unique physique that gives her a much higher fire affinity, can tell that it isn''t actually a me.

    ''What is that? I was sure this girl, no, Mira''s main affinity was ice. Since when was she able to use such a strong me?'' Nova wondered and became more alert.

    Knowing she had gotten Nova''s full attention, Mira smirked and asked, "Have you heard the saying, fight fire with fire?"

    However, before Nova could say anything, Mira''s eyes glowed, and she shot forward!

    Nova narrowed her eyes as, for some reason, Mira felt stronger. She readied her spear and blocked Mira''s attack.

    *nk!*

    She blocked Mira''s scythe, but her expression gradually morphed into a grimace. She nced at the area Mira''s scythe hit, and her frown deepened when she noticed there was a chink in the fiery golden aura around her spear.

    It almost seemed like those pale blue mes were eating away at her Heavenly Sunfire!

    ''What? How is that possible? What kind of fire is she using?'' She pondered, thinking of all the different fire physiques or natural fires born from Heaven and Earth, but she couldn''t think of any that had the same properties as Mira''s.

    ''Whatever! I''ll figure it out during the fight!''

    Mira didn''t back away after that first attack and continued her onught of scythe attacks.

    Nova bounced around in the air, effortlessly deflecting them, but then Mira began using her Paragon Wings to attack.

    Seeing how her Yin mes were at least somewhat effective against Nova, she coated the outside of her feathers with them.

    Mira nodded with a faint smile, noticing her feathers not melting as quickly.

    Then, she dove into Nova again, and right before they shed, Mira flexed her muscles as much as possible and drove her scythe into Nova''s spear!

    Not expecting the sudden burst in strength, Nova lost control of her spear for a second.

    ''Now!'' Mira inwardly yelled andmanded dozens of feathers to attack Nova from both sides.

    Disbelief appeared on Nova''s face, ''What the hell is up with that insane physical strength?! Was she hiding that all this time?'' She shook her head and returned her attention back to the fight.

    Seeing the dozens of ming ice feathersing her way, she lifted a hand, and out of the golden sun came dozens of coin-sized spheres.

    There were exactly as many spheres as there were feathers, and when the two collided,

    *TSSSSS*

    They just canceled each other out.

    Mira''s expression becameplicated. She wasn''t sure whether she should be happy that she had made some progress or annoyed that no matter what she did, she couldn''t touch Nova.

    ''I''ll just be happy that I''m making some progress,'' She just shrugged and shot back at Nova, ensuring she didn''t regain the momentum in the fight.

    ''I guess it''s time to show off one of my tails.'' Mira smirked but also felt a little reluctant.

    Most of her tails are only useful as trump cards, and since this was only a spar, there was no need to fight to the death.

    However, not using everything avable to her and inevitably losing didn''t sit well with her.

    ''Nova seems to like fighting up close, so I''ll just use my golden tail. If I can see a way for me to win the spar, I''ll use more tails if needed, but there''s no need to show everything.''

    When Mira got close, she swung her scythe with all her force, just like before.

    *nk!*

    Nova remained steady after blocking Mira''s attack, but she didn''t expect a golden tail to whip around Mira''s body and smash into her hip!

    *Crack!*

    "Ugh��!" Nova grunted in pain as she felt her insides rattle from that hit, and the golden aura radiating around her cracked.

    ''What the fuck?! What is that tail made of?! Metal?!?!'' She nced at the golden tail, which looked soft and fluffy on the outside, yet was as actually as hard as a steel rod!

    She looked at the other and couldn''t help but wonder, ''Are they also like that? Because if that''s the case, I''ll have to keep my distance.''

    Mira was already powerful at her core, without using any techniques or abilities, and her closebat skills were terrific. If it were a fight based purely on one''s physical ability and weapon skills, Mira might actually be able to eke out a win.

    But if Nova had to deal with nine other limbs, each just as powerful as thest��

    Nova frowned, understanding it would be a hard battle.

    Just from thatst hit, she felt her insides tremble! If she took hits like that repeatedly, her entire body might end up broken!

    Then, she heard a chucklee from Mira.<sub> </sub>

    "It seems you weren''t expecting that."

    Nova shook her head with a smile, "I certainly wasn''t. Who knew those tails, which look so soft, could actually be so dangerous?"

    "To be honest, I wasn''t expecting you to be able to get a good hit on me during this entire spar. You have surpassed my expectations, but I have a feeling that''s all you have," Nova nced at her other tails and corrected herself, "Or at least that''s all you''re willing to show."

    Mira shrugged, neither confirming nor denying her statement, but it was clear to Nova that Mira had reached her limit and had shown everything she wanted to show.

    ''It''s a shame to end this fight so early, but,'' Nova sighed and inwardly shrugged, ''I guess there''s no helping it. Mira''s shown off enough to prove that she is indeed talented enough to qualify for the Prime Disciple position. Now, it''s time to show her the bare minimum amount of power she''ll need to reach.''

    Nova made some distance between Mira and stared at her, feeling somewhat regretful they couldn''t continue their fight.

    "How about we end this battle with one more attack? You use your most powerful attack, and I''ll use mine," Then Nova added, "Don''t worry, I''ll still limit my strength to your cultivation."

    Mira pondered for a moment before nodding, "Alright, I agree."

    Hearing Mira agree, Nova smirked and said, "Earlier, you said you wanted me to show you the power of one of the Sect''s top disciples, right? Well, it''s time for me to show you the level of power you''ll need to reach if you want to even think about standing a chance against those Central Continent freaks."

    Mira shuddered in anticipation and couldn''t wait to see how powerful this Continent''s top talents were!

    Suddenly, Mira''s aura spiked!

    *Vwoosh!*

    She pumped everyst bit of Qi, along with all her elements, into her Paragon Wings. Then, an almost transparent ck aura, Scythe Intent, shot out of her scythe and surrounded each feather.

    *Shing!*

    Finally, a Martial Intent burst forth from her body, increasing her bodily strength and control by arge margin.

    But that wasn''t the end! She controlled all the feathers and made them gather around her Scythe, creating a super-sized version!

    This was just something Mira came up with on the spot, as she wanted to make full use of all the power within her body.

    ''Later, I''ll have to think of a technique that canbine all my forces into one attack.'' Mira noted in her mind but turned her attention to Nova, who was staring at Mira with a solemn expression. She could tell at a nce that whatever Mira had nned was powerful enough to threaten her.

    Though, it could only threaten her when she suppressed her strength like this. If she unleashed her Soul Transformation Realm cultivation, dealing with Mira''s next attack wouldn''t be a big deal.

    Seeing how Mira had finished her ''power up'', Nova pointed her hand up in the air, and the golden sun behind her followed until it was above Mira, then she looked at thetter.

    "Are you ready?"

    When Mira nodded, Nova dropped her hand and said, "Sunfire Starfall!"

    Elder Irene and Sect Master Aelina jumped out of their seats!

    "This crazy disciple! How could you use that against a newbie?!" Elder Irene cursed and prepared to save Mira whenever she was in danger.

    Immediately after Nova''s words resounded throughout the building, the golden sun began dropping countless mini stars onto Mira!

    However, Mira didn''t pay any attention to them and just shot straight at Nova with her mega scythe raised.

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    Countless little stars crashed onto Mira''s body, taking out small chunks of flesh, but Mira ignored all that and continued charging at Nova!

    When she reached the auburn-haired woman, she flexed all her muscles.

    ''Not enough!''

    Withdrawing every bit of willpower in her body, she tensed her muscles past their limit, bursting blood vessels and even cracking her bones. Once she felt like she had umted enough potential energy,

    ''Now!''

    She swung her massive scythe, which overshadowed Nova as if she wanted to erase her existence.

    Unfortunately, just as she was about to reach Nova, thetter muttered, "Heavenly Sunfire Descension."

    The giant sun in the air reacted to her words and fell from the sky, descending onto Mira!

    ��

    ��

    ��

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

 Chapter 506 Marias Dilemma

    After the explosion, once the dust settled, Mira could be seen lying t on the ground, At a distance, she might look like she had fainted, but with the subtle twitches in her eyes and body, it was clear she was still conscious. However, she looked like a charred piece of meat.

    Meanwhile, Nova was kneeling a few dozen meters away from Mira with arge gash that went from her left shoulder to her right hip. Her breaths were rigid, but she otherwise looked fine.

    The Elders and other disciples, who were watching this spar, gawked at this sight as they never even entertained the idea that Nova might end up with such an injury against someone 50 years her junior!

    Their eyes unconsciously shifted between Mira and Nova, now looking at Mira in a different light.

    ''It seems the Sect Master has found someone amazing.''

    Now that they had witnessed Mira''s power firsthand, a vague premonition of her as the Prime Disciple formed in their minds, but just this wasn''t enough topletely sway their opinions. Being on the losing end for most of the battle and ultimately losing the spar wasn''t particrly inspiring.

    Still, they had to admit that Mira had potential.

    In between both of them stood Sect Master Aelina, who had both her arms outstretched in their directions, covering them with a thin barrier of Qi.

    One might not understand why or how Mira and Nova got injured if Aelina had protected them, but the Elders, who were more experienced and sensitive to Qi, could see what she had done.

    Aelina made it so the barrier would only protect them if their lives were in danger. Other than that, it didn''t provide any sort of benefit.

    "You two really went all out, huh? Did you forget this was just a spar? Why''d you two have to go so far as to try and kill each other?" Aelina questioned yfully, but she wasn''t actually upset. In fact, more than anything, she was satisfied with how this battle yed out.

    Nova raised her head and stared at Sect Master Aelina, "Mira asked for it, Sect Master. She wanted to see what sort of power she''d need if she wanted to be the Sect''s Prime Disciple. I merely acquiesced her request," Then, she nced at the other Elders, "I also knew you or one of the Elders wouldn''t let anything bad happen to her. This is just a spar, after all."

    Aelina smiled but didn''t say anything. She walked over to Mira, who was twitching on the ground and looked at Maria.

    "Little girl, why don''t youe over and heal your wife? I''m sure everyone is questioning why you''re here. It''s time to prove yourself useful."

    Maria''s mind seemed to have gone nk as she stared at the defeated Mira lying on the ground. She barely registered what Sect Master Aelina said and slowly made her way over to Mira.

    She could hardly believe her eyes right now. All this time, Mira had always been invincible in her mind. No matter the situation or enemy, whatever she faced, she overcame. She didn''t think it''d be any different this time.

    Mira would show up, kick some ass, collect all the loot, and leave. Afterward, she''d probably be injured, and that''s where she''de in! She could swoop in, get Mira patched up, and ready to go in no time!

    In fact, that''s one of the main reasons Maria wanted to focus on the path of a healer. She''s never been a good fighter. Even after all the time Mira has put into training her, she''s an above-average fighter at best. She just doesn''t have the instincts, mindset, or weapon talent necessary to be a top-level swordsman or fighter.

    Of course, with enough time and effort, she could improve these aspects of herself, but the problem is she''d never be as good as Mira when it came to fighting and, thus, would always be more of a liability than an asset to Mira on the battlefield.

    Therefore, she wanted to find her own unique path, her own way in which she could support Mira in her endeavors. When she obtained the [Transcendent Restoration] technique, Maria felt like she''d found her calling!

    The only things Mira does in her life are fighting and training. If she can''t do either one of them because she''s injured, then in her mind, she''s wasting time. If she could bring Mira back to peak condition in a few hours to days rather than waiting weeks or months to heal naturally or spending outrageous sums on pills, she could increase Mira''s life''s efficiency.

    Thus, in a way, she could consider herself beneficial or an asset to Mira''s life. As her lover, she desired to be more than just a pretty face or an emotionally stable person. She wanted to be helpful in some way to Mira, and being a healer was her way of being useful.

    However, watching Mira get beaten like a dog and there was little to nothing she could do about it, her thoughts shifted.

    She had always thought Mira was invincible. No matter what came her way or what condition she''d end up in, she''d live ande back home. As long as Mira lived and came back to her, then she could heal her.

    She never once considered the possibility of Mira noting home, but watching that sun fall and tear Mira apart, those thoughts halted.

    ''What if�� What if Mira doesn''t make it back? Wh-What if she�� what if she d-d-d-dies?'' It was like lightning had struck her body, and she froze in ce, but the thoughts continued.

    ''What good is a healing technique if�� if they don''t evene back alive?''

    ''Is my choice to give up fighting the right choice?''<sub> </sub>

    ''Wouldn''t I bepletely useless to Mira whenever she gets in a fight?''

    ''No, more than that, aren''t I basically wishing for Mira to get hurt by bing a healer? Otherwise, wouldn''t I be useless if she never got hurt?''

    ''Should I put more effort into training?''

    ''Even if I do put in more effort, it''s not like I''ll ever reach Mira''s level. I still wouldn''t be all that useful in a fight?''

    ''Then again, wouldn''t I at least be a little useful if I could fight and heal? But can I even do that? Or am I too greedy to want both?''

    ''...''

    These thoughts hit Maria like a ton of bricks and consumed her. She could hardly tell what was right and wrong or up and down at this point. It felt like her world was copsing.

    But after a few moments, these thoughts came to a screeching halt!

    ''No, this is wrong. This line of thinking is wrong! What I''ve been doing up until now is wrong! All this time, I''ve been selfishly thinking that what I''ve been doing was for Mira''s own good!''

    ''I wanted to believe that me being a healer could make her life easier, but is that really the case? Does Mira need someone to heal her?''

    ''I''ve been so blinded by my pursuit to be useful to Mira that I hadn''t even asked myself the most important questions.''

    ''What does Mira need? What does sheck? What can I do that can relieve some of the burdens on her shoulders?''

    Maria didn''t know the answers to those questions, nor could she continue these thoughts as she stood before Mira''s body.

    Even though her mind was still a mess, she bent down, ced her hand on Mira''s chest, and the 2nd Stage of the Transcendent Restoration Technique burst into her body!

    Almost immediately, one could see the changes happening to Mira''s body. Her dead, burnt skin ked off. Her bones moved and set in ce, and the holes in her body closed up and healed over.

    Maria kept injecting Qi into Mira''s body until she ran out. By the end, Mira had transformed from a burnt piece of meat to her normal sexy self with hardly any injuries!

    The Elders, Nova, the other disciples, and even the Sect Master could hardly believe what they just saw! Their eyes were wide open as they stared at Maria with their mouths agape!

    She had just brought someone who should have taken a week or so to recover with pills to a condition where she could fight again in mere moments!

    "No way!"

    "What the hell is that healing technique?! I''ve never seen anything like it!"

    "To be able to heal someone in that condition and bring them to a fully functioning state in just a few seconds is�� nothing short of incredible. Whoever taught Maria that technique is a genius!"

    Usually, Maria might shamelessly stick her nose up in pride, but this time, she wasn''t in the mood for such shenanigans. She just sat there, caressing Mira''s face, tuning out everything around her.

    ''Let''s talk after we leave this ce,'' Maria thought.

    Mira stared at Maria, feeling something was wrong with her, but now wasn''t the time to ask about such things.

    Sect Master Aelina, seeing that Mira was fine and awake, announced, "Now that they''ve had a chance to show off, let''s get into the real reason we''ve gathered here today!"

    "The Elders and I have finally decided how to choose this century''s Prime Disciple!"

 Chapter 507 Three Stages Of Competitions

    Everyone stared at Sect Master intently upon hearing her words, especially Mira, who was a little confused as she thought the Prime Disciple position was hers as long as she proved herself. She didn''t know there would be apetition for it.

    "Originally, I was just going to have Mira immediately be our Sect''s Prime Disciple. I''m sure you can understand why." Everyone nodded, so Aelina continued, "We are running out of time, and with Mira''s low cultivation, we can''t waste a single day, but after discussing this with the Elders, we concluded that that decision was too rash."

    Nova and the other disciples looked at Aelina withplicated expressions. They were grateful that she decided to give them a chance, but it almost felt like she didn''t believe they''d make it very far in the Central Continent Competition, which hurt.

    Since only those under 100 can participate in the Central Continent Competition, none of them have seen what the people from there are capable of, but they felt like they shouldn''t be too far behind.

    In fact, if they reached the Mortal Shedding Realm, they''d stand a pretty good chance against them!

    To them, with their hard work and talent, bing the Sect''s Prime Disciple is a straight shot into that Realm! Not to mention, they are less than a major Realm away, rather than Mira, who is 2 Major and 5 Minor Realms away.

    If it were possible for anyone to break through into the Mortal Shedding Realm in 20 years, it''d be them.

    "Thepetition will be divided into 3 stages, with the first stage being you all having to steal 5 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines from the Unorthodox Faction with Mira," Aelina announced, and she could tell Nova, and the other disciples were about to go into an uproar.

    However, she wasn''t done talking, so she waved her hand, signaling them to stay quiet, and continued, "I know a few of you are probably confused about why this is part of thepetition, and truthfully, it''s not. This is mainly a way for Mira to gain experience and prove herself to you guys."

    "Although she''s shown how vast her raw power is, I''m sure that''s not enough for you to acknowledge her as apetitor. It''s the same for me. Everyone here has contributed so much to the Sect, yet Mira has not done anything. What right does she have to hog all the resources?... or so you''re probably thinking."

    "That''s why afterpleting the mission, I want each and every one of you to report back to me about Mira and whether you think she is eligible topete with you for the Prime Disciple position," With arge smile, Aelina gazed at the disciples, her violet eyes shining, "Does that sound fair?"

    "..."

    Nova and the other disciples could only stand there, staring nkly at Aelina''s face. They didn''t expect this at all!

    Aelina is the Sect Master, after all! Since when did she need their opinions? If Aelina really wanted to make Mira the Sect''s Prime Disciple, who are they toin? No, can they even dare toin? They, who only want this position out of greed?

    Meanwhile, everything Sect Master Aelina does is for the betterment of the Sect. Can they really sit there and say they have better insight about the future of the Sect than someone who has lived for hundreds or even thousands of years in the position of Sect Master?

    No, they weren''t arrogant or foolish enough to think that way.

    Clearly, Aelina saw something in Mira that they didn''t have, which is why she''s been pushing for Mira to be the Prime Disciple. In fact, with how much emphasis Aelina is putting on Mira, it''s as if she''s already chosen her in her mind.

    However, then that begs the question, why is she putting up with this farce? Why is she making Mira go through all this?

    For some reason, those violet eyes looked even more mysterious to them than they did before.

    Nova was the first to snap out of her daze and answer, "I think it''s fair for us, considering the work we''ve put in and the contributions we''ve made toward the Sect, but I don''t think it''s fair for Mira. What if we don''t like her and lie to make her look bad, but in actuality, she''s the perfect candidate?"

    That was the question on everybody''s mind, including Mira''s, as she knew she didn''t have the best personality.

    Aelina, however, chuckled, "Fufufufu~ That''s a good question, Nova," Then her violet eyes shone brightly, and she red at Nova, who flinched and froze on the spot.

    *Gulp*

    She and everyone else in the room gulped and turned stiff.

    Seeing this, Aelina''s smile turned fierce, and she asked in a deeper voice, "But, do you really think you have the ability to lie to me?"

    "..."

    The room turned deathly silent for a few moments as those violet eyes glimmered as if they were gazing right into their souls.<sub> </sub>

    Everyone, including the Elders and even Mira, shook their heads. Lying to the Sect Master?

    ''Hah! What a joke!''

    Nova cursed herself for asking such a stupid question and bowed her head, "I apologize for saying something unnecessary, Sect Master. I will do as you say and objectively report back to you about Mira after the mission."

    "I will do as youmand, Sect Master."

    "If that''s what you want, Sect Master."

    "Leave it to me, Sect Master!"

    "Understood."

    The other four disciples in the room agreed along with Nova.

    Aelina nodded and continued with the final two stages of the Competition.

    "The Second Stage of the Competition will be something special and will involve all of the Top 7 Orthodox Sects�� hopefully." Just that sentence was enough to shock them, but Aelina didn''t stop there, "Although I''ll have to discuss this with the other Sect Leaders, I''m sure they''ll agree. I want everyone under the age of 100 in all the Top 7 Orthodox Sects topete in one giant Battle Royale!"

    "My n is to give everyone under 100 a token, unique to their Sect, that can''t be ced in a Spatial Treasure and send you down the mountain to attack other Sect''s disciples and steal their token! These tokens are not only important to thepetition but can be redeemed for resources after it''s over. For example, if you steal an Immortal Sword Sect disciple''s token and keep it until the end of thepetition, the Immortal Sword Sect will owe us a certain amount of resources afterward. However, this goes both ways. We''ll have to pay the other party resources if you lose a token."

    "After thepetition is over, only the Top 10 disciples with the most tokens will be able to move onto thest and final stage. Does anyone have any questions up til this point?" Aelina asked after she finished exining.

    One of the disciples with vibrant green hair and an aura of life and nature raised her hand.

    Aelina pointed to her, "What''s your question, Eden?"

    The green-haired girl, Eden, lowered her hand and asked in a serene voice, "What will the resource allocation be like? Do we get all the resources obtained from the tokens, or do they all go toward the Sect?"

    Aelina smiled, "They will be split. You''ll get 25%, while the Sect, or more specifically, the future Prime Disciple, will get 75%. So, technically, if you be the Prime Disciple, you''ll receive over 75% of all the resources obtained during thispetition!"

    Eden closed her eyes and nodded, "Thank you, Sect Master. I''ll be sure to win, so no resources go to waste."

    The other disciples red at Eden with veins popping out of their foreheads, but now wasn''t the time to start a fuss.

    Aelina waited to see if there were any more questions but moved on when nobody spoke up.

    "I haven''t decided what I want to do for the final stage yet, but it''ll be something that tests your strength and potential against the other disciples. The details will have toeter once I know who those participating will be."

    After saying all this, the room turned silent. Aelina just finished telling a lot of information, and there was a lot to think about.

    For one, the Battle Maiden Sect has mostly kept to itself over the years. Why did Aelina now decide to dere war against the other Sects? Why is she even involving the other Sects in this matter? Does she have some sort ofrger goal by doing all this, or is it simply whim? How will she get the other Sects to agree to this?

    Even the Elders didn''t know the full extent of Aelina''s ns as it was too difficult to read her intentions.

    All they knew was that the Western Continent is that chaotic times were about to descend on the Western Continent, and in the center of it all stood the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Nobody knew whether this was a good thing or not, but they trusted their Sect Master! If there was one person who could take advantage of the chaos, it was Aelina!

 Chapter 508 Introductions

    After Aelina finished her announcement, she waited for someone to ask her questions, but nobody spoke up. She wasn''t surprised by this as there wasn''t much to ask. Her ns for who bes the Prime Disciple have only reached the conceptual stage and haven''t been put in motion. So, there''s a possibility that what Aelina wants to happen might not even go through, but even if it didn''t, they believed she still had a backup n for when that happens.

    Still, Nova and the other four disciples in the room were excited about the prospect of challenging disciples from other Sects!

    While sparring against each other, killing beasts, and taking on missions where they must hide their identity are great, they''d be lying if they said they didn''t want to be famous or see how they fair against the other Sects.

    However, they have absolute confidence in their strength and training and didn''t believe they''d lose to anyone among those in the same Cultivation Realm as them.

    Since nobody spoke up or had any questions, Aelina took it as if they were okay with her arrangements.

    "If you guys don''t have any questions, you''re free to leave. However, I''d like Mira, Maria, Nova, and the other disciples to stay and greet each other before returning. You seven will be working with one another in a month, after all."

    Nova and the four other disciples nodded and walked over to Mira, who had already stood up to return to her residence and begin training.

    Mira inspected the four other disciples intently as she could feel they had auras no less powerful than Nova. They all seemed to be at or around the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, which surprised her.

    The first one to step up was Nova, who never gave Mira a proper introduction, "My name is Nova, and I''m the Direct Disciple of Elder Irene. I look forward to working with you and seeing how much you can improve in this next month. I''ll be sure to report my findings to the Sect Master after we finish our mission."

    Next, the green-haired girl with a vibrant aura full of life stepped up, "You may have heard my name earlier, but I''ll reintroduce myself. I''m Eden, and I''m an Elf," She pushed back her hair, revealing a pair of slightly pointed ears, "Ie from Elsum, an Elven City in the Torrential Rainforest east of Lunar Fox City. I also have a Heavenly-Grade Physique like Nova, called the Sacred Elf Queen Physique."

    Mira and Maria were a bit surprised that they met such a talented person from the area around Lunar Fox City. However, Mira was more interested in the term "Heavenly-Grade Physique".

    ''It seems like there''s more to physiques than I initially thought. I guess I''ll need to research more about thister.'' Mira noted down in her mind.

    Next up was a girl with wavy blue hair with silver highlights that gave off a gentle yet steady aura reminding Mira of someone like a priest or a monk.

    "Greetings, Mira. My name is Seraphine, but you can call me Sera if you''d like. If my Master, Master Miriam, informed me that such a beautiful Junior Sister entered the Sect, I would havee down the mountain to y with you sooner," Seraphine winked and gazed wickedly at Mira''s domineering body.

    While Mira ignored her gaze, Maria inched closer to Mira, grabbed her waist, and growled at Seraphine with a look that said, ''Mira is mine!''

    Seraphine couldn''t help but chuckle at this and backed off, as she didn''t want to create trouble at the first meeting. The others rolled their eyes at Seraphine''s antics, but they had to agree that Mira was truly beautiful.

    In fact, if she were a bit stronger, if Mira wanted, they probably wouldn''t mind her pinning them down and��

    *Ahem!*

    The next disciple to introduce themselves looked a bit more normal. She had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, but she had two tattoos that went down the sides of her neck and onto her chest. One was a tattoo picturing lightning bolts, and the other one was arge fire.

    She walked up to Mira, cupped her hands, and bowed, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Mira, Maria. My name is Everly, and I''m a direct disciple of Master Vivian. As you can see from my tattoos, I have affinities to the fire and lightning elements. If you have any questions, you are free toe to me for assistance."

    Mira nodded but didn''t take what she said to heart. She figured Everly was just being nice, as they are technicallypetitors. Why would she help her out?

    Finally, thest person to introduce themselves had the most deadly aura out of all five. Her aura was as silent as the grave and sharp as a knife. Mira felt that this girl was ready to kill, even now. However, she couldn''t gauge the depths of this person''s strength, making her a much more dangerous opponent than Nova could ever be.

    As the saying goes, the most dangerous opponent is the one you know nothing about.

    The girl had dull silver hair, ck eyes, and a rtively small stature, standing at around 1.6 meters tall.

    The girl nodded slightly and said with an almost robotic-sounding voice, "Rayna." Then, she turned around and left.

    However, nobody reprimanded or tried to stop her despite her attitude. In fact, they didn''t even spare Rayna a nce, as if they expected this kind of behavior from her.

    Mira inwardly smiled, ''Finally, someone who doesn''t talk so much!''<sub> </sub>

    She already had Maria, who talked more than enough for the two of them. If Aelina put her in an entire team full of chatty people, she might lose her mind!

    Mira nodded at them, epting their greetings. Although a few of them were a bit quirky, she felt like they were all good people who just wanted to make themselves and the Sect stronger. It was the same for the Elders. Although they didn''t introduce themselves to Mira, she got the feeling that they only cared for the betterment of the Sect.

    Before they could continue their conversations, Sect Master Aelina appeared before them.

    "It seems like the introductions are out of the way. Now, let''s briefly discuss your mission before I send you back to prepare."

    Mira and the others'' expressions turned serious, and they nodded.

    Seeing this, Aelina continued, "I''m sure you guys know this, but stealing those Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines from the Unorthodox Faction won''t be easy," She nced at Nova and the others, "Even for you all, who have reached the Soul Transformation Realm."

    Nova, Seraphine, Eden, and Everly all understood why she was saying this. Mid-Grade Spirit Stones are important to Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realms cultivators, which are essentially the backbone of the Top Sects on the Continent.

    One might think the Mortal Shedding Realm experts and Divine Sea Realm Sect Masters are the most important, and they are. They are the reason that a Sect can even be a Top Sect.

    However, suppose a Sect can''t even help cultivate their Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realm disciples. In that case, that Sect will eventually die out, even if they have Mortal Shedding and Divine Sea Realm experts.

    A Sect, in the long run, needs to be able to keep generating powerhouses that can run the Sect after the Elders and Sect Master die.

    That''s where Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Minese into y.

    What''s the most important thing to a cultivator? Strength or cultivation!

    How do they get that strength and cultivation? With Qi!

    How can they speed up their cultivation? By cultivating in a ce with denser Qi!

    The density of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones is perfect for those in the Nascent Soul and Mortal Shedding Realms to maximize their cultivation speed.

    Thus, if a Sect controls a few of these mines, they at least have the minimum amount of resources needed to cultivate their disciples efficiently.

    That''s where the problem lies. Since these mines are so important to a Sect, it goes without saying that there is guaranteed to be an equal amount of protection around them.

    Having experts in the Soul Transformation Realm protecting them is a given. Most likely, there will even be an Elder at the Mortal Shedding Realm overseeing the mines as well!

    Aelina nodded her head, grateful that she didn''t need to exin all this, "It''s good to see you understand your predicament. However, I wouldn''t give you a mission that is impossible for you toplete, with a 100% chance of you dying."

    Suddenly, four books appeared in her hand, and she tossed them to Nova, Eden, Seraphina, and Everly, "Study those manuals, and if you can master them by the end of the month, you should be able to hold your own against a Stage 1 Mortal Shedding Realm Elder. Rayna already has one and will join you in your training sessions."

    Then she turned to Mira, took out three books, and handed them to her. "Your battle against Nova was great, but if you were to improve in just a few areas, you could havested much longer. These books will help you with that. They shouldn''t take you too long to learn, but you will see an improvement in your fundaments and foundation."

    Then Aelina tossed a spatial ring to Maria, "I''ve put a few things in there that will be necessary for the team, but don''t tell anyone about the things you''ve received, not even Mira." She said sternly. Maria nced at Mira, who nodded back at her and agreed to Aelina''s agreement.

    Finally, Aelina turned to all six of them and said, "Learn and master the things I''ve given you and think about how you can win with the limited information you have. If none of you havee up with a decent n after a month, I''ll fail you all and disqualify you from the Prime Disciple position!"

    "Alright, that''s it. You may leave now!"

    With that said, Aelina disappeared into thin air, leaving the six of them alone.

 Chapter 509 Qi Applications

    Mira, Maria, and the other disciples also dispersed after the Sect Master left. They now had plenty of homework to do, especially Mira, who had many different manuals to read and techniques to learn, all in just a month.

    Fortunately, she had enhancedprehension and could put herself in a semi-enlightened state, so she didn''t think it would be impossible to learn everything.

    Maria, on the other hand, was thinking about something else entirely. Scenes of Mira getting beaten helplessly kept resurfacing in her mind, and she didn''t know how to stop it.

    It''s not like she was losing her respect toward Mira or anything, but she couldn''t help but wonder if there was something she could''ve done that would''ve allowed Mira to stand her ground more against Nova.

    Could she have been more supportive? Or maybe, she could''ve gathered information on how Mira could maximize her power.

    This isn''t just about her fight with Nova but for the future as well. What if shees across an opponent down the mountain that she could''ve beaten if she was just a bit stronger but ended up dying because she wasn''t?

    After walking in silence for several minutes, Mira knew something was wrong, "What''s wrong, Maria?" She asked, but didn''t stop walking.

    Maria stammered, and her eyes wandered as if she wanted to avoid eye contact, but there were no eyes to avoid, "Ah! Eh? U-Ummm�� Wh-What do you mean?"

    Mira shrugged, "You''re way too quiet, and I can sense something''s been on your mind ever since I lost to Nova in that spar," Then she remembered that she''d never really lost in front of Maria, "That must''ve been your first time seeing me lose, huh? But is that really something for you to get so worked up about?"

    Maria reflexively answered, "Yes! AH! No! I mean, no! That''s�� That''s not what I''m worried about," She paused to take a breath, and Mira stayed quiet to let her finish, "It''s just�� I can''t help but think that being a healer might not be all that great."

    Mira stopped in her tracks and turned to Maria, who instinctively looked a bit ashamed that she was showing this side of her to Mira.

    Suddenly, Mira chuckled, "Fufufu~ So, that''s what you''re worried about? You''re worried I''ll get so injured that I''ll die before you can heal me, so now you''re starting to think being a healer is useless, right?"

    Maria meekly nodded her head. Mira chuckled again at that sight, walked up to her, and patted her on the shoulder.

    "Well, you aren''t wrong."

    "Eh?"

    Maria looked up with a bewildered expression, but Mira continued.

    "If you look at it like that, being a healer is pretty useless. What''s the point of having that ability if the one you''re trying to save dies before you can even get there?"

    Maria opened and closed her mouth repeatedly like a fish, but she didn''t know what to say. Still, Mira kept talking.

    "Then what''s the solution to this problem?" Mira asked, but didn''t wait to hear her answer, "It''s to be there, right next to the person you''re trying to save! And how do you do that? By getting stronger!"

    "In the end, strength is all that matters!"

    Too bad this solution didn''t help Maria out, as she didn''t feel she''d ever be strong enough to fight on the same battlefield with Mira without being a burden.

    Mira saw right through her thoughts and pondered for a bit. Truthfully, Mira didn''t even want Maria to have to fight next to her. Simr to how a husband wouldn''t want his wife to go to war.

    "I see. Well, isn''t this a rtively simple problem to fix? While strength is still necessary if you want to stick with me long-term and should always be your main priority, there are other ways to help me out. For example, I''m often busy training and don''t have time to put my subordinates to good use. You can do something with them. I also need tons of resources for my cultivation, so it could be your job to get them. Fighting isn''t the only way for you to help me."

    With that said, Mira kept walking, leaving behind a few more words, "Just remember, strength is the easiest and most reliable way to gain status, and it''s the only way to keep it once you have it."

    Maria just stood there in a daze as she watched Mira make her way down the mountain with her fists clenched.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    Not long after her talk with Maria, Mira appeared in an isted room back inside her cave house, free from any distractions. She took out the three books Aelina gave her and read the titles.

    [Basic Applications of Qi]

    [Master Qi Maniption]

    [How to Utilize the Strength of Your Body in Long-Range Fights]

    Although Mira had several other manuals and techniques to read that would certainly give her a more noticeable boost in power, she felt these would increase her foundational knowledge and long-term strength.

    So, she decided to start with [Basic Applications of Qi].

    Opening it to the first page, it read:

    ["Qi is a source of energy with nigh-infinite possibilities, many of which we will never understand. It can make nts and inanimate objects sentient. It can enhance the vtility of natural phenomena. It can increase the durability of the earth and even allow someone or something to unlock its full potential. While we don''t know where Qies from or all it can be used for, we cultivators have understood how we can use it."

    "To put it simply, how you want to use it dependsrgely on the intent or will you put into the Qi you want to use. While the rest is how well you alter your objects, abilities, and techniques to suit your needs."

    "Although there are many ways one can use Qi, for us cultivators, there are mainly 5 basic applications and 5 auxiliaries."

    "The 5 basic applications consist of Fortification, Enhancement, Augmentation, Manifestation, and Materialization. While the 5 auxiliaries consist of Nullification, Amplification, Regeneration, Infusion, and Omission."

    "Some of these may seem simr, but they are, in fact, very different. For example, Manifestation and Materialization may seem the same on the surface, but they arepletely different!

    "Manifestation is when you want to make a sword out of Qi, so you picture it in your mind, and it appears in your hand. However, this sword will continuously drain your Qi while it''s in your hand and dissipate when you run out."

    "Materialization starts the same, but when the sword appears in your hand, it doesn''t consume your Qi and doesn''t dissipate when you run out."

    "Now, let''s move on to the details of each application of Qi!"

    "Fortification is essentially just adding an extrayer of Qi to protect whatever it is you want to protect, simr to a suit of armor, but it''s a little moreplicated than that. Fortifying something isn''t just about surrounding it with Qi and calling it good. There are generally two ways to fortify something: you temporarily alter the object''sposition to something more durable, or youyer your Qi in such a way that it is denser and tougher than whatever it is you''re trying to protect. You can do both, but that''s a bit overkill.

    "This will take tons of time and practice to get right, and what you can reinforce mainly depends on your hard work, cultivation, talent, foundation, and understanding of the world around you."

    "Moving onto Enhancement, which is simr to Fortification, except instead of trying to protect something, you are trying to elevate certain aspects of an object. Take a sword as an example. While Fortification would increase the durability of the entire sword, to Enhance it, you might only want to focus on the edge of the de to increase its sharpness.

    "There are several ways to do this, and one of them is to temporarily change theposition like with fortification, but that isn''t very efficient. For this example, the best way would be to create a much thinner and sharper point with your Qi and surround the edge of your de with it."

    "Augmentation is simr to the previous two but is all about increasing or decreasing the size of an object, not about making it stronger. This is hard, or in most cases, impossible to do on real objects like a sword, shield, or suit of armor, and even if you can, it''ll drain tons of Qi. Therefore, the best and most used way to use this is to manifest something with your Qi, then augment it."

    "I already talked a bit about Manifestation and Materialization, but out of all 10 Qi applications, Manifestation is by far the most used, especially among weaker cultivators. Materialization is mainly only used by those in the Mortal Shedding Realm and above."

    "Manifestation is almost entirely based on the image in your mind and your intent. For example, if you wanted to create a fireball but only have a blurry image of what a fireball is, it''ll be weaker than what you''re capable of producing. Therefore, when you manifest something, be sure to have a clear image in your mind and a good understanding of what you want it to do. However, while this application isrgely based on your intent, you can''t just make fire cold and ice hot."

    "Materialization is, well, essentially creation. That''s why only those in the Mortal Shedding Realm and above can only use it. How is being able to create something from thin air an ability a Mortal should have? Hence the name "Mortal Shedding". Though, of course, that''s not the only reason for that name."

    "Alright, enough of that! Let''s move on to the Auxiliary applications!"

 Chapter 510 Qi Manipulation[Not Edited]

    ["There are 5 types of auxiliary applications: Nullification, Amplification, Regeneration, Infusion, and Omission.

    "Nullification can be used in multiple different ways, but its primary use is to cancel out a manifestation of Qi. Or, in pill making, you can use your Qi to nullify or suppress the effects of one of the herbs.

    "How do you do this, you may ask?"

    "Well, it mostly boils down to the intent, power, and density you put into your attack or Qi. Affinity can also be important, but your understanding of Qi must have reached a sufficient level to pull this off. For example, let''s say someone is throwing fireballs at you. You have to create an attack of equal power to hit those fireballs head-on, and you''d have nullified them.

    "Amplification is practically considered the opposite of Nullification and is mainly used on your to amplify your own manifestations, but do keep in mind that there is a big difference between Amplification and Augmentation. Just because you add a lot of Qi into something and make it bigger doesn''t necessarily make it smaller. Simr to how something small might be just as strong as arge item."

    "Let''s use the Fireball example again. If you create a standard fireball, but its power isn''t high enough for your needs, you need to amplify its effects. How do you do this? The most basic way is to add Qi to your ability without making itrger. Doing so would spread out the Qi too much unless you had already reached the limit of what you can make. Only once you''ve reached the limit of what you can amplify can you start augmenting it."

    "Regeneration is probably the simplest application of Qi as there is generally only one use: stimting your body to recover faster. Just cover your injuries with Qi with the intent of healing them, and nutrients from both your body and the Qi will begin congregating around the wound, healing it."

    "Regeneration is probably the most straightforward application of Qi. Though in this dog-eat-dog world, it might be the most useful as cultivators are bound to face many life-threatening injuries throughout their life, and if you know how to heal those injuries properly, that may save your life. So, master this as soon as possible."

    "Lastly, Infusion and Omission. These two applications are mainly for upations such as Alchemists, cksmiths, Array-Masters, etc., but you can also use them for other things. Infusion and Omission do exactly as their names say. One permanently infuses Qi into an object or infuses two items together. The other means to take away or separate."

    "Precise calctions must be used when doing either of these applications, so it''s best if you don''t try and do them in the middle of a fight. You could try to infuse your weapon with Qi to imbue it with an element, but why not just Enhance it and Manifest Qi around it instead? It''s really just a waste of brainpower and energy to do such nonsense during a fight."

    "That''s it for the 10 basic applications of Qi. Once you master these, dominating an opponent who hasn''t mastered them is simple. Not to mention, even if you''re not that talented or your base power isn''t that high, knowing these applications can give you an edge over those with higher strength or cultivation."]

    Mira closed her eyes and let this information soak in. She reviewed her fight with Nova and noticed that the woman had used many of these applications seamlessly and dominated the fight.

    She nullified her attacks, enhanced her spear, manifested all those spear shots, and fortified herself. Mira also felt like that golden sun could be considered a pseudo-materialization since it didn''t seem to put too much of a drain on Nova''s Qi and instead used atmospheric Qi to fuel itself.

    Mira had also used a few of these applications, but she wasn''t conscious of it. She just knew that putting Qi around her scythe would make it stronger or that adding more Qi to her Paragon Wings would make them more powerful.

    Thus, her efficiency and the power output she was capable of were severely limited.

    ''Maybe if I had known and practiced these applications beforehand, I could''ve won.'' Mira thought with a bitter smile, then shook her head.

    ''No, that fight wasn''t about winning or losing, but about what I can learn and how I can improve. Nova showed me what I could do better and the areas I need to improve in.''

    Mira didn''t regret losing that spar against Nova. She did her best in that spar without showing too many of her cards and lost. That''s it. She wasn''t so petty that she''d plot to take revenge against someone she had a friendly spar with.<sub> </sub>

    ''But now I know how Nova won so easily against me. Her knowledge, experience, and understanding of Qi are superior to mine. So, in order to not lose next time, I have to work on these aspects of myself.''

    Mira brought her attention to the next book, [Master Qi Maniption], and read:

    ["While the applications of Qi tell you what you can do, maniption is about how you can do it. The basis of Qi maniption is that you''re able to control the strength of your applications no matter the size. For example, if you''ve mastered Qi maniption, you should be able to manifest a thin hair-like thread that''s as strong as a 100-meter-tall steel pipe! That way, you can weave together techniques and spells without losing out on any potential power."

    "In theory, Qi Control, or maniption, is the basis for one''s strength. If you have poor control, then your abilities aren''t at full power, and if they aren''t at full power, then you are essentially weakening yourself! If you just unleash a clump of Qi from your Core and coat your fist in it, sure, your fist will be stronger, but not nearly as much as you''d think. If you took a sliver of highly dense Qi and weaved it thinly over your fist, that''ll be much stronger and more reliable than just some blob you covered your hand with."

    "The Qi in your body is always at a certain density level, but oftentimes, beginners will take out a chunk of Qi and spread it out, decreasing its density!

    "So, then, now the question is, how can I get to such a point where no matter the size or application, I can keep the strength of my abilities at full potential?"

    "Well, the best way is to get used to working with all the Qi in your body and/or Core. Don''t just take out a little sliver and begin practicing with that. No! Whenever you train your Qi Control/Maniption, always work with everything in your possession!

    "That''s the very basics of Qi control. If you don''t even know how to work with what you have, then how can you operate at full potential at all times?"

    "To start with, remove all the Qi from your Core and body, clump it up into as small a ball as you can possibly control, and just start ying with it. Don''t let any Qi leak out from your control. This is very important! If any Qi leaks out, then it means you can''t handle that amount, so just increase the ball''s size and work from there."

    "Keep repeating this process until when you take out all of your Qi, it''s the same density as when it was inside your Core. That''s when you know you''ve reached your maximum potential. You can only move on to working with smaller slivers of Qi and weaving them together hair-like threads once you''ve reached that point."]

    Mira put down the book with a profound expression on her face. She didn''t even think of doing that! When she practiced her Qi control in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, she mostly focused on working with small slivers rather than big chunks of Qi.

    She didn''t think learning that way was necessarily wrong, but she did notice she''d hit a wall that she couldn''t ovee by only working with tiny slivers to create even smaller threads.

    ''So, this is the reason why I hit a wall in my training.'' Mira thought as she instantly knew that what the book was saying wasn''t nonsense.

    It would only make sense that she learned to work with and control everything she has before moving on to smaller and more precise controls. What she did was like putting the cart before the horse.

    But now that she knew how to progress, the rest should be easy.

    ''I''ll have to tell Maria, Cine, Dominique, and my subordinates about this so they can work on mastering their Qi Control. Especially Dominique. She''s young and hasn''t been cultivating for very long, so if she can master this skill now, then she has a bright future ahead of her.'' Mika thought with a smile and moved on to thest book Aelina had given her.

 Chapter 511 Charm And Illusions

    Mira opened thest book, [How to Utilize the Strength of Your Body in Long-Range Fights] that the Sect Master had given her, but there wasn''t much to it. It basically just said that if her physical body was strong enough, there was a way to attack her opponent from a distance without Qi.

    The way to do this is to strike with overwhelming power. However, the strikes have to be straight and precise-no swinging motions, roundhouse kicks, or anything like that. Doing that would diminish the power one can unleash along with the range of the attack.

    Basically, the book is telling Mira to punch so hard in a straight line that the force of the punch travels through the air and hits her target. The best way for Mira to describe it is tobine boxing with a wind tunnel.

    Mira was already doing this, but it seemed Sect Master Aelina wanted her to devise ways to incorporate this into her fighting style since punching and kicking with a massive scythe isn''t feasible.

    Take Nova''s Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot as an example. Every time she shot one of those projectiles, it was powered not only by her Qi but also by her physical strength. Thus, her power was amplified even further than it already was.

    ''So, Aelina is telling me that I''m wasting my potential by not using my body and Qi in tandem by giving me this book.'' Mira thought as this book was virtually worthless.

    Looking back on it, her spar with Nova was really eye-opening and taught her a lot about how cultivators in this world fight. All of her attacks were sharp, quick, and precise. She had one low-cost but medium damaging technique, a defensive technique, an AOE technique, a technique that boosted her power, and a finishing move. On top of that, Mira was sure Nova had even more than that in her repertoire.

    Each of her attacks served a purpose, could be used interchangeably in most scenarios, and synergized exceptionally well.

    The odd thing was that Mira didn''t find any of those techniques, except for thatst one, incredibly powerful. Sure, they were powerful, but they weren''t something she couldn''t aplish either. In fact, she was sure she could be even more powerful than that!

    ''I guess I''ll need to try ande up with a few techniques that will synergize well with each other in this month that I have to train.'' Mira thought with a smile.

    She was d that Aelina had given her those two other books as she could already think of a few techniques that would work quite well with one another. Now, it was only a matter of putting her thoughts into practice.

    ''I''ll focus on creating my own synergistic attacks after I finish reading through everything. For now, I should focus on what will probably help me the most in this uing mission.''

    Mira pulled out the [Charm Control Manual] and the [Illusion Control Manual] and began reading through them.

    It took her about an hour to read through them, and she couldn''t help but feel enlightened about how she should use her two tails that focus on those elements going forward.

    At their core, Illusions and Charm aren''t that different. They both affect the mind and try to make someone believe something that isn''t necessarily real. The only real difference between the two is that illusions are there to trick the mind, while Charming is the act of controlling one''s mind.

    Or one could also interpret that illusions affect one''s perception of the world while Charms affect one''s perception of the person doing the charming.

    However, charming someone has less to do with Qi and more to do with external factors. Qi is only there to enhance the effects of one''s charm.

    For example, a woman having a sexy body and showing lots of skin is attractive and "charming" to most men. Such a woman wouldn''t need anything other than do a little dance, maybe show off too much skin, and give a fewpliments, and she could have the average man wrapped around her finger.

    If she were to add Qi into the mix, she could essentially dominate their mind to the point that they perceive her as their god, their highest priority, even above their own lives!

    Using Qi to increase the effects of a woman''s charm can also help them reach some of the more stoic and mentally tough men.

    However, the foundation of Charm is, well, being charming.<sub> </sub>

    An overweight woman with a face that looked like it got hit by a ton of bricks and a voice that sounds like a pig isn''t that charming to men. Even if such a woman used a Charm Technique, her capabilities would still be limited in this area.

    Maybe they could charm a male pig or, if they''re lucky, a steed, but it''d be hard for them to charm their own race.

    For this reason, the Fox Race is notorious for charming people as they are one of the most attractive species in the world, in both their beast and human forms. Who doesn''t like soft, squishy, curvacious, and beautiful women? Hell, they are so attractive that they can even charm those of the same gender!

    With all that being said, the [Charm Control Manual] talked less about how she can control her Qi to charm people and more about how she can elevate her image in the minds of others. This included but was not limited to, releasing pheromones that stimted one''s sex drive, being more sensual and provocative, wearing outfits that entuated one''s curves and speaking in a voice that would make any man melt.

    If Mira could master these, she would be 75% of the way there to control her target''s mind without needing Qi.

    Toplete thatst 25%, she has to insert a bit of Qi inside her target''s mind with the intent of her being the most important entity in their life. Once that happens, Mira will essentially gain control over her target''s mind.

    Of course, there are more advanced charming techniques that could even make an ugly pig seem like the most beautiful goddess, but those are the basics.

    ''It''s really not thatplicated to charm someone, and with my looks and tail, it bes even easier. It''s probably my one ability that has nothing to do with my cultivation realm.'' Mira thought and was looking forward to putting this new knowledge into practice.

    Illusions, on the other hand, are slightly different. While charming someone is about imnting an idea into someone''s brain, illusions are more about externalizing an image from your own brain.

    On the surface, that sounds very simr to just normal Qi maniption, but it''s very different. At least Qi maniption affects reality, but illusions are fake yet should be indistinguishable from what''s real.

    However, that''s easier said than done. There''s a reason why Mira''s mastery of illusions isn''t very high, and that''s because she doesn''t know much about theplexities that go into creating them.

    The foundation of the [Illusion Control Manual] is that a good illusion is one that can fool the enemy, a great illusion is one that can fool your allies, and a perfect illusion is one that can fool yourself!

    For example, let''s say Mira wanted to cover all her tails in an illusion, so they all look ck to the outside world.

    A good illusion could fool others at a nce, but if they looked closely, they might be able to spot some inconsistencies and understand that it was fake. A great one would go ayer deeper so that even when they are stared at or even stroked, they all feel the same.

    However, a perfect one is when Mira can''t even distinguish between the real ck tail and the fake ones. The touch, smell, weight, look, and even taste of the tails are all the same. If it got to the point that she forgot which one was real, that''d be a perfect illusion.

    But in order to do that, she would need to have a very deep understanding of her ck tail.

    That''s where theplexities of illusionse into y because it''s not just about sight. A perfect illusion should be able to fool all the senses!

    Of course, not every illusion needs to be perfect. If Mira shot a volley of ice shards at someone, but half of them were fake, she didn''t need them all to be perfect. She just needed the two to look simr.

    There were a lot of things that went into creating illusions that Mira wasn''t even aware of until now, but she felt d she purchased the [Illusion Control Manual] as she could already imagine how useful this ability would be in the future.

    After digesting all this information, Mira put the two manuals up and pulled out the books that she was the most excited to read andprehend.

 Chapter 512 Ice And Death

    Mira only had two more books to read before she could actually get to training. They were the [Ice Empress Technique Part 1] and the [Ruler of Death-Scythe Technique Part 1]. Unlike the [Blood Burst Technique], these two books didn''t immediately get transmitted to her brain after she purchased them.

    She grasped the [Ruler of Death-Scythe Technique Part 1] as that one intrigued her the most. Opening it up to the first page, Mira frowned.

    ''Why is it all nk?''

    That''s right! There was nothing on the page!

    ''Did I just get scammed by my own treasure?'' That was her first thought. She instinctively felt like the Guardian was ying a prank on her. However, she quickly shook her head.

    ''There''s no way he can fiddle with the settings, and if he can, then there''s no reason to do this. There must be something I''m missing.'' She thought and began thinking of solutions.

    After a few seconds, an idea appeared in her mind.

    She held onto the book with both hands and injected her Qi into it.

    *Swoosh!*

    Immediately, the pages fluttered and began filling up with text�� or at least what appeared to be text. Mira couldn''t actually read any of it since, surprisingly, it was her ck runes filling up the pages.

    Soon, she felt a connection form between her and the book, allowing her to understand its contents, even though she still couldn''t read it.

    From there, she understood that there were two stages of the technique:

    1. Death Dominion

    2. Reaper

    While the two names sounded simple, Mira couldn''t even begin to describe howplex they were.

    Death Dominion, on the surface, is more focused on creating arge domain under her control. If an opponent were to step inside this domain, unless they were strong enough to defend it, the domain would absorb their vitality and Qi, then transfer back to Mira.

    However, that''s the weakest part of the technique. What makes it truly special is that Mira''s scythe will cover her scythe in a ck goop, which will look watery as it runs along the edge of the scythe, but when she goes to attack, that goop will extend to the edge of the domain, harden and sharpen as if she just extended the length of her de.

    If this ck goop were to touch her opponent, even if only for a split second, a tiny piece would attach itself to her opponent. Thus, the goop would change trajectories whenever she attacked after that to target the small part that detached itself, even if her attack would''ve missed.

    Yet that wasn''t even the greatest part about this technique! As she grew in power, the technique would evolve with her, giving her ess to an even more variety of abilities and power!

    Meanwhile, the second stage, Reaper, was a little different. This stage cloaked Mira''s entire body in a thinyer of runes, giving a more transparent appearance while also surrounding her scythe in a dark energy, empowering and giving it a draining effect like the Death Dominion.

    However, the runes around her body didn''t just make her look transparent. It also allowed her to glide through the air like a ghost as if she faced no resistance. Lastly, any physical attacks(no Qi) she received were less effective, while her attacks could bypass armor as long as there wasn''t a massive difference in strength.

    Mira could use these two abilities both together or separately, and neither would be affected. She''d just run out of Qi much quicker than she usually would.

    Overall, Mira was more than satisfied with the [Ruler of Death-Scythe Technique]. While it didn''t directly enhance her scythe skills, it did provide more utility to her kit.

    ''It''ll probably take some time to get used to these attacks, but once I do, who can stop me?''

    She almost felt like there was no need for her to buy the other technique, as this was more than enough to increase her power substantially, but Mira shook her head at that thought.

    ''No, I need a good ice technique. I''ve just been using my Qi all willy-nilly before, but if I can learn how to use a proper ice technique, my strength will soar!'' Mira''s eyes beamed, and she picked up the other book titled [Ice Empress Technique Part 1] and injected Qi into it.

    Immediately after, words made of ice filled the pages, and images appeared in her mind.

    This technique also had two stages, but there was also some extra information in the book about how she could better utilize her ice.

    It took Mira a while to digest all this information, and afterward, she had a profound look on her face.

    ''Now I understand why it''s called the Ice Empress Technique.''<sub> </sub>

    What''s the first thing thates to mind when you think of the word "Empress"?

    The most basic answer is a woman that reigns over arge amount ofnd and people. Someone who has total control! A leader!

    An Empress doesn''t stand on the front lines and fight for her country! What would be the point of having an army if she were to do that? However, an Empress is supposed to control the flow of a battle while leading her army from the back.

    The first two stages of this technique have taken great inspiration from the term "Empress" as they are called:

    1. Frozen Terrain Change

    2. 100 cial Warriors

    The names fit the two stages perfectly.

    Frozen Terrain Change was simr to the Death Dominion ability, but at the same time, totally different. She wasn''t creating another domain with this ability. Instead, she would shoot out a bunch of small ice crystals in a grid-like array, and she could use these ice crystals to create structures or items that would disrupt her opponent.

    The whole point of this ability is to make the battlefield more advantageous to her, so even if she''s in the sky, she can use this and essentially make her own terrain!

    However, it didn''t stop there. Mira also received a bunch of information notifying her that ice cane in many different forms: snow, slushy, crushed, etc. Anything that''s frozen water is considered ice.

    If used properly, this knowledge could impact the kind of terrain she can make.

    Meanwhile, the 100 cial Warriors were pretty self-exnatory. She would create and control 100 warriors made of ice to fight in her stead. Individually, they wouldn''t be as strong as her, but if they were put together, they would be.

    Having so many puppet warriors, she could control at will was incredibly useful, especially if she were forced into a situation where she''d need to fightrge groups of strong enemies by herself. Not only can they be used to attack, but they can also be used as shields.

    Afterprehending both books, Mira found it interesting that the foundations for each technique were more about control and utility rather than power.

    ''Isn''t that the point of a technique, though?'' Mira thought, and she wasn''t wrong.

    While some techniques, like the [Blood Burst Technique] that Mira bought, do drastically increase one''s strength, many of them are just a way to channel Qi to unleash one''s full potential.

    Mira soon stopped thinking about this, as it didn''t matter. Her power would improve regardless.

    However, now that she had finished reading everything that needed to be read, it was time for her to make an important decision.

    ''Do I now try and progress my Inner Body Cultivation or focus on practicing and perfecting everything I just learned?''

    She didn''t need to think about the answer for long.

    ''I''ll save my Inner Body Cultivation forter. What I need right now is a significant boost in my short-term strength. I highly doubt I''ll be able to get far enough in my Inner Body Cultivation to make much of a difference in my overall strength. Maybe it would if I spent the whole month focusing on that, but I can''t see the costs outweighing the gains in this situation.''

    Mira also felt like it''d be better to consolidate and improve her fundamentals now before she added somethingpletely new into the mix.

    Plus, it''s not like her Inner Body Cultivation is going anywhere. As long as she''s alive, she can always do itter.

    Mira nodded, and she stood up.

    ''Let''s go get Hana so she can help me train the Hidden World Technique. It''s about time she started making herself useful.'' Mira thought and left the room.

    However, what she didn''t know was that Hana had already made herself useful, even without anyone telling her to do anything.

    ***

    Outside Mira and Maria''s cave, somewhere in the valley, Hana could be seen standing on a fewrge boxes in front of a bunch of women yelling at them!

    "That''s not how you perform the Breathless Steps! You have to control your breathing so that not even the faintest noise leaves your nostrils!"

 Chapter 513 Stealing From The Unorthodox Faction Part 1

    A month passed by extremely quickly, and it was finally time for Mira to begin her mission of stealing 5 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines from the Unorthodox Faction.

    Mira and Maria silently walked out of their cave mansion in full body armor. Mira was wearing the Peak Heaven-Grade battle dress, which was ck with icy blue lotus flowers, and a crystal veil, tiara, and shoes. At the same time, Maria wore a Low Heaven-Grade gold armor that covered her chest, arms, and legs.

    Although she wished she could get something a bit better, that''s all she could afford with her Merit Points.

    During this month, both Mira and Maria improved a lot, more than anyone could imagine. Part of the reason for that is because Mira shared the books she received from Aelina, and with their fastprehension, they could learn the fundamental applications of Qi at an extreme pace.

    This was especially so for Mira. It could be said that instead of a month, Mira had juste out of a year-long seclusion!

    Mira and Maria walked side by side out of the cave without making a sound. Neither of them released even a sliver of aura. Their footsteps didn''t make a noise, nor did they leave behind any footprints, and it almost seemed like they had melded into the world around them.

    If it weren''t for the fact that each step they took advanced them forward by several meters, one might think they were ordinary people!

    As the two quietly strode down the valley, Maria suddenly asked, "Do you think we''ll be able toplete this mission?"

    Mira hummed and pondered, as this was the question she''s been asking herselftely as well, "Hmmm," However, she just shrugged her shoulders, "I don''t know."

    Maria sighed dejectedly, but Mira continued.

    "I don''t know, but I believe it should be possible. I refuse to believe Aelina gave us an impossible mission so that she could kill off all her best disciples."

    That was the conclusion Maria came to as well.

    "Sigh�� This mission would be much easier if the Spirit Stone Mines didn''t have Mortal Shedding Realm Elders guarding them." Mariained.

    Mira shook her head slightly at Maria''sints, "Hmph! If we really didn''t have to face a Mortal Shedding Realm expert, Aelina wouldn''t have given us reinforcements!"

    Maria pouted, but she understood what Mira was trying to say. She was basically saying that no matter what mission Aelina sent them on, the difficulty would remain the same. Plus, it''s not like Mira and Maria can just charge in a kill a bunch of Soul Transformation Realm cultivators.

    They are still in the Core Formation Realm, after all. There''s a limit to what they can do.

    As they strolled around, a beautiful woman with violet eyes suddenly appeared out of thin air. Her eyes stared deeply into Mira and Maria, and although her expression didn''t change, one could see astonishment hidden deep within that prating gaze.

    ''What the hell? Why can I hardly feel their presence? What kind of stealth technique did they learn?'' Aelina wondered as she found Mira and Maria''s presences shockingly thin, even with her cultivation.

    However, she wasn''t the Sect Master for nothing and kept herposure despite feeling bewildered.

    "It''s time for your mission."

    She wrapped her Qi around Mira and Maria, then shot up into the sky without waiting for them to respond.

    While they were in the air, Aelina took out a set of 8 Mid Heaven-Grade throwing knives and a Low Heaven-Grade dagger and handed them to Mira.

    "Just like you asked, I gathered the throwing knives and dagger for you. Please use them well."

    Aelina still felt a bit vexed that Mira asked for such high-ranking equipment, despite her low cultivation, but then she noticed her outfit.

    ''What the��?! Where''d she get a Peak Heaven-Grade battle armor like that?! And it''s a dress as well!'' A hint of envy appeared in her eyes as Mira''s outfit was the kind of armor that every girl needs but nobody makes.

    Hell, even at the Battle Maiden Sect, they usually just made standard armor since finding the suitable materials to create a battle dress such as Mira''s is a huge pain in the ass. Usually, the cost to make such an item vastly outweighs the actual usability of the product.

    Take Mira''s battle dress as an example. For the price it''d cost to produce something like that, Aelina could probably make a regr Low Mystical-Grade armor instead.<sub> </sub>

    This is because battle dresses simply take too many unique resources and too much time to make. In contrast, regr armor is basically just arge chunk of metal. Of course, there''s more to a standard armor set than just metal, but its raw materials consist purely of metal.

    ''I want something like that!'' Aelina''s eyes lit up as she thought to herself. Naturally, she wasn''t going to take Mira''s as it was too weak to help her, but she did ingrain the dress in her mind. She''d look for the materials needed for er.

    Mira nodded at Aelina and stored the knives and daggers away. Although she wasn''t certain that she''d need them, her intuition told her that only using her scythe might be detrimental to her mission.

    She thought about asking for something like a sword, saber, or spear, but she''s actually incredibly proficient with daggers as she''s an expert in many CQC martial arts.

    Soon after Aelina dragged them away, theynded near a small hut on an isted region of the mountain.

    There they saw Nova, Seraphine, Eden, Everly, and Rayna staring at them with neutral expressions. While they might''ve acknowledged that Mira had potential, that''s all she had right now. Potential.

    Until she fully realized that potential, she''d only be a burden on this mission��

    Or so they thought.

    Mira and Maria gave the other disciples a light nod and turned to Aelina, awaiting her instructions.

    "As I said one month ago, you will have to share your strategies for taking down the Spirit Stone Mines with me. If I''m not satisfied with them, then I''ll disqualify all of you from ever taking the Prime Disciple position!" Aelina dered without a hint of emotion.

    In her mind, a Prime Disciple should at least be capable ofing up with something like this.

    "Nova, you''re up first!"

    "Yes, Sect Master!"

    Nova stepped up and began exining her n, "Since I have the most destructive power out of everyone here, I''ll take the vanguard with Everly, who will be the tank. Since Eden is better at controlling the battlefield than the rest of us, she''ll be the mid-guard. Seraphine will be the rear guard since her powers are the most versatile. As for Rayna, well, she can hang off on the wings and take out any unsuspecting foes. The same goes for Mira and Maria, but their main jobs will be infiltration��" Nova continued sharing her n.

    Aelina nodded her head as she listened to Nova''s n, as it wasn''t that bad. She urately gauged her teammates'' power and put them in their roles ordingly.

    If she had to pick a problem with it, she''d say it was too simple and straightforward. They''re about to go against a faction that has no honor and will do whatever''s necessary to take down their enemy. So, it''s hard to say whether her strategy is the best. Plus, she hadn''t even mentioned what she''d do to take down the Mortal Shedding Realm expert.

    After Nova finishedying out her n, the Sect Master just nodded, indicating she had passed the test, and moved on to the other disciples, each giving simr answers.

    When it was finally Mira''s turn, she smirked.

    "Those strategies aren''t that bad. In fact, I''d even say that in most scenarios, they would be overwhelmingly powerful. Although I don''t know each of you as well as Nova does, I can sort of understand your tendencies based on your auras. However, I think you''re all forgetting something crucial."

    "What''s the goal of this mission?"

    The other disciples frowned while Aelina smiled, ''Ah, it seems she understands.''

    Before anyone could answer, Mira did it for them.

    "It''s to steal the Spirit Stone mines. STEAL! Why do we need to charge in headfirst like a bunch of lunatics? In fact, it''d be better if we never had to fight a single person."

    A light of realization shone in their eyes, but Mira continued, "Now, what does stealing a Spirit Stone Mine mean? Well, to me, it means to loot most of the Spirit Stones and the core, if there is one. Not to kill everyone inside. Though, that''s certainly an option."

    "I think our biggest obstacle in all this will be the Mortal Shedding Realm Elder. I''m assuming that his perception and sensory abilities are off the charts, so he''s likely to discover us the moment we step into the mine. Once that happens, we''d be truly fucked, even if you guys do have a way to hold him back."

    "So, my n is to draw out the Elder and drag him alone to an area far away from the mine, where we''lly a trap for him. I have a Late Heaven-Grade Suppression Array and a technique that can allow you guys to enhance your powers. Combined with what you received from the Sect Master, we should be able to take him down. From then on, we will have a much easier time infiltrating the mine and can even kill the other Unorthodox Faction disciples if you so wish."

 Chapter 514 Stealing From The Unorthodox Faction Part 2

    While the other disciples stared at Mira in shock, Aelina tilted her head and thought about her n.

    ''Although there are many holes and inconsistencies, I suppose it''s feasible. That is, if everyone works together perfectly. Otherwise, they''d die before they could even begin the mission!'' Aelina thought.

    "You know that a Late Heaven-Grade item is nothing in front of someone at the Mortal Shedding Realm, right? A Suppression Array at that grade wouldn''t hold him down for more than a second, and the effects would be minimal."

    Mira nodded her head at Aelina''s words.

    "Yeah, I know, but a second is all we need."

    Mira''s words were short, but the meaning was clear, and everyone here understood what she was trying to say.

    "Hmm~ I guess you''re not wrong, but can you actually ce so much trust in people you''ve barely met?" Aelina asked with an amused smile.

    Mira turned her gaze toward Eden, Seraphine, Everly, Rayna, and then stopped on Nova.

    "Truthfully, I don''t know, nor do I think I''m qualified to say anything about this matter. After all, I''ve never experienced the might of a Mortal Shedding Realm expert." Mira wished she could say she could trust Nova, but she didn''t think the girl alone could take on someone almost an entire Realm higher than her.

    The others frowned at her words, but they weren''t so narrow-minded that they''d get upset over something so petty as they felt the same way as Mira.

    They were reluctant to put their trust in someone two whole major Realms below them, and rightfully so. Still, since the Sect Master pushed this mission onto them, they had no choice but toply.

    Nova stepped forward, her eyes never leaving Mira''s body, "If you really have a way to lure their Elder out, I''m confident we can kill a Mortal Shedding Realm Elder." She puffed her chest and said confidently.

    Eden, Everly, Rayna, and Seraphine nodded at Nova''s words as they hadplete confidence in taking a weakened Unorthodox Faction Elder. It might be a different story if they had to kill an Orthodox Faction Elder individually; they are stronger than those from the opposing faction.

    The reason behind their confidence?

    The technique that Aelina gave them a month ago! It was just that great! Also, it''s not like they didn''t prepare other things as ast resort, either. It would be foolish of them to think they could steamroll their opponents without issue.

    Mira nodded at Nova''s statement with a smirk, "Don''t worry. I have a ''technique'' that is guaranteed to get their attention."

    Aelina, Nova, and everyone else lifted an eyebrow at Mira''s deration, and they couldn''t help but be curious.

    "Oh? What is it? It''s fine if you don''t want to tell us, but if we follow your n, we should at least know what you''re going to do." This time, it was Eden who asked.

    Mira nodded and turned her head. Everyone followed her gaze and instantly became curious.

    ''Why is she looking at the Sect Master?''

    Aelina was amused by the situation and just let Mira do whatever she wanted.

    "Just a little warning, but I''d like you all to remember that I have no intention of killing any of you," Mira warned, inciting their interest even more.

    A crimson light swirled in Mira''s eyes as she gathered all her killing intent into them. Then, without warning, a tangible bloodthirsty aura exuded from Mira''s eyes!

    *DOOOOOM!*

    *Shing!**Shing!**Shing!**Shing!**Shing!**Shing!*

    Nova and the other disciples drew their weapons and jumped away from Mira while Aelina narrowed her eyes, and subconsciously, a short sword appeared in her hands.

    Maria was the only one who didn''t make anyrge movements as she was somewhat used to Mira''s killing intent, but if one looked closely, one could still see her body trembling from the horrid, bloody pressure.

    However, soon, Mira recalled the pressure, and everyone''s chest and shoulders fell as they released a sigh of relief. The Sect Master was perhaps the only one who could stay calm in this situation, but even she couldn''t help but feel a bit of trepidation in her heart.<sub> </sub>

    Mira''s killing intent was just too intense.

    Afterward, she turned to Eden and said with a slightly sadistic smile, "See? If that doesn''t get someone''s attention, I don''t know what will. Look! Even Sect Master Aelina was affected!"

    Eden gulped and subconsciously nodded. She was still reeling in from the shock of going to hell and back, so she wasn''t sure what to say at the moment.

    However, the ways she looked at Mira changedpletely. If before she mostly regarded her with indifference, now she looked at her wearily with hints of fear. In fact, that was the case for all the disciples.

    The only exception was Rayna, who tilted her head and looked at her with a gaze filled with caution and admiration.

    ''How is she concealing that much killing intent without losing her mind?'' She couldn''t even imagine how Mira was able to stay sane!

    Not many people knew this, but Rayna has killed more than almost every younger generation disciple and even some Elders. Unlike most Battle Maiden Sect disciples who are trained to be warriors, Rayna was brought up and trained to be a killer.

    Even before she joined the Sect, she was already someone with a lot of blood on her hands. When Rayna entered the Sect, killing was the only thing she knew and was good at, so she continued further down that path.

    So, she, more than anyone, can understand that if one''s mentality isn''t stable enough, the burden of all the lives they''ve taken will start to affect the mind.

    ''But how many beings has she killed? Millions? Billions? Is what she showed us even everything? How can someone so young bear that burden? No, how can someone so young even kill that many people?!''

    Rayna wasn''t the only one who had these questions, as Aelina also looked at Mira suspiciously, but unlike a little girl under 100, she had vastly more worldly experience.

    ''Does this girl cultivate a secret technique to enhance her killing intent? Or maybe she''s just killed droves of mortals?'' Aelina shook her head at thatst question. If something like that happened, she''d know about it.

    ''Then, is she an old soul that''s taken over a young body?''

    That guess didn''t make much sense either because Mira''s knowledge of cultivation and the way she uses Qi are reminiscent of a noobie. On the other hand, Mira''s gaze, manner of speech, battle experience, killing intent, and aura all resemble someone with many years under their belt.

    In the end, Aelina didn''t care enough to search for answers and stopped thinking about it. Even if Mira wasn''t the original owner of that body, she could tell that Mira was a fairly honest person and that she came to the Battle Maiden Sect to gain knowledge and experience, not for nefarious schemes.

    She had absolute trust in her ability to gauge someone''s character, and even if she didn''t know everything about Mira, she could tell that, at the very least, her words had weight.

    ''It''s none of my business,'' She shrugged her shoulders, and an amusedly mysterious smile returned on her face.

    "You startled me for a second there, Mira, but I can guarantee that if you direct that kind of murderous intent at someone, you will certainly catch their attention, no matter their strength," Aelina said, and everyone nodded.

    ''Only a dead person wouldn''t react to something like that!'' Nova and the other disciples thought inwardly.

    "Alright, it seems you all have actually put a little bit of thought into this mission, but I will warn you that Mortal Shedding Realm experts aren''t as simple as you make them out to be. You''ll surely die if you can''t kill them in one blow. So, if you try to ambush them, be sure to go all out from the beginning." Aelina said sternly.

    Mira and the others nodded with narrowed eyes as they knew that the Cultivation Realms after the Core Formation Realm weren''t just a matter of having more Qi. Regardless of their faction, someone who can make it to such a Realm is to be respected.

    Then, Aelina took out seven jade slips and passed them to Mira and the disciples.

    "Here, you''ll find all the up-to-date information on the Spirit Stone mines you''re going to invade. Feel free to start in whatever order and follow whatever n you want, but remember, you only have a month toplete the mission."

    With that said, Aelina turned around, ready to leave, before she stopped and gave them onest reminder.

    "I''ll give you onest piece of advice before you go. Try andplete this mission as soon as possible. Don''t take unnecessary breaks."

    After saying that, Aelina disappeared, leaving Mira and the others to ponder her words, but only a few actually understood what she meant.

 Chapter 515 Stealing From The Unorthodox Faction Part 3

    After Aelina left, Mira and the others checked the information in the jade slips. What was in there was an entire list, more than five, of Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines, their location, the number of Elders and disciples guarding it, and the estimated depth of the mines owned by the Unorthodox Faction.

    They skimmed through this information with serious looks on their faces as they realized this mission just got a bit moreplicated. If the Sect Master had given them five targets and all they needed to do was figure out the order, then it''d be much easier to n ordingly, but now they had to sift through and find the targets that would best suit their capabilities.

    ''Dammit! Why didn''t the Sect Master give us this information sooner?'' Mira and the others couldn''t help but think, but they understood why.

    ''This is also part of the mission.''

    A Prime Disciple, if they can actually survive the Central Continent Competition, is generally seen as the sessor to the Sect Master. Needless to say, a Prime Disciple should have excellent leadership, foresight, and nning capabilities.

    Mira was the first one to finish sorting through the jade slip, so before anyone said anything, she decided to speak up.

    "I believe the Sect Master''sst words to be correct. We need to finish this mission as soon as possible. Once the Unorthodox Faction catches wind of our actions, we fail. So, before we decide on the mines, let''s first understand our limitations."

    Everyone stared at Mira, waiting for her to continue.

    "First, we can''t invade a mine with two or more Elders guarding it. I shouldn''t need to exin why."

    "Second, we can''t choose locations that are too far apart from one another. Remember, the time limit is one month, but it''d be best if we couldplete the mission in under a week, hopefully less."

    "Three, the deeper mines are a no-go, even if only one Elder guards them. They''d take too long to plunder, and there is a higher probability of unknown variables."

    "Four, it''d be best if our targets are far away from other cities, just in case we cause amotion and end up attracting unwanted attention."

    "I think those are our four main limitations. If you have anything to add, speak up. If not, we can move on to picking out the five targets." Mira deduced, and everybody nodded in approval.

    "I agree. Our actions have to be swift and precise, with virtually zero ws. If we allow a disciple to contact an Unorthodox Sect''s Main Branch, we''ll be in deep shit. So, it''d be best if we could tackle all the mines one after another," Nova said, just to make sure everyone understood the severity of the mission.

    The others nodded and didn''t have anything else to add, as Mira and Nova had said basically everything that needed to be said.

    "Since we''ve got that out of the way, let''s begin nning out our route," Mira said, and Rayna took out arge map for everyone to see.

    Mira and Maria were surprised to see that someone had a physical map of the terrain, as that''s quite rare in this world. Creating a detailed map takes a lot of time and effort, as the world is just too big. Thus, most people either remembered where everything was or they asked around.

    However, Rayna was different. Mira could tell by the way she zed over the map that she was very familiar with it.

    ''Hmmm�� Did she perhaps create it herself? If so, that''s quite impressive.'' Mira inwardly nodded, acknowledging that Rayna seemed to be quite the nner despite her anti-social nature.

    ''Perhaps she might be the wildcard in this whole mission.'' Mira wondered, looking forward to seeing the powers of the Sect''s top disciples.

    ***

    Up in the air, invisible to Mira and the others, Aelina watched them with a slight smile. She was thrilled that Mira was the first to understand the essence of the mission and take charge, as it proved that she did have the qualities of a Prime Disciple, despite being so young and weak.

    She was also d that Mira didn''t seem intimidated even in front of the strongest disciples of her generation, nor did she hesitate to take the lead. Over time, it appeared her favorability toward Mira only increased as she found her to be more and more to her liking.

    ''It''s a shame that she doesn''t want to be my disciple,'' Aelina shook her head ruefully.

    She''d be lying if she said she didn''t think about forcing Mira, but she could tell that the girl had a deep hatred for the term ''Master'' and would likely rather die than be her disciple.

    There''s definitely a story there, but Aelina wasn''t interested in that. If Mira wasn''t willing to be her disciple, then so be it.

    ''Whatever. It''s already good enough that she''s willing to do so much for the Sect, and it''s not like I want or need a disciple.''<sub> </sub>

    Suddenly, Aelina''s expression changed as she sensed multiple strong auras, no less than hers, converge on her position.

    She wrapped Mira, Maria, and the others in her Qi to hide them, sent them a voice transmission, and tossed them out of the Sect. She didn''t know what or why these people were barging into her Sect, but she could tell that trouble woulde knocking if one of them were to see Mira right now.

    And she didn''t have time to waste on useless drivel.

    "Hmph! Let''s see what''s so important that these idiots dare toe brazenly knocking on my door without even sending me a message first," Aelina frowned in dissatisfaction and took out a small tablet that radiated a suffocating aura.

    She injected a bit of Qi into the tablet, and soon, a barrier surrounded the entire Battle Maiden Sect!

    "If they don''t give me a satisfactory answer�� Hmph! Don''t me me for being ruthless," A cold smile appeared on her face, much different from the amiable and amused smile she generally had in front of the disciples.

    She hated when people arrived unannounced, and she hated it even more when they came in groups like this, seemingly hoping to intimidate her.

    Her body swayed gently before disappearing.

    She then reappeared in the sky above her mountain and looked coldly at her ''guests''.

    "What a�� pleasant surprise. I never thought I''d see the day when Alexander, Flora, Ghost Reaper King, and Damon visit a poor olddy like me so valiantly. Ah! Even that vixen, Lisica, showed up! Is it my birthday today or something? It must be for a clown show like you guys to show up uninvited!" Aelina spread her arms, weing her visitors with a smile, causing their eyes to twitch in annoyance, but they understood that she was not happy right now.

    If anyone else were here, they''d be utterly shocked as not only did the Sect Masters from the Immortal Sword Sect, Profound Elements Sect, Hidden de Sect, and Divine Weapons Sect show up, but even the Leader of the Fox n, Mistress Lisica appeared as well!

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira, Maria, and the others had just received a voice transmission from Aelina and were thrown out somewhere in Snow Maiden City.

    The transmission said, "A few annoying characters decided to show up today, and I''d rather not leak your mission or Mira''s appearance to them if possible. I''m sending you to Snow Maiden City. You can finish your nning there. Good luck on your mission, and keep your eyes and ears open at all times. The Continent might be getting noisy here soon with these guys barging into the Sect all of a sudden."

    Then, she teleported them away.

    After reappearing, Mira and the others nced at each other, not knowing what to do or say, as they didn''t expect to be suddenly thrown out.

    However, they quickly regained theirposure and found a nice ce to sit down and discuss their ns.

    Though, it was mostly just Rayna picking out their locations. She sifted through the information in the jade slip and mentally crossed off anything that exceeded their capabilities, then cross-referenced the leftovers on the map.

    Within a few minutes, she had already found the best and most efficient route to take that met all their requirements.

    "Rayna sure works fast like always," Seraphine muttered.

    Everly nodded, "It makes sense, though. She''s our resident assassin. I doubt there''s anyone in our Sect who knows the Western Continent more than her, other than the Elders and Sect Master."

    "I just wished she''d talk to us a bit more when discussing our ns instead of doing everything herself," Eden muttered, ncing at Rayna, but she wasn''t annoyed. This has happened too many times for her to still be annoyed.

    "Well, since Rayna has finisheding up with the order of attack, let''s get going! We don''t have time to waste!" Nova said while getting up.

    Mira and Maria couldn''t say against Rayna''s decision as their knowledge of the Western Continent are extremely poor. They''ve both read maps and have a general outline, but nothing as detailed as what Rayna has.

    Still, Mira didn''t see any inherent problems with the order, so she just went with it.

    With that said, they all got up from their seats and left to go raid their first Spirit Stone Mine!

 Chapter 516 Stealing From The Unorthodox Faction Part 4

    Nova, Rayna, and the others flew through the mountains, carrying Mira and Maria behind them with their Qi. Since time was of the essence, they couldn''t slow down to travel at Mira''s speed.

    Although it was a little humiliating for them to drag Mira around like a rag doll, she understood the reason and agreed, so she could only bury her grievances.

    ''Sigh�� Should I have woken up Rhydian?'' Mira thought but shook her head.

    ''No. She and Vulcan are on the verge of breaking through and bing Rank 7 beasts. However, the next time Ie down the mountain, I''m taking Rhydian with me!''

    When she returned to the Sect after being teleported away by Number Two from the Crimson yer Sect, she was a bit shocked at the speed at which Rhydian cultivated. Though, she should have expected it. The Qi density around the Battle Maiden Sect was incredibly high, and there were tons of beasts to eat, even around the Outer Court.

    If Rhydian couldn''t reach Peak-Stage Rank 6 in half a year, Mira would be somewhat disappointed.

    Once she breaks through to Rank 7�� Mira couldn''t even guess how powerful Rhydian would be. With her bloodline and strength, she might even be able to take down Rank 8 beasts!

    ''Maybe when I get back, Rhydian will havepleted her breakthrough, and we can dominate the other younger generation disciples together!'' Mira imagined her and Rhydian soaring through the sky, ughtering her way through the Sects, and grew a little excited.

    Within a day, Mira''s group had reached the area of their first target. They stopped about 50 kilometers away so as not to attract the attention of the Mortal Shedding Realm Elder immediately. Although they didn''t know the Elder''s Soul Sensing Range, it shouldn''t reach 50 kilometers.

    Once they found a nice secluded area with natural cover, Mira nced at her teammates and said, "Let''s begin the preparations."

    She took out the [Blood Burst Technique] Manuel and handed it to them.

    "This is a technique I obtained that allows you to increase your strength at the cost of your own blood. However, as long as you don''t use thest stage of the Technique, you won''t face permanent side effects." Mira briefly exined, then left to set down her Late Heaven-Grade Suppression Array.

    The [Blood Burst Technique] is rather simple, so it shouldn''t take them long to learn it. At least, she didn''t believe that the Sect''s top disciples wouldn''t have theprehensive abilities to learn it quickly.

    Nova, Eden, and the others were shocked that Mira just gave away such a precious technique for free!

    "Ummm�� Isn''t this technique too extraordinary to be handed to us for free? From what you described, it''s basically the perfect trump card!" Seraphine asked. She didn''t feel right taking something so precious without giving anything in return, and the others felt the same.

    However, Mira just shook her head and waved her hand in dismissal, "The technique would be useless if we all ended up dead."

    Her meaning with this statement was clear: She wasn''t doing this for them. She was doing it for the mission and to survive.

    There''s no way Mira could do this by herself. She had to rely on them to take on the stronger opponents. If they died because they were too weak, then Mira could kiss her life goodbye as well.

    "...I see. Well, thank you. I''ll be sure to put it to good use." Seraphine said, doing her best to prevent a smile from appearing on her face.

    Meanwhile, Rayna''s eyes shone like stars as she read the manual''s contents! She could already imagine numerous ways to incorporate this technique into her fighting style!

    Maria had already read the manual, so she took this time to set up the things she had prepared for this mission. She set down an Earth-Grade Sound Silencing Array, which could iste the sound around them and prevent it from leaking out into the surroundings.

    She also set up an Earth-Grade Illusion Array. Although the grade for this one was low, she nned on using it in tandem with Mira''s Illusion Tail. She and Mira had tested out the effects over thest month and learned when they used the Illusion Array in conjunction with Mira''s tail, the array''s abilities would significantly increase.

    After Maria finished her preparations, she went a ways away from the other disciples to hide. Suddenly, her presence and aura disappeared as if she was never here, to begin with.

    Since she''d be useless against a Mortal Shedding Realm expert, she might as well hide so as not to be a burden.

    Mira was the same. Once she finished setting up the Suppression Array, she found a nice hiding spot behind arge tree with a direct view of the Spirit Stone Mine. Her presence also melded into her surroundings, but she stayed visible to converse with the rest of her team.

    She then released all the energy from within her Illusion Tail, merged it with the Array, and created an illusion that nobody was in the surrounding area. After many hours of practice, Mira now had no problem using her Illusion Tail, or any of her tails, for that matter.

    After around half an hour of waiting, Nova, Rayna, and the others had finishedprehending the first three stages of the [Blood Burst Technique].

    "Wow! This technique is quite remarkable, no? Each stage gives me effectively boosts my strength by another Minor Realm! How crazy is that?!" Everlymented with wide eyes! Like Nova, she was also at the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. So, if she used the third stage of the technique, she''d have the strength of someone in the 6th Stage!

    How insane was that?!

    "You''re right, but the side effects are just as harsh. I''d be a shriveled corpse after a dozen seconds of using the third stage of this technique!" Nova pouted, but she wasn''t dissatisfied. A dozen seconds was more than enough time to deal with an opponent.

    "Hmph! That''s just because you have a pitiful human bloodline. Maybe if your blood was purer or of higher quality, you couldst longer like me." Eden said, proud of her Elven nature.

    "Tsk." Nova clicked her tongue, but Eden was right. The effects of this technique are dependent on one''s bloodline.

    While a normal human would still be several times stronger after using the Blood Burst Technique, the effects were limited.

    However, the effects on an Elf like Eden, who had a bloodline that granted her longevity and a higher affinity toward nature, were boosted. The side effects were also probably less severe for her as well.

    Listening to them arguing, Mira decided to step in and stop them, "Since you guys are in the mood to bicker, you must be ready to fight, right?"

    They quickly shut up and gave Mira a nod.

    "Alright, then, be prepared, as I''m going to attract the attention of the Mortal Shedding Realm Elder," Mira said while looking off into the distance.

    Nova and the other''s eyes narrowed as the atmosphere became heavy. They''d be lying if they said they weren''t scared, but acting on those emotions would only get them killed in this situation.

    The five of them gathered around in a circle and held hands. Then, they used the 2nd Stage of the Blood Burst Technique, Heart Ignition, and released all the Qi within their bodies and merged it with one another''s.

    Usually, this would be nearly impossible as everybody''s Qi has slightly different properties that don''t blend.

    However, Sect Master Aelina had given them a pretty unique technique a month ago, and now it was time to see it in action!

    Soon, their Qi shifted into the form of a silhouette of a woman carrying arge greatsword, radiating a dreadful yet valiant aura!

    "Do it, Mira!" Nova shouted, to which Mira nodded.

    She gathered all her killing intent into her eyes and shot it straight toward the Spirit Stone Mine!

    ***

    50 Kilometers away from Mira''s position, in arge building on the side of a mountain above a small Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine, a middle-aged looking man was sitting in a lotus position cultivating.

    Suddenly, his eyes shot open as he felt a terrifying killing intent lock onto him, disturbing his cultivation and causing the Qi in his meridians to nearly run amok.

    Fortunately, he reacted in time, and nothing happened, but that could''ve been dangerous.

    "Who is it?! Which bastard dared to disturb me?!" He roared in anger and leaped up from his position.

    He wasn''t the least bit scared by the dense killing intent, but he was extremely annoyed that someone abruptly disrupted his cultivation. One must know that as someone from the Unorthodox Faction, his foundation is already fairly unstable, to begin with. If he''s unexpectedly shaken out of his cultivation, he might experience Qi deviation and face a severe bacsh!

    Hell, he might even go berserk and start killing everything around him!

    So, how could he not be angry?!

    The man turned in the direction he felt the killing intent and soared out of the building!

 Chapter 517 Stealing From The Unorthodox Faction Part 5

    The Unorthodox Faction Elder could sense that the killing intent hade from about 50 kilometers away, which startled him slightly. Although it''s easy for someone at his level to sense or hear things up to a few dozen kilometers away, it''s not so easy for someone to specifically direct their killing intent at a particr area from that far away.

    ''Is someone targeting me to draw me away from the mine?''

    The Elder guessed, but then he sneered.

    ''So what? If they''re trying to lure me out, it means they aren''t strong enough to confront me head-on. If they can''t face me head-on, they must not be at the Mortal Shedding Realm yet.''

    His thought process was a bit simple, but he wasn''t necessarily wrong. He''s only at the 1st Stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm. So, as long as someone was within the Mortal Shedding Realm, theoretically, they should be able to confront him.

    Anyone below that level would be forced to resort to petty tricks.

    Hmph! A punk below the level of an Elder dares to confront me?!'' He snorted, leaped up in the sky, and flew over in the direction from which he sensed the killing intent.

    Within seconds, he crossed 50 kilometers and hovered over the area Mira and the others were hiding.

    ''Oh? A Heaven-Grade Illusion Array? Hah!! Do you seriously think such a low-level array can fool me?!'' The man roared inwardly and waved his hand, dismantling the array.

    Now, he could see five women holding hands, releasing all their Qi to create the giant illusory woman above them. The Elder could feel that the power of the illusory woman with the great sword was at the Peak of the Soul Transformation Realm. Maybe, it even had the power of a Half-Step Mortal Shedding Realm expert.

    He nodded and couldn''t help but praise them for their effort.

    ''If I were in the Soul Transformation Realm, I would''ve been in big trouble, but unfortunately for you, I''m not!'' The man smirked.

    He stared at the five women sweating, trying their best to create the thing above them, and chuckled mirthlessly, oozing bloodlust, "Hehe. Did you girls seriously think such a weak attack would hurt me? Really? You interrupted my cultivation with such a-"

    "NOW!!"

    Suddenly, he heard a sixth woman''s voiceing from somewhere behind the trees and immediately turned his head in her direction.

    However, before he could drag her out of her hiding spot-

    *Vwooom!*

    -he saw a dome appear around him, and then an unknown power invaded his body, bringing his strength down to the Peak of the Soul Transformation Realm!

    "What?!"

    The man sensed that something was wrong, as he failed to notice the Suppression Array.

    ''Where was it?! How did I miss such a thing?!''

    However, he wasn''t too worried since he could feel that the Suppression Array was still within the Heaven Grade.

    But just as he was about to cancel the effects of the array, returning his strength, he felt incredible dangering from the side!

    He turned around and saw a giant illusory greatsword falling from overhead like the sword of Damocles.

    At that moment, he realized he was too careless!

    "NOOOOOOO-!!!!"

    *SWOOSH!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Before he even had time to react, the sword crashed into his body, cleaving him into two pieces and spraying blood everywhere.

    Everything happened so fast that despite being an Elder in the Mortal Shedding Realm, someone praised by the masses for his strength and status, he could not react in time to defend himself. Thus, he died.

    Of course, part of the reason he died so quickly was that he refused to believe that someone below his level could even hurt him.

    Secondly, he could sense the young women''s cultivation, which was only at the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, boosted to the 5th Stage by the Blood Burst Technique. This only reaffirmed his previous belief.

    Lastly, one of the main reasons Mira''s group could take him down so easily was because he decided to talk before killing them.

    There''s also the fact that Mira and the others coordinated their timings perfectly. Mira shouted to divert his attention from Nova and the others, further dying him from removing the effects of the array.

    Then, she activated the Suppression Array, stunning him for a split second, which Nova and the others took advantage of and attacked using their full power, killing him.

    After he died, the illusory woman vanished, and Nova and the others dropped to the ground, panting.

    "Haaa�� Haaa�� Haaa��."

    They had exhausted all their Qi and a ton of blood in that one attack! Looking closely, one could see that their skin had shriveled up a little, and their faces were as pale as a sheet of paper.

    Meanwhile, Mira and Maria popped their heads out of the trees and walked over to them.

    However, before doing that, Mira quickly looted the Elder''s body and ced it in her Storage Space.

    She didn''t want someone to somehow track them down because of something in his Spatial Ring. They''ll distribute the loot once they return to the Sect.

    "Good job, guys! You worked hard!" Maria walked up to Nova and the others with a smile and began healing them, helping them replenish some of their lost blood.

    They gave her a grateful look and a light nod before setting down a Qi Gathering Array and closing their eyes to cultivate and refill their cores.

    They still had a mine to raid, after all!

    An hourter, their eyes opened, and with Maria''s healing, they were now back in peak condition.

    "That was an amazing technique! Was that given to you by the Sect Masterst month?" Maria asked.

    Everly nodded, "That''s right. It''s a technique called the Warrior Maiden Battle Array. It works simrly to an array or formation but uses our bodies and Qi as the medium instead of other objects. As you can see, webine our Qi in such a way that it produces something beyond our capabilities."

    Maria nodded, and Mira, who was listening in, couldn''t help but be interested in this technique.

    ''Wouldn''t something like that be useful for my subordinates to have? They mainly work in groups, so giving them a technique like that would be like giving a tiger wings.'' Mira thought but then shook her head.

    They already have enough on their te as is. Hana and Maria had been putting them through the wringer over thest month.

    "Does it always exhaust all of your Qi after one move?" Maria asked, but Everly shook her head.

    "No. Normally, we canst around a minute in that state, maybe a bit longer, but we can''t afford to hold back against someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm."

    After talking a bit more, they decided it was time to raid this mine and plunder all its loot!

    "Alright! There''s no need for anyplicated strategies or anything like that," Mira pointed at Nova and the others, "You five will focus on killing anyone in the Soul Transformation Realm,"

    Then she pointed at herself and Maria, "Maria and I will focus on killing anyone in the Nascent Soul Realm and below."

    "Maria, you also have another job: to heal us whenever we get injured."

    "That''s about it. Maria and I will infiltrate the mine first and stealthily kill all the weaklings. Afterward, you five will swoop in and finish the job. Once we''re done, we can steal the loot and move on to the next target."

    Although it wasn''t much of a strategy, their main hindrance in this mission was already dead, so now they just had to pick up the scraps.

    They were all supreme geniuses and wouldn''t lose to anyone within the same Realm, especially against Unorthodox Faction members. Thus, there was no need for fancy strategies when they could just brute force their way through, killing everyone.

    Nova and the others didn''t have a problem with this arrangement and agreed to it.

    Now, they could officially begin the raid!

    ***

    After a few minutes, Mira''s group entered within range of the Spirit Stone Mine. On the surface, it wasn''t that big, maybe a kilometer in diameter, but its depth was incredible! In fact, they couldn''t even see how far down it went from where they were standing!

    Mira took out the dagger and Throwing Knives the Sect Master had given her and manifested Qi Threads around each of the Throwing Knives. After practicing her Qi Applications over thest month, she had improved her Qi Maniption to a much higher degree and could now easily control these eight knives from a distance with the Qi Threads.

    Maria took out her sword and stared at Mira, waiting for her signal.

    Mira nced at her teammates, giving them a nod, then made a gesture toward Maria. She nodded back, and the two ran off to begin killing and wreaking havoc in the mine!

 Chapter 518 Stealing From The Unorthodox Faction Part 6

    Over thest month, Mira and Maria were busier than they had ever been before. Not only did they practice the various applications of Qi, Qi Control, and techniques, but they also learned the Hidden World Technique from Hana.

    Thanks to Mira''s enhanced brain functions andprehensive abilities, she didn''t need to sit down and only focus on practicing one thing. She could practice her Qi Applications, Control, Techniques, and Hidden World simultaneously. Though typically, if she wanted to refine her Qi Control, she could only do it in tandem with her Hidden World practice sessions.

    Maria didn''t have the sameprehensive abilities as Mira, but they were slightly enhanced after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.

    Mira mainly used Maria as her punching bag over thest month to test her progress, and because of that, Maria also learned and improved rapidly.

    After a month of hard work, the two sessfully achieved the 4th Stage of the Hidden World Technique, [Deste Earth]. The Realms before this were [Breathless Steps], [Silent Wind], and [Masked Scent].

    Mastering all these stages allowed them to be silent, odorless, traceless, and their bodies wouldn''t affect or create air currents as they ran.

    They effectively became ghosts!

    With Hana helping them almost all day, the two made swift progress but got stuck at the 5th Stage, [Heavenly Connection]. This stage actually involved the use of Qi, unlike the previous four, and since Hana was still a mortal without any cultivation, she couldn''t help them.

    Thus, unless they wanted to waste weeks of their time hoping toprehend the next stages of the Hidden World Technique, they settled with what they had and moved on to something else.

    Mira and Maria silently glided across the ground toward the entrance of the mine without leaving any trails behind. Thetter had her sword out, while the former had 8 Throwing Knives and a dagger.

    Normally, Mira would use a scythe here, but the inside of the mine is too cramped and narrow, not suited well for a scythe.

    Patrolling around the Mine walked a group of three middle-aged men in the 3rd Stage of the Nascent Soul. They were barely paying attention to their surroundings, minding their own business, clearly bored out of their minds.

    "Hey. I snagged a few Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from the mine. Wanna cultivate with them?" One of the men nudged the man next to him.

    The other man shrugged indifferently, "Sure. Why not? It''s not like we''re doing anything."

    "Fuck! I know, right? If only I had an Elder of one of the Sects backing me, I wouldn''t be stuck doing this shitty job!" The man spat, and the others just rolled their eyes at him.

    They all knew that was a dirty lie. He was just a talentless coward that had nowhere left to go. They all were. That''s why they''re stuck here!

    "Alright. Go get Ben to cover for us so that Elder bastard doesn''te and chop us up!" One of them said, and the man next to him nodded and then ran off.

    However, before he could take more than a few steps-

    *Shing!*

    -for some reason, his perception warped, and the world turned upside down.

    ''What?''

    He tried to speak, but no words came out, and then he saw something that scared the living hell out of him.

    *Thump!*

    A headless body hit the ground with blood spurting out of its neck came into his view, and he couldn''t help but think, ''Is that my body?'' before he lost consciousness and died.

    His two buddies had their backs facing him, but when they heard the noise, they turned around, and their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

    A busty blonde woman in gold armor with a sword stood over their friend''s headless corpse!

    "What?!"

    "When the fuck did she get there?!"

    As the two pulled out their weapons, eight daggers flew in from the side, puncturing their temples, forehead, and heart. Their expressions were stillden with surprise and disbelief as blood gushed out of their bodies.

    The two dropped to the ground without even knowing how they died.

    Mira then materialized right above them, collected their belongings, and looked over at Maria.

    The two of them nodded at each other and disappeared from their positions, running off to kill more guards.

    ***

    On the other side, Nova and the others dealt with the few Soul Transformation Realm guards, who were a bit differentpared to those at the Nascent Soul Realm.

    On the Western Continent, with the Divine Sea Realm being the peak, a Realm which only a few dozen people at most have stepped foot into, finding people in the Soul Transformation is quite rare.

    Although they aren''t as rare as those in the Mortal Shedding Realm, as there are probably less than 1,000 humanoids who have reached that Realm on the Western Continent, it is considerably hard to find those with enough talent to be a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator.

    If someone''s in that Realm, there will between a vast difference in treatment between them and everyone below them.

    And that''s exactly the case here at the mine.

    While the Nascent Soul Realm peons had to sit around and guard all day, the Soul Transformation Realm people were given a constant stream of Spirit Stones, a nice ce to cultivate, paid with pills, equipment, and other items, and had veryx working hours.

    Most of these benefits are given because they''re disciples of the Top Unorthodox Sects. Just by being around the mine and releasing a bit of their aura, they can deter most people or beasts from entering.

    At a distance, Eden sat on a tree with a bow and arrow and locked in on the position of one of the Soul Transformation Realm disciples.

    She encased the string of her bow and the arrow with Qi, locked onto the guy''s head, then released!

    *Swoosh!*

    The young man cultivating right outside the mine suddenly opened his eyes, feeling something was wrong!

    Qi burst out of his body, surrounding his vitals. He then tried to dodge out of the way, but before he could do that-

    *Pop!*

    *FWOOSH!*

    -a stream of Wind Qi exploded out behind the arrow, like a second thruster on a rocket, increasing its speed and prative force.

    "WHO-?!"

    *Puchi!*

    The man felt imminent danger and tried to block it, but the arrow had already entered his skull, killing him on the spot.

    Eden nodded her head, stored her bow and arrows, pulled out a short one-handed mace, and made her way toward the mine''s entrance.

    "The others should be finished by now as well."

    ***

    Eden was right as Everly and Rayna were finishing up. Nova and Seraphine decided to sit this one out as they simply made too much noise.

    Nova only knows how to blow shit up, and Seraphine isn''t exactly someone meant for these kinds of stealthy missions. Her fighting style is a bit�� unique in the cultivation world. Maybe even equally as rare as Mira!

    Rayna was the only real assassin in the group, and it showed. Her presence thinned so much that even if someone stood right in front of her, they might not notice her. This kind of situation was like her yground.

    She''d disappear from one spot, then suddenly appear in another right behind her target. Then, she''d disappear again, leaving behind a headless corpse.

    From start to finish, they never even knew someone was there. They just died. However, the peculiar part about Rayna''s kills was that all the cuts were so clean that it was as if they were surgically removed.

    ***

    On the other hand, Everly was more normal. Although she wasn''t as stealthy as Rayna, she had an affinity for Fire and Lightning thanks to her Heavenly Thunderfire Physique, giving her incredible power and speed.

    She used that to her advantage to cut her enemies down with her saber in the shortest possible time.

    With a burst of lightning, she''de crashing into her opponent and chop them in half before they could even react.

    In just a few minutes, Mira''s group entirely cleaned up the outside of the mine, killing all the guards so silently that not a single person inside heard them.

    ***

    Inside the mine, Mira, Maria, and the others met up with one another to make sure they killed everyone, not leaving a single person behind.

    "Well, that was easy," Everly said, and the others nodded, but a few weren''t happy, mainly Seraphine and Nova.

    "Hmph! I didn''t even get to do anything," Seraphine pouted.

    "That''s because you''re too rambunctious, Sera. Everything''s going smoothly so far. We don''t need you messing everything up. You''ll be much more useful when shit hits the fan, so don''t worry. You''ll have your time to shine," Eden said, trying to cheer her up a bit.

    Seraphine''s eyes glittered, and she nodded excitedly, "Mhm! I''m looking forward to it!"

    Mira interrupted them, "Alright, that''s enough chit-chat. Let''s finish up this mine so we can move on to the next."

    Mira turned around to descend into the mine but then stopped halfway and looked over her shoulder, her eyes glowing.

    "Oh, and remember�� No survivors."

 Chapter 519 Stealing From The Unorthodox Faction Part 7

    In most Spirit Stone mines, regardless of the faction or affiliation, the ones doing the actual mining are nothing more than glorified ves. They do hard, back-breaking work and get paid ''peanuts'' for it. Sometimes, they don''t even get paid.

    For example, in the mine Mira''s group is raiding, the actual miners are those in the Foundation Realm or below with their cultivation sealed. They didn''t wish for this job. They were taken from their homes and forced into this situation because they were weak.

    To make matters worse, if they dared to resist, death would be preferable. Unlike those from the Orthodox Faction, who would, at worst, just kill them for disobedience, the Unorthodox Faction is much more devious.

    The punishments they receive include but are not limited to torture, r*ping their wives or children in front of them, torturing their loved ones, crippling their cultivation, etc.

    Therefore, nobody ever thought about resisting and could only put their heads down and ve away, hoping.

    Hoping one day, someone woulde and set them free.

    *Shing!*

    *Spurt!*

    Mira''s dagger severed a weak old man''s throat, threw his dead body to the side, and moved on to the next person, her eyes still as ake. She knew she had just potentially killed an innocent man, but from her indifferent eyes, one could see that she didn''t care.

    Leaving that old man alive was a potential risk to the mission and their lives. If she needed to kill people who have been treated like dogs and would die sooner orter all in order to survive, she''d do so without hesitation!

    Nova, Eden, and the others all felt chills run down their spines, seeing Mira dropping bodies like cattle entering a ughterhouse.

    Even Rayna and Maria weren''t entirely numb for this scene.

    She was killing innocent people who were no different than mortals! As warriors part of the Orthodox Faction, they felt�� wrong looking at this scene.

    Seeing that they were standing around doing nothing, Mira nced over her shoulder and said, "What are you standing around for? We have a mine to take over!"

    "...Why?"

    Mira stopped and turned around to look at Nova with a raised eyebrow, "Why what?"

    "Why? Why are you killing them? These people are clearly innocent!!" Nova shouted, and the others around her nodded in agreement.

    They all had lines they wouldn''t cross, and killing innocent mortals was one of them!

    Instead of answering them, Mira motioned with her head to follow her.

    Soon, they appeared behind a middle-aged man and a young man, probably under 18. Their eyes were unfocused, dull, and lifeless. Their bodies had all kinds of scars, ranging from sword shes to whips to burn marks.

    They lifted their pickaxes as if they were robots and struck the Spirit Stones with such little force that they didn''t even make a crack.

    Mira appeared in front of the middle-aged man, whose face paled and eyes opened wide upon seeing her.

    He shakily pointed his finger at her and muttered, "Y-You�� W-what�� N-no�� How did you get�� here?"

    Mira ignored his question and took out a dagger from her storage space.

    "If you kill that young man, you can leave this ce. Nobody will hunt you down. Nobody will chase you. You''ll be free."

    "Freedom��!" The man''s eyes regained a bit of rity at the word, and he entered a state of deep contemtion.

    However, Mira wasn''t about to sit here all day, waiting for his dumbass toe up with an answer, "You have three seconds to decide. If not, I''ll give the same offer to the young man."

    Suddenly, the young man''s eyes lit up, and he stared at the middle-aged man hungrily as if he wanted to tear him apart.

    Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man''s expression firmed, and he nced at the knife. Hesitantly, he reached his hand out and grabbed it, then stared at the young man and muttered, "I-I''m�� I''m sorry. P-Please, forgive me-!"

    "NO-!" The young man screamed, but it was already toote.

    The middle-aged man had already stuck a dagger through his heart, killing the young man instantly.

    Mira formed a Qi de around her hand and sliced at the middle-aged man''s neck, severing his head.

    Nova, Eden, and the others had their mouths wide open with horrified expressions, but Mira just shrugged.

    ? "Those two probably worked together for years, going through all kinds of hardships with one another. I''d even bet that they probably thought of each other as family. Yet, their hearts changed with just a few words."

    Mira began walking away and left them with a few more words of wisdoming from someone who had seen the dark side of life, "Right and wrong. Innocent and guilty. None of that exists. There is only life and death. Kill or be killed. That guy wanted to live, and in order to do so, he had to kill the youngster. His natural instincts kicked in, and he chose to live. At our core, humans are no different from beasts. Now, stop being sheep and get to killing!"

    The others stood there rooted on the spot, dazed by what Mira had just said. It was from this moment that they began to understand what kind of person Mira was.

    ***

    Despite their attitude toward Mira''s actions, they still did as she said. They were forced to by their circumstances. At least, that''s what they chose to believe.

    If one of those ''ves'' were to get out and someone from the Unorthodox Faction were to capture them, they''d be able to extract information about them. It didn''t need to be said just how bad that could be for Mira and their group.

    After that, it didn''t take long for Nova and the others to kill and conquer the mine. There weren''t many more guards in the Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation Realm after they killed all the ones outside. And since the Elder was dead, nothing was stopping them from taking over the ce.

    In under a day, Mira''s group had the whole ce under theirplete control. They then proceeded to loot the ce dry. Hell, they even mined the Spirit Stones from the wall as well.

    The Sect Master had given Maria a device simr to a jackhammer, except much more powerful.

    When the jackhammer struck the cave walls, it would create a spider web of cracks, and after a few hits, the entire wall would burst apart, allowing one to pick up the Spirit Stones easily.

    In under two days, they could conquer the entire mine and loot 80% of the Spirit Stones still in it.

    Of course, this was only possible because the mine was incredibly small, but it would''ve taken them weeks or even months of effort if they had to sit there and individually mine each stone.

    Still, such an achievement wasmendable, especially since they were able to take down an Elder!

    Unfortunately, they couldn''t take all 100% as they needed to leave to move on to the next ce before someone caught onto their trail.

    ***

    Somewhere in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, arge, muscr, burly man was rxing under the sun with a slight smile on his face.

    However, his rxation was disturbed when he sensed someone flying toward him.

    "Faction Head! It''s an emergency! Elder Dan''s Life Tablet, the one guarding one of our newly discovered Spirit Stone Mine, broke!" Anky man with thin eyebrows descended before the muscr man, otherwise known as Faction Head, and bowed.

    "Oh? When did he die?" The Faction Head asked lightly, not the least bit bothered by this information. He didn''t care much for both the mine or the Elder, though he felt it was a pity that Elder Dan was dead, as he was in the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    "I-It seems he died a few days ago."

    "..."

    The Faction Head stared at the man before him with creased eyebrows, and a formless pressure began to exude out of his body. The man couldn''t help but tremble, and ayer of cold sweat formed over his body.

    "Was nobody watching the life tablets? Why did we get the information sote?"

    "I-It seems like the guards had too much to drink and weren''t in the right mind while they were on duty."

    *Crack!*

    The Faction Head mmed his fists, cracking the mountain he stood on!

    "Imbeciles! What if someone that actually mattered died, and we only knew about it two days after?! No! Those guards can''t be allowed to live! Go! Kill them right now!" The muscr man roared.

    Thenky man trembled, but somehow he still managed to eke out, "I-I''ve already taken care of it, Faction Head."

    Suddenly, the intense pressure coving the mountain disappeared, and the Faction Head beganughing.

    "Hahaha! What a good assistant you are! You already know what I want before I even ask!"

    The Faction Head then waved, "Alright, that''s enough talk about this nonsense. Just dispatch another Elder to go check out the situation."

    Thenky man smiled bitterly and wanted to say something else, but since the Faction Head had spoken, who was he to disagree?

    "Yes, Faction Head."

 Chapter 520 Wait

    In the skies above the Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine that Mira''s group had just plundered, a middle-aged man with bushy eyebrows and a square face appeared. His expression became solemn as he noticed headless corpses littered about on the ground.

    Most of the faces on the heads showed neutral expressions, indicating that they died without even knowing how.

    "Whoever did this was quick, efficient, and skilled enough to kill almost all the disciples without alerting them. It seems they came here knowing everything about the mine, how many people were here, and even their strength."

    He muttered before looking in the distance, sensing the corpse of Elder Dan, the person in charge of the mine.

    The man stepped and soon appeared right above the dissected, shriveled corpse. He furrowed his brows, but no hint of remorse could be seen in his eyes.

    He looked around and quickly noticed that the culprits seemed to have used multiple arrays. However, something was missing.

    "Why was Elder Dan all the way over here, and how did he die?"

    The distance between here and the mine was about 50 kilometers. Why was Elder Dan over here instead of guarding the mine?

    "There weren''t any signs of battle anywhere but this location. Meaning, something or someone had drawn him out all the way over here and then fought."

    He also noticed that Elder Dan didn''t even have a chance to fight back and was insta-killed as there was only one sword mark. Still, he couldn''t deduct the cultivation of the attackers.

    ***

    Mira''s group quickly bulldozed through the other mines, which were simr in size and manpower, and used the same tactics as the first one.

    As the saying goes, "If it ain''t broke, don''t fix it."

    There''s no need to change their strategy if it works. In fact, even if they wanted, they probably couldn''t develop a better n. Perhaps they could be more efficient when they actually raid the mine, but that''s it.

    Those from the Unorthodox Faction don''t exactly have the highest IQs, and with how insane Mira''s killing intent is, it''s basically impossible for the Mortal Shedding Realm Elders not to be startled.

    Right now, Mira''s group was moving through the mountains to thest Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, but suddenly, they were struck with a bad premonition.

    "Huh? Is it just me, or do you guys also feel like we''re about to walk into a tiger''s den?" Nova asked with a tight frown. As a high-level cultivator who has been through countless battles, her instincts have reached a supernatural level. Right now, she couldn''t help but feel something was�� off.

    Rayna nodded and muttered a single word, "...Quiet."

    "Hmmm? I guess you''re right, Rayna. Things have been a bit quiet, haven''t they?" Seraphine said as she looked around. Over thest day or so, the mountains have been quiet, as if something big was happening.

    Mira nodded, "I feel it too. If I''m not wrong, the Unorthodox Faction has probably realized what we''re doing and sent reinforcements."

    "Then, what should we do?" Maria asked, worried they''d get caught in something they couldn''t handle.

    "..."

    A heavy silence descended upon them. Their brows creased as they went deep into thought.

    After a few moments, Mira spoke up, "If we assume that the Unorthodox Faction knows about us, I only see four options. One, we continue with the n. Two, we find a different target, one that is a bit bigger and has more personnel. Three, we wait it out and try againter. Or four, we quit the mission and return to the Sect."

    Each option had its pros and cons, some more than others, but they were all reasonable and should be carefully considered.

    However, naturally, Nova and the others didn''t want to quit the mission, especially not since they still had three weeks left!

    "...I think we should wait for a while. Who knows? After a week or two, they might just think that we stopped at four mines." Everly said.

    "I agree."

    "Yeah, me too."

    "Same."

    Nova and the others agreed with Everly on this since they felt like if they were to continue the mission right now, they''d definitely die!

    Hearing this, Mira sighed, "Fine, but before we do that, let''s at least go to the nearest city and obtain some information. For all we know, the Unorthodox Faction hasn''t caught on to us yet, and we''re just overthinking things."

    The others nodded along with Mira, as what she said was reasonable.

    They all looked at Rayna, who pulled out her map, then ran off in a slightly different direction. Mira and the rest followed immediately after.

    ***

    Not far away from Mira''s position was a small city with only a few tens of thousands of people called Sunfield City.

    There wasn''t much to this ce other than that it''s mostly an agricultural town that''s not involved in the world of cultivators. Although many of them still had some form of cultivation, they didn''t make it past the 2nd Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

    It''s along the outskirts of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range in an area with less Qi and very few beasts.

    However, because of this, the City was a great ce to acquire information. Whatrge Sect or Faction would care about some bumpkin vige filled with weaklings?

    Mira''s group walked into town, strolling through the streets, listening in on the recent gossip. Mira had cast an illusion around herself to hide her tails, face, and ears as she didn''t want to attract too much attention.

    "Did you hear? Those bastards from the Blood Devil Sect seem to have gotten restless. I''ve seen numerous of them flying around the mountains!"

    "Really? I also heard from a buddy of mine that the Unorthodox Faction has been piging more towns and viges, capturing the people and putting them in the mines."

    "Sigh! When are those assholes from the Orthodox Faction going to deal with those bastards?! Don''t they care about themon folk?"

    Ruddy, you''re too naive! The only reason they''re called the Orthodox Faction is because they practice techniques that don''t rely on the suffering of others. I bet most of them barely know we exist; if they do, they probably couldn''t care less!"

    "But still��! How can they just sit by as those demons kill and ughter people for their own benefit?!"

    Nova, Eden, and Seraphine had awkward looks on their faces as they didn''t realize that the masses thought so low of them, but on second thought, it was understandable.

    While they didn''t know much about the other Sects, the Battle Maiden Sect has never proimed itself to be a harbinger of justice. It was and always will be a safe haven for women to focus solely on bing stronger rather than having men approach them either for romance or nefarious reasons.

    Still, they didn''t feel good knowing that themon folk only thought of them better than the Unorthodox Faction because they did nothing instead of piging and enving them.

    Mira, on the other hand, didn''t give a damn what their opinions were and said, "It seems something is going on with the Unorthodox Faction. Although we can''t be 100% that they''ve caught onto us and are acting ordingly, I think it''s safe to assume they do."

    Nova and the others pushed all unnecessary thoughts out of their head and nodded with serious expressions.

    "There''s no need to go and check. Even if they don''t know or care about us, it''s safer to wait things out. We don''t know who or what we might encounter, after all," Nova said.

    Seraphine smiled and giggled, "Then, it''s settled! Now, let''s go find an inn to stay at!"

    As they were walking, a young man with a greatsword on his back and a beautiful woman walked into town.

    Mira''s ears twitched as she listened in on their conversation.

    "Master, why did you bring us to this backwater town? I don''t sense anyone above the Core Formation Realm here! Didn''t you want me to conquer the world?"

    "Hmph! How can you conquer the world if you don''t even know of its inhabitants? What we''re doing right now is broadening your horizons!"

    "...Broadening my horizons? Are you sure it''s not just because we, no, you angered too many people, and now we have to hide in this shithole?"

    "Cough! Cough!"

    *Smack!*

    "Ugh! You know it''s true, so why''d you hit me?"

    "Tsk! You''re so tactless, Little Ryuu! It''s no wonder you''re still a virgin even after dominating countless women and making them wet with your massive sword!"

    "...Master, please don''t say things that could be easily misunderstood."

    "Haaa�� I guess I should''ve picked a better City to hide-ahem-travel to. This ce is filled with nothing but 4''s and 5''s! Totally unworthy of my Little Ryuu''s divine sword!"

    ".........Please stop, Master. Everybody''s looking at us."

    "Hmph! I''m just speaking the truth! If the women here were prettier, maybe this would be the ce you be a man-Oh? Wait. What do we have here?"

    Suddenly, a chill ran down Mira''s spine as she felt a terrifying gaze lock onto her.

    She could instantly tell that the person looking at her was strong. Very strong.

 Chapter 521 Whos Tricking Who?

    "Hey, Little Ryuu! Look, over there are seven beautiful flowers just waiting for you to pluck them!!" Master Izaria giggled while pointing at Mira''s group.

    Ryuu instinctively turned his head but froze as soon as his gaze grazed upon Mira, specifically her backside!

    ''A fox woman!'' He internally screamed, and an unknown emotion rose in his chest.

    ''I want to fluff those tails!''

    As if Mira''s illusion meant nothing to him, he stared at her with a stare so intense that it seemed to burn a hole through her body. Unknowingly, his cheeks gained a slightly pink hue to them.

    *Smack!*

    "Ouch!"

    "Tch! If you really want to prate her, do it with your body, not your eyes!" Master Izaira scolded before turning back to Mira''s group and waving at them, "Hey, beauties! Come here! My disciple has taken an interest in you!"

    Mira''s group paused as they could all feel a faint pressure exuding out of the woman, bearing down on their souls!

    ''An expert!'' They screamed and cursed in their hearts. They couldn''t help butment their bad luck at meeting such a powerhouse in the middle of nowhere!

    Mira saw that Ryuu was staring directly at her tails and sighed inwardly, but outwardly, her expression remained calm, without any fluctuation.

    ''It seems my illusions are useless on him, but�� why does his gaze feel a bit weird?'' A slight frown formed on her face as she detected a hint of infatuation in Ryuu''s eyes.

    ''Fuck! Don''t tell me tails are this guy''s kink?!'' Mira cursed.

    Maria also frowned, seeing Ryuu looking at Mira so intently, and whether consciously or unconsciously, she reached out and grabbed Mira''s hand as if to tell him she was already taken!

    "We''re a bit busy right now, Senior. So, we''re unable to spend time with your disciple. I apologize for the inconvenience," Nova tactfully declined Master Izaria''s sudden demand as her instincts told her nothing good woulde from hanging out with this woman.

    "Hmph! Who''s a senior?! I''m as old as you are!" Master Izaria pouted, leaving not only Nova, Eden, and Seraphine speechless but Ryuu as well.

    "Master, it''s not good to lie! Didn''t you tell me you were over 1,000 years old when we first met?"

    *Smack!*

    "Stupid disciple! I thought I taught you that a man should never reveal a woman''s age!"

    Ryuu rubbed the back of his head and said with a sullen expression, "You also taught me not to lie to beautiful women and to live my life as an honest man!"

    Now it was Master Izaria''s turn to be speechless, and she couldn''t refute his ims as she had indeed said that.

    "...Hmph! Age is just a number. In my heart, I''m just as young as those girls!" She pointed at Mira''s group, or at least where they were supposed to be, but it seemed that they had scurried off sometime during her bickering with Ryuu.

    ".....Wow. What great advice you give��. Master. It was so good that you scared them all off." Ryuu said emotionlessly with a nk expression. He didn''t even get a chance to talk to them, much less stroke those marvelous tails.

    Master Izaria sighed, "Little Ryuu, why are you simping so hard for that fox woman? Don''t tell me you''re really into beastiality?!"

    Ryuu,s expression became awkward, but then he remembered something, "Master, that woman wasn''t a beast. She clearly followed the humanoid cultivation System as I felt the aura of the Core Formation Realm around her."

    "Oh? Now that you mention it, I also noticed such a peculiarity. However, how can she have nine-tails? Is she rted to that bitch from the Fox n?" Master Izaria''s eyes narrowed dangerously as she felt that the situation had just be many times moreplicated.

    Naturally, as someone who has lived for many years, she knew more things about the world than Ryuu did. And while she didn''t fear the Fox n, she understood that her life would be very annoying if she harmed someone from their race. Especially someone who had nine-tails.

    "What are you mumbling about, Master?"

    "Ah?! Nothing!" Master Izaria shook her head, then grabbed Ryuu, "C''mon! Let''s go catch up to those girls!"

    The two of them disappeared and reappeared right before Mira''s group.

    "Oh? Would ya look at that? To think we''d bump into you beautiful youngdies again in thisrge city? Hehehe~ The world sure is small, isn''t it?" Master Izaria chuckled, and Mira''s group was once again stunned by her shamelessness.

    "Senior, we really are busy and don''t have any time to y around with your disciple. It may be presumptuous of me, but I hope someone as magnanimous, young, and beautiful as you can let us go about our business." Seraphine cupped her fists and said politely.

    "Oh? Finally! Someone other than me understands my greatness! Hahaha~"

    "Actually, Senior Sister, as the sea of people pushed us further away from you two, we talked it out and agreed that it''d be fine to hang out with such a beautiful fairy," Maria suddenly chimed in, iming everyone''s attention.

    ''Eh? Sea of people?'' Ryuu looked around, and his eyes twitched.

    ''...''

    There was literally nobody except for them and a few others walking around.

    ''S-Senior Sister?'' Master Izaria stammered, not expecting a junior to brazenly call her such an ''intimate'' term!

    Meanwhile, Mira and the others stared at Maria, coldness filling their eyes as they felt betrayed.

    However, Maria just smiled and gave them a nod, which seemed to say, "Trust me. I got this!"

    Though they were skeptical, it seemed like Maria had a n, which was more than what they had.

    Suddenly, Maria''s expression became depressed as she stared at Master Izaria pitifully, "However, now''s really not a good time, Senior Sister, as we are on a tight schedule toplete our mission!!"

    "Oh? What''s your mission? No, before that, which Sect are you guys from?" Master Izaria''s interest was piqued.

    "We''re from Big Sister Aelina''s Sect! She gave us a mission to raid at least one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone mine funder, but we only have three weeks left until the deadline is up, and we still haven''t met our quota. What are we supposed to do?! Wuwuwuw~ I don''t want to disappoint Big Sister Aelina!" ''Tears'' streamed down Maria''s face as she cried.

    Mira, Nova, and the others had to admit that Maria''s acting skills were award-winning. Even Mira, who knew that Maria was lying, would have a hard time seeing through her act as she technically had said anything that was a lie.

    However, Izaria''s mind was elsewhere at the moment, ''Aelina? Is she talking about that Aelina? The Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect? But then, why is this little girl calling her Big Sister? Are the two of them that close?''

    A hint ofpetitiveness arose in Izaria''s heart, but then she suddenly frowned.

    ''Wait! Did she just say their mission was to raid Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines? With their cultivation? That''s no different than a death sentence! How cruel!! But that''s Aelina''s style, alright. Mean to the extreme.''

    Master Izaria snorted coldly and said, "Hmph! Don''t worry, Junior Sister! It''s just a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine. I''ll just go steal one from one of those Unorthodox Faction bastards. Then, we can go back to the Battle Maiden Sect and shove the results in that stupid Sect Master''s face! I''d love to see her face when she finds out you guys actually conquered one! Hahaha~!"

    Maria''s eyes lit up, and she grabbed Izaria''s hands with misty eyes, "R-Really?! You would do so much for us even though we just met? Thank you, Senior Sister! You''re the best!"

    Master Izaria puffed out her chest and stuck out her nose, "Hahaha! Of course, I''m the best! I''m much better than that stupid Aelina! In fact, you should stop calling her Big Sister, as well. That person is too nasty. How could someone you thought of as a Big Sister dare to send you to your death with this mission?! She clearly doesn''t care about you!"

    Maria frowned and pretended to ponder over her words before reluctantly nodding, "W-What you said makes sense, Senior Sister, b-but I believe Big Sister Aelina just wanted me to improve. I believe she still had my best interest at heart!" Maria said sincerely.

    Master Izaria sighed and shook her head, " You''re still so naive, Junior Sister, but that''s okay! I''ll protect that innocence of yours!" She gave Maria a few pats on the head and then said, "Now, let''s go capture one of those mines!"

    Afterward, she walked over to Ryuu and whispered into his ear, "Alright! I''ve set the stage, Little Ryuu! This will be your time to show off in front of that fox woman. All women love strong me. I''m sure she''ll fall in love with you after she sees howrge and majestic your sword is! Maybe she''ll even let you pet one of her tails after this is all over."

    Ryuu''s eyes sparkled, and he gave his Master a firm nod.

    Master Izaria chuckled, wrapped them all in her Qi, and they disappeared.

    If Maria were to have heard her, she would''ve immediately begun wondering who was tricking who.

 Chapter 522 Ryuus Strength

    A few minutester, Master Izaria, Ryuu, and Mira''s group appeared above a medium-sized Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine owned by the Unorthodox Faction.

    Master Izaria sensed two powerful auras in arge mansion 250 meters away from the mine and smirked.

    A swirling ck vortex, which looked oddly simr to a ck hole, appeared in her hand, and with a smile, she flicked it at the building.

    "Go and bring those two idiots out of their shells, Little Glutton!" Master Izaria said lightly, but Mira and the others felt an inexplicable chill run down their spines seeing that little vortex.

    "..."

    For a moment, everything was quiet until the ck vortex made contact with the building.

    *FOOOOOOOOOSH!!*

    The ck vortex expanded almost as if it was alive, and thick tentacles protruded out the sides, scooping in everything in the vicinity.

    It immediately consumed the building and everybody below the Soul Transformation Realm. The vortex wanted to eat more, but soon a giant ck illusory hand appeared in the sky and crashed into it, preventing it from doing any more damage.

    "DAMMIT! WHO IS IT?! WHO DARES TO INVADE OUR TERRITORY?! SHOW YOURSELVES!!"

    A gruff, angry voice resounded throughout the area, followed by two middle-aged men appearing in the sky.

    They looked up and saw eight beautiful women huddled around a tall, handsome young man with a great sword on his back, and their eyes twitched.

    ''That bastard! How dare he try and show off here!''

    They clenched their fists and stared at Ryuu with even more anger and rage than they were already feeling.

    Facing their anger, Ryuu opened his mouth but didn''t know what to say.

    ''What? Why are you mad at me? I didn''t do anything!!'' He stared at his Master resentfully and felt even worse seeing her suppress the urge to giggle.

    "Did cultivating those nasty techniques not only make you senile but also impotent? Is that why you''re intently staring at my Little Ryuu''s divine sword? Hmph! There''s no need to be jealous. Even if you two could get it up, you still couldn''tpete with him! As the saying goes, the young will always surpass the old," Master Izaria said with disdain written all over her face.

    She looked at the two men as if she was looking at two turds on a sidewalk.

    "This bitch��!"

    "I-I''ll kill you!"

    The two men''s eyes went bloodshot, and they ground their teeth in anger. Their eyes alternated between Master Izaria and Ryuu but soon stopped on Ryuu. The two of them shed from their positions and immediately appeared in front of him.

    "Die!!!"

    Master Izaria grabbed Mira''s group with her Qi and teleported away, leaving Ryuu a few forting'' words.

    "Have fun!"

    Ryuu''s eyes twitched, and a trace of anger sprouted in his heart.

    ''One day. One day I''ll teach you a lesson, Master, for always causing trouble for me.''

    However, that''d have to wait as he has two Mortal Shedding Realm experts trying to kill him.

    Ryuu reached over his shoulder, pulled out his massive greatsword, and swung it like a baseball bat at his attackers!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!*

    Ryuu shot to the ground like aet, but he quickly got up, wiped the blood away from his mouth, and readied his sword.

    He didn''t hold back when against these two Elders and unleashed his full cultivation base, causing Mira and the others to gawk at him!

    "..."

    "WHAT?!

    "He''s only at the 9th Stage of the Core Formation Realm?! How is that possible?!"

    "How could he take a hit from those two Elders head-on and be fine?!"

    Even Mira and Rayna could hardly believe what they were seeing. They stared at Master Izaria as if asking for an answer.

    "Hehehe~ Well? Isn''t my disciple the greatest?" She puffed out her breasts and stuck out her nose in pride, but nobody said anything and just kept staring at her. What he was doing made no sense and defied the norms of cultivation.

    Being stared at so intently, Master Izaria rubbed the back of her head ufortably, "Ahahaha~ Little Ryuu is special. Not only does he have a Divine Physique, the Divine Sword Physique, but he also has a unique soul that I termed The Supreme Sword Soul. Both of these give him monstrous strength and unparalleledprehension when ites to anything sword rted. Right now, he''s not actually fighting them with his cultivation, but instead, the 3rd Realm of Weapon Endowment, [Ruler], or to be more precise, he''s a Half-Step Ruler."

    Mira, Maria, Nova, and the rest stared at Master Izaria with nk expressions, hardly believing what she said.

    Divine Physique? Supreme Sword Soul? Half-Step Ruler?!

    Fuck! Isn''t this man basically invincible among the younger generation?! Why was such a person wandering in the middle of nowhere?!

    Master Izaria chuckled at their expression and said, "I know what you''re thinking, and no, Ryuu is not invincible. Maybe on this Continent he is, and even on the Central Continent, he''d be a genius, but he can still lose if he''s not careful. After all, his cultivation is quite low."

    Then, she turned and stared at Mira with eyes that wanted to look into her very soul. Ever since they met, Master Izaria felt that this girl was unique, maybe evenparable to Ryuu, but she didn''t know why. Even with her power and senses, she couldn''t see through her!

    So, she decided to take a little peek. However, she frowned when she couldn''t see anything, but she didn''t want to give up.

    So, she shamelessly activated an ocr technique that would allow her to see through most things in this world, but just as she was about to see what was underneath the fog, a low snort entered her mind.

    "Hmph!"

    Whoever ''hmphed'' instantly destroyed her technique, and pain flooded her senses soon after.

    Blood threatened to drip from her eyes, but she held it in to avoid getting caught.

    Mira stared at Master Izaria with a deep frown on her face, knowing full well that this woman had just tried to dig into her secrets.

    "I''ll remember this," Mira said in a neutral voice, devoid of any emotion, then turned back to watching Ryuu''s fight. She didn''t want this annoying woman to know what she was thinking.

    Master Izaria smiled bitterly, feeling like she had just made an enemy out of someone who might be incredibly powerful for no reason.

    ''Whatever. I''ll let future me handle that problem!''

    Master Izaria didn''t say anything back and returned to watching Ryuu''s fight! There was nothing to say, after all. She was not thick-skinned enough to y dumb, nor did she think that would be effective.

    Back to the fight, it had only been less than a minute since it started, but Ryuu already had numerous broken bones, gashes, and fractures. While the Elders only had a few cuts and bruises, that was more than enough to shock them.

    Their narrowed eyes hardened, and a fierce glint shone in their eyes.

    ''We have to kill this brat now before he grows up!''

    Not willing to entertain this farce anymore, the two of them utilized their full power! Around one Elder, a river of blood flowed around him in a cyclical motion. Meanwhile, the other Elder''s skin turned red, two horns protruded out of his head, and he grew a foot taller.

    "Brat! Since you dared to appear in front of us today, don''t even think about leaving!" The Devil-like Elder said before pouncing at him, while the other one flicked his finger, sending numerous red spikes out of the blood river.

    Ryuu''s expression grew solemn, but he still had one more trick up his sleeve.

    *VWOOOOOM*

    Golden threads appeared out the tip of his great sword, iling wildly. Although these threads looked normal, if one were to look close enough, they''d be able to see that the threads are actually made up of countless tiny swords!

    Ryuu dropped his sword, but it didn''t fall and instead floated next to him. With a wave of his hand, he sent the greatsword at the two Elders.

    *BOOOM*

    The greatsword broke the sound barrier as it hurled at them, and the Elders'' expressions changed as they actually sensed danger from it.

    However, they sneered in their minds at the thought of a Core Formation Realm brat actually injuring them and continued with what they were doing, which was attacking Ryuu.

    Ryuu shook his head at their behavior and closed his eyes, ''Why do they always underestimate me?''

    ''Haa�� That was exhausting. I leave the rest to you, Master.''

    When the greatsword reached the two Elders, the golden threads on the tip suddenly expanded, engulfing them both like a fish in a.

    "What?!"

    "It can do that?!"

    Suddenly, after the threads captured them, they began shrinking. The two elders used their Qi to try and cut one of them open, but-

    "Huh?! These threads can actually withstand my attacks?"

    -their attacks seemed to do no damage to the threads!

    Before they knew it, the had already shrunk to a size where they couldn''t move their arms freely.

    *Tssss*

    "Ack!" One of the elders hissed in pain as he identally touched a golden thread. His arm had a deep gash on it that went all the way to the bone, causing his eyes to widen.

    "Don''t touch the thread! I don''t know what that boy did, but it can actually hurt us!"

    The other Elder snapped back at him, "I know! Can''t you see the deep gash on my leg!"

    "Then, how do we get out of here?!"

    "I''ll attack. You defend!"

    The Devil-transformation Elder nodded and used his Qi to defend them. Meanwhile, the other Elder wrapped his blood river around the golden threads and pulled, creating a few chinks in the armor.

    "I got it! Just hold on a few more seconds, and we''ll be out of here!"

    However, the didn''t stop closing, and soon, they couldn''t even move their bodies.

    *Tsss*

    *Tsss*

    *Tsss*

    *Tsss*

    "Urrrggh!"

    "Ack!"

    The threads dug deep into, and finally, the blood river Elder couldn''t hold it and immediately unleashed a sea of blood, using up most of his energy, but destroying quite a few threads.

    "I did it! Hurry! Get out of there!"

    "Got it!"

    The two hurriedly left the, which shrunk into the greatsword right after.

    "..."

    "Damn! This kid is too strong! We have to kill him now before he bes an even bigger problem!"

    They nced at Ryuu, who had his eyes closed and shot toward him, but before they could even move a meter, an overbearing aura locked onto them, stopping them from moving.

    "Oh? Who were you going to kill?"

 Chapter 523 Miras Strength Part 1

    A suffocating pressure wrapped around the two Elder''s necks, and their faces instantly paled in fright.

    ''Divine Sea Realm!''

    There were only a few people in the Unorthodox Faction who had reached that level, but as Elders and people who have lived a long time, they havee into contact with such people on numerous asions, and the pressure each of them exuded was etched into their minds.

    Their necks creaked as they turned to the person pressuring them and were stunned.

    "It''s�� you?!?"

    "Why��?!"

    Master Izaria chuckled, "I had to let my disciple show off a bit in front of a group of beauties. Anyways, you two have served your purpose. You can go now."

    "WAIT!!"

    "NOOOOOO!!"

    Master Izaria ignored them and waved her hand like she was getting rid of a few flies.

    *St!*

    *St!*

    The two turned into a blood mist without any retaliation. It really was like she had just swatted a few bugs.

    Mira and the others who saw that felt chills all over their bodies. Although they knew she was powerful, they didn''t think she was that powerful.

    Master Izaria turned around and looked at them with a bright smile, "Alright! Ryuu and I took care of the annoying pests! Now, I think it''s time for you girls to show us what you can bring to the table!"

    Mira, Nova, and the others couldn''t exactly say no in this situation, so they reluctantly nodded and flew over to the Spirit Stone Mine.

    "Oh! Miss Foxy, I forget to say that I want to see you kill a few people in the Soul Transformation Realm. If you can''t even do that against these weaklings, how will you be worthy of marrying my Disciple, Ryuu?"

    Mira stopped, and her expression became increasingly colder. She felt like she had already given them enough face in consideration of her power. She didn''t say or do anything when Ryuu stared at her tails with overwhelming desire, and she didn''t make a fuss when Izaria tried to dig through her secrets.

    However, this woman seemed to enjoy pushing people''s buttons.

    Mira might have reigned in control of her emotions and won''tsh out at people so casually, but that didn''t mean she didn''t have a temper.

    Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Mira turned around with a neutral expression, stared Master Izaria straight in the eyes, and said in a frigid tone, "I''d rather die. Don''t bring this up again."

    Then, she turned and followed her teammates to the Spirit Stone Mine, leaving behind a stupified Master Izaria.

    She stood there, rooted in ce, staring at Mira''s back with her mouth wide open. For one, she couldn''t believe that a junior who had witnessed her power firsthand would dare say something like that straight to her face.

    Secondly, she had a feeling that Mira wasn''t joking when she said. She had a hunch that if she tried to do something and force her and Ryuu together, she might really kill herself!

    Even she, someone who has lived for such a long time, felt her hair stand on ends facing such a firm resolve and apathy toward her own life.

    ''She''s got a story.'' Master Izaria mused, and she was sure it wasn''t a good one.

    This piqued her interest, but she quickly suppressed it and shook her head.

    ''I''ve already caused a rift between us. If I push too much, she might really off herself. Well, that''s if the entity behind her doesn''t intervene first.''

    Master Izaria thought about the being that destroyed her ocr technique and trembled slightly. She didn''t even dare to think of the power of that being.

    ''Is he an Immortal? But how? How can he exist in the Mortal Realm? Didn''t the Heavens putws in ce to prevent Immortals from descending into the Mortal Realm?'' She thought, but nothing made sense.

    In the end, she just shrugged her shoulders and decided to stop thinking about it.

    Still, she couldn''t help but look forward to the waves Mira would create in the Mortal Realm.

    ''I hope she can entertain me.''

    ***

    On Mira''s side, she made her way toward someone at the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Although she didn''t like Master Izaria and would have already given her a severe beating if she were strong enough, she felt it might be worth fighting with someone at the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Her strength has taken a massive leap just from understanding the basic applications of Qi, learning a few techniques, and going through a month of rigorous training.

    Now, anyone in the Core Formation Realm was nothing but fodder to her. Even those in the Nascent Soul Realm couldn''t put up much of a fight. Both the quantity and quality of her Qi are equivalent to someone in the mid-stages in the Nascent Soul Realm, and that''s not even taking into ount her tails, body, Scythe and Martial Intent, affinities, and everything else.

    Naturally, Mira wanted topare her strength to this world''s standards while testing out the limits of her new techniques.

    So, to start things off, she chose a man in the 1st Stage of the Soul Transform as her opponent.

    Seeing Mira approach him, for some reason, his heart palpitated. He could sense that her cultivation was only at the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm, but he felt she was more frightening than the other six women she came with.

    Whether it was the confidence in the gait, the coldness she exuded, or the scythe in her hand, the man didn''t have a good feeling about her.

    Still, as a man, he couldn''t back down just because a scary woman appeared before him! That''d be too shameful!

    So, he grasped his sword tightly, lowered his stance, and-

    *Swoosh!*

    -turned tail and ran!

    ''Fuck if I''m going to challenge that woman to a battle to the death! Those two Elders already died at the hands of that psycho woman in the sky! If I stay here any longer, I''ll end up just like them! The Unorthodox Faction can suck my dick if they think I''m going to protect this ce with my life!'' The man thought and increased his speed by activating a Movement Technique.

    Mira was stunned for a moment but quickly regained her bearings, activated her Paragon Wings, and chased after the man!

    A pair of ice wings appeared behind her, but they looked slightly different than usual.

    One, there were more ice feathers.

    Two, each feather was slimmer but iparably sharper and had barbs along the edges.

    Three, the various other elements inside them were no longer a jumbled mess and looked more refined.

    Lastly, they no longer cost so much Qi to use, and she could keep them active without them constantly draining her Qi.

    Mira waved her hand andunched a few dozen feathers at the man.

    The man felt danger approaching and cursed.

    "Bitch! Go find someone else!" She said while covering himself in Earth Armor. The feathers hit the armor but didn''t prate far enough to hurt. Still, the man was shocked that they didn''t break upon contact.

    ''I knew it! This woman is bad news!''

    However, when he turned around to keep running-

    *Bang!*

    -he ran head-first into a giant wall of ice!

    "What the��!! Where''d thise from?!"

    He was dumbfounded and attempted to go around it, but Mira had already caught up to him. She created that ice wall with the 1st Stage of her Ice Empress Technique, [Frozen Terrain], and it didn''t disappoint.

    ''Fuck it! If you''re so determined to chase me down to the ends of the earth, I''ll just have to show you the difference in power between us!'' The man gritted his teeth, stomped on the ground, and two massive stone arms erupted out and punched at Mira!

    "So, you''ve finally decided to stop running like a scared little rabbit," Mira easily dodged the Stone Arms and zed her eyes across the man, but there wasn''t any emotion in them. Her respect for the man''s strength disappeared the second he tried to run.

    "Why? Why do you want to attack me so badly? If you want the Spirit Stone Mine so badly, just take it! I won''t stop you!" The man asked.

    Mira shook her head, "Nothing of the sort. I just want to test my powers, and you just happened to be the first person I came across."

    The man opened his mouth but instantly closed it, not knowing what to say.

    "Sigh��! I can''t believe we have to fight for such a stupid reason!"

    Mira shrugged, "That''s the way of the world. If you don''t like it, you should''ve gotten stronger."

    The man nodded, then his eyes sharpened, "However, it''s still up for debate who will win and who''ll lose."

    After saying that, tens of Earth Spikes shot out of the ground and flew toward Mira.

    "If you really can kill me, then I promise not to pursue you."

    The man was speechless at Mira''s response but didn''t bother speaking anymore. He was going to do everything he could to survive.

    Unfortunately, Mira didn''t care about him or his thoughts and decided to go all out from the beginning.

    She gently raised her hand like she was lifting a puppet on strings and said,

    "Death Dominion."

 Chapter 524 Miras Strength Part 2

    As if a sea erupted out of Mira''s body, a wave of darkness spread out from where Mira was standing, corroding everything in its wake. Though, if one were to look closely, one would see that this ''sea'' was simply an amalgamation of runes.

    The vibrant green grass instantly lost its luster and withered. The ground became soft, leaving behind a sticky ck goo and the surrounding air grew heavy, making it hard for the man to breathe.

    A blob of ck goop encapsted Mira''s scythe, giving it a sinister and disgusting appearance that sent chills down the man''s spine. Right now, instead of a heaven-defying beauty, all the man saw was an abominable creature!

    ''Fuck! Why does it seem like this woman is more devilish than anyone in the Unorthodox Faction?!''

    Even Master Izaria, Ryuu, and the other

    He hurriedly jumped out of Mira''s [Death Dominion] before it touched him, his expression solemn. He felt if he were toe into contact with that ck stuff, his life was as good as forfeited.

    Mira followed after him. Her [Death Dominion] followed wherever she stepped, sucking the vitality of everything it touched.

    Not wanting him to escape again, Miraunched 100 ice feathers at him, 50 on each side. Then, to cut off his retreat path, she used her [Frozen Terrain Change] Technique to ce a giant ice boulder in front of him.

    ''Shit!''

    The man hurriedly tried to fly over it, but Mira had already predicted this!

    *Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

    She exploded all the ice feathers she sent, disorientating the man for a second, but that was all she needed for him to enter her [Death Dominion].

    Feeling his vitality and Qi draining, the man''s expression changed, and a hint of ruthlessness shed through his eyes.

    ''You forced my hand!''

    With a roar, he channeled his Qi into the ground, causing a fissure to form and moltenva to shoot out toward Mira!

    *Rumble!*

    *BOOOM!*

    Mira hurriedly tried to cover the hole with her ice and Yin Magma, but it was too strong and demolished her efforts.

    Basketball-sized spheres of red-hot stone shot out of theva, indiscriminately attacking the nearbynd, causing widespread destruction.

    Not wanting to retreat and with no choice but to dodge, Mira attacked the man. Clumps ofvanded on her skin and battle armor, but the damage was minimal, filling Mira with confidence.

    Once she was 5 meters away from the man, Mira swung her scythe.

    "It seems you swung a bit too early. What? Getting nervous?" The man sneered, but that didn''tst long as his expression froze.

    The ck goop around the de of Mira''s scythe extended a bit over 5 meters and solidified, looking no different than the actual de.

    The man didn''t have any time to dodge and could only reduce the damage by covering himself in a protective suit of Qi.

    *Schlick!*

    Unfortunately, that didn''t help much, as Mira''s scythe cut through it like butter, facing hardly any resistance.

    The man tried to move out of the way just enough to protect his vitals, but Mira''s attack still cut off a significant chunk of flesh. Unknown to him, a small ck blobtched onto him the moment Mira''s de made contact with his skin.

    "Urgh��!"

    The man gritted his teeth in pain, but he held it in. He needed hisplete focus for this battle! His death was assured if he sat there wallowing in pain and agony!

    He controlled a fist-sized clump ofva and smeared it over his injury, cauterizing the wound, then he used a unique technique that allowed him to heal ''superficial'' wounds like this withva.

    However, the effects were severely reduced as his vitality and Qi were constantly draining from Mira''s [Death Dominion].

    ''Ugh! This damn domain! What even is this, and how is it draining my life?! This certainly isn''t a technique that those stuck-up bastards from the Orthodox Faction would practice! Hell, I don''t think I''ve seen many techniques from the Unorthodox Faction as sinister as this!''

    The man grumbled, feeling confused, but he quickly discarded those thoughts, putting his attention back on Mira, which was the wisest thing he could''ve done as she swung her scythe again.

    *Swish!*

    This time, the man had plenty of time to dodge and was able to move out of the way��

    Or so he thought.

    "ACK!"

    He screamed in pain as Mira scooped out another chunk of flesh with her de.

    ''What?! How did she still hit me?! I clearly dodged before the attack could even reach me!''

    He quickly reyed the scene and noticed that the ck goo on Mira''s scythe had rotated slightly to follow him.

    The man was baffled and dumbstruck by what he saw!

    ''Are you fucking kidding me?! That attack can follow me?! HOW?!''

    He''s only heard of a few techniques capable of doing such a thing, and they all had one thing inmon.

    ''There must be something on me that allows that weird substance to track me down!''

    As a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator, all it took was a brief scan of his body, and he soon identified a small ck blob on his torso.

    ''It must''vetched onto me when her first attacknded. I guess I need to avoid getting attacked by her, so this doesn''t happen again.'' He narrowed his eyes and swiped the goo off his body.

    ''Sigh�� I guess it''s time to bring out my Soul Idol, or I''m afraid I''m going to lose. I''ll be out ofmission for a while afterward, but it''s better than dying.''

    His consciousness soon connected with his soul, which was in the form of an erupting volcano.

    A Soul Idol is what makes the Soul Transformation Realm so unique and sets it apart from the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Although the Nascent Soul Realm was incredibly important because that''s when one unlocks their Soul Sense, allowing them to ''see'' their surroundings with their mind in great detail.

    The Soul Transformation Realm is when one confirms their path, their Dao. Upon reaching this Realm, a cultivator''s Soul will transform into whatever their Dao is. There is a multitude of benefits from aplishing this, and one of them is that they are able to manifest the image of their Dao onto the outside world, simr to how Mira can manifest her Absolute Ice Dao.

    This is generally called a Soul Idol, which can significantly boost one''sbat prowess when externalized, but doing so ces a tremendous burden on one''s mind and soul.

    Thus, the man was a little reluctant to use it as putting such pressure on one''s soul isn''t exactly pleasant and can be very dangerous if not used properly.

    With just a thought, arge, translucent volcano appeared behind the man, with the top of the volcano facing Mira.

    The man waved his hand and roared, "Meteoric Canon!!"

    *BOOOOOOOOM!!*

    A massive molten rock shot out of the volcano toward Mira at supersonic speeds!

    Mira''s hair stood on ends as she sensed fatal danger from that attack, but a subtle smile appeared on her face.

    ''I suppose it''s time to test out the 2nd Stage of the [Ruler of Death: Scythe Technique].''

    She channeled her Qi and ck runes, cloaking her entire body and making her look semi-transparent. ck Qi gathered around her scythe, but this time in mist form rather than a goopy liquid.

    A long, ck, hooded robe also appeared around her body, covering most of her features, making her look like some sort of Celestial Death Goddess.

    ''Haaa�� This feeling of weightlessness never changes, and I still can''t get used to it. This technique really makes me feel like I''ve transformed into a ghost.''

    She''s practiced this technique numerous times over thest month, so she wasn''t surprised by the feeling, but she had to admit that it was weird. Not bad. Just weird.

    Then, with just a tiny bit of effort, Mira glided through the air as if she didn''t exist in reality, dodging the giant rock heading toward her.

    Seeing Mira''s new appearance, the man was stunned, and the feeling of death swept over him and consumed him like the gue. Just looking at Mira and sensing the baleful and deadly aura around her, he felt his mind slowly copsing.

    It was as if he was on death''s door, staring at the grim reaper, awaiting his inevitable demise.

    "Tch!" The man bit his tongue and regained a bit of rity, but he soon felt Mira''s aura rise even higher than it already was, and he sensed something unique about it.

    ''Intents! And two of them!! How has this bitchprehended two Intents?!''

    He waved his hand, sending a few more molten rocks out of his Soul Idol Volcano. Then, he controlled theva from the ground and stuck it to his body, creating a set of Magma Armor.

    *Shing!*

    Mira''s scythe shed through the air-

    *St!*

    -causing a head with a dumbfounded expression to fly.

    The man''sst thought before he died was, ''HOW DID SHE GET PAST MY ARMOR?!

 Chapter 525 Bringing Trouble Back To The Sect

    Mira''s [Death Dominion] absorbed the man''s dead body, replenishing her Qi and boosting her cultivation to the peak of the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

    Afterward, she canceled her techniques and looked at the rest of the battlefield with a slight smile.

    ''It seems like I''ve improved quite a bit over thest month, enough to overwhelm someone in the Soul Transformation Realm. Is this all because I know how to apply my Qi properly? Or is this perhaps a result of my techniques?''

    Mira mused but concluded that it was probably both. However, what she found interesting was that both techniques seemed to excel in prolonged ''1 vs. Many'' rather than 1 vs. 1 scenarios. Though, she did feel that the 2nd Stage of the Ruler of Death technique, [Reaper], did feel overpowered in that battle.

    ''In that state, I can ignore most physical attacks, my speed is off the charts, and my attacks ignore armor to a certain extent. On paper, it''s an unreasonably powerful ability, and it didn''t disappoint in practicality either. No, it''s even stronger than I thought it would be. I had only used it for a second, but that guy couldn''t even react before he died.''

    Since she dealt with someone at the 1st Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm so quickly, Mira couldn''t help but wonder what her limit was.

    Unfortunately, Nova and the others were already dealing with the tougher opponents, leaving the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm fodder for her and Maria.

    ''I suppose now would be a good time to test out the 2nd Stage of the [Ice Empress] Technique.''

    Mira raised her hand, channeled 90% of her Qi, and thought, ''100 cial Warriors.''

    Then, in front of Mira, 100 ice golems with swords manifested in front of her, all exuding auras that didn''t fall behind some of the weaker Nascent Soul Realm cultivators!

    Mira felt a small link formed between all 100 golems and gave them a simplemand, ''Kill!''

    After receiving Mira''s order, the ice golems ran around, killing everything in their path, while Mira hovered in the air, watching everything with an indifferent expression.

    Whenever one of them went after Maria or her teammates, she wouldmand it to go in a different direction.

    With 100 ''helpers'', Mira, Nova, Maria, and the others made quick work of this Spirit Stone Mine. Mira didn''t bother intervening in battles that her teammates were already embroiled in and only took care of those who had thoughts of running away or who were about to join the battle.

    Once she finished that, Mira flew into the Spirit Stone Mine and began ughtering her way through there, leaving Master Izaria and Ryuu to stare at her withplicated expressions.

    "Is this the kind of woman you like, Little Ryuu? A fierce, cruel, and unyielding woman? One who doesn''t distinguish between the innocent and guilty?" Master Izaria had lost her yful expression. While she didn''t care about the life or death of anyone but Ryuu, since she had the power, she wouldn''t use it on those who had done nothing wrong to her.

    However, Mira wasn''t like that. As she killed, there was no ripple in her eyes. After she killed one, she just moved on to another. To her, these people were just numbers that added to her already sky-high death count.

    In fact, Master Izaria doubted that Mira even saw them as human beings. To her, killing them was probably no different than throwing away trash or kicking a roadside pebble.

    Ryuu went silent after hearing his Master''s questions. Only after a few moments passed did he finally open his mouth, "...Shouldn''t we stop her? This feels�� wrong."

    Master Izaria shook her head slightly, but she smiled proudly as she looked at her disciple. She preferred a kind and righteous man to an apathetic and ruthless one.

    "You can if you want, but I''m not going to do anything. Just think about it for a second, my disciple. Even if you did stop her, would that change her mindset? Do you think she''ll be more mindful of themon people in the future?"

    It was a rhetorical question, but Ryuu shook his head anyways.

    Master Izaria continued, "No, she definitely won''t. And honestly, I don''t personally think what she''s doing is wrong. You haven''t experienced much of the world yet and have me as your backer, so you might not understand, but this world isn''t a kind ce. If she let one of those weaklings run away out of pity and they reported what they saw today to the higher-ups of the Unorthodox Faction, she''d be met with endless trouble. Unless she secluded herself for years, she''d likely die very soon."

    Master Izaria understood the principle of ''pulling out the roots to prevent future trouble.'' If Mira were to let a single person lives, the consequences of that would be unimaginable. Literally.

    The Unorthodox Faction might do nothing and just forget about this whole situation. Or, the Faction Leader might descend from his mountain and kill her. Hell, tensions between the Unorthodox Faction and Battle Maiden Sect might rise, throwing the Western Continent into chaos.

    So, Mira''s approach, as a cultivator, isn''t wrong when considering her safety along with those from her Sect.

    Ryuu stared at his Master, not knowing what to say or think. He fell into deep thought as he considered her words, no longer thinking about stopping Mira.

    Master Izaria chuckled while inwardly patting herself on the back.

    ''I''m d I took him out to explore the world. Where else would he learn valuable lessons like this?''

    Then, her eyes narrowed as she watched Mira''s ice golems kill everything in sight.

    ''There''s much Little Ryuu could learn from that woman. I just hope she doesn''t turn into an enemy.''

    Then, she turned to Maria, Nova, and the others who had just finished killing the rest of the people around the Spirit Stone Mine and nodded.

    ''All those girls are pretty talented, huh? It seems the Battle Maiden Sect has some good seedlings for the Central Continent Competition. Though, not as good as my Little Ryuu! He''s going to ce in the Top 3 in this century''spetition!''

    Master Izaria turned to Ryuu and said with a smile, "It seems like they''re about to finish up, so let''s go down and meet them."

    Ryuu nodded absentmindedly, and the two shed in front of Maria, Nova, and the others.

    Master Izaria then raised her hand, releasing a stream of Qi, which went inside the mine and wrapped around Mira, teleporting her to their location.

    "What the��?!"

    Mira''s eyes opened wide, but when she saw that it was just Izaria, she frowned in dissatisfaction but calmed down.

    "I''ll get straight to the point. The people from the Unorthodox Faction are probably on their way right now. With your strength, it''ll take you a while to harvest all the Spirit Stones, so I''ll offer you a deal. I''ll harvest them all, and we can split the profits 60-40. I get 60%." Master Izaria offered.

    Nova, Seraphine, and Eden frowned, but they knew she was right. Without much hesitation, Nova agreed, "That''s fine. We wouldn''t even be able to get 40% if you weren''t here."

    Master Izaria nodded with a smile, appreciating Nova''s decisiveness, then shot up in the air.

    She raised her hand up in the air and released a torrent of Qi, creating a thin but massive sword. The sword was hundreds of meters long but only a few meters thick. However, from the shine on the de, one could tell that its sharpness was beyond belief.

    After she finished forming the massive sword, she swung it down along the edge of the mine!

    *KRRRRrrrrrrrr!*

    *SHEEEEEEKKK!!*

    The sword cut through the ground like it was nothing! After she finished one side, she did the same thing for the other four and kept repeating this until she dug out the entire Spirit Stone Mine.

    Finally, she cut the mine into numerous smaller, easier-to-handle chunks and canceled the sword.

    With a wave of her hand, she scooped up those chunks and put them into two different Spatial Rings, one with 40% and the other with 60%.

    All of this only took her at most half an hour toplete, dumbfounding everyone, including her own disciple.

    "Alright! It''s all done! Now, let''s go shove your achievements in your Sect Master''s face!" She tossed the Spatial Ring with 40% of the loot toward Nova and said.

    Nova, Seraphine, Eden, and Everly were all thrilled that they were able to finish this mission so soon, but Master Izaria''s words dampened their mood.

    "Ahahaha! We''ve already taken up so much of Senior''s time. There''s no need to follow us back to the Sect," Nova tried to decline politely, but Master Izaria shook her head.

    "Nonsense! You all are very talented! How dare Aelina send you on a death mission!? Plus, how can I miss this opportunity to show off in front of her?!"

    She didn''t even wait for their opinion, wrapped everyone in her Qi, and shot off toward the Battle Maiden Sect.

 Chapter 526 Back At The Sect

    A few minutes after Master Izaria left with Ryuu, Mira, and the others, a few middle-aged men appeared above the mine or what was left of it.

    Their expressions changed when they saw that the entire thing was removed from the earth!

    "An expert! A Divine Sea Realm expert was here! They''re the only ones capable of such destruction!" One of them muttered and pulled out a Communication Talisman.

    "Bad news, Faction Leader! Someone at the Divine Sea Realm raided one of our medium-sized Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine!"

    "..."

    Silence permeated the area, and the man gulped as sweat dripped down his face. He knew that when the normally talkative Faction Leader was silent, he was in a bad mood. And when someone at the Faction Leader''s level is in a bad mood��

    "...I understand. You can go. Leave the rest to me."

    A calm, smooth voice resounded from the Talisman, which only made the man feel worse.

    Subconsciously, he nodded and turned to the other men that came with him, "Let''s go!"

    On the other side of the Talisman, a man was gritting his teeth in anger. Although he didn''t know who dared to steal from his Sects, his Faction, it wasn''t that hard to guess.

    There''s no reason for any of the Unorthodox Sect Masters to do so. It could be the beasts, but he seriously doubted that a Rank 10 Beast would go through such trouble. So, that leaves either the Orthodox Faction.

    "It seems the world has forgotten there''s a reason the Unorthodox Faction is still alive today. I guess it''s time I remind them."

    The man got up and disappeared from his mountain.

    ***

    In the Battle Maiden Sect, Aelina sat on her throne, staring at the woman before her with a light frown.

    "I know I''m beautiful, Aelina, but I don''t swing that way. I''m sorry." The woman said with a yful smile.

    Aelina''s frown deepened, but she ignored thatment, "Don''t you think it''s about time for you to leave, Lisica? I''m sure you''re quite busy managing the Fox n and all."

    Lisica''s smile didn''t waver as she stared back at Aelina, "Nonsense! What could be more important than meeting a potential Nine-Tailed Fox? I won''t leave until I see her with my own eyes."

    Aelina''s eyes sharpened and a dangerous aura exuded from her body, shaking the mountain, "Do you believe my Sect is a ce you cane and go as you like, Lisica? I already told you I have no idea what you''re talking about. I would hate to have a falling out with your Fox n over some rumor."

    This time it was Lisica''s turn to narrow her eyes as she stared at Aelina, trying to discern whether she was telling the truth or not.

    However, she couldn''tprehend anything from her facial expressions other than irritation and indifference.

    ''Tsk! This damn old woman is too good at hiding her intentions!'' Lisica clicked her tongue as even though she was someone whose ability to judge a person should be unmatched, she still couldn''t tell what Aelina was thinking.

    Just as she was about to answer, she felt numerous fluctuations suddenly appear above the Sect, and she calmed down.

    "It seems you have visitors."

    Aelina''s expression also returned to normal, but inwardly, she was cursing nine generations of Mira''s ancestors.

    ''Why''d they have to show up now?''

    She could also feel a somewhat familiar aura that was simr to hers.

    ''Don''t tell me��!''

    With a thought, she appeared before Mira and the others, but her attention wasn''t on them.

    "Long time no see, ''Sister'' Aelina," Izaria stepped up and said.

    Aelina visibly frowned as she stared at her, "...What are you doing here? And with my Sect''s disciples, no less?"

    "Hah! Not even a thank you to my disciple and me for saving them?! I''d expect nothing less from you!" Izaria snorted in disdain.

    Question marks seemed to appear above Aelina''s head. Nova, Eden, Seraphine, Everly, and even Rayna''s faces twitched fiercely at Izaria''s words, and they did their best not to look at Maria.

    Aelina noticed this and became even more confused, "Exin."

    "Hmph! You still don''t understand? You tried to kill your poor Little Sister Maria and disciples by sending them on a death mission to raid a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine! Naturally, I couldn''t let these weak little beauties suffer such a tragic fate, so my disciple, Ryuu, and I decided to step in and help! You''re wee!"

    ''Little Sister?'' Aelina mused as she looked at Maria, whose cheeks turned slightly red, but she still managed to keep a straight face.

    Suddenly, something clicked in her mind, and a giant smile couldn''t help but appear on her face, and she burst outughing.

    "Pfft-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    Everyone stared at Aelina with astonished and bewildered expressions, but the person in question ignored their stares and keptughing. Sheughed so hard that small tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

    ''The Sect Master canugh like that?!'' Nova and the others were stunned, as they''d hardly ever seen her expression change, much lessugh.

    It took a while for Aelina to calm down, but a smile never left her face. She then looked at Mira and Nova and asked, "Did youplete your mission?"

    "Yes, Sect Master!"

    The two nodded and tossed a few Spatial Rings at Aelina. Checking the contents and seeing them full of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, the smile on her face seemed to grow.

    "Very good! You''ve all met, no, exceeded my expectations. I''ll hear yourmentster, but it seems you''ve all epted Mira as arade and a potentialpetitor, right?" Aelina asked.

    They nodded as they thought Mira did much better than they initially thought she would. Especially in thest Spirit Stone Mine. The fact that she went from being unable tost long against Nova in a spar to ying a 1st Stage Soul Transformation Realm cultivator in just a month was mind-boggling.

    If they said they didn''t acknowledge her, they''d be lying.

    "Good! It seems this mission was fruitful in more ways than one! Unfortunately, we won''t be able to start the second stage of thepetition, but we''ll talk about thatter. For now, go down and get some rest. I''m sure thest day or so has been quite exhausting." Aelina smiled and said.

    They nodded, but just as they were about to go down, Master Izaria shouted, "Wait!"

    "Can someone exin to me what''s going on?! Why did you hand that wench so many Spatial Rings? Why aren''t any of you mad at her for trying to kill you?!" Izaria shouted with a frown. Ever since Aelina startedughing, she''s had a bad feeling, which only became worse the more she listened.

    Before anyone could say anything, Maria spoke up while avoiding eye contact with Izaria, "I''m sorry, Senior Sister. We needed to steal one more Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine, but the Unorthodox Faction had already caught onto our movements. On the other hand, you looked so eager to show off your disciple that I couldn''t help but give him a chance to shine. It was a win-win scenario!"

    She turned to Ryuu and smiled, "By the way, you were very impressive, but MY Mira is already taken. So, you''ll have to fluff someone else''s tails."

    Izaria and Ryuu''s jaws dropped as they stared at Maria in disbelief. Even Aelina''s eyes shone as she looked at Maria in a new light.

    "You�� You�� You�� You lied to me?! But didn''t you say you hadn''t met your quota and that you needed to raid at least one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine?!" Izaria pointed at Maria and subconsciously pressured her a bit.

    However, Maria didn''t back down, "I really didn''t lie. We needed to raid 5, which is at least 1. And we really did only have three weeks left until our deadline. Everything else was just your misunderstanding."

    After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear.

    [A/N: Webnovel glitched and duplicated the words and I can only delete up to 100 of them.]

    "Hahaha! To think a junior would trick the high and mighty Izaria!" Aelina waved her hand, dismissing the pressure, andughed.

    "Shut up! How was I supposed to know?! She sounded so innocent and sincere!" Master Izaria''s eyes narrowed dangerously as she red at Maria.

    "Now, now. Let''s calm down. Since you''re here, why don''t you and your disciple follow me back to the mountain? I can assure you that you won''t regret it," Aelina said with a smile, then turned to Mira.

    "Ah! You should follow me back as well. There''s someone here waiting for you, and I''d rather you two meet under my supervision."

 Chapter 527 Back At The Sect

    A few minutes after Master Izaria left with Ryuu, Mira, and the others, a few middle-aged men appeared above the mine or what was left of it.

    Their expressions changed when they saw that the entire thing was removed from the earth!

    "An expert! A Divine Sea Realm expert was here! They''re the only ones capable of such destruction!" One of them muttered and pulled out a Communication Talisman.

    "Bad news, Faction Leader! Someone at the Divine Sea Realm raided one of our medium-sized Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine!"

    "..."

    Silence permeated the area, and the man gulped as sweat dripped down his face. He knew that when the normally talkative Faction Leader was silent, he was in a bad mood. And when someone at the Faction Leader''s level is in a bad mood��

    "...I understand. You can go. Leave the rest to me."

    A calm, smooth voice resounded from the Talisman, which only made the man feel worse.

    Subconsciously, he nodded and turned to the other men that came with him, "Let''s go!"

    On the other side of the Talisman, a man was gritting his teeth in anger. Although he didn''t know who dared to steal from his Sects, his Faction, it wasn''t that hard to guess.

    There''s no reason for any of the Unorthodox Sect Masters to do so. It could be the beasts, but he seriously doubted that a Rank 10 Beast would go through such trouble. So, that leaves either the Orthodox Faction.

    "It seems the world has forgotten there''s a reason the Unorthodox Faction is still alive today. I guess it''s time I remind them."

    The man got up and disappeared from his mountain.

    ***

    In the Battle Maiden Sect, Aelina sat on her throne, staring at the woman before her with a light frown.

    "I know I''m beautiful, Aelina, but I don''t swing that way. I''m sorry." The woman said with a yful smile.

    Aelina''s frown deepened, but she ignored thatment, "Don''t you think it''s about time for you to leave, Lisica? I''m sure you''re quite busy managing the Fox n and all."

    Lisica''s smile didn''t waver as she stared back at Aelina, "Nonsense! What could be more important than meeting a potential Nine-Tailed Fox? I won''t leave until I see her with my own eyes."

    Aelina''s eyes sharpened and a dangerous aura exuded from her body, shaking the mountain, "Do you believe my Sect is a ce you cane and go as you like, Lisica? I already told you I have no idea what you''re talking about. I would hate to have a falling out with your Fox n over some rumor."

    This time it was Lisica''s turn to narrow her eyes as she stared at Aelina, trying to discern whether she was telling the truth or not.

    However, she couldn''tprehend anything from her facial expressions other than irritation and indifference.

    ''Tsk! This damn old woman is too good at hiding her intentions!'' Lisica clicked her tongue as even though she was someone whose ability to judge a person should be unmatched, she still couldn''t tell what Aelina was thinking.

    Just as she was about to answer, she felt numerous fluctuations suddenly appear above the Sect, and she calmed down.

    "It seems you have visitors."

    Aelina''s expression also returned to normal, but inwardly, she was cursing nine generations of Mira''s ancestors.

    ''Why''d they have to show up now?''

    She could also feel a somewhat familiar aura that was simr to hers.

    ''Don''t tell me��!''

    With a thought, she appeared before Mira and the others, but her attention wasn''t on them.

    "Long time no see, ''Sister'' Aelina," Izaria stepped up and said.

    Aelina visibly frowned as she stared at her, "...What are you doing here? And with my Sect''s disciples, no less?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Hah! Not even a thank you to my disciple and me for saving them?! I''d expect nothing less from you!" Izaria snorted in disdain.

    Question marks seemed to appear above Aelina''s head. Nova, Eden, Seraphine, Everly, and even Rayna''s faces twitched fiercely at Izaria''s words, and they did their best not to look at Maria.

    Aelina noticed this and became even more confused, "Exin."

    "Hmph! You still don''t understand? You tried to kill your poor Little Sister Maria and disciples by sending them on a death mission to raid a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine! Naturally, I couldn''t let these weak little beauties suffer such a tragic fate, so my disciple, Ryuu, and I decided to step in and help! You''re wee!"

    ''Little Sister?'' Aelina mused as she looked at Maria, whose cheeks turned slightly red, but she still managed to keep a straight face.

    Suddenly, something clicked in her mind, and a giant smile couldn''t help but appear on her face, and she burst outughing.

    "Pfft-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    Everyone stared at Aelina with astonished and bewildered expressions, but the person in question ignored their stares and keptughing. Sheughed so hard that small tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

    ''The Sect Master canugh like that?!'' Nova and the others were stunned, as they''d hardly ever seen her expression change, much lessugh.

    It took a while for Aelina to calm down, but a smile never left her face. She then looked at Mira and Nova and asked, "Did youplete your mission?"

    "Yes, Sect Master!"

    The two nodded and tossed a few Spatial Rings at Aelina. Checking the contents and seeing them full of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, the smile on her face seemed to grow.

    "Very good! You''ve all met, no, exceeded my expectations. I''ll hear yourmentster, but it seems you''ve all epted Mira as arade and a potentialpetitor, right?" Aelina asked.

    ? They nodded as they thought Mira did much better than they initially thought she would. Especially in thest Spirit Stone Mine. The fact that she went from being unable tost long against Nova in a spar to ying a 1st Stage Soul Transformation Realm cultivator in just a month was mind-boggling.

    If they said they didn''t acknowledge her, they''d be lying.

    "Good! It seems this mission was fruitful in more ways than one! Unfortunately, we won''t be able to start the second stage of thepetition, but we''ll talk about thatter. For now, go down and get some rest. I''m sure thest day or so has been quite exhausting." Aelina smiled and said.

    They nodded, but just as they were about to go down, Master Izaria shouted, "Wait!"

    "Can someone exin to me what''s going on?! Why did you hand that wench so many Spatial Rings? Why aren''t any of you mad at her for trying to kill you?!" Izaria shouted with a frown. Ever since Aelina startedughing, she''s had a bad feeling, which only became worse the more she listened.

    Before anyone could say anything, Maria spoke up while avoiding eye contact with Izaria, "I''m sorry, Senior Sister. We needed to steal one more Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine, but the Unorthodox Faction had already caught onto our movements. On the other hand, you looked so eager to show off your disciple that I couldn''t help but give him a chance to shine. It was a win-win scenario!"

    She turned to Ryuu and smiled, "By the way, you were very impressive, but MY Mira is already taken. So, you''ll have to fluff someone else''s tails."

    Izaria and Ryuu''s jaws dropped as they stared at Maria in disbelief. Even Aelina''s eyes shone as she looked at Maria in a new light.

    "You�� You�� You�� You lied to me?! But didn''t you say you hadn''t met your quota and that you needed to raid at least one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine?!" Izaria pointed at Maria and subconsciously pressured her a bit.

    However, Maria didn''t back down, "I really didn''t lie. We needed to raid 5, which is at least 1. And we really did only have three weeks left until our deadline. Everything else was just your misunderstanding."

    After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear.

    [A/N: Webnovel glitched and duplicated the words and I can only delete up to 100 of them.]

    "Hahaha! To think a junior would trick the high and mighty Izaria!" Aelina waved her hand, dismissing the pressure, andughed.

    "Shut up! How was I supposed to know?! She sounded so innocent and sincere!" Master Izaria''s eyes narrowed dangerously as she red at Maria.

    "Now, now. Let''s calm down. Since you''re here, why don''t you and your disciple follow me back to the mountain? I can assure you that you won''t regret it," Aelina said with a smile, then turned to Mira.

    "Ah! You should follow me back as well. There''s someone here waiting for you, and I''d rather you two meet under my supervision."

 Chapter 528 Omen

    At the top of the mountain, inside the throne hall of the Sect Master''s pce, Mira stood in front of a beautiful, voluptuous, pink-haired, seven-tailed fox woman. She could feel a faint connection with the woman, almost as if their bloodlines were resonating, making both Mira and Lisica raise an eyebrow.

    *Thump**Thump*

    ''Hoh? It seems her bloodline is even more special than I originally thought. It almost feels like I''m facing my ancestors or even a progenitor, but how is that possible?'' Lisica thought while holding her chest, feeling her heartbeat.

    "So, what do you want from me? Why''d you want to meet me so badly?" Mira asked impatiently. She was tired of interacting with old monsters and their antics. It was hard to know what they were thinking, and with their overwhelming strength, she felt like she was never in control.

    "Nice to meet you too, Mira. My name is Lisica, the head of the Fox n," Lisica greeted with a smile despite noticing Mira''s obvious annoyance, "As for why I wanted to meet you�� I just wanted to confirm that a real nine-tailed fox is roaming the world, not some fake. Now that I''ve sated my curiosity, I''ll take my leave."

    Lisica got up to leave under everyone''s disbelieving stares. With an innocent smile, she looked at everyone and said, "What? Did I say something wrong? It''s not like I came here to eat her up or kidnap her from your Sect."

    Seeing that nobody believed her, Lisica smiled bitterly and asked, "Haaa�� Do you guys even understand what a nine-tailed fox symbolizes?"

    Aelina, Ryuu, and Izaria shook their heads, but Mira partly understood what she was trying to say. After experiencing so many lifetimes, she''s naturally heard numerous myths about nine-tailed foxes in which many describe them as omens.

    "To us in the Fox n, a nine-tailed fox symbolizes the start of a new era, but that''s not necessarily a good thing. However, whether good or bad, a nine-tailed fox is usually amidst all the trouble. My Fox n has been thriving for countless years. I''m sure you can put the pieces together on your own," Lisica exined.

    Then she added, "Plus, it''s not impossible for me to be a nine-tailed fox by myself."

    They all understood what she was saying.

    She didn''t want to bring trouble to her n by taking in Mira and would rather take a more neutral stance.

    Mira nodded as she had also heard that nine-tailed foxes were quite the troublemakers in a mythological sense.

    However, they didn''t know that most of what Lisica said was nonsense to fool them.

    ''Hehe~ While it''s true that nine-tailed foxes are generally seen as omens, do you really think my Fox n would be troubled by something like that? Almost every power on the Western Continent doesn''t dare to touch us. What''s there for me to be afraid of?'' She chuckled inwardly but kept a faint smile on the outside.

    No, more than anything, she was apprehensive about letting Mira into her n. It wasn''t to the point that she felt the need to kill Mira, but who knows how many foxes would subservient themselves to Mira because of her bloodline and the fact that she''s a nine-tailed fox.

    Lisica wasn''t done leading the Fox n, so how could she allow internal strife, especially in these times?

    ''I feel that the Continent is going to be entrenched in chaos soon, and this woman will be at the center of it all. I need to hurry back to the n and begin making preparations.'' Lisica thought before ncing at Mira.

    "That''s the gist of it. Don''t worry, Mira. I have no intention of harming you, so long as you don''t provoke me first. You might follow the human cultivation path, but in my eyes, you are just as much fox as you are human. But before I go, I have some information that might interest you."

    Mira raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What is it?"

    "There''s a group of women of unknown origins scouring the continent for any traces of you. I don''t know what they want to do with you, but from what I can tell, they don''t have good intentions."

    Mira''s expression changed, and a deep frown appeared on her face. Her brain overclocked as she tried to figure out who might be after her, and while she came to numerous conclusions, they were all men.

    ''Unknown origins�� Ill intentions�� Looking for me��'' Mira''s mind unknowingly drifted toward the person who had made her life a living hell for so long. Although he''d been silent as ofte, Mira knew he must be up to something nefarious.

    ''I-Is it really him?'' Mira''s fists balled up, and her crimson eyes glowed just thinking about him.

    ''But�� who are those women? Are they hisckeys? And what do they want with me, or more precisely, what orders were they given?''

    ''That man enjoys taking what I care about the most and ripping it to shreds!'' Maria and Dominique appeared in Mira''s mind, and her expression turned fierce.

    ''No! I won''t let him take them away from me in this life! Even if I have to turn into a demon and ughter the entire world to keep them safe, I will do it! I won''t let that bastard have his way with me again!''

    *Creak*

    Mira''s teeth clenched so hard that they creaked. Slowly, a dark, bloodthirsty aura filled with rage and hatred exuded from Mira''s body.

    Aelina, Izaria, Lisica, and Ryuu all backed away from Mira and looked at her in bewilderment.

    Soon, Mira came back to her senses and reigned in her aura, but she seemed a little different than before. Instead of her usual apathetic face, she had a slight frown, her eyes were glowing, and her muscles were tense as if she was ready to kill.

    "I apologize for losing control of my emotions like that," Mira said, but there wasn''t an ounce of remorse in her eyes or voice.

    "It seems like you know them?" Lisica asked curiously, to which Mira nodded.

    "I do. Thank you very much for the information. In return, I''ll give you a warning. Don''t get involved with those women. If you want to live a peaceful life, don''t even look in their direction. You won''t be able to bear the consequences if you do," Mira said sincerely, as she was truly thankful for the information, but this advice went to everyone in the room, not just Lisica.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    ''You''ve always been a step ahead of me, but not anymore,'' Mira gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

    Aelina, Izaria, Lisica, and Ryuu could hear the demonic-like hatred in Mira''s voice and knew she was being serious, despite knowing their strength and status.

    Their eyes narrowed, and they took this information seriously. Even if Mira had exaggerated it a bit, being cautious never hurt anyone, especially when dealing with unknown variables.

    "Ahem! Anyways, that''s all I had to say. Once you grow a bit stronger, feel free to visit the Fox n. I''ll take my leave now." Lisica smiled at Mira, then disappeared like the wind.

    Mira turned to Aelina and said, "I''m going to leave, too. I''m a bit tired after everything that happened."

    Aelina nodded but said a few words before she left, "The second stage of thepetition won''t start for another six months. Not only that, but the contents of thepetition have changed a little. We''ll be working with the other Sects to invade an Ancient Inheritance Site deep in the mountains. Thepetition will be held there. So, you''re free to do whatever you want. Just be sure to be back in the Sect in six months."

    Mira nodded and left to go see Maria and Dominique to have a little chat with her.

    Meanwhile, Izaria stared at Aelina intently and said, "Ancient Inheritance Site? I want in!!"

    Aelina sighed but didn''t decline and began exining the specifics.

    On the other hand, Ryuu stared at Mira''s retreating back with aplicated expression and a confused heart.

    ***

    Somewhere above the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, the Unorthodox Faction Leader had just leaped off his mountain to give out a few orders, but 11 beautiful women, all with powerful auras, appeared in front of him before he could go far.

    "Are you the leader of this so-called Unorthodox Faction?" The leader, an arrogant woman with long pink hair, said in disdain.

    However, before he could speak, she pinched her nose and said in disgust, "It seems like you are. You carry the same revolting odor as someone who eats newborn babies to advance your cultivation."

    "You bitch��! Who are you?!" The man''s eyes turned bloodshot as he stared at the woman like how a tiger would look at a newborn calf.

    "Hmph! Are you worthy of knowing my name?" She looked at the man as if he were an idiot.

    "You-!" The Faction Leader was about tosh out, but the woman, Sue Ming, raised her hand to stop.

    "Alright. That''s enough bbering. I came here to offer you a job." After saying that, she tossed a Spatial Ring to him.

    The man set aside his anger for now and checked the ring''s contents.

    "Holy shit!"

    ? He cursed as his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Weapons, Spirit Stones, Treasures, and Techniques of all grades were inside the ring!

    "That''ll be your reward if youplete the job I give you," Sue Ming said indifferently.

    The Unorthodox Faction Leader gulped and swallowed his anger, his attitude taking aplete 180.

    "W-What can I do for you?" He asked nervously, not wanting to lose this opportunity.

    Sue Ming nodded slightly, appreciating his behavior, then took out a sheet of paper and tossed it at him.

    "Capture those two people alive and bring them to me."

    The man took the paper and frowned as he didn''t recognize the people. Nevertheless, he didn''t hesitate to agree.

    "I understand. I''ll have every Sect under me searching for them within the hour."

    Sue Ming nodded and disappeared, leaving behind three words, "Don''t disappoint me."

    The man nodded and looked at the paper again.

    If Mira and Maria were here, they''d be shocked to see a few familiar faces. In fact, they were more than that.

    The two people were Maria''s parents!

 Chapter 529 Challenge

    Mira hurriedly went down the mountain to inform Maria and Dominique of the information she had just learned.

    "There are people after you? Why? What happened to make these women so hell-bent on finding you?" Maria asked with worry in her eyes, which only grew as she could tell Mira seemed more apathetic and distant than before.

    Mira sighed and asked, "Do you remember when I told you I''ve reincarnated numerous times?"

    Maria was puzzled but nodded as she did remember Mira saying something like that a few years ago.

    "Well, it seems like the person behind all this has lost his patience and is now sending people after me to make my life hell on earth," Mira said nonchntly, but the fierce gleam in her eyes was impossible to miss.

    "But why? Why would he do something like this?" Maria''s confusion grew as she couldn''t understand the man''s motive.

    While Mira has shared with her a little about the tough times she went through in one of her previous life, she still didn''t fully understand the situation.

    Mira''s expression sank, "...I think part of the reason is that he''s bored, but he mostly wants to force me to submit to him and be his concubine."

    "..."

    "..."

    While Dominique didn''t quite understand what was happening, Maria didn''t know what to say.

    "...That''s it?" Maria asked in disbelief.

    "...Yeah, as far as I know," Mira said, her eyes narrowing. She also found the whole thing skeptical, but those are the reasons the god gave, and she couldn''t find a reason why it should be anything else.

    Though she was a bit unique in her first life, she didn''t think it was enough to catch the attention of a god-like figure. So, for now, those were the only two reasons she could go with.

    "...Then, what''s going to happen now? What should we do?" Maria asked.

    "Well, I can guarantee those women won''t try and kill me. Not yet, at least. Instead, they will target you and Dominique first. I don''t know what they''ll do, but from my experience, they''ll start off by driving a wedge in our rtionship. Then, they''ll slowly whittle you down until there''s nothing left to take, in which they''ll kill you," Mira said with such an indifferent face that it sent shivers down Maria''s spine.

    It felt like Mira had regressed back to what she was when they first met, but this didn''t make Maria mad or upset. Instead, she just felt sad.

    Sad that she wasn''t strong enough.

    Sad that Mira had to go through something like this.

    Sad that Mira feels the need to close off her emotions in this situation, most likely in case something does happen, her mind doesn''tpletely copse.

    Unknowingly, her eyes reddened, and tears started rolling down her face. Maria got up and embraced Mira in a tight hug.

    "No matter what happens, I won''t me you, Mira. After all, it''s not your fault that some psychopathic asshole is hell-bent on chasing you to the ends of the earth," Maria reassured, but Mira didn''t say or do anything and just stood there like a statue.

    ''Sigh�� You might think that now, but will you be able to keep that same resolve when shit hits the fan?'' Mira thought. While she did believe that what Maria was saying now was the truth, things change when someone is on the brink of despair.

    To make matters worse, even though Mira knew that the ''god'' had already made his move, what could she do to stop them?

    She doesn''t know who they are, where they are, what they look like, or what they''re currently after.

    ''No, if I know him and the way he acts, they won''t simply go after those around me. Their ns definitely run deeper than just wanting to drive a wedge between me and those close to me.''

    Her mind began running at full capacity, trying to figure out their next move and what she should do to counter it.

    ''The only person close to me that they can reach right now is Maria. Dominique should be much harder to deal with because I''m essentially the only person in her life. However, Maria is different. Her parents are still out there somewhere.''

    Mira contemted whether she should share this information with Maria, but ultimately, she decided to tell her, as she felt it would be disingenuous if she didn''t.

    "Maria, I have something to say, and you''re probably not going to like it," Mira pushed Maria back slightly.

    "Hmmm?" Maria tilted her head.

    "Your parents will most likely be their first target," Mira said calmly.

    "WHAT?!" Maria jumped up and shouted!

    "Why?!"

    "I just told you; to drive a wedge between us," Mira said, causing Maria to bite her lip.

    "T-Then�� what can we do to save them? Last I heard, they had gone on a trip, so I have no idea where they are now," Maria stuttered, feeling extremely disheartened.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Mira thought for a moment, "I would�� talk with Aelina. If there''s anyone who can find them in the shortest amount of time, it''s her. She seemed quite pleased with your behavior earlier. I don''t think she''d reject you if you asked her to find your parents. In fact, you should go right now because those women might already be hot on your parents'' tail."

    Maria agreed and let go of Mira. While she cared for Mira immensely, this matter was urgent and couldn''t be pushed back any longer. She tidied up her appearance a bit and turned around to leave, but before she did, she looked at Mira and said with a bright smile, "...Thank you for telling me, Mira."

    Hearing this, Mira''s indifferent face cracked, and her lips curled ever so slightly. She gave Maria a firm nod, and then thetter turned around and left to meet with Aelina.

    After Maria left, Mira turned to Dominique and said, "Don''t leave my sight in the near future. I can only protect you from those bad guys as long as you don''t wander off."

    "Don''t worry, Mother! I''ll stay with you no matter what!" Dominique said with arge smile.

    Mira returned the smile and gave her a few head pats, "Then, do you want to take a break from training to watch me spar?"

    "Yeah! Let''s go!"

    ***

    In the Core Disciple Court, Mira walked on the road, hand in hand with Dominique. None of the Elders stopped her as they knew she was the Prime Disciple Candidate that Aelina had chosen. Plus, they knew that Mira had justpleted a mission with Nova, Eden, Seraphine, Everly, and Rayna, so they thought she was here to discuss something with them.

    Soon after she entered the Core Disciple Court, Nova and the others appeared.

    "Why are you here, Mira? Is there something you''d like to discuss? And who is this little girl?" Nova asked while looking at Dominique.

    Mira ignored herst question and said, "I''d like to spar with you all."

    ? "..."

    "...Right now? But we just finished a difficult mission��." Eden said with a slight frown.

    "Hmph! Are Direct Disciples like you guys sozy? Is this all the pride of the Sect amounts to? A couple ofzy bums? And here I thought I was in a Sect full of warriors," Mira said with disdain written all over her face.

    "?!"

    They were all surprised by the sudden deration, and their eyes sharpened as they looked at Mira. Although they knew she was intentionally provoking them, wasn''t this a bit much? Was there a need to go so far just to spar with them?

    "Hahaha! I guess you''ve gotten a little arrogant after that mission! Alright! We''ll take you up on your challenge!" Novaughed, walked up to Mira, and gave her a ''light'' p on the back.

    "Nova!!" Eden screamed, feeling indignant about this whole situation, but she also felt like Mira was being a bit too arrogant.

    "Ugh! Whatever! But I''m fighting her first!" Eden raised her fist at Mira.

    Nova waved her hand dismissively, "Sure, sure. Go ahead. I''m curious how she''ll fair against you, anyways."

    Eden marched to the sparring arena meant for those in the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Mira and Eden stepped onto the arena and stared at each other. Eden pulled out her bow and arrow, and Mira took out her scythe.

    "I know you''ve gotten a lot stronger over thest month, but don''t think that''s enough to deal with us! You''ve still got a ways to go before you reach our level! As such, I''ll limit my strength to the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm." Eden knocked her arrow and shouted, lowering her cultivation to equal Mira''s.

    However, Mira just stared at her, not saying anything.

    "Hmph!" Eden snorted and aimed her bow at Mira.

    Nova saw that the two were ready and said, "Alright! The spar will start in 3�� 2�� 1�� BEGIN!"

    Mira''s eyes turned slightly pink, and pink mist exuded from her body, covering the area around Eden.

    The woman tried to dodge, but she could not avoid all of it, and some pink mist entered her skin.

    Mira quickly controlled it so that the pink mist went straight to her brain, and quickly, illusory hearts shone in Eden''s pupils. When this happened, Mira knew she had sessfully charmed her.

    ''Reaper!''

    Mira muttered and activated the 2nd Stage of the [Ruler of Death] Technique and shot at Eden.

    Before the Elf could even react, Mira had appeared behind her, with her scythe pressed against her neck.

    Mira canceled her charm and whispered into Eden''s ear, "...Looks like it''s my win."

 Chapter 530 Teaching Eden A Lesson

    Not just Eden but everyone watching could hardly believe their eyes. They stared at Mira, dumbfounded that she could take down Eden in a single move!

    Granted, Eden had suppressed her cultivation to Mira''s level, but that still doesn''t exin how she lost so badly.

    "W-What�� What happened?" Eden stuttered, feeling Mira''s scythe against her neck. She saw Mira release a weird pink mist, which happened to touch her, then everything went nk. Now, she''s standing here with a de against her neck!

    "These tails aren''t just for show, you know," Mira didn''t answer her question and instead just pointed to her tails.

    There were several hidden meanings behind her words, and Eden seemed to understand partially.

    ''I forgot she''s a fox woman!'' Eden thought.

    "I want a rematch!" Eden dered, feeling indignant about her loss.

    She understood she''d been charmed, but losing so pathetically like that was humiliating.

    ''However, now that I know she can charm me, I''ll be prepared for it!'' Eden clenched her fists.

    Meanwhile, Nova stared at Mira intently and couldn''t help but think, ''Why didn''t she use that power during our spar? With such a powerful charm ability, she could''vested much longer or even won!''

    Mira felt Nova''s burning gaze, but she didn''t even bother looking at her. She just gave Eden a nod and returned to her original position.

    "This time, you won''t be able to take me down so fast!" Eden dered, pointing her bow at Mira.

    Mira didn''t say anything and just stared at herzily, but the glow in her crimson eyes made Eden and everyone watching feel ufortable.

    Nova cleared her throat, "Alright, let''s start the rematch between Mira and Eden. The battle will begin 3�� 2�� 1�� START!"

    Wind Qi swirled around the tip of Eden''s arrow; before Mira could move, she fired it!

    *SWOOSH!*

    The arrow shot through the air at a speed that most Core Formation Realm cultivators would be able to see.

    However, Mira was different.

    She raised her hand and shot three ice arrows of simr length and power to the one Eden shot.

    The second arrow had numerous elements inside it, but with the third arrow, Mira put her charm mist inside and coated it with an illusion.

    The first ice arrow collided with Eden''s.

    *BOOM!*

    When Eden saw an ice arrowing toward her, she sneered, channeled her Qi into her wrist, creating a wooden shield to block the ice arrow, then held up her bow and fired another arrow, but this one was slightly different.

    Once it neared Mira, it split ten smaller arrows, and a made of Wind Qi spread out between all the arrows.

    Eden prepared the next shot but saw Mira just standing there, staring at her.

    Suddenly, she felt danger approaching and raised her shield to block whatever wasing at her, but-

    *POOF!*

    The arrow stuck in her shield exploded into a fine powder, and the third arrowing her way burst into a million pieces, the pink mist mixing with everything.

    Many ice particles touched Eden''s skin, and she even inhaled a few. Just as she was about swing her bow around and keep attacking Mira, hearts shone in her pupils, and everything went nk.

    Mira didn''t waste any time, activated ''Reaper'', and appeared behind Eden with her scythe pressed against her neck.

    After canceling all her abilities, Eden felt a de digging into her neck, and a chill ran down her spine.

    "Dammit! How?! How did I lose this time?!" Eden cursed, not understanding how she kept on losing.

    No, she understood how she lost but didn''t know why she couldn''t detect thatst attack.

    She pushed Mira away and stared at her with furrowed brows, "How''d you do it? What was thatst attack?"

    Mira ignored her question and walked to the other side of the arena, "Would you like a rematch, or do you give up?"

    Eden gritted her teeth and stared at Mira with fiery eyes, "Rematch!" She spat and got in position.

    However, this time, she put the bow away and pulled out her secondary weapon, a mace.

    Mira raised an eyebrow as a mace, like a scythe, was a very unconventional weapon. That''s not to say it was bad, but it was a weapon designed for smashing and breaking. She didn''t expect a dainty elf to wield a brutish weapon like a mace.

    Eden noticed Mira''s weird gaze and snorted.

    Nova saw that everyone was ready and announced, "START!"

    Eden coated her feet in Wind Qi and used a movement technique to dash at Mira.

    She raised her free hand and shot out numerous spiked roots from the ground at Mira.

    Mira jumped in the air, avoiding all the attacks, but Eden followed her.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Once she closed in on Mira, she swung her mace while muttering, ''Wind-Breaker!''

    *POW!*

    Surprisingly, due to Eden''s attack, cracks spread across the nearby as the mace came crashing into Mira.

    Mira raised her scythe to block the attack-

    *BAM!!*

    ''Heavy!''

    Mira was pushed back a few steps from the blow, but it wasn''t something she couldn''t handle. In fact, if she wanted to, she could''ve ended the battle right then again with her ''Reaper'' Technique, but she decided against that.

    ''It''s not every day I get to fight against someone using a mace. It''d be stupid of me if I didn''t take advantage of this opportunity to learn how someone with this weapon fights.'' Mira thought as she retaliated.

    She backed up just enough so she was out of the range of the mace, then swung her scythe, but Eden wasn''t going to get drawn in her game.

    Eden controlled her roots to wiggle around behind Mira to cut off her path to retreat, then used her movement technique to close in on her.

    Mira twirled her scythe, cutting up most of the roots, giving her a bit more space to dodge Eden''s attack.

    *Whif!*

    Eden missed, but that didn''t mean her attack was over.

    ''Earth-Breaker!''

    Her mace smashed into the ground, creating a spiderweb of cracks in the arena and shaking the ground, hoping to destabilize Mira''s bnce. Without even looking at Mira, she shot dozens of small wind drills at her.

    But Mira wasn''t an average fighter. Just because the ground shook doesn''t mean she''d lose her bnce.

    While creating dozens of Yin Fire drills rotating in the opposite direction as their wind counterparts, she stepped forward and swung her scythe downward, intending to decapitate Eden.

    *POOF!**POOF!**POOF!**POOF!**POOF!**POOF!*

    All the wind drills fizzled when the fire ones impacted with them, and Eden sensed fatal danger from above. So, without even seeing what wasing for her, she raised a wooden shield coated in Wind Qi and shot backward in hopes of avoiding the attack.

    *Slice!*

    Mira''s scythe missed its target and left a several-centimeter indention in the ground.

    "Is that all you got? If so, you might as well switch back to your bow. At least with that, you''d have a chance to hit me," Mira taunted, causing Eden to grind her teeth, but she didn''t take out her bow.

    "Shut up! I''m just getting started!" Eden snapped and charged back at Mira, who just shrugged at her words.

    "If that''s what going easy looks like, my expectations for your full power are extremely low. To me, it seems like the mace is wasted on a dainty little girl like you," Mira''s words dug into Eden''s heart, causing her to look at Mira with bloodshot eyes.

    "Dammit! Shut the fuck up! What do you even know about the mace?! What right do you have to criticize me?!" Eden shouted. Her muscles bulged, and the veins in her arms popped as sheunched a flurry of attacks at Mira.

    *Pop!**Pop!**Pop!**Pop!*

    The air crackled as Eden''s attacks were strong enough to distort the air around her.

    ''It seems I touched a sore spot.'' Mira smirked.

    "While I don''t know much about the mace, I certainly know more than you," Mira said while dodging, blocking, and countering each attack.

    "Wha-?"

    *BOOM!*

    Eden was about to speak but was suddenly struck in the shoulder by the blunt end of Mira''s scythe.

    "You''re arms are too wide and easy to read. In a fight like this, your mace should never go behind your shoulders," Miramented, then rotated her scythe and smashed it against her waist.

    "Twist your hips for more power."

    With her golden tail, Mira smacked her elbow, "While a mace''s primary purpose is to smash, that doesn''t mean you need to turn into a brute. For maximum power with minimal effort, flick your elbows and wrist in one fluid motion. That way, each of your strikes will flow with one another."

    Mira kicked the ground with her heel, covering the ground in ice and locking Eden''s feet in ce for a second.

    She took a step and swung her scythe horizontally but stopped right before the de cut through the back of her neck.

    "Finally, know your weaknesses. In a battle of pure weapon skill, the mace doesn''t fair well against longer-ranged weapons like the scythe," Mira exined, and Eden could only raise her hands and lower her head.

    "...I lost. It''s yourplete victory."

    Mira nodded, took back her scythe, dissipated all the ice, and returned to her original position in the arena.

    Eden walked off the stage in a daze, but it seemed Mira had given her some things to think about.

    Just as one of the girls was about to hop on the stage, they heard someone from the sky, "Would you mind having a little spar with me, Mira?"

 Chapter 531 Sparring With Ryuu

    "Hmmm?" Mira tilted her head and saw Ryuu and Master Izaria descending from the air.

    She frowned as these two were quite possibly thest people she wanted to meet right now.

    "Well? How about it? Would you like to spar with me?" Ryuu walked up to Mira and asked with a smile.

    However, Mira didn''t say anything and kept staring at him with a frown on her face.

    ''I don''t really want to spar with you,'' Mira thought, not because she felt like she''d lose, but because she didn''t want to share her secrets with a potential enemy.

    ''Then again, it would be an interesting fight.'' She pondered but couldn''te to a conclusion.

    Fortunately, Izaria saw her hesitation and spoke up before she could say anything, "Why don''t you two fight with your weapons only? No Qi, charms, illusions, or anything like that. However, Weapon Endowments like [Intent] and [Manifestation] are allowed."

    Ryuu nodded, "That''s good with me. That''s my strongest aspect, anyways."

    Mira thought for a moment before reluctantly agreeing, "...Fine."

    ''I want to experience the strength and skill of someone who has almost reached the 3rd Realm of Weapon Endowment, [Ruler].'' She added inwardly.

    The two took up their positions on opposite sides of the arena and readied their weapons.

    Master Izaria flew up in the air and announced, "The spar between Mira and Little Ryuu will begin in 3�� 2�� 1�� FIGHT!!"

    The two dashed at each other and-

    *CLANK!*

    -their weapons collided.

    ''Heavy!''

    Mira thought as she felt her feet dig into the ground.

    It wasn''t just Ryuu''s physical strength that Mira felt was mountainous, but his greatsword as well.

    ''Is he just holding a massive chunk of metal? What the hell?'' Mira wondered as she could tell the de wasn''t all that sharp.

    However, although his strength was a bit burdensome, Mira wasn''t worried.

    She rotated her scythe, shoving his greatsword out of the way, and shed at his neck.

    Ryuu raised an eyebrow, not only at Mira''s strength but the calmness in her eyes.

    ''It seems I''ve underestimated her yet again.''

    Ryuu thought as he waved his greatsword as if it was as light as a feather and blocked Mira''s attack.

    *CLANK*

    Then, he smoothly switched stances and swung his greatsword upwards.

    Mira moved her head slightly, leaving about a centimeter of space between her and the tip of the greatsword.

    To counter his attack, she spun her scythe and swung it horizontally, attacking Ryuu''s freehand.

    However, Ryuu just grasped his greatsword with both hands and blocked it.

    "You''re pretty good with the scythe, huh? When I saw you fighting those guys back at the mine, I thought your main strengths wouldy in your elemental attacks, but it seems I was wrong." Ryuumented with a smile.

    "...Originally, I thought you were just a brute who only knew how to lug around a giant chunk of metal, but��," Mira paused, allowing Ryuu''s expectations to rise.

    "It seems I was right. You really are nothing more than a brute who only knows how to wave that thing you call a sword."

    "Pfft-Hahaha! See, Little Ryuu? What have I been telling you all these years? There''s more to life than swinging around a sword!" Up in the air, Master Izaria chuckled.

    Ryuu scowled at them and snorted, "Hmph! Fine! Let me show you what kind of power swinging a sword for decades can give me!"

    *FWOOSH!*

    A golden Sword Intent wrapped around Ryuu and his sword, making him look like some deity that descended into the mortal world. He didn''t unleash his full power just yet, as he was afraid the battle might end too quickly if he did that.

    Mira narrowed her eyes as she felt dangering from that Sword Intent, but she didn''t back down.

    *TSHHH*

    A ck Scythe Intent exuded from Mira''s body and wrapped around her scythe, while a transparent Martial Intent covered her body, empowering her.

    "What?! Two Intents?!" Master Izaria and Ryuu gawked.

    Now, Ryuu felt the seriousness of the situation. If before, he was a bit more rxed and confident in his victory, now he understood he was too arrogant.

    Although it was just another [Intent] and not a [Manifestation], things weren''t that simple. [Intent], forck of a better word, is abination of one''s Foundation, Comprehension, Understanding of their path, and luck. Not everyone can reach the 1st Realm of Weapon Endowment, but when they do, it''s proof that they aren''t ordinary opponents.

    [Manifestation] is the next Realm, but what it symbolizes isn''t nearly as profound as someone reaching the 1st Realm, [Intent].

    And since Mira has two of them, the danger she poses is exponentially higher than someone who has only achieved one.

    While Ryuu''s Sword Manifestation might still be stronger than both of thembined, his chances of winning are no longer absolute like before. That is, if Mira uses them correctly.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Without warning, Mira''s muscles bulged, and she shot at Ryuu!

    *CLANK!*

    Their weapons collided, his golden Sword Intent blocking Mira''s ck Scythe Intent, but if one looked closely, they''d witness Mira''s Scythe Intent trying to consume the golden light.

    ''What the��?!''

    Ryuu was startled by this and hurriedly retreated, trying to understand what just happened, but Mira didn''t give him a chance.

    She chased after him, using her Chaos Body Martial Art, which synergized perfectly with her Martial Intent, to try and confuse him.

    The Scythe Intent around her de extended a few extra centimeters to give it a bit more lethality against his massive greatsword. She wanted it to be able to reach around Ryuu''s sword without actually touching it.

    *SWOOSH!*

    Her scythe cut through the air.

    Ryuu raised his greatsword to block it, but-

    *CLANK!*

    ''Holy shit! How did she get so much stronger?!'' He felt his hands tingle from that hit.

    The edge of his de hit the shaft of Mira''s scythe, and unknowingly, Mira''s de ended up only a few centimeters away from his eyes.

    Ryuu snorted, knocked it out of the way, and charged at Mira.

    "Haaa!"

    He shouted as he thrust his greatsword like a spear.

    The golden Sword Intent thinned out, sharpening the edges of the great sword.

    Mira''s expression changed slightly, and she tried to dodge, but Ryuu''s sword was too fast and huge that she got clipped in the side.

    *Splurt!*

    The gash spurted a bit of blood, but Mira didn''t even pay attention to such a ''minor'' injury. With her healing capabilities, it''ll stop bleeding in a few seconds.

    Ryuu released a small, victorious smile since he was able tond the first sessful hit, but before he could relish in his ''victory'', Mira''s scythe shed before his eyes!

    He raised his greatsword to block and took a few steps back, but this was what Mira was hoping for.

    She altered the trajectory of her scythe slightly, cutting into his shoulder!

    "Urgh!" Ryuu groaned and felt a trickle of warm blood flow down his arm. Luckily, other than a gash, his arm was mostly fine.

    However, unlike Ryuu, who felt proud to havended the first hit, Mira couldn''t care less.

    Even after she injured him, she didn''t let up the pressure.

    As the saying goes, "Comcency is the enemy of progress."

    If she wanted to beat Ryuu, she couldn''t getfortable with justnding a hit on him!

    *Swoosh!**Swoosh!**Swoosh!**Swoosh!*

    *nk!**nk!**nk!**nk!**nk!*

    Ryuu didn''t make the same mistake of losing his focus in the midst of battle and deflected all of Mira''s strikes.

    Though, since he had lost the momentum, Mira was pushing him back with every consecutive blow.

    With each strike, Mira''s Scythe Intent chipped away at Ryuu''s Sword Intent, and now that she was in control, her Martial Intent and Chaos Body Martial Art could show their full potential!

    She snaked around Ryuu as if she was ying with him, and each strike had the perfect amount of power behind it so she could seamlessly transition into the next one without losing any momentum.

    Mira entered a trance-like state as she poured her heart, body, and soul into this fight. However, her ultimate goal wasn''t to win.

    No, Ryuu was like an enhanced version of Cine! He was the perfect practice dummy for her to hone and refine her skills!

    Master Izaria noticed this and smiled bitterly, "This girl�� She''s using my Little Ryuu as a training dummy!"

    Although she said this inwardly, she was shocked, ''What the heck is up with herprehension speed?! They just started fighting, and she''s able to keep up with Ryuu! I get that he hasn''t used his full power yet, but isn''t this a little ridiculous?! At this rate, she''ll reach the 2nd Realm of Weapon Endowment before the spar is over!''

    "Woah! She really is just using him to refine any imperfections in her fighting style!" Nova, Eden, and the rest were shocked but, at the same time, conflicted. Especially Eden.

    ''Is that all she sees us as? Convenient training partners?'' They couldn''t help but think.

    "Hehehe~ I knew it! Mother is always the best!" Everyone''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as their heads shot in Dominique''s direction.

    "MOTHER?!"

    However, before they couldment on that, Mira and Ryuu''s fight reached its climax!

 Chapter 532 On Edge

    Mira and Ryuu stood before each other, panting and bloodied.

    "I don''t know about you�� but I think we should wrap this spar up," Ryuu said, and Mira nodded.

    Although she could keep going if needed, she had already learned a lot from this interaction. There wasn''t a need to continue.

    "Alright. Then how about we end this with onest attack?" Ryuu asked.

    "Mhmm," Mira nodded indifferently, but inwardly, she was smirking.

    Ryuu and Mira stood about a dozen meters away from each other. Golden threads converged around the tip of his greatsword while all of Mira''s Scythe Intent focused in on the de, increasing its sharpness.

    The two stared at each other for a moment before they shot out from their positions.

    "RAAAAA!" Ryuu released a war cry as he thrust his greatsword at Mira.

    Meanwhile, all of Mira''s Martial Intent entered her arms and legs, causing them to bulge as power filled them.

    The air vibrated around them, and finally, they struck!

    *FWOOOOOOOSH!!*

    *BAM!*

    Their attacks were so powerful that dust exploded outward from their positions, causing hairline fractures to appear on the arena''s floor.

    The spectators held their breaths, wondering who won or not. Unlike the others, this dust couldn''t block Master Izaria''s view, and seeing the result, a slight smile appeared on her face, and she shook her head.

    As the dust cleared, their figures were revealed.

    Ryuu stood in front of Mira, the tip of his greatsword embedded into her abdomen as golden threads wrapped around her body. On the other hand, Mira''s scythe had cut through a few of the threads and appeared behind his neck, the de cutting through his flesh.

    Everyone stood, rooted in ce, not knowing how they should react.

    "So�� who won?" Everly broke the silence, but nobody could confidently say there was a winner.

    "I guess it''s a tie?" Nova concluded, but even she wasn''t sure.

    "I want to say Mira won, but with Ryuu''s Sword Manifestation wrapped around her body, it''s hard to say," Seraphine exined.

    "No, but can''t Mira get rid of these threads with her Scythe Intent?" Eden asked.

    "...Hard to say," Rayna said quietly, but everyone heard her.

    After a bit of discussion, they called it a tie.

    Ryuu felt a cold, sharp metal digging into his neck and smiled bitterly. Still, he didn''t think he had lost.

    ''With my Sword Threads wrapped around her body, as long as I tightened them, they would separate Mira into pieces.'' Ryuu thought, confident that it was at least a tie, if not his win.

    Only Mira and perhaps Izaria knew who the true winner of this spar was.

    ''These wounds are nothing to me,'' Mira thought, trusting in her recovery ability.

    Ryuu slowly retracted his Sword Threads and backed away. Mira removed her scythe from his neck, and they stared at each other.

    "That was a good fight, Mira. I learned a lot from it. I was too arrogant to think that nobody could be my opponent. Thank you for teaching me a valuable lesson, and I apologize for underestimating you." Ryuu said sincerely, bowing slightly to Mira.

    Mira stared at him with the same indifferent eyes and asked, ".You have little experience fighting humans, don''t you?"

    Ryuu awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and released a bitter smile. "You could tell?"

    Mira nodded. "It''s fairly obvious. Your strength is extraordinary, and you have good instincts, but your attacks are too simple. Youck foresight."

    After saying that, she turned around and left the arena, leaving Ryuu deep in thought.

    Afterward, Mira walked up to Dominque. She rubbed her head and said, "How was I? Amazing, right?"

    Dominique repeatedly nodded her head with a bright smile and said, "You were the best, Mother! That man didn''t stand a chance against you!" However, after saying that, her eyes wandered to Mira''s wounds, and she couldn''t help but ask, "B-But�� are you okay? You look like you''re injured."

    Mira''s expression softened. "I''m fine, child. These wounds will heal in a few minutes."

    Mira flexed her muscles to show that they did not bother her, causing Dominique to look at her with newfound respect and admiration.

    Suddenly, a shout came from above, "Hold on!!! What''s this about you being a mother?! I thought you were gay!! Who is this child?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Master Izaria descended in front of Mira and Dominique.

    Mira''s expression hardened upon hearing this. Like a mother tiger protecting her cubs, she pushed Dominique behind her, encapsting the child with her tails.

    Her ck tail twitched in agitation and snaked around Mira''s body, ready to strike at a moment''s notice.

    ''If this nosy woman dares to do something fishy��''

    Mira''s eyes glowed, and a dark, murderous intent spilled out of them.

    ''I''ll kill her!''

    She was already on edge after hearing that the god had finally made his move, and with how the Unorthodox Faction acted after they looted a few of their Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines, she figured they wouldn''t sit still.

    Immense waves were about to make their way across the Western Continent, and Mira was doing her best to ensure she and the two people she cared about lived through it all.

    ''However, this woman keeps eavesdropping and prying into my life?. Why? Why does she care so much?'' The more Mira interacted with Izaria, the less she liked her.

    "...Why do you care?" Mira''s voice was so cold that the air around her mouth froze.

    Master Izaria paused and backed off, raising her hands, "Woah! No need to be so defensive! I was just curious about your rtionship with the girl," she said while ncing at Mira''s ck tail.

    ''What is with that tail?! My scalp goes numb just looking at it!'' Naturally, this piqued her interest, but her instincts told her she shouldn''t push her luck.

    "My rtionship with her is none of your business."

    After saying those words, she left to back down the mountain to her residence, but while walking, her ck tail never left Master Izaria''s position.

    Izaria coughed awkwardly and appeared next to Ryuu, who was still deep in thought.

    "Well, I guess that''s our cue to leave," she grabbed Ryuu''s shoulder and turned to the other girls, "Thank you for hanging out with my disciple. I''m sure he''s learned many valuable lessons from you all. I look forward to seeing your growth, but you should try to be stronger as soon as possible."

    Nova and the others tilted their heads, not understanding why she added thatst part.

    Master Izaria noticed this and smiled, "Your Sect Master will probably tell you soon, but the Continent is about to enter a state of strife, chaos, and opportunity. Talents will rise, and geniuses will fall. As Ryuu''s future wives, you must ensure you''re the former!"

    Afterward, she and Ryuu disappeared, leaving the girls dumbfounded.

    "That woman�� Why do I feel like she''s not right in the head?" Novamented, and the others couldn''t agree more.

    "While she''s a little�� quirky, she''s still an expert at the same level as the Sect Master. If she says we''re in the calm before the storm, we should take her words seriously," Everly said with a solemn expression.

    The other''s eyes narrowed as they realized she was right.

    "I suppose we must wait until the Sect Master calls for us. I''m sure she already has a n for us."

    ***

    By the time Mira made it back to her residence, most of her wounds had healed.

    Inside her room, Mira looked at Dominique and said, "If Mariaes back before I finish cultivating, just tell her to wait and not to disturb me. I can''t have any distractions for what I''m about to do."

    Dominique''s face scrunched up cutely, and she gave Mira a firm nod. "I understand, Mother! I won''t let anyone disturb you, even if it''s that creepy woman from before!"

    Mira smiled slightly and rubbed Dominique''s head. "No need to go that far. If that bitc-ahem-crazy woman shows up, please alert me."

    Dominique tilted her head but nodded, regardless.

    After settling that, Mira closed her eyes and reyed her fight with Ryuu. Cultivating couldeter. First, she has to consolidate her gains from that fight!

    Thankfully, with herprehension, it shouldn''t take her long.

    Going through the fight, she picked apart every move, every muscle twitch, every attack and pondered how she could improve it.

    Then, she studied Ryuu''s Sword Threads and figured that was the 2nd Realm of Weapon Endowment, [Manifestation]. She wondered how she could reach such a Realm with both her Martial and Scythe Intents.

    While fighting with Ryuu gave her some valuable insights into the next Realm, just that alone wasn''t enough to catapult her to the [Manifestation Realm]. Reluctantly, she could only stop trying.

    After a few minutes, Mira finally finished digesting everything and moved on to what she was forced to put off because she was short on time.

    She was finally going to start her Inner Body Cultivation!

 Chapter 533 Inner Body Cultivation: Gates Of Purgatory

    Mira sent her consciousness inside her body to look for the so-called "shackles" the [Mortal''s Guide to Inner Body Cultivation] mentioned. ording to the information she received on Inner Body Cultivation, these shackles are holding her back from releasing her full potential.

    The only problem was that she didn''t know where they were or what they looked like. With no other choice left, she swept her consciousness across her body, hoping to find something abnormal.

    However, unsurprisingly, she found nothing.

    If it were so easy to find these "shackles," Mira would''ve found them ages ago if all she had to do was give her body a quick once over.

    ''If I can''t find them like this, what should I do? The guide said to look deep inside me, but what does that mean? Despite my extraordinarily sharp senses, I still couldn''t detect anything in my body.''

    Mira pondered what the guide meant by "deep" as she felt that was the most important clue.

    ''Is it trying to point toward the part of my body with the most depth and function?''

    She felt she might be on the right track with that question, then began listing all her body parts.

    After she evolved, her body''s primary organs were the stomach, brain, uterus, lungs, intestines, and heart. Even then, they differed significantly from normal human organs.

    For example, her intestines are no longer upwards of 5 meters but around 1 meter long.

    She was also missing a few organs that a regr human should have, simply because she didn''t need them to survive.

    One of which was the kidneys. Mira didn''t need kidneys because if she had to urinate, her Qi or blood would take care of it.

    That''s if she had to urinate in the first ce! As a cultivator in the Core Formation Realm, she does not need to eat or drink anything, as her body can sustain itself on Qi alone. Even if she does, her blood, stomach, and Qi will dissolve it almost instantly, preventing any waste build-up.

    After reviewing her organs, Mira felt her heart had the most depth among all of them.

    ''My heart is where several bloodlines live. It''s what pumps the vitality-filled blood through my body, filling me with strength, and aside from my Core, it''s the mostplicated working organ.''

    Mira also considered her brain, but she didn''t believe anything in there was holding her back.

    If anything, that was the most advanced organ in her body! Besides, her heart provides the blood necessary for her brain to function.

    Thus, the only location for "shackles" to be in was her heart! It''s why she''s alive; it has the highest potential out of all her body parts and provides her with a constant stream of strength.

    ''If there are limitations on my body, it can only start there!''

    Mira sent her consciousness inside her heart, but still saw nothing out of the ordinary.

    However, this didn''t discourage her. Instead, she entered her Left Ventricle and followed the path her blood circtes through her body.

    After following one rotation, Mira entered a trance-like state and continued experiencing the route her blood took throughout her body.

    She examined how it strengthened her tissue, muscles, and organs, watched how it kept everything working, and even saw how it recycled older blood, turning it into something usable.

    After doing this for an unknown amount of time, Mira suddenly stopped and came out of her trance-like state.

    ''Hmm��? HOLY FUCK!''

    Mira opened her eyes, and standing before her was a massive gate! No, calling it massive was an understatement! It felt more like she was looking at a mountain than a gate.

    The thing was pitch ck, simr to a ck hole, which could only be seen right now because of the red, fleshy walls around her, which provided a tiny amount of light.

    The whole gate emitted an archaic, death-like aura, simr to her ck runes, but much more potent.

    Looking at it, Mira felt if she weren''t careful, it''d suck her in, consuming her body and soul!

    "To think you''d find the Gates of Purgatory so quickly. I guess you really are destined to be the Sessor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life."

    Mira heard the Guardian''s voice ring in her mind and became confused.

    ''Gates of Purgatory? Is that what this thing is called? But how is that rted to my Inner Body Cultivation?''

    The Guardian ignored her question and instead asked, "Have you heard the saying ''You must enter hell before you can enter heaven?''"

    Mira shook her head, so the Guardian continued, "That''s not surprising. It''s fairly unpopr, after all. It essentially means�� To experience eternal bliss, you must know what it means to suffer, as only through despair will you find yourself."

    For some reason, a chill ran down Mira''s spine when she heard that! She didn''t know why, but the gate before her looked bigger than before.

    ''This�� What does that mean? What will happen once I open this gate?''

    "Hmm? Oh! Nothing bad will happen once you open the gate. Your body will just be a bit stronger. That''s it."

    Mira would have to be aplete fool to believe that nonsense. Although her body might get stronger, as he said, Mira refused to believe that opening ?the "Gates of Purgatory" wouldn''t do something unpleasant to her.

    ''What''s the catch?''

    "Ahahaha. I guess you caught me."<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    The Guardian clicked his tongue in disappointment and said, "Toplete your Inner Body Cultivation, you''ll have to go through Nine Hells! Each one will be unimaginably terrible, but will bring just as many benefits should you survive."

    Mira nodded her head as that sounded more in-tune with something called the "Gates of Purgatory".

    She stopped asking him questions as she knew what she needed to do next.

    Mira walked up to the massive, ck gate. She stretched out her arms and ced her palms on it.

    Cold!

    That''s the first thing she felt.

    The surface was cold�� colder than any ice she could manifest. Yet, it was harder than any metal she''s ever seen or felt.

    Just from the touch alone, Mira knew that from the weight alone, it was impossible for her to open it.

    Still, something inside her said that there was no need to brute force her way through the gate.

    "Huuu��"

    Taking a deep breath, Mira put strength into her arms and-

    *WOOSH!*

    -the gates opened!

    Mira was stunned as she didn''t think it''d be that easy! The gates basically opened by themselves! All she did was give them a little push.

    However, before she could do or say anything, a ck energy rushed out of the gates!

    DEATH!

    Mira felt deathing from that energy, but then she realized where that energy was heading!

    ? "What��?! Nooo!!"

    Not wanting her body to be consumed by this death-like energy, she tried to close the gates, but to no avail.

    The energy entered her body without resistance, and began rampaging inside her.

    Mira''s mind tensed as she waited for it to consume her, but after a few seconds, she opened her eyes.

    "Hmmm? What''s going on? Wasn''t that energy going to consume me?"

    Now, she was even more puzzled, but before she could do anything or say anything, she felt her body filling up with strength!

    The muscles on her body bulged, her bones hardened, skin tightened, and her blood pumped extra vigorous blood!

    Her skeletal and muscr structures changed slightly, which she assumed increased her potential.

    She even felt that the quality of her Qi was upgraded as well!

    Although there was no difference in her cultivation, both her body and Qi became stronger than before.

    Even her mind cleared up and processed information faster!

    ''However, isn''t this a little too��ckluster? I thought the changes brought by this gate would be a bit more apparent.''

    While she did feel stronger, it wasn''t enough to make much of a difference.

    "Hmph! All you did was open a gate that was already a part of you. What did you expect? To be a god on the spot?! In fact, you should just be happy that you received a bit of strength!"

    Mira shook her head at the Guardian''s words, but that didn''t stop her from feeling disappointed.

    "Alright. Enough being greedy. Inside that gate is where the real benefits lie. But beware, once you go in, there''s no turning back! The Gates of Purgatory aren''t there to make you feel good about yourself. Once you step in there, you''ll immediately experience your first Hell," The Guardian said with a rare tone of severity in his voice.

    "Once I pass this first Hell, will I be able to choose when to start the next one?" Mira asked.

    "Yes and no. If you pass a Hell, you won''t immediately experience another one, but that doesn''t mean you can just not do them."

    Mira nodded in understanding and mentally prepared herself for the uing suffering.

    After taking a few deep breaths, Mira''s eyes focused and she took her first step into the gate��

    Then, everything cked out and her consciousness returned to her mind!

 Chapter 534 Hell Of Pain

    "Oh? Have you finished your cultivation, Mira?"

    As soon as Mira''s consciousness returned to her mind, she heard Maria''s voice.

    However, before she could respond, her body spasmed as if someone had electrocuted her.

    "Urgh!!"

    Mira bent over and grunted in pain! Her eyes opened wide as it''s been so long since she''s felt such a sensation. In fact, thest time she felt pain equivalent to what she''s feeling now was back during the F.LD.I.L trials.

    ''Fuck! When is my own inheritance going to stop trying to kill me?!'' Mira cursed inwardly.

    "Wh-What? What happened? Are you okay?" Maria ran to Mira''s side and began examining her body, but immediately after, she became confused.

    "It doesn''t look like anything is wrong with your body. Did you experience Qi deviation or something?" Maria asked.

    Mira shook her head.

    While gritting her teeth, she raised her head to look at Maria and uttered, "It''s�� part of�� my cultivation."

    Maria nodded in understanding but still had a worried expression on her face. She has rarely heard her grunt in pain, much less cave in from it! That alone told her that was she was facing right now must be beyond her imagination.

    "This�� Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked, but Mira shook her head again.

    "Just�� *cough* speak�� normally�� What''d Aelina�� say?" Mira asked with bloodied teeth.

    Maria still looked worried, but she understood Mira wanted to turn her attention away from the pain flooding her body.

    So, like a good girlfriend, she changed the subject ording to Mira''s wishes.

    "The Sect Master said she''d dispatch a few Elders and would keep her ears open for any news about my parents. I told her ces I felt like they might have gone, but this world is too hard to predict. Who knows if they''re actually there?"

    Maria''s face scrunched up and her head lowered. She didn''t feel good about this situation at all. Her parents were missing, and unknown people were chasing after them.

    She didn''t even know these people! Yet, for some reason, they''re trying to capture her parents to harm her and, by proxy, hurt Mira. That didn''t make any sense, but Maria''s trust in Mira was at its peak.

    She''d never lied before, and Maria didn''t believe she''d lie to her in the future either. At least, not about important topics like this.

    Still, she couldn''t help but feel a little skeptical about this whole situation. Who wouldn''t?

    To some extent, it almost felt like Mira was too paranoid about all this, but after giving it a little thought, she realized that wasn''t the case.

    Although Mira has never trusted people, she wouldn''t act like a scared little rabbit just because someone was out there scheming against her.

    ''But, how does she know they''re after my parents? I''ve always been by her side for over a month now. Where did she learn this information?'' That was what Maria really wanted to know, but looking at Mira keeled over on the bed, she shook her head and put off those questions.

    ? She reached out her hand to rub Mira''s back, but-

    "Kugh!"

    -Mira grunted in pain, and her body jolted as soon as her hand made contact with her skin.

    Maria hurriedly retracted her hand and said, "I''m sorry! I didn''t know that would hurt you!"

    Mira waved her hand, telling her it was fine, then closed her eyes, "I''m�� going to�� focus on�� limating to the pain. If you think�� your parents are�� nearby�� feel free to take�� Rhydian with you."

    Mira would never say something like that if she were in the right state of mind. She''d never let Maria roam the world with the god''sckeys after her, but it''s also true that she trusted Rhydian.

    The wolf, when flying, is incredibly fast. If she wanted to escape an altercation, very few on this continent could catch her.

    Maria smiled softly and said, "Thank you for your concern, Mira. I''ll do as you say if I ''feel'' them nearby. However, I think, for now, it''s best to leave it up to the Sect Master and the Elders. They can scour the continent much faster than me, after all."

    Afterward, she moved away from Mira so as not to disturb her. She could tell Mira was trying to limate to the pain filling her body and didn''t want to be a burden during that process.

    Meanwhile, Mira was having a conversation with the Guardian.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    ''What the hell is going on?! How is this so painful?!'' Mira screamed while gnashing her teeth, only to hear the Guardian chuckle.

    "What? Did you think something called the Gates of Purgatory would go easy on you? You might have grown ustomed to pain, but that doesn''t mean you''re impervious to it. The Hell of Pain has exploited that weakness," He exined.

    "Hell of Pain?"

    "Yup! That''s what you''re going through right now! It''s the first out of the Nine Hells you''ll have to go through toplete your Inner Body Cultivation. Honestly, I feel you''re pretty lucky to have this as your first Hell."

    ''Lucky? Lucky my ass! I can barely think because of the pain, much less talk. God forbid I move!''

    "Hmph! What do you know?! If you were to face this Hell in one of theter Realms, you''d turn into a bumbling idiot. No, if your mental fortitude wasn''t high enough, your brain and body might just shut down and die! So, quit your bitching and get over it!"

    ''Kurgh!'' Mira grunted but did as he said anyways. Still, she had a question that she couldn''t just ignore.

    ''How long will this Hellst? Will this go on indefinitely, or are there conditions I need to meet to move onto the next Hell?''

    "From what I know, there are two conditions you have to meet. First, you have to grow ustomed to this type of pain. I don''t mean something as simple as gritting your teeth and moving on with your life. No, this pain has to be so ineffective that you can hardly feel it."

    ''Okay, that''s easy. What''s the second?''

    "You have to be able to control your sense of touch freely. You have to be able to turn it off and on at will, amplify and reduce it, and iste it so that only specified body parts can, well�� feel. This goes for the Qi around you as well. You should be so sensitive that you can feel the atmospheric Qi undte around you."

    ''...''

    ''...Are you serious?''

    "Yup! Those are the only conditions you need to meet to pass this Hell!"

    ''Isn''t that a little too difficult? This is only the 1st Hell, after all! Also, I thought this was Inner Body Cultivation, not mind cultivation!''

    "Hmph! Isn''t your body a part of your body too? Part of what makes a cultivator superior to a mortal is that they can control their bodies in ways that should be impossible. However, over 99% of cultivators never learn to control their minds. Instead, they are a ve to it! You must learn to ovee this hurdle and gain control of your mind!"

    Mira was confused by what the Guardian said, as never once had she felt like a ve to her own mind. No, it''d be more correct to say that if it weren''t for her mind, she might not have achieved what she has today.

    ''Whatever. For now, I''ll just focus on getting used to the pain.''

    ��Is what she thought, but the Guardian didn''t seem to agree.

    "No!! You should try and achieve both conditions at the same time! Although the pain you''re feeling right now is terrible, it''s also an opportunity! The 1st Hell stimtes all the pain receptors in your body. You can use this to find the areas in your brain that control your sense of pain, eventually leading you to the areas that control your sense of touch."

    Mira''s eyes lit up at his suggestion.

    ''Fuck me! Why didn''t I think of that?!'' She cursed but didn''t waste any more time.

    With her understanding of her body, extraordinary senses, andprehension speed, it didn''t take Mira long to locate the parts of her nervous system which regte pain.

    Then, she followed that line back to her brain. After doing this several times for all the different parts of her body, she managed to locate the areas in her brain that handle pain and, simrly, touch.

    ''That was�� a lot easier than I thought it would be.'' Mira thought.

    ''Now, I just need to gain authority over these parts of my brain. But the problem is, how do I do that?''

    The brain, no matter what world she''s lived in, has always been a mysterious entity. The amount of work and information it can process in a single second is mind-boggling. Like most people, she''s been curious about the brain, how it works, and what it can do, but that''s it.

    She never dived deeper into those sorts of topics as it''d take too long to research, and Mira neither had the time, patience or need for such things.

    However, now, she has begun to rethink her stance.

    ''Maybe the brain is a more mysterious entity than I originally thought.''

    With that thought, Mira separated her attention from finding ways to gain authority over her nervous system to how the brain interacts with the rest of her body.

 Chapter 535 Hell Of Pain Part 2

    After a day passed, Mira finally stopped inspecting her brain. Even with herprehension speed, the brain was still a mystery. Still, she did understand how it worked, which led her to conclude that she didn''t want to take over the brain''s job.

    ''There''s no way I can process information better, faster, and more efficiently than my brain. If I had to do it manually, I''d die from a sensory overload!''

    Although that was a bit of an exaggeration, she really didn''t want to do what her brain did. She''d never get anything done if she were to do that!

    "You don''t need to actively do what your brain does. You just need to have the ability to control certain aspects of it when needed," The Guardian said.

    ''Yeah, I know. I already have a solution to that problem.''

    She wasn''t trying to rece her brain in the first ce. She just needed to gain authority over it.

    ''To do this, I need to tweak the hierarchy in my brain, making my consciousness the Master and everything else the subordinate. I don''t need to change anything else,'' Mira said.

    "That''s�� an interesting way to go about it. I thought for sure you''d want to control every aspect of it."

    Mira snorted and shook her head, ''Hmph! Why would I want to do that? It''d be a huge waste of time for no improvement. What can I do that my brain can''t already? Nothing! It works perfectly fine, and it would stay that way whether I controlled everything or not.''

    "If you say so," The Guardian shrugged.

    Mira no longer bothered with him and began implementing her idea. Now that she had a rough understanding of her brain and a near-perfect understanding of her body, it wasn''t difficult to set up this Master-Servant rtionship.

    Mira activated her Martial Intent but didn''t use it to strengthen her body. Instead, she wrapped around the part of her brain which housed her consciousness and, supposedly, her soul.

    *Vwoop!*

    Now that the consciousness part of her brain was stronger than the rest, she went around and ''beat'' the other parts of her brain into submission, then ''tied'' them to her consciousness.

    It sounded impossible to do, and usually, it would be, but with Mira''s Martial Intent, the Hell of Pain, and her vast experience with her mind and body, she could bridge the gap between the impossible and possible.

    After she finished subordinating her brain, Mira felt a weird sensatione over her. Nothing about her was different, but she felt more��

    ''...In control?'' Mira mused, but suddenly, her mind settled, all thoughts cleared, her eyes became hazy, and she entered a trance-like state!

    In her mind, from a 3rd-person perspective, she saw herself sitting in a lotus position. She could also see her bones, muscles, organs, blood, and every other part of her body as if she had X-ray vision.

    However, there was nothing in her head, as if it was a void.

    But that all changed in the next second. Above her body, Mira saw an illusory skull and brain descend upon her.

    When the skull entered her body, it didn''t immediately connect with her spine, leaving things somewhat out of ce.

    It then started shifting into ce, and after a few minutes, like thest piece of a puzzle, something clicked.

    *Click!*

    A bright light shone out of Mira''s body, blocking her view!

    Then, as if the floodgates were broken, Mira felt a surge of power and information enter her body! Herprehension of Martial Intent rose until it reached the peak of the 1st Realm, her Scythe Intentprehension increased a bit, power filled her body, and she felt��plete.

    It felt like two halves, which used to work together, became whole.

    A good example would be the difference between driving a car virtually and actually bing a self-drive car.

    There''s no middle-man anymore. Notency.

    No more mind-body dy.

    Mira even felt like her reaction speed had reached a near-perfect level. If she were to see an attacking, as long as her opponent wasn''t overwhelmingly stronger, she would be able to dodge most attacks.

    Not to mention, her senses were improving at a rapid rate. The pores in her skin could feel the wind blowing across them.

    She could feel the subtle fluctuations in the air caused by Maria and Dominique''s breathing. She could feel the earth tremble as her subordinates walked around the valley.

    Every little thing, as long as it caused a disturbance, she could sense it.

    ''Fucking hell�� This is amazing!'' Mira''s mouth hung wide open as she became speechless.

    "Congrattions on passing the 1st Hell, the Hell of Pain. You have eight more to go!" The Guardian said, waking Mira up from her stupor.

    ''What? So fast? Didn''t you say it was supposed to be hard?'' Mira was skeptical. Although she didn''t feel any more pain, she didn''t think it''d be over so fast.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Mira couldn''t see it, but the Guardian smiled bitterly, "Yes�� It''s supposed to be difficult, but you''re too abnormal! You''ve experienced numerous reincarnations,prehended Martial Intent, and have an unreasonably highprehension speed. As soon as you started this Hell, you skipped to the finish line."

    Mira nodded as he was right. She had alreadyid the foundations toplete this Hell. If anything, she''d be disappointed in herself if it took any longer than it did.

    "However, don''t be too proud. The Gates of Purgatory isn''t to be underestimated. The difficulty will spike once you reach the 3rd Hell. From then on, each one will be a long, arduous journey."

    Mira caught the hidden meaning in his words and became a little excited, "So, you''re saying the 2nd Hell is easy for me?"

    "...Yes. It''s more straightforward than the first one. It might''ve been a bit hard if you began Inner Body Cultivation a year ago, but now, you barely have to lift a finger."

    Mira''s eyes opened wide in surprise and immediately sent her consciousness inside the Gates of Purgatory.

    There was no reason for her to wait. It''s not like she needed to consolidate her Inner Body Cultivation''s foundation.

    When she stepped into the Gates of Purgatory this time, she didn''t ck out before she could look inside. Instead, she was actually able to step through the gates.

    However, she was left a little disappointed as other than nine doors, the rest was a ck void.

    Shaking her head, she pushed these thoughts out of her mind and looked at the doors.

    They were all the same size but different colors. From the left, the color of the doors was Purple, Red, Grey, Bright Orange, ck, Dark Brown, White with ck Runes, Multi-colored, and Red and Blue swirling around each other.

    The one at the leftmost position was open. The door to the right of it was unlocked, while the rest of them were behind a lock and chain.

    Mira looked at the one on the left and guessed it was the door to the Hell of Pain.

    Then, she looked at the one next to it, the Red door.

    ''I suppose that''s the entrance to the 2nd Hell.''

    "You''re correct. To start the 2nd Hell''s trial, open that door."

    Mira nodded and walked over to the door, but before she opened it, she got curious about something.

    ''Is the Gates of Purgatory real? If yes, then are the Nine Hells also real?''

    "..."

    The Guardian went silent for a moment, which surprised Mira. Usually, he likes to spew out nonsense whenever he has the chance, but this time he seemed oddly hesitant to speak.

    After a while, he spoke, "Yes, the Gates of Purgatory is real, but the Nine Hells are�� well, they aren''t fake, but they aren''t the same as what you''re going through. The Nine Hells you''re facing is unique to you. At their core, they are meant to be used as a tool for your growth."

    Mira nodded and pushed these thoughts to the back of her head. Whether or not they were real had no bearing on her immediate future.

    She ced her hand on the door to the 2nd Hell, gave it a gentle push, and-

    *Swoosh!*

    -she cked out again, and her consciousness returned to her mind.

    ***

    Outside Mira''s body in her room, everything was peaceful. Maria and Mira were cultivating, Dominique was sleeping, and Rhydian was doing both.

    Mira''s body had stopped trembling in pain a few minutes ago, allowing Maria to breathe a sigh of relief as it seemed Mira had got whatever happened under control.

    About a minuteter, Maria opened her eyes as she couldn''t concentrate on cultivating.

    She stared at Mira with all kinds of emotions evident in her eyes. She knew Mira had been in a bad, no, terrible mood ever since she learned of people scheming against her, but she wasn''t sure how tofort her.

    ''The only thing I can do to make her feel better is to get stronger, but will that really help? It''ll take years for that to happen, but we don''t have years. She needs me stronger now.''

    As she was thinking about this, something suddenly happened to Mira''s body.

    It was unmoving like usual, but now she was leaking blood out of every orifice!

    "Mira!!"

 Chapter 536 Hell Of Blood

    Mira opened her eyes when she heard Maria''s scream and looked around but-

    "Huh?"

    -everything was blurry!

    "Mother! What''s happening, Mother?! Why are you bleeding?!" Dominique freaked out and ran over to Mira but didn''t know what to do.

    She could feel something leaking out of her body and became confused. She wiped her face to clear her eyes, and what she saw made her expression change.

    "Blood? Is this the next Hell? But how am I supposed to pass it?"

    Mira ignored Maria and Dominique''s panic as she recalled the Guardian''s words.

    ''Let''s see. He said that if I started this Hell a year ago, it''d be much harder than it is now. What did I do or get over thest year that could help me in this situation?'' Mira''s mind spun, and she quickly reached a conclusion.

    She''s done a lot over thest year, but only one thing she plundered could be helpful in this situation.

    ''The chimera''s altar!''

    She remembered the Guardian saying it''d help her when she started her Inner Body Cultivation.

    Mira brought out the altar and the blood sphere that came along with it but needed rification about what she should do next.

    ''Do I need to drink it or something?''

    "Yes! You need to consume blood during this hell." The Guardian answered her question.

    ''Hmm? But why? What''re the conditions to pass this Hell?''

    "The 2nd Hell is called the Hell of Blood, during which you will constantly lose blood until you either pass or die. However, to replenish it, you need to drink blood; the higher the quality, the better."

    ''Okay? But you haven''t answered my question.''

    "Ah, yes. The conditions aren''t too dissimr from thest Hell, but there are a few more. First, you need to be able to control your blood flow."

    ''Hmm�� After the Hell of Pain, that should be easy,'' Mira nodded.

    The Guardian continued, "Second, you must consume blood from a beast or person with a higher cultivation than you. The higher the quality, the better the effects you''ll gain from this hell."

    Mira stared at the altar and the blood sphere. The quality of the blood essence she stole from the chimera should have nearly enough to push a Rank 8 beast to Rank 9. Thus, it was like consuming a Mortal Shedding Realm expert''s blood.

    "Third, you have to learn how to replenish your Blood Essence. You don''t need to know how to replenish all of it at once; just knowing how to replenish a tiny speck is enough."

    Now, Mira was shocked, as the difficulty of this requirement was a little high. One''s Blood Essence is essential to cultivators and beasts alike, even those without a bloodline.

    Simply put, it''s the source of one''s blood and part of the reason cultivators can live so long. It''s also the blood that one''s children will inherit, depending on who the other parent is, of course.

    This is also where any bloodlines someone might possess would reside. In fact, when one''s cultivation reaches a high enough level, if they don''t have a bloodline already, their Blood Essence will evolve into something akin to a bloodline unique only to them.

    One''s Blood Essence contains tons of untapped power, but using it is the same as using one''s lifespan.

    While using it doesn''t affect one''s cultivation foundation, it''s certainly better not to use it. Mira might not know it yet, but once she reaches the Mortal Shedding Realm and above, it''ll be more important.

    There are many mysteries and benefits that Blood Essence can bring to a cultivator.

    However, the reason Mira was so shocked, yet excited, was because when she used her ck tail, she consumed part of her Blood Essence as fuel.

    Having the [Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor] Bloodline makes her Blood Essence especially powerful. Thus, every bit is precious.

    Knowing how to replenish that would not only let her regain what she lost, but it''d give her more fuel in case she ever needed to use her ck tail again.

    "Thest condition is to be able to use the nutrients within your blood to iste and heal injuries on your body."

    Mira snapped out of her reverie and nodded at the Guardian''sst condition.

    ''That''s easy. I''ve known how to do that for a while,'' Mira thought.

    "See? I told you! With that altar, blood sphere, and all the corpses you have in Storage Space, there''s no need for you to move! The only challenging aspect about this Hell for you is restoring your Blood Essence, but it shouldn''t be that difficult. After all, you have the ability to devour others and turn them into your own power."

    ''The ck runes! Ugh! Why did I never think of that?!''

    Mira felt like pping herself now that she thought about it! Although her ck runes didn''t devour bloodlines and turn them into her own, part of what makes them so powerful is that they can restore her power, whether it be healing her injuries or refilling her Qi.

    It only makes sense that she''d be able to replenish her Blood Essence as well!

    The Guardian shrugged and said, "At least you know now."

    The two stopped talking as Mira felt the Hell of Blood draining her. She grabbed the blood sphere and was about to consume it, but Maria walked in front of her and shook her shoulders before she got the chance.

    "WAKE UP, MIRA!!"

    Mira calmly tilted her head and stared at Maria.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "What is it?"

    Maria''s eyebrows twitched, and she felt like smacking Mira over the head. However, with all the blood leaking out of her body, she didn''t dare to.

    "Why are you bleeding all over the ce?! Dominique and I were worried that something might''ve happened to you!" Maria pointed to the pool of blood below Mira and Dominique, who looked at her with fear and concern.

    Mira sighed and felt a little bad that she had caused them to worry, but she wasn''t sorry at all.

    "It''s a cultivation technique."

    Maria''s lips twitched as she looked at the serene expression on Mira''s face as she sat there, bleeding out.

    Now, she felt stupid for even asking.

    However, she couldn''t hold back her curiosity, as she''s never heard of such a masochistic cultivation technique that not only causes unimaginable pain but blood loss as well.

    "What kind of cultivation technique are you using? I thought you were going to stick with Hell Scythe Cultivation Technique."

    Mira answered without thinking too much, "It''s part of my Inner Body Cultivation."

    Maria was stunned by this answer.

    "Inner Body Cultivation? Really? I didn''t think it would be so deadly!"

    Mira shook her head. "Mine is unique. I doubt when you go through it, yours will try and kill you."

    Maria opened her mouth to say something, but Mira waved her hand dismissively.

    "That''s enough questions. I need to get back to focusing on resolving this issue, or I might really die of blood loss," Then she turned to Dominique and said, "I''m alright, kid. There''s no need to worry. It looks much worse than it is. Just wait for me. I''lle out of this stronger than before."

    "Really? Losing blood will make you stronger? Let me try!" Dominique took out a dagger and was about to slit one of her wrists, but Mira quickly wrapped Qi around the girl to stop her.

    "No! Losing blood won''t make you stronger�� Haa�� I''ll teach you more about what I''m doing after I''m done here." Afterward, she nced at Maria, who understood what she was trying to say, and walked over to Dominique to stop her from doing anything stupid again.

    Since she handled all her affairs, Mira turned to the blood sphere, stuck part of it in her mouth, and swallowed it.

    *Woosh!*

    Instantly, she could feel it replenishing her lost blood, which felt quite weird. It felt like she just added air to a popped tire.

    She consumed more of the blood sphere and focused her consciousness on what was happening inside her body.

    She could see the new bloode in, stimte her bone marrow and heart to turn it into her own and pump it throughout her body.

    Mira then concentrated on her blood flow, and since she now hadplete authority over her mind and body, all it took was a thought for her to control it. The blood flowing through her veins slowed down to a stop.

    However, as she did so, she felt the threat of death creeping up on her, so she stopped controlling her blood.

    Unfortunately, this meant that her body was still leaking blood out of every orifice.

    To counteract this, she just slowed it down instead of stopping her blood flow altogether.

    Afterward, she tossed all the corpses she had in her Storage Space into the altar, including a few pieces of a Mortal Shedding Realm expert, to improve the quality of the blood sphere.

    Then, toplete the condition of replenishing her Blood Essence, Mira wrapped her Qi around the blood sphere but focused on controlling her ck runes.

    Due to practicing her [Ruler of Death] technique, her control over them has improved.

    With a thought, the runes glowed and began absorbing the blood sphere. Mira checked inside her body and saw that what they consumed had just replenished her lost blood.

    This wasn''t what Mira wanted, but she had an idea of how she could change that.

    While controlling the blood absorbed by her ck runes, she sent it straight into where her Blood Essence resided. She then surrounded her Blood Essence with her ck runes as well and absorbed the foreign blood into it.

    ''Kugh!''

    Mira grunted in pain as the two didn''t mix, but she didn''t give up! She bombarded the foreign blood with her ck runes as if to reduce it to its most basic state and forcefully tried to merge it with her Blood Essence.

    She felt like she was on the right track and kept at it until the foreign blood was reduced and torn apart so much that it could be absorbed.

    After an unknown amount of time, Mira was panting like crazy as all that was left of the foreign blood from the blood sphere was a small, bright red ball of pure, neutral Blood Essence.

    She let out a sigh of relief, and with a thought, the small ball seamlessly merged with her own Blood Essence, increasing its quantity by a minuscule amount.

    ''I did it!''

    Then, something amazing happened!

    The Gates of Purgatory shined, and ck energy flooded her body!

 Chapter 537 Undercurrents

    As the Gates of Purgatory sent energy into her body, she could feel herself changing. Her blood vessels expanded, allowing more blood to circte in her body faster. It also slightly enhanced her bone and muscr structure and the quality of her Qi. Lastly, her body seemed more vigorous, increasing her regeneration.

    Unlike the previous Hell, Mira could feel a difference in strength with these enhancements. While it still wasn''t much, it was as if she had gained the strength of a Qi Condensation cultivator on top of her Core Formation cultivation.

    To test out her new regeneration, Mira created a de of Qi out of her fingers and shed her arm.

    *Puchi!*

    Her arm began bleeding, but the amount that oozed out of the wound was about half of what it would usually be.

    A few secondster, the wound closed up, not leaving a scar or anything.

    ''Wow! That''s some impressive healing powers. I wasn''t even trying to heal myself there, either!'' Mika was a bit shocked by how extraordinary her regeneration was but kept herposure.

    She expected something like this.

    Lastly, she inspected her Blood Essence and saw that the quantity had risen even more. It wasn''t by much, but Mira didn''t care. Just knowing that she could replenish it was enough for her.

    ''I guess I''ll need to go on a killing spree soon.'' Mira thought as the sooner her Blood Essence reached max capacity, the better.

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Maria noticed that blood was no longer leaking out of her body and sighed in relief. However, she''d be lying if she said she wasn''t shocked that Mira had to drink blood to stop bleeding!

    ''Seriously, what kind of Inner Body Cultivation is Mira doing? First, she suffered from something painful enough to make her grunt. Now, blood gushed out of her body! What''s next? Will her bones be plucked out of her skin?!'' Maria''s hair stood on end at the thought of that.

    ''If Mira keeps cultivating, I''m leaving the room with Dominique.'' Maria decided!

    "Are you done, Mother? Are you all better now?" Dominique asked with shining eyes. Ever since she firstid eyes on Mira, she''s always been invincible, and it wasn''t any different this time.

    Mira turned to Dominique and nodded, "Of course, I''m fine. How could I not be? I was just cultivating a unique technique that needed me to lose a bit of blood to get stronger."

    "Then�� are you stronger now?" Dominique asked hesitantly, as she knew it was taboo to talk about another cultivator''s strength.

    However, Mira didn''t seem to care. She nodded indifferently and said, "I''m a bit stronger. Though, strength wasn''t the main thing I gained from this cultivation session. It was my regeneration that took a huge leap."

    "Really?! There''s a technique that can do that?! Can you teach me?" Dominique asked, erging her big doe eyes.

    "Sure, but like I told Maria. What you go through won''t be the same as mine."

    Dominique nodded excitedly and ran over to Mira.

    "You promised! You can''t go back on it now that you''ve said it!"

    After spending some more time with the two of them, Mira cleaned up the room and went to sleep with Dominique. She wasn''t ready to start the next Hell as the Guardian said she''d have a tough time with it.

    She wasn''t scared she would die from it, but Mira had to ensure she was in peak condition before doing it.

    Significant undercurrents were making their way through the Western Continent, and she couldn''t be holed up in her room trying to survive some bullshit. Doing that was akin to sentencing those close to her to death.

    ***

    In a random location on the Western Continent, the undercurrents Mira was worried about were currently underway.

    Maria''s parents, Cole and Erika, were resting in a nearby city called Ariodon. They had just finished an extended mission, turned it in at the Mercenary Association, and were nning to take a little break.

    "Hey, Honey, how do you think Maria''s doing? Do you think Mira is taking good care of her?" Cole asked his wife as they sat inside an inn.

    Erika nodded without hesitation and asked, "Do you really think if something did happen to Maria, Mira would''ve stayed silent? I''m pretty sure the whole continent would know of her if something like that happened!"

    Cole thought for a second, but he had to agree with his wife. He couldn''t imagine that bloodthirsty woman not going on a rampage, killing everything in sight if something happened to their baby girl.

    "You''re right. They are probably living it up, getting stronger in the Battle Maiden Sect!" Cole said proudly.

    While they didn''t know if she actually made it in, they were confident that with Mira by her side, she would.

    Erika nodded, but a look of longing appeared in her eyes as she missed her daughter. It''s been a while since they left the Zaria Family in Lunar Fox City to explore the world and get stronger.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Thest time they saw them, Mira and Maria''s strength inspired them to leave the house and pursue their dreams.

    They were free to do whatever they wanted with Maria out of the house and without familial responsibilities. They were both Core Formation Realm experts and still had a long life ahead of them.

    While they didn''t have many dreams in this life, they at least wanted to live long enough to see Maria rise to the top and maybe give her a few more siblings.

    "On another note, have you felt something strangetely? It almost feels like there are more eyes on us than usual." Erika asked, and Cole nodded.

    "So, I''m not the only one, huh? I saw a few people ncing at us earlier, but I couldn''t figure out why. I just yed it off as my imagination, but it seems that''s not the case," Cole said with a frown.

    He thought back to all the missions they''d taken and everything they''d done ever since leaving the Zaria family, but he couldn''t recall ever offending someone. At least, not enough to warrant this kind of attention.

    A few people were annoyed that they had grabbed a mission before them, but that was all. Those people just grumbled for a moment before picking another one. It''s not like the Mercenary Associationcks things for them to do.

    Erika did the same but couldn''te up with any reasons why they were being watched.

    "Do you think Maria got into some trouble, and now people are looking for us to get back at her?" She asked.

    Cole opened his mouth to shut down that idea, but when he thought about it, that sounded usible.

    "I�� Maybe? I don''t know. Although that girl is a troublemaker, she''s incredibly nice. I can''t see anyone getting so mad at her that they''d want to hunt us down, but maybe she took advantage of the wrong person. It''s impossible for us to know."

    Erika agreed with his words as even though her daughter is a little�� unique, she''s not mean.

    *Tap**Tap**Tap**Tap*

    Suddenly, the two of them stopped talking as they heard footsteps in the hallway outside the room. Soon, the footsteps stopped right in front of their door, and then��

    Silence!

    No knock or anything! They just stood there. Cole and Erika could tell something was very wrong. They had just finished talking about how they felt they were being watched, and now this happens?

    While there might be coincidences in this world, they refused to believe that the people on the other side of the door came with good intentions.

    They both took out their weapons and prepared for battle.

    However, their expressions changed when they felt someone approaching from outside the inn!

    Cole turned to his wife, pointed to himself, and whispered, ''I''ll cover the door.''

    He then pointed at Erika and said, ''You cover the back.''

    Erika nodded and prepared to strike as soon as the intruders busted into the room.

    "..."

    A palpable silence descended onto the room, causing cold sweat to drip down Cole and Erika''s backs, but they were much more experienced now after they left the family and could stay calm.

    However, time continued to pass, but nothing happened.

    At some point, they even began to think they were crazy!

    ''What''s going on? Were we really mistaken? Are they not here for us?''

    Such thoughts entered their minds, but they stayed on high alert. If they''ve learned anything as cultivators, it''s always to be aware of their surroundings, and right now, they can sense people all around them!

    Although this was an inn, there was nobody in it except for them! For something like this to happen is extremely odd!

    After a few minutes of waiting, the two grew restless and began contemting attacking first��

    *BANG!*

    They didn''t have to wait any longer as the intruders burst into the room!

 Chapter 538 Seeking Refuge

    Before the guy could attack, Erika swung her sword at the man''s neck, wanting to end this as soon as possible.

    *ng!*

    Her sword bounced off the shaft of a spear, making her click her tongue in annoyance.

    "Tch."

    She didn''t back off and kept up the aggression, swinging her sword again.

    However, it was blocked just like before, but Erika predicted such a thing. As the two weapons collided, she pulled out a short sword from her Spatial Ring and thrust it into the guy''s stomach.

    "What the-!"

    *Puchi!*

    "Ugh!"

    The man tried to raise a Qi Barrier, but Erika''s attack was so sudden and strong that it broke past his defenses and pierced his stomach.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t dead yet, and Erika knew that.

    She removed her short sword and stabbed him again with it.

    The intruder managed to block it this time with his spear, but Erika had already prepared for her next attack!

    ''Triple Draws.''

    Three illusory swords appeared around her sword, empowering it by several folds.

    The guy saw the attack iing, but there was nothing he could do. He could only curse himself for taking this job and being too weak toplete it!

    "NOOOO!"

    *Shing!*

    Erika''s sword sliced through his neck, removing his head.

    After finishing him, she didn''t even look at his dead body. She turned around and dashed over to her husband, who was currently fighting four people.

    Meanwhile, who was on the defensive, sensed his wife approaching and smiled.

    ''She finished him off quickly.''

    He was a bit surprised Erika could be so brutal but understood why. They were fighting at a disadvantage, and only when they were together could they make up for the deficit in numbers.

    With his eyes, he signaled Erika saying, ''I''ll take two, and you take the other two.''

    She nodded and followed his instructions.

    The four guys who were battling against Cole were surprised that theirrade died so fast, but they weren''t distressed as he was just bait in the first ce.

    If he captured one of them himself, great. If not, it didn''t matter.

    However, if there was one downside to this mission that inhibited a significant portion of their strength, it was the fact that they had to capture Cole and Erika alive.

    ''Capture these two alive. If they are found dead, it will be your face on the bounty instead of theirs.''

    That was the description of the bounty they were given, which they took very seriously.

    ''However, why did nobody tell us how strong these two were?!''

    The four intruders thought simultaneously as Cole and Erika attacked, pushing them back.

    All four of them were in the middle andter stages of the Core Formation Realm, but Cole and Erika were actually at the peak of the Realm!

    Since they were the dregs of the Unorthodox Faction, they weren''t given ess to the best techniques or strongest abilities. Not to mention, their foundation was trash. Thus, theirparative power was weaker than their target.

    The only thing they had going for them was they had more experience in taking human lives and numbers.

    However, sometimes shitty teammates were worse than any enemy could ever be.

    *Shing!*

    Cole''s sword fluttered in the wind, heading for the intruder''s neck. The man wasn''t even given enough time to react before his head left his body.

    That one move changed the whole power dynamic of the fight.

    ''Now, I just need to finish this guy off, and I can help my wife.'' Cole thought as he prepared for his next move.

    Qi gathered around his sword, and once he depleted around 15% of his Core, he stopped.

    Cole''sst opponent noticed that he was preparing for a big attack, and his expression changed.

    ''Fuck! Screw the mission! If I don''t kill him now, I''ll die!'' He thought and lunged at Cole, thrusting at his head.

    However, Cole had just finished his preparations.

    He stared at the man who attacked them out of nowhere and smiled.

    ''Heaven-Smiting Sword!''

    He raised his sword above his head and swung!

    *Swoosh!*<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    *BOOOOM!*

    The sword came down with such an intense force that not only was the man bisected into two pieces, but he also destroyed the room!

    The two people attacking Erika became disoriented and were pushed back by Cole''s attack.

    Erika, who sensed the technique her Husband was about to use, didn''t let this opportunity pass and attacked her opponents before they could regain their senses.

    Numerous fiery Qi Swords appeared around her.

    ''Go!''

    She pointed her finger at the two men, and all the Qi Swords shot in their direction.

    *Puchi!*

    *Puchi!*

    The swords punctured their bodies, turning them into swiss cheese, and killing them on the spot.

    "Phew��!"

    Erika let out a sigh of relief as she saw life fading from their eyes.

    "Are you okay?"

    Cole walked up to her and asked.

    Erika nodded. "Mmhm. Those guys were too weak to hurt me. They were just a bit troublesome to deal with."

    Cole agreed with Erika there and couldn''t help but ask.

    "I wonder where they came from and why they attacked us."

    "Well, let''s find out." Erika motioned for the two of them to loot their dead bodies.

    Soon, they had 5 Spatial Rings in their hands, and when they searched them, their eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

    "What the��?! Why is the Hidden Sanguine Sect after us?! I don''t remember ever offending them!"

    "Wait! Isn''t this a symbol from the Crimson yer Sect? Why are they here?!"

    "Damn! They even have a bounty to capture us alive! How''d they even get our faces?! We''re just two nobodies from the middle of nowhere!"

    Erika and Cole eximed in fear as they searched through their storage rings. Although they didn''t know why this was happening to them, they learned one thing from all this.

    "The Unorthodox Faction is after us!"

    That''s right! It was just a small Sect looking for their heads, but an entire faction!

    The two felt like crying at this point. What are they supposed to do against one of the top powers on the continent?

    "...H-Honey, what should we do? Where should we go? Is-Is there anywhere we CAN go?" Erika asked, her voice quivering.

    Cole hugged his wife from behind to calm her down and tried to think calmly about their situation.

    Right now, they were in one of the worst possible scenarios they could be in, with seemingly no way out. If they both fell into despair here, all that awaited was death or worse.

    After going through numerous situations in his mind, only one had any semnce of actually working.

    "...We need to take refuge at one of the Orthodox Sects. Preferably, we enter the Battle Maiden Sect as Maria is already there, but I doubt they''ll let me in, considering they''re an all-girls Sect," He said confidently, trying to assure his wife, but he knew just how absurd this n was.

    The top Orthodox Sects on the Western Continent don''t just ept anybody into their ranks. Only the best of the best are allowed to join, and they are far from that. Their strength could be considered average at best.

    Not to mention, none of the Sects were recruiting right now. They''d have to get on their knees and beg if they wanted to seek refuge in one.

    Lastly, would a Sect even risk their lives for two weaklings they don''t even know?

    No, they wouldn''t. If pushes to shove and the entire Unorthodox Factiones knocking on their doors, the Sect won''t hesitate to throw them to the curb to prevent unnecessary bloodshed.

    As much as it sucked, that was the reality of their situation.

    They could go into hiding, but how long will thatst? The world might be big, but is it big enough to hide from one of the Continent''s major powers?

    Cole didn''t think so.

    Hell, they might have trouble leaving the city, much less finding a ce they can hide out for months or even years toe.

    Theirst and only hope in this situation was to put their lives in the hands of someone stronger than them.

    Erika fell silent after hearing her husband''s suggestion, and after giving it some thought, she couldn''t think of a better n.

    "Alright. We''ll go with your n, but before we do that, we have to make it out of this city alive." Erika said, not wanting to spend too long on a convoluted n when they might not survive the day.

    Cain nodded as he, too, could feel multiple auras converging on their location.

    While they felt bad that they had destroyed the inn, they didn''t have the luxury of apologizing.

    Without any more hesitation, the two got up and left the scene. While Cole and Erika were running, they could feel the crowd staring at them as they headed for the exit.

    Amongst those stares were ones filled with ill-intent and contempt.

 Chapter 539 Captured

    After leaving the city, Erika and Cole ran in a random direction as fast as they could. They could follow the nter, but first, they had to lose the people watching them from afar.

    After they left, someone wearing a ck cloak near the city entrance pulled out a Communication Talisman.

    "We have confirmed the bounty''s location. The targets just ran out of Ariodon City and are heading south. They are at the 9th Stage of the Core Formation Realm, but theirbat ability is average. I haven''t spotted any kind of protector, and they don''t seem to be part of any Sect."

    Soon, the cloaked man heard a voice from the other side of the Communication Talisman.

    "Understood. Thank you for the information. If I can capture them, I''ll split the rewards with you as per our agreement."

    The cloaked man trembled in excitement as even though he would only get a portion of the rewards, that was still enough to save countless years'' worth of effort.

    "I''ll keep you updated in case there''s a change," He said.

    "Do as you like."

    ***

    Cole and Erika ran for about half an hour before they stopped feeling invasive gazes on them.

    "Haaaa... Did we lose them?"

    Erika asked her husband just to confirm.

    Cole nodded, "I believe so, but I fear this is only the beginning."

    Erika tilted her head, not quite understanding what Cole was saying. Cole noticed this, and his expression turned serious.

    "Didn''t you feel like there were too many eyes focused on weaklings like us?"

    Erika nodded but became puzzled why he brought this up. She looked at her husband, questioning him with her eyes.

    Cole continued, "How much of a bounty is on our heads for all those people to look for us?"

    Erika''s expression changed, and she immediately came to the same conclusion as Cole. Just based on how many people were watching them in some random city, it could be said that their bounty wasn''t low.

    ? If that''s the case, their heads might attract stronger Unorthodox Faction members!

    "Damn! What the hell did we do for these people to chase us so relentlessly?!" Erika cursed.

    Cole smiled bitterly as he had the same thoughts as his wife.

    Suddenly, the atmosphere around them changed. Their senses picked up dozens of auras converging on them from all sides. They could even feel someone much more powerful than them in the distance, just watching.

    Erika''s heart dropped into the depths of her stomach at this sight. She couldn''t believe they couldn''t even reach the next city before being surrounded.

    Cole walked up to his wife and gently held her hand.

    Erika looked at her husband''s face and noticed no traces of panic, despair, or rage. He just had a look of mncholic resignation. He had the face of a man about to be deployed into a war he knew he''d lose. Still, in the depths of his eyes was an unyielding fighting spirit that refused to be burnt out, even in the direst of situations.

    His expression said more than a thousand words ever could, and it made Erika''s heart twist in pain. She knew that this might be thest time she''ll get to see her husband, but instead of crying orining, she just tightly held Cole''s hands and stared into his eyes.

    The two stared into each other''s eyes, conveying all they needed to say to each other. However, they couldn''t stay like this forever, as enemies were still closing in on them.

    After a few moments, Cole opened his mouth.

    "It seems there''s nowhere to run." He said, his tone calm and gentle like a morning breeze.

    Erika''s expression mellowed, and a sad smile appeared on her face.

    "It seems that way."

    Erika forced back the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks and steadied herself.

    "Fight to the bitter end?"

    Cole asked as he took out his sword.

    "Fight to the bitter end," Erika nodded, doing the same thing.

    They stood there in silence, waiting for the enemies to approach, and after about ten seconds, they were within sight.

    "I don''t know what will happen to us after this, but I doubt I''ll get another chance to say this. I love you, Erika. The life we lived was the best life a man like me could''ve asked for. We endured pain and suffering together, raised a wonderful daughter, and spent our final years doing what we loved. If I could do it all over again, I would do so without hesitation."

    Cole''s eyes became red as he said this, but his expression never changed. He couldn''t afford to show weakness here. Not in front of his wife.

    Erika, however, couldn''t prevent the tears from falling down her face just like raindrops fell from the sky. She bit her lip while her hands tightened around her sword, but she pushed back her emotions onest time as she knew that this was the only chance she''d get to say what she wanted to her husband.

    "I-I love you too, Cole, more than I ever thought possible. Marrying and having a child with you was the best thing to ever happen in my life... A-Although the time we spent on this earth was short, I believe we experienced more happiness than anyone, and isn''t that what life is all about? I have no regrets in this life and am more than willing to spend my final moments with you, my love."

    A single tear ran down Cole''s eye, but now wasn''t the time to be emotional as the enemies were now within range.

    However, before he attacked, he still had onest thing to say to his wife.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "May we meet again in our next life, Erika Zaria."

    ".....M-May we meet again in our next life, Cole Zaria."

    *BOOOOOOM!!*

    Erika and Cole shot out toward their enemies with overwhelming power. Now wasn''t the time to hold back, as this may very well be theirst fight, and they refused to die a dog''s death!

    If they could bring down just one more of these bastards with them, they could give a little more meaning to their deaths.

    *CLANG!!**CLANG!!**CLANG!!**CLANG!!**CLANG!!*

    *BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!*

    They shed with the Unorthodox Faction members with nothing held back.

    "AAHHH! FUCK! WE''VE BEEN TRICKED!"

    ''Heaven-Smiting Sword!''

    "WHY ARE THEY SO STRONG?!"

    ''Triple Draws.''

    "Dammit! That bastard, Vahn, is using us as fodder!!"

    ''Light Canon!''

    "Vahn!! May you experience eternal suffering!! AHHH-!!"

    ''me Swords.''

    Screams rang out as Cole and Erika tore through their enemies. The earth shook, and craters and cracks formed in the ground all around them. Blood and guts pooled under them, staining the earth red.

    Cole and Erika learned early on that their opponents were trying to capture rather than kill them. They didn''t question why this was and merely took advantage of it.

    This handicap, coupled with the fact that not only did their opponents have lower cultivation, but those from the Unorthodox Faction wereparatively weaker than those who weren''t allowed, allowed Cole and Erika to kill them as fast as possible.

    Cole and Erika didn''t care about their lives; they knew those were already forfeited and just fought with all their power to take down as many people as possible.

    However, unknowingly, this resolve stimted their potential as they felt their Qi control, battle sense, and strength had all risen considerably.

    They repeatedly used all their strongest techniques, swung with all their might, and traded blows on more than one asion just to kill the enemy in the shortest possible time.

    Because of that, it only took them a little over 10 minutes to clear out all the people from the Unorthodox Faction.

    They stood in the middle of all the dead bodies, bloodied and bruised, panting like there was no tomorrow, but they stood their ground.

    They knew they weren''t out of the woods yet as in the air hovered the real boss of this battle. Someone they had no confidence in beating.

    *Swoosh!*

    Before they could even prepare, the man floating in the air appeared before them.

    "I mustmend you. I didn''t think that nobodies like you could kill so many people in such a short amount of time, but I guess the old saying is true, ''Even a cornered rat would attack back.''."

    Cole and Erika looked up and saw a tall red-headed man hovering above them with a slight smile.

    "Why... are you doing this?"

    Erika asked, but the man just shrugged.

    "I don''t know. I''m just following orders."

    Erika lowered her head and faintly nced at Cole while doing so. Thetter understood what she was trying to convey.

    Just as he was about to burn his Blood Essence, the guy in the sky frowned.

    *Vwoom!*

    An overbearing pressure descended upon Erika and Cole, breaking numerous bones and forcing them to the ground.

    "Now, now, don''t do that. I have no intention of fighting you to the death. I''ll lose my head if I harm you too much or even kill you! So, just stay there obediently."

    With a sh, the man appeared behind them and karate-chopped them in the back of the neck, knocking them out.

    He then picked up their limp bodies like a sack of potatoes with a massive grin on his face.

    ''Hehehe~ Now, that juicy reward is all mine!''

 Chapter 540 Broadcast

    The world moved on like normal, not knowing that Maria''s parents were kidnapped. No, even if people knew, they wouldn''t care.

    Countless people are captured or killed every day, many of which aren''t the Unorthodox Faction''s doing.

    As for the people living in Ariodon City, they didn''t care about Maria''s parents or anyone who they killed in their battle. They just didn''t want the Unorthodox Sects to return to the city and start wreaking havoc.

    Nobody had thoughts of getting revenge, as they wanted to survive. However, everyone who witnessed this scene was wholly ignorant of the butterfly effect this incident would have on the Continent.

    Maybe if they had known�� they would''ve done everything in their power to prevent Maria''s parents from getting kidnapped.

    ***

    Inside the Battle Maiden Sect, Mira and Maria sat inside their room, either cultivating or training.

    Suddenly, without warning, Maria''s eyes snapped open, and she grasped her left chest. Her breathing instantly became ragged, she lost all color in her face, and cold sweat covered her body.

    "Haaa�� Haaa�� Haaa��"

    Mira noticed her abnormality and stopped what she was doing to focus on her. She walked up to her girlfriend, wrapped a tail around her, and gave her a pat on the back.

    The two stayed like this for a while. After panting for a few minutes, color returned to Maria''s face, but she was still sickly pale.

    "...What happened?" Mira asked, but part of her already knew the answer. Only a few things in this world could cause such a severe reaction from Maria, and out of those possibilities, only one was relevant.

    ''They must''ve gotten her parents.''

    Just the thought of this happening made Mira tremble in anger. She clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her skin, but she couldn''t bother with that right now.

    ''Those fuckers��! They''re acting so quickly! I thought Aelina could''ve done something to prevent this, but it seems like even with her strength and connections, she couldn''t find two needles in a world-sized haystack so soon.''

    She couldn''t me Aelina for not being able to find them. If anything, she should me herself as the god''s subordinates wouldn''t have gone after them if they weren''t friends.

    Sadness, grief, and sorrow shone deep in Mira''s crimson eyes, but she quickly shook those thoughts away and turned her attention back to Maria.

    "...I-I don''t know. I was just cultivating like normal when suddenly, a pang of loss hit me as if I had just lost something important to me�� Wait��" Maria''s eyes widened in fear as her body shivered in anxiety. As if lightning struck her, she stood up and cried, "MY PARENTS!"

    Maria was about to dash out the door, but before she could move, someone knocked on the door in a panic.

    *Knock**Knock**Knock**Knock*

    "There''s an emergency, Leader Mira, Mistress Maria! Something terrible has happened!"

    Maria''s face immediately drained of all color, and she nearly fainted from shock, but somehow, she forced herself to stay conscious.

    Maria''s premonition had worsened, and she knew that if she stepped out of that door, she would be in a world of pain.

    Her body shivered as if she had eaten a millennia-old block of ice. She tried to lift her legs to walk out the door, but they wouldn''t budge. It was as if a mountain had appeared on her back, weighing her down and preventing her from moving.

    ''Why?! Why won''t my body move?!'' Maira screamed inwardly.

    Her eyes became misty as she was 100% sure something had happened to her parents. Her instincts for these kinds of things have always been urate. She wouldn''t feel this way for no reason.

    However, before she could do something drastic, Maria felt someone grasp her hand. She turned around and noticed that Mira had grasped her hand.

    "...Let''s go see what''s going on together."

    Mira tried to say in the gentlest and most loving voice she could offer. Although it sounded a bit awkward, it still calmed Maria down enough that she was no longer trembling as much.

    "Mmhm."

    She grasped Mira''s hand tightly, and the two walked toward the door. However, right before they left, she turned to Dominique and said, "You stay here. We''lle backter."

    Without waiting for her answer, the two left the room and walked outside.

    However, what they saw made Maria''s knees buckle.

    "MOM!! DAD!!"

    Maria''s parents were blindfolded and strapped to a chair on a giant illusory screen in the sky above Snow Maiden City.

    In fact, that wasn''t the only illusory screen Mira could see. In the distance, she spotted multiple others broadcasting this scene to the world.

    "What''s going on? What is that thing floating in the sky?"

    "Are those people? But why are they tied up?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "This�� This is creepy."

    "What''s going to happen to those people?"

    People all over the Continent stopped what they were doing and looked into the sky as something like this had never happened before.

    All of Mira''s subordinates who lived in the valley also stopped what they were doing and stared at the screen, but unlike others, their expressions were livid!

    "What the-?! Why are Mr. and Mrs. Zaria on the screen?! Is someone trying to mess with Mistress Maria?!"

    That was the sentiment shared by all of them. They spent some time with Maria''s parents while staying in Lunar Fox City. So, they knew just how nice and caring the two were. In this wretched world filled with death and corruption, those two did their best to bring life to those around them.

    They weren''t inherently selfish like so many cultivators were and just wanted to enjoy life. Even though they followed Mira to try and repay her for everything she''s done for them, they respected Maria''s parents.

    Thus, seeing people they respected tied up and gagged on a screen made them tremble in agitation.

    Due to all themotion, Aelina and a few of the Elders appeared above the mountain and looked at the screen.

    Aelina frowned as the two people looked familiar.

    ''Wait. Aren''t those Maria''s parents?'' She wondered and felt like her conjecture was correct.

    Not long ago, Maria showed her a picture of her parents, telling her they were in trouble. Aelina thought it was bullshit, but since she was pleased with Maria''s actions in dealing with Izaria, she agreed to look for them.

    However, although her informationwork is quite extensive, it wasn''t meant to find people who could be anywhere on the Continent. Unless she mobilized the entire Sect, all the Branch Sects, and even asked some of her allies to help, she wouldn''t be able to find them in the short term.

    ''But, how did they end up like this so soon? It''s barely been two days since Maria told me about her situation!''

    Aelina''s frown deepened as she smelt something fishy. She began connecting the dots on what happened after Mira''s group returned to the Sect.

    ''Hmmm? That fox bitch told Mira that there were people after her. Then, not even a few hourster, Maria tells me her parents are in trouble. Is someone trying to target Mira through Maria? But why?''

    She didn''t know what was happening, but this whole mess stank like rat shit. She nced down, her eyes seemingly piercing through the void.

    Mira stood there, unmoving, like usual, but there was something different about her. She wasn''t releasing any aura or doing anything in particr, but for some reason, Aelina frowned.

    Her intuition told her that Mira was like a volcano on the brink of exploding. Just a slight push would send her over the edge.

    ''I''ll have to keep an eye on Mira in the future.''

    Aelina had a headache just thinking about the potential trouble Mira might cause.

    ''Geez�� Why does that girl have to be in the middle of everything? Is there something special about her that I''m missing?''

    Aelina thought, but suddenly, her attention turned to the screen as a third person, someone wearing all ck with a murky aura, appeared.

    ''The Unorthodox Faction!! What are they doing in this mess?!''

    Mira came to a simr conclusion as Aelina. Even if it was through a screen, she''d never mistake the aura of someone from the Unorthodox Faction.

    ''So, that''s how they found Cole and Erika so quickly.''

    Things clicked in Mira''s mind, but she didn''t say anything as the person opened his mouth.

    "Wee, everyone, and thank you for tuning into the first episode of God''s Network! We have two special guests on today''s show!" The man stepped out of the way, motioning toward Maria''s parents.

    "These two people are Erika and Cole Zaria. They are the parents of Maria Zaria, who is a member of the Battle Maiden Sect. They used to live in Lunar Fox City, a backwater city in the middle of nowhere. Other than their daughter, Maria, they are thest of the Zaria bloodline."

    "They are here today to pay for the crimes of their daughter. She dared to be close with a sinner named Mira, who is also a disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect. Although their blood can''t cleanse the Zaria family of their wrongdoings, the least we can do is set an example to those who want to form any kind of rtionship with Mira."

    "Now, let''s get on with the show!"

    After announcing that, the man pulled out a thread-like needle and jammed it under Erika''s fingernail until it reached her palm.

    "AHHHHHHHH!!"

    Erika screamed in pain as she thrashed around on the chair.

    "MOTHER!!"

    Maria''s voice echoed throughout the silent Outer Court��

 Chapter 541 Torture (R-18+)

    [A/N: Warning! This chapter is full of graphic content. If you are easily disturbed by this, please skip this chapter.]

    .

    .

    .

    The man in the mask didn''t stop there. He pulled out nine more thread-like needles and, one by one jammed them underneath Erika''s fingernails. A few of them prated her finger bones, increasing the pain she felt.

    "AAAARGH!"

    Erika, who lived most of her life sheltered in the Zaria Family, had never felt such pain before. While she and Cole had explored the world over thest few years, and she had gotten injured plenty of times, this was undoubtedly the worst, as the man was purposely trying to inflict as much pain as possible.

    "Stop it, you fucking bastard!! You can do whatever you want to me, but don''t you dare touch another hair on my wife''s body!!" Tears of blood rolled down his cheeks as he listened to his wife''s wails. He knew there was no reason for this masked man to be afraid of them. Not only were they crippled, but even if they weren''t, they still wouldn''t be able to beat this man.

    "Oh? And what are you going to do if I stop?" The masked man asked in amusement. He was enjoying this scene immensely.

    "I''m going to-!"

    "AAAAAHHHHH!"

    Erika screamed in pain once again as the masked man jammed a few needles through her teeth into her gums, prating her skull.

    "Hahahaha! Whoops, my finger slipped. What were you going to say?" The masked man chuckled as he twirled a few more needles in his hand.

    Cole gritted his teeth so hard that his gums bled, but he could do nothing. This man seemed to know he would take on any amount of pain as long as he could protect his wife.

    Thus, instead of torturing both of them at once, it was more efficient to start with Erika, as listening to her wails would hurt Cole much more than any pain he could inflict ever could.

    "Just�� Please stop torturing my wife�� I beg of you��"

    Cole would have undoubtedly started kowtowing if it weren''t for the fact that he was tied up in a chair. What was his measly pride when his wife was over there screaming in pain?

    However, instead of answering Cole with words, he took out ten more needles. The needles hovered before Erika''s toenails, and with a thought, they slowly prated the skin underneath them.

    *CLINK**CLINK**CLINK**CLINK*

    Erika''s chains hit each other as she thrashed about, trying to escape this situation. Unfortunately, all she did was cause her metal cuffs to rub her skin raw and fracture her wrists.

    However, she was in too much agony to care about what happened to care about this.

    Cole''s heart dropped into the abyss, but he didn''t say anything this time. He couldn''t. Not when every time he opened his pathetic mouth, the pain done to his wife intensified.

    He could only clench his fists and grit his teeth in silence to try and keep his sanity.

    "Oh? Cat got your tongue?" The masked man chuckled, seeing Cole trying so hard to remain calm.

    Cole didn''t say anything to the man''s provocation and just sat there with his eyes closed. It ripped his heart to pieces to not even be able to re at their captor, but if doing that could save his wife some suffering, what did it matter?

    "Hmmm~ Well, I guess it is time we kick things up a notch. I did just finishying the foundation, after all." The masked man mused while twiddling with a few more needles and a scalpel.

    He extended his Qi totch onto all the needles under Eria''s skin,

    "Try not to faint, Erika. This is going to hurt a little." The masked man chuckled before lifting up the needles slightly, causing her nails to rise.

    Since these parts were already sensitive, just that little bit of movement made Erika cry, but the man wasn''t done yet.

    *RIP!**CRACK**PFFT!*

    A fountain of blood shot out of her fingers as the needles ripped off her nails, tore through her skin, and prated her palm, crippling her fingers.

    "ArGrGrGrGrGrGrGrGr-!"

    Erika''s body convulsed for a few seconds before her brain shut down from the pain, and she fainted.

    "ERIKA!!" Cole struggled to get out of the chains and make it to his wife, but to no avail. He was too weak right now.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Uh-oh! It looks like she fainted! Sigh�� Why didn''t she listen to me? I told her it was going to hurt." The masked man said with a hurt voice while holding his chest. However, if one could see his face, one''d notice that a smile never left it.

    "Sigh�� It seems I''ll have to wake her up."

    He walked up to Erika and shoved a pill into her mouth. It immediately disintegrated as soon as it touched the back of her throat, and a wave of refreshing energy washed over her body.

    A secondter, her eyes shot open, but just as she was about to look around in confusion, she was again overwhelmed by pain.

    "URRGH!"

    "Aha! It seems like she''s back awake! Now, we can get back to the fun! Hahahaha!"

    The masked man pped his hands as a set of surgical tools appeared out of thin air.

    He then walked over to Cole, turned his chair around so that he was face-to-face with Erika, and wrapped his eyes in Qi so he couldn''t close them.

    Cole red at the man with bloodshot eyes full of rage. Killing intent, something Maria had never seen from her father, which made her tremble, descended upon the masked man. However, the man just shrugged it off and turned back to Erika, ignoring all the profanities Cole was spewing.

    "You know, Mrs. Zaria, you have quite the beautiful face for someone who lived in some backwater city." The masked man said while gently caressing her face. He then ran his fingers through her hair and said, "You also have such lovely, beautiful hair.

    "Why don''t I�� remove it for you?" The masked man asked, arge sadistic smile appearing under his mask.

    In his hands appeared a scalpel and a few other surgical tools. He pressed the scalpel against her temple, prating her skin.

    "Urgh!" Erika grunted in pain, but it wasn''t nearly as bad as what she just went through. However, the objective of this uing ''session'' wasn''t about how much pain he could inflict. No, it was more for Maria than anything.

    "Well, let''s get started!"

    What happened after that sent shivers down the spines of almost everyone watching. Many turned their heads away as the scene became too horrific to watch, while others threw up in disgust.

    A few couldn''t take their eyes away from the screen, but even their bodies trembled in revulsion as the scene was a bit too sickening for them.

    Although the cultivation world might be a cruel, heartless ce where torturing wasn''t wrong or looked down upon, this was a bit too much.

    Most people only tortured others when it was necessary, whether to get information out of them, for revenge, or to forcefully get what they wanted.

    However, the masked man on the screen wasn''t doing it for anything like that. One, he seemed to be enjoying it. Two, he didn''t even say what ''wrongs'' they''ve done, just the wrongs their daughter hasmitted.

    He might''ve said, ''it was because their daughter was friends with a sinner'', but the more intelligent people realized that was a big fat lie.

    The masked man was just using Erika and Cole to set an example. An example that said, "This is what will happen to your loved ones if you be friends with Mira."

    Most people didn''t even know who this "Mira" person was, but they imprinted in their brains to stay far away from any named Mira.

    Aelina, who was in the sky, frowned as she watched what was happening on the screen, but she didn''t turn away. Once someone lives long enough, they''ll see all sorts of atrocities, whether they like it or not.

    Suddenly, a woman emerged before her and bowed.

    "Reporting to the Sect Master! We were unable to find the origin of these recording devices. It seems whoever is doing this doesn''t want us to miss their message."

    Aelina nodded indifferently, but it seemed she was already expecting something like this. Whoever had the power to broadcast this scene to most of the Continent wouldn''t be so stupid as to just leave the recording devices lying around.

    "Alright. You may leave." Aelina waved her hand.

    The woman bowed one more time before disappearing, leaving Aelina, who had an unreadable expression.

    Her eyes pierced through the void onto Mira, whose body looked rxed as if this was a normal day. In fact, even Aelina might''ve been fooled by this if she couldn''t practically see a dense, illusory red mist seeping out of her body.

    ''It seems I''ll have to make some preparations just in case she does something.'' She shook her head, but then an idea struck her, and her eyes brightened, ''On second thought, maybe I could use her anger to our advantage.''

    A smile slowly appeared on her as she thought about the future, but it quickly returned to normal.

    The torture session went on for a few more hours. Just when the people thought it couldn''t go on any longer, the masked man announced.

    "Now, onto the finale! Be sure to watch closely, Maria. Make sure to sear this scene into your mind!"

 Chapter 542 Deaths

    With bloodshot eyes and a face full of tears, Maria looked up at the screen to her two unrecognizable parents.

    Saying they''re in bad shape would be an understatement.

    Over thest few hours, the masked man skinned Erika alive, leaving her without skin on most of her body. On top of that, she had numerous holes in her flesh that were so deep that they reached the bone.

    She had lost so much blood that she looked like a shell of her former self. Her breathing was faint, and her mind had copsed long ago. At this point, she could barely be considered a person anymore.

    On the other side, Cain��

    Maria felt like she might vomit just looking at his appearance, and she wasn''t the only one who felt this way either.

    He was the epitome of psychological torture.

    The masked man did not touch him, so his physical body was in perfect condition��however, everything the masked man had removed from Erika he ced on him.

    This alone caused severe emotional and psychological damage to Cole, as it almost felt like he was the one peeling off her skin and digging into her flesh.

    For the most part, Erika and Cole were just ordinary cultivators. They didn''t have the mental resilience that Mira did; even if they did, it''d still be a wonder if they could stay sane in this situation.

    Maria couldn''t stare at his appearance for too long before tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision.

    Unfortunately, she felt the end was nearing, and as much as she hated this, she didn''t want to miss her parents'' final moments.

    "Thank you, everyone, for watching until now! I hope I was able to provide you with quality entertainment! Unfortunately, all good things muste to an end, that includes Cain and Erika." The masked man said exaggeratedly.

    *Phew!*

    There was a collective sigh of relief when they heard his words, as most people were sick of what the masked man was doing.

    "However, I have onest game for you all to enjoy!" The masked man then took out a sword and threw it between Cole and Erika on the ground. He also removed all the restraints holding Cole and Erika down and said to them, "I will give you two options. You can use that sword to kill your partner, or you can use it to kill yourself. If you don''t pick an option, I''ll heal Erika back to her peak condition and resume the torture."

    While the masked man said this to both of them, it was obvious that Erika couldn''t move or think properly. It''d be a miracle if she could just get out of the chair by herself.

    The fog covering Cole''s eyes cleared instantly, hearing the masked man''s words. He didn''t hesitate to leap out of his seat to pick up the sword and walk over to his wife with it.

    He didn''t make this choice because he didn''t want to be hurt any longer. On the contrary, he was doing it, so his wife no longer had to suffer. The masked man put his wife through unbearable pain and torture. It was time for him to put an end to that.

    Cole held back his emotions as he pressed the sword against her heart.

    Before doing the deed, he leaned into his wife''s ear and whispered, "...I''m going to put an end to your misery, my love. Do you have anyst words before I send you off?"

    Erika''s eyes regained a bit of energy, feeling her husband''s warm breath on her face, but anyone could tell that the spark was about fade.

    ".....I-I''m sorry�� and�� Thank you�� I-I love you and Maria�� more than anything.... P-P-Please�� kill me." Erika fell silent after saying those words,pletely out of energy. She wasn''t dead yet, but she wasn''t far from it.

    "Mom��!"

    Kneeling on the ground, Maria stretched her hand toward the screen and cried.

    Tears fell down Cole''s eyes, but he gave his wife a firm nod and steeled his emotions.

    "I-I love you too, Erika�� I''ll see you in the next life."

    *Puchi!*

    He thrust the sword into her heart, killing her instantly. He stared at his mutted wife''s corpse and could swear that he saw a smile on her face in her final moments.

    But now wasn''t the time to get emotional! He still had onest thing to do before he joined his wife!

    "Maria! If you''re listening! Your mother and I loved you more than anything in the world!" After saying that, he pressed the sword''s tip against his chest, but he wasn''t done talking yet.

    "Hidden Sanguine Sect! Crimson yer Sect! Pink-haired Sue Ming plus ten women! Unorthodox Faction! Don''t do anything reckless, Maria! Mira�� I''m counting on you!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    The masked man''s expression warped, and a wave of killing intent crashed into Cole as he dashed at him, but he remained unaffected.

    "Bastard! Shut the fuck up!" The masked man yelled as he pressured Cole, but thetter just stood there with arge smile on his face, not wanting his daughter''sst memory of him to be pathetic and depressed.

    "Well, I''ll be going next! I love you, Maria! May we meet again!"

    *Puchi!*

    The sword went through his heart, killing him instantly!

    However, as soon as he died, the masked man thrust a palm forward!

    "Bastard!!!"

    *BOOOOM!"

    The palm hit Cole''s body, causing it to explode in a blood mist.

    Afterward, all the screens in the air dissipated, causing silence to reign over the continent.

    "..."

    Seeing both her parents killed right before her eyes, Maria couldn''t handle the stress and passed out. Mira''s tails quickly caught her before she could fall to the ground.

    She gently held Maria in her warm embrace and muttered, ''Sleep well, Maria.''

    Part of Mira was d that Maria fainted at this moment as she wasn''t sure how she shouldfort the girl. Losing her parents isn''t anything new for Mira. In fact, Mira almost considered Maria lucky.

    ''At least she didn''t have to kill her own parents, whom she loves more than anything in this world.''

    She felt the people the god sent down weren''t nearly as ruthless as the man himself. They also weren''t as patient or cautious either. Still, that doesn''t mean she can underestimate them. In front of overwhelming power, all schemes are useless.

    ''Sue Ming, huh? I guess Cole said those words to me. Is that the person who''s behind all this? And the Unorthodox Faction�� it seems like those people really like getting in my way.'' Mira''s eyes shed with an ominous light, but she remained stoic so as not to wake up Maria.

    Throughout most of her lives, even in the ones she experienced in the F.LD.I.L, she hardly ever provoked people. If she did, it was because they werepetitors in the same business.

    It wasn''t in her nature to go around making enemies for no reason.

    ''But it seems like such a thing is impossible in this world. Just being alive makes me an enemy of someone. Even if that bastard never sent Sue Ming or interfered with the people of this world, I''d still make enemies. In fact, I do not doubt that the Crimson yer Sect wants my head right now.''

    She turned around and looked at Maria, then nced at the sky where the screens used to be. Mira stared at all her subordinates, the Battle Maiden Sect, and all the disciples.

    Finally, she looked down and stared at her hands, which were perfectly smooth without a single blemish. These hands seemed so frail and delicate that one wouldn''t believe they were stained with the blood of an uncountable number of corpses.

    A faint image of her hands dripping in thick, viscous red blood ovepped with what was in front of her.

    After a moment of thought, Mira finally made up her mind.

    ''May the world fall beneath my feet and the people tremble at my very name. Death will be a mercy for what''s toe.''

    Mira''s eyes glowed, but this time, instead of crimson, a ck light, as dark as the void, shone from within her eyes.

    This light threatened to devour everything in its path, making Mira look like a demon straight out of the abyss. However, this onlysted a second before everything returned to normal, but the people looking at her didn''t miss this.

    Aelina frowned as she felt something had changed about Mira, but she wasn''t sure what it was. All she knew was that this change might not necessarily be good.

    Meanwhile, in an unknown location, the Guardian watched what was happening with a massive smile. His smile was so big that even his face had to distort to make room for it.

    "She''s finally about to start using the powers granted to her to their full potential! Ah! I can''t wait to see what kind of chaos she''ll show the world! Go! Go, Mira! Go show this world that you''re the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life''s Sessor! Stop holding back and let loose a little!"

    The world didn''t know it yet, but this day was the start of a new era.

 Chapter 543 War?

    After Erika and Cole died, many people began specting who the masked man was, why he did something like that, who Mira and Maria were, and what was going to happen now. At least, that''s how it was for the smaller Sects, ns, and Families.

    The top 7 Orthodox all knew that it was someone from the Unorthodox Faction who did all this, and if they were to take Cole''sst words as truth, it wasn''t just a single Sect or small group of people like this.

    No, the entire Unorthodox Faction was in on it!

    However, the question then was: why?

    Why were they targeting two people they''d never heard of before?

    Then, there was the question of who Sue Ming was. They''d never heard of this person before either, but from Cole''s words, she somehow seemed to be tied to the Unorthodox Faction.

    There were too many questions. However, openly provoking the Battle Maiden Sect like this, even if they were only singling out one disciple, was bound to create problems.

    It''d be fine if the masked man tortured Erika and Cole in private, but he had to show it to the world. Not only that, but he straight up called out their Sect!

    Did the Unorthodox Faction take the Battle Maiden Sect for a bunch of monks without human desires or emotions?! Did they think they''d just roll over on their backs without retaliating?!

    Not only that, but the leaders of the Top 7 Orthodox Sects all knew that if the Battle Maiden Sect went to war with another power at this time�� they might be forced to get involved as well. There was something they all needed from Aelina, and if they didn''t help in this time of need, she might not give it to them.

    Thus, most of the world was waiting for the Battle Maiden Sect''s response to this ''show''. Would they let it pass, or would they retaliate?

    At the top of the mountain, Aelina and the other Elders had an emergency meeting.

    "Sect Master! We must show those low-life scum the consequences of provoking us like this!! How dare they try and provoke us like this?!" One of the Elders mmed her fist on the table before her.

    "She''s right, Sect Master! It''s fine if those idiots want to do that stuff in the dark, but to call us out and broadcast it to the world��" Another Elder grits her teeth angrily, "They''re going too far!"

    "Do we really need to retaliate, though? It seemed like they were just targeting Mira and Maria by torturing those two, not the whole Sect. Also, it''s not like the public will think lesser of us after this scene. If anything, their opinions might rise if we don''t make a move."

    "Yeah, but Mira is a candidate to be this Sect''s Prime Disciple!! Dragging her name through the mud is the same as dragging the Sect''s!" Another Elder pointed out, but her words made Aelina raise an eyebrow.

    "Oh? Now, you consider Mira as a legitimate candidate?" Aelina asked in a slightly amused voice.

    "..."

    The room went silent for a while as all the Elders had awkward looks on their faces.

    When Nova, Seraphina, Eden, Everly, and Rayna returned from their mission, they heard about Mira''s feats, strength, mentality, and progression. A few of them even watched her spar with Eden and Ryuu!

    It''d only been a month since her spar with Nova, but she was able to y with Eden as if it was nothing! Although Eden had severely limited her strength, she was under the same conditions Nova had, yet she still lost so miserably.

    Despite their different fighting styles, Eden and Nova''s strength was simr. Thus, Mira beating her in a spar is almost the same as her winning against Nova!

    If they failed to acknowledge herprehension speed, and strength even after all that, they''d be nothing but fools.

    ? However, there were still a few Elders with some gripes about her low Cultivation and the short amount of time she''s spent in the Sect.

    "I think after hearing and witnessing Mira''s power and talent for ourselves, we can ept her as a CANDIDATE! Making her our Prime Disciple is a different story, but that''s beside the point. First and foremost, she''s a disciple of our Sect!" Elder Ange raised her voice for everyone to hear.

    Although she liked Mira, she was still fairly neutral on the Prime Disciple topic.

    "Oh? Then what do you think we should do, Ange?" Aelina asked with a slight smile, staring at the woman.

    Ange coughed, feeling a little awkward with the Sect Master staring at her so intently, but she gathered her thoughts for a moment a spoke calmly.

    "Personally, I think that if this happened in private, we should leave these matters to Maria and Mira. After all, that''s their own business and doesn''t concern the entire Sect. They cane to us for help, but that doesn''t mean the whole Sect should be involved."

    Ange paused for a moment, "However, that masked man made private matters public. I''m not saying we should retaliate in a simr fashion, but we should at least ask for an exnation and go from there."<novelnext></novelnext>

    All the Elders fell deep into thought at Ange''s suggestion.

    "That''s�� not a bad suggestion, but will the Unorthodox Faction really give us an answer?" One of the Elders spoke what everyone else was thinking.

    Her meaning with that question was clear: Would they even bother to give an honest answer if they were willing to go this far to provoke a single disciple in the Core Formation Realm?

    Suddenly, Aelina asked a question that sent shivers down their spines.

    "Why don''t we just go to war with them?"

    "......"

    Silence. Complete and utter silence reigned over the room. Nobody even dared to breathe at such a question.

    Aelina just grinned at their reactions, finding it all amusing, but she wasn''t joking around. That was a serious question that she''d like to employ if possible.

    ''If used correctly, we might even be able to direct the beast''s attention onto them instead of us!''

    Aelina was trying to think of the best and most efficient way to enter the Ancient Inheritance Site and earn the most resources possible over the next 20 years.

    Regardless of whoever bes their Prime Disciple, they''ll need an abundance of resources to groom them into a powerhouse that can fight against the Central Continent forces.

    ''And an entire Faction should have just what I''m looking for. Hehehe~'' Aelina inwardly chuckled as she had the urge to go on a rampage, killing everything in sight.

    "S-Sect Master�� Don''t tell me�� you''re serious?"

    Aelina tilted her head.

    "Why wouldn''t I be?"

    "This�� I don''t think this situation necessarily warrants starting a war over." An Elder said quietly.

    However, Aelina shook her head. These Elders didn''t understand Mira as much as she did. The girl was indifferent to most things, but Aelina could tell she loved Maria dearly. Who knows what she might do if anything happened to the blonde girl? Though Aelina had a pretty good idea of what would happen after feeling the killing intent radiating off of her.

    "We might not have any other choice but to go to war, and if that''s the case, why not start now before it actually happens? Not only will we have the upper hand, but it''s also a chance for us to procure some more resources."

    All the Elders looked at her in shock, but a few understood what she was trying to do. However, what they didn''t understand was why now.

    "But isn''t the Ancient Inheritance Site supposed to open in about six months? Can we really finish a war so quickly?" And Elder said, causing arge grin to appear on Aelina''s face, sending shivers down their spines.

    "Hehehe~ Then, can''t we just make those little Unorthodox Faction rats our scapegoat? I''m sure the Beast ns won''t be too happy when we march into their territory, after all. So, we just need to give them a target to vent their anger on as we plunder all the loot from the Inheritance Site!"

    "....."

    Another wave of silence descended upon everyone at Aelina''s words. The Elders just stared at her as if she''d grown a second head, trying to discern if she was joking or not, but they couldn''t tell.

    Aelina, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying this situation, but she didn''t want to sit here in silence forever. After a few moments of silence, she got up from her seat and pped.

    "Alright, everyone! Let''s prepare for war! Hahaha!"

    ***

    Mira didn''t know what was happening at the top of the mountain, but if she did, she would have been thoroughly shocked for the first time in a long time. Not only did Aelina guess her vengeful intentions, but she even nned on taking advantage of it.

    Fortunately, she didn''t hear anything as she brought Maria back to her room to rest.

 Chapter 544 Complex Emotions

    Mira spent her time while Maria was unconscious, brooding over what she should do in this situation. Truthfully, she''s never been in this position before, but she felt so many conflicting emotions that she wasn''t sure what was the correct answer.

    She felt indifferent to the fact that Erika and Cole had died. Death was just another part of life; in a way, she considered death a release. Take their deaths as an example. They lived thest few hours full of suffering that would make even the most battle-hardened man lose his mind. Death was no different from freedom in their case.

    She felt sad that two kind, selfless, and caring cultivators died just because they were somewhat rted to her. Deep in her heart, Mira knew they didn''t deserve to die like that. They deserved to live a long, happy life, but Mira''s appearance snatched that away from them!

    She felt angry that someone dared to hurt HER Maria like this. Although it was just psychological damage, Mira knew this would permanently scar her psyche and maybe even harm her future. Hell, this might even drive a wedge in their rtionship, a rtionship that was the only thing preventing her from bing a bloodthirsty demon. For daring to do something this bold, she needed revenge, but it couldn''t be an ordinary revenge. No! She had to make them tremble at her name!

    On top of that anger, she felt an endless amount of rage! That asshole was interfering in her life again! Now that she knew that they were using the Unorthodox Faction as their pawns, Mira wanted nothing more than to charge down the mountain, ughtering every Unorthodox Faction fool!

    Mira wasn''t an idiot. She knew that sooner orter, they''de for Maria, and there''d be little the girl could do. If she could prevent future trouble by massacring millions, she would do so without hesitation.

    ''Maybe that''ll be my next agenda. Hmmm~ I can even recover my Blood Essence and boost my cultivation by killing and absorbing so many people.'' Mira clenched her fists, which were itching to bathe in blood.

    Lastly, on top of all those emotions, Mira felt d that something like this had happened to Maria. Life isn''t always sunshine and rainbows; it''s about time she understood that. Maria couldn''t continue living like everything would be alright just because she wanted it to be.

    Only by going through tough times and oveing them will she grow, both as a cultivator and a person.

    However, as Maria''s lover/wife, Mira felt horrible for being happy about something like this. It made her feel like she wasn''t worthy of having a rtionship in the first ce.

    ''A rtionship is not just about love, but giving each other support during tough times. Yet, here I am, feeling happy and at the same time relieved that Maria has lost her parents. What kind of support can a person like me give? Rather than that, wouldn''t I just end up pushing her away?'' Mira thought self-deprecatingly.

    She felt that she shouldn''t be feeling these things, but she couldn''t help it; that was just who she was. Life and death have been hard on her and have calloused her mind so much that she''s no longer bothered by such things.

    Sitting next to Mira, Dominique looked at her Mother''s face and felt something was wrong. Usually, she wasn''t so affectionate with Maria, but right now, she gently held the blondie in her tails, stroking her head.

    ''It''s only been a few hours since Mother and Maria left the room, but why does it feel like something has changed?'' Dominique wondered, unaware of the torture session broadcasted to the world.

    She grasped Mira''s hand, looked at her with thoserge doe eyes, and asked, "Are you alright, Mother? Did something happen to Aunty Maria?"

    Mira snapped out of her thoughts, hearing Dominique''s question, and shook her head, "Something terrible happened to Maria while we were away, and I''m not sure how I should make her feel better."

    She didn''t see any problem with telling Dominique part of the truth as she was the only other person in this she could trust other than Maria.

    Dominique put a finger on her lip and tilted her head cutely.

    "Hmmm~ If you want Aunty Maria to feel better, don''t you just need to be there for her?"

    Mira grew confused and asked Dominique for confirmation, "What do you mean ''be there for her''?"

    "...If something terrible just happened, I think Aunty Maria would just be happy with your presence. You don''t need to do anything special."

    Now she understood what Dominique was getting at. She was trying to say she was Maria''s rock, something she could lean on in tough times for support. She had to let the girl know she was there for her and let Maria deal with the rest.

    "I see. If that''s what Maria needs, I''ll do just that." Mira dered as she stroked Maria''s hair, then turned to Dominique, "You won''t be leaving my side during this time period. I don''t want something bad happening to you as well!"

    Hearing that, Dominique beamed, "Then, please look after me, Mother! Hehehe~"

    ***

    Somewhere on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, on top of a mountain, a pink-haired woman was looking down at the Unorthodox Faction leader and the masked man who tortured Maria''s parents with an unpleasant expression.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The two had been sitting on their knees for over an hour now, but Sue Ming hadn''t said a word to them. She just stood there with her arms crossed, looking down at them. While the two couldn''t tell what she was thinking, they knew from the palpable silence that she was mad.

    No, calling her mad would be an understatement! She was furious, and for a good reason!

    While she was enjoying the broadcast, wishing she could see the look of despair on Maria''s face and the rage on Mira''s, Cole suddenly started spewing ssified information!

    Normally, she wouldn''t care about that stuff as this wasn''t her world, nor did she n on staying here long, but all that information was more than enough for Mira to understand that someone was after her and who.

    Such a thing added unknown variables to her n that she couldn''t ount for, as Mira was a 1,000-year-old monster who had never once given in to her Master''s "grooming". A person like that is anything but normal. The few words Cole managed to say before he killed himself were more than enough for Mira to paint a picture in her mind and prepare for it!

    However, the only question now was how! How did Cole learn of this information?!

    Sue Ming gritted her teeth, and the urge to kill these two ipetent idiots appeared in her mind, but she inwardly shook her head. The thought of it being her fault never once entered her mind.

    ''They''re more valuable alive than dead, but knowing that isn''t enough to quell this rage!''

    "Ugh!"

    Sue Ming grunted in frustration and turned to the side and punched! It was just an ordinary punch, seeminglycking any power, but-

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!*

    That punch disintegrated the nearest mountain, obliterating all living and non-living things!

    The Faction Leader and the masked man felt chills run down their spine at how easily Sue Ming wiped out a mountain! However, the most shocked was definitely the Faction Leader!

    ''Fuck! This woman''s power is too perverted! Even I can''t do something like that so effortlessly!'' He had cold sweat dripping down his back as he stared at the spot a mountain used to reside.

    "Tell me, how did that man know so much about us? How did he know my name?!" Sue Ming roared, her pressure bearing down on the two of them.

    ''You crazy bitch! How is that our fault?! You were the one who said your name in front of him!'' The Faction Leader and masked man thought but didn''t dare to say out loud.

    "I apologize for my ipetence, Mrs. Ming, but if you give me another chance, I''ll be sure to do a better job next time. Is there anything I can do to quell your anger?" The Faction Leader said with a forced smile.

    ''Bitch.'' He added inwardly.

    Sue Ming frowned as he didn''t exin his wrongdoings, but she put that aside for now as there were a few urgent things she needed before she could move on with her ns. However, she felt like she had to be more careful around this man, or she might end up scammed for everything she was worth.

    ''Tsk. Old fox.'' Sue Ming clicked her tongue but moved on to something more productive than just standing around wasting time.

    "I need all up-to-date information on Mira, a new Battle Maiden Sect disciple. For some reason, I haven''t found anything about her since she joined the Sect. I would do it myself, but that Aelina woman is too mysterious. I feel like I wouldn''t lose to her, but at the same time, I''m not sure."

    "Ahaha! I''d be more than willing toplete this task for the right price, but I warn you, information on Battle Maiden Sect disciples doesn''te cheap." The Faction Leader gave Sue Ming a fox-like smile.

    Sue Ming narrowed her eyes but nodded her head.

    "Fine! But your pay will be halved due to your previous failure."

 Chapter 545 [DUPLICATE CHAPTER!! DO NOT BUY!!]

    Not far from the Battle Maiden Sect, in Snow Maiden City, Master Izaria and Ryuu had just finished watching the torture session. Their mouths were wide open as if they had swallowed a golf ball, and they could only stare nkly into space, not knowing what to think.

    In fact, Ryuu''s eyes had closed at some point as the scenes became too grotesque for him to handle. Although he''d killed beasts and even some humans before, not once had he ever tortured someone, nor did he have any intentions of doing so.

    Thus, watching the masked man peel Erika apart as if she wasn''t a living creature disgusted him down to the bone.

    Hell, even Master Izaria''s hair stood on end as she was thoroughly sickened by the sight of Erika''s mutted body.

    "...Master�� what was that?" Ryuu asked in a low voice, still having a hard timeprehending what just happened.

    "This�� I''m not sure. Maybe all those nasty cultivation techniques finally drove them crazy?" Master Izaria answered with a shake of her head, "While everyone knows that the Unorthodox Faction is a bunch of vile scum who will resort to anything for power, they usually never step this low. There''s no benefit to doing something like this. It only breeds unnecessary hate and disgust toward their own Faction."

    She truly couldn''t understand the motive behind such an action. From her point of view, broadcasting such a vile torture session was of utmost foolishness.

    "...But it seemed like they were targeting Mira and Maria for some reason. I mean, that masked man did introduce those two as Maria''s parents��." Ryuu muttered, a deep frown forming on his face. While he thought of Mira as a beautiful yet terrifying individual, that didn''t mean he hated her. Rather, he quite liked the woman. What hot-blooded male youth would hate a goddess-level fox beauty like Mira? She was also talented enough to contend with him, which made his impression of her rise another notch.

    However, even after only interacting with Mira for a day, angering her was thest thing he wanted to do.

    Thus, learning that Maria, her lover, had just gone through something so traumatic, Ryuu felt that Mira might do something rash in hopes of satiating her rage.

    "Ah! It did seem that way, didn''t it? I can only imagine the pain Maria must be going through right now after seeing something like that. To make matters worse, they broadcasted their deaths to billions of people�� and in such a horrific fashion too��" The more Master Izaria thought about it, the more pity she felt. She wouldn''t wish what the Unorthodox Faction did upon even her worst enemies.

    "Do you think we should stay here? You know, to help Mira and Maria go through these tough times? And maybe�� prevent them from going crazy and killing everything that moves?" Ryuu said thatst part half-jokingly, but Master Izaria narrowed her eyes.

    ''From the deep-seated rage, hatred, and killing intent embedded deep within Mira''s soul, I wouldn''t put such an action past her.'' Her brows creased in thought, but a secondter, her expression brightened.

    "Hahaha! So, that''s how you want to conquer those fair maiden''s hearts, Little Ryuu? By giving them a shoulder to lean on and someone to rely on! How thoughtful!" Master Izaria pped with a smile, "Very well! We will stick around and assist your two future wives! Hahahaha!"

    Ryuu''s looked away from his Master, his face turning red from embarrassment.

    He wanted to deny her words at first but couldn''t as they weren''t entirely untrue. However, he really had good intentions and only wanted to help them as a friend and potential rival.

    After having a goodugh, Master Izaria wrapped her Qi around both of them and teleported back up the mountain.

    ***

    Somewhere hidden on the Western Continent, inside the enclosed space where the Fox n resides, Lisica had just finished watching the torture broadcast. A deep frown formed on her face, and she fell into thought, but after several minutes of thinking, she could onlye up with one question:

    "Why?"

    It was such a simple question, yet it had multiple meanings.

    Why did she just watch that? Why did the Unorthodox Faction do that? Why were they targeting Mira? Why show that to the whole Continent?

    There were so many things wrong with what she had just watched that she didn''t know how to express it any other way.

    However, out of all her questions, Lisica was certain of one thing.

    "This won''t end well."

    She said this partly because they were angering a nine-tailed fox-human hybrid, whose bloodline and talent should be simr to Dragons and Phoenixes. Yet, even if she removed Mira from the picture, the Unorthodox Faction wouldn''t have a good ending.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Usually, the Unorthodox Faction obtains disciples through force or word of mouth. There are also plenty of Branch Sects that people can go and apply at, in which they recruit disciples every year or so, but this is most people''sst resort.

    Everyone wants to be the protagonist of the world and soar through the heavens, and using Cultivation Techniques that can harm their foundation is the opposite of what most people want. Still, if their talent is too poor, then it''s better than nothing.

    However, since the Unorthodox Faction usually does its dealings in the dark, with this one move, they''ve essentially shown the world how disgusting and evil they are.

    ''I can estimate that fewer people will want to join their Sects voluntarily in the uing years. More than likely, Unorthodox Faction disciples will be hunted down and killed in the name of justice by some of the Orthodox Faction Sects.'' Lisica mused, but she didn''t care too much about this subject either way.

    Whether the Unorthodox Faction was wiped from the face of the Earth or not had nothing to do with her.

    But what made her frown were the people behind this whole event.

    ''That guy named Cole said a name ''Sue Ming''. Is that the person behind all this? Is she the one that was searching for Mira? Why does this seem more like a personal revenge plot than anything else?'' Lisica felt she wasn''t too far off the mark there.

    Her Fox n has thergest informationwork on the Continent and perhaps even the world. As the leader and as someone who has lived a very long time, what kind of things hasn''t she seen?

    Revenge is amon trope, even amongst mortals without any cultivation. ording to her experience, what just happened made it seem like this ''Sue Ming'' character had a deep, personal grudge against Mira.

    With Mira''s character, Lisica didn''t find it odd that she might attract enemies. It''s just�� this time, the enemy was a bit too abrupt and powerful, leaving many holes in her analysis.

    "Hmmmm~ The two are sure to sh after this, and I do not doubt that it might drag the Continent into chaos. The only question now is, which side should I take? On the one hand, Mira is part fox and extremely talented. On the other hand, Sue Ming is either strong enough or has the connections to bend the Unorthodox Faction Leader on his knees�� What a tough choice." Lisica knew that the broadcast that just happened had to have been allowed by the Faction Leader, as it was impossible for something on this scale to happen without it.

    While she was brooding over her decision, her expression suddenly distorted. Her tails stood as straight as an arrow, and all the hairs on her body went from being smooth and luscious to sharp needles!

    "Who dares to invade my Fox n?!" She roared in rage, teleporting outside the building.

    There, in the sky, Lisica faced 11 kingdom-toppling beauties, all exuding strong auras that went beyond their cultivation realm. The one leading them had pink hair, her nose was upturned as she looked at Lisica in disdain, and the aura around her was extremely overbearing-to the point that it wasn''t any less than hers.

    Lisica''s frown deepened as she stared at the invaders, but she wasn''t worried. Just like she thought after her roar reverberated through the ce, 20 other fox women appeared in the sky, all in the Mortal Shedding Realm and a few even in the Divine Sea Realm.

    The pink-haired woman in front of the foxes stared at them in amusement, not putting them in her eyes at all. Tensions rose as the two sides stared at each other for several minutes, neither one making a move.

    That is until the pink-haired woman opened her mouth.

    "You''re Lisica, the head of the Fox n, correct?" She asked, but it was more a statement than anything else.

    Lisica slowly nodded, still feeling a bit apprehensive about this situation.

    "That''s me. Now, can you tell me who you are and why you invaded my n?" Lisica asked, her voice as cold as a winter''s night.

    The pink-haired woman just chuckled, not bothered by this at all, and instead asked, "I see�� but what are you doing on the Western Continent?" She asked innocently.

    However, hearing her question, Lisica''s eyes dted, and her body trembled for no longer than a nanosecond before recovering, but this didn''t escape the pink-haired woman''s eyes.

    Lisica''s tails waved around fiercely as if waiting for the order to attack, but she controlled herself and said, "I believe I asked who you are." Her tone was so frigid that the air crystallized.

    "Oh my! How careless of me! My name is Sue Ming, and I''m here to have a little chat with you."

 Chapter 546 [DUPLICATE CHAPTER!! DO NOT BUY!!]

    Not far from the Battle Maiden Sect, in Snow Maiden City, Master Izaria and Ryuu had just finished watching the torture session. Their mouths were wide open as if they had swallowed a golf ball, and they could only stare nkly into space, not knowing what to think.

    In fact, Ryuu''s eyes had closed at some point as the scenes became too grotesque for him to handle. Although he''d killed beasts and even some humans before, not once had he ever tortured someone, nor did he have any intentions of doing so.

    Thus, watching the masked man peel Erika apart as if she wasn''t a living creature disgusted him down to the bone.

    Hell, even Master Izaria''s hair stood on end as she was thoroughly sickened by the sight of Erika''s mutted body.

    "...Master�� what was that?" Ryuu asked in a low voice, still having a hard timeprehending what just happened.

    "This�� I''m not sure. Maybe all those nasty cultivation techniques finally drove them crazy?" Master Izaria answered with a shake of her head, "While everyone knows that the Unorthodox Faction is a bunch of vile scum who will resort to anything for power, they usually never step this low. There''s no benefit to doing something like this. It only breeds unnecessary hate and disgust toward their own Faction."

    She truly couldn''t understand the motive behind such an action. From her point of view, broadcasting such a vile torture session was of utmost foolishness.

    "...But it seemed like they were targeting Mira and Maria for some reason. I mean, that masked man did introduce those two as Maria''s parents��." Ryuu muttered, a deep frown forming on his face. While he thought of Mira as a beautiful yet terrifying individual, that didn''t mean he hated her. Rather, he quite liked the woman. What hot-blooded male youth would hate a goddess-level fox beauty like Mira? She was also talented enough to contend with him, which made his impression of her rise another notch.

    However, even after only interacting with Mira for a day, angering her was thest thing he wanted to do.

    Thus, learning that Maria, her lover, had just gone through something so traumatic, Ryuu felt that Mira might do something rash in hopes of satiating her rage.

    "Ah! It did seem that way, didn''t it? I can only imagine the pain Maria must be going through right now after seeing something like that. To make matters worse, they broadcasted their deaths to billions of people�� and in such a horrific fashion too��" The more Master Izaria thought about it, the more pity she felt. She wouldn''t wish what the Unorthodox Faction did upon even her worst enemies.

    "Do you think we should stay here? You know, to help Mira and Maria go through these tough times? And maybe�� prevent them from going crazy and killing everything that moves?" Ryuu said thatst part half-jokingly, but Master Izaria narrowed her eyes.

    ''From the deep-seated rage, hatred, and killing intent embedded deep within Mira''s soul, I wouldn''t put such an action past her.'' Her brows creased in thought, but a secondter, her expression brightened.

    "Hahaha! So, that''s how you want to conquer those fair maiden''s hearts, Little Ryuu? By giving them a shoulder to lean on and someone to rely on! How thoughtful!" Master Izaria pped with a smile, "Very well! We will stick around and assist your two future wives! Hahahaha!"

    Ryuu''s looked away from his Master, his face turning red from embarrassment.

    He wanted to deny her words at first but couldn''t as they weren''t entirely untrue. However, he really had good intentions and only wanted to help them as a friend and potential rival.

    After having a goodugh, Master Izaria wrapped her Qi around both of them and teleported back up the mountain.

    ***

    Somewhere hidden on the Western Continent, inside the enclosed space where the Fox n resides, Lisica had just finished watching the torture broadcast. A deep frown formed on her face, and she fell into thought, but after several minutes of thinking, she could onlye up with one question:

    "Why?"

    It was such a simple question, yet it had multiple meanings.

    Why did she just watch that? Why did the Unorthodox Faction do that? Why were they targeting Mira? Why show that to the whole Continent?

    There were so many things wrong with what she had just watched that she didn''t know how to express it any other way.

    However, out of all her questions, Lisica was certain of one thing.

    "This won''t end well."

    She said this partly because they were angering a nine-tailed fox-human hybrid, whose bloodline and talent should be simr to Dragons and Phoenixes. Yet, even if she removed Mira from the picture, the Unorthodox Faction wouldn''t have a good ending.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Usually, the Unorthodox Faction obtains disciples through force or word of mouth. There are also plenty of Branch Sects that people can go and apply at, in which they recruit disciples every year or so, but this is most people''sst resort.

    Everyone wants to be the protagonist of the world and soar through the heavens, and using Cultivation Techniques that can harm their foundation is the opposite of what most people want. Still, if their talent is too poor, then it''s better than nothing.

    However, since the Unorthodox Faction usually does its dealings in the dark, with this one move, they''ve essentially shown the world how disgusting and evil they are.

    ''I can estimate that fewer people will want to join their Sects voluntarily in the uing years. More than likely, Unorthodox Faction disciples will be hunted down and killed in the name of justice by some of the Orthodox Faction Sects.'' Lisica mused, but she didn''t care too much about this subject either way.

    Whether the Unorthodox Faction was wiped from the face of the Earth or not had nothing to do with her.

    But what made her frown were the people behind this whole event.

    ''That guy named Cole said a name ''Sue Ming''. Is that the person behind all this? Is she the one that was searching for Mira? Why does this seem more like a personal revenge plot than anything else?'' Lisica felt she wasn''t too far off the mark there.

    Her Fox n has thergest informationwork on the Continent and perhaps even the world. As the leader and as someone who has lived a very long time, what kind of things hasn''t she seen?

    Revenge is amon trope, even amongst mortals without any cultivation. ording to her experience, what just happened made it seem like this ''Sue Ming'' character had a deep, personal grudge against Mira.

    With Mira''s character, Lisica didn''t find it odd that she might attract enemies. It''s just�� this time, the enemy was a bit too abrupt and powerful, leaving many holes in her analysis.

    "Hmmmm~ The two are sure to sh after this, and I do not doubt that it might drag the Continent into chaos. The only question now is, which side should I take? On the one hand, Mira is part fox and extremely talented. On the other hand, Sue Ming is either strong enough or has the connections to bend the Unorthodox Faction Leader on his knees�� What a tough choice." Lisica knew that the broadcast that just happened had to have been allowed by the Faction Leader, as it was impossible for something on this scale to happen without it.

    While she was brooding over her decision, her expression suddenly distorted. Her tails stood as straight as an arrow, and all the hairs on her body went from being smooth and luscious to sharp needles!

    "Who dares to invade my Fox n?!" She roared in rage, teleporting outside the building.

    There, in the sky, Lisica faced 11 kingdom-toppling beauties, all exuding strong auras that went beyond their cultivation realm. The one leading them had pink hair, her nose was upturned as she looked at Lisica in disdain, and the aura around her was extremely overbearing-to the point that it wasn''t any less than hers.

    Lisica''s frown deepened as she stared at the invaders, but she wasn''t worried. Just like she thought after her roar reverberated through the ce, 20 other fox women appeared in the sky, all in the Mortal Shedding Realm and a few even in the Divine Sea Realm.

    The pink-haired woman in front of the foxes stared at them in amusement, not putting them in her eyes at all. Tensions rose as the two sides stared at each other for several minutes, neither one making a move.

    That is until the pink-haired woman opened her mouth.

    "You''re Lisica, the head of the Fox n, correct?" She asked, but it was more a statement than anything else.

    Lisica slowly nodded, still feeling a bit apprehensive about this situation.

    "That''s me. Now, can you tell me who you are and why you invaded my n?" Lisica asked, her voice as cold as a winter''s night.

    The pink-haired woman just chuckled, not bothered by this at all, and instead asked, "I see�� but what are you doing on the Western Continent?" She asked innocently.

    However, hearing her question, Lisica''s eyes dted, and her body trembled for no longer than a nanosecond before recovering, but this didn''t escape the pink-haired woman''s eyes.

    Lisica''s tails waved around fiercely as if waiting for the order to attack, but she controlled herself and said, "I believe I asked who you are." Her tone was so frigid that the air crystallized.

    "Oh my! How careless of me! My name is Sue Ming, and I''m here to have a little chat with you. Why don''t you invite me in?"

 Chapter 547 Apologies

    Back at the Battle Maiden Sect, a few hours after the torture broadcast, Maria''s head was in Mira''sp as thetter stroked her head gently. Mira couldn''t think of anything other than this to try to soothe her lover.

    Suddenly, Maria''s eyelids quivered and slowly lifted for the world to see. However, unlike their usual beautiful appearance, red veins spread all throughout her eyeballs.

    She had a nk expression on her face as if she didn''t even realize she had woken up. Maria looked around the room and froze when she saw Mira looking down at her. That''s when a bit of rity shone in her eyes, and she realized she wasn''t in a dream.

    This was reality.

    A reality that she wished was just an illusion��

    "....M-Mira?" Maria''s voice came out hoarse as images of what happened reyed in her mind, "M-Mira�� m-my parents�� hic��"

    Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, but Maria forcefully suppressed them. She didn''t want to start bawling as soon as she woke up.

    Mira didn''t say anything and just kept stroking Maria''s head. She felt it''d probably be better this way. If she were to say some consoling words, Maria would immediately know that she didn''t really mean them, even if she did feel bad about this whole situation.

    The two sat in calm, peaceful silence, basking in each other''s presence. Words didn''t need to be shared as they both understood what was going on in each other''s minds.

    Maria knew that Mira was trying her best tofort her, while Mira knew that Maria was trying to regain control of her emotions.

    Many minutes passed before Maria calmed down enough to speak.

    "You know, Mira�� I always knew there''de a day when my parents left this world before me. I hoped it wouldn''t happen and they''d be able to continue down the path of cultivation with me, but after exploring this world and broadening my horizons, I understood their talent was just too poor for that to happen. However, I at least thought they''d stay in my life for another few hundred years."

    Maria took a few breaths to calm herself down before continuing.

    "My mother�� she was just an ordinarymoner in Lunar Fox City before she met my father. She helped her parents at a local bakery and asionally picked herbs and ingredients outside the city. She lived a very normal life, but it was one she was happy to live."

    "My father, on the hand, grew up under strict supervision as he was going to be the next head of the Zaria family. He had to learn politics, know how to fight, cultivate, and gain a proper education as well. He was a busy man that didn''t have time for love and women."

    "However, everything changed when he met my mother. It was like flowers blooming at the beginning of spring; love at first sight. They both had simr traits and values, were equally intelligent, andplemented each other very well. While they had their ups and downs, they both knew at the end of the day that they loved and supported each other."

    "My father offered my mother a chance to experience a new life, and my mother provided unwavering loyalty, love, trust, and support. It was almost like a positive feedback loop; the more my mother supported him, the stronger my father got, and conversely, my mother, which in turn helped her provide more support."

    "Those two have always followed their hearts, staying true to their word. They were good people who were nice to everyone around them. They only killed violent criminals who did something worthy of death. Even then, they tried to treat each life as preciously as the next, no matter their sins."

    "This is how they raised me to be; someone who thought of life as something precious. Yes�� Life is supposed to be precious�� it''s supposed to be�� However��"

    Maria''s eyes hazed over and became lifeless and dark. The shine and luster in her eyes were all but gone. What was left was a pair of dead, nk eyes that looked at the world as if there was nothing good in it.

    "W-What did people like that, people who treasured life so much, do to deserve such a death? What did my mother do to be t-t-torn apart like that? What wrongs did my fathermit that he had to sit there and watch as his wife was skinned alive?!"

    Tears streamed down Maria''s face as she looked up at Mira, her expression looking extremely pitiful.

    "Tell me! What did people like that do to deserve such a gruesome death?! Even beasts don''t treat each other so cruelly, so why did people of their own race do such a thing?! They didn''t do anything wrong; they''ve never done anything wrong, at least not enough to warrant a death like that!!"

    Maria screamed and then began bawling her eyes out as she couldn''t contain her emotions anymore. The images of her mother skinned alive and her father covered in said skin were imprinted into her mind, and she couldn''t get them out. No matter how hard she tried to push them away, they returned stronger.

    Luckily, herst memory of her dad was of him smiling, telling her that he loved her, or else she didn''t know if she''d ever be able to recover from this.

    ''At least, even until the very end, my dad was able to smile like that.'' Maria thought as more tears fell down her face.

    Mira took everything in stride, but Maria''s words hit harder than she expected. The guilt that she didn''t think she had slowly invaded her heart. It wasn''t much, just a little prick of guilt, but that prick was enough to consume her attention. Thus, what was a mild annoyance became something Mira could no longer ignore.<novelnext></novelnext>

    A lump formed in Mira''s throat as she looked at Maria. The more she thought about it, the more she believed that none of this would''ve happened if she was never in Maria''s life. She would''ve lived her life happily with her parents, blissfully ignorant of what Mira was going through.

    She would''ve never had to experience this trauma while knowing that her own lover was the reason behind it.

    "....I''m�� I-I''m sorry, Maria." The volume of Mira''s voice wasn''t much higher than a mosquito''s, but with Maria''s cultivation, she managed to hear it.

    However, she was too ovee with shock to say anything. She immediately stopped crying and looked at Mira with wide eyes.

    ''D-Did Mira just apologize?!''

    She''s been with Mira for a very long time, and not once has she ever heard anything resembling an apologye out of her mouth. It was almost as if the word didn''t exist in her dictionary.

    "...If you hadn''t met me�� none of this would''ve happened�� For that�� I sincerely apologize��" Mira closed her eyes and bowed her head, another thing she never did!

    Maria didn''t know how to react for a second, but after sheprehended Mira''s words, she nearly sat up and smacked her in the face!

    "What are you saying right now, Mira?! Do you seriously think that all of this is your fault?!"

    "..."

    Mira''s silence was all the confirmation Maria needed to know that the answer was ''yes''.

    Taking a deep breath to calm her raging emotions, Maria stared into Mira''s with the most severe expression she could muster. She wasn''t mad at Mira for saying this, but even in her emotional turmoil, she knew this was an opportunity for their rtionship to grow.

    "Listen, Mira! I never once thought of ming you for all this. Since the day I wanted to be your lover, your partner, your wife, I resolved myself for a situation like this. I knew what I was getting into! I knew we''d make enemies that might one day hunt down my parents for revenge. So, if anyone''s to me for this situation, I''m as much at fault as you are."

    Mira looked like she wanted to say something, but Maria interrupted her before she could.

    "HOWEVER! I refuse to sit here ming one another for someone else''s actions. While some of the me certainly lies on our shoulders, we weren''t the ones to pull the trigger! That was them! They were the ones tomit this atrocity! They are the ones that deserve to die!" Maria yelled in Mira''s face, her eyes leaking both tears and killing intent. She''d never forget this grudge between her and the Unorthodox Faction!

    Although Mira felt weird that the one who ended up beingforted was her, she was deeply affected by Maria''s words.

    Her fists clenched, and her jaw tightened as she almost fell straight into the trap the god and Sue Ming wanted her to fall in! Her eyes shed a crimson light, but she quickly suppressed it, so she didn''t kill the mood.

    Maria sat up straight and grabbed Mira''s shoulders while ring into her eyes.

    "We''re a team now! What''s mine is yours, and what''s yours is mine! This doesn''t just include physical items or money either, but mental and emotional states as well. If one of us is at fault for something, we both are! So, don''t ever go off trying to take all the me on yourself! It''s not fair to me, you, or my parents!"

    Mira subconsciously nodded at Maria''s words.

    "....I understand."

    Maria released a faint smile and subtly nodded, "...Good. Then, why don''t you stop talking nonsense and hold me tight to make me feel better?"

    Mira nodded and picked up Maria, putting her in herp. Without another word, Mira wrapped both of them in her warm, fluffy tails.

    "Sniff�� sniff��hic�� sniff�� hic��"

    Mira''s sobs echoed in the silent room as the two embraced each other in an intimate, love-filled hug.

 Chapter 548 Spectator

    "I-I think I want to go on a trip!"

    Maria suddenly blurted out.

    It''s been a few hours since Maria let her emotions loose. During this time, Cine and Asami visited to ensure she was okay, but they didn''t stay long as they could tell that Mira and Maria needed some alone time. However, they did drag Dominique out of the room.

    Other than that short little visit, the two haven''t said a word, just basking in each other''s presence.

    ��Until Maria said those words, that is.

    Mira stared at Maria with an indifferent expression upon hearing what Maria wanted.

    ''So, the time has finallye, huh?'' Mira thought and released a bitter sigh. She expected something like this from Maria, just not so soon.

    "Why do you want to go? You should know that-"

    Maria cut Mira off, "Ah! I know what you''re going to say, Mira. You''re going to say that this is probably the worst time I could leave since there''s an unknown enemy out there after you and me, right?"

    Mira nodded, so Maria continued.

    "I already know that. In fact, it''s for that reason that I think I should go on a trip! What better way to raise my strength than to feel pressured from all sides? Isn''t that what you''ve taught me? That only when we''re in despair can our talent shine? T-That''s why I think I should leave��"

    Maria tried to stay upbeat when she said that, but from the slight trembles from her body and narrowed eyes, Mira knew that wasn''t why she wanted to leave.

    "You want revenge, huh." Mira nodded and muttered.

    "Kugh!"

    Maria avoided eye contact with Mira but didn''t deny her words.

    How could she not want revenge? She literally just watched someone torture her parents, and for what? Because her emotions would bring Mira difort? What a pathetic reason to make her endure all this guilt and anguish!

    She refused to look the other way just because the other party is an entire Faction that rules the underworld of Human society on the Western Continent!

    Maria''s eyes burned with fury at the thought of the Unorthodox Faction and their horrendous deeds!

    ''If I can''t make them feel the same pain as what I''m feeling right now, I won''t be satisfied!'' Maria''s nails dug into her palm as she clenched her fists.

    A vein popped in Mira''s head, seeing the normally bubbly and cheerful Maria so full of rage, but it wasn''t because of what her lover was feeling.

    No, the worse Maria felt about this whole situation, the more hatred and anger Mira had toward those who made her like this.

    ''Just sit tight and wait because I''ming for you.'' Mira inwardly swore.

    "Yes, I want revenge! I want to crush the bones and melt the skins of the ones who made me feel like this! No, such people deserve worse than that!" Maria dered, which was something Mira could agree to.

    "However, as I am right now, I''m too weak to even think about such a thing." All of Maria''s vigor deted like a balloon. She knew that revenge was just wishful thinking if she didn''t have the status or power to back it up.

    "I know this decision might sound impulsive, and it probably is to some extent, but it''s not like I haven''t thought it through. Actually, I''ve been meaning to go on a little trip for a while now, but I didn''t have a reason to go."

    Mira tilted her head as she didn''t know Maria wanted to go down the mountain and explore the world.

    Seeing Mira''s confusion, Maria exined, "Do you remember when you sparred with Nova? Before the mission the Sect Master gave us?"

    Mira nodded.

    Maria scratched the side of her head awkwardly and continued, "Yeah, well, it was after you lost to her did I seriously begin pondering on my future and our rtionship. That''s when I realized��" Maria took a deep breath to calm herself.

    "...I''m just a parasite leeching off your strength and goodwill."

    "....What?"

    Question marks appeared above Mira''s head as she couldn''tprehend this situation, but Maria didn''t stop talking.

    "Unlike my parents, who supported each other in all their endeavors, I''ve just been following you, using up your time and resources, without giving anything back."

    "That''s not true-"<novelnext></novelnext>

    "No! It is true, Mira! I know you say that I''m here as your emotional support, but I''m sure you''d be fine even if you didn''t have my support," Maria looked down at her hands and muttered, "Is that all I amount to in this rtionship? If so, that''s really pathetic of me. With your ambition and strength, I should be doing so much more, but ultimately, I''m more of a burden than an aid!"

    Mira opened her mouth but couldn''t find the right words to say.

    Truthfully, she didn''t care whether Maria was a burden or not. She was the first person in who knows how many years she could trust unconditionally. That in and of itself was worth more than anything Maria could possibly give her.

    Strength was important, yes, but what attracted her to Maria more than anything was her loyalty and trust.

    However, it seemed things weren''t so simple. Just because Mira didn''t care what Maria did to pull her wait in the rtionship didn''t mean Maria felt the same.

    "We''re supposed to be a team, but I feel like I''m stuck as a spectator."

    "..."

    Mira''s brows furrowed, but she still wasn''t sure what to say. Thus, she just kept quiet.

    "I want to be more than that. I want to be like my parents. I want to get revenge with my own two hands. I want to be there, behind you, supporting you during tough times. However, I''m incapable of all that, and I will continue to be if I don''t make a change."

    Mira sighed once again while suppressing the annoyance bubbling in her heart. She wasn''t irritated with Maria per se, but just this whole situation.

    It felt like she was given a problem with no right answer.

    She could either let Maria go on her trip or make her stay; they both sucked. There were other answers, of course, but those were the only two Mira was willing to think about.

    "So, you think this so-called trip will help you find yourself or whatever? Do you have any ns for what you want to do? How will you transition from a spectator to a yer?" Mira asked, and Maria answered without hesitation.

    "My goal is to create awork of people and businesses that will be at your beck and call!"

    Mira raised an eyebrow, signaling Maria to continue.

    Maria''s smile grew a little, and she exined, "From what I''ve observed, your main weaknesses right now are theck of resources, time, and information. I want to take away that burden from you and give us something to fall back on in case everything goes to shit."

    "Hmm~ That''s certainly true. I haven''t had the time to lead my subordinates properly, nor do I have the resources and patience to wait until they be strong enough to use."

    Hearing what Mira said, Maria pped her hands, "Great! Then, why don''t you hand them over to me? I''ll make sure to put them to good use, so we can slowly build our empire, taking a foothold in this world! By the time I''m done, nobody, not even the Sect Master Aelina, will be able to contend with us!"

    Mira was stunned by Maria''s words as she had never thought of ''trying to gain a foothold in this world''. While her ambitions have always been high, she''s only ever cared about her personal strength and revenge. It never dawned on her that she could do so much more.

    Though, part of that is because she never wanted to do more in the first ce��

    However, if she could leave all that troublesome stuff to Maria while reaping all the benefits��

    "It seems like going on a little trip will do you some good, after all." Mira gave Maria a light pat on the shoulder.

    Maria stared at Mira, speechless! She thought she''d have to spend a bit more time convincing Mira to let her go out. She never thought it''de so easily, but she wasn''t going toin!

    "You''re dead set on this, huh?" Mira asked, and Maria nodded her head.

    "I would''ve done this regardless of the situation, and I feel like now is the perfect time toy down the foundations for our future."

    "Is that what your intuition is telling you?"

    "Yes. Where there is strife, there is an opportunity, and I can smell the chaos enveloping the Continent from a kilometer away. Now is the perfect time to make use of the disorder that''s about toe!" Maria dered with her fist raised high.

    Looking into her firm, determined eyes, Mira couldn''t say no. Rather, if she did say no here, she might ruin everything. Plus, there was a very simple way to prevent Sue Ming and the Unorthodox Faction from catching word of Maria''s location when she was out in the world.

    "Very well. Go out there and make a name for yourself. However, before you go, please talk with one of the Elders or Aelina herself about them disguising you and all of my subordinates and sneaking you out of the Sect. Your life will be much easier without the Unorthodox Faction down your back."

    Maria didn''t hesitate to agree to Mira''s terms as she was going to do that anyways.

    "Yay!" Maria jumped on Mira and hugged her, "Thank you for believing in me!"

    Mira just nodded, but inwardly she had an evil smirk on her face.

    ''If it''s chaos you want, then�� Hehehe~''

 Chapter 549 Hunt

    A few days passed after Maria dered her intention to go on a trip, and today was the day of her departure.

    During thest few days, Mira and Maria did nothing but spend time with each other. They didn''t train, cultivate, or anything like that. They simply enjoyed each other''spany.

    They both knew it''d be a while before they next saw each other, and they wanted to make the most of their time together. However, neither of them saw this separation as a bad thing.

    Standing in front of the door in their room, Maria stared at Mira with Vulcan at her feet. The fox hasn''t seen much actiontely, but Maria vowed to rectify that. There were still mysteries around Vulcan that needed to be answered, and Maria intended to uncover some of them through this journey.

    "Well... I suppose it''s time for me to leave." Maria said while rubbing the side of her cheek.

    Mira nodded calmly, "Yes, I suppose it is."

    "..."

    The atmosphere became awkward as neither of them knew what to say. Mira didn''t have much experience in goodbyes, at least not with people that are still alive.

    On the other hand, Maria felt a bit apprehensive about all this. She knew that this was what she needed to do, but she was-

    "I prepared a farewell gift for you." Suddenly, Mira interrupted her thoughts, pulled out two ck palm-sized boxes from her pockets, and handed one to Maria.

    Intrigued, Maria rotated the box, inspecting it, but stopped after a few seconds, then looked back at Mira with her bright,rge eyes.

    "What is it?" Maria asked while trying to suppress her glee.

    "Open it and find out." Mira motioned toward the ck box in her hand.

    Maria nodded with a smile and slowly pried the lid off the box.

    "Gasp!" Maria covered her mouth with one hand as she looked at the item in the box, "I-Is this what I think it is?"

    Mira released a faint smile and walked up to Maria, "Of course it is. I seem to remember you introducing yourself as my wife. However, how can you do that if you don''t even have a ring to prove it?"

    Mira reached out her hand and took out a small ring. The ring had a golden band that shone with luster, arge diamond set in the center, and many tiny ck jewels encrusted around the rest of it.

    Mira then took Maria''s left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. It was a bit too big, but as soon as it came into contact with Maria''s skin, it pricked her finger, drawing a bit of blood, and reshaped itself to fit perfectly.

    Looking at the new ring on Maria''s finger, Mira gave a satisfied nod.

    "It looks good on you! I was worried that the ck jewels wouldn''t match your blonde hair, but it seemed I was wrong."

    "Th-This... Isn''t this a wedding ring?! A-Are you proposing to me right now, Mira?!" Maria stared at Mira in shock, unable toprehend what was going on.

    ''Isn''t her timing a little too bad?!'' She screamed inwardly.

    However, Mira shook her head upon hearing the questions.

    "Wrong. This is an engagement ring. How can this be the wedding ring when we haven''t had a wedding?"

    ''What''s the difference?!'' Maria wanted to ask, but she kept her mouth shut.

    As if she saw through her thoughts, Mira said in a low voice, "I want this ring to symbolize our promise to go down the path of cultivation together." That statement meant much more than what it seemed on the surface, which Maria caught.

    Her eyes grew misty as she never expected Mira to give her such a precious gift. She brought her left hand to her chest and cradled the ring as if it were the world''s most precious thing.

    "A-Ah! I-I don''t even know what to say... This... I-I didn''t think you could be so thoughtful."

    Mira snorted, "Hmph! I''m always thoughtful."

    Maria chuckled, but she didn''t deny Mira''s words. Afterward, she looked at the other box in Mira''s hand and asked, "What''s in that one? Don''t tell me you prepared to give me two rings?"

    Mira shook her head and opened up her box. She then reached into the box and pulled out another ring. However, this ring had an obsidian band, arge sapphire embedded in the center, and encrusted in golden diamonds.

    "This is my ring!"

    Hearing that, Maria quickly snatched it out of her hands.

    "I''m going to put this one on you!" She dered.

    Mira didn''t have any objections and extended her left hand to allow Maria to put it on her finger.

    Arge smile appeared on Maria''s face as she gently held Mira''s hand and slid the obsidian ring onto her finger. Just like with Maria, it pricked her skin, making a connection between the two, and adjusted its size to fit her perfectly.

    "Perfect!" Maria pped her hands excitedly. Looking at the ring on Mira''s finger, she felt a sense of aplishment and fulfillment well up in her chest. This ring proved that she had snatched this world''s most beautiful and amazing woman! How could she not feel that way?!<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I love you, Mira!" Maria announced, then embraced Mira in a giant hug.

    "Mmhm."

    Mira nodded faintly but didn''t say anything back.

    Fortunately, Maria was too ecstatic to notice theplicated look on her face.

    After a few minutes, Maria calmed down and took a step back.

    "Well, now, I guess I really need to leave, or else I''m afraid I won''t have the resolve to do so if I stay any longer," Maria said, her eyes drooping a bit.

    Without saying anything, Mira leaned in, wrapped her hands around her waist, and stole Maria''s lips. Thetter''s eyes opened wide, but she didn''t reject it. This kiss contained all the emotions that she couldn''t convey with words, bringing Maria to tears once again.

    After a few minutes, their lips separated, and Mira whispered, "...I-I love you too."

    Then, she pushed Maria out of the room and shut the door, leaving behind a fewst words, "Stay safe out there and don''t die. If you''re ever in trouble, just call for me, and I''ll be there."

    Maria was stunned by this turn of events, but soon, a massive grin manifested on her face.

    "Hehe~ I guess even Mira can get shy. Hehehe~" She chuckled, shaking her head, and left their residence with Vulcan.

    Outside their cave residence, Maria stood before hundreds of women of varying ages with Vulcan by her side.

    "Are you ready to go?"

    Maria turned to the side when she heard the familiar voice and beamed.

    "Senior Sister Sandra!"

    Elder Sandra scowled, hearing Maria''s way of addressing her but didn''t bother pointing it out. It wasn''t worth it.

    "I''ll be in your care!" Maria bowed slightly. The Qi in her body stirred, causing her hair to turn from blonde to ck and her appearance to shift into something a bit less attractive.

    Elder Sandra waved her hand dismissively, "Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. If you''re ready, let''s get going."

    Without waiting for a response, Elder Sandra turned around and flew toward the secret exit out of the Sect.

    Maria noticed that Elder Sandra wanted to get this over with and turned to Mira''s subordinates.

    "You all should already know by now, but Mira has ordered you to follow me to the outside world as training. I know some of you might not like these arrangements, but I promise I won''t mistreat any of you. We have the same goal, after all! To be useful to Mira!"

    "Aye!!"

    The women shouted in affirmation, bringing a smile to Maria''s face!

    "Good! Then, let''s go!"

    "OOOOH!"

    ***

    Back in Mira''s room, the smile on her face disappearedpletely after she sensed that Maria had left. The aura around her became frigid, and a bloody light shone in her eyes. Veins bulged in her forehead and her fists unconsciously clenched.

    ''I know you want to get your own revenge, Maria, but the ones who are the cause of all this won''t stop until they have you in their grasp. I can''t... No, I won''t allow such a thing to happen.''

    She''d been suppressing her desire for blood for a long time now, all for Maria''s sake. Mira knew that her lover didn''t like it when she killed people so effortlessly, but now, the wall she built around this bloodthirst was crumbling.

    Now, someone was targeting her loved one-the person she trusted the most in this world!

    Maria''s existence gave her hope that maybe, one day when this is all over, she won''t feel empty inside.

    How could she allow her love and future to be snatched away from her?!

    ''No! I won''t let something like that happen! Cole, Erika, you can rest easy knowing I''ll do everything in my power to keep your daughter safe.''

    After making that promise to the spirits of Maria''s parents, Mira turned to Rhydian, who was sleeping in the corner of the room. However, Mira could tell she wasn''t actually asleep and just didn''t want to be noticed.

    "It''s time to hunt, Rhydian."

 Chapter 550 War Is On The Horizon

    On her way out of the Sect with Rhydian, Mira passed by Cine and Asami, who had stayed in the valley just in case Maria needed them.

    The three of them made eye contact, and a shiver ran down their spine, seeing the lifeless, murderous re in Mira''s eyes. They didn''t need to be geniuses to understand that Mira wasn''t walking around for fun.

    She was out for blood. Lots and lots of blood.

    The battle dress she was wearing further proved this point.

    ''Fuck! She''s pissed! And since the only one capable of holding her back is gone��!'' Cine''s body went cold just thinking about it.

    She hasn''t been with Mira long, only a few years, but not once has she seen Mira''s emotions fluctuate past more than mild annoyance or mild surprise.

    It was as if she was an emotionless doll. She lived because she had to, cultivated because it was necessary, and killed because people got in her way. For the most part, Mira kept to herself and stayed at arms-length from anyone who tried to get close. She didn''t like conflict and actively avoided it, but that didn''t mean she was scared.

    However, if Mira was able to kill scores of people without hesitation because they annoyed her a little bit, then that begs the question:

    What is she capable of when her emotional threshold has reached its limit?

    ''Somebody has to die�� No, lots of people have to die. She won''t calm down otherwise.'' Cine thought as the hairs on her body stood on end.

    On more than one asion, Mira would go on killing sprees to calm down those instances of mild emotional fluctuations. It was as if she sought sce in the death of others. Fortunately, she usually only killed beasts, but she could tell that was no longer the case.

    ''Sigh�� I pity the poor fools who made her angry. I just hope she doesn''t cause more trouble than it''s worth.'' Cine thought as she calmed down.

    Mira walked by the two of them without saying a word, but her silence was worth more than a thousand words.

    In the end, Cine felt ufortable watching Mira''srge, lonely back depart towards what she could only ssify as war.

    "Fight hard and don''t die, Mira. If you need me to do anything, just ask. I wouldn''t mind killing a few Unorthodox Faction bastards myself."

    "..."

    Mira didn''t even flinch hearing her words and kept moving forward, but just as she and Rhydian were about to leave her sight, Cine heard a whisper brush past her ear.

    "...War is on the horizon, so be prepared."

    Cine stood there, rooted on the ground, as her mind nked. For some reason, when Mira said that, she had a faint premonition.

    A premonition that things weren''t as simple as they seemed and that Mira wasn''t just going to fish in muddy waters. No, she was going to be the one to make the waters muddy!

    After almost a minute of not moving, Asami got bored and poked Cine.

    "Are you alright, Cine?"

    Her question snapped Cine back to reality, and without thinking, she grabbed Asami''s hand and ran off!

    "Fuck!! We need to get stronger! NOW!"

    Asami was bbergasted by her remark, but she didn''t have any objections as that was always her n.

    ***

    Mira left the Sect withouting across anyone else. She could feel a few people''s eyes on her, but they didn''t approach her, which she was thankful for.

    "Head west, Rhydian. We''ll start our hunt there."

    *Woof!*

    Rhydian spread her wings and took flight heading west. Her first target is a weak Crimson yer Branch Sect that should only have a single Elder in the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    A few hourster, the fox and wolf duo descended at the gates of Mira''s first target. There wasn''t anything spectacr about the Sect. It was just a bunch of buildings with a bunch of people running around, simr to a small city.

    Though, the only thing she''d say was weird was the human ''farms'' they had. She didn''t know what these ''farms'' were for, but if she were to take a guess, it was simr to herding cattle. They would capture people and force them to breed, take the strongest of the children for themselves and kill the rest.

    Their cultivation techniques were dependent on the blood of people, after all. The Unorthodox Faction Sects can''t just send millions of blood-crazed maniacs into the world without facing some sort of bacsh.

    However, Mira didn''t give a damn about this. While it was horrible and sucked for those involved, they were weak. If they want to control their fate, they need to be strong.

    She hopped off of Rhydian and strode toward the entrance.

    "Let''s start things off with a bang, shall we?" Mira cracked her neck and said with a sadistic smile.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Rhydian''s mouth also seemed to twist into a smile as she nodded along with Mira.

    "Halt! State your name and purpose for visiting the Crimson yer Sect!!" One of the guards, someone at the Nascent Soul Realm, yelled out when he saw Mira approach.

    Unknowingly, a blush spread across his face while looking at Mira. She didn''t bother wearing a mask this time, as the whole point of this ''little trip'' was to strike fear into her enemies'' hearts.

    Mira didn''t bother to answer his question and just took out her scythe. Without missing a beat, she kept walking toward the entrance as if she was out for a stroll.

    Seeing this, the guard sobered up quickly and pulled out a sword.

    "Halt! Please put away your weapon and stop where you are, or don''t me me for being ruthless!!" His eyes shed with killing intent, and although he thought it''d be a pity to kill such a beauty, he had a job to do.

    *SHING!*

    However, before he could react, his vision went ck, and his head fell to the ground, with blood spurting out of his neck.

    Everything happened so fast that he didn''t even have time to realize he had died! The same went for the other guards as well!

    *SHING!**SHING!**SHING!*

    Before they knew it, their heads were also rolling on the ground. However, Mira didn''t let them be, even in death. She released a thread of Qi out of each fingertip and connected them with the dead bodies. Then, her ck runes sucked the life and Qi out of them, turning their corpses into nothing more than husks. However, she did leave one of the guards'' heads intact.

    Doing so, she felt her cultivation progress slightly, and her Blood Essence replenished a bit. It wasn''t much, but the results caused her smile to widen.

    "You can eat their bones, Rhydian. They should still be nutritious for you."

    Rhydian looked at Mira aggrievedly,ining with her eyes that Mira had already absorbed the best parts, but she didn''t deny the snack and gulped down all the bones.

    Mira grabbed the leftover head and mounted it on a pike. She had no intention of being lowkey or wasting words on canon fodder.

    ''This should make my stance clear.''

    After cleaning up, they marched straight into the Sect without warning, and just like she wanted, she attracted a lot of attention.

    "Huh?! Who are you?! How''d you get in?! What happened to the guards?! Wh-What''s with that head?!"

    "Fuck! Who''s this crazy bitch, walking into the Sect with a head on a stick?!

    "W-Wait! Isn''t that Jeremy, one of the guards?!"

    While everyone was clueless about what was going on, Mira took advantage of that and dashed to the nearest people, diagonally bisecting their bodies with her scythe. While she could very well use her ice to kill all these ants, she didn''t want to do that.

    She wanted to feel her scythe cutting through their bones and ripping their flesh apart! It was so much more satisfying that way! She wouldn''t be fulfilled if she didn''t watch the life from their eyes dissipate firsthand!

    ''These wretched vermin all deserve to die! How dare they scheme against me!!! I''ll ughter you all 11 generations of your fucking worthless bloodline! I''ll drill the fear so deep into your bones that even your ancestors will roll over in their graves!!''

    With that thought in mind, Mira tossed her scythe up in the air and controlled it with her Qi, then dashed to the nearest person and grabbed him by the throat.

    "ACKK!! UGH!!"

    The man grunted in pain as he felt death looming over him, but Mira didn''t stop there! She lifted the guy above her head with both hands and-

    *RIP!*

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

    -She ripped him in half with her bare hands as a bloodcurdling scream left the guy''s mouth, alerting the rest of the Sect!

    A fountain of blood and guts spilled all over Mira, but instead of feeling bad, she smiled. Yes, she fucking smiled! To those watching, she no longer looked like the beautiful fox woman she once was and now seemed worse than the worst of demons.

    Some of the onlookers pissed their pants in fear as the sight of Mira literally ripping someone in half and bathing in his blood was a bit too much for them. Others were able to maintain a firm grasp over their mind, but they were quivering in fear.

    The aura Mira was releasing right now,bined with her killing intent, was just too scary, even for those who are part of a Sect that literally has ''yer'' in the name.

    "Hehe~ Well, don''t just stand there! Come and fight me, or else you''ll be the next person I rip apart! Hahaha~!"

    Mira''s manicughter spread, but nobody had any thoughts of confronting her.

    Instead, their instincts were screaming at them to do one thing and one thing only: Run!

 Chapter 551 Feast

    "RUN!!"

    "EVERYONE!! RUN AWAY! THIS BITCH IS CRAZY!!"

    "AHHHHHH! SAVE ME!!"

    The morale of the disciples copsedpletely upon witnessing the fox-like demon ripping apart theirrades with her bare hands. They turned around to flee without thinking twice, but was it so easy to escape Mira''s clutches?

    *WOOF!*

    To those that tried to run, Rhydian descended from the sky and shed them into minced meat with her ws. Hell, if it were convenient, she''d bite a chunk out of their bodies and eat them alive.

    Mira didn''t even look at Rhydian and chased after the sweet littlembs waiting to be ughtered.

    "No, no, no! Wait! We can talk this through like civilized human-UGH!"

    Mira didn''t have the brainpower to spare on his worthless drivel and jammed her fist through his heart, then grabbed onto his ribcage and ripped his body in two.

    A stream of ck runes flowed from her fingers and into the corpses, sucking them dry and making her stronger.

    Suddenly, she sensed someone charging at her from behind, but she didn''t bother to turn around.

    "DIE!!"

    The man behind her channeled his Qi to use his technique, but before he couldplete it, a sinister ck light shed past his eyes.

    *SHING!*

    In a split second, Mira''s scythe had cut his body in two at the waist and split open his head. His eyes were wide open as if he couldn''t believe what had just happened as he died. Truth be told, he already had a stealth technique active and was hoping to ambush Mira with it.

    However, he didn''t know that after Mira went through the Hell of Pain, her sensitivity had drastically increased. Now, she could even feel the faint changes in wind pressure and vibrations in the earth whenever someone moved. She could also feel the gazes of people much more urately now.

    If that man wanted to hide from her with his shoddy stealth technique, he''d have to learn how to conceal his killing intent, restrain his gaze, and control the atmosphere around him. Otherwise, he''d alert Mira.

    In fact, her sensitivity was so high that she didn''t even know the guy had a stealth technique active, not that she would have cared anyways.

    With a rxed gait, Mira frowned and shot at the next person.

    ''This isn''t enough. There needs to be more blood, more FEAR! These wretches are just cowards who are afraid of death, not me!''

    Mira locked her hand around another victim''s neck and lifted him up into the air.

    "FUCK!! LET ME GO, YOU BITCH!!" The man wailed and thrashed around, alerting everyone and causing them to look over their shoulders for a moment.

    Yet, what they saw made their blood run cold.

    Mira coated her hand in Qi and jammed it into the guy''s back, and ripped out his spine!

    "UGGUGGUGUUG!"

    The man frothed at the mouth as his body spasmed for a moment before turning limp, but as a cultivator, he wouldn''t die so easily.

    He still had a few seconds to a few minutes left to live before his life ran out, and Mira nned to use that time to the fullest.

    She sent streams of ck runes into the man''s brain, wrapped them around the part that controlled his pain receptors, and then activated them.

    "UUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

    His body iled about like a wet noodle, but there wasn''t anything he could do. With his spine gone and Mira''s ck runes eating away at his brain, he could only wait for his inevitable death.

    The rest of the disciples watched in horror as their fellow brethren squealed like a pig. A few tried to ambush Mira again, but the scythe floating around her cut them into pieces before they could unleash their first attack.

    Around a minuteter, the wailing stopped, leaving only a dried husk of a man in Mira''s hand. She tossed him to the side like worthless trash and stared at the rest of the Unorthodox disciples.

    "Ahh~ You guys are really useless, you know that? Not only are you cowards, but your blood essence and Qi are really impure and low-quality. I guess what everyone says about the Unorthodox Faction is true; the only reason you exist right now is that the Orthodox Faction has allowed you to." Mira said in disdain while shaking her head.

    "Hmph! What does a little girl like you know?"<novelnext></novelnext>

    Suddenly, a snort came from the sky, and an overbearing pressure fell on Mira and everyone around her.

    "It''s the Sect Master!"

    "The Sect Master is here! We''re saved!"

    "Sect Master, kill her! She''s trampling on the pride of the Crimson yer Sect!"

    Hope was reignited in the eyes of the disciples, as they knew that the Sect Master of this branch Sect was at the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    If there were anyone who could take down Mira and get revenge for the fallen disciples, it''d be him!

    What nobody noticed, though, was that as soon as Mira heard his voice, her mouth cracked into a twisted smile.

    "You''re finally here, huh? Took you long enough." Mira chuckled and turned to face the middle-aged man floating in the sky.

    While her bones creaked under the pressure, neither the pain nor his intimidation was enough to make her kneel. The Abyssal Torment Steps were way more terrifying than he could ever be.

    The Sect Master frowned, hearing how rxed Mira seemed. Truthfully, he had sensed Mira a while ago but refrained from taking action. He felt a threating from Mira, making him hesitant to appear, but it wasn''t her power he was afraid of.

    No, the look in Mira''s eyes was simr to that of a man with nothing to lose. Anyone with a brain in the cultivation world knows that those kinds of people are the most dangerous. They will literally blow themselves up as long as it means they can drag as many people as they can down with them.

    Although Mira did have things to lose, it was true that she didn''t have much of a concern about her well-being.

    The Sect Master wanted to stay far away from such a person, but after observing how she just came here to kill, he had no choice but to show up.

    "Why are you doing this, woman? I don''t remember anyone offending someone as talented and beautiful as you before."

    Mira chuckled at the man''s question, "Oh? You don''t? But wasn''t my name broadcasted for the world to hear a few days ago?"

    ? The Sect Master froze up, and his eyes widened as he stared at Mira in shock!

    ''Is she�� Maria? No, she doesn''t look anything like those two people on the screen. Then�� she must be Mira.'' The Sect Master easily deduced, but that didn''t reduce his surprise, ''Fuck me! Did this woman go crazy after we basically announced to the world that she was our enemy?! Those stupid fucking higher-ups, why''d they have to provoke this demoness!? Now, I gotta deal with this shit! Luckily, she''s just a Core Formation Realm brat.''

    "Heh! Aren''t you a bit too hot-headed a rash, running straight into enemy territory by yourself?" The Sect Master snorted, raised his hand, and wrapped Mira with his Qi.

    Before she could react, Mira was already in his clutches, but not there wasn''t any change in her expression, making the Sect Master a bit ufortable. Still, he ignored his instincts and examined Mira''s body up close.

    "Hmm~ You really are gorgeous. It''d be a shame to kill such a beauty. How about this, if you agree to be my woman, I''ll spare-"

    Mira didn''t allow him to finish his sentence as her ck tail fluttered violently before releasing a mass of darkness! Though she also felt another 15% drop in lifespan because of this, so the blood essence she absorbed from him was negligible.

    Still, killing all those disciples below let her know that she''d only have to kill a few tens of thousands of people to replenish it back to full.

    "WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

    The Sect Master yelled in fright as he felt death approaching. He let Mira go and tried to retreat, but it was already toote. The literal hand of death had alreadytched onto him, consuming his flesh, blood, Qi, and soul.

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! STOP!! PLEASE STOP!!!"

    His horrified screams resounded throughout the Sect, frightening all the disciples. They could hardly believe their ears! The two of them hadn''t even begun fighting, and he was already begging for mercy!!

    How terrifying must this woman be?!

    Within a second, the Sect Master was erased from existence, body and soul, and Mira felt a surge of power fill her Core, Body, and Blood Essence.

    Her cultivation shot up from the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm to the 6th, then the 7th, and finally, it stopped at the 8th.

    Thanks to her improved control over her ck runes, she could absorb more Qi this time, but she still lost a lot in the process.

    "Haaa��" Mira released a satisfied sigh as her body was filled to the brim with strength, then she looked down upon the rest of the disciples.

    "Time to feast! Hehehe~"

 Chapter 552 Slaughtered

    After the Sect Master died, Mira and Rhydian began their ughter. Young or old, strong or weak, rich or poor, it didn''t matter. If it moved, it died.

    Rhydian was strong enough to take on just about anyone in the Nascent Soul Realm and could even kill those in the Soul Transformation Realm. Her breakthrough into Rank 7 elevated her strength and powers by arge margin while simultaneously increasing her mental faculties as well.

    With her bloodline, which was superior to ancient Dragons and Phoenixes, she could tear through enemies like butter as long as their defenses were tough enough to deflect her wings and ws. This was especially so against those who cultivate Unorthodox cultivation techniques.

    She didn''t even need to use her Qi, as most of Rhydian''s strength came from her body.

    Mira, on the other hand, only saw red. Her goal, other than killing, was to make the scene as bloody and gruesome as possible. Their deaths meant nothing if the people who came to investigate after they left didn''t throw up in disgust!

    Thus, she killed and killed and killed some more!

    The cries of her enemies were her symphony which lit the rage in her heart aze!

    "NO! PLEASE STOP! ACK!"

    "GO AFTER HIM! WHY ARE YOU CHASING ME-!"

    "FUCK! DIE, YOU BITCH!"

    asionally, she was swarmed by people, but it wasn''t anything her scythe couldn''t hack apart.

    However, after a while, she did find it tedious to keep hunting them down one by one like rabbits, so she began using her elemental powers.

    ''Paragon Wings!''

    ''100 cial Warriors!''

    ''Elemental Missiles!''

    ''Scythe Intent! Marital Intent!''

    Frost-Fire Qi Threads!''

    Anything that could maximize the efficiency at which she killed she used. She even trieding up with new abilities on the spot, such as the Frost-Fire Qi Threads, which were essentially just threads of Qi but made of ice and fire.

    However, what made Mira a genuinely fearsome opponent, was that she didn''t care about putting up a defense. No, it''s more urate to say she didn''t need to! Any damage she took would heal almost instantly as she was always absorbing vitality from those she killed.

    Nobody wanted to fight a near-immortal enemy who didn''t care about her own life, but at the same time, they couldn''t escape from her.

    So, the Crimson yer Sect disciples had to make a choice. They either run and get cut down by Rhydian or one of Mira''s techniques. Or they turn and fight, hoping to cut off her head.

    One might think that thetter had the most potential for survival, but both options were incredibly risky. While Mira didn''t need to care about her health, they did! They couldn''t fight like a suicidal person, or else they''d get chopped up!

    However, running was also certain death, mainly because of Rhydian, but Mira''s techniques also yed a part in this as well.

    There was nothing they could do once Rhydian set her eyes on them. So, the only solution was to try and escape without alerting her. But how could hiding from a Golden-Empyrean Winged-Wolf be so easy?

    Thus, the perfect duo sessfully trapped an entire, even with their weaker cultivations, because of the fear they brought, their strength, and their ability to synchronize with one another''s attacks.

    Meanwhile, there were a few that lost their minds and wentpletely crazy!

    "DIE! HAHAHAHA!"

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

    These people charged at Mira, ignited their cores, and blew themselves up. Unfortunately for them, not only was Mira''s armor sufficient to block such a suicidal attack, but even if she did get hurt, her wounds would heal instantly.

    After a few hours, Mira and Rhydian hadpletely wiped out the entire Sect! A Sect with a Mortal Shedding Realm elder and tens of thousands of disciples was wiped out by a Rank 7 beast and a Core Formation Realm woman!

    Due to all the deaths, Mira''s cultivation reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm. In fact, with how many people she killed and absorbed, it should''ve been enough to push her into the Nascent Soul Realm, but something prevented her from doing so. It wasn''t just her instincts that told her to wait; she physically couldn''t raise her Realm even if she tried.

    Thus, she put that behind her and just used the rest of the Qi she absorbed to consolidate her foundation and ensure there weren''t any ws.

    She was also almost able to fully replenish her blood essence.

    All she had left to do was plunder the loot and deal with the people in the human ''breeding farms''.

    "Rhydian, go collect all their Spatial Rings and search for all the treasures in the Sect. I''ll go deal with thest of the people."<novelnext></novelnext>

    Rhydian nodded her head and flew off while Mira walked to arge vige-like area. She wanted to go there because rather than Spirit Stones and other treasures, these farms were the foundation of the Unorthodox Faction. If she can destroy enough of them, she''ll be able to deal a blow to the entire Faction!

    In this vige were people in the thousands, no maybe somewhere in the hundreds of thousands, all squeezed together. They all had hazy looks in their eyes as if they had no control over their actions, and it showed as, despite all themotion, they were fucking each other like wild animals. Hell, there were even small children, as low as the age of 5, joining in on the sex.

    Even Mira, who has seen many messed up things throughout her life, couldn''t help but feel disgusted.

    ''How much corruption and how many generations does it take for people to end up like this?'' Mira thought, repulsed, ''If it''s like this, these people are better off dead.''

    Not one to hesitate once she''s made a decision, Mira activated her Death Dominion technique, engulfing all the people. Almost instantly, their bodies were devoured by the darkness that enveloped them, leaving nothing behind. No bones, no ashes, nothing. It was as if they never existed in the first ce.

    "My blood essence is finally full again!" Mira smiled, not something someone who had just killed thousands of innocent people should be doing, but she didn''t care.

    To Mira, death was so normal to her that it was like breathing. The people she killed couldn''t even be ssified as numbers anymore.

    It might sound cruel and unjust that she could kill innocent people without blinking an eye, but she''s grown indifferent to it all.

    ''Rather, isn''t death a good thing, especially for these people? If I were in their shoes, I''d prefer death over whatever the fuck that was. No more pain or suffering, just peace.'' Mira thought. She wasn''t trying to justify her actions, as that was how she truly felt.

    "Whatever. I should just go see if there are any more ces like this." Mira shook her head and left the area, but before she left, the hairs on her back rose, causing her to look up.

    Although she didn''t see anything, she was sure people were there and knew exactly who they were.

    "Sigh�� That troublesome duo needs to learn how to stay out of other people''s business." She mumbled, and her eyes went cold.

    Her ck tail iled around a bit, itching for its next target, but before anything could happen, the gazes disappeared.

    "Next time, I won''t be so polite, even if I have to kill myself in the process!" She said in a voice which should be just loud enough for them to hear her, then left the area.

    ***

    "Next time, I won''t be so polite, even if I have to kill myself in the process!"

    Master Izaria and Ryuu paled in fright when Mira said that and hurriedly left the area.

    "You see what you did, Little Ryuu?! Why are you simping over a crazy woman like that?! Did you see the look in her eyes and how she ripped those men apart like sheets of paper!?"

    Ryuu was speechless at his Master''s words as he wasn''t the one who wanted to spy on Mira, but he kept quiet, knowing it was useless.

    "There''s a saying that you should never stick your dick in crazy, and by god, I think that woman is way beyond crazy! If you stick your dick in her, you might just turn into a eunuch, or worse, she might make a woman out of you!" Izaria warned, but Ryuu just stared at her with dead eyes.

    "Sigh�� Master�� how many times do I have to tell you. I have no intention of getting into a rtionship with her. Maybe I''d court her if she were more feminine and submissive, but��"

    "Phew! Thank god you aren''t aplete masochist, Little Ryuu!"

    "I''m not a masochist in the first ce!!" Ryuu tried to defend himself, but Izaria had already lost interest.

    "Ahem! Anyways, why did you stop me from preventing Mira from killing all of those innocent people?! I�� I-I know that what the Crimson yer Sect had done was horrible, but isn''t she too cruel not to even try to save them?!" Ryuu shouted, still shaken from that scene.

    Izaria wasn''t much better as she, too, felt bile rise up from her stomach, but she managed to control herself.

    "What did I just say, Little Ryuu? I told you not to stick your dick in crazy! Do you really want to meddle in that crazy bitch''s business?! I sure don''t! If you want to go get sucked into that ck tail, be my guest, but don''t drag me down with you! Plus, she was just putting them out of their misery. If they had lived, they would''ve just been nutrients for other disciples. They could hardly be considered people anyways, as their brains were rewired to only think about sex."

    Ryuu was once again horrified as he failed to consider all of that and was thankful that his master prevented him from doing something stupid.

    "Well, would you like to stay and observe some more, Little Ryuu? I know she''s sensitive to gazes, but I''m confident I can hide us from her. So, if you want, just-"

    Ryuu cut her off, "...No. We shouldn''t bother her anymore. Although I want to get closer to her and ease her pain�� as a friend, of course. This isn''t the way to do it."

    "Then?" Izaria asked expectantly.

    "Let''s divert some of the attention from her by doing exactly what she''s doing, but to a different Sect!"

    "Hahahaha! Good! Good! I knew I didn''t raise you wrong! Let''s go cause some chaos!! HAHAHAHA!!"

    Master Izaria wrapped them both in Qi, and they disappeared, leaving nothing behind but her manicughter.

 Chapter 553 How To Breakthrough To The Nascent Soul Realm?

    After killing the rest of the people in the Sect and looting all the treasures, the two of them left, worried that someone from the Unorthodox Faction woulde looking for them. While Mira wasn''t scared of encountering another Mortal Shedding Realm expert, she didn''t want to waste another 15+% of her blood essence on something she could''ve avoided.

    "Damn! This branch Sect was much more loaded than I thought!" Mira mumbled, ncing over the mountain of wealth she had just acquired.

    Inside her Storage Space were countless Low-Stage Spirit Stones, hundreds of thousands of Mid-Stage Spirit Stones, and even 10 Late-Stage Spirit Stones! With just this amount of wealth, she wouldn''t have to worry about resources until after she reached the middle stages of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    However, that wasn''t all she and Rhydian looted.

    Weapons, armor, techniques, herbs, pills, and treasures�� Essentially everything that made up a Sect was in Mira''s possession.

    "I guess the saying ''Theft is the fastest way to wealth'' is true. With all the resources at my disposal, I could build a small Sect!" Mira suddenly thought of Maria, causing her expression to cool.

    ''Maria would put these resources to better use than if they were in my hands.''

    She nced at the ring on her finger and muttered, "If I get the chance, I''ll track her down and give her a little help to start things off."

    Putting these thoughts to the back of her mind, Mira focused on the more prevalent issue, which was her cultivation bottleneck!

    Mira sat cross-legged on Rhydian''s back, sending her consciousness into her Core. She grasped ahold of all her Qi and tried to stimte a breakthrough ording to her cultivation technique, but it didn''t budge.

    It was like a giant invincible wall was blocking her road to the Nascent Soul Realm.

    "Why can''t I break through?" She sent her consciousness to check out the rest of her body and even her soul, but she didn''t know what she needed to do.

    Luckily, the Guardian decided to enlighten her!

    "Ah! It seems you''re in quite the pickle! The Nascent Soul Realm is quite an important cultivation Realm. It''d be a pity if you couldn''t enter it. Would you like my help to get you out of this little quandary?" The Guadian teased, but Mira''s facial expression never changed, staying ice cold.

    "..." Mira stayed silent. She''s never begged anyone for help, and she certainly wouldn''t start today. If he didn''t want to offer his assistance, she''d figure it out on her own.

    The Guardian knew what she was thinking and released a snort.

    "Hmph! Fine, I''ll give you some free advice, but it''s only because I don''t want to see you get thrashed around by those slutty little girls that descended into your world."

    Now THAT caught Mira''s attention.

    She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Slutty little girls? You mean those bitches that were behind the murder of Maria''s parents? The ones that I''d spected the bastard god sent down?"

    "Tsk. What are you calling him a god for when you don''t even refer to me, your own Guardian, by my proper title?!" The Guardianined, but his response gave Mira all the information she needed to know.

    "Anyways, there are a few reasons you can''t break through into the Nascent Soul Realm. However, before we get there, let me tell you a bit about what a Nascent Soul is."

    The Guardian paused for a moment before continuing.

    "A Nascent Soul is, to put it simply, a soul in its infancy. Every living being, whether it be humans, beasts, nts, etc., has a soul. Now, depending on the type of existence you are will determine how innately strong your soul is, but that doesn''t mean it can''t be improved."

    "Unlike most people, you currently have partial ess to your Soul. Though, that''s simply because you''ve experienced death numerous times and have lived as a soul with all your memories intact. For this reason, you''ve been able to do things that other people couldn''t."

    "Now, Imagine your soul as a nt. Before the Nascent Soul Realm, it''s akin to a seed, but after you reach that Realm, it sprouts into a tiny seedling. The Soul Transformation Realm then transforms it into a sapling, and the Divine Sea Realm advances it into a fully formed tree."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Having ess to your soul and making it more powerful brings numerous benefits, but I''ll get to thatter. First, I''ll exin why cultivating the soul is important. You might not have known this, but a Soul is deeply linked to your brain and senses.

    "While your brain controls your cognitive ability, reaction speed, etc., once you reach the Nascent Soul Realm, not only is your brain essentially backed up onto your Soul, but you''ll see a substantial increase in brain functionality. Basically, this means that you can store more information and process it faster."

    "I''m sure you can understand why this is so important, but I''ll say it anyways. Battles in the stages above the Nascent Soul Realm happen extremely quickly. Naturally, your brain must keep up with those kinds of high-speed fights to survive."

    "However, that''s not all having ess to a soul gives you. Once you break through, if you''ve already formed your Dao, you''ll have minimal ess to it. You''ve used this state a few times in the past, where you have absolute control over all the ice in the nearby area."

    "You''ll also gain Soul Sense, which allows you to spread out your soul and use your mind''s eye to examine the surrounding area or other people. You can think of it as a kind of sixth sense."

    Mira greedily took all of this information in, but her eyebrows furrowed as she just wanted him to get to the point.

    "So? Why is all this important?"

    The Guardian chuckled, "Hush! I''m getting there!"

    He coughed lightly and continued exining, "Ahem! While in the Mortal Realms, you might think there isn''t a specified Soul Cultivation System or Body Cultivation System like the Qi Cultivation System, but that''s simply not true. Body, Soul, and Qi are all mixed into one system, meaning they are all interconnected. Though Qi is certainly the most important as it''s the lifeblood of any cultivator, whether it be Body, Soul, or Qi."

    "However, there''s a terrible imbnce in your body. Both the strength of your Body and Qi are weaker than your Soul right now, and that''s before you''re in the Nascent Soul Realm. So, if you want to break through, you''ll have to find a way to increase the purity and density of your Qi and, at the same time, increase the strength of your body."

    "Your Inner Body Cultivation is a good start, but it''s not enough."

    "But that''s not all that''s stopping you. Due to your cultivation technique, you''ll have to reach the Manifestation Realm of Weapon Endowment with your scythe before attempting to break through."

    "Lastly, because of your unique circumstances and the fact that you''re the inheritor of the F.LD.I.L, you''ll have to shape your soul into a manifestation of your Dao. If you want to make any changes to it, now would be the time, as once you set it in ce, it''ll be nearly impossible to change. This manifestation will be the foundation on which the base of your power is built upon."

    This was a lot for Mira to take in, and she could only sigh as it seemed like she had a lot of work ahead of her. Still, she wasn''t dissatisfied with-

    "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that you''ll also need toplete a few special missions in the F.LD.I.L to get the necessary resources for your breakthrough. Hahaha!"

    -nevermind, now she was pretty dissatisfied.

    A deep frown formed on her face as the thought of going through more missions sounded awful. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about that.

    "Sigh�� It seems I''m stuck in the Core Formation Realm for the time being." Mira sighed.

    "Correct. However, you can speed up the process by multitasking." The Guardian said.

    "Oh? How so?"

    "You can begin cultivating both your Inner and External Body. Not only will that make you stronger so you can tackle future problems more easily, but you can do them simultaneously!"

    For some reason, the Guardian was more enthusiastic about this, giving Mira a bad feeling, but she didn''t deny that he was correct.

    In the end, she just nodded her head, "Alright, let''s do that then."

    After saying that, she dove her consciousness into the Gates of Purgatory to begin the next Hell.

 Chapter 554 Continental War?

    Mira pushed open the Grey Door inside the Gates of Purgatory, and just like the other times, she cked out, her consciousness returning to her mind.

    Suddenly, Mira opened her eyes, then slumped over as if she were made of jelly!

    "What the��! What happened? Why do I feel so weak?" Mira muttered, feeling iparably weak. Fortunately, it was just her physical body that was weak.

    However, she did feel strangely more connected to the earth.

    "...What''s going on?"

    The Guardian chimed in once again to help her out, "The door you just opened was the Hell of Weakness."

    "Hell of Weakness?" Mira questioned.

    "Yes, and just like the name suggests, it makes you weak. However, like the previous Hells, things aren''t so simple. During this time, two things will happen. One, your strengths will be severely limited. Two, your weaknesses will be more pronounced. This hell will cycle through your strengths and weaknesses one at a time, and if you don''t ovee them within the given time limit, you will lose all your strengths, and even your weaknesses will be locked."

    Mira''s mouth hung wide open as she could barely believe what she was hearing.

    "Fuck me! This Hell is actually so ruthless?!" She muttered in shock.

    "I know, right? This is only the 3rd Hell, and it''s already threatening to take away all your powers! Maybe you shouldn''t have opened that door." The Guardian teased, but Mira wasn''t in the mood for it.

    She wanted to know how to ovee it!

    "Tsk! You''re seriously no fun, did you know that?" The Guardian clicked his tongue, "The only way to pass this Hell is to equalize every aspect about yourself to the point where you have no weaknesses. So, for example, in this first cycle, you''ll have to increase your physical strength and Earth affinityprehension, each up to the same standard of power."

    Mira nodded in understanding but frowned as what he said certainly wasn''t easy.

    "How long do these cyclesst before I lose everything?" Mira asked, praying that it wasn''t something ridiculous like a day.

    "One week per cycle."

    "Fuck!"

    Mira cursed as that wasn''t much better than a day! In this world, just to travel from one ce to another might take a week. How could she improve all aspects of herself so quickly if just the travel time alone might take several days to a week? She couldn''t, that''s how!

    "Ah! But don''t worry. Yourprehensive abilities for your weaknesses will rise while the cycle is active." The Guardian suddenly added, which caused Mira''s expression to ease.

    "That''s more like it. Otherwise, this Hell would be impossible." Mira muttered before looking off into the mountains. Thanks to her improved senses, including her eyesight, she could see that far with a certain degree of rity.

    Mira examined the peaks of each mountain to see if any were hollowed out. After a few minutes, she spotted a few that matched her needs.

    "Rhydian! Change of ns! Head toward that volcano!"

    *Woof!*

    Mira and the wolf soared into the air and flew deeper into the Ancient Beast Mountain Range!

    ***

    Meanwhile, three people appeared in the skies at the Crimson yer branch Sect. They each had indifferent expressions, but when they looked down, their faces went ck, and a murderous rage swept over them!

    In the center of all the rubble stood giant blocks of ice that read: "Thanks for the free loot!"

    "Damn!! Who is it?! Who dared to degrade our Sect like this?!" One of the men yelled, waving his hand and destroying all the ice.

    The other two were feeling exactly the same as him and were about tosh out when they suddenly realized that something wasn''t right.

    They looked around, and their faces went pale with what they saw.

    "W��W-What happened here?"<novelnext></novelnext>

    "W-Who would do this?"

    What should have been a small city full of roads, buildings, and houses was nothing more than a sea of blood and rubble. Aside from that, they also noticed that floating on the surface of the red sea were the limbs and guts of the fallen disciples.

    There were no bodies. There were no signs of life. There was justplete and utter annihtion.

    The three men could hardly believe their eyes. The Sect that had stood tall for many years was now reduced to a pitiful puddle of human soup. And it was done right under their noses, no less!

    It took them a few moments to snap out of their trance, but once they did, dense killing intent leaked out of their bodies!

    "Find traces of whoever did this! Hurry! We must find the bastard whomitted this atrocity toward our Faction!!" One of the men roared in anger, and the other two didn''t hesitate to heed hismands. They searched the area for any traces of the attackers but weren''t sessful in finding too many clues.

    The only thing they could make sense of was that someone or perhaps multiple people came here for revenge. Nobody just randomly approaches a Branch Sect of arge faction andmits such bloodshed if it wasn''t for some sort of vengeance.

    There''s also the fact that the attacker has an ice affinity and should only be around the Core Formation Realm, maybe higher. At least, that was their estimate based on the chunks of ice.

    Lastly, whoever did this has no qualms about killing innocent people, given that someone also ughtered all of their human ''farms''.

    "Ice affinity�� Core Formation Realm�� Crazy strong for her cultivation�� Ruthless�� Hey, doesn''t that sound kind of like the person that pink-haired bitch was talking about?" One of the menmented, feeling more irritation and anger bubble inside of him at the mention of said "pink-haired bitch."

    "What was her name? Ah! That''s right! I think it was Mira. That psycho sadist mentioned her name on that broadcast a few days ago."

    "Fucking hell! Are you serious? So, you''re telling me whoevermitted this atrocity was doing so as revenge because of what that Sue Ming bitch did?!"

    One of the men sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "We can''t confirm that yet; this is merely spection. There are plenty of people with an Ice Affinity, even more people in the Core Formation Realm, and all sorts of talents around the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Not to mention, what cultivator isn''t ruthless? To narrow it down to a single person just because of a few coincidences is a bit of a stretch."

    The 2nd man raised an eyebrow, "So, you''re saying you DON''T think this Mira girl did it?"

    "..."

    The man looked away, avoiding eye contact.

    "See?! Who else, if not her, would do something like this?! It''s only been a few days since the torture broadcast as well! This is too much of a coincidence!" The man yelled, causing the other two to sigh.

    "Alright, that''s enough. We can sit here, specting all day, but right now, it''s more important to report back. If Mira was the cause of this, then that might mean the entire Battle Maiden Sect is supporting her. We might start a continental war if we go after her without proof or permission."

    At those words, their faces fell and became turned serious. A continental war was no joke. It would be a tough battle for the Unorthodox Faction if such a thing happened. While they might have more Mortal Shedding Realm elders, they have fewer Divine Sea Realm experts. Just that alone is enough to turn the tides of war, regardless of how many disciples there are.

    This isn''t even counting if they make enough noise and get the Beast ns involved!

    Needless to say, a war between factions is thest thing anybody wants, especially with the Central Continent Competitioning up.

    The three men scanned the area with the Soul Sense one more time, double-checking that they didn''t miss anything before sighing dejectedly.

    "It seems whoever came here really sucked this ce dry." One of the men teased, but the other two didn''t find it funny.

    The man just shrugged, "Let''s head back now. I''m sure that Sue Ming bitch and the Faction head will be ''delighted'' to hear the ''good'' news.''" He said, heavy on the sarcasm.

    The other two groaned before they all shed away, disappearing.

    After they left, spies from other Sects and powers found out about one of the Crimson yer''s Branch Sects copsing. However, they didn''te to the same conclusion that the Unorthodox Faction did.

    Mira was still an unknown figure to the world, as she''s spent most of her life secluded, cultivating, and not causing any trouble, but things are different now-now she has a reason to descend the mountain and wreak havoc across thends!

    Everything would''ve been fine if they had just left her alone, but NO! They just had to fuck with her!!

    This world is in for a rude awakening as Mira''s on a journey to uproot the status quo!

 Chapter 555 Stage 5 Magma Dragon Body; Increase In Earth Affinity Comprehension

    Mira and Rhydiannded near the edge of an active volcano,pletely aware that the Unorthodox Faction had discovered their actions.

    Her skin turned red as the searing heat of the molten magma enveloped them. The tips of her hair burnt to a crisp, and her battle dress began to deform. Without any shame, Mira removed her clothes, standing before a volcano, nude.

    Her blood boiled, not just from the heat but because of the innate desire in her body. Years ago, she cultivated the 1st Stage of the Magma Dragon Body back when she was with Kayda in the Secret Realm. Thus, she walked the path of gaining the physique of an actual Magma Dragon.

    However, things changed when she was reborn after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm. One of the ingredients needed to break through was magma and a 1,000-year-old Dragon Ginseng; this wasn''t done without a reason.

    The Technique Kayda gave her was one of the best techniques avable in the entire Mortal Realm, especially for Body Cultivation. Dragons have long been known for their absurdly strong bodies. In fact, they probably had THE strongest body out of any species out there.

    So, why would Mira''s rebirth throw that away?

    The answer was: it didn''t.

    Mira''s current physique was built on the one she had before, just better. This not only made her more suited for the Magma Body Technique, but she''d also end up stronger than before.

    Unfortunately, everything came with a downside: she''d need more, higher-quality magma to break through to the next stages.

    However, Mira couldn''t care less about that. Getting resources is just a matter of strength and background, none of which are much of an issue.

    "I''m going to take a little bath, Rhydian. You can join me as well, but I doubt it''d be very helpful." Mira said before diving into the magma below. Rhydian gave a low growl, then ran off, probably to go catch some prey.

    *bLoOp!*

    Landing in the magma, Mira felt a scorching heat prate every pore in her skin, trying to melt her into ash, but her skin and physique prevented it from doing so. The Qi in the magma was incredibly dense, more than she thought it would be, but she wasn''t going toin.

    ''If the rest of the volcanoes are like this, I might not have to suck too many of them dry.'' She thought before circting the 2nd Stage of the Magma Dragon Body Technique.

    Instantly, magma flooded her bones, organs, muscles, and every other part of her body, attempting to turn it to ash, but her health regeneration and natural resistance toward the element prevented this, allowing her to make it her own.

    ''Integrate!'' Mira roared inwardly as she drilled the magma into her body, absorbing it and its energy.

    While this was going on, with her mind''s eye, she began observing the magma, or more specifically, the earth part. With her extraordinaryprehension, this didn''t take long, but her Earth Affinity was rather poor, to begin with, so it would take some time to bring it up to a satisfactory level.

    ''I''m not sure if I''m doing this right. I''ve never had to do this with my ice element; it just came naturally. I don''t think I''ve ever had to actively try and prehend'' something.'' Mira thought as she tried digging deeper into what magma is, what makes up magma, and how it bes stronger.

    She knew some of the answers from a scientific point of view, but things didn''t work the same here in the cultivation world. The various elements work and y their parts differently. People can essentially create their own Daos, and there''s the possibility of bing immortal.

    ''I suppose all I can try doing is try and dig deeper into the profundities of the Earth Element and see whates out of it. Who knows, I might even understand what exactly I need to focus on to increase myprehension.'' Mira thought as she went back to meditating.

    She didn''t have time to waste on thinking as she only had a week to bring her Magma Dragon Body to the 5th Stage and her Earth affinityprehension to a simr level of power.

    ''I''m going to need a lot of volcanoes.'' Mira sighed onest time before pushing out all useless thoughts.

    ***

    A week passed by extremely quickly for Mira as she spent all her time meditating in magma. She went from one volcano to another, absorbing everything it had to offer before moving on to the next.

    Fortunately, the Ancient Beast Mountain Range has an overabundance of volcanoes, to the point where once you find one, there''s a whole slew of them connected.

    She must''ve visited dozens of them, absorbing all their magma into her body, increasing the strength of her body.

    While she was doing that, the world around her remained quiet, as if they were waiting for something. Nobody made any significant movements. The Unorthodox Faction stayed holed up, and the Orthodox Sects went about their business like normal.

    However, tension brewed in the air like a taut rope, ready to snap at any moment. Since nobody could confirm if the person who actually destroyed a Crimson yer Branch Sect were Mira, they kept their heads down, waiting to see when she''d strike next.<novelnext></novelnext>

    But she never did.

    A week went by, and nothing happened!

    Who would''ve known that the person they were all waiting for got stuck with her own problems before she could cause any more mayhem?

    "Puhah!" Mira gasped as she lifted herself out of another pool of magma.

    Now, unlike a week ago, it couldn''t hurt her. On the contrary, being in or around magma could heal her! Though, it wasn''t nearly as efficient as her own regenerative powers. Still, it was useful in case anything happened.

    Her body rippled with muscles that weren''t there previously. Her abdomen was lean and slim, but she had an 8-pack of abs. Her muscles rippled with power all across her body; each looked like steel wires linking her body together. She had filled out a bit more, her shoulders were a bit wider, and she looked ''meatier''.

    When she stepped on the ground-

    *Boom!*

    -just the weight of her body alone made the ground tremble under her weight.

    "Hmm?" Mira raised an eyebrow, surprised that she had be so heavy.

    She clenched her fists a few times, each one releasing mini sonic booms as she did so. Then, she took a fighting stance and threw a few punches.

    *BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!*

    Although she didn''t hit anything, each punch caused the ground to shake and the nearbynd to be uprooted and destroyed.

    "Damn! I''ve gotten strong!" She eximed, in awe of her own power, "This''ll probably take some getting used to, though. The 5th Stage of the Magma Dragon Body Technique is really amazing. I''ll have to thank Kayda the next time I see her."

    That wasn''t the end of her week-long magma-absorption sessions either. She obtained a few things from the Magma Dragon Body that she would get intoter, but for now, she was curious to see how strong her Earth affinity was!

    She covered the surrounding ground with her Qi and, without any effort, lifted a chunk of rock the size of a house.

    Satisfied, she nodded, then began trying out all sorts of things. She lifted the ground making giant earth walls, surrounded herself with hundreds of spikes, and summoned a mini-meteor from the sky!

    After a few minutes of testing, she was more than satisfied.

    "It seems like all my hard work paid off."

    Mira could tell from the density of the earth that she used that her affinity had reached a point where it was just about as strong as her ice. Though she was certainly stronger with thetter as she''s more aligned with it, they''re very simr in terms of raw power.

    Suddenly, as she was enjoying the sensation ofpleting her goals, the feeling of bodily weakness disappeared and was switched to her ice affinity!

    Now, her ice affinity had been nerfed, while at the same time, her water affinity seemed to be highlighted!

    "What the hell? Aren''t they the same thing?" She wondered before the Guardian answered her question.

    "Ha?! The same thing?! Absolutely not! While the two elements are deeply connected, they are not the same!!" He roared, offended that Mira would even say something so stupid.

    "Okay? But why is my ice affinity nerfed?" Mira questioned, feeling empty inside. Barely having ess to her ice affinity felt like a piece of her existence had been ripped away from her!

    "Hmph! This one is slightly different. To pass, you must use both affinities interchangeably and seamlessly while raising your water affinity to the same level as your ice."

    Mira hummed in thought but felt like this trial was a bit easier than thest. She also had the perfect technique for this asion, one she received from a crazy mermaid that she had never used!

 Chapter 556 Water And Ice; Water Body Transformation Technique: Complete

    Several years ago, Mira obtained a technique from the Mermaid Queen back in the Secret Realm called the Water Body Transformation Technique. Until now, she hasn''t had a good opportunity to use it, either because her meridians weren''t strong enough or she was just too busy with other things.

    There are 8 Stages to the Water Body Transformation Technique, but what''s odd about these stages as they don''t necessarily get progressively harder the more you cultivate it. Rather, the 1st Stage is the most difficult as many people''s meridians can''t handle the weight of the water flowing through them and would burst.

    The only thing one needs to cultivate the technique properly is a certain amount of strength to withstand the pressure of the water; that''s all.

    There are 8 stages to the technique:

    Stage 1: Meridian Cleansing

    Stage 2: Skin Cleansing

    Stage 3: Flesh Cleansing

    Stage 4: Bone Cleansing

    Stage 5: Marrow Cleansing

    Stage 6: Organ Cleansing

    Stage 7: Blood Cleansing

    Stage 8: Heart Cleansing

    From what Mira could remember, the technique doesn''t directly increase one''s strength more than some other techniques, like the Magma Dragon Body. If this was before her rebirth, it might bring her an immediate 40% boost, but she was skeptical about that number now.

    However, that''s not why Mira wanted to practice the technique in the first ce, as the benefits of the technique lie elsewhere.

    The Water Body Transformation Technique is a technique that cleanses the body of all impurities. That isn''t just the case for right now, either, but in the future as well. If for some reason, she umtes impurities, they''ll be much easier to extract because she practiced this technique than if she didn''t.

    That''s also where the strength boostes into y, as ridding the body of impurities is one way of making someone more efficient, which in turn would make them stronger. Also, without impurities, she''ll be able to store more and purer Qi, cultivate much faster and will be able to consume pills without worrying about the lingering impurities in her body. Those are just to name a few.

    Fortunately, the F.LD.I.L considered that Mira would practice this technique in the future; thus, two ingredients for her Core Formation breakthrough were Yin Qi Water and Heavy Water.

    Now that her meridians were strengthened after the rebirth, she should have no problem zing through the stages as long as she can find a suitable body of water. Though, that shouldn''t be hard, as the Ancient Beast Mountain Range has all kinds ofkes, ponds, and rivers.

    Besides that, due to how cold the mountain range is, she might even be able to strengthen her ice affinity.

    Hopping on Rhydian, Mira said, "Take us to the nearestke!"

    The wolf nodded and took flight toward thest knownke.

    In under an hour, Rhydian dived into a bowl-shaped valley in between a bunch of mountains with arge, frozenke at the bottom. However, unlike the volcanoes, which had very few beasts around them and were mostly barren, theke was surrounded by them. There were also many creatures under the water as well!

    Mira hopped off Rhydian and looked at the wolf, "Do you want to take them, or should I?" She spotted quite a few Rank 7 beasts and many more Rank 6 ones. If she still hadn''t reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm, she would have killed them, but right now, they were useless to her.

    *Woof!*

    Rhydian barked, and without giving Mira any other option, she dove down to kill the beasts. Mira shook her head and let her do as she pleased, knowing it would benefit the winged wolf. Like Mira, she, too, could advance her cultivation and strength by consuming other things. This wasn''t limited to just beasts, either. Rhydian could consume anything ande out stronger. The only downside to this ability was its terrible efficiency, and she had to hibernate often to digest it.

    So, even after killing all those Rank 7 beasts, she would only see an insignificant bump in her cultivation, but not enough to bring her up a minor stage.

    After clearing out all the beasts from inside and outside theke, Mira dove into the water. The biting cold seeped into her body, threatening to turn her into an ice sculpture, but with her physique and affinity, it could not do anything to her.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Enveloping herself with Qi, Mira descended deeper into the water until darkness surrounded her.

    ''Since there''s no order in which I mustplete the Water Body Transformation Technique in, let''s just do them all at once!'' Mira thought. She didn''t have time to waste going through each individual stage.

    Plus, cultivating the technique was only secondary to her, a bonus. Her true purpose was to integrate her ice and water affinities, so they are one and the same. Therefore, to try and understand how the two interact with each other, their differences, and simrities, it was better to flood her body with water rather than one particr area.

    Not one to hesitate once she made a decision, Mira opened up her pores and controlled her meridians to absorb as much water as possible, which was quite a lot.

    *Swoosh!*

    A mini whirlpool formed above Mira''s head as water flowed endlessly inside her, washing over her body.

    Mira didn''t pay any attention to that and focused on controlling this water through every nanometer of her body, pushing out every little impurity.

    Typically, this would take much longer than it should, and she''d have to be much more careful than she was because flooding her meridians with that much water could cripple her. That is, if they weren''t made of Chaotic Silk. With the malleability and strength of her current meridians, as long as she didn''t try to cripple herself, it was basically impossible to do so.

    Her bones creaked underneath the water and weighed down on her like a mountain, but she could handle it without imploding, thanks to her newfound bodily strength.

    As the water in theke disappeared into Mira''s body, washing away all the impurities, steamy ck wisps exited her pores.

    *Tsss*

    These wisps reacted poorly to the water around them, indicating their toxicity, but that wasn''t enough to wake Mira from her state of concentration. She was too busy splitting her mind in half, one side using the Water Body Transformation technique, the other trying toprehend the profundities of the water element.

    A few hours passed by, and eventually, Mira sucked theke dry until there was nothing left of it.

    Opening her eyes, she was surprised to notice that her body felt lighter. It was as if she had a weighted vest on this whole time, and only now did she take it off.

    Punching the air a few times and doing a few kicks, she gasped in surprise. "It feels like my body is more flexible, and my muscles are easier to manipte. The ease at which I can control my own body seems to have increased, and that was just after one session!"

    She wasn''t close to cultivating the technique topletion, but the effects were already noticeable!

    "I suppose, just like Kayda, I''ll have to give my regards to Mermaid Queen Asherah for handing over something so precious."

    Remembering the sweet little mermaid made Mira remember that she felt like the Queen could be the reincarnation of her sister from her first life. While she couldn''t confirm it, the simrities were uncanny despite the species difference.

    "I''d like to see Asherah again��" Mira''s eyes drooped, and her tails encapsted her. Perhaps the only person besides Maria to make her feel like this was Aurora, her sister from her first life.

    *Pah!*

    pping her face, Mira pushed these emotions away, brushed off her clothes, and returned to Rhydian.

    "Take me to morekes." She demanded coldly, making the wolf''s hairs stand on end.

    ''What? What did I do to make Master angry?'' Rhydian wondered but couldn''t figure it out. Shaking her head, she decided not to think about it and just do as she was told.

    ***

    Just like with the volcanoes, Mira and Rhydian traveled around, killing beasts and soaking upkes for a week until she finallypleted her Water Body Transformation Technique.

    In truth, Mira nearlypleted the requirement for this round''s weakness, but she stopped herself before she could do so to finish the technique. She might not get a chance like this again for a while, so she figured it wouldn''t hurt just to wait another couple of days until she couldplete all of it and move on to the next round, much stronger than before.

 Chapter 557 Meeting Aryan, The Yin-Yang Sects Prime Disciple

    Finally, after a week of running around the mountains, looking for water, Mirapleted the Water Body Transformation Technique and brought her water affinity up to a simr level as her ice.

    Stepping out of a dried ditch that used to be ake, Mira''s nude body was out for the world to see, yet she looked slightly different than she did a week ago. Now, instead of bulging muscles, her skin was softer, much more supple, and she looked leaner rather than bulky.

    However, that didn''t diminish her strength.

    Mira circted Qi through her meridians and body and found that it went from her core to wherever she wanted it to go almost instantaneously. No impediments restricted the flow, allowing her to use her Qi more efficiently.

    Another benefit of the technique was that the quality of her Qi increased.

    ''Let''s test out the results of my training!'' Mira''s eyes glowed as she felt the need to kill something, and just as that feeling came, she sensed something approaching.

    ''Oh?'' Mira raised an eyebrow, ''That doesn''t feel like a beast. Could it be�� humans? Why are they all the way out here?'' She wondered but didn''t care that much.

    Before she could take out a robe and put it on, a group of 7, four men and three women, flew into the valley, seeing her body on full disy.

    "*Whistle!* Hot damn, isn''t she a beauty! Look, she''s even prepared herself for us!" One of the men whistled as he scanned Mira''s body up and down. The other six did the same, including the women. Mira was just too sexy not to look at.

    Mira''s eyes went cold, and without hesitation, she created seven water tentacles at her feet and attacked each of them with one.

    They opened their eyes in shock as Mira''s attack was too fast for them to react to, and they only had enough time to put up a weak defense. All except for the man in the front, who narrowed his eyes and coated himself in Qi.

    Just before the tentacles were about to hit them, they suddenly changed into ice des, cutting through their bodies like butter on a hot summer''s day.

    *Swish!**Swish!**Swish!*

    The six of them didn''t even have a chance to scream as the ice des ripped them to shreds. It only took a fraction of a second for them to go from normal, living humans to a pool of blood and flesh.

    By the time she finished, Mira had slipped into a robe and was no longer nude. She raised an eyebrow at the man that was still alive as she figured her attack just then would be enough to kill them all.

    ''Hmm�� Doesn''t that emblem look familiar?'' Her eyes lowered to the white and ck yin-yang emblem on his robes, and something clicked in her mind. ''So, they''re from the Yin-Yang Sect? What''s he doing all the way out here, and why does it seem like he''s here for me?''

    Mira began to feel irritation and anger rise up in her heart, as she really didn''t want to be disturbed right now. Especially not by some sex-crazed maniac.

    "You''re Mira, right?" The remaining man stepped up and asked. Mira raised her head to look the guy in the face and had to admit that he was quite handsome. He had a sharp jawline, long silver hair, rippling muscles, golden snake eyes, and he was about 1.9 meters tall. There wasn''t anything about him that was unattractive.

    Mira didn''t say anything and just stared at the man, curious about his objective. The rage of him having seen her naked body was still there, but she at least wanted to know why he was here before she killed him.

    "I''ll take your silence as a yes." The man said and then bowed slightly, bringing his right hand over his heart. "My name is Aryan Palmer, and I''m the Prime Disciple of the Yin-Yang Sect."

    Mira crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at Aryan, her eyes glowing crimson, "Why have you sought me out, Aryan Palmer from the Yin-Yang Sect?" She demanded.

    Aryan paid no heed to her tone and just nodded his head, "So, you are Mira from the Battle Maiden Sect."

    Mira scowled as she realized her blunder and cursed, ''Tsk! This fucker is going to be a pain to talk to.''

    "Yes, I am." Mira affirmed, "So, what do you need? Are you here to ask me to be your partner?"

    Ayran nodded, then shook his head, "I''d be lying if I said I didn''t have thoughts of wanting you as my dual cultivation partner, but that''s not the only reason I wanted to speak with you."<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira raised an eyebrow, but her eyes clearly said that she didn''t believe.

    Aryan smiled lightly, not bothered by her distrust. "You probably don''t know this, but I actually saw you a while back when you visited Plum Blossom City. You were only there for a short while and had a little girl following you along, so I didn''t get a chance to speak to you."

    Mira''s eyes widened slightly, and she searched her memory for anyone like Aryan, but she couldn''t recall anything.

    Aryan continued, "Ever since I first saw you, I felt this inexplicable connection between us. I didn''t know what this meant for the longest time but standing in front of you now, I think I understand."

    Suddenly, Mira''s instincts went wild, signaling danger, but she didn''t know from who or from where. She took out her scythe and readied it in case of a potential attack.

    "My bloodline, soul, and instincts are all telling me that you''re the opportunity I''ve been waiting for��the opportunity to leave this god-forsaken continent. To reach heights I could only ever dream of." Ayran stepped toward Mira like he was taking a walk in the park.

    Mira''s eyes turned sharp and murderous intent began to leak out of her body. She pointed her scythe at the man and was going to attack, but for some reason, she couldn''t move. There was this weird, ethereal pressure around her that seemed to iste the space she was in.

    "I''ll offer you two choices, Mira. Submit to me or die. I don''t care which one you pick, but it sure would be a shame if a beauty like yourself were to die without experiencing the pleasures of a real man." Aryan shrugged, "Either way, I get what I want."

    Mira''s frown deepened, ''Is this another case like Zander''s? Is this man after the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life? But what is he talking about? Will he really inherit it if I submit to him?'' Obviously, she would never do that, but it did make her curious.

    "Yes, he will." The Guardian spoke into her mind, "His situation is a bit unique. You see, if you were to submit to him, it wouldn''t be as simple as just kneeling down and calling him master. No, your body, mind, and soul would be his to do as he pleases. You''d literally turn into his ve, with no way of resisting."

    Mira''s face almost contorted, but fortunately, she controlled it, ''What the hell? How is that possible? Is it because of his bloodline or something?''

    "Yes and no. That man seems to have inherited a portion of a dragon''s blood essence and obtained its bloodline, although it''s incredibly diluted��nothing like a true dragon. Still, having a dragon bloodline brings several perks, and one of them is called Absolute Submission. He has a watered-down version of it, but it basically allows him to enve anyone who offers themselves to him. That, and his soul is slightly special.''

    Mira had already expected something like that, but she was still surprised when she heard it. Those golden snake, or rather dragon eyes, weren''t something that just anybody could have.

    While she was talking with the Guardian, Aryan appeared only a few meters away from her, "Well, what''s your answer? Although I might be a patient person, I don''t have all day to waste."

    Mira stared back at him and then smirked, "Heh. Do you really think you could do either of those things to me? If you were already too much of a coward to approach me back in Plum Blossom City, you certainly can''t do anything to me now."

    However, although she said that, she was a little worried about her restricted movement.

    Aryan frowned slightly, and a hint of hostility shone in his eyes for the first time, "Death it is then."

    Her raised his finger and pointed it at her head. Mira''s eyes widened as she felt an unprecedented amount of danger from that finger. Channeling Qi all throughout her body and even activating her sapphire tail, creating a blue shield around her, she did everything she did to protect herself.

    However, her instincts told her that wasn''t enough! Using every ounce of willpower, Mira cocked her head to the side, partially freeing herself from the spatial lock.

    Suddenly, a light shone from Aryan''s finger and-

    *Swoosh!*

    *Puchi!*

    -something hit Mira, causing blood to spill from her head.

 Chapter 558 Fighting Aryan

    Blood spilled out of the side of Mira''s head as she lost an ear. However, because of that, she could break out of the spatial lock and jump back. She stared coldly at Aryan with eyes full of malice, but she was equally as confused. She didn''t know what had happened or how he had attacked her. The Guardian didn''t seem intent on answering her either.

    Aryan lifted an eyebrow, "Oh? You actually dodged that?" He wasn''t trying to mock her, as he was genuinely surprised. Few can block his attack, but that number drops to zero against those weaker than him.

    "Well, I suppose it''s not too surprising when I think about it. You''re my fated nemesis. How could you be weak?" Aryan nodded, his expression returning to normal.

    Since this man seemed to have more secrets about him than she initially thought, Mira decided to get serious.

    *Vwooom!*

    Coating her body with Martial Intent and her weapon with Scythe Intent, she swung her scythe at the man''s neck. Seeing her scytheing at him, Aryan just smirked.

    "You''ll have to try a bit harder if you want to hit me, Mira." He said, then disappeared from his position and reappeared behind her.

    "Aren''t you a little too slow?" He pointed his finger at the back of Mira''s head. However, Mira''s senses aren''t normal. The instant he appeared behind her, she knew he was there, and now that she wasn''t locked down, she easily dodged his attack.

    *Tssshhhh*

    *BOOM!*

    Whatever shot out of Aryan''s finger drilled into the ground, then exploded, causing the ground to shake. Mira nced at the hole in bewilderment as she still didn''t know how he was attacking her.

    ''Does he have a unique affinity, or is this part of his bloodline? Maybe it''s like the Guardian said, and his soul is unique.'' Mira thought. There were many possibilities, but Mira couldn''t conclude the correct answer.

    She just shrugged it off and put it in the back of his mind as she has to live to figure it out.

    ''Both his movement speed and attacks are fast. It also seems like barriers or walls can block his attacks. Lastly, he has something that can allow him to entrap me.'' Mira thought. Her intuition told her that she and Aryan were simr in strength, but he was overwhelmingly faster than her. Though, she figured that her body was probably stronger than his.

    ''If I can just dodge his attacks and clip him with one big hit, he''s done for.''

    Now that she had a game n, she could prepare adequately. The only thing that made her sigh was that she didn''t have an excellent Movement Technique that could keep up with his speed. She had the Chaos Body Martial Art, but that didn''t increase her speed.

    ''Hmm~ Maybe I can incorporate the martial art into an actual Movement Technique.''

    "Are you done thinking?" Aryan''s calm voice woke Mira up from her stupor. He stood a few meters away from Mira, staring at her with a faint smile as he twirled his long, perfect silver hair.

    "It seems you''ve finished your nning." He pped while the corners of his mouth rose, "Now, please make this interesting for me! I''d be severely disappointed if you died too quickly!"

    ''I''ll wipe that arrogant smirk off your face, you bastard.'' Mira scowled and used her Chaos Body Martial Art to sprint at him. Her feet shifted in all sorts of directions, making it seem like she was running in a zig-zag pattern when in fact, she just ran straight at him. While doing this, she ran Qi through her meridians, trying to find the best meridian pathway to increase her speed and give off the illusion that her trajectory couldn''t be tracked.

    Aryan narrowed his eyes, but a smile of amusement never left his face. ''Interesting.'' He licked his lips in delight.

    ''I''ve never seen a movement technique like that. Although it seems crude and slow, the way she moves is unpredictable and ever-changing.''

    A glimmer of excitement shone in his eyes for the first time since meeting Mira. Even when he saw her naked body, he appreciated her beauty at most, but it wasn''t enough to excite him. He saw and slept with beautiful women every day. It''d take a lot more than some average-sized tits to arouse him.

    The nails on his hands extended into ws, and while still only using one finger, he tapped the air lightly, causing the space around them to tremble. In his view, arge dome formed unseen to Mira, entrapped them.

    "Now, let''s dance!"

    Tapping his finger in the air a few more times, he created a dozen clear orbs and tossed them randomly inside the barrier.

    Mira had no idea what he was doing, but she could sense a disturbance in the space around them. She wasn''t locked in ce like before, but everything felt different than before.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''He must''ve done something.'' She concluded and became more vignt. Her instincts told her that she shouldn''t move around carelessly.

    Thus, she used her [Death Dominion] and [Reaper] Techniques to try and counter whatever he did. ck goo shot out of her body and corrupted the earth, air, and Qi, sucking in all the energy like a sponge. Her body became slightly transparent and was covered in a ck robe.

    Standing from afar, Mira beganunching attack after attack at Aryan. Thanks to her techniques, the length of her scythe reached the end of her domain. She didn''t want to move around carelessly as she didn''t know what Aryan did and felt danger from all around her.

    Aryan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He hoped she would fall for his trap and slowly kill herself, but he didn''t think her intuition and senses would be so sharp. Covering himself in Qi, he disappeared from his position and reappeared right before Mira, swiping his ws at her as if he was trying to rip open space. Little did Mira know, that''s what he was trying to do.

    She sensed danger and used her Chaos Body Martial Art to move out of the way, but-

    *BOOOOOM!*

    -she ended up running into one of the invisible spheres, taking a chunk out of her back.

    Aryan''s eyes shone with victory and pride as he figured she would be out ofmission after taking a st of that magnitude head-on. He turned to Mira, hoping to see her kneeling on the ground half-dead, but what he didn''t expect was a ck de to appear before his eyes.

    *Puchi!*

    The de sliced cleanly through his wrist without obstruction, removing it from his arm.

    *St!*

    His eyes unconsciously lowered to the stub at the end of his arm and then to the appendage that hadnded on the ground. Pain and anger emerged in his mind as his breathing became ragged.

    However, before he could blow up, another ck light shone out of the corner of his eyes. He attempted to dodge, but he couldn''t get far as he pressed up against a giant ice wall.

    *Shing!*

    *Puchi!*

    Blood spurted from his head as the ck de cut through his ear.

    "That''s what you get for taking my ear, you bastard." Mira''s cold and murderous voice made him shiver, waking him up from his daze. He didn''t notice it before, but now that he was paying a bit more attention, he realized that her killing intent was terrifying.

    That''s when he realized that the rumors about Mira he heard from the Sect Master of the Yin-Yang Sect weren''t exaggerated. If anything, they didn''t serve her justice.

    ''What the hell?! Where had this monster been hiding, and how did nobody know about her until now?!'' He panicked a little, but the pain in his arm and ear reced the fear and panic he felt with rage!

    Turning to Mira, he growled, "You�� bitch! You dare to sully my perfect body with that filth?!?" His eyes turned bloodshot the more he thought about it. Small dragon wings sprouted out of his back, and he grew in height by another half a meter.

    "This was only business at first, but you��" He pointed at her with his other hand, "You made it personal!" His transformation finished as small scales covered his neck, legs, hand, and arms. Lastly, a small pointed tail popped out of his back and coiled around him.

    While staring at Mira, he reached down to pick up his hand and ear. Since it was a clean cut, he should be able to reattach after this battle, but when his hand hit the ground, he grabbed nothing but dirt.

    "What?" He nced down and realized that his hand and ear were gone! His head shot back at Mira, and that''s when he noticed that her ear had regrown.

    "You�� You��" Small horns sprouted on his head as he stared at Mira with hatred evident in his eyes, "I''LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

    *BOOOOOM!*

 Chapter 559 Reinforcements

    Space itself seemed to copse on Mira''s position, preventing her from moving. She struggled to release herself, but to no avail.

    A maddened smile formed on Aryan''s face as he charged at her with extended ws.

    "DIE!!"

    *Puchi!*

    He stabbed his arm through Mira''s abdomen and didn''t stop there. With his other arm, he formed a hand out of Qi and ripped apart the rest of her body, tearing out her limbs and digging out her guts.

    "HAHAHAHA! DIE!! DIE!! DIE!!" Heughed like a crazy maniac as he tore into Mira''s body, but suddenly, the hairs on his neck stood up as he was overwhelmed by a sense of danger.

    He tried to dodge, but before he could react, a de had already torn through one of his wings, removing it.

    "What?!" A split second after, he disappeared from his position and reappeared a dozen meters away. There, where he once was, Mira stood perfectly fine without a scratch.

    His bloodshot eyes widened in horror as he stared at Mira, "How are you alive?!" He turned to the body he had ripped into, but it was already dissipating when he looked over.

    Mira smirked, seeing his confusion, and she relished the fact that she could deal so much mental damage to this annoying dickhead.

    "What? Did you forget I was a fox?" Mira teased as she twirled her scythe, "While I''m not the biggest fan of the way foxes fight, I have to admit that it is very effective."

    Aryan scowled as he hadpletely forgotten about that. No, it''d be more urate to say that he never thought about it in the first ce. Wild foxes are rare to find in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, so not many know of their abilities, nor do they talk about them. Also, fox beastmen are even rarer. Not to mention, Mira isn''t someone famous on the Western Continent.

    How would he know any of Mira''s abilities other than her ice affinity?

    ''Fuck! That bitch scammed me!'' Aryan cursed inwardly, but he didn''t manage to conceal his grief from Mira. She squinted her eyes, feeling something was wrong. Although he seemed angry, and plenty of it was directed at her, she felt something else was at y.

    In fact, Mira felt that this whole situation was weird.

    While frowning, Mira waved her hand, causing dozens of ck tentacles to rise out of the ground and wrap around Aryan''s legs before sticking hundreds of barbs deep into his skin.

    "Urgh!" Aryan grunted in pain and was about to try and escape, but Mira stopped him.

    "I wouldn''t use that teleport move if I were you. Not unless you want to lose both your legs in the process." Mira smirked, feeling amused that she managed to capture a dragon.

    ''Though, he''s not a real dragon.''

    Aryan''s eyes turned a deeper shade of crimson as he stared at Mira. His hatred for this woman had reached beyond what he thought possible.

    "Bitch! What do you want from me?! If you want to kill me, just do it! There''s no need to drag things out!" Although he was at the mercy of his enemy, Aryan had no intention of submitting, nor was he going to threaten her with his background. It went against his nature.

    "Oh, I intend to do just that, but first, you must answer a few of my questions," Mira said lightly.

    After saying that, she released a faint pink aura around them to charm him. Since Aryan''s mind had already begun to copse from all the physical and psychological pain she had put him through, it didn''t take long for small, pink hearts to form in his pupils.

    Mira''s hips swayed as she walked over to the man, and in a seductive voice, she asked, "Why don''t you tell me the real reason you''re after me? I''m sure that when you showed up, you had no intention of killing me. Instead, it seemed you were more interested in subduing me."

    Aryan''s heart-shaped pupils glowed for a moment before he answered, "I came here to make you submit to me."

    Mira''s expression didn''t change when she heard this and just asked, "Why? Why do you want me to submit to you?"

    "You are strong, beautiful, talented, and our bloodlines arepatible. I will be much stronger if you submit to me and we dual cultivate. I can also smell a treasure of great value on your body."

    "Did youe here on someone else''s order?" Mira asked.

    Aryan nodded, "For some reason, the Sect Master offered a very generous reward to anyone that can find Mira and bring her back to the Sect to be used as a cultivation furnace."

    Mira tilted her head at the unfamiliar term, "Cultivation furnace? What''s that?"<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Dual cultivation is the act of sharing energies between each other during intercourse to strengthen both parties. However, a cultivation furnace is someone who is forced to give their energy to another without receiving anything in return."

    Mira frowned, "So, essentially, you want to turn me into a sex ve?"

    Aryan nodded, not denying her assumption, as that''s what a cultivation furnace is.

    After hearing what she wanted to know, Mira decided to move on to the next set of questions, "How did you find me?"

    "The Sect Master was informed of someone destroying a Branch of the Crimson yer Sect, and it was assumed to be your doing. After not hearing about you for a while, I sent some of the weaker disciples and my servants to look for abnormalities in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. That''s when someone spotted a golden-winged wolf flying around. From the information we were given about you, we knew that you had once traveled with such a creature. From there, it didn''t take long for me to find you."

    Mira was stunned by his answer. She should have covered her tracks extremely well, only leaving behind a few clues. However, those clues were far from enough to lead him straight to her position in the mountains.

    ''Is this the intuition of someone with a dragon bloodline or the effects of the F.LD.I.L?'' Mira couldn''t be sure, but it mattered little. All that mattered was that the person who found her was Aryan, not someone else.

    "Alright,st question before I send you on your way. Did you tell anyone else I was here?" This was perhaps the most important question because if he had already informed his Sect Master of her location, she was fucked.

    "Yes." Aryan nodded his head, causing Mira''s expression to distort.

    ''Fuck!'' She cursed.

    Mira stared at Aryan, her eyes glowing, and said, "Then you can go now!"

    She waved her hand to kill him, but before she could do that, an enormous pressure crashed into her from all sides, preventing her from moving or using her Qi.

    Mira looked up at the sky and saw that she was surrounded by dozens of people, men, and women alike. They all had a yin-yang emblem on their robes, so it wasn''t hard to tell who they were and what Sect they were from.

    ''Dammit! Why? Why did these bastards have toe right now?!'' She nced at Aryan, who was beginning to regain his freedom from her charm, and tried her best to suck him dry with the tentacles, but she couldn''t do anything. The pressure on her and around her was too much.

    "I think you''ve done enough, youngdy. Let''s end the fight here before you do something you will regret." A handsome man, who didn''t seem older than 30, descended from the sky with a beautiful woman next to him.

    However, while the two looked young, Mira knew they were a couple of old coots.

    Hearing his words, Mira sneered, "I think you''ve mistaken something, old man. Regret? Why would I regret killing this inbred dragon wannabe and his rap*st Sectpanions? " Since things had alreadye this far and knowing what they nned to do to her, Mira didn''t hold back with the insults.

    The surrounding people''s faces warped into frowns, with all their amiable and gentle expressions disappearing.

    "Bitch! How dare you talk back to the Sect Masters!?!"

    "You''re just a slut who is going to be fuel for our cultivation! So, just kneel down and ept your fate!"

    "It seems like we''ll have to train her properly when we get back to the Sect."

    The surrounding people erupted into an uproar, cursing and jeering at Mira, but the person in question just smirked and stared at the man and woman in front of her.

    "So, you two are the Sect Masters, huh? No wonder the Yin-Yang Sect has a bad reputation. Even the Sect Masters are whoring themselves out! Hahaha!" Mira felt the pressure on her increase, breaking a few of her bones, but she didn''t care and keptughing.

    The two Sect Master''s frowns deepened, but they didn''t bother saying anything as if it was beneath them. The man just waved his hand, lifted Mira and Aryan off the ground, and turned around.

    "I''ll handle you when we get back to the Sect." He said as he flew back up into the air with them right behind him.

    With his back facing Mira, he couldn''t see her expression, but if he could, he would have realized that something was wrong. Instead of feeling scared or angry, the woman he captured had arge, crazy smile on her face.

    ''Those peeping assholes have finallye. Good job, Rhydian.'' Mira thought, ready to watch a great show.

    "WHO GAVE YOU THE BALLS TO LAY YOUR HANDS ON MY DISCIPLE''S FUTURE WIFE!?!?" An angry shout filled with killing intent shook the mountains, freezing everyone and everything in ce for a moment.

 Chapter 560 Master Izaria Negotiates

    "Who?!" The heads of those from the Yin-Yang Sect whipped around to see who had just disturbed them. However, the two Sect Masters had solemn expressions as they could feel that the person that had just arrived was stronger than them.

    Soon, a tall, beautiful woman with silky white hair, ocean-blue eyes,rge breasts, and wide hips appeared before them. Alongside her was a tall, young, and muscr blonde man with a massive greatsword on his back who was riding a golden-winged wolf.

    "What do you old coots think you''re doing, ganging up on a little girl like that? Don''t you have any shame?" The white-haired woman, who was Master Izaria, questioned in disgust.

    The Elder''s expressions changed, but they dared not say anything lest they feel the wrath of a Divine Sea Realm expert.

    The Female Sect Master of the Yin-Yang Sect stepped forward and introduced herself, "My name is Amora, the Sect Master in charge of the females in my Yin-Yang Sect." Then she pointed to the man next to her, "He is Tobias and is the Sect Master in charge of the males."

    "May I ask who this Master is?"

    Master Izaria sneered, "Hmph! Wouldn''t you like to know?"

    Amora''s lips twitched, and she thought, ''Yes, I would. That''s why I asked.''

    Clearing her throat, she asked, "Anyways, why are you stopping us from taking away the brute who tried to kill our Prime Disciple?" She pointed to Aryan, who had just woken up, "Just look at him! He looks like he''s about to die any second now! We must take revenge for this slight!"

    Master Izaria''s lips curled up into a smirk, and she looked at Amora as if she were looking at an idiot.

    "Heh! No need to y dumb with me, woman." Master Izaria turned to Aryan, "What revenge? I know it was that little boy who provoked Mira first and almost got himself killed. He did this to himself!"

    Although Amora and every other person from the Yin-Yang Sect knew she was right, they didn''t back down. "Even if that''s the case, the fact remains that this youngdy almost killed our Prime Disciple. Thus, we will take her back to the Sect, give her a fair trial, and dish out whatever punishment we feel she deserves!"

    Master Izaria and Ryuu almost couldn''t believe their ears! This woman�� was too shameless! What trial? What punishment? They clearly had no intention of doing any of that!

    Ryuu turned to his Master and said, "Master! I think you and this woman could be great friends!"

    *Smack!*

    Master Izaria smacked the back of Ryuu''s head, "Idiot! I''m nothing like this slut who sticks anything that resembles a meat pole in her snatch! My tastes in men are much more refined!"

    Ryuu rubbed the back of his head, feeling aggrieved, and in a momentarypse of judgment, he said, "Is that why you aren''t married? Because your tastes are just soooo~ refined?"

    Master Izaria''s face turned beet red, and she raised her hand to smack him again. Ryuu flinched, preparing himself to get hit, but after a few moments, nothing happened. He turned to look at his Master and was surprised when he saw that she had put her hand down and looked away.

    Amora, Tobias, and every else''s lips twitched, watching this almostical scene. Not wanting to stick around any longer, Amora said, "Well, if that''s all you have to say, we''ll take our leave now." After she said that, they turned around to leave

    Master Izaria shook her head of all distracting thoughts and stared deeply into their retreating backs. After a moment, she opened her mouth, and her calm, neutral voice drifted through the air and caressed their ears, "Are you sure you want to make an enemy out of the Battle Maiden Sect?"

    Everyone froze. That was certainly the problem with kidnapping Mira like this. It would''ve been fine if nobody saw them taking her away, but since Master Izaria showed up, the whole situation changed.

    Amora and Tobias gritted their teeth as they turned around and red at Master Izaria.

    "Are you really going to meddle in our business?" Tobias'' deep voice shook the air. One could see that he was anything but happy right now, so much that even Amora shut up.

    Master Izaria smiled amusedly, "Hmm~ I might~ I haven''t decided yet. Why? Are you going to do something about it?"<novelnext></novelnext>

    Tobias'' eyes narrowed. He stared deeply into Master Izaria''s eyes, trying to read her intentions, but all he could see was that she was having fun, which only made him angrier.

    "Hmph! I don''t believe Sect Master Aelina cares about this fox woman enough to take drastic measures." Tobias said, but even he had a hard time believing his words. Everyone on the Continent seemed to be after Mira right now. Aelina would have to be an utter fool if she couldn''t see Mira''s value.

    Master Izaria smiled as if she had seen through his thoughts but didn''t continue talking about the Battle Maiden Sect. Instead, she asked, "Then, how about we y a little game?"

    "...What game?" Tobias asked reluctantly. He just wanted to leave and not interact with this woman anymore!

    Master Izaria''s smile widened, "Let''s see who can get back to your Sect faster! Me or you! If you win, I''ll let you keep Mira, but if I win, I''ll take Mira back while destroying and looting everything! Sounds fun, right? Hahaha!"

    "...Is that a threat?" Tobias asked in a low voice.

    Master Izaria just smiled and shrugged, "You can take it that way if you want, but I do think it''d be interesting. Well, what do you think? Want to make a bet with me?"

    "..."

    Tobias'' eyes glowered as he got more and more pissed off, but the woman in front of him was too strong to ignore. If a fight were to break out between them right now, he wasn''t confident he''de out on top. However, even if he did, the losses and deaths on his side would be unimaginable.

    Plus, killing someone in the Divine Sea Realm isn''t easy. These are people who have lived for thousands of years. The number of trump cards and escape measures someone at that age and strength has is innumerable. More than likely, Master Izaria will kill off tens of his Elders, then escape, and he''d have himself a Divine Sea Realm enemy.

    Their Sect already wasn''t the strongest as they mainly focused on cultivation and pleasure rather thanbat prowess. With an enemy like Master Izaria, plus the Battle Maiden Sect, the Yin-Yange Sect stood very little chance of winning.

    While he could call on some allies who might be willing to help, Tobias also felt that the other Orthodox Sect Masters have been acting strangetely. Almost like they had alle to an agreement and left him out of it. His spies had informed him that the other Sect Masters were visiting each other more frequently, which only happens if they are nning something.

    His intuition told him that if he really asked the other Sects to fight against the Battle Maiden Sect with him, they might disagree.

    A pink-haired woman appeared in his mind, the one who gave him the information on Mira''s whereabouts.

    ''Will she help my Sect if we''re in trouble?'' He immediately shook his head. That woman was too arrogant! How she looked at him was like how a human looks at a monkey; dumb and weak. He didn''t trust that woman one bit!

    After taking a few moments to weigh the pros and cons in his mind, he ultimately decided to hand Mira over.

    ''Although Aryan''s injuries are bad, they aren''t necessarily untreatable. It''ll just cost us many valuable resources. However, that''s nothing as long as he can return to his peak or even surpass it. In thest thousand years, he''s our Sect''s greatest hope at winning the Central Continent Competition!''

    Tobias wrapped his Qi around Mira and tossed her in Master Izaria''s direction. "Fine. If taking her will cause so much trouble, then just take her. It was Aryan''s fault for being too weak and losing, anyways. Maybe this loss will teach him a good lesson."

    Just as he was about to turn around, his eyes nced at Mira, but he was surprised that she didn''t look happy. Instead, her crimson eyes glowed as they stared at Aryan as if she wanted nothing more than to kill him.

    He even heard her mutter, "That bastard''s eyes need to be plucked out as punishment for seeing my naked body."

    Hearing Mira''s words, Master Izaria''s expression warped. Tobias saw that things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, so he quickly wrapped everyone in his Qi and fled the area.

    "YOU COWARD! COME BACK RIGHT NOW SO I CAN TEAR THAT LECHER APART!! HOW DARE HE CATCH A LOOK BEFORE MY DISCIPLE!!"

    Master Izaria''s words echoed throughout the mountain, but Tobias and the others were long gone by then.

 Chapter 561 Gifts; Meeting The Beast Clans?

    Master Izaria huffed in annoyance but didn''t chase after them. Turning to Mira, whose aura was stronger and more domineering, Izaria grinned, "Someone''s been busy, haven''t they?"

    Mira stared at Master Izaria deeply without saying a word. Mira knew that Master Izaria and Ryuu had been keeping tabs on her, while thetter knew that Mira could sense them.

    Feeling a little awkward under Mira''s knowing gaze, Izaria looked away and said, "I''m d we could make it in time to help you. I wonder what secrets you''re hiding for those old fes toe out of their hiding."

    Mira''s expression never changed, even though she did have quite a few treasures on her. Not only did she have all the loot from the fallen Crimson yer Branch Sect, but Aelina had given her countless rare herbs to put in her Infinity Garden. Right now, she was a literal walking treasure trove that would make all the Sects drool with greed.

    Not that anyone other than her and Aelina knew about the herbs��

    However, thinking about those herbs made Mira pause. She stared at the Master-disciple duo and felt she should give them some sort of reward for saving her. The two of them, while nosy, had taken time out of their lives to make sure nothing untoward happened to her.

    ''Hmmm~ What should I give them?'' Mira sent her consciousness into the Infinity Garden and sifted through the hundreds or even thousands of different herbs in her possession, many of which have multiplied under the effects of the garden.

    After a few moments, she took out 3 items; an herb, a fruit, and a root.

    The herbs had sharp, gold petals. The fruit glowed like a gxy and had six glowing silver stars on it. Lastly, the root was brown and looked like ginseng.

    "I don''t like to owe favors, so I''ll reward you for saving me. All three of these are Mystic-Grade items." Mira handed over the ingredients to Ryuu.

    Ryuu''s eyes widened upon seeing what Mira just took out, and Master Izaria wasn''t any better. While only Divine-Grade items would be helpful to her, it''s not like Mystic-Grade ingredients aremon. Even she would have to expend much effort to find one!

    "The herb is-" Mira was about to exin the items, but Master Izaria cut her off.

    "The Razor-Edged Light Flower. The fruit is a Six Star Earthly Star Fruit that seemed to evolve into the Mystic Grade, and the root is a Dragon Ginseng! Where did you even get these items?!" Master Izaria''s eyes shined like stars as she stared at the ingredients in Ryuu''s hands.

    For both of them, not just Ryuu, these items were priceless! Even if she searched the entire Western Continent, she might not find another one of these without getting lucky! Not only are they incredibly rare, but beasts and other Sects usually find these items first and hide them, not allowing anyone to catch a glimpse of them.

    Mira shrugged, "I just found them during my travels. Since I have no use for them, I might as well give them to you as a reward for saving me."

    Master Izaria was stunned for a moment before she burst outughing, "Hahaha! That''s right! A good woman should know when to pay back favors! I knew it was the right idea to stalk-ahem, protect you during your travels!"

    Mira''s lips twitched, but she didn''t say anything else and just turned around. Rhydian cried out and followed after Mira, and the two of them went deeper into the mountains. She didn''t have time to waste talking with them as the next Hell of Weakness trial had begun, and it was one that would be more tedious than the others.

    Ryuu wanted to stop her and return the items she had just given, as he felt it was wrong for him to take from someone he considered a friend or at least an acquaintance, but his Master stopped him.

    He turned to look at her toin, but she shook her head, "I know what you want to say, but don''t do it. Rewarding you is her way of saying thank you, so just ept it gratefully. Doing anything else might bring her ire instead."

    Ryuu tilted his head, not understanding what his Master was talking about, but she didn''t bother to exin.

    "Putting that aside, things are getting more and moreplicated. At first, it was just the Unorthodox Faction making moves, but now, even the Yin-Yang Sect is after her. Yet, for some reason, Mira is always in the center of it." Master Izaria stroked her chin, "I wonder what other yers will join the game before war breaks out."

    Ryuu''s eyes widened, and his mouth went agape, "Do you really think an all-out war will happen, Master?!"

    Izaria nodded, "Tensions are already high between the Battle Maiden Sect and the Unorthodox Faction. Just a little push is all they need for the spark that will ignite the mes of war to light. The only question now is, will it just be them, or will others join the party?"<novelnext></novelnext>

    ***

    Not long after Tobias and Amora left with the rest of the Yin-Yang Sect, Sue Ming, who sat in a cave, meditating, was interrupted by one of her subordinates. Without opening her eyes, she said, "You better have something important to report, or I''ll have your head."

    The woman shivered, kneeled before her, and said, "Tobias from the Yin-Yang Sect failed to capture Mira, Mistress."

    Sue Ming''s eyes shot open and a deep frown formed on her face, but soon it changed to confusion.

    "How did he know where Mira was when those idiots from the Unorthodox Faction couldn''t? I feel like I just spoke to him a few days ago."

    Although she asked that, the question was more rhetorical than anything, nor did she care about Mira''s location all that much. All that mattered was that she knew her general location.

    Her Master sent her down here not to kill Mira but to make her life a living hell. She didn''t need to keep a watchful eye on her 24/7, nor did she want to. While she didn''t know a whole lot about Mira, she knew that she was special and not just in terms of the Mortal Realm. No, her Master/Husband thought of her as special, which was a title he never gave out!

    From Sue Ming''s experience, these kinds of people generally have an abnormal perception. If she kept an eye on her all the time, Mira would know that someone was following her, defeating the purpose of her mission.

    Sue Ming''s subordinate knew this as well, but she still answered, "Apparently, their Prime Disciple already had an eye on her and was able to sniff her out. However, I don''t know how he did it."

    Sue Ming''s frown eased up, "Alright, enough about that pervert. Where is Mira now? Is she in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range?"

    The subordinate nodded, "Yes, Mistress. However, from the report that Tobias gave, she is doing something abnormal."

    Sue Ming raised an eyebrow, "Abnormal, you say? Like what?"

    The subordinate hesitated for a moment before answering, "I�� I haven''t checked the sites personally, but apparently, Mira is running around absorbingkes and volcanoes."

    Now, this surprised Sue Ming a little. Ever since she arrived in this world, she''s gathered as much information about Mira as possible and has learned quite a few things. For one, she now has nine fox tails and looks like a goddess. However, the one that stood out the most was her affinity with ice.

    From all the information she''s gathered, not a single one stated that she had more than one affinity, nor did it talk about any sort of unique physique. Although she assumed that the tails were from a unique bloodline, it''s not like that would allow her to control every element.

    ''Why would she need to absorbkes and volcanoes? Is she practicing a new technique or cultivating her body?'' Sue Ming thought but shook her head, ''No, if she weren''t stupid, she''d pick something more in line with her affinity rather than branch out to somethingpletely different.''

    Her eyebrows creased, and she lowered her head with a frown. For some reason, this new information made her feel like she was missing something important.

    ''Is all the data I''ve gathered until now just the tip of the iceberg?'' The image she had of Mira in her mind seemed to fog over, and she didn''t like it one bit.

    Knowledge was power, even in a world of earth-shattering deities and mountain-splitting immortals. The less she knew about Mira, the less likely her ns would work.

    However, an idea quickly formed in her mind, and she stood up, stopping her meditation.

    She motioned for her subordinate to rise, then left the cave, "Come. I think it''s about time for us to meet a few of the Beast ns. I''m sure a few of them would love to have the chance to mate with a 9-tailed fox! Hahaha~"

    Sue Ming''s sensual and diabolicalughter echoed inside the cave, but unfortunately, nobody aside from her subordinate was around to hear it.

 Chapter 562 Bloodlines; Beast Hierarchies; Tiger Clan

    As anyone would expect, the Ancient Beast Mountain Range has an overabundance of beasts. However, what''s kept from the general public is that the variety of beasts inside the mountains is more than they canprehend.

    Beasts are often categorized and separated by bloodline, species, and subspecies. Strength also ys a significant role in the hierarchy, but one''s bloodline grade is equally as important as that determines a beast''s potential.

    Bloodline grades for beasts in the Mortal Realm are slightly different, but overall the same as the grading system for weapons, techniques, pills, etc. They go as follows:

    Common Grade: Rank 1 Potential (Equivalent to the Body Tempering Realm). Beasts with this bloodline grade are the lowest of the low. They don''t have any special bloodline, as living is the minimum requirement for most beasts to evolve into a Magical Beast and reach Rank 1.

    Mortal Grade: Up to Rank 3 Potential (Equivalent to theter stages of the Qi Condensation Realm).

    ck Grade: Up to Rank 5 Potential (Equivalent to the Xiantian Stages in the Foundation Realm)

    Earth Grade: Rank 6 Potential (Equivalent to the Core Formation Realm)

    Heaven Grade: Rank 7 Potential (Equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm)

    Sovereign Grade: Rank 8 Potential (Equivalent to the Soul Transformation Realm)

    Mystic Grade: Rank 9 Potential (Equivalent to the Mortal Shedding Realm)

    Divine Grade: Rank 10 Potential (Equivalent to the Divine Sea Realm)

    Ascendant Grade: Immortal Ascension Realm potential

    Although these are the bloodline grades for beasts, anything below the Earth Grade is essentially nothing more than canon fodder. In the early stages, before Rank 6, beasts can still easily evolve their bloodlines by consuming other beasts as well as arge number of resources. Hence, there is an extra grade, the ck Grade.

    Beasts in this stage need all the help they can get to cultivate and evolve, and having more grades can make this easier, but things stop being so simple once they reach the peak of Rank 5.

    To advance to Rank 6, a beast has to form a Beast Core in their body, simr to a human''s core in the Core Formation Realm. Having a bloodline can make this process much easier as their instincts will guide them to create a Beast Core suitable for their bloodline and species.

    However, if a beast doesn''t have an Earth-Grade Bloodline yet they''ve reached the peak of Rank 5, it can still form a Beast Core and evolve into a different species and breakthrough to Rank 6, but the likelihood that it''ll be able to go any further is abysmally low.

    That''s why having a higher-graded bloodline is so important, but it''s also a massive restriction. While it determines a beast''s potential, it also sets its limits.

    Unlike humans, who can forge their own path with enough willpower and luck, beasts can''t do that. If they have an Earth-Grade bloodline and reach the peak of Rank 6, breaking through to Rank 7 is near impossible unless they find a treasure that can help them evolve or they consume so many resources that it squeezes out every bit of potential their ancestors left them.

    Thest major change between the human upation grading system and the beast''s bloodline grading system is the [Sovereign Grade]. Rank 8 is a huge turning point for beasts, as that''s when they gain the ability to shapeshift into human form. To do this, a beast must have total control over their body, soul, and Qi. If any of those are missing, they can''t be a fully-fledged Rank 8 beast.

    For 99.999999% of beasts who don''t have a Sovereign Grade bloodline or higher, breaking through to Rank 8 is impossible. The difference between a beast with a Heaven-Grade bloodline that forced it to be a Sovereign Grade one and a beast who already had one, to begin with, is monumental.

    While that''s still the case for the various bloodline grades after Rank 8, the requirements aren''t nearly as severe as the ones for a beast to reach Rank 8. That''s not to say that it isn''t difficult, as the difference between a beast with a Low-Stage Sovereign-Grade bloodline and one with a Mid-Stage Sovereign-Grade bloodline is enormous.

    The difference in physical strength, Qi quality/density, intelligence, reaction speed, and everything else, the one with a bloodline at a higher stage, is substantially stronger in all realms.

    Thus, since bloodlines are so important to beasts and literally determine their potential and strength in any given characteristic, that''s how they set up their hierarchy.

    For example, if a raven had a Low-Stage Heaven-Grade bloodline, and so did the rest of its species, their n would be ssified as a Heaven-Grade Raven n. Then, the one in charge of that n would be the strongest Raven, even if there was another raven in the n with a Mid-Stage Heaven-Grade bloodline. Until the one with the higher bloodline reached its full potential, the n as a whole wouldn''t evolve into something higher.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Inside the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, the ones at the top are the Divine-Grade ns, with the amount being unknown to humans. Under that, there are dozens or more Mystic-Grade ns.

    Last, there is an overabundance of ns under the Mystic Grade. The amount still needs to be discovered as there are too many species variations. For example, there might be a whole n of Night Leopards, but another n of simr strength called Nightmare Leopards.

    While the Ancient Beast Mountain Range is still a mystery to most humans, experts know that somehow the mountains increase fertility, promoting inter-species breeding. Over time, this effect has caused countless sub-species and even more ns.

    However, this isn''t necessarily a bad thing for the beasts, as having children with stronger species is one way to increase the Grade of their n''s bloodline. It might take tens or hundreds of years, but as long as there''s a chance for their bloodline to be stronger, they''ll take it!

    Sue Ming knew all this about beasts, as it''s the same in almost every cultivation world. Beasts are incrediblywless until Rank 8 when they start to care about building a n and strengthening their species. Breeding is one of the best and most reliable ways to do this, and in this Mortal Realm, what''s better to impregnate than a 9-tailed fox?

    Not just Sovereign and Mystic ns, but even Divine and Ascendant Grade ns would go to war just to breed with Mira!

    ***

    ? Sue Ming appeared above the mountains, somewhere deep inside the mountain range. Around her were her ten subordinates, each one wearing a serious expression. Even Sue Ming''s brows were furrowed, and her eyes were focused.

    They could sense numerous overpowering auras beneath them, spread out all across the mountains. While individually, each of these auras wasn''t quite as strong as Sue Ming''s, she''d be in trouble if they decided to gang up on her.

    Looking at her subordinates, she said, "I want you all to disguise yourself as beasts and spread a rumor among many of the Sovereign and Mystic Grade ns that a lone 9-tailed fox is wandering through the mountains. I''ll go talk with the Divine Grade ns to see if they''re interested in a 9-tailed fox."

    The subordinates saluted and bowed, "Yes, Mistress!" With that, they descended into the mountains in different directions.

    After Sue Ming sent them off, she turned her attention to a particrly powerful aura. Just from that alone, she could tell that whatever beast was over there was almost as strong as her.

    Zooming in her eyes, she spied on the n and was surprised by what she saw!

    "The White Tiger n? What are they doing in this Realm? Shouldn''t they all be in the Immortal Realm?"

    Seeing dozens of white tigers with ck stripes walking around made her brows crease. While she didn''t know the White Tiger n personally, she knew that none of them should be in the Mortal Realm.

    While still hovering in the air, she examined a few of the weaker tigers, and soon her face rxed a bit.

    "None of them have a bloodline higher than the Divine Grade... Are they just a rare subspecies of tigers that look simr to those in the White Tiger n, or are they part of the n, and their bloodline has degraded?"

    The corner of Sue Ming''s lips rose at the thought of uncovering this secret.

    "Interesting." Her smile grew, "It seems my time here won''t be as boring as I initially thought. Maybe there''s more to this world than meet''s the eye!"

    Sue Ming''s body shed, and shended in the middle of the tiger''s territory in just a split second! As soon as shended, she immediately felt an oppressive and domineering pressure fall on her shoulders, causing the ground to crack underneath her!

    *ROAAAAARRRR!!!*

    A thunderous roar reverberated through the area in the depths of the tiger''s territory, causing all the beasts in the n to stop what they were doing.

 Chapter 563 Ryker, Head Of The White Tiger Clan

    Hundreds of white tigers, humanoid and beast, converged on Sue Ming''s position, but none of them made any rash moves. Their beastly instincts told them that the pink-haired human was dangerous.

    The hairs on their backs stood up, and they growled at Sue Ming, warning her that even if she were strong, they wouldn''t hesitate to attack if she made any suspicious movements.

    Sue Ming raised an eyebrow at this but sneered inwardly, ''Hmph! The only one who could threaten me is your leader, not you, little kittens.''

    A few momentster, all the tigers sensed the arrival of their n''s Head, made way for him, and kneeled.

    Sue Ming raised her head and saw a tall, humanoid tiger that stood well over 2 meters tall. It had shoulder-length white hair with ck stripes, two lion ears protruding from its head, ck tattoos along its face and muscr body,rge lion paws for hands and feet, and a long white and ck striped tail!

    He wore a thin silk robe that did nothing to cover his chest and abs. Each step he took caused the ground to quake as if it was excited to wee its king.

    The man was the embodiment of a wild, untamed strength that would be hard to find in any human power.

    "Human," A low growl came from the man''s throat, causing the air to fluctuate, "Why have you invaded my territory?" He stepped forward, towering over Sue Ming. Although he knew she was strong, maybe even stronger than him, it was not like he was weak.

    Not intimidated by his colossal appearance and ferocious aura, Sue Ming smiled lightly and said, "Invaded? I did no such thing! Instead, I''m here to give you some information you might want to know."

    The tiger''s eyes glinted and a frown formed on his face as his ws extended, "Human," He growled once again, but in a much more threatening manner, "I do not like ying games. State your business."

    Sue Ming''s smile gradually receded from her face, not liking the tiger''s tone. However, since she didn''te here to start conflict, she took a deep breath and told herself, ''I''m not here looking for a fight.''

    Putting a smile back on her face, Sue Ming said, "I have information about a lone 9-tailed fox."

    "..."

    The tiger glowered at Sue Ming''s face, trying to discern if she was lying. However, after not seeing anything, he brought his face closer to hers and sniffed a few times, but he still couldn''t sense anything wrong.

    Both his eyebrows shot up, and his opinion of Sue Ming raised from ''hostile'' to ''potential enemy''.

    "If what you say is true, Human. Why bring this to me?" The tiger asked, still not fully believing Sue Ming.

    A hint of annoyance shone in Sue Ming''s eyes at how distrusting this beast was, but she reigned it in. Instead, she extended her hand and said, "My name is Sue Ming."

    The Tiger saw her hand and thought for a moment before grasping it, "My people call me Ryker Khan."

    They both put enough strength to crush a mountain in their handshake, but neither backed down. Each was just as surprised as the other that they were even in a contest of physical might.

    "I see you''re name is well deserved, King of strength, Ryker Khan." Sue Ming said. Although that was a loose trantion of his name, it roughly meant ''one whose strength reigns supreme''.

    Ryker''s expression eased, and he nodded as he removed his hand from her grasp, "You''re strong too, human Sue Ming."

    Sue Ming''s eyes twitched, "Just Sue Ming is fine. There''s no need to add the human part."

    Ryker nodded, "Very well, Sue Ming."

    After greeting her, he nced around and looked at his subjects. Realizing that this wasn''t a great ce to talk, he motioned for Sue Ming, "Why don''t we take this conversation somewhere a bit morefortable?"

    "I thought you''d never ask!" Sue Ming''s mood brightened a bit.

    Ryker nodded and waded through the sea of tigers, with Sue Ming following behind him. A few minutester, they stood in front of a giant cave with all kinds of animal bones lining the sides.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Sue Ming''s eyes twitched again, but she could only sigh as this was mostly her fault, ''I should''ve remembered that beasts still have the tendencies of a beast until they reach the Immortal Realm.''

    "Make yourselffortable," Ryker said as he walked in and sat on arge pile of feathers.

    Sue Ming sighed once again but followed his lead and sat down on some feathers opposite of him, but raised her eyebrows, surprised by its softness!

    ''These are from a Rank 10 beast!''

    "So, you have information about a 9-tailed fox? Where is she?" Ryker''s voice brought her out of her surprise.

    Sue Ming looked up into Ryker''s expectant eyes and smirked, "First, why don''t you give me a piece of information? What is the White Tiger n doing in this Mortal Realm?"

    Suddenly, Ryker''s calm demeanor shifted in an instant. The dominant and oppressive aura of a Rank 10 White Tiger shot out of him and crashed into Sue Ming! Thetter tried to brush it off like nothing but frowned deeply when she realized that the beast in front of her was much stronger than she initially thought.

    "Who are you, human?" Ryker deep, threatening growl came from his throat. His hair lengthened, and Sue Ming could tell that if she didn''t give a satisfactory answer, he would transform into his tiger form and attack!

    Annoyed that such a simple question caused such arge reaction, she raised her hands as a sign of peace and exined, "I can''t tell you much, but all you need to know is that I''m not of this world."

    She thought that would be enough to calm him down, but she couldn''t be more wrong as he grew a few centimeters in height, getting ready to transform.

    Sighing once again, pushing down her annoyance, she exined, "I know of the White Tiger n in the Immortal Realm, and from what I know, they left the Mortal Realm entirely millions of years ago. Your bloodline should be more than talented enough to breeze through the Mortal Cultivation Realms and enter the ranks of Immortals. I''m just curious what your bloodline is doing here and why it''s so weak."

    Hearing the sincerity in her voice, Ryker''s aura subsided, and his body shrunk back to its previous appearance. However, he was still distrustful of Sue Ming, his opinion dropping down to ''hostile''.

    "My n is doing just fine without a 9-tailed fox," Ryker said, crossing his arms.

    Although his words were short, Sue Ming understood the underlying meaning. He was saying that information about a 9-tailed fox isn''t worth shitpared to what she wants to know and that even with the benefits that having a beast with an Immortal-Grade bloodline could bring, it wasn''t worth it.

    ''Does that mean the secrets he holds are worth more than the future of his n? No, if used Mira properly, she''s worth so much more than just a glorified breeding machine. Hell, this whole n might be able to ascend to the Immortal Realm! What''s so important that he would deny that opportunity?''

    Now, Sue Ming''s curiosity was piqued. If before she thought of this job as burdensome, now she genuinely wanted to stay here and unearth this world''s mysteries.

    ''If only I knew more history about the Mortal and Immortal Realms, the Ancient beasts and their progenitors, and why they were born in the Mortal Realm, I might be able to glean some answers out of this guy.'' Sue Ming thought but soon pushed all this to the back of her head.

    ''I''ll look into itter. For now, I just need toplete my mission and visit more Divine Beast ns.''

    Sue Ming cleared her throat and stopped pursuing this matter, "Well, let''s just leave it at that."

    Ryker nodded and was about to get up and lead her out of his cave when she said, "Before you run me off, I''ll provide you the information about the lone 9-tailed fox. Think of it as a gift and an apology for offending you."

    Sue Ming said, trying to ease the tension between the two.

    "She''s in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range right now. In fact, she''s not too far away from here! While I don''t know her exact location, as long as you travel south, you''ll eventually find her. I''ve also heard she''s traveling with a golden-winged wolf. You can''t miss her!" With that said, Sue Ming left the cave and disappeared from the White Tiger n entirely.

    Ryker sat in his cave, pondering on her words, but what caught his attention was thest part, the part about a golden-winged wolf.

    "A golden winged wolf? Could it be��? No! Impossible! From what I know, they''ve gone extinct! How could one appear in this Mortal Realm?"

 Chapter 564 Light And Darkness; Life And Death; Black Runes

    After Sue Ming left the White Tiger n, she went to three other Divine Grade beast ns; the Fire Wyvern n, the Diamondback Ant n, and the Poison Frog n.

    She chose these three ns and didn''t visit any more deliberately. Beasts, much like humans, don''t like it when their prey is snatched from them. If she went to too many ns and informed them of Mira''s whereabouts, the chances of them fighting each other instead of Mira would be extremely high.

    Thus, she chose another three ns that wouldn''t interfere with one another unless absolutely necessary.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t find another beast n simr to the White Tiger n that shouldn''t be in the Mortal Realm.

    Other than that, Sue Ming''s subordinates spread the rumor about Mira extremely fast among the weaker Beast ns, as almost everyone was talking about it within a couple of hours!

    "Hey, did you hear? There''s a rumor that a 9-tailed fox is wandering the mountains alone."

    "Yeah! I heard that the first person to find her will be able to mate with her before anyone else!"

    "What?! Really?! I suppose it''s time to get off my tail and start searching! It''d be my bloodline''s good fortune to have children with a 9-tailed fox!"

    "Yeah, right?! You''re so weak and stupid that you couldn''t even catch a normal fox, much less one with 9-tails."

    Although most of the conversations were more growls and bodynguage than actual speech, many beasts, Rank 7 and above, knew that a 9-tailed fox was somewhere in the mountains. Not only that, but they wanted a piece of the action!

    The main problem, though, was that no beast had ever seen a 9-tailed fox and had only heard of them in legends. Their bloodline is supposedly simr in rank to the ancient Dragons and Phoenixes, yet their fertility is much higher, and their physical prowess is lower.

    That''s all the general public knew about 9-tailed foxes. Whether or not that was wrong didn''t matter. Even if Mira turned out to be infertile and couldn''t have children, eating her flesh and devouring her blood would be beneficial.

    Therefore, many beasts that heard this rumor didn''t hesitate to set off and find the treasure trove that awaited them. Though, some of the more intelligent beasts decided to wait and see, as what are the chances that a 9-tailed fox is actually running around the mountains for no reason?

    Thus, after this rumor spread, a wave of beasts from all different species and strengths rushed out of their ns!

    However, what neither Sue Ming nor anyone else expected was that this swarm of beasts would attract the attention of every other power on the Western Continent.

    ***

    Mira, not aware of the storm brewing around her, flew off to find a nice secluded ce to meditate. The current trial she was going through during this Hell made her worry, and she couldn''t be disturbed by nonsense if she wanted toplete it.

    "So, my Yin Fire is suppressed, and my Darkness affinity is more pronounced," Mira muttered after finding a deep ravine to hole herself up in, "Can you exin to me why it''s not Light and Darkness? Because, as far as I know, I can''t use the Light element. So, shouldn''t that be my weakness?"

    The Guardian snorted at Mira''s ignorance, but instead of answering, he asked, "Why do you think you can''t use the Light Element?"

    "Err��Eh?" Now that Mira thought about it, she had never asked herself that question, "I don''t know, but I assume it has something to do with the F.LD.I.L."

    The Guardian hummed, "Well, you aren''t exactly wrong, but you aren''t right either." Then, he asked, "Now, can you tell me what the Light Element is and what it does? What purpose does it serve?"<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira closed her eyes and thought about it. She remembered all the times Maria used her Light affinity and also just light itself and came to a reasonably rudimentary answer, "Light is a unique form of energy that allows us to see the world as it really is."

    "Hmmm~ Again, you aren''t wrong, but you aren''t quite right either." The Guardian paused to think about his next words before saying, "Alright, now do you think Darkness is the antithesis to Light?"

    Mira nodded, as that seemed pretty obvious, but she also doubted things were so simple.

    If Mira were in front of the Guardian right now, she would have noticed him nodding his head with a smile on his face as he read her mind, "That''s right. Light and Darkness are opposites and can''t exist without each other. At least, in theory. Whether or not that''s actually true, I suppose you''ll just have to find out for yourself."

    "However, have you ever thought about why light seems an excellent element for healing and darkness is so corrosive and consuming?" The Guardian asked.

    Mira shook her head. She couldn''t say she had, as that''s just how things were. Though, thinking about it now certainly was weird.

    The Guardian cleared up some of her doubts, "All the elements in existenceplement one another or are linked to each other in some way. The reason why Light is such a great healer is that it''s closely tied to the element of Life, while the opposite is true for darkness."

    Mira''s eyes widened, not because this was some groundbreaking discovery, but because many things now made more sense!

    Although the Guardian noticed her surprise, he wasn''t done exining, "You''ve probably never heard of anyone having the Life Affinity or Death Affinity, as truthfully, those ''elements'' are more specific andplex than something as broad as ice or fire. However, that doesn''t matter right now. You just need to know that life, as you know it, can''t exist without Light and that life wouldn''t exist if there were only darkness."

    Mira nodded her head, lost in thought. There were many ways to understand what the Guardian just said, and she was trying to pick those apart. That''s when Mira remembered a theory in one of her lives, the one on Earth.

    "So, it''s kind of like Schr?dinger''s Cat theory? That, if there was a cat in a box, it could be both dead and alive until the box was opened?"

    The Guardian chuckled, amused that mortals could even figure something so profound out, "Yes, you can see it like that. You could also rte it to the saying, ''if a tree falls in a forest, but nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?''. If you can''t see that life exists because there is nothing but darkness, then is there really life at all?"

    Mira nodded in understanding, and even though that was an extremely oversimplified version of Light, Darkness, Life, and Death, she could still form a basic understanding of the elements from that.

    Still, there was one thing she was confused about, "That''s great and all, but how does this involve me not being able to use the Light Element?" Suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went off in her mind, and she had an epiphany, "Is it because of my ck runes?" She asked, but she already knew the answer.

    "HAHAHAHA! Finally, you put two and two together. Yes, the reason you can''t use the Light Element as of yet is because of them."

    "As of yet?" Mira tilted her head, catching those words, "Does that mean I''ll be able to use it in the future?"

    The Guardian chuckled again, but this time more mysteriously, "Maybe~ I''ll let you figure that out yourself as that would make things more interesting, but all you need to know is that those ck runes are more special than you think."

    Mira nodded, but she already knew that. She knew she wasn''t using them to their maximum potential, but the problem was that she didn''t know what they were or how she could improve her use of them.

    Now that she knew they were tied to elements like Light, Darkness, Life, and Death, it was like the fog in her mind cleared up. While she still didn''t know how to make them stronger, she at least had a general idea of the path forward.

    However, she had to put that aside right now and focus on the task at hand: finding a way to increase herprehension of the Darkness and Yin Fire elements!

 Chapter 565 Darkness

    Although Mira has had an affinity for Darkness for a while, she''s never consciously thought about using it. It wasn''t that she had anything against the element but that her other affinities were overwhelmingly more powerful.

    She already had a versatile kit with just an ice and fire affinity. From her point of view, the darkness element brought little to the table, and she''d have to expend more effort into making it worthwhile.

    However, the Guardian''s words made her rethink her stance on not just the Darkness element but others as well.

    ''If all the elements are linked somehow, then doesn''t that mean I can increase my power output exponentially if I use them in the rightbination?'' Mira thought, her eyes widening slightly.

    Now, she understood why the Hell of Weakness was making her endure all this. One of her main weaknesses was that she wasn''t even using her elements to their full potential! Hell, she wasn''t even using over half of them!

    "That''s right, but you should know that even with yourprehension,bing elements or using them in tandem toplement each other is extremely difficult. It takes more than a basic understanding of how they work. You have to know the subtle ways they interact with one another." The Guardian exined.

    "For example, the darkness element can actually increase how cold your ice is if you suck all the light out of the surrounding area like a ck hole. Although light doesn''t always produce heat, as that''s dependent on other factors, this knowledge can be advantageous in most situations."

    Mira nodded and fell deep into thought.

    ''I can''t believe I''ve been wasting so much of my potential all along.'' She sighed but quickly pushed those thoughts aside, ''Well, at least I know this now and can start training to use all my powers together rather than picking which ones suit me.''

    Clearing her mind, Mira sat in a lotus position and summoned a glob of darkness in front of her. Next to it, she produced an icy blue me. She wanted to keep them active for a while and see how the two elements interacted with one another, but the fire, even in its semi-weakened state, destroyed the glob of darkness like it was nothing.

    Obviously, this only happened because Mira allowed it to, but the result still made her brows tighten.

    ''My Darkness affinity is a lot weaker than I thought. No wonder I never used this element.'' Mira sighed once again, cursing herself for her negligence, but she didn''t stop experimenting.

    There were so many things to test and understand. In fact, there was so much to do that Mira didn''t know if a week was enough to reach a sufficient level with her Darkness affinity and raise her understanding of her Yin Fire to the same level as the others.

    Suddenly, she heard a sigh from the Guardian ring out in her mind, followed by a few words which surprised her.

    "Sigh�� I know this might be a little against the rules, but I''ll assist you with this trial. With the amount of time you have, it''s impossible for you to reach the minimum required understanding of both elements to pass the trial."

    ''Really?'' Mira was both surprised that the Guardian was willing to help her and that he didn''t believe her talent was enough to pass this trial on her own.

    "That''s right. You can refuse my help if you want and try and do it on your own, but I''m warning you that unlike what you did to improve your physique and other elements, there''s nothing around here that can help you increase your understanding. The most you can do is either dig a tunnel down deep in the ground and cut off all light sources or wander around the mountains at night."

    ''That''s�� what I was going to do.'' Mira smiled wryly.

    She knew that looking for a fortuitous encounter was nothing but wishful thinking, especially with her luck. Thus, the only way to increase her understanding was to watch and experience it in nature, but doing such a thing is usually very tedious.

    "That''s why I''m offering my help. How many times have you experienced nighttime? How many times have you holed yourself up in a cave that light can''t reach?" The Guardian asked, and Mira didn''t have an answer; there were too many to count.

    "Yet, despite all that, yourprehension of the Darkness element is still trash. What makes you think that just because you''ve decided to put all your focus on this task, you''ll just magically see an increase inprehension?"

    Mira frowned but stayed silent as she knew, deep down, what he said was the truth.

    "However, don''t think I''m bashing your talent, as I''m not. There''s just not much to gain from those two scenarios. However, you''re in luck, as I happen to be an expert when ites to darkness!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira''s expression remained neutral, not surprised by this at all. Instead, she felt it would be weird if he weren''t an expert.

    "Oh,e on! What''s with thatme reaction? I''m saving you in your time of need, and this is all I get?" The Guardian pouted, but Mira could still sense the amusement in his voice.

    ''What if the Hell of Weakness wants you to teach me? Then, wouldn''t you just be doing your job? Why should I show my appreciation for you doing what you''re supposed to do? Also, aren''t you some god-like entity? I''d be severely disappointed if you know nothing about the darkness element.''

    "..."

    The Guardian, who was reclining in a chair, watching Mira''s life unfold on a giant screen, froze.

    ''Damn! What''d I do to you?'' He wondered, but his expression soon returned to his casual smile.

    Coughing slightly, he said, "Ahem! Anyways, let''s get on with the lessons!"

    Mira nodded and cleared her mind of all distracting thoughts, putting all her focus on the Guardian''s next words.

    The corners of his mouth raised, looking at Mira''s state, "First off, let''s address the obvious. Darkness, at its core, is the absence of light. Although sometimes this is more metaphysical than physical, that statement still rings true."

    "However, without light, darkness wouldn''t exist. Some idiots say that even if there were no light, the universe would just be dark all the time! In fact, some religions in the Immortal Realm believe in this doctrine, but don''t listen to that nonsense! If the world was permanently submerged in total darkness, nothing would exist! Everything would just be barren wastnds."

    "Why would this be? Well, I''ll get into itter. For now, all you have to remember is that there must be darkness for life to thrive. Now, let''s get into the lessons!"

    "I saw that you were using your Yin Fire to interact with that dark blob. I must apud you foring up with such a way to train, but it''s highly inefficient. Before you even think about forcing other elements to interact with your Darkness affinity, first you must understand its properties, something you arecking."

    "Remember, darkness is the absence of light, but that doesn''t mean that it only exists in ces light cannot reach. No, a ce can be devoid of any light from a number of factors, one of which I''m sure you''re familiar with: ck holes!"

    "That''s right! Our first lesson today will be on ck holes and how they rte to the darkness element!

    Suddenly, in front of Mira appeared a small, round ball of darkness. However, contrary to its small size, the pressure it exuded was immense! Just as she was about to defend herself, a wave of Qi surrounded her, protecting her from the effects.

    Soon after the ck ball appeared, the cavern walls began to copse and fall into the ball, and light that Mira didn''t even know was there dimmed, bringing her surroundings into a state ofplete and utter darkness.

    The temperature in the cave cooled off in an instant, and within seconds, it reached a point that even made Mira shudder.

    Space warped around her, and Mira couldn''t help but feel sick to her stomach as reality seemed to bend, causing her senses to go haywire. It wasn''t just her sight, either, but every other sense as well; they were all disoriented!

    However, before things could get out of hand, she heard a snap, and everything returned to normal. The ball disappeared, the cave walls returned to how they used to be, and the temperature rose.

    As Mira released a breath she didn''t even know she was holding, the Guardian spoke, "As you can see, the damage that level of darkness can do is devastating. Now, imagine that on a universal scale!"

    A chill unknowingly ran down Mira''s spine when the Guardian asked her that, as she couldn''t even begin to imagine something of that level of destruction.

    "Since you''ve just experienced darkness in its rawest form, let''s review what you just witnessed! Then, we''ll move on to other examples!"

 Chapter 566 Immortal Realms Complexities; Surviving Against A Black Hole

    Mira sat in the cave, looking into the air with a nk look on her face, her mind spinning as it imprinted the image of that miniature ck hole.

    "So, what''d you think? The Darkness element is pretty amazing, right?" The Guardian asked, to which Mira subconsciously nodded.

    "Well, with enough control and understanding, you can also do that! What I showed you was within your range of capabilities."

    Mira''s eyes widened slightly, but her expression was still nk. She couldn''t get the image of that ck hole sucking up all the light and matter in the cave as if it were a vacuum cleaner!

    ''I�� I didn''t even realize you could use the elements in such a way.'' Mira closed her eyes and pictured her other elements and how they interacted with the world.

    All this while, she''s been using her Qi and affinities to create things like ice spears or fireballs, but that one example opened up a whole new world for her! She''d still use fireballs, but understanding what fire is and how it affects the world can bring it to another level of power.

    "That''s right! The elements, not just darkness, all work together to create the world. If you can understand how they do that, I can guarantee that you''ll be invincible among those in the same Realm as you." The Guardian exined, and although Mira felt excited about the prospect of doing that, a bitter smile appeared on her face.

    ''Easier said than done.''

    The Guardian couldn''t agree more, "Yes, it is quite the tall task, but it''s worth it. Especially if you start now, in the Mortal Realm."

    Mira''s ears perked up at hisst statement, "So, does that mean that understanding the elements is part of the cultivation system in the Immortal Realm?" Mira couldn''t help but be curious.

    She''s heard of the Immortal Realm numerous times but hasn''t learned anything about it other than that it''s filled with immortals. The rest of her knowledge was either superficial or guesses. However, that didn''t bother her as her journey in the Mortal Realm was already long enough.

    She''d never make it through the Mortal Realm if she spent all her time focusing on a goal that might take hundreds or even thousands of years to reach.

    The Guardian hesitated for a moment but still decided to answer as with Mira''s talent and drive, this little bit of knowledge wouldn''t slow her down.

    "Yes and no. The Immortal Realm is incrediblyplicated. However, just know that one''s understanding of the world separates the dregs, the canon fodder, from the truly powerful people." The Guardian exined, but Mira wasn''t done asking questions! No, now that she''s gotten someone who will actually answer her, how can she let this opportunity pass?!

    ''I always hear howplicated the Immortal Realm is, but is it really like that, or do you old farts just like to be mysterious for no reason?''

    The Guardian''s lips twitched, and he felt a headacheing on, but he still answered her anyways. It''s not like the Immortal Realm was some sort of taboo, after all.

    Thus, he ignored Mira''s provocation and answered, "The Immortal Realm can be asplicated or as simple as you want it to be. Unlike the Mortal Realm, which has a more defined cultivation system, the Immortal Realm''s path to power is broader. However, that''s not to say the Mortal cultivation system isn''t important, as it is, more than you can imagine."

    Mira nodded thoughtfully, but she didn''t need to be a genius to understand how vital the Mortal Cultivation Realms are.

    ''That''s all well and good, but you didn''t exin how it''splicated, nor what the Immortal Realm is actually like!'' Mira began to feel a little impatient. Although she was curious, she didn''t have all day to sit here and have this discussion.

    The Guardian just sighed, and instead of answering, he asked, "Do you remember the life you lived on Earth?"

    Mira nodded. How could she not remember it? Every life she lived is still vivid in her memory.

    "The way people on Earth tried to understand the universe was through math and science, right?" He asked, to which Mira nodded again.

    "The Immortal Realm is simr. It''s like a massive Universe crawling with life, and simr to how people on Earthprehended the world through math and science, the people in the Immortal Realm do it through the elements."

    By this point, Mira didn''t think it sounded soplicated, but the Guardian wasn''t finished talking.

    "However, what if the math and science people learned on Earth were all subjective? For example, what if 2+2 didn''t equal 4? What if it equaled five? Ten? One? And none of those answers were wrong, depending on the scenario. Howplicated would the world be if that were the case?"

    Mira went silent, but the answer was obvious.

    ''It wouldn''t just beplicated, but chaotic and catastrophic!''

    She couldn''t even begin to imagine the consequences if such a situation was real.

    "You can think of the Immortal Realm like that. There are countless ''correct'' answers to a single question. It all just depends on your path forward and your understanding of the world." The Guardian said.

    "..."

    Mira stared into the air with a look that said, ''You expect me to believe that nonsense? Really?''

    The Guardian knew exactly what she was thinking and shrugged, "It''s up to you whether you believe it or not, but it''s the truth. The Immortal Realm isplicated. You''ll understand if you ever reach it."

    Mira sat there, feeling skeptical about the Guardian''s words. On the one hand, it was impossible for her to believe that in the Immortal Realm, 2+2 could equal whatever number you want it to be, but on the other hand, the Guardian had no reason to lie.<novelnext></novelnext>

    However, while she was feeling conflicted, there was one question that arose in the back of her mind:

    ''Is there a correct answer? Is there a correct way to see andprehend the world?''

    Surprisingly, the Guardian answered, "...Yes. Yes, there is. However, it''s not as simple as knowing that 2+2=4. To reach that result, you must answer a whole slew of equations correctly before you can even think about seeing the world as it''s supposed to be��."

    The Guardian paused to let all that information soak in, then a few secondster, he said excitedly, "That being the case, you should start now, when things are easy!"

    Mira didn''t even have time to question him again as another small ck hole appeared before her!

    "Now, show me what you learned! If you can survive this ck hole by yourself, we''ll move on to the next exercise!" The Guardian chuckled before going silent.

    Feeling the skin on her body slowly peeling off from the gravitational pull of the ck hole, Mira''s expression warped!

    ''Fuck! That dirty bastard! I don''t even know how he made this ck hole. How am I supposed to counter it?''

    Another chuckle reached her mind, but she ignored it and began searching for a solution. She didn''t have time to waste; with every second she wasted, anotheryer of skin fell off.

    Taking a deep breath, Mira stabilized her mind and stared at where she assumed the ck hole to be. Although the cave was inplete darkness, she could still feel the gravitational pull from the ck hole.

    ''ck holes, while being infinitely dense, still run on energy. Once they run out of that, then they''ll eventually dissipate.''

    Now that she knew the ''how'', it was time to put it into action.

    Thus, she sat down and closed her eyes, then began cultivating!

    Everything in this world runs on Qi as its source of energy, and this ck hole is no different! Therefore, if she can absorb all the Qi from her surroundings, then the ck hole won''t be able to sustain itself. At least, that was Mira''s theory.

    However, the only problem was that she was at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm and couldn''t store any more Qi. She could try to increase her Core''s density, but that was easier said than done.

    So, she made the only logical move and sent all the excess Qi in her meridians to Elenei, who was undergoing Nirvana in her Soul Sea!

    *Swoosh!*

    A Qi vortex appeared above Mira''s head as she sucked in everything in the surrounding area and shoved it into her Soul Sea.

    She and the ck hole fought for dominance on who could absorb Qi faster, but defeating thebined efforts of a unique 9-tailed fox with special meridians and a Phoenix undergoing Nirvana isn''t a simple feat.

    Within a few hours, the ck hole had shrunk to a size no bigger than a thumb, and Mira no longer felt her body ripping apart.

    Opening her eyes, Mira reached out and crushed the tiny ck hole until all the energy within it dissipated.

    "Phew�� I did it." Mira released a small smile, which immediately faded upon hearing the Guardian''s words.

    "Congrattions on passing the test. You sessfully wasted 3 hours on a task that should''ve only taken you a few minutes!"

    ''What? But I sessfully countered it!''

    "Yes, you did, but you didn''t need to go through all that! You and that ck hole were even in strength. You could''ve just attacked it!"

    "..."

    Mira''s expression became awkward as she didn''t even think about that.

    Coughing slightly, Mira said, ''Ahem! Anyways, I passed your little test. So, let''s move on.''

    "Yes, we don''t have time to waste. Especially not 3 hours."

    A vein bulged in Mira''s head as she could imagine the Guardian staring at her with a shit-eating grin.

    ''It''s going to be a long week.''

 Chapter 567 Affinity Grades; Wolves

    A week passed by at a snail''s pace for Mira as she spent most of her time holed up in a pitch-ck cavern deep underground. There wasn''t a waking moment she wasn''t training her darkness affinity or Yin Fire, though she spent much more time on the former.

    This past week was incredibly beneficial to Mira, not just with her affinities but her worldview as well. She learned not to take the elements at face value and to try and look deeper into the world around her. Following that simple advice, Mira saw an increase in efficiency during her training, which is saying something.

    Increasing one''sprehension of the elements isn''t just about seeing them and hoping to reach enlightenment; it''s about asking questions and formting answers based on those questions.

    During this time, Mira also learned about the grades for affinities, which aren''t any different from the Weapon/Technique/Physique/Pill/Array/Etc. Grading System, except for thest Realm. So, instead of the Divine Grade linked to both the Divine Sea Realm and Ascension Realm, it''s split into two; The Divine Grade is only rted to the Divine Sea Realm, and the Ascendant Grade is connected to the Ascension Realm.

    Thus, the Grading System for affinities goes like this:

    Human (Equivalent to the Body Tempering Realm)

    Mortal (Equivalent to the Qi Condensation Realm and Foundation Realm)

    Earth (Equivalent to the Core Formation Realm)

    Heaven (Equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm)

    Mystical (Equivalent to the Mortal Shedding Realm)

    Divine (Equivalent to the Divine Sea Realm)

    Ascendant(Equivalent to the Ascension Realm)

    Origin (Growth-Type)

    While this is the grading system for affinities, it''s much looser than it is for weapons, pills, etc. For example, a Low-Stage Heaven Grade Sword has the power equivalent to someone in the first few stages of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    However, affinities work a little differently. If someone has a Low-Stage Heaven-Grade Fire affinity, that doesn''t necessarily mean they''ll be able to unleash the power of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm. Their power output depends on their cultivation, training, and understanding of their own element. Many Sects, Families, and ns base their cultivation talent on one''s affinity grade, but whether this works is unknown as there is more than one factor that goes into that kind of talent.

    Simply put, the grades are a measure of one''s potential power output. Though, if someone has a Late-Stage Heaven Grade Fire affinity and they''re in the Core Formation Realm, they''ll be able to unleash more power than someone with a Low-Stage Heaven Grade affinity while in the same Realm.

    The only grade that doesn''t follow this rule is the Origin Grade.

    While someone with a Peak-Stage Heaven Grade affinity can increase their affinity to the Mystical Grade, doing so requires rare treasures and a deep understanding of their element. From then on, increasing the potential of said element only gets more demanding, requiring more and more resources.

    However, if someone has an Origin-Grade affinity, although they might start weak, they''ll be able to increase their strength just throughprehension. Rare treasures will also work, but they aren''t necessary. It also means that even if one''s cultivation is lower than the grade of their affinity, they''ll be able to unleash their full power.

    For example, if someone with an Origin-Grade affinity brings their fire element up to the Mystical-Grade while in the Nascent Soul Realm, they''ll be able to unleash the power of someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm. Thises with consequences, naturally, but it''s possible.

    That''s what Mira has. All of her affinities are Origin-Grade, meaning she can continuously increase their power.

    After a week of training her Yin Fire and Darkness, Mira managed to raise all of them, except for Wind and Lightning, to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, on the verge of stepping into the Late-Stage Heaven Grade.

    Just from her affinities alone, Mira''s almost as strong as someone in the Soul Transformation Realm!

    "Congrattion, Mira, on passing my ''Learning the Darkness Element for Dummies'' course! Thanks to my excellent teaching skills, you''ve passed this trial for the Hell of Weakness!" The Guardian eximed.

    Mira''s impassive face didn''t change, as she was used to the Guardian''s way of speaking.

    She sighed, her eyelids drooping a bit with dark bags under her eyes, "If you consider trying to kill me, training, then I suppose you did a great job."

    The Guardian snorted at the bitter tone in her voice, "Hmph! Don''t tell me you didn''t like it. I know just how much stronger you''ve gotten over thest week."

    Mira couldn''t deny that, nor was sheining about what the Guardian did to her over thest week. She just didn''t want him taking all the credit when it was her doing everything. He only sat in some unknown location, tossing random attacks at her to survive and study, asionally giving her advice.

    "I guess now that my Yin Fire and Darkness are at the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, it''s time to move on to thest two elements, Wind and Yin Lightning," Mira said in a low voice.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Soon, she felt the restriction from the Hell of Weakness shift over to those two elements, with Wind being the weakest of all her elements by far, sitting at the Late-Stage Mortal Grade.

    "I don''t think you''ll need my help with those two, as you''re actually fairly talented with the lightning element, and you have plenty of experience with the wind element thanks to that Cine girl."

    Mira nodded her head, agreeing with the Guardian. The Ancient Beast Mountain Range was also filled with wind and lightning, so finding ces to train shouldn''t be hard.

    She got up to leave the cave, but before she did, she had one more question for the Guardian, "Will this be thest trial for the Hell of Weakness?"

    The Guardian went silent for a moment before he sneered, "Heh! Thest trial? Do you really think that your affinities are your only weakness? Don''t tell me you''re that naive to believe that?"

    Mira fell silent, her eyes going hazy as the image of a golden-haired beauty entered her mind, then shook her head. Of course, she didn''t believe this was her only weakness, as off the top of her head, she could name a few.

    Without another word, Mira left the cave to find Rhydian.

    ''Time to chase some storms and be done with these damn affinities.''

    ***

    Meanwhile, outside the cavern Mira was in, Rhydian was having a field day! Just after Mira entered seclusion, an influx of Rank 7 beasts flooded the mountains! Although the winged wolf knew that something was wrong, she didn''t care.

    ''My prey ising straight to me!''

    She was just happy that she couldze around all day and enemies woulde to her. Nothing was better in this world to her than getting stronger by doing nothing!

    Over thest week, she must''ve killed hundreds of beasts, perhaps more, without having to move a centimeter! It didn''t matter what came her way. As long as it stepped in front of her, it died.

    Right now, she was lying above the ce where Mira secluded herself, surrounded by blood and bones. Yet, without even trying, a pack of 25 Mid-Stage Rank 7 Star-horned wolves approached, with the leader being a Late-Stage Rank 7 wolf.

    These wolves had silver-grey fur and stood about a meter tall, much smaller than Rhydian. However, their most notable features were the star on their foreheads with a horn growing out of it.

    Rhydian gazed at themzily, stood up, and prepared to tear them apart before the leading woof barked.

    "Woof! (Wait!)"

    [A/N: The words in parenthesis are what the beasts are trying tomunicate.]

    Rhydian tilted her head, confused. She stared at the wolves, contemting whether she should ignore his words and kill him or not.

    ''Why did my prey approach me, then tell me to wait?'' She pondered but couldn''te up with an answer.

    ''Doesn''t matter!'' She shook her head and prepared to attack again, causing the wolves to panic.

    "Woooooof! Woof woof woof, Woof~! (Waaaait! Hear me out, Your Lordship!)"

    The leading wolf bowed its head, followed by the rest of them.

    ''Lordship?'' Rhydian''s head tilted in the other direction at the unfamiliar word. She stared at the wolves, trying to find any trace of deceit, but with their heads lowered, all she saw was submission.

    ''I guess I can hear them out.'' She thought as she rxed her wings and nudged her nose, indicating them to continue.

    All the wolves seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief when they saw that, but just as it was about to begin speaking, a goddess with nine tails appeared next to Rhydian. The Star-horned wolves were stunned for a moment, unable to move, but when the goddess jumped on Rhydian''s back, they reacted!

    "Grrrr!" The hairs on their backs stood up, and they snarled at her, ready to attack.

    "What the fuck is going on here?" The goddess muttered while staring at them in confusion and disdain.

 Chapter 568 Star-Horned Wolves

    Mira looked around, confused as to what was going on. Surrounding Rhydian was 26 Rank 7 Star-Horned wolves, but instead of attacking, they all had their heads lowered.

    Simrly, Rhydian''s eyes were filled with confusion as she looked back at Mira.

    ''So, she doesn''t know what''s going on either.'' Mira mused, then turned her attention back to the wolves.

    Immediately following her gaze, the wolves felt as if they had been drenched in ice water. All their hair stood on end, and they jumped back a few meters, terrified. Their eyes widened so much that they almost bulged out of their sockets. They had never encountered someone or something with such a disturbing gaze before.

    "It looks like they''re here for you, Rhydian." Mira faced the golden wolf and said, "What do you want to do with them?"

    Rhydian thought for a moment before she eventually made up her mind. She turned back to the wolves, sent Qi into her throat, and barked!

    "WOOF! (What do you want?!."

    The Star-Horned wolves felt a strange but intense pressure fall onto their bodies and bloodline, forcing them to the ground. However, they weren''t upset at this. Instead, they breathed a sigh of relief at not being instantly killed.

    The leader Star-Horned wolf looked up and barked a few times, trying tomunicate their situation to Rhydian. Mira tried to listen in, but she didn''t understand wolf and could only wait for Rhydian to trante. Although her beastpanion couldn''t talk yet, they were connected, so the two could at least understand each other to a certain extent.

    Rhydian and the other wolf talked for a few minutes before she understood the gist of their situation.

    After they finishedmunicating, Rhydian turned back to Mira and exined the situation.

    ''Apparently, they are a species about to be hunted to extinction. While they have always been hunted by both humans and beasts alike for their horns, things got worse around a week ago. Beasts began flooding the mountains in droves, killing everything in their sight. Many of their young died, and many Elders became injured trying to protect the pack.'' Rhydian exined.

    ''When they caught wind of a golden-winged wolf flying around killing everything in sight, they decided to subordinate themselves to me for protection.''

    Mira nodded in understanding, but she wasn''t sympathetic to their situation. It was thew of the jungle out here in the wild. If they are weak, they can only be killed by the strong; clearly, this pack of beasts wasn''t thetter.

    "Bing your subordinates is all well and good, but what do you get in return? Not only are these guys weak, but they are getting hunted to extinction. If the only thing useful is their horns, we might as well just kill them all now and go on our merry way." Mira said, causing the wolves to tremble.

    While they couldn''t quite understand what Mira was saying, they could feel her intent. It was the intent to kill.

    "Woof, woof, WOOF!"

    The leading wolf saw that Rhydian seemed to listen to the 9-tailed demon on its back and did its best to save its pack.

    Rhydian tranted the wolf''s words to Mira, ''He said that since their horns have elemental properties, they are very sensitive to Qi. They can guide us while we are in the mountains.''

    "Woof! Woof! Woof!" The leading wolf barked a few more times, which Rhydian repeated back to Mira.

    ''He also said they have numerous treasures that might be useful.''

    Mira closed her eyes and pondered on the situation. The rational part of her said she should kill them and get on with her life. She didn''t want to have to deal with a bunch of little wolf pups, nor did she want that responsibility. They''ll likely all die regardless of whether they follow Rhydian or not, but the difference is that she''ll have to waste her precious time looking after them.

    However, her instinct was telling her to follow them back. She couldn''t exin it, but something told her they wouldn''t regret taking these wolves in.

    "You should protect them." The Guardian''s voice rang in her mind, which surprised Mira.

    ''Why? Is there something special with these wolves?'' Mira asked, feeling perplexed.

    "Hmmm~ Well, calling them amazing would be a bit of a stretch, but their horns are unique. Taking them in would be a positive. Plus, letting Rhydian lead a pack would help her mature. You must remember that she''s a wolf as well." The Guardian exined, making Mira raise an eyebrow.

    ''So, even Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolves travel in packs, huh?''<novelnext></novelnext>

    "..." The Guardian didn''t answer, but his silence told her everything she needed to know.

    She turned her attention back to the Star-Horned wolves and began examining them again, looking for anything special, but the only thing that stood out was their horns.

    The decision took her a few moments to make, but curiosity won out in the end. "Alright, let''s follow them back to the rest of the pack and see what''s going on. If it isn''t too much trouble, I suppose we can protect them for the time being."

    Mira then turned to Rhydian with narrowed eyes and said, "However, they will be your responsibility. I''m not interested in taking care of a bunch of mutts. If they all die, don''te crawling back to me, ming me for not doing my job."

    Rhydian''s head bobbed like a chicken as she repeatedly nodded at Mira''s words, but a smile crept up on her face. Evidently, she was excited at the prospect of joining a pack.

    "Woof! Woof! Woof! (Lead the way!)" Shemunicated to the leading Star-Horned wolf. Once it heard Rhydian''s confirmation, its eyes brightened, and it immediately got up and ran in the direction of its pack.

    Mira and Rhydian looked at each other, then shot off in their direction, following them.

    Around half an hourter, they appeared before arge, rocky mountain. It had no trees, no grass, and waspletely devoid of life. It looked more like arge pile of rocks stacked on top of each other, thousands of meters high, rather than a mountain. The tops of each rock were scorched ck, seemingly from a fire, but any knowledgeable person would know better than that.

    Mira''s bored expression brightened as she stared at the mountain with shining eyes. Although this mountain was rocky, barren, and looked like nothing special, Mira knew that even diamonds can be found in a desert!

    ''It looks like we might have just hit the jackpot!''

    While she didn''t know if this mountain contained any treasures, she was confident that there was at least something valuable on it. Plus, those ck scorch marks aren''t there for no reason.

    ''This mountain is either always on fire, or all these rocks are attracting lightning to them.'' Mira guessed, but she leaned more toward thetter as this wasn''t umon.

    *ROOOOAAAARRR!*

    Suddenly, Mira was jolted out of her reverie by a loud roar. She looked over toward its origin and saw a group of hundreds of various beasts surrounding a pack of baby Star-Horned Wolves, all below Rank 5. Standing guard in front of them were a few Rank 7 wolves, but Mira knew they didn''t stand a chance against that many beasts.

    Mira gave Rhydian a few pats on the head, hopped off her, and said, "Well, you wanted to take care of them, so go do your job."

    Rhydian gave a firm nod and dove head-first into the pack of beasts!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Dozens of beasts were ttened under the weight of Rhydian''s body! All the beasts stopped what they were doing and looked over, but that was a huge mistake as the golden wolf pped her wings a few times, sending out sharp gusts of wind and ripping the unprepared beasts to shreds.

    The beasts quickly realized the danger of the neer and swiftly backed away. They could all feel some sort of bloodline suppressioning from the golden-winged wolf, confusing them, but they didn''t think too much about it.

    Since the other party dared to attack them, then they must retaliate in kind!

    *ROAR!*

    All of them charged at Rhydian at once, hoping to take her down, but their attempts were futile. It was a mistake thinking they had any chance of winning against her.

    They should have run for their pathetic lives while they still had the chance, but once they turned their hostility toward her, their deaths were set in stone!

    Releasing a low growl, a searing heat exuded from Rhydian''s wings. She gave onest look to the beasts surrounding her and sneered.

    *FWOOOOSH!*

    She pped her wings onest time, sending a fire wave toward all her enemies. The beasts didn''t even have time to feel fear before the fire turned them to ash.

 Chapter 569 Lightning Spirit Stones

    Mira''s eyes shone, and she nodded in approval, witnessing Rhydian''s power first-hand. It''s been a while since she''s watched her fight, and Mira almost forgot just how powerful her beastpanion was.

    ''I usually just use her as a mount that I forget she''s probably stronger than me if she went all out.'' Mira thought, watching Rhydian mow through her enemies.

    The beasts surrounding the Star-Horned wolves didn''t stand a chance. One p of her wings sent wind sharp enough to cut them into pieces, and a wisp of her mes turned anything it touched into ash.

    Although Rhydian was only a Low-Stage Rank 7 beast, she could easily fight Late-Stage and Peak-Stage Rank 7 beasts.

    ''Perhaps only Rank 8 beasts or Soul Transformation Realm cultivators could put up a fight against Rhydian. Though, I suppose a Rank 7 beast with a Divine-Grade bloodline might give her a bit of trouble.'' Mira mused, but she''s never seen a beast with such a bloodline and thus couldn''t confirm the validity of her thoughts.

    A few minutester, the winds picked up the ashes of the fallen beasts and carried them down the mountain, the atmosphere turning silent.

    Rhydian''s eyes swept across the baby Star-Horned wolves, who couldn''t help but tremble in fear. The horde of beasts from before was already scary enough, but now they had to face something that could kill them all in an instant?!

    "WOOF!" Rhydian barked, sending a wave of Qi through her vocal cords, causing all the wolve''s knees to buckle and bow before her. The wolves didn''t even have a chance to fight back as they felt pressure fall on their bodies and bloodline, forcing them to listen to the being in front of them.

    However, this only served to terrify them further. Some of the weaker-willed wolves fainted directly on the spot as the stress was too much for them to handle, while others could do nothing but quiver in fear.

    Rhydian hardly noticed their emotions and stood before them with her head held high.

    "Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! (Since I have saved you from extinction, I will be your new lord starting today!)" Rhydian announced, but her message wasn''t as well received as she thought it would be.

    They struggled to lift their heads as they looked at Rhydian with confusion, worry, and fear. However, there were a few in the group that showed willingness, as having such a strong pack leader would allow them to survive.

    Mira facepalmed at this scene as she realized once again that although Rhydian might be strong, she wasn''t the smartest. At least not by human standards.

    Fortunately, the former leader of the Star-Horned wolves walked over to the pack and began exining the situation. It didn''t take long before they understood what was going on and the look in their eyes switched from fear to shock and admiration as they gazed upon Rhydian''s majestic figure.

    As time passed, Mira became less interested in the situation, so she shifted her attention to the mountain. Despite theck of life on this mountain, her intuition told her it held numerous precious resources and treasures underneath it.

    Mira walked away from the pack of Star-Horned Wolves, leaving Rhydian to do her thing, and flew up the mountain.

    Unlike many of the other mountains in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, this one wasn''t very tall. On the contrary,pared to the peaks around it, the mountain looked more like arge hill than the peaks around it, nor was the Qi as dense.

    However, now that Mira was more in tune with her affinities, she could sense its uniqueness.

    Within minutes, Miranded on a jagged rock at the peak, which was as ck as night. She leaned down and swiped her finger across the top of it, and soot immediately engulfed it.

    "Interesting." She said, flicking the soot off of her.

    "Let''s see what other secrets this mountain is hiding," Mira muttered before closing her eyes.

    *BOOM!*

    She mmed her foot down on the rock, then sent a wave of Earth Qi into the mountain. Immediately, an image of the mountain''s interior appeared in her mind. This is a new technique that came to Mira''s mind when she increased the grade of her Earth Affinity. She''d seen this technique before, at the Battle Maiden Sect, but since she never used herckluster Earth Affinity, she didn''t bother learning it.

    The Technique is called [Earth Sense] and works simrly to Soul Sense, but only people with an Earth Affinity can use it.

    With her Qi running through the ground, she sensed many small ore veins, tunnels, insects, beasts, and even Spirit Stones.

    Although many of those resources would be worth a lot, it wasn''t what Mira was looking for, so she searched deeper, sending more Earth Qi into the ground.

    Suddenly, a wisp of electricity touched the Earth Qi she sent in, disrupting her concentration and canceling the technique. Her expression changed, and a small smile bloomed on her face.

    ''Found you!'' She thought, canceling her Earth Sense.

    "I never thought those little wolves would lead me to a Lightning Spirit Stone mine." Mira muttered before sighing, "I could tell that lightning continuously strikes this mountain, but I didn''t expect to get this lucky. Just when I''m looking for something to help increase my Lightning Comprehension, this happens?"

    After pondering this far, Mira''s smile faded, and her face became cold. Every time she encounters a bit of fortune, misfortune is right around the corner. To make matters worse, unlike those protagonists who can benefit even from bad situations, these are just bad. There''s nothing for her to gain from them except more enemies and troubles.

    The thought of hopping on Rhydian and leaving this mountain crossed her mind, but she dismissed it. She wasn''t a coward who would run away from trouble, nor could she pass up the Lightning Spirit Stones.

    In the end, she could only shake these thoughts away, "Sigh�� What wille, wille. I can''t pass up this opportunity. I only have a week to raise my Wind and Yin Lightning affinities to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade before I lose them. Anything that can help me do that is worth the potential trouble that follows."

    Thus, without hesitation ormunication between the Star-Horned Wolves, Mira condensed a thinyer of Martial Intent around her body and surrounded her fists with Qi, then-

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    -the ground shook as she smashed the ground, creating a massive crater and turning many of the rocks to dust.

    This alerted not just the Star-Horned wolves but also the surrounding beasts. They all looked in her direction and rushed over to check what was happening. The only one who wasn''t in a hurry was Rhydian, as she could feel Mira''s intentions and knew she was digging for treasures. Shaking her head, the winged wolf flew up in the air and began hovering and Mira to protect her.

    Meanwhile, the person in question sensed numerous beings converge on her location, but she didn''t care.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Sheunched another fist into the mountain, caving it in and creating something akin to a small cave.

    Mira stopped for a second and stared at her fists in wonder.

    ''Cultivating the Magma Dragon Body has really increased my physical strength by a significant amount. If it were before, I never would''ve been able to cause this much damage in just two punches!'' Her crimson eyes shined with battle lust, eager to test out her newfound strength on a worthy opponent.

    Readying her fists again, she mmed them into the ground, obliterating everything in her path! She did this over and over again as if this mountain was her worst enemy!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    ��

    This went on for several minutes until Mira''s figure disappeared into the mountain, and then she finally calmed down.

    Not wanting the entire mountain to copse, she switched from destroying everything in her path to digging out a tunnel. Which, with the help of her physical strength and Earth Affinity, went smoothly. At some point, she even used the [100 cial Warriors] to assist her!

    It took her another few hours until she reached the Lightning Spirit Stone mine, and a smile couldn''t help but appear on her face.

    The stones were translucent blue and had mini lightning arcs pulsating around them. From the density of the Qi inside them, Mira could tell they were all Mid-Stage Spirit Stones, which made her smile widen.

    She couldn''t sense that with her [Earth Sense] before, but now that she stood right before them, it wasn''t hard to tell. There weren''t all that many, but there were more than enough for her needs.

    Thus, not wanting to waste any more of her time, she carved out a few stones, sat down, and began meditating.

    The lightning Qi from the Spirit Stones passed from the stones into her meridians, shocking every centimeter of her body. Mira focused on this sensation and kept revolving this lightning Qi through her body without sending any to her Core.

    Despite the difference between this and Yin Lightning, herprehension training with the Guardian and the strength of her Yin Fire allowed her to convert normal lightning into Yin Lightning.

 Chapter 570 Rhydians Might Part 1

    Dozens of kilometers away from where Mira was, a massive, dark grey bear could be seen sleeping in arge cave. The bear was about the size of a semi-truck, perhaps bigger, and weighed so much that his body sunk into the ground underneath him. Even as it slept, a heavy aura radiated from it, causing the cave walls to tremble with every breath.

    Suddenly, its eyes opened, and it turned its head in Rhydian''s direction. It sensed an abnormal power in that direction, which caused the blood in his body to boil. A deep-seated greed and hunger that he didn''t even know he had erupted from the depths of his bloodline, urging him to check out this anomaly.

    "A beast with an extraordinary bloodline has appeared in these mountains." The bear growled, but unlike those Rank 7 Star-Horned wolves, it could actually speak!

    Meaning, it was a Rank 8 beast! If Mira were here, she would know that this beast was an Earth Titan Bear, a beast with a Sovereign-Grade bloodline!

    "There have been rumors about a 9-tailed fox roaming the mountains. I didn''t believe them to be true, but maybe they were on to something."

    The bear grunted before standing up.

    *BOOOM!**BOOOM!**BOOOM!**BOOOM!*

    His very footsteps shook the cave, causing it to copse on him, but the bear acted like he didn''t feel a thing. Shaking off the rubble that fell on him, he marched out of the cave toward the direction he sensed Rhydian.

    A grin emerged on hisrge face, and he couldn''t help but think, ''Foxes always have the most tender meat. I wonder how delicious a 9-tailed fox would taste!''

    Unlike some of the other beast ns, he didn''t care about having a 9-tailed fox mate. He just wanted to eat her!

    ***

    The Earth Titan Bear wasn''t the only beast in the surrounding area to sense Rhydian''s bloodline, either. Nearly every beast, as long as they were strong enough, could feel her bloodline when she used it to pressure the Star-Horned wolves.

    However, many beasts didn''t dare to think about confronting Rhydian as their instincts screamed at them to run! They could tell they weren''t on her level and didn''t intend to die a needless death. Thus, anything below Rank 7 ran as far away as they could.

    They knew better than to get involved in a fight between powerhouses. Of course, a few ambitious beasts wanted to see if they could take advantage of the situation, but they were few and far between.

    Rhydian, who was standing in front of a bunch of Star-Horned Wolves, felt numerous auras converging on her location, and her eyes turned somber. She knew Mira was meditating deep in the mountain and that nothing could disturb her during this delicate time, so she had to step up and protect her.

    Before things got messy, she turned to the wolves and barked, "Woof woof! (Leave now!)" Then, she shot up in the air, hovering above the hole Mira sat in.

    The wolves didn''t quite understand what Rhydian was doing, but as she was their new lord, they didn''t question her and instead ran away like she ordered. However, it wasn''t long before they saw a massive bear walking toward them. Only then did they finally understand the severity in her voice!

    The first beast to arrive was the Earth Titan Bear, who looked down at Rhydian in slight disappointment, but also curiosity.

    "A golden winged wolf, huh? I thought you''d be the 9-tailed fox everyone is talking about, but it seems I got my hopes up for nothing." The bear muttered, but as it examined Rhydian''s body, it became more perplexed.

    "However, my instincts want me to consume you for some reason. How peculiar��"

    He wondered but made no moves to attack. Although the bear could sense that she was only a Rank 7 beast, and as much as he wanted to consume her, his body warned him of danger. Clearly, she was a lot stronger than her cultivation suggested.

    Rhydian stared at the Earth Titan Bear warily. She wasn''t afraid of him, but a fight of their magnitude might level a good chunk of the mountain, which was thest thing she wanted to happen.

    If she disturbed Mira when she was pressed for time and already in a horrible mood��

    Just imagining those crimson-red eyes glowing with anger sent shivers down her spine.

    However, luck wasn''t on her side as four more beasts surrounded her position.

    One of them was a giant, green serpent with wyvern-like wings sprouting out of its body. It moved through the air like a regr snake would slither through soft grass, then coiled around the mountain-top, and raised its head to look at Rhydian. The same look of disappointment that the bear felt shone in its eyes, but only for a second before greed reced it.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The next beast to arrive was a giant Eagle! It had no notable features other than looking like an eagle and having a wingspan of 5 meters.

    The third beast that showed up after the bear was a ck panther. It snuck up below Rhydian''s position without making a noise or releasing any Qi fluctuations. It was as if a ghost had appeared below her!

    Thest beast to arrive was a giant spider! It had 8 massive legs, which were several meters long, and a giant bulging abdomen. It was ck all over, with white veins running down its body and legs as if it was already covered in a spider web.

    Each had simr auras, meaning they were all Rank 8 beasts. Yet, the Earth Titanic Bear was the only one interested in talking. The rest just stared at each other, all thinking the same thing:

    ''This wolf is mine!''

    They could all sense an extraordinary bloodlineing from the winged wolf, and though this typically wouldn''t mean much since they were already Rank 8 beasts, they could feel their insides burn with a needy hunger, wanting to devour her whole!

    Rhydian wasn''t an idiot and could tell that they thought of her as nothing more than prey and could only release a mental sigh.

    ''I''m sorry, Master, but I might have to disturb your training. If you want someone to vent your anger on, you''re more than wee to use these idiots.'' She thought before she steeled her resolve.

    Then, without hesitation, she coated her wings in lightning and pped them, sending a torrent of lightning at the spider, smiting it!

    *BOOOOOOOOOM!*

    None of the beasts were expecting Rhydian to attack out of nowhere, but they weren''t inexperienced newbies that couldn''t handle a situation like this. The spider didn''t bother to move as webs came out of the white veins on its body, coating itself in a spongey outeryer of silk.

    Rhydian has spent enough time with Mira to understand that the best way to defeat a group of enemies of simr strength to her or higher is to strike first and strike fast. Many of her fights neversted longer than a few moves because she followed those two basic rules.

    Keeping the pressure on the spider, Rhydian descended from the sky with her wings tucked in to gain more speed and dove head-first into it!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Another explosion rang out as she took out a chunk of the mountain, but that wasn''t the end. She could sense that she''d only caused minimal damage to the spider''s exoskeleton and kept up the attacks!

    Sheunched waves of lightning, fire, and wind at its eyes, legs, and abdomen, trying to tear it apart, but its defense proved to be tougher than she initially thought.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t keep up her one-sided attack as the winged serpent and the Eagle joined the fray. The bear and panther watched from the outside, waiting for the right opportunity to attack. Though the former was more curious about the battle itself rather than the oue.

    Rhydian clicked her tongue in annoyance but quickly jumped out of the way, dodging their attacks.

    While keeping an eye on the two of them, she didn''t stop her attacks on the spider, as it was the weakest out of the five beasts here. Or at least, that''s what Rhydian assumed. However, killing proved to be more troublesome than she initially thought, as its webs seemed to have some sort of elemental resistance and shock absorption.

    ''If I can''t beat it to death or turn it to ash, then I can only cut it into pieces!'' Rhydian thought as her ws extended and sharpened.

    She pounced on the spider''s abdomen once again and used her ws to rip through the webs protecting its exoskeleton. Within seconds, she had cut through it and began scratching at the surface of its outer shell. However, that didn''t hold up well either, as it started to screech in pain!

    *SCREEEEEEECH!*

    With the spider''s yell, the serpent, eagle, and wolf dove in on her yet again, causing the wolf to hop off the spider. While the three of them were technically enemies, they couldn''t just allow the spider to die right in their faces.

    After this exchange, they all nced at each other with only one thought in their minds:

    ''He/She is strong!''

 Chapter 571 Rhydians Might Part 2

    Rhydian, like Mira, could use all 8 Basic Elements; Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Lightning, Ice, Darkness, and Light. Also, like Mira, she needed to train with each of these elements, which Rhydian could do in a number of ways, but the one she preferred was consuming rare resources.

    Beasts use the elements differently from humans, as their abilities are more instinctual. Rhydian is no different. Thus, consuming rare resources and training with her affinities will unlock these instincts and abilities hidden deep within her bloodline.

    This is one of the reasons why the Golden-Empyrean Winged-Wolf is so overpowered; they are essentially a paragon among beasts.

    She can turn anything she consumes into power. Hell, she can even obtain elemental resistances or new affinities like poison/space/etc., just by eating things. Anything under the heavens is hers for the taking, and nothing can stop her from stealing it.

    However, there are limitations to this. One is the long hibernation periods, where she will be in aatose-like state,pletely unresponsive to the outside world. The other is the massive amount of resources it''ll take for her to break through the Realms and improve her strength.

    Although there are other reasons, those are the only two that matter at the moment, as Rhydian is dealing with the consequences of herziness.

    While fighting against these Rank 8 beasts, who have lived for hundreds of years, she wished she had trained more! She wished she had taken Mira''s advice and not slept so much!

    ''These guys are so tough to kill!''

    After that first little exchange, they''ve been fighting for almost half an hour now, but nobody hasnded a decisive blow. Meanwhile, the Earth Titan Bear and panther are still watching on the sidelines, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

    Rhydian through the sky, dodging the giant spider''s silk, which tried to tie her up and attacked the serpent. Latching onto its back, she dug her teeth into its scales, tearing out a few chunks of flesh before it whipped its tail around, smacking her off.

    She had already expected this to happen and flew back to a different part of its body and began tearing out more chunks of flesh and scales, but that wasn''t enough to do any significant damage to the beast. Not when its vitality was so high and its body so long.

    Rhydian flew around the serpent, looking at all the holes and wounds all over its body, but not a single one was enough to take it down! She''d even crushed its spine in a few areas, but it kept moving like nothing was wrong!

    Suddenly, the Eagle dived at her from above, with its talons aiming for her neck.

    *SWOOOSH!*

    Rhydian swiftly dodged out of the way and shot a few bolts of lightning where she assumed it would travel, but that proved to be a waste of energy as it had already disappeared before the attack.

    ''This fucking��! ARGH! I hate this! I hate fighting these guys!'' Rhydian cursed, as this situation has happened more than once.

    The eagle would dive in to attack her, fail, and then back off. Although she was fast enough to chase after it, that''s only if she didn''t have two other strong beasts on her tail. However, since she has two other bloodthirsty beasts out for her life, always searching for ways to kill her, if she takes her eyes off them for more than a second, she''d get caught in some trap.

    Since the two flying enemies were too annoying to deal with, Rhydian turned to the only one attacking her from the ground, the Spider.

    This one, unsurprisingly, is the most injured. It''s missing a few legs and eyes, numerous holes in its abdomen, and green blood is constantly leaking out of its orifices.

    The only reason it''s still alive is that it''s a Rank 8 beast. Even if Rhydian did nothing to it, the spider would eventually die, but she didn''t want to wait.

    No, she needed it dead now!

    ''I''ll take you down, then kill that dump serpent!''

    Rhydian coated her body in lightning, her wings in ice, and her ws with fire. Using the speed extra speed that the lightning gave her, she shot toward the spider at full speed! Rhydian felt the Eagle and the serpent charge at her to stop her attack, but she ignored them. Instead, she shot loads of Qi out of her wings, speeding her up!

    The spider felt an intense danger approaching and tried to defend herself, but it was already toote.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Rhydian crashed into it like a rocket that fell from space, causing the terrain around them to vaporize and a side of the mountain to copse.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "SCREEEEEECH!!"

    The spider released a horrifying cry filled with pain and agony. The other four beasts knew that it was on the brink of death, and their auras became solemn.

    A few secondster, the screeching stopped, filling the devastated mountain with a somber silence, and rain clouds soon formed overhead as if the world was mourning. The other beasts didn''t need to be geniuses to know that Rhydian had just killed the spider, which turned the already serious atmosphere into something more severe.

    After the dust settled, Rhydian walked out of the crater with the spider''s head still in her mouth, announcing her aplishments to the world and warning the four other intruders.

    Tossing the spider''s head in front of them, Rhydian released a deep growl, "BARK! (LEAVE!)"

    The others were confused by the urgency in her voice, but Rhydian didn''t bother to exin. They wouldn''t understand her even if she tried tomunicate.

    They didn''t know that she could feel Mira''s irritation directed at her, nor did they understand that she was giving them a lifeline here. They still had a chance to leave and live, to forget everything about this day, but when Mira shows up��

    Well, it''s safe to say that their life will no longer be in their hands.

    A shudder ran down Rhydian''s spine when she thought about the possible punishments Mira would put her through, and soon, her expression became fierce as she nced at the remaining beasts, who seemed to have no intention of leaving.

    ''Since you want to die so bad, why don''t you justmit suicide?! Why must you drag me down with you?!''

    With a thought, Rhydian turned into a lightning bolt, shooting toward the green serpent''s neck. As long as she could kill it, then the fight would return to the previous 1v3, and she would only have to worry about a single flying enemy, the Eagle.

    "ROOOOOOAAAARRR!" The Earth Titan Bear roared, no longer wanting to sit on the sidelines, as it realized he had severely underestimated the wolf before him. It, along with the panther, charged at Rhydian, but thetter didn''t care.

    No, it was more urate to say that she had given up on defending. The only thing she cared about now was killing these beasts before Mira left her meditation! If that meant she had to feel a little extra pain, then so be it.

    ''It''s not like my regeneration can''t restore most injuries anyways. At least I won''t have to face Master''s wrath if I kill them!'' Rhydian thought, trying to stay optimistic.

    She could tell that Mira had stopped her meditation session a while ago. What did this mean? It meant that she wanted Rhydian to finish the situation herself because if it were any other time, Mira would have rushed out of the tunnel before the fight began, and they would have ughtered them together.

    Since that wasn''t the case, it meant she wanted Rhydian to deal with these beasts alone. Most likely as a form of training.

    ''Does Master seriously only see the world as training opportunities?'' Rhydian wondered, silently wishing she could go back to the Battle Maiden Sect to sleep.

    However, since she couldn''t do that, her second best option was to just go through with this little impromptu training session.

    Within less than a second, Rhydian appeared behind the serpent''s head and smacked the base of the neck before she continued flying. Turning around, she did the same thing over and over again in rapid session until she created a massive gash the size of her arm in its flesh.

    She looked at the protruding spine and nodded. She took out arge chunk of Qi from her Beast Core and circted it through her body, empowering her by severalfold.

    Now filled with power, Rhydian charged at the serpent onest time and-

    *SMACK!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Her giant, meaty paw swiped its vertebrae, shattering it and killing the serpent instantly. The other three beasts watched on as the serpent''s limp body fell from the sky and crashed into the ground, causing the earth to quake.

    Staring at the hundreds of wounds along its snake-like body, the beasts realized that they might''ve bitten off more than they could chew by trying to kill Rhydian, but it was toote for regrets now. Since they''ve alreadymitted, then they might as well give it their all!

 Chapter 572 Rhydians Might Part 3

    After Rhydian killed the serpent, she didn''t stop her attacks and instead switched targets. Now that she was no longer bothered by it or the spider, and since two out of the three enemies were stuck onnd for the most part, she was free to turn her attention to the Eagle!

    Truthfully, this one was physically the weakest out of the group, but its razor-sharp ws and speed made up for itscking strength. Thus, in a 1v1 scenario, it stood no chance against Rhydian.

    *SWOOSH!*

    Spitting out a few chunks of flesh, she stared at the Eagle with eyes full of killing intent. She wanted nothing more than to rip its guts out and tear off its head, and that''s what she aimed to do!

    The Eagle, who felt Rhydian''s gaze wash over her, felt its blood run cold. Its instincts screamed, "DANGER, DANGER, DANGER!" knowing that if it didn''t flee now, it would die. Therefore, without hesitation, it turned around and fled.

    Seeing this, Rhydian snorted coldly, wrapped her body in golden lightning, and shot after it! The panther on the ground jumped after her, but it was no match for the flying wolf.

    In just a few seconds, the two of them traveled a few dozen kilometers before Rhydian caught up to it.

    "SCREEEECH!"

    The Eagle cried out as the feeling of death invaded its very being. It knew that Rhydian was right on its tail and closing in fast. However, it was already traveling at max speed! If it wanted to fly more quickly and have any hope of surviving this situation, it had to do something drastic.

    It had to burn its Blood Essence!

    Doing so would reduce its lifespan, potential, and even cultivation if it went on long enough, but none of that mattered. It was going to die anyway!

    Just like how one would expect a Rank 8 beast to act, once it came to a decision, it didn''t hesitate to act on it and began to burn its Blood Essence to boost its power.

    *FWOOSH!*

    Power filled its veins as the Eagle ballooned in size, trying to contain the overflowing strength. With its newfound power, the Eagle pped its wings harder than its ever pped them before and shot off into the distance.

    Rhydian narrowed her eyes, watching the Eagle get further and further away from her. She thought about letting it go and returning to the two remaining foes, but she was a little unwilling to do so.

    It just tried to kill her! How could she allow it to live after that?!

    ''Do you think you cane and go as you please? After you caused so much trouble for Master and me?'' Rhydian sneered in her mind and increased her speed using more of her Qibined with the Wind Element.

    The Wind Qi wrapped around her body, making her feel not only lighter but more aerodynamic. She felt that instead of fighting against the wind to fly, she was one with it, facing no resistance ahead of her.

    Having gained the extra speed, she caught up to the Eagle within a second andtched her mouth around its neck!

    "SCREEEEEEE-!!"

    *Snap!*

    The Eagle cried out in shock and pain, but before it could struggle, Rhydian twisted its neck, killing it instantly, then ripped off its head with a plop.

    Now that she had finished off the third Rank 8 beast, she turned around and returned to the mountain Mira was under, with the Eagle''s corpse still in her mouth. She couldn''t let such precious food go to waste, after all.

    A few secondster, Rhydian appeared over the final two beasts, the Earth Titan Bear and the ck panther she could barely sense. These two were the ones Rhydian was the most worried about.

    While she wasn''t quite as wary of the Earth Titan Bear, as he was just a giant target for her, the panther was a different story. Even if she disregarded its strength, its smaller size and thin presence made it a formidable enemy.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Neither would be so bad to face alone, but the main problem was the bear. Its attributes clearly leaned heavily toward physical strength, meaning her attacks will be less effective against it. She also can''t disregard the power contained within its body, as a few ps from those thick, heavy paws and she''d be in trouble.

    Her only saving grace right now was that she had air superiority. Since the two of them were Rank 8, they could also "fly", but because they don''t have wings nor are they a unique species that can travel through the air, hovering is about all they can do.

    Rhydian pped her wings above the two of them, ensuring she stayed out of range as she contemted her options.

    ''I don''t want to fight the two of them if possible. They won''t be as easy as the other three. Our fight will undoubtedly attract the attention of even more beasts. Not to mention, it would disturb.'' Rhydian thought, staring at the bear and panther, ''But how do I get them to leave without them making a fuss?''

    As she was deep in thought, the bear growled, annoyed that its prey was flying in the air, out of reach. It raised its two front paws and mmed them into the ground!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    The impact caused the surrounding earth to quake for kilometers in every direction and ttened out another portion of the mountain, but the bear wasn''t done yet. Reaching down and grabbing a handful of boulders, it stared at Rhydian and hurled them into the sky!

    *FWOOP!* *BOOOOOOM!*

    The boulders shot at supersonic speeds, reaching the flying wolf in a split second.

    Rhydian, who was still contemting her options, sensed danger and hurriedly moved out of the way, but because she reacted too slowly, one of the boulders slipped her wing!

    "Arf! (Ouch!)"

    She squealed in surprise and dropped in altitude just enough for the panther and bear to attack her with ease. To which they did. The bear stood up and swatted the air like he was smacking an insignificant fly, while the panther exuded a ck smoke before disappearing.

    Rhydian sensed this, and her wings gave a few powerful thrusts,unching her in the air out of harm''s way.

    Although their attacks missed her, they didn''t let up on the aggression. The panther disappeared with a poof and hid somewhere on the mountain while the bear kept chucking boulders at her!

    Suddenly, Rhydian''s connection with Mira was overwhelmed with irritation and rage, and she came back to her senses extremely quickly. She stared at the iing rocks, her eyes wide in horror but not at the danger of the attack, but because that big hunk of meat finally ran Mira''s patience thin. After thatst attack, she could feel Mira making her way up to the surface!

    ''This idiot! Why couldn''t he have let me kill him before he went and shook the mountain?!'' Rhydianined, but there wasn''t anything else she could do in this situation. Since she couldn''t kill both of them before Mira arrived, her next best option was to wait for her so they could deal with these two together.

    She shot high up in the air,pletely out of their range, and hovered there, not daring toe down.

    The bear saw this and roared at her in anger, trying to get her toe down, but Rhydian didn''t budge, increasing its fury. The bear pounded into the ground in rage, causing the mountain to sink in more, then began chucking anything it could fit in its paw at her.

    However, after around 10 seconds of this, it stopped. No, it''d be more urate to say that it froze. And the bear wasn''t the only one. The atmosphere around the mountain seemed toe to a screeching halt as if all remaining life in the vicinity sensed its inevitable demise.

    All the bear''s hair stood on end as death slowly entangled itself around itsrge body, wrapping the bear in its sweet yet dreadful embrace. The panther wasn''t any different. Its body stiffened as it felt a terrifying aura approach them.

    "Fucking hell." A charming voice full of killing intent rang out, causing the hearts of anyone who heard it to drop, "Why are you taking so long to kill these brutes, my little wolf? Have I been too soft on you recently? If that''s the case, I''ll need to put you back on a training schedule so you''re not so useless."

    Rhydian''s body shook, and her eyes were filled with terror as soon as Mira said the "T" word. shbacks of when Mira used to train her passed through her mind, which caused her expression to sink further.

    ''How can you call that training?! It''s clearly just murder with extra steps!'' Rhydian felt like crying but had no tears!

    "Alright. Enough of that." Mira said, her body finally reaching the surface. She looked around, ncing at Rhydian, the bear, and the panther, then waved at her beastpanion, "Come down here and help me deal with these guys so I can go back to what I was doing."

 Chapter 573 Pitiful Earth Titan Bear

    Rhydian didn''t have the guts to disobey Mira''s orders, nor did she have a reason to. These two beasts came here to kill her, after all. If Mira wanted to return the favor, then she was all for it.

    Without Mira needing to say anything else, she dropped from the sky onto the Earth Titan Bear''s back, who didn''t even realize Rhydian had moved until he felt somethingnd on him! Regaining his senses, he shifted his attention away from Mira, not realizing she had 9-tails, and onto the thing attacking him. In

    *ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!*

    He released a thunderous roar in rage and used his Qi to turn all the hair on his back into tiny yet durable Earth Needles, which weren''t as simple as just being sharp. This is one of its defense mechanisms. With itsrge size, his back is one of his major weak points, as he can''t see or reach it. If his species didn''t have a way to counter this, they would have gone extinct.

    Rhydian felt her feet sink into the bear''s back and yelped in surprise and pain as thousands of tiny barbed needles punctured her paws. She quickly hopped off his back, but the barbs on the needles stuck to her, ripping out chunks of flesh as she jumped.

    "Arf!!"

    Rhydian cried out in pain, but her enormous vitality went to work, healing her injuries as fast as it could. She stared down out the bear''s back wearily, aware that she may have been too hasty with her attack, but now that she knew of its defensive measures, she could prepare for them.

    However, before she coulde up with a n of attack, the Earth Titan Bear had already turned around and swiped his massive paw in her direction. The strength behind his attack caused the air to tremble and the ground to shake.

    Not wanting to get hit by such an attack, Rhydian dodged, appearing a few dozen meters away, only to catch a glimpse of another bear pawing at her from a different direction. Dodging that one as well, Rhydian flew higher up in the air to avoid it, but it seemed the bear had other ns.

    Its two front pawsnded on the ground, causing a giant explosion and creating two massive craters underneath its feet. Ignoring the destruction of its movements, it bent its knees, thenunched itself up in the air!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Just that action alone was more than enough to shake the entire mountain, causing a spiderweb of cracks to run down all sides of it.

    Rhydian, Mira, and even the panther all turned to see what all themotion was about and were surprised to find a bear the size of arge hill floating up in the sky.

    However, sensing the mountain''s copse, Mira''s expression changed from cold indifference to rage.

    "This fucking bear!!! Can you stop destroying my mountain?!?! How will youpensate me if I can''t reach my loot after all you''ve done?!" She yelled, her voice filled with killing intent.

    A scythe appeared in her hands, and a pair of Paragon Wings manifested behind her, which exuded a much more overbearing aura. She prepared to go all out to kill the bastard causing so much destruction.

    Due to the increase in grade of her affinities, the power of her Paragon Wings increased exponentially. She could feel that each feather was so densely packed with Elemental Qi that each one was now like a mini-nuke.

    ''This''ll be a good time to test out how strong my affinities are. How thoughtful of a giant punching bag toe my way just when I wanted to test my strength!'' Mira thought. While it would''ve been better if it waited a week or so to appear, Mira could still use the bear as a way to gauge how strong she''s be.

    For some reason, as soon as those thoughts appeared in Mira''s head, a shiver ran down the bear''s spine, but he quickly ignored that feeling and turned his focus back on the pesky wolf.

    ''But first, I''ll have to take care of the sneaky bastard trying to hide from me.'' Mira pried her eyes away from the sky and turned her head. Although there was nothing but rubble where her eyesnded, she could sense a gazeing from that direction.

    "I know you''re there," Mira said confidently, walking in that direction with a steady gait. She noticed a slight fluctuation in the air when she said that and smirked, but she didn''t stop walking.

    "I''ll give you onest chance to live on ount that you haven''t caused any trouble, nor have you tried to kill mypanion or me. If you leave now, I won''t pursue you, but��" Mira''s eyes narrowed and glowed, leaking out just 1% of her killing intent, "If you stay, then you will die. That, I promise."

    Her words were like Heaven, or in this case, Hell''s decree. From the look in Mira''s eyes, the panther knew that even if it failed to kill her now and managed to escape, she would track it down until there was nowhere else to run. It wouldn''t live another peaceful day in its life as the panther would constantly be looking over its shoulder, just waiting for Mira to arrive.

    "I really should kill you since you''ve seen my appearance, but you seem like too much of a pain in the ass to deal with right now. Though, if you''re smart, you won''t leak my whereabouts to anyone unless you''re willing to send them to their deaths." A wide, malicious smirk spread across her face as she kept walking toward it.

    "I''ll give you 3 seconds to decide."

    "3."

    "2."

    "1."

    *SWOOOOOSH!*

    A ck shadow appeared in front of Mira, but before she could get a good look at it, the panther was already long gone.

    Mira shook her head, both disappointed and relieved that it chose to retreat as she didn''t have the time to waste on fighting it. That panther was able to hide in in sight. She only knew where it was because she could sense its gaze. Other than that, she couldn''t see it at all.

    Dealing with such a troublesome opponent when she had to stop the rampaging bear from destroying everything while she was already on the clock was not what Mira had in mind. Sure, she was confident she could kill it, but the amount of time and effort she''d have to put into doing so was not worth the rewards.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Though she hated to let it go, the two didn''t have any kind of blood feud, so she wasn''t upset that she had to let it go.

    ''Should we meet again, you''ll die by my de.''

    "A good choice," Mira muttered and turned her attention back to the floating Earth Titan Bear that Rhydian was battling, "All that''s left is you, big guy. Let''s see how I fare against a Rank 8 beast!"

    Mira held out her free hand and circted her Qi around it. Soon, a ck ball, no bigger than a marble, manifested above her hand, which sucked in all the light and Qi in the surroundings to fuel it.

    Nodding her head, she muttered, "While it''s not as impressive as the ck hole the Guardian made, it''s still a ck hole."

    She raised her hand and aimed at the bear''s giant body, not trying to hit anywhere in particr, and flicked her finger.

    No sound rang out as she did so, but the disturbance it caused to the space around it made it easily recognizable.

    The Earth Titan Bear felt something dangerousing toward it and wanted to dodge it, but it was already toote. The ck hole had crashed into its body!

    "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!"

    It released an earth-shattering cry filled with pain and agony as the ck hole tore out chunks of flesh, muscle, and bone, creating a hole the size of a watermelon in its body, which kept on expanding.

    This continued until the hole grew another half a meter in diameter until the ck hole eventually fizzled out.

    "Tch. So, that was the best I could do, huh?" Mira clicked her tongue in disappointment, hoping it wouldst longer, but it seemed she vastly underestimated the gap between hers and the Guardian''s.

    She heard a chuckle rumble in her mind but promptly ignored it and sent a few more ck holes at the bear. Maybe if it were a bit smaller, she would''ve switched to a different attack, but since it was sorge, she might as well get as much data on her strength as possible.

    The bear released another agony-filled roar and stared at Mira with bloodshot eyes, but the woman didn''t care. She floated up into the air andunched a series of feathers from her Paragon Wings without warning.

    *Swoosh!**Swoosh!**Swoosh!*

    *Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

    About half of them exploded on impact, leaving a hole in the bear''s body that was bigger than the ck holes, while the other half cut through its metal-like fur and into its flesh.

    The bear couldn''t take it anymore and fell to the ground, grunting in pain and wailing about, but Mira continued her tests.

    "Hmmm~ It seems that the effectiveness of my Paragon Wings has gone up significantly, but so has its consumption. In terms of efficiency, ck holes are more destructive and use less Qi, but my Paragon Wings are clearly more powerful." Mira muttered, taking note in her mind.

    Next, a few Yin Fireballs appeared around her, and she tossed those into the bear''s open wounds. Immediately, she witnessed it dissolve the beast''s flesh as if it was acid, and the mes used that as fuel to feed its endless hunger to destroy. However, unlike normal fire, these weren''t nearly as hot and almost seemed cold.

    The effects of her Yin Fire still puzzled Mira, and she reminded herself to do more research on themter, but this test was more than enough to determine its power.

    Mira continued to run through these tests for each element for about 10 minutes until she cycled through everything.

    Satisfied with the results, she nodded with a slight smile, saying, "The Guardian wasn''t lying. All my elements, except lightning and wind, are equal in strength. Now, all that''s left to test is my physical might!"

    Mira raised her scythe into the air, and her smile grew. She charged at the half-dead Earth Titan Bear''s head, not bothering to hide her movements as the thing was barely alive in the first ce.

    By now, its body looked like swiss cheese, and ake of blood had formed beneath it. The poor beast was on death''s door, but there was nothing it could do as Mira did everything she could to ensure she dealt as much damage as she could while keeping it alive.

    Now, it just wanted to be put out of its misery, and that''s exactly what Mira intended to do.

    "Huup!" Mira grunted as she jumped up on the bear''s head and jammed the de of her scythe into its skull, cutting through it like butter.

    Light began to fade from the bear''s eyes, but before it died, instead of rage, sadness, or pain, its eyes shone with relief that it would no longer have to suffer.

    Mira grinned as she understood that her physical strength was indeed terrifying, thanks to the Magma Dragon Body technique. However, she didn''t have time to waste standing around on top of a corpse.

    Hopping off of its dead body, she nced at Rhydian and said, "Do whatever you want with the corpses and go make sure those Star-Horned wolves are safe. I''m going to go back to what I was doing."

    With that, Mira disappeared from Rhydian''s view and excavated the tunnel she had already created down to the Lightning Spirit Stone Mine.

 Chapter 574 The Embodiment Of Freedom

    Rhydian watched Mira leave, a little shocked that she didn''t punish her. Normally, Mira would have at least smacked her across the head, but this time she didn''t do anything!

    ''What''s going on? Is the world about to end tomorrow?'' Rhydian thought before shaking her head.

    ''No, no, no. Master is just busy. I''m sure she''ll put me through all sorts of torturous training once she''s done!'' Rhydian shivered at the thought but soon calmed down.

    ''Luckily, Master is busy, so she won''t be able to focus on me for now.'' She thought, then sighed and looked at the corpses of all the Rank 8 beasts around her. She licked her lips as hunger began to arise in her stomach, ''I''ll just enjoy life until my leisure days are over.''

    Getting rid of all the depressing thoughts of the future, Rhydian grouped up the corpses of the Rank 8 beasts and began eating them, absorbing their vitality, Qi, and affinities!

    ''Soon, I''ll have to go into hibernation to digest everything and break through, but before that, I need to wait until Master finishes her business.''

    While Rhydian was eating, the Star-Horned wolves realized the battle was over and began to walk toward the mountain. Seeing the mass destruction that the beasts caused made them tremble a bit, but they were happy that the being they took in as their lord was so strong!

    In fact, knowing that she dominated multiple Rank 8 beasts at the same time while only being Rank 7 affirmed her position in their hearts.

    ''Our new Leader is so strong!'' The wolves thought as they stared at Rhydian with shining eyes full of reverence.

    Rhydian sensed them approaching but didn''t spare them anything more than a nce. She was too busy munching down her meal.

    ***

    While Rhydian was eating and getting stronger, Mira was doing the same. It took her a few minutes to return to the Lightning Spirit Stone Mine, and she was relieved when she saw that it was still intact.

    ''That fight with the Earth Titan Bear gave me a few insights on how I can use my affinities more efficiently. Especially for my Wind and Yin Lightning affinities.'' Mira thought as she grabbed a handful of Lightning Spirit Stones and began meditating.

    She doesn''t use those two affinities much, so just activating them was enough to give her a few insights. She could also improve upon those insights thanks to the massive punching bag she could practice on.

    ''Hopefully, I can bring my Yin Lightning to the required Grade in a few days so that I can spend the rest of my time on my Wind Affinity. I have a feeling that''s the element I''m going to struggle the most with.'' Mira thought, and she wasn''t wrong.

    There''s a reason why humans generally call Elements "affinities". It''s because those elements are often tied to specific human characteristics or emotions.

    For example, fire''s main characteristic is its ability to burn and destroy. So, humans that have this element as an affinity are generally hot-blooded and short-tempered. While there is more to it, and that''s an overgeneralization, most humans understand affinities that way.

    For this reason, someone capable of using seven different elements like Mira is incredibly rare. ording to human logic, unless she had a unique physique or some other external factor, it would be impossible for her nature to encapste the characteristics of almost every element.

    ��Though, she does have a unique physique that allows her to do just that.

    However, because Mira knew that each element represented a certain characteristic, she figured that the Wind Element would be exceptionally hard for her. With all the other elements, she can align with them in some way.

    But wind�� that was more like a dream.

    People often see the Wind Element as the embodiment of freedom. It can be as peaceful as ake or as fierce as a tornado. Ites and goes as it pleases, with nothing able to stop it. It is refreshing on hot summer days but brutal on cold winter nights.

    While its intensity is always in a constant state of change, it remains neutral. Even when the fiercest of storms are uprooting trees and homes, nobody mes it.

    Nobody says, "How dare the wind do this to me?! It almost killed me!" Instead, they me mother nature or understand that this is just the element doing its job.

    That neutrality, that calmness, that freedom�� Those are all things Mira has wished and strived for. She wanted nothing more than to be free! Almost all of her life, she''s been shackled by something!

    Even in death, she can''t find peace as the only thing that''s apanied her through life is pain, betrayal, and hell!

    This has resulted in her bing a cold, calloused person, capable of and willing tomit atrocities even the worst of beings would condemn.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Morals were nothing in her eyes, just the squabble of ants trying to justify their actions.

    Life and death didn''t exist for her, as she always felt like she was in limbo. She did not fear death, nor did she enjoy the pleasures of life.

    She lived because she couldn''t die, and she trained to earn her freedom.

    To many, she was an evil abomination who didn''t deserve to walk the Earth, while to others, she was nothing more than entertainment to fill their dull lives.

    Even Maria didn''t regard her as a good person, nor did she im or want to be. Life was much simpler if she cared for nothing other than herself.

    How can a selfish woman like her, who doesn''t give two shits about the world or its inhabitants, rte to the Wind Element''s neutrality? How can a woman like her, who is constantly shackled, suppressed, and chased by powerful beings, be free and unfettered?

    Everything she has done has either been nned and structured beforehand or was a reaction to someone else''s whims. The number of times she just traveled from ce to ce, experiencing different things and doing whatever she wanted could be counted on one hand.

    In fact, Mira doubted there were that many times she felt truly free. Even before the god found an interest in her, she was always a structured and disciplined person.

    When those thoughts entered Mira''s mind, she didn''t despair or get frustrated. At most, she was annoyed that she only had a week to bring her Wind affinity up to such a high Grade, but that was it.

    ''Hmph! Even if I have to force it to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, I''ll get my wind affinity there. I refuse to lose both my Yin Lightning and Wind elements because of a shitty trial!'' Mira snorted and returned her attention back to the Lightning Spirit Stones.

    The Guardian, who had read her mind, shook his head at her stupidity. He was going to keep quiet as he felt he had already done enough by helping her with the Darkness Element, but at this rate, he thought she would really fail this trial!

    "Are you stupid?? You know that the Wind Element is all about freedom, yet here you are talking about brute force?? Do you not see the irony in your words?" He said.

    Mira stopped what she was doing for a second after hearing his voice but returned to improving her Lightning Affinity a secondter.

    ''I know. That''s the reason I said it. I don''t believe I can raise my wind affinity naturally, so I can only resort to brute force!'' Mira said, making the Guardian sigh. He couldn''t believe what he was hearing!

    "I guess you really don''t have an affinity for wind��." The Guardian took a deep breath, then his eyes shined with resolve, "Not to worry! I''ll help you out in this department!"

    This time, Mira really stopped what she was doing. However, no emotional fluctuation other than a raised eyebrow appeared on her face. Clearly, she didn''t believe he would be of much help.

    "Hmph! While darkness is my specialty, that doesn''t mean I don''t know anything about the other elements. I am still a god-like being, you know?" He tried to convince her, but the more he talked, the less Mira was to believe him.

    Still, what he said wasn''t wrong, so she decided to ask, ''Then, are you going to help me like how you did with the Darkness element?''

    "..."

    He remained silent, causing Mira''s lips to twitch.

    ''You�� You were just brag-''

    "AHEM! I have sensed a few locations not far from you that will help increase your Windprehension. There''s no need to go through a few annoying lessons."

    Mira''s lips twitched again, and she returned her attention back to the Lightning Spirit Stones. She didn''t want to deal with this annoying old man any longer, even if what he said was true.

    ***

    Two dayster, Mira used every single Spirit Stone in the mine and walked out from under the mountain.

 Chapter 575 The Final Element Part 1

    Around Mira circled two lightning dragons; one was neon blue that gave off a cold, repulsive feeling, while the other was as ck as the void and gave off the feeling of death. They both still had the properties of lightning, fast and destructive, but there was a little extra there.

    Both lightning dragons circled Mira until, eventually, the two ovepped with one another, merging. As a result, the lightning became 90% neon blue, with a ck streak running through it.

    Letting out a turbid breath, Mira opened her eyes and released a small smile. These past two days have been extremely fruitful for her.

    Looking at the small lightning dragon circling her, Mira thought about the experiment that she had tried.

    ''It seems myprehension of an element can affect its characteristics and effects.''

    That''s right! Over thest few days, Mira took inspiration from her ck Runes and applied it to her Yin Lightningprehension. Since the ck Runes encapsted the meaning of Death and Yin associated with ideas like dark, cold, and death, she felt that she could use that to boost her understanding.

    And it worked!

    Somewhat��

    While she was able to take inspiration from her ck Runes, she couldn''t alter the fundamentals of her Yin Lightning. At most, she made the effects her ck runes have on her Yin Lightning more pronounced, but that was about it.

    However, that was more than enough for Mira. She lost nothing, yet her Yin Lightning and her other Yin elements were more effective.

    Doing this, she also learned a bit more about what Yin is and what it represents in an element.

    ''Now that I''ve brought my Yin Lightning to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, I can move on to my final element: Wind!'' Mira''s eyes shone when she thought about that.

    She was ready to be done with this Hell, so she could move on to the other requirements and finally break through into the Nascent Soul Realm! Not only would her power increase exponentially, but she''d acquire a whole slew of abilities once she did! One of which was the highly sought-after Soul Sense.

    With that, escaping Mira''s senses would be nearly impossible.

    ''Maybe not even Aelina will be able to sneak up on me!'' She thought, but that was an exaggeration. Aelina was too powerful; she didn''t need to sneak up on her. Even if she couldn''t escape Mira''s senses, it didn''t matter. She still wouldn''t be able to see hering.

    Mira stopped thinking about useless things and crawled out of her little cave to join up with Rhydian.

    ''Alright, Guardian, where can I go to raise the grade of the Wind affinity?'' Mira asked.

    "...Are you sure you want to know?" The Guardian asked reluctantly.

    Mira raised an eyebrow at his words, and before she could speak, for some reason, she had a bad feeling. She knew the Guardian would never ask her that question. So, if he did, it meant something was wrong with the ce he found.

    Thus, instead of answering, she asked, "Why?"

    The Guardian still appeared hesitant, but soon he sighed and relented, "It''s just�� the only ce that will allow you to increase the grade of your wind affinity in 5 days is a bit annoying."

    ''How so? And isn''t there another ce I can use where I won''t make enemies?''

    "Well, just prepare yourself to make a few more enemies. To answer your second question, yes, there are other ces, but it''ll take you longer than five days," The Guardian answered, causing Mira to release a sigh of relief.

    ''Is that it? I''ve already got loads of enemies. What''s one more? Just send lead me to the ce I need to go.'' She didn''t bother asking him who her potential enemies were, even though they probably weren''t normal since he seemed concerned. She''d find out soon anyways.

    She didn''t have much of a choice either way. Five days was not enough time to bring an affinity up from basically nothing to the Heaven Grade, no matter how excellent herprehension was.

    "...Fine. Just don''te crying to me when you have a bounty on your head." The Guardian sighed again, "Though, you probably shouldn''t take Rhydian, as she''s a bit too eye-catching. Also, you should use your illusions to hide your tails and ears while wearing a mask. If you do all this and with a little luck, maybe you won''t make any new enemies!"

    He tried to be optimistic, but if Mira could, she would have given him a dead look.

    Lucky? Her? HAH! As if!

    ''Enough. Just lead me there.'' Mira said, but she still listened to his directions, used her illusions to hide her tails, and put on a ck mask to cover her face.

    "Alright. The ce you need to go is straight north. On the top of a mountain, there''s a massive tree, home to the Sovereign-Grade Gale Eagle n and a few other avian beast ns. Once you''re near it, you can''t miss it." The Guardian said.

    Mira raised an eyebrow and nced at the remains of the Eagle that Rhydian had killed and eaten. ''Oh? So, that was a Gale Eagle?''

    "Correct."<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''Then, shouldn''t this be an easy mission? One of their Rank 8 is already dead!''

    "Normally, it would be, but the situation is a bit moreplex than that. You''ll understand when you get there." The Guardian said, unwilling to say more.

    Mira shook her head but didn''t bother asking him any more questions. She turned to Rhydian, who waszing around and felt an eye twitch.

    "Hey." A low growl escaped her mouth, causing Rhydian to shoot up on all fours, "I''m going to be gone for a few days. When Ie back, if I haven''t seen any improvement in yourbat power, I''m going to encase you in ice and bury you under a frozen mountain. Maybe then, you''ll finally learn how to use your elements."

    The wolf shivered at Mira''s threat and didn''t doubt her words. If Mira didn''t see her improving, she really would bury her, encased in ice!

    Nodding repeatedly, Rhydian promised that she would get stronger!

    Satisfied with her response, Mira turned around and flew up in the air, "I''ll see you in 5 days at the most."

    Leaving those words behind, she shot through the air, heading due north!

    ***

    Mira flew through the air for several hours before she eventually caught sight of a massive tree sitting at the very top of a mountain. It had to be several hundred meters tall, maybe taller, and was teeming with life. All kinds of birds circled around it, humming happily as if they were living in Heaven on earth.

    However, that wasn''t the only thing that caught Mira''s attention. Around this tree, there were multiple Formations that seemed to want to keep out any unwanted visitors. The mountain was also swarming with humans, who Mira could only assume to be guards. Though, to have only Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm cultivators as guards seemed a little much��.

    ''What''s going on here? Is this some kind of breeding ground or something?'' Mira guessed, and if she understood what went on inside the Formations, she''d know that she was quite close to the correct answer.

    ''Well, whatever. I just need to get what I want and leave. Whether this is a breeding ground or not has nothing to do with me.'' She shrugged, quickly losing interest.

    "Now that you''re here, all you need to do is consume the fruits that this tree produces until your affinity rises to the Heaven Grade! You might also have to absorb some of the tree''s essence as well since those fruits might not be enough��" The Guardian said, and now Mira understood the problem.

    With how many birds lived around this tree and with all the Formations, she could assume that the tree was important to everyone there.

    However, it''s not like the birds or humans will just let her steal it from right under their noses. More than likely, once she plucks a fruit, she''ll be public enemy number one!

    ''Damn! Why is it always like this? Can''t I just have a single fortuitous encounter where I don''t need to murder a bunch of people?'' She cursed but took out her scythe anyways.

    "You COULD try and sneak in." The Guardian suggested, which wasn''t a bad idea, but Mira just rolled her eyes.

    "Really? Can I do such a thing?" She said sarcastically.

    "Yes. You can."

    "Hmph!" Mira snorted, "Alright! Let''s see how well your idea will go."

    She encased herself in an illusion, making her invisible to the outside world, then used every stealth technique she knew and approached the formation silently.

    Nobody outside the Formation noticed her presence, not that they were looking for her anyway, so she was able to make it smoothly to the barrier.

    However, as soon as her foot touched it-

    *BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!**BEEEEEP!!*

    "Intruder!!"

    "Someone snuck in! Find him!"

    "Search the perimeter!!"

    "The formation says she''s over there! Look!"

    Mira felt a Formation lock onto her, notifying everyone of her presence, and sighed. She knew this was going to happen. She might not know much about Formations, but she knows enough to understand that with her knowledge and skills, she wasn''t going to bypass the Detection Formation they have set up.

    "Wow~~~ What a great idea you had~."

 Chapter 576 The Final Element Part 2

    Mira undid her stealth but kept using her illusions to hide her tails and ears. As soon as she did, all the cultivators inside and outside the Formations locked onto her position.

    "There she is!"

    "Hurry! Surround her!"

    "Don''t let her get close to the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree!"

    Mira raised an eyebrow at thest person''s words.

    ''Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree? Is that the name of that thing?'' She looked at the massive green tree on top of the mountain, with thousands of birds of all different ranks flying around it.

    She''d never heard of a tree like that, but it made sense. If she had a tree that could raise people''s affinities, she wouldn''t want to tell the world about it either.

    Now that she was a bit closer, with her senses, she spotted a few people rushing over to protect the various eggs that the birds must''veid, which confirmed her thoughts.

    ''It seems these people are using this ce as a breeding ground and is either distributing these eggs to the people backing them or selling them.'' She thought but soon lost interest and focused on the people who had now surrounded her.

    Their auras pressed down on her, attempting to immobilize her, but Mira acted like she wasn''t affected. She brushed off their attempts to subdue her with a snort and stared back at them impassively.

    Right now, she wasn''t in the mood to fight as she was on a time crunch, but if they wanted to die so badly, she''d be happy to oblige.

    "Miss," Suddenly, an average-sized woman with brown hair and amber eyes descended from the sky, hovering around 30 meters above her, "What are you doing here?" She narrowed her eyes and asked in a cold voice.

    Mira shrugged, but a slight smile hung on her face, amused that the woman didn''t attack her, "I saw a big tree. So, naturally, I was curious."

    The woman''s face darkened. What sort of bullshit answer was that?! If you were going to lie, at least put in a bit of effort!

    ''Every tree in this damn Mountain Range is big!''

    She screamed internally but kept herposure and didn''t get upset. The same goes for the men and women around her. They were all experienced people and could sense the bloody death-like aura around Mira. With crazy people like that, it was better to settle things peacefully.

    "Well, now that you''ve seen it, you can be on your way now." The woman said in an icy tone. She, just like everyone else, didn''t want this dangerous woman to stick around any longer.

    However, what she didn''t expect was for Mira to shake her head, "No, I don''t think I will leave."

    Suddenly, she swung her scythe, and a thin arc of lightning shot out of her de toward a group of Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.

    Their expressions changed when they saw the iing attack, and they hurriedly controlled their Qi to block it!

    "YOU DARE?!" The woman yelled and covered the people Mira attacked in a barrier to prevent them from getting hurt.

    *BOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Her barrier sessfully blocked the attack, but Mira''s attention was never on those people, to begin with. They were just fodder anyway.

    While everyone was distracted by the attack had coated her legs with Lightning Qi and shot toward the weakest Soul Transformation Realm expert, who happened to be in the 1st Stage.

    The man sensed hering toward him at supersonic speeds and scowled. He gathered Qi around his body, empowering it, and blocked the iing scythe, but when he felt the weight behind her attack, his mouth opened wide in shock.

    ''What the hell is this physical strength?!''

    He didn''t even get the chance to counterattack, Mira''s attack sending him flying.

    Mira was also shocked at her physical prowess when watching him soar through the air like a rag-doll, but that doesn''t mean she stopped attacking.

    She shot toward the man like a bolt of lightning, and before anyone could react, shed her scythe at his chest!

    The man''s Qi blocked most of the attack, but part of it still managed to get through, creating a massive gash along his chest.

    "Ugh!" The man grunted in pain and fell to the ground, but even though he was disorientated, he still roused his Qi again, expecting another attack.

    However, after a second of waiting, that attack never came.

    "Eh?" The man raised his head and looked around, but Mira was nowhere to be seen.

    "What?! Where''d she go?!"

    He used his Soul Sense to scan the surrounding area, but even then, he didn''t spot her!

    "How is that possible?! She was just attacking me! Where''d she go?!" He jumped up from the ground, ignoring the pain in his chest, and began searching for her.

    Meanwhile, the woman who spoke to Mira had just caught up to him and noticed the serious expression on his face, "Luke, wasn''t she just here? Where''d she go?"

    Luke frowned as her words implied that she didn''t see Mira leave either. Not letting his guard down, he shook his head, "I don''t know, Jess. She just attacked me twice and then disappeared."

    The woman Luke called Jess also frowned and closed her eyes to search the surrounding area with her Soul Sense but soon opened her eyes and shook her head.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I can''t feel her with my Soul Sense," Jess muttered in a grave voice. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, but she was also confused.

    Everything was normal today. They killed a few nosy beasts who wanted to sneak in, took care of the birds, and prepped the eggs to be delivered to their superiors.

    Although something weird happened a few days ago when the Rank 8 Gale Eagle suddenly shot out of the tree to go hunt, they thought nothing of it. It was a beast and would often leave the nest to hunt food.

    The fact that it hadn''t returned by now was a little odd, but it wasn''t that unusual, nor did they care that much. It would return to the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree anyways, so there was no need to keep such a tight leash around it.

    However, now that an odd yet strong woman showed up out of the blue a few dayster, Jess began to think that maybe it wasn''t a coincidence.

    ''The Ancient Beast Mountain Range is sorge. What are the chances of someone just casually strolling through, finding this ce?'' The answer came immediately to her.

    ''Almost none!''

    *Squak!**Squak!**Squak!*

    Suddenly, she heard the birds around the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree start going crazy and looked over to find Mira with her hands dug into its trunk!

    "Shit! She''s at the tree!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and disappeared from everyone''s view, shooting toward the peak of the mountain.

    "What?!"

    "How''d she get there from right under our noses?!"

    "What about the Formation? Wasn''t that supposed to tell us where she was?!"

    The surrounding cultivators shouted while following Jess. Luke was as equally as puzzled as them but didn''t dwell on it too long.

    ''If she can manhandle me like a little child with physical strength alone, she''s not a normal person.'' He thought, shivering, feeling the cold wind sting his wound.

    He popped a healing pill in his mouth and followed after Jess but soon frowned.

    ''Hmm? Why is the healing pill not working as well as it used to?'' He thought before popping in another one. Blood stopped pouring out of his chest, and his skin began to close now that he had taken a second one, but he was still puzzled.

    ''Weird.'' He thought but pushed this to the back of his mind, choosing to concentrate on the uing battle instead.

    Meanwhile, Jess had already caught up to Mira and prepared an attack, but she was a little hesitant to use it as she didn''t want to damage the tree.

    "You thief! Get your grubby hands off our property!!" She yelled, then sent a palm strike at her. She didn''t use her full power for fear of damaging the tree, but she felt it was more than enough to deal with someone at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm.

    *POOF!*

    The attacknded on Mira, causing her to cough up a mouthful of blood, but she didn''t move. Her body stood still, rooted on the ground.

    Jess was shocked that she didn''t instantly kill the woman but regained her wits and sent a few more Palms Strikes at her.

    *POOF!**POOF!**POOF!*

    "Since you want to die so bad, I''ll send you off now!"

    Jess yelled while preparing another palm strike.

    However, before she could do that, she felt the ground shake! Shocked, worried, and confused, she nced around to see what was happening.

    Finding nothing, she returned her attention back to Mira, only for her eyes to bulge out of their sockets!

    "What the fu-?!?!"

    Mira stood there, blood dripping down her face, ripping the massive tree out of the ground. The sight was so shocking that she almost forgot what she was doing. Almost.

    "YOU!! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!!!"

    Her eyes turned bloodshot, and she dashed at Mira, hoping to grab her, but before she could do so, the tree disappeared! As if it had never existed in the first ce, the tree just vanished into thin air!

    "YOU-! YOU-! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Jess pointed at Mira and raged.

    Mira turned to the angry woman pointing at her and released arge, bloody smile.

    "I''m a little busy right now, so let''s have a proper fight next time we meet." With that said, Mira covered her body in Darkness and Lightning and disappeared from Jess'' view, leaving only a few words behind.

    "Thanks for the gift!"

    ��

    "ARRRRRRRRRRRGHH!! YOU BASTARD!! I''LL KILL YOU!!"

 Chapter 577 The Final Element Part 3

    With the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree now gone, the birds and beasts that lived on and around it went crazy. Their home, nests, and the very thing that propagated their species'' growth just vanished into thin air!

    How could they not be agitated by that?!

    One second, their life was great; the next, everything was gone as if it had never existed! However, what made them even angrier was that a human did this! It was all the humans'' fault that their home was gone!

    Thus, in their eyes, Jess, Luke, and the others were no different than Mira, the one who was actually at fault and began attacking them!

    "Ack! Fuck! These damn beasts don''t even recognize their owners anymore now that their home is gone!" Luke cursed as he punched a hole through a bird''s chest.

    Since everything had gone downhill, and these beasts had gone crazy, there was no point in keeping them alive anymore. The trust and agreement that the two sides built over the years copsed because of a single person.

    Thinking of Mira again, Luke gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. He couldn''t believe that he was toyed around with like some child by someone who was more than a major Realm below him!

    ''The next time I see you, I''ll make you pay!'' He clenched his fists as he swore, but he didn''t intend to chase Mira down to the ends of the Earth. She just humiliated him a bit. There was no need to hunt her down like a dog.

    Rather than Mira, he was more concerned about what his superiors would do to him when they learned that someone had stolen the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree.

    ''Fuck! They aren''t going to be happy when they learn that one of our main sources of transportation is now ruined! I just hope this isn''t enough to affect our ns on the Western Continent��'' Luke shivered as all the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

    ''Hopefully, they won''t kill me��.''

    On the other hand, Jess didn''t share the same sentiment as Luke. Watching Mira disappear with the tree, her body trembled in rage, and her eyes went bloodshot.

    "GET BACK HERE, YOU BITCH, AND GIVE ME BACK WHAT''S MINE!" She yelled and then shot off in the direction shest sensed Mira.

    While Luke might not understand why the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree was so important, as it was only a Heaven-Grade resource, she did. In fact, in terms of impact on a faction and overall relevance, it was more valuable than some Mystical-Grade items!

    Not only does its aura attract aviary beasts or beasts with a wind affinity due to its effect in increasing fertility and cultivation speed, but everything about the tree is a treasure in and of itself.

    The bark can be turned into weapons and buildings. The leaves can be used for alchemy, and the roots can turn a barren wastnd into a region teeming with life.

    That''s not even the end of the benefits it can bring.

    However, what really makes this tree special are the fruits that it produces. The fruit is called a Heavenly Jade Pear, and its effects are extraordinary.

    First, if eaten raw, the Qi inside it is more than enough to increase the cultivation for anyone in the Nascent Soul Realm or below. Then, there''s also a minimal chance that one will either awaken the Wind affinity, the Grade of their affinity will increase, or they''ll enter enlightenment.

    But that''s only if one eats the fruits raw.

    If it''s in the hands of an alchemist, the effects are much more diverse and amplified. Essentially, they can ensure that the benefits of the fruit are maximized. Plus, there are a few pill recipes that are incredibly useful to high-level cultivators, even if they are in the Mortal Shedding Realm or the Divine Sea Realm.

    One of the pills they can make is a pill that increases egg count in a woman and makes it easier for sperm to fertilize their eggs. This isn''t that useful for cultivators in lower Realms, as having children is only a bit more difficult, but for those with a higher cultivation who want to have children and don''t want to spend decades or centuries having sex, this is a life changer!

    In the cultivation world, it''smon knowledge that the stronger someone is, the less likely it is for them to have children. For women, this is because the time they ovte might only happen once every few years or up to centuries, depending on one''s strength. Also, their eggs are tougher, making it harder for sperm to fertilize them. Thus, getting pregnant is nearly impossible unless they find someone with the same cultivation as them or higher.

    Still, even then, that doesn''t guarantee one will get pregnant.

    On the other hand, men with higher cultivation have more potent sperm, which can be both a blessing and a curse. The advantages to this are obvious, but the disadvantage is that sometimes the sperm is so strong that they destroy the eggs they are trying to fertilize.

    The time when pregnancy starts bing significantly harder is around the Core Formation Realm. Before that, people are still within the realm of human understanding, but afterward, things be more mystical.

    That''s not the only pill that can be made from the Heavenly Jade Pears, but it is one of the most popr, as finding ingredients that can increase fertility in high-level cultivators is quite challenging.

    Jess also happened to be someone who was looking forward to this pill! She has a husband, and for decades, they''ve been trying to have a kid but have had no luck.<novelnext></novelnext>

    After trying for so long, she began to feel helpless and almost gave up on the idea of having a kid.

    However, that''s when someone offered her this job. All she had to do was guard the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree, take care of the beasts around it, and hand over a certain number of beast eggs every month.

    If she could do that, they''d reward her with Middle and Late-Grade Spirit Stones, weapons, armor, and finally, a Late-Stage Heaven Grade Fertile Yin Essence Pill!

    She just had a few more years on her contract before they''d reward her with the pill, but�� but��

    "YOU-! YOU-! YOU DARE TO RUIN MY CHANCES OF BECOMING A MOTHER?! QUIT HIDING, COWARD, AND LET ME TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!" Jess roared in rage, with bloody tears rolling down her cheeks, and began sending out palm strikes to the area around her, ttening the rocky mountains into a pancake.

    *BOOOOOOOM!**BOOOOOOOM!**BOOOOOOOM!**BOOOOOOOM!*

    However, no matter how much she destroyed or where she looked, there was no sign of Mira anywhere!

    "AAAARRRRGHHH!!! YOU CAN''T ESCAPE FROM ME!!"

    ***

    Meanwhile, the person was a hundred kilometers away, sitting in a cave with a rxed expression. However, something was odd about her. She had blended into her surroundings perfectly. Even while sitting there doing nothing, she almost looked, smelled, and seemed as if she were part of the cave.

    Unless someone were right in front of her, staring at her, nobody would ever know she was there.

    *BOOOOOOOM!**BOOOOOOOM!**BOOOOOOOM!**BOOOOOOOM!*

    She could still hear the sounds of explosions, even from a hundred kilometers away, along with Jess'' screams, but Mira didn''t care. She was just d that she got the tree while expending minimal effort.

    "I''ll have to say something the Hana the next time I see her. The Hidden World technique she taught me is incredible." Mira muttered with a smile.

    While she couldn''t escape the Formation''s detection, she could fool those people with her strength, illusions, and diversion tactics.

    ''Though, I did have to buy a Teleportation Talisman from the F.LD.I.L to escape that ce without a fight.'' Mira frowned, feeling irritated that she ran away from a fight.

    If she weren''t short on time, she would have dly entered a life-and-death battle with them, but with only five days left until the end of this trial, she didn''t have that luxury.

    After a moment of silence, Mira could only shrug, ''Whatever. It''s probably better this way as there''s a storm on the horizon, and I need to be ready for it.''

    Settling her thoughts and shaking away any useless ideas, she sent her mind into her Infinity Garden and plucked one of the Heavenly Jade Pears from the Heavenly Verdant Windwood Tree and grasped it in her hand.

    "So, what do I do now? Do I just eat it?" Mira asked aloud to the Guardian.

    "If you were an alchemist, you could concoct a few pills to maximize the effects, shortening the time you''d need to increase the Grade of your affinity, but since you''re too stupid to be one, you can only eat it raw." The Guardian''s teasing voice entered her mind.

    Mira''s lips twitched, but she ignored his words and nodded, stuffing the whole fruit in her mouth.

    As soon as the fruit touched her lips, it dissolved into her body. The Qi went straight to her Core, wanting to advance her cultivation, but since she couldn''t break through, she sent it to Elenei, who was in her Soul Sea.

    However, another stream of energy encapsted her body and soul, targeting her wind affinity. Instantly, she felt lighter and closer to nature. Wind gathered around outside her body, causing her robes to flutter, but Mira paid no attention to this.

    Instead, she was focused on the feeling of her Wind affinity, attempting to increase in grade. Not wanting to increase the effects of the fruit, Mira took out a few more and stuffed them into her mouth.

    ''It''s time to finish all of my affinities!''

 Chapter 578 Uncontrollable Desires And Emotions Part 1

    With explosions still happening asionally in the mountains around her cave, Mira spent the next few days gorging on as many Heavenly Jade Pear''s she could stomach. She ate as many as possible, hoping to forcefully bring her Wind affinity up to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, knowing full well that doing this might bring future problems.

    While she built all the rest of her affinities on the foundation of her ownprehension of the elements, Wind was the only one she didn''t do that for. That won''t cause her affinity to be weaker than the others, but it will make it harder to progress in the future if she doesn''t deal with this issue.

    However, Mira didn''t bother thinking about the consequences as she didn''t have the luxury. She either absorbed as many of these fruits as she could or lost her Wind affinity forever.

    The choice was obvious.

    On the 4th day of Mira''s seclusion, the raging tempest around her calmed down until it was nothing more than a slight breeze.

    Mira opened her eyes, and a genuine smile appeared on her face for the first time in a while. The feeling of her Body, Qi, Soul, and Affinities all living together in harmony filled her very existence, sending shivers so pleasurable down her spine that she almost moaned.

    ''Mmm... I had no idea equalizing all my cultivation centers felt so good!'' Mira thought as she basked in the feeling of power and bnce. The sensation wasn''t physical, as she had long gotten used to the strength of her body, but it was more existential, like everything was where it was supposed to be.

    It almost felt like she''s lived her entire life with all her joints dislocated without realizing it, but today, they all fell back into their sockets, realigning her body to what it was supposed to be.

    She felt like she had entered a state of being that was always within her, yet she never bothered to pursue it due to her ignorant arrogance.

    Mira shook her head at her previous self''s naivety, ''To think that I thought I could get by with just my ice affinity.''

    She could hardly believe that she''d spent thest few years not trying to equalize her elements. Maybe if it was before, when she had just started her cultivation journey, and her ice element was the only strong and useful affinity in her arsenal, she could have gotten by while only using it.

    However, after she had evolved into a higher being after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm, that was no longer possible.

    Of course, she could still only use her ice affinity, but why? Doing so would be equivalent to fighting with her hands tied behind her back and one of her eyes closed. She''d only be limiting herself if she did something so foolish!

    Luckily, she went through the Hell of Weakness to show her this before it was toote.

    After a few minutes, Mira calmed down from this euphoric sensation, a thoughtful expression recing her smile.

    ''I didn''t know that eating so many of those fruits could help make the Qi in my Core denser. I thought it''d take me much longer to reach this result.''

    "Normally, it should''ve," The Guardian answered, "The Heavenly Jade Pears aren''t meant to increase the density of your Qi, but you have to remember that they are Heaven-Grade fruits. The Qi inside them is both abundant and dense; just one of these could help someone in the Soul Transformation Realm improve, much less you! Yet, in a few days, you ate multiple generations worth...."

    Mira didn''t need any more exnation to understand what he was trying to say. By eating so many Heavenly Jade Pears, she forcefully overloaded her Core with Qi. Thus, there were only two ways the situation could end; either her Core exploded, or she used the excess Qi to refine it.

    Since Mira''s Core is much tougher than normal, her only real option is thetter. So, that''s what she did, and it turned out that by doing so, she could squeeze out whatever potential she still had left in the Core Formation Realm.

    ''Soon....'' Mira clenched her fists, her eyes glowing blood red, ''Soon, I''ll break through into the Nascent Soul Realm.''

    "Mhmm. Not quite," The Guardian''s amused chuckle entered her mind.

    ''What do you mean by-'' Mira tried to ask but was interrupted by a searing pain in her mind.

    "Ugh!" The pain was so severe and so sudden that she couldn''t help but grunt, something she hadn''t done in... Who knows how long??

    Suddenly, the pain became worse, causing her to hold her head in both hands!<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Argh!!" She grunted again, "W-What''s... going on?!" Somehow, she managed to yell out, but before anyone could answer, a wave of emotions came over her, and not just any ordinary feelings, but a millennia''s worth of suppressed emotions and desires.

    "ARRRRRGGGHHH!" Mira screamed in pain, her crimson eyes turning an even deeper shade of red, and drops of blood leaked down her cheeks. Her hair iled around wildly, and her Qi rampaged around her, destroying everything in sight.

    If someone were to see her right now, they would think she was no different than a demon straight out of hell!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Mira mmed her fists into the ground, creating a spider web of cracks around her, obliterating the cave she was in and everything around it.

    "GET DOWN HERE, YOU SADISTIC SON OF A BITCH!" She looked up to the sky and roared, with more and more blood leaking from her eyes.

    "COME DOWN HERE SO I CAN WIPE OUT YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE BLOODLINE!" Mira raised her fists and began throwing punches at the sky.

    *BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!*

    Each attack caused countless sonic booms, alerting all nearby entities of her presence, but she was too out of her mind to care.

    However, while rage and anger clouded most of her mind, there was a myriad of emotions leaking out of her eyes besides those two.

    Sadness, happiness, despair, love, lust, fear, and everything in between took up the rest of her thoughts.

    It was like all the emotions she hadn''t expressed over thest millennia had suddenlye forward in full force, and she didn''t know how to control them. No, she couldn''t control them even if she tried. Not right now, anyways.

    "Congrattions on reaching thest Hell of Weakness trial. I don''t know if you can understand what''s going on, but this trial is here to help you ovee your greatest weakness: your emotions." The Guardian''s voice entered her mind, but even with her enhanced brain, she was hardly rational enough to understand his words.

    "You''ve lived as an apathetic, unfeeling machine for most of your life. All the heartache, all the pain, the despair, you tried to close your heart to all of it. However, as you are a living being, it is impossible for you not to feel anything when the people you love the most in this world betray you. Even gods who have lived for millions of years can''tpletely separate themselves from their emotions. Rather, it''s these emotions that keep them sane over the passage of time."

    The Guardian realized he was getting a bit off track and continued, "Anyways, you are not a god, nor a machine that sees the world as nothing more than ones and zeros. You were born as a human, a special one, but a human nheless."

    "As a being capable of intelligent thought, how could you live your life feeling nothing? Did you truly feel nothing when your family was ughtered before your eyes? When your loved ones betrayed you, were you indifferent to the situation? How did you feel when you hoped and strived for a brighter future, only to have those dreams crushed by another?"

    "The answer to these questions is obvious: of course, you were hurt. However, you hid that pain deep in your soul, hoping it would rot away there. You never dared to confront it as you were afraid. Afraid that you would give in to that man''s temptation."

    "Unfortunately, that''s not how emotions work. Even if you lived for another ten thousand, one hundred thousand, or a million years, you''d never forget those feelings. They will sit there, simmering in your heart, until one day, you can''t contain them anymore."

    "This has already gone long past the point of being a heart demon. If you don''t unpack these emotions now, then forget about being a weakness; you might just turn into a murder-crazed monster who lives solely for your desires."

    "Deal with the resentment deep inside you and learn how to properly understand and control your emotions, rather than suppressing them. Only then will you pass the Hell of Weakness." The Guardian exined, but whether Mira understood a word he said was a different story.

    And just like he expected, she seemed to have turned a deaf ear to his words and rushed out of the cave like some crazed beast, looking for anything that could help her vent.

    ''Sigh... Whatever. I''m sure a bit of rationality will enter her mind within a few days.'' The Guardian shrugged, but worry shone in his eyes as he watched Mira run around the mountains like a maniac.

    ''Hopefully...''

 Chapter 579 Uncontrollable Desires And Emotions Part 2

    The sun hung brightly in the sky, shining down on the inhabitants of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. The calm, cool breeze swept through each de of grass and every leaf, bringing a little bit of life to therge, empty expanse.

    For howrge and empty the Ancient Beast Mountain Range looks on the outside, it is actually incredibly active. It lived and breathed like a giant immortal organism whose cells are constantly at each other''s throats. The quote, "Where death lies, life flourishes." fits the scene perfectly because for every wilted de of grass, for every rotten fruit, and dead beast, another takes its ce.

    The mountains consume the nutrients of the dead and turn them into power, which is then used to create a new, better life. The process is slow and takes thousands of years to umte into something worthwhile, but it''s for this reason that people regard the Ancient Beast Mountain Range as a living legend.

    Some people even question whether or not it''s actually a living entity, just that it''s so massive nobody canprehend its power. Hell, the conspiracies go even deeper as some people believe the Mortal Realm is one giant being; the continents are its organs, and the inhabitants are its cells.

    To go even further, the World Barriers, or Realm Boundaries, are there to separate one entity from another, and across them are entirely new worlds. While this is all just spection, as there''s no record of anyone crossing a Realm Boundary and returning, they aren''t wrong that the world behaves as if it''s part of a whole.

    The Earth creates new ''cells'' and disposes of old ones, Heaven tests and regtes these ''cells'' to ensure they stay in line, and the inhabitants create systems where they can grow the most efficiently.

    While there are countless mysteries surrounding the Mountain Range and its legends, there is one thing that every living being, man or beast, knows. It''s a mysterious yet treacherous ce full of untold dangers and riches beyond anyone''s wildest dreams.

    The only question remaining is: Can you make it out alive, or will you be just another dead cell used to fertilize the strong?

    ***

    It was a day like any other in the Mountain Range; beasts killed one another for food and resources, rock slides and avnches happened around the clock, and humans took their chances to search for treasures and turn their life around.

    Just like many others before them, two humans entered the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, hoping to test their luck and turn their lives around.

    "Hey. A-Are we really going to do this, Ben?" An average-sized man with brown hair asked.

    The leader, a tall man with ck hair, looked at hispanion and nodded, "If you want to continue cultivating and getting stronger, we have to. You should know this better than me, John."

    "B-But, this is ''that'' mountain range, you know? Only those talented geniuses from the big Sects can survive there! I don''t know about you, but I would prefer to stay alive than cultivate!" The brown-haired man yelled, hoping to talk some sense into his friend.

    "I-I know that! I-It''s just�� we''ve worked so hard to reach the peak of the Core Formation Realm! I don''t want all that effort to go to waste because of our inferior talent and inability to break through! I want to be stronger! I want to break the shackles that bind me! I don''t want to settle for this mediocre life!" Ben eximed, his eyes lit up with ambition.

    His words stirred something within John as he was forced to recall the words of his Master:

    "I''m sorry, John, but�� With your talent, no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to enter the Nascent Soul Realm. This isn''t me trying to demoralize you, but the reality of your situation. The way I see it, you have two choices as of right now. You can settle down, stop cultivating, and enjoy life, or search for your own lucky encounters."

    Those words tore him apart, but he knew his Master wasn''t wrong. He could instinctively feel it.

    A wall he is incapable of surpassing.

    He thought long and hard about what he wanted to do for his future, and that''s when his friend, Ben, came to him and said he was going to the Ancient Beast Mountain Range to search for a way to break through.

    Those words were like a sh of light in his moment of darkness.

    So, one thing led to another, and now he''s here.

    However, the Ancient Beast Mountain Range was much more intimidating than he expected.

    The ground rumbled from the footsteps of abnormallyrge beasts, and the wind howled like a wolf on the hunt.

    He was just a normal person, not used to the terrifying dangers that the world holds! How could he handle this kind of situation?!

    But Ben''s words lit a fire in him!

    ''I also want to live an extraordinary life like those god-like talents from the Big Sects!'' He clenched his fists as he imagined a scene of himself standing above millions of people, like how a god might look down upon a swarm of ants!

    "F-Fine! L-Let''s go!" John announced and charged into the mountains before Ben could say anything.

    Seeing this, Ben smiled and followed after him.

    Unfortunately, he was unaware that danger lurked around the corner��a danger that would make him regret evering here.

    The two walked and explored the mountains for an entire day before night descended on thend, covering everything within its cold embrace.

    "No luck today, huh?" Ben muttered, a little disappointed at their harvest.

    "What''d you expect, huh? To find some Divine-Grade herb that would take us straight to the Mortal Shedding Realm?" John mocked, but he was feeling as equally as disappointed.

    Ben''s cheeks turned red, but he didn''t rebuke his friend as he was indeed hoping for something like that.

    "Hahaha! You idiot! As if we''d be that luc-" As John chuckled, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and froze.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Ben became confused and waved his hand in front of his friend''s face, "Hey, John, you alright? Why''d you stop talking?"

    John didn''t say anything and just raised his trembling hand and pointed behind Ben.

    Curious and amused, Ben turned around to see what all the fuss was about, but he, too, froze when he saw something that looked straight out of hell.

    A tall woman with 9 fox tails stood behind them, soaked in fresh blood. However, that wasn''t what scared them. What frightened them were her eyes or what they assumed were eyes; they were like two glowing orbs of condensed blood.

    "Y~yOu~! I~t''s all yOur fault!" A deep, gravely, hoarse voice came out of the woman. It was hard for them to make out the words, but she was coherent enough to where they could understand most of it.

    "W-What''s our f-fault? I-I do-don''t think we know each other." Ben gathered the courage to ask. He tried to move the rest of his body, but his eyes widened in horror when he realized that nothing had responded. Not his arms, legs, or even fingers.

    He was�� His body was frozen in fear!

    ''NO! MOVE! MOVE BODY, MOVE! DAMMIT!''

    *SPLAT!*

    Those were hisst thoughts as his body exploded into a bloody mist, not leaving behind an ounce of flesh.

    "B-B-Ben?" John asked in a shaky voice. One second, he heard his friend say something, and then in the next second, a blood mist appeared before his eyes, followed by the demonic fox woman.

    "BEEEEEEN!" John''s eyes turned bloodshot as he realized that his best friend had been murdered right before his very eyes and for seemingly no reason.

    However, the next moment, he closed his mouth as he felt a terrifying pressure wrap around his body, causing most of his bones to crack and his organs to rupture.

    "Q~uIeT~ ScUm!" The fox woman closed her fist, causing the pressure around him to increase.

    "NOOO! WHY?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! TELL ME!" John roared. He knew his demise was imminent, but he still wanted answers. However, the fox woman didn''t have any intention of answering.

    Instead, she tightened her fist, causing the pressure around him to increase even more, and he screamed in agony as his body copsed in on itself.

    A few secondster, the screams stopped, and all that was left of John was a fist-sized ball of flesh and bones.

    After killing the two of them, the fox woman''s eyes seemed to glow brighter, and the baleful emotions around her became palpable.

    "Kill."

    "Kill. Kill. Kill."

    "KILL!! I''LL KILL YOU ALL!!"

    "I''LL KILL YOU, JUST LIKE WHAT YOU DID TO ME!! JUST LIKE WHAT YOU DID TO MY FAMILY!"

    While yelling this, the fox woman ran off deeper into the mountains to continue her rampage, leaving nothing behind but pools of blood.

    The ball of flesh that used to be John dropped to the ground, and just like that, another dead ''cell'' was recycled into the Mountain Range, contributing to its growth.

    ***

    [A/N: Hello, everyone, and thanks for reading this chapter! I''m sure you''ve noticed, but this chapter is slightly different than the previous ones. Or at least the writing style is. That was done on purpose.

    I wanted to experiment with a different writing style, as I want to keep growing as a writer. Unlike other chapters, this one isn''t done from Mira''s POV. Instead, I try to incorporate a bit of history, mystery, action, world-building, and of course, gore in a more 3rd-party narrator style.

    Okay, maybe the world-building is questionable, but it''s there!

    Anyways, let me know what you guys think. Do you guys like this kind of writing style? Do you prefer seeing things from Mira''s POV? Maybe a mixture of both? Would you guys like me to add more background information and characters to my chapters?

    So far, it''s really just been about Mira, and while some of that was unintentional, a lot of it wasn''t. I started this novel wanting to write about Mira''s journey and experiences, and that''s what I''ve been focused on writing.

    But if something like this can improve the story, tone, and theme of the story, then I''ll try and switch over to this kind of style.

    If you guys noticed the difference, then feel free to let me know your thoughts. If you didn''t, then just ignore this message, haha!

    Alright! See you guyster~]

 Chapter 580 Uncontrollable Desires And Emotions Part 3

    While Mira was running through the mountains, lost in her emotions, arge shadow covered the terrain, flying in her direction.

    Rhydian, who was swimming in a pool ofva while using her ice to protect her, sensed Mira''s distress and immediately stopped what she was doing. It''s not like she could focus on training anyways, as Mira''s overwhelming rage, sadness, and despair had polluted her mind to the point that she was affected by it.

    ''Something''s wrong. Something''s very wrong!'' Rhydian panicked, ''Master never loses control! Even if the sky were to fall or Maria was killed, she wouldn''t act like this! What on earth could''ve happened?!''

    Rhydian couldn''t even imagine a possible scenario that could provoke Mira like this. From her experience, the cold-blooded fox woman was the most stoic, cold-hearted, and apathetic person she''d ever seen!

    However, anything that could make her so angry couldn''t be ordinary.

    All sorts of thoughts ran through her mind as she tried to think of something that could scare or anger Mira, but nothing came up.

    Thus, she could only shrug her shoulders and hurry toward her location.

    ''I just hope everything''s alright.''

    ***

    A few minutester, Rhydian started hearing the sound of explosions and the cries of numerous beasts!

    *boom��*

    *Boom.*

    *BOOom!*

    *BOOM!*

    *BOOOOOOOOM!*

    The closer she got, the louder the sound, and eventually, she came across a bloody 9-tailed fox woman tearing apart a herd of warthogs. However, no flesh was left after Mira pounded her weighty fists into their bodies, causing them to explode into a blood mist.

    Rhydian heaved a sigh of relief, seeing Mira wasn''t in danger, but that was short-lived as the woman directed her attention toward the wolf.

    Rhydian froze in fear as Mira''s bloody eyes bore into her soul, threatening to rip her apart and drink her blood. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, and her blood ran cold as a certain feeling overwhelmed her senses.

    Death!

    Death was imminent, and there was nothing she could do to stop it!

    Or, at least, that''s how it felt.

    However, as soon as that feeling washed over her, it disappeared just as quickly as Mira turned away and finished ughtering the warthogs.

    "Haaaa��." Unconsciously, Rhydian emptied her lungs, relief washing over her.

    ''That was scary.'' Rhydian thought as her body unconsciously trembled, but now that she was closer to Mira, she could feel and understand her thoughts and emotions much better due to their connection.

    Through the connection, she could understand that, for one reason or another, Mira lost control of herself. She tried to regain this control, but her emotions were so intense that it was nearly impossible. Also, with nowhere to vent or release these pent-up feelings, she could only run around killing things, hoping that would make her feel better.

    ''Hmmm~ Pent-up? Vent? Is Master in need of her mate?'' Rhydian''s mind wandered to Maria, the person Mira had spent the most time with, and even��

    Rhydian shook her head of those lewd thoughts, ''Should I try and find her? Will that make Master feel better?''

    Unfortunately, she had no idea where Maria ran off to, nor did Mira.

    ''It looks like it''s my job to fix Master.'' Rhydian thought, ''But the only things I know of that make Master feel good are dominating her mate, killing things, and having a good fight.''

    Suddenly, a thought struck her!

    ''AH! Fighting and killing? Isn''t that the reason Master came to these mountains in the first ce? To kill those people that made her mate sad?''

    A n began formting in Rhydian''s mind, and soon arge smile appeared on her face, but with how big she was, it only made her look that much more terrifying.

    ''Maybe a good beating will wake Master up. Hehehe~'' For some reason, rather than being concerned for Mira''s well-being, she felt excitement at the thought of watching Mira take a good beating.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira, who had just ignored Rhydian, was busy pounding the rest of a warthog''s corpse into the ground, even after she had obliterated it. She didn''t even realize that she was beating a beast''s corpse into the ground as the only thing in her eyes was red.

    Red and grey were all she could see. Anything alive, like beasts, humans, and insects, all glowed a bright crimson in her eyes. nts and other lifeforms were dark-grey murky red, while everything else was grey.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Since she had essentially devolved into her base instincts, shebeled anything glistening bright red as an enemy and anything greyish-red as neutral.

    One might think that when Rhydian showed up, Mira would immediately attack her, and truthfully, she was about to. However, something inside her told her that the flying wolf before her was friendly. Thus, in Mira''s eyes, she went from red to green.

    After she finished beating the warthogs into the ground, Mira''s head swiveled toward her next target, but a familiar yet unfamiliar voice entered her mind before she could move.

    ''Master�� Those beasts did nothing wrong and didn''t deserve you taking your anger out on them. Instead, the ones you need to punish are the ones who hurt your mate!''

    "Mate��?" Mira tilted her head, the blood orbs that were now her eyes swirled, "...Maria��."

    A hint of rity shone in her eyes, thinking about Maria. Suddenly, all that rage and anger she was pent up with was reced with gentleness, happiness, and love. Images of their first kiss, the first time they held hands, the few dates they had together between training times, and their first time having sex shed in her mind.

    Those emotions. Those unfamiliar emotions of love and the tenderness with which Maria cared for her overwhelmed her for a second.

    Amidst the hell she was experiencing and the sea of blood that covered her eyes, life sprouted from within. A small sapling grew from within the depths of the red sea, soaking up all the negative emotions swirling around it.

    As those images shed in her mind, more and more started appearing. Pictures of her past lives, when her mother, father, and siblings held her newborn self tight against their chests as if protecting her from the evils of the world.

    The times when she was able to make a trustworthy friend, someone she believed would have her back no matter what.

    Images of her mother and father teaching her about her new world and having little ydates. She remembered the stories they''d tell her at night before she fell asleep. Although she was mentally older than them by decades or, in some cases, hundreds of years, these tiny details still wormed their way into her icy heart.

    ��Or when she experienced her first love. Oh, what a momentous asion that was. It felt like bright pink flowers blossoming after a horrible winter full of blizzards and death. She didn''t even expect it to happen. It just happened, but she was thankful for it, nheless.

    "Sam~..." Mira whispered, clutching her chest, as the image of a little, petite, brown-haired woman with soft eyes and a gentle smile entered her mind. However, as quickly as it came, it left just as fast.

    Those times and experiences helped push her past all the darkness, even if she didn''t want to admit it. Even though she knew that it would alle crashing down, part of her still took sce in the fact that at least these experiences were real.

    ��Until they were ripped apart from her, causing all those good memories to crash into the recess of her mind! To be locked away and forever stained by what happened after!

    Like a dam bursting, memories of what happened after those joyous asions took over her mind, crushing the tiny sprout of life that had begun to grow within the red sea!

    Her eyes, which once shone with rity, were now reced by coldness and killing intent.

    "God�� Sue Ming�� Unorthodox Faction�� Crimson yer Sect�� Must�� Kill��"

    She didn''t even remember why she wanted to kill them. All she knew was that they needed to die, which was more than enough for her current self.

    As if acting on instinct, Mira whipped her body around and ran in a different direction. Whether she was heading toward one of the Unorthodox Faction''s Sects, a Beast n, or a regr city, nobody knew, including Mira, but at least she had a goal in mind.

    And that was to kill anyone or anything that stood against her rather than just anything.

    On the other hand, seeing the direction Mira ran in, Rhydian''s smile dropped, and a bad feeling sprouted in her chest.

    ''I hope my words didn''t make the situation worse!''

    ***

    Thousands of kilometers away, a sexy blonde bombshell of a woman stopped what she was doing and copsed to her knees while holding her chest.

    Ba-dump�� Ba-dump�� Ba-dump

    Her heart beat with so much force that it threatened to jump out of her chest.

    She didn''t know why she was feeling like this, but suddenly, an image of a tall 9-tailed fox woman appeared in her mind.

    ''Mira��''

    "Mistress! Are you okay?!" A woman came and helped her up.

    The blonde-haired woman nodded her head and stood up by herself, straightening out her dress.

    The blonde turned to the woman and forced a smile, "I''m fine, Alicia. Thank you. Anyways, hand me the report on everyone''s progress. I need to ensure they have the strength required for the n''s first phase!"

    "Yes, Mistress!" Alicia saluted and took out a jade slip.

    The blonde woman took the jade slip and began reading it while giving a silent prayer in her mind, ''I don''t know what''s going on, but please be alright, Mira.''

 Chapter 581 Uncontrollable Desires And Emotions Part 4

    A few hundred kilometers away from Mira and Rhydian''s position, Ryuu and Master Izaria were strolling through the mountains, looking for anything interesting. After theirst encounter with Mira, they stopped following her around and went off to do their own thing.

    The Ancient Beast Mountain Range was full of opportunities, after all. Ryuu and Izaria didn''t want to waste their time following a reckless fox woman around like a couple of stalkers.

    Suddenly, as they were camping around ake, Master Izaria frowned and stared into the distance, her eyes seemingly piercing space itself, "Hmm?"

    Ryuu noticed the change in his Master''s behavior and raised an eyebrow, "What''s wrong, Master? Did you sense something?"

    Master Izaria''s frown deepened. In an unusually serious voice, she said, "I think something is wrong with Mira."

    She didn''t even try to tease Ryuu by calling her his future wife, which surprised him.

    Knowing that something was genuinely wrong, Ryuu''s eyebrows creased, "What''s wrong with her?"

    Master Izaria didn''t respond immediately and used her Divine Sense* to visualize everything. However, she regretted doing so as instead of the cold, indifferent fox she was used to, all she saw was a murderous demon.

    [*A/N: I''ll exin Divine Senseter, but for now, just know that it''s basically an advanced form of Soul Sense.]

    Killing intent so powerful that it seared thend around her, dried and fresh blood caked her body, and she ripped beasts apart every few seconds as if she had a grudge against them.

    "I don''t know. Something seemed to have happened and caused her to enter a murderous state." Master Izaria shook her head, confused.

    "Do you think something happened to her while she was cultivating, causing her to enter Qi Deviation?" Ryuu asked, worried something might''ve happened to Mira.

    While they weren''t necessarily friends, they were acquaintances who had fought together and sparred against each other. It would leave a bad taste in his mouth if something terrible happened to Mira and he did nothing to assist her.

    Master Izaria smiled inwardly, knowing her disciple''s thoughts, but she shook her head at his question.

    "No, I don''t think so. As chaotic and murderous her aura is, it''s also stable, not showing any signs that she''d gone into Qi Deviation." Master Izaria was as equally confused as her disciple about this, as she, too, wondered what could''ve happened to Mira.

    "Then�� should we go check on her?" Ryuu asked hesitantly. He knew that Mira liked her privacy, so involving themselves in this matter might put some distance between the two.

    Master Izaria wasn''t sure what to say�� but as she kept watching Mira, her expression changed!

    In her mind, she saw Mira stop for a second, swiveling her head as if searching for something before it finallynded in their direction. The fox woman released a huge, maniacal bloody smile, then continued running in the direction she was initially heading.

    Master Izaria expanded her Divine Sense until she noticed where Mira was running, her expression turning solemn!

    "Fuck! She''s heading straight toward a city!"

    Without asking for Ryuu''s opinion, she wrapped the two of them in Qi and shot toward Mira.

    ***

    Despite hearing Rhydian''s suggestion to hunt down those from the Unorthodox Faction, Mira wasn''t conscious enough to actually do that. Since all she saw was red and grey, she just headed in the direction with the most red dots, her mindbeling them as Crimson yer Sect disciples.

    ''Master! Stop! That''s the wrong way!'' Rhydian''s voice rang out in her mind, but she ignored it and kept running.

    ''Dammit!'' Rhydian cursed while flying above Mira. She thought about trying to stop her but immediately shook her head as she didn''t want to die yet.

    However, before she started panicking, she sensed two familiar people approaching from behind, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

    ''Finally! Someone that can help!''

    A secondter, Master Izaria and Ryuu descended in front of Mira, causing the rampaging woman to stop in her tracks.

    "Mira! What''s going on?! Why are you like this?" Ryuu walked forward and questioned but stiffened when their eyes made contact. A shiver ran down his spine; he''d never seen such terrifying eyes.

    Surprisingly, Mira also paused when she looked at Ryuu, but for apletely different reason. A middle-aged, scruffy, blonde-haired man ovepped with Ryuu''s handsome face, causing her anger to soar!

    "...You��" A deep growl from the depths of hell escaped Mira''s mouth, "What are you doing here?"

    Ryuu and Izaria flinched, Mira''s rage overwhelming their senses! Never in their lives had they ever witnessed such intense emotionsing from another human being.

    However, they weren''t powerhouses and geniuses for nothing and quickly regained their senses.

    "W-What do you mean? I''m here to check-" Ryuu tried to exin, but Mira had no intention of listening.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "You''re supposed to be dead; your body chopped up into little pieces and thrown into the ocean." Mira''s deep, raspy voice rang out, causing the earth to rumble from her rage, which was palpable by now.

    "D-Dead?! Mira, I seriously think you have the wrong person!" Ryuu tried to exin, but somehow, it seemed his words only fueled the endless rage burning inside of her.

    "Wrong�� person?" Mira stepped forward, her crimson eyes glowing, "You�� You think I got the wrong person? Me?! After all you''ve done to my family and me, you think I''d mistake someone else for you?! HUH?!" Mira roared.

    Lost in her rage, Mira shot at Ryuu faster than any bullet,unching a flurry of punches.

    Ryuu''s expression changed, and he hurriedly raised his arms and circted his Qi to block her attacks.

    *BOOOOM!**BOOOOM!**BOOOOM!**BOOOOM!**BOOOOM!**BOOOOM!*

    The ground rumbled, and the air quaked as Mira''s punches exploded outward, causing widescale destruction. Ryuu''s reaction speed and strength were enough to block her attacks, but he was still pushed back, greatly surprising both Izaria and him.

    ''It seems she''s grown a lot over thest few weeks.'' They both thought.

    Seeing that Ryuu was fine after her attack, Mira pounced on him again, coating her fists with Earth Qi to create gauntlets.

    Ryuu reinforced his Qi barrier, blocking all of her attacks, but the Qi consumption was immense due to the power behind each punch.

    "Mira! Stop! It''s me, Ryuu! We raided that Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine a while back together! Please, stop attacking!" Ryuu yelled, trying to calm her down, but Mira didn''t listen. In her eyes, there was no longer a person in front of her, just a massive red blob.

    "I don''t think she can understand you, Ryuu." Master Izaria chimed in from behind with no sense of urgency at all. Rather, she was looking forward to their fight!

    "If you want to get through to her, you might have to take more drastic measures." She egged him on.

    Ryuu knew what she was trying to do, but it was not like his Master was wrong. He could tell that Mira was lost in her own world, merely acting on instinct.

    "Ugh! I guess I don''t have a choice," Ryuu grunted, annoyed, and pulled out his great sword.

    Watching another fist attempt to blow him to pieces, Ryuu kept his Qi barrier active to block it, then mmed the broadside of his sword into Mira''s hip.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Mira''s body shot to the side, tumbling on the ground after tanking Ryuu''s hit head-on, but if one looked closely, they''d see that he dealt no significant damage to Mira.

    "It seems�� you''ve learned how to use a weapon�� after resurrecting from the dead��." Mira got up and muttered before taking her scythe out, "Let''s see�� if you''re still the same coward you were when you were alive."

    Ryuu opened his mouth to say something but decided against it, knowing it would be useless.

    Raising his sword again, he pointed it at Mira, apologizing in his heart, ''I''m sorry if I hurt you, Mira, but there''s no other way to get you toe to your senses.''

    Though, he knew deep down that this wouldn''t be an easy fight. Mira was fighting to kill him, while he was doing so to knock her out. There was a huge difference.

    Mira''s Scythe Intent condensed around her de, increasing its lethality. Then, she covered her body in ayer of Martial Intent and Qi. The ground shattered under the weight of her pressure, and she released a loud battle cry before attacking Ryuu again!

    "RAAAAAAAHHH!"

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Mira''s scythe created a deep crevice behind Ryuu, who was sweating buckets, thanking his ancestors that he had dodged that attack.

    Carrying on with that momentum, Mira swung her scythe repeatedly,pletely destroying the surrounding terrain.

    Ryuu calmly dodged all of Mira''s attacks, noticing that they weren''t quite as calcted and conniving as before, just waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

    A minute soon went by, with Mira keeping up the aggression, before Ryuu''s eyes shed.

    ''Now!''

    Putting all of his power into his greatsword, he aimed it at Mira''s head!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

 Chapter 582 Uncontrollable Desires And Emotions Part 5

    Blood dripped out of the side of Mira''s head as shey on the ground, dazed. Her brain rattled inside her head after Ryuu''s sword smashed into her face.

    She wasn''t severely injured, but the impact was enough for her mind to stop for a second and reset.

    "Hmmm?" Mira mumbled, a hint of rity shining in her eyes. Her state of mind was still muddled, but she was at least rational enough to understand that something was wrong.

    "What�� happened? Where�� am I? Why is everything�� red?" Mira muttered, trying to look around to understand what was going on, but before she could do anything, a mind-splitting headache hit her.

    "Urgh!" She grasped her head with both hands as a torrent of raging emotions flooded her mind. She was starting to lose control again!

    "Mira!!" Ryuu yelled out. He hurriedly put away his sword and ran to her side, seeing that she was regaining consciousness.

    "Ry��uu?" Mira asked, trying to hold onto herst bit of sanity.

    "That''s right! You finally recognized me!" Ryuu bent down and put his hand on her shoulder, "Now, can you please exin to us what''s going on so we can try to help?"

    He wanted to help Mira with whatever she was going through, but unfortunately, he didn''t know that touching her so ''intimately'' would bring up past traumas. Her instincts took over once again as rage and hatred consumed her mind.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!*

    Mira''s fist mmed into Ryuu''s chest, causing it to cave in as he shot into the distance, unprepared for that attack.

    "...You dare touch me�� you bastard?!" Mira growled; thest bit of rationality had left her mind entirely.

    Gripping her scythe, she shot up from the ground and dashed at Ryuu, ignoring the wound on her head. With her immense vitality, the injury was already healing and would return to normal in another minute.

    "I''ll�� fucking kill you!" Mira roared, hopping up in the air with her scythe raised above her head, then she descended onto Ryuu!

    Ryuu felt immense danger approaching and rolled to the side.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Mira''s scythe cut through the earth as if it was butter, creating arge crater in the ground.

    Ryuu nced over and noticed the deadly sheen of a ck de right next to his face. Cold sweat ran down his forehead as he realized he had almost died!

    ''This woman is fucking crazy!'' Ryuu inwardly cursed. While he understood that Mira wasn''t in the right state of mind, he didn''t expect her to be so ruthless that she wouldn''t hesitate to go for the neck.

    ''Why did I have to get myself into thi-'' His thoughts were interrupted as he felt danger approaching from overhead once again. He circted Qi through his body and disappeared from his position, only to reappear a few dozen meters away.

    *BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!*

    A flurry of punches rained down on where he just was as Mira''s fists pulverized the ground into a fine powder. Unbeknownst to everyone other than Master Izaria, what Mira just did was the beginning of a new technique.

    She didn''t simply punch the ground where Ryuu was. No, each fist contained the power of several attacks. Meaning she might''ve attacked that one spot dozens of times with just a few punches.

    "Dammit, Mira! Fine! Since you''re deadset on killing me, don''t me me for being ruthless!" Ryuu shouted, frustrated. He raised his greatsword again, except this time, he wrapped it in thin golden thread, which was his [Sword Manifestation].

    Pointing his greatsword at Mira, he thrust forward,unching a wave of sharp, golden threads at her.

    Mira sensed an attack iing and twirled her scythe, blocking most of the threadsing at her. A few made it through her defenses and effortlessly pierced her body, which was supposed to be tougher than any Earth-Grade metal.

    Unconsciously, Mira focused on these threads, wanting to learn more about them. She felt that these threads would be a deciding factor of whether she won or not in the battle toe.

    However, how could it be so easy to examine one''s [Weapon Manifestation]?

    The golden threads, which were really countless illusory tiny swords, threatened to pierce Mira''s mind and rip it to shreds. But since she was technically unconscious right now, they didn''t affect her.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Hmmm?" On the other hand, Ryuu frowned. He sensed Mira trying to delve into the secrets of his [Sword Manifestation] and hurriedly retracted his golden threads from her body. Then, he sneered, "Hmph! You think you can gain insights into the [Manifestation] Realm by staring at my Sword Threads? You must truly be insane!"

    Waving his greatsword, a torrent of golden Sword Threads iled about wildly, slicing through everything they touched. Some of them would pierce Mira''s body, but such injuries couldn''t even make her flinch, much less bring her to her knees.

    Mira acted like she didn''t hear Ryuu. Seemingly understanding that her defenses meant nothing in front of his Sword Threads, she gave up on defendingpletely.

    "RAAAAAHHH!" She released a thunderous battle cry andunched herself at Ryuu, not caring whether the Sword Threads pierced her body. She would regenerate most of the injuries in a few seconds, anyways.

    Ryuu''s expression changed as his Sword Threads threatened to rip her body to shreds and hurriedlymanded them to hold back. After all, he wasn''t trying to kill Mira, just incapacitate her.

    However, how could Mira not take advantage of this moment of weakness? Even if she wasn''t conscious, her body''s instincts, which she honed through countless battles, aren''t something that the average person can contend with.

    As soon as Mira entered within range of Ryuu, she swung her scythe at him, hoping to cut him in half.

    Ryuu raised his greatsword and blocked the attack, but the impact was enough to make him step back. He then used this opportunity to counterattack, swinging the broadside of his sword at her hips again.

    However, Mira was ready for it this time and used her scythe to block it, but something was different this time.

    He was using his Sword Threads now!

    Coming out of his greatsword, they wrapped themselves around Mira''s scythe, holding it in ce. Once he aplished that, he dulled his Sword Threads enough to where they wouldn''t dig into Mira''s skin and began tying the rest of Mira''s body in them.

    "...I see you still�� have a habit of tying people up�� you scum!" Mira''s choppy yet rageful voice resounded, causing Ryuu to freeze up for a second.

    He didn''t know why but through all that anger, he could sense resentment, pain, hatred, and desperation in Mira''s voice. Yet, all of it seemed to be directed at this unknown man that she had conjured up in her mind.

    However, the emotions he was feeling through her couldn''t be faked. So, either Mira truly believed that some imaginary dude caused her so much grief and pain, or it was all real, and she was reliving a memory that her subconscious projected onto him.

    ''What�� What happened to her?'' He wondered, a little affected by her outpour of emotions, but he quickly shook his head and put that question aside, ''Now''s not the time to be thinking about this. I can ask Mira what''s going on after I incapacitate her!''

    Understanding that something was going terribly wrong, Mira let go of her scythe and began raining down punches on Ryuu.

    However, his Sword Threads had alreadytched onto her body, diminishing the strength behind each attack. It was only a matter of time before it reached a point where she could no longer move.

    Of course, with Mira''s strength now, if she wanted to remove the Sword Threads without ripping her body apart, she could, but since she wasn''t in the right state of mind right now, finding the proper method was imusible.

    Still, he didn''t want to take her blows head-on, so he kept a Qi Barrier active to prevent any unwanted injuries.

    Mira kept iling about for another few minutes until Ryuu''s Sword Threads wrapped her body in a tight golden cocoon, leaving her unable to move.

    Then, with a few quick, hard chops to the back of the neck, he finally managed to knock her unconscious!

    "Haaaa��." Ryuu dropped to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. A trickle of blood dripped down the side of his lips, causing him to groan in pain.

    "It seems shended a few pretty good hits on you, Little Ryuu." Master Izaria descended from the air and stood next to her disciple.

    Ryuu nodded, exhausted. He tried to put up a strong front while battling Mira, but the truth is she had done significant damage to him. He could feel numerous broken bones and a few internal injuries. Nothing life-threatening, but without someone or something to heal him, it''d take him a few weeks to return to peak condition.

    He couldn''t believe it took this much effort to subdue Mira, even when she couldn''t form rational thoughts!

    ''If she had been in her right state of mind��'' Ryuu shivered at the thought. While he doubted he''d lose or die, dealing any significant damage to Mira would be equally as hard. If anything, he''d be the one who''d end up with more injuries and would be forced to flee unless he could kill her in a single move.

    Popping in a few healing pills, Ryuu shut his eyes and focused on recovery.

    ''Hopefully, she''s not crazy when she wakes up.''

 Chapter 583 Uncontrollable Desires And Emotions Part 6

    "Ugh��" Mira grunted, her eyes slowly opening. She was about to ask, "What happened?" but immediately stopped when she felt that her body was restricted.

    A deep frown formed on her face, and her eyes started to glow again. She tried to break free of the threads that bound her, but they were too tightly wrapped around her body that she couldn''t generate enough force to break free.

    "Oh? You''re already awake?"

    Mira heard a familiar voice, looked over, and saw Ryuu walking toward her.

    She ignored his question and stared into his eyes, getting more and more agitated as the seconds ticked by.

    "What�� did you do to me?" She said in a low voice, trying to contain the emotions that were spilling over.

    Ryuu just shrugged, "For some reason, you went insane. Tying you up was the only way to stop you from going berserk."

    He brought his face a little closer to hers but kept his distance as he didn''t feel like getting his chest caved in a second time.

    "Now, are you going to go crazy again, or have you finally regained a semnce of sanity?" He asked, but his words caused Mira''s frown to deepen.

    "...Crazy? What are you talking about?" Mira questioned. She had no memory of what she had done ever since thest Hell of Weakness trial started. All she could remember was that her suppressed emotions rampaged through her mind in one second, and in the next, she lost consciousness.

    Everything after that was a blur.

    "I don''t know," Ryuu shook his head, "Master and I found you not too long ago, killing everything in sight. We were going to leave you alone, but when we noticed you were heading toward a city, Master felt we had to stop you."

    He and Master Izaria were as equally confused about the situation, if not more than Mira!

    "I see��" Mira muttered. She wasn''t too surprised by this, but knowing that her body was moving on its own without her permission, left her feeling a bit disgruntled. However, that feeling quickly evolved into something more due to the amplification of emotions.

    Noticing that Mira was quickly reverting to what he termed "demon mode," Ryuu swiftly appeared behind her.

    "Nuh-uh. I won''t let you do that." He chopped her neck a few times, knocking her out, "When you wake up again, try and control yourself. We can talk after that."

    That was thest thing Mira heard before everything went ck.

    However, she woke up a dozen secondster because her strength and regeneration were so high.

    ''Hmmm?'' Mira frowned again but wasn''t as confused as before. Thus, not wanting to waste her time questioning Ryuu, she closed her eyes and began meditating.

    ''I have to find a way to control myself, or else this will never end!''

    Mira had a premonition that if she didn''t learn to control her emotions, she''d be nothing more than a bloodthirsty demon for the rest of her life until she was eventually killed.

    A shiver ran down her spine when her thoughts reached this point.

    ''I can''t die just yet! I still have things I need to do before that happens!''

    ''I will not waste this life away because I couldn''t control myself!''

    A burning determination burned within her while she focused all of her attention on her mind, and once she did, she froze.

    ''Wh-What the hell is all this?!'' Mira gaped, hardly believing what was going on.

    Her mind was nothing more than a jumbled-up mess right now! Nothing was where it was supposed to be, and it wasn''t just her emotions that were affected by it! Although they might be the cause of the issue, everything else, such as ALL her past experiences, was tangled up!

    ''No wonder I can''t control myself! Since my pent-up emotions were released, they wreaked havoc on my mind, causing everything to go out of order.''

    If she were to paint a picture of her mind right now, it would look like a house that just got destroyed by a tornado.

    The roof was missing, the walls were torn up, the rooms weren''t separated, and everything inside was either missing or destroyed. Nothing was where it was supposed to be, nor was there any semnce of control or order��just a whirlwind of emotions that kept rampaging about, further destroying the house that is her mind.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''First order of business is to calm down this tornado,'' Mira thought and edged her consciousness toward it. Once the two made contact, her mind was instantly consumed by the near-endless torrent of rage.

    "Keuk!" Mira gritted her teeth, her eyes slowly shining a deeper shade of crimson.

    Her blood-red eyes swiveled to Ryuu. Feeling her control slip away, she yelled, "Knock me out!"

    "Eh?" Ryuu answered dumbly, but Mira wasn''t in the mood for his shenanigans.

    "Knock me out, you dumbass!"

    "Eh? A-Ah! Al-Alright��" Ryuu fumbled his words but quickly appeared behind her, giving her another few chops on the neck.

    Afterward, he stared at Mira, bbergasted and confused as to what was going on, but he felt that things were moving in the right direction, so he opted not to interfere.

    A few secondster, she awoke and did the same thing again. She ignored Ryuu''s questioning gaze and focused on trying to quell her rage. Although there were many other emotions, feelings, and desires mixed in, that was the primary element that was making her lose control.

    Her consciousness touched that tornado, which was smaller by maybe a millimeter than before, and let the rage flow through her, quickly losing control again.

    However, this time, she managed to keep her sanity for a fraction of a second longer. It wasn''t much progress, but it was progress nheless.

    Ryuu, then, had to give her another few chops on the back of her head to give her mind a good reset, only for her to restart the process.

    This was the only short-term solution Mira could think of that could solve this issue of not being able to control her mind and body. She felt like there wasn''t any other choice.

    Perhaps she could sit down and talk it out with Ryuu, Master Izaria, Rhydian, or anyone that was around. She could share her life story and exin to them why she''s so angry, like a therapy session.

    But the thing is�� she already knows what''s wrong! She was of these pent-up emotions, this rage, since the very beginning.

    One doesn''t spend countless years alive, and who knows how many more dead, without understanding themselves on a fundamental level.

    She knew she was broken. Hell, she even knew how to fix herself. She just couldn''t.

    She''d never feelplete unless she killed the man who drowned her life in sorrow.

    However, that was impossible for her current self. So, all that anger, resentment, hatred, pain, and sorrow was left to fester and grow, resulting in what she was currently facing.

    While these emotions have fueled her drive to get stronger and ovee any obstacle, there''s only so much a person can take before it stops being a motivator and turns into something destructive.

    ''Thus, I can either unleash that destruction upon the world or on myself. Those are really my only two options. And since the former clearly didn''t work, I can only go with thetter,'' Mira thought before touching the tornado again.

    Just as she was about to lose control of herself, she smiled, ''But this is also an opportunity. Since the walls have been torn down and everything is scattered, I get to build a new house. One that won''t falter or shake, even if a god were to strike it down! One that will work at max efficiency all the time and can regte my emotions, keeping them on track.''

    She didn''t know how she was going to do that, but that didn''t matter right now because she still needed to gain control over her mind.

    ''Once the baleful tornado runs out of energy, I''ll be able to move forward and n for the next step. I just hope I don''t run out of time and fail the Hell of Weakness before I canplete this trial.''

    That was Mira''sst thought before Ryuu knocked her unconscious again.

    ***

    This carried on for many hours; Mira would wake up, meditate, go into "demon mode", then Ryuu would knock her unconscious.

    Every time this happened, Mira would be a little less angry when she awoke and would stay conscious for just a bit longer. It wasn''t much, but after a few hours, the results were noticeable. And after a day, Mira could stay awake for several minutes without losing control.

    Then, four days passed by, and she could stay conscious without losing control, even after several hours.

    However, she still wasn''t finished, nor did all that rage disappear. No, it was still there; Mira had just forced out all the excess energy. Now was the time to put everything in order andplete this trial!

 Chapter 584 Killing Mira?; Mind Palace

    Ryuu and Master Izaria watched as Mira tortured herself mentally and physically over thest few days. It wasn''t just Ryuu''s jabs that injured her. No, those were healed in an instant.

    It was the fact that Mira was cing so much stress on her mind and body that neither could keep up.

    Her body constantly trembled as she bled out of every orifice; the longer this went on, the worse it got, but Mira never once thought to stop.

    Every time she woke up, she would almost instantly lose control. Her body would shake with rage, adrenalin flowing through her veins as her instincts wanted nothing more than to ughter everything around her.

    Then, Ryuu would knock her unconscious, only for her to wake back up again a few secondster. Doing such a thing over and over again, hundreds if not thousands of times puts tremendous stress on the body. If she were any normal person, she would have already been driven insane.

    However, Mira was anything but normal.

    ��Or maybe it''s just that she was already insane, to begin with, that such actions didn''t faze her at all. Ryuu and Master Izaria couldn''t tell.

    This went on for four days straight, but then her body suddenly stopped trembling.

    "D-Do you think she''s alright?" Ryuu asked anxiously. Although he wanted to be d that Mira stopped shaking and bleeding, he couldn''t. At least when she was trembling, he knew she was alive, but now, she looked more like a corpse than a living person.

    He couldn''t even sense her heartbeat!

    Master Izaria frowned and scanned Mira with her Divine Sense. She didn''t want to dig too deep into Mira''s secrets, as her instincts as a cultivator who has lived through thousands of years'' worth of hardships warned her against doing so, but she should be fine as long as she just made sure Mria was alive.

    Ba-dump...

    Ba-dump...... Ba-dump............Ba-dump

    She breathed a sigh of relief as she sensed Mira''s heartbeat. While it was faint at first, when she listened further, each thump sounded like someone pounding on a steal door. In fact, it beat with so much power that Master Izaria thought she had felt the heartbeat of a dragon rather than a fox.

    "She''s fine," Master Izaria answered, "It seems she''s just entered a deep state of meditation, so her breathing has slowed, and her body has entered a supremely rxed state."

    Ryuu let out a turbid breath hearing that, and his body rxed.

    "Good," He nodded, "I didn''t want the person I spent thest four days helping to die on me."

    After saying that, he undid the Sword Threads around Mira and fell to his butt.

    "I-I''m going to take a short nap. Take care of Mira for me if something happens." With that said, he fell asleep.

    Master Izaria smiled wryly, understanding her disciple, as he worked hard to keep his Sword Threads up for an entire four days. She didn''t offer to help him, nor did he ask for it. If he wanted to help Mira, that was his responsibility.

    Her job was to stop Mira from destroying the nearby city and all those innocents, not to help her with her problems. If it were up to Izaria, she would''ve just killed Mira and been done with it.

    ''Though I guess I can''t kill her, seeing how that bitch Aelina likes her so much. I would rather not have to constantly look over my shoulder, waiting for that snake to strike.'' Izaria scowled, thinking about Aelina, then turned her attention back to Mira.

    The thought of killing her had entered Izaria''s mind on more than one asion, especially after what she had just witnessed.

    ''Someone hiding that much pain�� that much anger��'' Her eyes shed with a murderous glint, ''Shouldn''t exist in this world.''

    She could already imagine the trail of blood and corpses Mira would leave behind in this world. Innocent or guilty, right or wrong, none of those things mattered to someone like Mira. There were only the dead and the soon-to-be dead.

    ''Who knows what sort of destruction she''ll bring upon the world? If I don''t kill her now, I might not have a chance again.'' Master Izaria thought, raising her hand while staring at Mira''s neck.

    However, a secondter, her hand fell to her side, and an amused smile yed upon her face.

    "Ahhh~ Who am I kidding? This world has been boring for too long! I want to see what sort of waves this girl will make!" She chuckled.

    "Will she shake the world with her power, die a worthless death, or continue hiding in the shadows? I can''t wait to find out!" Master Izaria''s smirk widened, eager to see what the future had in store for her.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ***

    Mira had no idea that she had almost died just now, as she was too busy thinking about how she should construct her new "mind."

    Now that she had tamed most of the rage swirling around inside of her, it was time to rebuild the jumbled mess that is her mind.

    She could just stick with what she originally had, but clearly, that didn''t work out so well.

    ''What I need is a mind that can handle all those pent-up emotions and not break down immediately.''

    She didn''t doubt that another situation like this might happen again in the future. While she might''ve tamed her rage for now, it''s not like it was gone. It woulde back again, and it would be stronger the next time it did.

    The same goes for all the other emotions.

    ''Who knows? Next time, instead of getting angry, I might end up so depressed that I kill myself without a second thought!'' Mira shivered at the thought and knew she had to prevent such a scenario at all costs!

    ''But how do I rebuild my ''mind''? And what should I make it?'' Mira pondered.

    She knew that she wasn''t exactly creating a new ''mind''. If she had to do that, she would already be dead.

    It was more like she wanted to fix how her consciousness interacted with her brain and how everything was structured.

    ''Order and efficiency, huh?'' Mira thought, and her first instinct was to go with a pce simr to the Mind Pce technique she had heard about in one of her lives.

    It was versatile, orderly, efficient, and strong as long as she structured everything correctly. It also gave her room to grow in case she wanted to add something new in the future.

    ''Alright, I''ll go with creating a pce. I already have a good idea of how to create my Mind Pce anyways.'' Mira thought and immediately went into action.

    First, she started cleaning up the remains that the emotional storm left, and since this was her own mind, all it took was a thought.

    Then, she went on to create a sturdy foundation. She dug a massive hole deep into the recesses of her mind until she reached the edge and filled it with dense, sturdy metal.

    After finishing the foundation, she moved on to creating the frame for her mind pce. She didn''t want something overly massive that was a pain to navigate, but it had to be big enough that it had room for growth.

    The rooms need to be isted from one another but easily essible, and all the hallways had to lead back to the main one. She also required a massive library for all her knowledge and future knowledge.

    Once she finished that, it was time to move on to the filtration system. Her mind didn''t need to be filled with waste, and if such a thing happened to enter, it had to be easily detectable and quickly disposed of.

    Next up was the instion. Mira had to make it so that the things she wanted to stay, stayed, and the things she wanted to keep out, stayed out. This was a bit trickier to make, but Mira managed to create something she was satisfied with.

    All that was left now was to finish the home off with an interior and exterior that wouldn''t falter, even under the worst of conditions, yet it had to be flexible enough that if a heavy enough load came, the house wouldn''t snap.

    Mira thought back to when she visited the World Tree during one of her item trials and decided to take a page out of its book. Not only was it strong enough to hold up an entire world, but it was malleable enough that it wouldn''t break even if more weight were added to it.

    Obviously, she didn''t have a physical World Tree with her to use, but that''s the intent she put into her walls and floor when making it.

    Now that the physical pce was finished, she had to separate each emotion, knowledge and thought into their own rooms so they were isted from the rest yet easily essible.

    Mira didn''t want to have to deal with a jumbled mess like she had over thest few days. She wanted everything to be orderly and efficient.

    For example, if, for whatever reason, she was sad one day, then she coulde to the ''sadness room'' and deal with that by herself. The rest of her mind wouldn''t be affected by it, and she would still be able to make rational decisions even if she were said.

    Taking all those emotions and forcing them into their designated rooms took a while, but when she was finished, she felt a sense of rity!

    "...Congrattions, you have passed thest trial for the Hell of Weakness��" The Guardian''s bitter voice rang out in her mind

 Chapter 585 Hell Of Weakness: Complete; Revenge; Body Refinement

    Mira didn''t register the Guardian''s words as she felt energy fill her body. This energy filled her Core, Meridians, bones, muscles, organs, skin, and every other part. This energy rejuvenated her body, healing her and increasing her strength and potential.

    Some of that energy even went to Elenei''s cocoon in her Soul Sea, filling it with strength and shortening the duration of her Nirvana.

    *Crack! *Crack!*

    Her bones cracked as they shifted slightly, increasing the efficiency at which she could use them, optimizing her body for higher-level fights. Her meridians erged slightly and toughened. Her muscles and skin tightened, not leaving an ounce of fat on her body, but her skin was thick enough that she didn''t look overly jacked.

    The speed at which the neurons shot through her brain increased, allowing her to process information and react fast.

    Her tails increased in density, and the Qi inside them increased in both quantity and quality. However, the one that saw thergest increase in power was her golden tail, which was directly rted to her physical strength. The increase wasn''t much because she had already cultivated the Magma Dragon Body technique to a sufficiently high level, but it was noticeable.

    The Qi in her Core condensed more, pushing it near the absolute limit of what was possible for a Core Formation cultivator.

    Lastly, her control over her mind and body had reached an unprecedented level! Now, it wouldn''t be wrong for her to say that she had reached a level where the two were perfectly in sync.

    Although she could still feel those raging emotions she''d felt during thatst trial, they were subdued and trapped in their own little rooms, unable toe out and wreak any more havoc.

    That alone was liberating enough that Mira felt like a brand new person! Her entire life, she''d been gued by her past and the shit that she felt back then, but now, she''d finally taken the driver''s seat in her own mind, no longer controlled by her emotions!

    However, while the result was what she wanted, there was a slight problem in the process of reaching it��

    "...Congrattions, you have passed thest trial for the Hell of Weakness��" The Guardian''s bitter voice rang out in her mind, waking her out of her reverie.

    Mira nodded, neither proud nor humble about her achievement. She knew what she did was amazing, but at the same time, it was within the range of her capabilities. Not only that, but she may have ''cheated'' on a few of the trials. How could she feel good about that, even if the results were better than she imagined?

    "You know," The Guardian paused for a second, "That''s not how you were supposed to clear thatst trial, right?"

    Mira nodded, ''Of course. I assume I was supposed to ept what happened to me and move on. Maybe even channel all that excess energy into motivating me to get stronger or some crap like that.''

    "Well��" The Guardian smiled bitterly, as Mira wasn''t wrong, "That''s true, but there was more to it than that. You don''t have to move on, but you should''ve confronted your past emotions, dealt with them in a healthy manner, and used them as fuel to motivate you to move forward."

    "..."

    After a moment of silence and gathering her thoughts, Mira shook her head in firm denial, ''No. I refuse to do that.''

    "Hm?"

    ''I''m sure you''ve heard the saying that revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, I want it freezing! I want it so cold that not even the nineyers of hell can heat it up! When that man''s head is in my hands, his soul severed, and his body disintegrated, I want to feel an existential orgasm! One that goes so hard, even different timelines of myself shiver in pleasure!'' Mira''s voice was tinged with so much madness that it even shook the Guardian!

    However, she didn''t stop there! Her voice raised an octave higher, and she eximed, ''I won''t be able to feel such a thing if I deal with and let go of my past emotions! No, for an even greater ending, I have to leave them there to fester under a controlled environment, just waiting to explode out when the right moment appears before me!''

    Mira was no stranger to revenge. Rather, she spent most of her life getting revenge on people who had wronged her. She knew that while the instant-karma type of vengeance was satisfying, it felt nowhere near as good as one that took countless hours and years of nning.

    Some people might say that one feels empty after those sorts of things, and they weren''t wrong, but this goes for almost anything.

    Getting revenge is the same as any other goal. It''s just that instead of it being fueled by the desire to improve, it''s fueled by anger and hatred. However, to Mira, there wasn''t much of a difference. For her revenge, she needed to improve, so it effectively killed two birds with one stone.

    Why should she give that up? Why should she take one of the main reasons for getting stronger?!

    "..."

    The Guardian was speechless! There were so many things wrong with Mira''s statements that he didn''t even know where to start or if he should even say anything.

    Mira knew what she said was fucked up and crazy, but that was her desire. That''s how she wanted to live, even after she was no longer affected by those amplified, crazy emotions!

    Who was he to tell her no? That she was wrong?<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira was a big girl now; she knew what she was doing. It''s not like shecked experience, after all.

    In the end, he could only shrug.

    "If that''s what you want, then you do you."

    After that, the two of them stopped conversing.

    Mira''s eyes slowly opened, and as she took a deep breath, Mira felt a sense of power and control she hadn''t felt before. She could feel the energy coursing through her veins and the new strength in her bones.

    Ryuu and Master Izaria stared at her wide-eyed, but Mira ignored them. She stood up from the ground and gave the air a few punches, causing mini explosions, and a rush of excitement flowed through her as she realized just how much she had grown.

    "Finally��" Mira muttered, clenching her fists, "I''m finally done with all that shit!"

    Although it only took her a little over a month toplete the Hell of Weakness, it seemed much, much longer than that. She has learned and experienced so much in a month that it seems impossible to fit it all in.

    She basked in the feeling of freedom for a moment before a voice shook her out of her thoughts.

    "Are�� A-Are you okay now, Mira?" Ryuu asked hesitantly with a hand on the hilt of his greatsword.

    Mira''s smile faded, reced with a neutral expression, and she turned to Ryuu.

    "Yeah. I won''t lose control anymore."

    Ryuu still looked at her skeptically but nodded nheless, as she looked more like her usual self. Her eyes were no longer blood orbs, there was no blood flowing out of her orifices, and she wasn''t radiating a murderous aura anymore.

    While Ryuu still kept his guard up, Master Izaria didn''t care about any of that. She pushed Ryuu aside, stood in front of Mira, and asked, "I hope you don''t mind me asking, but what happened to you?"

    Normally, Mira would just scoff at her and stay quiet, but seeing how Ryuu helped her tremendously this time, she felt obligated to share a little.

    "...That was a trial my Inner Body Cultivation put me through."

    "Inner Body Cultivation?" Izaria tilted her head before her eyes lit up, then widened in shock, "You mean Body Refinement?! That was you breaking through to a new Realm of Body Refinement?! What the hell?!"

    ''Body Refinement?'' Mira thought inwardly, then realized it was just another name for Inner Body Cultivation. ''I guess it makes sense. Outer Body Cultivation is all about tempering the body, making it stronger, while Inner Body Cultivation is more focused on squeezing out one''s potential, refining it into something greater.''

    Mira nodded her head expressionlessly at her question.

    "W-What the hell are you, Mira?! How can Body Refinement be so�� extreme!? I''ve never heard of something so ridiculous before!"

    For most humanoid creatures, Body Refinement is about breaking down the shackles that hold one''s body back, effectively evolving it to a higher level. Doing this requires a great understanding of one''s body, tons of energy, and a willingness to risk one''s life, but people don''t turn into crazy demons just to unlock one of the shackles!

    Mira just shrugged her shoulders, "I guess I''m special. If you don''t believe me, that''s fine, but it''s the truth."

    Then, ignoring Izaria''s shocked gaze, Mira turned to Ryuu with a burning gaze and said, "Let''s spar!"

    "Wha-?!" Ryuu nearly jumped back in fright, but Mira wasn''t done yet.

    She took out something from within her Storage Space and showed it to the two of them, "This should be enough topensate you for helping me, along with a week''s worth of sparring."

    Izaria''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, seeing what Mira had in her hand. She disappeared from her position, snatched the item in Mira''s hand, then quickly put it away and eximed, "We agree! Forget a week; he''ll fight you for a year if you want!"

    "...!"

 Chapter 586 Soul Rending Lotus; Divine Sea Realm; [Manifestation]

    What Mira had just taken out of her Storage Space was an herb Aelina gave her when she informed her about the Infinity Garden. Not just any herb, but a Divine Grade herb!

    After sitting in the Infinity Garden for a while, all the resources Aelina gave her have matured and reproduced. The same goes for the Divine Grade herbs.

    Usually, Mira wouldn''t hand over something so precious as a thank-you gift, but Ryuu had really helped her out this time. If it weren''t for him, she doubted she''d be able to get herself under control within a week. Thus, she would''ve ended up turning into a crazed, murderous demon who would kill anything that moved before eventually getting put down by someone much stronger than her.

    So, it was safe to say that Ryuu not only saved her life, along with countless others, but also helped her improve her control over her mind and body.

    Still, Mira wouldn''t willingly hand over a Divine Grade herb for no reason if it was just that.

    That''s where her request to spar with Ryuu came into y!

    He was the only one she knew who had reached the 2nd Realm of Weapon Endowment, [Manifestation]. If she wanted to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm as fast as possible, then she needed to learn from someone who had already entered that Realm.

    For that, she felt like a Divine Grade herb was worth the price, especially considering it wasn''t hers to begin with.

    "A-A-Are you sure you want to hand over this Divine Soul-Rending Lotus?" Master Izaria said in a trembling voice. She stared at Mira with eyes full of emotion, no longer looking at her as her disciple''s potential mate but instead as a big fat sheep!

    One had to know that the Soul-Rending Lotus was perfect for those in the Divine Sea Realm.

    The Divine Sea Realm focuses on three aspects: Qi purity and quantity, Bodily Strength and Harmonization, and Soul Strength/Dao Comprehension. However, that''s not the end of it.

    By this point in one''s cultivation journey, one''s foundation is already set, and now it''s time to connect and erge one''s containers, the Core, Body, and Soul, and turn them into a sea of power. A Divine Sea.

    However, once all three centers of power are linked, one won''t be able to progress until one strengthens all of them simultaneously.

    Now, what''s often seen as the most challenging center of power to cultivate?

    That''s right, the soul!

    To do so, one must not only further their Daoprehension, but one needs to increase the size and quality of the soul to handle that power! In the Nascent Soul Realm, this is done by using Qi, like in the previous Realms.

    The Soul Transformation Realm is moreplicated and unique than any other Realm in the entire Mortal Cultivation System. It''s all about transforming one''s soul into a manifestation of their Dao rather than quantity and quality. That''s not to say those aspects aren''t important, but they are only secondary.

    However, the Divine Sea Realm is different. Everything in this Realm matters! Especially the Soul!

    It''s thest Realm in the entire Mortal Cultivation System that directly deals with the soul. While it might not be the only thing, an increase in soul strength is the primary factor in progressing in the Divine Sea Realm.

    It''s just that anything that involves the soul is usually very intricate and delicate. One mistake, and you might be braindead or lose your life.

    That''s where the help of Divine-Grade resources that impact the soules into y! These can increase the pace of progression and reduce the risk of injury or death!

    However, that doesn''t mean that Divine Grade resources arepletely safe.

    The Soul-Rending Lotus is no different. If one doesn''t have the entire nt and only the bulb or the leaves, it could be a lethal weapon rather than a precious resource!

    Eating the leaves on the Soul-Rending Lotus cause one''s soul to expand, but in the process of doing so, rips and tears spread across one''s soul. On the other hand, eating the bulb will mend those tears, permanently increasing the size and quality of one''s soul.

    As long as one has the other aspects of the Divine Sea Realmplete, making a breakthrough by using this herb isn''t umon.

    That''s why Master Izaria was so excited! If used correctly, she might be able to break through a minor Realm within the next few years, saving her centuries of boring cultivation!

    "Mhmm," Mira nodded, "I need to reach the [Manifestation] Realm for my scythe, and Ryuu is the only one I know who can assist me with that. That herb should be enough to cover the effort spent to save my life and teach me more about the 2nd Realm of Weapon Endowment."

    "Hm?" Izaria''s smile faded, and she stared at Mira with a serious expression, as did Ryuu''s.<novelnext></novelnext>

    This was a request neither of them was expecting.

    "Why do you need to reach the [Manifestion] Realm?" Ryuu asked. He knew Mira wouldn''t ask for something like this without reason.

    "My Cultivation Technique is a bit special," Mira replied, not giving away too much, but enough for them to understand the reason why.

    Just like she suspected, the two immediately formed their own conclusions.

    ''She''s at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, and I can feel she''s right on the cusp of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm. In fact, with her talent, I wondered why she hadn''t broken through yet. This exins a lot!'' Master Izaria thought.

    While cultivation techniques heavily reliant on a weapon, affinity, or something else to break through the next Realm are undoubtedly rare, they aren''t that umon. Master Izaria had even heard of some that shape one''s soul after their weapon or element.

    In fact, Ryuu''s cultivation technique was simr to that, and if her guess was correct, it wasn''t too different from Mira''s either.

    Their expressions eased a bit, and they both nodded.

    "I see. No wonder you made such a request," Master Izaria said, then turned to Ryuu, "Well, it''s up to you. I''ll return the Divine Grade herb if you don''t want to teach her about the next Realm of Weapon Endowment."

    Ryuu pondered for a moment, but it didn''t take long to find an answer, "I''ll do it! I''ll try and help her reach the [Manifestation] Realm!"

    "Oh?" Master Izaria raised an eyebrow, "Why is that?"

    "Well," Ryuu scratched the side of his cheeks and turned to Mira, "I just have a feeling that she''d reach that Realm anyways. If that''s the case, then we might as well help her and earn ourselves a Divine Grade Herb." He felt a little ufortable epting such a thing from Mira, as it made them seem like they weren''t friends, but a Divine Grade herb was a Divine Grade herb.

    He''d be a fool to reject one that was essentially handed to him!

    Master Izaria chuckled and agreed with his observation. From what she''d seen when they fought not long ago, Mira wasn''t that far away from the [Manifestation] Realm. If that''s the case, they might as well make a profit while they still can.

    Seeing that they''d made their decision, Mira took out her scythe and got in a battle-ready position, "Now that you''ve made your choice, take out your weapon, and let''s fight!" Mira said, her eyes sharpening!

    Ryuu felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly raised his hands, "Stop! Stop! Can''t you see that I still haven''t recovered from the fight we had a few days ago?!"

    Mira stared at Ryuu with a look that said, "So?"

    Understanding that he wasn''t getting through to Mira like this, he decided to change tactics and instead exined, "Look, we don''t need to fight right now. First, I need to teach you about the [Manifestation] Realm before we spar, or else we''re going to be here forever, with you trying to learn everything by yourself."

    Mira found his words reasonable and slowly lowered her scythe, "Alright, we''ll do as you say."

    She still had things to do, so the less time she spent here, the better.

    Ryuu breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead. It''s not that he was afraid to fight her, but he had just finished a life-or-death battle with her a few days ago, one in which he could''ve died.

    He still hadn''t gotten the image of demon Mira trying to kill him out of his mind yet, so if they were to spar now, he might treat it as a real life-and-death battle.

    ''Besides that, Mira is too stressful to spar against! She never bothers to hold back and even acts like she''s trying to kill me! If I can avoid a fight with this crazy woman, then I will.'' Ryuu thought but was interrupted by his Master.

    "Why don''t we take this conversation elsewhere? I can feel a few people converging on this location."

    Both Ryuu and Mira nodded.

    Master Izaria snapped her fingers, and Ryuu, Mira, and Rhydian all disappeared.

 Chapter 587 [Scythe Manifestation] Part 1

    "So," Ryuu took a sip of tea that Master Izaria prepared and asked, "let me first start by asking what you know about the [Manifestation] Realm?"

    "..."

    Mira stared at Ryuu like she was looking at an idiot, her eyes telling him everything he needed to know. It was as if they were saying, "I wouldn''t be here asking you if I knew." Realizing that his question might''ve been a little dumb, Ryuu coughed ufortably and avoided eye contact with Mira.

    "I-I guess I can assume that you know nothing, then?"

    Mira nodded.

    Regaining hisposure, Ryuu pped, "That''s great!"

    Mira tilted her head, confused, "...Why is that great?" She asked.

    "Most information about the [Manifestation] Realm is either wrong or iplete. Since you don''t know anything, you haven''t learned any bad habits I need to help you undo."

    Mira wasn''t sure whether he was telling the truth, but she agreed that it was probably for the best that she didn''t know anything about the [Manifestion] Realm before now.

    "Then, why don''t you tell me what the [Manifestion] Realm is and how you entered it?" Mira took a sip of tea and asked.

    Ryuu nodded in agreement but didn''t immediately start his exnation, "I''ll get there, but since you''re still in the [Intent] Realm, I''ll speak briefly about that just to make sure you haven''t deviated from the correct path."

    Mira didn''t have any problems with that and signaled Ryuu to continue.

    "Ahem!" He cleared his throat, "First, as you might already know, the [Intent] Realm isn''t all thatplicated. In fact, thends were filled with people who had reached this Realm in previous eras and in ancient times."

    This was the first Mira''s heard of this, but Ryuu didn''t have any reason to lie, so she continued to listen.

    "The reason might sound contradictory, but it''s actually because people back then had to learn everything for themselves. While there were still Sects, ns, and Martial Art Branches, the training was more personalized than it is now. Most people just learned the basics, then went out in the world to create their own styles."

    That''s when it clicked for Mira. The [Intent] Realm was all about mastering their weapon''s fundamentals, sensing the weapon''s "intent" and using that to enhance one''s abilities. However, the caveat is that these fundamentals are slightly different for every person.

    For example, someone with shorter arms might swing a sword slightly differently than someone with longer arms. Also, someone who had tempered their body would have a different fighting style versus someone who didn''t.

    The conclusion is that everyone fights a little bit differently. To reach the [Intent] Realm, one must have a near-perfect grasp of their strengths and weaknesses, then incorporate that into their fighting style to make their attacks as efficient and powerful as possible.

    One can''t reach the [Intent] Realm solely through another person''s teachings, techniques, orprehensions. People can create Martial Arts, and Qi Techniques through another''s understanding of their weapon, but that''s it.

    "I see. So, that''s why I haven''t encountered that many people who haveprehended [Intent], much less the next Realm." Mira muttered, to which Ryuu nodded.

    "Exactly! Many Sects and ns today have their own disciplines and fighting styles that the children and disciples must learn. Aside from that, there are also Sects like the Immortal Sword Sect that only ept sword users. However, not everyone is attuned to the sword. If daggers or a spear would fit them better, yet they choose to learn the sword, they might have a hard timeprehending [Intent]."

    Mira then picked up where he left off, "Then, over time, as people continued down this path, [Intent] just became this long lost, esoteric thing that only supreme geniuses can learn."

    "That''s right!" Ryuu nodded with a smile, "However, it''s not like learning a specific discipline of Martial Arts that isn''t perfectly made for you is bad or wrong. Neither doesprehending [Intent] mean that your fighting style is perfect. It just means that it''s perfect for YOU!"

    Mira''s eyes lit up with understanding. Ryuu answered a question she''s been curious about for a while now.

    Why were many of her opponents so skilled, but they hadn''tprehended intent?

    ''So, it was just because they worked on practicing someone else''s martial arts rather than creating and perfecting one specifically for them!'' Mira couldn''t believe she hadn''t realized that all this time!

    Ryuu noticed that Mira understood his words and nodded, "After experiencing our previous fights and since you know everything up to this point, I have no doubt you''re on the right track. If that''s the case, then I''ll move on to the next Realm, [Manifestation]."

    Ryuu took another sip of tea before getting into it, "The [Manifestation] Realm, while simr to the [Intent] Realm, is much moreplex and digs deeper into how you can personalize your weapon."

    "First off, you must have a deeper understanding of your weapon to reach this realm. It''s no longer about the basics and more so about the essence of your weapon and how that can affect your fighting style. Once you''ve reached this level, you''ll be able to manifest your weapon''s power in a more tangible form that is unique only to you."<novelnext></novelnext>

    After saying that, Ryuu held his greatsword in one hand and pointed at it with the other, "Take a sword, for example. Can you tell me what a sword is? What do you think the essence of it is?"

    Mira looked at the sword but wasn''t sure how she should answer. Of course, she what a sword was, but she wasn''t sure if he was looking for something different.

    Noticing Mira''s confusion, Ryuu answered her doubts, "It''s fine. Just say whateveres to mind. There are no wrong answers."

    Hesitantly, Mira answered, "...A sword is a ded weapon typically used for cutting and thrusting. It usually consists of a long, sharp de attached to a hilt and is often used to threaten or kill others. It''s a versatile weapon that can be used in many different situations."

    Ryuu smiled at her answer, as she was pretty much on point, "A great answer!"

    Then, he summoned one of his Sword Threads out of his greatsword.

    "Just like you said, a sword is a great weapon that all kinds of people can use in many different situations. So, that''s what I based my [Manifestation] on, versatility."

    Waving the Sword Thread around, he continued his exnation, "Although my sword is massive and bulky, I truly believe the strength and essence of a sword lie in its versatility. That''s why my [Manifestation] is this Sword Thread, as it represents a sword''s adaptability."

    From that simple example and exnation, Mira learned a lot.

    First, one must deeply understand their body, their weapon, and how to sync the two together.

    Second is that the manifestation must be based on the essence of the weapon.

    Third, she understood that one''s weapon manifestation doesn''t have to look anything like their physical weapon.

    Simply put, one reaches the [Manifestation] Realm when one reaches the necessary understanding of the weapon and has an image that reflects both the weapon''s essence and the user''s perspective of it.

    "It�� I-It''s that simple?" Mira asked in disbelief. Wasn''t reaching this Realm supposed to be difficult? Why does it sound so easy?!

    "Hah?!" Ryuu scoffed, "Easy? No, no, no! It is most certainly not easy! First of all, many people can''t even reach the required understanding of their weapon to even think about forming their [Manifestation]! Secondly, understanding the essence of a weapon that goes in line with your thoughts, wants, needs, andbat style for that specific weapon is incrediblyplex."

    Mira understood all that, but even then, she felt it wouldn''t be challenging to reach the required understanding and form her [Manifestation].

    ''Though, I suppose the only reason I feel this way is because myprehensive abilities and talent bloomed after bing the sessor to the F.LD.I.L. Not to mention, I just created a Mind Pce, further improving my cognitive abilities.'' Mira thought.

    She didn''t doubt that an ordinary person would have trouble reaching the [Manifestation] Realm. Hell, most people have probably never even thought about the essence of a weapon in their entire lives! And why would they?

    Even she hasn''t thought about this kind of stuff until recently!

    "So, what''s the best way to reach the [Manifestion] Realm?" Mira asked. Her hand stretched out above the table as if she was ready to draw her scythe out of her Storage Space at any second, eager to fight Ryuu again.

    She knew the answer already but just wanted an excuse to spar with Ryuu.

    Looking into Mira''s eyes, which were full of battle lust, all the hairs on Ryuu''s body stood up. However, he knew he couldn''t lie to Mira and could only resign to his fate, much to Master Izaria''s amusement.

    "Lots of training, meditation, and�� fighting." He could barely finish thatst word before Mira took out her scythe.

    "I can train and mediateter, but for now, I have to make up for my loss against you a few days ago."

    Mira shed next to Ryuu, grabbed him by the cor, and dragged him outside.

    ''What do you mean loss?! You''re the one who gave me the beating!!''

    Ryuu really felt like crying but had no tears and could only ept his fate.

 Chapter 588 [Scythe Manifestation] Part 2

    The sun had risen behind the mountains, casting a warm golden glow over the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Inside an isted valley surrounded by mountains, there was a clearing of nothing but grass. Due to the freezing temperatures of the mountains, the grass had frost growing on it despite the sun.

    As the rays of sunlight descended onto this valley, two figures plopped onto the ground taking deep breaths. There were craters, crevasses, and destruction all around them, evident that they had just fought. However, when they looked at each other, they both had small smiles on their faces, indicating that it was a friendly bout.

    "Haaa�� Haaa�� Haaa��"

    "Haaa�� Haaa�� Haaa��"

    As the two sat down, leaning on their weapons, Ryuu''s golden Sword Threads dissipated, and Mira''s ck Scythe Intent vanished.

    ? It took a few minutes to steady their breathing, and Ryuu looked at Mira after it did.

    "I-I''m surprised you made so much progress in just a few days, Mira," Ryuu said with a wry smile, feeling a little disheartened. Watching Mira advance her Scythe Intent at such a rapid pace made him feel like his hard work over the years wasn''t worth shit.

    He had to admit that he was a little jealous of Mira''s talent, but before that jealousy could turn toxic, he transformed it into a desire to get stronger!

    ''If I want to stay ahead of her in terms of strength and skill, I need to work harder!'' Ryuu thought, secretly clenching his fists.

    Despite all her weird abilities, he could still consider himself stronger than Mira. Not only that, but his Weapon Endowment progress was more advanced than hers.

    While the question of who would win in a life-or-death fight was still up in the air, as they both had their trump cards, Ryuu was confident he wouldn''t lose. However, that wouldn''t be for long with the pace at Mira progressed. To stay ahead of her, he would need to put in more effort and train more efficiently.

    No more wandering around the Continent fighting weaklings!!

    "...I can only progress this fast because you''re a great sparring partner, always pointing out my weaknesses and what I could improve," Mira said with a neutral expression, but the corners of her mouth did raise slightly.

    "Well��" Ryuu scratched the side of his cheek awkwardly, "...If you say so."

    He didn''t intend to be humble, nor did he need to be. They both knew that Mira would never make such fast progress if it weren''t for him, even with herprehensive abilities.

    "It shouldn''t be much longer before I break into the [Manifestation] Realm," Mira informed Ryuu before closing her eyes and meditating on what she had learned during this most recent sparring session.

    Ryuu nodded with a tired smile and closed his eyes, reminiscing on thest few days.

    ***

    It had been several days since Ryuu agreed to help Mira reach the [Manifestation] Realm with her scythe, and during that time, they seemed to have gotten a bit closer.

    On the first day, after Mira dragged him away to the valley they are currently in, the two began fighting. However, surprisingly, Mira didn''t bother taking "revenge" as she didn''t see the point. She was here to learn and improve, not for petty squabbles.

    She paid him a Divine-Grade herb for this, after all. She wasn''t going to waste her time messing around.

    "I''m only going to use my Scythe Intent and scythe skills I''ve learned over the years, nothing else. You tell me what is solid and what needs improving. Afterward, we''ll go from there." That''s what Mira said before sheunched herself at him.

    Since he didn''t have any problems with that, Ryuu agreed. Rather, this was precisely the kind of environment he hoped for when Mira asked him for guidance.

    *nk!*

    Their weapons shed, but he twisted his greatsword, mming the tip of it into Mira''s right hip.

    "You''re right side was a bit weak. Try to make sure your scythe is constantly in motion, so nothing like this will happen again."

    Mira nodded, storing his words inside her Mind Pce in the roombeled [Scythe].

    *nk!*

    This time, after their weapons shed, Ryuu dashed forward and jabbed Mira in the stomach with the hilt of his sword.

    "Your center was wide open for a second there. You need to be more mindful of the speed at whichrge weapons can move."

    *nk!*

    "Good! You covered her head perfectly! I don''t think I could''ve done any better!"

    *nk!*

    "Your footwork could use a little help. Your stance is a little wide, making it easier for me to trip you!"

    *nk!*

    "Perfect! It seems you know how to defend your arms with ease! Just be sure to remember to keep your scythe in motion at all times. The moment your scythe slows down is the moment I gain the advantage!"

    *nk!**nk!**nk!**Puchi!*<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Ah! I know my Sword Threads are harder to defend against than my greatsword, but I think if you twisted your body fast enough and gained momentum earlier, you could''ve blocked all of my attacks!"

    *nk!*

    "Wow! You learned fast! Your core was rock solid, and your stance was firm, not allowing me to capitalize on the momentum!"

    This continued for a few hours before they both got tired and stopped. However, Mira didn''t stop training. Instead, she sat down and began meditating.

    Ryuu could hardly believe what he was seeing!

    ''This woman just went from one of the most intense spars I''ve ever had straight into an equally taxing mental endeavor! What a crazy work ethic!''

    One has to know that to meditate and rey the scenes from thest few hours, trying to discern anything that could be improved is no easy feat. It''s an incredible mental workout that only those who know their bodies like the back of their hand can do.

    At this moment, Ryuu realized that behind all of Mira''s talent and strength were countless hours of training and hard work. Although he already knew that, partially, he''d never seen her train before.

    He figured that no one could outwork him, but it seems he''s met his match today!

    ''Well, let''s just see how long she can keep this up.'' He thought but would soon regret those words.

    After an hour, Mira finished her mediation and againunched herself at Ryuu.

    This cycle continued until the present day��

    ***

    After Ryuu was done reminiscing about the past, Mira woke up from her meditation, but before she could attack him again, he stopped her!

    "Wait!" He raised both his hands in front of him, "From now on, we''ll fight in the sky. You might not know this, but about half of your battles will be in the air once you reach the Nascent Soul Realm. Thus, knowing how to fight in those scenarios is integral, and doing so can even help you grasp some of your weaknesses easier."

    Mira pondered on his words for a few moments but didn''t have an issue with them. In fact, she couldn''t think of a better time she could train her aerialbat skills! She''s neglected them for a while now and isn''t as great as she could be, but with Ryuu''s help, she should be able to fix that rtively quickly.

    "Sure, let''s do that. I''ve been meaning to work on that anyways; I just haven''t found the right time to do so," Mira said before circting her Qi, using it to float up in the air.

    Ryuu did the same, yet for some reason, just the simple act of floating into the sky seemed more fluid and graceful than when Mira did it, something she took notice of.

    "Come!" Ryuu yelled, pointing his greatsword at her and shaking her out of her thoughts.

    Without giving any signal, Mira trusted herself forward like she usually did. However, Ryuu seamlessly dodged her beeline attack with ease.

    Looking at her with a slight frown, he realized that Mira seemed to have no experience in the air for her to make such a trivial mistake and muttered, "Ah. It seems like this is going to be a long few days."

    "Oi! Mira! That attack was too choreographed! I would''ve had a harder time dodging a baby''s punch than that shit! Aerialbat is all about you being unpredictable yet being able to predict your opponent''s movements! You''ve already failed if you can''t even do one of those!"

    Those words seemed to spur Mira on as she circled back around and charged at him again, except this time, her movements were more chaotic!

    "Good! Keep that up, and maybe I won''tnd so many hits on you! Hahaha!" Ryuu''s smile widened as he chuckled, showing off his white teeth.

    Mira''s eyes lit up with fighting spirit, and she gave him a predatory grin, showing off her canines, "Be sure you don''t regret those words when I''m ripping out chunks of fleshter."

    Ryuu''s eyes narrowed into pinholes hearing that, and his blood turned cold as Mira''s voice sounded way too serious when she said those words.

    "Wait! Wait! Wait! There''s no need to go that far, right?! I was just joking around, okay?!" Ryuu yelled, but Mira never responded.

    Instead, a bloody aura surrounded her, and she charged at Ryuu, seemingly with no intention of holding back! This frightened Ryuu as he wasn''t prepared for such a change, and because of this, Mira was able to catch him off-guard.

    *nk!*

    Their weapons shed, but this time, Ryuu was the one to get hit. He felt a pang in his side as the impact sent him hurdling through the air, during which Mira''s voice entered his ears.

    "You''re going to have to do better than that!"

    ***

    Master Izaria watched all this happen from the sidelines with a faint smile on her face, but deep down, she was curious about something.

    ''Why does it seem like after Mira went all crazy, she became more��human? She seems to be showing more emotion than I thought an apathetic person like her could show.''

    Shrugging her shoulders, she pushed that thought to the back of her mind and returned to watching her disciple enjoy himself with his new ''friend''.

 Chapter 589 [Scythe Manifestation] Part 3

    Another week went by as Mira sparred with Ryuu almost non-stop, only taking breaks every now and then to meditate. However, this time was precious to both Mira and Ryuu.

    To Mira, Ryuu was superior to her in terms of weapon skills, so she absorbed his teachings like a sponge.

    However, Mira''s expertise lies in her battle experience being through the roof. Even if Ryuu was technically more skilled than her with a sword, he was still a fledgling regarding real battles. Since after a few fights, they both had a decent understanding of each other''s fighting style, Mira had to show him the world of how elites fight.

    *BAM!*

    "Ugh!" Ryuu groaned in pain as he hit the ground. Feeling the familiar sensation of a scythe pressed against his neck, he raised his hands as a sign of surrender and released a sigh.

    "Haaaa�� How''d you do that, Mira? I thought I had you on the ropes, but how did I lose?" Ryuu asked, not bothered by his loss at all. This wasn''t the first time he "lost" to Mira. Conversely, he''d also "won" against Mira in many of their spars.

    "I just gave you a false sense of security, baiting you into thinking you had the momentum and control in the fight. I waited for the moment you were the most confident in your win, and were going to go for the kill, then struck!" Mira retracted her scythe and exined.

    However, Ryuu wasn''t convinced by that answer.

    "No! I refuse to believe that! This isn''t the first time you''ve beaten me right when I was about to win. I was careful not to get too confident or cocky, yet you still finished me! Tell me what really happened!" Ryuu demanded, but unlike his words, his eyes shined with a thirst for knowledge.

    Mira tilted her head and pondered for a moment, determining whether she should say the reason or not, before exhaling deeply, "Haaa�� Technically, you lost this battle since the day we began sparring."

    Question marks seemed to appear above Ryuu''s head as he didn''t understand her meaning. He reyed a quick review of all their battles up until this point but still couldn''t know how he had lost.

    Mira allowed him a few more minutes to think about it, but seeing that he was getting nowhere, she decided to give him a hint.

    "It''s my fighting style."

    "...!"

    Those four words were like a lightning strike to the head as his body trembled and his eyes widened in realization! His head shot toward Mira, and he stared at the woman like she had grown a second head!

    Pointing his shaky finger at Mira, he said in a quivering voice, "Y-You�� You�� What the hell?!"

    He was so shaken he didn''t even know how to formte words, but he knew how he lost.

    During a fight, both sides will have their own quirks. Some people will take arge step before a big attack, while others might blink three times when they n to counterattack. Most of these quirks are done subconsciously and are things the users aren''t even aware of.

    He thought that was the case with Mira as well. However, he was sorely mistaken. The quirk he felt he had discovered was all just a ruse for this moment. For this win!

    Mira even used the fact that he subconsciously remembered that quirk against him!

    Throughout that entire fight, Mira kept baiting him in, forcing him to focus on that quirk, and when he was going to capitalize on that and go in for the final strike, Mira switched things up, catching him by surprise and winning the battle in one move.

    He gasped in stupefaction as he came to understand just how dangerous Mira could be. This information also made him think about what else about her was real or fake. Was that even her real fighting style? Did he deserve all those previous wins, or was that also part of Mira''s n? Is the scythe even her primary weapon? Even after knowing all this, would he be able to tell what is a ruse and what isn''t?

    Those thoughts frightened him, but it was also a valuable lesson: Never take anything at face value.

    ''But�� Why now? Why did she reveal this information now?'' He stared at Mira and wondered. ''This is something she would only reveal at the end-AH!'' His mouth gaped as he suddenly understood why Mira had revealed her trump card now!

    "You''re about to break through to the [Manifestation] Realm!"

    Mira nodded, "That''s right. I didn''t want to end our training session with a loss, so I nned for a guaranteed win right before I breakthrough."

    Not only was Ryuu stunned by Mira''s foresight and pettiness, but so was Izaria!

    ''What the fuck?! Who ns for something like that?!''

    Mira put away her scythe and turned around, ready to find herself a nice secluded ce for her to break through. Waving her hand back at him, she said, "I hope the next time we meet, you aren''t so weak that this will be myst satisfying win against you! Hahaha!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    Rhydian understood Mira''s intentions and swooped down in front of her, picking her up. Mira hopped onto her, refusing to look back at Ryuu. Instead, she turned to Master Izaria and nodded.

    Izaria smiled appreciatively and nodded back. There was no need to share words between them, as they were smart enough to understand the intentions behind those nods.

    Now that she finished her business here, Mira sent Rhydian the signal to leave, to which the winged wolf nodded, shot up into the air, and took off, leaving behind a confused and stupified Ryuu!

    After Mira left, he snapped out of his reverie and stared at the dot in the sky that only got further and further away.

    "WAIT!" He roared. "ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO LEAVE SO ABRUPTLY AFTER ALL THAT?!"

    He wanted to spend just a little bit more time with her, or at least give her a proper goodbye, but�� but she just up and left? Just like that?

    After winning a satisfying battle and getting what she wanted, she just left?!

    Was their rtionship really so shallow, even after all they went through together?!

    Confused, hurt, and depressed, he turned to the one he could always rely on in this life, his master.

    However, Master Izaria just smiled and shook her head after feeling her disciple''s gaze.

    "I won''t help you with this matter. If you have a problem with her, you should resolve it yourself, but I don''t think you''re fast enough to catch up to that wolf." Master Izaria chuckled in amusement, trying to hint something at her disciple.

    And it seemed like it worked as his eyes burned with determination as he watched Mira''s retreating back.

    Clenching his fists, he thought, ''I''ll be sure to snatch this win away from you, Mira. Next time we meet, I''ll teach you proper manners!''

    "Master, let''s go to the Endless Battlefield on the Northern Continent!"

    "...!"

    ***

    After Mira left, she quickly found a secluded cave where she could iste herself and began meditating. Rhydian copsed the entrance so nothing would dare toe in, then curled up in a ball away from Mira, just in case something happened to her during this time.

    Shutting her eyes and clearing her mind of all distracting thoughts, Mira took out her scythe and ced it in herp. Then, she opened up the room in her Mind Pcebeled [Scythe] and let the information and experiences flow through her.

    As a result of all that training with Ryuu, she was now at the peak of the [Intent] Realm, on the verge of entering the [Manifestation] Realm. All she needed to do now was visualize the essence of the scythe and create a symbolic manifestation that was unique solely to her.

    ''Scythe�� A scythe, to me, and throughout every culture and mythology, is a symbol of death, but not just any death. Inevitable death.''

    ''Whether someone is Mortal, Immortal, or a God, death is constantly looming over us, waiting for our eventual demise so it can reap our souls. You never know when it''ll appear, sometimes arrogant enough to believe that it''ll never happen to you, but it wille, just like ites for us all.''

    ''That''s what I want my Manifestation to represent-the eventual demise of my enemies!''

    The scythe in Mira''sp thrummed as soon as she came to this conclusion! It floated up in the air and began rotating, going faster and faster as time went by.

    Soon, an illusory hourss with a ck skull resting on top of it shone over her rotating scythe. After a few more minutes, the hourss and skull became more real, and by the time an hour had passed, it didn''t seem any different from the rocks in the cave or the des of grass on the ground.

    In a sh, the hourss and skull shrank to the size of a palm and shot toward her de.

    The scythe thrummed onest time before it dropped onto Mira''sp, except this time, an outline of a skull and hourss was at the section between the de and the pole.

    Thus, ending Mira''s breakthrough into the [Manifestation] Realm!

 Chapter 590 Abyssal Torment Steps: 1,000-1,250 Steps Part 1

    Mira awoke from her meditation and unconsciously grasped her scythe. As soon as she touched it, she felt a much deeper connection to the weapon than she did before. Just touching it was like her regenerating a limb that she had lost. The scythe not only felt like an extension of her body but a part of her being.

    Mira slowly stood up and swung it around a few times, the air trembling as just her casual swings were filled with power. However, felt that something was wrong.

    "Why don''t I feel any stronger?"

    Although she knew what her [Manifestation] was, she thought that, at the very least, she''d seen a minor increase in strength without activating that manifestation, but it seemed like that wasn''t the case.

    "Well, I guess that just means my manifestation is much stronger than I thought." She said aloud, her crimson eyes shining with anticipation. She couldn''t wait to test it out on someone! Unfortunately, it was rtively useless when she wasn''t trying to kill someone, so she''d have to wait until an enemy appeared before her.

    "Congrattions, Mira. You''re one step closer to breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm!" The Guardian''s voice echoed in her mind.

    Mira''s expression returned to being neutral, and not wanting to waste any time talking with him, she asked, "What''s thest thing I need to do before I can break through? Isn''t it just an Item Trial?"

    "Hmmm~~ I wonder!" The Guardian chuckled, his voiceden with amusement. However, when Mira heard him, her fists clenched, and she gritted her teeth with a scowl.

    "Just. Tell me." She spat through her teeth.

    "Hmph!" The Guardian snorted, "You''re no fun."

    "Fine! While it''s true that you only need to go through a Firmament Trial to obtain thest item needed for you to break through, there is a prerequisite you mustplete before doing so!"

    The Guardian paused, trying to build tension and anticipation, but Mira just stood there with the same indifferent expression on her face.

    He clicked his tongue in annoyance that he didn''t get much of a reaction out of Mira but soon stopped ying around.

    "...You have to go down another 250 steps on the Abyssal Torment Steps to unlock that item trial."

    "...!"

    His words caused Mira to freeze and her indifferent expression to crack. Her eyes narrowed, a slight look of fear deep within her.

    "You should also earn some points in the Abyssal Battle Ladder before breaking through. You''ve already missed a decent amount of points by breaking through multiple stages at one time." The Guardian reminded her.

    Mira nodded, already knowing that she had missed out on quite a few points. However, she wasn''t focused on that.

    "Y-You said I need to go down another 250 steps on Abyssal Torment Steps?" Mira asked, a slight quiver in her voice.

    A grin crept up on the Guardian''s face, but unfortunately, Mira couldn''t see it.

    "That''s right! What? You scared?" He chuckled, causing Mira''s frown to deepen, "As the Sessor to the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, you have to learn to ovee anything. How can you even think of aplishing your goals if you can''t withstand a little pain?"

    "..."

    Mira winced a bit at the words "a little pain", the things she went throughst time still vivid in her mind.

    "..."

    Mira took a deep breath and nodded firmly.

    "I''ve been putting this off for a while now, but it seems like the time has finallye." She said before sitting back down, "Let''s just get this over with."

    After finding afortable position to sit in, she looked over at Rhydian, who was just snoring, asleep, near the copsed cave entrance.

    "Rhydian," Her voice jolted the wolf awake, "I''m going to be unavable for an unknown amount of time. If someone we don''t know tries to enter the cave, kill them without hesitation. Don''t even allow those Star-Horned wolves nearby if theye looking for you. I can''t allow anyone to disturb me during this time."

    Realizing the situation was much more serious than she thought, Rhydian stood up and gave Mira a firm nod.

    "Good," Mira was satisfied with that answer, "Then, I''ll see youter."

    After that, Mira closed her eyes and entered the F.LD.I.L.

    ***

    With a thought, Mira entered the one ce she dreaded more than anywhere else in the world. Thest time she was here, she made it to the 1,000th step, and the only thing she was able to see and feel was pain and more pain. However, now that she hade here willingly, standing on her most recent step, she didn''t feel much pain.

    Instead, now that she wasn''t in constant, agonizing pain, she could actually see and feel the stairs, getting a better picture of the kind of hellhole she willingly entered.

    The Abyssal Torment Steps descended into the depths of a dark and foreboding abyss, the stairs themselves a twisted and mangled mess of metal and stone. The steps were jagged and uneven, as though they had been hewn out of the very rock by some malevolent force.

    The air around the steps was thick and heavy, suffused with a sense of malice that seemed to crawl beneath the skin. It was as though the Abyssal Torment Steps were a living thing, a creature of pure darkness and malevolence that took pleasure in the agony of those who dared to descend it.

    Mira could feel the weight of the abyss pressing down on her, the darkness of it seeping into her bones and making her feel as though she was being crushed under the weight of it all.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Gulping, Mira pushed down her anxiety.

    ''I feel like I probably shouldn''t have looked around.''

    The longer she stood there, the more intimidating this ce became. So, before it affected her mindset, Mira shut off all useless thoughts and took a step down!

    Clenching her fists, she prepared herself for a torrent of pain, but-

    "....Eh?"

    -nothing came.

    Mira tilted her head, not knowing what was going on.

    "Are the steps�� broken?" Mira wondered but immediately dismissed that idea.

    "This��. What''s going on? I know I''ve been through a lot since thest time I was here, but I don''t think it was so much that I''m now unaffected by the suffering this ce can instill."

    Something was weird, and Mira wasn''t going to move until she got to the bottom of it.

    Sending her consciousness inside her body, she checked every organ and bone, ensuring that she hadn''t missed something.

    However, after finding nothing, she checked her soul, and there, she found something unusual.

    "W-What''s that?"

    In the corner of her soul was a small ck and red blob. It was just sitting there, doing nothing, but now that Mira focused on it, she felt a throbbing in her mind and soul.

    Holding her forehead in difort, Mira tried to understand the theme behind this section of the Abyssal Torment Steps.

    ''Well, let''s see what happens when I try to destroy that thing.''

    Mira sent a few ice des at the blob, cutting it into multiple pieces, but immediately after, those pieces reabsorbed themselves, going back to what they were before.

    ''Weird.'' Mira thought, then tried to cut them up a few more times, but nothing worked.

    ''I guess I''ll understand their purpose if I go down another step.''

    Not wanting to waste any more time here, she went down another step.

    The throbbing in her mind became more intense as she did, but it wasn''t unbearable. On the contrary, it wasn''t even painful!

    She checked her soul and noticed that the blob had doubled in size, making her feel more ufortable, but it wasn''t anything she couldn''t handle. I

    ''However, I can''t let my guard down yet. Torment is literally part of the name of these stairs! I''m doomed for failure if I getcent!'' Mira reminded herself and took another step down.

    *OHM!*

    Mira''s head throbbed significantly more. She squinted her eyes in difort, but that was it.

    However, there was something different this time.

    She felt like she''d lost something��

    Shaking her head at those useless thoughts, Mira checked her soul and noticed that the blob had gotten bigger once again.

    ''I''m a little bothered by this blob growing in my soul, as I don''t know what it does, but there''s not much I can do about it other than to keep moving forward.''

    Ignoring her difort and the growing ''tumor'' in her soul, she took another step down. The throbbing in her mind intensified, and the blob grew once again, but Mira stopped paying attention to them as if they weren''t important and took another step down.

    Then another��

    And another��

    And another��.

    Until she reached the 1050th step-that''s when a change urred.

    Mira stood on the 1050th step, looking around, confused.

    "Where am I again? Why am I on these creepy-looking steps?"

 Chapter 591 Abyssal Torment Steps: 1,000-1,250 Steps Part 2

    Mira tried to remember where she was, but her head throbbed in intense pain when she did.

    Rubbing the bridge of her nose to try and get rid of her massive headache, Mira stopped walking down the stairs.

    "Something''s very wrong here," She muttered and sat down on the ground, "And I''m not moving until I figure it out!"

    Her head throbbed in pain again, but she tried to ignore it. Her instincts warned her that if she kept descending the stairs at this rate, something terrible would happen. Even if she wasn''t in the right state of mind, she still trusted her instincts enough to rely on them in times of need.

    However, something inside her told her otherwise, ''No, you already know what''s wrong. It''s these stairs!''

    "These stairs?" Mira''s eyes lit up in realization, "Right! It''s these stairs! How could I forget?"

    Mira tried to remember the name of the stairs and what was going on, but-

    "Urgh!"

    Her head began pounding so badly that she nearly passed out! It felt like someone was smashing her brain with a hammer.

    "W-Why is my head hurting so bad?!"

    She tried to ignore it like she normally would, but for some reason, she couldn''t! It was as if she was forced to feel the full brunt of it.

    ''If you want to figure out what''s going on, you must descend the stairs.'' The voice in her mind said.

    "Bullshit-Urgh!" She tried to rebuke that voice, but as soon as she did, it felt like something grabbed ahold of her brain and began twisting it.

    ''Stop worrying about useless things and go down the staircase!'' The voicemanded, but despite the pain she was going through, Mira refused to listen.

    "No! I told myself I wasn''t going to move until I figured things out, and I will stick to my word!"

    It felt like someone was slicing up her brain as she said that, but she forbade herself from moving! Even if she were to die here on these steps, she wouldn''t move until she understood what was happening to her!

    Closing her eyes, Mira tried to remember how she got to where she was, and although the mind-numbing pain became worse, she pushed through, unwilling to move forward!

    Suddenly, an image of a small blob appeared in her mind, and her eyes lit up before a pain so bad hit her that her eyes rolled up into her head, almost causing her to pass out! At that point, she wasn''t even conscious enough to let out a groan, but she did manage to find a clue.

    ''My soul!''

    Hanging onto the thread between conscious and unconscious, Mira used thest of her strength to bring her mind''s eye into her soul, and what she saw shocked her!

    "Wh-What��the�� fuck?!"

    *SCREEEEECH!*

    An ear-piercing sound crashed into Mira, dibobting her, but she was too focused on the massive��. monster(?) in her soul to care.

    In front of her was a massive ck and red tentacle monster, which took up almost half of her soul! It had 100 tendrils digging into the outsides, each one pulsating at different intervals as it sent something in her mind and body.

    *SCREEEEECH!*

    The giant tentacle monster thrashed about angrily, its serrated tentacles digging in and out of her soul, causing Mira to fall to her knees.

    "Ugh!" She grunted in immense pain

    ''YoU�� sHoUlD�� nOt�� Be HeRe!'' An androgynous, distorted voice entered her mind.

    Mira struggled to get back up due to the pain, but when she did, her crimson eyes shed with anger.

    "No!" A murderous aura slowly surrounded Mira, "YOU are the one who shouldn''t be here!"

    Mira raised her hand and shed at one of the tendrils digging into her brain, sending an ice de at it!

    The ice de cut through it like butter, and now the tentacle monster was the one to screech in agony. This sent waves of throbbing difort through her mind, but Mira ignored it and dashed to where half a tentacle was still lodged in her soul.

    "This must be what''s fucking with my brain!"

    Mira yanked out the tentacle, and instantly, it felt like her mind had cleared up! It wriggled around in her hand, trying to escape, but Mira used her immense strength to crush it. However, this only caused it to reabsorb itself back into the main body.

    Memories that she couldn''t remember flowed through her mind. Unfortunately, she didn''t regain much since it was only 1 tentacle out of 100.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Turning to the 99 other tentacles lodged in her mind, Mira made her decision, "Looks like I''ll need to remove the rest of you before I''m back to normal again!"

    Waving her hand, she created dozens of ice des and sent them toward the tentacles, cutting them in half. The monster thrashed around more, but Mira paid it no mind and kept sending ice des at the tentacles, ignoring the pain it caused her until she destroyed everyst one of them.

    Due to this being her own soul, it only took Mira a few seconds to finish that and another few seconds to uproot all the tentacles, leaving behind 100 holes in her soul.

    All the memories that were locked away by those tentacles were now under her control again, but Mira didn''t feel the slightest bit happy.

    Her expression was frosty as she stared at the giant tentacle blob monster in her soul.

    ''What do I do now?''

    She obviously couldn''t leave this thing alone in her soul, or else it might devour her from the inside out. However, she also couldn''t stay here forever, as she needed to descend these stairs.

    *SCREEEEECH!*

    In the midst of thinking, the monster formed another 100 tentacles and attempted to connect them to her soul once again!

    "Oh no, you don''t!"

    Mira created 100 ice des andunched them at the monster, cutting the tentacles into pieces. However, they were instantly reabsorbed into the main body, and the monster attempted to do the same thing again!

    Mira created another 100 ice des, destroying them, but the same situation repeated itself the next second.

    ''Fuck! This thing is such a pain in the ass!''

    Annoyed with the tentacle monster, sheunched a series of attacks at its main body, causing it to explode into a thousand pieces, but just like before, it instantly reformed itself and kept trying to send tentacles into her mind.

    "Ugh! Just die, you nasty fucker!" Mira yelled and then hopped onto the monster, pounding it with her fists.

    However, no matter what she did, it didn''t matter. If anything, not only was she wasting her time and energy, but as time went on, it seemed to be learning and adapting to her attacks.

    "Dammit! I can''t keep doing this! I need to figure out a solution so I can leave this godforsaken staircase!"

    Though, to be honest, Mira already did have a solution in mind. It''s just that it was a terrible idea, and the risk of her mind getting corrupted again was extremely high.

    Pounding on the monster once again, Mira couldn''te up with anything better and decided just to say, "Fuck it!"

    She raised her golden tail and smashed the monster with it, obliterating it into a million pieces while also sending waves through her soul, shaking it.

    Then, without hesitation, Mira''s consciousness returned to her mind, and she took another step down the staircase.

    "Ugh!"

    She felt something pierce her soul once again as soon as she did.

    Mira''s consciousness left her body and returned to her soul, where she saw 101 tentacles trying to dig into her soul. More memories were being stolen and locked away from her, and she knew she couldn''t waste any more time, or else she might turn into a vegetable.

    Creating 101 ice des, sheunched them at the tentacles, destroying them, then picked up the pieces of the monster that were still lodged in her soul.

    When she recalled the stolen memories, she noticed that some of them were jumbled up with other memories that weren''t rted.

    Mira left them as is for a moment and hopped onto the slightlyrger monster, pounding it into microscopic pieces again.

    Once she did that, she took a second to rearrange the memory strands into their proper ces in her Mind Pce.

    She had to repeat the process of rearranging memories and beating a tentacle monster a few times until she was finished, but she eventually returned to normal.

    ''I''m so d I created a Mind Pce. Good job past me foring up with such a great idea.'' Mira patted herself on the back with one hand while giving the tentacle monster another beatdown with the other.

    Afterpletely destroying it again, Mira left her soul and took another step down the staircase, only for the same thing to repeat itself!

    However, this time 102 tentacles were digging their way into her soul!

    ''Ugh! Do I really have to keep doing this?? I don''t think my soul is big enough for that monster to keep creating holes like that!''

 Chapter 592 Abyssal Torment Steps: 1,000-1,250 Steps Part 3

    Mira stayed in her soul for a bit longer than usual, destroying the monster repeatedly, trying to think of a better n that won''t make her endure so much pain. She looked around and detected hundreds of holes in her soul caused by the tentacles.

    ''If it keeps going like this, I really will die, losing my body and soul to this disgusting creature.'' Mira thought, but there wasn''t much she could do. The creature was immortal, after all. No matter what she did or how many pieces she cut it into, the monster always reformed to its original appearance.

    ''Or is it really invincible?''

    Mira''s eyes sharpened, and she raised her hand toward the monster. A clump of darkness soon appeared, spinning at such high speeds that it didn''t look like it was moving. All the light in her soul soon got absorbed by the ck ball, increasing its power.

    After a second, Mira nodded and tossed the ck hole, which she called a Singrity Strike, at the monster.

    *SCREEEEEEECH!*

    The monster thrashed around but was evaporated into nothing in the blink of an eye. However, as she suspected, the mass of tentacles instantly reformed itself as if nothing had happened.

    Her Singrity Strike was still active, so it immediately absorbed it again, but this only happened a few more times before she noticed the walls of her soul slowly ripping apart. Mira quickly canceled the ability, not wanting to be the one to kill herself.

    "Ugh!" A wave of dizziness hit Mira right after, causing her to stumble to the ground.

    She created another Singrity Strike at the monster to give her another couple of seconds to deal with it, but as it evaporated the monster, the dizziness became worse!

    "Wh-What the fuck is going on?" Mira cursed.

    The ck hole kept killing the monster repeatedly, only making the dizziness, which had now turned into drowsiness, worse.

    "Dammit! Does killing that thing also affect me?!"

    As Mira tried to stand up, the world around her seemed to shift and sway. The room tilted and spun, and the ground beneath her felt unsteady. She grasped for something to hold onto, but nothing was around her.

    Mira''s head pounded, and their vision blurred. The colors of her soul be a dizzying swirl of hues and shades, blending into one another. She felt as if she were trapped in a tornado, with the world spinning around them faster and faster.

    Mira closed her eyes, hoping to find some relief, but even in the darkness, the dizziness persisted.

    She felt drained of all her energy. Not Qi, but more like mental endurance and stamina.

    ''Fuck! So, not only is that thing an immortal monster, but there are consequences to even trying to get rid of it!''

    The situation just became a whole lot moreplicated due to this new information, and she finally understood why this portion of the Abyssal Torment Steps was so challenging.

    ''So, it''s less about pain and more about whether I can resist such a high degree of mind control.''

    Mira concluded and felt that her guess was spot on.

    ''I assume that if I can''t reach the 1,250th step without resisting it, the monster will take control of my mind and soul.'' Mira mused before she sneered.

    "Heh! Very well! Try and take control of my mind and soul! We''ll see who crumbles first, you or me! You might''ve caught me by surprise in the first half, but I won''t allow such a thing to happen again!" Mira flipped the creature off and left her soul, returning to her body.

    As she did so, numerous thoughts shed through her mind. For example, she could use the [100 cial Warriors] technique in her soul and try and contain the monster, but she immediately dismissed that idea. The monster had already taken up 40% of the space in her soul.

    It was impossible for her to block the neverending onught of tentacles, which would only be worse the further she descended, with her limited amount of Qi.

    As for trying to use the ck runes to absorb it, she didn''t even consider that an option. The tentacle monster didn''t have much energy for her to steal. If anything, it was stealing her energy. Since her ck runes can''t absorb energy that efficiently yet, what she''d receive would be just a fraction of what it had stolen, she''d also worsen her dizziness by doing so.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The rest of the possible alternatives weren''t any better than those two, so her only choice now was to try and push forward, which was amon theme on the Abyssal Torment Steps. There are no shortcuts here, no easy mode��only hard work and suffering.

    ''Plus, how can I miss such a great opportunity to train?!'' A grin formed on Mira''s face, which widened into a smirk.

    As soon as Mira''s consciousness returned to her body, she immediately felt something trying to lock her memories away and take over her mind.

    ''Nuh-uh! I won''t let you get away with doing that again!'' Mira wrapped her consciousness around her Mind Pce and concentrated on reinforcing each of the rooms within.

    Still feeling a drain on her memories, her brain started overclocking as she picked out all the important and necessary memories she didn''t want to get stolen or couldn''t function without and began engraving those strands onto the walls in her Mind Pce.

    This went on for a while before Mira eventually finished that, and although she had still lost a decent chunk of her memories and brainpower to the monster, she still had full control over her mind and body.

    ''I suppose it''s time to head down now!''

    Mira lifted a foot and nted it firmly on the next step, where the process repeated. She spread her consciousness thin as another tentacle entered her soul, trying to absorb her mind, but it wasn''t something she couldn''t handle.

    From then on, Mira descended the Abyssal Torment Steps with fearlessness and unyielding determination, each footfall echoing throughout the cavernous stairwell. The air is damp and cold, causing her skin to prickle with goosebumps.

    In the depths of her mind, she felt the presence of the tentacle monster, with each step, its appendages increasing as it probed her thoughts and memories. She gritted her teeth and tried to resist it the best she could, but the creature was strong, and it began to siphon away small fragments of her memories despite her best efforts, leaving her feeling disoriented and lost.

    With each passing step, Mira felt the monster''s presence growing stronger and its tentacles multiplying, stealing away more and more of her memories and control over her mind and body. The pain she felt every time another one sprouted was excruciating, and after a while, she felt like she was teetering on the brink of madness.

    However, despite its best efforts to control her, Mira kept a tight hold over her mind, constantly doing her best to fortify her Mind Pce. With every step and every added tentacle, she''d find another weakness that not only the monster but others could exploit if she ever found herself in a simr situation.

    She skimmed through all her memory strands, searching for all the important ones to engrave into her Mind Pce so that even if someone or something did control her mind and locked her memories away, at least she wouldn''t devolve into a mindless beast. The important memories would keep her base instincts in check.

    ***

    After an unknown amount of time passed, Mira stood on the 1,249th step. By this point, her eyes were nk and hollow, hardly showing any signs of intelligent life within. Her body trembled intensely as if just standing there was a near-impossible feat.

    Inside her soul, the tentacle monster had taken over 99% of her soul, leaving only a sliver of it for herself.

    Most people would have already lost their ego if such a thing happened to them, consumed by the monster within. And Mira wasn''t any different.

    The soul is a precious and delicate thing within every organism. The slightest injury to it, even if it was only a tiny scrape, is iparably more dangerous than if something like that happened to the body. Thus, having a giant monster take up 99% of one''s soul was nothing short of a death sentence.

    In fact, by this point, Mira hardly had control over her own mind. She couldn''t consciously tell her legs to move or her arms to wave. The only thing that kept her moving was the preparations she''d made over 100 steps ago, which essentially allowed her body to act independently of her mind.

    Around the 1,200th step, Mira had also hidden away a piece of her consciousness inside the throne room in her Mind Pce since she could feel it slipping away from her gasp. She didn''t know if that was necessary, but at least that tiny piece could give out simple orders and keep everything from copsing.

    However, when it was time to take thatst step, Mira didn''t even know what was going on.

    Still, with nk, dead eyes, Mira lifted her foot and stumbled onto the 1,250th step!

    *Swoosh!*

    With that, her body disappeared from the Abyssal Torment Steps, leaving this godforsaken ce behind!

 Chapter 593 ????? Trial Part 1

    Mira''s eyes shot open with a gasp as she filled her lungs with a deep breath of air! Looking around, she noticed Rhydian lying beside her, keeping watch, and breathed a sigh of relief.

    ''Haaa��. I hate those stairs.'' Mira thought before she closed her eyes and swept her consciousness through her body and soul, ensuring there were no problems.

    After a quick search, she found that her body was perfectly fine, and there were no more holes in her soul. That tentacle monster was gone too, which made her smile.

    ''I hope I never run into a monstrosity like that again!''

    *Plop!*

    Since there were no problems, Mira fell on her back, causing dust to rise, and stared nkly at the cave ceiling. Her eyes felt droopy, and her mind was exhausted, even though she couldn''t have spent more than a few days on the Abyssal Torment Steps. She, someone who could stay awake for an indefinite amount of time without getting tired, was so drained after just a few days of having a soul-sucking parasite inside her.

    ''I''ll have to be careful about attacks on my soul in the future.''

    That was Mira''sst thought before she fell asleep.

    A dayter, she sat up, feeling much more energized than the day before and ready to finish thest two things before she could break through into the Nascent Soul Realm.

    ''I guess I''ll get the Abyssal Battle Latter out of the way, then move on to the Item Trial.''

    Once Mira made up her mind, she didn''t hesitate to put it into action, so with a thought, she entered the F.LD.I.L.

    She approached the arena and walked in, beginning the Abyssal Battle Latter ording to her current cultivation.

    ***

    Ten hourster, Mira teleported outside the arena, covered in sweat and blood but with a smile on her face. She hadpleted 10 stages, earning herself 2046 points. She might''ve been able to achieve more than that, but she didn''t want to risk it as thatst stage was already challenging enough.

    The shadows she had to face weren''t like ordinary people in the outside world. Each one of them could control their strength and body perfectly. Furthermore, their ''talent'' is among the best, and they only make moves that can bring their opponent down.

    So, fighting a Nascent Soul Realm shadow and winning is much more impressive than fighting some random Nascent Soul Realm human. At least in Mira''s opinion.

    ''I don''t know how strong those shadows would be at the Soul Transformation Realm, but I know there''s a qualitative leap in strength for every stage after the 10th. There''s a decent chance I could''ve won, but it''s simply not worth the risk.''

    Afterpleting the Abyssal Battle Latter, Mira took another day to rest and adjust her mindset before starting thest major hurdle blocking her path forward.

    When she felt like she''d reached her absolute peak, Mira walked over to the throne in the Firmament and sat down.

    "I''d like to start the Item Trial, Guardian!" She called out, and like a ghost, the man appeared before her.

    "Are you sure?" The Guardian asked, "I''ll warn you now, but this trial is a bit unique. Should you notplete it with 100% uracy, your path forward will be barred from you forever."

    "What?!" Mira nearly jumped out of her throne in shock and anger, but she managed to keep a cool head, "What do you mean by that? The other trials weren''t like that! Also, what''s with this uracy rating?"

    The Guardian cleared his throat, then exined with a calm smile, "While this uing trial is technically for an ''item'', it''s more about testing to see if you''re worthy of both your Dao and the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life."

    "I get thetter, but why the former?" Mira asked, not too surprised that the Firmament was testing her again, as the entire thing is literally designed that way. However, for her Dao to be judged as well�� She didn''t know how to feel about that.

    "There are a few reasons why your Dao is going to be tested, and you need to go through this trial to break through," The Guardian said, "One is that your soul is too unique. In terms of quality, it doesn''t fall short of many souls at the Soul Transformation level. Because of that, you can''t just use your cultivation technique to break through normally."

    "That leads to the second reason: the grade of your cultivation technique is too high, and the resources needed to cultivate it are insane. The same goes for breaking into the Nascent Soul Realm."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Thest and final reason is that you''re walking the path of the Absolute Ice Dao. Anythingbeled ''Absolute'' is taken very seriously in the cultivation world. It''s not just about having total control over an element. No, it''s the path of being invincible! Should you reach the apex of such a Dao, unless you fight against another person who controls an Absolute Dao."

    "However, such Daos are incrediblyplex, and the path forward isn''t as simple as you think it is. With your puny mortal brain, you could never understand theplexities of an Absolute Dao. No, even Immortals and those so-called gods can''t understand such a Dao!"

    "During your Nascent Soul Realm breakthrough, you need to begin morphing your soul into a manifestation of your Dao and your existence. This uing breakthrough will determine whether you can down the path of the Absolute or not."

    "Thus, the trial is here to help ensure you''re on the right path forward and guide you on how to progress going forward."

    Mira stared at the Guardian with wide eyes and her mouth agape, not expecting that the Dao she chose when she was young was so�� incredible! But that choice effectively put her in a position where the chances of her never obtaining the revenge she oh, so craved were rtively high.

    She snapped out of her reverie quickly, her face donning a grave expression. The situation was much more serious than she thought, and with how abnormally solemn the Guardian was, she could assume that the uing trial would be anything but easy.

    ''No, based on what he said, this might be my most difficult challenge yet!'' Mira thought, but the idea of giving up before she even started never crossed her mind.

    It''s not like she had much of a choice anyways.

    "Whatever! Just send me in! I hadn''t spent all this time getting stronger just to be stuck at the most important part! I''llplete this damn trial and finally break through into the Nascent Soul Realm!" Mira announced, to which the Guardian smiled proudly.

    "Good! Then, I''ll see youter, and I wish you luck!" The Guardian said as he snapped his fingers.

    Afterward, the Firmament erupted with a burst of energy, covering Mira with it. Then, a secondter, it disappeared, along with Mira''s physical body.

    "I pray to me that you have good fortune, Mira, because hard work and skill aren''t enough to get you through this trial." The Guardian bowed slightly at the throne and said a mental prayer to himself.

    ***

    [Congrattions, Sessor Mira XXXX, for making it this far in your cultivation journey.

    Due to your unique circumstances, the Firmament has allowed you into this Secret Realm, where you will decide your future. Will you walk the path of an eternal ruler, or will you crumble, sumbing to the weight of your choices, just like the rest of them?

    Toplete this trial and leave this Secret Realm with what you seek, you must not look at the world through your eyes but with the eyes of the world. The Universe, the Heavens, and Hell know no bias. They judge impartially and keep the world in order. They are the beginning, the end, and the eternal. They are the Absolute!

    However, you, a mere mortal filled with anger and hatred for the world, have decided to tread the path that only the judicators canprehend. You, a mortal filled with bias and partiality, have decided to rebel against those who keep the order!

    There have been many before you; when you''re gone, there will be many after you. Learn from your predecessors and sessors, conquer them, and destroy them so that your reign may be Boundless, Limitless, and go on for Infinity!

    If you fail, your path forward will be forever blocked, and the Keepers of the Order will curse you!

    Good luck, Sessor Mira XXXX, and happy hunting!

    You may now begin Stage 1 of the ????? Trial!]

    ''What the fu-?'' Mira cursed but suddenly felt something tug on her body. She didn''t know what it was, but she was clearly not strong enough to stop it and could only allow herself to be dragged.

    After who knows how long, Mira''s body crashed onto solid ground, and before she could even look around, she felt something burning her hands!

    "Fuck! That''s hot!!"

 Chapter 594 ????? Trial Part 2

    Feeling the skin on her hands slowly melting off, Mira jumped into the air and backed off. However, the scorching heat prated her feet when shended on the ground.

    "Damn! Why is it so hot?" Mira made a pair of ice boots, but within seconds they melted.

    With a sigh, she stopped to fight against the molten ground and circted her Qi, then hovered in the air.

    Now that her skin wasn''t melting, she could finally get a good look at where she was. Due to the heat prating her pores, she wasn''t too shocked about her current location, but her eyes did widen in surprise at how hellish the ce was.

    The air in this ce was thick and suffocating, with the acrid stench of burning sulfur and brimstone hanging in the air. Thendscape was dominated by jagged rocks and fire pirs that rose from the molten earth, casting flickering shadows across the scorchedndscape.

    Dark and gloomy skies hung overhead, with roiling clouds of smoke and ash obscuring the sun and casting everything in a sickly red glow. The winds that whipped across thendscape were scorching hot, carrying with them waves of intense heat that made it difficult to breathe.

    Pools and rivers of magma dotted thendscape, glowing with an intense heat that threatened to consume all who ventured too close. The ground itself was cracked and fissured, with fiery crevices belching up waves of superheated, poisonous air.

    Lava pirs rose up from the earth, towering high into the sky and casting an eerie glow across the destendscape. The pirs were pulsing with heat, radiating an intense aura of fiery power that left all who drew too close feeling scorched and raw.

    Fiery beasts and twisted demons stalked the scorched earth; their bodies wreathed in mes as they prowled thendscape, seeking out the souls of the damned. Terrifying demons roamed thend, their red, twisted, and deformed bodies etched with the torture their bodies and soul had undergone while staying in this ce.

    Off in the distance, Mira noticed a giant volcano that reached the sky. Dark, toxic gasses constantly spewed out of it. However, at the top of the volcano, a fiery eye hung over thendscape, watching over its inhabitants.

    While Mira had never seen anything like this, her eyes remained still as she calmly observed her surroundings. However, there was one ce where there were no dark clouds, fire, or anything synonymous with the word "Hell".

    Quite the opposite.

    Above a massive, smoking volcano, its fiery maw belching forth clouds of ash and smoke that obscured the sky, a shining gate hung in the air. The gate itself was an awe-inspiring sight; a massive, shimmering structure of silver and gold that glinted in the dull light of the volcanic wastnd.

    The gate was intricate and ornate, with borate carvings and designs etched into its surface. Massive, glowing pirs of crystal nked the gates, each pulsing with otherworldly energy that seemed to infuse the very air with a sense of peace and wonder.

    Despite the ominous surroundings, the gates radiated a warm and weing light, casting a golden aura across the ash-coveredndscape below. The gates themselves were suspended in the air, held aloft by an unseen force that seemed to defy thews of gravity.

    At the top of the gate was a sign with words embroidered in gold. The letters seemed to be from an ancient, unknownnguage that looked oddly simr to the ck runes which coated her body yet were slightly different.

    Mira shouldn''t be able to read them, but for some reason, the meaning of these words entered her mind.

    The words read: Gates of Heaven!

    Just looking at the bright, golden light exuding from the Gates of Heaven, Mira felt a searing pain in her eyes. However, she kept her eyes wide open for another few seconds to engrave the image of it into her mind.

    ''I don''t know why, but I feel like this in and of itself is an opportunity.'' Mira thought. When she remembered every little detail of the gate, Mira ced the memory in an empty room in her Mind Pce,beled ''Heaven'', and turned her head away.

    Just as she finished scoping out thend, she heard the F.LD.I.L ring inside her head.

    [There are only 8 absolutes in this world: Heaven, Hell, Space-Time, the Void, Genesis Essence, Omega Energy, Souls, and the River of Reincarnation. Each of them has always existed and will always exist.

    [Heaven is the judge that keeps the world in order. Its job is to find anyone who wants to break that bnce and punish them. It does not have morals or care about petty human squabbles. ording to human standards, you could be the worst person and have killed billions of people, but the Heavens won''t care.]<novelnext></novelnext>

    [Across the universe and throughout all of Space-Time, an infinite number of beings have died of natural causes. What is infinitypared to a few billion? Should the Heavens punish the world for its cruelty? No, obviously not. Life and death are a way of the world. In Heaven''s impartial eyes, every death is a natural cause. The living are the ones who attach a negative connotation to death., not the Heavens.]

    [Only when you''ve done something that breaks the delicate bnce of the Universe will the Heavens aim to punish you.]

    [Hell is the punishment for those who have tried to break the bnce of the Universe. Here, the souls of the ''damned'' will experience eternal pain and suffering for their crimes, never to reincarnate again.]

    [Space-Time is the origin and reason behind why existence can exist. Without it, there is nothing.]

    [The void is an intangible, metaphysical ce that expands into infinity. Space and Time can only exist within the void, yet the void only serves to propagate the continuation of Space-Time.]

    [Genesis Essence is the energy that created everything you see. Qi, the Earth, the sky,s, stars, and everything in between can be traced back to Genesis Essence.]

    [Omega Energy is the antithesis to Genesis Essence, yet the two can''t exist without one another. It''s essentially just Genesis Essence that''s already been contaminated and can''t be used to propagate existence anymore. Think of it as the 2nd stage in the process of recycling Genesis Essence.]

    [Lastly are Souls and the River of Reincarnation. Everything has a soul in this world. Every little pebble. Every de of grass. Every animal. Even the clump of cells that will create a fetus inside a pregnant woman. Having a soul isn''t the criterion for being alive and is merely a representation of your strength and importance in the world. For example, a pebble might not have arge soul, but if it''s part of arger whole like a mountain, its status is temporarily raised until it is relocated or destroyed.]

    [The River of Reincarnation is what cleanses these souls and recycles them for future use.]

    [Everything in this world exists because there is a bnce. Without this bnce, then existence as a whole might be in danger. It might not happen immediately, but the changes will be significant after tens or hundreds of Chaos Cycles (times when the universe resets).]

    [If you want to join the absolutes'' ranks, you must first fight them. Once you''ve seeded in doing that, conquer them. Lastly, you have to carve out your own little ce in existence that is outside of the 8 absolutes. It must exist outside of their control and be unique to you.]

    [Only after you''vepleted all of these steps can you dare to say you walk down the path of the Absolute Ice Dao.]

    [That is your objective!]

    [Now go! Go struggle for your own little piece of the universe!]

    "..."

    Mira floated there in stunned silence, not knowing how to react to that information. The scale of this situation just seemed to be muchrger than she''d ever thought possible.

    "Fuck! I just want to break through into the Nascent Soul Realm! Why must everything be soplicated?!" Mirained, yet a grin never left her face.

    Mira has lived most of her life with the mantra, ''The more difficult something is, the more rewarding it will be.''

    Since she prioritizes strength over all else, the fact that she was unable to break through despite her talent just means the strength she''ll gain as a result will be more than enough topensate her for the difficulty.

    ''Still, am I really supposed to know this stuff? Why do I feel like the F.LD.I.L just exposed a few secrets about the world that I''m not supposed to know, at least not at my current level of strength?'' Mira thought but just shrugged her shoulders.

    ''Whether I have this information or not doesn''t change anything.'' Mira turned to one of the deformed demons, and the grin on her face widened, ''My objective is to fight, right? Then, I''m more than happy to oblige!''

    Mira took out her scythe andunched herself at the demon!

 Chapter 595 ????? Trial Part 3

    The demon, while humanoid, looked nothing like a human. It had two arms, two legs, one head, and a torso, but that was where the simrities ended. All of its limbs weren''t symmetrical on its body and seemed to be scattered about randomly.

    It looked more like a ball of meat than a person.

    When the demon sensed Mira approaching, it turned around and screeched at her like some abominable siren, but that was all it could do before she swung her scythe, cutting through its body like it was warm butter.

    As soon as Mira ''killed'' it, the demon''s body turned to dust, leaving behind a 2-meter-tall white wisp.

    Mira''s eyebrows shot up in confusion as she didn''t expect that to happen.

    ''I suppose it must be the uniqueness of this trial and Secret Realm,'' Mira thought, but her theories didn''t stop there as she took in the hellish sights around her, ''I have a feeling this ce is Hell or at least somewhere simr to it in nature. If that''s the case, then these demons and creatures are technically already dead. All that''s left of them is their souls.''

    Mira turned her attention back to the white wisp, which was filled with a unique energy she''d never felt before.

    ''This must be its souls in its truest form. That should be all that''s left of these beings anyways, granted this ce is actually hell.''

    Mira''s thoughts weren''t wrong, as this was a Secret Realm that simted Heaven and Hell on a much smaller scale than she was used to. While the concepts were pretty much the same, the size, quality of entities, and danger levels were nowhere near simr.

    In the ''main'' Hell, Mira''s attack wouldn''t have even scratched that demon. No, before she could even attack anything, her body would have already burst into mes, leaving nothing behind but her soul.

    Then, her soul would''ve most likely been thrown into the River of Reincarnation right after dying, not giving her any chance of reviving.

    ''Now the question is: what do I do now?'' Mira pondered. However, as she was thinking, the white wisp before her began wriggling, and within seconds, the demon''s body was reformed to how it was previously.

    Only this time, it looked just a bit more deformed than before.

    ''Interesting. So, it seems that the outward appearance of these demons is just a manifestation of their soul, or in other words, their existence. They are this fugly and gross-looking simply because their soul has been fucked up by them being in Hell for so long.'' Mira eyed the demon curiously before chopping its body in half, ''killing'' it again.

    Secondster, the demon reformed, its body slightly worse looking than before. However, Mira didn''t give the being any respite as she killed it again, except this time she used her Yin Fire.

    When it reformed again, Mira was surprised to see that its red body now had a hint of blue, plus it now had small nasty boils all over its body.

    ''Hmmm~ So, the method they ''die'' reflects on their soul. How interesting!'' Mira grinned like she had found a new toy to y with and began ''killing'' this poor soul over and over again. There was so much to learn about the soul by doing this that she couldn''t stop herself.

    Whether or not these ''demons'' were good or bad people never crossed Mira''s mind. What did that matter when they were already in hell? It''s not like their lives could get any worse!

    So, Mira spent the next few minutes killing it repeatedly, finding out how external forces change one''s soul.

    ''From my understanding, after this brief little experiment session, the soul is just a reflection of who we are and our experiences. It is ''you'' in the purest sense of the word. For example, if someone asked me who I am, I would usually answer "Mira", and while that would be true, that''s not who I am. Mira is just a name. However, if I were to show my soul to them instead, that would be the correct answer as that''s a direct representation of who I am.''

    Although Mira came to that conclusion, her soul was nothing like that. It was ck or filled with blood. Rather, it was nk. Aside from the Firmament, Elenei, and her Scythe, which resided in her Soul Sea, there was nothing special about her soul.

    ''How peculiar. I wonder if it''s because I haven''t reached the Soul Transformation Realm yet.'' Mira thought but soon shrugged her shoulders and discarded these ideas

    ''I should probably move onto something else so I can be done with this Secret Realm.''

    Mira stopped thinking about useless things and killed the demon again. However, she didn''t wait for it to reform this time and jammed her arm into it instead.

    As soon as she made contact with it, the white wisp trembled for a moment before it shot toward her head.

    "What?"

    Mira tried to stop it, but the wisp was too fast and entered her body before she could do anything.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''Fuck!'' Mira cursed and swept her consciousness through her body, only to find the wisp hovering in her soul. It wasn''t doing anything, not wreaking havoc or trying to take over her body. It just hovered there as if it had found its new home.

    ''Hmm? Why did it-''

    *OOOOOOHHHHHMMMMM!*

    Mira couldn''t finish that thought as an ethereal pressure enveloped her body, causing her feet to sink into the ground.

    ''Now what?!''

    Mira''s consciousness returned to her body, and when she opened her eyes, she was blinded by a golden light shining on her!

    *Tssss!*

    Her eyes seared from the light, but she didn''t close them and instead searched for the source of her problems, which didn''t take long to find as there was only one thing in this entire ce that emitted light!

    ''The Gates of Heaven!!'' Mira screamed internally.

    That''s right! The Gates of Heaven had opened up slightly and were now beaming her with light!

    ''Why is it attacking me?! Is it because I absorbed that soul into my body?'' Mira guessed and was certain that she was correct. The only thing she had done in this Realm was she killed a demon a few times, but the Heavens didn''t react to that. Only after the soul went inside her body did it react!

    Now that she understood why it was attacking her, a few more things started to make more sense. For example, how she was supposed to clear this trial.

    ''The Firmament told me that I was rebelling against the Heavens and that if I wanted to continue down this path, then I had to fight.'' Mira raised her hand and touched the light. It immediately began trying to eradicate her, but her body was too strong, and her regenerative powers were too high for it to do any harm, ''I''m guessing the part about fighting them means something like this.''

    Mira turned her attention to the other demons around her and looked around, ''Or does it instead want me to fight those things, and the part about "conquering" has to do with oveing this light?''

    Mira was unsure if that was correct, but she felt she was one step closer to the truth.

    Shaking her head, she stared at a simr-looking demon and ran over to it, ignoring the light and the pressure around her.

    ''Let''s see what happens if I absorb another soul.''

    The demon didn''t get a chance to retaliate before Mira swung her scythe and chopped it in half. After its body dissipated, leaving behind a white wisp, Mira touched it, and the same thing happened again. The white wisp flew into her brain, straight for her soul, and merged with the first wisp.

    As soon as that happened, the light and pressure around her body intensified, though the effects were still minimal.

    Nodding her head as if she expected that to happen, she thought, ''It seems the Heavens aren''t happy with my actions. So, could this be considered an act of rebelling? Is this what the Firmament means by fighting against the absolutes? But how am I fighting against hell and the 6 other absolutes by doing this?''

    Mira had too many questions, yet not enough answers. In fact, from what the Firmament exined not too long ago, bnce and order were incredibly important to maintaining the universe. However, she didn''t know what it meant to break that bnce.

    ''Is absorbing these demon''s souls breaking said bnce? But how? Is it because they can''t return to the River of Reincarnation? Or that I''m not supposed to have more than one soul in my body?''

    For some reason, these questions gued Mira''s mind more than she thought they would, but no matter how hard she thought about them, she couldn''te up with any concrete answers.

    ''Whatever!'' In the end, Mira just threw her arms up in the air and gave up thinking. She decided to put her time toward something more worthwhile, ''Since it seems the Heavens react to me absorbing demon souls, then I''ll continue to do just that!''

    Leaping up in the air, Mira shot toward her next prey!

 Chapter 596 ????? Trial Part 4

    Mira strode confidently through this Hellish Realm, her scythe gleaming in the dark, eerie red light that permeated thend. She chased down the demons as if they were pigs waiting to be ughtered and killed them without hesitation.

    But despite her confidence in battle, Mira was the most worried about the Gates of Heaven. They hovered above the realm, shimmering with a bright light that grew stronger with every demon she slew and every soul she absorbed. As the light intensified, so did the pressure around her, threatening to crush her with its weight.

    It wasn''t enough to cause her any significant damage, but there were countless demons in this, and if Mira had to kill them all as she presumed, then the light would start to be a major obstacle in passing this trial.

    Additionally, as the pressure increased, she felt something deep within her body tremble as if it wereing to life, which worried her. However, since she had no choice but to keep moving forward, she pushed her worries to the back of her mind.

    ''I''ll just keep ''killing'' these things until I pass this realm,'' Mira thought, her scythe shing past her, cutting another demon in half. Without looking at the soul, she touched it with her hand, then moved on to the next one.

    As she did that, her gaze kept turning toward the massive volcano and Gates that seemed to be in the center of this realm. It was still many kilometers away, and there were swarms of demons between her and it, but Mira felt drawn toward it.

    "I have a feeling that the way toplete this Realm is over there."

    This wasn''t just a baseless assumption. Other than the massive volcano and Gates of Heaven, there wasn''t much else to this Realm. Thend around her was rtively t, covered with demons,va pirs, magma rivers, and scorching hot brimstone for the earth. Other than that, the ce was empty.

    ''However, since the Firmament told me I need to earn a 100%pletion rate to pass this trial, I need to be careful with how I approach it. Thus, for now, I''ll keep killing demons until there are no more around the volcano.'' Mira thought while cutting another demon in half and absorbing their soul, causing the Gates of Heaven to send down an even stronger light and pressure.

    ***

    Mira continued her killing spree without running into anything unexpected.

    It wasn''t until she killed about 25% of the demons within this Realm, which was in the hundreds of thousands, had a change finally urred. However, this wasn''t a change with the Realm, but her instead!

    As the change urred, the pressure on Mira''s shoulders increased exponentially, causing her feet to sink into the ground and her knees to quiver for a second as they struggled to adjust to the weight.

    "What the hell?!" Mira''s eyes widened when she felt something deep within her click open! She didn''t need to sweep her consciousness through her body to know what had just happened.

    The 4th door in her Gates of Purgatory had just opened without her permission! Not just that, but the additional pressure she felt on her body was exactly the same as the pressure the Gates of Heaven were trying to kill her with!

    Clearly, the next Hell in her Gates of Purgatory had something to do with pressure or weight.

    "How did this happen?" Mira soon calmed down and wondered, "Did the Gates of Heaven stimte it, or did the two resonate in some way, causing the door to unlock? They do have simr names, so I wouldn''t dismiss the idea that the two gates had some connection with one another."

    Mira hadn''t thought of this possibility before, but now that she thought about it, the two gates were eerily simr. Maybe not in essence, but the auras they released were equally as profound. It was like she was staring at a giant mountain that breached the sky every time she looked at them directly.

    ''Could the two be rted in some way?'' Mira felt that her assumption was correct but then shook her head, ''Even if they are rted, will that knowledge help me now?''

    Mira didn''t think it would, so she put this knowledge away in her Mind Pce and kept walking forward, swinging her scythe and absorbing more souls.

    ***

    Mira slowly circled closer toward the volcano as she killed everything in sight, making sure not to leave a single soul behind, literally. However, another change urred after reaching the halfway point between where she started and where she was heading.

    The Gates of Heaven, which were originally closed, and only opened up slightly after every demon died, had now halfway sung open.

    Mira looked up curiously to see what it would do now. Then, through the light that was already trying to blind her, she saw that the gates were wreathed in a storm of golden lightning, rumbling and crackling with a deafening roar.

    She felt a deep sense of foreboding when she looked at those lightning strikes, and thest time she had to face the wrath of Heaven popped inside her mind. During her breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm, she had to fight against the Heavens and��. She actually lost.<novelnext></novelnext>

    However, not only did she lose, itpletely obliterated her. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that she had died that day, only for a miracle to happen and bring her back to life, born anew.

    That memory was still fresh in her mind and would be a day she would never forget, even if she didn''t want to remember it.

    ''Fuck!'' Mira cursed and wrapped herself in Qi, wanting to prevent as much damage as possible.

    The gates rumbled once again, the golden lightning starting to increase in size and power as it wiped away the dark plumes that used to blot out the sky. After a few minutes had passed by, the golden lightning finally stopped growing, and Mira felt something lock onto her.

    Before she could move, the lightning surged toward her as if it were trying to strike her.

    "...!"

    Mira''s body convulsed as the lightning coursed through her, but she bit her lip to hold back a groan. The power of the lightning was overwhelming, threatening to tear her apart at the seams. But Mira gritted her teeth and stood firm, refusing to let the power of the heavens defeat her.

    Combined with the added pressure from the Hell of Weight (or so she dubbed it), the damage done to her body was quite extensive. Her organs were slowly disintegrating, and her bones were grinding into dust. Even her meridians, which were made with Chaotic Silk, took some damage!

    Fortunately, her regeneration speed and vitality were more than enough to heal these injuries almost instantly, but that didn''t make Mira feel any better because right after the first strike, another one came down.

    Then another��

    And another��

    ��.And another��.

    In just a few seconds, Mira was bathed in a storm of golden lightning as it rumbled and crackled around her, trying to reduce her to ash. It showed no signs of stopping either, as with every breath she took, another bolt rained down from the sky.

    ''Ugh! I fucking hate this goddamn lightning!'' Mira groaned, not so much in pain but more so in frustration, as she was again reminded of the power of the Heavens.

    Besides that, there seemed to be quite a significant jump in danger from having killed around 25% of the demons to 50%. Even now, the pressure from the Hell of Weight made every bone in her body creak and crack, not to mention the lightning!

    ''If this is how bad it already is, then how much worse will it get toward the end of this trial??'' Mira couldn''t help but wonder as the future looked bleaker and bleaker.

    Just as that thought popped into her brain, she snorted, "I guess I''ll just have to find out."

    Mira used all her senses, other than sight, to locate the next demon and then shot in its direction. The weight on her body caused the ground beneath her to crack with every step, and lightning charred everything around, but Mira continued to move like she felt nothing.

    As she approached the demon before she could even swing her scythe, the golden lightning surrounding her turned it to dust, allowing Mira to grab its soul without even trying.

    A cruel grin formed on her face as she sent a mental middle finger toward the Heavens.

    ''Hehehe~ Thanks for the assistance! I''ll be sure to put your power to good use!'' Mira chuckled but didn''t dare to voice her thoughts out loud.

    Thest time she did so�� Well, the Heavens weren''t the least bit happy with what she had to say.

    Now, she knew better than to try and deliberately piss off the Heavens. She didn''t want to die just yet, after all.

 Chapter 597 ????? Trial Part 5

    Since Mira was on a time limit, she decided to speed through the rest of the demons.

    Her vitality might seem endless, but it certainly wasn''t. With each lightning strike getting stronger and stronger and the rate at which they fell getting faster, it wouldn''t be long before her body couldn''t heal her injuries anymore. She''d also run out of Qi to block most of the damage before these lightning strikes stopped.

    Luckily, she didn''t need to waste any more energy than she already was by killing the demons, as the lightning that constantly surged around her was more than enough to turn them into dust. All she had to do was absorb their soul and move on to the next one.

    ***

    After killing her way through 75% of the demons, another change urred in the Gates of Heaven.

    Mira heard a deep, rumbling noiseing from it as the gates opened up even more, but before they could open uppletely, the gates stopped. Then, a bright golden-red light shone from within, vaporizing the smog that filled the air!

    It shone within the sky like a sun, blinding Mira for trying to look at it and causing her to turn away. If she stared at the sun for too long, she might actually go blind!

    However, that was only the beginning of Mira''s troubles! The massive golden-red sun rolled its way out of the gates, and as soon as it did, it was as if this Hellish Secret Realm had awoken!

    The volcano grumbled and trembled as if it were ready to explode at any moment! Theva pirs all around her shot up higher in the sky, except now they were tinged with gold, and the heat emanating from this was suffocating.

    Mira felt the skin on her legs and feet melting off as the magma beneath her bubbled and popped, releasing heat so intense that it burned the very air she hovered on. She almost dropped from the sky a few meters because of that but quickly caught herself, preventing an unwanted magma bath.

    Sweat poured out of Mira''s body like a faucet as she tried to cool off, but the salty water drops were instantly vaporized upon contact with the outside world, leaving her skin to warp and be pliable, like how rubber would if someone put it in a fire for too long.

    The lightning strikes continued to rain down on her body, and the pressure didn''t stop weighing her down just because the Heavens added another factor, so she was forced to multitask!

    Creating a suit of ice armor thatpletely covered her body, Mira attempted to block off the heat and cool herself down at the same time, but she still underestimated the Gates of Heaven too much!

    Mira sighed, feeling some relief from the heat as her ice armor protected her, but before she got too happy, it melted, not even leaving any water behind. She didn''t need to see to know what was going on.

    The Gates of Heaven had shot down a pir of fire at her!

    ''Ugh!'' She bit her lip and grunted as the mes threatened to turn her to ash. Mira circted her Qi and formed another set of ice armor, except this time, she added ayer of Yin Fire on top of that.

    Mira wasn''t quite sure whether her Yin Fire would be strong enough to stop the Heavenly mes, but it was the best chance she had. Yin Fire was technically the antithesis of normal, yang mes, which seemed to be the kind of fire the Gates of Heaven were generating.

    The characteristics of her Yin Fire were that in exchange for the massive, uncontrolled destruction that normal fire had, it was more precise and had corrosive properties.

    The best way to describe it was this: Her Yin Fire was the water element superheated to levels beyond that ofva and magma and then transformed into the shape of a me, yet it was neither water, magma, nor a me. It was abination of all three.

    That made it less like a process, which normal fire was, and more like a tangible object that can be manipted. That''s why, more than her ice, which normal fire countered, her Yin Fire was her best bet at protecting her.

    When the Heavenly Fire came into contact with her Yin Fire, it stalled for a second. The Heavenly fire tried to destroy Mira''s fire with brute force and overwhelming power, but her Yin Fire was like glue as soon as the two touched. It resiliently resisted the iing force and tried to consume the fuel which empowered the mes.

    However, the Gates of Heaven wasn''t called that for no reason, and it wasn''t long before the power behind those mes was more than what she could handle and burst through her Yin Fire!

    Mira silently cursed, but now that she understood that her idea worked, she could try and further improve her defenses! Before the Heavenly mes destroyed her ice armor, Mira created anotheryer of Yin Fire. Right after, she formed a few small Singrity Strikes (ck holes).

    The Singrity Strikes sucked in all the nearby light, heat, and even fire, allowing the Yin Fire to do its job better. With all these things working in tandem, including her ice armor, Mira almost felt like she wasn''t on fire anymore!

    Almost��<novelnext></novelnext>

    After about 10 seconds, the Singrity Strikes fizzled out, causing the Realm to return to normal, but Mira was more than satisfied with that.

    ''I can kill a lot of demons in just 10 seconds. With my Qi reserves and the cost it takes to keep my Yin Fire active along with those Singrity Strikes, I should be able to kill all of the demons and make it to the volcano before I reach half of my avable Qi. I might also be able to decrease that consumption by adjusting my power output and testing out other abilities. And if things get too bad, I can always rely on my tails.'' Mira thought. However, she was very hesitant to use her tails.

    Not only were they her trump cards, but she couldn''t use them that often. More than likely, if she were to use any of them once, she wouldn''t be able to use them again in this trial.

    ''Well, let''s not waste any more time and finish this damn trial before I end up as a cooked fox!'' Even though Mira''s eyesight waspletely blocked off by the lightning, light, and fire surrounding her, she could sense the presence of those around her.

    She immediately located the next demon and lunged toward it. It only took her a fraction of a second to reach the demon, and before she could even attack, it burst into mes and disintegrated! Mira didn''t show any surprise on her face and just reached out her hand, touching the white wisp that was left behind before moving on to the next one.

    All of this only took her a fraction of a second!

    ***

    After Mira had killed an endless number of demons, probably somewhere in the hundreds of thousands range, she finally eradicated them all, or at least what she assumed to be them all, and took her first step onto the volcano!

    It took her a bit longer and a bit more Qi to reach this point, leaving her with around 25% of her reserves left, but there wasn''t much she could do in this situation. She tested out otherbinations of her Ice, Yin Fire, and Darkness affinities, but none were as good at keeping her from dying as the ice armor, Singrity Strikes, and ayer of Yin Fire.

    As soon as Mira took her first step onto the volcano, she paused.

    "..."

    Things were quiet��

    WAY too quiet��

    The sounds of lightning crackling, fire raging, and the ground rumbling still entered Mira''s ears, but usually, she''d hear the screams of the damned as well.

    However, now, there was none of that.

    To make matters worse, even after she killed all the demons, the Gates of Heaven hadn''t made another move.

    ''Did I forget one? Is there still a lone demon hidden in this Realm?'' Mira thought before shaking her head. She had used her [Earth Sense] ability to look for any hard-to-find demons and had already taken care of them all.

    From what she knew, she had killed everything in this ce.

    ''Then��'' With her eyes closed, Mira nced up at the peak of the volcano. By the time she reached this point, Mira wasn''t that far away from the top, maybe a few hundred meters at most, but that space seemed much longer than even the tallest mountain to Mira right now, ''Is it waiting for something?''

    Her eyelids trembled, and a chill ran down her spine. Mira tried to ignore it by lifting her foot and taking another step up the volcano, but��

    For some reason, a sense of foreboding overwhelmed her, and her body wouldn''t move. It was as if she would die if she took another step.

    Right now, Mirapletely forgot about the attacks raining down on her as the silence in the air prated every pore in her body, causing her hair to stand on end.

    Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, Mira forced her body to move and took another step forward!

 Chapter 598 ????? Trial Part 6

    As Mira took a step forward, she felt the looming danger intensify. She stopped for a second, then looked around, preparing for something to happen, but the threat she felt never came.

    Instead, the eerie calmness on the mountain intensified while the pressure on her body worsened. Every bone in her body popped, ready to break at a moment''s notice due to all the stress it was under. Her heart and organs were working overtime to keep her alive and not turn into mush, but Mira knew that the time left before things got dangerous wasn''t that long.

    So, she pushed aside the foreboding feeling, picked up her foot, and took another step.

    That one step felt like it took the same energy as it might take for her to walk up an entire mountain. No, taking that one step was much more challenging than it was to climb up a mountain!

    Mira wiped the sweat off her forehead as she looked up at the towering peak that loomed above her. The jagged rocks jutted out at odd angles, forming a treacherous path that led to the summit of the mountain. Theva running down was so hot that breathing in the air burned her lungs.

    The air was thick with the stench of sulfur, and the ground beneath her feet was hot to the touch. Mira nced down and saw that her footsteps had left deep imprints in the ckened earth due to the horrendous weight on her body.

    ''Fucking hell! What kind of godforsaken ce is this?!'' Mira cursed. However, she secretly thanked the Abysall Torment Steps for preparing her for this moment. She knew that this journey would be much more torturous had she not already experienced the worst kinds of pain known to man, or at least to her.

    Taking a few short breaths, Mira stopped thinking about useless stuff and took another step!

    ''There''s only one way to end this, and that''s by moving forward!''

    The climb was grueling, and Mira''s body nearly crumbled with each step. But she pushed on, driven by a determination to reach the top and leave this ce. The heat grew more intense as she climbed higher, and she could feel sweat pouring down her face and back. It was so hot that Mira created a stream of water down her throat using Qi! Although most of it turned to steam as soon as it came into contact with the outside world, she was able to feel some relief for a fraction of a second.

    Yet, that much was all she needed to put her head back in the right ce.

    With a cooler mind, she stomped her foot, the volcano shaking due to the weight of her body.

    As she climbed, Mira noticed that the rocks grew sharper and more twisted, like the ws of some monstrous beast. With each step, these rocks dug into her skin, easily breaking past her defenses and ripping her apart.

    The higher she climbed, the more she had to rely on her hands to pull herself up, clinging to the jagged edges with all her strength.

    Then, finally, after what felt like hours of climbing, Mira saw the peak in sight. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself harder, scrambling up thest few feet until she stood at the summit.

    However, contrary to an actual mountain, where she might feel a sense of aplishment from climbing it, the only thing Mira felt when she reached the top was dread! Just as she was still wondering about the source of the dread, she heard a deep, rumbling voice from within the volcano, which caused theva inside it to bubble.

    "Hm~ It seems a little fox has wandered their way up to my home. How amusing~!"

    Then, theva inside the mountain parted, and a massive, hulking beast of a man walked through like it was nothing. He was over 5 meters tall, with crimson skin, four muscr arms, and rippling muscles all over his body. In spite of this, Mira''s eyes were drawn to the two horns on his head and the massive fangs that protruded from his mouth like those of an orc.

    The man''s entire body was wrapped in ck metal chains; each engrained into his body like they were a part of him. The chains led deep into the volcano, unaffected by the heat of theva.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The giant demonic man eventually walked to the top of the volcano and stood above Mira, staring her up and down. His eyes brightened, seeing her beauty, and a massive grin formed on his face.

    "It''s been such a long time since I''ve seen a creature as beautiful as yourself. You might have already noticed it, but this Realm is crawling with ugly-ass inferior beings. I''m sick of looking at such low lives that can''t even handle a bit of pain!" The man said in disgust, but a grin never left his face as he stared at Mira.

    "However, you''re quite a sight for sore eyes! I never thought I''d get a chance to see a beautiful woman again in this wretched ce! Kueh-huhu! Come,e! Let''s sit down and chat!" The man chuckled strangely, motioning for Mira to follow him. However, she didn''t move.

    While he stared at Mira, his eyes gleamed with lust every now and then, but more than anything, he just seemed happy to see her. To Mira, he looked like a man who had just found an oasis in the middle of a desert.

    Seeing that the man was about to speak, Mira interrupted him as she couldn''t waste much more time in this Realm lest her body crumbles into pieces and disintegrate from the Fire and Lightning surrounding her.

    However, Mira was curious about a few things.

    "Wait!" Mira called out, and the man stoppedughing, "Can''t you see that the Gates of Heaven are about to kill me?" Mira pointed at lightning, light, and fire raining down upon her, "Also, what do you mean, ''inferior beings''?"

    "Ah, yes. The good''ole Gates of Heaven," The man nced up at the golden gates, but a smile never left his face, "It seems you''ve done something it didn''t like and decided to punish you, but don''t worry. They won''t let you die if you''re in this hell. At most, your body will just be destroyed, leaving your soul behind. After all, they can''t have a sinner like you roaming the living." The man nodded his head in understanding.

    "As for what those inferior beings are�� Naturally, they''re humans. From what I know, they onlysted a few years in this ce before they lost their ego and turned into those ugly creatures. Tsk! Trying to break the bnce with such petty resolve! Truly, humans are the most arrogant species to exist!" The man lost his smile for a second but regained it as he looked back at Mira''s beautiful figure.

    On the other hand, Mira wasn''t sure what to say. She felt there was a misunderstanding between them as the man seemed to think that she had already died and then appeared in this ce. However, she was also curious about his words.

    "Do you know what those people did to end up here? Also, why did they turn into those nasty meatballs with limbs?"

    "Kueh-huhu!" The man chuckled, "From what I remember, most of those things were in the same�� hmmm�� what did they call it? A Sect, I think?" He pondered and then shook his head, not able to remember, "Anyways, they were in some sort of group in the Mortal Realm, like the ants that they are, whose sole purpose was to find and refine a World Core, stealing an entire world from Heaven''s grasp and using it for their own personal use. Tsk, seriously! What a bunch of fucking losers! Why would they want a World Core?? It''s not like such inferior beings could do anything with it!"

    Mira tilted her head, "World Core? What''s a World Core?" She had some ideas about what it might be but felt it was better to ask for confirmation.

    The man''s muscles flexed, and his grin widened like he was just happy to talk to another person, "A World Core is just as the name describes. It''s the core of a world. It regtes the energy on a and the existence of life. From what I know, they also contain a bit of Genesis Essence as well, but it''s hard to tell since I don''t know what Genesis Essence feels like."

    Mira hummed thoughtfully but didn''t think too much about this information. Such a thing was way too out of reach for her current self.

    "Then��" Mira looked the giant man up and down before her indifferent, yet slightly curious eyes met his. The man flexed his muscles again, seemingly wanting to show off in front of Mira, but she ignored that and instead asked, "How did you end up in this ce?"

    The man''s grin transformed into a savage smirk, and heughed boisterously, "Ku-HAHAHAH! Me?! I created an alternate cultivation system! One that the Heavens didn''t seem to like that much! KAHAHAHA!"

 Chapter 599 ????? Trial Part 7

    Mira stood there, rooted to the ground, not knowing what to say. She had never heard of or seen anyone who had created their own cultivation system. Even she, with her insanely highprehension, had never thought about doing something like that!

    It just didn''t make sense! The Heavens might seek to control the bnce, but the cultivation system that people followed was top-tier. It covered all the basics, from bodily strength to Qi, to the soul, and prepared one for the Immortal Realm!

    To make it more appealing, especially for someone like Mira, who had to go against the Heavens, this was a cultivation system created by man, not the Absolutes.

    They were just the judge, jury, and executioner. They had no reason to dictate every little detail of a mortal''s life. At least, that''s what Mira understood from the Firmament''s description of the Heavens.

    "Why did you do that? And why did the Heavens not like that?" Mira asked.

    "Kueh-huhu!" The man chuckled, "You might not know much about my race, but I''m known as an Ashura. You see, we Ashura''s were born with abnormally strong bodies and mighty souls, even without any cultivation. For example, the strength of an Ashura child could rival those in the Foundation Realm or, in some cases, weaker Core Formation cultivators."

    "You might think that''s amazing, and it is, but not everything was great. For one, our Qi cultivation talent was piss-poor. In a world where the entire cultivation system revolved around Qi at its core, this effectively made us useless. Still, our longer lifespans, abnormal bodily strength, and strong soul more than made up for this deficiency, and we became the major ruling power in my Realm."

    "However, I, Huoyan Ashura, wasn''t satisfied with that!" The man threw a fist in the air, his muscles flexing, "The nine major Mortal Realms did not bring out our full potential as it did for the other humanoid races! So, along with a few Elders, I decided to change that!"

    The man, Huoyan, then looked down at Mira and smirked, "And I seeded! After many years of research, I had finally created a perfect cultivation system for my race! With that, I became stronger than anyone else and reached the peak of power faster than anyone in my race ever had!"

    "Unfortunately, when I was ascending to the Immortal Realm, the Heavens struck me down,beling me as someone who would break the bnce and sending me to this ce."

    Mira stared at Huoyan with her mouth wide open, astounded by his story. The standard cultivation system was already hard enough for 99% of people, so for him to deem it unworthy just showed how talented these Ashuras were!

    Mira didn''t think for a second that he was lying, as the pride that emanated from his body wasn''t something someone could fake. Also, Huoyan was strong.

    Many times stronger than the strongest person she had ever met!

    ''If he and Aelina were to face off, I bet this man could absolutely destroy her with just his pinky finger!'' Mira thought, knowing there was no chance in hell she was beating this guy.

    ''Luckily, he''s chained up.''

    Mira shook her head, pushing these thoughts aside, "Still, that doesn''t answer my question as to why the Heavens killed you and threw you in hell."

    Huoyan''s face crumpled up into an awkward look, "Well, you see�� I don''t actually know the reason. It''s not like the Heavens tell you why. They just strike you down without warning!"

    Just as Mira was about to frown, he chuckled, "However, I do have some guesses. After listening to the stories of those who end up here, along with my own experiences, I believe that unless youmit an egregious mistake, the Heavens won''t bother dealing with you if you''re in the Mortal Realm. The amount of power and influence you can wield, even at the peak of power in the Mortal Realm, isn''t even worth a single Immortal''s toenail! So, reigning over a world, eradicating all life, or bing a tyrant means nothing to the Heavens as long as you''re in the Mortal Realm."

    "When I was alive, I was several times more powerful than even the most talented humanoids. Even my cultivation system was easy to use as I didn''t need to absorb energy. I just needed to control the surrounding Qi and use that to temper my body and soul. If I and my race were to ascend, unless someone eradicated us soon after, we would undoubtedly rise to the peak. And quickly at that."

    "So, my guess is that my race not absorbing energy was a huge red g for the Heavens, along with the potential chaos we would cause�� It probably decided to strike me down to set an example for the rest of the Ashuras."

    Mira listened to his words carefully as this was vital information she couldn''t learn anywhere else.

    However, when she heard his reasoning for his death, she inwardly shook her head.

    ''If the Heavens are truly impartial, they wouldn''t make such a thug move, like setting an example to put other mortals in their ce.'' Mira thought that he was wrong. The chains embedded into his body showed that the Heavens believed he was much more of a threat than the man believed. However, she didn''t have enough information to ascertain whether Huoyan''s assumption was correct. So, she kept quiet on the matter.

    "..."

    An awkward silence pervaded the area after he finished talking, as Mira just stared at him with a curious glint in her eyes.

    Lightning and Fire continued to rain down on her figure, burning off chunks of flesh and disintegrating parts of her bones, only for it to heal within seconds.<novelnext></novelnext>

    That''s when Huoyan finally looked past her beauty and realized that the woman was quite unique. He couldn''t sense any extraordinary power from her, but from how her body healed from injuries that would not only cause death among most humanoids, and how she handled it without any change in her expression��

    ''This woman is not normal!''

    His smile widened as the lust in his eyes faded, reced by a child-like curiosity.

    "Ahem!" He cleared his throat, "Anyways, enough about me. What did you do to end up here? Did you try and make yourself immortal? Turn into an undead? Or did you try to wield the power of time?!"

    Mira paused, then sighed.

    ''I knew this question wasing, but I still haven''t decided on my answer.''

    Part of her wanted to lie, but doing so without arousing his suspicion would be hard, given herck of information. However, she wasn''t sure whether he would believe the truth either, nor did she know how he would react.

    ''What if he tries to take over my body or something? Would I even have the necessary power to stop him?'' She didn''t think so.

    ''But then again, I have a feeling this man is the final demon that needs to die in order for me to move on to the next step.''

    ''Maybe he''ll kill himself for me if I''m sincere enough?''

    Her eyes gazed at the ck chains embedded in Huoyan''s body, and she steeled her resolve.

    "Actually�� I haven''t died�� Not yet, at least."

    Huoyan blinked, not expecting that answer, but Mira continued.

    "I was tossed into this Hell with the help of a treasure. The goal it has given me is to fight, conquer, and destroy the inhabitants of this Realm, so I understand who my enemies are and how I can break free from their grasp."

    Then, she turned around and looked out into the distance, "As you can see, no more demons are left. That''s because I had killed them all and absorbed their souls. They will be the fuel for my breakthrough and the catalyst for my Absolute Ice Dao to evolve alongside my soul."

    Finally, she turned back to Huoyan and looked him straight in the eyes, "You''re the final piece of the puzzle, thest one remaining before I fend off the Heavens, conquer Hell, and return to the Mortal Realm."

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    The two stared at each other for a while, Mira hoping he wouldn''t smash her into meat paste and Huoyan searching her eyes for any falsehood.

    The sounds of lightning crackling and fire roaring drowned out the palpable silence which pervaded the top of the volcano. Although Mira tried to be patient, waiting for him to say something, she would prefer if he hurried up as the amount of vitality she used to heal her destroyed body every time a lightning strike fell was immense.

    After what seemed like minutes of waiting, Huoyan''s nk stare turned into a maniacal grin, and he roared inughter!

    "Kufufufuhahahah! KAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    He bent over at the waist,ughing and pointing at Mira as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world!

    "HAHAHAHA! Finally!! FINALLY! Something interesting has happened in this shitty ce!" He raised all four of his arms up into the air and cried out!

 Chapter 600 ????? Trial Part 8

    It took Huoyan a while to calm down, but when he did, he stared at Mira in amusement.

    "So, you''re saying that you aren''t dead?" He chuckled again after saying that.

    Mira nodded.

    "And that you killed all the inhabitants of this hell and absorbed their souls?"

    Mira nodded again.

    "Then, I''m guessing you need me to die as well, considering you said I''m the final piece?"

    "..."

    Mira paused for a second, then hesitantly nodded.

    Although she didn''t want to provide all this information to a stranger, she didn''t have much of a choice. Since the Gates of Heaven constantly attacked her, most of her power and vitality went into protecting and healing herself. She would lose if she were to fight Huoyan in her current state, even if they were equal in power.

    However, they weren''t equal in power.

    Huoyan stood in the face of Heaven''s wrath, almostpletely unaffected! The other demons died as soon as she got within a few meters of her, but Huoyan was just a meter away yet took no damage! He even looked unconcerned about the fire and lightning falling from the sky.

    That''s when Mira remembered that the man literally came from within the depths of the volcano, yet he seemed perfectly fine!

    ''How is this possible? Isn''t this ce supposed to torture its victims? Why isn''t he affected by it? Is it because his soul is abnormally tough?''

    Mira was correct in thinking that. One of the reasons why Huoyan was unaffected by this ce was because of his strong soul.

    In terms of quantity, it was far beneath many Soul Transformation Realm cultivators and even below some talented Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. However, the quality was much higher than even most Ascension Realm experts! It might''ve even reached the strength of an Immortal by the time he died!

    He would be fine if what killed him didn''te to this ce. Eternally bored but alive.

    "Kufufufufu~!" Huoyan stifled his chuckle but couldn''t stop it froming out.

    "Are you seriously asking me to die for you so that you can absorb my soul?" The corners of his mouth lifted as if he was having fun with this situation.

    Mira nodded once again.

    "Alright! Sounds like fun! Kuhahaha!" Huoyan released arge smile and burst outughing! Then, while he was bent over at the waist, he lifted one of his arms and threw a punch at the Gates of Heaven!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!*

    *DONG!*

    Just that simple punch was like the beginning of the apocalypse! Hell shook from his might, and the Gates of Heaven trembled when the force behind his punch connected with it.

    However, to nobody''s surprise, he could not do any damage. Afterward, the gates paused their attack on Mira briefly before they locked onto Huoyan and began dropping lightning on his head.

    Huoyan snorted in disdain and didn''t try to stop it. The lightning hit his head unimpeded but fizzled out a secondter as if it had struck arge rock!

    The Heavens realized the futility of its actions and stopped attacking him with lightning.

    Instead, Huoyan felt a tug on the chains that bound him and knew he was about to be dragged deep into the volcano.

    He nced up at the Gates of Heaven and punched out a few more times, causing cracks to form all over the ground and the gates to shake.

    Feeling a stronger tug on the chains, Huoyan knew he couldn''t stay up here much longer and turned to Mira. "I''ll clear a path through theva, so just follow me!"

    Then, before the chains could forcefully drag him down, Huoyan jumped into the volcano and punched out with all four of his arms!<novelnext></novelnext>

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Lava shot out of the sides of the volcano like a geyser, but in the center, a massive hole was created in the middle of it all!

    "Let''s go!"

    Mira snapped out of her astonishment, quicklyprehended his words, and jumped into the volcano after him without hesitation.

    There was nothing to think about in this situation. Since the man seemed to trust her enough to believe her, then she had to reciprocate that trust. It might be a bit out of character for her, and she could be wrong about him, but it was a risk she needed to take. Nor did she have time to think about it.

    This chance might note again. If she hesitated now, then she might actually fail this trial and never be able to break through!

    Huoyan sensed Mira behind him and grinned.

    ''Good! Kufufuf! This is getting more and more interesting!'' He thought while raising his fists again and punching theva beneath him, creating a massive hole that led deep into the earth.

    It took them about a minute for Huoyan tond at the bottom, and when he did, he snatched the falling Mira out of the air with one of his massive arms and pushed through even moreva.

    Mira frowned at his touch, but she understood that he was trying to protect her by doing this.

    Theva around her was almost the same intensity as the fire the Heavens attacked her with. If she tried to swim through it, it might really reduce her body to ash!

    It took Huoyan another few minutes of swimming throughva and protecting Mira until they reached a small, empty cave without anyva. The chains of his body still tugged at him, indicating that he needed to go deeper underground, but he stood his ground, not allowing them to move him.

    When they reached this point, he put Mira down but didn''t stop walking and went deeper into the cave.

    "You know," Huoyan spoke up now that he wasn''t submerged inva, "I had my spections about this ce ever since I was thrown here. I used to think, ''Is this really Hell? I thought it''d be hotter.'', or ''Why is this ce so small? And why are the Heavens so weak?'' and also, ''Is this really the prison of the one who killed me?"

    Mira listened carefully to Huoyan as she followed after him.

    "You probably don''t know, but the Heavens that struck me down were absolutely terrifying! It killed me with one strike, vaporizing my body before I could even think of fighting back! I, who had the strength of an immortal during my ascension, couldn''t withstand a single attack from it! How crazy is that?!"

    Mira nodded in agreement as that was insane but still stayed silent to allow him to finish his story.

    "However, you saw what happened just now. I smacked the Gates of Heaven, and its retaliation did nothing to me. How could something that could kill me at my strongest not do any damage to me at my weakest?"

    "I used to think that maybe I just got ced in the Hell for those in the Mortal Realm and that there''s a separate Hell for people that have be Immortal. I hadn''t truly ascended to Immortality yet, so it technically wouldn''t be wrong for that to happen, but still, even the Mortal Realm Heavens shouldn''t be so weak that it couldn''t hurt me. It''s an Absolute entity for a reason. But I stopped thinking about it after a while, as it didn''t matter. I was still stuck here, regardless."

    Huoyan nced back at Mira while carving out a path through the cave, creating his own tunnel, "However, those thoughts resurfaced when you appeared before me. And when you said you had reached here with the help of a treasure, something clicked inside my brain."

    "I knew that this ce wasn''t Hell, and those Gates of Heaven weren''t the Heavens I knew. The Heavens I knew would''ve eradicated your existence on sight as soon as you trespassed into Hell!"

    Mira was surprised by his words as he hit the nail on the head, but her expression remained neutral. She already knew this wasn''t Hell, and those weren''t the Heavens.

    ''This is just a Secret Realm meant to imitate Hell!'' Mira thought but let the Ashura finish his monologue.

    "So, if this isn''t Hell, and since you said that you came here with the help of a treasure, then it can only mean that this ce is either another world simr to Hell or it''s a Secret Realm that was made to imitate Hell!"

    Mira''s expression almost slipped as she looked at Huoyan in amazement!

    ''This brute of a man actually has such brains?? I never would''ve guessed.'' Mira thought.

    "I don''t know how I ended up here, but now I think I understand the reason." Huoyan pounded on the wall in front of him, extending the tunnel even further, "I was thrown in this prison to be used as fodder for your growth!"

    The Ashura raised his four arms and mmed them into the wall again, except this time, a small grey room revealed itself on the other side, and inside it was a watermelon-sized white core, constantly pulsating with power!

 Chapter 601 ????? Trial Part 9

    With a sense of awe, Mira stared at the light, her eyes widening in amazement as she felt waves of unbelievable power emanating from therge glowing orb in the center of the small underground room. And as she gazed upon it, she felt that power brush past, hitting her in the face like a strong gust of wind.

    The Core continuously pulsed with energy, forming countless tiny tendrils and sending them into the ground in all directions. It was like it was generating something.

    "Wh-What is that?" Mira asked.

    She had never felt something so�� unique before! The energy this object exuded wasn''t like anything she''d felt before, yet it was so powerful that just being in its presence was suffocating.

    "It''s the core of this ce," Huoyan answered while staring at the object with an equal amount of awe, "I knew there''d be something like this, but I didn''t expect to find it so quickly. If this was the real Hell, I doubt I''d be able to break the ground, much less find this ce."

    "Is that what you talked about earlier? A World Core?" Mira asked, stepping a bit closer to the orb.

    Huoyon shook his head and shrugged, "I don''t know. Like I said, I''ve never seen a World Core before. I just know that in most worlds and Secret Realms, there is an object in the center that provides power to the world. I never bothered to check before, as it wouldn''t make much difference even if I found it, but maybe it''ll be useful for you."

    His answer confused Mira, "How would it not be helpful for you? You might be able to escape if you could control it!"

    Huoyan nced at Mira, and seeing the genuinely puzzled expression in her eyes, he scoffed.

    "Hmph! Let me show you why!" The Ashura raised his fist, jumped inside the room, and smashed it into the orb!

    "Wha-?!" Mira''s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, and she wanted to stop him, but it was toote!

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    The ground trembled, and the small room caved in. Mira watched in horror as she expected this world to start crumbling apart, taking her along with it. She cursed the giant brute for his thoughtless actions and prepared herself for what was toe.

    However, after a few seconds, nothing happened, puzzling Mira.

    ''Did he miss?'' She thought and waited for the dust to clear to see what had happened.

    Once all the dust cleared, it revealed Huoyan''s figure and apletely unharmed orb. In fact, it hadn''t even moved from its position.

    Huoyan stared at it momentarily before returning his attention to Mira.

    "Anything that can create these chains isn''t something I can destroy," He jingled the chains attached to his body while also trying to rip them out, but they didn''t budge, "Not to mention, I''m already dead. I can''t use my soul or Qi, nor is this my real body. While this body looks very close to how I looked when I was alive, it''s not real. What am I going to do with this core? Look at it? I''d rather continue to believe this ce was Hell."

    Once again, Mira was stunned by this guy''s intelligence. It''s as if he just needs a nce to see through everything!

    ''No wonder the Heavens killed this man. He''s too overpowered! I thought that only those Ancient Beasts like Dragons and Phoenixes could be so strong, but I guess I was too naive.'' Mira thought and stored this information away in her Mind Pce, cing it in a higher priority room so that she would keep this knowledge in mind when she returned to her world.

    "But, why''d you bring me here?" Mira asked while walking toward the core.

    "Isn''t that obvious? I want you to gain ownership over it and control it!" Huoyan scoffed.

    "Yeah, I understand that. But why?" As soon as she understood that this was the core of this ce, she figured that Huoyan wanted her to do something with it, but she couldn''t understand his motive.

    ''Shouldn''t he want out of this ce? He''s been dead, trapped here for who knows how long. Shouldn''t he at least try to escape?''

    Mira knew she would. As long as there was a chance at survival, she wouldn''t hesitate to do what was required.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Huoyan could see through Mira''s thoughts and shrugged his shoulders, "Even if I escaped, then what? It''s not like I can take over someone else''s body. My soul is too strong for that. Maybe I could if they were in the Ascension Realm, but the chances of me dying is infinitely close to 100% if I do that."

    "Now, more than anything, I''d just like to move onto the afterlife. And if in the process, I can help a talented young beauty like yourself get stronger, then I can say I''ve done my duty as a man of the Ashura Tribe! Kahahaha!" Huoyan burst outughing.

    Mira stared at him from the side, dumbfounded by his nonsensical answer. However, he didn''t seem to be lying. He looked like a man who wanted to move on with his life, and if he could help someone in the process, he might as well do so.

    Truthfully, ever since she faced Huoyan, everything afterward happened so fast that she could hardly keep up. It was like the man knew exactly what she needed to do before she did! Even now, as they stared at the orb in the center of the room, Mira felt like the man wasn''t just nning for the next step.

    ''No, I get the feeling that he already knows what''s going to happen, not just to him, but to me as well.''

    A shroud of mystery seemed to be cast over Huoyan, which sent danger signals through her body. As such an intelligent man, it was impossible for him not to know how to control his emotions.

    Mira studied his bodynguage from the side, searching for inconsistencies while examining his aura, but even she couldn''t find anything wrong. It was like the man truly was happy to die trying to help her!

    ''Is this real? Is there really such a benevolent person in the world? Or is all of this just a ruse to take over my soul? Can I even stop him if that''s the case?'' Mira wondered, but she couldn''te to a conclusion, causing her instincts to re as, in her mind, the situation worsened by the second.

    However, she didn''t want to alert Huoyan that she was suspicious of him, so she controlled her facial expressions, bodynguage, and aura to make sure no thoughts leaked past her mind.

    After Ryuu helped her when she had gone crazy, the nasty emotions that weighed on her mind settled down, and she started to open up with people a bit more. Ryuu was the first person she had decided to put a little more trust in, besides Maria, and this man was the second.

    However, it''s been so long since she''s trusted another person that she didn''t even know if she could trust herself in this kind of scenario!

    ''What if he tries to kill me after I''ve taken over the core? What if he was lying about his soul being too strong? What if everything up until this point was a-'' Her mind rambled on, but she was interrupted by Huoyan nudging her shoulder.

    "Well, since we''re here, you might as well start trying to gain control over it now. I don''t know how many more attacks from the Gates of Heaven your body can take, after all!" He chuckled and backed away from the core while pushing Mira toward it.

    Mira snapped out of her thoughts, and although she was still extremely skeptical of the situation, he was right. Even while underground, lightning and fire still rained down on her body.

    Huoyan still needed to die so she could absorb his soul, and she still needed to ovee this trial.

    ''Ah! Fuck it! If this cunning brute is going to take over my body in my moment of weakness, then I can only say it''s fate!'' Mira removed all useless thoughts from her mind and focused on the task in front of her.

    She stepped toward the core and ced her hand on top of it.

    ''I don''t know how I gain control over something like this, but if it''s like most other things in this world, then I either need to inject my Qi into it or my blood.''

    So, Mira did both! She cut open a slit on her hands and mmed them onto the orb, injecting both her Qi and blood into it!

    "...."

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

    As soon as she did, the loudest and most apocalyptic explosion Mira had ever experienced urred, and a deep sense of foreboding and danger flooded her senses.

    The world shook as if it was about to be destroyed, causing Mira to nearly fall to the ground, but she felt a pair of massive arms hold her up!

    "Don''t stop what you''re doing, woman! Just focus on taking control of the core! I''ll deal with the rest!"

 Chapter 602 Afterlife Trial Part 10

    Above where the Gates of Heaven stood tall, a spatial tear appeared in the sky. It started as a small crack that would''ve escaped most people''s eyes but soon turned into something more. A massive hole the size of a volcano ripped the world apart as if god himself was going to descend onto the world.

    The hole didn''t stay empty for long as it was immediately filled with menacing cking clouds with bolts of red lightning crackling inside it.

    The mere presence of this cloud caused the world to tremble as its booming thunder shook thend! However, it soon sensed the presence of the Gates of Heaven below it and roared with rage, destroying everything within the vicinity.

    Blood-red lightning gathered around the bottom of the cloud and struck the Gates of Heaven, shattering it with one hit! The world was dyed red as the lightning was too intense to contain in this small world. The Secret Realm once again shook, but this time, it seemed more like it was about to flip upside down and implode just from the presence of that red lightning!

    The cracks in the ground below grew wider, and theva pirs becamerger, hotter, and more deadly. If Mira and Huoyan were on the surface, they would not doubt that this ce wouldn''tst much longer. The presence of the ck cloud was more than what it could handle, and with its lightning raining down upon thend, it couldn''t take much more rampant destruction.

    After destroying the Gates of Heaven, the ck cloud sent tendrils of its red lightning throughout the Realm as if it was searching for something, and it didn''t take long for it to long onto its target: a beautiful 9-tailed fox woman with both hands on a World Core!

    It also noticed the dead soul of an Ashura next to her but paid no attention to it.

    That man was already dead. What could he do? His flimsy soul was nothing in the face of its overwhelming power!

    The ck cloud gathered another bolt of lightning, much smaller than the one it used to destroy the Gates of Heaven, andunched it into the ground. The lightning bolt hit the ground with more force than an Ascension Realm expert could generate, creating a massive crater and uprooting all the earth around it.

    However, that wasn''t the end, as the bolt of lightning dug deeper into the ground, vaporizing it to form a massive hole, leading all the way down to Mira and Huoyan''s position.

    "Looks like you caused a bit of trouble this time, woman," Huoyanmented as he let go of Mira and looked up. With a yful expression, he chuckled, "The Heavens themself have decided to grace us with its presence! Don''t you feel honored? Kuhahahahah!"

    Mira also felt the looming presence of death above her and paled in horror.

    An all-too-familiar aura filled the sky, one that Mira wanted to avoid at all costs.

    ''Fuck me!! Are you telling me I need to fight against that to beat this trial?! No way! It''s impossible! Forget about fighting it! With how angry the Heavens are, I''d be lucky if I survived the first hit!'' Mira cursed but immediately returned her attention back to the core before her.

    ''It seems the Heavens came due to me trying to gain ownership over this orb. If that''s the case, does that mean this is actually a World Core??'' Then, she nced back at Huoyan, who stood in the middle of the giant hole the lightning strike had created.

    ''Did he know this would happen? Is that why he told me the story of how some of those demons I killed ended up in this ce? To warn me?''

    Regardless of how she felt about the Ashura, his actions have ignited her interest. She couldn''t tell whether this was all premeditated or she was just lucky someone decided to help her and guide her through this Realm. Either way, Mira felt an odd desire to learn more about the man before her.

    "Focus, woman!" Huoyan yelled with his back facing her, "You have a few seconds at most to gain ownership over that core! Once you do, be sure to collect my soul before you leave this ce! I''d hate to die a second time for no reason!"

    "What?!" Mira shouted in shock, but the thunderous roar above her drowned out her voice! She instinctively wanted to turn back and look at the man, as she had not expected that from him, but she knew the situation was dire.

    The Heavens had already locked onto her, ready to strike her down. If she didn''t use every nanosecond avable, she would die�Cnot just in body but soul as well.

    Her consciousness swept through her body, and she forced more blood out of her body and found more Qi in her body that she could extract. This Hell didn''t have much Qi in the air, so replenishing her reserves was not an option. She could only pry out every little ounce of Qi hidden away deep in her body to try and speed up the process.

    However, it seemed like the World Core was a gluttonous beast as it absorbed her energy without end.

    ''Dammit! How much longer will it take for this thing to ept me as its master??'' Mira clicked her tongue, but then a thought struck her, ''Or could it be I''m missing something?''

    Her eyes lit up as that was a very real possibility. Most items in the Cultivation World, if they need a drop of blood or Qi to ept someone as their owner, only take a little, and the process is over instantly. However, this World Core was sucking her body dry and still showed no signs of eptance.

    ''What if�� I use my soul?'' It was a crazy thought, but it was her only other option. The only problem was she had never manifested her soul outside her body before.

    No, she didn''t even know if she could since she wasn''t in the Nascent Soul Realm.<novelnext></novelnext>

    While the quality of her soul was way too high for someone at her level, it was still blocked behind her cultivation, unable to be put to use.

    *RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!*

    The Heavens had finished preparing for their next, and hopefully final, strike. Dust rose around her as the Realm shook, tearing apart at the seams.

    Mira''s mind raced on how she could control her soul or at least a part of it! She stopped inserting Qi and blood into the World Core and instead swept her consciousness over her soul.

    She tried to urge it out of her body, like how she would do with her Qi, but it wouldn''t budge.

    ''Dammit! Just mo-''

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    Mira''s thoughts came to a halt as the world was dyed red again, and a long strand of lightning descended from the Heavens straight toward Mira''s body.

    "It''s time to go out with onest HOORAH!" Mira heard Huoyan shout in the distance, "You may have gotten mest time, and you will certainly kill me again, but as long as my soul still stands, I won''t let you touch a single strand of hair on this woman''s body!"

    Huoyan raised his fists and jumped into the air, intercepting Heaven''s strike! He gathered every iota of power left within and punched the lightning bolt!

    "..."

    However, there was no explosion or climactic battle. The blood-red lightning just entered his fists and passed through the rest of his body, destroying it upon contact. He never stood a chance.

    "Just likest time, huh?" Huoyan muttered. His body was quickly destroyed, turning to dust, as his head was thest thing left before he turned into a white wisp, just like the other demons in this ce.

    "Praise be, Mahabali, for granting me this opportunity to experience such passion and vigor again. May you bless this young wayward child with strength and fortune on her bloody path to the top." He gave a short prayer, his head slowly disintegrating afterward, but before he died for good, he smiled and left Mira with hisst 4 words:

    "Ayur Arogya Sampada, Mira."

    ��.

    Everything went silent after he said that, and Mira knew he had died. However, now wasn''t the time to think about that as the remnants of the lightning charged at her! Although it was just a fraction of the strength it had before, that was still enough to wipe Mira from the face of the.

    Fractions of seconds away from death, Mira roared in her mind, ''Fuck it!''

    Then, she used her scythe to chop off a piece of her soul and shoved it into the World Core!

    As soon as the two made contact, a bright, white light bloomed and formed a protective barricade around Mira, blocking the lightning strike from killing her.

    Without looking back, Mira focused on where Huoyan died and swept her tails over that area, collecting his soul.

    Feeling the familiar sensation of a white wisp entering her body, Mira knew that she had grabbed it.

    Though, she couldn''t help but feel bitter on the inside��

    [Congrattions, Sessor Mira XXX, forpleting the "Afterlife Trial"....]

 Chapter 603 Breakthrough To The Nascent Soul Realm Part 1

    Everything around Mira froze, including the Heavens, once the cold voice of the Firmament entered her mind. However, that only seemed to anger the already wrathful Heavens further. She had "stolen" a World Core and all those souls right from underneath its nose! How could it not be furious?

    Red lightning crackled around the Secret Realm as it slowly broke free from whatever was stopping it.

    Mira stood in the center of the hole underground, her hair whipping around her face as the winds picked up. In her hand was the World Core, pulsing with an otherworldly energy. She had just taken ownership of the core but could already feel the Secret Realm crumbling around her.

    Now that the World Core was no longer producing energy to sustain the realm, it was slowly falling apart.

    [Congrattions, Sessor Mira XXX, forpleting the "Afterlife Trial". You have survived Hell, fought against Heaven, captured every sinner''s soul, learned from your predecessors, and stole a World Core, earning yourself a score of 100%.]

    [Sending you out of the trial in 3��]

    [2.]

    [1.]

    *Poof!*

    Under the Heaven''s watchful eyes, Mira''s body disappeared!

    "..."

    Immediately after, it regainedplete control, but the Secret Realm was already copsing in on itself, crumbling to pieces as if everything was just an illusion. In mere seconds, the Secret Realm had vanished into the deep, dark abyss surrounding it, leaving behind a ck cloud.

    "..."

    The Heaven''s paused for a second but immediately began to search for Mira''s unique life signature. Since it had locked onto Mira before, it remembered her unique aura, cultivation, appearance, and even her soul!

    It was one of the Absolutes that manages both the Immortal and Mortal Realms! If it wants to find someone, there isn''t a single person that can stop it!

    At least, that''s what it thought, but even after sweeping its senses hundreds and thousands of worlds, it didn''t discover any trace of Mira at all! It was as if she had vanished into thin air, right under its nose!

    "..."

    *RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!**RUMBLE!*

    For the first time in countless years, the Heavens trembled in agitation as someone had sessfully slipped away from its grasp.

    ***

    On the other hand, Mira appeared back in the throne room of the Firmament! She slumped onto the throne, her hands and feet trembling, as she released a long, turbid breath of hot air.

    Mira had danced with death many times throughout her long life, but this one felt much more impactful. It wasn''t just the fact that both her body and soul would have been vaporized if she was just a secondter; she didn''t care much about that. Rather, that wasn''t such a bad ending for someone like her.

    ''It''s the fact that I had to put my faith in someone else to protect and save me.'' Mira thought as she slumped on her throne even further.

    She closed her eyes and reviewed her time in thatst trial, trying to find a way she couldplete it herself. However, she already knew the answer.

    ''No, it''s not possible.'' Mira concluded.

    To gain ownership of the World Core, she needed Huoyan''s help. Maybe she wouldn''t need him if she already knew how to subdue a World Core or if she knew where it was in the first ce, but even then, she''d still need to get to it, which wouldn''t be an easy feat.

    The magma in that Realm was nothing to scoff at, and she couldn''t waste more of her Qi on protecting herself from it when the Gates of Heaven were bombarding her with attacks.

    ''Still, what''s this about learning from my predecessors? I know Huoyan shared a few stories and bits of information with me, but I don''t think that''s what the Firmament was looking for.''

    Thinking about the hulking Ashura man left Mira feelingplicated inside. She had been skeptical of him up until the point he died, but she was wrong,pletely wrong about him. He didn''t even know her name, yet he still gave up his life to help her!

    "You''ll understand when you begin your breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm." The Guardian''s voice entered her mind.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira opened her eyes and looked around but saw nobody. She pushed thoughts about Huoyan to the back of her mind and focused on her next steps.

    "What do you mean?" She asked.

    "Like I said, you''ll understand the Firmament''s words once you begin your breakthrough." He replied, almost urging her to start.

    Mira nodded, as his words only served to heighten her desire to break through. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem. She had to leave the Firmament to break through, but she had just stuck a giant middle finger to the Heavens, stealing one of its objects.

    "What about the Heavens? Won''t it find me once I leave here? Also, aren''t I supposed to go through a Heavenly Tribtion likest time?" Mira felt a shiver run down her spine, thinking of that red lightning, and had no desire to face off against it any time soon.

    "No, you''ll be fine. I''m masking your presence right now. As for a Heavenly Tribtion�� Normally, you''d need to face one, but your breakthrough this time will be a little unique, especially since you have a World Core in your hands. Just follow your cultivation technique, and everything will be fine."

    Mira was about to nod in understanding, but the Guardian continued before she could.

    "However, even if something bad does happen, I''ll be sure to gather up all the fragments of your soul."

    "..."

    Mira ignored him and closed her eyes again. As much as she wanted to break through, she needed to reset after thatst trial. Soon, Mira''s breathing steadied as she fell asleep on the throne.

    A dayter, she awoke and exited the Firmament.

    Reappearing in the cave she left Rhydian in, she saw her wolfpanion sleeping in the corner near the entrance. Mira nodded her head as everything looked the same as before she left.

    "I''m back, Rhydian!" Mira walked over and gave the wolf a few pats on the head. Rhydian gave Mira a nod in return, but her attention was elsewhere.

    ''Can we leave yet, Master? I''m bored!'' Rhydian tried to say through their connection. Although Rhydian couldn''t actually speak yet, that''s how Mira tranted her intentions.

    "No, I still have onest thing to do before we leave, but I promise that after I''m done, we can go make a mess of things."

    ''Yaay~!'' Rhydian''s eyes lit up, then she began nudging Mira with her nose, ''Hurry up! Hurry up! I want to leave! I''m so bored!''

    All this time, while Mira was busy, she was unable to eat, sleep, hunt, or do anything! She could only sit in this cave and stare at a wall, waiting for Mira to finish her business! Now that Mira was back, it was finally time for them to wreak havoc!

    "Alright, alright. Sheesh." Mira shook her head and sat down in the middle of the cave.

    Closing her eyes, she brought out the World Core. While she wasn''t 100% sure how this was important to her breakthrough, she had an idea.

    ''Since it''s connected to me, using a chunk of my soul, I''m sure this thing will serve as the foundation on which I build my soul on top of. At least, that''s what makes the most sense.''

    The Guardian hadn''t given her any tips or knowledge on what exactly she needed to do. Although he said to follow her cultivation technique, that was only partially true. Her soul and breakthrough were too unique that if she had just followed the cultivation technique, she would have severely limited her potential.

    Mira willed the World Core to enter her soul, and the orb disappeared from her hands, only to reappear in the middle of her Soul Sea.

    Mira nodded her head as she felt like she was on the right track. However, that was the extent of her understanding of the situation.

    ''What now? Do I really just start my breakthrough ording to my cultivation technique?''

    Mira doubted that to be the case. If things were really so simple, there wouldn''t be a need for her to go through all this nonsense! She could''ve broken through long ago!

    ''Alright. Instead of focusing on the Nascent Soul Realm, let''s focus on the World Core itself. Why do I need it to break through? What does a World Core do?''

    ording to the information she obtained from Huoyan, it creates and sustains worlds and may or may not have Genesis Essence in it�Cwhich Mira could only assume was a type of energy used when creating something.

    ''Creation�� Creation�� Hmmm�� The Firmament also said something simr. It said to carve out a piece of the Universe for myself. Is this what it''s talking about? Do I need to create a mini-world inside my soul?'' Mira hypothesized but still shook her head.

    ''No, that doesn''t sound quite right. Though, I believe I''m on the right track.''

 Chapter 604 Breakthrough To The Nascent Soul Realm Part 2

    Mira shelved the idea of creating a world inside her soul for now and focused her attention on what the Nascent Soul Realm and Absolute Ice Dao are.

    ''The Nascent Soul Realm is the beginning of the cultivation stages where one''s soul finally bes usable. However, for most people, the soul is still in its infancy during this Realm. Only when one enters the Soul Transformation Realm will their soul change into something more akin to a small world.'' Mira thought, but that wasn''t exactly correct.

    Souls are simr to miniature worlds, or more precisely, small rooms, except they arepletely empty. However, the Nascent Soul Realm changes that by forming a Soul Sea, unlocking Soul Sense, and making the soul more practical overall.

    The Soul Transformation Realm takes it a step further by using all that power built up over the course of 9 stages and altering it ording to the user''s wishes. Most people use their Dao as the basis of this transformation as that''s literally a manifestation of one''s existence, but that doesn''t always have to be the case.

    Still, regardless of how people change their souls, the result is the same; they fill up the "room" with "stuff" to increase its power and versatility.

    In Mira''s case, her soul was of such high quality that it had already formed a Soul Sea.

    However, it''s not like she can skip the Nascent Soul Realm entirely, as the size of her soul and the quantity of the energy inside is still the same as someone in the Core Formation Realm.

    ''So, it seems like I need tobine the Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm together. If I add the Absolute Ice Dao on top of that, I''ll be able to create something truly unique.''

    ''Maybe that''s why I needed the World Core, not necessarily to help me create a world, but to act as a catalyst to transform my soul as someone in the Soul Transformation Realm would do.''

    Mira''s thoughts hit the nail right on the head! Her soul might be strong in terms of quality, but it did not have the amount of energy someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm would have! If she wanted to transform it, she would fail miserably.

    However, that wasn''t the only reason why a World Core was necessary.

    The purpose of a World Core was to help sustain a world, but it does so through an energy called Genesis Essence.

    Huoyan might not know what Genesis Essence was or what it does, but the Firmament gave Mira a brief introduction to it.

    Simply put, it''s the beginning of things, the beginning of creation. One could even argue it''s the foundation of the known universe.

    Thinking of Genesis Essence, Mira''s mind drifted toward the "Big Bang Theory" from her time on Earth in a previous life. Rather than an all-powerful god or some omnipresent alien being, Mira thought it was probably Genesis Essence that started everything!

    ''Howme! I remember that so many scientists went crazy trying to learn more about the creation of the universe, but the answer is that it''s just the natural order of things.'' Mira chuckled.

    Aside from that, it''s also one of the eight absolutes! It might not be nearly as shy or well-known as the others, but it is necessary.

    What better energy is there to create the foundation of one''s soul and Dao?!

    Suppose a Dao is just a manifestation of one''s existence, and a soul is a way to portray that in physical form. In that case, Genesis Essence is a way to turn that manifestation into reality and truth!

    Mira''s eyes brightened once her thoughts reached this far.

    ''Is this what the Firmament meant by saying I must carve out a piece of the universe for myself? That I need to use this World Core to create something which is mine, and mine alone?''

    Mira didn''t need to think any further than this. Her body and soul screamed that this was the answer she was looking for!

    Closing her eyes and focusing on herself, Mira circted her Hell Scythe Cultivation Technique, sucking in all of the nearby Qi through her meridians and into her core. Once she filled it up until the point when she felt like it was about to burst, she began condensing it like the stages before.

    Even though the Nascent Soul Realm was more heavily focused on the soul, the cultivation system Mira followed still relied on Qi to be stronger.

    After Mira condensed the Qi in her core to the absolute max, she moved her attention back to her soul!

    The newly condensed Qi flowed through the meridian that went into her soul, providing it with energy while also increasing the grade of her scythe. However, even with this hyper-condensed Qi, its power was minimal for her high-quality soul.

    ''No, that''s not quite right.'' Mira shook her head, ''The energy is more than enough for me to break through, but it''s not enough for me to transform it.''

    Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the spot she had cut off to form a connection with the World Core. Normally, such an injury would be close to impossible to heal, but Mira wasn''t bothered by this.

    She had absorbed countless souls while in that Secret Realm, after all!

    ''If those, plus the World Core, couldn''t heal my soul, nothing could.''

    Before Mira started, she wanted to heal that hole so no possible problems would ariseter in the breakthrough. So, Mira focused her mind on all the souls she absorbed and picked the strongest one of the bunch.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Naturally, that was Huoyan''s.

    While the thought of using his soul to heal hers left Mira feeling bitter, it was the most logical choice.

    ''If I do this, I might as well use the best ingredients. I might even be able to increase the quality of my soul by using his!''

    Part of Mira''s mind linked with the World Core, and a small tendril of energy reached out andtched onto Huoyan''s soul. Then, with the help of the World Core, Mira pasted his soul over the injury and began stitching them together.

    To most people, this would cause so much pain that they would prefer death or torture over this!

    However, Mira did it without so much as an eyebrow twitch.

    How many times was her soul tortured in the Firmament? On the Abyssal Torment Steps?

    She''s literally had her soul ripped apart over and over again! This pain wasn''t even half the pain the Firmament had put her through!

    The process only took a few minutes, as the World Core was a much bigger help than she thought it''d be.

    After she finished, the wound waspletely healed, and his soul had fully merged with her own.

    ''Hmmm?''

    Suddenly, Mira felt a foreign entity enter her Mind Pce, but since she was in the middle of a breakthrough and didn''t sense any malicious intent, she put checking it out on hold.

    ''I''m guessing it''s rted to Huoyan''s soul. The Guardian did say that something would happen once I began my breakthrough.''

    Mira shook her head, pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind, and focused on her breakthrough.

    Closing the eyes of her consciousness inside her soul, Mira began to meditate on her Absolute Ice Dao. As she did, a feeling of intense coldness spread throughout her body.

    However, that wasn''t all.

    Mira felt her connection to her other affinities as well. While the feeling wasn''t nearly as strong or prevalent as the ice flowing through her body, they were there.

    She didn''t need to think about what the Absolute Ice Dao meant to her. When she first began her journey in this world, her desire to stand above all things and never be controlled or oppressed by the powerful stood out.

    Sure, she wanted to be strong, but that was too rtive. For example, right now, she might be strong in the eyes of an ant, but to an immortal, she herself is the ant.

    No, what Mira wanted was to be invincible! To never again be bothered by these troublesome existences!

    She wanted to be the one to stand above all things and look down at them in disdain!

    It was this strength that she needed to obtain the freedom she had always wanted.

    However, what was invincibility? What did it look like? How does it rte to ice?

    What do the words "absolute ice" mean to Mira, and how do the other elements y into that?

    Every little thing affects the image one has of their Dao; their past, the present, and the desired future all affect it in some way. It is an actualization of one''s existence!

    Mira can''t just cover her soul in ice, create an ice throne, and call it a day. There needs to be more depth to it.

    However, Mira didn''t need to think too hard about such a thing. She already knew who she was.

    As Mira meditated, her past experiences, who she is today, to who she hopes to be in the future flowed through her mind like water.

    Suddenly, her soul trembled, and a seed of ice began to bloom inside it.

 Chapter 605 Breakthrough To The Nascent Soul Realm Part 3

    The seed of ice that bloomed inside Mira''s soul slowly began seeping into her soul''s shell. It started with just a piece, but as the World Core swallowed more of the white mists from the demons, turning them into fuel, more ice began to integrate with her soul.

    "Urgh!" Mira grunted in pain, gritting her teeth so hard that blood seeped out of the corner of her mouth. Transforming her soul into a block of ice wasn''t an entirely conscious decision, so she wasn''t expecting the intense pain toe along with it. She was just letting her thoughts flow as they transformed her soul on their own.

    Before long, Mira''s soul, which had looked more like a white eggshell, waspletely frozen solid. Normally, if someone froze their soul like this, they would die almost instantly. The soul is a vital and delicate part of one''s body. Turning it into a block of ice wasn''t much different from turning one''s brain into ice!

    However, although blood dripped down Mira''s lips from the intense pain, her cheeks were still rosy, and herplexion fair.

    ''It seems like my soul and ice were able to merge together perfectly, creating something new.'' Mira thought as she spectated everything from a third person''s view, ''Is that one of the benefits of using the World Core?''

    Mira knew she was right, but she didn''t realize just how extraordinary the World Core was for its ability to do this. The World Core didn''t touch the foundations of her soul. It merely merged it with her Absolute Ice Dao, setting it on a path different path than it was supposed to go down.

    However, that was only the beginning of the series of changes made to her soul.

    Soon after, two different elements sprouted out of the ground, ones Mira wasn''t expecting.

    Earth!

    The Earth element sprouted at the bottom of her soul outside the ice, along with fire, but it wasn''t Mira''s Yin Fire. The two elements swirled around each other until the earth melted down into magma.

    The World Core used more and more souls to keep adding to the magma, and within minutes, a pool of it had formed at the bottom of Mira''s soul. Yet, surprisingly, Mira didn''t feel any pain when it touched the ice, nor did it start to melt.

    The two elements existed side by side without affecting each other.

    ''Hmmm~ Interesting. I wonder why my subconscious created magma in my soul. Is it because of my Magma Dragon Body or something else?'' Mira wondered, but she didn''t do anything to stop it.

    If she were consciously controlling everything, she definitely wouldn''t have done either of the first two steps her subconscious took, but that''s why she let go of the control. These decisions weren''t something a person would make and were instead decisions that her Dao felt would lead her in the right direction.

    ''I wonder what''ll happen next,'' Mira thought as she saw the World Core shine again, ''If it were me, I''d cover the magma in ayer of ice, but I have a feeling that''s not what''s going to happen.''

    Mira was right; ice didn''t cover the magma. Instead, a thickyer of Earth did! It didn''t merge with the magma, either.

    Although the bottom of the earth was red-hot, like it was going to melt, it never did. The two existed in perfect harmony within her soul, even though Mira didn''t understand why they were there.

    Mira''s expression became a bit awkward as she now began to question whether her decision to let loose of the reigns was the correct one.

    ''A-Alright! Earth�� Earth is fine. That''s one of the elements under my control, so I guess it makes sense why it would be here. Maybe my Dao wants to create a mini world in my soul or something.'' Mira thought while biting her lip.

    This was a crucial moment in her cultivation journey, and she didn''t want to fuck it up!

    ''Maybe�� M-Maybe I should��'' She didn''t get to finish that thought as something crazy happened.

    Almost her entire soul went ck!

    There was only a little spot above the earth where it wasn''t dark, but everything above that was pitch ck! Even she couldn''t see anything while spectating everything from the third person with her consciousness!

    It was as if a ck hole had just appeared and sucked all the light from her soul!

    ''W-Wha-?! What the fuck?!'' Mira gawked at the scene! She could still see her scythe, the Firmament, the demon souls, the World core, and Elenei''s egg inside her Soul Sea, along with the earth and magma, but the rest of her soul had disappeared. That was almost 90% of her entire soul!

    ''What just happened?!'' Mira panicked a little as this wasn''t how she expected this to go. Nothing made any sense, and now, she wasn''t even sure what to do.

    ''Do I intervene and stop it, or just let everything y out naturally?'' She questioned, but it only took her a split second to decide.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''I''ll let it y out. I don''t even know the reason for all these actions. If I try and stop it carelessly, I might ruin everything and be more lost than I am now.''

    Although she thought that way, that didn''t mean she was any less nervous. This was her soul, after all! Just a single fuck up, and she might die, or worse, be mentally handicapped!

    However, the mysteries didn''t stop there as the World Core absorbed more and more souls, using them as fuel to create�� something��

    Mira didn''t know what, as whatever the World Core was doing happened in darkness.

    Still, that didn''t mean she waspletely clueless. With her connection to the other elements, she could feel that the World Core was using all of them in some way.

    Whether it be Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, Yin Fire, Yin Lightning, and Earth?... maybe? Something felt off when shest felt it using the Earth element, but she didn''t know what. However, other than that, she could feel that all of those elements were in use.

    She just didn''t know why they were there or what they were doing.

    By the time the World Core was finished, most of the demon souls she had collected were gone.

    ''Damn! Who would''ve thought the World Core would be so costly? I''m only affecting my soul, yet it consumed so much! It really makes one wonder how much energy an entire world consumes just to stay ''alive''.'' She chuckled at the thought, as, of course, a World Core wouldn''t be cheap to use.

    Mira had calmed down as she waited for her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm to finish. Whatever her subconscious and Dao were doing didn''t affect her state of mind anymore. While everything may not make sense to her now, she was sure that she''d be able to unravel these mysteries in the future.

    However, it wasn''t over yet, as the thing that gave the Nascent Soul Realm its name still hadn''t appeared.

    ''That should be next, though. I''m almost out of souls, and I don''t see what else the World Core could add without forcefully stretching out my soul.''

    Mira was half-correct in her assumption, but this time, the World Core didn''t consume any souls. Instead, a torrent of Qi converged toward Mira''s position, creating a massive cyclone above her head! The Qi shot through her meridians, into her core, and up to her soul, where an intense river of Qi appeared.

    That river soon diverged into three streams: One went to her scythe, another went to Elenei''s egg, and thest one��

    Well, thest one created an illusory version of Mira!

    However, there was a slight difference between Mira''s actual body and this one. That is, this illusory one looked like Mira if she were suddenly turned into a 1-year-old baby!

    She still had 9 tails, though she couldn''t see their colors as this was just an illusory version of herself; everything else about her looked exactly the same�� Just in the form of a baby.

    This was Mira''s Nascent Soul!

    In the world of cultivation, Nascent generally means embryonic, infancy, or pure. So, the Nascent Soul Realm technically means infant soul realm.

    In this realm, one forms a baby version of themself in their soul, which is the reason for its name. Though, it''s not the only reason��

    Unfortunately, Mira didn''t have time to think about the meaning behind the name, as something happened right after her Nascent Soul formed!

    Her Scythe [Manifestation] went wild and wrapped around one of the Nascent Soul''s arms. Then, within seconds, arge, ck scythe formed in that hand!

    On the other hand, ice shards circled around her arm, which soon transferred to the rest of her body as pieces of armor slowly appeared around her.

    After a light set of ice armor was made, the Nascent Soul lifted her hand and aimed it at the ground. Finally, with the help of the World Core and thest remaining souls, she shot out a torrent of ice onto the Earth.

    This continued for a few minutes until an ice hill was created, which reached the edge of the darkness. Thus,pleting Mira''s breakthrough into the Nascent Soul Realm.

 Chapter 606 Elenei Awakens

    After Mira finished breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, she stared at the ice hill in confusion.

    ''What''s that for?'' She wondered, refusing to believe that it was there without a purpose. Mira even thought that everything in her soul was of at least some importance, even the darkness.

    ''Whatever. I''ll find outter.'' She shrugged her shoulders and stopped worrying about it. She had other things to do, after all.

    While she might have officially broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm, she wasn''t finished yet. Mira could still feel her body filling up with Qi, her scythe advancing to the next rank, Elenei sucking inrge amounts of Qi, ice, and fire, and more.

    The Qi vortex outside her body grewrger as she sucked in more and more Qi to provide enough energy for their advancement.

    Her muscles, bones, and organs cracked and healed over and over again, filling up with Qi to be stronger. Her meridians grew wider, allowing for more high-quality Qi to pass through them, and her core expanded while also bing denser.

    Those weren''t the only changes to her body, either!

    Her tails also grew slightly longer, and the quality and quantity of the energy inside them increased. Though, it was hard for Mira to tell how much they''d improved by looking at them. The only one she could sense had a numerical, qualitative change that seemed much more significant than the rest was her golden tail.

    However, that was because it was closely linked to her bodily strength.

    Other than that, the most significant improvement from this breakthrough was her senses and perception. It was almost like they had evolved, something Mira didn''t even know was possible as they were already heightened to an insane degree before this.

    Mira sat cross-legged in the dimly lit cave, her eyes closed in concentration. The only sounds were the distant echo of a dripping stctite and the rhythmic beating of her own heart.

    Even with her eyes closed, Mira focused on her other senses. She inhaled deeply, taking in the damp, musty scent of the cave. The air was cool and crisp, but she could still feel the slightest breeze against her skin, telling her a small opening was nearby.

    Mira reached out and touched the rocky surface of the cave wall beside her. It was rough and uneven, with small pebbles and gravel scattered around her. She ran her fingers over the rocks, feeling the texture and temperature of each one.

    As she listened intently, Mira could hear the faint sound of water flowing somewhere in the distance. She imagined a small underground stream trickling over rocks and through narrow crevices.

    She didn''t even need her sight or Soul Sense to create this mental image, as the rest of her senses were more than enough. Hell, the result wouldn''t be much different, even if she had lost all her other senses and could only hear.

    ''If someone can hide from me now, I''d have to give them a high-five or something.

    Thest improvements were to her soul and scythe.

    Her soul had increased in size and filled with energy, creating a true Soul Sea. Through this energy, she could use the Nascent Soul Realm''s most iconic ability, Soul Sense.

    Lastly was her scythe, which had increased in size, sharpness, and durability. Although it was linked to her cultivation, technically making it a Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm scythe, Mira considered it a Low-Stage Heaven-Grade weapon.

    The hellish aura from her cultivation technique had also be more pronounced.

    That was everything that breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm had improved. Or, at least, it was everything Mira could sense as of right now.

    After a few minutes of basking in the pleasure of feeling her strength increase, Mira opened her eyes once she stopped advancing. She was about to get up, grab Rhydian, and go stir up trouble but paused and nced upward.

    The Qi cyclone hadn''t dissipated yet. If anything, it had grownrger!

    ''What''s going on?'' Mira questioned, but soon, her eyes brightened when she realized who the cause of this was.

    ''Elenei!''

    She sat back down and brought the egg out of her Soul Sea, allowing it to absorb Qi much more freely.

    ''Is she finally going to wake up?''

    It''s been a long time since Elenei had undergone Nirvana, and so many things have changed for Mira. While her cultivation had only increased by one major Realm since thest time they''d seen each other, Mira was much stronger than that.

    If Mira were being honest, she missed having Elenei around. Out of all herpanions and acquaintances, she was the most reliable.

    The Qi cyclone grewrger as Elenei sucked in Qi as if her life depended on it.

    If Mira were outside the cave right now, she''d understand that even with how dense the Qi was in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, Elenei was sucking in Qi from several kilometers away!

    Naturally, the significant change in atmosphere alerted many people and beasts in the surrounding area of their position.

    "A new treasure!"

    "It''s the birth of a new treasure!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    "What grade do you think it is?"

    "With how much Qi it''s absorbing, I''d have to assume it would be at least a Mystical-Grade treasure, but who knows?"

    "Mystical-Grade?! I could ascend the Heavens in a single step with something like that!"

    "That is if you can snatch it."

    "..."

    The same conversations happened between beasts and humans; anyone who sensed the anomaly called their friends to join them. Of course, they''d prefer it if they could obtain it themselves, but with how much of amotion the ''treasure'' caused, there''s no way a fight wouldn''t break out.

    Thus, it was better to have backup.

    Meanwhile, although Mira was dozens or even hundreds of kilometers away from these people, she could still sense them charging over. She couldn''t hear what they were saying, but there were vibrations in the ground from every direction closing in on her position.

    ''It seems you''re making quite themotion, Elenei.'' Mira gave the egg a sadistic smile.

    ''You really do understand me! I was just thinking about how I should test my new strength!''

    *Crack!**Crack!**Crack!*

    The egg rocked back and forth as cracks formed all over the shell, but Elenei failed to break out.

    *Crack!**Crack!**CrACK!**CRACK!*

    Elenei''s attempts to break out became more fierce until she finally created a small hole in the shell.

    A small, pitch-ck beak appeared outside the hole, which immediately returned inside to continue breaking apart the rest of the shell.

    This continued for a few seconds until Elenei created a big enough hole in the egg to break out!

    *Swoosh!*

    Mira''s eyes widened as the creature that appeared in front of her was unlike anything she had seen, heard of, or expected!

    ''I thought Elenei woulde back as a Phoenix, but��'' Mira examined the creature in surprise and inwardly shook her head, ''It seems I underestimated the influence of her Dragon bloodline.''

    ''Though, it seems like her Nirvana was a sess.''

    The creature before her had a long, lithe serpentine body about the length of her arm. It had fiery red scales, blue crystals in the middle of them, and a silver outline, which shimmered even in the darkness.

    The head looked like that of a Phoenix, with a sharp, hooked beak and fierce, piercing eyes that glowed with its inner fire.

    Its wings, feathery like a Phoenix''s, were a mix of crimson and icy white, creating a stark contrast against its scales. When it spread its wings, a burst of hot and cold air rushed out, creating a whirlwind of elemental power. ck ice crystals formed at the tips of each feather, releasing an ominous yet deadly light that threatened to consume everything in its wake.

    While Elenei floated in the air, she left behind a trail of ice crystals and ash, different than what Mira would expect from a Frost-Fire Phoenix.

    Also, whenever she opened her mouth, Mira could feel fire and ice elements rumbling in her throat, waiting to be released.

    Its beak and talons were pitch-ck and gave off an ominous yet familiar feeling, shocking Mira.

    ''Is that��? Why do I get the same feeling from those that I do from my ck runes?''

    However, she didn''t have any time to think about that as she heard a cute, squeaky voice enter her mind.

    "Mira! I did it! I did it! Hahahahaha! I FINALLY DID IT! Thank you! Thank you so much! I couldn''t have evolved without you!"

    Elenei circled around Mira like a little kid, emitting a radiant aura, indicating how happy she was.

    Mira wasn''t sure what to say to all this praise, so she just sat there with a neutral expression on her face. Though, if one looked closely, they''d see that the corners of her mouth had risen ever-so-slightly.

    "Yeah. It''s good to see you again, too, Elenei."

 Chapter 607 Eleneis Parents

    In the middle of space, somewhere hidden in the vast universe, a of extremes existed, where fire and ice held equal sway over thendscape. Towering ice spires jutted up from the ground, casting a pale, blue light over the icy ins below. The air was bitterly cold, with gusts of frigid wind whipping snow and ice crystals through the air.

    But amidst the icy wastes, there were also great chasms of moltenva, glowing bright red-orange in the darkness. Streams ofva flowed through the cracks in the ice, their heat melting the ice and leaving behind a trail of hissing steam. The air was thick with the scent of sulfur and smoke, and the asional roar of an eruption echoed across thendscape.

    Due to the harsh environment, life could not flourish on this. asionally, natural treasures would form, but due to the opposing nature of this, only a select few were strong enough in their growth stage to form.

    Despite this, two beings of opposing natures coexisted, just like the.

    One was a magnificent Ice Phoenix, and the other was a domineering Fire Dragon, and together they lived on this.

    Right now, those two inhabitants were�� in the middle of a ''sacred'' ritual��

    *PAH**PAH**PAH*

    "Ahnn~ Mmm~m~ Yee~ss~! Right there~! That''s the spot, Ignatius~~!" A woman with shimmering, pale blue hair, porcin skin, and bright blue eyes moaned.

    On top of her was a tall, imposing figure with broad shoulders and a muscr build. His hair was a fiery red, and his eyes glowed with an inner light as though mes burned within them.

    He grabbed the woman''s waist and pushed her light blue, feathered wings into the ground, resuming the ritual.

    "Urgh!" The man, Ignatius, grunted as he thrust his hip forward, "Yeah? You like that, Eira?!"

    "Mmhmm~!" She moaned out in delight, stroking the man''s ego.

    The two continued their ''ritual'' for a while before suddenly, they froze. It was as if time had stopped for a moment. The two looked into each other''s eyes and watched their shock grow with each passing moment.

    Seconds that felt like hours passed until they finally snapped out of their trance.

    "Elenei!"

    "Elenei!"

    They shouted simultaneously, their eyes widening with shock, fear, and confusion.

    "What the hell happened?!"

    "What the hell happened?!"

    They yelled allowed simultaneously again. Ignatius quickly got off of Eira and manifested a set of ck robes with his Qi. Eira sat next to her husband and did the same thing, except she wore a set of white robes.

    "Why do I feel like something has happened to Elenei?" Ignatius stared at his wife, his deep voice rumbling throughout the area.

    "I felt it too," Eira nodded slowly with a serious expression, "It almost feels like her bloodline changed."

    "Not changed. Evolved," Ignatius corrected, to which his wife agreed, but that was what confused her.

    "How is it possible for a Frostfire Phoenix to evolve? In terms of bloodline and talent, she should be slightly higher than us!"

    Ignatius nodded, "That is if her bloodlines fused instead of rejecting each other."

    "Then, do you think she found a way to fuse them? You know just how obsessed she was to find a ''cure'' to her ''ailment''." Eira said thatst part with a hint of bitterness, sadness, and a slight amount of anger, but Ignatius ignored that.

    Elenei made a decision a long time ago to find a way to integrate her Ice Phoenix bloodline and Fire Dragon bloodline into one. Although Ignatius knew such an endeavor was impossible, he respected her decision.

    The cultivation world was all about power, and if Elenei couldn''t be an Immortal Phoenix due to her conflicting bloodlines, then she could only be reduced to a seed bed or, if she was lucky, a concubine.

    Even they, her parents, were powerless if the leaders of their race made such a decision.

    While the Beast ns in the Immortal World were incrediblyplex, they were also very simple.

    Power ruled everything. If they weren''t the most powerful, they could only submit to the ones who were.

    However, Elenei refused to ept that fate and went off on her own to find a way to control her future.

    Ignatius shrugged at Eira''s question, "How would I know? If I had to guess, I would say that she had indeed found a way, but at the same time, I doubt it''s so simple."

    Eira closed her eyes for a moment and checked on the bloodline connection she had with her daughter. Only beasts and people with a sufficient level of strength could do this, where they could check the status of anyone who shared their bloodline.

    She could still feel her and her husband''s bloodline from Elenei through her connection, but there was something odd with it. It was as if it was mixed with something new, creating a totally unique bloodline.

    That was already strange, as she didn''t know what Elenei mixed into her bloodlines for that to happen, but more importantly��<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''I can''t even tell if my daughter is still a Phoenix or not!'' Eira didn''t know how such a thing was possible!

    Phoenixes are akin to progenitors for their lesser races. For example, even a mortal sparrow, without any cultivation, has a sliver of Phoenix DNA in it. Although that DNA might not even make up .000000001% of its existence, it''s still there.

    Theoretically, if that sparrow found a way to iste their Phoenix bloodline, remove everything else, and improve it, it could transform into a Phoenix. The chances of such a thing happening are so infinitesimally small that it could be considered impossible, but it could happen under ideal circumstances.

    Thus, the theoretical limit of a sparrow would be a Phoenix. Going beyond that would be impossible.

    Even for Phoenixes, going beyond what their talent allowed was impossible. They couldn''t just transform into a new, higher species because they wanted to.

    The same went for Dragons.

    Even if a ''perfect'' Dragon-Phoenix hybrid existed, they still couldn''t break that limit; Elenei was proof of this.

    At least, that''s what Eira thought.

    However, Elenei had done just that! She had broken that limit and became something that nobody had ever reached!

    ''What did Elenei do?'' Eira frowned.

    Instead of feeling proud of her daughter for achieving such a thing, she grew worried. There was only one type of existence throughout history that could constantly break its own limits as if it didn''t have any, and those went extinct.

    Not one or two, but all of them!

    Eira didn''t want what happened then to happen to her Phoenix n because Elenei did something she shouldn''t have!

    ''Unfortunately, she''s in the Mortal Realm right now, or else I would''ve dragged her back right now to discuss what''s going on.''

    Of course, Eira thought about going there herself or sending someone down but immediately dismissed the thought.

    First, she didn''t want to anger the Heavens for no reason.

    Second, who would she send? Not only is everyone she knows an Immortal, but she doesn''t trust anyone enough to visit her daughter. Especially not now.

    "Whatever. I''ll ask her about it when she ascends. It shouldn''t take more than a few hundred years to do so with her talent."

    "Whatever. I''ll ask her about it when she ascends. It shouldn''t take more than a few hundred years to do so with her talent."

    Ignatius and Eira looked at each other and said at the same time. The two were so in sync that it was almost scary.

    Once they made a decision, they were going to follow through with it. Since they decided to wait, then they''d wait. There was no need to waste brainpower on something that might not happen for another few hundred years.

    Their ''clothes'' dissipated, and they were about to resume their ''ritual'', but they received a transmission from their leaders before they could.

    "Everyone,e back to Headquarters now! We have something important to discuss."

    Ignatius and Eira sighed before manifesting clothes again and standing up.

    "It seems like the others felt the change in Elenei''s bloodline too. Do you think they know it''s her?" Eira asked without emotion.

    Ignatius shook his head and said, "They wouldn''t have called us if they did."

    "Or, they would''ve called for us specifically," Eira added.

    "What''s our story?" Ignatius asked.

    "We''ll feign ignorance for now. No need to cause any extra trouble for our daughter."

    Ignatius nodded, "Very well."

    Then, he circted Qi around his body and gave his wife a suggestive look, "I''ll see you back here after we''re done."

    A faint blush crept up on Eira''s porcin skin, but her expression remained indifferent, "Mmhm. Let''s see if we can give Elenei a little sibling."

    Ignatius gave his wife a faint nod, then disappeared from his position, heading toward his Fire Dragon n''s headquarters. As soon as he left, Eira did as well, heading toward her Phoenix n''s headquarters.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the daughter they were concerned about was bouncing joyfully around a 9-tailed fox woman like a little girl.

 Chapter 608 Frozen Ash Dracophoenix

    Elenei couldn''t contain her excitement. It''s been so long since she started this journey of trying to fuse her bloodlines. Who would''ve guessed that her entire life would change just because of a chance encounter with a weak, human girl who had a unique affinity?

    ''Who knew someone with such garbage luck like yourself would unknowingly be my lucky star? Hahahaha! Contracting with you was the best decision I ever made, Mira!'' Elenei circled around Mira,ughing with joy.

    Not only had she managed to fuse her bloodline, but she also managed to evolve into an entirely new species and acquire a few new powers.

    ''Now, I can finally return to my parents and n with my head held high!'' Elenei clenched her teeth, her eyes shining with determination.

    However, there was a slight problem: she was no longer close to ascending to the Immortal Realm.

    No, saying she wasn''t close was too much of an understatement.

    ''I lost every ounce of my previous power!'' Elenei thought inwardly, but she wasn''tining.

    For this opportunity, Elenei would give up all of her power 100 times over. Her forming a contract with Mira was proof of her resolve to see her journey through to the end.

    However, that doesn''t mean she felt good about going from a Phoenix that could kill Ascension Realm experts to a tiny animal that wasn''t even Rank 1. That was a power she had gained over hundreds of years!

    Still, more than anything, she was just shocked that even after using her cultivation as fuel and absorbing all that Qi a few minutes ago, she hadn''t managed to break through a minor stage.

    ''Oh well,'' Elenei shrugged her wings, ''Perhaps it''s for the best if it''s like this. I am a new species, after all. It would make sense for me to start at the bottom and work my way up.''

    "So, you look different." Mira interrupted Elenei''s thoughts as the beautiful fox woman examined her serpentine body. "That''s a good thing, right?"

    Elenei nodded her cute little head and spoke straight into Mira''s mind, ''Of course! Not only did I fuse my bloodlines, but I even evolved my race because of it!''

    "Oh?" Mira raised an eyebrow, "What race did you evolve into, and what are your powers?"

    Elenei raised her body in the air and said proudly, ''I''m what''s called a Frozen Ash Dracophoenix! My affinities are Fire, Ice, abination of the two, Yin Fire, and I also have some control over death. As for my abilities�� I''m not sure. I''ll probably have to break through to Rank 2, at the minimum, to find out."

    Mira nodded, unsurprised that Elenei would have to cultivate a little to unlock her racial abilities. She was, however, interested in her new race.

    ''''Frozen Ash Dracophoenix, huh? Sounds powerful, but how do you already know that''s what you are? Or did you just make that name up yourself?"

    Elenei smirked, her wings fluttering excitedly, ''The name entered my mind as soon as Ipleted my Nirvana. You might not know this, but beasts have what we call ''bloodline inheritances'' in our bloodlines. Not all beasts have them, as they usually depend on the purity and grade of the bloodline, but these ''inheritances'' generally contain abilities, memories, a boost in strength, etc. It really just depends. The name of my species was an inheritance that I''d received.''

    Mira frowned slightly, "Really? Then why haven''t I received something like that? My bloodline purity and grade should be extremely high."

    ''Hmph! What do you mean you haven''t received something like that?'' Elenei snorted, ''Is nine not enough for you?''

    "Hmm?" Mira''s eyes widened slightly, "My tails count as inheritances?"

    ''If they were just normal tails, they wouldn''t, but each one has a unique ability! If that''s not an inheritance, then I don''t know what is.''

    Mira nodded in understanding as Elenei''s words made sense. She knew that the uniqueness of her tails was due to her bloodline, but she didn''t know that they were inheritances.

    "Do you think I''ll obtain more bloodline inheritances?" Mira asked.

    ''I don''t know.'' Elenei shook her head.

    ''You might, but you also might just see an increase in your tails'' abilities. Though, as a 9-tailed fox, I highly doubt that to be the case.''

    Mira agreed with Elenei on that. By now, she had researched foxes and 9-tailed foxes more in-depth and knew that much of their power came from their illusions, charm, and mental/soul attacks.

    Rather than receiving enhancements to her tails, she was more likely to gain a new ability.

    As she pondered, Mira suddenly raised her head and stared at the cave exit.

    "It seems we have a few unwanted visitors," Mira muttered, a grin slowly creeping up on her face. Rhydian sensed the people outside and stood up along with Mira.

    "Would you like to go back in my Soul Sea, or-" Mira asked Elenei, but thetter cut her off.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''No! I''ll stay out here with you! I''m tired of sleeping in that cramped space!''

    "Your presence could cause trouble for you and me, you know? These people are here because of themotion you made, after all."

    Elenei snorted in disdain but hopped onto Mira''s shoulder and coiled around her neck like a scarf. Mira thought Elenei''s wings and scales would feel rough and bothersome, but they were actually silky smooth.

    ''I guess I''ll have to rely on you to protect little ol'' me. That shouldn''t be too much trouble for a brute like you, right?''

    Mira shook her head with a sigh and walked over to the boulder blocking the entrance.

    "You do you. Just try not to die before you be useful. I''d hate to lose a valuable resource, after all."

    Elenei kept quiet, not taking Mira''s words to heart. She refused to believe that Mira had no feelings of camaraderie toward her after everything they''d been through.

    Proof of that was how long their conversation was! If Mira didn''t care about her, she would never have said a word to her.

    ''It seems you''ve improved in more ways than one during my slumber, Mira.'' Elenei secretly thought.

    Mira raised her fist and punched the boulder, causing it to burst into a million pieces! She walked out of the cave, followed by Rhydian, and looked around indifferently.

    Mira found herself surrounded by a group of cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realms and Soul Transformation Realms, each wielding different weapons. Their eyes were fixed on both Rhydian and Elenei, and she could feel their hostile energy pulsating around her.

    But it wasn''t just the cultivators that she had to worry about. Mira could make out the forms of several fierce beasts in the shadows behind them. They, too, were eyeing her warily as if waiting for the right moment to pounce.

    However, as soon as they looked at Mira''s face, it was as if the world froze. Men and women alike couldn''t help but audibly gulp at the sight of her beautiful face as they fell into a trance.

    ''A goddess!'' They all thought simultaneously. With her cold aura and expression,bined with that face, she was exactly what they imagined a goddess to look like.

    Now that Mira reached the Nascent Soul Realm, she felt like she finally had enough strength to stand tall in this world. There was no need to go out of her way to hide her face, especially since her beauty was a very effective weapon.

    "State your purpose! Why have you disturbed me?" Mira''s indifferent voice echoed through the mountains, but when the people heard it, they snapped out of their trance, feeling a chill run down their spines.

    For some reason, their instincts told them not to answer that question.

    Unfortunately, there will always be one idiot in such arge group.

    "Miss, we came in search of a treasure. Do you happen to-"

    Mirazily stretched and yawned. She raised her fist, and before anyone could react, she attacked the man who had just spoken.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

    He didn''t even have a chance to finish his question before his body and soul were obliterated, leaving nothing behind. Not even a drop of blood.

    The cultivators and beasts went aghast when they realized that Mira had just killed someone right before their eyes. The worst part was that they didn''t know how she did it! All they saw was Mira stretching, and then, BOOM! Dead!

    Although that man was only an average Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm expert, he was still someone in the Nascent Soul Realm. For him to die in such a manner�� How strong was the woman in front of them?!?

    "Nevermind. I don''t really care why you''re here. Since you dare to covet my things, you naturally have to face the consequences." Mira said as if it was the most normal thing in the world, scaring the people more.

    ''Fuck! She''s not a goddess but a psychopathic demon!'' They all screamed internally but didn''t dare to move.

    "Ahh~ But it wouldn''t be any fun if I just ughtered you all for no reason. So, I''ll give you a chance to live." Mira said, pointing at Elenei wrapped around her neck, "This little beast is the treasure you came here for. If any of you cannd an attack on me or the wolf behind me, I''ll hand her over to you and walk away."

    Arge, sadistic grin formed on Mira''s face, and a bloody aura slowly exuded from her body.

    "So, what''ll it be? Will you leave and die, or fight and�� well, probably still die?"

    "...!!!"

 Chapter 609 Playing

    "..."

    The air was thick with tension as the crowd of people stood in silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft rustling of clothing and the asional shuffling of feet.

    Some looked anxious, their eyes darting back and forth as they waited for the unknown. Others stood with stoic expressions, faces betraying nothing. And others had tears in their eyes, the gravity of the situation weighing heavily on them.

    Thest were those with a strength simr to the man Mira had obliterated.

    No one spoke. The silence was heavy, almost suffocating, as it seemed to press down on the crowd, making it hard to breathe.

    Some of the more righteous people wanted to speak up, but their words got caught in their mouths. They didn''t want the next person to die, after all!

    "..."

    Suddenly, Mira started chuckling. Her voice was as beautiful as cherry blossoms blooming at the beginning of spring, but to them, it was no different than a Demon Queen''s.

    "Why are you guys so tense? I was just kidding. It''s not like I would really kill all of you guys for no reason. I''m not that unreasonable."

    Elenei and Rhydian rolled their eyes, wondering how Mira could say something like that with a straight face.

    ''Bitch! Who are you trying to fool?? You literally just killed someone for no reason, yet you still dare to spout such nonsense?'' Elenei cursed Mira in her mind.

    Even the crowd almost rolled their eyes at Mira''s words. How could they trust this woman so easily?

    Sighing audibly, Mira shrugged her shoulder, causing everyone to flinch and raise their weapons.

    "It''s up to you to believe me or not; I''m really not lying. Whoever wants to leave can leave. However, just know that you will forfeit this cute little snake if you do." Mira stroked the ''snake'' around her neck.

    When one of the weaker and more cowardly beasts in the back heard this, it immediately turned tail and ran away.

    Unfortunately, before it could move more than a few meters, its body exploded into a million pieces.

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    Under where the beast had just died, a deep imprint of a fist sank into the ground.

    "Woops~" Mira chuckled, "I slipped. My bad~."

    "..."

    Anyone who thought of leaving froze in ce, no longer daring to move. They stared at Mira in horror as their decision not to trust this woman was reaffirmed. She was too devious.

    ''Why are you messing with them so much, Mira?'' Elenei asked, confused. The Mira she knew wouldn''t y with her ''food'' so much. Instead, she would ughter her opponents like a reaper without whispering so much as a word.

    ''I''m in a good mood.'' Mira replied, the wide smirk on her face proving this.

    Elenei''s lips twitched, and she thought inwardly, ''This is you in a good mood? You''ve really be more fox-like since thest time I saw you.''

    ''But that''s not the only reason why,'' Mira continued, ''When I killed that first person, these people hid in their little turtle shells like cowards! How am I supposed to test my strength and get a good fight out of them if they are too scared to use their full power?''

    With Elenei''s intelligence, she instantly understood what Mira was trying to do and couldn''t help but shiver, ''I-I see�� So, you''re driving them into a corner.''

    Mira nodded, her grin widening, ''It seems your intelligence has improved alongside your bloodline! That''s right! I need to have a rough understanding of my current power, but if these people are too focused on escaping rather than fighting, then I can''t obtain that.''

    While she didn''t feel any real threat from these people, and Mira figured she''d have to fight someone much more talented than them to understand her strength better, these people should do for now.

    Mira was overflowing with power right now and needed a ce to release it. These people were the unlucky bunch that happened to have met her at the wrong ce and time.

    As Mira was conversing with Elenei, a few other beasts in the back, mainly the ones that specialized in speed and stealth, tried to sneak away.

    Mira sensed their actions and snorted. She waved her hand and sent half a dozen tiny ice needles toward their positions. Before they could even realize Mira had attacked, the ice needles pierced their skulls, freezing their brains and killing them instantly.

    ''Oh!! That was stronger than I thought it would be!'' Mira''s eyes widened in surprise.

    While those beasts were just Low and Mid-Stage Rank 7, she killed them without much effort. It was literally as easy as waving her hand.

    Although she could kill such ''low-leveled'' beasts before her breakthrough, she still needed to exert a little bit of effort. It would''ve definitely taken more than a small ice needle.

    ''It''s probably safe to assume that anything at my cultivation doesn''t stand a chance against me.'' Mira mused. She still needed to fight more talented people to confirm her conjectures, but just based on the results so far, ordinary people couldn''t even touch the hem of her dress.

    "Alright, I''m getting bored. You have three seconds to decide what you want to do, or else I''m just going to leave," Mira''s cold voice rang out, startling the crowd. Their blood ran cold when she said that she was going to leave.

    Their instincts told them that things would end so simply��

    Mira held up her hand, raised three fingers, and began counting down.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Three."

    "Two."

    Before she could get to one, someone in the crowd shouted, "Miss, don''t you have any morals?! How can you force us to fight you when we haven''t done anything wrong? We just wanted to see what kind of treasure was born!!"

    Mira nced at the man who had spoken out, and instantly, he felt like his body was dunked into a frozen hell. While Mira''s mouth was raised into a smirk, those eyes�� those indifferent eyes held not an ounce of emotion in them. It was as if she was looking at a talking corpse.

    ''Fuck! I''m dead!'' The man panicked and cursed. He tried to raise his weapon, to circte his Qi and attack, or run away, but his body refused to move.

    ''Move! Dammit, move!'' He tried to raise his leg and run, but it stayed rooted to the ground.

    "Why should I care about your shitty morals?" Mira said.

    "Eh?" The man''s mind nked out.

    "If I weren''t strong, you lot would''ve already killed me and plundered the items from my corpse, then fought for them among yourselves. Quit spewing bullshit and make up your mind."

    Mira''s middle finger lowered, leaving only her pointer finger left standing.

    "One."

    That finger began to slowly close as well, but just as she was about to release an annoyed sigh, Mira felt a dense killing intenting from the crowd. Human and beast alike all circted their Qi and red at Mira, hatred evident in their eyes.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed with excitement, but her senses picked up something before she could get too riled up. Her head swiveled, and she focused in on a man hidden in the middle of the crowd.

    His aura and Qi were murky and pollutedpared to the other cultivators as if they came from multiple, impure sources. Only one organization on this continent had such a disgusting aura.

    ''The Unorthodox Faction.'' Her expression grew serious, and she was reminded of her goal ofing out here in the first ce.

    To teach these bastards that they couldn''t afford the consequences for offending her!

    Clenching her fists, Mira took a deep breath and calmed down. She examined the man more closely and noticed that he was actually in the 2nd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    ''This bastard is quite strong. I''m sure he has quite a high position in one of the Unorthodox Faction Sects.'' Mira thought with an evil glint in her eyes, ''I''ll save him forst. Maybe I can extract some useful information from him.''

    While she was examining him, she had totally forgotten about the other people here.

    "If we work together, even this monster won''t be able to deal with all of us!"

    "Kill her!"

    "Kill her before she kills us!!"

    All the cultivators and avian beasts soared into the air andunched so many attacks at Mira that they blotted out the sky. Meanwhile, the non-avian beasts charged at her like a herd of bulls.

    Mira snorted in disdain and raised her hand above her head. A dense stream of Qi flowed out of her, creating an ice dome above her head, covering her and Rhydian.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!*

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!*

    ��

    Attacks rained down on Mira''s position, destroying thend around them. After a second, a massive crater formed where Mira was standing. A few people released a sigh of relief, believing that their attacks had killed her, but the rest still donned serious expressions.

    "She''s not dead yet! Attack again!"

    "OOOOOOOH!"

    Another wave of attacks fell on Mira��

    And then another��

    and another��.

    Soon, dozens of seconds passed, but the people hadn''t stopped attacking. In fact, with each passing second, their expressions worsened as their Soul Sense could still feel Mira alive and well.

    As they were attacking, suddenly, a loud sigh entered their ears, followed by a melodious yet chilling voice.

    "Is that it? Then, I guess it''s my turn!"

 Chapter 610 Weaklings

    Mira waved her hand, and the cracked ice dome above her head shattered into countless ice shards. She locked onto all the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators and Rank 7 beasts, thenunched those shards at them!

    She wasn''t trying to kill them with that attack; she just wanted to see what would happen.

    "Ugh!"

    "Ack! Fuck! My hand!"

    "Dammit! I could barely react in time!"

    Some of the stronger and more sensitive cultivators could react in time and survived, albeit barely, while the rest were left with holes through their bodies, lost limbs, or worse.

    "Don''t let up the pressure! She''s unprotected right now!" One of the Soul Transformation Realm men shouted, unknowingly taking charge of therge crowd.

    Mira nced at the man and figured he would be one of the more difficult opponents in this fight, but she chose not to attack him right now.

    ''They can''t lose their morale so early.'' Mira smirked inwardly, curious how the man would control thisrge group of unrted individuals. ''Struggle. Struggle with all your might and show me what a cultivator is truly capable of.''

    The man who had taken charge keptunching attacks at Mira, but he spared a part of his mind to give orders and organize the rest of the people.

    "Those who have a Fire or Lightning Affinity,e forward! You will be our main attackers!"

    "Anyone with a Wind Affinity will back them up!"

    "Those with a Water and Earth Affinity will focus on healing and protecting us from her attacks!"

    "If you have an affinity other than those five, then try and support us while looking for an opportunity to take her down!"

    "Lastly, if you have any soul techniques, spare no effort and go all out! We won''t be able to win this battle if we hold back now!"

    "Yes, sir!!"

    The people immediately put his words into action. Those with a Fire and Lightning affinity flew ahead of the others and floated directly above Mira. Those with Earth affinities teamed up right next to them, offering protection.

    Everyone else re-arranged themselves into a position that suited their affinity and fighting style better.

    Mira nodded, impressed by how quickly they assessed the situation and understood their individual roles in all of it.

    ''It seems that man holds a leadership position in whatever group or Sect hees from.'' Mika spected. She almost felt it was a pity to kill such a man.

    Almost.

    Without the ''leader'' needing to say the word, the fire and lightning affinity cultivators prepared their techniques andunched them at her!

    From afar, despite everyone using their own unique attacks, it looked like a massive ball of fire and lightning was falling on top of Mira. Then, to make things worse, an intense wind picked up and turned that ball into a colossal tornado!

    Mira was a little interested in what just happened as she could tell that their attacks were amplified multiple times over just by fusing their powers together, even if it wasn''t perfect.

    However, she wasn''t worried about such an attack at all.

    Holding out her hand, a tiny, dense ck ball formed in her hand. Spinning faster and faster, the ck ball, or her Singrity Strike, sucked in all the surrounding light.

    Once it reached a satisfying level, Mira flicked the Singrity Strike at the elemental tornado approaching her.

    The suction force from the mini ckhole was too much for the tornado to handle, and it quickly sucked in the tornado like it was nothing! Within seconds, the attacks from dozens of people vanished into thin air, leaving behind a ck ball around the size of a thumb.

    "What?!"

    "H-How is that possible??"

    "A-All those attacks�� Gone�� Gone just like that!"

    "Wait, what is that thing in the mid-AHHHH! Save me!!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira''s Singrity Strike wasn''t over yet, as anyone near it lost control of their bodies and was dragged toward it. They barely had time to scream before they were crushed under the weight of the mini ck hole, turning into a speck of their former selves.

    The only ones who could resist were those who were stronger and further away. Anyone near its vicinity was ughtered without even leaving behind a corpse. They died a very quick but excruciating death as they were literally crushed to a fine point under their own weight.

    Among the group, only a few remained in the Nascent Soul Realm and the remainder in the Soul Transformation Realm.

    "Fuck! How is this demoness so strong?! She''s clearly only in the Nascent Soul Realm! How can she kill all of us like we''re nothing more than ants?!" The man who had taken charge now began to panic.

    His name was Zhou Yuan, an Elder of the Golden Blossom Sect. While they were just a 2nd rate Sect, notparable to the likes of the Battle Maiden Sect or anything like that, they were well known throughout their territory.

    Zhou Yuan wasn''t incredibly talented, but he managed to reach the 5th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, proving that he was still above most people.

    Unfortunately, due to his talent, he would find it incredibly difficult to reach the 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th Stages. The Mortal Transformation Realm waspletely out of reach for him, as unless he found a heaven-defying treasure, he''d be forever stuck in the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Like any cultivator who had reached their limit, he sought to find a way to break through it.

    However, just as he was beginning to despair that he would never find a way to break past that wall, he sensed the dense fluctuations of something that seemed oddly simr to a natural treasure forming.

    Thus, he came rushing over here in a hurry, hoping to find something that could allow him to keep cultivation, but�� but��

    ''What the hell is this?!''

    He never expected to encounter a psychopath instead of a treasure. Like the rest of the people around him, he was beginning to regret his decision of ever leaving his Sect.

    ''I should''ve just been happy with my current power. Why did I have toe out looking for trouble??'' He cursed his past self for making such a stupid decision, but unfortunately, there wasn''t anything he could do now that he was here.

    Suddenly, the demon in the shape of a fox-woman turned to him and released a predatory grin, showing off her canines.

    Just from that nce alone, he shivered uncontrobly as he felt his mind go numb. As a Soul Transformation Realm elder, his senses were higher than normal people''s, and he could feel a deep-rooted malice in those crimson eyes.

    ''J-Just, how many people has this monster killed?'' Zhou Yuan didn''t even consider her a demon anymore, as even demons weren''t as terrifying as her!

    ''D-Dammit!'' He gritted his teeth and cursed again, attempting to regain his sanity, ''I can''t let this monster kill any more people than it already has! Even if I have to burn my soul, I''ll do everything I can to take it down!''

    He nced around, looking at his temporary teammates, and his mind firmed. Although he didn''t know any of these people, many of whom might have suspicious personalities, they were infinitely better than this human-shaped monster before him!

    Suddenly, he saw Mira pull out her scythe, disappear from her position, and dash toward the nearest person.

    Zhou Yuan didn''t even have time to react or stop her before the person was cut in half!

    "Stop it, you monster! Stop killing these innocent people!" Zhou Yuan''s eyes turned bloodshot, and he rushed at Mira with his sword.

    However, Mira didn''t even spare him a nce as she moved on to the next person. In the blink of an eye, she appeared before another Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, shing her scythe and splitting him in two.

    The force behind that attack was so high that it continued another hundred meters, cutting apart anything that got in its way, including other people and beasts.

    She didn''t stop there and continued to ughter the rest of the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. They ranged from the 1st Stage to the 9th, but none of them were able tost more than a split second against Mira.

    A few of the 9th Stage cultivators managed to run a few meters away, but they were cut down all the same.

    The other Soul Transformation Realm people tried to stop Mira''s killing spree, but her attacks were so fast and random that they couldn''t guess who she would go for next.

    Thus, within a few seconds, Mira had killed everyone under the Soul Transformation Realm, confirming that her strength had surpassed the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Perhaps only a supreme genius like Ryuu or someone on his level couldpete with her in the same Realm, but even then, she doubted he could. Unless he obtained a serious power-up the next time they met.

    A smile spread across Mira''s face as she realized that the ''weaklings'' were gone.

    "Now, it''s time to move on to the main event!"

 Chapter 611 Cowards

    Mira stood in the midst of the carnage, the ground beneath her littered with the bodies of the fallen cultivators and beasts. She looked around at the destruction she had wrought and couldn''t help but feel a sense of satisfaction.

    The Nascent Soul Realm cultivators and Rank 7 beasts had been no match for her, and she had dispatched them with ease. Even if she stood there wide open and let them attack her, she doubted they had the strength to do any real damage. They might be able to leave cuts and bruises, but she hardly considered those as injuries in the first ce.

    Since they had served their purpose, there was no point in keeping them here any longer. Although these people hadn''tmitted any major offenses against her, Mira didn''t feel bad about killing them.

    That was just how the world was; a brutal ce that could take your life at any moment.

    It was the Soul Transformation Realm cultivators and Rank 8 beasts who posed a real challenge. Whether it be their strength, senses, reaction speed, agility, or anything else, they were in a league of their own.

    The sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention, and she turned to see Zhou Yuan, sword in hand, charging toward her.

    "You won''t get away with this!" he shouted, "I''ll make sure you don''t! A monster like you cannot exist in this world!"

    Mira smirked and nced around at his so-called teammates. While they were visibly irritated,bined with a mixture of awe, fear, and focus, they were mostly indifferent to the situation around them.

    If anything, they were probably d that they didn''t have to wipe out thepetition themselves.

    ''It seems that these guys are here for more than just Elenei at this point.'' Mira thought, and she couldn''t me them.

    She was a fox woman with nine tails, had a giant golden-winged wolf as a beastpanion, and a beautiful winged serpent creature wrapped around her neck. Those,bined with her strength and talent��

    ''They''d have to bepletely brain-dead not to understand that I''m a literal walking treasure trove.'' Mira thought but hardly bothered to focus her attention on them.

    ''They''re just opportunistic rats who will scurry away once they realize their efforts in seizing my loot are futile.'' She could tell that most of them were just waiting for the right time to steal the kill and bounce. Even as Zhou Yuan was giving out orders, they weren''t using their full power. Why would they waste all that energy when thepetition was still fierce?

    Mira had only shown that she could easily kill those in the Nascent Soul Realm; she hadn''t shown anything that made them believe she could kill them too. Thus, they used those people as cannon fodder to study Mira''s strengths and weaknesses better.

    ''Still,'' Her smirk widened when she nced at Zhou Yuan, who was charging at her like a raging bull. ''I did manage to catch one useful opponent through all this.''

    Zhou Yuan was the only one who seemed to look past the mary gains he could obtain by subduing her.

    Mira watched as Zhou Yuan charged towards her, his sword held high above his head. His courage impressed her, but she knew it was misced.

    Zhou Yuan swung his sword down towards her, but Mira moved quickly, dodging the blow and striking out with her scythe. The de sliced through the air and caught Zhou Yuan across the chest, leaving a deep gash in his flesh.

    "Urgh!"

    Zhou Yuan grunted in pain and stumbled back, his eyes wide with fear and shock. Mira could see the realization dawning on him that he was outmatched, that he was going to die here in the middle of nowhere.

    But even as the fear consumed him, Zhou Yuan refused to give up. The images of his disciples, colleagues and loved ones shed through his mind.

    ''I have to protect them! I can''t allow this monster out into the world! Who knows what sort of chaos she''ll bring!'' He gritted his teeth as his eyes went bloodshot.

    Not wanting to take any more chances, he began to burn his blood essence to give him an extra boost in strength.

    He lunged forward once again, his sword shing in the sunlight.

    Mira parried the blow with her scythe, then struck out with her foot, catching Zhou Yuan in the stomach and sending him flying backward.

    Zhou Yuan crashed to the ground, gasping for breath, his sword ttering away from him. Mira stepped forward, her scythe held at the ready. Her eyes were calm and collected as if everything was within her grasp.

    "Do�� Do you seriously think you can take us all at the same time?" Zhou Yuan scoffed, summoning up all the strength he had in his body. He lunged forward once again, his hands reaching out towards her.

    "You underestimate the power of us cultivators too much!"

    Mira didn''t say anything, as there was no need to, and sidestepped his attack, driving her scythe down toward his neck. The de sliced through the air, but before it could strike home, a st of energy mmed into Mira''s back, sending her sprawling to the ground.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira looked up to see one of the Soul Transformation Realm cultivators standing over her, his hands glowing with Qi. He sneered down at her, his eyes filled with contempt.

    "It seems I was worried for nothing. You''re not nearly as strong as you made yourself out to be," He said, his voice dripping with arrogance.

    Mira acted as if she didn''t hear his drivel and brushed the dirt off her clothes. The man''s face went stiff when he realized that his attack had barely done any damage to Mira. Despite her clothes being partially torn and a nasty bruise on her back, she was in good condition.

    ''Damn! This Magma Dragon Body technique is amazing! I really will have to thank Kayda the next time I see her.'' Mira eximed. She had already sensed that the man was behind her but allowed herself to get hit just to test her durability.

    She was confident enough in her strength that she knew she wouldn''t die from something like that. And, as long as she wouldn''t die, then she was fine.

    ''Still, there''s a price to pay for attacking me in the back,'' Mira''s eyes narrowed as a cold killing intent leaked out of them.

    Mira leaped up into the air with her full power, arriving near the man before he could react, and smashed her golden tail into the side of his head!

    *St!*

    His head and one of his shoulders exploded into a bloody mess, killing him on the spot.

    "....!!!"

    The surroundings seemed to freeze as everyone stared at the man''s headless corpse in shock! That was the first death among those in the Soul Transformation Realm, yet Mira made it look so easy!

    One has to remember that he wasn''t just some random nobody in the Foundation Realm; he was a full-blown Soul Transformation Realm cultivator! He was probably the head of a family or an Elder at a Sect somewhere, yet he died before he could react!

    On this Continent, where the highest powers were people in the Divine Sea Realm, the next highest stage most talented people could reach was the Mortal Transformation Realm. However, even those were rare!

    So, the Soul Transformation Realm acted as the peak for what the average person could reach.

    However, Mira made it look like she had swatted away an annoying fly! While she was only in the Nascent Soul Realm at that!

    Many of the cultivators felt chills run down their spines as they could easily imagine themselves in that man''s position. He wasn''t that much weaker than them!

    "Fuck this. I''m out of here!"

    "Me too. If you guys want to die, be my guest, but I''m not sticking around any longer."

    "Damn! If I had known that it''d be this much trouble to obtain a treasure, I never would''ve wasted my time."

    Many of the people grumbled and shed away, leaving the areapletely.

    Mira wanted to stop them, but she noticed that the Unorthodox Faction guy was also about to leave.

    ''Rhydian, stop that man!'' Mira shouted at her beastpanion and kicked the ground with her heel, creating a few earth hands from the ground totch onto his legs.

    ''On it!'' Rhydian replied and shed toward the man, stomping on him with her massive body.

    Unfortunately, that split-secondpse in judgment allowed the other people to escape. However, Mira wasn''t too upset by this as she had no grudge against them.

    It''s just a pity there are so many cowards among those with such a high level of power.'' Mira shook her head with a sigh.

    ''Or maybe, they value their lives more because they''ve reached that level.''

    Whatever the case may be, Mira didn''t care. They were still cowards in her eyes and were unworthy to be her stepping stone.

    "RAAAHHH! I''ll kill you! Even if I have to blow myself up, I''ll be sure to take you down with me, you monstrous demon!" Zhou Yuan''s maddened yell reached Mira''s ears, and her expression changed drastically.

 Chapter 612 Unlucky

    ''Fuck! This man has gone crazy!'' Mira cursed as she bounced away. Zhou Yuan charged at her as if she was some apocalyptic being that was out for blood and ughter! However, he couldn''t be more wrong.

    Why would she waste her time killing a bunch of nobodies?

    Although fighting battles to the death might be a way for her to blow off steam, she wouldn''t run around the world killing mortals. What would be the point of doing that?

    If she''s going to fight and kill, it has to be for a reason. Before, it was so she could get her head on straight, but now that she''s improving her mind and no longer needs that, fighting is a way to temper herself.

    Her only reason for fighting these people is to temper herself and learn more about her strength.

    ''However, it seems like this man has seen something he shouldn''t have.'' Mira frowned, dodging his sword strikes.

    ''Did my killing intent really make him go crazy?'' She spected, but that only confused her more. While she had released some killing intent throughout this entire time, it wasn''t near what she could unleash. Rather, it was a rtively average amount; some of the other Soul Transformation Realm men emitted denser killing intent than her!

    ''Are his senses so good that he could see whaty underneath the surface?'' Mira shook her head, not believing that to be the case. If it were, the others would''ve sensed something as well.

    ''It''s your soul, Mira.'' Elenei spoke inside her mind.

    ''Hmmm? What do you mean?'' Mira questioned, raising her scythe to block Zhou Yuan''s attack. Their weapons collided, but unlike the other times, Mira felt her arms tremble a bit from the impact.

    ''Have you heard the saying, "the eyes are the windows to the soul"?''

    Mira nodded.

    ''Well, think of that, but on another level. After you broke through, the quality and quantity of your soul rose to an insane degree. Thus, killing intent, which is directly linked to your existence, or in other words, your soul, became more effective. However, since you''ve just broken through, you''re unable to control this, so a bit too much leaked out.''

    Mira instantly understood what was going on. Zhou Yuan must''ve looked deep into her eyes and gone crazy from what he saw. The weight of billions of deaths isn''t something an average person could withstand, much less someone of upstanding character like him. Even she feels burdened by it, and she''s lived with it for years!

    ''I also just came back from "hell", so I''m sure that didn''t make things better.''

    Mira nodded, taking in the information. It made sense now. She had been so focused on her physical strength that she had neglected the changes happening to her soul.

    ''I see," Mira said before dodging another one of Zhou Yuan''s attacks.

    ''But how do I control it? I can''t have people going crazy whenever they look me in the eye.''

    ''Just imagine yourself shutting a door between your eyes and your soul. That should limit the leakage until you better understand your soul and how it interacts with the world around you.'' Elenei replied.

    Mira nodded and did just that. However, she didn''t feel any different than before, so she shifted her focus back to Zhou Yuan, who was still charging at her with all his might.

    He raised his sword and channeled his empowered Qi into it.

    "Die!!"

    He yelled, his sword descending from the sky.

    Mira snorted and created an earth barrier with a wave of her scythe, deflecting the sword strike with ease. Zhou Yuan''s expression changed as he realized that his attack had failed.

    Mira took the opportunity to counter-attack. She dashed forward, her scythe slicing through the air with blinding speed, aiming straight for Zhou Yuan''s chest. However, he dodged it by leaping back, narrowly avoiding the lethal strike.

    Zhou Yuan regained hisposure and resumed his offensive, his sword strikes bing faster and more ferocious. Mira was forced to retreat, parrying each blow with her scythe. The two warriors exchanged blows, their weapons shing with deafening ngs.

    Mira soon realized that Zhou Yuan was not an ordinary opponent.

    He was a seasoned warrior who had faced many formidable foes in the past. His swordsmanship was impable, and his reflexes were lightning-fast. Mira was impressed by his skills but knew she couldn''t afford to underestimate him too much, as he had most likely lived as long as she had.

    Besides, the aura he was emitting right now was much more potent and ferocious than it was at the beginning of the fight.

    She decided to change her tactics. Instead of relying solely on her physical strength, she used her Scythe Manifestation for the first time since she broke through. The scent of death emanated from Mira, causing Zhou Yuan to falter for a moment. Mira seized the opportunity and struck him with her scythe, but he managed to block a fatal blow with his sword.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The two went back and forth for many more rounds, their weapons nging with each attack, destroying thend around them.

    Some of the other Soul Transformation Realm cultivators watching from afar watched with bated breath as they rooted for them to kill each other, so they could swoop in and steal all the loot.

    Zhou Yuan red at Mira, his eyes filled with fury. He realized that he had been too careless and allowed Mira to gain the upper hand. So, he decided to go all out, using his most powerful sword technique.

    If he couldn''t end it with this, then��

    ''I''ll have to take more drastic measures.''

    He gathered all his Qi and infused it into his sword. The sword began to emit a blinding light, and Zhou Yuan lunged at Mira with lightning speed, his sword aiming straight for her heart.

    Mira''s eyes widened in surprise as she realized the full extent of Zhou Yuan''s power. She knew that she had to act fast if she wanted to survive. Thus, she focused all her strength and created a barrier of earth and ice around her, shielding her from Zhou Yuan''s attack.

    The impact of the attack sent shockwaves through the surrounding area, causing the ground to crack and the trees to sway violently.

    Mira dispelled the barrier and immediately shot toward the man, using her Yin Lightning and Wind affinities to boost her speed and catch him off-guard.

    ''Shit!'' Zhou Yuan cursed and hurriedly raised a barrier while dodging, but when Mira swung her scythe, he felt a searing paining from his left leg!

    "Ugh!"

    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a mangled limb fly past, and he knew that it was his leg. He stared back at Mira, whose eyes were eerily calm, and felt a chill run down his spine. Her scythe, which was already ck, seemed that much darker. The air became harder to breathe, and the surroundings seemed to have be icy cold.

    The threat of death had never felt so close before.

    ''So, this is it, huh?'' Zhou Yuan''s mind, which was upied with killing Mira, cleared up when he realized his fate was sealed. Memories of his life shed before his eyes, recounting everything he''d gone through until this point.

    ''It was a good run, one I''d do all over again if I were given a choice.'' He lived up to his fullest potential, helped train numerous generations of cultivators, and helped his Sect grow. He had wonderful friends and a fulfilling life with no regrets.

    He had done everything he wanted to do in this life.

    ''I guess it''s true that death finds us all,'' His eyes suddenly narrowed as he regained his focus. He stared back at Mira with bloodshot eyes and released a crazy smile, ''And it will certainlye for you too!''

    He focused on all the energy inside his core, preparing to use it to explode, taking out everything in the surrounding area, including Mira.

    "Hehehe~ I''ll see you in hell, you crazy monster!"

    His body started glowing with a bright light, like a mini sun. However, before he could self-destruct��

    *Shing!*

    Mira''s scythe [Manifestation] crossed shot through the air and removed his head from his body.

    "I''m sorry, but I can''t let you do that. Even I''m a bit worried about taking on the brunt of a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator''s core exploding." Mira sighed and floated over to his dead body.

    Aplicated light shone in her eyes as part of her wanted to refrain from killing the man. She didn''t know him for long but could tell he was a decent man from that brief interaction.

    Unfortunately, his mind was already too far gone after he sensed the hell deep within her eyes. She could''ve tried to help him regain his ''consciousness'', but decided it wasn''t worth the effort.

    She didn''t know the man, after all. He was just an unlucky fellow who happened to meet the wrong person.

    Shifting her eyes away from Zhou Yuan''s corpse, she nced at the other Soul Transformation Realm cultivators, waiting for them to make a move, but they never did.

    Mira shrugged her shoulders and turned to the Unorthodox Faction guy, who Rhydian had restrained.

    "Now, why don''t we learn a little more about you, hmm?" A smile ran across her face as she looked forward to the near future with this man.

 Chapter 613 Obtaining Information

    Mira walked up to the man and knocked him unconscious, then slung him on Rhydian''s back to take him to a secluded area, away from prying eyes. She needed more information about the Unorthodox Faction, as she knew the people the ''god'' sent down were using them as a proxy to harass her and those close to her.

    However, she was still skeptical of her ability to take down someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm without killing them, so she could only settle with having someone in the Soul Transformation Realm for now.

    Inside a cave hidden in the mountains, Mira tied the man up with ice chains and wrapped his body in the earth so he couldn''t move. Due to all themotion, the man gained consciousness and immediately tried to move around but noticed he was restrained.

    Just as he was about to channel his Qi, a cold but teasing voice echoed in his ears.

    "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Why are you in such a rush? I just want to have a little chat."

    The man felt a de press against his neck, knicking it and drawing blood. Not wanting to have his head chopped off, he stopped channeling his Qi and looked at the culprit.

    Mira approached the restrained guy and leaned down to look him in the eye with a bloodthirsty smile on her face. She could feel his fear and desperation emanating from him as he trembled in his bindings.

    "Why''d you bring me here?" He feigned ignorance, trying not to show that he knew who Mira was�Cor at least, her as a person.

    Among the upper echelons of the Unorthodox Faction Sects, there was a rumor going around that they were looking for a 9-tailed fox who traveled with a golden winged wolf. He''d have to be utterly braindead if he couldn''t see the coincidences as soon as he spotted Mira.

    However, from the beginning, Mira knew that he had recognized her. She could see it in his eyes, and the slight changes in his expression here further proved this.

    "Hmm? Don''t you recognize me?" Mira smirked, "You should know full well why I brought you here."

    The man tightly shut his lips and avoided eye contact.

    "Not willing to talk, huh? Well, that''s fine by me." Mira formed an ice needle thinner than a strand of hair in her hand and yed with it, "You see, you lot have caused great distress to someone I hold near and dear to my heart; just that is enough to send you all to the depths of hell. However, to add to your list of crimes, you''re even dealing with people who want nothing more than to see me rot and crumble into despair."

    Mira''s crimson eyes glowed slightly before calming down and looking at the man with a faint smile. The emotions and malice hidden deep within that smile caused all the blood in the man''s face to leave and cold sweat to drip down his back.

    "That being the case, I naturally have to prepare to teach you and your entire faction a very valuable lesson. I''m sure you understand what I mean by that, right?" Mira winked at the man with a yful smile that dripped with bloodlust.

    The man naturally understood. Mira wanted information, but how could he give in so easily??

    Ever since he was young, he''s grown up inside a Sect that was part of the Unorthodox Faction. Pain, despair, and misery were his onlypanions on his lonely road to the top. Even his cultivation technique hurt like hell, but he still used it!

    Over time, he''s grown to take pride in being a member of the Unorthodox Faction! He wasn''t burdened by the morals of the Orthodox Sects, where they tried to hide their greed while preaching love to the masses.

    Instead, he saw the Unorthodox Sects as ces where people can be true to themselves without worrying about what society says is right or wrong.

    The man pushed away his fear and anger and stared back at Mira with arge grin on his face.

    "You can try and torture the information out of me, but you should know you won''t get anything from me. You might as well kill me now to save yourself the effort." He said confidently.

    Mira''s grin widened, and she grabbed him by the chin.

    "That''s what they all say, but soon, you''ll fall just like the rest of them." She pried his mouth open, her free hand still ying with the ice needle.

    "However, I''ll allow you this one opportunity to tell me everything you know about the Unorthodox Faction, its various sects, the power structure, their goals, and anything else that might interest me. If you do that, I''ll give you a swift and painless death."

    The man kept quiet, with a defiant look in his eyes as he refused to say anything. Almost as if he was asking to be tortured.

    Mira just shrugged, knowing that she''d need to break him physically and mentally to get the information she desired.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Don''t say I didn''t warn you."

    Mira pried his mouth wide open and jammed the thin ice needle through one of his teeth and into his gums, all the way up until she pierced a bone.

    "...Ack!"

    The man''s eyes rolled back into his head, and his voice got caught in his throat as he wasn''t even sure how to process the pain that he felt! He struggled to breathe for a moment, but the air still entered his lungs, thanks to his cultivation.

    However, that slight gust of wind caused by his inhaling sent searing pain from his tooth to his mouth, all the way up to his brain! It was as if Mira sent an electric shock right to his mind!

    Foam formed at the corners of his mouth as his body entered a state of shock, but Mira wasn''t nearly done yet.

    "I''ll use you to freshen up on some old techniques, so try not to break too quickly."

    The man couldn''t even register Mira''s words as all his mind could focus on was a series of ice needles that now hovered above his eyes.

    ? "For every minute you refuse to answer, one of these will enter your body. Ah! But don''t worry. I know how to stick a needle in an eye without causing any blindness, so even if you survive today, you''ll still be able to see perfectly fine. Hehehehe~"

    The man''s body shivered uncontrobly, and he almost instantly regretted not saying anything at the beginning. However, this still wasn''t enough to break him, and he stayed adamant in his decision not to reveal any secrets!

    Over the next few hours, Mira tortured the man, using every method at her disposal to extract information.

    Most people think torture is a savage and brutish art that''s all about doing as much damage to the other party as possible while not killing them. And while part of that is true, Mira thought differently.

    To her, torture was more like art; very fine, precise, and sharp. It was a mixture of physical damage and psychological torture.

    However, what Mira found to be the most brutal form of torture was giving the subject hope, followed by sending them to the brink of despair.

    That''s why Mira hadn''t crippled his cultivation yet, and it''s also why she allowed him to speak his mind before she started. He needed that sliver of hope that as long as he said what she wanted to hear, the pain would stop, and he might be able to go back to his normal life.

    Breaking bones might hurt, but he could withstand such a thing with ease at his cultivation. Thus, she had to take a more�� precise approach.

    The man screamed and cried through it all, silently begging for mercy, but Mira was relentless. Unless he came out directly and said what she wanted, she would continue with the session. She was going to get this information one way or another, whether he liked it or not!

    Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the man broke. He told Mira everything she wanted to know, including the Sects'' identities and locations, their leaders'' identities, their inner workings, their cultivation techniques, and more.

    By the end of it all, she was highly satisfied with everything she''de to know, and the man was nothing more than a pittling pile of blood and bones.

    Mira stood up, looking down at the broken and battered man at her feet. By now, he could hardly formplete sentences.

    She knew that he was of no use to her anymore, and she raised her scythe to finish him off.

    *Shing!*

    His head flew through the air, and Mira tossed a small ck hole surrounded by Yin Fire to get rid of the corpse.

    Afterward, she walked over to Rhydian and hopped on her back with Elenei in tow.

    "It''s finally time for us to wreak a little havoc, Rhydian. In fact, why don''t we go get your little pack to join us?"

 Chapter 614 Unorthodox Faction Structure; Attacking

    On the way to her next destination, Mira learned a lot about the Unorthodox Faction, as well as this Continent.

    From what the man exined, the Unorthodox Faction was much bigger and way more organized than Mira initially thought or how people make it out to be. In fact, she felt that they had a betteryout than the Orthodox Sects.

    While the Orthodox Sects were under an umbre of what the general popce called the Orthodox Faction, that wasn''t totally correct.

    The 7 Top "Orthodox Sects" were at each other''s throats more than they were with the Unorthodox Faction or any other power at that. They were justbeled under this umbre term simply because they shared simr views on how they saw the world and their cultivation techniques.

    Other than that, most of the Sects weren''t that close with one another. At most, some had private alliances with one another to trade various goods and treasures that they might not have, but that''s about it.

    Still, even though the Orthodox Sects weren''t exactly best friends, they weren''t enemies either. It was just apetitive environment where everyone strived to obtain the best environment for cultivation, resources, and teachings.

    However, the Unorthodox Faction was different. They were a legitimate, structured faction ruled under a single person. Unlike the Orthodox Sects, which had seven Sect Masters all fighting for supremacy.

    The structure of the Faction was fairly simple. At the top of everything was the Faction Head, also known as The Crimson Titan, Victor Steele. Back in the day, he was a fearsome brute of a man with unknown origins who worked his way up to the top with his overwhelming strength and eventually became the Faction Head.

    However, nowadays, he''s a hard man to find, and most people believe he spends his time cultivating, focusing all of his energy on breaking through to the Ascension Realm. Whether that''s true or not is up for debate, but only the higher-ups of the Faction even have a chance of meeting him.

    Under him is the Second-inmand, the Assistant Head, Nathaniel Ashford. He''s often referred to as The Brain, as he''s the man whoes up with the Faction''s long-term ns and solutions.

    Next are the Elders, who work directly underneath the Faction Head and Assistant Head. They don''t control any Sects, any powers, nothing. Their only jobs are to serve the Faction Head.

    However, the number of Elders is unknown, their jobs are unknown, and even the process of bing an Elder is unknown.

    Under them in status were the Sect Masters. There are a total of 8 Unorthodox Faction Sects, and they are:

    1. ck Jade Sect

    2. Crimson yer Sect

    3. Toxic de Sect

    4. Nightshade Assassins

    5. Shadow Necromancer Sect

    6. Hellfire Sect

    7. Soul Devouring Sect

    8. Essence Reaper Sect

    Each Sect uses different cultivation techniques,pletely different from all the more standard orthodox techniques. For example, the ck Jade Sect uses a technique that forcefully transforms their Qi into Shadow Qi, which they use to perform more evil acts.

    However, doing something like this, which goes against nature, also significantly burdens the user since Shadow Qi doesn''te naturally. Or, at least, it''s not something that one can obtain naturally.

    That''s how all of the Unorthodox Faction cultivation techniques work; either they steal power from someone else or harm themselves for power.

    Usually, this ends up damaging one''s foundation, but even if it doesn''t, cultivating in the higher stages bes increasingly more difficult. The energy needed to break through in the Mortal Shedding Realm and above is simply too much; it''s not like there''s an overabundant amount of people or beasts in those realms.

    The statuses of the people below the Sect Masters are the same as a regr Sect; Direct Disciples, Core Disciples, Inner Disciples, and Outer Disciples. Below them are the trainees and then the ves.

    Below them in status are the branch Sect Masters, along with their disciples.

    However, at the very bottom of thedder are the "cattle". These people aren''t even qualified enough to be ves, as their only purpose is to breed, grow strong, and die for their disciples, fueling their growth. Over countless generations, their minds have turned to mush, and they are hardly conscious of their situation.

    They''ve literally be human cattle!

    Fortunately for the general popce, only the Crimson yer Sect, Shadow Necromancer Sect, Soul Devouring Sect, and Essence Reaper Sect use these human cattle instead of all of them.

    Still, across the dozens of branch Sects all over the continent, that adds up to a lot of people.

    Even Mira couldn''t help but feel a little disgusted by this. She saw first-hand how those "cattle" were treated and knew how inhumane it was, but she didn''t expect it to be so widespread.

    ''I''m surprised they aren''t called the Demonic Faction or Demonic Sects because of this.'' Mira shook her head, but she knew why. It''s because it wasn''t public knowledge.

    As for their goal... Mira confirmed that whoever the ''god'' sent down was indeed working with the Unorthodox Faction. They were paying exorbitant prices for any information about Mira, those close to her, where she''s been, her current strength, etc.<novelnext></novelnext>

    In fact, there were many [Capture or kill] bounties on anyone rted to her. It seemed they even knew about Dominique, as she was someone on that list, including Maria, Rhydian, and Cine.

    Mira''s eyes involuntarily narrowed, thinking about her disciple.

    ''It seems I''ll have to return to the Sect soon to make sure nothing happens to her.'' She was going to return soon anyways, as it was almost time for the 2nd stage of the Prime Disciplepetition to start, and she needed to take on a few missions before that time, along with learning a few more techniques.

    Now that she was proficient with every element except light, she needed to adjust to that and also find techniques that could help boost her power.

    ''However, before that, I''ll cause some chaos.'' A devious smile crept up on Mira''s face.

    ''As the saying goes, one must fight evil with a much greater evil.''

    ***

    On the way to the nearest Crimson yer Sect, Elenei had broken through to Rank 1. Her body grew slightly, but she was still just a small, winged serpent creature.

    For the foreseeable future, she wouldn''t be of any help. Not that Mira minded.

    Half an hourter, Rhydian appeared above a massive city built into the side of a mountain, spanning many kilometers. From a distance, it was as if the mountain was hollowed out and was reced with a bustling city.

    However, a sinister aura emanated from this ce, scaring off all the beasts and even ruining the terrain, leaving it barren.

    Mira didn''t even bother to hide her presence this time.

    While she still wasn''t confident in killing someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm, she was certain that with a full-powered strike, she could kill one that was suppressed to the Peak of the Soul Transformation Realm!

    So, she tossed down the Suppression Array she had used when raiding those Spirit Stone Mines and amplified her voice with Qi.

    "Rats from the Crimson yer Sect! Quit hiding like the spineless worms you are and face your death!"

    She raised her fist, loaded it with Qi, and punched the entrance of the Sect!

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    The entrance waspletely decimated, along with anyone who stood near it.

    "Who is it?! Who dares to make a mockery of-IT''S YOU!!" A furious roar shook the mountain, and in just a second, Mira saw a mane out from within the depths of the mountain.

    He clearly recognized her features at a distance and became even more enraged!

    "So, you''re the one who''s been going around destroying my Sect and tarnishing its reputation!" He yelled and shot toward her. When he noticed that she was only in the Nascent Soul Realm, he sneered and increased his speed.

    "I might have been forbidden from killing you, but that doesn''t stop me from capturing and crippling you! I''m sure Sir Cyrus will give me quite the reward for turning you in!"

    He circted his Qi and raised his fist, aiming for Mira''s abdomen.

    However, before he couldplete his attack, he felt a sudden pressure fall on him, reducing his strength by arge margin.

    His expression changed slightly, but he was still full of confidence.

    "Hmph! Do you really think this Suppression Array can stop me?!" He yelled, but just when he was about to use his Qi to push the pressure off his body, he sensed a crazy amount of Qiing from Mira.

    It was as if Mira was a giant sun lighting up the night sky; she was emitting so much Qi.

    [Scythe Manifestion], [Martial Intent], her ice affinity plus 400% modifier from her icy blue tail''s ability and an increase in her perception were all stacked on top of each other to create a massive attack!

    The man hurriedly resisted the temporary weakness with his Qi before Mira could attack, but as he did so, a red line spread across his neck, and his head fell from his body.

    ''What?! How?!'' His face morphed into shock, wondering what had happened, but he knew it was toote, as he could feel his consciousness fading.

    "Hmph! Did you forget? I''m a 9-tailed fox! I''d be a disgrace to my race if I didn''t know how to use illusions!" Mira chuckled and stored his corpse and the Suppression Array.

    After finishing him off, she turned to the rest of the Sect and licked her lips, "Time for the main course!"

 Chapter 615 Star-Horned Wolves Debut

    As the sun began to set over the mountain, a sense of unease settled over the disciples of the Crimson yer Sect. The disciples of the Crimson yer Sect had been practicing their cultivation techniques in the foothills of the mountain when Mira first appeared.

    When they heard her challenge the entire Sect and saw that she was by herself, they were first enraged, and then they couldn''t help butugh!

    "Hahaha! Does this woman think she can take us all by herself? What an idiot!"

    "Forget about us; she''ll die by the Sect Master''s hands before we even get a chance to fight her."

    "But why is she so angry? Wait! Are those tails?"

    The disciples all looked up and watched Mira, who was floating above their Sect, waiting for the Sect Master to strike her down!

    "Who is it?! Who dares to make a mockery of-IT''S YOU!!" The Sect Master''s voice rang out, and the disciple''s excitement grew palpable.

    However, it was barely a few secondster when suddenly, everything stopped, and the Sect Master''s head flew off his body.

    They didn''t even have time to register an attack as the Sect Master''s head fell.

    *SWOOOOOOOOSH!*

    However, a split second after he died, the earth split apart, and arge crevice formed in the ground, right outside the Sect.

    "...!!!"

    The disciples stood there, dumbfounded by what they saw! One second, he was flying out of the Sect, full of confidence; the next second, he was decapitated!

    Was this really the Sect Master they knew?!

    "W-What just happened?"

    "Di��D-Did she just kill the Sect Master in a single strike??"

    "W-Who is that woman? And why is she here?!"

    "Wait! Nine Tails?? Fuck! It''s that woman everybody''s been looking for!!!"

    "Dammit!! Why is that crazy woman here?! And why now?! I was just getting ready to break through too!"

    "Run!! I''m out of here! You dumbasses can fight her if you want, but she''s already taken down other branches, and I have no intention of getting ughtered today!

    It must be said that taking down the leader of a massive group like this severely decreased their morale!

    Mira watched from above indifferently as the weaker members hurriedly gathered their belongings and scurried like rats once they understood who they were up against. Her reputation had grown quite a bit over thest few months, and people began to wonder when she''ll strike next or if she''ll strike next.

    All the Crimson yer branches were on high alert, awaiting her arrival, but she never came. Most of the disciples had calmed down after a few months of inaction, but it was now that they understood that she was just waiting to get stronger before she restarted her rampage.

    "Rhydian, take your Star-Horned Wolf friends and kill everyone who dares to leave. I don''t want a single person to escape!" Mira ordered.

    Rhydian barked in affirmation and dove down to the ground, where a few dozen Rank 7 Star-Horned wolves and many more Rank 6 ones came out of the woodwork.

    The golden wolf gave them their instructions, and they didn''t hesitate to take action.

    Mira hovered in the sky for a bit, curious about why the Guardian told her that she should keep these little wolves.

    Thankfully, it wasn''t long before she understood why.

    A group of a few Rank 6 Star-Horned wolves surrounded a Core Formation Realm woman.

    "Hmph! I might not want to fight that beast of a woman up in the skies, but I''m more than strong enough to take care of a few wolves!" She snorted and dashed at the nearest wolf, not wanting to give them any time to react.

    As the woman approached, their horns lit up with Qi, and bolts of lightning shot out of the tip.

    In response to the sudden attack, the woman created a barrier that appeared to be made of fire and blood, blocking the attacks.

    Then, she clenched her fists, turning the barrier into spears, andunched them at the wolves.

    The wolves swiftly dodged the spears and began charging up their horns again. When fully charged, they shot another barrage of lightning at the woman, who sneered and created another barrier.

    However, from behind the group of wolves, a wolf that she had missed jumped into the fray and shot a beam of light at her. It pierced straight through her barrier and put a gaping hole in her stomach.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "What?!" She screamed, feeling a searing pain in her stomach. Her barrier weakened for a moment, which the wolves took advantage of and shot a stronger,rger barrage of lightning at her.

    The woman''s eyes widened in fear as death encroached on her. She tried to raise another barrier, but their attacks were too fast.

    "AHHHHHH!"

    She screamed in pain as the lightning prated her skin, destroying her from the inside out.

    A few secondster, she looked no different than arge chunk of coal.

    "Awwoooo!"

    The wolves cried out, happy about their victory before they moved on to their next target.

    The same thing was happening all around the battlefield. The Star-Horned wolves charged fearlessly under Rhydian''smand and ughtered everything that came their way.

    Meanwhile, Rhydian flew around them, giving outmands and making sure that nobody died on her watch. These wolves were a part of her pack now; she couldn''t have them dying on their first hunt!

    While they worked in packs, they were incredibly efficient and could take down opponents in seconds with their tactics, power, and intelligence.

    They were lightning-fast, their bodies flowing like water as they leaped and dodged, their fur bristling with energy.

    The disciples tried to fight back, but the wolves were too quick for them. They darted in and out of the shadows, their movements graceful and deadly. Their horns crackled with energy, and bolts of lightning shot out toward their opponents.

    However, that wasn''t always the case. Some of the wolves had different affinities that allowed their packs to be more versatile.

    The disciples tried to raise Qi Barriers to defend themselves, but the wolves'' attacks were too precise and relentless, always targeting their weaknesses. It wasn''t easy to make rational decisions in such a chaotic situation!

    "Fuck! What''s up with these wolves?! Why are they so strong?!"

    "They''re not strong; it''s just that the golden one in the sky is leading them too well!"

    "So, if we just kill it, then we won''t have to worry about these bastards?!"

    "Yeah!"

    Rhydian overheard their conversation and pped her wings in their direction, sending a wave of mes toward them.

    As soon as it touched their skin, they instantly turned to ash, not even allowed to stifle a scream. She then went back to overseeing the Star-Horned wolves and watching how they fight with one another.

    Not far away from her, one of the disciples, a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm, managed tond a blow on a Rank 7 wolf with a lightning-infused sword. But the wolf had coated its fur in lightning and absorbed most of the shock from the attack, blocking the rest with its thick fur and tough skin.

    In response, the wolf charged forward, its horns glowing with a fierce energy. It unleashed a powerful st of lightning, which struck the disciple in the chest, sending him flying through the air.

    As the disciple crashed to the ground, the wolf leaped forward, its jaws snapping shut around the man''s neck. The wolf''s teeth sank deep into the flesh, and with a swift jerk of its head, it ripped the man''s head clean off his body.

    On another end of the battlefield, a woman at the Nascent Soul Realm tried to flee, but a pack of wolves quickly surrounded her. They moved in unison, their horns crackling with energy as they unleashed a barrage of lightning attacks.

    The woman tried to defend herself, but the wolves were too quick. They darted in and out of her defenses, their attacks wearing her down.

    Finally, one of the wolves leaped forward, its horns glowing with a fierce energy. The woman tried to raise a barrier of Qi, but the attack was too powerful. The wolf charged forward, and the horn pierced straight through the barrier, impaling the woman in the chest.

    As the woman copsed to the ground, the wolf let out a fierce howl of triumph. It shook its head, tearing the horn out of the woman''s chest, and turned to face the next opponent.

    For Mira, watching the wolves fight was a thing of beauty. It was so interesting to watch a group of wild beasts move together with fluidity, timing, trust, and grace while taking down their opponents efficiently.

    She nodded, the tips of her lips curling up into a smile, ''It was a good idea for me not to kill them. With enough time and resources, I''ll have myself a small army of highly intelligent and very powerful beasts who will do anything I say.''

    "Oi! It was my idea for you to keep them! Don''t act like it was yours!" The Guardian interrupted her moment, but she just ignored him.

    As his master, it was well within her right to steal his ideas as her own.

    "Tch! You damn tyrant!"

    Mira ignored him again and turned to the Soul Transformation Realm and the few Nascent Soul Realm disciples who had stayed behind.

 Chapter 616 Death And Destruction

    Mira stood in the middle of the crimson yer sect''s temple, her eyes cold and unforgiving. The sect''s disciples surrounded her, brandishing their weapons and chanting in unison. Mira was unfazed by their numbers, fully confident in taking them down.

    The Nascent Soul Realm disciples charged toward Mira, their weapons glinting in the dim light of the temple. Mira calmly swung her scythe, and a wave of ice shot out from the de, freezing the disciples in their tracks. The ice quickly spread, engulfing the disciples in a thickyer of frost. The disciples struggled to break free, but the ice was too strong, and they were trapped.

    "What the fuck?!"

    "Get this ice off of me!!"

    "Mark! You have a fire affinity!! Hurry up and help us!!"

    Mira ignored their cries but didn''t stop there. She swung her scythe again, and a st of wind swept through the temple, shattering the frozen disciples into pieces. Blood and ice shards rained down around Mira, but she remained unscathed, power flowing through her veins.

    ''Holy shit! I''m fucking strong!'' Mira inwardly remarked.

    Of course, she already knew she was strong, but that was just her testing out her physical strength. She barely had a chance to test out her affinities in her previous fight.

    However, now she realized what she was missing out on!

    ''I really need to go back to the Sect and learn some techniques that will allow me to use my affinities to their fullest potential.''

    After that group of disciples died, Mira waved her hand and collected all the little bloody ice crystals. She injected a string of Qi into each of them, allowing her ck runes to absorb their remaining vitality and Qi.

    Feeling her core fill up much faster than before, Mira smiled, which meant her ck runes could somewhat keep up with her cultivation.

    ''Still, it''s nowhere near fast enough. Even after ughtering dozens of Nascent Soul Realm disciples, I only refilled my core by a few percent. If I want to use my ck runes to supplement my cultivation from now on, I''ll have to focus on hunting Rank 8 beasts and Soul Transformation Realm disciples.'' Mira gave a wry smile when she came to that conclusion.

    Soul Transformation Realm disciples weren''t cabbages one could find on the side of the road. They were the backbone of any Sect!

    As for hunting down Rank 8 beasts�� Mira didn''t see that as a viable option either. If she were to go out in the mountains and ughter thousands upon thousands of Rank 8 beasts, a Rank 9 or even Rank 10 beast would undoubtedly show up and kill her.

    ''I have my Death Tail, but�� something about it changed after this breakthrough.''

    It didn''t exactly get stronger or weaker, but it did change. The cost to use it went from taking 15% of her blood essence reserves up to 50%. However, its strength was also raised. Now, she could theoretically use it on anyone and kill them, even Divine Sea masters.

    As for those in the Ascension Realm�� Mira doubted she could kill them even if she wanted to.

    Aside from that, she gained another ability; she could fully absorb a soul, just like in the ''Afterlife Trial'', but it also cost blood essence�Cjust not 50%.

    Putting that aside, Mira nced at the rest of the Nascent Soul Realm disciples around her and chuckled.

    "How nice of you to wait for me!"

    The disciples were hesitant to approach her, knowing they weren''t a match for her skills, but hearing her words, they snapped out of their daze and charged at her.

    "Dammit! If I''m going to die, I will at leastnd a hit on you!"

    One of them screamed and dashed at Mira with his spear. Coating his feet in lightning, he shot toward her, reaching her faster than the other disciples.

    "HAAAAA!!" He released a battle cry and thrust his spear at Mira''s abdomen!

    "Die, you bitch!!"

    *Ding!*

    "...Eh?"

    The man''s spear hit Mira''s stomach, but instead of the sounds of metal prating flesh, it sounded like he hit a hunk of steel!

    Looking down, he saw that the tip of his spear was bent in odd directions and failed to pierce her stomach.

    "W-What?? H-How?"

    He looked up to see Mira staring down at him in amusement, and he nearly pissed himself in fright!

    ''Dammit! I never stood a chance against this monster!''

    Suddenly, a golden sh came out from behind Mira, and that was thest thing he saw before something crashed into the side of his head, popping it like a watermelon.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Blood sttered all over the ground as the rest of the man''s body crumbled.

    "Is that it? This is the strength of the Crimson yer Sect??" Mira flicked the blood off of her clothes, her crimson eyes glowing.

    "You dare to even think of capturing me with this level of strength?!?!" Mira roared, her killing intent permeating throughout the area.

    The wolves, disciples, and Rhydian all froze in terror as it swept past them. It was as if the goddess of death and ughter stood in their presence, causing them to suffocate.

    However, Mira still hadn''t released all of her killing intent just yet; this was just an appetizer, a way to lower their morale even more. She wanted to see their spirits break, for them to understand that they must pay the price for messing with her.

    Even if most of these people never thought of chasing her down, that didn''t matter. All Mira cared about was sticking a giant middle finger to the ones in power. To send a message to them that if they continue doing this, she will dly follow them down the road to hell.

    Mira scanned the remaining Nascent Soul Realm disciples with a steely gaze. They were all looking at her with fear and trembling, their weapons shaking in their hands.

    Mira smirked at the sight, knowing that they were no match for her.

    She decided to y with them a little longer, toying with them as a cat would with a mouse. She raised her hand, and a gust of wind blew through the sect, knocking the disciples off their feet.

    Mira then used her mastery over ice to freeze the disciples to the ground, leaving them vulnerable to her attacks. She summoned a barrage of lightning bolts and sent them toward the disciples, causing them to convulse in agony.

    "AHHHHH!!"

    "PLEASE! PLEASE STOP THIS!!"

    WE DIDN''T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!!"

    The disciples screamed and begged for mercy, but Mira was relentless. She then used a burst of fire to incinerate them, leaving nothing but charred remains.

    After she sucked them dry of all their Qi and vitality, their bones crumbled to dust and scattered in the wind.

    She continued moving through the Sect, obliterating anything in her way. None of the disciples stood a chance.

    Many of the Soul Transformation Realm disciples tried to escape, but how could they outrun Rhydian?

    She was the queen of the skies! If they wanted to outrun her, they''d have to be in the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    Mira continued her rampage, her Scythe Manifestation cutting down anyone who dared to cross her path. Her control over elemental abilities grew stronger with each passing moment. Her ck runes were like a bottomless pit, absorbing the vitality and Qi of every disciple she killed.

    It wasn''t long before she encountered the Soul Transformation Realm disciples, but Mira wasn''t intimidated by them. She had faced greater challenges before and was ready to take them down.

    The Soul Transformation Realm disciples charged toward Mira, their weapons glowing with a brilliant light.

    Mira merely chuckled and swung her scythe, unleashing waves of ice that froze them in their tracks. She then used a burst of wind to shatter the ice, sending the disciples flying in different directions.

    Mira then unleashed a torrent of water that drenched the disciples, making them more vulnerable to her attacks. She then used a burst of lightning to stun them, leaving them open to her icy onught.

    She cut them down just like the rest, showing no signs of stopping.

    Mira continued to move through the Sect, and at some point, she grew annoyed as the disciples stopped fighting her.

    So, she circted her Qi and used the 100 cial Warriors technique! Within seconds, 100 ice golems appeared around Mira.

    "Go!"

    Shemanded and sent them off to attack the rest of the disciples.

    The disciples fought back, but Mira and her golems were too powerful. She was a force to be reckoned with, a goddess of death and destruction.

    The Soul Transformation Realm disciples were no match for her. They tried to defend themselves, but Mira was too quick. She used her mastery over earth to create barriers that blocked their attacks, and she used her mastery over wind to deflect their weapons.

    Mira then unleashed a barrage of elemental attacks,bining Yin Fire with Ice, Wind with Water, and Earth with Lightning. The disciples were thrown off their feet, and Mira took advantage of their vulnerability. She swung her scythe, and a st of darkness shot out from the de, enveloping the disciples in a thick ck mist.

    When the mist cleared, the disciples were gone, and their bodies disintegrated into nothingness. Mira stood alone in the temple, her Scythe Manifestation glowing with the power of her elemental mastery. She had aplished what she had set out to do and felt a sense of satisfaction wash over her.

    "Time to loot these fuckers and move on to the next one!"

 Chapter 617 Zehir

    Inside a dark cave, a young man sat cross-legged in the center, his eyes closed in deep meditation. His long ck hair cascaded down his back, and his chiseled muscles rippled beneath his loose golden robe. The robe was embroidered with a ck ouroboros dragon, symbolizing his connection to the ancient and powerful creature.

    The cave was deep in the mountains, far from civilization. The walls were lined with bones and crushed-up Spirit Stones, evidence of the man''s ruthless training regimen. The Qi around him was incredibly dense, so thick that it was visible to the naked eye.

    As he meditated, the man''s body began to glow with a ck and red aura, as if he was channeling the power of the dragon. His Qi was so strong that it caused the cave walls to vibrate and the air to crackle with energy.

    The man remained motionless; his mind focused on his training. He had been in the cave for months, honing his skills and pushing himself to the limits of his abilities.

    Suddenly, a sound echoed through the cave, breaking the man''s concentration. He opened his eyes, revealing a set of silver eyes with a purple slit down the middle, and looked around, sensing a disturbance in the Qi around him. He stood up and walked towards the entrance of the cave, his senses on high alert.

    The man''s hand instinctively went to the hilt of his sword, ready to defend himself if necessary.

    As he emerged from the cave, he saw an old man approaching and took his hand off the hilt of his sword, but he remained alert.

    The old man walked towards the young cultivator, his steps slow and measured. Despite his age, he moved with a grace and confidence that spoke of centuries of experience.

    His hair was long and silver, pulled back into a tight braid. His eyes, though small and wrinkled, held a sharp intelligence that seemed to pierce straight through the young cultivator''s soul. He wore simple robes, but they were made of the finest silk, dyed a deep shade of indigo.

    As he approached, the air seemed to grow thick with power, as if the old man carried some great force with him.

    "What do you want, old man?" The young man asked, his tone cold.

    The old man''s eyebrows twitched at the tant disrespect, but he pushed down his grievances and cupped his fists.

    "Greetings, Junior Zehir Aporos. Ie to you with a mission."

    The young man''s eyes narrowed like a snake''s as he stared at the old man. The old man''s gaze didn''t falter as he stared back. The atmosphere turned heavy until the young man, Zehir, broke the silence.

    "What''s the mission, Nathanial?" He asked, his voice still cold, not bothering to respect the man.

    Once again, the old man, Nathanial''s, eyebrow twitched, but he was a wisened old man. He wouldn''t get upset over something like this. He wasn''t expecting Zehir to respect him, anyway.

    "A little fox is causing trouble again." He said in a low voice, mixed with irritation.

    ''Ever since that pink-haired bitch showed up, everything''s gone to shit!'' He grumbled inwardly.

    Zehir raised an eyebrow for a second before his face returned to normal.

    Expressionlessly, he asked, "So? How is that my problem?"

    "I''d like you to deal with this little issue."

    "Why? Can''t you see I''m busy? Or has your eyesight gone bad in your old age?" The young man asked that with such ack of emotion that Nathanial could tell he was serious.

    He seriously thought the old man''s eyes had gone bad!

    A vein popped in the old man''s head, but he took a deep breath to keep his cool.

    "It''d just be more convenient if you took care of it. Us Elders are busy doing something else, so we can''t divert any attention to this issue."

    Zehir crossed his arms and tilted his head in thought. He stared at the old man and knew he was hiding, which irked him.

    His mind pondered on what he could be hiding until he finally came to a conclusion.

    "Is that woman�� What was her name again? AH! Sue Ming! Is that crazy woman, Sue Ming, watching over you guys that intently?"

    The old man froze, as he didn''t expect those words toe out of Zehir''s mouth. From what he knows, this young man has never left the cave since Sue Ming appeared.

    ''How did he-?''

    "Are you wondering how I know? Well, let''s just say you aren''t the only one with eyes everywhere." Zehir smiled lightly, finding this whole situation somewhat amusing.

    "Ahem!" The old man cleared his throat and nodded, "Yes, she''s constantly watching over all of us, making sure we don''t leave and kill that girl, Mira. However, I can''t sit still and let Mira continue to destroy our branch Sects!"

    Zehir just shrugged at his plight, "They''re just branch Sects. Why do you care so much? It''s not like any of them will hold any real power."

    "Of course, they matter!!" Nathanial finally lost his cool for a moment and yelled. Realizing his mistake, he quickly settled down and exined, "Do you know how many resources those "mere" branch Sects bring in every decade? Every century? It''s almost 25% of our ie! We also obtain some of our most talented disciples from those Sects as well due to thepetitive environment! Now, all those resources are going straight into the pockets of someone from the Battle Maiden Sect!"

    "Those "mere" branch Sects are an integral part of the wheel that is the Unorthodox Faction! Without them, we will eventually decline and cease to exist!"

    Zehir waved his hands dismissively, not caring about his words any longer. "I think you''re being a bit too dramatic, old man. As long as you have Victor Steele, you won''t ever fall."

    "Argh!" Nathanial felt like pulling his hair out at how nonchnt this young man was.

    ''You don''t know a damn thing, you brat! There''s a reason all the major Sects have multiple branches! It''s not just to spread their name, fame, and power!'' He screamed internally.<novelnext></novelnext>

    He really hated this arrogant brat and wanted nothing more than to wring his neck, but he knew that if he did, his head would be gone.

    Zehir was one of the most talented people he''s ever seen, and his backing wasn''t normal, either. Should he do something to him, he''d spend his days longing for death.

    Taking a deep breath, he pushed his annoyances aside�� again and continued trying to persuade him.

    "If you go, I''ll give you Late-Stage Spirit-"

    "Not interested!" Zehir rejected it before he could finish.

    "What about a Rank 8 Blood rose?"

    "No."

    "A set of Peak-Stage Myst-"

    "Lame!"

    "A Peak-Stag-"

    "Shut up."

    "A Low-Stage Divine S-"

    "Fuck off!"

    "-Sword."

    "..." Zehir went silent for a moment but still shook his head in the end.

    "It''d probably be trash amongst Divine-Grade equipment."

    Multiple veins popped in the old man''s head as his temper red again.

    "Dammit! What''s wrong with you?! You just have to take care of a single fox! Don''t you want free resources?!"

    "I''d rather cultivate," Zehir said and got ready to turn around and head inside his cave.

    However, before he did, Nathanial reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him.

    Zehir''s eyes went cold as he red at the fingers wrapped around his bicep.

    Nathanial realized his mistake and quickly withdrew his hands before giving his final offer.

    "If you go now, I''ll find a beast with at least 10% of a dragon''s bloodline."

    Now, this�� this caught Zehir''s attention.

    "Now you''re talking, old man," Zehir nodded, "And when will I receive this beast? I''m guessing you don''t have one ready."

    Nathanial calmed down, d that he finally caught Zehir''s attention.

    "I''ll have it ready after you finish the mission."

    Zehir raised an eyebrow at Nathanial''s confidence, "Are you sure, old man? Finding a beast with such a high-quality bloodline won''t be easy. You''re bound to make plenty of enemies if you do."

    Nathanial nodded his head calmly but was inwardly experiencing a heartache, "I know, but you let me worry about that. Our Faction is already ''enemies'' with most people on this continent. One more won''t hurt."

    Zehir shrugged again, losing interest in this conversation, "Alright, you got yourself a deal, old man. I''ll hunt down this little fox, but you better follow through with your end of the deal. If you don''t��"

    A sinister pressure came out of Zehir''s body as he red at Nathanial.

    "...You won''t just gain a single enemy."

    Nathanial gulped, not from the pressure Zehire emitted but from what he implied.

    "Don''t worry. As long as you do YOUR job, you''ll get what was promised."

    Zehir reeled in his pressure and nodded, "A pleasure doing business with you."

    Nathanial just grumbled and cursed Zehir in his mind before he turned around and left.

    Meanwhile, Zehir walked back into his cave, but this time, he had a slight smile on his face.

 Chapter 618 Soul Forge Technique

    After Mira killed everyone and looted the ce, she decided to sift through Huoyan''s memories.

    Sitting on Rhydian''s back as she flew through the air, followed by the Star-Horned Wolves, Mira closed her eyes and entered her Mind Pce.

    Inside an empty room in her Mind Pce, Mira''s consciousness stood in front of a chaotic, translucent blob.

    Reaching out her hand, she touched it, and choppy, unknown memories immediately flowed through her mind.

    There was information about Huoyan''s home world, his life, and the Ashuras, but it was incredibly limited.

    However, two things were untouched in all the memories: Huoyan''s experience fighting against the Heavens and a technique called the Soul Forge Technique.

    Not only were those memories untouched, but they were linked.

    From the snippets of Huoyan''s life she received, she understood that the Soul Forge Technique was one of the techniques he created to take advantage of his racial talent. There was another one, which he called the Body Forge Technique, that was also the reason for his meteoric rise to power.

    However, the one that the Heavens had a problem with was the Soul Forge Technique.

    The premise of the technique was to strengthen the soul. That wasn''t abnormal, as the Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, and Divine Sea Realms also aplish this, but what happens during those Realms is different than what the Soul Forge Technique does.

    While the 3 Soul Realms in the standards cultivation system focus more on absorbing energy and passively increasing the strength of one''s soul through this, the Soul Forge Technique directly strengthens the Soul from the outside with no middleman.

    Huoyan found a way to use the ambient Qi around him to refine his soul. That still wasn''t abnormal, as there were techniques out there that did something simr. However, what set his apart from those was that he didn''t need to absorb any Qi.

    Instead, he used the ambient Qi to grind parts of his soul into tiny fragments, then filled in the gaps, making it stronger and more durable.

    Doing it this way, Huoyan could separate the cultivation of his soul from the normal cultivation system. Then, with the Body Forge Technique, he split his body cultivation as well, effectively creating 3 different cultivation systems, each with 9 Realms.

    One didn''t need to be a genius to understand the benefits of doing this.

    By the time Huoyan reached the Ascension Realm, he had gone through an extra 18 Realms of powerpared to everyone else, making him invincible in the entire Mortal Realm. Of course, that wasn''t exactly correct, as those "extra 18 realms" didn''t have 9 sub-stages in each one. In fact, they didn''t have any sub-stages.

    Still, that was more than enough to set him apart from the rest.

    However, the Soul Forge Technique was the foundation that allowed him to pull this off. Without that, the Heavens wouldn''t have set its sights on him.

    As for its counterpart, it wasn''t any better than any other Body Cultivation technique; it was just unique to him and his race.

    The reason the Heavens decided to strike Huoyan down during his ascension to the Immortal Realm was that he had set himself on a path that would remove Heaven''s influence from him.

    If he continued down that path, his soul would be so strong one day that the Absolutes would no longer have any control over him.

    How could the Heavens allow someone like that to exist?

    So, they erased him, and with that, someone who might one day have the qualifications to stand amongst them left this world for good��

    Or so they thought.

    They probably didn''t expect his soul to be captured and sent to a Secret Realm, which looked and acted almost exactly like Hell. Unfortunately, Heaven''s job was smiting sinners, not looking after them.

    Thus, Huoyan''s soul escaped under the eyes of the Absolutes by a mysterious force.

    Ingraining this technique into her Mind Pce, Mira instantly learned and understood everything she needed to know about it, but she wasn''t all that happy about it.

    ''I''m sorry, Huoyan, but I don''t think this technique is for me.'' Mira thought, her expression forlorn.<novelnext></novelnext>

    In this world, Huoyan was by far the first man she had ever respected. Ryuu was on his way to earning Mira''s trust, but Huoyan literally gave up his soul and, with that, his chance of reincarnating.

    With his talents, Mira was sure that even in his next life, he''d still be a supreme genius and might even reach a point where he could learn more about his past lives. However, he didn''t hesitate to give all that up for her.

    If she could carry on his legacy by using this technique, she certainly would, but it didn''t take more than a nce for her to understand that using this technique would be a waste of her potential.

    She had a damn World Core in her soul, after all! If she didn''t use it, that would simply be a waste of a treasure she might never encounter again!

    ''However, I''ll use this Soul Forge Technique as the basis for whatever soul technique I create in the future. I won''t let his knowledge and genius go to waste like that!''

    That was all she could do to soothe the deceased soul of the only made who had her respect.

    As Mira continued to contemte the Soul Forge Technique, she couldn''t help but feel a sense of sadness for Huoyan. From what she saw in those memories, he was a great guy. Not only was he a genius, but he was kind-hearted and cared more about his race than himself.

    He learned everything for the benefit of his race, not for some selfish power trip like most cultivators.

    Seeing how happy he was during his life made Mira think about her life, her goals, and what she had done up until now.

    ''Mostly, I''ve only cared about advancing in cultivation and getting stronger, ignoring almost everything around me.''

    ''The only people I actually care about are Maria and Dominique, but�� can I readily abandon my goals just for the sake of them? Can I give them my all like how Huoyan gave his race his all?'' Mira didn''t think so.

    Abandoning her goals was almost equivalent to forsaking her life. As long as that god still existed, he would always be a nuisance, looking for ways to torment her and her loved ones.

    If she gave up on pursuing personal power and focused more on the benefit of the group, she had no doubt that her life would return to what it once was: a living nightmare.

    However, that''s not to say his memories didn''t leave any impact at all. Seeing how happy he was to help those he loved shook Mira''s consciousness.

    She�� she also wanted��

    ''Sigh,'' Mira sighed, not continuing that thought, ''Whatever. For now, I''ll focus on modifying the Soul Forge Technique to suit me better.

    Mira left Huoyan''s memories behind and focused on her own training. She began experimenting with the Soul Forge Technique, testing its limits and exploring its potential.

    At first, she found that the technique was too limited for her needs. It focused too much on strengthening the soul in a singr way and didn''t consider theplexity of the human mind or how the Soul links to one''s Qi cultivation.

    So, Mira began to modify the technique, incorporating her own experiences and insights into the process. She started by using the ambient Qi to grind not just the shell of her soul but also any negative emotions or traumas that were holding her back.

    She visualized these emotions and traumas as blocks of ice and used the Qi to melt them away, leaving behind a purified and refined soul. She also incorporated different elements, using these practices to further strengthen and refine her soul.

    As she continued to refine the Soul Forge Technique, Mira found that it not only made her soul stronger but also more flexible and adaptable.

    But Mira wasn''t satisfied with simply refining and improving the technique. She wanted to take it to the next level and create something entirely new. Something that only she could use!

    Unfortunately, fate seemed to be ying tricks on her as she suddenly sensed a powerful, sinister aura approaching.

    She opened her eyes and looked around but saw nothing at first. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a young man with long ck hair and silver eyes with purple slits.

    In the depths of her body, she could feel her bloodline throbbing as the presence of this man seemed to agitate it.

    Understanding that the situation was much more serious than she initially thought, Mira pulled out her scythe and readied herself for an attack.

    "You''re quite difficult to find, little fox," the young man said with a cold smile, "It almost took me an entire day to find you! In fact, it probably would''ve taken me much longer if it weren''t for that giant beacon you call a wolf!"

 Chapter 619 Dragon? Vs. Fox

    Mira gazed into the eyes of the young man before her without showing any emotion. However, she was surprised that someone had found her so quickly in this massive Mountain Range.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed even further, feeling her bloodline course through her veins in agitation.

    ''It seems this man has a bloodline that''s almost on the same level as mine.'' That thought shocked Mira to the core because her bloodline was at least on the same level as a Phoenix!

    ''Does this mean this person has a bloodline that''s simr to a dragon''s? Where did such a person evene from?''

    She felt a headacheing on as someone with such a high-grade bloodline couldn''t be normal. Rather, these were the type of people where killing them would only lead to more problems.

    She wondered why someone of such status had taken time out of his day to hunt her down.

    Though, even killing him would probably be difficult; that is, if her bloodline wasn''t ying any tricks on her.

    "Who are you?" She asked in a neutral voice, not wanting to give anything away.

    Zehir frowned for a moment, not liking Mira''s tone, but pushed his annoyance away and smiled slightly, "Does that really matter? Dead people don''t deserve to know my name."

    "Do you really think you can kill me so easily?" Mira asked coldly, rousing her Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Bloodline and focusing her aura on Zehir.

    Suddenly, Zehir''s expression changed as he felt a suppressive force wrap around him! He could feel his strength weaken, even if it was only a little, and the shock in his eyes grew.

    *ROAR!*

    His bloodline roared in rage as it countered the suppressive force around him. For a second, the two fought a rough battle of tug-o-war. One moment, Mira''s bloodline pushed back Zehir''s, and in the next, his pushed back hers.

    This went on for a few more moments before they reached a stalemate, neither one being able to gain the upper hand.

    Mira nodded slightly and thought, ''As expected, he''s strong.''

    She had mixed in her Soul Sense with the aura of her bloodline and examined the young man. He was only in the 1st Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, but the power he held underneath those loose-fitting robes was insane.

    In her mind, Zehir was no longer a young man. Instead, the silhouette of a ck dragon that threatened to devour everything appeared in his ce.

    ''So, his bloodline is rted to dragons. Interesting.'' An enigmatic light shone deep within her eyes as the corners of her lips lifted.

    Despite knowing this, Mira wasn''t afraid. Not only was she confident in her strength, but her trump cards were numerous.

    ''If this man thought I was an easy target, he was sorely mistaken.''

    "You�� Who are you?" Zehir asked coldly as he drew his sword, his aura rising. He cursed Nathanial in his mind as this mission just became much more annoying.

    ''Tsk! I should''ve asked for a higher price!''

    However, his expression changed after a moment, and a smile spread across his face.

    ''You know what? Screw Nathanial''s reward! I can be even stronger if I can absorb this woman''s bloodline! Then, I won''t need to listen to those idiots anymore, and I can go back home.''

    "If you''re hunting me, shouldn''t you at least know who I am? How do you even know I''m the person you''re looking for?" Mira smirked, twirling around her scythe yfully.

    Zehir snorted, "Whether you''re the right person or not doesn''t matter."

    The air around the man suddenly grew still, as if holding its breath in anticipation. The man''s body shuddered, and a low growl emanated from deep within his chest.

    Then, with a sickening crack, the man''s spine split open, and a pair of massive wings burst forth from his back. The wings were sleek and powerful, with glossy ck membranes and razor-sharp edges. The man''s body convulsed as the wings unfurled, and he let out a deep, guttural roar that shook the ground beneath his feet.

    The wings grewrger by the second until they reached several meters in length, their scales glinting in the sunlight. The slits in Zehir''s eyes narrowed even further, and his muscles rippled across his body, causing his loose-fitting robes to tighten.

    "I''ll kill you regardless."

    He pped his wings and shot at Mira at supersonic speeds.

    Mira was waiting for this moment and hopped off Rhydian, swinging her scythe to parry his attack.

    *CLANG!*

    Their weapons shed and recoiled as they were pushed back several meters away from one another.

    They both looked back at one another in surprise, not expecting the other party''s body to be so strong. It was like they had mmed their weapons into a steel wall.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Mira took advantage of the moment of surprise to draw out her trump card �C her Scythe Manifestation. Her Scythe manifested with a deafening sound as it started to glow with a dark light. The air around them turned chilly, and Zehir''s breath formed frost as he watched in awe.

    "Scythe Manifestation?!" he eximed in disbelief.

    Mira didn''t give him time to recover andunched a fierce attack. Her Scythe shed through the air with a thunderous roar, leaving behind a trail of ice crystals.

    Zehir tried to dodge, but Mira was too fast. Her Scythe struck him in the chest, and he coughed up blood, staggering back.

    His eyes darkened as pain coursed through his body.

    However, his wound healed almost instantly, and he returned to his peak condition.

    Wiping the blood from his mouth, he stared back at Mira with steely eyes.

    "It''s been such a long time since someone injured me that I almost forgot what it was like. I thank you for reminding me." He said sincerely, but the killing intent leaking out of his eyes told a different story.

    "However, I won''t allow such a thing to happen again!"

    Zehir knew he couldn''t let his guard down. He gathered his Qi, and his body started glowing with a faint ck light. The ck light quickly grew brighter, absorbing all the Qi in the surrounding area, and his muscles bulged as he raised his sword.

    "Dragon''s Might!"

    Zehir shouted as he swung his sword. A pitch-ck serpent-like dragon shot out of the de, snarling as it flew toward Mira. The dragon was covered in ck scales that glittered in the sunlight. Its eyes glowed silver with fury, and its jaws opened wide to reveal razor-sharp teeth.

    Mira didn''t flinch as she saw the dragon approaching. Instead, she smirked and swung her scythe. Waves of ice shot out of the de and cut the dragon in half!

    "What?!"

    Zehir was shocked. He didn''t expect her to deal with his attack so easily. Although he still hasn''t used his full strength yet, that attack should''ve been enough to kill even some of the most talented Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.

    ''To think that a fox could be so strong.'' Zehir grew more serious as he started to reconsider whether Mira was really a fox, to begin with.

    However, Mira wasn''t done yet. She lifted her hand, and a strong gust of wind swept through the area, catching his wings and carrying Zehir.

    Zehir tried to resist, but the wind was too strong, and his wings were toorge. He felt like he was being lifted off the ground and tossed around like a leaf in a storm.

    Mira used the wind to her advantage andunched another attack. Her Scythe swung through the air, leaving behind a trail of ice crystals.

    Zehir dodged, but he was a bit disorientated by the wind, and Mira''s scythe struck him in the arm, and he cried out in pain. Mira pulled back her Scythe and swung again, but Zehir managed to block this attack with his sword.

    Their weapons shed once again, and the sound echoed through the mountains. The force of their collision sent shockwaves through the air, and the ground shook beneath their feet.

    However, this time, Mira was caught off-guard by the strength behind his sword and tumbled backward.

    Mira gritted her teeth as she felt the shockwaves from the sh reverberate through her arms. Zehir was stronger than she thought, and his attacks were just as unpredictable as hers.

    He grinned wickedly, knowing he had gained the upper hand. He pped his wings again, sending an intense gust of wind toward Mira that knocked her off bnce.

    In that split second, he lunged forward, delivering a swift kick to her abdomen. Mira coughed up blood and stumbled back, trying to regain her footing.

    Zehir used this opportunity to unleash a flurry of sword strikes at Mira, who struggled to deflect them. His swordsmanship was precise and brutal, and Mira was pushed back further and further.

    ''Damn! The strength of this guy''s body is insane! Is this the power of a dragon? Or is there something else to him?'' Mira cursed.

    Mira knew she had to turn the tables on him, and quickly. Zehir''s swordsmanship,bined with the strength of his physical body, was nothing to scoff at, and if she let him keep the upper hand, she might actually lose!

    She focused her energy and unleashed a st of ice that shot toward Zehir. He dodged it easily, but it was just a diversion. Mira used the opportunity to disappear into thin air and reappear behind Zehir, delivering a powerful kick to his back.

    Zehir grunted in pain but managed to turn around and counterattack. He unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks, each one as deadly as thest. Mira was forced to go on the defensive, blocking and dodging as best she could.

    After several minutes of intense fighting, the twobatants reached a stalemate. Mira''s clothes were torn, and her breathing wasbored, but she stood tall and resolute, ready for whatever came next.

    Zehir wasn''t any different. His robe was ripped to shreds, but just like Mira, his regeneration was insane, maybe even better than hers, so his body had no injuries.

    They stared at each other, killing intent glowing in their eyes, but they both had a smile on their faces. Fights like this, where they could both fight to their heart''s content, were rare, and they savored every moment of it, despite knowing that one of them had to die.

 Chapter 620 Tough Fight

    As Mira and Zehir continued their dance of death, the mountains around them began to tremble. Snow fell from the peaks, and the earth shook underfoot. The force of their battle was reshaping the veryndscape.

    Mira could feel her stamina waning as she attacked Zehir with the full might of her body, but she couldn''t afford to let it show. With a feral grin, she unleashed a st of icy energy, creating a wall of ice between her and Zehir.

    He snorted, shattering the wall with a single punch. As the ice fragments flew through the air, Mira moved like a shadow, darting between the shards, using them as cover for her next attack.

    Zehir''s eyes narrowed as he tried to follow her movements, but Mira was too fast. She struck like a viper, her scythe slicing through the air, aiming for Zehir''s throat.

    At thest moment, Zehir caught the de with his bare hand. Blood dripped down his fingers as he red at Mira with unbridled fury. "Enough!" he roared, his voice shaking the mountains themselves.

    With a mighty heave, Zehir swung Mira around and threw her to the ground. She hit the earth hard, the wind knocked out of her. Before she could recover, Zehir was on her with his sword raised high for the final blow.

    At that moment, Zehir unleashed his own movement technique, Dragon''s Flight, which allowed him to move with blinding speed and agility, fully utilizing the wings on his back. He darted around Mira, his sword techniques creating a whirlwind of shes and thrusts, each aimed to pierce her defenses.

    However, Mira wasn''t someone who would die so easily. Her eyes zed with defiance, and her bloodline roared within her, matching the rage that Zehir''s showed. A vortex of ice, snow, and water erupted around her, pushing Zehir back and giving her the space she needed to get back on her feet.

    She shakily stood up, her bones still rattled from thatst attack, but it wasn''t enough to take her down. A fierce determination burned within her, and she refused to yield.

    Her regeneration soon kicked in, healing some of her torn muscles and broken bones. She called upon every ounce of her strength and channeled it into her scythe, which began to glow with an ethereal light.

    She watched Zehir jump at her again, his Movement Technique making him even faster. She blocked each attack, observing his movements as she incorporated them into her own fighting style.

    As she began to counter his moves, Zehir realized that he had to step up his game.

    He then focused his Qi into his sword, manifesting Dragon''s Wrath, a devastating sword technique thatbined both offense and defense. The sword glowed with an ominous ck me, each strike unleashing a wave of destructive energy.

    Mira, not one to be outdone, pushed her scythe manifestation to its limits and called upon the full power of her fox bloodline. A ck fog spread out around Mira as the scent of death permeated the area. The ground and air around her were quickly corrupted and decayed as her aura alone ''killed'' everything it touched.

    The temperature also dropped significantly, with ice crystals forming from whatever air was left. The mixture of ice and death created an odd, still atmosphere that added ayer of danger to the destroyedndscape.

    Zehir''s eyes widened as he felt the power surging through Mira. Zehir sensed the unique energy within her weapon and began to understand the concept of sword intent, allowing him to harness an even greater level of power.

    His own bloodline raged, urging him to match her strength. He let out a primal roar as his body was engulfed in a torrent of ck mes, his dragon bloodline reaching its peak.

    The twobatants stood facing each other, their auras shing and intertwining in a violent storm of energy. The ground cracked beneath them, and the mountains trembled in anticipation.

    With a shout, Mira and Zehir charged at each other, their weapons raised high. The air crackled with tension as their attacks met, theirbined power unleashing a shockwave that shattered the surroundingndscape.

    The impact was cataclysmic, and the mountain itself began to crumble around them. Massive boulders tumbled down the slopes, and deep fissures opened in the earth, swallowing everything in their path.

    As the dust settled, Mira and Zehir stood amidst the destruction, their bodies battered and bruised. Yet, they were still standing, their will to fight undiminished.

    "You''re quite strong," Mira said with a bloodthirsty grin.

    "I could say the same about you," Zehir replied with a simr smile.

    "Am I worthy enough to know your name now, little dragon?" Mira smirked.

    Zehir''s smile faltered for a second as his hand clenched around his sword. His silver eyes zed for a second before he calmed down.

    ''Hahaha! It seems he doesn''t like that nickname.'' Mira chuckled in amusement. They had just fought an intense battle to the death over thest few minutes, yet that''s what he was angry about?

    What a weird guy.

    Taking a deep breath, Zehir answered her question with a slight bow, "My name is Zehir, Zehir Aporos. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mira."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I see," Mira nodded, searching her mind for any information about a Zehir, but she couldn''t find any.

    "I haven''t heard of a Zehir before, and certainly not the Aporos family. I wonder what someone of your caliber is doing, hunting little old me?"

    "That''s not surprising," Zehir shrugged, "You won''t find my family unless they want to be found. Anyways, I was hired by some old man from the Unorthodox Faction to hunt you down. Apparently, they didn''t like you destroying their branch sects."

    "I figured that was the case," Mira calmly nodded, not surprised by that information.

    The timing of Zehir showing up was too coincidental for it to be anything else. Still, she was surprised that the Unorthodox Faction was hiding someone this strong and talented within their ranks.

    ''I guess an organization that has existed for thousands of years has more than a few reasons they''vested so long,'' Mira shrugged. However, she was d about this.

    If there wasn''t anyone in this world who could match her strength already, then wouldn''t she be bored out of her mind until she eventually ascended??

    With people like Zehir around, she can keep learning and growing steadily without stopping. More importantly, she won''t be bored on her journey to the peak.

    ''However,'' Mira''s eyes narrowed, ''The way he mentioned the Unorthodox Faction was as if he was just an outsider. He also said an old man hired him. So, is he really a part of the Faction?''

    Thinking about it now, she had some serious doubts about this. If the Unorthodox Faction could nurture someone like Zehir, why aren''t they unrivaled right now?

    At least, in the Battle Maiden Sect, only a handful of people could deal with him, and even then, they''d likely lose.

    Even the Elders might have a hard time defeating him, should he fight at his full strength.

    ''That is if he''s currently not using his full power right now.'' Something that Mira doubted.

    Hell, she wasn''t using her full-power right now, so how could someone who wasn''t much less talented than her be using his?

    They were both holding back, hiding aspects of themselves until they felt ready to show them.

    As the saying goes, "Trump cards are only trump cards when the enemy doesn''t know about them."

    Mira wasn''t willing to reveal all of her elemental affinities, her Martial Intent, her tails'' abilities, her charm and illusion abilities, and even her techniques until she was sure she could kill him.

    ''Well, it''s also not every day that Ie across someone this talented. How could I kill off such a great whetstone without using him to sharpen my de?'' Mira chuckled as she stared back at Zehir.

    "So, would you like to continue?" Mira asked, "Honestly, I feel a bit bad about killing a genius such as yourself. You''re so much more useful to me alive than dead."

    "..."

    Zehir gazed back into Mira''s eyes, the tension in the air growing heavy. They stayed like this for a few seconds before his lips curled up into a smile, and he released a boisterousugh!

    "Pfft-HAHAHAHA! How interesting!" Zehir keeled over at the waist,ughing, "It''s quite the opposite for me! You''re much more useful dead than alive."

    "I see. That''s too bad." Mira shook her head as if she felt bad about the thought of killing him. However, the killing intent that leaked out of her eyes told a different story.

    "Well, I''ll be sure to tell your family that you had a smile on your face in your final moments."

    "Good luck with that," Zehir chuckled, giving Mira a cocky smirk.

    Without saying anything else, their auras rose once again, and just as they were about to attack, a voice entered Mira''s mind, causing her expression to change.

    The killing intent in her eyes exploded, enveloping the area in a red hue as she cocked her head in the direction of the Battle Maiden Sect.

 Chapter 621 Invasion

    Mira stared in the direction of the Battle Maiden Sect as the killing intent in her eyes grew.

    ''W-What did you say?'' Mira inwardly asked.

    "It seems someone is attacking your Sect, and with quite a powerful force at that." The Guardian replied, this time without any amusement. He watched the Battle Maiden Sect situation unfold and could tell that while it certainly did look like an "attack" there were no casualties.

    Instead, it was as if they were looking for someone.

    With Zehir fighting Mira and knowing who exactly was doing the invading, he understood what was happening and decided to warn Mira before it was toote.

    "You should probably hurry back as quickly as possible." The Guardian urged, causing Mira''s eyes to narrow.

    The Guardian she knew was always yful and annoying; if he was so serious, it either meant he was ying a prank on her or there was a genuinely bad situation.

    Mira leaned toward the former as she doubted he would interrupt such an enjoyable fight for no reason.

    With her eyes growing colder by the second, Mira turned to Zehir to see if he was in on the n of whoever was invading her Sect, but all she saw was killing intent and a will for battle.

    ''It doesn''t seem like he knows what''s going on. Did they not tell him? Is he unrted? Or is he just good at hiding his involvement?'' Mira thought.

    "It seems we''ll have to put our battle on hold for the moment. There''s something that I must attend to right now." Mira said and turned to Rhydian, who was hoving above the Star-Horned Wolves, protecting them from the aftermath of their fight.

    ''Head for the Battle Maiden Sect with your subordinates. Let me deal with this guy first. Then I''ll catch up to you.'' She spoke to her through their connection.

    Rhydian was confused for a second but nodded regardless. She could feel the seriousness in her voice and knew that this wasn''t the time to be ying around. If Mira said she needed to go back, she needed to go back!

    "WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" Rhydian gave a fewmands to the Star-Horned Wolves, and they immediately moved out, heading toward the Sect.

    Zehir watched this happen right before his eyes and couldn''t help but find this situation weird. He stared at Mira and could tell that she wished for nothing more than to continue fighting him, but something prevented her from doing so.

    Something more important than him.

    Just that was enough to irk him more than he would''ve liked to admit.

    "Hmph! Did I say you could leave?" He snorted, his aura rising as he channeled his Qi and sent a sword strike toward Rhydian and the other wolves.

    However, before it could hit them, arge ice wall appeared and blocked the attack.

    "Do I need your permission?" Mira asked coldly, the scythe in her hands thrumming with power. Just like he thought, she wanted to continue their fight, but who knows how long it''d take before they wore each other out.

    They both had insane regeneration speed and vitality. Not only that, but their bodily strength, stamina, and Qi reserves were incredibly deep. It might take a few minutes to hours to finish their battle!

    Mira could use her Death Tail to finish him off, but what if he had a way to counter it? Even if he didn''t, she''d still be weakened, with 50% of her blood essence gone.

    Naturally, she couldn''t allow such a thing to happen. Not right now.

    A pair of massive Paragon Wings formed above her back, and she used the 2nd Stage of the Blood Burst Technique. Her aura skyrocketed as her vitality-rich blood pumped through her body, filling her with endless strength.

    Zehir was so surprised by the sudden power boost that he didn''t even realize Mira was already in front of him!

    *BOOOOM!!*

    Mira''s scythe mmed into his stomach, creating a wide gash, as she sent him flying across the mountain range at supersonic speeds.

    Mira used this chance to fly away in the direction Rhydian and the other wolves were moving.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "DAMMmmit!! RAAAAAaaaa!"

    Mira heard Zehir screaming behind her as she flew away.

    It didn''t take long for her and Elenei to catch up with Rhydian, to which they immediately hopped on her back. Mira then began using her Wind and Yin Lightning Qi to increase their speed.

    "Get to the Battle Maiden Sect as soon as possible!" Mira ordered, and Rhydian didn''t need to be told twice.

    She pped her massive wings even harder as they shot through the air at insane speeds, leaving behind Zehir.

    ***

    As Mira approached the Battle Maiden Sect, the sect, which was situated along the length of a towering mountain, was under a brutal siege by the Unorthodox Faction. Its disciples and many ferocious beasts swarmed the sect''s defenses like a relentless tide, intent on destroying everything in their path.

    However, because of the recent attacks on their Sect, Aelina, and the other Elders had strengthened their defenses with even more Arrays and Formations, making it hard for them to break through.

    Unfortunately, that didn''t mean they couldn''t break through, as all it took was a few Mortal Shedding Realm experts to rip open a hole in the defenses, allowing the disciples in.

    The sky above the mountain was filled with a chaotic whirlwind of activity. Unorthodox Faction disciples rode on the backs of massive, winged beasts - some resembling scaly lizards, others like monstrous birds of prey - as they circled the mountain,unching devastating aerial attacks on the sect''s buildings and fortifications. Fiery projectiles rained down upon the mountaintop, attempting to set aze the once-proud structures that had stood for centuries.

    Of course, the disciples of the Battle Maiden Sect weren''t useless and immediately moved in to prevent wanton destruction, something they were sessful in doing.

    The mountainside itself had be a battleground of epic proportions. Unorthodox Faction disciples, dressed in dark, sinister robes, shed with the Battle Maiden Sect''s warriors, who fought fiercely in their vibrant, battle-worn armor. The two sides shed with swords, spears, and other weapons, their Qi-infused strikes creating shockwaves that reverberated throughout the mountain.

    Fearsome beasts, apanied by the Unorthodox Faction, tore through the sect''s ranks, their roars and growls echoing through the air, only to either end up dead or tossed away like a ragdoll. Giant serpents slithered up the mountain, their fangs dripping with venom as they sought to sink them into their prey. Ferocious, bear-like creatures with razor-sharp ws rampaged through the sect''s courtyard while packs of wolf-like beasts, their eyes glowing with an unnatural light, prowled the periphery, ready to pounce on any stragglers.

    The Battle Maiden Sect''s disciples fought valiantly, determined to protect their home and their fellow sisters. Aelina, the Sect Leader,manded her forces from a strategic vantage point, her voice booming across the battlefield as she called out orders to her disciples, Outer, Inner, and Core. Her eyes were filled with a mysterious light as she did so.

    However, if one were to look closely, one would see a slight smirk on her face. Clearly, she was enjoying this situation.

    ''This is such a great opportunity to train the disciples for times of war!'' Aelina thought.

    Her Sect trained her disciples in almost everything, but they severelycked experience in such war-like situations.

    This couldn''t be helped as not only the Battle Maiden Sect but no Top Sect had entered an all-out war with another power over thest few hundred years, at the very least.

    Now that such a perfect opportunity hade, how could she ruin it by killing everyone herself or even allowing the other Elders to take part in this "practice war"?

    Of course, the Elders had a different job: to prevent the Mortal Shedding Realm experts from the other side from causing a ruckus and killing everyone while also protecting areas that needed protection.

    Thus, Aelina decided she would only step in once she felt like her disciples had practiced enough.

    "Launch your attacks from the walls, disciples! Kill everything that dares toe close to our Sect!" Aelina ordered.

    Disciples lined the walls, their arrows and long-range Qi attacks finding their marks with deadly precision.

    Meanwhile, closebat warriors wielded their weapons with skill and ferocity, their eyes zing with the fires of determination.

    In the midst of the chaos, the Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect disyed their formidable prowess. They unleashed devastating attacks that sent the Mortal Shedding Realm experts of the Unorthodox Faction flying. The mountainside trembled under the sheer force of their power, but the Elders knew that they couldn''t let up even for a moment.

    This might just be a training session for Aelina and the rest of the disciples, but they all knew that letting these people wander around their Sect freely could bring untold consequences.

    Unfortunately, amidst all the chaos and destruction, they failed to notice a few shadows sneaking into the Sect under everyone''s watch, including Aelina''s.

 Chapter 622 Unseen Shadows

    The disciples of the Battle Maiden Sect continued to fight, their determination unwavering in the face of the seemingly endless onught from the Unorthodox Faction.

    However, while the battle was fierce, both sides managed to minimize casualties, almost as if those from the Unorthodox Faction weren''t interested in starting a war with the other party.

    Amidst the chaos, Aelina spotted Cyrus, the Sect Leader of the Crimson yer Sect. Intrigued and sensing that he could provide valuable information about what was happening, Aelina figured she should meet him.

    ''It''s not like he can kill me.'' Aelina shrugged and turned to one of the Elders.

    "Keep an eye on the situation here. I''ll return as soon as I can."

    With a nod, the Elder tookmand, ensuring the defenses held strong in Aelina''s absence.

    High up in the sky, Aelina found the leader of the Crimson yer Sect, a tall, imposing figure dressed in crimson robes. He exuded an aura of menace, but Aelina remained unfazed.

    However, she noticed that the man had a deep frown on his face and looked incredibly annoyed as he stared at the battlefield.

    Aelina didn''t miss this and became even more intrigued about what was going on, as she knew that although Cyrus wasn''t the smartest person, he wasn''t an idiot. He would not bring his disciples to attack her Sect under normal circumstances.

    He even somehow goaded some beasts into attacking their Sect!

    "I see you''ve gotten rather bold, Cyrus," Aelina flew up to him and said, snapping him out of his thoughts, "Maybe I should bring a few people with me and visit your Sect after this. I wouldn''t mind some free loot, after all."

    Cyrus scowled, unsure if she was joking, as her expression gave nothing away, but he figured she might actually do what she said.

    "I don''t want to be here, either," He huffed under his breath, causing Aelina to raise an eyebrow, "But it''s not like I have a choice."

    "Hmmm? Then, why are you here? You should know that even though a few people somehow made it inside my Sect''s formations, they can''t do anything. Also, there''s nothing of importance in the Outer Court. Why would you risk the annihtion of your Sect just to send a few people there?" Aelina casually asked, not worried about the infiltrators.

    Cyrus'' eyes widened in surprise as he gawked at Aelina, "You knew?! How?!"

    "Hmph!" Aelina snorted, "Do you seriously think I wouldn''t notice that one of your Elders poked a hole in my formations and sent a few ''unsuspecting fellows'' into my Sect?? Do I look so useless to you?"

    Without giving Cyrus time to answer, Aelina''s body disappeared, only to reappear right before him.

    "WHA-ACK!" Surprised, he screamed out, but Aelina grabbed him by the neck and stared deep into his eyes, cutting him off.

    "Now, why don''t you tell me what''s really going on before I rip out your throat and feed your corpse to the dogs."

    ***

    Somewhere in the Outer Court of the Sect, two little girls were running around in a peaceful valley, ying hide-and-go-seek amongst the trees. While they could feel the vibrations of the battle outside the Sect, they had no intention of leaving the valley to assist the other disciples.

    They were too weak for that, anyways.

    Thus, they just went back to y-*Ahem!*-training.

    Training! Yeah, training! They would never ck off while Maria and Mira were gone!

    This�� this was just another form of training�COne unknown to Mira.

    While it may look like ying, they were actually training their proficiency in the Hidden World Technique!

    Naturally, these two little girls were Dominique and Hana, who had decided to stay in the Sect with Mira after Maria left.

    Dominique had no real reason to follow Maria. Not only was Mira her mother and master, but she was old enough now to take care of herself, and leaving one of the best Sects on the Continent wasn''t something she was willing to do.

    As for Hana, Mira had an obligation to save her mother in return for learning the Hidden World Technique. Mira and her subordinates had all learned the basics of the technique and could use it with decent proficiency. Thus, there wouldn''t be a point in her leaving, even if she wanted to.

    She would just be an extra burden if she went with Maria. Staying here in the Battle Maiden Sect was her best, safest, and most reliable option if she wanted to reunite with her mother.

    Unfortunately for both of them, Mira is often busy or away from the Sect, so there''s only so much they can do.

    Therefore, during the time that the two have been together, Dominique and Hana have gotten quite close and spent most of their days together. Even when Dominique trained or cultivated, Hana wouldn''t leave her side.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Today was no different.

    As Dominique ran through the little forest, it only took her a few minutes to find Hana crouching inside arge bush.

    "I found you!" Dominique eximed with a giggle, running up to the little girl, "Now, it''s your turn to look for me!"

    Hana got up, brushed the dirt off her clothes, and giggled as well, "Fine! Let''s see if your mastery of the Hidden World Technique has improved!"

    She walked over to behind one of the trees and was just about to close her eyes to begin counting when Dominique suddenly grabbed her hand.

    "What ar-Mmmfff!" Her eyes widened in surprise when she felt Dominique''s small hand cover her mouth, silencing her.

    "Shhhh!" Dominique hushed her and dropped to a crouching stance before using the Hidden World Technique and erasing her presence.

    "Hide." She whispered into Hana''s ear.

    Thetter nodded and followed suit, using the Hidden World Technique to her full capabilities, which caused her presence to almostpletely disappear. In fact, even with Dominique holding onto her, she hardly noticed that Hana was there!

    The two girls exchanged puzzled nces but remained silent, trusting Dominique''s instincts. While she may not be as sensitive or as strong as Mira, Dominique was still trained by her and knew when something seemed off.

    And right now, something was very wrong.

    She could feel a faint malevolent aura getting closer and closer to them. In all the time she''s spent in the Sect, something like this has never happened before.

    In fact, Dominique doesn''t even remember ever having random visitors! Everyone in the Sect minds their own business unless they need something, and since Mira didn''t know many people in the Sect, nobody bothered visiting her little valley.

    At that moment, they heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching. The intruders from the Unorthodox Faction had somehow made their way into the peaceful valley and were searching for them.

    "Spread out and find that girl! Hide your presence, and don''t use your Soul Sense to prevent one of the Elders from spotting you." one of them ordered, his voice barely above a whisper.

    "Yes, sir!" The others whispered back and quickly spread out around the valley.

    Dominique and Hana exchanged a look of fear and determination. They knew that they couldn''t fight against these intruders, but they could use their mastery of the Hidden World Technique to avoid detection.

    And so, a dangerous game of cat and mouse began.

    The two girls remained low, moving silently from one hiding spot to another, always trying to stay a step ahead of the intruders.

    The tension in the air was palpable; the usually serene valley was now filled with the stifled breaths of the young girls and the quiet rustle of leaves as they moved cautiously, trying to remain hidden from the enemy.

    Dominique''s heart raced in her chest; her senses heightened to an almost unbearable degree. Her eyes darted back and forth, seeking any sign of the intruders'' movements. On the other hand, Hana seemed to be holding her breath, her small frame trembling with fear as she tried to maintain her own technique while also increasing the effectiveness of Dominique''s.

    shbacks to the time she was captured entered her mind, and she became even more frightened.

    ''I��I-I don''t want that to happen to me again!'' She clenched her small fists, her eyes burning with determination not to get caught.

    As the intruders searched the valley, the girls found themselves hiding behind arge boulder. They pressed themselves against the cold, hard surface, barely daring to breathe. The footsteps of one of the intruders seemed to grow louder and closer, causing their hearts to pound even harder.

    The man''s shadow loomed over them, and they held their breath, praying that he wouldn''t discover their hiding spot. To their immense relief, the man moved on, the sound of his footsteps gradually fading into the distance.

    Dominique and Hana exchanged a brief nce, relief washing over their faces. They knew they couldn''t stay in one ce for long, so they began to move again, constantly searching for new hiding spots and avoiding any signs of the intruders.

    As time began to pass, with both sides growing impatient, the game of cat and mouse continued. The girls became more and more exhausted, but they refused to give in, determined to prevent themselves from being discovered.

    Just as they were beginning to think they might be able to evade the intruders indefinitely, a chilling voice echoed through the valley.

    "We know you''re here, little one. You can''t hide forever."

    The girls froze, their hearts sinking, but they remained steady, not giving in to his bluffs.

    That is if it was only a bluff��

 Chapter 623 Spotted

    The voice sent chills down Dominique and Hana''s spines, but they refused to give in. Dominique tightened her grip on Hana''s hand, silently urging her to stay strong and keep using the Hidden World Technique.

    As they continued to move, the girls found themselves at the edge of a small cliff overlooking a river. The rushing water beneath them seemed to call out, offering a possible escape route. Dominique and Hana exchanged a nce, and at that moment, they both knew they had to take the chance.

    They carefully climbed down the cliff, trying not to make any sound. The intruders were still searching, but it seemed they hadn''t noticed the girls'' change of location yet.

    Reaching the river, Dominique and Hana waded in, using the water to mask their presence further. They allowed the current to carry them downstream but remained alert, constantly scanning their surroundings for any sign of the intruders.

    Unbeknownst to them, their escape had been noticed by one of the intruders, a disciple named Niko from the Nightshade Assassin Sect, an organization known for its ruthlessness and cunning. The assassin was the one in charge of the capture as they took on these kinds of missions all the time.

    He was searching for them like normal and would have missed them if he didn''t notice something small rustling the bushes in the distance, followed by a small, blue head of hair.

    Smirking to himself, he silently signaled for the others to search a different area and dashed toward theirst known location.

    Although he still couldn''t sense them, at least there was a trail to follow, and as an assassin, that was all he needed.

    Moving like a shadow, the assassin slipped into the water, following Dominique and Hana''s trail downstream.

    The girls continued to drift along the river, their exhaustion growing with each passing moment. However, they refused to sumb to fatigue, knowing their lives were on the line. After a few minutes of drifting, they spotted a small cave by the riverbank, providing them with an opportunity to rest and hide from their pursuers.

    They crawled into the cave, concealing themselves behind the shadows of a fewrge rocks covered by tall cave grass. Dominique and Hana huddled together, cold and shivering, but they knew they couldn''t let their guard down.

    The two didn''t speak a word to each other, knowing that the Hidden World Technique wasn''t perfect. It might be able to mask their presence and make them blend in with the world around them, but it didn''t actually make them invisible and couldn''t silence their voice.

    As they tried to catch their breath, the assassin from the Nightshade Assassin Sect made their move. Quietly, they approached the cave, using their own brand of stealth techniques to remain undetected.

    Dominique felt a sudden chill, and her instincts screamed that danger was near. She nced around the cave, her eyes desperately searching for any signs of movement. However, the darkness of the cave made it difficult to see anything clearly.

    Before she could react, the assassin struck quickly and silently. All she saw was a ck shadow move in the darkness, only for it to end up in front of her.

    Knowing they''d been found, Dominique let go of Hana and pushed her deeper into the cave so she wouldn''t be seen. With Hana''s proficiency with the Hidden World Technique, they''d be hard-pressed to find her location unless he looked right at her or had his Soul Sense on her.

    ''NOOO!'' Hana screamed inwardly, as she didn''t want to see her only friend captured or killed right before her very eyes. She instinctively reached out, trying to grab Dominique, but it was toote.

    As she looked up, a tall, skinny person, covered in all ck, with a ck scarf covering his face, stood before Dominique.

    Grabbing Dominique by the arm, the man grumbled, "Do you know much effort it took to find you, little girl? We wouldn''t have had to go through all this if you''d just let yourself get captured earlier."

    "L-Let go of me!!" Dominique screamed, trying to wiggle her way out of his grip, but his hand was like a steel vice, refusing to budge.

    "Sorry, kid, but I can''t do that. Now, let''s get going." He scooped up Dominique in his arms and scanned the rest of the cave.

    ''Hmmm�� That''s weird,'' Niko thought, ''I could''ve sworn I noticed someone with her.''

    However, he didn''t find anything, even after giving it a second look. Shaking his head, he muttered, "I guess it was just my imagination."

    Turning his attention back to Dominique, the little girl in his arms, he frowned slightly. He knew that the girl was rted to a woman named Mira, and from the information he gathered, she was the one wreaking havoc for the Crimson yer Sect.

    If he was being honest, he was reluctant to take on this mission, despite the high rewards. He didn''t want to have a psychopath who could reduce entire Sects to rubble on his tail.

    He might never have another peaceful day again!<novelnext></novelnext>

    Unfortunately, he was the best man for the job, who wasn''t already on a mission. He had an Earth-Grade Physique called the Concealed Camoflouge Physique, which not only allowed him to blend into his surroundings easier, but his presence was also very thin.

    Although despite its grade, the Physique was rtively strong, it couldn''t escape the senses of someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm or above. Hell, even Soul Transformation Realm and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could sense him if they tried a little.

    Thus, they sent him in with a few others that weren''t assassins, hoping that the Elders and Sect Master from the Battle Maiden Sect wouldn''t pay attention to just him and would also focus on the others, giving him some hope of sneaking in and out of the Sect.

    Trying to hold back his smile, Niko nced at the squirming child in his arms and said, "Alright, time to go to sleep, little girl."

    He raised his hand to karate chop her neck, but Dominique''s Spatial Ring shed before he could put her to sleep, and a Mid-Stage Heaven-Grade throwing knife appeared in her free hand.

    "What?!" Surprised, he cried out, but what happened next shocked him even more!

    Without hesitation, Dominique channeled all her Qi into her arm and jammed the knife into the crook of his neck! It felt like she had pierced a super thick and durable leather, but the sharpness of the knife made up for herck of strength and slowly dug into his skin.

    "ARGH!!" Niko screamed in pain and dropped the girl.

    "YOU BITCH!" Losing control of his emotions for a second, something an assassin should never do, he sent an empowered kick toward Dominiqe''s abdomen!

    *Crack!*

    "Ugh!" Dominique grunted in pain as her body bent at a 90-degree angle at her waist. The sounds of bones breaking echoed throughout the cave as she crashed into the wall.

    Struggling to her feet, she tried to ignore the numerous broken ribs and maybe even spine, but that proved to be harder than she initially thought.

    ''Mother has broken my bones before, but it never hurt like this.'' Dominique thought as she held her stomach in pain.

    What she didn''t know was that Mira wasn''t just carelessly breaking and fracturing her bones during training. She would do so in a way that would allow her bones to heal in the quickest possible time.

    However, Niko wasn''t concerned about that. Even if he shattered every bone in her body, he wouldn''t care!

    Using the wall as support, she managed to stand up. Looking back at the assassin, her eyes grew cold, and she thought about the few other throwing weapons Mira and Maria had left her, but she didn''t take them out.

    In a head-on battle, she was no match for this man. The only way for her to defeat him was if she took him by surpr-

    "So, you had a little trick up your sleeve, huh? I guess you aren''t rted to that psycho woman for nothing. Even this little girl is crazy!" Niko said and took out a healing pill. Taking out the knife, blood gushed out of his wound, but the pill did its job, preventing blood loss.

    "This is a pretty good knife." He muttered with bright eyes before storing it.

    Looking back at Dominique, he disappeared from his position, reappearing right in front of her!

    "It seems like Mira did a poor job at educating you. Don''t worry, though. I''ll be sure to give you a taste of what the real world is like." He said sinisterly and raised his fist before punching her right in the temple.

    "UGHH!" Dominique grunted as she mmed into the wall again, using thest of her energy to scream, "MOTHER! SAVE ME!"

    Afterward, she passed out, slumping onto the ground.

    Niko snorted in annoyance but didn''t say anything else and just picked up Dominique like a sack of potatoes, then walked out of the cave.

 Chapter 624 Missing Dominique

    Hana sat there in a daze as she watched everything unfold. Tears unconsciously streamed down her face, and her body trembled in agitation.

    ''I�� I�� H-How��?'' She stuttered but failed to form any coherent sentences.

    She wanted nothing more than to get up and free Dominique, but��

    But she knew she couldn''t. Not only was she not strong enough, but she had no idea how to fight. She didn''t even have a weapon to attack with!

    Thus, she could only watch as Niko dragged the unconscious Dominique out of the cave, guilt written all over her face as she cowered in the tall grass.

    ''D-Dominique wouldn''t want me to try anyways. S-She�� She''s the one that pushed me away��''

    She tried to justify her cowardice but clearly didn''t believe her own words as the guilt written on her face became more severe.

    ''B-But��B-But what am I supposed to do? That man is too strong! I''ll end up dead or captured if I try to do anything!'' Hana sought an answer more than anything else in the world.

    She even put her dream of returning to her mother on the back burner. Dominique was the first real friend she''s ever had, and she wasn''t willing to watch that bond shatter right before her very eyes!

    Thest few months she''s spent here in the Battle Maiden Sect have been some of the most enjoyable and rxing times she''s had in a long time, and the one she had to thank for that was Dominique.

    They were like two peas in a pod, doing everything together while Mira was away. Whenever she was sad, Dominique was there. When she was happy, she shared those emotions with her friend.

    If she were anxious, Dominique would calm her down, ensuring she was okay.

    Clenching her fists so hard, her nails dug into her hands, Hana''s eyes turned resolute, ''Even if I can''t do anything to him, I can find someone who can! I don''t know too many people in the Sect, but Nova and Eden would sometimes visit us over thest few months to make sure we were okay. I''m sure they''d help me if I asked!''

    Hana thought but soon shook her head, ''How am I supposed to do that? It''ll take me hours just to reach the Inner Court, much less the Core Disciple Court! That''s not to mention that I''ll still need to find them.''

    Suddenly her eyes shone as an idea came to mind.

    ''If I can''t find help, then the least I can do is find the ce where they''re taking her!''

    Hana stood up and crept toward the exit of the cave, doing everything she could to stay as silent as possible. Her hands shook, and her legs trembled, but she worked up the courage to try and help her only friend.

    After taking a deep breath, she walked out of the cave and dashed in the direction the man had left.

    ''H-Hopefully, I can keep up with him.''

    ***

    A few minutester, as Mira approached the Battle Maiden Sect on Rhydian''s back, her eyes widened at the sight that unfolded before her.

    The sect, which was situated along the length of a towering mountain, was under a brutal siege by the Unorthodox Faction.

    Its disciples and their ferocious beasts swarmed the sect''s defenses like a relentless tide, intent on destroying everything in their path.

    The sky above the mountain was filled with a chaotic whirlwind of activity. Unorthodox Faction disciples flew in the air and circled the mountain,unching devastating aerial attacks on the sect''s buildings and fortifications. Fiery projectiles rained down upon the mountain, attempting to destroy everything and anything in their way.

    However, the Formations and Arrays that surrounded the Sect weren''t something to scoff at. Not to mention, the Battle Maiden Sect disciples weren''t weak. All of their attacks were blocked, with the women returning fire.

    After a few short exchanges, Mira noticed that the Unorthodox Faction was actually on the losing end, despite being the aggressors.

    The mountainside itself had be a battleground of epic proportions. Unorthodox Faction disciples, dressed in dark, sinister robes, shed with the Battle Maiden Sect''s warriors, who fought fiercely in their vibrant, battle-worn armor.

    The two sides shed with swords, spears, and other weapons, their Qi-infused strikes creating shockwaves that reverberated throughout the mountain.

    Mira was now able to get a good look at how strong and skilled the disciples of the Battle Maiden Sect were, along with the actual Sect itself.

    ''No wonder nobody dares to mess with the Sect. Even when we''re being sieged, there''s almost nothing they can do to us.'' Mira thought, nodding her head in satisfaction, happy about her decision to join the Sect.

    However, just as that thought came to mind, another one quickly overwhelmed her, as it was one of the only reasons she returned to the Sect.

    ''Dominique!'' As Mira looked around and fully took in the battle before her, her heart clenched with a mix of growing angst and rage.

    Normally, she wouldn''t care too much about what happened to the Sect. In fact, even if it disappeared tomorrow, she would, at most, think that it was a pity and move on with her day.<novelnext></novelnext>

    There was plenty she could learn here, which was great, but she enjoyed exploring the world, fighting, and getting stronger more than reading a bunch of manuals and books. She joined mainly to make life a little easier for herself and, thus, didn''t have some profound loyalty toward the Sect.

    However, since her disciple was living here, she had no choice but to care.

    After watching the battle between the two sides unfold for a few seconds, Mira ignored it and had Rhydian fly over to the Outer Court. Right now, more than anything, she had to make sure Dominique was alright.

    ''And I suppose Hana as well.'' Mira thought, but for some reason, she had a bad feeling.

    Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest; the closer she got, the worse it became.

    Mira knew that her instincts had always been sharp and bordered between the line of divination, but this time, she refused to believe them.

    Instead, she gritted her teeth and urged Rhydian to fly even faster, the wind howling around them as they raced towards the Outer Court.

    As they neared the Outer Court, Mira''s heart thumped harder and harder in her chest. Her instincts screamed at her that something was wrong, but she pushed it aside, ignoring it.

    Finally, they reached the valley where her residence was. The lush green valley was still peaceful as if nothing had happened.

    However, as Mira''s gaze swept across the area, she noticed something that made her blood run cold and her eyes glow with a dark crimson light�C there were people in the valley, but none were Dominique or Hana.

    Mira swept her Soul Sense, which could only sense around a kilometer from her, over the area but still didn''t find Dominique or Hana. Though, she did find traces of battle in a nearby cave.

    "Rhydian,nd!" Miramanded, urgency filling her voice.

    Rhydian swooped down, her massive wings stirring up gusts of wind as she touched down on the valley floor. Mira leaped off her back and sprinted towards the cave, her heart pounding in her ears.

    She could feel her rage slowly bubbling, but she refused to let it ovee her and forced herself to remain stoic.

    The cave was dark and quiet, but it was clear that something had taken ce there. The grass was trampled, there was blood on the cave walls, and there were signs of a struggle. Mira''s heart sank, and the rage she suppressed reared its angry head within her.

    It was bing harder and harder to keep a cold head, but she knew she had to if she wanted to find Dominique in the shortest possible time.

    She quickly searched the area, hoping to find a clue where the girls might have gone. Her eyesnded on some faint footprints that led away from the cave. Gritting her teeth, she decided to follow them, hoping they would lead her to Dominique and Hana.

    However, she noticed a few people outside the cave before she could get far.

    "Over there! Look! Someone has entered the valley!"

    "Really?! Then we need to get the fuck out of here!"

    "Run!!"

    Mira heard the voices of the people she sensed in her home, and her eyes narrowed coldly, killing intent leaking out of her.

    She shed out of the cave, circted her Qi, and shot dozens of ice vines, which quickly caught the intruders.

    Walking up to one of them, she crouched down and lifted his chin to stare him in the eye, rage bubbling within her.

    "Where�� is she?" Mira asked in a deep, hoarse voice, almost like a growl.

    The man gulped in fear, the killing intent leaking out of Mira''s eyes scaring the shit out of him. However, even as he felt death looming over him, he didn''t back down.

    "W-Who? W-What girl?"

    Clearly, that was the wrong answer as Mira jammed her hand in the man''s stomach, grabbed onto his spine, and yanked it out of his body.

    "AHHHHHHHH!!" The man screamed in absolute agony, his body turning to jelly before he died a few secondster.

    "Don''t lie to me. I want to know where you took the girl. You have 3 seconds to answer before you suffer the same fate as this man." Mira''s eyes glowed with rage, with immense killing intent leaking out of them, which kept on increasing as time passed, causing the men to shudder.

    She didn''t have time to waste on these fools, but if they could directly answer where they took Dominique, she wouldn''t need to spend so much time tracking her down and could just go there directly.

 Chapter 625 Finding Hana

    The remaining intruders looked at the lifeless body of theirrade, horrified by the brutal disy. They hesitated for a moment, but finally, one of them, a tall, skinny man, spoke up, stammering, "I-I saw a man t-taking a girl with him. She was unconscious, and he was dragging her towards the south."

    Mira looked at him, her eyes narrowed, assessing the truth in his words. However, the next moment, she shed toward him and stomped on his windpipe before kicking his head like a ser ball, causing it to explode.

    "I said," Mira paused and looked at the rest of the intruders, the killing intent leaking out of her body increasing, "No lying."

    The remaining men froze, not expecting Mira to be able to gauge whether they were telling the truth or not.

    Three seconds quickly went by, but nobody spoke. They had already epted their fate.

    Mira wouldn''t let them live even if they told her, so why should they say anything?

    A glint passed through Mira''s eyes, and she willed the ice vines to dig into their skin and wrap around their bones.

    "Urgh!"

    "W-What?! What are you doing?!"

    "AHHHH!"

    Then, without warning, she started plucking out their bones, one by one.

    "I guess you need a bit of motivation," Mira muttered.

    The intruders screamed in agony as their bodies were literally ripped apart from the inside out. The ice vines had also wiggled their way into other parts of their body to create even more pain so they would not die easily.

    "T-The m-mountains!" One of them screamed unconsciously, "T-The mountains to the north! T-There''s a secret bunker!"

    "H-He''s right! That�� AHHHH!! T-That''s where Sect Master Cyrus told us to bring her!"

    Mira nodded as she ascertained they were telling the truth. Then, she clenched her fist, ripping out the rest of their bones and killing them on the spot.

    "To the north, huh?" Mira walked over to the footprints she saw and noticed that one set was much smaller than the other. She couldn''t be sure, but she guessed that one of those was Hana''s.

    Dominique didn''t have the hiding skills Hana did; if anyone could escape their detection, it would be her. As for why Hana followed after him even after he captured Dominique��

    Mira didn''t know, but the only logical conclusion was that she wanted to save her friend somehow.

    At least, that''s what Mira wanted to believe, as that cooled her head off enough for her to stay rational.

    "Huuu~" Mira took in a deep breath, "Let''s go, Rhydian. Follow after those tracks. Should we run out of footprints to follow, just keep heading north and be sure to keep an eye out for Hana and/or Dominique. Leave the other wolves in this valley. We don''t have time to waste."

    Rhydian nodded and swooped down and picked her up. She thenmunicated with the Star-Horned Wolves, telling them to stay here before jumping into the sky and flying north.

    As they flew, Mira''s thoughts raced. Why did Sue Ming want to capture Dominique now? Isn''t this a little too fast? The god did things much slower and more meticulously, wanting Mira to fall into a state of happiness before ripping it all apart.

    However, Sue Ming didn''t seem to care about that and just wanted to take everything away from her as quickly as possible.

    Mira''s eyes turned cold, and she couldn''t help but fear for Maria''s safety.

    ''Stay safe out there, Maria. If anything happens to you, I''ll drop everything and run to your location.'' She rubbed the ring on her finger, calming her down a bit.

    As they continued north, Mira couldn''t help but nce at the horizon where the Battle Maiden Sect was still embroiled in a fierce battle with the Unorthodox Faction. She wanted nothing more than to dive head-first into battle, killing everyone in her path, but she knew she had to prioritize finding Dominique and Hana.

    Aelina was still in the Sect, or she should be, and there was no way she would take this act of violence lying down.

    As they flew further away from the battle, Mira stopped watching and returned her focus to finding Hana and Dominique. She extended her Soul Sense, and a mental image of the terrain appeared in her mind, where she processed and took everything in, hoping to find one of them.

    However, the farther they went, the more her heart clenched, and her anxiety grew. She had seen countless battlefields, faced numerous enemies, and endured countless injuries. But the thought of losing Dominique made her feel something she hadn''t experienced in a long time, bringing back unwanted memories.

    Rhydian soared across the sky, her wings cutting through the air with ease.

    Mira''s keen eyes scanned the ground, searching for any sign of the girls or the man who had taken them.

    Despite her worry, she couldn''t help but marvel at the breathtakingndscape that unfolded below them, a testament to the world''s beauty amidst the chaos that threatened to consume it.

    The mountains to the north were a sight to behold. Towering peaks rose from the ground, their jagged, snow-capped summits reaching for the heavens. Steep cliffs plummeted into lush valleys, where rivers snaked through thendscape, weaving an intricate tapestry of water and life.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Suddenly, Mira spotted a sh of movement below them, causing her heart to skip a beat.

    "Over there!" She pointed out to Rhydian.

    Rhydian caught on to the position Mira pointed to and descended rapidly, her wings creating a thunderous roar as they sliced through the wind.

    As they neared the ground, Mira saw a small, hunched figure making its way through the rocky terrain.

    It was Hana, her body battered and bruised, her clothes torn and dirty. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, but her determination shone through as she pushed herself forward, refusing to give up.

    "Hana!" Mira shouted, her heart swelling with relief as Rhydiannded beside the girl.

    Hana looked up, her eyes widening in surprise as she saw Mira and Rhydian. "M-Mira!" she stammered, her voice hoarse from exhaustion.

    Mira rushed to Hana''s side, grabbing her shoulders as she looked her dead in the eyes. "Are you okay? Where''s Dominique?"

    Hana clung to Mira, tears streaming down her face as she choked out her story. She told Mira about the man who had taken Dominique and how she had tried to follow them, hoping to find a way to save her friend.

    "I... I couldn''t do anything, Mira," Hana sobbed, her body wracked with guilt and shame. "I... I''m so weak... and useless�� J-Just like I was when my mother��"

    Mira wasn''t sure what to say. She was never good at consoling people, much less kids, so she just let Hana embrace her while giving the girl a few pats on the back.

    "It''s fine, Hana. You might not be strong, but you certainly aren''t useless. Thanks to your efforts, I should have an easier time finding Dominique. All you have to do is point me in the direction they left in, and we should be able to catch up to them soon." Mira said, for both Hana and herself.

    They stayed like that for a moment, Miraforting Hana as the girl''s sobs subsided. When Hana had calmed down, Mira wiped the tears from her face and lifted her onto Rhydian''s back. "We''ll find her, Hana. I promise."

    "Mmhm." Hana nodded, releasing a small smile, happy she had someone to rely on.

    As Rhydian flew through the sky, Hana pointed in the direction shest saw Dominique before she was forced to stop running due to exhaustion.

    "...I believe they went that way, Mira." She said hesitantly.

    "So, you''re not sure?" Mira asked, but they followed the direction she pointed in anyways.

    Hana paused for a moment, then shook her head.

    "I-I''m sorry. They traveled too fast; I couldn''t keep up with them."

    Mira gave her a reassuring smile. "Don''t worry, Hana. This is more than enough." Afterward, she turned away, the smile disappearing from her face. From here on out, she couldn''t have any distractions.

    The sun cast an eerie red glow over thendscape as they traveled deeper into the mountains. The air grew colder, and a sense of foreboding seemed to envelop them as they ventured farther from the Battle Maiden Sect.

    As they continued in the direction Hana pointed, Mira began to sense a faint trace of the man''s aura. It was weak and nearly undetectable, but it was there.

    "Rhydian, we''re on the right track. Keep going." Shemanded, and Rhydian increased her speed, soaring across the skies with renewed vigor.

    The terrain grew more treacherous as they ventured deeper into the mountains. Narrow paths wound precariously along steep cliffs, and massive bouldersy scattered across thendscape, remnants of ancientndslides.

    As the sun disappeared behind the towering mountains, Mira spotted a hidden gateway nestled between two towering cliffs. It was barely visible, and Mira could tell it was the entrance to the secret bunker the intruders had mentioned.

    Nobody was protecting it, and the whole ce looked like it hadn''t been used in years, but Mira sensed something unusual about it.

    ''Is this the ce?'' Mira couldn''t think of any other location a hidden bunker might be, nor did she have the time to search for another one.

    "Rhydian,nd there," Mira ordered, pointing at the entrance.

    Rhydianplied, and theynded near the entrance, the sound of their arrival echoing through the valley.

    Mira turned to Hana, her eyes serious. "Stay here with Rhydian, Hana. She''ll protect you while I''m gone. I''ll go in and find Dominique."

    Hana hesitated, clearly torn between wanting to help and understanding that she wouldn''t be useful even if she could help. Finally, she nodded, her expression resolute. "Be careful, Mira."

    Mira nodded and walked into the gateway that looked more like an ancient cave house than a bunker.

 Chapter 626 Finding Dominique

    Mira cautiously stepped into the hidden bunker, her senses on high alert. The air inside was stale and heavy with the scent of decay and damp earth, the oppressive darkness illuminated only by the faint glow of bioluminescent moss. The walls were rough and uneven, as if they had been carved directly into the mountain by unskilled hands.

    She pressed on, feeling an unseen presence observing her every move. The walls gradually became smoother, and the path sloped downward, indicating the bunker''s deceptiveplexity.

    Suddenly, Mira encountered a fork in the path. She tried using her Soul Sense to detect Dominique''s presence but was met with interference.

    ''What the hell? Why can''t my Soul Sense prate these pathways?'' Mira eximed inwardly.

    She knew her soul was incredibly strong and was confident that there weren''t many things in this world that could hide from her, but it seemed she was wrong.

    Frustrated but determined, she followed her instincts and chose the left tunnel.

    As Mira ventured deeper into the left tunnel, the bioluminescent moss grew thicker on the walls, casting eerie, dancing shadows along her path. The feeling of being watched intensified, causing the hairs on Mira''s body to rise, but because of that, she felt like she was on the right path.

    A minute or soter, she noticed the air was growing colder, and her breath formed small puffs of fog in front of her face. The path twisted and turned, the descent steepening until she reached a heavy metal door, partially hidden by ayer of moss and dirt.

    With caution, Mira approached the door and examined it. There were no visible handles or locks, just a series of intricate symbols etched into its surface. Once Mira understood that the door wasn''t a trap, she stopped acting so cautiously.

    She reached out with her Soul Sense once more, trying to understand the door''s mechanism, but was again met with resistance.

    "I don''t have time for this shit!" Mira grumbled and raised her fist.

    *BOOOM!*

    Striking the metal door with her fist, she left a deep indentation, yet the door remained unbroken.

    Mira was slightly surprised that it was strong enough to block her punch, but that was all.

    Raising her fist again, she struck it with even more power. She continued this until the door eventually popped open,nding on the ground before her with a loud thud.

    The darkness beyond the door seemed to swallow Mira as she stepped inside, her senses on high alert.

    She had expected some sort of trap or defense mechanism, but nothing hade to challenge her. The room was filled with an eerie silence, broken only by the distant sound of dripping water.

    As Mira adjusted to the darkness, she walked into the room, still trying to use her Soul Sense to examine everything, but failing as something in the room interfered with her ability to do so.

    Suddenly, Mira heard noises deeper in the hideout. Taking out her scythe, she rushed into the dark room without caring about any traps or ambushes.

    ''I''ll be there in just a second, Dominique.'' Mira muttered to herself, feeling her cold heart beating faster than it usually did. She didn''t realize it before, but Dominique meant more to her than she initially realized.

    Whether it was because the girl called her ''mother'' or something else, Mira didn''t want to see her cold dead body lying on the ground.

    Soon, Mira saw a faint light not too far away, and she immediately dashed toward it, making it there in less than a second with her strength.

    The room was lit by a dim, flickering light, revealing a scene that caused her to pause for a second.

    Dominiquey unconscious on a cold stone b, surrounded by a dozen people. These people all gave off a toxic, filthy aura, more disgusting than anything she''d ever felt. This aura surrounded Dominique, enveloping her entire body.

    However, there was something unique about them, other than their aura, that immediately drew her attention.

    They wore puke green robes, had shaved heads, and, most importantly, their mouths were sewn shut.

    Next to them, a few meters away, stood a person dressed in all ck with a scarf wrapped around his face. His calm, blue eyes glowed underneath his scarf as he stared at Mira as if he knew she was going to appear.

    "To be honest, I wasn''t expecting you to show up so fast. As a matter of fact, we weren''t expecting anyone to show up this soon," The assassin said in a neutral tone. His voice was loud enough for all to hear, but the dozen other people didn''t move. They just stopped channeling their Qi, still standing around Dominique.

    "Zehir was supposed to be dealing with you; I guess he''s not as great as the Elders say." The assassin shrugged, not bothered by Mira''s growing killing intent.

    As the assassin was about to continue his monologue, Mira disappeared from her position, only to reappear before the assassin, her scythe covered in blood. The heads of the dozen other people flew up in the air, all of them dying in the split second after Mira moved.

    However, contrary to what she expected, the assassin wasn''t fazed by this. He nced at the dead bodies before turning his neutral gaze back on Mira. He didn''t even bother trying to take out his weapon.

    He knew when his time was up. As an assassin, his greatest strength was his ability to ascertain a situation, and right now, he understood that he was royally fucked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The momentum and aura around Mira,bined with the hazy killing intent that filled the room, told him all he needed to know.

    He didn''t stand a chance.

    Thus, rather than acting rashly, he figured that he could extend his life by a few more seconds by not attacking first. Hell, maybe he could talk his way out of death by some miracle!

    "You know, I''m quite curious about something. What did you do?" The assassin asked, but Mira just kept staring at him.

    The calmness that the man exuded threw Mira off a bit, and as much as it went against her natural instinct, she decided to let the man speak.

    Keeping her eyes on him, Mira made her way to the stone b where Dominiquey. She checked the girl''s pulse and gave her a quick once over before sighing in relief.

    ''She''s alive.'' Mira concluded and gently carried Dominique in one of her arms.

    "What did you do to make the whole Faction turn its attention to you? I know you''ve caused the Crimson yer Sect a bit of trouble, which is something noteworthy, but it''s not enough to make the whole Faction move. Did you ughter the Faction Leader''s family in a previous life or something?" The man asked with genuine interest.

    He might not be the strongest person in his Sect or someone with high status, but as per his upation, he had to stay well-informed about current events. And from what he understood, the way the Faction has behavedtely has been weird.

    They were oddly focused on an Outer Court Disciple from the Battle Maiden Sect. Not just any ordinary focus either.

    It was as if one of the higher-ups had a personal grudge against her! Spies were sent everywhere, and they tried to gather as much information about Mira as possible.

    How could he not find such a thing interesting?

    Mira''s eyes narrowed, and she''d about had enough of this man''s nonsense. Raising her scythe, she was about to finish him off like the rest before he raised his hands as a sign of surrender.

    "Woah! Okay! You don''t have to answer that! Geez." The assassin muttered with a sigh; then he turned his attention to Dominique.

    "You might not be interested in that, but I''m sure you''re curious about what those ''puppets'' did to your little friend." He said lightly.

    Mira''s eyes turned cold, and she pressed the full brunt of her aura onto the man''s body, causing his knees to buckle.

    "What do you know?" Mira growled in a low voice.

    It was clear to the man that that wasn''t a question, and she would get her answers whether heplied with her or not.

    "Not much, but enough." The assassin said in a calm voice.

    Mira looked into the man''s eyes, surprised to see they were as calm as a mountainke.

    ''He''s ready to die.'' Mira concluded, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

    These kinds of people were the most troublesome to deal with.

    However, Mira understood the hidden message behind his words.

    ''He wants something and is willing to trade that something for information.'' Mira weighed the pros and cons of dealing with this man. Her instincts wanted to rip his body apart, painting the walls with his blood, but her more rational side told her that maybe he was more useful alive.

    Looking at Dominique, who still hadn''t woken up, her eyes becameplicated before turning resolute.

    "What do you want?"

    While the man''s scarf covered his face, she was sure his smile had widened upon hearing her.

    However, before he could speak, a booming voice entered their ears.

    "Attention all Battle Maiden Sect disciples! This is your Sect Master speaking! As of this moment, we are officially at war with the Crimson yer Sect!"

    "I repeat! We are at war with the Crimson yer Sect! Do not hesitate to kill on sight if you see anyone in their uniform!"

    "All disciplese back to the Sect and prepare for war! This is not a request!"

 Chapter 627 War

    Going back in time, Aelina had just grabbed Cyrus by the throat, strangling him.

    "Now, why don''t you tell me what''s really going on before I rip out your throat and feed your corpse to the dogs." She said, her violet eyes peering straight into Cyrus'' soul.

    She loosened her grip on his throat a bit so he could speak.

    Cyrus coughed a few times, catching his breath, before ring at Aelina.

    When was thest time that he, the Sect Master of the Crimson yer Sect, a genuine Divine Sea Realm master, had ever been treated like this?

    Like a lowly dog?

    Cyrus'' re intensified, and with a ''gentle'' push, he removed Aelina''s hand from his throat and backed away.

    "Don''t do that again." He warned with a ferocious expression.

    Aelina looked at him in amusement as if he were a small child trying to scold an adult but said nothing.

    Instead, she repeated her previous question.

    "Hurry up and tell me why you''re doing this. I refuse to believe it''s because your grudge against me is so deep that you can''t take it anymore. You might be an insufferable old man, but you''re not THAT senile."

    Cyrus'' eyebrows twitched, but he couldn''t scold her as she wasn''t wrong.

    "The Faction Leader ordered me to attack with my disciples." He grumbled in annoyance. The memory of him being told to invade the Battle Maiden Sect was still fresh in his memory, causing his face to distort.

    No sane person would provoke the Battle Maiden Sect for no reason, especially not with war! Not only was that signing one''s own death warrant, but it signed the death warrants of all past and future generations!

    Aelina''s eyes narrowed as she heard Cyrus'' words, and she could feel her irritation bubbling inside her.

    "The Faction Leader? What does he hope to gain by starting a war with us?" she demanded, her voice cold and dangerous.

    Cyrus shrugged his shoulders, a look of resignation on his face.

    "I don''t know, but it definitely has something to do with that girl you took in, Mira."

    Aelina''s eyes widened in surprise. She had suspected that the Faction was interested in Mira, but she didn''t expect that it would escte to this level.

    "Mira? What does she have to do with any of this?" Aelina asked, her tone filled with curiosity. While Mira might be the most talented person she''d ever seen, that didn''t mean they had to go to war with one another.

    In fact, in the cultivation world among the top powerhouses, the Unorthodox Faction was a rtively neutral power. They mostly preyed on the weak and powerless, avoiding disciples from the more prominent Sects. It was much more efficient that way for this very reason.

    Imagine Unorthodox Faction disciples hunting down Core and Direct Disciples from the Top 7 Orthodox Sects��

    All hell would break loose should one of them die.

    Thus, it was more efficient overall for the disciples to work with quantity over quality.

    Of course, some of the more talented disciples from the Unorthodox Faction hunt down those from the 7 major Orthodox Sects, but they mainly aim for Outer Court and sometimes Inner Court disciples.

    The Sects usually overlooked these incidents as friction among factions isn''t necessarily a bad thing.

    However, even if a Core or Direct Disciple died, it would usually just result in the master of said disciple getting involved, and maybe the Sect Master should things escte too far. Wars happening over a single person were quite rare.

    ''If this could even be called a war.'' Aelina nced at the battlefield and noticed that even now, casualties were at a minimum.

    Her disciples were fighting to defend their home, while the Unorthodox Faction disciples were��

    ''Buying time? Stalling?''

    Aelina frowned at that conjecture but couldn''te up with anything else as that''s what it looked like. They were just mindlessly pounding on the Arrays and Formations while trying not to get hurt.

    Cyrus hesitated for a moment before responding.

    "I''m�� not entirely sure. Perhaps the Faction Leader is just interested in someone so talented."

    Aelina scoffed at Cyrus'' words.

    "Don''t give me that crap. The man has never met Mira! He wouldn''t start all this bullshit for someone he''s only ever heard of in reports."

    Then, she pointed at the "war" going on beneath them, "Do you think I''m an idiot? Not only are you not attacking to kill, but you even tried to sneak people into my Sect. You''re clearly here for something other than war. Not to mention, if Victor wanted to fight, he wouldn''t have sent you; he would''vee himself. This whole thing reeks of a conspiracy."

    She didn''t bother telling him that she sensed Rhydian enter the Sect earlier, signifying Mira''s return, as that might be exactly what they wanted.

    She could tell that Cyrus wasn''t lying when he said this situation was mostly because of Mira, but everything else was a lie.

    ''There''s someone behind all this, someone that''s not Victor. The Crimson Titan that I know wouldn''t act so cowardly.'' Aelina spected.

    Cyrus tensed up for a millisecond at her words, but immediately returned to normal, trying not to convey his riled emotions, but Aelina saw through it.

    "...So, someone else really is behind all this." She nodded calmly, thinking of how she should react to this information.

    ''Could it be those people that Lisica warned Mira about right after she came back from raiding those Spirit Stone Mines?'' She thought.

    Whoever those people were, they were an anomaly to Aelina. She''d tried investigating them, but all clues she obtained ended up at a dead-end. It was as if they suddenly disappeared after suddenly causing a bit of havoc throughout the continent.

    Cyrus knew he had fucked up and closed his mouth shut.

    While Sue Ming wasn''t exactly a secret among those in the Unorthodox Faction, she wasn''t known to the outside world.

    Hell, forget about the outside world; even the higher-ups in the Faction barely saw her. Only the Faction Leader interacted with her on a regr basis.

    All most people knew was that there was a powerful person, maybe an Elder or perhaps one of their wives, putting in all kinds of requests about a specific person, Mira, and giving out very generous rewards to those whopleted the missions.

    Even he hardly knew anything about Sue Ming, and he was a Sect Master!

    Thus, thest thing he wanted was to alert Aelina of a hidden enemy working behind the scenes to mess with a disciple she had set her eyes on.

    Unfortunately, it was toote��

    She already had all the information she needed to form her own legitimate conclusions.

    "Knowing Victor''s temperament, he wouldn''t work with just any random person. They''d have to be as strong as him or possess a ton of resources for him to make a move." Aelina thought out loud before shaking her head.

    "No, if he''s letting this person take control like this, they''d have to be both. He wouldn''t disturb his ''cultivation time'' just because someone was strong. At least, not anymore."

    ''Fuck! This bitch! Is she mind-reading?!?'' Cyrus inwardly cursed as he listened to Aelina''s murmurs.

    Aelina didn''t bother with him and continued thinking out loud, "However, did this secret mastermind believe that I would just allow him/her to do as they pleased? That they coulde and go as they pleased? You might not be killing many of my disciples, but the fact that you marched on mynd with a small army and even infiltrated my Sect says more than any deration of war."

    Aelina turned to look at Cyrus, her violet eyes glinting in the sunlight as a small, sinister smile crept up on her face.

    "Did they really believe I wouldn''t hang your mangled corpse up in the air and broadcast it for all to see? To use your death to send a message to the world and Victor that the Battle Maiden Sect will not tolerate such tant disrespect?"

    Cyrus felt a chill run down his spine as all the hair on his arms stood on end. His instincts told him to run�� run as far away as he could, but his pride and confidence in his strength prevented him from doing so.

    Thus, he could only stand there and listen to Aelina as she said something that would forever be etched into his mind.

    "Back in my day, there was a popr saying that went like this:

    Don''t poke a sleeping dragon, for when it awakens, its roar will shake the very foundations of the earth."

    Aelina''s smile widened, looking almost distorted in Cyrus'' eyes as she continued, "I gave you warning after warning to stop messing with Mira and me, but you failed to listen. Not just you, but also Victor and the rest of your Faction."

    "So, I guess it''s only right that I release a little roar of my own."

    Taking a deep breath, Aelina amplified her voice with Qi and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Attention all Battle Maiden Sect disciples! This is your Sect Master speaking! As of this moment, we are officially at war with the Crimson yer Sect!"

    "I repeat! We are at war with the Crimson yer Sect!"

 Chapter 628 Retreat; Cripple

    The announcement echoed throughout the entire Sect, Snow Maiden City, and beyond, reaching every corner of the battlefield where her disciples were fighting. The Unorthodox Faction disciples were momentarily stunned, unsure of how to react to the sudden turn of events.

    On the other hand, Cyrus felt a wave of dread wash over him as he realized the gravity of the situation. He had never expected Aelina to make such a bold move, especially since the Battle Maiden Sect had always been known for their non-intervention attitude.

    Cyrus had no doubt that if the Unorthodox Faction suddenly dered war on the 6 other Top Orthodox Sects, leaving them out, there was a 50/50 chance that Aelina would choose not to get involved.

    ''Dammit! I didn''t think she''d be so decisive! The Faction Leader is going to kill me!'' Cyrus wished he could disappear at this moment, but unfortunately, it was already toote.

    "Retreat!" Cyrus shouted to his disciples, knowing they couldn''t afford to stay here any longer. "We''re pulling back!"

    The Unorthodox Faction disciples were shaken out of their stupor upon hearing his voice and soon followed suit, trying to withdraw from the battlefield as fast as they could, despite being confused.

    Cyrus'' words werew here; if he said to fight, they fought. If he said to run, they ran. If even he didn''t want to stay here a second longer following Aelina''s deration of war, they sure as hell don''t want to be here.

    "What?! Why are we suddenly at war?? I thought we were just supposed to intimidate them a bit!"

    "Forget that! Why are we running away?? We can destroy this little Sect! They''re nothing but a bunch of women, anyway-ARGH!" The man who said that suddenly had a hole in the middle of his skull.

    Following that, a barrage of hundreds of elemental attacks rained on the area around his corpse, injuring and killing anyone that was near him.

    "Sisters! You heard the Sect Master! These scum dared to trample on the dignity of our Sect, thinking they could bully us! For the crimes of injuring our fellow sisters, even killing some of them, and invading ournd with an army full of people, these people deserve nothing less than death!!" One of the Battle Maiden Sect disciples from the Outer Court shouted, taking charge.

    "OHHHHH!" The surrounding women all raised their arms, bearing their weapons, and charged forward, adrenaline and bloodlust pumping through their veins!

    This kind of scene was happening everywhere, in bothrge groups and small. As soon as the Sect Master dered that they were at war, they didn''t hesitate to form groups and attack with the intent not just to kill but to annihte.

    They aimed to ughter everyst person who dared toe to their doorstep and piss on their frontwn!

    Aelina watched all this with a smile. She was extremely pleased with how decisively her disciples acted despite most of them having never participated in any kind ofrge-scale war.

    Or any war, for that matter.

    It was like this was a confirmation, proving that her Sect''s teachings weren''t wrong.

    However, Aelina''s eyes turned cold and calcting when she saw Cyrus retreat alongside the disciples he brought.

    He and the Elders he brought helped the disciples retreat, trying to limit as many casualties as possible, but they couldn''t protect everyone, so thousands still ended up dead.

    It took a minute, but the Unorthodox Faction inevitably left the mountain without Aelina or the Sect''s Elders ever making a move themselves.

    As for the reason why they didn''t��

    Battles of their level, especially Aelina''s, were cataclysmic. It wouldn''t take more than a minute for the mountain under her to be obliterated, along with every single disciple on it.

    In fact, the only reason it wouldst that long was because of all the backup formations that would activate should she enter such a high-level fight in or around the Sect. If it weren''t for those, it wouldn''t take 10 seconds for everyone to die.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t keep those Formations active at all times as they consumed resources like a ck hole.

    Returning to her usual neutral expression, she closed in on Cyrus with her Divine Sense and whispered in his ear, "While you''re gone, why don''t you pick out the ce you''d like to die, Cyrus? I''ll give you that much respect as someone who has reached the same Realm as me."

    Cyrus felt a chill run down his spine, causing his face to distort before he revealed a sinister smile.

    ''I''ll make you regret letting me go today, Aelina. I didn''t spend hundreds and thousands of years cultivating just to die from a single mistake!'' With thatst thought, he and the rest of the Faction vanished into the distance.

    "..."

    Silence pervaded the area as those from the Battle Maiden Sect stopped chasing after them. They didn''t cheer, nor did they smile. They just stared into the distance, anger simmering in their chests.

    War was upon them; they could celebrate when they won.

    Now was the time for action!

    However�� they didn''t know what they should do now that their enemies were gone!

    Suddenly, Aelina''s voice echoed through the Sect again, this time not traveling outside the mountain.

    "In two hours, I want to see the top 20 Disciples in the Outer Court, the Top 10 in the Inner Court, all Core and Direct Disciples, along with every Elder at the top of the mountain! We will discuss the Sect''s future and our next course of action there! For now, heal up, organize yourselves, and assist your fellow disciples!" With that said, Aelina disappeared.

    "YES, SECT MASTER!" They shouted and immediately got to work, helping their fellow Sisters, attending to the wounded, taking care of the dead, and even plundering the loot from their enemy''s corpses.

    They were like a bunch of gears in a giant, well-oiled machine, everyone doing their part. The Elders saw this and smiled before they, too, began helping out.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira was on her way back to the Sect, on Rhydian''s back, with a sour expression. Like a monkey, Hanatched onto her tails from behind while she held Dominique gently in her arms.

    Dangling on a rope underneath Rhydian was the unconscious assassin, Niko. While he wasn''t exactly the source of her irritation, he certainly wasn''t helping.

    After promising that she''d let him live, he would be her ve and provide her with all the information she needed to know.

    The only problem was�� She didn''t know how to enve people. Thus, she sealed his cultivation, knocked him out, tied him up, and dangled him below Rhydian, where she would bring him back to the Sect to learn how to enve people.

    However, as a teaser, Niko left her with a few pieces of information that deeply unsettled her before she knocked him out.

    "The ones involved in this little kidnapping, besides the Nightshade Assassins, where I''m from, are the Toxic de Sect, Crimson yer Sect, and Shadow Necromancer Sect. I was n A; I would take your little friend back to the Faction and leave her to one of the higher-ups to deal with. However, they were n B. They were there to act in case something went wrong, and I wasn''t able to bring her back, just like the current situation!"

    "You might be curious as to why she''s not waking up. Well�� let''s just say my frien�CAHEM, enemies at the Toxic de Sect and Shadow Necromancer Sect, worked with the Crimson yer Sect to concoct a little n that would leave your young friend as nothing more than a mentally retarded cripple."

    "As for the rest of the information, you clearly won''t believe me, so I''ll just wait until you do. It''s more fun that way!" He chuckled creepily before she knocked him out cold.

    Mira couldn''t shake the unsettling feeling that lingered after hearing Niko''s words. The thought of Dominique being left as a mentally retarded cripple was enough to make her stomach churn.

    She had to learn more about these sects, their ns, and why they were suddenly interfering with her life.

    She made a mental note to speak to the Sect Master as soon as she arrived back at the Sect. There was no way she was going to let anyone harm Dominique, let alone leave her in such a state.

    Soon, Rhydiannded inside the Sect near Mira''s residence. Mira dismounted with Dominique still in her arms. Hana, who had been clinging to her tails the entire journey, hopped off and scurried ahead, exhausted from today''s events.

    On the way here, they saw that the "war" was over and that the other disciples were cleaning up the Sect, helping each other out.

    Mira brought Dominique into her room andid her down on the bed. She sent Qi into her body, examined the girl with her Soul Sense, and even gave her a few nudges and flicks, but no matter what she did, Dominique didn''t wake up, nor could she find anything wrong.

    Clenching her fists, Mira gritted her teeth so hard that they creaked.

    ''Don''t worry, Dominique. I won''t allow you to lie here in this state forever. I''ll fix you. Just leave everything to your M-Mo�� Mothe�� Master. Just leave everything to your Master.'' Mira sputtered silently, still feeling a bit ufortable that someone was willing to call her "mother".

    Suddenly, a neutral voice tinged with amusement echoed from behind her back.

    "It''s good to see that you''re back, Mira. And clearly much stronger than before."

 Chapter 629 Main Players; Dominiques Condition

    Mira''s expression immediately returned to her usual impassive look, and she turned around to greet the "intruder".

    There stood a tall woman with her iconic violet eyes and a faint smile on her face.

    "Hello, Sect Master," Mira said, giving her a light nod, but her neutral, distant tone caused Aelina to frown slightly.

    ncing at the unconscious girl on the bed, Aelina formed her own conclusions but decided not toment, at least for now.

    "I''ve heard a lot about your adventures over thest few months." Aelina said, "From attacking the Crimson yer Sect to fighting with Aryan from the Yin-Yang Sect, and there are even some rumors you had a run-in with the Mercenary Association! You truly have a knack for making enemies in high ces." She said jokingly to lighten the mood.

    Mira tilted her head at thatst part as she didn''t remember fighting anyone from the Mercenary Association.

    ''Hmm? Could she be talking about those people who fought alongside Zhou Yuan?'' She spected but pushed it aside for now as Aelina asked her another question.

    "While I''m d you''re back, as this war with the Crimson yer Sect would be a great way for you to make a name for yourself, I figured you''d be gone a little longer, and I''d have to send someone to bring you back."

    Mira hesitated to answer for a moment, taking quick nces at the unconscious Dominique before she made up her mind.

    "I originally nned oning backter, but then some guy named Zehir Aporos showed up-"

    "Aporos!" Aelina interrupted, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. Her body shed and mmed into Mira''s as she held her by the shoulders.

    "Are you sure you heard him right? That hisst name was Aporos?" She asked, her usual cool and sly violet eyes no longer as calm as they were just a few moments ago.

    Mira nodded, "There''s no way I would mistake it. That man''s bloodline was too strong for me to forget him."

    Aelina sighed, letting go of Mira''s shoulders, before saying, "You really do have a thing for making enemies with high statuses."

    "Anyways, I''ll get to thatter. Continue with what you were saying."

    Mira nodded and began giving Aelina a brief overview of her journey, what she did, and what she experienced, leaving out most of the juicy details.

    However, when she exined her fight with Zehir and how it happened earlier today, along with Dominique, her unofficial adoptive daughter and disciple, getting kidnapped by several Sects from the Unorthodox Faction and then possibly drugged, even she couldn''t help but frown.

    ''So, it wasn''t only Cyrus that decided to cause trouble.'' Aelina''s eyes went cold for a moment before she shook her head, ''No, it seems Cyrus and his Crimson yer Sect were the only ones toe, apart from that Nightshade Assassin. The rest were just targeting that little girl, Dominique.''

    "It seems the one behind all this is a woman named Sue Ming, who, to put it lightly, is here for nothing else than to be a thorn in my side," Mira said, finishing her story.

    Aelina raised an eyebrow at the mention of Sue Ming. "Sue Ming... I haven''t heard of this woman before. Can you tell me a bit about her?"

    Mira put on an awkward expression, as she knew very little, if anything, about Sue Ming, "...I don''t know much about her specifically, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that she came from the Immortal Realm, and her backing isn''t small. As for her goals�� well, I doubt she has any other than wanting to see my life fall to ruins."

    "..."

    Aelina stood there, rooted to the ground, faltering slightly as if she had just gotten hit in the chest. She looked at Mira as if she were some sort of wild animal who only knew how to cause trouble.

    While she could sense that there was definitely a story behind Mira''s words, she didn''t ask about it, despite being curious.

    Mira tried to hide it, but how could Aelina miss the rage and anger behind those blood-red eyes?

    Still, knowing that Sue Ming was from the Immortal Realm was more than enough information to piece bits of information together that didn''t make sense before.

    "...I see." Aelina regained her bearings and muttered with a wry smile, "You''ve really dragged quite a few enemies down to my little Sect, huh? I might need to confine you within the Sect out of concern that you might inadvertently offend a literal god next time you leave."

    "..."

    An awkward silence filled the room after she said that.

    Aelina looked at Mira, hoping for some sort of response, but all she saw was the woman avoiding eye contact with her.

    "You�� D-Don''t tell me��"

    "AHEM!" Mira cleared her throat, "Anyways, can you look at Dominique for me? I want to know whether that guy was telling the truth or not."

    Hearing Mira''s question, and the concernced in her voice, Aelina put aside her suspicions and nodded. Considering it happened right under her nose in her own Sect, it was the least she could do.

    ''Now that I think about it, I didn''t even sense that that guy had left with this little girl. Are the Nightshade Assassins that good?'' Aelina thought as the situation seemed to be more and moreplicated every time Mira opened her mouth.

    ''Damn! After this war, I''m going to make sure Mira stays in the Sect until all the preparations for the second phase of the Prime Disciple Selection is ready.''

    Walking up to Dominique, ced her hand on her chest, and sent her Qi and Divine Sense inside her body. In an instant, countless details about Dominique''s body flowed through her mind, and it didn''t take long before her expression turned grim, a look of disgust and pity glinting in her eyes.

    "This�� I''m not really sure what they did to her or what kind of poison they fed her, but right now, she''s no different than a breathing corpse. From what I can tell, her body is slowly decaying. A toxic sludge-like poison entered her bloodstream and has even dug so deep that it''s infiltrated her bone marrow. Aside from that, a parasitic�� thing hastched onto her brain, taking full control of her body, keeping her in this unconscious state."

    Mira''s expression didn''t change, but the clenching of her fists and slightly widened eyes told Aelina that she wasn''t happy.

    "Is there�� anything you can do to help her?" Mira asked, feeling ashamed that she even needed to ask, but this wasn''t about her.

    It was about Dominique.

    Aelina pondered for a moment before shaking her head, "Messing with unknown poisons is dangerous, especially ones that affect the person on such a deep level. I could try to get rid of it, but not only would I have to drain all the blood from her body, including her bone marrow, to fix this issue, but I''d also have to pick around in her brain. If I did all that, she might end up worse than she already is!"

    Watching Mira scowl, Aelina further exined, "You have to realize that even an iota of my strength can vaporize this little girl. Despite how precise my Qi maniption is, it''s impossible for me to reduce my strength enough to where I won''t hurt her."

    "I can have some of the elders study her body to look for a solution, but right now, there''s not much I can do."

    Mira''s frown deepened as she stared at Aelina. Although Mira had expected something like this, she was still disappointed to know that even the strongest person she knew couldn''t help her.

    Taking a deep breath, a murderous glint showed in Mira''s eyes as she shook her head, "I''ll tell you or one of the elders if I ever need assistance, but for now, I''ll deal with this on my own. I already have a lead, and I''m sure I''ll be able to find more during this uing war."

    Aelina nodded, then took out a token and tossed it to Mira, "The envement technique you''re looking for is in the Inner Court''s library."

    Now that she had checked up with Mira and learned a bit more about the mastermind behind all this, and all the parties involved, Aelina was ready to leave as she had to prepare for the meeting in two hours.

    However, before she did, she left Mira with these final words, "I don''t know if you heard, but I''m gathering all the top disciples at the summit of the mountain in two hours. If possible, I''d like you to be there as we will be discussing the war, as well as the future of the Sect."

    With that said, Aelina vanished just as quickly as she came.

    Mira didn''t say anything. She just nced at the token, then back up at Dominique, before disappearing from the room as well.

 Chapter 630 Abyssal Enslavement Technique; Gathering Of Disciples

    Mira made her way to the Inner Court''s library, clutching the token Aelina had given her. She had received plenty of looks from the other disciples, but they could all see the token in her hand and chose not toment.

    By now, Mira''s infamy was growing due to all her exploits, so although many still didn''t know who exactly Mira was, they immediately recognized the 9 tails and her drop-dead gorgeous face.

    Upon entering the library, Mira was greeted by a disciple at the front desk.

    The woman had a neutral smile on her face as Mira entered. A light of recognition shed through her eyes, as she had heard of Mira before, but she didn''t lose her professionalism.

    "Are you here to pick out a technique?" She asked.

    Mira nodded and showed her token to the woman, who scanned it with an array before nodding.

    "Alright, I''ve confirmed that your token is authentic. Just insert your Qi into the token, and it''ll grant you ess to the library."

    Mira nodded once again, doing as she said. Suddenly, the token shone, and she was teleported deeper into the building where all the books, manuals, and techniques were.

    Mira was greeted by a sea of bookshelves that seemed to stretch on for miles. The library was massive and filled with ancient knowledge, but an air of solemnity permeated the entire space.

    As she walked through the aisles, though she was indifferent to most things, even she couldn''t help but feel a sense of reverence for the countless books surrounding her. Each one represented years of umted wisdom, and she was eager to uncover the secrets hidden within them.

    ''I''ll ask Aelina if I can browse through the libraryter. For now, I''ll just find the technique I''m looking for and leave.'' Mira thought and continued looking for anything regarding the envement of another person.

    A few minutester, as Mira carefully scanned the shelves, her eyes eventuallynded on a weathered scroll under a section called [Dangerous and Forbidden Techniques. Use at your own risk.]. The title read, "The Abyssal Envement Technique."

    Her eyes shook for a moment, and she pulled out the scroll. Something about the word "Abyssal" drew her in, forming a faint connection between them.

    Reading it, Mira learned that, at its core, the technique was about using the target''s Qi, meridians, and Core to control their mind. It was extremelyplex, and one wrong move could lead to the death of not only the target but the user as well.

    The technique required the practitioner to insert their Qi into the target''s meridians, infiltrating and weaving through their energy channels like a venomous snake. Once inside, the practitioner would carefully manipte the target''s Qi, suppressing their consciousness and bending their will to the user''s desires.

    Moreover, the technique was highly addictive, and overuse could lead to the user bing consumed by the dark power it bestowed, ultimately corrupting their own mind and soul.

    As Mira studied the technique, she couldn''t help but nod, feeling satisfied with her pick.

    She browsed through a few more envement techniques, but none were as full-proof as the [The Abyssal Envement Technique].

    Taking it back to the receptionist, she had Mira sign something saying that she had borrowed the technique.

    The receptionist was surprised that Mira chose a Forbidden technique but didn''t say anything. There were plenty of warning signs, not just in the library but on the technique as well. If Mira still didn''t know what she was getting herself into, she deserved whatever bacsh she received.

    Afterward, she left the Inner Court and returned to her residence, where she sat beside Dominique and began studying the technique.

    ***

    Meanwhile, two hourster, the summit of the mountain was abuzz with activity as the top disciples gathered for Aelina''s meeting. They whispered amongst themselves, excited about the thought of having a meeting with the Sect Master and many of the other Elders.

    There were 20 disciples with white robes, 10 with dark blue robes, countless (somewhere in the thousands, maybe more) with ck robes, and 40 with red robes.

    Those with white robes were from the Outer Court, the ones with blue were from the Inner Court, the women with ck robes on were all the Core Disciples, and the 40 red-robed people were all the Direct Disciples.

    The numbers seemed quite skewed, as the amount of Soul Transformation Realm disciples here was immense. However, most of them had already reached their full potential and would never step into the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    One must remember that those in the Soul Transformation Realm were the backbone of a Sect. The minimum goal of any of the Top Sects on the Western Continent is to, at the bare minimum, nurture a disciple to the Soul Transformation Realm.

    The Mortal Shedding Realm is a massive hurdle for the vast majority of people, and expecting every disciple to be one is nothing more than wishful thinking.

    The Battle Maiden Sect only has around 50 Mortal Shedding Realm Elders, and each of them is busy with something.

    Whether they are helping guide the younger generation, cultivating, creating techniques, creating weapons/armor, studying auxiliary upations, or on a mission, they are all busy with something.

    Even in war, they usually don''t fight unless necessary, as the amount of noise and destruction they can cause is not to be taken lightly.

    Thus, the Core Disciples take on most of the missions or assignments that generally deepen a Sect''s foundation, making it so they can survive countless more generations.

    Not to mention, those in the Soul Transformation Realm live a very long time, and with how long the Battle Maiden Sect has existed, it''s not strange there are so many of them.

    Quietly, Mira used the Hidden World Technique to integrate herself into the crowd. She didn''t want to draw too much attention to herself, as surprisingly, she was exhausted after studying the [Abyssal Envement Technique].

    It was as if just thinking about using the technique drained her.

    ''No wonder it''s considered a forbidden technique.'' Mira thought. Still, she didn''t regret her decision. She looked around and saw a few familiar faces, mainly Eden, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna.

    She also noticed Asami and Cine standing beside each other, with their white robes on.

    Mira nodded, satisfied, when she noticed they had reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm. She could even feel an incredibly sharp and powerful auraing from Cine, which excited Mira for the future when Cine learned Saber Manifestation and broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

    ''I''ll say hi to herter.''

    A few momentster, when Aelina finally arrived, all the elders apanied her, each wearing serious expressions. The air was heavy with anticipation as Aelina addressed the assembled disciples.

    "Today, we gather to discuss the uing war with the Crimson yer Sect," she began, her voice echoing throughout the summit. "We are at a critical juncture in our history, and the oue of this war will have a profound impact on our Sect''s future as we are not just against a single Sect, but an entire Faction!"

    "You might think that the Unorthodox Faction is just a group of savage brutes who terrorize themon people and don''t care about anyone other than themselves, and you''d be right. However, they are a legitimate Faction and won''t just stand by and watch as we uproot one of their main Sects! Thus, in the case that we face off against the entire faction, we must prepare for the worst! That''s why I called you all here today!"

    Seeing all sorts of emotions sh through her disciples'' eyes, Aelina spoke again before they could form any misunderstandings.

    "However, I must rify that we are not helpless in this situation. I have formed an alliance with a few of the other Orthodox Sects, and they won''t stand by and watch should the rest of the Unorthodox Faction intervene in our war!"

    Aelina''s words settled their conflicting emotion, leaving only fear and excitement for the uing war.

    "Now, you might be wondering why I called you all here," Aelina said, eliciting a nod from everyone, "Well, that''s because you all will be the leaders of this war! The Elders and I will be there to prevent any of those old folks from killing you all, but the war itself will be left on your shoulders!"

    "..."

    The women nced at one another, anxiety clear in their eyes. Most of them weren''t new to leadership and, thus, knew how tough it could be. However, whilemanding small teams on group missions was fine, war was apletely different beast��

    "However, I''m not just dropping this role onto you without giving you anything in return! For those of you who perform well and kill as many Crimson yer Sect disciples with as few casualties as possible, I''ll put you in the running for the Sect''s Prime Disciple position!"

    "...."

    After hearing thatst bit of information, the crowd stood there in stunned silence. It took them a moment to process everything before going into an uproar!

    "OOOOOH!! Did you hear that?! I could be the Sect''s Prime Disciple!"

    "Those nasty Crimson yer insects must die! Now! And by my hands!"

    "Hahaha! Finally! With all the Sect''s resources at my fingertips, I''ll be able to break through to the Soul Transformation Realm!"

    "Fuck the Soul Transformation Realm! I might be able to reach the Mortal Shedding Realm!"

    Aelina smiled at their reaction, but before they could get too crazy, she waved her hand, silencing them.

    "I know it''s exciting, but please wait until the end to celebrate. Now, let''s talk about your individual roles in this war!"

    As the meeting continued, Aelina detailed the uing training ns, discussed their various strategies against the Crimson yer Sect and their roles and responsibilities. The disciples listened attentively, their spirits ignited by their Sect Master''s words.

    As the meeting drew to a close, Aelina looked out at her disciples, her gaze filled with pride.

    "That''s all for now. Everyone other than the Direct Disciples and Mira may leave and begin preparing for your uing inspections with the Elders, which will happen tomorrow. Thank you all for participating in this meeting, and I look forward to your results!"

 Chapter 631 Roles; Interrogation; Celestial Nectar

    With the meeting over, the disciples dispersed, their minds filled with anticipation and determination to prove themselves in the uing war. Mira, who had been silently watching the proceedings, found herself alone, away from the other Direct Disciples.

    However, that didn''tst for long as Nova, Eden, and the others immediately looked over with surprise written all over their faces. Even the usual emotionless Rayna couldn''t help but raise her eyebrows and gawk at Mira.

    ''I didn''t even sense her!'' All the Direct Disciples thought.

    Nova wanted to go over to her and say hi, but Aelina''s voice stopped her from doing so.

    "Good. Now that we''re alone, I can give you more information about your roles in this war," Aelina said, her voice echoing throughout the area.

    "As Direct Disciples, you must represent the peak in your respective fields. Whether it be invincible among those in the same stage as you or your knowledge in one of the sub-professions, you should be superior to almost everyone in the Sect, given you have one of the Elders as your Master. In the uing war, you will simultaneously be our main fighting force and our primary support!"

    Aelina said her stern voicemanding attention.

    "For those of you who are in the Core Formation Realm, you''ll be supporting, analyzing, leading, and maintaining the Outer Court Disciples!"

    "Those of you who are in the Nascent Soul Realm, the same goes for you, except you''ll join the Inner Court Disciples!"

    "However, you all who have reached the Soul Transformation Realm have a different job. While you still have to lead, analyze, and support the Core Disciples, you will mainly focus on strategizing."

    "The Battle Maiden Sect hasn''t made arge-scale public appearance like this in a long time, and that''s for a good reason. I want you all to try and develop strategies to minimize the number of Elders and Soul Transformation Realm disciples participating in this war. The world doesn''t know how many people in those Realms we have, and I''d like to keep it that way."

    Stopping her speech to nce at the disciples and take in their expression, she smiled faintly.

    "Of course, there are exceptions. Mira, Nova, Eden, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna will be our main attack force team and will always be the vanguard, gathering all the attention on themselves. Since they are the most notorious and have all worked together in the past, I think this role is perfect for them. Some of you might be upset with this arrangement, but just know that all of your roles are equally as important as the next person. Do your jobs well, and you will be rewarded ordingly. Even if you aren''t part of the attack force and sit in the backline, creating arrays for your fellow disciples, you can still earn rewards equal to those on the front lines."

    "Your Masters will fill you in on the specifics. I''ll call you when we''re ready! Dismissed!"

    Aelina didn''t even give them a chance to say anything, immediately waving her hand and sending them back to their residences after she was done talking.

    Of course, this wasn''t without reason. She didn''t have the time to stand there and answer everyint they had. As the Sect Master, especially one who just dered war, she had better things to do with her time. Plus, around here, her word wasw. The disciples didn''t have to like it; they just had to follow orders.

    If she was truly in the wrong or if someone had a better opinion, one of the Elders would tell her about it.

    Now, the only ones left on the summit were Mira, Nova, Eden, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna.

    Aelina didn''t waste any time saying what she needed from them.

    "You will start your first mission tomorrow."

    ***

    In a secret dungeon, Mira stood in her residence next to an unconscious Niko, the assassin she had captured and brought back.

    Mira focused her attention on Niko, who was bound tightly to a chair in her residence. Her expression was cold and calcting as she prepared to use the Abyssal Envement Technique on him.

    Dominiquey unconscious upstairs, with poison slowly corrupting her body. Time was running out, and Mira needed answers. Now.

    She was supposed to go on a mission tomorrow but refused to leave the Sect without knowing if there was a way to cure Dominique!

    Taking a deep breath, Mira activated the Abyssal Envement Technique. She gently ced her hand on Niko''s forehead, injecting her Qi into his meridians.

    Like a venomous snake, her Qi slithered through his energy channels, searching for the perfect spot to strike.

    Niko''s body trembled as he felt Mira''s Qi invading his meridians. He unconsciously tried to resist, but Mira and the technique were too powerful.

    As Mira continued to use the Abyssal Envement Technique on Niko, she felt an unsettling connection forming between them, like she could control his life and death with just a thought.

    However, that feeling of having absolute control over another person''s life made her feel�� euphoric.

    It was as if��

    As if��

    ''I''m a god.'' Mira thought and couldn''t help but shudder. The term "god" always left a bitter taste in her mouth, but for the first time, she felt like she truly caught a glimpse of what it meant to be a god.

    ''This�� I don''t know how I''m supposed to feel about this��''

    While she was a heartless, cold-blooded murderer who could kill almost anyone without remorse, she''d never experienced this feeling of absolute control. She could feel his thoughts, his intentions, and his actions.

    She could control his body to do whatever she wanted him to do, say whatever she wanted him to say.

    Hell, she could even make the guymit suicide, and he would have no way to resist!

    Biting her tongue, Mira snapped out of her delusions, cold sweat dripping down her forehead as she almost got lost in that sensation.

    ''No wonder it''s a forbidden technique. A normal person wouldn''t be able to handle that.'' She thought, but even now, she was forcing herself not to get lost in power.

    It was as if the technique was telling her to delve deeper, control more people, and actually be a god!

    Trying to push those thoughts aside, Mira focused on Niko, whose eyes were now open but zed over and lifeless.

    ''Let''s see if this technique actually works.'' Mira thought.

    "Tell me everything you know about the poison they used on my disciple, Dominique," Miramanded, her voice icy and devoid of emotion.

    Niko''s mind was no longer his own, and he began to speak in a monotone voice, "It''s a new poison created by the Toxic de Sect meant specifically for this mission. Though, the Shadow Necromancer Sect has been coborating with the Toxic de Sect to strengthen the poison, making it even more lethal. It''s called the Corpse Awakening Poison and is highly potent and dangerous to anyone under the Divine Sea Realm."

    Mira was taken aback by that information, "Even those in the Mortal Shedding Realm are susceptible to this poison?"

    "It''s not confirmed, but they do suspect that to be the case," Niko answered.

    Mira clenched her fist and asked the question that really mattered, "Is there a cure for it?"

    "...There is no known cure, as it''s a brand new poison," Niko answered hesitantly, instinctually knowing that it would piss Mira off.

    Mira clenched her fists harder, but she didn''t lose hope yet.

    "No poison was incurable; it''s just a matter of having the right ingredients," Mira said.

    "So, tell me. Despite not knowing an actual cure, tell me any treasures, herbs, pills, or anything that might help either slow down the corruption or get rid of it altogether."

    "..." Niko went silent for a moment before speaking.

    "...There is a treasure called the Celestial Nectar that is said to be able to cure all ailments, no matter how bad they are."

    Mira''s eyes brightened upon hearing this, but she didn''t get her hopes up just yet.

    "And, where is this Celestial Nectar?"

    "Rumor has it that it''s in the Forbidden Forest, a ce deep in the mountains surrounded by toxic creatures, poison fog, and much more. The Forbidden Forest is also spected to be the real headquarters of the Toxic de Sect, but you''d have to ask the higher-ups of the Faction more about that."

    Mira listened attentively to the information, taking in every detail.

    "The Forbidden Forest�� Toxic de Sect�� I''ll be seeing you soon." She muttered with her eyes closed.

    Mira took a deep breath, her eyes filled with determination. She knew that the Celestial Nectar was her only hope of saving Dominique right now.

    With the information extracted from Niko, she had a lead, a direction to follow. But she also understood the dangers and the enemies she would face along the way.

    Despite the urgency, Mira could not simply charge into the Forbidden Forest. As a member of the Battle Maiden Sect, she needed to fulfill her duties in the uing war.

    However, she would find a way to reach the Forbidden Forest and retrieve the Celestial Nectar, even if it meant defying orders and risking everything.

 Chapter 632 Preparing For The Attack

    The next day, Mira, Nova, Eden, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna arrived at a branch of the Battle Maiden Sect located just outside the Ancient Beast Mountain Range to the south. This branch was of great importance to the main Sect as it was the primary hub where many disciples transferred from and where a significant number of resources were gathered.

    They controlled many Spirit Stone Mines, ranging from Low-Stage mines all the way to a small Late-Stage mine. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

    Although the Sect wasn''t located directly inside the mountains, it was in a spot that was ideal for growing and nurturing all kinds of nts and herbs.

    Upon arrival, they were greeted by the Branch Sect Master, Leona, and several Elders.

    Leona was a striking woman in her early forties, with long, ck hair that flowed down her back like a shimmering waterfall. Her deep blue eyes were filled with wisdom and determination, revealing years of experience and countless battles fought.

    She stared at Nova and the others but lingered on Mira as the feeling she got from her could only be described with a single word:

    Dangerous.

    ''Despite being in the Mortal Shedding Realm, even I feel apprehensive about attacking her.'' Leona thought. While she knew she wouldn''t lose if the two fought, she felt it wouldn''t be as simple as flicking her finger.

    "So, you''re the disciples that Leader Aelina sent in case of an attack, right?" Leona asked, though she already knew the answer.

    "That''s right," Nova stepped up and nodded, "Sect Master Aelina sent us here as she spected that this would be the first ce the Crimson yer Sect attacked."

    "I see. So, we really are at war..." Leona nodded, her eyes narrowing before she shook her head and gestured for them to follow her, "You''ll have to fill me in on the details. Leader Aelina didn''t provide much information other than there might be an attack and that she''s sending you all to help."

    Nova nodded, and they followed Leona into arge building, where they all sat down to have a meeting.

    Inside the spacious conference room, Mira, Nova, Eden, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna sat down with Leona and the Elders of the branch Sect. The atmosphere was tense as the implications of the Crimson yer Sect''s potential attack weighed heavily on their minds.

    Nova began exining the recent events that led to the war and how Cyrus came directly to the Sect with an army, attacking and killing their own.

    "There is also a high possibility that someone is orchestrating these events from behind the scenes, and they dispatched Cyrus tounch an attack as a means of testing the waters," Nova ryed what Aelina had told them yesterday.

    Mira knew that while what Nova said was partially true, as there was definitely someone behind the scenes, they didn''t care about the Battle Maiden Sect.

    However, Leona and the others didn''t know that, so they took her words as truth.

    "So, you''re saying that somebody high up in the Unorthodox Faction wants to see the downfall of the Sect?" Leona asked with narrowed eyes.

    Nova shrugged her shoulders, "It''s just spection, but that''s the most logical guess. Why else do you think we''re here?"

    Leona understood the underlying meaning of what Nova said.

    ''If someone truly wants to take us down, it would be foolish to storm the gates of the main Sect. Cyrus must''ve been sent there to get a feel for the Sect''s overall strength. If I were them, I would retreat, regroup, and attack the Sect''s weak pointsa�"in other words, us branch Sects, and slowly whittle us down until we have nothing else and there''s nowhere to go. Given that my branch Sect nurtures and produces the highest quality products and disciples among all the other branches, it''s highly likely they''ll attack me first.''

    Once she finished soaking in all this information, Leona took a deep breath and looked around the room, her eyes full of determination. "It seems we are indeed at war," she said, her voice strong and unwavering. "We must prepare ourselves and defend our Sect with everything we have. The resources we gather and the disciples we raise here are crucial to the Battle Maiden Sect, and we cannot afford to lose them."

    "Elders! Gather all the disciples and tell them to prepare for war! The enemy could be at our front door any moment, now-"

    "Wait a moment, Elder Leona!" Eden interrupted her passionate speech.

    "..."

    The whole ce turned quiet as they all looked at the elven woman curiously.

    "The Sect Master gave us strict instructions to deal with this situation ourselves. You and the other Elders can handle anyone in the Mortal Shedding Realm, but we must deal with anyone below that."

    Leona and the others were taken aback by that and couldn''t help but look at the group of six young women as if they had each grown second heads.

    "What do you mean?!" Leona was the first to snap out of her reverie, "How can you fight against an army of people by yourselves?!"

    "That''s right! Isn''t Leader Aelina too cruel to do this to you young women??"

    "I know you all are strong, but this is too much! What is Leader Aelina thinking?!"

    "I understand not wanting our involvement, but at least let the other disciples help you!"

    The other Elders agreed with Leona and voiced their concerns, causing the tension in the room to rise.

    However, Eden, Nova, and the others looked unfazed as they waited for everyone to calm down. It took a few moments, but everyone eventually settled down as they understood that Aelina wouldn''t do something like this for no reason.

    In a calm voice, Eden responded, "We are at war, Elders, and war cannot be won by 1, 2, 3... or even six people. All of us must participate, and everyone has a role they must y. It just so happens that as the elites of the Sect, this is our role. I understand that you all are concerned, but rest assured, we are not weak, and we certainly won''t lose to those lowlives who treat human lives as nothing more than livestock."

    "If you have anyints, please take them up with Sect Master Aelina. I''m sure she will be most unhappy to listen to you."

    Leona and the Elders all flinched and felt a shiver run down their spines, listening to the calmness in Eden''s voice. Not just that, but the thought of running to Aelina andining...

    They didn''t even want to think of doing something like that. Not at a time like this, anyway.

    "You just need to defend the Sect, the resources, and the disciples. We''ll take care of the rest," Nova said.

    Under Nova''s insistence, Leona had no choice but to agree with her. However, just because she''s leaving the potential army to them doesn''t mean that she and the Elders were useless.

    They immediately started discussing various defensive strategies and methods to counter the enemy''s attack while also considering the possibility of unexpected reinforcements from the Shadow Necromancer Sect, Toxic de Sect, or any other Unorthodox Faction Sect.

    In the midst of the discussion on the topic of the Toxic de Sect, Mira took the opportunity to ask about the Forbidden Forest. "Leona, I''ve heard that the Forbidden Forest is located to the east of here. Is that true?"

    Leona frowned at Mira when she referred to her so casually, but the hint of malice that escaped Mira''s eyes when she said "Forbidden Forest" made her swallow her discontent.

    Leona raised her eyebrows in surprise, not expecting such a question at this moment.

    However, she answered Mira''s query, "Yes, it''s true. The Forbidden Forest is located several thousand kilometers to the east. It''s a treacherous ce where supposedly, even experts in the Divine Sea Realm have perished within its depths. It''s also said that the Toxic de Sect''s headquarters is there, but that hasn''t been confirmed."

    "...If I may ask, what business do you have there, Miss?"

    ''Miss?'' The Elders, Nova, and the others all raised an eyebrow at Leona''s way of referring to Mira but said nothing, as they were also intimidated by Mira''s presence and aura.

    "It''s personal."

    That''s all Mira said before she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, leaving the rest of the discussion to the others.

    Everyone''s lips twitched at her disinterested and indifferent attitude but decided not to dwell on it.

    The meeting continued, with the group finalizing their defensive strategies and assigning roles to each member. As they prepared for the uing battle, the tension in the air grew thicker, with the sense of impending danger looming over them.

    Hourster, as they neared the end of their discussion, they felt the ground beneath them shake, and the atmosphere seemed to grow heavy with malicious intent. The first signs of the Crimson yer Sect''s arrival could be felt in the air as if a storm was brewing on the horizon.

    "They''re here." Mira opened her eyes and said. Her crimson eyes glowed as she stared into the distance.

 Chapter 633 Bloodshed On The Horizon

    The ground continued to tremble as the sound of countless footsteps approached. The heavy, oppressive atmosphere was an unmistakable sign of the impending conflict.

    Mira, Nova, Eden, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna exchanged solemn nces, knowing that the time hade to prove their worth as the elites of the Battle Maiden Sect. Although hesitant to leave everything to the six women, Leona, and the other Elders could only grit their teeth and follow through with their assigned roles in defending the branch Sect.

    "I can sense someone in the same Realm as me," Leona said, her frown warping as only now did she begin feeling anxious. Everyone''s lives were on her shoulders; if she couldn''t defeat the enemy Mortal Shedding Realm expert, everyone here would die, and the Battle Maiden Sect would lose the first battle of this war.

    ''It''s been a long time since I felt this way. I hope I haven''t gotten rusty over the years.'' Leona thought.

    She turned to the others and said, "I''ll deal with him. In the meantime, you should begin making preparations should I lose. We don''t want thousands of years of effort to go to waste all in a single day."

    "...Yes, Sect Master!" The Elders said, albeit hesitantly. While they wanted to help, they were in no position to do so as they were only in the Soul Transformation Realm. Dashing out of the room, they all took their positions and prepared for battle.

    Leona gave Mira and the others a deep look but could only smile wryly when she saw they were already marching out of the building, their steps heavy and full of confidence.

    ''I guess I can only put my trust in them for now. The Elders will step in should things get out of hand, but I believe Leader Aelina wouldn''t send these girls alone without a good reason.'' Giving them onest nce, Leona shed out of the building and made her way toward the enemy Mortal Shedding Realm expert.

    As Mira walked out, she made her way over to where Rhydian was. She had left Elenei back at the Sect to watch over Dominique and regain her strength, so she wouldn''t have to worry about her during this battle.

    "Fly Eden around and give her a full view of the battlefield. If you see any stragglers, give her a bark, and don''t hesitate to take them out yourself." She said, giving the wolf a few pats on the head.

    Rhydian nodded and walked over to Eden, with her head held high and reluctance written all over her face. She didn''t want to be Eden''s mount during this battle, but given their objective, it was much more convenient for everyone if she were.

    "Do you have the Recording Crystal ready, Eden?" Nova asked as she put on her armor and took out her spear.

    Eden nodded, showing a palm-size translucent crystal in her hand.

    "Yup! I''ll start recording everything when I''m up in the sky."

    "Good!" Nova nodded, then she directed her gaze toward Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna. All had suited up into their armor and were wielding their weapons.

    Seraphina, the stalwart tank, donned superior armor and brandished a formidable sword and shieldbo.

    Everly sported lightweight armor, clutching a saber as a backup for her Fire and Lightning affinities.

    Reyna and Eden wore only minimalistic armor to protect their vitals, as thetter was the archer who would spend all her time in the air, while the former would use her double daggers and assassination skills to weave through the enemies unseen.

    Then, there was Mira, who stood there, scythe in hand, giving off a menacing and bloodthirsty aura that matched the iing army''s. She wore no armor, just the white Battle Maiden Sect disciple robe devoid of any stain.

    "Is everyone ready?" Nova said, to which they all nodded.

    "Then, let''s show the world what it means to mess with the Battle Maiden Sect!"

    The six of them nced at each other before giving a light nod and disappearing, each going to their respective positions.

    Rhydian soared skyward, carrying Eden on her back. Mira, Nova, and Seraphina boldly advanced to the battlefield''s forefront. Hovering behind the trio, Everly poised to unleash havoc below, while Rayna vanished, eluding even her allies'' eyes.

    Mira, standing at the forefront, focused her senses and could feel the enemy''s numbers. There were thousands upon thousands of them, with tens in the Soul Transformation Realm. While it was a formidable force, Mira and herpanions were confident in their abilities topletely obliterate them from existence.

    The Crimson yer Sect''s army finally appeared on the horizon, a dark, imposing mass that seemed to consume thendscape as they approached. Their crimson robes fluttered in the wind, contrasting starkly with the greenery of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    As the enemy drew closer, Mira and herpanions could see the faces of the Crimson yer Sect''s warriors. They were a mixture of men and women, all with a cold, ruthless glint in their eyes.

    Among them, a figure on horseback stood out from the rest, their imposing aura giving away their status as themander of the invading force.

    "Battle Maiden Sect, surrender your resources, andy down your arms! If you do so, we may give you a painless death! Should you refuse, your bodies, Qi, and souls are ours to do with as we please!" Themander shouted, their voice carrying across the battlefield, echoing through the air.

    Mira and herpanions exchanged nces and smirked, finding this situation almostughable! In themander''s mind, it seemed as if he never once thought that he would lose. To him, the Battle Maiden Sect''s only choices were to surrender and die quickly or fight and die painfully.

    "EDEN! Let them know what you think of his proposition!" Nova yelled, and not a split secondter, an intense amount of Qi gathered high in the sky above everyone.

    All the Unorthodox Faction disciples were startled by this and looked up wide-eyed, only to see a sh of light.

    A momentter, arge wooden arrow surrounded by a cyclone of wind descended from the sky onto the enemymander''s position!

    "NOOOO-!!" Themander yelled, as he could sense the power behind that attack, and raised all his defenses, using every bit of his Qi to try and save himself, but-

    *BOOOOM!!!*

    -the arrow went straight through his head, splitting his body in two before exploding on impact, creating a massive crater on the battlefield and killing any people in his general vicinity!

    The battlefield fell silent for a moment, the shock of the enemymander''s sudden demise rippling through the ranks of the Crimson yer Sect. Mira and herpanions stood tall and resolute, their unwavering determination sending a clear message to their opponents �C they would not be intimidated, nor would they ept such tant disrespect.

    The Crimson yer Sect''s warriors hesitated, their morale shaken by theirmander''s swift and brutal death. But the hesitation didn''tst long. A powerful figure stepped forward from among them, d in crimson armor and exuding an aura even more oppressive than the previousmander''s.

    "I am General Zhang, second-inmand of the Crimson yer Sect''s 5th Battalion!" The figure roared, his voice full of fury and malice. "You will pay for your insolence! Soldiers, attack!"

    "Attack!"

    "Kill those women!!"

    "How dare they kill themander when he tried to offer them mercy!!"

    With renewed vigor, the Crimson yer Sect''s army surged forward once more, their bloodlust fueled by the desire to kill and avenge their fallenmander. Although they might be extremely selfish and usually wouldn''t care about the death of such a person, this was a time of war, and he was an influential person, even in the ranks of the Crimson yer Sect.

    For him to die so easily and pitifully before the battle even started was a disgrace to not only them but the entire Sect.

    "Hahahaha! Now that''s more like it!" Seraphina raised her sword and shield, hitting them together as she taunted the enemy.

    The battle began with Mira, Nova, and Seraphina taking the lead, forming a seemingly imprable line that held the frontlines. As the Crimson yer Sect''s warriors charged forward, their weapons raised, and their battle cries echoing across the battlefield, Mira and herpanions showed no fear.

    Mira''s scythe danced like a whirlwind, its razor-sharp edge slicing through the air with deadly precision. Each swing easily cut through the enemy ranks, severing limbs and ending lives in an instant. Her movements were fluid and graceful, each step and pivot taking her to the next target without pause.

    Nova, on Mira''s right, wielded her spear with the skill of a seasoned warrior. She thrust and parried with expert precision, her weapon a blur as it pierced through the enemy''s defenses. Her footwork was agile, allowing her to deftly avoid iing attacks while maintaining her offensive pressure.

    To Mira''s left, Seraphina stood as an unyielding bulwark, her sword and shield deflecting blow after blow from the enemy''s relentless assault. Her shield seemed to be an imprable barrier, absorbing the force of each attack and protecting her allies from harm. When an opening presented itself, her sword struck out like lightning, ruthlessly cutting down enemies.

    Behind the vanguard, Everly unleashed her power as shebined her Fire and Lightning affinities. Fireballs and lightning bolts rained down upon the enemy forces, incinerating and electrocuting those unfortunate enough to be caught in their path. The explosions and sizzling sounds of her elemental attacks filled the air, creating a symphony of destruction that resonated across the battlefield.

    High above the fray, Eden and Rhydian surveyed the battlefield with keen eyes, recording the entire battle through the Recording Crystal.

    Whenever Rhydian detected a straggler or a threat, she barked a warning, allowing Eden to rain down arrows from the sky. Each arrow, imbued with her Wind and Wood affinities, struck with deadly uracy and force, skewering multiple enemies at once.

    Meanwhile, Rayna moved like a shadow, weaving through the chaos with her double daggers and assassination skills. Her movements were swift and silent, leaving only a trail of blood and fallen enemies in her wake. She struck from the shadows, her des finding the weak points in her targets'' defenses before they even realized she was there.

    As the battle raged on, the Crimson yer Sect''s forces began to dwindle.

    Despite their numbers, they were no match for thebined might and skill of Mira and herpanions. Each of the six women disyed exceptional prowess in their respective roles, the synergy between them creating a deadly force that the enemy could not ovee.

    The battlefield became a sea of blood and carnage, the once-greenndscape marred by the crimson stains of the fallen.

    However, despite killing so many enemies, it was as if there were a never-ending stream of them; the more they killed, the more that popped up.

    To make things worse, the Soul Transformation Realm enemies hadn''t made a move yet, deciding to sit back, send in the cannon fodder, and observe before they made a move.

 Chapter 634 Dominance On The Battlefield

    Mira and herpanions were well aware of the lurking Soul Transformation Realm enemies, but they showed no signs of panic or hesitation. They continued to fight relentlessly, trusting in their skills and the fact that they wouldn''t get killed by a bunch of weaklings.

    Mira''s movements with her scythe were like a dance of death, each elegant and fluid motion leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Her scythe''s edge seemed to be an extension of her body, a lethal tool guided by her intuition and experience.

    asionally, someone would get too close, and she''d kick her leg through their torso, exploding their guts out of the other side.

    However, that wasn''t what made her the most feared on the battlefield.

    Using her mastery over her Water affinity, Mira manipted the blood of her fallen enemies, creating freezing droplets of blood and water, crystallizing mid-air, only to be sent hurtling toward her opponents.

    Since Mira had her Soul Sense covering the battlefield at all times and by increasing her perception with her turquoise tail, nothing and nobody could escape her vision.

    Mira didn''t want to show all her capabilities in this fight, so she tried to limit herself to all the abilities she had used publicly. There were sure to be many more battles toe, ones much more dangerous than this, and she would rather keep as much to herself as possible.

    Mira''s eyes glinted with determination as she spun her scythe gracefully through the air, each swing apanied by a chilling gust as though the icy winds of the distant north had descended upon the battlefield.

    Using her [Scythe Manifestation], she sent forth ethereal scythes, their ghostly forms slicing through enemy ranks, murdering dozens at a time.

    As the des cut through flesh and bone, they vanished like wisps of cold mist, leaving only destruction in their wake.

    The battlefield was a cacophony of screams and shing steel, but she was the eye of the storm, a picture of calm and precision.

    With every kill, a sliver of Mira''s Qitched onto the dead bodies, absorbing their leftover Qi and vitality to fuel her own.

    She didn''t care about her defenses; whatever injuries she received were healed almost instantly.

    Mira''s feet danced lightly across the blood-soaked earth, utilizing her Chaos Body Martial Art to its fullest potential as she unleashed a technique she learned from the Sect''s library yesterday called [Frozen Torrent].

    A powerful surge of freezing water erupted from her hand, a deadly cascade that crushed all the weaker enemies into meat paste, turning the water into a murky red color and encasing all the ones in the Nascent Soul Realm in icy tombs.

    The technique left her foes helpless. They couldn''t even scream as their bodies were trapped within the cold embrace of ice, allowing Eden to strike them down with ruthless efficiency.

    The battlefield seemed to bend to Mira''s will as her Martial Intent red, her senses sharpening to a razor''s edge. It was as if she could not only sense every molecule in her body and control it, but she could also see the battlefield from a bird''s eye view.

    She could feel everybatant''s heartbeat, the ground''s tremble beneath her feet, and the faintest whisper of fear from her enemies.

    This heightened awareness allowed her to make split-second decisions, predicting her opponents'' moves and countering them with devastating precision.

    Beside Mira, herpanions fought with unyielding ferocity.

    Nova''s spear danced through the air, its tip tracing intricate patterns as it pierced through enemy after enemy. She continued to disy her prowess, using her Sunfire Sphere Spear techniques to deal with higher quantities of enemies.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    A fire beam shot toward her enemies, piercing dozens of people at a time, reducing their bodies to ash. If it was just that, the people from the Crimson yer Sect wouldn''t fear her so much, but-

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    ...

    -she kept spamming the ability as if it cost her nothing to use it.

    "Fuck! Do you have to say the name of your technique out loud?!" One of the men in front of her cursed.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    Only to have a hole through his chest a momentter.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    "Yes, I do." He heard Nova''s calm, indifferent voice reach his ears before his eyelids became heavy and everything darkened. A secondter, he fell to the ground, never to get up again.

    Nobody wanted to approach Mira or Nova because while one of them was a psychopath who repeatedly used the same ability as though it were going out of fashion, the other ughtered them in droves and used the blood of their fellow disciples as ammo to keep killing.

    Just they were enough to haveplete and utter dominance over the battlefield. However, to their misfortune, there were still four more people, not counting Rhydian, who were just as ruthless and invincible as Mira and Nova.

    While today''s might look like it was centered around Mira and Nova, Everly and Seraphina were no less dangerous, destructive, and brutal than them.

    Seraphina wielded a sword and shield as she fought as part of the vanguard alongside Mira and Nova. Her heavy armor gleamed in the midst of battle, a testament to her unwavering resolve.

    With her Metal and Water affinities, Seraphina executed her technique [Aqua Steel Dance], making her sword strikes as fluid as water and her shield as strong as the earth beneath her as she became both an unstoppable force and an immovable object.

    The air around her resonated with the sh of her sword, the ring of her shield, and the screams of her enemies as they sumbed to her heavy, relentless onught.

    Everly, possessing both Fire and Lightning affinities due to her Heavenly Thunderfire Physique, hovered above and behind Mira, Seraphina, and Nova. The air around her crackled with electricity as she prepared to strike, a fiery glow illuminating her fierce expression.

    Utilizing one of her techniques, [Inferno Thunderstrike], she unleashed a barrage of ming lightning bolts that cascaded towards the enemy, searing flesh and shattering bones, reducing them to nothing more than ash waiting to be scattered by the wind.

    Her saber remained at the ready, skillfully dispatching anyone who dared to approach her.

    Many enemies tried to aim for Everly, seeing her as an easier target given that she was further away from the vanguard. However, they couldn''t be more mistaken as her saber wasn''t there just for decoration.

    As a group of 9th Stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivators flew toward her, Everly grasped onto her saber and unleashed one of her more useful saber techniques taught to her by her master, which also utilized her two affinities.

    Brandishing her saber, she swung it in a wide, horizontal arc. Her de sliced through the air as she used her [Heavenly Arc sh] technique; the sizzling sound of lightning and the roaring ze of fire trailed behind her, leaving a path of destruction in her wake.

    On the other hand, Rayna, the stealthy assassin, moved like a shadow on the battlefield. Her dual daggers glinted menacingly, coated with a deadly poison that ensured swift and agonizing deaths for her victims.

    Darting in and out of the chaos with swift and precise movements, she became nearly invisible to her enemies.

    Each of her strikes was precise and deadly, her daggers finding their mark in the weak points of her enemies'' armor.

    Using her [Shadow Venom sh] technique, the afflicted would copse, writhing in pain as poison coursed through their veins, a testament to Rayna''s deadly expertise.

    Lastly, there was Eden! While she was by far the least impressive, she was also one of, if not the most terrifying.

    She was so high up in the sky that most could barely see her, and even if they could, Rhydian was flying so fast that they''d only catch a glimpse of her. Her job in this battle was to take out all the deserters, stragglers, and ambushers.

    So, whenever someone got too scared and wanted to retreat, it wouldn''t be a secondter before an arrow pierced their skull, killing them on the spot.

    She was like an all-seeing eye, forcing everyone who was already in this battle to see it through.

    There would be no survivors to tell today''s tale with her around.

    Surprisingly, she was one of the biggest hits to the enemy''s morale, as in the back of their minds, they knew there was no retreat. Not unless they could kill the six women before them.

    Together, Everly, Seraphina, Eden, and Raynapleted the formidable team alongside Mira and Nova. The five women, each a master of their respective affinities and fighting styles, were a terrifying and unstoppable force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

    As the battle wore on, the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the battlefield.

    The corpses of the fallen littered the ground, a grim testament to the brutal conflict that had taken ce. Mira, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, Eden, and Rayna showed no signs of fatigue, their determination and resolve seemingly unbreakable.

    As the battle ended, all that was left of the massive army of Crimson yer Sect disciples were rivers of blood and piles of flesh scattered across the ground. The once-proud army had been diminished to a mere shadow of its former glory, exemplifying the ruthlessness of Mira and herpanions.

    Standing amidst the carnage, Mira surveyed the battlefield, her eyes cold and full of killing intent.

    She and herpanions nced up in the sky to stare back at the Soul Transformation Realm disciples who had shown up alongside the massive army. While they tried to act as calm and collected as possible, Mira could smell the fear they had ingrained into their bones, causing a sadistic smile to creep up on her face.

    "If you all are done watching, why don''t youe down and join yourrades? I''m sure they''ve reserved a few spots in hell for you." Mira said, her voice echoing across the now silent battlefield.

 Chapter 635 Unease

    The Soul Transformation Realm disciples exchanged uneasy nces, the bloodbath before them shaking their confidence. They had severely underestimated Mira and herpanions, and now they were faced with the decision of whether to fight or flee.

    As the tension in the air grew thick, General Zhang, one of the Soul Transformation Realm cultivators, mustered the courage to step forward, a cold sneer on his face. "I admit that you''re much stronger than we thought, but don''t think you can defeat as easily as you did to those ants."

    Although his pace was still pale, as he had truly underestimated the power of Mira and herpanions, he exuded a confidence that a man under such conditions shouldn''t have.

    Mira, Nova, and the others all narrowed their eyes, thinking, ''What sort of trick do they have up their sleeves?''

    As Mira''s senses sharpened, she felt the ground beneath her rumble. Her instincts screamed at her that something was amiss, but she couldn''t pinpoint exactly what it was. The sense of unease was subtle, like a whisper on the edge of her perception.

    Unbeknownst to them, while Mira and herpanions were fighting the Crimson yer Sect disciples, General Zhang had instructed several of his subordinates to set up numerous arrays on the battlefield. These arrays had been hidden beneath the blood-soaked earth, waiting to be activated.

    As a man who had experienced all kinds of different fights and battlefields, he, more than most people, knew the importance of always nning for the worst.

    General Zhang smirked, pping his hands together, causing the ground beneath Mira to rumble, signaling the activation of the arrays.

    Four arrays were activated. However, Mira and the others only directly felt two, the Energy-Draining Array and a Killing Array.

    Mira and her friends could feel their Qi being slowly siphoned away by the Energy-Draining array, depleting their strength and making it harder for them to fight and use their Qi effectively.

    The Killing Arrayunched hundreds of toxic blood spears at the group, their deadly projectiles aimed at vital points. As the spears hurtled towards them, Mira''s eyes widened in rm, but Seraphina stepped forward before she could make a move.

    "I got this!"

    With a shout, Seraphina executed a technique called [Aquasteel Barrier], using her Water and Metal affinities to create a fluid yet seemingly imprable barrier that enveloped all of them, including Rayna.

    The toxic blood spears mmed into the barrier, shattering upon impact and failing to prate the protective shell.

    Hundreds upon hundreds of spears crashed into the shield, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

    Mira saw the poison on the tips of the blood spears mixing with the water in Seraphina''s barrier and couldn''t help but warn her, "Don''t let that poison through. Who knows what kind of effects it has?"

    Seraphina nodded and took her suggestion seriously. They all knew how serious and indifferent Mira usually was. If she said they should worry about something, they should listen.

    Mira couldn''t shake the feeling that something was still off. The fact that poison had made its way into the battle caused her unease to rise.

    She tried to pinpoint the source of her difort, stretching out her Soul Sense as far as possible, searching for anything unusual.

    Meanwhile, the Energy-Draining Array continued to weaken Mira and herpanions, slowly siphoning away their strength. They tried fighting off the Array by creating a thinyer of Qi around their bodies, but that seemed to speed up the drain.

    General Zhang smirked, watching their struggle with satisfaction, but this was just the beginning.

    Turning to the other Soul Transformation Realm disciples who were technically under hismand, her ordered, "Damian, Terk, Felix, and Kieran, go take care of that archer and wolf. You don''t have to try and kill her, just keeping her distracted is more than enough. Though, if you can kill her, don''t hesitate to do so."

    "Yes, Sir!"

    Damian, Terk, Felix, and Kieran gave General Zhang a firm nod and shot toward Rhydian and Eden in the distance.

    "As for the rest of you, focus fire on those women below. Make sure they stay within the arrays for another 10 seconds or so. We wouldn''t want them to miss our little surprise, now would we?" General Zhang ordered with a cold smile.

    "Yes, Sir!"

    The rest of the Soul Transformation Realm disciples revealed a simr smile, then focused their attention on Mira and the others.

    Fueled by General Zhang''s orders, they unleashed a cascade of attacks upon Mira and herpanions. Their Qi surged as they executed some of their most powerful techniques, each tailored to their unique affinities and fighting styles.

    A firestorm descended upon the group as a disciple with Fire affinity summoned a zing inferno, the scorching heat threatening to incinerate everything in its path. Another disciple, with Earth affinity, manipted the very ground beneath them, causing massive, jagged spikes to erupt from the soil with devastating force.

    A barrage of razor-sharp wind des, conjured by a disciple with Wind affinity, sliced through the air, leaving a trail of destruction as they sought their targets.

    Simultaneously, a cascade of lightning bolts, called forth by a disciple wielding Lightning affinity, streaked across the sky, illuminating the battlefield with an eerie glow as they struck the ground with deafening cracks.

    Mira and herpanions found themselves in the center of a veritable storm of elemental fury. They had no choice but to fend off the relentless onught, but thankfully, Seraphina''s [Aquasteel Barrier] blocked many of the attacks.

    Still, Mira, Nova, and Everyly had to add defenses to support Seraphina so she didn''t run out of Qi too quickly.

    "Keep your senses sharp! I have a feeling they''re about to do something that could put us all in danger!" Mira yelled. Her unease had escted drastically in just a few seconds, and she couldn''t help but feel that something bad was about to happen soon.

    ''Dammit! Why''d I have to get stuck in this Array with everyone else?'' Mira cursed her bad luck. Part of the reason she wasn''t fighting back was that doing so would disrupt Seraphina''s shield.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    However, that wasn''t the only reason.

    Those spears that were still attacking them were coated in poison. How deadly was that poison? Mira didn''t know, but she also had no intention of finding out.

    She knew she was partially immune to poison, thanks to the evolution she had during her Core Formation breakthrough, but that was only up to a certain level of strength.

    If they had a poison that could affect and kill Soul Transformation Realm cultivators, she''d be in as much trouble as everyone else.

    Thus, not wanting to put herself and those around her in danger, she could only stay within Seraphina''s shield.

    Though, that did put her in quite an annoying situation...

    Mira''s Soul Sense swept past the battlefield, examining every corpse, every de of grass for an anomaly. It wasn''t long before she saw hundreds of corpses suddenly rotting at the same time.

    Her expression changed drastically as she realized the true nature of the hidden third and fourth arrays. One was a Corpse Maniption Array designed to turn some of the fallen Crimson yer Sect disciples into undead puppets fueled by the toxic poison within their bodies.

    However, thest array...

    As toxic particles quickly formed in the air and on the ground, hastening the decaying of the corpses and enhancing the poison within their bodies, she understood that it was some sort of Poison Amplification Array!

    Mira''s heart raced as the implications of the situation became clear.

    "Hey! We have a big problem! Thest two arrays, they are the-!" She tried to warn herrades, but unfortunately-

    "It''s toote." General Zhang''s smile widened, and he clenched his fists, sending waves of Qi into the two arrays, taking control of the corpses.

    With a wave of his hand, he sent hundreds of decayed corpses hurtling toward their position at supersonic speeds.

    Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and even Rayna''s expressions all changed as their instincts warned them that if they didn''t move, they were as good as dead.

    Channeling their Qi, they nned to use every defensive measure and technique they knew to protect themselves.

    "Dammit!" Mira cursed as a deep frown formed on her face. Just by examining the poison in the corpses'' bodies and watching their insides literally dissolve into a ck paste, she knew that this was no ordinary poison.

    No, it was meant for people with their level of strength!

    ncing at herpanions, Mira felt her heart speed up a few beats, pounding hard in her chest. She imagined them lying on the ground, their intestines dissolving as they screamed out in pain and soon dying, with her standing to the side, unable to do anything because she didn''t have the necessary resources to save them.

    Admittedly, she didn''t want to see that scenee to fruition.

    While they might not have known each other long, they were her teammates, and she had fought with them on numerous asions. If she had the capability to save them, she should, even if it would cause her a bit of pain.

    ''Not to mention, things might get annoying if they died here.'' Mira thought as she pictured a scene of Aelina and the Elders just charging to the Crimson yer Sect''s headquarters and destroying the ce.

    Channeling her Qi, Mira used her [Frozen Terrain Change] technique, scooped up Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna, and used her [100 cial Warriors] technique to replicate them.

    "Mira!"

    "Hey! What are you doing?!"

    "Stop it, you crazy bitch! Put me down!"

    "...What?"

    They all yelled at her in surprise, but Mira didn''t listen to them and threw them out of the arrays, far away from the attacks of the Soul Transformation Realm disciples and the Killing Array.

    "Hahahahaha! See you in hell, little girls! Now die!!" Just as she did so, General Zhang chuckled darkly, used his Soul Sense to lock onto the presences in the array, and clenched his fist hard.

    All the corpses that had shot toward Mira''s position ballooned up, and within a split second, they exploded, releasing a dense, ck, purple, and green fog. It covered the area, raining down toxic substances from the sky and quickly engulfing everything around it!

    Even Nova and the others weren''t exempt from this, as Mira wasn''t able to throw them out of range of the stpletely in time--drops of toxic sludge burned through their skin, reaching their muscles and bones.

    However, none of them were focused on that right now...

    "Mira!!!"

 Chapter 636 End Of The Battle

    The explosion shook the battlefield, the shockwaves rippling through the air as the toxic substances spread out in all directions.

    "Mira!!"

    The screams of Mira''s name echoed across the battlefield as Nova and the others used their Soul Sense to try and locate her, their hearts heavy with dread. Even now, the toxic substances burned through their bodies as if they were made of paper; they couldn''t imagine what Mira experienced, taking the brunt of it head-on.

    The four of them struggled to get up and move toward the explosion site, desperately wanting to help their friend. However, they were unable to get close as the poisonous fog lingered in the air.

    "Cough... Cough Cough! I-I''m... I''m alright! Just hurry up and deal with those bastards! I... I-I''ll try and... Cough... make my way out as quickly as possible." Suddenly, they heard Mira''s hoarse voicee from within the fog, and they all breathed a sigh of relief that she was still alive.

    Even though her voice was weak, the determination in her tone reassured them. They knew they couldn''t let Mira''s efforts go to waste, so they gathered their strength and focused on their enemies.

    Nova nced at herpanions before turning her attention back to General Zhang and his subordinates, who were looking at them in surprise, not expecting to see them out of the poison fog.

    In a low voice, she said, "I''m going to use my Heavenly Sunfire Descension and end this-"

    "No!" Everly interrupted and stepped up. Nova and the others looked at her curiously as she ascended into the sky, "You don''t need to use such a powerful ability to get rid of these cowards. We still need to use the recording, preferably without any editing. Plus, we don''t know who might be watching in the distance. So, just sit back and let me handle this."

    Nova opened her mouth to speak up, but whatever she was about to say got stuck in her throat, as she knew Everly was right.

    While Heavenly Sunfire Descension wasn''t her strongest technique, it was her best as it was incredibly efficient for how much damage and destruction she could cause with how little Qi it cost.

    Not to mention, in terms of overall power, Nova was stronger than Everly. It would be a waste to show off one of her main techniques to the world so early on in the war.

    "...Do whatever you want." Nova waved her hand dismissively, but her eyes never left General Zhang and the others, ready to make a move at any time.

    Everly separated herself from Nova and the rest as she knew just how deadly her technique was. If she lost control for even a second, she could cause substantial damage to her teammates.

    General Zhang and the others narrowed their eyes upon watching Everly close in on them, but a sneer spread upon his face when he noticed that herpanions had no intention of interfering.

    "Have youe to surrender?" General Zhang asked with a smile, then he shrugged, "Unfortunately, we were told to kill everyone on sight, even if the person in question is as beautiful as you."

    Everly didn''t say anything, causing General Zhang to frown.

    "Soldiers!" General Zhang yelled, "Kill that woman!"

    "Yes, sir!"

    Everly remained calm and focused as the Soul Transformation Realm disciples from the Crimson yer Sect closed in on her. Their expressions were twisted with bloodlust, and their weapons gleamed menacingly in the light.

    The first wave of attacks came as a coordinated barrage. Swords, spears, and staffs shed, thrust and swung in her direction, aiming to tear her apart.

    Yet, with a grace and fluidity that showed off her power, Everly evaded each attack, her body moving like a dancing me. It seemed as if every attack was a mere hair''s breadth from hitting her, but she remained unscathed.

    As the battle intensified, Everly''s eyes started to glow with a fierce, golden re, with lightning shooting through her pupils. The air around her shimmered with heat, and despite being so high up, the ground beneath her feet began to crack and melt, leaving behind molten trails. Her Qi surged, and her power began to radiate outward, pushing back against the relentless onught.

    The disciples'' attacks grew more desperate and frantic with each passing moment, as they could feel the incredible heat permeating through the air. But Everly only grew stronger, her movements bing more precise and her power continuing to build.

    mes danced around her hands, and sparks of electricity crackled between her fingers.

    The air around her seemed to quiver with anticipation as the heat and energy intensified.

    With a final surge of power, the swirling mass of fire and lightning merged into a brilliant, pulsating sphere that illuminated the dark battlefield.

    However, that was merely the beginning. Dark clouds formed around her as intense streaks of lightning shot through them, continuously building up power.

    Her enemies'' expressions turned from smug confidence to fear and disbelief as they beheld the spectacle before them. Everly''s eyes snapped, zing with fury, as she assessed the situation and decided to add in more power.

    The sphere in her hands grew and grew until it was about half the size of her body, by which point, she split the sphere into several smaller orbs. With a flick of her wrists, she sent the orbs hurtling all over the battlefield, not aiming for anything in particr.

    As the orbs found their positions, Everly finished her technique!

    ''Thunderfire Annhtion!''

    As soon as she thought that, the ball of destruction in her hand shot into the middle of the formation she had created with those mini spheres.

    The orbs swelled with unrestrained power, their surfaces quivering as if straining to contain the very Qi within them.

    In a breathtaking disy, torrential torrents of fire intertwined with electric serpents surged forth, scorching the air and carving their deadly destruction upon the world.

    The once tranquil atmosphere was now a maelstrom of incendiary fury, as every breath was seared, every molecule crackled, and every particle in between was obliterated.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In that surreal, fleeting moment, the orbs'' limits were breached, and they erupted into a cataclysmic crescendo of lightning and inferno. The world was consumed by a symphony of electric mes and blinding brilliance, as if a celestial body had just gone supernova in their very presence.

    The Crimson yer Sect disciples caught in the path of Everly''s attack had no chance of survival. Their bodies were instantly incinerated, not even leaving ash behind. The very ground beneath them was scorched and shattered for kilometers, a testament to the destructive power of her [Thunderfire Annihtion] technique.

    As the remnants of the attack dissipated, Everly stood at the epicenter of the devastation, her breathing heavy and her forehead covered in sweat but her expression calm.

    Around her, the battlefield was eerily silent, as she had managed to take out over 90% of the Soul Transformation Realm forces, with the remaining 10% severely wounded and/or unable to fight.

    Nova and the others could only stare in awe at the disy of power they had just witnessed. They knew Everly was strong, but to see her unleash the full force of her Thunderfire Annihtion technique was truly a sight to behold.

    "Wow! I didn''t think Everly was that strong!!" Seraphina was the first to break the silence.

    "No kidding... I mean, I always knew she was powerful, as anyone who''s in the running to be the next Prime Disciple has to be, but to think she''s improved this much..." Nova muttered.

    From this, she realized that even without Mira, bing the Sect''s Prime Disciple this century would not be easy.

    Rayna just stared at the scene, her thoughts unreadable, but if one were to look closely, one would see the shock in her eyes as well. Clearly, she didn''t think Everly would be that strong, either.

    However, while everyone was shocked by Everly''s prowess, Rayna was the first to snap out of her reverie and make a move. Disappearing like the wind, she shot toward the severely injured, fallen enemies, intending to finish the job.

    Without giving them any time to react, Rayna snuck up behind them like a snake hunting its prey and quickly stabbed them in the heart, killing them instantly. She showed no mercy and no emotion while doing so.

    In fact, they didn''t even know what happened before a knife was suddenly thrust into their chest, followed by everything going ck.

    The only person left standing was General Zhang and possibly the enemies Eden was fighting, but nobody had the time to spare her any attention.

    "You...! You...! What the hell are you?! How did you kill so many of them in one move?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?" General Zhang felt like he was going crazy, as he had just witnessed his entire army be destroyed by six women.

    SIX!

    How does that make any sense?! How could just six women kill everyone he had brought?!

    "ARGH!!" General Zhang pulled on his air, trying to vent his emotions, but it didn''t help. The more time passed, the more dread he felt as he instinctively knew he wasn''t getting out of this alive.

    However, soon, his expression warped into a maniacal grin, "Fine! If I''m going to die, I might as well take you all down with me!"

    Shooting toward them, his body lit up like a meteor that was about to hit the earth''s surface and explode!

    Nova and the other''s expressions changed as they knew that the man was forcing his Core and Qi into overdrive tomit suicide in a bombastic fashion!

    "Dammit! Run!! This ce is about to turn into a wastnd!! You don''t want to be caught up in the explosion of someone in the Soul Transformation Realm!" Nova yelled, grabbed Everly, and dashed away. Seraphina and Rayna followed soon after.

    "HAHAHAHA! Do you seriously think you can run from me?! NAIVE!!" General Zhang roared and sped up, quickly approaching Nova and the others.

    "Sigh..." Suddenly, an exasperated sigh rang through the battlefield, "Can you shut the hell up for a moment?"

    General Zhang''s expression changed as she sensed dangering from behind, but unfortunately for him, it was toote.

    Tied to a thin thread of Qi, Mira''s scythe was sent flying out of the poison fog, making a wide arc before slicing halfway through his abdomen. That wasn''t enough to kill him, but as soon as the scythe touched his skin, he felt something draining his Qi drained as poison made its way into his system!

    "NOOOOOO!" He yelled and tried to fight it off, but Mira reacted faster, tugging him into the poison like how a fisherman would reel in a fish.

    It only took a moment before his entire body was engulfed in poison, and he was left screaming in pain as his organs disintegrated and his Qi and vitality were sapped away.

    A secondter, the ground shook for a moment as they heard a loud thump before the screams stopped, and everything turned silent.

    "..."

    "Finally... Some peace and quiet..." Mira muttered.

    Suddenly, Nova and the others heard footstepsing toward them from within the poison fog.

    Step... Step... Step...

    It took about half a minute, but those steps eventually reached the edge of the fog and out came a tall, 9-tailed fox woman with taut shoulders and steady strides.

    "Haaa... It''s about damn time I made it out of there..." Mira muttered, her eyelids growing heavy. She almost slumped to the ground in exhaustion, but a thinyer of Water Qi kept her upright.

 Chapter 637 Leona Returns

    Just as Mira was about to copse from exhaustion, Nova and the others rushed over to support her. Though, they still kept their distance, using just their Qi to help her.

    Now that Mira was finally out of the fog, they could see her condition, and needless to say, it wasn''t good.

    From the tips of her fingers to the curve of her ankles, her body told a tale of pain and agony.

    Except for her chest, belly button, and head, where she had fiercely concentrated her energy to shield those vital areas, her once fair skin was tainted by a gruesome disy of burns and exposed tissue. In some ces, there was no skin at all, revealing raw, glistening muscle and stark white bone beneath.

    Her flesh writhed and pulsed with life as her almost near-endless vitality worked tirelessly to heal her injuries at a remarkable rate.

    Despite the rapid regeneration, the venomous toxin coursing through her veins continued its relentless assault, burrowing deeper and deeper into her body.

    It was a cruel dance between life and death, where the wounds closed only for the poison to tear them open once more, keeping her trapped in a never-ending cycle of pain.

    Her body was fighting a relentless battle against the poison, neither one gaining any advantage over the other.

    Watching this unfold, Nova, Seraphina, and Everly felt their stomachs churn as they cringed in disgust. Of course, they weren''t disgusted with Mira personally, but it was just creepy watching Mira''s almost mummified-like body regenerate, only to keep returning to her corpse-like state.

    Her once pristine clothes were now tattered and stained with blood, while her nine fox tails appeared to have lost their lush, silken quality. Mira''s body trembled with every step she took, her weakened legs barely able to support her weight.

    However, despite her constant pain, she didn''t release so much as a grunt.

    "F-Find somece for me to rest." Mira stuttered.

    "Are... A-Are you alright?" Seraphina asked hesitantly, still shocked by Mira''s appearance.

    Mira just gave her a cold nce that said, "Do I look alright to you?"

    Seraphina shut her mouth and looked away, a little embarrassed she had asked such a dumb question. Of course, Mira wasn''t okay! Her body was literally falling apart in real-time!

    "I-If you have an antidote, that would be much appreciated," Mira said, but she knew they were unlikely to have something like that.

    However, unexpectedly, Rayna stepped up, a ck pill appearing in her hands.

    "Here," She said, shoving the pill into Mira''s free hand, "Not an antidote, but it''ll help."

    Mira didn''t even question Rayna''s words. Though, it''s not like she had the energy to do so even if she wanted to.

    Gulping the pill down, Mira immediately felt a cooling sensation spread out from the pit of her stomach, washing over the rest of her body as the pill began to take effect.

    The regeneration of her skin and muscles seemed to elerate while the poison''s progress appeared to slow down. Though it wasn''t aplete solution, it provided Mira with some much-needed respite from her agonizing pain.

    "Thank you," Mira whispered, gratitude filling her bloodshot eyes as she looked at Rayna. She could tell that the pill was no ordinary medicine and must have been something precious to Rayna.

    What Mira didn''t know was that not only did Rayna dabble in the art of poison-making, but she even had an extremely rare and unique Poison Affinity. However, unlike most affinities that people have, this one was not innate.

    In fact, it wouldn''t be wrong to call it an artificial affinity, as it was something she had "earned" throughout her life rather than a gift that was granted to her by the Heavens.

    Since she often dealt with poisons and even had an affinity for one, Rayna always kept all kinds of pills, antidotes, and things of that nature with her, just in case something went wrong.

    "Well, let''s go back to the Sect and get you patched up while we wait for good news from Sect Master Leona," Nova said, and the others agreed. With their Qi, they lifted Mira off the ground and flew into the branch Sect.

    As they flew into the Sect, the Elders and other disciples greeted them with expressions of astonishment and admiration. They were gathered together closely in tight-knit groups, gripping their weapons, anticipating the oue of the fierce battle and uncertain about what the future held for them.

    Could they really trust these girls to protect them? Why didn''t they want help? Were they just here to show off and gain a reputation? Would they really risk their lives for a bunch of people they didn''t know?

    These kinds of questions swirled through the minds of the disciples, as they found it hard to believe that the "high and mighty" disciples from the main Sect woulde down their lofty mountain and assist them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, those thoughts changed when they saw Mira being carried in the air, her body riddled with wounds, holes, and burns all over her body.

    Worst of all, and what made them shudder in terror, was the fact that they could hear Mira''s body sizzling like she was a fat piece of meat being cooked in a skillet.

    The disciples were shocked by the sight of Mira''s battered body, their previous doubts and suspicions about the main Sect disciples evaporating in an instant.

    Nova and the others carried Mira to a room to rest. Nova, Everly, and Rayna left the room to deal with the aftermath of the battle, but Seraphina stayed behind.

    "D-Do you need something?" Mira tilted her head up from the pillow and asked.

    "This..." Seraphina wasn''t sure what to say. While she was guilty that Mira ended up in this state because she couldn''t protect her, she felt a bit awkward just outright saying that.

    So, instead, she walked over to the side of the bed and said, "As someone with a water affinity, I can help soothe your pain and even hasten your recovery. Considering how potent this poison is, it might not be of much help, but I should be able to provide you with enough relief, at least so that you can get some sleep. That is if you''re interested in something like that..."

    Mira stared at Seraphina for a second before slowly nodding, "...Sure."

    Seraphina smiled and kneeled down beside her bed. With a wave of her hand, she covered Mira''s entire body in Water Qi, carefully injecting it inside her. She didn''t do anything to fight off the invading poison and instead just helped Mira''s body rx, giving her something akin to a massage.

    As a cool yet strangely soothing sensation washed over her body, Mira''s eyes involuntarily closed, gently guiding her into a peaceful slumber.

    Seraphina was stunned at how fast Mira fell asleep, but it was not like she didn''t understand why. The pain Mira must be feeling right now is probably something she couldn''t even imagine.

    ''I don''t know how she could walk and talk while her body was dissolving and regrowing countless times per second. Rather, it''s a miracle she''s alive right now!'' Seraphina shuddered at the thought of being in Mira''s position.

    She felt like death probably wouldn''t sound so bad if she had to experience something like that...

    ''For now, this is all I can do as thanks for saving me.'' Seraphina thought as she focused on making Mira feel as fortable'' as possible.

    As Mira received treatment, herpanions anxiously awaited news from Sect Master Leona. Battles among those in the Mortal Shedding Realm weren''t ordinary battles. Just a simple spar couldpletely reshape the terrain, much less a battle to the death.

    Contrary to how Mira made it look, killing someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm was no easy feat, even for those in the same Realm. If Leona was unable to kill her opponent in the first strike, then the battle was unlikely to end any time soon.

    However, since Nova and the others took care of the army, leaving no survivors, they could begin clearing and looting the battlefield.

    Nova still kept the Elders in the Sect in case someone snuck in while they weren''t looking, but Nova put the rest of the disciples to work.

    There were thousands of disciples from the Crimson yer Sect, each one equipped with weapons, armor, and storage rings filled with resources.

    As the victors, it was their right to im the loot of the fallen!

    Not long after everything settled down, Eden and Rhydian came down with the three corpses of their attackers, both of whom immediately rushed to Mira''s side to provide aid.

    Finally, after hours of waiting, Sect Master Leona returned, her clothes torn and her body bloodied and battered. Exhaustion shone in her eyes, but a proud smile hung on her lips.

    Seeing this, Nova and the other''s eyes brightened!

    "The Sect Master is back!"

    "It''s finally over! The Sect Master won!"

    "I knew you could do it, Sect Master!"

    All the disciples breathed a massive sigh of relief and cheered for their Sect Master.

 Chapter 638 Aftermath

    Leona waved her hand, silencing the disciples.

    "Thank you for the support, everyone," She said, "But don''t get too excited. We may have won the battle, but the war is most certainly not over. The next time the enemyes knocking on our doorsteps, we might not have Nova and herpanions with us to help. Thus, we must start preparing for that day toe!"

    "From now on, there will be mandatory training and sparring sessions every day! You will train in new techniques, and we will simterge-scale battles like what you witnessed today! So prepare yourself! This training starts tomorrow at dawn!"

    After saying that, Leona glided down andnded in front of Nova, signaling them to follow her.

    Inside arge conference room, Nova, Leona, and a few Elders discussed the battle that had just taken ce.

    Leona crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing as she listened to Nova''s report. Once Nova finished, Leona fell into deep thought.

    "I see. So, they''ve even resorted to the use of poison, huh? Has the Toxic de Sect gotten involved as well?" Leona muttered, and as much as she wanted to deny that possibility, she couldn''t. The evidence was right in front of her face, after all.

    There was still a giant plume cloud of poison ruining thendscape not far outside the Sect.

    "I apologize, Sect Master Leona, but I do not know the answer to that. It''s no secret that the Crimson yer Sect doesn''t generally use poison, as their cultivation techniques require others'' blood to cultivate, but I think it''s too early to jump to conclusions. The Toxic de Sect isn''t the only ce capable of making poison," Nova said, and Leona couldn''t help but agree.

    Poison-making was just another form of alchemy. In fact, there was a fine line between a poison and a healing pill! Even a failed healing pill could technically be considered poison since taking it would harm the body.

    There were countless alchemists spread across the continent, many of whom aren''t even associated with any of the main Sects, Orthodox or Unorthodox. There''s also the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect, an Orthodox Sect known for its alchemy.

    They could have gotten poison from anywhere, as most alchemists will do just about anything for resources.

    ''Though, for there to be such an abundance of it, plus the fact that they used an Array to make it stronger, tells me that they must''ve gotten their supply from an organization and not an individual.'' Leona thought.

    ''I still think the Toxic de Sect is involved, but I''ll leave that to Leader Aelina to figure out. It''s enough for me to know that they are using poison so that we can prepare for it in the future.''

    "Anyways, my fight with the Mortal Shedding Realm expert went about as expected. We fought for a while, but he ran away as soon as I was about to kill him. I left him with quite a few serious injuries, so it''ll probably be a while before he recovers, but I was unable to finish the job." Leona said.

    Nobody was surprised to hear that, as killing experts at that level wasn''t easy. If they wanted to escape, there was very little anyone could do about it.

    The meetingsted for another half an hour before they dispersed, moving on to carry out their responsibilities. Just because the battle was over doesn''t mean there''s any time to rest.

    Corpses needed looting, and the battlefield needed clearing. They could also gather some of the leftover poison and begin experimenting with it to devise an antidote.

    Not to mention, Cyrus has probably already gotten word of his loss and might send another wave of enemies!

    ***

    In a dimly lit room, Cyrus stared at the man in front of him in absolute silence.

    The man before him was riddled with injuries. One of his arms was dangling loosely by his side as if it would fall off at any moment. Deep gashes ran along his entire body, coupled with holes that one could see straight through.

    However, despite his injuries, he wasn''t bleeding much. Dense amounts of Qi had wrapped around his wounds, preventing him from dying of blood loss.

    Right now, the man hung his head low while facing Cyrus, ready to confront his wrath.

    Only after a minute of silence passed did Cyrus finally speak up.

    "...So, you lost."

    It wasn''t a question.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The man felt even more ashamed but nodded nheless.

    "Yes, sir. I was no match for Leona. She was much stronger than the reports said. In fact, part of me felt like she was holding back on me despite the fact that I hadnded numerous hits on her."

    That''s right! This was the man who had faced Leona not too long ago! As soon as he lost, he came running back to Cyrus, wanting to know their next move!

    Although some might call him a coward, he knew his worth and was sure that Cyrus would agree with his decision.

    Just like how Soul Transformation Realm disciples were the backbone of any major Sect, the Mortal Shedding Realm experts were like its protectors. All the disciples could die, but as long as those in the Divine Sea and Mortal Shedding Realms existed, the Sect would never truly die.

    "...What about the army?" Cyrus asked, his fists clenched.

    "This..." The man hung his head lower, "As I was... retreating... I noticed six women ughtering our disciples like they were nothing. Although I didn''t recognize some of them, I did see a woman with nine tails and a scythe wreaking havoc."

    Cyrus'' frown deepened. His aura leaked out, the air around him growing heavy.

    The room shook from the force of his power, the walls creaking and groaning under the pressure. The Mortal Shedding Realm expert shrank back, fear etched on his face. He knew the Sect Master would be mad, but he didn''t think he''d be this agitated!

    Cyrus''s eyes narrowed as he took a deep breath, trying to calm his raging emotions. He couldn''t let his anger get the better of him. Not now...

    "Dammit! It''s that bitch again! Whenever there''s a problem, howe she''s always in the middle of it?!" He roared and mmed his fists on the table, turning it to dust.

    Cyrus had half a mind to charge down there and send Mira to hell himself, but he forcibly stopped himself from doing so.

    ''If I get involved, then Aelina will surely know. I can also feel Sue Ming''s subordinates watching my every move.''

    Just the thought of those two women caused his heart to beat fiercely in his chest and his anger to nearly boil over. While those two women were opposites of one another, he hated them equally.

    If he could, he would p them both to death right here and now, but unfortunately, he wasn''t strong enough. Not to mention, should he even attempt to touch Sue Ming, she would definitely remove his head without a second thought.

    ''That damn slut! It''s all her fault I''m in this situation! If she just allowed me to kill Mira, I wouldn''t have to put up with this crap!'' Cyrus cursed Sue Ming again.

    With his age and experience, he could see where this road was heading, and it wasn''t toward the prosperity of his Sect.

    No. He could foresee the thousands of years of effort he had put into the Sect crumbling in the hands of three women.

    Yet, all he could do was sit back and watch it happen.

    Knowing that caused his blood to boil. Veins popped in his forehead, and his whole body tensed up as if he were about to explode.

    He was about to lose control of his emotions, but he circted his cultivation technique, closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

    It took him a few moments, but he eventually reigned in his aura. Though, a frown was still etched on his face.

    ''No, it''s not over yet. I refuse for this to be the end!'' A crazed look appeared in his eyes, almost as if he was ready to do anything so long as it meant the continuation of the Sect.

    "Call the Toxic de Sect Master over! I want to renegotiate the terms of our agreement!" Cyrus said as a n slowly formted in his mind.

    A n that the Faction Leader wouldn''t like, but one he was willing to go through with anyways.

 Chapter 639 Proposition; Poison Tempering

    The Mortal Shedding Realm expert nodded, relieved that the Sect Master had calmed down. He knew better than most how dangerous Cyrus could be when he lost control of his emotions.

    As the man left the room to carry out his orders, Cyrus sat down in his chair, deep in thought.

    ''I can''t beat Aelina or Sue Ming head-on, but maybe I can pit them against each other and use their own strengths against them.''

    He had a n, a dangerous one, but one that might work.

    Soon enough, the Toxic de Sect Master arrived, his face stern and serious.

    He was a tall andnky man with a subtle aura, but his piercing snake-like eyes and rippling muscles underneath that weak-looking body told apletely different story.

    "Why have you called for me, Cyrus?" The Toxic de Master, Dorian, asked, a little annoyed. He had been researching in hisb, only to be disturbed. It was no wonder he just wanted to leave.

    "I have a proposition that you might be interested in," Cyrus said with a light smile.

    "Oh?" Dorian raised an eyebrow, "What kind of proposition?"

    "Instead of just purchasing your products, I want to create an alliance with you." Cyrus went straight to the point. They both didn''t have time to waste, after all.

    Who knows when Aelina might strike back?

    "Hmm?" However, contrary to Cyrus'' expectations, Dorian frowned. The man knew exactly why Cyrus wanted an alliance as news of Aelina''s deration of war against the Crimson yer Sect spread like wildfire. "Why would I want to join you in your war efforts? My Sect is doing perfectly fine! In fact, it''s doing more than fine. I don''t need to get in the middle of this troublesome fiasco."

    Dorian knew Sue Ming had bought and used some of his poisons, but he didn''t know what she did with them. Though, even if he did know, he probably wouldn''t care as not only did she pay him a hefty sum for them, but it wasn''t his responsibility as to what happened afterward.

    People from the Unorthodox Faction buy his poisons all the time. What they do with them is their business; he''s just the supplier.

    However, Cyrus knew what Sue Ming had nned and done on the day he invaded the Battle Maiden Sect. That was one of the few times he had interacted with her, after all...

    Much to his dismay.

    "What do you mean you''re not interested in the war?" Cyrus released a cold smile, "You''re already in it, my friend!"

    Dorian was stunned by Cyrus'' words, but soon, his eyes sharpened, and he red at Cyrus.

    "Exin." He demanded.

    Cyrus might be a psychopath, but he didn''t think he was someone who''d lie to him.

    "Hehehe~ Don''t worry. I''ll exin everything, but for now, let''s lose these prying eyes."

    Cyrus waved his hand, creating a dome around them that blocked off all sight, sound, Soul Sense, and aura.

    While they were inside, Cyrus waved his hand, and the two were teleported to another, more secretive location. One nobody besides him knew about.

    ***

    After a few hours of rest, Mira woke up with poison still wrecking her body. The pain was horrible, but she knew she couldn''t afford to rest for too long. She had to find the antidote for Dominique as soon as possible.

    She tried to get up, but her legs gave out from under her, and she fell back onto the bed. She groaned in frustration but could do nothing as her body was still recovering.

    ''Whatever. I''ll just focus on recovering.''

    Laying on the bed, she closed her eyes again, ignoring the pain.

    Seraphina, who was sitting beside her, meditating, opened her eyes, but when she saw Miray back down and close her eyes, she returned to recovering her Qi.

    Mira swept her consciousness through her body and focused on the poison that had invaded her body.

    It kept trying to worm its way in deeper and deeper, seeking refuge in her bone marrow, heart, and even blood essence.

    Fortunately, her vitality was strong enough to push it back, but that''s all it could do.

    ''What a deadly poison!'' Mira eximed.

    No doubt, if Nova and the others had been hit by that st earlier, they would have died within minutes.

    ''...It feels... oddly satisfying.'' Mira thought, a thin smile creeping up on her face. She wasn''t quite sure what this particr emotion was, but she felt good that she was able to save them from certain death.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Now, I just need to save Dominique.'' Her expression turned serious when she thought of Dominique''s decaying body.

    ''But first, I need to get rid of this poison.''

    Mira wrapped her body in Yin mes, hoping to chip away at the poison, but she paused before the two could make contact.

    ''Wait.'' Suddenly, her eyes brightened, ''Why should I try and destroy the poison when I can use it to temper my body?''

    Tempering one''s body is all about destruction and recreation. While she''s often thought of it as sitting in a pool of magma due to her Magma Dragon Body technique, that''s not always the case.

    Whether it be repeatedly lifting heavy weights, breaking one''s bones, or sitting in a tub of poison, they all destroy the body in some way.

    From that point onward, it''s all aboutpleting the second half of the equation.

    ''Although I don''t have a Body Cultivation technique for poison, I don''t need one. My physique and vitality should be more than enough topensate.''

    With that thought in mind, Mira controlled her blood to stop attacking the poison, letting it deeper into her body.

    It rapidly dug deeper into her body,tching on and corrupting everything it touched. The only parts Mira bothered to defend were her brain and her heart, as both her vital organs that she couldn''t allow such a devious poison to prate.

    In a matter of seconds, Mira''s entire body was infiltrated by the poison. Her skin had turned a sickly dark green with kes falling off her body, and the rest was decaying at a rapid rate.

    Seraphina''s eyes shot open, rmed by what she saw happening to Mira''s body.

    "What the hell?! What happened?!" She shot up and dashed over to Mira.

    She was about to intervene, but Mira stopped her with a wave of her hand, indicating that she knew what she was doing.

    After the poison had reached every part of her body, Mira unleashed all the vitality that she had stored after absorbing so many corpses during the war!

    The vitality surged through her body, pushing the poison back as the two entered a relentless battle of destruction and creation, making her stronger with every cycle.

    Every second, her body underwent a rapid change from almost dying to perfectly healthy, over and over and over again.

    Seraphina watched in both horror and awe as Mira went to the brink of death nearly every second.

    ''What is going on? Why is her body doing that? How does she have so much life? Who really is Mira?'' All kinds of questions swirled around in her head, but all were left unanswered as Mira''s entire focus was on tempering her body and exhausting this poison.

    After dozens of minutes, the transformations slowed down, and Mira''s skin started to shed, except this time, it was different. The decaying skin was reced by new, vibrant skin, and her body started to glow as if she were a newborn baby who had just entered the world.

    However, she was incredibly skinny, like she hadn''t eaten in years. Her ribs protruded out of her abdomen, and her arms were much thinner than normal.

    She still had her muscles, but they weren''t nearly as defined.

    When it was over, Mira immediately stood up, feeling a newfound strength coursing through her veins. She looked at Seraphina with a faint smile on her face.

    "Thanks."

    After saying that, Mira left the room, not wanting to sit on her ass any longer. She had been bedridden for long enough! It was time to go save her pesky disciple!

    The poor girl, Seraphina, just stood there, stunned by what had happened. In all her years, she had never seen something so... abnormal!

    Everything happened so fast that she wasn''t quite sure how to process it.

    Still, one question lingered in her mind after all was said and done.

    ''Who really is Mira?''

    For the first time in a long time, she felt interested in another person. She wanted to know her secrets, her powers, her drive... everything.

    The corners of her mouth tugged at her lips when she thought of the 9-tailed fox woman who, ever since she had appeared, had caused one ruckus after another.

    Seraphina turned to the door and followed Mira out, a smile growing on her face.

    ''It looks like the future will be interesting from now on.''

    For some reason, as she left the room, the world seemed just a bit brighter to Seraphina.

 Chapter 640 Intricate Alliances; Hidden Agendas; Back To The Sect

    In a hidden chamber deep within the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, Cyrus and Dorian sat, separated by a table covered with maps and documents.

    Cyrus exined the situation, detailing Sue Ming''s actions and how she had used the Toxic de Sect''s poison against Mira and the Battle Maiden Sect. He also went on to exin a little about Mira, her exploits, her known powers, and so on.

    Lastly, he described how Aelina had dered war on the Crimson yer Sect and that he had just lost the first battle, despite using their poison.

    Dorian''s expression shifted from disbelief to deep contemtion.

    ''That Sue Ming bitch really had to go and muddy the waters.'' Dorian grumbled.

    He obviously knew much of this information, but most came in reportsa�"hecked any personal connection to the stories. Not to mention, Mira and the Battle Maiden Sect had nothing to do with him.

    If they wanted to tear down the Crimson yer Sect, he would find it a pity that he had just lost a customer but wouldn''t think much of it, instead going back to his research.

    Now, however, with someone close to Mira getting poisoned and knowing more about the girl, her talents, and her personality, he could discern that he would soon get dragged into this mess despite not getting involved.

    ''Haaa... Then, there''s Aelina.'' Dorian inwardly sighed.

    He didn''t even know where to begin with Aelina. Like the Battle Maiden Sect, he and the Toxic de Sect generally kept to themselves.

    Thus, he didn''t interact much with the woman, but from the stories he had heard, she was a highly intelligent woman who cared about her Sect.

    ''I doubt she''ll let me go knowing that the poisons my Sect makes could affect the scale of the war.'' At least, that was the intelligent thing to do.

    As the saying goes, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don''t know."

    By dragging him and his Sect into the spotlight, she can better prepare for the future while considering all "unknown" variables.

    After taking everything in, Dorian sighed, "Alright, Cyrus, what do you propose?"

    Cyrus leaned forward, a wicked smile on his face. "We form an alliance and use the strengths of our sects to set Aelina and Sue Ming against each other."

    Dorian motioned for Cyrus to continue, "And? How would we do that? Those two aren''t exactly people we can manipte just because we want to."

    "First off, we need to direct Aelina''s attention away from us and onto Sue Ming while directing Sue Ming''s attention away from Mira and onto the Battle Maiden Sect as a whole," Cyrus exined.

    While what he said was indeed correct, it didn''t mean shit if there wasn''t a n.

    "Get to the point, old man. How are we supposed to direct Aelina''s attention away from us?"

    Cyrus'' smile widened as he exined, "I know Sue Ming doesn''t care about us, or anyone in this world for that matter. But what about her subordinates? What if... something were to happen to one of them? With her ''overbearing'' personality, what do you think she would do should something like that happen?"

    "..."

    Dorian fell silent for a moment, mulling over the implications of his words, and then his eyes suddenly widened with realization. As his gaze locked onto Cyrus'', he no longer saw an elderly man but rather a shrewd puppet master, skillfully manipting events from the shadows.

    "...You cunning bastard. You''re ying a dangerous game, you know? If something does wrong..." Dorian trailed off there at the end, but Cyrus knew what he wanted to say.

    Cyrus chuckled, shaking his head with a smile, "It''s a matter of survival, my friend. If I don''t do this, I lose everything, but if I do... Well, the sky is the limit, or so they say."

    Dorian considered Cyrus'' words for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I''ll form an alliance with you. But I have certain conditions that you must agree to."

    Cyrus waved his hand dismissively, "Name your terms, and we''ll work something out."

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira, feeling the newfound strength coursing through her veins, walked through the Sect to find Rhydian, with Seraphina following close behind her.

    Nova and the others quickly discovered Mira and were shocked that she was perfectly fine. They all knew how terrible poisons can be to treat, especially unknown ones.

    Yet, Mira only needed a few hours to recover?! What kind of nonsense was that?!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They all sent a nce toward Seraphina, wondering if maybe she had a breakthrough in her healing techniques, but the woman just shook her head and sent them a Sound Transmission via Soul Sense.

    ''It wasn''t me. I''ll tell you about what happenedter.''

    The group exchanged puzzled looks but decided to leave it for now since Mira recovering so quickly was a good thing.

    "Mira! I''m d to see you''re okay!" Nova eximed, walking over to her and patting her on the shoulder.

    "Thank you for saving us back there. If we were caught in that poison, we might''ve joined the other corpses on the battlefield." Nova smiled and said sincerely. She hoped that she got her intentions across as she was truly thankful to Mira for saving their lives.

    "That''s right!" Eden chimed in, "I know that you must''ve experienced hell, enduring that poison, but I''m d that you and everyone else were able to live. I''d hate to see my sisters die by such underhanded means."

    "If you need anything, Mira, just let me know. I won''t hesitate to drop everything and help you," Everly said, wanting to convey her gratitude through actions instead of words.

    Rayna just nodded, her expression remaining neutral, but Mira could see she felt the same as Nova and Everly.

    Mira felt a bit awkward receiving their thanks, as it was usually the opposite. Hardly a day went by when someone wasn''t cursing at her for being a demon spawn or a monster who only knew how to cause death and destruction.

    Unsure of how to respond, she merely nodded and said, "...If I need anything, I''ll call for you."

    The others could only smile wryly at her behavior, but they were used to it by now.

    "Ahem!" Nova cleared her throat, wanting to change the subject, "Everything''s moving along smoothly here. The disciples are taking care of all the corpses, and Elder Leona is bottling up the poison for us to study."

    "Since you''ve recovered, we can head back to the main Sect soon and hand over our report and the recording to Sect Master Aelina. I''m sure she''ll handle everything from there."

    Mira was surprised to hear that. "So soon? Don''t you think they might attack again, thinking we''re exhausted?" She said.

    However, Nova shook her head.

    "They might, but our job is over. We dominated the first battle and obtained a recording of our victory. That was all we came here to do. Now, it''s time for us to leave."

    "Though, if the Sect Master tells us toe back and defend this branch Sect, then we will do so."

    Mira nodded, epting that exnation; it''s not like she nned to stay here anyways.

    "Alright, let''s get to work," Mira announced.

    The next hour was filled with focused activity as the members of the Battle Maiden Sect diligently cleaned up the battlefield and collected all the leftover resources. They worked together seamlessly, their camaraderie evident in the way theymunicated and supported each other.

    Once everything was in order, they began preparing to return to the main Sect.

    As they were about to depart, Elder Leona approached them, her robes fluttering in the wind. She held a few vials of the deadly poison and handed them to Nova, who was already seated on Rhydian''s back.

    "Please, deliver these to Sect Master Aelina. I hope she and the other Elders can develop an antidote before the next attack," Leona implored, her voice tinged with worry.

    Nova''s eyes narrowed as she studied the vials, their contents an ominous reminder of the death she almost faced. With a firm nod, she stored them safely away and replied, "I will make sure your message reaches the Sect Master."

    Leona seemed relieved and offered a grateful smile. Rhydian, sensing that it was time to leave, began to p her wings, stirring up a gust of wind around them. Before they took off, however, Leona addressed the girls onest time.

    "Thank you all for your assistance. Without your help, many of my disciples would have perished in today''s battle. On behalf of everyone, I offer my deepest gratitude." With that, she gave them a respectful bow.

    Nova waved away the formality with a warm smile. "There''s no need for that, Elder Leona. We were simply doing our duty. If you wish to express your thanks, please direct it towards Sect Master Aelina, for she sent us here in the first ce."

    Leona nodded, her eyes filled with appreciation. "I will make sure to do so the next time we meet."

    With their farewells exchanged, Rhydian lifted off into the sky, her powerful wings carrying Mira, Nova, and the rest of the team. The wind whipped around them, and they couldn''t help but feel a sense of aplishment as they left the battlefield behind. The branch Sect grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely from view.

 Chapter 641 Report; To The Forbidden Forest

    As Rhydian soared through the sky, the girls of the Battle Maiden Sect exchanged conversations about the recent events. The journey back to the main Sect was uneventful, and soon enough, theynded at the base of the familiar mountain.

    Upon their return to the main Sect, they were met with a flurry of activity as disciples bustled about, preparing for the uing war. Most had just received news of one of the Branch Sects being attacked, causing everyone to realize that they really were in the midst of a war.

    However, as soon as theynded, an elder approached them and immediately led them to Sect Master Aelina''s quarters, where she awaited their report.

    Sect Master Aelina''s room was a spacious chamber adorned with exquisite tapestries and elegant furniture, starkly contrasting the tense atmosphere that filled the room. Her piercing gaze fell upon the team as they entered, and she gestured for them to sit.

    "Wee back, everyone. I assume your mission was a sess, considering you all came back in one piece," Aelina said as if she didn''t already understand what was happening.

    It would be foolish to think Aelina would send her top disciples to protect a mere branch of the Sect without some form of backup.

    "That''s correct, Sect Master, but there were a few unexpected events that almost caused us to lose our lives." Nova stepped forward and said.

    "Oh?" Aelina raised an eyebrow.

    Now that came as a surprise to her.

    "Do tell."

    Nova nodded and began retelling the events that had urred earlier today.

    She detailed the ferocity of the attack, the cunningness of the opponent''s general, the use of poison, and their ultimate victory over the Crimson yer Sect. Throughout the ount, Aelina''s expression remained stoic, though her eyes asionally flickered with a mysterious light.

    Once the retelling wasplete, Nova reached into her storage ring and carefully retrieved the vials of poison. Her face was grim as she presented them to Aelina, understanding the significance of the deadly substance.

    "These are the samples of the poison used by the enemy. Elder Leona hopes you can research more about it and develop an antidote."

    Aelina took the vials from Nova, her fingers brushing against the cold ss as she examined the sinister liquid within. Her eyes narrowed, and she set the vials on the table beside her. "Thank you for bringing this back. I will see what I can do regarding an antidote, but you have to know that creating an antidote for a poison is much harder than creating the poison itself."

    Nova and the others nodded.

    As the saying goes, "It''s easier to destroy than create."

    They understood this principle. So did Leona, and that''s why she wanted to get this sample back to Aelina as soon as possible.

    With the report given and the poison samples handed over, Mira paused for a moment before speaking up. "Sect Master, I have a request."

    Aelina turned her attention to Mira, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. "What is it?"

    "I need to go to the Forbidden Forest," Mira said. Though, from her tone, Aelina could tell that it wasn''t a request. She was simply notifying her about what she was going to do.

    Knowing Mira would go there without reason, Aelina asked, "Why?"

    "I have reason to believe that the treasure needed to save my disciple, the Celestial Nectar, is hidden there," Mira said, staring straight into Aelina''s eyes.

    Nova and the others look at Mira in surprise, but not because she wants to go to the Forbidden Forest.

    ''She had a disciple?!''

    They couldn''t see Mira having a disciple. She was a bit too indifferent toward those around her. Hell, they could barely break through that cold outer shell of hers.

    However, suddenly, the image of a golden-haired beauty appeared in their minds, and they sighed.

    ''I guess if she already has a wife, then it would make sense that she has a disciple too.''

    Thinking about Mira already having a wife almost made them feel as if they had somehow lost, but they got rid of those useless thoughts and focused on the conversation before them.

    Aelina regarded Mira thoughtfully, weighing her words before responding. "The Forbidden Forest is a dangerous ce fraught with danger. You might experience poisons worse than the one you faced earlier as well. Not to mention, the Toxic de Sect is around that area. Are you sure you still want to go?"

    Mira nodded without hesitation. "I can''t let Dominique suffer any longer."

    Suddenly, Everly, who was beside Mira, spoke up, "I wish to join Mira as well! She saved my life before this; it''s only right that I help her when she''s in need!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Me too!" Eden raised her hand and eximed.

    "Screw it! If you all are going, I might as well join too." Seraphina smiled, also wanting to repay Mira.

    "If the Sect Master would allow it, I would also like to help Mira," Nova said, but she was more professional about it. Although she wanted to help Mira, she understood that they were in the middle of a war.

    Who knows when she might be needed?

    Rayna nodded lightly and opened her mouth, her tone soft and robotic, "I''ll apany Mira."

    The whole room went silent after she spoke, awaiting the Sect Master''s words.

    Aelina studied the group, sensing their unwavering determination to help their friend. After a moment of contemtion, she finally agreed. "Very well. You have my permission to venture into the Forbidden Forest."

    The group smiled, but Aelina''s next words caused them to pause.

    However, "I want you to investigate the Toxic de Sect while you''re there. Gather information about their numbers, strength, and any details about the poisons they create. I have a feeling that they may be an unknown variable in this war."

    The girls exchanged nces, understanding the gravity of this additional task. They knew that the Toxic de Sect''s knowledge of poisons could be a serious threat to their own Sect in the ongoing war.

    "We understand, Sect Master. We will do our best to gather the information you require," Nova assured, her voice steady and determined.

    Aelina nodded, satisfied with their response. "I trust you will be sessful in both of your missions. Be cautious and look after each other. The Forbidden Forest is not a ce known for its kindness and scenery."

    "Also, be wary of the nts."

    ***

    Inside Mira''s bedroom, Mira silently stood at the doorway and examined Dominique from a distance. She could see that her condition was slowly but progressively getting worse.

    The poison had spread throughout more of her body as if it were eating her alive.

    Every now and then, Dominique''s body would tremble, but she never once woke up. The deep, unconscious frown on her face told Mira everything she needed to know.

    Hana was sleeping on a bed next to her friend, with Elenei curled up at the edge.

    Mira seared the sight into her braining, reminding herself what she was fighting for and that she needed to return with an antidote.

    ''If I can''t find the Celestial Nectar, then I''ll just have to raid the Toxic de Sect until I find something or someone that can help.'' She clenched her fists, leaving an indention on the side of the door.

    She could use the Firmament to obtain the Celestial Nectar, but since it deemed it as a rare resource that was several Realms above her cultivation, she needed to go through another 500 Abyssal Torment Steps while alsopleting a subsequent trial.

    It was honestly more efficient to try and find the treasure herself, especially since she knows where it is.

    ''More importantly, I''m not even sure if I canplete so many steps without raising my cultivation.'' Mira thought.

    While strength didn''t matter on the Abyssal Torment Steps, breaking through the Realms of cultivation and experiencing life as a cultivator did help to sublimate her mind and body. Not to mention, the Steps also messed with her soul.

    What if her soul wasn''t strong enough to handle the torture, and she died on the spot? It was slightly unrealistic, but Mira didn''t think it was impossible, especially since every section on the Abyssal Torment Steps was different.

    Thus, Mira made up her mind and decided to save the Firmament as ast resort.

    Mira sent a message to Elenei through their link, ''Make sure nothing happens to Dominique while I''m away.''

    Elenei perked up and looked at Mira before nodding, ''Don''t worry. I might not have anywhere close to my previous power, but you should never underestimate a dragon. Nothing will happen to Dominique as long as I''m here.''

    Although Elenei wasn''t exactly a dragon, Mira understood the point she was trying to make.

    Mira nodded and turned around. Closing the door behind her, Mira walked away from her bedroom, her crimson eyes burning like a fierce me.

    The next morning, Mira, Nova, and the others gathered outside the Sect, each in battle-ready attire. They nodded at one another, hopped on Rhydian, and flew in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

 Chapter 642 The Forbidden Forest Part 1

    The Forbidden Forest, notorious for its dangerousndscape and deadly flora and fauna, had a chilling reputation that would send shivers down the spines of even the most experienced cultivators.

    However, despite its reputation, hardly anything was known about the Forest, at least to the outside world. For those who were weak and had no interest in such a dangerous ce, this meant nothing.

    But for the truly strong, a ce without tales was either one of two things: Uncharted territory or a ce so dangerous that anyone who wandered in never made it back alive.

    In this case, Aelina, Mira, and the others believed it to be thetter.

    Despite the vastness and seemingly endless expanse of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, thousands upon thousands of people traversed thesends on a daily basis. It was impossible for people not toe into contact with the Forbidden Forest.

    However, nobody talked about it. Hell, nobody walked anywhere near it.

    Hence its name.

    It truly was a Forbidden ce.

    Rhydian pped her wings and slowly descended a few dozen kilometers from where the rumored Forbidden Forest was.

    As Rhydian drew closer to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

    Even from this distance, the girls could feel an oppressive aura emanating from the dark and mysterious woond. The closer they got, the more they understood the reason behind its ominous reputation.

    The surrounding area was eerily silent, devoid of any signs of life or activity. It was as if the very earth itself was warning them against stepping foot within the forest''s boundaries.

    Hopping off of Rhydian, they slowly crept toward the Forest, doing their best not to make themselves known.

    Mira was the only one who was a bit more casual about it. She walked alongside Rhydian, shoveling fistfuls of Rank 7 and Rank 8 beast meat into her mouth.

    Yesterday, she had used up nearly all of her vitality, her regenerative powers, in one go. Now, she needed to consume vast amounts of food to restore it.

    She had spent most of the night eating food, but she wanted to make sure she was topped off before entering such a dangerous area.

    As they stood at the edge of the forest, its shadow looming over them like a dark shroud, they couldn''t help but feel a sense of awe. The towering trees, with their twisted limbs and gnarled bark, seemed to defy the natural order of the world, creating an otherworldlyndscape that left them feeling disoriented and uneasy.

    Taking a deep breath, Mira looked around at herpanions, her eyes filled with resolve. "This is it, everyone. Stay vignt and alert at all times. Remember, our number one priority is the Celestial Nectar. Everything elsees second."

    The girls nodded solemnly, understanding the severity of the situation.

    "Leave any poison to me. I have some immunity, and while it isn''t full-proof, I won''t die immediately upon contact."

    With a final nce back at the bright and beautiful world they were leaving behind, the group stepped into the Forbidden Forest, their hearts pounding with a mix of trepidation and anticipation.

    The darkness swallowed them whole, enveloping them in its chilling embrace as they delved deeper into the heart of the unknown.

    As they ventured into the forest, the girls were met with an ever-thickening, inky fog that seemed to absorb all light, leaving them nearly blind. The air was heavy with the scent of decay, mingled with the sweet aroma of poisonous nts, urging them to tread cautiously and maintain their guard at all times.

    They used their Soul Sense to scan the area, but even that was severely limited in this area.

    The Forbidden Forest was a living, breathing entity that seemed to thrive on death, decay, and malic. Every inch of the forest was teeming with life, and a sense of malevolence hung thick in the air.

    Despite the dangers of the ce, the forest was teeming with life, both seen and unseen. Strange creatures with eyes that glowed in the darkness scuttled through the undergrowth, watching the group''s every move.

    The air was alive with the fluttering of leathery wings as bat-like creatures with razor-sharp fangs swooped and darted through the darkness. They emitted a high-pitched keening that was barely perceptible to the human ear yet filled the night with an unsettling dissonance.

    Sinister beings lurked in the shadows within the undergrowth, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Among them were nocturnal creatures with eyes that glowed an unearthly shade of green, reflecting the scarce light that prated the forest''s dense canopy.

    These beings moved with unnerving agility, their limbs clicking and ttering as they scuttled through the forest floor, their gazes fixated on the group, tracking their every movement.

    One such creature hung from a leaf, waiting for Mira''s group to pass by before it dropped on their heads!

    *Swoosh!*

    A dozen ice needles punctured the creature''s body, which was shown to be arge, oddly-shaped beetle, and it dropped to the ground.

    Mira stepped on the bug, causing it to explode in a mess of green blood, before moving on.

    "Ew. The creatures here are really nasty," Eden held her nose in disgust, tiptoeing around the dead bugs and beasts that Mira and the others yed every few seconds.

    As an elf, she was more sensitive to nature and the beings contained within. Therefore, to her, walking into this ce was akin to diving into arge tub of manure, covering herself in shit.

    The creatures here repulsed her, the aura was murky and disgusting, and even the nts seemed evil.

    "Are you going to help kill these things or just stand there and watch?" Nova grumbled as she thrust her spear forward, piercing through a dark green snake that had justunched itself at them.

    "...I think I''ll just watch. Thank you very much," Eden said shamelessly. She had no intention of infecting her weapons with the vile blood of these... monsters.

    Yes, in her mind, these were no longer beasts but monsters. Monsters that wanted to "corrupt" her pure self!

    "...Why''d you evene if you''re going to be this useless?" Seraphinamented, but even she was thoroughly washing off her sword and shield with her Qi every time something touched them.

    "Hey! It''s not my fault that this ce is so disgusting! Who would even want to live here, anyway? Those people from the Toxic de Sect must be insane!" Eden eximed, but nobody could disagree with her words.

    Strategically and defensively, it had the perfect natural barrier, but that was just in theory. Living in such a depressing ce... they didn''t even want to imagine what it must do to one''s psyche.

    The group fell silent as they focused on making a path through the Forest, hopefully toward a ce with a bit more visibility.

    The foliage of the Forbidden Forest was no less menacing than its fauna and wildlife. The trees with knotted branches and twisted trunks seemed to reach out, attempting to ensnare the unwary. Their bark was coated with ayer of slime that emitted a sickly sweet odor, attempting to lure unsuspecting creatures closer only to trap them in a deadly embrace.

    Venomous nts were abundant, their vibrant colors hiding a lethal secret. Some blossomed with beautiful but deadly flowers that exuded a sweet intoxicating scent that was just a prelude to the toxic poison it would puff out, killing whatever bug or small beast stepped near it.

    Others were adorned with slender tendrils that moved with a mind of their own, silently snaking through the air in search of prey. Once they found their target, these tendrils would wrap around the victim, injecting a paralyzing toxin that rendered them helpless.

    The deeper the group ventured into the forest, the more they realized that they were not only facing the dangers of the flora and fauna but also battling against the very essence of the forest itself. The trees seemed to whisper malevolent secrets, the wind carrying the tortured cries of those who had fallen victim to the forest''s sinister allure.

    With each step, the group felt the oppressive weight of the forest''s malevolent presence bearing down on them, but they pushed forward, determined to go into the heart of the forest, where the treasure they were searching for was.

    The girls ventured deeper into the Forbidden Forest, each step taking them further from the familiar world they knew and closer to the secrets thaty hidden within.

    Suddenly, without warning, Mira''s expression changed as she sensed danger ahead!

    "Watch out! Something''sing!" She yelled, hoping to alert herpanions before it appeared.

    Unfortunately, the entity was already before them as she spoke.

    A massive nt burst forth from the underbrush, its enormous maw snapping open hungrily. In a sh, it knocked Eden to the side, sending her sprawling across the damp forest floor. Simultaneously, its thick, thorny vines shot out, ensnaring Everly in their constricting embrace.

 Chapter 643 The Forbidden Forest Part 2

    Mira''s eyes narrowed as she analyzed the enormous nt before them. It was unlike anything they had ever encountered before. The monstrous nt was at least five meters tall, its massive maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, and its vines writhed with a malevolent intelligence.

    "Everly!" Nova cried out, rushing forward with her spear to sever the vines that had entangled her friend. However, before she could even get close, more vines shot out of the ground, wrapping around her legs and pulling her back. Poison leaked out onto Nova''s skin, wiggling its way into her body, but she didn''t have time to worry about that.

    "Get away from it!" Miramanded as she stomped on the ground, sending a wave of ice toward Everly, freezing the vines that hand entangled her. As she clenched her fists, the frozen vines exploded into a shower of glittering ice crystals, liberating Everly from their grasp.

    However, as soon as she destroyed the vines, they regenerated almost immediately.

    Nova, who had vines around her legs, lit up like a zing inferno, reducing them to ash, before jumping back to dodge another iing attack. Though, her movements were slightly slower than before.

    Rhydian, Seraphina, and Rayna joined the fray, trying to cut through the vines, but it seemed that for each vine they severed, two more took its ce. The monstrous nt was relentless in its assault.

    "Fuck! What the hell is this thing?!" Seraphina yelled as she deflected an onught of tentacle vines with her shield. Her sword hacked and shed them into little pieces, but doing that seemed only to create more problems.

    Eden, who had been knocked aside earlier, scrambled to her feet, her face pale but her eyes full of determination. Despite her disgust for the creatures in the forest, she knew that she couldn''t stand idly by while her friends were in danger.

    Pulling out her bow, she manifested an arrow out of wood using her Qi and shot it toward the nt''s maw.

    It looked like it was going to hit, but when it was just a meter away, a wall of vines stood in the arrow''s path, blocking it.

    "Tch." Eden clicked her tongue, knocking another three arrows. Firing them, she repeated this process, not allowing it a second of rest, but it was as if each vine had a mind of its own.

    Every arrow she shot was blocked with perfect timing and uracy, making it hard for Eden to gauge its weaknesses.

    Closing her eyes briefly, she tried summoning her power over nature, attempting to take control of the monstrous nt. However, the malevolent aura that permeated the Forbidden Forest seemed to protect the creature, making it impossible for her to exert influence over it.

    "Damn it! What do we do?!" Nova yelled, struggling against the vines around her. She wanted nothing more than to light this thing aze, but they also came here, not wanting to cause a hugemotion.

    What if the Toxic de Sect came running after them? What if the stronger beasts deep in the Forbidden Forest came out of their holes after sensing a disturbance?

    They were not ready to handle the consequences of revealing their presence for all to know. At least, not yet.

    Mira examined the nt, her mind racing as she tried toe up with a n. Then, a thought struck her. "It must have a weakness! If I had to guess, it would be on its main body! Find it!"

    Now with a n, the girlsunched a coordinated assault on the monstrous nt. They needed to find its weakness before it overwhelmed them with its relentless attacks.

    Rhydian took to the air to gain a bird''s-eye view of the situation.

    Although the fog hindered her sight, she wasn''t far enough away that it blinded herpletely.

    From above, she spotted a pulsating, bulbous mass near the base of the creature, partially hidden beneathyers of vines. It throbbed with a sickly green glow, and she could sense dark energy radiating from it.

    Vines shot out of the ground toward Rhydian, but she dodged them with ease.

    ''I think I see it! The weakness is at its base!'' Rhydian thoughts/intentions leaked into Mira''s mind before she dived down to attack it.

    However, Rhydian''s attempt to attack the nt''s weak point was met with fierce resistance.

    Every time she neared the pulsating mass at its base, a swarm of vines would rise to intercept her,shing out with frightening speed and uracy. The creature was well aware of its vulnerability, and it would do anything to protect it.

    "Rhydian found something! There''s a bulb at the base of the nt, covered in a thickyer of vines! That must be where the core of this thing is!" Mira yelled, informing the others.

    The girls sprang into action, focusing their attacks on the base of the monstrous nt. However, the nt seemed to be aware of their intentions and fought back even more fiercely than before. Vines whipped around with increased speed and strength, striking and entangling the girls with brute force.

    As Nova continued to battle the poison coursing through her veins, her strength waned with each passing moment. Her movements grew more sluggish, and her friends couldn''t help but notice her deteriorating condition. Concern for Nova spurred them into action, increasing their determination to bring an end to the monstrous nt.

    With fierce resolve, Seraphina unleashed a mighty battle cry and charged ahead, her sword cleaving through the vines with heightened intensity.

    "Raaaahhhh!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her shield deflected iing attacks as she advanced, and her Qi coalesced into a protective barrier around herrades.

    Encouraged by Seraphina''s valor, the others followed closely behind, focusing their collective efforts on reaching the nt''s pulsating core.

    "REEEEEEEEEEEE!"

    As they closed in on the core, the monstrous nt emitted a deafening screech, its vines thrashing about with renewed vigor. The nt seemed to be throwing everything it had at the group in ast-ditch attempt to stave off its demise.

    With her eyes locked on the target, Mira unleashed a torrent of ice, hoping to freeze the vines and create an opening. However, the nt was ready for her attack, and a wall of vines rose up to block her assault, shattering the ice into tiny shards.

    Undeterred, Rhydian swooped down from above, talons outstretched and aiming for the bulbous mass. Nevertheless, the monstrous nt demonstrated unyielding tenacity in its defense. The vines surged upwards to intercept her, coiling around her wings and yanking her backward with force.

    The girls found themselves increasingly overwhelmed, the nt seemingly bing bigger and more powerful by the second.

    In a desperate attempt, Everly summoned bolts of lightning around her. As she thrust her palms forward, they rained down onto the mass of tentacles, sending electric shocks through its system, stunning the nt for a moment.

    The others seized the opportunity, attacking the base with renewed vigor. With a burst of Water Qi, Mira coated all the vines around the bulb in water and froze a portion of the vines guarding the core. Seraphina, Rayna, and Eden quickly took advantage, hacking away at the frozen vines with their weapons.

    The monstrous nt, sensing the danger, redoubled its efforts to protect itself, the vines thrashing wildly in a desperate attempt to fend off the attackers.

    However, Nova''s eyes lit up as she saw the perfect opportunity to attack!

    Gathering a ball of fire at the tip of her spear, she thrust forward while muttering, "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    The zing sphere of fire shot out from the tip of Nova''s spear, hurtling toward the exposed core with incredible speed. The monstrous nt, caught off guard by the sudden assault, failed to raise its vines in time to block the attack.

    Creating a hole in Mira''s ice, the Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot connected with the bulbous mass, engulfing it in an inferno of searing mes. The nt screeched in agony as the fire consumed its core.

    Within moments, the once fearsome and relentless vines began to lose their strength, dropping limply to the ground as the nt''s life force was extinguished. The other girls, battered and exhausted, looked on in awe and relief as the monstrous nt sumbed to the mes.

    As the fire died down, the nt''s remains smoldered and withered, leaving behind a charred husk. Nova, weakened by the poison, stumbled a little but managed to catch herself. Mira and the others rushed to her side, concern etched on their faces.

    "Are you alright?" Seraphina asked.

    Nova nodded and took out a pill, popping it into her mouth. Immediately after, strength refilled her as a toxic sludge was expelled from her body.

    The girls sighed in relief, seeing that the pills they had prepared beforehand worked.

    "We''ll have to thank the Sect Master for providing us with these Antidote Cleansing pills when we get back," Eden said, to which the others agreed.

    After a brief rest, during which the group replenished their Qi and tended to any injuries, they found that none had sustained severe harm.

    Standing back up, the group looked in the direction of what they assumed to be the center of the Forest and sighed.

    "Do we have to go?" Eden muttered, still reeling in her experience with that nasty tentacle nt.

    Nova snorted, clicking her tongue, "You don''t have to, but we will."

    Eden just looked at Nova, feeling aggrieved, "...That was a rhetorical question! Of course, I''m still going to go! I''m just not a fan of this environment."

    "Then, keep your rhetoric to yourself."

    Eden stuck out her tongue at Nova but didn''t open her mouth again.

    None of them WANTED to be here, but Mira needed help. How could they, as her seniors, not assist her in her time of need?

    Thus, with narrowed eyes and raised guards, the girls resumed their journey into the Forbidden Forest, not looking forward to what awaited them ahead.

 Chapter 644 The Forbidden Forest Part 3

    The girls continued to push forward, the Forbidden Forest seemingly growing darker and more twisted with each step they took. The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily on them, and the constant threat of danger kept them on edge. Yet, they remained resolute to press on for the sake of their mission.

    Mira led the way, her ice Qi asionally creating a path for them through the dense foliage or freezing any dangerous nts that tried to attack them. However, sensing that an odorless and colorless poison was beginning to appear in the fog, she began to grow slightly anxious for herpanions, who had to take an Anti-Toxin Pill, a pill that prevented poison from seeping into their bodies.

    As they traversed the treacherous terrain, the girls encountered various bizarre and deadly creatures.

    The first challenge came in the form of giant spiders with venomous fangs. The arachnids attacked with lightning-fast reflexes, their webs ensnaring the girls and trying to drag them to their doom.

    Rhydian''s aerial advantage proved essential in this battle, picking off the spiders from above while the others fought their way through the webs.

    Next, they faced a swarm of poisonous insects that could fly at breakneck speeds.

    The insects darted around the girls like a torrent of deadly needles, making it difficult for them tond a hit.

    Seraphina''s shield and Eden''s control over nature provided a momentary pause, allowing the girls to regroup and counter-attack.

    They discovered that the insects were sensitive to extreme heat, which Nova used to their advantage by creating a wall of fire that surrounded the creatures. The intense heat turned the insects into ash, and she did her utmost to ensure that she didn''t create a wildfire.

    In another encounter, they came across a grotesque and enormous serpent slithering its way through the underbrush. Its scales were impossibly hard, and its fangs dripped with lethal venom.

    The girls fought with everything they had, using theirbined might and clever tactics to wear the beast down. Eventually, they managed to exploit a weak spot on the serpent''s underbelly, dealing a fatal blow.

    With each battle, the girls gained a deeper understanding of why this ce was known as the Forbidden Forest. Not only was the area filled with terrifying creatures, but the increasing malevolent aura of the environment seemed to strengthen them, making them even more dangerous than they would be otherwise.

    The girls continued their journey, cautiously navigating the treacherous terrain while monitoring their surroundings.

    The forest grew darker and more sinister with each passing step, the air thick with an oppressive, almost tangible aura of malice. The dark, twisted branches of ancient trees seemed to encroach around them, casting eerie shadows that yed tricks on their minds.

    As they progressed, they were constantly bombarded by more bizarre and deadly creatures.

    They faced a pack of enormous wolves with dark fur that seemed to absorb the light around them, their eyes glowing with a blood-red hue. The girls managed to fend off these fearsome predators, but not before sustaining several injuries.

    As they confronted the pack of enormous wolves, Mira, and herpanions knew they were in a difficult fight.

    The wolves'' dark fur absorbed the light around them, making it challenging to track their movements urately. Their eyes glowed with a blood-red hue, instilling a sense of unease in the hearts of the girls.

    They seemed to blend into the shadows, concealing not just their bodies but their aura as well.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed as in her Soul Sense, as all she saw were hazy outlines. Thus, she called out to the girls, "Be extra cautious this time around! It''s hard for me to sense these beasts!"

    "Understood!"

    The girls grew serious and knew that they were in for a tough battle if even Mira could barely sense them!

    The battlemenced with the girls striking first,unching coordinated attacks to disrupt the wolves'' movements.

    Mira sent a flurry of ice shards at the pack while Nova unleashed a barrage of "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots".

    Eden used her control over nature to create a thorny barrier, trying to slow the wolves down, and Seraphina raised her shield, ready to defend herpanions.

    However, the wolves were cunning adversaries. They dodged the attacks with impressive agility and retaliated with swift, powerful strikes of their own. Each time the girls managed tond a hit, the wolves seemed to recover quickly, their resilience fueled by the malevolent energy of the forest.

    Hovering above the ground, Everly called out to the others, "Watch your backs! I''ll try to draw their attention from above, but stay on guard!" She surrounded her hands in lightning, then began raining it down upon the wolves, attempting to keep them at bay.

    Mira and the others fought back fiercely, their Qi-enhanced strikesnding with increasing uracy as they began to adapt to the wolves'' movements.

    The girls fought hard, their hearts pounding in their chests as they shed with the wolves.

    However, as they exchanged blows with the fearsome beasts, they were acutely aware of the danger that lurked deeper within the forest. There was an ominous, almost suffocating presence that seemed to grow stronger the further they ventured in. It was as if the very air was warning them of a far more deadly foe that awaited them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    With this knowledge in their minds, the girls made a conscious decision to restrain their use of power. They understood that, while the wolves were formidable opponents, they would need every ounce of their strength and Qi for the challenges that stilly ahead.

    As they fought, the girls found themselves growing increasingly fatigued as they found themselves at a standstill. They weren''t tired by much, but in a situation where dangers lurked in every corner, this could bring unwanted consequences.

    In a brief moment of respite, Nova shouted, "We need to change our strategy! These wolves are too quick for us to hit directly. We need to light up the area!"

    "Mira, I''m counting on you tond the final blows!"

    "Understood!" Mira nodded and concentrated her senses on the wolves. There were only half a dozen of them, but they were so fast and discrete that often, she only sensed 2-3 at a time.

    Everly and Nova gave each other look of mutual understanding before nodding. They both knew what their roles would be. Thus, there was no need for words.

    "Lightning Illumination."

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shockwave!"

    Everly''s hands and feet glowed as she dropped to the ground, releasing bolts of lightning into the earth, lightning the ce up. While Nova gathered a giant, watermelon-sized ball of fire around her spear, swinging it in a wide, sending bursts of mes throughout her surroundings!

    Thebined efforts of Everly and Nova lit up the area, making it much more difficult for the wolves to hide in the shadows. The sudden surge of light and heat caught the wolves off guard, momentarily disorienting them.

    Seizing the opportunity, Mira quickly assessed the situation and decided tobine her elemental abilities to maximize the damage against the wolves and ensure their deaths.

    First, she conjured a powerful gust of wind, using it to push the wolves up into the air, not allowing them to hide in the shadows any longer. As they struggled to find their footing, Mira followed up with a concentrated beam of Yin Lightning, targeting thergest and most menacing of the pack. It pierced through its unprotected skull, killing it instantly.

    Next, she summoned a barrage of razor-sharp earth spikes up from the ground beneath the wolves, impaling and immobilizing them.

    As the wolves whirled from the onught, Mira conjured a storm of razor-sharp ice swords that whirled around her beforeunching at the wolves with deadly precision. The ice des cut through their dark fur, causing the wolves to howl in pain, killing the rest on the spot.

    Finally, to ensure that they remained dead, Mira controlled her ck runes to suck the life and Qi out of their dead bodies, causing them to be reduced to nothing more than dust.

    With thest of the wolves defeated, the girls caught their breath and assessed their condition. Their bodies were bruised and battered, but nothing they couldn''t handle.

    However, they knew they couldn''t afford to rest for long, as time was of the essence, and the ever-present danger in the Forbidden Forest loomed over them like a dark cloud.

    "Haaa... Well, that was a pain in the ass. Who knew that just a few Peak-Stage Rank 7 wolves and a Low-Stage Rank 8 wolf would be so annoying to deal with." Nova muttered, shocked at how strong and dangerous the beasts were despite being so "weak".

    "It''s a bit toote to back out now," Eden looked behind her, but all she saw was a dense fog that consumed their footprints, seemingly hiding the way they came in.

    Even now, she couldn''t confidently say in which direction they came into the Forest.

    "Alright, that''s enough rest. You guys look like you''re fine, so let''s get going. We can''t sit here all day," Mira said as she walked to the front, taking the lead this time.

    She narrowed her eyes out into the fog, sensing hundreds of eyes locked onto their position, each one more terrifying than thest.

    While she was confident in her abilities and the strength of herpanions, the beasts here were too weird. Each one had its own quirks and strengths. Not to mention that the Forest seemed to provide them with extra power, something she had never heard of.

    Then, there was the fact that poison lingered in the very air, making its way into their bodies with every breath.

    If they stayed here for too long...

    Needless to say, Mira didn''t want to find out what would happen.

    After Mira''smand, the girls all got up and stepped out into the foggy unknown once again. Except this time, they could sense that they were close to the center of the forest.

    What existed there, they didn''t know, but they would soon find out.

 Chapter 645 The Forbidden Forest Part 4

    As the girls pressed on, the darkness surrounding them seemed to grow thicker, almost like a living entity that sought to suffocate them. The air was heavy with an oppressive atmosphere that threatened to crush their spirits, but they continued forward.

    However, Mira noticed, now that they were closer, that the malevolent aura almost seemed to flow toward the center of the forest rather than in reverse.

    ''How peculiar.'' She thought but couldn''te up with a reason why this was happening and continued marching forward, keeping this in her mind.

    By now, the fog that covered the area was almost purely poison. Nova and the other girls were shoveling pills into their mouths like mad, doing everything they could to prevent themselves from getting corrupted, but they couldn''t keep that up for long.

    Stepping over a few mushrooms, they exploded into a cloud of toxic spores, further corrupting the air around them.

    The old, ck trees oozed a nasty green substance that burned small holes into the ground.

    Even the beasts that roamed around them were coated in ayer of toxins.

    Everything was covered in poison, toxin, or venom, making it feel like they were walking on eggshells.

    Finally, they arrived near the heart of the Forbidden Forest. The epicenter of the malevolent energy they had felt since they entered was now tangible and overwhelming.

    "..W-While it was a pain in the ass to get here, it also wasn''t as difficult as I thought it''d be," Eden whispered, her voice shaky and hoarse from the might of the evil aura.

    "What we went through was just the prelude," Mira said, her eyes never leaving in front of her.

    The others were curious as to why she said that, but seeing that Mira had no intention of exining herself, they kept quiet.

    As they neared the heart of the forest, their senses picked up the presence of several Soul Transformation Realm disciples guarding the surrounding area. She masked her presence using the [Hidden World] technique, while the others also used their best concealment techniques.

    Mira signaled the group to stop and carefully observed the guards from a safe distance. Their faces were cold and ruthless, and it was clear that they would show no mercy to any intruders.

    They all wore ck robes with green belts and had skull and bone emblems on their chests, but instead, the bones were reced with a sword and sickle.

    ''The Toxic de Sect...'' Mira and the others narrowed their eyes as it seemed the rumors were true; the Toxic de Sect''s main sect existed in the Forbidden Forest.

    Knowing that a head-on confrontation would be too dangerous, Mira decided to use her Pink Tail to charm the guards. She carefully approached them, making sure to stay hidden.

    Light specks of pink Qi mixed into the fog, and after a few minutes, enough of it entered the guard''s bodies that she could control. One by one, the guards fell under her spell, their expressions softening as they lost all sense of consciousness.

    ''Ignore everything around you for 5 minutes, then return to normal.'' Miramanded through the faint connection that she formed with them.

    The disciples didn''t even stop walking and kept going about their regr business, but if one were to look closely, they''d see that their eyes were pink and zed over.

    With the guards neutralized, the girls resumed their journey deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

    As they moved forward, the thick forest began to give way to arge, ancient stone arch. The imposing structure was adorned with intricate carvings of fearsome creatures and deadly nts, giving off an eerie aura.

    Sensing countless entities ahead of them, Mira raised her hand, stopping everyone.

    ''From here on out, don''t make a noise. Just follow right behind me.'' Mira said to everyone through a voice transmission.

    ''Understood!'' The women grew serious and huddled closer to Mira.

    She used her [Hidden World] technique to the max. She was still stuck at the 5th stage, the Heavenly Connection stage, but that was more than enough to hide her presence from most cultivators.

    She could go undetected if nobody swept their Soul Sense over her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The girls moved forward, their steps light and silent as they followed Mira''s lead. The stone arch marked the entrance to the Toxic de Sect''s territory, and they knew that the danger they faced would only increase from this point on.

    Once they stepped through the arch, they found themselves in a sprawlingplex filled with ancient buildings and twisted trees. The air was thick with malevolent energy, and the ground beneath their feet seemed to pulse with a sinister rhythm.

    Mira led the group deeper into theplex, her [Hidden World] technique helping shield them from detection. The other girls followed closely behind, using their own concealment techniques to mask their presence further.

    Together, they moved like shadows, unseen and unheard by the sect members who patrolled the area.

    As they ventured further in, they couldn''t help but notice the wicked atmosphere that permeated the Toxic de Sect. Dark, twisted nts covered the walls of the buildings, and the few sect members they glimpsed seemed to be cold, pale, oddly focused, and always carrying some sort of poisonous nt.

    Clearly, this was no ordinary cultivation sect, and all the disciples had some level of poison resistance.

    Traveling through the Sect, the suffocating malevolence surrounding them made breathing difficult, and their hearts pounded in their chests as they crept through the shadows, carefully avoiding detection.

    They passed by a group of disciples who were clustered around a bubbling cauldron, their faces obscured by the hoods of their robes. The eerie green liquid inside bubbled and frothed, emitting a foul stench that assaulted their nostrils. The girls had to bite down on their lips and focus on their breathing to stifle their gag reflexes lest they draw unwanted attention.

    At another point, they came across a courtyard where hundreds of sect members were engaged in fierce 1v1 sparring matches, their movements swift and deadly as they expertly wielded their poison-coated weapons.

    The girls held their breath, praying that none of thebatants would notice their presence as they slunk past, hugging the walls of the darkened buildings.

    Their journey took them through an expanse of ancient buildings, some crumbling with age and others still eerily intact. These structures were scattered throughout the area, connected by awork of moss-covered pathways and dimly lit corridors. The air was thick with the scent of decay, and the ground beneath their feet seemed to pulse with a sinister rhythm.

    As the girls continued through theplex, they came across arge, open area that served as the Toxic de Sect''s training ground.

    There, hundreds of Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm disciples practiced their poison techniques, refining the deadly substances that were synonymous with their sect.

    Various concoctions bubbled and hissed within ss containers while the disciples carefully studied their effects on nts, animals, and even fellow sect members who volunteered as test subjects.

    The girls couldn''t help but shudder at the sight of the twisted experiments, some of which left the test subjects writhing in pain, their bodies convulsing as the toxins coursed through their veins.

    Evidently, the Toxic de Sect prioritized the mastery of their poison arts above all else, even at the cost of their own well-being.

    They also came across a medicinal garden, where disciples carefully tended to various poisonous nts, their vibrant colors belying the deadly toxins they contained.

    The garden was a twisted menagerie of deadly flora, each one more venomous than thest, and the girls couldn''t help but marvel at the array of deadly nts before them.

    As they moved on, they passed by a library filled with ancient scrolls and tomes detailing the cultivation techniques and poison forms unique to the Toxic de Sect.

    The air inside was thick with the smell of aged parchment and dust, and the dim lighting from the flickering candles cast eerie shadows on the walls.

    Mira and the others didn''t go inside, only briefly scanning some of the scrolls with their Soul Sense, but they were shocked by theplexity and dangers each technique brought, not just to the user but the victims as well.

    As they continued to sneak past the sect''s defenses, they noticed that the fog around them began to dissipate, gradually revealing a series of massive trees up ahead.

    At the heart of this grove stood an enormous, ancient tree, dwarfing the others in size and giving off an aura of immense power. It seemed as if all the energy in the area was being drawn towards this tree, making it the center point of the entire forest.

    Mira and the girls exchanged astonished looks as they took in the sight of the awe-inspiring tree.

    Still, they remained silent as up in thatrge tree, a dark, scaly creature wrapped its massive body around the branches, pulsing with unimaginable power, sucking in all the fog and malevolent energy that permeated through the air.

 Chapter 646 The Forbidden Forest Part 5

    The girls stared at the gargantuan, serpent-like creature coiled around the ancient tree. Its scales were a deep shade of ck, darker than the night, and glistened with an ominous green gleam. A malevolent and poisonous aura radiated from the creature, alerting everyone that it was the source of all the negative energy in the Forest.

    Mira stared at it with intense eyes as she felt like she''d seen something simr before in the past.

    On the other hand, the tree was used as a vessel to help control and corrupt the forest to the beast''s liking.

    Its massive roots dug deep into the earth, anchoring it to the forest floor while also sprouting endless flora from them all over the forest. Its trunk was twisted and knotted, covered in thick, thorny vines that writhed and contorted like serpents. The leaves were a deep, poisonous green, and its sap was thick and ck, oozing from the wounds inflicted upon it by those who would try to destroy it.

    ''...A Heartwood Corruptor.'' Eden silently muttered in shock through voice transmissions.

    The others looked at her inquisitively, waiting for her to exin.

    ''A Heartwood Corruptor is, as the name suggests, a parasite in the shape of a tree. It sucks up all the Qi and vitality in an area, converts it into its own dark, poisonous Qi, and redistributes it to all the living nts and animals in the area. It then takes control of everything, poisoning their minds and natural instincts so that it may leech off of them and further expand its territory. It turns everything into a toxic wastnd, including the beasts,'' Eden exined, trying to reel in her disgust.

    ''They normally don''t get this big and strong as with its ever-expanding territory and increasing cultivation, the amount of Qi it needs to survive is monumental. Not to mention, most cultivators hate these trees as they literally destroy the surrounding area. However, it seems to have entered a mutually beneficial rtionship with that massive serpent and the Toxic-de Sect, which has resulted in it covering an entire section of the mountain range.''

    Mira and the others could now partially understand why the Toxic de Sect chose to reside here. With a near-endless amount of unique poisonsing from not just the tree but all the mutated creatures and nts within the area, they can further their research and strength without having to do any sort of trading or farming.

    The tree takes care of everything for them.

    Also, due to its size and strength, weaker cultivators can''t even make it near their Sect, and stronger cultivators wouldn''t dare unless they had a death wish.

    One of the hardest things to expel, for most cultivators, is poison. Without the right pill, antidote, cultivation technique, or knowledge, walking into an area like that is no different thanmitting suicide.

    There were exceptions, such as building up a tolerance for poison or having a unique physique, but those were incredibly rare.

    Now knowing what the tree was, they turned their attention to the giant serpent.

    ''W-What is that thing?'' Seraphina whispered through a voice transmission, her voice trembling as she tried to hide her fear. Something deep in her bones told her not to approach that creature.

    The others stared at it, their bodies unconsciously trembling. They hadn''t even met its gaze, only sensing the aura radiating from it, but that was more than enough to cause them to freeze up.

    Only Mira was okay, but even she felt a rumbling in her bloodline. It was telling her that his creature wasn''t ordinary.

    ''Where have I seen that thing before?'' Something about the creature''s appearance nagged at Mira, as she was certain she had encountered something simr before.

    Searching through her mind for a moment, it didn''t take her long to find what she was looking for, and her eyes widened in realization.

    ''Fuck! That thing''s a Basilisk!'' She spat, as it seemed her luck was actual dogshit, not to her surprise.

    She remembered seeing the Cursed Basilisk outside of Quake City right before she broke through to the Core Formation Realm!

    The two beasts had slightly different auras, this one was clearly not a Cursed Basilisk, but she''d never forget the sensation the one she''d met several years ago had given her.

    She remembered only being able to run away with her tail between her legs.

    ''Even now, the situation''s not much different.'' Mira thought bitterly.

    Unlike the other Basilisk she had met, this one was much, much stronger. It was hard to tell, as it was concealing its aura, but it was at least a Rank 9 beast, most likely Rank 10. Forget about killing it, she doubted that she could even approach the thing without alerting it.

    In fact, it likely knew she was there. It just chose not to do anything.

    ''Well, even if I had the ability to kill it, I wouldn''t do something so foolish.'' Mira thought.

    Elenei had warned her of the Cursed Basilisk''s ability to not only alert all of its brethren that it died but it could also curse the target, almost ensuring they''d die a painful death.

    This one didn''t seem like a Cursed Basilisk based on its aura, but it was still a Basilisk. Who knows what sort of sick tricks it had up its sleeve?

    Mira turned to Nova and the others, her voice urgent as she transmitted a message to them, ''Girls, don''t even think about getting close to that beast unless you have a death wish. It''s a Basilisk!''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''What?!''

    ''A Basilisk?! You''re kidding!''

    ''That''s impossible!''

    Their eyes bulged with shock and terror, as if they had been suddenly plunged into a freezing abyss. Their bodies shook involuntarily, and they hastily looked away from the monstrous creature, fearing to meet its gaze.

    How could they even consider facing something that could kill them with a mere nce?

    As they instinctively backed away, desperate to put as much distance between them and the beast as possible, they felt a deep rumble emanating from the tree''s vicinity.

    An overwhelming sense of dread washed over them as they struggled to keep their eyes averted from the source of the disturbance.

    Unfortunately, it was already toote.

    A pair of luminescent green, slit-like eyes locked onto them, gleaming with a strange and menacing light. In an instant, the girls'' bodies stiffened, immobilized as though they had been turned into stone statues.

    Mira alone managed to resist the paralyzing effect, but even she could feel her mind and body struggling to withstand the immense pressure.

    Mira gritted her teeth, her heart pounding furiously in her chest as she fought against the overwhelming pressure. She nced at herpanions, breathing a mental sigh of relief, seeing that they were still alive, but wondered just how long that wouldst.

    "Why have you trespassed upon my territory, Young Fox?" A deep, ancient voice reverberated within her mind, speaking in a strange tongue she inexplicably understood.

    However, Mira didn''t have time to dwell on that mystery, as she needed toe up with an answer.

    "I-I was unaware this was your domain," she managed to say through gritted teeth.

    "Depart now that you know, Young Fox," the primordial voice dered, leaving no room for argument.

    However, how could Mira leave just like that?!

    The Celestial Nectar was so close! If she failed to obtain it now, her only options would be to either apprehend a Toxic de Sect disciple and force them to concoct an antidote for Dominique, if they were even capable, or to brave the trials of the Firmament!

    Truth be told, she would rather confront this beast than go through something as bothersome as those alternatives.

    "I... can''t..." Mira said, fighting off the pressure the Basilisk weighed on her body and soul.

    "Regrettable," the Basilisk vocalized. In an instant, it enveloped Mira and herpanions in its oppressive Qi, preparing to hurl them from the depths of the forest.

    Mira tried to defend herself with her own Qi but soon found she couldn''t budge the Basilisk''s overwhelming force.

    ''Dammit! To think that I wouldn''t even be able to put up a fight against this thing!'' Mira cursed her bad luck.

    She thought that even if she couldn''t kill it, at the very least, she should be able to escape. However, she had been too naive. Much too naive.

    The Ancient Beast Mountain Range was feared for a reason, and today she began to truly understand why.

    Her mind raced, desperately searching for a response--something that might intrigue the beast.

    Suddenly, an idea came to her. It was a very risky idea and might get her, along with everyone else, killed. But, at the same time, if she managed to pull it off, the gains would be unimaginable.

    "Wait!" Mira yelled, but the Basilisk didn''t pause.

    Leaving her no choice, she shouted, "I''m here for the Celestial Nectar!"

    "Die!" The deep voice rumbled, and the pressure on her became greater, crushing her bones and smashing her organs!

 Chapter 647 The Forbidden Forest Part 6

    The pain was excruciating, yet Mira pushed through. Gritting her teeth, not from pain but frustration, she channeled all her Qi throughout her body, trying to resist and heal the crushing force exerted by the Basilisk just enough so she could speak.

    Her eyes locked onto the monster, and before he could kill them, she shouted, "Wait! I have no intention of stealing it from you! What I want is a trade!"

    "Not interested," The Basilisk replied and continued crushing her with its might, which surprised Mira a bit. Clearly, it was more important to him than she thought.

    However, this was good.

    ''I can use this!'' Her eyes gleamed a calcting light as she thought of the right words to say.

    "Kugh!" She coughed up a mouthful of blood before speaking, "Given that this ce is so old, I''m assuming there''s a very limited quantity of Celestial Nectar, given that you''re still here! I can speed up the production of it by severalfold if you allow me to see it!"

    Now THAT caught the Basilisk''s attention.

    "Exin." The Basilisk demanded, receding some of his aura, but still kept enough of it locked on Mira and herpanions so they couldn''t pull any tricks under its watch.

    Not only was this his domain, but his prized treasurey within. If, for some reason, it was stolen right under his nose, just because he got a little cocky...

    He might truly die from anger.

    "I have a treasure that can speed up the maturity and production of nts by many times. We should be able to see results in just a few days should I nt it there. All I ask for, in return, is a small amount of it to save my disciple from a deadly poison." Mira answered as truthfully as she could while also not giving everything away.

    "Then, why don''t I just kill you now and take this treasure away from you?" The Basilisk asked as he increased the pressure on Mira''s body.

    However, she stood there, tall and confident, and stared straight into the beast''s eyes.

    "You''re wee to try."

    The meaning behind those four words was clear. He could kill her, but he wouldn''t get what he wanted. To use Mira''s treasure, she needed to be alive, which meant it was either hidden or connected to her in some way.

    However, as a long-lived Mythical beast, his experience told him it was thetter. He didn''t believe Mira would even suggest such a proposal if she didn''t have the treasure already on her.

    The Basilisk hesitated for a moment, its eyes scrutinizing Mira as it considered her proposal. It could see that she would likely do almost anything to save her disciple, but there was something in her confidence that made it pause.

    ''Her eyes.'' The Basilisk thought as he stared into Mira''s cold but determined eyes. ''She''s not afraid of death.''

    He honestly wasn''t sure what to think of that, as very few beings alive did not fear death to some degree. In fact, aside from power, longevity is one of the primary reasons people cultivate.

    There''s so much to do and see in this wide world; only those with a long lifespan could possibly explore the vastness of Heaven and Earth.

    So far, everything Mira has said has been genuine.

    If she truly had a treasure that could speed up the production of Celestial Nectar, then it would also be a boon for the beast.

    Finally, after moments of contemtion, it relented, the pressure on Mira and herpanions lessening once more.

    "Very well, I will give you a chance to prove your words. Show me this treasure and the results it can bring. I will allow you to assist me if you can fulfill your promise. But remember, any deceit will result in your death and the deaths of those around you." The Basilisk stated, his words less of a threat and more of a promise.

    Mira nodded, relieved that the beast was willing to consider her proposal. However, before she could get too relieved, there was a slight problem.

    ''I can''t take out the Firmament!''

    It wasn''t that she didn''t want to, but that she didn''t have the ability to.

    ''Oi! So-called "Guardian"! Can you iste and take out the Infinity Garden so I can show this guy?'' Mira asked her supposed protector.

    "Hey! I''m an actual Guardian, y''know!"

    Mira mentally rolled her eyes, ''Sure~ Sure~ And I''m Jesus. Now, can you quit yapping and take out the Infinity Garden? This guy might actually kill me if I take too long.''

    Mira could feel the Basilisk''s impatience growing with every second as it stared intently at her.

    "Fine," The Guardian grumbled as he looked at the Basilisk hatefully through his screen, "But only because it''d be annoying to deal with that guy."

    The Guardian waved his hand and isted the Infinity Garden in a small box. Then, he temporarily disconnected it from the Firmament and plopped it in Mira''s hands.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "There, that should be all the proof that guy needs. However, try not to keep it like that too long, as I don''t want to waste my precious energy keeping it out of the Firmament."

    Mira scoffed at his words but said nothing to refute them. For all she knew, it was costing him precious energy that he couldn''t easily replenish. She knew nothing about gods or those with simr power to them, after all.

    She held out the Infinity Garden, which fit in her palm, and extended her arm to show the Basilisk.

    "If you look inside here, you''ll be able to see numerous nts growing and reproducing at a speed perceivable to the naked eye. I''m sure you understand what that means, right?" Mira said.

    The Basilisk brought its massive head, which was taller than Mira, and inspected the tiny box in her hand. He could tell just from the aura that the treasure was insanely ancient and powerful, probably more powerful than him.

    That was enough to prove to him that Mira had indeed brought out the real thing.

    Inspecting further, he inserted his Divine Sense into the Infinity Garden and looked around. There, he saw all kinds of nts, herbs, trees, seeds, etc., growing. And true to her word, all of it happened at a speed the naked eye could perceive.

    Maybe if these were mortal nts, it wouldn''t be as big of a deal, but he noticed Mystical and Divine-ranked materials in there! If that wasn''t proof that she wasn''t lying, then he didn''t know what was!

    The thought sent a shudder of excitement through the Basilisk''s colossal body, causing the ground and nearby trees to quiver momentarily.

    ''Huhuhu~ It seems the Heavens have finally rewarded me for my patience!'' The Basilisk''s eyes gleamed as it gazed upward as if offering gratitude to the Heavens above.

    "Very well. You may apany me to myir, Young Fox. However, your friends must remain here. I do not trust them," it remarked while lifting the paralysis from Mira''spanions.

    Mira didn''t have a problem with that and immediately agreed, but she had a condition.

    "That''s fine, but can you allow them to move their bodies? We''re not exactly on the best of terms with the Sect nearby, and I''d hate for them to get captured without being able to fight back."

    The Basilisk pondered for a moment, then, with a subtle hiss and a nod, it consented to Mira''s proposal.

    "Humans and their petty wars... I wish not to get involved in their squabble." It said while dispelling the trance it had put them in.

    "Huh?"

    "Did I pass out standing up?"

    "What happened?"

    "...Uhhh.. There was a giant tree, then a serpent, and then..."

    "...A Basilisk..."

    The girls'' eyes suddenly widened, and they jumped back upon remembering the face of the giant beast that had almost killed them with a single look.

    "A Basilisk!!"

    That''s when they noticed the massive head right in front of them!

    "Fuck! It''s right there!"

    As they instinctively drew their weapons and braced themselves for a fight, Mira''s voice echoed in their ears, halting their actions before they could do anything stupid.

    "I''m going to follow this creature to itsir, where we will continue our negotiations. You girls stay here and try not to get caught by the Toxic de Sect. I don''t know how long I''ll be gone, but hopefully, I''ll be able to bring back some Celestial Nectar to give to Dominique."

    "See youter."

    With those final words, Mira ventured deeper into the heart of the forest, the trees closing in behind her and forming a protective barrier around the area.

    Left behind, Nova and the others stood in a state of bewilderment, unsure of how to process the turn of events.

    "Wh-What the hell just happened?" Nova muttered in disbelief, with the others as equally confused as her.

    "I-I... I think Mira just said she was negotiating with a mythical beast...?"

 Chapter 648 The Forbidden Forest Part 7

    Mira followed the Basilisk toward the massive Heartwood Corruptor tree. The closer she got, the bigger it seemed to be, figuratively and literally. The branches blocked out the skypletely, not letting any light in.

    It wasn''t long before Mira stood before the base of the tree with her mouth slightly ajar as she took in the fantastical sight.

    There was so much Qi swirling around the trunk that Mira felt like she was staring at a small world rather than just arge nt.

    ''I wonder what grade this could be considered.'' Mira wondered.

    Even with her sharp senses, she couldn''t discern whether it was Mystical, Heaven, Divine Grade, or something else. There was simply too much Qi.

    The fact that it didn''t technically "possess" this Qi didn''t help either. To a certain extent, the tree was just a conduit and converter for the energy. It only kept a portion for itself, sending the rest back to the inhabitants.

    ncing down, she could feel the pulsing of the roots beneath her, carrying massive amounts of Qi through the rest of the forest as if they were the veins and the trunk was the heart.

    ''I can see why it''s called a Heartwood Corruptor. It really is simr to a heart.'' Mira thought.

    While Mira was taking in the sight, the Basilisk had slithered over toward arge hole that seemed to go under the base of the tree.

    "Follow me, Young Fox, and don''t wander around."

    Mira snapped out of her thoughts and nodded, following the Basilisk, still a little confused about where it was taking her.

    As they descended into the underground chamber, Mira realized that the Heartwood Corruptor was far more than just a tree. The cavern they entered resembled an ancient forest with towering stgmites and stctites littered about.

    At the center, contrary to what Mira was expecting, was a grayish-red spherical core about the size of the Basilisk''s head pulsating with energy. All kinds ofrge roots were connected to it, sending this energy to and from the core.

    Mira was surprised at how defenseless the core was, but when she thought about the fact that a Basilisk had made this its home, she understood why.

    ''If someone can kill the Basilisk, then there''s nothing it could possibly do to defend itself.''

    "The Heartwood Corruptor''s core," the Basilisk said. "It is here where the Celestial Nectar forms."

    Mira observed the area surrounding the Heartwood Corruptor core, noticing the small, luminescent flowers that bloomed under it. She could sense the malevolent energies being absorbed by the flowers and transformed into something she could only consider "pure", "holy", or "positive".

    In the center of these flowers was a small pool of golden liquid, which she assumed was the Celestial Nectar. Just looking at that liquid and inhaling its intoxicating, fruity scent cleared her mind of negative thoughts.

    However, what Mira found strange was that the Celestial Nectar wasn''t nearly as energy-dense as the rest of the forest. Rather, the Qi contained within it felt less dense than the normal atmospheric Qi outside of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    Curious, Mira asked the Basilisk, "What are these flowers, and what exactly is Celestial Nectar?"

    "These flowers are Harmony Blossoms," The Basilisk said, wiggling its massive 200-meter-long body into this underground cavern. "If the energy produced by the Heartwood Corruptor is considered impure and corrupt, then the Harmony Blossoms turn that into something pure. The product of that conversion is the Celestial Nectar."

    "Then, is it true that the Celestial Nectar can cure any poison?" Mira asked, but the Basilisk hissed and shook its head.

    Mira frowned deeply, but before she could say anything, the Basilisk exined, "While it can cure most mortal poisons, its job is to cleanse one of impuritiesa�"to return one to their peak state."

    That was a very vague exnation, but Mira understood what he was trying to say.

    Pure and impure were rtive terms. Poison could be just as pure as the cleanest pond, but when mixed into the pond, it would kill everything in it. However, if Celestial Nectar were dropped in the pond, it would clear it of all the poison, returning it to how it was before.

    No, it would be even better than before.

    ''I see. So, that''s why I don''t feel much energy from it.'' Mira thought as she stared at the golden liquid.

    The effects of the Celestial Nectar were determined by how it was used and what it was used on.

    ''However, doesn''t that make this a...''

    "Is this an Origin-Grade treasure?" Mira asked, her eyes widening slightly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Basilisk was slightly surprised to hear Mira''s question before it nodded, "That''s right, Young Fox. It is indeed an Origin-Grade treasure."

    "Then, as a mythical beast, why do you need this Celestial Nectar so badly? I''m sure your bloodline can''t get any purer. Even if it could, I think you''d need something stronger than this to improve it."

    The Basilisk nodded, "You aren''t wrong, Young Fox, but you aren''t necessarily right either."

    Mira tilted her head, not sure how she was wrong.

    The Basilisk sighed at Mira''s ignorance and exined, "It''s true that it has little effect on my bloodline, but what if I''ve been absorbing it for thousands of years? What if I''ve been helping this little tree grow to its current size so that I could create more flowers and higher-quality nectar? Lastly, what if I never intended to use this to purify my bloodline but to evolve into another beast entirely?"

    Mira''s eyes widened in shock, realizing the depth of the Basilisk''s n. It had been nurturing the Heartwood Corruptor and cultivating the Celestial Nectar for tens of thousands of years, all in pursuit of an even greater goal a�" evolution.

    She knew that seemingly all beasts sought evolution to return to their ancestor''s original forms. However, other than Elenei, who was forced by circumstances, she hadn''t met another mythical beast that strived for such a thing.

    They all seemed content with who they were, or rather, they understood that their evolving went against the will of the Heavens.

    Just take the Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolf race as an example.

    "This... wouldn''t you anger the Heavens should you seed?" Mira asked.

    The Basilisk thought for a moment before shaking its head, "I don''t think so."

    "Hmm? Why?"

    "I say evolution, but it''s more like transformation. I don''t want to be a higher form of a Basilisk, but a different beast entirely. One that represents both sides of Yin and Yang rather than just the former."

    "...And what do you want to transform into?"

    "A Taotie."

    Mira fell silent upon hearing that. Truthfully, she wasn''t sure what to make of the Basilisk''s words, nor did she know anything about a Taotie.

    She knew it was a beast in Chinese mythology known for its gluttony, but that was about it. It was sometimes depicted in its duality of Yin and Yang, but from what she could remember, it was more often seen as a creature on the Yin side.

    However, she had never heard any mention of a Toatie while in the cultivation world.

    Still, this information was enough for Mira to understand the Basilisk a bit more, as well as its future ns and ambitions.

    "I see," Mira said thoughtfully. "So, you''ve been using the Celestial Nectar to umte enough ''pure'' energy to transform yourself into this unique beast."

    "Correct, Young Fox," The Basilisk confirmed, "I''m feeling the limitations of my current body, and I want to change before I ascend to the Immortal Realm. The Celestial Nectar,bined with my own efforts, has brought me to the verge of this transformation. There are still quite a few years left until I''ve gathered enough Celestial Nectar toplete my evolution, but your treasure can speed that up while also ensuring that nothing goes wrong."

    "A lot can happen during those years, after all."

    Mira nodded, understanding the Basilisk''s underlying meaning.

    ''He''s saying that although I''m useful, he doesn''t need my help.'' It was both affirmation of their deal and a threat, letting her know he wouldn''t mind killing her should she make a wrong move.

    "Enough chit-chat." The Basilisk shook her out of her thoughts, "Use your treasure to speed up the production of Celestial Nectar. Once I see that it works, I will allow you to hand over a few drops to your friends to return to your disciple. But you will not leave this spot until I have received enough for my breakthrough."

    Mira wanted to speak up and tell him that she couldn''t stay that long, that she had other responsibilities.

    However, before she could open her mouth, his previous words crossed her mind, and she understood she didn''t have a say in this deal. She can either agree to the Basilisk''s terms and secure the Celestial Nectar to save her disciple or seek an alternative solution.

    ''Ah, fuck it. I can just use this time to train and cultivate. It shouldn''t take longer than a few months with the Infinity Garden, probably sooner.''

    "Very well. Let''s get started." Mira walked over and began cing Harmony Blossoms inside the Infinity Garden.

 Chapter 649 The Forbidden Forest Part 8 (End)

    Mira only ced a single Harmony Blossom inside her Infinity Garden to start, just so the Basilisk could see that she wasn''t stealing any.

    They watched with rapt attention as, about a minuteter, a golden drop fell from one of the petals onto the ground and was stored in an empty pond off to the side.

    Mira''s eyes widened as she was not expecting it to produce Celestial Nectar so quickly!

    ''Doesn''t that mean that each flower produced about a drop per day?'' She looked at the thousands of flowers around her and wondered just how much Celestial Nectar this Basilisk needed!

    Simultaneously, the Basilisk was just as surprised as Mira about the rate of production!

    "Your treasure has a 1000:1 time dtion? You didn''t mention that, Young Fox." Its deep voice,den with shock, rang inside her mind.

    Mira just shrugged, not willing toment. It might be able to kill her with just a few ps, but that didn''t mean she had to give in to its every whim, nor was she going to.

    Seeing that Mira was unwilling to answer, the Basilisk snorted.

    "Very well, keep your secrets. Anyways, this is a good thing." He dropped the matter, returning his focus back to the Infinity Garden.

    The two sat there for another half an hour, watching the Harmony Blossom produce Celestial Nectar about every minute.

    However, after the first few minutes, they noticed that the drops had continuously gotten bigger and were more energy dense.

    Mira wasn''t too surprised about this as that was another one of the Infinity Garden''s perks. It didn''t just speed up production, it also enhanced the nts inside it.

    Encouraged by the results, Mira carefully ced more Harmony Blossoms inside the Infinity Garden, ensuring she didn''t disrupt the existing ones. As the number of blossoms increased, so did the rate of Celestial Nectar production.

    Initially wary of Mira''s actions, the Basilisk soon realized the benefits of her actions and rxed. It had to admit that the young fox''s treasure was indeed extraordinary, and it would help it gather the necessary amount of Celestial Nectar much faster.

    As the amount of Celestial Nectar increased, Mira was about to take it out and hand it to the Basilisk, only for him to tell her off.

    "There''s no need to hand over that minuscule amount. I still need thousands of times that amount. Just hand it over to me every few days."

    Mira nodded and went back to cing more Harmony Blossoms into the Infinity Garden.

    While she was busy doing that, the Basilisk released a strand of Qi and gathered a fist-sized amount of Celestial Nectar. He brought it over to Mira and handed it to her.

    "As per our deal, I will give you the necessary amount to heal your disciple. Given that she''s probably weaker than you, this should be enough to bring her to full health."

    Mira nodded and epted the Celestial Nectar before putting it in a container.

    "I''ll hand it to mypanions so they can deliver it to my disciple." She said, not wanting to waste any more time for fear that Dominique''s health had worsened.

    The Basilisk didn''t have a problem with that and nodded.

    Mira left behind the Infinity Garden and dashed out of the hole toward where she felt Nova and the other''s presence. They were hiding in the thick underbrush, staying away from the beasts and hiding from the Toxic de Sect, but Mira noticed theirplexions didn''t look too good.

    All of them were pale, including Rayna, and she could see that small traces of poison had worked their way past the pills into their bodies.

    As Mira reached herpanions, she wasted no time exining the situation and handed over the container filled with Celestial Nectar to Nova.

    "Take this to Dominique," she urged, her voice tinged with concern. "It should be enough to heal herpletely."

    Nova nodded, grasping the container tightly in her hands. "I''ll make sure she gets it right away," she replied, determination shining in her eyes.

    "I''ll have to stay here for a bit longer, but you don''t have to worry about my safety. As long as I fulfill my end of the bargain, the Basilisk won''t harm me." Mira said.

    However, she left out the parts of her deal with the Basilisk. They didn''t ask either.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They doubted Mira agree to anything that would be harmful to her.

    Still, Eden and Seraphina couldn''t help but worry.

    "But... what about after you fulfill the deal? What''s stopping him from killing you, then?" Eden asked, a little unwilling to just leave Mira alone in a massive beast''sir, in enemy territory no less.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed slightly, but it was not like she hadn''t thought of that.

    "While nothing is certain, I doubt he''d kill me even after everything." She muttered, but Eden wasn''t satisfied with that answer.

    "How do you know? He''s a giant, mythical beast, Mira! Who knows what''s going through his mind!?"

    Eden made a good point; she really didn''t know the thoughts of the Basilisk. However, if he really were that kind of beast, he certainly wouldn''t have left her so free, nor would he allow Nova and the others to leave.

    She may not be able to leave the forest, but other than that, her movements weren''t restricted.

    ''Then, there''s the fact that he definitely sensed my bloodline. People with bloodlines at our level don''t just pop out of nowhere. If he''s not an idiot, he won''t attack me carelessly.'' Mira thought but didn''t feel the need to say that out loud.

    Elenei had warned her about attacking and killing cursed Baslisks a while ago. Mira didn''t know much about mythical beast societies but assumed that their rtionships weren''t the worst. At least based on what Elenei had told her.

    If that''s the case, the Basilisk won''t attack her for something trivial like this.

    ''Once he evolves, he shouldn''t be too far away from ascending to the Immortal Realm. All that''s left for him is to travel to the Central Continent. This is a very sensitive time for him, one that he wouldn''t want to spend getting chased to the ends of the earth because he killed someone he shouldn''t have.''

    Mira casually ignored how the Basilisk almost killed her not even an hour ago. However, even then, she could feel his reluctance.

    With his level of power, if he wanted to crush her, it would take little more than a wack from his tail to turn her into a meat paste. There was no need for him to take so long.

    "Just trust me. I''ll be fine," Mira smirked, showing off her confidence, until she noticed their bodies worsening.

    "But you guys won''t be fine if you stay in this forest any longer."

    Eden, Seraphina, and the others exchanged worried nces, knowing Mira had a point. The toxic environment of the forest was taking a toll on their bodies, and they couldn''t afford to stay much longer.

    "We understand," Eden reluctantly agreed, concern still evident in her voice. "We''ll take the Celestial Nectar to Dominique and report our findings to Sect Master Aelina. But promise us, Mira, that you''ll join us as soon as you can. We still have a war to win, after all."

    Mira released a predatory grin, showing off her canines, "Don''t worry about that. How can I die before the Crimson yer Sect falls? Rather, it''s you guys who should worry more about yourselves."

    Eden, Seraphina, and the others couldn''t help but smile at Mira''s words, now feeling a bit better about this situation.

    "Alright, we''ll take your word for it," Seraphina said, her eyes gleaming. "We''ll make sure to take care of ourselves and Dominique. We''ll be waiting for you back at the Sect, Mira."

    Mira nodded.

    With that, Nova led the girls out of the Forbidden Forest, making their way back to their sect to deliver the Celestial Nectar to Dominique and inform Sect Master Aelina of their findings.

    Mira returned to the Infinity Garden, continuing to ce Harmony Blossoms within it to produce Celestial Nectar for the Basilisk. After some time, she was able to collect almost all of the Harmony Blossoms and ce them inside.

    However, she left a few outside for the Basilisk to keep, just in case something went wrong. Mira didn''t care since the amount he left as a contingency was nothingpared to what she had ced in the Infinity Garden.

    Now with nothing to do, Mira sat down and began cultivating. It''d been a while since she''s done that.

    She''d gathered an enormous amount of Qi after thest battle with the Crimson yer Sect that she hadn''t been able to resolve.

    ''Let''s explore the intricacies of the Nascent Soul Realm and figure out how I''m supposed to break through to the next stage!'' She thought and swept her consciousness through her body, keeping one eye on her core and another on her soul.

 Chapter 650 Breakthrough

    Her soul was still mostly covered in darkness, just like when she had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm. A small ice hill reached the edge of the darkness, and an illusory, infant version of herself sat holding a scythe on that hill.

    The infant had its eyes closed as if it were sleeping, but tremendous amounts of energy were pumped through its body every moment to sustain its existence. The presence of this darkness, the ice hill, the earth underneath it, and the infant within her soul raised questions about the very nature of her being.

    A soul is, at its very core, the essence of one''s existencea�"both physical and metaphysical.

    It is an objective view of who you are, not who you or anyone else believe you to be. At the same time, it is also a view into one''s fate. A fate that they both can and can''t control.

    This is often represented in the manifestations that appear during the three Soul Realms in the Mortal Cultivation system.

    For example, if a soul was ck on the outside but white on the inside, it could mean that the person had a good, inner moral code, but they failed to portray that in their actions. Should they fail to realize that disconnect, they may limit their cultivation potential.

    Of course, it could also not mean that. The soul is very intricate; through the cultivation realms, one is supposed to explore those intricacies to learn more about themselves.

    The Nascent Soul Realm is when this process first begins.

    The primary objective of the Nascent Soul Realm is to gain a deeper understanding of oneself; to explore one''s desires, needs, aspirations, powers, and chosen path in life. It is a journey of self-discovery, where cultivators seek to grasp the essence of their own Dao.

    The Dao is an essential concept in cultivation and represents the fundamental principles guiding one''s life and the natural order of the universe. Cultivators can harmonize their existence with the world around them byprehending one''s Dao, thus enhancing their powers and overall growth.

    The Nascent Soul is a personified version of oneself that has taken on a spiritual form. It''s a direct connection to the soul that allows one to peek into the objective mysteries within oneself.

    It''s often ssified as a bridge between the body, Qi, mind, and soul.

    However, right now, Mira''s Nascent Soul isn''t what''s important. Rather, Mira was deeply intrigued by the miniature world that had taken shape within her soul and the significance of the various elements it contained.

    Mira had some ideas about why her soul looked the way it did, but at this point, they were only that: ideas.

    ''I should be able toe to my own conclusions after I break through to the 2nd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.'' Mira thought and immediately began circting the overflowing Qi in her body ording to her cultivation technique.

    She didn''t know if she had enough Qi stored to break through to the 2nd Stage, but it was worth a shot.

    The Qi in her body surged through her meridians, scattering to every fiber of her being before heading toward her soul. From there, it split off into four different paths; one went to her Nascent Soul, one went to the World Core, another sent energy into her soul as a whole, and thest went into her scythe.

    The World Core absorbed the most energy by far.

    As Mira cultivated, the Nascent Soul perched atop the ice mountain and opened its eyes. The moment it did, a wave of profound enlightenment washed over her!

    It felt like she was simultaneously experiencing two different perspectives, her own and an outsider''s, providing her with a unique and extraordinary insight.

    As small as it might be, the Nascent Soul stood up and stared into the darkness, her scythe grasped tightly within its tiny hands.

    The Nascent Soul''s empty eyes seemed to shine with life as it lifted the scythe and shed at the darkness!

    "Ugh!" Mira grunted in surprise, not expecting any pain, but it felt like someone had jabbed a sword into her brain and began wiggling it around.

    Still, Mira gritted her teeth and kept circting her cultivation technique.

    The Nascent Soul didn''t stop swinging the scythe around, digging its way into the darkness. However, each swing caused Mira more pain than thest, and drops of blood trickled down her eyes as she bore the self-torture.

    Once the Nascent Soul had excavated a portion of the seemingly tangible darkness, it hopped off the hill.

    Raising its hand toward it, the World Core thrummed as a torrent of Ice Qi left the Nascent Soul''s hand, increasing the hill''s size and density. In addition to that, the Earth and Magma beneath her feet also trembled and increased in density, as if they were improving themselves to uphold the weight of the hill on top of them.

    Afterward, the Nascent Soul hopped back atop the hill and began excavating more of the darkness with Mira''s scythe.

    However, in this second round, Mira found a few odd things.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    First, she didn''t understand why the Nascent Soul had to "remove" the darkness when it was literally a part of her. The Nascent Soul should be able to walk right through it, but instead, it acted as if it were a tangible substance. Meaning there was more to the darkness than she originally thought.

    Lastly, what the Nascent Soul did chop up didn''t actually disappear. It merely merged with the rest of the darkness, increasing its density and toughness.

    ''Why is that?'' Mira wondered, ''What does that mean? What am I missing? Does it have something to do with the fact that my path forward is shrouded in darkness, and all I can do is cleave my way through?''

    Several different theories entered Mira''s mind, but no matter what she thought of, she couldn''te to a concrete answer.

    All she knew was that the Nascent Soul Realm she was experiencing was very differentpared to what was normal. Instead of it being an inner exploration, it was more like a test of some sort.

    Mira frowned slightly, ''The main problem is that I seem to be experiencing both the Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm at the same time.''

    From what she understood about those realms, that was the best conclusion she coulde to. Whether or not she had to go through the Soul Transformation Realm after all this was unknown, but Mira wasn''t worried about that.

    If she did have to go through something akin to the Soul Transformation Realm again, that was fine with her. It just meant more power in the long run. If she didn''t, that was also fine since she didn''t have to waste her time going through another 9 cultivation stages.

    ''I guess I''ll just have to wait and see the differences when I reach the 2nd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.'' Saving those thoughts forter, Mira went back to cultivating.

    The Nascent Soul kept ripping apart the darkness above it, making room for it to increase the size of the ice hill.

    This went on for hours as Mira used up all the Qi she had absorbed from the battle with the Crimson yer Sect.

    Before long, the Nascent Soul seemed to reach an impasse as it stopped attacking the darkness. The ice hill was muchrger and denser than before, and the Nascent Soul had grown as well.

    Now, it looked to be around a year or two old rather than a newborn.

    The darkness still epassed around 80% of her soul, but this time, there was something new.

    Above the Nascent Soul, drops of water fell on it. However, this wasn''t simple water.

    Each droplet seemed to contain the weight of an elephant.

    The Nascent Soul, seemingly understanding the purpose of these heavy droplets, allowed them to hit the ice hill.

    As each droplet made contact with the hill, the ice shook and cracked slightly.

    However, instead of being damaged, the ice seemed to be even more resilient after each impact, as though the droplets were tempering it.

    The process continued for some time, and as the ice hill grew stronger, it was able to withstand the weight of the droplets with ease.

    Eventually, the droplets no longer caused cracks in the ice, and they began to pool together, forming a small stream that flowed gracefully along the hill''s surface.

    This stream of water, infused with immense power, meandered through the ice, further strengthening it and imbuing it with new properties.

    The Nascent Soul watched attentively, making sure that the stream was well-controlled and didn''t cause any harm to the ice hill or the world within her soul.

    *Crack!*

    A sound akin to shattering ss echoed within Mira''s mind. In the wake of that, a whirlwind of Qi materialized above her head, voraciously absorbing the energy from the surrounding area and even siphoning some from the Heartwood Corruptor.

    This Qi entered her core and spread out to the rest of her body before heading for her soul, where things began to change.

    Her Nascent Soul gradually developed, resembling a child of around 3 or 4 years old. Simultaneously, the grade of her scythe improved significantly, and the overall quality of her soul experienced a notable enhancement.

    Mira''s power and aura continued to climb until there was an explosion of Qi, and she officially stepped into the 2nd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!

 Chapter 651 Leaving The Forbidden Forest

    While Mira was cultivating inside the heart of the Forbidden Forest alongside the Basilisk, Nova, Rhydian, and the other girls quickly left the area.

    They tried to be just as careful and sneaky as they were when they first entered the forest. However, now, they were on a bit of a time limit.

    Their faces were pale and green veins began to show on the outside of her skin, proof that the poison was slowly invading their bodies. Even Rayna, who had an affinity for poison, was struggling. Albeit, she faired much better than the others.

    The group moved in silence, their footsteps barely making a sound on the forest floor. Each of them remained on high alert, their eyes darting from one shadow to the next, ears straining to catch any signs of the Toxic de Sect disciples.

    Nova and Rhydian led the way, their eyes sharp and their movements deliberate.

    Rhydian''s senses were much stronger than the rest, so it only made sense for her to lead. Although she was a giant wolf, that didn''t mean she couldn''t be stealthy. The Forbidden Forest was filled with dense amounts of foliage, and the foggy atmosphere also helped to cover her.

    With Rhydian at the front, she could avoid most traps or surveince systems that the Toxic de Sect had put up. Though most of those were to prevent unwanted beasts from entering the Sect, so they weren''t all that hard to spot or avoid.

    Nova also helped to spot the various arrays spread around the Sect.

    While they were creeping along on the outskirts of what they assumed was the Inner Court, she spotted a series of tiny, glinting crystals embedded in the tree bark, part of a surveince array. Nova pointed that out to the rest of them, and they worked to avoid it so as not to bring unwanted attention to themselves.

    The other girls followed closely behind, their hearts pounding in their chests. They knew that a single misstep could spell disaster, that one moment of carelessness could lead to a deadly confrontation.

    One that they didn''t intend to have. At least not before they arrived back at the Battle Maiden Sect.

    However, just as they were about to leave what they believed to be the Inner Court of the Toxic de Sect, Rhydian stopped and gave Nova a look that said, "There are people ahead."

    ''People iing!'' Nova sent a voice transmission to the other girls.

    They all stopped and held their breaths, not wanting to make a sound, as they soon heard the crunching of leaves beside them.

    "Have you heard the newstely, Junior Brother? Apparently, the Sect Master visited the Crimson yer Sect earlier," one of the disciples said, their voice tinged with a hint of disdain.

    "Really? I thought that was just a rumor," A second disciple said in surprise.

    "Nope! It actually happened! I heard one of the Core Disciples talking about it when I passed by."

    "Damn!" The second disciple clicked his tongue, "Do you think Sect Master Cyrus is trying to drag us into his war with the Battle Maiden Sect?"

    The first disciple shrugged his shoulders, but the disdain in his eyes increased, "Most likely. Why else would they talk? Those mindless blood-hungry apes probably lost the first battle against the Battle Maiden Sect and are beginning to understand that you don''t poke a sleeping dragon."

    "...You must have a high opinion about the Battle Maiden Sect, Senior Brother."

    "Of course I do! It would be foolish not to! Regardless of their beliefs, any Sect that hassted as long as ours deserves to be respected. And the Battle Maiden Sect has withstood the test of time, perhaps longer than our Sect. You should remember that well, Junior Brother, should we ever have a conflict with them."

    The second disciple nodded with a thoughtful expression before he suddenly asked a question.

    "Then, Senior Brother... Do you believe we''ll join the war with Crimson yer Sect?"

    "..."

    The Senior Brother paused for a moment, frowning as he fell into thought. A few secondster, his frown deepened, and he nodded, "I think there''s a high possibility that such a scenario may happen."

    The Junior Brother''s expression fell, as he had no interest in joining a war! He just wanted to stay in the forest, study poisons, improve his cultivation, build up more immunity, and learn more about alchemy!

    Why should he join some ridiculous war that the Crimson yer Sect started?!

    "Why? Why do you think that we''ll join the war?" The Junior Brother said after taking a few deep breaths.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Well, besides being part of the same faction, we sell and distribute our poisons to all the Unorthodox Faction Sects. We even sell them to people outside the Faction! With how difficult poison is to deal with, the oue can be devastating if used inrge-scale settings like this war. I think that, eventually, after the Crimson yer Sect uses enough of our poisons, we''ll end up being drawn into the fight whether we like it or not. Perhaps, the Sect Master was visiting Cyrus for this very reason."

    The Junior Brother was awed by his Senior Brother''s foresight and stared at him as if he had stars in his eyes.

    The Senior Brother coughed, feeling a little embarrassed by that look, and increased his pace.

    "Anyways, don''t take my words to heart. Who knows what the Sect Master may be nning? Hell, maybe we''ll join forces with the Battle Maiden Sect should things turn south!"

    As the footsteps receded, the Nova and the others exhaled in relief, silently thanking their luck for remaining undiscovered.

    However, just as the two disciples were about to disappear, the Senior Brother paused, turning to the bushes where Nova and the girls were hiding. The Senior Brother''s eyes suddenly narrowed, as he could''ve sworn he felt multiple pairs of eyes on him.

    Eyes that shouldn''t be there in the first ce.

    "Who''s there?!" He shouted, his voice booming through the forest. He spread out his Soul Sense and immediately found six presences hiding in the forest!

    "Intruders!" He shouted and shot toward them with the intent to kill. He couldn''t believe that people were hiding in their Sect and nobody even knew!

    The girls exchanged panicked looks before making a split-second decision. They all rushed towards Rhydian, who had transformed back into her full, giant wolf form.

    Climbing onto her back, they held on tight as Rhydian took off at full speed, bursting through the underbrush.

    The Toxic de Sect disciples quickly realized that intruders were in their territory and gave chase, shouting for reinforcements.

    "Fuck! How did those people get here?! No, before that! How are they even alive!?" The Senior Brother shouted as he chased after them.

    He couldn''t determine who they were, their genders, or their affiliations, as he could only see them for a split second before they ran off. However, he knew that they were strong, as the speed at which they shot through the forest was faster than him!

    Rhydian''s powerful limbs propelled her forward at an incredible speed, leaving the pursuing disciples far behind. With her heightened senses, she navigated the treacherous terrain with ease, avoiding any traps or pitfalls that might slow them down.

    As they raced through the forest, Nova and the others clung to Rhydian''s fur, their hearts pounding in their chests.

    "Head for the sky, Rhydian! With your speed, we should be able to escape before they can even realize we''re gone!" Nova shouted, to which Rhydian nodded.

    The giant wolf looked up into the canopy of trees and channeled a dense amount of Fire Qi into its mouth! A momentter, she spat out a beam of molten fire, which melted everything in its path, creating an opening for Rhydian to fly through!

    Using her hind legs, she pushed herself off the ground!

    *BOOOOM!!*

    The immense force behind her kick generated a miniature crater beneath her feet. This incredible disy of strength propelled her skyward at a velocity surpassing the speed of sound, and her eleration continued to increase with each passing moment.

    Nova could sense multiple strong presences following behind them and urged Rhydian to speed up.

    "Faster, Rhydian! Faster! We can''t let their Mortal Shedding Realm elders catch up!"

    Rhydian nodded and surrounded herself with Wind and Lightning, increasing her speed by several folds.

    Meanwhile, Eden worked on creating them more aerodynamic with her Wind affinity while also giving Rhydian a boost in speed. The others each did their part to ensure that they didn''t get captured by the elders of the Toxic de Sect as well.

    In just a second, they had traveled a thousand kilometers but weren''t out of the woods yet. Those in the Mortal Shedding Realm weren''t to be underestimated and didn''t feel like battling one to the death right now.

    So, using even more of their Qi, they continuously provided Rhydian with enough assistance until the Battle Maiden Sect appeared within their sight.

 Chapter 652 Return To The Battle Maiden Sect

    After what felt like an eternity of flying at breakneck speeds, Nova and the others finally saw the familiar sight of the Battle Maiden Sect looming on the horizon.

    As they neared the Battle Maiden Sect, and feeling that they had lost their pursuers a while ago, the girls breathed a collective sigh of relief.

    "Haaa... We''re finally out of that god-forsaken ce," Eden said, taking in multiple deep breaths of the crisp, refreshing air. With each breath, she could feel the coolness filling her lungs, rejuvenating her senses and revitalizing her spirits.

    Poison still lingered in their bodies, but now that they were no longer in that wretched forest and were back at the Sect, they weren''t worried about any longsting effects.

    "When wend, Rayna and Everly, you two follow me to report to the Sect Master. We''ll let Eden and Seraphina heal Mira''s disciple."

    "Alright," Everly said, while Rayna just nodded with her usual indifferent expression.

    Seraphina and Eden also agreed with Nova, as they were the only ones in the group who knew any healing techniques in case something went wrong.

    Rhydian descended gracefully,nding in the Outer Court right next to Mira''s residence. Due to Rhydian''srge body and immense presence, the girls could feel multiple eyes on them, each having varying emotions within them, but the most prominent was shock.

    Nova and the other''s appearances weren''t good. They were all disheveled, pale, and sickly-looking, making everyone wonder what had happened to their Sect''s top disciples!

    However, there was no time to exin what happened as they had urgent matters to attend to. Thankfully, nobody tried to stop them.

    Nova hopped off Rhydian''s back, taking a moment to catch her breath before motioning to Everly and Rayna to follow her. The trio began to fly up the mountain toward Aelina''s residence, knowing it was crucial to ry the information they had discovered.

    Meanwhile, Eden and Seraphina arrived at Mira''s residence, walking toward Dominique''s room.

    Upon entering the room, they found Dominique lying on her bed, her face pale and her breathing shallow. Her condition had worsened since Mirahadst seen her, and it was clear that the poison was taking its toll.

    Hana was sitting next to the bed, reading something, trying to distract her mind from the worsening Dominique.

    Just as Eden and Seraphina were about to step forward and introduce themselves to Hana, they suddenly felt a chilling gaze that made every hair on their bodies stand on end, causing them to leap back reflexively.

    They were on the verge of drawing their weapons to confront whatever monster had fixed its attention on them when, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the unsettling gaze vanished. Puzzled, the two exchanged wary nces, their hearts still racing.

    ''What on earth was that?!'' They screamed in their hearts.

    Now nervous about approaching the room, the two just stood there, contemting their next actions. Luckily, they had caused enough of a ruckus for Hana to look up from whatever she was reading.

    "Are you two Mira''s friends?" Hana asked while scooting a bit closer to Elenei and Dominique. Mira hadn''t introduced Nova and the others to Hana or Dominique yet, so she didn''t know who they were.

    However, since Elenei didn''t react, Hana assumed they must be rted to Mira. Suddenly, she saw Rhydian peeking her head from behind them and causing her to lower her guard. She believed that Mira''s "pet" wouldn''t let in anyone who wanted to harm her or Dominique.

    "A-Ah... Ahem! Y-Yes, you could consider us Mira''s friends," Eden coughed lightly, pushing down the anxiety from that terrifying gaze.

    "My name''s Eden."

    "...And my name is Seraphina."

    Hana''s eyes lit up, and her face broke into a hopeful smile. "Mira told me about you! She said you were on a mission to find something that could cure Dominique. Did you... did you find it?"

    Eden smiled gently, trying to ease the young girl''s worries as well as her own. "I''m sorry that we''re the ones toe here instead of Mira, as she''s a little... caught up in something. But yes, we found a powerful elixir called the Celestial Nectar and believe it can heal Dominique."

    After saying that, she nced at the weird serpent-like beast on the bed, wondering if the gaze she had felt earlier hade from that. However, she couldn''t feel any auraing from it.

    ''Am I still shaken from meeting that Basilisk? Am I starting to imagine things now?'' Eden wondered, then immediately shook her head.

    ''No! Seraphina felt the gaze too! It''d be one thing if only I were going crazy, but for it to happen to both of us...'' Eden felt the need to keep an eye on Elenei, believing that her intuition was right.

    After taking a few deep breaths to gather her bearings, Seraphina also stepped forward and added, "You''re Hana, right? Mira may have mentioned you in passing, but I didn''t know you actually lived here with her."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Hana''s eyes went through a multitude of emotions before a slight frown formed on her face.

    "...It''s not like I have much of a choice." She grumbled, but one could see that she wasn''t truly mad or upset at Mira. However, her words caused Seraphina to raise an eyebrow.

    "Hmm? What do you mean by that?"

    "Ah! No! It''s nothing." Hana shook her head. Then her expression changed when she remembered what Eden had just said.

    Looking at the beautiful, young elf in the eyes, she walked up and grasped her hand, "You said you had a Celestial... something... that could help Dominique, right?! Then please hurry up and save her! It hasn''t been long since she''s been poisoned, but her condition gets worse every day!"

    Eden looked into Hana''s worried eyes and squeezed her hand gently, reassuring her. "We will do everything in our power to save Dominique. Just trust us."

    Hana nodded, her eyes brimming with hope and gratitude. "Thank you."

    Eden and Seraphina prepared themselves and approached Dominique''s bed. Eden carefully extracted the Celestial Nectar from its container while Seraphina readied her Qi to help with the process.

    "We''ll need to administer it slowly, allowing her body to absorb it at a steady pace," Eden exined.

    As Eden began feeding Dominique the "medicine", Seraphina channeled her Qi to help the girl integrate the healing liquid throughout her body. Hana sat by Dominique''s side, holding her hand, wanting to be there when she woke up.

    "Will this really save her?" Hana asked, her voice filled with both hope and fear.

    Seraphina nodded confidently. "The Celestial Nectar is rumored to be able to cure any kind of poison. We don''t know whether those rumors are true, but since a Basilisk was guarding it, there has to be some truth to those statements."

    Although Hana wasn''t satisfied with that answer, she knew that Mira wouldn''t send them here with something useless. So, she could only wait for the results to prove whether or not she was telling the truth.

    Dominique''s pale face gradually regained color as they continued with the treatment. The shallow,bored breaths she had been taking became steadier, and her body seemed to rx, indicating that the Celestial Nectar was indeed taking effect.

    However, that wasn''t all it was doing.

    The potent Celestial Nectar was purging her body of all its impurities, causing tremendously beneficial transformations within her.

    Her meridians, which had been partially obstructed due to the poison, began to clear, allowing her Qi to flow more freely. Her muscles and bones strengthened, and her senses sharpened. Even her brain, reaction speed, and all auxiliaryponents were being strengthened and filled with energy.

    Of course, this was just an illusion of "improvement", as the Celestial Nectar wasn''t directly enhancing Dominique. It just allowed her full potential to be realized.

    Eden marveled at the changes, realizing that the Celestial Nectar was even more potent than they had initially thought. "This is incredible," she whispered, her eyes wide with astonishment. "Dominique''s body is undergoing aplete transformation."

    Seraphina nodded, equally amazed. "It''s almost as if she''s being reborn. The Celestial Nectar is truly a treasure."

    They''d be lying if they said they weren''t a little jealous, but they didn''t dare covet even a drop for themselves.

    Getting on Mira''s bad side was thest thing any of them wanted, even more so now that she was in the Nascent Soul Realm.

    If they wanted any semnce of a peaceful life, treating Dominique sincerely was the best thing they could do.

    Hana watched the transformation with tears of relief and joy in her eyes. She knew that Mira and her friends had risked everything to save Dominique, and seeing her friend''s condition improve made her heart swell with gratitude.

    "Thank you," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "Thank you so much."

    Eden and Seraphina exchanged nces, sharing a moment of quiet satisfaction.

    However, things weren''t over yet, as they could tell that there was still quite a bit of poison left in Dominique''s body.

    "Alright, don''t get too emotional yet. Save that for when she actually wakes up, and all the poison is out of her system." Eden stated before focusing on feeding Dominique more Celestial Nectar, watching her condition steadily improve by the second.

 Chapter 653 Healed

    As Eden and Seraphina continued administering the Celestial Nectar, Dominique''s condition improved at a rapid pace. The poison guing her body waspletely flushed out, rejuvenating and strengthening her.

    During this remarkable process, a dense concentration of Qi enveloped Dominique, seeping through her pores and coursing vigorously through her meridians. This energy revitalized her entire being, reinforcing her bones, meridians, blood vessels, organs, muscles, and every other aspect of her body, even her brain.

    The astounding transformation granted her unprecedented strength and vitality that should be almost impossible for someone at her cultivation.

    However, what truly surprised them was the fact that Dominique''s cultivation didn''t increase despite therge amounts of Qi entering her body. It was as if the energy was filling in the gaps of Dominique''s base foundation that she didn''t even know shecked.

    Over time, her body subtly expanded to amodate this newfound energy, and her appearance began to transform. Her bones creaked as they grew, and her muscles tore and regenerated, adjusting to her developing physique.

    Hana, Eden, and Seraphina watched in awe as Dominique evolved from a cute child into a breathtakingly beautiful adolescent right before their eyes.

    Her ocean-blue hair gained an additional sheen, her skin became immacte, and the outlines of well-defined muscles emerged beneath its surface. Her facial features grew more angr, bestowing her a captivatingly sharp countenance.

    Underneath her eyelids, Dominique''s eyes, previously dulled by the effects of the poison, now gleamed with a newfound brilliance. She had transformed into an awe-inspiring figure, her aura continuously rising.

    However, that wasn''t the end of Dominique''s transformation.

    After the Celestial Nectar removed all the poison and impurities from Dominique''s body, bringing her to her full potential, Qi circted through her meridians again. Except for this time, her cultivation experienced a remarkable increase!

    She shot through the Qi Condensation Realm and reached the peak in one go as if the sub-stages didn''t exist.

    Yet, that still wasn''t the end.

    Her meridian began to integrate with her body further, allowing her Qi to flow more smoothly throughout her body. This process happened quickly, as if it were the most natural thing.

    Normally, this would require intensive focus from the cultivator and would be a very personal thing, but Dominique didn''t seem to need that. The Celestial Nectar flowing through her body had soaked its way deep into her existence, allowing for a smooth, natural breakthrough.

    More and more Qi gathered around Dominique and soaked into every fiber of her being, causing her body to bloat. Once Dominique had reached her limit, the Celestial Nectar wrapped itself around the Qi, absorbing it, removing any impurities, and then pumped out highly condensed Qi into her body!

    *BOOM!*

    A muffled explosion happened inside Dominique''s body, signifying that she had sessfully broken through to the Foundation Realm.

    However, her seemingly endless breakthroughs weren''t over yet!

    Qi continuously poured into her body, increasing her cultivation and strength, all while Dominique absorbed the rest of the Celestial Nectar Eden had brought with her.

    *BOOM!*

    *BOOM!*

    *BOOM!*

    In the span of just a few minutes, she broke through another few times before things finally settled down. By the end of it all, she was now at the Peak of the Houtian Stage in the Foundation Realm, ready to break through into the Xiantian Stage at any moment.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t go any further as this half of the Foundation Realm was more delicate and personal than the Houtian Stages.

    Hana, Eden, and Seraphina stared in shock at the young woman before them. The transformation Dominique had undergone was nothing short of a miracle. Not only had her appearance changed, but her cultivation had skyrocketed, reaching a level far beyond what they could have anticipated.

    Rather, they didn''t even expect her cultivation to increase! They just thought that the Celestial Nectar would cure her of the poison, and maybe she''d reap some benefits from this disaster if she was lucky.

    But this... this...

    As Dominique''s breathing finally stabilized, Eden turned to Seraphina, her eyes wide with amazement. "I knew the Celestial Nectar was amazing, but this... this is beyond anything I''ve ever seen."

    Seraphina nodded in agreement, her own disbelief evident on her face. "It didn''t just cure her but dispelled all impurities from her body, practically giving her a perfect physique for cultivating! It''s not wrong to say she went from a slightly above-average kid to a prodigy!"

    Hana was at a loss for words. She had hoped and prayed for Dominique''s recovery, but she could never have imagined such a result. Her heart swelled with gratitude and joy, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes as she looked upon her transformed friend.

    "Thank you," she whispered once more, looking at Eden and Seraphina with immense gratitude. "I don''t know how to repay you for what you''ve done."

    Eden smiled gently, feeling a sense of fulfillment. "There''s no need to repay us. We''re just d that we could help."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Seraphina nodded in agreement. "As long as Dominique is safe and healthy, that''s all that matters. If there''s anyone you should thank, it should be Mira. We''re just the messengers, really."

    Hana nodded, agreeing that she should do something to thank Mira. Still, she couldn''t discredit Eden and Seraphina''s efforts.

    Grabbing their hands, she looked at them with pitiful eyes full of gratitude, "I know, but still, Mira isn''t here right now. If it weren''t for you two, who knows what might''ve happened to her!"

    Eden and Seraphina felt a bit burdened by Hana''s gaze, as they really hadn''t done that much. If anything, they felt they were more of a burden on their journey into the Forbidden Forest than anything else.

    Though, given that Mira was stuck in the forest with a mythical beast watching her every move, they understood that if she went alone, then her journey would''ve been for naught.

    What good is receiving a treasure if she can''t even bring it back to the person who needs it most?

    "W-Well... I-If you want to express your thanks that badly, you could always put in a good word for us with Mira. Maybe even ask her if she has any leftover Celestial Nectar." Seraphina scratched the back of her head awkwardly and said.

    "Seraphina!" Eden scolded, embarrassed that her friend would even ask a little girl to do something like that.

    "What?" Seraphina shrugged, "Don''t tell me you also don''t want a vial of it after seeing that? It''s not like I want to strong-arm or ckmail Mira into giving me some! I just want the leftovers! Even a drop would be fine!"

    Eden face-palmed at Seraphina''s shamelessness, but she couldn''t rebuke her. She''d be lying if she said she didn''t want a sample of Celestial Nectar after having witnessed Dominique''s transformation.

    Any item that could rid the body of impurities was a treasure in the cultivation world, especially one as effective as the Celestial Nectar.

    While it might not be useful to people who already have no impurities, it''s nothing short of a godsend for those who do.

    Neither Eden nor Seraphina thought it would increase their cultivation as it did for Dominique, but if it could deepen their foundation, it was more than worth it.

    "...Sure, I can do that," Hana said with a slightly ufortable expression. "However, whether or not she''ll listen to me is a different story."

    Seraphina was more than satisfied with that answer, while Eden just hung her head low, too embarrassed with this situation.

    With the crisis resolved, the atmosphere in the room lightened considerably. Hana''s previous anxiety dissipated, reced with a warm, grateful smile that never left her face.

    A few minutester, Dominique''s eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. The brilliant blue orbs, now filled with an indescribable depth, scanned the room, taking in her surroundings. Her gaze finallynded on Hana, who was watching her with tears in her eyes.

    "Hana...?" Dominique whispered, her voice soft and melodious, like a beautiful song.

    Hana nodded, choked with emotion. "Yes, Dominique. It''s me."

    Dominique''s eyes widened in surprise as she looked down at her own body, feeling the incredible power coursing through her veins. "What... what happened to me?"

    "It''s a long story," Seraphina finally said, giving Dominique a gentle smile. "But the important thing is that you''re healed now. The poison is gone, and your body has beenpletely transformed."

    Dominique looked over, and upon seeing the unfamiliar woman, she unconsciously backed up in a defensive position, but she ended up using too much power and broke part of the bed.

    "...What?" Dominique looked at her fists in shock and confusion, wondering when she got so strong.

    Suddenly, she felt a small, gentle hand rest upon hers.

    "It''s alright, Dominique." Hana said, trying to calm her friend down, "These two are acquaintances of Mira and are the ones who healed you! They''re not enemies!"

    "...Mother?" Dominique said, causing Eden and Seraphina to unknowingly tense up.

    ''What the hell?! Mother?! I thought she was just Mira''s disciple!'' They both screamed internally, shocked but also secretly d that nothing had gone wrong.

    ''No wonder Mira was so hell-bent on saving Dominique. So, she was her child!''

    Dominique looked around the room, looking for Mira, but frowned when she didn''t see her.

    Turning back to Hana and ''Mira''s acquaintances, she asked, "...Where''s Mother?

 Chapter 654 Reporting To Aelina

    While Eden and Seraphina were dealing with Dominique, Nova, Everly, and Rayna had just finished briefing Aelina about their time in the Forbidden Forest.

    On Aelina''s normally unreadable face, a slight frown hung upon her lips as she thought about their story. While tapping the armrest of her chair, her gaze sharpened, and she stared at the girls in front of her, looking for any signs of deceit. She even used a sliver of Qi to examine their minds and bodies to ensure they weren''t brainwashed.

    However, her frown deepened when she found that they were fine other than a poison slowly being expelled from their bodies.

    After a few moments of silence, Aelina spoke up in a somewhat skeptical tone, "...So, you''re saying that at the center of the Forbidden Forest is a Basilisk?"

    Nova nodded.

    "...And that Mira made some sort of deal with this Basilisk for a bit of Celestial Nectar?"

    Nova nodded again, cold sweat starting to form on her forehead.

    "...To top it off, not only is a massive Heartwood Corruptor at the center of the forest, but the Toxic de Sect has made this ce their home."

    "D-Don''t forget that we heard the Sect Master of the Toxic de Sect was meeting with the Crimson yer Sect." Nova chimed in, feeling like this point was more important to the Sect as a whole.

    "..."

    Aelina''s lips parted, staring at Nova speechlessly, wondering if she happened to enjoy repeating bad news. Shaking her head of useless thoughts, she asked them, "Was it just the Crimson yer Sect he was meeting with? Or is there someone else involved? For example, maybe the Shadoe Necromancer Sect."

    "No, Sect Master." Everly stepped up, shaking her head, "We didn''t hear anyone mention anything about the Shadow Necromancer Sect, or any other Sect for that matter."

    Aelina nodded thoughtfully and didn''t pursue the topic anymore.

    "Then... do you know what sort of deal Mira made with the Basilisk? Or perhaps when she ns on leaving?"

    Nova and Everly looked away, embarrassed.

    "T-That... I''m sorry, Sect Master, but as soon as it looked at me, I froze. I can''t recall anything that happened after that." Nova stuttered.

    "T-The same goes for me, as well, Sect Master! I don''t know what happened, it was almost like I suddenly died for a few minutes then came back to life." Everly said, the fear of facing such a monster still etched into her bones.

    Although Aelina was a bit disappointed, she understood that they didn''t stand much of a chance against an old mythical beast.

    However, just as she was about to nod, Rayna quietly spoke up, "...I believe I heard her mention a treasure that can speed up the maturation of nts."

    Aelina froze for a split second, her eyebrows twitching, before her head shot over to Rayna in surprise.

    "Who did you hear say that? Mira?" She hurriedly asked to which Rayna nodded.

    "Haaa..." She slumped in her chair and sighed. However, on the inside, she was screaming.

    ''Dammit! My herbs!'' Aelina almost forgot that Mira had a lot of her high-grade herbs that still needed more time to mature, along with so many more. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that Mira was a walking Sect right now with how many herbs she had on her.

    ''I swear, if that damn Basilisk thinks about doing anything to Mira or taking my herbs...! I''ll drag that bastard out of his hole and make sure he doesn''t have another day of peace!'' She bit her cheek to calm down as she realized that maybe leaving everything in Mira''s possession wasn''t the smartest idea.

    ''But what else can I do? Such a treasure is too amazing not to use. Even that Basilisk entered into an agreement with her!''

    Aelina took a deep breath, regaining herposure. "I see," she said with a calm voice, hiding the turmoil within. "It seems that we have quite a few matters to deal with."

    Nova, Everly, and Rayna nodded in agreement, knowing the importance of the information they had just provided.

    "We''ll have to put off attacking the Toxic de Sect anytime soon, given that they reside in a natural barrier. Not to mention they have a Basilisk ''guarding'' them. If we make too much noise, we might disturb it." Aelina thought out loud before she muttered:

    "...Hopefully, Mira can form a good rtionship with it to give us a major edge in this war."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Everyone''s expression fell after Aelina said that.

    Mira? Form good rtionships with someone?

    Fat chance!!

    Hell will freeze over before Mira decides to be nice to someone!

    They''d be more than satisfied as long as she doesn''t cause the thing to have a blood feud with the Battle Maiden. No, they''d be satisfied as long as Mira came back in one piece.

    "Haaa... Come on. Do you guys really think so low of Mira? From what I''ve seen so far, she''s a rather intelligent woman. She wouldn''t be so stupid as to anger the beast, would she?" Everly sighed and asked aloud.

    Aelina gave the woman a deadpan re, causing her to shrink away.

    "You underestimate Mira''s ability to make enemies. Just her existing seems to cause most people to hate her, much less when she opens her mouth." Aelina spoke with confidence. After Mira''sst adventure outside the Sect, Aelina felt like the sky might copse should she allow Mira out again.

    That''s how much trouble she managed to cause. In such a short amount of time, as well!

    "...I should probably start increasing the Sect''s defenses just in case an angry Basiliskes knocking at our doors," Aelina muttered, half-jokingly, as she doubted a mythical beast would be so petty that it would cause trouble for them even if Mira were the one at fault.

    However, she wasn''t one to rely on "what-ifs". If there was even a hint of a possibility of a Basilisking over, looking to ughter, then she had to be prepared for it.

    "Is that really necessary, Sect Master?" Nova asked.

    Aelina looked at her, thought for a moment, and chuckled. Shaking her head, she said, "No. Not really. What can any of us do in the face of such a beast?"

    The three breathed a sigh of relief as they wanted nothing more to do with the Basilisk.

    But before they could be too rxed, Aelina said, "However, that doesn''t mean we shouldn''t heighten our defenses. The Toxic de Sect is an ancient and powerful organization. They might not have the greatest individualbat power or cultivation, but their unique poisons make them annoyingly deadly individuals."

    "Back in my day, most of the disciples rigged their bodies to explode in a poisonous mess should they die. That way, they can avenge themselves. Truly a bunch of pests, even until the end." Aelina frowned, just thinking about those times.

    She almost kicked the bucket on more than one asion whenever she had to fight against them. The problem with fighting them was that entering a melee duel just didn''t work. All of their weapons were poisoned, their aura was toxic, and even their breath smelled like a donkey''s ass!

    While she tried to avoid them as much as possible, back then, they were much more rampant and unruly than they are now. She''d almost always see them when she was out searching for lucky encounters, and she''d almost always have to fight them.

    Nova and Everly felt chills run down their spines, d that they didn''t face any of them head-on without fully understanding their capabilities. While Rayna kept a neutral expression on her face, not fazed by this information at all.

    However, if one were to look closely, they''d notice that the veins on her hands were more visible than they were before, but unfortunately, nobody saw that. After a split second, she returned to normal as if nothing happened.

    "Anyways, you three just go back and rest. Thank you for reporting everything to me. I''ll talk with the Elders about what we should do going forward and how we should prepare for the Toxic de Sect''s inevitable involvement. I''ll call for you when I need you." Aelina said, chasing them away, as there was a lot she needed to do and not enough time to do it.

    The three understood that and gave Aelina a bow before heading down the mountain toward their homes to rest.

    "Speaking of Mira, I wonder if Eden and Seraphina were able to heal her disciple." Everly pointed out, causing Nova to stop for a moment.

    "Hmm... You''re right. I almost forgot about that," She muttered before she resumed walking, except this time in a slightly different direction.

    "We might as well check in on them to make sure everything went smoothly."

    Everly didn''t have a problem with that and followed after Nova, along with Rayna, who just decided to go with the flow.

    With that, the three of them their way toward Mira''s residence.

 Chapter 655 Departures

    As Nova, Everly, and Rayna entered Mira''s residence, they were met with the scene of Eden and Seraphina sharing stories of their journey in the Forbidden Forest to a beautiful adolescent child with shiny ocean-blue hair.

    Sensing their approach, Eden and Seraphina looked over, smiled, and waved.

    "Nova, Everly, Rayna! How was your meeting with the Sect Master?" Seraphina asked.

    The three of them walked over and joined Hana, Dominique, Eden, and Seraphina before Nova answered.

    "It went as you would expect."

    "Did the Sect Master give us any orders?" Eden chimed in and asked.

    Nova shook her head, "No, she just told us to rest and wait. It seems she has to factor the Toxic de Sect into her ns."

    Eden figured that''d be the case and didn''t ask any more questions.

    Since there were no problems, Seraphina stepped up and decided to introduce Dominique to everyone.

    "You might''ve already realized it by now, but this beautiful young woman is Dominique, Mira''s daughter!" She said so casually as if it wasn''t a big deal.

    "Nice to meet you, Dom...inique..." Nova was about to shake Dominique''s hand but stopped halfway, realizing that Seraphina''s words seemed off.

    Creaking her head toward Seraphina, she saw the woman snickering. Ignoring that, she shakily asked, "W-What did you just say?"

    "You heard me."

    "B-But, you just said..."

    Interrupting Nova, Seraphina finally burst outughing and eximed, "Yup! She''s Mira''s daughter!"

    "...H-How?"

    That was all Nova asked, but the emotion behind that one word told Seraphina everything she needed to know, which only caused herughs to be louder.

    "Apparently, Mira picked her up a few years ago and took her in as a disciple. Dominique here sees Mira as her adoptive mother, but it seems it''s not reciprocated." Eden exined.

    Nova released a sigh of relief as that sounded more like the Mira she knew. However, the fact that Mira even picked up a child is definitely out of character.

    If there''s one thing she knows about Mira, it''s that she''s a demonic woman who can''t sit still. Of course, she knows more than just that, but those two characteristics don''t exactly coincide with what she''d consider motherhood.

    Turning her attention back to Dominique, she scanned the girl up and down. She had a forced smile and was in a defensive posture, yet her eyes were calm and clear. Nova felt the aura of a newly ascended Foundation Realm cultivator but didn''t take it to heart, just thinking that the Celestial Nectar allowed her to break through.

    It was a treasure guarded by a Basilisk, after all. If it couldn''t even make someone in the Foundation Realm breakthrough, then how good could it really be?

    However, other than that, she didn''t spot any anomalies. Not even any signs of poison.

    "She seems... normal?" She said aloud skeptically.

    That in and of itself was a bigger mystery than the fact that Mira had an adopted daughter. She figured that anyone who Mira raised would certainly turn out to be a demon in disguise!

    "Of course, I''m normal!" Dominique eximed, having enough of the inspection. "It''s not like Mother forced me to kill-ahem, never mind..."

    Everyone looked at Dominique strangely after she said that, making her even more embarrassed than she already was, but she wouldn''t be Mira''s disciple if she weren''t thick-skinned.

    "Anyways, it''s not like she forced me to kill without my consent!"

    ''So, she still made you kill people?'' Nova couldn''t help but think while examining Dominique from head to toe again, making sure she hadn''t gone crazy from the poison.

    Dominique straightened herself up, the embarrassment fading from her face. "I chose to follow Mother''s path willingly. I knew what she was like before I asked to be her disciple. Rather, it''d be weird if I didn''t. It''s not like she tries to hide her personality."

    The others agreed with Dominique''s words. One of the reasons they were fond of hanging around Mira despite her obvious ws was the fact that she was honest about almost everything. She still had her secrets, but everyone did, including them.

    However, they felt Mira would never stab them in the back. At least, not if they did so first.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In this cruel, power-driven world, finding someone you can trust your back to is more valuable than any treasure.

    While Mira might be cruel to her enemies, she was... equally cruel to her allies, if not more so. Nova and the others haven''t experienced Mira''s training sessions yet, so they wouldn''t know, but Maria, Dominique, Cine, and Hana can attest that they were nothing short of torture.

    In fact, some were literal torture sessions!

    However, every time they trained with Mira, they became physically or mentally stronger.

    "I want to be like Mira! I want to be able to face the world unperturbed by the wind and rain! I want to be able to sweep away all of my enemies as if they are specks of dust! I want to explore this world and everything it has to offer! I knew what I was getting into when I asked her to train me, but that''s exactly what I wanted. Someone who will push to keep going even in the face of death!" Dominque dered, her eyes lit aze.

    Mira wasn''t just a mother figure to her. She was a mentor, a trainer, and at the end of it all, her destination. What that meant, exactly, she wasn''t sure. All she knew was that she had to catch up to Mira.

    What else could they say after such a bold deration? The surrounding women couldn''t help but stare at Dominique in awe.

    As Dominique''s eyes shone with determination, the atmosphere in the room shifted. The women nced at each other and couldn''t help but feel motivated by Dominique''s spirit.

    "Dammit! I''m going to go train!" Everly shouted and turned around to leave, "I have a feeling that psycho fox is training right now, even in the presence of that monster! If I don''t start cultivating right now, she might actually catch up to me!"

    Since Dominique was fine, Everly didn''t have any reason to stay. She wasn''t that close to Mira to be interacting with her "daughter". She just saw her as a valued teammate and a potential rival.

    Though, that "potential" part is starting to fade away.

    Rayna also didn''t feel the need to stay either. She gave Dominique a deep, silent look, which caused the girl to shiver before turning around and flying off into the distance.

    Now, it was just Nova, Eden, and Seraphina, but they also looked like they were about to leave.

    "I have to admit that Everly is probably right. Knowing Mira, she would definitely be bold enough to cultivate in a Mythical Beast''s presence." Nova sighed, unsure of whether her conjecture was a good thing or not.

    ''Probably not.'' She mused before pushing that thought aside and refocusing on Dominique.

    "Anyways, it''s good to see that you''re healthy. I''m sure Mira would also be happy to know you made a full recovery and that all her hard work paid off, but I should get going too. I just stopped by to make sure Eden and Seraphina did their jobs properly."

    "Oi!"

    "Hey!"

    Nova ignored them and also flew up in the sky, waving down at the ground, "It was nice meeting you, Dominique." With that said, she also flew off into the distance.

    Now, it was just Eden and Seraphina left with Dominique. They exchanged nces, knowing they should follow suit and continue their cultivation. However, they couldn''t just leave without saying their goodbyes.

    Eden smiled warmly at Dominique, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Dominique. You''re a strong and determined young woman, and I''m sure you''ll achieve great things. I look forward to witnessing what you''re capable of."

    Seraphina nodded in agreement, her previous teasing demeanor reced with genuine admiration, "Yeah, you''ve got a bright future ahead of you, especially after absorbing so much Celestial Nectar. But do try not to get poisoned again. I''d prefer never to return to the Forbidden Forest again if I had a choice."

    "I''ll keep that in mind." Dominique chuckled.

    "We''ll try and visit if we have time in the future, but..." Seraphina said, but before she could finish, Dominique interjected.

    "It''s fine, I understand. Don''t worry about it. Also, did you forget that I''ll probably be busy for a while as well, stabilizing my cultivation?" Dominique waved her hand dismissively.

    Seraphina and Eden both nodded in understanding and soon took to the skies, following their teammates'' examples. They waved their goodbyes to Dominique before disappearing into the distance.

    Dominique watched them go, feeling a mix of gratitude and loneliness as they left her behind. Taking a deep breath, Dominique looked up at the sky, feeling the wind brush against her face.

    ''I miss Mother.''

    Fortunately, she still had Hana and-

    Before she could finish that thought, a melodious voice entered her mind.

    "I need to leave as well."

 Chapter 656 Eleneis Adventures Part 1

    High in the sky outside the Battle Maiden Sect, a unique, arm-length creature soared gracefully. With a serpentine body covered in vibrant red scales, each adorned with blue crystals in the center of them and had a shimmering silver outline.

    The creature''s wings were a blend of feathery crimson and icy white, creating a striking contrast against its scales.

    A gust of hot and cold air swirled around it as it spread its wings, leaving a beautiful trail of ice and ash behind her.

    Naturally, this was Elenei, who had just left Dominique.

    Now that Rhydian was back, there was no longer a reason for her to stay with the child. The two weren''t well-acquainted with each other either, as they hadn''t interacted much, if at all.

    Since Rhydian was back to take care of Dominique in case something happened, she could finally leave and fully explore her new body!

    ''First, let''s test out my physical strength!''

    That was what she was the most excited about. While her body might''ve been strong when she was just a Frost-Fire Phoenix, it couldn''t bepared to a Dragon''s. However, that''s not to say that she was weaker, just that her body was. Her prowessy in other areas.

    However, now that she was a perfect fusion of both a Dragon and a Phoenix, she knew that things were bound to be different.

    Elenei''s eyes gleamed with desire as she flew away from the mountains, looking for suitable prey down below.

    It took her some time, but eventually, she discovered an expansive in with sparse trees scattered throughout the area. Numerous beasts, ranging from Ranks 1-5, walked thend causing a smile to creep up on Elenei''s face.

    ''Finally!'' She thought as she dived down onto the ground, ''Let''s see how I fair against beasts at these Realms!''

    Just based on cultivation alone, these beasts were supposed to be many times stronger. She hadn''t even begun cultivating and was still considered an "ordinary" animal. Most of the time she spent with Dominique was her trying to understand her body''splexities and future cultivation path.

    Landing on the ground with a thud, Elenei dashed toward the nearest beast, which just so happened to be a Rank 1 Earthbound Boar.

    While it wasn''t much stronger than an ordinary animal, it was a beast that prioritized defense more than anything else, having thick skin and hard bones.

    The Earthbound Boar, sensing the sudden presence of a potential predator, instinctively bristled its coarse fur and hunkered down, preparing to defend itself. This might''ve worked against other beasts in the prairie. However, little did it know that Elenei was no ordinary adversary.

    Elenei, exhrated by the prospect of testing her newfound strength, charged toward the Earthbound Boar with astonishing speed. Her eyes burned with delight as she closed the distance between them in a matter of moments.

    As she reached the unsuspecting boar, Elenei coiled her serpentine body andshed out with a swift and powerful strike. The force behind her blow was so tremendous that it sent small shockwaves rippling through the air, which caused the surrounding grass to tremble.

    The Earthbound Boar had no time to react as Elenei''s powerful strikended squarely on its head. In an instant, the boar''s defenses, which it prided itself on, crumbled like they were nothing more than a brittle piece of pottery.

    Elenei''s w sunk deep into its skull, turning its brain to mush and killing the beast instantly before its body flew several meters away, crashing into the ground with a heavy thud.

    A sense of satisfaction filled Elenei as she observed the lifeless body of the Earthbound Boar.

    ''Hmm~ I thought I controlled my strength fairly well there, but it seems I''m still not used to this new body of mine yet.'' Elenei mused, ''Or it could be that Rank 1 beasts are simply too weak for me.''

    Shrugging, Elenei left behind the corpse of the Earthbound Boar to move on to stronger, more desirable prey.

    A minuteter, she locked onto her second target, a Rank 2 Ironhorn Bison, arge beast with a thick hide and enormous, curved horns. The creature noticed her approach and snorted aggressively, pawing at the ground as it prepared to charge.

    Elenei smiled predatorily, weing the challenge as she allowed it time to prepare.

    Unconsciously circting Qi through its body, the Bison enhanced itself as it charged at Elenei like a raging bull!

    *MOOOOO!*

    It roared, lowering its horns to try and skewer the serpent-like creature.

    Elenei stood still, intending to meet its charge head-on!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Just as the Bison reached her and was about to jab its horns into her body, Elenei jumped toward its head. Whipping her tail around, Elenei smashed its head in, feeling the crunch of its bones on her scales.

    However, even though the beast had its head bashed in, it was somehow still alive.

    "MOOOOOO!" It fell to the ground, crying in pain.

    Elenei didn''t even look at it, just kicking it with her hind leg to finish the job.

    ''It seems that even a Rank 2 beast can''t stop me. Though, that''s not exactly surprising.'' Elenei thought sarcastically.

    She would be too ashamed to call herself a Draco-Phoenix if she couldn''t even handle a glorified cow.

    ''I wonder how far up the Ranks I can go without any cultivation or relying on my innate abilities.'' Elenei didn''t know, but she was eager to find out.

    Elenei''s thirst for a challenge was ignited, knowing that things would be a bit more challenging from Rank 3 onwards. As someone who sat at the top of the food chain for so long, she naturally had very few enemies.

    Even the potential enemies she did have could never hope to kill her.

    ''Haaa...'' She sighed, trying to contain her excitement. ''It''s been a long time since I''ve felt this way.''

    Trying to prevent a smirk from forming, Elenei ventured further into the ins, her eyes scanning thendscape for a more formidable opponent.

    It wasn''t long before she spotted a Rank 3 Razorback Panther, a creature known for its powerful muscles and sharp ws that could tear through armor, crouching in one of the few trees in this grasnd.

    The panther, sensing Elenei''s approach, bared its fangs and growled menacingly, its body tense and ready to strike. Elenei, however, was unfazed.

    ''Come! Let''s see how strong you really are, little kitten.'' Elenei mocked inwardly as she stuck her nose up at the panther.

    Perhaps sensing her disdain, the panther''s growls grew more ferocious before suddenly pouncing on Elenei. Dodging its attack with ease, Elenei seized the opportunity, propelling herself forward with the help of her wings tond on its neck.

    From there, Elenei wrapped her serpentine body around its neck, constricting it with incredible force.

    The panther struggled in vain, its ws swiping desperately at Elenei''s scales. But Elenei''s grip was unyielding, and before long, an audible crack resounded throughout the area, and the beast fell limp, its body hitting the ground with a thud.

    Elenei looked off into the distance, a satisfied smirk ying on her lips. ''Even a Rank 3 beast was no match for me,'' she thought. ''I wonder how much further I can go? Do I have enough strength to cross the wall separating Rank 5 beasts from Rank 6?''

    Elenei ignored the corpse, eagerly setting her sights on an even more daunting challenge. Something that might make her put in a bit more effort!

    After a bit more walking, she soon came across a Rank 4 Thunderhoof Stag, a hulking creature with a muscr body, long, powerful legs, and a set of impressive antlers crackling with electricity. Its eyes sparkled with an electric blue hue that conveyed both its intelligence and ferocity.

    The Thunderhoof Stag let out a thunderous bellow as it spotted Elenei, and the two locked eyes in a fierce stare-down. The air between them seemed to crackle with tension as they prepared to engage in battle.

    In an instant, the stag charged at Elenei with incredible speed, its antlers emanating streaks of lightning. Elenei deftly dodged the initial charge, her body twisting and contorting as she avoided the stag''s deadly antlers.

    The Thunderhoof Stag, undeterred, quickly changed direction and charged once more, its hooves thundering across the ground like rolling thunder. Elenei met the charge head-on, her body coiling andshing out with a swift and powerful strike.

    Her talons found their mark, shing through the stag''s thick hide and causing it to stagger back, blood pouring from its wounds. With a final, desperate effort, the stag unleashed a powerful burst of lightning from its antlers, aiming directly for Elenei''s head.

    Elenei, however, was faster. She twisted her body, evading the deadly bolt by a hair''s breadth, and closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Her ws sunk deep into the stag''s neck, and with a single, brutal motion, she severed its spine.

    The Thunderhoof Stag fell to the ground, defeated. Elenei descended, her heart pounding with exhration. She nced at the Stag, finally feeling that she was fighting beasts that were around her level.

    ''Now, let''s see if I can take on a Rank 5 beast!''

 Chapter 657 Eleneis Adventures Part 2

    The sun was now setting, casting an orange hue across the sky, as Elenei stood before a massive Rank 5 beast, a Terracore Goliath Bear.

    ''An Earth-Grade Bloodline, huh?'' Elenei mused as she stared at the waking beast. ''Now, this might give me a challenge!''

    She couldn''t help but be excited at the thought of facing a powerful foe, one that might force her to go all out!

    Roused from its slumber, the Terracore Goliath Bear slowly stood up on its hind legs, reaching a height of over 5 meters tall!

    The Terracore Goliath Bear''s eyes glowed with an eerie yellow light, and it emitted a low growl, warning Elenei of the imminent battle.

    However, she couldn''t help but feel excitement surging through her veins.

    pping her wings, Elenei shot up to a height just above the bear''s head and looked down at it arrogantly.

    Her gaze seemed to say, ''What? Do you really think that just because you''re big, you deserve to look down on me like that?''

    Roused by the arrogance of the small creature before it, the Terracore Goliath Bear lifted its head and released a thunderous roar.

    "ROOOOOOOOAAAAR!"

    Elenei covered her ears with her wings, her gaze filled with irritation.

    ''Was that really necessary?''

    With a powerful charge, the Terracore Goliath Bear lunged at Elenei, its massive paws raised, ready to strike. Elenei, unafraid and ready to test her limits, coiled her body and prepared to meet her opponent head-on.

    The two creatures shed, their powerful strikes sending shockwaves rippling through the ground. However, the bear''s paw mmed into Elenei''s entire body, sending her crashing into the ground!

    Due to the size difference and weight behind its attack, the bear was actually able toe out on top of the exchange.

    Looking down, it nced at Elenei arrogantly before letting out another roar.

    After the dust cleared, Elenei shot up from the ground, uninjured. Besides a few scrapes on her scales and some ruffled feathers, she was fine.

    ''You think you''re the only one with power behind your attacks?'' Elenei thought, a fierce grin spreading across her face. She prepared to strike byunching herself into the air with a powerful beat of her wings.

    The Terracore Goliath Bear tracked her movements, its eyes narrowing as it calcted her trajectory. Elenei, sensing the bear''s intention, adjusted her flight path, unpredictably darting from side to side, making it difficult for the bear to predict her movements.

    With a burst of speed, Elenei charged toward the Terracore Goliath Bear from above, her talons extended and ready to strike. The bear, reacting quickly, swiped at her with its massive paw, attempting to deflect her attack. However, Elenei was prepared for this and dodged the bear''s counter, stabbing her talons into its shoulder, leaving deep gashes in its flesh.

    Ripping chunks of flesh out as she hopped off its body, the Terracore Goliath Bear roared in pain, swiping at Elenei in a blind fury.

    Elenei swiftly retreated to the sky, narrowly avoiding the bear''s frenzied attacks.

    Narrowing her eyes, Elenei stared at the wound on its should, frowning slightly.

    ''I only caused such a small wound after using so much power? Is it because of its size, or is its bloodline better than I originally thought?''

    From their initial sh, she could tell that while the bear might be a bit stronger than her, it wasn''t by much. However, if that was the case,nding such a clean blow should''ve done more damage.

    ''It must be because of the size difference.'' Elenei thought, remembering the times she watched those Immortal Dragons fight.

    Some of them were sorge that they were about the same size as a small city! Naturally, they wouldn''t care about a few scrapes. In fact, even if they lost their tail, it hardly affected them.

    Just their scales were over 2 meters thick. Thus, unless someone of considerable size and power approached them, everyone else was nothing more than an ant.

    Now, Elenei understood what it meant to be that ant facing a giant.

    ''Tsk! And to think some people think size doesn''t matter. What a bunch of liars!'' She grumbled.

    While Elenei was in the air, annoyed, the bear was busy roaring in frustration! It kept trying to hit Elenei, but she was too high up! Left with no other choice, it let out a low growl before mming its front paws on the ground, causing it to split open!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Massive rock pirs shot up toward Elenei, attempting to impale her in mid-air, but Elenei quickly regained her senses. She dodged the rock pirs with incredible agility, her body weaving through the deadly obstacles as if she had anticipated their appearance.

    As the rock pirs continued to rise, Elenei realized that the bear''s Earth-Grade Bloodline wasn''t just about its physical prowess but also about manipting the earth itself.

    Using her superior speed, Elenei swooped down toward the bear, dodging the remaining rock pirs with ease. She decided to target the beast''s legs, aiming to limit its mobility and take away its ability to summon more earth attacks.

    Elenei tucked her wings in as she neared the ground, increasing her speed even further. Just before she reached the bear, she extended her talons, shing at the tendons in its hind legs with lethal precision. The Terracore Goliath Bear roared in agony as its legs buckled, forcing it to its knees.

    Elenei didn''t waste any time, immediately darting back into the sky to avoid any potential counterattacks. She watched as the bear struggled to regain its footing, its legs trembling under its enormous weight.

    ''Size might matter, but it also has its drawbacks,'' Elenei smirked. She knew she had the upper hand with the bear''s limited mobility. Circling around the beast, she looked for another opportunity to attack.

    Once she found another opening, she dived back down, resuming her hit-and-run techniques. It was already a disgrace that such a beast had actually swatted her out of the sky like a fly. She wasn''t going to allow such a thing to happen again.

    However, the bear wasn''t like the other trash she faced. It was intelligent to know its life was on the line and to try ande up with a counter.

    It swung its meaty paws at Elenei, hoping to send her flying, but its movements were toopared to hers.

    Ripping out more chunks of flesh, Elenei shot back into the sky before repeating this process.

    Their battle was a blur of fur, scales, and ws as they darted across the ground, each trying tond a decisive blow on the other. Elenei''s previous opponents had been unable to withstand her power, but this Terracore Goliath Bear was proving to be a much more challenging adversary.

    As they fought, the Terracore Goliath Bear''s Earth-Grade Bloodline came into y, manipting the earth below to its advantage. Chunks of rock covered its back and feet, giving it an additionalyer of protection.

    With a guttural growl, the bear stomped on the ground, sending a wave of tremors in Elenei''s direction. Caught off guard, Elenei struggled to maintain her bnce as the earth beneath her shook violently. Seizing the opportunity, the bear charged at her, moving faster than she had anticipated.

    Elenei barely had time to react, dodging the bear''s attack by a hair''s breadth. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized that the bear was adapting to her tactics. She needed toe up with a new n.

    As she soared through the air, a thought struck her. ''What if I use its strength against itself?''

    She knew the Terracore Goliath Bear relied heavily on its earth maniption abilities. If she could find a way to disrupt its control, she could gain the upper hand.

    Elenei darted toward the bear again, this time with a different goal. She aimed for its massive paws, the source of its earth maniption power. She had to be careful, though; one wrong move and she could be crushed under its weight.

    The bear sensed her intentions as she closed in and swiped at her with its wed paw. Elenei, anticipating the attack, evaded it and dove straight for the other paw. Her talons pierced the bear''s flesh, causing it to roar in pain.

    The Terracore Goliath Bear reared up on its hind legs, attempting to m Elenei into the ground with its full weight. However, Elenei was prepared for this. She pped her wings and shot upward, narrowly escaping the bear''s crushing force.

    The ground beneath the bear shattered upon impact, and the shockwave sent debris flying in every direction. With its connection to the earth temporarily severed, the bear''s earth maniption abilities were disrupted, just as Elenei had hoped.

    Seizing the opportunity, Elenei swooped down and attacked relentlessly, her talons tearing through the bear''s flesh, targeting its most vulnerable spots. The bear, unable to defend itself effectively without its earth maniption powers, suffered one devastating blow after another.

    Finally, with a deep gash across its throat, the Terracore Goliath Bear copsed to the ground, defeated. Its once terrifying roars were now reduced to weak,bored wheezes as it took itsst breaths.

    Elenei hovered above the fallen beast, her chest heaving from the intense battle. Despite the danger she had faced, she couldn''t help but feel a sense of exhration. For the first time in a long time, she had encountered an opponent who had truly tested her limits.

    However, she had no intention of letting the bear recover. Perhaps it was an effect of staying with Mira too long, but she preferred her prey dead over alive.

    Descending onto the beast, she extended her ws and jammed them into the bear''s neck, causing it to wail in pain. But Elenei ignored its cries and began tearing through its skin, digging her way into its neck.

    Eventually, she reached its spine and promptly shattered it, killing the beast instantly.

    As the sun dipped below the horizon, Elenei looked down at the lifeless form of the Terracore Goliath Bear.

    ''You should feel honored to die by my hands, for it is your blood that shall forge the stepping stones on my ascent to the pinnacle of cultivation.''

    Then, without hesitation, she used her beak to pluck out a chunk of flesh and gobbled it down, instantly feeling a wave of vitality and Qi fill her body.

 Chapter 658 Eleneis Adventures Part 3

    Munching on the Terracore Goliath Bear''s corpse, Elenei was quickly filled with an absurd amount of energy! Her body kept expanding and contracting as if she were going to implode at any moment, but such a thing never came.

    Instead, that energy channeled straight into her bloodline, slowly awakening both her Fire Dragon and Ice Phoenix aspects. Since she wasn''t even a Rank 1 beast, she couldn''t use Qi. Meaning that the only abilities she could use were those that were either innate or used her blood/stamina as fuel.

    However, as more energy poured into her body, she began to feel the chains on her Frozen Ash Draco-Phoenix bloodline loosen.

    *Crack!* *Crack!*

    "Urgh!" Elenei grunted as her bones and skin splintered, but she didn''t stop eating, nor would she stop until she was full.

    The scales on her serpentine body slowly began to peel off, only to be reced by a new set of lustrous ruby scales that were so hot that they evaporated the moisture in the air. Alongside that, the feathers on her wings began to fall off, disintegrating from the heat emanating from her scales. But they, too, were reced with a brand new set ofrger, thicker, and tougher feathers.

    They looked simr to before, an icy-white tapering off to a crimson color near the edges, but they seemed much more alive, like delicate clouds aze with twilight''s palette.

    Elenei''s body continued to undergo a massive transformation, her power growing exponentially as she consumed more of the Terracore Goliath Bear. Her seemingly dormant bloodline surged with newfound life, propelling her ever closer to reaching Rank 1.

    As Elenei''s body expanded and contracted with the immense energy she consumed, the air around her crackled with a mixture of heat and cold, creating a strange, ethereal mist that swirled around her form. Her eyes, once a deep vermillion, now flickered between hues of fiery red and icy blue before merging into a dark purple that shone through the mist like two gemstones.

    Her tail, once covered in fiery scales, now had a small me burst from underneath her skin. However, strangely enough, this fire didn''t cause any damage to her surroundings.

    Elenei''s power continued to grow as she ate more of the corpse until she finally reached her limit.

    *Crack!*

    *Crack!*

    *BOOM!*

    Elenei''s body burst with power as she officially stepped onto the path of cultivation, bing a Mid-Stage Rank 1 beast immediately. The Ice Phoenix and Fire Dragon aspects of her bloodline burst to life as waves of Fire and Ice spewed out of her body, destroying the surrounding area. The two worked together in perfect harmony, oftenbining with one another into something new, something more powerful.

    This was unlike what she had experienced before, where her two bloodlines fought each other for dominance, not wanting to be overtaken by the other. However, that wasn''t the only difference!

    The blood pumping through her veins quickly restored any damage the breakthrough may have caused, showcasing the Phoenix''s superior regeneration. While her physical strength dramatically increased as well due to the Fire Dragon''s influence.

    So far, those were the only significant changes, but her breakthrough wasn''t over. Having a talent surpassing even Dragons, she could take full advantage of the amount of energy this bear contained.

    After those two breakthroughs began settling down, Elenei didn''t hesitate to eat more of the Terracore Goliath Bear''s corpse.

    More energy and vitality flooded her body, but this time, instead of increasing her body''s size and physical strength, it headed straight for her heart. The same went for all the Fire and ice leaking from her body.

    ...Though, a tiny stream of Qi, imperceptible to Elenei, headed in a different direction.

    This stage in her cultivation would be the lifeblood throughout her entire cultivation journey. It would be the foundation on which she, as a Draco-Phoenix, would rise from.

    Dragons and Phoenixes are often known as beings that stood at the pinnacle of power. However, why is that?

    Is it because they''re strong? Is it because of their wisdom? Their physical strength? Or maybe their regeneration and immortality?

    The answer to all those questions and many more like it is yes, but that doesn''t tell the full story.

    A Dragon sits at the peak because it''s strong, but why is it strong?

    One of the factors is their hearts, the infamous Dragon Heart. Dragon Hearts have many functions. They give immense power, provide endless energy and vitality, grant Elemental Affinities, enhance the user''s Qi elemental capabilities, and so much more.

    A Dragon Heart provides a Dragon so much that it wouldn''t be wrong to say that without it, a Dragon would be nothing but a slightly bigger snake.

    The same goes for Phoenixes, albeit for a different reason.

    The ultimate ability for all Phoenixes is their ability to undergo Nirvana, making them literally immortal. Even if they die, they can just be reborn again due to a unique me that they''re all born with.

    Some call it the Phoenix me, but its actual name is the Eternal me. For Ice Phoenixes, it''s called the Everfrost Crystal. These unique elements reside in the core of their existences, giving them endless regeneration, one of the highest elemental control in the entire universe, and insane strength. It''s also what allows them to be reborn again.

    Prior to her evolution, Elenei only had the Everfrost Crystal. However, now that she was a Draco-Phoenix, she could obtain both a Dragon Heart and an Everfrost Crystal, albeit slightly different versions, given that she is abination of both beasts.

    Elemental Nexus. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That''s what her unique "Dragon Heart" was called.

    As Elenei continued to consume the Terracore Goliath Bear, the Fire and Ice energies within her began to converge in her heart. It was a strange feeling as these two opposing forces merged within her chest, creating a uniquebination that was uniquely her own.

    In the center of her heart, all of her Ice Qi converged onto one point, creating a crystal in the shape of an octohedron.

    On the outside, her heart transformed from an ordinary-looking heart with superior capabilities to a bright red, almost metallic exterior. It was wreathed in mes, pumping endless amounts of power through her veins.

    Her mes and all her Fire Dragon aspects would stem from the exterior of her heart. In contrast, the Ice Crystal in the center would be where all her Ice Phoenix aspects originate.

    However, filling in the gaps between the two entities, tendrils of white and ck intertwined, linking both entities and mediating the contrasting elements to ensure they don''t collide.

    Elenei examined these tendrils closely, but even with her knowledge and her body''s instincts, she didn''t know what they were.

    ''How peculiar.'' She mused, ''I wonder where those came from.''

    She continued investigating, but even after a minute, she sensed nothing odd with them. In fact, she could barely sense them at all! It was almost as if they weren''t even there.

    Still, Elenei wasn''t worried. Despite the fact that she didn''t know what they were or where they came from, she knew they wouldn''t hurt her.

    Something inside her told her just to leave it be. The mysteries surrounding those tendrils will reveal themselves sooner orter.

    As Elenei''s heart transformed into the Elemental Nexus, she felt a surge of power, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was as if she suddenly became whole! Like she had found a missing piece of herself.

    Her mastery over the elements, regenerative abilities, physical strength, and innate power as a Draco-Phoenix were all amplified!

    Elenei''s breakthrough continued as she absorbed more energy from the Terracore Goliath Bear, her body growing stronger and her abilities more refined.

    *BOOM!*

    An explosion went off inside Elenei''s body as her aura rose, officially bing a Late-Stage Rank 1 Beast!

    *BOOM!*

    *BOOM!*

    Then another two explosions went off, and she became a Low-Stage Rank 2 Beast!

    ''Huh? What just happened?'' She didn''t feel any increase in power from thosest two breakthroughs, nor did she understand how she broke through another two times.

    She shouldn''t have consumed enough energy for that!

    ''What''s going on?'' Elenei frowned as she examined her body.

    Although it was significantlyrger than before, other than her new heart, there was nothing different. No changes were made after the Elemental Nexus was formed.

    ''Did forming my Elemental Nexus consume so much energy and provide so much strength that it counted as three breakthroughs?'' Elenei found this theory usible as the amount of energy she absorbed from both the bear and the atmosphere was enough for most beasts to reach Rank 4, or at the very least, Rank 3.

    She checked her body again and again but still found nothing wrong. Not even the slightest thing.

    Her frown deepened, but it seemed like she had no choice but to push this anomaly to the back of her mind.

    ''During my next breakthrough, I''ll keep a sharp eye on everything to ensure I don''t miss anything important.''

    With that decision, Elenei refocused her attention on her surroundings. The bear''s corpse was now nothing more than skin and bones, and the grass around her was charred by her mes.

    Elenei sighed, knowing she had to leave this ce behind. The immense power she had unleashed would undoubtedly attract other powerful beasts, and she needed to find a safer location to continue her cultivation.

    While she enjoyed the thrill of a good challenge, she needed time to adapt to her new strength.

    As she stretched her new wings and flexed her strengthened muscles, Elenei felt an overwhelming sense of freedom and exhration. For the first time in her life, she felt truly alive, like she could take on the world.

    With a final nce at the remains of the Terracore Goliath Bear, Elenei spread her wings wide and took flight, her majestic form cutting through the sky like aet.

 Chapter 659 Going Into Seclusion

    Within an expansive courtyard, covered in an intricatework of Qi-Gathering arrays and illuminated by the glow of thousands of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, a figure descended from the sky. Nova stepped forth, her eyes scanning the surroundings.

    "Looks like I''ll be staying here for a while," She muttered. Like the others, Nova was preparing to enter seclusion to try and make a breakthrough. Right now, she was in the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, so she didn''t have much hope of breaking through to the 4th within a short time frame.

    So, she was instead going to focus on refining her techniques and physical strength.

    That is until an unexpected visitor appeared before her.

    "I heard from the Sect Master you aplished some great things during your time outside the Sect."

    "Master��" Nova cupped her fists and greeted her guest with a bow.

    Waving her hands dismissively, Elder Irene smiled and said, "Not only did you wipe out the Crimson yer Sect''s army, but you uncovered a few of the mysteries surrounding the Forbidden Forest! Truly worthy of being my disciple."

    Nova felt a bit awkward facing Elder Irene''s praise and couldn''t help but say, "...There were others with me, so they aren''t exactly my own achievements."

    "Nonsense!" Elder Irene cut her off, "You might''ve had aid, but because you were there, things turned out the way they did. Don''t diminish your achievements when you don''t deserve it."

    Nova nodded in understanding, and the two stood there in silence for a moment before Elder Irene opened her mouth.

    "So, how was it?"

    "Hmmm?" Nova tilted her head, directing her attention to Elder Irene.

    "I mean, how was fighting alongside Mira? I tried asking the Sect Master, but she refused to give too many details."

    Nova thought for a moment, organizing her thoughts and recalling everything that had happened over thest few days. She could talk about so many things, but ultimately, it all boiled down to two words.

    "She''s strong."

    There wasn''t anything else she felt would describe Mira better. She was top-tier in every aspect, whether it be her mental fortitude, pain resistance, physical and elemental prowess, ruthlessness, or willpower.

    Elder Irene frowned, clearly not satisfied with that answer, but seeing that Nova didn''t intend to exin further, she could only sigh.

    ''Still, it''s not like I didn''t get any information.'' She thought.

    For Nova to say that Mira was strong meant she saw the girl as apetitor, maybe even a rival of sorts. She wouldn''t say something like that otherwise.

    ''This is good too. With someone as talented as Mira right on her heels, she''ll be more motivated to work harder. Naturally, as her master, I can''t let her fall behind!''

    pping her hands, Elder Irene redirected Nova''s attention back to her, "Alright! Enough about Mira. I didn''te here to discuss her with you."

    Elder Irene shed and grabbed Nova''s shoulder without saying another word before disappearing like the wind.

    A secondter, the two reappeared in a tiny cave deep underground, maybe only the size of a bedroom. However, there was something unique about this cave.

    There was a hole at the top leading up to the surface, which seemed to magnify the heat from the sun onto her, making this ce hotter than a furnace.

    With perspiration already forming around her eyebrows and breathing getting heavier, Nova looked at Elder Irene in confusion, "Master, what is this ce, and what are we doing here?"

    "This is a ce that the masters of the Battle Maiden Sect in the past created to hone their Fire Affinity and cultivation. It''s also where Ie to train!" Elder Irene replied with arge smile. "And it''s where you''ll also spend the foreseeable future training."

    Nova''s eyes widened, but she still didn''t understand why her Master brought her here.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Seeing that, Elder Irene exined, "The Sect Master wanted to reward you all for your efforts, but I figured there weren''t many things that you particrly need. However, that''s when it urred to me that perhaps the best reward for you is a ce where you can train!"

    Nova''s normally stern eyes sparkled with curiosity as she looked around the sweltering cave. The oppressive heat and the seemingly simple setup didn''t deter her enthusiasm for what her Master had in store for her. Elder Irene continued, "The unique structure of this cave amplifies the power of the sun, creating an intense environment that will push your limits, both physically and mentally. Meanwhile, right underneath you is a maze ofva tubes, which will not only further increase the heat inside the cave but allow you to further connect to your Fire Affinity."

    Nova nodded, beginning to understand her Master''s intentions. The harder the training, the greater the rewards. She couldn''t help but feel a rush of excitement as she mentally prepared herself for the grueling regimen that awaited her.

    "In addition," Elder Irene added, "this cave contains a special array that enhances the density of Qi in the surrounding area. Try to stay in here as long as possible. The longer you stay, the more benefits you''ll reap. You''ll understand what I mean in about a weak or so."

    With a determined look in her eyes, Nova bowed deeply to her Master. "Thank you, Master Irene. I will do my best not to waste this opportunity."

    Elder Irene nodded with satisfaction. "I have no doubt that you will, my dear disciple. Now, let''s begin your seclusion."

    ***

    As Elder Irene said, Nova wasn''t the only one who received this treatment. Seraphina, Everly, Eden, and Rayna were also given unique training locations suited to their individual abilities and affinities.

    Due to her Water and Metal affinities, Seraphina was brought to an oasis of sorts. However, instead of vibrant trees and bright blue water, she got metal trees and ake filled with Liquid Metal.

    Her goal was to reach the bottom of theke without removing any of the Liquid Metal. This task was already difficult enough as theke was incredibly deep, and swimming through Liquid Metal was not an easy feat, but what made it even more challenging was that the Liquid Metal was changed to harden whenever it was stagnant.

    Meaning unless she could perfectly use her metal and water affinities in tandem to control the Liquid Metal, she would suffocate and die.

    This was an extremely dangerous training method, but the effects ofpleting it were equally as rewarding.

    Eden''s training location wasn''t quite as intense as theirs, but that didn''t mean it was any less effective.

    She was thrown into arge forest with a seemingly endless number of enraged beasts. Their cultivation ranged from Rank 6 to Low-Stage Rank 9, her only goal being not to die. However, to make the "training" just a bit harder, she wasn''t allowed to take any equipment or pills along with her.

    She was only allowed to bring her mace; however, she was not permitted to take her bow and arrows, which were a significant part of herbat power.

    Everly''s situation differed from theirs as she wasn''t given an exact location to train. Instead, she would go through a set of trials that would push her mind, body, and soul to the limit.

    Her Fire and Lightning elements were already outstanding, and she could pump out extraordinary amounts of power with them, but other than that, she was fairly average in most other aspects.

    Her greatest strength and subsequent weakness were her ability to causerge-scale destruction; she was like a walking nuclear bomb, ready to explode at a moment''s notice.

    In a team, she could dish out tons of damage without worry as she had people to protect her. However, being alone was a different story. While she was still deadly, it wouldn''t be hard to counter her if she faced someone of considerable skill and experience.

    While these trials wouldn''t necessarily make her a better 1v1 fighter, they would make her an overall betterbatant with a wider range of skills.

    As for Rayna, her situation was quite different.

    She received a simr reward just like everyone else, but the woman actually refused it! She didn''t even state why, only saying, "I need something stronger."

    Then, after refusing her reward, she left the Sect''s premises!

    All the Elders, even Aelina, were puzzled by her actions but didn''t pay it much thought as Rayna was always a bit of an oddball. It was true that the Battle Maiden Sect didn''t have many training locations, items, or treasures pertaining to those with a Poison affinity. If they possessed training locations on par with the others, they would be called the Toxic de Sect instead!

    Having something like that lingering inside their Sect was too dangerous. Not to mention just how few people there are with such an affinity.

    Thus, nobody knew that the woman was heading in the direction of the Forbidden Forest! The ce that they just came back from!

 Chapter 660 Provocation

    A day after Nova and the others entered seclusion, a significant event urred that sent shockwaves throughout the entire Western Continent.

    Giant, translucent screens appeared above all the major cities, disying a recording for everyone to witness. The image featured Aelina, seated on her throne with her legs crossed and her characteristic neutral smile gracing her face.

    Due to the massive disturbance, people couldn''t help stopping what they were doing to look up at the screen.

    "What''s that?"

    "Isn''t that the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect?"

    "O-Oh god! I-Is this going to be another torture video?!"

    There were mixed reactions among the public. Some were scared, some were confused, and others were indifferent. However, almost everyone felt at least somewhat curious as to why such a strong and influential figure had appeared before them.

    "Greetings, fellow residents of the Western Continent." Aelina said, "My name, as you may already know, is Aelina, and I serve as the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect. I am here to address a significant concern that has likely weighed heavily on many of your minds recently: our war with the Crimson yer Sect." Aelina paused for a few seconds, allowing her words to sink in before continuing.

    "First and foremost, I want to make it clear that we at the Battle Maiden Sect never desired this war. Even after they repeatedly invaded my Sect, I merely requestedpensation since the damages were not substantial. However, when they brought an army to my doorstep, that was thest straw."

    As Aelina continued, her tone became more resolute. "We have now found ourselves embroiled in a conflict that we did not seek but one we cannot avoid. Our aim is not to destroy, but to protect the values we hold dear and to ensure the safety of our Sect and its members."

    The onlookers exchanged nces, their expressions a mix of concern and understanding. Some whispered among themselves, while others simply listened attentively.

    "In light of this situation," Aelina went on, "I call upon the citizens of the Western Continent to stand united, not just for the sake of the Battle Maiden Sect, but for the well-being of our entire region. We must not allow the Crimson yer Sect to dictate the future of our world through their aggressive and immoral actions."

    A murmur rippled through the crowds as people processed Aelina''s words. Some nodded in agreement, while others looked more skeptical, clearly not sold on the idea of supporting the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Aelina''s eyes seemed to pierce through the screens as if speaking directly to each individual. "I understand that many of you may be hesitant, fearing the consequences of taking sides in this conflict. However, I''m not asking you to take sides, nor am I asking you to join us in this war. All I want to do is share with you the horrid deeds of the Crimson yer Sect and prove to the world that my Sect stands taller than ever and won''t be destroyed by such vermin!"

    The recording transitioned from Aelina to a new scene, where someone held the Recording Crystal high in the sky, focusing on what appeared to be a city below. Upon closer inspection, it became evident that this was not an ordinary city��it was one of the Crimson yer Sect''s branches!

    As the camera zoomed in further, the Recording Crystal revealed shocking footage of human cattle farms where disciples indulged their depraved desires for both sex and blood. Men, women, and children alike were subjected to unspeakable cruelty; no one was spared from their torment.

    However, that wasn''t the end. The screen transitioned to another scene where Crimson yer Sect disciples piged viges, capturing all of its inhabitants and turning them into mindless drones.

    More and more horrific scenes continued to appear after that, showcasing many of the terrible deeds the Crimson yer Sect hasmitted.

    The gruesome images disyed on the screens left the onlookers horrified and outraged. Gasps and cries of disbelief echoed through the crowds as people struggled toprehend the extent of the Crimson yer Sect''s atrocities.

    "Why would they do such terrible things?!"

    "How could they treat people like this? It''s inhumane!"

    "They must be stopped, no matter what!"

    "I knew those from the Unorthodox Faction were nasty, but I didn''t expect it to be this bad!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As the tension mounted among the citizens, Aelina''s voice returned, calm yet resolute.

    "I show you these images, not so you join my cause in this war, but to merely make you aware of the happenings on the continent. When you think about doing business with someone from the Crimson yer Sect, recall these recordings and ask yourself if you really want to form a connection with such a group."

    Her words did little to quell the difort in their hearts, and Aelina''s eyes seemed to understand that.

    What other reason, besides a call to war, would Aelina have to show all these things? Many of the people who lived on this continent were dozens, if not hundreds, of years old. They''ve seen their fair share of horrors. How could they be fooled by something so simple?

    "For those of you who may doubt this as mere propaganda to rally the public, I present to you a clip of my disciples triumphing over an army from the Crimson yer Sect. If this doesn''t show you that my Sect is not seeking your help, and this is not a call to arms, then I don''t know what will."

    Soon, a recording of Mira, Nova, and the other girls'' battle against the Crimson yer Sect appeared.

    As the citizens watched, the fierce battle unfolded before their eyes. Mira, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and Rayna fought fearlessly against the seemingly insurmountable force of the Crimson yer Sect, their unwavering conviction and unity evident throughout the conflict.

    The women moved as a seamless unit, supporting one another and striking their foes with an incredible disy of power and precision. Their adversaries quickly crumbled under their might, the once-formidable Crimson yer Sect army reduced to a mere shadow of its former self.

    Together, the six women formed an unstoppable force, leaving a grisly trail of destruction in their wake. As the battle concluded and they stood amidst the carnage, a fierce and bloodthirsty aura radiated from each of them, resonating through the recording and chilling the viewers to their core.

    As soon as the clip ended, Aelina reappeared on screen, seated on her throne. She paused for a moment, letting the impact of what they had just witnessed sink in before she eventually opened her mouth.

    "As I mentioned earlier, this is not a call to arms. We, the Battle Maiden Sect, do not need your assistance! We don''t fear the Crimson yer Sect or anyone else, for that matter! I''ve created this message not to force you to choose sides but to deliver a clear message. This is a warning to the world: You don''t need to stand with us, but should you stand against us, those women in the video, alongside many more like them, will be your opponents! Should you find yourself on the other end of our des, the only other option for you is extinction!"

    As Aelina finished her speech, the recording ended, and the translucent screens vanished, leaving a stunned audience in their wake.

    The world seemed to hold its breath for a moment as everyone processed what they had just witnessed. The leader of one of the most powerful forces on the continent had essentially told the world, "You don''t need to stand with me, but you''d better not stand against me."

    People weren''t sure how to interpret her words. Of course, they wouldn''t seek out Unorthodox Faction members to ask, but what about those who had dealings with them in the past? What if they didn''t actively attack Crimson yer Sect disciples? Would they be defying Aelina''s warning then, or was that eptable?

    While some were lost in confusion, the more experienced and astute individuals grasped her intentions.

    ''This message isn''t aimed solely at us but also at those considering joining the Crimson yer Sect in the war. She''s essentially warning them that their only fate will be total annihtion if they choose to participate.''

    ''With this single move, she not only tarnished the Unorthodox Faction''s reputation but also bolstered her own, intimidating any undecided or opportunistic parties. What a formidable woman.''

    They shuddered at Aelina''s boldness, decisiveness, and ruthlessness, now better understanding how the Battle Maiden Sect had remained strong for so many years.

    It went without saying that those who understood her intentions wouldn''t dare contemte joining the Crimson yer Sect, fearing the extermination of their entire bloodline.

    Even members of the Unorthodox Faction were having second thoughts, particrly after witnessing six girls decimate an entire army.

    Back in her throne room, Aelina sat with a faint smile.

    ''What will your next move be, Cyrus? Regardless, I look forward to watching you squirm like the pitiful worm you are.''

 Chapter 661 Aftermath Of Aelinas Message

    Aelina''s message swept across the Western Continent like wildfire. Shocking images and footage stirred deep emotions, catapulting the Battle Maiden Sect''s prestige to unprecedented heights. For a long time, the sect had been perceived as one of the weaker major sects. It wasn''t until Aelina''s video that people realized just how wrong they were.

    The Battle Maiden Sect had never been weak; they simply had no reason to unt their power.

    As news of the message spread, individuals affected by the Unorthodox Faction''s atrocities began taking matters into their own hands. They attacked Unorthodox Faction disciples or, at the very least, caused trouble for them. Aelina''s words seemed to give them the courage they needed to retaliate against their tormentors, and the list of those wronged by the Unorthodox Faction was almost endless.

    The remaining branches of the Crimson yer Sect were hit the hardest, with many Outer Disciples targeted and killed when they ventured too far from the sect. However, they weren''t the only ones affected. Other Unorthodox Faction Sects had been dragged into this mess as they were grouped together alongside the Crimson yer Sect.

    Once-feared disciples of the Unorthodox Faction found themselves facing unexpected bacsh from the citizens they had previously tormented. While it was mostly impulsive weaklings taking action, Aelina had effectively ced a continent-sized target on their backs. Even for such arge Sect, it was impossible for them to go against the entire world.

    The general public, swept up in the momentum of Aelina''s message, began paying closer attention to the Unorthodox Faction and its activities. While the damage caused thus far was rtively insignificant, those with true power and influence were merely biding their time, waiting to see how events unfolded before choosing a side or remaining neutral.

    Not everyone followed this cautious approach. Some saw an opportunity and seized it immediately. As the Battle Maiden Sect''s reputation grew, Aelina received numerous alliance proposals from weaker sects and powers, hoping to gain favor with the influential Sect Master and benefit from the connections and potential profits such an alliance would offer.

    Amid this chaotic atmosphere, Mira''s reputation, alongside the other women who had fought in the battle, began to grow within the Sect and in public. This was Mira''s debut into the world, and she had made quite a first impression!

    In the days that followed, the atmosphere across the Western Continent shifted palpably. People from all corners of the continent began converging on the Battle Maiden Sect, seeking to forge alliances.

    Aelina, perched on her throne high atop a mountain, watched all this unfold as her neutral smile transformed into a smirk.

    ''It''s almost time for this war to kick off into full swing,'' she thought before leaping from her throne and flying down the mountain to greet her guests.

    ***

    Nestled deep within the mountains, far removed from civilization, a young man sat in a picturesque courtyard atop a modest, inconspicuous peak, dwarfed by the majestic mountains surrounding it. With long ck hair cascading down his back, his chiseled muscles rippled beneath a loose golden robe adorned with an embroidered ck ouroboros dragon.

    The young man, Zehir Aporos, had a deep frown on his face as he crossed his arms, impatiently tapping his fingers on them.

    Zehir sat there, grumbling for what felt like hours, until a familiar old man, Nathaniel, appeared before him.

    "Do you know how long you''ve kept me waiting, old man?" Zehir asked, looking up into Nathaniel''s eyes.

    Nathaniel''s eyelid twitched as he stared at the disrespectful young man. He was tempted to ''discipline'' the kid, but considering the potential consequences, he restrained his anger and cupped his fists.

    "...I apologize, Junior Zehir, for myte arrival. As you might have guessed, I''ve been preupied."

    "Mmhm," Zehir nodded, "I heard that the Battle Maiden Sect went to war with a Sect from your faction. Their leader, Aelina, even spread some video about your horrendous loss across the continent."

    He chuckled, "What a cruel woman."

    "Haaa..." Nathaniel put a hand on his forehead and sighed, "It''s not that simple."

    "Well, obviously. It''s a war between two major Sects, after all. What about that sounds simple?" Zehir replied nonchntly, his tone almost mocking the old man.

    Nathaniel took a deep breath, trying to keep hisposure in the face of Zehir''s attitude. "You''re right. Aelina''s words have stirred up all those people we exploited, plunging many of our businesses into chaos and leaving them in a state of limbo. Some of our more neutral partners have even backed out of deals, fearing the Battle Maiden Sect''s retaliation."

    Zehir shrugged his shoulders, uncaring of these issues and eager to change the subject to something that actually mattered. "Alright, enough about that," he said dismissively, causing Nathaniel''s fists to clench in agitation. "Instead of dwelling on these trivial issues, have you brought me my reward for fighting Mira?"

    Nathaniel''s brows furrowed, and a subtle smirk formed on his lips. "Reward?" he sneered. "I asked you to kill her, but not only did you fail, but now her face is all over the continent alongside our ''spectacr defeat''! Do you honestly believe you deserve a reward? I didn''t know the Aporos family was so shameless!"

    Zehir''s eyes narrowed into slits, and a menacing aura surrounded him. He red at Nathaniel, appearing ready to pounce and rip his head off. "Don''t," he spat, "mention my family again."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A crushing pressure weighed down on Nathaniel''s shoulders, threatening to bring him to his knees. But who was he? He was the Vice Leader of an entire Faction! How could he allow himself to be intimidated by someone he considered little more than a child?

    Unfazed by the murderous intent radiating from Zehir, Nathaniel locked eyes with him. Tensions rose as the two men held their silent standoff until Nathaniel finally sighed and spoke up.

    "You''re right. The Aporos family isn''t shameless."

    Zehir nodded and eased his pressure, but Nathaniel wasn''t finished.

    "Only their young master is."

    Caught off guard, Zehir froze for a moment before Nathaniel continued.

    "The offer still stands. If you kill Mira��" He paused, a new idea forming in his mind. "No, let''s change it up. If you kill those six in the video, I''ll give you two beasts that are both 10% Dragon. However, you have to make it a public execution."

    Zehir frowned at the proposal, falling deep in thought, which surprised Nathaniel. With Zehir''s attitude, he assumed the young man would either ept or decline immediately.

    As Zehir considered the offer, he remembered the video of Mira, Nova, Seraphina, Eden, Rayna, and Everly decimating an entire army. He hadn''t seen much of Eden and Rayna''s performance since they were mostly out of sight. Seraphina had focused primarily on defense, making it difficult to gauge her strength, leaving only Eden, Nova, and Mira.

    He had already faced Mira and knew she was not to be underestimated. He questioned whether he could even kill her, let alone the rest of them.

    ''No,'' he shook his head, ''unless I iste my fight with Mira, it''ll be nearly impossible to kill her.''

    He could defeat her, sure, but killing her was another matter. Just likest time, if she really wanted to flee, there wasn''t much he could do.

    ''Now, this old man wants me to fight five others who are supposedly on the same level as her?''

    Usually, he would have epted without hesitation, but he knew that even if he won, he was still on the losing end of the deal.

    ''If I do, somehow, manage to kill all six, Aelina definitely won''t let me go. Having a Divine Sea Realm master after me, especially one as old and strong as her, aren''t worth the gains.''

    Zehir then thought that maybe if he asked his father for help, he wouldn''t have to worry about the consequences, but he doubted the man would ept. Not to mention, how pathetic would it be for him to go crying back to his father to help him out with a mission he willingly epted?

    ''At most, Father would ept the mission on my behalf and reap all the rewards himself.'' Zehir thought before he shook his head and answered Nathaniel''s proposal.

    "No deal. The reward is too lousypared to the risk."

    Nathaniel opened his mouth, a little shocked.

    "W-What?! But aren''t you going to kill Mira anyways?! Why not just add on a few extras along with her?"

    Zehir snorted coldly, crossing his arms across his chest, "Hmph! Mira is a worthy opponent. But the others? Killing them will only put an unnecessarilyrge target on my back for little to no gain."

    "But-!" Nathaniel shouted. However, Zehir had no intention of carrying on this conversation. He rose from his seated position and turned around to leave while shaking his head.

    "I already know that your Faction doesn''t have anything that''d actually make such a mission worth it. Let''s just stick with our original deal and forget about this."

    "Oho? I think I just heard something interesting." Suddenly, an ethereal voice appeared out of nowhere, causing the two to tense up. Before the two of them could move again, a beautiful woman with luscious pink hair descended from the air in front of Zehir and asked, "Are you saying that if the price were high enough, you would kill those six?"

 Chapter 662 Madness

    "Sue Ming��" Zehir muttered with a frown.

    "Hmm?" Sue Ming gentlynded on the ground in front of Zehir, looking at him with a hint of amusement. "So, you know of me? I thought I had hidden my existence well enough from you all."

    Zehir''s frown deepened as he stared at Sue Ming. Although he had to admit that the woman was beautiful, the way she gazed at him told him everything he needed to know about her.

    ''An arrogant bitch through and through.'' Zehir grumbled, wishing he could go back to cultivating right now.

    He already didn''t want to be here, interacting with Nathaniel or anyone else from the Unorthodox Faction. However, his father had ordered him to stay for another 20 years.

    If it weren''t for that, he would''ve already left.

    "...There are some people in this world that even someone as strong as you can''t escape from," Zehir replied, trying his best not to scowl.

    "Oh?" Sue Ming''s eyebrow lifted before she gave a captivating smile, "And who might that be?"

    As she asked the question, her body emitted an enticing scent while a pink mist began to form and gather around Zehir. It headed straight for his orifices, but Zehir was quick to react.

    He immediately closed any openings in his body while using his Qi to shield himself from the ''subtle'' mind attack.

    "...What do you think you''re doing, woman?" Zehir growled, beginning to lose his patience.

    Sue Ming had already been spying on their conversation, and now she was trying to affect his mind?! There was a limit to his patience, and Sue Ming was beginning to cross that line.

    Sue Ming narrowed her eyes slightly before clicking her tongue and reeling in her Qi.

    "Tch. Whatever," she huffed under her breath. A momentter, her smile returned, but this time, it was significantly less appealing to the two men. "You didn''t answer my previous question."

    "No," Zehir immediately replied, "If you want me to kill Mira, that''s fine, but the rest are a no."

    Sue Ming''s eyes narrowed as she nced at Nathaniel, causing the man to tense up. He could tell what the woman meant by that look and knew his future looked grim.

    "No, no. You''re mistaken." Sue Ming waved her hand dismissively, "I don''t want you to kill Mira."

    "Victor and Nathaniel seem to hold you in high regard, and from your strong bloodline, I can tell you''re quite the talented young man. I merely want to borrow your talents to teach an�� unruly Sect Master a little lesson. Of course, I''ll reward you properly should you do a good job."

    Zehir understood she was talking about Aelina, and his frown deepened even further.

    "...Why don''t you just do it yourself?"

    "Why should I when there''s you?" Sue Ming retorted with a smile, but from the slight twitching of her lips, they could tell she was growing irritated.

    Zehir''s brows scrunched, and he spat, "Well, it''s your problem, not mine. Solve it yourself."

    "..." Sue Ming''s eyelids twitched. Her aura slowly began to leak, causing the mountain to tremble slightly as she was about to lose her temper.

    Fortunately, she managed to control herself before she did something she mighte to regret. Zehir was too unique. She had been aware of his existence for a while now and knew he wasn''t ordinary. Whether it be his bloodline, talent, strength, or calmness, he clearly wasn''t someone ordinary.

    While she might be an arrogant, maniptive, and sadistic woman, she wasn''t aplete moron. Although she wanted nothing more than to snap this young man''s neck, she knew better than to cause trouble with someone who gave off a simr aura to mythical beasts for no reason.

    Even her Master wouldn''t casually make enemies with them, and he was revered as a god! If even her Master respected their strength, nothing more needed to be said about her.

    Taking a deep breath, Sue Ming''s smile returned before taking arge, beating heart full of vitality from her storage ring. A dense, overpowering aura filled the mountain and beyond, alerting every being in their vicinity!

    "Really? What if I offered you this? Would you still decline my request?"

    Zehir froze as soon as the heart appeared, his own heart pounding wildly. His stomach growled with the urge to devour whatever was in front of him. His eyes quickly turned bloodshot, and he nearly lost all rationale, only thinking about the beating heart before him.

    Luckily, Sue Ming returned it to her storage ring, allowing Zehir to calm down.

    After about a minute of taking long, deep breaths, he managed to say, "...Let''s talk."

    Sue Ming''s smile widened, but inwardly she was sneering, ''Hmph! All people are the same. So long as you offer the right price, anyone can be bought and sold. All pride and honor are useless in the face of self-interest.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''You want to challenge me, Battle Maiden Sect Master? You''re a thousand years too early for that!''

    ***

    "That bitch!" Cyrus mmed his fists onto the table in anger, instantly reducing it to dust.

    "Does she really have to go this far?! It''s not like I killed her family!"

    Ever since Aelina released the video, his disciples were being killed, his businesses were disrupted, and his Sect''s reputation was dragged through the mud.

    Aelina clearly wasn''t content with merely killing him and the Crimson yer Sect''s disciples. No, she intended to dismantle the entire organization from its roots!

    ''She''s using me to set an example for the world. To make everyone think twice before causing trouble with her Sect!'' Despite understanding her motives, Cyrus remained infuriated.

    The Sect was his life''s work! He had nurtured, controlled, and ruled it for thousands of years. How could he stand by and watch it crumble before his very eyes?

    Even the most altruistic people would struggle to remain neutral in such a situation, let alone someone like him.

    To make matters worse, Cyrus could already envision his fate. Aelina would continue systematically tearing him apart before eventually delivering the final blow, annihting the Crimson yer Sect forever. Even with the Toxic de Sect''s support, he doubted his survival.

    Unless Victor Steele intervened personally, Cyrus feared his Sect would not withstand this ordeal. However, the chances of him doing such a thing were slim to none.

    ''Those damn Central Continent bastards.'' He grumbled, his blood boiling.

    For everyone who reached the Divine Sea Realm, there was one ultimate goal: to break through to the Ascension Realm and be an Immortal. However, the Central Continent was the only known ce to achieve that.

    Victor Steele took control of the Unorthodox Faction primarily to discover and nurture geniuses who couldpete with the prodigies from the Central Continent. If the Crimson yer Sect couldn''t even withstand the challenges posed by the Western Continent''s residents, how could they ever hope to triumph against those from the Central Continent?

    If the situation reached a point where Victor''s intervention was necessary, the Sect and its cultivation methods would already be deemed failures in his eyes.

    Why would he bother saving a group of failures?

    For Victor, the loss of Cyrus and the Crimson yer Sect was nothing more than a pruning of the weak. In fact, he probably viewed this conflict simrly to Aelina.

    An opportunity for any hidden talents to flourish.

    ''Dammit!'' Cyrus ground his teeth and cursed again, ''All of you�� I''ll teach all of you bastards a lesson! Even if I''m going to die, I''ll make sure to drag you down to hell with me!''

    For a moment, it felt like the world was closing in around him, cutting off all paths of retreat.

    Cyrus gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing that he could no longer continue to hold back unless he wanted to be destroyed without ever putting up a fight!

    "Attention, all Elders!" Cyrus roared, sending his voice directly into all the Elders'' minds. "Send word to all disciples, including those from the branch Sects! Tell them to prepare for war!"

    "Yes, Sect Master!" A unanimous cry from all the Elders came back to him.

    Then, Cyrus took out a talisman and sent his Qi inside it. Once it activated, he said, "I want everything ready in three days!"

    A voice came back from the other side, which Cyrus recognized as the leader of the Toxic de Sect, "Don''t worry. I''ll make sure everything is ready by then."

    Cyrus cut off the connection and sighed before his lips rose into a cold smile.

    "You want to abandon me, make an example out of me, force me to be your dog�� Well, I''ve had enough! Even if I have to give up everything, I won''t let you all have your way!" His eyes turned bloodshot as heughed maniacally.

    The more he thought about his situation and seemingly inevitable fate, the control and rationale he had over his cultivation technique faded, allowing for the side effects to be more prominent.

    Just like how Zander went crazy, the Master was slowly sumbing to the same fate.

    A fate shared between almost all of the disciples who are a part of the Unorthodox Faction Sects.

 Chapter 663 Strategies

    The days passed by slowly as tensions along the Ancient Beast Mountain Range rose.

    The Crimson yer Sect didn''t even bother hiding the fact that they were preparing for war. They were working overtime to strengthen themselves and create as many items as possible to bolster their chances of winning.

    Many of the spies Aelina had sent out witnessed disciples from the Toxic de Sect moving in and out of all the Crimson yer sects, supposedly delivering goods. A few even spotted what seemed to be Elders, or Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators,ing over to their side as well.

    However, nobody, including Aelina or Rayna, witnessed the Toxic de Sect Master meeting up with them.

    While Aelina wasn''t exactly surprised by that, she breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he wouldn''t step up. At least, not yet.

    Both sides knew that this whole thing could quickly devolve into continental-wide chaos once other major powers started getting involved. Something nobody wanted as they weren''t the only ones who lived on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    Forcing the Beast ns to get involved would spell doom for all humans, not just one group in particr.

    Within the Crimson yer Sect''s main hall, Cyrus sat in front of a massive tactical map, analyzing the terrain and formting strategies alongside other Elders.

    "I know you all, as well as me, have differing opinions, but first, I''d like to hear your ideas on how we can take down the Battle Maiden Sect," Cyrus said as he reclined back in his chair, looking at the other Elders with a piercing gaze.

    "...C-Can''t we just attack them head-on?" One of the Elders, a man named Aldur, spoke up first.

    "..."

    Everyone looked at Aldur as if he were an idiot and moved on to a different strategy.

    "Don''t listen to that moron, Sect Leader. He just said that out of formality. We all know invading a major Sect''s territory is akin to walking straight into the tiger''s den. However, I do believe we could use that strategy to attack the Battle Maiden Sect''s branches." Another Elder, one that looked much more intelligent, responded.

    "Oh? Why do you think so, Ryker?" Cyrus raised an eyebrow and asked.

    Ryker shrugged, "Do we really have any other option? We can''t attack the main force of the Battle Maiden Sect head-on, and waiting for them here won''t do us much good either. Our only other option is to gather all of our forces together and bombard their branch Sects with overwhelming numbers. That way, we can drag Aelina and the others out of the mountain to face them on our own terms."

    "Hmm? But wouldn''t doing that just make us more prone to defeat? What if a particrly strong Elderes by and wipes out half our army with a wave of her hand?! Wouldn''t all of our efforts have been for nothing, then?!" Another Elder pped his hand on the table and questioned.

    Ryker stayed calm and replied, "That is a possibility, but with all of us here to stop that, it''s unlikely for something like that to happen. However, if we spread our forces too thin and try to bite off more than we can chew, we''ll just be picked off one by one. We have a numbers advantage, so we should utilize that for as long as we can."

    "That''s all well and good, but you have to remember that their Branch Sects are all over the Western Continent! With such a massive army, if Aelina doesn''t intercept us, she''s actually mentally retarded!"

    "That''s the point."

    "...Eh? What do you mean?"

    "We want her to intercept us! That way, we have the advantage."

    "...I''m still not following."

    "Haaa��. Fucking idiot��" Ryker put on his forehead and sighed before exining once more, "Listen, if we want to have any chance at winning this war, we need to initiate the attack first."

    "Why?" Another Elder asked.

    "Or else Sect Master Aelina is just going to tear apart our branch Sects one by one until only we''re left! By then, it''ll already be toote! Even if we do manage to survive, the Crimson yer Sect is done for!"

    "But, how do you know the Battle Maiden Sect Master will do that? What if, confident in her Sect''s strength, invades our territory and fights us head-on instead?"

    "...While that is a possibility, I highly doubt she would take such an approach. It''s too risky and not worth the gains. While we have plenty of resources, they aren''t something the Battle Maiden Sect desperately needs. She''d be unnecessarily killing her disciples if she fought us here."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Then, why can''t we just gather all the disciples and turtle in our base?" As soon as Aldur asked that, he immediately shut his mouth and lowered his head, knowing that he asked another stupid question.

    "Seems like you already know why, but just in case, I''ll exin it."

    "...I know," Aldur said, "If we do that, then Sect Master Aelina wille knocking. Sect Master Cyrus is the only one that can stop her, but everyone else will be caught in the crossfire. With their strength and our defenses, it wouldn''t take longer than a few seconds before most of us are either wiped out or severely injured."

    "Exactly!" Ryker eximed, "Ideally, it would be for the best if we could fight them here, but if this is going to be Sect Master Cyrus'' and Aelina''s battleground, then we can''t keep the disciples anywhere near. If that''s the case, there''s no point in us even staying here!"

    "I still don''t see how us clumping up in one massive group and traveling together makes things better."

    "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Can''t you put two and two together?" Ryker waved his finger condescendingly, looking at them as if they were children, "By now, I''m sure Sect Master Aelina has gotten word of the Toxic de Sect''s involvement. However, she doesn''t know the details of our cooperation. If Sect Master Dorian from the Toxic de Sect shows up at Aelina''s front door, and she''s not there to answer�� Need I say more?"

    The Elders all shook their heads, and even Cyrus was more than satisfied with Ryker''s exnations. Though, that didn''t make their expressions any less solemn. His strategy basically told them that unless they went all-out from the beginning, they were pigs waiting for the ughter.

    "Alright, but what happens after they''ve intercepted us?" Cyrus asked.

    Ryker shrugged and said nonchntly, "We fight until thest man standing."

    "..."

    Everyone''s eyes widened in shock at Ryker''s answer. Up until this point, his strategy was sound. They couldn''t exactly call it good since they were in a shitty situation, but it was the best they could think of without facing immediate destruction.

    However, why did it sound like that''s where all of his nning stopped?

    "What do you mean, fight until thest man standing?" Cyrus asked, managing to maintain his rationale better than the others.

    "Well, that''s all we can really do without knowing how Sect Master Aelina intends to counterattack. She could use so many strategies, with all of them being fairly reasonable. Hell, she could juste herself and deal with the whole situation personally. How am I supposed to know what''s going through the mind of that old monster?"

    Cyrus couldn''t argue with that. He had already made an attempt to attack first but failed miserably because Aelina somehow guessed his intentions. How she knew he was going to attack one of her branch Sects, he didn''t know, but it made him understand just how fearsome his opponent really was.

    It was to the point where he even began thinking that she figured they''d go all-out in their next battle.

    ''What am I thinking? She most definitely has. If even we know that our only viable solution is to move together as one, then Aelina has as well. The question is, what will she do with that information, and how should we counter it?'' Cyrus fell deep into thought. The Elders fell silent as they pondered on Ryker''s words, also looking for a different solution.

    However, no matter how much any of them thought, they couldn''te up with anything better.

    Ryker was right. None of them, Cyrus included, had any idea what went through Aelina''s mind. They could try ande up with a n, but by doing so, they might just ruin everything without even knowing.

    "Haaa�� Let''s deal with thatter. For now-" Cyrus suddenly paused as he felt Qi fluctuations appear in the middle of the room. The Elders noticed this a split-secondter and prepared to attack.

    A momentter, two people appeared in the room, a beautiful pink-haired woman alongside a handsome young man.

    "It seems you all have run into a little trouble, huh? Well, don''t worry. I think I have the solution to all your problems." The woman released a beautiful smile, which caused the hearts of all the men to speed up, Cyrus included.

    However, his wasn''t beating faster out of infatuation.

    Veins bulged out of his forehead, and his fists unknowingly clenched as he stared at the woman hatefully.

    ''...This bitch! How dare she show up here without my permission!''

 Chapter 664 End Of An Era Part 1

    High above the Crimson yer Sect''s Headquarters, Cyrus surveyed the vast sea of disciples gathered below. Their strength spanned across various realms, from the Foundation to the Soul Transformation Realm. The disciples were strategically divided into battalions based on their abilities, expertise, and favored weapons. The weaker battalions hadrger numbers, while the stronger ones were smaller in size. Cyrus and the Elders had painstakingly bnced each group to minimize casualties.

    Though they had the advantage in numbers over the Battle Maiden Sect, Cyrus knew that their individual strength paled inparison. An average Battle Maiden Sect disciple could likely face off against two of theirs, while the more gifted disciples could handle even more. This was the price of practicing Unorthodox Techniques �C greater cultivation speed at the expense of Qi purity, physical strength, and rationality.

    Nevertheless, being a weaker Nascent Soul cultivator was still better than not being one at all. Furthermore, they possessed various auxiliary techniques that could augment their power, depending on the sacrifices they were willing to make.

    Surrounded by Mortal Shedding Realm Elders, Cyrus gazed at the disciplined ranks of disciples, their expressions resolute and unyielding. The atmosphere was thick with tension as everyone awaited their Sect Master''s words.

    Inhaling deeply, Cyrus infused his voice with Qi, ensuring it would reach every disciple present. "My fellow disciples!" His voice reverberated through the mountains, momentarily freezing everything in its path.

    "Today marks the end of an era!"

    Expressions below him grew steely, as they hadn''t anticipated such an announcement. Undeterred, Cyrus continued his speech.

    "For countless years, our Sect has strived to ascend! We have struggled, battled, and shed blood to reach this point, all in pursuit of the heights once reserved only for heaven''s chosen!"

    The disciples and Elders tightened their fists as Cyrus'' words stirred their emotions. They knew intimately the pain and despair they endured to achieve their current standing. These feelings were shared by nearly everyone present and were the very reason they joined the Sect in the first ce.

    "Like many of you, I began my journey as a homeless orphan, without wealth, power, or status. I joined an Orthodox Sect early in my life, but my limited innate talent meant my future there was bleak. Eventually, I was given a choice: train future generations or leave the Sect. Driven by my desire for power, I chose thetter and stumbled upon the Unorthodox path!"

    eaglesnov?1,��o�� The disciples listened intently, and their emotions stirred. Although their stories weren''t identical, their humble beginnings were strikingly simr. The Unorthodox path was seldom their first choice. However, when they discovered theirck of natural talent, they sought alternative paths to power.

    "The Unorthodox Path enabled me to chase my dreams, to one day stand at the pinnacle of this world and glimpse what lies beyond! That dream has never faded, but as I stand here now, my wish has evolved. I yearn not only for my own ascension but for that of future generations as well! To demonstrate that talent isn''t a prerequisite for strength, only an unquenchable thirst for power and the will to endure adversity!" Cyrus proimed, his gaze piercing the sky, as if seeing something beyond their wildest dreams.

    Momentster, Cyrus refocused his attention on the disciples, their postures rigid in response.

    With a deep, menacing tone, he dered, "Today, our very existence and pursuit of strength are threatened! Our Sect, our reason for living, has been cornered by the very people who told us we are nothing and will never amount to anything! Someone seeks to obstruct our ascent, to monopolize the summit for themselves, and deny us the view from the top!"

    "That damn Battle Maiden Sect! How dare they?! I''ll kill them all!"

    "Let''s go, Sect Master! Lead us to teach those bastards a lesson!"

    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

    The area was covered in a denseyer of killing intent, each and every disciple wanting nothing more than to tear those women from the Battle Maiden Sect apart! Cyrus had properly stirred their emotions enough to further increase their hatred toward his enemies while simultaneously boosting their morale.

    ''Good,'' Cyrus nodded, with a slight smile, ''With this, they''ll give their all in the battles toe. However, it''s still not enough. Once they experience the difference between them and those with actual talent, their morale will take a significant hit. I need to prevent that from happening at all costs.''

    Releasing a bit of his Qi, Cyrus swept away all the killing intent and shut up the disciples. The surroundings fell silent as they regained their rationale and turned their attention back to him.

    "That''s right! Our enemy this time is the Battle Maiden Sect!" Cyrus announced, and nobody was surprised by his words, "Many of you have heard the rumors about them, but let me be the first to say that they are strong. Each and every disciple from the Battle Maiden Sect is a talented warrior trained to fight and kill."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Some of the disciple''s eyes drooped a little as they slowly came back to their senses.

    That''s right! The Battle Maiden Sect isn''t some 3rd-rate power. It''s a top-tier force that has withstood the test of time. Fighting and subsequently winning against this will not be an easy feat.

    Many spected it to be impossible.

    "You might be thinking that such a force is impossible to ovee, but I assure you, it is not! I have gathered people and umted resources from other Sects, all so we can remove this scourge from the earth! Do you think they have a chance of winning against the might of two or even three major Sects? All of whom are carrying the burden of their Sect''s future on their backs?!" Cyrus yelled, beginning to erase the doubt in their heats!

    "Stand tall, my disciples! This is not a battle we can lose! It is not a battle we are allowed to lose! To ensure that others in this world have the same opportunity as us, we must stand against our oppressors! Every single one of you is not just this Sect''s hope but the hope of all future children who are just like you! So long as even one of you can live through this, the future of our Sect and what we stand for will not be lost!"

    "Fight with all your might; strive to protect your fellow disciples. In death, you will be immortalized. You will be remembered as heroes who safeguarded the future of humanity and gave those who aren''t powerful enough a voice to decide their fate!"

    "OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!"

    The crowd bellowed after Cyrus finished his speech. Their desire for battle was palpable at this point, and Cyrus knew exactly how to capitalize on that.

    "Now, let us march toward our first destination, where we will start this war off with a bang!"

    The Elders each gave each other a nod and descended down toward their respective areas, where they began giving outmands.

    The disciples, now filled with renewed determination and vigor, prepared themselves for the impending conflict. They checked their weapons, adjusted their armor, and ensured their cultivation resources were secured. The air was thick with anticipation as they readied themselves for the battle of a lifetime.

    As the sect members made their final preparations, Cyrus turned to his most trusted advisers, the Elders. He gave them a nod, acknowledging their unwavering loyalty and dedication to the sect''s cause. These individuals were not only exceptional cultivators but also skilled tacticians and strategists. Theirbined wisdom and experience would be critical in the battles ahead.

    "Remember, we must fight not only for ourselves but for the countless generations toe," Cyrus reminded the Elders. "Our victory will ensure that those who are deemed untalented will have a chance to prove themselves, to rise above the limitations imposed upon them by those who believe themselves superior."

    "And let''s teach that bitch, Aelina, a lesson she''ll never forget."

    With a resolute nod, the Elders returned to their positions, overseeing their respective battalions and ensuring that everything was in order.

    Although Cyrus and the Elders knew that most of what he said was bullshit, they were still affected by his words nheless, caught up in his speech.

    The sect''s formation was impressive, with each battalion perfectly aligned and ready to march.

    The atmosphere was electric, and the ground seemed to tremble with the anticipation of what was toe. The Crimson yer Sect was about to embark on a perilous journey, one that would test its limits and potentially change the course of history.

    As the sun began to set, casting a warm, golden hue over the sect''s headquarters, Cyrus gave the signal. The entire sect, united in their pursuit of justice and power, began to march. They moved as a single, cohesive unit, their steps synchronized and their spirits indomitable.

    As they disappeared over the horizon, the Crimson yer Sect''s headquarters fell silent. The once-bustling stronghold now stood empty, a testament to the fierce determination of those who had embarked on this fateful journey.

 Chapter 665 End Of An Era Part 2

    Cyrus looked back at his empty Sect, tumultuous waves rolling through his heart. The Sect didn''t just appear empty on the outside, but inside as well. It wasn''t just the main Sect, either. All Branch Sects were just as barren.

    He had asked all the disciples and Elders to take everything of value with them in case Aelina decided to swoop by and loot them while they were away.

    It wouldn''t be wrong to say that his Sects were now abandoned wastnds with hardly a Spirit Stone to their name.

    Most of the essential items were stored in his Storage, while everything else was with his Elders and Disciples. They also killed all the ves they kept, not wanting to leave anything behind.

    This was a very risky y, but he knew he didn''t stand a chance if he didn''t put everything on the line to win.

    ''What''s done is done.'' Cyrus thought, his gaze hardening, ''As long as we win, nothing else matters.''

    ***

    "AHHHH!"

    "RUN!!"

    "What is the Crimson yer Sect doing here?! I thought they were at war with the Battle Maiden Sect!!"

    Shrieks of horror echoed throughout Goldenleaf City as the Crimson yer Sect''s innumerable disciples descended upon the unsuspecting popce, unleashing devastation in their wake.

    Pandemonium gripped the city as terrified residents scrambled to evade the merciless assault, inadvertently trampling one another in their frantic efforts to flee. Amidst the chaos, buildings crumbled to dust, and families were wrenched apart, as relentless eruptions of destruction continued unabated.

    As the relentless assault continued, the once-thriving metropolis of Goldenleaf City was gradually reduced to a deste wastnd. The vibrant streets, filled withughter and life mere hours before, nowy in ruins, ravaged by the Crimson yer Sect''s ruthless advance.

    Despairing cries merged with the cacophony of copsing structures, painting a horrifying picture of a city on the brink of annihtion. Through the smoke and dust, parents searched frantically for their children while others huddled together, praying for someone to rescue them from the hellish nightmare that had befallen them.

    With the Crimson yer Sect''s disciples showing no signs of relenting, the city''s defenses crumbled one by one, unable to stem the tide of destruction. Soldiers and guards fought valiantly to protect the citizens, but they were vastly outnumbered and outmatched by the invaders'' sheer power.

    It only took mere minutes for a thriving city full of life to be reduced to nothing under the Crimson yer Sect''s assault.

    In the distance, the Sect''s disciples regrouped, their faces painted with bloodlust and satisfaction. They reveled in the carnage they had unleashed upon the city, their fervor for battle stoked by the devastation they had wrought.

    However, this was just the prelude, a mere warm-up to what they had nnedter.

    "Loot what you can and leave whatever''s useless! We resume our march in five minutes! Remember, these worms are just the beginning! Do not getcent!" The Elder''s voices echoed through the battlefield, if it could even be called that.

    "Yes, sir!"

    The disciples scrambled about, looting everything they could, using the blood of their enemies to bolster their cultivation and restore any lost Qi.

    Five minutester, just like the Elders ordered, the army resumed their march, heading toward their destination, Silvermoon Peak, a mountain on which one of the Battle Maiden''s branch sects resides.

    ***

    The vast army surged forward, relentlessly advancing toward the outskirts of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Along their path, they encountered numerous smaller cities nestled within the mountains. Each city was obliterated within minutes, leaving only death and destruction behind.

    It seemed as if the Crimson yer Sect was determined to leave an indelible mark on the world before ultimately sumbing to obscurity.

    After a day''s march, the army reached Silvermoon Peak.

    As they approached Silvermoon Peak, the Crimson yer Sect''s disciples'' killing intent surged. This location was to be their first victory, the initial foothold in their war campaign!

    Cyrus extended his Divine Sense to cover the entire mountain, his brow furrowing in response. He sensed the Battle Maiden Sect disciples scurrying about, preparing to confront the approaching army. Additionally, there were around a dozen Stage 1-3 Mortal Shedding Realm Elders present.

    Yet, that was all.

    ''Why hasn''t Aelina made a move yet? She should know exactly where we''re going. It''s not like we tried to conceal our movements.'' Doubt began to infiltrate Cyrus''s mind as he struggled to understand her intentions.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Did she abandon this branch Sect?'' He pondered but promptly dismissed the idea. ''No, she wouldn''t do that. This may not be her strongest branch Sect, but it''s far from weak. There''s no reason for her to abandon them.''

    Despite his efforts to uncover any hidden threats, Cyrus couldn''t find anything amiss.

    It appeared as though Aelina had indeed left them to their fate!

    Now that he had arrived, Cyrus hesitated. Too many variables and unknowns remained, making it difficult to proceed with certainty.

    ''I know I said I was going to go all out, but Aelina isn''t following the script at all! At least send some reinforcements!'' Cyrus grumbled in frustration, but he couldn''t stop now. His army had already surrounded the mountain, eagerly awaiting hismand tounch a full-scale assault!

    eaglesnov?1,��o�� ''To hell with it!'' He eximed, his eyes aze with determination, ''So what if I don''t know what she''s nning? I just need to annihte whatever stands in my path!''

    "All disciples! ATTACK! Leave not a single one of them alive!" Cyrus raised his fist and bellowed.

    "OOOOHHHHH!"

    The disciples roared in response, swarming up the mountain like a ravenous pack of wolves!

    While they raced to the summit, Cyrus lowered his hand and aimed it at the strongest woman atop Silvermoon Peak. Concentrating Qi at the tip of his finger, he prepared to eradicate her from existence.

    However, just as he began to gather Qi, he sensed an overwhelming sense of danger from his side!

    Cyrus hastily covered himself in Qi to block the iing attack, but that was all he managed before a beam of light struck him. The force sent him hurtling several thousand kilometers through the sky like aet. The battlefield seemed to pause for a moment as it almost looked like Cyrus was reduced to nothing in a single strike.

    His body passed through several mountain peaks, reducing them to dust before he eventually crashed into the ground, creating a massive crater! It wasn''t until they heard his voice echoing through the mountains did the Crimson yer Sect disciples rx and continued their climb.

    "DAMMIT!" Cyrus shot up from the ground and yelled. "Who is it?! Who dared to ambush me?! Show yourself right now!"

    "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Little Cyrus, don''t you know it''smon courtesy for the Divine Sea Realm masters to enter the battlest?" An all-to-familiar voice filled with ridicule and disdain entered his mind, causing his expression to morph. "Just sit back and watch the show like the rest of us. I''d hate to have to end this little y early because somebody didn''t follow the rules."

    "Aelina��" Cyrus said through gritted teeth, hatred spewing out of his eyes.

    Cyrus clenched his fists, seething with rage as Aelina''s voice reyed in his mind.

    "You... you''ve been hiding in the shadows this whole time, haven''t you?" Cyrus spat, his voice shaking with barely contained fury. "What are you up to, Aelina? Are you really willing to sacrifice your own Sect for no reason?"

    Aelina''s etherealughter rang through his mind. "Oh my~? Are you concerned about me and my Sect? How kind of you, Cyrus! However, I feel like you should really worry about yourself first."

    Cyrus shook with rage upon hearing Aelina''s words, and he wanted nothing more than to charge at her this second. However, he still had no idea where she was. All he knew was her general direction, but the distance was unknown. Not to mention, the chances of her still being there were slim.

    "Fine," He grumbled, standing up to dust himself off before returning to the battlefield. "The oue won''t change whether I participate in this war or not."

    Aelina chuckled again, leaving a few more words behind before she fell silent, "Well, at least you''re not wrong about that."

    While they were chatting, the Crimson yer Sect disciples had already reached the summit of the mountain and were about to begin their onught.

    However, before they could attack, arge-scale formation suddenly activated, drawing massive amounts of Qi from the surroundings.

    "What?!"

    Cyrus'' expression changed, and he was about to use his Qi to stop the disaster that was about toe, but a sudden pressure locked onto him, forcing him to stop.

    ''Damn you, Aelina!''

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!*

    A colossal explosion engulfed nearly the entire mountain, tearing out massive sections of earth and hurling them at the opposing army like a meteor shower. The explosion caught them all unprepared, causing chaos among the Crimson yer Sect disciples. A giant plume of dust obscured any outside view, preventing spectators from discerning the extent of the damage inflicted.

 Chapter 666 End Of An Era Part 3

    As the dust began to settle, the Crimson yer Sect army found themselves in a state of disarray. Countless disciplesy injured or lifeless amongst the debris, their faces twisted in agony.

    Although the damage was mostly limited to those in the Foundation and Core Formation Realms, several Nascent Soul Realm disciples were also injured. Fortunately, disciples in the Soul Transformation Realm or above were fine.

    Seeing that the damage wasn''t as bad as he thought, Cyrus sighed in relief.

    ''There''s still more than enough to dismantle this branch Sect along with many more.''

    With a clenched fist, Cyrus tried to rally his troops. "Do not falter! This is merely a trick they''re using to dy the inevitable! Stand and fight, for victory is still within our grasp!"

    The disciples snapped out of their confusion and fear, inspired by Cyrus''s words. With renewed determination, they quickly regrouped and prepared for the next phase of their assault.

    Meanwhile, within Silvermoon Peak, the Battle Maiden Sect disciples and Elders were in a state of high alert. The Defensive Formation might have slowed their enemies down, but it wasn''t nearly enough to stop them.

    "I know Master Aelina has her own ns, but we can''t underestimate them," one of the Elders warned. "The Crimson yer Sect is desperate, and desperate opponents are often the most dangerous."

    The others nodded in agreement.

    "So what if they''re desperate? So are we!" Another Elder protested, "Master Aelina said that anyone who brings back 100 enemies'' heads and lives through this war would be granted immediate entry into the main Sect! This is a chance for everyone here to pursue their dreams!"

    "That''s not all. Remember, Master Aelina said that the rewards would be drastically increased for anyone who brings back 1000 heads, 10,000 heads, and so on! Even we have our own opportunities. We''ll be allowed into the main Sect if we kill two Elders from the Crimson yer Sect." Another Elder chimed in.

    The Sect Master of the branch Sect, who was sitting back watching everything unfold, finally spoke up.

    "But�� H-How many of our disciples have to die for this opportunity?" She nced at all the young women who were preparing to fight with pity, knowing that not many would survive after this ordeal.

    At least if what Aelina told them a few days ago was true.

    "Get through this mess yourself. I want to see how strong and talented my branch Sects'' disciples are. If you can''t handle this little bit of trouble, how will you help me and the Sect in the future?"

    That''s what Aelina told them several days ago when the Crimson yer Sect began gathering their troops.

    Obviously, theyined and rebuked Aelina for being too indifferent and ruthless, but she stopped their protests by saying, "We are entering a time of strife. This is just the beginning of the bloodshed. What I need more than anything right now are elites ustomed to the chaos of war. If my disciples need me to babysit them whenever they''re in trouble, they shouldn''t be a part of the Battle Maiden Sect!"

    After that, she told them about the "reward program".

    While they wanted to continue protesting, saying she was being too hard on them and that there was no way a mere branch Sect could win this war by themselves, Aelina ignored their pleas.

    "Remember this: can''t fight and won''t fight are two very different things. I will not tolerate thetter." With that, Aelina left.

    Thatst message confused them, but they took it as it''s okay to be nervous in the face of adversity, but it is not okay to run away from it.

    "Alright! Enough talking about these depressing things. All we can do now is fight." One of the stronger Elders, Morgana, waved her hand and stood up. "However, Master Aelina is right about one thing. We can''t rely on the Main Sect for everything."

    After saying that, she shot into the air and sent two attacks toward the Crimson yer Sect Elders. Those two clearly understood her intentions and followed her into the distance, where they would begin their own battle to the death.

    The disciples and Elders looked at each other, their faces a mix of determination and fear. They knew that they had to fight, no matter what the oue. This was their chance to prove themselves, to show Aelina and the main Sect that they were not to be underestimated. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Fuck it! Morgana''s right! Let''s show these bastards that we''re not to be taken lightly!" An Elder pounded her fists and shot off into the distance.

    The Sect Leader, Sophia, sighed and shook her head but rose alongside the Elders.

    "She''s right! It''s not like this war is lost just because Aelina didn''t send reinforcements! It''s not like we''re a bunch of pushovers!"

    The other Elders gave her a firm nod before they shot off into the distance, challenging their opponents. However, a few older ones stayed behind to help out the disciples by watching over the battlefield and giving out orders.

    As the Crimson yer Sect army once again advanced towards Silvermoon Peak, the Battle Maiden Sect disciples readied themselves for the impending battle. The air was heavy with anticipation, both sides eager to prove their worth.

    The two opposing forces shed like an unstoppable wave against an immovable shore, their elemental abilities adding to the chaos and destruction. Fireballs soared through the air, leaving trails of smoke and ash in their wake, while torrents of water whipped across the battlefield, dousing the mes and adding to the mayhem. Lightning crackled through the sky, striking indiscriminately, while gusts of wind carried razor-sharp leaves and debris, shing at exposed skin.

    The battlefield erupted into a cacophony of shing swords and shouts of fury, as disciples from both sides unleashed their full potential. The earth trembled beneath their feet, as the very ground seemed toe alive, with jagged spikes of stone erupting from the soil, impaling those unfortunate enough to be caught in their path.

    Amidst the chaos, the Battle Maiden Sect''s disciples, despite their fear, fought with everything they had, knowing that there was no turning back. Their elegant swordy and powerful elemental abilities proved a match for the raw ferocity of the Crimson yer Sect.

    However, the cost of this fierce battle was great, with bodies strewn across the battlefield, their lifeless eyes staring up at the darkening sky. Friends andrades fell, their lives cut short by the cruelty of war, while others fought on through their tears and anguish, fueled by grief and the desire for revenge.

    Hundreds died from both sides as the battle raged on, soon entering its climax as the Crimson yer Sect army brute forced their way through the Battle Maiden Sect disciples!

    The stench of blood and burnt flesh filled the air, a sickening reminder of the toll that had been taken on both sides. And yet, through it all, the disciples and Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect refused to yield, their eyes alight with the fires of determination and hope.

    The once-pristinendscape had been transformed into a hellish battleground, with mangled corpses and severed limbs littering the ground. The cries of the wounded and dying mingled with the roars of elemental power, creating a haunting symphony that would haunt the survivors for the rest of their lives.

    Meanwhile, Cyrus watched from a distance, his eyes scanning the battlefield for any signs of Aelina.

    He knew she was out there somewhere, possibly waiting for the right moment to strike. But that chance never came. Aelina stayed quiet this entire time, watching his disciples destroy her branch Sect.

    However, that inaction only caused the sense of foreboding welling up inside him to intensify.

    ''Why do I feel like I''m being used as a whetstone to sharpen a sword?'' Cyrus''s brows scrunched up.

    As the battle raged on, it became apparent that the Battle Maiden Sect was struggling to hold their ground. The Crimson yer Sect''s relentless assault was taking its toll, and their numbers were dwindling. Yet, even as theirrades fell around them, the remaining disciples and Elders continued to fight with unwavering determination.

    As the sun began to set, casting a blood-red hue across the battlefield, the Battle Maiden Sect was pushed back to theirst line of defense. With their backs against the wall, the remaining disciples and Elders steeled themselves for one final stand.

    There were still tens of thousands of disciples left, but that was a stark contrast to the 100,000+ that were here before the war. However, the opposing side wasn''t without their losses either.

    It was hard to count, but there were at least 10 times as many corpses on the Crimson yer Sect''s side. Still, that was hardly a dent in their army.

    Cyrus watched with a grim smile, confident in his Sect''s impending victory. However, he couldn''t shake the feeling that something was still amiss.

    Suddenly, his Divine Sense picked up an intense surge of Qiing from the opposite side of the battlefield. His eyes widened in shock as he realized what was happening.

    "Aelina!" He hissed, gritting his teeth.

 Chapter 667 End Of An Era Part 4

    In a mere fraction of a second, Aelina materialized above Silvermoon Peak. Her figure was ethereal, radiant, and majestic,manding the attention of all on the battlefield.

    With an elegant sweep of her hand, a surge of her potent Qi enveloped the remaining Battle Maiden Sect disciples. Bathed in this energy, they seemed to shimmer, their forms blurred by the incredible power that encased them. Then, as if whisked away by the wind, they vanished abruptly, leaving only the echoes of their battle cries and the remnants of their struggle behind.

    "Don''t worry, Cyrus. I''m just going to borrow them for a minute. I''ll see you at the next battlefield! Try to do better next time." Aelina said, waving at Cyrus with a wide smirk before she disappeared.

    Cyrus''s eyes went bloodshot, with multiple veins protruding from his neck and face. He was so angry that he felt like he might explode at any second. However, ncing down at his army, he knew that if he blew up now, it would only cause massive losses on his side.

    He could only clench his fists so hard they bled, hoping to calm himself down before he did something he would regret.

    Amidst the Aelina''s sudden appearance and disappearance, the Elders waged their ferocious battles, their raw power leaving indelible marks on the terrain. Elements danced at theirmand, and each movement of their hands seemed to distort the very fabric of reality.

    Firestorms roared across the battlefield, scorching the earth and turning it into a barren wastnd. Torrential winds, conjured with a flick of a wrist, carved through thendscape like divine des, leveling mountains and uprooting ancient trees.

    The battle was not just an exhibition of their formidable prowess but also a clear reflection of their wills. Each strike, each technique cast, bore the weight of their unyielding determination, their unwillingness to retreat. The scars they left on the earth were not merely physical. They were emotional, spiritual even. A testament to the fierce struggle and the high stakes of this unprecedented confrontation.

    As the sh of the titans raged on, the earth beneath them groaned and writhed, buckling under the sheer intensity of their power. Cracks spread like intricate webs, deep chasms opened, swallowing anything that came their way, and mountains crumbled, their majestic peaks reduced to mere rubble.

    Thisnd, once brimming with life, was now a testament to the destructive capabilities of Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators. The once serene Silvermoon Peak had transformed into a battleground of epic proportions, its tranquility shattered, its beauty tainted.

    The Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect, though skilled and formidable in their own right, found themselves steadily losing ground against the relentless onught of the Crimson yer Sect.

    Their des danced wildly, painting arcs of silver as they met their adversaries'' weapons with unparalleled skill. Blood sttered across the ground, limbs flew through the air, and heads were removed. Yet, for every enemy they felled, it seemed two or even three more stepped forward to take their ce. It was not a question of skill or strength, but of sheer, overwhelming numbers.

    Despite their efforts, the Battle Maiden Sect Elders found themselves slowly being backed into a corner. Their faces were etched with exhaustion, their robes stained with sweat and blood. They had to give their all in their fight, as a single misstep would lead to their death. Numerous of them lost their lives.

    Yet, their eyes burned with unyielding resolve, their stances never wavering as they stood their ground against the encroaching horde.

    As the battle continued, Morgana and the Sect Master nced at each other.

    ''Retreat?'' Morgana asked with her eyes.

    ''Retreat.'' The Sect Master imperceptibly nodded.

    The two reached a tacit understanding, which the other Elders caught onto.

    Their remaining disciples had been evacuated, and they had in as many enemies as they could. Now was not the time to throw away their lives for no reason.

    They had to survive, to regroup, to n for the battles yet toe.

    "DIE!" Morgana shouted, swinging her sword at one of the two enemies before her. A silver light was all that was seen before a head shot up into the air, followed by a fountain of blood. Morgan stored the head before she turned around and ran.

    The others followed her lead and shed with their opponents one more time.

    With a final sh of swords and a blinding disy of defensive magic, they retreated. The ground beneath them erupted, sending a wave of earth and dust toward their enemies, obscuring their retreat.

    As the dust settled, the Crimson yer Sect found the battleground empty, the Battle Maiden Sect Elders vanished like ghosts in the wind.

    The silence that descended on Silvermoon Peak was a stark contrast to the earlier chaos. The terrain was unrecognizable, shaped, and scarred by the mighty forces that had shed upon it.

    Cyrus stood amidst the devastation, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield. His fists unclenched slowly, the blood from his self-inflicted wounds dripping onto the scorched earth. Although this could technically be counted as a victory, it most certainly didn''t feel that way.

    Instead, it felt like he was a monkey dancing in someone else''s hands.

    "Aelina��" he muttered, the name tasting like poison on his tongue. "So, you really are raising an army of elites."

    There was only one reason why she would step in personally to save those disciples at that specific time. It was because they were either the strongest, luckiest, or the most desperate. The rest were just fodder.

    However, there was a question that lingered in Cyrus'' mind even after knowing what she was doing.

    ''Why? Why now?''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She was obviously preparing for something, and seeing that it involved the entirework of Sects, it was obviously big. However, he didn''t know what she was preparing for.

    "We won!!"

    "We actually did it! We can beat the Battle Maiden Sect!"

    "Did you see that?! We destroyed them so hard that they had to run away with their tails in between their legs! Even their Sect Master didn''t dare to face us!"

    "WOOOOOOO!!!"

    Hearing his disciples celebrate their victory brought Cyrus out of his thoughts, causing him to push those questions aside.

    ''None of that matters right now. Whatever Aelina''s nning for the future has nothing to do with me. I just need to focus on winning this war.'' A small smile etched upon his face as even though it felt like it was handed to them, a win was a win.

    ''Not to mention, we didn''t have to use any of our trump cards this fight.'' Cyrus looked down and immediately noticed about 1000 people who had a different disposition and aurapared to his disciples.

    They were wandering around, picking up ally and enemy corpses alike, storing them in their storage rings.

    Meanwhile, there were others who were busy looting those very same corpses along with storing anything interesting they may find in the rubble.

    All in all, this battle could be considered a major victory for them in this war, even though Aelina had saved the remaining disciples and a majority of the enemy Elders had fled.

    "My disciples!" Cyrus shouted, amplifying his voice with Qi. "Congrattions on your first of many victories!"

    "OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!"

    Cyrus allowed them to yell for a moment before waving his hand to silence them.

    "Take this opportunity to loot, rest, and recover! We will move once everyone is mostly healed!" With that, Cyrus turned around and left under the stares of his cheering disciples.

    ***

    The Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect, meanwhile, had sessfully retreated, leaving behind a field littered with the bodies of their enemies. Their hearts were heavy with the loss of theirrades and the knowledge that this was just the beginning of a much greater conflict.

    However, they were happy that Aelina did step in at thest moment and save those disciples.

    As they regrouped and began to heal their wounds, foreign Qi wrapped around their bodies, dragging them somewhere else. Panic showed on their faces for a moment before the Sect Master spoke.

    "Don''t worry. It''s just Master Aelina."

    With that, everyone rxed and allowed themselves to be dragged around.

    Before long, they materialized within a sprawling meadow, joining the rest of the survivors who had been evacuated earlier. It was a somber gathering under the open sky, the air heavy with the scent of fresh grass and the undercurrent of palpable tension.

    Many of the disciples were injured, their clothes stained with blood, some of it their own, some of it their enemies''. Their bodies bore the hallmarks of the recent battle, from minor scratches to more significant wounds. Several were nursing broken bones, bandaging deep cuts, or resting to recover from their exertions.

    However, it was not just their physical injuries that were evident. The toll the battle had taken on their minds and spirits was equally visible.

    Tears streamed down many faces, tracing paths through the grime and sweat that clung to their skin. These were the disciples who had witnessed the brutality of war for the first time. They had seen theirrades, their friends, fall before their very eyes. The realization that they had survived while others hadn''t was a heavy burden to bear.

    Their eyes, once filled with the youthful glow of ambition and determination, now held a haunted look. They had seen the face of death, experienced the harsh reality of their world, and it had left them profoundly shaken. Yet, amidst the tears and the pain, there was also a spark of determination and anger.

    As they were going through such inner turmoil, Aelina walked into view with her hands behind her back, a neutral expression on her face. Her gaze wandered about, hovering on every woman''s face for a moment before moving on to the next.

    A heavy silence hung in the air as the women stared at Aelina with mixed expressions. Some were full of gratitude, others angry, but they all kept their mouth shut, not daring to say a word.

    A few minutester, Aelina finally opened her mouth and spat, "Pathetic."

 Chapter 668 Choices

    Aelina''s single, damning word hung in the air like a dense fog, the silence around it echoing with an oppressive weight. Her gaze was unwavering, cold as it swept over the injured, the weary, the survivors of the Battle Maiden Sect.

    "Pathetic." She repeated, the word seeming to hold even more disdain than the first time.

    Her voice held no trace of warmth or sympathy, only a harsh, brutal truth that was as cutting as the sharpest de. The disciples couldn''t help but look down in shame. Yet, a few looked up, staring directly at Aelina, their puffy eyes turning bloodshot.

    Aelina''s eyes lingered on each woman, her gaze piercing, as if she could see right through their souls. She took a step forward, her presence dominating the entire meadow. The air around her seemed to ripple with her Qi, an invisible pressure that weighed heavily on the survivors.

    "Do you think your tears will bring back the dead?" She asked, her voice cold, cutting through the silence like a knife. "Why are you sitting around crying when the enemy is right there?!"

    One of the disciples finally couldn''t take Aelina''s piercing words and screamed at her, "W-Why!? Why are you berating us like this when it''s your fault so many of us died?!"

    Aelina''s lips twitched, threatening to curl, but she kept her expression cold. "Oh? How is it my fault that you failed to push back the enemy?"

    The girl looked up at Aelina, tears running down her cheeks as she remembered the scene of swords ripping one of her friends apart. She didn''t even have a chance to save her before part of the mountain copsed, crushing her friend into a paste.

    "Y-You��" She stuttered, forcing down the lump in her throat, "Y-You were clearly watching us�� I-If you had acted sooner�� M-My friend��. She wouldn''t have died. None of them would have died!!"

    Aelina hummed for a moment before she nodded, "You''re right."

    "...eh?"

    The woman''s mouth went agape as she stared at Aelina with wide eyes. She wasn''t the only one, either.

    "You''re right. Perhaps if I had acted sooner, none of you would have died." Aelina circled the group and said with a neutral expression.

    She didn''t need to lie. After all, it was true. As one of the strongest people on the continent, there was very little she couldn''t do, and saving one of her Branch Sects was well within her capabilities�� Normally.

    "However, why should I?" She stopped walking and asked without any emotion, as if their life and death meant nothing to her, "Why should I go out of MY way to save YOUR lives?"

    The disciples were too shocked to say anything, not expecting the leader of the Battle Maiden Sect to be so cold and ruthless. Even the woman who had spoken up found it difficult to speak, as Aelina''s words made it sound like they meant nothing to her.

    "...A-Aren''t you our Sect Master? D-Do you need a reason to save your disciples?" Her voice, trembling with desperation, echoed in the still air. The plea hung heavy between them, a silent cry for understanding. Her eyes, once vibrant and trusting, were now clouded with a dark shadow.

    "What''s your name, child?" Aelina suddenly stopped and asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "...Skye Sinir."

    "Skye, huh? Good name," Aelina muttered. Skye kept quiet, not reacting to her words, so Aelina continued, "Well, Skye, it seems there''s a bit of a misunderstanding between us."

    "A�� misunderstanding?"

    "Yes, a misunderstanding," Aelina responded, her voice unchangingly cold. "Tell me, Skye, in the wild, does the wolf mother protect her cubs forever? Or does she teach them to hunt, to fend for themselves?"

    Skye was silent, her throat tightening as she struggled to find words.

    "Exactly," Aelina continued, her gaze piercing into Skye like a shard of ice. "I am not here to coddle you or to shield you from every danger. I am here to make warriors out of you!"

    She paused, her icy gaze sweeping over the gathering. "This is not a ce for the weak. This is not a ce for those who cannot stand on their own. If you cannot protect yourself, if you cannot fight for your survival, then you have no ce here. The world is not as kind as you might want to believe. Your friends died, and your home was destroyed because you were weak, it''s as simple as that."

    Every word from Aelina felt like a blow, a brutal lesson they weren''t prepared for. The disciples were silent, their heads bowed, their hearts aching. But Skye''s heart was pounding, a wildfire of emotions raging within her. She blinked back the tears threatening to fall, refusing to show any more weakness in front of their leader.

    "Aren''t you a part of the world too, Master Aelina?" Skye finally managed to speak, her voice barely above a whisper.

    Aelina''s gaze returned to Skye. "Indeed, I am. And just like the world, I am not kind."

    Skye''s chest tightened, her heart pounding painfully against her ribcage. "If that''s the case, why should we follow you? Why should we fight for you when you just abandoned so many others that aren''t any different than us? Why should we put our trust in you again?"

    Aelina''s lips curled into a cold, predatory smile, "Because, Skye, in this world, the strong rule. You have two choices: you either be the predator, or you stay the prey. Trust? That''s something only the weak need! If you wish to survive, to grow stronger and get revenge on those you actually wronged you, then follow me. If not, you are free to leave. However, you will not get this chance again."

    The meadow was deathly silent. The disciples looked at each other, their faces pale and eyes wide with shock. Skye swallowed hard, her throat dry as she tried to process Aelina''s words.

    Aelina gave the group onest sweeping nce before she turned away, her figure gradually merging with the shadows until she disappeared. Her parting words, however, echoed in their minds, a stark reminder of the path they had chosen.

    "Remember this, my disciples, the world owes you nothing. If you wish to carve out a ce for yourself, you must fight for it. I can give you the opportunities to fulfill your dreams, but what happens afterward is all up to you."

    A gust of wind blew across the meadow, stirring the grass and carrying away the remnants of their innocence. The disciples were left standing, their minds filled with Aelina''s words and their hearts heavy with the weight of their choices.

 Chapter 669 Follow

    In the stillness of the chilling night, the survivors of the Battle Maiden Sect stood huddled, their bodies casting long, wavering shadows across the meadow. In the heart of the group, Skye Sinir was a silent statue, her gaze fixed on the spot where Aelina had vanished.

    The echoes of Aelina''s sharp words ricocheted within her, each syble a splinter of ice lodged in her chest. The questions she had voiced now loomed over them, each one a specter that gnawed at the edges of their understanding.

    The cold wind carried her murmurings, and one by one, the others began to stir, their faces a coge of confusion and doubt. Aelina''s words had been a harsh wake-up call, a brutal reminder that the world they knew was not as they had believed.

    The sect they had devoted their lives to, the sisterhood they had cherished��had it all been a facsimile of what they had imagined? Were they soldiers, not sisters? Were they expendable?

    In the midst of this whirlpool of questions, Skye shook herself, her hands pping her cheeks. The sting focused her thoughts, shaking loose the fog of confusion.

    As Skye''s mind began to calm, she realized the dissonance. Aelina was not one to squander lives for entertainment. Why, then, had she not intervened? Why had she waited until only a "few" of them remained?

    She had spent her life hearing tales of Aelina, whispers of her exploits seeping into every corner of the sect.

    Aelina, the enigmatic Battle Maiden Sect Master. The Ghost of the Ancient Wars. A strategist whose cunning and leadership had elevated the sect to a continental-wide power.

    A woman whose every action had a purpose.

    Skye''s gaze swept over the survivors, taking in the faces etched with pain and determination. Among the strongest of their sect, she saw the younger ones, the ones in the Foundation and Core Formation Realms. They were injured, their bodies marked by the battle, yet they were alive. More importantly, they held a spark in their eyes, a flicker of fierce resolve that resonated with Skye.

    A picture began to form in her mind, pieces of a puzzle falling into ce. Could it be that Aelina had orchestrated this? Was this some sort of twisted test, a trial by fire to sort out the weak from the strong, the determined from the despairing?

    Even if that were the case, why here and why now? Surely, there''s a better way to test them.

    Skye thought about it for a while longer, but unable to find an answer, she pushed it to the back of her mind.

    ''It''s not like anything would change even if I knew,'' Skye thought with a bitter smile, ''Now that I think about it, we could be considered lucky that Sect Master Aelina decided to intervene at all. If she decided to send out an army and deal with the enemy Sect Master herself, even if we won the war today, all of us would have died.''

    In fact, no matter how she thought about it, Skye only foresaw her death if Aelina hadn''t saved them when she did.

    ''I also don''t know the limits of her power. Divine Sea Realm masters might be strong, but they aren''t omnipotent. Maybe saving all of us wasn''t even an option, to begin with.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It only took Skye a few minutes to realize that she may haveshed out at Aelina a bit too early without knowing the entire situation.

    The bitterness that had so quickly risen in her had subsided, reced by a reluctant understanding. She might not agree with Aelina''s methods, but it seemed she had judged her Sect Master too harshly, too quickly.

    "ming Aelina won''t bring back our fallen sisters..." Skye whispered to herself, her voice fading into the open field. Her fingers traced the faint scars on her arms, reminders of the battles she had survived, of the life she was still fortunate to possess.

    There was a silence, then a slow inhale of breath. Skye stood tall, her gaze sweeping over the survivors once more. This time, she saw not just the pain and the determination but also the resilience, the spirit of survival, and the will to fight. It was the same spirit that now ignited within her.

    ***

    Fifteen minutester, Aelina appeared before the group, looking down at them with judgemental eyes.

    She stood before them, her piercing gaze sweeping over the survivors, a silent challenge hanging in the air around them.

    Yet, as her eyes met theirs, a slow, satisfied smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. The fiery determination zing in their eyes was an answer in itself.

    As the survivors looked back at her, the air around them had changed. Their bodies were marred by the battle, but their spirits were unbroken. Their eyes held the glint of steel, a sharpness honed by the trials they had faced. There were a few outliers, those who didn''t quite understand Aelina''s intentions or those who had no intention of participating in another war, but they were in the minority.

    Aelina, for all her stern demeanor, seemed to approve of this transformation. The flicker of satisfaction in her eyes was a silent acknowledgment of their resolve.

    "So, have you made up your minds?" Aelina''s voice cut through the silence, clear andmanding, echoing across the open field.

    Skye stepped forward, her face calm and resolute. "We have," she responded, her voice clear and firm, a mirror to the resolve in her eyes.

    "Good! Then it''s time to put your experiences over thest few hours to good use!" Aelina eximed, the smile on her face growing. The disciples were confused by her words, but without exining any further, Aelina turned around and ordered, "Now, follow me!"

    With that, Aelina began flying in the opposite direction.

    Skye and the others who decided to continue following Aelina and the Battle Maiden Sect looked at each other for a moment before nodding. The ones in better condition picked up those with more severe injuries and shot after Aelina, leaving behind those that decided to stay behind.

 Chapter 670 Recovery And Reward

    The moon hung low in the night sky, a silver orb watching over the earth. The stars dotted the heavens like tiny, twinkling gems, their light faint but constant. Beneath this celestial canopy, a group of women were flying, their shapes faint silhouettes against the backdrop of the night.

    At the head of the group, Aelina encapsted them in her Qi and led them forward. Behind her, the survivors of the Battle Maiden Sect followed, their bodies weary, but their spirits burning bright.

    The surviving Elders followed not far away from Aelina, tired and injured from the battle, but they weren''t given a choice like the disciples. There was a tacit understanding between the two groups that if they were to even think about abandoning the Sect in these trying times, Aelina wouldn''t hesitate to "remove" them.

    Anyone in the Mortal Shedding Realm was a valuable asset for any Sect, not just in strength but knowledge and wisdom.

    Onward they flew, the world below them a blur of darkness and shadows. The wind whipped past them, a rushing symphony of raw elemental force. The silence of the night was broken only by the faint hum of Qi and the asional murmur of the wind.

    The world beneath them was a changing tapestry ofndscapes, mountains melting into ins, rivers cutting through thend like silver threads. Yet, their destination remained a mystery, a question mark hanging over their journey.

    As they pressed on, Skye found herself falling into a meditative state, her mind clearing, her thoughts focusing. The pain of her injuries, the fatigue of her body, and the weight of her grief became distant, hazy whispers at the back of her mind.

    All that mattered was the moment, the rhythm of her breathing, and the steady flow of her Qi. She was one with the night, one with the universe. It was a state of being she had rarely experienced before, a sense of unity, of connection with the world around her.

    This newfound rity made her look at the past events with a different perspective. She began to understand Aelina''s words better, to grasp the harsh reality of their world. The weak were trampled upon, the strong survived. It was a brutal, unforgiving truth, but it was a truth nheless.

    Skye felt a sense of resolve solidifying within her. She would not be the weak, the trampled. She would rise, she would grow stronger, and she would fight. She would not let her fallen sisters'' sacrifices be in vain. She would carry their memories, their hopes, and their dreams, and she would prevail.

    It was not a promise made out of anger or revenge, but out of eptance. She epted the world for what it was, and she epted her ce in it. She would adapt, she would change, and she would survive.

    Meanwhile, Aelina traveled thousands of kilometers and led them to a secluded valley, her eyes scanning the surroundings with a critical gaze. The valley was hidden between two towering mountains, a natural fortress that offered protection and istion. A river ran through it, the water gleaming silver in the moonlight. The air was crisp and pure, filled with Qi.

    "This is where you will spend the next week or so recovering," Aelina said, releasing her hold on them, causing everyone to drop to the ground.

    The disciples all let out a sigh of relief while the Elders hovered in the air around Aelina with confused looks on their faces.

    "Here? I thought you were taking us to the main sect, Master Aelina," Morgana replied, bewildered. Aelina had told them that as long as they participated in this war and survived, they would be admitted into the main Sect.

    However, why did she suddenly bring them to a random valley? This ce wasn''t even in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range!

    Aelina chuckled, answering, "You''re free to go to the main sect should you desire, but you''ll miss out on the reward I nned for you."

    After saying that, Aelina snapped her fingers.

    Several formations were activated. The Qi in the atmosphere began to congregate around them, getting denser by the second.

    Skye felt a shiver run down her spine, the hairs on her arms standing on end. She could feel the Qi around her, a swirling vortex of raw energy. It was a force, unlike anything she had ever experienced.

    Elemental Qi, often elusive and hard to control, seemed to be drawn in by the formations converging around them. It was like a gathering of the elements, each vying to lend its power. Earth, fire, water, wind, and other elements danced around them, the air thrumming with their presence.

    The effect was immediate and profound. Skye could feel her own Qi resonating with the surrounding energy, a harmonious symphony that echoed within her core. It was as if she was one with the universe.

    Her cultivation speed, usually a gradual and painstaking process, began to elerate. It was like a dam had been broken, the Qi flooding her meridians and nourishing her core at a pace that left her breathless.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    With a thought, she sat down and began cultivating, wanting to take full advantage of this opportunity. She wasn''t the only one, either. Even the Elders and Sect Master of the branch Sect weren''t any different.

    Aelina watched as their faces lit up in surprise and nodded with a sly smile.

    "The formations will stay active for about a week, so enjoy it to your heart''s content. You deserve it. However, you should know that this isn''t the end of the rewards I have nned. For every battle against the Crimson yer Sect you participate in, you''ll receive an exponential increase on top of what I''m giving you today."

    As Aelina''s voice faded into the crisp night air, a palpable change swept over the group. A tangible sense of anticipation, a shared hunger for strength, took root in their hearts.

    The Elders, initially skeptical, now looked at Aelina with renewed respect. The prospect of exponential rewards for each battle fought was not something they could ignore. They knew the true value of this opportunity. It was not just a pathway to strength but a chance to influence the fate of the Battle Maiden Sect and their own destinies.

    The disciples, too, were spurred into action. Their fatigue momentarily forgotten, they began to harness the abundant Qi around them. They sat down in various ces across the valley, their eyes closed, and their bodies rxed as they sank into deep cultivation.

    Seeing that everyone was focused on their cultivation, Aelina nodded and looked off into the distance, her eyes seemingly piercing through the world. After a moment, her gazended on Silvermoon Peak, where she saw the Crimson yer Sect army using her disciples'' corpses to fuel their cultivation and heal their injuries.

    A frown etched upon her face, her fists curling up into a ball before she took a deep breath and rxed.

    ''May you all find peace in your next life. I will make sure your sacrifice is not in vain.''

    Suddenly, Aelina''s eyebrows twitched as her main body sensed a powerful presenceing toward her Sect.

    She didn''t know who it was right now, but she had a few guesses. However, regardless, a smile bloomed on her face, showing off her pearly white teeth.

    ''Is it finally time for me to stretch these old bones?''

    With that thought, Aelina''s body gradually dispersed until it disappeared entirely, leaving behind all those that she had saved earlier.

    ***

    In the camp of the Crimson yer Sect on Silvermoon Peak, the days were spent in recovery and preparation. The wounds healed, the exhaustion faded, and the triumphant fire in the disciples'' eyes returned brighter than ever. The air was electric with anticipation, the disciples waiting with bated breath for Cyrus''smand.

    When the order finally came, it was at dawn three dayster. The sun painted the sky in shades of pink and orange, casting long, dramatic shadows over thendscape. Cyrus, the Sect Master of the Crimson yer Sect, stood at the edge of the camp, his figure silhouetted against the rising sun. He was a figure of authority, his presencemanding respect and obedience.

    "Disciples of the Crimson yer Sect," he called out, his voice cutting through the morning air like a knife. "The time hase for us to march forward, to im our victory once more!"

    His words were met with cheers, a wave of sound that echoed through the camp. The disciples responded with renewed vigor, their spirits soaring. The taste of victory was still fresh in their mouths, the memory of their triumph vivid in their minds. They were ready to fight, to conquer, to win.

    In a disciplined procession, the disciples began their march, their steps synchronized, their faces set in determination. They moved like a formidable force, an unstoppable wave poised to crash down on anything in its path.

    Their destination was the next Battle Maiden branch Sect. The thought of the impending battle filled them with a sense of excitement and urgency. They had tasted victory once, and they craved for it again.

    As they marched, thendscape around them seemed to blur, the miles disappearing under their steady strides. The wind howled in their ears, carrying with it the echoes of their past victory and the promises of future conquests.

    Cyrus led the march, his gaze fixed on the horizon. His mind was focused, his thoughts strategizing their next battle. He knew the Battle Maiden Sect was a formidable adversary. Theirst victory hade at a cost, and he was well aware that the uing battle would not be any easier. But he was ready. His disciples were ready.

 Chapter 671 Visitor

    [A/N: I apologize for the previous chapter, but I got the timelines slightly mixed up. Unfortunately, I''m unable to go back and make any major changes, so I can only pick up where the scene should''ve continued. Anyways, this chapter starts before the Crimson yer Sect began moving when Aelina was rewarding the disciples. 3 days prior to the end of thest chapter.

    Thank you all for the support!

    -Dreyerboys.]

    ***

    ***

    ***

    Under the silver veil of moonlight, a radiant figure streaked across the sky like a meteor. Her vibrant pink hair flowed like a river of roses behind her, dancing in the night air. The grandeur of her attire, a coge of silk and brocade, painted an illustrious portrait against the celestial canvas. With a relentless momentum, she pierced through the mountains, tearing apart the clouds, an embodiment of reckless destruction.

    Aelina stood atop the tallest peak of the Battle Maiden Sect with a light smile and hands behind her back, her gaze fixed on the iing figure. A ripple of tension flowed through Aelina as she braced herself. The calmness of her demeanor belied the storm brewing within her.

    She could feel the oppressive power from the approaching figure''s body, but that only caused her smile to widen.

    Sue Ming''s arrival was like a tempest, disturbing the tranquility of the mountain range. She tore through the Sect''s barrier, her arrival announced by the thunderous copse of the protective shield. Shended with the force of aet, causing the earth beneath her to tremble. Still, Aelina stood there, unbothered.

    Arrogance sparkled in her eyes as she swept her gaze across the mountain peak, a smirk curving her lips. Her gaze finally shifted to Aelina as she stared the woman up and down, a disdainful chuckle leaking out of her mouth.

    Sue Ming''s voice sliced through the tense silence, each wordced with disdain. "So, you''re Aelina, huh? Or should I call you the Invincible Thundermaiden?"

    Her words hung in the air like a challenge, her sneer as tant as a p across the face.

    Aelina''s eyes narrowed slightly, yet her smile didn''t falter. A soft chuckle escaped her lips, her amusement resonating within the mountain peaks. "Ah, the Invincible Thundermaiden," she mused, her tone dripping with sardonic, malicious charm, "That name sure brings back fond memories."

    Although, the ''Thunder'' part could be a bit misleading�� She wasn''tining.

    Back then, during what was known today as the Ancient Wars, she was a fledgling who had just broken through to the Soul Transformation Realm. The continent was in constant chaos, withrge-scale battles breaking out almost every day.

    Territories were constantly finding new owners, and higher-grade resources were harder to obtain, as the Beast ns upied more of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range than they do now. The humanoid races were forced to fight for the scraps like flies around a pile of shit, constantly fighting for every little piece of power we could get our hands on.

    The major Sects still sat inside the Ancient Beast Mountain Ranges, some in the same locations to this very day, but their territories were much smaller and their resources limited. Times were tough as the humanoid races strived for more and more power, all searching for the path to immortality.

    Naturally, she wanted to make a name for herself and steal�� no, gather as many resources as possible to boost her cultivation. So, she went down the mountain and provoked all kinds of people from all different Sects, initiating an uncountable number of life-and-death duels.

    With every win, her desire for battle and greed for resources grew, causing her to challenge stronger, more renowned, and more talented people. Eventually, after thousands of battles, she earned that moniker. Those weren''t her proudest moments, as she caused plenty of trouble for the Sect, incidentally being the reason for many of her disciple''s deaths, but it was necessary.

    Without going through such experiences and without those resources, she wouldn''t be where she was today.

    No, the entire Battle Maiden Sect wouldn''t be nearly as renowned.

    She paused for a moment, reminiscing on the past, before her eyes lit up, and she eximed, "Ah! By the way�� How''s Victor? After taking that beating from me all those years ago, I sincerely hope my old friend is doing well."

    The corners of Aelina''s mouth raised as she gave the woman a derisive sneer, "Though, with a strong woman like you by his side, I''m sure he''s doing just fine."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Taken at face value, it really did seem like Aelina cared about Victor''s health, but Sue Ming didn''t miss the hidden meanings in her words. Aelina had defeated Victor before, and she was ready to do the same to Sue Ming if it came to it.

    Sue Ming''s features hardened, her vibrant eyes flickering with a vtile mixture of indignation and barely concealed rage. Her hand curled into a tight fist, knuckles white against the moonlit backdrop, an unspoken promise of impending violence.

    But Aelina merely chuckled, herughter reverberating through the silent peaks. "I see you caught on," she replied, a mischievous glint dancing in her eyes. "Good, then. It makes things more interesting."

    Leaning back, Aelina exhaled slowly, gazing up at the night sky, where myriad stars twinkled like a swath of scattered diamonds. "Ah, the good old days," she said with an amused sigh. "Back when I was young, I thrived on chaos and sought challenge in every shadow. Nowadays, the world is full of cowards and dogs, some even falling out of the sky. Nobody dares to challenge me."

    Sue Ming''s gritted her teeth, her earlier poise giving way to an openly hostile re. "Don''t think I''m here to exchange pleasantries or hear your tedious nostalgia, Thundermaiden," she hissed, the ''Thundermaiden'' thrown out like a venomous taunt. She used this time to study Aelina carefully, even trying to pry into her secrets with her Divine Sense, but the woman in front of her was like a dark ravine shrouded in fog.

    The more she looked, the further away she was from perceiving the truth. She had talked with Victor Steele and numerous other people who had fought, or seen Aelina fight, during this time, but most didn''t have anything to say. Aelina killed anyone who had ever seen her full strength. Everything else was merely guesswork.

    The only one who lived was Victor, but even that was years ago. The only advice that he could give was, "That hag is as strong as an ox but as slippery as an eel. The moment you let your guard down, you lose. You might be stronger than her, but killing her is a different story. Do not let your guard down around her."

    Sue Ming had brushed off his words before, but now, she began to understand what he meant.

    The corner of Aelina''s lips curled upward in response, her amethyst eyes returning Sue Ming''s re. "Then, by all means, let''s skip the trivialities," she retorted with a casual shrug, her tone shifting towards a chilling nonchnce. "What brings the Unorthodox Faction''s ''noble'' envoy to my humble mountain?"

    More veins popped on Sue Ming''s head as she gnashed her teeth. However, Aelina continued as if she didn''t notice this, "Ah! My bad! For a second there, I almost confused you as someone under Victor! I totally forgot that you were someone else''s bitch instead."

    Sue Ming''s patience snapped like a strained cord, the veiled insults pricking her pride beyond endurance. The tension that had been brewing suddenly erupted into a violent storm.

    "Dammit! I''ve had enough of your shit, woman! Just die already!"

    With a roar that shook the mountain peaks, she lunged at Aelina, all pretenses abandoned, her demeanor morphing from that of a noble envoy to a wild beast thirsting for blood. Her hand, glowing with a lethal pink aura, shot forward like a meteor, aimed straight at Aelina''s heart.

    Aelina merelyughed in response, her icy eyes sparking with amusement and a hint of ferocity. Her demeanor hadn''t changed, still as calm as the moon above.

    Channeling her Qi, she made a quick clone of herself, giving it 20% of her power and making it so realistic that even someone on their level would need at least a second to notice the difference.

    In a blink, Aelina''s main body disappeared, a mere afterimage dancing in the moonlight.

    Sue Ming''s palm, brimming with power, mmed into the clone. She felt the satisfying give of flesh beneath her attack, the resistance of bone that shattered under the force of her strike. She relished in the sight of the light flickering out of the clone''s eyes and the warmth of blood sshing against her fingers. A triumphant grin spread across her face.

    ''Finally, I''ve gotten rid of this nuisance. I don''t know what that idiot was talking about. How could this arrogant ant possibly contend with someone from the Immortal Realm!?''

    However, before she could get too happy, the body in front of her dissipated like the wind.

    "...What?!"

    Before the word could fully leave her lips, a chill spread down her spine, a premonition of iing danger. But before she could react, it was toote.

    A hand as unyielding as stone grabbed the back of her head and mmed it into the ground. A formation activated below them, preventing that attack from decimating the entire mountain. Aelina knew it wouldn''tst forever, but she didn''t care as she picked up Sue Ming''s dazed head before bashing it against the stone once again.

    While Sue Ming''s face was stuck in the ground, Aelina bent down and whispered in her ear, "You never should havee here."

 Chapter 672 Battle Between Divine Sea Realm Masters

    The words echoed like an ominous prophecy around the silent mountaintop. Aelina''s voice was soft, almost gentle, as she delivered the humiliating beating. Blood dripped out of Sue Ming''s nose and mouth, but overall, those were only minor injuries.

    She was also a Divine Sea Realm master, it would take much more than a few hits to the head to kill her.

    Glowering at Aelina, Sue Ming''s eyes zed with an inferno of hatred, the silent promise of bloody retribution engraved in her gaze.

    "...I''ll kill you for that!" She growled.

    Her power surged forward, a threatening surge that signaled her cultivation in the 5th Stage of the Divine Sea Realm.

    Without a word, she directed a barrage of Qi toward Aelina, a force as devastating as a rampaging river. The assault spurred Aelina into motion, prompting her to release Sue Ming and retreat. The onught was too fierce to meet head-on; Aelina was not one to confront such raw power recklessly.

    Aelina leaped back, a whirlwind of movement against the moonlit backdrop. The very earth beneath her feet trembled as Sue Ming''s Qi threatened to explode in an all-epassing fury.

    She studied her opponent from a distance, her icy gaze raking over Sue Ming''s body, acknowledging the fiery determination reigniting in the woman''s eyes.

    "Interesting," she murmured under her breath, a predatory grin curling her lips. "So, this is the strength of someone from the Immortal Realm? How disappointing."

    ''Tch! That little shit, Mira, must''ve warned this woman of my origin.'' Sue Ming grumbled, her eyes narrowing into slits.

    Aelina''s words only served to enrage Sue Ming further as she unleashed the full might of her cultivation!

    ''However, if she thinks this is all I''m capable of�� all Master is capable of, then she''s sorely mistaken.'' A grim smile widened on Sue Ming''s face as her power rampaged about, threatening to destroy everything in sight.

    Fortunately, Aelina snapped her fingers, turning on a formation to protect the mountain and the disciples on it from the shockwave. Another Formation also activated, giving Aelina an extra boost of strength and defense.

    Her Qi coalesced into a radiant pink sword, its edge gleaming ominously. With a fearsome cry, she swept her Qi-infused de toward Aelina, the air humming with the sheer force of her attack. The night sky above was split open, a testament to her formidable power.

    Undeterred, Aelina channeled her own Qi, finally revealing her cultivation also at the 5th Stage of the Divine Sea Realm. A crackling sphere of violet lightning formed in her hands, its glow pulsing in tandem with her heartbeat.

    As Sue Ming''s de descended, Aelina thrust her sphere of lightning forward, a gleaming shield of pure energy against the impending onught.

    The sh echoed across the mountaintop, a cataclysmic sh of titanic forces. Energy ripples pulsed through the air, the shockwave bending trees and shattering nearby rocks. Their battleground turned into a cratered ruin under the impact.

    Aelina, standing firm amidst the chaotic battlefield, flicked a stray lock of hair over her shoulder. Her eyes sparkled with delight. "Is that all you''ve got? Considering Victor is licking your boots, I thought you''d be stronger, but it seems Mira was right. You really are nothing more than a measly ve," she taunted, her voice ringing clear across the scarredndscape.

    Sue Ming gritted her teeth, rising to her feet again, her re hot enough to melt steel.

    Sue Ming''s power crackled around her like a tempest, her expression ferocious beneath the moon''s pallid light. "You... will... pay!" she spat through gritted teeth, her voice grating out into the silence.

    With a savage cry, she hurled herself at Aelina once more, the air screeching in protest as her Qi-infused de cut through it. Her silhouette was but a blur against the dimly lit mountaintop, her power fanning out around her in a deadly aura. The scornful words from Aelina had ignited a new fire within her, intensifying her fury.

    But Aelina was ready. With a nimble twist, she evaded Sue Ming''s lethal strike, her movements fluid and agile. The grin on her face widened, her eyes dancing with amusement. "It seems the saying is true: the louder the dog, the weaker its bite," she retorted, her voice echoing across the barrenndscape.

    Sue Ming deflected it with her Qi de, the impact sending a cascade of sparks flying in every direction. But she was undeterred. The mention of her being a ve was more than enough for her to lose all reason. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That was the most shameful period in her life, one that she never wanted to remember, as it brought up some of her most painful memories, but Aelina seemed to enjoy pissing her off.

    She retaliated, her attacks growing more forceful, the fury in her eyes illuminating the dark night. Each strike was aimed with precision, forcing Aelina to use all her wits to deflect and dodge.

    They danced around each other, their forms intertwined in a deadly dance of power and defiance. The ground beneath them trembled, echoing the fury of their battle.

    At the heart of it, all was Sue Ming. She stood like a pir of rage amidst the whirlwind of violence, a beacon of power.

    Sue Ming and Aelina''s battle seemed to shake the very heavens, their Qi shing with such ferocity that the protective Formation around the mountain began to flicker, its energy waning. Sweat beaded on Aelina''s forehead as she registered the imminent danger of the Sect.

    ''If this goes on any longer, we might destroy the entire mountain and everything along with it! It''s time to end this.'' Aelina thought dejectedly. As much as she wanted to continue this fight, she knew it was a bad idea.

    ''Well, at least I''ll get to test out a few new techniques I developed.'' A light smile blossomed on her face as she extended her hand out in front of her.

    The battle paused for an eerie moment as Aelina summoned golden-purple chains from deep within the mountain. They sprang up like venomous serpents,tching onto Sue Ming with unyielding grips. Sue Ming, caught by surprise, roared in defiance, her de shing at the chains, but it was in vain.

    Mustering all her strength, Aelinaunched forward, her fist glowing with a dense concentration of Qi. It made contact with Sue Ming, her punch so powerful it propelled the Divine Sea Realm master thousands of kilometers through the air.

    She wasn''t done. In a blur of purple lightning, Aelina dashed after the flying Sue Ming, and with an open palm, she conjured a gigantic Qi hand��Titan''s Vengeful Grasp. The spectral hand descended, mming Sue Ming into the ground with earth-shattering force. The impact reverberated through her body, causing grievous internal and external injuries while also injuring her soul.

    While Sue Mingy in the rubble, a mangled figure, Aelina summoned her final weapon��a gargantuan Qi swordposed of steel, purple thunder, and water��known as Poseidon''s Wrath. It hung in the air for a moment, then descended rapidly, aiming straight for Sue Ming.

    Sue Ming''s survival instinct took over; she rolled away as the sword dropped on her head, but the speed of the de left no room forplete evasion. Blood sprayed through the air as her hand separated from her wrist.

    "AHHHHHH!!"

    Sue Ming gasped in agony; her vision blurred as she quickly took out an Ascendant-Grade Teleportation Talisman from her storage ring. Her remaining hand crushed it, and she vanished in a sh of light.

    But not before her voice echoed through the stillness of the battleground, "This isn''t over, Aelina... You and everyone you know will die... I will make sure of that!" Her words lingered, an ominous threat hanging in the deste air, even as her presence faded away, marking the end of the brutal showdown.

    Now that the battle was over, Aelina let out a sigh as she dropped to the ground, blood leaking out of the corners of her mouth. Her internal organs were still shaking, and her bones reverberated through her body as the aftereffects of her fight with Sue Ming had disappeared.

    ''...Fights in the Divine Sea Realm really are different.'' Ever since she had entered this Realm, the number of opponents she had faced could be counted on one hand, much to her disappointment.

    It hadn''t even been a minute since they drew their des, but they had unleashed thousands of attacks within that span of time. Each and every attack of theirs was enough to destroy mountains and cause cataclysmic damage to the world around them. The human body couldn''t take that kind of power without consequences.

    While Sue Ming definitely wasn''t the most skilled fighter she had ever faced, the raw power she held was more than enough to make up for it.

    Plopping on the ground, Aelina took out a few pills and stuffed them into her mouth, entering a meditative stance.

    ''I wonder if she could be considered talented or not.''

    Looking up into the sky, she raised her hand and muttered, "Whether she is or not, I look forward to ascending to the Immortal Realm and finding out for myself."

 Chapter 673 Unknown Land; War Resumed

    In and burning with scorching fury, towering volcanoes punctuated thendscape with their ominous rumblings, belching forth plumes of smoke and ash. The air itself quivered with heat, creating a suffocating atmosphere that seemed to smother the very essence of life.

    Rivers of molten fire snaked across thend. These torrents of liquid me carved violent paths of destruction, devouring all in their wake with voracious hunger. The sizzling heat radiating from the rivers created a shimmering mirage, distorting the surroundingndscape into a nightmarish dreamscape.

    Thend itself bore the scars of relentless turmoil. Jagged rock formations, born from the volcanic fury, jutted out from the deste terrain like the gnarled fingers of vengeful spirits. The ground crackled and groaned underfoot, revealing molten fissures that spewed forth noxious gases and sulfurous fumes. The very essence of life seemed to wither away, leaving behind an oppressive aura of destion.

    Suddenly, as if to contrast this hellishnd, a bloodied, pink-haired woman appeared out of thin air, holding her stub of a hand.

    "Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" She wailed like a madman, "...That bitch! She�� She dared to put me in this state?! THAT MORTAL?!"

    Her eyes were bloodshot as if she had truly be crazy, killing intent wildly radiating around her.

    "AARRRGH!!" She roared in rage, pain, and frustration, her aura like a zing beacon in the otherwise deste area.

    "Fuck the mission! Fuck everything!! I''M GOING TO KILL THOSE TWO!"

    The humiliation she felt from being pummeled by Aelina,bined with the scathing words that had dug up old scars, put Sue Ming in an unstable mental state. It was partly for this reason that the ''Master'' hardly ever saw her.

    Once he conquered her mind and soul, he only bed her a single time before throwing her away. For someone who was so weak-willed, there was no satisfaction in doing anymore.

    Thus, as soon as she became his ''concubine'', he tossed her into a random Mortal World with some techniques and resources, only contacting her every so often.

    She knew it�� She knew she was just another one of his trophies, but��

    "...I''ll definitely have my revenge!" She shouted, taking out a pill. She shoved it in her mouth to help stop the bleeding and heal some of her internal injuries but immediately noticed that the effects weren''t taking ce.

    That''s when she sensed that Aelina''s Qi was still in her body, wreaking havoc and slowing down the healing process.

    Her lips sunk into a deep frown, and she had the suppress the urge to scream and curse so as not to worsen her injuries.

    However, because she was so distracted, she failed to noticerge, red, muscr figures approaching from the distance with massive rock spears.

    As soon as those beings were within range of Sue Ming, the one in the lead growled to its subordinates and pointed at the unknown pink figure.

    "RAAAAAA!"

    They screamed,unching their spears at her with superhuman strength. There was no Qi around those spears, but the force behind each one of them was unordinary for pure brute strength.

    Hearing their scream, Sue Ming nced over, only to find a swarm of spears closing in on her position.

    "What the fuck?!" She swung her hand, blowing away the spears, before finally catching sight of her attackers. Her face morphed into disgust as she witnessed a bunch ofrge, naked creatures quickly approaching her.

    Now that they had distracted her, she finally caught a glimpse of her surroundings.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Hm?" Her eyes widened, and she immediately sent out her Divine Sense to survey the area. However, no matter how far it stretched, she didn''t spot anything remotely simr to the Western Continent.

    It was all just a barren wastnd filled with unknown, disgusting creatures.

    "Where the hell am I?!"

    ***

    Four days had passed since Cyrus had dered his intention to march on the next Battle Maiden Branch Sect. So, it had been a week since Aelina had saved and rewarded the survivors of thest battle.

    [A/N: Again, sorry for the mix-up in the timeline. If I could go back and fix it, I would, but unfortunately, Webnovel won''t let me do that. Again, I''m starting where I left off at the end of Chapter 670. Making it about a week since thest battle between the two Sects and Aelina''s fight with Sue Ming.]

    When the dawn of the fourth day broke, the silhouette of a mountainous bowl appeared before the Crimson yer Sect army. This was where the next Battle Maiden Branch Sect was located inside that bowl.

    It wasn''t quite as imposing as the one that Mira fought with. However, its natural defenses made it a formidable area to invade. Even Cyrus, with his overwhelming army, was hesitant to charge up those mountains.

    Who knows what sort of traps, ambushes, and formations lie waiting for them?

    What also made it difficult to break through was the fact that the bowl was exceptionallyrge. Even with his army, surrounding itpletely is a terrible idea. Should he do that, his forces would be spread too thin, something that those damned Battle Maidens could exploit.

    However, on the flip side, charging straight through one area wasn''t the smartest as the Battle Maiden Sect could always flee and then pincer them in a choke point as they invaded.

    Under these circumstances, Cyrus needed to strategize carefully. The thought of failing to siege the Branch Sect was not an option. His eyes gleamed with an icy determination, overlooking the terrain with his generals, surveying thend for any potential path of attack.

    "Their position is indeed formidable," Cyrus grumbled, his brows knitted together in deep thought. "Their strategic location utilizes the natural defenses well. We cannot afford a head-on confrontation, or else the losses will be too severe for what little we''ll gain."

    "Sect Master," one of his generals, an Elder, spoke up, a man of imposing build and stern face, "we have a solid number of men. We can send small troops around the perimeter to test their defenses. They could act as a diversion, creating opportunities for arger force to prate their stronghold."

    Cyrus gave the man a considering look. "That''s a risky move, Langdon. If we send in small troops, they could get wiped out quickly."

    "That is indeed the case, Sect Master," Langdon nodded, expecting Cyrus to say something like that, "However, if we don''t test their defenses and scan for traps, we won''t know their capabilities."

    The other Elders nodded in agreement, their expressions solemn.

    "Then, we shall implement the diversion strategy. We mustn''t rush in without caution. Remember, every life lost is a blow to our own strength. We will do our best to minimize casualties," Cyrus finally decided.

    What he was saying wasn''t wrong, either. The death of a disciple was a loss in their total strength. While their numbers might be in the millions, it wasn''t like they could turn around and wait a few dozen years to train up a new batch of disciples. Nor could they somehow fetch more from somewhere.

    The n was set into motion. Small detachments were sent out, carefully maneuvering around the perimeter of the mountainous bowl, testing the Battle Maiden Sect''s defenses. The Crimson yer Sect knew well enough that this battle wouldn''t be won purely by brute force this time. They needed wit, strategy, and above all, a united front to ovee this challenge.

 Chapter 674 Shadow Infiltration

    As the first light of dawn pierced through the darkness, casting an ethereal glow upon the formidable domain of the Battle Maiden Sect, a small group of scouts from the Shadow Necromancer Sect ventured forth on their perilous mission.

    Cyrus hadn''t solely asked the Toxic de Sect to assist him in this war. He had also reached out to the Master of the Shadow Necromancer Sect, hoping to draw them into his campaign. He could''ve asked the other Sects, but he knew that doing such a thing would be no different than letting in a wolf to deal with a tiger.

    Unlike the Toxic de Sect, the Shadow Necromancer Sect had no intention of getting directly involved in the war. However, everyone worked for benefits in this world, so if Cyrus were willing to pay up, then there would surely be people lining up despite the risk.

    Although he might not have been able tomission any of the elites, he was more than satisfied with what he had.

    Riven, a seasonedmander of the Shadow Necromancer Sect, led the way with an air of silent authority. Like shadows given form, they moved with utmost stealth and precision, their footsteps almost imperceptible against the rugged terrain.

    His eyes scanned the treacherousndscape for any signs of hidden danger. The scouts followed in his wake, their movements synchronized and their senses heightened by the lingering presence of blood and death that seemed to nket the mountain.

    As the scouts delved deeper into the heart of the Battle Maiden Sect''s domain, they encountered formations of ancient symbols etched into the very fabric of the environment. The runes looked invisible and hidden on the outside, but someone knowledgeable would be able to sense the faint killing intent they released.

    Elysia, a scout with a keen eye for Formations and Arrays, approached one of the formations, scanning the supposed location with her Qi.

    "This formation... possesses a malevolent intent," she murmured, her voice carrying an eerie undertone. "It seems like it''s a Killing Formation. Heaven-Grade at the very least."

    Riven''s gaze sharpened.

    ''A Heaven-Grade Killing Formation so soon? Was the Battle Maiden Sect really so rich?''

    Now, Riven understood why Cyrus was so careful in approaching this branch Sect, despite the previous battle where he ordered the disciples to charge in like a bunch of maniacs. Aside from the natural terrain being perfect for defending against a siege, they had much more time to prepare.

    Carelessly approaching this Branch Sect would only lead to major losses. In fact, if they didn''t handle things right, this mere Branch Sect might be the end of the road for them.

    ''Aelina may have gotten involved as well, making this situation much moreplicated,'' Riven spected before shaking his head. That wasn''t for him to figure out. Right now, his job was to clear a path to the Sect.

    "Can you disarm it, Elysia?"

    Elysia thought for a moment but shook her head. "If you want me to sit here all day, then I might be able to do it, but there''s a high chance that I''ll be discovered in the process."

    Riven groaned. That wasn''t what he wanted to hear.

    "What if we set it off with a Revenant? Do you think we''d be able to disable the Formation by forcing it to run out of energy?"

    Suddenly, before Elysia could answer, they heard a loud explosion in the distance, soon followed by the ground shaking and loud, pained wails. Arge plume of dust and ash rose above the skyline just a few kilometers away from them.

    Riven and his team dashed away to cover, where they beganmunicating through Soul Sense.

    ''It seems like a scouting team was just wiped out by one of the Trap Formations.'' Elysia informed.

    Riven understood that her words were directed at him. She was essentially saying, "Unless you want to die, don''t use a Revenant to activate the Formation."

    Riven clicked his tongue in annoyance but immediately came up with another n.

    ''Alright! It seems this spot isn''t a good location to begin the invasion. Let''s move somewhere else and see if we can find a spot with fewer defenses.''

    ''Yes, Sir!''

    Riven marked the surrounding area, letting the other scouts know that this ce was dangerous before they dashed off in another direction.

    As they darted through the mountainous terrain, they asionally caught glimpses of Battle Maiden disciples patrolling the area with their Soul Senses scouring every centimeter of thend. The scouts used a special technique called [Soul Veil], which allowed them to hide from someone''s Soul Sense. The effects varied depending on the disparity in strength and weren''t always reliable, but for a situation like this, where they are moving fast, it was perfect.

    Combined with [Soul Veil], they used a Footwork Technique that allowed them to merge with the shadows, further concealing their presence from any prying eyes.

    After a few minutes of running, Aric, a scout with an innate understanding of spiritual energies, approached Riven with a sense of urgency. ''Commander Riven, I sense an aura of detection up ahead. I don''t know if it''s an Array, Formation, or something else, but I''m certain someone is watching that area.'' He said through his Soul Sense.

    Riven''s eyes narrowed, his mind working swiftly to devise a n. However, before he could say anything, he sensed someone swiftly approaching their direction.

    ''Hide and scatter!'' He ordered. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His subordinates were quick to follow, not daring to question him, as they dashed in opposite directions of one another.

    Just a moment after they disappeared��

    *BOOOM!*

    A bombardment of spells and techniques obliterated the ce they had just stood.

    "I could''ve sworn I sensed someone over here!" A woman appeared above the destroyednd, followed by three others. "No, I definitely sensed someone''s presence. Their concealment techniques are just too good that I can''t pinpoint their location."

    She turned to the women following her and shouted, "Find them! We can''t allow such skilled people to roam our territory!"

    "Yes, Ma''am!" The women bowed and flew in separate directions.

    However, whether by coincidence or not, each of them followed the paths that Riven and his team took.

    Once they were gone, the woman that had ordered them revealed a sinister smile, her eyes ncing in Riven''s direction.

    ''Dance for me, little monkey.''

    ***

    Riven and his subordinates ran for over ten minutes, cursing in their minds as they were still being chased. asionally, they''d manage to lose them, but then they''d near another Formation or Array and ''seemingly'' get spotted again.

    At a certain point, it almost felt like they were being yed with.

    That is until Riven reached a t, rocky clearing when they no longer sensed anyone following him. He quickly hid himself under a few rocks, using his concealment techniques to hide from the Battle Maiden Sect''s eyes.

    There, he sent a message to his team through a Communication Talisman to meet him at the rocky clearing.

    It took another 10 minutes or so for them to lose their pursuers and safely arrive at the location, but they all made it in one piece.

    ''That was close,'' Elysia said through her Soul Sense.

    ''Mmhm. I thought I was going to die for a second, but luckily, the woman chasing me was distracted by another scout group, allowing me to escape.''

    Riven narrowed his eyes in doubt. If before his suspicions about being yed with were faint, now, the feeling was more intense. He knew his subordinates well. They might be able to escape the eyes and senses of normal cultivators, but they were only slightly above average in the grand scheme of things.

    ''But�� for what reason would they let us live? Or, are they really allowing us to live?'' Riven spected. Things were bing moreplicated, and all he wanted to do right now was leave before their situation got any worse.

    ''Guys��'' Elysia spoke, interrupting his thoughts, ''I just noticed it, but I don''t think this ce has any traps.'' She said, scanning the area with her Qi and Soul Sense.

    No matter how far she inspected, she couldn''t find anything even rting to a Formation.

    ''Really?'' Riven''s eyes lit up, ''Go check out the rest of the area!''

    Elysia nodded and sprinted out from underneath the rock.

    A few minutester, she returned, this time with a wide smile.

    ''There really aren''t any Formations or Arrays! At least, not until we reach the other side of the mountain, where there''s a massive Formation covering the bowl!''

    Riven smiled back, ''Alright! Let''s head back with the information and give it to Cyrus. Who knows? Maybe he''ll increase ourpensation for this information.''

    The others'' eyes couldn''t help but light up with greed when they heard that.

    Under his orders, they dashed out of the Battle Maiden Sect''s territory as quickly and quietly as possible.

    However, they didn''t know that a pair of eyes were watching them from a distance this entire time.

 Chapter 675 Sounds Of War

    Once the scouts of the Shadow Necromancer Sect had made their escape, the figure that had been observing them finally emerged from the shadow of a tall, jagged rock formation. It was the same woman who had led the pursuit earlier - Ma, a Core disciple of the main Battle Maiden Sect known for her knowledge of Formations

    Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she watched the scouts vanish into the distance, a sly smile ying upon her lips. "Oh, they fell for it. It''s almost too easy," she murmured to herself, her voice as cold as the wind blowing through the mountain range.

    Back at the Battle Maiden Sect, Ma reported the incident to Aelina.

    "And they did not notice the secondary formation?" Aelina questioned, a faint smile ying on her lips as she turned her gaze towards the map of their territory.

    "No, Master," Ma replied, her voice confident. "The Hidden Sky Formation is perfectly concealed. Even if they brought someone more experienced in formations, I doubt they would have noticed."

    The Hidden Sky Formation was a unique Formation that the Battle Maiden Sect hade to possess after numerous years of adventuring and collecting treasures. It was designed to beyered over another formation or an empty area, concealing it entirely and making it seem harmless or trap-free. The fact that it was a Mystical-Grade Formation made it even harder to detect, especially by those not expecting its existence.

    Aelina''s smile widened at Ma''s words. "Good," she said. "If Cyrus and his allies fall into our trap, we can counterattack and crush them once and for all."

    Just as they were discussing their strategy, a young disciple rushed into the room, her face filled with panic.

    "Sect Master!" she cried, almost out of breath. "An army is approaching our borders!"

    Aelina''s eyes narrowed. "So soon?" she muttered, her gaze shifting back to the map. "Ma, prepare our forces. It seems that they''ve finally grown impatient. Be sure to remind the others to carry their Anti-Poison and Antidote Pills. "

    "Yes, Master," Ma replied, bowing before exiting the room swiftly.

    Meanwhile, back at the Crimson yer Sect''s camp, Riven and his scouts had safely returned to ry their information. Cyrus, dressed in a ck cloak, listened carefully to their report, his gaze sharp as he studied the terrain they had described.

    "So, there is a wide clearing without any formations or traps?" he asked, his voice low and cautious.

    "Yes," Riven confirmed, his gaze steady. "We were thorough in our inspection. We found no signs of any Formations or Arrays in that area. It leads right up to the inner bowl of the Sect"

    Cyrus fell silent, his mind running over the information. A ce devoid of any defenses within the enemy''s territory was suspicious, but it was also a potential opportunity. If they were cautious, it could be their chance to prate the Battle Maiden Sect''s defenses. Spreading his forces in this terrain against a fully prepared Battle Maiden Sect might spellplete disaster.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t directly get involved, nor was he willing to send in the Elders just yet, as he didn''t know what Aelina had nned. He couldn''t see through her intentions at all. Part of him figured that she was using this opportunity to train her disciples into true battle-hardened warriors, but he also wondered if she could really be thatckadaisical in her approach.

    In any case, he had to proceed with caution from here on out.

    "I see," he said finally, his voice decisive. "We will advance through this clearing. But we will also be prepared for any surprises. The Battle Maiden Sect is known for their cunning. Make sure not to fall for their traps."

    As dawn''s first light colored the eastern sky, Cyrus stood tall amidst the assembled forces of the Crimson yer Sect. His stalwart figure radiated an air of grim determination, and his stern gaze remained locked on the terrain thaty ahead.

    Among the forces were also warriors from the Shadow Necromancer Sect and the Toxic de Sect. Their presence added to the grim visage of the army. They were to enter through the three clearings the scouts had reported on - seemingly the only viable entrance points into the heart of the Battle Maiden Sect''s territory, surrounded as it was by treacherous mountains.

    Meanwhile, additional scouts were returning to the army with reports of more unguarded clearings. Cyrus listened carefully to their reports, his eyes never leaving the map spread out before him. "They''re giving us a clear path," he murmured, his gaze hardening.

    But was it an opportunity or a trap? There was only one way to find out, and it was toote to back out now.

    "Advance!" Cyrusmanded, his voice resonating throughout the camp.

    As the sun began to climb higher into the sky, the forces moved toward the clearings. The sound of marching feet and clinking armor echoed through the mountains. There was an aura of palpable tension and anticipation in the air as they moved closer and closer to the clearings.

    Suddenly, without warning, the ground beneath one of the groups approaching a clearing began to tremble violently. It wasn''t an earthquake, but something far more terrifying.

    With a thunderous roar, the ground in the clearing erupted. From it emerged a colossal wind tunnel, swirling violently with a deadlybination of earth and lightning.

    Screams of terror and surprise echoed through the mountains as the wind tunnel sucked in the unfortunate warriors who were too close to escape its pull, ripping them to shreds. The once orderly march turned into chaos as panic spread through the ranks like wildfire.

    Some warriors, desperate to escape, broke ranks and darted off into the terrain, only to be ambushed by waiting for Battle Maiden disciples, savage beasts, or even more deadly arrays. The peaceful clearings were quickly transformed into nightmarish deathtraps.

    Others tried to fly over the mountains, believing they could escape the chaos on the ground. They were met with arrows, bolts of energy, and all manner of ranged attacks from Battle Maiden Sect disciples perched atop the mountains.

    Back at the Crimson yer Sect''s main force, Cyrus could only watch as his forces were decimated. His expression was grim, and his fists clenched at his sides. The Battle Maiden Sect had baited them masterfully into their traps.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But they were far from defeated. His forces were many; this was merely the beginning.

    ''If they think killing off the fodder means anything, they''re sorely mistaken!'' Cyrus thought as he handed out orders.

    "Do not panic! This sort ofrge-scale Formation can''t stay active for too long! Just stay out of range and wait it out!"

    "Elders! Assist the disciples in breaking through the formation! However, don''t engage in battle just yet! Wait for their Elders to show up!"

    "Shadows! Use your Revenants and other undead to increase our numbers!"

    Cyrus''smands echoed across the chaotic battlefield, a beacon of calm in the storm of destruction. At his orders, the elders of the Crimson yer Sect, who had held back so far, now stepped forward. They were the pirs of the sect, and their steady presence injected a dose of confidence into the panic-stricken disciples.

    The Shadow Necromancer Sect, known for their uncanny ability to control the dead, also sprang into action. At Cyrus''smand, they began raising Revenants, undead warriors made up of all the disciples that died in thest battle, to bolster their numbers. These undead soldiers, indifferent to fear and fatigue, began to fill the gaps in their lines, pushing forward despite the chaotic environment.

    Meanwhile, the Toxic de Sect used this moment to spread their poisonous mist across the edges of the battlefield, not allowing for any nks. The mist wasn''t lethal, but it would make anyone who hadn''t taken an antidote feel dizzy, and their Qi wouldn''t function properly. That''s why they only used it in areas where their army wasn''t in.

    While this was happening, the Elders of the Crimson yer Sect began to channel their energy into their protective arrays, each glowing symbol representing an addedyer of defense against the powerful elemental formation.

    Cyrus watched as his forces began to stabilize. He had been correct in his prediction that the Hidden Sky Formation, while undeniably formidable, couldn''t stay active indefinitely due to the sheer energy expenditure required. As the wind tunnel gradually lost its intensity, the army was able to push forward.

    The disciples of the Battle Maiden Sect kept their distance, onlyunching attacks from the air, killing off the stragglers, or trying to incite chaos in the main army. However, due to the overwhelming numbers, they weren''t able to make much of a dent before the army reached the main Formation covering the Sect.

    Each elder took a position at a key point around the perimeter of the formation. Their palms were pressed against the barrier, their faces stern with concentration. Each began to circte their Qi, manipting it into a specialized counter shape designed to nullify the effects and open up a hole in the primary formation.

    As they started to break through the formation, a few Battle Maiden Sect disciples who were previously hidden within the formation began to attack. However, they were quickly intercepted by Crimson yer Sect''s core disciples, who had been waiting for such an opportunity.

    While the elders worked to break through the formation, Cyrus turned his attention to the other groups, issuing new orders.

    "Forward troops, be wary of the terrain! Avoid unnecessary casualties," Cyrusmanded. He then turned to a group of specialists. "Bombers, prepare to create diversionary sts. I want chaos in their ranks!"

    As hismands rang out, the disciples moved into action. The bombers, who were specialized in using explosive Qi techniques, began preparing their attacks.

    Even as chaos and destruction reigned on the battlefield, the troops rallied under Cyrus'' sternmands, pressing forward in an unrelenting tide.

    The bombersunched their attacks, creating deafening booms and thick clouds of smoke that obscured the view of the Battle Maiden disciples perched on the mountains.

    Their targeted explosions made it hard for the enemy to concentrate on their aerial attacks, forcing them to retreat and regroup.

    Meanwhile, as the elders continued to work on the formation, there was a sudden shift in the energy flow.

    "Keep at it!" an Elder from the Crimson yer Sect shouted, encouraging the others. Their fingers tracedplex patterns in the air, their Qi dancing around them as they dismantled the formation piece by piece.

    The tension in the air was palpable as the formation began to flicker and waver, its once fierce energy dwindling. And then, with a final surge of concerted effort from the elders, a massive hole appeared in the Formation, allowing the entire army to go through.

    A cheer erupted from the Crimson yer Sect disciples as they saw the formation break. The pathway to the Battle Maiden Sect was now clear, and their morale surged with this victory. However, Cyrus was well aware that this was just the first obstacle in their path, and many more battlesy ahead.

    As the formation dissipated, the Battle Maiden Sect''s main defenses came into view. It was a formidable sight. Disciples standing in formation, with determined expressions, their Qi blending together to form a wall of protective energy.

    However, there was no time for Cyrus to admire their preparedness. He knew they had only won the first round, and the real battle was about to begin.

    He raised his hand, signaling for the next phase of his n. The Elders, having recovered from their formation-breaking efforts, moved to the front, and the various sects'' disciples started their march forward, an undeterred determination reflected in their eyes.

    The real battle starts now.

    ***

    Meanwhile, a few dozen kilometers away, arge group of Battle Maiden Sect disciples cultivating woke up from their meditation to the sounds of war and explosions.

 Chapter 676 Bittersweet Victory

    A week had passed since Aelina left the group of Battle Maiden Sect survivors in the secluded valley. Their focus had been solely on cultivating and absorbing as much Qi as possible from the formations, but now those formations had been deactivated.

    Skye opened her eyes, the tranquility of her meditation shattered by the abrupt absence of Qi. Her senses immediately noted the change. She turned to look at Morgana, whose eyes also fluttered open, reflecting a simr realization. The abundance of Qi, the gift that had supercharged their cultivation, was no more.

    "The formations have ended," Skye announced, standing and dusting off her robes.

    All around her, the other women began to stir, their meditation disrupted. Confusion flickered across their faces as they looked at each other, a shared sense of disappointment echoing through them. The Qi''s disappearance signaled the end of a period of immense growth, a feeling they all cherished.

    However, there was no time for disappointment.

    A sudden rumble of distant explosions jolted them out of their meditation. Their eyes fluttered open to the sight of the clear sky being disrupted by puffs of smoke. The sounds of the battle, echoing faintly over the hills, reached their ears.

    "What the hell? It sounds like someone''s fighting over there!"

    "Fighting?! No, it sounds more like a war!"

    "What?! Why would Sect Master Aelina ce us right next to a warzone?!"

    The womenmented, looking at each other, wondering what they should do. They had juste back from the brink of hell. Were they supposed to jump right back in, especially for some random people?!

    The Elders were the first to react to these sudden noises. They doubted that it was a coincidence that they just so happened to be cultivating next to a warzone.

    As the Elders spread out their Soul Senses, their eyes widened in surprise upon seeing that it was actually another Battle Maiden Sect branch at war.

    ''...B-But how? Did Master Aelina actually take us so far? Is that the strength of a Divine Sea Realm master?'' Morgana couldn''t help but shiver at Aelina''s power.

    As those of Aelina''s caliber hardly ever fight, the limits of the Divine Sea Realm aren''t widely known. They are only seen by the public as god-like entities that have absolute control.

    Shaking those thoughts out of her head, Morgana stood up and faced everyone.

    "I-I don''t know how to say this�� but another one of our branch Sects is at war."

    ��

    The crowd was silent for a moment, their eyes widening in shock before they began making a ruckus.

    "What?! Are you serious?!"

    "How dare those bastards?! One of our Sects wasn''t enough, huh?! They just had to go for more!"

    "Dammit! I''m gonna rip out their spines and feed their corpses to the pigs!"

    Without waiting for further confirmation, the disciples and Elders began to gather their belongings, gearing up for battle. The profound sense of unity they shared with the besieged branch Sect was an innate part of their identities as Battle Maidens. There was no question of not going to their aid; it was a matter of when and how fast they could get there.

    Skye took a deep breath, summoning her Qi, which was now noticeably more substantial than before their week-long cultivation period. She turned to face the other disciples, her voice clear and firm.

    "We''ve just experienced what it''s like to be on the losing end of a war. We''ve lost sisters, friends, mentors... Do we let that happen to another one of our Sects? Or do we fight?"

    There was a moment of silence before a deafening roar erupted from the crowd, their voices echoing off the valley walls.

    "WE FIGHT!"

    With a nod, Skye gestured toward the direction of the ongoing battle, her eyes hardening.

    "Then let''s go. We may have lost our own battle, but we won''t let another of our Sects suffer the same fate!"

    Without wasting another moment, they all took to the sky, their bodies illuminated by the rising sun. The valley that had been their sanctuary for the past week was left behind as they soared over thendscape.

    As they approached the battleground, the true scale of the conflict became clear. The Crimson yer Sect was relentlessly attacking the Battle Maiden Sect branch. The mountainous bowl where the Sect was located was severely damaged, its natural defenses shattered.

    The battle was reaching its climax. Both sides were losing lives, the myriad of energies shing in the sky, creating a dazzling yet terrifying spectacle. But despite their numbers advantage, the Crimson yer Sect was faring worse, their disciples dying at a faster rate than those from the Battle Maiden Sect.

    It couldn''t be helped as not only was this their enemy''s territory, but individually, each Battle Maiden was at least two times stronger than those from the Crimson yer Sect.

    Though, most of the deaths were just fodder or Revenants, controlled by the Shadow Necromancer Sect, anyways.

    The blood-tinted sky was rent by streams of Qi, the spiritual energy colliding and exploding in a cacophony of destruction. Amidst this chaos, Skye and her group descended from the sky like avenging angels, their resolve as solid as the weapons in their hands.

    Battle cries echoed as they joined the fray. Their numbers may not have been many, but their entrance created a psychological shockwave across the battlefield. It was like the dawn breaking after a long and gruesome night, bringing hope where there was despair.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Battle Maidens, who were barely holding on, found a renewed vigor. Their war cries grew louder, their attacks more forceful. Each disciple, regardless of their strength, fought as if they were the strongest�� as if this were theirst.

    Cyrus, the Sect Master of the Crimson yer Sect, watched this spectacle from a distance. His eyes narrowed, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

    ''I can''t believe Aelina actually forced those survivors to join the war so quickly.'' He clicked his tongue in annoyance, but this was within his expectations. He knew something would be different about this battle, he just didn''t know what.

    With a nce, he could tell that they had all grown stronger, and from the killing intent they released, they were clearly out for blood. Despite being only a fraction of his army, those ''battle-hardened'' disciples would deal much more damage than he was willing to allow.

    ''I still have so many more Sects to destroy! With how the fight''s going, even though I should be able to win with brute force and overwhelming numbers, the casualties will be too high. At this rate, by the time I''m even ready to face Aelina and the main Sect, everyone will be dead!'' He thought to himself, but even he knew that was a lie.

    Even if he attacked the main Sect with the entire army, they would merely be ants in a furnace. This was all he could do to bring Aelina down from her pedestal.

    ''While it''s a shame, I guess it''s time to destroy this ce, retreat, and move on. This was just a bad match-up. The rest of the Branch Sects won''t be nearly this strong or hard to invade.'' Cyrus shook his head before reaching out his Divine Sense to connect with all the Toxic de Sect disciples.

    ''Turn this ce into a wastnd.''

    Intermittent within the dense army, the Toxic de Sect disciples smiled as they took out dozens of toxic poisons, all while spreading out their Qi, which also had toxic properties.

    Skye''s sharp senses caught the change in the wind almost instantly, a subtle shift that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Her heart pounded in her chest as she turned to look at the Toxic de Sect disciples fanning out within the Crimson yer Sect army.

    "Ice the ground, now!" she bellowed, directing hermand at Morgana and any other Ice Qi cultivators around her. They didn''t question her, immediately understanding the imminent danger from their enemy''s change in tactics.

    Streams of frosty Qi burst from their bodies, converging into an icy st that coated the battlefield in ayer of frost.

    As soon as the toxins met the frost, a violent reaction urred. Plumes of corrosive mist rose into the air, eating away at anything they touched. The ice wasn''t nearly enough to stop the poisons as they snaked their way into the ground.

    The vibrant, life-filled bowl quickly turned into a wastnd, the ground corroded, the trees wilted, and the air filled with a deathly haze.

    Despite their attempt to counteract the toxins, the corrosive mist permeated throughout the battlefield, leaving behind nothing but devastation. Any unprotected disciple caught in it instantly shrieked in agony as their flesh began to dissolve, a macabre sight that chilled even the toughest of warriors to the bone.

    Even with their Qi as a barrier, they could feel the deadly power of the toxins eating away at their defenses. The once lush valley had be a no man''snd within moments.

    But the Battle Maidens, driven by their resolution, didn''t falter. If anything, the horrifying disy of their enemy''s ruthlessness only steeled their resolve. They took deep breaths, popped in the pills that Aelina and her Alchemy team had prepared for them, and charged into the deadly mist.

    Skye was at the side, her eyes burning with a cold rage. The sight of her fellow disciples'' suffering ignited a fury within her that made her previous battles seem like child''s y. She leaped around the mist toward the middle of the army, her de dancing in her hands, cleaving through any enemy that dared to cross her path.

    All around her, Battle Maidens fought with a deadly determination. Despite the poisonous mist, they pushed back. Their tenacity sent a clear message to their enemies: if you think we''re going to retreat because of this, then we''ll take you down with us!

    From his vantage point, Cyrus watched as Aelina''s forces tore through his forces. His face darkened, and his eyes glinted with a cold, calcting light. This wasn''t going as nned. He hadn''t expected them to hold their ground so fiercely, even in the face of such deadly odds.

    Despite the unexpected resistance, he gave a dismissive snort, his face hardening. ''All forces, retreat! They''ll die off soon anyways,'' hemanded through his Divine Sense.

    His sect members, despite their confusion and unwillingness, gradually started retreating from the frontlines out of the bowl.

    However, even as the enemy forces retreated, Skye and her fellow sisters continued their relentless pursuit. For the enemies that had dared to invade their fellow sister''s territory and bring death and destruction, they would show no mercy.

    The Crimson yer Sect''s forces were inplete disarray. They were being chased and ughtered likembs, only allowing the strong to escape.

    At the forefront of the chase, Skye was an unstoppable force of destruction. Her sword danced a deadly ballet, reaping lives with each stroke. Her eyes were cold and rage unending as she took out all her sorrows onto those before her.

    However, before she and many others could continue, they felt an unstoppable pressure push them back, allowing for the opposing army to escape without any more casualties.

    The battle was brutal and bloody, the once beautiful valley filled with the stench of death and the cries of agony. But there was an undeniable sense of triumph beneath the chaos and destruction. They had defended their fellow Sect and turned the tables on the invading army.

    With the battle concluded, Skye and her fellow disciples turned towards the sect that they hade to aid. Their hearts sank at the sight that met their eyes. The once beautiful bowl was now a barren wastnd, thend corroded and the air filled with toxic fumes.

    There were many more survivors this time, but each one was in worse shape than thest.

    As the sun began to set, painting the sky in hues of orange and red, Skye and her fellow disciples started aiding their fellow Sect members. They provided medical aid, distributed food and water, and helped escort everyone out of the ruined Sect.

    The battle had ended, but the war was far from over. They had won the day, but they knew that Cyrus would return.

    In the distance, Aelina watched Cyrus leave with an expressionless face before turning to the next batch of survivors.

    ''Looks like I won''t have to do any convincing this time. That Skye girl�� It seems she has quite the talent for leadership. The uing battles will be a good ce to extract that potential. Anyways, for now, I have to prepare the rewards for everyone''s hard work! '' A slight smile yed upon her lips as she vanished into the void, her destination unknown.

 Chapter 677 Three Months

    Three Months Later

    A lot has changed after the Crimson yer Sect''sst battle. People who were initially uninterested in the war, believing in the Battle Maiden Sect''s swift victory, began directing their attention toward it.

    This wasn''t just the case for the Major Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions but almost all medium powers and families as well. With every battle, Aelina lost more disciples, and her territory was continuously ruined. The Sect''s losses weren''t nearly just people but resources. Lots and lots of resources.

    Of course, Aelina and the Elders swooped in and gathered as much as they could before each battle, but even with their strength, there was a limit to what they could do.

    Many thought that she was crazy for not just ending this war in one fell swoop, saving countless deaths and resources. There were even some that thought the Battle Maiden Sect would soon be arge, fat piece of meat waiting to be sucked dry.

    For any Major Sect, Branches were equivalent to their status, strength, and potential, but that wasn''t all. They were also a source of revenue.

    The Ancient Beast Mountain Range might have higher-graded resources, but for lower-graded herbs, minerals, and Spirit Stones, Branch Sects are a necessity.

    However, despite knowing this, Aelina didn''t seem to care about her Branch Sects.

    To those major powers, this was akin to cutting off her future. How many years'' worth of resources has she lost already? How many disciples has she lost? Who knows how many decades or centuries it would take for her to establish her continental dominance again? In fact, she might never recover from these losses.

    At least, that''s how outsiders saw it. Even those that knew Aelina personally had no idea what she was thinking.

    Still, nobody thought about joining the war or invading her territory, as the true powers of the Battle Maiden Sect had yet to make a move, staying strangely quiet. Even after three months, they hadn''t made a move, allowing the Crimson yer Sect, Toxic de Sect, and Shadow Necromancer Sect to run rampant.

    Because of how passive they were, more and more disciples from thetter two Sects began eptingmissions to join the war effort, seeking to dismantle the Battle Maiden Sect while they were down.

    Not to mention, the war itself had be a spectacle, attracting spectators from near and far. It was an opportunity for those with discerning eyes to grasp the level of abilities, cultivation, and power of each Sect involved.

    While the Crimson yer Sect took advantage of the opportunity, ruthlessly pressing their attacks on the Battle Maiden Sect branches, the Toxic de Sect and Shadow Necromancer Sect''s involvement couldn''t be understated.

    They provided a formidable supporting force to the Crimson yer Sect, the former with their deadly poisons and thetter with their controlled Revenants. This trteral alliance had proven devastatingly effective.

    The Battle Maiden Sect branches were seemingly caught between a rock and a hard ce. While the invading forces faced casualties, the toll on the Battle Maiden Sect seemed far worse in their opinions due to the still overwhelming numbers of the opposing army. However, the survivors did not falter; they grew stronger, their will harder than ever.

    Aelina''s decision to refrain from engaging in directbat bewildered everyone. However, those who had been at the forefront of the battles, those who had witnessed the growth and resilience of the Battle Maiden Sect disciples firsthand, began to understand her intentions.

    They could see the steel resolve in the disciples'' eyes, the unyielding spirit they carried with them into battle. Each of these disciples had faced death, and with every battle, they grew stronger and more determined. The war was molding them into formidable cultivators, hardened by the crucible of life and death struggles.

    Rewarding them after every tempering session caused the survivor''s cultivation and strength to skyrocket, making them relentless on the battlefield.

    In fact, as the months went by, the Battle Maiden Sects started losing fewer and fewer disciples while their invaders lost more soldiers with every battle, diminishing their overall strength.

    At the heart of the resistance was Skye. Over the past three months, she had been at the forefront of every battle, her sword always ready, her spirit unbroken. Her leadership and relentless pursuit of the enemy had saved countless lives and boosted morale when it was most needed.

    Her growth over the past three months had been astonishing. Aelina had been right about her potential; Skye was a natural-born leader. The adversity she faced only seemed to polish her, bringing out her innate talents and honing her skills.

    Skye had be something like a beacon of hope for the Battle Maiden Sect disciples. She was the personification of their indomitable spirit, a symbol of their resolve. Her presence alone was enough to ignite their fighting spirit, a catalyst that spurred them into action.

    Every time they thought of retreating, they would look at Skye, her relentless figure slicing through enemies like a valiant knight, and their fears would vanish. Her leadership wasn''t just about words and strategies; it was about leading by example, fighting on the front lines, and sharing their hardships and sorrows.

    Everyone saw how the tides began to shift in the 3rd month, where the Crimson yer Sect could no longer brute force their way in, having toe up with intricate ns and strategic retreats just to keep their advantage.

    People began to believe that maybe Aelina would be able to win this war without even getting the main Sect involved.

    That is until a handsome, ck-haired young man with an Ouroboros robe dered, "From this day forth, I will take the life of a Battle Maiden Sect disciple. Each day henceforth, the number of lives I take will double. This relentless massacre will only cease once all the Battle Maiden Sect members have perished or until Mira, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, Rayna, and Eden show themselves and die by my hands!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    At first, nobody paid attention to that maniac. Who was he kidding? Battle Maidens died every day! Why does he feel the need to announce it in such a fashion?

    However, over time, everyone''s thoughts began to change.

    On the first day, he marched around with a single Battle Maiden''s head and Sect badge.

    On the second day, he marched around with two.

    On the third, there were four bodies.

    On the fourth, he had killed eight.

    .

    .

    .

    It wasn''t until the 11th day after he showed off 1024 dead Battle Maidens to the world, did people start to take him seriously.

    After the chilling deration of the ebony-haired young man in the Ouroboros robe, the atmosphere in the Crimson yer Sect''s camp shifted drastically.

    Their initial dismissal of his audacious im quickly transformed into grim acknowledgment as his chilling threat took tangible form with each passing day.

    On the twelfth day, he held aloft the heads and sect badges of 2048 fallen Battle Maidens, his cold eyes promising of more toe. The mere sight of it was a p in the face of the Battle Maiden Sect''s morale.

    While the morale of the Battle Maiden Sect was shaken, it was far from broken. Instead, they just became more careful, doing their best to get stronger every day so as not to sumb to his threats.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t always obtain his kills from the Sect''s main army. So, tracking him down and preventing the man from killing any more of their sisters wasn''t feasible, as he was just too fast, too stronger, and too unpredictable.

    Standing in front of all those dead bodies, the young man, Zehir, stood before both opposing armies, imbued his voice with Qi, and yelled to the world, "Maybe if those cowards, who hide behind the deaths of their juniors, would show up and face me, you all wouldn''t have to go through so much pain! There would have been no reason for these needless deaths! However, I guess this is all the Battle Maiden Sect can amount to! They''d rather let all the fodder die before they swoop in and deal with everything themselves! I''ll be here tomorrow at the same time! If those that I initially named don''t show up, I''ll kill another four thousand of you!"

    Then, after making such a bold deration, he disappeared.

    "That bastard!"

    "I swear! Once I get a bit stronger, I''m going to rip his guts out!"

    "Come, sisters! We need to prepare for the next time that asshole shows up! How dare he spit on our Sect right before our eyes!"

    "That''s right. We can''t let him speak like that toward us anymore!"

    The Battle Maiden''s eyes burned with rage as they stared at the position Zehir stood at, along with the maimed figures of their dead sisters!

    ***

    Meanwhile, a certain fox''s ears twitched, her eyes slowly opening to reveal a glinting set of crimson orbs. "It seems someone is calling for me."

    Exhaling a breath of turbid Qi, her eyes narrowed into slits as she stared at the side of a massive serpent before her, "With how fast this guy''s progressed, it shouldn''t be much longer before I can leave this ce.

 Chapter 678 Speak Of The Devil

    Chaos ruled as the battleground shuddered with the raw force of shing cultivators. Steel met steel in shes of deadly brilliance as the Battle Maiden Sect disciples stood firm against the savage onught of the Crimson yer Sect.

    "Skye! Enemies on our nk!" It was Selene, a seasoned Battle Maiden, her shout barely discernible over the cacophony of war. Yet, Skye, the eye amidst the hurricane, caught the urgent cry.

    "Regroup! Form the Iron Veil Battle Formation!" Skye barked, her voice cleaving through the noise. Her de, a wisp of deadly silver, whirled through the throng of enemies. Each step she took became a fortress, bolstering the faltering right nk.

    In the heat of battle, Eris, positioned at the crux of the confrontation, picked up on Skye''smand. She marshaled her troops, channeling her cyclone-like cultivation. The destructive gale she summoned sliced through enemy lines, changing the direction of the whirlwind that was the battle.

    With the shift in formation, theirrades who had been under duress breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Iron Veil formation was a battle strategy Skye had painstakingly drilled into them over the past months. Now, the training was paying off.

    "Ambush from the rear!" yelled a Battle Maiden named Eos, panic evident in her voice.

    Without missing a beat, Skye swung her head around, catching sight of a fresh wave of Crimson yer Sect cultivators closing in. "Astra, Leonis, hold them off!" she ordered, her gaze unyielding.

    The two women nodded, immediately stepping back to meet the new threat. They ignited their cultivation techniques, fire and earth energies intertwining and mming into the oing enemies.

    As the disciples defended their rear, Skye turned her attention back to the primary confrontation. Her sword danced in her hands, tracing lethal strokes of silver in the air. Every sh sent a Crimson yer Sect disciple sprawling, and the space around her started to clear.

    "L, Liana, provide cover!" Skye''smand cut through the cacophony. L and Liana, two disciples close to her, sprung into action. Their cultivation techniques exploded forth, a protective barrage of water and wind energies that shielded theirrades and sent enemies reeling backward.

    With a brisk motion, Skye deployed her own cultivation technique, a pulsing wave of silvery energy that radiated from her, pushing back opponents. It was a sight to behold, her power now considerably greater than what it had been just three months ago.

    "Press forward! They''re faltering!" she called out. Her voice was like a battle cry, clear and inspiring amidst the chaos. The Battle Maidens rallied alongside her, raining down a flurry of attacks, killing any enemy that appeared before them.

    "AHHHHH!! DIE, YOU BITCH!"

    Just then, an enemy cultivator screamed and lunged toward Skye. But she was faster, her de meeting his mid-strike. There was a brief moment of struggle, a contest of raw power. Then, with a swift movement and a re of her Qi, Skye swung her sword, creating a silvery arc through the man''s neck, decapitating him.

    The battle raged on, intensity cresting with each passing minute. Skye stood firm in the midst of it all, an anchor in the storm of conflict. Her de shimmered in the twilight, etching deadly arcs of silver as it cut through Crimson yer disciples.

    Sweat and blood mixed as the sh of titans echoed across the sprawling hills. The once serene ins were now a canvas of strife and violence.

    Attack, Sisters! Form groups of three to five! Always have each other''s backs! And kill everyst one of these sons of bitches!"

    Hermands cut through the din of battle like a sharpened de. "ra, provide cover from above! Talia, Ariadne, support the center!" A web of strategy unfolded as Skye''s crisp orders echoed across the battlefield.

    Without hesitation, ra, another disciple, took to the sky. From her vantage point, she let loose a rain of Wind Bolts, thinning out the oing wave of Crimson yer Sect cultivators.

    Meanwhile, Talia and Ariadne moved to the heart of the confrontation, their earth and water techniques merging to form a protective barrier around theirrades. They worked in perfect synchrony, not allowing for any faults in their defenses.

    "Keep pushing, we''re breaking their ranks!" Skye roared, her voice filled with determination. Her de moved like an extension of herself, every stroke pushing back the relentless tide of foes.

    Suddenly, a particrly brutish cultivator lunged at her, the air around him crackling with violent crimson energy. "You''ll die here, wench!" he snarled.

    A cold smile yed on Skye''s lips. She parried his clumsy strike, spun around, and with a swift, brutal motion, plunged her sword into his chest. The man''s eyes widened, and then he fell silent, copsing to the ground. Just another dead fool to add to her expansive collection.

    Meanwhile, Eris was holding her ground, her Wind Cyclone Technique wreaking havoc among the enemies. She was everywhere and nowhere, a tempest of lethal force that decimated the Crimson yer Sect disciples.

    "Luna, Iris, fortify our left nk!" shemanded, her voice barely audible over the howling wind of her cultivation technique.

    Yet, the Battle Maidens heard her. Luna and Iris quickly moved into position, their cultivation energies of frost and lightning merging to form a shimmering barrier that repelled the attacking cultivators.

    Back to Skye, a new challenger approached her, an enemy cultivator with eyes that burned with hatred. She met his gaze head-on, her eyes filled with unyielding resolve.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Brace yourself!" The man charged, his spear crackling with deadly energy.

    Skye didn''t respond. She simply waited for her de at the ready. As the man neared, she sidestepped his attack, spun around, and swung her sword. The man let out a gasp as his head tumbled from his shoulders.

    The battlefield was a maelstrom of shing energies, a testament to the brutal reality of war. Yet, through it all, the Battle Maidens held their ground, united under Skye''s leadership.

    But the tension was far from over. Somewhere in the distance, a burst of chillingughter echoed, piercing the cacophony of battle. Zehir... his entrance was imminent.

    As if on cue, Zehir descended upon the battleground, a chilling smile on his face. "Are you scared, little maidens?" His voice dripped with scorn, a mocking tune amidst the symphony of war.

    Across the blood-soaked battlefield, Skye raised her silver de, her face hardened. "Take him down! Don''t let him kill any more of us!" she shouted back, her voice full of defiance.

    Zehir moved like a phantom, his de a shadow that crept up on his enemies, removing their heads with ease. The Battle Maidens fell one after the other, their horrified gasps cut short by his chilling efficiency.

    Skye lunged forward, her sword meeting Zehir''s in a shower of sparks. "Don''t falter! Show this man that we won''t break so easily!!" she growled, straining against his overwhelming force.

    A smirk yed on Zehir''s lips. "Oh, I''m counting on that," he retorted, his de striking out faster than a blink.

    Eris, Luna, and Iris, seeing their leader engaged with the enemy, rushed in. Theirbined techniques of wind, frost, and lightning blended into a tempestuous attack aimed at Zehir. Yet, he danced around their strikes with ease.

    "Is this all?" Zehir mocked, his chillingughter spreading over the battlefield.

    Every disciple that fell, every cry of defeat was a blow to the Battle Maidens'' morale. Zehir''sughter echoed across the battlefield, a cruel, derisive sound that only amplified the growing despair.

    Although he preferred to fight someone strong, he found a sadistic joy in knowing that every single person here was rted to Mira in some way and that he was reaping their lives like cattle.

    ''Not only did that woman run away during our fight, but she''s caused all kinds of trouble for me! I could be cultivating right now, but no! I''m forced toe out and trim the weeds! All because some old fogey is losing a bit of money to a little girl.'' Zehir grumbled.

    Still, he couldn''t help but smile at the thought of fighting Mira again.

    ''Only someone of her caliber can make mying-of-age ceremony bearable. However, since you won''te down the mountain yourself, then it seems I have no other choice but to force you out!'' His grin widened as he mowed down whoever was in front of him.

    At this point, he didn''t even care whose side they were on. Anyone who got in his way died. It was as simple as that.

    Suddenly he paused, with his hand around some guy''s throat. In the distance, he sensed numerous powerful presences approaching, one of which was very familiar.

    Crushing the neck, Zehir tossed his corpse to the ground and ascended into the sky with a growing smile.

    "Hahahaha! Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!"

    ***

    [A/N: I know this recent arc has been fairly slow-paced. Originally, I didn''t mean for it to be like that. I nned for this war to be over a bit faster, but it was my first time writing a battle of this scale, and I wasn''t exactly sure what I should focus on.

    I knew that I wanted Mira, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, Rayna, and Eden to be left out of the main war since then, I could expand the world and make it seem a bit more lively while also preparing for what I n to do with the Battle Maiden Sect in the future.

    However, as time passed, more ideas came, and the more I wanted to try new things. Wars are veryplex, especially in a cultivation world where people can move mountains by themselves.

    Honestly, there''s a whole bunch of stuff that I left out that I wanted to explore as well, but I felt that, by now, the arc had be more tedious than anything, and it was time to move on. Still, I had fun writing it, and I learned a lot. If I ever do another war arc (which I don''t have any ns on doing, at least not in this fashion), it''ll definitely be better than this one.

    We''ll get back to Mira and the main plot next chapter, but I really wanted to take this time to explore something different.]

 Chapter 679 3rd Stage Nascent Soul Realm; Goodbye Basilisk

    Exhaling a breath of turbid Qi, Mira''s eyes narrowed into slits as she stared at the side of a massive serpent before her, "With how fast this guy''s progressed, it shouldn''t be much longer before I can leave this ce."

    During this period of time that she was stuck here, the Basilisk had consumed copious amounts of Celestial Nectar. In fact, he inhaled so much of it that part of Mira thought that the beast would turn into a giant drop of golden liquid himself.

    The Basilisk was currently wrapped up in a giant ball, a cocoon of white and ck forming around it with a golden stripe down the middle separating the two colors. From Mira''s perspective, it almost looked like a caterpir in the midst of evolving into a butterfly, just that this ''caterpir'' was capable of squeezing mountains and overturning oceans.

    ''A Taotie, huh��'' Mira stared at the beast curiously. She didn''t know much about the species, only that it existed. From the aura that the Basilisk gave off and the fact that it had ingested so much Celestial Nectar, she figured it''d be something akin to a Holy Basilisk, but it was impossible for her to know, and he didn''t seem keen on sharing.

    ''Whatever it is, I''m sure he''ll be powerful.'' Mira shook her head, pushing those thoughts aside before sweeping her consciousness past her body and soul.

    The Basilisk wasn''t the only one who had made tremendous strides over thest three months. She had also made significant progress in her cultivation.

    Instead of a 3-4-year-old child, her Nascent Soul now looked to be about 6 years of age. The ice hill it stood on wasrger and denser, the earth and magma were stronger, and the water droplets heavier. Darkness now only epassed 70% of her soul, except this time, there was something new: Wind.

    A mini cyclone had formed inside her Soul, making the whole thing seem as if it was rotating!

    All this meant one thing: She had broken through to the 3rd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!

    In addition to that, she also worked on modifying the Soul Forge Technique and made a few strides in that area. She found during her experiments that the shell of her soul was already so robust that the technique itself was of little use to her. However, she could take the fundamental core of the technique and use it to create her own.

    Huoyan, the Ashura, had created this technique alongside two others so that all three Realms of power (Body, Qi, and Soul) would have their own cultivation systems, but Mira didn''t believe that this suited her.

    She was all about efficiency, and training her Body, Soul, Qi, and Affinities separately was a massive waste of time. Eventually, she''ll hit an almost insurmountable wall that can''t be ovee without putting in centuries or several millennia of training just to break through a single stage. Even then, every subsequent stage will be exponentially more difficult.

    She might be a training maniac, but that seemed like pure hell.

    Therefore, she took the core of all the cultivation techniques she knew, including the Soul Forge Technique, and used them to help create a universal cultivation system that fused everything together.

    Although the current humanoid cultivation system was close to what she was looking for, it heavily leaned toward the Qi factor. The other two aspects (Body and Soul) were just support for the main system. A means to an end.

    She didn''t want that. She needed everything to stand on equal footing. All elements of cultivation should be synchronized into one System, so she didn''t need to use different techniques for each aspect.

    With her talent, she felt that following any other path would just leave inconsistencies in her foundation. Inconsistencies that, while not detrimental, might inhibit her from reaching the peak of her Absolute Dao.

    As such, she spent most of her time dedicated to researching ways to do this rather than cultivating.

    ''Too bad I didn''t make much progress. However, I believe what''s happening in my soul is a clue that will help me achieve this.'' Mira thought as she finished examining her body, which was currently itching to release its newfound power.

    Suddenly, while she was lost in thought, the Basilisk''s body shone like a beacon, drowning out their cave in its dark, light, and golden radiance. The Basilisk quickly released its Qi, using that to cover up this phenomenon from the outside world.

    "It seems I am about to go through my evolution, Young Fox," A deep voice, tinged with excitement, reverberated through Mira''s mind.

    "That so?" Mira cocked her head but wasn''t too surprised. He had ingested enough Celestial Nectar to supply a major Sect for thousands of years, after all. It would be weirder if he weren''t evolving soon. "I''m assuming you''re kicking me out."

    "That is correct. I do not wish for anyone to spectate me during this sensitive time."

    "What about the Sect not far from here? The Sect Master is quite powerful. If you up and disappear, I''m sure he''ll know."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Hmph!" The Basilisk snorted, "Child. Whether I want to hide, kill, sneak, steal, or evolve, nobody in this world can stop me."

    Mira''s eyes widened, a bit taken aback by its statement, but she was also a bit skeptical. After all, there was still the Central Continent. For how much it was ''praised'', she could only imagine what sort of terrifying old monsters and beasts lived there.

    The Basilisk noticed her doubt but didn''t feel the need toment on it. Instead, it said, "That''s enough talking. Our contract is over. You''re free to leave."

    "...Just like that? I''m suddenly allowed to leave?" Mira stared at it, wondering if it was truly letting her go.

    "Yes."

    ''Beasts truly are more simple than humans. Even mythical beasts like this guy.'' Mira thought before an idea struck her.

    "Then�� Can I keep the Harmony Blossoms since you have no more need for them?"

    The Basilisk was silent for a while, "...You may have one. I still have uses for them."

    "Tch." Mira clicked her tongue in disappointment but didn''t reject his offer. She didn''t need more than one, anyways.

    She quickly removed all the Harmony Blossoms from her Infinity Garden, leaving just a single one before packing up the rest of her stuff. Once she gathered all her belongings, she stood before the Basilisk, which was almost entirely covered in a dense cocoon.

    "Goodbye, Young Fox. May we meet again in the Immortal Realm." It said, then wrapped itself in Qi before disappearingpletely alongside his Harmony Blossoms.

    Mira had no idea where it went but assumed he was now in a ce much more secluded than here.

    "Heh. How abrupt." She chuckled, "But I guess it suits him. I don''t think we ever spoke more than a few words to each other over thest few months."

    "Now��" Mira''s expression turned serious as she stared in the direction that led out of the Forbidden Forest, "I''ve spent so long here. It''s finally time for me to check out the progress of the war."

    "Hopefully, nothing happened to Dominique while I was away."

    She put away the Infinity Garden, and with a thought, she also left the hideout, not leaving a single trace behind.

    ***

    It took her some time, just like it did for Nova and the others, but Mira was eventually able to make it out of the Forbidden Forest without any issues. Rather, it seemed as if the Heartwood Corruptor sensed her intentions and supported her in escaping.

    Her lungs greedily sucked in a breath of fresh air. A gentle breeze yed with her fiery tresses as the sun bathed her in a warm, weing light. Her heart hummed with anticipation, her gaze already fixed upon her destination �C the Battle Maiden Sect.

    "I didn''t realize this until now, but the air in that forest is incredibly stuffy," Mira murmured, a faint smile ying on her lips. In her eyes, the sky was a richer shade of azure, the trees a more vibrant green. The world outside was the same as before, yet, she felt an unfamiliar sense of liberation.

    "All right. Time to get moving," Mira muttered, her voice firm. She had been away for too long, trapped in a cave with a massive serpent. Now, she was free to move as she pleased.

    Taking a moment to stretch her limbs and crack her joints, she prepared herself for the journey. Then, with onest lingering look at the Forbidden Forest that had been her home for so long, she turned on her heel and began her journey toward the Battle Maiden Sect.

    ''I hope Aelina hasn''t ended the war without me. I need to release a little excess energy after sitting in a cave for so long!'' Mira''s lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile. She was ready to let loose and go on an unbridled rampage.

 Chapter 680 Unfinished Battle

    "Hahahaha! Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!" Zehir''s coldughter echoed throughout the battlefield, causing everyone to back away from him. His chillingughter was like a frosty wind, making the hearts of his own men shudder.

    He swept his silvery gaze over the battlefield, staring at the newly arrived reinforcements of the Battle Maiden Sect. His eyes locked onto a specific figure at the forefront - a woman more beautiful than anyone he''d ever seen.

    "The cowardly fox has finally decided to show her face! I was afraid I''d never get to finish our previous match." Zehir taunted, his deep voice carrying across the battlefield.

    Mira''s ethereal figure soon came into view. Her multi-colored tails swung around wildly like they each had minds of their own. Her icy-blue hair fluttered against the wind, and her crimson eyes narrowed in on Zehir.

    Beside her, Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and Eden stood their ground, their auras fluctuating and rage emanating from their beings as they stared at the devastation around them. Each of them was much stronger than three months ago, making at least one breakthrough in their cultivation.

    They''d caught up with Mira at the Sect, sharing their experiences and trials during her time in the Forbidden Forest. Now reunited and ready for battle, they stood as a united front, prepared to face the onught of the Crimson yer Sect with the Outer, Inner, and Core Disciples from the main Sect that Aelina had gathered.

    Unfazed by Zehir''s provocation, Mira''s frown transformed into a slight smile, and she responded calmly, "It seems you''ve beenzing around, little dragon. You haven''t gotten any stronger since west met."

    Mira ignored the zing, vengeful eyes of herpanions and thendscape filled with nothing but blood and death, focusing solely on the man in front of her.

    Truthfully, she didn''t have much of a grudge against him. If anything, she had a rather good impression of the man. He didn''t look at her with lust or other desires like other men. All he wanted was a good battle, something to cure his boredom.

    Zehir''s expression turned ugly after hearing Mira call him a "Little Dragon", and he stared at Mira for a moment before he took out his sword, channeling Qi into it, using the familiar [Dragon''s Wrath] technique that he used toward the end of theirst battle.

    Then, with a sickening crack, the man''s spine split open, and a pair of glossy ck wings burst forth from his back. Using his movement technique, [Dragon''s Flight], he shot toward Mira with supersonic speed, going so fast that anyone below the Soul Transformation Realm shouldn''t be able to keep up with him.

    *BOOOOM!*

    The resulting shockwave from their sh sent tremors through the earth, shaking the very foundation of the battlefield. Mira''s feet sunk into the ground as she grounded herself against the tremendous force of Zehir''s strike with her scythe.

    "Starting strong from the beginning, Zehir? It seems you''re quite eager." Mira''s calm voice echoed out, a stark contrast to the violence of their sh.

    Just as Zehir was about to attack again, Mira''spanions moved to join the fight, their faces showing intense worry for their friend. However, they were stopped in their tracks when Mira raised a hand, signaling them to halt.

    "Stay back." Her voice was as cold as ice. "This fight is mine."

    Nova, Everly, Eden, and Seraphina exchanged a nce. They were hesitant, but they recognized the determined glint in Mira''s eyes and understood that she wanted to face this challenge alone.

    "Are you sure?" Seraphina voiced their concern, her eyes still locked on Zehir.

    "I am," Mira said, her gaze never leaving Zehir.

    A tense silence hung in the air before Nova sighed heavily and nodded. "Alright, we trust you, Mira. We''ll handle the rest of the Crimson yer Sect."

    As Mira''spanions began to lead their forces against the remainder of the Crimson yer Sect, she focused back on her enemy.

    "I hope you''re ready, Zehir," Mira dered, gripping her scythe tightly and pointing it at him. "This time, there won''t be any reason for me to leave halfway."

    Zehir smirked beforeughing wildly, his wings pping, creating gusts of winds that disturbed the blood-soaked soil beneath them. "Hahaha! That''s right! That''s how a true fight should be! With neither one of us holding back!"

    With a thought, his wings fluttered so hard that the ground beneath him cracked, sending him straight to Mira before she could even blink.

    "Try not to disappoint me, Mira."

    He let out a primal roar as his body was engulfed in a torrent of ck mes. His sword, wreathed in mes, mmed against Mira with the force of a dragon.

    The force of Zehir''s ming onught descended upon Mira, the sheer intensity causing the air around them to distort and waver. However, Mira''s calm demeanor remained unchanged, as if she was facing an unruly breeze rather than a dragon''s fury.

    With a fluid motion, she spun her scythe, invoking the [Ice Titan''s Fortress] technique. A protective barrier of frost formed around her in an instant, its chilling radiance contrasting against the violent mes. The battlefield fell into a deadly silence as fire and ice shed, steam billowing out from the point of contact.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "No need to worry, Zehir," Mira called out, her voice tinged with a hint of excitement. "I won''t disappoint you."

    ''I can finally put the techniques I learned at the Sect''s libraries to good use,'' Mira thought, her smile widening. She didn''t even register the fact that she might expose some of her secrets to the world. However, even if she did think of that, she wouldn''t care.

    With her current strength and backing, why would she need to hide her capabilities? Not to mention, it was her tails that were her real trump cards. As long as those weren''t known publicly, the rest hardly mattered.

    She just wanted to have a good fight.

    She then swiftly changed her stance,unching her second offensive, [Lightning Decree]. With a sweeping motion of her scythe, a barrage of light blue lightning bolts crackled through the air, a stark contrast against the fiery onught, surging towards Zehir with unyielding resolve.

    Unrelenting, Mira pivoted her body, her tails swaying gracefully as she invoked her next technique, [Earthshaker''s Strike]. A surge of earthen power traveled down her scythe, causing the ground to erupt beneath Zehir, shards of rock and dirt aiming to impale him.

    His wings beating even more frantically, Zehir barely managed to dodge the earthen spears. He red at Mira, his eyes seething with fury yet also glowing with excitement. It had been a long time since a battle was so thrilling.

    Mira didn''t give him any reprieve. Seizing the momentary advantage, she transitioned her offensive, her scythe now imbued with [Galeforce Scepter], whipping up a fierce windstorm that further obscured Zehir''s field of vision.

    "Mira," Zehir''s voice rang out amidst the chaotic scene, a hint of respect seeping into his words. "You truly are more formidable than I thought. This is the fight I''ve been seeking!"

    Her eyes sparkled with a feral intensity, her smile mirroring Zehir''s excitement. "This is just the beginning, Zehir."

    The battlefield around them seemed to warp under the sheer intensity of their fight as if reality itself was bending to their wills. The forces of both the Battle Maiden Sect and the Crimson yer Sect halted their battles, their gazes drawn towards the epic sh of the two titans in their midst.

    "Eyes on the enemy!" Nova shouted, rallying the Battle Maiden Sect. Despite her words, she herself couldn''t help but sneak nces at the duel, her heart pounding with concern and admiration. She wished she could trade ces with Mira and participate in such a high-speed fight!

    Just as Nova shouted hermand, Zehir abruptly disengaged from Mira, disappearing from her sight in the blink of an eye. He reappeared a momentter behind her, a malicious grin on his face. With a swift sh of his sword, he unleashed the [Dragon''s Inferno], sending a wave of zing fire toward Mira.

    Caught off guard, Mira received a heavy hit, the fiery ze singing her tails and sending her crashing into the ground. However, as Zehir looked on, expecting to see Mira struggling to get up, the smoke cleared to reveal her standing tall, her injuries already healing at an elerated rate.

    "Nice trick, Zehir," Mira retorted, her crimson eyes shining brightly as she unleashed her Yin Fire. The icy-blue mes, as cold as the depths of the void, surged forward, shing with Zehir''s fiery onught.

    Zehir was momentarily stunned by the chilling coldness of her Yin Fire, a stark contrast to the blistering heat of his own mes. However, he quickly regained hisposure, pushing back with his Dragon''s Breath. In the next instant, the battlefield was awash with fiery light as the two opposing mes met, causing a massive explosion that sent a shockwave of air outward.

    The shockwave pushed back the onlookers, forcing both sides to retreat further from the epicenter of their battle. Soldiers who were too close to the sh and couldn''t escape in time were sted away, their screams cut short as they perished in the explosive force.

    Meanwhile, Mira and Zehir continued their fight, oblivious to the devastation around them. Mira summoned her [Whispering Wind] technique, using the gusts of air to propel herself out of the shockwave''s radius. Zehir, on the other hand, utilized [Dragon''s Flight], his wings beating furiously as he flew against the wave, closing the distance between him and Mira.

    With a swift spin of her scythe, Mira conjured up her [Abyssal Quake], mming the butt of her weapon into the ground. The earth quivered, and a wave of dark energy erupted from beneath Zehir''s feet,unching him into the sky.

    Mira took this momentary advantage tounch her [Vortex of the Tempest], summoning a raging storm that swirled around Zehir, trapping him within its maelstrom. Lightning danced among the raging winds, each strike threatening to pierce his skin.

    Despite this, Zehir''s roar echoed through the raging winds, his figure visibly sagging in the tempest yet undeterred. "You''ll have to do better than this, Mira!"

    His wings red open, shining with a strange light. He drove his sword into the eye of the storm, channeling his energy into it. The [Dragon''s Reprisal] technique was unleashed, and a shockwave of energy exploded from him, shing against the tempest.

    Zehir''s shockwave tore through the tempest, splitting the raging winds apart, forcing the storm to dissipate. His ck wings gleamed ominously, brimming with renewed strength, as he descended back towards Mira.

    Watching this disy, Mira''s eyes narrowed, acknowledging the man''s relentless determination. She recognized that this battle wasn''t going to be won easily. The icy-cold calmness she''d carried since the start of the fight started to dissolve, reced by a fierce determination.

    With a firm resolve, she rose to meet Zehir mid-air. A chilly aura enveloped her body, her nine tails radiating an eerie glow. She released her [Elemental Barrier], a defense technique she had learned during her training in the Forbidden Forest thatbined all her elements into one, creating a shield around her. Her crimson eyes glowed fiercely, a clear warning of her impending attack.

    In response, Zehirughed, the sound echoing through the chaotic battlefield. "Finally! Now you''re taking me seriously! Let''s see how your best stacks up against mine!"

    With that, the true battlemenced. The forces of fire and ice, the dance of the dragon and the fox all merged into an epic spectacle that held everyone on the battlefield spellbound.

 Chapter 681 Beginning Of A New Age

    Despite the horrors of war unfurling around them, every gaze was drawn to the sh of the titans - Mira and Zehir. The sh of their powers was a spectacle more breathtaking than anything anyone had witnessed.

    Miraunched herself towards Zehir, her [Elemental Barrier] shimmering around her like a celestialet. She wielded her scythe, each swing carrying the momentum and explosiveness of a Magma Dragon.

    On the other hand, Zehir met Mira''s assault with a gleam in his eyes and a predatory grin. His body moved like a shadow, fluid and agile, parrying and deflecting each of Mira''s strikes while retaliating with his own, his ming sword matching the glow of her barrier.

    The two forces shed mid-air, the shockwaves of their collision sending ripples across the battlefield. The scorching heat of Zehir''s mes and the chilling frost of Mira''s barrier intertwined, creating an awe-inspiring aurora.

    As the battle progressed, Zehir seemed to revel in the confrontation, hisughter echoing through the field, despite the continuous assault from Mira. His strength was formidable, each swing of his sword carrying the devastating power of his [Dragon''s Inferno], with mes that threatened to consume everything in their path.

    Yet, Mira was unyielding, countering Zehir''s ferocity with an icy calm and precision that belied the fiery intensity within her. With each swing of her scythe, she unveiled anotheryer of her strength, weaving her tails around between attacks to protect her and deal additional damage.

    It wasn''t much, but anything that could create gaps in his defenses was enough for her.

    Their powers were evenly matched their strengths on par with one another, each giving as good as they got. As time passed, aside from getting weaker and slower, the two only seemed to grow.

    Zehir went in to attack, while Mira used everything in her arsenal to protect herself. When he finally revealed a w in his defenses, Mira would strike back, only for Zehir to do the same.

    The two were stuck in a deadly yet beautiful dance as they attempted to disrupt the other''s rhythm. However, since they were both geniuses in their own right, with every sh, they learned more about each other, having to evolve just to survive.

    They both knew that just a single clean hit could bring disastrous consequences. It may not cost them their life immediately, but just a single mistake could put them on a downward slope that would soon spell their doom.

    Just as Zehirunched another series of attacks, Mira executed her [Ice Titan''s Fortress] technique once again. A colossal barrier of frost emerged around her, forcing Zehir to back off momentarily. Seizing this opportunity, Mira focused on vitality to help bring her back to peak condition.

    Zehir watched her, his eyes narrowing as he realized her strategy. He wouldn''t allow her to recover without consequences. Launching himself forward, he prepared to break through her icy defense with his [Dragon''s w], a move intended to shatter barriers and defenses.

    However, Mira was ready. Her regenerative powers had given her the strength she needed.

    Mira''s icy barrier held firm against Zehir''s attack. The sound of his Dragon''s w impacting the Ice Titan''s Fortress resounded throughout the battlefield, creating a shockwave that kicked up dust and debris all around them. However, Mira''s barrier, reinforced by her vitality, didn''t yield.

    As soon as Zehir''s attack ended, Mira counterattacked. She emerged from the barrier, her eyes gleaming with determination. Her scythe was aze with Yin Fire and crackling with lightning, a testament to her regained strength.

    "With this... I''ll bring you down, Zehir!" Mira roared, her voice echoing across the battlefield. Sheunched herself at Zehir, her scythe leaving a trail of frosty mes and lightning in its wake.

    The man was momentarily taken aback by Mira''s sudden surge of power but quickly regained hisposure. He met her head-on, his sword and her scythe shing mid-air, creating another shockwave that reverberated throughout the area.

    Sparks flew as steel met steel, and their elemental powers collided. Zehir''s mes and Mira''s Yin Fire and lightning entwined in a deadly dance, each trying to overpower the other.

    Zehir was relentless, his attacks fast and powerful. Each swing of his sword was like a dragon diving down to earth, threatening to engulf Mira in its fiery wrath. Yet, she stood her ground, her scythe matching his sword blow for blow.

    They moved with such speed that to the onlookers, they were nothing more than blurs of light shing against each other. Their battle was the epitome of strength and power, a showcase of the immense capabilities of the two titans.

    Suddenly, Mira''s eyes flickered, and she let out a low chuckle. "Gotcha."

    In the blink of an eye, her body split into multiple figures, her [Mirage Dance] techniqueing into y. It was a technique that she had learned thanks to the insights she''d gained from her Illusory Tail and the [Illusion Control Manual] she had bought from the FLDIL.

    Each figure attacked Zehir from a different direction, their attacks ovepping and creating a storm of Yin Fire and lightning.

    Taken by surprise, Zehir faltered. He was able to parry a few attacks, but the relentless assault from all sides was too much. He roared in pain as Mira''s Yin Fire and lightningnded on his body, searing his skin and sending spasms of pain through him.

    Zehir spread his wings with a mighty roar and created a burst of mes, his Dragon''s Fury driving away the illusions. However, when the fire cleared, the real Mira was nowhere in sight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Zehir''s eyes widened in surprise, and then he felt a chill creeping up his spine. He barely had time to react before a wave of icy cold and electrifying energy hit him from behind.

    Mira had used her Mirage Dance technique as a distraction to nk Zehir, and she didn''t waste the opportunity. She struck with her Yin Fire and lightning enveloping Zehir and leaving him writhing in pain.

    "ARGH!! FUCK! I''ll definitely kill you for that!" He cursed and hurriedly retreated, but Mira continued to rain down fire and lightning on him.

    She watched as Zehir struggled against her attack, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. Yet, she knew the battle was far from over. Zehir was a formidable opponent, and she wasn''t about to underestimate him.

    True to her expectations, Zehir let out another roar, his Dark Inferno burning brighter than ever before. He stood tall, refusing to yield despite his injuries. His gaze fixed on Mira, his eyes glowing fiercely.

    "Is that all you got, Mira?" he taunted, his voice echoing throughout the battlefield. His confidence remained unbroken despite the damage he had taken. "If so, you''ll never bring me down!"

    With a slight smile, Mira readied herself. "Bring it on, little dragon."

    ***

    "Holy hell�� Are those two even human?" Nova muttered in disbelief as she continuously nced over to their fight.

    "[Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot]." She muttered, shooting beams of fire at the enemy army, piercing them in droves as if they were nothing more than feeble ants.

    "You have eyes, Nova. You can clearly see that they aren''t human," Seraphina retorted, bashing enemies with her shield and cutting them apart with her sword.

    "It''s a figure of speech. Of course, I know they''re not human," Nova''s retort hung in the air, punctuated by the carnage unfolding around them.

    The battlefield was awash in chaos and violence as the Battle Maiden Sect shed with the remnants of the Crimson yer Sect. Yet, there was a grim resolution etched on the faces of the Battle Maidens, their fury ignited by the sight of their fallen sisters from the branch Sects.

    Most of them hade from said branch Sects, just like Mira. Seeing that so many of them had died by these cretins filled them with immense heartache.

    "Make them pay," one of the Battle Maidens growled, her voice filled with cold wrath as she cast a nce at the sea of lifeless bodies of their fallen kin.

    A roar of agreement swept through their ranks. Their sorrow had turned into rage, and they channeled this anger into their fight. The Battle Maidens moved as one, a united front against the enemy. Their swords were sharp and their shields were steady, their collective wrath a palpable force on the battlefield.

    Each maiden fought with an intensity and a fury that was terrifying to witness. It was as if they were avatars of vengeful deities, their every move a testament to their determination to avenge their fallen sisters. It was not just a battle; it was a reckoning.

    The Crimson yer Sect soldiers, who had once charged with confidence, now recoiled in fear. The tables had turned, and they found themselves at the mercy of the enraged Battle Maidens. Each swing of a Maiden''s sword was a death sentence, and their shield bashes sent soldiers flying.

    "I surrender! I surrender! Please don''t kill me!" One of the soldiers from the Crimson yer Sect screamed, throwing down his weapon in desperation.

    The Battle Maidens paused, their eyes cold and hard as they regarded the fallen soldier. Then, without a word, one of them stepped forward and drove her sword through his chest.

    "There is no mercy for those who took our sisters from us," she stated coldly. Her voice carried across the battlefield, silencing the cries of surrender from the enemy.

    The Battle Maidens made short work of the remaining Crimson yer Sect forces. Whether they tried to retreat or surrender, they met the same fate. The battlefield was soon littered with the bodies of their enemies, a grim testament to the Battle Maidens'' wrath.

    Despite the carnage around them, Nova and Seraphina kept fighting, their attacks coordinated and lethal. They kept ncing over to Mira and Zehir''s battle, a part of them still in disbelief at the sheer power the two were disying.

    It wasn''t long before even the higher-ups of the Crimson yer Sect could no longer sit back and watch as their army was destroyed. However, Aelina and her Elders still hadn''t appeared yet, causing them to hesitate in their decision.

    "Tsk. Tsk. I guess it''s almost time to say farewell, my oh-so-willing whetstone. Truthfully, I thought you''d hold out longer, but what can I expect from a bunch of mangey mutts?" A yful, teasing voice tickled their ears.

 Chapter 682 Beginning Of A New Age Part 2

    The voice that echoed across the battlefield, filled with audacity and mockery, belonged to none other than the Battle Maiden Sect Master - Aelina. Her appearance was akin to a nightmare descending upon the already desperate Crimson yer Sect. Tall and imposing, d in battle gear that gleamed under the sunlight, Aelina surveyed the battlefield with a cold, predatory smile.

    However, from her outfit, it was clear she didn''te here to y around.

    Seeing the terrifying figure of Aelina, the higher-ups of the Crimson yer Sect felt a chill run down their spines. They didn''t even sense her before she was already right in front of them.

    Cyrus watched from a distance, with no evident emotion in his visage. However, a devious light shone in his eyes, causing the corner of his lip to curl up.

    "Aelina... So, you''vee." The voice came from the one known as High Elder Vorgath, a man under Cyrus known for his cunning tactics and ruthless disposition. His expression was calm, but his eyes misrepresented his fear.

    "It''s about time to end this farce, don''t you think?" Aelina responded, her voiceced with barely concealed amusement.

    Her eyes fell on the battle between Mira and Zehir, a glint of appreciation shing in her gaze. "It appears our Mira has grown quite a bit. With her current strength, she should be ready for what''s toe."

    Suddenly, her attention was brought back to the Crimson yer Sect members as they regrouped, their bodies tensing up. Some even began to charge their spells or prepare their weapon skills. But none dared to initiate an attack on her.

    Aelina scoffed, her disdain apparent. "Scrambling like rats cornered by a cat, how pathetic. To think my Sect is so weak that yousted over three months against us�� I suppose I''ll have toe up with a more rigorous training routine for them when I''m done here."

    The calm before the storm seemed to freeze time on the battlefield as Aelina, resplendent and fearsome, took a step forward. Her voice rang out clear and taunting, breaking the eerie silence, "Just look at you all, trembling in fear. Is this the famed Crimson yer Sect, the wolves who think they can prey on my Maidens? More like a pack of whimpering pups."

    Aelina''s harsh words, coupled with her dismissive attitude, ignited the simmering anger and fear in the Crimson yer Sect''s higher-ups. Several Elders, their pride bruised and their patience worn thin, gritted their teeth and mustered their courage.

    "You insolent wench, how dare you belittle us!" Elder Riggs, a bulky man with a scar across his face, roared. "Let''s show her, brothers! This woman needs to be taught a lesson in humility! I don''t give a shit if this woman is the Sect Master or not! If we work together, there''s no way she can hold us all back!"

    A group of Elders, whose pride and ego were stoked by Elder Rigg''s voice, quickly moved to surround Aelina, their bodies emanating a menacing aura. They drew their weapons, their faces set in grim determination, while their eyes shone with a crimson fury. But before they could initiate an attack, amanding voice echoed through the field.

    "Stop!" Cyrus called out. His eyes were wide with apprehension, his mind clearlyprehending the depth of the disaster about to befall them.

    However, his plea was toote. The Elders, too consumed by their rage and humiliation, didn''t hear his words. Their attacks, imbued with their peak Mortal Shedding Realm power, converged toward Aelina.

    Aelina merely nced at the iing attacks and the Elders who dared to strike her. A cold, predatory smile danced on her lips. With an air of nonchnce, she simply snapped her fingers.

    At that moment, the world seemed to halt. The next, the battlefield was consumed by a horrifying blood mist. The Elders, once proud and fierce, were reduced to nothingness in an instant.

    When the mist cleared, a stunned silence engulfed the battlefield. The remaining Crimson yer Sect Elders looked on with abject horror at the spot where their brethren had stood just moments ago.

    "That''s the problem with you Unorthodox Faction children. All it takes is a gentle nudge, and you crumble like delicate flies in the wind." Aelinamented as she waved her hand and collected the fallen Storage Rings. Looking inside them, Aelina nodded with a slight smile before putting them away and turning her attention to the opposing Sect Master.

    Cyrus stood frozen, his countenance finally shifting to reveal a grim expression. He had finally realized the depth of the predicament he was in. Aelina wasn''t here to talk or taunt. No, she was here to kill.

    But even in the face of such a realization, a spark of defiance ignited within him.

    "So, the time has finallye," Cyrus muttered before he burst into maniacalughter, his voice filled with terrible delight. "Aelina, whether I meet my end today or not, your beloved Sect will crumble! Do you think I didn''t anticipate this moment?! Aren''t you looking down on me a bit too much?!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His words hung in the air, eerie and taunting. Aelina''s gaze, cold and calctive, met his before a slow smile spread across her face.

    "Oh? Are you referring to the Toxic de Sect Master knocking on my door as we speak?" she said, her words calm yet startling. Cyrus flinched, his bravado faltering as he wondered how she could possibly know of this. She''s literally standing right before him, in the flesh!

    ''How could she know about that?!'' He wondered, feeling a chill run down his spine as his mind spiraled, searching for a solution. He figured that Aelina knew that he had contacted the Toxic de Sect Master, Dorian, but the contents of their deal shouldn''t have been known.

    Before he could regain hisposure, Aelina acted. A pair of spiked gauntlets materialized around her hands, glinting ominously in the sunlight. In a blink of an eye, she was in front of Cyrus, her gauntlet burying into his stomach.

    Aelina''s movement was a blur, a phantom streak of ferocity that sent Cyrus reeling backward. His body shot through the air, aet trailing smoke and blood, and vanished into the horizon. His agonized scream, a crescendo of disbelief and pain, rang out in the silence.

    The ground caved in beneath Aelina''s. The lush greenery morphed into a barren, destendscape, ripped and torn by her power''s overwhelming surge.

    Divine Sea Realm masters were often seen as natural disasters for a reason. Even though Aelina controlled her strength well, the shockwave from her punch was enough to ruin the surrounding area.

    A moment of shock hung in the air. The onlookers stood frozen, their eyes wide, their hearts pounding, and their minds struggling toprehend the horrifying disy of strength.

    However, the shock quickly turned into a surge of fear-induced rage. The remaining Crimson yer Elders, fueled by anger and desperation, gritted their teeth and advanced toward Aelina. "For the Sect Master!" one of them roared, rallying hisrades. Their eyes zed with an incandescent fury that stood stark against their fears.

    Yet, before they could take another step, a wall of Battle Maiden Elders materialized before them, standing in front of opponents of simr cultivation. They stood as a bulwark against the tide, a band of steel-eyed women with weapons ready.

    "Sorry, but your opponents are us." A beautiful middle-aged woman, Elder Sandra, stepped forward and said. "Be thankful to our Sect Master for allowing you to live your pathetic lives for a few more minutes."

    "That''s right!" Another Elder, Ange, shouted, "You little worms can''t evenst a second against our Sect Master! Before you meet your deaths, be sure to wish her a long and fulfilling life for allowing you this opportunity as I''m ripping your throats out!"

    Their words only served to fuel their opponents'' rage, causing them to jump into action like a bunch of rabid monkeys.

    Aelina cast a brief nce over her shoulder towards her Elders. Her voice, calm and resolute, broke through the chaos. "Don''t let a single one of them escape."

    Her Elders responded in unison, their voices echoing across the battlefield. "Yes, Sect Master!"

    As though a switch had been flicked, the Battle Maiden Elders sprang into action. A symphony of power exploded onto the battlefield, their attacks meticulously coordinated, sending their opponents flying away from the battlefield, far from the disciples beneath them.

    The sh between the two legends began.

    Meanwhile, on the battlefield below, the tide seemed to be turning. Empowered by their Sect Master''s disy of might, the Battle Maiden disciples'' morale skyrocketed. They fought back with renewed vigor, their movements growing more precise, their attacks more potent.

    And amidst this chaos, in a corner of the battlefield, the battle between Mira and Zehir reached its climax. The exchange of their power created a dazzling spectacle of lights and sounds, attracting the attention of the surrounding disciples, who couldn''t help but watch.

    The 3-month long war had reached its peak as they entered the final battle.

 Chapter 683 Beginning Of A New Age Part 3

    Mira and Zehir shed, their bodies moving with an unfathomable speed, their skills unleashed with lethal precision. They fought in the midst of destruction, their figures asionally enveloped in billowing dust and flying debris. The surroundings around them were obliterated, the earth shattered and upturned, creating a battlefield that resembled a barren wastnd.

    The furious dance of their weapons echoed through the battlefield, a rhythmic sound that throbbed in the hearts of onlookers. Their intense battle was akin to a spectacr show, except that each movement held life-and-death consequences.

    The earth beneath Mira''s feet shattered, her body battered and bruised, her clothes torn and stained with blood. She staggered but didn''t fall. Opposite her, Zehir was no better off. His once splendid robes were ripped to shreds, blood seeping out from the many wounds in his body.

    While their vitality might be high, the pace of the battle was so fast, and the number of injuries they sustained each second was more than it could keep up with.

    It couldn''t be helped. Each attack of theirs was enough to bring serious bodily harm. So much so that even blocking the attack would break bones and cause internal injuries, despite their strengthened bodies.

    Mira''s crimson eyes were cold and calcting, her grip tightening on the shaft of her scythe, whose chilling aura resonated with her own icy essence. Even in her battered state, she was a sight to behold, a solitary figure of defiance standing against the inexorable force of Zehir.

    From the other side of the battlefield, Zehir stared back, his features hardened, his eyes gleaming with an eerie mystical light. A crimson-ck me flickered around him, the unique Draconic Fire from his Ouroboros bloodline.

    This wasn''t a battle of attrition; it was a contest of wills, the sparks between them threatening to ignite into a catastrophic ze.

    Mira moved first. Activating her Scythe Manifestation, a surge of icy energy coursed through her meridians, sending a rush of adrenaline through her body. She vanished in an instant, the space where she had been exploding with frost.

    Reappearing in front of Zehir, she swung her scythe, a massive de of ice forming from its edge - a technique she came up with called Frostbite Requiem. It cleaved through the air, its path marked by a chilling wind that froze everything in its way.

    Zehir reacted in an instant, his body wrapped in the Draconic Fire, searing the very air around him. He countered her attack with his Draconic Inferno de, a swirling vortex of ck mes forming around his hand, shing toward the iing de of ice.

    The two attacks shed, ice against fire, a cataclysmic explosion shaking the very foundations of the battlefield. The shockwave blew the debris away, revealing the twobatants, their bodies unyielding in the storm of their power.

    Mira, without a moment of hesitation, activated her Martial Intent. Her body began to glow faintly, the space around her seeming to ripple and distort. Her movements became swifter, her precision lethal. Even though she was on the verge of Martial Manifestation, she could already create a small domain around her where her senses heightened.

    She could see everything. She could see Zehir''s every move, every hint of his intentions in his eyes. It was as if the world had slowed down around her, giving her the chance to react.

    Though, it was very draining on her mental power, especially since she was using her Scythe Manifestation, various elements, and techniques, and keeping an eye on him with her Soul Sense.

    Zehir, however, wasn''t to be underestimated. He roared, the sound echoing across the battlefield, filled with an indomitable will. His aura red, the Draconic Fire intensifying as he tapped deeper into his Ouroboros bloodline.

    His eyes narrowed, focusing on Mira. With a thunderous shout, heunched himself towards her, the Draconic Fire wrapping around him like a cloak, creating an intimidating image of a fire-wreathed dragon descending upon its prey.

    Mira''s heart pounded in her chest as she readied herself for the inevitable sh, her muscles coiling like a spring, her icy gaze fixed on the onrushing Zehir. Her grip on her scythe tightened, the icy essence of her power seeping into the formidable weapon, imbuing it with an intense frosty aura.

    As Zehir hurtled towards her, cloaked in his Draconic Fire, Mira began weaving her elements, the once-still air around her erupting into a cacophony of raw elemental power. Elements of Yin Magma bubbled and hissed, churning like a molten sea around her. Threads of Yin Lightning crackled and danced, an ominous storm taking form, while a shroud of Darkness enveloped her, a tangible shadow undting.

    Yet within this whirlwind of cataclysm, Mira was the eye of the storm - an unwavering beacon amidst the chaos. Her focus honed in on her assant, the elements around her pulsing in sync with her heartbeat.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Just as Zehir was about to strike, she invoked her new technique, her voice echoing across the battlefield, "Cmity''s Embrace."

    The elements swirling around her responded to hermand, the Yin Magma, Yin Lightning, and Darkness spiraling and merging, an eerie storm of destruction. The swirling maelstrom around herpacted,pressing into the shape of a colossal phantom scythe, a mirror image of her own but formed purely from her elemental powers. The raw, terrifying energy of [Cmity''s Embrace] was palpable, the air around it pulsating with untamed power.

    As she met his charge head-on, the phantom scythe shed with the Draconic Fire-wreathed figure of Zehir, the impact of their collision shaking the very essence of the battlefield.

    Cmity''s Embrace wasn''t just an attack; it was a manifestation of her dominion over her elements.

    Upon contact, the Cmity''s Embrace unraveled, the phantom scythe fragmenting into countless shards of elemental power. Each shard was a mixture of Yin Magma, Yin Lightning, and Darkness, carrying a fragment of the devastating cold of the original icy de.

    The shards pierced into Zehir''s Draconic Fire, the cold Yin elements shing with the intense heat, causing sporadic explosions of steam and electricity. The conflicting elements created a breathtaking spectacle, a storm of Yin and Yang, light and dark, hot and cold - a testament to the brutal ballet of their battle.

    Their powers shed and entwined, constantly shifting between dominance, neither yielding to the other. Yet, as time passed, the bnce seemed to gradually tip in Mira''s favor. Her mastery over the Scythe Manifestation and her encroaching Martial Manifestation gave her the upper hand, her moves bing more precise, her attacks more potent.

    In one swift movement, Mira disengaged, withdrawing herself from the whirlwind of destruction. With a mighty swing of her scythe, she sent a wave of Frostbite Requiem toward Zehir. He attempted to block, but the sheer force of the ice de sent him flying backward, his footing unstable due to his increasing injuries.

    Seizing the moment, Mira sprung forth, her body d in ayer of Yin Lightning, her speed and power increased manifold. This was her chance, and she wasn''t going to let it pass. With a resounding battle cry, she plunged forward, her scythe aimed directly at Zehir''s heart.

    Her weapon prated, a chilling burst of icy energy exploding from the point of contact. Zehir let out a howl of pain as his body was flung backward, his Draconic Fire extinguishing as his vitality began to wane.

    Mira, panting heavily, watched as Zehir''s figure crumpled onto the devastated ground. The battlefield fell silent, the thunderous sh of their powers subsiding. All that was left was the quiet panting of a victorious warrior and the shallow breaths of a defeated enemy.

    Slowly, she approached Zehir''s body, her grip still firm on her scythe. His breaths werebored, and his eyes were barely open.

    However, even now, she could see his heart beating, pumping blood throughout his body, attempting to repair all the damage.

    If she didn''t end things now, she might never get a chance again. Even though Zehir definitely had a significant background, Mira didn''t care about that. He was her enemy; it was as simple as that.

    "It was a good fight. I''ll be sure to remember your name even after I ascend." Mira said, raising her weapon, a gust of icy wind apanying the descent of her scythe.

    In that final moment, she didn''t see fear in Zehir''s eyes but respect, a silent acknowledgment of her strength and words. She could tell that this man saw nothing wrong with his death.

    He fought with his life on the line, put his heart and soul into this battle, but still lost. Although it was a shame that he couldn''t live any longer, he didn''t regret anything.

    Sooner orter, he''d have to fight Mira even if he didn''t today, and with how talented she was, who knows if he''d even be her opponent in a few decades? At least now, he would be immortalized in the mind of the woman who would soon take this world by storm instead of just being another ant on her road to supremacy.

    With a silent, swift blow, Mira cut off Zehir''s head, ending his life for good.

 Chapter 684 Beginning Of A New Age Part 4

    Etched onto one of the walls in an empty room were profound words that read, "In a Cruel World''s Embrace, Only the Strong Prevail, Forever Twined in the Eternal Circle."

    *Kacha!*

    The jarring sound of fracture echoed ominously through the barren room.

    "Hmmm?" A burly figure paused, his gaze dropping to the massive hand that looked to be bigger than even a bear''s paw. Within his grip, remnants of a jade slipy in shards, its center stained with a now-drying drop of blood. His brows furrowed for a moment before they loosened, his expression returning to normal.

    "Tch," He clicked his tongue, "It seems Zehir has perished. What a waste." He muttered indifferently before closing his eyes and returning to his cultivation.

    The thought of who killed him didn''t even cross his mind, nor did he care. He just went back to what he was doing as if nothing had happened.

    ***

    The moment Mira''s scythe fell, time seemed to stand still. Zehir''s head rolled onto the deste battlefield, thest vestiges of life flickering out in his dimming eyes.

    His body slumped to the ground, the ominous crimson-ck me that once roared around him now extinguished, an empty husk of the power he once wielded.

    With her chest heaving, Mira stood there, the cold wind whipping her hair and loose fragments of her torn clothes. Blood dripped from the de of her scythe. She let out a sigh, her steely gaze softening as she looked at the lifeless body of Zehir.

    In the end, they were warriors, and they fought with everything they had. It was a battle of life and death, of wills and destinies. The respect in Zehir''s dying gaze wasn''t lost on her. He was a worthy adversary, someone who had pushed her to her limits.

    She leaned down and touched his corpse, enveloping it in her Qi and transferring it to her Storage Space. He might''ve been a worthy opponent, but she wasn''t going to give up her spoils of war because of that.

    Turning away from Zehir''s remains, Mira focused her attention inward. She could feel the stirring in her mind and meridians, the residual energy from the battle pulsating within her.

    ''It''s time.'' She thought.

    Her eyes slid shut as she drew a deep, measured breath, the surrounding atmosphere thrumming in response to the potent energies coursing within her. She felt the vigorous throb of her muscles, the burning stamina in her veins, and the echoing cadence of her heartbeat.

    Gently, she began to harness this energy, steering it around her body unconsciously. As the currents of raw power merged, a sudden epiphany ignited within her consciousness. It felt like the unveiling of a hidden path, an unlocked gateway leading to a vast realm brimming with untapped potential and power.

    Her Martial Intent, once a little sprout, burgeoned into a majestic lotus in full bloom, emitting potent waves of energy. The space around her seemed to warp subtly, giving birth to a semi-transparent dome encapsting her and her surroundings.

    This was it. The Martial Manifestation Realm!

    It only formed a radius of about a meter around her, but Mira was satisfied with that. Within that one meter, she felt like she was Queen! Every particle was within her vision, nothing out of sight.

    That was just scratching the surface as well! There was plenty more to explore.

    Cocking her head to the side, Mira stared at the ongoing war and released a bloody smirk.

    ''Looks like I won''t even have to wait to test out my newfound power!''

    With her Martial Manifestation, her senses amplified to an astonishing degree.

    Every trajectory, every flitting movement was crystal clear to her. She could feel the fluctuating energies, the changing momentum, the ebb and flow of the battle.

    It wasn''t precognition, but the profound understanding of her surroundings that allowed her to predict, with remarkable uracy, the likely future paths of eachbatant.

    To put it simply, her ability to read bodynguage had reached a transcendental level. It''s just that the "bodies" she was able to read weren''t limited to humans.

    Mira stepped forward, an imposing figure of brutal power, like a queen surveying her realm.

    Beneath the blood-soaked earth, her presence was heavy, each footfall resonating with an energy that seemed to shake the world. Her gaze fell on the battlefield, eyes gleaming with a lethal intent that sent chills down the spine of anyone who dared to meet them.

    Then, without warning, she exploded into action.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her first strike was a blur of motion that ended in a spray of blood. A disciple from the Crimson yer Sect barely had time to register her approach before her scythe cleaved through his throat. His eyes widened in disbelief as blood bubbled up, his hands wing weakly at his severed neck before he crumpled lifelessly onto the sodden ground.

    As quickly as she struck him down, she moved on to the next, a Toxic de Sect disciple. His desperate parry was met with a heartless scoff, her scythe slicing through his defenses as if they were made of paper.

    His screams were abruptly silenced as his torso was separated from his waist, the wet thud of his bisected body hitting the ground with a st.

    Mira didn''t even look at the fallen man, continuing her rampage through the enemy army.

    A Shadow Necromancer Sect disciple lunged at her with a dark de, only to find his weapon parried and his own life ripped from him as her scythe mercilessly amputated his arm, then his head. His lifeblood spewed in a gruesome arc, painting Mira''s path in a freshyer of scarlet.

    With each life she took, each body she eviscerated, the ck runes in her Qi glowed, drawing the departed''s vitality and Qi into her body. Her energy surged, and her vitality was slowly replenished as she ripped through the battlefield.

    The war around her seemed to drown in her brutal massacre, her ruthless onught drowning out the cries of the dying and the sh of weapons. Blood rained down like a crimson curtain, her every step was echoed by the sound of steel biting through flesh and bone.

    She swept through the enemies so easily that it was almost like she was culling an army of bugs instead of battle-hardened cultivators!

    Worst of all for those on the side of the Crimson yer Sect, Mira didn''t even look at her opponents! They couldn''t tell who she was going for next, so they could avoid her! All of a sudden, their bodies were reduced to a blood mist before they could even let out a scream!

    Her onught was relentless, unstoppable, her scythe whistling in the wind as it cleaved through flesh and bone. Each of her opponents'' desperate pleas and terrified screams was silenced, one by one, their lives extinguished before they could curse her.

    Another Crimson yer Sect disciple had his attempt to fly away cut short as Mira''s scytheshed out, severing his Qi wings from his body. A scream erupted from his throat, a guttural, horrified wail that echoed across the battlefield. But before his plea for mercy could even be fully uttered, the life in his eyes extinguished as Mira''s scythe found his heart.

    "Mira! Demon! Stop! If you let me go, I will surely return the favor! My father-!" A burly figure roared, the desperate plea wrapped inyers of fear and anger.

    But his plea fell on deaf ears. With a swift turn and a flicker of her wrist, Mira sent her scythe spiraling toward him. The man roared, thrusting out his war hammer to deflect the attack.

    However, the scythe bit into his chest, grinding through his Qi shield as if it were made of paper, sinking deep into his flesh. His roar of defiance turned into a gargle of blood as Mira wrenched her scythe free, sending a spray of crimson arching across the field. The hulking figure toppled, his life snuffed out in an instant.

    "Anyone else want to plead for their lives? I''ll be more than happy to send you on your way." Her voice rang out. The air around her was heavy with the stench of blood and death. There were no more cries for mercy or surrender.

    Only the silence of fear remained.

    With a bloodied scythe in hand and her chilling smile, Mira was not just a woman or a cultivator in their eyes. She was Death itself. A reaper that had descended to the Mortal Realm to sweep away their sinful souls.

    "No takers?" Mira asked while looking around, but nobody dared to move. She shook her head ruefully, then said, "A shame. If you hadid down your weapons and kneeled before me, I could''ve at least given you a swift death."

    After saying that, she disappeared from her position, only to reappear in the air with arge pair of Paragon Wings above her. With a wave of her hand, thousands of feathers descended from the sky, puncturing holes through the enemy''s bodies as if she were some sort of high-caliber machine gun.

    "ARGH!! My legs! What happened to my legs?!"

    "Dammit! Run! EVERYBODY RUN! That demon will kill us all if we stay here!"

    "I should''ve never followed that asshole of a Sect Master! Then I wouldn''t have encountered this devil-UGH!"

    Pandemonium quickly spread throughout a portion of the battlefield, with disciples trying to run away, some trying to fight, and others not knowing what to do.

    However, the rest of the Battle Maidens helped to answer their pleas. Following Mira''s ughter, they extinguished the lives of the fearfully confused worms without mercy.

    "Sisters! Rally behind Mira! Let''s end this war in one fell swoop!" Skye, at the head of the Battle Maidens, raised her weapon and yelled.

    "OHHHHH!" The other disciple''s eyes burned with vigor as they charged at the enemy like a bunch of angry bulls.

    Mira watched them take advantage of the situation, inwardly praising their decisiveness. Especially Skye''s.

    ''If she doesn''t die, she''ll be a great addition to the Sect.'' She nodded before taking off deeper into the enemy army, clearing a path for her new allies.

 Chapter 685 Beginning Of A New Age Part 5

    "You know, ever since this little war started, I''ve been more active than I have been in thest few hundred years," Aelina remarked as she descended next to the spot Cyrus hadnded.

    "At first, I was a little annoyed. As I''ve gotten older, my desire for blood and battle has waned. I''m sure you understand what I mean. We''re simply too strong at our levelpared to those below us. That being said, we also have more to lose. We are the cornerstones of our Sects; our death is akin to their destruction. The risks simply aren''t worth the rewards." She said, walking over to Cyrus, her steps steady and measured.

    "Cough�� Cough��" Cyrus coughed a few times as he used his Qi to help heal the puncture wounds on his stomach. He slowly got up to climb out of the crater he was in, but he was forced to listen to Aelina''s monologue as she continued.

    "I, too, sumbed to that very illusion, believing that it would be unwise to take the risk. I convinced myself that I should quietly amass my forces, preparing for the day when I could eventually confront the Central Continent. With my cultivation, resources, and experience,bined with the teachings of my ancestors, I shouldn''t have any trouble raising a group of supreme elites in the next thousand years or so. Ones so strong that even the Central Continent bastards can only look up to them. Even Mira, with her amazing talent, wasn''t enough to disturb my ns. I thought she was too young and her cultivation too low to make a difference in the uing Competition." She wasn''t lying when she said this.

    Mira might be an insanely talented individual, but it was too risky to put all of her eggs in one basket. What if Mira died or something happened to her over the next 20 years?

    Her luck was terrible, and she seemed to encounter dangerous situations quite often. It wouldn''t be weird for her to die at some point between now and then.

    Therefore, she couldn''t put herplete faith in Mira, despite knowing her talent and strength. So, she could only stick with her original n.

    Aelina wasn''t just building up her Sect''s power and reputation for no reason. Sure, the resources the Branch Sects controlled were a huge help, and many talented disciples came from them.

    If she were to stockpile all the extra profit they earned for many years, then, with the advancement and newfound understanding of various upations, she''d be able to create items capable of turning geniuses into monsters.

    All she had to do was quietly wait for that day toe. It was a long-term n, but she had a long life. As long as she could ascend, the wait didn''t matter.

    One of her biggest regrets in life was being unable to participate in the Central Continent Competition all those years ago when she was just a young sprout. She tried to raise her cultivation as quickly as possible, not wanting to leave her fate up to somebody else.

    Unfortunately, her cultivation didn''t make the cut before it began, and she was unable to participate.

    After they failed and her path to ascension was cut off, she knew that in order to get it back, she had to take matters into her own hands. From that day, she decided she''d be the next Sect Master and make the proper changes to the Sect so that one day, she''d be able to create monsters that had no chance of losing.

    She refused to leave her fate up to chance again!

    "However, watching these youngsters fight with their lives on the line against a ''seemingly'' overwhelming opponent helped me break free from that illusion." Aelina unconsciously revealed a smile.

    "Heroes are born in times of war, not peace. I''ll never be able to break free from this cycle raising a bunch of treasures in a greenhouse." Aelina reached the edge of the crater and peered down into it to see Cyrus'' enraged figure walking out of it.

    He could attack, but she had no openings despite her rxed posture. He had to take this battle with utmost sincerity if he wanted a chance at winning. Her previous attack proved to him that just a millisecond-longpse in judgment could prove fatal.

    "But, I have no need for heroes," Aelina muttered, her expression impassive as she looked into Cyrus'' bloodshot eyes. "I need monsters capable of ying said heroes."

    Suddenly, she pped her hands, her expression brightening as she stared at Cyrus with arge smile. "That''s when you came into my life, Cyrus! It was you who helped me realize the error in my ways! It was your disciples'' deaths that spurred my Sect''s potential! And through your death, you''ll be the cornerstone on which the Battle Maiden Sect''s ascension is constructed!"

    "SHUT UP, YOU CRAZY BITCH!" With a thunderous roar, Cyrus erupted with a torrent of blood-red Qi. His figure streaked across the battlefield like a crims, a terrifying mixture of rage and killing intent. "WHAT DEATH?! WHAT ASCENSION?! JUST DIE!"

    His face twisted into a menacing snarl as he bellowed, "Blood Inferno Strike!"

    Instantaneously, a gigantic, fiery vortex formed around his body.

    The vortex, which was as red as blood, emanated a destructive aura, twisting and devouring everything in its path. It seemed to breathe life into his words, turning his rage into a physical manifestation of destruction.

    Aelina merely smiled, her eyes flickering with anticipation. Raising her spiked gauntlets, a wave of silvery metallic Qi and vibrant violet thunder began to surge around her body.

    The surrounding air vibrated, creating an ominous hum as her power shed against the onught of Cyrus''s Blood Inferno Strike. The ground quaked beneath them, cracking and rupturing under the sheer force of their powers.

    As Cyrus reached Aelina, he let out an earth-shattering roar and threw his blood-infused fist toward her. The air distorted around it, hinting at the iparable power behind the punch.

    However, Aelina''s eyes gleamed with amusement. She met his attack head-on, her gauntlet-encased fist enveloped in a storm of violet thunder and metallic Qi. The power behind her punch was just as potent, if not more so, than Cyrus''s.

    The moment their fists collided, an explosion of raw, unrestrained power erupted. The ground beneath them caved in, forming a massive crater as the shockwave tore through the surroundings, pulverizing everything within its path. The trees were uprooted, the rocks shattered, and the lush greenndscape was transformed into a barren wastnd.

    Despite the tremendous force of the impact, Aelina stood firm, her figure unbudging like a divine titan. The violet thunder and metallic Qi around her spiked gauntlets rippled but did not falter. On the contrary, it seemed to grow more intense, the sparks of violet lightning dancing wildly around her.

    In stark contrast, Cyrus was sent flying backward, his body leaving a long trail on the ground before he managed to stabilize himself. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, the crimson against his pale skin a stark reminder of the power Aelina possessed.

    Ignoring the pain that racked his body, Cyrus stood tall once again, his eyes shining with defiance and determination. "Blood Torrent!" he roared, and an evenrger wave of blood-red Qi gushed out from him, converging into countless crimson des that shot toward Aelina with lethal intent.

    Unfazed, Aelina waved her gauntlet-covered hand nonchntly. A wave of deep blue water Qi burst forth, meeting the iing blood des. Amidst the water Qi, shes of violet thunder zipped through, adding an extrayer of destructive power.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The blood des collided with the water torrent, sparking a series of violent reactions. Each sword that struck the flood was instantly enveloped and crushed, turning into mere sparks before disappearing entirely.

    As the des disintegrated, Cyrus gritted his teeth. Despite his struggles, Aelina handled everything he threw at her with remarkable ease.

    He knew his chances were slim, but he had no choice but to continue. His Sect''s future, his disciples'' lives... everything was on the line. "Blood Soul Sacrifice!" he roared, his eyes flickering with an intense crimson light.

    Suddenly, a shroud of ghostly blood-red apparitions emerged from Cyrus''s body. They were vague figures resembling his fallen disciples; their faces twisted in an eternal scream of torment.

    He was using his own blood as a medium, calling forth the spirits of his fallen disciples and lending him their power. It was a forbidden technique only the Sect Master could use, one that risked his own life, but he had no choice.

    Every ounce of power he obtained further closed the gap between him and Aelina.

    Aelina''s smile faltered slightly, a flicker of surprise passing over her features. "Interesting," she murmured as she readied herself, violet thunder crackling around her and water Qi pulsating in waves, ready to neutralize Cyrus''s desperate move.

    Cyrus'' figure was nowpletely shrouded in the blood-red apparitions, making him seem like a demon lordmanding an army of vengeful spirits. With a deafening roar, he charged at Aelina, his fists coated in a thickyer of blood Qi.

    With each punch he threw, a blood-red apparition detached itself from the shroud surrounding him and shot toward Aelina. They shrieked through the air, sounding like a chorus of vengeful spirits seeking retribution.

    Aelina swiftly moved to meet his attack, her gauntlets charged with her deadlybination of metallic Qi and violet thunder. However, the impact from the spirits was stronger than she had anticipated. It forced her to take a few steps back, her face twisting in surprise as she felt a sharp pain rippling through her body.

    With each spirit that struck, a small explosion erupted, leaving behind wounds on her body. Thebination of physical and spiritual attacks was starting to wear her down.

    Yet, Aelina was far from beaten. Shaking off the pain, she charged toward Cyrus. [Thundering River Strike.] she thought, helping to form a mental image of the technique. She released a monstrous surge of water Qi mixed with her violet thunder that coursed towards Cyrus.

    The massive wave hit Cyrus, the violet thunderbolts within the waveshing out at his protective shroud of blood-red apparitions, causing them to screech and dissipate. Cyrus roared in fury and agony as he was flung backward, his defenses crumbling under Aelina''s onught.

    Despite his desperate struggle, Cyrus was visibly weakening, his blood-sacrificed spirits dwindling in number. However, he refused to yield. Gathering hisst reserves of strength, he pushed himself to his feet, ready to meet his fate head-on. "Blood of the Martyr!" he cried, his body glowing with a potent, crimson aura.

    Aelina watched with a calcting eye. This was it; Cyrus had reached his limit. As the leader of the Crimson yer Sect, he was a formidable foe, but at their level, the tiniest disparity in strength could be as wide as the ocean. This was especially so for someone from the Unorthodox Faction.

    She took a deep breath, ready to deliver the final blow.

    As Cyrus made his desperate charge, Aelina focused her Qi, her gauntlets radiating with the power of her elements. She met his charge, her fists smashing into his body with the force of a mountain, punctuated by the crackling might of her violet thunder and the relentless force of her water Qi.

    Cyrus'' body jerked violently under the impact, his final technique crumbling under the might of Aelina''s strike. His body was flung backward,nding with an explosion, creating anotherrge crater beneath him.

    Unfortunately, the vitality of someone in the Divine Sea Realm was abnormal. Even after all the sacrifices, all his forbidden techniques, and all the injuries, he was still alive.

    He channeled Qi throughout his body, strengthening it so he could stand up, but before he could make another move, Aelina dashed in.

    Looming over him, Aelina shook her head and sighed, "No hard feelings, Cyrus, but you''ll have to go through a bit more pain before I can let you die."

    After saying that, Aelina lifted her fist and smashed her spiked gauntlet into his chest.

    "GAH!" He cried out, coughing up blood, but Aelina wasn''t done.

    With her other hand, she pounded his abdomen before removing the one in his chest and raining down punches. His agonizing screams rang out as blood flew everywhere, but Aelina didn''t leave a single part of his body untouched.

    It was as if she was tenderizing meat with her fists!

    A few minutester, an entity that looked like a disgusting lump of bloody meat was all that remained of him, but even that wasn''t enough to kill him entirely.

    With his cultivation, he''d probablyst at least a few more minutes to a few hours before he bled out and died. However, even if he did live longer, he''d never recover from his injuries.

    Aelina stepped away, looking at the deformed lump of meat with a satisfied look.

    Grabbing the�� entity by its neck(?), Aelina smiled as she carried his body back to the battleground that was finally reaching its end.

    "Hold on just a little longer, Cyrus. You still have one more purpose to fulfill before you leave the world of the living."

 Chapter 686 Beginning Of A New Age Part 6 (End)

    All eyes were on Mira as she cut a swath of destruction through the Crimson yer Sect disciples.

    The disciples from the other sects watched in abject terror as she systematically and ruthlessly tore through the opposing force. She moved through the battlefield like a whirlwind of destruction, leaving behind a bloody wake.

    Crimson yer Sect disciples were being exterminated with such ruthlessness that it was as if they were nothing more than ants under her feet. The screams of their dyingrades echoed across the battlefield, a horrifying symphony of death and despair.

    And it wasn''t just Mira. The Battle Maidens, rallied by Skye, charged forward with such ferocity that they struck terror into the hearts of their enemies. Every disciple that stood in their path was cut down mercilessly.

    In less than a few minutes, the tide of the battle was changing. The once formidable Crimson yer Sect forces were losing ground rapidly. The battlefield was littered with corpses, their blood painting the earth a gruesome shade of red.

    Yet, the more bodies Mira and the Battle Maidens cut down, the more they seemed to be invigorated. It was as if they were drawing power from their vanquished foes, their strength growing with every life they took.

    Back at the rear, the disciples from the other sects were watching in stunned silence. They had known that Mira was strong. But to see her single-handedly dominate the battlefield like this was both inspiring and terrifying.

    Even the killing intent she unconsciously released was more than enough to send chills down their spines.

    "Mira..." A slender figure wearing a blue Battle Maiden Sect robe with green hair and a saber muttered, her eyes wide with awe. Every time she saw Mira rampage like this, the terrifying beauty of it oddly captivated her.

    [A/N: In case you forgot, a blue robe signifies that they are Inner Court Disciples, meaning they''ve reached the 1st Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm at the very least.]

    "...W-What the hell?! I know you told me she was strong, but isn''t this a bit much, Cine?! It hasn''t even been that long since we joined the Sect!" A ck-haired woman eximed as she sliced apart a few enemies,nding next to the green-haired woman, Cine.

    Cine shrugged, "That''s just how she is. And don''t forget that we aren''t weaklings either, Asami. It''s just that our strengths lie elsewhere."

    Asami shut her mouth after hearing that. What Cine said was true, after all. They were far from weaklings. Rather, she doubted that she had ever worked so hard in her life!

    Cine trained, cultivated, sparred, took missions and studied techniques without rest for years.

    The two of them became rather close in the years after they joined the Battle Maiden Sect, so Asami often followed in her endeavors.

    Seeing Cine train so hard was both a wake-up call and motivation for her to work hard as well. However, the green-haired saber woman was just insane!

    She only fought strong opponents so that she could fight with her life on the line. Even with her strength, she trained with her saber so much that she hadrge blisters on her hands. She did everything she could to buy/earn amodations to make her cultivation more efficient.

    Everything she did, even the days she slept, was highly optimized for getting stronger.

    However, there were only so many hours in a day��

    "...When we''re done here, I think I''m going to put more focus on cultivating my body," Cine muttered as she ran ahead, flicking a few wind des at the people running toward her, bisecting their bodies.

    "...Are you going to ask Mira for advice?" Asami asked, catching up to Cine.

    "I guess you could say that," Cine shrugged, then shook her head, "However, it''d be more correct to say I need direction. I know how to get stronger, but clearly, I don''t know the best way to do so."

    Asami wanted to say something else, but before she could, Cine dove into a group of people. Thus, she could only shake her head and join her.

    ''I''ll ask her what she meanster.''

    ***

    As the battle raged on, Mira was oblivious to the silent observers. Her focus was on the enemy before her, the path of destruction she was carving.

    She moved like a specter, her scythe slicing through flesh and bone as if they were made of paper. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Mira was the embodiment of death, her aura so overwhelming that it struck fear into the hearts of even the most hardened warriors. Yet, for all her terrifying power, there was a calmness to her, a serenity that belied the carnage she was causing.

    Despite the chaos around her, Mira was inplete control. She was the eye of the storm, the calm at the heart of the hurricane.

    With Mira''s entrance into the war, the tides which were already in the Battle Maiden''s favor quickly devolved into a ughter. Mira''s aura alone struck fear into the hearts of whoever looked at her, and with how active she was on the battlefield, what person didn''t nce over to see what was going on?

    As the tide of the battle turned into a flood, the disciples of the Crimson yer Sect, Toxic de Sect, and Shadow Necromancer Sect found themselves drowning in the sea of the Battle Maiden''s overwhelming might. It was no longer a battle but a relentless ughter.

    Mira, with her terrifying aura and formidable strength, led the charge. She was a whirlwind of destruction, cutting through the enemy forces like a scythe through wheat. The battlefield echoed with the screams of the dying and the suffering of the living.

    All the while, the Battle Maidens, fueled by the thought of winning the war, followed in her wake. They were an unstoppable force, their collective strength like a tidal wave crashing against the dwindling ranks of their enemies. Every disciple that crossed their path was swept away, cut down without mercy.

    The disciples from the Crimson yer Sect, Toxic de Sect, and Shadow Necromancer Sect fought back with desperation. Yet, every move they made was countered, and every defense they mounted shattered under the Battle Maidens'' relentless assault. The once formidable alliance was crumbling, their forces reduced to mere fodder before the Battle Maiden Sect''s might.

    As the ughter continued, the battlefield was painted with a gruesome tableau of death and destruction. It was a sight that would forever be etched in the minds of the disciples.

    Yet, just when it seemed like the bloodbath would continue unabated, a figure descended from the heavens, halting the chaos.

    Aelina appeared above the battlefield. In her grasp was a mangled, beaten body, more a lump of meat than a person. The sight was so gruesome that it made the onlookers wince.

    But it wasn''t the body''s horrific state that drew gasps from the onlookers, but the person it belonged to.

    "Sect Master Cyrus..." The words spread through the crowd, whispered in tones of shock and disbelief. Cyrus, the formidable Sect Master of the Crimson yer Sect, had been reduced to such a state. The sight was chilling, a chilling demonstration of Aelina''s power.

    Aelina''s gaze swept across the battlefield, her eyes cold and merciless. She didn''t speak, yet her silence was more terrifying than any words she could have uttered.

    Slowly, she lifted her free hand and ced it on what people could only assume was Cyrus''s head. Then, without hesitation, she ripped it off of his body. There were no screams of pain, just a painless, humiliating death.

    Aelina dropped both ''pieces'' to the ground, and without giving them another nce, she dered, "Crimson yer Sect. Behold your fate!" Aelina''s voice boomed across the battlefield, reaching even the farthest corners. Every word dripped with icy contempt, echoing in the hearts of every disciple present.

    "Your sect chose to tread the path of aggression, brought war upon yourselves, and sought to destroy MY Sect. Today, your end has arrived."

    She paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping across the battlefield, her icy eyes meeting those of the surviving enemy disciples. A shiver of fear ran through them as they met her gaze. In her eyes, they saw their imminent death.

    "Your master, Cyrus, once stood as the cornerstone of your sect. He held his head high, radiating strength and power that you could only look up to. But now... see what he has been reduced to. A mere lump of meat, not even deserving of a warrior''s death."

    Aelina looked down at the mangled body and head of Cyrus, a clear sign of contempt etched on her face.

    "Remember this sight. Remember what happens when you cross the Battle Maiden Sect. This is just a preludepared to what the future holds. Next time, I will not be so lenient." She stared off into the distance as she said that. These words clearly weren''t directed at those before her.

    Aelina cast onest icy nce across the battlefield before her gazended on her Battle Maidens.

    "Maidens," she called out, her voice resolute. "Cleanse this field of war. Remove the blight that is the Crimson yer Sect and all those who allied with them from this world. Leave no root of their existence."

    "YES, SECT MASTER!"

    A roar erupted from the Battle Maidens as they charged forward, their weapons gleaming ominously under the sun, their hearts full of resolve. Without any unnecessary thoughts, they charged at the rest of the enemies, slicing them apart like tofu, leaving no room for mercy.

    It wasn''t long before all sounds of battle ceased, reced by gasping breaths, tear-choked sobs, and triumphant cheers echoing from the victorious warriors.

    There was no doubt that the war had reached its conclusion. This moment would go down in history as the beginning of a new era. Many would look back on this day with regret of many kinds, but that was all for ater time.

 Chapter 687 Inferno

    Right after Aelina defeated Cyrus and the war with the Crimson yer Sect ended, a tall,nky man with snake-like eyes and a subtle aura appeared right outside the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Spreading his Divine Sense, he found that the mountain wasyered with Formation after Formation, causing him to sigh. Although he had expected that to be the case, seeing it in person was a different story.

    The Battle Maiden Sect was a literal fortress!

    ''Even if I were to attack with my full power, it would take me at least a minute to destroy all of them.'' The Toxic de Sect Master, Dorian, thought, wondering what he should do next.

    ''At least Aelina isn''t here and is busy with Cyrus. While I doubt he''ll win, he should be able to hold her back long enough for me to break through these Formations and raid the Sect.'' He thought as he prepared to attack.

    However, before he could move, a voice entered his mind, sending chills down his spine.

    "I didn''t think you''d actually show up, Dorian. I figured you''d stay holed up in your little forest conducting experiments, thene all the way here for a breath of fresh air." A feminine voiceced with amusement rang in his mind. That voice undoubtedly came from Aelina��

    ''But how?! She should be fighting Cyrus right now!!'' He panicked, wracking his brain for a solution.

    A secondter, his eyes lit up in understanding, ''No, this can''t be the real Aelina. It''s probably just an apparition or some sort of voice transmission technique she''s used to scare me. The real one should be many kilometers away from here.''

    Coming to a suitable conclusion, Dorian refocused his attention on the Formations and prepared to attack once again, but before he could, he heard Aelina''s yful voice again.

    "I know what you''re thinking. You think that I can''t possibly be real. That I should be out there fighting Cyrus, right? But is that really the case? No, perhaps the correct question should be��" She paused for a moment.

    "Do you understand the consequences if you''re wrong?" Although her voice sounded as sweet as sugar, to Dorian, it was no different than the Devil''s whisper.

    He paused.

    ''Dammit! She''s right! If I''m wrong and whoever''s talking to me is the real Aelina, I''m as good as dead if I actually follow through with this!'' Of course, this could all be a trick like he initially thought, but could he take that risk?

    The answer was a resounding no.

    He wasn''t an idiot like Cyrus. He knew that Sue Ming hade to pay Aelina a visit not too long ago. However, ever since then, Sue Ming''s status has been unknown, and Aelina has been alive and well.

    There was no way he could kill someone like Sue Ming, but if Aelina could, and she did��

    Well, needless to say, walking into her Sect while she''s there was a terrible idea. He would not risk his life over some shitty deal with a probably already dead Cyrus!

    "Tch. Dammit!" Dorian clicked his tongue in annoyance, "You''re one annoying bitch, you know, Aelina? How''d you even know I wasing."

    "Haha! I''ll take that as apliment," Aelina chuckled, "And like I said, I didn''t think you woulde. I just figured it was a possibility."

    "Your mistake was thinking the oue of the battle with Cyrus would turn out differently or that he could hold me back long enough," Aelina''s voice echoed in his mind again, her toneced with a chilling, deadly calm. "But now that you''re here... aren''t you going to stay for tea?"

    Dorian''s eyes widened, his heart pounding in his chest. Aelina''s words weren''t a simple invitation. It was a thinly veiled threat.

    If he declined her invitation�� The possibilities are endless. She might attack him, do nothing, or go straight to his Sect. Hell, she might do none of those and go with a different option he hadn''t considered.

    However, if he epted, the chances of him dying were significantly higher. On the flip side, so were the chances of him living. After all, he hadn''t done anything bad�� yet.

    While thetter might seem like the worst choice, the threat of the unknown from the former was much more terrifying, in his opinion.

    "Dorian, you''ve always been known for your cunning and strategy. I didn''t expect you to be this spineless," Aelina''s voice echoed in his mind once more, a hint of mockerycing her words.

    Dorian clenched his fists, frustration evident in his serpent-like eyes. She was toying with him, manipting him, cornering him. He was the Sect Master of the Toxic de Sect, a renowned figure across the cultivation world, yet here he was, being yed like a puppet.

    But he wasn''t done yet. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Fine," he sneered, his tone spiteful, "Let''s have tea."

    With that decision made, Dorian''s aura changed. His frustration, briefly overpowering his usually cool demeanor, dissipated like a wave retreating from the shore. Instead, a steely determination took its ce, reflecting in his snake-like eyes. He wasn''t going to let Aelina toy with him so easily.

    "Good. I''m looking forward to our tea session, Dorian," Aelina''s voice wasced with amusement again. A silent, hauntingughter echoed in his mind. It was as if she could see through him, sensing his every thought and action.

    Dorian stood outside the Battle Maiden Sect, his gaze focused on the mountain before he noticed a small hole in all the Formations for him to pass through. While keeping his guard up, he walked through the hole and shot toward the summit where Aelina was.

    Unfortunately, as the Formations filled themselves in, he failed to catch that another, weaker one had activated in addition to those already in ce.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the Forbidden Forest, Rayna was sitting cross-legged, cultivating inside the Toxic de Sect. Ever since Mira and the others went into retreat, Rayna hade straight here.

    With a poison affinity, there wasn''t a better ce than the Forbidden Forest and, subsequently, the Toxic de Sect to train.

    It was easy for her to infiltrate such a ce as well since she had a simr aura, cultivation technique, and smell to those in this Unorthodox Sect.

    All she had to was kill a disciple, steal their items, and alter her looks slightly to match her victim, and nobody would know that she wasn''t a genuine disciple, at least not in the short term.

    While she didn''t make long strides in her cultivation or strength like the others during thesest few months, she did learn quite a few things that would benefit her future.

    Suddenly, she was jolted out of her cultivation when she felt a buzz in her robe. Knowing that it was hermunication talisman, she picked it up and sent Qi into it.

    "Do it." Those were the only two words that came out of it before disintegrating.

    Rayna nodded, her cold, almost dead-like eyes gleaming for a moment. She got up and walked out of the door, where numerous disciples immediately greeted her.

    "Are you finished with your closed-door cultivation, Senior Sister Viri?"

    "It seems like you''ve gotten stronger again, Senior Sister Viri! I''ve prepared a nice ''herbal bath'' using a new concoction I just discovered. Want to see its effects?"

    "Wanna try this poison, Senior Sister? I think this one might be able to kill you!"

    The words the disciples used were a bit strange, but Rana didn''t pay them any mind. She wasn''t their ''Senior Sister Viri'', after all. That woman''s body had already turned into fertilizer a few months back.

    Rayna walked through the Sect for a few minutes before she eventually stood in front of one of the Toxic de Sect''s herb gardens. These herb gardens all housed highly toxic nts that normal Sects wouldn''t even consider growing, as their scents alone could kill people.

    The disciples guarding the garden nodded at Rayna, but then they saw her do something peculiar. She took out a palm-sized red bead called an Inferno Ignition Bead, something Sect Master Aelina had given her personally.

    "What''s that, Senior Sister Viri? A new poison?!" Their eyes couldn''t help but shine as they thought that.

    However, these were to be their final thoughts as Rayna infused the bead with her Qi and hastily hurled it into the garden, swiftly pivoting and sprinting as far from the impending chaos as she could muster.

    "Wha...?!" Utter confusion marked the faces of all the onlookers, perplexed by her seemingly erratic actions. Their questions were answered but a momentter��

    BOOOOOOM!

    An immense explosion detonated, spewing a massive pir of me upwards into the night sky, apanied by the blood-curdling cries of those caught in the unexpected inferno. This tumultuous event sent a wave of shock rippling through the entire Sect. Yet, this was merely the prelude to the forting pandemonium.

    In theing seconds, multiple detonations echoed throughout the Sect, all urring in unison. As if to add to the terror, rings of searing me sprouted all around the Sect''s perimeters, setting the surrounding forest aze.

    All the while, Rayna disappeared within the chaos, heading deeper into the Sect as Elders and other Core Disciples rushed out to check on the scene.

 Chapter 688 Traitor

    As fires raged around the Toxic de Sect, the Elders came flying out from their studies as soon as they heard themotion. The sight of their sacred Sect and the surrounding woonds aze caused their eyes to redden in rage.

    One Elder, known as Jaxon, bellowed amidst the turmoil, "What the hell is going on?! What happened?!"

    A disciple that was near Elder Jaxon turned and said, panicked, "We don''t know! All of a sudden, everything just burst into mes!!"

    That disciple received a smack to the back of the head as Elder Jaxon yelled, "Moron! Do you think I can''t see that?! I want to know how this happened and why?!"

    Rubbing the tender spot on the back of his head, the disciple managed a moreposed response. "Apologies Elder, but we haven''t found the culprit behind this sudden attack yet."

    "Useless!!" Elder Jaxon pushed the disciple to the side and rushed to where the fire was the worst.

    "Fuck! I swear, when I get my hands on the one who did this, I''ll wring them dry like a wet towel!" He couldn''t help but curse out loud, but inwardly, he was shocked at the sight of the forest on fire.

    The Forbidden Forest wasn''t an ordinary ce. Everything inside it was connected to the Heartwood Corruptor, meaning that the trees had a certain level of strength and durability to them.

    Ordinary mes wouldn''t even be able to leave a char on their bark. Rather, most of those trees were as durable as Heaven-Grade equipment. Thus, only something of that level would be able to cause them harm, much less start a forest fire.

    Jaxon, along with the other Elders, assumed that the assant was probably in the Soul Transformation Realm and was either using Heaven-Grade or perhaps even Mystical-Grade treasures to set their Sect aze.

    Any weaker, and they wouldn''t have been able to infiltrate the Sect and cause so much damage. While if the perpetrator were any stronger, the damage would''ve been much worse.

    ''But�� who would be so daring to do such a thing and why?'' Jaxon thought. The Battle Maiden Sect shed through his mind, but after a moment of consideration, he shook his head.

    ''They''re still at war. Plus, the Sect Master just left to go rain hell upon their Sect. Why would Aelina send someone to cause trouble here when she''s at risk of losing everything herself?'' Logically, it didn''t make sense.

    However, Jaxon didn''t have time to ponder on this as he noticed something odd happening around him.

    As the Elders and disciples scurried around, attempting to mitigate the fire''s damage, the forest''s fumes rapidly turned the situation from dire to disastrous. The Forbidden Forest, known for its deadly toxicity, reacted violently to the fire. A choking, poisonous cloud of smoke enveloped the entire sect, bing a second, insidious enemy alongside the raging fire.

    Despite the Toxic de Sect disciples'' cultivation of poison Qi, they found themselves coughing and choking on the fumes. The toxicity was more potent than any they had faced before, and even though their immunity softened the impact, they could still feel the venomous burn in their lungs.

    "Elder Jaxon!" a disciple managed to gasp out amidst coughs, "The smoke...it''s too toxic...even for us..."

    Jaxon grimaced, his eyes watering not just from the smoke but also from the realization of their dire situation. He shouted orders above the chaos, his voice echoing in the smoke-filled air. "Everyone, mask your faces with your Qi! Try to filter out the poison!"

    But the issues didn''t stop at the fumes. The fire was not like any ordinary ze �C it was spreading too quickly, too voraciously. Jaxon noticed how it seemed to jump across distances that should have been safe from its reach.

    A sense of dread settled in his heart. It was as if the fire was intentionally guided, its purpose not merely to damage but to reveal �C to expose their Sect to the world by stripping away their natural cloak of the forest.

    Just as this chilling thought formed in his mind, a horrifying sight caught his eye. A part of the forest that was previously untouched suddenly ignited as if an invisible hand had guided the me there.

    "An array! They''re using an array!" He shouted over the roaring mes, his heart pounding with anger. The realization of this deliberate attack sparked a new wave of fury within him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He released his Soul Sense in hopes of finding something, but his mind was quickly overwhelmed with all sorts of information. However, he skimmed through it all, looking for anything out of ce, but even after a few seconds, he didn''t spot the intruders.

    ''Are there really any intruders?'' Jaxon began to think. What set their Sect apart from others was the fact that one had to transform their Qi into poison Qi. It wasn''t something that could be aplished just because one wanted to.

    Even if the intruder was able to hide from the other disciples, they shouldn''t be able to escape his senses. However, everyone he found had a simr aura to one another.

    ''Is there a traitor in our midst? One of the Core disciples?'' That thought seemed to make Jaxon even angrierpared to when he figured it was an intruder.

    As his mind spun, Jaxon worked to quell the rising panic within him. The idea of a traitor lurking amidst their ranks was not something he had considered. Yet, as he mulled over it, the suspicion grew stronger. It was true that infiltrating the Toxic de Sect required mastery of the poison Qi, a feat that only their own disciples could im.

    "Damn it!" he spat, his anger now directed inward. "How could we have let this happen? If there''s a traitor, it means our own people have been turned against us!"

    Meanwhile, the battle against the toxic smoke and rampaging fire continued. Jaxon''s earlier shout for everyone to use their Qi as a filter had helped, but the poisonous smoke was relentless, slowly sapping their strength and vitality.

    Jaxon knew he had to act quickly. The fact that he couldn''t sense anyone different by using his Soul Sense meant that whoever was responsible had not only mastered the poison Qi but was also skilled at concealing their aura. This realization sent a chill down his spine. If they were dealing with a disciple of such caliber, then who knows what sort of damage they may cause.

    "Elders!" he called out to the other high-ranking sect members. "Join me in a Soul Sense scan. Look for anything... anyone out of the ordinary. I fear we might have a traitor amongst us!"

    Even as the words left his lips, Jaxon felt a pang of regret. using one of their own of such treachery felt wrong. But the evidence was pointing in that direction, and he couldn''t ignore it. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but if it meant protecting the Sect, he was willing to do whatever it took.

    So, amidst the rising mes and toxic smoke, the Elders closed their eyes and extended their Soul Senses. They knew they were not just looking for an intruder but possibly a traitor. The thought added a certain weight to their mission, a sense of urgency that they hadn''t felt before.

    This was the best time to find the culprit; if they missed him now, who knows if they''d ever be able to find him?

    As they scanned their surroundings, the raging mes seemed to grow more wild, the toxic smoke more potent. Every second that passed felt like a minute, every minute an hour.

    Only when they focused more on their surroundings did they notice that they''d been robbed! Someone had stolen all kinds of rare herbs, pills, techniques, and treasures right from under their noses! They''d been so preupied with the fire that they didn''t even notice!

    "Elder Jaxon!" Elder Ss, an Elder known for his soul strength, shouted over the deafening roar of the fire. "Our treasury, the herb gardens, the secret pill chambers... all have been raided!"

    Jaxon''s heart sank even lower. Not only were they dealing with a traitor, but the Sect was being robbed blind. "Impossible! We''ve been tricked!"

    He clutched his chest, his heart pounding in disbelief and anger. The mes, the smoke, the toxic forest... everything was just a distraction, an borate ruse to lead them astray. Whoever this traitor was, they had been methodically nning this for quite some time.

    As he processed the enormity of the betrayal, the realization of their desperate situation set in. His fists clenched tightly as he barked out orders to his fellow Elders. "Secure the remaining treasures! Alert the disciples! We have a traitor amongst us!"

    The Sect was in pandemonium. The fires were spreading uncontrobly, the poisonous smoke was choking them, and the news of the theft added to their rising panic. Amidst the chaos, each Elder, filled with fury, rallied their respective disciples to protect what was left of their wealth and dignity.

    Meanwhile, the "traitor" lurked in the shadows. A figure cloaked in a ck robe moved swiftly, blending in seamlessly with the panicked disciples inside the fires. A light smirk yed upon her lips as she ran through the mes, doing her best to avoid any Soul Senses from spotting her while killing anyone she made eye contact with.

 Chapter 689 Chess Piece

    The ck-robed figure was none other than Rayna. Since she was the only one in the Battle Maiden Sect with Poison Qi and had also mastered the art of concealing her aura and many otherplex techniques, she was perfect for the job.

    In the Battle Maiden Sect, Rayna was held in high regard by Aelina due to her exceptional talent and willpower. However, she wasn''t well known, both in and out of the Sect. Those who did know her were either her fellow disciples or six feet under.

    When Aelina had presented her with the task of infiltrating the Toxic de Sect and making them suffer, she epted without hesitation. Their conversation, shrouded in secrecy, showcased only one aspect clearly: Aelina and Rayna''s mutual aspiration for the ruin of the Toxic de Sect, and for good reason.

    Rayna''s affiliation with the Battle Maiden Sect was not a tale of traditional discipleship. Her journey was one born out of pain, fueled by an undying thirst for vengeance. As a child, she had been subjected to unimaginable torment at the Venomous Serpent Sect, a mid-tier sect that aspired to mimic the infamous Toxic de Sect.

    Initially enved by the Venomous Serpent Sect, Rayna had been used as a guinea pig for their depraved experiments. Her body was a canvas for novices who explored the craft by using their poorly made toxic concoctions on her.

    Not long after, the Sect''s leaders noticed her unique physical resilience to poison and introduced her to greater torments. The Sect''s senior disciples, Elders, and even the Sect Master turned her into their personal petri dish, inflicting upon her potent mixtures and documenting their devastating effects.

    Every moment of Rayna''s existence in the Venomous Serpent Sect was a living hell, each second steeped in pain and despair. Hate consumed her like a smoldering fire, waiting for the right spark to ignite.

    That spark came in the form of Aelina. Rayna had no prior knowledge of the powerful woman who had invaded her tortured life. Still, the unknown stranger''s presence, who had infiltrated unbeknownst to everyone in the Sect, indicated her formidable strength.

    The moment Aelina''s gaze fell upon the frail, sickly girl submerged in a vat of toxic liquid, she eximed, "Mmhm. You''re perfect!"

    With a graceful extension of her hand towards Rayna, a serene smile adorned Aelina''s face as she proposed, "Do you want to kill these guys?"

    Rayna didn''t even hesitate to nod. She wanted nothing more than to kill these fuckers! Rather, she wanted to torture them the same way they did to her!

    Then, Aelina made an enticing offer, "How abouting back with me and joining my Sect? I promise I''ll make you powerful enough to obtain your revenge."

    Again, Rayna didn''t hesitate to nod.

    From that day forth, Rayna was no longer a pitiable test subject; she was a disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect. When she finally transcended into the Soul Transformation Realm, she exacted her revenge, fulfilling the promise made to her by Aelina and herself.

    Now that she was given the opportunity to cause destruction within another poison-based Sect, how could she not take it?

    She spent months after she infiltrated learning more about the Toxic de Sect, itsyout, the number of members, techniques, and so on all so she could pull this off without any issues.

    Pushing these thoughts out of her mind, Rayna moved silently through the chaos like a shadow, her movements barely discernable.

    As she stealthily navigated the chaotic environment, she nted small Heaven-Grade explosives that her Sect had provided her with. With each explosive set, the fire grew more ferocious, the smoke denser, providing her with the perfect smokescreen.

    With each passing minute, she grew closer to her final target. The sess of her n so far filled her with a sense of anticipation. She had already managed to steal most of the Sect''s resources, and now she was on the verge ofpleting her mission wlessly.

    With the final explosive set, Rayna made a beeline for the exit. She knew that it wouldn''t be long before the Elders realized the true extent of what was happening, and she needed to be out of the Toxic de Sect when that happened.

    As she weaved through the smoke and mes, she felt a sudden wave of Soul Sense wash over her. Her heart pounded, her eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of danger. Had they discovered her? But then, she heard the unmistakable sound of an explosion. She turned around just in time to see a massive inferno in the distance, exactly where she had nted thest explosive.

    A slight smirk yed on Rayna''s lips as she realized that the diversion had worked perfectly. The Elders'' Soul Senses were now focused on the explosion, providing her with the distraction needed to make her escape.

    With the Toxic de Sect burning in the background, Rayna made her way toward the outskirts. With the sessful execution of her n within her grasp, she quickened her pace.

    Rayna crossed the boundary of the Toxic de Sect and disappeared into the distance, leaving those searching for her non the wiser. While she was running, she took out a talisman from her Storage Ring and crushed it.

    Back at the Toxic de Sect, the realization of their dire situation began to dawn upon the Elders. Their Sect was in ruins, their resources were stolen, and the perpetrator''s identity was unknown, presumably a traitor. The beautifully orchestrated n had yed out right under their noses, leaving them helpless and enraged.

    Elder Jaxon gritted his teeth, his fists clenched. "Contact the Sect Master! We still have to salvage this if hees here now!" He roared. An Elder immediately responded to his order and began trying to message Dorian.

    However, no matter what he did, Dorian never answered.

    The Elder turned to Jaxon, his expression dark, as he said hesitantly, "...I think something happened to the Sect Master��"

    "WHAT?!"

    ***

    On the summit of the Battle Maiden Sect, Aelina and Dorian were sitting at a table, drinking tea in silence. Thetter wanted nothing more than to leave, while the former just watched him sip his tea with an amused smile.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Suddenly, she felt a vibration in her pocket. She had to prevent her smile from widening as she knew exactly what that meant.

    ''Rayna''s on her way back.'' She chuckled inwardly.

    Straightening her posture and taking a sip herself, Aelina broke the ice by asking, "So, Dorian, what brings you to my humble abode? Surely, you didn''te here to cause trouble, right?"

    Dorian put down his cup and grumbled, "Why ask when you already know the answer?"

    "Haaa�� It''s unfortunate, though." Aelina sighed.

    "Hmmm? What is?"

    "If you had attempted to break in, I would''ve had a good reason to retaliate." Aelina sighed again as if she were truly sad he didn''t do anything.

    "..." Dorian tensed up, not knowing how to respond to that.

    However, Aelina just chuckled and waved her hand dismissively, "Hahaha~ It''s just a joke~ No need to act all serious. If that really were the case, I wouldn''t have stopped you."

    Her words did nothing to calm him down. Dorian examined Aelina closely, even spreading his Divine Sense around her. He still couldn''t determine if the person in front of him was the real Aelina or not. Even now, he couldn''t tell.

    ''Either she has a cloning technique at an extremely high level, or this is the real woman.'' He spected. Regardless, he could only abandon the thought of attacking.

    Even if the woman in front of him was a clone, she was still extremely strong. Not to mention, he was in her domain now.

    "Is your Sect doing well, Dorian? Your disciples sure looked healthy as they were killing mine." Aelina asked nonchntly, switching the subject.

    "..." Again, he wasn''t sure how to respond. After some thought, he just decided to say, "...Well, the beasts are more activetely, so my disciples have had plenty of opportunities to temper themselves."

    "The beasts, huh? I''ve noticed that over here as well. However, they seem much more�� how should I say? Orderly? Almost like someone is behind their movements."

    "Huh? How so?" Dorian asked, now intrigued.

    "Well�� I just noticed quite a few of them digging around for herbs, treasures, and Spirit Stones before taking them deeper into the mountains." Aelina exined, even though half of it sounded like bullshit. Dorian tried to read if she was lying or not, but as per usual, he couldn''t gain anything from her expression.

    "Okay? But that could mean literally anything! Not necessarily that someone is controlling them."

    "Maybe," She shrugged. "But it wouldn''t hurt to stay alert. We can''t allow those beasts ns to take more territory away from us now that the Crimson yer Sect is gone!"

    Dorian opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn''t find the words to refute her as she wasn''t wrong. That was a very likely scenario. Still, he wondered why Aelina was even sharing this information with him.

    ''There''s no way she would bring this up without reason. What is she trying to gain from this?''

    Did she want him to focus on the Beast ns? Or was this reverse psychology, and she really didn''t want him to turn any attention toward them? Perhaps it was neither of those.

    He couldn''t tell.

    ''Ah! Fuck it! I''m just not going to think about this!'' He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and continued his talk with Aelina.

    The two chatted for a few minutes before the conversation reached its end.

    Dorian stood up from the table and dered, "I need to get going now."

    "It was a pleasure speaking with you, Dorian!" Aelina smiled and nodded, not bothered by his sudden departure.

    "Let''s never meet again." With that said, he walked out of the building and teleported far away from the mountain, flying toward his Sect. He didn''t want to stay there a second longer.

    "Fufufu~ That''s one chess piece." Aelina leaned back in her chair and muttered. ''Now, I suppose it''s time to merge the remnants of all my branch Sects here where I can begin the second step of my n.''

 Chapter 690 Return

    Dorian soared through the sky, returning to his Sect after a tense discussion with Aelina. Thoughts of their conversation filled his mind as he flew. Little did he know, the dark clouds that hung ominously in the sky above his Sect.

    As he approached, he squinted his eyes, a bad feeling spreading out from the pit of his stomach. The familiar silhouette of his Sect was illuminated, not by the soft glow of the sun or the faint lights from the buildings but by towering mes.

    His eyes widened in disbelief. His Sect, his fortress, the Toxic de Sect, was engulfed in a fierce ze, lighting up the sky like a malevolent sun.

    The once mighty Sect, known for its treacherous and potent poison techniques, was reduced to a hellish inferno. The structures that had stood tall were now crumbling, consumed by the relentless mes, and the trees that hadsted for several millennia were burning.

    Dorian''s heart pounded in his chest as he watched the destruction unfold before his eyes. His hands clenched into fists, and he felt his blood boil with rage.

    "Aelina..." He hissed through gritted teeth. He couldn''t help but think of the Battle Maiden Sect. The timing was too convenient; it screamed sabotage. Yet, he knew, with theck of tangible proof, pinning the me on Aelina would be hasty, if not outright foolish.

    Hended amongst the chaos, his feet crunching on the debris. Elders and disciples alike were scrambling to salvage what they could, their faces reflecting the mes and, along with it, their despair. The beautiful and powerful Toxic de Sect was in ruins, its resources stolen, and the identity of the perpetrator unknown.

    While they had managed to stop a lot of the destruction, protecting the more essential parts of the Sect and resources, the blow to their pride was worse than anything else.

    Elder Jaxon stood amidst the chaos. His face was hardened, eyes reflecting the mes and the rage within him. As Dorian approached, Jaxon turned to face him.

    "Sect Master..." His voice was a hoarse whisper, filled with a sense of defeat.

    "Who did this?" Dorian''s voice was icy, filled with suppressed rage.

    "We... we don''t know," Jaxon admitted, his voice heavy with regret. "The attack was sudden, and the assant... or assants, concealed their identities well."

    Dorian clenched his jaws, his mind working furiously. Who could have done this? Was it really Aelina and the Battle Maiden Sect? Or was it another one of the unorthodox Sects, seizing the opportunity to weaken a potential rival?

    He hade to Aelina on his own volition, wanting to cause trouble, and she had been in the middle of a war. It seemed unlikely for her to orchestrate such a massive attack in her current situation. However, he couldn''t entirely rule out her involvement either.

    Someone as long-lived as her knows how to y the long game. She could''ve been waiting for a day simr to this for years. Not to mention, she had a motive for doing so.

    Some of his disciples had allied with the Crimson yer Sect, causing countless Battle Maidens to die from their poisons. He certainly wouldn''t think fondly of him or his Sect if he were in her shoes.

    ''It could be one of the other Unorthodox Faction Sects looking to take me down a peg while I''m distracted. Or�� maybe, the Beast ns are involved.'' He thought. The Basilisk had disappeared not too long ago from the Forbidden Forest, so maybe that had something to do with these.

    ''Regardless, I will find out who''s behind this and make them pay!'' Dorian vowed internally, his eyes zing.

    ***

    An hour or soter, Rayna, upon arriving at the Sect, was led directly to Aelina.

    The leader of the Battle Maiden Sect was deep in conversation with some elders when Rayna walked in. The elders'' conversations paused as she entered, and all eyes turned toward her. She wasn''t famous within the Sect, even amongst the Elders, but she had a reputation that preceded her.

    "Ah, Rayna, you''re back." Aelina greeted her with a slight nod, her eyes instantly drawn to the Spatial Ring in Rayna''s hands.

    "Yes, Sect Master. I''ve aplished the mission," Rayna responded indifferently, walking up to Aelina and presenting the ring.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Aelina grabbed it, her Divine Sense sweeping through it briefly. She could recognize all of the items - potent poisons, rare herbs, secret manuals - all signature assets of the Toxic de Sect.

    "Excellent," Aelina finally said, breaking the silence. "To be honest, you stole more than I thought you''d be able to. The original n was just to set fire to the ce and steal a few rare herbs, but you took it a step further. With this knowledge, we can even set up a Poison Department. Well done, Rayna!"

    A shadow of a smile appeared on Rayna''s face. "I simply took advantage of the chaos, Sect Master. It was an opportune moment."

    "Regardless, this is a tremendous achievement." Aelina''s eyes shone brightly as she nced once more at the ring''s contents. "Make sure to rest and recover. I''ll make copies of all the manuals and return them to you. I will summon you if anything else is needed."

    Rayna nodded, exiting the room and leaving Aelina and the elders to their discussion. Once the door closed behind her, a collective sigh seemed to reverberate throughout the room. Aelina''s lips curled up in a satisfied smile, her mind already turning over the potential uses for their newly acquired resources.

    ***

    Back on the battlefield, the survivors of the war were busy dealing with the aftermath. The bodies of the fallen Battle Maidens were carefully collected, their faces covered with white cloths, their hands sping their weapons. Each was a hero in her own right, and they would be given a proper send-off.

    However, their bodies weren''t immediately taken back to the Sect. The Battle Maidens had established a camp on the fringes of the battlefield where they gathered, a temporary refuge amidst the carnage.

    Conversely, they showed no such reverence for the fallen enemies.

    Stripped of their spatial rings and any valuable resources, they were then hauled to a pyre. The mes reduced the bodies to ash, leaving an odd, deathly scent in the air.

    The recovered spatial rings of the fallen Maidens were handled with meticulous care. The personal belongings they contained wouldter find their way back to the grieving families. The resources and weapons, meanwhile, held the potential to fortify the Sect further, turning loss into a bitter kind of strength.

    The Battle Maidens worked diligently to cleanse the battlefield, sifting through the detritus of war, salvaging what could be useful, and eradicating what could not. It was a slow, painstaking process, but it was necessary, a means to both physically and metaphorically clear the remnants of the bloody conflict.

    Once the battlefield was adequately cleaned and looted, a procession of Battle Maidens, led by the Elders, began their journey back to the main Sect. The survivors, many from branch Sects, walked with heavy hearts and weary bodies. Their ordeal had earned them ess to the main Sect, an honor that came with its own set of challenges and expectations.

    It was the dream of almost all the women here to enter the main Sect someday. It was there that they could reach the limits of their potential. Although it took them going through an entire war and losing many sisters in the process, they couldn''t help but feel a sense of anticipation for the future.

    The procession moved steadily toward the Sect, the shuffling footsteps and whispered conversations punctuated by the asional mournful sigh. Among the people who fought, there was one who held the collective attention - Mira. Her reputation had grown in the aftermath of the battle, her deeds whispered like awe-inspiring tales, and her name carried an air of respect.

    "Did you see Mira during the battle?"

    "Yeah, she killed that Dragon guy that had been terrorizing us as soon as she arrived. How amazing!!"

    "...I don''t know. The way she killed everyone was�� bone-chilling."

    Her fame spread not only within her Sect but throughout the continent, with various powers now turning their attention to her.

    Meanwhile, Mira had already left as she needed to digest the Qi she had absorbed from all the people she had killed.

    ***

    [A/N: I know this chapter was a bit fast-paced, but there were a bunch of things that needed to get written that didn''t need to have entire chapters dedicated to them. I''m trying to work on my pacing, as I know my natural tendency is to make things slow-paced. So, if any of you feel like I''ve missed or skipped over something, let me know, and I''ll make the proper adjustments. There are a number of things I''ve left out a shortened as I felt like they weren''t needed, but if you guys want more information, I can go back and add more. Thank you for the support!]

 Chapter 691 Settled

    The survivors of the war arrived at the base of the majestic mountain that housed the Battle Maiden Sect, a ce most of them had only ever dreamed of. Their hearts pounded in anticipation as they ascended, following the winding path that led to the mighty gates of the Sect.

    Unlike usual, the mountain was silent, its typical bustling energy absent as a majority of its inhabitants had gone to war. The outer ring of the mountain, usually alive with the chatter of Outer Court disciples, was now eerily quiet.

    The gates of the Battle Maiden Sect opened slowly, revealing the expansive courtyard nestled within the mountain''s embrace. A soft wind rustled through the ancient buildings, carrying the weight of their history.

    Elder Liandra, one of the Elders in charge of the Outer Sect disciples, led the way and said, "All of those in the Core Formation Realm, follow me. This ce will be your new home. I and a few other Elders will get you registered. We''ll give you a few days to get ustomed to everything before training begins."

    As they neared the entrance of the Outer Court, one of the survivors, Isha, hesitated, her eyes fixed on the quiet, imposing gates.

    "Are we really here?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper. "I mean, are we... are we really worthy of this ce?"

    Elder Liandra, who had been leading the group, turned to look at her. Her gaze was sharp yet understanding. "We have all made sacrifices�� What was your name? Ah! That''s right. It was Isha."

    "Well, Isha, the very fact that you''re standing here, having survived the war, makes you worthy. Don''t let self-doubt cloud your spirit. Because if you thought the past three months were hard, you better prepare yourself for what the Sect Master has in store for you."

    With her words echoing in their ears, they entered arge courtyard inside the Outer Court and were met with an eerie silence. The usual bustling Outer Court had nobody in it, as they had all left to participate in the war.

    However, before the neers were allowed in, they had to go through registration.

    "For all current members,e up here with the Elders and help us register everyone. I know you want to rest and recover, but we must do this before anything else to ensure the Sect''s stability." Elder Lianda said, causing many of the disciples to frown.

    Like she said, most of the current disciples just wanted to rest in their rooms. While the neers were dissatisfied with Elder Liandra''s treatment as they had literally just fought in a war for them! That in and of itself should''ve earned them some trust!

    A few were about to protest, but before they could even open their mouths, Elder Liandra nced at them. She didn''t say anything or pressure them, but the look in her eyes said everything they needed to know.

    ''Get out if you don''t like it.'' That''s what she conveyed.

    So, they shut their traps and listened to her instructions.

    Soon, numerous lines with thousands of people in each of them were made.

    Surprisingly, the registration process was swift, with everyone working as fast as possible. They each received an emblem and a set of robes, marking their new identity as disciples of the main Battle Maiden Sect. With that emblem, they were no longer outsiders. They were Battle Maidens.

    While that was going on, Elder Sandra led all the Nascent Soul Realm disciples to the Inner Court, and Elder Ang led any Soul Transformation Realm disciples to the Core Court. They went through the same process as those from the Outer Court, just that there were a lot fewer of them.

    As for the Elders and/or Sect Masters of the Branch Sects that had reached the Mortal Shedding Realm, they followed their seniors up to their new homes. Although they still needed to be registered, they didn''t need to be vetted like the others.

    All of them have served the Sect for many years. It would be strange if Aelina and the other Elders didn''t know about them.

    After the grueling process, the neers were led to their respective amodations, depending on their cultivation level. The Outer Court, Inner Court, and Core Court each had its own training fields, dormitories, and study halls.

    The Outer Court disciples, the most numerous among them, were led to argeplex of dormitories. The building, while modestpared to the grandeur of the Inner Court and Core Court structures, had its own charm. The walls, painted in warm hues, were adorned with intricate carvings depicting famous battles and heroic maidens from the Sect''s rich history.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Normally, they''d be able to choose their own homes, but there were just too many of them. So, they were forced to live here until they expanded.

    Still clutching her newly issued emblem, Skye looked around her new surroundings. The dormitory room she shared with three other maidens was simple yetfortable.

    Four wooden beds lined the walls, each apanied by a small desk and a personal chest for their belongings. A soft maty at the center, a space for personal meditation or simply amunal area.

    Beside her, the maiden named Isha let out a sigh, her eyes welling up. "I can''t believe we''ve made it this far. I thought the Core Formation Realm would be my limit, possibly reaching the Nascent Soul Realm if I was lucky. I never thought that one day I''d end up here."

    Across the room, another maiden named Lian chimed in, "I know, right?! The sky''s the limit now that we''re here! I don''t know if going through that war was truly worth it, but I''ll do my best so as not to waste this opportunity!"

    "Oi! Don''t go spouting off stuff like that! Who knows if the Sect Master will start another war in a few days!" Skye jokingly chastised, though she was half serious. From what she knew of Aelina, they might really have to go against another Sect next week.

    That''s what happened to her, after all.

    Their sharedughter filled the room, aforting reminder that they weren''t alone in this new journey. It was a small moment of camaraderie in the midst of their overwhelming new reality.

    Elder Liandra, having made sure all the disciples were settled in, returned to her own quarters. She gazed at the snow-capped summit, a silent vow on her lips. "Rest well, new Maidens," she murmured, "You might be wishing for war after the Sect Master''s done with you."

    In the Inner Court, the process was simr, but the quarters were grander. The newly minted Inner Court disciples were led to their shared dormitories. Each room housed one disciple, a testament to their higher status in the Sect.

    However, these dorms were only temporary, just somewhere to rest until they found a ce to set up their new homes.

    For the Core Court disciples, their living arrangements were the epitome of luxury and privilege. Each disciple had their own private quarters, equipped with a personal training area, a study room, and a private bath. They also had all kinds of Formations, Arrays, resources, and a denser amount of Qi to cultivate with.

    They didn''t need to create their own homes, as the perfect ones were ready for them before they arrived.

    Meanwhile, the Elders and Sect Masters of the Branch Sects who had ascended to the Mortal Shedding Realm followed their seniors to the Elder Court. Their living arrangements were as grand as their status��a private residence,plete with personal servants and state-of-the-art cultivation facilities.

    Though everyone was exhausted, they were filled with a sense of excitement and anticipation for the challenges ahead. Each of them, no matter their cultivation level, had be an integral part of the Sect. They had a long and arduous path ahead of them, filled with training, cultivation, and growth. But for now, they had a moment to breathe, to take in their new surroundings, and to prepare for the journey ahead.

    ***

    Elsewhere in the Sect, in a secluded cultivation chamber deep within the Core Disciple Court, Mira sat in deep meditation. The Qi she had absorbed from the fallen enemies swirled around her in a whirlwind of raw power.

    She had received a message from Aelina while she wasing back that this was one of her rewards. ording to the rules, she was still technically an Inner Court Disciple, so she usually wasn''t allowed ess to a ce like this.

    Mira had killed tons of people during the war, so the amount of energy she had umted was monstrous.

    ''It''ll probably take me a while to digest all this,'' Mira thought, sweeping her consciousness through her body, looking at the overflowing amount of Qi filling her meridians. ''However, that''s fine. I think I''ve finally obtained a way to merge all my centers of power into one! With all this energy, I should be able to begin that process right now!''

 Chapter 692 Multiple Breakthroughs

    "However, before I do that, I need to channel this rampaging energy," Mira muttered as she closed her eyes and immediately began cultivating.

    The whole reason she left the war early was that she had too much energy in her body and couldn''t contain it any longer. Her Core was overflowing with Qi, and so it all piled up in her meridians.

    Thankfully, she had meridians that were abination of a World Tree Seed and Chaotic Silk, or else she would''ve blown up by now. No, she wouldn''t have been able even to gather this much energy before she exploded!

    Just like thest time she broke through, the Qi surged into her soul, splitting off to the World Core, Nascent Soul, and her scythe before spilling out into the rest of her soul.

    As this happened, her Nascent Soul perched atop the ice hill, opened its eyes, and immediately got to work. It stood up and stared into the darkness, her scythe grasped tightly within its hands.

    Its empty eyes shined for a moment as it lifted the scythe and cleaved out a chunk of darkness, which just got reabsorbed into the rest, making the process slightly more difficult.

    Mira''s brows scrunched up, and she unknowingly bit her lip, trying to hold in the pain. However, she refused to make a sound!

    ''Ugh. It gets worse and worse every time I do this. It literally feels like I''m ripping out chunks of my soul with every sh.'' At this point, Mira started to worry about the pain she''d feel when she reached the 8th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    ''...I''ll save that forter.'' She didn''t want to think about that right now.

    The Nascent Soul''s scythe continued its relentless arc, cleaving through the shroud of darkness. With each swing, Mira''s anguish intensified, crimson tears rolling down her cheeks in an attempt to suppress the pain.

    After who knows how long of this torture and having excavated a portion of the tangible darkness, the Nascent Soul gracefully descended from the icy hill.

    Extending its hand towards the hill, it summoned forth a torrent of Ice Qi with the help of the World Core onto the ice, augmenting the hill''s dimensions into something bigger and stronger.

    As if in response, the Earth beneath Mira''s feet quivered and the molten magma surged, fortifying itself to withstand the weight of the majestic frozen peak.

    Afterward, the Nascent Soul hopped back atop the hill and began excavating more of the darkness with Mira''s scythe.

    From what she could see after that one session was that the raindrops had gottenrger, and asionally, she''d see a bolt of light. The cyclone also seemed to have gotten worse.

    ''I guess this time it''s Yin Lightning��'' Mira thought indifferently. She still wasn''t sure what all this meant, after all.

    The Nascent Soul kept excavating darkness for hours and increasing the size of the ice hill until it reached a breaking point.

    Just like she thought, the Wind Cyclone increased in size and became deadlier. The water drops were denser, smashing on the ice hill like tiny meteorites. However, this time, Yin Lightning shot across her soul, traveling from droplet to droplet, before crashing onto the Nascent Soul''s head and dispersing across the ice.

    Now, the Nascent Soul was facing 3 tribtions at all times: Meteor-like water droplets, a Cyclone, and Yin Lightning. Subsequently, the pain Mira experienced intensified.

    ''...I really fucking hate these breakthroughs,'' Mira gritted her teeth through the pain but didn''t stop the breakthrough.

    *Kacha!*

    Like the sound of ss shattering, Mira broke through to the 4th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!

    Her Qi surged through her body and soul, increasing in quality and quantity. Her Nascent Soul looked to be about 8 years old, her scythe was more powerful, and everything in her soul had be more robust.

    However, that was just the beginning! There was still an exorbitant amount of energy inside her body.

    ''I knew this would happen�� I just wish it wasn''t.'' Mira grunted in annoyance and made a mental note to herself that she should be more aware of the time and ce whenmitting ughters.

    ''Haaa��'' She sighed, mentally preparing herself for what''s toe. ''First, I''ll stabilize my Realm.'' <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Tons of excess Qi flowed through the World Core in her Soul and began patching up all the cracks in her foundation, which was mostly her Nascent Soul, Scythe, and Ice Hill.

    Mira had to use a massive amount of Qi to do this, and she only stopped when she felt she couldn''t solidify her Realm anymore. Generally, doing this was frowned upon as it would take her extra time to get used to her strength, but she didn''t have much of a choice.

    ''Huuu��Let''s start the breakthrough process again.'' Mira took a deep breath andmanded her Nascent Soul to continue chopping up the darkness.

    It stood up, ready to follow through, only to stop and tilt its head. A question mark seemed to form above its head as it stared upward as if to say, ''Are you serious?''

    Mira''s lips twitched, but she didn''t feel like arguing with herself, so she yelled, ''Just do your damn job!''

    The Nascent Soul shrugged and casually shed at the now-thickened darkness!

    ''Ack!'' Mira almost grunted aloud, but she held on, cursing the Nascent Soul 10 different times in her mind.

    As her Nascent Soul began the relentless excavation once again, Mira steeled herself for the amplified pain that she was about to endure. She felt as if her soul was being scraped raw, but she pressed on, letting the scythe cut through the darkness like a hot knife through butter with the abundant amount of Qi backing her up.

    More and more darkness was shed, and as she progressed, the tempest in her soul realm began to mutate. The Wind Cyclone began spinning in opposite directions, causing a violent friction between the two opposing winds.

    This collision sparked a new tribtion, Yin Fire, born from the sh of two powerful energies. Now the spectacle of Water, Yin Lightning, Yin Fire, and Wind took form in the world within her.

    Mira''s soul realm transformed into an intense spectacle of elements as the Yin Fire ignited and danced wildly amidst the rain, cyclone, and lightning. It was a frightening scene, the icy hill, now almost an icy mountain, getting pelted by elemental chaos, while the Yin Fire lent an ethereal glow to thendscape, casting flickering shadows on the ground.

    The relentless attacks from the new formation brought Mira to the edge of her endurance. Her consciousness flickered, but she refused to yield, feeding her determination into the relentless excavations of her Nascent Soul.

    Driven by her will, the Nascent Soul did not hesitate and continued its unyielding task, carving through the darkness, uncaring of the elemental storm that raged around it.

    Every step in the process felt like an eternity to Mira as the piercing pain, coupled with the tribtion''s intensity, grew stronger. Still, she soldiered on, the agony bing a bizarre form of motivation for her. She knew that each jolt of pain was a step closer to her goal.

    With a final swing of the scythe, the Nascent Soul cleaved through thest shroud of darkness for this section. An explosive surge of Qi erupted from her core and meridians, flowing in waves throughout her body and soul.

    Crack!

    Just like the sound of a monumental cier breaking apart, the sound reverberated in her inner world, signaling her breakthrough to the 5th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Her Qi once again surged, its quality and quantity growing tremendously. Her Nascent Soul matured further, appearing as a 10-year-old now, and her scythe glowed with newfound power. Everything in her soul realm, from the expanded icy hill to the tempestuous elemental storm, had grown stronger and more pronounced.

    Mira copsed on the ground withbored breaths, a small, triumphant smile of relief spreading. She had done it. She had sessfully stepped into the 5th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    But this breakthrough was just the beginning, and she couldn''t stop now. There was still a vast amount of energy rampaging within her. Mira took a deep breath, knowing she had yet another battle to fight.

    Stabilizing her realm was her priority now. Once again, she directed the excess Qi through her World Core to mend the cracks that had appeared in her soul realm during the tumultuous breakthrough.

    Each patch she applied to her realm was like a balm to her tormented soul, bringing her a momentary respite from the pain. Mira continued this process until she felt that she could not solidify her realm any further.

    Exhausted and determined, Mira prepared herself for the next, and probably, most difficult phase of her cultivation journey.

    "Let''s get this shit over with. I want to go check on Dominique after I''m done," She muttered, not wanting to go through any more breakthroughs today.

 Chapter 693 Multiple Breakthroughs Part 2

    Steeling her resolve, Mira directed her Nascent Soul to begin its familiar cycle of relentless excavation.

    ''Get back to work!'' Miramanded, circting more Qi to her soul.

    It begrudgingly ascended the icy mountain, wielding the scythe, unable to resist.

    As the Nascent Soul began its diligent work once more, the weight of her task seemed to press down on Mira.

    Her body tensed, anticipating the expected yet increased intensity of the pain that was toe. And just like she predicted, as the first sh of the scythe descended onto the darkness, a wave of torment coursed through her, causing her teeth to grind together.

    The tempest within her soul realm mutated further. The Wind Cyclone started swirling in multiple directions, resulting in more collisions and shes.

    From the center of the cyclone, faint rays of light began to emanate, beaming on the Nascent Soul like a spotlight.

    The rain transformed into a torrential downpour of Yin Qi, cascading in waterfall-like sheets rather than simple droplets.

    The iing light refracted off the curtain of Yin Qi, creating a mesmerizing aurora of colors. Despite the pain, Mira couldn''t help but admire the beauty of the spectacle unfolding within her soul realm.

    Driven by her unyielding will, her Nascent Soul pressed on, shing through the thick curtain of tangible darkness while weathering the increasingly fierce tribtion. As the Nascent Soul chopped through the darkness, going through the process again, the icy mountain started to evolve, shimmering like a diamond under the refracted light, contrasting the surrounding elemental chaos.

    The Yin Lightning crisscrossed the storm, and Yin Fire danced in tandem with the wind, creating a surreal blend of catastrophe and chaos. The Nascent Soul, perched atop the icy mountain, was the eye of this tempest, taking the brunt of it all.

    Pain rippled through her every time the Nascent Soul cleaved the darkness, each wave more potent than thest. Mira''s body twitched involuntarily, but she mped her jaw shut, refusing to let out a single sound.

    ''T-This much is nothing�� A small price to pay for strength.'' She reminded herself of her goal, using that as fuel to keep her sane. Her eyes mped shut in determination, acting like an unyielding fortress in the face of a relentless assault.

    With the energy she''d amassed in the war, Mira''s breakthrough was swift. A final, devastating sh rent through the darkness, and an explosive wave of Qi gushed forth, sweeping across her entire body and soul.

    In the midst of this eruption, an ear-splitting crack rang out like a spear of thunder tearing through the heavens. Mira''s Nascent Soul realm trembled violently as she finally broke through to the 6th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!

    Her Qi rocketed upwards, its quality and quantity reaching new heights. The Nascent Soul morphed once more, now taking on the appearance of a 12-year-old child, her scythe radiating with an exceptional level of power.

    Her soul realm underwent its own evolution, the icy mountain loomingrger and the elemental storm gaining a terrifying intensity. Every second, the elements smashed onto the ground and ice mountain, cracking, melting, and destroying it.

    Mira coughed up a mouthful of blood, with some trickling from her eyes and out of her pores with every hit to her foundation.

    ''Why is my own soul trying to kill me?!'' Every bit of damage dealt to the ground and ice hill was a crack in her foundation. If either one were to disappear, she might never be able to cultivate again. Or, at the very least, she couldn''t use her current affinities.

    Battered and weary, Mira sank to her knees, feeling a rush of joy but also agitation.

    There was no time to celebrate. With a copious amount of energy still rampaging within her and constant damage to her foundation, Mira had to reach some sort of equilibrium.

    First, she had to stabilize her realm.

    She guided the remaining Qi to mend the newly formed cracks in her soul realm. Like a skilled artisan, she patched up every crack, strengthening the foundation of her cultivation. She could only do this thanks to the World Core.

    Once again, her Nascent Soul was used to brace her realm, stabilizing her newfound strength with painstaking meticulousness. Every ounce of energy was utilized until she could no longer fortify her realm.

    With a sigh, she slumped down on the ground, her body weary from her tribtions. Despite the pain, there was a glimmer of triumph in her crimson eyes.

    ''I need a break before I work on merging the cultivation of my centers of power together.'' Mira closed her eyes to take a little nap and recover from the agonizing pain she just went through.

    A few hourster, she woke up, refreshed, ready to tackle her next goal during this cultivation session.

    While she was with the Basilisk, watching it absorb so much Celestial Nectar, Mira had a sudden inspiration. That was, the current cultivation looked something like this: Qi was at the top of the hierarchy, while Physical and Soul strength were secondary, ying catch-up.

    To equalize the three so that when one of them got stronger, the other two did as well, reaching a kind of harmony, she needed a catalyst.

    Normally, the standard cultivation system was fine. Qi was the most important aspect of cultivation anyways; it was the bedrock the rest was built atop. One didn''t necessarily need to work on their physical or soul aspects.

    However, Mira just had too many things to keep track of. Her 3 centers of power, her bloodline, the FLDIL, Dao, affinities, Inner Body Cultivation, and techniques. With all that, she doesn''t even have time tomit to learning the various side upations.

    ''The World Core is the perfect catalyst for this. As the literal core of a world, it can create all types of different energies. It also serves as the bedrock for the growth of all things, living and nonliving, in said world.'' <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    At least, that was Mira''s spection.

    Her theory was that as long as she connected the World Core with her Dantian, she''d be able to merge her systems of power into one. That way, no matter what kind of progress she made, whether it be with her Body, Qi, or Soul, all three would increase equally rather than having a dominant one.

    ''Let''s give it a shot.''

    Bathed in the pulsating waves of the World Core''s multitude of elemental energies, Mira locked onto her target.

    She channeled her Qi towards the core, attempting to forge a bond between the two. The task was difficult, reminiscent of blending water and oil. Yet, Mira was persistent, her Qi weaving through the World Core''s dynamic energy currents.

    Hours of relentless concentration finally caused a shift. The formerly inflexible energy of the World Core began to interact with her Qi, the previously impregnable barrier wavering.

    It was as if her Qi and the Core''s energy were beginning toprehend each other. With the birth of this hopeful indication, Mira intensified her intent, urging her Qi to cement the developing bond.

    Though the initiation of the connection was an achievement, it was still in its infancy. Mira''s task was to cultivate a symbiotic harmony between her Qi and the World Core''s energy, her intricate understanding of her elemental affinities guiding the way.

    She imagined the elemental energies from the World Core as different rivers flowing into a grand ocean - her Dantian. Each river was an element, with distinct rhythms and flows yet ultimately interconnected.

    Instead of imposing her Qi onto the energy of the World Core, Mira sought to align them. She altered her Qi, tuning it to the frequency of each stream, thus creating a resonance that allowed for a harmonious rtionship between the two energies.

    As Mira progressed with the alignment process, a transformation took ce within her Dantian. The Qi was no longer just a homogeneous pool of Qi but a vivid amalgamation of the various elemental energies she could control.

    This marked the dawn of Elemental Fusion. Her Dantian had transformed from a simple Qi storage to a crucible of elemental fusion, producing a unique energy that surpassed the individual elements'' qualities.

    This newfound energy was powerful, and as it diffused throughout her body, it fortified her physical prowess, enriching her Martial Manifestation Realm.

    However, this energy was not inherently hers, nor was it an affinity she could strengthen. It was merely a sign of her growing control over the World Core. Its strength was rted, and its capabilities were limited to her own cultivation.

    However, this unique energy, one that was mixed with the World Core and her own Core, would bridge the gap between her centers of power.

    With the connection to the World Core fortified and the fusion process in motion, Mira shifted her focus to her Soul. Already connected to the Core, it had be a criticalponent of a triad that included her Dantian and the Core.

    Mira concentrated on strengthening this triad, ensuring the smooth flow of the Core''s energies through her Dantian and into her Soul and back. The intricate process demanded herplete focus, as even a slight imbnce could have disastrous repercussions.

    But Mira showcased her talent yet again, bncing the energies seamlessly and guaranteeing a positive feedback loop between her Dantian and the World Core.

    Incorporating her physical body was thest leg of this journey, a challenge that added anotheryer ofplexity.

    To achieve this, Mira needed to sync her Qi with every singleponent of her body, from her chiseled muscles to the delicate cells pulsing with life.

    She started by focusing on her muscles, the solid foundation of her physical prowess.

    The skeletal muscles, the cardiac muscle in her heart, and even the smooth muscles that unknowingly worked tirelessly inside her; all had to resonate with her Qi. It was a delicate dance of synchronization, her Qi flowing into each muscle fiber, fusing strength with spiritual energy.

    Once the muscles had been tended to, Mira shifted her focus to her organs.

    The heart, with its rhythmic beat, the lungs expanding and contracting in a dance of life, theplexbyrinth of her brain, and the myriad other organs, each needed to harmonize with her Qi.

    It was like each organ was singing its own melody, and Mira had to make her Qi flow in tune with them, creating a harmonious symphony within her body.

    Next came the more subtle parts: the circtory system, with its vastwork of blood vessels, the intricate nervous system, and the endocrine system.

    She felt her Qi spreading, branching out like a tree in bloom, touching every corner of her body.

    The final frontier was her cells. The millions of cells that made her who she was, each buzzing with their own miniature life. Mira sent her Qi into each of them, feeling the energy flow into every cell, a pulse of life and energy merging with each minuscule part of her.

    The process was akin to navigating a vast, interconnected city, but her body''swork of countless meridians served as an intricate road map that allowed her to reach even the most remote corners. It was her inner GPS, guiding her Qi through the windingnes of her physical form, synchronizing every part with her spiritual energy.

    With every fiber of her being now pulsing in harmony with her Qi, Mira hadpleted the final piece of this puzzle, or what''ll otherwise be known as the [Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique], inspired by the Harmony Blossoms.

 Chapter 694 Extraction

    Stretching her stiff limbs, Mira slowly got to her feet. A sense of calm strength enveloped her, different from the raw, tumultuous power she had felt just a while ago.

    ''Time to test out my new abilities,'' Mira thought, a spark of excitement igniting within her.

    Taking a deep breath, she circted her Qi. Instead of the usual flow she was ustomed to, she felt an overwhelming surge of energy rush through her. Her entire body seemed to resonate with the pulsations of her Qi, the vibrations humming along her bones and muscles.

    She took a moment to observe this phenomenon. Mira could feel the once separate centers of power �C her body, Qi, and soul �C merging in harmony. Each center no longer stood alone but synchronized with the others, resonating as one.

    Gathering Qi from the air, it entered her core like usual, condensing ever so slightly before sending out the newly strengthened energy to her body and soul. Just from that short, few-second-long period, she felt her overall strength increase. It might''ve been an infinitesimal amount, but it did increase.

    Aside from that, the energy transformed to resonate with each specific part of her body on its own. Meaning that while Qi is still the primary source of energy, the body and Soul use unique forms of it to strengthen themselves.

    ''This...is incredible!'' Mira eximed inwardly, marveling at the remarkable transformation. Unfortunately, herprehension of elemental affinities didn''t increase alongside her cultivation, but Mira had some ideas on how she could use her Dao and the [Harmonic Trinity] Technique to assist her with that.

    Though, that was for another time.

    With her newfound ability, she decided to test it out. Concentrating on her Qi, shemanded it to surge through her body, focusing it in her right arm.

    Instantly, she felt a burst of power flood her arm, its strength surpassing anything she had experienced before. Mira''s eyes widened as she looked at her arm, feeling the potent energy coursing through it.

    ''It''s almost like my Martial Manifestation Realm has taken form and linked with my Qi!'' Mira eximed. While she wasn''t wrong, she wasn''t right either. Since her Martial Manifestation was directly linked to theprehension of the body, the [Harmonic Trinity] technique was connected to it.

    However, the core of her Martial Manifestation didn''t change.

    In her next experiment, Mira projected her Qi outwards. A brilliant aura materialized around her, its radiance pulsating with the same rhythm as her body. She felt her surroundings respond to her energy, the subtle forces in the air synchronizing with her Qi.

    The result of her experiment was stunning, to say the least. Mira had sessfully bridged the gap between her centers of power, achieving an unprecedented level of synergy between them.

    Yet, she understood this was merely the first step in a long journey. Her body was still adapting to the changes, and she needed more practice to harness this power fully.

    ''I''ll have to find time to actually test out my limits and see how strong I''ve be after breaking through three times.'' Mira thought as she clenched her fists, causing mini explosions within her palms.

    She felt several times stronger than she did earlier, but it was hard to determine such a thing by herself.

    ''Should I spar with Nova and the girls?'' Mira considered for a second before shaking her head, ''I don''t want to ruin their confidence just yet. I''ll wait until things settle down before I break their confidence.''

    Although she felt it''d be a tough fight for sure, as you don''t be a Core Disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect by simply being lucky, she didn''t feel they were as strong as Zehir. He had a bloodline rted to Dragons, all sorts of fantastical techniques, strength above his cultivation level, and a very strong body.

    His only problem was he was a bit too reliant on his bloodline, cultivation, and raw power.

    ''However, it''s not like he wascking. If he had apleted bloodline and was a bit more experienced, it''s hard to say if I would''ve won.''

    As she reflected on everything, Mira remembered herst task during this retreat �C Zehir''s Ouroboros Bloodline.

    Mira had in and stored Zehir''s body, intending to extract his bloodline. However, she had put the task on hold due to her focus on her cultivation breakthrough.

    Now, with her cultivation stabilized, Mira decided to proceed.

    She summoned Zehir''s corpse, observing the lifeless body before her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was a grim sight, but Mira held no pity for him. The man had proved himself a formidable foe, yet one who sought to harm her friends and her sect.

    Shaking off her thoughts, Mira''s mind connected with her Infinity Garden, and a small vial materialized in her hand. The vial contained the Celestial Nectar from the Harmony Blossom.

    With this, she would try to "purify" Zehir''s bloodline to see if she could actually do such a thing.

    ''If the Basilisk could do it, I should be able to as well, but it''s hard to say. Zehir''s dead, after all.''

    Normally, she''d just try it on herself and test its effects that way, but she wasn''t sure what''de out of that. The [Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor] bloodline suited her perfectly, and she hadn''t even explored all of it yet. She didn''t want to possibly ruin it by "purifying" it.

    However, an iplete dragon bloodline? She could work with that!

    She ced Zehir''s body on the ground in front of her and took a deep breath. Extracting a bloodline wasn''t as simple as plucking a fruit. It was a delicate process that required an intricate knowledge of Qi maniption and the human body. Blood Essence is the core of any cultivator, so messing with it in any way could yield unwanted results.

    This became exponentially more difficult now that she was trying to purify it.

    Mira began by circting her Qi, sending it into Zehir''s body, gently tracing the intricate web of Qi channels and searching for the distinctive pulse of the bloodline.

    Once she had identified it, she extended her senses, attempting to fully grasp the dragon bloodline''splex nature. She could sense the raw, primordial power within and the underlying ws that had hindered Zehir''s development.

    Mira was about to connect with the [Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor] bloodline within herself, intending to use it as a guide during the process. But at thest moment, she stopped, remembering her apprehension about potentially tainting it.

    Deciding to rely solely on herprehension of Qi and her intuition, Mira dove into the task.

    Uncorking the vial of celestial nectar, she infused her Qi into the liquid, guiding it towards the pulsating dragon bloodline within Zehir''s body.

    A sudden, almost violent reaction urred as the celestial nectar met the bloodline. Zehir''s body jerked involuntarily, and his Qiwork erupted in turmoil. The celestial nectar, a pure manifestation of harmony and bnce, attempted to expel the impurities within the bloodline. The impurities resisted, creating a chaotic battle within the dead man''s body.

    But Mira was prepared. Using her cultivated Qi, she bolstered the celestial nectar''s efforts, pushing against the resisting impurities and enforcing a bnce.

    The process was strenuous and demanded her total concentration.

    Gradually, the tumult within Zehir''s body began to subside. With the support of Mira''s cultivated Qi, the celestial nectar started winning over the impurities. One by one, the ws within the dragon bloodline were expunged, reced with the harmonious energy of the celestial nectar.

    As the impurities were purged, an incredible surge of power erupted from within Zehir''s body. Mira quickly backed away, watching in awe as the now purified andplete Ouroboros Dragon bloodline materialized before her.

    The dragon bloodline was a magnificent sight, releasing an ancient, primal energy. It was unlike anything she had seen before, and she knew then that she had seeded��. partly.

    With practiced ease, Mira extracted the Blood Essence and contained it in a vial specially designed to hold such energies. Then, with the taskplete, she sealed Zehir''s body back into her storage space.

    Exhaustion washed over her as the adrenaline began to recede. She had taken a risk, and it had paid off. The purified Ouroboros Dragon bloodline was a testament to her efforts and her potential.

    ''I did it,'' Mira thought, looking at the vial with a sense of satisfaction. This was a major aplishment that would open up new avenues for her cultivation. Not just her own cultivation, either. With this discovery, she could help Aelina transform the entire Battle Maiden Sect into an unstoppable force!

    But for now, rest was needed. She knew her experiments with the dragon bloodline were far from over. She didn''t believe that a bloodline rted to dragons would be purified so easily. Unfortunately, she didn''t have any more Celestial Nectar at the moment. But those were concerns for another day.

    With a final look at the vial, Mira left the cultivation chambers and headed towards her sleeping quarters, looking forward to a well-deserved rest.

 Chapter 695 Comfort

    Mira stepped into the tranquil space of her residence, her senses weed by the familiar,forting scent of home.

    In her room, arge four-poster bed was situated, dressed in plush quilts and silken sheets that glowed faintly under the dim light. Amid the sea of cushions and nkets, two figures were tangled, small bodies wrapped around each other in peaceful slumber.

    She didn''t remember her bed being so crowded, but then again, she hardly ever used it.

    Rhydian was in the corner, sleeping like usual. The stupid mutt didn''t even bother opening an eye to greet her.

    Elenei was still out, doing who knows what.

    Dominique, with ocean blue hair cascading around her sleeping face, was nestled against Hana, whose dirty blonde hair was spread out all over the bed. They were a picture of pure innocence, a sight that unknowingly calmed Mira''s heart.

    ''...When did I start being so sentimental?'' Normally, something like this wouldn''t affect her. Maybe it was because her strength and status in the world were rising alongside her confidence, or perhaps after she almost lost Dominiquest time, her feelings began to emerge.

    She wasn''t quite sure, but it was a fact that she felt more attached to Dominique than before.

    When they first met, she took her in mainly out of amusement and obligation. The girl made a bet with her and won, and from that day onward, she was stuck with a kid.

    Looking back on it now, she realized that she had truly been a shitty mentor. 90% of the time, she was away on some mission, training, or fighting to the death. She hardly ever sat down and taught anything to Dominique, mostly just pushing her physical and mental strength to the edge.

    She hadn''t even been there to heal the child when she was poisoned! Even now, Dominique had broken through to the Peak of the Houtian Stage in the Foundation Realm without her help. When she returned from the Forbidden Forest, she didn''t even get a chance to see Dominique as she had to head over to the battlefield immediately.

    However, back then, when she picked her up, she didn''t know any better. There were so many things about this world that were unknown to her. While she might know the human body and its limits more than most people, her knowledge of Cultivation was extremely limited.

    ''But things are different now,'' Now that she was in the Nascent Soul Realm and had experienced many things, she was more confident in properly guiding Dominique.

    Not just that, but with all the resources at her disposal, Mira was confident in making Dominique an unparalleled force!

    ''No more holding back!

    Mira''s Soul Sense gently swept over Dominique, inspecting her insides, and she couldn''t help but marvel at how ''pure'' and clean her body was!

    Her lips curled up into a grin, ''It''s like she''s a nk canvas��!''

    The urge to grab Dominique by the ankle and throw her into hellish training arose within her, but she shoved it down, determined to get some rest.

    A soft sigh escaped her lips as she quietly moved toward the bed. Her movements were gentle, barely making a sound as she didn''t want to wake them. It was a sight she didn''t want to ruin, especially not after she just went through so much pain in her own training.

    Mira shed her outer robe, revealing her simple sleeping attire beneath.

    Taking a moment, she nced at her reflection in the full-length mirror on the wall. Even she had to admit that she was as gorgeous as a goddess.

    The rigors of her day had taken their toll, evident in the faint lines of exhaustion on her face, but her eyes still glowed brightly.

    Shaking off the day''s exertions, she finally padded over to the bed, gingerly lifting the quilt to slip into the warm cocoon beside the girls. As if sensing her presence, Dominique stirred slightly, her ocean-blue eyes blinking open.

    "Mother��?" she mumbled, sleep still clinging to her voice. Her eyes lit up when she recognized Mira, a sleepy smile spreading on her adorable face.

    "Shhh," Mira hushed gently, cing a finger on her lips. She brushed a stray lock of hair from Dominique''s face, "Go back to sleep, child."

    Dominique gave a content hum, snuggling deeper into the nkets, her small arms reaching out to wrap around Mira, bear-hugging one of her tails. The sight of her adoptive mother was all the reassurance she needed to drift back into slumber.

    Meanwhile, Hana had woken as well, a soft yawn escaping her as she looked at Mira with groggy eyes. Mira offered her a nod, wrapping one of her tails around the girl. Hana returned a sleepy nod, understanding Mira''s silent request for quiet, and closed her eyes again.

    In a whisper of movement, Mira pulled them both closer, wrapping her arms protectively around them. Their warmth seeped into her, providing afort that even the strongest Qi couldn''t offer.

    ''I''m definitely going crazy. W-What am I doing?! Why am I wrapping Hana in my tails as well?!'' Mira''s eyes twitched nonstop, but ncing at Dominique''s happy yet peaceful face, she shook her head, ''N-No. I just got caught up in the moment! It''s just that these little shits are too�� defenseless when they''re sleeping. It seems they''ve learned nothing from my teachings!''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Even she didn''t believe her nonsense. So, instead of having to confront her emotions, she just pushed them aside, opting to deal with them tomorrow.

    With that, a calmness washed over her, offering an unspoken relief.

    Basking in the peaceful silence, Mira''s thoughts started to slow, her focus shifting from the events of the day to theforting presence of the girls in her arms. Despite her mental gymnastics earlier, this was a slice of heaven that she wouldn''t trade for anything, even the most powerful cultivation technique.

    Being able to experience this kind of peace and sanctity�� It''d been a long time since she''s felt anything like it.

    As she watched the two girls breathing softly in their sleep, a gentle smile graced her lips. Here, she wasn''t the powerful cultivator or the ruthless demon. She was simply Mira.

    Feeling the weight of herbors catch up with her, Mira closed her eyes, allowing herself to sumb to the lull of sleep.

    Mira''s eyes fluttered open to the soft morning light, her senses awakened by the faint rustle of leaves outside her residence.

    Still groggy with sleep, she stirred slightly, her nine tails moving in perfect synchrony, creating a mesmerizing sight in the dim light. Dominique and Hana were still snuggled against her, their soft breaths a rhythm that soothed Mira''s heart in a way she had never known.

    With utmost care, she disentangled herself from the sleeping girls, rising from the bed like a wisp of morning mist. Draping her robe around herself, she padded silently across the stone floor and stepped out into the verdant valley where her cave residence was nestled.

    The morning was crisp, the scent of dew-kissed grass and fresh earth mingling in the air. The rising sun cast a soft golden hue over the Battle Maiden Sect, nestled amidst the rugged mountainous terrain. Beyond the towering peaks, the sprawlingndscape of Snow Maiden City glittered in the distance.

    As she stood there, taking in the tranquil scene, a thought surfaced. ''Before I start training Dominique in earnest, I should take her to y around the city for a bit. It''s been a while since she''s done anything other than training.''

    A faint smile curled on Mira''s lips as she contemted.

    As she stood there, soaking in the peace of the valley, something within her seemed to click into ce. It felt like a light breeze had blown away the cobwebs from her mind, making her thoughts clearer and her ideas brighter. Even her Qi, the vital energy within her, seemed to be flowing more smoothly, more harmoniously.

    Decision made, Mira turned back to the cave. Inside, the girls were just starting to stir, rubbing sleep from their eyes. "Wake up, kids," shemanded, her voice more firm than gentle, "We have ns today."

    Two sets of sleepy eyes blinked open, focusing on her. At her words, a wave of shock swept over Dominique''s face, rapidly morphing into a bright grin of excitement. But not because of these supposed "ns".

    "Mother!" She eximed, tears welling up in her eyes, and dove into Mira''s embrace, "You''re finally back!"

    "Mmhm." Mira hummed, feeling a bit awkward. She gave Dominique a few pats on the head before returning her arms to her sides and saying, "Seems like that medicine I got you worked."

    Dominique squirmed a bit but removed her head from Mira''s stomach and looked up at her, "Yup! Those Aunties you sent also helped a lot!"

    ''Aunties?'' Mira was confused for a moment before she thought of Eden and Seraphina.

    "Hmmm�� Is that so? I''ll have to say something to them the next time we meet." Mira said, thinking about giving them a vial of Celestial Nectar.

    While the two were having their reunion, Hana was slower to rise, her sleepy eyes blinking in confusion as she processed the scene before her.

    However, once realization dawned, a small, relieved smile appeared on her face. Even though she didn''t throw herself at Mira as Dominique did, her joy was evident seeing her friend so happy.

    In the corner, Rhydian finally stirred, cracking open one eye. At the sight of Mira, her tail began to wagzily.

    "Alright, settle down now," Mira finally broke the embrace, pushing Dominique gently away. She cast a nce over the others in the room, her gaze still as cold as ever. "We are heading to Snow Maiden City today."

    The girls blinked at her in surprise, the sudden change in their usually strict routine taking a moment to register. But once it did, Dominique''s eyes lit up with excitement. "Really?" she asked, her voice trembling with anticipation. "A-Are you serious?!"

    Hana seemed equally surprised, but her response was moreposed, a curious glint in her eyes as she asked, "What''s the asion?"

    Before Mira could answer, Dominique cut in. "Who cares about the asion?! We''re going out with Mother!"

    The corners of Mira''s lips twitched, but she didn''t say anything to refute Dominique and instead replied, "Let''s just say it''s a change of pace."

 Chapter 696 Bonding

    As dawn broke, Mira gathered the girls, Rhydian trailing behind them. Their footsteps echoed softly against the winding mountain path leading from the Battle Maiden Sect down to Snow Maiden City.

    The morning sun gently kissed their faces, casting long shadows behind them. Dominique climbed up on Mira''s body, iming a spot on her shoulders with ocean-blue eyes sparkling with anticipation. Hana followed quietly, her curious eyes taking in the vibrantndscape.

    "What are we going to do today, Mother?" Dominique asked while ying with Mira''s ears, which were softer than the most exquisite cotton.

    "...Whatever you want to do," Mira replied.

    "Mmm. Okay, Mother! I''ll take the lead today!" Dominique giggled.

    Mira still felt ufortable being called ''mother'' but didn''t want to make Dominique sad, so she kept quiet.

    Not that she necessarily disliked the title��

    As they descended, the rugged mountainous terrain slowly gave way to the bustling cityscape. Snow Maiden City, nestled at the foot of the mountain, emerged from the early morning mist, its sparkling spires reaching towards the skies, aglow with the rising sun.

    Upon entering the city, they were quickly recognized. Whispers spread through the streets as the city folk caught sight of them. "Isn''t that... Mira from the Battle Maiden Sect?"

    "But�� who are those kids next to her? And why is that giant wolf following them?"

    "Is she a mother? How cute!"

    "Haa�� Haaa�� L-Look at that face. That body! Just imagining being smothered by those tails��! Ah!"

    Listening to all the noise around her, Mira clicked her tongue in annoyance, an urge to silence them rising within her. Those eyes full of lust from both men and women running over her body left a bad taste in her mouth. If she could just dig them out-!

    However, she held back for Dominique''s sake, not wanting to cause a scene for something so small.

    Her reputation as a cold and formidable warrior had echoed throughout the city during the war with the Crimson yer Sect. Her bloodthirsty image was paired with tales of her supernatural beauty, a goddess-like figure in the midst of a chaotic battlefield. And now, to see her in person, the city''s popce couldn''t help but gawk in stunned silence.

    In reality, Mira''s beauty exceeded the rumors. Her captivating aura drew the attention of everyone around them. Many couldn''t help but stare, their eyes widening in awe.

    "Hey, bro, do you think I have a chance of marrying her if I go up and ask?"

    "You? With that fish-like face of yours? If you want a partner, just go down to the nearest river and try your luck! I heard that Rotten Blobfishes are biting right now."

    "..."

    Okay, now Mira felt a bit better.

    Fortunately, it seemed like most people knew their ce, but that wasn''t all that odd. Snow Maiden City was directly rted to the Battle Maiden Sect. It wasn''t a ce to hit on women but a ce for business. Those with such intentions were usually quick to disappear, never to be seen again.

    Mira had also built up quite a reputation in thest few months. Offending her was no different than death.

    Still, despite the quietmotion she caused, Mira continued guiding Dominique and Hana through the bustling streets. The city was a conglomeration of sounds and colors in its morning glory.

    The fragrant aroma of street food wafted through the air, enticing Dominique and Hana.

    "Mother! Can we stop and get some food?" Dominique asked, pointing at a food stand selling meat skewers.

    "Sure." She nodded, making her way over to the stand.

    There wasn''t much of a crowd, but still, a line of people, mostly those in the Qi Condensation and Foundation Realm, gathered around the stall.

    However, as they saw Mira walking toward them with a giant, menacing wolf and two children, they all cleared a path.

    "Six skewers," Mira looked down at the middle-aged woman behind the stall and ordered.

    "R-Right away!" The woman stammered, quickly gathering the food. Mira''s piercing crimson eyes were too overbearing for the poor woman, causing her to break out in a cold sweat.

    A few secondster, she handed over the food. Mira grabbed them, dropped a few dozen Low-Stage Spirit Stones on the table without caring about the price, and distributed them evenly (3 each) among the children.

    "Thanks, Mother!" Dominique eximed and began munching on the food.

    "Thank you," Hana chimed in, her soft voice barely heard above the city''s noise.

    "Mmmm~!" Dominique moaned in delight. It had been a while since she''d eaten anything cooked well and seasoned. "Mother, you have to try one!" She eximed, shoving a skewer in Mira''s face.

    "...Alright," Mira said and took a bite. Dominique stared at her expectantly as if this was the most important thing in the world.

    A few momentster, Mira slowly nodded, "Not bad."

    "I know, right!" Dominique seemed satisfied with that answer, and the group moved along.

    The day unfolded as a canvas of exploration, shopping, andughter that painted a picture different from Mira''s usual days of training and leading the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Dominique and Hana guided their adventures, their innocent excitement about life''s simple pleasures, creating a contagious happiness that even Mira found herself sumbing to.

    Dominique showed an uncanny interest in everything, her ocean-blue eyes absorbing the vibrant sights of Snow Maiden City with gleeful curiosity.

    The first shop they visited was a great clothing store filled with extravagant outfits made from the finest silk and ornate essories sparkling with embedded jewels.

    The girls marveled at the colorful array of dresses, their eyes wide with wonder.

    With Mira''s permission, they tried on several dresses, their giggles echoing around the store as they twirled around in the various fabrics.

    Next was a visit to a treasure shop. Intricate figurines carved from rare stones, and weapons of all kinds, filled the space. Mira didn''t know much about this subject, but using her Soul Sense, she knew that nothing here was all that special.

    They picked out a couple of harmless artifacts that caught their interest, a miniature Jade Dragon for Dominique and a Moonstone Turtle for Hana. The material caught her sight as a reminder of her Silvermoon lineage.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Then they moved to a toy stall, where Dominique''s eyes were instantly drawn to a stuffed animal. It was an adorable fox with snow-white fur and gleaming blue eyes.

    The toy had a soft, plush body and a cute, round tail, making it perfect for snuggling.

    Dominique held the stuffed fox in her arms and looked up at Mira, her eyes pleading. Surprisingly, that toy was the most expensive item so far, as it was made of high-quality fox fur, but Mira didn''t hesitate to pay for it.

    Later, they wandered into a store teeming with musical instruments. The resonance of strings, the rhythm of drums, and the lilting sounds of flutes filled the air.

    Mira, usually adept in all arts ofbat, found herself in unfamiliar territory. She had never yed any musical instrument before, let alone showcased any talent for them.

    Curiosity piqued, she reached out and stroked the strings of a Guqin. The instrument emitted a soothing sound, an enchanting melody that seemed to resonate with her soul. Intrigued by the sound, Mira found herself drawn to the instrument.

    "Mother, can you y this?" Dominique asked, pointing towards the Guqin Mira was examining.

    "I can''t," Mira admitted, her eyes reflecting a strange mix of curiosity and determination. "But it seems interesting. Maybe I''ll practice when I''m bored."

    The simplicity of her response amused the girls, but they could see her sincerity. Mira, acknowledging her newfound interest, decided to buy the Guqin.

    Meanwhile, Dominique and Hana started exploring the plethora of musical instruments.

    They tried various instruments, from the Dizi, a Chinese flute that Hana found interesting, to the Pipa, a lute-like instrument that caught Dominique''s attention. Their faces lit up with every new sound they discovered, adding a warm note of joy to the atmosphere.

    For their next tost ce for the day, they decided to stop by a few ore gambling stalls.

    The bustling ore gambling stalls were their next destination. Their shouts, hollers, and bouts of despair and excitement made for a rather amusing sight.

    Dominique''s eyes sparkled with curiosity and excitement as she took in the lively scene. She tugged on Mira''s hand, pulling her toward the heart of themotion.

    Their path led to a stall overflowing with ores of various shapes and sizes. The man who ran the booth, an elderly gentleman with twinkling eyes and a weathered face, greeted them with a toothy grin. "Wee! Try your luck today, youngdies?" he beckoned.

    "Sure, old man!" Dominique eagerly hopped onto a stool, her eyes darting over the mound of ores. Each one held the potential to reveal something amazing.

    "Which one do you think I should pick, Mother?" Dominique turned around and asked Mira, but before she could answer, the child whispered in her ear, ''...And don''t cheat!''

    Mira sighed but went along with it, randomly picking a rock out of the bunch.

    "That one." She said, tossing over 10 Spirit Stones to the old man.

    "Ohh! Good pick, youngdy!" The old man eximed, pocketing the Spirit Stones before cracking open the rock.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing inside, just regr stone.

    The disappointment was palpable in Dominique''s face, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout. "Not fair! Let''s try again," she insisted, stubborn determination shing in her eyes.

    Mira, suppressing a smile, obliged. "Alright. Pick another one," she instructed, her gaze softening at Dominique''s childlike excitement.

    "Great, this time, I''m picking a stone for you, Mother," she said, her tiny hands expertly skimming the mound of ores.

    "Fine. Just remember, this is a game of luck," Mira reminded, knowing that her luck was the worst it could possibly be.

    "I have the best luck!" Dominique countered, a broad smile spreading across her face. "Just watch."

    The little girl''s choice was a pale gray stone, uneven in shape, that Mira found unremarkable. But the hopeful sparkle in Dominique''s eyes stopped her from saying anything.

    "There you go, Mother," Dominique said, handing the stone to Mira. "This one has a treasure! I know it!"

    Mira exchanged a knowing nce with Hana, who was quietly observing their interaction. She handed over the stone to the old man, who nodded approvingly before splitting the stone open. To everyone''s surprise, it revealed a cluster of small, translucent crystals.

    "Hah! See, I told you! Luck!" Dominique eximed triumphantly, pointing at the crystals with an expression of pure delight. The crowd around them cheered, drawn in by the young girl''s infectious energy.

    "Hmm, not bad. I guess sticking around Maria for long enough rubbed off on you," Mira conceded, the corners of her lips twitching. She looked at Hana, who was silently watching the proceedings, with an amused smile. "What about you? Are you trying?"

    Hana looked startled for a moment before her gaze turned thoughtful. After a moment, she nodded and selected a stone. It was smaller than the others, unassuming, but when the old man cracked it open, a single, beautiful pearly nestled within.

    "Woah!"

    "Wow!"

    Dominique and Hana eximed.

    The old man chuckled, rubbing his hands gleefully as he counted the Spirit Stones that were rapidly umting. "Your turn, madam," he prompted Mira, who selected a stone without much thought. When it was split open, it revealed...nothing.

    "Mmm, that''s a miss," the stall owner dered, looking somewhat disappointed, but the smile behind his eyes was impossible to miss. It was better for him if his customers got nothing, after all.

    Dominique burst intoughter. "Mother, your luck is really awful!" she managed between fits of giggles.

    Hana, usually so quiet, joined in, her softughter blending perfectly with the lighthearted atmosphere.

    Mira simply shook her head; this wasn''t anything new.

    However, she didn''t particrly care about that today.

    As the day wore on, they visited a few more stalls, participated in a couple of friendlypetitions, and even stopped by a sweets shop for Dominique and Hana. All the while, Mira cherished the sharedughter, the innocent wonder, and the joyful spirit of the day.

    Unfortunately, Mira''s bad luck didn''t only extend to ore gambling, and rxing days were rather hard toe by.

    While the four of them were eating at a restaurant for dinner, Mira looked out the window and spotted something she never thought she''d see in Snow Maiden City!

 Chapter 697 Contentment

    "Hmmm?" Mira turned her head to look out the window while the kids enjoyed their meal.

    There, across the road at one of the many shops, stood a cute woman. Her hair was ck near the roots and tapered to a white at the other end. She had long legs, a cute face, and a form-fitting outfit that wasn''t normal among cultivators. She got a few stares from others, but nobody bothered her.

    The woman was walking around, looking normal, but asionally, she''d take a few nces at Mira.

    Normally, Mira would''ve just ignored that, as at least 95% of the people around the restaurant had taken multiple nces in her direction.

    Still, this one felt different. The weight behind it was much differentpared to everyone else''s.

    ''A rabbit?'' Mira narrowed her eyes as she stared at the woman. Under an illusory barrier, Mira saw a white, puffy, round tail and two giant bunny ears on the woman.

    ''What''s a rabbit doing here, and why is she watching me?'' Mira wondered, but the answer didn''t matter.

    It was okay if people wanted to look at her; after all, she was beautiful. However, spying on her was a no.

    She secretly created a minuscule ice needle in her hand and flicked it toward the rabbit''s head. It didn''t even make a sound as it flew through the air, but somehow, the rabbit caught on.

    All the hairs on the rabbit''s body stood up, and she stared at Mira in horror before hopping away, dodging the attack. The people around her only felt a gush of cold air brush past them as she disappeared into the distance.

    Mira thought about getting up and chasing her but decided not to. If she really wanted to kill the rabbit, she wouldn''t have attacked.

    Instead, she wanted to avoid as much bloodshed today as possible so as not to ruin the mood. Today, she was going to spend quality time with Dominique without interruptions!

    "Mother?" Dominique noticed that Mira was staring out the window for a while now and spoke up.

    "It''s nothing. Someone was just staring a bit too much, so I had to scare them away."

    "Mmhm! Mother is super beautiful, after all! Like a goddess!" Dominique smiled and nodded.

    Mira didn''t show any reaction on the outside, but inwardly, it would be a lie to say she didn''t like those wordsing out of Dominique''s mouth.

    "Alright. Enough about that. Hurry up and finish your food. The day is almost over." Mira waved her hand and began eating. But at the same time, she spread her Soul Sense just in case there were any more creepers around.

    "Yes, Ma''am!" Dominique giggled and saluted, diving back into her food.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the rabbit Mira had just attacked had dashed her little tail out of the city. She didn''t want anything to do with Mira now that she was caught. The faint hint of killing intent she felt when Mira sent that ice needle at her was enough to tell her she''d be dead if she stuck around any longer.

    Her name was Linara, and she was part of the Veilbreeze Rabbit n, one of the many subspecies of rabbits that live in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. While they weren''t all that strong, their cute, innocent faces,bined with their speed, agility, and concealment abilities, made them excellent spies.

    As with most rabbits, they also had a keen sense of danger.

    They may not be apex predators, but in terms of survivability, few could stack up against them.

    Linara was out in Snow Maiden City, primarily to keep an eye on the Battle Maiden Sect but also to scout out anyone who looked particrly dangerous. Her job was to gather all relevant information and ry it back to the n, where they would sell this information to the other beast ns.

    The Beast ns were about to enter a sensitive time period where mistakes weren''t allowed. Although the Beast ns often saw humans as weak or ipetent, they still had to be wary of the top Sects.

    Divine Sea Realm masters aren''t just any random pebble one can find on the side of the road. They represented the peak of the continent!

    So, if there were anybody that could possibly cause trouble for the Beast ns as a whole, it would be them. Everyone else was nothing more than fodder or pests in their eyes.

    That being said, the Battle Maiden Sect ranked first for the most unpredictable at the moment.

    Aelina had revealed a bit of her power, fighting and defeating two Divine Sea Realm masters, and was in the middle of raising an elite, battle-hardened army! There were also many wildcards in the Sect, aside from Aelina, that had to be taken seriously.

    If there was one Sect that needed to be watched right now, it was the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Naturally, as one of the more popr beings to make their stage on the continent in thest few months, Mira was a big hit. Anything about her, especially the rumors surrounding her being a nine-tailed fox, held immense value.

    If she was a genuine Nine-tailed fox allied with the humans, then the whole Mountain Range might see a power shift.

    So, imagine her surprise when she saw Mira eating at a restaurant with two kids and a wolf! It was as if the Heavens were rewarding her for her hard work!

    Linara was in her human form, using an artifact to hide her beast characteristics; she was confident she wouldn''t get caught. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Unfortunately, she only got to look for a few seconds before Mira turned and looked into her eyes. It was then that Linara felt this suffocating pressure, despite Mira not doing anything.

    It was as if her mind went to another ne of existence, one teeming with blood, death, and the anguished wails of tormented souls. As soon as she felt that, she knew that something terrible would happen if she stayed.

    So, without hesitation, she dashed away, only looking back once she made it safely out of the city.

    "Haa�� Haa�� W-What the hell was that?!" Linara copsed on the ground and murmured. "S-She merely looked at me for a second, but it felt like I was dissected multiple times over��"

    ''I didn''t even get a chance to confirm whether she was a nine-tailed fox or not!'' She eximed inwardly.

    Of course, she noticed the nine tails surrounding Mira, but the aura she released wasn''t simr to that of a beast. It was like a mixture between man and beast, yet at the same time, neither.

    Linara wasn''t sure what to make of it.

    ''She could be a real nine-tailed fox that''s adept at aura concealment. Or some weird hybrid. Hell, that might not even be her true form!'' There were too many missing pieces of information for her toe to any conclusions.

    ''At most, I can say that she has Nine tails and resembles the mythical beast.'' Linara began thinking of ways she could still profit from this encounter.

    ''Though, her beauty certainly is on another level.'' Looking back on it, even she couldn''t help but drool at Mira''s face.

    ''If only she were a man�� To be dominated by such a person�� Uhehehehe~ Our descendants would be so strong!'' Her imagination began to run wild, and her body started to heat up, but circting Qi helped her calm down a bit.

    Shaking her head, she ran off in another direction, choosing to wait until Mira left the city before making any moves.

    ''I''ll report back tomorrow.''

    ***

    Mira knew almost nothing about Linara or her ns, but even if she did, she wouldn''t care.

    The sun began its descent, and the air started to cool. It was time for thest activity of the day: ice skating. Thanks to its climate, Snow Maiden City had arge frozen pond in its center, a popr spot for residents and visitors alike.

    With the restaurant now behind them, Mira led her little group toward the heart of the city. The enchantingndscape glittered in the twilight as the rays of the setting sun reflected off the frosted rooftops and cobbled streets.

    Once they arrived at the pond, they found it bustling with people of all ages enjoying the frozen delight. Theughter and chatter added a touch of warmth to the crisp, cold air.

    "Wow!" Dominique gasped, her eyes wide with excitement as she looked at the countless people skating around the ice. Although the whole activity was rather benign for cultivators, people still seemed to enjoy it despite that.

    "I want to try!" She eximed.

    "Alright. Let''s go," Mira said, patting Dominique''s head.

    Mira stepped onto the ice gracefully, her form flowing like a river. She turned back towards Dominique, who was standing by the edge of the rink, looking nervous but excited.

    "Come on, child," Mira coaxed, extending her hand.

    With a deep breath, Dominique stepped onto the ice, her hands tightly clutching Mira''s. She wobbled and slipped, but Mira held her steady, guiding her movements.

    Rhydian and Hana joined in as well, although they were clumsy on the ice. Their falls caused heartyughter among them, and even though the cold was nipping at their noses, the joy they shared kept them warm.

    As the night fell and the stars began to twinkle, Mira decided it was time to wrap up the day. The night air was bing colder, and it wouldn''t be good if Dominique caught a cold.

    "Alright, that''s enough for today. It''s time to head back." Mira announced, helping Dominique out of her skates.

    The kids protested but ultimately followed Mira''s decision, too tired to argue.

    The trip back to the sect was a peaceful one, with both kids nestled in her tails as Mira made her way up the mountain alongside Rhydian.

    Once at the Sect, Mira carried Dominique and Hana to their bed while Rhydian also jumped onto the bed. Mira almost instinctively kicked her off but held back, letting her do what she wanted for today.

    With a sigh of contentment, she crawled into bed with them.

    The events of the day ran through her mind as she drifted to sleep, her arms and tails protectively wrapped around the little ones.

 Chapter 698 Sharing The Firmament?

    Mira woke up and looked down at the children sleeping soundly in her arms, their faces serene and content. She swept her gaze across them, eventuallynding on Hana.

    She hadn''t forgotten about the girl''s past. Her mother was held captive by the Lionel family, her status unknown. Mira still felt that the most likely scenario was that Hana''s mother was dead, but there was also the slight possibility that she wasn''t.

    ''Dominique seems quite fond of the girl.'' Mira tilted her head in spection. ''It''d also be nice to have someone here to take care of these two while Maria and I are away.''

    Thinking of Maria turned her mood somber, but she hurriedly shook her head and pushed it to the back of her mind.

    ''When I breakthrough into the Soul Transformation Realm, I''ll pay the Lionel Family a visit.'' Mira inwardly dered before carefully getting out of bed.

    Of course, she didn''t only make this decision in consideration of Hana. From the information Hana had provided her a while back, her family, the Silvermoon bloodline, was quite powerful.

    Although Hana''s mother was said to be crippled, that didn''t matter to Mira. She was sure there was something in the FLDIL that could cure her. Even if there wasn''t, the knowledge and experience of a talented, high-level cultivator were invaluable.

    That way, when she was gone on a mission, she could leave Dominique''s training to Hana''s mother.

    Worstes to worst, she could just extract the Mother''s bloodline and infuse it into Hana. So, when Hana begins cultivating, she''d be able to keep up with Dominique, and the two wouldn''t have to separate.

    ''Speaking of Dominique, I should think of a bloodline to fuse with her.'' Mira thought as she made her way to the training yard. Sitting down, she unleashed all her affinities and began transforming them into different shapes and sizes.

    Her first thought was to give Dominique the Ouroboros bloodline, but she denied that pretty quickly. Although it was plenty powerful, it didn''t suit Dominique''s temperament. She also had other ns for it.

    Mira also thought of giving Dominique a piece of her bloodline but denied that as well.

    ''However, I''d like to give her some kind of fox bloodline. I''m a progenitor, after all. It wouldn''t do if my d-��'' She paused, ''...if she wasn''t the same species as me.''

    Aside from that, Dominique also needed a good Physique, a customized Cultivation Technique, Martial Skills and Techniques toplement her fighting style, a strong will, extraordinary Meridians and Dantian, and a proper understanding of her Dao.

    They also had to understand the future of her Inner Body Cultivation (Body Refinement), but that''deter.

    ''Hmm~ Now that I''m free for a while, I should resume my Body Refinement.'' Mira mentally noted, but she first had to finish preparing Dominique to deepen her foundation as much as possible.

    She didn''t want her disciple to be any weaker than she was!

    Mira could help Dominique with just about everything, other than her Dao, but there was a slight problem.

    ''I shouldn''t be the one to do all that shit!'' Mira grumbled. For one, she had other things to do and couldn''t devote who knows how long topleting ridiculous trials.

    Secondly, she wanted Dominique to earn everything herself!

    She didn''t want to be the kind of Master that just handed out goodies to people simply because they were rted to her! Mira had done enough of that with Maria, Cine, and a few others. In fact, Mira wondered if one of the reasons Maria left was because she didn''t feel worthy of the things she had received.

    So, if Dominique wanted something, she had to get it herself.

    ''Oi, Mr. Home Security!'' Mira mentally shouted, ''Is there a way I can have Dominique take those trials instead of me?''

    "...M-Mr. Home Security? I-Is that really how you see me?" The Guardian''s shaky voice echoed in her mind.

    ''Just answer the question,'' Mira ordered.

    "...It is one of the features of the Firmament, but there are limitations." The Guardian replied, a little downcast at Mira''s cold attitude. He knew that Mira''s opinion of him was incredibly low, and if she could, she would definitely ''remove'' him as soon as she became strong enough.

    So, in order to recover his lost reputation, he decided to be a good bodyguard and listen to her demands instead of messing around.

    Mira nodded at his words, motioning him to continue.

    "For one, you''ll have to unlock the feature yourself. It''ll cost all your current points and heading deeper down the Abyssal Torment Steps." Just those two conditions made Mira flinch, and she instantly felt like banging her head against a wall!

    ''Fuck!! I forgot about the Abyssal Battle Ladder!'' She had participated in it while she was in the Forbidden Forest, but it didn''t even cross her mind when she shot all the way up to the 6th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!

    Not that it would''ve mattered. She had to put her full attention on breaking through.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You''ll also have to form a pact with whoever you want to enter. It''s nothing bad, but only those deeply connected to you are allowed to enter." The Guardian continued, "Lastly, you''ll have to bear the mental burden of the trials. The trial takers will also have to bear a burden, but their minds won''t be permanently affected, only yours."

    Mira was a bit confused by thatst condition, so the Guardian further exined.

    "Alright, let''s say that Dominique takes a trial and dies. While she''ll still remember the sensation of dying, it won''t leave any longsting trauma. Whereas that death and whatever happens during the trial will scar your mind. You have to take the brunt of all the negatives while receiving none of the positives."

    ''Will she still keep allprehensions and experiences from the trial?'' Mira asked.

    "Of course. It''s only you who''s losing out." The Guardian answered as a matter-of-factly.

    ''...What a scam.'' Mira muttered.

    "I know, right?" The Guardian chuckled.

    Mira fell deep into contemtion as those were some serious drawbacks. Just having to spend all of her Points was a huge downside, as those were rather precious and finite. However, the fact that she had to not only bear the mental burden of the trials but go down the Abyssal Torment Steps��

    That was just pure torture!

    She knew how sadistic those trials were! The average person''s mind would copse after experiencing just 1% of what she had to go through!

    Mira remained silent, mulling over the information. Yes, the trials were harsh and punishing, but she wasn''t an ordinary person. She had walked through fire and ice, braved death itself, and defeated countless adversaries.

    The trials might be demanding, but they were worth the risk for Dominique''s growth. Dominique deserved more than the current, simple path she was on. She had the potential to be more, to be as strong, if not stronger, than Mira herself as long as she was willing to put in the work.

    Mira was, however, still concerned about the other side of the coin: bearing the brunt of the mental burden. Could she handle the trauma from the trials?

    The answer to that question was undoubtedly a yes, but the real question was: Could she handle it while doing other hyper-intensive activities?

    Honestly, she wasn''t sure. For example, just simple cultivating was a life-and-death experience for her that required all of her focus.

    Could her mind handle experiencing death while doing something like that?

    What about in a life-and-death battle?

    She was confident in her mental fortitude, but this was on another level.

    ''Haaa��'' Mira sighed, ''Do I really have a choice?''

    The only way for Dominique to be strong was to go through hardships; she wouldn''t grow if she were constantly handed everything. Nor did Mira have the time to dedicate to these trials.

    Moreover, she trusted Dominique. The girl had the potential to withstand these trials, and Mira believed in her. Mira was ready to bear the brunt of the trials, even if it meant pushing herself to the brink of her mental capacity.

    It was a gamble, but she had to take it for Dominique.

    ''Alright, what''s the first step?'' Mira asked, the determination clear in her voice.

    The Guardian paused, before speaking, "The first step is to unlock the feature. You''ll have to spend all your current points."

    Mira didn''t hesitate. "Alright. Let''s do it."

    As the guardian processed her request, Mira stood from her spot, her gaze lingering on the training yard. Her thoughts went to Dominique, her future, and the trials she would face.

    She was ready to guide her, ready to bear the burden. After all, she was her responsibility. And as her guardian, it was her duty to ensure Dominique reached the peak of her potential.

    ***

    [A/N: I''ve been wanting to do a little segment on Dominique for a while now, so I figured I''d use this little spot in-between plots to build her character and rtionship with Mira. I also think showing Mira''s ''cute'' side is rather fun. Thanks for the support!]

 Chapter 699 Path And Pact

    The Battle Maiden Sect was peaceful in the morning. Dominique woke up to find herself in a familiar room, the scent of the aged wooden furniture and lingering fragrances of herbs creating afortable and weing environment.

    Mira was sitting cross-legged on the floor, watching the sunrise, her crimson eyes reflecting the first light of the day. Hana was curled up in the corner of the bed, her soft snores providing a rhythm to the peaceful ambiance.

    Dominique rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as Mira''s voice echoed gently in the room, "Do you want to get stronger, Dominique?"

    She wasn''t expecting such a question right after waking up, but did she really need to think about the answer?

    "Of course, Mother! That''s been my goal from the very beginning!" Dominique replied without a moment''s hesitation, her voice steady and resolute.

    "What if it meant going through hell?"

    "I''d expect nothing less, Mother! That''s why I wanted you to teach me!" The certainty in her voice made Mira turn to look at her with a slight smile on her face.

    "Then�� Do you know what kind of person you want to be?" Mira asked a question that was a bit out of pocketpared to her usual self.

    Dominique was taken aback for a moment, not knowing how to respond. "What kind of person do I want to be?" She asked to ensure her ears were working.

    Mira nodded, confirming her thoughts.

    "I want to be able to fight enemies with Mother!" Dominique''s answer was instantaneous.

    "Haaa�� That''s not what I meant, child." Mira sighed, "That''lle as a result of strength. What I want to know is what kind of cultivator you see yourself being in the future. What kind of values and characteristics do you align with? Your goals, innate tendencies, and outlook on life. All of these are very important and will shape what kind of person and, subsequently, cultivator you''ll be."

    "..." Dominique paused, bing silent. She''d never thought about those things. All she knew was that she wanted to be strong so she could live without fear.

    "I will do what I can to assist you, but ultimately, cultivation is about following your heart and sticking to a set of principles. There''s no right or wrong answer." That was what Mira wholeheartedly believed.

    While she wasn''t nearly as experienced a cultivator as people like Aelina, she didn''t need to be. She''d lived 10 other lives and came across an innumerable amount of people. Not to mention, she''s experienced many other alternate lives.

    If there was one thing they all had inmon, it was that people were happier doing what they were innately inclined to do.

    Someone who loves climbing mountains and experiencing all of nature''s wonders would hate their life if they had to spend their days stuck in a cubicle. On the flip side, someone with an innate curiosity toward technology would live a more fulfilling life if they stuck to that than climbing mountains.

    Those were very simple examples, and of course, there were outliers, but everyone has a predisposition that their minds and bodies lean toward.

    However, unlike mortals, who will be fine and can still lead happy lives if they don''t do what they subconsciously desire, cultivators are different. One''s worldly outlook is directly rted to how far they can progress.

    Forcing yourself to be a certain way and do certain things aren''t conducive to proper growth.

    "...Follow my heart, huh?" Dominique fell into thought before nodding, herrge eyes brightening, "I see. Thank you for your words, Mother. I''ll think about what kind of person I want to be!"

    However, Mira just waved her hand dismissively, "Don''t think about it too much; let ite naturally. Just do what you feel is right for you."

    "Yes, Mother!" Dominique eximed, making Mira sigh again, but she had already said everything she needed to.

    ''She''ll learn with time,'' Mira thought.

    Dominique didn''t waste any time putting Mira''s words into action. She immediately left to begin meditating on them. It was rare for Mira to say�� anything, much less such profound words. She''d be a bad daughter if she didn''t take Mira''s words to heart!

    Meanwhile, Mira began the journey deeper into the Abyssal Torment Steps. Since she decided to grant Dominique ess to the Firmament, she might as well start now.

    The sheer force of the trials and the toll they took on her body were colossal, but she remained undeterred. After finishing for the day, she also went ahead and caught up in the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    Several days passed, with Dominique engrossed in her thoughts and Mirapleting more stages in the Abyssal Battle Ladder. Despite the torment, Mira had finally reached a level where she could share the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life with Dominique.

    Secluded within a private room, Mira and Dominique sat across from each other on a plush red carpet, the glowing candlelight flickering off their focused faces.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    This wasn''t an ordinary room; it was saturated withplex and powerful formations. Every inch wasden with intricate symbols designed to block off any outside interference.

    Sounds were muted, prying Qi repelled, and even the sharpest Soul Sense would be stonewalled, ensuring that the following event remained a secret.

    With how rich she was, and now that her fame had risen, Mira went ahead and purchased a few from other Battle Maiden Sect disciples over thest few days.

    Mira broke the silence, her voice soft yet firm, "Do you remember what we discussed? About getting stronger?"

    Dominique nodded, her hazel eyes glimmering with resolve, "Yes, Mother."

    "I have an opportunity for you," Mira said, causing Dominique''s eyes to widen in excitement. "It won''t just allow you to get stronger, butpletely transform you. However, keep in mind that this is just an opportunity. How much you can make out of it is up to you."

    "I''ll do it!" Dominique jumped up and eximed.

    Mira already expected that answer, so she continued, "All you need to do is form a pact with me. This isn''t necessarily because I don''t trust you, but this ce must be kept an absolute secret," Mira proposed, a solemnity pervading her voice.

    "Don''t worry, Mother! Do what you need to do! I trust you!"

    Mira looked at her young disciple, Dominique''s excited gaze meeting hers. She chuckled, "Good. Let''s get started then."

    With a wave of her hand and the Guardian''s help, Mira brought forth a spiritual imprint of a dragon, its scales shining with a mesmerizing radiance. This was a manifestation of her spiritual essence, the symbol of the pact that they were about to form.

    "The pact we are forming is called the Aegis Bond," Mira exined, her eyes fixed on the dragon. "It is a bond that connects our spirits and souls. Through this, you''ll gain ess to the Firmament, to the knowledge and power that lies therein. But in turn, it will ensure the secrecy and protection of the Firmament."

    Dominique listened attentively, her eyes wide with curiosity and a hint of nervous excitement. She could feel the heavy implications of what she was about to do, but she was ready.

    Without a hint of hesitation, Dominique extended her hand, her palm facing the dragon imprint. "I understand, Mother. I am ready to form the Aegis Bond."

    A hint of pride shone in Mira''s eyes. With a nod, Mira began to chant an ancient incantation, her voice resonating with an eerie, mystical echo.

    The dragon imprint red brightly, its scales shimmering with a divine aura. It swirled around Dominique, inspecting her like a majestic guardian assessing its ward. As the incantation reached its crescendo, the dragon imprint dissolved into a thousand particles of light, diving into Dominique''s extended palm.

    A gasp escaped her lips, the sudden influx of energy making her feel an incredible rush. It was like she was connected to something muchrger, much more significant like she was one with an ancient cosmic entity.

    "It''s finished," Mira stated. "Would you like to begin your first trial?"

    Despite being slightly overwhelmed by what had just happened, Dominique didn''t hesitate to nod her head.

    Now connected, Mira guided Dominique into the depths of her Soul Sea, where the Firmament resided. It was a sight that took Dominique''s breath away. She was faced with an extensive list of choices: Physiques, bloodlines, meridians, techniques, and more.

    ''Pick whichever ones you feel suit you the best. And try not to die.'' Mira''s voice entered her mind, and she could only nod her head.

    Her gaze flitted over the countless choices until it settled on a particr bloodline. A knowing smile tugged at her lips.

    "I''ll choose this one," she said and disappeared, leaving Mira alone with the sinking feeling of an added burden in her mind.

    The weight was tremendous, almost threatening to crush her. But Mira held on, gritting her teeth against the mental onught. She had expected this. She knew what she was getting into when she agreed to shoulder the mental burden of the trials.

    Returning to the waking world, Mira spent some time with Hana and Rhydian, their light-hearted banter providing a temporary reprieve from the grinding pressure in her mind.

    Then, steeling herself, she began her Inner Body Cultivation, or Body Refinement.

    Sending her consciousness inside the "Gates of Purgatory" and standing before a bright orange door, she readied her mind and slowly pushed open the fourth Hell.

 Chapter 700 Hell Of Gravity

    The moment Mira pushed the orange door open, an invisible force washed over her. It was as if gravity itself had taken an acute interest in her, attempting to anchor her to the very spot she stood. She felt her knees buckle slightly, but she caught herself, steadying her stance as she stared at the intimidating pressure bearing down on her.

    It was like having a mountain on her back and a on her shoulders. The very air she breathed felt thick, every inhale aborious task. The pressure didn''t crush her instantly; instead, it slowly increased, a relentless tide that threatened to grind her down to dust.

    Yet Mira didn''t step back or attempt to resist it. She embraced it.

    ''I''m guessing this Hell has something to do with weight.'' Mira said as she kept herself upright.

    "Correct!" The Guardian affirmed, "To be exact, it''s the Hell of Gravity. Like the others, it''s fairly simple. Just withstand the gravity until the end, and you pass."

    ''And when will it end?'' Mira asked. The weight on her right now wasn''t that bad. However, with every second, it increased slightly. There woulde a point where she might have a hard time moving, much less fighting or training.

    "It''ll end when you die."

    ''...'' Mira paused for a moment and squinted her eyes. If the Guardian were standing before her, she would''ve tried to strangle him. ''...Enough joking around. Tell me when it''ll end.''

    "I''m not joking! Did you think every Hell would simply be an opportunity for you to get stronger? No! They are meant to kill you! That''s the entire point! You getting stronger from them is because you adapted quickly enough before that happened." The Guardian spoke, his tone stern.

    Hearing him like that, Mira understood that the Guardian was serious, but that still confused her.

    ''Then, how am I supposed to pass this Hell? Like the others, surely there''s a way, right?'' Mira asked, more so to herself than for the Guardian, but he still answered anyway.

    "Of course there is. You just have to find it." The Guardian said cheekily, but Mira had already expected an answer like that.

    However, it never hurts to ask. Maybe one of these times, he''ll actually give a proper exnation.

    ''I see.'' Mira nodded and stopped talking to him. She already had a few ideas swirling around in her mind, but none of them seemed feasible at the moment.

    ''What is gravity?'' Mira asked herself.

    Gravity. A force of nature, omnipresent and inexorable. It was what kept her feet on the ground, what made the stars dance in the sky. Now, it sought to be her undoing, a relentless force pressing her down, trying to crush her will, her spirit, her very being.

    ''It''s attraction... a pull towards a center,'' she mused, her mind spiraling back to her time on Earth. Although the people there knew what gravity was and even how it worked, they didn''t fully understand it.

    Her train of thought was abruptly interrupted when her knees twitched, the increasing gravitational pull attempting to bring her down, but she remained upright.

    ''The force is proportional to the mass...the greater the mass, the greater the pull,'' her mind whirred, ticking through the facts.

    "I don''t think this isn''t a battle I can win by strength alone��" Mira muttered.

    ''The weight on me... the force I feel�� it''s gravity acting on my own mass. If I were lighter...'' Mira''s thoughts trailed off, an idea beginning to form.

    She straightened her posture and closed her eyes, turning her focus inwards onto her Qi.

    From her knowledge, gravity wasn''t an element in the traditional sense like Fire, Water, Earth, etc. It was a fundamental force of nature that governed the attraction between two objects.

    While someone out there might have an affinity for Gravity and could control it at will, that wasn''t any of her concern right now.

    Everything she learned about Qi ever since she became a cultivator was that one''s intent was extremely important. It was a very malleable energy whose limits weren''t known, and Mira was about to test those limits.

    In her mind, she visualized her Qi as light, bright and weightless. The concept of lightness... was it only physical? Or could it transcend into something more, something capable of counteracting the relentless pull of gravity?

    Slowly, she began to imbue this concept into her Qi, focusing on the idea of lightness, of floating, of defying the pull that sought to bring her down. The process was mentally exhausting, especially since Dominique was in a trial, but she kept at it.

    Time lost all meaning as she wrestled with her Qi, shaping it, bending it to her will. After what felt like an eternity, she opened her eyes, her body feeling a bit less burdened.

    "Did it work?" she asked aloud, standing up fully. To her surprise, the pressure felt a little less overwhelming. It was far fromfortable, but it was progress, a sign that her idea held merit. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I never thought you''d try that��" The Guardian''s voice echoed around her, a hint of surprise in his tone. "Keep going. Maybe you''ll actually pass this Hell." He quipped, but Mira ignored him.

    While her attempt may have worked, that didn''t mean it was the solution. The amount of effort she put in wasn''t worth the results. She may be able to bend her Qi to a certain extent, but she couldn''t merely give it unteralmands and expect it to perform.

    ''Qi might be omnipresent, but I''m omnipotent. I can''t just tell it to be invincible and expect that to work.''

    There''s a process to everything. For example, what is invincible? What makes up invincibility? What makes something weightless? Is that the opposite of gravity?

    Essentially,ing up with words and giving them definitions didn''t equal purpose. She had to understand the processes behind those words before she could use them to manipte her Qi.

    ''Maybe that''s why affinities are so important. It bridges that information gap. Those with a Fire affinity don''t need to consciously understand what fire is or how it works. Their bodies innately understand that process.'' Mira spected. That was just a theory, but she felt like she wasn''t wrong.

    ''So, maybe instead of relying on something esoteric like weightlessness, I should aim for more of an equilibrium.'' Mira thought.

    From what she learned in physics, weight is the measure of the gravitational force between two objects. So, true weightlessness is basically the absence of a second object.

    ''However, that''s not possible for me. Even if I were deep in space, with nothing around me for countless light years, I think achieving true weightless still wouldn''t be possible because of this Hell.'' Mira inferred.

    Therefore, perhaps the way to beat this trial wasn''t to fight the Hell but to find or create another source of gravitational forces that can counteract the one she''s experiencing right now!

    There was only a slight problem with that theory��

    ''How the fuck am I supposed to do that?!''

    Mira couldn''t help but let out a frustrated huff. The very idea seemed ludicrous, almost impossible. But it was all she had for the moment. And in the face of the relentless pressure that bore down on her, it was better than nothing.

    ''I need to create a counterforce, something to bnce the weight...'' Mira thought, her mind already racing with possibilities. She had to think creatively, outside the boundaries of what she knew and what she believed to be possible.

    She looked down at her hand, turning it over slowly. Her Qi flowed through her, a subtle force that was always there, always ready to respond to her intent. Could she use it, shape it, and manipte it into a force strong enough to counteract the gravity?

    "I wonder��" She murmured to herself, her eyes focused on her hand.

    With renewed determination, Mira closed her eyes again and turned her focus inward, her mind delving deeper into her Qi. She visualized it as a well of energy within her, an infinite sea that ebbed and flowed at hermand.

    ''Create a force, a pull of your own,'' she willed, picturing a maelstrom of energy in her mind, pulling at everything that came near.

    It felt strange, like she was testing the boundaries of a vast, unknown ocean. It was different from anything she had done before, but she didn''t stop.

    Time seemed to warp and twist around her, the world falling away as she poured her will into her Qi. She could feel it changing, adapting, morphing under her intent.

    Then, it happened.

    A new sensation, like a gust of wind, rushed through her. She could feel it, a subtle pull within her, counteracting the crushing weight that was pressing down on her. It was still a far cry fromfortable, but the relentless pressure had lessened, if only slightly.

    She opened her eyes, looking around in wonder. She had done it. She had used her Qi to create a counterforce, a bnce to the unbearable weight.

    "Interesting�� I must admit, I did not anticipate this approach," The Guardian''s voice echoed around her, a hint of surprise in his tone.

    Mira smirked, standing up a bit straighter. The gravity still pressed down on her, but it was more manageable now. She felt like she could move, she could breathe. It wasn''t aplete solution, but it was a start.

    She knew she had a long way to go, that she was only at the beginning of her trial. But she was ready for the challenge. She was ready to defy gravity.

    [A/N: ;)]

 Chapter 701 Hell Of Gravity Part 2

    The relentless pressure was a constant reminder of the monumental task before her. As Mira stood there, she realized she was not merelybating the weight, she was fighting against two separate forces��the gravity of the world she was on and the additional weight of the Hell of Gravity. It was like being sandwiched between two celestial bodies, theirbined gravitational force pulling at her incessantly.

    ''The pull I feel�� it''s the gravitational forces acting on me. I''m caught in the middle of two opposing forces. And if I want to withstand this, I need to control that interaction,'' Mira thought, the initial spark of an idea starting to kindle in her mind.

    She would need to be the equivalent of a celestial body, exerting her own gravitational pull. At the same time, she''d need to create something that could exert an equal amount of pressure on her as the Hell of Gravity but in the opposite direction.

    Her brows furrowed as she started to put together a n. She could sense the Qi all around her, a sea of energy just waiting to be tapped into. Mira was familiar with absorbing Qi into her body, but she''d never tried manipting it externally. This was new territory.

    Taking a deep breath, she reached out, pulling Qi near her. If she was right, she could take the surrounding atmospheric Qi andpress it into a ball of dense energy above her, effectively creating a new source of gravitational force.

    However, she knew that she needed an astronomical amount of Qi and control to pull this off.

    "This is going to be tricky��" She muttered under her breath.

    The Guardian, watching everything with an intrigued expression, offered his input. "Pushing the boundaries, are we, Mira? A bold choice."

    She ignored him, immersing herself in the task at hand. Gritting her teeth, she gathered the ambient Qi, collecting it around the outside of her skin, not allowing any inside her body. Slowly, she began trying to manipte it into the shape of a sphere, but that wasn''t possible at first.

    Thus, she released some of her own Qi, attempting to mix the two. It was like trying to mold water and oil together, every bit as slippery and elusive.

    Maintaining her focus, she started topress the energy, condensing it into a smaller, denser form. She could feel it resisting, fighting against her intent. It was like trying to squeeze a spring, the energy pushing back with every bit of pressure she applied.

    It took an immeasurable amount of concentration and a good deal of time. But eventually, Mira managed to form a ball of Qi, hovering above her. It shimmered with restrained energy, its presence palpable.

    "I did it��" She breathed, a small smile ying on her lips.

    She could feel the faint gravitational pull of the energy mass, a gentle force tugging at her from above. It was incredibly weak, simr to standing next to a very heavy person, but at least it proved she was on the right track.

    "You''ve created a counterweight, Mira. Impressive." The Guardian''s voice echoed, filled with genuine admiration.

    With a newfound confidence, Mira continued refining her technique. She needed to make the ball denser, the gravitational pull stronger, and even add some rotational spin to it. But for now, she reveled in her achievement.

    But she didn''t stop there. She used the oppressive environment to her advantage. The Hell of Gravity became her training ground, strengthening her body and enhancing her endurance and resilience.

    In addition to that, as her body adapted to the ever-increasing gravity, so did her Soul and Qi; her [Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique] proving its worth here. Just like she wanted, all aspects became stronger at the same time.

    As she continued to perfect her technique, her ability to manipte Qi improved tremendously. She became more adept at controlling the atmospheric Qi and infusing it with her own. Her Qi ball grew denser and heavier, the gravitational pull stronger.

    And then came the next challenge - adding rotation.

    "Just as the celestial bodies spin in space... My Qi ball also needs to rotate," Mira said to herself, her mind visualizing the spinning celestial bodies.

    She tried to impart spin to her Qi ball. Initially, the ball wobbled, the energy within it chaotic and unstable. But Mira remained patient, focusing on creating a steady, smooth rotation.

    Minutes turned into hours, and hours turned into days. Mira continued her relentless practice, her body adapting to the crushing gravity, her mind honing her control over the Qi ball.

    One day, she finally managed to create a perfectly spinning, hyper-dense ball of Qi, exerting a gravitational pull equivalent to the Hell of Gravity.

    "Finally��" Mira breathed out, a sense of triumph washing over her.

    Her body, instead of being crushed by the two gravitational forces, was perfectly suspended between them. The gravitational pull from her Qi ball counterbnced the weight she was under, creating an equilibrium.

    However, there were consequences to her actions��

    "You''ve surpassed my expectations, Mira. I never thought you''d try to do something like this!" the Guardian''s voice echoed around her, his words filled with deep respect and admiration.

    Her journey in the Hell of Gravity wasn''t over, but she had taken a massive leap forward. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Yeah, I am pretty amazing,'' Mira nodded, finally responding to the Guardian''sments making him speechless.

    "That''s not what I meant! I figured you''d try and strengthen your body as much as possible with the increased gravity. Isn''t that basically your motto at this point? To use anything and everything you can to get stronger?"

    ''Tch.'' Mira clicked her tongue in disappointment and annoyance. ''Are you really that stupid, or are you just ying dumb?''

    "...Huh?"

    ''Of course, I can''t let this opportunity go to waste! However, this Hell isn''t as simple as the others. It''s not like I only need to handle pain or absorb some blood. I need to, quite literally, fight gravity.'' Mira said but didn''t bother exining any further.

    Still, the Guardian understood what she was saying. If she wanted to pass this Hell without dying, she needed toe up with a n and a solution first. Only after doing that would she be able to utilize this opportunity without having to put her life on the line.

    "...I see. So, you are capable of growth, after all." The Guardian marveled, not expecting Mira to ount for her own safety. She''d never done something like that before!

    Mira snorted coldly, ''Who wants to die under their own weight? How pathetic is that?''

    The Guardian couldn''t argue with that. Although the gravity was bing intense quickly, it would still be a disgrace for someone of her talent to die from something like that.

    "Then, what are you going to do with that ball of energy? Are you going to leave it there?"

    Mira shook her head, ''No. That''d be too dangerous.''

    If there was one major problem with her solution to the Hell of Gravity, it was that she was basically sitting next to a portable nuclear reactor. No, by now, it was definitely more potent than any nuke.

    If it were to go out of control right now, she could easily take part of the mountain with her. Without her keeping it under control, it might destabilize and cause widespread destruction.

    In fact, due to the intensity of the energy ball, Mira could sense multiple Elders hovering around her residence, keeping an eye on everything.

    They seemed to understand that she was training and didn''t disturb her, but they were on high alert nheless.

    ''I''ll probably have the Elders escort me somewhere far away from the Battle Maiden Sect, in a secluded area. That way, even if something does go wrong, I won''t destroy everyone and everything.'' Mira said after giving it some thought.

    She could very wellplete the Hell of Gravity right now, but then she''d lose out on the perfect training opportunity.

    ''Maybe I can even go hunting to replenish the vitality that''s constantly depleting.''

    The Guardian facepalmed after hearing Mira''s thoughts. She truly was a training maniac through and through.

    "...Try not to die, alright?"

    ''No promises,'' Mira shrugged before ignoring him once again and looking up into the air, where a few Elders were hiding.

    "Elder Sandra,e escort me to a secluded ce, far away from here," Mira suddenly called out.

    Not even a secondter, Elder Sandra appeared before her, drenched in cold sweat, as she nced at the ball of energy above Mira.

    She had so many words, so many profanities that she wanted to spew out, but hearing Mira''s bones creak and sweat umting around her brows, she held them back. Despite looking fine on the outside, it was clear Mira was using every ounce of strength she had to keep herself afloat.

    "...Follow me, you crazy bitch," She couldn''t help but curse as she turned around and slowly flew into the distance.

    Mira nodded and followed, making sure to keep control over the mass of energy.

    While the two flew over the Battle Maiden Sect, Mira looked around and noticed that the Sect had changed quite a bit in just a few days.

 Chapter 702 New

    As Mira followed Elder Sandra, she was struck by the changes that had swept over the Battle Maiden Sect.

    The once-pristine training grounds were now filled with enormous trenches and cracks, remnants of brutal sparring sessions.

    Even now, she noticed the Elders leading the disciples in sparring, training, and meditation sessions.

    ''It seems Aelina is going all out.'' Miramented inwardly. Although the disciples from before had worked hard, it wasn''t nearly like how it was now.

    She could see the fire in their eyes when they trained; it was as if they were fighting for their lives.

    Elder Sanda caught Mira staring at the other disciples and couldn''t help but say, "They''ve been like that ever since they returned from the war."

    Mira turned to Elder Sandra, so thetter continued, "The Sect Master ordered us, Elders, to watch over the disciples and give them customized training programs. Only those whopleted them would be rewarded and allowed to stay. Anyone who cked off would be kicked out."

    Mira was a bit surprised by Aelina''s decisiveness and ruthlessness, but on second thought, it seemed just like her to do such a thing. If she was truly going on out, then she couldn''t waste resources on people who didn''t want to seed.

    She just wondered how so few Elders were able to create customized training programs in about a week. Then, she realized she hardly knew anything about the Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect.

    ''No, I still don''t know much about the Sect itself.'' She''s mostly been doing her own thing, using the Sect as more of a base of operations than a ce for her to grow.

    Now that she thought about it��

    "What about me?" Mira asked out of nowhere.

    "Hmm?" Elder Sandra looked at her, confused.

    "Do I have to go through some sort of special training as well?" Mira rified.

    A look of realization dawned upon Elder Sandra before she smiled wryly, "...No. The Sect Master said it would be better to let you do your own thing and that if you ever need help, don''t be afraid to ask. She''ll answer anything that''s troubling you."

    "I see." Mira nodded, a little relieved. Though, it''s not like she''d do it even if they asked her to. The Sect was great, but she was on a unique path and enjoyed finding things out on her own.

    Cultivation wouldn''t be nearly as�� ''enjoyable'' if there were already a predetermined path for her to follow. Nor did she think she''d get as strong as quickly as she was now.

    "...Something I need help with, huh?" Mira muttered, thinking about any questions she might have until a thought entered her mind, causing her to release a slight smirk.

    "I''d like to know when she ns to start the next war."

    "...!"

    Elder Sandra flinched but immediately returned to normal, speeding up as she led Mira away from the Battle Maiden Sect. However, Mira didn''t miss that and knew her spections were correct.

    Aelina was preparing for another war.

    "Ahem!" Elder Sandra coughed to break the silence, "I-I''ll be sure to ry your thoughts to her."

    "I''d also like to meet with her after I''m done with my training. I might have a way to increase the strength of her�� little soldiers in the short term. But let her know we might have to cause a bit of trouble to pull it off." Mira said, but her words made Elder Sandra feel strange.

    It was like she could already imagine a scenario where Mira and Aelina ran around causing havoc together, all while chuckling evilly to themselves.

    ''Fuck!'' A shudder ran down her spine, ''These two are like a match made in hell!''

    One liked to n and manipte from behind the scenes, while the other was like an honest devil out for blood. Against each other, they were their own worst enemies, but as allies��

    Elder Sandra could only imagine the amount of chaos they could raise.

    "...I-I''ll let the Sect Master know." Unfortunately, she was just the middleman. Not to mention, Aelina thought very highly of Mira and would definitely listen to any suggestions.

    The atmosphere grew silent afterward as they continued to fly over the Battle Maiden Sect, which had expanded by several folds after the war.

    The pair swiftly passed over the residential area. The houses that once had uniform designs now bore unique additions��some had erected training equipment in their courtyards, and others had meditation spaces adorned with Qi-amplifying arrays.

    Eventually, the sect buildings gave way to a dense forest. The flora here was thick, teeming with spiritual beasts that roared and howled as they sensed the energy mass passing overhead. Even the forest felt more alive, more vibrant.

    Mira assumed it had to do with the overflow of Qi from the Sect, nurturing the nts and the spiritual beasts alike.

    After a while, they emerged out of the forest, and what greeted Mira next was the sheer cliff edge of a deste mountain. The mountain itself was devoid of life, its rocky terrain extending as far as the eye could see.

    Elder Sandra came to a stop. "This should be far enough. You can do your training here," she stated, pointing at a t area nestled among the jagged rocks.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Everything beyond here is neutral territory, so you''re free to go wild. Just don''te crying back to us if you die."

    Mira nodded, her gaze sweeping over the barren expanse. It was the perfect ce for her to continue her training without causing harm to the Sect or the disciples.

    "Be careful," Elder Sandra said, her voiceced with concern.

    Although Mria was a troublemaker, it''d be a pity if such a talented disciple were to die from something stupid.

    Mira gave her a light nod but didn''t say anything.

    Knowing that was her cue, Elder Sandra took off, leaving Mira alone with her energy mass.

    She descended to the t area, adjusting the hovering Qi ball so it remained suspended above her. As she stared at the monstrous energy mass, Mira''s body trembled, and her breathing became heavier.

    She''d been holding it in but controlling the mass of energy while flying AND enduring the burden of Dominique''s trial was taking a toll on her mental state.

    But instead of backing down, Mira''s determination red stronger.

    ''T-This is nothing! Compared to the void of death, what is a little difort?!''

    With a deep breath, she manipted the energy mass further, exerting more control, imparting more spin, andpressing it further. Then, she pushed it further away from her, allowing the pull from the Hell of Gravity to weigh on her more.

    Like this, she could control the speed at which the pressure increased, allowing her body to adapt at a steady rate.

    ''After I''ve adjusted to this, I''ll find a few beasts to fight.'' Mira thought as she sat down, but before she could dive straight into her training, she felt five powerful auras speedily charging in her direction.

    ''Hmmm? Why are they here?''

    ***

    Aelina stood on the mountain''s peak, her gaze sweeping over the entire Battle Maiden Sect with a smile adorning her face. Swirling a ss of wine in her hand, she took asional sips, exuding an air of anticipation. "So, what did Mira have to say?" she asked.

    With her head slightly lowered, Elder Sandra appeared behind her and replied, "She asked when you were starting the next war."

    "..." Aelina fell silent, but her smile grew before, finally, a chuckle escaped her mouth. "Fufufu~ As expected of her. I guess she''s eager for some more action."

    Looking off into the distance, she muttered, "I suppose it''s about time she ims the spot as the Sect''s Prime Disciple. Don''t you agree, Sandra?"

    "W-With her current strength, it''s certainly possible." Elder Sandra stuttered, not wanting to sound biased.

    The position of Prime Disciple had to be earned with one''s strength and wits. Anyone who interfered in the process was to be heavily punished.

    "Did she say anything else?" Aelina asked, switching topics.

    "Ah! She said she needed to talk to you after she finished her training. She had an idea on how we can increase our disciples'' strength."

    "I see. Then, please bring Mira to me when she returns to the Sect. Also, can you asionally check up on her? I don''t want another situation to ur where she somehow ends up halfway across the world."

    "Yes, Sect Master!"

    "If that''s all, then you''re free to leave. Tell the other Elders that they may return to their posts now." Aelina waved her hand, still staring into the distance.

    "Yes, Sect Master!" After reporting everything, Elder Sandra left.

    When Aelina was all alone, she raised her hand and released a stream of Qi. This Qi swirled around into a ball and spun faster and faster until it became so fast and dense that it ttened into a disk.

    The pressure that little disk emitted was unbelievable, many times more than what Mira was capable of controlling, but Aelina handled it without issue.

    She continued to condense it until it became the size of a finger, and her control began waning.

    Flicking it East, Aelina watched as it soared through the air, showing no signs of stopping. Within nanoseconds, it left her view, and not longter, it went past her sensory range. However, she still didn''t hear or feel itnd. Whatever it passed through, it drilled through it like butter.

    ''Interesting! How interesting!'' Aelina''s smile grew like a child that had just found a new toy, ''It''s a crude technique, but with a bit of refining, the applications are limitless!''

    "Fufufu~ To think I''d learn something new at my age." She chuckled, creating another mass of energy like the one Mira made, intending to experiment with it.

 Chapter 703 Group Training

    In the midst of the deste mountain expanse, Mira sat, seemingly alone. The stillness was abruptly shattered as five powerful auras surged toward her. Familiar faces emerged from the energy waves: Nova, Everly, Seraphina, Rayna, and Eden.

    "So, that''s what all the fuss is about, huh? I figured you were doing something crazy since the higher-ups were more active than usual, but I didn''t think it''d be something like this," Nova said, looking at the gigantic Qi ball with a mix of fear, awe, and anticipation.

    "Who else would make the Elders run around the Sect like headless chickens other than Mira?" Seraphina chuckled, remembering back to when they first sensed the mass of energy. The Elders scrambled about, worrying that they were being attacked, only for it to turn out to be Mira''s training.

    On the other hand, Eden''s mind was somewhere else, "Where''s your child, Mira? I didn''t see her when we went to your home. So, I thought she''d be with you, but she''s not here either."

    "She''s training," Mira replied, not wanting to talk about Dominique with them any more than possible.

    "I see," Eden muttered, a little disappointed that she didn''t get to make sure Dominique was okay, but since Mira didn''t want to talk about it, she didn''t bring it up.

    Suddenly, before Mira could ask anything, trailing not far behind them were Cine and Asami, escorted by an Elder.

    "The Sect Master has allowed these two to train with you," The Elder said before she nodded and left.

    The area became quiet and a little awkward as Cine and Asami stared at the Core/Direct disciples and vice versa. The two didn''t expect to run into them here; they just wanted to meet up with Mira and, if possible, train alongside her.

    It''d been a while since theyst caught up, and Cine wanted to use this opportunity of downtime to do so.

    "Ahem!" Cine stepped up with a light bow and introduced herself. "My name is Cine, a newly promoted Inner Disciple, and this is my friend-"

    "Asami. My name''s Asami. Nice to meet you."

    "So, even someone like Mira has friends, huh?" Novamented before introducing herself, "You can call me Nova. It''s good to meet you too." Then, she motioned for the others to do the same.

    "I''m Seraphina!"

    "The names'' Eden."

    "Everly."

    "...Rayna."

    After the introductions, the 7 of them joined in on a bit of small talk, but after a minute or so, Mira ended up a bit irritated.

    "Alright. Enough." She said in a low voice, and they quickly shut their mouths. "What are you doing here? Can''t you see I''m a bit busy?"

    "We''re here to train with you!" Seraphina answered cheerfully, and everyone nodded, including Cine and Asami.

    "Why?" Mira asked, her eyebrows twitching.

    "Because it sounds interesting!" Seraphina replied, keeping her smile.

    Although the others wouldn''t have said it like that, they thought the same. Group training, especially amongst incredibly talented individuals, could bring enormous benefits in a short amount of time. And with how skilled, talented, and unique Mira was, why would they not want to train with her?

    However, it wasn''t like they came here wanting to leech off of her. They would do their best to help Mira in areas she wascking and/or expand on what she already knew.

    "Haaa��" Mira sighed and pointed at the mass of energy, "You do know that if I lose control of this thing, we could all die, right?"

    "That''s fine," This time, Nova spoke up, "Rather, that''s why we came here. If this is how you train, then how can we, your seniors, do anything less?"

    What else could Mira say? Since they wanted to die so badly, who was she to reject them?

    "If that''s how you all feel, then�� Stop loitering like a bunch of bums and get over here!" Mira ordered, her eyes sharpening as she released hints of killing intent.

    "Y-Yes, Ma''am!"

    The seven women scurried over to where Mira was and gathered in a circle around her.

    They immediately felt a pull on their bodies from the mass of energy weighing on them, but it didn''t cause them any bodily harm; it was mostly just an annoyance.

    "Help me make this thing bigger," Mira ordered, pointing at the mass of energy.

    "...Huh?"

    "Don''t make me repeat myself."

    Under Mira''s harsh stare, they nodded, not daring to object.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Okay, sure," Nova answered first, stepping forward. She spread out her palms towards the Qi ball and started to feed her energy into it.

    The rest followed her lead, each choosing a spot around the Qi ball, putting their hands up, and letting their energy flow into it.

    Now that they had all joined in, Mira exined to them the basis of the Gravity Technique. They didn''t need to understand itpletely, they only needed to know how to merge their Qi into the ball without blowing everything up.

    Under her guidance, they started to add their own energy to the Qi ball.

    The Qi ball, already an intimidating size, started to grow bigger, its pull stronger, but also more stable. They spread out further ording to the weight they could bear without breaking.

    They were silent, focused on their task. Mira watched them all, the corners of her mouth twitching upward in satisfaction.

    ''It''s nice having talented people around.'' She didn''t have to sit there and walk them through everything.

    Grunts resounded all around her as they withstood the ever-increasing pressure, but they used their Qi to soothe and heal their injuries.

    The more energy they poured into the Qi ball, the more they realized its potential. The energy sphere seemed like it had a will of its own, pulsating and surging like a heartbeat.

    Each pulse brought with it a new understanding, deepening their understanding of Qi and the cultivation methods they were familiar with.

    As the Qi ball continued to grow, Mira''s orders shifted from mere physical exertion to tactical maniption of energy flows. She guided them to control the rate at which they infused their Qi, to harmonize their Qi with others, and to adapt to the fluctuating power within the Qi ball. This was not just physical training but mental conditioning as well.

    However, soon, they began guiding each other, helping one another improve their control and Qi maniption abilities.

    As days passed by, their strengths and weaknesses became apparent. They adapted, they learned, and they grew together.

    Over time, the Qi ball''s size increased tremendously, and so did its power. It began to take on a life of its own, threatening to spiral out of control.

    Mira, however, remained calm and directed the others, controlling the overwhelming power of the Qi ball with her increasing understanding of the Gravity Technique.

    But this was just an appetizer. If Mira was satisfied with this level of training, she wouldn''t have even bothered doing this!

    "It''s time to spar!"

    Mira dered abruptly, her eyes sweeping over the group, her gaze falling on each disciple in turn. An anticipatory thrill ran through the group at her words.

    "Wait, what?" Nova blurted out, staring at Mira in shock. "Are you serious?"

    Ignoring her surprise, Mira gestured at the massive Qi ball hovering above them. "We need to test the limits of our control over our energy flow. I don''t want any of you gettingfortable."

    Murmurs of assent rippled through the group, their surprise slowly reced by an intense resolve. They were martial artists, after all; sparring was in their blood.

    "Good." Mira pointed to Nova and Seraphina. "You two, start us off."

    Without missing a beat, Nova and Seraphina stepped forward, bowing to each other. They were both fiery andpetitive, and it showed in their eyes as they prepared to engage inbat.

    The surrounding women watched as the twounched into their fight, exchanging a series of blows that sent shockwaves rippling through the air. It was a fierce and intense battle, one that demonstrated the immense power and skill both possessed.

    And, amidst the violent dance of their sh, the Qi ball continued to expand, absorbing the residual energy from their battle. The power within it continued to swell, but it didn''t spiral out of control as one might expect. Instead, it remained stable, a testament to their improved control and understanding of the Gravity Technique.

    The rest watched the sparring with wide eyes, their hands subconsciously clenched in anticipation. They could hardly wait to participate. As the fight ended and two others took their ces, the cycle repeated. Again and again, they would fight, and the Qi ball would grow.

    Despite their fatigue and the bruises umting on their bodies, no one backed out orined. The intense yet friendlypetition between them pushed each disciple to perform better than before.

    Mira, standing in the center, watched them closely, not missing a single beat. There was a faint smile on her face. As each fight yed out, she could see their growth - their movements became sharper, their attacks more powerful, and their control of their energy more refined.

    She could also tell that she''d grown as well. Her cultivation was increasing rapidly, despite the need for a tremendous amount of Qi, and her control over her techniques had improved.

    She also learned more about the various affinities thanks to their sessions.

    ''However, it seems like I''m quickly reaching my limit.'' She thought. ''I''ll have to pass this Hell soon.''

    Fortunately, that didn''t mean she had to stop training, but truthfully, she didn''t enjoy having a mega nuke sitting right beside her face at all times.

    Days continued to pass, and the group persisted in their rigorous training, their bodies bearing the evidence of their hard work. The Qi ball grewrger, its immense size dwarfing them all. But, despite its intimidating appearance, they were not scared.

    Once Mira felt like she had just about reached her limit, she stood up and said, "Let''s go hunting."

 Chapter 704 Battles In The Ancient Beast Mountain Range Part 1

    As soon as Mira announced her decision, a palpable excitement tingled through the air. The enormous Qi ball was left to hum on its own, buzzing like a resonating gong.

    "Hunting?" Asami questioned, her eyes wide and alert. Her training under Mira had bolstered her strength, but the prospect of hunting while still under this pressure wasn''t exactly something she wanted to do.

    Cine shot her a quick nce, echoing her nervousness but also a firm resolve. "We can do this, Asami," she said, her voice steady, portraying a level of confidence that Asami hadn''t seen in a while.

    She nced at Mira, who stood there with the same indifferent expression on her face as if pain and death meant nothing to her.

    ''I see. Cine''s so confident because she''s here.'' Asami thought, but unfortunately, she couldn''t feel the same-

    "We''ll only be hunting Rank 8 beasts exclusively."

    "Rank 8?!" Asami shouted, "How do you expect Cine and I to do that under these conditions?! You''re sending us to our deaths!"

    Mira''s cold, red eyes swept over her, causing her to feel like she was submerged in an icyke. The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Asami couldn''t take the intensity of Mira''s gaze and lowered her head slightly.

    Eventually, Mira shrugged, "Not my problem."

    Nova and the others were speechless, wondering how Mira could treat a friend like that, but nobody dared to speak up for them.

    They had already seen how Mira could be when it came to training. They had a feeling that if they spoke up now, they''d either be fighting Mira or forced to take on a Rank 9 beast, with thetter having a higher survival rate. Their only worry was causing trouble with the Beasts ns. Even in this ce, Rank 8 beasts weren''t asmon as cabbages found on the side of the road. They usually belonged to a n.

    Meanwhile, Cine had a nostalgic look in her eyes, a slight smile across her face.

    Since nobody had any objections, Mira led the seven of them deeper into the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, with therge mass of energy in the center of them.

    As they ventured deeper into the Beast Mountain Range, they could feel the energy around them bing denser, more potent. They saw a few Rank 6 and 7 beasts along the way, but Mira led them past, focused only on the elusive Rank 8 ones. Even with the pressure of the Qi ball and the potential danger from the Beast ns, they had no choice but to push forward.

    Suddenly, the air around them shifted, a heavy presence descending upon them. Asami''s heart pounded in her chest, still wondering if she could do this. They hade across a Low-Stage Rank 8 beast.

    It was a massive creature covered in obsidian-ck scales that glinted like metal under the sunlight. Its eyes were as red as Mira''s, full of hostility and undisguised killing intent. The sight of it made Asami''s blood run cold.

    But Cine stepped forward. "We can do this, Asami," she reassured her, her voice steady despite the oppressive atmosphere.

    Nova and the others hung back. Their eyes were wide with worry, having grown fond of Cine during this time, but they believed in Mira''s judgment. Not to mention, they''d step in if things got out of hand.

    A low rumble echoed through the mountain range as the beast roared, its colossal frame a terrifying silhouette against the sky. As it lunged forward, its obsidian scales gleaming with menace, Asami and Cine braced themselves.

    Cine was the first to move, her body blending with the wind that suddenly gusted around them. The Saber in her hand turned into an ethereal streak of silver, a blur against the backdrop of thendscape. With a swift, horizontal sh, she struck at the beast''s advancing ws, the metallic clink of contact reverberating through the air.

    Asami, on the other hand, stood her ground, her pair of fans unfurled. The air around her started to darken, wisps of ck shadows coiling around her body. Her fans whipped out, one after another, a whirlwind of dark energy slicing at the beast.

    The beast howled, recoiling from their joint attack. But it was far from defeated. With a terrifying roar, it retaliated, a beam of destructive energy bursting from its mouth toward them.

    Asami swiftly twirled her fans, the dark energy around her coalescing into a barrier. The energy beam shed against it, the collision resulting in a shockwave that rocked the ground beneath them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Meanwhile, Cine was once again on the move. The wind howled as it danced with her, bolstering her speed and agility. Her Saber shed at the beast, each hit creating sparks as it scraped against the beast''s scales.

    However, the beast was a Rank 8 creature for a reason. It was as intelligent as it was strong. Its eyes gleamed maliciously, and with a swift maneuver, it aimed for Asami, taking advantage of her stationary stance.

    Seeing the danger, Asami gritted her teeth, her fans twirling at an unprecedented speed. The darkness around her exploded, forming numerous shadow clones that spread out in all directions.

    The beast faltered, confused by the sudden multitude of enemies. Taking this opportunity, Cine lunged, her Saber tracing a deadly arc in the air.

    With a swift, decisive blow, she managed tond a hit on the beast''s vulnerable underbelly. The beast screeched, falling back. But it was not enough to take it down.

    "Keep going, Asami!" Cine shouted, her voice rising over the noise.

    Emboldened, Asami nodded. She focused her energy, the dark aura around her fans intensifying. With a flick of her wrists, the fans shot out, trailing streaks of ck energy. They cut through the air like des, mming into the beast.

    The battle went on for several minutes, or what seemed to be hours, from Cine and Asami''s perspectives. Both sides were covered in injuries, but the side that had taken the brunt of everything was the beast. It was just too big, making for an easy target.

    The beast roared in fury, but the damage had been done. Its movements were slower, its attacks less forceful. Asami and Cine exchanged a nce, a silent agreement passing between them. They surged forward in tandem, their elements spiraling together.

    With a final, joint strike, they felled the beast. Its once fearsome frame nowy still on the ground, its scales dulled and lifeless. Asami and Cine stood victorious, their hearts pounding from the exhration of the fight and the relief of their survival.

    "Hah. Haha. Hahaha! W-We actually did it!" Asami cried out as she copsed to the ground, ovee with all sorts of emotions: fear, awe, anger, relief, and excitement.

    As Asamiughed on the ground, panting heavily from the exhausting fight, Cine was standing next to her, her Saber still held tightly in her hand.

    She was also panting, sweat running down her face and arms, but she wore a small smile. The wind was still gently twirling around her, the element seemingly congratting its user for her victory.

    "Yes, we did," she answered her voice barely a whisper as she also dropped to her knees, her strength leaving her in a rush. She allowed the wind to caress her tired body, to cool her heated skin, and soothe her tired muscles. She looked at Asami, her friend who had fought bravely next to her, and said, "You did well, Asami."

    Overwhelmed, Asami could only nod. Her gaze fell on the fallen beast, and a shudder ran through her body. They had just taken down a Rank 8 beast. A beast that could easily trample a city in their world was now lying lifeless because of them. The thought made her giddy, her heart pounding in her chest.

    Their victory had not gone unnoticed by the rest of their group. Nova and the others approached, their expressions showcasing their admiration. They all looked at the fallen beast, then at Asami and Cine. Even Mira, who had been watching them from afar, silently walked over.

    "Rest for now. We''ll move again in an hour," she ordered, her cold red eyes scanning them. It was as if their victory meant nothing to her.

    As Mira''s words sunk in, Asami felt her exhaustion double. Yet, despite the fatigue, a sense of satisfaction and achievement spread through her. She nced at Cine, meeting her gaze. They smiled at each other, their eyes gleaming with triumph.

    An hour quickly passed, and the eight continued on their way. They decided they''d leave all Low or Mid-Stage Rank 8 beasts to Cine and Asami since that level of strength wasn''t much of a threat to the rest of them.

    However, that just meant those two were able to fight more frequently since they had to stay away from any regions that seemed like might house a Rank 9 beast.

    None of them, including Mira, wanted to run into something of that caliber yet.

 Chapter 705 Battles In The Ancient Beast Mountain Range Part 2

    The very next day, as the sun shone brightly over the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, the group moved deeper into the perilous terrain.

    Rayna, alongside Mira, was the first to notice a lurking threat: a massive serpent, its scales a lethal shade of green and gleaming with a deadly venom. The beast''s golden eyes glittered with a hostile gleam, and it was a Late-Stage Rank 8 beast.

    Without a word, Rayna stepped forward, meeting the serpent''s gaze with her own steely eyes. The others wordlessly made way, understanding that this was her battle to fight.

    With a calm that contrasted the danger before her, Rayna summoned the poisonous energies around her. As a wielder of the rare Poison Affinity, she had a unique advantage.

    Her double daggers materialized in her hands, their edges nowced with a lethal toxin. She was ready.

    The serpent attacked first, lunging at Rayna with its venom-dripping fangs bared. But Rayna moved like a shadow, her movements fluid and evasive. She retaliated with swift strokes of her daggers, eachnding a poisoned hit on the beast.

    In response to her onught, the serpent thrashed, its scales fizzling wherever Rayna''s toxin had seeped in. The beast redoubled its attacks, trying to crush Rayna under its colossal body.

    Rayna, however, wasn''t a Core Disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect for nothing. She dodged around the serpent''s strikes and answered with fatal stabs of her daggers, further weakening the beast.

    As the serpent''s relentless assault continued, Rayna remained unfazed. Every strike from the beast was met with an effortless dodge or parry, Rayna''s movements flowing like water.

    She pressed her attack, her poisoned daggers and short swordsshing out in a flurry of strikes. Each cut she made on the serpent''s body allowed her virulent poison to seep into its system, slowly gnawing away at its vitality.

    The serpent, writhing and hissing in its fight for survival, became more frantic in its attacks. It lunged at her with venom-dripping fangs, its tail swiping dangerously.

    Each strike, each snap of its jaws, was met with Rayna''s retaliation. She twirled between its attacks, her des carving deep gashes into the beast''s thick scales, leaving trails of seeping poison.

    Her persistence eventually wore down the serpent. Weakened and sluggish, the serpent tried a desperate lunge at Rayna. She was prepared. Breaking into a sprint, she charged, her poisoned daggers poised for the final blow.

    With onest attack, she drove her daggers into the serpent''s eyes, and the beast sumbed to its injuries. The serpent copsed, its death throes echoing through the wilderness before it fell still.

    Rayna stood silent and still, her chest heaving slightly as she stared at the fallen beast. No trace of emotion crossed her features.

    The others watched in silence, surprised that Rayna took it down so effortlessly. They had always known she was powerful, but since she hardly ever fought in a group, it was difficult to tell how strong she actually was.

    No words were exchanged as Mira issued the now-familiarmand, "Since it was so easy for you, we won''t stop to rest." Rayna nodded, sheathing her weapons, and moved to the back of the group.

    Their journey through the Ancient Beast Mountain Range continued, each member of the group finding their own respective trials.

    Nova found herself toe-to-toe with a saber-toothed tiger, a Late-Stage Rank 8 beast. Her figure was a blur as she engaged with the massive beast.

    Her spear, enveloped in crackling mes, became a whirlwind of fiery destruction. Each thrust aimed to exploit a weakness, to pierce the tiger''s tough hide and sear its flesh. Her strikes, both ruthless and destructive, slowly wore down the tiger''s defenses, each exchange bringing it a step closer to its downfall.

    Everly, in another part of the treacherous terrain, squared off against a pair of Stone-Horned Rhinos, both at the Late-Stage of Rank 8.

    As the two formidable beasts charged, the air around Everly ignited with the convergence of lightning and fire.

    Each strike of her power was a spectacle of raw, elemental force, repelling the rhinos'' advance, their hardened hides charring under her attacks.

    She moved through the battlefield like a storm, her fire and lightning merging into a cyclone of destructive energy that battered the beasts.

    The two weren''t a great match-up against her, as eventually, they were cooked from the inside out.

    Eden, on the other hand, faced an airborne threat: a flock of Razor-Feathered Hawks, Peak-Stage Rank 7 with a few Low-Stage Rank 8 ones mixed in.

    Despite the lower rank, their sheer numbers and coordinated attacks presented a challenge equivalent to a Late-Stage Rank 8 beast.

    Fortunately, Eden was a master archer, the wind carrying her arrows with unerring uracy, each one finding a hawk mid-flight.

    Her wood affinity made the vegetation around here alive, twisting into protective barriers and clever traps. She was struck a few times, the hawk''s speed and numbers difficult to keep up with, but they failed to cause any major injuries.

    One by one, the hawks plummeted, either skewered by arrows or entangled in wooden snares.

    Meanwhile, Seraphina found her match in a hulking rock golem.

    Its stone body was as upromising as the metal she controlled.

    The battleground rang with the harsh ng of metal against stone, her shield and sword shing against the golem''s hard exterior.

    She employed her water affinity to help soften the golem''s defenses and seep through any weak spots, while her metal-enhanced strikes, a fusion of brute force and intricate technique, gradually wore it down.

    Despite the golem''s immense strength and durability, Seraphina''s judgment, intelligence, and adaptability made it an easy target for her.

    Piece by piece, the golem began to crumble until it finally sumbed, shattered under her relentless assault.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Mira was thest to engage in battle. In front of her was a challenging opponent, a Mid-Stage Rank 8 Scarlet me Lion with a Mystic-Grade Bloodline.

    This beast had the potential to ascend to Rank 9, making its strength several times higher than what it would be if it had a lower-graded bloodline. Its mes roared, consuming the battlefield and everything around it in a frightening crimson hue.

    Mira''s hand reached out, drawing her scythe. Ice began to gather around the de, frosting over the surface.

    The battle began in earnest, the lion attacking with a flurry of me-enhanced swipes and bites. Its Qi-infused roars seemed to shake the very earth beneath them, disorienting anything that heard it.

    However, unfazed by the physical and mental attacks, Mira met the beast head-on, her scythe carving a path through the flurry of attacks. Her icy de was a stark contrast to the searing mes, yet it held firm against the onught.

    Her grip tightened around her scythe, the cold metal acting as a grounding point amidst the chaotic battlefield.

    The two went back and forth, exchanging a multitude of attacks just to probe the other party. The Lion could sense that Mira wasn''t an opponent to be taken lightly. However, it couldn''t determine the depth of her strength.

    On the other hand, Mira wanted to see how she''d fare against a beast like this after she''d gone through multiple breakthroughs.

    After about a minute, the first substantial hit came. The lion''s wnded on Mira''s side, throwing her back with brute force. A gasp escaped her lips, more out of surprise than pain, but she quickly suppressed it, her red eyes narrowing at the beast.

    In response, Mira used her Scythe Manifestation. Her scythe morphed, and a dark haze filled with ck runes swirled around it. Death itself seemed to roll around her scythe, filling the surrounding area with a particrly disturbing scent and sucking all the vitality of the vegetation around her.

    The hourss on the side of her scythe also rotated, with the ''sands'' at the top falling to the bottom.

    Mira shot back at the lion, catching it off-guard, and shed. The Lion yelped in pain as a gash formed on its leg. A stream of energy connected from the lion to her scythe, and a granule of sand in the hourss fell to the bottom half.

    The battle raged on, the intensity increasing with each passing second. The Scarlet me Lion''s body ignited with an even fiercer me, each of its swipes trailing fire, setting the surroundings aze.

    However, Mira held steady, her frost-tipped de crashing against the fiery barrage, resulting in clouds of steam billowing upwards upon impact.

    Then, with a burst of energy, the Lion charged forward and swiped. She wasn''t expecting such power and was thrown back once more.

    Gritting her teeth in annoyance, she twisted her body andnded gracefully, sliding back a few feet from the force.

    But the lion was relentless. It lunged at her again, but Mira was ready this time. Her scythe swept up to meet the attack, the icy de shing against the ming ws.

    In a swift motion, she managed to draw another gash across the beast''s torso.

    Once again, a line of energy connected the beast to her scythe, and another granule of sand fell to the bottom half of the hourss. The lion roared in pain, and its fury amplified as it sensed the ominous connection between its life force and the hourss.

    Mira didn''t wait for the beast to recover. She sprang forward, moving with an inhuman speed and precision. She moved around the lion''s strikes, each dodge a precise calction, and each counterattack leaving another scar on the beast''s ming hide.

    The hourss continued its countdown with each sessful strike. As the sands of time fell, the lion''s movements began to slow, its fiery aura dimming.

    But the beast wasn''t about to go down without a fight.

    Gathering its remaining strength, it let out a mighty roar, a wave of fiery Qi exploding outwards. Mira was forced to retreat, shielding herself from the blistering heat with a frost barrier.

    Seeing an opportunity, the Scarlet me Lion charged at Mira with a burst of speed, aiming to trample her with its massive body.

    However, this was the moment Mira was waiting for.

    As the lion neared, she somersaulted over the beast,nding on its back.

    With a swift movement, she plunged her scythe deep into the lion''s back. An agonized roar escaped the beast as Mira yanked her weapon free, the ck runes on her scythe pulsing with a sinister light.

    Once again, the energy link appeared, and several granules of sand in the hourss fell. The Lion''s strength waned significantly, and it copsed onto its knees, barely able to keep its body upright.

    But Mira wasn''t done. She leaped off the lion, turning in mid-air and swinging her scythe for one final, decisive strike. The de cut through the air, a chilling aura emanating from it as itnded on the Scarlet me Lion''s neck.

    The connection appeared once more, and thest of the sand fell. The lion''s body went stiff, its mes slowly extinguishing as it fell to the ground with a thud.

    The battlefield fell silent, the only sound being the crackling of the dying fire and Mira''s breaths.

    Mira stored the lion''s corpse, nning to extract its Blood Essenceter. A Mystic-Grade Bloodline was definitely a major boon, especially once she purified it.

    Silently, she returned to the group, her form appearing ghost-like amidst the smoke and embers. The team, having witnessed her power, remained silent. Each had found their trial, and each had emerged victorious.

    Unfortunately, Mira should have been more careful when facing a beast with a Mystic-Grade Bloodline.

 Chapter 706 Fighting A Rank 9 Beast

    Piercing through the rough terrain of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, Mira''s group continued their venture. Every beast they encountered was killed, and Mira made sure to harvest the vital Blood Essence from each formidable creature. The journey was not without its peril, but with every battle, they could feel themselves growing.

    Eventually, after a few more battles, the time came for Mira to undertake a crucial task �C toplete the Hell of Gravity. A challenge that demanded her to connect deeply with the energies of the world around her, to find a bnce within the profound gravity of her environment, her Mass of Energy, and herself.

    "Watch my back," Mira instructed the group, her voice firm as she prepared to focus on her breakthrough. The others nodded in understanding, creating a protective perimeter around her.

    Mira took a deep breath and closed her eyes, connecting her consciousness with the environment. She felt the heavy force of the''s gravity and the equal but opposite pull of her Mass of Energy. Slowly, she began to manipte her Qi to create a resonating frequency between herself and these two powerful forces.

    She set the mass of Energy at the correct distance to neutralize the force of gravity she was experiencing.

    Inside her, a whirlwind of energies began to converge, swirling and colliding like cosmic forces in a celestial dance. Each element harmonized with the others, building in intensity, creating a crescendo that reverberated through her being.

    The energies finally found their equilibrium. It was a delicate bnce, like a tightrope walker keeping steady on the line. But for Mira, this was a breakthrough.

    A surge of energy exploded within her, and with it, numerous benefits came.

    First, she shot up to the peak of the 6th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Secondly, her weight increased massively, cracking the ground beneath her.

    Third, the quality of her Qi improved.

    Lastly, insights into the force of gravity entered her mind and body. She didn''t suddenly gain an affinity for Gravity, nor were the advantages of this immediate, but Mira felt she''d have to keep it in mind whenever she created techniques in the future.

    Feeling the tremendous weight of her enhanced body and the heightened quality of her Qi, Mira opened her eyes, a newfound understanding reflecting in them. Gravity, which had always been an intangible, immutable constant, was now something she could perceive in a much deeper sense.

    The aplishment was monumental, but it was just the first step. This new understanding of gravity would undoubtedly prove invaluable in her future battles, and she was eager to explore the potential of these insights.

    However, there was no time for contemtion.

    Her breakthrough must''ve stirred the owner of this territory as a terrifyingly powerful aura charged at them from a distance.

    Cine and Asami nched in horror, feeling the power behind whatever wasing toward them. While the others all gripped their weapons tightly, serious expressions painting their faces.

    "...I think we may have traveled too deep," Novamented, her hands twitching, but it was toote for regret. Everyone agreed with her words, but nobody dared to make a sound.

    A momentter, the beast emerged from the shadows, revealing itself��a magnificent creature known as a Shadowfang, or in other words, a panther that had gone through numerous evolutions.

    Towering over the group, it stood on four muscr legs, its sleek body resembling that of a panther but with a menacing Low-Stage Rank 9 aura. Its jet-ck fur shimmered with an ethereal sheen as if touched by the darkness itself.

    The beast''s long, curved tail flicked with a sense of controlled power while its sharp ws glinted in the dim light. Its feline features were entuated by a pair of luminescent eyes glowing with an eerie, otherworldly blue. These eyes held a piercing gaze filled with both intelligence and a hint of predatory instinct.

    For the first time in their journey, they found themselves face-to-face with a beast that they didn''t kill before itmunicated with them.

    "What are humans doing in my territory?!" the beast''s voice echoed, its tone thunderous. Its rage was as palpable as the pressure it emitted bore down on them with increasing intensity.

    However, while it glowered down at them, Mira felt its greed-filled yet bewildered gaze remain on her.

    ''Haaa�� These damn beasts and their obsession with my bloodline.'' Mira sighed, feeling a hint of frustration building within her.

    None of the humanoid races ever cared much about her bloodline or race. No, rather than saying they didn''t care, it was more like they were curious and fearful. Legends of all sorts of mythical beasts, including 9-tailed foxes, have existed in the culture since time immemorial.

    They were often seen as beings akin to gods or sometimes even above gods. Who in their right mind would attempt to kill a god for no reason?

    Thus, other than the fact that Mira preferred isted regions, most people left her alone.

    But beasts didn''t care. She was THE golden goose in their eyes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I didn''t know the whole mountain range was your territory," Mira retorted, the faint hint of a smirk ying on her lips. "Then again, what more would you expect from a dumbass beast?"

    She already knew a fight was going to break out. Even though it seemed more intelligent than the other beasts they''de across, it was still a beast at the end of the day. She can''t remember thest time a beast hadn''t tried to kill her on their first meeting. So, she might as well mock it while she still had the chance.

    The Shadowfang''s luminescent eyes narrowed at her words, its powerful body tensing for a confrontation. The predatory gaze directed at Mira was unblinking and filled with a palpable sense of animosity and greed.

    A heavy silence descended, punctuated only by the tense breathing of Mira''s group and the low growl of the Shadowfang.

    As the moment stretched, Mira''s words hung in the air, the challenge clear and the potential for violence escting with each passing second.

    Despite the oppressive aura of the Rank 9 beast and the clear threat it posed, Mira''s group readied their weapons. They were no strangers to perilous encounters, and the grim determination in their eyes showed that they wouldn''t go down without a fight.

    The Shadowfang roared, its voice echoing through the mountains as it made the first move. Its muscr body lunged forward, ws tearing at the ground, and aimed straight for Nova. With a twirl of her ming spear, Nova parried its w, sparks flying as the two shed.

    However, her strength meant little to the beast as it swiped its other paw at the distracted Nova.

    Seraphina was there in an instant, her sword striking the iing w while her shield blocked the debris flying from the creature''s ferocious assault.

    Suddenly, a barrage of arrows flew from behind their line, each glowing with the wind''s force.

    The Shadowfang snarled, its body twisting mid-air, evading most of Eden''s projectiles. A few found their marks, but they merely bounced off of the beast''s fur, not enough force behind them to evene close to prating its thick hide.

    Seeing an opening, Cine darted forward, her wind-infused saber a blur. But the Shadowfang was quick, its tail sweeping out to knock her back. She flipped in mid-air, using the wind to cushion her fall, but just the shockwave of its tail was enough to fracture a few ribs.

    "Watch out!" Rayna shouted, something nobody among them had ever seen before. A dark mist descended upon the battlefield, and seeing her chance, Asami waved her fans to help spread the poison.

    The Shadowfang paused, its keen eyesight hindered. Using this moment, Rayna slipped into the mist, her poison-coated daggers ready.

    In the midst of the smoke, the beast suddenly roared, a wave of shock running across the ground, causing everyone to stumble and be disoriented. It used a Qi technique!

    Mira was quick to react. Using her earth Qi, she stabilized the ground beneath them, preventing them from losing their footing.

    "Attack now!" Miramanded, her voice echoing on the battlefield.

    Everly''s hands glowed, gathering Fire and Lightning around her.

    ''Thunderfire Destruction!'' She mentally shouted, raining down thin beams of pure devastation onto the beast.

    It roared in annoyance, its fur singed. At the same time, Seraphina rushed forward, her shield raised.

    Seeing this, Mira''s eyes shed.

    Raising her scythe, she channeled her ice Qi, freezing the moisture in the air into sharp swords and shot them at the beast. The swords found their mark, piercing through the beast''s fur into its hide, but nothing more. However, she did her job.

    Now, the beast was staring in her direction. Merging with the shadows, it appeared before Mira, in the blink of an eye mming its paws into her as if to crush her.

    Mira was unable to react due to its insane speed and had to tank the hit head-on! Wrapping her golden tail around her body, she braced for impact.

    *BOOM!"

    Its massive paws mmed into Mira, sending her flying. However, it seemed hell-bent on killing Mira now that she''d re-caught its attention and chased after her.

    Taking advantage of the beast''s hyper-focused state, Rayna darted out from the shadows, her daggers shing across its nk. The Shadowfang howled as the poison began to seep into its pores.

    Now, it was forced to look away from Mira and back onto the group.

 Chapter 707 Fighting A Rank 9 Beast Part 2

    "Spread out! Don''t get hit by it!" Mira''s voice came out a harsh bark, rebounding off the mountainous terrain as she stood up, dusting herself off. Shended quite far away but was rushing back toward herrades.

    Not getting there fast enough, a pair of Paragon Wings manifested above Mira''s back, and she shot forward like a missile.

    The others heard her voice and listened, immediately separating from one another. Although that would put them at a disadvantage individually, they were sure Mira had a n.

    "What''s the n?" Asami''s voice was low, her eyes on the beast as it thrashed its tail, sending shards of rocks hurtling toward them.

    Her fans fluttered, casting shadows to obstruct the iing projectiles, her dark Qi holding them at bay. But it was evident she wouldn''t be able to hold for long. The beast''s power was too overwhelming.

    "Remember raiding those Spirit Stone Mines?" Mira asked as she returned to the battlefield,unching a series of feathers at the beast, bringing its attention away from the others.

    Nova, Seraphina, Rayna, Everly, and Eden nodded, while Cine and Asami were confused but still listened.

    The Shadowfang growled and lunged into the air, attempting to swat Mira away, but she quickly dodged out of the way.

    "...Just follow my lead!" Mira ordered, not having enough time to exin herself.

    Fortunately, the others didn''t question her and nodded.

    "Understood!"

    Nova took the lead, her hand glowing as she channeled her technique.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!" she roared, the sound echoing through the mountains. The sphereunched from her spear, flying directly toward the beast.

    The Shadowfang merely tilted its massive head, allowing the fireball to skim past. It responded with a swipe of its w, releasing a massive shockwave that Nova barely deflected with her spear.

    The aftershock sent her skidding backward, wincing from the impact, but thanks to this, Mira was able to escape the beast''s sight for a moment.

    After Nova was sent flying, Seraphina moved in like a stream flowing downhill. Liquid metal coated her sword and upper body as dense, tough metal covered her lower body and shield. This was the true essence of her [Aqua Steel Dance] technique.

    A de met the beast, and a shockwave of energy rippled outwards. Still, the Shadowfang shrugged it off, countering with a lunging bite. Seraphina managed to bounce away, but a stray tail whip clipped her in the arm, dislocating her shoulder, breaking her arm, and fracturing her ribs.

    "Ugh! Damn!" She groaned, gritting her teeth to brush off the pain, before hopping back into battle.

    As the only "tank" on the team, it was her job to capture as much of the beast''s attention as possible, regardless of her injuries.

    While Seraphina grappled with the beast, Everly saw her opportunity and charged in. The sound of crackling filled the air as her saber ignited with lightning and fire.

    She shed toward the Shadowfang, and the [Heavenly Arc sh] technique sent a wave of searing electricity scorching toward the creature. The beast, sensing the attack, twisted its body in an inhuman manner, the attack barely grazing its monstrous form.

    Backing off and hovering in the air, Everly unleashed the full fury of her [Inferno Thunderstrike] technique upon the beast. Fire and lightning intertwined in a devastating disy, raining down upon their foe.

    *Tsssss!*

    Her attacks seared the beast''s fur and prated its hide, being the first attack to deal any real damage.

    "ROAR!" The Shadowfang roared in anger and shot a beam of darkness out of its mouth toward Everly.

    "Shit!" She cursed and tried to dodge, but it was toote. Sensing that this was the end, she closed her eyes, ready to die, but-

    "Aquasteel Barrier!" Seraphina''s voice resounded next to her ear, the two covered in a dome of liquid metal.

    *BOOOM!*

    The barrier didn''tst more than half a second under the attack, but it was more than enough time for the two to move to ''safety''.

    "Ugh!"

    "Urgh! DAMMIT!"

    They were both flung back, groaning in pain. Their bodies were covered in injuries, but as if she had forgotten about the horrible state of her body, Seraphina jumped back up and charged forward.

    "Be careful, Everly! We can''t have you die yet!" She yelled without looking back.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Everly was shocked, taking a moment to appreciate Seraphina''s words and actions before she followed after her.

    ''I''ll have to say thank you to her if we survive this.'' She thought as she ran.

    Rayna took her chance next, cloaked in shadow.

    In a sudden movement, she leaped towards the Shadowfang, her de pulsating with dark, venomous energy. "Shadow Venom sh," she whispered,unching herself at the creature.

    However, the beast reacted quicker than she expected, swiping at her with its tail. She was sent sprawling, the taste of blood heavy in her mouth. Still, she managed to leave a shallow cut on the beast, the venom seeping into its flesh.

    Asami danced around the edges of the battle, her fans fluttering like dark butterflies, sending shadowy shards spiraling toward the Shadowfang.

    This was her new technique, Obsidian Storm, which she had been perfecting over thest few months. But her attacks, though relentless, seemed to only annoy the beast, its hide too tough for her shards to prate.

    Meanwhile, Eden, bow in hand, began to conjure a storm of wind and wood-charged arrows. The bowstring thumped with each release, the arrows soaring through the air with lethal precision.

    Her [Wind Piercing Arrows] seemed to bother the Shadowfang more than they hurt it, but Eden had already expected that. Thus, with inhuman uracy, she repeatedly shot the same spot on its body, attempting to create her own weak point.

    Fortunately, they managed to distract it enough to keep it from focusing on any single one of them.

    Cine took the respite Eden provided to dash forward.

    A newly learned technique flowed from her saber - the Wind Torrent sh. Her saber traced a glowing arc of wind-charged energy that rocketed towards the Shadowfang, a visible shockwave spreading out from the impact.

    But the beast merely roared in defiance, barely staggered by the power of her technique.

    In the midst of the chaotic dance of battle, Mira was deep in focus. She was busy trying toy down the Suppression Array that she''d used when they raided those Spirit Stone mines.

    Aside from that, her mind was a swirl of thoughts and strategies, the images of her friends'' movements and techniques imprinting themselves into her mind. She was watching, learning, merging their techniques with hers in her mind, attempting to form something new.

    Even with her strongest technique, she didn''t think she had the power to deal any life-threatening damage to the beast.

    ''To think a Rank 9 beast is so strong,'' She thought, now understanding just how weak those from the Unorthodox Faction were.

    They were living proof that having a deep, stable, and solidified foundation did not simply mean an increase in potential. It was also an increase in strength.

    Looking back for a moment, Mira saw that herrades were quickly going downhill. Horrible injuries umted all over their bodies, and they were running out of Qi at an expedited rate.

    ''Hold on just a bit longer.''

    The Shadowfang, while slightly injured, showed no difference between now and the start of the fight.

    The beast roared in fury, its eyes gleaming with malice. With a swift motion of its massive tail, it sent a whirlwind of razor-sharp rocks flying toward the group.

    Nova and Cine were quick to react. Conjuring a shield of fire energy and a gust of powerful wind, respectively, they managed to deflect the barrage of stone projectiles.

    But the distraction left them open to the Shadowfang''s counter-attack.

    The beast lunged forward, swiping its colossal ws at Nova. She attempted to parry, but the force of the blow sent her spiraling through the air. Cine was not spared either, with the Shadowfang''s tail mming into her and sending her crashing into a nearby boulder.

    Rayna and Eden swiftly moved into action, coordinating their attacks. Rayna, using her swift shadow skills, distracted the beast with quick feints and shes. Eden capitalized on this, her arrows finding their mark, pummeling the same weak point she had been working on tirelessly.

    Meanwhile, Everly and Seraphina, despite their severe injuries, rejoined the fray, casting aside the pain. Everly''s [Thunderfire Destruction] and Seraphina''s [Aqua Steel Dance]bo came crashing down on the Shadowfang, pushing it back.

    Asami, seizing the moment, unleashed her Obsidian Storm once more. Her fans fluttered, casting an intense shadow over the battlefield as thousands of shadow shards spiraled toward the beast. This time, they managed to pierce its hide, the constant distraction and attacks from the others wearing down the creature''s defenses.

    On the other side, Mira was almost done setting up the Suppression Array. The array glowed with a soft light, a stark contrast to the intense battle urring around her.

    As she made the final adjustments, Mira looked back and couldn''t help but marvel at herrades'' unyielding spirit and strength.

    "Get ready!" Mira yelled, alerting everyone on the battlefield.

    Suddenly, the Shadowfang reared back, letting out a mighty roar that reverberated across the mountains.

 Chapter 708 Fighting A Rank 9 Beast Part 3

    From its gaping maw, a ball of dark energy began to form. The air around them seemed to chill as an intense foreboding filled the battlefield.

    The energy within the ball swirled ominously, growing in size and power. It was clear to everyone present that the beast was no longer ying around.

    "Move, dammit! Move!" Everly shouted, trying to avoid the impending attack. But her body, already pushed past its limit, failed to respond in time.

    "Get down!" Seraphina yelled.

    Channeling all of her Qi, she used her ultimate defensive technique, [Hydrometallic Bastion]! A technique she worked with the Elders to create with the image of being imprable.

    A merge of Water and Metal surrounded all of herpanions in a castle-like defense. This technique was supposedly imprable because it became harder when an opposing force struck it. Simultaneously, it had some of the flexibility of water, allowing it to absorb more power.

    With a deafening roar, the Shadowfang unleashed its Dark Annihtion Beam, a colossal beam of dark energy shot directly at the group. The energy pulse caused the air around them to distort, a chilling sense of impending doom descending on everyone.

    With no other option, they braced themselves for the impact, their eyes reflecting a mixture of fear, determination, and defiance.

    An explosive sound echoed across the field as the Dark Annihtion Beam hit the Hydrometallic Bastion. The ground shook violently, cracks spreading across the earth like a spiderweb.

    Despite the immense pressure, Seraphina''s Bastion held firm, radiating a blinding light as it absorbed and reflected the dark energy. However, maintaining such a colossal defense was draining her Qi at an rming rate.

    However, in the midst of all this, she had an epiphany!

    ''The Blood Burst Technique!'' Mira had shared it with them when they raided those Spirit Stone Mines!

    Without wasting any time, she activated the 3rd stage of the Blood Burst Technique, [Blood Essence Eruption]!

    This was a risky move. The Blood Essence Eruption required the user to expend their Blood Essence as a source of power.

    It was essentially a double-edged sword �C while it would provide her with a vast amount of strength and Qi in a short period, it would also drain her life force significantly. But with the lives of herpanions hanging in the bnce, she had no other choice.

    The moment Seraphina activated the technique, her Qi surged. Her life essence, mixed with her Qi, dyed her Hydrometallic Bastion a crimson hue. The Hydrometallic Bastion, under the influence of this potent Qi, seemed to pulsate and grow even stronger.

    The group could only watch in awe and concern as Seraphina''s defensive structure began to hold its own against the dark energy beam more effectively, the once-spreading cracks retracting and healing.

    However, they could also see the toll it was taking on her. Herplexion was growing paler by the second, and her body was trembling from the strain.

    "Seraphina!" Eden called out, concern evident in her voice. But the woman merely offered a weak smile, her attention entirely focused on maintaining the Bastion.

    Meanwhile, the Shadowfang, realizing its attack wasn''t killing them, roared angrily. It attempted to intensify its Dark Annihtion Beam, the ball of dark energy in its mouth growing bigger and darker.

    ''It''s done!'' Mira shouted to everyone through a Sound Transmission, so they would actually hear her through all this noise, ''Prepare your strongest attacks! Don''t hold back!''

    Their hearts pounded as they prepared to counter.

    Eden, with her Wind and Wood affinities, summoned a [Hurricane Quiver], each arrow imbued with the force of a tornado and the steadfastness of the ancient trees.

    Asami swirled her fans, shadows coiling around her as she prepared her [Shadowstorm Serenade], ready to unleash a series of devastating, darkness-imbued strikes.

    Cine''s Saber sang through the air as she charged it with her Wind Qi, ready to execute the [Galeforce Saber sh].

    Nova, her spear aze, executed her [Heavenly Sunfire Descension], the tip of her spear resembling a falling star, ready to strike with devastating impact.

    Everly''s hands crackled with Fire and Lightning Qi, the [Thunderfire Annihtion] forming around her fingers and body, turning them into weapons of utter destruction.

    Rayna, her Double Daggers coated with a deadly mix of shadow and poison, prepared her [Venomfang Fury], ready to wreak havoc on their enemy.

    Lastly, Mira, her aura ring with the myriad of elements shemanded, was readying her newest and possibly most powerful technique.

    Her nine tails flickered, each radiating different energies as she prepared to use almost all of them simultaneously.

    She drew upon her affinity with Earth, Water, Wind, Yin Fire, Yin Lightning, Ice, Darkness, Illusions, and Charm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In her hand, the icy Scythe grew heavier as she imbued it with the essence of each element. The usually stark ice started glowing, the spectrum of colors a testament to the elemental chaos contained within. But, with her increased mastery over Qi, she didn''t have any problem controlling them.

    "Now!" She yelled, activating the Suppression Array!

    The array burst into radiant light, the streams of energy shooting toward the Shadowfang.

    As the light from the array wrapped around it, the beast let out a roar of protest, its dark aura shing violently against the radiant glow. Its Dark Annihtion Beam flickered, the beast''s power waning under the pressure of the Suppression Array.

    "Attack!" Mira ordered, themand resonating through the battlefield.

    They burst with power in perfect synchronization, using the 3rd Stage of the Blood Burst Technique (except for Cine and Asami) as they released their attacks.

    Eden''s [Hurricane Quiver] transformed the sky into a deadly canvas. Arrows transformed into roaring tornados, hurtling through the air with the unyielding resolve of ancient trees. Each arrow found its mark, tearing into the beast, a cacophony of elemental violence that whistled across the battlefield.

    Asami''s [Shadowstorm Serenade] was an elegant, devastating ballet of darkness. Shadows swirled, danced, and surged forward, a ck tide washing over the Shadowfang, its body caught in the relentless rhythm of Asami''s shadowy symphony.

    Nova and Cine''sbined attack turned the battlefield into a scene straight from a myth. Cine''s [Galeforce Saber sh] created a cyclone, and within it, Nova''s [Heavenly Sunfire Descension] zed, transforming the cyclone into a ming typhoon. The collision against the Shadowfang shook the earth, a cataclysmic explosion that marked their defiance.

    Everly''s [Thunderfire Annihtion] was an electrifying spectacle. The swirling maelstrom of fire and lightning turned her into an avatar of elemental destruction. Each crackle of electricity, each lick of me that engulfed the beast, wore down its defenses, weakening it even further.

    Rayna, a phantom with her [Venomfang Fury], moved with an unsettling grace. Her daggers, coated with a fatal blend of shadow and poison, danced in the darkness. Each precise, merciless strike diminished the beast''s resistance, the lethal ballet leaving a symphony of poisonous destruction in its wake.

    Finally, it was Mira''s turn.

    Using the 4th Stage of the Blood Burst Technique, [Blood Burst], she channeled all of this excess power into the newly formed technique that she called: [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration].

    Her aura red with a kaleidoscope of colors, each representing a different element. The hourss on her scythe rotated as she used her Scythe and Martial Manifestations alongside her icy-blue tail, increasing her power and ice affinity further.

    With a swift motion, Mira summoned nine illusions of herself, each an exact replica exuding a unique elemental aura. Each illusion was tangible and lifelike since they were made up of her various elements, wielding a Scythe made of solid ice.

    They stood in an imposing formation, a legion of ice-born warriors ready to unleash a storm of elemental devastation upon their foe.

    She cast a charm on the beast with her pink tail, turning its attention to her immediately.

    Now that she had given her teammates some reprieve, it was her turn to attack.

    As if moving as one, the illusions surged forward, each strike resonating with the fury of the elements. The beast was assaulted from all directions by a flurry of devastating attacks, the battlefield echoing with the cataclysmic event of earth shaking, water roaring, wind howling, Yin fire zing, Yin lightning crackling, shadows creeping, and illusions shimmering.

    With each hit, another speck of sand in the hourss fell, but it was much slowerpared to every other opponent she had faced up until now.

    But the true spectacle of [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration] was yet toe.

    At the peak of their unleashed might, the illusions congregated around the Shadowfang. With a harmonized battle cry, they swung their Scythes in unison, and as soon as they connected with their opponent, they blew themselves up.

    The result was a blinding burst of icy devastation, their expended energy erupting in an explosion that rivaled the intensity of a supernova.

    The force of the explosion rippled through the battlefield, creating a massive crater, uprooting trees, and destroying everything in its path.

    The dark aura of the Shadowfang was engulfed by the icy shockwave, reducing it to a mere flicker amidst the storm of elemental fury.

    Mira''spanions were swept up in the aftermath, but Mira had attempted to control her Qi enough so that they wouldn''t die from it.

    "RAAAAAA!" The beast let out a pained roar, showing just how effective their attacks were.

    However, Mira knew that it wasn''t over yet. Although her technique had severely weakened the Shadowfang, it was still standing, its dark energy beginning to coalesce once again.

    But this time, they had the upper hand, and they wouldn''t let their chance slip away.

 Chapter 709 Fighting A Rank 9 Beast Part 4 (End)

    Their battle was far from over. While the Shadowfang was significantly weakened, it was beginning to recover to gather its strength once more. Its shadowy mouth was once again filling with the dark energy that had nearly killed them. At the same time, it began coalescing around its ws and tail, looking like it was about to go all out.

    However, Mira and herrades were not deterred.

    "Again!" Miramanded, the determination evident in her voice. Her body was weary, and her Qi was over half depleted, but she was far from surrendering. She channeled her remaining strength into her Scythe, the spectrum of colors radiating once again.

    Simultaneously, herpanions prepared for another round. Despite their fatigue, their eyes glinted with steely resolve, ready to face the beast once again. Their bodies screamed in protest, yet their spirits remained unbroken.

    Even though Seraphina was at her limit, she conjured her Hydrometallic Bastion once more, the radiant castle-like defense appearing around them. She gritted her teeth against the pain, herplexion deathly pale.

    Asami, drawing upon thest vestiges of her shadow Qi, prepared another [Shadowstorm Serenade]. Shadows flickered around her, whispering promises of darkness and death.

    Eden, with a determined gaze, reached deep within her Qi reserves to summon the [Hurricane Quiver] once more. Her arrows glowed with the power of the gale and the ancient trees.

    Cine and Novabined their attacks once more, [Galeforce Saber sh] and [Heavenly Sunfire Descension] dancing together, creating a cyclone of wind and fire.

    Everly''s hands sparked with the raw power of [Thunderfire Annihtion], ready to strike again. Rayna, her Double Daggers glinting ominously, prepared to unleash another [Venomfang Fury].

    The battlefield fell silent. The tension was palpable as they prepared for the beast''s next attack.

    Suddenly, the Shadowfang roared, unleashing its Dark Annihtion Beam once again. The energy distorted the air around it, the cold aura of destruction chilling them to the bone.

    "Defend!" Mira ordered. Seraphina''s Hydrometallic Bastion absorbed the impact of the dark energy. The bastion glowed brightly as it resisted the power of the Shadowfang.

    However, this time, apanying the beam, the Shadowfang disappeared before reappearing behind Seraphina. It mmed its tail and ws against the Bastion, ripping it to shreds.

    Now that her defenses were down, the Shadowfang charged forward and, with a full-powered strike, mmed its massive paw against her body, sending her flying.

    Seraphina threw up blood and was immediately knocked unconscious as her body smashed through trees, boulders, and nts, sustaining more and more injuries.

    "Seraphina!" Eden cried out, beginning to lose her cool. This battle took everything they had, yet it still seemed like it wasn''t enough.

    They had faced Mortal Shedding Realm elders before, but they weren''t nearly as strong as this beast. Granted, they ambushed them using a Suppression Array, but she didn''t think they''d necessarily lose if they all ganged up on one of them.

    However, it seemed everyone''s ignorance was about to get them all killed��

    "Dammit! Just die! Die, you fucker!" Eden yelled as she consumed even more Qi to shoot more powerful arrows.

    The Shadowfang didn''t bother dodging them. Although they kept hitting the same spot, it knew that its opponents were running out of energy quickly. Its only goal now was to finish the job.

    As the Shadowfang advanced, undeterred by their attacks, Mira realized they were in real danger. She shot a nce at Seraphina''s lifeless form, her heart aching at the sight. But there was no time for despair. She swiftly turned her attention back to the Shadowfang, her gaze hardening.

    ''Should I use my ck tail?'' Mira thought but quickly rejected it. ''I don''t know how much of my vitality it''ll consume if I use it on a beast this strong.''

    Not to mention that as she got stronger, it took more to replenish her vitality. Therefore, she''d need to almost solely focus on killing beasts of Rank 8 or higher. Any lower, and she''d have to cause mass genocide, which, while possible, would likely cause more trouble than it''s worth.

    So, unless they were all at death''s door, she''d prefer not to use it. The near future was unknown, and she wanted to be ready for any obstacles that were thrown her way.

    ''It''s not like we can''t defeat it right now...''

    She shot a nce at Seraphina''s lifeless form, her heart aching at the sight. But there was no time for despair. She swiftly turned her attention back to the Shadowfang, her gaze hardening.

    "Eden! Focus!" Mira shouted, snapping the archer out of her panic. "We need you to keep shooting. Seraphina is still alive, but we need to kill this thing! Now!"

    With the battlefield descending into chaos, thepanions rallied together, preparing for theirst stand. Theirbined resolve was palpable, filling the air with an energy so intense it made the very ground beneath them vibrate.

    In response to Mira''smand, Eden tightened her grip on her bow and released a volley of arrows, glowing with the raw power of the ancient gales, flying straight toward the beast''s eyes. The resounding twang echoed in the battlefield, and the Shadowfang''s next roar was cut short as several arrows found their mark.

    While Eden attacked from a distance, Everlyunched her [Thunderfire Cataclysm], lighting up the battlefield with a storm of electricity and fire. The explosion shook the ground and filled the air with a thunderous roar, engulfing the Shadowfang in a destructive storm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Rayna, with a grim determination, dashed in to inflict more poison. She expertly danced around the beast, her Double Daggers piercing its flesh. Every strike was calcted, aiming for the veins to ensure that the poison would spread faster. She used every bit of her Qi to try and slow it down just a little bit.

    "Sunfire Starfall!" Nova shouted, her voice ringing clear over the cacophony. The sun in the sky seemed to respond to her call, a cascade of fiery meteors raining down on the Shadowfang. Each meteor was filled with her Qi, the heat and the force of each hit working to weaken the beast.

    At the same time, Asami and Cine looked at each other and nodded.

    During their time together, they worked on developing a technique that they could use together. It was still a work in progress, but it was the best they could do with the limited Qi they had.

    They focused their Qi into theirbined technique, [Shadow Vortex]. Wind and shadow swirled together, a vortex of darkness and gale-force winds that swept across the battlefield, ensnaring the Shadowfang within its confinements.

    All the while, Mira prepared for her final attack. With the sands in the hourss on her scythe falling down, she called forth her [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration].

    Her Scythe resonated with her Intent, its glow intensifying as she channeled her Qi. The temperature around her began to drop drastically as an icy wind began to blow, carrying with it a cascade of frigid energy that began to cover the battlefield in frost.

    Mira''s eyes glowed with resolve as illusions of herself appeared around her, each wielding a scythe made of solid ice. The illusions, spearheaded by herself, surged forward, their synchronized movements echoing the fury of the elements.

    The battlefield was awash in a spectacr disy of power as the illusions assailed the Shadowfang from all directions, their devastating attacks leaving the beast struggling against thebined onught.

    "ROAAAR!" The beast''s now bloodshot eyes focused on Mira as it brutally tried to rip her and her illusions apart.

    Like trying to dig a hole in a sandbox, the beast dug out Mira''s innards, only for them to heal not long after. It was like a never-ending cycle of blood and pain, but her mind wasn''t focused on that. She just wanted to kill this damn beast as soon as possible.

    Despite the wounds umting on her body, Mira continued to direct the onught, pushing the Shadowfang back with each sessful hit. The illusions unleashed a barrage of elemental attacks, swift movements, and strategic misdirection, leaving the beast with no room to counterattack or escape.

    As she racked up hits, the sand in her hourss slowly fell, giving her hope.

    Looking around, she saw that everyone was pretty much down and out. They had canceled the [Blood Burst] techniques, run out of Qi, and were sumbing to their injuries. At this point, they were only standing out of obligation to not leave Mira alone.

    Mira didn''t give the beast a chance to charge at herpanions, keeping its focus solely on her.

    ''Since you guys gave me this chance, let me end this for everyone.'' She thought, swinging her scythe rapidly at the beast, hitting it with a myriad of elements.

    Finally, as thest grain of sand fell in the hourss on Mira''s Scythe, it was like she gained ess to a part of her she didn''t even know she had.

    ''I can see it.'' In her vision, a skull had appeared on the Shadowfang''s head. It wasn''t like this with other opponents, as the beasts usually died as soon as or before she reached this point.

    ''I can kill it�CNo, I will kill it!''

    Moving to her will, the ck runes gathered around the edge of Mira''s scythe.

    The illusions, at the peak of their unleashed might, exploded in a blinding burst of icy devastation. The explosion echoed across the battlefield, a burst of brilliant light that drowned out everything else.

    The resulting shockwave rippled through the battlefield, engulfing the Shadowfang and reducing nearby obstacles to fragments of shattered ice. In the aftermath of the explosion, the Shadowfang was left stunned and wounded, its once formidable presence now considerably diminished.

    Yet, Mira knew it was not over. The final blow was hers to deliver. Ignoring the pain that spread through her body, she dove into the fray, her Scythe held high. Channeling her remaining Qi and the death-like energy from the ck runes, she aimed for the beast''s neck, the scythe''s de shimmering with deadly intent.

    With all her might, she swung the scythe at the Shadowfang.

    For a heartbeat, there was silence.

    Then, with a sound that echoed through the battlefield, the scythe struck home. It sliced through the Shadowfang''s neck with ease that contrasted the intense struggle that had led to this moment.

    Blood spurted from the wound, staining the earth beneath it. A strangled growl escaped from its mouth as its head fell, separated from the body, rolling a few feet away.

    A hush fell upon the battlefield. The body of the Shadowfang twitched, then copsed, and the mighty beast was finally defeated.

 Chapter 710 Close Call

    The dust of the battlefield began to settle, a heavy silence enveloping the vicinity. Where the colossal Shadowfang once dominated, only its lifeless body nowy.

    Mira, panting heavily, dropped to her knees, her grip on the scythe loosening. Sweat and blood mingled on her face, her body screaming in pain from the wounds inflicted by the beast. But amidst the agony, a smile formed on her lips.

    They had done it.

    Not only had they done it, but she had also seeded in keeping the mass of energy under control. However, signs of instability were beginning to emerge, and as her strength waned, the situation deteriorated further.

    This was, by far, the most difficult battle she''s faced to date. She''s had some close calls before, but nothing like this. She really thought she might die today.

    ''It seems I''ve underestimated this world too much.'' Mira thought. ''It wasn''t that the inhabitants of this world were weak. It''s just that the strong haven''t shown themselves yet.''

    The battlefield was a mess. Trees were uprooted, boulders shattered,rge craters everywhere, and the ground scarred from the intense battle.

    One by one, herrades began to stir. Eden pushed herself up, wincing as she clutched a side wound, her once bright eyes now dull with exhaustion. Rayna and Everly sat up, grimacing in pain but relieved. Nova, supported by Cine, stood up, both of them scanning the battlefield.

    In the eerie quietness, Asami limped over to Seraphina''s unconscious form. Her face was pale, and her body was covered in injuries. Despite the intense battle, it was the sight of their fallenrade that sobered them all.

    Mira stored the Shadowfang''s body, nning to deal with itter. However, she didn''t stand up, taking this time to try and recover some of her strength, but the healing process was moving at a snail''s speed, the beast''s lingering Qi still rampaging in her body.

    Her body naturally absorbed the energy and vitality leftover in the Shadowfang''s body, but it was just a drop in the bucketpared to what she needed to heal. The [Blood Burst] technique had sucked her dry.

    Asami''s anxious voice broke the quietness, "Mira, I need help. I can''t wake Seraphina."

    Mira''s heart clenched at Asami''s words. Pushing past the pain, she forced herself to stand and quickly rushed to Seraphina''s side. She didn''t have the luxury of resting or waiting for her body to heal. There was an immediate threat to be dealt with, and she couldn''t afford to be weakened.

    As she neared Seraphina, she felt a faint pulse of energying from her. It was weak, barely perceptible, but it was there. A glimmer of hope sparked within Mira, driving away the exhaustion and pain momentarily.

    Crouching down next to Seraphina, Mira reached out a trembling hand to ce it over the fallen warrior''s chest. She closed her eyes, focusing all her senses on the faint pulse of energy, channeling the little Qi she had left into Seraphina, hoping that it would stabilize her until they returned to the Sect.

    Time seemed to slow as Mira concentrated on the threadbare life energy of Seraphina. The once vibrant warriory pale and quiet, her energy reduced to a mere flutter. Mira''s own energy was dangerously low, yet she continued to pour what she could into herpanion, her teeth gritted against the strain.

    Nova approached, her eyes filled with worry. "Mira, you can''t drain yourself too much. We don''t know what else might lurk in these parts. You''ll need to retain some strength for yourself."

    Mira nodded but didn''t break her concentration. She knew Nova was right, but she wouldn''t let Seraphina die here. Not when she basically carried most of this fight, allowing them to win.

    As the energy flowed, she felt the faint pulse within Seraphina begin to steady.

    An audible sigh of relief escaped Mira''s lips as she felt the life force within Seraphina strengthen. It was far from being healthy, but at least she wouldn''t die at any second. For now, that was all that mattered.

    "We need to get her back to the Sect," Mira finally said, her voice raspy from the effort. Her face was as pale as Seraphina''s, and she swayed slightly where she crouched. Eden quickly moved to her side, steadying her.

    "I''ll carry her," Nova offered, the worry in her eyes not reducing as she gently lifted Seraphina in her arms.

    Asami moved next to Mira, offering her a shoulder to lean on. "You''ve done enough, Mira. Let''s get back and let the healers do their work."

    Mira gave a weak nod, her strength at its limit.

    However, as she nced back at the battlefield onest time, she felt a strange sense of dread.

    She didn''t have the energy to use her Soul Sense, but she didn''t need to.

    She understood that shit was about to go from bad to really fucking bad.

    Suddenly, everyone felt the ground temple, and their hearts couldn''t help but clench, their already pale faces bing a shade whiter.

    "...Fuck me," Mira muttered, cursing her horrible luck.

    "...W-Why now?"

    "Shit..." Eden echoed Mira''s sentiment as the trembling ground grew more violent.

    The atmosphere around them took on an oppressive weight. What was once a scene of victory was turning into a precursor to another battle, a battle they were ill-prepared for.

    "Everyone, on your feet��" Mira ordered, forcing strength into her voice. The others could hear the exhaustion that tainted each word, but they followed her instructions nheless, each of them wincing as they moved their wounded bodies.

    Nova adjusted Seraphina''s unconscious form in her arms, her eyes scanning the treeline surrounding the battlefield. The others followed suit, their senses on high alert, their bodies tense.

    "...And run like hell!" Mira wrapped Asami around her tail before running to the other six and wrapping them up.

    Her bones creaked in pain, threatening to snap, and her organs felt like they were being squeezed like a rag, but she pushed through it.

    In the group, her regeneration rate was the highest, so even though she was broken, she had the most energy making her the best candidate to carry everyone.

    Although they knew that what Mira was doing was damaging her, they didn''t bother saying anything. While it sucked, they knew she was their best option right now.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "...I-I''m g-going to discharge this gravity ball��" Mira said through gritted teeth.

    Everyone turned to look at the mass of energy following them and couldn''t help but shudder. That thing was nothing more than a ball of death in their minds.

    "D-Do you think we can handle the aftermath?" Nova asked.

    "Do we have a choice?" Mira rebutted.

    "..."

    No, they didn''t.

    "Haaa��" Nova sighed before she nodded, "Our lives are in your hands, Mira."

    "Don''t miss," Eden chimed in.

    Nodding, Mira closed her eyes as she ran, concentrating her senses on the vibrations she felt through the ground. She quickly found the general direction of whatever wasing toward them.

    "Everyone, brace yourselves," she instructed, her voice tense.

    Everyone tightened their hold on each other. No words were exchanged. No assurances were given. In the face of imminent danger, their lives hung by a thread, and they knew it.

    Mira could feel her remaining Qi dwindling, the struggle of maintaining the gravity ball while carrying herpanions was pushing her beyond her limits. But they were running out of time.

    "Here goes nothing!" she muttered under her breath.

    With a massive effort, she let go of the gravity ball, discharging it toward the direction of the uing threat. The gravitational force that she had been trying to control exploded forth in a monstrous wave, crashing into the environment around them before the ball shot forth with the power none of them could''ve created.

    Trees were uprooted, rocks shattered, and the ground was ripped from thend as the gravity ball took off with extraordinary speed.

    Then the world suddenly fell silent, the calm before the storm. The trembling stopped, and all was still.

    However, tension grew, and Mira quickened her pace, trying to make it as close to the Sect as possible in case things went south.

    "..."

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    A deafening explosion roared through the quietndscape, shaking the earth violently. The force from the detonation was beyond anything they had experienced before, and the wave of energy that followed was relentless.

    Mira''s heart pounded in her chest as she used thest of her strength to push forward, maintaining a shield around them with a thinyer of her Qi.

    The shockwave hit them hard. Their bodies were thrown into the air, the momentum of the st tossing them like leaves in a storm. But Mira, despite her weakened state, managed to retain her hold on her friends, her tail acting like a shield to absorb most of the impact.

    Nova held onto Seraphina tightly, her face contorted with strain. Asami, Eden, and Everly clung to each other, their faces pale and their eyes closed tight against the fierce energy. Cine, Rayna, and Mira gritted their teeth against the force, doing their best to maintain the protectiveyer of Qi around them.

    The shield wavered, flickered, and then shattered, the st sweeping them up and tossing them around like leaves in a storm.

    Mira''s vision blurred, and her breath hitched in her throat. She could barely hold on to consciousness, the pain in her body threatening to take over. She was reaching her limit, and she knew she couldn''t hold on much longer.

    But she had to. For herpanions. For Seraphina.

    ��For herself.

    The world spun around them in a terrifying whirl of destruction. Mira gritted her teeth and focused, concentrating on the sensation of herpanions in her arms and the distant presence of the Sect. She couldn''t afford to lose consciousness now, not when they were so close.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity, theynded, crashing into the ground with a dull thud. Mira grunted as pain shot through her body, her vision going ck for a moment. She felt Nova''s grip on Seraphina tighten, her fingers digging into Mira''s arm. She could hear Asami and Eden''s sharp intakes of breath, the sound mixed with a groan from Rayna and a whimper from Everly and Cine.

    She heard several cracks within her body. Her chest was caved in, her legs were pointing in different directions, and severe injuries covered her body, but she couldn''t be bothered by that right now.

    Mira blinked her eyes open, her vision clearing after a few seconds. She found herself lying on the ground, her body feeling like it had been crushed by a mountain. She could barely move, her body was aching, and her breaths were ragged.

    But she forced herself to sit up, using her remaining strength to push against the ground.

    Without even asking if they were okay, she got on her hands and feet and began running like an animal, using more of her upper body strength since her lower body was useless.

    Mira didn''t even notice that the ground had stopped shaking. Whatever was charging at them seemed to stop after taking that st head-on.

    Fortunately, the explosion was big enough that it alerted someone from the Sect, as not a few secondster, they heard a familiar voice.

    "Damn. You girls sure look like shit."

 Chapter 711 Healing; Meeting

    Mira barely registered the voice amidst her exhaustion and pain. Everything around her was bing a blur, her senses dulling. But the voice... it was a familiar voice.

    "E-Elder Sandra��" she managed to whisper, her voice barely audible.

    "Alright, no need to talk." Elder Sandra said as she descended onto their location. Upon closer inspection, she realized that they were much worse off than she initially thought. "Let''s get you girls back to the Sect."

    She wrapped her Qi gently around them, lifting them off the ground, before turning around toward the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Giving onest look in the direction of the explosion, she shook her head and took off.

    ''I''ll ask them about what happenedter.''

    ***

    While Elder Sandra took Mira and the others away, at the site of the explosion, a massive shadow was crawling out of an evenrger crater. It was as if a meteor had descended on the earth, the destruction caused by the gravity ball turning the surroundings into a wastnd.

    This shadow had simr features to the Shadowfang, but its form wriggled in the sunlight as if it was merely a mirage. However, that was just an illusion. It was a real beast with a physical body heavier and more powerful than themon man could imagine.

    With blood dripping out of its body and onto the cracked ground, it made its way out, walking over to the nearest source of shade, where it drew energy from the surroundings and began healing.

    Suddenly, it sensed that its prey was leaving at a much faster pace than they were previously. Its eyes narrowed as it sniffed the air a few times, licking its lips in the process.

    "I''ll remember your scent, Humans. Next time, you won''t be able to escape." It mumbled before trudging off in a different direction, its body blending in with the surrounding shadows.

    ***

    Mira was barely conscious as Elder Sandra flew them back towards the Battle Maiden Sect. The world around her blurred as the Elder''s Qi kept her aloft. She clung on to consciousness by a thread, the whisper of Elder Sandra''s voice aforting balm amidst the agony.

    When they finally reached the Battle Maiden Sect, Elder Sandra did not head towards the central grounds where the majority of the disciples resided. Instead, she flew them straight towards the secluded area where the Elders lived and healed.

    "Hold on, girls," she whispered as they descended towards arge pavilion shrouded in a calming energy. This was the healing area reserved solely for the Elders and serious cases of injuries among the Sect members.

    As they touched down, other Elders who resided within the pavilion came out, their expressions grave at the sight of the injured warriors. Elder Fen, Head of the Healing Hall, known for her powerful healing abilities, was among them.

    With its vast array of medicinal herbs and healing techniques, the Hall was the best ce for treating the warriors.

    "Take them to the healing chambers." Elder Sandra ordered.

    Inside, the healing chambers were furnished with specially designed bs known to expedite recovery.

    Seraphina was ced on a healing b with Nova standing vigntly by her side. Nova''s brows furrowed deeply as she watched Elder Fen pour her Qi into Seraphina, her face solemn.

    Mira was guided to another healing b. Asami and Eden were treated nearby, their injuries less severe but still requiring attention. Cine, Rayna, and Everly were huddled together, the severity of their injuries was not as critical, but they still needed immediate attention to prevent future problems.

    The severity of their injuries revealed itself fully as they were transferred onto the bs. The color had drained from their faces, their sickly skin made more prominent on the white bs. Theyy motionless, their chests rising and falling in shallow breaths. It was an unnerving sight for the usually vibrant warriors.

    Elder Sandra, who got the story from Cine, Rayna, and Everly, was thest to leave the healing chambers, her gaze lingering on each of the injured Battle Maidens before finally exiting, her heart heavy with worry.

    Meanwhile, inside the healing chamber, Elder Fen and the others got to work. They moved with a sense of urgency but maintained their precision. Each motion was practiced and calcted, their hands glowing with healing Qi as they tended to the wounds.

    Nova never left Seraphina''s side, her hand tightly sping the unconscious girl''s. She watched Elder Fen work, her heart aching as she saw Seraphina wince in her sleep, a clear sign that she was still in pain. Yet, all she could do was stand by and give her silent support.

    Mira, despite her weakened state, didn''t allow herself to fall into unconsciousness. As the Qi coursed through her body, closing wounds and healing internal injuries, she fought to stay conscious. She didn''t know these people and had to ensure that they actually did their job correctly.

    The only person she trusted wholeheartedly to heal her body was Maria, but since she wasn''t here, Mira was stuck with these people.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Nearby, Asami and Eden grimaced in their sleep, the pain of their injuries momentarily ring up due to the healing process.

    Cine, Rayna, and Everly were seated together, their injuries tended by Elder Liara.

    As hours turned into days, the healing process continued. Slowly but surely, they started showing signs of recovery. Theirplexions improved, and the severity of their wounds lessened.

    Throughout the healing process, the Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect made sure to keep the extent of the injuries and the ongoing healing process a secret. It wouldn''t look good if, suddenly, their strongest members were brought to near-death states right after a major war.

    Aelina also visited them once, giving the Healing Hall permission to use whatever they needed to return Mira and the others back to peak condition.

    ***

    About a weekter, Mira got tired of sitting around doing nothing but eating and sleeping and decided to give Aelina a visit.

    She still wasn''t close to her peak condition, with many internal injuries, broken bones, and lost Blood Essence from the [Blood Burst] technique, but she was healthy enough to walk around.

    With the help of the Elders, she had finally gotten rid of the Shadowfang''s Qi that was rampaging in her body, which limited most of her healing capabilities.

    Mira made her way up the mountain, the path familiar beneath her feet. Despite her injuries, there was a kind of relentless determination in her step, refusing to let the limitations of her tattered body hold her back.

    As she reached the top of the mountain, she found Aelina waiting for her. The Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect was seated at a small table, a teapot and two cups arranged neatly on the tabletop. Her eyes, filled with concern and relief, watched on as Mira approached.

    "You shouldn''t be out of bed yet," Aelina chided gently, though there was a small smile ying at the corners of her mouth. She was well aware of Mira''s stubbornness, having seen it in action on numerous asions.

    "I''m fine," Mira replied coolly as she sat opposite the Sect Master.

    Aelina shook her head, still keeping a light smile on her face, "It''s okay to rest, Mira. You never know you''ll get another opportunity like this, after all."

    "I''m not made of ss," Mira countered. "Besides, I''m sick of staring at the ceiling."

    Pouring the tea with practiced grace, Aelina couldn''t help but chuckle at Mira''s obstinance. "Very well," she conceded, passing one of the cups to Mira. "Then let''s have tea and a chat."

    "You said you had a way to raise the strength of the Sect as a whole before you left. I know you aren''t the type to joke around. So, how do you suppose we do that?"

    Mira nodded, liking how Aelina went straight to business.

    However, instead of answering her question, she took out a beast''s corpse and dropped it next to the table.

    Aelina raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of tea, but didn''t say anything and continued watching.

    Mira kneeled beside the beast, cut into it with a dagger, and quickly extracted its Blood Essence with the help of her [Harmonic Trinity] Technique. It was a delicate process, but Mira did it with such perfection that Aelina''s eyes widened a bit.

    However, what happened next shocked her to the core.

    Mira took out a drop of Celestial Nectar and merged it with the beast''s Blood Essence. The two liquids swirled around for a bit before, eventually, the impurities from the Blood Essence were expunged, and the remaining beast Qi was dispersed.

    What was left was a pure, refined, and undiluted beast Blood Essence, ready to perfectly fuse with whoever wanted it. While Mira didn''t quite understand the implications of what she just showed, Aelina did, and to say she was shocked was an understatement.

    "Well?" Mira smirked and prodded.

    Aelina fell silent for a while before she calmed down and began thinking. Numerous scenarios shed through her mind, each one better than thest, until her lips curved into a simr smirk.

    "It seems you were right. We might have to cause a little chaos, after all."

 Chapter 712 Beast Blood Essence

    Beast Blood Essence had always been a highly coveted but equally dangerous resource in the cultivation world.

    These essences were a core part of a beast, teeming with their life force, their Qi, their unique aura, and sometimes, their will. They were the concentrated essence of the beast''s power, its potential, and all its possibilities.

    This also meant that these essences were rife with the beast''s impurities, contaminated with aspects that were wholly ipatible with the human constitution. Doing so was akin to undergoing a blood transfusion with the wrong blood type.

    Attempting to merge such an essence with oneself was a gamble that often yielded mixed results. It really all depended on the beast''s condition at the time of death, the extraction process, thepatibility, and the refinement/purity of the bloodline.

    Forcing ipatible beast Blood Essence into the human body, despite the potential power it held, was risky. The human constitution, at its core, wasn''t naturally equipped to process and purify these substances, leading to side effects that could significantly hinder one''s potential or slow down cultivation.

    In some severe cases, it could cause unrepairable damage to one''s cultivation base, the bacsh proving too much for the individual''s Qi and spiritual sense to withstand.

    However, those were just extreme circumstances. There were many ways to stabilize and maximize the effects of absorbing a beast''s Blood Essence. The best way is to find one you are whollypatible with.

    Impurities, leftover beast Qi and life force can all be dealt withter. As long as you choose a bloodline you''repatible with, the side effects will be limited and the benefits maximized, but naturally, things weren''t that simple.

    For a beginner cultivator, it wouldn''t make sense to absorb a Rank 1, 2, or 3 beast bloodline. It''ll hardly increase their strength, and their potential may even be limited because of it. However, finding and/or killing a beast of a higher rank than one''s own potential was nearly impossible for most people.

    Someone in the Foundation Realm isn''t going to go killing dragons, after all. If they were capable of that, they wouldn''t need a Dragon bloodline in the first ce.

    Everyone wanted bloodlines from high-ranked beasts with great potential, but almost nobody could get them.

    Therefore, most people don''t bother absorbing beast Blood Essences early in their cultivation journey as it simply wasn''t worth it. Unless they got lucky, it was better to look for other avenues to get stronger.

    Still, that didn''t mean that absorbing beast Blood Essences wasn''t useful. Doing so increased one''s physical strength, elemental affinity, vitality, and more, depending on the beast.

    It could even increase one''s potential!

    If someone''s body was only capable of reaching the Core Formation Realm, but they absorbed a Phoenix bloodline, it would be as if they''d undergone a metamorphosis! They could reach the peak of the Mortal Realm and beyond!

    It''s just that the risks often outweighed the benefits for most people, so they didn''t bother doing it.

    But what if there were no side effects?

    What if there were no impurities? No left-over Qi? No foreign aura?

    What if someone was able to absorb a pure, unadulterated bloodline that would seamlessly merge with themselves as if it was made for them?

    Aside from enjoying all of the advantages and none of the risks, they wouldn''t be hindered by the potential of said bloodline.

    Instead, as they increased their cultivation, they would eventually just outgrow the bloodline and move on from there. Then, as it slowly became useless, it would eliminate itself from the person''s body, allowing them to take in another, stronger bloodline.

    This would form a never-ending cycle of strength, where those doing it would always be ahead of their peers!

    That''s exactly what Mira has done.

    By merging Celestial Nectar with the Beast Blood Essence, she had purified it, eradicating the impurities and dispersing the beast Qi. The resulting essence was a highly concentrated source of pure power and life force, stripped of the beast''s aura and free of contamination.

    It was a whole new beast, so to speak. A beast Blood Essence that was not only safe to integrate but also ready to perfectly fuse with the consumer''s Qi. A potent, untamed power source that posed no risk of bacsh or long-term harm.

    Aelina, as the Sect Master, instantly recognized the profound implications of what she had just witnessed.

    She could see it now!

    A future where she herded the beasts like cattle, fattening them and their juicy bloodlines up to feed to all future generations of her Sect! With enough time, she could even carve a spot out of the Central Continent for herself, turning the Battle Maiden Sect into a supreme power that nobody dared to threaten or look down on!

    ''Ahhh~ How nice that would be~'' Aelina sighed, almost moaning in satisfaction. ''Once I obtain enough strength, I could even shove a pike up those Central Continent fogey''s puckered little assholes! A lesson in humility would do them some good. Hahaha~''

    However, in the end, dreams are dreams. She could work toward them, but they couldn''t change reality.

    And the reality is, she doubted things would be so simple. Not to mention, most of this relied on Mira being willing to help her.

    ''Technically, I can do almost everything she just did with a simr level of skill, it''ll just take me a lot longer, and it''s not really worth it for most of the disciples I take in.'' Aelina thought.

    The Battle Maiden Sect was filled with the most talented women on the continent. They had to at least have the potential to reach the Soul Transformation Realm, preferably the Mortal Shedding Realm, to join.

    Thus, only beasts with Sovereign, Mystic, or Divine Grade Bloodlines from Rank 8, 9, and 10 beasts were worthy of attention. With only the former two being realistically obtainable, but even then, it''s not like they were in unlimited supply.

    There was also the fact that the Battle Maiden Sect prided itself on breaking one''s limits. If one of the disciples absorbed a bloodline that limited their potential, it''d be akin to destroying everything they worked for.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''But this changes things.'' She believed, trying to keep her smile in check.

    "So, since it seems we''re on a simr wavelength, how often can you do something like this? What is that golden liquid? And can you teach me the method you used to do all this?" Aelina asked, getting straight to the point.

    "If I had to guess, I could do a few dozen to a few hundred bloodline purifications a day, depending on the grade. That golden liquid was Celestial Nectar." Mira paused and tilted her head as if she was considering something before she said, "As for yourst question�� Only if you give or teach me something of equivalent value."

    "Oh?" Aelina''s eyes sparkled with amusement, "And what do you think I could offer that would be equal in value?"

    With a nce, she could estimate the approximate value. With her cultivation, she could tell that whatever Mira used to extract the bloodline and merge the Celestial Nectar with it was simr in nature to her cultivation.

    Ever since Mira had sat down, she''d felt something oddly�� Harmonic about Mira''s cultivation. She couldn''t put her finger on why that was, but it was definitely amazing, even for her.

    Hearing Aelina''s question, Mira didn''t even hesitate to lift her hand and point at the Sect Master.

    "Hmm? Why are you pointing at me?"

    "Your servitude."

    "..."

    "..."

    Aelina understood what she meant by those words and turned silent, staring straight into Mira''s eyes. Mira met her gaze, not an ounce of deceit in her eyes.

    The atmosphere became tense before suddenly, Aelina broke the silence by chuckling.

    "Fufufufu~"

    To which Mira follow up with augh of her own.

    "Hahaha~"

    "Fufufufufu-Hahahaha!"

    "Hahahahaha!"

    Eventually, the two burst outughing for a while before suddenly, they stopped. Everything went quiet, the two of them still reeling in from their outbursts, until finally, one of them broke the tense silence.

    "In about half a year, the selection for this century''s Prime Disciple will begin." Aelina suddenly said, ignoring Mira''s previous ''offer''.

    "I see��" Mira nodded, "What are the conditions for winning?"

    "You''ll know in six months."

    "I bet it has something to do with the beasts," Mira said, causing Aelina''s smile to widen, but she didn''t say anything. "I suppose you intend to stir the pot a little, knowing the potential of the Celestial Nectar."

    "You could say that." Aelina nodded with a chuckle.

    Seeing that Aelina had no desire to continue talking, Mira soon lost interest in this topic and decided to move on to something else, "If that''s the case, then I think I should visit Maria sometime soon before things get busy again."

    "That little wife of yours? The one with the great healing techniques?"

    Mira nodded at Aelina''s question.

    "...I almost forgot about her." Aelina muttered, then said, "Well, that''s fine. You can leave whenever you want. In fact, why don''t you bring her back with you? I know you sent her away for her safety, but she''s wee back any time. I won''t even make her go through another Entrance Exam or anything. That''s the least I can do for you."

    "That depends on her." Mira shrugged.

    Maria leaving was less about her safety and more about her journey to find herself. If she wanted toe back, Mira would be more than happy with that decision, but if she didn''t, then so be it.

    The atmosphere became silent again, as neither of them had anything else to talk about.

    "If that''s all, then I''ll take my leave," Mira said as she got up from her chair.

    Aelina nodded silently, watching Mira begin to make her way down the mountain before she said, "Don''t die out there."

    Mira just waved and continued walking.

 Chapter 713 Vorandis

    Before Mira left to see Maria, she visited Nova and the others first, asking if they wanted to join. However, they declined, saying that they still needed time to recover.

    They were starting to catch on that Mira''s luck was absolutely horrible. If they went out in their current condition, they were afraid they might actually die this time.

    Mira nodded in understanding and left to bring Hana and Rhydian. Elenei was still out and about, getting stronger, so she didn''t bother calling for her and left the Sect soon after.

    ***

    A few minutester, Mira and Hana were sitting on Rhydian''s back, flying through the sky. Mira stared at the obsidian ring on her finger and inserted a bit of Qi into it. Immediately, she felt a pull in a certain direction.

    Maria might think that Mira had no idea where she was located, but Mira would never throw that naive little girl out into the world without some sort of tracker.

    "Rhydian, head that way," She said, pointing south.

    Rhydian nodded and shot forth, increasing her speed manifold.

    "U-Umm�� Mira?" Hana squirmed ufortably in Mira''sp, confused as to why she was even here. "Y-You didn''t have to bring me, you know? I would''ve been fine if you left me at the Sect."

    However, Mira shook her head, "You''re going to be my test subject for when I eventually go on trips with Dominique. If I can prevent a kid like you from getting killed, then I can do the same for Dominique."

    Hana''s face paled, and now she really wished she was back at the Sect. Even though it would''ve been boring, at least she''d be alive!

    ''Oh, Mother! Buddha! God''s above! Immortals! Anyone who can hear me! Please, bless me with good fortune! I''m not ready to die yet!'' She silently prayed, hoping for someone to grant her request.

    Mira ignored her little antics and instead closed her eyes to meditate.

    ***

    Vorandis. A city that was well-known among themonfolk for its unique atmosphere of opportunity and chaos. It was a ce renowned for allowing everyone a chance to step up in the world.

    Don''t want to join a Sect? Don''t have any backing or status? Untalented but burning with grit and ambition?

    This was the ce to be! Young and old, poor and weak, everyone was wee here�� if you can survive.

    Vorandis was located at the intersecting boundaries of numerous rival ns, families, and factions, making it an epicenter of conflicts and power struggles. Its strategic position attracted merchants and mercenaries from across the continent, promising riches and opportunities for those bold enough to take the risk.

    It was simr to a port city, where all kinds of goods, services, and people congregated, just that it instead of near water, it was near mountains.

    However, much like a port city, the ce itself had much to offer on its own.

    Vorandis was located in a unique position where the climate stayed the same year-round. Making it a great ce to grow many kinds of nts. Since it was right next to the mountains, all kinds of metals and minerals were brought into the city as well, making it a booming ce for any cultivator.

    Even the Qi density was higher than most of the continent, other than ces in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    In fact, almost every Major Sect has tried to im this location for themselves but was unable to due to the severe bacsh they received.

    This was a city for the people! A ce that was outside the Sects'' jurisdiction! Not only did their actions enrage themon people, but they also offended several Merchant Organizations, the Mercenary Association, and the major families that relied on Vorandis!

    Essentially, trying to im Vorandis was the same as going against the world. So, eventually, the major Sects just figured it wasn''t worth the effort. They would only use it to set up a branch Sect, anyways.

    Vorandis was a city without a centralized power, a living testament to anarchy yet thriving in its own chaotic way. It was a loosely tied federation of sectors, each controlled by ns, rich merchants, or independent entities with enough strength to hold their ground.

    However, calling them a "federation" and "sectors" was really putting it loosely. In reality, it was a mess. The current "rulers" would one day be reced with someone else before they were eventually reced or killed.

    Everybody was at each other''s throats, trying to obtain as much power as they could get, simr to the various powers and families surrounding the city. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, while this might be a ce of chaos for the masses, for those with a unique niche, this city was nothing more than a big fat opportunity waiting to be gobbled up.

    At the heart of Vorandis was arge, open marketce bustling with noise and activity.

    Traders advertised their wares loudly, attracting customers from all walks of life. There were weapon shops, Array and Formation shops, alchemy stores, and inns that catered to adventurers and mercenaries alike.

    Tall, imposing buildings dotted the cityscape, evidence of the wealth and power held by some of Vorandis'' more influential residents.

    Among these structures, a particr building stood out. It was a grand,vishly decorated mansion with female guards stationed at every entrance, and it was here that Maria had chosen to set up her base of operations.

    Within this anarchic cityscape, Maria had managed to establish herself after leaving the Battle Maiden Sect.

    She visited several cities during her travels but eventually settled on this one. She needed to be in a crazy ce like this to grow, but it was also the perfect ce toy her foundation.

    Thanks to Mira''s generous resources and her own abilities, Maria carved out a domain of influence in Vorandis'' tumultuous scene.

    Unlike the rest of the city, that was loud and rambunctious, her home was quiet and peaceful.

    Hundreds of people lined up around her mansion, but many didn''t even dare to peep. This was the one ce in the entire city that nobody dared to mess with. Not necessarily because of the owner''s strength but because of what she offered.

    "Do you think we''ll get to see the Saintess today?" Someone whispered to the person in front of them, whose body was covered in severe wounds, much like many of the others.

    "...I hope so. I don''t think I''ll be able to survive much longer with these wounds."

    The man who asked the question gasped softly, "If they''re so bad, why don''t you go buy a healing pill?!"

    The severely injured man looked back at the person and stared at him as if he was mentally retarded, "Are you fucking with me?! Do you seriously not know? I''ll have to chop off an arm and a leg just to be able to afford ONE of them from those shitty alchemists! I''ll be worse off than I am now if I visit those greedy bastards! The Saintess, on the other hand�� Haa�� Well, she truly lives up to her title."

    "...I understand." The man shut up and went back to his spot in line.

    While their situations might be different, everyone came here for one purpose, and one purpose only: to see the Saintess.

    Not only was she gorgeous, but she was an extremely nice person who offered wonderful healing services. In fact, she didn''t just heal the body; for the right price, she would even help heal people''s minds.

    Vorandis was a stressful ce to live, and many people needed a ce to vent. While they could go to a brothel to release their physical needs, no ce in the city could take care of their mental ones.

    However, the Saintess offered that service! And for a rtively low price, too.

    The people who visited her often found that they were growing stronger at faster rates than before. Hell, even their minds were clearer and their personal lives more fulfilling!

    As the cheery on top, the Saintess didn''t only ept Spirit Stones. Information, rare items, various resources�� As long as it was equivalent to what she was charging, they could pay in anything.

    There was a minimum fee just to get in the door, but for what she was offering, it was more than worth it.

    Not long ago, she also began expanding in other areas as well. Weapons, Armor, Talismans, Arrays, warriors-for-hire�� She started dipping her toes into these areas, and with her growing, loyal customer base, it quickly expanded.

    Because this ce was like an oasis in a desert filled with blood-hungry maniacs, nobody wanted to cause trouble here, lest they be banned from her services.

    About a minuteter, after more people lined up outside the gates of the building, the front doors flung wide open, and a goddess-like blonde beauty came out with a gentle smile.

    "Good morning, everyone, and wee to The Sanctum! Please,e on in." She said with a radiant smile that seemed to set everyone''s hearts at ease.

 Chapter 714 Spotted

    From the moment Maria stepped onto the grand entrance of The Sanctum, the atmosphere around the mansion changed. The crowd fell silent, their eyes glued to the divine figure standing before them. Her blonde hair glistened under the sun, and her radiant smile broughtfort to all who witnessed it.

    With a wave of her hand, the crowd began to move forward in an orderly manner. Despite their number, there were no signs of chaos or unrest. It was as if Maria''s mere presence ensured harmony and order in her vicinity.

    As the injured and distressed individuals entered the mansion, they were met by the trained staff, that were all Mira''s subordinates. They sorted the people out between those who needed urgent care, those with less severe injuries, and the people who didn''te here to get treated but instead wanted to shop.

    The people with non-life-threatening injuries were treated by Maria''s subordinates. Among the people Mira had gathered, there were numerous who had an affinity for light or water, so they were able to take charge here.

    Of course, people could pay extra to see Maria even if they didn''t need to see her, but most people just wanted to be healed.

    Now, the ones with life-threatening injuries were brought outside a clean, white room where Maria was sitting with a light smile. Her subordinate brought them in one at a time, giving them enough privacy for Maria to examine her patients with her Soul Sense and treat them with the [Tranedent Restoration] technique.

    This went on for about an hour before Maria finished up today''s batch of wounded.

    Mornings were always the busiest for her, but there were always a few cases of people barging in throughout the day, needing immediate care that she had to tend to.

    However, she didn''t mind. Rather, it was those people she saved that provided the mostpensation. They were a big reason why she got to where she was today.

    While her staff attended to the customers, Maria retreated to her private office, a ce that was more of a sanctuary than an office. As she settled down in the luxurious chair behind herrge wooden desk, she sighed.

    Despite the thrill of being able to help so many people, running such a massive establishment was tiring. But Maria knew it was necessary.

    She had to be able to do at least this much if she wanted to stand beside Mira.

    "Sigh�� I miss her." She rested her cheek against her hand and muttered out loud. "Speaking of Mira, I heard she''s be rather famoustely. That''s both surprising and not at the same time." She chuckled.

    She''d gotten word that the Battle Maiden Sect hadpletely destroyed the Crimson yer Sect, her target of revenge. At first, she wasn''t sure what to feel.

    Anger? Sadness? Joy? She wasn''t sure.

    But, after everything set in, she just felt empty. Reality had set in almost as if to remind her that her parents were nevering back.

    From the beginning, she figured something like this might happen.

    Obviously, she didn''t think it would happen so fast, but she knew that someone else would get rid of them way before she did. To a certain extent, she was d it happened like this; at the hands of someone else.

    She wasn''t the type of person to gain any sort of satisfaction from killing someone, even if it was her enemy. More than anything, deep down, she just wanted to move on.

    Her parents'' killers were six feet under, and her�� wife was the one who put them there.

    ''Hehe~ Wife~ That''s right! That badass woman is my wife!'' She giggled, thinking about Mira''s sharp, piercing eyes. Her tall, muscr body. Those soft, fluffy tails. That dominant aura.

    Mm~ How she missed it~!

    After a few minutes of dwelling in her thoughts, Maria straightened up, and her eyes hardened. "Enough messing around, Maria. There''s still so much more to do."

    Taking a deep breath, she shifted her focus to the stack of papers on her desk. It consisted of messages, reports, and requests, each one needing her attention and approval.

    She needed to attend to the requests for resources from the various departments of The Sanctum. The Alchemy Department needed rare herbs for their concoctions, while the Armory wanted high-quality metals for weapon forging. And not to mention the daily operations and upkeep of the mansion, which was no small matter itself.

    It was a tremendous workload, but she knew she couldn''t afford to ck off. Each decision she made and every approval she signed affected the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

    As she started to sift through the pile, a knock on the door diverted her attention.

    "Come in," Maria called out without taking her eyes off the papers.

    The door creaked open, and a figure entered. It was one of her trusted assistants, Lina, a slim woman with bright red hair and emerald green eyes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Lady Maria, I thought you might need this." Lina ced a steaming cup of herbal tea on the desk before stepping back.

    "Thank you, Lina." Maria offered her a warm smile and took a sip. The hot, refreshing taste of the tea was a soothing relief.

    Lina nodded and took a step back before speaking, "Lady Maria, there''s something else��"

    Maria looked up, her brows furrowed, "What is it?"

    Lina seemed a bit hesitant to speak, but after Maria urged her again, she opened her lips.

    "We''ve received reports of sightings about a giant golden wolf heading south."

    Maria''s heart skipped a beat, and she immediately had a feeling that something good would soon happen. However, not wanting to get her hopes up, she motioned for Lina to continue.

    "From what we gathered, it seems this creature is heading straight for Vorandis. We''ve even heard people saying they saw someone sitting on it, but those reports are unconfirmed."

    Maria put down whatever she was doing and stood up, a huge grin stered on her face. Seeing that, Lina knew what she was thinking, but she still asked, "...Lady Maria, do you think that-?"

    "That the wolf is Rhydian, and the person on it is Mira?" Maria interrupted and asked, to which Lina nodded.

    "I think it''s very likely," Maria affirmed, her grin widening as she sat back down.

    Lina was a bit confused and also worried about how calm Maria was but didn''tment on it. Instead, she asked, "Do you want us to continue monitoring it?"

    However, contrary to what she thought would happen, Maria shook her head.

    "No need. If Mira really ising here, we should hear amotion out in the city within the next day or so."

    Lina nodded in understanding. She stood in the room for a moment, waiting for Maria to say anything else before she bowed and left. But on her way out, she heard Maria''s voice say, "Ah! And don''t tell anyone else about this! We don''t want the ce to go up in a frenzy!"

    "Yes, Ma''am!"

    Now all alone in her office, Maria leaned back in her chair and started chuckling with a massive smile.

    ***

    Mira, Hana, and Rhydian were nearing Vorandis, the city that was a spectacle of vibrant life and relentlesspetition. The closer they got, the stronger the pull on Mira''s obsidian ring became. "We''re almost there," Mira said, her gaze focused on the sprawling city below.

    As they descended toward the city, Hana couldn''t help but feel overwhelmed by the imposing sight. The massive cityscape, full of bustling markets and tall structures, was a stark contrast to the quiet life she had known within the Sect.

    ''A-Are we going to be okay here? They won''t decide to try and kill Mira, right? We won''t have to ughter a city, right?'' Hana felt like chewing on her fingernails due to the anxiety washing over her, but she couldn''t as she was still in Mira''sp.

    Now that they had gotten close to the city, she could smell trouble from a mile away! And from her experience, Mira and trouble don''t mix well.

    Rhydiannded just outside the city''s entrance, her presence drawing the attention of onlookers. Ignoring the curious nces, Mira jumped off and helped Hana dismount. "Stay close," she instructed the young girl before they made their way into the bustling city.

    Almost immediately, a few men who were camping outside the city walls came walking up to her with nefarious smiles on their faces.

    However, Mira wasn''t in the mood for any shenanigans right now. She didn''t want some randoms killing her mood.

    With a wave of her hand, she encased them in a block of ice before she clenched her fist, shattering it.

    The men''s bodies, now nothing more than tiny ice fragments, drifted along with the wind, never to be seen again. All the while, Mira strode into the city, ignoring the terrified looks of the witnesses and not paying the fee.

 Chapter 715 Soft

    Stepping into Vorandis, the energy of the city was almost palpable. The atmosphere was lively, but there was an unmistakable tension in the air giving life to the city in a way Hana had never experienced. She clung onto Mira, her eyes wide and full of awe, trying to take in everything at once.

    Mira, on the other hand, remained unfazed. She strode forward with confidence, her eyes scanning the buildings, people, and the surroundings. There was a clear, unmissable destination in her mind, and she intended to get there as soon as possible.

    Despite their startling entrance, most people in the city seemed unbothered by Mira''s presence after a few minutes. Mira was just another powerful individual who hade to seek refuge, fame, fortune, or power within the walls of Vorandis. The city was no stranger to such disys of strength; it was part of its lifeblood.

    However, those who had seen her before or heard rumors about her thought differently.

    "Hey. Isn''t that Mira from the Battle Maiden Sect?"

    "I think so, but what is she doing here?"

    "Doesn''t she know that this is neutral territory? She can''t just walk in here like she owns the ce!"

    "Tsk. Just let her be. Those major Sect disciples are always so arrogant when they first arrive. She''ll learn soon enough that things work a little differently here."

    "I-I don''t know about that. I heard rumors that she could take down an army by herself. I think it''d be in everyone''s best interest if we left her alone."

    "Tch. Coward."

    "Fuckin'' dickhead. Don''t even think about doing business with me in the future."

    "Me too!"

    Mira felt hundreds of eyes piercing into her like a storm of swords, but she wasn''t bothered by them. As long as they kept their distance, she wouldn''t take action.

    Unfortunately, not everyone thought with their upper heads.

    As the murmurs grew louder, a group of men, noticeably bigger and tougher-looking than the rest, emerged from a corner tavern.

    They were the city guards tasked with keeping the peace and order in the city, especially against disruptive outsiders.

    However, they were mostly seen as a bunch of thugs who threw their weight around. They were different from actual city guards in that they were less disciplined and morewless.

    The leader of the group, a bulky man with a scar running down his face, licked his lips and called out to Mira, "You, stop right there!"

    Mira stopped in her tracks, slowly turning her gaze toward them.

    Hana, who was still clinging onto Mira, couldn''t help but feel nervous. Those men looked quite strong. Although she knew Mira wasn''t weak if a fight really broke out between them, wouldn''t she die in an instant?

    The man sneered again, "What''s the rush, littledy? Trying to show off your strength by making a grand entrance, huh?"

    Mira shrugged nonchntly, "I''m just passing through."

    The leader snorted, "Passing through or not, you need to learn some manners. This is Vorandis. We don''t tolerate nonsense from outsiders here."

    Unfazed by his words, Mira''s eyes shifted toward the city''s center. "That so?" she said, her tone carrying a hint of irritation. The obsidian ring was pulling her in a specific direction, and she didn''t want to waste any more time here. Her Qi began to circte, preparing to wipe out this bug so she could be on her way.

    Seeing her disregard, the guard''s face darkened, and he was about to retort when a voice echoed through the crowd, interrupting their standoff.

    "Enough, Norrick," the voice said with authority, drawing every eye in the vicinity. A man emerged from the crowd, dressed in a cloak with the emblem of the city of Vorandis embroidered on it. It was Eldric, a trusted subordinate of this District''s ruler.

    Norrick, the leader of the city guards, sneered at the sight of Eldric. "You''re interfering again,ckey," he said in a gruff voice.

    Eldric, however, remained unphased. He gave a nonchnt shrug, saying, "I prefer to call it ''maintaining peace.'' We don''t need a brawl in the middle of the city, Norrick."

    Mira watched the interaction between the two men, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. It was evident that there was a power struggle in Vorandis, and it wasn''t something she wanted to get involved with.

    Norrick grunted in reply but didn''t say anything more. Eldric then turned to Mira, a polite smile on his face. "Wee to Vorandis, Miss...?"

    "Mira," she answered, her gaze assessing the Mayor. "I''m just here to visit."

    "I see," Eldric said, his eyes twinkling with curiosity. "Well, I hope you find what you''re looking for, Mira. But remember, here in Vorandis, we respect each other despite our differences and ambitions. If you can abide by that, you''re wee to stay."

    "I have no intention of staying," Mira replied, her gaze narrowing. She was starting to get really sick of people getting in her way. Now, this man wanted her to start ''respecting'' these people? Fuck off!

    Eldric''s eyes darkened, and his cheeks twitched, but he kept a forced smile on his face.

    "Just passing through, then? Very well," Eldric said, forcing a polite nod. "We won''t hinder your path as long as you keep the peace in our city."

    Mira merely grunted in response, then turned to Hana, who was trembling beside her. She reassured her in a softer voice, "Don''t worry, we''ll be out of here soon."

    Hana nodded, still clinging onto Mira, and they began to move again.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As they walked away, Norrick spat to the side and red at Eldric. "You''re letting her off too easy. Outsiders should be taught respect."

    Eldric merely shook his head, a weary sigh escaping his lips. "You dumbass! Can''t you tell I just saved the lives of you, your men, and most of the people watching?!"

    Norrick sneered and stared at Eldric, full of disdain, "You? What did you even do other than bowing your head and letting her walk scott-free?!"

    "Haaa��" Eldric sighed again, "I should''ve just let you die." Then, he turned around, ignoring the growing smirk on Norrick''s face.

    "Tsk. Shameless bastard." Norrick clicked his tongue before turning his attention in the direction Mira walked in.

    That goddess-like face, toned body, and unapproachable aura were imnted in his mind. He licked his lips in anticipation, imagining the scene of such a woman under him, screaming in pained pleasure.

    ''You can''t escape my clutches,dy. Not in this city.''

    ***

    Back in the crowd, the whispers had begun again. It was not every day that they got to see an outsider, let alone a powerful one like Mira, openly defy the local strongmen. Some were in awe, others in fear, and a few even held a sense of admiration.

    Amongst the crowd, a young woman watched the scene unfold, her eyes wide with curiosity. Her name was Lirael, and she was known to many as the City''s Whisper - a gatherer of stories and secrets. And today, she had found her new subject.

    In her hands, she clutched a worn-out notebook and an ink quill, ready to capture this new tale - the tale of Mira, a Battle Maiden Sect disciple who came to Vorandis, a city that knew no peace.

    Meanwhile, Mira and Hana continued their journey through the city, the towering buildings casting long shadows over the streets as the sun began to set. Mira could still feel the eyes on her, but she paid them no heed. Her focus was on the obsidian ring pulsating on her finger.

    As Mira and Hana walked deeper into the city, they noticed a change in the surroundings. The city''s center, unlike the busy marketce they had traversed earlier, was a lot quieter. Grand mansions stood tall on either side of the cobblestone street, all with a simr design.

    The obsidian ring guided Mira towards one mansion that towered above the rest. Its exquisite architecture, with intricate carvings and ivy-covered walls, was a testament to its owner''s taste. A wooden sign hung above the ornate entrance, engraved with golden letters that spelled out ''The Sanctum.''

    Mira felt a sudden surge of emotion; she was finally here.

    She looked down at the obsidian ring. It was now pulsating in rhythm with her own heartbeat. This was where Maria was.

    Surprisingly, the area around the building was mostly cleared out, with a few people still lingering around. However, Mira didn''t find anything strange about it and walked right up to the mansion.

    Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a few familiar faces acting as guards, which further confirmed that Maria was here, alive and well.

    "Hana, wait here," Mira said softly. She saw the confusion on the girl''s face, but she had to do this alone.

    Before Hana could protest, Mira was already heading toward the entrance, leaving the child alone with Rhydian. The door swung open as she approached, revealing a bright and spacious interior. The air smelled of exotic herbs and incense, and the sight that weed her made her breath hitch.

    She instinctively walked in the direction of the all-too-familiar aura without anyone blocking her path.

    A few secondster, in the center of the room was Maria, tending to a patch of blooming Nightlilies. Her hair, which shimmered like a waterfall of molten gold, was pinned up elegantly, a few loose strands dancing around her face. She was wearing a simple white dress that made her look ethereal.

    Mira''s heart pounded in her chest. It felt like a few centuries had passed since shest saw Maria, even though it hadn''t even been a few years.

    Maria seemed to sense her presence and slowly turned around, her eyes bright with surprise. For a moment, she just stood there, taking in the sight of Mira.

    "Mira," she said softly, her voice a soothing melody that Mira had missed so dearly. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she rushed forward, throwing her arms around Mira.

    "Mira," she repeated, her voice muffled by Mira''s shoulder. "You''re here��"

    Mira embraced her tightly, savoring theforting warmth as Maria''s body pressed against her own. Inhaling deeply, she indulged in the delicate fragrance that emanated from Maria, reminiscent of soothingvender.

    "Maria," Mira breathed out, her voice hoarse with the weight of emotions. It felt as though time had ceased to exist, and it was just them at this moment, wrapped in each other''s embrace. She didn''t think she''d feel this way by merely seeing Maria again, but somehow, she allowed herself to be swept up in the moment.

    ''First Dominique, and now Maria�� Fuck! Am I bing soft?'' She thought in the back of her mind, but her focus remained on the woman before her.

    "Mira," Maria repeated, pulling away slightly to look at Mira. Her sapphire-blue eyes shimmered with tears. "I missed you."

    Mira''s heart clenched at the sight, but outwardly, her expression hardly changed. She gently brushed away the tears on Maria''s cheeks with her thumb. "I missed you too," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

    They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, losing themselves in each other''s eyes, neither wanting to break the moment. Eventually, Maria stepped back, still holding onto Mira''s hands.

    "Come," she said softly, her eyes shining with a new sense of determination. "Let''s talk."

    ***

    [A/N: Do you guys want any ''Mira x Maria'' lemons? If enough people really want it, maybe I''ll do one as a bonus chapter.]

 Chapter 716 [Bonus ]Pleasure (R-18)

    [A/N: Lemons ahead! Feel free to skip this chapter if you want, but I think you should still read it. ;)]

    ***

    I think these scenes The room into which Maria led Mira was dimly lit and intimate, entuated with luxurious d��cor and soothing colors.

    Closing the door behind them, Maria jumped onto Mira like a ko and grabbed her cheeks, pulling her in for a kiss, her blue eyes brimming with desire.

    Mira, taken aback for a moment, wrapped her hands around Maria''s ass and took the lead. Her eyes gleamed like a hunter who had just caught her prey, causing a dense, overwhelming pheromone to flood Maria''s senses.

    "Mmmm~" Maria moaned, snuggling closer into Mira''s embrace like a little kitty that had returned to its owner.

    Sensing the submissive surrender in Maria''s actions, a primal satisfaction stirred in Mira. She willingly indulged Maria''s forwardness, her hands gripping the woman''s waist and holding her steady. But it wasn''t long before she imed control of the situation.

    She spun around and pushed Maria''s back up against the wall, herrge body and furry tails epassing Maria, preventing her from escaping. Not that she would do such a thing.

    The kiss was passionate and brimming with emotions, their lips meshing in a silent deration of longing. Maria''s hands found purchase in Mira''s hair, pulling her in deeper. In response, Mira bit down on Maria''s lower lip, eliciting a soft gasp from the woman in her arms.

    Hearing Maria''s whimper, Mira felt a sense of satisfaction. Taking this opportunity, she slid her tongue inside Maria''s mouth, tasting the sweetness that was uniquely hers.

    They broke the kiss, their breaths heavy and intermingling. Maria, still wrapped around Mira, looked into her eyes, her own wide with anticipation and excitement.

    "Eager, aren''t we?" Mira asked in a low voice, a smirk evident on her face.

    Maria blushed and cocked her head to the side, not daring to look Mira in the eyes, but she didn''t deny it.

    She couldn''t help it! She has desires too, you know?! She''s not some abstinent monk that knew nothing of earthly pleasures!

    As the saying goes, ''distance makes the heart grow fonder''. Hearing all the stories about Mira and how she took on powerful cultivators, participated in wars, and who knows what other dangerous things, she couldn''t help but feel an�� urge.

    Seeing Mira show up, all sexy and dominant, she couldn''t hold her desires in any longer.

    She wanted to be taken. NOW!

    A low, husky chuckle left Mira''s lips as she lifted Maria slightly, carrying her over to the bed situated in the center of the room.

    The bed was covered in soft fabric, and Mira roughly tossed Maria onto it.

    "Kyaa~" Maria squealed yfully, looking back at Mira with wide, innocent eyes. It was as if she was asking, ''W-What are you going to do to me?'' with her expression.

    Mira walked toward the bed with slow, purposeful steps, her tails iling wildly. Maria''s expression ignited a sadistic lust in her, but not one to be overtaken by her emotions, she remained cool-headed.

    Standing at the edge of the bed, she crossed her arms and stared down at Maria, her intense crimson gaze causing the blonde to shiver.

    "Strip." She ordered.

    Maria''s cheeks red a deep red at Mira''smand, but she didn''t protest. Instead, she sat up slowly, keeping her eyes locked with Mira''s.

    With a deep breath, Maria reached down and started to untie her dress, her hands shaking slightly.

    As the fabric fell away, Mira''s gaze roved over Maria''s form, her crimson eyes glowing in the dim light. She watched as Maria undid her dress, revealing more and more of her skin.

    After she was left bare, Maria wasn''t sure what to do with her hands, so she covered herrge boobs with one of her arms and her crotch with the other. The intensity behind Mira''s gaze was so high that she felt it prickle her skin, making her more embarrassed.

    "...A-Are you just going to stand there and look?" She stuttered with her head down.

    Mira unknowingly smirked, showing off a pair of elongated canines.

    "Why not?" she drawled, her voice dropping to a husky purr. "After all, isn''t it only fair that I admire the beautiful woman before me?"

    Maria flushed even deeper, if possible. Her heart pounded in her chest, her nervousness amplified by Mira''s intense gaze. She squirmed under the attention, her embarrassment clear in her actions.

    Yet, at the same time, there was an underlying spark of anticipation and desire in her eyes. Mira''s dominant, sadistic streak, far from deterring Maria, only served to draw her in further.

    Mira made no move to approach the bed. Instead, she chose to remain standing at the edge, her eyes greedily drinking in Maria''s form. Her tails flicked idly behind her, an unconscious manifestation of her excitement.

    Maria, feeling both shy and excited, decided to y along. Letting her hands drop to her sides, she presented herself to Mira''s gaze.

    The sight stoked Mira''s own lust, her crimson eyes glowing with heat.

    "Good girl," Mira praised, her voice carrying a note of satisfaction. "Now, turn around."

    Maria did as she was told, turning her back to Mira. As she did so, she felt a cold gust of air graze her bare skin, making her shiver. The anticipation was building up inside her, causing her heartbeat to increase.

    Mira, watching Maria''s reactions, felt her satisfaction grow. The way Maria yielded to her, the way she obeyed hermands, stirred something deep within her. It was a thrill, a sense of power that was intoxicating.

    "Stay like that," Mira instructed, her voice firm. She stepped forward, finally closing the distance between them.

    Maria tensed as she felt Mira''s presence behind her. She didn''t dare move, her body frozen in ce as she waited for Mira''s next move.

    And then, she felt it. Mira''s hands, cool and firm, began to glide over her body. They moved confidently, tracing the curves of her waist, the slope of her back, and the swell of her hips.

    "Mmm~" A gasp slipped past Maria''s lips at the intimate touch, her body instinctively arching into Mira''s hands.

    Mira took her time, exploring every inch of Maria''s body with her hands. She could hear Maria''s soft gasps and sighs, feel her body trembling under her touch. It was a heady feeling, one that only made Mira more eager to continue.

    Slowly, tantalizingly slow, Mira''s hands traveled lower, tracing a path that left Maria shivering in anticipation.

    Then, without warning, Mira plunged her long middle finger inside Maria''s soaked honeypot.

    "OH~ MMMm~" Maria moaned, but Mira grabbed her chin and shoved her tongue inside her mouth, silencing the blonde beauty.

    Mira''s finger explored the depths of Maria''s cave, searching for all her sensitive spots.

    Meanwhile, Maria moaned inside her mouth and squirmed in pleasure under Mira''s heavy body.

    A few of Mira''s tails coiled around Maria''s limbs, locking her in ce.

    Not longer than a few minutes, the sounds of squelching resounded throughout the room, and Maria''s moans became more fervent.

    Mira sped up the pace, understanding that Maria was about to climax. Suddenly, Mira massaged a slightly rougher part in Maria''s cave, causing Maria to arch her back, tense up, and gasp.

    "MMMMPH~~" She tried to move her mouth away from Mira''s to scream in pleasure, but Mira''s grip remained firm.

    Then, to add to the already powerful orgasm, Mira sent a tiny bolt of Yin Lightning along Maria''s wet folds.

    Maria''s eyes rolled back in her head, and she passed out for a moment. Her honeypot released continuous streams of fluid as Mira finally stopped her assault.

    Releasing her mouth and body, Mira flipped Maria onto her back, preparing her for the next round. However, the blonde beauty justid there, gasping for air as she came down from her sex-induced high.

    "T-That�� That was amazing." Maria muttered breathlessly. Then, with what little strength she had left in her body, she stared at Mira, but whatever she was going to say next got caught in her throat.

    At some point, Mira had also stripped, showing her perfect body. Except, this time, it wasn''t so perfect. There were dozens if not hundreds, of scars all over her body that still hadn''t healed from herst battle.

    Although such a thing should''ve alerted Maria that Mira was badly injured not long ago, she couldn''t help but drool at the sight.

    Admittedly, all those scars only made her more aroused.

    Her gaze roamed all over Mira''s body before it eventuallynded on her pure, untouched flower. She reached her hand out to touch it, wanting to be the first and only person inside it, but a firm hand stopped her before she could do that.

    "What are you doing?" Mira asked sternly.

    Maria flinched at Mira''s tone but still managed to say, "S-Since you gave me so much pleasure, I�� I just thought I could do the same for you."

    "Hmm?" Mira hummed, then chuckled. "You should worry about yourself more, little bunny. That was just an appetizer."

    "B-But-EEP!"

    Maria wanted to say something, but before she could, Mira''s head fell onto her chest, her canines nipping her breasts. Leaving behind bite marks and hickeys, Mira''s mouth explored every inch of skin as if to mark Maria as hers.

    "Time for round two," Mira said while lifting Maria''s hips up, her tongue diving deep into her forbidden cave.

    "Ahhnn~"

    ***

    The two kept at their intense mating sessions for hours. The rest of the day, and even well into the night, Maria''s moans and screams echoed throughout the room as Mira dominated her mind and body, forcing her into absolute submission.

    At some point, Mira even used her charm tail to increase the potency of the pleasure Maria felt.

    She went all out today, not holding anything back. It wasn''t until Maria passed out from exhaustion, falling asleep, did Mira finally stop.

    However, through it all, there was one thing that bothered Maria. It was the fact that Mira didn''t allow herself to be pleasured. Any attempts to do so were soon followed by an even more intense love-making session, forcing Maria to forget all about it.

    ***

    [A/N: I''m not used to writing this sort of content. It feels weird for me to write stuff like this. As ironic as it is, I actually want these scenes to be more ''wholesome'' than anything and not quite so explicit. To me, it actually suits Mira''s character better, despite most of the story being quite graphic. Let me know your thoughts. I''m not used to these sorts of scenes, so I''m sure there are things I could improve on, but right now, I''m satisfied with the way this chapter turned out.

    Thanks for the support!]

 Chapter 717 Bath Time Healing

    The next morning, Mira woke up, still naked from the night before and covered in Maria''s fluids. Feeling a weight on her side, she nced over and saw the cause of the mess snuggled against her shoulder and tails.

    A slight smile crept on Mira''s face, proud to be the one who put Maria in that state. Her smile grew when she finally sensed Maria''s cultivation, which was at the 4th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    ''It seems she''s doing quite well here.'' Mira thought. It wasn''t quite as fast as hers, but Maria also wasn''t absorbing the Qi and vitality of those she killed. Without plenty of resources and talent, she never would''vee this far this fast.

    Looking around thevish room and remembering the sight of not just this mansion but several others that also seemed to be part of ''The Sanctum'', she figured that maybe Maria was doing more than just "quite well".

    Sending out her Soul Sense, Mira examined the cultivation levels of all her subordinates, as well as checking up on Hana and Rhydian, who were asleep in a different room.

    After a quick scan, she was even more surprised than before.

    ''She managed to bring them all to the Core Formation Realm, with some in the Nascent Soul Realm. They also all formed unique cores from the recipes I provided. I guess having Maria take them with her was the right decision.'' Mira nodded inwardly.

    At the same time, there was a faint killing intent surrounding all the women, evidence that they weren''t here, justzing around.

    ''Good. In a few years, I''ll be able to start sending them on missions.'' Once again, she was satisfied with her decision.

    As odd as it sounds, she didn''t think they''d be able to grow as fast in the Battle Maiden Sect as they were here. There were a bunch of them, and having to provide for all of them would get increasingly costly.

    It was incredibly inefficient to use a Sect''s resources to create your own faction. They''d have to spend all day, every day, doing missions. Thus, they wouldn''t have time to cultivate, expand their knowledge, learn new techniques, or try out various professions.

    What they needed just to form their cores was already expensive. Mira didn''t want to imagine how costly it''d be for everything else.

    Although they''d be missing out on some exclusive knowledge and mentors, Mira felt that the trade-off was fair since they got to create their own force, make their own money, and grow on their own terms.

    ''I probably would''ve followed them too if Aelina and I weren''t sopatible.''

    Mira''s thoughts were cut short when she felt Maria stir, groaning as her eyes fluttered open.

    "...M-Mira?" She asked groggily.

    "Yeah?"

    "...P-Please carry me to the bath."

    Mira''s lips twitched, but she nodded nheless.

    "You did make a messst night. I think you got the wrong affinity. Instead of light, it should be water!"

    Maria blushed, her consciousness fully returning to her now that Mira said those words.

    "T-That! That''s only because you went all crazy! How was I supposed to know you''d go so far as to charm me?! I nearly lost my mind!" She eximed, trying to push all the me onto Mira instead of her own horniness.

    Mira shrugged with a slight smirk, "All I did was amplify your desire for me. The rest was all you."

    Maria couldn''t find the words to refute her, so she yfully hit Mira on the chest with a cute pout on her face instead.

    Mira shook her head at her antics before she picked Maria up in a princess carry and brought her to a massive bathroom. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Putting her in therge bathtub, Mira turned on the hot water, and it wasn''t long before it was filled up. Feeling her sore pelvic muscles loosen up, Maria sunk into the tub before she turned to Mira.

    "Want to join?" Maria asked.

    Mira was about to refuse so she could go take a look around the mansion, but Maria added, "I''ll take a look at your injuries. Seeing as they''re still there, they must''ve been pretty bad."

    Mira didn''t have a reason to decline the offer, so she nodded and hopped in the bath with Maria.

    Maria shifted closer to Mira once she settled into the bath, her eyes growing serious. "Let''s see those injuries," she said softly.

    As Maria''s light element Qi gently probed Mira''s body, a frown marred her beautiful features. The extent of Mira''s injuries, both internal and external, were far more severe than she had initially thought.

    "Mira, these are... intense," Maria murmured. "You must have fought quite the opponent."

    A chuckle escaped Mira''s lips, though it was devoid of any real humor. "You could say that," she said, the memory of the battle with the Shadowfang returning to her mind.

    Maria''s frown deepened as she focused on her [Transcendent Restoration] technique. A soothing light flowed from her hands, immersing Mira''s body. It was a serene feeling, the light mending Mira''s injuries, easing the rips, tears, and breaks that lingered in her muscles, organs, and bones.

    "Mira," Maria finally said, breaking the silence. "Can you tell me what happened?"

    Mira nodded, then began telling her a bit about the fight with the Shadowfang. Afterward, she moved on to other things. She talked about her battles, the opponents she had faced, and the people she had met. Everything of importance.

    Maria listened quietly, her heart aching for the woman she loved. Mira had always been strong, always been a warrior, but the trials she had faced were beyond anything Maria had imagined.

    Yet, through it all, Mira remained strong, like a rock that could weather any storms. Her willpower never wavered, and her determination never faltered. It made Maria''s heart swell with pride and love for the woman.

    It was in times like these when she realized how truly lucky she was to be so intimate with Mira.

    They remained in the bathtub, lost in their conversation and the soothing sensation of the warm water around them. It was a rare moment of tranquility amidst their chaotic lives, a moment they both cherished.

    After what felt like hours, Maria finally ended the healing session. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the improvement in Mira''s condition.

    "I think that''s enough for now," Maria said, giving Mira a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

    Mira tested her body, feeling the difference from before. "Much better," she admitted.

    Maria''s smile widened at Mira''s words, her heart filling with warmth. "You''re wee." She winked. "And now, I think it''s time I showed you around."

    Mira raised an eyebrow at Maria''s excited tone. "Show me around?"

    Maria nodded eagerly. "I''ve been very busy training to be the best wife I can possibly be! So, now that you''re here, I have to show off my progress a little!" She chuckled, excited at the thought of giving Mira a tour.

    Seeing Maria''s enthusiastic expression, Mira couldn''t help but release a slight smile. She was eager to see all that Maria had aplished in her absence.

    And so, after drying off and dressing, Maria led Mira out of the bathroom, her hand firmly in Mira''s. As soon as they made their way to the main lobby, Mira could already see the fruits of Maria''sbor, the sess she had built for herself.

    The ce was already so crowded this early in the morning!

 Chapter 718 The Sanctum

    The main lobby of ''The Sanctum'' was bustling with people, their chatter and whispers filling the room. Merchants, cultivators, and even some nobles moved about, each engrossed in their own dealings. The sight of it all left Mira feeling a mixture of surprise and admiration.

    Maria, holding her hand tightly, beamed with a sense of pride and aplishment. "Wee to the heart of the Sanctum," she said, gesturing at the grandeur surrounding them.

    Mira surveyed the scene, her eyes examining the expansive hall. She took in the architectural beauty of the building, the sheer grandeur of it was hard to ignore. From the gleaming marble floors to the intricate murals adorning the ceiling.

    Maria''s eyes shone as she led Mira past the bustling lobby and into the maze of interconnected buildings that formed the core of the Sanctum. The pair entered a vast room filled withrge and intricate arrays and formations, each flickering with a gentle aura.

    "This is where our array masters and formation experts work and train. They are responsible for maintaining and improving the defensive and offensive arrays around the Sanctum while also creating ones we can sell," Maria exined. "There''s a huge demand for portable Arrays andrge Formations in this city due to the constant conflict in and around this location. I''ve barely dipped my toes into the market, but other than pills and my healing donations, it''s bringing in the most ie."

    The next building was filled with the rhythmic ng of metal striking metal. cksmiths worked diligently, crafting high-quality weapons and armor. The bright sparks and the intense heat spoke volumes of the effort and skill that went into the process.

    As they moved from one building to another, Mira was astounded by the depth and breadth of the resources and knowledge Maria had umted. Each area was a testament to Maria''smitment to growth and learning - not just for herself but for everyone who was a part of the Sanctum.

    "The Sanctum is not just a healing hub, Mira," Maria said as they entered a spacious building filled with resources, potions, and medicinal nts. "It''s a ce where everyone has a chance to grow, to learn new skills, and to better themselves."

    "I''ve worked hard to build a ce where people can trade, learn, and cultivate in peace," Maria exined, leading Mira towards a massive training hall. "It''s more than just a business. It''s amunity."

    From the alchemybs bustling with cultivators mixing concoctions to the vast training grounds echoing with the sounds of sparring, Mira saw themitment and hard work Maria had poured into the Sanctum.

    "The library," Maria said, leading Mira into a quiet, serene building. The room was filled with shelves upon shelves of books, scrolls, and ancient manuscripts. The air smelled of aged paper, and the quiet rustle of turning pages echoed throughout the space.

    "I''ve gathered as many different types of knowledge and resources as I could," Maria exined. "This is the heart of our knowledge."

    Finally, they visited the employment office, a bustling hub where cultivators could find work suited to their skills and qualifications. It was also a ce where Maria''s subordinates could sell their services and go on missions for whoever needed them.

    Of course, The Sanctum wasn''t the only ce to have these services. ces like the Mercenary Association, Adventurer Hall, and the various leaders in the city also sold had workers-for-hire, but Maria''s was different.

    Not only was it cheaper than most, but there were also numerous ways to reduce the price. For example, if someone paid 500 Low-Stage Spirit Stones at any of their stores, they could reduce the cost of their mission by 50%. Pay 1 Mid-Stage Spirit Stone, and they''d be able to hire someone for free.

    There were also other discounts that many people took advantage of. One of them was if they rmended 10 people to their shop, and they paid a certain amount of Spirit Stones each, that person would get a discount on any purchase at the Sanctum.

    People could also pay for weekly, monthly, and yearly memberships that offered varying degrees of benefits.

    Since Maria always kept the quality of her goods high, even if they were lower grades, all she needed was people to get through the door, and the profits woulde rolling in. Vorandis was a bustling market-like city where people spent money every single day, knowing that every sunrise could very well be theirst.

    If she could take advantage of the tens, if not hundreds of millions, or even billions of Spirit Stones being traded every day, what she charged hardly mattered.

    Of course, not everything was smooth sailing, especially in the beginning. Many people wanted to take her down and get rid of thepetition, but there was a reason why she started this journey as a healer.

    You can kill anyone, your boss, yourpetitor, your ex, and even those shady businessmen, but to kill the person that''s keeping you alive and healthy every day? That was no different than shooting oneself in the foot!

    Due to the number of people who now rely on Maria, all of varying strength and influence, anyone who dared to try and kill her was swiftly gotten rid of.

    Mira was speechless after listening to everything. Throughout the tour, one thing became clear to Mira - the respect and admiration the people had for Maria.

    ''Isn''t she essentially an up-anding mafia boss? Or worse, the head of a cult?''

    No wonder she said that this wasn''t a business but amunity! Businesses were transactional, but what she wanted was to create something where people would help her willingly.

    Looking at all the people buying her products and services, Mira couldn''t help but think: ''They might seem like customers on the outside, but they''re nothing more than glorified, loyal servants!''

    By the time they ended their tour in avishly decorated office �C Alicia''s, the head of the Intelligence Department, personal space �C Mira could only express her admiration.

    The office was an elegant space filled with organized chaos. Scrolls and documents were spread out on a polished oak desk, and arge map of the city and surrounding areas was pinned to one wall, marked with countless tiny symbols.

    Alicia, a sharp-eyed woman who now exuded an aura of quiet authority, greeted them with a warm smile.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "This is the nerve center of the Sanctum''s operations," Maria exined, gesturing to the room. "Alicia coordinates everything from missions to resource allocation. She also handles all intelligence-rted matters. It''s thanks to her that we''re always one step ahead, and I know what preparations to make before going into another business avenue."

    Alicia chuckled softly, a glint of pride in her eyes. "Lady Maria gives me too much credit. It''s her vision and sincere kindness that has made all this possible."

    Maria''s cheeks reddened slightly, but she didn''t deny it. However, she still had to give credit where credit was due. "We''re a team. Everyone contributes in their own way."

    Mira found herself admiring Maria even more. It was not just the impressive setup of the Sanctum that astounded her, but themunity spirit Maria had fostered.

    "It seems like you''ve really found your calling," Mira said, reminiscing about all the time she spent trying to train Maria to fight. She was always shit at it, despite all her teachings.

    So, it was because her talenty elsewhere��

    But Maria softly shook her head at Mira''s words, "Not yet. This is just the beginning. A trial, if you will."

    Seeing Mira''s puzzled expression, Maria chuckled and continued, "I know that eventually, you''ll travel to other continents. Whether that be the Central Continent or any of the others, you won''t stay on this one forever. Hell, your goal is to ascend to the Immortal Realm!"

    Mira nodded but still wasn''t sure where Maria was going with this.

    "My goal with this journey is to be a wife who can stand beside you. Since you have enough strength for the both of us, I need to look into other ways to support you. One of the ways I can do that is by gathering and providing information, resources, allies, and unknown knowledge. When we eventually leave for newnds, I need to know how to integrate into society so I can provide you with everything youck. Not everything in this world can be obtained with strength, after all. My approach will help prevent you from making enemies as if your natural born talent." Maria chuckled, knowing of all the troubles Mira''s gone through because of her terrible luck and bad personality.

    Look no further than yesterday! As soon as she entered the city, she made an enemy out of one person and left a bad impression on another! When there were people around, Mira was bound to cause trouble.

    Maria wanted to prevent that as much as possible, especially if and when they reached the Immortal Realm. She won''t be able to go around killing whoever she feels like there. So, a more subtle approach would be necessary.

    They might not know what the Immortal Realm was like, but any ce where Ancient Beasts roamed freely, and god-like entities existed was bound to be extremely dangerous.

    While Mira disagreed with Maria''sst statement, she understood the message and couldn''t help feeling more and more satisfied with Maria. Anyone who was willing to go to such lengths to help their significant other was definitely a keeper.

    But she still felt the need to correct her on something.

    "I might be strong, but that doesn''t mean you can neglect your training," Mira stated, her eyes narrowing like a hawk onto Maria''s figure. The blonde squirmed under her gaze, feeling ufortable. It felt like all her secrets were being exposed.

    "I-I know! Master A has been in charge of my training and cultivation every day! I swear I haven''t been cking!" Maria managed to eke out a response, not daring to tease Mira on this subject.

    She didn''t want to die, after all.

    "Master A?" Mira muttered. A hint of killing intent shed through her eyes. Anyone who dared to make Maria call them ''master'' deserved to die! Only she could be her master!

    Then, after searching her memory, she came to a realization. "Ah! You mean, Sage A? The DEAD woman who helped your breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm?"

    Maria nodded, her forehead and back covered in cold sweat. For some reason, her instincts red, telling her that continuing this conversation would lead to disastrous consequences.

    So, instead, she tried to change the topic.

    "A-Anyways! Now that I''ve shown you the Sanctum, why don''t I show you around the city? Then, afterward, I''ll give you something that I''m sure you''ll find interesting!"

    Mira''s gaze hardened, and the urge to drag Maria to the training ground and ''test'' her assailed her mind, but she suppressed it.

    "Very well." She nodded slowly, causing Maria to nearly release a breath of relief, but before she could, Mira added, "I''ll check on your progresster."

    ''Fuck!''

    ''Fuck!''

    The same thought shed through two people''s minds.

 Chapter 719 Spies?

    The city of Vorandis was buzzing with life. Various tradesmen and cultivators flocked to the markets, while others sought sce in the city''s famous taverns.

    As they navigated the city streets, Maria gave Mira a brief overview of Vorandis''s history, culture, and the current state of affairs. She exined the role the Sanctum yed in propagating peace within the city and how it acted as a bridge between the different social sses.

    While they were out, Hana and Rhydian followed them, also wanting to explore the city.

    Suddenly, as the four were enjoying their time together, eating various foods, and looking through the different shops, Mira noticed that people seemed to be watching her. In particr, the guards stationed around the city all had their eyes on her.

    She remembered the Guard Leader she''d run into yesterday, Norrick, and his nefarious gaze and figured he was nning something. She couldn''t help but feel a little irritated that a few pests were thinking about ruining her ''vacation''.

    Maria felt the change in Mira''s attitude, put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Try to ignore them. I know the guy you fought with yesterday is annoying, but he has the backing of a District Leader. If you cause trouble with them, it''ll bring you endless trouble while you''re here."

    Mira didn''t say anything, returning to her normal neutral expression, but it was clear she didn''t take Maria''s words to heart.

    Even though she now knew that the District Leaders in this city were usually in the Mortal Shedding Realm, she didn''t care. Even if it meant sacrificing her lifespan, she wouldn''t allow herself to be looked down on by a mutt.

    Plus, she highly doubted that those old codgers would dare to mess with her. Doing that was the same as earning the ire of the Battle Maiden Sect Master. Just a few Elders from the Sect were more than enough to wipe this city off the face of the earth, much less Aelina herself.

    If they weren''t idiots, they''d let her be.

    Knowing exactly what Mira was thinking, Maria could only sigh.

    "Haaa�� Whatever. Just try to be on your best behavior."

    "They would''ve been dead if I wasn''t."

    "..."

    Ignoring Mira''s response, Maria grabbed her hand and dragged them around the city.

    However, while they were touring, it was clear Mira''s mind was elsewhere. She had forgotten about the guards not long after their discussion, but that was only the beginning of her findings.

    In this city, Mira spotted beast after beast. They were all in human form, using a device to hide their animal-like features, but they were there. Some were performing various jobs like normal humans, but from what she could tell, most were gathering knowledge or buying all kinds of things like pills, arrays, books, and more.

    ''The hell?'' Mira was a bit shocked at this.

    While beasts and humans weren''t exactly on bad terms, they most definitely weren''t on good ones. Pets like Rhydian were fine since they belonged to humans, but the others? They were more like spies than anything.

    ''Should I kill them?'' Mira contemted.

    Normally, she wouldn''t care about this city, or other people for that matter, but with Aelina''s uing ns, she felt it would be better to get rid of them so that she could sow the seeds of discord. Maybe take some of the attention away from the Battle Maiden Sect.

    ''I guess that''s my answer.'' With a twirl of her fingers, she conjured several dozen highly-condensed ice needles using all her elements, their ethereal glow shimmering in a myriad of colors before she covered them in an illusion, making it seem like nothing was there.

    "What are you doing?" Maria suddenly turned to Mira and asked with a slight frown.

    "Making my future a bit easier," Mira replied, and without waiting for Maria''s response, she flicked the needles toward all the beasts surrounding her.

    Without making so much as a noise, the needles pierced the skulls of the beasts, killing them all before she controlled them to kill more. Their bodies dropped to the ground with a thud, and whatever devices they were wearing were destroyed, revealing their beastly bodies.

    For a few seconds, Mira continued killing hundreds of beasts until there were no more within her vicinity. She could kill countless more if she spread out her Soul Sense, but because Maria told her to be careful, she decided against doing that.

    Feeling her targets'' Qi and Vitality getting absorbed into her body, Mira nodded before dissipating her needles.

    People on the streets gasped at seeing hundreds of people drop like flies, but what was even more surprising was that they were actually beasts! <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "What the-?! Beasts have infiltrated our city?! Do the Leaders know?!"

    "How''d they get in?! No, wait! How''d they hide their identities?!"

    "Fuck! Who knows how many more of them there are?!"

    "What are they looking for?! Ah! This rabbit has a book on Arrays! They''re learning how to create arrays!"

    "This one has a bunch of pills! What would these things need pills for?!"

    Just like Mira wanted, her little action sparked the beginning of discord. Who knows what sort of consequences that''ll bring to the future of the city!

    Maria''s frown deepened, watching all this happen. "Was that really necessary?" She wasn''t surprised about beasts being in the city, as she had already known this, but was more concerned about why Mira took action.

    However, the fox woman just shrugged with an indifferent expression. "Who knows? But, if a lot more die, it could probably cause a chain reaction."

    "Okay? But why would you want something like that to happen?"

    "War is the best time for those seeking opportunities," Mira replied cryptically.

    Maria understood what she was getting at but still felt like there was more to it. Mira might be a psycho, but she wouldn''t indiscriminately kill people without at least some sort of reason.

    It could be for a petty reason, but she''d still have a reason.

    Seeing that Maria was staring at her with a skeptical gaze, Mira sighed and said, "The Prime Disciplepetition ising up, and Aelina is aiming for the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. She hasn''t told me the specifics, but I''m sure you can put two and two together."

    Now, it was Maria''s turn to be stunned! She had totally forgotten about that! She didn''t care about the position since she assumed that Mira would get it. And if Mira didn''t, there was no way in hell she was.

    However, from what she knew about Aelina, as well as the little information she obtained about her past, she wasn''t bringing the Sect deeper into the mountains for a pic. They were going there to hunt, at the least.

    Mira was just thinning the crowd.

    Maria''s realization of Mira''s motives sent a chill down her spine. If the beasts were gathering information about human tactics and knowledge, and they were discovered, it would surely lead to tension between the two sides. All-out war was a bit much for a single city, but the death of hundreds, if not more, Rank 8 beasts wasn''t a small loss by any means.

    Mira didn''t reply immediately. Her cold, piercing gazended on the falling bodies of the beasts, the confusion in the city intensifying.

    After a long moment, she nodded.

    "Yes. But it''s not as simple as just attacking. If it was just that, she wouldn''t bother causing so much trouble. I''m sure there''s something she wants. Something that is only avable during this time." Mira finally spoke, her voice chillingly calm. "And these beasts here are most likely scouts. They''re keeping track of all major human faction movements and sending this information back to their ns."

    Despite her initial shock, Maria quickly regained herposure. She might not agree with Mira''s methods, but she had to admit that the fox woman had a point. Information was key in any conflict, and eliminating these spies could undoubtedly disrupt some of the beasts'' ns.

    "Hmm�� I see. But are you not worried about retaliation from the beast ns? After all, these beasts didn''te here alone," Maria asked cautiously. She knew that Mira was powerful, but even she couldn''t take on an entire n of beasts on her own.

    Mira shrugged nonchntly, her attention momentarily shifting to Hana and Rhydian, who seemed to be engrossed in a freshly roasted piece of meat from a street vendor. They were oblivious to the chaos around them.

    "I''ll cross that bridge when Ie to it," Mira stated simply.

    The two went silent after that, but a momentter, Maria pped and smiled. "Alright! Enough about that! Now that we''ve reached the end of our tour, why don''t I give your gifts?"

    Mira smiled faintly and nodded, "Sure."

    But before they could walk back toward the mansion, they heard a loud shout from the side, "Oh no, you don''t! This Miss here is going to have toe in for questioning!"

 Chapter 720 Mess

    As soon as that loud shout rang out, the bustling city of Vorandis suddenly grew silent. The crowd turned to look in the direction of the sound, their eyes filled with curiosity, apprehension, and some even with excitement.

    Standing there was none other than Norrick, the Guard Leader who had had a run-in with Mira the previous day. He was nked by several heavily armored guards, all of them with stern faces and sharp gazes.

    "Do you honestly think you can create such a scene and get away with it?" Norrick pointed directly at Mira, his face showing a mixture of anger and satisfaction. Clearly, he had been waiting for an opportunity to make a move against Mira.

    Mira stared back at Norrick, her face calm, her crimson eyes cold, but she didn''t say anything. There was no point in talking to an idiot that wouldn''t listen to her in the first ce.

    Maria immediately stepped in front of Mira, ring at Norrick, but before she could say anything, Mira held her back. She could see where this was going and didn''t want her to step down to his level.

    As the saying goes, ''Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.''

    There was no reason to drag The Sactum''s name through the mud because of this.

    "Even if I did do as you said, what can you do about it? Arrest me?" Mira scoffed as she controlled a few hairs from her Silvery tail. "If I really did kill them as you said, what''s stopping me from killing you?"

    Mira''s gaze hardened as she released a portion of her killing intent toward them. It washed over the city like an arctic gust, making even the most hardened guards shiver with dread. In the wake of her killing intent, they felt as if they had been suddenly transported into a bloody battlefield where they could do nothing but wait for death.

    Norrick flinched involuntarily under Mira''s piercing gaze and felt a shudder run down his spine as her killing intent washed over him. Even his guards, usually sturdy and immovable, shifted ufortably, their confidence wavering in the face of such a palpable threat.

    But Norrick wasn''t someone who''d be easily cowed. He was a seasoned veteran who had seen countless battles, after all. Gathering his courage, he gritted his teeth and shot back, "Don''t think that just because you have some strength, you can act recklessly! This is the city of Vorandis, not your yground."

    He then turned to his guards, raising his voice so it echoed through the eerily quiet streets, "Seize her!"

    The guards immediately sprang into action, rushing towards Mira with weapons in hand. They knew full well the power of the woman they were trying to capture, but they also knew their duty. They were the city guards, protectors of Vorandis. They couldn''t allow such a tant challenge to their authority to go unanswered.

    However, before they could reach Mira, a wall of ice erupted from the ground before them, freezing their advance. The temperature around them plummeted, making the air fog up and their breaths turn into white puffs.

    Mira, however, didn''t even spare them a nce. Instead, she looked at Norrick, her crimson eyes shimmering ominously in the freezing air. "Are you relying on that District Leader of ours? Is that why you''re so arrogant?" She asked before ncing to the side, a smirk growing on her face.

    Norrick shook, but thinking about his Boss, he grew more confident-

    "I assure you, boy. Unless he''s an idiot, he won''t make a move on me even as your screams echo throughout the city." Mira dered before she disappeared.

    Norrick felt a chill run down his spine as his instincts screamed, ''DANGER!'', but it was toote. Before he could react, hundreds of thin, nearly translucent hairs prated his skin, muscles, and bone, entering his bone marrow. Then, they exploded into millions of tiny fragments!

    "AAAAAHHHH!" He screamed in agony. The pain was simr to someone sticking a needle through his teeth but a hundred times worse. His screams became worse when he felt an evil, foreign energy enter his meridians, core, mind, and soul.

    Then, like a silent ghost, Mira reappeared behind Norrick and grabbed his neck in a vice-like grip. Now that he couldn''t escape, she sent in even more Qi into his body, weaving it through his meridians.

    "Stop crying, boy. We''re just getting started." Mira chuckled darkly. Two Earth Stakes manifested in her hands as she whispered into his ear, "Since you dared to look at me with those lustful eyes, I''ll take them first."

    "WHAT?! NO! NO! NO! PLEASE! I''M SORRY! BOSS SAVE ME!" Norrick cried out with tears unconsciously running down his cheeks when he saw the Earth Stakes in front of his face. He didn''t want to lose his eyes because of something stupid like this!

    ''Dammit! I should''ve never messed with this crazy bitch!''

    Mira ignored his cries, but just as she was about to rece Norrick''s eyes with something ''more fitting'', a grand pressure descended on her, halting her movements.

    She frowned, her legs creaking under the pressure, but thanks to the gravity training she''d just undergone, this much couldn''t make her yield.

    "I think that''s enough," A calm, slightly irritated voice came from above as a handsome man with thick brown hair and a lean frame descended onto the ground before them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    His piercing green eyes held an unfathomable depth as if they had witnessed the flow of centuries, and they were now coldly scanning the scene before him.

    It was clear that he was no ordinary man; an aura of nobility and dignity enveloped him, adding to his intimidating stature. This man was Alden, a District Leader of Vorandis.

    Alden nced over at the writhing Norrick, whose pitiful screams still echoed in the silent city. His gaze was not filled with sympathy but rather an icy disappointment.

    "Norrick," he started, his voice stern and clear, silencing Norrick''s whimpers instantly. "I''m disappointed."

    Those two words were like a ssh of cold water on a windy winter night. Norrick instantly woke up from his delusions and knew he had fucked up.

    Whatever happens today, he would not have a good ending.

    Alden then turned to Mira, his expression severe. "As for you, Mira, do you think that just because of your standing and your strength, you can do as you wish within my district?"

    He let out a sigh, massaging his temples as though the day''s events had brought him nothing but a headache. "This city is not a battlefield for you to release your killing intent. I''m going to have to ask you to stop."

    Mira just tilted her head, still retaining her grasp on the whimpering Norrick. She said nothing, but her eyes were probing as if evaluating this neer.

    "Mira," Maria whispered in a low voice, her face lined with worry. She was concerned, but she also didn''t want the situation to escte further. No deaths were caused, and although there would be some bad blood between the two, it wouldn''t be irreconcble.

    Mira shot Maria a reassuring nce before returning her attention to Alden. "And if I refuse?" She asked, her voice as cold as the icy winds of the north.

    Alden was silent for a moment before he replied, his voice calm, "Then, Mira, you will have to face the consequences."

    This time, it was Mira who remained silent. She studied Alden, her gaze piercing and sharp, before finally releasing Norrick. The guard leader crumbled to the ground, whimpering and clutching at his vited body.

    Slowly, Mira stepped back, her crimson eyes never leaving Alden. "You two owe me. Remember that." She spat, but if someone looked closely, they''d notice a scheming gleam in the depths of her eyes. Something a particr blonde beauty didn''t miss.

    ''Was this��?'' Maria thought before shaking her head. What was she thinking? How could her straightforward Mira y tricks? However, at the same time, she''d never seen Mira let an enemy go. Even if she had to die, she''d drag them down to hell with her.

    ''...I''ll have to ask her about thister.''

    With that said, she turned around and left with Maria, Rhydian, and Hana in tow, but not before sending a mentalmand to her new ve. ''Once you''re free from that man, gather your men and hunt down all the remaining beasts in the city.''

    Norrick''s eyes went nk for a second, ''...Yes, Mistress.'' Before they returned to normal.

    As the confrontation reached its climax, the previously bustling city of Vorandis was left in a state of tense quiet. The citizens, who had been watching the drama unfold from the safety of their homes, held their breaths as they waited for the standoff between Mira and Alden toe to an end.

    Seeing Mira''s retreating figure, Alden heaved a sigh of relief. He hadn''t wanted to enter into a conflict with her. With her background, if she were to die here, he could kiss his life goodbye. Nobody in this city, or any other city for that matter, would dare to step up for him if one of the Battle Maiden Sect higher-ups came knocking.

    Alden nced down at Norrick, who was still whimpering in pain on the ground. He frowned at the sight, disappointed not only in Norrick''sck of judgment but also in his inability to gather basic information about his target.

    Although he was great in many aspects, his IQ seemed to drop 100 points whenever he saw a beautiful woman.

    "I want this mess cleaned up," Alden ordered the remaining guards. He then turned to look at Norrick. "As for you, Norrick, I''ll deal with you when we get back."

    "...Understood."

    With that, Alden turned and left, his figure soon disappearing into the crowd of onlookers that had begun to disperse now that the spectacle was over.

 Chapter 721 Gifts

    In the aftermath of the altercation, the city of Vorandis was eerily quiet. The crowd was still buzzing with low whispers about the confrontation between Mira, Norrick, and Alden. Even as the spectators dispersed, the atmosphere remained tense.

    Back at the mansion, Maria couldn''t help but bring up the confrontation. "Mira, why did you let that bastard off so easily?" Maria asked, worry evident in her eyes.

    Mira, who had been calmly drinking tea that Lina had served, looked at Maria. She set her cup down and smirked, "What makes you think I let him go?"

    Seeing the confusion in Maria''s eyes, Mira sighed. "Norrick is a small fry, a simple pawn. Killing him right there wouldn''t serve any purpose other than to create more problems for us."

    "But-"

    Mira interrupted Maria before she could speak, "However, even though that''s the case, I''d never let someone like him leave with his life. But pawns like him can still be useful. That''s why, instead of taking his life, I took his freedom. Now, I won''t have to get my hands dirty to muddy the waters." Just thinking about the trouble she could cause made her smile.

    Maria was still confused about what she meant by that, but Mira had no desire to exin. The Abyssal Envement Technique she used was, even in her mind, evil. It made its targets nothing more than living puppets at the cost of her sanity.

    She didn''t think Maria needed to know that such a technique existed or that she was using it.

    Maria fell silent, trying to digest Mira''s words before she said, "I didn''t know you could be so sneaky, Mira."

    Mira shrugged her shoulders, "Seeing how sessful Aelina is, I figured I should take a page out of her book."

    That was only half-true. In any other scenario, she would''ve killed Norrick without regard for the consequences. It was only because she was here with Maria that she decided to tone it down a notch.

    "Mmhm. Well, if there''s anything Aelina''s good at, it''s ying the long game." Maria nodded, deciding to go along with it. She could tell Mira was hiding something, but since she didn''t want to say what, then it simply meant she didn''t need to know.

    ''I''m just d things ended without bloodshed.''

    "Ah!" Maria suddenly recalled something and shot up from her seat, "Now that we''re back, I can finally give you your surprises!"

    Without waiting for Mira''s answer, she turned around and ran off.

    ***

    Meanwhile, at the city guard''s headquarters, Norrick was facing the wrath of Alden. He was in a small room, only Alden and a few trusted guards present.

    *BOOM!*

    Alden kicked Norrick in the stomach, sending him crashing into the wall behind him.

    Alden looked at him with an icy re, his green eyes piercing. "Norrick, you have disappointed me. Not only did you provoke a power you couldn''t afford to provoke, but you also dragged our district into this mess."

    Norrick''s body peeled off of the cracked wall, but he kept his head low, not daring to meet Alden''s gaze. "I''m sorry, Boss."

    "Sorry isn''t going to cut it, Norrick. You''ve brought shame upon yourself, your position, and most importantly, ME." Alden''s voice was cold, devoid of any warmth or sympathy. He kicked Norrick again, this time in the time, pummeling his face into the ground.

    "In light of your actions, you are demoted to a regr guard. You''ll be confiscated of all your belongings and will not receive any pay for the next 10 years. You''ll work as a dog for me until you Is that understood?" Aldenmanded, his voice echoing in the silent room.

    Norrick didn''t dare to protest. All he could do was lower his head even further, uttering a low "Yes, Boss."

    Alden nodded, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. "Good. Now, leave. Make sure to clean up your mess and the city."

    Norrick was quick to leave, his figure resembling a defeated dog. As he exited, he couldn''t help but cast a final look at Alden. He saw Alden, the man he had once looked up to, but now, he felt a chasm separating them.

    As he left, Alden leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. Today''s events were more than he had bargained for. ''Sigh�� Why did that fool have to cause so much trouble? It would''ve been fine if it was anyone else, but why''d he have to mess with those two?''

    Not only was Maria and the Sanctum very popr among the general public and even a few of the District Leaders, but Mira was like a sleeping dragon. He''d lived a very long time ande across many people, but she was one of the very few people who seemed genuinely unafraid of death. Getting involved with someone like that, especially someone of her strength and status, would just shorten his lifespan.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Hopefully, she doesn''t stay for too long and leaves quietly.'' He closed his eyes in thought, but he had a bad premonition. Mira''s appearance was definitely some kind of omen.

    ***

    Unfortunately for Alden, his instincts proved correct.

    As soon as Norrick exited the building, his eyes zed over, and he unsheathed his sword. Sweeping his Soul Sense across the city, as Mira had ordered, he searched for signs of beast-like beings in human form.

    "Hey, Leader! How did it go? Did the Boss punish you?" Norrick''s team approached him, their inquisitive expressions revealing curiosity.

    "Indeed," Norrick affirmed, "As punishment, he has ordered us all to apany him in ridding the city of any beasts! Gather all the guards and follow me!"

    His subordinates appeared puzzled by the order, as they had never expected Alden to give such amand. Yet, they dared not question their leader. Perhaps Alden truly wished to eradicate any beast spies within their city.

    "Yes, Sir!" they saluted, prepared to carry out their leader''smand.

    "Remember what to look out for! They may wear unique pendants, emit distorted auras, and conceal their true forms through illusions. Watch for signs of panic in their eyes and distinguish their walking pattern from ours. Execute them on sight! Should we mistakenly target the wrong person, I will bear the responsibility!" Norrick issued his orders, and they saluted once more before dispersing.

    In an instant, Norrick erupted with Qi and soared through the air, heading toward his first target. His prey, a man with brown hair, had no time to react before Norrick''s de sliced through his neck.

    The ''person'' transformed into a hawk mid-fall, confusion lingering in its eyes as it failed toprehend its sudden demise.

    Without pausing for respite, Norrick pursued his next ''target''.

    Simultaneously, the other guards spread the word and initiated the same actions. They extended their Soul Sense, despite the practice being frowned upon within the city, and mercilessly struck down anyone resembling a beast.

    Though the beasts that infiltrated the city were mostly Rank 8, equivalent to the Soul Transformation Realm, they concealed their identities in human form, which weakened them significantly. Furthermore, weaker races or those unsuited forbat were the ones typically dispatched. As a result, even a team of Nascent Soul Realm guards could kill them with rtive ease.

    The city of Vorandis swiftly descended into chaos, except this time on a muchrger scale. The sudden and unanticipated assaults by the city guards upon seemingly innocent citizens shocked the popce. The sight of lifeless bodies transforming back into their original forms put an end to initial confusion but failed to alleviate fear.

    Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Maria remained blissfully unaware of the turmoil unfolding in the city. Engrossed in her search, she rummaged through her treasury, her brows furrowing in concentration.

    After several minutes of relentless searching, she finally found what she sought. Yet, she still had one more item in mind for Mira. Hurriedly, she made her way to her office, gathering a few additional things.

    Now equipped with everything, she hurried back to Mira''s side.

    "Mira, I have something for you," Maria eximed, her eyes sparkling. From her storage ring, she produced numerous items and handed them over.

    With a nce, Mira could tell that the things offered were quite precious. One item resembled a ne adorned with a precious gemstone pendant. Another appeared to be an unusual veil, far from ordinary. Thest object seemed to contain information, though its specific contents remained unknown for now, but one did look like a map.

    Maria giggled at Mira''s expression and proceeded to exin, "The first item I wanted to give you is called a Heavenly Sound Stone. By infusing your Qi into it, the stone produces heavenly sounds that calm the mind, enhance concentration, and improve Qi control. I ced it in a ne so that it could always be by your side."

    "The second item, as you can see, is a veil called the Ethereal Veil. It not only conceals your face but also diminishes your presence."

    "Thest item is a map of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, along with all the information I''ve gathered on the various Beast ns. I don''t know what information Aelina has or is willing to share, but thisption represents everything I have learned, both from my Intelligence Department and as payment for my various services. I''m confident it''ll help you in the future, especially since Aelina is nning to go against the Beast ns."

    Mira nced at Maria, then down at the items, her eyebrows raised in surprise. She hadn''t anticipated Maria acquiring such valuable items and information in such a short span of time.

    ''I guess that''s what extraordinary luck does. She could even find treasures in a pile of shit, much less this ce.''

    "Mmhm, I will make good use of them," Mira nodded, her smile slightly widening. Maria beamed with satisfaction.

 Chapter 722 Havoc

    Back at the city guard''s headquarters, Alden''s intuition continued to ring rm bells. With a heavy sigh, he tried to shake off the feelings of difort when a sudden flurry of panic outside the window made his heart skip a beat.

    A crowd had gathered in the square, pointing and gasping at the sight of Norrick and his team methodically killing innocent-looking citizens who would transform into various beasts upon their demise.

    His eyes widened in disbelief, his heart pounding in his chest. This sudden act of violence in broad daylight, executed by his own guards, was something he had never imagined.

    ''What is going on?''

    Rushing out of his office, he called out, "What the hell are you doing, Norrick?!"

    Norrick paused, a lifeless look in his eyes as he turned to Alden, "Following orders, Boss."

    Without further exnation, Norrick resumed his hunt, leaving a stunned Alden behind. This wasn''t hismand. He never ordered such a massacre. Yet, his guards were iming otherwise. The pit in his stomach grewrger, the events that unfolded too chaotic for him to wrap his head around. His mind raced to find a usible exnation.

    "Stop! Stop it now!" He yelled, amplifying his voice with Qi, causing some of the guards to stop and look up in confusion.

    However, seeing Norrick ignore Alden and continue to run around killing beasts, there were many who kept killing. No, rather, this was exactly what they were waiting for!

    The whole point of living in this city was to fight! Now that they could finally release some pent-up stress, naturally, they didn''t want to stop.

    Alden''s expression darkened, and he sent out a wave of Qi into Norrick, but the man acted like he didn''t feel anything despite his bones creaking.

    ''Just what the hell is going on?!'' Alden internally screamed.

    However, just as he was about to stop Norrick personally, the situation went from bad to worse. The beasts, knowing that their cover was blown, changed back into their original forms and went on a rampage to try and exit the city.

    This sudden turn of events shocked the city''s popce. Buildings crumbled, and the air filled with cries of terror as the powerful beasts charged through the streets, causing havoc in their wake. The city guard, initially confident in their suppression of the beasts, was now scrambling to contain the situation.

    Although most of these beasts weren''t necessarily the strongest in terms ofbat ability, they were still Rank 8 beasts back in their original form. Only talented Nascent Soul Realm or Soul Transformation Realm cultivators stood a chance.

    Alden, witnessing the chaos, made a quick decision. "All avable guards, prioritize the safety of the citizens! Evacuate everyone to the city center! Those who can fight, rally to me!"

    His voice rang out, powered by his Qi, effectively reaching every corner of the city. Alden, without wasting another second, charged towards the rampaging beasts. A determined look shed in his eyes as he drew his long sword, the ''Serpent''s Tongue'', and leaped into the fray.

    Meanwhile, Norrick and his subordinates continued their relentless pursuit of the beasts. Despite the terror and destruction, they kept executing their orders, appearing unaffected by the turmoil surrounding them. Norrick''s lifeless eyes disyed a chilling calm as he continued his bloody path.

    Back at the mansion, Maria and Mira were suddenly alerted by a sudden shift in the atmosphere. The once peaceful city was now filled with terrified screams and the violent roars of beasts.

    Maria''s face turned serious as she stood up abruptly, "What''s happening?!" she muttered, ncing outside a nearby window to see a massive bird-like beast soaring over the rooftops, leaving destruction in its wake.

    Mira also stood up, her face serious, but inwardly she was smiling. She looked at the chaos outside, then turned to Maria, "Why don''t you and the girls go down and take care of the injured? I''ll go help take care of these nuisances."

    "But-" Maria started, wanting to join the fight, only to be interrupted by Mira.

    "Think of this incident as my present for you. After this, I''m sure your reputation will soar. Isn''t this the whole reason you moved here? To learn how to take advantage of the chaos?"

    Maria couldn''t refute any of Mira''s statements and just nodded, her eyes glinting with determination.

    ''She''s right. There''s no reason for me to join this fight. With Mira joining, it''ll be over before it even begins. However, if I can leave asting impression in the hearts of the people��'' Maria grinned just thinking about it. She already made a small fortune by merely offering her healing services, but if she did it for free? And if more people can experience it?

    She can only imagine the amount of Spirit Stones she''ll make in a few months to a year''s time!

    "Alright. But be careful out there. Who knows if there''s something stronger than Rank 8." Maria nodded but still cautioned.

    Mira just smiled before she disappeared alongside Rhydian, who began hunting down her prey like she''d been starved for weeks.

    As Mira raced through the city, she could see the damage caused by the rampaging beasts. Her mind, however, was calm as she assessed the situation. ''It seems like my n worked better than expected,'' she thought to herself, a hint of a smirk tugging at her lips.

    Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of a skinny feline-like beast wreaking havoc in a market square, scattering people and stalls in its path. Mira didn''t hesitate, immediately jumping into action.

    She might as well make a name for herself while she''s here.

    With a swift surge of Qi, Mira propelled herself toward the feline beast. She leaped high into the air and descended upon it, her Qi-enhanced strike crashing down like a meteor.

    The market square echoed with the impact, causing the beast''s spine to snap. Then with a save of her hand, she sent a wind-infused ice de at its neck, chopping off its head in one go.

    After absorbing its remaining Qi and vitality, she stored it and moved on to the next beast.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Spreading out her Soul Sense, she discovered that even though the destruction was quiterge, there weren''t actually that many beasts remaining in the city.

    ''I guess I took care of most of them before all this.'' She spected. ''Though, that would make sense. Surely, the beast ns can''t spare thousands of Rank 8s into cities like these for reconnaissance. Even if they could, there''s not really a reason to.''

    Although she didn''t know the level of power these Beast ns had, she was trying to be generous, considering they had basically conquered an entire mountain range that spans longitudinally across the entire Continent.

    It didn''t take long for Mira to spot the next creature, a massive bull-like beast charging down a city street, citizens fleeing in terror from its path.

    Mira quickly maneuvered herself towards the beast, her body moving fluidly as she employed her wind-infused Qi to increase her speed. With a swift jump, shended atop the beast and drove her hand through its back, using her Qi to pierce its heart. The beast roared in agony before falling lifelessly to the ground.

    Simultaneously, Maria and the girls had started doing their part, moving through the city to tend to the injured. Maria, with her abundant healing Qi, was like an angel amidst the chaos,forting and healing the citizens in need. Word quickly spread about the ''Saintess'', and many citizens began to direct their injured towards her.

    Back at the city guard headquarters, Alden continued his attempts to regain control. But Norrick''s ruthless and unfathomable actions had left Alden feeling like he was wading through mud.

    Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed through the city. Alden turned in the direction of the sound, his eyes growing wide at the sight. An enormous serpent-like beast had emerged from beneath the city, towering over the nearby buildings. It hissed and thrashed, causing further destruction.

    Alden''s heart sank. He had never seen a beast of this size before. It was clear to him now that this was not just a random beast attack. Something was terribly wrong. He sent out a wave of Qi, desperately calling out to all the avable cultivators in the city.

    "Attention allbat-capable guards and cultivators! Rally at the city center! We have arge-scale beast to deal with!"

    While Alden coordinated the city''s defense, Mira had already sensed the emergence of the enormous beast. A smirk yed on her lips as she felt the beast''s powerful Qi.

    ''Head over toward the Rank 9 beast outside the city. Latch onto its head and blow yourself up.'' Mira sent amand to Norrick.

    ''......Yes, Mistess.''

    Upon receiving the order, Norrick''s eyes zed over momentarily before regaining focus with a more resolute look.

    Without hesitation, he turned and started heading in the direction of the monstrous serpent. Norrick''s subordinates, seeing their leader break off from their current targets and head towards therger threat, followed suit.

    Mira, feeling the shift in Norrick''s direction, couldn''t help but chuckle, ''Oh, this will be a sight to behold.''

    As the scene of chaos continued to unfold, Alden was putting his full effort into coordinating the city''s defense. Upon seeing Norrick and his group heading toward the enormous beast, his heart pounded in his chest. ''Are they insane? They''re only at the Soul Transformation Realm! How could they fight against a Rank 9 beast?'' He thought.

    The scale of the beast was enormous, towering over even the tallest buildings in the city. Its scales were a deep green, with menacing yellow eyes that seemed to flicker with an unholy light.

    Norrick and his team had reached the base of the massive serpent. Ignoring the beast''s attempts to squash them, they swiftly maneuvered around the city''s structures, using them as cover. Norrick''s eyes shed with a ruthless light as he neared the beast''s head.

    Norrick didn''t have the strength to fight against a Rank 9 beast. He was aware of it. But when he received the order, he didn''t hesitate. To him, it wasn''t a matter of life and death but rather of obedience.

    Reaching the beast, Norrick leaped into the air, summoning every bit of his Qi to enhance his jump. Seeing Norrick approaching, the beast let out an ear-shattering roar, its jaws opening to swallow him whole.

    Norrick didn''t falter. Instead, he smiled.

    And then, there was a blinding light.

    *BOOOOOOOOOM!*

    The explosion echoed throughout the city, momentarily silencing the chaos. The beast let out an agonized roar as it thrashed about, a chunk of its head missing. In the aftermath of the explosion, Norrick and his team were nowhere to be seen.

    Alden, witnessing the spectacle from afar, felt a lump in his throat. He could not believe what he had just witnessed. Norrick, his trusted subordinate, had just sacrificed himself.

    The battlefield fell into a momentary silence, shocked by the act of sacrifice. But the silence was broken as the beast, enraged and in pain, went into a rampage, thrashing wildly and causing even more destruction.

    Alden quickly collected himself and amplified his voice with Qi, "Norrick and his team have sacrificed themselves to weaken the beast! Now, let''s honor their memory by finishing the fight! All capable cultivators, kill the remaining beasts!"

    Mira, observing the scene from a rooftop, smirked as she saw the effect of her n.

    Alden took advantage of the snake''s weakened state and dove straight in at full power,yering himself and his sword in Earth Qi. The snake felt danger from above, but because half of its face was gone, it was unable to gauge the threat as well as it would''ve, giving Alden all the opening he needed.

    "Die!" He yelled. Thrusting his sword into one of its empty eye sockets, it went straight through the snake''s skull, into its brain, killing it instantly.

    After it was killed, it wasn''t long before the rest of the beasts were taken care of. A few were able to escape, but before they could get far, Rhydian intercepted them.

 Chapter 723 Meeting

    Following the dramatic turn of events, an eerie silence nketed the city. The enormous snake beasty dead on the outskirts of the city, its lifeless eye staring vacantly into the sky. A huge chunk of the district was ruined, bearing the scars of the beast''s rampage.

    Although the beast had only arrived for a few moments and didn''t even get a chance to attack, the amount of destruction it still caused was immense.

    Alden sheathed his sword, his body covered in sweat and blood. His gaze fell upon the lifeless snake beast, then shifted towards where Norrick had made hisst stand. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he registered the sacrifice his subordinate and team had made.

    However, he couldn''t help but think that this whole situation was strange now that he thought about it.

    First off, he never ordered Norrick to hunt down beasts. Secondly, the man didn''t listen even when he told him to stop.

    Lastly, Norrick wasn''t the type of man tomit suicide. If anything, he would''ve run as far away from the Rank 9 beast as possible.

    ''Strange.'' He fell into thought as the image of a 9-tailed fox woman appeared in his mind. ''Could she have something to do with it? Did she charm him?''

    Logic said no. They had only interacted for a few minutes at most, but he didn''t see any signs of Norrick being charmed.

    ''Maybe an envement technique?'' He thought, but that was even more ridiculous. From his knowledge, experience, and history records of the Battle Maiden Sect, not once have they ever enved people. Not to mention, most envement techniques are extremelyplicated, even more so when using it on someone of a higher cultivation.

    He didn''t believe she could enve someone from right under his nose in the span of a few minutes.

    Even after giving it some thought, Alden still couldn''te to a conclusion, and since things needed to be done, he pushed it to the back of his mind.

    He had to ensure the safety of his people and help start the repairs for the city. "Everyone gather around! Wounded to the center for healing! Others, assist in rescuing anyone trapped under the rubble!" he ordered, his voice echoing through the devastated city.

    Despite the chaos and destruction, the remaining guards and cultivators rallied together, assisting Maria and her team in tending to the injured.

    Through this, Maria''s title as the ''Saintess'' only became more renowned, and her name spread across the city like wildfire. Not only was she able to heal people so effortlessly, but even hidden injuries that they''d had for years were able to be cured!

    Meanwhile, Mira watched the unfolding scene from her vantage point, a pleased expression gracing her features. ''Who knew scheming would be so effective?''

    Even if the beasts didn''t retaliate and stayed silent after the ughter of many Rank 8s, she still managed to put the city on edge against them. She didn''t know what sort of consequences that''ll lead to, but she didn''t really care.

    At the very least, Maria was able to further her reputation.

    ''...No wonder Aelina has gotten sozy.'' Mira muttered. If Aelina had heard her, she definitely would''ve smacked Mira upside the head, saying that she wasn''tzy, just patient. ''Having the ability to sit back and do nothing as the world moves ording to your wishes�� How slothful. I should tell her to get off her ass and work when I get back.''

    She still very much preferred facing her problems head-on. It was much more efficient and less head-ache inducing.

    ''But, if it can help shift my troubles onto someone else, then maybe it''s a skill worth learning.'' Mira mused.

    Now that she''d finished her job, Mira disappeared from her location and headed for Maria''s mansion. She thought about trying to steal the snake''s corpse, as it''d make for a decent bloodline, but figured that was too risky.

    Alden wasn''t the only Mortal Shedding Realm expert in the city, and she was sure they were eyeing the corpse, just like everyone else. The body of a Rank 9 beast was a precious treasure for most people, after all.

    ''Speaking of treasures. I should leave Maria with a farewell gift before I leave.'' Mira thought with a slight smile.

    At the same time, the very person she was thinking about was busy healing droves of innocent civilians.

    Although the upper echelon of the city was made up of Soul Transformation and Mortal Shedding Realm experts, most of the city was filled with Foundation, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. There were even plenty of people in the Qi Condensation Realm, though they were rare.

    Nheless, due to the destruction and fame, Maria was incredibly busy. Fortunately, she had created a technique for these situations. It wasn''t nearly as effective as [Transcendent Restoration], but it got the job done.

    [Healing Aura]!

    Healing light spilled from Maria''s hands, cascading over the wounded, mending bones and sealing wounds.

    "Oh! Thank you very much, Saintess!"

    "Oh my god! The Saintess healed me! Now, I''m sure to live another 100 years!"

    "Hahahaha! The Saintess is really incredible! Now, I can go back to war! Hahaha!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Please let me be the father of your children, Sain-Urk!"

    The air hummed with gratitude and reverence for the Saintess, her title echoing from mouth to mouth, spreading across the city like wildfire.

    Maria merely smiled humbly and said, "No need for thanks. This is just what I should do as a citizen of Vorandis."

    "OHHH! As expected of the Saintess!"

    Meanwhile, Alden continued his work, coordinating the rescue and rebuilding efforts. But his mind never strayed far from Mira. The mysterious woman from the Battle Maiden Sect was more than she appeared, and he intended to look more into it.

    As the day wore on, the city began to regain some semnce of order. Maria''s reputation as the ''Saintess'' solidified as she healed thousands of injured people. The respect and admiration for her were palpable.

    After many hours of healing and going through numerous Qi Restoration pills, Maria finally took care of everyone who needed help and was able to return to the mansion alongside Rhydian and her subordinates.

    ***

    While the city was busy rebuilding, deep in the mountains, a group of beasts in human form were sitting around arge table, silent. The atmosphere was tense as they all had dark expressions.

    "I los~sst all my informants~ss in Vorandis~ss." A scaly figure with slitted eyes and a forked tongue hissed.

    "Me too." x5

    The ce became quiet again until a rabbit beast spoke up.

    "What should we do? Our casualties weren''t small! We have to make up for this loss!"

    "And how do you propose we do that? Destroy that city? What''s even the point?" A hawk beast asked.

    "He''s right." A feline beast nodded in agreement with the hawk. "Remember. Our job is not to fight but to scout, inform, and steal. If we act out, especially now, the Great ns will destroy us, not the humans!"

    "..."

    Only now did they remember that no beast n would care about their petty squabble with the humans at this time. They were too busy preparing.

    "Maybe we should prepare for the Primal Ascendence Convergence like the other ns. We can still keep a few of our scouts active, but in order to make up for this loss, we have to send our most talented cubs there." A bull-like beast said, causing the others to stare at it.

    It was the only beast here that wasn''t suited for reconnaissance. However, they had equally as important jobs. When shit hit the fan, as it did in Vorandis, they were supposed to take charge and turn everyone''s attention away from the spies and onto them. That way, they could escape and ry any important information.

    Unfortunately, it seemed that someone was prepared for a few to escape and killed them anyways.

    "Why are you all so glum? It''s not like we didn''t obtain anything from this." An owl beast in the form of a human said, "Information about the humans massacring our ns could help bring awareness to the Great ns and make them more aware of things happening around the mountains. In fact, we might be able to charge a higher price because of this!"

    The owl paused for a few seconds, then added, "This is supposed to be a secret, but I heard a Rank 9 Shadowfang was killed not long ago by a group of humans. Apparently, it was supposed to take part in the Primal Ascendence Convergence but died before it ever got the chance. Added onto this, and I''m sure the other ns will pay a premium for what we have to offer."

    "..."

    The others turned silent as they considered the owl''s words. Although they made sense on the surface, they were wary of the owl''s intentions by giving them this information.

    Out of them all, it was by far the smartest and most knowledgeable. If it wanted to trick them, it wouldn''t be difficult.

    The owl sensed this and cooed, "Don''t worry. This isn''t a scheme. I''m trying to help all of us make up for our losses so that we can all, one day, rise up in this world."

    "...Fine. We''ll listen to you. But I think we should also recall our scouts and prepare for the Convergence."

    "Agreed!" x5

    With that, the meeting between the heads of the beast ns involved ended.

 Chapter 724 Bye Vorandis

    After everything ended, the city almost immediately went back to normal. Things like this weren''t umon in Vorandis, to begin with.

    With so many hot-blooded cultivators wanting to make a name for themself centralized in a single city, things were bound to get destructive. Between Faction Wars to individual attacks, to the asional beast tide, the citizens were more than used to this.

    While all of this was going on, Mira, for the most part, kept herself holed up in Maria''s mansion. asionally, the two would go out for some fun, but Maria had many responsibilities she needed to take care of.

    However, since she had nothing better to do, she rounded up all of Maria''s subordinates (originally hers) and began training with them. She had to make sure that, even if some of them weren''tbatants, they weren''t cking off and were always getting stronger.

    Fortunately for them, they almost never missed a day of training. Added to the fact that they spent years prior fighting and killing for money, their skills hadn''t dulled since they settled down.

    Other than that, Mira spent the rest of her time learning more about other upations like Alchemy, Arrays, Formations, cksmithing, etc.

    Maria had collected and put together an extensive library on many of the upations. Combined with her subordinate''s hands-on experiences and her highprehension, Mira was able to gain a crash course in each subject fairly quickly.

    She was by no means an expert and couldn''t put any of that knowledge into practical use as of yet, but at least she wouldn''t be ignorant about these things anymore.

    Mira found herself fascinated by the intricate details that were involved in creating a simple array. It wasn''t just about drawing lines and pouring in spiritual energy but about understanding the nature and direction of the energy flow and harmonizing it with the environment, along with the items used, the environment, and many more nuances.

    However, what really fascinated her was that the lines and symbols used looked uncannily simr to her ck runes. They weren''t exactly the same, but close enough that she could notice the simrities. It was like looking at anguage that was a derivation of an older, more archaguage.

    Alchemy was another thing altogether. The process ofbining different medicinal herbs to form pills seemed more like an art than a science. The properties of each ingredient had to be understood intimately and then merged in just the right proportions at the right temperature and in the correct order. Even a minor mistake could result in a failed concoction.

    Days continued to pass as Mira immersed herself in these new pursuits. asionally, she would spar with Maria''s subordinates, which gave her a deeper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. She could now give them optimized pointers on areas they should focus on and what they shouldn''t.

    During this time, Maria continued with her duties as the city''s ''Saintess''. Not a day passed where she wasn''t sought out to heal someone or even just bless a newborn. Her fame only grew, and with it, the respect and admiration of the city''s people.

    She still wasn''t at the level of a District Leader, but that was mainly because her strength wasn''t up to par.

    But no matter how busy she was, Maria never missed her sparring sessions with Mira. Thetter always forced her to fight, to give her all in each session, and even take her to the brink of death until she copsed from exhaustion.

    Consequently, and perhaps purely coincidental or not, she was always too tired for theirte-night romp in the sheets.

    A week quickly passed by, and they had only done it that one time on the first day! Part of Maria felt like Mira was doing it on purpose!

    ***

    Now, Mira was getting ready to leave as there were some things she wanted to do before she went into seclusion to prepare for the Prime Disciplepetition.

    "Do you really have to leave so soon?" Maria asked, her eyes somewhat droopy.

    Instead of answering, Mira asked back, "Why don''t you return to the Sect with me?"

    Maria fell silent for a moment, as she fell into contemtion, before she eventually shook her head, "...As much as I want to�� I can''t-no, I shouldn''t. I still have things to do here. The Battle Maiden Sect might allow me to obtain better resources for myself, but I don''t think it''s for me."

    Mira nodded in understanding, but inwardly, she was a bit surprised at Maria''s answer.

    ''It seems she''s matured.'' Just for that reason, staying here was more than worthwhile for Maria.

    Turning to Alicia, who was standing behind Maria, Mira asked, "What about you and the girls? Do you want toe back with me?"

    "...We''ll go wherever you want us to, Mistress," Alicia bowed her head and said. Then after a moment of hesitation, she looked up and continued, "However, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we''d prefer to stay here. Watching Lady Maria grow and having the freedom for our little army to expand in power�� I don''t think there''s a better environment for us."

    "Very well."

    Mira nodded indifferently, but she didn''t care all that much about the answer. She wasn''t going to take them back even if they wanted to. Still, it was nice to know where her subordinates'' headspaces were.

    Turning back to Maria, she tossed a small jar filled with golden liquid at her. Maria quickly grabbed it, inspecting its contents, and felt something special about it, but she couldn''t quite put her finger on it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Drink that when you''re alone and in a safe space. Think of it as my farewell gift."

    "What is it?" Maria asked.

    "Something good."

    Maria nodded and hurriedly put it away, afraid that one of the District Leaders might sense it.

    After Maria had securely stowed away the mysterious golden liquid, she looked back up at Mira, her eyes reflecting a myriad of emotions. Although Mira''s usual stoic expression was firmly in ce, Maria could sense the undercurrent of reluctance within her gaze.

    "Will you be back?" Maria finally asked, breaking the tense silence between them.

    Mira''s expression softened slightly, "Whenever I''m free."

    Maria beamed, her expression rxing. That was all she could ask of Mira, but it still saddened her that they had to part again.

    "Maybe the next time we meet, I''ll be following you on your adventures," Maria said, a spark of determination lighting up in her eyes.

    "I guess you''ll have to work hard then," Mira looked down at Maria and stated without much emotion.

    She felt a little bad about treating Maria this coldly, but if Maria did want to follow her, then she needed to be up to par. As she was now�� well, Maria was definitely worthy enough of traveling with her.

    Honestly, her fight against the Shadowfang made her realize that having a dedicated healer beside her would''ve made things so much easier. Seraphina could''ve kept tanking, they could''vee up with less self-destructive strategies, and the aftermath wouldn''t have been so terrible.

    Then, add onto the fact that Maria was strong in her own right and would make for a great all-around support, she was more than worthy of traveling with her. There were no downsides to taking Maria along. She didn''t spend all that time and resources for her to sit at home!

    However, Maria and the girls still had some maturing to do, and it seemed like they enjoyed soaking in all the new knowledge and experiences this world had to offer.

    So, although Mira would love to snatch Maria away and drag her along on some crazy dangerous adventures, she decided against it.

    ''I can always do thatter. I''m sure we''ll be meeting sooner thanter, anyways.'' Mira thought.

    Maria moved closer to Mira, taking her hand into her own. "Be safe, Mira. Don''t push yourself too hard," she said, looking into Mira''s eyes.

    Mira offered a small smile in return, squeezing Maria''s hand in assurance. "The same goes for you, Maria."

    There was afortable silence between them for a moment before Mira leaned in, capturing Maria''s lips in a lingering farewell kiss. It was a sweet yet passionate exchange, the kind that was filled with unspoken promises.

    When they pulled away, Maria''s cheeks were flushed, but her eyes shone with warmth and understanding. Without saying a word, she watched as Mira stepped back, her hand slowly slipping from her own.

    With a final nod of goodbye, Mira turned and walked away alongside Rhydian and Hana, their silhouettes growing smaller and smaller.

    Maria stood there and watched on until Mira disappeared before her smile receded, and she clenched her fists in determination.

    "Alicia. Tell everyone to begin working on Phase 2. I think it''s time we startying the groundwork for our future."

    "Yes, Ma''am!"

    ***

    As Mira sat on top of Rhydian, flying through the air, she studied the map that Maria had provided, and a smile blossomed on her face.

    "I think it''s about time for you to be a Rank 8 beast, Rhydian."

    The wolf''s ears perked up at that.

 Chapter 725 Hunting

    As the winds howled against them, Mira surveyed the territory below them from atop Rhydian''s massive form.

    The map Mira held in her hands wasprehensive, detailing various territories upied by nearby Heaven-Grade and Sovereign-Grade beast ns. Maria''s intelligencework had done a thorough job of gathering this information. So much so that even Mira was surprised by the level of detail.

    [A/N: I recently put an auxiliary chapter to help everyone keep track of all these different terms and their meanings. But, to exin, Sovereign-Grade is the level of their bloodline. Their potential and talent. It may trante to enhanced strength and abilities based on their cultivation. For example, in the same Stage, a Sovereign-Grade would be stronger than a Heaven-Grade, but it''s not a representation of their Rank. So, a Sovereign-Grade beast n would mean that the strongest were Rank 8, as that''s the limit of their potential.]

    Mira''s gaze drifted to a territory to the southeast. The ce was named the Thorned Ridge, a territory upied by the Feral Thorned Snakes, a Sovereign-Grade beast n that was infamous for their aggressive temperament and defensive prowess.

    Not far from it, there was a territory to the north called the Skystorm Peaks, the home of the Sky-Torn Hawks, Heaven-Grade beasts known for their speed and storm-controlling abilities. Their ability to manipte the wind and lightning and their agility in the sky made them annoyingly slippery opponents.

    "Rhydian," Mira''s voice was calm and measured, "we''ll first head to the Thorned Ridge. Let''s see if those Thorned Snakes can push you to the Peak of Rank 7."

    The golden wolf''s eyes shed with a predatory gleam. She let out a low growl of approval, her wings pping harder, pushing them southwest towards the Thorned Ridge.

    ***

    It didn''t take long for them to reach Thorned Ridge. Even from the sky, Mira could see the ground littered with dangerously sharp thorns, a clear warning sign of the beasts that dwelt here.

    From her vantage point on Rhydian''s back, Mira studied the region. The Thorned Ridge was named for the peculiar trees that popted it, their bark covered in long, sharp thorns that, when agitated, would act like a jumping cactus causing the rest of the thorns to shoot out like a grenade. Not only was it painful, but they would also inject a toxin, which, if left untreated, could cause serious damage.

    However, Mira wasn''t concerned about Rhydian''s safety, nor did she warn her about this; she trusted in her capabilities, and this would be a good opportunity to teach her not to randomly jump into things.

    What she was worried about, however, was the fact that these beasts, once alerted, could potentially retreat underground using their burrowing ability. Then, things would be bothersome.

    So, they needed to strike hard and fast.

    "If you can kill them all, I''ll give you a little reward," Mira said as she hopped off with Hana in her arms.

    Rhydian''s eyes narrowed, and she became even more determined!

    Descending from the sky, Rhydian roared, an ear-splitting sound that echoed across the Thorned Ridge. It was a deration of war, a challenge to the beasts below. It didn''t take long for a response toe.

    Feral Thorned Snakes,rge and armored, crawled out from their burrows. Their body covered in dense thorns, eyes glowing ominously, and they were ready to defend their territory. Rhydian didn''t waste any time; she swooped down, a golden streak against the rocky terrain.

    *BOOOM!*

    A massive shockwave reverberated across thendscape as Rhydian crashed into the Feral Thorned Snakes. Her golden body collided with the thorn-armored beasts, sending a few of them flying while others were simply crushed under her mighty form.

    Dozens of trees were destroyed, causing their thorns to splinter off, but Rhydian''s massive wings,bined with her thick fur and skin, brushed off most of them.

    With a swipe of her colossal paw, she cleaved through multiple snakes, their bodies rupturing in violent explosions of blood and guts. Rhydian used her Qi to shovel snake remains into her mouth to try not to waste the precious energy before her as she made her way through the sea of snakes.

    Mira watched from a distance, her eyes filled with appreciation for Rhydian''s ferocity and power. Hana, in her arms, squirmed in excitement as she''d never seen Rhydian fight like this before. The wolf was alwayszing around, sleeping or hiding, so she always figured it was useless.

    Now, her opinion changed. But only a little. She still thought it was toozy.

    "Is that all you can do?! Where''d all that training go?! Stop holding back and kill them!" Mira yelled, causing Rhydian''s hair to rise.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    With a low growl, Rhydian leaped. Her wings pped, creating gusts of wind strong enough to scatter the lesser Thorned Snakes (Rank 6 and below), while her golden fur bristled, igniting into mes. Lightning crackled from her body, dancing in the air and snaking down to the ground.

    Each of her massive paws swept through the air, lightning zapping from her fur to the bodies of the encroaching Thorned Snakes. As they struck, the snakes'' bodies spasmed violently, contorting before going limp and crashing into the thorny ground.

    With one decisive swoop, Rhydian descended upon another group, her fiery, razor-sharp feathers shing through their armored bodies. As the feathers sliced through the air, they left trails of ming wind that consumed the severed bodies of the beasts, creating an inferno in the midst of the battle.

    All of a sudden, the ground beneath trembled, signaling the emergence of the patriarch. Its colossal body writhed as it burst from the ground, thorns glistening ominously, its eyes burning with rage.

    Looking around, it saw many of its dead nsmen covering the ground. Killing intent shone from deep within its eyes, and it hissed at the remaining Rank 7 snakes as well as the other Rank 8s. However, they didn''t need the Patriarch to tell them what to do.

    With a deafening roar, Rhydian leaped forward, her body aze, lightning coursing through her veins, and wind circling her like a tornado. The Thorned Snake patriarch lunged too, its massive body a projectile of thorns and poison.

    Rhydian deftly swerved to evade the lunge, leaving a trail of me in her wake that licked at the snake''s scales. As she darted above the snake, her wings unfurled to their full span, and a storm of fiery feathers rained down on the patriarch.

    The ground shook as the patriarch thrashed, shrieking in pain as the fiery feathers punctured its skin, cauterizing the wounds

    But the remaining Thorned Snakes weren''t idle.

    They swarmed towards her, a hissing mass of thorns and scales. Snakes lunged for her legs, their powerful jaws snapping shut around her ankles, attempting to bind her movement. Others sprang for her wings, hoping to tear them and bring her down from the sky.

    The patriarch himself woke up from the pain and came barreling towards Rhydian, his gargantuan body aimed at her unprotected back.

    Yet, in the face of this frenzied assault, Rhydian did not falter. The golden wolf growled low in her throat, a rumbling warning that made the ground shake beneath them. She took flight so they would not be able to escape, even if they wanted to.

    Instead of panicking at the fact that they were injecting venom into her body, Rhydian leaned into the snakes'' biting and wrapping attacks, confounding their assault before she came crashing down, crushing their fragile bodies between her hard bones and the rocky ground.

    Her teeth shed, catching one snake by its throat before biting down, an audible crunch resonating through the battlefield as the serpent''s life was snuffed out.

    Then, Rhydian moved, a whirlwind of destruction and death. Snakes that had wrapped around her limbs were crushed under the force of her movements, their bodies snapping under the sheer pressure.

    Some of them, she began devouring alive, ripping them apart and consuming their raw flesh. The sight of her disregard for theirrades'' lives made the other snakes falter in fear as they could only imagine the anguish.

    Despite her size, Rhydian was agile. She glided through the onught, turning the snakes'' numbers against them. They were packed too tightly, their attacks tripping up each other more than they hindered her.

    She twisted just in time to meet the patriarch''s charge, her teeth sinking into his face. Therge snake thrashed, but Rhydian held firm, fire coursing down her jaws and into the patriarch, charring him from the inside out.

    With ast gasp, the patriarch went limp, falling to the ground as Rhydian released her grip.

    However, Mira''s words rang in her mind, so she didn''t stop there. Sensing that there were still a few more snakes left, who had decided to scatter once things went south, she pped her wings and sent waves of fire in their directions, burning them to a crisp.

    Lastly, with she sent a wave of Qi into the ground and used what little understanding and affinity she had for Earth and crushed the remaining survivors into meat paste.

    Now, seeing that there were no more snakes alive, she could finally take her time to devour their remains!

    That thought brought a grin to her face.

 Chapter 726 Strength Soaring

    With the Thorned Ridge finally quiet, the remnants of the Thorned Snakes scattered and burnt to a crisp, Rhydian descended from the sky. Shended heavily in the midst of the carnage she had caused, the earth trembling beneath her weight.

    She surveyed the battlefield, her gaze lingering on the deceased patriarch of the Thorned Snakes.

    Her colossal paws walked over the scorched earth, crunching over the ashes of her enemies. The sight of their destroyed bodies only made Rhydian hungrier. She wasted no time in satisfying her hunger, devouring the remains of the Thorned Snakes with a certain voraciousness that only a beast of her stature could disy.

    She fed on the fallen, each bite absorbing their essence, their strength merging with hers. Every mouthful was a feast of Qi, the energy filling her and fueling her to continue.

    Meanwhile, Mira watched from afar, an approving smile ying on her lips. She flew over to Rhydian andnded next to her, putting Hana on the ground.

    "As promised, your reward," Mira said as she took out a globule of Celestial Nectar. However, she didn''t give it to Rhydian directly. Instead, she walked over to the Patriarch snake and carefully removed its Blood Essence.

    "At first, I thought about giving you the Celestial Nectar in its raw form," Mira said while shebined the two, purifying the snake''s Blood Essence. "But, there''s still much I don''t know about the Celestial Nectar. So, I figured I''d run a few tests before handing it over. Who knows, this might be better for you."

    Since Rhydian''s bloodline was already incredibly pure, her talent almost unmatched amongst beasts, a bit of Celestial Nectar was probably useless for her. Even if she gave her a bucket full of it, Mira didn''t think it''d have much effect.

    However, since beasts don''t usually cultivate by using techniques and improve their strength by ingesting meat, blood, nts, treasures, etc., Mira was curious if purifying a beast''s Blood Essence would improve Rhydian''s cultivation more or not.

    Technically, by purifying it, she was elevating the Blood Essence''s ''potential'' by removing the impurities. By how much? She wasn''t sure.

    Mira doubted she could do it indefinitely and figured a bloodline could only be improved so much before it hit a barrier, as seen with the Basilisk, but she wanted to find out.

    After a few minutes, Mira held out the newly formed globule of purified Blood Essence imbued with Celestial Nectar. The smell of the potent energy wafted through the air, instantly catching Rhydian''s attention.

    The golden wolf turned her gaze towards Mira, her golden eyes widened at the sight of the precious reward. She approached Mira slowly, almost cautiously, not wanting to identally upset her in her eagerness.

    "Go ahead, Rhydian," Mira said. "This is your reward."

    With a nod, Rhydian extended her tongue and gently took the globule from Mira''s hand. She took a moment to savor the unfamiliar yet enticing scent of thebination before swallowing it whole.

    The moment it entered her body, Rhydian felt a surge of powerful energy coursing through her. It was like a dam had broken within her, the energy rushing to every part of her body, filling her with a sense of strength.

    She let out a low growl, her body trembling as she absorbed the massive influx of energy. Her fur stood on end, bristling with the raw power coursing through her.

    It was clear that the mixture of the purified Blood Essence and the Celestial Nectar was far more potent than what she had expected. It wasn''t painful, but it was surprising, and Rhydian had to concentrate to ensure that she didn''t let a bit of it go to waste.

    As the energy gradually settled within her body, Rhydian noticed changes happening. Her body seemed to be denser, her muscles more defined, and she grew in size. Her senses felt sharper, and her connection to the elements around her was clearer than ever before.

    She directly broke through to Mid-Stage Rank 7, but there was still plenty of energy left over. Still, that wasn''t enough for her. Staring down at the Patriarch''s body, her eyes gleamed as she devoured it voraciously, and within seconds, its body was in her stomach, dissolving into pure energy.

    However, Rhydian didn''t stop there. Eyeing the rest of the snake corpses, she opened her mouth and inhaled them inrge mouthfuls.

    Now with a steady stream of energy entering her body, her cultivation naturally advanced rapidly. Her body grew once more, radiating a power that was even more terrifying than it was a few minutes ago.

    Normally, it''d take Rhydian days, if not weeks or months, to digest this much energy, but the Celestial Nectar Mira hadbined with the Patriarchs Blood Essence, the catalyst for this influx of power, seemed to make the process much smoother. It helped her digest the pure energy and remove the impurities contained within it, which was what her body naturally did when she entered periods of hibernation.

    Her cultivation stopped at Late-Stage Rank 7, not far away from the peak.

    Mira nodded in satisfaction, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

    With this sess, Mira felt a rush of excitement. There were still so many other powerful beasts on the map Maria had given her. This was just the beginning of their journey to strengthen Rhydian and eventually ascend her to Rank 8.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, she had a few questions she needed to ask Rhydian, who was getting used to her new power.

    "How''d you feel about that Blood Essence? Do you think it was able to reach the Mystic-Grade after I purified it?" Mira asked.

    Rhydian heard Mira''s voice and stopped what she was doing, falling into contemtion. It took her a few minutes to reach a conclusion before she sent her response (which was just her intent, not actual words) to Mira''s head.

    ''I don''t know. I''ve never eaten a beast with a Mystic-Grade bloodline.''

    Mira facepalmed, as that wasn''t much of an answer, so instead, she asked, "Then, do you think it breached the limits of a Sovereign-Grade bloodline?"

    Rhydian nodded her head.

    "What do you think I could''ve done to increase its potency?"

    This time, Rhydian took even longer to answer, as she was a bit confused by Mira''s question. She tilted her head as if to say, ''How would I know?'' but Mira clearly didn''t ept that, so she made an effort to think about it.

    ''...Add more bloodlines?'' Was the only thing she coulde up with.

    "..."

    Mira''s eyes widened, her mind spinning at a million kilometers per hour, and after running several simtions, they widened even further.

    "Damn! Why didn''t I think of that?!" Mira shouted, feeling like an idiot.

    It was such an obvious answer, but it didn''t even enter her mind beforehand.

    ''Of course, adding more bloodlines would increase its potency!''

    Celestial Nectar''s purpose, at its core, was to "purify". Doing that on something filled with impurities would naturally lessen the quantity. So, while the quality may have improved, the quantity actually diminished by a rtively significant amount.

    Doing this on beasts with lower-grade bloodlines, they might lose over 90% of their Blood Essence during the purification process! For something where losing even 1% of it was a big deal, this was a huge problem.

    Naturally, a Sovereign-Grade Bloodline couldn''t be a Mystic-Grade one just by quality alone. There also needed to be a sufficient quantity of it!

    "It seems you''re not as stupid as you look, little wolf!" Mira eximed as she knocked Rhydian''s head. "I figured you were nothing more than a fat lug who only knows how to freeload, but I guess I underestimated you. You CAN actually use your brain for something other than looking for ways to bezy!"

    ��A bittersweet feeling rose in Rhydian''s chest as she couldn''t tell whether Mira was insulting her or not. But since it was a rare moment where Mira said something ''nice'' for a change, she just decided to ept it and move on.

    "Alright!" She pped her hands and jumped on Rhydian''s back with Hana, "It''s time to put your theory to the test!"

    ''My theory?'' Rhydian tilted her head in confusion but didn''t transmit her thoughts. ''What do you mean, my theory?! This was clearly your conclusion!''

    "Let''s move, Rhydian," Miramanded, her voice resonating with an air of authority. "The Sky-Torn Hawks await us."

    With a low growl of acknowledgment, Rhydian followed suit. Her golden form vanished from the Thorned Ridge, leaving behind only the remnants of their bloody battle.

    ***

    [A/N: Alright, my fellow readers! It''s almost that time! Time for me to unveil Rhydian''s human form! I know, I know. I can''t wait to show it off either, but I''d actually like to have your opinions. What sort of things do you want to see or maybe, don''t want to see? I already have an image of her in my mind, but if I like your idea, I might implement it as long as it''s nothing too crazy and is in line with what I was thinking.]

 Chapter 727 Sky-Torn Hawks

    After departing from the Thorned Ridge, Rhydian took to the skies with Mira and Hana on her back. Her increased size and strength from the absorption of the Celestial Nectar-imbued Blood Essence allowed her to glide through the air with greater speed and less effort than before. Her body moved with such grace and power that it seemed as though she was born tomand the skies.

    Mira, on the other hand, was diligently going through her mental notes.

    ''There should be more uses to Celestial Nectar than just improving the purity of a bloodline.'' She remembered how the Basilisk said that it wanted to use the umtion of pure energy from the Celestial Nectar to essentially change races.

    She didn''t know if there was a difference in bloodline grade between a Taotie and a Basilisk, but the way the beast made it sound was like there wasn''t much of a difference at all.

    That being the case, Mira felt that there should be some unique, unexplored uses of the Celestial Nectar.

    ''Maybe it can even go so far as merging several bloodlines together!'' Mira''s eyes shined, but they quickly dimmed as she understood that such a thing was most likely impossible, considering that Celestial Nectar wasn''t aboutbining but purifying.

    ''I guess I can only test my theories.'' Mira thought as she sat down and began meditating.

    It wasn''t long before they reached their destination.

    As they neared the Sky-Torn Hawks'' territory, Mira shook herself out of her contemtions. It was time to focus on the present. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, patting Rhydian.

    "Stay alert, Rhydian," she instructed, her gaze scanning the surrounding area. "The Sky-Torn Hawks are known for their aerial attacks."

    Rhydian responded with a low rumble of agreement. Her eyes were alight with anticipation, the thrill of battle igniting a fiery determination within her. She''d never backed down from a challenge, and she certainly wasn''t about to start now.

    The moment they crossed the boundary into the Sky-Torn Hawks'' territory, a loud, piercing cry echoed through the sky. Rhydian''s ears perked up at the sound, and Mira''s eyes narrowed as she watched a group of majestic hawks appear on the horizon, their wings spread wide, blocking out the sun.

    The leader, a massive hawk, its feathers glinting like molten silver under the sun, let out another powerful cry that resonated through the sky. It was an unmistakable challenge to any who dared to invade their territory.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed as she channeled her Qi, her body emanating an icy aura. "Alright, Rhydian. Show them who the real Queen of the Sky is. But try not to be too messy. I''d like their Blood Essences to still be intact."

    With that, Rhydian swooped down towards the flock of Sky-Torn Hawks, her mighty form casting arge shadow over thend beneath her.

    Rhydian wasted no time in charging forward, her golden eyes fixated on the silver-feathered leader of the Sky-Torn Hawks. Her powerful wings stirred up violent gusts, ruffling the hawks'' feathers and throwing them into disarray. Her aura was one of pure dominance, one that announced her status as the Queen of the Sky.

    Below her, Mira was weaving through intricate patterns of Qi, creating a protective bubble around herself and Hana. The defense was solid, imprable to the iing barrage of attacks from the frantic hawks.

    Suddenly, a pair of hawks broke from the flock, heading straight for Mira and Hana. Their ws were sharp and menacing, ready to tear into the two of them.

    But Mira, with an icy smile on her face, flicked her wrist. A wave of Qi swept forth from her, solidifying into a crystalline wall of ice. The hawks crashed into it headfirst, and their momentum instantly halted. In seconds, the chill of the ice seeped into their bodies, freezing them solid.

    Their frozen forms fell to the earth below, encased in thickyers of ice. Mira''s cold chuckle echoed through the air, scaring all the other hawks away as she turned her attention back to the battle between Rhydian and the leader of the Sky-Torn Hawks.

    In the sky, Rhydian was tearing through the ranks of the hawks with ease. Her powerful ws and teeth were lethal weapons, ripping through feathers and flesh alike. But the hawks were fast and nimble in the sky. They twisted and turned, their sharp talons aiming for Rhydian''s eyes and throat.

    Yet, Rhydian was no ordinary beast. Her enhanced senses allowed her to predict their movements, her body nimbly dodging the worst of their attacks. With every sh, she proved her superiority, and the Hawks began to falter.

    But the leader, the silver-feathered hawk, was different. It was stronger, faster, and its piercing gaze held a spark of intelligence that set it apart from the others. It observed Rhydian''s movements, adapting its tactics andunching relentless attacks.

    Rhydian met each attack with equal vigor. Her teeth sank into the silver-feathered hawk''s wing, drawing first blood. The hawk screeched in pain and anger, retaliating with a powerful gust of wind that sent Rhydian back a few meters.

    But Rhydian was not deterred. With a powerful p of her wings, she regained her bnce andunched herself back into the fray.

    Their battle raged on, the sky filled with the echoes of their roars and cries. However, Rhydian was quickly gaining the upper hand as she adjusted to fighting in the air, her strength and size overpowering the silver-feathered hawk.

    Finally, with a powerful swipe of her w, Rhydian managed tond a critical hit on the leader hawk. The silver-feathered creature plummeted from the sky, hitting the ground with a loud thud.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    With the leader defeated, the remaining hawks scattered, their cries echoing through the sky as they fled in terror.

    However, this was the moment Rhydian and Mira were waiting for.

    "Don''t let a single one escape," Miramanded as a pair of Paragon Wings appeared behind her, and she hopped off Rhydian''s back with Hana in tow, much to the child''s dismay.

    Rhydian barked in understanding and shot after the ones in the opposite direction.

    ***

    A few minutester, the three of them returned to where the Sky-Torn Hawk leadery. They tossed the weaker ones into a pile to make it easier for Rhydian to consume. But before the wolf could dig into her prey, Mira began extracting Blood Essences.

    Mira gently extracted the Blood Essences, handling them with practiced ease. One by one, the luminous orbs of life force were carefully removed from the deceased hawks and ced in a bottle.

    After she felt like she''d added enough of them into the bottle, Mira poured a few drops of Celestial Nectar onto the extracted Blood Essences. The Blood Essences began to glow more brilliantly as they absorbed the pure energy of the Celestial Nectar.

    From then, Mira used her [Harmonic Trinity] technique to enhance the process and see if she really could increase the quantity of purified Blood Essences.

    It wasn''t easy. More than once, the Blood Essences threatened to disintegrate, their structures unstable under the influence of the Celestial Nectar. But Mira was determined. She carefully controlled the process, preventing any of the Blood Essences from copsing.

    One by one, the Blood Essences started to merge under the effect of the Celestial Nectar. They twisted andbined, forming arger and more potent Blood Essence that thrummed with much more power, which wasn''t too far behind the Feral Thorned Snake Patriarchs!

    The sight of it caused Mira''s eyes to shine. The Blood Essence of a Sky-Torn Hawk was an impressive Heaven-Grade bloodline, butbined and purified, they possessed strength and purity that easily reached Sovereign-Grade.

    Handing it over to Rhydian, Mira said, "It''s yours. Tell me if you think it''s reached the Sovereign Grade."

    The wolf, eager to consume the potent Blood Essence, didn''t hesitate. She took it in her mouth, swallowing it whole. A profound aura spread out from Rhydian as the Blood Essence started to take effect. Her body radiated an intense light that forced Mira and Hana to shield their eyes.

    When the light finally subsided, Rhydian stood there, her bodyrger and more powerful. The energy radiating from her was a clear indication that she was stronger than before, but it wasn''t quite enough to break through to the Peak of Rank 7.

    She turned to Mira and gave her a nod, her eyes gleaming with excitement. ''It did! It gave off a simr aura as those snakes!''

    "Good! I''ll have to inform Aelina about this when we get back!" Mira''s eyes narrowed, and a cold smile crept up on her face. With this information, she knew the old woman would be much more willing to ughter droves of beasts.

    ''With that, I''ll be able to improve my cultivation faster.'' Mira chuckled, sending shivers down Rhydian and Hana''s spines.

    Feeling satisfied with the result, Mira turned her gaze to the pile of Sky-Torn Hawk corpses. She went ahead and extracted the rest of their Blood Essences and turned them into several more globs, all at the Sovereign-Grade. "Alright, Rhydian. It''s time to finish your meal."

    The wolf needed no further encouragement. She began to devour the remaining flesh and blood, turning their energy into her own.

    Mira couldn''t help but smile at the sight. Her eyes were full of pride and satisfaction as she watched her partner grow stronger. She couldn''t wait for the day when the two of them could fly across this world uninterrupted.

    It didn''t take Rhydian long for her to digest this energy and for her to body to grow before-

    *BOOOOM!*

    A mini explosion resounded from within Rhydian''s body as she broke through to the Peak-Stage of Rank 7.

    "Let''s go find a quiet ce, Rhydian. It''s about time you evolve to Rank 8."

 Chapter 728 Rank 8; Transformation

    As they left the battleground, Mira, Rhydian, and Hana headed far away from the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    Mira didn''t know what sort ofmotion Rhydian''s breakthrough would cause, but she didn''t want to take any risks.

    Their journey led them to a secluded forest nestled on an ind in the middle of argeke, over 1000 kilometers away from the Mountain Range. Mira could feel the Qi concentration here was thinner than what she was used to, but consequently, the surrounding beasts were at most Rank 6 - a perfect environment for Rhydian''s breakthrough.

    Mira hopped off Rhydian''s back, gently lowering Hana onto the ground. "Alright, Rhydian, this should be far enough," she dered, casting her gaze around the dense forest.

    With a determined nod, Rhydian stepped forward, her eyes brimming with anticipation.

    Mira turned to Hana, who was looking at Rhydian with wide eyes. "Hana, I need you to stay close to me," she instructed, a serious tone underlying her words. "Rhydian''s breakthrough is going to be intense."

    Hana nodded quickly, clinging to Mira''s side. "I understand, Mira."

    While Rhydian was preparing for her breakthrough, Mira took out many beast corpses, Spirit Stones, and other misceneous items that she had no need for but might as well put to use andid them out in front of the wolf.

    Lastly, she took out the Shadowfang''s corpse, skinned it, and removed all its meat. While meat was still useful as a cultivation resource, out of everything, it was the most impractical for humans. There were certain organs that could be used to make pills, which she kept, but other than that, the rest of the flesh didn''t hold much value.

    She would''ve offered everything to Rhydian, aside from the Blood Essence, but as it was a beast that she''d killed alongside the help of others, she didn''t think it''d be right of her to give away their hard work so carelessly and decided to only toss away the meat.

    ''If they''re upset about this, then I''ll just give away some of the herbs that Aelina had given me.'' Mira thought before pushing this matter aside entirely.

    Rhydian eyed the items Mira hadid out before her, a deep rumbleing from her chest as she expressed her appreciation. The wolf then turned her attention to the heap of Shadowfang meat. With a gulp, she started to devour everything Mira had prepared, her body absorbing the vast resources at an incredible rate.

    As she consumed it all, her body began to tremble. A radiant, golden aura wrapped around her, and the energy levels within her starting to spiral out of control. It was a sign that the breakthrough was imminent. Mira and Hana backed away, watching the spectacle unfold.

    With a roar that echoed throughout the forest and past the massiveke, Rhydian''s body was engulfed in a blinding light. The air around her crackled with explosive energy, sending ripples through the sereneke nearby.

    The earth beneath her cracked, and a cyclone of Qi formed around her. Its wind lifted leaves and debris into the air, creating a vortex of power that further highlighted the magnitude of the process.

    Then, the changes began.

    Her body started to erge, each limb elongating and muscles bulging. Her golden fur grew denser, gleaming like the sun as her radiant aura enveloped her. Her fangs lengthened, her ws sharpened, and her eyes shimmered with a deep, intelligent golden light, where if you looked closely, you could see a swirl of colors within her irises.

    Lastly, her feathers fell off and were reced with newer, stronger, and sharper ones. Mira didn''t need to touch them to understand that they weren''t nearly as soft as they were before.

    As her transformation progressed, Mira could feel a change in Rhydian''s aura. It was more refined, moreplex. She realized what it was - Rhydian''s soul was transforming.

    Simr to humans, Rank 8 was the moment when beasts'' souls truly evolved to match their growing intelligence. While for humans, the Soul Transformation Realm was based on their Dao, for Beasts, Rank 8 was more rted to their bloodline. It''s also this transformed soul that gives them the ability to swap between beast and human forms.

    Though, most beasts never use their human forms in the first ce, as the way the two races use Qi is inherently different.

    After what felt like an eternity, the light began to recede, and Rhydian''s beast form, over twice asrge and much more majestic, stood before them. But the transformation was not over.

    With a soft, almost delicate growl, Rhydian''s form began to shimmer again, this time shrinking. The fur receded, the ws shrunk, and the muscr beast form reshaped into a human figure.

    After a few seconds, what stood before them was a woman of breathtaking beauty and power. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Her height was formidable, standing at 2.2 meters tall. Her body was tanned and muscr, like an exotic warrior, yet not bulky.

    Her hair, long and messy, cascaded down her shoulders and back like a waterfall of golden silk, catching the sunlight in a dazzling disy of radiance. The strands were thick and rugged, resembling her beastly fur more than human hair. Yet, there was a wild, untamed beauty to it that left Hana in awe.

    But it was her eyes that held the most intense animalistic trait. The golden orbs shone with the wisdom and ferocity of a beast, their instinctual sharpness gaze something that not many humans could replicate.

    Her nails were sharp and pointed, reminiscent of the ws she possessed in her beast form. They were the color of obsidian, looking as deadly as they were beautiful.

    Her elongated canines were slightly visible even when her mouth was closed, giving her a fierce, wolf-like countenance that only added to her intimidating aura.

    The most prominent features, however, were the long, furry tail that swung behind her, matching the color of her hair, and two wolf ears propped atop her head.

    As Mira and Hana watched, a pair ofrge, golden wings unfolded from her back, stretching out to their full span. They shimmered in the sunlight, the golden feathers looking both regal and formidable. The wings wererge enough to wrap around her body, a feature that further distinguished her as a formidable beast, even in her human form.

    Her aura was extremely ferocious, very wild and untamed as she was still adjusting to her new power. The energy around her was palpable, theke''s water rippling from the sheer intensity of her presence.

    Rhydian, now in her human form, looked at her own hands, turning them around as if discovering them for the first time. She touched her new features, her tail, her wings, and finally, her sharp nails, a slow, content smile spreading across her face.

    "A-Ah�� A-h. A~h." She opened her mouth to try and speak, but all that came out were strange noises.

    As Mira watched Rhydian struggle to vocalize, she stepped forward and lightly touched the newly transformed woman''s arm. "Speaking in this form will take some getting used to since your vocal cords are moreplex."

    Rhydian turned her golden eyes toward Mira, a silent understanding passing between them. She tried again, her voice rough and growling but intelligible this time. "Mi...ra."

    Mira nodded approvingly, responding with a firm, "That''s right."

    Meanwhile, Hana stood by, her eyes wide as she watched the powerful beast transform into a strong and unique woman.

    "Woah! I figured you''d look like a little kid since you sleep all the time! I didn''t expect you to turn into an adult woman!" Hana cried out as she came running toward her, rubbing her face against the beast woman''s tail.

    "Ahhh! You''re so soft! Not as soft as Mira''s tails, but a close 2nd�� or would it be 10th? Bah! Who cares!?" Hana eximed, "Mmmm~ I wish I could rip this off of you and snuggle with it at night. Mira''s tails are great, but they''re too big! This one is perfect."

    She was saying some really strange things, but Rhydian didn''t pay any attention to her.

    Still, as a precaution, Mira wrapped Hana in Qi just in case Rhydian couldn''t control her strength and identally killed the girl.

    Rhydian continued her exploration, running her hand down her body before moving to her head to feel the coarse hair that was an extension of her. Her gaze fell on her wings, their wide expanse rustling gently as she tentatively flexed the powerful muscles that controlled them. She let out a deep growl, satisfaction seeping into the sound as she realized the potential her new form possessed.

    She did lose a decent chunk of raw power, but she could already see the benefits of using this form.

    Rhydian turned her attention back to Mira and Hana, her gaze softening as she looked at them.

    She took a step forward, almost stumbling a bit as she wasn''t used to walking on two legs, but the strength and bnce of a Rank 8 beast wasn''t something to scoff at, and she quickly got used to it. With Hana still attached to her tail, she slowly made her way forward, her steps creating indents into the earth beneath her.

    As they stood in the midst of the tranquil forest, the silence was broken by Rhydian''s voice, now a bit more controlled and a touch softer. "W-We... continue. Test. Mo��more kill."

 Chapter 729 Return

    Mira wasn''t quite sure what Rhydian meant, but she guessed that she wanted to test her new power.

    "Alright." Mira nodded, "Let''s go test your strength. While we''re at it, you can get used to your human form."

    Looking Rhydian up and down, she realized that the beast woman was standing there, stark naked. Mira didn''t notice it before as she was more concerned with Rhydian''s strength and cultivation than anything.

    She had a very athletic and toned figure but still retained an hourss shape. But what caught her eyes were the two melons on her chest. They were full and firm, yet perky and round, almost perfect. They had to be at least D or E cup, but they didn''t sag at all.

    ''They look like they won''t move around much in battle, but we should still wrap them up in cloth just in case. As for clothes��''

    Well, Mira didn''t have much on her other than a few outfits she''d bought with Maria and Dominique. So, she just tossed her an extra Sect robe.

    "Put that on."

    Rhydian caught it but looked at Mira in confusion. "W��Why?"

    "Because it''ll be annoying if you don''t."

    What could Rhydian say against that? Begrudgingly, she put on the Sect robe, even though it was too small for her. However, since they also had to amodate her wings, they ended up ripping the outfit quite a bit.

    With the sleeves ripped off, her muscr arms were exposed, the material was tugged tight around her bust, and her midriff was bare due to the shortness of the garment. Even with the multitude of rips and tears to allow for her wings, the robe barely provided enough coverage. But for now, it was enough.

    "Don''tin. We''ll get you some clothester. Preferably ones that can transform with you when you switch back to your beast form." Mira said before Rhydian could say anything.

    ''Maybe I''ll check out the FLDIL store. I have quite a few points racked up now.'' Mira thought but put that to the side. Now wasn''t the time for shopping.

    Rhydian merely grunted in acknowledgment, her attention focused on adjusting to her new form. She moved experimentally, her steps sounding like a rampaging rhino, belying the raw power Mira knew she held.

    Mira then suggested they move deeper into the forest, where Rhydian could unleash her powers without care for the surroundings. They made their way through the dense forest, Rhydian navigating through the trees and shrubbery with growing expertise, her new form moving with the same instinctual prowess she''d exhibited as a beast.

    Once they reached a small clearing, Mira took a step back, motioning for Rhydian to proceed. "Now, let''s see what you can do," she said, her gaze focused and expectant.

    Rhydian nodded, spreading herrge golden wings wide. She crouched, her muscles coiling in preparation. Then, with a powerful p of her wings, she propelled herself into the sky, disappearing among the towering trees and into the clouds.

    Mira and Hana watched in awe as leaves and dust swirled in the wake of Rhydian''s ascent. For a moment, they stood there in silence, waiting for her to reappear. And she did, momentster, swooping down from the treetops andnding in the clearing.

    As Rhydiannded, the ground beneath her feet cratered under the force, and a gust of wind rippled through the forest, causing the trees to copse and waves to emerge in theke. Mira couldn''t help but be impressed. Rhydian''s strength had indeed increased significantly after her breakthrough.

    Just a few simple moves could cause such destruction. Her weight alone was already more than what the ground beneath her could bear.

    She then moved through a series of attacks, showcasing her power and speed, before finishing with a powerful roar that echoed through the surroundings, killing off all the weaker beasts and scaring the rest. Mira couldn''t help but smile at the disy of strength. Rhydian was adapting to her new form quickly, proving that she wasn''t a Golden Empyrean Winged Wolf for nothing.

    Once Rhydian finished her demonstration, she looked toward Mira, a question evident in her eyes. Mira gave her a nod.

    "Good job, Rhydian," she praised, a smile ying on her lips. "You''ve adapted to your new form much faster than I anticipated."

    Rhydian gave a satisfied grunt, acknowledging Mira''spliment. However, even as she stood there, her eyes were still filled with a hunger for more power and improvement. This transformation was only the beginning. She had be stronger, but there was always room to grow. Especially now that she had two forms.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    She''d seen how powerful Mira was with her weapon, armor, and techniques. If she could master both her human form and her beast form, she''d be unstoppable across both races!

    ''Then, I''ll be one to ride on Mira''s back as we fly across the sky! Hehehe~'' Rhydian''s fantasies ran wild as thoughts of pummeling Mira into the ground, riding her like a bull, putting a leash on her, and more surfaced in her mind.

    These thoughts were identally transmitted to Mira, who proceeded to kick Rhydian in the back of the leg. However, when her footnded, the beast woman barely moved, merely stumbling forward due to ack of bnce.

    "Hmm?" Mira cocked her head, a smirk growing on her face. "It seems our little wolf has grown quite a bit."

    Rhydian turned back to face Mira, rubbing the back of her leg yet grinning wide. "K�� Kick. Weak." she teased.

    Mira''s smirk widened as she took out her scythe, giving it a few twirls as she stared at Rhydian. "Grown arrogant, have we? What do you say we put that new body to the test?"

    Rhydian nodded and readied herself, her ws extending and her fangs growing. She adjusted her stance, seeking optimal bnce and stability. She almost instinctively went on all fours but stopped herself at thest minute as she wanted to learn how to fight like other humans.

    Both their auras red and shed against one another, causing the ground beneath them to quake.

    Mira tightened her grip on her scythe and prepared to lunge at Rhydian, but-

    "STOP!" But Hana''s shout broke the tension.

    "What are you two doing?!" She yelled. "Are you trying to kill me?! If you want to fight, that''s fine, but at least drop me off somewhere safe!"

    Since all the momentum was lost, Mira sighed and put away her scythe. While she really wanted to fight Rhydian right here and now, Hana was right. They''d most definitely kill her, even when she was protecting her.

    Hana was just a mortal, just the ripples from their sh were more than enough to rupture her organs. Although Mira was strong, her Qi wouldn''t be all that helpful against Rhydian''s brute strength. Not to mention, her instincts told her that she wouldn''t be able to spare much thought in an all-out fight against the wolf.

    "...We''ll settle this when we get back to the Sect," Mira said, to which Rhydian nodded and restrained her aura.

    Hana sighed in relief, but she was dripping in sweat as if she''d just run a marathon.

    ''I''m going to die. I''m seriously going to die! Not from some random thug or beast, but because of my ''caretaker''! Just take me back to the Sect! Please! I don''t want to be here anymore!'' Hana wanted to cry but had no tears.

    She seriously thought about starting her cultivation journey now instead of when she was a young adult so that she could live. Although she''d be stuck in a child''s body for a long time, her life was worth more than her looks.

    "Alright, we''ve had enough fun. It''s time we go back to the Sect. There''s still plenty that needs to be done there." Mira announced. Rhydian''s ears drooped, and her tail stopped wagging as she wasn''t ready to return. On the other hand, tears fell from Hana''s eyes as she thanked the heavens that she would live to see another day.

    Mira picked up Hana, holding her close to ensure she wouldn''t get injured as they made their way back. It seemed Rhydian''s demonstration had caused her more distress than they anticipated. Mira frowned at that. It reminded her that despite all the power she had, she was still dealing with a young child. She needed to be more mindful in the future.

    Rhydian grumbled a little as she nced back at the clearing, her gaze still hungry for more battle. But with Hana''s well-being at stake and since Mira had things to do, she swallowed her enthusiasm and followed Mira and Hana back towards the Sect. Her golden wings unfolded behind her as she flew with them.

    After all, they had a long way to go, and although she was eager to push her new powers to the limit, she knew there was a time and ce for everything. And right now, it was time to get back to the Sect.

    They made the journey back, Hana clutching onto Mira with a death grip while Rhydian took up the rear. Her senses were still finely attuned to the surroundings, ready to react in an instant if any threats showed up.

    However, their journey back wasrgely uneventful, with no beasts daring toe near, undoubtedly deterred by the aura of raw power that Rhydian was unconsciously emitting.

 Chapter 730 Devious Plan

    The Battle Maiden Sect once again greeted Mira, Rhydian, and Hana. The massive, towering mountains housing the Sect came into view as they flew over the entrance. Numerous disciples noticed her return and waved at her, but she ignored them and kept flying.

    Mira brought Hana back to her residence. The young girl was still shaken from her experience in the forest, and the fact that they flew so fast didn''t help.

    After settling Hana down in her room, Mira gave her a soft nod.

    "Rest up, Hana. Tomorrow, I''m going to put that idle body to use." Mira said, tucking the girl into her bed even though it wasn''t night yet.

    Hana''s eyes widened in shock, which immediately morphed into fear when she processed Mira''s words, but before she could say anything, Mira was already gone.

    "AHHH! GOD! What did I do to deserve this?!" She cried out in a pained voice, suddenly not tired anymore.

    Unfortunately, Mira''s words were akin to god''s. There was no escaping once she made up her mind to do something. Rather, doing so would only make things worse.

    Hana copsed onto the bed, her eyes hazy, wondering if maybe she should''ve taken her chances when Rhydian and Mira were about to fight.

    ***

    With a chuckle, Mira left her residence. She knew Hana had misunderstood her words, but she didn''t feel the need to rify things.

    Next on her agenda was a visit to the Sect Master, Aelina. Apanied by Rhydian, Mira began her ascent up the mountain where the Sect Master''s residence was located.

    As they climbed, several of the Sect Elders spotted them. Recognizing Mira, they gave respectful nods without halting her progress. Everyone in the Sect knew of Mira''s unique privilege to see the Sect Master whenever she wished.

    Although they thought Aelina was giving Mira a bit too many privileges, what could they do? Mira''s strength and talent was unquestionable. She also seemed to have some sort of deal with the Sect Master, so it only made sense.

    If Aelina really didn''t want Mira showing up unannounced, she''d say something.

    Upon reaching the summit, Mira paused, taking a moment to gaze at the view. The Battle Maiden Sect sprawled beneath them, nestled amongst the towering mountains and lush forests.

    Mira sighed, shaking off her nostalgic feelings. The Ancient Beast Mountain Range was always a spectacr sight.

    On seeing Mira and the towering Rhydian, Aelina''s brows arched in curiosity. "You''ve returned, Mira," she greeted with a slight smile. "And I see you''ve broughtpany."

    "That''s my pet," Mira said indifferently, only to receive displeased grunt from the wolf woman.

    "Rhy��dian," Rhydian said while pointing at herself. She didn''t like the word "pet", especially not when it came out of Mira''s mouth. While Mira was technically her "mother" and "master", she felt like she wasn''t in any way inferior to her.

    "Ah~ I see. You''re the wolf that Mira always brings with her. Congrattions on your breakthrough," Aelina smiled and shook Rhydian''s hand, who returned the smile, but inwardly, she was shocked.

    ''What''s with this strength? No, before that, when did this wolf reach Rank 8? Was it always so easy for beasts to cultivate?'' Mira wasn''t gone for very long. It shouldn''t have been possible for Rhydian to jump nearly a whole Realm in that short amount of time.

    ''...What sort of beast is this?'' For some reason, Aelina felt like it was better if she didn''t know, so she didn''t ask. It''s not like Mira would answer if she did.

    "Did you have a nice vacation?" Aelina asked, attempting to change the subject.

    Mira nodded, her expression not changing, "I managed to obtain some useful information."

    Aelina almost facepalmed, not expecting that answer but hearing the seriousness in her voice, she understood that Mira wasn''t ying around.

    Motioning with her hand to continue, Aelina brought the two of them to her courtyard, where a made suddenly appeared, set the table, and prepared tea for them.

    ''Maid?'' Mira looked at the new woman with eyes full of curiosity, ''I didn''t know she had maids. Better yet, where did she evene from?''

    Even now, she hardly felt the woman''s presence.

    After the tea was made, the "maid" disappeared as if she was never there.

    ''Interesting. It seems Aelina has more secrets than she lets on.''

    Noticing that Mira''s attention was elsewhere, Aelina chuckled, "Don''t worry about her. She''s just a little shy."

    "Anyways, what sort of information did you have for me?"

    Mira snapped her head back to the Sect Master and sat down across from her alongside Rhydian. "It seems the beasts are on the move."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    For the first time, Aelina''s smile faded. She stared straight into Mira''s eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"

    Taking a sip of the tea, Mira answered, "I was just in Vorandis��" She then went on to tell Aelina about what happened, how she incited chaos in the city, how they purged those beasts, and how they were collecting items, knowledge, and information from the humans. She even told her about her results with the Celestial Nectar and other Blood Essences.

    "Hmmm~ That is concerning," Aelina muttered thoughtfully. But Mira could tell that she had rxed a bit. However, she had no idea what went through her mind.

    After a few moments of silence, Aelina looked up at Mira and asked, "...What do you think we should do about this?"

    "I think we should take action!" Mira dered. "The other powers have probably thought that we''ve grown weak after our war with the Crimson yer Sect. This''ll be a good chance to stir things up and show that even now, we aren''t to be fucked with."

    What she said was only half true. Mira knew that, as a whole, this wasn''t the best choice, but it wasn''t far from how she really felt. The Beast ns were clearly up to something, or else that Rank 9 beast at Vorandis would''ve never shown up, and there wouldn''t have been so many of them sneaking around in a human city. She felt it was in their best interest to get rid of any potential spies right now.

    Other than that, she just really wanted to fight some more. More fights meant more enemies, and more enemies meant more deaths, and more deaths meant she could kill without worry. Which subsequently meant her cultivation would rise faster.

    "That''s certainly a decent idea, but I think there''s a better way to handle this situation," Aelina said after giving it some thought, a creepy smile etching on her face.

    "You said that you''re able to improve the quality of a Bloodline with that Celestial Nectar, right?" She asked, to which Mira nodded.

    "But to do that, we need more of the same species of beasts, right?" This time Mira shook her head.

    "More testing needs to be done in that regard, but you''re right. We will need much more beast Blood Essences nheless." She answered.

    "For what we''re nning�� we''d need an almost unimaginable amount of beasts. It''d be impossible for us, the Battle Maiden Sect, alone toe up with that in a short amount of time. Not to mention, we''d instantly be public enemy number one." Aelina said, and Mira agreed.

    If they were to run around the Western continent ying beasts, not only would they enrage the Beast ns, but the human Sects as well. Many people''s livelihoods came from killing and selling beasts. Hell, between that and mining Spirit Stones, hardly anything else came close to the amount of revenue and jobs produced aside from herb picking.

    Those were the foundation of any Sect, after all. Alchemy, Cultivation, Arrays, Body Tempering, etc., all these things required something from at least one of those. They''d disturb the flow of ie if they went out, killing millions of ''resources''.

    "...And since we don''t want, or need, to draw all the attention to ourselves, it''d be better for us to ''spread the love,'' so to speak," Aelina stated with a sly smile.

    "Spread the love? You mean, you want to drag other Sects into this mess?" Mira rified.

    Certainly, that was a good idea, but-

    "Hahaha~" Aelina burst outughing, "No, no. We won''t be ''dragging'' anyone into this ''mess''. We''ll merely be informing them that they have spies in their midst who are stealing their knowledge and technology and using it for themselves. Then, maybe as an incentive to look into it, we''ll offer to buy those corpses and reward those who have killed or sold a certain number of beasts."

    "But�� won''t people be suspicious? It''d be weird if we just told other Sects this information for free. They might think there''s a hidden use for those Beast Corpses and horde them. They may even charge us a premium, knowing that they''re valuable to us. This is a big move to make following a war, after all. People aren''t going to move simply because we told them to." Mira rebutted. It was a good n, but there were too many holes that even someone like her could see.

    "Hmmm~ You''re right. We need to justify our actions while also giving the other powers a good enough reason to ughter millions of beasts, then turn around and sell their corpses to us. We have to make it seem like we''re doing them a favor while also ying the victim��" Aelina fell into thought, but her words were already terrifying enough.

    Of course, this was just a means to an end. Obtaining so many beast corpses and experimenting with Blood Essence was merely a side-stop to Aelina''s real goal.

    Chaos.

    If she could turn the entire Continent into a battlefield, spreading the beast''s attention thin, her n to take over the Ancient Beast Mountain Range and loot everything of value to strengthen herself and her Sect would be much easier to aplish.

    Then maybe, just maybe, she could enter the Central Continent.

    She didn''t give two shits about this Continent or its inhabitants. They were all there to be used by her, to make her life easier.

    ''So, how can I make them dance to my tune this time?'' Aelina pondered, going through all kinds of scenarios in her mind before it suddenly hit her.

    "That''s it!" She eximed, her smile widening as she proceeded to share her n with Mira through Voice Transmission.

    After a while, the two of them smiled at one another and started chuckling like a couple of imps.

    "Hehehehe~ That might work."

    "Fufufu~ I know, right? Seeing is believing, after all."

    Meanwhile, Rhydian just sat to the side, chugging ss after ss of tea while shaking her head at their nonsense.

    ''Humans��''

 Chapter 731 Kickstart

    When Mira and Aelina finished discussing their n, Aelina pped her hands. Immediately after, the maid from before materialized and bowed her head.

    "Stop all current missions and investigate the other Sects and major powers for any sightings of beast spies. I don''t care if they''re Orthodox, Unorthodox, or unaffiliated. Compile a report and bring it back to me as soon as possible." Aelina ordered the maid, who silently bowed her head once again and disappeared without a trace.

    "...So convenient," Mira muttered in slight envy.

    "Power isn''t everything in this world, Mira," Aelina said, donning a rare serious expression. "Unless you''re invincible and unparalleled, there will always be someone or something out there that can kill you. Thus, intelligence is often more important than strength, as that way, you know which battles you can and can''t take. At a certain point, you can even control those stronger than you to do your bidding. How do you think the major Sects havested so long while those lesser powers eventually fade out of existence?"

    Mira nodded in understanding, taking Aelina''s words to heart, but she couldn''t help but add, "That''s why omnipotence is the best. You don''t have to worry about other people and can do whatever you want whenever you want without consequences."

    "Heh~" Aelina hummed with a smirk, "Really? I think omniscience is better. With the right strategies, even gods wouldn''t be able to escape the wisdom of infinite knowledge."

    The two stared at each other, sparks seemingly emitting from their eyes before Mira clicked her tongue in annoyance. She understood the underlying meaning behind Aelina''s words, which was essentially, ''No matter how strong you are, as long as you can''t escape my sight, you''ll be within my grasp''.

    ''This woman''s thoughts are too terrifying. The more I talk with her, the more I realize how great of a decision it was to join this Sect.'' Mira told herself to try and stay on Aelina''s good side.

    Surprisingly, Aelina''s thoughts weren''t too different from her own. ''With her talent, Mira might really be able to be invincible in this world. I''m d I formed a connection with her early on. It''d be a huge pain in the ass if I had to face off against her in the future.''

    "Alright, enough about that," Mira said, switching the subject, "For us to maximize the benefits of your n, first, we have to understand the limits of the Celestial Nectar. To do that, I need plenty of beasts, both dead and alive, to test on, as well as people who are willing to integrate with the ''enhanced'' bloodlines."

    Before Aelina could say anything, Mira then added, "We don''t need to start with Rank 6, 7, or 8 beasts. I think we should start with Ranks 1 and 2 and test the effects on mortals first."

    There was a good reason for this. Although the Infinity Garden increased the production of Celestial Nectar, she didn''t have a readily avable unlimited supply. She still had to wait for it to form.

    Using it on Rank 7 Beast Blood Essences and higher used up way too much. She''d only be able to run a few tests a day if she used them! However, since Rank 1 beasts were weaker, she wouldn''t need to use as much and could run more tests!

    Rhydian could also subdue a whole bunch of them without effort, saving them time and money!

    "Mhmm. That''s fine by me. We don''t have any Rank 1 or 2 beasts here, but I know a few ces that have an abundance of them."

    "Also, give me a few books on Alchemy," Mira stated, though it came across as an order.

    Aelina''s lips twitched as she remembered Mira was in possession of arge number of the Sect''s herbs. "...Why?" She asked.

    "To learn. Why else?"

    "..."

    Aelina''s smile faltered, but she had a few guesses as to why Mira wanted to learn Alchemy. "Is it because the process of enhancing bloodlines is simr to alchemy?"

    Mira nodded, but that wasn''t the whole reason, "Yes, but I also feel like it''s about time I learned how to do something other than kill. And since I''m going to be involved in alchemy-like stuff, I might as well learn how to do it properly."

    "...I see." Aelina muttered before she released a bitter smile, "Alright. I''ll have someone gather a few books on alchemy for you. Just don''t experiment with my herbs."

    "Don''t worry. Plenty of them have multiplied by now. It''ll still be a positive even if I waste a few of them."

    "..."

    With that, Mira stood up, ready to leave. Now that they had a n set up, all that was left for them was to wait. She wouldn''t even need to be the main character for the little ''y'' they had nned.

    "I''m going to leave tomorrow morning. Please have everything ready by then."

    Aelina really had half a nerve to smack Mira upside the head. Wasn''t her tone a bit too brazen? She was still the Sect Master! Her Sect Master!

    She understood that this was just how Mira spoke, but Aelina wasn''t a fan of being talked to like she was HER subordinate.

    "Someone-" However, before she could finish that, Mira interrupted.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Ah!" Mira suddenly eximed and stopped in her tracks. "Just a reminder, but the disciples aren''t the only ones who can benefit from this. If the tests prove to be sessful, you''d gain something. As long as you find a suitable bloodline, that is."

    After saying those words, Mira left with Rhydian, leaving behind a stunned Aelina.

    Truthfully, she''d thought of Mira''s words before. Before Mira even entered the Sect, the thought crossed her mind more than a few times. But, with her strength, any beast under Rank 10 was useless to her.

    Even a Rank 10 beast wasn''t all that useful. Perhaps she''d see a minor increase in strength and talent if she was lucky, but it wouldn''t be enough to change things.

    To break into the Central Continent by force, she needed to be at the Ascension Realm. Even then, it was highly unlikely she''d be able to pull it off, considering she was just one person.

    However, the Western Continent didn''t have the necessary resources to bring one to the Ascension Realm. Reaching the peak of the Divine Sea Realm was already nearly impossible.

    But, if she could obtain an Ascendant-Grade Bloodline or higher�� Now, that was a different story. Not only would she see a significant increase in strength and talent, but merging with a bloodline like that woulde with a massive surge of energy. Whether that energy was used to improve her cultivation or strengthen her body, it didn''t matter. Her power would increase by leaps and bounds regardless.

    The only problem with this was that she didn''t want to take in any unwanted impurities. Throughout her entire cultivation journey, she''s made sure to deepen and consolidate her foundation as much as possible. Anything that might put a crack in that foundation was a huge no.

    She didn''t want to reach the Immortal Realm and realize that she''d used up all her potential in the Mortal Realm. However, if the Celestial Nectar could remove these impurities and allow her to reap all the benefits without any of the downsides, then she''d be like a tiger that gained wings!

    ''That sly little fox,'' Aelina settled down her thoughts and chuckled. ''Getting me all excited. When she gets back, I''ll show her that she''s 1,000 years too young to y with me.''

    Looking off into the distance, her eyes narrowed to one location where she could see the faint outline of a barrier. If it weren''t for her incredible cultivation, she wouldn''t have been able to spot it.

    ''Well then, let''s kick off this new era with a bang!''

    Gathering her focus, she conjured twopact, ck gravity balls within her grasp. Infusing them with Qi, she set them to orbit one another with increasing speed. The seamless synchronization caused them to whirl at such incredible speeds that they appeared as one donut-shaped entity.

    After she pumped about a quarter of her Qi into them, she vanished from her spot and reappeared on another mountain far away from her Sect. Then, with a flick of her fingers, she sent the two orbs hurtling across the sky so fast that even she couldn''t keep track of them with her naked eye.

    Almost instantly, they traveled over a thousand kilometers, and-

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    The very continent seemed to shake from the impact, but Aelina only saw the barrier ripple.

    Aelina smirked before she disappeared and proceeded to do this three more times, all from different directions.

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    After she was finished, she immediately went deep underground, concealed her aura, and began recovering her Qi.

    Then, just like she expected, a thunderous roar echoed across the continent, causing billions of beasts to stop whatever they were doing, look up into the sky, and roar in anger alongside the original.

    ''Fufufu~ That should help kickstart the tension.'' Aelina chuckled darkly before she focused on recovering her Qi, pulling out numerous Peak-Stage Spirit Stones.

    This was just the beginning of their n. Its only purpose was to take the beast''s attention away from whatever they were doing, a reminder that they were still here.

    Would they be more defensive? Hole up inside their ns? Or would they go on the offensive? Maybe sending out more beasts and spies to keep an eye on them.

    Either way, Aelina was ready. As long as she held the momentum, then she could control the flow.

    ''What will their response be? I''m looking forward to it.'' Aelina thought while shutting her eyes, entering a meditative state.

 Chapter 732 Beast Tide; Strength Training; Experimentation

    The explosions rang out over the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, echoing far beyond the distant horizons. Not only did Aelina''s attacks alert the Beast ns, but the other major powers as well. Both Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects, the Mercenary Association, and various ancient families all had their sights on the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

    Whether this was a good or bad thing, only time would tell, but at this time, it was certainly one of the worst-case scenarios for the Beast ns. The Primal Ascendence Convergence was a time that offered extraordinary opportunities. If the humans caught wind of it��

    The ensuingmotion triggered an extraordinary response among the beastly inhabitants. The explosive roars from the mountain range''s center weren''t just terrifying, they were like a call to arms.

    A mixture of emotions surged within the beasts��fear, awe, expectation��directed at their leaders.

    However, there was also bloodlust, anger, and hunger toward the mysterious assant who daredunch these cmitous attacks. Their gazes, usually filled with primal ferocity, were now bloodshot after listening to those roars.

    The beasts'' typical neutral yet slightly aggressive stance toward humans was reced by a desperate need to appease their leaders'' anger.

    As if answering the call of their leaders, they treaded into the human territories, creating a surge of beast attacks in peripheral settlements where the borders of wilderness and civilization blurred.

    Therger Sects and powers were fine, but many of the smaller, weaker cities faced destruction.

    Simultaneously, a series of roars, each more terrifying than thest, resounded from deep within the Mountain Range, shaking the entirendmass.

    It was as if the mountains themselves echoed the cries of these beastly leaders.

    From the barrier, five intimidating auras surged, sweeping across the wilderness and nketing the area in theirmanding presence. They each walked in different directions, while one stayed outside the barrier like some sort of Guardian.

    Back in her concealed location, Aelina couldn''t help but smirk as she sensed these reactions. "So, you''re finally waking up, huh?" she mused to herself. "Good. It wouldn''t be fun without a little pushback, would it?" Her preparations were only beginning, and the real fun she anticipated was yet toe.

    As night fell and dawn broke, the chaos of the previous day seemed like a distant memory, a brutal dream that had run its course. After a few hours, all the beasts suddenly stopped attacking and retreated back to their homes.

    However, the tension was palpable, a storm was brewing, and everyone could feel it.

    Mira spent her night engrossed in the alchemical tomes she had received. When morning came, she was greeted by the Sect Master. Aelina, carrying an air of a lively youth instead of an old woman, stood at the threshold of her quarters.

    "Ready to leave?" she asked. Mira nodded, with Rhydian and Hana by her side.

    In just a few moments, they were no longer in the sect but surrounded by a lush green wilderness, the habitat of an abundance of Rank 1 beasts.

    Aelina had teleported them to a ce known as the Shimmering Meadows, a rtively safe ce teeming with Rank 1 and 2 beasts. A sense of anticipation hovered over them. They had a mission to carry out, one that could potentially alter the course of the future for all of them. But for now, their task was simple: capture these low-ranked beasts for Mira''s experimentation.

    "Come back when you''ve finished. If the results are good, we can put our ns in motion when you return." Aelina instructed, then left without a trace. She didn''t want to stay out of the Sect too long now that she''d essentially stirred up the ho''s nest.

    The Gravity Balls she used to attack should''ve kept most of her unique aura hidden, even more so after they blew up, but Rank 10 beasts shouldn''t be underestimated. The reason she used them was that most of their power came from atmospheric Qi and their collision. Her own Qi was merely the spark to ignite the fuel.

    Oftentimes, they were more intelligent and sensitive to auras than humans, so it wouldn''t be strange if she were discovered.

    She did everything she could to hide herself; now, all that was left was to wait.

    After Aelina left, Mira turned to Rhydian and ordered, "Gather up every beast in the area and bring them here."

    Rhydian grunted but stillplied and left to go gather beasts. Not like it was much work on her part. She just needed to spread out her aura, suppress them with her superior bloodline, and they would effectively turn into her little ves.

    Meanwhile, Hana looked like she was about to break down and cry. "U-Ummm�� Mira. Wh-Why and I here?" She asked hesitantly.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Instead of answering her question, Mira tossed a book at her called [Ultimate Strength Training Manual for Mortals]. Inside were hundreds of stances, breathing methods for each stance, timeline, hypertrophy instructions for each muscle, and functional workouts that utilize them altogether.

    Aside from that, it went into major detail about each muscle group, how to improve the mind-muscle connection to each one, how muscles interact with the body, and which workouts affect which regions of the body.

    It was an in-depth guide to progressing through the Strength-Training Stage in the Body Tempering Realm.

    Hana nearly dropped to the ground due to how heavy the book was. Looking down at the title, her heart dropped to her stomach.

    "That''s your new training routine. You might as well get stronger since you don''t want to die so badly. Oh, but don''t worry. You''ll still age like a normal person. The aging process only slows once you reach the Qi Condensation Realm." Mira said before shooing her off, "Now go put thatzy body to work!"

    Hana opened her mouth to say something, but Mira had already walked away, reading a book on Alchemy.

    With a deep sigh, Hana could only shuffle to the side, her head lowered, and start looking through the manual.

    Mira spentst night gathering all kinds of knowledge from the Sect''s libraries, the FLDIL shop, and her own experiences to create this guide. She even examined Hana''s body with her Soul Sense to create something that suited her.

    She tried searching for a "perfect" manual in the FLDIL shop, but surprisingly, no such thing existed. It was either because such a stage was so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, or there wasn''t a "perfect" manual.

    Not that it mattered to Mira. The point of the Body Tempering Realm was to strengthen the body enough to handle Qi running through one''s meridians without exploding. As long as one could achieve that, whether they could lift 100 kgs more or not wouldn''t make any difference.

    Still, since Hana wasn''t doing anything, Mira figured she might as well force-ahem�� have the girl train every muscle in her body, including all the small, unseen ones. That would keep her busy for a while.

    A few minutester, the two looked up as they heard a deep rumbling noiseing from the direction Rhydian had left.

    From the direction Rhydian had taken, a wave of bustling noises and the earth''s tremors soon filled the air. The rumble grew louder and more pronounced, and before long, a sea of low-ranked beasts began to emerge from the dense vegetation. From small beasts no bigger than a hand to thoserger than a carriage, it was a sight to see.

    Seeing the approaching mass, Hana felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. However, she calmed down when she noticed who was before them.

    She watched as Rhydian strode ahead of the pack, hermanding aura acting like a beacon, leading them toward their location.

    On the other hand, Mira seemed more intrigued than anything, with a gleam of anticipation in her eyes. She walked over to the pack of thousands of beasts and immediately killed two of them: a frog and a lizard of about the same weight.

    She didn''t know what their species were, but she didn''t care.

    After she quickly extracted their Blood Essences, she took out a tiny drop of Celestial Nectar and sent the two Blood Essences into it.

    Like normal, the Celestial Nectar immediately began purging all the impurities, but when Mira triedbining the different bloodlines into one, they exploded in her face.

    ''Hmm~ So,bining two different bloodlines, even weaker ones, is a big no.'' Mira thought as she recorded her findings on a sheet of paper.

    Waving her hand, she killed another two different beasts and proceeded to do the same thing again, but this time, she switched up the process.

    ''Let''s see if I can make it possible!'' Her eyes gleamed with curiosity, but it soon exploded in her face again.

    Still, Mira wasn''t deterred. She was sure there was a way tobine bloodlines. She felt it was possible even if Celestial Nectar wasn''t theplete answer.

    Thus, started Mira''s first experiment in the world of Alchemy.

 Chapter 733 Finding The Limits Of Celestial Nectar

    Amid the verdant vastness of the Shimmering Meadows, Mira found herself deep in her alchemical endeavors. Surrounded by a sea of captive beasts and the now unfamiliar silence of herpanions, she spent her time absorbed in countless experiments.

    Each trial and failure brought her a step closer to unraveling the mysteries of the Celestial Nectar and its potential application in bloodline maniption. Using the gathered beasts as her subjects, Mira continuously attempted to merge different bloodlines.

    One such trial involved the blood of a me Squirrel and an Ice Hare, two different creatures with contrasting natures. After purifying the blood essences using the Celestial Nectar, Mira tried tobine the two bloodlines. The result was predictably explosive. The conflicting nature of the bloodlines made the concoction vibrate violently before bursting apart.

    "Interesting," Mira murmured, noting down her observations. "Bloodlines that are vastly different in nature are ipatible even after purification. It seems there''s something missing with my theory ofbining opposing bloodlines to create something brand new."

    Next, Mira triedbining the bloodlines of two beasts from the same species but different lineages��a pair of Ferret Toads, one with poisonous skin and the other with an enhanced ability for stealth. The oue was different this time. After a slightly violent reaction, the Celestial Nectar purified, and with the help of her [Harmonic Trinity] technique, they epted one another, leading to a sessful merging.

    However, she had no idea what sort of effects this might''ve brought. Would whoever epted this bloodline have both powers? Or would something newe out of it?

    "Same species, different lineages can work," Mira noted. "But the question now is, can thesebined bloodlines be integrated into a living organism?"

    Just because she created it doesn''t mean it was actually usable. So, she put it to the side and decided to bring it up when it came to human testing.

    After these initial trials, Mira decided to investigate the possibility of improving an existing bloodline. She took a small, low-grade beast, a Rank 1 Green-Leaf Rabbit known for its quick regenerative ability.

    She first increased the Rabbit''s blood purity using Celestial Nectar. This process was more delicate, as the rabbit was alive. The Rabbit''s eyes shed with a strange glow, and its entire body trembled slightly, but it didn''t resist. It seemed that the Celestial Nectar, aside from its cleansing properties, also had a tranquilizing effect on the beast.

    After having it perform a few actions, such as running, jumping, and kicking, Mira noted down that its strength did increase, but it wasn''t by much.

    ''Now, I wonder if its potential had risen.'' Mira pondered as she took out the meat of a Rank 3 beast. All the beasts'' eyes, lit with desire, locked onto it, their mouths drooling pools of saliva.

    "Eat." She ordered, and the rabbit didn''t hesitate to jump forward and consume it as if it had been starved for months!

    Quickly, the rabbit''s aura rose, and its cultivation broke through the ranks. It stopped around the Peak of Rank 1 before Mira tossed a few more Rank 3 beast corpses, this time including their Blood Essences.

    The rabbit, like a mad dog, forced down as much of it as it could before-

    Rank 2!

    *BOOM!*

    The rabbit exploded into a shower of blood and guts immediately after due to consuming too much Qi at one time.

    "...So weak." Mira shook her head in disappointment, but what could she expect from a Rank 1 Rabbit with a Common-Grade bloodline?

    "Do I have to help it evolve? Are low-ranking beasts so useless that they can''t even break through on their own? Or do I need to feed it beasts of its kind?" Mira''s gaze glossed over the herd of beasts, who all lowered their heads, too afraid to meet her gaze.

    With a wave of her hand, Mira brought over 2 more rabbits, which were almost exactly the same as the first.

    She did the same experiment, but for one, she only fed it rabbits, this time at Rank 2. While for the other, she did the exact same thing as the one that exploded, except this time, she helped it digest all that excess energy.

    After a while, no explosions happened, and they both reached Rank 2, causing Mira to release a subtle smile. She sent her Soul Sense into both of them to see if anything was wrong, but everything checked out. They were stronger, bigger, and their innate abilities had improved.

    As for their potential�� When Mira examined their Blood Essence, she realized that there were significantly fewer impurities than before. Normally, this would be a great thing, but for Mira, it wasn''t.

    This essentially meant that while it was indeed possible to improve the grade of a beast''s bloodline through Celestial Nectar, there would be an exponential decrease in the benefits achieved with each subsequent attempt. Who knows if these little rabbits could even make it to Rank 3 after pumping them full of resources?

    Now, Mira began to see the limitations of Celestial Nectar. It may have amazing effects, but all it really did was bring out one''s potential. The little rabbit had the potential to reach Rank 2, and maybe even Rank 3 all along, but without an abundance of Qi, great control and intelligence, as well as a lucky encounter, it''d never be able to reach it without her interference.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    If a Common-Grade beast was born without any impurities in its Blood Essence, then no matter how much Celestial Nectar she pumped into them, it wouldn''t do anything.

    Still, just to see if her conjecture was true, Mira pumped more Celestial Nectar and resources into the poor rabbits, and before long, they reached the Peak of Rank 2. Then, with one final push after consuming a Rank 4 corpse, they entered Rank 3.

    *BOOM!*

    However, the one she wasn''t assisting ended up exploding, dying on the spot. With the remaining one, she tried to forcefully increase its strength, to see what its limits were, but-

    *BOOM!*

    It exploded before long as well.

    ''So, there really is only so much I can do, at least for living beasts. If their potential is shit, like these rabbits, then they''ll just be slightly stronger shit after I''m done with them.'' Mira noted down, but this was useful information nheless.

    Maybe through years of selective breeding, using Celestial Nectar to constantly purify their bloodlines, and increasing their cultivation to its max potential, she could create a Green-Leaf Rabbit with the potential to reach Rank 8 or beyond, but she didn''t have the time, patience, or desire to do such a thing.

    Still, it was worth noting, just in case she wanted to create a beast farm in the future.

    ''So, through this, I learned that it''s not necessary to kill dozens, or hundreds of beasts of the same species, purify them, and merge their Blood Essences together to improve the grade of the Bloodline. I can aplish something simr, so long as they''re alive.'' Mira recorded her findings, but she still felt it''d be easier just to kill a bunch of them and do it herself.

    With this method, she''d have to find, capture, and experiment on a live beast! Just imagining herself trying this on a Rank 8, 9, or 10 beast made her understand that this approach wasn''t any better than the other.

    ''Alright, onto the next experiment.''

    Next, Mira turned her attention to thebination of simr species'' bloodlines. She decided to experiment on a Rank 2 Frost Fox and a Rank 2 Mist fox, one known for its agility, while the other was known for its mental resilience.

    She extracted some of their blood essence, purifying it with Celestial Nectar before merging them together. The reaction was mild, much less violent than when she tried to merge vastly different bloodlines. The result was a sort of hybrid blood essence that bore the traits of both foxes.

    ''So, I can merge bloodlines together, but they have to be close in rank and potential while also part of the same family of beasts.''

    For example, she couldn''t take twopletely different beasts, like a hawk and a lion, and try to merge them together with this method.

    However, since the two beasts were part of the fox family and didn''t have opposing affinities, she was able to merge them sessfully.

    Mira stored the Blood Essence and put it to the side for future use. Then, with a grin, she turned around to the rest of the beasts and continued her experiments.

    This went on for about 3 days straight until Mira had pages of notes and a mountain of corpses. It was only after so much trial and error did she feel confident about testing the results on live humans.

    "Have you found the closest vige, Rhydian?" Mira asked after she removed all the blood from her clothes.

    Rhydian nodded and pointed southeast.

    "Good. Take us there." Mira ordered. She walked over to a dead-tired Hana, wrapped her in one of her tails, and leaped into the air.

    Rhydian grunted in affirmation, pping her wings and taking to the sky.

    ***

    [A/N: I probably won''t do too many of these kinds of chapters where Mira is experimenting with "Alchemy". (I know this isn''t exactly Alchemy, but you get the point). However, since these things are fairly important in the short and possibly long term, I figured I should dedicate a chapter to it. Let me know if you want to see more Alchemy experiments or if you really only want to know the results. It doesn''t bother me either way, I''m just curious. :)]

 Chapter 734 Human Trials; Comprehensive Research

    As the dawn painted the Shimmering Meadows with strokes of gold, Mira, who now had on the Ethereal Veil, and herpanions traveled to the southeast.

    The vige, named Oakshade, was a small, isted settlement surrounded by towering trees. It was popted mostly by mortals, although there were a few Body Tempering Realm cultivators amongst them.

    The vigers led simple lives, farming and hunting in the forest that bordered the vige. Unaware of Mira''s arrival and the drastic changes she could bring, they carried on with their everyday tasks.

    When Mira, Rhydian, and Hananded outside the vige, everyone paused what they were doing and looked at her in fear. Although most of them couldn''t sense the cataclysmic power she possessed, they could tell that this group was dangerous.

    Anybody who looked human but had the body parts of beasts was dangerous in their books. The only normal person in their group was Hana, but she looked so tired that a strong gust of wind might blow her away.

    As Mira approached the vigers, a tall, elderly man with a snowy beard stepped forward. This was Tiber, the vige elder. His body was bent with age, but his eyes held a sharp glint that spoke of wisdom gathered over the years.

    "Strangers are notmon in Oakshade," Tiber started, his voice carrying the weight of years. "Why have youe here?"

    "We are travelers," Mira began, noting the tension amongst the vigers. "But we don''t mean any harm. I am Mira, a... researcher, of sorts. I have something that might benefit your vige."

    Tiber scrutinized Mira, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What sort of benefit are you talking about?"

    "Strength... a chance to transcend your current limitations," Mira exined, keeping her tone neutral. "I''m testing the effects that beast bloodlines have on the human body and have reached a point in my research where I can begin conducting human trials."

    The vigers stirred at her words, exchanging nces. Tiber remained silent for a moment, considering her proposition. However, his gaze couldn''t help but hover over Mira''s tails, Rhydian''s wings, and her sharp ws.

    ''She must''ve tested the effects of her research on herself beforeing here.'' Tiber thought, his opinion of Mira raising. He didn''t know much about the cultivation world, but he didn''t think Mira was a bad person.

    If only he knew better��

    "Such power�� does note without risks, does it?" Tiber asked, finally breaking the silence.

    "No, it doesn''t," Mira acknowledged, appreciating the elder''s insight. "But, where there are dangers, there is opportunity. If you have the resolve to risk your life, you can change your future."

    "Life? We have to risk our life just for her experiments?"

    "Nobody said you had to do anything, but�� still�� putting my life on the line for some unknown person is a bit��"

    "Right? This seems kind of sketchy."

    Amidst the whispering of the vigers, Tiber nodded slowly, contemting her offer. After a few moments, he finally responded. "We''ve survived on our own strength for generations. It might sound arrogant in your eyes, but we don''t need any help from strangers. I might not know much, but I do know that when one has power, troubles are soon to follow."

    Tiber paused, allowing his words to sink in with the rest of the vigers before her added, "However, I also don''t think it''s right of me to turn down this opportunity if what you say is true. So, if someone is willing to volunteer, then I see no problems with you conducting your experiments here."

    Mira hummed, acknowledging his agreement, but inwardly, she had the desire to remove this guy''s head and force the rest of the vigers to be her guinea pigs. Still, she pushed those thoughts down, as having their cooperation would make her testing go much smoother.

    "So, who amongst you is willing to risk it all for a chance to transcend?" Mira asked, her piercing gaze sweeping over the vigers.

    A profound silence descended upon the crowd. They exchanged uncertain nces. Mira''s offer was enticing, but the potential risks were too daunting for many. Finally, a young man named Sam stepped forward.

    "I volunteer," Sam dered, a determined expression on his face. He was tall and slender, with a glint of adventure in his eyes. "I want to protect Oakshade better. If you can help me do that, then I''m willing to take the risk."

    His deration was met with an assortment of reactions. Some vigers apuded his bravery, while others voiced their concerns, fear for his safety clear in their eyes. His twin sister, Sara, looked worried but didn''t try to dissuade him. She knew her brother too well - once he made up his mind, there was no changing it.

    Mira nodded approvingly, appreciating Sam''s bravery. "Very well, Sam. We will begin preparations immediately."

    Because this guy was young and had a stronger physique than the other kids, Mira decided to go all out from the beginning, using the best Blood Essence she had concocted over thest few days.

    It was abination of a Nightshade Jaguar and an Iron-hide Leopard. They were both Rank 1 when she found them, but this was the result after pushing them to Rank 3 and merging their Blood Essences together. Since they were from the same family of animals, the merging was sessful, albeit barely.

    This one was by far the most unstable thing she''s created, but it hadn''t shown any signs of blowing up in her face yet, and since this kid looked like he held the most potential in the vige, he was the perfect test subject.

    The integration process began as Mira started to infuse the Blood Essence into Sam''s body. Immediately, Sam''s body stiffened as a wave of pain washed over him. His veins throbbed with an intensity he had never experienced before, and his breath hitched in his throat. The vigers who were watching turned away, unable to bear the sight.

    Despite his agony, Sam did not utter a sound. He clenched his jaw, sweat streaming down his face as he withstood the pain, his face growing pale.

    However, it wasn''t long before it became too much for him to hold in.

    "AAHHHHHH!" He cried out in pain, his body thrashing around as it felt like his blood was melting.

    Mira stood beside him, her eyes focused and her [Harmonic Trinity] technique circting, helping to guide the foreign energy through Sam''s body.

    This process continued for several hours. The sun had already set, and the moon had risen high into the night sky. The vigers had retreated to their homes, leaving only Sara, Tiber, and Mira''spanions by Sam''s side.

    After what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally began to subside. Sam let out a long breath, his body slumping with exhaustion. Mira, looking slightly fatigued, nodded with satisfaction. "The integration was sessful."

    He had grown taller, his muscles denser, and he released a more primal aura of strength.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, her satisfaction was marred by a lingering concern. As she examined Sam''s energy structure and body, she noted that it was incredibly unstable.

    Unless he had another lucky chance or some divine intervention, advancing further than the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm would be near impossible. Trying to enter the Foundation Realm may very cause him to explode.

    Still, Mira considered this a sess since just making it past the Body Tempering Realm was most likely impossible for Sam before this.

    Sam opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the new sensations. His body felt different, more powerful and agile. There was a raw energy flowing within him, waiting to be unleashed. He looked at Mira, his eyes filled with gratitude.

    "Thank you, Mira," he said, his voice hoarse. "I feel... stronger."

    "Don''t thank me yet," Mira replied, a cryptic smile ying on her lips. "You may have gained strength, but due to the unstable nature of the Bloodline you gained, your potential was limited as well."

    "It doesn''t matter," Sam shook his head, "Who cares about my potential? What matters is that I now have more strength than I did before!"

    Mira was a bit taken aback by his words before she realized who she was talking to and understood why he would say that. For cultivators, one''s potential determined how far down the path of cultivation they could go.

    They lived their lives caring more about how far they could go rather than how much power they had now. On the other hand, the lifespan of vigers was short. Immediate power was worth more to them than something unknown like "potential".

    ''He won''t be this grateful 100 years from now when he realizes he hit his limit. The process of getting stronger, as well as the strength itself, is like a drug. Once you get a taste of it for yourself, you can''t help but want more.'' Mira shook her head at his naivety but said nothing of it.

    Why should she care about some dumb little vige boy?

    ***

    Over the next week, Mira conducted her experiments tirelessly. She met with the vigers who had volunteered to undergo the transformation one after the other. Some of them reacted well to the foreign bloodlines and developed remarkable abilities. However, not everyone was as fortunate.

    Some vigers sumbed to the overwhelming influx of foreign energy, their bodies unable to withstand the sudden and violent changes. Their death cries echoed through the otherwise peaceful vige, serving as a chilling reminder of the risks involved.

    Yet, despite the dangers and casualties, some vigers continued to step forward, resolute in their decision to risk their lives for a chance at a better future. It was a cycle of hope and despair, victory and defeat, life and death.

    As the days passed, Mira was able to refine her approach and mitigate some of the risks involved. She had grown more familiar with the process and could control it more precisely, reducing the chances of fatal oues. Nheless, it was still a gamble.

    The vigers who survived the process exhibited a variety of unique abilities, dependent on the Beast Bloodlines they had been infused with. Some developed enhanced strength, others gained heightened senses, and a few demonstrated more exotic abilities, such as the ability tomand elements or morph their bodies.

    Mira observed them all with a keen eye, diligently recording the effects of the process. She discovered that the Celestial Nectar had a definite limit to how much it could purify and the efficiency of the integration. Even though she could increase the grade of a bloodline,bine simr ones, and more, that didn''t mean the body would ept those changes.

    If one didn''t have some connection with the bloodline first, then it didn''t matter how pure she made it. They would be unable to take it.

    Moreover, the human body also had a limit to how much foreign energy it could assimte without destabilizing.

    However, despite these limitations, the breakthroughs were groundbreaking. Mira had significantly expanded the known boundaries of cultivation by integrating Beast Bloodlines into human bodies. It was an alchemic breakthrough that had the potential to revolutionize the entire world of cultivation.

    After a week of intense research and experimentation, Mira finally received a message from Aelina. It was a simple message informing Mira that it was time to return to the Sect.

    Mira gazed at the message for a while, her thoughts drifting back to the recent happenings. The vigers of Oakshade, both those who had survived and those who had not, had significantly contributed to her research. Their sacrifices had not been in vain.

    With these findings, she and Aelina could bring the Battle Maiden Sect to extreme heights and conquer this world!

    Before departing, Mira visited Sam, who was training with Hana. While the two weren''t exactly close, they did help motivate each other to keep working out.

    "I must leave now," Mira told him.

    Sam paused his training and turned towards her, a look of gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you, Mira," he said earnestly, "For everything."

    Mira nodded, her gaze sweeping over the transformed vige onest time. "Remember, just because you have this bit of strength doesn''t mean you''re invincible. Just like I came here to experiment, someone might find out about your unique situation and kill you all to extract the very things I gave you."

    With that, Mira, apanied by Rhydian and Hana, left the vige of Oakshade. The vigers watched them go, their faces filled with mixed emotions.

    However, in the middle of the vige, they found a book titled, [The Basics of Cultivation].

    As the figures of Mira and herpanions disappeared into the horizon, the vige fell silent, taking a moment to appreciate the gift that they''d been given.

    Meanwhile, Mira flying through the air, just shook her head with a slight frown.

    ''I must really be getting soft.'' Her frown deepened. ''It''s all that damn Maria''s fault! She''s the one making me do these nonsensical things! I wouldn''t be this stupid if it wasn''t for her!''

    ***

    [A/N: A bit longer of a chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Now, it''s time for some action!]

 Chapter 735 Putting Plans In Motion

    Returning to the Battle Maiden Sect, Mira, Rhydian, and Hana were greeted with the familiar sight of mountains, towering cliffs, serene waterfalls, and ancient trees. After an intense week in the secluded Oakshade vige, the sect''s bustling atmosphere felt both overwhelming and weing.

    As Mira, Rhydian, and Hananded in the inner courtyard, many disciples turned to nce at them. Although they had always kept a rather low profile, it seemed that was no longer a possibility given all her feats and unique appearance.

    Before they could rest, a disciple approached them, her eyes twinkling with respect. "Sect Master Aelina has asked for you to join her on the peak, Senior Sister Mira," she said, handing over a jade slip.

    Mira took the jade slip, a thin smile tugging at her lips. ''Right on cue,'' she thought, ''Aelina''s timing is impable, as always.''

    Giving the girl a nod, Mira turned to Rhydian and Hana and said, "Go on and rest without me. I''ll be right back." With that, Mira left the outer courtyard and began her ascent.

    Reaching the peak, Mira was met with the sight of Aelina sitting cross-legged on a jade tform at the edge of a cliff, her eyes closed in deep meditation. The peak was filled with dense spiritual energy that swirled around Aelina, making her seem ethereal. Despite being lost in meditation, Aelina sensed Mira''s arrival and opened her eyes.

    "Mira," she greeted, her voice as serene as the mountain breeze. "I hope your trip was fruitful."

    Mira smirked as she approached the tform. "Better than I expected," she responded, her voiceced with satisfaction.

    Aelina looked intrigued as Mira produced a stack of jade slips and papers from her Storage Space. She handed them over to Aelina, who epted them with a knowing smile.

    "These are the results of my experiments," Mira said, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.

    Aelina nodded and activated the first jade slip, her eyes scanning the vast amount of information recorded. Her eyebrows furrowed as she read through the detailed notes, taking in theplex nature of Mira''s research and the breakthroughs she had made.

    As she moved from one jade slip to the next, Aelina''s expression slowly changed from curiosity to astonishment and then, finally, to a broad smile.

    She looked at Mira, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She then took a deep breath and said, "Good. Good! It looks like we can follow through with our previous arrangements."

    "Did you notice any beast spies in or around the other Sects?" Mira asked.

    "At first, no." Aelina shook her head, but she didn''t lose her smile, "It seemed like after what you did in Vorandis, on top of my ''greeting'', they pulled back most of their spies. However, over thest few days, we''ve noticed a massive influx of beasts, both in human form and not, patrolling around all the major powers. I''ve even gathered reports that they are attacking people on sight, regardless of their strength or background."

    Mira processed the information for a moment before nodding slowly. "It seems we must adjust our ns slightly," she said, her voice steady. "If they''re acting with such boldness, they must have their reasons. I''m assuming you''ve already sent scouts to keep an eye on their activities?"

    Aelina nodded, "Yes, our people are on it. The entire situation is still developing, but we can''t wait any longer. Those old monsters might start to get bored if we don''t do something soon. It''s time we proceed with our ns."

    Mira agreed, "The situation is changing faster than we anticipated. It''s better we take the initiative instead of reacting to their moves. I trust you have already started preparing the disciples?"

    Aelina chuckled, "Of course, they are more than eager to contribute. Even the new recruits are filled with a fiery spirit, wanting to do their part."

    Mira found herself grinning at the thought. "Good. Let''s get to work, then. The first phase of our n will start tonight."

    With the sun setting in the distance, Mira and Aelina began their preparations. Aelina gathered the Core Disciples and ryed their n. Their mission was to spread chaos amongst the beast ns surrounding the Sect and Ice Maiden City, turning the beasts'' heightened aggression against themselves.

    They didn''t have to ept it, and most people were hesitant as they could very well harm the citizens below the mountain as well as their fellow disciples. But�� the reward Aelina proposed was just too great.

    Should they ept andplete the uing chain of missions, they would be rewarded with an upgradeable Rank 9 Beast Blood Essence of their choosing, at the least!

    She even said that the top performers would get a Rank 10 Beast Blood Essence!

    Who would be dumb enough to not ept this mission?!

    Seeing that none of them left, Aelina nodded and exined the rest of the n to them.

    The disciples listened attentively, a solemn air taking over them. Though some were nervous, the sense of determination they felt outweighed their fear.

    Aelina handed over vials filled with a potent elixir - a mixture of Dragon''s Tongue, a rare herb detestable to beasts, and a concoction that could enhance spiritual energy. They were instructed to spread the elixir on themselves and across the patrol routes of the beasts.

    The enhanced spiritual energy within the elixir would attract the beasts, and the Dragon''s Tongue would send them into a frenzy.

    "Remember, our goal is to cause disruption, not annihtion. Do not engage unless it''s absolutely necessary. Just run away and try to make as much noise as possible. We want to y the victims here, not the aggressors," Aelina reminded them, to which everyone nodded.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Seeing everyone taking her words seriously, she finished her instructions, "That''s all you need to do. Just go to the designated areas on the map, stir up trouble, ande running back. I''ll handle everything else. Is that clear?"

    The women nodded once again.

    Aelina smiled in satisfaction before waving them off, "Then, go do as your told and spread the message to your fellow Inner and Outer Court disciples. Only inform and hand over the elixir to the ones you trust and give them the locations for their missions."

    "Yes, Sect Master!"

    As the disciples dispersed, a palpable tension filled the Battle Maiden Sect.

    With a sense of urgency in their hearts, the disciples quickly disseminated the instructions among the chosen Inner and Outer Court disciples.

    While they understood the risks associated with the mission, the allure of the rewards, as well as the desire to contribute to their sect, solidified their resolve.

    Throughout the evening, Mira and Aelina watched as the sect bustled with activity.

    The disciples moved about like the wind, spreading out in the designated areas. Thanks to the recent war that was still fresh in their minds, they were able to work like a well-oiled machine. Word quickly spread of the mission, and they quickly went into action.

    Disciples soon started leaving the Sect in groups all over the mountains surrounding them.

    *ROAR!*

    *ROAR!*

    *ROAR!*

    However, before they could even reach their destination, the sounds of enraged beasts echoed across the mountain range, chasing them down. They hadn''t even spread out the elixir, and beasts were already chasing them down like a bunch of mad dogs.

    ''Fufufu~'' Aelina chuckled, ''Seems like The Nightstalkers did their jobs without me even telling them to.'' She thought with arge smile.

    The heightened activity of the Battle Maiden Sect did not go unnoticed by the other sects and major powers, stirring curiosity among their ranks, but once they heard the beast roars, many understood that they were currently facing a crisis.

    With the aggressive roars of the beasts echoing in the night and the sudden frenzy of activity from the Battle Maiden Sect, it wasn''t long before the news spread to the other sects. Whispers and spections quickly filled the air.

    Sect Master Aelina had expected such a reaction. As the situation unfolded, she sent out a series of jade slips to the neighboring sects, stating that the Battle Maiden Sect was under an aggressive beast attack and requesting immediate assistance. It was stated in the slips that since the young ones were still injured from the war, they weren''t able to fight at full capacity.

    Also, she and the Elders weren''t shameless enough to wipe out a bunch of ''ants'' that were disturbing their rest. The other forces understood that she was trying to form connections with them and proceeded with haste.

    In response to the jade slips, the neighboring powers, initially doubting the sincerity of Aelina''s plea, dispatched scouts. Once they confirmed the chaos on the mountain, they began to mobilize their forces, thinking that the situation provided a golden opportunity to establish a good rtionship with the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Meanwhile, the disciples of the Battle Maiden Sect continued their mission. Their faces were painted with a mix of fear, anticipation, and determination as they smeared the Elixir all over themselves and the surroundings, then led the frenzied beasts across the mountain range, spreading chaos in their wake.

    The sound of beasts roaring became a symphony of chaos, echoing in the night and shaking the hearts of all who heard it.

    Mira and Aelina watched from the peak, their expressions filled with satisfaction. Their n was progressing smoothly.

    With the influx of powerful figures from various sects, the situation began to take a different turn. The beasts, initially focused on the Battle Maiden Sect disciples, turned their attention towards these new arrivals, turning the situation into arge-scale conflict.

    Mira looked at the ensuing chaos with a glint in her eyes. "Looks like the party has just started," she said, her voiceced with anticipation.

    ***

    [A/N: Let me know if you want to see some of these uing "missions" from different perspectives. Maybe a section from Nova, Seraphina, Eden, and the others. Or, perhaps, from someone new. Maybe Skye, who was introduced during the war with the Crimson yer Sect. Mira won''t be a huge part of this mini-arc, since it''s mostly about increasing the power of the Battle Maiden Sect as a whole, but she will get her moments to shine.

    It really just depends how fast or slow-paced you guys want. I have some ns of my own, but I''m totally open to suggestions. Thank you!]

 Chapter 736 Reinforcements

    Skye, the young prodigy of the Outer Court disciples, stood tall on the peak of the cliff, her white robes fluttering in the night wind. Her eyes were glowing with determination, reflecting the bright moon above. A group of Outer Court disciples gathered around her, their eyes filled with respect and anticipation.

    "Everyone, remember what we''ve gone through together," Skye called out, her voice echoing in the silent night. "Our mission is to lure the beasts towards the mountain ranges. Remember, our objective isn''t to defeat them but to draw them out and into a frenzy."

    She held up a vial filled with the potent elixir, her eyes piercing through each disciple. "Use this wisely. This will attract the beasts to us. As soon as they engage, retreat immediately. We''re here to create havoc, not to throw our lives away."

    Nods and murmurs of affirmation spread among the disciples. Their faces reflected a blend of anxiety and determination as they secured their vials and prepared to descend into the night.

    Since they were only Outer Court Disciples, they could only go to areas where Rank 6 Beasts gathered. It was rare to see Earth-Grade Beast ns this deep in the mountains, so their main objective was catching all the strays, loners, and small groups of them, of which there were many.

    The Ancient Beast Mountain Range was practically filled with Rank 6 beasts; thus, it wasn''t long before a herd of angry beasts came charging at them from out of nowhere.

    *ROAR!*

    *ROAR!*

    *ROAR!*

    Skye and the others'' expressions changed, not expecting this, but she reacted immediately.

    "Rub the elixirs on your bodies and run!" Skye yelled as she dumped the putrid liquid all over her body.

    The smell immediately attracted the attention of the beasts, causing them to charge even more ferociously. Skye and the others bolted, running as fast as their legs could carry them. The roars of the beasts echoed behind them, reverberating off the mountainsides, filling the forest with an eerie chorus of growls and snarls.

    "Split up! Lead them away!" Skye ordered, her voice strong amidst the cacophony. The disciples scattered, each leading a fraction of the enraged beasts in different directions. The once united herd of beasts now ran wildly, each chasing after a disciple.

    Amongst them, a young disciple named Ren, the youngest and most nimble among the group, led a massive beast with sharp tusks and crimson fur away. She moved with lightning speed, her footwork so skillful and fluid that it seemed as though she was dancing with death itself.

    On the other side, a sturdy and dependable disciple named Kora led a group of muscr, rock-skinned beasts away. Kora had always been known for her resilience, and she proved it once again as she withstood the onught, maintaining a safe distance while ensuring the beasts remained hot on her heels.

    Skye, covered in the pungent elixir, was at the heart of the chaos. She was being pursued by thergest and most ferocious of the beasts, a giant wolf-like creature with glowing eyes and saliva dripping from its snarling jaws. Despite the terrifying situation, Skye''s eyes remained calm and determined, her every movement precise and calcted, disying her extraordinary leadership and courage.

    While they were being chased, they didn''t forget to kill a few beasts along the way and cover themselves in their blood to help mask the pungent scent of the Elixir for when they eventually ran past other humans.

    As they moved deeper into the mountains, toward the Sect, they came across variousndscapes - dense forests, rocky terrains, and steep cliffs. Skye and the others used these to their advantage, tricking the beasts, leading them into traps, and making their pursuit more difficult.

    Meanwhile, they made sure to put up an act of desperate defense whenever they noticed human figures in the distance. They made it appear as though they were the helpless victims, attacked out of the blue by these beasts.

    Word of this unusual beast attack reached the neighboring families. The Zhang family and the Luo n, who Aelina had contacted, mobilized their forces, rushing to aid the Battle Maiden Sect.

    And why wouldn''t they? A chance to assist one of the seven Major Orthodox Sects was like a god-sent opportunity.

    Unfortunately for them, Aelina didn''t give two shits about their ideas or ambitions. They had a role to y in all of this. When all of this was over, so was their "rtionship".

    When they arrived, they found the Outer Court disciples being ''attacked'' by the frenzied beasts. They quickly moved into action, pushing the beasts back.

    "We''vee to help!" One of the Zhang Family Elders said, letting the Outer Sect disciples know that they weren''t enemies.

    All the while, Skye, despite her dangerous situation, managed to keep track of the overall situation, ensuring the disciples followed the n. They had to keep the ruse up, all the while making sure not to get seriously injured or killed.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Ren! Stay ahead! Don''t let them catch you!" Skye shouted, her voice carrying through the chaos. Ren looked over her shoulder and gave a nod, her face pale but determined.

    "I got it, Senior Sister Skye!" Ren responded, her voice shaky but resolute. She increased her pace, her breathsing in short, sharp gasps.

    On the other side, Skye noticed Kora starting to slow. Her steps were bing heavy, her breaths ragged. The beasts were closing in on her.

    "Kora, use the terrain! Lead them through the rocks!" Skye instructed, her voice urgent. Kora nced at her, sweat pouring down her face, but managed a nod of understanding. She quickly adjusted her path, leading the beasts towards a rocky outcrop that would slow them down.

    Meanwhile, Skye was leading her pursuer in a dizzying chase around a dense thicket. She ducked under low branches and leaped over roots, the beast hot on her heels.

    "Come on, you overgrown furball," she muttered under her breath, casting a nce over her shoulder. The giant wolf-like beast snarled, lunging at her, but she managed to dodge, leaving the beast to crash into a tree.

    "Quickly, we must save them!" one of the Zhang family elders shouted after seeing Skye''s dangerous situation and rallying his men. They rushed into the fray, their weapons at the ready.

    On the other side, the Luo n elder alsomanded his men, "Save the disciples! Drive those beasts away!" Theirbined forces joined the battle, fighting off the beasts and unwittingly bing part of the Battle Maiden Sect''s ruse.

    Despite the fear and danger, Skye couldn''t help but feel a thrill. They were in control of this chaos. The other families, even the beasts themselves, were mere puppets in their grand y.

    "We''re almost there! Keep pushing!" Skye yelled, her voice ringing clear in the night.

    However, before she could run any further, the wolf lunged at her with a full-powered strike. Skye went to defend, but she reacted too ''slowly'', allowing the beast to m into her chest, sending her flying.

    Skye rolled across the ground before crashing into a tree, coughing up blood.

    "D-Damned beast��! I''ll kill you!" She roared, her eyes turning bloodshot as she pounced at the wolf, sword in hand, ready to y it.

    But, before she could, a burst of light came from the side, shing into the wolf''s neck, decapitating it.

    "Are you okay, Miss?" A concerned voice entered her ear from the direction the light came from.

    Skye coughed again and looked over, only to see a trio of men wearing green robes and swords at the waists approaching her. She struggled to stand up and cupped her fists.

    "Thank you for saving me. I would''ve had to waste more time dealing with that thing, allowing more of my sisters to die, if it hadn''t been for you." She said in as respectful of a tone as she could muster. Of course, she could''ve killed this thing in a few moves, but they didn''t need to know that.

    "Ahem." The leader of the group coughed, feeling a little embarrassed, but he still nodded with a hint of pride. Sticking out his chest, he said, "Don''t worry, Miss! We''re here to protect you! Just leave everything to us!"

    ''Pft-!'' Skye had to stifle a chuckle at how cringingly naive he sounded, but she still managed to give them another proper bow out of gratification. "Th-Thank you!"

    The man in the lead wanted to keep talking with her or at least get her name, but before he could say anything, another group of beasts burst through the foliage.

    The man''s eyes immediately narrowed as the leader yelled to Skye, "Get out of here! We''ll deal with these fuckers!"

    Skye gave them a firm nod and took off in the opposite direction, trying to hide the smirk on her face.

    ''Fufufu~ Is this the reason Sect Master contacted those families? She''s such a bad woman~'' Her eyes shined like stars in the moonlight, almost wishing she could go to Aelina right now and ask to be her disciple.

 Chapter 737 Coercion

    As Skye made her way back to her fellow disciples to ''protect'' them, the focus shifted to a different part of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Here, the night was lit up by a mesmerizing yet deadly battle between two figures and a myriad of savage beasts.

    Cine and Asami were both part of this mission. Despite not having fully recovered from their injuries with the Shadowfang yet, they only saw that as a positive in this situation. Rank 7 beasts were of little consequence with their strength. Only Rank 8 beasts could give them a challenge.

    However, as they were still not in peak condition, they would rather not face off against any Rank 8 beasts right now.

    "Can you feel it, Cine?" Asami asked, her eyes glinting dangerously under the moonlight. She gracefully maneuvered her fans, her dark powers seeping into the beasts that dared to approach. Their movements became sluggish, their roars turning into confused grunts.

    "I do," Cine replied, her saber slicing through the wind as she cut down the beasts approaching her. "The energy in the air has changed. The beasts are bing more aggressive."

    Asami hummed in agreement. They were indeed deeper into the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, and unlike Skye and the Outer Court disciples, their task was more dangerous. They had to hold off these beasts while retreating back to the Sect, where ''reinforcements'' awaited.

    "Let''s make this a performance they''ll never forget," Cine suggested, a smirk on her face. Asamiughed lightly, her fans flickering ominously.

    "Let''s put on a show, then," Asami agreed, herugh barely audible over the roar of the beasts.

    They had covered themselves in the elixir, attracting the attention of numerous Rank 7 beasts. Each strike theynded on the beasts was met with a cacophony of roars and growls. This was a different kind of battle - not one they were fighting to win, but one they were performing to draw attention.

    Despite being surrounded, they executed their moves with an incredible precision that only came from years of training. The pain from their still-healing wounds was there, but they saw it as nothing more than an addition to their act.

    Cine, using her wind affinity, used her saber to whip up whirlwinds around them. Her swift, fluid movements created a spectacle of light and motion that deterred the beasts from getting too close while also making them appear to be holding their own against the onught.

    Asami, on the other hand, was more focused on manipting the beasts themselves. Her fans danced in her hands as she harnessed her dark powers, making the beasts hesitant and disoriented. She ensured that they stayed in the fight, preventing them from running off and adding more chaos to the scene.

    Meanwhile, both of them were steadily moving towards the Sect, leading the beasts deeper into their territory.

    "Can''t believe we''re doing this," Cine grumbled in between her breaths, deflecting a beast''s attack beforeunching a counterattack.

    "Honestly, it''s not the worst idea," Asami countered, her face a mask of concentration as she tried to control as many beasts as possible. "Back home, maniption and betrayal weremonce. I don''t know what the Sect Master wants, but it''s clearly big if she''s willing to hand out so many previous bloodlines.

    "I just hope the others are doing okay," Cine expressed her concern, her face hardening as she thought of their fellow disciples who were also part of this grand n.

    "They will be. Skye will make sure that the least amount of Outer Court Disciples dies. While those Core Disciples�� well, if they''re anything like Nova, I''m sure they''re fine," Asami reassured her friend. They continued their performance, each move of theirs bringing them closer to the Sect.

    As they neared the Sect, they could see the reinforcements waiting. Cine gave a nce toward Asami, and both of them knew it was time for the climax of their performance.

    "Let''s do this," Cine murmured, determination set in her eyes.

    With a roar, she plunged into the crowd of beasts, her saber shing. Asami, matching her stride, danced among the beasts, her fans shing through the air.

    Their attacks,bined with their situation''s ''desperate'' nature, stirred up the beasts even further. The beasts were frenzied, their roars echoing through the night sky. The disciples fought back valiantly, holding the line while the reinforcements from the Sect arrived.

    "Look! Over there! Now the Inner Court Disciples are in trouble!" A man yelled while pointing in their direction.

    "Fuck! Are you serious?! What are those beasts doing, and why are they so angry?!" Another cursed, but his eyes glinted as his gaze wandered across their curvaceous bodies.

    "Who cares, you idiots! Just go out there and save them! We have to prove ourselves to the Battle Maiden Sect!" The leader of this trio shouted righteously, but from the slight smirk on his face, one could see he also didn''t have the purest of intentions.

    If they truly wanted to "save" those girls, they wouldn''t have been standing around doing nothing, waiting for them to get in danger. Instead, they would already be out there wandering the mountains.

    However, unknowingly, this was better for Aelina.

    As the reinforcements joined the battle, Cine, and Asami moved deeper into the crowd of beasts, continuing their deadly dance. Their act had worked - the beasts were being held back, their attention was firmly on the disciples, and the Sect was safe.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the reinforcements arrived, joining the fight. Cine and Asami, their act finally over, thanked the men and hurriedly retreated toward the Sect, their injuries apparent.

    They didn''t even allow those three to enter a conversation with them.

    Despite their exhaustion, their faces were lit with satisfaction. Their n had worked. Now it was time to return to the Sect and prepare for the next phase of their mission.

    The ''reinforcements'' looked a little downcast, angry even, but what could they do? This was the Battle Maiden Sect''s territory. They wouldn''t dare make a move unless they wanted their heads removed from their bodies today.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Still, a few people from the Luo and Zhang families couldn''t help but find this whole situation a bit suspicious.

    They were the Patriarchs of the Families who had responded to this call to action. Rather, the fact that they were called in the first ce made them doubtful.

    "I didn''t know you were so close to Sect Master Aelina," said Luo Chen, the Patriarch of the Luo family.

    "I could say the same to you, old bastard," Zhang Yun, the Patriarch of the Zhang family, responded.

    "Something''s not right," muttered Luo Chen, the Patriarch of the Luo family. He had been observing the whole scenario from afar, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

    "I agree," Zhang Yun, the Patriarch of the Zhang family, replied, sharing the same concerns. His eyes darted around the area, taking in the sight of the ''struggling'' disciples and the ferocious beasts.

    The two patriarchs had known each other for years, their families often coborating on various matters. They had been through numerous battles, weathered countless storms, and honed their instincts to a razor''s edge.

    The events unfolding before them felt too staged, too perfect, and that raised their suspicions.

    "The injuries those girls sustained do not seem serious enough to warrant our intervention," Luo Chen pointed out. "And the beasts... they are out of their fucking minds. Almost like they''ve been drugged."

    "Now that you mention it��" Zhang Yun''s eyes narrowed, "I know that they''re probably on edge because of what happened, but isn''t this a bit much? They might be beasts, but at their level, they should be intelligent enough to, well�� not do this."

    "Not to mention, most of those girls�� they should be able to handle this onught. Why would they need our help?" Luo Chen darted his eyes across the battlefield, sending out his Soul Sense to see everything that was going on.

    However, the women from the Battle Maiden Sect were truly meticulous. Even without their ''help'', the girls were slowly taking care of everything themselves.

    Perhaps the only ones who were truly struggling were the Outer Sect Disciples. They had even caught a few of them dying, which showed that this situation was real and not some staged event. Unless Aelina suddenly lost all care for her own disciples, which they doubted.

    But, there were a few things that made them especially suspicious of everything.

    Where were the Elders? What about Nova, Seraphina, Eden, Everly, Rayna, and Mira? Just them alone could take care of everything here without any issues, much less the Sect Master.

    They could understand it if the disciples were out on a mission or something, but every single Elder? Not a chance.

    Zhang Yun nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Indeed, and the sudden aggression of the beasts does not fit their usual patterns. It is as if they were manipted into this."

    "Could it be the Battle Maiden Sect ying a game?" Luo Chen suggested, not liking where this train of thought was leading. If the Battle Maiden Sect was manipting the situation for some unknown purpose, then it was a cause for concern.

    "I wouldn''t put it past them," Zhang Yun responded grimly. "However, we should be cautious in our assumptions. It is a dangerous game they are ying, if true."

    "You''re correct. You should be cautious with your words, Zhang Yun, Luo Chen. Who knows what might happen to your�� little family if someone doesn''t like the things you said." A chilling voice entered their ears, as if whoever said it was right next to them but so far away at the same time.

    They both felt a chill run down their spines, cold sweat instantly covering their bodies as they stood there, frozen in fear. They knew whose voice that was, but before they could say anything-

    *BOOOM!*

    *BOOOM!*

    *BOOOM!*

    *BOOOM!*

    A cacophony of explosions went off in the background, reducing a few mountains torge hills and creating giant craters across thend. However, the destruction was still oddly close to the Battle Maiden Sect��

    "Uh-oh. It seems like a few of my Elders are in danger because of these crazy beasts. Thankfully, I have two amazing heroes here, waiting to rescue them! How gant! How noble! Truly dragon among men, you two are!" The voice teased, but despair quickly washed over them, feeling the dangerous auras in the distance.

    They both nced at each other, wanting to cry, thinking the same thing:

    ''FUCK!''

    Unfortunately, they had dug their own grave and could only follow Aelina''s will. That way, at least, they had a chance to live.

 Chapter 738 The Elders Battle

    In a more isted and perilous part of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, a cataclysmic battle was unfolding under the moonlight. Rank 9 Beasts, filled with unfathomable rage and bloodlust, were locked inbat with some of the most formidable figures in the Battle Maiden Sect - the Elders.

    The sound of devastating shes and roars filled the air, the ground quaking with each attack as dust and debris were flung up high into the night sky. The Elders - Sandra, Xanthe, Talia, Callista, and others - despite their immense power, were being pushed to their limits.

    "Frost Palm!" Elder Xanthe, known for her water affinity, eximed. Her hand moved fluidly,unching a palm attack that turned into a chilling wind.

    The attack raced toward a Rank 9 Beast, encasing its massive body in ice. But the beast roared, its body radiating heat, melting the ice and releasing it from the hold.

    "Earthly Chains!" Elder Talia, a master of the earth element,manded, her fingers weaving intricate hand signs.

    The ground beneath the beasts erupted as chains formed frompressed earth and stone shot up, trying to bind the beasts in ce. The beasts, however, smashed through the chains, their blood-red eyes glowing menacingly under the moonlight.

    Elder Callista, known for her prowess in fire maniption, moved among the beasts, her actions akin to a raging inferno.

    With each of her swift and fierce attacks, mes apanied her, searing and burning the beasts. Yet, these beasts seemed impervious to pain, shrugging off their burns and injuries to continue their onught.

    The Elders were veterans of countless battles, their strength and experience inbat was to bring them to the peak of this continent, right under the Sect Masters.

    They were able to hold their own, their unique abilities shing with the monstrous power of the beasts.

    However, it was clear that fighting against a horde of Rank 9 beasts was anything but easy. The ferocity and irrationality of the beasts made it difficult to anticipate their moves or effectively exploit their weaknesses. Not to mention, their overflowing vitality and ridiculously strong physical bodies made it difficult for ordinary attacks to have any effect on them.

    The most effective way to kill them is to do so in one shot, but that was easier said than done.

    When Mira and the others fought the Shadowfang, they were lucky they were able to leave with their lives, much less kill it.

    In the midst of this chaos, the Elders were surprised to feel the unmistakable surge of two familiar auras racing toward them.

    "What the hell..." Elder Xanthe muttered under her breath, her attention momentarily distracted from the battle. She had recognized the auras. Luo Chen and Zhang Yun, the Patriarchs of the Luo and Zhang families. They had appeared in their hour of dire need.

    Luo Chen and Zhang Yun arrived on the scene, their faces paling as they took in the carnage unfolding before them. Without wasting a second, theyunched themselves into the fray, their powerful attacks aiding the Elders and shifting the bnce of the battle slightly.

    Yet, their arrival only seemed to enrage the beasts further, their attacks growing more ferocious.

    "Damn it! What''s gotten into these beasts?" Luo Chen yelled over the roars and shes, his sword shing with a Rank 9 Beast.

    "I don''t know, but we have to end this now!" Zhang Yun shouted back, his spear dancing in his hand as he fought back a Rank 9 Beast.

    The Elders, Luo Chen, and Zhang Yun, fought bravely, their attacks unrelenting as they tried to subdue the beasts. Their auras shed, creating shockwaves that shattered the rocks around them, their fierce energy lighting up the dark night.

    "The Nine Phoenix Dance!" Luo Chen roared, unleashing his family''s ancient technique. Nine phantom images of a fiery phoenix danced around him, and with a swift movement, they shot toward the beasts, their burning trails lighting up the night sky. Upon impact, the beasts roared in pain, but the damage was not enough to bring them down.

    "Star Piercer!" Zhang Yun bellowed, his spear pulsating with immense Qi. He thrust it forward, and a beam of condensed energy shot forth, piercing through one of the beasts. It roared, its body staggering, but it was far from death.

    They had made an impact, certainly, but it was not enough. Their powerful attacks, while able to inflict significant damage, were insufficient to end the lives of these monstrous Rank 9 beasts.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Although they might be Mortal Shedding Realm experts themselves, they didn''t have the range of experience that the Elders of the Battle Maiden Sect had. While the Elders spent their time refining their techniques, sparring with one another, creating new techniques, or searching for ways to get stronger, they spent their time trying to increase the power of their families.

    The number of times they''d faced off against a Rank 9 beast in their lifetime could be counted on one hand.

    "Did the Sect Master know about this?!" Luo Chen questioned through gritted teeth, fending off a beast that lunged at him. His mind raced, trying to figure out if this catastrophe was a part of Aelina''s grand n. He didn''t want to die here, after all.

    "I doubt she''d throw us into the lion''s den without any form of preparation," Elder Xanthe responded, her gaze firm as she froze another beast in its tracks, albeit temporarily. "There must be more to this."

    Despite their doubts and confusion, the Elders and the two Patriarchs could only continue fighting. They released a flurry of attacks, a fusion of various elements that painted the night sky with spectacr colors. Yet, the beasts were relentless, their ferocious attacks never-ending.

    Their joint efforts, however, seemed to have a deterring effect on the beasts. Their numbers began to dwindle as some, injured and intimidated by the formidablebined force, began to retreat.

    After being thrashed around for a while, most of them seemed toe to their senses.

    "Let''s drive them off!" Callistamanded, her voice echoing above the chaos. The others nodded, unleashing another round of attacks toward the beasts.

    The tide of the battle slowly began to turn. With thebined efforts of the Elders, Luo Chen, and Zhang Yun, they managed to scare off most of the beasts. However, they were unable to kill all of the Rank 9 beasts, their vitality and resilience far surpassing their expectations.

    Still, there were quite a few bodies lying around inside massive craters.

    Now that they were able to take a break, Elder Sandra swooped in and began collecting the beast''s corpses. She was one of the few people who knew that Aelina was looking to collect as many beast Blood Essences as possible. What she was going to do with them? She didn''t know, but she figured Aelina had a good reason.

    "Take the injured back to the Sect," shemanded, turning to a group of Elders who had managed to hold their own but had sustained considerable injuries. Nods of understanding were her response as they quickly retreated from the battlefield.

    With a sigh, Elder Xanthe turned to Luo Chen and Zhang Yun, her eyes softening in gratitude. "Your assistance tonight has been invaluable. We would not have managed to repel these beasts so quickly without your help."

    Zhang Yun wiped the sweat off his forehead, looking at the retreating beasts with a heavy sigh. "We did what we had to do."

    Luo Chen remained silent, his gaze still focused on the bodies of the fallen beasts. His mind was filled with confusion and doubt about the events of this night. However, the fatigue and lingering pain from the battle forced him to put those thoughts aside momentarily.

    Xanthe smiled and continued, "As thanks, we would like to extend our hospitality to you. Please, return with us to the Sect."

    Their expressions changed. They exchanged nces before Luo Chen finally replied, his voice heavy with reluctance. "We appreciate the offer, Elder Xanthe, but there''s no need. We''re just d Sect Master Aelina�� provided us with this opportunity. How could we continue to impose on your generosity?"

    Before they could turn away, a powerful force enveloped them. Luo Chen and Zhang Yun turned in surprise to see Aelina standing a few meters away, her eyes glowing with an eerie light. "What if I insist?" she asked, her voice resonating with an authority that sent chills down their spines.

    With that, Aelina used her powers to transport the patriarchs, along with the Elders and the collected beast corpses, back to the Sect. Luo Chen and Zhang Yun exchanged a look of rm, but there was nothing they could do to resist.

    ***

    Back in the Battle Maiden Sect, at Aelina''s lookout that she used to survey the mountain range beneath her, Mira watched everything unfold and sighed. However, the tips of her lips had curved upwards.

    "It seems like it''s our time to shine now," Mira muttered before she hopped off the cliff, down toward where the Nova and Rayna were staying, while calling for Rhydian to join her.

 Chapter 739 Hero?

    The moon hung low in the sky, casting eerie shadows over the mountain range where the remaining beasts prowled. A particr group of beasts, their bodies covered in rough scales, stood out among the others.

    Their malevolent red eyes glowed ominously under the lunar glow as they surveyed the aftermath of the cataclysmic battle. The deafening silence that followed the earlier conflict seemed to have no effect on their bloodthirst.

    They weren''t out here because of the elixir. No. They were out for blood.

    Meanwhile, Mira arrived at the quarters of Nova and Rayna.

    "Mira," Nova acknowledged, her firm grip around her spear never loosening. Her eyes were filled with a fiery intensity that mirrored her elemental affinity as she gathered Qi around the recent scars on her body, trying to heal them.

    Although she had gotten treated, the Elders kicked her out not long after she was no longer in critical condition. The same went for everyone else. The only person who was still being treated by the Elders was Seraphina, as her organs, meridians, and body was pretty messed up. It wouldn''t be a lie to say that if she didn''t receive immediate treatment, she would''ve died.

    Rayna, silent as usual, only offered a nod, her hands toying with her poison-tipped daggers.

    They knew of Aelina''s n beforehand, but the Sect Master merely told them to wait for Mira to get them as they had a different job.

    Mira studied them both, reading their unwavering determination mirrored in their battle-ready postures. She inwardly nodded before stating, "It''s time to move."

    Nova''s fiery gaze flickered with intrigue, but it was Rayna who spoke, her voice a barely audible whisper, "What''s the task?"

    "Clean up," Mira answered.

    That was all Rayna needed to hear.

    Without another word, she got up and left, heading straight toward where all the action was.

    Mira shook her head, as she still had more to say, but she figured it didn''t matter. Their job was to kill beasts, after all.

    This whole thing was nothing more than a show. A show to the world that, one, proved they weren''t afraid of anyone or anything even after the war with the Crimson yer Sect. And two, that people needed to start paying more attention to the Beast ns.

    ''Whatever. Nova''s the one I really wanted to talk to, anyways.'' Mira thought. With Nova''s curious gaze aimed at her, Mira opened her mouth to speak.

    "I know your job sounds�� normal, and truthfully, it is. However, we need a ''hero'' for this y, and you''re perfect for the role. So, make sure to be as shy as possible out there."

    Nova frowned, still mostly confused about what was going on, but since these were orders from the Sect Master, she couldn''t refuse, could she?

    "...Why?" She asked after a moment of silence.

    "Hm?" Mira looked at her questioningly.

    "Why can''t you just have the disciples being attacked kill the beasts? They''re more than capable of that. In fact, wouldn''t that be a better show of power?" Nova asked, her grip on her spear tightening as she didn''t understand Aelina would put the lives of her disciples in danger for no reason.

    Mira immediately chuckled, a sinister undertonecing herughter as she replied, "The whole continent is watching us. We can''t just show all our cards, can we? But people have already seen you, with all your shy techniques, in action. But don''t worry, I''ll give you a surprise if you do your job well."

    Nova was speechless, but Mira didn''t bother with her. Instead, she smirked a pushed Nova out of the room with her Qi.

    "Now go! Go soak up the limelight and ughter those bastards that dared to ''invade'' us!" Mira''sugh echoed in her ears, but as she turned around to question her once again, the fox woman had already disappeared.

    Nova stomped on the ground angrily, gritting her teeth in frustration at how she was being treated as some kind of scapegoat!

    ''That fucker! Why is she making me do this?! I just want to train, dammit! I don''t want to be some shitty hero!'' She grumbled but still left the mountain to go do as she was told.

    Unfortunately, she truly was the best candidate that was avable at the moment. All of her techniques were both easily recognizable and attention-grabbing.

    If there was anyone capable of showcasing the Battle Maiden Sect''s might while hiding the Sect''s depths, it was her.

    Not to mention, Nova loved the Sect with her heart and soul. Combined with her affinity and temper�� there wasn''t a better person for the job.

    Gritting her teeth, Nova took a moment to gather herself. Mira''s words spun around her mind. Despite the resentment bubbling inside her, Nova knew deep down that the woman was right. The Sect''s future was more important than her personal preferences.

    If her actions could help bring the Sect to new heights, then who was she toin?

    With a final nce at the moon, Nova sprinted toward the heart of the battlefield. Her heart pounded against her ribs, a mixture of apprehension and determination pushing her forward.

    As she neared the outskirts, where she sensed the most blood from, her eyes widened at the sight before her. The battlefield was a cacophony of shing des, piercing roars, and anguished screams. The beasts, bathed in lunar light, looked even more ferocious than she had anticipated.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Fuck! I thought this was supposed to be an act! What the hell is going on here?! Why are our sisters dying?!'' Nova wanted to scream out loud and curse both Mira and Sect Master Aelina for their negligence and apathy but now wasn''t the time.

    What she didn''t know was that Aelina may have added a little something ''extra'' in the elixir, causing the beasts'' strength to rise the more they lost their minds.

    With a mighty battle cry, Nova plunged into the chaos, her ming spear whirling around her. Every swipe of her weapon sent a beast reeling. Every spin dodged a deadly blow. Every leap was another dance in the deadly ballet.

    The spectacle was not lost on the observers. Battle Maidens, Elders, and spectators alike watched as Nova single-handedly drove back the beasts.

    A murmur rippled through the crowd, growing in volume as they began to rally behind Nova. Her bold disy of power and ferocity was a beacon of hope in the sea of violence and despair.

    Even as she fought, Nova found herself thinking of Mira''s words. This was a show, a performance to demonstrate their strength to the world.

    Yet, it wasn''t a lie. Their Sect was powerful, and they would fight for their survival. For their dominance!

    It was about time they took action instead of passively sitting on a mountain, silently spreading their influence!

    Nova''s fiery Qi swirled around her like a fiery cyclone, her spear leaving trails of scorching light in its wake. The beasts cowered at her approach, their vicious snarls reced by fearful whimpers.

    The roars of the beasts and cries of battle began to be rhythm to her, a beat she danced to with deadly precision.

    Nova darted between the ranks of Outer Court Disciples, where Rank 6 beasts roared and charged. Her spear tore through their tough scales, each stroke ending a life. mes would burst forth from their bodies, leaving nothing but charred remains.

    Disciples who saw this gasped in awe, their panic easing slightly. With Nova leading, they felt emboldened and reassured, marching alongside her, ughtering the beasts relentlessly just as they tried to do to them.

    The tides began to turn, with more beasts falling and fewer disciples retreating.

    No sooner had thest of the Rank 6 beasts fallen than Nova was off again, her fiery aura lighting the way through the darkness. Her arrival at the Inner Court Disciples'' battlefront was heralded by an eruption of mes. A Rank 7 beast, towering above even thergest of its kin, fell with a thunderous crash as Nova''s spear pierced its skull.

    Inner Court Disciples paused their battles momentarily, their eyes wide as they took in the sight of Nova, her weapon still embedded in the beast''s skull, her body shrouded in mes. A moment of silence was punctuated by a rallying cry as the disciples echoed her war cry, their spirits rejuvenated.

    Battle after battle, Nova held the front lines, her spear a zinget that streaked through the battlefield. Rank 7 beasts fell before her one after the other, their roars of defiance cut short by the fiery maiden''s indomitable assault. The battlefield grew lighter with each beast she felled, the fires from her Qi illuminating the night.

    Rayna followed her, assassinating and collecting the corpses, leaving nothing behind as she moved like a shadow amidst the enemy''s ranks.

    Finally, with the Inner Court''s enemies nearly eradicated, Nova moved on to thest and greatest challenge, the Rank 8 beasts that the Core Disciples struggled against.

    These beasts were in another league entirely, their massive forms causing tremors with each step, their roars echoing through the mountains. But Nova didn''t falter. Her heart pounded in her chest, her Qi zing even brighter. She was not just fighting for herself anymore; she was the hope for her sisters, the beacon for her Sect.

    A true ''hero'' just like Mira wanted.

    ''Are you happy now, Mira?! Is everything going ording to the Sect Master''s n? Is this what you wanted?'' She grumbled, still upset at how they were treating her, but it''d be a lie if she said she didn''t feel good.

    Who didn''t like being a hero, a leader, in the eyes of one''s juniors?

    Like a meteor, she shot towards thergest of the beasts, her body encased in mes. The beast reared, its massive jaws opening to release a roar that shook the heavens. But Nova was faster. With a roar of her own, she plunged her spear deep into its chest, the burning tip of her weapon piercing its heart.

    The beast gave a final, anguished roar before copsing, the earth quaking beneath its weight. Nova stood on its body, her spear raised high, a victorious warrior atop her conquered foe.

    Core Disciples watched in awe and relief as, one by one, each of the remaining Rank 8 beasts fell before Nova''s relentless assault. However, they didn''t lose out to her.

    Now that they were given the ''signal'', they could stop holding back!

    With a thunderous roar, they followed her charge, killing every beast in sight. Nova still took the lime-light but the Core disciples were no longer on the defensive and could showcase some of their skills.

    Unfortunately, many Rank 8 beasts were too fast for them and escaped, but after many hours of fighting and acting, that was a win in their books.

    However, as they stabbed their weapons inside the remaining wounded beasts, they didn''t know that they were being watched by entities far more dangerous than what they just faced.

    ***

    "Good job, Nova. Now, leave the rest to me." Mira muttered while watching everything from the side under the cloak of darkness.

 Chapter 740 What Are You Doing?

    The smoke of battle was still thick in the air, the scent of charred flesh heavy as Mira observed from the sidelines. She gave a subtle nod of approval at Nova''s impressive performance. The fiery Battle Maiden had done her part, now it was time for the fox to step into the spotlight.

    "Rhydian," she called out quietly, her tone firm. A silhouette emerged from the shadows, and soon, a tall and sturdy figure of a woman dressed in dark attire appeared before her.

    She was still wearing shabby clothes as Mira hadn''t gotten around to buying something for her from the FLDIL. Or, more urately, she couldn''t be bothered to. Rhydian''s clothing situation was the least of both of their concerns.

    "...Hunt?" Rhydian tilted her head and asked, staring into the distance.

    "We hunt," Mira nodded, a sinister smile gracing her lips.

    Together, they slipped away from the battlefield and ventured into the wilderness. Their target? The remaining beasts who had managed to escape the Battle Maiden Sect''s counterattack.

    They moved in perfect synchrony, a pair of deadly predators in pursuit of their prey. Their eyes glowed in the dark, a ferocious gold and a vicious crimson, as they began their merciless hunt.

    The undergrowth parted silently as Mira and Rhydian wove their way through the rocky forest, their senses attuned to the subtle disturbances in the Qi around them. Even the faintest rustle, the softest footfall, the merest disruption in the wind''s flow, they detected with acute precision.

    Soon, their persistence paid off.

    A low growl echoed in the distance, the sonic waves subtly disrupting the Qi around them. Mira and Rhydian exchanged a nce, and without a word, they veered in the direction of the sound.

    As they neared the source, they found themselves standing at the edge of a clearing, where they caught sight of their first prey. A burly beast with gnarled horns and bloodshot eyes stood against the moonlit backdrop, its breaths heavy and uneven from the previous escape.

    "Perfect," Mira murmured, her eyes glinting under the moon''s pale glow.

    Rhydian responded with a stoic nod, her ws extending.

    "...Kill?"

    Mira gave a slight nod and motioned for Rhydian to go for it.

    In a sh, Rhydian sprang into action. Her form was a blur of movement.

    The beast, caught off guard by her swift attack, let out a startled roar, but it was toote. Rhydian''s ws swiped down with brute strength, leaving a trail of red in their wake. It was a straightforward, frontal attack - no subtlety, no trickery, just raw power and speed.

    Meanwhile, Mira gripped her scythe tighter, her eyes never straying from the battlefield. She watched Rhydian''s assault with a cool expression, a stark contrast to the fiery destruction left by Nova.

    As Rhydian moved on to the next beast, another one crept from the shadows, its savage eyes fixed on Mira. A low growl rumbled in its throat as it circled her, ready to pounce at the slightest sign of weakness. But Mira was anything but weak.

    "C''mon then," Mira taunted, twirling her scythe with deceptive ease. The weapon, an extension of her own will, danced in the moonlight, its arc sweeping in deadly harmony with her movements. "Let''s dance."

    The beast charged, teeth bared and ws outstretched. But Mira was faster. With a swift motion, she sidestepped the lunge, her scythe''s de meeting the beast''s nk. A sickening thud followed as the beast''s momentum carried it forward, crashing onto the ground before it split in two.

    By now, Rhydian had cleared out the area of these�� weaklings. Her eyes shifted to Mira just in time to see her dispatch her foe with ease.

    "Rhydian, on me," Miramanded, her voice carrying across the clearing. Rhydian nodded, swiftly closing the gap between them.

    Their next adversaries were a pack of sleek, quick beasts. Mira and Rhydian met them head-on.

    Mira, with her scythe slicing through the air, and Rhydian, her powerful ws ripping through flesh and bone, were a force of nature. Together, they ughtered the already frightened beasts as if they were made of paper, their movements echoing in the silent wilderness.

    Their hunt took them deeper into the mountainous forest, the moon casting long, ominous shadows on the ground. With each step they took, each beast they brought down, their presence in the forest grew more dominant, more menacing.

    However, their victory was short-lived. Mira felt a familiar prickling sensation at the back of her neck. Her senses heightened, she caught the faintest rustle of undergrowth, the barely perceptible disturbance in the Qi around them. They weren''t alone.

    "Rhydian," she muttered, not taking her eyes off the shadows.

    "...I know," came the curt response, herpanion''s golden eyes also scanning their surroundings.

    Mira used her Soul Sense to see if she could find anything, but still, nothing.

    "Something''s not right," Mira murmured, her gaze never leaving the shadows as she took a defensive stance.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Rhydian grunted in agreement, her muscr frame coiled and ready to spring into action. The eerie silence was only punctuated by their own breaths, which they kept shallow and measured.

    Then, the forest exploded into chaos.

    A horde of Peak-Stage Rank 8 beasts, their scales glistening in the ethereal moonlight, poured from the shadows. Their fiery eyes, brimming with malicious intent, sent a cold shiver down Mira''s spine. Not out of fear but excitement. These weren''t just ordinary beasts - their energy was different, their motives even more so.

    These beasts weren''t here for the elixir, a fact further confirmed by theck of its distinctive scent. And while their savage appearance suggested they were driven by bloodlust, the strange determination in their gaze suggested something more.

    Caught off guard, Mira and Rhydian were briefly taken aback. But they quickly got into battle-ready positions, their expressions hardening as they faced the onught.

    "Well, this is new," Mira said, her tone dry as she squared off with the creatures.

    As the beasts drew near, the two prepared for an attack, but even after a dozen seconds, no such thing came.

    The reptilian-like beasts just surrounded them, their eyes locking onto their figures, making sure not to miss a single movement.

    Eventually, arger one with a much stronger aura than the rest made its way through the horde toward them. Eventually, it stood before them, looking down as if it were a giant facing an ant.

    Mira felt the urge to gouge its eyes out for daring to look down on her like that but held herself back, curious as to why they showed up like this.

    "What are you doing, fox?" She heard a deep voice transmit to her mind.

    "What do you mean?" Mira tilted her head, acting ignorant, but the little smirk on her face told a different story.

    "Why are you killing us? Why are you and your�� human masters�� tilting the bnce? Causing chaos?"

    Mira''s smirk transformed into a deep frown, hearing the words "human masters". Her grip on her scythe tightened, and a hint of killing intent leaked out of her eyes as she stared at the beast before her.

    ''This fucker�� he''s not ordinary.'' Mira surmised. The words he used weren''t the things a normal beast would say.

    ''He must''ve been dispatched to look into the rising conflict between the humans and beasts.'' Mira thought. She didn''t know if she was correct, but these were clearly an elite grouppared to the other dregs.

    Not to mention, it was speaking. Normally, they just died without ever uttering a word, but this one sounded�� concerned?

    Mira was amused at the thought.

    "Why can''t I kill you? The strong eat the weak, right? That''s the rule we live by. If they don''t want to die, maybe they should get stronger. Or, at least, be smarter to know that they shouldn''t cross paths with me or my Sect." Mira said provocatively. She wanted to see what this bastard was going to do about it.

    ''If I kill them, I might be able to run some tests on Zehir''s bloodline!'' Just the thought of that brought a creepy smile to her face.

    The surrounding beasts all felt a chill run down their spines, seeing that, some even retreating a few steps back.

    However, the big guy just stared at her for a while before nodding. "I see�� So, it''s true that you know nothing of your beastly roots. You know nothing of the Convergence."

    ''Convergence?''

    It then stared straight into her eyes and opened its maw, uttering in a scratchy voice, "Yo-our human m~masters ha-ave tamed you well, Fox."

    *BOOOOM!*

    It dropped its massive leg onto her and Rhydian''s position. However, both of them had sensed danger before anything happened and quickly got out of the way, leaving the giant beast to hit nothing but air.

    "A-~a shame, really. You wou~ld''ve made a gre-~at candidate." It said in a hoarse voice, turning its head in Mira''s direction before it disappeared.

    ''What?!'' Mira started, as she couldn''t sense the beast anymore, but before she could look further, a massive tail smacked in the back, sending her crashing into the ground.

    "I-~I will do my du~ty and put you do~-wn, dog."

 Chapter 741 Birdcage

    As the massive tail sent Mira skidding across the ground, Rhydian leaped into action. A growl erupted from her throat. Her eyes zed golden, reflecting the ferocity of the beast within.

    "...Dog?" Rhydian snapped back as she grabbed the nearest and weakest scaly beast before ripping it apart with her bare hands, spewing blood everywhere.

    "Hmph!" She let out a cold snort, then jumped into the swarm of beasts, using this experience to get more ustomed to her human form.

    The previously silent battlefield exploded into a cacophony of roars and snarls. The beasts, their patience exhausted, lunged at the duo. Rhydian was a whirling storm of ws and teeth, shing through the onught of beasts.

    Meanwhile, Mira used the momentum of her fall to roll ande back to her feet, a murderous glint in her eyes.

    "Such insolence," she muttered, the corners of her mouth twitching into a wicked grin.

    She dashed forward, the grip on her scythe tightening as she wove through the beasts. A sweep of her weapon sent several beasts flying, their roars of rage turned into cries of fear.

    "Rhydian, l don''t hold back!" she shouted, her voice ringing out across the battlefield.

    The response was immediate and vicious. Rhydian moved in concert with Mira, their coordinated strikes slicing through the pack of beasts.

    In the midst of the chaos, Rhydian was a feral force to be reckoned with. Each lunge of her wed hands left nothing but destruction, each swipe ripping apart flesh. ws met scales, and teeth bit into flesh. A cascade of blood sprayed onto the underbrush, creating evergrowing puddles and streams which slowly trickled down the mountainside.

    Mira, on the other hand, was a reaper incarnate. Her scythe, bathed in the silver glow of the moonlight, weaved through the battlefield like a lethal wisp of smoke. Each arc was a promise of death, each thrust pierced through them like butter.

    Beasts fell in her wake, sliced apart and in pieces.

    And yet, amidst this whirlwind of violence, the biggest beast stood its ground. Mira hadn''t forgotten about this hulking monstrosity of muscle and scales, but after it sent her flying, it just stopped and watched as its subordinates fell one by one.

    ''What''s it doing?'' Mira thought while cutting down another scaly lizard-like beast that had lunged at her without regard for its life.

    ''Is it waiting for something? But what? And is it not concerned about its subordinates?'' She had figured it''d get outraged at the current sight, but��

    That''s when she realized she hadn''t gained any energy back after killing those beasts earlier.

    In an instant, an ominous feeling washed over Mira. For a moment, it felt like she was back in one of her previous lives, a mere bird in a cage, trapped to provide entertainment for her ''owner''. It would poke and prod at her, forcing her to ''perform'' just to see what other sides of her it could discover.

    Without warning, her killing intent skyrocketed, freezing the battlefield to a halt! A misty red haze exuded from Mira, filling her surroundings with killing intent so dense you could practically touch it.

    While everything was still, Mira didn''t hesitate to use her strongest technique.

    Mira''s heartbeat echoed in her ears, a rhythmic drumming that drove her focus. Every pulse pushed her intent outward, her senses attuned to the sudden stillness that nketed the battlefield.

    Then, with a whisper barely audible to anyone else but herself, Mira spoke, "Paragon Blizzard Obliteration."

    At once, the surrounding atmosphere recoiled. An oppressive wave of cold descended as if the world was plunged into the heart of a cial storm. The air thickened, the very atoms vibrating with anticipation.

    Mira stood amidst this escting tempest, her body radiating a chilling aura. Elements heeded her call, and the natural forces within her reach began to converge in a collection of primal chaos.

    Earth quaked and shivered, its essence reshaped into fine particles of frost. Water molecules in the air, sumbing to her power, crystallized into a flurry of ice, shimmering and ephemeral. Wind, carrying the brisk bite of the northern tundra, whipped about her form, a spectral veil.

    Yin Fire and Yin Lightning, their brilliance muted and ghostly, imbued the storm with an unsettling iridescence, their ethereal mes crackling with muted energy.

    Darkness seeped into the spectacle, its haunting presence intertwining with the elements.

    And amidst this elemental vortex, Illusion came to life. Seven spectral images of Mira sprang forth from the heart of the storm. They were mirror images, painstakingly perfect and disconcertingly real. Each bore a scythe crafted from ice, looking almost exactly the same as Mira''s.

    Moving in perfect harmony, these illusions plunged into the fray. Each maneuver, each attack, was an extension of Mira''s will. They embodied the elements, their attacks seething with the raw energy of Earth, Water, Wind, Yin Fire, Yin Lightning, and Darkness. Each icy sh from their scythes was a statement, a deration of her power.

    The illusions rampaged amidst the battlefield, brutally destroying everything in sight. As they surged forward, the battlefield was transformed into a winter''s battlefield. Beasts froze where they stood, their final moments encased in solid ice, a stark tableau of frozen despair.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    But the crescendo was yet toe.

    As the illusions reached the peak of their dance, they stopped. Each image turned back towards Mira, their ephemeral gazes holding an echo of her intent. And then, with a synchrony that was almost painful to witness, they self-destructed.

    The resulting explosion was cataclysmic. An eruption of icy devastation, it mushroomed into the night, its light reflecting in the frozen faces of the fallen beasts. The force wave shattered the encasing ice, sending razor-sharp fragments scattering across the battlefield.

    The echo of the explosion died down, reced by an eerie silence. Mira stood at the epicenter of the devastation, her chest heaving and her eyes glowing with a lethal gleam.

    All that remained was the beast leader.

    She turned to face it, but her face, for the first time in who knows how many years, morphed into disbelief.

    Yes, something had finally broken that icy exterior of hers, causing her to feel something she hadn''t felt in countless years. Shock. She waspletely and utterly shocked.

    The ck, scaly beast with murderous red eyes stood there without a single scratch on its body. It had tanked her best attack, a full-powered hit using everything at her disposal, and came out of it as if nothing had happened.

    She had just killed a Rank 9 beast the other day with it! Was this bastard really stronger than a Rank 9 beast?!

    Mira truly didn''t know what to say at the moment. She was so shocked that she didn''t even realize that she couldn''t feel any kind of auraing from the beast.

    Fortunately, she didn''t have to speak up, as the beast took the initiative.

    "You gave me quite the scare there, Fox Progenitor." Its mouth opened, this time speaking in a rtively normal, deep voice, but its words instantly put her on guard. "I didn''t expect you to have so much power with your measly cultivation. This world is truly full of wonders, isn''t it?"

    "..."

    The beast smirked, making it look especially creepy, seeing her remain silent, but didn''tment on it. Instead, it moved on to something else.

    "I''m d I came out to see what all the noise was about. Not only did I find a treasure, but I even discovered the reason behind tonight''s actions!" The beast cackled for a moment, finding this whole situation amusing, especially the look on Mira''s face right now.

    She kept an icy look on her face, but the anger and killing intent brewing deep within those eyes told apletely different story. He could tell that she was in the middle of contemting whether she should attack him again, run away, or stand her ground.

    However, between it all was confusion. As if it had no idea what it was talking about.

    And that''s�� what filled the beast with euphoria.

    So, it decided to fan the mes a bit.

    "You know, Fox Progenitor," it emphasized ''progenitor'', "I think you''re more suited to be a beast than a human. You may stand on two legs, talk like a human, adjust to human culture, and follow the human cultivation system, but your morals and actions are nothing of the sort."

    "..." Mira remained silent, but the beast wasn''t bothered by this and continued.

    "If you want to explore your beastly roots and how to tap into your primal potential, thene to the Convergence in a little over five months. You may face some pushback from a few of the beast ns, but just kill them like you did today, and you should be fine."

    Suddenly, the beast nced in the direction of the Battle Maiden Sect and eximed, "Ah! It looks like my time is up!"

    It then gave Mira a deep look as its body turned into a ck mist and dissipated. As this happened, the beast corpses all over the ground also dissipated, along with their blood and guts, and disappeared without a trace.

    Finally, felt heard a whisper enter her ear, saying, "Fatten up a little more, Fox Progenitor. Maybe then you''ll be worth consuming."

    A thin red line spread across Mira''s neck, with blood seeping out and dripping onto her shoulders, but it immediately closed up thanks to her regenerative powers.

    An audible CRACK sounded from Mira as if something had just snapped. The veins on her forehead throbbed, and her face reddened in anger, but she said nothing.

    She stared at the spot where the beast, who she didn''t even know the species of, left in silence.

 Chapter 742 Release

    The night was silent, save for the rustling of leaves, as Mira''s eyes continued to bore into the spot where the beast had vanished. The monstrous entity had left nothing but confusion, anger, and a lingering threat in its wake. The battlefield, once soaked in gore and chaos, nowy eerily quiet, the remnants of the beasts gone as if they were never there.

    Mira''s breathing was heavy, her mind a storm of conflicting emotions. Rhydian, sensing the change, slowly approached. The rage that had fueled her through the battle began to wane, reced by concern.

    "...Mira?" she ventured, her voice barely above a whisper.

    No response came. Mira''s gaze remained fixed on the emptiness, her body rigid.

    "Mira!" Rhydian snapped, louder this time, her hand reaching to grasp Mira''s shoulder.

    Mira''s head snapped around at the touch, her eyes wild and unfocused. The connection between them sparked, and for a moment, Rhydian was immersed in a flood of raw emotion: fury, confusion, and something deeper, something that cut to the core of Mira''s being, but she couldn''t figure out what.

    It took everything in Rhydian''s power not to recoil. She tightened her grip, grounding herself and Mira with her presence.

    "Beast�� gone," she said firmly, her voice as smooth as she could make it.

    Mira blinked, her eyes finally focusing on Rhydian. She had been so consumed with emotions she didn''t even know she had that she tuned everything else out. However, she didn''t say a word even after Rhydian woke her up.

    That beast, not only did its actions remind her of a "certain someone", but its words and the way it left really struck a nerve. She felt like she had been seen right through, and the beast took advantage of that to make her as angry and emotional as possible.

    ''No, perhaps all of this was a test so that it can get a grasp of my personality and annoy the hell out of me.'' Mira spected. She didn''t have any proof, nor did she know its motives, but she was sure it just wanted to fuck with her.

    An experienced warrior could get a grasp of someone''s personality just by watching them fight. A lot is told through one''s movements, microexpressions, killing intent, ferocity, and even one''s weapon and affinity.

    While it would be impossible to put together a detailed description of someone based on those aspects, a general understanding is certainly attainable. Combined with those questions and her reactions��

    ''Fucking bastard.''

    Without giving the empty spot another nce, she turned around and walked toward the Sect. Rhydian, sensing that Mira had gathered her bearings, followed right behind her.

    The cheering reached their ears long before they came into view of the sect grounds. The Battle Maiden Sect was aze with light and sound as disciples celebrated their hard-fought victory. The scent of roasting meat and the sweet tang of fruit mingled in the air, an impromptu feastid out to honor the fighters.

    Mira''s eyes were drawn to the sight, but it was as if she was seeing everything through a ss wall. She could see the excitement, theughter, the tears of relief. She could hear the cheers, shared stories, and joyful cries. Yet, it all felt far away, as if she were watching a y on a stage.

    The emotions swirled around her, but none of it touched her. She was an ind in a sea of joy and relief, isted by her own thoughts and the beast''s words and actions.

    She had forgotten how human camaraderie felt. The shared pain, the shared triumph. Her many lives had robbed her of such trivial human experiences, recing them with a cycle of rebirth, destruction, and istion.

    Her steps slowed as the reality of the situation dawned on her, the beast''s words echoing in her mind. Perhaps she really was more like them, a beast cloaked in a human''s form. A predator amidst the prey, hidden by her own deceptions.

    While she never really cared about her humanity, race, or species in the first ce, as she was still the same person after she died, that didn''t mean she wanted to be a mindless beast. But maybe she wasn''t suited to live in civilized societies like this.

    No, she knew she wasn''t suited for this kind of environment. If anything, she thrived more when alone in the wilderness, where only she was to me if something bad happened.

    Then, why did she agree to join the Battle Maiden Sect years ago?

    Honestly, Mira didn''t know the answer to that question.

    Shaking her head, Mira tried to push these thoughts away. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''First Maria, and now even that lizard shit is affecting me? What the hell is going on? Did some asshole cast a curse on me?'' She inwardly grumbled while walking back to her residence, where Hana was sleeping soundly.

    The night was wearing on, but neither the fatigue nor the shadows did anything to slow Mira''s agitation. Her emotions were like a storm, roiling within her, and she needed an outlet.

    They reached their residence, and Mira''s steps faltered for a moment as she nced at Hana''s room, where the child was safely tucked in bed. Then, she turned to Rhydian, her eyes dark and intense.

    "Let''s spar," she said. Her voice was tight, the words a barely-contained explosion of tension. It wasn''t a question but an order.

    Rhydian''s eyes widened for a moment, but understanding soon reced her surprise. She could feel the turmoil within Mira, the raw aggression that begged for release. There was no refusing this. Rhydian could only nod and follow Mira to an isted ce where they could fight.

    Towering trees surrounded the secluded clearing, their dark forms looming like silent spectators. The ground was packed earth, perfect for their purpose. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting an ethereal glow over the scene.

    Without a word, Mira took her stance, her eyes fixed on Rhydian. The beastpanion, though new to her human form, mirrored her, standing tall and ready.

    The fight that unfolded in the isted clearing was anything but a mere spar. It was a sh of wills, a brutal dance that pushed both Mira and Rhydian to their limits.

    Mira''s movements were a storm of ferocity, driven by emotions that had been pent up for too long. Her fists and feet flew with a lethal grace, a blur of power that Rhydian had to meet with equal force. The air reverberated with the impact of flesh on flesh, the sound echoing like a drumbeat that resonated with the primal force within them.

    Rhydian, still adjusting to her human form, moved with a wild fluidity that belied her inexperience. Her regeneration kept up with Mira''s relentless assault, healing bruises and cuts as quickly as they appeared. Yet, there was a limit to what she could endure, and Mira seemed determined to find it.

    For hours, they fought, neither giving an inch. Sweat and blood mixed on their skin, painting a vivid picture of their struggle. Mira''s eyes were alight with a savage joy, a spark that seemed to ignite something within Rhydian as well.

    They were no longer master and beastpanion. Under the watchful eyes of the moon and stars, they were challengers where one wrong move could bring disastrous consequences.

    With a powerful lunge, Mira drove a fist into Rhydian''s side, and the beastpanion staggered, grimacing in pain. But she was far from defeated. With a snarl, she retaliated, her leg sweeping out to catch Mira''s, causing the warrior to stumble.

    The fight was growing more intense, more brutal as if they were trying to kill each other. The line between sparring and a true battle was blurring, but neither seemed to care. This was what they needed �C a release for Mira''s frustration and a baptism by fire for Rhydian''s new form.

    Mira''s attacks became more focused, more precise. She wasn''t simply beating up Rhydian; she was educating her, teaching her through pain and exertion. Her movements were a lesson in mastery, an unspoken guide to the art of unarmedbat.

    Rhydian absorbed it all, her body adapting, learning from Mira''s expertise. Her responses became sharper, her strikes more powerful. Yet, the more she grew, the harder Mira pushed her.

    Finally, as the first light of dawn began to creep through the trees, Rhydian''s regeneration could no longer keep up with Mira''s rough treatment. A particrly brutal blow sent her crashing to the ground, her body aching and unable to rise.

    "Enough!" she gasped, her voice ragged.

    Mira''s eyes were still aze with that fierce intensity, but she stopped, her body tensing as if unwilling to cease the battle.

    They stood there, panting, their bodies battered and bruised. The silence of the night returned, the rustling of the leaves the only sound to break the stillness.

    In the hushed stillness of the dawn, Mira''s frenzied gaze gradually softened, and the storm that had been raging within her seemed to calm. She stood over Rhydian, her breath ragged, the weight of her emotions still heavy but no longer threatening to consume her. The fire in her eyes died down, leaving a look of exhaustion and reflection.

    Rhydian struggled to her feet, her body sore but her spirit unbroken.

    The silence lingered, filled with unspoken thoughts, until finally, Mira gave her a nod and said, "From now on, we do this every day until you evolve from a punching bag to a beginner."

    Rhydian fell back down to the ground, her eyes wide in despair as a crack formed in her ''unbroken spirit''.

 Chapter 743 Raaz; Next Phase

    Last night, while Mira was fighting against the scaly beasts. On top of the mountain, overlooking everything, Aelina watched everything that happened around her Sect with a slight smile on her face.

    "Hmmm?" She suddenly sensed an amount of energy being released and nced in that direction, only to see a scaly beast with red murderous eyes. Although she couldn''t gain a full picture of the beast, she immediately knew who it was and frowned.

    "Ra''az��" That name left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she also rxed, knowing she didn''t have to swoop in and save Mira.

    Just like humans had some entric old people amongst them, so too did the beasts, and Ra''az was one of them. However, he was by far the most entric one she''d ever met.

    Most beasts, no matter how strong, didn''t like talking or interacting with humans all that much. It wasn''t that there was an innate hate toward them, though some beasts definitely had that, it was more like the cultures and societies just didn''t mix well.

    In a human city, most people respected one another, even if there was a strength gap. Plenty of people still abused their strength on those weaker than them, but the majority just wanted to coexist.

    However, beast societies were different. There was a strict hierarchical system. The strongest reigned at the top, and those weaker had to obey them absolutely. They could fight it out or run away if they didn''t like that. It was a messed up system, but they lived in a ce where only strength mattered.

    Separating into Beast ns definitely helped with some of the in-fighting, but only to a certain extent.

    That was just one of the reasons humans and beasts didn''t match. The other, more important one, was that they were too different physiologically.

    Because of those reasons, and some more nuanced ones, most people never got to have any real conversations with beasts.

    However, Ra''az was an exception. He was as curious as a cat. As sly as a fox and as slimy as a snake. But, more importantly, he was bored! Very bored!

    He''s long since reached the peak of his potential, but due to his cultivation and bloodline, he will still live for many more millennia despite being so old.

    Thus, since he''s not cultivating, he needs some way to spend his time.

    Aelina has, unfortunately, had the displeasure of meeting that unpleasant creature on several asions.

    "So, that shifty chameleon has decided toe out for a stroll, huh? Well, not that that''s surprising. I did make a bit of noise, after all." She muttered, a smile returning to her face, only for a glint to pass through her eyes.

    ''Maybe I should pay him a visit. Ah~~ What I''d do for a bloodline like that!'' Just thinking about it, a hint of killing intent leaked out of her eyes.

    But�� that was all the scaly creature needed to understand he was in danger and dipped out of there like a rat that''s been caught by a cat, leaving behind one angry Mira.

    "Tch. His senses are still annoyingly sharp." She clicked her tongue in annoyance, but it wasn''t like she didn''t expect this.

    Aelina, to this day, still didn''t know what kind of bloodline he had or what creature he was, but considering how long he''s lived, how strong he is, and the fact that she''s never been able to capture him��

    She wanted it. She really wanted it.

    "One of these days, I''ll lock that bastard in a cage that even he won''t be able to escape from." She''d been working on one for a while now but has had no such luck.

    Shifting her eyes to Mira, an idea formed in her mind, but she shook her head before she could go down that rabbit hole.

    "No, it''s too early to deploy the bait when I don''t even have the trap set." She said but still kept the thought in the back of her mind.

    Pushing those thoughts aside, Aelina realized that the whole fiasco tonight wasing to a close.

    With a wave of her hand, Luo Chen and Zhang Yun, who were sweating profusely in another room, were teleported in front of her. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Realizing that they were powerless against her, they were once again dumbfounded by her power, which was only secondary to their fear.

    "It seems you two have many thoughts regarding how I run my Sect." Her gentle voice enveloped the room like a warm nket, but to them, it was more like a demonic screech. Their hearts dropped to the pit of their stomachs hearing that, and they each took arge, dry gulp, thinking very carefully about their next words.

    "N-No, Ma''am! We-We would never!" Luo Chen sputtered out, his body shaking uncontrobly.

    "Th-That''s right! We don''t have any thoughts in our brains! In fact, we don''t even have brains! Just peanuts! Peanuts and muscles!" Zhang Yun frantically added but immediately realized how stupid he sounded and paled in fright. "Ah-! I mean-!"

    "Enough." Aelina raised her hand and dered, silencing them. With the other, she rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headacheing on.

    ''Should I just kill these idiots?'' She seriously wondered, but doing so brought her no benefit, so she shut that idea down.

    "Haaa�� Never mind that." Aelina said, causing the two of them to release a deep breath. "Just go back to your families and spread the word of what you saw today. Tell everyone you know about how crazy the beasts were."

    Just as they were about to open their mouths to agree, Aelina interrupted and tossed them a Spatial Ring with Peak-Stage Spirit Stones, Heaven and Mystical Grade herbs, treasures, and weapons.

    "This is payment for your work today and also about how much those beast carcasses you killed would''ve sold for. I''ll send an Elder over to your families soon in case you want to continue doing business with us."

    Their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, looking at the items in the ring. This was enough. No, more than enough to cover the costs of everything they might''ve lost (even though they didn''t have any intention of keeping the corpses).

    The two of them weren''t stupid and understood Aelina''s underlying words.

    ''She wants us to spread the word that she''s buying beast corpses, and for a great price too!''

    "Of course, we''d be honored to continue doing business with you, Sect Master Aelina!" Luo Chen bowed.

    "That''s right! That''s right! How could we, lowly people, turn down such an enticing offer?" Zhang Yun nodded his head and bowed as well.

    "Mmm. Good." Aelina nodded indifferently, then waved her hand. "If that''s all, then you may go."

    "Thank you, Sect Master Aelina!"

    "Praise thee, Sect Master! We definitely won''t let you down!"

    With that said, those two bowed once again before racing out of the building, afraid that Aelina would kill them if they stayed any longer.

    Aelina sighed once again, d to have those two clowns gone, but the slight smile on her face widened.

    ''With Mira''s garden doing so well, producing so many resources, once word starts to spread of what I had given those two, it won''t be long before this ce is swarmed with people. Fufufu~'' She chuckled, her eyes curving into crescents.

    But this was only the next stage of their n.

    Taking out a talisman, Aelina injected some Qi into it and said, "Spread the word. Once people start moving, begin the next phase."

    Then, the talisman crumbled into pieces, disappearing with the wind. She may not have gotten confirmation from the other side, but she knew they had received her message.

    "Now, all that''s left is to sit back and wait." She chucked as she rxed in her chair.

 Chapter 744 [Bonus ]Sleepers; Merchants

    With the scene set and the pieces moving, Aelina''s n continued to unfold like a beautifully crafted tapestry. Her ambition and cunning were evident, and those caught in her intricate web of schemes had little choice but to y their parts.

    Meanwhile, in a remote and hidden location, a figure shrouded in shadows pondered the talisman''s message that had just reached her. The word was clear: it was time to initiate the next phase.

    This was not a person to be trifled with. Known only by her alias, "Shadowmaster," she was one of Aelina''s most trusted and capable agents. Shadowmaster was skilled in espionage, intelligence gathering, and assassination.

    What made her even more terrifying was that not once had this person ever set foot in the Battle Maiden Sect. All of her traces, no matter how far back one looked, could not be linked to Aelina or the Sect in any way.

    She''s what was known as a "sleeper agent". Over the years, she had taken up many different identities, living in numerous ces and gathering information.

    To those who knew her, she was just a regr person but someone who was charismatic enough to create a wide of connections among the locals in the area and, with that, their trust. Combined with her subordinates and nothing escaped her eyes.

    Shadowmaster''s eyes narrowed as she contemted the talisman''s message and what it would mean for her intricatework of connections. Her n had been long in the making, and every small detail had been ounted for.

    "Begin the next phase," she whispered to herself, her voice filled with a cold determination.

    Her mind began to work at a rapid pace, and she initiated a series of carefully orchestrated movements. Her subordinates spread across various cities and towns, received their instructions, and moved swiftly to execute hermands.

    Some of these people were even part of other Major Sects, both Orthodox and Unorthodox.

    Without hesitation, they began tampering with the defenses, spreading rumors about beast attacks being more frequent, putting trace amounts of the Elixir on the disciples, and even riling up the surrounding Beast ns that would force the two parties to sh in just a few day''s time.

    ***

    In the bustling market square of Vorandis, merchants eagerly discussed the rising beast attacks.

    "It''s madness out there! They say the beasts have gone wild, attacking viges left and right. They''re even starting to attack small cities!" one merchant eximed, his eyes wide with fear.

    "Have you heard? The Battle Maiden Sect is offering rewards for beast corpses. Seems like its good money too," another added, rubbing his hands together at the potential profit. If he could set up a supply chain with Aelina as his buyer, he had no doubt that he would soon rise in the world of merchants.

    An astute merchant leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing. "The Battle Maiden Sect offering rewards? And beasts going mad at the same time? Mark my words, friends, this is no mere coincidence."

    "Who cares! Coincidence or not, as long as I get paid, Aelina herself could start a war with the world, and I wouldn''t care!" Another merchant announced before adding, "...As long as she doesn''t kill off my customers."

    Maria, who was tending to the wounded of Vorandis after her name became more prominent ever since Mira left, naturally heard of this and couldn''t help but feel that something big was about to happen.

    Throughout the Battle Maiden Sect''s history, there were only a few times they made suchrge moves, all of which led to countless battles and rapid growth. The war with the Crimson yer Sect? That was just a warm-up, a preludepared to the things the Battle Maidens had done throughout their history.

    Still, she wasn''t worried. Battles were where Mira thrived the most.

    Rather, it was a good thing for both of them that the Continent was entering a state of bubbling chaos.

    "I suppose business will get quite busy in theing months," Maria chuckled, her smile seemingly much brighter than thest time Mira saw her.

    In fact, her entire being was much brighter, and even her healing techniques were more potent ever since she used the Celestial Nectar that Mira had given her! Thanks to that, she''s be even more famous, especially in the upper circle of the city, since she could heal wounds on people several stages higher than her.

    ''I''ll have to be on the lookout for anything that could help Mira during this time.'' She thought, wanting to show Mira her gratitude.

    ***<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Thanks to Luo Chen and Zhang Yun''s efforts in spreading the news, it barely took a day for just about every major and minor power to know about what happened and what the Battle Maiden Sect was doing.

    Merchants, Patriarchs, Matriarchs, and Sect Leaders from all over the Continent came rushing over to the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, with all sorts of people ready to be at Aelina''s beck-and-call. All so they could get that fat Spatial Ring.

    However, the Sect Leaders from the Major Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects were strangely quiet, taking a wait-and-see approach as Aelina was being way too��public right nowpared to how she usually acted.

    They were afraid they might get caught in something they might never be able toe back from if they entered some sort of agreement with her at the moment.

    People were lining up out the front gate, waiting to meet with Aelina, but the woman never came down personally.

    Instead, they just heard her voice say, "We are willing to buy any and all beast corpses for a fair price. For more details, please speak with the Elders avable."

    Then, about a dozen Elders came down the mountain, led them to a spot in Snow Maiden City where they could conduct business, and went from there.

    The process was organized and efficient, a reflection of the Battle Maiden Sect''s strength and discipline. People were being attended to, deals were being struck, and the excitement was palpable. The air was filled with whispers of alliances, profits, and strategic moves. It was clear to all that a massive shift in power dynamics was on the horizon.

    ***

    In the rooms where the Elders conducted business, each negotiation was conducted with precision, and every word was weighed with careful consideration. The Elders knew they were dealing not just with mere transactions but with the intricate game of alliances and rivalries that spread across the Continent.

    A powerful Merchant Lord with connections spanning multiple cities sat across from Elder Mo. His eyes glinted with greed but also a hint of apprehension.

    "Your offer is tempting," he said, leaning back. "But what guarantee do we have that this will not turn against us? These are troubling times, Elder Mo."

    Elder Mo smiled serenely, her eyes sharp. "The Battle Maiden Sect values loyalty and honor. We stand by our word, and our history speaks for itself. But rest assured, we are not asking for blind faith. We will have legal agreements drawn, binding both parties."

    The Merchant Lord looked somewhat alleviated, and the conversation continued, details hammered out, and deals solidified. One by one, merchants, sect leaders, and other influential figures were won over.

    ***

    A few days passed by as now people from all over the Continent were moving all ording to Aelina''s whims. Of course, this cost the Sect a significant amount of resources, but unlike the Elders, Aelina wasn''t concerned about it one bit.

    All she had to do was reach into her *ahem* Mira''s ''pocket'', pick some high-grade, high-quality herbs, and she could strike a deal while essentially spending nothing.

    During this time, the entire Battle Maiden Sect was busy. Missions were issued, and disciples were out ying beasts, trying to take advantage of Aelina''s "generosity". Even Nova, Rayna, Eden, and Everly were out there participating in the hunts.

    Mira, on the other hand, spent most of her time sparring with Rhydian, researching more about Beast Bloodlines and the effect Celestial Nectar and other alchemic ingredients have on them, and overseeing Hana''s training.

    This was the first time she had ever given someone suchprehensive, structured training, and she wanted to see how the girl would fare and if it was worth it.

    Finally, after four days, the first massive beast tide came and hit the number one Orthodox Sect: The Immortal Sword Sect!

    ***

    [A/N: I know it''s a little fast-paced, but there''s a lot of stuff going on, and honestly, not all of it needs to be exined in detail. At least, not right now. I tried to "show" as much as I could, but this is about as much as I could do without it seeming like I''m padding the word count (definitely not doing that with this Author''s note). Maybe at ater date, I''ll extrapte on certain things, but right now, I think this is plenty sufficient. Thank you all for the support.]

 Chapter 745 A Little Chat

    As the first massive beast tide charged towards the number one Orthodox Sect, the Immortal Sword Sect, shockwaves were felt across the entire Continent. The Immortal Sword Sect, known for its discipline, honor, and strength, had stood unshaken for centuries. Now, it faced a threat like never before.

    A tide of beasts was not something unheard of, but the sheer scale and ferocity of this assault were unprecedented. Not only were there so many of them, but the barrier that had protected the Sect from outside forces had actually let the beasts through without any issues! It was as if something, or someone, was driving the beasts to attack with a ruthless, focused determination.

    ***

    In the headquarters of the Immortal Sword Sect, Sect Leader Alexander''s eyes narrowed as he received the rming news. The walls of his chamber seemed to tremble with his suppressed anger.

    "How could this happen?!" he thundered. "Our barriers and defenses have always kept away any ambitious beasts! What changed?"

    The Supreme Elder, Li Xiu, bowed slightly, his voice steady. "Sect Leader, we''ve found traces of maniption within our defensive array. It seems like someone has tampered with it, weakening our defenses."

    Alexander''s eyes shed with realization, and his lips twisted into a grim smile. "So, it seems we''ve been targeted."

    The image of a woman with mysterious violet eyes and a perpetually annoying smile on her face shed through his mind. The most likely suspect here was Aelina, as she was currently purchasing beasts, both alive and dead as if they were about to go extinct.

    And, if there was anyone capable of tampering with his defenses without anyone ever knowing, it was her. A few Unorthodox Sects and powerful families also passed through his mind as well, but he immediately crossed them out.

    While he certainly had his fair share of enemies, they wouldn''t waste their time or resources doing something like this. Other than ripping up the terrain and destroying buildings, those beasts would hardly do any real damage to his Sect.

    ''But why would she do this? I thought we nned for a full-frontal attack against the beasts in about 5 more months. Why''d she suddenly make them attack me?'' He wondered, but thinking of the recent events, his eyes widened with understanding.

    ''That bitch-! She''s using me and my Sect as a borrowed sword!'' Alexander mmed his fist into the table, causing it to explode.

    He then turned to the Elder and ordered, "You deal with this here, I''m going to go have a nice little chat with someone."

    "But, Sir-!" The Supreme Elder started, but before he could finish his sentence, Alex was already gone.

    "Haaa��" He sighed, "Leaving me with all the work with me again."

    Then, he pped his cheeks and walked out of the room with a renewed expression.

    "Mm. I suppose this could be a could training event for the disciples. I have noticed them growing a bit boredtely."

    ***

    Unfortunately, the Immortal Sword Sect wasn''t the only one who suffered. 4 other major Orthodox Sects, 4 of the 8 Unorthodox Sects, along with other powerful families, had the same thing happen to them.

    Most of the leaders, like Alexander, realized that something was fishy with the way Aelina was actingtely and left to go have a talk with her. Some were enraged that she''d even dared to do something like this, but others also understood this was an opportunity to make some big-time profits.

    As the leaders and heads of the Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects, along with some of the powerful families, made their way to the Battle Maiden Sect, the air was heavy with tension, anticipation, and anger. The sudden, seemingly coordinated attack on their territories left many of them with a lot of questions, and all the signs seemed to point toward one person: Aelina.

    ***

    At the grand hall of the Battle Maiden Sect atop the mountain, Aelina was seated in her high chair, her violet eyes calm and expression inscrutable. Her smile, which seemed to never fade, had taken on a serious demeanor.

    She was well aware of the reason behind this sudden congregation. The various leaders seated before her were a mix of livid and calcting. All of them had one thing inmon: they wanted answers.

    "Sect Master Aelina," Alexander of the Immortal Sword Sect began, his voice betraying a hint of controlled fury, "You are aware, I presume, of the recent events that have transpired?"

    Aelina''s eyes flickered, and she replied without shame, "Indeed, I''ve heard of the beast tide. Sounds like they''ve been rampaging around for a while now. A truly unfortunate urrence, indeed. My condolences for your future losses."

    Her words were met with a cold silence. The Sect Master of the Profound Elements Sect, Flora Lozano, spoke next, her tone sharp and direct, "Don''t give us that bullshit, Aelina! We all know you were the one who caused this! There''s no need to y these charades; it looks disgusting on you. All we want to know is why!"

    The hall erupted into mutterings and whispers. The Sect Masters exchanged nces, their expressions filled with suspicion and curiosity. What Flora said spoke for them all. The only reason they were here was because they knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Aelina was behind this. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Rather, to them, all of her recent actions on top of this were equivalent to her shouting at them, calling for a meeting.

    Aelina allowed the uproar to continue for a moment before raising her hand, a gesture so graceful and practiced it was clear she was used tomanding attention. The room fell into silence.

    "Please, dear Sect Leaders, there is no need for such hostile words," Aelina''s lips curled into that annoying yet mysteriously enchanting smile. "Indeed, I was the one who orchestrated this sudden beast tide, and I have my reasons."

    The Sect Master of the Divine Weapons Sect, Damon, could no longer hold back his anger. "Reasons? You dare talk about reasons? Ournds have been ravaged, our disciples are in danger, and you sit here talking about reasons?"

    Aelina''s eyes gleamed as she stared Damon down. "Yes, reasons. Profitable ones, in fact. This is not a one-sided affair. Each of you stands to gain something valuable. All I ask in return is that you sell me the corpses of the beasts you defeat. I will pay handsomely for them. Think of this as a business opportunity."

    This pronouncement was met with mixed reactions. The leaders were visibly taken aback by Aelina''s audacity.

    Number 1, the Sect Master of the Nightshade Assassin Sect, leaned forward, interest piqued. "What kind of price are you offering?" he asked in a neutral tone, his face covered with a mask.

    Aelina''s smile widened. "Spirit Stones, herbs, corpses, you name it, as long as it''s of equivalent value. However, I am buying them in bulk, so I expect a discount."

    Number 1 and the other Sect Leaders'' lips twitched. Not only had Aelina destroyed their barriers but also found their headquarters and lured thousands upon thousands, if not millions, of beasts to their locations, she still had the audacity to ask for a discount?! And with a smile on her face as if she was doing them a favor?!

    ''Shameless!''

    "Shameless!"

    They all thought, except for Damon, who shouted it out loud.

    Amora, the Sect Leader of the Female Disciples from the Yin-Yang Sect, was the first to recover from her shock and asked. "And what of the damages to ournds? Will youpensate us for that too?"

    Aelina thought about it for a second before she shook her head, "Just think of that as the price you paid for this meeting."

    Some were skeptical, while others were considering the proposition. But not all were so easily swayed. Especially some of the richer ones.

    The Sect Master of the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect scoffed, "This is absurd! You''ve intentionally endangered ournds and disciples. Even if your offer is genuine, how could we trust you, Aelina? What if you give us rotten ingredients instead?!"

    As if expecting that question from him, Aelina took out a Mid-Stage Divine Herb (meant for Peak Mortal Shedding Realm experts), which looked like a sunflower with dense waves of Qi rolling off of it, and tossed it to him.

    The man nearly pissed his pants when he saw what it was and hurriedly reached out to prevent it from falling too roughly.

    "I''ll give you two more just like it if you sell me as many fully intact beast corpses Rank 9 and below as possible."

    "DEAL!" The man didn''t even hesitate. Who was he kidding?! Divine Herbs were basically impossible to find. If he could obtain 3 of them just by killing a few beasts, who was he to turn down a good deal?

    The rest of the Leader''s eyes sharpened at the sight, flickering with greed, but no one dared to make a move. Still, this showed just how serious Aelina was about this.

    Aelina smirked, seeing their reactions, inwardly nodding that they had finally taken the bait. "Now, why don''t we start the negotiations?"

    ***

    A few hourster, a group of this Continent''s leaders left the Battle Maiden Sect withplicated yet satisfied expressions on their faces.

    "Fufufu~ Go, my little worker bees~ Go work for your Queen~" Aelina chuckled as she leaned back in her chair, watching them all leave.

    ''Once I receive a steady stream of beast corpses, there''s only one thing left to do before we raid the mountain range and begin the Prime Disciple Selection: power up!'' Her eyes gleamed with a mysterious light.

 Chapter 746 Starting

    With the deals struck and the agreements in ce, Aelina''s ns began to unfold. Across the Continent, the various sects and powerful familiesmenced their campaigns against the beast tides, turning their misfortune into an opportunity for growth.

    Each battle provided valuablebat experience for the disciples, cultivating their strength and tempering their wills. Meanwhile, the corpses of defeated beasts were collected and sent to the Battle Maiden Sect in vast numbers.

    In the Immortal Sword Sect, Sect Leader Alexander stood at a mountaintop, watching his disciples in the training grounds below. Their determination and sword techniques were growing by leaps and bounds as they faced one wave of beasts after another. His lips twitched into a smile, seeing them rising to the asion.

    "The deal with Aelina might have been forced, but it has brought unforeseen benefits," he mused. "Perhaps it wasn''t such a bad thing after all."

    Though he was a bit bitter about being used, he could see the potential gains from this situation. He knew that the other sect leaders probably felt the same.

    He turned his eyes to the horizon, where the sun was setting, casting a golden hue over thend. His thoughts wandered to Aelina and her audacious and cunning move. ''I wonder what she needs all those beast corpses for?'' he couldn''t help but think.

    Part of him wanted to keep them for himself, but he just couldn''t justify it. Sure, beast corpses were great for many things, such as creating weapons, arrays, and ingredients in alchemy, but they were a sword Sect. They didn''t need arge amount of these to solve their yearly needs.

    After dealing with the beast tide, as well as going around hunting in other areas, at most, he would''ve sold them off anyways. Therefore, taking Aelina''s offer was way better in both the long and short term.

    ''Still, she must be working on a huge project if she was willing to go through so much trouble and give away so many precious resources.'' Alexander didn''t even know she had so many treasures in her possession.

    It was as if she was giving away the entire treasury!

    ''...I hope I didn''t make the wrong decision,'' He closed his eyes, his mood turning somber. Although Aelina was an ally, they were really more like acquaintances with a mutual goal.

    There could very welle a day when she turned on him and vice versa.

    ''I guess we''ll just have to see when the timees.''

    ***

    This deal that was made between the Sect Leaders didn''t go unnoticed by the Beast ns. Neither did the ughtering of their kind, which happened swiftly and ruthlessly.

    Thus, the Guardians, who were sitting outside therge barrier deep within the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, started to move. However, strangely, no such beast approached the Battle Maiden Sect.

    At least not on the surface.

    ***

    At the Battle Maiden Sect, the collected beast corpses were piling up in vast storage chambers, each one meticulously cataloged and sorted ording to their species, element, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and cultivation. Aelina oversaw the process, her violet eyes gleaming with anticipation.

    Mira was standing there next to her with a deadpan expression on her face.

    "So, all you need to do is extract the Blood Essence from all these corpses, and we can start the next phase of the n," Aelina said with a cheerful smile.

    However, Mira wasn''t amused. Her face remained as cold as ice while staring at the small mountains of corpses in front of her. She knew it was partially her fault for agreeing to do this, but it looked like a whole lot more work seeing everything in person.

    Now, she was starting to regret her decision.

    ''This is going to take me weeks!'' Mira thought, her frown deepening.

    Still, she was unwilling to give her technique to Aelina just so she could speed up the time a little.

    "...Fine." Mira unwillingly agreed, putting arger smile on Aelina''s face, only for it to disappear after Mira''s next words.

    "But, you have to work with me to create a set of Martial Arts and a few Techniques for Rhydian-"

    "What?!"

    "-every day."

    "Aren''t you a bit too shameless?! I''m still the Sect Master, you know? I don''t have the free time to take care of your little pet."

    "Oh?" Mira cocked an eyebrow, her crimson eyes glowing, "But you had the time to spy on me when I was creating that gravity ball?"

    "..."

    "What about the gazes I feel when I''m in the middle of cultivating?"

    "..."

    "Seems to me you have plenty of time on your hands, ''Sect Master''." She put a heavy emphasis on "Sect Master".

    "Haaa��" Aelina sighed, trying her best to keep her cheeks from twitching. "It''s not that I don''t want to help you��"

    Mira rolled her eyes, but Aelina continued.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "It''s just that you''re really asking for too much. Beasts can''t use human techniques. You should know that. As for Martial Arts�� you''re probably more experienced in this area than me, considering you literally created a [Martial Manifestation] from it."

    "Useless. What''s the point of being so old if you can''t even do this?"

    "..."

    Aelina really, REALLY had to resist the urge to pummel Mira into the ground. She wasn''t that old, alright?! And what did age have to do with transforming human techniques into something a beast could use?!

    "And, here I was, ready to get to work. Unfortunately, it seems I''ll be ''too busy'' peeping on the new disciples to get anything done." Mira added, fueling the mes that were ready to burst out of Aelina''s eyes.

    ''God help me, please. If I don''t kill this woman today, grant me some good fortune.'' Aelina closed her eyes and prayed, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

    For some reason, Mira''s ability to get under her skin had improvedtely, and she wasn''t a fan of it at all.

    "Ugh!" She groaned, "Fine, whatever. I''ll clear up my schedule so I can help your little pet. Happy?"

    Mira shrugged her shoulders and stepped forward toward one of the many mountains of beast corpses. "I''m d we''ve reached a consensus." She said, then bent down and swiftly extracted the Blood Essence from the corpse, storing it in an air-tight vial.

    After doing a few more, she turned around, seeing Aelina just standing there, watching everything�� not doing anything.

    Mira pointed to the side where Rhydian, who had turned back into her smaller beast form, was sleeping. "What are you doing, standing around like a creep? Get to work!"

    "..."

    Aelina stood there, dumbfounded at the fact that Mira was ordering her around like some kind of servant. Her! The Sect Master! A servant!

    ''This little-! I''m actually going to kill her!'' She clenched her fists, her eyes glowing with a sharp light that threatened to destroy everything in its path.

    Mira obviously felt the clear hostility in Aelina''s gaze and chuckled coldly, "Next time, don''t spy on me." She met the Sect Master''s gaze with an unwavering one of her own.

    One that, to Aelina, said, "Go on. Kill me. I dare you."

    Which was all the more infuriating.

    Therefore, so that she could cool down her head a little, she could only begrudgingly walk over to Rhydian, kick her awake, and force her to transform.

    ''Dammit! I should''ve never agreed to this shitty n! It was all a rouse to put me to work!'' Aelina grumbled inwardly, but as she''s been tested by Mira time and time again today, she decided to show her that she isn''t a Divine Sea Realm master for nothing.

    ''I''m going to put you through hell, little pet! Hahahaha~''

    Rhydian, who was unknowingly caught in a battle between two unstoppable forces, shivered in terror. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to escape.

    "Ah! Onest thing." Mira eximed, causing Aelina to frown. "Can you call Nova here? I''d like to talk to her before I get too into things," She asked.

    The Sect Master paused for a second, then nodded and closed her eyes to look for Nova with her Divine Sense before sending her a Thought Transmission toe to their location.

    Within a few minutes, a fiery-haired youngdy stood before them, much livelier than she was a few days ago.

    "You called, Sect Master?" Nova asked curiously.

    Aelina nodded, feeling that this was the way a disciple was supposed to act toward her: respectfully. Putting that aside, she pointed at Mira. "She''s the one who asked to see you."

    Nova looked over, a little surprised to see Mira extracting Blood Essence after Blood Essence from a pile of beasts, but she didn''t mention it. She had a high enough EQ to understand that now wasn''t the time to talk about it.

    "What''s going on, Mira? Why''d you want to see me?"

    Instead of answering her question, Mira pulled out a vial. Immediately, the room was filled with the heavy aura of a Dragon. Nova''s heart beat like a drum when she felt it pounding in her chest. In an instant, she recognized whose bloodline that was, causing her eyes to widen.

    "I-Is th-that-?"

    Mira nodded, "Do you want it?"

    "OF COURSE!" Nova practically screamed. Her whole body, down to her very existence, was telling that she wanted this. That she needed it!

    "A-Ahem!" She cleared her throat, feeling embarrassed about her outburst, before she said in a much calmer yet still quivering voice, "O-Of course, I do. Who wouldn''t? For someone with a Fire Affinity like me, that''s pretty much the best bloodline I could obtain."

    Mira nodded indifferently, but her mouth curved up into a smirk, and the next words toe out of her mouth turned the ce silent, "Then, go kill a few dragons for me, and I''ll give it to you."

    "..."

    "...Eh?"

 Chapter 747 Fire Drake

    ?An error urred while reading the file: Could not find file ''/data//panda_novel_py/used_emails.txt''.

    Standing in front of arge, red-scaled Mid-Stage Rank 8 Fire Drake, Nova looked up at it with her brows furrowed and couldn''t help but curse.

    "Dammit! I thought she was joking when she said to go kill a few dragons!"

    *BOOM!*

    The Fire Drake roared and mmed its thick, fiery tail onto her position. Parrying it with her spear, Nova dashed to the side, dodging it before counterattacking.

    *Clink!*

    Her spear bounced off its scales, only leaving behind a thin white line, but it did no real damage to the beast. Jumping backward to reposition, Nova took her time to assess the situation before she went back in.

    In fact, she hardly knew what she was getting into. All Mira gave her was a rough map of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range and told her to go to all the circled locations, and she''d find the beasts she''d have to kill.

    Of course, she didn''t believe she''d actually be killing Dragons like Mira said, but��

    "ROAR!!"

    Drakes are basically Dragons without wings, right?

    Nova dashed around the Fire Drake, the mes around its body illuminating her with an ominous red glow. Her heart raced in her chest, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her face as she took in the formidable creature standing in front of her.

    Despite the daunting task, she knew she couldn''t back down now. Clutching her spear tighter, Nova moved.

    She thrust her spear forward, the head of her weapon igniting as she activated her [Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot]. A ball of searing sunfire engulfed the tip of her spear andunched at the Fire Drake, but the beast didn''t flinch. The Sunfire exploded upon contact, causing a small scorch mark on the Fire Drake''s scales, but it hardly seemed phased.

    Nova gritted her teeth. Her fire attacks would be less effective against a beast of the same element. She had to be strategic and aim for its weak spots.

    With a swift leap, she propelled herself into the air above the beast. Activating [Heavenly Sunfire Descension], she channeled her fire energy through the spear, creating a blinding sunfire aura that enveloped her. Like a descending star, she plummeted towards the Fire Drake''s head.

    The Drake roared, the heat from its body intensifying. It was as if it was trying to repel her with its heat alone, but Nova was undeterred. She continued her downward strike, aiming directly between the creature''s eyes.

    Unfortunately, the beast was quicker than it seemed. It swung its head, and Nova''s attacknded on its hard scales, merely bouncing off, making her lose her footing and fall back.

    Then, with a swift turn, it smashed its tail into her abdomen, cracking her ribs and sending her flying.

    Nova twisted in mid-air,nding with a roll and swiftly regaining her stance. She could feel the pain coursing through her from the impact, but she ignored it, focusing on the creature''s movements.

    She needed a n. So far, she had been acting on instinct, and it was clear that it wasn''t working. She needed to be smart about this. Observing the Fire Drake, she looked for any signs of weakness.

    A sudden sh of insight hit her. The Drake''s underside! That was the least protected part of its body. But how was she going to reach it?

    As she was deep in thought, the Fire Drake attacked. It reared on its hind legs before mming its front ws down toward her. Nova barely managed to jump out of the way in time.

    Realizing the risk, she made a quick decision. Nova steeled herself and thrust her spear forward once again, activating [Sunfire Sphere Spear Shockwave]. The spearhead radiated an intense light and shot forward, creating a massive shockwave of Sunfire.

    As the wave of heat and light hit the Fire Drake, it was enough to disorient it, making the beast stagger back a step. Taking the opportunity, Nova quickly dashed forward and slid beneath the Drake''s belly.

    She summoned a final surge of energy. A variation of her ultimate technique - [Sunfire Starfall] - sprang to life. Sunfire converged onto her spear. It transformed into a mini-sun, a brilliant, radiant source of light. It blinded the entire battlefield.

    With a battle cry, she drove her spear upward, aiming for the Fire Drake''s belly. The spearhead burst into a Starfall of searing sunfire upon impact, effectively burning through the beast''s scales and causing it to roar in pain.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Searing pain echoed through Nova''s body as the Fire Drake thrashed, her attack causing it to buck wildly. She managed to roll out from under the beast just in time as it crashed onto the ground, shaking the earth beneath them.

    Exhausted and battered, Nova staggered to her feet, her spear still clutched tightly in her hand. The Fire Drakey defeated, its heavy breaths echoing around them. Nova''s heart pounded in her chest, and she knew she had won.

    "Haa�� Haa�� That was�� haa�� a lot harder than I expected." Nova murmured, leaning on her spear for support.

    Although the beast was still technically alive, there wasn''t much it could do in its current state.

    Walking over to the Drake, Nova raised her spear, ready to pierce its eye socket, in hopes of stabbing its brain, but paused.

    "...Wait. Didn''t Mira say that it would be better if I could catch them alive?" Nova thought aloud.

    Originally, she had forgotten about it, as defeating this thing was hard enough, but now that she remembered, Mira did say something like that.

    ''But, how the hell am I supposed to capture it? Not to mention, where am I going to keep it? It''s not like I can carry it with me while I''m hunting!''

    Looking at the size of the defeated Fire Drake sprawled before her, Nova couldn''t help but frown. The thought of having to somehow haul this giant creature around was absurd. Not to mention she had no idea how to capture a dragon-like creature alive.

    A memory suddenly shed through her mind, a seemingly inconsequential part of Mira''s instructions. A mention of an artifact capable of capturing and storingrge beasts. She had dismissed it at the time as irrelevant, but now...

    Diving into her Spatial ring, Nova rummaged through her belongings. Among them was arge, ornate bag around the size of a watermelon, encrusted with gold designs that reminded Nova of scales and feathers. This was a Beast Pouch, an artifact Mira had given her. At the time, she hadn''t really paid much attention, considering the main point of her journey was to kill powerful beasts, not capture them. But now, she was more than grateful for Mira''s foresight.

    A slight relief washed over Nova as she held the Beast Pouch in her hand, looking at the subdued Fire Drake in front of her. She was physically drained from the battle, and the idea of dealing a death blow and then figuring out how to transport the beast''s carcass was daunting. This was definitely a more convenient solution.

    Approaching the Fire Drake cautiously, Nova activated the Beast Pouch. The artifact started to glow, the designs illuminating and swirling around the surface of the pouch. Nova held it up towards the beast, and a beam of crimson light shot out, hitting the Fire Drake. The creature stirred, letting out a weak growl, but it was too worn out to resist.

    The Fire Drake started to shrink and dissolve into a form of energy that got sucked into the Beast Pouch. The process only took a couple of minutes, but to Nova, it felt like an eternity. Once it was done, the pouch returned to its usual non-glowing state, now heavier in Nova''s hand.

    She sighed deeply, stowing the Beast Pouch back in her Spatial ring. She then took a moment to rest, sitting down hard on the ground. Her body ached from the battle, and she was mentally exhausted.

    ''One beast down�� How many more to go?'' Nova thought to herself, looking up at the map that Mira had given her. There were a couple more circled locations she needed to visit.

    Summoning up her remaining strength, Nova stood up, using her spear for support. There was no time to waste. There were more beasts to be found and defeated, and she was just getting started. With a final look at the empty space where the Fire Drake had been, Nova moved on to the next location, ready for whatever challenges awaited her.

    As Nova contemted her next move, elsewhere, Everly, Eden, and Rayna were embarking on their own missions, given to them by Mira. Seraphine would have joined them, but she was still healing.

    However, they weren''t the only ones in the Sect who were out on their own missions, searching for beasts they were the mostpatible with.

    All disciples had a new task at hand - capture a beast and earn a unique Bloodline. The raid from a few days ago was just the beginning.

    The Battle Maiden Sect was now buzzing with a new, exciting challenge. Capture beasts, not kill them.

    Other Sects took note, but their confusion was palpable.

    What was the Battle Maiden Sect up to? Despite the mystery, they decided to follow suit, all in the hope of unlocking the Sect''s secret and elevating their own standing.

    Who knows, maybe they''ll be able to discover what Aelina was trying to do and take their own Sects to new heights!

    ***

    [A/N: I know the Beast Pouch wasn''t introduced yet, but I''ll get to itter. I''m sure you guys can guess where it came from, anyways. :)]

 Chapter 748 Visiting Seraphina

    ?An error urred while reading the file: Could not find file ''/data//panda_novel_py/used_emails.txt''.

    While everyone was working hard, Mira took a short break from extracting Blood Essences to ask Aelina about Seraphina.

    "Seraphina, huh��" Aelina murmured, "She''s�� doing better, but she was in really bad condition when you returned. Almost every bone in her body was broken, her meridians were overworked beyond their max potential, and she had lost vast amounts of vitality. I''m afraid she''s even lost a portion of her lifespan. If it weren''t for the help of the Elders, our healing pills, and her will to live, she would''ve died. Though, she''s pretty much half-crippled now."

    "Is fixing one''s meridians that much of a pain in the ass?"

    Aelina nodded seriously, "It''s not just a pain. It''s simr to trying to repair someone''s brain. You''d need a miracle medicine to fix them."

    "Hmmmm." Mira fell deep into thought.

    Now, she was starting to feel a little guilty that she hadn''t visited sooner. Seraphina had essentially saved everyone''s lives single-handedly, facing off against the Shadowfang.

    It didn''t sit well with her that such a kind, self-sacrificing woman had to end her cultivation journey simply because she went out on a little training session with her. She definitely deserved more than that.

    ''Also, who''s going to be my meat shield? Having her around makes things so much easier.'' Mira thought, trying to convince herself that she hadn''t grown a bit attached to the shield-wielding woman after Dominique''s incident.

    "...I''ll go check on her myself," Mira muttered before walking out of therge dungeon-like room filled with blood and corpses, causing Aelina to chuckle.

    ''So shy~'' Shemented inwardly but soon frowned, realizing that she was in this shitty room by herself, minus thezy wolf.

    Grumbling, she kicked Rhydian on the butt.

    "Grrrr!" The wolf''s eyes shot at the perpetrator, but realizing it was Aelina, she shrunk back into a little puppy.

    "Don''t give me that! Mira said you''re the one who wanted to conquer both forms! Now, get up and show me your stances!"

    ***

    Mira quickly made her way to the Healing Hall, where Seraphina was staying, and walked into her ward, which was just a small room that smelled like medicinal herbs. There wasn''t anyone else in the room at the moment, but Mira could still sense Eden and Everly''s auras, indicating that they were here not long ago.

    "...Mira?" She heard a weak voiceing from the bed and looked over in surprise.

    "You''re conscious?" She couldn''t help but ask, eyebrows raised.

    Seraphina chuckled lightly, not taking offense that those were the first words toe out of Mira''s mouth.

    "...Yeah. A few days ago, I woke up." She nodded. "Seems like everyone made it back safely. I''m d. Truly d."

    She paused, then bowed her head slightly, "Thank you for killing the beast and dragging us back to the Sect, Mira. I know it probably wasn''t easy, but your efforts managed to save all of us. For that, I''m incredibly grateful."

    Mira fell silent and looked straight into Seraphina''s clear, pure eyes. She wasn''t sure what to say to this. Thanks? You''re wee? Just doing my job?

    No, before that, should she really be receiving thanks like this? All she did was kill a beast, using the opportunity that everyone provided for her. Without them, such a thing wouldn''t have even happened.

    In fact, her life was never truly in danger. She would''ve had to exchange arge chunk of her lifespan, along with probably weakening to a considerable extent, but she would''ve survived. From a certain point of view, that was almost worse than dying, especially in this cut-throat world, but in the end, she didn''t need to do that.

    Due to all these factors, plus not seeing an ounce of dissatisfaction or hostility in Seraphina''s eyes, the only thing she could respond with was-

    "...I see."

    An awkward silence hung in the air.

    Mira wasn''t much for small talk, and Seraphina didn''t know her well enough to make small talk.

    Fortunately, after about 30 seconds, Mira spoke up first.

    "You�� You do know your condition, right?"

    Seraphina nodded lightly, "You mean my meridians and internal injuries, right? Yeah, I''m well aware of just how bad a shape I''m in right now. Why?"

    "Aren''t you�� resentful? Angry? Upset? You''re basically a cripple. And for what? To save the very people you''re going to bepeting against?"

    Seraphina giggled, d that she was seeing a different side of Mira today, and nodded. "It''d be a lie to say that I''m fine with this oue, but that was the best solution at the time. It was the only way for all of us to make it out of there alive, and if I was given another chance to do it over again, I''d make the same exact decisions."

    "...Dumbass." Mira unconsciously spat, causing Seraphina to burst outughing, even at the behest of worsening her injuries.

    "Hahaha~! Maybe I am, but at least I''m alive!"

    Perhaps, a long time ago, she could''ve understood where Seraphina wasing from, but now? No way.

    The thought of sacrificing her life for somebody else''s has disappeared if it was ever there in the first ce.

    Once again, the room soon fell silent, but now, Seraphina had arge smile on her face as she stared at Mira. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Meanwhile, the fox woman had fallen into thought again.

    ''It''d be a waste if someone like this died, right?'' Mira started picturing scenes of Seraphina protecting Maria and Dominique, fighting on the front lines with her, and supplementing her aggressive fighting style.

    ''Yeah,'' She inwardly nodded, ''It would indeed be a waste if she died like this.''

    Mira already considered Seraphina a dead person since she could hardly muster any strength.

    "Hmmm~" She hummed a sent her consciousness to the FLDIL Store. She had already bought a few manuals and books on the Strength Training Stage of the Body Tempering Realm from it, which didn''t cost her more than a few points, along with 4 Beast Pouches, which were 500 points each since she had to get higher quality ones that can hold up to Rank 8 beasts.

    After she had spent some of it, and since she missed a few chances to earn more points, she had around 10,000 Abyssal Battle Ladder points left.

    With every breakthrough, she was always able to clear 10 Stages of it or 100 Rounds, but no more than that. Rather, she didn''t take the chance since she knew she wasn''t strong enough.

    Regardless, she had amassed a decent amount of points.

    ''Let''s see how much a meridian restoration healing pill would cost��''

    [Rebirth Pill - 5,000 Points (A legendary pill known for its healing properties, it is said to resurrect the dead and restore a person''s vitality and strength in an instant.)]

    "..."

    ''Okay�� A bit pricey. What about the next?''

    [Elixir of Life - 4,000 Points (This rare elixir is known to heal all wounds, cure all diseases, and replenish life force. It''s rumored to be able to restore someone to their prime, regardless of how grave their injuries.)]

    [Heavenly Restoration Pill - 5,000 Points (A pill blessed by the heavens themselves, it''s believed to instantly mend internal and external injuries, rejuvenate the spirit, fix meridians, and strengthen the soul.)]

    ''Fuck me.''

    Mira kept going through the list of items, but they were all around the same price. Even though she had the points right now, she would never get them back. So, those 4,000-5,000 points were extremely significant. That was two to two and a half breakthroughs worth of points!

    However, Mira kept searching.

    ''I''ll just try to beat the 11th Stage a few times to make up for the loss.'' Although she thought that, she knew her current self wasn''t good enough to challenge that stage yet. But, if it was to obtain more of this "non-renewable resource", then it looks like she had to take the chance.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity of looking, she stumbled upon something interesting.

    [Sacred Azure Steel Restoration Pill - 6,500 Points (This highly specialized Rebirth Pill is exclusively for those who hold dual affinities for Metal and Water. WARNING: HIGHLY DANGEROUS!)]

    ''What the hell? A healing pill that''s dangerous?'' Mira was dumbfounded, but she kept scrolling and found more like it, just with different affinities.

    Turning her attention back to the Sacred Azure Steel Restoration Pill, she started contemting.

    On the one hand, was the Elixir of Life, something that seemed like it would do the job just fine. From the description, it could instantly bring someone back to peak condition instantly.

    On the other hand, was the Sacred Azure Steel Restoration Pill. It sounded like it could do what the Heavenly Restoration Pill could, but more. Maybe?

    The description wasn''t all that clear, only telling her that it was dangerous. Though, she didn''t exactly know what that meant.

    ''Should I go with the guarantee or take my chances?''

    ncing at Seraphina''s stupid smile, Mira stopped hesitating and clicked on the second option, buying the Sacred Azure Steel Restoration Pill.

    ''A little more suffering will do her some good. I can''t allow my meat shield to live afy life, now can I?'' She gave a cold smile, unknowingly sending chills down Seraphina''s spine.

    A momentter, a cool, hard pill manifested in her palm. It was a deep ocean blue imbued with streaks of silver that appeared as sharp and radiant as freshly forged steel. Although it didn''t release any Qi, Mira could feel incredibly dense and potent energy within it, waiting to be released.

    "Try eating this." Mira recklessly tossed it over to Seraphina, who hurriedly caught it, "I obtained this as a lucky encounter somewhere, but it''s not suitable for me. I don''t know what it does, but perhaps it can help heal you."

    "What?!" Seraphina''s eyes locked onto the pill before shooting back to Mira, only to find out that she had already left. Normally, she would''ve chuckled at that, but now wasn''t the time.

    If what Mira said was true, the pill in her hands was nothing short of a miracle!

    Suddenly, the weight of the object seemed to increase 100-fold as she understood the true value of the pill.

    However, the "I don''t know what it does" part echoed in her mind, dousing her shock and excitement.

    ''So, it''s a risk, huh? If I eat it, I might die; if I don''t, I live.'' She assumed, but then, she did something shocking.

    Almost without hesitation, she tossed the pill into her mouth and swallowed it.

    ''Screw it! Since Mira trusts me enough to give me something this precious, then how can I not reciprocate that trust?!''

 Chapter 749 Perfect Combination

    ?An error urred while reading the file: Could not find file ''/data//panda_novel_py/used_emails.txt''.

    The instant Seraphina swallowed the pill, she felt an overpowering surge of energy violently churn within her body. The sensation wasn''t unlike being caught in a torrential whirlpool, unable to breathe, unable to focus,pletely and utterly at the mercy of the currents.

    Her room, which had been filled with a light medicinal fragrance, now felt pressurized, and an almost metallic tang permeated the air. As her consciousness started to blur, her body seemed to fold in on itself, constricting every part of her.

    Is this what Mira meant by "dangerous"?

    Searing pain tore through Seraphina as the pill dissolved and its contents seeped into her meridians. She felt as though countless needles were dancing inside her, fixing the meridians, but in the most brutal way possible. Her body convulsed and thrashed, and a scream was caught in her throat, echoing in her head.

    Outside her ward, a few disciples, sensing the immense fluctuations of energy, hurried over, only to be met with an invisible barrier. This barrier, apparently set up by the Sacred Azure Steel Restoration Pill, was impossible for them to prate, even when a few elders came to assist.

    Inside, the medicinal scent grew denser, and the temperature in the room plummeted. A fineyer of frost began to cover the surfaces of the furniture and walls. The patterns of the frost seemed to resemble ancient, intricate runes that danced and flickered, shielding Seraphina from the outside world.

    The internal battle was far from over.

    Metal and water, two opposing elements, began their fierce battle within her. The metal seemed to want to reconstruct, fortify, and shield, while the water tried to purify, soothe, and flow through her system. It was a yin and yang, a fight and dance, a storm and calm.

    Hours felt like days. Days felt like years. Time became an abstract concept for Seraphina as her senses became heightened. She could feel every movement of the elements, every twist of her damaged meridians, and every pulse of her own heart.

    One moment, her body would be almost like steel, only for highly pressurized streams of water to shoot through her system, cutting everything up before filling up the gaps with water. This battle continued, with both sides trying to wear the other down.

    The pain was so intense that she couldn''t even ck out; every time she did, she would awaken to more pain. Thus, she was forced to bear the brunt of it.

    However, she refused to back down. Not now. Not when she had a second chance!

    ''I don''t want to be a cripple! I don''t want to sit around doing nothing but teaching the younger generations! I want to explore! I want to get stronger! I want to see the world from the eyes of the Sect Master and beyond!'' Seraphina''s eyes, although closed shut, seemed to shine with a resolve that wasn''t previously there.

    It was as if something had awakened inside her.

    And then, as abruptly as it had all started, it stopped.

    The pain vanished, and a serene tranquility took its ce. Seraphina, drenched in sweat, felt a refreshing coolness wash over her. The dual affinities had reached an equilibrium within her body, harmoniously blending with one another.

    The first thing she noticed was the intense vitality coursing through her veins. It was as if she had been reborn, her body not just restored but strengthened to new levels. Her senses were sharper, her Qi denser and smoother, and her soul more radiant than ever before.

    She even felt like she was on the verge of breaking through. No, rather, it seemed she may have an excess amount of Qi, much to her amazement!

    Stumbling out of bed, Seraphina realized her injuries were not just healed �C they were nonexistent. Her meridians were repaired, but they were also broader and more resilient. Her Core also expanded and seemed to evolve into something more suitable for her. The metallic tint to the room began to dissipate, reced once again by the calming medicinal fragrance.

    Outside, the barrier vanished, and the elders and disciples who had gathered anxiously rushed in. They were met with the sight of a perfectly healthy Seraphina, standing tall, her aura emanating a powerful and refreshing energy.

    "Are you... alright?" The Head of the Healing Hall, Elder Fen, asked hesitantly, her eyes filled with wonder and disbelief.

    Seraphina nodded, smiling brightly, "More than alright, Elder Fen."

    ''Thank you, Mira. I''ll be sure to repay you for this favor.'' She said in her heart, ignoring the questions that the Elders kept asking her.

    ***

    Unfortunately for Seraphina, not even an hourter, she regretted those very words of gratitude when Aelina, at Mira''s request, threw her out of the Sect to some random location with nothing but a map and a Beast Pouch.

    "Capture the Beasts circled in red. Don''te back until you can aplish this."

    Those were the words Mira had sent to her through a Thought Transmission. Not even to her face!

    Wielding her mace and shield, Seraphina smiled wryly, "I should''ve expected something like this. Mira would never let me sit around with a healthy body, not that I wanted to." She muttered to herself.

    ''Whatever! This is a good chance to test out my new strength, anyways!''

    With a bright smile, Seraphina ran toward the nearest circle to begin her hunt.

    ***

    A few weeks passed by, and Mira was eventually able to extract every Blood Essence from all the beast corpses.

    Of course, there were still moreing in every few minutes or so, but she had finished the bulk of them and could now start improving them to match each disciple''s requirements.

    However, since that would take an ungodly amount of time, Mira decided to take a little break since she had a few things to do herself.

    "You finished?" Aelina, with Rhydian on the floor panting, nced over and asked.

    Mira nodded and walked over to the two of them. "Have you figured out how tobine human techniques with a beast''s physique?"

    Unfortunately, Aelina shook her head, a light of disappointment shining in her eyes.

    "No�� Like I said, it''s not possible. Many have tried, but they''ve all failed. At least, to my knowledge, none have seeded."

    Then, Aelina went on to further exin, "Beasts don''t have meridians like humans do. They do have pathways, but they''re more like guard rails to prevent excess Qi from leaking and guide it to a certain part of the body. This is the main reason why most beasts don''t fight or even like to exist in their human form. Not only does it make them weaker, but their innate abilities don''t work as well since their ''guard rails'' are much smaller and weaker."

    "Then�� Can''t we just create an actual set of meridians?" Mira questioned as if she wasn''t asking for the impossible.

    Aelina just stared at Mira as if she was an idiot. No, not even an idiot! That was a downright brain-dead question. However, she still took it seriously.

    She sighed and answered, "Theoretically, yes. If we could create our own meridian system, it could work."

    Mira''s ears perked up, but Aelina''s next words were like a bucket of cold water.

    "But, here''s the problem. Do you even know what meridians are made out of? Do you know how such tiny things carry so much energy through them? Do you know how to create an artificial set of meridians and imnt them into a being that has apletely different physiology? On top of that, do you know why beasts don''t have a set of meridians?"

    Mira almost nodded, as she knew exactly what her meridians were made out of: Chaotic Silk. However, it''s not like she could say that, not that it mattered if she did.

    So, she shook her head, indicating that she was ignorant of the answers to those questions.

    Seeing that, Aelina shrugged her shoulders and sighed again, "Me neither!"

    "..."

    "We can teach Rhydian different Martial Arts all we want, but at the end of the day, she''s still a beast. Which is fine, but trying to teach her human techniques is nothing but a fool''s dream. You''re just wasting mine, yours, and her time!"

    Mira frowned, not liking Aelina''s ruthless answer. And how could she?

    She was literally a living example of the perfectbination between man and beast! She had the innate abilities and strength of a beast while retaining theplexity of the human cultivation system.

    ''Combination of man and beast, huh��'' Mira fell into a trance as she repeated those words in her mind.

    For some reason, they resonated with her, as if she was grasping onto something profound but hadn''t quite grabbed it.

    ''What is a human? What is a beast? What makes them so different? Why am I able to harness both their powers?''

    ''No, scratch that,'' Mira shook her head. ''Can I really harness both their powers? Can I really call myself a beast when I don''t even have ess to a beast form? I don''t know if I have one in the first ce!''

    All sorts of questions echoed through her mind as she searched for something that seemed out of reach for her current self.

    ''Is this what that dumbass trickster beast was talking about? My beastly origins? Will I be able to explore these questions at this so-called Convergence?'' Mira''s little trance ended there as she came to two conclusions.

    One, she needed to do more testing. This time on humans rather than beasts.

    Two, she needed to take part in whatever this "Convergence" was.

    "Whatever," Mira muttered, waving Aelina off, "You can go back to stalking me. In the meantime, can you get me some ves or criminals I can experiment on? I just had a few ideas."

    "....Get them yourself."

    "I can''t. I''m busy strengthening YOUR sect."

    "..........Fuck you."

    "Have them ready by tonight."

    "...I''d rather train your stupid dog."

    "Then, feel free to do that too."

    Later that night, Mira received a fresh batch of criminals, and Aelina was nowhere to be seen.

    ***

    [A/N: Alright. Alright. I know that I''m probably dragging this bit on a little too long, but there are just so many things I want to do! I''d love to show more about Rayna, Eden, and Everly. Dominique still needs to be touched on, as well as Elenei. The Sect, as a whole, powering up, along with the tension with the beasts. That''s really just the start.

    However, I do think I need to get a move on with this pacing and get to the Primal Ascendance Convergence, which has been teased for a while now. So, I''m going to try and condense everything down into just a few more chapters, and then we''ll start this next arc.

    If you want more details about certain people or topics, feel free to let me know, and I''ll consider adding them (maybe making a few long chapters), but for now, I think it''s time to get a move on. Thanks for sticking with me through these slower bits! :)]

 Chapter 750 *Title At The End Of The *

    ?

    From that day forward, Mira began running experiments on humans. Mainly so she could answer the question, "What was a human, and why do they get their own unique power system?"

    If she could figure that out, then she could understand more about herself and if there were still some potential left for her to unearth.

    However, most of her experiments consisted of examining people''s meridians, dantian, bones, organs, and blood. Those were the main aspects that separated man from beast, and Mira thought it''d be best if she started with those.

    In the following days, Mira received many people for her to run experiments on while also making many trips to the Alchemy Hall to read up on the human body. As a Sect that has existed for thousands of years, it was impossible for them not to have some information, which would greatly reduce the amount of time she spent on useless projects.

    However, despite this, she never stopped running trials with beast Blood Essences. There was still so much to explore here, and if she was going to have herpanions and even her wife merge with a bloodline, she wanted to ensure that she wasn''t limiting their potential.

    Other than that, she continued enhancing Blood Essences for the other disciples. Which, whenpleted, would go to an Elder who would then hand it over to whoever they deemed worthy.

    Nothing was handed out for free to them. To receive such an amazing treasure, they had to contribute something of equal value to the Sect. Whether that be doing missions, creating pills, weapons, armor, arrays, researching new techniques, taking over Spirit Stone Mines, or whatever. It didn''t matter as long as they contributed.

    Mira received a portion of those resources, but most went to the Sect''s treasury.

    Thanks to everyone''s efforts, the Battle Maiden Sect was quickly building its strength to new heights. Unfortunately for the other major powers, Aelina and the Elders did their best to keep this news under wraps.

    It wouldn''t do anyone any good if word got out that their overall strength had grown in such a short amount of time, but this was just the beginning.

    ***

    While the Battle Maiden Sect had basically closed its doors for the time being, only opening them to collect beast corpses, the rest of the Continent had entered a time of quiet chaos.

    The tension between humans and beasts grew every day.

    Rumors spread like wildfire throughout the Continent. Whispers in inns and markets were dominated by tales of skirmishes along the borders of human settlements. Entire viges, it was said, were wiped off the map overnight. No survivors, no traces �C just eerie silence where once there was life.

    Trade routes that passed through territories imed by the Beast ns became perilous, with caravans vanishing without a trace. Merchants spoke of increased prices due to the dangerous paths they had to navigate and the extra security needed to ensure their goods arrived safely. Tales of brave warriors, who dared to venture into Beast territories to hunt for precious beast corpses, returning maimed or not returning at all, weremon.

    In response, fortified walls around human cities grew taller, and watchtowers multiplied. Every figure on the horizon, every rustle in the woods, was a potential threat. Children were no longer allowed to y outside the safety of these walls, and farmers worked their fields in groups, always with a few watchful guards nearby.

    The Beast ns weren''t passive victims. Powerful Beast leaders emerged, rallying the ns to defend their territory and honor. To the humans, these beasts were monsters �C tales of winged serpents casting shadows over entire towns, colossal bears whose roars could shatter stone, and swift panthers who moved as shadows were told in hushed tones. But to the Beast ns, these leaders were heroes, champions defending their homes from the relentless encroachment of man.

    Both sides suffered. While humans had the advantage of organization, traps, intelligence, and weapons, the Beast ns had the strength, numbers, agility, and innate connection to thend. They knew every nook and cranny of their territories, setting up deadly ambushes and hit-and-run tactics that left the human forces frustrated and demoralized.

    The delicate bnce between humans and beasts, maintained for centuries, was now shattered. Diplomatic envoys, sent by human kingdoms to negotiate peace or temporary truces, often never returned. Their fate was left to the imagination of the masses.

    Every new dawn seemed to bring stories of fresh conflicts, heartbreak, and loss. The atmosphere was thick with tension, a brewing storm that promised to engulf the entire Continent. Both sides awaited a spark, a trigger that would turn these skirmishes into an all-out war.

    Unknown to many, the Battle Maiden Sect watched from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to act.

    ***

    Weeks went by, with Aelina and Mira improving the strength of her Sect by leaps and bounds. The only exceptions were the Core Disciples, who were out on their own missions, trying to obtain a unique bloodline.

    But, on this day, with about 4 more months remaining until the Prime Disciplepetition, Mira felt a fluctuation from the FLDIL.

    ''Dominique!'' Her eyes lit up, and she hurried off to a safe ce, away from any ''stalkers''.

    Once she was in her residence, in a cave deep underground, she stopped and waited for Dominique toe out.

    Not even a few momentster, emerging from the FLDIL, a tear in the fabric of space, was Dominique. For some reason, Mira felt an innate connection with her, as well as a small boost in power.

    Immediately, Mira felt as if a mountain was lifted off of her mind and soul. All the pain she experienced disappeared, her thoughts cleared up, and there was no longer a strain on her soul.

    ''I can finally break through again!'' She eximed, closing her eyes to bask in this sensation for a moment.

    However, when she finally came down from her high, what she saw wasn''t the determined little girl Mira remembered, but a teenage�� fox?

    Mira''s eyes widened before a slight smile yed upon her lips. ''This girl��''

    Standing before her was Dominique, transformed yet still undeniably herself. The once delicate girl now held an aura of beauty intermingled with danger.

    Her hair, which used to be ocean blue, had changed to a blood-red with golden streaks intermingling within it. Those same aquamarine eyes, however, still held a tinge of her determined naivety, showcasing that despite the things she''s faced, she was still a little kid at heart.

    Her fox tail, an elegant, ruby-red appendage, moved with fluid grace, each motion revealing her connection to her beast side. It contrasted with the purity radiating from her being, suggesting a duality that was quite interesting. It was as if she was looking at a holy being, simr to Maria,bined with her bloody killing intent.

    Intriguing indeed.

    And her physique, sculpted and toned, spoke of training and physical exertion, yet it held an inherent elegance, like a dancer poised to break into a powerful yet beautiful routine.

    Mira stepped closer, reaching out hesitantly, fingers grazing the strands of Dominique''s hair. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped and frowned. Her eyes narrowed as she inspected Dominique closer until she realized that the girl had lost all her cultivation!

    But, seeing that the girl in question wasn''t distraught from this, she calmed down and asked, "What happened?"

    "W-Well��" Dominique scratched her cheek awkwardly, her tone much more elegant than it was before, to the point that it was almost mesmerizing. Gathering her courage and pushing away her embarrassment, she shouted, "H-How could I, your daughter, not look anything like you? That''s not okay! So, I turned into a fox girl, like you, Mother! A Celestial Blood Fox, to be exact!"

    "Celestial Blood Fox?" Mira tilted her head. She''d never heard of something like that.

    "Mmhm!" Dominique nodded, her eyes shining with pride. "It''s a variant of a Blood Fox I unlocked thanks to the Celestial Nectar you gave me."

    "Blood Fox? I thought you had a Water Affinity?"

    Dominique''s smile widened, and she puffed out her chest, "My Water Affinity is technically still there, but it transformed into something more specialized after I integrated with the Blood Fox Bloodline!"

    ''Integrate? Wait!'' Mira''s eyes widened in shock as she stared at Dominique''s body. She grabbed her shoulders and questioned, "How''d you merge with the bloodline? And why do you look like this? I figured you''d change, but I didn''t think you''d turn into another species!"

    "I died!" Dominique eximed with a smile that didn''t waver.

    "..."

    After a long silence, Mira nodded her head in understanding, "...Makes sense."

    "..."

    Now, it was Dominique''s turn to be shocked. Although she had always known her mother was stoic, she didn''t think it was to THIS extent.

    ''What makes sense?! I just told you I died, and that''s your reaction?!'' Dominique would be lying if she said she wasn''t a little disappointed by her mother''s response.

    She would''ve liked at least a little bit of care or worry, okay?! She had just faced the most traumatic experiences of her entire life, and all Mira had to say was, ''Makes sense.''?!

    Seeing the betrayed look on Dominique''s face, Mira felt the need to exin before any misunderstandings arose, "That ce is worse than hell, child. So long as you haven''t vanished from existence, you can be brought back to life. No, rather, it''s more urate to say that no matter what condition you''re in, it''s impossible to die unless you want to."

    Mira''s hands shook a little just thinking about it. Something that Dominique didn''t miss, which caused her to freeze up as if she just saw something she shouldn''t have.

    In her entire life, not one moment has Mira ever shown a sign of weakness, but just talking about the FLDIL made her shiver?

    ''Just what the heck did she experience in there?!'' Dominique couldn''t help but specte. At the same time, this action made Mira seem a little more human in her eyes. A teeny tiny little bit.

    An awkward silence fell between them, whichsted for a while until Mira put a hand on Dominique''s head and turned away.

    "I-I''m d you''re alive, kid."

    Dominique snapped out of her daze and nodded, arge, bright smile blossoming on her face, "Mm!"

    ***

    Title: Dominique Returns; Celestial Blood Fox

 Chapter 751 Advancements

    ?

    After the two were done with their greetings, Mira brought Dominique to the ''dungeon'' where she extracted the Blood Essences. It was also where Hana was training diligently.

    She made sure to conceal most of Dominique''s beastly features with illusions. Not that there was anything wrong with her, but there was no need to garner any unnecessary attention at this time.

    Mira was already unique enough, but if there were two of them? People would start asking questions. Questions she didn''t feel like answering.

    As they entered therge ''dungeon'', which looked more or less like a ughterhouse, Hana looked over and immediately stopped training.

    "Dominique!"

    "Hana!"

    The two leaped at one another and embraced tightly, their bond evident to anyone watching. Although it had been a rtively short period, to the two of them, it felt like lifetimes had passed.

    The sight of Hana, her azure eyes filled with tears of joy, her petite form rushing towards Dominique, and Dominique, with her transformed appearance, bending down to match Hana''s height for a warm embrace, was an endearing spectacle. For a moment, the cold, clinical ambiance of the ''dungeon'' melted away, reced by an aura of warmth and genuine happiness.

    "Look at you!" Hana eximed, stepping back to fully take in Dominique''s transformation, "You''ve... changed."

    Dominiqueughed, her voice melodious with a touch of mischief, "I could say the same for you. Your aura... it''s stronger now."

    "Ugh! I don''t wanna talk about it! Your demon mother keeps making me do weird exercises all day! I haven''t had a good night''s sleep in weeks!"

    "Only the weak need sleep." Mira chimed in, sending shivers down Hana''s spine, but thankfully, Dominique came to the rescue.

    "Don''t be like that, Mother."

    Hana''s eyes lit up with happiness at Dominique''s words, only to turn deadpan at her next.

    "Although she''s weak, she''s just a mortal. She can''t help it."

    "Oi! I''m still a kid, you know? I''m not supposed to be strong yet! I don''t want to look like a little girl all my life!"

    Dominique stuck her tongue out at Hana yfully before joining her side once again. The two began chatting away, talking about all kinds of things.

    Mira shook her head and walked over to a massive series of shelves that had thousands upon thousands of Blood Essences that she had extracted, waiting to be purified and enhanced.

    Dominique, who was in the middle of talking with Hana, looked over, and her interest was immediately piqued.

    Walking over to Mira, she asked, "What are you doing, Mother?"

    "Purifying bloodlines andbining them with others to enhance them."

    Dominique was stunned at first before a smile blossomed on her face. "Hehehe~ I think I might be able to help you, Mother!"

    "Hm?" Mira raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

    "Remember my race? I''m a Celestial Blood Fox! Purifying blood is literally what I do best! In fact, that''s one of the ways I can grow stronger; by consuming the blood of other creatures."

    "Really?" Mira asked, both surprised and skeptical, but she didn''t think Dominique would lie to her.

    "Mmhm~!" Dominique nodded but then assumed an awkward look, "However, I think I''ll need to break through a few times, at least to the Qi Condensation Realm, perhaps the Foundation Realm, before I can help you deal with this many Blood Essences."

    Mira contemted Dominique''s words, taking a moment to gauge the potential impact of this revtion. If what Dominique said was true, this could change the whole dynamic of the Blood Essence purification process. But it also raised concerns.

    "I understand that you''re willing to help," Mira began cautiously, "but I don''t want you to rush through your breakthroughs. Pushing your limits without proper preparation could be detrimental."

    Dominique waved her off, "I''ve been through a lot in the FLDIL, Mother. The time and challenges there made me more resilient than you think. I''m confident in my capabilities."

    Hana, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "Even so, Dominique, there''s a difference between confidence and recklessness. Maybe start slow? Try purifying a few Blood Essences first before attempting to tackle thousands."

    Dominique pouted, but she couldn''t ignore the concern in her friend''s voice. "Alright, alright. I''ll take it slow. But once I get the hang of it, you''ll see how efficient this method can be!"

    Mira gently patted Dominique''s shoulder, "We''ll get to that point when we''re ready. For now, let''s focus on what''s in front of us."

    The duo then dove into the intricacies of Blood Essence purification, with Hana returning to her training. Mira shared her experiences, while Dominique provided insights from her Celestial Blood Fox perspective. The synergy between the two of them was palpable, and it was clear that theirbined efforts could potentially lead to groundbreaking advancements.

    However, Mira also didn''t want to rush Dominique, so she made her join Hana in the training, which she advanced extremely quickly.

    Not only had she already surpassed that realm, but her current physical body had long surpassed any Rank 1 beast or Body Tempering Realm cultivator.

    Still, Mira had her take her time, as she realized she may have made some mistakes with Dominique in the past due to her ignorance.

    ***

    Two more months went by.

    Now, there were only two months remaining until the second phase of the Prime Disciple Competition began.

    During this time, Dominique had sessfully returned to the Foundation Realm with a much sturdier foundation thanst time. Her current self and previous self couldn''t even bepared, she was so different.

    However, Mira made her slow down a bit once she reached that point, as she didn''t want the girl to get ahead of herself.

    On the other hand, Mira had also broken through to the 7th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, now that she didn''t have to bear Dominique''s burden.

    In her soul, above and outside the wind cyclone, there were now Yin Fire stars intermittent throughout the entire ce, lighting up some of the darkness. Above that, the raindrops had turned into frozen crystals, which, when they fell, turned back into water, hitting the heightened ice mountain that had formed.

    The nascent soul of herself had also aged, looking like a 14-year-old rather than a child.

    Meanwhile, Hana had finally broken through from the Strength Training Stage to the Bone Forging Stage. It wasn''t even because she wanted to, it just happened naturally, as if she had reached the peak of what her current physique could handle.

    Both Mira and Hana were surprised to see that, but it also made them curious. Could they do the same for the Bone Forging Stage? What about when she reached the peak of the Body Tempering Realm? Or when her body finally reached adulthood?

    Could she continue improving her base physique to the max until she naturally broke through to the Qi Condensation Realm?

    What would happen when her bloodline finally awakened and was added to the equation?

    Neither of them was sure, but they were eager to find out. And since Hana was in no hurry to cultivate Qi, Mira bought a few more books, manuals, and manuscripts about the Bone Forming Stage from the FLDIL,piled them into aprehensive training routine, and handed them to Hana.

    Thus, the poor girl entered a new hell, one that she would continue to experience for a while.

    Lastly, Mira, with the help of Dominique, had enhanced and distributed tens of thousands of purified Blood Essences to the other disciples of the Sect.

    Dominique truly did have a unique way of purifying a Blood Essence. Due to her amazing control over blood, she was actually able to target specific areas in the Bloodline.

    She was even able to tamper with the Bloodline itself, extracting all the "lesser" genes while purifying and improving the "ancient" genes with the help of Mira.

    Every day, the two of them learned more about Blood, Bloodlines, and Blood Essences, which helped further Mira''s research, creating better products.

    ***

    While all of this was happening within the Sect, Nova had finally returned to the Sect!

    When she showed up at the dungeon, she was battered, bruised, and bloodied. Her clothes were torn, her hair was in a mess, and she looked like someone had grabbed her by the legs and mmed her on the ground many times.

    But, her eyes were shining, her aura was stronger, and she had clearly learned a lot from her experiences.

    "You''re back," Mira gave Nova a nod.

    The fiery woman grumbled but returned the nod. Tossing the Beast Pouch over to Mira, Nova turned around, almost dragging her feet, leaving her with these words.

    "Let me know when you''re done. I''m going to rest."

    Mira didn''t bother to say anything, as Nova had already disappeared.

    Turning to Dominique, Mira saw her smile and smirked, "Want to help?"

    "Of course!"

    Mira made her way over to a secluded spot in the dungeon, where she could store live beasts, and dumped them all out into that area.

    "Then, let''s get to work!"

 Chapter 752 Integration

    ?

    Over thest two months, a question arose between Mira and Dominique: What made them different from others who had integrated with a bloodline?

    Was it their purity? Was it how deeply ingrained their bloodlines were? Were they legitimately part beast and, thus, were able to fully merge with their bloodlines? Or, in the creation of their new body, did they transform into apletely different species?

    Perhaps, it was a mixture of everything.

    Mira remembered long ago when she received the Kuraokami Bloodline. Although she gained tremendous strength from it, she didn''t sprout any tails, scales, or wings. All it did was boost her strength, affinity, and cultivation speed.

    It wasn''t until she underwent that transformation while breaking through to the Core Formation Realm did she actually exhibit the features of her bloodline. And from the sound of it, Dominique went through a simr experience, just a little different.

    With the two putting their minds together and sharing their thoughts, it wasn''t long before Mira came to a conclusion.

    The Soul!

    As seen by herself, one''s soul is a reflection of their being. To go even deeper, Mira believed that conscious life wasn''t possible without a soul. A mind, body, and soul are all intrinsically linked to one another; without any one of them, there was an imbnce.

    That being said, she only integrated the Kuraokami into her body. It didn''t affect her mind, and certainly not her soul.

    However, when she merged with her 9-Tailed Fox bloodline, it integrated into every facet of her being. She, quite literally, became a 9-Tailed Fox. The same went for Dominique.

    Neither their soul nor their bodies were human anymore. However, they weren''t beasts either. Which was why they had such trouble answering this seemingly simple question.

    They didn''t know whether beasts had a soul or not, as it generally wasn''t something one could check. But, if they went off Mira''s theory, perhaps the reason why the beast cultivation system was so simple, including their energy pathways, was because they didn''t have aplex or strong enough soul to handle anything more.

    However, when they got stronger and eventually became Rank 8, they could transform into a human form, but unfortunately, they were still stuck with the same cultivation system.

    Of course, this was all just a theory, one that was untested, but Mira and Dominique were fairly confident they were right.

    As for why they even cared�� Well, they were about to work on Nova''s bloodline, which previously belonged to Zehir, and they didn''t want to give her anything but the best!

    Dominique looked pensive, her fingers absently twirling a strand of her red hair. "The differentiation between the body, mind, and soul... That''s a profound understanding. And this unique merging of our bloodlines into the very core of our beings... It''s no wonder our cultivation experiences are different from most."

    Mira nodded, her sharp eyes darting around the room, taking in the countless parchments detailing various methods of bloodline integration. "If our theory is correct, then it means the strength of a bloodline is not just about its purity, quality, or quantity, but also its connection to the soul of its bearer."

    "Let''s keep that in mind as we work on this for Nova!" Dominique eximed as she walked over to the Blood Essence of one of the corpses Nova had provided (one she identally killed) and began purifying it.

    Mira joined her and, with the help of a Suppression Array provided by Aelina, began working on the living beasts, forcefully increasing their strength, purifying their bloodlines, and repeating this process until they reached their limit.

    Since Zehir''s Ouroboros bloodline was part of the Dragon family, Mira had Nova capture beasts who had a portion of Dragon Blood in their veins.

    Of course, the amount of it was incredibly smallpared to a real Dragon. So, in that regard, what shecked in quality, she had to make up for with quality. That was why Nova was gone for so long.

    Mira forced her to hunt down hundreds of beasts with a hint of Dragon blood in them! All of whom weren''t easy opponents!

    A few days went by, with Mira and Dominique putting their entire minds on this project, stopping everything else.

    Thanks to Dominique''s new species and abilities, Mira had a lot easier time working on and purifying weaker Blood Essences, and could spend most of her time on the more difficult ones.

    She''d learned a lot over thest few months and could safely say that her ability to pump out quality Bloodlines had improved vastly since she began. Now, she was going to put all of her knowledge to the test and see how far she could push a watered-down Ouroboros.

    A little over 4 dayster, they had gone through all the ''ingredients'' and were left with the finished product.

    The result was a shimmering, ck vial of liquid swirling with the distinct energy signatures of a single beast. Each twirl and motion of the liquid seemed to be alive, dancing dragons weaving through the fire. The energy it emanated was palpable even from a distance, the atmosphere in the room charged and heated.

    Dominique, gazing at the vial, inhaled deeply. "It''s... overwhelming. The potency, the essence. We''ve really outdone ourselves."

    Mira nodded, her fingers lightly grazing the vial. A tingling sensation traveled up her arm. "We''ve stripped every other bloodline of everything aside from the dragon portion. This Blood Essence might not have the same quantity as a real Dragon''s, but the purity is about as good as it''s going to get. Or, at least, as good as we can make it."

    Unless they had a real Dragon to test on, Mira would never be able to enhance Zehir''s bloodline to such heights. Unfortunately, that wasn''t possible.

    Dominique raised an eyebrow. "But is it stable? Introducing such aplex concoction to Nova... won''t there be repercussions?"

    Mira took a moment, concentrating on the vial. "It''s stable for now. But the integration process is another story. Nova''s body and soul will have to be in perfect harmony to fully ept and adapt to this."

    "Then we must ensure she''s prepared for it," Dominique replied. "Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. This bloodline is not just a simple transfusion; it''s a rebirth."

    They were going to have Nova be the first test subject for their theory. Although it was certainly dangerous, the advantages and potential benefits would be much greater.

    The two knew the challenges ahead. While they had the bloodline ready, they had to prepare Nova for the integration. It wasn''t something to be rushed. A harmonious synchronization of body, mind, and soul was crucial. Any misstep could lead to catastrophic consequences.

    Over the next few days, they began Nova''s preparation. Guided meditations, special cultivation exercises, and energy harmonizing sessions became a daily regimen. Mira also made Nova buy a series of potions to enhance her adaptability and strengthen her core.

    One evening, as the crimson sun dipped below the horizon, casting a scarlet glow over the world, the time came for the final step. Nova, after days of rigorous preparation, sat in the center of a massive energy-gathering array, surrounded by radiant glyphs and runes.

    "Are you ready?" Mira asked.

    Nova only nodded, giving them the signal to start.

    Mira and Dominique stood on either side, channeling their energy, ensuring the stability of the procedure. The vial floated in front of Nova, who took a deep breath, reaching out and grasping it.

    As the bloodline merged into Nova, a whirlwind of energy enveloped her. The room trembled, and brilliant rays of light emanated from the array. Dominique and Mira focused intently, guiding the immense energy, ensuring its smooth flow into Nova.

    Nova''s entire body was engulfed in a radiant white light. Mira could see the energy trying to permeate every fiber of Nova''s being. The blood essence seemed eager yet aggressive, testing the waters and pushing against the barriers that Nova''s body, mind, and soul put up.

    "It''s okay, Nova. Let it flow through you. Feel it but don''t fight it," Mira whispered, her voice calm yet powerful.

    Painful grunts and gasps emanated from within the blinding light. Nova''s form within seemed to be convulsing, writhing as the potent essence made its way through her. Every cell in her body was screaming in agony as they were remade, transformed to house the formidable power of the Ouroboros.

    Dominique, seeing the violent struggle, channeled more of her own energy, forming a shield around Nova and stabilizing the environment. "Mira, she''s resisting it! Her mind is battling against the essence!"

    Mira''s eyes shed with determination. "Guide her, Dominique. Show her that the strength she seeks is within her grasp, but only if she surrenders."

    Nova''s consciousness was a storm of chaos. Memories, sensations, and emotions swirled around as the bloodline''s power sought dominion over her mind. Fears, doubts, and regrets surfaced, each more potent than thest.

    But amidst that storm, Mira''s voice echoed, reaching out to her. "Embrace it, Nova. Trust yourself. Your mind is a fortress. Let the essence in, but be its master. Command it!"

    Pain red in her soul, a searing sensation that felt as if her very essence was being torn apart and rebuilt. It was an intimacy that she''d never felt before; a deep connection between her soul and the bloodline. As the essence reached the deepest recesses of her soul, Nova could feel a shift, an eptance, a union.

    Externally, the changes began to manifest. A magnificent, intricate dragon tattoo wound its way up her back, its eyes glittering with a fiery intensity. The scales on it shimmered, moving as if the dragon was alive and breathing.

    Nova''s once-normal eyes transformed into reptilian slits, exuding a fiery glow. Her nails grew and sharpened.

    Fiery red strands of her hair gained ck highlights, contrasting and emphasizing her new fierce appearance. Every muscle in her body tightened and bulged, evidence of the newfound strength coursing within.

    With the final stage of the transformation, she grew a few centimeters, her stature more imposing than ever.

    ck mes, infused with a hint of crimson, danced and twirled around her, a testament to her newfound power and the sessful integration of the bloodline. The atmosphere itself crackled with energy, a pulsing rhythm that seemed to vibrate with life.

    Suddenly, an immense aura, almost oppressive in its strength, burst forth from Nova, its sheer power rming the higher beings in the vicinity.

    The surrounding Elders approached rapidly, sensing the surge of power, curious and wary of the sudden disturbance.

    Aelina, sensing the imminent intrusion, formed a barrier, blocking the Elders. Her eyes held a warning, "Do not interfere."

    Inside the protective array, Dominique and Mira breathed a sigh of relief. The process was grueling and fraught with danger, but the result was evident. Nova, with the aura of a dragon, hadpleted the integration!

    Nova slowly opened her eyes, the newfound rity and depth evident. With a voice that echoed power and authority, she whispered, "Thank you, Mira."

    Mira gave her a nod and said, "The experiment went better than expected."

    "....Experiment?" Nova froze, her eyes quivering for a moment. However, Mira ignored her and walked away, with Dominique following behind her after she had somehow cleaned the ce up.

    "Did you note that down?"

    "Of course! I didn''t miss a thing!"

    "The next test subjects should already be here. Let''s see if we can replicate this process again or if it was just Nova having a high ''soul resonance'' with the bloodline."

    "Mm! Understood, Mother!"

    Meanwhile, Nova just stood there, as still as a statue. A shiver ran down her spine when she thought back to what just happened.

    Since Mira was the one leading everything, Nova had full trust in her capabilities. Mira was a serious person, after all. She wouldn''t do something she couldn''t do with 100% certainty. Thus, she let the woman take the lead without asking any questions.

    ''A mistake! A big mistake! I seriously could''ve died!'' Then, the faces of herpanions crossed her mind, and she immediately dashed out of the clearing. ''I have to inform the others about this!''

    Unfortunately, her warning did fuck all, as they were more than willing to put their lives on the line in order to have as drastic of a change as Nova.

 Chapter 753 Prime Disciple Competition: Prelude

    ?

    Another two months went by, with the Battle Maiden Sect rapidly growing in strength every day.

    Thanks to Mira and Dominique''s efforts, a good chunk of the Sect was strengthened to some extent, with the Inner and Core disciples seeing more improvements than those from the Outer Court.

    The two worked day and night without rest, working nonstop to pump out as many bloodlines as they could. After a while, they had lost count, but Mira figured they had improved at least 100,000 bloodlines over thest 5-6 months.

    There was absolutely no way she would''ve been able to do so many without Dominique''s help. Not just because she was an extra hand but she had a limited supply of Celestial Nectar, which she used up every single day.

    However, as long as Dominique had Qi, she could continue to work. Although she was less efficient, after tens of thousands of attempts, her control was bound to improve.

    Mira also taught Dominique how to use the Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique, which would not only assist them now but would deepen her Foundation.

    Of course, Dominique could only learn a lesser version of it, given she didn''t have ess to her soul like Mira did, nor did she have a World Core in there, but it would still be helpful.

    Dominique''s dedication and hard work were evident in the improved strength and vitality of the Battle Maiden Sect''s members. The disciples looked healthier, more vibrant, perhaps a little different, and their aura resonated with newfound strength.

    The transformation was not just physical but also mental, as their confidence surged, their passion for cultivation surged. With the added pressure from the Prime Disciple Competition, the whole Sect was working harder than ever before.

    ***

    On the day of the next phase of the Prime Disciple Competition, while everyone was training, all disciples suddenly received a token that immediately pierced their skin as soon as it touched them. However, this token was different for each tier of Disciple.

    The Outer Court Disciple''s tokens had a single sword on them.

    The Inner Court Disciple''s tokens had two swords on them.

    The Core Disciple''s tokens had two swords oveying a shield on them.

    Excitement surged on their faces as they nced at one another, now looking at each other aspetitors instead of sisters.

    It was finally time!

    Time for them to rise up!

    "My disciples!" Aelina''s voice thundered throughout the Sect. "I know you''ve all waited a long time for this day! Thepetition for the Prime Disciple spot has officially begun!"

    "WOOOO!"

    "HELL YEAH!"

    "FINALLY!"

    "LET''S GOOOO!"

    Aelina smiled, letting them holler and shout for a while before waving her hand, causing them to quiet down.

    "However, this year will be slightly different than years past! For this phase of thepetition, it won''t just be our Sect partaking in this, but a few others as well!" Aelina paused, allowing that to settle in, only to continue a momentter. "The Immortal Sword Sect, Profound Elements Sect, Hidden de Sect, and Divine Weapons Sect have decided to participate alongside us. Each using this as a way to search for suitable Prime Disciple candidates."

    "!!!"

    Shock and disbelief appeared on the Disciples'' faces. Even Mira and the other Core Disciples were taken aback by this news.

    "Each of their disciples will also have a token simr to yours. It''ll look slightly different than yours, depending on their Sect and status, but they have the same purpose."

    "The Rules of thepetition are simple. Capture as many tokens as you can! It doesn''t matter who it''s from or how you obtain it; all you need to do is take them and ensure they aren''t stolen from you!"

    The disciples instantly looked at each other warily and attempted to put the token in their spatial rings, only to realize that they wouldn''t enter.

    Aelina smirked at this and continued, "Some of you may have already found out, but those tokens cannot enter any sort of spatial item. Thus, you''re forced to hide it on your body. However, you''re free to put it anywhere. In your breasts, bottom, stomach, or even vagina, it doesn''t matter. But be warned, the tokens emit a unique energy signature that''s easily recognizable. So, other contestants will always know whether you still have yours or not."

    A collective gasp rang through the Sect.

    What the hell was this?! Wasn''t this too ruthless?!

    The Sect Master was basically telling them that unless they wanted to die or were confident in their strength, they should keep the token somewhere more easily essible.

    Aelina nodded, d that her disciples weren''t so stupid that they couldn''t take a hint. "The point system is very simple. You will receive 1 point for every token of the same ''status'' as yours. However, there will also be bonuses offered."

    "Those in the Outer Court will receive 50 points for defeating someone from the Inner Court and 250 from the Core Court. The same goes for you, Inner Disciples. You''ll receive 50 points for stealing the token from a Core Disciple and .02 points for stealing from Outer disciples. As for you Core Disciples�� you have no bonuses, but you will still get points for defeating those weaker than you. .02 points per Inner Disciple and .004 points per Outer Disciple. Not having your original token at the end will cut your points in half. The same point system goes for beasts killed and treasures collected. However, the Token will record those itself."

    ''That''s so unfair!'' Everyone shouted in their minds! But, thest sentence confused them, as they didn''t know how beasts and treasures yed into this.

    What if one of the Core Disciples just decided to shamelessly go on a rampage through the Inner and Outer Courts?! What were they supposed to do? Stop them?

    However, that was exactly what Aelina wanted them to do! The threat from stronger disciples should always be there.

    After all, the Prime Disciple position wasn''t for anyone. They would have a status second only to her. Therefore they had to earn it, if not with their cultivation, then with their wits and survivability.

    "However, there is one caveat!" Aelina suddenly grinned.

    Mira, who had stepped out of the ''dungeon'', immediately had a bad feeling.

    "If any one of you can take Mira''s token, the Prime Disciple position is yours! I''ll stop thepetition immediately and give it to you. The same goes for if Mira is defeated by someone from another Sect. If you can defeat them afterward, the position is yours!"

    "..."

    The disciples'' eyes lit up hearing that. In their minds, a picture of Mira formed, and they began imagining a million different ways to cut her down.

    The only one who wasn''t amused was the person in question.

    ''This fucking��'' Mira''s eyes narrowed dangerously, but Aelina just gave her a cheeky grin and turned to face the rest of the Sect.

    "Now, I''m sure you have many questions, but I have no time for answers. Instead, let me show you where this littlepetition of ours will take ce."

    Aelina turned to face the center of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, where there was a massive barrier known only to the strongest people on the Continent.

    Her eyes twinkled with determination as she gazed at the massive barrier nestled amidst the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Taking a deep breath, she summoned all her strength and unleashed a colossal beam of radiant energy toward the barrier.

    Almost instantly, four other energy signatures �C each distinctly powerful and different in hue �C sprang to life from different parts of the mountain range. The energy beams from the leaders of the Immortal Sword Sect, Profound Elements Sect, Hidden de Sect, and Divine Weapons Sect all converged with Aelina''s, collectivelyunching an unparalleled assault on the formidable barrier.

    The sky rippled, and the ground quaked as thebined might of the five Sect Masters met the immense strength of the ancient barrier. Energy fluctuations spread across the range, causing wild beasts to flee in terror, and the atmosphere became thick with tension. Every disciple, regardless of their sect, watched in awe, knowing that this was a historical moment.

    After what seemed like an eternity, there was an earsplitting crack. The barrier, which had stood for countless millennia, began to fissure. With onestbined push from the Sect Masters, the barrier shattered into countless luminous fragments that showered the ground like a meteor shower. Unfortunately, the remaining energy from the attack was stopped by another barrier that they would have to go through personally.

    The aftermath left a surreal silence, interrupted only by the panting of the five Sect Masters, whose faces were now pale from the exertion.

    As the luminous fragments of the barrier settled, a vast expanse was revealed. Beyond the broken barriery a vast expanse, teeming with dense spiritual energy, ancient trees that reached the sky, and rivers that flowed with sparkling water. The air was pure, and even from a distance, the disciples could feel the immense spiritual pressure emanating from thisnd.

    "This," Aelina began, her voice filled with excitement, "is where your battlefield, your future, will take ce."

    "...!"

    "It''s about time we see what the beasts have been hiding all this time," She added. "What do you say we test out your new strength to kickstart thispetition?" Aelina''s voice echoed throughout the silent Sect.

    The disciples were too shocked to say anything. Everything happened too fast!

    "OH!" One woman finally snapped out of her reverie, took out her weapon, raised it in the air, and shouted.

    This shook the others awake, and they, too, followed her lead.

    "OH!"

    "OH!"

    "OH!"

    "OHHHHHHH!"

    "OHHHHHHH!"

    Soon, the entire Sect was shouting as if they were spartans about to go to war. Their voices were heard outside the Sect and even across multiple cities. It was as if it was a prelude to the iing chaos that was about to ensue.

    ''Good. Looks like they''re all full of energy,'' Aelina chuckled, her gaze bing distant. ''Now, it''s time to see just how strong they''ve gotten over thest few months.''

 Chapter 754 Prime Disciple Competition: Invasion Part 1

    ?

    The ground trembled under the Battle Maiden Sect disciples'' feet as they charged through the Ancient Beast Mountain Range toward the barrier. They didn''t even need the Sect Master''s orders to understand what they needed to do next.

    Attack!

    In the distance, a mighty roar echoed, resonating across the vast skies and dense forests as if nature itself was voicing its anger. The roars were soon joined by others, harmonizing into a powerful, almost musical outcry of rage. The Beasts had sensed the breach.

    This was nothing short of a deration of war!

    Before they could make it very far, a blur shot through the sky at speeds only the Sect Masters couldprehend.

    "What''s the meaning of this, Aelina!? Why have you disturbed the peace?!" A massive red Wyvern appeared in the sky, blocking out the sun and casting long shadows over the Battle Maiden army.

    "Heh~!" Aelina snorted, smirking, "Disturb, how? I just want a little peek is all."

    Fire red out of the Wyvern''s nostrils as it glowered down at Aelina, "...I''m not in the mood for your petty games, woman. If you do not answer my question, then I''ll have no other choice than to treat this as a vition of our agreement."

    "Fufu~" She chuckled, getting another hostile look from the Wyvern. "A little birdy told me you guys are doing something interesting in there. I figured I might as well join the fun. And since you''d refuse me if I asked nicely, I had no other choice but to knock the door down." Aelina replied with a sigh as if she was innocent in all this.

    Although she sounded like she was ying around, the Wyvern understood everything he needed to from those words.

    "War it is, then." It grumbled as though he found this situation more annoying than dangerous.

    Lifting his head up in the air, the Wyvern gathered a dense amount of Draconic mes in its lungs.

    Aelina''s eyes gleamed, anticipating the attack. The atmosphere around the entire area turned suffocatingly tense, charged with a mix of magical energies and dread. The scent of burning ozone and the sharp tang of anticipation filled the air.

    Even as the mighty Wyvern inhaled deeply, the other disciples of the Battle Maiden Sect shifted, their postures instantly changing to defensive stances, and the forest around them shimmered with the bright hues of their protective barriers. On the ground below, other smaller beasts stirred, revealing their positions as the undergrowth rustled and shadows darted about.

    From the core of the Beast ns'' territories, thend pulsed with power. Mysterious auras emanated from the deep forests, mountains, and rivers, representing the various Mystic, Sovereign, and Divine Beast ns. This was their domain, theirnd that they had dominated for thousands of years. And even with the looming threat of the powerful Sects, they would not let it be trampled upon easily.

    Aelina''s aura red brilliantly, rivaling the intensity of the Wyvern''s fire. "Come at me," she taunted, her voice echoing across thendscape, provoking not just the Wyvern but every Beast n present. The palpable tension was almost like a thick fog settling over thend, with both sides knowing that the next move would ignite an all-out war.

    The Wyvern stared down at her arrogantly, and with a movement slow enough so that everyone could see, it opened its mouth to rain down its fire like a heavenly sun.

    *BOOOOM!*

    A fist mmed into the side of the Wyvern''s head, sending it spiraling back toward where the barrier was.

    Revealing herself afterward was a person who looked exactly like Aelina, with no real changes other than it seemed a bit weaker.

    "What an arrogant creature," The original Aelinamented, but a smile never left her face. Without missing a beat, she turned around to face her disciples and said in a voice loud enough for all of them to hear, "Me and the other Sect Leaders will deal with the big guys, you all just focus on killing as many of them as you can."

    With weapons raised, they didn''t hesitate to heed her order.

    "ATTACK!"

    "KILL THEM ALL!"

    "GIVE YOU YOUR BLOODLINES YOU FUCKERS!"

    Amid the battle cries of the Battle Maiden Sect, the earth beneath them seemed to resonate with their fiery determination. The wind, a witness to the unfolding chaos, carried the tangy scent of metal and the acrid aroma of beast blood. Under the fierce gaze of the zing sun, a dance of steel, techniques, and roars began.

    Battle Maiden disciples, with their new bloodlines and increased power, unleashed a torrent of Qi upon the beasts that dared to defend their territory.

    The metallic ng of weapons met with the anguished cries of beasts while the sounds of apocalyptic shes shook the earth in the background. shes of a myriad of colors zapped like lightning, illuminating the ground in their war path. Every disciple moved in harmony, their attacks as lethal as the deadliest predator.

    From the shadows of the forest, creatures of unimaginable shapes and sizes leaped toward the invaders.

    Fangs bared and ws extended, they aimed to defend their homnd with every fiber of their being. But for each beast that lunged at a disciple, two or more would fall, cut down by an overwhelming might. The battle cries of the Battle Maiden Sect weaved an intricate web of power, sealing the fate of many a beast.

    In the backdrop of this brutal confrontation, ten colossal figures rose, casting enormous shadows on the battleground below. Each figure, representative of a Divine-Grade beast n, looked down upon the invaders with disdain. Their auras, like a suffocating storm, sought to destroy the Sect Masters.

    A gigantic tortoise with runes carved on its shell stomped in front of the broken barrier like an unmovable object. Beside it, a cerulean blue sphinx, its wings spread wide, sent forth gusts of chilling winds.

    An onyx-ck manticore, with venom dripping from its tail, hissed in fury. Each beast that appeared was more magnificent and daunting than thest.

    The Sect Masters stepped forward, answering the challenge. Blindingly bright energy formed around them, and as Aelina stepped beside her fellow Sect Leaders, the sky itself seemed to crackle with tension.

    Energy surged within them, and just like what happened with Aelina, copies of themselves formed before them like a mirror image.

    However, seeing that, Aelina wasn''t all that happy.

    ''Damn thieves��'' She internally grumbled but didn''t let it show. It was her choice to give them her "Avatar" technique, after all. She could only hope that whatever the beasts had in store for them was worth it.

    "Seems like your disciples have gotten a lot stronger since west met, Aelina," Alexander said, his sword sitting rxedly by his side. His Divine Sense was spread out, locked onto each of the Divine-Grade Rank 10 beasts, but his eyes were glued to her army.

    "Mmm." She nodded, "I really do pick the best, don''t I? So talented yet so hard-working."

    "No, I mean, they''ve REALLY gotten a lot stronger." He stressed, then continued in faux-ignorance, "I wonder what could''ve happened in this short span of time to make them like that."

    "Me too." Aelina shrugged with a mocking smile.

    Alexander''s brows furrowed, and part of him began to feel like the decision he made a while back was a mistake.

    ''Was this all nned? Why was there a sudden spike in overall strength within her Sect just months before this n?'' He couldn''t help but feel that maybe he had let a tiger in to deal with a few wolves.

    ''Perhaps, my greatest roadblock is standing right beside me��''

    "Enough of the shit! Let''s clear the way and see what''s in this Secret Realm!" Damon, Sect Master of the Divine Weapons Sect, shouted, diverting their attention away from one another.

    "He''s right. You can kill yourselvester. First, we have to deal with the problems before us." Flora, Sect Master of the Profound Elements Sect, chimed in, her eyes drawn to the massive beastsing their way.

    Meanwhile, the Ghost Reaper King just gave them a nod, and both he and his clone disappeared from their senses. Apparently, he had gotten bored of their ramblings.

    "...Seems like only one of us is taking this seriously��" Flora muttered, feeling frustrated, but before she could say anything else, she felt a chill down her spine and hurriedly dodged.

    *SHING!*

    The sounds of metal slicing through the air passed through where she once was. Missing their target, the metal, which turned out to be feathers, cut through a few mountaintops before eventually exploding into a million little pieces.

    In a split-second decision, Alexander unsheathed his sword and met the assault head-on. Each swing of his de met the onught of feathers, producing intense sparks and devastating shockwaves. Thend itself bore the brunt of these shes, with deep chasms opening and the earth upturning.

    Aelina, not one to be outdone, lunged forward. A gargantuan Qi sword made of steel, thunder, and water appeared beside her, a technique called [Poseidon''s Wrath].

    "Mmph!" Her muscles clenched as she tossed it at the massive tortoise while her clone kept the metal birding their way at bay.

    The gigantic tortoise, sensing the imminent threat, withdrew within its colossal rune-carved shell, spinning rapidly. Like a behemoth of destruction, it bulldozed through the terrain, attempting to crush the clones and the Sect Masters.

    Flora, however, summoned a whirlwind of elemental energies. Torrential water, zes of fire, and jagged earthen spikes took form around her. With a determined nce, they raced toward their intended targets.

    Damon, in contrast, shed an array of divine weapons. Swords, spears, and halberds circled around him in a deadly dance. With a swing of his hand, they zipped through the air, seeking the blood of the beasts.

    The cerulean blue sphinx let out a thunderous roar, conjuring a tornado that spiraled toward the Sect Masters. As it shed with Flora''s elemental cyclone, the sky illuminated with a spectrum of colors, sending ripples of energy cascading through the battlefield.

    The onyx-ck manticore, with a whip of its tail, released a barrage of toxic darts. Aelina swiftly summoned barriers of Qi, but the darts, imbued with potent venom, seeped through, releasing a noxious haze.

    From the corners of the battleground, the roars and growls of the smaller beastsbined with the battle cries of the Battle Maiden Sect disciples, creating a deafening cacophony. The sheer force of their collisions caused the very ground beneath to quake.

    Ghost Reaper King, who had disappeared from sight, re-emerged from the shadows, his des swinging in an arc. Each swing reaped the life force of any beast unfortunate enough to be in its path. He didn''t care what strength or grade they were. If they were near him, he attacked.

    However, he and his clone attacked at intermittent timings. While one was in the spotlight, the other was waiting for an opportunity. Then, when that one stuck, the other would disappear.

    But the beasts were not mere fodder. They coordinated, leveraging their strength and numbers. The air became a storm of scales, fangs, and elemental magic. Massive tails, talons, and wings became the harbingers of death.

    As Aelina''s [Poseidon''s Wrath] and the tortoise collided, a blinding explosion ensued, sending shockwaves throughout the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Amid the smoke and debris, a silhouette of Aelina emerged, her clothing tattered but her aura even more ferocious.

    The Sect Masters, while formidable, were not invincible. With every beast they felled, another took its ce. The continuous onught tested their limits.

    Damon, facing a barrage from multiple beasts, grunted as a wed swipe left a gash on his arm. But with a growl of determination, he retaliated, sending a spear piercing through the assant''s heart.

    Flora, caught in the middle of a maelstrom of attacks, chanted an incantation. Suddenly, a massive tidal wave surged, washing away the beasts surrounding her and providing her with a brief respite.

    But, as the battle raged on, it was evident that at this rate, neither side would be able to cope with the losses. Nor would the environment.

 Chapter 755 Prime Disciple Competition: Invasion Part 2

    ?

    After whaling away at the Rank 10 beasts alongside the barrier, the Sect Masters were quickly running out of Qi and stamina. However, they had prepared plenty for this invasion. If need be, they would continue their assault until they broke through it or they died. That''s how much importance they ced on this event.

    All except for one felt this was the only way for their Sects and, consequently, themselves to rise up in the world.

    Taking in deep, heavy breaths, Aelina peered down at the giant tortoise, her brows creased in frustration.

    So far, even with some of her most powerful attacks, she had only been able to crack the surface of its shell. However, the thing was so big that it didn''t even matter! It would take her days to get passed the defensive of this stupid turtle!

    Fortunately, other than beingrge and resilient, it didn''t have many forms of attack other than shooting water beams out of its mouth.

    "...These guys are quite resilient, huh." She muttered.

    Looking over at the other Sect Masters, she saw that their situations weren''t any better than hers. They were all in a stalemate. Though, it was clear that in the long run, the beasts would eventually win.

    However, at what cost?

    ncing at her army of disciples cutting through hordes of beasts as if they were tofu, a smile grew on her face. The disciples from the other Sects were impressive in their own right, but she could clearly see that her side had fewer casualties.

    ''And this is just the beginning.'' Her smile widened, only to disappear when she sensed the Wyvern charging up an attack toward her disciples.

    ''Haaa�� This asshole is really getting on my nerves.''

    She sent her avatar to the beast, but it just knocked her away with a smack of its tail.

    Sighing again, Aelina charged up an attack, but this time, it wasn''t aimed at the Wyvern.

    ''Fine. You want to y like that? Let''s see what happens when I wipe out your underlings!''

    Creasing her brows in concentration, a 10-meter-long purple steel-tipped lightning bolt appeared in her hand. Then, using Mira''s gravity technique, she formed a cyclone around it, giving it such an insane rotational spin that it was as if the lightning bolt wasn''t moving.

    Her arm shook slightly as she tried to keep it within her grasp, but the lightning bolt sought release. As time passed, the effect grew stronger, but she kept it steady.

    The Wyvern, sensing an insanely dangerous attack, looked over at Aelina and held its breath.

    Stuffing the fire in its throat into the pit of its stomach, the beast spoke in a deep voice, "Release that, and I will hunt you to the ends of the world, woman."

    "Why? Nervous?" Aelina chuckled, but from the trembling of her hand, it was clear she was having a difficult time holding back.

    "I assure you�� you don''t want to do this, Aelina."

    "Oh~" She teased, "I think I do~ After all, I''m not wee here~"

    "...I''ll call a temporary truce. We can work something out ande to apromise. Isn''t that what you wanted? Let''s end this farce and act like respectable ancients."

    "Compromise? Truce? You''re misunderstanding something, beast," She sneered. Tensing her arm so much that veins began to burst, she reeled back the lightning bolt and hurled it at the remaining barrier with the power of a mountain behind her.

    "I CAME HERE TO CONQUER!"

    *BOOOOOOOM!*

    The lightning bolt instantly shot through the barrier as if it wasn''t there. It vaporized everything it touched, killing all the weaker beasts within it. It wasn''t even a split second before it struck the ground, only to drill deep within the earth and explode when the pressure became too great!

    The barrier that had stood tall for countless generations began to crack and chip around the new weak point in it.

    Alexander, sensing an opportunity, dashed toward the barrier.

    ''Immortal Sword Art 6th Form - Oblivion Convergence.'' He thrust his sword in one swift motion. The world seemed to go silent for a moment. It was as if he hadn''t done anything but look cool.

    However, those who were strong enough to sense it could feel the immense power behind his attack.

    Soon, a tiny point sunk into the barrier, but as time passed, it kept growing. Within a second, it got so big that it connected to the weak point Aelina made.

    Cracks spread out like a spider web until his attack was finallypleted.

    The barrier exploded into millions of illusory pieces, followed by a massive sword beam that shot through the newfoundnd, creating a massive crevice in what was once a beautiful terrain.

    Now, the whole battlefield really turned silent. Everyone stared at the barrier, beast and human alike as if they were witnessing history. Instinctively, they all knew that starting today, things would no longer be the same.

    Whether for better or worse, a change wasing. A change where Aelina, Alexander, and the beasts were at the center of it all.

    "HAHAHAHA~" The silence was broken, just like the barrier, by Aelina''s boisterousugh, attracting everyone''s attention.

    "HAHAHAHAHA~ FINALLY!" She yelled with a massive, maniacal smile. "I''ve aplished what my ancestors were too scared to do!"

    Taking out a handful of pills, she popped them into her mouth, causing her Qi to mostly regenerate. Now, she was ready for what was toe.

    "You-! What-! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, WOMAN?!" The Wyvern shouted, its bloodshot eyes continuously transitioning from the broken barrier to Aelina, its emotions a mess.

    With her arms spread out, stillughing, she turned to the Wyvern, whose eyes had turned bloodshot.

    "Compromise? Truce? I''ve had enough of that shit! Today, we see what you guys are hiding in there!" Then, in a much louder voice amplified with Qi, she shouted, "My disciples! It''s time! Don''t hold back and charge in there! We''ll handle the rest!"

    "YES, SECT MASTER!"

    The disciples shouted and pounced on the beasts, catching them off guard as they were still trying to take in that the barrier that had been protecting their home for countless years was destroyed.

    Truth be told, some of them had already started attacking even before Aelina said anything.

    Mira, unsurprisingly, was one of those people.

    ''What a crazy woman.'' She shook her head, only sparing Aelina a nce before she continued piling up beast corpses in her Storage Space.

    Still, she couldn''t help but think back to the technique the woman had used. Or rather, the portion she recognized.

    ''I guess she''s not a master for nothing.'' She thought, swinging her scythe around, chopping up any and all beasts she came across.

    While Aelina was wasting her time training Rhydian, they had talked about the Gravity Technique quite a bit. Thanks to both their insights, they were able toe up with other ways it could be used.

    Of course, only someone with almost perfect Qi control could pull them off, but that wasn''t a problem for Aelina.

    ''Th-That woman,'' Elenei''s voice rang out in her mind. ''She''s too strong. H-How could she break that barrier?''

    The Dracophoenix was sitting in Mira''s soul sea. Since Mira and Rhydian already drew enough attention, they both felt it''d be better for her to hide. However, at the same time, neither of them wanted Elenei to miss this opportunity to take part in the "Convergence".

    Thus, she was forced to be a passenger again.

    ''Do you know what that barrier is?'' Mira asked in surprise.

    ''Mmhm. It''s called the Divine Sanctum Barrier. I''m sure you can guess from the name, but its purpose is to keep all intruders out. However, that''s just one of its functions.''

    ''Are there any consequences for breaking it?'' Mira asked. She wasn''t too interested in its functions since it was now destroyed, but from Elenei''s tone, it seemed like there was more to it.

    ''Well�� I wouldn''t really call it a consequence, per se�� It''s just, the only reason you would stay behind a barrier like that was if you were trying to hide from something.''

    Mira frowned slightly at that. Now that she thought about it, the fact that they were surrounded by barriers was already a bit odd.

    Previously, she just took it as they were trying to conceal their affairs, but they were essentially the rulers of the continent. What did they need to hide for?

    On top of that, the Wyvern''s behavior when Aelina channeled that attack was peculiar as well.

    ''If something happens because of this, I''m sticking next to Aelina. Maybe she can suck up some of my bad luck.'' She nodded at her idea, making sure to keep those that thought fresh in her mind.

    While she was preupied with her thoughts, the invasion was going much smoother now that the barrier was destroyed.

    The beasts had lost all semnce of order, and since there was now nothing stopping them, the Battle Maiden Sects were the first to march their way in.

    Since they had some ''free time'', some even decided to help out the other Sects and collect a few more points.

    All the while, the Sect Masters continued their battles against the beasts, trying to make way for their disciples.

 Chapter 756 Prime Disciple Competition: Portal

    ?

    As chaos raged on the human side of the fallen barrier, deep within the heart of the beast territory, a significant ritual was underway. At the center of this ritual was a vastke, its waters shimmering with an iridescent hue, surrounded by ancient stones carved with runes. The beasts called it the Lake of Ascendancy, the very nexus of their realm.

    In a semi-circle around theke, twelve elder beasts chanted in unison, each representing a specific element of the world. Their voices intertwined, harmonizing in an eerie yet enchanting symphony, which was both a plea and amand to the powers that be. They were attempting to open the Secret Realm, an event they referred to as the Primal Ascendance Convergence.

    The Wyrm, a great elder and the guardian of the beasts'' secrets, hovered over the center of theke. As the chants grew in volume and intensity, and the Qi increased in density, theke''s waters began to swirl, creating a colossal vortex. At the core of this whirlpool, a portal started to form, crackling with energy and revealing glimpses of a world beyond.

    Lunara, a majestic Firebird draped in mes of gold and crimson, turned to the Naga Serpent, Vhal. "The Primal Ascendance Convergence must seed. We may never get a chance like this again."

    Vhal, his scales reflecting the azure luminescence of theke, nodded solemnly. "We''ve waited too many years for this. Everything is in ce. We must seize this chance to enhance our strength, especially now with the barrier broken."

    However, not all was going as nned. Disturbances from the ongoing battle were causing disruptions in the flow of energy. Every time a beast fell, the elders felt a jolt, throwing off the delicate bnce required for the ritual.

    A sudden explosion echoed through the realm as Aelina''s massive lightning bolt destroyed the barrier. The shockwave disrupted the chant, causing a massive bacsh of energy. The elders struggled to maintain the ritual, and the portal at theke''s center became unstable.

    "NO!" The Wyrm roared, his voice filled with desperation. He plunged into the vortex, attempting to stabilize the portal with his immense power.

    A gust of icy wind sted the area as a cial Seraphhound named Freyja stepped forward. Her howl, imbued with Qi, merged with the elders'' roar, bolstering their strength.

    Yet, the portal continued its rapid destabilization, pulsating erratically and threatening to implode.

    The Earthen Equus Leader, Gorun, stomped his hooves, summoning earthen barriers to shield the elders from the imminent explosion. "We must retreat!" he yelled.

    However, Lunara, her eyes filled with determination, spread her wings and flew directly above the vortex. "Together!" she cried out, "Our realm, our legacy, depends on it!!"

    Heeding her call, the beasts united in spirit and power, sending their energies to the faltering portal. The vortex, reacting to theirbined strength, began to stabilize slowly.

    The battle outside, the human''s invasion, the broken barrier - everything seemed distant as the beasts focused solely on the Convergence.

    As moments turned into what felt like hours, a brilliant light erupted from theke, consuming the entire realm. When it subsided, the portal stood firm, revealing the Secret Realm - a ce of untold power and potential.

    The Wyrm, now on the opposite side of the portal, nodded in approval. "The Primal Ascendance Convergence isplete."

    Lunara descended gracefully beside Vhal, her wings retracting and mes subsiding. The once tumultuous scene around the Lake of Ascendancy had been reced with a serene stillness, the gentle ripples on theke reflecting the myriad stars of their realm.

    "It''s done," Vhal whispered, the weight of their aplishment heavy in his voice.

    Lunara nodded, her gaze fixed on the shimmering portal. "It is. But our true challenge begins now."

    Vhal gazed at theke''s gentle waves before he looked off into the distance, his thoughts veering toward the oing human invasion. "Tsk. Damn humans! Their audacity knows no bounds!"

    Hearing his words, the others remembered that they were being invaded right now and turned solemn.

    However, most of them were unable to leave since they had to ensure that the portal remained stabilized while also providing a constant stream of energy to it. Only after all the beasts who were worthy enough entered the Primal Ascendance Convergence would they be free from their duty.

    But, because of the humans, they were now behind schedule.

    "What should we do about them?" Gorun asked, breaking the silence.

    "..."

    Truthful, they didn''t know. They could send out a few more Rank 10 beasts, or even all of them, but they all understood that was hardly a solution.

    If they just needed to take care of the disciples from the human side, another few Rank 10s would be more than sufficient. However, the real problems were the Sect Masters.

    Alexander and Aelina were within the Top 5 strongest humans on the Continent. They wouldn''t go down without a fight, which would take way too much time and cost too many lives in the process.

    Divine Sea Realm and Rank 10 existences were akin to walking catastrophes, and now that the Divine Sanctum Barrier was destroyed, there was very little left to protect their homes and ns.

    A fight with them, this close to their home, along with the very reason for their immense strength, was the worst possible oue.

    "I''ll deal with her." The Wyrm suddenly spoke up, his voice slow and ancient.

    They turned to him, a bit surprised, but didn''t dare to argue with him. As the strongest among them, his word wasw.

    "Keep the portal stabilized. I''ll return as soon as possible. Make sure all the ns and their cubs are ready to enter by the time I get back."

    "Understood!"

    As The Wyrm prepared to depart, his massive form began to morph and reduce, shifting into a sleeker, human-like figure �C a form easier forbat and negotiation. The others watched him, a mix of hope and concern in their eyes. They were well aware that this wasn''t just a battle of strength; it was a battle of ideals, of worlds, and of understanding.

    Before leaving, The Wyrm turned to Lunara. "If they seek to understand, offer them that chance. But if they threaten our existence, do not hesitate to protect our legacy."

    Lunara nodded, her fiery eyes reflecting the weight of the responsibility. "We will safeguard our realm and hope they can see reason."

    The Wyrm then nced at Vhal, the trusted Naga Serpent, his gaze deep and unwavering. "Keep them together. Unity is our strength now more than ever."

    With a final nod, The Wyrm surged forward, leaving a trail of residual Qi in his wake, moving towards the battlefront and the oing sh with the human Sect Masters.

    Back at theke, the beasts worked diligently, stabilizing the portal and readying their ns. But with The Wyrm''s departure, an undercurrent of unease threaded through the air.

    ***

    On the human front, Alexander, with his broadsword gleaming, sensed an overwhelming surge of power approaching. "So, he''s going to show up, after all," he muttered, his battle-hardened eyes narrowing.

    Beside him, Aelina, her robes fluttering, responded, "The Wyrm. I''ve heard tales, but never did I imagine we''d stand face to face."

    Alexander smirked. "Ready for a dance with the legendary Elder?"

    Aelina chuckled, her fingers sparking with residual electricity. "Always."

    But as The Wyrm approached, he did not immediately attack. Instead, he halted a few meters away, his eyes scanning both Alexander and Aelina, along with the other three. "Why have youe to disrupt our sacred ritual? Is the greed of humans truly boundless?"

    "Hmph!" Alexander snorted, not fazed by the immense power of the Wyrm, "No need to act all high and mighty. We, humans, might be greedy, but aren''t you the same? You really want to keep this entire Secret Realm to yourselves? Isn''t that a bit much?"

    The Wyrm, now in its human form, standing at over 3 meters tall, stared down at them with narrowed eyes.

    ''Seems like somehow this information was leaked.'' He concluded. However, now wasn''t the time to deal with that.

    "We had our reasons." The Wyrm replied with a shake of his head, "But I''m sure you don''t care about them. What you want is ess to it, correct?"

    Alexander, Flora, Ghost Reaper King, and Damon all nodded while Aelina crossed her arms, staring at the beast.

    "Very well," He nodded, shocking them to the core.

    ''Huh? Was it really that easy?'' They all thought, including Aelina, but they instantly became skeptical.

    "I''ll even allow you and your disciples to loot the ce dry and kill as many of my subjects as you want. That is, if you can."

    "This will be thest time, anyways��" He added, causing their expressions to change, despite not knowing what he meant.

    With a wave of his hand, a wave of Qi swept across the battlefield, freezing every human and beast in their ce, stopping the conflict.

    None of the Sect Masters reacted as they didn''t feel any hostility from the Wyrm, just annoyance, reluctance, and eptance.

    "Now, let''s cease this useless conflict and follow me. It''s about time to enter the portal." He turned around and walked back into his home.

    Simultaneously, every beast on the battlefield, whether they wanted to or not, followed behind him without question.

    Aelina and the other Sect Masters looked at each other for a moment, confusion clear in their eyes. They were taken aback at how lightly the Wyrm treated this situation but were a bit disturbed at how easily it took control of the situation.

    With a shrug, Aelina assumed her usual smile and caught up to the Wyrm, followed by the four others.

    Whether this was a trap or genuine, they would figure it out after they entered the ce.

 Chapter 757 Prime Disciple Competition: Primal Ascendance Convergence

    ?

    The majestic mountains that loomed before them seemed to stretch endlessly, their peaks piercing the heavens and valleys so deep they seemed to touch the core of the earth. Every step the Sect Masters and their disciples took was filled with a sense of awe, their surroundings so otherworldly that it was challenging to believe they were still on the same continent.

    The Qi in the air was so rich it felt tangible. Alexander, despite his vast experience, felt his cultivation base stirring, absorbing the abundant energy around him like a sponge. He nced around, seeing the same reactions from his peers. Even Aelina seemed slightly stunned, her fingers asionally flicking as if ying with the dense Qi.

    Fruits the size of human heads dangled from massive trees, glowing with an ethereal light. Luminescent herbs sprouted from the ground, their aroma therapeutic. Everything here screamed of opportunities, of treasures that any cultivator would kill for.

    "By the heavens..." Damon whispered, his eyes wide in amazement. "It''s like we''ve stepped into a cultivation paradise."

    Alexander nodded, "It''s no wonder the beasts kept this hidden. This is a treasure trove."

    The beasts'' ns they passed were equally astonishing. Great avian beasts soared in the skies. Massive Turtles, with shells covered in intricate runes, rested by serene ponds, absorbing the ambient Qi. Ferocious-looking Lions, their manes glinting like gold, eyed the human intruders warily.

    Each n, each group they encountered, radiated power and majesty. However, along with this splendor was an undeniable air of hostility. The eyes that watched them were not friendly; they bore resentment, suspicion, and a readiness for battle.

    "They''re not happy about our presence," Flora observed, her voice low.

    "Why would they be?" Aelina replied. "We''re intruders in their sacrednd."

    As they delved deeper into the beast domain, they began to notice that the beasts were not just living harmoniously with nature��they were an integral part of it. They saw beasts lying under ancient trees, their Qi intertwining with the nts. Others bathed in thekes, their energies merging with the water''s ebb and flow. The entire domain was a vast interconnected web of life and energy.

    Flora let out a low whistle. "Their cultivation techniques are different. They cultivate with thend, with nature. It''s... it''s beautiful."

    The others nodded, unsure of how to feel about this. They had just thought that beasts cultivated by eating flesh, nts, or treasures, but it seemed they were wrong.

    Although their cultivation system was simple, they could stille up with their very own ''techniques'' to help them grow.

    Rhydian, walking next to Mira, took in the sights with an expectant look. They were clearly doing something she was ignorant about, which seemed not only to deepen their foundations, but their bloodlines seemed almost�� richer?

    She wasn''t sure how to put it, but the innate bloodline energy she felt from them wasn''t as ''contaminated'' as the beasts outside the barrier felt. It wasn''t anything like those who absorbed a bit of Celestial Nectar, but they did seem cleaner.

    Licking her lips, she couldn''t help but think, ''I''d love to eat them.'' It was contradictory to her earlier assessment, but that was how her species grew. By consuming various resources and merging them with herself.

    The little amount of bloodlust she leaked as she stared at the surrounding beasts caused them all to lower their heads and look away as if they were in the presence of a queen.

    Mira jabbed Rhydian in the stomach before dragging her along, not wanting to cause trouble.

    They reached a massive waterfall, the cascading waters shimmering in myriad colors. As they approached, the water parted, revealing a hidden pathway. The Wyrm gestured for them to follow. "This will lead to the central nexus of our realm. The Primal Ascendance Convergence awaits."

    The path was lined with luminescent flora, and every step echoed with the harmonious hum of the Qi-rich environment. When they finally emerged, they were greeted with a sight that left them breathless. A vast city made of massive trees, Spirit Stone Mine sources, and crystals reflecting the ambient light and casting mesmerizing rainbows across thendscape. At its center stood the Lake of Ascendancy, its waters now calm but shimmering with the same iridescent glow.

    Beasts of all kinds popted this city, going about their tasks with a sense of purpose. But as the Sect Masters and their disciples entered, a hush fell. Thousands of eyes turned to them, each gaze filled with a mix of curiosity and hostility.

    Alexander took a deep breath, feeling the weight of those stares. They were not just walking into the heart of the beast realm; they were stepping into the very core of their culture and history.

    "We''re not here to fight," Aelina chuckled and said, her voice carrying across the vast expanse. She then turned to The Wyrm, a question in her eyes.

    The Wyrm nodded. "The Convergence will begin soon. You will witness our legacy, our tradition. I hope it gives you a better understanding of who we are and why we''ve guarded this realm with our lives."

    "Convergence?" Aelina asked, but the Wyrm didn''t respond, his focus on the portal.

    Now that everyone was here, it was finally time for them to enter.

    "My subjects!" The Wyrm suddenly announced, "Let the Primal Aedance Convergence begin!"

    "ROOOOOOOOAAAAAR!"

    The hundreds of thousands of beasts around them all raised their heads and released a symphony of cries.

    The cacophony of roars, howls, chirps, and myriad other sounds reverberated through the crystalline city, creating an awe-inspiring symphony.

    As the Sect Masters and their disciples stared at the vortex, they could discern shadows of ancient mountains, majestic valleys, and skies illuminated by unknown constetions. It was a realm that existed beyond theirprehension, an enigma that promised both wonder and danger.

    The elder beasts began to chant, their voices low and harmonious. As they did, runes started to glow around the portal, stabilizing its form and ensuring its link to the other realm remained unbroken.

    "Behold, the gateway to our ancestors'' realm," The Wyrm dered, his voice echoing with profound reverence. "A ce where beasts of old ascended to new heights, transcending the limits of their beings. The Primal Ascendance Convergence is not just a realm but a test, a journey, and a chance to evolve."

    Mira, with wide eyes, muttered, "So, this is the Convergence, huh?" She could feel a pull on her bloodline, urging her to rush in there. She wasn''t sure what it wanted, but it seemed to feel that it could improve or transform in some way if it could go in there.

    Although she didn''t quite expect it to be a Secret Realm, she was excited at the thought. Thest one she entered was back when she was part of the branch Sect. The improvements she made, the people she met, and the treasures she obtained there were beyond what she had hoped for.

    If she could gain that same level of progress here, her strength was bound to soar.

    Rhydian merely nodded her thoughts evidently elsewhere. The pull of the rich bloodlines beyond the portal undoubtedly tempted her.

    Aelina stepped forward, her gaze fixed on the portal. "What is expected of us in there?"

    The Wyrm''s gaze was solemn. "To survive, to learn, and perhaps, to ascend. But remember, as much as there are opportunities, there are also perils. Many beasts have entered and never returned. The realm does not differentiate between beast and human; it challenges all. But you only have one chance. If and when youe back, you won''t be able to enter it again."

    Alexander interjected, "If it''s so dangerous, why invite us?"

    The Wyrm sighed, "Because it''s time for a change. For too long, our two species have remained separate, ignorant of each other''s strengths and potential. By allowing you to witness our legacy and participate in our traditions, we hope to bridge the gap and foster understanding."

    ''What a load of horseshit.'' Everyone thought, even the disciples. They''ve been fighting and killing each other since time immemorial. If this one ce could ''bridge that gap'', then it must be a ce of miracles.

    Aelina''s eyes narrowed as she smelled something fishy going on behind the scenes, but she soon shrugged.

    ''Whatever. As long as I can get stronger, I''ll deal with what''s toeter.''

    Damon, however, muttered, "Or it''s a trap to get rid of potential threats."

    Flora shot him a warning nce, but The Wyrm simply chuckled. "There''s always a risk in exploration and understanding, young master. But the rewards, should you seed, are immeasurable."

    Though, he didn''t know what rewards humans might receive as one had never entered that realm before. If anything, he hoped they''d die as soon as they stepped foot in there. Still, he kept his thoughts hidden, his focus shifting to keeping the portal stabilized.

    The chanting grew louder, the portal''s energy more intense. The atmosphere was thick with anticipation. One by one, beasts of varying sizes and strengths began to approach the portal, taking a moment to bow before it and then stepping into the vortex, their forms disappearing into the swirling energies.

    The Sect Masters exchanged nces. This was an opportunity, a rare one. The potential benefits outweighed the risks. But they also knew that this journey might not be one from which they all returned.

    "Well," Aelina announced, stepping up before the others, "There''s no time like the present." Then, she said, then hopped in the portal.

    Soon, everyone followed her lead, some anxious, while others excited. It wasn''t long before all humans and beasts entered the portal, which then closed up, entering a dormant state, waiting to be opened again sometime in the future.

 Chapter 758 Prime Disciple Competition: Mist Island

    ?

    As the portal''sst remnants faded away, those who''d entered found themselves standing on a floating ind in the midst of an endless expanse of clouds. The sky was painted with hues of purple and gold, studded with unfamiliar constetions. It felt like a dreamscape, both beautiful and eerie at the same time.

    The ind was a tapestry of varied terrains �C from dense forests with trees bearing iridescent fruits to serenekes with water so clear that it looked like ss. There were mountains that gleamed like gemstones and valleys echoing with the whispers of ancient times.

    But what caught everyone''s attention were the myriad floating pathways connecting various inds. Each path was made of a luminescent material, shining in the ambient light, guiding the way.

    Alexander looked around, a frown forming on his face. "This is unlike anything I''ve ever seen. It doesn''t match any descriptions of known secret realms."

    Flora nodded, her eyes darting around, trying to make sense of the scenery. "It''s as if this ce is...alive."

    The beasts that had entered with them seemed to be in various states of emotion. Some looked reverent, bowing their heads in prayer, while others seemed overwhelmed, their bodies trembling. It was clear that, even for them, this realm was awe-inspiring.

    Suddenly, a melodious voice echoed through the vast expanse. "Wee to the Primal Ascendance Convergence, a realm of trials, evolution, and discovery. Here, strength and wisdom will be tested, and only those worthy will ascend to a higher existence."

    Rhydian felt her bloodline thrumming with excitement. The voice''s resonance with her very being was undeniable. "This realm... It''s meant to evolve us," she murmured, her eyes gleaming. Her ability to speak had improved greatly over thest few months, and she was now able to talk almost like a normal person.

    Mira frowned, ncing at her. "What do you mean?"

    "The realm''s energy is resonating with our bloodlines. It''s like a call, beckoning us to grow, to transform," Rhydian exined, her predatory gaze fixed on the distant inds.

    At the same time, Mira felt a stir from within her Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Bloodline. It was as if it was trying to drag her in a certain direction.

    ''Hmm? What the hell?'' Her eyes narrowed in apprehension.

    The ''Progenitor'' part of her bloodline seemed to be what was roused the most. To this day, Mira still wasn''t quite sure what that title meant or what sort of abilities she''d gain from being a progenitor.

    For every species, there was a first of their kind, or in other words, a Progenitor. From them, their long lineage then trickled down over time, creating the vast array of races that are found today all from that singr being.

    However, at the same time, not all Dragons, Phoenixes, etc., are the progenitors of their species. They are merely the closest rted offspring of the original.

    This was what confused Mira. 9-Tailed Foxes already existed. So, why did she also gain the title of Progenitor? Was it because of what she did in the trial for the bloodline? Or was there something more?

    ''Seems like this ce might really be of some use.'' A subtle smile crept up on Mira''s face, only to be reced by indifference when she noticed all sorts of eyes on her.

    ''Back to being public enemy number one, I suppose.''

    While she looked around, the words about exploring her beastly origins from the ''trickster beast'' resonated in her mind. For some reason, she felt like she might be able to better explore that untapped part of herself here.

    Meanwhile, Damon frowned, adjusting his robes. "Strength and wisdom? How is that fair to everyone else? Can''t we just destroy everyone here and take all the loot for ourselves?"

    In fact, looking around, he finally noticed that most of the beasts who entered had varying degrees of strength. However, although they looked at everything in awe and wonder, it was quite clear that this wasn''t what they expected.

    ''Either the Realm changes every time, or those who already entered don''t share their stories with the younger generations.'' The Sect Masters spected, leaning toward the former.

    This was a ce for them to gain strength. Of course, they''d want their descendants to know as much as possible.

    As if on cue, the voice spoke again. "Each ind holds a trial tailored to challenge your abilities and help you grow. To ascend, one must ovee a set number of trials. However, be warned: some trials are deadlier than others. Choose wisely."

    The inds in the distance started to emit a soft glow, each radiating a unique aura. Some seemed peaceful, emanating a calming presence, while others pulsated with raw, untamed energy.

    Mira pointed at an ind covered in dense mist. "That one seems... interesting."

    Rhydian, on the other hand, looked in a different direction toward an ind filled with massive, ancient trees, tons of fruit dangling from those trees, and vibrant flora.

    "It''s�� leading me over there." She said, her heart thumping in her chest.

    Meanwhile, Elenei felt a simr call to the ind Mira nned on heading to.

    Aelina shook her head, chuckling. "Seems like we all have our own paths to follow." She eyed a distant ind that was surrounded by lightning. "I''ll head there."

    The Sect Masters and their disciples began to choose their paths. Some teamed up, while others decided to venture alone. The floating pathways lit up under their feet as they embarked on their journeys, each stepping into the unknown.

    Rhydian, knowing that Mira would be fine by herself, left without hesitation.

    Understanding that her instincts seemed to have taken over, Mira just shook her head and walked in the direction of the ind filled with mist.

    However, before she could god, a few hundred disciples decided to block her path with weapons drawn.

    "Sorry, Mira," The woman in front apologized, "It''s nothing personal, but defeating you is our best chance at attaining the Prime Disciple position."

    Mira gave them a deep, indifferent look, causing some of the weaker-willed disciples to turn away. However, they all seemed to be in agreement that they''d defeat Mira first and deal with the aftermathter.

    Not one to waste words on a few randoms, she sighed and gestured for them toe. "Let''s get this over with."

    The disciples charged forward with fervor, believing that theirbined strength would easily ovee Mira''s singr might. Swords shed, arrows were let loose, and Qi was unleashed.

    Mira''s movements were fluid, each motion perfectly timed and executed. A swift side step, and she dodged a barrage of arrows. With a simple flick of her wrist, an iing attack was deflected. She used her hands to their full potential �C one moment forming them into fists that delivered crushing blows, the next spreading them out to catch a de in mid-air or redirect an opponent''s charge.

    It was a masterss ofbat, with Mira looking as if she was dancing rather than fighting. Her foes, who had approached her with such confidence, now found themselves being tossed aside like ragdolls or rendered immobile with a precise pressure point strike.

    As the battle progressed, a few of the disciples tried to regroup and strategize, but Mira was relentless. Within a few breaths, another wave would fall, their bodies colliding with the luminescent paths, causing ripples to cascade outward.

    The final opponent, the woman who had spoken before, stood trembling, her bravadopletely shattered. With a swift leap, Mira closed the distance between them. The disciple tried to raise her weapon in defense, but before she could make a move, Mira''s hand met her chest, driving her to the ground.

    It was over. The entire confrontation hadsted no longer than a minute.

    Mira stood amidst the fallen, her breathing even, not a single hair out of ce. She looked down at the woman who had instigated the challenge and shook her head in disappointment. "Weak." She muttered, then turned around and walked toward her destination, a few hundred new tokens in her possession, which somehow entered her own token and showcased a number on it.

    The girls all looked trembled at her words, feeling more hurt mentally than emotionally by the fact that they were destroyed so easily by Mira. The woman never made an appearance, so even though they''d seen the footage and heard stories of her strength, they didn''t believe the difference would be this overwhelming.

    What was even worse was that Mira left their bodies in good condition so they could continue without any issues.

    ***

    Walking to the mist-covered ind, Mira already forgot about what had happened.

    She took a deep breath, feeling the subtle tug of the ind''s energy urging her closer. The mist outside the ind was cool and refreshing, with a subtle, tantalizing scent, which seemed to have traces of a memory she couldn''t quite grasp. Each step brought forth sensations that were both foreign and eerily familiar.

    It wasn''t long before she eventually crossed the ''bridge'', which, after she stepped onto the ind, disappeared.

 Chapter 759 Prime Disciple Competition: Visions

    ?

    The dense fog that enveloped the ind seemed to wrap around Mira as soon as she set foot on its terrain. Every direction appeared the same, and there was no discernible path ahead. But instead of feeling disoriented, there was an unusual sense of nostalgia that washed over her.

    Mira began to walk, allowing her instincts to guide her through the veil. With each step, the mists seemed to part slightly, revealing snippets of memories.

    It started with the birth of a being�� a fox. The sky had lit up, a massive amount of Qi had surrounded the creature, and eventually, it turned into what ismonly known today as a fox.

    The growth of the fox was slow. It could only rely on itself, but with the abundance of Qi, treasures, and freedom, it spent most of its time testing the limits of its body.

    Alongside the birth of the fox, other beasts like it started appearing, beings started evolving, and the world entered an era of growth andpetition. Due to this, the fox had to adapt.

    As it tested the strengths and weaknesses of its body, the fox learned that much of its power was within its tail, heart, and mind. Thus, that''s where it umted its energy. It had also begun creating pathways from those sources to better control said energy.

    Things like Beast Cores didn''t exist back then, and neither did the standard cultivation systems that are around today. It wasn''t until humans entered the scene and started rising up in the world did they realize how beneficial having a central energy source could be.

    However, since the fox could only stumble its way through, it sought the most efficient way to increase its strength while also umting energy. For beasts, physical strength was way more important to them than control over the elements, but the fox, with its naturally superior intelligence, understood the importance of Qi.

    It knew that if it could find a way to increase its physical strength alongside the amount of energy, it''d have an edge over the rest of thepetition.

    Unfortunately, the ''container'' was only so big. It could condense the Qi inside its body, but there was still a problem with the ''container'' being too small and weak.

    The solution?

    Create more tails!

    Through countless trials, use of wits, cunning, experimentation, failures, and evolutions, it had somehow found a way to increase not only the number of tails but also its size, strength, and even new ways to use Qi. But, it wasn''t the only one who had aplished simr or more amazing feats.

    After a certain period of time, all beasts understood that with a bigger size, they could store more energy, and with more energy, they could get much stronger.

    Many yearster, after the fox had created a foothold in this world and amassed a total of 8 tails, it decided to mate with another fox-like beast to spread its lineage before it tried creating the 9th.

    After many more years, after thepetition for the ''peak species'' ended, the fox finally felt that it could go into seclusion and work on the 9th tail. Due to all the treasures it hoarded, the energy it umted, and the knowledge it had gained, the process was rtively smooth.

    However, as soon as it finished, a portal opened up in the sky, and it was transferred to another realm, leaving its lineage and legacy behind.

    The mists around Mira continued to part as she delved deeper into the ind. The narrative of the first fox was impressive, a testament to the determination of a single being to change the world and rise above its peers. As thest of the story revealed the fox''s abrupt departure, Mira felt a pang of sorrow. The fox''s quest for power, whilemendable, came at the cost of its connection to its family and lineage.

    It was almost simr to�� her reincarnations.

    ''How peculiar.'' Mira thought but didn''t think much of it. It was probably just her being overly emotional again, which seemed to have be more frequent after herst visit with Maria.

    As Mira continued her journey, more visions emerged, painting a story of the descendants left behind. They were in a world without their progenitor, left with a legacy of power and wisdom but no guidance. These foxes banded together, creating amunity that venerated the first fox''s memory. They worked to understand the knowledge it left behind, developing techniques and pathways based on ancestral tales.

    However, as with any legacy, power struggles emerged. Different factions formed, each interpreting the fox''s teachings differently. Rifts were created, with some foxes looking outside the n to see how the other species were cultivating.

    Battles and feuds becamemon, threatening to tear apart the very fabric of their society.

    In one vision, a young fox bearing a striking resemnce to Mira in her first life, with soft brown fur, almond-shaped eyes, and ocean-blue irises, stood atop a hill overlooking a battle below.

    This fox, realizing the futility of the infighting, decided to intervene. Using the ancient techniques passed down, she united the foxes, emphasizing the importance of unity and collective growth.

    Inspired by this vision, Mira felt a weight on her shoulders. The infighting among the foxes mirrored the current conflicts within the Nine-Tailed Fox ns. Their shared ancestry and the potential for collective growth were being overshadowed by petty squabbles.

    However, the trial was not yet over.

    As Mira reached the heart of the ind, she was met with a colossal statue of the first fox, its nine tails fanned out majestically. At its base, an inscription read:

    "To the heir of the legacy, prove your worth."

    Suddenly, the statue animated, its eyes glowing with an ethereal light. The ancestral fox, its form magnified and empowered by the Qi of the ind, confronted Mira.

    In an instant, it unleashed a burst of primal energy onto Mira, suffocating her.

    "Oof!" All the air escaped her lungs as she was forced to sit on the ground due to the immense pressure. Primal Energy soon entered her body and started causing havoc rapidly.

    Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Mira''s eyes narrowed.

    ''Fuck! I have to do something!''

    Mira''s vision blurred as the force of the primal energy threatened to overwhelm her senses. Every fiber of her being screamed in agony as it felt like a thousand daggers were piercing through her simultaneously. The weight of the energy, ancient and raw, threatened to rip her very essence apart.

    Her instincts screamed at her to fight back, to retaliate, but the primal force wasn''t something she could just push away. It wasn''t just about sheer power but also understanding and control.

    Gasping for breath, the memories of the foxes from before shed through her mind. They, too, had faced countless trials, just as she was now. They were thrown into situations where sheer might was not the answer, where understanding and intuition yed the biggest roles.

    Mira''s mind raced back to the vision of the young fox that resembled her first reincarnation. How had she united the divided ns? It wasn''t just by power; it was by tapping into the ancient teachings and pathways left behind. Using the legacy to draw strength.

    The statue of the ancestral fox was not just testing her strength but her ability to use and understand the memories. The energy it unleashed was not to defeat her but to see if she could harness and control it, just like the original fox had.

    With fierce determination, Mira began redirecting the overwhelming energy. Remembering the pathways she saw in her visions, she began guiding the primal energy toward the base of her spine. Like a river finding its course, the energy started to flow in the direction she intended.

    She visualized her tails, the very embodiment of her power and lineage, and focused on their connection to her core. The energy surged, streaming down her spine, pooling where her body and tails met.

    With each passing second, the pain lessened. The once chaotic energy started to harmonize with her own body. She didn''t feel a significant difference, but she did feel a bit more in tune with her beastly side.

    Sweat poured down Mira''s forehead, her breathing gradually steadied, and the once oppressing aura around her started to dissipate. Slowly, she regained control over her limbs, managing to stand upright once more.

    The colossal statue reverted to its dormant state, but now its eyes bore a soft, approving glow. The previous inscription morphed, revealing a new message:

    "To the heir who understands and harnesses, the world is yours to shape."

    Exhausted but triumphant, Mira let out a deep breath. She had not only survived the trial but hade out of it with a deeper understanding of her legacy and the primal energy that her ancestors once wielded.

    ''So, it seems that there is something to learn from those visions.'' Mira thought, both amused and inquisitive, about how the ancients really cultivated.

    ''I wonder what''s next.'' Her eyes shone with excitement, ready for the next challenge.

 Chapter 760 Prime Disciple Competition: Statues

    ?

    As Mira''s heart rate steadied, the dense fog that had enveloped the ind began to slowly retract around her, revealing the vibrant world thaty hidden within. Ancient structures, looking as though they were shaped from the very bedrock of the ind itself, stood tall around her. They bore intricate carvings of foxes in various poses, somebative, some serene, all carrying a certain aura of reverence.

    The aura that the colossal fox statue emitted was beyond what she had felt before. With the trial over, the surroundings had an almost serene calmness, making the previous violent confrontation seem like a distant nightmare.

    Mira gazed at the statue. "So, you were testing me, huh," she whispered, not expecting a response.

    To her astonishment, a voice, gentle and ancient, responded in her mind. "Every legacy requires an heir who not only wields its power but understands its depths."

    Mira, however, shrugged indifferently, "It''s not that hard to figure out when you basically give me the answer."

    "No answer was given. A path must be forged yourself. Take what you have seen and create something unique." It replied, its eyes turning dim afterward.

    Mira stared at the statue, wondering if something was going to happen, but sensing no more energy emanating from it, she shook her head and walked away.

    ''Is it telling me that I need to follow the path of the ancients?'' Mira spected. She understood what it meant, but at the same time, she didn''t.

    The fox she saw in her vision, while not overly vivid, showed her focusing on focusing on the parts of her body that made her a fox. So, was she supposed to do the same, considering she was a fox? Half fox?

    Or was it telling her to find what was unique about herself and continue forward, starting from the base of her tails?

    ''Tsk.'' She clicked her tongue, her brows creasing. ''Fucking old people and their riddles.''

    However, while she would rather the message be direct, there was still one crucial problem.

    She needed that energy that poured out of the statue to continue!

    It was simr to but different than Qi. It was purer but, at the same time, fierce. Unlike Qi, which was filled with the impurities of the outside world yet much calmer. The other difference that she noticed was that one was more like an easily-controble energy meant for umtion, while the other affected physical strength more than anything.

    Looking around the floating ind, which was now clearer, Mira came to a realization.

    ''Perhaps, the point of this ind is to find as many of those statues as possible and follow the ancient''s techniques. Only once that''spleted will we be able to move on to the next section.''

    She had already tried prating the mist with her Soul Sense, but she couldn''t see a centimeter through it, much less hundreds of kilometers. Not to mention, the fog cleared up a little after she absorbed all the Primal Energy from one of the statues.

    ''What do you think, Elenei? Do you want to absorb some of this energy?'' Mira asked.

    "YES!" Elenei screamed, jolting Mira before arge Draco-Phoenix emerged in front of her.

    Over the time Elenei was away, she was only able to cultivate to Low-Stage Rank 5, much to her dismay. Though, that was mostly due to the slight change in her cultivation system.

    While she still followed the same system that other beasts follow, hers was slightly different. Other beasts just had to absorb energy and let their bloodlines do the rest. They didn''t need to actively manipte and cultivate said energy.

    However, Elenei was different. She didn''t have those instincts that were written in her gic code. Instead, she had to, in a way, create them.

    Except now, she was searching for them.

    After breaking through to Rank 5, she spent most of her time trying to awaken the memories of her bloodline. Or, what she liked to call, the Spirit of her bloodline. Awakening those memories, those instincts would help guide her on what path to take since she basically had the freedom to do whatever she wanted. Just like the first Dragon and Phoenix.

    So, it was no wonder she''d be excited about being able to use the same energy that her predecessors used to be the myths they are today.

    Surprised at how enthusiastic Elenei was, Mira nodded, "Alright. Go do what you need to do."

    "Okay! Later!" Elenei kept her goodbyes short, pped her wings, and shot like a bullet into the mist.

    With Elenei''s departure, Mira set her sights on discovering more statues. The ind, though vast, was dotted with the remnants of an ancient civilization. So, it didn''t take her long to find more.

    Most of them were just small statues, ones that weren''t foxes, sometimes not even beasts or people, justrge monolithic-like rocks. All she had to do to take their Primal Energy was put her hands on it, inject a bit of Qi, and it would flow into her.

    All of the Primal Energy she obtained went straight to the spot between her spine and the base of her tails. As she collected more energy, that part of her seemed to be more�� connected? It was like she had better control over her tails, as well as the energy inside them.

    As she tread deeper into the ind, she began to sense the presence of others, both humans and beasts, who had likely undergone simr trials as hers.

    This was further confirmed when she was suddenly ambushed by a snarling tiger, its fur dappled with glowing markings. Not far behind were a few warriors, their eyes intent on removing thepetition and collecting her token.

    Using her improved control over her tails, Mira pummeled them into submission without much effort. The beastsy lifeless, while the humans, though spared, were left unconscious and without their Sect tokens.

    Continuing her journey, Mira encountered several more of these adversaries, each with the same idea �C eliminatepetition. Every encounter, however, ended in her favor.

    Hours passed by, and eventually, she stumbled upon a clearing where a majestic statue of a giant elephant stood. This one, much grander than the others she had seen, had an ethereal glow and was surrounded by a diverse group of challengers, both humans and beasts. They had formed a wary truce, waiting for someone to make the first move.

    All of them had tried cing their hands on the statue but were unable to absorb even an ounce of its energy. At the same time, ever since they entered its vicinity, they were unable to leave.

    Mira observed the situation, sensing the lingering frustration in the air. The challengers in the clearing were powerful, and the fact that none of them had been able to draw energy from the statue indicated its special significance. With cautious steps, she entered the clearing, sensing wary eyes watching her every move.

    One of the challengers, a tall woman with raven-ck hair and striking emerald eyes, stepped forward. "Don''t even try," she sneered, her voice dripping with condescension. "Many of us have attempted to draw from the statue''s energy, and all have failed. What makes you think you can seed?"

    Mira remained unfazed, replying calmly, "Because I''m not like you." The woman''s face turned unsightly, but she just snorted coldly and returned to her position.

    Without hesitation, Mira approached the statue. As she neared it, an overwhelming surge of energy coursed through her. It wasn''t a threatening sensation but one of eptance. Gently cing her hands on the statue, she began to channel her Qi, intertwining it with the pure Primal Energy.

    However, like the rest, she also wasn''t able to absorb any of it.

    Frowning for a moment, Mira tried again, but no matter what she did, nothing happened.

    "See?" The ck-haired woman chuckled, "Looks like you aren''t any diff-"

    *BOOOOM!*

    A torrent of Primal Energy shot out of the statue, putting a mountain of pressure on everyone.

    The entire clearing became the epicenter of a hurricane of raw power. The Primal Energy that had once been inert inside the statue now became a raging tempest, creating gusts that upturned the surrounding soil and sent the challengers scrambling for cover.

    The pressure emitted from the statue was nothing short of crushing.

    One by one, the beasts and humans felt their knees buckle under the weight. The sound of cracking bones filled the air,bined with agonized cries as their bodies began to give in to the pressure.

    Yet, the statue showed no signs of relenting. In fact, the energy it was releasing only intensified with each passing moment.

    The ck-haired woman, who had previously taunted Mira, was now gasping for breath, her face pale and drenched in sweat. Her legs shook uncontrobly, and her body began to bend under the oppressive force.

    Nearby, a fierce-looking lion whose mane had once sparkled with an ethereal light nowy prostrate, its massive frame trembling under the relentless pressure.

    It seemed as though the statue was intentionally pushing everyone to their breaking point, seeking to separate the weak from the worthy.

    Yet, amidst the overwhelming force, a single figure stood defiant and untouched.

    Mira, her face showing a hint of strain and drops of sweat dotting her brow, remained upright and unfazed. Her stance was firm, and her gaze unwavering as she stared directly into the eyes of the elephant statue.

    With every individual that sumbed to the pressure and fell, the energy in the area intensified, focusing more on those who were still standing. Resounding cracks reverberated through the area as the pressure crushed everyone who couldn''t stand the pressure into meat paste.

    Until finally, it was only Mira left, bearing the brunt of the entire force. But she held on, her strength undiminished.

    As if acknowledging her resilience and spirit, the statue emitted a final, resounding boom that reverberated across the entire ind.

    A blinding light enveloped the clearing, and the relentless pressure that had been bearing down suddenly stopped. The storm of energy then converged into a single stream and rushed toward Mira.

    Without a moment of hesitation, she opened herself up to it, allowing the Primal Energy to flood into her.

    For a moment, it flooded her section at the base of her tails, but due to how much she had absorbed prior, that filled up quickly.

    Now, there was all this excess energy left without a goal, rampaging inside her body.

    ''Ugh! Fuck! Not again!'' Mira cursed, throwing up blood as she hurriedly thought of a solution.

    Send it to her mind? Hell no! She didn''t want to die!

    Heart? Maybe, but that still seemed too risky.

    Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

    ''My core!''

    Not only was her core incredibly strong, but her Chaotic Silk meridians could hold any type of energy! With the help of them, she''d be able to gain control over the energy faster.

    With this realization, Mira began channeling the unbridled force of the Primal Energy toward her core.

    Initially, it resisted, trying to meander through other paths, wreaking havoc on its way. But with her fierce determination, she forcibly directed it through the Chaotic Silk meridians, using their unique structure to mitigate the turbulence and gradually pacify the stormy energy.

    As the energy flowed into her core, Mira felt an intense heat spreading across her body. It wasn''t a burning sensation but rather a warm embrace, like the morning sun kissing her skin. Her core, which had always been the center of her strength, now pulsed with even greater vitality. She could even sense the Primal Energy partially merging with her Qi, harmonizing and amplifying its potency.

    Slowly, the chaotic rush of the Primal Energy eased, settling into a rhythmic pulsation that synchronized with her heartbeat.

    The overwhelming power that had once threatened to tear her apart was now bing a part of her, strengthening her from within.

    She fell to her knees, panting heavily.

    Even for someone of her capabilities, this had been an ordeal. Sweat drenched her skin, and her clothes were tattered by the sheer force she had faced.

    However, she could feel the vast difference within her. Her senses were sharper, and she felt as if her connection with the world around her had deepened. Every breath she took resonated with the very essence of the ind.

    And, the Primal Energy in her core seemed to have formed a connection with the one she collected at the base of her tails.

    Gathering her strength, Mira slowly rose to her feet, surveying the aftermath. The once thriving clearing was now a wastnd, with shattered remains and imprints of those who couldn''t withstand the statue''s test.

    Without another word, Mira collected the tokens and any valuables before she went on her way again, not wanting to waste any time now, knowing that others could be stealing HER opportunities.

 Chapter 761 Prime Disciple Competition: Nexus Points

    ?

    Since Mira now understood more about this floating ind, she charged through the ce, beating up anyone that got in her way. Primal Energy was a scarce resource, and since anyone could obtain it, she needed to find them first. Who knows if she''d be able to obtain any more after this ind?

    However, the same went for the rest of the people on the ind. Now wasn''t the time to hold back!

    Since the elephant statue, a few days passed by.

    Throughout this time, people have obtained all kinds of legacies or powers. For some, the statues didn''t just contain Primal Energy, they contained knowledge that resonated with them.

    Some were simr to what Mira received from the Fox Statue, visions, but others were more obscure depending on who acquired them. Beasts might''ve been shown how to improve their human forms. While humans might''ve been told ways to ''upgrade'' their own mortal bloodlines.

    Those were just two examples, but the theme of it all was creating a bridge between their two species. Or rather, it was about creating and/or unlocking another part of themselves before bridging the gap between them to create something new.

    Most people didn''t quite understand what the point of all this was. Sure, having a stronger human form or adopting a simr cultivation system to beasts could make them more powerful, but they weren''t sure what the point of it all was. Rank 8 beasts and those who already integrated with Beast Bloodlines found this information the most helpful, but it still left them curious.

    However, Mira, who was already a blend of the two species, was like a fish in water. The more Primal energy she obtained, the more in tune with herself she got.

    Throughout thest few days, she had ''stolen'' many people''s opportunities, absorbing as much Primal Energy as she could. She had umted it in many ces throughout her body, or what she decided to call Nexus Points.

    All the Nexus Points she found were:

    1. Tail Root

    2. Core

    3. Heart

    4. Blood Essence

    5. Spine

    6. Feet

    7. Lungs

    8. Skin (Nexus Point at the nape of the neck)

    9. Eyes

    10. Vocal Chords

    11. Brain

    12. Soul

    From what she understood, these ces were where the essences of both species converged. It was primarily because of these aspects that a beast was able to transform itself into a human form.

    To Mira, it was simr to her Body Refinement Stages. Only, instead of unlocking hertent potential and strength through torturous trials, she was opening up new pathways and unblocking the flow of energy she didn''t even know was blocked. She was bing more ''whole'' every time she pumped Primal Energy into her body.

    Of course, topletely fill all of these Nexus Points, she had to absorb a massive amount of energy.

    Although the ind was big and there were many statues, she still had to take at least 25% of all the Primal Energy here for herself to aplish this.

    At the same time, Elenei had also followed Mira''s lead. However, her path was a bit different than other beasts. Primal Energy was just a more potent form of Qi that would make her future easier.

    Because of them, along with the thousands of other people on the ind, the statues were rendered useless extremely quickly.

    Right now, most of the fog on the ind had cleared up. All that was left was a section at the opposite end of the direction they entered.

    Standing in front of thest bit of fog, which presumably blocked them from the next ind, was a massive Dragon. Although it was smaller than an actual Dragon, it was still taller than a 5 story building.

    It looked down at the remaining few thousand people as if it were alive.

    In front of the colossal dragon statue, the ground was a smooth, polished stone, reflecting the figure''s majestic form and the vast crowd in front of it. The atmosphere was dense with expectation and anticipation, a stark contrast to thepetitive rush from the past few days.

    The dragon''s scales shimmered, reflecting a myriad of colors depending on the angle of the light. Its eyes, however, were what drew the most attention. Deep and ancient, they radiated a mesmerizing glow, seemingly pulsing with every heartbeat of the ind itself.

    Mira stepped forward, the residual Primal Energy from the Nexus Points in her body resonating with the energy emanating from the dragon statue. As she approached, the statue''s eyes seemed to focus directly on her.

    A voice, deep and ancient, echoed throughout the ind. It felt like it wasing from the core of the earth and the vastness of the heavens simultaneously. "Heaven and Hell, two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. Yet, they do not exist as one. Why is that?"

    "..."

    Silence nketed the area.

    ''What the fuck does that mean?'' They all thought, wondering how this rted to absorbing energy.

    "To establish bnce." The Dragon statue answered its own question. "However, life breaks that bnce."

    "A person can be evil but do good deeds. Does that make them good or evil? A person can selflessly raise abandoned children but kill people for fun. What does that make them? Does more good deeds mean someone is less evil? Or does doing more evil mean their good deeds don''t matter? Who draws the line between the two?" The Dragon continued to ask its philosophical questions while everyone remained silent, listening to its words closely.

    "What if��" The Dragon paused. "There was no line?"

    "What if Heaven and Hell converged into one?"

    Both beasts and humans alike nced at each other, confusion written all over their faces. They had no idea what this had to do with anything. A few thought that he was referencing their two species and couldn''t help but feel conflicted as that meant one of them was Heaven and the other, Hell.

    But who was who?

    Unfortunately, they missed the entire point of his monologue.

    "Power works the same." The Dragon continued, "Just because a path isn''t yours doesn''t mean it''s wrong. There is something to be learned in everything. Once you fully embrace that, you will achieve strength not known to this world."

    While everyone was pondering about what it meant, the Dragon''s eyes lit up, and the ground beneath them rumbled. Eventually, the ind quaked so much that it almost seemed like it was about to explode into a million pieces.

    "Now, let''s see if you''ve learned anything ever since you arrived!" It roared, releasing a tremendous amount of Primal Energy, which crashed into them like a celestial body!

    "UGH!"

    Everyone, regardless of their strength, fell to the ground face-first, including Mira and Elenei. Then, as if someone had taken control of them, all the strength from their bodies was sapped dry, and they were transformed into their opposites.

    Humans were transformed into beasts, and beasts into humans.

    "Make it past me, and you will return to your original form and strength!"

    "ROAR!"

    "ROAR!"

    "ROAR!"

    Beasts and humans alike roared at the statue with bloodshot eyes. How dare this bastard do this to us?! What were we supposed to learn? Why did I turn into a fucking beast/human?!

    Those kinds of thoughts shed through everyone''s minds, which reflected clearly in the Dragon''s eyes. If it wasn''t a statue, a memory of its former self left behind, it would''ve shaken its head in disappointment.

    Not only had 99% of the people here missed the learning opportunities provided by their ancestors, but they clearly didn''t take its lecture seriously.

    There were only a few out of tens of thousands of beings that had listened and began walking forward.

    Mira and Elenei, being two of them, just nced at one another and began walking.

    Mira, now in the form of a baby fox with a single tail, red eyes, icy blue fur, and profound aura, stumbled her way forward as she adjusted to this new form.

    Elenei, in the form of a 5-year-old child, had an easier time as she had unlocked her human form when she was still just a Phoenix. Still, walking in the body of a child was definitely a new experience.

    The two didn''t bother arguing with the Dragon, just taking this as an opportunity. Questions like, ''How did it do it?'' and, ''Why change their species?'' never crossed their mind.

    Mira, who had already filled up her Nexus Points with Primal Energy, had a much easier time than she thought she would. In fact, her physical body right now, without any Qi in it, was incredibly strong.

    ''So, this is what it''s like to be a fox.'' Mira thought, finding the experience novel. Although she had lived as a fox in one of the FLDIL trials, this felt different. It felt more real.

    ''I wonder if this is how beasts feel when they transform into a human for the first time?'' She wondered.

    With steady strides, the two of them walked past the Dragon statue without much issue.

    Elenei had a harder time since she had lost most of her strength, but she was a unique existence, simr to what the Dragon described in its monologue.

    If she couldn''t make it past the statue, then nobody could.

    Others seemed to catch on and stopped making noise, choosing to try and finish this trial beforeining.

    Around a minuteter, Mira and Elenei were the first to make it past the statue. Once they did, they immediately returned to their original forms before being baptized by Primal Energy.

    Much, much more Primal Energy than everything they absorbed before nowbined.

    "It seems you two have understood the ways your ancestors cultivated. Incorporate their teachings into your own, and you''ll be able to create something great. I wish you two great travels. May we meet again." The Dragon spoke into their minds before they were wrapped in Qi and teleported to the other side of the fog in front of another bridge.

    However, they didn''t notice that and sat down with their eyes closed, wanting to fully digest all this Primal Energy.

 Chapter 762 Prime Disciple Competition: Primal Heart; Leaving

    ?

    The sensation of being enveloped by the dense and overwhelming Primal Energy was beyond words for Mira and Elenei. They could feel it prating every fiber of their being, seeping into their bones and merging with their very essence.

    The bridge ahead led to another uncharted territory, but both women were oblivious to their surroundings. Their minds were engrossed in the task of assimtion, processing the vast knowledge and power now coursing through them.

    As the Primal Energy flowed into Mira, the Nexus Points in her body lit up, working in tandem to channel and refine the new power she was absorbing. However, there was simply too much for her.

    The Dragon Statue acted as if it had unlimited energy, as it kept pouring it on the two of them without end.

    Mira''s Nexus Points quickly swelled up with Primal Energy, almost to the point that it seemed like they would burst.

    She needed to do something.

    She needed to�� create�� something.

    ''Should I try and merge my Qi with this energy?'' Mira thought but immediately shook her head, ''No. I don''t know what''ll happen if I do that. Not to mention, I don''t think there''s enough Primal Energy for me to do so.''

    Then, what should she do?

    Mira''s mind, which was being overflowed with energy, was working overtime toe up with a solution.

    First, she had to identify the characteristics of Primal Energy. It was fierce, powerful, and unruly, yet it was more systematic than Qi. It focused more heavily on enhancing physical attributes for more strength rather than energy umtion.

    ''Honestly, it''s the perfect energy for beasts to cultivate with.'' Mira subconsciously thought. But then, her mind came to a halt.

    Wait.

    ''That''s it!'' Mira''s eyes lit up as she found a solution.

    Right now, her Nexus Points were just that, points. While they did strengthen those various parts of her body, that was all they did. She''d also need to keep the Primal Energy within them to keep those areas ''unblocked'', but that still left the rest of her body out of bnce.

    Currently, her cultivation technique and systems are all about harmony. The Primal Energy in her body had destabilized her a bit, even though she was bing more in tune with herself.

    So, all she needed to do was return to her previous state but add on this new energy!

    With a goal in mind, Mira''s brows furrowed in concentration as she controlled the rampaging Primal Energy within her.

    ''I don''t know if what I want to do is even possible, but�� I''ll make it possible!'' Her eyes were ignited with desire.

    With determination, Mira began by shaping the influx of Primal Energy on the right side of her chest, meticulously molding it into the form of a heart. This would be no ordinary heart but a vessel to house this unique energy and connect the various Nexus Points.

    Taking a deep breath, she constructed a pathway from the newly formed heart, designed specifically to distribute Primal Energy. She had to iste some of her Chaotic Silk Meridians to do this, but thanks to her having so many pathways, it went rtively smoothly�� minus the pain.

    Each connection to her Nexus Points was intricate, a bridge connecting different Nexus Points:

    From the Primal Heart to the Soul,

    From the Soul to the Brain,

    From the Brain to the Eyes,

    From the Eyes to the Vocal Chords,

    From the Vocal Chords to the Skin(nape of the neck),

    From the Skin to the Spine,

    From the Spine to the Lungs,

    From the Lungs to the Tail Root,

    From the Tail Root to the Feet,

    From the Feet to the Core,

    From the Core to the Human Heart,

    From the Human Heart to her Human Blood Essence,

    Andstly, making its way back to the Primal Heart.

    As the energy pathway took form, a whirl of energy could be seen swirling around Mira. The sheer magnitude of it astonished anyone who saw it, even Elenei, who was deeply engrossed in her own assimtion process.

    With her pathways set, Mira focused her attention on the crowning step of her grand n. From deep within her, she summoned her Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence. This ethereal substance moved like liquid silver, shining and shimmering as it was drawn toward the Primal Heart.

    There was a brief moment where time seemed to stand still. A heavy silence settled as the two potent energies faced each other. Then, with a gentle push from Mira''s consciousness, they merged.

    The world seemed to explode in a cascade of colors as the two formidable energiesbined, creating an explosion of ice and fire, warmth and cold, primal instinct and profound thought. The atmosphere surrounding Mira was tumultuous, yet amidst this chaos, she remained the eye of the storm.

    As the energies settled, the chaotic whirlpool of color gradually faded. What remained was a stream of Primal Energy pulsating through Mira.

    She now had two beating hearts within her body. One was her human side, which kept her alive. The other was her beastly side, which further empowered her body with this newfound energy.

    Primal Energy,ced with the Qi from her Core, flowed through her body, slowly but surely merging with one another. Her aura felt colder yet more alive than ever before.

    Mira had sessfully taken what seemed like a step backward to leap even further ahead in her journey. She had crafted something that was entirely hers, a bridge between two worlds that had always been part of her yet had never been truly integrated.

    Now that these two elements were separated, she could begin to understand each one in more depth.

    With a continuous stream of Primal Energy flowing through her, the lines between her beastly and human sides began to blur even further. It was as if they were finally a part of her. Or, at least, a part of her new heart.

    But that was just toward exploring her beastly origins and maximizing the traits from both species, human and fox.

    She took a deep breath, absorbing the newfound harmony within her. The sensation was both alien and familiar. With a satisfied smirk, she nced over at Elenei, who was still integrating this energy into her Bloodline to extract more ''memories''.

    Her aura was growing by the second, showing that she was heading in the right direction.

    The Dragon Statue was still releasing Primal Energy, so Mira figured she might as well absorb more of it until she couldn''t hold anymore. Closing her eyes once again, she directed it toward what she dubbed her Primal Heart, feeding it with more energy.

    In the background, she could sense more people and beasts making their way past the statue before they sat down not too far away from her.

    A few tried to assassinate her or steal her tokens while she was distracted, but a quick p from her, now-empowered Golden Tail, sent them flying with numerous broken bones.

    Without anyone noticing, a day passed as they all sat there, absorbing this energy. A few beasts had minor breakthroughs, including Elenei, who had broken through to Mid-Stage Rank 5 thanks to the Primal Energy.

    By this point, Mira had filled up her Primal Heartpletely, and Elenei no longer felt the need for this energy. So, the two of them stood up, ready to move on to the next ind.

    However, before they started walking, Mira turned around and looked at everyone, a sharp glint passing through her eyes.

    ''Should I kill them?''

    Getting rid of them here and now would be so easy. Especially considering there were a few within the group that would be troublesome to deal withter.

    ''I should.'' Mira nodded, the resolve in her eyes solidifying.

    Taking out her scythe, she walked over to a beast who seemed to be on the precipice of breaking through to Rank 9, only to be stopped by a barrier.

    "Leave them be," The deep, thundering voice of the Dragon Statue entered her mind.

    Turning toward it, Mira frowned.

    "I know you want to get rid of thepetition," It continued, "But that''s what this Realm thrives on. If you can''t get rid of your opponents at their best, how can you prove your path is superior?"

    Mira''s frown deepened, at his words, as not even 24 hours ago, people were trying to assassinate her while she was meditating. Why didn''t he stop them?

    "Because you''re crazy." The Dragon Statue answered as if it were reading her mind.

    "And you''re a fucking statue." Mira retorted while putting away her scythe and walking away. "Tch. Why can''t the dead just stay dead��" She grumbled.

    "I''m not dead," The Statue replied again, causing Mira to pause for a moment, only to resume walking a secondter.

    "Then, you will be soon." Mira threw his words back at him.

    "..."

    The Dragon fell into a dumbfounded silence. Did that woman just��?

    "Pffft-HAHAHAHA~" A boisterousugh echoed in Mira''s mind, causing her eyes to roll around as it jostled her brain. "Good! Very good! That''s how things should be! If you want to prove your superiority, thene and kill me! Hahaha~!"

    ''Haa�� This is why I hate old people.'' Mira thought as if she wasn''t old herself.

    Without another word, Mira and Elenei stepped off of this floating ind and headed toward the next one, where hopefully, she would be able to expand on her Primal Heart.

 Chapter 763 Prime Disciple Competition: Spire Island

    ?

    While Mira was making her way through the Realm, so were the others. One person, in particr, had basically jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

    Seraphina, who seemed to have gone from one highly dangerous encounter to another, was currently on an ind surrounded by a giant barrier. Inside that ind were all kinds of defensive-based beasts that were almost impossible to kill, regardless of strength, unless one found their weakness.

    Fortunately, Seraphina chose the perfect bloodline for this.

    *BOOM!*

    Seraphina smashed her Qi-infused mace against the shell of an Irond Beetle. It retaliated instantly, its massive pincers wrapping around her body, only for her to dodge.

    "Tssss~" The sound of something burning echoed through the area. If one looked closely, one would be able to see that the outer shell of the beetle was corroding as if it was doused in a toxic substance.

    Noticing something wrong, the insect clicked its mandibles and charged at Seraphina like a wild bull.

    A hard, turtle-like endoskeleton formed around Seraphina''s arms. She stared at the beetle in disgust before parrying its attack with her shield and repeatedly smashing her mace against its head and shell.

    While she was doing that, more and more of the beetle seemed to have melted off, and it wasn''t long before its brain sttered all over the ground.

    "Ugh. Why did I have toe to this disgusting ind?!" Seraphina eximed, her face showing nothing but revulsion for this ce. "I could''ve followed the others, but nooo~. I just had to follow my shitty instincts."

    However, while she wasining, she reached down with a sigh and touched the beetle''s shell. Immediately, blood, Qi, and its�� exoskeleton(?) dissolved into a liquid and was absorbed straight into Seraphina''s body, making her want to vomit.

    "Ew!" The thought of ingesting any part of that beetle almost made Seraphina keel over, but she didn''t! She remained steadfast!

    "...I should''ve chosen another bloodline." She muttered, stepping away from the beetle to move on to her next target.

    The bloodline that Seraphina had chosen after Mira had healed her was the Corrosive Mercurial Tortoise.

    Actually, no, that wasn''t her choice. It just seemed to happen that way.

    From her knowledge, there was no Corrosive Mercurial Tortoise that existed. What Mira gave her was more like a�� demonic concoction that she named Corrosive Mercurial Tortoise. She could''ve had something a bit more normal, something that could resonate with her Heavenly Silver Tortoise Physique.

    In fact, she would''ve rather had a bloodline that wasn''t tortoise rted. Maybe a Dragon like Nova, a rhino, or something like an elephant would also provide simr defenses but greater overall strength.

    BUT NO~!

    Mira wanted her to go down the route of an extreme tank!

    Damage? Strength? Other people could do that! However, not everyone could stand there, and tank hits!

    What else could she say when Mira was the one providing everything for free? So, reluctantly, she epted the bloodline.

    Fortunately, it seemed Mira wasn''tpletely heartless and listened to her wishes. She added a corrosion element to the bloodline, making it so, if she wanted, her Qi could contain a corrosive attribute.

    That sounded good on paper, but ncing at the misshapen beetle and smelling the burnt shit-like scent that permeated the area, she couldn''t help but think that maybe she should''ve just epted a normal bloodline.

    However, she couldn''t�� No. She wouldn''t! The bloodline was too good!

    ording to Mira, it was actually a Mystic-Grade Bloodline! Something that was normally out of reach for her. Not even the Elders would have something that powerful!

    Not to mention, the best part was that Mira said it was upgradeable. As long as she had the right ''ingredients'', a bit more research, and a good understanding of the bloodline, she could actually upgrade it.

    ''I''m not sure if I should smack Mira in the face or kneel at her feet for providing such a thing��'' Seraphina wryly thought, feeling the energy from the beetle coursing through her blood and bones.

    Her bloodline and physique seemed to have been enhanced slightly, thetter more than the former.

    Stifling a moan, Seraphina sighed and muttered aloud, "I''ll figure that out when I return. For now, I might as well make the most out of this ce!"

    ***

    Seraphina wasn''t the only one feeling suchplex emotions. In fact, many people in the Sect were. They just didn''t know that the person those feelings were directed at was Mira.

    Many of them, especially the Outer Disciples, were given rather�� unique�� bloodlines. Of course, if they specifically asked for something and even gave her the ingredients, she would do what they wanted.

    But the others?

    They got whatever she felt like making.

    For example, a few of the weirdest ones were the Gtinous Worm and Spectral Gecko bloodlines. However, they weren''t the only ones.

    Still, the strength they received was undeniable.

    It was because of that extra power that they were able to gain more opportunities in this Realm, so they couldn''t be too mad.

    This was especially the case for the Core Disciples. They, including Nova, Eden, Everly, and Rayna, were going to put their newfound strength to use and pummel Mira into the ground by the end of this Realm!

    The Prime Disciple position will be theirs!

    ***

    Mira, unaware of anyone''s thoughts, marched toward the next floating ind. There were fewer options thanst time, but she just followed her instinct.

    The ind she walked to, however, was incredibly unique.

    The pathway to it was stairs that seemed to be made out of starlight. Every step she took felt soft yet firm as if they were materializing beneath her feet.

    The ind itself was massive, with all sorts of nts, animals, and treasures littering the ground. In the center was a massive spire that radiated an ancient, powerful aura.

    On either side of the ind were two giant balls. One was a ball of mes, which looked like a mini sun, and the other was a ball of ice, resembling a moon.

    As Mira approached the ind, she could feel the heat and cold emanating from the two giant balls on either side. It was an almost paradoxical feeling; the heat from the sun-ball seemed to sh with the chilling sensation from the ice moon, creating an otherworldly atmosphere that was both invigorating and intimidating.

    She treaded the starlit stairs, each step lighting up with a faint glow, leaving a trail of twinkling lights behind her. The ambiance felt mystical like she was walking between two dimensions. But Mira kept her attention on the ind ahead, as well as her surroundings.

    She didn''t want to be suddenly knocked off the stairs by something, after all. Who knows if she was able to fly here, and she wasn''t particrly interested in testing it out.

    Once she stepped onto the ind, the air was thick with the essence of both Yin and Yang. Taking a deep breath, she felt rejuvenated, the energies fueling her internal Qi in a bnced and harmonious manner. As someone with Yin-based elemental affinities, this ce was like a paradise!

    The nts around her were unlike anything she had seen before. Some had leaves that shimmered in golden hues, resembling mes, while others were crystalline, radiating a cold, silvery light. The animals, too, were a blend of fiery and icy nature. Birds with wings of fire darted around while ice-elemental creatures glided through the ground as if skating.

    However, that was just on the surface.

    Mira could see nts and animals of all types roaming around the ind. In fact, the more she looked, the more she saw.

    There werekes, caves, temples, bridges to different smaller inds that revolved around the spire, gardens, and more. It was literally like a little paradise, one that seemed almost custom-made for her.

    "Wow!" Elenei eximed beside her. "This ce is amazing!"

    Her figure shot forward to take in more of the energy here, not knowing when she''d get another chance to absorb something so�� unique.

    Meanwhile, Mira just stood there, a slight frown on her face. ''Amazing? No. More like creepy.''

    A tingle ran up her spine, feeling weirded out by the fact that this ce seemed perfect for her. Way too perfect.

    This Realm was already weird. And now this?

    ''Ugh.'' She shook her head, wanting to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. ''Even if there is something weird at y, as long as I benefit, it doesn''t matter.''

    Taking a step forward, she figured she might as well check out the surroundings before heading into the spire.

    Her first stop? To plunder the loot, of course!

    With a smirk, Mira dashed into the nearest garden and began ripping up nts and throwing them into her Infinity Garden as if there were no tomorrow!

    She couldn''t allow any of those idiots from the ind before to obtain ANY opportunities here!

    ''You don''t want me to kill them? Fine.'' Mira snorted, still a little annoyed by the Dragon Statue, ''Then, I''ll just take everything from them. Hahaha~''

 Chapter 764 Prime Disciple Competition: Reflection Ponds; Runic Cavern

    ?

    As Mira ruthlessly piged the garden, every nt she yanked out emitted a soft glow, shimmering like stardust before settling into her Infinity Garden. The effects of this ce were still surreal to her. She found nts and herbs anywhere between Earth-Grade and Mystic-Grade, but the auras they released were more than anything within their own grade could produce.

    While Elenei wandered further away,pletely engrossed in absorbing the energies, Mira noticed a particrly enchanting flower near a crystalline pond. Its petals alternated between fiery orange and frosty blue, and in its core, a radiant pearl pulsated with light. Without hesitation, she reached for it. But the moment her fingers brushed against its stem, a surge of energy coursed through her.

    She was pulled into a trance-like state. In her mind''s eye, visions of cosmic events yed out: gxies forming, stars being birthed and dying, and the eternal dance of celestial bodies. Amidst these visions, a whisper echoed.

    "Seeker of bnce, toucher of stars, unveil the secrets, near and far."

    Jolted back to reality, Mira found herself sitting by the pond''s edge, the captivating flower in her hand, still glowing but now intertwined with her Qi.

    "What�� was that?" she whispered, slightly dazed by the experience.

    Taking a deep breath, she sensed a deep connection to the flower. It wasn''t just a nt; it was a key. A key to unlocking something on this ind.

    With renewed curiosity, she stood up, carefully cing the flower into a separate container. She didn''t want to mess with it in case it really was something important.

    After tossing the nt, which pulsated with an intoxicating aura, into her Storage Space, Mira''s attention was immediately drawn to the shimmering pond nearby.

    As she approached the edge, the water remained cid and crystal clear. Looking down, she was taken aback. The reflection she saw wasn''t just her usual self.

    Looking back at her was a massive icy-blue and silver fox with 9 tails and crimson-red eyes.

    Confused and a little shocked, she moved her head, but when she did, the fox also moved.

    ''Is that�� me?''

    Mira blinked, half-expecting the reflection to change back to her human form, but the fox persisted.

    She made a few more movements, but whatever she did, the fox mimicked. By now, she was 90% sure that the beast in the pond was her, but before she fully believed it, she had to ensure it wasn''t someone ying a trick on her.

    Gently, she touched the surface of the water, sending ripples across it. As the water settled, the reflection of the fox began to split, revealing two images. On one side was her human self, exactly what she looked like before she broke through to the Core Formation Realm. The second one was her current form.

    Then, the surface of the water rippled again, revealing the final form.

    A giant, at least several meters tall, was reflected in the water. She had nine different-colored fox tails, much like the ones she currently had. Except, instead of fur, they seemed to be made of pure energy. The rest of her body looked simr to Mira''s current humanoid fox form, but she was wrapped in warlord-like armor with thousands of ice-like beasts in the background.

    A crown of ice sat atop her head, with icicles forming around her every second. Blue mes rose from her skin, making the entity in the reflection seem more like a being of energy than one of flesh. Runic tattoos lined her body, pulsing with power.

    Lastly, above and behind therge woman was a silhouette of a massive fox, releasing an imposing aura.

    The two stared into each other''s eyes, and Mira could''ve sworn she saw a light of intelligence in the reflection.

    Then, the reflection blinked.

    "..."

    ''What the hell?'' Mira was taken aback.

    However, that wasn''t the end.

    Suddenly, the reflection raised its hand and pointed at her. The pond rippled for a moment before an ice spear formed in the middle of the water and shot at her.

    Dodging it, Mira''s eyes widened, but before she could say anything, the reflection mouthed the words, "Find me."

    ''Find me? What does that even mean?'' Mira asked herself. Unfortunately, there was nobody around to answer her questions.

    ''Tch.'' She clicked her tongue, still a bit bewildered by what happened. ''This realm and its fucking cryptic messages.''

    Collecting herself after the unexpected confrontation with her reflection, Mira''s heart thumped. The mysteries of the ind seemed to deepen at every turn. Intrigued by what revtions a simple pond could offer, she pondered what secrets the ind still concealed.

    Casting onest look at the serene water, she pushed forward, the phrase "Find me" resonating within. The surrounding ponds sparkled invitingly, each hinting at another enigma.

    At the subsequent pond, Mira paused, absorbing the ambiance. A nearby violet shrub, with its star-shaped leaves, drew her gaze. Its energy resonated simrly to the magical flower she had encountered earlier. Picking it, a calming sensation enveloped her, sharpening her mind��a boon for her cultivation.

    Guarding herself as she neared another pool, she peered into its still depths. Instead of her reflection, an image of the stars unfolded before her. Amid this peaceful disy, a message crystallized: "Find stability in the unstable."

    Every pond offered a glimpse into a facet of her being or imparted a message. Whetherforting or demanding, each experience imprinted on her soul, spurring her onward in her quest.

    Harvesting a myriad of special nts besides these pools��from sunberries that ignited her Qi with warmth to moonherbs that soothed her meridians��Mira finally stood before thest water body.

    It stood apart from the rest. The water was inky ck, and it felt like staring into the abyss. Hesitant, she leaned over, and instead of a vision, she felt a pull. The darkness beckoned her, and for a fleeting moment, she felt the urge to dive in. But she resisted, stepping back and taking a steadying breath.

    Cold sweat dripped down her face as she realized she was almost devoured by that pond.

    "Haaaa��" She released a long sigh. "Why did this realm have to remind me of the abyss?"

    Whenever she thought of the FLDIL, nothing good ever happened. There was no fortune in misfortune. Just a series of bad luck.

    ''Hopefully, it was just a coincidence.'' Mira muttered.

    With the pools'' mysteries unveiled and her Storage Space abundant with exotic nts, Mira''s gaze shifted to the enigmatic caverns scattered around.

    These caverns whispered promises of knowledge interwoven with danger. From a distance, the maws of the caverns were dark and foreboding, but as she approached, the faintest hints of luminescence caught her eye.

    One cavern entrance, in particr, seemed to call to her. Ethereal symbols, lost to time and memory, were faintly visible on the inner walls, pulsing rhythmically as if they held the breath of the universe within. The symbols appeared simr to the ones that existed within her.

    "...Fuck." Mira unintentionally cursed. "So, it wasn''t a coincidence, huh?"

    She wasn''t sure how to feel.

    Of course, she wanted to know the origin of the ck runes that were part of every aspect of her existence, but she was also concerned.

    Those runes were terrifying and made her something akin to a harbinger of death. Even her own bloodline wasn''t spared from their influence.

    Still, she was mostly excited to finally catch a glimpse into what they really were.

    Tentatively, Mira stepped towards the entrance, each footfall echoing with a weight that felt more metaphysical than physical. Inside, the air was thick with age and saturated with Qi. It tasted different��ancient, rich, andyered with tales of epochs long gone.

    As she ventured deeper, the narrow entranceway opened up to reveal a vast chamber. At its hearty a massive stone pedestal on which an ornate scroll rested. The paper was neither old nor new, as if time itself had forgotten to wear it down. The script, written in a forgotten dialect, seemed alive, writhing and shifting as she tried to read.

    Lifting the scroll, Mira felt a jolt of connection. Memories not her own surged into her mind: battles waged, alliances forged, betrayals felt, and civilizations rising and falling. As quickly as they came, they retreated, leaving behind a sense of profound understanding.

    It was clear that this scroll, much like the mysterious flower, held another key��perhaps even a map to the deeper intricacies of the ind and her own intertwined fate.

    Just as she was about to decipher the script, a low growl echoed through the chamber. Shadows crept along the walls, converging to form some kind of monster of darkness.

    Clutching the scroll tightly and preparing her Qi, Mira braced herself.

    Taking out her scythe, she stared up at the monster. As it continued growing, all the light in the room seemed to disappear, leaving behind only darkness.

    Not wanting to allow it to get any stronger, Mira attacked.

    Wielding her scythe, Mira unleashed a series of strikes, each one releasing arcs of ice that cut through the air. However, the shadows seemed to absorb her attacks, nullifying them.

    "Damn," she hissed, trying to find a weakness. She attacked a few more times, each one stronger than thest, but none had any effect.

    ''This is going to be a bit tough.''

 Chapter 765 Prime Disciple Competition: Scrolls

    ?

    Mira took a deep breath; the creeping darkness pressed in from all sides, suffocating and relentless. She swung her scythe again, but it was like shing through water. The shadows dispersed momentarily, only to reassemble, darker and more formidable than before.

    From the ever-shifting mass, sharp tendrils emerged, lunging at her. Mira twisted and dodged, her movements a blur, but one tendril caught her ankle, yanking her off bnce. She crashed onto the cold stone floor, her scythe skidding away.

    Rolling to her feet, she summoned her Qi, wrapping it around her like a protective cocoon. The cavern resonated with an ominous hum, and the shadowy beast seemed to pulsate with anticipation.

    A cold realization hit her. Her usual attacks were futile. She needed a new strategy.

    The beast lunged again, this time faster, its entire form barreling towards her. Mira focused on her breath, allowing her mind to tap into the very essence of the runes within her. Her nine tails swirled, their tips glowing with intense, multicolored energy.

    With a ferocious roar, she released a shockwave of pure, concentrated Qi. The beast recoiled, its form disintegrating slightly, but it was not defeated. If anything, it grew angrier.

    Determined, Mira tapped deeper into her power. From her core, a cold energy surged, enveloping her in a frosty aura. The very ground beneath her froze, spreading outward like a web of ice. The beast, caught off guard, struggled as its form became sluggish.

    Seizing her chance, Mira raced to her scythe, its de gleaming ominously. She remembered the message from the pond: "Find stability in the unstable." The memory strengthened her resolve. She would not be bested.

    Using the icy terrain to her advantage, Mira glided across the floor, her movements fluid and graceful. She danced around the beast, leaving trails of frost in her wake. With each pass, she sliced at the creature, chipping away at its form.

    The room filled with the echoing sounds of Mira''s battle cries and the beast''s angry roars. It tried to reconstitute itself, but Mira''s relentless assault and the cold environment hindered its efforts.

    But it wasn''t enough to kill the creature.

    Suddenly, a realization hit her.

    ''Primal Energy!''

    How could she forget?

    Focusing on her new heart, she channeled the Primal Energy through her meridians into her scythe.

    Energy rippled around her like a storm, Primal Energy much harder to control than normal Qi.

    The stormy aura around Mira intensified, bing an almost palpable force. Primal Energy, raw and untamed, flowed through her, threatening to overwhelm her. But with clenched teeth, Mira began to harness it.

    Every swing of her scythe now trailed a brilliant blue me. The beast, sensing the change in her power, grew even more fric. Its tendrils reached out to strike, but Mira was ready.

    The first tendril met her scythe, and upon contact, the primal mes consumed it, eradicating the darkness. The cavern echoed with the beast''s screams of pain, but Mira pressed on, her strikes bing rhythmic and deadly.

    The shadow beast tried to retreat, but the confines of the cavern denied it any refuge. It was trapped with an adversary it had underestimated.

    Determined to end the battle, Mira drew upon every ounce of her strength, merging her Qi and the Primal Energy. A brilliant orb of blue light formed at the tip of her scythe. With a fierce shout, she hurled it directly at the beast''s core.

    The impact was cataclysmic. A shockwave of energy emanated from the point of contact, and the chamber was illuminated with a blinding light. The shadows shrieked, their form dissipating, unable to withstand the might of the Primal Energy.

    As thest remnants of the beast vanished, the cavern grew silent, save for Mira''s ragged breathing.

    She stumbled slightly, weakened from the immense energy expenditure. The aftereffects of using Primal Energy were evident; her body felt like it had been through a crucible. But she''d won. The darkness had been killed.

    She turned her attention back to the scroll she had found earlier. It stilly there, undisturbed, its mysteries waiting to be unraveled.

    Tucking the scroll securely into her storage space, Mira ventured further into the depths of the cave.

    While she was walking, she attempted to regenerate her lost Primal Energy, but it was harder than she thought.

    Drawing upon Primal Energy was not like siphoning from the familiar reservoirs of Qi. It was ancient, wild, and unpredictable. Mira, despite her formidable abilities, had only touched the surface of its vast potential.

    She soon realized that regaining Primal Energy wasn''t a matter of sheer will. It was an intricate dance of understanding, bnce, and respect. The energy within her didn''t merely flow; it roared, surged, and demanded attention.

    As she moved deeper into the cavern, the darkness seemed to lighten slightly, and ethereal luminescent nts began to emerge from the walls. Their soft glow pulsed with an energy she recognized �C Primal Energy. Mira approached one, the delicate tendrils of the nt reaching out to her, brushing against her skin.

    A gentle, tingling sensation enveloped her, and she felt a slow but steady stream of Primal Energy being absorbed into her being. The nt seemed to share its essence with her willingly, and with each passing moment, Mira felt her strength returning. It wasn''t a full recovery, but it was a start.

    The glow from the nts ebbed and flowed as Mira delved deeper, revealing a corridor that stretched into abyrinth. The walls were inscribed with intricate runes, eerily simr to the ones she bore. Their pulsations matched the rhythm of her heartbeat, drawing her in.

    A faint hum caught her attention. Veering to her left, she found herself in front of a massive stone altar. Atop it rested a scroll, its edges worn but its secrets intact. Guarding the scroll was a beast unlike any she had encountered before �C a creature of stone and me.

    It was difficult to tell its strength since it didn''t follow the conventional cultivation path, but her instincts told her it was strong. Strong enough to pose a threat.

    Its eyes red, sensing her presence. The ground trembled as it lunged. Mira''s instincts took over. Ducking and weaving, she barely evaded its fiery grasp. Every move was a calcted dance, one misstep, and she''d be scorched.

    Learning from her past experience, she now understood how to control Primal Energy better and was able to smoothly take down the creature. With her second scroll in hand, Mira walked deeper into the cave.

    Another altar came into view, this one guarded by a creature of air and lightning, its form barely tangible, its strikes unpredictable. Mira''s scythe met crackling energy with every swing, her movements a symphony of agility and precision.

    As she conquered each beast, she imed the scrolls, each filled with forgotten knowledge. They spoke of the ancients, of realms beyond her understanding, of Primal Energy in its purest form.

    Yet, every victory was costly. The weight of fatigue pressed heavily on her, and her reserves of Primal Energy waned with every skirmish. But Mira was undeterred. She hade too far to yield now.

    Others should have joined her on the ind by now. She couldn''t allow a single one of them to snatch these scrolls!

    Thest chamber was the grandest of all. At its center stood a colossal altar, bathed in an ethereal light. The final scroll awaited, but its guardian was the most formidable. A creature forged from the very elements of the earth, water, air, and fire, its presence was a force to be reckoned with.

    Mira steadied herself, drawing upon every shred of her being. The beast roared, a cacophony of elemental rage, and charged. Their sh was titanic, echoing through the caverns.

    She moved with a fluidity. The beast countered with raw power. Stone met steel, mes danced with Primal Energy, and torrents of water shed with icy killing intent.

    The chamber became an arena of chaos, elemental energies colliding in a storm of power and wills.

    And then, in a heart-stopping moment, Mira found an opening. Channeling her remaining Primal Energy into her scythe, she struck at the beast''s core. The world exploded in light.

    Silence.

    Mira stood amidst the settling dust, the beast reduced to scattered elements. Exhausted but triumphant, she approached the final scroll.

    With the scrolls secured, Mira found the exit on the other side of the altar and walked through it. The luminescent nts now shone brighter as if acknowledging her triumph. Their energy caressed her, rejuvenating her weary soul and Primal Heart.

    As soon as she stepped out of the cave, she appeared on the other side of the floating ind, directly in front of the sun.

    However, she wasn''t given a moment of rest when she realized she wasn''t alone.

    Hearing voices and the shes of metal in the background, Mira frowned, realizing she wasn''t alone anymore.

    "YOU! IT WAS YOU WHO STOLE EVERYTHING!" She heard someone shout at her and looked over.

    In an empty garden, arge man with a sword at his waist pointed at her while yelling, catching everyone''s attention.

    Mira was going to ignore him at first, as she didn''t have the time to deal with morons.

    However, a thought crossed her mind, causing a smirk to y on her lips.

    "And? What can you do about it?"

 Chapter 766 Prime Disciple Competition: Spar

    ?

    Mira''s smirk was as icy as her power, showing not a hint of remorse for her actions. Her gaze fixated on the man before her, analyzing him. He was tall and robust, with muscles rippling beneath his robes. The insignia on his chest identified him as a member of the famed Immortal Sword Sect.

    The Immortal Sword Sect was not to be trifled with. Renowned throughout the Continent for their unparalleled swordsmanship, they had produced some of the most formidable warriors in history. This man, though young, radiated an aura of danger. His de, even in its sheath, seemed to hum with energy.

    Of course, he wasn''t a threat to Mira, merely at the 7th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, but he was strong enough to make her cock an eyebrow.

    Members of various sects who were present whispered amongst themselves. To them, it was evident that a grand showdown was imminent.

    "Insolent fox!" he spat, his voice dripping with disdain. "You dare to mock me? I am Lu Shen of the Immortal Sword Sect, and I will not allow a thief like you to make a fool of our honored Sect!"

    Mira''s eyes flitted around, taking in the various reactions of those gathered. Some looked fearful for her, others eager for a good show. But most importantly, she noticed a few members of the Immortal Sword Sect, their eyes filled with a mix of curiosity, anger, and anticipation.

    "I merely took what was unguarded," Mira replied calmly, her eyes never leaving Lu Shen''s. "But if you feel wronged, draw your sword. Let''s settle this. However, I won''t show mercy. A duel with me is a battle to the death."

    "...!"

    A gasp went through the crowd. Though almost everyone here, aside from the beasts, knew how strong the Immortal Sword Sect disciples were, Mira''s strength was even more impressive. Whether it be her feats of taking on an entire army with only a handful of people, killing Zehir, or being a contributing factor against the war with the Crimson yer Sect, she was definitely not to be trifled with.

    There were even rumors going around that she killed a Rank 9 beast. Though, that was just spection.

    That being said, her words should be taken seriously.

    Lu Shen''s eyes twitched, a light of fear recing his previous arrogance.

    "Actually, never mind," Mira shook her head, grasping her scythe. Then, she disappeared from her position. "I''ll just kill you now."

    *CLANK!*

    She appeared before Lu Shen, swinging her scythe at his neck, only to be stopped by another sword.

    Lu Shen, however, stood there with his eyes rolled back and was foaming at the mouth, scared out of his mind as he felt death, true death, right at that moment. He then fainted and fell to the ground.

    "Aren''t you a bit too harsh, Mira?" A voice rang out from the side, causing her to smirk inwardly, "My junior brother might be a bit stupid, but he doesn''t deserve to die. We''re all on the same side here."

    Mira''s eyes shifted to the neer, taking a brief moment to size him up. He had long, flowing, jet-ck hair and deep-set eyes that carried a weight of experience and wisdom. His robe was slightly different from Lu Shen''s, more refined, indicating a higher rank within the sect. The aura he emanated was calm but imposing, hinting at his strength. A Core Disciple of the Immortal Sword Sect at the Soul Transformation Realm was not weak.

    He stepped forward, his footfalls silent, yet every step seemed to resonate in the hearts of those watching. "I am Xian Feng," he said, his voice neutral, neither usatory nor defensive. "I''ve heard of your prowess, Mira. But today, you''ve overstepped."

    She shrugged nonchntly, retrieving her scythe to her side. "I simply responded to a threat. If your junior can''t handle the pressure, perhaps he shouldn''t be so reckless with his usations."

    Xian Feng nced at the unconscious Lu Shen and sighed. "Perhaps you''re right. But now, you have the attention of the Immortal Sword Sect. As a Core Disciple, I cannot stand by and watch."

    Mira smirked, her nine tails swaying behind her, tips glowing. "Then let''s not waste time with words."

    The atmosphere tensed as both fighters squared off. The onlookers watched with bated breath, many of them sensing the imminent release of staggering power.

    Without warning, Xian Feng lunged forward, drawing his sword in one fluid motion. The de shimmered, distorting the air around it. Mira, reacting with grace, sidestepped the strike and swung her scythe in retaliation. The sh of their weapons sent out sonic booms, causing several bystanders to shield their ears.

    The two danced a deadly dance, Mira''s scythe spinning and twirling while Xian Feng''s sword sliced through the air, leaving arcs of energy in its wake. Their fight took them off the ground, their figures darting through the sky, colliding with explosive force, creating shockwaves that rattled the ind.

    Mira unleashed torrents of Qibined with Primal Energy, attempting to freeze and shatter Xian Feng. In response, he countered with his profound sword techniques, each sh attempting to dissect the very air itself.

    However, Xian Feng soon realized that while Mira was adept at using Primal Energy, she was still not entirely in sync with it. Sensing an opportunity, he focused his energy on disrupting her control over it.

    For a brief moment, Mira faltered, her Primal Energy going wild. Xian Feng seized the chance, his sword cutting a brilliant arc aimed at her.

    But Mira was not to be underestimated. Even in her destabilized state, her instincts and reflexes were razor-sharp. She managed to parry his strike, and using the momentum, she retaliated with a powerful burst of her own energy.

    The two continued their fierce duel, neither willing to give an inch, their power and skills on full disy. Thendscape around them was getting reshaped, with craters forming and trees getting uprooted.

    ncing down at the ground, Mira noticed quite a few people losing interest and going their own way to look for opportunities.

    ''I guess I should end this.''

    With a massive burst of speed, much faster than what she showed previously, she appeared in front of Xian Feng.

    "WHAT?!" He yelled in surprise and moved to block her attack, but it was toote.

    Mira''s golden tail mmed into his back, sending him hurtling to the ground.

    *BOOOOM!*

    Arge crater formed upon impact, and Mira swiftly made her way down. Grabbing his token, she said, "Since Aelina is in an alliance with your Sect, I''ll spare you for now. However, the next time, I won''t be so lenient."

    With that, she walked away, leaving the Immortal Sword Sect disciples who stayed behind to watch dumbfounded.

    They all made way as Mira walked past them, not wanting to catch her attention. They still wanted to use this Realm to get stronger, after all.

    Lu Shen, who had finally woken up, ran over to Xian Feng and fed him a Mid-Stage Heaven-Grade Healing pill. Although it was still a little weak to heal all of his injuries, it was more than enough for now.

    "Senior brother! Wake up! We have to get in that spire before everyone takes all the treasures!" Lu Shen shook him, trying to get Xian Feng to wake up.

    "Ugh��" Xian Feng groaned, his back feeling like it was hit by a meteor, "D-Damn�� I guess the rumors aren''t false, after all��" He muttered, respect but also apetitive spirit shining within his eyes.

    "Senior Brother��" Lu Shen said, trying to catch his attention.

    "Ah. I''m fine, Junior Brother Shen." Xian Feng replied, struggling to stand up. He pushed Lu Shen''s helping hand away and forced himself up. "It was just a friendly bout. She didn''t hit me too hard." He chuckled.

    ''Don''t bluff, Senior Brother. I heard that crack in the sky. It sounded as if your body was snapped in half.'' Lu Shenmented inwardly but didn''t dare to say it out loud. He still wanted to preserve his Senior Brother''s dignity.

    "Anyways, enough about me! Let''s go see what this ce has to offer!" Xian Feng eximed. He grabbed his sword and immediately dashed toward the spire, with a worried Lu Shen following soon after.

    Meanwhile, Mira pushed her encounter with the Immortal Sword Sect to the back of her mind. She had gotten what she wanted, Xian Feng''s token and the Immortal Sword Sect''s animosity, and decided to move on to the Spire.

    ''Hopefully, word of his loss spreads, and more Core Disciples from other Sects will start toe at me. That way, I won''t have to waste my time hunting them down myself.'' Mira thought. She would much rather spend her time looting, plundering, and getting stronger than fighting other people for apetition.

    Still, she couldn''t let the Prime Disciple position go to anyone else. That was her ticket into the Central Continent.

    Sure, there might be other ways there, and the FLDIL might be able to help her out, but she''d rather not put her faith in a ''maybe''.

    Part of what she''s already learned from here is that the FLDIL isn''t perfect, nor does it have everything. She''s already checked, but from what she found, there''s no technique for harnessing Primal Energy, nothing about obtaining a beast form, and hardly any information about progenitors.

    However, all that information, or at least some of it, seemed to be here. Proving to her that the FLDIL wasn''t everything, just a means to an end.

    The Central Continent was also a mystery. She doesn''t know what barrier is surrounding it, who''s on the other side, or how to reach the Immortal Realm from there.

    "Tsk." She clicked her tongue, wishing she knew of another way to get there, but it was too much of a hassle.

    Pushing those thoughts aside, Mira stepped into the Spire. But, as soon as she did, she felt the scrolls in her Storage Space thrum, shocking her.

    ''...Huh?''

 Chapter 767 Prime Disciple Competition: Beast Arena

    ?

    As Mira stepped into the Spire, the ambient aura changed dramatically. The air was dense with ancient energy, making it harder to breathe. The walls of the spire were lined with intricate carvings depicting battles between legendary creatures. At the center of the spire was a spiral staircase leading up to the next floor.

    But Mira''s attention was drawn elsewhere. The scrolls she had in her Storage Space began resonating. Intrigued, she took them out, and to her astonishment, they floated mid-air, their surfaces shifting like liquid, and began to merge into one another.

    The once separate scrolls transformed into a single, radiant parchment pulsating with power. When Mira tried to touch it, the scroll rushed towards her, binding itself to her arm. It etched a unique mark on her forearm, glowing softly.

    She could feel the scroll forging an intimate connection with her, allowing her to ess thebined knowledge of all the individual scrolls. However, she still couldn''t understand the texts, so she let it be for now, hoping that as she climbed the spire, she''d learn more about them.

    Mira was about to delve deeper into the spire when a deep voice boomed, echoing throughout the spire, "Wee challengers! To ascend further and im the treasures of this realm, you must prove your worth in the Beast Arena!"

    Suddenly, from the massive portal, beasts of all shapes and sizes began pouring out. They roared and hissed, their eyes fixated on the intruders. Other participants who had entered the spire were caught off guard, and chaos ensued. But Mira remained calm, the mark on her forearm pulsating.

    With a mentalmand, she could feel her connection to the beasts. Not control, but an understanding. She realized that the merged scroll had granted her the ability tomunicate with these creatures on a primal level. Taking a deep breath, she focused on a particrly aggressive-looking beast, a gargantuan lion with mes for a mane.

    "Halt," she mentallymanded. To her astonishment, the beast ceased its attack, turning its fiery gaze to her.

    However, with an angry roar, the lion broke free from her control and charged at her.

    ''Interesting.'' Mira raised an eyebrow.

    With the lion charging, its fiery mane casting shadows in the ambient glow of the spire, Mira''s instincts kicked in. She quickly channeled the power from the mark on her forearm, wanting to test it, fortifying her defense.

    When the lion reached her, it didn''t collide with her as the other participants expected. Instead, it met an invisible force field surrounding Mira. The impact was massive, creating a shockwave that forced the other creatures and participants to brace themselves.

    The lion, disoriented but not defeated, roared in defiance. The other beasts took this as a sign, rallying behind the lion, their predatory eyes trained on Mira.

    ''So, the scroll can control beasts? That''s it?'' Mira was a bit disappointed since she had no interest in controlling beasts. She spent quite a bit of effort to get those scrolls, and all they amounted to was this?

    ''I thought something special might''ve happened since they merged, but I guess not.'' She shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

    Of course, she still wanted to know what the runes on it meant, as they might be the key to helping her understand the nature of her power. But these ''special abilities'' were reallyckluster.

    She didn''t need some outside power to help her control someone or something. If she couldn''t handle a rampaging beast with fear, resources, or her bloodline suppression, then it was better off dead.

    Taking hold of her scythe, Mira swung it, sending a wave of ice at the beasts, freezing the weaker ones.

    "Alright, enough ying around," Mira muttered with a smirk. "Come at me."

    "ROAR!"

    With the ''barrier'' down, the beasts charged at her!

    The arena became a tempest of raw primal energy. Dust swirled, picking up with each determined step of the creatures closing in. The echoing roars of the beasts synchronized into a deafening battle cry, and the very foundations of the spire seemed to tremble beneath their collective might.

    Mira''s stance shifted, her legs spread apart in preparation. Her fingers flexed around the icy grip of her scythe, its silver de reflecting the erratic lights of the spire. Her breathing became deliberate, each exhale forming cold mists in the charged air.

    A muscr wolf,rger than any natural beast, lunged first. Its fangs, gleaming in predatory hunger, sought Mira''s throat. With a sidestep, she evaded its jaws, her scythe whistling as it swung. The de carved a crystalline arc, encasing the wolf in a block of ice mid-leap. The frozen figurended with a muffled thud, skidding to a halt.

    Almost simultaneously, a serpent, scales shimmering with a toxic sheen, lunged at her from the side. Mira pivoted, her scythe''s de barely grazing the ground, creating a razor-sharpyer of ice. The serpent''s momentum carried it across the icy expanse, and its body began to stiffen and crack, encrusted with frost.

    From above, a giant hawk, wings spanning the width of the arena, swooped down with talons outstretched. Mira nced upward just in time, releasing a burst of icy wind from her palm. The hawk caught off guard, was thrust upwards, its feathers bing a cascade of glimmering ice crystals.

    However, Mira was far from a reprieve. More creatures, each more ferocious than thest, lunged, slithered, and soared at her. Yet, with each attack, she became even more untouchable, riding the wave of momentum she was gathering. Every swing of her scythe, every pulse of icy magic, was both defensive and deadly.

    Suddenly, the ground beneath her trembled as a massive beast, a blend of rhinoceros and bear, charged. Its eyes, alight with fiery rage, locked onto Mira. She could feel its intent, its overwhelming desire to crush and conquer.

    Mira waited, timing her counter to thest possible second. As the behemoth was almost upon her, she leaped high, flipping overhead.

    As she descended, her scythe danced in her grip, the de meeting the creature''s thick hide.

    Instead of slicing, the de channeled an intense cold, turning the beast''s momentum against it as it slid uncontrobly on a newly formed sheet of ice, crashing into several of itspanions.

    Landing gracefully, Mira barely had a moment''s respite before another wave of creatures readied themselves. She smiled, not out of arrogance but exhration.

    This was the kind of thing she sought, battles against many strong beings who could test the limits of her power.

    Still, this was far from enough. The beasts that have attacked her so far have been nothing but fodder. The real challenges were in the back, waiting for their moment to strike.

    ''I guess I''ll just have to get them toe to me.'' Mira chuckled inwardly, an evil smile creeping up on her face.

    Beasts upon beasts met their chilling fate as Mira effortlessly danced through the arena, her scythe leaving a shimmering trail of ice and death in its wake.

    Herughter, cold and lilting, punctuated the roars of the beasts as they fell one by one. Every sweep, every flick, was calcted to bring the maximum amount of devastation. Her ice seemed to feed on the beasts'' aggression, making it even more potent.

    The ground soon became a dreadful spectacle of frozen creatures trapped in their final moments of terror and aggression. The weaker creatures were dispatched with contemptuous ease and turned into gleaming ice statues, while the stronger ones became warier, circling her from a distance.

    asionally, Mira would clench her fists, causing those ice sculptures to explode into a million pieces alongside the beasts inside them.

    The air grew tense as the number of fallen creatures continued to rise. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare: an arena filled with frozen monstrosities and a lone figure standing amidst them.

    Suddenly, a guttural growl echoed through the arena, drowning out the lesser cries of the remaining beasts. From the shadows of the Spire''s entrance emerged three colossal creatures, each exuding an aura of overwhelming power.

    First was a dragon-like beast, its scales as ck as night, shimmering with an otherworldly sheen. Then, a chimera, a grotesque blend of lion, goat, and serpent, its multiple eyes glinting with malice. And finally, a snake with wings, its eyes veiled to hide its petrifying gaze.

    Mira''s grin widened, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Ah, finally, some worthy opponents."

    The three creatures, sensing the deaths of their lesser kin, turned their attention solely to Mira, coordinating their attacks with an intelligence that belied their beastly nature.

    The chimera lunged first, its lion head roaring fiercely while its serpent tail poised to strike. Mira spun out of its way, her scythe slicing through the air, sending a wave of ice shards toward the beast. It managed to deflect most of the shards with its goat head, but a few found their mark, embedding themselves in its body.

    The dragon, taking advantage of her distraction, unleashed a torrent of dark mes. Mira countered by creating a swirling vortex of frost around herself, extinguishing the mes before they could touch her.

    The snake, ever cunning, attempted to ambush her from the side. However, before its gaze could meet hers, she cast a reflective ice shield, causing the creature to recoil from its own reflection.

    The three creatures, although powerful, were still no match for Mira''s superior skill and tactics. With each sh, it became clear that she was in control, expertly maneuvering them intopromising positions and exploiting their weaknesses.

    Hours seemed to pass in minutes as Mira gradually wore down her adversaries. With a triumphant shout, she finally delivered the finishing blow, encasing the three beasts in a massive cier, their forms forever trapped in a moment of defeat.

    Afterward, she put her hand on the cier and stored it in her Storage Space, wanting to put it to use in the future.

    Panting slightly, Mira looked around the now-silent arena, her victorious stance a stark contrast to the frozen battlefield of defeated creatures.

    "That was... fun," she said with a smirk, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. But deep inside, she knew this was only the beginning. The Spire definitely held many more challenges, and she was eager to face them all.

 Chapter 768 Prime Disciple Competition: Runes

    ?

    Steadying her breath, Mira decided to move ahead, further into the Spire. The grandeur of the ce was hard to ignore, with its ancient carvings and shimmering walls, but Mira had a purpose. The mark on her forearm, a legacy from the merged scrolls, still held secrets she had yet to uncover.

    As she climbed the spiral staircase, an ornate door with intricate runic designs caught her eye. These runes looked remarkably simr to the ones on the scroll that had merged with her.

    Drawn to it, she approached, cing her hand on the door. It responded to her touch, glowing softly before sliding open, revealing a dimly lit chamber.

    Inside, the chamber was vast and circr, with walls adorned with the same intricate ck runes that were on her arm.

    They glowed faintly, resonating with the energy from her mark. At the center of the chamber stood arge stone pedestal with a crystal orb set atop it. This orb pulsed with a deep blue light and seemed to be in sync with the rhythm of her heart.

    Mira approached cautiously, the sensation growing stronger with each step. When she stood before the orb, its glow intensified, and suddenly, the runes on the walls began to shift and move. They flowed like liquid, rearranging themselves and forming a spiral pattern that pointed toward the orb.

    Feeling an urge, Mira raised her arm, letting the mark on her forearm face the orb. In response, the orb sent out a beam of light that connected with the mark.

    A rush of knowledge flooded her mind, almost overwhelming her, but she steeled herself and tried to make sense of the influx of information.

    These weren''t just memories; they were a rich tapestry of history and knowledge. As the intense flow of information persisted, Mira found herself floating amidst an abyss where the past, present, and future seemed to converge.

    She saw ancient beings of immeasurable power and wisdom convening in a celestial realm. They came in all shapes and sizes. One looked like a Dragon, another a Phoenix, one was a humanoid, and she could also make out a white tiger in there. Lastly, she saw a 9-tailed fox. One that looked oddly simr to the one she saw during the first trial.

    However, they didn''t look like the conventional beasts or people she knew of today.

    Instead, they looked more like�� what thest image in the pond showed to her.

    "Progenitors." Mira instinctively muttered as if she felt a connection to them.

    The beings she saw in these images were actual progenitors. Whether it was thanks to her bloodline, the ck runes, or something else, she knew that these beings were progenitors.

    But, instead of seeing them at their start, she saw them at their peak.

    These entitiesmunicated not with words but with thenguage of runes. Each rune held a profound significance, encapsting emotions, intentions, and energies that went beyond mere mortal understanding.

    These beings crafted entire races, shaped destinies, and intertwined fates using these runes. Mira realized that the runes weren''t just symbols; they were the very building blocks of existence. Every rune represented a word in this cosmguage, and when woven together, they narrated the universe''s story.

    Mira witnessed the crafting of the scroll she now bore the mark of. It was designed as a testament to their legacy, a way to pass down their knowledge and power through the ages. The scroll''s purpose was not just to be an artifact of power but a key.

    A key to what? Mira didn''t know, but at this point, she didn''t care.

    As the connection grew deeper, Mira felt herself merging with thisnguage. The runes on her arm began to shimmer, aligning themselves in sequences and patterns she instinctively understood.

    This seemed to resonate with the ck runes that lined her body, causing her to release a blinding ck light.

    Suddenly, a vision shed before her: a world in chaos as it was slowly devoured by�� something. Something eerily familiar.

    The connection began to wane, and Mira felt herself being pulled back to the Chamber of Runes. The blue light from the orb gradually dimmed, and the swirling runes on the walls returned to their static state.

    Exhausted but enlightened, Mira leaned on her scythe for support.

    "Damn��" Mira unintentionally cursed, "So those runes are what? Anguage of power? Anguage of the gods?"

    Her thoughts almost immediately drifted to the runes that are used in Arrays and Formations. While they weren''t exactly what the Progenitors used, they were a derivative of it.

    ''Maybe I should learn how to make Arrays.'' Mira contemted. If she could decode the universe''snguage, wouldn''t she be able to make unparalleled arrays?

    ''Hmmm~ I''ll keep that in mind until after I leave this Realm.'' She noted and moved on to something else:

    Her Primal Heart.

    From what she''s seen so far, everything in this Realm was tied together.

    First, there was Primal Energy. Then there were Nexus Points. Next, she created her Primal Heart.

    Lastly, there was this newnguage that seemed rted to the vision she saw in the pond outside, which was also connected to the scrolls she gathered in the caves.

    Everything was connected, and it was all there to make her, or whoever obtains the legacies here, stronger.

    ''Primal Ascendance Convergence, huh? What a fitting name.'' Miramented, shaking her head.

    "But�� what am I supposed to do with this information?"

    Should she make another heart out of runes? Where would she even put it, and how would it work?

    She already had ck runes pumping through her body. Making a heart out of them seemed redundant. Still, there had to be something.

    ''I suppose I should study these runes a bit more before I make any sudden decisions.''

    Mira, albeit a little tired, wasn''t one to give in to fatigue. The Primal Ascendance Convergence was turning out to be more profound than she had anticipated.

    With a goal in mind, she began a meticulous examination of the runes surrounding her. The walls, though static once more, were a canvas of history, and Mira was eager to learn.

    Walking over, she traced a finger over one particr rune that glimmered slightly brighter than the rest.

    As she did, a gentle hum resonated from the rune, sending ripples of memories and emotions through her mind. It wasn''t just the knowledge of its meaning but also its application, its resonance with other runes, and its ce in existence.

    As hours passed, Mira continued her study. The mark on her forearm acted as a guide, offering her intuitive insights into each rune she studied.

    It became clear that while the microscopic runes that flowed within her were powerful, theycked the harmony and synergy found in thenguage of the progenitors.

    She reflected on her Primal Heart. Though it was an extraordinary creation of its own, she found that it actuallycked the ck runes that were a part of the rest of her body.

    It held immense primal power but was too wild and untamed in its natural state. Presumably, that''s what these runes were there to fix. And judging by the images she saw in the pond, they would do a whole lot more than fixing as well.

    With this realization, Mira finally saw the missing link. The scrolls she had gathered weren''t just relics of power or history. They were designed toplement the Primal Heart. The mark they left was not just a physical imprint but an ethereal guide meant to steer her Primal Heart''s raw energy and control it.

    The Nexus Point and pathway she created weren''t enough. All she did was give it an outlet. Now, she needed to give it a purpose.

    Sitting cross-legged before the pulsating orb, she began to meditate. Channeling her Qi, she sent her consciousness into her Primal Heart.

    Drawing upon her newfound knowledge, she began to channel the runes from her mark towards her Primal Heart. The ancient symbols flowed like a stream, intertwining with her heart, weaving a protective and empowering cocoon around it.

    While that was going on, she simultaneously wrapped her Qi around the heart, forcing some of the microscopic ck runes to merge with it as well.

    This went on for hours, as Mira had to experiment and find the right sequence of runes before they would actually merge.

    As thest rune settled in ce, a surge of power coursed through her. The once raw and unbridled energy of the Primal Heart now pulsed rhythmically, in harmony with her human heart.

    Mira felt a significant shift. The merger of the Primal Heart and the runes didn''t just make her stronger; it offered rity. Where before her power was like a roaring river, now it flowed with purpose.

    *BOOOM!*

    Her 9 tails seemed to explode with power as energy surged through them. They hit the ground so hard that the room actually shook. However, that was just the beginning.

    For the first time since she reached the Core Formation Realm, she felt as if she had just knocked on the door of another side of herself.

    Another side of her bloodline.

 Chapter 769 Prime Disciple Competition: Hidden Blade Sect; Ascent

    ?

    After spending hours studying and understanding the cosmguage of runes, Mira knew she had gained something invaluable. With a deep breath, she exited the Chamber of Runes, ready to ascend to the next level.

    However, Mira''s exit from the Chamber of Runes was met with a palpable tension in the air. Her aura had intensified, and her tails looked as if they were shining with power. That glow was the beacon that lured the predators of the Spire.

    The first to move was a tall, sinewy man with a snakelike tattoo coiling up his arm. "You''ve taken something from the chamber, haven''t you?" Kessar hissed, eyes narrowed. He was a cultivator from the Hidden de Sect known for his lethal strikes, mimicking the unpredictable and swift attacks of serpents. nking him were his disciples, each mirroring his stance.

    Mira zed over them with indifferent eyes as if they were merely bugs.

    That look in her eyes pissed Kessar off, but he didn''t move to attack, wanting to take a more cautious approach.

    "Haaa��" Mira sighed, "Didn''t you see what happened outside? Why waste my time by bothering me like this?"

    "Hmph!" Kessar snorted coldly, "I''m nothing like that weakling, Xian Feng! Now, hand over everything you have while I''m being nice!"

    Mira just shook her head, but before she could make a move, the hair on her neck tingled, sensing a threat from behind.

    Tilting her head to the side, a projectile whistled by her ear. Using her Soul Sense, she found numerous people hiding in the shadows around her, waiting for a chance to strike.

    She turned around to face Kessar but immediately noticed that he had disappeared, along with the rest of his crew, leaving behind numerous beasts who wanted a part of the action.

    ''Oh? I actually can''t sense him?'' Mira cocked an eyebrow. She spread out her Soul Sense more but soon realized that she couldn''t find anyone from the Hidden de Sect.

    ''I guess they''re not part of the top seven major Orthodox Sects for nothing.'' She shrugged, not worried about their interference.

    Whether they wanted to face her head-on or from the shadows, it made no difference to her. Not like it would change the oue.

    The spire hall was awash with the howls and snarls of various beasts. From wolves with gleaming red eyes to massive, scaled reptiles, all were ready to tear into Mira. But even facing such threats, her demeanor remained unperturbed.

    One of the wolves lunged first. With a swift movement, Mira grabbed it by its jaws, using its own momentum to rip open its face and hurl it into a cluster of other approaching beasts. The impact sent several of them tumbling back.

    Another, a massive lizard with iron scales, lunged at her. It spat out a corrosive acid, intending to melt Mira on the spot. But with a deft flip, she evaded it,ing down hard on its back with a powerful stomp, cracking its scales and brain, killing it.

    As Mira fended off these creatures with her bare hands, disying her immense physical prowess, she couldn''t help but asionally smile, showing off her sharp canines. The thrill of battle was something she missed from staying in the Sect for so long.

    However, she remained vignt, knowing the lurking presence of the Hidden de Sect. Their members were experts in ambush and subterfuge. The more she couldn''t see them, the more cautious she should be, no matter how indifferent she looked on the surface.

    As she ascended the steps leading to the next level of the Spire, a sudden gust of wind apanied by a sh of silver indicated an impending attack. Reacting instinctively, Mira dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a barrage of throwing knives.

    "Persistent, aren''t you?" she murmured, scanning the surroundings.

    From a shadowy corner, a silhouette sprang out, trying to catch Mira off guard. However, she was ready, parrying the attacker''s strike with her forearm andnding a swift kick to his abdomen, sending him sprawling.

    But it wasn''t just one. From different directions, members of the Hidden de Sect continued their gueri-style assaults. They would strike and then fade back into the shadows, making it hard for Mira to pinpoint their locations.

    Yet, with each encounter, Mira adapted. She began to anticipate their tactics, and her reactions grew sharper. A hidden assant aiming for her back was met with a spinning elbow. Another trying to snipe from a distance found his weapon deflected by a casual flick of Mira''s tail.

    She knew they were testing her, gauging her abilities. It was their way of gathering intel. But Mira wasn''t worried.

    ''If given enough time, maybe they''ll be able to find a weakness.'' Mira inwardly smirked. Just as they were wanting to take her down, she was going to use them as well.

    Reaching a vast balcony of the Spire, she paused, taking a moment to appreciate the view. The ind spread out below her, with its temples, bridges, and peaks glinting in the sunlight.

    But this brief respite was interrupted. Suddenly, a rain of arrows was unleashed from the treeline below, each one coated with a deadly venom. Mira swiftly evoked her Primal Heart, generating a protective barrier that deflected the projectiles.

    Drawing a deep breath, she pressed onwards, ascending the Spire.

    Mira continued her ascent, each step echoing through the immense hallways of the Spire. Even as the shadows crept around her, she exuded a calm confidence. Yet beneath that confidencey a razor-sharp awareness.

    The structure of the Spire was intricate, with intertwining pathways and chambers that concealed more than they revealed. Flickering torches cast long shadows, ying tricks on the eyes. This was the perfect terrain for the Hidden de Sect, whose members had honed their skills in stealth and surprise attacks.

    Suddenly, the ambient sounds of the Spire seemed to mute, and a cold chill ran down Mira''s spine. This was an ominous sign she hade to recognize. Without hesitation, she rolled forward, narrowly avoiding a slew of darts, each gleaming with a purple sheen �� a telltale sign of potent poison.

    She emerged from her roll to find herself in a wide, circr chamber with massive statues guarding each corner. The room had a single exit, and standing there was Kessar, his smirk evident even from a distance.

    "Running through the Spire won''t be as easy as you thought, Mira," he taunted, the snake tattoo on his arm seeming toe alive as it glimmered eerily.

    Mira let out a low chuckle, her eyes never leaving Kessar. "Your parlor tricks won''t stop me. As for you and your sect, you''re just minor nuisances on my path."

    Kessar''s face twisted in rage. With a swift gesture, he signaled for his hidden disciples. From the towering statues, a dozen or more figures emerged, each brandishing a unique weapon, all glinting menacingly in the torchlight.

    Mira didn''t wait for them to make the first move. Launching herself into the air, she summoned the power of the runes she had studied. Her aura brightened, forming intricate patterns in the air. With a fierce shout, she sent waves of energy cascading towards her attackers.

    The Hidden de Sect disciples were taken aback, not expecting such raw power. But they were elite, and they quickly formed a defensive formation, channeling their energy to counter Mira''s assault.

    Amidst the chaos, Mira skillfully weaved her way through, striking down foes with abination of martial prowess and runes. Now was as good a time to practice as any.

    Each blow was delivered with surgical precision, and each rune summoned held a specific purpose, from binding an enemy to creating illusions to distract them.

    As thest of his disciples fell, Kessar''s face paled. But he wasn''t one to give up easily. Taking a deep breath, he charged towards Mira, the air around him turning cold and dense. His snake tattoo released a venomous mist, seeking to envelop Mira.

    However, Mira was prepared. Channeling her Primal Heart''s energy, she formed a vortex around her, repelling the toxic mist. The two adversaries shed, the sound of their battle echoing throughout the Spire.

    Blow after blow, strike after strike, they tested each other''s limits. But as the battle raged on, it became clear that Mira had the edge.

    With a final, resounding thud, Kessar was flung against one of the statues, defeated and panting heavily.

    Mira approached him, her steps deliberate. "Is this all the Hidden de Sect has to offer?"

    Kessar coughed, blood staining his lips. "This isn''t the end, Mira. We have many more surprises for you."

    Mira smirked, "I look forward to them." Leaving the defeated cultivator behind, she took their tokens and continued her ascent, eager to face the challenges the Spire had in store.

    Eventually, after climbing the stairs for several minutes and taking down other beasts and humans alike, she seemed to reach a threshold in the spire.

    This particr floor was nothing but an empty room. However, on either side of the room were two openings. One led straight to the sun, while the other went to the moon. Below each entity was a temple, which could only be reached via a bridge.

    Feeling her Primal Heart pulse, Mira clenched her fist, a subtle smirk ying on her lips. She instinctively knew this was the next step in her journey.

    However, first, she had to take care of the people who dared to covet her loot!

 Chapter 770 Prime Disciple Competition: Sun Temple

    ?

    The silence of the chamber was so profound that Mira could hear her own heart''s rhythmic beat. Her nine tails swayed gently, casting multiple shadows on the ground.

    She studied the two paths before her. The Sun, glowing fiercely with an amber hue, seemed to radiate a dense amount of unruly Primal Energy. Its temple, bathed in golden light, looked magnificent against the backdrop of a zing sky.

    On the opposite side was the Moon, ethereal and enigmatic, casting a silvery luminescence across its path. The temple underneath it was enshrouded in a serene luminescence, an epitome of calmness.

    Yet, even with such stark differences, the two entities held a perfect bnce. It was as if the room itself pulsed with a symphony of day and night.

    As Mira looked at the two options before her, she shook her head.

    ''Only children make choices.'' She smirked and took out her scythe. With a deep breath to calm the bubbling anticipation in her chest, she engaged.

    Rushing at the nearest beast, she cut off its head before it could react and threw its body into her Storage Space.

    ''I''ll take it all!''

    The beasts lurking near the entrance of the chamber were powerful. However, their raw power was nothingpared in front of Mira, who was continuously enhanced with Primal Energy.

    Each movement she made was fluid and precise, every swipe of her scythe bringing an end to another opponent. The glint of her de was mirrored only by the glint in her eyes �� a reflection of her murderous intent.

    The onlookers, mostly cultivators from other sects, began to doubt their decision to pursue her. They whispered among themselves, wondering if confronting her directly was a grave mistake. Mira''s reputation within the spire had begun to solidify, and many now viewed her as a force to be reckoned with.

    With each beast and cultivator she faced, she became more attuned to her new Primal Energy and Runes, further refining herbat style.

    After felling thest of her pursuers and throwing most of the humans off of the Spire, Mira turned her attention to the entrance of the chamber.

    Not wanting any more distractions, she summoned a massive amount of ice, intertwining it with Primal Energy, Runes, and Qi. With a swift motion of her hands, the entrance was sealed shut with thick walls of frost, so cold that even approaching it would risk severe frostbite or possibly death for those who were much weaker than her.

    With the threat neutralized and her path unobstructed, she gazed upon the Sun Temple. The golden path leading to it seemed to beckon her.

    Mira hesitated for just a heartbeat before stepping onto the bridge that led to the Sun Temple. As her foot made contact, a powerful surge of Primal Energy coursed through her. A mix of exhration and anxiety welled up inside her. It felt as if she was teetering on the edge of a vast precipice, unsure whether she''d fly or fall.

    She gasped, feeling the unfamiliar sensation originating from her two hearts, spreading through every vein, muscle, and fiber of her being.

    Her vision blurred for an instant, and when she refocused, she noticed the first transformation �� her feet, now paws. Soft, icy-silver fur began to sprout from her skin, enveloping her in a warm, thick coat reminiscent of a fox''s.

    An array of emotions surged within her: amazement at the sensation, panic at the unfamiliarity, and a deep, instinctual pleasure at the immense physical strength.

    Stumbling forward due to the sudden shift in her posture, she tried to keep her bnce.

    But as she did, another transformation took ce.

    Her human hands clenched into fists, then unclenched to reveal soft pads and curved ws.

    The nine tails that had gently swayed behind her now bristled and expanded, each one bing more luxuriant and bushy.

    Mira felt her senses intensify. The ambient sounds of the chamber were clearer, the scents more pronounced. She could hear the soft whispers of the wind and the faint murmurs of the distant cultivators. Her vision sharpened, painting the world in vibrant hues she had never seen before.

    But as swiftly as the transformation began, it reverted. Mira''s human form began to resurface, only to be taken over by her fox form momentster.

    This constant flux was disorienting, and every step she took on the bridge intensified the duel of her dual existence.

    She could feel the struggle within her as if the Primal Energy sought to reconcile the duality of her being. The Sun''s raw energy seemed to amplify her animalistic instincts, while the ethereal aura of the Moon called forth her human consciousness.

    Determined, Mira continued to move forward, her will unwavering despite the internal turmoil. With each step, memories of her past began to surface �� of a time when she was purely a fox in the FLDIL trial.

    As she neared the end of the bridge, the fluctuations began to lessen in intensity.

    With a final, resolute step onto the grounds of the Sun Temple, the transformations ceased, leaving Mira in her original human-like form.

    The serenity of the Sun Temple was disrupted only by the echo of Mira''s footsteps, each resonating with the pulse of ancient stones beneath. As she took in the high walls, they spoke of history through intricate carvings of ancient battles and beasts.

    The architecture, although still pristine, looked older than she could imagine. The craftsmanship was unparalleled, each carving so detailed it seemed toe alive beneath her touch.

    One image, in particr, drew her in - a fox evolving from humble origins into a majestic divine entity. She ran her fingers lightly over the carving, feeling a sense of kinship.

    It was like she was looking at herself but in reverse. Instead of transforming into a fox, the fox attempted to take on a human form. A true human form, unlike the ones seen today.

    ''It should be easier to be a fox than a human, right?'' Mira mused.

    As she pondered, her feet carried her instinctively to the temple''s heart. Here, a vast altar dominated, and at its center stood a mirror framed with ornate gold and lined with Runes.

    "The Mirror of Transition��" Mira read aloud, intrigued by what that meant.

    Looking down at the altar, she saw a brief description, which, when tranted, essentially said that it was a mirror that reflected the soul and could aid one''s inner evolution.

    ''Whatever that means.''

    Drawing closer, her reflection in the mirror shifted. Her current self stared back, but behind her was the massive silhouette of a fox. The visual tug between who she was and what she might be left her in contemtion.

    ''Is that beastly form really inside me?'' She wondered.

    Taking a deep breath, Mira channeled her Qi into the mirror. She felt a connection so deep that it seemed the temple itself was revealing its secrets to her. Whispers of ancient knowledge filled her mind.

    ''So, these are the pathways hidden within me... channels of power waiting to be awakened.''

    Her mind was instantly filled with a vast array of possibilities. Hundreds of images shed through her brain every second as the Mirror did what it was supposed to do and helped her find the most optimal paths to send her Primal Energy through.

    It was almost like a supeputer, with how fast it was able to test out possible scenarios. Unfortunately, even though it could provide her with what was essentially a list of options, Mira still had to make the decision on what would fit her best.

    She sat cross-legged, immersing herself in meditation, diving deep into her own psyche. The silence of the temple cradled her as she visualized each pathway, directing the Primal Energy with newfound rity.

    The pathway she created through the Nexus Points previously was merely the beginning. It was the trunk that allowed her to branch off.

    However, that still wasn''t enough.

    While Primal Energy was great, most of her power came from her Qi, her cultivation.

    ''I either need to find a way to merge the two energies, or I need to use Qi to help produce Primal Energy.'' She concluded, though neither was easy.

    The former would require a massive amount of Primal Energy, much more than she already had. While thetter required peak Qi maniption.

    ''For now, I think I''ll just try to find a way to produce Primal Energy. I can think about merging themter.''

    Making up her mind, she immediately got to work.

    In her meditative trance, Mira visualized the pathways the mirror had revealed. She felt the familiar rush of Primal Energy but now with a rity that allowed her to guide it meticulously.

    She sensed her bones reshaping, her heartbeats synchronizing with one another, and her body morphing to ept these new changes. The once chaotic energy was tamed, bending to her will and intention.

    While that was going on, she attempted to use Qi as a fuel source to create Primal Energy, which seemed to work�� somewhat. While it worked, doing so used an absolutely astronomical amount of Qi

    Days turned into nights and nights into days, and when Mira finally stirred from her meditation, she felt a rebirth of sorts. No longer did her duality weigh her down or leave her feeling like she hit a teau.

    Instead, it felt like wings, granting her freedom and strength she had never known.

    Gazing into the Mirror of Transition once more, she decided to test her newfound mastery. With a deep inhtion, she felt the familiar shift.

    The world around her changed as she grew in stature. Luxurious icy-silver fur enveloped her, and she beheld her reflection as a grand fox, every inch the majestic beast of legends. Her nine tails now shook vibrantly, each an embodiment of a particr aspect of her power.

    Her entire body radiated an intense aura that didn''t lose out to any Rank 8 beast she''d seen before.

    She could feel immense physical power coursing through every cell in her as if she could crush the world beneath her feet. Just the weight of her tails created mini whirlwinds with every movement.

    However, she was able to keep her human cultivation, unlike other beasts.

    Normally, that would give her more versatility, as she would be able to use her human techniques, but that wasn''t the case.

    Almost all of her Qi was spent on helping produce Primal Energy. If she used it on anything else, she wouldn''t be able to keep her beast form up for very long.

    With a focused exhale, she reverted to her human form.

    Giving the altar a silent nod, Mira plucked the Mirror of Transition from it and tossed it into her Storage Space before turning around.

    Now, it was time to go to the Moon Temple and discover its secrets.

 Chapter 771 Prime Disciple Competition: Moon Temple

    ?

    After Mira snatched the mirror, the sound of a door opening was heard behind her.

    ''Huh? Was I locked in this room?'' Mira wondered and was d if that was the case.

    Her earlier actions of blocking off the entrance to this floor probably pissed off a bunch of people. She never would''ve been able to meditate peacefully if she wasn''t locked off.

    Standing up, Mira turned to find arge crowd of cultivators, humans, and various beast races amassed at the entrance of the temple. The thick ice walls she had erected had be nearly transparent, revealing the agitated masses outside. Their faces held a mixture of anger, awe, and, in some cases, fear.

    A tall, imposing man with a snake-like appearance hissed in her direction, "You dare block our passage, Mira? Do you think you''re the only one entitled to the temple''s gifts?"

    Beside him, a delicate-looking woman with features resembling a deer frowned. "Mira, you might be powerful, but this is a shared realm. You can''t im it all for yourself."

    Mira met their res with a coolposure and shrugged. "I imed it because I could. If you have issues, you know where to find me."

    A roar erupted from a lion-headed man, "Enough of this talk! She''s just one person. We can overpower her if we unite!"

    The air grew thick with tension. Every beast, human, and cultivator present felt the pressure building.

    Before anyone could react, a winged woman, who was a beast in her human form, shouted, "She cannot monopolize the temple! For thousands of years, it has been a shared ground between us beasts. We will not let one individual''s greed tarnish our traditions! Kill that woman!"

    Her deration sparked a chain reaction.

    "Kill her!"

    "Kill the humans!"

    "How dare they steal what''s ours!?"

    Beings from various races began to gather their energy, readying themselves for an imminent confrontation. The ground beneath them trembled as they summoned their power.

    Mira, realizing the weight of the situation, began to prepare. Her fox eyes gleamed with a fierce light. A ball of ice formed in front of her, reshaping into formidable ice warriors, each carrying weapons crafted from the frosty air around them.

    Without warning, a snake man lunged at Mira, his scales glistening with a deadly venom. But before he could get close, one of Mira''s ice warriors blocked his path, their weapons shing in a chorus of metallic rings.

    The temple floor became a chaotic battlefield as multiple beings engaged inbat, the air thick with energy beams, spells, and the sounds of fierce roars.

    The lion-headed man''s roar grew louder as he charged forward with other beast races, hoping to overpower Mira through sheer numbers.

    But they were met with resistance from Mira''s ice warriors and the temple''s inherent defense mechanisms. Pirs of light erupted from the ground, creating barriers and pushing the attackers away.

    Mira, sensing an opportunity, began to channel a powerful spell. The atmosphere turned frigid as she summoned an enormous blizzard. Snow and ice swirled around her, enveloping the entire floor. Many of the attackers found themselves trapped, their movements slowed by the biting cold.

    Using this momentary advantage, Mira began to dismantle her foes one by one, her strikes precise and deadly.

    It took what felt like hours, but gradually, the temple floor began to calm. Exhausted beingsy strewn everywhere, their energies depleted. The majestic temple, once peaceful, was now scarred with signs of the fierce battle.

    However, Mira stood tall with only a few scratches, which healed almost immediately.

    She steadied her breath and walked over to the fallen beasts, attempting to kill them.

    Unfortunately, someone always has to get in her way.

    "Leave them be, woman," A massive lion with golden stripes, on the cusp of breaking through to Rank 9, stepped forward after watching the battle.

    A light of disappointment shed through his eyes as he looked at his fallen brethren, looking weak and pitiful. For a moment, he couldn''t believe he had topare his mighty self with these�� worms.

    Walking over to the lion-headed man, who was lying pitifully on the ground, he stepped on its face.

    "You don''t deserve to be rted to me." The lion muttered. Before the man could even beg for his life, his head popped like a balloon.

    Turning back to Mira, the lion said, "We can fight when we aren''t in this sacred ground. For now, allow me to deal with these pitiful excuses for beasts."

    Mira stared at the beast for a moment before nodding. "Very well." Then, she walked off, ignoring the stares of hatred, fear, and rage in the onlooker''s eyes.

    The lion''s eyes gleamed in appreciation as he watched Mira. "Such power, such elegance," he muttered to himself, clearly mesmerized by her prowess. "Only a woman of her caliber is worthy of me. After I''ve evolved to Rank 9, I''ll ensure she''s by my side, whether she wills it or not."

    As Mira walked off, he thought to himself, ''Her strength and demeanor captivate me, but I also sense an untapped potential, a rawness that needs taming. Once I''ve evolved, I''ll make her mine.''

    Watching Mira''s back until she disappeared, the lion turned back around, his eyes now frosty. ''But first, these fools need to be put in their ce.''

    ***

    The lion may have thought that he had hidden his motives well, but they were as clear as day in Mira''s eyes.

    However, since the lion didn''t want to fight, she saw no need to force it. Taking him down would take a while, considering his strength.

    Like the Dragon statue said, this Realm was built uponpetition. It was a race to see who could find the most opportunities, and she had no intention of losing a single one.

    After her confrontation with the gathered beasts and cultivators and the unexpected interference of the golden-striped lion, Mira felt a maic pull guiding her deeper into the temple. She followed it, allowing her intuition to guide her through the giant hallway.

    Soon, she arrived at the entrance to the Moon Temple, marked by a vast crescent moon engraved on a massive silver door. The door radiated an enchanting luminescence.

    Pausing, she ced a hand on the door, feeling the cool energy pulsating from within.

    As Mira gently pushed the doors open, a serene sight greeted her. Inside, the entire chamber shimmered under the soft glow of thousands of moonstones, reflecting in a massive pool of crystalline water. Above, an open dome allowed the real moonlight to flood in, mingling with the reflected light from the moonstones below.

    The reflection from the moonstones in the chamber cast intricate patterns of light on the crystalline water in the center. Mira, having been initially distracted by the beauty of the room, realized the importance of the pond as she approached it.

    The water was not just any ordinary water. It pulsated with energy, much like the rest of the temple but in a more focused and concentrated manner. The very air around it was thick with ancient power, and Mira could feel the thrum of energy calling to her

    She knelt beside the pond and gently dipped her fingers into the water. It felt cool, almost silken against her skin, and a rush of knowledge flooded into her.

    Unlike the jarring influx she''d expected, the information flowed in harmoniously, filling her mind with visions and wisdom. She saw the origin of the temple, its significance, and its role in nurturing countless powerful beings throughout eons.

    She also realized that the water could be shared, and there was enough for many to benefit from its properties. Perhaps her earlier attempt to monopolize the temple wasn''t necessary, as the real treasure was this limitless pool of energy.

    ...Though, she would never give up free loot to anyone if she could help it.

    Mira could feel the immense potential this water held. As she submerged her hands further into the pond, a realization washed over her: this wasn''t just about power, but transformation.

    She saw fleeting images of ancient beasts over millennia immersing themselves into this sacred water and emerging fully human.

    This was the final rite for many �C a passage to break through their natural barriers and reach a new form.

    While many beasts valued the power of their beast forms, for those that were powerful, there was an understanding that the human form was the epitome of bnce and control.

    By transformingpletely into a human, a beast could achieve a harmony of mind, body, and soul that was otherwise unreachable.

    However, this required an incredible amount of time, energy, and talent. Normal beasts, no matter what they did, would never be able to unlock a human form as it simply required too much.

    One needed to have a deep understanding of the intricacies of the human body, how to create meridians, but also how to retain thisplexity in their beast form.

    They also needed control over their soul and many more just to be able to tap into this power.

    Fortunately, Mira was an anomaly.

    As soon as she dunked herself in the pool, a surge of energy rushed through her meridians, bloating her body. She did something simr to what happened inside the Sun Temple.

    With the meridians that were connected to her human heart, she merged as much of this energy with them as she could before creating a pathway.

    The world around Mira melted away as she was engulfed by the pool''s power. Visions shed before her eyes, and sensations bombarded her body. She felt her energy pathways expanding slightly, every cell of her being absorbing everything it could.

    Pain. Pleasure. Darkness. Light. All sensations intertwined, pulling and stretching her senses.

    The calm, serene surface of the pool began to churn as the water danced around her, reacting to the changes urring within her. From the pool''s center, where Mira was submerged, brilliant streams of light erupted, weaving intricate patterns in the air.

    Inside this cocoon of energy, Mira felt both stretched thin and condensed at the same time. She visualized her meridians, the pathways that channeled her internal energy, expanding and branching out in ways she hadn''t imagined possible. Each new pathway was like a riverbed, being carved out by the torrent of energy she was harnessing.

    Gradually, the overwhelming sensations began to converge into a more singr, focused feeling. Control.

    As the tumultuous process began to settle, Mira opened her eyes and immediately noticed her reflection.

    No more were her fox ears, fox tails, or any of that.

    Instead, she looked exactly like a normal human, something she hadn''t experienced in a while.

 Chapter 772 Prime Disciple Competition: Progenitor Essence

    ?

    Mira, now in her human form, gracefully rose from the water. The sensation of her human skin caressed by the sacred waters felt ethereal, almost otherworldly. Her once vibrant fox ears and flowing tails had vanished, reced by long, silver hair that cascaded down her back. Each strand shimmered with a subtle sheen, reflecting the moonlight from above.

    The serene environment of the Moon Temple only magnified the change she felt within. No longer did she possess the primal instincts of a fox; her mind felt clearer, sharper, and just overall, more in control.

    Waving her hand, she created a cascade of elements around her. Yin Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Yin Lightning, Ice, and Darkness. All seemed to flow just a tad smoother, and the efficiency was definitely higher.

    ''So, my beast form enhances my physical strength and senses, while my human form amplifies my Qi and control.'' Mira thought while clenching her fists. She did feel that her physical strength was a littleckingpared to before.

    However, she felt like she had endless stamina as if she was in energy conservation mode.

    Mira then closed her eyes to check her soul.

    Inside was still the same Nascent Soul she remembered, but there were a few subtle differences.

    For one, her entire soul seemed to have gotten bigger, with the various elements inside more potent.

    Ner Nascent Soul was also covered in faint runic tattoos while exuding more power.

    Lastly, the World Core seemed to produce slight amounts of Primal Energy, making everything a bit stronger but more chaotic.

    ''I''m also on the cusp of breaking through to the 8th Stage.'' Miramented. However, she would never break through in such an open ce like this.

    While she was going through her transformation, she had already sensed multiple peopleing in and out of this room. Since she had to give 100% focus to her breakthroughs as they were quite painful, she would be at her weakest point and, thus, susceptible to assassinations or sneak attacks.

    ''But still��'' She gazed at the water, which was basically ultra-dense Qi, ''Isn''t this the perfect ce to cultivate? I could probably reach the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm if I stayed here!''

    Mira''s thoughts raced as she considered the idea of staying within the Moon Temple to cultivate further. The appeal of rapidly increasing her power was undeniable. But, considering her current situation and her drive to climb higher, staying here might not be the best choice.

    She bent down and procured a few empty crystal vials from her Storage Space. With great care, she scooped up the precious moonlit water, sealing the vials tight.

    ''If I can''t stay here, I''ll bring a part of it with me.'' Mira thought, satisfied with her decision.

    Taking a deep breath, she left the temple. The enchanting luminescence of the Moon Temple faded, reced by the dimly lit stone corridors of the spire. Each step took her higher, the weight of the ancient energy pressing against her.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Elenei, who had stepped on the same floating ind as Mira, was getting stronger in her own right.

    Unsurprisingly, her path forward was a bit differentpared to Mira''s or other beasts. She didn''t need a beast form like Mira, nor was she all that interested in obtaining a human form.

    Upon reaching Rank 8, she would be able to transform into one without much issue. Since most of her power came from the uniqueness of both species and she already had great Qi control, her natural human form would be different than other beasts.

    Instead, what she wanted was to be a progenitor just like Mira.

    She was currently in this in-between state where she was almost at progenitor status, but since her Dracophoenix bloodline was still tied to the Dragon and Phoenix ns, she wasn''t quite there.

    Fortunately, this Secret Realm was all about ''ascendance'', in every sense of the word.

    Elenei''s form, a majesticbination of a dragon and phoenix, radiated an aura of unmatched grandeur. Her sleek, ruby-scaled body was contrasted by brilliant icy white and crimson feathers, creating a beautiful blend of fire and ice.

    Walking her path was neither easy nor straightforward, considering she was apletely unique species. However, the Primal Energy she gathered from the first ind had helped her immensely.

    Not only did she have more power at her disposal, but she had a better understanding of the steps she needed to take in her cultivation.

    Which ultimately left her dissatisfied.

    ''I want more! No, I NEED more power!'' Elenei yelled internally. ''This is all Mira and that stupid dog''s fault! If those two weren''t so abnormally strong, I''d be perfectly content with what I have! But, no~o! Those two just have to be crazy monsters!''

    She was on the cusp of being the weakest and least talented in the group.

    How could she, abination of a Dragon and a Phoenix, be the least talented?!

    ''Mira''s a progenitor, right? Then, I''ll be one too! No, I''ll surpass that and be something new entirely!'' Her eyes burned with an unwavering spirit as she promised herself that by the time they left this ce, she would at least be more talented than Rhydian.

    As Elenei advanced through the stone corridors, ascending the spire, she felt an intense energy emanating from the floor ahead. The very air seemed to hum with an ancient, primordial force. She stepped into a vast chamber, which immediately transformed into an expansive grasnd, and what she saw left her breathless.

    Spread out before her were statuesque forms of magnificent creatures �C a behemoth with the body of a bear, a magnificent bird with the eyes of a sapphire gem, and an undting serpentine figure, each of them radiating a formidable aura. And those were just to name a few

    These weren''t just statues like they were on the first ind; they were the encapsted forms of past Progenitors. She could feel it.

    They gave off the same bloodline aura as Mira.

    However, it seems like these were the primordial beasts that either died in the wars for power or were unable to surpass their natural limitations.

    Of course, that didn''t mean they were weak.

    With a rumbling echo, the behemoth stirred, its once-stony form crumbling as it came to life.

    Massive ws and piercing eyes fixated on Elenei. The chamber''s atmosphere grew thick with tension as a voice, ancient and deep, boomed, "To embrace the Progenitor''s essence, first prove your worth!"

    Elenei''s heart raced, not from fear but anticipation.

    As the behemoth lunged, its roar vibrating the very ground she stood upon, Elenei''s instincts took over.

    The air around her shimmered with heat as a torrent of mes poured from her maw, shing with the behemoth''s charge in a dazzling disy of power and ferocity.

    The resulting shockwave sent ripples throughout the chamber, stirring the other creatures from their stony slumber.

    As Elenei and the behemoth exchanged blows, the sapphire-eyed bird took to the air, circling above like a vulture waiting for the right moment.

    And in that moment, it struck.

    Beams of intense cold shot from its eyes, creating a stark contrast with the fiery sh below.

    Elenei, sensing the change in temperature, spread her wings and took a sharp upward flight, narrowly evading the chilling beams that frosted the very stones where she stood moments ago.

    But as she ascended, the serpentine figure shot out from the shadows below.

    Its shimmering scales seemed to disappear and reappear, making it a challenge to track. Elenei felt the cold, sleek coils attempting to wrap around her leg, trying to drag her down into its grasp.

    With a ferocious cry, she ignited her wings, the intense heat forcing the serpent to retreat momentarily. But the reprieve was short-lived, as the behemoth, now more agile than before, sought to corner her, working in tandem with the other two creatures.

    The chamber became a whirlwind of fire and ice, light and shadows, each moment a dance between life and death for Elenei. With every dodge, parry, and counterattack, she learned more about her adversaries and herself.

    The battle raged on, a seemingly eternal struggle. Fatigue threatened to creep in, but Elenei''s resolve was unwavering. With a final, powerful burst of me, she managed to subdue the behemoth, its massive form crashing to the ground, causing the chamber to shake.

    The other beasts, sensing the fall of their kin, grew more relentless, but Elenei''s spirit burned brighter. With a flurry of wings and mes, she subdued the serpent and then, with a powerful dive, tackled the bird creature, grounding it.

    Panting heavily, Elenei surveyed the chamber. The ancient beasts, once menacing and fierce, now returned to their dormant statue-like state. Yet, before they couldplete the transformation back to their original states, they melted into pools of liquid.

    Elenei hesitated, observing the shimmering pools. Each liquid seemed to exude an energy that called to her, reminiscent of the primal aura she''d felt within Mira. She felt an overwhelming urge to approach and connect with them.

    Walking cautiously, she reached the first pool, the residue of the behemoth. Tentatively, she dipped her ws into the viscous liquid.

    A jolt of raw energy coursed through her, filling her body with strength.

    Memories of battles long past and glimpses of the behemoth''s life filled her mind. It was as if she was absorbing the very essence and history of the creature.

    She repeated the process with the other two pools, gaining more knowledge and strength from the bird and the serpent. Their experiences, their strengths, their essence now became a part of her.

    ''I''m not just assimting their energy,'' she realized. ''I''m inheriting part of their legacy.''

    Elenei could feel her power grow, not just from her physical strength but from something else. Something more profound.

    She didn''t quite understand what was happening, but she knew that if she kept killing these creatures and absorbing their blood, something good would happen.

    ''Perhaps, this was what I was looking for.'' Elenei''s eyes shined like two orbs as she stared into the distance.

    There were other beasts and humans here, but she didn''t care. As long as killing these beasts could make her stronger, she would destroy anything that got in her way.

 Chapter 773 Prime Disciple Competition: Spire Peak

    <h4>Chapter 773 Prime Disciple Competition: Spire Peak</h4>

    The chamber, vast and overwhelming, stretched as far as the eye could see. From where Elenei stood, the ground was a mix of ancient stone tiles with symbols and sigils carved into them, some glowing softly in the dark expanse. The roof was hidden in shadows, but asionally, a bright re would cross overhead �C the energy ofpetitors shing or beast statues awakening.

    Every few feet, colossal statues of beasts stood tall, some looming over 50 feet high. These statues, carved from obsidian, marble, and other exotic stones, represented the ancient beasts that once roamed thend.

    Light sources were scarce, with bioluminescent fungi growing in clusters and providing a muted, mystical illumination.

    On the far side, a cascading waterfall of pure energy flowed from an unseen source above, pooling into shimmeringkes and streams that wove around the chamber. The water was not of the regr kind; it glowed in hues of purples and blues, adding to the ethereal nature of the ce.

    Having absorbed the essences of the behemoth, serpent, and bird, Elenei felt invincible. Her senses were heightened, her perception of the world changed.

    Determined to capitalize on her newfound strength, Elenei spread her wings and took flight. The air currents in the chamber felt like ripples of pure energy, fueling her speed and agility.

    From her vantage point, she could see movement. Numerouspetitors �C both beasts and humans �C were scattered throughout the chamber. Some were in directbat with awakened statues; others, like predatory animals, stalked the weaker participants, seeking to eliminatepetition.

    Drawing her focus to the closest cluster, Elenei spotted a group consisting of three beast cultivators and two humans. They were converging on a statue of a golden-winged lion, likely hoping to awaken it and harness its power.

    But Elenei had other ns. Her presence in the chamber was a deration of dominance, and she intended to let everyone know.

    Diving down, she aimed straight for the group. Her descent was like a meteor, her scales shimmering and wings trailing fire. The group barely had a moment to react before she was upon them. A gust of windbined with a wave of ice shards from her wings took out the humans immediately. The beasts caught off guard, tried to retaliate.

    Elenei''s dragon-like tailshed out, wrapping around a tall antlered creature, squeezing and then flinging it against a nearby statue. A tiger-like beast lunged at her, but with a powerful p of her wings, she sent it crashing into one of the energy pools.

    The final beast, a scaled panther with gleaming eyes, tried to escape, but Elenei was too fast. In a flurry of ws, scales, and fire, the panther was captured in her talons, its head squeezed until it popped.

    With the immediate threats neutralized, Elenei began absorbing their residual energies. Her aura grew stronger, and the very atmosphere around her crackled with raw power.

    She was now a beacon in the chamber. The otherpetitors took notice, and many, sensing the immense power radiating from her, decided that avoidance was the best strategy.

    But Elenei wasn''t done. Her eyes, filled with ambition and fire, scanned the vast chamber. There were many more statues to awaken,petitors to defeat, and power to be gained.

    Stepping closer to the golden-winged lion, she awakened it and prepared for another round of battle. She wouldn''t allow a single drop of its blood to go to waste!

    ***

    The Spire''s spiraling staircase was not a straight ascent.

    Twists and turns awaited Mira at every corner, with pockets of opportunities concealed in nooks and hidden chambers.

    Her senses, sharpened from her previous transformations, allowed her to discern the unique energies emanating from various treasures.

    Mira came across a chamber where beams of ethereal light illuminated a singr, ornate chest.

    Without hesitation, she approached and opened it, revealing a silvery ne pulsing with potent energy.

    The pendant resembled a half sun, half moon, and she instinctively knew it would aid her in harnessing her duality.

    Slipping it on, she felt her internal energies stabilize, making it easier for her to switch between her forms.

    A few levels up, she chanced upon a trio of cultivators, humans who had managed to obtain an ancient scroll.

    Without missing a beat, Mira shifted into her original hybrid form, her primal energy intimidating the group. Swift as lightning, she lunged, snatching the scroll from their grasp. The scroll was adorned with ancient runes, and even a cursory nce revealed techniques that would allow her to harness her primal energy more effectively.

    While she was at it, she stole their Sect tokens as well, adding to her growing collection.

    As she climbed, Mira also practiced.

    She''d shift to her human form, focusing her energy, then abruptly to her beast form, reveling in the power and instinct it granted. The hybrid form was a bnce, a perfect blend of both worlds.

    This constant transitioning helped her refine control, making her shifts seamless and fluid.

    Finally, after what felt like hours, the top of the Spire was within sight. However, the peak was no serene sanctuary.

    The energy here was tumultuous, with beams from both the sun and moon converging, creating a swirl of pure, raw power. Amidst this convergence was the majestic guardian of the Spire; a Griffin, its feathers shimmering like gold, its lion-like body radiating strength and authority.

    The tform was teeming with the most formidable beasts and humans, their auras shing, a palpable tension in the air.

    Mira could see alliances forming andpetitors whispering strategies, all with the goal of harnessing the energy and potentially challenging the Griffin.

    But Mira was undeterred. She was here for the final transformation, the culmination of her journey on this floating ind. Her ne glowed brighter, sensing the duality of the sun and moon energy.

    She calmly walked to the peak of the Spire, immediately catching the attention of everyone there.

    "So, Mira''s finally here."

    "Is that why this Griffin hasn''t done anything yet? Was it waiting for her?"

    "Isn''t it too biased?! We''ve been here for hours, yet nothing has happened! We can''t even get close to that energy!"

    "I won''t let any of you filthy humans have it! That energy is meant for us beasts!"

    Mira ignored their murderous eyes and looked around for any familiar faces.

    There were quite a few disciples from the Battle Maiden Sect. However, they looked more keen on taking her down than anyone else here, causing Mira to shake her head.

    ''That dumbass "Sect Master". Why feel the need to make your disciple''s lives harder?'' She wondered, pitying the poor fools who wanted to take her down.

    Unfortunately, other than the lion she met earlier and a few people from other Sects, she didn''t recognize anyone else.

    ''I suppose Elenei is busy doing her own thing.'' Mira shrugged, not caring too much. She could still feel her connection with the Dracophoenix, meaning she was still alive. ''Sucks for her.''

    As soon as Mira finally stepped foot on the peak of the Spire, the entrance behind her closed, catching everyone''s attention.

    Finally, the Griffin, who sat in front of them as still as a statue, opened its beak to speak, "You all have proved your might, instincts, strength, and control in the previous tests. Everyone who has made it here is fated with the Spire. However, only one person can receive the blessing of the progenitors. Fight amongst yourselves, and you will earn a chance to obtain what it is you seek."

    "Fuck you! I''m stronger than all these weaklings! I deserve this energy more than they do! " An Elder of the Profound Elements Sect yelled before taking out a scepter andunching an attack at the Griffin.

    However, his eyes never left the swirl of red and blue behind them as if he were entranced. He''d never seen something so beautiful before. If only he could just grab it��

    *BOOM!*

    Before the Elder could react, the Griffon swooped in andunched the man off the tform, sending him spiraling to the ground.

    The Elder, quick to react, attempted to fly but soon realized she was unable to and thus crashed into the ground.

    The Griffin didn''t even spare him a look, keeping its eyes on everyone else.

    "Fight." It urged, almost like it was telling them that attacking it was useless.

    With no other choice, the group of people and beasts red at each other warily, slowly backing off from one another.

    Mira, however, saw no need for such a pathetic disy and immediately chopped the head off of the closest beast to her.

    "It said fight." Mira spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear, "However, if you don''t have the guts to, I''ll be taking everything, including all your treasures."

    With that said, she dashed to the nearest person, punching them in the gut and sending them flying. But not before stealing their Spatial Ring.

    The man cried out in pain, but it was more emotional than physical, considering his life savings were stolen right before his eyes, and there was nothing he could do about it.

 Chapter 774 Prime Disciple Competition: Bloodbath on the Spire

    <h4>Chapter 774 Prime Disciple Competition: Bloodbath on the Spire</h4>

    Mira''s audacity sent ripples of shock throughout the gathered crowd.

    As soon as she spoke, the Spire turned into a battlefield. The initial shock wore off, and everyone began unleashing their respective skills. The skies above the Spire were painted with beams of radiant lights and raging elements as techniques and spells were cast.

    For some, alliances had been made in anticipation of this moment. Groups of cultivatorsbined their strength to form protective barriers, shielding themselves from rogue attacks whileunching coordinated assaults on others.

    Mira, not one to wait for enemies to strike, darted through the scene like a wraith.

    Mira moved with a lethal grace that was almost mesmerizing. The glint of her scythe shimmered in the ethereal light, bing an extension of her will.

    As she navigated the battlefield, her target was clear: the weakerbatants.

    By eliminating them first, she could reduce the chaos and make the field more manageable for her strategic movester.

    She could also prevent as many women from her Sect from dying so uselessly.

    A younger disciple from the Battle Maiden Sect, her stance revealing her uncertainty, made a tentative strike at Mira with a short sword.

    She looked like she wanted to say something, but Mira didn''t allow her to.

    Without even looking, Mira pivoted, her tailshing out and sending the disciple sprawling off the Spire.

    With another fluid motion, her scythe came down on a nearby beast, and a life was extinguished.

    Nearby, a beast cultivator, a young Lynx barely out of its adolescent phase, pounced. But Mira was ready. A swift uppercut from her fist met its jaw, and the Lynx crumpled mid-air, tumbling back to the ground, dazed and defeated.

    Another beast attempted a sneak attack from behind, lunging with extended ws. Mira''s senses, sharpened to an incredible degree, alerted her. Without breaking stride, her golden tail, imbued with Primal Energy, whipped around and crashed into its head, exploding it.

    Some, seeing her prowess, attempted to join forces against her.

    A cluster of Battle Maiden Sect disciples, united by their collective desire to be the Sect''s Prime Disciple,unched an all-out attack. zing arrows, chains of energy, and spears of ice hurtled toward Mira. But she was always a step ahead.

    Mira erected a wall of ice, blocking the attacks.

    Immediately after, she was nked by a group of beasts, determined to kill her and consume her blood.

    With a flick of her wrist, she sent a flurry of ice spikes at them. They didn''t even get a chance to attack before they were skewered to death.

    The Battle Maiden disciples were left dumbfounded, but their hesitation cost them dearly. Mira retaliated with a devastating shockwave, hurling them off the Spire''s peak. Their screams echoed as they plummeted.

    In the midst of this chaotic melee, the Griffin observed with a mixture of amusement and admiration. Mira was definitely a worthy candidate, but she wasn''t the only person with considerable strength and talent on the Spire.

    A deafening roar split the air, causing several fighters to stumble. Emerging from the shadows was a gargantuan beast, a creature of lore, said to have been extinct for millennia: the Thunderdrake. Its scales sparkled like storm clouds, and its eyes crackled with electricity.

    "Enough! The Spire''s treasure is mine! The rest of you weaklings should just leave and stop wasting my time!" the Thunderdrake dered, its voice shaking the very foundations of the Spire.

    But Mira, emboldened by her earlier victories and the power she''d umted, stepped forth.

    She didn''t even bother speaking with this dumbass. However, the same couldn''t be said about the others.

    "If you have the ability, take it for yourself!"

    "That''s right! Quit your yappin'' and fight!"

    "Wasting your time?! Fuck you! You''re wasting our time with all your screaming!"

    Almost all the focus shifted from Mira to the Thunderdrake, leaving only a few of the silent, more powerful enemies to keep their eyes on her.

    "You-!" The Thunderdrake red at everyone cursing it. "You bugs dare to curse me?! I''LL KILL YOU ALL!"

    The Thunderdrake''s rage was palpable, and with another earth-shattering roar, it unleashed torrents of electrical energy towards thebatants. The Spire lit up with bright arcs of electricity, turning the battlefield into a frenzied storm of chaotic energy.

    Many of the lesser-skilled fighters were instantly paralyzed, their bodies convulsing as the electrical currents coursed through them. The more adept fighters managed to dodge or deflect the bolts, but the sheer force of the Thunderdrake''s attack was still enough to throw them off bnce.

    But not Mira.

    She used the momentary distraction to her advantage. With an agility that belied her stature, Mira deftly wove through the electric onught, her scythe leaving a trail of frozen mist in its wake. Her path was clear: straight towards the Thunderdrake.

    As the beast continued its rampage, Mira moved closer, using her ice abilities to create tforms and shields, giving her a direct line to its massive form. With each step, she took out any minor enemy that dared approach her.

    A few of the more powerful enemies, sensing the imminent confrontation, began to create barriers and prepare their most potent techniques, aiming to either capitalize on the ensuing battle or protect themselves from its fallout.

    Close enough now to see the anger in the Thunderdrake''s crackling eyes, Mira leaped. Using her tails, she vaulted herself high into the air, meeting the beast''s gaze with a challenging re.

    As she descended, her scythe coated in ayer of cold so intense that it seemed to suck the heat from the surrounding air; she aimed for the beast''s eye. But the Thunderdrake was no easy target. With a swift motion, it whipped its tail, creating a barrier of electricity.

    Mira was undeterred. Channeling her Primal Energy into her fists, she punched through the electric wall, her body bathed in blue mes that neutralized the electric charges. As she emerged, her scythe swung, leaving a deep gash on the Thunderdrake''s cheek.

    Enraged, the beast retaliated. Its maw opened wide, releasing a concentrated beam of lightning straight at Mira. Yet, in the blink of an eye, she summoned a massive ice barrier, absorbing and refracting the st. Parts of the Spire shattered from the collision, raining debris everywhere.

    Using the momentary blindness caused by the explosion, Mira lunged, her tails wrapping around the Thunderdrake''s neck. With one swift motion, she used the beast''s momentum against it, mming its head into the Spire''s surface.

    Stunned, the Thunderdrake iled, trying to dislodge Mira. But she held on, channeling her icy energy into the beast, slowly freezing it from the inside out.

    "You fox bitch! Let me go!" It roared, releasing surges of lightning in all directions, hoping to reduce Mira to ash.

    But, despite having torrents of lightning surrounding her body, Mira remained still. In fact, she had even tightened her grip, channeling her icy energy into the beast, slowly freezing it from the inside out.

    One would assume that her internal organs would''ve been cooked by now from all the lightning, but the ones with keener eyes noticed something weird.

    Mira''s sapphire tail had lit up, and the woman was surrounded by a thin yet seemingly indestructible blue shield.

    The fight seemed to draw on, but in reality, only moments had passed. The onlookers, both in awe and terror, could only watch as the legendary Thunderdrake''s movements became slower, its once fierce eyes now filled with desperation.

    With a final surge of strength, Mira delivered the finishing blow, driving her scythe through the creature''s neck. The once-mighty Thunderdrake let out a mournful cry before its head fell to the ground, and it turned into a statue of ice, forever frozen in its final moments of defiance.

    The Spire went eerily silent, the only sound being the wind whistling through the broken stones. All eyes were once again on Mira, standing tall and unscathed atop the frozen remains of the Thunderdrake.

    "Fuck this. I''m out!" One person said before they hopped off the Spire, causing a chain reaction.

    "Me too!"

    "Yeah. If I had known I would''ve had to face this monster, I would''ve chosen a different ind."

    More and more people jumped off the Spire, not wanting anything to do with Mira.

    Although it was a shame to lose whatever was behind the Griffin, they''d rather keep their lives.

    If they had to fight a battle to the death against Mira, they would surely lose. Not to mention, even if they didn''t die, they''d still lose their Spatial Rings!

    It was better to keep their lives and belongings than to lose everything in one go.

    A few scoffed at their cowardice, but it''s not like they didn''t understand. Mira was definitely a strong fighter.

    However, the allure of the treasure was too much, especially for those who were reaching the limit of their talent.

    Mira spared a nce around, meeting the gazes of those who had stayed.

    With the battlefield now dominated by her presence, Mira knew that the true battle for the Spire''s treasure was about to begin.

    The strongest of the strong remained, and they resolved themselves not to be taken down as easily as the Thunderdrake.

 Chapter 775 Prime Disciple Competition: Final Battle on the Spire

    <h4>Chapter 775 Prime Disciple Competition: Final Battle on the Spire</h4>

    The unsettling calm that had fallen over the Spire was interrupted only by the heavy breathing of the remaining fighters. They formed a semi-circle around Mira, sizing her up, their intentions clear.

    While some were impressed by Mira''s prowess, others were convinced that her triumph over the Thunderdrake was but a fluke or that she had exhausted her energy in the process.

    A lean, heavily tattooed man from the Profound Elements Sect stepped forward, his fingers sparking with flickering mes. "Impressive show, Mira," he sneered. "But that was just a warm-up. Ready for round two?"

    His words were met with smirks and nods of agreement from the rest. The silent understanding was that they wouldbine forces, at least temporarily, to take Mira down.

    Yet Mira stood unfazed, her eyes cold, analyzing each of the opponents in front of her.

    "Come, then," she whispered, her voice chillingly calm, as a frosty aura enveloped her.

    Without a moment''s hesitation, the battlemenced. The earth trembled as attacks rained down from all directions. Thunderbolts, fireballs, gale winds, and water torrents targeted Mira, each one fiercer than thest.

    As the onught began, Mira quickly unfurled her Paragon Wings, sharp feathers glinting with an icy menace, which were infused with other elements. The feathers flew out, intercepting and countering the majority of the attacks, allowing Mira to remain untouched.

    The tattooed man from the Profound Elements Sect unleashed a roaring ze, attempting to melt her defenses.

    But before his mes could approach her, she retaliated with [Frozen Torrent], sending a cascade of icy water that doused his fire.

    Mira''s tails shifted, each disying a myriad of colors. As her white tail shimmered, the surrounding air dropped in temperature drastically, summoning the [Blizzard Domain].

    Within seconds, a blinding snowstorm covered the battlefield, disorienting her foes.

    Another tail, the pinkish-blue, illuminated, and suddenly, she used her illusory technique, [Mirage Dance].

    Illusions of Mira sprouted everywhere, dodging attacks gracefully amidst the blizzard, misleading and confusing her opponents, making them question which was the real Mira.

    Using [Whispering Wind], she listened to the subtle movements of her adversaries, ensuring she was always one step ahead. Her Yin Fire, an ethereal blue me, was then unleashed, countering a water mage''s tidal wave, turning it into a steaming mist.

    While everyone was distracted, she executed [Gravity Ball], weighing down a wind user who was levitating, sending him crashing down to the Spire''s cold surface.

    A group of earth users, attempting to trap her,bined their skills to create [Abyssal Quake], shaking the very foundation of the Spire. But Mira responded with [Ice Titan''s Fortress], raising gigantic walls of enchanted ice, shielding herself from the tremors, and creating a maze-like battleground.

    Using her charm ability, she momentarily ensnared the minds of some fighters, making them turn on their allies. This caused a momentary pause in their relentless assault, buying her some time.

    The scythe in her hand then hummed as she employed [Frostbite Requiem], slicing through two adversaries who tried to nk her. Every move she made was graceful yet deadly, disying herbat proficiency.

    Suddenly, a high-ranking beast cultivator lunged at her, using its control over the earth to restrain her movements.

    Seeing the opportunity, another opponent cast a dark curse aiming to corrupt her soul. Mira''s reaction was swift; she initiated [Cmity''s Embrace], merging Darkness, Yin Magma, and Yin Lightning, repelling the curse and causing the beast cultivator to scream in agony as he was enveloped in the raging elements.

    With a deft motion, she released the fur on one of her tails, turning them into countless needles that rained upon those who thought they could approach her unscathed.

    With thebined force of her enemies coalescing in front of her, Mira took a deep breath and connected with the core of her energy, allowing her essence to transform.

    Her body started to shift and contort, revealing her pure beast form. As a magnificent 9-tailed fox, her radiant fur glowed with a soft, ethereal light, giving her an aura of unparalleled majesty.

    In this form, her senses sharpened, and her physical strength was increased drastically. Sensing a powerful technique being prepared by abatant on her left, she whipped two of her tails, mming them against the man.

    However, there was a bit too much power behind that attack as the man''s body crumpled together, spurting blood from every orifice as his internal organs exploded.

    Sensing a stream of energy entering her body, Mira realized she had killed the man with that one attack.

    However, she didn''t have time to ponder on her current strength.

    Being in her beast form had its limitations, one of which was the decreased efficiency of using Qi techniques.

    The tattooed man, sensing her vulnerability in this form, hurled a massive ball of condensed me towards her.

    With a rapid twirl, Mira reverted to her hybrid form, gracefully summoning [Elemental Barrier], blocking the attack. But, the man never let up.

    He continued to rain down fire as if he was some sort of volcano. She couldn''t even keep up with all the techniques he was using. Everything within her perception was just a sea of fire.

    Feeling the heat rise and the world around her blurring into a fierce crimson, Mira knew she needed to shift the tides of the battle fast.

    Spotting a break between the fiery onught, Mira took a deep breath and focused on her core. The power that emanated from her was overwhelming, creating an atmospheric shift that drew the attention of every fighter on the battlefield. Transforming into her human form, her Qi techniques surged in power.

    She cast [Elemental Barrier], surrounding herself with a protective bubble that repelled the most intensive mes and began to channel a new technique. Icy winds started to pick up, swirling around her, colliding with the zing inferno. Steam rose in clouds, creating a dense fog that reduced visibility to near zero.

    The tattooed man, rmed by this sudden turn, hesitated. Taking advantage of his confusion, Mira executed [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration].

    Nine illusions of Mira and her scythe, exact replicas of the original, formed around her.

    Each illusion held the scythe with a sense of purpose and poise. They moved in harmony in a way that was both mesmerizing and threatening.

    Their movements,bined with the dense fog, created a phantasmal battlefield. The ground underneath was covered with ayer of frost that spread out like spider webs, causing the stone beneath to crack and give away.

    The tattooed man tried to discern the real Mira among the illusions, his eyes darting about, trying to keep track of each movement. But the illusions were perfect, mirroring Mira''s every motion, making it impossible to distinguish between them.

    Mira, along with her illusions, channeled their energy into their scythes. The des glowed with an icy blue sheen, and in unison, they swung down toward the ground, releasing a shockwave that radiated outward.

    The entire Spire shook violently, the ground shattering and sending chunks of rock into the air.

    As the ice and frost expanded, they captured everyone in their vicinity. The fighters and beasts found themselves ensnared by the fast-growing ice, which reached out like hands trying to pull them down into a frozen abyss.

    Those who could resist tried to break free, their elemental abilitiesing to the fore. But they were toote. The cold was intense and numbing, robbing them of their strength and draining their Qi.

    The tattooed man, despite his incredible heat, found himself struggling. His mes, which were once a roaring ze, were now reduced to mere embers, fighting against the cold that threatened to snuff them out. The ice slowly crept up his legs, encasing him.

    Mira watched on with cold, unfeeling eyes.

    Throughout her journey in this Realm, she had tried not to kill as many humans as she normally would. They were in an alliance, after all.

    It wouldn''t be all that smart of her to kill the only people who were willing to go against the beasts with them.

    However, those present were ready to enter into a battle to the death for whatever treasure the Griffin was protecting.

    So, she must respond in kind.

    Raising her hand, Miramanded her illusions to converge in the middle of her struggling opponents.

    Sensing their impending doom, everyone stopped moving and stared in Mira''s direction.

    "I guess I should''ve retreated��" The tattooed cultivator from the Profound Elements Sect released a wry chuckle.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Her illusions exploded into an icy apocalypse, reducing everyone in the vicinity to nothing.

    The aftermath was surreal. The Spire, which once reverberated with the cries of battle, was now engulfed in a haunting silence. Pirs of ice stood as solemn markers to the brave fighters that had been. The once solid ground was a mosaic of fractured rock and ice.

    Mira stood amidst this wintry wastnd, her breath visible in the frigid air, her scythe dripping with condensed moisture. She looked around and frowned, annoyed that she had to kill those who were technically in an alliance with her against the beasts.

    ''There were a few strong people too.'' Mira thought but didn''t dwell on it.

    The treasure was more important, after all. She just hoped things wouldn''t be bothersome after this Realm closed.

    "Congrattions, challenger!" The Griffin looked down and praised, interrupting her thoughts.

 Chapter 776 Prime Disciple Competition: Griffin

    ?

    "Congrattions, challenger!" The Griffin dove down andnded before Mira, "As thest one standing, you''ve earned the right to challenge me. Should you defeat me, you will have proved yourself worthy enough to obtain thest piece of the puzzle you seek."

    "..." Mira stared nkly at the Griffin, wondering if it was joking. However, looking into its eyes, she could tell it wasn''t.

    ''Although I expected something like this, how am I supposed to beat this monster?'' Mira thought with a sigh. Considering how easily it smacked away the one Elder on the ind, its strength was definitely higher than her own by a considerable margin.

    "So? How am I supposed to defeat you?" Mira asked, the grip on her scythe tightening.

    "y me, and you will pass!" The Griffin raised its head arrogantly as if to say Mira didn''t have the capability.

    There was a reason why the main treasure of the Spire had never been obtained, even after all these years. Nobody could defeat it.

    While Griffins weren''t the strongest among the ancient beasts, they certainly weren''t far behind.

    The Griffin''s golden feathers shimmered under thebination of the moon and sun, and its eyes, a deep blue, regarded Mira with a mixture of curiosity and disdain.

    Its majestic wings, each feather edged in silver, spread out with a disy of raw power. With every p, currents of air flowed through, rustling the shards of ice that littered the battlefield. The wind carried an aura of absolute dominance, a kind only seen in apex predators.

    Mira assessed the beast before her. Beyond its regal appearance, she could feel the immense power pulsating from it, an energy that threatened to suffocate her.

    "Before we begin, anyst words or wisdom you''d like to bestow?" Mira taunted, trying to mask the unease she felt.

    The Griffin tilted its head, the moonlight reflecting off its keen, observant eyes. "Many have stood where you are now, and many have fallen," it began, its voice rich and resonant. "Each came with hope, ambition, and the belief that they were different. But in the end, all were consumed by the same fate."

    Mira smirked, "Is that supposed to scare me?"

    "Merely an observation," the Griffin replied. "I bear you no malice. But like you, I have a role to y."

    As the final word echoed, the Griffin took to the skies, its wings stirring up a whirlwind of snow and debris.

    Mira''s heart raced, not just from the anticipation of the fight but also from the sheer aura of the creature before her.

    "I suggest you prepare," the Griffin''s voice carried through the air, a smile tugging at the corner of its beak. Without waiting for a response, it surged forward, closing the distance immediately.

    Mira instinctively leaped backward, unfurling her Paragon Wings. However, before she could take flight, the Griffin was upon her, its talons aimed squarely at her chest.

    With a swift motion, she blocked the attack with her scythe, only to be pushed back by the sheer force of the blow.

    Tumbling a few meters away, she quickly assessed the situation. Her opponent was incredibly fast and far stronger than she had anticipated. If she had any chance at winning, it would most likely be from some full-powered surprise attack.

    The Griffin, seemingly amused, hovered above her. "Such feeble resistance. I expected more from thest one standing."

    Mira grunted, pushing herself to her feet. "And I expected more from a Griffin. A Dragon would''ve killed me in one hit."

    But as the words left her mouth, the Griffin swooped down once more. Mira tried to evade, but the beast was too fast, sending her flying once again.

    However, it didn''t stop there and continued its onught.

    Each swipe, each dive, each peck was more brutal than thest.

    Every time Mira thought she had dodged or countered, the Griffin was always one step ahead, mocking her with its superior agility and prowess.

    Her body bore the brunt of most of the blows, breaking bones and damaging her internal organs. It felt like battling a tornado; no matter which way she turned, the storm was always there, consuming her.

    Luckily, after forming a Primal Heart, her ability to regenerate had improved. However, the beast was certainly putting it to the limits.

    At one point, she managed tond a solid hit on the Griffin''s wing, but it seemed unaffected, shrugging off the blow like it was nothing.

    "Is that all? To think someone with the 9-Tailed Fox Bloodline would be so weak," the Griffin teased, circling her.

    Mira''s breathing became ragged, her movements less precise, as she tried desperately to keep up. The Griffin didn''t miss this and smirked, knowing that it was about to kill another one in a millennia genius.

    In a desperate bid, Mira unleashed [Frostbite Requiem], hoping to slow the creature down. The Griffin merely soared higher, evading the icy shards effortlessly, before diving down at a blinding speed, mming into Mira and pinning her to the ground.

    The impact left her dazed, her vision blurry. The weight of the Griffin on her chest was suffocating. Its talons gripped her arms, rendering her powerless, and its beak came close to her face. "Did you truly think you could best me?" it whispered, its breath hot against her skin.

    Mira''s muscles bulged as she attempted to throw the beast off of her, but it barely moved a centimeter despite using her full strength. She also attempted to shift forms, but the Griffin didn''t allow that either.

    Sneakily, she snaked her Golden Tail loosely around one of its back legs. Fortunately, the beasts didn''t seem to care.

    Knowing that struggling was futile, she stopped moving. Instead, she looked up and red at the beast, her crimson eyes glowing.

    "Oh? Not going to beg for your life, huh? Well, that''s fine. Talented beings are always like that. So damn prideful." The Griffin chuckled as if it itself wasn''t a talented being.

    Suddenly, Mira chuckled, her gaze shifting from anger to disdain.

    Shaking her head, she asked, "Why should I beg for my life? When I''ll be taking yours."

    At that moment, the Griffin''s instincts screamed to run away. It didn''t know what was going on, but it didn''t hesitate to do so.

    Releasing Mira from its grip, it took to the skies.

    Only to realize that Mira''s tails were wrapped firmly around its body.

    "What are you doing?! Get off!" It yelled, trying to shake Mira off, but she was stuck on there like glue.

    Releasing all the energy in her Primal Heart, Mira directed it to her ck tail, causing it to shine.

    Then, like a ck hole, it sucked in all the nearby light. The surroundings dimmed, save for the Sun and Moon on either side, but even those were losing their shine.

    The very essence of the world seemed to be absorbed by Mira''s ck tail. The Griffin felt its life force wane, a sensation it had never experienced before. The soul of the creature, which had never known true fear, was now trembling before the abyssal void that was Mira''s tail.

    A deafening silence enveloped the battlefield as the light above seemed to fade into the distance, leaving the Spire, the Griffin, and Mira in a twilight realm of destion.

    The Griffin''s once vibrant golden feathers began to lose their luster, turning ashen gray, while its majestic blue eyes were consumed by darkness, a void where no light could reach. It felt as if it were being dragged into an endless abyss, the cold grip of death tightening around its heart.

    Its strength, which had always been its pride, was rapidly waning. Desperate ps of its wings, once filled with the power to stir tempests, now felt weak and sluggish. The air currents it once mastered were now rebelling against it, refusing to hold it aloft.

    "Fox..." the Griffin croaked, its voice a mere shadow of the proud, resonant tones it had spoken in just moments ago. "What have you done?"

    Mira, her form illuminated by the embers of the sun and moon, looked up at the Griffin, her eyes radiating a cold, unfeeling murderous intent. "You asked me to y you to prove my worth. I simply found a way."

    The Griffin, now reduced to a mere shadow of its former self, plummeted from the sky, crashing onto the ground with a thud.

    Its once piercing eyes now looked at Mira with a mix of fear, confusion, and a hint of respect.

    Gathering her strength, Mira approached the fallen beast, her ck tail still shimmering with residual energy. Without even giving the beast a chance to respond, her tail erged and wrapped itself around the Griffin, absorbing it all.

    As soon as the beast and just about everything else on top of the Spire disappeared, Mira fell to her knees. Sweat poured out of her body, with her face paler than a sheet of paper.

    However, the barrier around the swirl of energy,bined directly with the sun and moon, had dispersed, allowing Mira to take what was rightfully hers.

 Chapter 777 Prime Disciple Competition: New Form Unlocked

    <h4>Chapter 777 Prime Disciple Competition: New Form Unlocked</h4>

    With the Griffin killed and absorbed, Mira now stood at the very peak of the spire, the swirling nexus of power beckoning her. Thebined energies of the sun and moon intermingled into something uniquely beautiful, as if fire and ice had reached an equilibrium.

    Mira approached cautiously, her breathing heavy and her body trembling from the aftermath of herst attack. Using her ck Tail to kill the Griffin sucked an enormous amount of lifespan out of her, around 25%.

    Yet, that was already a reduced number, as it would''ve been much higher if she didn''t have ess to Primal Energy.

    She guessed it would''ve cost her at least 50% of her lifespan to kill that Griffin if she hadn''t formed her Primal Heart.

    ''The difficulty really escted��'' Mira thought, not expecting to use her ck Tail at all in this Realm.

    However, she didn''t see any other way to beat it.

    Hell, she couldn''t even hit it, much less kill it!

    ''It could''ve been testing me.'' She considered that for a moment and felt it could be usible. ''I didn''t feel any killing intenting from it, but it could''ve just been skilled at hiding it.''

    In the end, Mira just shrugged her shoulders.

    It was dead now, and it''s not like she could go back in time to ask it about its motives.

    ''At least it provided me with a substantial amount of Qi.'' Mira gave a weak smirk, feeling her meridians and core overflowing with energy.

    She didn''t know if there was enough to make it into the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, but there should be plenty enough to enter the 8th Stage.

    Thrilled that she would soon reveal every aspect of her soul and finally be done with the Nascent Soul Realm, she stepped before the swirling mix of energy.

    On one side, an intense, fiery, untamed energy converged onto the center of the Spire. On the other side, an equally intense yet calm, icy, and soothing energy merged with the other.

    However, now that she got a closer look, right down the middle, there was a stream of extremely pure, dense Qi keeping the two together.

    All three of these energies then converged onto a single point on the Spire to create something entirely new. Something that made her Primal Heart pulse with need.

    Steadying her breath, Mira''s eyes narrowed. Then, with her eyes burning with desire, she stepped inside.

    "Ugh!" She grunted, immediately feeling a surge of overwhelming energy flow through her.

    The fiery energy from the sun flowed straight into her Primal Heart, where it did its best to absorb and consolidate as much of it as it could. It began rampaging around as if it were a wild beast, but Mira''s Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence was strong enough to keep it from causing harm.

    Meanwhile, the energy from the moon went to her Human Heart, where it went into her veins, cycling throughout her body and improving her physique.

    She had almost forgotten about it until now, but her physique, what she called the Extreme Overlord Yin Physique, was a fundamental part of her power, especially before she turned into a Fox/Human hybrid.

    She''d spent so much time over thest few years trying to improve her cultivation, bodily strength, understanding her beast-like traits, and more that she had almostpletely lost touch with her human side.

    Not that she wanted to. She just didn''t know how to strengthen or improve her Physique.

    Now that she felt her Physique being improved, or rather altered, she was reminded of her roots. Perhaps, she wouldn''t juste out of this with a higher cultivation and a new form, but something else as well.

    Finally, the thin strand of Qi keeping it all together went straight for her core.

    It mixed with her current Qi, continuously improving its quality and purging out any unwanted impurities.

    The maelstrom of energies surrounding Mira began to synchronize with the very rhythms of her heartbeats.

    Every inhale she took was a deep, searing wave of the sun''s molten fire.

    Every exhale was a cooling release of the moon''s silver frosts.

    And beneath it all was the grounding Qi that constantly refined her.

    Mira felt like she was being torn apart and reassembled anew.

    The energy from the sun, so raw and fierce, began challenging her Primal Heart. It wasn''t simply about absorbing; it was about dominating, molding, and bing one with the energy.

    It sought to shatter her very essence, to rebuild her stronger than before. Each pulse of this energy shed with her Blood Essence, threatening to crack the foundation of her strength.

    However, the things received from the FLDIL aren''t low-quality trash. Her Blood Essence and, simultaneously, her Primal Heart stood strong, epting everything the sun had to offer.

    At the same time, the moon''s ethereal coolness began weaving through her Human Heart, anchoring her when the fiery tempest threatened to consume her.

    This energy was the balm to the sun''s ze. With each cycle, it seemed to rejuvenate her, mending frayed connections, reminding her of her humanity, and tempering her unique elemental affinities.

    Mira also felt the shifting and molding of her physique, the very fabric of her being rewritten.

    Each cell in her body vibrated. Her Extreme Overlord Yin Physique began to resonate with the other energies in her body, intending to capitalize on the "Yin" portion and make that the focal point.

    But it was the thin strand of pure Qi, acting as both a bridge and a guardian, that surprised her the most.

    It was almost sentient in nature, intelligently navigating her core, merging, and separating, directing where energies should go.

    Its purity was of such an extent that it began elevating her cultivation base. Mira could sense the barriers of the Nascent Soul Realm stages beginning to thin without her even having to do anything.

    Her 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence began to react violently. The fiery energy of the sun enhanced the very essence of the fox within her, reigniting the ancient powers thaty dormant within.

    One by one, her tails began to manifest physically around her, each one glowing with an ethereal luminescence.

    The nine tails that had always been a manifestation of her unique powers began to vibrate with an intensity she had never felt before. They expanded, filling up with the trio of energies, bing something like mini-dantians themselves.

    But that was just the beginning.

    At the root of her tails, she felt 9 connections forming, merging with her meridians. Qi, Primal Energy, and Yin Essence (what she decided to call the energy released from the moon) all came together, shifting some of her World Tree/Chaotic Silk meridians around to create different pathways.

    They weren''t merely extensions of her form anymore but channels that directed the merging energies into her very essence.

    No longer did she have to convert her Qi at a horrible conversion rate to refill her tails with energy. Instead, they were now linked to her cultivation base.

    As she felt the fiery sun''s energy pour into her, her already icy silver hair started to shimmer with gold strands.

    The glow of her eyes intensified, transitioning from crimson to a fusion of gold and iridescent silver, representing the perfect melding of her fox and human spirits with the energies of the sun and moon.

    Her nine tails, each a symbol of her Progenitor lineage, began to transform. The fur became more luminescent as they were continuously pumped with energy.

    The swirling patterns of sun and moon energies spiraled around each tail, embedding ancient runes onto them.

    The physical boundaries that once defined her started to blur. Her silhouette began to shimmer, suggesting a form that was both tangible and intangible. The air around her pulsed with power as her presence exploded, making it clear that she was not merely growing but ascending.

    She felt her consciousness expand and, with it, her Soul Sense, which didn''t show any signs of stopping.

    Inside her, a triangle of energies formed, creating a sort of harmony. Her Primal Heart, Human Heart, and Core were all connected to one another, each fueling the other''s existence.

    Her Primal Heart improved her physical strength, while her Human Heart enhanced her power and control over her elemental affinities. Lastly, the increasing quality of her Qi made every aspect of her better.

    With everything at her disposal, she could now ess a locked part of herself that she never knew she had:

    Her Progenitor Form.

    Around her, the spire''s energy began to resonate, its own ancient power acknowledging her transcendence. The ground below her feet pulsed, and the skies above sang, each note a testament to her transformation.

    Finally, as the surge of power began to diminish, Mira felt a profound sense of rity. She looked down at her form, seeing not just a fox or a human or even a hybrid. It was something entirely new.

    As if she had gone beyond those things. She felt like she was simr to an Elemental, that was a part of nature, than anything else.

    Her control over Qi and overall strength was immense right now, she felt like she could conquer the world in this state.

    In fact, after she was done here, she really wanted to see just how strong she really was.

    With a serene smile, Mira closed her eyes and honed in on her soul.

    ''It''s time to break through.''

 Chapter 778 Prime Disciple Competition: Breakthrough

    <h4>Chapter 778 Prime Disciple Competition: Breakthrough</h4>

    Focusing on her soul, Mira noticed that her Nascent Soul had changed slightly. Unlike in her Progenitor Form, where her physical body became more ethereal, her Nascent Soul seemed to be more physical.

    Not to the point that she could dispatch it and force it toplete tasks for her, but it certainly was peculiar.

    ''Maybe it''s just a side-effect of this new form.'' Mira surmised, feeling like she was correct in her assumption.

    Other than that, there were a few other noticeable changes in her soul.

    Although there wasn''t much left for her to uncover, only about 30%,? the ck sections seemed even darker than before. Most likely from the increased purity in Qi along with the two other energies flowing through her.

    Lastly, everything just felt more�� alive. The magma and Earth acting as the foundation seemed real. The ice hill her Nascent Soul stood on emitted a chilling aura, with the raindrops looking like they were real.

    The Cyclones, Yin Lightning, and Yin Fire each acted as if they were real.

    Mira, curious about what was going on, ordered her Nascent Soul to reach out and touch the various elements.

    When the spatter of rain touched its hand, Mira immediately felt the connection to her Water affinity throb.

    After the Yin Lightning surged through its semi-physical body, sparks began flying out of Mira''s real body.

    The same went for the rest of the elements. Every time she focused on one and then came into contact with it, she felt like she was touching the origin of her affinities. As if her Physique, body, mind, soul, bloodline, Qi, Primal Energy, and Yin Essence were slowly bing one inside this ce.

    This ce that was once filled with absolute darkness was slowly filling up with elements.

    The only thing that left Mira bewildered was the light in the center of the cyclone that formed after she broke through to the 6th Stage.

    Whenever the Nascent Soul made contact with it, she had no reaction.

    ''Am I just not meant to have a Light Affinity?'' Mira wondered. She didn''t particrly care if she had the affinity or not, as she had plenty enough on her te as it was, but it did leave her guessing.

    ''Maybe I''ll find out once I reach the 9th Stage.''

    The light had toe from somewhere, right? Perhaps the only thing she had to do was keep chipping away at the darkness, and everything will be revealed.

    With a look of anticipation on her face, Mira stopped investigating her soul and began her breakthrough.

    The Qi that was overflowing in her meridians immediately circted itself through her body until it reached the World Core in her soul.

    Then, as if her Nascent Soul came to life, it stood up on the ice mountain until it almost touched the tangible darkness above it and shed.

    *Tink!*

    "UGH!" Mira grunted, a trickle of blooding out the side of her mouth. Her scythe rebounded off of it, doing almost no damage, merely creating a scratch.

    ''Fuck! Why the hell is it so strong?!'' She cursed, ring at the darkness, which seemed almost crystalline.

    The pain Mira felt was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was an all-epassing agony, searing every fiber of her being, a sensation akin to a thousand des burrowing into her core, trying to rip apart her very essence.

    Each nerve ending seemed to be on fire, while her bones felt like they were being crushed under a mountain. The pain was not just physical but also spiritual like she was ripping apart her soul and affinity.

    Like she was ripping out pieces of her consciousness and putting them back together.

    But Mira wasn''t one to surrender. Determined and resolute, she focused on the crystalline darkness, preparing for another assault.

    Having the Nascent Soul raise its scythe again, she swung, creating a slight indention.

    "Mmf!" Mira bit her tongue, trying not to grunt.

    She''d been through enough pain in her life. She wasn''t about to let her own breakthrough get the better of her!

    With every sh against the darkness, fragments broke away, liberating the energies contained within. But as predicted, the darkness reabsorbed those fragments, growing denser, more formidable, and seemingly imprable.

    Yet, with each crack she managed to create, the world beneath the darkness slowly revealed itself.

    Dark clouds began to churn and spin, forming a cyclonic maelstrom.

    The heart of this tempest was an eye, a serene center where rays of golden light pierced through, casting luminescent beams that refracted off the emerging elements.

    As more of the obsidian shroud was torn away, glimmering ice crystals began to emerge, catching the fragmented beams of light and casting prismatic rainbows across the tumultuous realm.

    They sparkled with an otherworldly beauty, exuding an ethereal glow that seemed to dance with the very energies Mira hade to know so intimately.

    Water droplets, infused with the brilliance of the Yin Lightning, began their descent from the swirling clouds above.

    As they fell, they merged with the ice, creating a breathtaking spectacle of cascading lights and electric sparks.

    But the pain never subsided. It remained, reminding Mira of the price she paid for each centimeter she imed. Every droplet that merged, every crystal that shimmered, came at a cost.

    As the darkness began to shrink, the dance of the elements became even more profound. The previously veiled cyclonic eye grewrger, revealing more of its golden glow. The refracted beams of light yed with the Yin-infused droplets, creating an aurora-like spectacle, filling the vast expanse of her soul with colors and sparks that greatly contrasted her once ck soul.

    Mira could feel her connection with the elements deepening. It was as if every droplet and every spark were a part of her, echoing her heartbeat, resonating with her very essence. They were not just manifestations but extensions of her being.

    Every sh with the darkness peeled back anotheryer, unveiling more of the grandeur hidden beneath.

    By the time Mira managed to reduce the darkness to a mere 20% of her entire Soul, a tiny explosion went off in her body.

    Her Qi surged, flowing endlessly through her core, meridians, body, soul, hearts, and tails, creating a circuit. With every pass-through, it became denser and stronger until, finally, it settled down in her core.

    Every ounce of her being was strengthened continuously until it reached a breaking point.

    Finally, after what felt like years but was most likely just a few hours or days, with onest push Mira broke through to the 8th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Inside her Souly a swirling dance of dark clouds, refracted beams of golden light, cascading water droplets infused with Yin Lightning, and a rain of glittering ice crystals.

    The still-present pain, though diminished, reminded her of the ordeal she had endured. But instead of feeling defeated, Mira felt invigorated.

    This breakthrough had, by far, given her the biggest leap in strength, but things weren''t over yet.

    She was still overflowing with Qi after absorbing not only the Griffin but also the reward.

    ''Should I try and break through again?'' Miray down on top of the Spire and looked up at the sky, feeling spent.

    She knew it was a bad idea, but at the same time, this might be herst chance before she was thrown into battles and chaos again.

    "Fuck it!" Mira eximed. "I''m reaching the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm today!"

    But not before shepleted 10 stages in the Abyssal Battle Ladder��

    And maybe took a little nap��

    Unable to stay awake any longer, Mira slumped over and fell asleep, the peak of the Spire still locked to all the participants below or outside it.

    Dreams of battles, challenges, and distant memories yed in her mind. The Abyssal Battle Ladder, a daunting gauntlet of foes and trials, called out to her even in her dreams. It seemed like her mind and body craved the challenge to test the newfound strength she had gained from her breakthrough.

    She woke up with a jolt, still on top of the Spire. The dreams, or perhaps premonitions, were clear. Before she could think about another breakthrough, she had to conquer the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    About a dayter, after what felt like an endless cycle of battles, Mira sat back down, having just finished 10 Stages, or 100 Rounds in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, earning as many points as she could.

    Doing so also helped her adjust to her new strength, which would undoubtedly help her in thest breakthrough in the Nascent Soul Realm.

    After her intense bouts in the Abyssal Battle Ladder, Mira''s newfound strength pulsed with energy, ready to be channeled into another breakthrough. Feeling prepared, she assumed a meditative posture, ready to face the next challenge.

    As she began the process, channeling the Qi to the World Core of her soul, she felt an unexpected barrier, a feeling she hadn''t experienced in her previous stages. Like a dam holding back a river, her Qi was unable to flow freely. She tried pushing through it with sheer force, but the more she pushed, the stronger the resistance grew.

    Frustration began to set in. She took a deep breath, attempting to channel Qi from different parts of her body: her twin hearts, the Yin Essence, and Primal Energy. Each pathway she took led her to the same invisible barrier. The harmony she once felt between the various energies inside her was now marred by a disharmonious rhythm.

    Doubts began to creep into Mira''s mind. ''Was it because I absorbed the Griffin and that strange reward?'' she wondered. ''Or is it something inherent to my being? Is it rted to the light affinity? No, it could also be that my bloodline hasn''t fully sublimated.''

    There were too many things it could be, with the most likely one that Mira still wasn''t sure why her Nascent Soul was different than others.

    She tried a few more times but with no luck, she could only stop for now.

    Still, she was more than satisfied with her current gains.

    Focusing on her connection to Elenei, it seemed she was finished with her business and was ready to move to the next ind.

 Chapter 779 Prime Disciple Competition: Eclipse Island

    <h4>Chapter 779 Prime Disciple Competition: Eclipse Ind</h4>

    Hopping off the Spire, Mira slowly descended to the ground, where there were only a few participants left. She didn''t bother with them as they were mostly injured, weak, or both.

    Sensing her connection with Elenei, she quickly found the massive Dracophoenix, who had now broken through to Low-Stage 6th Rank.

    At her full size, she was over 25 meters tall, or around the size of an 8-story building. She still had fiery red scales, icy white Phoenix feathers, and a serpentine body, but her strength seemed much more contained now that her vessel was big enough to hold all of it.

    Still, Mira couldn''t help but marvel at just howrge her ''pet'' was. Rhydian never grew that big, and she was a higher cultivation than Elenei.

    ''Is she going to keep growing like that?'' Mira wondered, hoping that wouldn''t be the case.

    ''No,'' Elenei answered back straight into her mind. ''I won''t keep growing endlessly like this. It''s just that the power of my race is difficult to hold within a smaller body. However, now that I''ve formed my Beast Core, I won''t need to keep growing bigger, just denser.''

    Mira nodded indifferently but was still thinking that 25 meters was a bit too tall.

    Nevertheless, it couldn''t be changed now, so she moved on.

    "Did you get everything you wanted? Are you a Progenitor now?"

    A happy yetplicated look appeared in Elenei''s eyes, but she ended up nodding. ''Yes and no. I''m definitely on the right path, but I guess there''s more to a Progenitor than just their strength and bloodline. I''ve almost separated myselfpletely from my Dragon and Phoenix counterparts, but there''s still onest step I need to take.''

    "Do you know what it is?"

    Elenei shook her head, ''I have an idea, but it''s just a theory. I think I just need a moreprehensive understanding of past Progenitors, how they came to be, what makes me different, and more about my own bloodline.''

    There wasn''t much Mira could help with there. If anything, Elenei knew more on that subject than she did, considering her knowledge was mostlyprised of myths or obscure visions through the statues.

    "Alright, enough about that. Let''s go to the next ind. I''m sure those greedy bastards from the other Sects are already looting the ce dry by now!" Mira''s eyes narrowed at the thought of someone stealing HER loot.

    ''Aren''t you the most greedy?'' Elenei gave Mira a weird look, as it almost seemed like she thought everything here was hers and these people were trespassing.

    However, in reality they were the ones who invaded someone else''s Secret Realm and were stealing all the goods. But, at the same time, she agreed with Mira''s words.

    This ce was too good to pass up. She couldn''t allow some inferior beasts to take what should''ve been hers!

    Elenei nodded and immediately started heading to the other side of the ind with Mira.

    Not even a minuteter, they reached the end of the ind.

    Mira and Elenei found themselves at a crossroads as they approached the trio of bridges. Each one led to a unique, fantastical ind that seemed to defy the norms of nature.

    To the left, the floating ind zed with roaring mes, painting a picture of hell itself. The ground looked like scorched earth with rivers ofva meandering through it. Fiery geysers sporadically erupted, throwing molten rocks into the air.

    This was an environment of destruction and rebirth, where the old was consumed to give way to the new. Eerily beautiful me flowers blossomed near theva rivers, their petals emitting a soft glow in contrast to the otherwise aggressivendscape. The very air around it flickered with heat, creating mirages.

    Mira and Elenei could feel the heat of the ind from where they stood, despite being at least a kilometer away.

    Straight ahead was a rather unique ind. It was as if someone had scooped a piece of the night sky and ced it in this realm.

    The exterior was draped inplete darkness, making it difficult to discern anyndmarks. But at its core stood a towering pir of radiant light, a beacon in the surrounding obscurity. It pierced the heavens, but nothing in particr could be noted from it.

    Close to the pir, one could see shadows moving, their forms elusive and constantly shifting, as if the very essence of the ind was in change.

    To the right was an ind that appeared to be a frozenndscape, yet not of ice. Instead, it was made entirely of crystal. The ground, the trees, and even the wildlife were crystalline entities.

    The entire ind sparkled and refracted light, creating dazzling rainbows in every direction. Cascading waterfalls of liquid crystal flowed from towering cliffs, pooling into cleargoons below. The air was filled with the gentle chime of crystal, a harmonious symphony that soothed the soul. This ce seemed to be in perfect bnce, a serene haven amidst the chaos of the other inds.

    Elenei''s eyes were drawn to the hellish fire ind, her Dracophoenix nature resonating with its fiery environment. The others looked great, but as a being whose origin and abilities were fire, that one stood out the most.

    "I need to go there." She murmured before ncing at Mira, whose eyes were somewhere else. "I''ll see youter, Mira. Don''t die."

    Elenei received a nod and stepped onto the bridge leading to the next fiery ind, not looking back.

    Meanwhile, Mira was looking at the center ind, the one that waspletely dark except for the beam of light. That one called out to her very soul.

    She didn''t know what she''d find there or if she would find anything at all, but her instincts told her she should go there.

    On the other hand, she also felt a faint pull toward the crystal ind. It wasn''t nearly as strong as the previous one, but something told her she wouldn''t lose out by going there either.

    Shaking her head, she turned back to the center. "I think I''ll have the most luck on the eclipse-looking ind."

    As Mira set her foot onto the bridge leading to the Eclipse ind, a cold breeze kissed her cheeks. The temperature drop was sudden but not ufortable; it was as though the very air around the ind was saturated with the mysterious energies of the night.

    The bridge itself seemed to be made of an obsidian-like material, cool to the touch and reflective, mirroring the myriad of colors beneath her feet. With every step, tiny ripples of light emanated from her footfalls, giving her the sensation of walking amongst the constetions.

    The closer she got to the ind, the more intense the obscurity became. The darkness wasn''t just an absence of light but felt palpable, like a living entity.

    But through that overwhelming void, the radiant pir at the ind''s center was a constant, casting a warm, inviting glow that seemed to push back the encroaching shadows.

    As she stepped onto the ind, she felt a shift �C like stepping into another dimension altogether.

    The darkness was so thick that she could barely see her hand in front of her face. It felt like she had walked into a room filled with mud as it became more difficult to move.

    A whisper, so faint that Mira thought she might''ve imagined it, floated to her ears: "Seeker of light amidst the shadows..."

    Startled, Mira tried to discern where the voice came from. It was neither hostile nor friendly but eerily neutral. "Hmmm?" she tilted her head, looking around to see where that voice came from.

    Straining her ears, Mira attempted to trace the direction of the ethereal voice. The sensation of the thick darkness enveloping her was unnerving, but she focused on that beacon of light, which seemed to stand still amidst the chaotic ambiance.

    Drawing on her cultivation, Mira released her Soul Sense, aiming to get a better feel for her surroundings. The energy rippled through the dense atmosphere and illuminated faint paths, diverging in multiple directions. Each pathway looked as though it had been etched out of the shadow, bordered by walls of imprable darkness.

    "Seeker of light amidst the shadows," the voice whispered again, this time more clear, echoing from one of the paths. "To find what you seek, you must first lose yourself."

    Swallowing hard, Mira took a deep breath and immediately made her decision. She chose the path from where the voice echoed and began to follow it.

    The further she ventured down the chosen path, the more pronounced the darkness became. Yet, the voice''s echoes acted as a guiding force, drawing her deeper into thebyrinthine shadow realm of the ind.

    As Mira walked, the walls of darkness seemed to pulse, contracting and expanding as though they were alive. She could feel her own heartbeat synchronize with this movement, which was both mesmerizing and rming.

    A few more moments passed as she walked before everything wentpletely ck.

 Chapter 780 Prime Disciple Competition: The Voices

    Chapter 780 Prime Disciple Competition: The Voices

    Mira''s vision was a void of utter ckness. The pressing obscurity around her seemed as if it had absorbed her, making every step feel like wading through thick msses.

    Each step she took felt like itsted an eternity. It was to the point where Mira didn''t even know if she was moving. She kept using her Soul Sense to find the way, but even that was blurry at best.

    ''It almost feels like I died and am stuck in thatntern, waiting to be reincarnated again.'' Mira thought, feeling a shiver run down her spine. She swept her consciousness through her soul just to make sure she hadn''t sporadically died.

    Thankfully, everything was still there, proving that she hadn''t died yet.

    ''But what is this ce? What am I supposed to do? That voice said I had to lose myself to find what I wanted, but what does that even mean?'' She had too many questions, and nobody was around to answer them.

    Now, she was starting to think that perhaps her decision toe to this ind wasn''t the correct one.

    ''I could''ve already been looting the hell out of that crystal one by now. But, instead, I''m here, wading through muddy darkness.'' She grumbled but continued moving her feet forward.

    Or, at least, what she believed to be forward.

    The abyss Mira found herself in was eerily quiet, save for the soft sound of her breath and the distant, fading echoes of the mysterious voice.

    Every step she took was absorbed by the darkness, giving her no indication of the ground she was supposedly walking on. It was disorienting, like trying to traverse a dreamscape where the rules of reality were warped and rendered moot.

    It wasn''t long before the silence grew louder in her ears, like the roar of a distant storm. The absence ofndmarks or any point of reference began to y tricks on her mind. Mira couldn''t tell if she was retracing her steps, spiraling aimlessly, or if she had walked for miles.

    Then, the voices started to talk.

    "You''re nothing."

    "You think you can escape your fate? Naive. Nobody can fight against a god."

    "When you''re at your weakest, He''ll swoop in and capture your mind, body, and soul."

    "All this fighting, and for what? To still end up as someone''s puppet? What a foolish woman. So old, yet so stupid."

    "You could have saved yourself countless years of pain if you epted His offer."

    "If you don''t like your fate, you should''ve shattered your soul. That''s the only way to prevent your inevitable future."

    ''These fucking voices��'' Mira''s eyes glowed blood-red, even in the imprable darkness, as she searched for the source of these annoyances.

    She''d been living her life just fine these past few months. Aelina severely injured Sue Ming, sending her to who knows where. The god hadn''t made any moves directly either, and she''s made great strides in her strength.

    But this ce��

    ''How the fuck did they even know about him?'' Mira became skeptical, as this ce was clearly incredibly old, existing before she was even born in her first life.

    There were only three possibilities. Either this Realm was more special than she gave it credit for, the god was weaker than she thought, or this darkness was able to read her thoughts to try and target her insecurities.

    She doubted the god was weaker than she thought, considering his powers and treasures. And though this Realm was special, she didn''t think it was something that could so easily talk about the peak powers of the Immortal Realm.

    That left only one option.

    It was a psychological battle, an examination of her deepest fears and vulnerabilities. This ce was not only challenging her physically but also her mind and spirit. It was attempting to exploit her most profound uncertainties, hoping to break her will.

    ''So, you want to y with my mind?'' Mira sneered in the darkness. She focused inwardly, trying to establish a barrier between her consciousness and the oppressive environment.

    "Think about Maria��"

    The voices continued, but this time, they weren''t nearly as loud. Mira scoffed at its words. So, now it was trying to scare her through Maria, huh? Nice try!

    "Do you really want her to end up like Aurora?"

    ��

    Mira stopped. The little barrier she had put up in her mind copsed as killing intent burst forth, only to be blocked by the ''walls'' surrounding her. She attempted to take out her scythe and start shing, but it was to no avail as she couldn''t even feel her hands.

    However, the voices didn''t stop.

    "Think about what happened to Kevin and Alyssa too. How many loved ones have to die in order for you to live? An honorable woman would''ve sacrificed herself so her family could live."

    "Even Maria''s parents suffered because of you."

    "This is just the beginning. You''re destined to live a lonely, painful life where everyone and everything around you dies."

    "Disgusting."

    "How can you even live with yourself?"

    "You should just kill yourself. Maybe then, Maria and Dominique will be able to live joyful lives."

    ''Shut the fuck up!'' Mira screamed out despite no sounding out of her mouth. How dare this shitty ce bring up her first life! When she''s done here, she''ll definitely cleave this ind in half!

    "Those are just to name a few. The truth is, in every life, you''ve found yourself caring about someone, only for them to end up dying a horrible death. All because of you."

    "Your track record continuously proves that you''re unable to protect them even at your best. Yet, you keep on living. What a masochistic monster."

    "Is it really worth it?"

    ��

    Mira fell silent. She took a few deep breaths, trying to settle the simmering rage welling up in her chest. She wouldn''t let this realm, or whatever maniptive force that powered it, witness her weaknesses.

    ''Yeah. I''m a fucking monster.'' Mira muttered emotionlessly. ''I''m the worst of the worst. I''m willing to put those who care about me through the worst kind of pain and, inevitably, death just for a chance at revenge.''

    Mira''s inner turmoil had be her reality. The darkness was no longer just a physical representation; it was now the mirror of her soul''s abyss, reflecting back her most profound insecurities and darkest memories.

    Each word the voices spewed became like sharp daggers piercing through her heart.

    ''But you know what I realized?'' Mira asked as if the darkness was a real person.

    ''It''s that even if I was as pure as an angel, the world is not so kind. People change. People die. And shit happens. Just because some asshole with a little power interferes and fucks things up doesn''t change this fact. The least I can do is persevere and ensure that they didn''t die for nothing by killing the bastard who did it to them.''

    It was a sound argument, but it didn''t seem to convince the voice.

    "Lies. You im to be an honest person, yet, here you are lying straight to your own face."

    "You don''t care about giving meaning to the lives of the dead. Maybe you were like that, but not anymore. After watching so many people die, you became numb to it. At a certain point, people just became bags of flesh with useless opinions."

    ''....Perhaps, but I''m trying to get better.''

    "By doing what? Having sex with someone who cares about you? Getting angry whenever they get hurt? It seems like you''re just going through the motions to satisfy your vanity."

    Mira didn''t have anything to say against that. She really had no idea what it was like to love someone. Maybe it''s because she''s killed too many people or died too many times, but life and death didn''t mean much to her anymore.

    Whether someone died at the hands of someone else or because of old age, it was all the same to her.

    She had be something akin to a robot whose sole purpose was to destroy its oppressor. The rest of her emotions were just her trying to maintain a semnce of humanity.

    Still, that didn''t mean she faked her care for Maria and Dominique. It''s just she couldn''t tell whether it was something like "love" or the care someone would feel toward their pet or possession.

    Although one might feel angry if someone killed their goldfish and would likely enact vengeance against the perpetrator, they would still throw it in the toilet and get a new one.

    Was what she went through not simr? Every new life was akin to buying different goldfish to care for, only for them to be killed by the same person.

    Who wouldn''t be pissed?!

    But, perhaps, she lost something precious to her after going through all this, and these voices were merely magnifying her concerns. Whether it was even worth it to get revenge.

    Suddenly, a thin beam of light shone in her eyes.

 Chapter 781 Prime Disciple Competition: The Light

    Chapter 781 Prime Disciple Competition: The Light

    The sudden ray of light was so stark against the epassing ckness that Mira had to shield her eyes. It wasn''t warm, but it was vibrant and contrasted heavily with the oppressive darkness around her.

    At first, it appeared as just a tiny speck far in the distance. As Mira focused on it, the pinprick of illumination seemed to growrger, or perhaps she was just drawn towards it.

    All around her, the voices intensified, desperately moring for her attention.

    "Don''t go towards it!"

    "It''s a trap!"

    "You''ll regret it!"

    But Mira, who was drowning in her own thoughts and doubts just moments ago, felt a renewed vigor. The beam of light, whether real or a figment of her imagination, represented something she sorely needed: Hope and assurance.

    Her journey, filled with thorns, mostly not of her own design, constantly tested her resolve.

    Thus, questions like what the voices brought up would sometimes whisper in her ears like little demons wanting nothing more than to see her fall.

    Can she really get revenge? How many more times will she have to die? Will she be alone forever?

    Although her determination was something very few could replicate, she couldn''t help but question herself. It was simply the nature of being self-aware.

    However, the very act of questioning was a testament that perhaps she was on the right track to bing something more than just a killing machine.

    As she looked towards the light, Mira realized that perhaps these questions were essential. They weren''t shackles trying to pull her down but reflections urging her to understand herself better.

    She began walking towards it, the msses-like feeling around her slowly thinning as she neared the light. The voices grew louder, more insistent, but Mira just focused on that single point of brightness.

    As she inched closer to the light, the ground beneath her began to change. From the intangible abyss, it shifted to something more solid, though still shadowed.

    Each step brought rity not just to her surroundings but also to her thoughts. The voices that had seemed like they were shouting in her ears became nothing more than hushed whispers.

    Mira continued her approach towards the light until she felt a chill run down her spine. The ground beneath her, which had just started to feel real again, began to writhe and pulsate.

    From the darkness, grotesque creatures began to emerge, their forms almost fluid-like, constantly shifting and changing.

    ''What the fuck?'' She cursed and instantly drew her scythe.

    Shadowy tendrils erupted from the abyss, snaking towards Mira with an insatiable hunger. The once faint murmurs turned to ear-piercing screams, urging her to give in, to sumb to the void.

    However, Mira wasn''t one to go down without a fight. With an intensity that froze the very air around her, she spun her scythe with lethal precision.

    Each strike unleashed a devastating wave of energy, cleaving through swathes of the encroaching darkness.

    But these weren''t just any shadows; they had form and structure. Their eyes gleamed with malice, with teeth sharpened to a needlepoint. They weren''t just seeking to halt her progress, they aimed to consume her whole.

    A titanic beast, veiled in the very fabric of darkness, surged forth. Its very presence seemed to consume the limited light around her. Mira met its assault head-on, every swing of her scythe radiating Yin Fire, painting arcs of radiant blue against the looming ckness.

    The monstrosity lunged, its maw gaping wide, trying to swallow her whole.

    Mira, with a swift roll, evaded its deadly bite and nted her feet firmly. With a triumphant roar, she channeled her very soul into her weapon. The scythe zed brilliantly, illuminating the darkness as if dawn itself had arrived.

    With a precise and fluid movement, she swung it upward, cleaving the beast in two. Its death cry echoed eerily before it disintegrated into nothingness.

    All around, the smaller entities hesitated. They sensed the sheer force emanating from Mira. Her eyes, burning with a fierce determination, dared any of them to approach.

    As if they were provoked bared their teeth and released ear-piercing screeches that echoed in her soul. Mira was dazed for a moment, but that was all they needed.

    Disappearing into the background, they lurked.

    "Come on, you fuckers. No need to hide." Mira called out with a growing smirk.

    Suddenly, she spun around and conjured an ice spear wrapped in Yin Fire.

    "I know exactly where you are."

    Throwing the spear, it disappeared into the void, but Mira was confident in her abilities.

    "REEEEEEE!" Not even a secondter, she heard the pained screech of one of those creatures.

    Mira chuckled at its pain, happy she could deal a blow to what she assumed was the source of those voices.

    "Now, there''s no escape." She muttered, not caring whether they heard her or not.

    Mira''s chuckle echoed, her confidence unwavering, as shadows flinched at every echo of herughter. Her eyes scanned the abyss, the light emanating from her scythe serving as a beacon in the haunting darkness.

    The silence of the abyss was shattered as an entity, more significant and more terrifying than the rest, lunged at her from her blind spot.

    Its formless shape constantly shifted, like watching an inky ck cloud undte. It had multiple sets of glowing red eyes that seemed to pierce her very soul. Its mouth opened, revealingyers of sharp, jagged teeth.

    "Thought you could catch me off guard?" she taunted.

    Mira, with a quick pivot, thrust her scythe into the entity''s gaping maw. Yin Fire surged from the de, causing the creature to screech in pain.

    As it tried to retreat, Mira pulled her scythe with a brutal force, cleaving it in half. Its form dissipated into smoky wisps before vanishing entirely.

    As she steadied herself, multiple entities charged at her, their forms indistinct but their intent clear. They were desperate. They were hungry.

    Mira, undeterred, unleashed a barrage of ice spears, each wrapped in the searing Yin Fire. The spears found their mark, piercing through the heart of each shadow, causing them to disintegrate upon contact.

    Another entity,rger and more formidable than the previous ones, made its move. Instead of charging at her, it unleashed tendrils from its body, aiming to entangle Mira.

    Seeing the approaching danger, she gracefully dodged and weaved through the onught, each movement a dance of death. But for every tendril she evaded, two more took its ce.

    Feeling the weight of the tendrils wrapping around her, she focused her energy, causing her scythe to glow brilliantly. In a swift circr motion, she cut through her restraints, causing the monstrous entity to recoil in pain.

    Seeing an opening, Mira lunged forward, embedding her scythe deep into the entity''s core. With a forceful twist and pull, she tore it apart, watching as its essence dispersed into nothingness.

    All around her, the remaining entities wavered. Their confidence was shattered, and they attempted one final, coordinated assault. But Mira was ready. With an audible grunt of disdain that resonated through the abyss, she spun in a whirlwind of des and mes, her scythe moving so fast it was nothing more than a blur.

    In mere moments, silence returned. The battlefield, once teeming with malevolent shadows,y barren. The only sound was Mira''s steady breathing.

    The aftermath of the encountery in stark contrast to the beacon of light in the distance. Mira''s breathing became more controlled, her steps more deliberate. She didn''t nce back at the emptiness she had killed, focusing only on the radiant point ahead.

    As she approached, the light began to take shape. It wasn''t just a simple glow �C it was a gateway.

    The light, now clearly more than just a distant speck, revealed itself as an ornate gate. Golden carvings adorned its frame, ones she couldn''t quite make out, but there was a mix of humans, beasts, and other creatures on there.

    In fact, it looked reminiscent of the Gate of Heaven in the Afterlife Trial, where she met Huoyan, the Ashura. However, there were quite a few differences. For one, it wasn''t trying to kill her.

    ''Hey, Guardian. What''s up with this?'' She asked, refusing to believe that this was a coincidence. But she received no response.

    Pushing him out of her mind, she approached. As she did, the door began to open slowly, emanating a soft, melodious hum.

    Now, Mira was starting to feel really creeped out, but she continued on anyway like she was in some sort of trance.

    Holy hell. I swear, if there are any goddam sta-'' Mira paused once the gatepletely opened and she got a good look inside.

    Green grass, cute little animals, a dense amount of Qi, and a peaceful aura entered her view.

    However, right in the middle of this perfect scene was the bane of Mira''s existence.

    "A fucking staircase�� Why?! I swear, when I get strong enough, I''m chopping off the Guardian''s dick and demoting him to the position of eunuch!"

    Somewhere in the FLDIL, a being instinctively crossed his legs and covered his crotch with his hand, wondering what he did to deserve this.

    ''I didn''t design the stairs! I swear! Why are you angry at me?! Go kill those stupid beasts if you''re mad! I''m innocent!''

 Chapter 782 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase

    Chapter 782 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase

    The wide staircase, constructed of ethereal crystal, spiraled upwards. It was surrounded by a massive pir of light, telling her that she had made it to the center of the ind.

    Mira stared at the steps, the glistening facets reflecting her disgruntled expression. She wasn''t just looking at a set of steps; she saw an endless climb, another trial.

    She looked around, trying to spot any other participants, but for the first time, she saw none.

    Hell, she didn''t even see any traces of anyone else.

    "Seems I''m the first one here," Mira said aloud, not all that surprised. She didn''t think many people would choose to enter a ce where there was nothing but darkness.

    Unless you were a specific kind of beast, had a unique affinity, or were crazy, you wouldn''te to this ind. Even then, those voices and monsters were quite unnerving.

    ''There shouldn''t be very many people here who are as sensitive with auras, gazes, and movements as me. So, I guess it makes sense I''m the only one here.'' Mira thought, but even if there were people here, she wouldn''t care.

    At most, she would just kill them and keep her spot as the only person to reach the center of the ind.

    Mira shrugged, ''Well, while I''m here, I might as well look around before I take part in some ungodly trial.''

    Mira began to explore the serene clearing. The environment was peculiarly tranquilpared to the hellish abyss she had just battled through.

    The grass beneath her felt soft and springy, and she couldn''t resist bending down to touch it, feeling the fresh dewdrops on her fingertips. There were vibrant flowers dotting thendscape, their petals gently swaying to an invisible rhythm. The animals she spotted were equally mesmerizing. Creatures that looked like rabbits but with iridescent fur hopped around,pletely unfazed by her presence.

    Mira approached a small pond where the water sparkled brilliantly under the celestial light. She noticed, with slight amusement, fish with tiny wings that flitted above the water''s surface, looking like an amalgamation of fish and dragonflies.

    The serenity of this ce was such a stark contrast to the trials she had just faced that Mira momentarily felt disconnected from reality. It felt as though she had been transported to a different realm altogether.

    She decided to meditate for a bit, feeling the dense Qi around her. She might as well harness the benefits of this environment before proceeding.

    Mira sat cross-legged, taking deep, controlled breaths, feeling the world around her. She channeled the abundant Qi, feeling its coolness rush through her veins, revitalizing her very being.

    Time seemed to lose meaning as she continued her meditation. She figured she might as well top herself off before she jumped head-first into the unknown.

    When she finally opened her eyes, feeling rejuvenated, she found the ethereal staircase bathed in a more radiant glow. It beckoned her, almost challenging her.

    But instead of rushing towards it, Mira decided to speak to the Guardian. "Alright, before I ascend, any hints or advice?" she called out, half-expecting no answer.

    To her surprise, the Guardian''s voice resonated in her mind, albeit slightly shaky. ''First, please don''t hurt me. Second, yes, I have some advice. The stairway isn''t just a mere set of steps; it looks like it''s a test of the soul. As for its particr function, I''ll leave that up to you to discover.''

    Mira sighed, feeling a hint of annoyance. "Always with the vague advice. Thanks for nothing," she muttered.

    However, she took a moment to mentally prepare herself. If the Guardian was right (and she had a begrudging feeling he might be), then this trial would be quite troublesome.

    Anything that involved the soul always was.

    Drawing her scythe and holding it close, Mira approached the staircase. With a deep breath, she took her first step.

    However, just as she did so, she was kicked off, and her Nascent Soul flew out of her body and onto the stairs instead.

    Standing there, her semi-translucent 16-year-old Nascent Soul looked back at her with confusion written in her eyes. She was in Mira''s Progenitor Form, different from her physical body, which was back in her original hybrid form.

    Mira''s eyes widened, and she panicked a little.

    "Hey! Come back here!" She yelled out, trying to force her Nascent Soul back inside her soul.

    She watched it attempt to return, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier.

    Mira clutched her head in pain when she felt it smash against something and stopped trying to retrieve it.

    "What the hell is this?! Give back my Nascent Soul, you bastard!" She raised her scythe and shed it against the stairs, but it rebounded off of them, doing no damage.

    Putting that to the side, she tried to rush back onto the stairs to grab it but was blocked by the same invisible barrier.

    "Dammit!" She punched the barrier in rage, sending ripples of energy along the side of it, "This is why I hate these fucking staircase trials!"

    Unfortunately, that wasn''t the end of her troubles.

    While she was distracted, there was a stir in her Soul Sea. The Firmament that had stayed there ever since she became the sessor surged with power and flew out of her body.

    Mira''s rage turned to horror as she watched the Firmament rise, its power intensifying with a dark glow. It sent out tendrils of energy, which quickly crept into the darkness, wrapping around the entire ind.

    Nobody had a say in what was happening. Not the Secret Realm. Not thepetitors or its inhabitants. Not Mira. Not the Guardian. And certainly not the ind.

    Everything was at the mercy of the Firmament.

    Everyone on the ind, regardless of their strength, was pushed off into the enigma between the floating inds, their life and death unknown.

    Only Mira and her Nascent Soul were left and could only watch as the Firmament forcefully altered the darkness on the ind into something different��

    Something oddly familiar��

    Soon, the Firmament pulsed again, but this time, it sent a shiver down Mira''s spine.

    The entrance to a dark tunnel formed opposite the light staircase. A familiar sign was then ced in front, which read: [Abyssal Torment Steps - Record: Step 1251.]

    She couldn''t see a centimeter inside the tunnel, but Mira already knew what was in there. It was the one thing in this world that could actually put her unwavering spirit to the test.

    No matter how unfeeling or cold-blooded she was, this ce would ensure she suffered more than what any living entity could possibly do to her.

    "Guardian�� What the hell is this?" Mira muttered out loud in disbelief. Why did she have to go through this now? She shouldn''t have toplete the next segment until she reaches the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm!

    ''This�� I''m not too sure what''s going on.'' The Guardian responded, equally as confused.

    He might be a god-like entity and the Guardian of the Firmament, but even he couldn''t figure out its intentions.

    ''It must have something to do with the staircase of light. Maybe it reacted to it? I''m not really sure, but whatever it is, it should be beneficial.''

    "..."

    Mira took a moment to calm down. One major event kept happening right after another that it was conflicting with her emotions.

    After a few deep breaths, Mira felt like the Guardian''s words made sense. The FLDIL might be a treacherous ce that sought to destroy her, but it wasn''t without benefits. Should she live through its trials, she always got something out of it, and it was never anything minor.

    Every single trial she''s gone through has provided significant leaps in power. Even the ones Dominique went through were no different.

    Mira''s Nascent Soul, now shimmering even more radiantly than before, sent its intentions to her. It was as though it was trying tofort the physical Mira.

    She felt an odd warmth, realizing that, in times of crisis, she could always rely on herself.

    "First the light, now the dark," Mira mused, looking between the two contrasting paths. The ethereal staircase seemed even more inviting in the face of the Abyssal Torment Steps, but no matter what she did, she couldn''t enter it with her physical body.

    She tried to walk around the Abyssal Torment Steps, but the same situation urred. She was blocked by something.

    ''Seems like I''m forced to go through with this shit.'' She cursed under her breath, but her eyes were focused on the dark entrance, burning with resolve.

    Gathering her courage, she walked towards the Abyssal entrance. She knew she''d have to go through another 250 steps eventually, but just didn''t expect it to be now.

    Even worse, her Nascent Soul was stripped from her and thrown into some unknown trial.

    What happens if her Nascent Soul is obliterated or is injured? What about when she''s all messed up in the Abyssal Torment Steps? What''ll happen to her Nascent Soul then?

    All these questions echoed in Mira''s mind.

    "Well, there''s only one way to find out." Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward into the entrance.

 Chapter 783 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase Part 2

    Chapter 783 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase Part 2

    The moment Mira stepped into the Abyssal Torment Steps, the atmosphere shifted drastically. It was as though she had crossed the boundary into a different universe.

    The ambient light that once surrounded her waspletely consumed by darkness, and all the vibrant energy of the environment was reced with a suffocating stillness.

    The first challenge was immediate. As she stepped forward, a wave of intense emotions crashed over her.

    She felt the weight of every positive emotion she had ever felt being drained from her.

    The love she had for herpanions, the hope she felt for the future, the joy of every aplishment vanished, and the drive to keep moving forward was reced by the cold embrace of despair, loneliness, and hopelessness.

    However, she was used to shutting herself off and living like a cold-hearted machine. So, without hesitation, she took another step.

    But, she had misunderstood the theme of this trial.

    Landing on the 1252nd step, Mira felt something invade her mind and suck out every good thing that''s happened to her throughout her life. Her love for Maria, her care for Dominique, the sweet memories of her past lives she kept locked up, and the reason she had for living. All of it was going down the drain.

    Simultaneously, depression, hate, sorrow, and despair flooded her mind.

    Mira''s pulse quickened, each heartbeat echoing the growing void within her. The absolute darkness around seemed to crawl under her skin, wrapping its cold fingers around every fragment of joy and love she ever felt.

    ''This is just a trial. I''ve been through worse,'' she thought desperately, trying to clutch onto the memories slipping away. But the more she grappled, the faster they seemed to vanish. The echoes of Maria''sughter, the warmth of Dominique''s touch, and the myriad joys from her past lives - they dissolved as though being consumed by an insatiable ck hole.

    The sensations were nauseating. It felt like an endless fall into a bottomless pit, where every fleeting grasp at the known and loved only hastened the descent.

    Still, there was no leaving now that she entered, and the only way out was to go through.

    Thus, against her better judgment, her foot fell to the 1253rd step.

    The feelings only became worse, but Mira tried not to focus on them, just wanting to get through this as quickly as possible.

    As time passed, Mira''s steps slowed, each one bing heavier than thest. The vibrant memories she held onto were slowly being obscured, fading into grayscale.

    Theughter she once shared with herpanions was silenced, reced by the dissonant whispers of destion. The warmth she felt in their camaraderie was snuffed out, supnted by an intense, bone-chilling coldness that wrapped around her heart.

    Visions shed before her eyes, distorted shadows of her past. The once bright and joyous days, where she and her sisterughed and yed together, became distorted and distant. Each face she remembered was now a nk te; their smiles and voices were distorted and faded until they were unrecognizable.

    The verdant fields she once raced through with the wind in her hair became barren wastnds devoid of color and life.

    The nights under the starry sky, filled with stories and dreams, were now an oppressive void that threatened to swallow her whole.

    The taste of victory, the thrill of oveing a challenge, the pride in her abilities - everything was stripped away, reced by a gnawing emptiness that wanted nothing more than to swallow her whole.

    It was a suffocating experience, like being submerged deep into the ocean where no light could prate, and every attempt to swim to the surface was met with the crushing pressure of the water above, dragging her further into the abyss.

    A tightness gripped her chest. Tears threatened to spill, but they weren''t tears of sadness. They were the manifestation of the raw emotion being forcefully torn away from her. Each teardrop that fell felt like a piece of her soul being chipped away.

    However, among the harrowing void, a faint whisper echoed within her soul. It was the ethereal presence of her Nascent Soul, though distant and seemingly out of reach.

    Even amidst the torrent of negative emotions, it remained a beacon, emitting a soft, shimmering light, almost as if it was signaling her to hold onto that faint glimmer of hope.

    Amidst the cacophony of despair, each step Mira took on the Abyssal Torment Steps was a testament to her resilience. But with every descent, the hope offered by the soft luminescence of her Nascent Soul grew dimmer.

    "One more step. Just one more," she whispered to herself with eachborious movement, trying to find strength in repetition. But as she stepped onto the 1275th stair, an overwhelming sense of loss engulfed her.

    Memories of her first journey, of the lessons she had learned, and the people she had admired faded to distant echoes, their wisdom and guidance evaporating like mist under a scorching sun.

    By the 1300th step, the smells of her childhood��the fresh-baked bread from the market, the scent of rain on dry earth, theforting aroma of her mother''s scent��

    were reced by a sterile nothingness, a void devoid of any sensory experience.

    The 1325th brought with it a sensation of drowning as though she were being submerged in an ocean of tar; every movement wasborious, every breath a fight. The silveryughter of children, theforting embrace of loved ones, the fleeting moments of pure, unbridled joy��everything was sinking, leaving behind a numbing, icy cold.

    On the 1350th step, the melodies she held close��the lubies her mother sang, the battle hymns of herrades, even the heartbeat that resonated with her soul��were silenced, reced by an all-epassing quiet that threatened to deafen her.

    With the 1375th step, even her sense of self began to waver. The convictions that had driven her, the beliefs she held dear, the essence of who Mira was��all of it became blurred as if she was looking at her reflection in a fogged mirror, unable to recognize the figure staring back.

    Every subsequent step intensified her disconnection from reality, and her surroundings morphed into an ever-changingndscape of destion. Towering cliffs of sorrow, oceans of regret, and skies painted with anguish became her new reality.

    Yet, amid the relentless onught, the whisper of her Nascent Soul persisted, growing in urgency with every step. Even as the light it emitted seemed more distant, its plea was clear: Hold on. Remember.

    The ethereal voice of her Nascent Soul, which had been a constant glimmer of hope amidst the overwhelming darkness, began to grow distant and distorted.

    It morphed from its tender, familiar cadence into a tone more assertive and sometimes evenmanding. With every step she took, the voice within her soul resonated, not as an encouraging whisper, but as a forceful prod, pushing her forward when her own strength waned.

    And wane it did.

    The journey on the Abyssal Torment Steps had transformed from an arduous descent into a brutal crawl.

    Her knees buckled, and she felt herself teetering on the edge of consciousness. The weight of the despair and the pull of the abyss seemed insurmountable.

    She no longer moved with purpose, but out of a detached sense of obligation, almost like a marite whose strings were manipted by an unseen hand.

    By the 1399th step, Mira was barely more than a shell.

    The radiant spirit and indomitable will that once characterized her were absent. In its ce, a vacant puppet moved, each step more faltering than thest.

    It was less a walk and more a series of stumbles, her body crashing against the cold stone with every descent.

    Then, as her foot made contact with the 1400th step, a profound change overcame her. An ethereal radiance enveloped her being, originating from the deepest recesses of her soul. It was the Nascent Soul, and in this pivotal moment, a light expanded, shielding Mira from the oppressive void around her.

    The oppressive dark receded momentarily, reced by an invigorating aura. It was as though she had been submerged in cool, crystal waters, each droplet imbued with memories and emotions she thought were lost.

    The sensationsted no more than a heartbeat, but the rity it brought was unparalleled.

    Yet, when she opened her eyes, what she saw threatened to shatter the fragment of hope she had just rediscovered.

    Before her stood Maria, her beautiful blonde lover. She looked as real as thest time Mira had seen her, with the same golden locks cascading down her back and eyes that shimmered like the clearest blue skies.

    "What''s going on, Mira? Where am I? How''d I get here?" Maria''s voice was tinged with confusion and worry. She reached out, her fingers trembling, attempting to grab hold of Mira.

    Mira''s heart ached, torn between the joy of seeing Maria and the agonizing understanding that this could be yet another cruel trick of the Abyssal Torment Steps. However, Maria just looked too real for her to say that it wasn''t a scheme.

    "Maria�� No, you''re not real. It''s impossible for you to be here." Mira whispered, her hand reaching for her scythe. "You''re just an illusion. A test to break me."

    She looked at Maria with killing intent and resolve, despite her chest aching.

    Maria saw the look in Mira''s eyes and knew she wasn''t ying around.

    "Wait! Mira! What are you doing?! What do you mean I''m not real?!" Maria backed away until she hit the wall behind her. "If I''m not real, then how can I remember our first meeting in the forest outside Lunar Fox City? I was abandoned and was saved by you!"

 Chapter 784 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase Part 3

    Chapter 784 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase Part 3

    As if to prove that she was the real Maria, she showed the golden ring on her finger�Cthe same one Mira gave her right before she left to go on a trip. "If I''m not real, then what about this? Is this fake?"

    Mira paused and looked at the obsidian ring on her finger. Sending a pulse of energy inside it, it shone with a dull luster.

    Instantly, she felt a pull in a certain direction. When she raised her head to look, she was staring right at Maria.

    Mira opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She wanted to believe that this was fake. It had to be.

    However, those rings were directly connected to each other. All the proof pointed toward the person before her was real.

    But doubt gued her mind. The Abyssal Torment Steps were known for their insidious trials that would exploit any vulnerability. Maria being here was too convenient, too perfect.

    As the two locked eyes, a palpable tension permeated the air. The abyss around them felt deeper, colder, more unforgiving.

    Her grip on the scythe tightened, its cold metal serving as a grounding reminder of where she was.

    "Mira," Maria whispered, her voice quivering. "It''s really me. I don''t know how I got here, but I''m just as scared and confused as you."

    Maria''s gaze was unwavering, locked onto Mira''s, searching for a hint of recognition, a semnce of their shared bond. Tears pooled in her eyes, blurring the line between illusion and reality.

    "I don''t understand," Mira murmured, torn between the cold logic of the trial and the warmth of the emotions swirling inside her. "You shouldn''t be here."

    "I... I don''t know. Thest thing I remember was sleeping," Maria admitted, her fingers absentmindedly caressing the golden ring, "and then suddenly I was in this void, in front of you."

    Mira took a deep breath, trying to find rity amidst the whirlwind of emotions, but with the Abyssal Torment Steps sucking out all positive emotions, it was difficult to do so. Still, thanks to whatever her Nascent Soul was doing, she could make somewhat rational judgments.

    "Every step of this trial has been a battle against the memories I hold dear. Why would they bring you here unless..."

    The realization hit her like a tidal wave. This could be the final, most challenging trial

    ��facing a manifestation of her emotions and striking them down herself.

    If the Abyssal Torment Steps could create the perfect replica of Maria, right down to the emotions, it was the cruelest test yet.

    Yet, something gnawed at Mira, a lingering doubt that held her back from fully epting the figure before her as a mere illusion. The rings, the resonance, the undeniable bond that drew them together, these couldn''t be mere tricks, could they?

    It all felt too real.

    While Mira was contemting what to do, she took a step forward in an attempt to descend but hit an illusory wall instead.

    "!!!"

    Shock and fear shone in Mira''s eyes for a moment as her gaze shot to Maria. The fact that she couldn''t go down could only mean one thing.

    She hadn''t ovee the trial yet.

    "FUCK!" Mira mmed her fist against the barrier, but it didn''t even cause a ripple.

    She turned around in an attempt to go back up but was blocked again.

    "Dammit! Who the hell came up with this idea?!" Her body shook with rage. She wanted nothing more than to tear through the walls in this tunnel but knew that no matter what she did, she wouldn''t cause any damage.

    Everything about the Maria standing in front of her looked and seemed real. Her aura, bloodline, strength, personality, everything. She couldn''t find a single difference.

    To make matters worse, she couldn''t deny the possibility that the FLDIL would really teleport her here. It''s shown feats countless times greater than that before. Teleportation is almostughable inparison.

    She tried everything she could to get out of this ce. She contacted the Guardian but received no response. She tried to control the Firmament, but it didn''t do anything. She even entered her Progenitor form in an attempt to phase through the barriers, but nothing worked.

    Even her Nascent Soul, which would asionally send a calming aura or say something of assurance, was apologizing, saying ''it didn''t know.'' on repeat.

    Mira''s eyes darted between the barriers on either side of her, the internal struggle evident in her gaze. Maria, realizing the implications, looked as though she''d been pped.

    "Mira," Maria began, her voice shaking, "do you really have to...?"

    Mira took a shaky breath but nodded nheless. "...It seems like that''s the case, doesn''t it?"

    Maria''s face crumpled, but she nodded. "If I am truly an illusion, then by striking me down, you''ll ovee this trial. But if I''m real... then I''d really die."

    Silence descended on the two of them, the weight of their emotions pressing down like a mountain.

    Mira knew what she had to do but couldn''t bring herself to do it. She''d grown quite attached to that silly little girl she met all those years ago. The two were quite the opposite, but that''s what drew them together.

    ''....I can''t just let all those years of training go to waste, either.'' Mira thought in an attempt to ovee her real feelings.

    Suddenly, Maria gave a rxed, peaceful smile. It was a smile that only someone who knew they were about to die could make.

    "It''s okay, Mira." She said in the smoothest voice she could muster. "Do what you need to do. All those years ago, you warned me that being together with you would be dangerous. However, I don''t regret anything. I guess this is just our fate."

    ''Fate�� Fate�� Fate��'' That word echoed in Mira''s mind.

    Ever since her first life, she''s spent the majority of her time under someone else''s control. Now, god is not only manipting her, but the universe is directing her future?! When can she ever have control over her own life?!

    Standing there motionless, Mira came to a single conclusion, causing her expression to loosen. ''I fucking hate this world.''

    Gripping her scythe so hard that her knuckles turned white, she turned to Maria.

    "....I''m sorry, Maria." She said without any expression.

    "It''s okay," Maria just smiled like she always did, "I understand. May we meet again in my next life."

    The stillness of the Abyssal Torment Steps hung heavy around them, like a thick nket that threatened to smother them both.

    Mira stood there, her figure emanating an aura of sorrow and determination intertwined. Her soul cried out against the act she was about tomit, yet logic screamed that it was the only way.

    Maria, on the other hand, seemed to havee to terms with her potential end. She closed her eyes, taking in one final, deep breath as if to memorize the sensation of the abyssal air around them.

    But as Mira raised her scythe, preparing to strike, a soft whisper escaped from Maria''s lips, "Remember me."

    Time seemed to slow. Every movement, every breath was agonizingly prolonged. The scythe began its descent.

    Its cold, hard de soon pierced Maria''s skin, and Mira could feel it ripping through flesh, muscle, and bone. She watched on with dead, cold eyes but felt like her heart was shattering into a million pieces.

    Within less than a second, Maria''s body was cut in half and dropped to the floor with a thud. Blood spilled out all over the ground, dripping down the lower steps.

    Mira stared down at the body, waiting�Cwaiting for it to disappear.

    However, after several long minutes, nothing happened except for the stench of blood permeating the air.

    Mira''s hands shook. She clenched her fists, but that only made things worse.

    Putting her scythe away, Mira turned away. She extended her arm out in front of her and realized that the barrier blocking her bath down was gone.

    Taking slow, hesitant steps, Mira descended further into the abyss, the weight of her actions settling heavily on her shoulders.

    She could feel all positive emotions being drained from her with every step, but she didn''t care. If it wanted them, it could have them.

    She just wanted to leave this ce.

    As she walked, the lifeless body of Maria slowly faded from her sight, but it was a sight she would never forget.

    As Mira moved deeper and deeper, the darkness intensified. Every step she took felt like an eternity, and the echoing void around her seemed to resonate with the pain and regret she was feeling. Yet she kept moving, like a robot that was programmed to do so.

    She was in a state of denial right now, still not believing that she killed the real Maria. That this was all just the FLDIL ying tricks on her.

    As if she was spurred on by that thought, her steps quickened. It was hard to tell whether she was escaping or in pursuit of something.

 Chapter 785 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase Part 4 (End)

    Chapter 785 Prime Disciple Competition: Double Staircase Part 4 (End)

    On the stairs of light, Mira''s Nascent Soul looked downcast, its ethereal form shimmering dimly.

    The stairs themselves appeared to be carved out of moonbeams, every step casting off a soft glow that reflected Mira''s internal turmoil. They ascended seemingly into infinity, meeting at an obscure horizon where light met darkness.

    It was just climbing the stairs as Mira ordered it to, but along the way, a bright golden light crystal appeared before her. It looked like it was a fragment of something muchrger, evoking the greed in the Nascent Soul''s eyes.

    Without thinking much, it grabbed the crystal, only for it to get absorbed through her semi-transparent, almost physical body straight to Mira''s soul.

    Other than finding it a bit odd, the Nascent Soul just figured it was a unique treasure and thought nothing of it.

    That is until it felt the main body''s emotions go out of control. Then, it realized it may have been the reason for her current predicament.

    However, the allure of the crystal was too great!

    The golden light crystal pulsed, sending ripples of energy throughout the Nascent Soul''s form. The warmth and vibrancy it exuded seemed to breathe life into the semi-transparent entity, causing it to shimmer with a new intensity.

    The Nascent Soul wasn''t designed to be overtaken by avarice or desire. Yet, the crystal''s mesmerizing allure beckoned it like a moth to a me. The very nature of this Nascent Soul was shifting, its core purpose of acting on Mira''s behalf bing overshadowed by a newfound greed.

    It had turned into a vessel of Mira''s desire to plunder.

    The crystal, once absorbed, began to resonate, producing a melodic hum. It was enchanting, almost hypnotic, drawing the Nascent Soul further into its grasp.

    With a jolt, the Nascent Soul felt a pull, not from the crystal, but from Mira''s soul itself. It was a tug of desperation, a call for help. The pain and confusion that Mira felt were palpable, reaching out to her very essence for guidance and stability.

    After a few minutes, something snapped, and the connection ended.

    She tried to sense what the main body was feeling, but it was like she was reaching out into a void�Cnothing was there. No emotions. No desires. Nothing.

    Confused, it looked around for a moment, not quite understanding what was going on. It was just a reflection of Mira''s being, not Mira herself, and thus could really only act based on her wishes.

    Not long after, it feltpelled to ascend to the next step, probably because Mira had begun descending again, which it obliged readily.

    ***

    The chilling void of the Abyssal Torment Steps grew darker and more oppressive as Mira continued her descent. The suffocating air grew colder, each step feeling like a battle against an invisible force that wished to halt her progression.

    Suddenly, as Mira tried to keep the image of Maria out of her mind, a haunting whisper grazed her ear. "You can''t escape..."

    Mira spun around, her eyes darting in search of the source of the voice, but the abyss remained eerily silent and still.

    "I can''t escape what?" she blurted into the void, her voice trembling with a mixture of rage and anguish.

    But the abyss did not reply. Its silence felt judgmental as if it was forcing her to confront her own actions and the weight they bore.

    Still, Mira attempted to force those thoughts out of her mind.

    ''If I can just reach the limit of these stairs�� If I can just reach the 1500th step�� I can leave this fucking ce��'' Mira muttered, her mind pursuing a single goal.

    Mira''s steps began to echo louder in the abyss, each footfall a cruel reminder of the distance still left to traverse. Each time she ced her foot forward, a crushing weight settled onto her shoulders. It was as if she was walking with boulders strapped to her back, pulling her down, drowning her in sorrow, guilt, and pain.

    The once vibrant determination in Mira''s heart was now a mere ember, flickering in the fierce wind of doubt and self-loathing. Each step drained her, siphoning off joy, happiness, and hope, recing them with darkness and despair.

    At step 1410, her heartache felt palpable, a relentless throb that threatened to swallow her whole. shes of Maria''s face flickered in her mind, a bitter reminder of things left unsaid, of wounds still fresh. Mira could feel her heartstrings being tugged with every painful memory.

    Step 1425 brought forth regret so profound that tears began to fall, each droplet an embodiment of the mistakes of her past. The chill of the abyss seemed to seep into her very soul, icing over the warmth of her memories, leaving behind only cold, sharp shards of regret.

    With step 1435, Mira stumbled. The floor beneath her felt as though it was moving, trying to trap her in its cold embrace. Anger welled up, its fiery tendrils wrapping around her heart, feeding off her frustration. Why was the abyss so cruel? Why did it pry and poke at her like this? What was the point of these shitty trials?

    By step 1450, jealousy reced anger. Jealousy for those who walked a path without such torment, those who danced in the light while she was submerged in shadow. It whispered insidious thoughts into her ear, poisoning her once unbreakable spirit.

    The steps seemed to grow longer and the abyss deeper.

    At step 1465, Mira''s confidence was reced by insecurity. The weight of every judgment, every sideways nce, and every whispered word consumed her. She could hear them now, louder than ever, the voices of doubt that questioned her worth, her strength, her very existence.

    Yet, amid the cacophony of negativity, a tiny voice persisted. It reminded her of the strength she once held, the challenges she overcame, and the love she once felt. But with every subsequent step, that voice grew fainter, nearly drowned out by the overpowering weight of the abyss.

    Step 1480 brought a crushing loneliness. Mira could feel the void stretching out around her, consuming everything in its path, leaving her isted in its vastness. Friends, family, loved ones; they all seemed so distant now, mere specks in the vast sea of darkness.

    Determination fading, and on the brink of surrender, Mira reached step 1490. The overwhelming sense of shame wrapped around her like chains, constricting her movement, her breath, her very soul. Every wrong she evermitted, every slight, every hurtful word thrown out in anger came rushing back. The weight of her own guilt threatened to pull her down, to keep her forever trapped in this tormenting abyss.

    With each heavy step, a piece of Mira''s essence seemed to be stripped away. She could hardly recognize the person she was bing. The only thing swirling around in her mind were negative thoughts, ming her for killing Maria. Telling her that she''ll justmit suicide after getting her revenge, so why bother? Tempting her to stop right now and just give up.

    She''s trying so hard, and for what? A family that she''ll inevitably kill? Friends that''ll die by her side? Enemies that want nothing more than to see her suffer?

    If Mira were in her normal state of mind right now�� well, she wouldn''t have these thoughts. She was going to have her revenge! She was going to rip that god to pieces and torture him until the end of eternity! It didn''t matter how many times she died or how many tragedies she went through, everything was pointless if she gave up.

    Unfortunately, her mind wasn''t even capable ofprehending such thoughts at the moment. It was as if any form of determination or positivity was sucked out of her, not anything of that nature to formte.

    But then, as she took step 1495, a small glimmer of hope pierced the dark. Despite the overwhelming sadness, anger, jealousy, and despair, a tiny part of Mira refused to give in.

    Even in the face of god, she refused to give in! Even as she watched her families ughtered before her eyes. Even when the people she thought she loved did despicable things to her, the mes of life never stopped burning!

    ''...And it won''t stop now!'' A voice in the back of Mira''s mind roared, waking her up slightly.

    ''Snap out of it, you useless fuck! Now is not the time to grieve! You have shit to do, and being holed up in this dreary ce isn''t on the list!''

    The nk expression on Mira''s face seemed to change, but she still looked like a living corpse. Just that her crimson eyes shone with a bit more brilliance.

    ''If you don''t want me to take over, then you better regain some of your sanity!'' The tiny voice in the back of her mind became louder.

    Mira slowly took a step forward onto the 1496th step, only for her to regress.

    Mira''s feet felt like lead, each step a monumental effort. The weight of all the darkness and negative emotions pressed on her, threatening to shatter herpletely. But the ember of resilience within her began to smolder,bating the abyss''s all-consuming cold.

    1497th Step��

    1498th Step��

    1499th Step��

    That''s when Mira paused. She tried to move forward again on instinct, but she couldn''t even pick up her leg. The voice in the back of her mind waited for several minutes, but when it seemed nothing was going to happen, it burst out in anger.

    ''That''s it! I''m done waiting! I''ll clear this fucking trial!'' Mira''s crimson eyes glowed with an ominous light as killing intent radiated around her body.

    All those negative thoughts were forced into submission due to the sheer intensity of rage emanating from her.

    Opening her mouth in a silent roar, she picked up her foot in an attempt to take the final step��

    Suddenly, a brilliant light pierced through the abyss, radiant and blinding.

 Chapter 786 Prime Disciple Competition: Radiant Crystal Essence

    Chapter 786 Prime Disciple Competition: Radiant Crystal Essence

    The intense light prated every corner of the abyss, dispelling the overwhelming darkness that had enveloped Mira. The once-chilling void was now awash with a gentle warmth, cradling Mira''s battered soul.

    The oppressive atmosphere that had weighed her down was gradually reced with a sensation of buoyancy. Mira could feel the burdens on her shoulders lightening, though her heart still carried the imprints of the pain and despair she had experienced.

    The light was so intense that Mira had to shield her eyes. However, that didn''t prevent her from moving forward.

    As soon as her foot touched the 1500th step, it was as if an explosion went off. She nked out for a moment from the sheer force before she felt something surround her body and teleport her.

    When her feetnded wherever she was teleported to, the light was just as bright, if not more so than before.

    As the brilliance began to dim, a scene began to unfold before Mira''s eyes. She found herself standing atop a vast teau, stretching out to the horizon, bathed in a golden hue. The sky above was painted with shades of purple, pink, and gold, resembling a magnificent sunset.

    Below her, the tangible darkness began to shift and shuffle, along with the light pir that she seemed to be at the top of.

    However, her attention wasn''t on any of those.

    Looking to the side, she noticed her Nascent Soul standing next to her with an impassive expression on her face.

    Mira walked over to it, curious, as she had never seen a Nascent Soul in the flesh before.

    The Nascent Soul stood still, allowing Mira to touch it. It was a translucent figure, roughly Mira''s height but a little smaller, and looked strikingly simr to her.

    ''Soft.'' Mira thought as she squeezed the Nascent Soul''s arms. It was like she was squeezing arge piece of foam or something simr to warm rubber. It didn''t feel real, yet at the same time, it did. ''How peculiar.''

    "What can you do?" Mira asked, but the Nascent Soul just shrugged.

    "Tch." She clicked her tongue in annoyance. She hadn''t heard of anyone else being able to manifest their Nascent Soul like this and was hoping for some sort of special ability, but it seemed she may have been asking for too much.

    ''I''ll have to look into this moreter.'' She thought but soon asked a few more questions.

    "What are you doing outside my soul? Can you no longer go inside?"

    The Nascent Soul didn''t answer her question and instead turned to the side and pointed up.

    Mira looked over and saw a massive golden crystal, at least 2 meters tall, if not more. It glowed so brightly that she couldn''t quite make out its shape, though it seemed almost tangible.

    "Is that my reward? Is that what you''re waiting for?" Mira asked without turning away from it, but she could feel the Nascent Soul''s confirmation.

    The Nascent Soul remained silent, its ethereal presence emanating an aura of understanding. Even without words, it was able tomunicate a sense of anticipation towards the glowing crystal.

    As Mira approached the golden crystal, the warmth it exuded intensified. She could feel it attempting to heal her body, mind, and soul, but her expression never changed.

    All those memories and emotions that were taken away from hering back. The closer she got, the more memories began to flood her mind.

    However, she just shoved them into her Mind Pnce, not even bothering to look through them.

    She didn''t want to have to go through something like what happened earlier again. It was better if she just locked them up and continued her pursuit of power.

    Reaching out to touch the crystal, a wave of energy enveloped Mira, a sensation both overwhelming and familiar. The light was so dense it was like she had put her hand in a cloud.

    The energy was pure and invigorating, revitalizing the deepest corners of her soul and mending the scars that the Abyssal Torment Steps may have left.

    Still, Mira showed no visible reaction to it.

    ''That''s it? That''s all I get?'' She questioned inwardly, her crimson eyes narrowing with suppressed rage.

    Suddenly, her Nascent Soul put its hands on the crystal, too, and she felt a change.

    A dense amount of energy flowed through her Nascent Soul into her body, and a name appeared in her mind.

    Origin-Grade Radiant Crystal Essence.

    Although she didn''t know what that was, it was clear that was the name of the treasure before her.

    ''Origin-Grade, huh�� Must be something good.'' Mira gave a slight nod, as so far, anything of that grade was top-tier.

    Suddenly, the Radiant Crystal Essence started to shake, and before anyone could react, it shot straight into her Nascent Soul, which immediately returned to her soul as soon as this happened.

    As the Radiant Crystal Essence emerged into her soul, the tangible darkness around Mira began to condense, taking on a viscous form reminiscent of molten tar. It surged towards her, wrapping around her limbs and torso before seeping into her very core.

    Mira felt the chilling cold of the darkness as it invaded her system. It was as if two opposing forces �C the radiant warmth of the crystal essence and the cold darkness �C were fighting for dominance within her. The sensation was both excruciating and exhrating as if she were being torn apart and remade in the same moment.

    The teau on which she stood began to tremble, reacting to the immense power that was coursing through her. Cracks began to form, radiating outwards from her feet, as the sky overhead stoic. She focused on controlling the energies, harnessing the conflicting forces to her advantage. Her crimson eyes zed with darkened, filled with swirling storm clouds that echoed the turmoil within her.

    Despite the overwhelming sensations, Mira''s expression remained stoic. She focused on controlling the energies, harnessing the conflicting forces to her advantage. Her crimson eyes zed with determination, their glow visible even amidst the chaos that surrounded her.

    That''s when she felt something click inside of her.

    ''Oh?'' Mira raised an eyebrow in surprise. ''Is that what I think it is?''

    Closing her eyes and sitting in a lotus position, Mira circted her Qi.

    Sure enough, she felt the wall to the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm crumble, no longer halting her progress.

    However, there was a problem. The darkness that was flowing through her body was filling up her soul as well, masking all of her hard work!

    Mira''s brows furrowed, but she quickly jumped into action.

    She sent orders to her Nascent Soul to direct all the new energy into the top part of her soul, which was still covered in ayer of ck.

    ''Begin the breakthrough as well!'' Mira ordered, to which it nodded and shed at the rock-like darkness.

    *Clink!*

    Her scythe rebounded off of it, which would normally be extremely painful, but Mira just sat there as blood dripped out of her orifices, her expression unchanging.

    Every clink of Mira''s scythe against the rock-hard darkness reverberated throughout her body. With each attempt, she visualized the energy''s flow, directing it with an unwavering determination. The viscous darkness was proving to be resilient, but Mira was relentless.

    Each swing was calcted. This wasn''t just a physical act but also one of will. Her internal world was an ever-shiftingndscape of elements, dominated by the glow of the Origin-Grade Radiant Crystal Essence and the persistent encroaching gloom.

    Over time, Mira could feel the wall of darkness giving way. It wasn''t a quick process; it was grueling and painstaking. The darkness condensed, bing a dense, obsidian-like orb. With a decisive swing, she chipped one tiny piece off of it, only for it to be reabsorbed back into it, creating a perfect sphere.

    Now, her soul was no longer covered in a veil, it was fully exposed for her to view.

    Her Nascent Soul sent another attack at it, but this time, she did no damage. There was no scratch, nick, or blemish on it. She shed the same ce a few more times, but the result was the same.

    Suddenly, the spherical ck object began rotating, pulling in the energy that her body was absorbing.

    The moment the orb was contained, a transformation began.

    The Radiant Crystal Essence, which had been absorbed by her Nascent Soul, was redirected and positioned right behind the encased dark orb.

    As the radiant light from the essence met with the imprisoned darkness, a stunning spectacle formed within her soul realm �C a perfect sr eclipse. The orb of darkness acted as the moon, with the Radiant Crystal Essence shining brilliantly behind it, mimicking the sun.

    However, there was one more thing the Nascent Soul had to do. Raising its hand, it shot out a continuous burst of frost onto the ice mountain below here and the ''artificial moon''.

    It didn''t take long before the ice mountain had increased in size, putting Mira''s Nascent Soul at the peak of her soul, looking down upon everything and for the moon to be fully encased in ice.

    Ice crystals began to form out of thin air around it, dropping down to join the rest of her affinities.

    This internal eclipse was not just a visual marvel. It signaled the beginning of Mira''s breakthrough to the 9th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

 Chapter 787 Prime Disciple Competition: Newfound Strength

    Chapter 787 Prime Disciple Competition: Newfound Strength

    Mira''s physical transformation was nothing short of breathtaking. The eclipse within her soul realm, a representation of both light and darkness, began to resonate with her body. Her crimson eyes began to shimmer with flecks of gold, reminiscent of the setting sun.

    This new hue was a testament to her newly acquired Light Affinity.

    Her Extreme Overlord Yin Physique, known for its inherent darkness and cold dominance, began to evolve. It wasn''t a gradual change; it felt more like a rebirth.

    As the Radiant Crystal Essence''s power pulsed through her, her physique adjusted, merging the yin properties with the newfound warmth and brilliance.

    Veins of gold started to spread across her skin, coiling around her arms and legs and illuminating her body from within. Her once fair skin now had a radiant glow, disying a perfect harmony of yin and yang.

    As the transformation progressed, her hair, which was initially an icy silver, now bore streaks of luminous gold, flowing down her back like a cascading river of stars against the night sky. The change was more than just visual; it was deeply rooted in her essence.

    An ice crown also formed on her head with seven other gems, each reflecting her affinities embedded on it.

    When it came to her Qi, the quality underwent a transformation that even the most seasoned cultivators would envy.

    The Qi circting within her meridians was more refined, pure, and potent.

    Each cycle that her Qi made around her body felt ten times stronger than before. It was to the degree that Mira didn''t feel like she had made a simple minor breakthrough and more like a major one.

    Yet, the most astonishing development was in her Soul Sense. Mira''s Nascent Soul, which had grown to look exactly like her physical appearance, seated majestically atop the ice mountain and surrounded by the internal eclipse, began to spread its influence.

    Slowly at first, then with increasing momentum, it expanded beyond her body, stretching out into the environment. One kilometer, ten kilometers, fifty... it didn''t stop until it reached an astounding 100 kilometers in every direction.

    Thendscape within this radius was clear to her; every tree, every creature, every stone from the surrounding inds wasid bare before her Nascent Soul''s gaze. Mira could feel the world on a level she had never experienced before. It was like the boundaries of her own self had been extended, and she became one with the world around her.

    Inparison, most people at her stage could only extend their Soul Sense up to 10 kilometers, and that was if they were geniuses with sufficient talent. It wasn''t until the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm that people reached into the hundreds of kilometers with their Soul Sense. In fact, it could be said that with just her Soul alone, Mira was already teetering on the edge of the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    It was clear that her breakthrough was beyond ordinary. It wasn''t just a step forward; it was a leap into an entirely new realm of power.

    However, all of this was almost trivialpared to the upgrade she felt with her Ice Affinity. She couldn''t quite put it into words, but it felt like it had beaten all her other affinities into submission.

    She felt like she was truly on the road to bing the ruler of ice.

    Mira slowly opened her eyes, thebined hues of crimson and gold reflecting the world around her with unprecedented rity. She could feel the power coursing through her veins and the unparalleled connection to the energy around her.

    She stood up, her movements graceful and fluid, embodying both strength and elegance. With a slight movement of her foot, the teau beneath her responded, rumbling in acknowledgment of her newfound might.

    After a while, she returned to her usual hybrid self, with only a few minor differences.

    Raising her hand, she created a tiny ice crystal and began shaping it in various ways. She sculpted it into an ice dragon, a statue of herself, and all kinds of weapons and shapes. Just this alone showed how naturally proficient she was at controlling ice.

    It was as if she didn''t even need to think about it. The ice just responded naturally, ording to her wishes.

    Next, she imbued other elements into it.

    First, she tried lightning, which still seemed to be Yin Lightning despite the addition of Light.

    The ice crystal soon morphed into a lightning bolt, sparks flying everywhere. But the odd thing was that instead of imbuing, it was more like shebined the two, yet it still took the form of ice.

    A secondter, the crystal exploded in her face due to instability.

    ''Interesting.'' Miramented. She experimented with her other affinities and achieved the same result. Something was different about the way shebined her elements.

    It was simpler yet moreplex at the same time.

    Before, she just overloaded her techniques or abilities with other elements in hopes of boosting their power, but now it felt like she was transmuting her ice by transposing other elements into it.

    She wasn''t quite sure if that''s how it really worked, but that''s what she noticed visually.

    ''It seems that while I''ve grown stronger, my control over my affinities has decreased. Except for my ice affinity, which saw a massive increase.'' Mira noted. She wasn''t dissatisfied with this at all.

    If anything, this was great! It meant she could get that much stronger before reaching the Soul Transformation Realm�Cif she even needed to go through that.

    ''Is it because of that ice mountain?'' Mira thought as she swept her consciousness across her soul.

    The ice mountain, along with her Nascent Soul, stood above everything. Not to mention, now it took up the vast majority of her soul. It was like an indestructible rock, weathering the storms around it.

    Now that she reached the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul Realm, a few things regarding her unique soul began to make sense.

    For one, it was definitely linked to her physique.

    Two, the different sections were symbolic in some way. For example, the eclipse probably represented the duality of her life. Her current self was like a frozen block of ice that blocked any sort of radiance(emotions) from affecting her, generating her primary affinity. Fleeting moments of care may appear, but she was ultimately a cold, indifferent person.

    That was just a guess, but after everything that happened, she knew she was correct.

    Lastly, the point of everything being hidden behind that ck veil, forcing her to chop it up, was to reinforce the idea that even if she couldn''t see the path ahead, as long as she kept moving forward, eventually, she''d find what she was looking for.

    At least, that''s how she interpreted it. She didn''t have anyone else to consult with this, and the Guardian refused to tell her anything.

    ''However, I''m confident in my conjecture.'' She thought. ''Although my soul might be unique, at the end of the day, it''s a reflection of me. As long as I understand myself better, I can understand my soul.''

    Mira stood still for a moment, absorbing all the revtions that had transpired within her. She felt different�Cevolved�Cyet there were certain parts of her that remained unrefined. Her connection with the elements was both enhanced andplicated by her breakthrough.

    She took a deep breath, the cold air of the floating ind filling her lungs, and closed her eyes. She whispered to herself, "I guess I''ll have to find time to train."

    Mira concentrated on her newfound abilities, letting the sensation of her enhanced Qi envelop her. The elements called to her, waiting to be used, but each time she tried to merge them, they resisted, shing and repelling against one another.

    She needed to understand them better, to build a synergy between them. That would be her next goal. No longer was it sufficient to merely use her elements; she needed to master the art ofbining them seamlessly.

    The FLDIL, sensing its role wasplete, began to retract its energy. With a soft, luminescent glow, it slowly sank into her Soul Sea.

    Suddenly, in front of her, an ethereal bridge appeared. It stretched out far into the distance, its end unknown as whatever was next wasn''t close. The bridge, though illusory, held a promise of another journey, another discovery.

    Without a second thought, Mira stepped onto the bridge, feeling a pull, an attraction to whatevery beyond. The floating ind behind her began to crumble, disintegrating into particles of light and shadow.

    Her Soul Sense, although vastly improved, couldn''t discover the other end of the bridge. But that didn''t deter her. In fact, it only strengthened her resolve. The unknown was where she thrived, where she grew, and where she discovered more about herself.

    However, she had a sinking feeling that she was getting close to the end of the Realm, which only furthered her excitement.

    A predatory smirk etched on her face, her crimson eyes gleaming. ''What else is left for me to plunder and kill?''

 Chapter 788 Prime Disciple Competition: Bridge

    Chapter 788 Prime Disciple Competition: Bridge

    The bridge beneath Mira''s feet had an enigmatic shimmer to it, reflecting shades of silver and gold intermingling. It was oddly calming, but the serenity ended there. The vast expanse on either side of the bridge was a chasm, an endless void filled with just a dim ambient light that emanated from an unknown source.

    For as far as the eye could see in front of her and beyond, there was nothing.

    ''So, the next ind is at least over one hundred kilometers away.'' Mira mused. With her speed, that normally wouldn''t take long, but there was a slight problem.

    She stomped on the bridge with about half her power in an attempt to speed off into the distance, but the bridge below her cracked. It didn''t crack in just one spot either but over 10 kilometers!

    ''Well�� That''s new.'' She thought before testing out if she could fly. But as she suspected, she couldn''t, not even with her Paragon Wings.

    Mira shrugged, not bothered by this, and kept walking. She needed time to adapt to her strength anyway.

    She had taken no more than a dozen steps when her hand unconsciously touched the obsidian ring on her finger.

    She stared at the ring with worry and doubt apparent in her gaze. Was Maria still there, waiting on the other end? Or did she really kill her? The sheer idea of sending Qi into the ring and not feeling that familiar connection was terrifying.

    However, as she walked, her resolve solidified. Her mind was too preupied with this. If any sort of danger arrived, she didn''t know if she''d be able to react fast enough, considering the bridge was an unknown factor.

    She took a deep breath, pushing her Qi gently into the ring.

    For a split second, there was nothing. But then, a scrambled, chaotic connection vibrated back. It was as though the pull from Maria wasing from all directions simultaneously. Bewildered, Mira tried to iste the direction, but it was impossible. It was as if Maria was everywhere and nowhere.

    Mira''s worry intensified. The connection had worked in the Abyssal Torment Steps, but she failed to test it when she first entered this Realm.

    ''Is it because Maria was standing right in front of me? Was that really her? Or just an illusion?'' She couldn''t know, not until she left this ce.

    Shaking her head and trying to push the dread to the back of her mind, Mira continued her walk. She would need all her focus for the journey ahead.

    The atmosphere shifted abruptly, the bridge''s dim luminescence dulled by looming shadows overhead. Mira''s senses sharpened immediately. Her instincts screamed at her just before she caught the glimpse of razor talons and sleek feathered bodies diving toward her.

    Avian creatures, their eyes a fiery crimson and their wings spread wide, darkened the skies. The ominous beat of their wings created a symphony of foreboding.

    As they neared, Mira could see the gnarled feathers, the rough texture of their skins, and the hunger evident in their gaze. They weren''t ordinary birds. Their size, the eeriness of their calls, and the menacing aura surrounding them signaled the danger they represented.

    Her fingers sped the handle of her scythe, drawing it in one fluid motion.

    However, the thought of the bridge''s fragility nagged at her. One wrong move, one overpowered swing, and she could be plummeting into the nothingness below.

    The first beast lunged, talons outstretched. Mira sidestepped, gracefully deflecting it with the side of her scythe. The bridge quivered beneath her but held.

    Another avian creature swooped in from her right. With precise calction, she angled her weapon just so, allowing the momentum of the creature to carry it past her, the de barely grazing its feathers.

    Each movement she made was measured, and each swing of her scythe was carefully controlled. The bridge''s fragility forced Mira to tap into a more refined form ofbat, relying less on brute strength and more on skill and strategy.

    Little by little, she was slowly getting ustomed to her new strength, but it would still take time.

    ''Right now, I just need to not use enough power to destroy the bridge.'' Mira thought, dodging another attack.

    However, the birds, perhaps sensing her hesitance, grew bolder. They began to coordinate their attacks,ing at her from multiple directions.

    Each dive bomb and strike was choreographed like a dark ballet in the skies. Their screeches resonated, creating a discordant tune that echoed in her mind.

    Mira''s world became a whirlwind of feathers and talons, the golden and silver reflections of the bridge no longer a calming sight but a dangerous stage.

    Suddenly, a particrly massive avian beast, its wingspan casting a formidable shadow, joined the fray. Its beady eyes fixed on Mira, and with a deafening screech, it led a wave of itsrades in a unified assault.

    Mira''s heart pumped. Their numbers and thebined might of their onught presented a challenge she couldn''t ignore.

    Even her finely honed instincts were being tested, as every second demanded a fresh decision: defend, evade, or retaliate, all without shattering the bridge beneath her feet.

    With a spin, she swung her scythe upward, creating a barrier of Qi that deflected several of the creatures.

    They collided in mid-air, disoriented and momentarily thwarted. Seizing this chance, Mira focused her energy, her Qi pulsating around the scythe.

    Instead of using brute force, she formed a razor-thin arc of energy that cut through the air, slicing the attackers in half and sending them plummeting to who knows where without needing the might of a full swing.

    Therger beast remained undeterred and made its move. It dived straight for Mira, the force of its descent threatening to shatter the bridge outright.

    Mira braced herself, her Qi converging to a focal point at the tip of her scythe.

    As the creature was about to collide, she thrust the scythe forward, it p back awkwardly and regroup.

    not to impale but to channel a burst of Qi right into the beast''s path. The energy discharge was enough to halt its descent, making it p back awkwardly and regroup.

    ''Although it''s a bit dangerous��'' Mira nced at the bridge, ''But, it''d be a waste to get rid of these creatures right now. This situation is just what I needed to help control my strength!''

    Her breakthrough to the 9th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm brought significant changes, ones that would need longer than a few seconds to adapt to.

    She wouldn''t treat this as some random attack; this was an opportunity, a live training ground.

    The next few days were a blur of unendingbat. She moved in sync with the bridge''s rhythm, letting its sways and vibrations guide her movements. Her scythe danced alongside her, its arcs a testament to her control and precision.

    The massive avian beast, clearly the leader of the flock, seemed to sense her intention. Rather than a full-on attack, it started employing tactics, sending smaller groups of its subordinates in waves, each more skilled and tactical than thest. These were no mindless creatures; there was intelligence behind those fiery eyes.

    As the hours passed by, Mira found herself falling into a trance-like rhythm. Dodge, deflect, strike, repeat. Every encounter tested her limitations, every evasion improved her agility, and every strike honed her control.

    Rest was a luxury she couldn''t afford. She would asionally pause to catch her breath, using her Qi to sustain her energy. The dim ambient light around the bridge never wavered, making it difficult to gauge the passage of time. However, her internal clock told her it had been days.

    During these brief pauses, Mira would also try to connect with Maria through the obsidian ring. The chaotic vibes were still the same as ever, but she held out hope, hope that the fact she could feel ''something'' was good. This added to her determination, fueling her drive to reach the end of the bridge.

    Mira noticed the avian attacks bing more sporadic as she neared the bridge''s end.

    Perhaps they sensed the nearing boundary of their territory, or maybe they had grown wary of the woman who could fend off their relentless onught for days.

    On the final stretch, the massive avian beast made onest effort, its screech echoing through the void. It led a massive wave of itsrades, their numbers dwarfing any previous attack. But Mira was ready.

    Drawing upon every ounce of her skill, she met their assault head-on. But this time, she felt different.

    There was an ease, a flow to her movements, a result of days of relentlessbat. Her swings were measured, and her steps were precise. Every move she made was an embodiment of perfect control.

    It didn''t take long for her to fend off thest of them, including the massive beast, which ultimately fell below the bridge bisected and spurting blood.

    Mira regained what little Qi she used from her ck runes and looked ahead, ready to face the next challenge.

 Chapter 789 Prime Disciple Competition: Nurturing Zone

    Chapter 789 Prime Disciple Competition: Nurturing Zone

    Mira stepped off the fragile bridge onto solid ground, her feet meeting the soft, dew-kissed grass. She felt like she passed through some sort of barrier before she heard the bridge behind her crack and dissolve into pieces, cutting off her escape.

    However, as soon as that happened, information about the ind flowed straight into her mind. It wasn''t much, just a brief overview of the different sections and ces within, but it did help Mira to take her mind off of the past few days.

    The weight of the days ofbat lifted, reced by awe and wonder. The vast ind before her was a sight to behold, as nothing in her past journeys had quite prepared her for this.

    She looked around and was immediately captivated by the Sky Waterfalls.

    From the edges of the ind, waterfalls flowed downwards like molten silver in the midday sun.

    However, the magicy in their descent; they didn''t crash to the nothingness below but rather dissolved midway, transforming into a mesmerizing curtain of mist. This fog swirled and danced, covering the ind below the surface and making it look like it was sitting on a cloud..

    Adding to the ind''s allure were the Floating Rivers. These rivers gleamed under the light, flowing gracefully in the air. They twined and twisted, snaking their way above the ind, creating gleaming paths of shimmering blue and white.

    Taking a deep breath, Mira slowly continued her journey inward. The terrain was unlike anything she had seen before. The ind''s surface had a myriad of variedndscapes. One moment, her Soul Sense saw a lush forest with towering ancient trees, and the next, she found herself in vast meadows with flowers that shimmered in the sunlight.

    The further she saw, the more diverse thendscapes became. From the distance, she spotted majestic mountain ranges piercing the skies and sparklingkes that mirrored the world above them.

    But it wasn''t just the ind''s surface that held wonders. Above her floated mini Sky Inds, pockets of forests levitating above the main ind.

    These forests were not anchored to anynd but floated freely. Their roots were exposed but intertwined, suspended in mid-air, forming an organic mass that moved with the wind. These sky inds moved, drifting just like clouds, casting roaming shadows below.

    The wind that blew across Mira''s face was fragrant, carrying with it the scent of blossoming flowers and the earthy aroma of untamed wilderness. Every breath she took felt invigorating, filling her with an energy she hadn''t felt in a long while.

    She looked up, noticing the peculiar phenomenon of the Zonal Glow. Like concentric circles, barriers of color encased different areas of the ind, each emitting a faint but distinct light.

    Starting from the outermostyer was the Nurturing Zone. It bathed the periphery of the ind in a gentle green luminescence that reminded Mira of young sprouts emerging from the earth, full of life and promise. The glow reflected off the leaves, giving the entire forest a verdant shimmer as if nature itself was emanating a soft, warm light.

    Further in was the Meditative Zone. This area was bathed in a deep, serene blue reminiscent of the deepest oceans or the vast expanse of the night sky. The waters of the Floating Rivers seemed to absorb this hue, making them appear as streaks of liquid sapphire meandering through the air.

    As Mira''s eyes journeyed toward the heart of the ind, they were met with the Ascendance Zone. This was the crown jewel, glowing in a magnificent royal purple, its luminescencemanding respect and attention. The purple aura seemed to pulsate with power, and from this distance, Mira could feel a surge of energy resonating from it.

    The transition between the zones was mesmerizing. The colors blended and danced, reminiscent of the Northern Lights, creating a kaleidoscope that shifted and swirled. It wasn''t just a disy of colors but a symphony, a harmonious bnce between nature and energy. It made the ind seem sentient

    Before she could even startpleting the various challenges that would allow her to move on to the next Zone, she felt a familiar presence nearby.

    ''Elenei.'' Mira thought. She contemted whether she should head over there but ultimately decided to.

    ''Let''s see how strong she''s gotten.''

    Mira dashed through the greenery, and it wasn''t long before she found a massive 30-meter-long Dracophoenix pummeling a group of Rank 6 beasts into the ground. However, before they were crushed into meat paste, a barrier enveloped them, keeping them alive yet unconscious.

    She could sense that Elenei was a Peak-Stage Rank 6 beast on the verge of a breakthrough, but she was curious how her enemies survived.

    Elenei noticed Mira''s presence, but before saying high, she leaned down and plucked a flower with her beak and put it in her Spatial Ne.

    Due to their connection, she could sense the turmoil within Mira but decided not toment on that.

    "Seems you made it here in one piece," Eleneimented.

    Mira nodded without any change in her expression. ncing at the unconscious beasts, she asked, "Why are they still alive?"

    The Dracophoenix shook her head, "I''m not entirely sure, but I think it has to do with the difference in power."

    "Exin."

    Mira''s reply felt oddly cold and distant to Elenei, but she didn''t mind it as she''d always been�� entric. "Well, I''ve only been here for a few hours, but from what I can tell, this ind is providing some sort of protection to the weaker people."

    She then pointed at the fallen beasts with her wings. "Take those guys as an example. My current strength is somewhere within the Rank 7 range, maybe Rank 8 if they''re weak. Obviously, I can kill them in a single hit if I''d like, but the ind won''t let me. Only when I use a power that''sparable to theirs will the barrier not activate, and I''ll be able to kill them. But��"

    Mira interrupted, "But unless you have a grudge against them, it''s not worth it."

    "Exactly."

    They both spected that this was probably the ind''s way of keeping fairness while, at the same time, not wasting all the rewards that these beings received from prior inds. This wasn''t a charity, after all.

    Most of the items found here were impossible to gather in the outside world. Even if they were, they would be incredibly rare. Surely, there wasn''t an infinite number of resources that this Realm could spit out to whoever it desired.

    Mira contemted Elenei''s words for a moment before deciding she had to see for herself. The urge to explore her strength and the ind''s peculiar defense system was too strong. She said her goodbyes to Elenei and set off, determined to conduct her own experiments.

    She didn''t have to venture far before encountering her first group of beasts, a herd of horned elk-like creatures that radiated Rank 5 cultivation. In her hybrid form, she summoned her trusty scythe and swung it at the nearest beast.

    True to Elenei''s observation, a barrier appeared, deflecting the deadly swing and leaving the creature unharmed.

    "Interesting," she muttered to herself.

    She next tried channeling her Qi, attempting to incapacitate one of the beasts with a potent burst. The same protective barrier appeared, causing her attack to dissipate harmlessly.

    Mira frowned, contemting her next move.

    She tried a few more things, such as attacking with her bare hands, limiting her strength severely to the point it was below the beast''s, and a few more, but nothing worked.

    The only remaining method was to embrace her beast form. Despite it being insanely powerful, she rarely found a reason to transform fully. It always felt... different, unfamiliar. She had trained her Martial Arts, Techniques, Scythe, and Qi for decades now.

    To switch to apletely different style, especially in a dangerous Realm like this, seemed foolhardy.

    But now, her curiosity was piqued. She needed to see if, as a beast, she could bypass the ind''s protective measures.

    Closing her eyes, Mira started her transformation. Her limbs elongated, her face morphed, and thick silver fur sprouted across her body. Nine magnificent tails fanned out behind her, each one shimmering with power. As the change waspleted, Mira the hybrid was reced by arge, majestic 9-tailed fox.

    She found the world looked different in this form; colors were more vibrant, scents were more potent, and sounds were sharper. She approached the herd again, trying to match her energy with theirs, ensuring she didn''t overwhelm them with her superior power.

    This was the challenge - to hold back, to be precise.

    Mira lunged at one of the beasts, her jaws aiming for its neck. There was no barrier this time, and her teeth met flesh. The creature let out a pained cry before going limp in her grasp. She''d done it.

    She continued her experiment, discovering that while she could ovee the ind''s protection, she needed to carefully manage her power. Too strong, and the barrier would save the creatures; too weak, and she would be vulnerable to their counterattacks.

    Mira also realized thatbat in this form was wildly different from what she was used to. The instinct-driven actions of the beast conflicted with her calcted human strategies. Several times, she found herself making the wrong move, allowing her prey to escape or even counterattack.

    After a few hours, Mira reverted to her hybrid form, panting from the exertion. It was clear she needed more practice in her beast form if she wanted to make the most of her time on the ind.

    ''I guess�� with that out of the way, it''s time for me to search for the purpose of this Zone.'' Mira thought as she walked deeper into the ind.

 Chapter 790 Prime Disciple Competition: Beast Mode

    Chapter 790 Prime Disciple Competition: Beast Mode

    The light in the Realm cast a warm hue over the ind. It was a sight to behold, the variousndscapes of the Nurturing Zone shimmering under the various lights. However, for Mira, thendscape was not just about its beauty but the challenges it hid.

    Mira, in her 9-tailed fox form, moved stealthily through the vast meadows. She needed to be more ustomed to this form if she were to thrive on the ind. Her keen ears twitched as they caught the distant rustling of a creature.

    Following the sound, she found herself face to face with a Rank 5 Giant Bear. The bear, sensing Mira''s presence, rose on its hind legs, showcasing its imposing stature and giving a guttural roar.

    Rather than being intimidated, Mira circled the beast, her tails moving rhythmically behind her. The bear, seeing Mira''s size, underestimated her, considering her an easy prey. She wasn''t all that massive in this form, probably twice the size of arge wolf, big for a fox, but not for her strength.

    It lunged forward, attempting to swat her with its colossal paw.

    But Mira, with her newfound agility in her fox form, dodged effortlessly. She lunged onto its back, sinking her sharp teeth into the bear''s neck, all the while ensuring she didn''t overexert her strength. The bear, in itsst moments of consciousness, tried to shake Mira off, but her hold was firm.

    After the bear copsed, Mira took a moment to absorb the feeling of victory. She felt invincible in this form, but she knew she had to remain cautious.

    She ventured further, navigating through a dense forest. Every rustling leaf and every chirping bird felt like a symphony to her heightened senses. The Nurturing Zone was alive, and Mira was an integral part of it.

    Coming across a pristineke, Mira decided to test her capabilities in the water.

    Diving in, she felt the cool embrace of the water, her tails acting as rudders, guiding her gracefully beneath the surface.

    Schools of Rank 4 fish swirled around her, their colors a brilliant dance of nature. One particrly bold fish, a Golden Scale Marlin, darted towards her, its sharp beak aiming for Mira''s nk.

    With a swish of her tail, Mira pivoted, avoiding the marlin''s attack, and retaliated with a quick bite. The fish, realizing it had bitten off more than it could chew, tried to escape, but Mira was faster.

    The challenge of hunting in the water, with its resistance and altered sense of movement, was exhrating. Mira spent hours in theke, hunting and exploring, bing one with the underwater world.

    As night fell, Mira emerged from the water, her fur dripping wet. She found afortable spot atop a cliff overlooking the vast expanse of the Nurturing Zone. The moon bathed the ind in a silvery light, making the Zonal Glow even more prominent. From her vantage point, she could see the creatures of the nighting alive.

    Her next target was a Rank 5 Night Stalker Panther. With its dark fur and shadowy movements, it was almost invisible in the night. But Mira''s enhanced senses caught its soft purring and the slight discement of air as it moved.

    She stalked the panther, matching its every move, her own shadow blending with the night. When the panther finally noticed her, it was toote. Mira hadunched herself at it, and after a brief struggle, the panther was pinned beneath her.

    Victory after victory, Mira began realizing the true potential of her beast form. However, she also noticed that her human logic and strategy were slowly merging with the beast''s instinctual behavior. The melding of the two created a synergy she had never felt before.

    As dawn began to cast its first hints of light over the horizon, Mira decided to test herself against a stronger opponent. She descended from her cliff perch, seeking challenges that would further sharpen herbat prowess.

    Soon, she came across a clearing where a pack of Rank 7 Thunderp Wolves was feasting on their recent hunt. These wolves,rger than ordinary wolves, had streaks of electricity pulsating through their fur, lending them an ethereal glow.

    Without hesitation, Mira entered the clearing. Her sudden appearance made the wolves stop their feast and turn their attention towards her. Their leader, distinguishable by itsrger stature and even brighter electric aura, stepped forward and growled menacingly.

    The alpha wolf charged, lightning crackling from its jaws. Mira instinctively dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the electrified bite. As shended, two more wolves lunged at her, trying to nk her from either side.

    Using her tails for momentum, Mira performed a mid-air spin, managing to avoid both wolves. She thenshed out with one of her tails, sending a wolf crashing into a tree.

    The rest of the pack, seeing the strength of this intruder, howled in unison, releasing charged energy into the air. Mira felt the hair on her body stand as static filled the environment.

    The next moments were a blur. Wolves darted in and out, lightning bolts shot from multiple directions, and the scent of sulfur was overpowering. Mira had to employ every ounce of her agility, strength, and intelligence to fend off the coordinated attacks.

    In one instance, she found herself surrounded by three wolves. Before they could close in, she unleashed a burst of energy from her body, creating a shockwave that sent them sprawling.

    At another moment, when the alpha wolf tried to pin her down with a bolt of lightning, Mira redirected it using one of her tails, causing it to strike another attacking wolf.

    As the minutes dragged on, the pack''s numbers started to dwindle. Mira had managed to kill several, using their own electric energy against them or evading them long enough tond a critical blow.

    Finally, only the alpha remained. It circled her warily, electricity coursing more intensely around its body. Both were panting heavily, but neither was willing to back down.

    With a deafening roar, the alpha wolfunched a concentrated bolt of lightning straight at Mira. Instead of dodging, Mira braced herself, absorbing the full brunt of the attack.

    The energy surged through her, causing immense pain, but she held firm. Using the absorbed energy, she redirected it back at the alpha in a blinding arc of electric force.

    The wolf didn''t stand a chance. It was sent flying, crashing into the remnants of the pack''s feast from earlier.

    Mira, tired yet triumphant, stood amidst the dead bodies of the Thunderp Wolves. She had proven to herself that not only could she handle her beast form, but she could also adapt and evolve her fighting techniques on the fly.

    However, her victory was short-lived. A deafening roar echoed through the Nurturing Zone, sending chills down Mira''s spine. Birds took flight, and the ground trembled as a Rank 8 Earthquake Rhino appeared from the dense foliage.

    This colossal beast, armored with thick, rocky skin and a horn that glowed with an inner fire, was known for its ability to cause tremors and levelndscapes.

    Mira realized she was in for a good battle as an opponent worthy of her strength appeared. She''d no longer have to hold back so much just so she could kill her prey.

    The rhino, seeing Mira as a threat, charged, its enormous weight causing the ground to shake with each step. Mira, using her agility, jumped onto a tree branch, avoiding the initial charge. However, the rhino rammed into the tree, sending it crashing down.

    The impact threw Mira off bnce, sending her tumbling to the ground. Before she could regain her footing, the rhino turned and charged again. This time, Mira barely managed to evade, her tails leaving streaks in the dirt as she skidded to a stop.

    Gathering herself, Mira knew she couldn''t keep dodging. The Earthquake Rhino''s strengthy in its relentless charges, and the terrain would only continue to work against her as it got destroyed.

    Leaping onto a nearby boulder, she beckoned the rhino. As expected, it took the bait and charged with renewed fury. At thest possible second, Mira leaped high into the air, using the boulder as a springboard. The rhino crashed into the rock, causing it to shatter into pieces.

    Seizing the opportunity, Mira descended rapidly, aiming to bite the rhino''s vulnerable neck region. However, the rhino was faster than she''d anticipated. With a swift tilt of its head, it caught Mira with the side of its horn, sending her flying several meters away.

    Mira hit the ground hard, feeling the breath knocked out of her. Pain seared through her side where she''d been struck. Despite the injury, she forced herself to rise. She could feel blood dripping from a gash, but there was no time to tend to it.

    The Earthquake Rhino, sensing her vulnerability, stomped its foot, sending shockwaves through the ground. The vibrations were intense, making it hard for Mira to maintain her bnce. Large fissures began to open up in the ground, and Mira had to dodge rapidly to avoid being swallowed by the splitting earth.

    Amidst the chaos, a n began to form in her mind.

    Leading the rhino towards one of therger fissures, she made a show of stumbling at its edge. The rhino, seeing a chance to finish her off, charged with all its might.

    As it neared, Mira summoned all her strength and agility to leap out of its path, her nine tails propelling her into the air. The rhino couldn''t stop its momentum in time and plummeted into the fissure with a thunderous crash.

    Hovering in the air momentarily, Mira watched as the Earthquake Rhino struggled to climb out.

    Before it could recover, she lunged, striking its eyes with her sharp ws. Blinded and in pain, the beast''s struggles became more frantic but less coordinated. With a few more strategic attacks targeting its vulnerabilities, Mira managed to y it.

    Exhausted, she mbered out of the chasm, her body throbbing with vigor from the intense battle. She took a moment to catch her breath, realizing that this encounter had pushed her further than she thought it would.

    ''I guess the beasts on this ind are a bit different. Not like the ones in the outside world.'' Mira thought, wanting to find somewhere to rest while her body healed.

    However, before she could move too far, she heard a familiar shout in the distance.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

 Chapter 791 Prime Disciple Competition: Battle With A Familiar Face

    Chapter 791 Prime Disciple Competition: Battle With A Familiar Face

    Sensing danger, Mira hurriedly jumped back,nding roughly on her paws.

    Right after she dodged, a massive explosion went off right where she just stood.

    ''This fucking��'' Mira''s eyes glowed dangerously as she stared at the floating red-haired woman holding a spear. ''Can''t she recognize me?!''

    While that attack wouldn''t have killed her, taking one of Nova''s techniques head-on wasn''t something she particrly wanted to do.

    ''How many other 9-tailed foxes with multi-colored tails are out there? Is she really that stupid? Or does she just want to fight?'' Mira contemted, but before she coulde to a conclusion, another beam of fire wasunched in her direction.

    *BOOOOM!*

    A crater was formed in the ground from the impact, but Mira was nowhere to be seen.

    ''Fine. I''ll humor you for now. Let''s see if you''ve gotten any stronger.'' Mira chuckled as her hind legs crunched into the ground before she lunged in Nova''s direction.

    As Mira closed in, the aura around Nova intensified, her crimson hair dancing wildly in the wind, reflecting her growing agitation. Sparks of fire spiraled around the woman''s spear, signaling her readiness for a heated battle.

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    Mira, with her multi-colored tails flowing gracefully behind her, twisted and turned through the air, dodging the rapid strikes of energy that Nova unleashed. The fiery explosions left a trail of destruction on the ground, but Mira''s agility kept her one step ahead.

    Nova, seeing that her long-range attacks were proving ineffective, tightened her grip on the weapon. She channeled her energy, infusing the weapon with a brilliant glow. The surrounding atmosphere became scorching hot, with patches of ground spontaneouslybusting.

    "Sunfire Spear Surge!" Nova shouted, thrusting her spear forward. A torrent of mes, shaped like a spear, surged towards Mira, covering a wider area than the previous attacks.

    Mira, realizing that evasion might not be enough this time, gathered Primal Energy in her paws, creating a barrier in front of her. The two forces shed, causing a blinding explosion and sending shockwaves throughout the Nurturing Zone.

    The dust settled, revealing Mira standing firm without a single hair out of ce. Nova, however, looked genuinely surprised. "What beast is this?" she murmured, intrigued by Mira''s resilience.

    Determined to end the battle, Nova decided to unleash her most potent technique. "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shockwave!"

    The entire ground trembled as Nova mmed her spear into the earth, releasing a colossal shockwave of fire that radiated outwards in all directions. Trees were uprooted, and the earth was scorched, transforming the vibrantndscape into a fiery hellscape.

    Mira, sensing the immense danger, focused her energy on her tails, creating nine separate shields, each deflecting a part of the shockwave. However, the sheer force of the attack sent her skidding backward, her paws creating deep trenches in the ground.

    For a few moments, the only sounds were the crackling of burning trees and the heavy breathing of the twobatants.

    As the smoke and dust began to clear, Nova, eager to maintain her advantage, lunged at Mira with unprecedented speed. Her spear glowed even brighter, with trails of mes following her every move.

    Mira, catching onto Nova''s intention, shifted her stance, prepared to parry any close-range attacks. The air around them seemed to electrify, charged with the tension and anticipation of their impending sh.

    With a mighty yell, Nova swung her spear downwards, attempting to pin Mira to the ground. Mira narrowly sidestepped the attack, allowing the spear to bury itself into the earth. Seizing the brief moment of Nova''s vulnerability, Mira swung one of her tails, infused with Primal Energy, aiming straight for Nova''s torso.

    However, Nova was no rookie. Using her Sunfire Spear Surge technique, she created a propulsion of mes from her spear''s tip, rocketing her out of the way in the nick of time and freeing her weapon.

    They continued in this deadly dance, a flurry of swings, thrusts, and parries. Their movements were so fast that to an ordinary observer, they might have appeared as mere blurs. The surroundingndscape bore witness to their incredible power as it transformed from a once-peaceful nurturing zone to a chaotic battleground.

    Nova, attempting to regain control, hovered above, her spear pointed directly at Mira. "Sunfire Sphere Spear Barrage!" she shouted. The air became thick with ming projectiles, raining down on Mira like meteors.

    But Mira was prepared. Harnessing the Primal Energy, she summoned a protective dome around her. Each sphere that struck her shield exploded on impact, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle of fire.

    As the barrage subsided, Mira dissipated her shield and took to the air, meeting Nova head-on. Their eyes locked, and Nova couldn''t help but feel a hint of familiarity from those eyes.

    ''Wait��'' Nova''s eyes widened when she realized that the beast was at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. The only way that was possible was��

    ''Ah! Mi-!''

    With a ferocious battle cry, Mira charged forward, her nine tails radiating an intense energy. Nova, in response, created multiple copies of her spear using her Sunfire techniques, ready to parry Mira''s assault.

    The two collided in mid-air, an explosion of light and energy erupting around them. The ground below trembled, and the shockwave from their collision could be felt for kilometers.

    Amidst the luminous aftermath of their sh, Mira and Nova found themselves suspended in the air, looking at one another.

    As the two hovered, locked inbat, the energy surrounding with Nova''s zing spear, weaving an intricate bnce of power and grace.

    them began to swirl, creating a vortex of mes and primal force. The brilliant colors of Mira''s multi-colored tails contrasted sharply with Nova''s zing spear, weaving an intricate bnce of power and grace.

    Mira, taking advantage of this momentary pause, locked eyes with Nova. "Do you recognize me now?" she whispered, her voice echoing in the void.

    Nova, visibly shaken by the realization, replied, "Mira... it can''t be. Why are you in this form? Why didn''t you let me know it was you?"

    Mira shook her head, "I wanted to see if you''ve grown stronger."

    Nova''s eyes zed with a mixture of anger and confusion. "If you wanted to test me, there were better ways!" she snapped, her voice tinged with an undercurrent of betrayal.

    Mira smirked, "You always were too prideful. Look at you now, attacking without even confirming your target. It seems you''ve forgotten some of our training."

    With a roar, Nova channeled her energy and executed the "Heavenly Sunfire Descension". The sky overhead darkened, and from the heavens, a massive pir of me descended, targeting Mira directly.

    Mira, not to be outdone, swirled her tails, creating a whirlwind of Primal Energy around her, deflecting the pir. But just as she believed she had thwarted one attack, another was on its way.

    "Sunfire Starfall!" Nova cried. From the sky, a rain of fieryets began to plummet down. Each star was imbued with a fiery core, making them both beautiful and deadly.

    Mira, however, didn''t seem fazed. She spun in the air, her multi-colored tails weaving aplex pattern. With a focused surge of energy, she transformed the Primal Energy into a series of protective orbs that floated around her. As the fiery stars fell, they collided with these orbs, creating a mesmerizing disy of explosions in the sky.

    But Nova wasn''t done yet. Drawing from her inner reserves, shebined her Sunfire techniques,unching a new, more powerful attack, "Sunfire Spear Starstorm!" With a flourish, she transformed her spear into a multitude of ming projectiles that resembled shooting stars, each one hurtling toward Mira with deadly precision.

    Mira''s eyes widened at the sight, realizing the enhanced danger of thisbined technique. She quickly summoned a colossal Primal Energy shield in front of her. The fiery projectiles collided with the shield, causing ripples of energy to spread across its surface. But one by one, they were absorbed, leaving Mira untouched.

    Both warriors were now panting heavily, their energy reserves depleting rapidly from the intensity of their battle.

    Nova, gathering her breath, shouted, "Mira! Enough of this! If it''s a test you wanted, you''ve seen my strength. Now let''s end this!"

    "Maybe you should''ve recognized me earlier," Mira replied with a smirk, her form shifting from the monstrous 9-tailed fox back to her hybrid form. Standing there, her hair flowing like a silver waterfall, she radiated a powerful aura that even made Nova take a step back.

    Nova''s spear vanished, and she slowly descended to the ground, her fiery hair settling back to its natural state. "You always had a knack for causing trouble, Mira," she sighed, rubbing her temples as if nursing a headache.

    The two stood there for a moment, lost in thefort of their shared memories and history. The burningndscape around them seemed to fade away as they reconnected.

    After what felt like an eternity, they separated. Mira looked around at the destruction their battle had wrought. "Seems like we did quite a number on this ce."

    Nova chuckled, "Looks like the nurturing zone will need some... nurturing."

    The two began to walk side by side, heading towards the heart of the nurturing zone. As they walked, Nova''s curiosity got the better of her. "So, why the fox form? I''ve never seen you take on that guise before."

    Mira''s face became indifferent, "That''s�� a story for another time. Let''s just say it''s a part of my journey that I''ve embraced."

    "...Fair enough."

 Chapter 792 Prime Disciple Competition: New Challenge

    Chapter 792 Prime Disciple Competition: New Challenge

    The scorched earth crunched under their feet as Mira and Nova continued their journey to the heart of the nurturing zone. The burnt remnants of trees cast long, skeletal shadows as the sun began its descent. The once-lush haven was now a deste battleground, a testament to the raw power bothbatants possessed.

    Nova nced sidelong at Mira, her curiosity evident. "Your power has grown exponentially since ourst meeting. Even in that fox form, you seemed... different."

    Mira didn''t look at Nova and continued walking. "You''ve gotten stronger too. I didn''t think your attacks would be able to hurt me."

    Nova gave a subtle smile and chuckled. "What can I say? That bloodline you gave me is overpowered."

    However, Mira shook her head. "That wasn''t from your bloodline. You didn''t even use it there."

    Nova scratched her cheek awkwardly, feeling a little ufortable that Mira was able to see through her so easily.

    "...You''re right," She nodded. "I was able to upgrade my Physique and Core, among other things, but I''ll keep those a secret for now."

    They were still in apetition, after all. She couldn''t just hand Mira all of her trump cards on a silver tter. She was already the top candidate to win the Prime Disciplepetition.

    As they walked inpanionable silence, the energy of the nurturing zone began to shift. Despite the destruction, the essence of life began to pulse as if the very soil was trying to heal itself. Small green shoots sprouted from the ckened earth, and the distant sound of running water could be heard.

    Nova gestured towards the burgeoning life. "The nurturing zone is truly unique. Even after our destructive bout, it''s regenerating."

    Mira nodded.

    They soon reached a clearing with a serene pond at its center. The water shimmered with a myriad of colors, each hue representing a different type of energy. Surrounding the pond were all kinds of beasts.

    The beasts turned to them, but not sensing any danger, they went back to drinking out of the pond.

    Mira approached the water''s edge, kneeling to scoop up a handful. The liquid transformed into a silvery essence as she brought it closer. It entered her body and filled up her body with energy, both her Qi and Primal Energy. Any injuries she sustained were also healed.

    Lastly, her cultivation seemed to increase slightly. Unfortunately, she was at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and had no idea how to break through to the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Though, she had a feeling it probably had something to do with her different forms.

    Nova approached the pond, her reflection rippling in its depths. She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Mira, our battle earlier... Was it just a test? Or was there something more you sought?"

    Mira sighed, her eyes reflecting the pond''s myriad colors. "Partly a test, yes. But also... a way to reconnect."

    Nova''s eyes softened. She could tell that Mira was going through something. This whole interaction felt forced and kind of awkward since Mira was the type to kill first and, well, kill some more. Questions generally aren''t even asked.

    There was a faint killing intent growing within her eyes. To the untrained eye, one wouldn''t notice, but as someone who''s spent a decent amount of time with her, she could tell.

    However, if Mira didn''t want to talk about it with her, then the least she could do was be a good friend.

    "You could''ve just talked to me," Nova muttered.

    Mira chuckled, "And miss out on such a thrilling battle? That''s not my style."

    Nova smiled, then looked thoughtful. "You said your fox form is a part of your journey that you''ve embraced. Care to share now?"

    Mira hesitated, her gaze drifting to the statues surrounding the pond. She then proceeded to tell Nova a bit about her time in the Secret Realm.

    After she was done, Nova did the same. She talked about the fiery trials she went through, the hellish ins, the various techniques she''s learned, and a way to further sublimate her bloodline.

    However, Mira could tell there was more to it than that. Parts that Nova purposefully left out or just didn''t want to talk about.

    ''It seems like I''m not the only one that''s had problems with this ce.'' Mira thought, her spirits a bit uplifted after talking with Nova.

    At least she wasn''t the only one suffering.

    "Quite an adventure," Mira remarked after Nova finished recounting her experiences. She felt a strange sense of camaraderie, thinking about how both of them had undergone transformations, both literal and metaphorical, during their respective journeys.

    "Life''s never dull, especially not for people like us," Nova replied, her gaze lingering on the multi-colored water of the pond.

    Each scooped up another handful of the shimmering liquid, letting its restorative essence flow through their veins one more time. Mira could feel her energy stores replenishing, the persistent fatigue that she hadn''t even noticed until now dissipating.

    "Let''s go," Mira said, standing up and turning away from the pond. "There are more challenges waiting for us."

    Nova grinned, "You read my mind."

    As they exited the clearing, Mira shifted back into her nine-tailed fox form. The transition sent ripples of energy across her body, but she felt more at ease in this shape. The fox form had be an essential part of her identity, a symbol of her newfound strength and the lessons she''d learned.

    Nova, standing beside her, couldn''t help but marvel at the majesty of Mira''s transformed state. "Ready to go hunting?"

    Mira''s multi-colored tails flicked yfully. "Always."

    For days, the two of them roamed deeper into the Nurturing Zone, their presence a harbinger of death for the unfortunate beasts that crossed their path. Their battles were brief but intense, their opponents ranging from fire-breathing drakes to behemoths with skin as tough as steel. Every kill was a lesson, every challenge an opportunity to refine their skills and deepen their understanding of their own limitations.

    Mira found herself growing morefortable with the primal ferocity of her fox form, the ins and outs of its potential bing increasingly clear. Each beast they vanquished became a part of her growing reservoir of primal energy, fueling her continuous growth.

    Nova, for her part, was equally relentless. The explosive power of her Sunfire techniques left nothing but ash in its wake. She looked exhrated, her eyes shining brighter with every victorious battle.

    But despite the satisfaction of their hunts, Mira could sense that something more awaited her in the Nurturing Zone��a challenge that could catalyze the next stage of her journey. Her fox senses tingled with anticipation and a touch of dread, feelings she''d learned not to ignore.

    After a week of fighting both human and beast, the two found what Mira had sensed: a portal, shimmering with a silver luminescence, secluded in a cave surrounded by towering, twisted trees.

    The portal pulsed softly, almost invitingly. Mira could sense an indescribable energy emanating from it, an energy that beckoned her forward yet warned her of the dangers thaty beyond. She looked at Nova, who nodded.

    "This is your moment," Nova said. "I can feel it."

    Mira approached the portal, her nine tails flowing gracefully behind her. For a brief moment, she hesitated. Then, with a determined glint in her eyes, she stepped through.

    Mira stepped through the portal, bracing herself for a realm of unknown challenges. To her surprise, she found herself in a starkly different setting��a simple room, all white, marked by ck outlined tiles. It was devoid of any features, a stark contrast to the intricatendscapes she''d traversed earlier.

    Across from her, an exact copy of herself materialized. It was her, in her nine-tailed fox form, down to thest multi-colored tail. Her clone''s eyes glinted with the same intelligence and ferocity she knew so well, making it clear that this battle would be unlike any she had faced before.

    A voice, neutral and disembodied, resonated through the white space. "To progress, defeat yourself."

    Mira nced at her clone, sensing its readiness for battle.

    The atmosphere in the room became electric, charged with theirbined energy. Mira felt her primal force rising, a torrent of power that shed with an identical force emanating from her clone. It was a deadlock, a standstill that could only be broken by the one willing to push beyond her limits.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed, her lips pulling back to reveal sharp teeth. Her clone mirrored her, creating a chilling symmetry. Both released a snarl that echoed through the white void, a prelude to the inevitable sh.

    Then, in a burst of energy that seemed to warp the very fabric of the room, they lunged at each other, fangs bared and tails swirling like ethereal des.

    Just as their forms collided in a storm of primal energy and unleashed power, a blinding sh of light filled the room. A sonic boom echoed throughout the room as they were both thrown back.

 Chapter 793 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira vs. Mira?

    Chapter 793 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira vs. Mira?

    Mira steadied herself, her tails instinctively helping her to regain bnce. Her eyes squinted through the fading luminosity, locking onto her clone, who was simrly recovering from the sudden explosion of light and energy.

    Both Mira and her double took a moment to size each other up. The clone was an exact mirror, imbued with the samebat experience, the same mastery of Primal Energy and Qi.

    Yet, there was an unsettling hollowness in its eyes, a chilling reminder that it was not truly her but a reflection devoid of soul and intent.

    "What are you waiting for?" The disembodied voice filled the white void again, devoid of emotion.

    Mira tightened her stance, her eyes narrowing. This wasn''t just a physical battle; it was a fight against herself, a trial for her soul. Defeat would mean death, but victory would mean evolution, both of her abilities and her inner self.

    With a snarl, both Miras charged forward. Their fangs shed, sparks flying as primal energies collided. They broke off, tailsshing out like ethereal des, each blocking the other''s strikes with near-perfect symmetry.

    Mira then unleashed a burst of Qi, channeling it into a blinding wave of energy. Her clone did the same, and for a second, the chamber turned into a storm of colliding forces. The energies met in a spectacr sh, each trying to overpower the other.

    Mira strained against the deadlock, her form quivering under the immense pressure. She could feel her Qi fluctuating, her Primal Energy draining rapidly. She couldn''t keep this up much longer.

    Neither could her clone, it seemed. It was an identical reflection, after all, bound to the same limits, suffering the same weaknesses.

    That''s when it clicked. Her clone might mirror her strengths, but it would also mirror her weaknesses. And if there was one thing Mira knew better than her strengths, it was her weaknesses.

    Channeling her Qi inward, Mira let her Primal Energy surge through her veins, focusing it all into one point in her core. It was a dangerous gamble, one that could potentially shatter her from within if not controlled perfectly. Her clone, mimicking her actions, did the same.

    Now came the tricky part. At thest second, Mira redirected the concentrated energy towards one of her tails, releasing it in a form she had never attempted before��shaped like a piercingnce. Her clone, a fraction of a second too slow to adapt, continued to channel the energy towards its core.

    Mira''s energynce struck true, piercing her clone straight through its concentrated core of energy, triggering an explosive disintegration. Her clone let out a screech that echoed through the chamber, its form disintegrating into motes of light.

    Breathing heavily, Mira stood alone in the empty chamber. She had won, but the battle had drained her immensely.

    "To progress, you must ept all facets of yourself��the good and the bad," the voice spoke again. "Only then can true evolution be achieved."

    "Now, begin Phase 2."

    Suddenly, two copies of herself appeared on the other side of the room.

    Mira''s eyes widened at the sight. Just when she thought she had conquered the trial, the voice had other ns. Her exhaustion weighed her down, and her Qi and Primal Energy were both still recovering from the intense battle with her first clone.

    "Two this time?" Mira muttered, a sense of trepidation trickling through her. "What exactly are you testing?"

    "Your resolve," the voice answered, giving nothing more. "How many times can you ovee yourself?"

    Grimacing, Mira nced between the two new clones. They stood there, mirroring her own fox form, eyes filled with that same hollow intensity. If they were anything like the first, they would fight with her knowledge, her skills, her tactics.

    She breathed deeply, pulling at the frayed ends of her Qi and Primal Energy, weaving them together into a fragile tapestry of power. She couldn''t afford to wait; exhaustion was her enemy just as much as the two copies facing her.

    With a roar that shook the chamber, Mira charged forward. The clones moved to intercept, their movements synchronized to an eerie degree. Mira''s fangs met with one, her tails shing against the other''s ethereal des. She pushed back, using her superior experience topensate for her drained state.

    The first clone lunged at her, but Mira sidestepped, redirecting its momentum to crash into the second. They collided, a maelstrom of conflicting energies erupting on impact. Seizing the opportunity, Mira focused her Qi into a concentrated de of energy in one of her tails and shed at them.

    The clones evaded her energy de with a nimbleness that betrayed their knowledge of her tactics. Each maneuvered to counter her next move, pushing her into a corner, both metaphorically and physically.

    Mira''s instincts screamed warnings. Every flick of a tail, every narrowed eye from the clones signaled a counter, a threat, a peril. She was fighting mirror images with the same honed instincts, and they were adapting just as quickly as she was.

    ''Think, Mira, think. You have nine tails, each with unique abilities. Use them.''

    Deciding to take a gamble, Mira activated the powers of her icy-blue third tail, boosting her affinity with the ice element. Simultaneously, she used her white tail to create a blizzard domain. Her perception heightened within the icy mist while her clones were blinded and disoriented.

    Taking advantage of the brief confusion, Mira melded her form within her blizzard domain and emerged behind the first clone. The air crackled with the potency of her boosted ice affinity, her fangs now like icicles, cold and deadly. She lunged, aiming to strike, but her clone, as if sensing her intent, managed to evade just in the nick of time.

    Mira didn''t have time to be surprised; her second clone was already attacking,shing out with a tail. Mira used her gold tail to block the strike; its innate heaviness and strength allowed her to parry sessfully, but just barely.

    Her second clone red at her, its eyes mirroring her own ferocity and cunning. Mira was forced to jump back as itunched a series of tail needles��her own tail''s special ability��toward her.

    ''Fine, let''s escte this,'' Mira thought.

    She used her pinkish-blue fourth tail, specialized in illusion, to create multiple copies of herself within the domain. Her clones hesitated, the dy just long enough for her turquoise tail to alter their perception of time, slowing their reactions.

    Seizing this fractional advantage, Mira channeled energy toward her sapphire tail, prepping it. She knew it could block a powerful attack, and she''d need that insurance.

    With her clones momentarily slowed and confused, Mira used her charm tail to send a ripple of disorienting energy toward them. The clones shook their heads, clearly affected but not defeated. Their instincts were too strong for that.

    Then came the hard part. Mira gathered half of her Qi and channeled it into her icy-blue tail, boosting her ice affinity to its maximum limit.

    At the same time, she released thest reserve of her Primal Energy into her blizzard(white) tail, intensifying the blizzard domain to its apex. The room became a howling, disorienting, icy vortex.

    With a primal roar, Mira lunged at her clones, now vulnerable and momentarily disoriented by her multi-pronged assault. Her sapphire tail glowed, ready to shield her from a counterattack.

    First clone, then the second, she struck. Her fangs, now practically shards of focused ice, met their marks. And this time, her clones couldn''t dodge in time. As they were struck, their forms began to disintegrate into motes of light, their essence absorbed into Mira''s own form.

    Panting heavily, her energy nearly depleted, Mira heard the voice once more. "Now, for the third and final trial."

    Suddenly, energy coursed through Mira''s body,pletely filling it with Qi and Primal Energy, ensuring she was ready for the next round. Then, 3 versions of herself emerged in front of her, except this time, they were bigger and radiated a stronger aura than her.

    Mira felt a shudder pass through her as the three new clones materialized before her, their aura far more potent than hers. This was no longer just a matter of oveing her own limitations; it was about facing superior versions of herself. The ethereal room seemed to tremble, echoing the gravity of the impending conflict.

    "What''s next? A whole army?" Mira quipped, but her levity failed to mask the tension she felt.

    "No army. Just you, three times over," the voice replied, indifferent as ever.

    With a war cry, the three clones lunged at her in unison, each exhibiting a mastery of Qi and Primal Energy that made her first clone look rudimentary.

    Mira barely had time to react. Her sapphire tail red up to block the first devastating blow, but the second and third attacks came in too fast,nding with crushing force.

    Thrown back, Mira tasted her own blood, a metallic tang filling her mouth. Her previous encounters hadn''t prepared her for this level of intensity.

    The clones weren''t holding back. They charged again, their movements a terrifying dance of lethal grace.

    Mira activated her blizzard domain with her white tail once more, but this time, the clones seemed prepared. They continued their advance, unfazed by the icy mist.

    Desperation wed at Mira. Her usual tactics weren''t working. She needed something new, something unexpected.

    As she parried and dodged, barely keeping up with her relentless clones, a wild idea took root in her mind.

    All her tails had specific functions and specific abilities. But what if she couldbine them? Use them in tandem to create something entirely new?

    The concept was foreign, risky, and untested.

    ''Perfect.''

    As her clones closed in for another coordinated assault, Mira enacted her desperate n. She invoked the illusion powers of her pinkish-blue tail to multiply her image, confusing her attackers. At the same time, she used her gold tail to parry, its innate weight adding power to her deflection.

    But that was just the beginning. The real gamble was weaving the abilities of her icy-blue and white tails together. She summoned the blizzard domain even as she amped her ice affinity to its peak. Then, using the minute control she had gained over her icy domain, she started freezing the moisture in the air, turning the blizzard into a storm of razor-sharp ice.

    Her clones hesitated, disoriented by the illusions and slowed by the change in the blizzard. This bought Mira the fraction of a second she needed. With a feral growl, she let loose the energy stored in her turquoise tail, warping the perception of time around her clones and further slowing their reactions.

    Finally, as the coup de grace, she invoked the charm powers of her pink tail��not to disorient but to lure them closer, trapping them within her deadly domain of razor-sharp ice and distorted time.

    The clones growled, their instincts screaming at them to escape the trap, but it was toote. They were pulled in, their forms shredded by the whirling ice shards, their energies fragmented by the warped time. As they began to disintegrate, Mira could feel their essence, their Qi and Primal Energy, flowing back into her.

    Exhausted but ted, Mira looked up as the voice spoke again.

    "Trialplete. You have faced yourself, bested yourself, and reinvented yourself. The Path to the Soul Transformation Realm awaits."

    Mira felt her energy reserves refilling once more, but this time, something was different. A new, unexplored realm of power beckoned as if a door she never knew existed had appeared.

 Chapter 794 Prime Disciple Competition: Meditative Zone

    <h4>Chapter 794 Prime Disciple Competition: Meditative Zone</h4>

    As Mira stood there, her senses tingling with newfound energy, the ethereal room underwent a transformation.

    The nk white void gradually shifted, morphing into an intricatendscape that resembled a celestial observatory,plete with constetions shining in the distance. This was unlike anything she''d encountered before.

    Mira took a cautious step forward, her fox-like senses acute and alert. As her footnded, a ripple of energy emanated from the point of contact, rushing through her like a rejuvenating current.

    Mira closed her eyes, directing her focus inward. She could sense her Primal Energy heart pulsing in the depths of her core, a fusion of Primal Energy and Beast Blood Essence. It felt... restless, as if eager for the next stage of its evolution. Her nine tails twitched in anticipation.

    With an inward breath, Mira tapped into her Primal Energy heart, now coursing with the newfound wisdom and strength she had gained from the trials. She felt as if she were standing on the edge of a vast ocean, its waters teeming with untold potential.

    Taking the plunge, she directed a stream of her refined Qi towards her Primal Energy heart. As Qi met Primal Energy, an extraordinary thing happened. The Primal Energy heart began to resonate, emitting a series of harmonic frequencies that seemed to reverberate in the very core of her being.

    The resonance expanded, enveloping her nine tails, each vibrating at its own unique frequency. Mira felt a sh of insight, realizing that each tail was now a tuning fork of sorts, resonating with an aspect of her Primal Energy heart.

    And then, as if guided by an unseen hand, her Primal Energy heart began to transform. Itpacted, the energy bing denser and more intricate, like a star in the throes of a transformation. Layers uponyers of intertwined Primal Energy and Beast Blood Essence spun in a cosmic dance until they fused into a new form.

    Mira felt her Primal Energy heart settling into its new form��a tripartite core, three oveppingyers in a perfect equilibrium. Oneyer was the refined Primal Energy, the second was her Beast Blood Essence, and the third was something new��something cold, but she couldn''t quite put her finger on it.

    Mira opened her eyes. She felt invigorated, her senses more acute than ever. It was as if a veil had been lifted, revealing a world of new possibilities. Though she sensed she had only scratched the surface of this transformation, she knew that her Primal Energy heart was now a potent engine for future evolutions.

    As she looked around the celestial observatory, she realized the space was beginning to fade, its taskpleted��for now.

    With a sh of light, Mira found herself transported back to the realm she knew.

    As the celestial observatory faded, Mira found herself standing in a different realm. Before hery an opened Zonal Barrier, shimmering with translucent energies. It was a passage from the Nurturing Zone to the Meditative Zone, and it seemed to beckon her forward, acknowledging her newfound strength.

    Taking a deep breath, Mira stepped through.

    The world that materialized around her was breathtaking. Majestic mountains stood like ancient guardians in the distance, rivers floated overhead like serpentine trails of azure, and lush greenery carpeted thends beneath her feet. It was a surreal tapestry of natural wonders, a vivid testament to the boundless possibilities of the Meditative Zone.

    Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished.

    Mira felt her feet leave solid ground. She was falling, plummeting through an endless white chasm with nond in sight, above or below.

    "What the fuck?!" She yelled, not expecting thend beneath her feet just to disappear!

    Her fox-like instincts screamed, urging her to take action, to do something��anything��to halt her descent.

    In a reflexive burst of Qi, she activated her Paragon Wings, expecting them to spread wide and arrest her fall.

    Nothing happened.

    She shifted into her Progenitor Form, calling upon its mythical powers to save her. Still, she fell.

    She even tried to channel her Wind Affinity to weave the air into a cushion or wings or some semnce of control. But it was as if the veryws that governed these energies had been nullified.

    "Goddammit! What''s going on?!"

    As she fell, Mira noticed other figures in the distance, tumbling alongside her through the void.

    Like her, they appeared bewildered and helpless, victims of the same inexplicable phenomenon. Every so often, one of them would be stopped by an invisible force, their form instantly crushed, reduced to a mass of gore.

    The gruesome sight brought her face-to-face with her own mortality. For all her powers, her aplishments, her transformations, she was now falling towards what seemed to be an inevitable death.

    Time seemed to stretch, each second an eternity, as she descended through the abyss. Her life didn''t sh before her eyes; instead, her thoughts turned inward, contemtive even in the face of impending doom.

    ''Is this another trial? A lesson in humility?''

    Her mind raced through options and theories, trying to make sense of the bizarre reality she found herself in. ''Is this some sort of emotional or intellectual trial? A challenge that defies all conventional wisdom about power and skill?''

    As she plummeted further, something within her began to change, as if responding to the gravity of her existential crisis. It was her Primal Energy heart. The tripartite core hummed softly, drawing her attention inward. The threeyers��Primal Energy, Beast Blood Essence, and the mysterious third��spun in a harmonious dance as if beckoning her to join them.

    Realizing that her strength and abilities were futile in this abyss, she took a different tack. Mira focused on the core, letting go of her instinctive resistance against the fall, her fight against mortality. Instead, she chose introspection.

    In her mind''s eye, she visited her memories, her choices, her moments of weakness and strength. She sifted through her feelings��the love, the hatred, the joy, and the sorrow. She revisited her intellectual epiphanies, her understandings of Qi, of Primal Energy, of life and death.

    As she did, her Primal Energy heart pulsed, responding to her emotional and intellectual energies.

    "Is this what you''re trying to teach me?" Mira thought, still uncertain but willing to take the leap of faith. "That my essence isn''t just about my cultivation or martial prowess, but also my emotions, my intellect, my humanity?"

    She channeled these abstract energies into her Primal Energy heart. Her tripartite core seemed to absorb them like a sponge, integrating them into its intricate design. It was as though her humanity��her thoughts, feelings, and self-awareness��were the missing pieces of aplex cosmic puzzle.

    As her core absorbed these energies, it began to glow brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding��even to her inner vision. Then, just as she was ready to surrender to whatever awaited her, a strange sensation enveloped her.

    Her descent began to slow, not abruptly, but gradually��as if time itself was yielding to her newfound understanding. She sensed that her Primal Energy heart was resonating at an even higher frequency, exuding a sort of gravitational field that fought against the abyss'' pull.

    Finally, her fall came to aplete halt. Suspended in mid-air��or whatever this strange space was��Mira felt her Primal Energy heart solidify its changes. Her nine tails oscited gently, reflecting her inner transformation in their ethereal forms.

    "Congrattions," a voice echoed in the void as if emanating from the very fabric of this strange dimension. "You''ve passed the Trial of Humanity within the Meditative Zone. You have learned that the path to transcendence is not just through external strength but also through introspective depth and emotional richness. The realm acknowledges you."

    With that, her surroundings began to change. The suffocating whiteness gave way to the magnificent scenery she had glimpsed earlier: majestic mountains, levitating rivers, and vibrant greenery. Only this time, they were apanied by a myriad of colors in the sky, as if acknowledging her newfound harmony with the elements of humanity.

    However, unlike the first time, this vision did not vanish. It felt stable, real, and inviting, a piece of the Meditative Zone which she had rightfully earned her ce in.

    Miranded softly on solid ground, overwhelmed yet invigorated. She sensed her Primal Energy heart settling into its new form, incorporating the intellectual and emotional energies she had explored during her trial. It felt more potent yet bnced as if it had truly evolved.

    As she stood there, taking in the breathtaking view, she realized that the journey ahead was far from over. Each trial, each realm, seemed to be pushing her not just toward greater strength but toward a deeper understanding of her multifaceted existence.

    As Mira absorbed the scenery around her, she felt a newfound sense of rity.

    Taking a deep breath, she could feel the Qi of the realm filling her, resonating with her Primal Energy heart. She was ready to reach the end of this Secret Realm and uncover the mysteries behind her next cultivation Realm.

 Chapter 795 Prime Disciple Competition: Trance And Tree

    ?

    Mira stood in awe as the door behind her closed seamlessly into the mountain, vanishing as if it had never existed. She found herself in an expansive valley framed by gently sloping hills and adorned with fields of shimmering wildflowers that seemed to sway in rhythm to an invisible melody.

    The air here felt saturated with a soft, nurturing energy. Unlike other zones, it wasn''t overly potent or stifling. Instead, it hummed gently, inviting her to explore the richness thaty in wait.

    The atmosphere naturally evoked a meditative state, subtly urging cultivators to look inward. Mira felt the constant pull toward introspection, a lure to engage in a deeper dialogue with her innermost thoughts and energies.

    She found a serene spot under a towering, ancient tree, its leaves whispering secrets of timeless wisdom. Here, she chose to sit, crossing her legs and closing her eyes, diving into a trance-like state of meditation.

    Almost immediately, she sensed multiple threads of energy coursing through the environment, as varied andplex as the zone itself. Elemental energies like fire, water, and wind intermingled with more elusive forms like Yin and Yang.

    Rather than focusing on just absorbing these energies, Mira tried something different. She engaged her Primal Energy heart and used it as a nexus to align with each type of energy.

    Each of her nine tails acted as a conduit, channeling a specific energy type into her core.

    Soon, her Primal Energy heart was not just a container but a crucible, fusing these diverse energies into unique patterns and flows.

    The process felt less like absorption and more like a conversation��an exchange of wisdom and insights that expanded her understanding of Qi and the fundamentalws governing their world.

    Time lost its meaning as Mira immersed herself deeper in her meditative trance. Her senses expanded, not just outwardly but inwardly. Thoughts and memories long forgotten resurfaced, intermingling with new insights.

    Through this, she unconsciously shifted into her Human form, as it was the most optimal for any kind of energy control.

    Suddenly, in this state of heightened rity, Mira was struck by enlightenment��an epiphany that brought a sense of profound understanding.

    It was as if she had unlocked atent potential, a secret technique encoded in her very DNA, waiting for the right circumstances to be awakened.

    With her mind''s eye, she visualized this technique, aplex array of movements and energy flows that promised to harmonize her physical, emotional, and intellectual selves into a singr force.

    Though it would take time and practice to master, the mere understanding of its possibility was a significant leap forward. Perhaps, one day, she might be able to do something like change the aspect of her Qi depending on her mood or maybe enhance her brain to a higher extent, allowing her to rapidly create, learn, and master all kinds of techniques.

    The possibilities were virtually endless, and the only thing she''d need to do was explore them.

    ''I suppose that''s the beauty yetplexity of Qi.'' Mira thought. ''There are so many possibilities, so many pathways one can take. What''s right for one person may be wrong for another.''

    ''However, I also have to remind myself not to get caught up in other people''s insights. The basics are fine, but everyone is unique. Sometimes, other people''s advice can narrow one''s vision instead of expanding it.''

    The same went for her. She was Dominique''s Master, but she''d been teaching the girl like a sessor instead of being a guide that could help her find the right direction.

    Even now, she was still in the habit of handing out advice on things that SHE learned. It would probably be more beneficial if she pushed Dominique to learn certain concepts herself.

    ''Good thing I didn''t allow her to continue cultivating just yet. I don''t want to hinder her development because I''m toozy of a teacher.'' Mira pondered, her mind slightly drifting away from the scenes of slicing Maria in half.

    She nced at her ring, which was still chaotic, and sighed. She pushed down all those negative emotions, not wanting to deal with those yet.

    If Maria were truly dead, then she''d grieve properly after all this was over, but she knew better than to rush things. If Maria were alive, then she''d be waiting for her.

    If she wasn''t�� then it was already toote, and there was no need to try and speed through everything.

    Was that cold and detached? Yes, and she acknowledged that, but it was the most logical solution that didn''t stray from her goals.

    If there was one thing she could always rely on, it was her rationality, and she wouldn''t change today.

    ''I''m still going to turn the Guardian into a eunuch, though. How dare that bastard put me through this!''

    "OI! It wasn''t me! I swear! It was the Firmament! Cut its balls off instead!" His voice rang in her head.

    ''It doesn''t have those, so you''re the next best thing.'' Mira responded before shouts of ''supposed'' innocence were directed to her mind, but she ignored the man.

    Finally, Mira chose to withdraw from her meditation, aware that she had spent what could''ve been days or weeks in her trance.

    As she opened her eyes, her senses were greeted by a different scenery. The valley was now bathed in the soft glow of twilight, and the celestial bodies above seemed to bow in acknowledgment of her newfound wisdom.

    Eager to explore more of the Meditative Zone, she rose to her feet, feeling lighter and more attuned to her surroundings. She was still in her human form and decided to keep it that way since that seemed to be part of her ''trial''.

    Mira sensed her surroundings with heightened awareness and expanded her Soul Sense.

    She couldn''t help but marvel at the scale of the Meditative Zone��a domain that seemed specifically designed to catalyze leaps of understanding, both in cultivation and personal growth.

    Yet, despite the tranquil energy that pervaded the zone, her senses picked up the presence of others��perhaps fellow cultivators who had earned their passage into this realm.

    With a flick of her tails, or rather theck thereof, she sent a cascade of Qi rippling through the valley.

    Her senses locked onto a few distinct energy signatures scattered across different pockets of the valley. Each aura felt focused, wrapped up in its own world of meditation or cultivation, much like she had been earlier. Despite their powerful presence, she felt no malice emanating from any of them.

    The valley was generous and full of opportunities to acquire and cultivate unique resources.

    As she ventured further, her eyes fell upon peculiar nts imbued with nourishing Qi and various mineral formations vibrating with dense,plex energies.

    Not wanting to waste the chance, she collected them in her Storage Space. Some nts had leaves shaped like perfect hexagons with pulsating colors. Minerals shimmered in multiple hues, each color representing a different elemental affinity.

    Mira couldn''t help but marvel at the bountyid before her, a treasure trove of materials that were not just physically rich but also energetically potent in their own unique ways. Though less concentrated than what she might find in other zones, these resources were more nuanced, asking the cultivator to engage with them on a level beyond mere absorption.

    She took a moment to tap into her Primal Energy heart, contemting how best to integrate these new finds into her cultivation journey. It seemed like every aspect of this realm��from itsndscapes to its resources��was an invitation to deepen her awareness and refine her techniques.

    As she was about to resume her exploration, a soft hum echoed in the air, pulling her attention towards a grove of luminous trees with bioluminescent blossoms that appeared to hold crystallized Qi within them.

    Intrigued, she moved closer and noticed that each blossom was vibrating at a different frequency, creating a symphony of light and sound that was almost hypnotic in itsplexity.

    It took her a moment to realize that this wasn''t just a natural spectacle. The trees were alive in a more profound sense��they were living, breathing conduits of various energies.

    Their luminescent hues weren''t just random; they seemed to resonate with specific energy types, forming aplexwork that perhaps served a more significant purpose.

    Intrigued by the spectacle, she extended her hand to touch one of the blossoms. As her fingers made contact, there was a sh of resonance between the blossom and her Primal Energy heart.

    Information flowed into her mind, an overwhelming torrent of insights about the Meditative Zone and its interwoven energies. Her body instinctively began to assimte the influx, not just absorbing but integrating, reorganizing her internal pathways to amodate this newfound wisdom.

    It seemed to really connect with her vast array of meridians formed from the World Tree seed.

    ''Interesting��''

    ''Was this part of the trial, too? Or perhaps a reward for understanding the essence of the Meditative Zone?'' she wondered, pulling her hand back, her eyes filled with a sense of awe.

    Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching and turned to see a figure walking toward her. It was a woman, her appearance somewhat ethereal, her eyes reflective pools that seemed to hold entire gxies within them.

 Chapter 796 Prime Disciple Competition: Light And Dark

    ?

    "You''re a new presence," the ethereal woman spoke, her voice a harmonic blend that seemed to resonate with the pulsating energies of the Meditative Zone itself. "I am Luna, a guardian spirit of this realm. You''ve done well to resonate with the Grove of Lumina. Not many manage to understand its essence, let alone connect with it."

    Mira raised an eyebrow at the woman, raising her vignce just in case she was an enemy. "A guardian spirit? Is it your role to oversee the trials here?"

    Luna nodded her gaze as deep as a starlit sky. "Among other responsibilities, yes. You can think of me more as a guide or manager of the Meditative Zone. This ce isn''t for everyone." Her voice became somewhat cold there at the end, but Mira paid no mind to it.

    Mira nced at the bioluminescent grove behind her, still resonating with her Primal Energy heart. "These trees, this entire zone��it''s designed for more than just meditation and Qi cultivation, isn''t it?"

    Luna''s lips curled into a knowing smile. "Astute observation, but not entirely correct. Meditation can mean many things. Some people refer to it when they cultivate, others when they try to clear their minds. There is even a minority that uses it as a way to channel their creativity. So, in a sense, this zone is all about meditation, but it''s more than just sitting down cross-legged and closing your eyes."

    Mira listened intently to Luna''s exnation, appreciating the guardian spirit''s nuanced understanding of meditation. It was a term that encapsted a host of practices and philosophies, each uniquely tailored to an individual''s needs and experiences.

    "So, does this zone also have specific areas designed to aid cultivators in different facets of meditation?" Mira inquired, intrigued by the potential this realm had to offer.

    "Exactly," Luna affirmed. "You''ve already encountered the Grove of Lumina, which is an intricatework of energies. But there are other ces equallyplex, designed to deepen different aspects of meditation. Your recent resonance with Light affinity, for instance, would find a perfect catalyst here."

    Mira looked at Luna with surprise. "How did you��"

    "I sensed it," Luna interrupted, her eyes twinkling like twin stars. "Your aura carries the unmistakable shimmer of Light affinity, and it''s a recent addition, one not yet fully integrated. Would you like me to guide you to a ce where you can work on this new aspect of yourself?"

    "Definitely," Mira answered without hesitation. This was a chance she couldn''t afford to miss, a unique opportunity to strengthen her recently acquired Light affinity and integrate it into her broader cultivation practices.

    Luna nodded and beckoned for Mira to follow. They walked in silence, crossing through fields of glowing flora and past murmuring streams suffused with multicolored Qi.

    Mira gave onest look at the tree that seemed to connect with her meridians before catching up to the woman.

    Eventually, they reached arge clearing where the sky opened up, exposing a vibrant tapestry of celestial bodies. Yet, the most striking feature was a pool of liquid light at the clearing''s center, radiant and ethereal.

    ''Whoever made this really likes pools, huh.'' Mira noted as she seemed to alwayse across ponds and rivers. However, she understood why.

    The energy here was so potent that it was essentially forced to coalesce into liquid form.

    "This is the Pool of Lustrae, a repository of pure light energy," Luna exined. "It''s far more than just a body of water; it''s a crucible where Light affinity can be refined and deepened."

    Mira felt a natural pull towards the pool. It wasn''t just the new Light affinity resonating within her; her entire being felt inexplicably drawn to the luminous expanse. "How does it work?"

    "You''ll need to immerse yourself in it, allowing the Pool of Lustrae to interact with your Light affinity," Luna guided. "It will be an intense experience, and it will take time. The light will scrutinize every part of you, seekingplete integration. You must be open to it, offering no resistance."

    Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Mira stepped closer to the pool. As she touched the liquid light, a warmth spread up her arm, a precursor to the transformative experience that awaited her. With a final nod at Luna, she stepped into the pool.

    The immediate sensation was overwhelming, a torrent of light energy surging through her. It scrutinized her aura, her meridians, and her Primal Energy heart, seeking gaps and imperfections where it could embed itself.

    Her recent merging with the Radiant Crystal Essence acted as a catalyst, maically drawing the light towards it.

    It wasn''t just an infusion; it was a sublimation. Mira could feel the light reshaping her inner structure, aligning itself with her Qi pathways and harmonizing with her existing affinities.

    Even her physique wasn''t spared. The light suffused her muscles, bones, and blood, reinforcing them while imbuing them with its radiant qualities.

    Mira''s consciousness floated within this nexus of transformation. She was aware but not in control, an observer in her own meditation. And yet, she wasn''t passive. Every fiber of her being was actively participating in this, a co-creation between her and the light.

    Her human form, already optimal for energy control, felt enhanced. But it wasn''t just her body; her emotions, thoughts��even hertent potential seemed to awaken, coalescing into a more potent, unified force.

    Minutes turned into hours, hours into an indeterminate span of time where only the intery between light and self mattered. Eventually, the intensity waned, the transformative energies reaching a point of equilibrium.

    Feeling a newfound bnce and power within her, Mira opened her eyes and stepped out of the Pool of Lustrae, forever changed yet fundamentally still herself.

    For the first time, she felt like she had fully integrated with an affinity instead of just having ess to it. It felt a part of her power, something that is uniquely hers.

    Luna stood at the pool''s edge, her gaze reflecting pride and a hint of awe. "You''ve done well. Your Light affinity is now a part of you, not just an external attachment. How do you feel?"

    Mira took a moment to scan herself, observing the profound changes. "It''s like�� I''ve embodied an element. I don''t know how to exin it, but I feel much more in tune with this element. Perhaps more than my ice affinity."

    Luna''s lips curled into a serene smile. "That''s the power of the Meditative Zone and, more importantly, the power of understanding oneself. You are ready to move forward, Mira. Your path, full of light and shadows, awaits you."

    As Luna''s form began to dissolve into radiant motes of light, merging back into the Meditative Zone, Mira took onest look at the Pool of Lustrae. She thought about plundering it, but she sensed numerous powerful gazes on her from the void. They were telling her that she should just move on.

    With a sigh, Mira reluctantly reigned in her impulses and turned away.

    As she moved deeper into the Meditative Zone, Mira continued to feel the resonance of this realm with her newly integrated Light affinity. Her senses expanded, alert for any fluctuations in the ambient Qi that could provide her with further insights or challenges.

    The scenery shifted subtly as she walked. Gone were the shimmering nts and luminous pools. Instead, Mira found herself in a dimly lit forest, the foliage consisting of shadows and ethereal shapes.

    ''So there''s a darker side to this zone as well,'' she mused, keeping her senses alert for any hidden dangers or opportunities for growth. ''Bnce, in all things.''

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a peculiar phenomenon: her shadow, which until now had been a passive silhouette, started moving independently. It detached itself from her feet and began to dance around her.

    Mira wasn''t rmed; rather, she felt intrigued. Her Light affinity may have been strengthened, but shadows were born of light, and the presence of one implied the existence of the other. She extended her Soul Sense toward her animated shadow, attempting to establish some form of contact or understanding.

    The shadow seemed to pause as if acknowledging her effort before merging back into a dark puddle on the forest floor. From it rose a figure that looked exactly like her but was entirely formed of shadow.

    "Who are you?" Mira inquired, intrigued yet vignt.

    "I am your Shadow Self," the figure replied, its voice an eerie echo of Mira''s own. "In this realm of meditation and introspection, I am the bnce to your light, the hidden aspects of yourself that you might not yet fully understand or have epted."

    Mira assessed her shadowy doppelganger with a contemtive gaze. "And what purpose do you serve? Are you here to challenge me?"

    The Shadow Selfughed softly, a sound that seemed toe from both everywhere and nowhere. "Challenge, enlighten, or perhaps simply reflect. It''s up to you how you interact with me. You can fight me, embrace me, or learn from me."

    Mira considered her options. She could either try and kill it or see what it has to offer; both sounded reasonable to her. She hated annoying crap like this.

    However, maybe this was another form of meditation, another trial designed to deepen her understanding of herself and her powers.

    Opting for a dialogue over confrontation, she asked, "What can you teach me?"

    The Shadow Self smiled and answered.

 Chapter 797 Prime Disciple Competition: Reflections

    <h4>Chapter 797 Prime Disciple Competition: Reflections</h4>

    The Shadow Self took a moment to study Mira. Its features, though mirroring Mira''s, held an ethereal quality, its expressions almost dreamlike. "I can teach you about the parts of yourself that you''ve overlooked or suppressed, the facets you''ve chosen to cast away in pursuit of power. The lessons will be challenging, but they can be invaluable."

    Mira shifted her stance, preparing for anything. "Show me."

    The forest dimmed further, the darkness seeming to emanate from the Shadow Self. The trees around them became almost imperceptible, their forms melting into the ckness.

    The Shadow Self began to circle Mira, its movements fluid and unhurried. "Every person, every cultivator, has a dark side. Not necessarily evil, but hidden. Thoughts and emotions that aren''t acted upon or even acknowledged. Dreams discarded, fears unchallenged. That''s where Ie in."

    With every word, Mira felt as though she was being drawn deeper into her psyche, facing memories and feelings she''d locked away. She saw herself as a child, her innocence juxtaposed with the hardened warrior she''d be. She relived moments of fear and doubt, moments when she questioned her path and the sacrifices she''d made.

    "Enough," Mira snapped, breaking the vision''s hold on her. "What is the point of all this?"

    The Shadow Self paused its dance and looked deep into Mira''s eyes. "The point is understanding. To truly master your powers, you must master yourself. And to do that, you must confront every part of you, even the ones hidden in the deepest shadows."

    Mira clenched her fists. She wasn''t afraid of her past, but she hated feeling vulnerable. Yet she also realized the wisdom in the Shadow Self''s words. If she ignored or rejected parts of herself, how could she im to be truly powerful?

    Drawing on her recently strengthened Light affinity, Mira projected a radiant aura around her, pushing back against the oppressive darkness. "Alright. Let''s do this. But I don''t want just memories. Show me what I need to face."

    The Shadow Self seemed to approve of her determination. "Very well. Prepare yourself."

    The moment the Shadow Self spoke, the forest around Mira began to shift and distort. The darkness formed three distinct pathways, each one leading to a different aspect of her deepest fears.

    The first pathway opened into a beautiful garden filled with blooming flowers and the distant sound ofughter. Mira felt a tug on her heart as she saw figures she recognized from her past reincarnations.

    These were people she had loved and who had loved her in return. Their smiles and gestures beckoned her closer, evoking a warmth she had long tried to suppress.

    Yet, as she approached, each figure began to crumble, turning into dust and carried away by the wind. The pain of their loss, magnified tenfold, pressed down on her, weighing on her very soul.

    "Love is a powerful emotion," the Shadow Self whispered. "But it is also fragile. You fear the pain it brings, the possibility of loss, the vulnerability it demands."

    Mira kept silent, but her lips trembled.

    "And yet, love can also be a source of strength," the Shadow Self countered. "To ovee this trial, you must confront this fear head-on."

    Mira took a deep breath, steeling herself. Each step felt like an eternity as she traversed the garden. The weight of countless lifetimes pressed upon her, each echoing with the agonies of love lost and bonds severed.

    "Why? Why show me this?" Mira whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

    The Shadow Self remained close, a mere shadow among the many that yed upon the ground. "To deny this aspect of yourself is to reject a part of your very being. Embracing love is to embrace life itself, in all its beautiful, painfulplexity."

    A memory shed before her. A young woman from her third reincarnation, her eyes filled with warmth and love. They had promised to face the world together, hand in hand. But fate was cruel, and she was taken from her in a tragic turn of events. The anguish of that loss had made her swear never to love so deeply again.

    Another memory from her fifth life: a little girl with her eyes, calling her ''mother'' with pure joy. A love so profound it had felt like her heart might burst. But that, too, had been ripped away, leaving a gaping void that never quite healed.

    These memories, and countless more, painted a tapestry of both exquisite joy and soul-crushing sorrow. The highs of love were ethereal, but the lows were devastating.

    The Shadow Self guided her to the center of the garden where a grand, aged tree stood. Its bark bore the marks of time, with deep scars and fresh wounds. Yet, amidst the scars, fresh green shoots emerged, symbols of new life and hope.

    "This tree represents your heart," the Shadow Self intoned. "Each mark, each scar, tells a story. But so does each new sprout and leaf. Love has hurt you, yes, but it has also made you grow, evolve, and be stronger. You may never be the same again, but to bury it is to reject a part of yourself. Don''t let the past shape your future; live in the present."

    Mira approached and touched the bark of the tree, feeling its ancient energy pulse beneath her fingers.

    Then, as if she had reached a trance-like state, she opened her mouth. "I am afraid," she admitted unconsciously. "Afraid of the pain, of the loss. But also... afraid of the joy. Because joy makes the pain even more unbearable."

    The Shadow Self nodded. "And that''s valid. But by closing yourself off from these feelings, you also close yourself off from its healing power. The love you''ve felt in your past lives and the love you will feel in the future are all part of your journey. Embrace it, learn from it, and let it guide you."

    Closing her eyes, Mira leaned against the tree, allowing its strength to envelop her. Memories of love, both bitter and sweet, washed over her. She saw the faces of those she had loved and lost, their smiles, their tears. And with each memory, she felt a piece of her heart mend.

    After what felt like hours, Mira stood tall, her face serene. The weight on her chest felt lighter. It wasn''t that she was miraculously healed, but taking this journey down memoryne had allowed her to put a pause on all the craziness going on around her and do a bit of introspection.

    There was much more to do and see, as she had lived for many years, but it was a step in the right direction. She walked past the tree, wanting to continue this ''trial'' and see where it leads.

    Eventually, all of this faded into dust, and a new scene appeared before her.

    Mira''s steps took her to a bustling marketce.

    As she wandered through, every individual she encountered showed her acts of kindness: a merchant gifting her fresh fruit, children running up to give her flowers, and elderly folks blessing her.

    Each act made her more ufortable than thest, reminding her of the people she cared about and those who had cared for her, only for their lives to be snuffed out before her very eyes. All because that demon who calls himself ''god'' wanted to break her. To make her go through hardship.

    Suddenly, a shadowy hand would reach out and drag these people into the darkness, their screams echoing in her ears. The guilt, the responsibility for their demise, consumed her.

    "Care brings attachment and, with it, the possibility of pain," the Shadow Self murmured. "You''ve built walls around yourself, fearing the curse of your care."

    Mira''s heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. The bustling market around her continued, oblivious to her presence. The sights and sounds, once filled with warmth, now taunted her with each stolen life.

    "Is it so wrong to not want to go through this shit and focus on getting stronger? Mira questioned above the cacophony of noises. "Every time I think of caring, they''re always taken from me right as things are beginning to get good. It''s as if the universe is punishing me for being human��"

    The Shadow Self drifted closer, its form bing more tangible amidst the chaos. "It''s not about punishment, Mira. It''s about understanding the impermanent nature of existence. Everyone and everything has its time. Your suffering arises from the expectation that things should remain static."

    She scoffed. "Easy for you to say. You''re just a figment of my psyche."

    The Shadow Self''s gaze remained unblinking, its features ever-morphing yet eerily familiar. "I am you, Mira. I know your pain because it''s our pain. The universe isn''t deliberately cruel, but it is indifferent. It''s up to you to find meaning amidst its vastness. Apathy is not the answer."

    The market began to dissolve, reced by a vast, starlit expanse. The gxies swirled around her, illuminating the sheer enormity of existence. Compared to the vastness of the universe, her problems seemed almost insignificant.

    "You bear a heavy burden, one that few can truly understand," the Shadow Self whispered, its voice echoing in the void. "But you cannot shield yourself from the world forever. Care and attachment are part of the human experience. Embracing them fully, knowing that loss is inevitable, is where true strength lies."

    Mira looked up at the stars, remembering all the lives she had lived and all the people she had known. The memories were bittersweet, but they were also a testament to her resilience. Despite the countless tragedies, she continued to persevere.

    Everything the shadow said was true, but were things so easy to change? Right now, the only thing she CARED about was strength. Sure, she liked Dominique, and Maria''spany was refreshing, but if they weren''t strong or at least didn''t have the potential to be strong, that wouldn''t matter.

    She would never ept someone she couldn''t hold onto for eternity. Someone who couldn''t take care of themselves.

    That''s why she was secretly d Maria went out to find herself. She didn''t want to have to keep spoonfeeding Maria with opportunities. The woman needed to obtain her own.

    ��However, since her life and death her unknown at the moment, these feelings may have been wasted.

    But she held hope�CHope that she didn''t actually kill her lover!

    After allowing Mira time to ponder over some of her deepest worries and insecurities, the shadow snapped its finger, and the scene changed.

    Now, she was trapped in a jail cell, her arms, legs, and neck bound by chains.

 Chapter 798 Prime Disciple Competition: Freedom

    <h4>Chapter 798 Prime Disciple Competition: Freedom</h4>

    The atmosphere was thick with the stench of mold and iron. The cell''s cold, hard stone pressed against Mira''s back, chilling her to the bone. The heavy chains that bound her seemed to absorb the meager light, giving the room an even more oppressive feel.

    Memories threatened to consume her, each a chilling reminder of the times she had been trapped, used, or betrayed.

    These recollections from past lives were a cocktail of torment and destion. In one, she was a captive ''noble'', stripped and discarded. In another, a ve, sold and bartered like an object with no will of her own. Time and again, she had felt the biting steel of chains, both literal and metaphorical.

    The Shadow Self''s voice echoed, pulling her from her grim thoughts. "This is your greatest fear. The fear of being controlled, of losing your freedom. Of being reduced to nothing more than a pawn in someone else''s game."

    Mira clenched her teeth. Every instinct screamed at her to break free, to tear the chains apart and reim her autonomy. But she knew that this was not a mere physical challenge. It was a test of her spirit, her resolve.

    She looked around the dungeon, the memories still loomingrge. Each moment of captivity, each betrayal, and each heartbreak was manifested in some form or the other.

    At the far end of the cell, a mirror stood, reflecting her current state. But as she stared at it, the image morphed, showing her past incarnations, each bound, each defeated, yet their eyes still shone with resolve.

    None of them could tolerate what was happening and wished for nothing more than to ughter everyone responsible, yet they were powerless. Willpower and resolve can only take one so far when fighting against a god.

    Rather, it just made her life worse.

    "I won''t be shackled again!" she growled, a fierce determination rising within her.

    With a deep breath, she began to channel her Light affinity. Warmth spread through her limbs, countering the cold of the chains. With each memory she confronted, the chains weakened.

    One chain shattered, releasing a vision of her as a young maiden trapped in a gilded cage, her freedom bartered for political power. She remembered the stifling confines of that life, the weight of the golden chains that bound her, heavier than any iron.

    Another link broke, and she was in a bustling marketce, her hands bound, eyes pleading for mercy as cruel men decided her fate. The humiliation, the despair, she felt it all over again, but she also felt a spark of hope, a determination that had kept her going.

    As the chains continued to break, Mira felt a weight lifting from her heart. Each memory released was another step towards true freedom.

    Her past incarnations'' pain and suffering, while heart-wrenching, also served as a testament to her indomitable spirit. Time and again, she had risen, fought, and attempted to reim her destiny.

    With a final surge of energy, thest of the chains shattered, bathing the dungeon in brilliant light.

    Yet, when it all faded, she was still stuck in a cell.

    It was still as cold and damp as before, perhaps even more so. It was to the point that even with her ice affinity, the frigid temperatures pierced her soul.

    At some point, she heard steps echoing down the hallway,ing toward her location. For some reason, with every footfall, Mira felt a shiver run down her spine. Her face morphed into one of uncontroble rage, as even without knowing anything about the personing toward her, she knew.

    She could feel that bastard''s presence no matter where she was, even if she were dead!

    About a minuteter, a being in a white robe with silver embroidery appeared in front of her cell. The man had broad shoulders, a sculpted body, and a confident gait as if he were the most powerful person in the world.

    She stared up to meet his eyes but realized that his face was blurry.

    ''...That''s right.'' She thought with her teeth clenched, and fists balled up. ''I''ve never seen that asshole with my own eyes before. Only his voice. I guess this is how my mind views him.''

    Suddenly, the man spoke up in that ever-cocky, annoyingly confident voice. "Oh, Mira. Trapped again, huh? You know, all of this could be stopped if you just submit to me. I''ll take care of you so you never have to suffer again."

    Mira''s eyes narrowed at the vague figure before her, the very tone of his voice igniting a furious me within her chest. Her lips pulled back in a snarl, her replyced with unadulterated scorn and disdain. "Submit? To the likes of you? I''d rather suffer endless torture than be in your mere presence."

    Hisughter reverberated through the dank, ominous corridors, sending shivers cascading down her spine, echoing hollowly within the confines of her mind. Yet, beneath the superficialyer of mirth, she could sense an undercurrent of sinister delight, a twisted form of pleasure derived from her agony.

    "You say that now," he drawled nonchntly, leaning casually against the cold, unfeeling bars of her prison. "But everyone has a breaking point, my dear. How long until you reach yours, I wonder?"

    Mira''s gaze never wavered, her spirit unbowed despite the chains of the past weighing her down. Each word, every insinuation he made, only served to fortify her resolve.

    "Not until I have your head on a pike and your soul erased from existence." She retorted, a bloodthirsty smile filled with killing intent gracing her lips.

    "Oh? You''ll keep my head as a trophy even after killing me? How romantic~! I always knew you''de around!" He chuckled lightly, treating her words as if they were a joke.

    Mira''s expression twisted in pure loathing at his attempt to make light of her words, the dismissive tone only serving to fuel her rage further. "Don''t mistake my words for affection, demon. I know you''re just a masochistic freak who gets off on others hating you."

    "Well, hatred is often just a twisted form of love, don''t you think?" The man mused, voice dripping with condescension. "One cannot hate so passionately without some form of attachment."

    "Silence!" Mira snapped, her voice echoing through the stone walls of her cell. "I want nothing more than to get you out of my mind and move on with my life, but you''re like a fucking parasite! Always there, always showing up just to let me know you''re watching."

    The echo of Mira''s voice rebounded off the cold, dank walls, dissipating into the oppressive darkness surrounding them. For a moment, the space between them buzzed with tense silence, electric with the invisible current of their antagonism.

    "Oh, how cruel your words are, darling Mira," the man mocked with feigned hurt, the invisible smirk audible in his voice. "Here I offer youfort, relief from your perpetual suffering, and you respond with such venom. Have I truly earned such disdain?"

    "Every ounce of it and more," Mira retorted acidly, her eyes glinting with the unwavering me of her hatred. "You''re nothing more than a sadistic leech, reveling in the pain of others. I will never submit to the likes of you, no matter how desperate my situation is."

    Her voice trembled, not with fear, but with the incandescent fury building within her chest, a tidal wave of emotion ready to crash down upon the object of her ire. The chains of the past, her haunting memories, were burdensome, yet they also fueled her undying resistance, her determination to never bow before him.

    The man sighed dramatically as if deeply disappointed by her refusal. "Such a pity. You could have had everything, Mira. Power, immortality, freedom from pain. But you choose to cling to your foolish pride, your meaningless defiance."

    "And at what cost?" Mira shot back, her voice razor-sharp, cutting through the chilling air of the dungeon. "My soul? My conscience? I would rather endure a thousand lifetimes of suffering than lose myself to you."

    The blurry visage tilted slightly as if considering her words, then chuckled, a sound that reverberated ominously through the cell. "Very well, my dear. If that is your wish, who am I to deny you? Endure your pain, wallow in your suffering. In the end, you''ll see... you''ll always be alone, with nothing but your precious pride to keep youpany."

    With that final, chilling pronouncement, the figure retreated, his form dissolving into the shadows until all that remained was the stifling darkness and the cold, unfeeling stone.

    Mira''s chest heaved as she struggled to regain herposure, the remnants of her anger still simmering within her veins. The man, the god, the demon, whatever he was, had left, but his words lingered, echoing in the recesses of her mind.

    But instead of sumbing to despair, Mira felt an odd sense of liberation.

    Yes, her path was solitary and arduous, filled with endless trials and insurmountable pain. But it was hers, and hers alone. Her pain, her struggle, her defiance��they were the essence of her existence, her indomitable spirit that refused to yield.

    With renewed vigor, Mira rose, standing tall amidst the suffocating darkness. Her chains had fallen, her spirit unbound, ready to face the challenges ahead with unyielding determination and unbreakable will.

    As she stepped forward, the dungeon around her seemed to crumble, the walls dissolving, the ceiling lifting, revealing a sky painted with the first rays of dawn. Warmth bathed her form, gently caressing away the chill of the cell, wrapping her in a soft,forting embrace.

    She was free.

 Chapter 799 Prime Disciple Competition: Elemental Conflux

    ?

    The sky above Mira began to transform, revealing the exquisite tapestry of the dawn, bathed in hues of gold and crimson. The first rays of the seemingly artificial sunlight in this Realm tenderly reached out, brushing away the shadows and illuminating the path thaty ahead.

    Each step Mira took seemed lighter, as though the sun itself was lending her its strength, allowing her to move forward unburdened.

    She found herself in a meadow, lush and teeming with life, the vibrant green of the grass contrasting sharply with the dark cell she had just left behind. This was a realm of freedom and possibilities, a canvas awaiting the brushstrokes of her destiny.

    Despite the apparent tranquility, Mira could not forget the chilling words of the man in the cell. "In the end, you''ll always be alone." His voice still echoed in her mind, leaving a trail of frost over her newfound freedom.

    Alone.

    The word seemed to expand and contract around her, both a prison and a promise.

    She had been alone, indeed, through lifetimes of struggle and defiance, bearing the weight of her decisions and their consequences. But she was also free, unchained and unbound, free to carve her own path.

    Dominique and Maria passed through her mind, as she wasn''tpletely alone, but her thoughts on them wereplicated.

    Was she supposed to love them? Care for them? Assist them? Or push them aside? Somehow, they all seemed like they could be the right answer.

    Sure, most of the time, they were nothing but burdens, at least in a fight, but they were also people she could go to when she didn''t want to think about bloodshed.

    How she felt about them was too confusing. Even after attaining "enlightenment", things seemed only to be moreplicated.

    ''Fuck it. I''ll just beat them up when I return and see how I feel then.''

    As for if Maria was really dead��

    Well, she wasn''t quite sure what she''d do then, but she decided not to think about that for now as she was sure those goddam stairs wouldn''t kill herpletely.

    If anything, her soul was probably locked up in a room getting tortured or something. Which, while not great, was better than death.

    Maybe��

    Shaking her head at these thoughts, Mira navigated through the meadow, feeling the whisper of the wind and the soft caress of the grass under her feet. She moved with purpose, her senses attuned to the world around her, absorbing its beauty and vitality.

    As the sun ascended higher, casting its warm, golden light over thendscape, Mira felt a presence approaching. It was not the ominous, suffocating feeling of the man in the cell but rather a gentle, nurturing energy that seemed to blend seamlessly with the environment.

    A figure emerged from the horizon, moving towards her with grace and elegance.

    As it drew closer, Mira could see it was a woman, her eyes reflecting the depths of the sky, her hair flowing like a cascade of sunlight. She was the embodiment of the dawn, the herald of a new day, and her gaze rested on Mira with understanding andpassion.

    "Greetings, Mira," the woman said, her voice a melody that seemed to dance with the wind. "You have traveled far and endured much. But your journey is far from over."

    Mira looked into the woman''s eyes, seeing the infinite possibilities and paths thaty before her. "Who are you?" she asked, though she felt a strange sense of familiarity.

    ''Is it because of my bloodline? How peculiar.'' She inwardly frowned but didn''t see any fox characteristics on the woman, so she dismissed this feeling.

    "I have no name," replied the woman, her voice tender and serene. "But for ease of understanding, you may call me Elysia."

    Mira observed Elysia closely. Something about her presence was soothing, calming the storms that raged within Mira''s heart. There was a profound sense of wisdom in her eyes, a deep knowledge born out of countless eons.

    "Where are you leading me?" Mira inquired cautiously, still treading lightly despite the tranquil atmosphere.

    "To a sacred convergence, a ce where the primordial elements dance in harmony," Elysia exined, gesturing for Mira to follow. "It is where the essence of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Ice, and Lightning intertwine."

    As they walked, the meadow gradually began to transform. The gentle, rolling hills became more rugged and pronounced, with giant, majestic mountains looming in the distance. The air grew charged, humming withtent energy, and the scent of earth and minerals became more pronounced.

    The duo approached a grand valley nestled within the embrace of the towering mountains.

    In this secluded sanctuary, Mira could feel the distinct energies of the elements swirling around her. Each element seemed to have its own unique personality, and yet they blended seamlessly, creating a harmonious bnce that resonated with the very core of her being.

    Upon closer inspection, Mira noticed distinct areas within the valley where each element held dominion.

    Earth was represented by the towering mountains themselves, stalwart and unyielding. Their peaks reached for the sky, ancient and eternal, bearing silent witness to the passage of time. The soil underfoot was fertile and robust, teeming with life and the promise of growth.

    Adjacent to these mountains, a fierce ze danced gracefully, embodying Fire.

    This was not an ordinary fire but one that was both hot and cold, mysterious and mesmerizing. Its mes were not aggressive; instead, they flickered softly, exuding a gentle warmth that could soothe the coldest of hearts. It was as if it held the essence of life and death, creation and destruction, in a delicate bnce.

    The wind swirled around the valley, invisible yet powerful. It whispered through the tall grass and caressed Mira''s face with its gentle hands. The Wind was yful and free, moving without restraint, carrying the scents and sounds of distantnds with it.

    Near the center of the valley, a crystal-clearke mirrored the sky above, symbolizing Water. It was deep and tranquil, its surface undisturbed by the passage of time. Beneath its calm exterior, however, the water held immense power and depth, able to carve through stone and nurture life.

    Adjacent to the water, a frosty expanse glittered under the sun, representing Ice. The ice was pristine and beautiful, sparkling like diamonds. It possessed a chilling beauty, both dangerous and alluring, capable of preserving and destroying life with its cold embrace.

    And finally, Lightning flickered in the sky above, illuminating the valley with its breathtaking disy. The lightning here was mysterious and enigmatic. It danced across the sky, casting shadows and light in a hypnotic dance, its energy crackling with untamed power.

    Elysia gestured toward the valley, her eyes reflecting the myriad colors of the elemental dance before them. "This is the Elemental Conflux, a sacred ce where the energies of the universe converge. Here, you can attune yourself to the elements, understand their essence, and perhaps find the answers you seek within their dance."

    Mira stared at the elemental spectacle before her, feeling the energies calling to her, resonating with the power within her veins. She could sense the potential for immense strength and wisdom within this ce, as well as the opportunity for deeper understanding and enlightenment.

    "For eons, this sanctuary has served as a crucible for those seeking to understand the mysteries of the universe," Elysia continued, her voice harmonizing with the symphony of elements. "It is a ce of reflection and growth, where the soul canmune with the primal forces of existence."

    Mira felt a maic pull towards the Elemental Conflux, a deep yearning to explore and understand the secrets held within its sacred bounds.

    Each element beckoned to her, whispering promises of power and enlightenment, offering their strength to aid her in her journey.

    However, there was something odd here at y.

    "Why does this ce seem like it was tailor-made for me?" She asked.

    "That''s because it is, yet at the same time, it isn''t," Elysia answered. "There are many ces in this Realm. You just so happen to fit this one. You can think of the Meditative Zone as a sort of reward for those who have made it this far. Although this Realm was built upon the basis of trampling over the unworthy, that doesn''t mean nobody should be rewarded, nor do they all have to die. However, the next Zone won''t be anything like this one."

    Mira wanted to ask more questions, but the woman didn''t allow her to speak.

    "Take your time, Mira," Elysia advised gently. "Listen to the elements, understand theirnguage, and embrace their power. They will guide you, strengthen you, and help you find the path you seek."

    With that, Elysia stepped back, blending into the background as Mira took hesitant steps toward the Elemental Conflux. The energies within the valley swirled around her, weing her with open arms, ready to share their ancient wisdom and power with a willing and open heart.

 Chapter 800 Prime Disciple Competition: Integration

    ?

    Mira, feeling the tendrils of the elemental energies gently weaving around her, stepped further into the Elemental Conflux.

    The Earth element exuded steadfastness, unwavering and indomitable. It was the backbone of existence, a silent, nurturing force bearing witness to the cycle of life and death. The mountains stood as sentinels, their craggy faces bearing the marks of eons.

    As she moved toward the flickering Fire, its paradoxical cool warmth greeted her, enfolding her with an inexplicable sense offort and understanding. It was life in its most primal form �� a dance between creation and annihtion, osciting in an eternal ballet of controlled chaos.

    Her heart, unknowingly syncing with the fire''s rhythmic dance, felt theyers of pain and solitude being gently peeled away. Every dance of the me mirrored her inner turmoil, reflecting the passionate battle within, a relentless pursuit of freedom and identity amidst the confines of destiny.

    The Wind element was elusive, whimsical even, mirroring her restless spirit. It embodied freedom, an unfettered existence unrestrained by the chains of reality, drifting wherever the whims of the world would carry it.

    As she attuned herself to the Wind, it seemed to acknowledge her unspoken longing for liberation, softly caressing her face, carrying away the invisible burdens that weighed down upon her soul.

    Next, the Water element beckoned, its tranquil surface deceptive of the profound depths beneath. It was a reservoir of emotions and memories, echoing with the collective consciousness of all living beings that had ever graced its surface. In its reflective depths, Mira saw fragments of her own journey, a mosaic of pain, joy, betrayal, and love.

    The Water spoke to her, not with words but with ripples of emotions, offering sce and understanding. It mirrored her resilience and adaptability, whispering promises of healing and renewal.

    Adjacent to Water, the field of pristine Ice awaited. Ice, with its entrancing beauty, bore both danger and allure. It was preservation and cessation, a delicate bnce between life held in stasis and the inevitable descent into oblivion. Here, in its chilling embrace, Mira found rity, a crystalline focus sharpening her resolve.

    Finally, the shes of Lightning painted the skies, weaving a battlefield of raw, untamed power. It gave off the feeling of potential and destruction, of swift, decisive action and the irreversibility of fate.

    In its flickering light, Mira saw the sh of her own determination, the relentless drive that had carried her through countless trials and tribtions.

    With each interaction with the elements, Mira felt a stirring within, a sense of familiarity, as if these forces were merely extensions of her inner self. These weren''t mere energies; they were mirrors reflecting the depth andplexity of her soul.

    Recognizing the need for deeper fusion, Mira steeled herself and plunged straight into the center, where all the elements converged and swirled in their purest, most potent forms.

    The force of Earth bore down on her immediately, feeling like a mountain''s weight pressing against her. It was relentless and firm, testing her endurance and pushing her to stand resilient amidst pressure.

    In the midst of this, Mira felt her body absorbing Earth''s steadfast qualities, integrating its unwavering strength into her bones and muscles.

    The Fire was next, a scorching, zing heat that seemed determined to consume her entirely. But Mira, focusing on her Human Heart, willed the fire to change.

    She imagined the me turning cooler, more controlled, and it did. The fire morphed into Yin Fire, a force both creative and destructive, intertwining with her spirit, infusing her with its dual essence.

    Then came the Wind, its force slicing and dashing against her like invisible des constantly changing direction.

    The unpredictable and free nature of the wind echoed within her, etching a sense of boundless freedom into her soul. It was chaotic but invigorating, reshaping her understanding of movement and speed.

    The Water element embraced her with its depth and fluidity, making her feel as if she were drowning and floating at the same time.

    Memories and emotions flowed through her mind, washing over her like waves, each one leaving behind a residue of understanding, a sense of healing and adaptability settling within her core.

    She then faced the Ice. Its biting, freezing grasp sought to immobilize her, to encase her in a timeless state.

    But as Mira endured its coldness, she also absorbed its rity and preservation qualities. The ice crystallized around her heart, offering her a focus so sharp and clear it felt unbreakable.

    Lastly, the raw energy of Lightning struck, coursing through her with furious speed and might. With her heart serving as a grounding rod, the erratic energy of Lightning transformed into Yin Lightning, silent yet deadly and precise, intertwining with her reflexes and reactions, sharpening them to an inhuman degree.

    Throughout this process, Mira''s Human Heart worked tirelessly, absorbing, converting, and fusing the elements into her very essence. It acted as a mediator, channeling the raw energies into a form that her body and soul could ept and integrate.

    Each element demanded her to experience its extreme; each one pushed her to her limit. With gritted teeth and clenched fists, Mira endured. She felt the elements seeping into her, changing her at a fundamental level.

    However, it wasn''t long before her body began searching, almost pleading, for more ice. Whether it was due to her affinity or Extreme Overlord Yin Physique, she needed more of it to serve as the base of her power.

    As though responding to her silent plea, the field of pristine Ice surged forward, immersing her in a cascade of shimmering crystals and biting cold.

    The chill was extreme, almost paralyzing, but within it, Mira felt like she was invincible. Ice, in its undying persistence, held within it an immortal resilience.

    Her Extreme Overlord Yin Physique vibrated in tandem with the influx of icy energy, absorbing and integrating it eagerly, like parched earth soaking up the rain. Each cell within her bodytched onto the icy essence, fortifying and strengthening under its influence.

    But this integration was not without its pain. The coldness was absolute, threatening to freeze not just her body but also her soul. Mira felt as though she was being torn apart and rebuilt, remolded under the icy hands of an unseen sculptor.

    Yet within the cold, within the endless expanse of frost and ice, Mira found herself being more connected to the element than ever before. Her very essence seemed to crystallize and solidify under the relentless pressure of the cold.

    The icy expanse within her Human Heart began to expand, enveloping the other elements, tempering their fiery heat and unbridled energy with its serene calmness.

    Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Lightning all revolved around the swirling vortex of ice, each contributing to and drawing strength from the chilly expanse within her heart.

    Mira sensed the changes within her and felt the way her body seemed to thrum with newfound power. The elements within her were no longer separate, disjointed entities; they were parts of a whole, interconnected and interdependent, swirling around the icy core of her being.

    Her Human Heart, bearing the brunt of this transformation, became a nexus of power and a wellspring of elemental energy. The elements, once wild and untamed, now flowed smoothly and naturally within her, as easy and as instinctive as breathing.

    However, the process wasn''t quite over.

    As soon as her body formed a physical connection with her affinities, it was time to tie everything together. Through her meridians that were slightly altered before, she linked her Human Heart, which was pumping elements through her body and core, to the World Core in her Soul.

    At that moment, it was as if a switch had been flipped and turned on the lights within her Soul.

    The World Core began pumping out pure, unadulterated elemental energy into her soul, filling it with almost the necessary ingredients to create a real world. Although that was unlikely to happen, considering it was part of her soul, functionally, the two weren''t much different.

    Before, it was just converting Qi into respective elements, but now there was no need to do that. Now, it could transform those elements into what Mira could only describe as their essences.

    ''I can feel it.'' Mira thought. ''I''m one step closer to the Soul Transformation Realm.'' Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.

    With the integrationplete, Mira felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion wash over her. The process, though transformative, had taken a toll on her body and soul. Yet beneath the fatigue, she could feel the simmering power, the unbridled potential waiting to be unleashed.

    Her eyes flickered open, meeting the gaze of Elysia, who had been silently watching over her. The elemental woman nodded, a smile ying on her lips, acknowledging Mira''s sess.

    "You''ve done well," Elysia''s voice was like a soft melody, echoing through the elemental expanse. "You have embraced the elements, fused with them, and made them a part of you. Remember this feeling, this connection, and use it to guide you in the days ahead."

    Mira nodded, taking a shaky breath as she felt the elemental energies within her stabilize and settle.

    Suddenly, a portal appeared before her, and she knew her time here in the Meditative Zone was done.

    It was time to face thest Zone of this ind!

 Chapter 801 Prime Disciple Competition: Ascendance Zone Part 1

    ?

    With the warmth of Elysia''s acknowledgment lingering in her ears, Mira stepped towards the portal. She felt a rush of wind and a slight disorientation as the world around her blurred and shifted. When her vision cleared, she found herself in an entirely different setting.

    No longer was she surrounded by the vibrant meadow and converging elemental forces. Instead, she stood at the entrance of a vast, deste arena that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The ground was a matte obsidian, reflecting a dark, moody sky above dotted with ominous thunderclouds. Far in the distance, towering pirs of light pierced the heavens, marking distinct points in the arena.

    Mira took a deep breath, sensing the distinct change in the atmosphere. The air was charged, not with elemental energy, but with anticipation. A palpable tension hung heavily, and the very ground seemed to pulse with a rhythmic beat akin to a giant heart.

    Before she could contemte further, a booming voice echoed through the arena, originating from nowhere yet everywhere at once.

    "Wee, Mira, to the Ascendance Zone!"

    She looked around, trying to identify the source of the voice, but found none. Instead, her attention was drawn to the central part of the arena where arge tform had risen. Atop the tform stood a stone pedestal with an ancient tome ced on it.

    "Your journey through the Meditative Zone has prepared you for this moment. The Ascendance Zone is the ultimate test of your abilities, your wit, and your determination. Here, you will face challenges tailored to your strengths and weaknesses. Ovee them, and you will truly ascend. However, first, you must show that you have the basic qualifications to enter the running for the ultimate reward."

    Mira, though cautious, felt a spark of excitement. She had faced countless trials, battled numerous foes, and had always emerged stronger. This would be no different.

    Without hesitation, she made her way towards the tform. As she approached, the tome opened on its own, its pages flipping rapidly before settling on a specific page. Words began to form, glowing with a soft luminescence.

    "Your first challenge," the voice boomed again, "is a test of memory and strategy."

    Before her eyes, the obsidian ground transformed, revealing a giant chessboard with pieces that were almost as tall as her. The pieces were intricately carved, depicting warriors and beasts from legends and myths.

    "The rules are simple," the voice continued. "Defeat the opposing king to progress. However, every move you make will have consequences, and the board may change based on your decisions."

    Mira took a deep breath, analyzing the board. It wasn''t a mere game of chess. The pieces exuded power, indicating that they possessed abilities beyond simple moves.

    Without warning, the opposing side''s pawn advanced. The game had begun.

    Mira quickly moved her knight, anticipating the enemy''s strategy. Each move she made was calcted, considering not only the immediate board but potential transformations that could ur.

    As the game progressed, the chessboard indeed shifted. At times, the ground trembled, reshaping the tiles and altering the battlefield. On other asions, the pieces themselves transformed, gaining new abilities or changing their allegiance.

    It was a battle of wits, strategy, and adaptability. Mira had to stay ten steps ahead, predicting the enemy''s moves and countering them effectively.

    Hours seemed to pass in mere minutes. The intensity of the game weighed on Mira''s shoulders, but she remained unyielding, her focus razor-sharp.

    Finally, seeing an opening, Mira made a series of rapid moves, cornering the enemy''s king. With a swift strike from her queen, the opposing king toppled, signaling her victory.

    The chessboard reverted to its obsidian state, and the tome flipped to a new page.

    "Well done, Mira," the voice praised. "But this is just the beginning. Prepare yourself for the next challenge."

    The atmosphere in the Ascendance Zone shifted subtly, growing even more tense and expectant. Mira squared her shoulders, mentally preparing herself for the next challenge. The air around her buzzed with unseen energy, and she sensed a gathering storm of trials and tribtions ahead.

    "Well done indeed, but this was merely a warm-up," the voice echoed through the arena once more, its tone deep and resonant. "Ascendance is not granted easily. Each step you take will demand your utmost effort, resilience, and creativity."

    As the voice faded, the arena began to change again. The obsidian ground started to crack, revealing glowing fissures that exuded a mesmerizing, ethereal light. The sky above darkened further, and the pirs of light in the distance began to pulsate rhythmically, casting fluctuating shadows across the expansive field.

    Then, with no warning, the ground beneath Mira''s feet started to shift and morph, forming into a maze of towering walls and narrow passageways. The walls were translucent, shimmering with the same strange light from the fissures, and seemed to be made of an unidentifiable, crystalline substance.

    "Your next challenge," announced the voice, "is a test of navigation and decision-making. You must find your way through the maze to reach the next tform. However, time is of the essence, and the maze will not remain static. Choose your path wisely, Mira, for not all routes lead to salvation."

    Mira''s gaze sharpened as she surveyed the toweringbyrinth before her. She knew better than to rush in blindly. Taking a deep breath, she began to walk forward, entering the mouth of the maze.

    The walls towered above her, their glowing surfaces casting soft, dancing reflections. Every step she took seemed to echo in the silent, enclosed space, and the atmosphere was thick with anticipation. Though the way ahead was unclear, Mira moved with purpose, her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings for any sign of change or movement.

    It didn''t take long for the maze to start reacting to her presence. The walls began to shift and slide, closing some passages while opening others. New pathways appeared where there were none, and some corridors elongated or shortened seemingly at random.

    Mira''s mind worked quickly, processing the changingndscape and adjusting her route on the fly. She had no time to second-guess her decisions; hesitation could lead to being trapped or going in circles.

    As she delved deeper into the maze, the changes grew more drastic and unpredictable. Entire sections of thebyrinth rotated and reconfigured themselves, creating a living, breathing puzzle that demanded Mira''s full attention and agility.

    Hours passed like minutes, and minutes felt like seconds. Time seemed distorted within the maze, adding anotheryer of difficulty to the challenge. Yet Mira persisted, navigating through the maze with determination etched on her face.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity of twists and turns, Mira stepped onto a stable tform. She looked around, realizing that she had reached the center of thebyrinth. Before her stood another pedestal, simr to the first, but this time holding a gleaming orb that pulsed with an inner light.

    "You have shown resilience and intellect, Mira," the voice praised as the maze around her began to dissolve, its walls sinking back into the obsidian floor. "But the path to ascendance is still long and arduous. Brace yourself for the next trial."

    Mira, despite the fatigue settling in her limbs, felt a surge of determination. She hade this far and faced numerous challenges, and she would not falter now.

    With narrowed eyes and a steady gait, she stepped towards the orb, ready to face whatever the Ascendance Zone threw her way next.

    The orb before Mira pulsed with a light that seemed deep and ancient. Its glow was soothing, beckoning her toe closer and immerse herself in its radiant energy. Without hesitation, she reached out, her fingers brushing the orb''s cool surface. The moment she made contact, the arena around her transformed again.

    This time, Mira found herself standing at the edge of a vast, turbulent sea. The sky overhead was a tempest of roiling clouds, casting the waters below into a canvas of grays and blues. Distant thunder rolled through the air, apanied by the distant sh of lightning illuminating the horizon.

    "Your next challenge," the disembodied voice announced again, its timbre mingling with the sounds of the storm, "is a test of endurance and willpower."

    The sea before her wasn''t just a mere body of water; it was a raging force of nature, its waves towering and crashing with unbridled fury. Mira could feel the power emanating from it, an elemental fury that was both daunting and magnificent.

    "To proceed, you must cross these waters and reach the isle that lies hidden within this storm," the voice continued. "However, these aren''t ordinary waves, and this isn''t an ordinary storm. Each wave carries the weight of the elements you''ve bonded with. To withstand and navigate through them requires not only physical strength but also a deep understanding and control over the elemental forces within you."

    Mira nodded, her gaze fixed on the turbulent sea ahead. She could sense the elemental energies whirling and churning within the waves, a maelstrom of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Ice, and Lightning. It was a chaotic battleground, and she needed to traverse it.

    Taking a deep breath, Mira stepped forward, her feet touching the water''s surface. Instead of sinking, she stood atop the water, feeling the elemental energies beneath her feet responding to her presence. With cautious but steady steps, she began her journey across the stormy expanse.

    Each step was a challenge. The waves rose and fell with unpredictable rhythms, and the elements within them pushed and pulled at Mira with conflicting forces. She had to constantly adjust and adapt, using her understanding of each element to navigate through the chaotic waters.

    The wind whipped around her, sometimes aiding her forward momentum, at other times trying to push her back.

    Fire zed beneath the surface of the water, its heat pulsing and creating currents that swirled and eddied around her.

    Earth trembled and shifted, altering the solidity of the water underfoot.

    Water itself was a fluid, ever-changing force, while Ice sought to freeze and slow her progress.

    Lightning crackled in the air and water, adding an electrifying danger to each step.

    Mira moved with focus and determination, her eyes never leaving the distant, obscured horizon where she knew her destinationy. Each wave she crossed, each elemental challenge she overcame, brought her closer to the isle and further honed her control over the elemental forces within her.

    Time lost its meaning again as she navigated through the storm. It might have been hours, maybe even days, but finally, with ast, triumphant step, Mira reached solid ground. She stood on a small, rocky isle, the stormy sea stretching out behind her.

    "You''ve done well again, Mira," the voice praised, the storm around her beginning to dissipate, revealing a clear, starry sky overhead. "The elements within you are now more harmonized, more attuned to your will. But remember, ascendance requires more than just control; it requires understanding and wisdom. You have the basic qualities to enter the Ascendance Zone but understand that things only get more difficult from here. Beware the Divine Sea Realm Cultivators and Rank 10 beasts."

    With thatst piece of advice, everything around Mira went ck, and she was transported somewhere else.

 Chapter 802 Prime Disciple Competition: Ascendance Zone Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 802 Prime Disciple Competition: Ascendance Zone Part 2</h4>

    The darkness enveloping Mira slowly lifted, revealing a monumental sight.

    An immense mountain loomed before her, its peak obscured by a thick nket of clouds, shimmering faintly with hidden energies.

    This colossal structure was the Ascendance Zone, where trials upon trials awaited those daring to ascend.

    Mira, standing at the base of the mountain, could barely fathom its massive scale. The atmosphere here was dense with ancient power, the air crackling subtly withtent energy.

    It was clear that every inch of this mountain, from the rocky soil underfoot to the unseen peak above, was steeped in mystery and danger.

    Suddenly, Mira sensed immense dangering from above and subconsciously slipped into her Progenitor Form, her Qi ring wildly as she disappeared from her position.

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    A massive, fiery meteor crashed into the ground where she previously stood, creating a giant crater and reducing everything around it to dust.

    ''What the fu-?!'' Mira red at the sky, only to see a giant Earthen Wyvern circling above her head. To make matters worse, it was a Mid-Stage Rank 9 Beast!

    She didn''t even have the time to be shocked as the thing dropped another two meteors on her head.

    ''This fucking��'' Killing intent leaked out of Mira''s eyes. She activated her Paragon Wings and shot in another direction at speeds that made her seem like she was teleporting.

    *BOOOOOOM!**BOOOOOOM!*

    The ground around her erupted from the violent collisions, nearly sending her spiraling from the impact alone. However, she remained steady and took out her scythe, ready to counterattack.

    Surging Primal Energy into her icy-blue tail, she increased the strength of her ice by 400% before coating her Scythe in it.

    With a fierce re directed at the looming Earthen Wyvern, Mira swiftly contemted her next move.

    Drawing from the torrential wellspring of energy within, Mira sought to channel and consolidate the raw, dynamic power of her Progenitor Form into something more focused and devastating.

    She could sense the streams of elemental Qi within her �� cold as the deepest winter and sharp as the most refined de.

    As she circled through the air, dodging yet another meteor hurled by the indignant Wyvern, inspiration struck her like a lightning bolt.

    ''What if I couldbine the destructive cold of my ice with the unyielding hardness and cutting edge of a diamond? Then, build off of that?'' She pondered rapidly.

    Without a second''s dy, Mira began refining her understanding and control of her Progenitor Form''s energy. She channeled the icy Qi into her scythe while simultaneously infusing it with anotheryer of condensed Earth energy, making it hard and unyielding, akin to a precious diamond.

    The air around the scythe began to distort as the temperatures plummeted to extremes, and the weapon itself started to gleam with an ominous, cold light.

    With an audible snort, Mira lunged towards the Earthen Wyvern. Her newly empowered scythe traced an arc of freezing light through the air, releasing a shockwave of cold so intense that the very atmosphere seemed to solidify and crack under its influence.

    The Wyvern roared, sensing the iing threat, and attempted to evade the devastating strike. However, Mira''s speed and precision, enhanced by her Progenitor Form, along with the beast''s massive size, left no room for escape.

    With a thunderous crash, the scythe connected with the Wyvern''s tough hide.

    To Mira''s satisfaction, the hide that could withstand meteors and elemental onughts showed signs of damage under her scythe''s cold, hard bite. It wasn''t much, but she was already proud that she could damage such a creature.

    Mira didn''t relent; her eyes flickered with determination as she wielded her scythe, driving it deeper into the Wyvern''s hide with each sessive strike.

    Each movement was fluid and precise, a dance of absolute control and unleashed power, as she tapped further into her Progenitor Form''s potential.

    It wasn''t long before the once mighty Earthen Wyvern roared with dissatisfaction and took off in another direction, not bothering with this annoying yet powerful prey.

    Mira didn''t try to chase after it as she was slowly forced back to the ground, possibly due to some restrictions within the Ascendance Zone.

    Afternding on the ground, she canceled her Progenitor Form, swapped back to her Hybrid, and took a few deep breaths.

    Although that battle was short, it was exhausting, considering she had to use every ounce of power just to make it leave.

    ''Haa�� What a grand wee.'' She sighed, shaking her head as her expression became indifferent.

    With a determined re set towards the summit of the imposing mountain, Mira began her ascent, her every step deliberate and cautious.

    The terrain was treacherous, offering not a moment of reprieve, with jagged rocks and unstable ground awaiting the unwary.

    An oppressive aura enveloped the area, thick and suffocating, bearing the weight of thousands of years on top of her.

    Mira could sense the energies swirling and colliding around her, akin to invisible, turbulent currents that sought to impede her progress.

    Nevertheless, after her recent upgrade, she wouldn''t be stopped by something like this, especially when she had to face something like the Abyssal Torment Steps.

    As she climbed higher, the challenges grew more potent and numerous. Hidden pitfalls appeared without warning, releasing bursts of elemental energy, while mysterious creatures emerged from the crevices and caves, eyes glowing with hunger.

    Each presented a trial of its own, a testament to the endurance and wit of the climber, demanding Mira to tap deeper into her wellsprings of strength and cunning.

    However, even for a cultivator of her caliber, there was a limit to what she could handle alone.

    Just as she crossed a particrly dangerous ledge, a roar that seemed to shake the very heavens and earth resounded through the mountain, sending shockwaves of terror and anticipation through every fiber of her being.

    Turning her gaze upwards, Mira''s eyes widened with shock and a flicker of dread as she beheld a colossal creature descending from the higher reaches of the mountain. It was a massive White Tiger, something she never thought she''d see here.

    Its presence was awe-inspiring, an embodiment of primal might and elemental fury, and its eyes - oh, those eyes - bore into her very soul with a gaze as ancient and unfathomable as the stars themselves.

    A Rank 10 beast stood before her, casting its enormous shadow upon the precarious path. It was a creature of legends, and Mira could sense the vast chasm of power thaty between them.

    Faced with such an insurmountable adversary, doubt and uncertainty began to creep into Mira''s heart, casting their chilling tendrils upon her resolve. She was powerful, yes, but against a Rank 10 beast? The odds seemed insurmountably stacked against her, even with her ck Tail.

    ''Not that I have that much lifespan to expend anyways.'' Mira released a bitter chuckle, realizing that her strongest trump card wasn''t useful in this situation. ''Just my fucking luck, huh.''

    Yet, just as the atmosphere grew tense with impending conflict, a familiar andforting energy signature brushed against Mira''s senses. It was like a gentle breeze amidst a raging storm, a beacon of light within the oppressive darkness.

    With a sh of brilliant light, a figure appeared beside Mira, standing tall and graceful.

    Ash-colored hair cascaded like a silvery waterfall over her shoulders, framing a visage of serene beauty and undeniable strength. Amethyst eyes, deep and knowing, surveyed the surroundings before settling on Mira with a mixture of relief and sternness.

    "Aelina��" Mira muttered with a hint of relief. She didn''t want to do something irreversible, after all.

    However, the woman didn''t look much differentpared to before they entered, making Mira a bit confused, but she didn''tment on it.

    "Seems like you''vended yourself in quite the predicament, Mira," the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect observed with a hint of amusement and concern. Her gaze shifted towards the looming Rank 10 beast, acknowledging its presence with a nod. "Wow~! A Rank 10 beast this time? You''re truly skilled at making enemies! What''d you do to make it so angry? Piss on its children or something?"

    Mira almost face-palmed, but her expression remained indifferent. She scoffed at her questions. "Nothing. I was just existing."

    "...Makes sense." Aelina nodded without much thought.

    "..."

    With a smirk, Aelina directed her gaze back towards the colossal White Tiger that had been silently observing their exchange. The air around it seemed to ripple with suppressed energy, and its eyes glinted with a mixture of curiosity and primal ferocity.

    "Quite a magnificent creature, isn''t it?" Aelinamented nonchntly, though her eyes bore into the beast with unyielding intensity. "But as splendid as it is, I have no interest in fighting this beast."

    With a subtle gesture of her hand, Aelina exuded an aura that washed over the surroundings like a silent, tranquil wave. It was a gentle yetmanding energy, brushing against the colossal beast''s consciousness with the softness of a feather yet carrying an undeniable imperative.

    The White Tiger stared at Aelina for a few breathless moments, its eyes narrowing as if scrutinizing the woman before it.

    Then, as if acknowledging something unspoken, it gave a slight nod before turning away. With a graceful leap that belied its immense size, it disappeared into the upper reaches of the mountain, leaving the two women alone on the precarious ledge.

    Mira blinked, watching the retreat of the formidable Rank 10 beast with confusion. "What did you��"

    Aelina interrupted with a knowing smile, "Sometimes, strength isn''t disyed through brute force, Mira. But I guess you could say that it acknowledged its defeat before the fight could begin."

    Before Mira could ask what she meant, Aelina gave a subtle smile and began walking. "Let''s get away from here. We wouldn''t want that kitty toe back, now would we?"

 Chapter 803 Prime Disciple Competition: Ascendance Zone Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 803 Prime Disciple Competition: Ascendance Zone Part 3</h4>

    As they walked, the first question Aelina asked was, "How''s the Prime Disciple Competition going? I know this Realm is probably a bit different than you�Cthan we all expected, but you still should''ve had plenty of chances to obtain some tokens, right?"

    Mira didn''t answer and instead just showed her everything she collected so far.

    Aelina, seeing the rtively low amount, shook her head in disappointment. "Too little. Much less first ce, you probably aren''t even in the top 100 with that amount! What''ve you been doing?"

    Although she said that, she wasn''t all that worried. She could sense that Mira wasn''t the same from before they entered. Catching back up shouldn''t be a problem.

    Mira just shrugged, "Most of the inds I went on didn''t have very many people."

    What could Aelina say against that? Mira was a rather unlucky person, so that wasn''t much of a surprise.

    Still, she couldn''t allow Mira to be so far behind her fellow disciples, who happened to be weaker than her. Perhaps only a few could actually contend with her.

    "...I see." She nodded before suddenly an idea struck her, and she gave a slight, amused smile, "Then, I guess it''s time to find some victims��ahem, disciples."

    Mira looked at Aelina weirdly but didn''t say anything. Hunting down other people was rather bothersome, especially in a ce like this that''s full of opportunities. If she had Aelina''s help, it would go by much quicker, and she could focus on more important things.

    Without asking for Mira''s opinion, Aelina grabbed her, opened up a small hole in the void, and teleported.

    As soon as theynded, Mira stared at the woman in shock!

    ''That wasn''t just pure speed! What the hell happened?!'' She didn''t know Aelina had the ability to cross through space!

    Aelina noticed her bewildered look and chuckled. "There aren''t many things in this ce that can help me, or the others at my strength for that matter. Sure, I can consume elixirs, absorb all the energy here, or find some natural treasure to boost my cultivation and power, but none of those are really all that helpful in the long run. However, the first ind I went to gave me a choice." She paused, her yfulness gone.

    "I can either boost my cultivation, possibly to the peak of the Divine Sea Realm by following a certain set of inds and their specific trials or merge with a beast bloodline that''ll give me a new affinity that suits me. As you can guess, I chose thetter. With my talent, I''ll eventually reach the peak, and if we work together, I''ll go beyond that. However, what I received was a Common-Grade Void Worm bloodline."

    "..."

    "Fufu~ Don''t look at me like that. This was my choice, you know?" Aelina giggled at Mira''s surprised expression when she said, "Common-Grade".

    Common-grade bloodlines were the weakest, bottom-of-the-barrel beasts. They had no future and weren''t much stronger than mortals. Some didn''t even have that much power.

    ''For one of the strongest people on the continent to ept such trash as their bloodline��'' Mira wasn''t sure whether she should call her an idiot or a moron. Even with her technique that could refine Bloodlines, she didn''t think she was capable of bringing it to the heights that Aelina needed.

    "I know what you''re thinking," Aelina said, interrupting her thoughts, "And no, I didn''t make this decision on a whim."

    Mira looked at her curiously, waiting for Aelina to exin.

    "From what I learned, the Void Worm was a unique beast. In terms of potential, it didn''t lose out to some of the progenitors back when they were active, but unfortunately, it was a worm. Its intelligence was low, strength almost nonexistent, and the only abilities it had was being able to store more dirt in its stomach and something akin to teleportation. Due to so many limitations, it got weaker over time until it ended up in this state."

    That''s great and all, but it was still a Common-Grade beast, Mira thought.

    Aelina noted Mira''s skeptical gaze but continued unperturbed, "However, its ability to manipte space is what piqued my interest. Though it''s in a weakened state, with my cultivation and some refinements, it can be evolved and developed into something truly extraordinary."

    She smiled with a confidence that was infectious, "Potential is a tricky thing, Mira. Sometimes, the seemingly weakest can possess atent power that far surpasses the apparent strongest. It''s all about nurturing and development."

    Mira considered her words silently, her eyes thoughtful. The world of cultivation was indeed filled with endless mysteries and opportunities, where the conventional could often be overturned by the unexpected. Perhaps Aelina''s gamble wasn''t as foolish as it seemed on the surface.

    "Besides," Aelina added with a yful wink, "It''ll be interesting, right? To bring a unique little worm''s bloodline to the peak?" She nced at the clouds blocking the tip of the mountain.

    However, what she didn''t tell Mira was that she had already broken through one of the Void Worm''s bloodline limitations, bringing it to the Mortal Grade. There was a reason she went with the bloodline and not immediate strength, and it wasn''t just because the affinity was too enticing.

    ''I wasn''t watching Mira experiment on those beasts and disciples for nothing.'' Aelina thought. She had done some experiments on the side and learned several things about the rtionship between human and beast bloodlines. It was through this that she learned if she wanted to improve a bloodline, not by force but naturally, she had to achieve a state simr to Mira''s hybrid form.

    The inds that she went through helped her through this process, which, in part, required her to refine the Void Worm bloodline with her own Divine Sea Realm-infused flesh.

    Mira couldn''t help but crack a small smile at her Sect Master''s unyielding spirit and whimsicality.

    Indeed, the path they tread was one of constant challenges and breakthroughs, and adhering strictly to conventions would only limit their horizons.

    "Now, let''s not dwell on this," Aelina waved her hand dismissively, her gaze sharpening as she scanned their surroundings. "We have disciples to find and tokens to collect."

    With a nod of agreement, Mira followed suit, activating her senses to perceive the subtle flows of energy within their vicinity.

    It didn''t take long before they stumbled upon a group of disciples engaged in a fierce battle over tokens, their energies shing and sparking in the tense atmosphere. Aelina and Mira exchanged a nce, a silent understanding passing between them before Mira sprung into action.

    Like a mirage, she flickered through the battlefield, her presence unsettling to those locked inbat. Eyes darted her way, confusion and apprehension shing within their depths as they recognized Mira.

    Yet, as they hesitated, it was already toote. With an almost iprehensible swiftness, Mira was upon them. Hands extended, she deftly snatched the tokens from their bodies, her motions so fluid and rapid that the disciples could barely register their loss before she was gone.

    Amidst the shadows, Aelina observed with an amused smile ying upon her lips. With a subtle maniption of the space around her, Aelina opened rifts within the void.

    As Mira retreated, tokens in hand, Aelina gestured towards one of the rifts. Without hesitation, Mira stepped through, the fabric of space bending around her as she was transported to a different locale, another skirmish unfolding with intensity.

    Upon arrival, Mira wasted no time. Like a storm, she swept through the unsuspecting disciples, her form a blur of motion and power. Tokens were plucked from bodies, leaving cries of outrage and confusion rising in her wake, yet she was indifferent to their shouts.

    As Mira umted more tokens, the rift opened once again. Each time she emerged, it was to a different scene, yet her actions remained consistent.

    Whoever she faced didn''t even have a chance to catch a glimpse of the thief before their tokens were already gone.

    In the void, Aelina monitored with satisfaction gleaming within her eyes.

    ''I''m sorry, everyone, but this is the best way to do things. Mira''s going to beat you up anyway. I might as well save you the pain and allow you to keep climbing this mountain.'' Aelina thought, feeling a hint of pity for her disciples, but she didn''t stop her actions.

    With the strength Mira had now, as well as her cultivation, she was more than worthy of the Prime Disciple position. That''s not including everything she''s provided for the Sect in the dark.

    Now that she had this Void Worm bloodline, the need for Mira''s presence has decreased significantly. Over time, she should be able to increase the grade of her bloodline enough to where she can sneak into the Central Continent herself.

    However, after they leave this Realm, it would be a slow, time-consuming process. One that didn''t guarantee results, either.

    Thus, she still needed a backup n, which was Mira dominating those pompous assholes! That was much quicker, and she didn''t have to do any work! All she had to do was be a pir to support Mira.

    Hours passed, the sky shifting above as time marched inexorably forward.

    Finally, as the sun dipped below the clouds, casting long shadows on the ground, Aelina came to a halt. With a flick of her wrist, a rift opened beside Mira, the Sect Master stepping through with grace. Her gaze fell upon the amassed tokens, a smile of satisfaction curling her lips.

    "Well done, Mira," Aelinamended, her eyes twinkling with approval. "With this, you should be well within the top ranks."

    Mira nodded, ncing at the tokens indifferently. Aelina hadn''t sent her to any of the truly powerful people from each Sect, as that would be too time-consuming, but she was still able to gather so many.

    ''I guess I''ll meet them further up the mountain.'' Mira pondered, looking forward to her encounter with some of the other Sects'' geniuses.

 Chapter 804 Prime Disciple Competition: Zian

    <h4>Chapter 804 Prime Disciple Competition: Zian</h4>

    Zian, a Direct disciple from the Immortal Sword Sect, silently advanced on the path up the mountain. Whispers floated in the cool wind, and one caught his ear - it was Lan Xiu from the Profound Elements Sect, suggesting an alliance with some disciples from other Sects, a truce that could easily break under the strain of ambition.

    Zian weighed the proposal in his mind, eyes fixed on the distant, hidden peak. "Trust is the luxury of the na?ve," he muttered, almost to himself. "Alliances on this mountain are sandcastles waiting for the tide."

    He felt eyes on him, and not just any eyes - Cai Ying from the Hidden de Sect. She was like an assassin in the night, silent, mysterious, and deadly. Her gaze gave nothing away but spoke volumes to those who understood.

    His senses, having been honed throughout the years, could feel the deep-seated malice within those eyes. However, he didn''t react to this knowledge. If she thought he didn''t know she was there, it was better for him.

    ''Though, I doubt that''s the case.'' Zian thought with a hint of annoyance. Disciples, especially Core and Direct disciples from the Hidden de Sect, were trained to act as if their opponent knew they were there.

    There''s no such thing as underestimating their opponents in their minds. Every target, regardless of strength, will be treated with maximum caution.

    ''Haaa�� That''s why they''re so damn annoying.'' He sighed, wishing he could just climb the mountain in peace. He still had to save his strength for the rather popr yet elusive fox from the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Amidst this tense atmosphere, the tranquility was shattered by an eruption of energy. All heads turned toward Tian Le of the Divine Weapons Sect. With his thunderous staff, hemanded the forces around him, demonstrating power with an explosive intensity.

    Yet, within his stormy gaze, you could see he wasn''t just brute force. He was assessing, calcting, contemting every move on this treacherous ascent.

    ''Another bothersome guy has made his appearance.'' Zian almost grabbed his sword and cut the man in half to spare himself the torture of interacting with Tian Le, or anyone from the Divine Weapons Sect, for that matter.

    Soon enough, he was spotted by Lan Xiu after she had finished forming her little group. She waved at him with a smile and ran over.

    "Hey, Zian! Wanna travel together?"

    "No." He replied instantly.

    "Oh~! Don''t be like that! This ce is scary, you know? For us to keep up with the Elders and Sect Masters, we need to stick together!" She persuaded with a cheeky smile, but Zian wasn''t buying it.

    "Don''t lump me in with you. I have no need for assistance from undisciplined weaklings." He said, casting an indifferent nce at her ''followers''.

    Lan Xiu frowned for a moment but instantly hid it and returned to her cheeky smile. "...Woah~ No need to be so mean~ I was just trying to help~"

    "Go ask someone else then."

    "..."

    Lan Xiu''s eyes twitched, but her smile remained. "Alright. Maybe I will. I''ll see you at the top if you can even make it there."

    With that said, she turned around and walked off with her group, who were staring at him with unconcealed hostility.

    Zian could already see that most of the people following her were going to betray her in due time, but since his life would be quieter without her, he kept quiet.

    "Hahahaha! Good job, Zian! You scared that nasty bitch away!" Tian Le came up behind him,ughing. He tried to give his shoulder a pat, but a de created from his Sword Manifestation stopped him.

    "Oh? It seems you''re ready to fight! Alright! Let''s go!" Tian Le chuckled while gripping his staff, but Zian sighed once again.

    "Why are you even here? Don''t you have poop to fling and bananas to eat? Go do that instead, and stop bothering me."

    "..."

    Even Tian Le, a rather outgoing guy, couldn''t help but freeze up at that response. He knew Zian was a rather antisocial individual, but he didn''t think the man would be such a dick.

    ''Fling poop? Eat bananas? Does he really see me as a monkey!?''

    Yes, that''s exactly what Zian thought of the guy. An ape with too much strength.

    "Bahahaha!" Tian Le burst outughing, having never been called that before, and pped the man on the shoulder despite the de piercing his skin. "Now, I might really have to fight you!"

    "Haaa�� If you want a fight, I can sense a Late-Stage Rank 8 Golden Lion over there. I''m sure that''ll satisfy your needs." Zian sighed, pointing in a direction diagonally up the mountain.

    Tian Le''s eyes lit up. "Really?! Then forgive me, but we''ll have to postpone our fight untilter! I need to see where I stand against such a beast!" Then he took off in that direction.

    Zian shook his head, but a sly smile crept up on his face. ''What a fool.''

    Now, there was just one troublesome person, but honestly, Cai Ying was the easiest to deal with. He just had to ignore her, maybe block a few assassination attempts, and she''d eventually leave.

    Zian shrugged and put his sword at his waist before climbing the mountain once again, now having some peace and quiet.

    Zian continued on his path, seemingly without a care in the world.

    In the next instant, his senses pinged alert. A sequence of growls reverberated through the environment, carrying with them the distinct energy of Rank 8 beasts.

    Eyes narrowing slightly, he spotted the beast approaching, which looked to be a group of bears.

    His Sword Manifestation shed, swift and bright, cutting through the beasts with ease. Without even knowing what happened, they dropped to the ground, their bodies cut horizontally.

    Yet, amidst this, Cai Ying made her move. Daggers flew with deadly uracy, aimed to pierce and kill. But Zian, with reflexes honed from countless battles, drew his sword and deflected the ambush effortlessly.

    Without sparing a nce toward his attacker, he marched forward.

    ''As I thought. She already knows I know and is just ying with me. I guess to stress me out and wait until I make a mistake? Who knows��'' Zian thought, but found this to be more interesting than just walking up.

    At least with her, he''d always be on high alert, looking out for any attacks.

    As Zian furthered his ascent, the atmosphere around him gradually intensified. He could sense the enemies bing more and more dangerous.

    In the spectral silence, a thunderous roar shook the mountainside. Zian''s eyes flicked toward the source �C a colossal Peak-Stage Rank 8 serpent, its scales shimmering menacingly under the veiled moonlight, slithered into his path, eyes gleaming with hostile intent.

    With a nonchnt wave of his sword, Zian cut through the air in front of him. The Sword Manifestation, sharp and swift as lightning, struck down upon the serpent. A split secondter, its gargantuan body thudded heavily onto the rocky ground, its life extinguished in the blink of an eye.

    Yet, no victory was savored as another challenge presented itself. The change in the wind indicated yet another confrontation. Zian didn''t need to turn around to recognize the familiar intent locked onto him - Cai Ying, persistent as ever.

    This time, it wasn''t the usual throwing daggers; the atmosphere around became dense, a crippling pressure descending upon Zian as Cai Ying initiated her concealed technique. Invisible chains of Qi enveloped the area, seeking to restrain and immobilize.

    Zian sighed inwardly. With a slight squint of his eyes, he drew his sword, emanating a faint glow as he swung in a wide arc, dispelling the oppressive energy trying to entangle him. As the Qi chains dissipated into the night, Zian continued walking, leaving a frustrated Cai Ying in his wake.

    All of this was nothing more than an annoyance to him.

    In the distance, he could sense the Sect Elders and Rank 9 beasts duking it out, but he wasn''t worried. Even if one of them approached him, he still had his trump cards. Unless a Mid-Stage Rank 9 beast or above came after him, he was confident he could live.

    When a Late-Stage Rank 8 Eagle, with talons that could tear through Low-Stage Divine-Grade metal, swooped down upon him, its screech tearing through the still night, Zian merely raised his hand. A de of pure energy shot out, slicing through the air and striking the eagle down, its cry abruptly silenced.

    But the path had more in store. Cai Ying''s presence, a constant shadow, flickered asionally, projecting silent threats and attempted strikes. But Zian navigated through them with an air of casual indifference, deflecting and dodging without breaking his rhythm.

    This dance continued under the silent gaze of the moon. It was a rather enjoyable experience for Zian, as Cai Ying always brought out something new to test him.

    With the peak drawing closer, the challenges grew sterner. Yet, Zian''s steps never faltered. And every failed attempt from Cai Ying only served to highlight the gap between their abilities.

    Or perhaps that''s what she wanted him to believe. Either way, it was fun.

    Finally, after many hours of traveling, he reached a point where he could see the clouds blocking the peak, swirling around the mountain like a cyclone.

    However, not far from him, he sensed a dangerous aura. One filled with a tremendous amount of killing intent that shook him to his very bones.

    Tilting his head slightly, he saw a fox woman with nine multicolored tails staring at him from a distance with her blood-red eyes.

 Chapter 805 Prime Disciple Competition: Calming

    <h4>Chapter 805 Prime Disciple Competition: Calming</h4>

    ''Shit!'' Zian eximed, as he hadn''t even sensed the woman.

    Before he could react, she disappeared, and Zian''s instincts screamed danger. He drew his sword and swung to the left, anticipating an attack there.

    Clink!

    Sword met scythe as Zian was thrown back from the unexpected power behind that blow.

    He gracefullynded on his feet only to find that Mira had disappeared.

    ''Fuck! Why''d this woman attack me?! We haven''t met before, have we?'' Zianined but still spread out his Soul Sense in an attempt to find her, which turned out to be easier than he thought.

    However, Mira was already on top of him, in the midst of swinging her scythe.

    He raised his sword to block, creating a barrier around himself with his Sword Manifestation.

    Clink! Clink! nk!

    He barely deflected her attacks as she repeatedly struck his sword, but he was slowly being pushed back.

    Suddenly, a golden sh came from the side and smashed into his ribcage, sending him flying, but not before a few hairs sneaked into his clothes and pulled something out.

    "Ugh!" Zian grunted, feeling his organs shifting about.

    Standing up, albeit with a bit of pain, he turned to Mira and shouted, "Crazy woman! Why are you attacking me?! I don''t think I''ve offended you, have I?!"

    Mira nced at him as a hint of surprise shed through her eyes. She didn''t expect him to still be fine after taking a direct hit from her golden tail.

    ''So the other Sect''s disciples aren''t entirely useless, huh.'' Mira thought with a nod. ''I guess if Aelina was able to raise people like Nova, Seraphina, Eden, Everly, and Rayna, then the other Sects would be able to do the same. After this, I should probably start paying more attention to them.''

    She stared at the man more intensely, but he immediately became defensive seeing that look. Mira shook her head indifferently and put her scythe away.

    "I was just bored, and you looked pretty strong." She answered with a shrug before ncing in Cai Ying''s direction. "As for you�� Just stay there. I would rather not have to waste my time hunting you down."

    The two of them shivered under Mira''s gaze as they felt the weight of an uncountable number of deaths within her voice.

    However, Zian gritted his teeth in anger. He had already dealt with enough annoying situations throughout the entirety of this Realm, and now this?

    Meanwhile, Cai Ying seemed to recede further into the shadows, the chill in Mira''s voice rendering her temporarily docile.

    "So, you''re saying you attacked me just because you were bored?" He couldn''t believe the audacity of this woman.

    "Pretty much." Mira shrugged, already losing interest in the conversation and scanning the surroundings, perhaps considering her next move. She had already stolen his tokens, which were probably more than enough to catapult her to the top of the rankings.

    The spiraling clouds above them seemed like a natural barrier. Considering that all of the strongest and most talented humans and beasts had made it here, it certainly wouldn''t be easy to cross.

    "Do you really think I''m such an easy target?" Zian muttered under his breath, feeling the urge to retaliate. His hands instinctively tightened around his sword.

    But Mira was already walking away, disappearing into the shadows of the mountain. Just as Zian prepared to charge, a voice stopped him.

    "I wouldn''t do that."

    The voice belonged to none other than Aelina, who seemed to materialize out of thin air beside Mira, her eyes flicking over to regard Zian with a quiet, assessing gaze.

    Zian''s muscles tensed. He was aware of the formidable prowess of this woman, the notorious sect master of Battle Maiden Sect. Engaging her inbat would be equivalent to knocking on death''s door.

    "Don''t get me wrong, I don''t care about your life or your Master, but if you attack now, Mira will definitely kill you. I''d rather not have to deal with such a headache." Aelina said exasperatedly.

    Now, she was beginning to understand why nobody liked Mira and why she had so many enemies. In fact, Aelina felt like she was witnessing a rather calm version of Mirapared to how she usually was.

    If it were Mira in the past, Zian and Cai Ying would''ve definitely died today. For what reason? Simply because there was only kill or be killed in Mira''s mind. There was no in-between.

    The fact that they were alive showed Aelina that maybe she was slowly changing and wasn''t quite so psychopathic.

    ''Hmph! I won''t allow you idiots to ruin Mira''s progress! Don''t make her regret her decision!'' Aelina thought, figuring now was the time to act as a proper Sect Master for her.

    Zian gritted his teeth, the taste of humiliation bitter on his tongue. However, he was no fool. Understanding the unspoken threat in Aelina''s words, he reluctantly sheathed his sword, shooting Mira a re.

    "I''ll remember this," Zian murmured before turning away, but not before a Divine pressure enveloped him, forcing him into the ground. He coughed up blood as he felt like all of his bones and organs were being smooshed together.

    "I think it''d be wiser if you forgot," Aelina whispered into his ears before she disappeared along with Mira.

    Zian, feeling the pressure around him disperse, fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. However, there he saw a few Mystical-Grade Pills. One was clearly some type of healing pill, while the others�� He wasn''t quite sure.

    Quickly storing them, he took out a few healing pills of his own before muttering, "...I guess I can let it slide�� this time."

    He spent a few minutes returning to his peak condition before he turned to the clouds above him. Now that there were no more distractions, he could finally be on his way!

    ***

    "Why are you still following me? You must really enjoy being a stalker. Maybe you should change professions." Mira said as she continued walking up the steep slope.

    Suddenly, Aelina popped out of the ''void'' next to her with her usual casual smile. "How can you say such mean things to your Sect Master~? You''ll hurt my feelings~"

    Mira shot her a disgusted look. She would''ve tried to punch her, but Aelina was too strong, so there was no point.

    "Fufu~ Don''t give me that look. Let''s just say that being around you is more enjoyable than hanging out with those fogies. All they want to do is talk about power and taking over the Ancient Beast Mountain Range! So boring~! I would much rather talk about something more interesting, like going to war with the Unorthodox Faction or�� going to war with the Orthodox Sects!" Aelina chuckled and gave Mira a look that said, ''You understand me, right?''

    What made Mira sigh was the fact that she actually did! War was the fastest way for her to get stronger, after all! It didn''t matter who she was against. Beasts, humans, demons, or freaking aliens. As long as they were alive, they were nothing but nutrients for her cultivation.

    "See? Hahaha! That''s why you''re so much more fun!" Aelina giggled, while Mira could only sigh in resignation. Not that she minded Aelina''spany. It made the trip up that much easier.

    The two of them trotted along for a while, slowly climbing the mountain that seemed to stretch out endlessly.

    The more they walked, the further away the peak seemed to be. It was to the point where Aelina tried to teleport them further up the mountain, but her range was locked at a specific distance that wasn''t much faster than walking. Flying for extended periods wasn''t allowed either unless one was a native to the Realm.

    These conditions only got worse the further up one went.

    So, they, as well as everyone else, were forced to physically climb the mountain.

    The duo continued their ascent, their steps echoing off the jagged rocks, with Aelina continuing to chatter away. asionally, the mournful cries of some unknown creature would pierce the night, but the two paid no mind to it.

    They walked for several days, with the mountain only growing taller and longer with every step, but the journey was rather smooth.

    With Aelina around, Mira didn''t have to worry about random attacks, and since the other Sect Masters were ahead of them, they took the attention away from all the strong beings on the mountain.

    However, that wasn''t always the case. Sometimes, a Rank 10 beast would sense Aelina and shoot after them, but she''d just grab Mira and hop through the void while concealing her aura before continuing on their journey.

    Surprisingly, Mira''s time with the Sect Master actually helped to calm down some of her internal conflicts. Whether it was Maria''s possible death, the Soul Transformation Realm bottleneck, Abyssal Torment Steps trauma, or just her chaotic emotions in general, everything seemed to settle down a bit as the ''olddy'' bbered away.

    It was like she found a kindred spirit or a true friend that she could just chill next. The best part was she wouldn''t have to worry about Aelina dying from something random. She was strong enough to where only a few individuals in this world could actually kill her.

    That knowledge was oddlyforting.

    Just like that, the two continued until, eventually, they saw a few familiar faces.

 Chapter 806 Prime Disciple Competition: Spectators; Surprise Attack

    ?

    "Oh? It looks like we caught up to your friends." Aelinamented lightly, feeling a few familiar auras. However, her brows raised when she noticed they were fighting something. "It seems they''ve got themselves in a bit of trouble as well~" She chuckled.

    Mira got curious and spread out her Soul Sense as well, quickly finding their position. She also couldn''t help but raise a brow at what they were fighting.

    "...Looks like I wasn''t the only one who got stronger, huh."

    "But of course! Even though you helped them power up before entering this Realm, they''re still my Sect''s top disciples! If they didn''t gain anything, I would''ve smacked them to death myself!"

    "I suppose they''re alright��"

    "No need to be shy~" Aelina smiled, but as Mira was giving her a cold re, she didn''t pursue that matter. Instead, she asked, "Hm? Do you want to help them? They might have a hard time despite their current strength."

    Mira shook her head with a slight smile. "Leave them be and enjoy the show."

    "Fufufu~ That''s what I was nning to do~" Aelina giggled and took out a table, a few chairs, two cups, and a pot of tea. She sat down and began pouring them some tea. "Let''s enjoy the show!"

    Mira joined her but kept her senses locked on the girls'' fight.

    ***

    Under the gazes of two unknown spectators, Nova engaged in a fierce battle against a giant beast. It appeared that they had been fighting for a while, as both sides were rtively injured, with blood smeared across the ground.

    With her spear illuminating the murky atmosphere with ck mes, she attacked a Frost Mammoth, a Low-Stage Rank 9 beast known for its indomitable strength and icy tusks, harder than metal.

    "Sunfire Devourer!" She yelled, gathering ck fire at the tip of her spear before shooting out a ming serpentine Dragon!

    The mammoth, sensing an imminent threat, attempted to avoid the fiery projectile, but the dragon-shaped me pursued relentlessly, finally crashing into the mammoth''s side.

    The dark fire immediately began consuming the frost energy covering its hide, leaving scorched, ckened fur in its wake as it attempted to break through its skin.

    Close by, Eden was already preparing her next move.

    "That''s not Sunfire anymore, you idiot! Change your technique names!" She yelled, causing Nova''s eyes to narrow in discontent, but said nothing.

    With a grace that belied her strength, she notched an arrow to her bow, infusing it with the essence of wood and wind. The projectile glowed with a soft green light, radiating a gentle yet potent energy.

    "Emerald Wind Arrow!" Eden whispered. With that, she released the arrow, which cut through the air like a hot knife through butter, embedding itself in the mammoth''s hind leg, releasing its energy to entangle and restrain the beast further.

    As the mammoth struggled against its restraints, Seraphina seized the opportunity.

    With a radiant shield in one hand and a gleaming sword in the other, she moved fluidly, almost like water.

    With a shout of "Silver Torrent sh!", a wave of metallic liquid erupted from her sword, crashing towards the mammoth with an unstoppable momentum.

    The torrent mmed into the mammoth, its piercing cry echoing through the chilly air. The metallic fluid began to solidify upon contact, further restricting its movements.

    In the shadow of thismotion, Everly began gathering the energies of thunder and fire in her palms, her eyes locked on the struggling mammoth.

    A soft hum vibrated through the air, growing louder, resembling the gathering storm clouds. Then, with a shout of "Thunderfire Eruption!", she released a brilliant burst of energy, a blinding mix of red and yellow lights darting towards the mammoth.

    The beast roared as the energies struck, its body convulsing from the intense pain and shock of the electrical discharge coursing through it.

    Silently, like a wraith in the night, Rayna appeared beside the mammoth. With a flick of her wrist, a thin, barely visible wire looped around the beast''s neck. She had an indifferent, emotionless look on her face as she thought, "Nightshade Noose."

    The wire tightened, and the mammoth''s roars subsided, reced by choked gasps as the potent poison quickly spread through its veins.

    "Sunfire Devourer!"

    "Ouroboros Sphere Spear-NO! It doesn''t sound the same!"

    "Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"

    Nova, as usual, was spamming one powerful yet efficient attack after another. Normally, it wouldn''t do much to a Rank 9 Beast, but the mes from the Ouroboros Bloodline weren''t something to scoff at.

    They were like a lesser version of Mira''s ck runes, constantly eating away at the Mammoth''s energy and defenses.

    Eden kept shooting arrows at the beast, targeting its weak spots, while Seraphina blocked any particrly deadly attacks. Rayna just kept inflicting minuscule wounds while injecting as much poison as she could into the beast.

    Meanwhile, Everly rained down powerful spells from a distance, not allowing it to gain any momentum.

    Under thebined onught, the mammoth''s movements grew sluggish, and its eyes, once bright with fury, dimmed. With a final, shuddering breath, it copsed, sending tremors through the ground.

    The five girls regrouped, casting nces at one another, acknowledging their shared victory without words.

    In the distance, Mira smiled, noting the synergy and growth in her disciples. Beside her, Aelina raised an eyebrow andmented, "Quite the performance, isn''t it?"

    "Indeed," Mira murmured.

    Suddenly, Nova''s eyes narrowed as she finally sensed a familiar aura nearby.

    "Mira!" She shouted before running in her direction.

    The other girls also soon felt the familiar aura, causing their auras to re as they followed Nova. Rayna was thest to leave since she collected the mammoth corpse.

    Mira locked eyes with them and nodded. She was about to speak up and greet them when suddenly, Nova raised her spear and shot a miniature ck me sun at her!

    "DIE!"

    Aelina quickly stored everything and teleported out of the area, ditching Mira, who showed a surprised expression.

    BOOOOM!

    The sun collided with the ground, spewing chunks of molten rock all over the ce, leaving behind a massive crater.

    A few meters away, Mira stood in her Progenitor Form, speechless at the power behind that attack.

    "Get her! This is our only chance to be the Sect''s Prime Disciple!" Nova shouted as she raised her hand, creating a ming ck Dragon around her.

    "You don''t have to tell me twice!"

    "Sorry, Mira, but I don''t have a choice. Please go easy on me."

    "Let''s see you beat me now, you crazy fox!"

    "..."

    The atmosphere around thebatants ignited with tension, the air itself seeming to pulsate with the sheer power being released. Mira, while initially taken aback, quickly collected herself, her eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and decisiveness.

    Nova, leading the charge, lunged at Mira with her spear enveloped in swirling ck mes, executing a series of rapid thrusts and shes aimed at vital areas. Mira dashed away from each attack like an elusive target that seemed to be always just out of reach.

    Simultaneously, Eden began conjuring a storm of emerald-tinted arrows, each one humming with the pulsating energy of wind and wood. The arrows whizzed through the air, creating a dazzling yet deadly disy as they sought Mira with unerring uracy.

    Seraphina and Everly moved in tandem, providing a dual threat of cascading metallic waves and explosive bursts of thunderfire. The battlefield was lit by shes of silver and gold, apanied by the constant crackling and rumbling of elemental fury unleashed.

    Rayna, true to her nature, remained hidden in the shadows, her wires and des ready to strike at the most opportune moment, a silent but deadly threat lurking in the periphery.

    Yet, in the face of this coordinated onught, Mira moved with an effortless grace and control that bespoke her mastery. Her eyes, cold and focused, tracked each of herpanions'' movements, anticipating their attacks before they were evenunched.

    Now that she could enter her Progenitor Form and use Primal Energy, she didn''t have to worry about a cooldown when using her tails'' powers. As long as she continued to pump them with Primal Energy while in that form, she could continue using them as much as she''d like.

    Unfortunately, doing this did consume more energy than she''d like to admit, but with her talent and the feedback loop from the World Core in her Soul, she could continue for a while.

    As the battle ensued, pulsating with vibrant energy and crackling tension, Mira''s form weaved through the cacophony of attacks. That was one of the many perks of this form. It made her especially hard to hit. She could essentially glide through the air as if she were a part of it.

    She allowed them to attack for a while to see how far they''de, but seeing that they were doing nothing but probing, she was starting to get bored.

    ''Fine. I''ll bite.'' Mira sneered.

    Ice Qi gathered around the tip of her scythe, and she aimed it at Seraphina. With a casual upward swing, she raised small mountains of ice on the ground, which shot at the woman before mming into her shield with immense force.

    Seraphina slid back from the impact, her arms throbbing but not injured.

    "Let''s get this over quickly," Mira said while twirling her scythe.

 Chapter 807 Prime Disciple Competition: Battle For Mira’s Token

    <h4>Chapter 807 Prime Disciple Competition: Battle For Mira''s Token</h4>

    The battlefield''s atmosphere intensified as Mira announced her resolve, her gaze sharp.

    The disciples, sensing the shift in their her aura, steeled themselves, their eyes reflecting a mix of excitement and apprehension. This was the moment they had been waiting for.

    Nova, always one to meet a challenge head-on, lunged forward, her spear''s ck mes roiling with a newfound vigor.

    The air itself seemed to sizzle and warp as the spear cut through, aiming straight for Mira''s heart. But with a grace that defied belief, Mira sidestepped the attack, her movements fluid like water, leaving Nova to stab nothing but air.

    "Not bad, Nova, but you''ll need to be faster than that," Mira teased, a yful glint in her eyes.

    On the sidelines, Eden, not willing to be outdone, sent another volley of her Emerald Wind Arrows, each projectile shimmering with potent, unseen energy.

    However, Mira danced amongst the arrows, her movements a blur, evading each shot seemingly with ease. But Aelina, who was watching in the void, knew that her footwork was anything but easy.

    She had to calcte their trajectory, speed, as well as the other attacksing toward her.

    Amid the explosive dance, Seraphina was preparing.

    With a focus that turned her gaze into steel, she infused her shield and sword with radiant energy.

    With a deep breath, she charged forward, meeting Mira''s icy gaze with unwavering determination. The ground beneath their feet trembled, acknowledging the power about to sh and ripple through the air.

    As Seraphina neared, her shield up and sword ready to strike, Mira merely smiled. Without warning, she moved, her form blurring with speed, appearing beside Seraphina, who barely had time to register the shift before feeling a cool breeze pass by her side.

    Mira''s scythe had moved, a whisper in the wind, and Seraphina found her defense and offense dismantled effortlessly, leaving her wide-eyed and slightly out of breath.

    The ease with which Mira handled the assault spoke volumes of her strength, but it also highlighted just how far she''de.

    Everly and Rayna, witnessing the swift exchanges, shared a nce beforeunching their respective attacks.

    Thunderfire erupted in the sky, casting the battlefield in a stark, shing light, while shadowy, almost invisible wires snaked through the air, seeking their elusive target.

    Mira, sensing the converging attacks, chuckled. With a flick of her wrist and a shift in her stance, she met the thunderfire with a wall of ice, the electricity crackling and hissing as it met the cold barrier.

    Simultaneously, with her other hand, she caught the wires, the shadows dissipating upon her touch, leaving Rayna staring in mild surprise.

    The air around them grew tense, charged with the crackling energy of their powers and the silent understanding dawning in each disciple''s eyes. They were strong, undoubtedly, but Mira was in a league of her own.

    ''Well, they also aren''t fighting seriously.'' Miramented inwardly. She could hardly count this as a spar, much less a fight.

    And seeing the calm yet focused looks in their eyes told her they thought the same. It could be said that they were just testing her as if to make sure she was worthy of the position of Prime Disciple.

    There was also the fact that they were about to begin what seemed to be thest trial of this Secret Realm. Neither side wanted to waste too much energy fighting amongst themselves when there were much stronger enemies topete against.

    If they were truly fighting seriously, Mira wasn''t 100% confident she could win against thembined.

    Individually? Definitely.

    But she could sense that each one of them contained extraordinary bloodlines within them. Nova''s was close to the same level as hers. Eden had what she considered the ''weakest'', but it still probably had more potential than any beast in this Mortal World.

    ''I''ll have to ask them about their experiences because they didn''t get those bloodlines from me.'' Mira thought while dodging one attack after another.

    While the battle went on, with neither side making any progress, Mira figured it was about time to end this.

    But suddenly, she got an idea, which caused an amused smile to grace her lips.

    "Alright, this isn''t getting anywhere," Mira said, to which everyone paused and looked at her curiously.

    Mira reached into her robe and grasped her token before taking it out and showing it to the girls. Their eyes locked onto it, and greed couldn''t help but leak out for a moment. Although they agreed that Mira was the best candidate, that didn''t mean they wouldn''t take the position if it were given to them.

    "Since we need to get going, let''s put a stop to this useless fight. This is what you''re after, right?" She asked with a smirk, to which they nodded. "I''ll give you each one chance to grab it. Use whatever or whoever you want to take it from me. Anything goes. However, you only get one shot."

    "Deal!" They immediately agreed.

    The atmosphere crackled with palpable energy as each disciple prepared to unleash the full might of their illustrious bloodlines in pursuit of the token, their eyes gleaming with determination and a hint of anticipation.

    Mira''s smile grew subtle, sensing the stirring energies around her.

    Nova was the first to act, her body enveloped in an aura of ck mes. Her eyes glinted dangerously as the Ouroboros Bloodline awakened fully within her.

    With a fierce roar, a serpentine dragon made of ominous mes erupted from her form, lunging toward Mira with unparalleled ferocity. The air seemed to distort with its passage, leaving streaks of ck fire in its wake.

    Yet, Mira stood there and faced it head-on, her sapphire tail shaking before a barrier formed around her. The mes parted before her as if they were repelled.

    With a flick of her wrist, she sent a wave of ice Qi to envelope the fiery serpent, which was slowly eaten away by her ck runes and dissipated into harmless sparks, leaving Nova staring with a mix of frustration and awe.

    Eden stepped forth, her eyes taking on a brilliant shade of green. With a graceful sweep of her hand, an illusory griffin appeared, its feathers shimmering like emeralds under the sky, soaring above with a majestic cry.

    With a swooping dive, it aimed its talons toward Mira''s hand, each feather sharp as a de and glowing with potent energy.

    Creating one massive arrow within her bow, sheunched it into the sky. As it reached its apex, the arrow burst into thousands of smaller ones and rained down on her faster than anyone weaker than her could perceive.

    They were meant to ensnare Mira by locking down her limbs, but the fox woman did something nobody expected. She turned her arms into fox legs, the muscles within them bing harder than most metals.

    Surprisingly, the arrows were powerful enough to embed themselves within her skin, but they did little to pin her down. As for the illusory Griffin, Mira''s Golden Tail lengthened and thwapped the thing to death.

    Seraphina''s turn came, her gaze deepening into a shade resembling the ocean''s depths. The air around her seemed to ripple, and with a step, she unleashed the Leviathan Bloodline''s might. A colossal wave, bearing the shadow of a monstrous sea creature within, rolled towards Mira, seeking to engulf her.

    With a lift of her hand, Mira summoned a massive barrier of ice while also altering the terrain, halting the tidal wave in its tracks. The ice shimmered, reflecting the Leviathan''s shadow, which roared in defiance before copsing into droplets of water as Seraphina canceled the attack.

    Everly unleashed her Thunderfire Chimera Bloodline, the sky above darkening with gathering storm clouds. A roar of thunder echoed, followed by a zing thunderstorm descending from the heavens.

    With a serene expression, Mira shot out her own mixture of Yin Fire and Yin Lightning. The two forces collided, and with a cataclysmic boom, all the clouds in the sky evaporated, and an artificial sun seemed to light up thend for about a minute before it fizzled out.

    Mira couldn''t help but feel a bit of pity for Everly. She was like a direct counter to the woman, the Yin to her Yang. Maybe if she didn''t have any Yin Elements, her attack would''ve done more, but she was just unlucky.

    Disappointed, Everly left the battlefield only to look at Rayna expectantly.

    Finally, Rayna moved, her form blurring into the shadows. The Lesser Shadow Basilisk Bloodline within her awakened, casting a veil of darkness over the area. Within the shadowy abyss, two glowing eyes appeared, staring at Mira with a petrifying gaze.

    Mira couldn''t help but freeze up, one of the bloodline powers finally having an effect on her.

    With a sh, the shadows lunged, attempting to snatch the token from her grasp.

    Yet, Mira was able to regain consciousness just fast enough to prevent Rayna from grabbing it before kicking the silent woman in the stomach with a transformed beast leg, sending her flying.

    "That''s enough ying around," Mira''s voice dissipated the palpable silence as she put her token up. "It''s time to loot this ce dry!"

 Chapter 808 Prime Disciple Competition: Peak?

    <h4>Chapter 808 Prime Disciple Competition: Peak?</h4>

    With the friendly challenge behind them and Mira''s token firmly in her grasp, the women gathered around her.

    The towering mountain loomedrge before them, its peak obscured by swirling clouds that emanated an aura of ancient power and mystery.

    "Keep your guards up," Mira advised, her eyes scanning the mountain. "It''s not going to be easy from here on out."

    Just as they were about to resume their climb, Aelina popped out of the void next to them with a casual smile on her face.

    "Sect Master!" They eximed, except for Rayna and Mira, who just nodded.

    Aelina inspected them thoroughly before giving a nod of approval. "You girls have gotten quite strong. I bet with your current power, you could dominate those Central Continent geniuses!"

    "Hmph! Once I break through to the Mortal Shedding Realm, those bastards don''t stand a chance!" Nova eximed as the fire in her eyes ignited. She really wanted to see how she fared against those people who have essentially ruled the world for countless years.

    Although she was the only one who said it out loud, the others had simr thoughts. With everything they''ve gained in this Realm, it wasn''t impossible for them to reach the Mortal Shedding Realm in a little over 18 years.

    Once they crossed that threshold, they had no doubt that not many people within the same cultivation realm could stop them.

    Mira smiled inwardly at their confidence, and a thick need for battle began to well up inside her. ''I want to see their limits�� No, I want to test mine as well.''

    "Good, good!" Aelina burst outughing. "You''ll need that enthusiasm when we bust our way through the Central Continent!"

    Everyone nodded with fierce expressions. After about a minute of talking, they eventually continued their conversations while walking up the mountain. Nova and the others all began to share some of their experiences.

    Nova, to nobody''s surprise, mostly went through fiery inds. While she didn''t obtain a new bloodline or even an upgrade, it was further refined under the intense pressure and heat of the trials. Her Physique had evolved into something new, but she wasn''t sure what to call it yet.

    She didn''t want to get rid of her ''Sunfire'' techniques, after all.

    She was also able to gain more mastery over her Ouroburos bloodline and its varying abilities.

    Sera, on the other hand, upgraded her bloodline to a Leviathan''s. Before, when Mira had granted her one, she had already gone down the aquatic beast route, so the inds she chose were solely focused on that since it was the weakest part of her.

    Fortunately, there wasn''t muchpetition. First off, there weren''t any Divine or even Mystic-Grade aquatic beast ns within the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Second, there weren''t many people with water affinities, or at least, it wasn''t their main source of strength.

    Eden had obtained an Emerald Sky Griffin Bloodline, which suited her Elven nature quite well.

    Everly had fought and ughtered for a Thunderfire Chimera Bloodline. Out of everyone here, including Mira, she definitely had the toughest time in this Realm. Every ind she appeared on was fiercelypetitive, filled with Rank 8 and 9 beasts, Mortal Shedding Realm experts, and countless other weaker cultivators and beasts.

    In fact, she didn''t even obtain the best rewards. All she got were the leftovers for most of the inds. The only reason she even got this bloodline was because she was lucky to be chosen by one of those ancient beasts.

    It was wholly dissatisfied with the state of the current generation of chimeras and found Everly''s physique, bloodline, affinities, and mindset to be to its liking. Apparently, those ancient beasts weren''t concerned with one''s race when passing on their inheritance.

    As long as they liked you, they would give you opportunities.

    Lastly, Rayna upgraded her bloodline to a Lesser Shadow Basilisk Bloodline. She also had quite a bit ofpetition, mostly against the disciples from the Hidden de Sect and serpents, but she was much more proactive than those ''wait and see'' people.

    While they were busy trying to discern the strength of their opponents and hide in the dark, she took a page out of Mira''s book with a more direct approach, plundering everything of value she could find without shame.

    All of them still hadn''t fully integrated with their bloodlines, their new abilities, and the changes taking ce within their body, but they all experienced a massive leap in strength regardless.

    As the group of women climbed, exchanging tales and reveling in their newfound strengths, the environment around them rapidly transformed, growing increasingly inhospitable. The mountain''s slope steepened, and the group found themselves facing challenges far beyond mere physical exertion.

    Out of the swirling mists or rising from the ground, gargantuan Rank 9 beasts emerged.

    These majestic creatures bore bloodlines refined through countless eons, possessing strength that could tear the very fabric of the realm asunder.

    The air became tense as these colossal beings fixed their gaze upon the group. With barely a moment''s notice, the beasts lunged, their movements creating shockwaves that echoed through the mountainside.

    The disciples sprung into action, their bloodlines ring as they met the onught. Nova''s Ouroboros Bloodline roared to life, manifesting a serpent of ck fire that shed fiercely with one of the approaching beasts. Eden''s Emerald Sky Griffin Bloodline cried out indignantly, unleashing a barrage of wind and energy projectiles that held another beast at bay.

    Despite their valiant efforts, the pressure from the Rank 9 beasts was immense, pushing them to their limits. Each disciple had to dig deep, synchronizing with their respective bloodlines to unleash power they hadn''t tapped into before.

    Aelina, sensing the impending danger, stepped forward, her eyes flickering with an indescribable light. As a Rank 10 beast descended from the cloud, a monstrous entity that dwarfed the others, Aelina''s aura unfolded, creating a barrier that shielded the disciples.

    She could sense the other Sect Masters battling up ahead but figured she might as well stay here and defend her disciples. They were the future foundation of her Sect in the Central Continent, after all.

    Under her protection, the group continued their ascent, fighting off the Rank 9 beasts while avoiding the treacherous spatial tears that asionally ripped open the air around them.

    These tears in space were unpredictable, threatening to swallow them whole and transport them to unknown, possibly dangerous locations within the realm.

    As if that wasn''t enough, the mountain itself seemed to resist their advance. The ground beneath them trembled, and in certain areas, magma burst forth, flowing like fiery rivers that barred their way. The air grew thick with heat and ash, reducing visibility and making breathing difficult.

    To ovee these multifaceted challenges, the disciples had no choice but to cooperate,bining their strengths and covering each other''s weaknesses. They had to always be on the lookout and ready for any situation, which allowed them to grow closer.

    ***

    Through sweltering heat and reduced visibility, they pressed forward, their eyes keen and reflexes sharper.

    The explosive sounds of magma erupting provided a haunting background chorus, intermittently illuminated by the sh of their powers colliding with the monstrous beasts.

    "Look out!" Nova''s voice cut through the turmoil as a spatial tear ripped open beside Eden. Swift and fiery, she moved, her arms extending to push Eden out of harm''s way, the force of the action sending them rolling away from the danger.

    "Thanks," Eden murmured, barely audible through the cacophony. Her eyes, sharp and gleaming like polished emeralds, caught sight of another beast looming over them. Without missing a beat, her hand rose, a burst of radiant energy soaring from her palm and striking the creature, halting its advance.

    Seraphina moved fluidly amidst the chaos, her Leviathan Bloodline unleashing torrents of water that cooled the bubbling magma, creating temporary pathways for them to traverse. The water swirled around her, a dance of fluid grace and raw power, her eyes reflecting the depth of the ocean - unfathomable and relentless.

    "Move now!" She called, her voice rising like a tide. The disciples didn''t hesitate, stepping onto the newly formed paths, their movements hurried yet precise.

    Everly, the air around her crackling withtent electricity, eyes flickering with inner mes, released bursts of thunderfire to fend off approaching beasts. Each bolt was a symphony of destruction, blending fire and lightning in a disy of spectacr devastation.

    "We''re almost there," Mira announced, her gaze fixed on the densely packed swirling clouds that looked more like a barrier than anything.

    However, her words seemed to jinx things as the mountain began to shake violently. It quickly became worse and worse until cracks began to form on the ground.

    "Fuck! Let''s hurry up!" Mira shouted, catching the others'' attention. Not far away, a fissure spread out in the earth, separating them from the rest of the mountain. As the seconds passed by, it only grew wider and wider.

    Realizing the urgency of the situation, everyone rushed over and jumped across the fissure, but that was just the beginning.

    More and more appeared, forcing them to sprint up the mountain, ignoring everything else around them.

    Magma spurted out of the crevices, searing their skin. Thunder crackled around them, striking their positions. Beasts circled and attacked them with rising fury. And spatial tears opened up in their path.

    However, they ignored everything, counting on Aelina to save them as they ran as fast as they could.

    They kept up this pace until they eventually ran into the sea of clouds��.

    BOOOM!

    They rebounded off the swirling mist and were sent flying.

    CRACK!

    Just as that happened, a fissure opened up beneath them, sucking all of them in, including Aelina. Since flight was restricted, teleportation even more so, they could only look up despairingly as they fell into the abyss.

 Chapter 809 Prime Disciple Competition: Invulnerable

    <h4>Chapter 809 Prime Disciple Competition: Invulnerable</h4>

    The descent into the abyss was swift and disorienting, like plummeting through a vortex of chaos and unseen forces. Each disciple felt a strange tug at their bloodlines, a resonance echoing through the void as they fell deeper and deeper into the unknown.

    Without warning, the fall ceased, and they found themselves standing on solid ground once again. However, the environment around them was nothing like the mountain they had been ascending moments ago.

    They were in a colossal cavern, its ceiling lost in darkness, while its floor was littered with crystalline formations glowing with a subtle, enigmatic light. The cavern''s atmosphere pulsated with ancient, boundless energy.

    Aelina looked around, her eyes sweeping the cavern with a discernible alertness. "This is no ordinary space. It''s as if we''ve entered the core of the mountain."

    Mira squinted her eyes. "...But the question is, why are we here? Are we eliminated? Or is this just another trial?"

    Before they could explore further, the cavern''s silence was shattered by a low, reverberating growl. Shadows moved in the distant darkness, slowly revealing colossal beasts that seemed to be formed from the same crystalline substance as the formations on the ground.

    Their eyes glowed with an intensity that mirrored the ancient, unfathomable power filling the cavern. As they moved closer, the air around them twisted and distorted, making the space itself seem unstable and dangerous.

    Nova clenched her fists, feeling her bloodline surge. "I feel�� weird. Something about these things makes me want to kill and absorb their essence."

    Everyone agreed, including Mira and Aelina. The aura these beasts emanate was too enticing! Like they had been starved for years, only to be introduced to their favorite food!

    "Well, might as well kill them to find out." Aelina shrugged with a smile before she flicked her finger, sending a wave of Qi at the crystalline beast, only for it to bounce off its tough outer shell.

    She frowned, not expecting her attack to be so easily blocked. She was still a Divine Sea Realm expert, after all! One who had been strengthened by this Secret Realm!

    ''Maybe they just have an insane defense?'' She thought, but her expression changed the moment one of the beasts opened its mouth.

    A ball of energy converged in the back of its throat, taking aim at Aelina before a rainbow-colored beam of Qi shot out!

    "What?!"

    She tried to open up a hole in the void but found it to be blocked. With no other choice, she shot to the side, dodging the beam by a fraction of a second.

    However, unlike what she expected, there was no explosion. Turning around, she saw a hole in the wall about the size of her head, at least a few hundred meters deep, if not more.

    ''Holy shit! That would''ve gone straight through me!''

    By now, the disciples had just reacted, the beam of light shooting so fast that they couldn''t evenprehend it!

    "Everyone, be on your guard! Don''t get hit by their attacks unless you want to see the afterlife!" Aelina''s stern warning resounded through the cavern, tension threading her voice as she beheld the beast''s might.

    With swift, agile movements, the group dispersed.

    Nova, with fire dancing in her eyes, lunged forward with unbridled ferocity, her Sunfire techniques unfurling like a fiery tempest. However, each ze that licked against the creatures'' crystalline hide simply dissipated, leaving no mark, no sign of damage.

    "Damn it! Are they invincible or something?!" Nova cursed under her breath, leaping back as she predicted one of the beasts to swipe at her with its colossal w, the air distorting with the speed and force of its attack.

    Amidst the chaotic dance of power and crystalline fury, Rayna, with her eyes shadowed and inscrutable, observed the creatures quietly.

    Something niggled at the back of her mind, a hunch that there was more to these beasts than met the eye.

    She noticed their eyes gleaming and pulsating with that strange, alluring energy. The eyes were not made of the same imprable crystal as the rest of their bodies.

    Perhaps to allow them to see? She wasn''t sure.

    It was a tiny discrepancy, but in battle, the tiniest weakness could be fatal.

    "Go for the eyes!" she cried out, her voice slicing through the din of battle.

    Her advice did not fall on deaf ears. Sera, with water swirling around her like a cloak of shimmering silk, aimed a concentrated jet at one beast''s eyes. The stream was fine and sharp, a needle of pure aquatic force. It struck true, making the creature recoil and roar in pain.

    Encouraged, Eden sent a volley of energy shaped like arrows, targeting the eyes of the beasts.

    However, the other beasts weren''t oblivious.

    So, they simply closed their eyes, a veil of crystals covering them. The attacks merely bounced off, doing no damage whatsoever.

    Afterward, they opened them along with their mouths as they prepared to shoot more beams of energy.

    "Watch out!" Aelina shouted, forcing everyone to scatter, trying to make themselves as hard of a target to hit as possible.

    Not even a secondter, the cavern was filled with an array of light, slicing through the dense walls as if they were butter. However, while the beasts were busy attacking, Aelina got an idea.

    She created a spark of purple lightning on the tip of her finger and flicked it inside one of their mouths.

    As the lightning entered its body, it seemed to grow more and more powerful, consuming the beast''s energy. On the outside, the crystals surrounding its body dimmed, and before long, they heard a st. With that, the beast stopped shooting beams and fell to the ground, causing the earth to tremble from its weight.

    Aelina''s sudden attack caught everyone''s attention. The disciples observed the fallen beast, its once radiant crystals now dulled and lifeless. The Sect Master''s method provided them with a glimmer of understanding regarding the beasts'' vulnerabilities.

    Without wasting time, Aelina shouted over the escting chaos, "Target their openings! Their outer shell is invulnerable, but their insides are not!"

    Her words invigorated the group. With renewed focus and determination, they coordinated their assault, evading the deadly beams while seeking opportunities to counterstrike.

    Nova, quick to adapt, unleashed a torrent of searing mes towards another beast. The fiery onught aimed directly into its open mouth as it prepared to unleash an energy beam, effectively silencing its attack.

    The fire raged within, consuming its internal structure, and soon, the beast mirrored the fate of its fallenrade.

    However, these creatures were not without their cunning. Sensing theirrades'' demise, they became noticeably more cautious, guarding their vulnerable points meticulously.

    Mira noticed this change and knew they had to be unpredictable and innovative in their approach. She could do it herself, but to be honest, she wasn''t all that interested in this fight.

    Invulnerable on the outside by ss canons on the inside? Pass.

    So, she gestured to Everly, whose Thunderfire Chimera Bloodline pulsated with explosive energy.

    Everly nodded, understanding Mira''s silentmand. With a roar, thunder and fire mingled, creating a dazzling, vtile burst of energy that illuminated the cavern. The blinding light disoriented the beasts, causing them to recoil and expose their vulnerabilities.

    Seizing the moment, Sera and Edenunched synchronized attacks. Jets of water, sharp and piercing, followed by arrows of pure energy, flew through the air, targeting the eyes and mouths of the confused creatures. Each hit diminished their energy, their radiant glow flickering and fading like dying stars.

    Rayna, stealthy and silent, moved through the shadows, her Lesser Shadow Basilisk Bloodline allowing her to blend into the darkness seamlessly. She approached a beast, her movements quick and precise, and drove her weapon through its eye. The creature roared, crystals dimming as life escaped its gargantuan form.

    As they felled one beast after another, the atmosphere within the cavern began to shift. The pulsating energy around them seemed to resonate with their bloodlines, but nothing happened yet.

    Aelina could sense the change and grew excited. ''I wonder what we''ll gain after we kill all these things?'' She thought expectantly.

    In the thick of battle, the group worked harmoniously, each woman using her unique strengths to exploit the vulnerabilities of the remaining beasts.

    With precision and power, they dispatched each one, the cavern echoing with the sounds of their roars and the crumbling of the crystalline behemoths.

    As the final beast fell, a profound silence enveloped the cavern.

    The once pulsating energy within the cavern grew still, then intensified exponentially, bathing the space in a blinding light. This luminescence seemed to seep into the very souls of the women, vibrating and harmonizing with the essence of their bloodlines.

    Feeling the energy course through their veins, each woman felt a surge of power course through them, forming a deeper connection with their respective bloodlines. For some, it refined their bloodline, making it purer. For others, it increased the quantity of theirs.

    Aelina felt the Grade of her Void Worm bloodline increase, while Mira''s was a bit different. She didn''t feel anything specific except that she was bing stronger. Though, there was a prick in her soul��

    The light gradually dissipated, revealing the transformed cavern that was now sparkling with a serene, mesmerizing glow.

 Chapter 810 Prime Disciple Competition: Restricted

    <h4>Chapter 810 Prime Disciple Competition: Restricted</h4>

    As everything settled down, they were finally able to get a good look at what was ahead of them.

    Unsurprisingly, it was arge tunnel that led to�� somewhere. Not even Aelina could see how far it went, as the end seemed to be covered in a veil.

    "I guess we continue forward?" Eden surmised, and everyone agreed with her as there was literally only one direction they could go.

    "We can do thatter. For now, rest a little. We don''t know what''s ahead." Aelina said with slightly furrowed brows. Most of this Secret Realm has been her yground. She got what she wanted, how she wanted, without interruption. There were very few people who could stop her, and they wouldn''t risk their lives attempting to fight an uphill battle.

    She had plenty of restrictions on the inds she appeared in when it came to attacking weaker opponents, but she rarely saw anyone below the Mortal Transformation Realm or Rank 9.

    That is to say, it was very rare for her not to be able to see through something, especially now with her Void Worm bloodline.

    The group stayed there for a few minutes until they heard a rumbling sound, and the earth began to shake.

    Suddenly, behind them, the wall started to close in, forcing them to get up.

    "I guess that''s our cue to go," Nova murmured.

    "Looks like it," Aelina responded.

    However, they weren''t in a hurry. The wall was moving fairly slowly, so they took their time, wanting to take advantage of the tunnel before the next challenge.

    Eventually, the wall sped up, pushing them further and further in the tunnel until, suddenly, they crossed a threshold, and everything went ck.

    A restrictive force wrapped around everyone but Mira, temporarily lowering their cultivation to the 9th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Even Aelina had her strength reduced to that level, weakening her severely.

    To make matters worse, she couldn''t use her Divine Sense, which basically granted her semi-omniscience within its range! That''s part of what made Divine Sea Realm cultivators so hard to kill!

    Now, she was forced to use its lesser version, Soul Sense.

    ''Tsk.'' She clicked her tongue in mild annoyance. It felt like she just went from Heaven to Hell. In fact, she had forgotten just how truly weak the Nascent Soul Realm waspared to her current strength. ''When was thest time I was this fragile?'' She couldn''t remember.

    Fortunately, she still had the instincts of a Divine Sea Realm expert.

    The others, except for Mira, were also ovee by a feeling of weakness, though not quite as severe.

    After a fleeting adjustment period, the group steeled themselves, limating to the sensation of restrained power. Their power, once vast and unbridled, now felt confined within the invisible walls pressing upon their consciousness.

    "Feels like being shoved into a tight, itchy robe after wearing silks," grumbled Nova, flexing her hands, feeling the strange limitation on her once rampaging fire.

    Sera''s eyes flickered with a subdued glimmer. "I wonder what our next challenge is. Considering our power is limited to equal grounds, it''s probably some sort of fight?" she mused.

    It was then that the veil of darkness ahead began to dissipate, unveiling a vast expanse that bore a resemnce to a diatorial arena. An immense circr stone field encased within towering walls and arge artificial light shooting down on them from above.

    And within that expanse stood seven figures, two of whom bore the familiar insignia of the Battle Maiden Sect. The rest were from the other Sects.

    Eden tilted her head slightly as her eyes narrowed with recognition. "Well, this is an intriguing twist."

    Mira, who remained silent until now, stepped forward, her gaze sweeping across the newly revealed contenders. Among them, she could sense the subtle aura of familiar bloodlines.

    ''They must''ve received one of the bloodlines I created back in the Sect.'' She thought but immediately lost interest after that.

    "Sect Master?!" The two Battle Maiden Sect disciples eximed upon seeing Aelina''s elusive yet unforgettable figure. "What are you doing here?!"

    "ying around~" Aelina chuckled while waving at her disciples. "Don''t worry, I won''t kill you-"

    She paused, ncing at Mira before cing a hand on her shoulder with a smirk, "Rather, I''ll tell her not to kill you."

    Mira nced at the woman and rolled her eyes. She threw Aelina''s hand off her shoulder and walked forward. It was only then that the two disciples noticed the 9-tailed fox woman and their expressions paled.

    "Fuck! It''s her!"

    "NO! We''re doomed! Let me out!"

    The two ran to the edge of the arena, banging on the wall, practically begging to be released, but all entrances and exits were closed off as of now.

    Meanwhile, their teammates'' expressions were constantly changing. They were embarrassed, furious, depressed, then determined. If this really was a battle, they had some horrible luck, but they wouldn''t let go of this opportunity to get stronger!

    "Fight!" An ancient voice suddenly resounded throughout the arena.

    That was all Mira needed to hear before she darted forward, her figure almost shing she was so fast. The 5petitors braced themselves, but after a second of waiting, nothing happened.

    That was until they heard cries for helpe from behind and noticed Mira hacking apart her Sect Members to death with her scythe. However, before they could truly die, a barrier formed around them, patching them back up and throwing them out of the arena.

    "Mira! I thought I told you not to kill them!" Aelina scolded.

    Mira just gave her the middle finger and dashed to the remaining 5 opponents, chopping them apart with ease. However, they, too, were then healed and moved out of the ring.

    "The next fight is in 1 minute!" The ancient voice announced.

    Nobody was surprised by this oue. In terms of power, there was hardly anybody that could beat Mira in the same cultivation Realm. The difference was even bigger now, considering all of her opponents were weakened while she remained the same.

    "Hey! You know you''re still part of a Sect, right? You can''t just kill your Sect Members for no reason!" Aelina reprimanded Mira as the woman returned to their side, only to shrug upon hearing her words.

    "This is a diatorial arena. There''s only one thing that happens here: a fight to the death. If they weren''t prepared to die, they shouldn''t have showed up." Mira sneered.

    Fellow Sect members? What were those? She wasn''t going to miss an opportunity of a lifetime because of some asinineradery with people she''d never met before.

    Everyone kept quiet as they knew she was right. But why did it sound so wronging out of Mira''s mouth?

    A minute passed by quickly, and this time, 7 Peak-Stage Rank 7 beasts showed up.

    Mira was about to walk up again, but Nova was faster than her. "I want to have some fun too!"

    Nova moved forward, a radiant fire dancing around her, her eyes bright with determination. While Mira was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with, the rest of the team wasn''t just there to watch her show.

    The seven beasts, sensing Nova''s approach, immediately went on the defensive, their sharp senses picking up the simmering energy around her. These creatures, despite their wild appearance, had fought countless battles before.

    With a glint of fiery anticipation in her eyes, Nova surged forward, meeting the onught of the beasts with enthusiasm. The battle, however, unfolded faster than anyone anticipated.

    Nova''s hands swiped through the air, crafting magnificent arcs of zing fire. The first beast, caught within the fiery vortex, yelped in surprise and pain as the searing mes enveloped it, eventually crumbling to ash under the unrelenting heat before a barrier formed around it and was transported away.

    "Too easy!" Nova shouted, not expecting that she was still so strong despite being almost an entire major Realm lower than normal.

    A serpent-like creature lunged towards her, but with a flick of her wrist, a whip of fireshed out, wrapping around the beast and reducing it to smoldering remains within seconds. The fiery battle continued, leaving no room for the creatures to retaliate.

    Her fellow disciples watched indifferently as Nova effortlessly dispatched the creatures one after another. Even the imposing beast that seemed like a cross between a rhino and a bear stood no chance, copsing under a torrent of blistering fireballs.

    In no time at all, the arena was cleared, thest echoes of the beastly roars fading away into silence. Nova stood in the center, not a hint of exhaustion on her face.

    "Well, that was fast," Eden remarked, raising an eyebrow at the ease of their victory. Nova had gotten used to her ''new'' strength a bit faster than she thought

    Mira shrugged nonchntly, seemingly unimpressed. "It''s probably just the beginning. They won''t keep it easy for long."

    "You should do the next one, Eden. Let''s see how fast you can win." Nova said with a hint ofpetitive spirit.

    Before any further conversation could unfold, the ancient voice boomed through the arena again. "Prepare for the next battle!"

 Chapter 811 Prime Disciple Competition: Elders

    ?

    Mira''s group continued to defeat their opponents quickly, with each of them getting a turn to step up and show off.

    Surprisingly, more beings had made it this far than they initially thought. When they were climbing the mountain, they seldom ran across other disciples or beasts that came in from the outside. Most of their opponents were natives of this Realm.

    After around 10 battles, or 70 opponents, they finally faced their first real challenge.

    On the other side of the arena walked another 7 people, but the aura they carried was different than the rest. Although they were still in the 9th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, the stability, density, and intensity of their Qi were unlike the others before them.

    Leading the charge were two middle-aged women who gave off the strongest impression and wore Battle Maiden Sect robes. They surveyed the area cautiously, looking for any traps or hidden mechanisms before their gaze finallynded on Mira and the others.

    Their eyes widened when they noticed the group, and they couldn''t help but feel bitter inside.

    ''Just our luck. We have to fight against them.'' They thought but steeled their resolve, ready for an intense battle.

    Aelina smiled and chuckled, but she was inwardly d that they didn''t immediately give up. "Oh? Sandra and Irene? What a surprise~!"

    "Master! You''re here!" Nova eximed upon seeing Elder Irene, feeling a little conflicted. She wanted to win, but she didn''t want to see her master get hurt.

    "Hahaha! It''s good to see you, Sect Master, Nova." Elder Irene burst outughing, greeting the two of them. Even though they were about to enter a battle to the death, she remained carefree. If anything, she was excited.

    ''I wonder how much everyone''s improved.'' Elder Irene thought with expectation.

    Meanwhile, Elder Sandra focused on Mira, memories of their first meeting shing through her mind. Years ago, Mira was just a Core Formation Realm weakling.

    Now, she was at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, and her strength was almost unbelievable. Her rate of progression, aplishments, talent, and mindset left her in awe over the years.

    Elder Sandra couldn''t help feeling proud of Mira, not just for surviving until now but for thriving.

    ''She reminds me of the Sect Master back when she was a mere disciple. Though, Mira is probably more amazing in regards to talent, while the Sect Master had more achievements.'' She reminisced.

    A sense of electric anticipation thrummed through the air as both groups squared off across the arena, the atmosphere tense with the expectancy of the impending sh.

    The ancient voice remained silent this time as if understanding that words were redundant amidst the silentmunication flowing through the nces and postures of thebatants on the field.

    A breathless hush fell over the arena, the silence amplifying the subtle shift of feet and the inaudible inhtions of breath.

    Mira locked eyes with Sandra, the air between them thick with unspoken understanding and respect. The former actually quite liked Elder Sandra, as she has been there ever since she joined the Battle Maiden Sect. When she was in trouble, it was Sandra who was the first to arrive, and she had always been rtively helpful without Mira even needing to ask her for anything.

    Best of all, she didn''t mince words.

    "Ready to have a go, Elder?" Mira''s lips curved into a faint, challenging smile, her eyes sparkling with the light of battle.

    Elder Sandra returned the smile with a quiet nod, her gaze steady and unyielding. "It''s an honor to cross paths with you in battle, Mira."

    The arena remained still for a heartbeat longer before exploding into action. The space between thebatants blurred with the swift onught of movements.

    Sandra and Irene moved fluidly, their experience evident in the ease with which they navigated the battlefield, meeting each attack with practiced defense. Yet, for all their expertise, the vigor and audacity of Mira''s group were not to be underestimated.

    Nova engaged Irene with a sh of fiery brilliance, their exchanges lighting up the arena with bursts of energy. Each strike, each maneuver, was executed with a precision born from years of training and sparring together, making their battle almost choreographed, a dance of me and power.

    Aelina observed quietly, her eyes flickering between the fights. It would be useless for her to intervene now. Though everyone was on an even ying field when it came to cultivation, she was superior in almost every aspect. Perhaps Mira could put up a good fight, but at the end of the day, she was still one of the strongest beings on the continent.

    She fully believed Mira didn''t stand a chance.

    ''Maybe if we were both at the Divine Sea Realm, I could finally let loose.'' She thought with a small smile, imagining a scene where Mira and her fought for days on end, destroying thend around them.

    Shaking her head, she focused back on the fights, but that image remained.

    It was then that Mira and Sandra shed in the center, their energies colliding with a shockwave that rippled across the arena. Their eyes met amidst the chaos, acknowledging the inevitable confrontation. With a burst of speed, they engaged, their movements sharp and decisive.

    As their silhouettes flickered amidst the skirmish, Mira and Sandra painted a captivating picture ofbat.

    Sandra, with her veteran poise, parried Mira''s aggressive strikes, their exchange seamlessly alternating between offensive and defensive maneuvers. Meanwhile, Mira''s scythe moved so fast that it didn''t even look like a polearm variant and more of a circle.

    She would asionally use her ice affinity as an auxiliary to help her take down the Elder, but their battle was almost purely weapon-based. Elemental Affinities, physical strength, Qi quality, none of that mattered. Only pure technique and mastery over one''s weapon were what mattered.

    This was the most Mira could offer the woman, as, without that handicap, this wouldn''t be much of a battle.

    The air sizzled with their unleashed energy, creating transient ripples across the arena as the shockwaves from their shes were too strong. For a moment, the surrounding arena and its upants faded away, leaving only the two formidable women locked in their duel.

    Yet, even amidst the intense battle, Mira could perceive Sandra''s subtle pride, a quiet acknowledgment that mirrored her own sentiments towards the elder.

    She had to admit that her mastery of the sword was exceptional��one of the best she''d ever seen.

    ''It seems Elder Sandra likes to hide under the radar. I never knew she was so skilled.'' Thinking of skilled weapon practitioners, her mind drifted toward thoughts of Cine.

    ''I wonder how she''s doing. Hopefully, not dead. I still need to reach the next realm of mastery with my scythe!'' As her mind drifted, she was quickly brought back to reality when Elder Sandra made a sudden move, catching her off-guard and almost taking her head in the process.

    However, the two paid no mind and continued.

    With each passing second, their exchange elerated, blurring into a series of swift movements and shing lights. To the onlookers, it seemed as if the two were engaged in a fierce dance, their steps perfectly synchronized with their heartbeats and breaths.

    However, as the battle reached its climax, it was Mira''s indomitable spirit and unyielding determination that gradually tipped the scale in her favor. With a dazzling flurry of strikes, she managed to corner Sandra, her weapon aiming straight for the elder''s heart.

    Then, without hesitation, she jammed it into the woman''s chest, splitting her heart-

    *Dink!*

    -until she didn''t and was stopped by a barrier.

    "Th-That was a good fight, Mira." Elder Sandra sputtered with a smile, blood leaking out of her lips.

    "Mmhm. No wonder you''re an Elder."

    "..."

    Sandra didn''t get to retort before she was thrown out of the arena, making it a 7 vs 6.

    ''Oh? I guess that number dropped to five.'' Mira thought while watching Nova skewer her Master with dozens of ck ming spears. A secondter, Elder Irene disappeared from the arena.

    ''Now, all that''s left is the fodder.'' However, she couldn''t be bothered to deal with the rest, so she just walked over to Aelina''s side.

    "Your scythe skills looked a bit rusty~" Aelina teased, but Mira shrugged.

    "It''s been a while since I had to fight someone decent."

    "...You always have to say something back, huh."

    Aelina clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned her attention away from Mira.

    The two watched on as Nova joined the fray, making it a 5 vs. 5 since neither Mira nor Aelina were participating.

    However, the battle ended up taking much longer than they initially thought, forcing the two to question themselves if they really should join.

    The problem was that the other side just turtled, focusing all their attention on defense instead of offense. They knew they were going to lose, but they''d be damned if they didn''t make their opponents suffer for it in the next round!

    Eventually, Aelina got bored and opened a void portal near one of them before copsing it on them. In an instant, they were thrown out of the arena, and the girls soon imed victory.

 Chapter 812 Prime Disciple Competition: Last Battle of the Arena Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 812 Prime Disciple Competition: Last Battle of the Arena Part 1</h4>

    Five minutester, seven morepetitors were brought into the room, but once again, they seemed much stronger than the ones before.

    The ground trembled under the weight of their march, and the pressure in the room instantly became tense. The dirt and debris on the ground levitated as the arena became charged with energy.

    Aelina''s eyes narrowed, feeling the change in dynamic, and she finally became serious, seeing who they were up against.

    ''Ryker.''

    Walking toward them was a massive white tiger with dense rippling muscles, ck stripes, and a regal aura. Its steps were slow and purposeful as it walked with confidence. The others behind it weren''t much different either, their aura on a simr level if not higher than Elder Sandra and Elder Irene''s.

    The white tiger, whose strength was reduced to Peak-Stage Rank 7, ignored the solemn atmosphere like he owned the ce. His eyes zed over Aelina, showing a hint of surprise and recognition before they swiftly locked onto Mira. Or, more specifically, her tails.

    "So, you''re the 9-tailed fox that pink-haired human spoke of." It stated, its voice heavy and hoarse. "Where''s your wolf pet? I heard it was a winged golden wolf."

    Mira squinted her eyes at the beast, and her expression became somber when she heard that Sue Ming had visited this thing. Also, the way he asked about Rhydian��

    ''I don''t like it.'' She thought. It felt like he knew something he shouldn''t.

    Still, she wasn''t one to grow flustered because of this. Instead, she just said expressionlessly. "Dead. I ate her."

    "..."

    Everyone looked at Mira weirdly. They didn''t want to believe her at first, but she didn''t seem like she was lying. Even her own teammates looked surprised!

    Mira never lied! She might bend the truth a little or ignore them, but she rarely lied, if ever.

    Seeing the shocked faces of her teammates, even the White Tiger almost believed it to be true. That is, if he hadn''t sensed Rhydian right before they fell into this hole!

    "...I see." He nodded despite knowing differently. "I suppose that''s how your cultivation improved so quickly. That kind of wolf is very nutritious."

    "I heard White Tiger meat is also good for one''s bones. I''ll have to give it a try as well." Mira quipped back fearlessly, causing Ryker''s eyelids to twitch. They wanted to jump straight into battle right now and tear out each others'' throats but held themselves back.

    They''d get the chance soon.

    "I don''t know about that. However, I''m sure White Tigers birthed from a little hybrid fox would be strong." Ryker said suggestively, lowering his eyes toward Mira''s crotch, which instantly enraged the woman.

    However, she forced back her rampaging emotions and killing intent while staring intently at the beast.

    ''I wish I could kill him/her.'' They both thought, instantly annoyed by each other''s presence.

    While the two of them entered a stare-down, the 6 other beings on the other team spread out and gazed at the women.

    There were two Elders wearing Immortal Sword Sect robes, one from the Divine Weapon Sect, another from the Profound Elements Sect, and two smaller White Tigers that gave off the aura of Rank 9 beasts despite having the strength of a Peak-Stage Rank 7.

    The atmosphere in the arena turned heavier, simmering with the brewing storm of battle and unspoken challenges. In this silent confrontation, the very air seemed to crystallize with tension, awaiting the spark to ignite the fiery dance of power and strategy.

    Aside from Ryker, the rest of the opposing team possessed an aura of silent strength, their eyes carefully measuring Mira and her group. The Elders from the Immortal Sword and Divine Weapon Sects exuded an air of seasoned mastery over their respective crafts, no doubt formidable opponents in their own right.

    The two smaller White Tigers, although not as imposing as Ryker, held a feral and wild energy in their eyes. They were the embodiment of raw, untamed power, and their sleek muscles twitched in anticipation of the fortingbat.

    Mira''s eyes flickered briefly, assessing each opponent. Her gaze eventually returned to Ryker, a spark of killing intent lighting up the depths of her crimson eyes.

    This was not just a battle of physical prowess but also of wills and minds. Each word exchanged, each nce shared, was another subtle move in thisplex game of power and dominance.

    The ancient voice didn''t need to say anything as the battle had already started.

    Nova, feeling the tension, positioned herself, her eyes locked onto one of the Elders from the Immortal Sword Sect. She could sense the swirling energy around him, a quiet storm of razor-sharp focus and lethal Sword Manifestation.

    Meanwhile, Eden squared off against the elder from the Profound Elements Sect. Even reduced to their current level, the elder''s control over elemental powers would be a formidable challenge, and Eden''s eyes flickered with the thrill of facing a worthy opponent.

    As this continued, Aelina spoke up, her voice cutting through the tension with the sharpness of a finely honed de. "Enough with the silent intimidation. We''re here to fight, not engage in a staring contest."

    Her words seemed to ripple through the arena, and like a tightly wound spring finally released, the energy in the space surged.

    That''s when the ancient voice spoke up, "The winning side will move onto the final set of trials."

    That seemed to motivate both sides as killing intent filled the arena.

    With no warning, the battle erupted.

    Ryker lunged at Mira with an explosive burst of speed, his massive form surprisingly agile and swift. His ws, imbued with condensed energy, swiped towards Mira, aiming to end the battle with a single, decisive strike.

    However, Mira had already activated her Turquoise Tail, giving her heightened perception. She dodged the attack just before she was ripped to shreds.

    Understanding that she would have to go all out, she transformed into her Progenitor Form. Her figure became ethereal, her tails elongated, and an ice crown manifested on her head. All the energy in the arena converged around her, and all the energy inside her pumped through her with unrivaled power.

    The air around crystallized, and Yin Fire and Yin Lightning sparked across her body.

    With Mira in her Progenitor Form, the ambiance of the arena altered dramatically, now swirling with intense, cascading energy that reverberated through the very air itself.

    Each pulse of her mighty power sent shivers down the spines of everyone present, casting a tangible, pressing weight upon the atmosphere.

    Her eyes, like twin stars burning with cold fire, fixed upon Ryker, who, despite his stature and prowess, could not ignore the impending threat unfolding before him. For a moment, even the mighty tiger seemed insignificant before Mira''s majestic, terrifying form.

    However, Ryker was nomon foe, and the corner of his mouth twisted into a sinister, anticipatory grin, weing the challenge with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

    As Ryker prepared to pounce again, his muscles coiling with pent-up energy, Mira''s tails swirled around her. Each tail was imbued with a different force, creating a maelstrom of elemental powers.

    Elsewhere on the battlefield, Nova''s spear shed against the Immortal Sword Sect Elder''s sword.

    Each of their strikes emitted sharp sonic booms, disrupting the surrounding energy and forcing the otherbatants to steer clear of their fierce duel. The Elder was skilled, but Nova''s spearmanship was fluid, explosive, and deadly, making it hard for him to gain an upper hand.

    Eden, on the other hand, was engaging in a battle of elements with the Profound Elements Sect Elder. Fire and water, Wood and Wind, all kinds of elements were wielded with mastery, shing and merging, creating a spectacr disy of elemental chaos around them.

    However, despite these intense battles unfolding, all eyes were inevitably drawn back to the confrontation between Mira and Ryker.

    With a roar that shook the arena, Rykerunched himself at Mira, his ws aiming for her throat. Yet, with an ethereal grace, Mira glided aside, avoiding his attack effortlessly.

    With a flick of her tail, a burst of icy energy shot toward Ryker, intending to encase him in a block of unyielding ice.

    But Ryker was quick, twisting his body in mid-air and narrowly avoiding the brunt of the attack. Still, frost crept up his nk, slowing him down momentarily.

    This was the opening Mira needed.

    With speed that belied belief, she closed the distance, her hand shaped into a w, aiming for Ryker''s heart. The arena held its collective breath, sensing the critical moment of the battle.

    However, just as her hand was about to pierce through Ryker''s flesh, the white tiger twisted, taking the blow to his shoulder instead. Pain and fury shed in his eyes, but it was quickly reced by the relentless drive to fight, to win.

    In the blink of an eye, Ryker retaliated, swiping his massive paw towards Mira''s midsection. The arena gasped, but Mira''s form blurred, barely avoiding a fatal hit. A few strands of her hair and a chunk of her side, however, were not so lucky, getting sliced off by the sheer force of Ryker''s swipe.

 Chapter 813 Prime Disciple Competition: Last Battle of the Arena Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 813 Prime Disciple Competition: Last Battle of the Arena Part 2</h4>

    As the battle reached its intense apex, the whole arena vibrated with the energy released by the formidablebatants. Mira''s narrowed eyes stared intently at Ryker as the atmosphere around them grew thick with tension.

    Mira''s breathing wasbored, but her eyes burned with determination. She''d faced numerous tough foes in her lifetime, but Ryker was proving to be one of the toughest yet. Each attack sheunched, he countered, and each of his strikes she managed to evade��barely.

    Across the field, Nova was equally locked in her duel. Sweat dripped from her brow as she parried, struck, and maneuvered.

    The Immortal Sword Sect Elder seemed relentless, pushing her back at every turn. But with each move, Nova began to grow ustomed to such a high-level fight. She wasn''t going to be easily defeated.

    Amidst this, Aelina fought against the other Immortal Sword Sect Elder, but her focus was on Mira. Although the Elder was certainly powerful, she didn''t need to allocate too much thought into battling him and treated it more like a warmup.

    Back to the main showdown, Ryker''s raw, physical prowess contrasted sharply with Mira''s ethereal agility. With every lunge, swipe, and roar from him, she countered with her own set of moves��frosty sts, electric jolts, and swift dodges. The white tiger, despite his injuries, was not yielding an inch.

    Ryker''s next move caught Mira off guard. Using his bulk, he feinted a lunge, then swiftly swiped at her with his other paw. Mira gasped, narrowly avoiding a direct hit, but the force knocked her off bnce.

    Seizing the moment, Ryker lunged again, hoping to end the battle. But just as it seemed it was over for Mira, a sharp, icy st emanated from her, pushing Ryker back.

    The burst of coldness radiated outward like a blizzard, covering the arena with a thinyer of frost. Ryker, taken by surprise, stumbled back, his white fur quickly covered in ayer of shimmering ice crystals. The entire audience held their collective breath as the temperature in the arena plummeted, turning the fervor of battle into an eerie, silent winter''s night.

    Mira, despite her momentary disarray, summoned her strength and used this frozen advantage. Drawing from the energies within, she conjured a series of massive ice spikes that shot toward Ryker with precision. The white tiger, though dazed, managed to deflect most of them, but a few found their mark, leaving minor cuts.

    Ryker''s growl echoed, a deep rumble of frustration and pain. The cold had slowed him momentarily, but his fiery determination still burned bright. Shaking off the frost, his eyes focused intensely on Mira, the pupils narrowing to predatory slits.

    Not wasting a moment, Mira sent an electric wave across the frozen ground. It raced toward Ryker, illuminating the arena with its brilliant blue hue.

    But Ryker was ready. Using his immense strength, he leaped high into the air, avoiding the electric onught beneath him.

    Mid-leap, Ryker transformed from predator to missile, aiming straight for Mira. It was a risky move, but they weren''t getting anywhere at this rate.

    Mira, sensing the iing danger, prepared another attack. But this time, Ryker was quicker.

    Just before she could release her energy, hended heavily on her, pinning her to the ground.

    The entire arena felt the impact, a shockwave of raw force and energy. The ice that had covered most of the ground cracked, causing the others to momentarily lose their bnce.

    But beneath the weight of the white tiger, something remarkable happened.

    Mira gathered her Qi at a single point within her body and began to glow as a radiant blue aura enveloped her. The ground around them cracked, and an immense force exploded outward.

    With an intense sh, Ryker was thrown off Mira, and bothbatants were separated by several meters.

    Both warriors, now visibly battered, resumed their stance. Their injuries began to heal at a rapid rate, forcing them back into battle.

    In a sudden burst of energy, Miraunched a series of rapid electric arcsced with Yin Magma for an ultra-destructive attack.

    Ryker anticipated this and moved around them, but every so often, one grazed him, leaving a sizzling mark on his fur that would sink further into his skin like acid.

    Trying to press her advantage, Mira summoned a swirling vortex of ice and wind. It engulfed the white tiger, momentarily blinding him and cutting deep into his skin. But Ryker, through sheer physical strength, broke free from the tempest and lunged straight at Mira.

    Despite her enhanced perception, she was unable to react in time and took the full force of his weight, once again falling backward with a heavy thud. The ground shook from the impact.

    Ryker, not wasting a second, prepared to deliver the final blow.

    ''Fuck! I shouldn''t have done that!'' She wanted to smack herself for creating something that blurred both his and her visibility and not keeping her Soul Sense active. She was so confident in herself that she didn''t think such a slip-up would happen.

    In fact, she was just beginning to get used to fighting in her Progenitor Form, as well as a Rank 10 beast, and wanted to use some more powerful attacks.

    s, it was toote for regrets.

    As Ryker''s massive jaws descended towards Mira''s vulnerable neck, time seemed to slow. The crowd gasped, and even Nova and the others, in the midst of their battles, nced over in rm.

    It was then that a shimmering ripple in the air appeared next to the lunging tiger. Emerging from this ripple was Aelina, with a sharp, gleaming de in her hand. She struck with swift precision, and her de found its mark, piercing the vulnerable area under Ryker''s jaw and into his neck.

    The weight of the massive tiger,bined with the force of his jump, brought him crashing down next to Mira. But his eyes, once filled with predatory focus, now carried the ze of death.

    He didn''t even realize how he died or who killed him, as it all happened too fast.

    Immediately afterward, a barrier enveloped him, healing him, and teleported him out of the arena.

    Aelina wiped the imaginary sweat and nced at Mira with a mocking smile, "Thanks for being my bait. Fighting that guy would''ve been annoying even for me if you hadn''t taken the brunt of the damage."

    Mira''s face fell when she heard that, and she nearly activated her ck tail. Nearly.

    ''This bitch�� Using me as bait?!'' Mira''s grip tightened around her scythe. She stared at Aelina and fought the urge to attack that stupid face, but she shoved that feeling down.

    ''...I''ll get youter.'' She promised, but for now, they had work to do.

    Without saying a word, Mira got up and rushed to the other girls. Aelina chuckled and followed.

    Mira joined the one who was having the most trouble, Seraphina, who fought against the Divine Weapons Sect Elder.

    As most of her abilities were either defensive, auxiliary, or support, she found it difficult to take on someone who was mostly offensive��especially someone as skilled as an Elder.

    Seraphina, in her defensive stance, skillfully utilized her sword and shieldbo.

    Every blow from the Divine Weapons Sect Elder was deftly parried or absorbed by her shield, its watery aura acting as a cushion, dispersing the force of the blows.

    However, the pressure was getting to her. The Elder''s attacks came fast, a flurry of shes and thrusts that left little room for error. He was adept at using the strengths of his sect''s teachings, forcing Seraphina to constantly be on the defensive.

    Just when it looked like the Elder was about to break through her defense, a jet of water erupted from Seraphina''s shield, pushing him back several meters. Using this brief moment of respite, she channeled her Leviathan Bloodline.

    The ground beneath them began to quake. From Seraphina''s position, massive water tentacles, manifestations of her Leviathan power, erupted from a pool.

    Each tentacle was imbued with the dual energies of Water and Metal that thrashed and writhed, aiming for the Elder. These tentacles, while massive and powerful, also had a sheen of metal on them, making them harder to cut.

    The Elder was taken by surprise but quickly regained hisposure. Using his weapon, he started severing the tentacles. However, for each one he cut, two more seemed to emerge.

    Mira, sensing an opening, quickly nked the Elder. While Seraphina kept him busy with her Leviathan''s tentacles, Mira charged her scythe with a powerful electric arc. With a swift swing, she aimed at the Elder, hoping tond a debilitating strike.

    The Elder, sensing the iing threat, deftly maneuvered between the tentacles, avoiding Mira''s strike. But this move made him vulnerable to Seraphina''s sword. With a swift, upward sh, she cut open the Elder''s chest.

    Mira took advantage of this opportunity and swept her scythe in a long arc, cutting through his neck only to be stopped halfway. The Elder could only watch in anger, resentment, and unwilling eptance before he was thrown out.

    Seraphina and Mira looked at each other, nodded, and rushed over to help the others.

    With two of their enemies out of the way and Mira, Seraphina, and Aelina on the loose, they were able to make quick work of the rest of their opponents.

    Mira and Aelina were just too strong. One could teleport at will, while the other ran around smashing people with brute force. After Ryker died, it was hardly much of a battle for them.

    A few minutester, all 7 enemies were thrown out of the arena.

    "Congrattions on entering the final stage." The ancient voice said, and suddenly, a force wrapped around their bodies, and they were teleported out, too.

 Chapter 814 Prime Disciple Competition: Creation And Destruction

    ?

    Mira''s eyes fluttered open as the sensation of teleportation subsided. An overwhelming silence filled her ears. The vast arena stretched before her, with ground that felt as malleable as y under her feet. Looking up, a nk, untouched sky met her gaze.

    ''Rather than a sky, it''s like an empty void.''

    Her attention was soon captured by two pedestals at the arena''s center. One radiated a golden warmth, while the other pulsed with a chilling obsidian hue. Even from a distance, she could sense the powerful energies emanating from them.

    ''Why does it feel like they have something to do with creation and destruction?'' Mira wondered. She had never felt anything enigmatic like ''creation and destruction'', at least in the truest sense, but instinctually, she understood.

    Those pedestals were unique.

    The previous ancient voice reverberated throughout the space, "To create is to understand responsibility. To destroy is to recognize consequence. To achieve harmony, you must bnce both."

    With cautious steps, Mira approached the pedestals. As her hand made contact with the one glowing gold, a rush of power surged through her. Suddenly, her mind was filled with endless possibilities.

    ''Looks like I was right. This pedestal does have something to do with creation.''

    With a thought, a beautiful tree erupted from the ground. She inspected it visually and with her Soul Sense, searching for anything out of ce, but it was an exact replica of a real tree. There was nothing weird or illusory about it.

    However, as she marveled at her creation, she noticed a previously lush part of the arena turning barren.

    The realization hit her hard: each act of creation had its consequences.

    Deciding to test the other pedestal, she touched the obsidian surface, and the tree she had just created disintegrated into nothingness. Yet, a whirlwind started in another corner, seemingly out of nowhere.

    The challenge was clear. To pass this trial, Mira had to bnce Creation with Destruction, ensuring that the arena remained in equilibrium.

    Remembering her lessons and her experiences, Mira began to carefully craft her surroundings. For every freshwater spring she willed into existence, she countered the resulting desertification by conjuring rainclouds. When she created protective creatures, she ensured that they had checks and bnces to prevent them from bing too aggressive or overprotective.

    As Mira continued her act of creation, she quickly realized that the area was not expanding.

    Space was finite, and she couldn''t merely keep creating without limits.

    For every new mountain range she envisioned, an existing meadow had to be sacrificed. The tall peaks would shoot up, discing the once-t terrain and causing it to crumble and change.

    She remembered the obsidian pedestal and its chilling power.

    Destruction was not just about eliminating or erasing �C it was also about reshaping, recycling, and rejuvenating.

    Observing a dense forest she had created earlier, Mira understood that unchecked growth would eventually consume all nutrients, leaving the soil barren.

    She introduced natural forest fires, a destructive yet essential force. The mes would rage, reducing tall trees to ashes, but in the aftermath, the soil was enriched, paving the way for new growth.

    When she introduced predators, not only did they bnce the poption of herbivores, but they also culled the weak and the sick, ensuring a healthier ecosystem in the long run.

    Their hunting tactics also shaped the behaviors and adaptations of their prey, leading to an evolutionary dance guided by the push and pull of life and death.

    At one point, realizing that ake she had created was disrupting the flow of several streams, Mira decided to destroy it. The water drained, carving out deep valleys and canyons, providing new habitats and changing thendscape dramatically.

    She also found herself sometimes having to make painful decisions.

    In one part of the expanse, she had created a beautiful species of bird, which, due to an oversight, was overpopting and endangering other species.

    With a sigh, she introduced a disease that targeted only that particr bird species, bringing their numbers down. It was a stark reminder that in the grand scheme of creation and destruction, tough choices were inevitable.

    Mira''s touch of destruction wasn''t always literal.

    Sometimes, it was about introducing change, challenging existing systems, and ensuring that stagnation didn''t set in. She would asionally introduce natural disasters like earthquakes, which, while destructive, would lead to the formation of newndforms.

    As she integrated this understanding, Mira began to see the bigger picture.

    Creation and destruction were two sides of the same coin. Neither was inherently good or bad. They were forces that, when wielded judiciously, could lead to bnce and harmony.

    ''Of course, I''ve always heard and knew that, but it''s one thing to know and another thing entirely to actually do it.'' Mira stood there, contemting these abstract concepts.

    She also did a bit of introspection,paring this ce to her Soul. The World Core embedded in her worked simrly to the two pedestals, though on a much lesser scale. She couldn''t go around ying god in her soul, but she could ''create'' and ''destroy'' things to a limited degree.

    ''I should learn from this so I can make the most of my breakthrough into the Soul Transformation Realm.'' Mira''s eyes narrowed as she interacted with the pedestals, but this time much more seriously.

    The mysteries of her breakthrough were still unknown, and she wasn''t even sure if she would step into the Soul Transformation Realm, but she felt something big would happen. If she weren''t prepared, then she''d be unable to seize control of every bit of potential.

    Mira became engrossed in her work, seeking to draw on every lesson she learned to keep the bnce between creation and destruction. She pictured the area as a living entity, where the health of one part affected the whole.

    Hours seemed to turn into days within the trial. Soon, andscape emerged with a bnce that was both breathtaking and harmonious. From soaring peaks to lush valleys, from dense forests to serene meadows, and from rushing rivers to calmkes, the arena had transformed from a nk te to a thriving ecosystem.

    Throughout the process, Mira felt herself growing, not just in her ability to control the powers of the pedestals but also in her understanding of the intricacies of life. Every action, every decision, had a repercussion, and she began to see the ripples of those choices, both good and bad.

    She''de to respect the need for restraint, recognizing that sometimes less was indeed more. There were moments when she had to resist the urge to create and to let nature take its course.

    Simrly, she realized that unnecessary destruction could have far-reaching consequences, throwing off the bnce she had worked so hard to achieve.

    And then, when she felt that the bnce was just right, a subtle change urred.

    The sky above, which had been an empty void, started to shimmer, and a soft light began to break through, casting its glow over the arena. A gentle breeze wafted through the trees, bringing with it the scent of blossoming flowers and fresh water.

    Mira took a deep breath, taking in the serenity around her. She had transformed this empty space into a representation of life itself. The delicate bnce she had achieved was a testament to her understanding of the dichotomy of creation and destruction.

    Suddenly, the ancient voice echoed again, "You have passed. The universe thrives on bnce. Just as day follows night, and life follows death, every act of creation is met with an act of destruction. This is the duality of existence."

    Mira nodded. She had certainly learned a lot from this experience.

    The luscious expanse began to shift, the ground vibrating beneath her feet. The breathtakingndscape she had created began to blur, fading like a dream upon waking.

    Mira felt a pang of sorrow seeing her creation dissolve, but she also recognized the ephemeral nature of existence.

    She found herself standing back at the entrance of the arena, the two pedestals still radiating their respective energies.

    Yet, there was something different �C a third pedestal had appeared, shimmering with a silvery light, the embodiment of bnce between the golden warmth and the obsidian chill.

    As she approached, she felt neither the overwhelming surge of creation nor the cold embrace of destruction. Instead, there was a gentle hum, a vibration that resonated with her very being.

    "This is the pedestal of Bnce," the ancient voice spoke again, softer this time. "It represents the harmony achieved when creation and destruction coexist in equilibrium. You have understood the principles, but now you must internalize them."

    Without hesitation, Mira reached out and touched the silvery pedestal. Instead of a surge of power, she felt a sense of calm spreading throughout her.

    Her mind was clear, and her heart was at peace. Visions of her past experiences shed before her eyes �C the challenges she had faced, the lessons she had learned, and the growth she had achieved. Each memory, each moment, was a testament to her journey.

    The voice continued, "Life is a continuous cycle of beginnings and endings. Just as you have reshaped this area, so too will you shape your destiny. But always remember the importance of bnce. Too much creation can lead to chaos, while too much destruction can result in stagnation. Seek the middle path, for that is where true wisdom lies."

    Mira closed her eyes, letting the words wash over her. When she opened them again, she was no longer in the arena but back in the chamber where her trial had begun.

 Chapter 815 Prime Disciple Competition: Miras Biggest Weakness

    ?

    Mira took a moment to regain her bearings as she surveyed the chamber around her. It felt like she had been in that trial for an eternity, but in truth, only a few hours had passed.

    The door leading out of the chamber beckoned her, but before moving forward, Mira sat cross-legged on the chamber floor, taking a moment to introspect. Her heart and mind were filled with countless emotions and thoughts.

    Reaching into her soul, Mira sensed the World Core pulsating gently, mirroring the harmonious bnce she had achieved in the trial. It felt like the core had grown, not in size but in its depth of understanding.

    The lessons from the arena trial weren''t just abstract concepts but powerful tools that could shape her future cultivation. The real test would be integrating these insights into her everyday life and her cultivation journey.

    As she focused on her World Core, Mira could perceive small imbnces within her soul space��ces where the flow of energy was either too strong or too weak. Recalling the pedestals, she set about reshaping her soul space.

    By slightly altering the paths and the speed at which energy flowed, Mira was able to achieve a more harmonious bnce. Some paths needed to be broadened to allow for more flow, while others were better off being narrowed or even redirected altogether.

    The process was meticulous, but as she worked, Mira felt an immense satisfaction. It was a different sort of cultivation breakthrough, one rooted not in raw power but in understanding.

    Finally, after what felt like hours, Mira felt a newfound stability in her soul space. She took a deep breath, feeling refreshed and energized.

    Rising to her feet, she approached the chamber door. As her hand touched the handle, she felt a connection. It was as if the chamber itself acknowledged her growth.

    With a soft creak, the door swung open, revealing a vast corridor lined with more doors. Each door was unique, radiating its own aura, beckoning her to explore further.

    However, Mira knew that she couldn''t rush into whatever was next without first consolidating her gains. She decided to return to her chamber and meditate on her experiences.

    As she walked, the walls of the corridor seemed to pulse with a subtle energy, but it was just enough to light up the ce.

    Reaching her quarters, Mira sank into her meditation cushion. Closing her eyes, she began to rey her experiences in the previous trial, breaking down each decision she made and analyzing the consequences.

    The duality of creation and destruction was more than just a concept to be understood; it was a fundamental principle of existence.

    As her meditation deepened, Mira felt herself floating, as if her soul was detaching from her body. She found herself in a vast expanse, much like the arena but devoid of any features.

    Suddenly, figures began to appear around her. They were transparent, like spirits or apparitions. Each figure radiated an aura, some warm and weing, others cold and distant.

    These were the manifestations of her past experiences, the challenges she had faced, and the lessons she had learned.

    As she interacted with each figure, Mira was able to glean insights and wisdom that had previously eluded her. Some figures represented her past mistakes, while others were embodiments of her achievements.

    Hours, or perhaps days, passed in this state of heightened awareness. Mira felt herself growing, evolving, and refining her understanding.

    Eventually, she felt a gentle tug, pulling her back to her physical body. As she opened her eyes, the room was bathed in the soft glow of dawn.

    Mira rose, feeling invigorated.

    ''I feel like I''ve done more meditation in this Secret Realm than I''ve done in my entire life.'' Mira chuckled, but it wasn''t a bad thing.

    Most of the time, cultivation was really boring. You sit in a ce for days, months, or years and absorb energy. As she wasn''t a Taoist who only ate grass and spouted nonsense, she needed to get out and move her body.

    Or, more precisely, she needed to kill.

    At this point, it was almost something like a tick. But she couldn''t help it. Some people meditate to relieve stress. Other people y games or socialize.

    She chops people in half.

    ''Speaking of�� I''m itching for some action. The tournament-style trial was nothing more than a tease!'' She grumbled, her previously calm mind bing agitated.

    Taking a deep breath, she pushed the killing intent threatening to rampage down and focused on the task ahead.

    As if reading her mind, an ancient voice echoed through the corridor. "Congrattions on passing thest trial, challenger. As someone who has made it all the way here,prehended everything that''s required for the legacy, and proved your potential, you are eligible for the final reward."

    A faint smile appeared on Mira''s face upon hearing that. This was a long journey, one she didn''t expect to be so�� challenging. She''s learned a lot, gotten much stronger, and even found things she never knew about herself.

    More importantly, she was ready to break through to the Soul Transformation Realm and get out of here to check on Maria. She was about to say something, but the voice interrupted.

    "But-" It started, and Mira''s heart sank.

    ''Fuck! Why is there always a but?!''

    "-There is onest test if you could even call it that. Rather than a test, it''s more urate to call it fate. Are you fated with the legacy or not? Are you lucky enough to obtain the final reward of the ancient Progenitors? That''s thest test. To make it to the peak, pure talent isn''t enough. One must be lucky enough to survive and surpass all challenges. Now, take your pick."

    "..."

    Mira fell silent. The room entered a strange silence. Even the energy around her seemed to go into a strange hibernation.

    Suddenly, the air began to quake, and Mira''s crimson eyes shone with bloodthirst. A dense, red haze quickly filled the room as she exploded in rage.

    "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

    She equipped her scythe and shed at the ceiling, only for the force created to rebound back at her.

    "Fuck!" She shouted once again. "I went through all that shit, and now you want to leave things up to fate?! What?! Are the Progenitors diviners?! What the hell do they know about fate?! They can suck my big ck tail!"

    "I swear, the next time I see a Phoenix, I''m chopping it up and having it for breakfast! Roasted Dragon steak also sounds good for dinner! Maybe I''ll go full cannibal and dine on a few foxes!"

    Somewhere, a particr Dracophoenix felt a shiver down her spine.

    Mira exploded into a series of curses and expletives that even she didn''t know she had in her. If there were a living being in front of her right now, regardless of their status in her heart, they probably would''ve died from the aura she was emitting.

    The walls around her trembled from the sheer killing intent that filled the room. Even the ancient voice didn''t dare to say anything.

    After a few minutes, eventually, Mira released all her pent-up emotions and calmed down, but there was still a smoldering fire in her eyes.

    "Looks like you''re shit out of luck." The Guardian chimed in at the ''perfect'' time.

    However, hearing his voice actually gave Mira an idea. "Oh? If you''re so useful, why don''t you pick one of the doors for me? You should know which one leads to the legacy, right?"

    "..."

    "....right?"

    "A-Ahahaha. N-No~"

    "Useless!"

    "It''s not my fault, okay?!" The Guardian pleaded. "Whoever made this Realm was very particr! It''s not that I can''t tell which room leads to the final reward, it''s that none of them do!"

    Mira scowled, as that answer was worse than what she thought was the worst-case scenario.

    "...Exin." She growled. She was one second away from entering the Firmament and figuring out a way to castrate him.

    "It really is a luck-based system! All the doors don''t lead anywhere. At least, not until you step through one. Only when you step into one will a path generate. Where that path goes and where you end up from there is entirely random, but it''s also entirely out of anyone''s control. It seems this was put in ce to prevent people like me from helping people like you."

    Then, he added, "In fact, you could consider this as part of your bad luck. The corridor you''re in is rather uniquepared to the others."

    Mira didn''t like the sound of that, but she didn''t want to hear it anymore. With every word that came out of his mouth, she became more depressed.

    She knew her luck better than anyone else. It was part of the reason she didn''t like going out and was a big part of all her troubles. Now, it was even affecting her future growth.

    Taking a deep breath, she stabilized her mind before asking, "...So, it really doesn''t matter which door I pick?"

    "That''s right." The Guardian responded.

    "Then, fuck it." She turned and opened the nearest door. "I''ll just pick this one."

    Then, she jumped in.

 Chapter 816 Prime Disciple Competition: Wormhole

    <h4>Chapter 816 Prime Disciple Competition: Wormhole</h4>

    The moment Mira stepped through the door, she felt herself being sucked into a force much greater than she couldprehend. It was as if she had plunged headfirst into a spiraling wormhole. Her limbs iled uncontrobly as the churning energies around her threatened to tear her apart.

    To anyone else, the sensation might have been utterly terrifying, a descent into a chaotic abyss. But Mira was different. Her spirit was indomitable, forged in the crucible of countless trials and adversities. She wasn''t going to let herself be tossed around like a leaf in the wind.

    Using every ounce of her cultivation strength, she tried to take back control from the maelstrom to stabilize her position. It felt like trying to swim against a tidal wave. But as she struggled, Mira caught a glimpse of what surrounded her.

    It was magnificent. A microcosm of a universe sprawled before her eyes��gxies, nebs, stars, and voids��all contained within this pathway. The colors, the swirling patterns, and the radiant light were otherworldly, a beauty that could drive one mad.

    Yet, for Mira, it wasn''t just about admiring the scenery. It was about surviving it.

    ''Fuck fate! And fuck luck! I refuse to let go of what is rightfully mine because some ancient asshole wanted to dick around! If I can''t have it, then I''ll be damn sure to kill whoever does!'' She dered.

    She''d gone through too much shit over thest however many days she was stuck here to be cucked at the veryst moment! Everything here was too important to give to some random.

    The Guardian''s voice suddenly echoed in her mind, sounding more distant and scattered than ever. "To your left! Head towards the densest concentration of energy. That''s where the legacy resides!"

    Without a moment''s hesitation, Mira focused her sights on a radiant point of light in the distance, pulsating with an intensity that outshone everything else. If that was her destination, then she would get there, no matter what.

    She began to manipte the World Core within her, trying to convert its harmonious energy into a force that could propel her through this cosmic maze. Every muscle, every fiber of her being strained to shift her trajectory towards that beacon of light.

    But the wormhole wasn''t making it easy. It seemed to be alive, shifting and morphing as if it were reacting to her intentions. Pathways that looked clear one moment became convoluted the next. Stars would suddenly shift, and gxies would spiral in unpredictable patterns.

    Mira gritted her teeth. It felt like a tug-of-war between her will and the universe''s whims.

    Yet, amidst the chaos, something incredible happened. Mira began to sense the rhythm of this miniature universe.

    Just as she had reshaped her soul space before, she now found herself subtly influencing the direction of the wormhole, bending it, albeit slightly, to her will.

    With the newfound connection, Mira''s perception changed. The wormhole, once a source of chaos, now became an entity with a heartbeat, a living cosmos that breathed and resonated with her own soul. The gxies swirled and shifted in a delicate bnce that she was beginning toprehend.

    Harnessing this understanding, she began to weave between constetions, slip through the heart of nebs, and ride on the tidal forces of star clusters.

    She could feel the dense energy drawing closer, its pull more potent than before. But, there were moments when the universe would resist, and the pulse of the wormhole would sh with her own intentions, and she would be thrown off course.

    It was during one of these moments, when a sudden vortex spun her around that she saw them��shadows.

    Fleeting, ethereal forms darting between gxies, their very presence causing distortions in the wormhole''s fabric.

    The realization hit her: she wasn''t alone in this journey. Whether they were remnants of the past or active contenders, others were also traversing this cosmic pathway.

    This added a newyer ofplexity. While she tried to maintain her path toward the beacon, she also had to be wary of these shadowy entities. They seemed to sense her too, their movements bing more purposeful, more deliberate, converging towards her.

    A sharp voice pierced through her concentration. "Mira!" The Guardian warned. "Those are the Soul Seekers��entities left behind by the Progenitors to guard the legacy. They are drawn to powerful souls. You must evade them!"

    Taking a deep breath, Mira expanded her senses even further, now acutely aware of the positions and trajectories of the Soul Seekers. She weaved through the cosmic maze, avoiding them, but it was evident they were getting closer.

    Drawing upon the best concealment Technique she knew, Mira released a burst of energy, camouging her presence. At that moment, she felt like she could finally break through the barrier and reach the 6th Stage of the technique, Worldly Aura.

    With the help of the World Core, her understanding of Creation and Destruction, and her extremely versatile meridians, Mira blended her aura, heartbeat, energy flow, and physical body with the world around her.

    For a moment, she became a phantom, blending seamlessly with the cosmos around her. It bought her a few precious moments as the Soul Seekers seemed momentarily disoriented.

    Using this advantage, she pushed forward with renewed vigor, the beacon now appearing vast and blindingly close. The harmony between her and the universe grew stronger, and with a final, decisive burst of speed, she emerged from the wormhole.

    She tumbled on the ground but was immediately surrounded by an aura of resplendent light.

    Stabilizing herself, she hopped to her feet to gather her surroundings.

    Where shended wasn''t veryrge, about the size of a neighborhood block, and there was nothing on it but green grass, arge spire on each corner, and a temple in the middle.

    The spires werepletely ck and released streams of iridescent energy toward the center, where the temple stood. The energies converged above it and descended inside the building like a cascading waterfall.

    The temple stood tall and majestic, made of white and gold stone with depictions of ancient beasts created on colored ss. It gave off a rxing aura as if the concept of peace and quiet was created here.

    ''...Did I make it?'' Mira wondered, but she instinctively knew she did. Perhaps there were other ces that contained the legacy, but she knew she had acquired one of them.

    As if she waspelled, she unknowingly started walking toward the temple. When she reached the door, she gently pushed it open, revealing arge empty nave with nothing but an altar at the end of a long red carpet.

    The energy from the spires descended on that position, their various energies intertwining into one. She attempted to sense what kind of energy it was, but it was so profound that she felt if she stared long enough, she might get lost in it.

    Shaking her head, she stepped forward on the red carpet and continued until she reached the altar.

    Mira approached the altar, bathed in the iridescent glow cascading from the spires above. The energies swirled, intertwining and ring as they met above the altar, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle��no tangible artifact or treasure, just the energy��the essence of the Progenitors'' legacy.

    She extended her hand towards it, hesitating for a moment. An innate understanding told her that this wasn''t just any energy; it was the culmination of the Progenitors'' wisdom, knowledge, and power.

    As her fingers brushed the streams, a profound connection was established. The energies spiraled around her, caressing her skin, seeping into her meridians, and resonating with her very soul.

    Each spire''s energy had a distinct characteristic. One pulsed with raw power, another with boundless knowledge, a third with profound wisdom, and thest with an ethereal sense of unity and harmony.

    Mira felt a resonance, a profound melding of energies as the myriad streams interwove around her. For a moment, it was as if time stood still, the world narrowing to just her and the spires'' legacy. The sensation was gentle, almost like a whisper, guiding her, showing her the paths thaty before her.

    She could feel the very fibers of her being vibrating in tandem with the energies, a gentle hum emanating from deep within her core. The power from the spires was not just infusing her, but it was attuning to her, refining her, and preparing her for what was toe.

    As the moments passed, the intensity of the energies began to wane slightly, giving Mira the sensation of a gentle descent, like a feather floating back to the ground after being carried aloft by the wind.

    With a soft sigh, she withdrew her hand, feeling a lingering warmth where the energies had touched her.

    ''That was just a touch. What''ll happen when I sit in it?'' Mira wondered, but she didn''t immediately hop in.

    First, she came up with a n. She had to maximize the benefits of this legacy. Whether this was all there was, she didn''t know.

    However, the energy in front of her was more than extraordinary. It wouldn''t be wrong to call it a miracle drug capable of improving one''s innate talent.

    There was a whole list of things she wanted to do, so she had to go through her own mental checklist.

    Fortunately, with her current mind, this only took a few seconds.

    After taking a deep breath, Mira steadied her mind and walked into the waterfall of energy, letting it crash onto her before she sat down in a meditative position.

 Chapter 817 Prime Disciple Competition: Transformation Part 1

    ?

    As the energy rushed through her body like a raging river, Mira shut her eyes and focused on her next move.

    There were so many things Mira wanted to do that, had she not made a n beforehand, she would''ve forgotten half of them. In fact, she still wasn''t quite sure which order she should proceed.

    Feeling the energy head toward her two hearts and Core, she thought, ''I''ll just start there.''

    As the name of the Secret Realm, Primal Ascendance Convergence, suggests, the point of this ce is to "converge" and "ascend". That also seemed to be the natural progression her body was inclined to take as well since the profound energy had created a symbiotic, triangr connection between the three.

    Mira''s body was a maelstrom of exuberant energy, connecting her Primal Heart, Human Heart, and Core in a pulsating matrix of gleaming streams.

    The intense energy born from the spires'' legacy suffused every inch of her being, invigorating her. It demanded convergence.

    Her Primal Heart beat with the raw, unbridled Primal Energy. Her Human Heart was brimming with Yin Essence, which seemed to cradle the more vtile energies from the other Heart, preventing it from damaging her.

    Her Core offered a harmonious counterpoint, a stable and anchoring rhythm that held the potential to bind it all together.

    With a thought, Mira sought to weave these disparate energies together, guiding them toward a new unity.

    Each thread of energy had to be meticulously entwined, ensuring that the raw power of the Primal Heart didn''t overshadow the subtle but equally as intense essence of her Human Heart.

    Meanwhile, the Qi from her Core acted as a mediator, a steady influence that prevented the energies from shing and veering toward instability.

    A sensation of warmth began to radiate from the confluence of energies, illuminating her body with a gentle light. This process was delicate, demanding a precision that stretched Mira''s control to its limits.

    As the energies coalesced, a new form began to take shape, a structure both vibrant and serene, where the wild torrents of Primal Energy, the nurturing pulsing of the Yin Essence, and the steadfast nature of her Qi were no longer distinguishable from one another.

    They became a singr entity, a pulsating orb of intertwined forces. No more was her core where her dantian originally was. No more did she have one heart, much less two.

    The three hadbined into one, settling in the center of her chest near the sternum. This new core acted as her Heart as it contained her Blood Essence within, pumping it to the rest of her body, but also her Core, since it stored all her Qi.

    This new spot is where she will do all her Qi refinement.

    Mira could sense the newfound stability and power that this amalgamated heart brought her.

    Her body and soul now thrummed with a more profound, unified energy. Her capabilities were magnified and yet, paradoxically, more finely controlled than ever before.

    The unified heart pulsed, emitting a wave of energy that surged through her meridians, suffusing every fiber of her being with its potent power. The merged energy harmonized with her very essence, rewriting her fundamental understanding of herself and transcending its limitations.

    As Mira began to sense the changes within her, she felt a stirring in her physique. The Extreme Overlord Yin Physique was now undergoing a metamorphosis.

    Every cell in her body began to vibrate at a frequency that was unimaginable to even her senses.

    The energies that previously empowered her physique were now redefining and expanding it. The transformation was not just physical; it was also an evolution of her very essence, reaching into the fundamental aspects of her being.

    Its structure, while retaining the Yin characteristics, became more adaptive and versatile. There was a fluidity in its energy flow, an amalgamation of strength and flexibility that was previously inconceivable.

    However, the Yin Aspect only became stronger and more potent.

    As she breathed, her lungs expanded more efficiently than before, drawing in energy from the surroundings.

    Her bones, previously already dense and durable due to her Magma Dragon Body, now felt as if they were forged from the finest celestial materials. They carried an innate resilience that made her feel as if she could stand tall against the mightiest of storms.

    Now, it would be more urate to call it the Yin Magma Dragon Body instead.

    Her meridians expanded and strengthened. Not only could they transport the unified energy more efficiently, but they also allowed for a greater volume, enhancing her overall energy reservoir.

    The most significant change, however, was in her blood. Every droplet was imbued with an intense concentration of Qi, making her blood not just a life-sustaining fluid but a potent weapon in its own right.

    As the transformation continued, Mira felt a deep sense of enlightenment. It wasn''t just about gaining more power; it was an elevation of her entire being.

    As the wave of transformation surged through Mira''s body, it didn''t stop at just her physique. Deep within her, at the very core of her DNA, her bloodline began to react. The Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence, a proud and ancient lineage that she carried, started to resonate with the changes her body was undergoing.

    A series of cold, chilling sensations danced down her spine, originating from her tailbone and rushing outward.

    Within moments, a brilliant disy of energy burst forth. Nine tails, which previously shimmered with various colors, emerged and started osciting with vibrant hues, each reflecting one of her eight elemental affinities.

    The first tail glowed a deep azure, representing Water.

    The second took on a robust earthen hue, symbolizing Earth.

    The third zed with a crimson glow but with a colder, darker undertone, standing for Yin Fire.

    The fourth whipped around with a gentle green, the embodiment of Wind.

    The fifth tail resumed the icy blue she was familiar with, denoting Ice.

    The sixth radiated a dark purple shade with asional sparks, signifying Yin Lightning.

    The seventh tail bore a deep shade of gray, representing Darkness.

    The eighth tail gleamed with a radiant gold for her Light Affinity.

    Then, the ninth tail emerged, pure and pristine, with its brilliant white hue. However, this one didn''t represent an element. Instead, it was actually rted to the previous concept she learned: Creation.

    Unfortunately, its abilities seemed locked or sealed as nothing about it entered her mind.

    Lastly, and most surprisingly, one more tail formed. This one was pitch ck, like the abyss, simr to her previous one. Except, opposite of the ninth, this one radiated a concept of Destruction as ck runes merged with each strand of hair.

    Whether the runes were abilities based on Destruction or the concept was based on the runes, she couldn''t tell. Nevertheless, the ability it had didn''t seem to change.

    With the ten tails now fully manifest and representing her elemental prowess, a series of innate abilities began to awaken within her: Illusions, Charm, and Heavy Tails simr to her previous golden tail.

    Mira felt an overwhelming rush of power. She was no longer just the bearer of the Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence.

    She had transcended that lineage, bing the pinnacle of its evolution. With ten tails, each echoing the elements she had mastered, she was now an Ascended Elemental Yin Fox Progenitor.

    However, she didn''t have time to relish in this power as the next door in the Gates of Purgatory opened. For a moment, her Qi went haywire. She immediately lost control over all her powers as energy whipped around her body.

    Her internals were destroyed, her bones crushed, and her muscles snapped before the cascade of profound energy intervened and fixed everything up.

    ''Hell of Dissonance.'' Those words echoed in her mind, informing her of the next trial.

    Fortunately, this didn''tst long as the profound energy forcefully fixed everything up, healing her injuries and reordering her Qi. Within minutes, she had sessfully passed this Hell.

    ''Well, that was�� anticlimactic.'' Mira thought, but it didn''t bother her at all. The Gates of Purgatory was such a pain in the ass, despite it giving her immense power.

    Suddenly, as the Hell of Dissonance waspleted, a sense of harmony conjoined her mind, body, soul, and Qi. The Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique began to integrate itself with her, bing a part of her instead of something she needed to actively use.

    ''Damn! That''s convenient!'' Mira inwardly smiled. While it wasn''t a huge change, it did improve her quality of life as she had one less thing to worry about.

    The Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique now seamlessly wove itself into her very being.

    It became as instinctive as breathing, an integralponent of her existence. Every breath, every beat of her newly amalgamated heart, and every flow of Qi was guided by this profound technique, elevating her cultivation base to the limit of the Nascent Soul Realm.

    Mira could feel her perception widening. The world around her seemed more vivid, every detail sharp and clear. The energy of the world flowed like an open book before her.

    She had always been perceptive, but this newfound rity was on apletely different level.

    And that was the straw that broke the camel''s back. Like a broken dam, the floodgates to Mira''s Soul opened up, and a new transformation was about to take ce.

 Chapter 818 Prime Disciple Competition: Transformation Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 818 Prime Disciple Competition: Transformation Part 2</h4>

    The pulsations of energy in Mira''s body were like the trembling of a finely tuned string instrument. Each vibration seemed to herald an unseen force that was set to change her very essence.

    This force was directed towards her soul.

    As Mira sensed this, a mixture of excitement and apprehension welled up inside her.

    This was the step that would forever solidify her cultivation path. Whether she broke through to the Soul Transformation Realm or something else entirely was dependent on what happened next.

    Fortunately, she had already prepared for this day and wasn''t going to leave her fate up to luck.

    The soul, as anyone in the Nascent Soul Realm and above would know, isplex. More so than the human body, many times over.

    It''s one of the requirements for life.

    In a sense, the Nascent Soul Realm is mostly about discovering the soul one was born with and matching it to one''s physical self. Just like how the body matures as one gets older, the soul does as well.

    The Nascent Soul is really nothing more than a manifestation of oneself�Cit''s an entity that''s used as a proxy to understand oneself better and explore theplexities of the soul.

    The process to grow between the two isn''t much different, but one needs to reach a certain level of strength to ''feed'' their Nascent Soul.

    Then, what about Mira''s soul? What about her progression through the Nascent Soul Realm? How did that differ from the Soul Transformation Realm?

    After everything that''s happened, she finally had an answer.

    Most people, when they entered the Nascent Soul Realm, didn''t see their actual soul change all that much. Rather, they focused on the growth of their Nascent Soul, Qi quality, and strength.

    Much to Mira''s surprise, she was the same!

    ��With a few caveats.

    The World Core was the main contributor to the changes within her Soul, but in reality, there were hardly any changes. All the rain, Yin Lightning, Yin Fire, Darkness, Ice, and Wind were already present in her Soul before she reached the Nascent Soul Realm. She was just uncovering.

    No true changes, other than the Magma, Earth, and Sun, had taken ce within her until she reached the peak of the Realm.

    Before the World Core, everything was just metaphysical representations of her Dao. Although that was still the case, now they weren''t metaphysical and were, instead, real.

    Her Soul was just powerful enough to amodate these ''additions''.

    Not only was her soul old, but it had been reincarnated and even touched by the hand of ''god''. The quality of it was more than what most Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and even the average Soul Transformation Realm cultivator couldpare to.

    Yet, it was that strong at the beginning of her cultivation.

    She had also confirmed her Dao incredibly young, setting her on this path that had taken root in her Soul.

    Therefore, her Soul had never undergone a true "transformation" like someone at the Soul Transformation Realm would experience.

    Then, what was the Soul Transformation Realm?

    It was a realm of cultivation where the practitioner''s soul underwent a metamorphic change, adapting and evolving to amodate the cultivator''s experiences, wisdom, insights, and Dao.

    Unlike the Nascent Soul Realm, which focused on nurturing the soul, the Soul Transformation Realm was about refining and remolding the soul into a stronger, more adaptable, and multifaceted entity.

    It was a confirmation of one''s path.

    For Mira, this transformation was no ordinary change.

    As the energy continued its journey into her soul, she felt an immediate shift in her inner world.

    The elements of Creation and Destruction, which had only recently integrated themselves into her being, now yed a crucial role in this transformation.

    Their presence added a new dynamic to her soul''sndscape. Just as Yin and Yang coexist in harmony, Creation and Destruction existed in a delicate bnce within her.

    The outsideyer of her soul, which was normally ethereal, intangible, and blurry, began to solidify. The World Core hummed with power as the profound energy surged through it in an attempt to permanently change her soul.

    It felt as though her soul had turned into a vast expanse of ice, as cold as the void, as pristine as a virgin cier.

    Within this icyndscape, a majestic throne of pure ice formed on top of the already frozen mountain.

    Sitting atop the throne was her Nascent Soul, in Mira''s new form, no longer just a spiritual representation but an embodiment of her very essence.

    Atop her Nascent Soul''s head sat a crown, gleaming with a chilly luminescence, signifying the solidification of her Absolute Ice Dao.

    There were eight gems made up of all her elements on it. In the center was one made of ice, and underneath it was another made of the essence of Darkness. From there, the remaining elements are separated equally on either side.

    Around the throne, the various elements that previously existed in her soul, like a chaotic storm, moved.

    Each element seamlessly flowed into the next, creating and then immediately destroying, only to be reborn again in a different form. This was a battle of Creation and Destruction, and it was in constant motion around her throne.

    The sight was mesmerizing. Mira watched as Water transformed into Ice, which then melded with Earth and Yin Fire to give birth to Magma. Yin Fire and Windbined and shed, resulting in Yin Lightning. Darkness and Light intertwined, neither overpowering the other but instead forming a harmonious bond.

    At the center of it all was her Nascent Soul, the orchestrator of this beautiful cycle. It was as if her soul had absorbed all her experiences, wisdom, and knowledge and was now disying them in this intricate control of elements.

    This process, while visually enchanting, was also an intense one. Mira felt the weight and magnitude of the transformation her soul was undergoing.

    There was pain, yes, but it was apanied by a sense of liberation, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. The pain she felt from the FLDIL was 100 times worse than whatever she was feeling now.

    As time seemed to stretch, Mira felt an indescribable connection with her surroundings. Every element that danced around her throne was a part of her, and she was a part of them. They were all under her control.

    Under the rule of her Absolute Ice Dao.

    The separation between her soul and the elements had blurred, and she felt a newfound unity with her inner world.

    But before her ascendance finished, there were a few more changes that came along with these changes.

    With the changes taking root within her soul, Mira could feel a newfound surge of energy circting within her. The Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique and the Hell Scythe Essence Cultivation Technique, which had once been distinct and separate, now began to intertwine in a way she had not foreseen.

    Her Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique, based on the bnce and harmony of her different cultivation paths, now resonated perfectly with the bnce she had achieved between Creation and Destruction.

    The Hell Scythe Essence Cultivation Technique underwent an even more significant transformation. With her soul''s transformation, her connection to her scythe became deeper and more profound. The essence of the scythe began to merge with the icy core of her being.

    Feeling this, Mira channeled her energy towards her weapon.

    The Scythe, sensing the profound changes within its master, responded by undergoing a metamorphosis of its own.

    The previously ck de began to transform into a dark, frosty material, which radiated an icy-blue luminescence. The handle, once rigid and straight, became more fluid, almost like it was made of pure ice. Yet, despite its fragile appearance, it was tougher and more resilient than ever.

    The Scythe''s de became sharper, and now, when swung, it left behind a trail of frost that seemed to freeze the very air it touched.

    Her cultivation technique, which had been a method of channeling and refining energy, had transformed into something beyond its original form.

    It now stood as the Absolute Yin Scythe Cultivation Technique,bining her Absolute Ice Dao, the harmonic synchronization of her elements, including her mind, body, soul, and Qi, and the formidable essence of the Hell Scythe.

    This new technique allowed Mira to cultivate pure ice energy, devoid of any impurities, and harness its true potential. This was the crux of her Absolute Ice Dao, emphasizing the purity and absolute control over the icy element.

    And because of the Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique, along with her affinities and newfound concepts, she could give birth to the other elements. In a way, now, every other element was tied to her Ice Affinity.

    ''It''s almost like I only have one affinity.'' Mira thought, and she wasn''t sure if that was true or not. She''d have to explore that afterward.

    With the dramatic transformations and realizations washing over her, Mira could feel herself teetering on the brink of a monumental breakthrough.

    The myriad of elements swirling around her throne began to condense, coalescing into a singr force that pulsed with pure, unbridled energy.

    Suddenly, her Nascent Soul, still seated upon the icy throne, began to shimmer and resonate with the frequency of the converging elements.

    Slowly, it began to expand and glow with an ethereal radiance, illuminating her inner world. The once chaotic and restless elements now shook harmoniously around the expanding Nascent Soul, each finding its rightful ce in her grand existence.

    Mira could feel a sensation likeyers of veils being lifted from her soul. Each veil that was cast aside brought with it a profound understanding of her own existence, of her past lives, and of the innumerable paths she had trodden upon.

    The pain, the joy, the struggles, and the triumphs - all of them culminated in this single moment of enlightenment.

    Then, just as the crescendo of energy seemed to peak, everything went silent.

    The storm of elements ceased their dance, and her Nascent Soul stopped its expansion.

    Suddenly, with a brilliant sh, ck runes shot out of the FLDIL and fused with her Soul. An explosion of energy went off, and the quality of her existence was raised a level, signifying her entrance into the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Her Nascent Soul went back to her seat on the throne, and the elements continued their chaotic battle of creation and destruction, but this time, any pure energy that was created as a result of their sh was suffused throughout the rest of her soul.

 Chapter 819 Prime Disciple Competition: Showdown

    <h4>Chapter 819 Prime Disciple Competition: Showdown</h4>

    In the real world, Mira''s body, which had been in deep meditation, began to glow. A formidable aura emanated from her, pushing back the ambient energies around her.

    Her previously intangible soul now had a tangible presence in the physical realm.

    As she slowly opened her blood-red eyes, they sparkled with a newfound rity and depth. Taking a deep breath, she felt the power coursing through her, every inch of her being vibrating with the energy of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    She stood up gracefully, the air around her crackling with raw power. The Absolute Yin Scythe, sensing its master''s ascension, shimmered and appeared beside her, its frosty de gleaming menacingly.

    She nodded inwardly and gave it a casual swing. A loud screeching sound resounded throughout the temple as a thin line formed on the ground, wall, and ceiling before a trail of ice was left in its wake.

    A subtle smile graced her lips, and she gave her new scythe a few more swings. However, within a second, the entire temple, other than the altar, was covered in ice and scratches. She didn''t even have to channel her energy to achieve this; it was just one of the functions of her new scythe and powers.

    ''I could get used to this.'' Her smile widened. She put her scythe on her back, not wanting to return it to her soul just yet, and looked around the temple.

    With a wave of her hand, all the ice in the room exploded and disintegrated.

    ncing at the altar, she noticed that there was no more energy. When she looked up, the spires weren''t producing anything either.

    ''I guess that''s it.'' She surmised, a little disappointed. ''I wish there was more.''

    While the gains were great, more than she could''ve hoped for, she expected something a little more�� spectacr.

    An artifact, treasure, bloodline�� something, anything that actually seemed like a reward.

    Shaking her head, she reigned in her greed. ''I achieved what I wanted-No, needed. I should be satisfied with that for now.''

    Suddenly, a light shone from the altar, and an ornate grey Spatial Ring dropped onto it.

    Mira''s interest was piqued, so she immediately grabbed it and formed a connection with it.

    However, when she tried to check what was inside, she felt something blocking her.

    She frowned for a moment, trying it a few more times before she shrugged and tossed it into her Storage Space.

    ''I take it back. This ce really knows how to treat its guests.'' She chuckled, feeling much more satisfied. Regardless of whether the Spatial Ring had anything in it, she now had something tangible to take back.

    After giving the temple another look over, even using her new and improved Soul Sense, she left having not found anything else.

    As soon as she stepped out, the scenery around her changed.

    The once quiet temple grounds now resonated with chaotic energies, blurring Mira''s vision temporarily. The clear sky above was reced by a swirling vortex of colors.

    Mira quickly deduced that she was being sent out of the Secret Realm. She braced herself, not knowing what to expect. The colors around her grew brighter and more intense, and a strong pulling sensation took hold of her body, like an invisible thread guiding her to an unknown destination.

    She felt weightless, floating through this myriad of colors, her mind clear but her senses overwhelmed. Time seemed to lose its meaning.

    After what felt like both an eternity and a mere moment, the bright colors started to fade.

    Mira found herself back where they started, right in front of the Lake of Ascendancy.

    However, the atmosphere seemed a bit off��

    "How dare you humans take our treasures and leave?! Today, you will pay for your crimes with your lives!" A Rank 10 roared, standing in front of his nsmen. They stared at the humans, the five Sects and their leaders, their energies ring as they prepared to go to war.

    Many of them had increased their strength by multiple levels and were confident they could cause the human race to go extinct today. High off of the new power they received, the Shadowfang n marched forward, their eyes set on the members from the Battle Maiden Sect.

    The leader still remembered the fact that one of its strongest, most promising youths was killed by them.

    "Hoh~?" Aelina floated up, amused. She stared down at the rge cat'' unflinchingly. "What can you even do about it if I want to leave?"

    Aelina twirled her fingers, sending out a wisp of Qi. Nobody thought much of it until a void portal opened up around a group of Rank 8 Shadowfangs before swallowing them whole. All everyone heard until the portal closed was the screeches of pain as they were torn apart before everything went silent.

    "Go ahead and try." Arge grin crept up on Aelina''s face. Afterward, she nced at Mira and winked before staring down at the multiple beast ns ready to go to war.

    Mira grimaced as multiple powerful eyes shifted to her. One of them felt particrly familiar. Her eyelids started to twitch with annoyance.

    ''Is that scaly red-eyed chameleon-like fucker staring at me?'' Another twinge of annoyance rang through her.

    Meanwhile, the atmosphere around them intensified, with both sides, humans and beasts, staring at Aelina in shock, fear, awe, anger, and respect. Nobody expected her to make such a move so boldly.

    For god''s sake! They were literally in the middle of enemy territory!

    The Rank 10 was practically shaking with anger by now, but it hesitated. Aelina''s attack was too quick and too weak. Yet, it killed his nsmen without him being able to do anything.

    In fact, because of this move, all beast ns that were ready to pounce paused.

    The message she gave was clear: "Come at me, and you''ll be left with nothing."

    Nobody wanted their ns to be exterminated so easily. Not to mention, Aelina was a continental powerhouse. Killing her was anything but easy.

    Could they protect their ns while attacking her? Unlikely.

    The cold silence of anticipation hung in the air as the two opposing forces stood on the precipice of war. Every movement was scrutinized, every breath held, waiting for a trigger to ignite the tension.

    Whispers amongst the various beast ns began to fill the atmosphere, the unity they once exhibited now cracking under Aelina''s show of power. The Rank 10 leader of the Shadowfang n stood paralyzed, the weight of his responsibility and the fear of Aelina''s prowess anchoring him in ce.

    The once fearsome beast ns now looked at each other, uncertainty clouding their judgment. They were torn between their thirst for revenge and the survival of their ns.

    Mira''s gaze darted around, assessing the situation. She noticed small groups of humans and beasts discreetly beginning to edge away from the brewing conflict. The powerful eyes that had been previously fixated on her were now shifting focus, trying to gauge the reactions of their own nsmen and the human sects.

    Suddenly, a deep roar echoed through the area. Another Rank 10, the leader of the White Tiger, stepped forward, massive muscles rippling and eyes filled with a strange mix of rage and respect.

    "This isn''t the way, Shadowfang," he dered, locking eyes with the Shadowfang leader. "We may look down on the humans, but throwing our lives away recklessly serves no one. Aelina is not to be trifled with. We need to think this through."

    The Shadowfang leader, still reeling from the shock of Aelina''s prowess, hesitated before gritting his teeth. "Brother Tiger, they have stolen from us, killed our kin! We cannot just let them leave!"

    Aelina, floating above, chuckled lightly, her eyes yful yet deadly. "Make your choice quickly, beasts. My patience isn''t infinite. Eithere at me and face the consequences or slink away with your tails between your legs."

    A few younger beasts growled at her audacity, but the elders held them back, sensing the dire consequences of acting impulsively.

    Mira saw the scene getting worse and activated the [Hidden World] technique to the fullest. She sneaked over to Aelina''s side, with only a few eyeing her dangerously. Everyone could feel the bloodline pressure she released despite the fact that most of it was reigned.

    Her natural presence just emanated a superior, unparalleled aura that couldn''t be ignored.

    Aelina smiled and motioned for Mira to stand next to her.

    ''Tch. Annoying.'' Mira rolled her eyes but still walked over. She had an idea of what Aelina wanted to do, and she wasn''t against it.

    Behind them stood Nova, Seraphina, Rayna, Eden, Everly, and many other Soul Transformation and Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators.

    Suddenly, mixed in with the crowd, Mira sensed something that caused her eyes to widen, but before she could do anything, Aelina spoke.

    "I guess you beasts have grown cowardly over the years, but what can you expect from a gathering of animals? A shame, really. I was looking for a challenge when I forced you to be cattle for the human race."

    BOOOOM!

 Chapter 820 Prime Disciple Competition: Connection

    <h4>Chapter 820 Prime Disciple Competition: Connection</h4>

    The words had barely left Aelina''s lips when the atmosphere, already thick with tension, became electrified. A tumultuous storm of rage seemed to brew within the hearts of the beast ns, their pride, and honor squarely struck by the sharp arrows of her taunting words.

    The beast leaders exchanged uneasy nces. It seemed as if a mighty, unseen pressure was choking their very souls, constricting their thoughts and actions. They had been humiliated, made to feel inferior in the face of Aelina''s prowess and the astonishingly intimidating aura emanating from Mira.

    Aelina, still hovering above, wore a satisfied smirk. Her eyes scanned the sea of beasts, evaluating their determination and their hesitance.

    Mira, standing by Aelina, kept her senses sharp. Her blood-red eyes gleamed as they darted around, making quick mental assessments of their enemies. However, her focus was primarily on the Rank 9 beasts.

    ''I wonder if I can take them on now?'' The thought of absorbing all that energy made her shiver in anticipation.

    She could feel that the efficiency of her ck rune''s ability to devour one''s vitality and cultivation had improved. By how much, she wasn''t sure, but she was eager to find out.

    However, just as a battle was about to break out, the Wyrm that had stabilized the portal to the Primal Ascendance Convergence stepped up.

    "That''s enough." A deep voice echoed out of the massive, scaly, serpent-like creature.

    A heavy pressure descended on both sides, forcing all the n Leaders and Sect Masters to settle down.

    With slightly narrowed eyes, the Wyrm turned its giant head to Aelina and said, "Go, Battle Maiden Sect Master. Nobody will stop you. We were too weak and arrogant to protect our treasure and paid the price for it. However, you maye to regret what you''ve done."

    He nced at Mira, along with many of the Battle Maiden Sect disciples behind her, as if implying that nobody was safe.

    Aelina''s smile receded. She could feel the subtle threat in his voice.

    ''...But why does it seem like he''s not the one I should be worried about?'' She wondered but didn''t think much about it.

    ''So what? I got what I wanted, and everyone got stronger. If there''s some hidden danger, I''ll deal with it in the future.'' Such vague threats, while useful, couldn''t affect her mentality.

    "Thanks for the warning," Aelina said, her casual grin returning. She was satisfied with how things turned out. Whether they were able to leave peacefully or war broke out, she would make sure she was the biggest winner.

    Turning around, she faced her disciples, whose numbers had dwindled significantly since before they invaded the Beast ns, around 20% of them dead. However, what they lost in numbers, they made up for it in strength.

    The Outer Disciples took the biggest hit, but their strength improved the most. Either they are now in the Nascent Soul Realm or at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, about to break through.

    The Inner, Core, and Direct disciples had also all seen significant strength boosts, whether that be in terms of cultivation or something else. Even the Elders had improved, albeit not quite as much.

    Just as a rough estimate, Aelina figured that the total strength of the Battle Maiden Sect disciples had risen by at least 50-100%, not including her, Mira, Nova, and the others. With her, the Elders, and everyone else included�� she couldn''t put a number on it as even she could feel a subtle danger emanating from Mira.

    ''I''m looking forward to seeing just how powerful you are, Mira.'' Aelina thought with a grin, only to receive a re from the woman in question. ''Tch. Her senses have gotten stronger.''

    "Disciples!" She yelled, enhancing her voice with Qi. "Let''s return!" She raised her fist victoriously.

    ""YES, SECT MASTER!""

    The other Sect Masters also realized that now was their time to dip and immediately called out to their disciples to leave. Everyone gave onest nce at Aelina before shifting to Mira, watching as her ten tails danced around.

    Some hadn''t noticed it until now, nor were they sure how to react, but there really were ten tails!

    ''What does that mean? Is that strong or not?''

    ''Is she still a fox?''

    ''Why did it feel like she could dominate me with just a thought?''

    "Haaa�� If only she would dominate me��"

    "I''d die happy if I could just lick her feet��"

    "..."

    The beasts moved away from those two creeps.

    Still, the same question was on everyone''s minds: ''What was she?''

    Unfortunately, they may never get an answer.

    Meanwhile, the Leader of the Shadowfangs watched Aelina leave with darkness practically spewing out of his eyes. However, instead of causing a scene like everyone thought, he just huffed coldly and walked away, followed by his underlings.

    ''Don''t think you''re free yet, Aelina��'' He sinisterly thought, giving his Elders the side-eye. They immediately understood his intentions and went ahead first, disappearing into the ground. ''I''ll take your head soon enough.''

    He wasn''t the only one who felt this way either, as several other Beast ns began secretly nning.

    The Wyrm just shook his head, seeing all this, before turning around and leaving. If they wanted to die so badly, who was he to stop them?

    ***

    The journey back was filled with excited chatter amongst the disciples, everyone recounting their experiences in the PAC(Primal Ascendance Convergence). The expedition into the Beast ns'' territory, despite the challenges and losses, had proven to be fruitful, especially for the Battle Maiden Sect.

    Not long after they left the vicinity, Mira remembered the familiar aura she felt earlier.

    ''Maria!'' She inwardly eximed, immediately sending a pulse of Qi into her engagement ring. The signal still felt chaotic and fuzzy, but there was a connection! She was alive!

    Mira''s shoulders slumped as she let out a deep breath, her jumbled mess of a mind settling down. All it took was one second, but it felt like a mountain had just lifted off her shoulders.

    Still, she was puzzled about something.

    ''Why�� Why didn''t she greet me?''

    Normally, Maria would''vee flying at her as soon as she neared, but the opposite actually happened. The more time passed, the further away she got until, eventually, shepletely disappeared from her Soul Sense range.

    She moved so fast that she didn''t even get to see if Maria had improved at all.

    ''No, wait.'' Mira paused for a moment. ''Was Maria in the Secret Realm? How''d she end up there?''

    She pondered but realized that wasn''t what she should be asking. Her eyes widened with realization, but she almost couldn''t bring herself to ask what was really important.

    ''Ugh! Fuck!'' She scratched her head, her previous anxiety returning. ''She must''ve felt me killing her, right? That was really her in there, right? Fuck!'' She wanted to smash something; perhaps a nearby mountain would do, but she reigned in that impulse.

    She was better than that.

    However, a part of her wanted to believe that maybe Maria just didn''t want to see Mira right now. ''Maybe she''s preparing for a big breakthrough and wants to show me then? Or, she could''ve received word that something had happened to her business while she was away. The possibilities are endless.''

    Of course, her instincts leaned more toward the first option, but she wouldn''t know unless she asked.

    And�� she had no intention of doing that. For now.

    She knew better than anyone that dying sucked, and it was infinitely worse in the FLDIL. That pain, that emptiness, was something unique. Not to mention, the cause of it was a loved one, someone whom she trusted with all her heart.

    Just that thought caused a slew of memories to resurface, ones Mira didn''t particrly want to think about. A small part of the reason she was on this path to vengeance was because dying was so tortuous.

    ''I wonder if she hates me��'' A hint of depression started to set in before she immediately wiped those thoughts away.

    ''Damn! A heart demon almost took ce!'' She cursed, quickly clearing her mind of all intrusive thoughts. ''If I want to know how she feels, I''ll just ask her directly! Until then, I''ll just assume that she doesn''t!''

    Satisfied with that coping response, she stopped thinking about all this. Everything would be sorted out in due time, but that time wasn''t now.

    ''I''ll give her some space.''

    With that, thoughts about Maria no longer lingered in her mind.

    However, she was receiving strange gazes from those around her. It seemed they could feel the rapidly changing emotions within her and gave her some space, not wanting to be killed should she go on a rampage.

    Mira''s face returned to its natural, indifferent look, and her aura became even more reserved than it already was. Everyone around her gave a sigh of relief but still left her a dozen meters of space.

    Fortunately, it wasn''t long before they reached the Sect.

 Chapter 821 Prime Disciple Competition: Return

    <h4>Chapter 821 Prime Disciple Competition: Return</h4>

    The Battle Maiden Sect''s grandeur had always been a sight to behold, with its towering peaks and sprawling architecture. But today, as the returning members began their ascent, the usually vibrant and bustling sect was eerily quiet.

    Of course, that made sense because they all entered the Secret Realm, but it was still weird.

    The mountain path leading to the Sect was a winding one, surrounded by dense woods on both sides. Ancient trees stood tall, casting long shadows as the sun began its descent, lending an orange-red hue to the evening sky.

    The journey was slow. As they climbed, the sect members recounted their experiences, filling the air with a mix of excitement, sorrow, and nostalgia. It felt so long since they were in the Sect, but in reality, it probably wasn''t longer than a few weeks.

    But the absence of the usual greetings, theck of fellow disciples running to meet them or shouting from the distant peaks, was palpable.

    Mira felt it the most. Every step she took was heavy, weighed down by her thoughts about Maria. She couldn''t help it; her mind would just subconsciously drift there.

    Now, it felt like walking through a ghost town.

    Aelina, ever perceptive, noticed the unease settling among her disciples. "It feels strange, doesn''t it?" she remarked, breaking the silence. "That''s good, but keep in mind that the location of our Sect is a temporary thing. Our strength is in unity, not buildings."

    A younger disciple, eyes wide, asked, "Sect Master, do you think something happened while we were away?"

    Aelina gave a reassuring smile, "Unlikely. Our defenses are impable."

    However, Mira''s senses picked up something unusual. As they approached one of the sect''s main courtyards, she felt faint traces of energy. It was subtle, almost undetectable. She wouldn''t have detected anything if it weren''t for her recent breakthroughs.

    ''I sense traces of people.'' Mira sent a Sound Transmission to Aelina, but the woman just smiled.

    ''Those are my guards. You don''t need to worry about them.'' Aelina responded, surprising Mira, who gave the Sect Master a deep look.

    She hadn''t sensed anything like a ''guard'' before. There were Elders and disciples who acted as guards, but Aelina never considered them as such.

    ''I guess it makes sense that she has her own secret force.'' Mira concluded and put the matter behind her. However, she raised Aelina''s danger level by another notch.

    The woman was too prepared for everything. She had no idea how deep her foundations actually were, disregarding the Sect.

    Hell, Mira was starting to suspect Aelina had contacts on other continents.

    Aelina noticed Mira''s contemtive look. The Sect Master''s gaze shifted to the horizon, her voice thoughtful as she announced to the crowd, "The Secret Realm has bestowed upon us both gains and losses. Many of you have grown, and some... some have paid the ultimate price." A hint of sadness touched her eyes.

    The Sect Master continued, "However, now is not the time for sorrow. It''s a time for rest and consolidation. I know many of you are eager to disy your gains andpete for the title of Prime Disciple. But haste can lead to mistakes."

    Mira could see many of the disciples nodding along, the tension in their shoulders easing slightly. The promise of rest was always wee after everything they went through.

    "Take a week. Rest and consolidate your strengths. In a week''s time, we''ll gather to see who among you has gathered the most tokens," Aelina''s eyes sparkled with a hint of excitement, "And then, the final stage of the Prime Disciplepetition will begin."

    The disciples murmured amongst themselves, anticipation evident in their eyes.

    After Aelina''s announcement, a ripple of excitement surged through the crowd, but that excitement was intertwined with fatigue.

    Most were still recovering from their experiences in the Secret Realm, and the thought of further challenges so soon was daunting. Theing week of rest was not only a relief but a necessity.

    Mira wasn''t all that different. Having a week to understand her new powers was just what she needed.

    As the disciples dispersed, Mira left after saying goodbye to Nova and the others. But soon, two beautiful women approached her. Nobody from the Sect recognized them, but Mira instantly knew who they were.

    One was Rhydian in her human form, her golden tail swinging wildly. Rhydian had improved to Late-Stage Rank 8, but that was just the beginning of her gains.?The other was Elenei, but in human form as well.

    Clearly, she had undergone a huge change after she entered the Secret Realm. Her cultivation exploded as she now sat at Low-Stage Rank 8.

    Elenei was tall, not quite as ridiculous as Rhydian or Mira, but she was around 1.7 meters. She had tender white skin, pale blue hair with fiery highlights, and Phoenix-shaped eyes. There were two ck Dragon horns protruding out of her forehead and a pair of icy Phoenix wings on her back. Lastly, a scaly red Dragon tail snaked out of her hip and onto the ground.

    Now, with her improved bloodline, Mira sensed that they gave off a simr feeling as herself. It was hard to say whether they were on her level or not, but they certainly weren''t weak.

    On the contrary, she wasn''t even sure how tobel Rhydian''s changes. It was as if she was surrounded by a fog. If it weren''t for their connection, she doubted she''d be able to feel anything at all.

    "Ten tails�� I''ve never heard of anything like that before." Elenei was the first toment, gazing at Mira''s tails with her fiery eyes.

    Mira shrugged. "I didn''t expect to pop another one out either, Miss Progenitor."

    "Hmph! If you can do it, why can''t I?"

    "Now I can finally put you to use! All that time I spent wasn''t wasted."

    "...Only if you put thatzy wolf to work."

    "No! Sleep makes me stronger!" Rhydian almost transformed back into her beast form and took off, but Mira grabbed the back of her neck before she could.

    "Hmmm~ You''re right. She''s more than strong enough to survive by herself." Miramented and tossed the growling wolf woman to Elenei. "I''ll leave her in your care. Do with her what you wish."

    A smile grew on Elenei''s face as she looked down at the wolf. "Finally�� You don''t know how painful it''s been for me to watch youze around. A beast of your status should be out there conquering the world!"

    "NO! I''d rather conquer my bed!"

    Mira shook her head at Rhydian''s antics. Although the wolf waszy, she always pulled through in the end. With Elenei mentoring her, that was one less thing she had to worry about.

    "Alright, enough." Mira dered after a few minutes, and they stopped messing around. "Like Aelina said, rest up. We can go back to training after we''ve reached our peak state."

    "Yes!"

    "Understood."

    Rhydian dashed straight to her bed, shocking Dominique and Hana.

    The two girls were chatting with one another before they got up and ran over to Mira. Dominique leaped into Mira''s embrace while Hana just stood there awkwardly but was happy nheless.

    Mira spread out her Soul Sense and was happy to see that Dominique didn''t try and rush through the Realms without her. Her cultivation hadn''t increased at all, but her foundation had certainly expanded.

    Nodding inwardly, she also noticed that Hana was ready to proceed to the Meridian Opening Stage.

    "Wee back, Mother!" Dominique eximed while rubbing her face against Mira''s chest.

    "Mmhm." Mira nodded, stroking Dominique''s hair. "...It''s good to be back."

    ***

    As the night deepened, the Sect was filled with silent activities as the disciples took this time to interact with one another before they went into seclusion. Lights from various residences shone like distant stars, indicating the spots where disciples chose to chat.

    Unknown to many, at the top of the mountain, Aelina sat in her private study, surrounded by scrolls and ancient texts. A map of the continents was spread out before her, marked with various symbols. Beside the map, a small glowing talisman sat, awaiting hermand.

    Her mind was not on the uingpetition but on broader horizons. The Battle Maiden Sect was formidable, but she knew they couldn''t stand alone forever.

    If her suspicions were correct, challenges far greater than the Secret Realm awaited them. Building alliances, especially intercontinental ones, was paramount.

    While this was partly because of what the Wyrm said, it also wasn''t.

    She was banking everything on the fact that she would soon enter the Central Continent. Those old fogies would definitely not make the transition smooth. It was impossible for her to take on everything by herself unless things went perfectly. So, she had to prepare for that situation.

    A knock interrupted her thoughts. A shadowy figure, one of her secret guards, stood at the entrance. "Report," shemanded.

    "They''ve made contact, Sect Master," the guard said, handing her a sealed letter.

    Aelina broke the seal, her eyes scanning the contents quickly. A small smile yed on her lips. "Good. Arrange a meeting."

 Chapter 822 Prime Disciple Competition: Alliances; Rest

    <h4>Chapter 822 Prime Disciple Competition: Alliances; Rest</h4>

    In a secluded part of the Battle Maiden Sect deep underground, a secret chamber was activated. As runes lit up the room, a circr formation appeared on the ground��the formation connected to different locations, allowingmunication across vast distances.

    Aelina stepped onto the formation, her heart calm but anticipation evident in her gaze.

    The formation buzzed to life, and before her, three translucent figures appeared. These figures were projected from different continents, each representing powerful sects.

    The first was an elegant woman draped in emerald robes, her ck hair iling wildly. She had sharp, feline-like eyes that betrayed her reddish-brown skin. She was known as Lysandra, the head of the Jade Serpent Sect from the Southern Continent.

    Beside her was a stoic, heavily armored man with a dark beard, standing tall and imposing. His aura was like a mountain, immovable and unyielding. He was Boric, leader of the Steel Fortress Sect from the Western Continent.

    Lastly, a pale, young-looking man with a mischievous smirk. Dressed in rich blue robes and adorned with golden essories, he was the secluded Soren, chief of the Mirage Temple from the Northern Continent.

    Although Aelina was the Sect Master, that didn''t mean she sat around doing nothing but training or cultivating. Imagine living for thousands of years doing the same thing every day with little progress! So boring and useless!

    So, instead, she traveled to the other continents, save for the Central one, and made some connections. They hardly talked, but they got along fine, and that''s all she needed.

    ''Though, they were certainly a pain in the ass about it.'' Aelina chuckled, remembering how much trouble she went through trying to get on their good sides.

    While they may not be the strongest, they were all powerful in their own right. To put it simply, before Aelina entered the Secret Realm, she would''ve thought twice before invading their Sects, but now?

    Heh~!

    Pushing those needless thoughts away, she focused on the people in front of her.

    Aelina nodded in greeting, "Lysandra, Boric, Soren. It''s good to finally speak."

    Lysandra''s lips curled into a slight smile. "Aelina, it''s been a while. You''ve grown in power."

    Soren chuckled, "And reputation. I heard you caused a bit of a ruckus recently."

    Boric simply nodded, ever the stoic. "It is good to see you again."

    Aelina''s gaze was sharp. She didn''t expect word to spread that quickly, but on second thought, it made sense. The Mercenary Association distributed information to all the continents. "Thank you for your words, but pleasantries can wait. I''ve made contact to discuss potential alliances."

    Soren leaned forward, interest evident, "Straight to the point. I like it."

    Lysandra''s eyes shimmered, "What do you have to offer?"

    "An opportunity," Aelina said with a smirk. "Back me up when my Sect and I are in trouble. Do that, and I''ll help you into the Central Continent."

    "..."

    The three Sect Masters froze, their expressions turning somber.

    Aelina let those words settle in, as she knew it was a big im. She would give the same offer to the other Sect Masters on the Western Continent, but��

    ''In the next 18 years or so, I will squeeze this Continent dry of everything it has! Everyone else can either ept it or die!'' She thought, her smile widening.

    Boric''s gaze turned thoughtful. "That''s quite the im, Aelina. What can you do to prove the sincerity of your words?"

    Aelina''s smile remained as if she expected that question. However, all she did was raise her hand, point her finger at Boric, and shoot out a bolt of Qi.

    A void portal opened up before his translucent figure. Then, on the projection, a projectile whizzed past Boric''s face before it fizzled out.

    "...I see. I agree. Contact meter for more information." Boric dered before leaving, his figure disappearing. That show of power was more than enough for him. Attacking across Continents so quickly was unprecedented. Although they could allunch an intercontinental attack, it would consume way too much Qi and effort for it to be worthwhile.

    However, Aelina did it with a simple point of her finger.

    The other two were clearly shaken as well, given the shock on their faces. They instantly understood that this wasn''t a negotiation. It was as Aelina said�Can opportunity.

    After a few moments of thought, Lysandra nodded. "...Very well. Count me in."

    "...Me too." Soren chimed in.

    The three of them then went on to talk a bit about the specifics.

    After what felt like hours of discussion, tentative agreements were formed. The details would be worked outter, but for now, the foundation wasid.

    As themunication formation dimmed, Aelina let out a deep breath. The first steps had been taken, but there was still a long way to go.

    In the silence of her study, she mulled over the conversations, considering the implications. Each of these sect leaders had their own motives, and she would have to be careful.

    But for now, it was a start��a start to an alliance that could change the fate of continents.

    ***

    Outside her residence, Mira watched the night sky, her senses sharp. She couldn''t hear the conversations within, but she felt the ripple of energy. However, since she could also feel Aelina''s aura in that direction, she dismissed this and returned her attention to the girl in her arms.

    The little blood-red fox in her embrace squirmed a bit, finding afortable spot before she practically purred in satisfaction like a cat.

    Sighing, Mira gave her a few pats on the head. "Did anything happen while I was away?"

    Dominique looked up and shook her head. "No. I just trained with Hana. Since everyone was gone, there wasn''t anything to do."

    Mira nodded, not surprised.

    "How was your trip, Mother?" Dominique suddenly asked, sitting up in herp. "You seem a lot stronger and even have another tail! I bet the Secret Realm was amazing!"

    Mira thought for a second, then nodded. "It was useful."

    "..."

    Hana and Dominique stared at her with nk expressions.

    "Tell me more about it! What sort of things did you do? Why do you have ten tails? What was in there!?" Dominique eximed.

    Mira sighed again but relented. ''Haaa�� I really have gotten soft-hearted.'' She thought.

    "Very well, I''ll start from the beginning. When we left, Aelina led the charge straight into the heart of the mountains��"

    Mira proceeded to narrate her time in the Secret Realm.

    At some point during the story, Rhydian and Elenei gathered around to listen, making Mira feel exacerbated. She really didn''t want to talk so much.

    The night was filled with tales of Mira''s adventures, captivating everyone around her.

    Dominique hung onto every word, her eyes wide with wonder. Hana was equally enchanted. Elenei and Rhydian, who were initially eavesdropping from a distance, had moved closer, bing engrossed in the tales.

    They, too, were curious about what Mira went through despite having simr experiences early on.

    "...and then, in a temple, there was this profound energy that allowed me to evolve and breakthrough. Afterward, I was thrown out, and we returned," Mira said, her mouth almost dry from talking so much.

    Dominique''s mouth was agape. "That sounds so magical! I wish I could have been there with you."

    Mira chuckled softly. "You''re too weak. You would''ve died as soon as you stepped foot in that ce. Even for someone like Aelina, there was no short of challenges."

    Dominique pouted but nodded. She would find her own opportunities when she got stronger. For now, training under Mira was more than enough for her.

    As the hours went by and the night deepened, Mira realized just how exhausted she was. Her time in the Secret Realm might have strengthened her, but it had also drained her mentally and physically.

    "Alright, everyone, it''ste. Let''s get some rest." She dered, to which everyone nodded.

    However, what she didn''t expect was for everyone to follow her back to her room. But she didn''t say anything and just let it be.

    Laying on her bed, Hana and Dominique crawled to either side of her and snuggled against her tails. Elenei transformed into a small bird and hopped onto the edge of the bed.

    Meanwhile, Rhydian curled up at the foot of the bed.

    Mira sighed, but a slight smile yed at her lips.

    ''Hmm~ This isn''t so bad.'' She thought, feeling pleased. It was nice to have someone waiting for her toe home, someone who cared for her unconditionally.

    Mira shut her eyes and soon was able to drift off to sleep.

    The next day, Mira woke up feeling rejuvenated. She decided to take the day off from training and instead spent time with her family, bonding and sharing stories. It was a simple pleasure but one she cherished deeply.

    The following two days mirrored the same, with Mira enjoying a rare break from her intense training and responsibilities. It was a time of peace and contentment, a brief pause from the challenges thaty ahead. But for now, Mira was content, surrounded by love and the warmth of her family.

 Chapter 823 Prime Disciple Competition: Training

    Morning rays filtered through the dense canopy of trees in the secluded training ground. Mira, draped in an elegant azure robe, stood in the center of a clearing. The spot was chosen for its dense Qi, which swirled around the area.

    She looked at her new ten tails, each one a color that represented their specific elements. The first eight tails represented Earth, Water, Yin Fire, Wind, Yin Lightning, Ice, Light, and Darkness. Thest two��Creation and Destruction��seemed dull inparison, but the potential they had was much greater.

    These two tails intrigued her the most, as they held power she had not yet fullyprehended.

    ''Unfortunately, I lost almost all my previous tail abilities.'' Mira thought with a sigh. While they were certainly unique, they did have their ce. It also gave a bit more versatility to her kit, allowing her to catch people off-guard.

    But they really weren''t all that useful, save for a few. If she couldn''t solve something with her scythe, then most of her tails wouldn''t make much of a difference.

    ''Thankfully, I kept the useful ones even after my evolution. However, it seemed that instead of something with limited uses, they turned into innate Racial abilities.''

    She thought about using her ''Charm'', and immediately after, her Qi churned and created a faint pink mist around her. The same went for her ability to use illusions.

    Meanwhile, her tails were just naturally heavy now after inheriting her Gold Tail''s capabilities.

    ''I guess this is fine. Less things to worry about. Now, I can hone in on the things that really matter.'' She concluded, not upset about the loss of abilities.

    ''Let''s see what they can do!''

    Taking a deep breath, Mira closed her eyes and connected with the world around her. Immediately, she could feel the elemental energies more keenly than ever before. They converged, eager to be wielded by the Ascended Elemental Yin Fox Progenitor.

    She began with the Earth element. Channeling Qi through her tail, she felt a profound connection to thend beneath her. With a single thought, shemanded pirs of rock to rise from the ground.

    Raising her Earth tail, Mira felt not just the power of the element but the essence of it. Before, when she channeled Earth Qi, it felt like she was simply manipting the energy. Now, with her tail, it was as though she became one with the Earth, understanding its deepest secrets and intricacies.

    She could create, manipte, or destroy it as easily as breathing.

    ''I guess this is what it truly means to embody an element. I don''t have to think about controlling the energy, it just happens. As soon as I even think about creating something, my Qi moves to make it happen.'' Mira thought with a wry smile.

    For some reason, she felt less like a fox and more like some sort of spiritual entity.

    However, she wasn''tining. This ''ability'' would save her precious time in battle. It also meant that surprise attacks were way more effective as she could go from 0-100 instantly, without any build-up.

    ''That,bined with my reaction speed, even if I don''t have the strength, I should be able to contend with a Mortal Shedding Realm expert.'' She thought about calling one of the Elders over to spar with but shook her head against it.

    First, she should understand the basics of her new form.

    She then moved on to the next tail, Water. With a gentle sway, she called forth a swirling vortex of water that circled around her. The water wasn''t just controlled; it responded to her every emotion, every thought. As her thoughts quieted, the water became a serene pond, and as her emotions red, it raged into a tempestuous whirlpool.

    Mira proceeded to experiment with each tail, discovering the enhanced capabilities and understanding they brought. The Yin Fire wasn''t just mes; it was like the antithesis of life, simr to her ck runes, except she didn''t gain anything. The Wind wasn''t just a gust or breeze; it was gentle yet chilly. A type of cold that would go unnoticed until it was toote.

    However, what truly astounded Mira was how all these elements converged in harmony with her innate Ice powers. Each element, when channeled through her tails, had a touch of her frosty essence.

    For instance, the Yin Fire tail, when ignited, produced a unique blue me that was both cold and hot at the same time. This paradoxical fire could freeze and burn simultaneously.

    Simrly, her Wind tail, infused with her icy Qi, generated blizzards instead of mere gusts. Her Earth tail could create pirs not just of rock but of ice-encrusted stone, making them both sturdy and deadly.

    She could alter how much her ice affinity affected her other elements, but now, every single one of them could be considered

    But this was just the tip of the iceberg.

    [A/N: Pun intended.]

    What truly made these elements unique was that they truly embodied the ''Yin'' aspect.

    While the terms ''Yin and Yang'' may sound amazing, they are really just concepts or phenomena that are used to represent dualities and bnce. They may technically be opposites, but they aren''t adversaries.

    Yin generally represented things such as darkness, passivity, receptivity, cold, femininity, and the moon. While Yang often symbolizes light, activity, aggression, warmth, masculinity, and the sun.

    What Mira realized was that her new form was an embodiment of Yin, not in the simplistic sense of cold and darkness, but in its truest essence of receptivity, intuition, and connection to the unseen.

    This ''Yin'' nature granted her abilities a special quality.

    For example, her Light tail didn''t merely shine brightly, but it also illuminated hidden truths, revealing illusions and unmasking deceptions. It was as if her light could pierce through the fabric of reality itself.

    The Darkness tail, meanwhile, wasn''t just about shrouding things in shadow, but it allowed her to tap into the mysterious depths of the universe. With it, she could navigate through realms that were otherwise hidden and understand mysteries that were normally beyondmonprehension.

    As she toyed with her Darkness tail, shadows danced around her, not as mere absence of light but as tangible entities.

    Her realization of Yin''s true essence was profound. In most cultivators'' journeys, they don''t ever interact with these concepts as there''s really no need. But for Mira, this was just a step to help uncover her untapped potential.

    As Mira delved deeper into her newfound abilities, she also became aware of the dangers. Yin, in its unbridled form, could be consuming. She''d have to be careful with her new powers lest she identally cripple someone.

    Aware of this, Mira approached herst two tails with caution. Creation and Destruction. These were concepts that transcended even Yin and Yang. They were the primal forces of the universe.

    With the tail of Creation, though its abilities were mostly sealed or blocked, she could materialize objects from thin air, harnessing pure energy and converting it to matter. The tail of Destruction, on the other hand, allowed her to disintegrate things at a fundamental level.

    The twobined allowed her to destroy the world around her, convert it into pure energy, and add it to her cultivation.

    It''s just doing so could be quite��dangerous.

    Looking at the area around her, the once vibrant forest was devoid of life, trees, or even fertile soil. Just by using those two tails, she sucked out all the energy from everything, leaving the ce barren.

    How long it would take to heal? She didn''t know.

    ''So, it seems I can use my ck tail more freely now. The ability is still simr in nature but just has more depth. I''m assuming I can still exchange my lifespan for more power, but it''s not so limited.'' She nodded inwardly, very satisfied with this.

    When she evolved, she had inadvertently recovered all her lost lifespan, but she wasn''t all that eager to have to spend enormous chunks of it again. Her opponents were getting stronger and stronger, so each use of her ck tail would consume more and more.

    Now that she had some semnce of control over it, she could wield her ck tail more freely.

    ''I''ll have to make sure that I can still recover my lifespan after absorbing people. That''ll determine if I even use this damn tail for something like that again.''

    With that thought in mind, Mira went back to training. She still had to get used to just how much her elemental control had improved. Afterward, she''ll ask an Elder to spar with her or maybe go cause some trouble for the beasts by hunting down a few Rank 9.

    ''I''d have to ask Aelina about that, but I doubt she''ll disagree.'' She thought before summoning her ice tail and turning the entire area into a frozen wastnd.

    ''I''m looking forward to finally being able to crush a Rank 9 beast underneath my feet.''

 Chapter 824 Prime Disciple Competition: Results

    Chapter 824 Prime Disciple Competition: Results

    The noon sun zed in the sky, casting a warm golden hue over the destroyed forest. It was a sharp contrast to the frozen wastnd Mira had created earlier.

    From the distance, a figure approached. It was Aelina, wrapped in illustrious purple robes. She had sensed the tremendous shift in energy when Mira had been experimenting with her new tails.

    "Mira," Aelina greeted with a hint of amusement in her voice, her eyes sweeping over the transformed terrain. "I leave you alone for a few days, and you turn our training ground into this?"

    Mira nodded indifferently, "I was trying out my new abilities. Got a bit carried away."

    Aelina raised an eyebrow, a yful smirk tugging at her lips. "Just a bit? Anyway, I came here to check on you, considering the massive fluctuation in energies I felt. So, how does it feel having ten tails instead of one?"

    "Powerful, yet overwhelming," Mira admitted, flicking her tails around her. "I have so much more to discover and control. I''m just at the beginning of understanding them."

    Aelina nced at the barrennd and then back at Mira. "Why don''t we spar?"

    Mira''s eyes lit up. "You sure?"

    "Of course," Aelina said confidently. "Besides, it''ll give you a good measure of where you stand with your new powers."

    With that, the two of them took positions at opposite ends of the clearing. Without warning, they dashed at one another.

    ***

    Mira wasn''t the only one seeking to train and control their new powers. The finale to the Prime Disciple Competition wasing up, and they needed to be in peak condition for whatever Aelina had nned.

    Soon, the week-long break they were given was up, and it was time to tally the results from the Secret Realm.

    The Battle Maiden Sect was abuzz with excitement. Every member of the sect, from the newest Outer Court disciples to the venerable Core Court elders, gathered in a grand clearing at the heart of the sect.

    Massive jade pirs, intricately carved with runes, marked the boundaries of this grand arena. The noon sun, casting a shimmering glow, added to the awe of the spectacle.

    As Aelina and the Sect Elders ascended to the grand stage at the center of the clearing, a hush fell over the crowd. The tokens that were attached to their clothes hovered in the air, emitting soft hums of energy.

    Aelina, with an air of authority, addressed the sea of faces. "My disciples, the time hase to assess your results. Today, we''ll determine who amongst you has shown the most skill, talent, prowess, and luck."

    With a wave of her hand, the tokens started to orbit around the tform, each radiating a unique aura. A translucent screen materialized above them, disying names and their corresponding points. The crowd watched with bated breath, trying to decipher the rapidly changing numbers and standings.

    "The point system," Aelina reiterated, "was designed to encourage not justbat but strategy. It''s not just about defeating opponents; it''s about understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and making wise choices. Now, let''s tally the results."

    For the next hour, disciples watched as the screen filtered through thousands of names, ranking them ording to their rued points. Whispers spread through the crowd, spections ran wild, and many looked on with hope, anxiety, and anticipation.

    After what seemed like an eternity, the screen solidified its listings. Aelina, with a gleaming smile, announced, "Here are the top 32 disciples who have demonstrated their worth in the Secret Realm!"

    The ethereal screen shimmered, and slowly, the names of the top 32 disciples appeared with their points:

    [1. Mira - 1,843 points

    2. Seraphina - 1,789 points

    3. Nova - 1,758 points

    4. Rayna - 1,730 points

    5. Eden - 1,695 points

    6. Everly - 1,672 points

    7. La - 1,645 points

    8. Cordelia - 1,623 points

    9. Lyria - 1,610 points

    10. ra - 1,589 points

    11. Ilyana - 1,575 points

    12. Nh - 1,552 points

    13. Cine - 1,531 points

    14. Aria - 1,515 points

    15. Freya - 1,492 points

    16. Talina - 1,470 points

    17. Sylra - 1,449 points

    18. Asami - 1,428 points

    19. Althea - 1,409 points

    20. Arielle - 1,398 points

    21. Tessa - 1,379 points

    22. Rhea - 1,367 points

    23. Melina - 1,351 points

    24. Fa - 1,330 points

    25. Skye - 1,324 points

    26. Iris - 1,310 points

    27. Luna - 1,295 points

    28. Ka - 1,273 points

    29. Lyana - 1,261 points

    30. Selene - 1,249 points

    31. Ca - 1,230 points

    32. Zaria - 1,219 points]

    A chorus of gasps, murmurs, and cheers erupted as the list was finalized. Disciples congratted each other while others looked on in awe or disappointment, but it was Mira who drew the most attention.

    Aelina''s eyes twinkled with pride as she met Mira''s gaze. She gave the fox woman a wink, much to Mira''s confusion, before turning to the rest of the disciples. "Congrattions to the top 32, especially to our ''winner'', Mira."

    Nova, with her fiercepetitive spirit, approached Mira with a teasing grin. "You might''ve taken the top spot this time, but thepetition isn''t over yet."

    Seraphina, always the gracious one, smiled warmly, "I figured it''d be like this." Though, she was a bit surprised she came in second. However, it made sense.

    Nova, Rayna, Eden, and Everly all showcased extremely powerful abilities. Fighting them, for most people, was a surefire loss. But she was mostly on the defensive or was the designated tank. People thought she was an easier target. Thus, she was always approached by someone who wanted to challenge her.

    Rayna nodded in agreement, her eyes never leaving the scoreboard, calcting and nning for the next stage.

    Meanwhile, Skye, though lower on the list, was brimming with pride. "To think I''d make it among the elites!"

    Asami and Cine exchanged nces, theirpetitive fire ignited. They didn''t cause major waves like Mira, but they made considerable advancements in the Secret Realm, one that Mira would surely be shocked to see.

    ''How strong have you be, Mira?'' Cine thought, staring at the tall, strong, invincible-like figure at the front of the crowd. Her fists unknowingly clenched as she realized that the two of them had been drifting apart over the years.

    She wasn''t upset by this, rather, it was expected. The two have been using each other since the beginning. However, she still refused to fall behind her, not after all the training, challenges, and suffering she''s gone through.

    ''I don''t know if I''ll be able to beat you, but I''m sure as hell strong enough to show you that I haven''t gone anywhere! It''s going to take a lot more than that to leave me behind!'' Her emerald eyes shone brightly.

    Other than them, there were quite a few people on the list who seemed like hidden talents. Most of them were either Core or Direct disciples, but there were quite a few Inner Disciples on the list as well, with Skye being the only Outer Disciple. Though, with her current strength, she''s qualified to be an Inner Disciple.

    Amidst all the chatter, Aelina pped her hands, instantly silencing everyone. "Alright, I''m sure you all might''ve guessed by now what the next and final stage of the Prime Disciple Competition is. A tournament!"

    "What better way to end apetition than to have a tournament?! The winner of the tournament will undoubtedly be the most suited to be this century''s Prime Disciple!"

    The disciples erupted in a chorus of excited whispers, conjectures, and predictions. This was an anticipated event �C the zenith of the Prime Disciple Competition. It was a stage for these gifted cultivators to showcase their strengths and settle their rivalries.

    Everly grinned, her eyes glittering. "A tournament! Finally, a chance to see everyone''s true abilities. None of that sneaky point-gathering from the Secret Realm."

    Nova chuckled, "Says the one who probably ambushed half the participants."

    Everly shrugged nonchntly. "Strategically positioned myself, thank you very much."

    Aelina raised her hand, and the crowd''s noise reduced instantly. "This will be a knockout tournament. The matchups will be random, so there''s no predicting who you might face. While skill is essential, luck ys a role too."

    Seraphina turned to Nova, her eyes dancing with excitement. "Think we''ll face each other?"

    Nova smirked, "I hope so. I''m interested to see who''lle out on top."

    ra, who was standing close by, overheard and interjected, "Careful what you wish for. There are many here with hidden abilities."

    Skye chimed in, "I''m just d to be part of this! It''s an honor to stand with all of you."

    Meanwhile, Mira knew she had a target on her back. She could feel the weight of countless gazes on her, some filled with admiration, others with envy and animosity. Although it was only out of apetitive spirit, she couldn''t help but shake her head.

    ''There''s always a tournament, huh?'' She mentallymented. It seemed that every Sect, or perhaps just the Battle Maiden Sect, loved tournaments, as she''d gone through a few of them in her short time as a member.

    But she merely shrugged it off. ''Well, whatever. This is fine, too. I''m interested to see everyone''s progress.''

    "Now, let the final stage of the Prime Disciple Competition begin!" Aelina announced as the arena erupted with a dense amount of Qi.

 Chapter 825 Prime Disciple Competition: The First Match

    <h4>Chapter 825 Prime Disciple Competition: The First Match</h4>

    The grand clearing of the Battle Maiden Sect buzzed with energy as disciples discussed strategies, made predictions, and exchanged yful taunts.

    In the center of the clearing, the grand stage where Aelina and the Sect Elders stood began to transform. The intricate runes on the jade pirs lit up.

    A barrier enveloped the grand arena, sealing thebatants within and protecting the spectators. The insides of the barrier projected a massive translucent screen where the names of the top 32 participants floated.

    "Remember," Aelina''s voice echoed throughout the clearing, capturing everyone''s attention, "this tournament will be single-elimination. Once you lose, you''re out. The matchups will be determined randomly, so prepare for any opponent."

    With a graceful gesture, Aelina invoked a spell. The names on the screen started to swirl in a vortex, blurring into one another, leaving the audience in suspense. After a few tense moments, the vortex began to slow, and pairs of names started to solidify on the screen:

    [1. Mira vs. Zaria

    2. Seraphina vs. La

    3. Nova vs. Ca

    4. Rayna vs. Freya

    ... ]

    Gasps of surprise, nervousughter, and excited murmurs filled the air. Mira tilted her head slightly, observing her first opponent. Zaria, ranked 32nd, was a gifted cultivator, but the vast point difference between them made it evident who was more dominant. Yet, Mira wasn''t one to underestimate anyone.

    Zaria, huh? Is this fate?'' Mira chuckled, remembering that Maria''sst name was Zaria. ''1st Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, huh? It looks like she broke through quite recently, as well. I guess she''ll soon be a newly promoted Core Disciple after all this.'' Mira examined Zaria intently, making the woman feel ufortable.

    It was as if she was seen through in a single nce.

    Immediately losing interest, she closed her eyes and waited for the round to start.

    Zaria, on the other hand, gulped nervously. Facing Mira in the first round wasn''t something she had anticipated, but she squared her shoulders and steeled her resolve.

    "Time to show them what I''ve got," she whispered to herself, resolve shining in her eyes.

    Nova and Ca''s pairing drew a considerable amount of attention. While Nova was a powerhouse, Ca was known for her unpredictable battle techniques. They were both Direct Disciples under one of the Elders. The oue of their match was anyone''s guess.

    Aelina, noticing the charged atmosphere, smiled and announced, "The first matchup willmence shortly. Prepare yourselves."

    Mira and Zaria stepped onto the battleground, with the barrier sealing behind them. The vast contrast between their ranks created a clear underdog scenario, making the crowd''s anticipation even more palpable. However, so long as there were no mishaps, Mira would im an easy victory."

    Zaria initiated their standoff, a respectful bow in Mira''s direction. "I know the odds are against me, but I won''t go down without a fight."

    Mira nodded, a hint of a smile forming on her lips. "Then, you better go all out from the start."

    Zaria nodded. She''d be a fool not to do so.

    As the two readied themselves, the atmosphere grew thick with tension. A silent countdown echoed in everyone''s minds. Then, without warning, the twobatants lunged at each other.

    The sheer force of their sh created a shockwave that resonated throughout the barrier, leaving the crowd in awe. Utilizing her agility and nimble techniques, Zaria tried to outmaneuver Mira, but thetter''s overwhelming power made it challenging.

    ''No blindspots and no weaknesses. Shit! Why is she so strong?!'' Zaria inwardly muttered while dashing around Mira, who just stood there with an amused smile. She hadn''t even taken out her scythe yet!

    Zaria was skilled enough to know she didn''t stand a chance. One attack from Mira, and she was done for. She looked into Mira''s eyes and noticed the woman beckoning her to attack, not out of disdain but something else��

    ''She''s giving me a chance.'' Zaria instantly realized. ''She''s giving me a chance to show my strength despite knowing there''s no possibility of me winning.''

    Zaria, feeling a surge of respect for Mira, used this opportunity to disy her newfound techniques. She summoned her spiritual weapon - a pair of silver-chained kunai. With a swift twirl, sheunched them towards Mira, trying to bind her.

    Mira, not moving an inch, caught one of the kunai with her hand while expertly evading the other, leaving it to strike the ground, creating a burst of dust and debris. The crowd gasped. It was a diversion!

    Using the dust as a screen, Zaria appeared from Mira''s side, intending tond a solid hit. Her movements were fluid, and her attacks were precise; she had practiced endless hours to perfect her techniques, and she was going to show off every one of them!

    But Mira was no ordinary opponent.

    Utilizing her expertise with the Mystic Chain Techniques, Zaria swiftly moved her kunai in intricate patterns. Each throw and pull of her kunai was aimed at entangling and entrapping Mira, making it difficult for her to retaliate.

    "Viper''s Stranglehold!" Zaria shouted as her chains aimed for Mira''s neck. This technique was designed to quickly strangle the opponent, disabling their movements.

    Mira nimbly evaded, her eyes tracking every movement of Zaria''s chains. But Zaria wasn''t done.

    "Silver Rain!" Zaria cried out. The kunai spun rapidly, releasing a flurry of sharp, ethereal des resembling raindrops, all targeting Mira.

    Mira deflected the majority with her bare hands, but some found their marks, creating minor cuts�� Scratch that, they couldn''t even prate her skin, merely leaving behind white lines.

    The crowd gasped, realizing that although Zaria had indeed managed to inflict damage on the renowned Mira, it was trivial at best.

    Zaria didn''t let up, quickly transitioning to her next move, "Lunar Lasso!" The chains began to glow with a pale light, and like asso, they aimed to bind Mira by her limbs, restricting her movements.

    Mira was momentarily caught, her left hand trapped by the shining chain. But with a quick jerk, she broke free, clearly impressed by Zaria''s tactics.

    Not missing a beat, Zaria unleashed her most powerful technique, "Twin Serpent Strike." The silver chains transformed into tworge, ethereal serpents, hissing and lunging at Mira with fierce speed and precision.

    Mira, for the first time, drew her scythe. With a swift movement, she sliced through one of the serpents, causing it to disperse into silvery mist. The other serpent managed to coil around Mira''s leg, but with a flick of her scythe, she severed it too.

    The crowd watched with bated breath as Zaria took a deep, ragged inhale. She was drawing upon every ounce of her strength, pushing herself to her very limits.

    "Heavenly Chains!" Zaria roared, her voice filled with desperation.

    The atmosphere grew heavy, and the area around her seemed to distort, warping the air itself.

    The jade pirs that sustained the barrier emitted a low hum as they tried to counteract the force.

    The chains on Zaria''s kunai started to glow intensely, vibrating with chaotic energy. They rose high, touching the very top of the barrier, before descending rapidly in an arc, aimed directly at Mira with the force and intent to annihte her.

    Mira, still holding her scythe, calmly watched as the energy-infused kunai neared.

    Just moments before impact, Mira effortlessly swung her scythe upwards, colliding with the kunai. The resonating ng echoed throughout the arena.

    A brilliant burst of light temporarily blinded the audience, followed by a gust of wind so fierce it sent many disciples off their feet.

    When the dust settled, Mira stood there, unscathed, the glowing chain wrapped around her scythe, while Zaria was panting heavily, drained of energy.

    It was evident that the "Heavenly Chains" took a massive toll on her. Mira''s eyes softened for a moment, appreciating the young cultivator''s courage and determination. But the battle wasn''t over.

    Taking advantage of Zaria''s exhausted state, Mira took a single step forward, her movements almost a blur to the naked eye.

    Before Zaria could react, Mira''s leg swung out, delivering a powerful kick to Zaria''s midsection. The sheer force sent Zaria soaring through the air, crashing violently into the barrier, which cracked upon impact, absorbing some of the force but still causing immense pain.

    Zaria''s vision darkened, and her strength abandoned her. As her consciousness faded, thest thing she heard was the resounding apuse and cheers from the spectators, acknowledging her valiant effort against a formidable opponent.

    "Winner-Mira!" Aelina announced, and the crowd went wild.

    "Holy shit! Zaria did a lot better than I thought!"

    "I know, right? Who knew she''d get so powerful in the Secret Realm?"

    "Heh~ She''s not the only one who improved. Every single one of us here did."

    The disciples chattered amongst themselves, satisfied with the results. Mira winning was a given, but they were d that the woman at least gave Zaria a chance to shine.

    However, now it was time for the next battle, one that was sure to be a lot different.

    Seraphina versus La.

 Chapter 826 Prime Disciple Competition: Seraphina And Novas Matches

    In the aftermath of Mira and Zaria''s duel, the air was thick with anticipation. Whispers filled the grand clearing as disciples debated and spected about the next match-up.

    Seraphina, with her radiant azure hair cascading down her back, stepped into the arena. The aura she radiated was like an imposing mountain. Her 7th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm cultivation and Leviathan Bloodline put her at the top of the list in terms of strength.

    Across from her stood La, a statuesque woman with fiery red hair and piercing emerald eyes. Known for her tenacity and prowess in battle, she was at the 6th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm with an affinity for Fire and Earth. Her chosen weapon was a set of twin chakrams, each adorned with zing gems that resembled moltenva.

    The barrier enveloped the two as the atmosphere grew electric. Seraphina calmly assessed La, drawing her sword and shield. With her Metal and Water affinitybined with her bloodline, she was able toprehend a series of techniques in the Secret Realm called "Leviathan''s Embrace" - an integration of hard-hitting metallic strikes and fluid water movements.

    La, smirking confidently, began twirling her chakrams, creating fiery trails. She was renowned for her "Vulcan''s Wrath" techniques, whichbined the ferocity of fire and the solidity of the earth.

    "Begin!" Aelina''s voice boomed.

    Without hesitation, Launched her first attack. "Vulcan''s Eruption!" she cried, mming her chakram into the ground��a massive pir of fire and rock shot towards Seraphina.

    With a swift motion, Seraphina raised her shield, invoking, "Leviathan''s Barrier!" A torrential downpour emerged, quenching the fiery onught and turning it into harmless steam.

    Seeing her initial attack thwarted, La quickly followed up, spinning her chakrams and summoning, "Lava Laceration!" Fiery discs shot out, flying inplex patterns toward Seraphina.

    But thetter was prepared. With a flourish of her sword, she unleashed [Leviathan''s Dance!] Creating a swirling vortex of water and metal shards, she deflected the fiery chakrams, making them sizzle and hiss upon contact with the water.

    The two shed repeatedly, each trying to overpower the other. Seraphina, taking advantage of her water affinity, attempted to drench La, aiming to limit her fiery techniques. "Tidal Wave Strike!" she shouted, bringing forth a massive wave.

    La countered with "Earth Fortress!" raising rock barriers to divert the water. But Seraphina was relentless. Merging her Metal and Water techniques, she invoked, "Leviathan''s Fang!" Turning her sword into a liquid metal, she sent it snaking towards La, attempting to bind and restrain her.

    La, gritting her teeth, countered with, "Molten Chains!" Drawing upon her Fire and Earth affinities, she ensnared the liquid metal with her fiery chains, leading to a spectacr disy of steam and sparks.

    It was clear that while Seraphina had the upper hand in raw power, La''s resourcefulness and speed were her strong suits.

    With a fierce cry, La unleashed her most potent move, "Vulcan''s Descent!" The skies above darkened momentarily as meteors rained down, each glowing with fiery intent.

    Seraphina, realizing the danger, invoked her shield''s defensive prowess, [Leviathan''s Bulwark!] A massive dome of water and metal formed around her, deflecting the raining meteors.

    La, not one to be outdone, rushed forward, her chakrams aze. "Twin Phoenix Strike!" she shouted. Firebirds emerged from her weapons, circling and diving towards Seraphina.

    But Seraphina was prepared. With a graceful swing of her sword, she called upon [Leviathan''s Maelstrom]. A whirlpool formed beneath her, drawing in the firebirds and neutralizing them.

    Seeing an opening, Seraphinaunched her final move, Leviathan''s Wrath! Combining her sword and shield, she created a massive water dragon with metallic scales. It roared and lunged at La, intent on ending the match.

    La, running on fumes, tried to counter with [Vulcan''s Shield], but the dragon''s might was overwhelming. With a final, resounding crash, La was pinned down, her head spinning, signaling the end of the match.

    "Winner �C Seraphina!" Aelina''s voice echoed, and the crowd erupted into apuse, appreciating the sheer talent disyed by bothbatants.

    As Seraphina helped a dazed La up, the two shared a moment of mutual respect.

    "Good try. You were a lot stronger than I thought you''d be." Seraphina smiled, lifting La off the ground.

    La returned a wry smile through deep, heavy breaths. She had expended almost all her energy in that fight just to contend with Seraphina. She didn''t think it''d end that quickly. "...Thanks, but it seems I still have a way to go."

    Seraphina chuckled and gave her a few pats on the back. "Don''t be so down. I was just lucky. If it were before we invaded the beasts, the match would''ve been much closer."

    "...That means you still think I didn''t stand a chance against you."

    "..." Seraphina could only look away awkwardly, as what La said was true. She was confident of her victory, just from a sheer defensive standpoint, against her. She was almost a perfect counter to all of La''s techniques. All she had to do was defend and end things when she ran out of energy.

    "Ahahaha~ Well, I won''t deny that, but you shouldn''t downy your strength. There aren''t many people in the Sect who could win against you."

    "..."

    La didn''t say anything and just waved at Seraphina as she walked off, lost in thought. What could thetter say to that? That she should see Mira and upgrade her bloodline? Maybe find a way to obtain a new and better physique? In the end, she just shook her head and walked away, looking forward to the next match: Nova vs. Ca.

    As the aftermath of thest duel settled, the audience''s energy seemed to spike once again. It was time for another showdown, and this time, it was between the Ouroboros and the Enigma.

    Nova, with ck mes wisping around her, stepped into the arena. Her Ouroboros Bloodline had given her a unique aura, and her now fiery ck eyes seemed to pierce through everything.

    The spear she carried had undergone several modifications since she acquired the bloodline and entered the Secret Realm, as it was now more suited to her powers. She had also changed her renowned [Sunfire Spear] techniques to the [Eclipsed Spear] series. Not quite as catchy, but she wasn''t willing to give up the name.

    The techniques she once used had been altered toplement the devouring nature of her ck mes.

    Opposite her was Ca. Petite and nimble, with silvery hair that seemed to move like liquid mercury, her presence was deceivingly gentle.

    However, those who had seen her in battle knew better. With the Ethereal Mirage Bloodline she had obtained in the Secret Realm by upgrading the one Mira created, her figure constantly shimmered, giving off a mirage-like effect.

    In her hands were twin fans adorned with reflective mirrors and razor-sharp edges. With her Wind and Light affinities, she could blend attacks and illusions seamlessly, making her a formidable opponent.

    The protective barrier rose, encapsting the two.

    Nova took her stance with her spear pointed at Ca. The ck mes that coiled around it were lit aze, threatening to destroy the arena. The modified [Eclipsed Sphere Spear Shot] was ready to be unleashed.

    Ca, on the other hand, began twirling her fans, creating a series of mirror images around her. "Mirage Dance!" she announced. Suddenly, multiple Cas seemed to spread out in all directions.

    Nova''s eyes narrowed. She knew better than to be fooled by mere illusions. With a swift movement, she released [Ouroboros ze], a whirlwind of ck mes aiming to consume everything.

    But Ca was quick, her figure darting between the illusions, making it hard to discern which was real. "Glimmer Gale!" She countered, using her fans to send a burst of blinding light and razor winds, extinguishing a section of the ck mes.

    Nova frowned. Even though she had the upper hand in terms of raw power, Ca''s elusive techniques were troublesome. Charging forward with "Eclipsed Spear Surge," she aimed to end things quickly.

    However, Ca was prepared. "Illusionary Vault!" she called out, using her Wind affinity tounch herself into the air while leaving an afterimage in her previous position. The spear went through the illusion, missing the real Ca by mere inches.

    From above, Ca smirked. "Lustrous Rainfall!" she yelled, releasing a barrage of light-infused projectiles.

    Nova responded with [ck Starfall], sending an array of ming ck meteors toward the descending projectiles. The collision resulted in a burst of light and shadow.

    But Ca wasn''t done. Using the blinding explosion as a cover, she closed in, fans shing with deadly precision. "Reflective Onught!"

    Caught off-guard, Nova barely managed to raise her spear in defense, the fans grazing her arm. The Ouroboros Bloodline activated instinctively, ck mes trying to devour the fans, but Ca retreated just in time.

    Feeling the sting of the attack, Nova''s demeanor changed. "Enough games," she muttered. Focusing her energy, she invoked "Eclipsed Descent", a ck sun materializing above her, casting the battlefield in an eerie darkness.

    Ca knew she had to act fast. "Prismatic Cyclone!" she called forth, merging light and wind to create a spiraling vortex, attempting to dissipate the overwhelming darkness.

    The two forces shed, but the ck sun''s sheer power began to overwhelm Ca''s cyclone.

    Sensing her disadvantage, Ca yed her trump card. "Ethereal Swap!" In a blink, Ca''s position swapped with one of her illusions, moving her out of the immediate danger zone.

    Nova, realizing the switch, immediately changed her attack direction. The Eclipsed Spear shot out like aet, heading straight for the real Ca.

    Despite her best efforts, the spear''s speed was too much. It struck, sending her crashing to the ground. Nova hurried over, her feet lighting aze, and pushed her spear against Ca''s neck.

    "I win."

    "Winner �C Nova!" Aelina announced, ending the battle.

 Chapter 827 Prime Disciple Competition: Rayna and Edens Matches

    Chapter 827 Prime Disciple Competition: Rayna and Eden''s Matches

    In the lingering aftermath of Nova and Ca''s intense showdown, the crowd took a moment to regain theirposure. Whispers filled the grand clearing, expressing their excitement for the next fight��Rayna vs. Freya.

    Rayna slowly made her way into the arena. Her presence was foreboding, dark, and silent.

    Even without uttering a word, the very air around her seemed to grow cold. Draped in a cloak of shadows, her eyes glinted with a deadly calmness, betraying her 6th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm cultivation.

    Her Lesser Shadow Basilisk Bloodline gave her skin a slight pale hue and the faintest trace of reptilian patterns. The Basilisk''s signature abilities - petrification and potent venom - were what she had primarily honed during her time in the Secret Realm.

    Her chosen weapons, a set of twin daggers, were already in her hands. As she took her stance, one could sense the deadly venom coursing through her des.

    Freya, on the other hand, seemed like a winter''s spirit. Her white hair flowed gracefully like a cascade of fresh snow,plementing her icy blue eyes.

    With the 5th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm cultivation, she held a sword gleaming with frost. She hade up with a series of techniques that coincided with her Ice affinity called [Frost''s Embrace]. Not to be left behind, her beast bloodline, a Frost Lynx, gave her the agility and sharpness of a lynxbined with the chilling touch of frost.

    The protective barrier encapsted the twobatants. The temperature difference between them created a thin mist, setting a perfect backdrop for their confrontation.

    Freya began with her signature move, [Frostbite de]! Her sword gleamed with intense cold, aiming to freeze anything it touched. With her enhanced agility, she dashed towards Rayna, sword ready to strike.

    But Rayna dodged, her daggers deflecting the frosty de with ease. She retaliated swiftly. A flick of her wrist sent a barrage of needle-like projectiles toward Freya, each coated with a Basilisk''s venom.

    Freya, sensing the danger, jumped high into the air, dodging the needles. From above, she cast [cial Rain], causing sharp, minuscule shards of ice to plummet down onto Rayna.

    But the assassin was prepared. Harnessing the Basilisk''s power, her eyes glowed yellow momentarily, turning the falling ice shards into stone, making them fall harmlessly around her.

    Freya,nding nimbly, went for another quick assault. "Frost sh!" she cried, sending a wave of ice-cold energy from her sword toward Rayna.

    Rayna countered silently. Her cloak of shadows spread out like wings, absorbing the icy wave and rendering it ineffective. With a quick dash, she closed the distance between them. Her movements were unpredictable, almost mirroring the random predatory pounces of a Basilisk.

    The sh of steel echoed as Freya barely managed to keep up with Rayna''s swift strikes. With each dagger swipe, a battle to the death unfolded.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t quite catch up and got caught by one of the daggers. A faint scratch and Freya felt the numbing cold of Rayna''s venom seeping in.

    Realizing the danger she was in, Freya summoned her bloodline''s power, enveloping herself in a [Lynx Frost Barrier]. The chilling coldbated the venom, slowing its progression.

    But Rayna was relentless. With a swift kick, she broke Freya''s defense, sending her sprawling. Seizing the opportunity, Rayna threw another set of venom-coated needles.

    Freya, trying her best to react, summoned [Blizzard Veil], causing a thick snowstorm to obscure the arena, deflecting a majority of the projectiles. However, a single needle found its mark, piercing her arm.

    The effects were immediate. The numbness spread rapidly, and her movements began to slow.

    Rayna, sensing victory, closed in, her daggers dripping with venom. But just as she was about tond the final blow, Freya, using thest of her strength, cried out, "Frost Lynx Roar!" A deafening icy roar echoed, throwing Rayna off-bnce momentarily.

    It gave Freya a few precious seconds, but the venom''s effects were too potent. Her vision blurred, and she copsed, her strength fading away.

    Silently, Rayna walked over and stood victorious above the fallen Freya.

    "Winner �C Rayna!" Aelina''s voice echoed.

    The crowd, once again, erupted into apuse, not for the victory but for the intense and swift battle they had just witnessed. They respected Freya''s tenacity and Rayna''s lethality. The day was far from over, but this duel would remain in their memories for a long time.

    ''I shouldn''t offend Rayna.'' They all thought. Freya only got hit two times, but that was enough to put her, a Core Disciple, out ofmission.

    Mira, who was watching from the sidelines, also narrowed her eyes. ''Such deadly poison�� I wonder if I can resist it.''

    She had some resistance to poison, but Rayna''s was incredibly potent.

    ''I don''t know if the difference in bloodline will be able to handle it.'' Mira thought as she fell into contemtion. If there was anyone she was worried about so far, it was Rayna. Nova and Seraphina would be good matches, but she was confident she could win as long as she put in some effort.

    ''I guess I''ll just have to do my best not to get her by her poison. If I do, then I have to be sure to end the fight quickly.'' She concluded before moving on. The next fight should happen soon, and she was a bit excited about it.

    With the crowd still in the throes of excitement from Rayna and Freya''s thrilling duel, Aelina took a moment to announce the next match. "Eden vs. Ka!" Her voice echoed throughout the grand clearing, renewing the audience''s anticipation.

    Eden stepped up to the stage and was the epitome of grace and power. Her delicate, elfin features bore the mark of her Divine Elf Queen Physique, an upgrade from her Heavenly Sacred Elf Queen Physique.

    Her long, green hair rippled like sunlight through tree leaves as it cascaded down her back. The light, almost ethereal green shade in her eyes and the way the wind caressed her skin hinted at her Emerald Sky Griffin Bloodline.

    Clutched in her hand was a meticulously crafted bow, and behind her was a quiver full of arrows.

    Ka, in stark contrast, exuded a ferocious aura. At the 9th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, she was a powerhouse in her own right. Her fiery red hair flowed wildly behind her, reflecting her dominant affinity for fire. Her bloodline was that of the Firebird, a lesser version of the Phoenix.

    With a physique bestowed upon her by the Legendary Crimson Serpent, her skin bore intricate red scales that shimmered with a lustrous sheen.

    In Ka''s hand was a spear, intricately designed with Phoenix motifs and adorned with brilliant red jewels. The Spear, "Phoenix''s Cry," was legendary for its ability to call forth infernos and manipte mes.

    As the protective barrier enclosed them, the audience was divided.

    On one hand, Ka''s 9th Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm should technically be no match for Eden''s 6th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. But on the other, many had seen Ka''s prowess in the Secret Realm and knew not to underestimate her.

    The battle began.

    Ka initiated the attack. With a shout, she thrust her spear forward, summoning a wave of roaring mes. "[Phoenix Fire Wave]!" she bellowed.

    But Eden didn''t move. She just nocked an arrow, infused it with a slight touch of wind, and released. The arrow flew, not at Ka, but straight into the heart of the me. Rather than piercing through, the blunt end hit the mes, creating a gust that dispersed the fiery wave effortlessly.

    The crowd gasped. Such simplicity, yet such mastery.

    Ka, surprised but undeterred, decided to go all out. "[Crimson Serpent Vortex]!" she cried. From her spear, a massive whirlpool of mes spiraled toward Eden, imitating the movements of a serpent, intending to engulf and incinerate her.

    Again, Eden calmly nocked an arrow, drawing the string of her bow. The air around her seemed to be still for a moment, and with a precision that was almost divine, she released.

    The blunt arrow met the fiery vortex head-on. But rather than being consumed, the vortex seemed to be sucked in, redirecting its ferocity toward the very core of its creation. Ka had just enough time to register the threat before the blunt force of the redirected vortex smashed into her, sending her careening into the barrier with a resounding crash.

    The sounds of bones cracking echoed throughout the arena as Ka could only let out a silent cry.

    The arena fell silent.

    Eden simply lowered her bow as if she knew she won. Ka, on the other hand, was unconscious, her spear fallen beside her, its mes extinguished.

    The disparity in their strengths had been clear, but no one had expected such an oue. The audience, once again, erupted into apuse. But this time, it was more out of disbelief than excitement.

    "Winner �C Eden!" Aelina''s voice rang out, but it was almost drowned by the discussions and debates that had already started among the spectators.

    Eden, after ensuring that Ka was unharmed, gave a nod to the Sect Masters and gracefully left the arena.

    ''I need to save my strength forter.'' Were her only thoughts as she walked away, her gaze locked onto Mira.

 Chapter 828 Prime Disciple Competition: Skye vs. Selene

    Chapter 828 Prime Disciple Competition: Skye vs. Selene

    Everly''s match came right after Eden''s, but just like thetter, she was able to win in a single shot, knocking out Iris. The result was expected yet disappointing, so the crowd was hoping that the next match would be a bit more exciting.

    As Aelina''s voice echoed, announcing the next match, the anticipation surged anew.

    "Skye vs. Selene! Get up here!" she dered.

    The very atmosphere seemed to vibrate with energy as Skye walked confidently into the arena. Standing tall, her azure eyes sparkled with excitement. Her weapon of choice was a majestic ck sword with a purple hilt called "Sovereign''s Edge", something she obtained in the Secret Realm.

    Skye''s bloodline was that of the Azure Drake, a lesser version of the Azure Dragon. This gave her skin a very faint blue sheen, as one could make out tiny scales under her skin, and allowed her the ability to manipte both water and wind elements.

    This duality wasplemented by her physique - the Divine Ocean Tempest Physique, which strengthened her affinity for storms, both in the air and water.

    As for her techniques, she primarily used the [Azure Dragon''s Wrath] technique, which allowed her to harness thebined might of wind and water in her sword strikes. While she wasn''t exactly a "Dragon" yet, she had the potential to be one in the future.

    Selene, on the other hand, was more reserved in her entrance. Her eyes darted around the arena before finallynding on Skye, her raven-ck hair contrasting sharply with her silver-gray eyes. In her hand was a ive, intricately carved with lunar sigils.

    Her bloodline, while not as prominent as Skye''s Azure Drake, was of the Night Owl. This allowed her to hone her senses in the dark, gave her a slight advantage in low-light conditions, and enhanced her Darkness Affinity. Her physique, the Divine Twilight Physique, enabled her to blend seamlessly with the shadows and even gave her an affinity for Ice.

    As the protective barrier encapsted them, the crowd held its collective breath. The twobatants locked eyes before Selene opened her mouth.

    "How''d you make it this far, Sister Skye? You were just an Outer Disciple before thepetition. How''d you improve so much that you were able to gather enough tokens to stand with some of the strongest in the Sect today?" She couldn''t help but ask.

    Skye thought back on her time in the Secret Realm, a shiver running down her spine. Every second of every minute on every single ind was like a battle to the death. Everyone was stronger than her, and she wasn''t allowed a single break due to all the people chasing her down.

    At first, she could only tackle weaker participants and pick up the scraps, but as she searched, pleaded, and fought for opportunities, eventually, some were granted, and she started to pick up some momentum.

    Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, Skye answered, "...I swallowed my token and put my life on the line for everything. I decided that this was my chance, and I had to bank everything on it. I would either be someone special, or I would die. There was no other option. This is just the fruit of my surviving."

    "...I see��" Selene slowly nodded as the way she looked at Skye changed to admiration. "...You''re amazing."

    Skye smiled and nodded. "You''re amazing too, Sister Selene! I''m surprised that Inner Court Disciples were even able to make the Top 32!"

    "Hehehe~ I just did what I could." Selene chuckled shyly.

    "Anyways, we can talkter," Skye said, her voice bing serious as she lowered her sword into position. "Let''s not keep the audience waiting."

    Selene nodded and steadied herself as well.

    She took the initiative, using her [Lunar Dance] technique. Selene moved gracefully as her ive cut through the air, sending crescent-shaped energy projectiles towards Skye.

    However, Skye confronted the challenge head-on.

    Channeling her [Azure Dragon''s Wrath], she swung "Sovereign''s Edge," creating a whirlwind of water and air that easily deflected Selene''s projectiles. The intensity of Skye''s attack left pools of water and cyclones in its wake as the ground cracked under her might.

    Selene, realizing her initial approach was ineffective, opted for stealth. Using her Twilight Physique, she began to blend into the shadows, attempting tounch a surprise assault.

    Skye, however, was prepared. Calling upon her Ocean Tempest Physique, she infused her surroundings with a thin mist. This disrupted Selene''s stealth, revealing her silhouette in the foggy environment.

    With swift precision, Skye lunged forward, her sword gleaming with thebined energy of wind and water. The arena echoed with the sh of metal as Selene barely deflected the attack with her ive.

    Selene tried to counter with her [Night Owl''s Scream] technique, sending sound waves intended to disorient Skye. But Skye''s Azure Dragon bloodline proved superior.

    With a roar, she unleashed the [Azure Dragon''s Roar], which not only nullified Selene''s attack but also reverberated through the arena, causing many in the audience to cover their ears.

    The echoing cry dominated the atmosphere. Selene stumbled back, clutching her ears. The shadows that had served her well were now her prison, as Skye''s roar kept her disoriented.

    However, she was far from defeated. Summoning her Divine Twilight Physique, she created a dome of darkness around her, shielding herself from the exterior world and dampening Skye''s roaring technique.

    Inside the dome, Selene began to use her affinity for darkness to absorb the ambient energy and convert it to bolster her own strength.

    Skye was momentarily taken aback by the sudden obsidian shield. She recognized the technique: [Moonlit Sanctuary]. An advanced spell known to a few in the sect, it provided the user with a temporary shelter to recuperate and strategize.

    Understanding the potential threat, Skye didn''t wait.

    She began to pour her elemental energy into the Sovereign''s Edge, infusing it with a water and wind vortex, and then she thrust the sword forward. The resulting attack, [Azure Vortex Strike], spiraled towards the dark dome, the swirling energies threatening to tear it apart.

    Inside the [Moonlit Sanctuary], Selene could sense the impending danger. She concentrated on her ive and initiated the [Lunar Eclipse] technique. This maneuver was designed to absorb and redirect energy, and as Skye''s attack hit the dome, the absorbed energy was channeled into Selene''s weapon.

    The dome dissipated, revealing a reinvigorated Selene, her ive glowing with the absorbed energy. She lunged back at Skye with increased power. The arena was filled with the brilliance of the moon as Selene unleashed crescent after crescent of energy.

    Sensing the shift in momentum, Skye focused on her defense. Using the [Azure Dragon''s Shield], she created a barrier of swirling water and wind. Selene''s crescent attacks mmed into the barrier one after another, causing ripples of energy to cascade outwards.

    The audience was on the edge of their seats, their eyes darting back and forth, following the swift exchanges between the two fighters.

    Suddenly, Skye sensed a momentarypse in Selene''s rhythm.

    Seizing the opportunity, she countered with her [Tempest Surge], a move thatbined her Divine Ocean Tempest Physique with the might of the Azure Dragon''s Wrath technique.

    A massive tidal wave, surrounded by gusts of wind, surged towards Selene.

    Caught off-guard, Selene tried to deflect it with her [Lunar Eclipse], but the sheer force was too much. She was engulfed by the tidal wave and sent crashing to the ground, her ive skidding away.

    The arena fell silent, save for the sound of water gently receding. Skye, breathing heavily, stood over Selene with her sword pointed downwards at her neck.

    "Winner �C Skye!" Aelina announced, ending the match.

    Selene slowly got up, soaked and panting. She picked up her ive and gave Skye a nod of acknowledgment. "You truly are amazing, Sister Skye."

    Skye, smiling warmly, extended her hand. "And you, Sister Selene. That was a great battle. I''d love to spar with you sometime after thepetition is over."

    Selene took her hand and nodded. "I''d like that as well. However, before you think of that, you should probably prepare for your next battles." She said while ncing at the Core Disciples, especially Mira.

    Skye''s gaze alsonded on Mira, who was just standing off to the side, alone.

    Suddenly, Mira turned to look at her, and Skye couldn''t help but freeze up as she met those blood-red eyes. Mira didn''t even do anything, but she already felt like she was thrown into a bloody battlefield where a demon ran amok, chopping everything into pieces.

    In that illusion, she felt her limbs get ripped off, her organs torn to shreds, and her body tossed aside like trash. Mira snorted coldly and looked away, causing the vision to end.

    Skye was left standing there with sweat pouring out of her body like a broken faucet.

    "...Are you okay?" Selene asked, breaking Skye out of her thoughts.

    "...Y-Yeah. You''re right. I definitely need to p-prepare." With that said, Skye ran off to get a breather, leaving Selene behind.

    As soon as they left, Aelina then called for the next matches.

 Chapter 829 Prime Disciple Competition: 2nd Round; Miras Dominance

    Chapter 829 Prime Disciple Competition: 2nd Round; Mira''s Dominance

    As the tournament progressed, various contestants disyed their extraordinary abilities and mastery of techniques. A few hours passed, with the sun now high in the sky as the first round came to a close.

    Here were the results of the matches that swiftly followed:

    [Lyria vs. Cordelia: Lyria emerged victorious]

    [Nh vs. ra�CWinner: Nh]

    [Cine vs. Ilyana�CWinner: Cine]

    [Aria vs. Sylra�CWinner: Aria]

    [Asami vs. Arielle�CWinner: Asami]

    [Althea vs. Melina�CWinner: Althea]

    [Tessa vs. Fa�CWinner: Tessa]

    [Rhea vs. Luna�CWinner: Rhea]

    [Talina vs. Lyana�CWinner: Talina]

    The arena was alive with the roar of the crowd as the next group topete was announced: Mira, Seraphina, Nova, Rayna, Eden, Everly, Lyria, Nh, Cine, Aria, Asami, Althea, Tessa, Rhea, Skye, and Talina.

    This line-up wasn''t all that surprising, with most of them being Core Disciples, Direct Disciples, or those with the strength/cultivation of a Core Disciple. Skye was the only major surprise in the first round, but now it was time for the real battles to begin.

    Thebatants waited at the edge of the arena, each immersed in their thoughts and strategies, preparing themselves mentally for the grueling battles ahead.

    "That concludes the first round of eliminations! We will begin the second round immediately!" Aelina''s voice cut through the noise, announcing the next match, "Mira vs. Talina! Approach the arena!"

    Mira stepped forward, the blood-red re in her eyes sweeping across the arena like a foreboding shadow. Her presence seemed to silence the crowd, turning the vibrant atmosphere into one filled with a chilling sense of dread.

    On the opposite side, Talina entered the arena, a determined me burning in her eyes. She appearedposed, ready to face the ominous force that was Mira. As someone who had reached the 2nd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm within the Secret Realm, she certainly wasn''t an easy target.

    As the barrier went up, Mira and Talina faced each other. A silence descended, the crowd holding their breath in anticipation of the sh between the powerful energies that bothbatants possessed.

    Mira had to respect the fact that Talina walked up so confidently. However, she was growing bored of this. She wanted to fight someone strong, not these nobodies.

    ''Put me up against Nova or something. Hell, even Cine looked quite strong. It''s been a while since we''ve fought, and it''d be good to check on her progress. She should be able to put up a decent fight.'' She grumbled, ring at Aelina, who just stuck her tongue out at her.

    ''That fucking�� She did this on purpose, didn''t she?'' Mira had spected this, but now she was sure. This whole fuckingpetition was rigged. It was just a ce for the top disciples to show off their strength in front of the rest of the Sect.

    As the cherry on top, she could ''promote'' Mira, so nobody objected when she eventually became the Prime Disciple.

    For a moment, she thought about losing intentionally just to piss Aelina off but quickly knocked that urge down as a feeling of disgust overwhelmed her.

    Lose? To these weaklings? Her?!

    ''Not a chance in hell!'' She roared internally, her bloodline almosting to life as it pulsed inside her.

    Her gaze shifted over to Talina like a predator that just spotted its prey. The poor girl nearly fainted when she saw the killing intent oozing out of Mira''s body, but she bit her tongue and forced herself to stand tall. She couldn''t give up now!

    "I''ll force Aelina to use everything at her disposal to save you," Mira said in a deep, throaty voice that sent shivers down Talina''s spine.

    "Wha-?!"

    She didn''t get to finish her words as Mira waved her hands. Instantly, two giant ice walls appeared on either side of Talina. Her eyes widened in fear, but it was toote. The two walls smashed into one another with her in the center.

    A resounding crack rang throughout the arena, followed by a muffled cry of agony. The crowd went silent as they watched in horror one of their fellow disciples get smashed like a pancake.

    Mira snapped her fingers and the walls burst into a mist of ice, leaving behind an icy rock with Talina frozen in the middle, her face still reflecting the pain she went through. Her heart was still beating, and a faint life signature emanated from her, but she was clearly at the end of the line. Without immediate treatment, she would die.

    She directed her gaze back at Aelina, whose face had be solemn and sent her a Sound Transmission. ''Parade me around like some zoo animal again, and bodies will start dropping.''

    "..."

    Aelina didn''t respond, but she lowered the barrier and allowed the Elders to rush in and grab Talina before dragging her off to get immediate treatment.

    With a sigh, she sent them a Sound Transmission, ''...Do everything you can to heal her.''

    ''Yes, Sect Master!'' They responded.

    With a sigh, Aelina watched Mira leave the arena. There was no need to call the winner, as it was more than obvious. A part of her almost wished Mira had just killed the woman, as the amount of resources it would take to save Talina wasn''t small.

    Everything about her was broken systematically, except for core and meridians. With the help of the Elders, there shouldn''t be anysting damage, as Mira had made sure to leave her in a near-perfect broken state.

    With Talina''s talent and strength, plus the damage, it would require Mystic-Grade pills and herbs to heal her, which she didn''t exactly have an abundance of.

    With another sigh, she rested her head on the seat with her arm. ''At least Mira is growing those in her�� farm��''

    That''s when she realized that Mira was still carrying around arge chunk of the Sect''s foundation. Pissing her off now was no different than putting the entire Sect on the line!

    ''Fuck!'' Her amethyst eyes glowed. ''...Looks like I''ll have to tone it down a bit before I get all those back.''

    Taking a deep breath, Aelina called for the next match. "Seraphina and Tessa! Come up!"

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira walked off to the side of the arena and leaned against a pole with her eyes closed. Everyone around her backed away in fear, not wanting to be her next victim.

    She knew she may have been a bit excessive, but that was the only way she could think of that would send a message.

    ''Don''t fuck with me.'' That''s what she wanted to tell everyone, mainly Aelina.

    The woman''s been bothering her for a while now, and the fact that she was treating this tournament as an advertisement for her eventual win was thest thread of her already minuscule patience.

    ''You can order me around toplete certain tasks or do certain things, but don''t get in the way of my fights.'' She inwardly grumbled. ''I already don''t like fighting those weaker than me, but now she''s deliberately putting me against people she knows can''t win against me?!''

    For some reason, her bloodline abhorred the thought, and she just snapped. Everything happened so fast that by the time she could collect herself, Talina was already frozen.

    ''...I should probably give the girl something after this to make up for my mistake.'' She thought, her frown deepening before she sighed. ''Haa�� Emotions suck.''

    It seemed she was still riled up about Maria''s absence, and it was affecting her more than she thought it would. ''Tch. What a shitshow.'' She clicked her tongue and fell into meditation to clear up these distracting thoughts.

    Aelina watched all of this from the side and shook her head. ''This girl�� Why is she so unstable?'' A part of her wanted to ask Mira what was wrong, but she refrained from doing so. It''s not like she would tell her. ''I should definitely cut the teasing before she threatens to burn down everything.''

    While all of this was happening, the crowd had momentarily forgotten about Mira''s outrage as they were captivated by Seraphina and Tessa''s fight.

    Attacks, Techniques, and spells were flying around, shaking the barrier and ripping up the ground.

    At that moment, the arena felt a shift as a mixture of water and metal energies began to converge around Seraphina''s shield.

    The air thickened, and a cold, metallic scent spread throughout. Before everyone''s eyes, the energies solidified, forming a colossal five-meter-tall replica of Seraphina''s shield.

    Tessa, sensing the imminent danger, quickly mustered her defenses, gathering her energy into a protective barrier around her.

    With a battle cry, Seraphina charged forward, clutching her shield tightly. The ground trembled under her feet as the massive energy shield surged ahead, moving with a momentum that was almost impossible to stop.

    Waiting for the perfect moment, she bashed with her shield, sending the giant energy construct crashing towards Tessa.

    Despite her defenses, the force of the impact sent Tessa sprawling. But she wasn''t defeated just yet. She rolled away with almost perfect reflexes, narrowly avoiding beingpletely crushed.

    Without missing a beat, Seraphinaunched herself into the air, her sword poised and ready to strike. Her eyes locked onto Tessa''s. With a powerful thrust, she aimed for her fallen opponent.

    However, Tessa somehow managed to block the strike, using her weapon to parry the attack.

    But she had little time to celebrate, for Seraphina''s momentum was unstoppable. Using her shield, Seraphina bashed Tessa right in the face, forcing the back of her head into the ground with a resounding thud.

    Before Tessa could recover, Seraphina''s sword was at her throat.

    "Winner �C Seraphina!" Aelina announced.

 Chapter 830 Prime Disciple Competition: Close Battle

    Chapter 830 Prime Disciple Competition: Close Battle

    As the dust settled and the aftershocks from the explosive battle faded, the victor stood tall while her opponenty on the ground, gasping for breath. The audience, which had been caught up in the whirlwind of emotions, rose to their feet to cheer and p, expressing their admiration for Seraphina''s prowess.

    However, as the apuse echoed around, there was a somber mood amidst certain factions of the spectators.

    Many were core disciples and direct disciples who realized the vast difference in strength between themselves and the top contenders. The previous match with Mira and Talina had already shaken their morale, and Seraphina''s powerful disy added anotheryer of unease.

    Beside the arena, Asami and Cine exchanged nces. The two had grown closer ever since they arrived at the Battle Maiden Sect, and without words, theymunicated a shared sense of resolve. Their uing matches would be against opponents of considerable strength, but neither was willing to be outdone by the disys they had just witnessed.

    Seraphina, meanwhile, offered Tessa a hand, helping her up. "You put up a good fight," shemended with a warm smile.

    Tessa nodded, catching her breath. "You too. I wasn''t expecting that shield construct. I''ll be ready next time," she replied with a yful wink.

    As the two walked off the arena, another pair was called forward: "Nova versus Rhea! Approach the arena!"

    The arena had reformed back to its original state before they could approach.

    As Tessa and Seraphina departed from the arena, a tense atmosphere settled. Nova''s previous battles had already established her as a force to be reckoned with, but not much was known about Rhea aside from her affinity for the Earth element.

    Rhea stepped forward, her tall, muscr physique a stark contrast to Nova''s sleek and agile form. Her skin bore a rich bronze tone reminiscent of baked earth. Her deep green eyes sparkled with a challenging glint, and her brown hair was pulled back into a tight braid.

    In her hand, she held a massive Warhammer, its head engraved with ancient runes. Rumors had it that Rhea was rted to the spirits of the Earth, giving her the unique ability to harness not just Earth but also the 4 basic elements(fire, water, wind, earth) to a lesser degree.

    However, the Secret Realm should''ve transformed her into something greater, so everyone was looking forward to seeing her full power. They were both at the 7th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, making this one of the more equal battles so far.

    The protective barrier rose once again, and as it did, the ground beneath Rhea began to tremble, emanating ripples of energy.

    The initial trembles evolved into thunderous quakes as Rhea started channeling her power. Earth spires rose from the ground, each pulsating with elemental energy. But what truly captivated the audience was the flickering me at the tip of one spire, the whirlwind around another, and the cascade of water flowing down a third.

    Rhea''s deep connection to Earth, bolstered by her experiences in the Secret Realm, had allowed her to meld the primary elements seamlessly.

    Nova took a deep breath, her ck mes swirling around her, ready to devour everything in their path. She struck first, lunging at Rhea with an [Eclipsed Spear Surge]. But Rhea, channeling the Wind affinity, dodged the strike with surprising agility for someone of her stature.

    In response, Rhea swung her massive warhammer, aiming directly for Nova. The air thickened, forming a dense wall ofbined elemental energy. As Nova deflected the warhammer, the shockwave created sent gusts of wind, which then ignited, creating rings of fire that expanded outwards.

    Rhea''s Earth affinity allowed her to shape the battlefield at will. Nova found herself leaping and dodging fissures and elemental traps that sprung up unexpectedly. At one point, she narrowly avoided being encased in a water sphere that sought to drown her.

    However, Nova''s [Ouroboros Bloodline] and her newfound techniques were nothing short of formidable.

    With a swift movement, she unleashed the [Ouroboros ze], a tempest of ck mes that sought to consume everything. Rhea''s elemental defenses crumbled against it, but she held her ground, her warhammer glowing brighter.

    Rhea, realizing she needed a new approach, channeled all four elements into her weapon. With a deafening roar, she unleashed the [Elemental Cataclysm]��a radiant burst ofbined elemental energy.

    The arena turned chaotic: water torrents, raging firestorms, sweeping gusts, and shifting grounds all merged into one catastrophic attack.

    But Nova countered with her [Eclipsed Descent].

    The arena darkened, casting an ominous shadow as a massive ck sun emerged, shing violently against Rhea''s elemental onught.

    The collision was of such magnitude that even the protective barrier shimmered, threatening to break. shes of elemental light,bined with the consuming darkness, left spectators shielding their eyes, only able to sense the titanic sh through the deafening roars and ground tremors.

    And then, silence.

    As the dust settled, bothbatants stood mere meters apart, weapons aimed at each other, their breathing heavy. The ground was obliterated, leaving a catastrophic crater where the arena existed.

    For a moment, neither moved, the tension palpable.

    Finally, Nova lowered her spear, admitting, "Your power... is beyond what I anticipated."

    Rhea, smirking with a mix of exhaustion and satisfaction, responded, "You''re not too bad yourself."

    "However-" Nova raised her hand and shot a vortex of all-consuming ck mes at her opponent. "-I hope you have more in store, as I''m just getting started."

    Rhea mmed her warhammer into the ground, raising grey, almost metallic stone bs in front of her, which blocked the mes'' path. Then she leaped over them with her weapon raised as she brought it down onto Nova''s head.

    Thetter raised her spear and blocked it, but the force of the attack shot into the ground, creating a spiderweb of cracks.

    "I''d be disappointed if you weren''t," Rhea responded with a smile before her expression shifted.

    With a growl, Rhea charged forward, warhammer glowing with multicolored light, abination of all four elements. The runes engraved on it lit up one by one, releasing beams of elemental energy towards Nova. The earth trembled, fires raged, tornadoes formed, and water spiraled, converging on one point.

    However, Nova began to twirl her spear overhead. The rotation was so swift it seemed to create a protective dome around her, repelling the elemental onught. The ck mes wrapped around the spear began to coil, forming an intricate serpentine pattern in the air.

    "Time to end this," Nova whispered, her voice echoing with a transcendental quality.

    In response, Rhea shouted, "[Elemental Heartbeat]!" The warhammer''s head pounded like a beating heart, resonating with the very essence of the elements, sending rhythmic shockwaves that disrupted Nova''s protective dome, cracking it at various points.

    Nova, eyes narrowing,unched her most potent attack. "[Ouroboros Ascension]!" Her spear and its apanying ck mes soared, tearing through the arena''s atmosphere and even the barrier, reformed as a gargantuan serpent in the sky, its maw open, ready to devour.

    Aelina and the Elders all scurried over to protect the audience. Luckily, this onlysted a fraction of a second, so nobody was seriously injured.

    Rhea, sensing the overwhelming threat, embedded her warhammer into the ground, the ancient runes glowing brilliantly. "[Elemental Sanctuary]!" she cried. From her warhammer, an enormous dome made of the merged elements emerged, protecting her and causing the serpent''s descent to be met with fierce resistance.

    The two techniques shed with a fury that defied description. Nova''s serpent sought to consume, its mes burning brighter and hotter as it met Rhea''s sanctuary. On the other hand, Rhea''s protective barrier, while initially resilient, began to show cracks as the serpent''s heat and force bore down on it.

    Both fighters were at their limits, pouring every ounce of their soul power into their respective techniques. The collision between the Ouroboros Ascension and the Elemental Sanctuary sent ripples of energy outwards, distorting the very fabric of space around them.

    With one final, ear-splitting roar, the serpent broke through the sanctuary, its mes enveloping Rhea. Yet, the earth maiden didn''t scream or shout; she faced the onught with her head held high, her silhouette visible amidst the dark mes.

    As the smoke cleared and the energies dissipated, Rhea was on her knees, her warhammer beside her, her clothes singed, and her body bearing nasty 3rd-degree burn marks.

    Nova, though victorious, wasn''t unscathed. She panted heavily, her spear back in hand but her stance showed fatigue.

    Rhea managed a weak smile, "Incredible power, Nova."

    Nova offered her hand to Rhea, just as Seraphina had done for Tessa earlier. "The honor was mine. That was the most challenging battle I''ve ever faced."

    The audience, who had been holding their breath for what seemed like an eternity, erupted in thunderous apuse.

    "Winner �C Nova!" Aelina announced, and the cheers only grew louder.

    Mira also nodded as a budding battle intent surged in her heart. She wished she could jump up onto the arena and take them both on, but she forcefully calmed down and went back to her meditation.

 Chapter 831 Prime Disciple Competition: The Strongest Contestants

    Chapter 831 Prime Disciple Competition: The Strongest Contestants

    The aftermath of Nova and Rhea''s cataclysmic battle was felt not just within the boundaries of the Battle Maiden Sect''s arena but throughout the entire sect itself.

    It had been a long time since two fighters of such caliber had shed with such unrestrained power. Their battle had set a new standard, one that many disciples now aspired to reach.

    Mira, who was now deep in meditation, was interrupted by a soft touch on her shoulder. It was Seraphina.

    "Feeling the itch to fight?" Seraphina teased, noticing Mira''s earlier restlessness. Although part of her wanted to confront Mira about her earlier spectacle��

    She was too nervous. What if she gets frozen in a block of ice with all her bones broken? Since neither Aelina nor any of the Elders said anything, she figured Talina would be fine.

    ''Though, she might have a bit of mental trauma afterward.'' Seraphina inwardly shook her head and decided she''d visit the poor woman after thepetition. Taking the brunt of Mira''s power like that would certainly leave a mark, and she didn''t want that to turn into a Heart Demon.

    Mira opened her eyes and stared at Seraphina, who couldn''t help but feel ufortable under those blood-red eyes.

    ''...Yeah. I need to see Talina after this.'' She mentally noted.

    "Mmhm." Mira nodded indifferently, but Seraphina could see she was about to pop.

    "Are you okay?" She asked, and Mira paused before she nodded.

    "...My bloodline''s a bit agitated. I wish I could just get up there and fight you all at once to get this over with."

    "..." Seraphina''s face froze, but then she chuckled awkwardly. "...Do you really think you could take us all on?" She asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

    Mira closed her eyes and thought about it for a second. She reyed all the fights she''d seen up until now, pitting them against her. After a few rounds of mental simtions, she shrugged.

    "I don''t know." She answered honestly before a smirk crept up on her lips. "But that''s why it''s interesting."

    "...I see," Seraphina replied, somewhat satisfied with that response. However, part of her still felt like Mira was being a bit arrogant. They were all once-in-a-lifetime geniuses, okay?! For Mira to say she could beat them all at once was a little much!

    Still, she wasn''t bothered by this and smiled. "Who do you think''s the strongest so far?"

    "Based on pure power alone, Nova," Mira responded immediately. "However, you, Nova, Lyria, and Rhea are close. But there''s also a chance for everyone other than Skye topete for the top position. You''re all quite strong."

    Before Seraphina could respond, Mira continued, "However, as long as Rayna doesn''t fight me before the finals, she''lle in second."

    "Huh? You think so? What about Nova? She''s looking unstoppable! Rhea was probably the only one who had a chance at defeating her, yet she still lost! With her bloodline, physique, experience, and cultivation, I think she even has a good shot at beating you! Not to mention, Rayna is an assassin. These kinds of tournaments take away her main advantage�Cstealth!" Seraphina countered, but Mira just scoffed and didn''t bother to exin.

    What Seraphina said was a good argument, but all Rayna has to do is hit someone one time, and she''s effectively won. Her poison,bined with her bloodline, was too potent. With how skilled everyone was at this level, it was nearly impossible not to get hit a single time.

    "Rayna and Nh! Come to the stage!" Aelina suddenly announced.

    "Just watch," Mira said as she directed her attention back to the arena. Seraphina pouted but did the same.

    In the arena, two figures took their positions. Rayna, the infamous assassin with her deadly poison affinity and the equally feared Lesser Shadow Basilisk Bloodline, stood at one end.

    On the other end was Nh, a disciple known for her Divine Smander Physique, which enhanced her fire affinity, regeneration, fire invulnerability, physical strength, and more. She was at the 6th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, and her weapon of choice �C the me-wreathed Whip.

    The tension in the arena was palpable as the two stared each other down. There was a silent understanding between them: avoid getting hit at all costs.

    For Nh, a single touch from Rayna could mean the end. For Rayna, a direct hit from Nh''s me attacks could cause severe damage.

    Without hesitation, Nh was the first to move. If she wanted to win, she needed to take down Rayna quickly. The longer the battlested, the more chances Rayna would have.

    Using her Fire Affinity, she channeled her Qi and brought forth a torrent of mes from her whip, aiming directly for Rayna. The fire licked the air, causing the arena''s temperature to spike and the newly reformed ground to turn into magma.

    Rayna, however, wasn''t one to be easily caught.

    With the dexterity attributed to her Lesser Shadow Basilisk Bloodline, she melded into the shadows, avoiding the fiery assault. Her movements were so swift and stealthy that even Core and Direct disciples had difficulty tracking her.

    To the naked eye, she was practically invisible.

    The crowd watched with wide eyes as Nh tried to control the battlefield.

    With each swing of her whip, mes spiraled and roared, creating walls and barriers to corner Rayna. She also summoned mythical me creatures like a Phoenix, Smander, and Dragon, which darted around, looking for any sign of Rayna.

    She kept her Soul Sense spread, but she could only see faint fluctuations in the space before it switched to another spot in the arena.

    But Rayna was patient. She knew that all she needed was a single opening. Now that she had seen everyone fight at least once, she knew what to do.

    ''The less I show, the higher chance I have of winning.'' Was Rayna''s current thought process.

    After a series of dodges and evasions, Rayna saw her chance. Nh, in her urgency to pin down Rayna, left her left nk exposed for just a split second. Rayna lunged, a dagger coated in her potent poison aimed straight for Nh''s arm.

    Nh sensed the danger and tried to move away, but it was toote. The dagger grazed her arm, leaving a thin trail of blood. The poison immediately took effect. Nh''s face turned pale, and her movements became sluggish.

    Rayna didn''t waste any more time. With a swift movement, she struck again, this timending a clean hit on Nh''s leg, ensuring her victory.

    Nh tried to retaliate with a final burst of mes, but her energy was waning fast. She copsed on the ground, the effects of Rayna''s poison clearly visible on her face as purple veins protruded from her skin.

    The audience was in awe. Even though Nh had put up an impressive fight, all it took was two hits from Rayna to end it.

    Aelina stepped forward, "The winner is Rayna!"

    Rayna nodded and waved her hand, removing all the poison from Nh''s body and returning to somewhat normal. Nh would still need to recover for at least a few days to return to peak condition.

    The woman pouted watching Rayna leave the arena, but in the end, she just stood up and bowed before she left as well.

    Seraphina, still in her conversation with Mira, turned to her with an acknowledging nod, "You were right. With what she''s shown, orck thereof, Rayna definitely has the highest potential of making it to the finals. As long as you two don''t face off before that."

    "Hmph!" Mira snorted and closed her eyes again.

    The next few battles went by quickly. Mira didn''t bother to watch them, as the result was apparent before they even started.

    Eden went up against Aria, another Core Disciple who ced 14th on the leaderboard. She was higher up than Rhea! Not that the point system was a good indication of strength, but it did show her experience.

    It was a rather close match, not as close as Nova vs. Rhea, but a lot longer. Aria was too swift on her feet, dodging, blocking, and counterattacking all of Eden''s shots. The match got so heated that the barrier had to be taken down as it turned into an ariel battle.

    Eventually, Eden got a few good shots off from her bow and immobilized Aria, giving her the win.

    Next up was Everly vs. Althea, who was ranked 19th. That match was nothing less than a ughter. As soon as it started, Everly went all out and bombed the entire arena, nearly incapacitating both of them, but as her body was stronger, Everly won.

    She tried to take a page out of Rayna''s book, just in the other direction. If she used overwhelming power, she didn''t have to show off her techniques.

    The second tost battle of this round was between Asami and Skye. It was probably the most anticipated matchup so far.

    ***

    [A/N: I''m going to take a poll. Who do you want to win?

    Asami

    Skye

    Vote in thements!]

 Chapter 832 Prime Disciple Competition: Skye vs. Asami

    Chapter 832 Prime Disciple Competition: Skye vs. Asami

    "Who do you think will win this round?"

    "Obviously, Asami. No offense to Skye, but the difference in cultivation is too wide."

    "I agree. Even if Skye is more talented than Asami, which is questionable, the gap between the Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm isn''t small."

    "I don''t know. I think Skye could pull it off."

    "Hah~! Wanna bet?"

    "Hell yeah! How much?"

    "100 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

    "You''re on!"

    The crowd buzzed with anticipation as Asami and Skye made their way to the arena. They already knew a little about Skye''s prowess, her Azure Drake bloodline, and [Azure Dragon''s Wrath] technique series. However, Asami hadn''t shown much. She was in the 2nd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, but that''s about all most people knew.

    All most people knew was that she traveled with Cine, another unexpected talent, a lot and used her Darkness affinity to take her opponents down.

    On one side, Skye stood with a fierce aura radiating from her that resembled the legendary tempests. She stared at her opponent with fierce eyes, the way a conqueror might eye their next target.

    On the opposite end, Asami''s presence was more enigmatic. She radiated a uniquely powerful yet silent energy. Not many knew that she had obtained the Nightshade Roc Bloodline and Lunar Silhouette Physique.

    In her hands were two fans, which she held gracefully. Although she used to be rtively strong with them before, after she entered the Secret Realm, she was able to improve her techniques ande up with a series called "Midnight Gale Dance." There were seven parts to the technique, each used for a specific purpose.

    "Don''t think you can win just because you have a higher cultivation than me!" Skye suddenly shouted, alerting everyone. "I might be weaker, but I will make it to the next round! If I can''t, then I''m taking you down with me!"

    Asami just looked at the girl and shrugged. "You''re wee to try."

    "That''s right, Skye! Take her down!"

    "WOOO! Go Skye!"

    "No! Destroy her, Asami! My money''s on the line!"

    "Fuck you! I bet my life savings on this match! You better win, Asami!"

    The crowd cheered for different reasons, but when the barrier went up, things settled down as it signaled the beginning of the match.

    The initial stillness in the barrier-encased arena was palpable. While Skye was determined to prove her worth, Asami remained unyielding, confident in her superior cultivation.

    With a swift movement, Skye drew upon her [Azure Dragon''s Wrath]. The ground trembled as a massive azure-colored dragon formed, coiling around her, roaring to life. With a swift gesture, the dragon lunged at Asami, its sharp ws glistening in the sunlight.

    In response, Asami initiated her first move of the technique, [Whispering Shadow Waltz]. She nimbly danced across the field, leaving shadowy afterimages behind. The azure dragon, taken aback, hesitated momentarily, swiping at illusions rather than its intended target.

    Using the dragon''s momentary confusion, Skye jumped into the air, shouting, "Azure Vortex Strike!" Twirling her sword, a powerful whirlwind took form, pulling everything in its vicinity. Asami''s shadowy decoys were instantly annihted.

    However, Asami was ready.

    Drawing upon her [Nightshade Cyclone], the second move, a whirlwind imbued with dark energy, formed to counteract Skye''s vortex.

    The two whirlwinds shed, dark and azure energies swirling together, creating a dazzling spectacle for the audience. Their energies met in a stalemate, canceling each other out and leaving the field covered in a mist of energy residues.

    Skye, without missing a beat, channeled her [Azure Dragon''s Roar]. From her position, a sonic wave erupted, disorienting everything in its path. Asami staggered, momentarily blinded by the sheer force of the soundwaves.

    Seizing this advantage, Skye aimed her sword, executing the [Tempest Surge], sending forth a stormy tidal wave that covered the arena.

    However, Asami was not one to be easily defeated. Channeling the power of her [Lunar Silhouette Physique], she activated her [Lunar Mirage Drift], the 3rd move.

    Multiple moonlit silhouettes appeared, all mimicking Asami''s movements, dispersing Skye''s energy des amongst them.

    Skye gritted her teeth, realizing she needed to up her game. She summoned the protective [Azure Dragon''s Shield] around her, concentrating her energy on her next move.

    Asami, taking advantage of this brief respite, utilized her [Dusk Zephyr de], the 5th move. With graceful flicks of her fan, crescent-shaped des of wind imbued with darkness energy cut through the air, aiming at Skye.

    The [Azure Dragon''s Shield] absorbed most of the impact, but a few des managed to pierce through, causing minor injuries to Skye.

    Undeterred, Skye''s eyes zed with a fierce determination. "I will not be defeated!" She shouted, summoning the pinnacle move of her Azure Dragon''s Wrath series.

    Asami prepared herself, knowing that Skye''s next move would be formidable.

    True to her expectations, Skye unleashed a massive surge of azure energy, covering the entire arena. Asami activated her [Moonlit Eclipse Guard], the 6th move, just in time, creating a protective barrier made of rotating winds and shadow energy.

    The azure energy shed against Asami''s guard, a loud, ear-piercing sound echoing across the arena as the two powerful forces met. The barrier shimmered and wavered but held strong, reflecting some of the energy back towards Skye.

    Exhausted but not defeated, Skyeunched her final desperate attack, [Azure Dragon''s Ascension]. She poured all her remaining energy into this move, making it more potent than before.

    Asami, realizing the immense power behind this attack, readied her ultimate technique, [Starfall Shadow Burst]. As she released the energy upward, the arena darkened, and momentster, a barrage of dark stars rained upon the battlefield.

    A mix of all of Skye''s earlier techniquesbined into a single, illusory Azure Dragon. It floated behind Skye, staring down at Asami as if it wanted to eat her alive! It let out a soul-shrieking roar, causing all the weaker disciple''s ears to bleed.

    As the one who took the brunt of it, Asami appeared dazed for a moment, with blood dripping down the sides of her head, but she bit her tongue to remain focused.

    The Azure Dragon took to the sky before swirling around and dropping onto Asami with the weight of a mountain.

    The two attacks shed mid-air, creating an explosive impact that sent shockwaves throughout the arena. The barrier trembled, nearly breaking under the immense force. Bothbatants exploded backward as they mmed into the barrier, their clothes tattered and faces smeared with dirt, sweat, and blood.

    As the dust settled, Skyey on the ground, unconscious but alive. Asami stood on the other side, panting heavily, her fans dropped beside her. It was clear to everyone that the match had taken a toll on both fighters.

    "Winner �C Asami!" Aelina announced.

    The barrier lowered, and the audience erupted into a thunderous apuse, their shouts echoing in the vast arena.

    "Unbelievable!" One spectator eximed.

    "Worth every Spirit Stone I bet!" Another shouted.

    "I knew she''d win! Pay up!" A woman yelled, shaking herpanion by the shoulder.

    Cine quickly dashed onto the arena to check on her friend. She knelt beside Asami, helping her to her feet. Asami swayed slightly but, with Cine''s support, managed to stand tall.

    Members of the medical team quickly made their way to Skye, checking her vitals and administering a healing elixir.

    The atmosphere was thick with respect for both fighters. Regardless of the oue, they both showcased extraordinary talent and resilience.

    As Asami made her way out of the arena, leaning heavily on Cine, several participants approached her, each offering words of respect andmendation. Even some of the older generation cultivators nodded in acknowledgment, a rare show of respect.

    "That girl has improved quite a bit," One of the Outer Court Elders muttered. "It wasn''t long ago when she was just a fledgling. While the Secret Realm was definitely amazing, her original talent isn''t anything to scoff at."

    Back at the resting areas, Skye was being attended to by her fellow n members. The healing elixirs had worked wonders, and though she was still fatigued, she was conscious and alert.

    "I�� I lost, didn''t I?" Skye whispered, her voice hoarse.

    A young woman next to her, one that had followed her during the Crimson yer Sect war, held her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "It doesn''t matter. You fought with honor and showed everyone your strength. That''s what counts."

    Skye sighed but managed a small smile. "Thank you."

    Asami, meanwhile, was in another area, recovering. The exhration of victory was slowly reced by exhaustion, both mental and physical. As shey on a soft cushion, she closed her eyes, recalling the fierce battle.

    "I almost lost," she murmured.

    Cine, sitting beside her, gently brushed Asami''s hair back. "But you didn''t. However, I do have to admit that Skye was actually a tough opponent. I don''t think anyone expected her to put up such a good fight. Next time, just try not to draw out the battle."

    Asami opened her eyes, gazing at her friend with a mixture of gratitude and something else(?). "Thank you, Cine. I promise I''ll be even stronger for the next round."

 Chapter 833 Prime Disciple Competition: Final Battle of Round 2

    Chapter 833 Prime Disciple Competition: Final Battle of Round 2

    While Asami and Cine were conversing, Mira suddenly barged into the room.

    "Mira?"

    "What are you doing here?"

    They both asked in surprise, as it''d been a while since Mira had approached them like this. Normally, she''d ask for their presence, or they visited her, so this was a bit uncharacteristic.

    Mira sat down next to Asami,pletely ignoring her as all her attention was on Cine. She released her Soul Sense and scanned every part of the woman''s body despite how rude it was. However, Cine didn''t mind. It''s not like she could do anything to stop it, either.

    "It seems your time in the Secret Realm was fruitful." Mira nodded, satisfied with Cine''s progress, which surprised the two.

    Mira? Satisfied? Who was this person?!

    They seriously wondered if the person in front of them was a fake, but thatmanding aura couldn''t be replicated.

    "Y-Yeah��" Cine nodded, a little ufortable. "I guess you could say I''ve gained quite a bit. I''ve even surpassed you in cultivation!" She joked, but nobody elseughed.

    "It seems you''ve continued to focus on your saber skills, huh? What stage have you reached? Have you attained the Ruler Realm?"

    Cine thought for a moment before she smirked and shook her head. "I guess you''ll have to find out in my next battle."

    Mira frowned slightly but nodded nheless. It didn''t matter either way. She''d just gotten curious as even though she could sense a huge change within Cine, she couldn''t tell what it was.

    Everything about the woman had undergone some kind of evolution. She hadn''t changed much on the outside, still with green hair, green eyes, and an athletic stature, but the insides of her body�� How should she put this?

    ''They don''t seem human. She seems more saber than flesh.'' Mira thought, but that didn''t make any sense.

    From her point of view, in terms of aura, Cine seemed to be 50% saber, 25% wind, and 25% human. However, she wasn''t sure how that was possible!

    To make things even more interesting, she couldn''t sense a beast bloodline within her at all! She could feel a bloodline within her, just not a beast one.

    ''How peculiar. Now, I want to study her.'' Mira''s eyes gleamed as she stared intently at the poor woman, who shivered in fear under her gaze.

    ''Fuck! Why is she looking at me like that? Why does it feel like she wants to dissect me?!'' She trembled all over, afraid that Mira might actually do it!

    But Mira calmed down and shook her head. Instead, she just asked her. "Do you have a bloodline?"

    Cine hesitantly nodded.

    "What kind?" Mira asked, but Cine paused, wondering if she should share this information. These were her Trump Cards, after all!

    However, Mira was quite possibly the most trustworthy person in the world. So, even though she would be giving away some of her secrets and possibly ruin their next fight, she still decided to tell her.

    "I actually obtained three things, which together, I suppose you could say, make up apletely unique bloodline," Cine said, catching Mira''s attention.

    "First, I obtained something called a Celestial Saber Heart." She pointed at her chest. "It''s reced my heart and gives me near-unparalleled talent with the saber. It also reces my blood with something unique."

    "That''s where the second thinges in, the Ancestral de Veins. These reced my blood vessels, and even a few of my meridians, with what''s essentially a web of sabers."

    "Lastly, I obtained a Spiritual Saber with a unique cultivation technique."

    Mira''s eyes widened at that since thatst part was literally what she had! In fact, they''re a big reason she was able to get to where she is today!

    The power of a Spiritual Weapon and its corresponding cultivation technique isn''t a joke. Combined with everything else, plus whatever else Cine was hiding, she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

    "I see." Mira nodded slowly. "Do you think that''ll be enough to beat Lyria? From what I can tell, she''s about as strong as Everyly or Eden."

    "Hmmm�� I-I''m not sure. She is at the 5th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, while I''m only at the 1st. Our talents aren''t too far apart, but I suppose it really just depends if I cannd a few good hits."

    "Mmhm. Good. Then, I''ll see you after you win. Don''t make me look bad." With that said, Mira disappeared.

    Cine was confused for a moment before she remembered all the girls who had passed to the next round. They were all rted to Mira in some way. She giggled and gave a firm nod.

    ''I guess I can''t lose now.''

    ***

    "My disciples!" Aelina announced, catching everyone''s attention. "Are you ready for the final match of this round?"

    "WOOO!"

    "YEAH!"

    The crowd cheered, much to Aelina''s delight. She gave a slight smile and nodded. "Then, allow me to present to you thest contestants of today, Cine and Lyria!"

    The crowd''s earlier cheers dimmed to an anticipatory hush, with every eye transfixed on the twobatants.

    Lyria, her bright ck hair cascading like a waterfall, while her pale blue eyes exuded a chilling aura. Rumors in the crowd whispered of her cial Spirit Wolf bloodline. The soft glow of her Frostme Scepter pulsed, ice and a unique blue me dancing in a mesmerizing glow.

    With winds wrapping around her, Cine narrowed her eyes. Every muscle in her body was taut, like a drawn bowstring, as she felt the weight of Lyria''s cold gaze. The icy air it produced licked at Cine''s skin, causing small goosebumps to form.

    Without warning, Lyria gracefully raised her scepter. An ethereal [Icy Veil] materialized around her, the shimmering barrier of ice looking imprable and cold as death itself.

    Its sharp, crystalline surface refracted the arena, casting prismatic glows that contrasted starkly against the looming battle.

    With a sudden explosive movement, Cine rushed forward, her saber whistling through the air as she executed the [Divine Zephyr sh]. The arena shook from the force, the sound of wind howling deafeningly. Yet, to her surprise, the Veil absorbed the attack, leaving Lyria untouched.

    Smirking slightly, Lyria retaliated. Her sceptershed out, releasing a whip of intertwined ice and elusive blue me. The [Frostme Lash] snaked rapidly towards Cine, seeking to ensnare and burn. The icy grip tried to constrict Cine, the frost creeping up her body while the blue me sought any opening to scorch her skin.

    Determination lit in Cine''s eyes. Channeling her [Gale de Storm Physique], a whirlwind of saber energy spiraled around her, forming the [Sovereign Vortex Defense]. The icy whip was repelled, and the encroaching mes scattered, unable to find their mark.

    Lyria, however, was far from done. Tapping into her bloodline, she conjured a monolithic [cier''s Edge], directing the titanic de of ice hurtling toward Cine. The shadow it cast darkened the arena, and the very ground trembled under its impending impact.

    The crowd gasped collectively, many believing this to be the end for Cine. Yet, with a shout filled with defiance, she unleashed her [Ancestral de Dance]. A cyclone of shes met the de, the sheer force creating shockwaves that rocked the audience.

    The twobatants, now fully immersed in their own worlds, seemed to enter a weird sort of equilibrium, one of ice and wind. The temperature in the arena oscited wildly, cold one moment and tempestuously windy the next.

    Suddenly, Lyria''s form began to change, with tendrils of icy mist flowing around her.

    From her body, a hauntingly beautiful, cold light began to spread, creating a protectiveyer around her. This was her [Frozen Phoenix Revival] technique.

    On the other side, Cine''s eyes zed with a resolute look sculpting her face. She gripped her saber with a firmness that made the veins on her hands pop. The aura around her fluctuated violently as she channeled her energy. With a deep breath, she activated her [Ruler''s Tempestuous Finale].

    The entire arena seemed to resonate with the force of their powers, the ground shaking and air quivering.

    Cine''s saber began to glow brilliantly, its edge gleaming. The wind roared, now a violent tempest summoned by her will, whirling around her as it bore thousands of razor-sharp shes, each one pulsating with deadly intent��the torrent of saber energy shot forth, directed at Lyria.

    As the two opposing forces met, a sh of ice and wind began.

    Each of Cine''s wind-infused shes was met with Lyria''s protectiveyer of ice.

    Some shattered upon impact, creating a spectacle of glistening ice shards that sparkled in the light. Others tore through, only to be deflected or absorbed by anotheryer of ice that quickly formed to rece the broken one.

    But the relentless onught of Cine''s technique began to take its toll. With each seeding wave, theyers of ice around Lyria grew thinner and less luminous. The reverberations of the sh resounded through the arena, creating a rhythmic pattern that had the audience on the edge of their seats.

    In a desperate move, Lyria channeled the remnants of her energy and, with a piercing cry, released a condensed beam of cold energy, seeking to freeze Cine in her tracks.

    The chilling beam shed with Cine''s final, most powerful sh. The ground beneath them was split right open from the sheer force, and a blinding light consumed the arena, causing spectators to shield their eyes.

    When the dust settled, and the brilliance dimmed, the twobatants stood mere feet from each other, panting heavily.

    Lyria''s Frozen Phoenix form had dissipated, revealing minor cuts and burns on her skin. Cine, though still standing, was visibly drained, her clothes torn in several ces and her hair disheveled.

    However, before Lyria could react, Cine used something that had almost never been seen before on the entire Western Continent.

    Saber Ruler �C Weapon Endowment.

    A domain of extremely sharp, wind-de energy spread out from Cine and covered the entire arena. Lyria froze up, feeling like she had thousands of tiny des pressed against every inch of her skin.

    Without hesitation, Cine closed her eyes and swung her Spiritual Saber. All those tiny des followed her movements and cut into Lyria''s flesh thousands of times.

    "AH!" She screamed out in pain.

    Countless wounds suddenly appeared all over her as blood spewed out of her like a faucet. She fell to the ground and dropped her weapon, only to feel a cold de on the back of her neck.

    Raising her hands in defeat, Lyria gave a bitter smile.

    "Winner �C Cine!"

 Chapter 834 Prime Disciple Competition: Intermission

    Chapter 834 Prime Disciple Competition: Intermission

    The intense battle between Cine and Lyria still lingered in the air as Aelina dered the oue.

    Excitement buzzed through the stands, the crowd electrified by the raw disy of power they''d just seen.

    The lineup for the quarterfinals was: Mira, Seraphina, Nova, Rayna, Eden, Everly, Asami, and Cine.

    It wasn''t obvious to all, but those with a keener sense kept noticing a pattern; these women shared a connection to one person: Mira.

    It wasn''t clear if Mira was directly behind their impressive strength, but one thing was sure��their group had an advantage. Was it a secret training regimen, ess to rare resources, or superior cultivation secrets? The crowd was left to wonder.

    Meanwhile, as medical attendants flocked to Lyria to mend her injuries, Cine remained motionless for a moment to catch her breath. The energy of her Weapon Endowment �C Saber Ruler, soon evaporated, and with it, she sighed and left the arena.

    With the fights concluded, Aelina raised her arms, quieting the crowd. "My disciples, please give a round of apuse for their incredible performances today!"

    The crowd erupted into a thunderous ovation, the sounds of cheers and pping filling the arena like a roaring storm.

    "Now," Aelina continued, her voice amplified to reach every corner of the stadium, "we shall have a brief intermission before the quarterfinalsmence. The next round will start in a couple of hours."

    With that, the crowd got up and dispersed, with everyone still talking about the matches and just how strong the top disciples were.

    Mira wasn''t any different. She saw Nova and the others in the distance, gave them a nod, and walked off toward Rhydian and Elenei, who were both in their human forms.

    "It seems things went about as expected," Elenei muttered, looking at the people who made it to the quarter-finals. "However, it seems the Top 32 doesn''t represent the strongest disciples in the Sect." She said while looking at more than a few women who were at the Peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    "Mmhm." Mira nodded, walking off toward her residence. "Thispetition isn''t about finding the strongest. It''s about who''s most suitable for the Prime Disciple position. Meaning, strongest under 100 years old, or I suppose 80 given that the Central Continent Competition is in a little under 20 years."

    "I see. That makes more sense as I think this would''ve been a lot harder tournament around the board if those older disciples were allowed to participate." Elenei nodded thoughtfully.

    "Who do you think''ll make it to the next round?" Rhydian chimed in. Her words sounded much more fluent after her time in the Secret Realm, but there was still a ''beastly'' ent to it.

    Mira just shrugged, "Doesn''t matter. It''ll be me and Rayna in the finals, anyway. I''m sure Aelina won''t have me fight her before then."

    However, she was a bit worried about that fight. Although her strength right now couldn''t be quantified in simple cultivation terms, there was a limit. She hardly ever dealt with poison, especially one as strong as Rayna''s.

    ''Her poison is too potent. Not only does it destroy one''s body, but it also corrodes the meridians and Qi within whoever is affected, draining them of their energy and causing them to lose control.'' During all of Rayna''s fights, she had done her best to study her poison to try ande up with a countermeasure.

    Right now, all she had was overwhelming strength, but that might very well work against her.

    ''From what I could tell, the stronger the person, the more deadly the poison became, as if it fed off of their energy and not Rayna''s.'' Mira''s eyes narrowed as her mind ran through simtions, but no matter what she tried, once she got hit by any of Rayna''s attacks, she was on the clock.

    She either defeated Rayna before it ran out, or she lost. There wasn''t an in-between.

    ''Tsk.'' Mira clicked her tongue. ''What a fucking overpowered ability.''

    Suddenly, a thought entered her mind, ''Should I purchase something from the Firmament? I''m sure there are a few techniques that can help me deal with the poison.''

    As soon as that crossed her mind, she stopped in her tracks and pped herself.

    The impact caused the ground beneath her to crack, but she paid no mind to that.

    ''Fuck me! What was I thinking? I''m this strong, have received so many different kinds of strength boosts, and I can''t deal with a little snake venom?!'' Mira''s resolve hardened. ''Tsk! If I really lose to Rayna, then I should just kill myself now and forget about my revenge!''

    Her thoughts settled as she walked through the Sect. The Firmament, ever since she received it, had been akin to a backup n.

    Need something? Just earn points and buy it! Need help? The Guardian was there in case things went bad.

    It even granted her new abilities that allowed her to grow stronger at a rate faster than anyone else. However, that Primal Ascendance Convergence showed her that the Firmament wasn''t the greatest thing in the Universe, nor was she the only one allowed to obtain heaven-defying opportunities.

    If she had to constantly rely on an external factor to get by, then she wasn''t worthy of it in the first ce.

    ***

    On the other side of the arena, Rayna silently watched Mira leave with furrowed brows. She also knew that it would very likely be the two of them in the finals. However, unlike Mira, who was confident she could beat everyone else, Rayna wasn''t.

    If it were an open battleground where she could sneak up on her opponent, then yes, she was confident in winning without even being seen. But, in this kind of arena-style setting, the odds were stacked against her.

    She nced at Aelina, who sensed her gaze and turned to smile at her.

    Rayna''s furrowed brows deepened. ''What''s she nning?''

    Suddenly, Aelina disappeared, leaving Rayna to stew in her thoughts.

    ***

    Outside of the Sect, near the base of the mountain, Aelina reappeared with a growing smirk. She looked around the forest, seeing nothing but the dark shadows under the trees, but she could feel dozens of auras within them.

    "You know, it''s rude to show up at someone''s home unannounced." She spoke with a smile, then waved her hands. To the untrained eye, she looked like a crazy person talking to the air, but-

    "ATTACK!" A roar swept through the surroundings, followed by several shing shadows that darted at Aelina.

    The woman in question shook her head with a condescending look. "If you had run for your lives, I would''ve given you a head start. A shame you had to ruin the fun."

    With a flick of her fingers, void bubbles shot toward her attacks, catching them out of thin air. Within them were familiar beasts, part of the n that nearly caused a war between both species after exiting the Secret Realm.

    Shadowfangs.

    There were about a dozen Rank 9s, with several times more Rank 8s. She was more than pleased with this line-up.

    ''The best part is, I didn''t even have to go looking for them.'' She chuckled. It would''ve been a bit annoying if she darted into the beast''s territory and captured half a Divine-Grade n, but it was a different story if they came to her.

    Aelina''s smirk didn''t waver as she waved her hand again, and the caught Shadowfangs were instantly transported.

    Within moments, she stood at the edge of the arena where the Prime Disciple Competition was taking ce. Large, fortified cages materialized from her spatial rings.

    One by one, the Shadowfangs were deposited into these structures, growling and snapping at their sudden captivity.

    "Settle down," Aelina spoke, her voice carrying a mix of amusement and authority. The beasts were forced to shut their mouths as Qi wrapped around them, but their eyes still red at her with hatred.

    She turned away from them, surveying the expansive arena.

    She walked along the periphery, her hands trailing in the air as she channeled more Qi.

    The ground shook slightly, runes glowing to life beneath the soil, creeping like ivy along the walls of the arena. The earth rumbled as sections of the arena floor rose and fell, forming obstacles and varying elevations.

    Suddenly, a group of Elders appeared with wide eyes. "Sect Master Aelina, the preparations are ready. Should we proceed with the enhancements?"

    Aelina nodded, her gaze still fixed on the terrain. "Begin. And make sure the Formations are strong. We wouldn''t want any... idents during the quarterfinals."

    As she spoke, the Elders nodded and immediately got to work.

    Aelina finally stopped walking, her eyes settling on the center of the arena where a grand tform rose. It was from here that she would oversee the quarterfinals.

    Turning her attention back to the caged Shadowfangs, Aelina allowed a thin smile to cross her face. "I was just wondering how I should entertain my disciples and celebrate their newfound strength. Luckily, you lot showed up at just the right time!" she eximed, causing the beasts'' eyes to widen with rage as they smashed against the cages in an attempt to break them.

    "Now, now, just wait patiently. Your death is already set in stone, so we might as well make it interesting!" Aelina giggled before disappearing.

 Chapter 835 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 1

    Chapter 835 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 1

    Aelina, elevated upon the central tform, surveyed the finished arena with the satisfaction of a chess master moving pieces into ce. ''Fufu~ Aren''t things too easy now? The entire Continent is basically within my grasp, and there''s not a single thing anyone can do about it.''

    The feeling of unbridled freedom was surprisingly liberating. Cultivators spend their entire lives gaining strength for various reasons. Some people just want to seek power. Others want to make a mark on the world.

    However, regardless of the reason, there''s onemon denominator between them all: freedom.

    Deep down, every cultivator wants to be free�Cfree from society, from higher powers, from all constraints.

    But paradoxically, the stronger one gets, the more restrained they be. Enemies get stronger, the fear of death bes real, and one fuck-up could mean not only the death of oneself but their entire legacy.

    The more power one obtains, the more that''s at stake.

    As one of the strongest beings on the Continent, Aelina understood this well. Should she die, the Battle Maiden Sect would be reduced to history, and her name would disappear off the face of the Earth.

    So, now that she''s able toe and go as she pleases, with nobody that can stop her, bold thoughts started to appear. ''Central Continent? No. I need to aim higher. Even if Mira doesn''t win against those assholes, I''ll eventually be able to sneak in if given enough time. Now that I have the power, I should increase the foundation of the Sect.''

    After settling her thoughts, she looked up at the sky and sighed. "...Someday, I''ll enter the world of Immortals. I need to prepare for that day."

    ***

    A few hours passed by quickly, and it was now time for the quarterfinals to resume. The disciples all made their way to the arena, only to find itpletely changed!

    "OH! It looks like things are about to get interesting!"

    "Now, it looks like a true arena!"

    "I was looking forward to seeing Mira smash everyone, but I guess that''ll have to wait."

    As the crowd discussed amongst each other, the 8 remaining contestants all made their way to the arena and waited for Aelina to announce what was going on.

    Aelina waited a few more minutes for everyone to trickle into their seats before she coughed, silencing everyone. "My disciples, as you can see, this round of the tournament will be slightly different than before. Rather than fighting against one another, I''m sure you''re curious how they fare against�� different opponents."

    She snapped her fingers, and a screen appeared out of thin air. On it, there were dozens of Shadowfangs smashing against cages, roaring out in rage as they attempted to break free.

    "As you can see, we''ve gained some volunteers who were willing to put our fighters to the test!" Aelina said with a sly smile, sending shivers down the disciples'' spines. "For this round, we''ll see just how strong they really are. A battle of endurance! A battle of pure power! With this, we''ll discover the four most talented disciples of the century!"

    The crowd roared, their eyes widening in anticipation. That''s their Sect Master! Always keeping things interesting!

    "Mira, you''re up first!" Aelina suddenly called out. "Come and set the benchmark for this round!"

    Mira clicked her tongue in annoyance, sending Aelina an annoyed re, only to receive a yful smirk.

    She knew what Aelina was trying to do.

    ''She wants to give the others a goal to shoot for. As long as they beat me, they can kick me out of the next round. Meaning, if I want to guarantee my ce, I have to give it my all.'' Mira had to admit that this was a genius move to make everyone try their best, and for the first time since the beginning of this tournament, she wasn''t against it.

    On the contrary, this was exactly what she wanted!

    ''Finally, something interesting.'' Cracking her neck, she hopped into therge pit that was the arena and took out her scythe.

    A series of barriers lit up around the arena, blocking her in. Then, not even a secondter, the wall on the other side lowered and revealed a hulking Low-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang. Its sleek, panther-like form blended into the shadows behind it, but Mira could see it clear as day.

    Noticing that it was free, its bloodshot eyes instantly locked onto Mira, and without hesitation, it leaped, cutting through space in an attempt to ughter her where she stood.

    With a casual flick of her wrist, Mira swung her scythe. It looked like a simple movement, but the power behind it was unfathomable.

    The ground in front of her cracked and separated, speeding toward the beast until it hit it head-on, threatening to cut the Shadowfang in half.

    However, before the creature could die, a barrier enveloped it, healing its wound in a sh of light. The crowd erupted, but Mira''s eyes remained indifferent.

    Aelina''s voice cut through the cheers, "A splendid disy of power, but we''re just getting started!"

    The gates lifted again, releasing a second Shadowfang. It shared the fate of the first��Mira''s scythe shot through the air, and the beast was struck down before a growl could escape its throat. A barrier, a sh, and it was saved.

    However, by then, the first beast had recovered and attempted to pounce on Mira, but the result wasn''t any different.

    That''s when a third Low-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang was released, but Mira just waved her scythe three times and ''killed'' them again.

    "Now, let''s make things a bit harder!" Aelina''s voice rang throughout the arena as a Mid-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang appeared.

    This time, the Shadowfang wasrger, its snarls deeper, and its eyes burned with a fiercer malice. Yet, its presence did little to shift Mira''s calm demeanor. As it charged, her scythe met its advance, an effortless extension of her will. The beast fell, the barrier saved it, and the crowd''s roar became a constant hum in the background.

    "Again!" Aelina''smand was a spark to the powder keg of anticipation that the crowd had be.

    Another Mid-Stage Rank 8 beast, then another. Each one fell just as swiftly, a testament to Mira''s monstrous strength. By the time a Late-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang stepped into the arena, the disciples'' awe had turned into a heavy silence, watching the impossible be routine.

    With every new foe, Mira only swung her scythe an extra time. They were not battles but executions. It didn''t take long for the beasts to fear Mira, wanting nothing more than to run away instead of fighting this monster!

    Finally, a Peak-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang stood before her. Mira faced it with the same impassive, bored look. In a burst of movement, it attacked, yet even its prowess was nothing in front of Mira''s single, resounding cleave.

    Then, two more Peak-Stage challengers entered, but their fates sealed before they even began. Mira dispatched them in the same manner as she did before. All they were was an extra wing.

    As the third Peak-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang was saved by a barrier, Aelina rose from her seat, her eyes reflecting a spark of excitement. "Well, it seems these beasts are nothing more than peons for our Mira. It looks like we''ll have to introduce something a bit stronger! Can she handle it, alongside defeating a dozen Rank 8 beasts?!"

    The gate that rose this time was different. The air tensed, and a ripple of power ran through the arena. A Low-Stage Rank 9 Shadowfang emerged, its aura like a crushing tide that even the most stoic disciples could feel weighing upon their chests.

    Mira, for the first time, shifted her grip on her scythe. This creature was not like the others; this was a genuine threat. The disciples leaned forward, whispers running like wildfire.

    "Can she do it?" they asked, not sure if they wanted to know the answer. The difference in strength between a Rank 8 beast and a Rank 9 beast was immense, just like the gap between the Soul Transformation and Mortal Shedding Realms.

    It was a threshold. Even geniuses who were at the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm would find it difficult to kill a weak Low-Stage Rank 9 beast.

    ''Let''s see how much I''ve improved.'' Mira thought, lowering her stance with a smirk. Unlike the first time she faced a Shadowfang, back when they almost died, it felt immensely powerful, like a gap that couldn''t be closed.

    Now? It wasn''t nearly as terrifying.

    Then, with a silence that the others didn''t possess, the Rank 9 Shadowfang lunged with a velocity that bent the air.

    Mira''s sharp eyes tracked the beast''s movement. She pivoted her stance and prepared to face it head-on.

    In just a microsecond, metal met hide, and an explosion of force sent shockwaves radiating outwards. The barrier, erected by the Sect, fluctuated as it absorbed the excess energy, protecting the spectators from the st.

 Chapter 836 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 2

    Chapter 836 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 2

    After the dust settled, both Mira and the Shadowfang had taken a few steps back and stood there with incredulous looks on their faces. However, thetter was absolutely bbergasted.

    ''What the hell?! How is her physical body so strong?!'' The Shadowfang inwardly eximed, his leg still trembling from the sh. ''That''s no damn fox! That''s a fucking Dragon! Where''d this monster crawl out from?!''

    The beast imagined a scene where Mira had the same cultivation as it and shuddered. He realized that he would''ve been nothing more than meatpaste if that was the case.

    ''...I have to kill her.'' He concluded as killing intent leaked out of his eyes. ''If she grows up, she''ll be unparalleled. There won''t be anyone on this continent, nay, the world, that could stop her.''

    On the other side, Mira''s lips curled up. She waved her hand, encasing the other 12 beasts in ice before they could blink, and put away her scythe.

    Pounding her fists together, she casually walked toward her opponent. "Do your best to entertain me, beast," Mira said with a smirk, awakening the Shadowfang.

    BOOM!

    She burst forward and smashed her fist into its snout, sending it tumbling a few meters.

    Sensing danger, it hurriedly fled into the shadows.

    An explosion happened just where it was, with Mira stomping on the ground. Cracks spread throughout the arena, only for a small crater to form as she disappeared again.

    "You think you can hide from me?!" The Shadowfang shivered, hearing an icy cold voice behind it, followed by a crushing blow to its spine. It roared out in pain before it released a burst of darkness and swept around to face the ten-tailed fox.

    "Enough!" It yelled. "You think you can toy with me, woma-"

    Mira suddenly appeared beneath it with a swift uppercut, sending it flying.

    "Save your breath, worm, or you may lose it for good." Mira chuckled while staring at the beast in contempt. Seeing the rising anger in its eyes, Mira put both hands behind her back and slowly wandered around the arena.

    "This isn''t interesting." She muttered, though not soft enough for everyone not to hear her. "You''re so weak that I could beat you with my hands behind my back. I expected more from a Rank 9 beast, but I guess this is all you amount to."

    The beast growled with all the hairs on its back rising. ''She''s right. Words are unneeded at this point. All that matters is her death.'' Killing intent burst forth as it suddenly sank into the shadows, dashing from one to another before it appeared behind Mira.

    ''I''ll end this in a single strike!'' With its body, especially its ws, coated in darkness, it lunged from the ground, aiming for Mira''s neck.

    However, before it could even he could reach his target, an ice-blue fluffy tail appeared in his way. He sneered and ignored it until that very tail smashed into his face, sending him back to the ground.

    A resounding crack resonated through the arena. The audience looked toward the source and saw that the Shadowfang''s face was broken in several areas.

    "Oh?" Mira''s contemptuous voice rang out. She crossed her arms and walked over toward its fallen form. "Did I forget to mention my tails are stronger than my fists?"

    "Bitch!" The Shadowfang roared and pumped massive amounts of Qi into its back legs. It disappeared from those weaker than it as it shot forward, but Mira''s eyes tracked it calmly. "I''ll kill you!" It swiped its ws at Mira''s neck, but she raised her guard to block.

    However, it wasn''t close to done yet. As if it were a street brawl, repeatedly attacked with all its might.

    Mira dodged, countered, and blocked as many attacks as she could, but it seemed she had truly enraged the guy as he managed tond quite a few, covering her body in wounds. Most healed within a few seconds, but with how many times he attacked in a second, to the untrained eye, it looked like she was getting more and more injured.

    A fine mist of blood hung in the air as they tried to rip each other apart but to no avail. Both their vitalities were abnormallyrge. Minor injuries didn''t bother either one of them.

    Then, without warning, the tempo changed.

    Mira''s movements, which had been deliberately slow, almost teasing, sharpened. Martial Manifestation coated her entire body, even creating a domain around her that put immense pressure on the beast.

    "It''s time to end this and bring out your friends," Mira muttered, sending shivers down the Shadowfang''s spine.

    Suddenly, time seemed to slow down for it as a looming, rotting scent permeated throughout the area. It was as if he was transported to a graveyard and was about to be thrown in a ditch.

    ''...Fuck.'' That''s the only thought the Shadowfang could have as it felt its imminent demise.

    Circting Qi and Martial Manifestation throughout her entire body, Mira stomped on the ground, tightened all her muscles, andunched a punch releasing all that energy. Her bones and muscles creaked under the pressure, but instantly, a burst of highly condensed energy shot out of her and headed for the beast''s chest.

    It hardly had a chance to realize what was going on before everything went ck, and it fell to the ground with a thud.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    A series of explosions followed its death, causing a shower of blood, guts, and dust to fall on the arena. Mira waved her hand, clearing the area to get a good look at her opponent''s demise or what was left of it.

    All that was left of its body was a chunk of meat with arge hole through it. The rest was scattered around the arena.

    The crowd turned silent, not expecting this oue. Even Aelina and the Elders stood there, rooted to the ground with wide eyes. Nobody could believe what just happened!

    It was one thing to kill a Rank 9 beast as a 1st Stage Soul Transformation Realm cultivator, but it was another to do it so fast that the arrays in ce couldn''t even save it!

    The silence was deafening, as if a heavy nket that smothered the previous cheers and gasps had crushed them.

    A few momentster, a slow, hesitant pping cut through, starting from one corner of the stands, picking up momentum until it cascaded into a thunderous apuse. They weren''t just pping for the spectacle of the fight or the sheer power disyed; it was for the birth of a legend��Mira, the fox with the force of a dragon.

    Aelina allowed everyone to have their moment, but a sly smirk had crept up on her face.

    ''Yes! This is exactly what I want! Show off your strength, Mira! Show that there''s no better person to be the Sect''s Prime Disciple!'' was what was going through her mind. This was a monumental moment, not just for the Sect, but for the history of the Western Continent!

    Nobody, not even in myths and legends, could cross an entire Realm in strength from Soul Transformation to Mortal Shedding(Rank 9). It was simply unheard of, and Aelina wanted her disciples to etch this scene into their minds.

    Not only had Mira fought against one as if they were equals, but she had even killed it!

    It took a few minutes, but eventually, the crowd settled down, though they were still much louder than before all the cheering.

    Aelina walked forward and waved her hand, silencing everyone. She didn''t even bother to address Mira''s feat, as her actions spoke louder than any word could describe. "Would you like to move on to the next stage, Mira?"

    Mira nced at the fallen Shadowfang onest time before she looked up at Aelina and nodded.

    "Good!" Aelina beamed. "Send in two more Low-Stage Rank 9 Shadowfangs!" She dered, not giving Mira any more of a break.

    Hearing that, Mira took out her scythe again and prepared to face them.

    Her body might be strong, but she didn''t think she could enter a brawl like that with two Rank 9 beasts without facing the consequences. She also got a good feel for her strength and was able to release some of the bottled-up emotions that were guing her.

    ''Mmhm. Nothing''s better to soothe the soul than beating a strong opponent to death.'' She nodded a few times as the air around her became much calmer, not quite as chaotic.

    However, she didn''t have much time to revel in this feeling as the dozen beasts she had frozen earlier were released, and two new monstrous auras appeared. The two Shadowfangs walked into the arena, a lot more cautious than their predecessors, before their senses picked up on something.

    Their fallen brethren.

    Sensing the unmistakable aura of their brother from that mangled corpse, their eyes widened only to be reced with anger. But they kept their cool. If one of them died, then it meant they could too.

 Chapter 837 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 3

    Chapter 837 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 3

    The two new Shadowfangs entered the arena, their eyes flicking between Mira and the gruesome remains of their kin. They realized that the impossible happened before their very eyes �C a junior cultivator eviscerating a Rank 9 beast.

    Mira stood her ground, scythe in hand, with a mix of anticipation and bloodlust. Although thest fight was good, it wasn''t enough. She needed more!

    Aelina gave Mira a nod, and with that, the entire arena was sealed with a heavier Formation, bolstering its defenses.

    "Begin!" Themand echoed through the arena.

    The two Shadowfangs immediately dashed forward with a synchronicity that the otherscked, circling Mira. Their forms were blurry as they traveled from shadow to shadow, yet their approach was different; they did not rush in recklessly.

    Mira''s expression didn''t change. Her scythe twirled effortlessly in her fingers as her body swayed lightly, ready to act at a moment''s notice. Her eyes, however, betrayed her calm demeanor as they tracked the beasts'' movements.

    Suddenly, the beasts pounced simultaneously from opposite directions, attacking with full power right off the bat.

    But Mira had expected this. She spun, swinging her scythe through the air. The first Shadowfang met the de with a ng, its attack deflected, while the second found only empty air where Mira had been a heartbeat before.

    Her tails iled around, closing in on the one behind her, but it had already bounced away. The same went for the other one. Leaving Mira there, they dove back into the shadows.

    The n was simple. Don''t engage Mira head-on until they learn her limits and weaknesses.

    Unfortunately for them, Mira wasn''t having it.

    "I can see you, you know?" She turned her head, staring at the ground. Before the Shadowfang could react, Mira stomped on the ground, creating a fissure where the shadow was followed by a beam of light.

    Its beastly form was revealed for a split second before the fissure started to close, crushing it.

    ''Tch.'' The Shadowfang clicked its tongue and hopped out, dashing to another location, but Mira had predicted this with hundreds of thick ice and earth spikesunching out of the ground before itnded.

    The beast let out a yelp of pain as it was encased in a makeshift Iron Maiden, slowly dying. Luckily for it, a barrier formed just in time, saving it but also disqualifying it from the rest of the round.

    Its buddy stared at the scene wide-eyed, but it soon faced a simr fate. Now that Mira had fought two Low-Stage Rank 9s twice, the third time was much easier.

    Nova, Seraphina, and the others all watched with narrowed eyes at how quickly she dispatched them. Although Mira made it look easy, they all knew that if it weren''t for her incredible senses, she''d be having a much harder time.

    Shadowfangs, as their names suggest, are more like assassins. Their strength lies in their stealth, but since Mira can spot them without much issue, a majority of their power is useless. And although they are Rank 9 beasts, their physical strength isn''t top-tier, while Mira''s is.

    Thus, they can''t hide, and attacking her head-on is sub-optimal. All they can do is, well, wait for death.

    About a minuteter, another Low-Stage Rank 9 Shadowfang was added to the mix, making the number of beasts in the arena 15, but all of them were defeated. To Mira, it was even easier than thest time.

    ''I guess it''s time for her to bring out a Mid-Stage Rank 9 beast?'' Mira thought as she sat on one of the Low-Stage Rank 9 Shadowfang''s body.

    In the aftermath of the one-sided battle, a hush fell over the arena as the formation barriers faded away, only to reform stronger than before, ready for the next challenge. The crowd, previously raucous with excitement, now held their breath in anticipation.

    Would Mira be able to fight more than a full major Realm above her? Or would this be her limit?

    Aelina''s gaze swept across the field of defeated beasts before resting on Mira. She raised her hand, and with a flick of her wrist, the nextbatant was released into the arena.

    This time, the beast that entered was unlike the previous Shadowfangs. It was smaller, the size of arge kitten, but its presence was far more substantial. The creature''s coat was a glossy obsidian, muscles rippling beneath the skin with a density that made its little paws sink into the ground. It moved with a bounce in its step, exuding a carefree yet confident aura.

    Its amber eyes fixed on Mira as it surveyed its new environment.

    Mira, still seated on the defeated Shadowfang, who was about to be released from the barrier, watched the neer with interest. This Mid-Stage Rank 9 beast was different; it demanded her full attention.

    The little Shadowfang began to pace around the arena with an almost regal gait, unbothered by the audience''s eyes upon it or the corpse of its lesser kin. Its tail swished elegantly, and it looked to Mira, narrowing its eyes as if to say, ''You are the prey, and I am the predator.''

    Mira rose to her feet, her previous indifferent demeanor gone. She gripped her scythe with both hands, her eyes narrowing in response. "Finally," she murmured, "a worthy opponent."

    The two stared at each other, and for a moment, it was as if time had stopped.

    This was no ordinary beast, and Mira knew it. It was a true Rank 9 beast��a being that had refined its power to such an extent that size and bulk were meaningless.

    Suddenly, without any discernible signal, the Mid-Stage Rank 9 Shadowfang moved. It didn''t rush forward or fade into the shadows as its predecessors had done. Instead, it simply shifted, and the air around it seemed to warp, bing dense with oppressive energy.

    Mira felt it��a shift in pressure and a tightening in her chest. This Shadowfang didn''t rely on brute strength or speed; its very existencemanded the arena. The light dimmed around it, not because it cast any shadow, but because the air around it seemed to thicken, absorbing the light.

    As the beast began to circle her, Mira rotated in kind with her scythe at the ready. She had dealt with the fodder; now it was time for the main event.

    The Shadowfang stopped its pacing, and for a fraction of a second, its aura pulsed outwards, causing a ripple across the arena. In that pulse, Mira felt the weight of years, of a creature that had fought, survived, and evolved.

    The Formations repelled most of its dominating presence, but a bit still leaked out, causing anyone below the Nascent Soul Realm to faint. Nova and the others all took out their weapons on instinct as they watched with narrowed eyes.

    Unlike the others, Mira twirled her scythe and smirked. "You will do." She dered, and with a swing, she released a wave of ice that covered the entire arena.

    The Mid-Stage Rank 9 Shadowfang didn''t move as the wave of ice spread across the arena, encapsting it in a shimmering dome. Mira''s ice, although formidable, was like a spring breeze to the creature. It sat there, its eyes fixed on Mira, almost bemused.

    With a twitch of its small, rounded ears, the beast''s aura changed; the ice around it began to crack. It stood, a tiny figure surrounded by a rapidly growingwork of fissures as the ice dome shattered into nothing more than a shower of glittering dust.

    Mira frowned slightly but didn''t falter. "Impressive," she said. Her voice carried across the now clear arena, a touch of respect woven into the single word.

    The Shadowfang seemed to smile, a small, eerie curving of its mouth that made it look almost amused.

    Mira charged forward, her scythe slicing through the air with a whistle. The beast countered, not with raw power, but with an elusive grace, dodging with subtle shifts in its stance.

    For every strike Mira made, the Shadowfang had a response, not just evading but also positioning itself for a retaliatory move that forced Mira to be on the defensive.

    Their battle was a blur of motion, Mira''s scythe leaving trails of light and ice while the Shadowfang moved with a shadowy fluidity. The beast''s small frame did little to showcase its potent force; each time its paws touched the ground, it left depressions, warping the very stone.

    As the fight progressed, Mira began to understand her opponent''s strength was not just in its physical form but in the pressure it exuded, a mental force that pushed against her, testing her willpower.

    She could feel the eyes of Nova, Seraphina, and the other onlookers upon them, their attention adding an extrayer of intensity to thebat.

    The Shadowfang seemed to have an endless well of energy, its small body an inexhaustible spring of refined power. Yet, as the fight went on, Mira found her rhythm against this potent foe.

    Her scythe techniques became more fluid, less predictable, and more attuned to the minute shifts in her opponent''s movements.

    The beast''s amber eyes shed with a glint of respect. It had met few opponents who could adapt as swiftly as this young cultivator.

    Sweat began to bead on Mira''s brow, not from fatigue but from the intense concentration required to keep up with the Shadowfang''s tactics. With a grunt, she elerated, pushing her Qi to its limits.

    The Shadowfang matched her, and the two shed at the center of the arena with a force that sent a shockwave rippling outward. The Formation that Aelina had put up absorbed the st, flickering but holding strong.

    The crowd erupted into cheers and shouts as the intensity of the battle surpassed anything they had witnessed before.

    Mira and the Shadowfang, now at a stalemate, stood mere feet from each other.

    At that moment, they both knew it. This was the apex of the battle, where the next move would determine the victor. They could keep going like this for hours, but they wouldn''t get anywhere.

    The Shadowfang understood that it was unlikely to die, nor would it be able to kill Mira. All it could do now was adapt to the situation and try to prove useful enough that they wouldn''t kill her off after everything was over.

    ''No point in showing all my cards in a meaningless battle.'' The Shadowfang concluded. The same went for Mira.

    She had no intention of showing everything she could do just to win a measly tournament. What she showcased thus far should be more than enough to put her in the Semi-finals.

    Mira''s gaze hardened, and she took a deep breath, her Qi surging as she prepared for the final bout. The Shadowfang crouched, its body tensing like a coiled spring, its eyes never leaving Mira''s.

    Silence fell upon the arena once more, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. And then, as if on an unspoken cue, they both moved.

    Mira swung her scythe with all her might, channeling every bit of her knowledge, skill, and willpower into the attack. The Shadowfang leaped, its small body igniting with a dark me that absorbed all the light around it.

    The collision of forces was inevitable, and when it came, it was like the heavens themselves had split. Light and darkness, Ice and Fire intertwined, and for a moment, the oue was obscured by the cataclysmic energy released.

    When the dust settled, the Shadowfangy on the ground, defeated but with a proud gleam still in its eyes. Mira stood over it with her weapon at her side, a clear victor yet filled with respect for the creature that had pushed her so far.

    The Formation barriers lowered, and the crowd''s cheers filled the air.

    Aelina stood from her seat, a rare, genuine smile gracing her lips. "Mira," she announced, her voice cutting through the cacophony, "would you like to continue?"

    Mira looked up and shook her head without hesitation. "No. This should be more than enough."

 Chapter 838 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 4

    Chapter 838 Prime Disciple Competition: Quarterfinals Part 4

    With the standard now set, Mira walked out of the arena under the apuse of the entire Sect. Whether it be the weakest disciple or the strongest Elder, there wasn''t a single person who wasn''t cheering for her.

    Even herpetition was pping their hands. However, their minds were on their uing battles instead of Mira''s performance.

    After Mira left, Aelina smiled and waved her hands, getting everyone to calm down. "Mira haspleted this round by finishing with an astounding 16 stages won! Now that she''s set an example, let me tell you how this round is scored!"

    Everyone listened closely, but they couldn''t help but feel that Mira was cheated a bit. She literally finished the round without knowing how she was being scored!

    "This round is simple, whenever youplete a stage, another beast will be added into the mix. After you win three stages, a stronger beast will be introduced, and this cycle will be repeated until you fail. The scoring is based on how many stages you canplete." Aelina paused for a moment to let that sink in before she smirked.

    "However! The starting point for each fighter will be different. Since Mira is at the 1st Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, she was put up against a Low-Stage Rank 8 beast to start with. Each person will start against a beast of equivalent cultivation and move up from there. Each subsequent win is counted as one point. If there''s a tie, the Elders and I will judge ordingly."

    Nova and the others fell into thought and started to be nervous. Mira had unknowingly set a high bar, but it was one they were eager to meet or, if possible, surpass.

    ''Isn''t this unfair for those of us at higher stages?''

    ''How the hell are we supposed to beat that?''

    ''Is Mira really that strong? And why did it seem like she could''ve kept going?''

    Those thoughts rippled through their minds, especially Nova, Seraphina, Everly, Rayna, and Eden. Cine and Asami had simr thoughts, as they weren''t sure they could solo three Peak-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfangs, much less a Low-Stage Rank 9.

    Still, they were determined to ce just high enough to make it in the Top 4.

    Aelina''s smirk broadened as she noticed the determination in their eyes. "Nova! You''re up next!"

    Nova shuddered for a moment before her eyes steeled, and she walked toward the arena, which was now empty and repaired. Jumping into it, she grasped her spear and prepared for what she assumed would be an uphill battle.

    In thispetition, Cine and Asami were her biggestpetitors, aside from Mira.

    ''They should be able to reach the 12th stage. I don''t know if they can defeat a Rank 9 beast, but if they put their lives on the line, they might be able to. So, I need to make it to the 14th Stage, at the very least.'' Nova concluded, but her face paled slightly after she realized just how strong her opponents would be.

    To beat Cine and Asami, she''d have to fight against Late-Stage Rank 9 beasts!

    ''Fuck me.'' She clicked her tongue and gave a wry smile. Just to make it to the Semi-finals, she might have to use some�� unsavory techniques to boost her power for a short period of time.

    ''Whatever. I guess we''ll see how far I can go first.'' She took a deep breath and released a long exhale before smiling. ''Let''s go!''

    Suddenly, a familiar Late-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang appeared in the arena, which she quickly knocked out.

    ''I''ll just take things one step at a time.''

    ***

    Not long after Nova started her Quarterfinal Round, shey under the foot of a Late-Stage Rank 9 Shadowfang. Her spear was impaled in its abdomen, and her body was covered in ck dragon scales. On her back was a pair of ck Dragon Wings and Tail.

    She was covered in horrible injuries. Numerousrge gashes, dozens of broken bones, and blood spilling out of every orifice.

    The arena around them was covered in ck mes that consumed everything in their path, including the 12 other Shadowfangs.

    The Shadowfang bared its teeth at Nova and dropped its neck to rip into her, but before it could, a force wrapped around it. Dragging it off of Nova, Aelina announced, "The match is over! Nova finished with 12pleted stages and 1 Draw!"

    All the tension in Nova''s body was released hearing that, and she copsed to the ground. All the transformations were released, and she reverted back to her original form.

    She didn''t even have the energy to wave to the crowd before the medical team rushed in and dragged her out to begin treating her.

    "After two jaw-dropping rounds, it''s time to see if the next person can show us something even more amazing! Seraphina, you''re up!" Aelina dered, not giving anyone a break.

    In the crowd, Seraphina gulped and walked to the stage. Mira and Nova put on amazing performances. She wasn''t sure if she could do as well as they had.

    Just like Nova, as soon as she hopped into the arena, a Late-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfang was waiting for her.

    pping herself in the face, she took out her sword and shield. ''Now''s not the time for self-doubt! Let''s just beat Nova! Then, even if I lose, I can rub it in her face!''

    ***

    About two hourster, the arena waspletely filled with water, like a giant fishbowl. In the center of it all was arge, liquid metal dome. The 13 Shadowfangs were swimming around it, sending countless attacks in its direction.

    In response to that, Seraphina would emit a wave of Qi that would cause whirlpools in the water that were also filled with countless tiny metallic shards that would rip anyone who was caught in them apart.

    For any beast that got close to the dome, she would asionally lower a section and thrust out with her sword, hacking off pieces of her attackers.

    She decided to opt for a different strategy than Nova. Instead of facing them head-on, she went for a battle of attrition.

    The minutes ticked by in this rather uneventful fight until all the Shadowfangs either got too tired or too injured to continue. Trying to swim through that water was akin to swimming through thick mud, not including all the dangers. They couldn''t keep up with that for hours.

    On the 14th round, Seraphina tried the same strategy, but as she was running out of Qi, the beasts broke through, and she was forced to stop there.

    ***

    Next up on the list were Everly and Eden, but they were perhaps the most disadvantaged.

    Most of Eden''s attacks relied on range and precision. She could fight head-on, but it wasn''t her strong suit, especially against assassin-like beasts. The only saving grace was that since she was at the 6th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, she started off against 3 Mid-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfangs, giving her a slight edge.

    She ended up with a Draw on the 12th Stage.

    Everly, on the other hand, was in apletely different predicament. She really only had ultimate techniques that would work against such high-level beasts. Thus, whenever she reached a sufficiently strong opponent and was forced to use one, she was almost out of the game purely from Qi exhaustion.

    Luckily, she was also at the 6th Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm and got an extra stage given to her.

    Simr to her previous duel against Althea, when she reached the 13th Stage, she conjured one of her ultimate techniques [Chimeric Thunderfire Apocalypse], drowning the arena in a storm of Fire and Lightning, destroying everything in it and leaving behind a massive crater.

    Afterward, she ran out of Qi and couldn''t fight anymore, but Aelina was forced to stop the round for a few hours to repair the arena, giving Rayna, Cine, and Asami time to prepare.

    Thetter two, Cine and Asami, also both had shocking performances. They were both able to make it to defeat all the Rank 8 beasts and even fight against a Rank 9 beast, but the results between the two were very different.

    As Asami was 1 Stage higher than Cine, she started with 2 Low-Stage Rank 8 Shadowfangs, and when she fought against the Rank 9, Aelina called the match a draw since they had essentially knocked each other out. Thus, she drew on the 12th stage.

    On the other hand, Cine climbed her way up to face the same opponent on her 13th stage, where she actually won! However, using such high-level Saber Techniques used tons of stamina and Qi, so she wasn''t able to fight another round.

    Meanwhile, Rayna was the most enigmatic. She simply poisoned her way to the top before she eventually stopped at her 14th Stage. Although everyone expected her to do that, it was still surprising to see beasts so much stronger than her drop like flies because they ingested a bit of poison.

    Now, with all the results in, it was time to tally up the scores and determine who made it to the Semi-Finals!

 Chapter 839 Prime Disciple Competition: Semi-Finalists

    Chapter 839 Prime Disciple Competition: Semi-Finalists

    As the dust settled in the arena, the Sect buzzed with chatter and spection. Mira''s astonishing streak of victories had set a standard that seemed insurmountable, but the subsequent bouts had been battles of will, strategy, and raw power, each unique in their approach.

    Novay in the infirmary, her body knitting itself back together after the mauling it had taken. The ck dragon scales that had once armored her had faded away, revealing the toll the fight had taken.

    However, she wasn''t confident that she would advance to the next round. From a purely statistical point of view, there were others who had done better than her.

    Seraphina, on the other hand, wasn''t worried at all. Other than Mira and Rayna, she was confident she did the 3rd best. However, Cine''s performance was definitely praiseworthy.

    Everly and Eden, though they had shown exceptional power, fell just shy of the mark as their techniques were spectacr but not sustainable. Maybe if Eden had stronger and more versatile techniques and Everly had ones that didn''t use so much Qi, they''d ce higher.

    Unfortunately, this was their final chance, and they blew it.

    Cine and Asami''s duels with the Rank 9 beasts were battles that had everyone at the edge of their seats. Cine''s victory was a result of pure technique, while Asami''s draw was of mutual exhaustion.

    They had shown the heights of what the average talented cultivator could achieve, but even these disys had their limits.

    As for Rayna�� the results spoke for themselves. If she didn''t advance, then perhaps nobody was worthy

    When the time came for Aelina to announce the semi-finalists, the crowd fell into a hushed anticipation. The Elders looked down at the scrolls in their hands, which contained all their notes about their performances.

    "First off, before we start, let usmend all ourpetitors for their exceptional disys of power and skill," Aelina''s voice boomed across the arena, gaining apuse from the audience.

    Once they quieted down, she continued, "The decision for the semi-finalists was not taken lightly. Each disciple''s performance was scrutinized, considering not only their final stage but how they got there and the strongest opponent they were able to face."

    "As you already know, the Central Continent Competition ising up soon. We need not just a talented representative who can lead us but one who''s already strong and clever enough to take on those monsters. Thus, the criteria we judged are based on those aspects."

    With that said, the crowd almost immediately understood who would make it into the Top 4 and couldn''t help but feel a bit bad for Cine. On paper, she deserved 4th ce, but in reality, she just didn''t stand a chance against people like Nova, Seraphina, and Rayna.

    After letting her words settle in, Aelina snapped her fingers, causing a translucent screen to appear. "In first ce, to I''m sure nobody''s surprise, we have Mira, with her incredible disy of overwhelming power and talent!"

    Mira''s name appeared at the top of the screen, and Aelina continued. "In second ce, due to the potency of her poison, perception, and survivability, we have Rayna!"

    Rayna''s name appeared right under Mira''s. "In third, for showing exceptional intelligence, creativity, and strength, we have Seraphina, who took advantage of every of all her strengths and her opponent''s weaknesses to win!"

    Seraphina''s name popped up under Rayna''s.

    "And finally, for the fourth slot and thest person who will proceed to the Semi-finals, we have��!"

    Aelina took a dramatic pause to look at all the contestants, her eyesnding on Nova and Cine. The two of them tensed up seeing her casual smile, but the Sect Master just brushed it off and turned her attention back to the crowd. "Nova!"

    Nova and Cine both slumped over but for different reasons. "In all honesty, this was a tough pick. Cine deserved to be thest-ced Semi-finalist, but after careful consideration between me and the Elders, we decided to rule her out. The gap in strength between each stage above Rank 9 is enormous. Nova fought a Late-Stage Rank 9 beast to a draw as a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator, something that is unprecedented."

    Neither Nova nor Cine was happy about this, as, from a certain point of view, it was as if they both lost. However, Aelina wasn''t done.

    "Now, we understand that this was a bit unfair. So, aspensation to Cine, we have decided to grant her the Wildcard position, which will allow her to stillpete for the Prime Disciple title. She may not be allowed in the Semi-finals or Finals, but she can choose to fight the winner. Should she defeat them, she may be crowned as this century''s Prime Disciple!"

    A wave of murmurs rolled through the crowd, a mix of shock and excitement at the unique decision. However, they were more than satisfied with this oue.

    Cine''s eyes sparkled before she turned to Mira and gave her a look that said, ''I''ll challenge you when you win.''

    Mira just smirked and shook her head, but she was also looking forward to their bout.

    Nova, meanwhile, tried to mask her relief withposure. She knew she was walking on a razor''s edge �� her victory had been a hair''s breadth from being a loss. The fact that herst fight had been with a Late-Stage Rank 9 beast carried weight, but the Sect Master''s choice was a clear message: potential was as valued as performance.

    "With the Semi-finalists chosen, I have decided to grant everyone a break! We will resume the tournament at dawn of the next day when everyone is in peak condition!" After Aelina announced that, she pped her hands and disappeared, along with the rest of the Elders.

    The audience also soon dispersed, leaving behind the 8 Quarter-finalists. However, none of them were in the mood to talk to one another, especially the Top 4, who immediately went home to prepare.

    ***

    Nova''s return to her secluded courtyard was met with silence. Her quarters, nestled within the side of the mountain whereva happened to flow, helped her rx as if she had just entered her natural habitat.

    As she sat cross-legged in the center of her training room, her aura fluctuated wildly. The Ouroboros Bloodline within her churned, pumping seemingly endless power through her veins.

    Her eyes, reflecting the pitch-ck mes of her bloodline, flickered. The ck me, or what she liked to call the Devouring me, was a wild, destructive force that needed to be controlled. To face someone like Mira or Rayna, she needed to reach a high enough mastery with her affinity if she wanted to have a chance.

    In another part of the Sect, Seraphina''s quarters were far from quiet. A diverse group of disciples had answered her call, each of them experts with different affinities. From Earth to Lightning to Darkness and everything in between.

    As someone who understood that Mira''s strength lies in her overwhelming power and versatility, she needed to get used to fighting and dealing with all the main elements. Rayna was a unique contender, but she was more worried about Mira.

    Meanwhile, Rayna''s path took her away from the Sect, deep into the heart of the mountain range. She sought istion, a ce where she could push her Petrification ability without consequences. Here, she should be able to find great test subjects to try and understand her bloodline abilities better.

    Back within the confines of the Sect, Mira ignored Dominique, Hana, Elenei, and Rhydian to meditate.

    Every time she closed her eyes, she faced Rayna and practiced mentally fighting against the woman, sharpening her responses and crafting contingencies for the reality she would soon face.

    Mira''s mental battles with Rayna, although imaginary, honed her intuition like a de. She understood that in theing battles, the margin for error would be nonexistent. Every movement, every decision would have to be precise. There was no room for mistakes.

    Outside her her residence, the Sect was still abuzz. Nobody could stop talking about the previous and uing battles, especially Aelina''sst decision.

    Cine, now with the Wildcard''s weight upon her shoulders, trained with an intensity that bordered on obsession. She was not content to merely challenge the winner, in other words, Mira; she intended to beat her. However, to do so, she would need to surpass her current limits.

    The day and night passed like this, with each semi-finalist caught in their own training sessions.

    As dawn''s first light painted the horizon, the Sect stirred. Disciples moved toward the arena, even betting on who they think the two finalists will be.

    In the arena, Aelina stood once more, her presencemanding silence.

    "The time hase," she dered, her voice much heavier than the day before. "Today, we will witness the ascension of a new Prime Disciple. Our semi-finalists have shown us the pinnacle of our Sect''s teachings and what you all are capable of, and now, they must show us just how far they''re able to go."

 Chapter 840 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira and Rayna vs. Nova and Seraphina Part 1

    Chapter 840 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira and Rayna vs. Nova and Seraphina Part 1

    Dawn greeted the Sect with a golden light, the sun casting a warm glow over the mountain. Disciples gathered in the arena as they traded Spirit Stones, weapons, and other items, betting on who the final two would be. Although they didn''t know what the Semi-finals would entail, that was the fun of betting!

    The semi-finalists also emerged, walking through the Sect with a steady gait as they made their way to the edge of the arena.

    Aelina''s figure suddenly appeared in the center of the arena, her gaze passing over the eager faces of the crowd. She inwardly smiled, d that they were having as good a time as she was.

    ''Too bad it''s almost over.'' She thought, shaking her head. Once the Prime Disciple(Mira) was chosen, the Sect''s trajectory would shift. No more sitting around passively. No more waiting.

    She was going to bet everything on this generation of disciples. Just having Mira wasn''t enough for her. If she could, she wanted hundreds of Mira''s who could literally take the world by storm!

    ''That''s why, before the other powers realize what''s going on ande to check it out, we have to hit them hard and fast.'' A dangerous aura churned within her, but she immediately calmed down.

    Aelina wasn''t naive enough to think that the other continents, especially the Central one, would remain oblivious to the Western Continent''s rise in power. People, even more so cultivators, are naturally greedy but also power-hungry.

    If the other outer continents sense something unusual, they''lle crawling over here and possibly even attack them in search of whatever treasure gave them so much strength. Meanwhile, the Central Continent may just send someone to wipe out all the talented disciples to keep the status quo.

    After all, it wouldn''t be the first time something like this happened.

    ''It''s good that they can enjoy themselves because after today, rest will be a luxury.'' She thought with a wicked grin.

    "My disciples, wee to the final day of thepetition," Aelina began, her voice silencing everything within the vicinity. "Our semi-finalists have shown exceptional prowess and unwavering spirit. But today, they face a trial unlike any other."

    She paused, letting her words hang in the air for a moment. "Mira, Rayna, Nova, Seraphina �C step forth!"

    The four women stepped into the arena, forming a line in the center of the arena.

    "The semi-finals will not be as you expect," Aelina continued, her eyes gleaming like a sly fox. "Today, you will not fight alone but alongside each other in teams."

    A murmur rose from the crowd as they didn''t expect this kind of twist.

    "Mira and Rayna, you will be on one team," Aelina announced.

    "And Nova, Seraphina, you will be the other," she finished, the arena quaking with the force of the audience''s excitement. "The winning team will fight each other in the finals!"

    Thepetitors exchanged brief looks. Mira and Rayna shared a nod, but there was an unspoken wariness in their gazes.

    On the other hand, Nova and Seraphina were cursing Aelina and her ancestors for creating such an unfair lineup. If Mira and Rayna were separate, it wouldn''t matter, but with the two together, they were basically unstoppable!

    Mira was basically an unkible cockroach with almost no weaknesses. Save for them possibly having slightly more raw power, she was the ultimate warrior. To add onto that, they couldn''t get hit by Rayna, or else they''d lose their only advantage!

    ''Tch! Stupid fucking Sect Master! She clearly wants Rayna and Mira in the finals!'' They both thought before they nced at one another.

    ''I''m not losing!'' Nova''s eyes burned like two suns as she sent Seraphina a Sound Transmission. ''Screw Rayna and fuck Mira; those two talented assholes! I''ll die before they win! Let''s show the Sect Master that we''re not out of the running!''

    ''Good, because I was thinking the same thing!'' Seraphina sent back. For the first time in a long time, she was angry, mostly at the Sect Master, but also at herself for not trying harder. Maybe if she had put in more effort or cared about her future more, she wouldn''t have been delegated to third ce by the Sect Master.

    Aelina raised her hands, and themotion settled into a simmering silence. She smirked, seeing the intense res from Nova and Seraphina, but paid them no mind.

    "The rules are simple," she stated. "Defeat is dered when one team concedes or is unable to fight."

    The four women moved into position, dividing the arena into two sides. Mira and Rayna stood on one side, both of them understanding theplexities of this battle. It wasn''t just about winning, it was about doing so while giving as little information as possible.

    If they knew each other''s trump cards, they could n for that, making their own fight much more difficult.

    On the other hand, Nova and Seraphina are incredibly powerful in their own right. Withholding any secret techniques might bring about their downfall if they''re not careful.

    What should they reveal, and what shouldn''t they? What do they need to win? Those were the questions running through their minds.

    Opposite them, Nova and Seraphina stood ready to go all out. The finals meant nothing to them. They could work that outter. All that mattered right now was defeating Mira and Rayna.

    "May the best team win! Begin!" Aelina''smand was the spark that ignited the sh.

    Nova and Seraphina immediately unleashed a torrent of power. The ground beneath their feet cracked, a spider-web of force radiating outwards as theyunched themselves at their foes.Each step they took left a heavy imprint on the stone beneath.

    Mira''s indifferent gaze locked onto Nova and Seraphina. With a flick of her wrist, the air temperature plummeted, manifesting the [Frozen Terrain Change] beneath their feet, attempting to encase her opponents'' movements in a tomb of frost.

    Nova and Seraphina just snorted, with the former sending out a wave of ck mes, melting all the nearby ice and allowing Serphina to control it, but that''s not what Mira was after.

    The entire arena was soon encased in a thickyer of ice, one that was under herplete control.

    Nova countered Mira''s control with raw power. The ck mes devoured the cold, creating pockets of heat against the Frozen Terrain. She wouldn''t allow Mira to gain control so easily.

    As the ice field advanced and receded like a creeping frost, Rayna''s form blurred. Her eyes, sharp as an eagle''s, focused on the minute shifts in her opponents'' stances.

    She maneuvered around Nova''s ck mes and darted after perhaps the more annoying of the two to deal with: Seraphina.

    Her twin daggers were hidden within the folds of her shadows as she invoked the Lesser Shadow Basilisk blood within her veins. Her eyes turned into slits as wherever she looked began to turn into a gray stone.

    The arena shook as Nova shifted into her draconic humanoid form. ck scales covered her body asrge Dragon Wings and a heavy Dragon tail popped out of her back.

    She unleashed a devastating roar, sending waves of Qi that cracked the ice and stone around her. Then, with a swing of her spear, she yelled, "[Ouroboros ze]!" and a torrent of ck mes was released that sought to consume all in its path.

    Seraphina responded in tandem. With a sweep of her sword, she summoned a downpour, with the arena floor quickly morphing into a stormy ocean with her technique, [Leviathan''s Oceanic Dome].

    This was the final technique she used against the Shadowfangs, but she deemed it necessary to use it now.

    The water surged, and the metallic dome rose as she defended herself while taking control of the situation.

    Mira smirked and responded in kind, casting [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration]. A storm of Absolute Ice, interwoven with the essence of creation and destruction, engulfed the fiery and watery maelstroms.

    Meanwhile, her tails used and summoned the [100 cial Warriors] technique. Immediately, icy golems, each armed with a different elemental power from her tails, marched forth.

    "[Eclipsed Sphere Spear Shot]!" Nova yelled while thrusting her spear, aiming for Mira''s heart with beams of ck mes.

    But Rayna was there, intercepting with a burst of her deadly poison that turned the very air it touched into a corrosive haze.

    Seraphina''s [Leviathan''s Maelstrom] swirled as the battle raged, shing against Mira''s warriors.

    But Mira''s [Ice Titan''s Fortress] rose like a bastion amidst the chaos, defending her minions from any random attacks.

    Mira prepared her [Cmity''s Embrace] within its confines, channeling the terrifying power of darkness, yin magma, and yin lightning to create a cataclysmic explosion.

    However, she knew that the two would move to stop her, so she made ns to buy time,

    With her newfound mastery of illusions and charm, she wove a [Mirage Dance] around herself and her warriors, leaving Nova and Seraphina striking at phantoms.

    With a draconic snarl, Nova roared, "[Ouroboros Ascension]!"

    A spiral of dark mes rose from the ground, reducing everything it touched to ash. However, that was just the beginning. These mes consumed everything they burned, adding to its power as they quickly spread, eating up all of Mira''s illusory and real warriors.

    Unfortunately, Mira just smirked and raised her hand inside her little ice bastion. ''[Cmity''s Embrace].'' She whispered before everything went dark.

 Chapter 841 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira and Rayna vs. Nova and Seraphina Part 2

    Chapter 841 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira and Rayna vs. Nova and Seraphina Part 2

    As the arena plunged into darkness, the crowd hushed in anticipation, their eyes straining to see through the veil of ckness that Mira had summoned.

    Her [Cmity''s Embrace] enshrouded the battlefield in a terrifying mix of yin magma, yin lightning, and darkness that destroyed everything in its path. The ground was ripped up, the walls turned to dust, and the barrier cracked in several areas.

    Yin Magma shot out of the ground, and Yin Lightning coursed through the darkness, leaving the air electrified. It was as if a natural disaster had spawned right on top of the arena!

    Meanwhile, engulfed in her [Ouroboros Ascension], Nova shone like a light wreathed in ck mes. Her draconic form, outlined in a fiery aura, shed against the encroaching storm, creating a spectacle of Yin and Yang.

    Mira and Nova''s attributes were akin to extreme opposites. The two almost canceled each other out whenever her mes swept across Mira''s lightning. They would''ve if it weren''t for Mira''s near-perfect elemental control.

    On the other hand, Seraphina found herself at a disadvantage. Her [Leviathan''s Oceanic Dome] struggled under the oppressive force of Mira''s attack.

    Water and metal churned around her like a fortress as she tried to withstand the might of Mira''s power, but cracks were inevitable, causing lightning and magma tosh at her like a whip.

    Rayna saw these opportunities and moved like a wraith in the darkness. Her [Venomous Shadow Blitz] technique was almost imperceptible, with her twin daggers striking silently but with lethal precision.

    Her lesser Shadow Basilisk bloodline lent her an uncanny ability to navigate through the darkness, making her a deadly hunter in this obscured battlefield.

    However, Nova and Seraphina both sensed her approach and strengthened their defenses.

    Rayna was the one they were worried about, especially Nova since she was the one running and jumping around trying to find an opening. Seraphina, though stationary, had the defenses of an ancient tortoise.

    The sh of titanic forces reverberated through the arena, each strike and counter shaking the mountain as the two teams fought as if their lives depended on it.

    Nova, with her [ck Starfall], rained down a meteor shower of ck mes, targeting Mira''s ice fortress. The impacts shattered the ice, but with every crack, Mira repaired and reinforced it.

    Seraphinaunched a [Tidal Wave Strike], a massive surge of water infused with shards of metal, aiming to break through Mira''s defenses. But Mira''s [100 cial Warriors], though diminished, still fought fiercely, countering the wave with a barrage of physical and elemental attacks.

    Mira unleashed her [Paragon Wings] in a swift counter. The icy elemental feathers spread out in a fan before she waved her hand andunched them at her two opponents. The air was filled with the sound of slicing winds as the feathers cut through the air.

    Most of them bounced off or shattered upon hitting Seraphina''s barrier, but some made it through, slicing apart chunks of skin.

    Nova grunted, feeling a pain in her legs and torso, but cast her [Eclipsed Descent], a spiraling inferno descending on Mira''s position.

    The impact was like a star falling from the heavens, the collision sending shockwaves throughout the arena.

    The Formations burst apart for a moment, but Aelina and the Elders had already prepared for that and created more.

    Seraphina seized the moment andbined her [Leviathan''s Fang] with her [Leviathan''s Maelstrom], creating a swirling vortex of water and metal that ground against Mira''s elemental warriors, seeking to engulf them in her aquatic tempest.

    With the two of thempletely focused on Mira, Rayna found her opportunity. With a burst of speed, she lunged at Nova, her daggers coated in a venom so potent it turned the air around it a sickly green. The daggers aimed for Nova''s vital points, each strike a potential end to the draconic powerhouse.

    But Nova was not so easily bested. She parried with her spear, the shes sending sparks flying. Her [Eclipsed Spear Surge] met Rayna''s onught. Fire and poison sizzled in the air, creating deadly fumes that Seraphina quickly washed away with a wave of her hand.

    ''Tch. This isn''t going anywhere.'' Mira clicked her tongue, but a smile still yed upon her lips. ''It seems none of my normal techniques will work.''

    She canceled her [Cmity''s Embrace], letting the darkness recede and revealing the battlefield anew. The arena wasn''t so much an arena anymore as it was a deep pit.

    In the aftermath, Nova, covered in ck draconic scales, stood tall amidst the destruction. Her eyes, aze with a fiery determination, locked onto Mira. Sheunched herself forward, her spear trailing ck mes. "[Eclipsed Spear Surge]!" she roared, unleashing a barrage of fiery spear thrusts.

    Mira, her ten tails swaying behind her, moving in seemingly random patterns. However, each tail flicked with its own unique element, parrying Nova''s fiery onught. Suddenly, she sent Qi into her Wind Tail, causing hurricane-like winds to sweep through the arena, momentarily throwing Nova off bnce.

    Taking advantage of this, Rayna darted in. Her daggers struck like vipers at Nova''s exposed spots.

    However, Nova''s draconic reflexes were on full disy as she deftly dodged, countering with a tail swipe that forced Rayna to retreat, but she did manage to knick one of Nova''s scales, getting a drop of poison stuck within her.

    Observing from her watery domain, Seraphina realized the need for a change in tactics. She raised her sword high, summoning the [Leviathan''s Maelstrom]. The water in the arena began swirling violently, turning into a giant whirlpool with her metallic dome at the center.

    Feeling the vortex''s pull, Nova anchored herself with her tail, her spear thrusts bing even more ferocious. Her [ck Starfall] technique rained down, aiming to break Mira''s defenses.

    Mira, unfazed, summoned her [100 cial Warriors] again. This time, they emergedrger and more formidable, each infused with a different elemental power from her tails. They charged toward Nova, shing against the meteor shower of ck mes.

    Amidst the chaos, Mira''s blood-red eyes glowed coldly as she prepared her next move. She began casting [Frostbite Requiem], her scythe materializing in her hands. The air around her dropped to freezing temperatures as she swung her scythe, releasing waves of ice that shed with Nova''s mes and froze all the water around Seraphina.

    Rayna, seizing the moment, unleashed her [Petrification Gaze]. Her eyes, now slits, emitted a gray beam that turned whatever it touched into stone.

    She aimed it at Seraphina''s barrier, trying to petrify the water and metal.

    Seraphina, noticing this, quickly altered her [Leviathan''s Barrier], transforming the water into a series of rapid currents that disrupted the petrification process. She thenunched a [Tidal Wave Strike], a towering wave that sought to engulf Mira and Rayna.

    With a flick of her tails, cast Mira [Abyssal Quake]. The ground beneath them trembled and ruptured, sending up spires of ice and earth, disrupting the tidal wave and providing cover against Rayna''s petrification attempts.

    Nova roared and unleashed her ultimate technique, [Ouroboros Annihtion]. A spiral of dark mes enveloped her, turning her into a fiery avatar of destruction. She charged at Mira with unparalleled ferocity, her spear aimed to pierce through the heart of the ice fortress.

    Mira met Nova head-on. Her scythe shed with the spear, ice against fire, in a blinding disy of power. The collision between the two was like the meeting of two ancient gods, unleashing a shockwave that rattled the arena''s very foundations.

    Not to be outdone, Seraphinabined her [Leviathan''s Maelstrom] with [Leviathan''s Bulwark], creating a swirling fortress of water and metal that absorbed and redirected the energies of the battlefield.

    She then unleashed her new technique, [Leviathan''s Oceanic Wrath], a massive surge of water and metal that engulfed everything in its path, seeking to turn the tide of battle. The power of her water carved out sections in the earth, even piercing through the walls and spilling out the side of the mountain.

    However, seeing this, Rayna''s lips curved upward, and she disappeared into the shadows. Mira saw that and instantly reacted. Channeling a decent chunk of Qi into her Darkness Tail, she summoned a dense ck fog to cover the area.

    Nova and Seraphina countered it by attempting to light up the area, but Mira was already on top of them. She put her scythe away and hopped on the dome protecting Seraphina.

    "You can''t hide in there forever." She whispered before mming her fists and tails into the metal barrier.

    BOOM!

    They sunk a level into the ground, but Mira continued pounding away. Nova attempted to throw her off, but Mira just controlled the earth around her,unching giant rocks at Nova that she was either forced to dodge or destroy.

    That was all the distraction Rayna needed. She found a hidden spot in a trench under the water and opened up her palm. A purple-green orb appeared, which she infused into the water.

    Sitting there, she continued to imbue her poison into the water until a shiny, oily film reflected off the sun. However, the change was so subtle that nobody noticed except for Aelina, not even Mira noticed.

    All she knew was that Rayna had something nned.

    ''There''s poison in the water.'' Mira suddenly received a Sound Transmission from Rayna and instantly knew what to do.

    She channeled her Qi into her Ice Tail, initiating a new technique, [cial Dominion]. The water around Seraphina and Nova began to freeze, the poison within crystallizing into lethal shards.

    Feeling the numbing cold seeping into her scales, Nova roared in defiance. Now enveloped in a halo of ck mes, her draconic form resisted the freezing grip. "[Draconic Inferno Burst]!" she bellowed, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion of fire that shattered the encroaching ice.

    Seraphina, realizing the imminent danger, gathered her remaining strength. "[Leviathan''s Cataclysmic Surge]," she intoned, summoning a towering wave of metallic water, attempting to wash away the poison and ice.

    But Mira merely snapped her fingers, and all the ice shards split apart into thousands of tiny needles. Then, she gathered them around her, having them circle her like a tiny blizzard.

    Grasping her scythe again, she charged at Nova, sending sweeping Yin Fire attacks at her. Nova was forced to retaliate, but every time Mira unleashed a surprise attack or caught her off guard, she''d flick her fingers and shoot a few ice needles.

    Nova could repel most of them, but they were so tiny and fast that a few imbed themselves within her. Rayna''s poison worked instantly, and Nova started to feel dizzy.

    Nova''s movements began to falter under the onught of Mira''s relentless attacks. The poison seeping into her bloodstream sapped her strength, clouding her mind with dizziness and fatigue. Despite her indomitable will, her draconic form started to stagger, and her me diminished with each passing moment.

    Seeing this, Seraphina surged with resolve. "[Leviathan''s Vengeance]," she roared, unleashing a colossal wave of metallic shards that spiraled toward Mira.

    Now infused with her metallic essence, the water formed razor-sharp des that whistled through the air.

    With a twirl of her scythe, Mira deflects the metallic shards with gusts of wind.

    Rayna, lurking in the shadows, chose this moment to strike. Emerging from her hidden vantage point, she lunged at Seraphina with a [Venomous Shadow Assault], her daggers aiming for critical points. Coated in her deadliest poison, the des glinted with a sinister light as they sliced through the air.

    Caught off guard Seraphina barely managed to raise her [Leviathan''s Bulwark] in time, the metallic dome absorbing the brunt of Rayna''s attack. Yet, the impact sent her reeling, her defenses buckling under the force.

    Seeing Seraphina in danger, Nova mustered her remaining strength for one final stand. "[Ouroboros Wrath]," she bellowed, unleashing an inferno of ck mes that engulfed the battlefield. Fueled by her desperation and fury, the mes incinerated everything in their path, including Mira and Rayna.

    The two tried to dodge and block her attack, but the mes couldn''t be stopped andtched onto their skin like a parasite. The ck mes devoured their skin, increasing its strength and potency before spreading further.

    Not bothered by this, Mira soared into the air, her tails iling wildly. "[Paragon Blizzard Obliteration]," she dered, summoning 9 clones of herself that surrounded the two and detonated into a mass of destruction.

    The collision of fire and ice created a cataclysmic explosion, the shockwave tearing through the remnants of the arena.

    In the midst of the chaos, Rayna saw her chance. Darting through the storm of ice and fire, she aimed a final [Petrification Gaze] at Nova. The gray beam, charged with the full might of her Shadow Basilisk bloodline, sought to turn Nova into stone.

    Nova reacted on instinct. She swung her spear in a wide arc, the [Eclipsed Descent] cutting through the beam and dispersing it. But the effort drained herst reserves of strength, and she copsed to her knees, her form reverting to her human appearance, the ck mes extinguishing.

    Mira descended from the sky, her scythe gleaming with a frosty aura. With a final swing, she shattered Seraphina''s barrier and smashed into her side, sending her flying.

    To put the nail in the coffin, Rayna appeared above Seraphina and stabbed her shoulder, injecting her with a non-lethal dose of venom that sent the woman into unconsciousness instantly.

 Chapter 842 Prime Disciple Competition: Finals

    Chapter 842 Prime Disciple Competition: Finals

    The dust settled over the ravaged arena, leaving behind a scene of unprecedented devastation. The whole arena was reduced to a massive pit. In the center, Mira and Rayna stood tall as they pressed their weapons against the fallen''s necks.

    Aelina allowed herself a small smile. That was a better fight than she, or anyone else, could''ve asked for.

    ''It''s pretty much on the same level as the Elders.'' She thought with a growing smirk. Although she expected this kind of power from Mira, the fact that there were three more people of a simr caliber really gave her confidence to face the future head-on.

    Now, she didn''t have topletely rely on the hope of a single person! Even if something happened to Mira, the others wouldn''t be much worse. In fact, in some cases, the others might be better than Mira!

    ''In about 18 years�� I can''t even imagine how powerful they''ll be. I look forward to seeing the faces on those pompous assholes when their poor disciples get their faces smashed in.'' She let out a faint chuckle, looking forward to the future.

    However, seeing Mira and Rayna staring at her, she was brought back to reality. Giving a fake cough, she amplified her voice with Qi and announced, "And there you have it! Our finalists�CRayna and Mira!"

    "WOOOOO!"

    "Holy shit! That was amazing!"

    "In all my time I''ve been a part of the Sect, that was the most intense battle I''ve ever seen!"

    "Mira! Mira!"

    "Rayna! Rayna! Rayna!"

    The crowd''s roars shook the ground as they cheered, not just for the finalists but for putting on such a spectacr disy of power. They took pride in the fact that they had such talented people in their Sect.

    However, Mira and Rayna took everything in with indifference. This kind of fame was meaningless, especially for thetter. Still, they had to admit that it would probably save them a few future hassles, so they stood there, basking in the glory.

    After a few seconds, Rayna turned to Mira with narrowed eyes. "Your next." She said, pointing her dagger at Mira.

    Mira chuckled and put her scythe on her shoulder, giving Rayna a rxed nce. "I look forward to it."

    Sparks seemed to fly between their gazes. Mira had to admit, she''d never seen Rayna look so determined before. Usually, she looks like a doll, kind of like how she used to act in her previous lives.

    ''I guess it makes sense.'' Mira shrugged. ''Anyone''s blood would start pumping after such an intense battle. I''m sure she''s also wanted to test out her strength butcked a proper opponent.''

    "Come at me with everyone you''ve got. You''ll need to." Mira turned around, leaving Rayna with those words.

    ''I intend to.'' Rayna thought, gripping her daggers harder. She wouldn''t hand over the title of Prime Disciple to her. She couldn''t��

    Shaking her head, she left the arena as well.

    At least, that''s what should''ve happened.

    "Woah! Where do you two think you''re going?" Aelina said, creating a barrier around the arena to stop them. She snapped her fingers, and both Nova and Seraphina teleported to her. "The Semi-finals may have just ended, but the Finals just started!"

    Everyone was shocked, including the crowd, the Elders, Mira, and Rayna. What was this shifty Sect Master nning now��?

    "Did you think I''d allow you time to n and recover? Nonsense! You should''ve figured it out by now, but the Semi-finals were more than just a battle between two teams. Now, with whatever strength you have left�CFight!"

    BOOM!

    As soon as Aelina''s words fell, Rayna shot out with a burst of speed. Poison dripped down her daggers as her aura spiked to a level she hadn''t shown before. Her eyes turned predatory, and she unleashed her [Petrifying Gaze], hitting Mira''s scythe arm.

    Everything happened so fast that Mira barely had any time to react. She backed off and created an ice shield in front of her, but Rayna''s aura disappeared, only to reappear beside her, next to the arm that was turning to stone.

    By the time she reacted, Rayna''s daggers were already embedded into the bone, with poison seeping into her system.

    ''Fuck! She''s fast!'' Mira cursed, her scythe falling to the ground with a ng, but she wasn''t worried about that. She could feel the poison draining her energy and made a split-second decision.

    She created an ice de in her other hand and swung, chopping off her arm at the elbow. Without ncing at her fallen arm, she locked onto Rayna''s position, channeled her Martial Manifestation to cover her body, and struck with full power.

    Rayna didn''t expect Mira to retaliate instantly and was caught off-guard. Mira''s fist mmed into her chest with the power of a mountain, caving it in and sending her flying.

    "UGH!" She cried as her body crashed into the wall, but she felt death soon after and hurriedly jumped out, ignoring all the broken bones.

    Dashing into the shadows, she looked behind her only to see the wallpletely obliterated and Mira standing there with the scythe in her other hand.

    ''Fuck! I almost died!'' Rayna muttered, realizing that Mira wasn''t ying around. Thatst attack would''ve left her without any remains should it havended. ''What a psycho!''

    Now, she started to understand why Miracked any pursuers, despite the fact that she made enemies with every turn. ''It was because they were erased from existence.''

    "That was a nice sneak attack." Mira''s cold voice entered her ears, sending a shiver down her spine. "But it won''t happen again."

    Mira waved her amputated arm with a light smile, but Rayna sensed the immense malice behind it.

    ''Shit!'' Sensing danger again, Rayna dashed to another shadow before an explosion resounded behind her. She didn''t look back and continued to hop around, slowly diminishing her aura until she found a ce to vanishpletely.

    However, Mira just chuckled. "Like a true assassin, huh? Waiting for the right opportunity to strike. But-"

    Sweeping her scythe, she made a deep cut in the Earth before she put it away. Leaning down, she gripped the edge of the ground and pushed up. The mountain beneath them shook as cracks spread out around her.

    Secondster, the part Mira grabbed started moving, and then it ascended. Now having a massive chunk of rock in her hand, Mira tossed it up in the air, allowing it to descend back on them like a meteor.

    Rayna clicked her tongue in annoyance and leaped out of her hiding spot, not wanting to be crushed.

    "Gotcha!" Mira yelled. Before Rayna could react, an ice spear had pierced her side and sent her falling back to the ground.

    She ignored that injury and charged at Mira, not wanting to give up control. Rayna aimed her [Petrifying Gaze] at her again, but Mira was ready.

    She swung her scythe in a wide arc, releasing Darkness shes that she used as a catalyst to turn a section of the arena pitch ck. Now that Rayna couldn''t see, her [Petrifying Gaze] shouldn''t be as effective.

    ''Though, the environment is more favorable for her.'' Mira thought, but it was no matter. With her Soul Sense and other sensory capabilities, it was nearly impossible for Rayna to disappear right before her very eyes.

    Just like she thought, Rayna darted through the darkness as if it was her natural environment. She popped out, seemingly from nowhere, and struck.

    Mira responded in kind and deflected all her attacks before kicking Rayna in the stomach and sending her sprawling to get back up and charge.

    She didn''t let up. Rayna knew she didn''t need to actually hurt Mira. She just needed her attacks tond, and she could win. On the other hand, Mira needed to respond perfectly.

    Mira''s soul sense cut through the shadows, tracking Rayna''s every move. Rayna, relying on her instincts honed in countless battles, evaded Mira''s strikes by a hair''s breadth only to counterattack. None of their attacksnded.

    Mira then unleashed an [Abyssal Quake], ripping the ground apart and sending shards of earth and ice hurtling through the air. Rayna twisted through the debris, her form a blur as she closed the distance between her and Mira.

    Their weapons shed continuously, with each blow reverberating through the arena. Mira''s scythe was a blur of motion while Rayna countered with her [Venomous Shadow Assault], which only seemed to be faster, more powerful, and more potent as time went on.

    The fight escted, each trying to outmaneuver the other. Tapping into her elemental tails, Mira created a whirlwind of different energies around her, turning the battleground into a hazardous storm of 8 different elements.

    She even subconsciously integrated ''Destruction'' into her attacks, causing chunks of flesh to fly off Rayna for just getting near Mira.

    However, she remained steadfast.

    The intensity of their battle reached its zenith. Channeling her [Frostbite Requiem], Mira unleashed a wave of icy death that froze the very air itself. Rayna evaded, leaping high, only toe crashing down with her [Shadow Basilisk''s Descent], her daggers aiming for Mira''s heart.

    Mira countered, spinning her scythe in a defensive whirlwind, deflecting Rayna''s strike. She then pushed forward, blending martial arts, scythe techniques, and her tails just to deal with her.

    Rayna gritted her teeth, bit her lip, and doubled her efforts. Her agility was her greatest asset, and she would use it to its fullest.

    Suddenly, her aura spiked again, and she became a blur of motion under the darkness, even in Mira''s eyes.

    Rayna became a shadow, her daggers finding their mark time and again. But Mira''s resilience was unparalleled. Whenever she felt the poison spreading, she quickly froze that area of her body and let her innate vitality deal with it.

    Even now, she could feel her arm regenerating. It was slow, but it was happening nheless.

    The Sect''s disciples watched in awe at the sheer magnitude of the battle. The Elders, too, were speechless, realizing that they were witnessing a defining moment in the history of their Sect.

    Sensing an opening, Mira unleashed an unstable technique she hade up with on the spot, [Elemental Yin Destruction]. A tempest of icebined with all her other elements and ''Destruction'' engulfed the arena.

    Rayna, caught in the storm, struggled against the concept and found herself getting ripped apart.

    In a final, desperate move, Rayna channeled all her remaining energy into a concentrated burst of poison, turning the air around her into a toxic miasma. But Mira was ready. With a swing of her scythe, the misty poison parted, leaving Rayna exposed.

    With lightning speed, Mira closed the gap and mmed her scythe into her side, sending her straight to the ground. Then, in a fluid motion, she formed an ice de around Rayna''s neck, her other hand shaping shackles of ice that bound Rayna''s limbs.

    The arena fell silent. Mira stood victorious, her breathing steady, her gaze fixed on her defeated opponent. Now immobilized and at Mira''s mercy, Rayna had no choice but to concede.

    Aelina saw this and smiled. Without a moment of hesitation, she announced, "And with that, we have our winner and the new Prime Disciple of our Sect �C Mira!"

 Chapter 843 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira vs. Celaine

    Chapter 843 Prime Disciple Competition: Mira vs. Cine

    However, before the crowd could get too excited, Aelina waved her hand and said. "But, let''s not forget about our wildcard!"

    That sentence left everyone stunned as they hadpletely forgotten about that! Mira and Rayna''s performances were so great that they didn''t think that Cine could match them!

    "Now, Cine, what will you do? You can either wait for Mira to heal, start the battle now, or forfeit. The choice is yours!" Aelina snapped her fingers, teleporting Cine to the center of the arena while sending Rayna out.

    The young woman stood there, stunned, but quickly regained herposure. She looked around at the destion with a solemn expression. ''Tch. What a bunch of monsters.'' She mumbled to herself.

    With certainty, she knew she wouldn''t be able to produce that level of destruction. Her strength was more controlled and reserved. Her strength came not through absolute power but maximum control. No wasted movements, no wasted energy.

    ''Since I can''t be like Mira, I won''t try. I''ll take my own path.'' That was her thought process, and so far, it brought her sess.

    Seeing the state Mira was in, with half her body poisoned and her amputated arm regrowing, now was as good a chance as any to take her down. In fact, she figured there was a 50/50 chance she''d win simply due to how tired and injured Mira was.

    ''I won''t need to fight her in terms of absolute power and can drag her into my domain.'' Cine thought as she contemted what to do next. ''Now is undoubtedly the best time to fight her. If I wait for her to recover, she''ll crush me, but�� it doesn''t feel right to do that.''

    Before anything, Mira was a trusted friend,panion, mentor, and someone she respected despite all her ws. On the other hand, she was a ruthless tyrant, and fighting against her in such a state would force her to leave mercy out the window.

    ''I don''t really feel like losing a limb or dying today.'' A shiver ran down her spine when she met Mira''s ruthless, blood-red eyes.

    Needless to say, her emotions about the situation wereplex.

    "You have three seconds to decide, Cine. Or else, you''ll forfeit by default." Aelina said in an authoritative voice.

    "Uhhh��" Cine hesitated, but whether it was fortunate or not, Mira could see through her plight and spoke up.

    "We''ll fight now."

    "..."

    "...Are you su-"

    "We''ll fight now," Mira repeated, not taking no for an answer. "If I really lose to her in my current state, I don''t deserve the title."

    Taken aback by Mira''s insistence, Cine eventually nodded in understanding. She knew that Mira, even in her weakened state, wasn''t going to be an easy opponent. But this was her chance, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally beat her!

    "And there we have it! Cine and Mira have decided to fight right now!" Aelina dered, signaling the Elders to raise the barrier one more time. "This''ll be the final match in this century''s Prime Disciple Tournament! The winner will take the title and represent the Sect in the uing Central Continent Competition! Now, both fighters, to your positions!"

    The crowd went wild, watching Mira and Cine walk to other sides of the arena.

    Feeling the poison''s lingering effects and the raw, tingling sensation of her regenerating arm, Mira squared her shoulders and gripped her scythe.

    She knew this wouldn''t be a battle of brute force. Against Cine, it would be more of a test of strategy and skill. Though, it''d bepletely different if she were in a better state.

    Cine gripped her saber, her mind racing. She was aware of the rare opportunity before her but was also conscious of the responsibility it entailed. Beating Mira in this condition �C was it truly a victory?

    ''This is apetition, not a friendly spar,'' she reminded herself, steeling her resolve.

    The Sect Master''s voice boomed, cutting through the tension. "Begin!"

    Cine initiated the duel with her [Divine Zephyr sh] as a swift, wind-empowered strike struck Mira, testing her defenses.

    Mira summoned a shield of ice, but surprisingly, a thin line sliced through it and cut into Mira''s skin. Although the injury wasn''t deep and hardly made her bleed, it still surprised her.

    ''She really has improved.'' Mira smirked, her excitement rising as she wanted to see just how far Cine hade.

    Cine sent a few more Divine Zephyr shes, each of which Mira attempted to block, parry, or dodge, but a part of them still struck.

    Seeing that she wasn''t getting anywhere with this, Cine transitioned into her [Ancestral de Dance].

    A cyclone of unpredictable shes that incorporated her unique style enveloped Mira.

    Mira countered with her own martial prowess and parried the onught with her scythe. Though slightly hindered, her movements were still precise enough to stand toe-to-toe against Cine in a battle of pure skill.

    As the two grew morefortable against each other, the speed of the fight escted. Cine stayed on the offensive, keeping her forms swift, seamless, and unpredictable. All around her was a domain of sharp Saber Intent (Saber Ruler) that tore apart anything that stepped within it.

    Mira attempted to unleash her own Scythe Manifestation, but as she was outssed in that department, Cine overwhelmed her and chopped it apart.

    Countless small injuries covered Mira''s body as dozens of Cine''s attacks cut into her every second. Since there was still poison in her body, her healing had slowed to focus on those problem areas.

    Still, this wasn''t enough to bring her down.

    Recognizing the need to escte,Cine knew it was time to unleash the full force of her training and power. Her eyes narrowed, focusing intently on Mira as she gathered Qi for a devastating assault.

    With a sudden, explosive movement, Cine brandished her saber high, channeling her soul''s essence into the de. The saber glowed, pulsating with raw, unbridled power. This was her [Soul-Shearing Gale] move.

    The air around the arena seemed to warp and twist as Cine brought her saber down in a sweeping arc. A colossal, tempestuous wave of energy erupted from the de, barreling towards Mira with a howl. The Gale de Storm Physique''s chaotic energy infused the strike, turning it into a maelstrom of unstoppable force.

    Sensing the impending cataclysm, Mira braced herself. Her stance solidified, her eyes lit up with delight, and she summoned a set of ice armor just to take the brunt of the damage.

    However, she knew this was no ordinary attack.

    The arena itself seemed to thrum as the [Soul-Shearing Gale] bore down upon Mira, a visible shockwave of energy spreading out from the point of impact. However, the only things to show for it were countless thin yet deep crevices and a bleeding Mira.

    "Hmm~" Mira wiped the blood from her mouth and gave a toothy grin. "Did you create that technique? It''s pretty good."

    Cine''s eyes widened, seeing that Mira had taken that attack head-on yet still stood tall but nodded. "Thanks, but it seems it still needs some work."

    The two chuckled before Mira dashed toward Cine with her scythe raised. With a deadly sweepbined with her Scythe Manifestation, Mira cut through the air and nearly nicked Cine, only for her to shoot a burst of wind out of her feet and dodge.

    Not wanting her to get away, Mira raised her hand and stomped her feet, instantly turning the arena into an icy tundra. Now, in her domain, she flicked her wrist and sent dozens of chains and spears at Cine from all directions.

    However, Cine remained calm and adopted her [Sovereign Vortex Defense], a wind-fortified barrier that deflected Mira''s retaliatory strikes. The defense, a vortex of saber energy, turned the arena into a battlefield of swirling winds and ice.

    As the battle intensified, Cine prepared her final technique, the [Ruler''s Tempestuous Finale].

    Gathering all her strength and mastery, she unleashed the full might of her saber art. A storm of wind-infused shes rained down upon Mira, each one resonating with the authority of her Saber Ruler Realm Weapon Endowment.

    Mira''s red eyes gleamed with anticipation. With a roar, she released a cataclysmic explosion of Yin Fire that shed against Cine''s attack.

    The unleashed forces tore through the arena''s remnants, leaving a mess of destruction in their wake. Ice and fire met wind and saber energy, creating a maelstrom of elemental fury that shook the mountain and damaged the barrier.

    In the eye of this storm, Mira''s scythe cut through the winds like a de through silk. Despite the exhaustion and poison coursing through her veins, she fought as if she were still at full strength.

    Cine, for her part, fought with the skill and finesse that had brought her this far. Her saber moved in harmony with the wind, creating countless deadly des that sought to find any opening in Mira''s defenses.

    But Mira was relentless, and her attacks grew more ferocious with each passing moment.

    Finally, in a decisive moment, Mira saw an opening. Cine had pushed her limits and overextended just slightly in herst strike.

    With a burst of speed that belied her injuries, Mira closed the distance between them.

    Cine tried to react, but Mira was already upon her. With a swift, precise movement, Mira''s scythe swept forward, the de singing through the air. Cine''s eyes widened as she realized she couldn''t evade in time.

    The scythe''s de met Cine''s shoulder, slicing cleanly through her defense. Cine staggered back, her saber ttering to the ground as she grasped her wounded shoulder, blood seeping between her fingers.

    Mira didn''t stop there. With a fluid motion, she spun her scythe, catching Cine''s leg and sweeping her off her feet. As Cine hit the ground, Mira brought the scythe down, its de stopping just inches from Cine''s neck.

    The arena fell silent. The battle was over.

    Mira stood over Cine, her breathing heavy but her eyes still burning with the fire of victory.

    "And the winner is Mira!"

 Chapter 844 Coronation

    Chapter 844 Coronation

    A few hourster, Mira was on the peak of the mountain in arge ornate building, preparing for what''s toe.

    On a chair in front of her was a set of neatly folded clothes that emitted a strange aura. Mira couldn''t quite understand what it was, but she felt a faint pressure on her mind like she was looking at something majestic.

    ''Hmm~ This is good stuff.'' She thought as she carelessly grabbed the clothes and examined them. ''Late-Stage Mystical-Grade, huh? It seems Aelina''s going all out for my new position.''

    She tried tearing the clothes apart but to no avail. Whatever materials were used to craft the clothes were top-notch.

    ''Well, at least I won''t have to waste any points on armor now. Though, I could look into something to wear underneath all this.'' She stared at the clothes and sighed. Although it was high-quality material, there were too many parts!

    Releasing onest sigh, she reluctantly took off her clothes and put the new ones on. However, much to her surprise, as soon as they touched her skin, they drew a portion of her blood and immediately wrapped it around her body.

    Neither her tails nor her size got in the way, revealing a stunning purple hanfu with a light, transparent robe that hung over her dress. It fit tight around her body but was stic enough that it allowed for a full range of movement.

    Twirling her tails, Mira nodded in appreciation. ''Whoever made this clearly took into ount my new body.''

    She jumped around a few times and even took out her scythe to swing, ensuring that nothing got in her way when she moved. Fortunately, there was no such thing. Rather, Mira found it to feel better than the one she bought from the Firmament Store.

    ''Custom-made really is the best.'' She nodded a few times and considered attempting to learn how to make her own clothes. But it seems every time she has that thought, something else takes her attention away.

    ''Whatever.'' She shrugged. ''If I have time to learn those auxiliary upations, then I will. If not, then I''ll just focus on getting stronger. Perhaps when I''ve reached a bottleneck, I can focus on that stuff.''

    Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she heard a knock at the door. Knowing who it was, she frowned for a moment before sighing.

    "Come in."

    As soon as her words fell, Aelina burst through the door and stared at her with a growing smile.

    "How do you like your new outfit? I think it suits you perfectly." She asked, sitting down on the chair.

    Mira nodded, "It''s not bad."

    "Not bad?" Aelina scoffed. "Do you know just how many rare materials I gathered to make those clothes?"

    Mira didn''t bother responding, but it seemed the Sect Master wasn''t through. "Now that I think about it, shouldn''t you provide the Sect some of those nts and herbs I gave you? With what I have in mind, we''re going to need every bit of help we can get."

    Mira just grunted in annoyance that she had to give up some of her loot but still nodded. Sending her consciousness into the Infinite Garden, she harvested half of all the herbs, nts, fruits, roots, etc that had grown over thest few years and tossed them into a Spatial Ring.

    "Here''s half of everything. I''ll hold onto the rest so production doesn''t slow." Mira said and flicked the ring over to Aelina.

    The woman caught it and sent her Divine Sense inside, only for her eyes to nearly bulge out of their sockets.

    ''Holy hell!'' The ring was practically filled to the brim with precious resources. Even the Divine and Mystic-Grade herbs, which normally took thousands of years to mature, were avable in bulk. And this was only half!

    ''I think�� with this, I can finally make some notable progress.'' A genuine smile bloomed on Aelina''s face. ''My ns will also be a lot easier and�� less bloody.''

    At first, she was nning to go to war, maybe eradicate a few more Sects, for their resources, but now things were different. Instead of being the invader, she might have to start nning to be the defender.

    ''People will eventually catch wind of our meteoric rise. They''ll definitely think we have some sort of treasure, and well�� they wouldn''t be wrong. Looks like I''ll have to reassess our current situation.''

    Still, despite having to scrap some of her ns, a smile never left her face.

    Feeling Mira''s stare, Aelina coughed and turned around. "Ahem! I''lle back to you when I need more." Then, she started walking out the door. "Now, follow me." Aelina motioned.

    Mira sighed and began walking until she was right next to Aelina.

    "Is this really necessary?" Mira asked, wanting nothing more than to go back home and do something, anything, other than this.

    "No." Aelina shook her head with a giggle. "But yes."

    Mira frowned, but before she could say anything, Aelina interrupted. "The coronation of the Sect''s Prime Disciple is a monumental moment! It shows not just the rest of the disciples, but the world, that you''re the face of the Sect! This might not mean much to the older generations, but to this one and the next, it''s a big deal. So, try not to get us into too much trouble, okay?"

    Aelina winked before she snapped her fingers and teleported Mira outside arge, golden door. The Sect Master wasn''t next to her, but Mira still heard her voice in her head. "Open the door whenever you''re ready. The coronation will begin as soon as you start walking."

    Mira took a moment topose herself. Despite her nonchnce, she couldn''t deny the significance of what was about to happen. With a light shrug, she pushed the doors open and stepped into the grand hall.

    The room was vast, with towering ceilings and a majestic ambiance. A long red carpet stretched before her, leading to a raised dais where Aelina sat on her throne surrounded by the Sect''s Elders behind and around her.

    The rest of the hall was filled with Direct and Core Disciples, along with selected Inner and Outer Disciples who had shown exceptional talent. Their eyes were fixed on Mira, filled with a mixture of awe and anticipation.

    The battles that she had shown earlier had proved her strength. Now, there was no doubt in everyone''s eyes that she, as the strongest of this generation, should be the Sect''s Prime Disciple.

    There were a few who looked at her with unwilling eyes, mainly Nova, Rayna, and quite a few more, but they weren''t jealous. Mira had fought and earned this position, regardless of their feelings.

    As Mira walked steadily down the carpet, translucent screens flickered to life throughout the Sect and Snow Maiden City, broadcasting her every step. Everyone, young or old, stopped what they were doing and watched the scene before them.

    Reaching the end of the carpet, Mira stood beside Aelina. Without a word, she sat on a throne next to the Sect Master''s, which immediately turned to ice upon her touch, conforming to her presence and power.

    Aelina stood, her gaze sweeping over the assembled crowd. She began her speech, her voice resonating with authority and pride.

    "Today marks a pivotal moment in the history of our Sect. We gather to witness the rise of a new Prime Disciple, one who has shown extraordinary strength, talent, and resolve. Mira has not only triumphed in the fiercest of battles but has also exemplified the spirit and values that define our Sect. Strength and unity!"

    She paused, allowing her words to sink in. "Her journey to this day is a testament to what can be achieved through hard work and dedication. She, who was once at the bottom, a mere vige girl, now stands as an inspiration to us all, a symbol of the heights we can reach when we strive for excellence!"

    Aelina turned to Mira, her expression brightening. "Mira, you have earned not just the title of Prime Disciple but also our respect and admiration. You represent the best of us, and I have no doubt that you will lead us to all future victories!"

    The Elders and the other disciples nodded in agreement.

    Aelina then presented Mira with a golden badge emzoned with the Battle Maiden Sect''s logo. The badge shimmered in the light as she stared at it. As Mira epted the badge, the hall erupted in apuse, the sound thunderous in the vast space.

    "On this day, I hereby dere that Mira is the Battle Maiden Sect''s Prime Disciple! May you fight with pride and destroy everything that gets in our way!"

    Mira pinned the badge onto her dress. She stood, her eyes sweeping over the crowd, as a sense of growing responsibility settled into her heart. While she wouldn''t die for the Sect, she might as well help it grow while she was here.

    "I ept this title with honor," Mira said, her voice strong and clear. "I will do my utmost to y all our enemies and pave our way to the Immortal Realm. Together, we will rise beyond this world''s power structure and trample all beneath our feet!"

 Chapter 845 Talk

    Chapter 845 Talk

    After a few more hours of talking with everyone and ''enjoying'' the after-party, Mira was finally able to leave.

    ''Tch. Those damn fogies. Don''t they have anything better to do?'' Mira grumbled as she left the hall and rushed toward her home. However, before she returned, a sudden thought crossed her mind, and she flew off in another direction.

    About a minuteter, she sensed a familiar aura and walked past Elder Fen, the Head of the Healing Hall, and into one of the rooms. There, still knocked out on a bed, was Talina, who was still in pretty bad shape.

    Mira could see that the Elders did their best to keep her alive, but it''d be a while until she woke up. She sighed, ''...I really lost control for a moment, huh?''

    Releasing a deep breath, she scanned the FLDIL shop, bought a Mid-Stage Mystical-Grade Elixir, and shoved it into Talina''s mouth. Forcing the liquid down the girl''s throat, Mira used her Qi to help distribute it throughout Talina''s body.

    Within seconds, Talina''s aura rose, and all her wounds, visible and invisible, began to heal. To top it off, Mira could feel her cultivation rising, and with a soft ''boom'', she broke through to the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    A minuteter, Talina''s eyes fluttered, and she saw a faint shadow of a fox before it disappeared. Blinking, she sat up, confused.

    ''Wh-What happened?'' She touched her body all over, not understanding why she felt so full of power. ''D-Did Mira just heal me? Why?''

    Complex emotions washed over her when she remembered that familiar aura and form. At first, she was furious and wanted nothing more than to get revenge on Mira for hurting her so badly, but now she wasn''t sure what to feel.

    ''Ugh! Why''d that narcissistic asshole have to heal me?!'' She grumbled before getting up and walking out of the room. Now wasn''t the time to be sitting around doing nothing.

    Since she doesn''t have to sit in a room for months, she can use this time to train!

    ''One day, I''ll be the one to knock you around!'' She clenched her fists and flew off, ignoring the knowing look from Elder Fen.

    ***

    Near Mira''s residence

    In the middle of the valley, right outside Mira''s mountain house, Dominique was sitting on a tree, staring at the sky. The sun was slowly descending, revealing the night sky.

    Hana was inside, while Rhydian and Elenei had already left to do their own things, saying they''d be backter. Dominique figured they were out training.

    "I wonder when Mother will be back?" She asked out loud while swinging her feet. She might''ve been Mira''s adoptive daughter and disciple, but the coronation ceremony was too big and was broadcast too widely. Mira didn''t want that kind of attention to potentially fall on Dominique, especially when the number of enemies will most likely increase from here on out.

    Suddenly, a gust of wind brushed past Dominique, followed by a soft yet indifferent voice. "Missing me already?"

    "Mother!" Dominique eximed, turning her head to the side only to find Mira standing there, staring at her with her arms crossed. She jumped into Mira''s embrace and wrapped her blood-red tail around her leg.

    Looking up at Mira''s face, Dominique smiled and said, "Congrattions, Mother! You were amazing when you beat up all those Aunties!"

    "..." Mira''s mouth almost cracked a smile at how Dominique addressed Nova and the others but couldn''t be bothered to respond. Instead, she just gave Dominique a few pats on the head and sat down with her.

    "...Nothing worth congratting. It was inevitably going to be mine. Aelina, that witch, would''ve made sure of it." Mira waved off Dominique. She really didn''t feel much pride about being the Sect''s Prime Disciple.

    Everything was a means to an end. Aelina and her were both using each other.

    Dominique crawled off of Mira and sat next to her while shaking her head. That''s when her eyes caught sight of Mira''s arm, the one that should''ve been amputated.

    Pointing at it, she asked, "I-Is your arm alright, Mother? How''d it grow back so soon?"

    Flexing it, Mira nced at her arm and muttered, "It''s fine now. My vitality has reached a point that, given enough time, I can even regrow limbs. However, it''ll still be a few days before it reaches full strength again."

    "Will I ever get to that point?" Dominique asked with anticipation and a little bit of fear.

    Cultivators have meridians all over their bodies. Losing a limb essentially means that one''s cultivation, and subsequently, their technique, is iplete. That''s equivalent to cutting off one''s path to a higher power!

    "Who knows? You''re technically part of my kin now, so I''m sure if you work hard enough,bined with your affinity, you shouldn''t have a problem regrowing lost limbs." Mira replied.

    "Really?" Dominique''s eyes shone. "Then, are you going to resume my training? I want to be able to regrow limbs!"

    Mira paused and thought about that for a moment. ''...Should I? From what Aelina said, those people from the Central Continent are strong. Their average talent is around Rhea''s current level. The strongest ones might even be equivalent to Nova or Rayna. However, they''ve had the best resources, training environments, and teachings since birth, unlike most of us.''

    Even now, Mira wasn''t fully confident she could beat those Central Continent geniuses.

    In the same Realm, she had no doubt that she could smash them, but from what she knew, most of them were at the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm, with some of the more talented and hard-working ones being in the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    She could fight multiple stages above her own, but so could they.

    ''I wish I could fight one of them just to see where I stand.'' Mira thought, wondering if she could somehow sneak into the Central Continent before shaking her head. ''With everything at my disposal, it''d be a shame if I couldn''t win, but this world seems to hold weird mysteries. If there was a Primordial Ascendance Convergence realm on this Continent, I wonder what''s over there or on the other continents.''

    There were too many unknowns. In her experience, the best way to deal with these situations was just to get stronger.

    ''...Spending time training Dominique will certainly consume arge portion of my time�Ctime I could spend getting stronger. However��'' That''s when a thought struck her. Simultaneously, Hana entered her mind, and she remembered that it was probably time to do something about that.

    ''However, what if we go on an adventure?'' A creepy grin slowly crept up on her face. ''I can''t stand cultivating normally, and with that witch always watching me, I can''t do what I want. Perhaps it''s time I finally see what this world has to offer.''

    Dominique silently waited for Mira''s answer. ''Please say yes! I don''t want you to leave me again.'' These were her thoughts, but she didn''t dare to voice them out loud.

    "...Alright." Mira finally spoke, nodding. Dominique''s eyes gleamed as arge smile graced her lips, but Mira wasn''t through. "However, this won''t be a normal training session."

    Dominique''s smile froze, but she still intently listened. "Instead of sitting in the Sect all day, cooped up like a caged chicken, we''ll go get you some real experience."

    "Really?!" Dominique finally couldn''t contain herself. "You mean I''m going to go on an adventure with you, Mother?! Won''t Grandma Aelina be mad?"

    ***

    Somewhere on the mountain, an ashen-haired woman spat out a mouthful of tea. She threw her cup on the ground and snarled in Dominique''s direction. "Damn, brat! Grandma?! Who''s your fucking Grandma?! I''m still a young, chaste woman! Call me Sister, or at the very least, Aunty!"

    ***

    As if she could hear Aelina''s curses, Mira chuckled. "Grandma Aelina, huh? I don''t think that''s suitable. With her age, you should call her Old Ancestor Aelina!"

    "Mmhm~" Dominique nodded. "...Then, won''t Ancestor Aelina be mad if you leave?"

    Mira could feel a faint killing intent directed towards them, but she just chuckled and continued. "Maybe, but who cares about that old woman? She''s just a greedy witch out to take my loot. If I want to go on an adventure with my da-...disciple, who is she to stop me?"

    The killing intent grew stronger, but Dominique''s eyes brightened. "Hahaha~! That''s right! Mother is the strongest!"

    "It''s good that you know."

    With that said, the atmosphere became quiet. The two of them just looked up at the sky and watched as the sun fell below the horizon, allowing the stars to light up the night.

    Dominique basked in Mira''s oppressive yetforting aura while twiddling her fingers. Finally, she came to a decision and crawled into Mira''sp, her eyes still locked onto the night sky.

    "...T-Thank you." She muttered.

    Mira just sat there silently, unsure of what to do. A peculiar feeling rose in her chest. After all the shit that''s happened thest few years, it was nice to just be able to�� rx. In fact, she found her time with Dominique to be one of the more soothing moments in her life.

    It wasn''t until now that she realized that maybe she''d been a bit too neglectful as a ''parent''.

    "...I��I l-love you, Mother." Dominique stuttered awkwardly.

    Mira froze, but her hands unconsciouslynded on Dominique''s head, brushing her hair.

    "I.... d-daughter." She whispered so softly that it almost sounded as if it was the wind.

    Dominique trembled. She didn''t hear most of what Mira said, but thatst part was all she needed.

 Chapter 846 Goodbyes

    Chapter 846 Goodbyes

    "So, you want to go on an adventure, huh?" A cold voice came out of Aelina as she stared down at Mira.

    Sitting at a table at the top of the mountain, Mira took a sip of tea and nodded.

    "You do know you just became the Sect''s Prime Disciple, right?" Aelina tapped her fingers and asked, her voice still cold.

    "And?" Mira replied with an indifferent expression.

    "There are certain responsibilities thate with that title. One of which isn''t immediately leaving."

    "I''lle back every so often," Mira said, but Aelina wasn''t satisfied with that. The Prime Disciple position was more than just being a Central Continent Competition candidate. It was the face of the Sect''s current generation��a representation of the Sect''s future.

    A weak Prime Disciple often meant a weak future, and vice versa. Mira couldn''t just leave because she wanted to.

    "It''s not that simple, Mira," Aelina said with a sigh. "There are things you have to do, take part of. Friendlypetitions between other Sects, training the newer disciples, making appearances, spreading your influence, and more. You think you can just get all the benefits without giving anything in return?"

    Mira gave Aelina a mocking smile and pulled out a Divine-Grade herb from her Infinity Garden. She tossed it at the Sect Master, who carefully caught it and said sinctly, "Yes."

    "..."

    Putting the herb away, Aelina coughed awkwardly and said righteously, "...A-Actually, an adventure might be good. Our Sect''s Prime Disciple should really broaden her horizons! No, not just you, but all disciples need to go out into the world!"

    "..." Mira just stared at her with a deadpan expression.

    "Haaa��" Aelina gave a massive sigh. "I know I can''t change your mind, but you really do need to stop by every so often to fulfill a few obligations. The Elders and I will work on preparing everything you need to do. All you need to do is show up."

    Taking out a palm-sized wooden token covered in runes, as well as around 100 Communication Talismans, she handed them over to Mira. "We can get in touch through these. However, don''t ignore me, or I''ll be forced to drag you back."

    Putting them in her storage space, Mira gave her a weird look. "Why do you think I''ll be gone so long? What if I just have a few errands to run?"

    "Are you really?" Aelina gave Mira a knowing look.

    "..." Mira didn''t have anything to say against that, as she really did want to go explore the rest of the world before reaching the Central Continent.

    She had a feeling that once she made it there, not only would it be hard to leave, but her strength would be high enough that traveling to other Continents wouldn''t be interesting.

    It was better to get these things out of the way when she could still find enemies of simr strength.

    ''This''ll also be good for Dominique''s development. I can also get thatzy wolf to get off its butt.'' There was also the fact that the Sect was too safe for her. While sparring was fun, and she could definitely learn from them, they weren''t as effective as battles to the death.

    Outside in the wild, without protection and seeing the world how it really is was much more interesting.

    "...I''ll try ande back at least once a year." Mira finally replied.

    "That''s fine." Aelina nodded with a smile before her expression became serious. "However, don''t be gone too long. It seems that after we invaded the Beast ns, something big is going to happen soon. While the Elders and I can handle most things, you do need to make an appearance for these kinds of things."

    "...Fine." Mira readily agreed, not necessarily for Aelina, but because killing things was the most efficient way for her to grow. If enemies started invading the Sect in droves, her cultivation might skyrocket!

    "Good." Aelina nodded, finally somewhat satisfied. "I''ll make a public statement saying you''ve gone into seclusion to prepare for the Central Continent Competition. However, that''ll only stall any enemies waiting in the background until you reveal yourself, which probably won''t take more than a day."

    Mira couldn''t refute that. She was just too noticeable now, and she really didn''t want to switch forms just to avoid a bit of trouble.

    "Alright, be on your way now." Aelina got up and waved Mira off. "I''ll contact you when I need something. Try not to die, and don''t use MY herbs so freely."

    Mira nodded and got up as well. She didn''t bother saying thank you or anything like that, as she was going to leave anyway. She was just here to inform her.

    Seeing her walk away, Aelina gave a faint smirk. ''The bait has been thrown. Now, let''s see who my first target will be.''

    ***

    Making her way back to her home, Mira was surprised to see Nova, Seraphina, Everly, and Eden ying with Dominique and Hana outside.

    ''What are they doing here?'' She wondered as shended right next to them, catching their attention.

    "We came to say goodbye." Nova, who was sitting on the grass, said bluntly.

    "...How''d you-" Mira''s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

    "You''re leaving the Sect to explore and broaden your horizons, right? So are we." Nova cut her off and answered. Mira was surprised to hear that and wondered why they''d also leave.

    As if she saw through her thoughts, Seraphina said, "After training with you a few times, we realized that we''ve spent most of our time in the Sect over the years. We haven''t really gone out. However, our time in the beast''s Secret Realm really opened our eyes, showing us that there are extraordinary opportunities outside of the Sect."

    "We can''t allow you to leave us in the dirt, after all." Everly chimed in.

    "...I see." Mira slowly nodded in realization. "Well, do whatever you want."

    The group gathered around, each one of them sharing a determined look. They each recognized the other''s hunger for growth. Nobody wanted to be left behind, especially not geniuses like them.

    It was already bad enough that the girl who joined the Sect years after them and is decades younger was about to surpass them in cultivation and had already done so in strength. They couldn''t allow her to leave them behind.

    They had their own pride too!

    "I guess Aelina will be a bit lonely," Mira chuckled, thinking of the Sect Master''s exacerbated face. Dominique and Hana, ying nearby, paused what they were doing and looked up, sensing the serious mood.

    "Yeah, but we''ll cross paths again. And when we do, it''ll be your face in the dirt," Nova stated with a smirk, clearly looking forward to the challenge.

    Seraphina nodded with shining eyes. "It''s not just about getting stronger. I want to see more of this world, understand its mysteries."

    Everly and Eden shared a nce, nodding in agreement. "We''ll all have our adventures. Maybe we''ll even find some new techniques or rare treasures," Everly said with a hopeful tone.

    Mira looked at herpanions. She wasn''t sure what to feel regarding them. Although they were nice to have around asionally, Mira wasn''t someone who wanted to be tied down by unnecessary things.

    However, perhaps if they kept this level of passion for learning and getting stronger, they might all be able to stick together in the future.

    ''...Simr to Maria, I suppose. In the end, only strength matters. Having weak friends is nothing more than a liability.'' Mira thought while staring at them in satisfaction. She really didn''t want to be stuck with Aelina for the rest of her life.

    ''...As long as that witch doesn''t die of old age, I really can''t see her dying.'' She shook her head with a bitter smile.

    If there was anyone in this world that she could trust not to die, it was Aelina. Not just because she was strong, but she was too crafty, like a wily old fox. Even with her age and life experience, Mira doubted that she wouldn''t be tricked by one of Aelina''s schemes.

    The woman was really too smart.

    ''Who knows, I''m probably part of one of her ns right now and don''t even know it.'' Mira didn''t realize how right she was.

    Their conversation continued for a while, each sharing their ns and aspirations. Mira listened, offering advice where she could, based on her own experiences. As the sun began to set, casting a golden hue over the mountain, the group stood up.

    "Well, this is it then," Seraphina said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "We should get going."

    One by one, they bid farewell to Mira, Dominique, and Hana. With promises to meet again, they each took off in different directions, disappearing into the horizon.

    Mira watched them leave, feeling a mix of emotions. She was proud of her friends for taking this step, but she also felt a twinge of loneliness. Shaking her head, she turned to Dominique and Hana.

    "Let''s go inside. It''s gettingte."

    As they walked back to the house, Mira''s mind was already racing with ns and preparations for her own journey.

 Chapter 847 Confronting a Patriarch

    Chapter 847 Confronting a Patriarch

    On the outskirts of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, Rhydiannded a few kilometers away from Brightclipse City.

    Mira, Dominique, Hana, and Elenei hopped off the wolf and looked at the ringed city in the distance.

    ''It''s been a while since I wasst here.'' It wasn''t long after she broke through to the Core Formation Realm and joined the main Battle Maiden Sect that she was here.

    She remembered that, at the time, she had been tricked by Hana, pulled into her little scheme.

    ''Tch. To think I''m still taking care of this little minx who dared to use me.'' Mira grumbled, resisting the urge to re at Hana. However, looking back on it now, she was surprised she didn''t just kill Hana and be done with it.

    Still, it was a good thing. Dominique made a friend, someone she could y with whenever she was gone, which was quite frequent. Not only that, but she received a technique that has saved her more than a few times.

    ''Weirdly enough, meeting Hana was one of my luckier moments despite the trouble she caused me.'' Mira sighed, thinking about just howplex life can be. One decision to save a child had most likely saved her life, or at least prevented serious injuries, more than once.

    Then, a passing thought crossed her mind, ''...What if I save a bunch of little girls?'' However, she immediately shook her head. ''No! One brat is enough...''

    ''...but, if it could make me luckier��'' Mira''s head went in a strange direction before she pped herself on the cheeks.

    NO! What kind of nonsense am I thinking?! Taking care of children?! She''d be lucky if they didn''t all end up dead within a week!

    "Alright! Let''s get going!" Mira dered and started walking toward the city. She received a few weird looks, but they followed her nheless.

    Suddenly, she felt a tug on her robe. She didn''t need to turn to know who it was.

    "A-Are you really going to save my Mom?" Hana asked in a shaky voice.

    "Only if she''s alive," Mira answered coldly, but Hana was already used to that and didn''t take it to heart. Instead, tears of happiness started running down her eyes.

    "Th-Thank you!" The little girl bowed, but Mira ignored her and kept walking.

    Dominique grabbed Hana''s hand and gave her a big smile before dragging her off to keep up with Mira. Rhydian and Dominique also smiled at the scene as they felt that Mira had changed in the years they''d known her. If it were before, she would''ve never done something like this.

    As they approached Brightclipse City, the vast, sprawling metropolis unveiled itself in full glory. The city was buzzing with life and energy, all the way from the slums to the rich center city where the Lionel Family resided. The towering walls gleamed under the sun, and the distant chatter of the bustling crowd reached their ears.

    Mira led the group through the city gates, her presencemanding attention from the onlookers. Whispers and stares followed them, but Mira remained unfazed, her focus solely on the task at hand.

    The Guards didn''t even bother to stop her after sensing hermanding presence and the Battle Maiden Sect token hanging off her waist.

    Dominique clung to Hana''s hand, her eyes wide with curiosity as she observed the new environment. Hana, although nervous, seemedforted by Dominique''s presence. Rhydian, in her human form, surveyed their surroundings with a protective gaze, ensuring their safety.

    "How do you want to go about this, little girl?" Mira suddenly asked as they strolled through the town, taking in the familiar sights.

    "U-Ummm�� What?" Hana didn''t understand.

    "I''m saying I can either smash my way through, or we can go about this a bit more delicately," Mira said, partially just wanting to get this over with.

    ''Do you even know what the word ''delicate'' means?'' Was the thought going through everyone''s head, but nobody dared to say it out loud.

    "I-I just want to find my Mom. How you do it doesn''t matter." Hana replied hesitantly. She didn''t really want to go that route, but since Mira was the type to kill first and ask questionster, she was afraid everything would go wrong if they tried anything else.

    "Good choice." Mira nodded and took out her scythe. "Rhydian, protect them. Elenei, with me."

    "Yes!"

    Rhydian grabbed Dominique by the hand and wrapped Hana up with her tail then took to the skies.

    A pair of Paragon Wings formed behind Mira as she shot into the air and flew toward the center city ring, followed by Elenei.

    All the citizens spotted them flying and pointed, shocked that someone other than the Lionel Family would dare to fly here.

    "What are thosedies doing?"

    "Don''t they know this is the Lionel Family''s territory?"

    "They''re just in the Soul Transformation Realm! They''re going to get themselves killed!"

    "Wait, isn''t that�� Mira? From the Battle Maiden Sect?"

    "Damn! It really is her!"

    "Everyone! Run! Hide! Wherever that woman goes, death is sure to follow!"

    As soon as they realized who it was, anyone who wasn''t confident in their power or survivability immediately scattered like the wind. Mira hasn''t shown her face many times to the public, but every time she does, it''s almost always a bloody massacre.

    For her to show up in a city like this so boldly, the smarter ones smelled trouble and wanted no part of it.

    "Tsk. This is why fame is annoying." Mira frowned slightly but ignored all the chatter.

    "Hehe~ Mother is so beautiful~ How could they run away, as if they saw a bloodthirsty monster?" Dominique chuckled as she watched the people below them scatter like rats.

    "..."

    "Enough of that," Mira ordered as they hovered over the center city, almost directly above the Lionel Family residence. "From what I can remember, the Patriarch is at the 2nd Stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm, and the Ancestor may be even stronger, but his power is unknown. So, stay on guard."

    The others nodded heavily as they circted Qi around their bodies, ready for anything.

    As Mira and Elenei soared towards the center of the city, a sudden, oppressive aura enveloped the area.

    The force was immense, bearing down like the weight of a mountain, but both Mira and Elenei shrugged it off with ease. Rhydian also felt the pressure, but she shielded the two kids, her eyes narrowing at the source of the disturbance.

    Ascending into the sky, a tall, muscr man stopped in front of them, his eyes bearing down on them. His features were distinctively feline, with a mane-like head of hair and piercing golden eyes that radiated authority.

    He was Marcus Lionel, the Patriarch of the Lionel Family, known for his Sun Lion bloodline and his position as a powerhouse at the 2nd Stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    "Mira of the Battle Maiden Sect," Marcus bellowed, his voice echoing through the streets. "What business do you have causing such amotion in my city?"

    Mira arrogantly stepped forward, unbothered by the authoritative tone he used. Elenei stood beside her, preparing to attack at a moment''s notice.

    "We''re here for someone. A little wolf, to be exact," Mira replied coolly, her eyes locking with Marcus''s.

    ''Little wolf? What the hell is this crazy woman talking about?'' Marcus became perplexed, but when he caught sight of Hana, his eyes widened in realization. ''That Silvermoon woman?! Damn! Why is she with this demon?! Don''t tell me��''

    "Seems like you know who I''m talking about." Mira''s cold voice interrupted his thoughts. He frowned, realizing that a once slightly annoying situation just turned to shit.

    "I hope you can return this girl''s mother. For the sake of your family." Mira nced in the direction of the Lionel familypound, releasing a sliver of killing intent.

    Marcus'' expression changed, morphing into anger, as he took out a spear and pointed it at her. "...Is that a threat?" He growled. mes started to spiral around him, but he didn''t take action yet.

    This was the Battle Maiden Sect''s Prime disciple, after all! If they really fought, and he killed her, his entire bloodline would definitely be snuffed out within the next 24 hours!

    "No." Mira shook her head. "It''s a promise."

    She paused for a moment before continuing, not allowing the man to think. "Now, lead the way. It''s not like you need them anymore when the pendant is in the Sect Master''s hands."

    Of course, that was a lie, but since she knew Marcus couldn''t sense it, how would he know?

    ''Dammit! If this bitch really gave the pendant to Aelina, and that little girl told them everything, it''ll be impossible for me to get my hands on them!'' Marcus cursed. ''That bastard of a son of mine only had one job! How could he not catch a child?!''

    He knew he was screwed. Whether Mira was telling the truth or not didn''t matter. He couldn''t suffer the consequences of touching Mira, and from what he knew about her, she wouldn''t back down from a fight.

    ''Hell, from the pressure she''s radiating, can I even beat her? And what''s with those two beasts? Why does my bloodline feel so nervous?'' Marcus ground his teeth, hating the fact that he had to put his pride away and back down, but if he didn''t want his n to be destroyed, he could only choose peace.

    "...Follow me."

 Chapter 848 Linnea

    Chapter 848 Linnea

    Marcus led the way through the grandiose gates of theirpound with an expression of anger and resignation.

    Mira and Elenei followed closely behind, their senses alert for any sign of an ambush. They could feel hundreds of presences around them, all keeping an eye on the situation, but none seemed to be preparing to make a move.

    Rhydian, with Dominique and Hana under her protective wing, hovered behind them, ready to dash away at the first hint of trouble.

    The interior of thepound was asvish as expected of a top-tier family in Brightclipse City. Elegant buildings adorned with lion motifs, lush gardens, and serene water fountains dotted thendscape.

    As they walked, Mira''s gaze was calcting, assessing every detail of her surroundings. Her hand rested casually on the hilt of her scythe. She didn''t trust this man for a second.

    Marcus gritted his teeth, feeling her scrutinizing gaze, but maintained hisposure. He knew the stakes were high, not just for his family but for the entire city. A misstep could lead to catastrophic consequences.

    They arrived at a secluded courtyard, where a group of Lionel Family guards stood at attention.

    "Wait here," Marcus instructed gruffly as he approached the guards, whispering orders that were too soft for the others to hear.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed, sensing the slight shift in the atmosphere. She exchanged a nce with Elenei, who nodded subtly.

    After a few tense moments, Marcus returned, his expression unreadable. "This way," he said, leading them toward arge, ornate building at the far end of the courtyard.

    The building''s doors opened, revealing a dimly lit interior. As they stepped inside, the air grew colder, a stark contrast to the warmth of the sunny courtyard outside.

    The room wasrge and sparsely furnished, with a single figure chained to the wall at the far end. As they approached, the figure lifted her head, revealing a face that bore the marks of repeated abuse and torture.

    It was Linnea Silvermoon, Hana''s mother. She had long silver hair and two bushy wolf ears, but the rest of her body seemed mostly human.

    "Mom!" Hana cried out, tears streaming down her face as she rushed towards her mother, only to be stopped by Rhydian''s firm grip.

    Linnea''s eyes widened in disbelief, a glimmer of hope igniting in her weary gaze. "Hana... my child," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

    Marcus stepped aside, sensing the growing tension in the air, allowing Mira to approach Linnea. However, he didn''t know that the pressure she was releasing was all a ruse.

    His gaze flickered towards Rhydian, Dominique, and Hana, noting the protective stance of the wolf. He knew any aggressive move on his part could escte into a disaster he couldn''t control.

    Suddenly, his eyes widened for a moment before a subtle smirk yed on his lips�Csomething Mira and Elenei didn''t miss.

    Mira ignored that for now and stepped forward, her eyes scanning Linnea''s condition. Chains clinked as Linnea tried to move, the sound echoing in the silent room. "Alright, let''s get out of here," Mira stated firmly.

    Marcus watched the reunion, his expression returning to its once agitated state. He knew that Mira''s ''promise'' was not to be taken lightly.

    With Linnea returned to her daughter, the Lionel Family might avoid the full wrath of the Battle Maiden Sect. However��

    ''Isn''t this the same as cutting off our path forward?'' Marcus''s eyes narrowed dangerously as he clenched his fists. They were going to take the pendant, cultivate Hana well, and then have her and Azaar pump out talented children who would serve as the foundation for their rise in power.

    Now, all of that was ruined by one girl and her little pets!

    Feeling a hint of killing intent directed her way, Mira turned to Marcus, her blood-red gaze piercing into his. "Consider this a warning. Look at me like that again, and your entire bloodline will join you in hell."

    Marcus swallowed hard, the gravity of her words sinking in. He had no doubt that Mira meant every word.

    With swift movements, Mira unlocked Linnea''s chains. The tter of metal hitting the floor reverberated through the room as Linnea copsed into Mira''s arms, too weak to stand on her own. Mira carefully supported her, casting a subtle amount of Light Element into her to ease her immediate pain.

    "Mom!" Hana cried out again, tears of relief and joy streaming down her face as Rhydian gently released her. Hana ran to her mother, embracing her tightly.

    Linnea, although weak, wrapped her arms around her daughter, tears of her own mingling with Hana''s. "I thought I''d never see you again," she sobbed.

    Elenei watched the scene quietly, her expression softening. Even in a world as ruthless as theirs, moments of genuine emotion and reunion were precious. She''d also grown to like Hana throughout the time she''d known her.

    ''...Hopefully, Mira won''t be too rough on them. She''s just a crippled mortal, after all.'' Elenei thought but decided to leave that to the future.

    Mira gestured to Rhydian and Elenei, signaling it was time to leave. Marcus didn''t stop them as they exited the building, his gaze following them until they were out of sight.

    As they navigated through thepound, Linnea, supported by Mira, seemed to regain some of her strength. Her eyes, once dull with despair, now sparkled with a mixture of gratitude and determination. Hana stayed close, her small hand firmly gripping her mother''s.

    The Lionel Family members watched them leave, their gazes a mix of fear, respect, and unconcealed hate. They were all prideful beings and never thought that their family would be disrespected by a mere disciple! Still, they weren''t stupid and held themselves back while grumbling.

    The city beyond thepound''s walls remained a bustling hive of activity, but the atmosphere had shifted. Word of Mira''s visit and her confrontation with the Lionel Family had spread like wildfire, and onlookers quickly hid when they saw her leaving with an extra person in tow.

    As they reached the city outskirts, the sense of unease that had apanied them since their arrival began to dissipate. Mira felt a strange sense of closure as she nced back at the towering city walls, knowing that she had altered the course of events for at least one family.

    But as they were about to step beyond the city''s boundaries, a voice boomed from afar, echoing through the air with a surge of power. "Did you think you coulde and go so easily?!"

 Chapter 849 Devastation

    Chapter 849 Devastation

    Mira and herpanions halted in their tracks, turning to face the source of the booming voice.

    From the direction of the city, two figures emerged. One was Marcus Lionel. Beside him stood an older, more regal figure �C Augustus, the Ancestor of the Lionel Family. His presence wasmanding, his eyes sharp and calcting, and his mere presence caused the ground to tremble.

    Mira''s gaze hardened as she sized up the Ancestor, a formidable opponent who radiated a power that surpassed Marcus''s. He was a tall, sturdy man with a mane of golden hair that shimmered like the sun, embodying the majestic essence of the lion. His cultivation red, disying his strength to be at the 6th Stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm, a little lower than the rumors.

    Elenei and Mira''s faces frowned as they stared at the duo, but they didn''t make a move. The two didn''t want to fight such powerful enemies right now, not with Hana, Dominique, and Linnea nearby, as they couldn''t guarantee safety.

    "Mira, Prime Disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect," the Ancestor''s voice was deep and resonant, "you have overstepped your boundaries by meddling in the affairs of my family. Return what''s rightfully ours, and I''ll let you leave unharmed."

    Mira''s expression turned cold. "...Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked, giving Elenei a nce.

    Understanding what she wanted, Elenei raised her palm toward Brightclipse City, creating a mini sun in her hand. Marcus and Augustus frowned and immediately blocked Elenei''s path.

    "You dare?!" Augustus roared. "Where''s your honor as an Orthodox Disciple?! How dare you threaten the innocent!"

    Mira just indifferently shrugged. "I already warned you once. It won''t happen again."

    "Fuck! Don''t you care about your reputation and that of your Sect?! What will people think when they hear you destroyed an entire city of innocent people?!" Marcus felt like he was going crazy!

    From an Unorthodox Disciple, he could somewhat justify this behavior, but Mira was from an Orthodox Sect. For them, reputation mattered, sometimes more than death, as it was through this that they could recruit and survive for hundreds to thousands of years.

    However, Mira was willing to throw all Aelina''s work down the drain for a mere mortal woman! How could they not be indignant?

    "Doesn''t matter," Mira shook her head. "I only want to leave. Everything else is irrelevant."

    "..."

    Now, the two from the Lionel Family finally realized that they had stepped on a massive ho''s nest. There were no good options. Killing Mira was no different than killing themselves. Fighting Mira may result in the destruction of their family and city. And letting Mira go was equivalent to cutting off their path to Heaven.

    ''Bitch!'' Augustus ground his teeth in anger. ''Since it''se to this, then our only option is to kill! The Battle Maiden Sect has lots of enemies, if we can ally with one of them after killing Mira, maybe we can get through this.''

    Mira sensed the killing intent flooding out of the Ancestor''s body and nodded at Elenei.

    Without warning, Elenei''s eyes narrowed as she pumped Qi into the mini sun before a massive beam shot toward the city.

    Augustus''s expression changed as he got in the way of the attack, creating a barrier. A thundering explosion echoed across the area from their sh, but Elenei pped her wings and quickly appeared hundreds of meters away, only for the old man to follow her, his expression slowly morphing into rage.

    Meanwhile, Miraunched the first strike, sending her scythe carving through the air with a chilling hiss. An arc of ice barreled towards Marcus.

    He narrowly evaded, but not without a slice across his arm. Blood dripped down to his hand, but he just gritted his teeth and ignored it.

    Marcus retaliated, his Sun Lion bloodline ring as he conjured a spear of pure sr fire.

    "Die!" He roared as he thrust it at Mira, the air sizzling around its heat.

    Mira deftly dodged, countering with a series of rapid, ice-infused strikes. Each sh of their weapons sent shockwaves rippling through the air, tearing up the ground beneath their feet.

    Above them, Elenei had transformed into her Frozen Ash Dracophoenix form and was a spectacle of fire and ice. She unleashed a torrent of me and frost, fusing the two into more powerful strikes.

    desperate to protect the city, Augustus erected barrier after barrier, each one cracking under Elenei''s relentless assault.

    The city of Brightclipse trembled under the might of their battle. Buildings crumbled, streets cracked, and civilians fled in terror. The once-bustling city was now a battlefield of apocalyptic proportions.

    As Mira and Marcus continued their duel, the intensity only escted. Mira''s ice attacks grew more ferocious while Marcus''s lion-like aura zed brighter with every move. The two flew around the outskirts of the city, destroying and tearing up thend with each sh.

    Meanwhile, Elenei''s aerial onught was relentless. Augustus, despite his formidable strength, was hard-pressed to keep up. His barriers were starting to falter under thebined fury of fire and ice.

    In a moment of desperation, Augustus channeled a massive amount of Qi into a colossal barrier, enveloping arge part of the city. Elenei, sensing an opportunity, gathered her own strength.

    With a deafening roar, she unleashed a swirling vortex of frozen mes that collided with Augustus''s barrier.

    The impact was catastrophic. A blinding explosion of light and energy erupted, shattering the barrier and sending shockwaves throughout the city. Buildings near the edge of the barrier were obliterated and reduced to dust in the wake of their sh.

    Down below, Mira seized her chance.

    With Marcus momentarily distracted by the explosion, she lunged forward, her scythe aimed straight at his heart. Marcus, realizing the impending danger, twisted away but not fast enough to avoid a deep gash across his chest.

    Blood sprayed, and Marcus staggered back, his eyes wide with shock and pain, but he swallowed his anger and retreated a few dozen meters. Mira stood before him, her scythe dripping with his blood.

    Mira stared at the man, her voice as cold as an icy winter. "I''ll give you one more chance to make the right decision."

    Above, the skies cleared as Elenei''s attack dissipated, leaving a devastated Augustus struggling to maintain his footing. Although he had only received a few minor injuries, he couldn''t help but tremble as he gazed down at the ruin his city had be.

    The inner and center cities were mostly fine, but the outer one was reduced to rubble with hardly any signs of life.

    Marcus, his eyes burning with unbridled rage at the sight of his bloodied chest, lost all semnce of control. "You''ll pay for this!" he bellowed, lunging towards Mira with a spear engulfed in roaring mes.

    Mira''s eyes glinted with an icy calm as a crown of frost materialized on her head, and her blue tail red ominously.

    The temperature around her plummeted, transforming the battlefield into a frozen wastnd. Marcus''s movements slowed, his fury impeded by the biting cold.

    In the blink of an eye, chains of ice erupted from the shadows, entwining around Marcus''s limbs.

    Mira appeared at his side. With a swift, merciless swing, she severed his arm, followed by a clean, brutal decapitation.

    "You BITCH! I''ll kill you!" Augustus, witnessing the fall of his son, let out a roar of anguish and despair. His grief quickly turned to a murderous frenzy as he charged at Mira, his energy surging with the intent to annihte. "Die for me!"

    But at that moment, an overwhelming sense of dread enveloped him.

    He turned to see Rhydian, the wolf he had momentarily forgotten, hovering ominously above the city. A colossal icy tornado was forming in her wake, threatening to consume what remained of Brightclipse City.

    Torn between vengeance and the desperate need to save his city, Augustus hesitated. That split second of indecision was all Mira and Elenei needed.

    Mira''s cold voice cut through the chaos. "Elenei, now!"

    With wless coordination, Mira and Eleneibined their powers, creating a barrier of ice and fire that momentarily contained Augustus. Elenei dived towards Augustus with her beak aimed at his exposed back.

    Augustus, caught in their trap, could only watch in horror as Elenei''s beak prated his flesh, tearing through muscle and bone. He didn''t understand how such a beast could prate his steely flesh so easily.

    How could he know that the beak of a Dracophoenix was sharper and stronger than almost any metal in the world?

    With a final, agonized cry, Augustus fell, his heart ripped from his body by Elenei''s merciless attack.

    The city stood eerily silent in the aftermath; the once-proud patriarch of the Lionel Familyy defeated, his life extinguished in a single, brutal moment.

    Mira looked around at the devastation, her expression unreadable. "Let''s go," she said, turning away from the scene of carnage. Rhydian, Dominique, Hana, and Linnea followed, but not before the miniature sun that Elenei had created fell entered the tornado.

    A cataclysmic explosion shook the earth as the group flew at full speed to avoid the aftermath.

 Chapter 850 Next

    Chapter 850 Next

    As Mira and herpanions soared away from the copsing city, thendscape below was a vision of destruction. Brightclipse City nowy in ruins. The colossal icy tornado, fueled by Elenei''s miniature sun, had unleashed an apocalyptic fury that left nothing but destion in its wake.

    Mira''s expression was stoic as she led the group away. She knew the fall of the Lionel Family and the devastation of Brightclipse City would send shockwaves throughout the continent.

    Allies and enemies alike would be reevaluating their stance towards the Battle Maiden Sect, but only on the surface. The higher-ups of other powers wouldn''t care about some random family with only 2 Mortal Shedding Realm Elders.

    This was the reality of the cultivation world.

    Behind her, Linnea clung to her daughter Hana, tears of relief and sorrow intermingling. The trauma of her captivity and the destruction of the city weighed heavily on her, but the warmth of her daughter''s embrace pushed all that aside.

    Rhydian, in her human form, carried Dominique, who looked back at the destruction with wide eyes, a mixture of awe and fear evident on her young face.

    ''I knew Mother was ruthless, but�� wow.'' She kept ncing at Mira, wondering what her thoughts were, but she only saw indifference. ''...No wonder she never took me on her adventures.''

    However, this opened her eyes a bit to the true face of the world. It was a heartless ce. Without sufficient strength and willpower, one could easily be swept up in the chaos.

    Dominique clenched her little fists as her gaze hardened. ''I don''t want to be mere coteral damage in a battle between giants! I''ll train hard and reach Mother''s�CNo! I''ll surpass Mother!''

    Without even looking at her, Mira could sense the change in perspective and nodded in satisfaction. ''That''s my disciple. I knew I hadn''t chosen wrongly.''

    "Ummm�� Th-thank you, Miss��?" Suddenly, Linnea spoke up.

    "Mira."

    "Then, Miss Mira," Linnea smiled awkwardly, unsure of how to deal with this terrifying woman. "Thank you for saving me and taking care of my daughter. I don''t know how I can ever repay you."

    "It''s fine." Mira waved her off. "I already got what I wanted in exchange."

    "..."

    Linnea''s expression froze. She quickly turned to her daughter, who immediately looked away.

    "...What did you do?" Her rough and hoarse voice only made her question seem scarier.

    "I-I gave her the Hidden World technique."

    "She''s also my test subject." Mira chimed in, making the situation worse. Linnea nearly fainted in fright and anger.

    ***

    It wasn''t until they reached the next city that Hana was able to calm her Mother down and exin the misunderstanding. While Linnea partly understood what was going on, it would still take a while to rify everything that happened from the time they were separated.

    The group made their way toward an inn, quickly booking a few rooms without issue. Hana and Linnea headed to theirs, while everyone else had their own, except for Dominique.

    Mira and Dominique sat on the bed in their room, leaving the others to their own devices.

    However, it was only now that Mira thought that maybe repaying her favor to Hana first wasn''t the smartest idea.

    ''What should I do now?''

    Originally, she figured that Hana''s mother was most likely dead, so she hadn''t bothered nning for if she was alive.

    ''It''s a little ufortable to head back to the Sect after just a single day. Once Aelina finds out I destroyed a city, I doubt she''ll let me leave again.'' Mira frowned, wondering if there was a way to sneak in, but shook her head. Nothing in the Sect escaped Aelina''s gaze, especially not her presence.

    ''Then, does that mean I have to travel with extra baggage?'' Her frown deepened.

    In the quiet room, Mira sat pondering their next move, her gaze somewhat distant. Dominique, perched on the edge of the bed, watched her mother with curious eyes. She sensed the unusual hesitancy in Mira, a rare sight for the usually decisive woman.

    "Mother, are we going to visit Aunt Maria next?" Dominique''s question cut through the silence, her voice filled with a mix of excitement and concern. She hadn''t seen Maria in a while.

    Mira''s eyes flickered with a brief moment of uncertainty before she masked it with a neutral expression. "I''m not sure yet," she replied, her voice betraying a hint of reluctance that didn''t go unnoticed by Dominique.

    "Is something wrong?" Dominique inquired, tilting her head. She never saw her mother hesitate about anything, let alone visiting her lover.

    Mira let out a sigh, "...It''splicated," she finally said, brushing off the topic. "Alright! That''s enough of that. Let''s focus on something more important."

    Dominique waited, her eyes fixed on Mira.

    "We should head to the Northern Continent," Mira dered after a moment of contemtion. "With my affinity for ice, it''s the best ce for me to train and strengthen my abilities. And it''s far enough from Aelina''s immediate influence."

    Dominique''s eyes widened in surprise. "The Northern Continent? But isn''t that..."

    "Dangerous? Yes," Mira interjected, her gaze turning sharp. "The seas that separate the continents are known to be treacherous, despite the many unknowns surrounding them. The Northern Continent itself is and of extremely harsh climates and strong beasts. From what I''ve heard, just living to the next day is difficult for most people. But it''s precisely because of these things that make it the perfect training ground."

    Dominique nodded slowly, absorbing Mira''s words. The idea of such an adventure thrilled her, but she also felt a twinge of apprehension.

    "What about Linnea and Hana?" Dominique asked. "Will they being with us?"

    "That''s theplication," Mira muttered, her brow furrowing. "They''re nothing more than useless baggage, but..."

    "We can''t just leave them on their own." Dominique finished that sentence. She seemed extremely firm about her decision. Mira could tell that the little girl was going to fight her on this if she refused.

    However, Dominique understood the dilemma. Hana and Linnea were just too weak. Someone will always have to protect them.

    "We''ll figure it out," Dominique said confidently, trying to reassure her mother.

    Mira gave a slight nod before a small smirk tugged at her lips. "You''ll figure something out. She''s YOUR friend."

    Dominique was stunned before she fell into thought. ''Mother''s right. Hana is my friend, not hers. She''s my responsibility.''

    Suddenly, the thought of hellish training crossed her mind, and a simrly sinister smirk graced her lips.

    Leaving the girl to her thoughts, Mira stood up and walked to the window. Her gaze drifted to the starry sky, her mind already nning the course to the Northern Continent. She knew little about that distantnd. It was like a nk te, one that she''d eventually dye red.

    "Prepare yourself, Dominique," Mira said, her voice resolute. "Tomorrow, we''ll head out to gather information."

    Dominique nodded firmly. "I''m ready, Mother."

 Chapter 851 Panic

    Chapter 851 Panic

    The next day, Mira and Dominique set out from the inn, leaving Linnea and Hana to rest.

    The city they were in was full of activity, but it wasn''t all that big. As they walked through the busy streets, Mira scanned the crowds, searching for the right ce to gather information.

    They soon found themselves at a lively marketce, where traders from all over the ce gathered. Mira and Dominique split up to cover more ground, agreeing to meet back in an hour.

    Dominique easily struck up conversations due to her cute fox-like appearance with the vendors and travelers. Although there were a few who looked at her with more malicious gazes, they didn''t dare to do anything, as the woman she came with was known throughout the continent.

    "Only the strongest can fly over safely," an old man with a weathered face told Dominique. "Those in the Divine Sea Realm have no trouble, but for Mortal Shedding Realm Elders, it''s a gamble with death."

    Dominique frowned, considering their options. Mira, while incredibly powerful, hadn''t broken through to the Divine Sea Realm yet and wouldn''t for a while.

    "The safest way for most is by boat," the man continued, "but even that''s not without its dangers. Storms, sea beasts, and even humans... The ocean is a ce where the weak are guaranteed to die."

    "Really? How do you know so much, Grandpa?" Dominique asked with shining eyes, casually sliding over a ring full of Spirit Stones.

    "Hohoho! This old man used to live near the ocean, but I wanted a change in scenery, so I moved to this quaint little city; far away from most of the danger but close enough to reap the benefits." The old man chuckled.

    Dominique thanked him and moved on, gathering more snippets of information.

    She heard from others of a Teleportation Array that connected the continents, but it was heavily guarded and required a hefty fee. Even those from the major Sects couldn''t pass through without a reason. Doing so would be regarded as an act of war.

    Another option was being escorted by a powerful expert, but finding one willing to take such a risk would be a challenge. Not to mention bothersome.

    Meanwhile, Mira gathered simr information. However, she preferred directness and efficiency, questioning traders and information brokers with a no-nonsense attitude.

    As they reconvened, Mira and Dominique exchanged their findings.

    "It seems our best bet is to head north towards the sea," Mira concluded. "There, we''ll find more detailed information"

    Dominique nodded. "However, I''m afraid that Mother''s notoriety might make a lot of people unwilling to work with us."

    Mira frowned, but she couldn''t refute Dominique''s words. "Tch. We''ll see when we get there."

    With their n set, they made their way back to the inn to inform Linnea and Hana of their decision. Linnea, of course, expressed concern, but what could she say against Mira? Hana was in the same boat.

    Neither had a say in the matter.

    Not even an hour after having made their decision, the group hopped on Rhydian''s back and took flight, heading North. But not before they made a little detour.

    ***

    Inside the city of Vorandis, Mira walked around with arge cloak draped over her body. She wrapped herself in an illusion to change her face and aura, had the Hidden World technique active, and even altered her real body to look more human so as not to stand out.

    "Did you hear? The Saintess broke through to the Soul Transformation Realm recently."

    "Yeah! Not only that, but I feel like she looks even more beautiful than before! Ahh~ What I''d do just to get a day alone with her."

    "Stop daydreaming! There are rumors going around that she''s connected to ''that'' person."

    "...F-Fuck�� A-Are you serious?"

    "I even heard ''that'' person just destroyed Brightclipse City!"

    "...Nevermind. I''m satisfied with the Saintess''s healing. I don''t want to spend any alone time with her."

    Mira nearly chopped off the head of the man who dared to have thoughts on her fiancee but held back after hearing him reconsider.

    Still, she was surprised about the number of people talking about Sanctum or Maria just from walking in the streets. Hell, she could even hear people talking about her in their homes.

    Whether it be about her outstanding reputation, god-like healing capabilities, or the reasonably priced yet high-end goods that she sold, everything was positive.

    Extending her hearing, she attempted to listen in on the conversations of some of the stronger people within the city.

    "...So, does anyone have any ideas on how to deal with Sanctum?" A man at the top of one of the tallest buildings asked his subordinates.

    "...I think we should just leave them be."

    "Me too!"

    "Yeah."

    "..." The man sighed and said, "Look, I know you all received healing from her, which may have possibly saved your lives, but she''s consuming the city! At this rate, soon, this entire ce will be hers!"

    Nobody in the room said anything, but the answers were written all over their faces. They were saying:

    ''W-Wouldn''t that be a good thing?''

    ''Power is great, but living is the most important.''

    ''She''s also someone with great moral character! We might make more money with her than with you!''

    "Leader! I think instead of going against her, we should try and cooperate with her. From what I heard, she''s not only a disciple of the Battle Maiden Sect, but is known to be close to Mira, their Prime Disciple. Should we do anything to harm her��" The woman who talked didn''t need to finish thatst sentence for them to understand.

    Mira stopped listening there, satisfied with their responses. ''It seems like Maria has developed her business quite well. Her public opinion is so high that, despite having manypetitors, nobody dares to do anything.''

    There was also the fact that almost everyone in the city seems to have been healed or saved by her at least once. Trying to harm Maria within Vorandis was equivalent to shooting oneself in the foot.

    ''Good.'' Mira nodded with a slight smile. ''I''m d she''s making a name for herself.''

    However, that smile turned gloomy when she remembered how she ''killed'' Maria.

    ''Should I�� see her? I should probably apologize, right?'' But when was thest time she''d done that? It''s been at least a few lifetimes. ''I don''t even know if I can do it properly.''

    With a sigh, Mira made up her mind and walked toward the Sanctum. She passed by the line and walked right into the building without a single person noticing her. By now, her control over the elements and her own innate powers was so high that almost nobody in the city could detect her unless they were actively looking for her.

    Within seconds, she snuck her way into Maria''s office, only to find nobody there.

    After another sigh, Mira took out a letter from her Storage Space and ced it on the table. However, just as she was about to leave, something caught her eye. It was a white note titled ''To Mira'' with a spatial ring on top of it.

    Stunned, she instinctively grabbed the two objects and stuffed them in her Storage space before dashing out of the Sanctum.

    Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes nce in her direction, and although she could sense they weren''t right on her, Mira knew that someone was looking for her.

    Turning around, she saw Maria staring out of a window at the top of the mansion, waving her hand with a nk smile on her face. Her emotions were impossible to read, even for someone like Mira.

    For the first time in a long time, Mira panicked. Unsure of what to do, she unhesitatingly disappeared from her location, quickly dashing out of the city.

    Whether it was out of pride, guilt, ego, or something else entirely, she felt she wasn''t emotionally ready or deserving to face Maria at the moment. Whatever Maria wanted to say, she didn''t want to hear.

    She clicked her tongue as she made her way to the outskirts. A few secondster, she hopped onto Rhydian''s back and coldly ordered, "Go."

    Rhydian shivered and hurriedly took flight, while everyone else was curious why Mira was so different despite only being gone a few minutes.

 Chapter 852 Frostshore Haven

    Chapter 852 Frostshore Haven

    Maria walked away from the window and made her way down the mansion toward her office. She figured Mira would secretly pay her a visit at some point after they left the Secret Realm, but she wasn''t sure when.

    ''It was faster than I thought.'' She gently rubbed the engagement ring on her finger. ''...I guess I was right. She didn''t want to talk, or perhaps she was just too nervous.''

    While she was thinking that, she opened the door to her office and noticed that a letter had reced the one that she had left there for Mira.

    "Although it''s a bit awkward, this way ofmunicating is probably the most suitable for now," Maria muttered to herself while shivering, feeling phantom pain run down the middle of her body.

    She still remembered the sensation of getting cut in half and dying.

    ''It still feels like a dream.'' She thought, not wanting to remember but forced to.

    The act of dying�� it was indescribable. In that split second, before her consciousness faded and she was brought back to life, it felt like she was stretched endlessly. Like she was in the center of a ck hole.

    It was like an infinite void filled her consciousness for eons before she was brought back to the world of the living, despite only a second passing. Time meant nothing to her in that state, and she wasn''t even sure if she was still ''her''.

    ''...Yet, Mira has experienced this multiple times?'' She wasn''t sure how to feel about that.

    Was she mad, betrayed, upset, sad, sorrowful, or did she pity Mira? Everything was just so messed up that she wasn''t sure how to process it all.

    ''I just need time�Ctime to put my feelings in order. I''m sure Mira feels the same, or else she never would''vee here.'' Thinking about how Mira scrambled out of her mansion did put a smile on her face, as in some twisted fashion, it showed she cared and worried about her.

    Picking up the letter on her desk, she opened it and noticed a spatial ring plus a few talismans fall out. Ignoring those, she read the short message that Mira had written:

    [I''m taking Dominique to the Northern Continent to train. Come find me if you want to talk.]

    "......"

    "Pfft-HAHAHAHA~!" Maria burst out into uncontrobleughter. "That woman�� Hahahaha~! What a pain in the butt~!"

    While still chuckling, she put the letter into her storage ring alongside the other items and stared out the window. "But, I guess she''s my pain in the ass~"

    ***

    On the other side, as she was on Rhydian''s back, Mira didn''t even think of looking at the items Maria left for her.

    As they continued north, Mira took this opportunity to focus on Hana''s cultivation, specifically her ''Organ Refinement Stage'' within the Body Tempering Realm.

    Using a technique she had created through studying the Body Tempering Realm, other techniques she had studied, and with the help of the FLDIL Mira guided Hana through the process of perfectly refining her organs.

    Hana had already perfectly opened all her meridians, which hardly took any effortpared to the other stages.

    This process of organ refinement was delicate, requiring Hana to channel her Qi in precise ways to strengthen and purify her internal organs.

    Hana showed a remarkable aptitude for cultivation under Mira''s tutge. Her progress was steady, and she absorbed the teachings like a sponge. Through these training sessions, Hana''s mother also learned what Mira meant by ''test subject''.

    Linnea, of course, wasn''t left behind. How could Mira just let someone in her group idly sit by as everyone else was training?

    Thus, Mira put Linnea through the same series of strength training exercises that Hana had to go through when she started these ''experiments''. Linnea might technically be a cripple, but that didn''t mean she couldn''t strengthen herself at least a little.

    Even mortals without talent could cultivate within the Body Tempering Realm, much less someone whose cultivation used to be far above that.

    As they neared the northern edge of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, thendscape began to change dramatically. The air grew colder, and the terrain became more rugged and treacherous.

    After about a week of travel, they arrived at arge coastal city known as Frostshore Haven.

    Frostshore Haven was a hub for traders, sailors, adventurers, and mercenaries. The city was built to withstand the harsh northern climate, with sturdy stone buildings and high walls protecting it from the fierce ocean winds.

    Its ports were filled with ships of all sizes, some preparing to brave the dangerous waters of the northern seas.

    Upon entering Frostshore Haven, the group immediately felt the shift in the atmosphere. It wasn''t anything like the ind cities.

    It was incredibly diverse, with all kinds of races and people they''d never seen before, along with a more silently chaotic undertone.

    Just walking through the city for a few minutes, they saw numerous people break out into fights. However, there was a distinctck of killing intent that caught Mira off-guard.

    ''So, they''re just ying around? Or, I guess, asserting their dominance?'' Her eyes gleamed with excitement, but Rhydian and Elenei kept her at bay, not wanting her to create a scene as soon as they stepped foot into the city.

    Mira and herpanions made their way to a modest butfortable inn near the city center. The innkeeper was a burly man with a wrinkled face who greeted them with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

    "You don''t look like you''re from around here." The man at the counter said with squinted eyes.

    Before Mira could open her mouth, Linnea stepped up and smiled. "We''ll take three rooms for a week, please."

    The man just grunted, but he got the hint. He took out three keys and handed it to them. "That''ll be 1,500 Spirit Stones."

    Elenei tossed a bag over, and they went on their way.

    After securing rooms for the night, Mira gathered the group in themon area of the inn. They needed to n their next move carefully. The Northern Continent was infamous for its unpredictable weather and fierce sea creatures, making the journey across the ocean quite the challenge if they couldn''t find the right people.

    "We need to find a reliable captain and crew," Mira stated her voice firm. "Someone who knows these waters well and can navigate us safely to the Northern Continent."

    Dominique nodded in agreement. "We should also gather more information about the continent itself. The more we know, the better prepared we''ll be."

    Rhydian, in her human form, leaned against the wall, her eyes scanning the room. "I''ll take a look around the docks tomorrow."

    Elenei, sitting quietly at the table, spoke up. "I''ll apany you."

    Mira looked at Linnea and Hana. "You two wille with me. Who knows what sort of ruffians might try and take advantage of you."

    Linnea nodded, a determined look in her eyes. "I understand. I''ll do my best to help."

    Hana, clutching Dominique''s hand, gave a small smile. "I''ll work hard too!"

 Chapter 853 Captain Jorvik

    Chapter 853 Captain Jorvik

    The following morning in Frostshore Haven was nice and cool, with the scent of the sea mingling with the livelymotion of the city.

    Mira, Linnea, Dominique, and Hana set out early, navigating through the crowded streets towards the market district. They hoped to gather more details about the Northern Continent and the ocean separating them, as well as the necessary supplies for their journey.

    Meanwhile, Rhydian and Elenei headed towards the docks. The area was full of sailors shouting orders and merchants haggling over prices, with the sounds of seagulls echoing overhead.

    Rhydian''s towering presence, even in her human form, made the crowd part before them like the waves of the sea. Elenei''s presence also deterred any annoyances who might have had the thought of causing trouble.

    At the market, Mira, Linnea, and Hana moved among the stalls. Linnea was fascinated by the variety of items, many of which she had never seen before.

    Hana, on the other hand, was more focused on listening to the conversations around them, picking up snippets of information about the Northern Continent.

    "The ocean''s been quite chaotictely, huh," one merchant was saying to a customer.

    "Aye. I''ve heard of peoplein'' and going from all over. Bunch''a strong ones, too. Makin'' the waters more dangerous." the customer replied, shaking his head.

    "Ah. Now that you mention it�� It''s been a while since people from other Continents have flown over the oceans this much. I''m sure those oceanic beasts are havin'' a field day right now."

    "Aye. Makin'' life tough for the rest of us folk. Bunch''a bastards."

    "Well, if you can kill any of them, don''t forget to sell them to me~ I''ll buy them at a premium!"

    "Fat chance, tubby. I ain''t goin'' out in those waters now. Gonna hold up ''til things blow over."

    "Speaking of, it seems we''ve had more visitors in thest few weeks than we''ve had in years."

    "...Aye. A calm before the storm, I say."

    Mira''s ears perked up at this, confirming her earlier thoughts. Crossing the ocean wasn''t going to be easy.

    Back at the docks, Rhydian and Elenei were making inquiries about captains that frequented the oceans.

    They learned that most voyages to the Northern Continent were either led by powerful cultivators orrge merchant guilds with resources to hire experienced sailors and sturdy ships.

    Not only that but there were secret channels within the ocean. Not going through them, for normal people, was nothing more than a death sentence.

    While they couldn''t exactly understand why. It seemed that some of the aquatic beasts were either friendlier or they had prior agreements with some of the captains. Other than that, there were just some routes that were safer than others.

    However,pared to the other Continents, the northern one was the most dangerous and most costly due to the ice, harsh weather, and unexpected variables.

    One grizzled old sailor, after a bit of coaxing from Elenei, shared that there was a captain in the city known for his daring journeys to the Northern Continent.

    "Captain Jorvik," he said, spitting tobo into the sea. "He''s a tough one, been to the Northern Continent and back more times than I can count. If anyone can get you there, it''s him. However, he''s not cheap, and he''ll only do it if he''s feelin'' good that day."

    Rhydian and Elenei exchanged a look. They had a lead, albeit not a great one.

    As the day wore on, Mira, Linnea, Dominique, and Hana gathered not only information but also essential supplies: warm clothing, medicinal herbs, and various tools that could be useful in a harsh environment.

    By the time the group reconvened at the inn, they had a solid n forming.

    They would seek out Captain Jorvik and negotiate passage to the Northern Continent.

    That evening, as they sat around a table in the inn''smon room, Mira shared her thoughts with the group. "From what I can tell, we can just learn more about the Northern Continent when we get there. It''s actually getting there that''s the hard part."

    "We came to a simr conclusion," Elenei said. "However, there are several ways to cross the ocean. One, hire a guide. Two, buy a boat and go ourselves. Or three, fly over. Of course, there are other ways, but those are the safest and mostmon."

    Honestly, Mira quite liked the second option, but much less reaching the Northern Continent, she didn''t even know how to control a boat and navigate the seas.

    ''Do boats even work the same way here as they did in my previous lives?'' Mira wondered. Now that Qi was involved, she assumed that these captains must use special boat artifacts or something to make things easier.

    ''Maybe they run on Spirit Stones? That''d be kind of interesting.'' She mused before shaking her head, returning to the original topic.

    "Well, since option two isn''t much of an option and flying over is too much risk with almost no benefit, it seems like we can only hire a guide."

    "Mmhm." Elenei nodded. "We heard of a man, Captain Jorvik, who might be able to take us, but the people said it depended on his mood."

    "Tch." Mira clicked her tongue. "Didn''t you find anyone else? Surely, he''s not the only one."

    "He''s not, it''s just�� From what we heard, he was the most reliable."

    "Then, I guess we''ll just have to make him ''feel'' like taking us." Mira shook her head slightly, finding this situation a little annoying.

    Why couldn''t she just freeze her way to the Northern Continent? Why''d she have to rely on these assholes to help her?

    ''Whatever. If this Captain Jorvik can take us across, then I guess that''s all we need.'' Mira thought as she stood up with Dominique and returned to their room.

    ***

    The next morning, Mira went out with Elenei to find this Captain Jorvik guy.

    The docks were already full of activity. Fishermen were preparing their boats, merchants were unloading their goods, and sailors were sharing tales of theirtest voyages.

    Amidst thismotion, Mira and Elenei searched for Captain Jorvik.

    As they walked down the wooden nks of the pier, Mira scanned each ship and its crew. She was looking for someone who exuded the confidence and experience of a seasoned sailor, with the strength to go along with it.

    Finally, they spotted a ship that stood out from the rest. It wasrger and sturdier, with a hull that looked beaten to hell yet still stood strong. The crew moved quickly and with a sense of purpose, despite them being docked.

    At the helm stood a man who matched the description of Captain Jorvik. He was tall and weather-beaten, with a thick beard and eyes that had seen many storms. He was barking orders to his crew as they neared the boat.

    Mira approached him, her steps confident and purposeful. As she closed in on him, the captain turned to face her with an appraising gaze.

    "Captain Jorvik?" Mira asked with a clear and authoritative voice.

    "That''s me," he replied gruffly. "What do you want?" He asked while scanning Mira''s numerous tails and Elenei''s odd features. His instincts told him that these two were dangerous. Incredibly dangerous.

    He normally would''ve tried to throw them off, but felt that�� it may be better for his lifespan if he heard them out.

    "We need passage to the Northern Continent," Mira stated, getting straight to the point.

    Jorvik let out augh, a deep, booming sound that seemed to resonate with the sea itself. "The Northern Continent, eh? You know it''s not a pleasure cruise, right? Those waters are treacherous, and the continent itself is no less dangerous."

    "We''re aware," Elenei interjected, her tone equally firm.

    Jorvik eyed them for a moment, his gaze lingering on Mira, especially her blood-red eyes. "You''ve got the look of someone who''s seen a fair share of battles," he said, nodding slightly. "But it''s not just about fighting. The sea has its own rules, and she doesn''t care how strong you are onnd."

    "Name your price," Mira ordered, causing the crew on board to momentarily stop what they were doing and re at her.

    "Missy," Captain Jorvik sighed. "I don''t know what you''ve heard, but I don''t take just anyone."

    "Now you do," Mira stated, even more unyielding. "You either ept the payment, or you do it for free. I don''t have the time nor patience to put up with your nonsense, so choose."

    "..."

 Chapter 854 Ocean

    Chapter 854 Ocean

    In the end, Captain Jorvik wasn''t given much of a choice. There was a rule amongst people like him that they''d never do anything for free. Since he was doomed to die if he said no, then he might as well get paid for his efforts.

    Despite being an old man in the 2nd Stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm, he was far from his prime and had used up most of his potential to get there. He could still live for quite a few more years, and fighting Mira at this stage of his life was pointless.

    As he watched Mira and herpanions board the ship, he could only sigh.

    ''Young''uns these days.'' He shook his head in dissatisfaction. ''They have no respect for us old folk anymore. This new generation is really goin'' to hell.''

    Still, as someone who has faced an uncountable number of dangers in his life, he has developed a keen instinct. Something about Mira made him feel as if he was just a weed trying to escape a Kraken.

    Yet, instead of being a thousand kilometers under the sea, it was right next to him, staring him down like he''d be its next meal.

    "Haaa�� I''m gettin'' too old for this shit." He puffed a cigar as he watched his crew work.

    On the other side, Mira and the girls explored the boat, making sure not to get in anyone''s way. They had already received a bit of a rundown from Captain Jorvik, but he was clearly not all that interested in talking more than needed.

    Captain Jorvik''s ship, The Northern Gale, was arge, sturdy, designed to withstand the treacherous waters of the northern seas, with a broad deck that could amodate a sizable crew and passengers.

    As Mira and herpanions explored the boat, they noticed its unique design. The deck was made of dark, weather-resistant wood. Runes were carved into the railings and masts. These were likely enhancements to bolster the ship''s durability and speed.

    Other than that, there were all kinds of arrays and formations around the boat.

    Below deck, the ship was surprisingly spacious, with several cabins for the crew and a fewrger rooms that were now allocated to Mira''s group. Each room was simple butfortable, with sturdy bunks and small portholes that let in natural light.

    The ship''s galley waspact but well-equipped, with arge stove and ample storage for provisions. There was a distinct smell of salt and spices in the air, which made Dominique somewhat curious since cultivators didn''t need to eat.

    When she asked one of the crewmates about this, they said, "Food is one of the few things to keep us sane while on the water."

    Dominique wasn''t sure what that meant, but she was happy nheless. Although cultivators didn''t need to eat, she still enjoyed it.

    At the stern was a reinforced wheel. Next to the wheel was arge, detailed map of the seas, marked with known routes and notes on currents and wind patterns.

    One of the most impressive features of The Northern Gale was its defensive capabilities. Along the sides of the ship were mounted ballistae, capable of firing massive bolts.

    Furthermore, the ship was equipped with several Qi cannons, a more modern addition that utilized concentrated bursts of energy.

    The less fighting the Captain and crew had to do, the better.

    As they settled into their rooms, Mira couldn''t help but admire the ship''s robustness and the evident training of its crew.

    "Nn. I suppose this man''s reputation is well deserved." Mira muttered, opening her eyes and reeling in her Soul Sense.

    "Is it really that great, Mother?" Dominique asked as she sat at the edge of the bed.

    "The boat is." Mira nodded. " The crew�� Well, they''re weak but experienced." That was putting it nicely.

    In reality, while the crew was made up of Nascent Soul Realm and above, with two in the Mortal Shedding Realm, she alone could steamroll through them all. Not to mention adding Elenei and Rhydian.

    "I think, at maximum capacity, this boat could withstand a few hits from Aelina if they used everything. I''m not sure how long this Captain Jorvik guy''s been working for, but he''s probably put at least a medium-level Sect''s worth of money into this boat."

    "That much?!" Suddenly, Dominique felt like she was standing on top of a giant pile of cash.

    ''...What if it were ours?'' She couldn''t help but think before she shook her head.

    "Mmhm." Mira nodded. "I doubt I''d be able to do much damage to this boat. At the very least, the crew will die long before it falls apart."

    "That''s�� oddly relieving."

    Dominique gave a sigh of relief after hearing Mira''s words. Truthfully, she was a bit nervous to cross the ocean.

    Although she trusted Mira''s strength, it was still unknown territory.

    ***

    The Northern Gale set sail a few hourster, its sails billowing against the brisk sea breeze. The crew had just finished preparing the ship for the long voyage ahead.

    Captain Jorvik, standing at the helm, directed his men with a series of sharpmands with his gaze fixed on the horizon.

    Mira and herpanions gathered on the deck, watching the busy crew with interest.

    Despite the initial tension between Mira and Captain Jorvik, the atmosphere on the ship was professional. The crew avoided unnecessary interactions, focusing solely on their duties.

    Captain Jorvik''s expression turned stern and focused as he approached Mira and her group. "We''re heading out," he announced. "We''ll be following a route that I''ve charted over the years. It''s the safest but also potentially the most dangerous."

    He unrolled a detailed sea chart on a nearby barrel, pointing to a series of intricate lines that crisscrossed the map. "We''ll navigate through the Silver Straits, skirt around the Maelstrom of Shadows, move under Water Dragon''s Nest, and make our way north through the Frostbite Channel. Once we''re past that, it''s a straight shot to the Northern Continent. Should take us a few months should everything go normally."

    Mira leaned over the map, her eyes tracing the route. "What about sea creatures?" she asked.

    "There''ll be plenty," Jorvik replied, ncing at her. "Krakens, Leviathans, Sea Drakes... We''ve faced them all. But with The Northern Gale''s defenses and my crew''s experience, we''ve always made it through."

    "I look forward to it," Mira stated as a gleam passed through her blood-red eyes.

    Suddenly, Jorvik shuddered, feeling like he just encountered a terrible omen. He couldn''t help but curse in his mind, wanting nothing more than to toss Mira overboard right about now. ''...What sort of ill-omened witch have I allowed onto my ship?''

    Unfortunately, it was toote for regrets. They''d already set sail.

    Dominique listened with wide eyes, clutching Hana''s hand, who had an equally awestruck expression as they awaited the sights they would soon see.

    As the ship left the harbor, Mira stood at the bow, feeling the ship cut through the waves. The vastness of the ocean stretched before them, a boundless expanse of blue that seemed both beautiful and menacing.

    Her hair iled in the wind as she took in the sight.

    ''It''s moving quite fast, huh?'' She thought with interest. ''As fast as�� no, probably a bit faster than Elenei''s normal speed. Yet, it''ll still take us a few months to get there? Just how vast is the ocean?''

    However, she still couldn''t understand why most people didn''t just tame an aerial beast and fly over. ''I don''t know about others, but Rhydian and Elenei should be able to fly for months without any breaks. Is it because of the weather or something else��?''

    In fact, even right outside the docks, there were almost no people flying, and those who did weren''t above a certain altitude.

    After thinking about it for a while, yeting up with nothing, she just shrugged her shoulders and continued to stare out into the vast expanse.

    Several hours into their journey, the sea began to change. The sky darkened as heavy clouds rolled in, obscuring the sun. The waves grewrger, crashing against the ship with increasing force.

    The ship rocked back and forth, but an array suddenly activated, keeping everyone aboard grounded.

    "We''ve got a storming!" shouted one of the crewmen, his voice carrying over the howling wind.

    Captain Jorvik barked orders, his crew moving quickly to secure the sails and reinforce the ship''s defenses. "Everyone, brace yourselves! This one looks fierce!"

    Mira, Dominique, and the others retreated to the rtive safety below deck as the ship began to rock violently. The sound of thunder rumbled overhead, apanied by the relentless assault of rain and wind.

    Inside, the group felt the ship heave and lurch. Dominique gripped the edge of her bunk so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Hana buried her face in her mother''s chest, trying to muffle the sound of the storm.

    Rhydian turned into her wolf form and fell asleep. Elenei stood by a porthole, watching the chaos outside with a hint of curiosity.

    Meanwhile, Mira was a little confused, yet ticked off that such a storm came not a few hours after they departed. ''It seems�� this won''t be a smooth journey.''

 Chapter 855 Storm

    Chapter 855 Storm

    The storm that engulfed ''The Northern Gale'' was like a living entity, a furious beast unleashed upon the sea. Thunder roared above and lightning crackled, striking the water around them and illuminating the dark. Massive waves, like towering walls of water, crashed against the ship, each impact sending the boat smashing into the water.

    Captain Jorvik stood at the helm and steered the ship with narrowed eyes and clenched fists.

    His experienced hands gripped the wheel tightly as he navigated through the tumultuous waters.

    "Steady now!" Jorvik bellowed above the howling wind. "Keep her course true!"

    A crewman, drenched from the rain, called back, "Aye, Captain! Holding as steady as she''ll go!"

    Another sailor, securing the rigging, shouted, "Waves on the starboard side, Captain! They''re massive!"

    Jorvik nced at the approaching walls of water, his jaw set. "Brace for impact! And keep an eye on those sails. We can''t afford them tearing now!"

    The crew responded in unison, shouting as they scurried across the deck, battling both the elements and the ship''s violent movements. Their coordination, honed by countless voyages, was near perfect as they reacted to every situation.

    "Captain, we''ve got trouble below!" yelled a crewman, emerging from the lower deck. "Water''s breaching the hull in ces!"

    Jorvik cursed under his breath. "Get the pumps working! And patch up whatever you can. We''re not losing The Northern Gale to this tempest!"

    As Jorvik steered, his gaze asionally swept over the crew, ensuring that each man was at his post, doing what was necessary to keep the ship afloat. Despite the danger, there was a fire in his eyes and a smile on his lips.

    Below deck, Mira and herpanions were feeling the full brunt of the storm''s fury. The ship rocked and heaved, the sound of crashing waves and creaking wood a reminder to them that the boat wasn''t invincible.

    Dominique clung to her bed, her face pale but determined. "I never knew the sea could be this terrifying," she murmured, trying to steady her voice.

    Hana, curled up beside her mother, looked up with wide, scared eyes. Linnea held her tightly, offering whatfort she could. "It''s alright, Hana. The ship is strong, and the crew knows what they''re doing."

    Mira stood next to the porthole and watched the storm rage outside. Her expression was calm, but her eyes betrayed a hint of respect for the sea''s power. Now she was beginning to understand why flying by oneself could be dangerous.

    Those winds, waves, and lightning strikes could rip most people to shreds if they had to face it head-on. ''Flying too high is a death sentence, but too low, and you''d be a prime target for beasts and tsunamis.'' She thought.

    Elenei, meanwhile, seemed almost fascinated by the tempest. "Such raw, natural power. Truly, us cultivators are nothing in the face of Mother Nature," she said, her voice a mix of awe and excitement.

    Meanwhile, Rhydian was still in her wolf form, sprawled on the floor, seemingly unperturbed by the chaos around her.

    Back on deck, the crew was struggling to keep the ship on course. The Qi cannons were charged, ready to st any sea creature daring enough to approach the ship in these conditions.

    Suddenly, a massive whirlpool formed off the port side, its swirling waters threatening to engulf the ship.

    "Port side, hard turn!" Jorvikmanded, his voice cutting through the storm. The crew scrambled to adjust and did their job swiftly

    As the ship narrowly avoided the whirlpool, a gigantic waterspout ascended up ahead, spinning with such force that they were pulled in.

    Jorvik''s face tightened. "Prepare the Qi cannons! We''ll st through if we have to!"

    The crew readied the cannons, aiming them at the waterspout. With a unified shout, they fired, the concentrated bursts of energy striking the waterspout and dissipating it enough for the ship to pass through.

    But the sea was not done with them yet. From beneath the waves, a monstrous shadow loomed, its size and shape indistinct but clearly massive.

    "Sea beast!" one of the crewmen shouted, pointing towards the dark shape beneath the waves.

    Jorvik''s eyes widened slightly. "Ready the ballistae! Aim for any weak spots!"

    As the crew prepared to defend the ship, a whale broke through the surface and mmed its massive body against the ship''s side. The impact was immense, shaking the entire vessel.

    The crew fired the ballistae, the bolts piercing the whale''s thick hide. The beast roared in pain and anger, thrashing in the water.

    Watching all this go down, Mira made a decision. ''I can''t let them have all the fun, can I?''

    She dashed up to the deck, her eyes glowing with amusement.

    Seeing the whale, she raised her hand, and ice began to form around it, attempting to encase the beast and immobilize it. With just that simple movement, she froze hundreds of meters of water a foot deep around them in an instant.

    Although it kept breaking apart due to the cataclysmic force behind the waves, she didn''t let up.

    Jorvik, watching her, felt a mix of relief and amazement. "So thatssy decided toe up, huh," he muttered, his eyes fixed on the spectacle before him.

    The ice spread rapidly, covering the whale. The creature struggled against its icy prison, but Mira''s power was overwhelming, and it was just a measly Rank 8 sea beast.

    With a final roar, a flurry of ballistae bolts prated its skull, and the whale stilled, frozen solid in the icy waters.

    The crew cheered, their shouts of victory echoing over the storm. Jorvik allowed himself a brief smile before turning his attention back to navigating the ship.

    "Pipe down ye'' bunch of braggarts! Get back to work!" He yelled, which immediately shut them up as they scurried back to their posts.

    However, he could see that they had already gotten past the worst of it.

    As the storm gradually subsided, leaving behind a clear sky and calm seas, the crew took stock of the damage. The Northern Gale had suffered some minor injuries, but it remained strong and seaworthy. They''d just need to patch up a few ces, use a few Spirit Stones, and they would be back to normal.

    Mira stood at the bow, looking out at the peaceful sea. The storm had been a new experience, but she was starting to understand why people did this as a profession despite the dangers.

    "It''s quite�� entertaining, is it not? Fighting not people but the world." She muttered aloud.

    "Aye. We might not do as much killin'' as yound folk do, but our battles are just as fierce," Jorvik said, joining her at the bow. "But with you on board, I reckon our chances just got a lot better should we face against the living."

    "Mmhm. Nobody''s better at, ''killin''nd folk,'' as you say, than me." Mira replied with a toothy grin. "If such a problem arises, I''ll be the first to take action."

    "...A bad omen you are, Missy." Jorvik''s lips dipped as he looked out at sea, not daring to turn toward the ''woman'', or whatever demon was next to him. Just hearing the word "kill" out of her mouth sent an inexplicable shudder down his spine.

    Mira chuckled, "You''re right, old man. So, prepare for the worst. Then, multiply that by ten."

    "...It can''t be that bad, right?" Jorvik''s gaze turned unusually serious as he even lost part of his ent.

    Mira turned to him, a small smile ying on her lips. "Let''s hope so, Captain. Let''s hope so."

    With that, she walked away from the bow, returning to her quarters and leaving him to mull over her words.

    ''O'' gods above!'' He immediately bowed his head as soon as she left. ''Please grant this pitiful lost soul good fortune! I''m too old to die from somess''s bad luck!''

    A gust of wind passed by him when he finished his prayer, and he could''ve sworn he heard a whispering, "Noooooo~" pass by his ear, but it was probably his imagination.

    However, watching his crew start to fool around now that the danger has passed irked him a bit. Stomping his foot on the ground, a loud thump caught everyone''s attention. "Get back to your stations! I want everyone on high alert at all times! We have VVIP clients this time! If something happens to them, I''ll dock all your pay!"

    "Fuck! Captain! That''s too much!"

    "Aye! So what if they get hurt? Our job is just to take them!"

    "You can take my life, Captain, but you can''t take my money! Mutiny! I dere a mutiny!"

    "SHUT UP!" Jorvik yelled with a Qi-amplified voice. "Just stay on high alert! Our client this time is a little�� special. Attacks and disasters wille more often!"

    The crew mored once again after that, but their faces all turned serious. They understood that if the captain was saying this, things weren''t simple.

    ***

    Somewhere, deep underneath the surface of the water, in the darkest depths of the ocean, a creature opened its eyes.

 Chapter 856 Silver Straits

    Chapter 856 Silver Straits

    The days following the storm were a mix of tense vignce and routine work aboard The Northern Gale. Captain Jorvik''s warning about being on high alert was something his crew took seriously.

    However, it wasn''t even 3 hours after the first storm that they understood why.

    For about a week straight, they were hit by a storm almost every three hours, with oceanic beasts constantly attacking them.

    Most of the time, they''d only have about an hour of rest in between each ''attack'' before the next one came.

    Fortunately, the boat was strong and well-protected. With Mira and Elenei keeping some of the more powerful beasts at bay, they only had to worry about the smaller stuff along with the storms.

    Still, the crew couldn''t help but think that maybe their Captain was right. There really was something wrong with their client.

    Mira spent her time on deck, often gazing out at the endless expanse of the sea. She seemed to be deep in thought, asionally conversing with Elenei or Rhydian but usually either meditating or sightseeing.

    Dominique and Hana, meanwhile, took to exploring the ship under the watchful eye of Linnea. They were fascinated by the workings of the vessel and the lives of the sailors.

    The crew was initially wary of the young girls but soon warmed up to their curiosity and began to share stories of their voyages and adventures.

    As the ship sailed further north, the temperature began to drop noticeably. Icebergs floated on the ocean''s surface, but they were still a rtively rare sight. The crew navigated carefully through these icy waters, avoiding therger ice formations.

    It wasn''t long before they started to approach the narrow channel that connected the Gulf of the Western Continent to the World Sea, the ocean that spanned the entire world.

    That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, Captain Jorvik called Mira and her group to the deck.

    He pointed to a distant shape on the horizon. "There," he said. "That''s the Silver Straits."

    From where they stood, Mira couldn''t quite see or understand what he was pointing at, so instead, she closed her eyes and spread her Soul Sense.

    Immediately, she saw the edge of the so-called ''Silver Straits'' and her eyebrows raised.

    A few dozen kilometers away, she saw a thin channel that looked like liquid metal,pletely different from the water around her. Around it were massive, jagged ice formations that shot up to the sky with dark clouds hanging overhead.

    "The waters there," Jorvik continued, pointing to the distant silver shimmer on the horizon, "are treacherous. The tides are unpredictable, and whirlpools can form out of nowhere. If we get caught in one, it''s nearly impossible to escape. Our only chance is to go through fast and in one go."

    Mira nodded, her gaze fixed on the straits. "What about those ice formations?" she asked, noticing the jagged ice structures surrounding the straits.

    "Those are natural formations," Jorvik exined. "They''re like thousands of icebergspacted into one. It''s a maze of ice, and one wrong turn could entrap you in it forever. That''s why we need to stick to the main passage."

    "Couldn''t we just go around it?" Dominique asked, but Jorvik shook his head.

    "You''re too naive, little missy. Those ice formations carry on as far as the eye can see. We could take the strait to the Central Continent, but that only adds more time and danger to an already perilous journey. I don''t think we need that with thisss here." He said as he pointed to Mira.

    The person in question could only nod in agreement. Although she didn''t care much about the added time, the increased danger,bined with her bad luck, might actually kill her.

    "However, no need''ta worry, littless. I''ve been through this passage more times than I can count. I''ll get you through, all safe and sound." He said, wanting to give Dominique a few pats on the head, only to receive a re from Mira.

    Coughing awkwardly, he turned away from them and spoke to his crew. "Alright, men! Prepare for the Strait! I have a feeling it''s not going to be an easy ride!"

    "Aye, Captain!"

    The crew set to work, reinforcing the ship''s defenses and preparing for high-speed navigation. Mira and Elenei offered their assistance, readying themselves for any unforeseen dangers.

    Soon, they entered the Silver Straits, and the ship began to pick up speed. The waters glimmered like flowing silver under the moonlight, creating a surreal and almost otherworldly scene.

    Jorvik stood at the helm, his eyesser-focused on the path ahead. "Hold on tight!" he shouted. "This is going to get rough!"

    The ship surged forward, cutting through the metallic waters at an astonishing speed. The crew held onto whatever they could, their faces tense with concentration as they used the internal mechanisms of the ship to keep their bnce.

    Mira stood at the bow, her eyes scanning the waters for any signs of whirlpools or unexpected obstacles. Her Qi was circting within her, prepared to react at a moment''s notice.

    The ship weaved through the ice maze, narrowly avoiding collisions with the jagged formations. The tension on deck was palpable, and every crew member was silent, their focus solely on their tasks.

    Suddenly, a massive whirlpool formed directly in their path. Jorvik cursed, steering the ship to avoid it, but the pull of the whirlpool was too strong.

    "We''re getting sucked in!" one of the crewmen yelled.

    Mira stepped forward, her hands raised. A surge of Qi flowed from her, forming a barrier around the ship. She pushed against the pull of the whirlpool, her power straining against the force of nature.

    "Keep her steady!" The Captain yelled over the roar of the water.

    Jorvik steered the ship, using Mira''s Qi barrier as a shield against the whirlpool''s pull. The ship groaned and creaked under the strain, but slowly, they began to pull away from the whirlpool.

    The crew cheered as they escaped the grasp of the whirlpool, but their relief was short-lived. Another challenge awaited them - a sudden, violent storm.

    Lightning shed, and thunder boomed as rain poured down in sheets. The winds howled, tossing the ship around like a toy.

    Mira and Elenei floated just above the ship, battling the elements as they worked to redirect the iing attacks to keep the boat on course.

    Below them, the crew worked tirelessly, following Jorvik''smands to navigate through the storm. Despite the chaos, there was a sense of unity and purpose among them.

    However, this wasn''t any normal storm.

    Within seconds, the storm intensified, morphing into a violent tempest that seemed hell-bent on swallowing the ship whole. The sky had turned ck and gray, with lightning bolts slicing through it like bright, deadly spears.

    Captain Jorvik, eyes narrowed against the driving rain, shoutedmands that barely cut through the howling wind. "Tighten the sails! Secure the deck! Don''t let her capsize!"

    The crew, though drenched and battered by the elements, moved quickly and did as they were told. They were fighting not just for the ship but for their very lives at the moment.

    Meanwhile, Mira and Elenei were like two goddesses of the storm. They manipted the elements with their Qi, diverting lightning strikes and reducing the wind''s fury, but the power of the tempest was overwhelming.

    Suddenly, a massive wave, towering like a mountain, rose from the depths, its crest looming over The Northern Gale. Jorvik''s face went pale. "Brace for impact!" he screamed, gripping the wheel with all his might.

    The wave crashed down upon them with a deafening roar, engulfing the ship in a torrent of water. For a moment, it seemed as if The Northern Gale would be dragged into the depths of the sea.

    But Mira extended her hands, her Qi surging out in waves. A massive barrier of ice formed above the ship, taking the brunt of the wave''s force.

    Water cascaded off the sides, and the ship, though battered, remained afloat. The crew let out ragged cheers, but Jorvik still remained grim-faced. They were just getting started.

    The storm raged on, but the worst had passed. The crew, spurred on by their narrow escape, worked to steer the ship clear of the Straits.

    Mira and Elenei, exhausted from their efforts, descended back onto the deck. The crewmen looked at them with gratitude but also a hint of skepticism. Still, since they technically saved their lives, the hard feelings they once had were starting to dissipate.

    Dominique and Hana, who had been sheltered below deck, now emerged, their eyes wide at the sight of the chaos around them. Linnea followed right behind them.

    As they finally sailed clear of the Silver Straits and into the World Sea, the storm began to subside, the winds dying down and the waves bing less aggressive.

    Jorvik stood at the helm, looking out at the calmer waters of the World Sea with a mix of relief and exhaustion etched on his face.

    "We made it," he said quietly, more to himself than anyone else. "We made it through the damn straits."

    As the crew began the task of repairing and tending to the ship, Mira turned to Dominique and Hana. "Let''s go below deck. You both need rest," she said softly.

    Dominique nodded, taking Hana''s hand. "That was... intense," she murmured.

    Mira smiled slightly. "It''s all part of the journey. You''ll get used to it."

    As they descended below deck, the crew of The Northern Gale continued their work, the ship steadily cutting through the waters of the World Sea.

 Chapter 857 Generator

    Chapter 857 Generator

    As The Northern Gale sailed into the calmer waters of the World Sea, a sense of collective relief washed over the crew.

    Captain Jorvik gazed out at the horizon with a veteran''s eye. The sea was a fickle mistress, and he knew better than to let his guard down. He turned to Mira and herpanions, and with a hint of respect in his gruff voice, he said, "You handled yourselves well back there. Not many could stand against the fury of the Straits like that."

    Mira simply nodded but didn''t think much of it. "Forget about that. Tell me about the World Sea."

    "What''d ya want to know?"

    Mira shrugged, "Whatever you have to tell."

    Jorvik gave Mira a skeptical look but nodded nheless. "The World Sea, as the name suggests, spans the entire world. However, that''s ''cause humans haven''t explored it enough. In reality, the World Sea is made up of countless different ''pockets'' that are differentpared to the rest of the ocean, but we just lump them all together for convenience''s sake."

    "What makes it different from the continents then? Aside from all the water."

    "The danger levels, the strength of the creatures, and the number of catastrophic events," Jorvik answered without hesitation. "The ocean is a melting pot of death. The beasts breed and mature fast, gain strength quickly, and die just as easily. The average lifespan of a normal Rank 8 beast and below may not be longer than a few years."

    Turning his gaze beneath the water, he continued. "It may look peaceful now, but not a hundred meters underwater is an eternal battleground. Even Rank 10 beasts aren''t spared from this."

    "Then, howe they haven''t conquered the rest of the continents? Surely just a few dozen Rank 10 beasts should be able to sweep away all the powerhouses, save for the Central Continent." Mira asked, but she already had a few guesses.

    "Well, oceanic beasts are rather�� weak onnd. Not to mention, I heard they can''t transform into a human form."

    "I see." Mira nodded. Although she found thatst part odd, it somewhat made sense.

    Humans were significantly less proficient in the waterpared to fish and other sea creatures. It was wholly useless for oceanic beasts to have such a form; they''d get killed instantly.

    Thus, if they didn''t have ess to a human form, it would be quite hard to conquer thend without legs or wings.

    ''What a peculiar ce.'' Mira thought as she closed her eyes and sent her Soul Sense deep into the water.

    Jorvik was right. A hundred meters below them, she a school of fish ripping each other to pieces before a whale came by and swallowed them all. However, that wasn''t the end, as a swordfish stabbed its ''horn'' into the whale''s brain, killing it before eating chunks of its flesh.

    Suddenly, it seemed to sense something and turned its attention to the boat.

    Mira sighed and raised her hand under Jorvik''s weird gaze. She conjured a long, thin ice needle, gave it an intense rotational spin, and made it hydrophobic with her Wind and Water elements, then shot it at the fish.

    The swordfish was about to reach the boat before the ice needle shot through it, killing it instantly.

    "They''re quite sensitive, huh?" Mira muttered, causing Jorvik''s eyes to widen.

    "Did''ya just use your Soul Sense?" He asked in astonishment before he got angry and reprimanded her. "What''re you thinkin'' woman?! Do you want to kill us all?!"

    However, Mira looked unconcerned and narrowed her eyes. "What''s with all the fuss? I just wanted a better look. Anyways, I already took care of the problem."

    "You�� You took care of the problem?! Nonsense! This is just the start!"

    Turning away from her, he amplified his voice with Qi and shouted to his crew, "All hands on deck! Prepare for a tide!"

    "Aye, Captain!"

    The crew immediately moved and began preparing. Each person took up a ballista, Qi canon, and the other defenses, waiting for what was toe.

    Meanwhile, Mira was confused.

    "What''s going on? What do you mean, tide?"

    "Ignorant fool!" Captain Jorvik shouted, forcing himself to hold back from giving Mira a good p. "Oceanic beasts are incredibly sensitive, the water even more so. You sending your Soul Sense into the water is no different than lighting a beacon, yelling to the world that easy prey hase. You''ve essentially challenged the entire nearby underwater ecosystem."

    "Oh?" Mira cocked her head as she expectantly looked at the water. "There was such a method?"

    "..."

    Captain Jorvik couldn''t be bothered to deal with Mira anymore and turned to leave.

    ��If only he knew that Mira could get strong by killing, he would''ve never brought her onto his boat, even if he had to put his life on the line.

    Soon, oceanic beasts surged toward the ship in a frenzied tide of teeth, scales, and fury.

    Mira watched the approaching swarm with a mix of curiosity and anticipation. Her scythe appeared in her hand, ready for the impending battle.

    Meanwhile, Captain Jorvik barked orders left and right. "Aim for their eyes and gills! Keep them at bay!" he yelled.

    The crew did as he said and started shooting the ballistae, saving the Qi canons for stronger beasts.

    Large metal bolts drilled through the water and into the bodies of the iing fish. They quickly reloaded and shot another volley, repeating this action over and over again.

    The sea around The Northern Gale rose as creatures of all shapes and sizes breached the surface. Massive sharks, sleek and deadly, leaped towards the ship, their jaws wide open. Eel-like creatures, charged with electricity, slithered across the deck, discharging sparks.

    Mira leaped into action, swinging her scythe in wide, graceful arcs. Each swing cleaved through scales and flesh, sending severed parts of beasts tumbling into the water. Yet, for every beast she felled, two more took its ce.

    Her ck tail glowed and a string of Qi linked to all the bodies she killed, passively absorbing their Qi and vitality.

    Mira immediately felt a surge of power flow through her, causing her eyes to widen.

    ''Oh? What''s this? Are these beasts that strong and full of energy?''

    She loaded her scythe with the leftover Qi she absorbed, dropping the surrounding temperature significantly.

    Floating in the air, she swung her scythe, unleashing it all and sending a 100-meter-long ice arc toward the water. It cleaved through the surface, splitting the ocean in two and obliterating all the weaker beasts.

    Her ck tail glowed again and linked itself to the scattered bits of flesh, sending even more power to her.

    Smiling wickedly, she appeared over the water and began to indiscriminately unleash catastrophic amounts of Qi.

    Massive explosions rang throughout the area, wiping outrge areas of water and inadvertently causing small tsunamis.

    Due to her actions, the battlefield became even more chaotic as time went on, attracting more and more beasts, but Mira justughed and continued to recklessly unleash all her excess Qi.

    However, after having a bit of fun, she figured she should probably use her energy a bit more efficiently and began to improvise. She wasn''t the only one on the ship, after all.

    She conjured a series of ice walls around the ship, creating a barrier that impeded the creatures'' advance. But the walls were soon battered by the relentless assault, cracks forming under the pressure.

    With a deep breath, Mira channeled her Qi and unleashed a new technique. She called it the "Frostbite Vortex." Her hands moved in a fluid, circr motion, and a swirling tornado of freezing air and ice shards formed, engulfing a group of attacking beasts. The vortex tore through scales and flesh, leaving nothing but frozen fragments in its wake.

    A positive feedback loop was thus created.

    But the tide of beasts was unending, each wave more aggressive than thest.

    On the deck, the crew fought bravely, firing the Qi cannons and ballistae. But the sheer number of attackers was overwhelming. Several crew members were injured, but the boat''s defenses wouldn''t fall to this.

    Captain Jorvik, seeing that Mira was the cause of the extra chaos yet was killing beasts faster than his men, made a decision. "Retreat below deck! We''ll seal the hatches and ride it out!"

    The crew hesitated, unwilling to abandon the deck, but Jorvik''smanding presence left no room for argument. They retreated, dragging their injuredrades with them.

    Mira, now alone on the deck, faced the horde with a light smile.

    She unleashed another technique, the "cial Lance." With a thrust of her hand, she sent a spear of solid ice hurtling into the maw of an approaching whale-like beast, piercing through it and emerging from the other side.

    Yet, even as she fought with all her might, the creatures kepting, unrelenting in their assault.

    Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind immediately crossed her mind, one that caused her bloody smile to widen.

    ''I wonder�� Can I make a Cultivation Generator?''

    Raising her hand, she created a gravity sphere around the size of her head, then forced a tremendous amount of Yin Lightning into it. Crackles of lightning spread out and covered the ship, snaking their way into the water.

    With a chuckle, Mira tossed it into the ocean. Her efforts paid off immediately.

    The gravity sphere sunk, yet the rotational forces created a whirlpool that only grew in size over time. All the nearby beasts were sucked in, crushed under the water, and electrocuted to death.

    Feeling a tremendous surge of energy enter her body, Mira''s lips curled up. ''This journey might be more interesting than I thought.''

 Chapter 858 2nd Stage

    Chapter 858 2nd Stage

    The days continued to pass rtively ''smoothly''. They were still battered by storms every day and were almost always attacked by some rogue beast, but nothing that they hadn''t faced before.

    There wasn''t much to look at now that they reached the World Sea other than water, so Mira and herpanions spent most of their time training.

    Hana worked on refining her organs with Mira''s guidance. Linnea kept improving her strength, with Dominique joining in with both of them as well, more so as an experiment to see if she could deepen her foundation.

    Other than that, Dominique worked with Mira to improve all facets of herself other than her cultivation. Mira did not want Dominique to rush past these stages, as once her foundation was set, it couldn''t be changed.

    Thus, they took their time to work on weapon techniques and Qi control, as well as her innate abilities and affinities.

    As for Elenei and Rhydian, there wasn''t much for them to do, so asionally, they''d fly a bit away from the boat, kill a few strong beasts to eat, and return. Either that, or they''d pick up Mira''s leftovers whenever she threw an electrified gravity ball into the ocean.

    Lastly, Mira reached the threshold of the 1st Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm and could break through to the 2nd Stage anytime.

    However, there was a slight problem. She had reached a bottleneck.

    Since her soul was different from others, how she needed to break through was also different.

    So, other than mass ughtering oceanic beasts to supplement her cultivation and teaching the others, she spent most of her time researching the perfect way to break through.

    Currently, she''s deep in meditation, doing a full body scan with her mind''s eye.

    ''Hmmm�� It seems the problem isn''t that I can''t break through normally. It''s that almost every part of myself is intrinsically linked to one another.'' Mira spected.

    The Soul Transformation Realm wasn''t all thatplicated. As she had learned, it was ''...a realm where the practitioner''s soul underwent a metamorphic change, adapting and evolving to amodate the cultivator''s experiences, wisdom, insights, and Dao.''

    Each stage was like a mini-transformation that solidified her path forward.

    ''So, the essence of my breakthrough isn''t just about umting Qi or expanding my soul''s capabilities. It''s about harmonizing every aspect of my being into a singr, cohesive whole. That''s the crux of the Soul Transformation Realm,'' Mira concluded.

    As she delved deeper into meditation, Mira understood that her unique constitution required a tailored approach to cultivation. Unlike others, her soul was not just a passive reservoir of Qi and a ce for her affinities to ''reside'' but an active, dynamic force that shaped and was shaped by every other facet of her being.

    This intricate intery meant that her journey through the Soul Transformation Realm was as much about internal harmony as it was about power.

    The 2nd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, Mira realized, was about forging deeper connections between her Qi, body, soul, and Dao.

    It wasn''t enough to have a strong body, abundant Qi, or even a resilient soul.

    These elements needed to resonate with each other, creating abination of power that was greater than the sum of its parts.

    Mira''s Absolute Ice Dao yed a crucial role here.

    To advance, she needed to imbue her soul with the essence of this Dao, letting it permeate her being to both her cores.

    This would not only enhance her control over ice and cold but also align her spiritual and physical selves more closely.

    The bottleneck Mira faced was not of quantity but of quality. She had ample Qi and a strong soul, but they operated like parallel streams rather than a converging river.

    The key to her breakthroughy in merging these streams, allowing her soul to evolve in a way that amplified her Qi and vice versa.

    Mira spent hours in meditation, her consciousness weaving through theyers of her being. She visualized her Qi intertwining with the tangible outeryer of her soul. With each breath, she felt the cold essence of her Absolute Ice Dao seeping deeper into her soul, transforming it, and sublimating its path.

    She also worked on refining her body, not through rigorous physical training but through a deep, meditative attunement. She sought to make her body not just a vessel for her soul and Qi but something that was inseparable from her.

    Although the Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique had integrated into her, that wasn''t enough in Mira''s opinion.

    She wanted more than just a ''soul transformation'', but a full body one. That meant she couldn''t just passively upgrade her body.

    After weeks of meticulous preparation, Mira felt ready.

    She sat cross-legged at the head of the boat, the vast expanse of the World Sea around her. Herpanions and the crew kept a respectful distance, yet all eyes were on her.

    As for being secretive? Mira didn''t have that luxury unless she wanted to potentially destroy a section of the boat.

    Mira closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath. She focused inward, her mind''s eye vividly picturing the convergence of her soul, Qi, and Dao. She saw the frosty blue of her Qi swirling around the core of her soul, each tendril of energy infusing her being with the essence of ice.

    Slowly, she began to guide thisbined force through her body, starting from the tips of her toes and moving upwards.

    As the energy flowed, it left a trail of transformation �C her cells vibrated with newfound vitality, her meridians expanded and strengthened, and her soul resonated with a clearer, purer note.

    Once she reached her dantian, it seamlessly merged with it, as this was what it was made for.

    When the energy reached her heart, Mira paused, concentrating on the critical juncture. Here, the energy needed to coalesce, to form the nexus of her breakthrough.

    She envisioned the essence of her Absolute Ice Dao merging with her soul and Qi at her heart center.

    At that moment, Mira felt the essence of her Absolute Ice Dao crystallizing in her heart, its icy purity melding seamlessly with her soul and Qi.

    The heart, traditionally known as the seat of the soul, became the crucible for this transformation. The icy energy swirled within her heart, forming a vortex of frost that solidified her bloodline, as well as the other aspects of her being.

    The confluence of soul, Qi, and Dao within her heart was not just a physical convergence but a spiritual one.

    Each beat of her heart sent ripples of this newly transformed energy throughout her body, resonating with her very essence.

    As this process intensified, Mira''s body began to emit a soft, radiant glow. The air around her turned markedly colder, and ice began to form on the surface of the boat and ocean.

    Mira''s eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She could feel every part of her being aligning, her soul evolving to amodate this newfound unity. The Absolute Ice Dao didn''t feel so�� illusive anymore and felt more real.

    The energy at her heart reached a crescendo, and with a controlled exhtion, Mira allowed it to explode outward, flowing through her entire being.

    The glow around her intensified, enveloping her in a cocoon of ice and light, simr to what she did with her soul. The boat rocked as waves of energy pounded from her.

    As the light receded, Mira slowly opened her blood-red eyes. She stood up, her movements more graceful and fluid than ever, as if she were one with the air and sea around her.

    Herpanions approached, their eyes wide with awe. Mira smiled�Ca serene, confident smile that she could only feel from an increase in power.

    The changes in Mira were easily noticeable. Her Qi felt denser, purer, and her control over it was more refined. Her affinity with ice was now so deep it seemed as if she couldmand the very essence of cold itself.

    ''And to think that it''ll only get better from here on out.'' Mira thought while clenching her fists and feeling the power roll through her body like a tsunami.

    "How do you feel, Mother?" Dominique hopped on Mira and asked.

    Mira rubbed her head and smiled, "Powerful."

    The group just rolled their eyes at such a vague description, but they knew she wasn''t wrong. They could feel it.

    Her strength had taken another leap forward.

    Suddenly, Mira''s expression changed, and she turned to Captain Jorvik, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

    "You might want to prepare your crew. It seems my breakthrough has attracted some unwee guests." She said with a neutral expression.

    ''Oh, shit! That''s right!'' Jorvik inwardly cursed before her barked out orders to his crew. "Everyone! Prepare for battle!"

    Mira handed Dominique over to Rhydian and told her to go to their quarters with Hana and Linnea. The wolf nodded and immediately left under Dominique''s unwilling gaze.

    Then, she turned back to the water with a slight smirk.

 Chapter 859 Maelstrom of Shadows

    Chapter 859 Maelstrom of Shadows

    After dealing with all the beasts, Mira had reached her peak condition after breaking through. However, she still wasn''t close to the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    The amount of Qi needed had increased exponentially. She also had to have more insights into her soul, experience with her Dao, and an understanding of her strength.

    The Soul Transformation Realm wasn''t something she could rush through.

    ''But, getting into more high-intensity fights should help expedite that process.'' Mira spected as she returned to her room, where everyone was waiting for her.

    ***

    The weeks passed by incredibly slowly yet monotonously.

    Every day was the same. They were attacked endlessly, whether it be by storms, the ocean, or beasts.

    It seemed as if everything was out to get them.

    The boat had also taken significant damage during this time despite everyone''s best efforts. The crew was doing their best to deal with the situation, but there was only so much they could do when a new problem arose every few hours.

    To make matters worse, they haven''t even made it past the second checkpoint, the Maelstrom of Shadows!

    Things were so bad that the usual professional crew was starting to talk.

    "We been on these waters for almost two months and ain''t even halfway yet!"

    "Oh, cry me a river, Dan. That just how it be on the sea."

    "No it ain''t dumbass! We been attacked around the clock, nonstop! What''s normal about that?!"

    "..."

    "Damn right! I''m sick and tired of having to patch holes! At this rate, we''re likely to sink before we even reach the Northern Gulf!"

    "So what? We got paid. Now we have a job to do. Get over it."

    "Yeah, well, the money ain''t worth it. We put our lives on the line enough times already tost us a dozen trips! I think we should bepensated for our troubles!"

    "Yeah!"

    "Yeah! Captain! Go ask that wench for more money!"

    "We ''ave families to feed too, ya know?!"

    Captain Jorvik watched as all his crewmates turned toward him and couldn''t help but pinch his nose. Right now, he was really wishing that sailors weren''t so stupid.

    However, if he were being honest, he felt the same way.

    ''At this rate, I''ll be out of a job and a boat by the time we reach the Northern Continent!'' He inwardly eximed as he covered the ship in his Soul Sense.

    Like the crew said, there were patched-up holes everywhere. Their Spirit Stone supplies for their Qi canons were starting to run low, an amount that should''vested them a few years.

    The ballista bolts were in need of repairs as they were starting to lose their edge, and the barriers, arrays, and formations had taken quite the beating.

    The cost of repairs, after everything''s said and done, will cost a fortune.

    ''Haaa�� I knew I should''ve retired.'' Jorvik sighed. ''After this, I''m going to find a nice ce to settle down, marry a good wife, have a few kids, and force them to make some grandkids.''

    Just as he stopped reminiscing about his future and was about to talk to his crew, the worst situation happened.

    Mira had appeared on deck.

    Everyone fell silent and stared at her wide-eyed, wondering what this demonic woman was going to do. The guy who called her a "wench" was shaking in his boots.

    Fortunately, Mira was toozy to deal with a bunch of weaklings and instead dropped a spatial ring on the ground.

    "This should be enough to cover the losses." She said, then disappeared like she was never there.

    Captain Jorvik reached out and sucked it up into his hand, sending his Soul Sense into it.

    "Holy-!" His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the amount of wealth he received.

    Mountains of Spirit Stones of almost all grades, all kinds of different herbs, fruits, and nts, most of which he couldn''t recognize, and most importantly, hundreds of stacks of wood.

    Not just any wood, either, but the remains of Mystic-Grade trees. He''d need to process them and turn them into nks, but it was enough to build him another boat, much less repair his current one!

    "Back to work,ds! Yer yearly bonus''ll be enough for you to retire!" He shouted to his crew.

    "WOOO!"

    "GO CAPTAIN!"

    "I knew that chick was rich!"

    Captain Jorvik turned around and continued to steer the ship. However, now, there was a slight smile on his face that wasn''t there before.

    Truly, with power and riches, one can do almost anything��

    ***

    Another long week went by, but now the crew wasn''t so annoyed at being attacked 24/7.

    That is, until they reached a wall of darkness that stretched as far as the eye could see. The Northern Gale slowed to a cautious pace as it approached the ominous barrier.

    Captain Jorvik called Mira and herpanions up to the deck, and exined to them more about the Maelstrom of Shadows.

    "This," he said, gesturing towards the swirling mass, "is the Maelstrom of Shadows. It''s a natural phenomenon, but there ain''t nothing natural about what it does."

    Mira observed the wall of darkness, her eyes narrowing as she tried to prate its depths with her senses. "What''s inside?" she asked.

    "It''s a vortex of sorts," Jorvik exined. "A massive whirlpool that pulls everything into it. Not sure where ites from or where it goes, but that''s not the worst part. Inside, it''s said there are creatures that have never seen the light of day, horrors that lurk in the depths, waiting for travelers."

    Dominique and Hana exchanged a look and couldn''t help but feel a sense of morbid curiosity. While Linnea grew worried.

    "We need to navigate through it," Jorvik continued, his gaze returning to the maelstrom. "There''s a path, a safe route that I''ve traversed before. But it''s narrow, and one hard nudge could send us spiraling into the abyss. Ain''t no way to return after that."

    Mira stepped forward, her posture confident. "Then let''s not make any wrong moves."

    A tick mark formed on Jorvik''s head, but he nodded nheless. He returned to the helm, taking control of the ship with a steady hand.

    As the Northern Gale entered the Maelstrom of Shadows, a heavy darkness enveloped the ship. Visibility dropped to nearly zero, the only lighting from the bioluminescent creatures that asionally zipped by in the water.

    The atmosphere on deck was tense, the crew moving quietly, their eyes straining to see through the gloom. Mira stood at the bow, her senses alert, ready to react to any threat.

    The ship moved slowly, navigating through the darkness with painstaking care. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the asional creak of the ship or the distant, eerie calls of unknown creatures.

    Suddenly, a massive shape loomed out of the darkness, its eyes gleaming with a dim glow. It was a creature from the deep, its body covered in scales and spikes, its mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth.

    The crew reacted instantly, firing ballistae and Qi cannons at the beast. But it was swift, dodging the attacks without much issue.

    Mira took out her scythe and leaped into action, but just as she swung, expecting to meet some resistance, all she met was air.

    Sensing danger, she turned around and attacked again, but the creature swatted her in the back of the head, sending her spiraling toward the ship.

    ''Tch. What the hell is that thing?'' Mira wondered as she got back into position. ''I can''t feel its strength nor its presence. It feels like it''s part of whatever this natural phenomenon is, yet at the same time, separate.''

    Seeing it appear above the ship, preparing to attack it, Mira clicked her tongue and shot upwards to interrupt it.

    ''Whatever. Doesn''t matter. I just need to hold it back long enough for us to leave.''

    While she was facing the unknown creature, Elenei and Rhydian were also facing their own battles, yet having simr troubles. Fortunately, their eyesight and senses were top-notch, allowing them to partially navigate this darkness, unlike the rest of the crew, save for Jorvik.

    The creature Mira faced was unlike any she had encountered before. It moved like a ghost, its form blurring in and out of visibility. Every strike she made seemed to pass right through it as if it was more a wraith than a beast of flesh and blood.

    Elenei and Rhydian, too, met the same problem.

    Below them, the crew of the Northern Gale was struggling. In the absence of visible threats, they focused on keeping the ship steady, following Jorvik''s shoutedmands. The old sailor''s instincts and experience were the only things guiding them through this iprehensible void.

    "Port side, two degrees!" Jorvik barked, his hands gripping the wheel with white-knuckled intensity. "Keep her steady! We''re almost through!"

    Meanwhile, Mira switched tactics. She closed her eyes, reaching out with her senses, trying to feel the creature''s Qi instead of seeing it. Slowly, she began to discern a faint outline, a ripple in the air where the beast moved.

    With an annoyed grunt, she swung her scythe at the ripple, and this time it connected. The creature let out a ghastly shriek, its form bing momentarily solid before dissipating into the darkness.

    Elenei and Rhydian, taking cues from Mira, also adjusted their approach. They honed in on the subtle disturbances their foes created in the Qi around them. Gradually, they began tond hits, with each strike bringing them closer to driving the shadowy creatures away.

    As the battle raged on, the Northern Gale edged closer to the end of the Maelstrom of Shadows. The darkness began to lighten, the oppressive ck turning to a deep grey.

    With a final, concerted effort, Mira, Elenei, and Rhydian unleashed a flurry of attacks. Almost as if they deemed it not worth the effort, the shadow creatures retreated back into the depths of the maelstrom, their eerie howls fading into silence.

    With that, the light of day shone on the boat once again as they sessfully passed the second checkpoint on this trip.

 Chapter 860 Coralia

    Chapter 860 Coralia

    Emerging from the Maelstrom of Shadows, the crew of The Northern Gale breathed a collective sigh of relief. The ship sailed into calmer waters under a clear sky, a stark contrast to the literal wall of ckness they left behind.

    Captain Jorvik stood at the helm, scanning the horizon. "Well done, everyone. We''ve made it past one of the toughest challenges on this route," he announced with a hint of pride in his voice.

    Leaning against the rail, Mira looked out at the sea. Her mind was already on the next challenge. The constant battles had honed her senses and skills, pushing her closer to the next breakthrough in her cultivation.

    Dominique and Hana, who had been safe below deck during the ordeal, now stood beside her and were staring at the Maelstrom of Shadows behind them.

    "...I wish I could''ve seen what was inside," Dominique muttered, causing Hana to immediately back away from her.

    "Oh?" Mira raised an eyebrow before she smirked. Raising her hand, she shot a beam of darkness toward Dominique''s eyes, clouding thempletely.

    "AH-!" Dominique screamed out but quickly covered her mouth.

    Sighing, Mira dropped her hand to her side and canceled the effect.

    "Not much to see, is there?" She asked.

    Dominique shook her head, still a little shaken about the utter ckness that had enveloped her.

    "We''ll start adding this to the training. Looks like you need to get used to low visibility."

    "..."

    Linnea ignored their interaction and approached Mira, her expression one of concern and admiration. "That was incredible, Mira. How you handled those creatures..." she trailed off, unsure how to express her feelings.

    Mira gave a small smile, "Oh? Did you see that? Impressive. Training you might not be a waste of time, after all."

    "..."

    Nobody wanted to talk to Mira anymore.

    As the day progressed, the crew busied themselves with repairing the damages sustained during their passage through the Maelstrom of Shadows. Jorvik supervised the work, asionally ncing at Mira and herpanions.

    The mood on the ship had changed. There was a sense of camaraderie that hadn''t been there before. The crew, who had initially been wary of Mira and her group, now showed a grudging respect.

    In the following days, The Northern Gale continued its voyage towards the Northern Continent. The sea remained rtively calm, giving them a wee break after the constant battles and storms.

    However, the calm was short-lived.

    "MIRA!" A loud shout from a familiar yet unfamiliar echoed across the ocean.

    Standing on the deck, a tingle ran down Mira''s spine. ''Fuck! Who is it? Who''s the bastard that can make me feel so��''

    Before she could finish that thought, multiplerge waterspouts surrounded the ship, forcing it to stop in ce. Captain Jorvik''s expression changed, knowing they were in deep shit now.

    "Go! Move this boat, Jorvik! NOW!" Mira yelled, but the man was already trying. He was trying to steer the boat, even sending his Qi out to try and propel it, but nothing worked.

    However, hearing the slight panic and concern in Mira''s voice made him realize that the situation might be more dire than he initially believed.

    "Goddess! I finally found yoooou~!" A shadow leaped out of the ocean, crashing into Mira.

    Before she could understand what was happening, a soft pair of lips connected with hers, followed by a long tongue that entered her mouth.

    ''Fuck!'' Mira pped the perpetrator away, sending it iling on the deck. Hurriedly backing away and wiping her lips, she got a good look at who just vited her, and her eyes widened in surprise.

    "Coralia?!" A familiar pink-haired mermaid with a pink tail pped around on the deck. Her fishtail glowed with a faint light before it transformed into a pair of human legs, and the woman stood up. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

    "Ah~! My Goddess remembers me?! I''m truly honored!" Coralia moaned aloud, staring at Mira with hearts in her eyes. "Ohhh! You look even more beautiful than thest time we met! I''ve thought about you every day since you left, but you''ve exceeded my expectations!"

    "You didn''t answer my question! What the hell are you doing here?" Mira growled as she took out her scythe. "You have 3 seconds, or else we''re having sashimi for dinner."

    Everyone shivered at her scathing tone, including the mermaid but for a different reason.

    "I-I followed you after you left Meropis, but it wasn''t long before we got separated. So, I explored the Secret Realm more until I came across a Dragon you may have known."

    "...Kayda," Mira answered, frowning deeply.

    "That''s right! She showed me a way to leave the Secret Realm that would drop me off in your world near an ocean. Ever since then, I''ve stayed here, getting stronger and waiting for you to appear on these waters. Lo and behold, after waiting for years, I finally caught your scent on this boat. Thus, I chased after you."

    "..."

    Everyone stared at the mermaid, bewildered, wondering where such a crazy person came from. Mira wasn''t any different.

    ''I should''ve killed her back then.'' She thought. Coralia was a legit psycho, albeit a strong and trustworthy one, but still�� Mira didn''t want to put her mental health at risk just for a bit of strength.

    "I didn''t think you could leave that Secret Realm," Mira answered with a sigh.

    "Me neither! But Kayda showed me a crack in the realm and gave me something to open it."

    ''Ugh. What the hell was that dragon thinking?'' Mira groaned. She wasn''t quite sure how to deal with this situation.

    Logically, having Coralia around was an addedyer of security. The mermaid wasn''t trying to hide her strength, showing that she was at the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Not only could she increase her strength quickly while living in the World Sea, but since she was so fanatic about Mira, she''d be a great ally to have in these foreign waters.

    However, her personality was a bit��

    To put it lightly, Mira didn''t want to have to deal with it. Part of her really wanted to kill Coralia and just be done with it, but there was a slight problem with that.

    The woman was strong. Unless she could annihte her in a single hit, Coralia could jump in the water, and they''d never see her again. Having a fanatic enemy like her was even worse than having her as an ally.

    ''Fuck it. I''ll just wait and see.'' She concluded.

    Just as she was about to open her mouth, Mira almost let out a small yelp, feeling someone pull and rub her tails.

    "Mmm~ Goddess~ Your tails are so soft and smell so good. I''m so d I found you~!"

    ''I''m gonna kill her.'' A vein throbbed in Mira''s forehead as she smacked Coralia away with one of her tails, but the mermaid just got up like nothing happened. Rather, she had a content smile on her face.

    ''What a freaking psycho.'' Everyone watching couldn''t help but think. They all wanted to say something or go about their normal jobs but were too scared of what might happen. Crazy people were crazy for a reason, and they knew better than to mess with them. It was better to just ignore it and leave them be.

    Captain Jorvik, in particr, looked like he wanted to intervene, but the fear of Mira''s wrath kept him at bay. He muttered under his breath, "Seas above, what sort of creatures does this woman attract?"

    However, before anyone could further process the situation, the sea around the ship began to churn violently. A massive swarm of oceanic beasts, drawn by themotion, converged on The Northern Gale, their ferocious roars filling the air.

    Coralia''s demeanor shifted instantly at the sight of the iing tide. Her yful expression turned into one of cold fury. "Dare to disturb my time with the Goddess? Unforgivable!"

    With a jump, Coralia dove into the sea, her fishtail reappearing as she submerged. The water around her began to glow with a bright pink light, and soon, shockwaves emanated from her position, striking the iing beasts and turning them into a bloody mush.

    On deck, Mira watched with a raised eyebrow. ''Well, at least she''s useful,'' she thought, her gaze following the mermaid''s movements.

    Coralia moved through the water with incredible speed and agility. Each swipe of her tail sent powerful currents ripping through the ranks of the beasts while her hands conjured up streams of water that pierced through their thick hides like spears.

    After she killed off the initial fodder, she reached out and, with a burst of Qi, created a strong suction force. Pulling all the nearby beasts in, Coralia manipted the water to create a whirlpool made of fast yet razor-sharp edges.

    The beasts that were sucked in got mowed through like wood in a wood chipper, leaving nothing but a cloud of blood behind.

    Clenching her fists, Coralia rotated the whirlpool and shot it toward the rest of the tide like a drill, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

    After it was all done, she pped her hands, clearing the area of any remains and hopped back on the ship with a graceful smile.

 Chapter 861 Water Dragon’s Nest Part 1

    Chapter 861 Water Dragon��s Nest Part 1

    Standing in front of the smiling Coralia, Mira glowered down at her and ordered, "You are going to be the ship''s defenses."

    "What?!" The mermaid lost her smile.

    "It''s only right that the freeloader puts in some work. Do you know how much I paid for this ship? More than I''d get for selling you off as a ve! Now, get to work!" Mira barked before she disappeared back into her cabin.

    Coralia looked at the floor, downtrodden, but what else could she say?

    Fight Mira? Nonsense! That was her Goddess!

    Argue with her? Plead for another role? She wasn''t shameless enough to do that.

    ''It is true that I came after she already paid for everything. I suppose the least I could do is be her bodyguard.'' Coralia''s eyes shined with realization. ''That''s right! I''ll be her bodyguard! I''ll be the one to protect my Goddess!''

    Now filled with infinite motivation, she dove back into the water, her legs transforming into a tail, and eradicated all the oceanic beasts that were nearby.

    ''Don''t worry, Goddess! I''ll keep these pesky mutts away from you!''

    ***

    Back in her cabin, Mira fell face-first onto her bed, exhausted. She''d rather go fight a dragon than talk to that stupid mermaid.

    "Ummm�� Who was that person, Mother?" Dominique asked hesitantly, as she wasn''t sure whether Mira liked or disliked that unknown mermaid.

    "A stalker. A very crazy one."

    "Is she�� going to stay with us?"

    Mira tensed up a little at that question. "I�� Don''t know. Hopefully not, but most likely."

    "Can''t you just get rid of her?"

    Mira sat up and unconsciously smiled at Dominique''s question. ''What a good girl. Taking after her-ahem-M-Mother.''

    Rubbing Dominique''s head, she answered, "Yes and no. Mermaids are quite slippery, and Coralia''s strength is high. Onnd, I''d be able to kill her without any issues, but here at sea, if she escapes, it could be a real problem. You wouldn''t want a love-crazy, psycho stalker to suddenly hate you, right? Might as well just keep her around."

    Dominique thought about how Maria might end up if she tried to seriously kill Mira and shivered at the thought, shaking her head. In that scenario, she doubted Maria would just die. Everything she ever knew and loved would be torn down, and the woman would likely be tortured for years until she begged for death.

    "Mmhm. Actually, Coralia doesn''t seem that bad." Dominique said, picturing how smooth her mermaid tail must be. ''I wonder if she''ll let me touch it?''

    "Well, she went through plenty of trouble to see me. I might as well grant her this simple request. And if she can keep those pests at bay, so I and the crew don''t have to waste our time with them, then I suppose it''s fine." Mira shrugged, making herselffortable on the bed.

    "So, how''d you two meet, Mother?"

    Mira paused for a moment, as if to remember, then started recounting her time meeting the mermaids in a Secret Realm back when she was at the Branch Sect.

    As those two were talking, the ship continued to sail toward the Northern Continent. Now, with Coralia in the water, there weren''t nearly as many attacks. Or, rather, the boat didn''t face as many, but Coralia had to deal with a seemingly unending tide of weaklings.

    The only other trouble that they faced was the constant storms, but the crew was already used to that.

    Meanwhile, Mira continued her relentless training regime with Dominique, Hana, and Linnea, pushing them to their limits.

    Elenei and Rhydian, for their part, focused on their cultivation. They practiced in solitude, honing their skills and strength.

    Mira spent her free time meditating, feeling the subtle changes in her body and soul as she edged closer to the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. However, she knew she needed more time and umtion of Qi and insights to make a breakthrough.

    Thanks to the rtive peace brought by Coralia''s vignt defense, The Northern Gale made good progress and soon approached the Water Dragon''s Nest.

    Captain Jorvik briefed the crew and passengers about the challenges of this region. The Nest was a known haven for formidable sea beasts.

    "To hold our ground atop the waves is to defy the denizens of the Nest straight on," Jorvik exined as he activated a formation on the ship. The vessel was enveloped in arge barrier that repelled water, creating an air pocket around them. "Therefore, we shall take our course beneath the brine."

    "Are there really water Dragons in the nest?" Mira suddenly asked, but Jorvik shook his head.

    "Can''t rightly say,ssy. Might be so, but the beasts I''veid eyes on, they''re akin to sea serpents. Perchance, they''re distant kin to the true Dragons. But, I heard they got at least one Rank 10 in their mix."

    Everyone tensed up at that. Regardless of the location, a Rank 10 beast was equivalent to an overlord. Even on the Central Continent, where those in the Immortal Ascension Realm lived, they''d still be considered top powerhouses.

    Immortal Ascension Realm beings generally didn''t bother with worldly affairs and focused purely on ascending. Who wouldn''t want to be an immortal, after all?

    At least, that''s the image they portray.

    However, to Mira, whether they were in the Immortal Ascension Realm or Divine Sea Realm made no difference. They could both kill her with a smack.

    ''Maybe I should''ve ckmailed Aelina into escorting me.'' She suddenly thought, but it was toote for that. ''Whatever. Surely, such a being wouldn''t be interested in me, right?''

    One could only hope��

    "Brace yourselves,ds andsses! We''re diving to the depths!" Captain Jorvik shouted. Then, using a special engine powered by his Qi and Spirit Stones, he maneuvered the ship to dive beneath the ocean''s surface.

    As they descended into the deeper waters, the light began to fade, and the pressure increased. The crew, unused to such conditions, felt a growing sense of unease. Mira, Dominique, Hana, and Linnea watched in fascination as the underwater world unfolded before their eyes, teeming with life and dangers unseen on the surface.

    Coralia swam alongside the ship, waving at them before she whipped her tail around, reducing an iing school of fish to a blood mist.

    As they dove deeper, the crew and passengers watched in awe and apprehension. The ocean here was a different world, filled with bioluminescent corals and creatures that glowed eerily in the dark waters.

    But lurking in this beauty were dangers far beyond their usual encounters.

    Coralia swam effortlessly around the ship and seemed to revel in her element. Her tail flicked gracefully, sending her darting through the water, intercepting and tearing apart any sea beast that dared approach the vessel.

    "Never thought I''d be grateful for a mermaid''s presence," one of the crewmen muttered, watching Coralia''s movements. The others nodded their heads, but they couldn''t help but feel a bit of lust toward the half-naked woman.

    The other women on the boat were too terrifying, but this one seemed so�� elegant.

    Mira stood at the bow, her eyes scanning the depths. Her hand rested on her scythe, ready for whatever mighte their way.

    She was acutely aware of the potential danger of encountering a Rank 10 beast. Her mind raced with strategies, calcting the best approach should they face such a formidable foe.

    ''I don''t even know the full power of such a being, much less how to counter one.'' She concluded, feeling a bit frustrated at her own ignorance, but there was nothing she could do.

    Dominique and Hana, who had grown ustomed to the wonders and terrors of the sea, watched in fascination. "So many strange creatures," Hana whispered, her face pressed against the barrier, watching a school of iridescent fish dart by.

    Linnea stood beside them like a protective mother. "These creatures have adapted to life in the deep sea. It''s a harsh environment, but it has fostered some of the most remarkable life forms," she said, pointing to a jellyfish-like creature that pulsated with light.

    Elenei and Rhydian, meanwhile, remained focused on their cultivation, drawing in the unique Qi of the deep sea to enhance their practices. The intense pressure and the rich yet dangerous energy of this environment provided them with a rare opportunity to refine their strength.

    Jorvik navigated the ship with a mix of caution and awe. "We''re nearing the heart of the Nest. Keep your eyes peeled," he called out, his voice tense but controlled.

    The crew responded, their eyes glued to the darkness outside the barrier, hands ready on the ship''s defenses.

    Suddenly, the ship jolted, a massive shadow passing beneath them. The crew tensed, and Mira gripped her scythe tightly.

    A gigantic, Late-Stage Rank 9, serpent-like creature with scales shimmering in the dim light coiled around the ship, its eyes fixed on the barrier.

    "By the gods," Jorvik whispered, his face pale. "That''s one of the guardians of the Nest."

    Mira stepped forward, her Qi surging around her. "Coralia! Now''s your time to shine!" she shouted into the water.

    The mermaid, hearing Mira''s call, charged toward the serpent, her eyes zing with determination. She moved with incredible speed, her tail slicing through the water as she engaged the beast in a deadly dance.

    The serpent was taken aback by Coralia''s ferocity and struck out with its massive jaws. But Coralia was nimble, dodging and weaving, attacking whenever she could. However, they hardly made a dent in its tough scales.

    On the ship, the crew watched in a mix of horror and admiration. "She''s fighting a guardian... and holding her own," one crewman said, rubbing his eyes as he couldn''t believe what was happening.

    The battle raged on, Coralia matching the guardian''s strength with her agility and ferocity, but it was clear she was at a disadvantage. Most of her attacks did nothing, but a few did manage to get through. Still, the beast was sorge that it hardly made a difference.

    Meanwhile, every single one of the serpent''s attacks was enough to kill her.

    As Mira was thinking of joining the battle, along with Rhydian and Elenei, enormous pressure fell upon them, forcing everyone other than Mira''s party to fall to their knees.

 Chapter 862 Water Dragon’s Nest Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 862 Water Dragon��s Nest Part 2</h4>

    ''Damn! Why has the Rank 10 beast locked onto us?!'' Everyone thought as they immediately lost all hope. Now that such a monster was focused on them, the chances of escape dropped to near zero.

    ''Let''s see what she''s truly made of - time to push The Northern Gale to her limit!'' Captain Jorvik thought as he readied the barrier, waiting for the Rank 10 beast to make a move.

    Then, in an instant, a giant serpent-like head with shiny blue scales and two jagged horns protruding from its head appeared in front of the ship. It stared at them with itsrge, green-slitted eyes before its nostrils red, clearing out all the water surrounding the ship.

    Some of the weaker-willed people passed out in fright, while the others wished they could''ve done so. If they were going to die, they''d rather it be done peacefully in their sleep rather than this!

    "What purpose brings thee into my dominion, fox?" The giant head asked in a deep, almost gurgling voice, staring at Mira specifically.

    Mira''s frown deepened as she had the urge to facepalm.

    ''Why? Why is it that every time I meet these seemingly ancient beasts, they all ask me the same thing? Can''t a fox just wander around? Why do I need to exin it to you?'' She thought frustratingly. For some reason, these strong beings always put what they were doing aside to meet her.

    "Just passing through," Mira answered.

    "Is that indeed the truth? Then, pray tell, why dost thou exhibit such a fierce, sanguineous* aura upon thy entry into my realm?"

    [A/N: Just as a reference, sanguineous essentially means bloody.]

    Mira tilted her head, looking at it, confused. "What do you mean?"

    "Didst thou not, indeed? It appears thou hast yet to acquire even the rudiments of proper decorum."

    ''It seems you haven''t learned how to speak like a living being, either.'' Mira inwardlymented but said nothing. She really had no idea what it was talking about.

    The water-serpent being sighed, keeping the water from crashing into the boat before it conjured a human hand from the water and extended it toward the boat. The crew freaked out for a moment, closing their eyes, hoping they could go to heaven painlessly.

    But a few seconds passed with nothing happening. A few opened their eyes, only to see the makeshift hand pressed against Mira''s forehead as a transference of energy passed through it before it went back into the ocean.

    "Master this technique and cease thy provocations towards all in thy vicinity. Thou art now permitted to depart." With that said, the beast left, returning the ocean to its normal state. Metric tons of water fell onto the boat, engulfing it but doing no real damage.

    Mira still had a skeptical look on her face, but more than anything, she was bewildered about something. ''Why are all these strong, old beasts so nice to me? Every time I meet one, they seem to always give me something nice.''

    Unlike humans, who mostly wanted to kill her for some reason. Hell, sometimes, they didn''t even have a reason. These beasts, who were nearly at the pinnacle of the world, almost always helped her out in some way.

    ''Is it because of my race? Maybe those with the blood of mythical beings have a pact in this world not to attack one another for no reason? Perhaps they could even sense that killing me was both the best and worst thing they could do.'' She tried to find an answer, but save for it being all of those things, she couldn''t think of anything else.

    Her luck was as close to negative infinity as one could get. And that bad luck didn''t just disappear should she die. It was transferrable.

    Of course, the ones who would receive the full brunt of it if they killed her were the ones sent by the FLDIL. But, if she had to guess, a portion of her bad luck would still transfer to her killer, even if they weren''t designated by the firmament.

    ''I don''t really have a reason for thinking that, other than that this luck has to go somewhere and can''t just disappear into the void. But, all the strong beings in this world seem ufortable about killing me, as if it''s ast resort.''

    ''Maybe I really am lucky.'' Mira thought before immediately shaking her head. ''Maybe he just had a crush on me and couldn''t bear to kill my beautiful form.''

    Unable to figure out an answer, she put that aside for now and focused on the information she received.

    Rather than a technique, the serpent-dragon thing gave her a way to reign in her bloodline aura, killing intent, and Qi. That may sound impressive, but from what she understood, it didn''t serve any purpose other than making her seem less provocative.

    It should also make her seem less terrifying to random people while also relieving them of the faint pressure she unconsciously released.

    Sighing, Mira studied the technique for a few seconds before sheprehended it and put it into action. In an instant, it was as if a formless pressure was sucked into her body, allowing everyone to unconsciously breathe a sigh of relief.

    Looking around, she noticed that people''s shoulders were more rxed, and their breathing wasn''t quite as tense. Some even looked like they could use a good sleep.

    ''I guess I was unconsciously ring a fierce aura, putting those around me on edge.'' Mira presumed, but she didn''t even know she was doing such a thing. She thought she had already got all that under control since nobody said anything. ''Maybe only beasts can sense such a thing?''

    Mira shrugged and hoped that ancient monsters would stop bothering her now.

    After the "water dragon" left, the crew just stood there, staring nkly into space. They had just faced a Rank 10 beast and lived to tell the tale!

    "Can''t wait to spin this yarn to me missus! She''ll be so taken, might just end up with a bigger crew at home!"

    "Ha! As if she''d swallow that tall tale. Me, I''m gonna cash in on that water dragon sighting and hang up me hat for good!"

    "You''re daft, mate! You reckon that''ll fly?"

    "Why not? It''s a creature of legend! Folks''ll be lining up to get a peek!"

    "Enough!" Captain Jorvik shouted, forcing everyone to quiet down. He stood at the helm and let out a long, relieved breath. "We best be moving on before we tempt fate any further."

    The crew seemed to awaken from his words and resumed their tasks with renewed vigor, albeit with frequent nces at Mira. Though her presence seemed less imposing, they all understood that a terrifying monstery beneath the surface.

    Below the deck, Dominique and Hana discussed the recent events in hushed tones.

    "Why didn''t that Dragon talk to me? I might not be as strong as Mother, but I want to be touched by a dragon too." Dominique whispered, a little downcast

    "I don''t think that''s what you should be worrying about��" Hana replied, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "The real question is, why do all these powerful beings keep searching for us?"

    Mira overheard their conversation and chimed in, "Don''t worry about it too much. As long as I''m here, nothing too bad will happen."

    Linnea, sitting nearby, nodded in agreement. "With Mira''s strength, we''re probably safer than anywhere else."

    Everyone nodded, but they were all inwardly thinking that things might be a lot less painful if Mira wasn''t here.

    "Enough of that. Back to training, everyone!" Mira shouted, proving them right.

    The training resumed, with Mira''s watchful eyes guiding the youngsters. Despite the constant threats of the sea, their progress was steady.

    Above deck, Elenei and Rhydian continued their cultivation, drawing in the unique energies of the deep sea. The recent events had not deterred them; if anything, they seemed more focused than ever.

    As The Northern Gale sailed on, Coralia''s efforts in warding off the sea beasts became increasingly crucial. Her presence in the waters acted as the perfect deterrent, and now that Mira wasn''t sending out provocative signals, fewer beasts were interested in the ship.

    The ship progressed smoothly, making its way through the waters with fewer incidents. The crew''s morale was high, their trust in Mira and the mysterious mermaid solidifying with each passing day.

    ***

    Further north up the World Sea, around the Frostbite Channel, a never-before-seen event was happening.

    The Frostbite Channel was known for its icy waters and dangerous ice formations, making it a usually treacherous but navigable path for experienced sailors like Captain Jorvik. However, what was happening now was beyond the realm of normal.

    Far ahead of The Northern Gale, the skies above the Frostbite Channel were darkening, a scene that, while notmon, happened enough that it wasn''t umon. Thick, ck clouds rolled in, converging in a swirling mass that blotted out the sun. The air grew colder, and the sea beneath churned violently as if agitated by some unseen force.

    From the depths of the channel, a towering column of ice began to form, rising high into the sky. It was as if the very sea itself was freezing over, creating a massive barrier that would be impossible to navigate through.

    Seafaring birds were seen fleeing en masse, crying out like they had been possessed.

    On a nearby ship, a grizzled sailor peered out at the unfolding chaos. "I''ve sailed these waters for forty years, but never have I seen the likes of this," he muttered. "Something''s not right. This ain''t just a natural storm."

 Chapter 863 Frostbite Channel

    <h4>Chapter 863 Frostbite Channel</h4>

    As The Northern Gale approached the massive ice wall at the Frostbite Channel, the crew barely spared it much of a nce. Even though Captain Jorvik had never encountered such a phenomenon, he still remained partially indifferent.

    After everything he''s gone through over thest few months, a giant wall of ice was the least of his worries.

    ''No Dragons. No mermaids. No crazy storms. Makin'' it through a chunk of ice seems very doable right now.'' He thought, but still took the time to analyze the situation. They still had to make it past this giant wall that had no end in sight.

    It didn''t take long for an idea to form, one that seemed to be the most feasible other than just getting out and attempting to fly over. However, the crazy storm above told them that doing so wasn''t in their best interest.

    "Blowin'' a hole through it is our best bet," Jorvik muttered, his eyes scanning the massive barrier ahead. "Ready the Qi cannons! We''re going to break through on our own!"

    The crew hustled to their positions, preparing the ship''s cannons for a coordinated assault. With a powerful boom, the burst of energy collided with the wall, creating a massive hole that they could coast through.

    However, their efforts proved futile as the ice regenerated almost instantly, closing any gaps they created.

    "We''re trapped! We can''t get through!" one of the crewmen shouted in growing despair. It was as if he was having PTSD from all the nonsense they had to go through just to reach this point, and couldn''t handle any more surprises.

    He just wanted to get to the Northern Continent and drop Mira off.

    "That won''t work," Mira interjected, stepping forward. "This isn''t just ice; it''s alive, reacting to our attacks. We need a different approach."

    Jorvik turned to her, a mixture of frustration and hope in his eyes. "What do you suggest,ss?"

    Mira''s gaze shifted towards the water. "Coralia!" she called out, her voice piercing through the howling wind.

    The pink-haired mermaid emerged from the depths, her eyes wide with excitement. "Yes, Goddess?"

    "We need to coordinate. You control the water; I''ll handle the ice. Together, we''ll create a path."

    Coralia nodded eagerly, diving back into the water. Her aura red as she began to manipte the surrounding sea, creating currents that swirled around the ship.

    Mira focused her energy, extending her Qi towards the ice wall. She felt the cold, hostile presence within the ice, a force that seemed to resist her. Gritting her teeth, she pushed harder, her Qi intertwining with the ice, bending it to her will.

    A crown soon appeared on her head as she red her Absolute Ice Dao to its maximum potential. ''Now''s a great time to train!'' Mira''s eyes narrowed as she licked her lips, wondering if she could learn more about her Dao and gather insights by imposing her will onto ''someone else''s'' ice.

    Once she was ready, she gave Captain Jorvik the signal, which caused him to nod and shout, "FIRE!"

    The ship''s cannons fired again, this time aided by Mira''s control over the ice. The sts created openings that didn''t close immediately, giving them a brief window to enter.

    The hole was big enough for the ship to enter, plus more, giving Coralia the leeway to flood it with water.

    "Full speed ahead!" Jorvikmanded, seizing the opportunity. The ship surged forward, its propellers roaring as it navigated the treacherous path carved by Mira and Coralia.

    As they made their way into the ice, the danger was far from over. Massive ice shards shot up from beneath the water like deadly spears, aiming to impale the ship.

    "Watch out!" Elenei shouted from the deck, her eyes spotting the iing threat.

    Rhydian transformed into her wolf form as she prepared to defend the ship. The crew, though terrified, stood their ground, ready to fight for their lives.

    Mira swung her scythe, shattering the ice spears with precise, powerful strikes. Beneath the waves, Coralia redirected the currents, steering the ship away from the most dangerous ice formations�Cones that might prate the bottom of the boat.

    The tension on deck was palpable as every crew member focused solely on their task. The ship rocked and groaned under the strain, but it held together, showcasing the amazing quality of the boat and the decisiveness of the crew.

    As they progressed, the ice wall seemed to grow more aggressive, as if angered by their intrusion. The attacks became more frequent, and the ice shards were bingrger, sharper, and more like bombs than anything.

    The Qi cannons were also starting to lose their impact against the denser parts of the ice wall. Mira''s control over the ice was being pushed to its limits as everything became more difficult to effect.

    "Damn it! It''s like chipping away at a mountain with a spoon!" Captain Jorvik cursed. The crew''s morale began to wane as their efforts seemed to barely scratch the surface of the immense barrier.

    "We need more firepower," Elenei announced, her voice resonating with a newfound determination. Transforming into her Frozen Ash Dracophoenix form, she soared above the ship. Releasing an ear-piercing cry, she pped her wings and sent out a wave of searing heat.

    In an instant, they could see the densely packed ice ahead of them slowly receding, but it was rtively slow. They didn''t have that kind of time to wait for it to ''cook'' since Mira was the only thing standing between them and being crushed. If, for some reason, her control waned, they''d all die in an instant.

    Jorvik''s eyes widened in amazement, but he understood that now wasn''t the time to hold anything back. The Northern Continent wasn''t that far away. As long as they made it through here, there shouldn''t be any more problems. "All hands, brace yourselves! We''re bringing out the Soul-Piercing Leviathan Spear!"

    The crew sprung into action, revealing a massive, ornate cannon that had been hidden beneath the deck. This was the Northern Gale''s ultimate weapon, a cannon capable of firing concentrated bursts of Qi that could rival the power of a Peak-Stage Rank 9 beast.

    Feeling the surge of energy from the cannon, Mira nodded in approval. "Let''s do this. Together, we''ll break through."

    As Elenei unleashed her mes upon the wall, Mira synchronized her Absolute Ice Dao with her attacks, weaving her control over the ice to assist in the melting process. The best she could do with her current brain power at the moment was to unpack the ice and allow for better heat transference.

    The Soul-Piercing Leviathan Spear roared to life, its energy shaking the ship as it prepared to strike. Jorvik, with a solemn expression, aimed the cannon at the heart of the ice wall.

    "Fire!" hemanded.

    A blinding beam of light shot forth, cutting through the ice like aser. Thebined efforts of the cannon, Elenei''s mes, and Mira''s ice control created a tunnel through the wall, steam and mist erupting around them.

    However, as they prated deeper, a chilling presence made itself known. From within the ice, a massive, shadowy figure emerged, its size dwarfing The Northern Gale. The crew gasped in horror as they beheld the creature that had been causing the ice wall''s aggressive defense.

    It was a colossal humanoid ice giant with skin that had a bluish hue and its eyes glowing to life,pletely unlike the mannequin-esque look that it had. The thing didn''t even look like a living being, with its body being mostly made of ice.

    Nobody on the ship, regardless of who they were, had ever seen such a creature here before, much less understood why it was blocking their way. The only thing Mira could assume was that someone was just out to get her, but such thinking would have to be put on hold for now.

    The creature let out a deafening roar, the sound reverberating through the ice.

    "We can''t fight that head-on!" Jorvik shouted, the fear in his voice evident.

    Mira stepped forward, her eyes locked on the ice serpent. "I don''t n to fight it. I''m going to take control."

    Concentrating, Mira extended her Qi towards the giant, her Absolute Ice Dao shing with the beast''s own control over the ice. The mental battle that ensued was intense, a struggle for dominion over the elemental force of ice.

    The crew watched in awe as the ice around them began to shift and contort, responding to Mira''s will. The giant thrashed and roared, with its body causing the ice around it to crack, but slowly, its control began to wane.

    With one final push, Mira''s Dao and soul seized control of the ice,pletely separating the giant from the ice. With a thought, a path opened before them, the ice parting to create a clear passage.

    "Full speed ahead!" Jorvik yelled, seizing the opportunity. The Northern Gale surged forward, passing through the ice tunnel as the walls closed behind them.

    As soon as they made it to the other side of the wall, Mira copsed onto the deck, breathing heavily as she was stripped free of all her energy by just trying to hijack its ice for a few seconds. Coralia rushed to her side, her concern evident.

    "You did it, Goddess," Coralia whispered, helping Mira to her feet.

    Mira gave a weak smile. "I know. Now, let''s get to the Northern Continent."

 Chapter 864 The Northern Continent

    <h4>Chapter 864 The Northern Continent</h4>

    Eleneinded back on the deck and looked back at the icy giant thoughtfully, "Why isn''t it attacking us anymore?" It didn''t make sense that it would just stop as soon as they got through it.

    "These northern waters, they belong to us humans. If that behemoth''s got a shred of sense, it knows to respect these boundaries," Captain Jorvik appeared next to her and answered.

    Yet, Elenei''s confusion only deepened. She looked out to see thousands of creatures moving freely beneath the waves. While most seemed insignificant in strength, the situation remained perplexing.

    Observing her bewilderment, Captain Jorvik let out a gruff chuckle. "Here in the North, we prize the conquest of these seas more than any other continent. Allowing these lesser creatures to thrive, it''s part of our way of life, a cornerstone of our economy. But mark my words, should something as mighty as that giant start its fury in our gulf, it''d upset the very bnce we''ve strived to maintain."

    "...I see." Elenei nodded in understanding. "So, they''re rearing these beasts, huh?" She said, pointing at the ones under the water.

    "Aye, that we are."

    Suddenly, the giant in the massive ice wall gave them a menacing look before it sank into the ocean, taking the wall with it. As soon as it disappeared, the dark clouds above dispersed, and the Frostbite Channel opened up.

    Everyone just gave it a lingering stare before they went back to work, but Mira continued to look in that direction. She didn''t believe for a second that a sea giant coincidentally blocked her path right before she was about to reach the Northern Continent.

    ''I don''t even know what that thing is. It didn''t seem like a living being, but it was too big to determine if it was being controlled. Is someone after me? Or is this just the work of the FLDIL making my life harder?'' There was also a small chance that it was merely a coincidence and a sea giant just wanted to pop up right there, but until that was proven true, Mira wouldn''t believe it.

    She also found it weird that it didn''t continue to attack, regardless of the so-called border at the gulf.

    ''Whatever.'' Mira shook her head and turned away. ''I''ll just think of it as part of my training.''

    Walking over to the head of the ship, she looked off into the distance as the freezing cold wind brushed past her. ''We should be close to the Northern Continent now. I wonder how different it''ll be.''

    ***

    The Northern Gale continued its journey as the harsh cold wind swept across the deck, bringing with it light grey clouds that soon began to release a flurry of snowkes.

    The cold was biting, very differentpared to the usualfortable and consistent weather on the Western Continent. Dominique, Hana, and Linnea quickly donned thick winter clothes, wrapping themselves inyers to ward off the chill.

    An array activated around the ship, emitting a warm glow that countered the freezing temperatures. It also prevented ice and snow from umting on the deck, ensuring the crew could work without hindrance.

    Captain Jorvik, unfazed by the weather, steered the ship with a steady hand. "We''re almost there,ds andsses. The Northern Continent awaits!"

    As they neared thend, the outline of a massive dock became visible through the snow. It was a grand structure, capable of amodating ships farrger than The Northern Gale.

    In arge tower, there were people wavingrge light sticks, directing all iing and outgoing ships.

    Jorvik watched the signs and listened ordingly, soon anchoring the boat in his designated spot.

    With the ship securely docked, Mira and her group prepared to disembark. However, before doing so, Mira approached Captain Jorvik, who was overseeing the final mooring procedures.

    "Jorvik, any advice for the Northern Continent? ces to see, or things to do?" Mira asked, her eyes scanning the bustling dock and the city beyond.

    Jorvik chuckled, scratching his beard. "Aye, there''s plenty. Check out the Frostheart Market for anything you might need��best goods in the North. For information, head to the Crystal Spire; they''ll have everything you want to know. Oh, and don''t miss out on the Snowfall Feast, best damn food you''ll taste."

    He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Andss, don''t be calling me to get you back to the Western Continent. I''ve had enough excitement for one lifetime."

    Mira nodded a slight smile on her lips. "Understood. And for your troubles..." She tossed him a spatial ring, a generous bonus for the taxing journey they had embarked on.

    Jorvik caught the ring, his eyes widening slightly as he saw what was inside. "Much appreciated,ss. Safe travels." He said, wanting Mira off his ship as quickly as possible.

    He was afraid that if she stood next to him any longer, he''d have to prepare for an early grave.

    With a final nod, Mira turned and led her group off the ship, Coralia following closely behind in human form, wrapped in a cloak that did little to hide her distinct appearance.

    Hana and Dominique waved at the crew, who smiled weakly and returned it before they went back to their work.

    Elenei and Rhydian tried to conceal their appearance, but their aura was so distinct that as long as someone looked hard enough, they could tell they weren''t human. Meanwhile, Mira had also hidden hers and Dominique''s tails so as not to attract a bunch of attention as soon as theynded.

    The city that greeted them was a stark contrast to what they had seen on the Western Continent. Buildings of stone and wood, covered inyers of snow, stood tall and sturdy, designed to withstand the harsh climate. The architecture was a blend of practicality and artistry, with sharp angles and borate carvings depicting scenes of winter and mythical beasts on the walls.

    People bustled about, their breaths visible in the cold air. Most wore heavy fur coats, jackets, or vests, regardless of their strength or status. The dialects varied, a mix of ents that hinted at the diverse cultures that made up the Northern Continent.

    Mira observed the city, taking in the sights and sounds. The energy of the ce was different; even the weakest cultivator here seemed to carry a certain edge to them, a resilience born of living in such a challenging environment.

    Dominique and Hana looked around with wide eyes, their curiosity piqued by this new and exotic ce. Linnea kept close to them, preventing them from running off somewhere.

    The group, led by Mira, made their way through the bustling streets of the Northern Continent''s city, their eyes and ears taking in the new environment. Despite the freezing temperatures, even for cultivators, everyone was still out working, with vendors shouting to sell their goods and children ying in the snow, theirughter filling the air.

    "This ce is so different from the Western Continent," Hana remarked, her gaze lingering on a group of children chasing each other, their cheeks red from the cold.

    "Yeah, it feels more... rugged?" Dominique added, trying to find the right word. She noticed that even the children seemed to have a certain toughness about them.

    "The Northern Continent is known for its harsh conditions. I don''t know much about it, but back in my prime, I met a few people from here and heard that while there are fewer humans, they are generally a bit stronger, mentally," Linnea exined, keeping a protective eye on the younger girls.

    As they walked, Elenei and Rhydian remained slightly aloof, their senses alert. Despite their efforts to blend in, their unique appearances and auras drew asional curious nces from passersby.

    Mira, on the other hand, seemed to be in her element, observing everything with keen interest. While Coralia was pointing out various architectural features, exining their purpose and design to Dominique and Hana.

    "Look at that building there," Coralia said, pointing to a structure with intricate carvings of ice dragons coiling around its columns. "Those carvings aren''t just for show. They''re imbued with protective runes to ward off evil spirits and bad luck."

    "Bad luck, huh?" Dominique mused, ncing at Mira with a yful smirk.

    Mira rolled her eyes but didn''t respond, leading them further into the heart of the city.

    After wandering around for a while, the group grew tired and decided to find an inn to rest. They stumbled upon a quaint, cozy ce called ''The Snowbound Haven.'' The building was made of dark wood and stone, with a warm, inviting glow emanating from its windows.

    "Looks like a good ce to stay," Linnea noted, checking the surroundings for anything suspicious, but after not finding anything, she opened the door and let everyone in.

    Inside, the inn was even cozier than it appeared from outside. Arge firece crackled in the corner, spreading warmth throughout the room. The innkeeper, a burly man with a thick beard, greeted them with a hearty smile.

    "Wee to The Snowbound Haven! How can I help you folks?" he asked in a deep, jovial voice.

    "We need rooms for the night," Mira replied, briefly exining their needs.

    The innkeeper nodded, quickly arranging their amodation. "You''re all set. If you need anything, just holler."

    With their rooms booked, Mira turned to the group. "Anyone interested in checking out the Snowfall Feast? Jorvik said it''s quite the experience."

    Dominique''s eyes lit up. "Yes! I''ve always wanted to try Northern cuisine!"

    Hana and Linnea nodded in agreement, their stomachs rumbling at the thought of food.

    "Let''s go then," Mira said, leading them out of the inn.

 Chapter 865 Crystal Spire

    <h4>Chapter 865 Crystal Spire</h4>

    The Snowfall Feast was about half-packed full of people as Mira and her group arrived. The air was filled with the rich aroma of roasted meats and spicy stews, mingling with the sound ofughter and lively conversations. Dominique''s eyes sparkled with anticipation, while Hana and Linnea seemed equally eager to experience the local cuisine.

    They found a table near the center, where the warmth from the surrounding fires was mostforting. As they settled in, a server approached them, a broad smile on her face. "Wee to the Snowfall Feast! What can I get for you tonight?"

    Mira nced over the menu, her eyes skimming over the exotic names of dishes she''d never heard of. "We''ll start with the Frostbitten Boar and the cial Fish Stew. Also, bring us a round of your strongest Northern ale."

    The server nodded, scribbling down their order. As she left, Mira leaned back in her chair, observing the vibrant atmosphere of the feast.

    "This ce is incredible," Hana said, her eyes wide as she took in the sights around them.

    "The food certainly smells better than those restaurants on the Western Continent," Linnea added, her gaze following a group of boisterous men at a nearby table, or more particrly, the food they were eating. It all looked so delicious.

    "It makes sense, though. With them ''growing'' their own beasts for food and most likely obtaining all kinds of spices and ingredients from all over the world, the food scene should be a bit better here." Elenei said, with drool nearlying out of her mouth as she looked forward to the dishes.

    From what she knew, since cultivators don''t need to eat, most restaurants just used weaker beasts and less potent ingredients. It was too much work for little benefit to rear strong beasts.

    However, here, they have an endless supply right outside their front door.

    As the food arrived, the group delved into their meal with gusto. The Frostbitten Boar was cooked to perfection, its meat tender and vorful, while the cial Fish Stew was a delightful mix of spices and fresh ingredients.

    In fact, they could all feel a warm, pleasing sensation flow all throughout their body as they ate. It was as if the lingering Qi and vitality in the meat had diffused in their stomach and bolstered their cultivation.

    For Mira, Elenei, Coralia, and Rhydian, the amount was negligible, but for Hana, Dominique, and Linnea, they could feel a definite change.

    "This is amazing!" Hana eximed, feeling her organs being refined at an expedited rate.

    Dominique didn''t say anything and just started meditating, working to condense the Qi she absorbed, deepen her foundation, and possibly learn if she could improve the efficiency of her blood affinity.

    Between mouthfuls, Mira steered the conversation towards their ns on the Northern Continent. "I''m sure you already know why we''re here, but I came all the way up to train. Nothing else. I''m not interested in politics, nor do I want to enter any of the Sects��wfully. I only have less than two decades to get as strong as possible, and I don''t n to hold back."

    "...So, you''re saying to be prepared to face a lot of enemies, huh?" Linnea stated with a grim expression, to which Mira nodded. Her frown deepened.

    Elenei shook her head wryly. ''At least she''s being upfront about it, I guess?''

    Dominique, her mouth full of boar, nodded. "That''s good. With all the corpses, I could learn more about my blood affinity!" she said.

    "..."

    "Same here! I want to get stronger too!" Hana chimed in, eager to reach the Peak of the Body Tempering Stage.

    "I''ll assist you both, and Linnea too," Mira promised. "There''ll be plenty of people for you to fight in the future."

    "..."

    Suddenly, Linnea regretted following Mira to another continent. She should''ve known something was wrong with this woman when she blew up an entire city, but part of her thought it was just coteral damage.

    Now, she was beginning to understand that life meant very little to Mira�Cit was just fuel for her to get stronger.

    ''Damn! We should''ve gone to the Southern Continent, where I''ve heard actual demons reside. Why here? One of the more neutral continents?'' She inwardly cursed, but what could she do? They were already here.

    The discussion then turned to the potential danger zones on the Continent. "We''ll need to gather information about the various powers here - Sects, Families, ns, and any notable wandering cultivators," Mira continued.

    "So, we''re heading to the Crystal Spire after this?" Linnea asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

    Mira nodded. "Yes."

    Finishing their meal, they headed out into the cold night, making their way towards the towering structure known as the Crystal Spire. The spire looked like it was made of actual crystal, with the way it reflected light.

    Dense waves of Qi emanated from the building, making it impossible to miss.

    As they entered the spire, they were greeted by a serene atmosphere, quite different from the bustling energy of the feast. The interior was adorned with intricate carvings and glowing runes, casting a soft light across the polished floors.

    There were so many arrays and formations that Mira and the rest didn''t even know what to make of them. All Mira knew was that she felt slightly ufortable like someone was always watching her, scanning her body and movements.

    Approaching the main desk, Mira addressed the attendant. "We''re looking for information on the powers of the Northern Continent, as well as any notable cultivators and danger zones."

    The attendant, a lean man with sharp, intelligent eyes, regarded Mira and her group with a measured gaze. "Information of such nature is not freely shared, and ites at a cost," he said, his voice echoing slightly in the quiet hall.

    "We understand. We''re prepared topensate for the information," Mira replied indifferently.

    The attendant nodded, gesturing for them to follow him. He led them through a series of corridors, each more intricately decorated than thest. The runes and carvings seemed to pulse with energy, and Mira couldn''t shake off the feeling that they were being closely observed.

    Not like she didn''t understand, but that didn''t mean she liked it.

    Finally, they arrived at a secluded room far from the main halls. The attendant closed the door behind them, and the atmosphere immediately shifted. The room was dimly lit, with the only source of light being a small, glowing orb in the center of the table.

    "Here, your inquiries can be discussed with more discretion," the attendant said, motioning for them to sit. "Now, let us talk specifics."

    Mira exined their needs in detail, emphasizing the importance of urate andprehensive information. The attendant listened intently, asionally nodding or asking a rifying question.

    Once Mira finished, the attendant leaned back, steepling his fingers. "The information you seek is quite a lot, not to mention sensitive. Gathering it is not without risks, and the price reflects that."

    Mira nodded, expecting as much. "Name your price." However, money was thest thing on her mind. With how many Spatial Rings she''s looted, she had countless mountains worth of Spirit Stones. Not to mention the infinite money-making machine that is her Infinite Garden.

    After some negotiation, a sum was agreed upon, and the attendant left the room, promising to return shortly with the information.

    While waiting, the group exchanged uneasy nces. "This ce feels... off," Hana whispered, her voice barely audible.

    "Yeah, it''s like we''re being watched," Elenei agreed, scanning the room with her keen senses.

    Mira remained silent, her eyes fixed on the door. She knew that in ces like these, information was power, and power was never given lightly.

    ''More than likely, they''re gathering everything they can about us, possibly hoping to use it in the future.'' Mira thought, annoyed, but considering she had just got here, she decided against making a move.

    Instead, she just used her Qi to block as much as she could, doing the same for Hana, Dominique, and Linnea.

    When the attendant returned, he carried several scrolls and a crystal orb. "This is what you requested. The scrolls contain detailed information on the various powers of the Northern Continent, including Sects, Families, and ns. The orb will provide you with a visual representation of the danger zones."

    Mira unrolled one of the scrolls, scanning its contents. The information was indeed detailed, but she could sense there was more to it than met the eye.

    "What about the wandering cultivators?" she asked, looking up.

    The attendant hesitated, then sighed. "That information is particrly sensitive. Some of these individuals are powerful and influential. Revealing their whereabouts can attract... unwanted consequences."

    "We''ll handle the consequences," Mira stated firmly.

    After a moment''s pause, the attendant relented, providing additional scrolls that contained information on notable cultivators, including their strengths, weaknesses, andst known locations.

    As Mira and her group absorbed the information, the attendant spoke up. "Be cautious. Some of this knowledge can make you a target. And remember, the Crystal Spire is not responsible for any fallout from the use of this information."

    Mira nodded, acknowledging his warning. With the scrolls and the orb in their possession, they left the Crystal Spire and went back to the inn.

 Chapter 866 Frozen Sangfroid Temple

    Chapter 866 Frozen Sangfroid Temple

    Upon returning to their quarters at the inn, the group convened around a sturdy wooden table, scattering the acquired scrolls and the luminescent orb from the Crystal Spire across its surface. The orb cast a virtual image over the map of the Northern Continent, revealing intricate details of its geography and the locations of its different powers.

    Mira immediately began to examine the scrolls while the others focused on the illuminated map. "The Northern Continent is and with a slightly different power structure than what we''re used to," she observed, her voice carrying a note of intrigue. "Here, the Orthodox Sects are known for their control over elements like ice, water, darkness, and snow. While the Unorthodox Sects master fire and lightning."

    Hana leaned in, her eyes tracing the map''s symbols. "Where are these Sects located?"

    Mira pointed to the northern and eastern regions, marked with symbols of snowkes and waves. "The Orthodox Sects, like the Frozen Sangfroid Temple and the Abyssal Night Sect, hold sway here. They''re revered for their profound mastery over the more Yin-inclined elements.."

    She then gestured towards the southern and western parts of the continent, where symbols of mes and lightning bolts were prominent. "In contrast, the Unorthodox Sects, such as the zing Sun Sect and the Thunderstrike Pavilion, reign over thesends. What they specialize in should be self-exnatory."

    Linnea, absorbing the information, asked, "What about the wandering cultivators? Are there any that we should be particrly wary of?"

    Unrolling another scroll, Mira identified several key figures. "There are a few. Notably, Valerian, a legendary figure rumored to have attained the pinnacle of Lightning Mastery, roams the western hignds."

    Dominique, her interest piqued, inquired, "And the danger zones? Any specific ces we should avoid?"

    Mira examined the map intently. "Certainly. The Eternal Frosnds in the far north are a maze of ciers and ice beasts. The Shadowmoor Forest, nestled in the northeast, is a realm of darkness and supposed "forbidden arts", whatever that means. Then there''s the Inferno Valley, which is surprisingly filled with volcanic eruptions and fire elementals."

    Fascinated by the detailed mapping, Eleneimented, "This continent''s intricacies are astonishing. The distribution of power, the elemental affinities... It''s quite unique. I would''ve thought that there''d only be people with ice affinities up here."

    Mira''s expression grew serious. "Indeed. It''s a delicate bnce between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects, each with its own set of alliances and enmities."

    Then, she gave a predatory smile, "Looks like things''ll be interesting."

    They spent the rest of the evening strategizing their approach. "Our first destination should be the Frozen Sangfroid Temple," Mira decided. "Their knowledge of ice-based techniques could be useful."

    With ns set, they retired for the night, each contemting the journey ahead. Miray in her bed, thoughts swirling. The Northern Continent was not just and of mystique and danger; it was a crucible of elemental powers, where every step they took could lead to untold discoveries or grave dangers.

    As dawn broke, they set out towards the Frozen Sangfroid Temple.

    After days of travel, the majestic gates of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple loomed before them. Adorned with intricate ice sculptures and a myriad of formations, the frozen gates barred their entry.

    Before engaging with the disciples guarding the entrance, Mira took a moment to recount the history of the Temple. ''The Frozen Sangfroid Temple, steeped in centuries of history, is renowned for its profound mastery over ice-based cultivation techniques,'' she thought, her eyes scanning the imposing structure. ''Founded by the legendary Ice Sage Yulian, it has stood as a bastion of the Orthodox Sects, training its disciples in the arts of ice maniption, frost conjuration, and mental fortitude.''

    ''Their techniques are not just about brute force; they focus on control, precision, and the subtle intery of mind and element. The Temple''s attitude towards cultivation is one of solemnity and reverence. They view their affinity with ice not as a mere tool but as a path to spiritual enlightenment.''

    As Mira finished her brief recap, her gaze hardened. "Let''s see if their ''famed techniques'' are as good as they im."

    Approaching the gates, she was met by a group of disciples, who eyed her with caution. Without any warning, Mira red her aura, sending the guards sprawling from the unexpected ''attack''. The air around her crackled with energy, the temperature dropping sharply.

    "I came here to see how strong the temple was, but it looks like I came to the wrong ce," she stated, her voice echoing off the icy walls.

    The disciples were taken aback by her audacity but quickly recovered, forming defensive stances. One of them, a young man with sharp eyes, stepped forward. "The Frozen Sangfroid Temple does not yield to arrogance. If it''s a challenge you seek, then you shall have it."

    With a swift motion, he conjured a spear of ice, lunging towards Mira with surprising speed. Mira, unfazed, sidestepped effortlessly, countering with a wave of her hand. A gust of icy wind, sharp as des, met the disciple, sending him skidding back.

    The other disciples joined the fray,unching a coordinated assault. Ice daggers, frost arrows, and chilling winds were conjured, aimed to subdue rather than to kill.

    Mira danced through their attacks, a sneer on her lips. "Is this the best the famed Frozen Sangfroid Temple can do? Your techniques are as brittle as thin ice."

    With a flick of her wrist, she unleashed her own ice conjuration, creating a swirling vortex of snow and ice shards that covered the area. The disciples were caught off-guard by the ferocity and scale of her attack and struggled to maintain their formations.

    One by one, they were hit, the ice leaving deep gashes and bruises on their bodies. Despite their pain, they got back up and charged at her again.

    Despite the severity of Mira''s onught, the disciples of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple demonstrated a resilience that bordered on the supernatural. Each time they were cast down by Mira''s powerful ice conjurations, they rose again, their faces set in grim determination.

    The young man who had first challenged Mira coordinated the disciples'' counterattack with surprising aptitude. They moved as a single entity. Each strike, althoughcking the raw power of Mira''s, was executed with such precision and harmony that it became evident why the Temple was revered for its technique.

    Mira made her way around the battlefield as if she could sense their every move. Her movements were fluid and ruthless as she constructed a whirlwind of ice and cold that seemed untouchable. She deflected ice spears, shattered frost arrows, and sidestepped chilling winds with an ease that spoke of her immense prowess.

    "Your tenacity is admirable, but it takes more than spirit to withstand the storm," Mira taunted, her voice cutting through the roar of the battle.

    With a flick of her hand, she summoned a massive wave of ice, intending to end the fight with a single, overwhelming blow.

    Just as the wave was about to crash down on the disciples, a powerful force field emerged around them, absorbing the impact and dissipating Mira''s attack.

    Giving a slight smirk, Mira looked around to identify the source of this "unexpected" intervention.

    From the depths of the Temple emerged an elderly figure cloaked in robes that shimmered with a light that seemed to be made of frozen moonbeams. The air around this person hummed with a power that was both serene and formidable.

    This wasn''t just anyone; this was someone who had reached nearly the pinnacle of ice techniques. Someone who spent their entire lives searching for enlightenment regarding ice.

    The Temple Master.

    "The Frozen Sangfroid Temple wees those who seek knowledge and strength, but not those who bring arrogance and destruction," the figure spoke, their voice resonating with an authority that seemed to calm the very air around them.

    Mira, recognizing the presence of a true master, immediately ceased her attack, although her stance remained guarded. "I came to test the strength of your Temple. I see now that I have found it," she said, a grudging respect in her tone.

    The Temple Master surveyed the scene - the injured disciples, the ice-scarred battleground - and then fixed his gaze on Mira. "Strength is not only in power and domination. It is in resilience, harmony, and the wisdom to know when to fight and when to seek peace. You have much to learn, young cultivator."

    The disciples gathered around their master despite their injuries and had eyes full of respect and admiration toward him.

    The Temple Master turned to them. "Tend to your wounds and meditate on what has transpired. Let this be a lesson in the unpredictability of battles and the importance of unity."

    As the disciples dispersed, the Temple Master faced Mira and her group. "You have proven your strength, but strength without control is a dangerous path. If you truly wish to learn the ways of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple, you must first learn to temper your power with wisdom."

    "..."

 Chapter 867 The Temple Master

    <h4>Chapter 867 The Temple Master</h4>

    ''The hell is this old bastard saying?'' Mira scowled as she stared at the old man. ''I knew they were a temple, but I didn''t think they were really a bunch of monks.''

    From the information she received, the Frozen Sangfroid Temple''s ice techniques are some of the best in the world. Mira didn''t think much of it, assuming that they lived in a tough environment, climate-wise, all the major powers should be quite proficient in fighting or at least surviving.

    However, those two guards didn''t know what to do against her despite barely doing anything.

    ''I guess it''d make sense if this ce is filled with monks. They have great techniques butck experience?'' At least, Mira hoped that to be the case. It''d be aplete waste of time if she came all the way to this Continent for something she could just do herself.

    She had journeyed across continents, not for lectures about wisdom and other nonsense, but to steal-*ahem*-obtain some of the best ice techniques.

    While she could browse the FLDIL for such things, she now understood that there are some things in this world that points can''t buy.

    "I didn''te here for sermons," Mira retorted sharply, resting her scythe on her shoulder. "I want to experience the world''s supposed ''best'' ice techniques."

    "..." The Temple Master''s eyes deepened as he met Mira''s gaze. "Strength, young cultivator, is more than the ability to destroy. It lies in understanding and in harmony with the world and its elements. True masteryes not from overpowering but from bing one with your element."

    ''I already am.'' Mira thought, bing more and more annoyed by the second. With a sigh, Mira raised her scythe and pointed it at the old man. "Look, you can lecture your students about this crap all day long, but I didn''te here to y with children. I came to experience the best. If your temple can''t even handle that much, what good is harmony and understanding?"

    The faint smile on the Temple Master''s face receded, not like Mira''s attitude. He might just be a wisened old man who simply cared about taking care of future generations and passing on thete Ice Sage''s teachings, but there was a limit to his patience.

    However, on the flip side, he was strong and wise enough to see that interacting with the ''fox'' before him could not be good. Angering her, even less so.

    ''The amount of death and destruction she''s caused�� all that negative karma�� I can''t see her other than a monster that crawled out of the depths of hell. A walking cmity.'' The Temple Master thought as his eyes altered between ice blue and ck.

    From his perspective, Mira looked less like a person and more like a ball of darkness that sucked the life out of everything she touched. She was like a void that killed indiscriminately, uncaring of friend and foe.

    As long as she survived, nothing else mattered. And she would do anything to survive, even if it meant killing herself.

    ''Such a contradictory entity�� I don''t know what she''s experienced, but from what I can tell with my Eyes of Truth is that life and death mean nothing to her, yet she can control both concepts. What to do, what to do��'' The Temple Master contemted his next words and actions very carefully.

    One of the main reasons he was able to obtain the position he has today was because of his eyes. He was born with a unique physique, but unlike other physiques that granted better talent, an affinity, or greater strength, his gave him extraordinary insight.

    He could use his eyes to peek into the truth of the world, to see the unseen. They weren''t perfect, but he was able to master techniques extremely quickly and even improve upon them with rtive ease.

    Through this, he was able to take a small, unknown Sect to the top of the Continent.

    While the legendary Ice Sage, Yulian, will always be the Temple''s founder, and they couldn''t be here without her, he was recognized as the leader. Hence his title.

    However, because of his eyes, he could see just how dangerous of a person Mira was.

    ''If she''s left alone to roam free in this world, I fear of what will be of things.''

    But maybe it was the teacher in his heart that he simply couldn''t kill off someone who wanted to learn. Either that, or he was afraid of the consequences that would befall him should she perish.

    ''...Let''s gather some information first, and if she wants to learn, then so be it.''

    With his decision made, the Temple Master raised his hand and said, "There''s no need for us to fight. If you want to learn and see what my temple has to offer, then who am I to send away such an�� eager guest? Perhaps you could even give my disciples a lesson or two in the way of the world. Hohoho!"

    With a chuckle, hended on the ground and waved his hand, signaling for Mira''s group to follow him.

    Mira lowered her scythe but kept a wary eye on the Temple Master. His sudden shift from a stern teacher to a seemingly amodating host didn''t sit well with her. But she followed him without making a fuss.

    The group was led to a vast training ground where disciples of all ages practiced. The air was filled with the crisp sound of ice being manipted, and the atmosphere was one of focused discipline.

    "Here, you will see the true essence of our techniques," the Temple Master said, gesturing towards the disciples. "Observe, and perhaps partake if you feel inclined."

    Mira watched, her expression unreadable. The disciples moved with a grace that was almost mesmerizing. Their control over ice was evident in the way they seamlessly shaped it into various forms - from razor-sharp spears to intricate shields and even delicate sculptures.

    "Your disciples are quite skilled," Miramented, her tone grudgingly respectful. While she certainly wouldn''t call them strong, they at least knew what they were doing.

    "They have dedicated their lives to mastering the art," the Temple Master replied. "Would you like to challenge them? It might give you a better understanding of our methods."

    Mira''s eyes lit up at the challenge. "I thought you''d never ask."

    She stepped forward, her presencemanding the attention of every disciple in the vicinity. The air around her grew colder, a testament to her own mastery over ice.

    A young disciple, a woman with sharp features and a determined gaze, stepped forward to meet Mira''s challenge. "I am Lian, a senior disciple of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple. I ept your challenge."

    Mira nodded, her scythe ready. "Let''s see what you''ve got."

    The duel began with Lianunching a series of rapid ice shards towards Mira. Mira deflected them with ease, countering with a wave of her own ice energy. Lian responded by creating a barrier of ice, absorbing Mira''s attack.

    The two were a blur of motion, ice and frost swirling around them and filling the area. Mira''s style was aggressive and overwhelming, while Lian''s was defensive and precise. Thetter did her best not to let a single speck of energy go to waste.

    As they fought, Mira began to see the depth of Lian''s skill. Each of her moves was calcted, and her defense was imprable. Of course, it was only because Mira had reduced her strength enough that she wouldn''tpletely destroy Lian that the fightsted so long, but she didn''te here to obliterate her opponents.

    She came here to experience the so-called best in the world.

    Gradually, Mira''s attacks became more measured, her movements syncing with Lian''s in a strange harmony. It was as if she was beginning to understand the Temple''s philosophy through the heat of battle.

    The shing of ice and frost echoed throughout the training ground, drawing the attention of other disciples. They gathered around, forming a ring around Mira and Lian. Their eyes were wide with awe and anticipation, watching every move and countermove in the intense duel.

    Mira, with a flick of her wrist, sent a spiraling ice tornado towards Lian. The senior disciple, undeterred, countered with a wave of her hand, dispersing the tornado into a shower of harmless snowkes. The crowd gasped, impressed by Lian''s control and Mira''s power.

    "You''re good," Mira acknowledged with a nod, a hint of respect in her voice. "But let''s see how you handle this!"

    With a sudden burst of speed, Mira closed the distance between them. Her scythe, enveloped in a chilling aura, sliced through the air, aiming for Lian''s midsection. Lian, in response, formed a thick wall of ice in front of her, but Mira''s scythe shattered it effortlessly.

    Lian, however, was no longer there. She had moved with astonishing speed, reappearing a few meters away. "Your power is immense," she said, panting slightly. "But power alone doesn''t win battles-!"

    BOOM!

    Lian''s face was shoved into the ground, with Mira standing on top of her unconscious body. "Are all you monks the same!?"

 Chapter 868 Challenge

    Chapter 868 Challenge

    "Are all you monks the same!?"

    The area fell silent. Before anyone could perceive what was going on, Mira was already standing on Lian.

    "How does power not win fights?" Mira stomped on the ground, creating a spiderweb of cracks underneath Lian''s body.

    Seeing that, all the disciples started to move, wanting to get Mira off of Lian, but as soon as they did, Mira held up her scythe. She didn''t need to say anything for them to understand.

    If they move, Lian dies.

    "You talk about peace and harmony, about wisdom, but the cultivation world is built upon destruction. To get to the top, you have to step on top of someone, whether directly or indirectly. If you don''t believe me, then I challenge everyone in the Soul Transformation Realm toe at me. I won''t use my affinities or weapon, just brute strength. If any one of you can defeat me, I will serve this temple unconditionally for the next 100 years." Mira stepped off Lian and kicked her to the side before walking over to herpanions.

    "..."

    Nobody dared to move after such a deration, not even the Temple Master. Everything happened so fast that they weren''t sure how to react.

    After a few moments of silence, Mira clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Tch. I figured it''d be like this. A bunch of monks who only know how to yap and stare at blocks of ice but are just cowards too afraid of the world."

    Then, she sent a look toward the Temple Faster, who was standing off on the side, watching with a slight frown. ''I want all the ice techniques you have after I win. You don''t have to teach me, I just want to see them.'' She said in a Voice Transmission.

    ''...We''ll see.'' A hesitant reply came back. However, Mira could sense that he was slightly curious about what was going to happen.

    That made her sigh in relief as the man was actually a Divine Sea Realm expert. If he wanted to decline, there wasn''t much she could do.

    ''...Well, that''s not entirely true, but he doesn''t need to know that. By now, he should''ve figured out who I am. If he has any sense, he wouldn''t try anything stupid.'' Mira thought, smirking on the inside. ''Maybe having Aelina backing me isn''t such a bad thing. I can piss off as many people as I want and push the problems onto her.''

    Chuckling at the Sect Master''s misfortune, Mira waited for someone to step up.

    Eventually, a young-looking man couldn''t take her offensive remarks and came forward.

    "I think that''s enough." A man with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a thin physique spoke up. He was at the 1st Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. "It''s fine if you win, but do you really need to drag Lian and the Temple into this mess?"

    "If you have a problem, fight," Mira replied as she walked into the middle of all the people, waiting for the man.

    "My name is-" The young man started to speak, but Mira cut him off.

    "I don''t care. Just fight."

    He narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed, and pulled out a sword. "...Very well."

    The disciples formed a circle around them, their expressions a mix of worry and excitement. The Temple Master watched quietly, his eyes betraying no emotion.

    The young man raised his sword. "Frostbite Edge," he announced as Qi enveloped his sword, turning it into a de of pure ice.

    Mira stood her ground,zily looking at her opponent. She seemed unfazed by the disy of power.

    With a swift motion, the young man lunged at Mira, his sword leaving a trail of frost in the air. "Frozen Crescent sh!" he shouted, swinging the ice-encased de in a wide arc aimed at Mira''s neck.

    The crowd gasped, but Mira merely sneered. As the icy de neared, she threw a punch, a simple, ''weak'' punch.

    The impact was deafening. The Frostbite Edge shattered upon contact, sending shards of ice flying in all directions.

    The young man''s eyes widened in disbelief as he was hurled backward, his body crashing to the ground with a sickening crack. Blood spilled from his mouth as multiple bones in his body broke from the sheer force of Mira''s punch.

    The disciples murmured in shock, their eyes wide with disbelief. The young many on the ground, struggling to breathe, his sword now just a broken hilt in his hand.

    Mira looked down at him, her expression indifferent. "Is there anyone else?" she asked, her voice echoing across the training ground.

    A heavy silence followed her challenge, no one daring to step forward. The Temple Master finally broke the silence, stepping forward with a solemn expression. "Enough, Mira," he said, his voice steady but carrying an underlying strength. "Your point has been made."

    Mira turned to face him, her gaze sharp. "My point? And what would that be, old man?"

    "That raw power alone can be overwhelming," the Temple Master replied calmly. "But it is not the only path to strength. There is wisdom in restraint, in understanding the consequences of one''s actions."

    Mira scoffed. "Consequences? In this world, strength is the only consequence that matters. Things like wisdom and restrainte after you have the biggest fist."

    The Temple Master sighed, his eyes meeting Mira''s. "You have great potential, Mira. But potential can lead to transcendence or destruction. The choice is yours."

    "If being great is being you, then I''d rather destroy," Mira stated with an emotionless expression.

    Once again, the Temple Master was stunned. Perhaps only he and a few others understood the deeper meaning behind her words, but he found them particrly interesting.

    ''Not only is she saying that everyone''s opinion on greatness is different, but that everyone has their own path in life.'' He thought, smiling on the inside.

    If only he knew that Mira wasn''t thinking that. She meant it literally.

    Still, regardless, the two of them reached a mutual understanding.

    "Then, carry one. I''m curious as to how my disciples fair against the number one genius from the Western Continent." The Temple Master responded with a faint smile.

    Mira nodded, but inwardly, she knew that this was going to be a bore. Nobody in the same stage could do much to her, especially not people with ice affinities and practice ice cultivation techniques.

    As someone who is pursuing the Absolute Ice Dao, if they could even prate her skin, she''d be surprised, much less if someone could defeat her.

    It took a minute to organize one another, but eventually, she had a line of people waiting to challenge her.

    As the next challenger stepped forward, a disciple at the 2nd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, Mira''s stance remained rxed, almost nonchnt. The disciple, a young woman with fiery determination in her eyes, charged at Mira with a flurry of ice shards trailing behind her.

    "cial Storm Barrage!" she yelled, her hands moving in a rapid, fluid motion,unching a vicious storm of ice at Mira.

    The spectators held their breath, but Mira simply raised her arm, blocking the ice shards effortlessly. They shattered upon impact, falling to the ground like broken ss. With a swift motion, Mira countered with a single punch, sending the disciple flying back, defeated but unharmed.

    The crowd murmured, some in awe, others in disbelief. The Temple Master watched, his expression thoughtful.

    One after another, disciples from various stages of the Soul Transformation Realm stepped forward to challenge Mira. Each brought their unique style and techniques, but the result was always the same. Mira, using nothing but her fists and raw strength, defeated them with ease.

    A burly man at the 4th Stage lunged at her with a technique called "Frost Dragon''s Roar," his Qi manifesting as a gigantic ice dragon. The dragon roared, its cold breath threatening to engulf Mira.

    The crowd gasped, but Mira stood her ground. As the dragon neared, she leaped into the air, her fist connecting with its head. The ice dragon shattered, its fragments sparkling in the sunlight.

    As the man stumbled back in shock, Miranded gracefully, her gaze flicking to the next challenger.

    A disciple at the 6th Stage, known for her speed and agility, tried a different approach. She darted around Mira, creating illusions with her "Mirror Ice Technique." The area was filled with reflections, each one a potential threat.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed, focusing. With a sudden burst of speed, she broke through the illusions,nding a decisive blow on the real disciple, who was hiding among her reflections.

    The Temple Master nodded slightly, impressed. "She''s not just brute strength. Her perception and reaction time are extraordinary."

    As the challenges continued, Mira faced stronger and more skilled opponents, but none could match her overwhelming power and skill. Even those at the 8th and 9th Stages of the Soul Transformation Realm, the temple''s elite, found themselves outmatched.

    A disciple at the 9th Stage, a seasoned cultivator with years of experience, confronted Mira with a solemn expression. "I am Han Xue, and I will not underestimate you."

    Mira tilted her head, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Good. Then don''t hold back."

    Han Xue nodded and unleashed his signature technique, "Eternal Winter''s Embrace." The temperature plummeted, and ice began to form around Mira, attempting to encase her in a tomb of frost.

    The crowd watched in suspense, wondering if this would be the technique to finally challenge Mira. But to their astonishment, Mira simply flexed her muscles, shattering the ice encasing her. She then charged forward, her fist connecting with Han Xue''s defense.

    The impact sent Han Xue skidding back, dibobted, as his defenses shattered. He looked up at Mira, a mix of respect and disbelief in his eyes.

 Chapter 869 A New Bet

    Chapter 869 A New Bet

    "You... I-I give up," Han Xue conceded, rising shakily to his feet, his eyes reflecting a mixture of respect and disbelief.

    Mira simply nodded, her expression unreadable. She nced around at the other disciples, her gaze lingering on their awestruck faces. "Is there anyone else?" she asked, indifferent to the whole thing. This was the expected oue, after all.

    The disciples exchanged nces, but none stepped forward. The realization that they were no match for Mira had settled in, which was a bitter pill to swallow for the proud cultivators of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple.

    The silence among the disciples was palpable, their eyes fixed on Mira with a mixture of awe and respect. The Temple Master stepped forward, his expression serene yet holding a depth of wisdom. "Mira, you''ve surpassed all our expectations here today, including mine. Although it goes against my teachings here, the world we live in really isn''t so kind. So, I thank you for showing them the true face of the world. However, I have one final challenge for you."

    Mira turned to face him, a spark of interest in her eyes. "Oh? I''m listening."

    The Temple Master gestured towards an elderly woman standing a distance away. She was slender, with silver hair that cascaded down her back, and her eyes shone with an intense, icy blue light. "This is Elder Shui, a practitioner in the Mortal Shedding Realm. Your challenge is to defeat her using only your brute strength."

    Mira''s eyes narrowed, assessing the elder. "And if I win?"

    "If you win," the Temple Master continued, "I will personally show you one of our Temple''s secret techniques. However, should you lose, you will serve our Sect for an additional 200 years."

    A murmur of excitement rippled through the disciples. Mira weighed her options, then nodded decisively. "Agreed. Let''s do this."

    The group, including Mira, the Temple Master, and Elder Shui, flew far from the temple, leaving the disciples and herpanions behind.

    Theynded on a vast cier, its surface smooth and reflecting the pale light of the sun. The cold air was biting, but Mira remained indifferent, somewhat surprising them.

    ''This is a cier that''s been around for millions of years, maybe even more. Even for someone like Elder Shui, the cold still affects her as it doesn''t just feel cool but freezes one''s meridians, Qi, and blood by standing on or near it. Yet, she''s standing there, unaffected.'' The Temple Master thought, realizing that he might''ve been a bit too hasty with his judgment of Mira being a power-hungry demon.

    ''Did I miss something, or are my eyes wrong?'' He wondered, not bothered but still perplexed by the situation. He examined her a bit more intently this time as the sight in front of him changed.

    Around Mira was arge gathering of Ice Qiing from the cier. He saw it try to invade him and Elder Shui, but when it came to Mira, it treated her as if she was its long-lost partner.

    ''...I suppose that''s why she seemed frustrated when I started preaching. More than anything, her Dao, which I can only believe is rted to ice, is quite profound and well-understood for someone at her level.'' He thought, intrigued by what other things Mira could be hiding.

    However, he understood that keeping her around longer may do more harm than good.

    ''Looks like Elder Shui isn''t going to win either. Still, getting a chance to help the leading genius of the outer continents fight against the tyranny from the center�� I can live with that. I''m too old to deal with this kind of stuff, anyways.'' He smiled before giving the Elder a look, to which she immediately nodded and appeared on the other side of the cier.

    Elder Shui took her position on the cier, her posture rxed yet ready forbat. Mira faced her, but this time, she wasn''t so indifferent about it.

    ''That woman might primarily use ice techniques, but she''s still in the 2nd Stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm, and I''m only allowed to use my physical body.'' Mira thought as she took up a stance, her tails finallying to life.

    "Begin!" the Temple Master announced.

    Without a moment''s hesitation, Elder Shui initiated the duel with one of the Sect''s signature techniques. "Frost Phoenix''s Cry!" she eximed. A massive, ethereal phoenix, made entirely of ice, emerged from her palms, its wings spread wide as it let out a chilling cry, sending a wave of cold toward Mira.

    Mira braced herself, feeling the icy energy engulf her. She dashed forward, her movements swift and precise, evading the phoenix''s icy talons. The Elder was fast, but Mira was faster.

    Elder Shui, seeing her attack miss, quickly followed up with another technique. "cier''s Grasp!" Ice erupted from the ground, attempting to trap Mira in a cage of frost.

    Mira jumped, flipping over the rising ice, andnded gracefully. She charged towards Elder Shui, her fists ready. As she neared, sheunched a flurry of punches, each one backed with immense power.

    Elder Shui parried with her own ice-enforced arms, the sound of their collision echoing across the cier. The Elder was powerful, her experience evident in every move she made.

    The battle was intense, with Mira''s brute strength shing against Elder Shui''s refined techniques. The ice around them was shattered and reformed with each exchange, the cier itself a witness to their formidable powers.

    Mira, realizing she needed to end the duel quickly, gathered her strength for a final, decisive blow. With a roar, sheunched a powerful punch aimed directly at Elder Shui''s chest.

    Elder Shui''s eyes widened in surprise, but it was toote. The punch connected, and with a sound like thunder, Elder Shui was sent flying back, skidding across the ice.

    However, she counter-attacked immediately.

    "Frost Vortex!" Elder Shui called out, her hands moving in intricate patterns. A swirling blizzard erupted around them, the ice crystals sharp as des. Mira spun around, her tails whipping through the air, shattering the ice shards that came too close.

    The Elder, seizing the moment, lunged forward, her palms glowing with ice "cial Palm Strike!"

    She hit Mira squarely in the chest, sending her skidding back. Mira grunted, feeling the cold seep into her bones. She shook it off, her vitality quickly healing the minor frostbite.

    The twobatants shed again, their movements a blur. Mira''s punches and kicks were powerful and precise, but Elder Shui was like the wind, elusive and ever-changing. The Elder managed tond several more strikes, each leaving a mark on Mira''s skin, only for them to heal momentster.

    As the battle raged, the cier beneath them cracked and groaned but stood strong, showing its resiliency.

    Mira realized that she needed to end the fight soon. Despite her healing abilities, the continuous barrage of attacks was beginning to take its toll. She doubted she''d lose, but not being able to use Qi was a huge hindrance.

    ''She can justunch attack after attack at me from a distance without me being able to get close or fight back. If I won purely because this was a battle of attrition, it wouldn''t be much of a win.'' Mira thought as she prepared for her next move.

    Gathering her strength, Mira focused, her eyes narrowing as she observed Elder Shui''s movements. "Be careful, woman. If you die, don''t me me," she dered, her voice resolute.

    Elder Shui smiled, the respect in her eyes evident. "Try me."

    The Elderunched another attack, "Blizzard''s Wrath!" A fierce snowstorm erupted, the wind howling as it whipped around Mira, the cold biting into her skin.

    Mira steadied herself, her tailsshing behind her, breaking through the blizzard. She sprinted forward, closing the gap between her and Elder Shui. Her every step caused the cier to tremble, her presence overwhelming.

    Elder Shui prepared to counter, but Mira''s speed was astonishing. She ducked under Elder Shui''s arm, delivering a swift uppercut. The Elder blocked, but the force sent her reeling back.

    Mira didn''t relent. She followed up with a barrage of punches, each one more forceful than thest. Elder Shui parried and dodged, but Mira''s relentless assault was wearing her down.

    "You''re strong... But not invincible," Mira grunted, throwing another punch.

    Elder Shui, breathing heavily, countered with a defensive technique. "Ice Mirror Shield!" A wall of reflective ice sprung up, absorbing Mira''s punches.

    Mira paused, analyzing the situation. She realized brute force alone wouldn''t break through. She needed to be strategic.

    With a feint to the left, Mira drew Elder Shui''s attention. Then, with a burst of speed, she circled to the right, striking the shield at its weakest point. The ice shattered under her fist, sending shards flying.

    Elder Shui was now exposed and braced herself for Mira''s next move.

    BOOM!

    A fist smashed into her face, sending her flying before she crashed into the ice, embedding herself within it. Mira hurriedly dashed over, ready to prepare another strike, but the Temple Master shed in and stopped her.

    "You win, Mira. Let''s stop here."

 Chapter 870 Repository

    Chapter 870 Repository

    The Temple Master, whom Mira learned was named Master Shen Xian, intervened just in time to prevent further harm to Elder Shui. With a swift motion, he helped the elder out of the ice, his hands glowing with a soft, healing light.

    Master Shen Xian gave Mira a light smile and nodded. "A deal''s a deal. Now,e with me; there''s much for you to see in our repository."

    The trio made their way back to the Frozen Sangfroid Temple. Mira''s mind was filled with questions as shepletely forgot about the previous fights.

    Elder Shui, now stable, was taken to her quarters to rest and recover.

    Upon reaching the temple''s repository, a grand structure that housed the sect''s collective knowledge and techniques, Mira''s eyes widened in awe. Rows upon rows of ancient scrolls, books, and artifacts lined the walls.

    Master Shen Xian gestured towards the shelves. "Here lies the culmination of our sect''s understanding of ice cultivation. You may peruse these texts to gain insight into our techniques, but as per our agreement, you cannot take or copy them. I''ll give you a day to look over everything. Anything more, and you''d probably be able to memorize everything. Afterward, I''ll show you one of our secret techniques."

    Mira nodded, staring at everything with an intense gaze. "Mmhm. See you in a day."

    Shen Xian chuckled and smiled wryly before he turned around and walked away.

    ''I wouldn''t be surprised if she could learn and memorize most of the techniques in there at a nce, but I don''t think that''s her purpose.'' He thought as he let her be.

    Although part of him felt hurt that Mira didn''t actually care about their�Chis�Ctechniques, he also understood that with her raw power, something ordinary wouldn''t do her any good. It''d be better just to use her fists.

    As Mira walked through the aisles, her hands asionally brushed against the spines of the ancient texts. She extended her Soul Sense and took in all the titles and the energy emanating from each scroll and tome, her mind piecing together everything about ice cultivation entering her mind.

    The questions in her mind were like a puzzle waiting to be solved.

    How did the cultivators of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple utilize their meridians and dantian in conjunction with their ice affinity?

    What differentiated a mere imagination-driven technique from a profound, meticulously crafted one?

    ''What makes these some of the best ice techniques in the world? I haven''t really studied much about the theory behind creating techniques before, but now I feel like I have to if I want to improve my power in a way other than my cultivation.'' Mira thought as she grabbed a scroll called [Bone-Chilling Palm].

    It described a basic ice technique that involved freezing the meridians in the user''s hand, and then when the punchnds, you transfer all that potential energy into the opponent.

    The meridian pathways were rtively simple and could be used by just about anyone with an affinity for ice.

    However, it was through simple techniques like these that she learned why pure imagination can only get you so far.

    If she were to encase her hand in ice, it wouldn''t do much. She''d just be mming a block of ice against someone rather than her fist. But, under careful application and through lots of practice, she could turn that block of ice into something that literally freezes her opponent''s internals, including their meridians.

    ''The Battle Maiden Sect techniques are good, but they don''t go into the intricacies of ice and how it ys into everything like the ones here. It''s really just me channeling a bunch of energy and shaping it into something, then throwing that at people. Not much substance behind it.''

    Though she thought that, Mira also realized that she didn''t care to learn much about techniques, so there could be something in the Sect that she missed.

    ''I also don''t like being under Aelina''s watchful eye. She''s just going to steal whatever I create!'' She inwardly grumbled before putting the [Bone-Chilling Palm] away and picking up another scroll.

    Hours passed as Mira delved deeper into the repository''s secrets.

    She read about the foundational principles of ice cultivation and the subtle ways in which practitioners manipted their Qi to resonate with the element of ice.

    She learned about the structure of meridians suited for ice Qi and how the dantian could be tuned to enhance the element''s potency.

    Some scrolls detailed the philosophical and spiritual aspects of ice cultivation �C how it was not just a maniption of cold but an embrace of stillness, rity, and purity. Mira was fascinated by the depth of thought and experience that went into each line, each character.

    She also discovered the reasons behind the power and difficulty of certain techniques.

    Theplexity of a technique often depended on how deeply it resonated with the naturalws of the world, how it aligned with the cultivator''s own Qi, and how it interacted with the environment.

    Ice techniques, she found, were unique in their ability to alter the state of matter, control temperature, and even influence the flow of time, albeit in very subtle ways.

    Mira''s respect for the Frozen Sangfroid Temple grew as she absorbed the knowledge. She realized that what made these techniques profound wasn''t just their power but the wisdom and understanding of the world they encapsted.

    She began to see patterns and connections between the various techniques, understanding how each one was a piece of arger puzzle.

    She stumbled upon a technique called "Whispering Frost," which intrigued her. It was a technique that allowed the user to subtly manipte the flow of Qi in the air, creating a silent but deadly frost that could incapacitate an enemy without them even realizing it.

    The technique required immense control and a deep understanding of the nature of Qi and ice because to do so is to change the properties of ice to fit her needs.

    Mira spent time studying "Whispering Frost" and others like it, intrigued by their subtlety and potential.

    However, that wasn''t the only technique she was caught up in. They were all interesting as long as she was willing to spend some time digging deeper to understand finesse.

    Lost in her studies, Mira barely noticed the passage of time. It wasn''t until Master Shen Xian returned that she realized a day had passed.

    "You''ve been quite absorbed," Master Shen Xian observed, a hint of amusement in his voice.

    Mira looked up, a bit disoriented from all the information she absorbed. "Yes. Your sect''s understanding of ice cultivation is truly amazing."

    Master Shen Xian nodded. "I''m d you find it so. Now, as promised, I will show you one of our secret techniques. Follow me."

    He led Mira to a secluded part of the repository, where a single scrolly on a pedestal. It was encased in a thinyer of ice, glowing with a soft, blue light.

    "This is the ''Eternal Winter''s Embrace,''" Master Shen Xian said, his voice taking on a reverent tone. "It is a technique that embodies our sect''s deepest understanding of ice. It shows the cultivator how to merge their Qi with the essence of winter, bing one with the cold and gaining control over ice in its purest form."

    After saying that, he began to move.

    As Master Shen Xian moved, the temperature in the room began to drop perceptibly. Each of his motions was deliberate and graceful as if he were guiding the Qi around him to be frost and snow instead of forcing it.

    "This technique," Master Shen Xian exined, his voice steady despite the increasing chill, "is not just about wielding ice. It''s about understanding and bing one with winter''s soul. It allows you to attune your Qi to the coldest of elements, to control it with a thought, and to influence the very essence of coldness."

    Mira watched intently, feeling the air grow colder with each word and movement. She could see the moisture in the air crystallizing, forming intricate patterns of frost that danced around Master Shen Xian. It was as if he was the center of a miniature winter,manding the cold with an unseen, yet palpable, power.

    "The ''Eternal Winter''s Embrace'' is beautiful but dangerous," Master Shen Xian continued, his movements causing the frost to swirl around him like a cloak. "It requires a bnce of control and surrender. You must control your Qi precisely, but you also must surrender to the essence of winter, let it guide your energy."

    As he demonstrated the technique, Mira could sense the profound connection between Master Shen Xian and the element of ice. It was as if he weremunicating with the winter itself, borrowing its strength and making it his own.

    Mira felt a sense of awe as she watched. The power of the technique was undeniable, but so was its potential for destruction. She realized that wielding such power could bring her strength to the next level�Cnot just in understanding her Dao but in how she uses her various abilities.

    "How do you feel, Mira?" Master Shen Xian asked, his eyes meeting hers. The room was now a small realm of winter, his presence the epicenter of a serene yet formidable cold.

    "It''s... quite the technique," Mira admitted, her breath visible in the cold air. "To control the winter like this... it''s like holding a delicate yet powerful force in your hands."

    Master Shen Xian nodded. "Precisely. The ''Eternal Winter''s Embrace'' is a reflection of our philosophy here at the Frozen Sangfroid Temple. Power, in harmony with wisdom. Strength, tempered with understanding."

    He ceased his movements, and gradually, the cold receded, the frost melting away as the room returned to its normal state.

 Chapter 871 Glacial Thicket

    Chapter 871 cial Thicket

    Leaving the repository, Mira and Master Shen Xian walked through the temple grounds.

    The disciples of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple gave Mira mixed looks. Some red resentfully, remembering her overwhelming strength in the duels. Others nodded in respect, acknowledging the lessons she had imparted. A few even looked eager for another challenge.

    Mira, however, remained indifferent to these reactions, her mind already focused on whaty ahead.

    As they neared the area where herpanions were staying, Mira turned to Master Shen Xian. "Looks like it''s time for me to go," she said. "Do you know of any good ces nearby where we can train? Something challenging, perhaps?"

    Master Shen Xian thought for a moment before responding, "There is a ce, but it''s not without its dangers. North of here lies the cial Thicket, a hidden ice forest known for its treacherous environment and unique creatures. The ce is chaotic, unpredictable, and deadly. But for those who seek to test their limits, it offers invaluable experience."

    Mira''s eyes lit up at the prospect. "Mmhm. Sounds good."

    Soon, they reached where herpanions were. They were all lounging around in arge courtyard, enjoying the free food and calm atmosphere. Even Elenei was using this time to rest, lying under arge tree as she enjoyed the cool breeze hitting her skin.

    Dominique and Hana were buried in Rhydian''s fur as the wolf had transformed back into her beast form. Linnea leaned against her as well, enjoying the warmthing from her body.

    Meanwhile, Coralia just looked around, bored.

    However, as soon as they all sensed Mira approaching, their backs straightened, and they woke up immediately.

    "Wee back, Mother! Did you get what you want?" Dominque''s head poked out of Rhydian''s fur as she shouted.

    Mira calmly walked over and nodded. "Yeah. I think I learned everything I needed to know."

    "And we don''t have to blow this ce up?" Dominique asked curiously, looking around with pity as if she found it a shame to destroy all of this.

    "..."

    Everyone who heard Dominique tensed up for a moment, wondering if they heard that right. Even Shen Xian''s smile froze as he looked at the group weirdly, but he understood. Mira was a literal walking catastrophe.

    Instead of engaging her with hostility, risking the destruction of everything, it was better just to let her be.

    Mira chuckled, shaking her head. "Doesn''t seem that way." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but Dominique looked a bit sad for a moment. However, Mira continued. "A shame, really. I''m curious how strong the powers of the North really are."

    "..."

    "Oh well." Mira shrugged. "I''m sure we''ll find a ''willing volunteer'' soon enough."

    "Really?!" Dominique shouted in excitement.

    "Mmhm."

    "Good! Don''t forget your promise then, Mother!"

    Shen Xian decided to ignore the conversation going on between them. Instead, he eyed Rhydian and Elenei weirdly, his Eyes of Truth telling him that they were extraordinary.

    He was about to look a bit more intently when Eleneizily nced in his direction. ''I wouldn''t do that.'' She said through a Voice Transmission. ''You''ve used those eyes of yours enough times during our stay. Any more, and you may find that you won''t be able to handle the consequences.''

    ''...Understood.'' He responded, taking her warning seriously. However, this interaction only made him more curious about Elenei.

    After a bit of discussion, the group decided to head towards the cial Thicket. As they prepared to leave, Mira looked around the Frozen Sangfroid Temple onest time, taking in the serene beauty of its snowyndscape.

    Then, after giving Shen Xian a nod, she hopped on Rhydian along with everyone else and took off. Nobody other than her was really connected to this ce, so they felt no need to say goodbye.

    Master Shen Xian watched them leave, a thoughtful expression on his face. As Mira and herpanions disappeared into the horizon on Rhydian''s back, an old man appeared next to him.

    "Do you want us to follow them?" the old man asked.

    Shen Xian shook his head, smiling. "No, let them go. Big changes areing, and I''ve made my small investment."

    "Why not follow her?" the old man pressed. "She''s one of the greatest geniuses we''ve ever seen."

    Shen Xian''s smile widened. "Exactly. To be remembered in the mind of someone like Mira is more than enough for an old man like me. She''s going to change the world. I''m content knowing the Frozen Sangfroid Temple yed a part in her journey."

    The old man nodded thoughtfully, but he still felt it was too dangerous to let someone like Mira run around.

    As if sensing his thoughts, Shen Xian exined, "In order to make progress, sometimes destruction is necessary. However, that''s only if you don''t sumb to it in the process. Just leave her be, but keep me updated on news about her."

    What could the old man say against that? So, he simply nodded and left.

    Back with Mira and herpanions, they soared through the clear blue sky, only to realize why the atmosphere was so empty. No cultivators, birds, nothing.

    The air itself was frozen!

    Mira saw this as an opportunity to experiment with her ice and water affinities. At first, she tried converting the ice back into water, which resulted in drenching everyone.

    "Hmph!" she eximed as they all shivered. Waving her hand, she turned all the water on them into ice and flicked it off of them. "Let me try something else."

    Mira then focused on manipting the properties of the ice. She experimented with various approaches �C altering its density, temperature, and even its molecr structure. At first, her attempts were clumsy, causing fluctuations in the air that made the flight bumpy.

    However, as she adjusted and fine-tuned her control, she found a way to maintain a bubble of breathable air around them. It was a delicate bnce, requiring her constant attention, but it allowed them to continue their journey safely.

    "This is good training," Mira mused, her concentration unwavering. "Controlling the environment itself... there''s a lot of potential here."

    A few hourster, they saw what looked to be a dense expanse of icy blue trees in the distance.

    Herpanions, now morefortable, looked around in awe. Thendscape below was a vast expanse of ice and snow, stretching as far as the eye could see. The cial Thicket loomed in the distance, its towering ice trees and frozen canopies creating a fantastical scene.

    "Wow��" Linnea muttered in amazement, taking in everything. She''d never seen anything so beautiful before.

    Elenei nodded alongside her, but not because it was beautiful. Instead, she felt a certain connection to this ce, like there was something here that could be useful to her.

    As they approached the cial Thicket, the air grew even colder, and the environment seemed to morph into something more dangerous. It wasn''t apparent on the surface, but the snow on the ground was moving like a wave.

    Mira sensed the challenge rising, a thrill running through her. She couldn''t wait to go down there and put everything she learned into practice.

    "Looks like we''re here," Mira announced, her eyes scanning the icyndscape below. The trees were like crystalline guardians, standing watch over a ce that looked untouched by time.

    Rhydian descended smoothly,nding on the edge of the forest. The group dismounted, their breaths visible in the frigid air. The silence of the Thicket was eerie yet captivating.

    "This ce is incredible," Elenei remarked, her eyes wide with curiosity. She reached out, touching a frozen branch. It shimmered under her touch, the ice crystals sparkling in the light.

    Dominique bounced excitedly. "This looks fun! What are we waiting for? Let''s explore!" Like Elenei, her instincts were telling her that she could get stronger by absorbing the blood of whatever creatures were there.

    Mira nodded, leading the way into the heart of the Thicket.

    As they ventured deeper, the forest revealed its otherworldly beauty. The ice trees formed intricate patterns, and the ground was covered in a nket of soft snow, untouched by any creature.

    Suddenly, a low growl echoed through the trees. The group tensed, turning towards the source of the sound. Emerging from the shadows was a creature that seemed to be made entirely of ice, its eyes glowing with a cold, blue light.

    "A Frost Wraith," Mira muttered, recognizing the creature from one of the scrolls she had read. "Be careful. They''re known for their speed and ability to blend with their surroundings."

    The Frost Wraith lunged at them, moving with an unnatural swiftness. Mira reacted instantly, her fists glowing with a faint blue light. She struck the creature, sending it reeling back into a tree.

    The impact shattered the tree, sending shards of ice scattering in all directions. The creature let out a piercing screech before dissolving into a mist of frost, disappearing into the air.

    "That was amazing, Mother!" Dominique eximed, her eyes shining with excitement. She waved her hand, and surprisingly, a thin strand of blue blood shot toward her. Nodding, she took out a vial and ced it in there. She''ll experiment with itter.

    Mira nodded, scanning the area for more threats. "These creatures are just the beginning. The deeper we go, the more dangerous it will get."

 Chapter 872 Creating a Technique

    Chapter 872 Creating a Technique

    With the Frost Wraith defeated, Mira turned to her group. "I need some time alone to work on something. Rhydian, Coralia, Elenei, can you take Dominique, Hana, and Linnea and make sure they''re safe?"

    Elenei nodded. "We''ll keep watch. Be careful, Mira."

    Coralia and Rhydian also agreed, gathering the younger ones. Dominique looked like she wanted to protest but held her tongue, sensing the seriousness in Mira''s tone.

    Then, they walked deeper into the thicket, wanting to take this time to explore it a bit.

    Left alone in the heart of the cial Thicket, Mira began her work. She focused her mind on the concept of a new technique �C an ice-based fist technique. She wanted it to be a manifestation of her understanding of ice, something that could channel her strength and even enhance it.

    The [Bone-Chilling Palm] came to mind when she thought this, but that was too weak and didn''t suit her tastes.

    ''I would rather not create something that I''ll have to rece after a few stages. It''d be for the best if it could grow with me.'' Mira thought. She had no idea how to make that happen, but that''s why she was here, to experiment.

    She started by limiting her power to less than one percent, mindful of the destructive potential of her full strength. Keeping in mind everything she learned from the Frozen Sangfroid Temple, she began to form ayer of ice around her fists.

    Then, she walked up to one of the trees and threw a punch.

    Crack! BOOM!

    The ice around her hand was too brittle and shattered upon impact.

    ''Hmm. The surface of the tree is actually quite sturdy. Even with less than one percent of my strength, I wasn''t able to damage it.'' Mira thought before she frowned and shrugged her shoulders. ''Well, that''s good for me. The stronger they are, the better I can make my technique.''

    With that said, she adjusted her approach. She concentrated on altering the density and structure of the ice, experimenting with differentpositions. This was where she was beginning to understand theplexity of more powerful techniques.

    ''Although I can shove a bunch of ice Qi into my fists and create a gauntlet, that''s not what I want. The foundation has to be strong before I start moving on to other areas. And that starts with theposition of ice that I want.''

    Extending her hand, she created an ice crystal. It wasn''t all that special, just a piece of ice, but it represented how, at a sub-atomic level, her ice was currently arranged. It was just a bunch of ice Qi shoved together to create a crystal.

    Separating it out into attice, she could see more clearly that the pattern was random. Not that she could be med for that. They didn''t teach things like chemistry in this world and she never thought to arrange her Qi in this way.

    ''I wonder if the reason techniques are separated into grades is because they help you create strongerpositions of the elements.'' Mira wondered, curious. She''d have to do some testing on thatter.

    But, now she had an idea of where to start.

    Using her mind to change the shape of the ice, she started working on a more stable structure that would use her Qi more efficiently. She tried arranging it into the crystal structure of a diamond, but all she got was a life-sized image of thettice and not something usable.

    ''It seems this won''t be as easy as I thought.'' Mira grinned at that and got to work. The more difficult this was, the more worthwhile it should be in the long run�� or so she believed.

    However, Mira was determined to delve deeper into the intricacies of creating a new technique. The idea of an ice gauntlet that could grow with her was both challenging and exhrating.

    Hours passed as she experimented with different molecr structures. She attempted to replicate the strength and resilience of a diamondttice using ice Qi. Each attempt brought her closer, but theplexity of manipting the structure at such a microscopic level was immense.

    "Come on," Mira muttered to herself, focusing her Qi. She visualized thettice structure, trying to align the ice crystals in a pattern that would maximize both strength and flexibility.

    She formed another gauntlet around her fist, this time with the newttice structure. Approaching a nearby tree, she took a deep breath and threw a punch.

    Crack! The sound was different this time. The ice held, but the tree barely showed a dent. "Better, but not enough," she assessed, her eyes narrowing with focus.

    Mira continued her relentless pursuit, refining the structure with each iteration. She realized that while the diamondttice offered strength, itcked the explosive potential she desired. The perfect structure would need to bnce stability with the ability to release energy upon impact.

    As the sun began to set, casting long shadows through the icy trees, Mira finally found a breakthrough. She created a gauntlet with aplex, hybrid structure �C stable enough to withstand her strength yet capable of shattering explosively under the right conditions.

    She tested it again on a tree. This time, the impact was significant. The tree shook, and a momentter, the gauntlet exploded, sending a web of ice shards deep into the trunk.

    "Yes!" Mira eximed, a triumphant smile on her face. She observed the damage closely, noting how the shards had prated the tree. "This is it �C the prototype of the [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] Technique. Strong, yet capable of devastating damage."

    But she wasn''t done yet. A technique was more than just its physical manifestation. Mira needed to integrate the Ice Gauntlet into her fighting style, practicing various strikes andbinations.

    ''I don''t just want something that can cover my fists. I want something that''s simple, uses a minimal amount of Qi, yet can still deal an annoying amount of damage under the right circumstances.''

    One of her ideas was to have the ice explode upon impact, lodging its way into her opponent''s wounds and ripping them open even more. She wanted something where if her punches caused almost no physical damage, the gauntlets would remain, but once there was any like a fractured bone, they would explode and enter that fracture, creating a weak point.

    Mira also needed to integrate the technique into her fighting style just to make sure it was viable. They needed to work under imperfect conditions.

    Aftering to a decision, Mira got in position andunched herself at the nearest tree.

    She moved fluidly between attacks, the ice gauntlet forming and reforming with each motion. She tested its limits, pushing herself to adapt to its unique properties.

    As night fell, Mira stood amidst a field of ice-ravaged trees, her breathing out in misty clouds. She felt a sense of aplishment, a deep satisfaction in creating something that was uniquely hers.

    ''...But, it''s still not enough.'' Mira shook her head. ''This isn''t even 1% of what I''m capable of. If I want to make this technique usable, I have to scale up the power output.''

    She had a feeling that''d be more difficult than creating the technique.

    Incrementally, she began to increase her power output, keenly observing the effects on the Ice Gauntlet with each enhancement.

    At two percent power, the ice maintained its structure, but she noticed a slight dy in the gauntlet''s reformation after each explosion. Mira paused, considering the problem. "It''s a matter of Qi flow," she mused aloud. Adjusting the Qi channels within the gauntlet, she tried again. The dy was reduced, but it wasn''t perfect yet. She made a mental note to refine this further.

    Moving to five percent, the stability of the gauntlet began to waver. The explosions were more potent, but the ice started showing signs of stress fractures even before impact. "The structure needs reinforcement at higher power levels," Mira deduced. She experimented with denserttice formations, integratingyers that could absorb her increasing strength.

    At ten percent, Mira faced a new challenge. The gauntlet''s explosive release was now too violent, causing coteral damage that could be detrimental in a real battle. "Control, I need more control over the explosion," she muttered, concentrating on creating a focused burst upon impact rather than a widespread shatter.

    She continued this meticulous process, gradually increasing her power and adapting the gauntlet ordingly. By fifteen percent, Mira had developed a nuanced understanding of the gauntlet''s behavior under stress. She fine-tuned the Qi pathways, allowing for quicker formation and more controlled explosions.

    Twenty percent brought about the challenge of maintaining the gauntlet''s integrity over longer periods. The continuous formation and explosion of the ice began to drain her Qi at a faster rate than she anticipated. "It''s not just about power; it''s about efficiency," she realized. Mira worked on optimizing the Qi consumption, ensuring the gauntlet could be sustained in prolonged battles.

    As she approached twenty-five percent, the true potential of the Explosive Ice Gauntlet began to manifest. The gauntlet was now a seamless extension of her will, exploding with precision and reforming with minimal Qi expenditure.

    Satisfied with the progress, Mira decided to push her limits. She gradually increased her power output, reaching thirty percent. The gauntlet held firm, its explosions devastating. Trees around her were now not just cracked but utterly demolished by the force of her strikes.

    At this level, Mira noticed a significant drain on her Qi reserves whenever it exploded. "The technique is powerful, but it can''t be overused. I must be strategic about when to deploy it. However, I might be able to decrease the consumption if I add in another factor. Maybe a different element?" she concluded.

    With that in mind, Mira continued demolishing droves of trees to perfect her technique and make it usable at 100% of her total power.

 Chapter 873 Explosive Ice Gauntlet-Completed

    <h4>Chapter 873 Explosive Ice Gauntlet-Completed</h4>

    Under the moonlit sky, Mira stood in the snow-covered field of exploded ice trees, contemting. She had pushed the Explosive Ice Gauntlet to new heights, but the challenge of making it viable at her full power remained.

    "The fusion of elements... perhaps that''s the key to efficiency," Mira pondered. She recalled her affinity for water alongside ice, considering how these two elements could synergize within the gauntlet.

    With this new approach in mind, Mira focused her Qi, summoning the essence of water to merge with the ice. She visualized the water molecules intecing with the icettice, reinforcing it and adding a newyer of versatility.

    As she formed the gauntlet again, she noticed an immediate difference. The presence of water made the ice more malleable, allowing for quicker formation and a smoother explosion mechanism. The water seemed to cushion the ice''s explosive release, reducing the Qi drain significantly.

    ''Seems I''m going in the right direction.''

    Excited by this development, Mira tested the enhanced gauntlet on a nearby tree. Pulling back her fist, she punched with just 30% of her strength.

    BOOM!

    The impact was more controlled, the explosion less violent, but equally effective. "This is it," she said, a triumphant smile forming. "Thebination of ice and water not only strengthens the gauntlet but also makes it more efficient."

    Mira continued her training, gradually increasing her power output while maintaining the bnce between the ice and water elements.

    At thirty-five percent, the gauntlet showed remarkable stability, its explosions precise and impactful.

    Forty percent power brought new insights. Mira noticed that the water element allowed her to adapt the gauntlet''s form mid-strike, providing a dynamic edge to her attacks. She experimented with changing the shape and density of the ice mid-punch, creating varying effects upon impact.

    By the time she reached fifty percent, Mira had honed the Explosive Ice Gauntlet into a versatile and formidable weapon. The fusion of ice and water had not only enhanced its strength but also its adaptability, making it a perfect fit for herbat style.

    However, she knew that her ultimate goal was to make the technique viable at her full strength.

    Sixty percent power was a significant milestone. The strain on her Qi was quite noticeable, but the efficiency of the gauntlet had improved drastically. She could sustain the technique for longer periods while still retaining its devastating explosiveness.

    Seventy percent brought about a new level of mastery. Mira felt a deep connection with the elements, her Qi flowing seamlessly between ice and water. The gauntlet responded to her every thought, adapting to her changing tactics.

    Now, not just her fists, she could create the gauntlets around her feet, head, elbows, and knees.

    ''But��'' Mira looked at the near-infinite amount of trees before her. ''It''s not enough. I have ess to all these elements, yet I''m not making use of them. I bet if I found the rightbination, I could increase the power while decreasing the amount of Qi needed to sustain it.''

    It was then that the idea of integrating Yin Fire and Yin Lightning into her Explosive Ice Gauntlet technique emerged in her mind.

    "Yin Fire and Yin Lightning... elements of destruction and speed," Mira mused. "Their integration could elevate the gauntlet beyond its current limits."

    Yin Fire, known for its cold yet burning nature, seemed like a naturalplement to the ice element. Simrly, Yin Lightning, with its swift and prating characteristics, could enhance the gauntlet''s explosive impact.

    What made her desire them was that they both had an almost acidic effect when introduced to the body. With them, Mira felt she could increase the prating power and internal damage by several folds.

    Mira started with the Yin Fire. She focused her Qi, summoning the essence of the cold fire, feeling its unique energy coursing through her. As she infused the Yin Fire into the ice gauntlet, she noticed an immediate change. The gauntlet now emitted a faint blue me, its temperature paradoxically cold yet searing.

    She tested the enhanced gauntlet on a thick ice tree. The punchnded, and the Yin Fire added a new dimension to the impact. The tree''s surface was instantly covered in frost, yet the areas around the punch mark were scorched, showing signs of both freezing and burning.

    Encouraged by this sess, Mira turned her attention to the Yin Lightning. Integrating it proved to be more challenging due to its vtile nature. She had to carefully weave the lightning energy into the gauntlet, ensuring it didn''t disrupt the existing bnce of ice and water.

    After several attempts, Mira achieved a harmonious blend. The gauntlet now crackled with a faint electrical energy, giving it an aura of raw power. When she struck another tree, the impact was immediate and devastating. The Yin Lightning''s energy pierced through the trunk, leaving a trail of both shattered ice and scorched marks.

    Examining it with her Soul Sense, she noticed that a thin line from the lightning had entered the trunk, allowing the gauntlet to explode into it before causing devastating damage to the inside of the tree while leaving the outside mostly untouched.

    She also didn''t have to explode the entire gauntlet upon such an impact. Thanks to her water affinity keeping everything together, she could keep most of it intact while only the ice closest to the wound would explode.

    At seventy-five percent of her power, the gauntlet was a spectacle of elemental harmony. The ice provided structure, the water added flexibility, the Yin Fire brought a burning chill, and the Yin Lightning ensured swift and prating strikes.

    Mira moved through the thicket, testing the limits of her new creation. With each punch, she progressed in her mastery of the technique, showcasing the gauntlet''s devastating potential.

    At ny-five percent, the gauntlet''s power was awe-inspiring. Each punch was a cataclysmic event, thebined elements wreaking havoc in perfect unison. The forest around her bore the scars of her training, but she was able to keep most of it contained.

    She could focus all ny-five percent of that power into a singr spot rather than exploding it out into a cone.

    ''Just a bit more, and this technique will finally beplete.'' Mira thought, grinning at the fact that she was about to create her very own technique from the ground up.

    It wasn''t like her Paragon Wings, where it was mostly just her imaginationbined with a bunch of ''fuel'', but something more systematic, more consistent.

    She wanted this to be something that would always be a part of her arsenal. Something she could always rely on.

    It didn''t have to devastate armies or destroy mountains, nor was that what she was going for.

    Looking forward to the technique at full power, Mira pushed even harder toplete it.

    Finally, after another 12 hours of constant work, Mira wanted to unleash the full potential of the Explosive Ice Gauntlet.

    "I need to see its limits, its true capacity for controlled destruction," Mira spoke to herself. She set her eyes on arge, robust ice tree in the middle of a bunch of smaller ones and approached it.

    Mira raised her fist and enveloped it in the Explosive Ice Gauntlet.

    At a hundred percent of her strength, Mira unleashed the gauntlet. Her fist shot forward like a blur.

    Upon impact, the spectacle was breathtaking. The gauntlet exploded, but unlike before, the explosion was a concentrated burst of energy precisely directed into the tree.

    The ice shards, supercharged with Yin Lightning, prated deep, branching out in a web of electric energy within the trunk. Simultaneously, the Yin Fire spread, creating a surreal scene of ice burning with a cold me, scorching the insides while leaving the exterior surprisingly intact.

    Mira observed the aftermath, noting how the tree stood, seemingly unscathed, yet internally, it was utterly ravaged. "This... This is the essence of the Explosive Ice Gauntlet. Devastating yet precise. Destructive, yet controlled."

    A secondter, the tree turned to dust, but she ignored that. Her power was simply too strong for it.

    Turning her attention to another tree, Mira experimented with varying the intensity and focus of the gauntlet''s explosive release. She discovered she could fine-tune the bnce of elements, creating different effects based on her intention.

    A lighter touch resulted in a more superficial burst of Yin Lightning, ideal for quick, piercing strikes. A heavier blow unleashed the full might of the Yin Fire, engulfing the target in a freezing inferno.

    "This technique isn''t just about raw power," Mira reflected. "It''s about adaptability, the ability to respond to any situation with the rightbination of elements."

    As she continued her practice, Mira found herself moving in a trance. The gauntlet felt like an extension of her own body, responding instantly to her thoughts and movements.

    "Each element brings its own strength," she thought aloud, her fists moving in a rhythmic pattern as she destroyed tree after tree. "Ice for structure, water for flexibility, Yin Fire for its piercing cold, and Yin Lightning for its swift, prating force."

    After another few hours of training, Mira felt that she had finallypleted and perfected her first technique. Not only that, but her understanding of the creation process, as well as her own elements, had improved drastically.

 Chapter 874 Testing

    <h4>Chapter 874 Testing</h4>

    "Now, it''s time to test it on live targets." Mira thought with a grin. This was the part she was waiting for.

    So, she set off into the heart of the cial Thicket, extending her Soul Sense to search for suitable prey.

    It didn''t take long to find her something.

    Her first target, a Rank 6 Snow Bunny, was an unsuspecting creature, its white fur blending seamlessly with the snowy surroundings. Mira limited her strength to match the bunny''s level and killed her presence to remain undetected.

    As she neared the Snow Bunny, Mira readied her gauntlet. Sheunched a swift strike, aiming for a non-lethal blow. However, upon contact, the bunny was vaporized instantly, leaving nothing but a mist of ice and a faint scent of cold fire in the air.

    Mira frowned slightly. "Too much power... I need to adjust my approach. This isn''t about overwhelming strength, but precision and control."

    Determined to refine her technique further, Mira continued her hunt.

    The next target she found was a Rank 7 Frost Boar, a creature known for its thick hide and aggressive nature. Mira matched her power to the boar''s level and approached slowly. She needed to make sure she didn''t identally annihte it and only destroyed its insides.

    This time, she aimed for a controlled strike. When she was within range, she shot forward. The boar sensed her at thest moment, turning to face its attacker. Mira''s punchnded on its side, the gauntlet''s explosion sending a precise burst of ice shards into the boar''s body.

    The Frost Boar let out a pained grunt, stumbling but still standing. Mira observed the effect �C the internal damage was significant, yet the external injuries were minimal.

    The boar died soon after to its injuries, yet most of the important bits remained intact. It''s just many of its bones had turned to dust and were unusable.

    "Better," she nodded to herself. "But there''s room for improvement."

    Her next encounter was with a Rank 8 Ice Panther, a sleek and deadly creature renowned for its agility and ferocity. Mira matched its strength once again and met it head-on.

    As the Ice Panther sensed her approach and leaped towards her with a ferocious growl, Mira readied her gauntlet. She met its charge with a swift counterattack, directing her strike at its shoulder.

    The gauntlet exploded on impact, the force sending the panther tumbling, yet without causing an excessive external injury.

    Mira observed the panther as it struggled to its feet, its movements hampered by the internal damage dealt by her gauntlet. "Mmhm. Good," she murmured, satisfied with the effectiveness of her attack yet critical of the need for even greater control.

    Raising her fist, she mmed it into the panther''s skull, prating the bone and exploding its brain into mush.

    Continuing her hunt, Mira''s awareness of her surroundings and the creatures within it deepened. She encountered a Low-Stage Rank 9 cier Bear, a massive beast with a thick coat of icy fur and an aggressive reputation.

    Matching its power, Mira didn''t bother hiding her presence this time and charged straight at it with her aura ring.

    The bear immediately turned its head to her and swiped with its giant paws, but Mira dodged nimbly, countering with a punch to its nk.

    The gauntlet exploded upon contact as it tore through its defenses, causing the bear to bellow in pain.

    Mira stepped back, analyzing the bear''s reaction. The internal damage was extensive, but the bear''s resilience was quite remarkable. "Hmmm�� Maybe a bit more power?" she concluded as she added a bit more Qi to her gauntlets and struck again.

    This time, when her fistnded, the bear went tumbling across the snow as the life was snuffed out of its eyes.

    Examining it with her Soul Sense, she noticed that she had taken out a good chunk of its internal organs, including its heart.

    "It''s surprisingly hard to control," Mira muttered, unsure of why that was. She was trying to limit its destructive capabilities to only ''create'' weak points, not turn its bones and organs into a soup.

    Against stronger opponents like Zander, Nova, and the others, she didn''t need or want something that would kill them instantly. Or rather, doing so was unlikely.

    She needed something that did enough damage they needed to watch out for, but not enough that they had to be wary of it.

    ''I want people to think they''re just ice gauntlets that protect my fists. Then, slowly, as the battle ticks on by and I''m creating more and more chinks in their armor, all I need to do is deliver the final blow to win.'' That was the idea she was going for, but instead, she got this.

    Though, this was almost exactly what she wanted. Since these are weaker beasts, even if she reduced her power to their level, she was still too strong. ''I still want a more controlled attack. If I can control my strength against these guys, then I''ll really be able to do anything I want with the gauntlets in a real life-or-death battle.''

    ''I''ll continue my tests. If it really doesn''t work out, then I''ll just go the other route and try to make the gauntlet as deadly as possible.'' She thought as she traveled deeper into the thicket, ignoring everything else.

    Her next prey, a Mid-Stage Rank 9 Snow Serpent, slithered silently through the snow, its presence nearly undetectable. It had already picked up on Mira''s scent and was on the hunt for some fox meat.

    Mira, however, was one step ahead. She sensed the serpent''s approach and readied her gauntlet.

    As the serpent lunged with its fangs bared, Mira met its attack with a swift, decisive blow to its head. The gauntlet''s explosion was contained, with shards of ice and bursts of Yin Fire and Lightning tearing through the serpent''s scales and skull.

    The Snow Serpent fell limp, its life extinguished in an instant. Mira observed the carcass, noting the minimal damage both externally and internally. It only died because her attack prated its brain. However, almost its entire body was still intact.

    "Efficient, subtle, and deadly. I finally got it right," she whispered, her eyes glinting with satisfaction. Now that she knew it could be done, she didn''t want to stop.

    Mira pressed on, her Soul Sense reaching out for the next challenge. She soon encountered a pair of Mid-Stage Rank 9 Frost Wolves, their eyes glowing with hunger as they looked for any food that could satiate them.

    Their eyes lit up when they saw Mira approach, and they gave each other a look. They could practically smell the delicious bloodline and strength coursing through Mira''s body, causing them to lick their lips.

    With their eyes alight with greed, the wolves attacked in unison, their movements synchronized and swift. Mira shot between them and attacked.

    She struck the first wolf with a targeted blow to the chest, the gauntlet''s explosion sending a shockwave through its body, fracturing bones and organs alike.

    The second wolf pounced, but Mira was ready. She spun, delivering a kick enhanced by her gauntlet. The impact was precise, and the explosive force was concentrated, leaving the wolf incapacitated but alive.

    They both struggled to get up, but Mira didn''t allow that and shoved their faces back into the ground by stomping on the back of their heads.

    Mira stood over the fallen creatures and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Now, the power is much more bnced, and the damage is more controlled. There''s no wasted energy from the technique, and the only thing they have to fear is my fists." she mused.

    Although there was a part of her that wished she could control her physical strength more, she didn''t think that was possible. If she attacked a weaker creature at full power, no matter how much precision and control she had, they would be reduced to nothing.

    The Explosive Ice Gauntlet technique was really just something to pinpoint that power so it''s not wasted on the environment.

    ''I''ll test it out on one more opponent, then work on my next idea for a technique.'' She concluded, satisfied with everything she''s done so far.

    Her hunt led her next to a Mid-Stage Rank 9 Ice Stag, a majestic creature with antlers that shimmered like crystal. It stood tall and proud, sensing the danger but refusing to flee.

    Mira approached with respect, aware of the creature''s dignity. She engaged it head-on, matching its strength and speed. The stag charged as well, its antlers aimed to impale. Mira sidestepped and mmed her gauntlet into its nk.

    The explosion that resulted from the collision was quite the spectacle, with the beast attempting to block her attempts at prating its body but to no avail. The Ice Stag staggered, wounded but still standing, its breath forming clouds in the cold air.

    Mira circled the stag and struck again, this time aiming for a non-lethal blow. The gauntlet exploded, but the force was controlled, and the internal damage was contained. Its bones were cracked and muscles ripped, but at least it was alive.

    The Ice Stag copsed, its strength sapped and unable to move. Mira gazed at the creature with a hint of respect and took out her scythe. With a swift, downward slice, she removed its head and collected its corpse.

    With the stag''s end, she officially deemed that she had perfected the technique.

 Chapter 875 [Glacial Mirage Steps] and Scythe Technique

    <h4>Chapter 875 [cial Mirage Steps] and Scythe Technique</h4>

    The moon cast a silver glow over the cial Thicket, its light reflecting off the icy terrain. Mira stood amidst this beautifulndscape, ready to unleash the [cial Mirage Steps], hertest Movement Technique.

    Although movement techniques were the foundation of any good cultivator, Mira hardly bothered to learn one. The main reason for that was her scythe.

    It was simply too unique of a weapon. Finding or creating a movement technique suitable for it was incredibly difficult as there were just too many variables.

    However, after years of not using one, she felt she finally had the tools necessary to create a suitable technique.

    She began with a gentle step, creating ayer of electrified ice beneath her that she could glide off of with extreme speed.

    Ayer of light cloaked her body, casting multiple blinding afterimages around her. Each illusion mirrored her movements, creating a disy that would hopefully distract or catch her opponents off guard.

    Mira then moved forward, her steps silent and swift as thinyers of ice appeared under her feet, only to disappear a secondter. That''s when the earth element subtly worked its magic, leaving the snow behind her undisturbed, erasing any trace of her passage.

    To any observer, it would seem as if she was gliding.

    As she approached a clearing, a pack of Frost Wolves emerged.

    She activated the Wind element, feeling the air around her shift. It lifted her slightly, reducing drag and enhancing her speed dramatically. The wolves lunged, but Mira was no longer where they thought she was. Her afterimages took the brunt of their attacks, confusing them further.

    Mira appeared behind them and struck. She darted around the wolves, her movements a blur. A wolf grabbed one of her clones, only to find itself biting into thin air. Meanwhile, Mira, the real one, delivered a precise kick to its nk, sending it skidding across the snow.

    The light around her flickered with each movement, creating dazzling patterns that disoriented her foes. The wolves growled and snapped but were unable to discern the mirage from reality.

    As she leaped and twirled among the wolves, the earth subtly shifted beneath her, guiding her steps and providing a stable tform for her ice when shended as she continued her assaults.

    One by one, the wolves were killed, their efforts futile against the elusive fox.

    As thest of the wolvesy subdued, Mira came to a graceful halt. Her breathing was steady, her energy barely spent.

    Nodding, Mira waved her hand and collected their corpses in her Storage Space. ''A good movement technique. It takes advantage of my ability to create illusions while using my Yin Lightning and Wind affinities to enhance my speed, then Earth to cover my tracks.''

    Creating the [cial Mirage Steps] was much easier than the [Explosive Ice Gauntlet]. Since she already had experience and understood what it took to create a technique, the rest was just trial and error.

    ''Now, I just need a Scythe Technique, a few long and short-range ones, at least one that can utilize my Martial Manifestation and�� Damn! Why do I need so many?!'' Mira internally grumbled.

    She could think of at least 7 right off the top of her head, much less creating a technique for more nuanced situations, such as if she found herself fighting against someone with an affinity for Space or something weird like that.

    Although they weren''t necessarily that difficult to create, the process was rather time-consuming, and she didn''t even know if they''d be useful until she got in a real battle to the death.

    ''Tch! Whatever. I''ll just keep working until I run out of good ideas. It''s not like I have anywhere to be, and Dominique is in good hands. I''m sure Elenei won''t make things easy for her.'' She concluded before focusing on her movement technique.

    ''So far, it''s basicallyplete, but I need to push this technique further and test its limits in more challenging scenarios," she murmured to herself. "Let''s see how it fares against stronger opponents."

    Mira moved deeper into the Thicket, her Soul Sense reaching out, searching for a worthy challenge. She soon sensed the presence of a Mid-Stage Rank 9 Ice Drake, a formidable beast known for its agility and lethal frost breath.

    "This should be interesting," she thought, a determined glint in her eyes.

    She approached the Ice Drake''sir, feeling the drop in temperature as she neared. The creature, sensing an intruder, emerged with a growl, its scales glistening under the moonlight.

    Mira initiated the [cial Mirage Steps], her form blurring into a series of dazzling afterimages. The Ice Drake roared and unleashed a torrent of frost breath, aiming to freeze her in her tracks.

    But Mira was already gone, her afterimages dissipating like mist. She reappeared behind the Drake, striking with her scythe, its de gliding effortlessly through the air, enhanced by her Wind element.

    The Drake whirled around, its tail sweeping across the air. Mira leaped, the earth element cushioning hernding and erasing any trace of her presence.

    She continued to glide around the Drake with fluid and unpredictable steps. The Drake struggled to keep up, its attacks meeting only illusions.

    Mira then infused her scythe with Yin Lightning, adding a sharp, crackling edge to her strikes. She moved like lightning, her scythe leaving arcs of electric energy in the air.

    With a swift, powerful swing, she struck the Drake, the Yin Lightning amplifying the impact. The creature staggered, stunned by the force of her attack.

    "Not bad," Mira said, assessing her technique''s effectiveness. "But I can do better."

    She decided to integrate her Yin Fire into the mix, adding a searing chill to her attacks. As she resumed her assault, the Drake found itself not only battling her speed and illusions but also the biting cold that now enveloped her de.

    Each strike left frostbitten wounds, the Yin Fire prating deep into the Drake''s flesh. The beast roared in pain and anger, its own frost breath bing erratic.

    Mira, sensing an opening, unleashed a flurry of strikes, her scythe moving faster than the eye could see, each swing leaving a trail of light and shadow. The Ice Drake, who was overwhelmed, faltered under her relentless assault.

    With a final, decisive strike, Mira brought her scythe down on the creature''s neck and snapped its spine. She stood over it without even breaking a sweat, her technique proving its worth against a rather challenging opponent.

    As she collected the Drake''s corpse, Mira reflected on her technique''s performance. "The [cial Mirage Steps] are effective, but there''s still room for improvement. I need to work on integrating my elements more seamlessly, making each movement a natural extension of my will."

    Determined to refine her technique further, Mira continued her journey through the Thicket, her mind already formting strategies for her next technique.

    "The Scythe Technique will be next," she decided. "Something thatplements the [cial Mirage Steps] and maximizes the scythe''s potential."

    As she walked, Mira pondered the possibilities, her imagination already spinning as she tried toe up with something that would suit her.

    "It needs to flow seamlessly with the [cial Mirage Steps], yet stand strong on its own," she thought, her gaze fixed on the de of her scythe.

    She began by experimenting with different styles. First, she tried a fluid approach, keeping her scythe in constant motion, allowing it to weave through the air like water. She coated the de with a thinyer of Qi, enhancing its sharpness and reach.

    Swinging the scythe, she struck at the air, feeling the resistance lessen as her Qi sliced through it. The technique was elegant and graceful butcked the impact she desired. "Too light," she concluded. "It needs more power."

    Switching to a slower, more forceful style, Mira focused on gathering her strength in each swing. She channeled her Qi into the scythe, making each strike more potent. The weight of the scythe felt more pronounced, its path through the air leaving a trail of frost behind it.

    She struck a nearby ice boulder, splitting it cleanly in half before both sides exploded into a million pieces. The power was there, but the technique felt cumbersome,cking the speed and agility that made the scythe an actual usable weapon. "Too rigid," she muttered, dissatisfied.

    Mira paused, considering her options. "What if Ibine the fluidity of the first with the strength of the second?" she pondered.

    She started spinning her scythe, gradually increasing its speed. The de whirled around her, kicking up the wind and destroying thend around her. As the speed built up, so did the power behind each swing. This in and of itself took immense control, especially at her strength, but after using the weapon for years now, she had grown ustomed to it.

    Mira moved through the Thicket, her scythe spinning like a whirlwind. She approached a frozen pond, the surface reflecting the moonlight. With a sudden, forceful motion, she brought the scythe down onto the ice.

    The impact was thunderous, sending shards of ice and pools of water flying in all directions.

    "Yes, this is it," Mira said, a satisfied smile crossing her lips. "A technique that builds momentum, allowing for a devastating strike when the time is right."

 Chapter 876 [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon]

    Chapter 876 [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon]

    Mira, satisfied with the foundation of her new scythe technique, decided to test it further. The [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon] that she spent thest day or so theorizing was powerful, but she knew it could be more. "I need to see how it fares in realbat," she murmured, her eyes scanning the Thicket for a suitable challenge.

    She didn''t have to wait long. A Mid-Stage Rank 9 Ice Troll, known for its brute strength and thick skin, lumbered into view. Its massive form crashed through the icy terrain, oblivious to the danger it was about to face.

    Mira readied herself, gripping her scythe with both hands. She initiated the [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon], the de beginning to spin with increasing speed, gathering momentum.

    As the Ice Troll roared and charged, Mira''s technique reached its peak. She leaped forward, spinning into the air, her scythe a mere blur. She struck at the troll''s massive leg, her de slicing through its thick hide as if it were nothing.

    The Ice Troll bellowed in pain at the loss of its leg, but Mira didn''t stop even as regenerated in a few seconds. She continued her assault, each strike more powerful than thest, her scythe carving through the troll''s flesh with ease.

    "I need more force," she thought, increasing her Qi output. The scythe responded, its de now glowing with a mix of Yin Fire and Lightning. The air around her crackled as the power of her strikes was amplified.

    The Ice Troll, despite its size and strength, was faltering under her relentless attack. Mira''s technique was proving too much for it. She moved around the beast, her scythe cutting deep wounds that glowed with the cold fire and crackled with electricity.

    She used her [cial Mirage Steps] to test out how well the two techniques synergized, not allowing the troll to find her real body.

    ''It''s quite good, but using both of them at the same time requires too much control and concentration.'' Of course, this could be resolved with enough practice, but it was something she needed to keep in mind.

    Using both of these techniques at the same time wasn''t something ordinary people, with average meridians, could pull off. In fact, just using one of them would be nearly impossible for most people.

    Her meridians were aplexwork of ''roots'' and ''branches'', whereas most people had Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Principle Meridians, along with a bunch of smaller ones that vary depending on the person.

    While the amount of actual meridians in a person''s body differed between people, theyout was generally the same. The Twelve Principal Meridians were each linked to an organ, while the Eight Extraordinary Meridians bridged the gap between those 12 and carried Qi to wherever the user wanted.

    This kept things simple and uniform, but there was ack of fine-tuning and control that Mira didn''t need to worry about.

    Such as, if Mira wanted to encase one of her arm hairs in Qi, she didn''t need to send energy through one of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians up her arm and out her hand to coat that hair follicle. She could directly take a meridian, that didn''t lose out in qualitypared to the rest, straight to that follicle.

    This allowed for a more nuanced and fine-tuned control that others didn''t have.

    ''That''s why I''m able to use multiple techniques at once while keeping their efficiency high and not lose out on power.'' Mira thought as she kept swinging her scythe.

    However, there was a problem with having such high variability and control, and that is, for most things, she hardly needed to utilize it!

    ''That''s also what I want to achieve during my training sessions. I need to find a way to capitalize on the web of meridians inside my body. I feel like I''m missing out on so much untapped potential by just brute-forcing Qi through the fastest path and blowing things up. There has to be a better way.'' She spected, dodging one of the troll''s random attacks.

    After a few more minutes, she started to grow tired of fighting against the beast and decided to end its life.

    With a final, powerful swing, she aimed for the troll''s neck, her de moving with such speed that it seemed to disappear. The troll''s head separated from its body, falling to the ground with a heavy thud.

    Miranded gracefully, her breathing steady. She examined her work, noting the precision and power of her strikes. "The [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon] is effective, but I can push it further. I need to integrate more elements, maybe add a defensive aspect to it."

    So, she continued her journey, her mind racing with ideas on how to improve her technique. She thought about incorporating a defensive spin, one that could deflect iing attacks while setting up for her next strike.

    Her thoughts were interrupted by the presence of a Mid-Stage Rank 9 Frost Wyvern soaring above. Its massive wings cast shadows over the icyndscape. Mira smiled; this was the perfect opportunity to test things out.

    She watched as the Frost Wyvern descended, its ws aiming for her. Mira initiated a defensive spin, creating a barrier of wind and ice. The wyvern''s ws met her scythe, sparks flying as the de deflected the attack.

    Mira didn''t miss a beat. She transitioned from defense to offense, leaping into the air, her scythe cutting through the wyvern''s thick scales. Her de, supercharged with Yin Lightning, left a trail of electric arcs that paralyzed the wyvern''s wing.

    As the wyvern plummeted to the ground, Mira followed. She struck again and again, each attack fiercer than thest.

    ''Alright, let''s see how far I can push it,'' she thought, increasing her speed and power. The scythe became an extension of her body. However, she didn''t want to use her Scythe Manifestation for this. Not yet.

    The Frost Wyvern roared and unleashed a torrent of icy breath. Mira used her [cial Mirage Steps] as she maneuvered around the icy sts leaving behind lifelike afterimages that confused the beast for a moment.

    She then added a new element to her technique. She focused her Qi, infusing her scythe with Earth element, adding weight and stability to her strikes. The de now carried a force that shook the ground upon impact, destroying all the nearby trees and ripping apart thend.

    The wyvern roared in agony as Mira''s scythe ripped it apart. She was everywhere at once, her movements were unpredictable, and her attacks never stopped.

    "ROOOOOOAAAAR!" It raised its head in the air and released a thunderous roar, hoping to disorientate Mira.

    But, it seemed to have the opposite effect.

    Mira felt exhrated. Thebination of her [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon] and [cial Mirage Steps], along with the integration of multiple elements, was proving to be a reliablebo.

    With a final, mighty swing, she aimed for the wyvern''s neck. The scythe''s de, glowing with a mixture of Yin Fire and Lightning, descended with unstoppable force that utilized all the energy and momentum she had built up until this point.

    The wyvern''s head fell, its body copsing in a heap on the snowy ground. However, the strike didn''t stop there. A deep chasm was cut into the ground, which continued off in the distance for what seemed like kilometers.

    Catching her breath, Mira stepped back, her eyes shining with triumph yet a hint of exhaustion. "This... This is what I was aiming for. A technique that is both offensive and defensive, adaptable to any situation. It''s just, the consumption is a bit high, and I''ll have to be careful not to unleash something I can''t handle."

    She collected the wyvern''s corpse, a sense of satisfaction filling her. Her technique was evolving, bing something beyond what she had first imagined.

    Mira realized the potential ofbining different elements in her scythe technique. "Each element brings something unique. I''ll have to y around with differentbinations to see how I can incorporate them and improve the technique."

    Over the next hours, Mira faced various creatures of the Thicket, each encounter honing her skills and refining her technique. She battled Ice Golems, Snow Spirits, and even a pair of dueling Ice Giants, each fight pushing her understanding of her techniques further.

    Quickly, another few days passed as she was engrossed in the feeling of getting stronger. She didn''t just train with her scythe either, but with her other extremities like knees, fists, elbows, and her movement technique.

    All the while, she pondered over what she should do next. With just these three techniques, she essentially covered all her bases. Learning any more could be a detriment rather than something that would make her stronger.

    ''Maybe I should start with improving some of the techniques I already know and go from there.'' Mira thought as she stood over a pile of dead beasts.

    Nodding, she hopped off of the corpses, collected them, and summoned her Paragon Wings. ''I''ll start with these.''

 Chapter 877 Creation Tail

    <h4>Chapter 877 Creation Tail</h4>

    A few dayster, Mira finished improving a few of her previous techniques to fit her current self better. The [Frozen Terrain Change], [100 cial Warriors], [Elemental Barrier], [Paragon Wings], [Frostbite Requiem], [Cmity''s Embrace], and [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration] techniques all saw some sort of improvement, even if they were minimal.

    However, it wasn''t long before she ran into a roadblock. The problem wasn''t with the [Frostbite Requiem], [Cmity''s Embrace], [Elemental Barrier], and [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration] techniques, but with the other three.

    All of them required her to create something or perform a semi-permanent action.

    [Frozen Terrain Change] literally changed the area around her.

    [100 cial Warriors] made a hundred golems that she had to control.

    [Paragon Wings] created a pair of elemental wings behind her, with each feather having a unique property or effect.

    These were all fantastic techniques, but they required her to keep pumping Qi into them to keep them strong and active, draining her energy reserves. She would also have to use a significant portion of her mental capacity focusing on them.

    She could somewhat get around this limitation by continuously killing living entities, but that couldn''t always happen. That didn''t lessen the mental burden either.

    So, that begged the question: How could she remove this restriction?

    ***

    Raising her hand and pointing it at the ground, Mira''s white tail lit up as a mist of ice emerged from her palm. It converged on a single point and shaped itself into a cube.

    Cutting off the connection to her Creation Tail, Mira stopped shooting ice and stared at her creation.

    ''It doesn''t look much different than an ice cube made directly from my Qi.'' Mira thought as she inspected it.

    Picking it up, the cube was cold to the touch, but that''s when she felt something�� odd.

    It was like there was a disconnect between her and the ice cube.

    ''...So that''s what it is.'' Her eyebrows shot up as she rotated it, inspecting every inch of it.

    Raising her other hand, she created an identical-looking ice cube, but without the use of her Creation Tail. That was the only difference between the two, but Mira could immediately spot which one was which.

    ''Creating something with Qi, there''s a certain connection between the object and the user. That link is my energy, which is located in my core. Any element I ''create'' is tied to me in some way. If I want my ice to melt, then it melts. If I want to get rid of a fire I created, it''s as simple as a thought. The reason is they''re merely manifestations of my affinities. But-''

    She crushed the second ice cube and watched the Qi disperse as it disappeared. It didn''t behave like a normal ice cube at all.

    Then, she crushed the first ice cube, which crumbled into thousands of tiny ice particles and fell to the ground.

    ''-creating something with my creation tail cuts off that connection. It turns what''s inherently mine and almost imaginary into something real. Something that can exist outside of me.''

    Normally, when a cultivator used their affinity to create something, they would simply disappear after a certain length of time. The used Qi would return to the world, and their mark on the world would be gone.

    Stronger cultivators will leave their ''traces'' longer, as the energy within them can sustain the ''creation'' longer, but it''s still part of the cultivator��an external entity forced upon the world.

    Now, she had suddenly be something different. She could affect the world and its energy on a more fundamental level.

    Although she wasn''t exactly the existential type, that thought freaked her out a little. It was like she was granted the power of god. This power opened up all kinds of opportunities and could potentially make even more enemies that she didn''t even know where to start.

    Unfortunately, there were limitations, something she noticed with just a single use.

    ''It''s so weak!'' She frowned, turning away from the ice fragments below her. ''If I create a pair of Paragon Wings out of that, I might as just not even try with how useless they''d be.''

    Mira stood in contemtion. The raw power of creation was at her fingertips, yet it came withplexities that demanded her full attention.

    "Creation without connection..." Mira mused, her eyes narrowing in thought. "How can I weave this new aspect of creation into my techniques and yet, retain the link that makes them potent?"

    She considered the nature of her Creation Tail, a gift that allowed her to bring forth matter from nothingness. It was a profound ability, but itcked the innate connection and strength that her Qi-infused creations held.

    However, she wanted both. The permanence, the control, the strength, and the connection. She wanted it all!

    ''They''re my abilities, and I''ll do with them as I please!'' She clenched her fists, crushing the remaining ice crystals in her hand.

    Mira decided to experiment. She focused, creating a small whirlwind of ice and wind around her palm. This time, she tried to infuse it with the essence of creation from her tail.

    The whirlwind spun faster, bing denser and more tangible. Yet, as she cut off the flow from her Creation Tail, the whirlwind continued to spin, independent of her will. It was a creation that stood on its own, yet itcked the versatility and adaptability of her Qi-based techniques.

    She also found that she couldn''t control or influence it in any way. The creation was no longer hers.

    "Is it a matter of understanding the essence of creation more deeply?" Mira pondered, watching the whirlwind dissipate. "Or is it about finding a way to merge this essence with my Qi to create something that''s both independent and connected?"

    Her mind raced with possibilities and questions. Could she create something that not only existed independently but also had a semnce of life? Was it possible to imbue her creations with a fragment of her consciousness, giving them the ability to act ording to her will even when detached from her direct control?

    No, she didn''t even need that. As long as she still had full control over her creations, that was enough.

    ''And can I only make them semi-permanent? I don''t want my Paragon Wings to always exist until they''re destroyed. I''d like to be able to disassemble them at will.'' She wondered.

    Determined to find answers, Mira set to work. She began by creating a series of ice sculptures, each more intricate than thest. She focused on infusing each creation with a spark of her consciousness to create that link, a task that required intense concentration and control.

    As she progressed, she noticed subtle changes. The sculptures began to respond to her presence, their surfaces rippling slightly as she moved around them. It was a small sign, but it indicated a connection, a link between her and her creations.

    Encouraged by this development, Mira pushed further. She created arger ice figure, this time infusing it with more of her consciousness. She willed it to move, to react to hermands.

    The figure shuddered, its form wavering as if struggling to obey her. It was a crude attempt, but it showed potential. The idea of creating something that could act on its own, yet remain under her influence, was tantalizing.

    Mira realized that the keyy in the bnce between creation and control. It wasn''t just about making something from nothing; it was about imbuing that creation with a part of herself, a thread of her essence that maintained the connection.

    She continued her experiments, each creation bing more responsive and more attuned to her will. She tried creating elemental creatures, small beings of ice and wind that fluttered around her, reacting to her emotions and movements.

    As the sun began to set, Mira stood surrounded by her creations.

    She observed her creations, appreciating the progress she made, yet a crucial piece of the puzzle eluded her. She needed to merge the essence of creation with her Qi, allowing her to createsting yet controble attacks.

    If she created an ice storm, she would have to continuously pump Qi into it so itsted longer, but she didn''t want that. She wanted to only create it once and let the rest happen naturally.

    "I need to find a bnce," she mused, her eyes reflecting the fading light. "A way to infuse my attacks and creations with my Qi without losing their semi-autonomy."

    She contemted the nature of Qi and its flow through her meridians. It was an extension of her will, a force that she controlled with thought and intent. Could she extend this control to her creations, making them a natural extension of herself?

    With that thought in mind, Mira focused her energy on a single ice sculpture. She closed her eyes, channeling her Qi into the figure. She imagined it as a conduit, a vessel for her power that could act independently yet remain connected to her.

    As she infused the sculpture with her Qi, she felt a familiar warmth spread through her body. The sculpture began to glow subtly, its surface shimmering with a light that mirrored her own energy.

    Mira opened her eyes and willed the sculpture to move. To her amazement, it responded, albeit clumsily. It was a small movement, but it was a start.

    The connection was there, but it was fragile.

    Now, all she had to do was work on it.

 Chapter 878 Crimson Frost Lotus

    <h4>Chapter 878 Crimson Frost Lotus</h4>

    After several hours of studying, theorizing, and testing, Mira found it necessary to move on to the next step.

    She focused on a new creation, a swirling mass of ice and wind that hovered above her palm. As she poured her Qi into it, she willed it to take on a moreplex form, a miniature whirlwind that acted ording to her thoughts.

    The whirlwind spun independently of her thoughts, yet Mira could feel the connection, a subtle thread that linked it to her very essence. She experimented with directing it, guiding its path through the air with mere thoughts. The whirlwind responded in kind, but there was still a bit oftency.

    Still, she was satisfied with that for now.

    "It''s about more than just control," Mira realized, watching the whirlwind dissipate into a mist. "I need to understand how what I create interacts with the world. In other words, I have to bridge the gap between imaginary and real."

    She then turned her attention to a more ambitious project. She envisioned a flock of ice birds, each one a delicate sculpture of frost and wind. Right now, they were merely inanimate objects that looked quite good for sculptures.

    However, with a wave of her hand, she brought them to life, infusing each bird with a fragment of her Qi that acted as pathways in their tiny bodies.

    The birds took flight, circling around her. Mira smiled, her heart swelling with pride. She had created ''life'', albeit temporary and simple, but it was a start.

    ''It''d be more urate to say that I created a simple strand of code that resembled life, but that doesn''t sound nearly as good.'' She chuckled.

    However, Mira knew that creating life was not her goal. She needed her creations to be powerful yet controble extensions of her will.

    She focused on the birds, directing them to fly higher and faster. They responded instantly, soaring into the sky, a beautiful disy of her growing power.

    As night fell, Mira''s mind raced with ideas for integrating this newfound mastery into her techniques. She imagined the [Paragon Wings] not just as a tool for flight and speed but as a part of her very being.

    With a deep breath, she summoned the [Paragon Wings]. Linking the feathers to the plethora of meridians within her, she created a link between herself and the technique while also mixing in a bit of ''creation energy'' to keep it semi-permanent.

    For this technique, in particr, she still wanted to keep the imaginary aspect. It''d be too difficult to find the rightbinations and ratios of all the elements within the wings to make it actually real.

    All she wanted was to make it so she didn''t need to provide it with any Qi.

    They unfurled behind her, nearly blocking out the sky above with howrge they were. With one magnificent p, she took to the skies, soaring through the air with ease. The wings responded to her every thought, turning and diving without any issues.

    "Looks like I''m onto something," Mira whispered, her voice barely audible over the rush of wind. "I''ve found the bnce. At least for this technique."

    Shended gently on the ground, her [Paragon Wings] disappearing into a flurry of snowkes.

    "Now for the true test," she said, her eyes gleaming with interest. "To see how these improvements fare in realbat."

    Mira created a set of [Paragon Wings] again and took flight. She extended her Soul Sense, searching for anything to fight.

    However, as she flew over the sea of frozen trees, she saw a group of familiar people surrounded by auras she didn''t recognize.

    Some distance away, closer to the outer edge of the Thicket than where she was, Dominique, Elenei, Rhydian, Coralia, Hana, and Linnea were surrounded by a group who seemed to be hunters. They were wearing thick fur coats and were carrying more unconventional weapons like bows and arrows,s, and other odd items, but it seemed their main weapons were spears.

    They weren''t all that strong, only in the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realms, but Dominique was the only one standing while the rest were justzing around.

    Hana and Linnea looked worried but not overly concerned.

    Elenei and Rhydian sensed her presence due to their connection but didn''t say anything and continued to watch Dominique.

    "Little girl, just hand over the Crimson Frost Lotus and we''ll let you go on your way." The leader, a man with a thick set of facial hair in the Nascent Soul Realm, stepped up and said.

    "Hmmmm~" Dominique hummed as she yed with a frozen flower with blood-red petals. "No~!" She giggled and put the Crimson Frost Lotus in her Spatial Ring.

    The man and the rest of his subordinates frowned and unleashed their auras onto the girl, threatening to force her to her knees. But they were all surprised when Dominique just stood there with the same cheeky smile on her face.

    The leader scowled but didn''t behave irrationally. His gaze unconsciously went toward Elenei, Rhydian, and Coralia, who seemed like they were barely watching.

    What made him even more worried was that he couldn''t sense their strength. Were they strong? Weak? Did they have a treasure to conceal their strength? He didn''t know, and this caused him to hesitate.

    ''If their cultivation is really that much higher than mine that I can''t sense it, we''re all screwed, but if it isn''t��'' His eyes shed with a hint of killing intent. His instincts told him to just walk away, but his pride and knowledge of the Crimson Frost Lotus wouldn''t allow him to.

    The Crimson Frost Lotus was a highly sought-after yet incredibly rare item that most if not all, major powers on the Northern Continent wanted.

    It possessed the power to enhance one''s Qi, particrly aiding in cultivation techniques that involve ice or blood elements. The Crimson Frost Lotus was also an essential ingredient in rare elixirs, capable of healing grievous wounds or even extending one''s lifespan.

    Those were just a few of its capabilities. Taken on its own could improve one''s affinity, cultivation, and vitality, and there''s even a rare chance of obtaining a unique physique.

    There wasn''t a single person on the Continent, or really, the world, who wouldn''t want to have that flower. Yet, it was in the hands of a little girl who treated it like a roadside cabbage.

    Just the thought of her ying with it and then destroying it all while not knowing its full capabilities had him trembling in anger.

    ''Dammit! What am I hesitating for?! A person''s life can change because of a single moment! If I can obtain that flower, I can go from an ordinary person to someone ordinary people can only look up to!'' His eyes shone with resolve as he made his decision.

    "Take her down!" he shouted, his voiceced with anger and frustration.

    Dominique''s eyes sparkled with delight. "Finally!" she eximed, her tail flickering with eager anticipation. With a pounce, she leaped into the air, meeting the oing attackers head-on.

    As the hunters charged, Dominique''s grin widened. She darted among them with a speed that was impossible for someone at her level to have. With a wave of her hand, her blood-affinity abilities manifested in visible, vivid red energy that surged from her body.

    Her first prey, a hunter wielding a spear, thrust it towards Dominique. But, with a swift, elegant motion, she sidestepped the attack, grabbing the spear and twisting it.

    The hunter''s eyes widened as his own blood betrayed him. She sucked out a stream of blood from his veins and formed a sharp de that Dominique grabbed. Without hesitation, she shed at him, cutting his neck open as blood pooled onto the snow. Secondster, he fell to the ground, motionless.

    Seeing an opening, another hunterunched a towards her.

    However, Dominique''s reaction was instantaneous.

    Her tail whipped out, slicing the into shreds before it could ensnare her. She leaped towards the hunter, her body spinning as she delivered a powerful kick that sent him flying into a tree with a sickening crunch.

    Using the blood that seeped out of his mouth, she redirected it back toward his brain and exploded it, killing him.

    However, because she was preupied for a moment, a hunter managed tond a heavy blow with his spear, leaving a deep gash across her arm and chest.

    For a moment, the wound seemed severe, but then it began to close rapidly, healing before the hunters'' astonished eyes.

    With a light smile, she looked into the man''s eyes and pped her hands together. A shockwave of blood-red energy exploded outward, and all the hunters that were caught in its path were sent hurtling through the air, their bodies crashing against trees and rocks.

    Waving her hand, she collected all the blood from the men and turned them into solidified spears. She then clenched her fists andunched them at the fallen hunters, piercing their bodies with hundreds of spears.

    After witnessing the annihtion of his subordinates, the leader could no longer contain his rage.

    With a roar, he charged at Dominique and attacked. His fist connected with Dominique''s chest, sending her tumbling backward as her chest caved in from the impact.

    Gasping for air, she pushed herself up, her chest slowly reforming, the bones and flesh knitting back together like she was some sort of immortal creature. Then, giving the man a wink, she darted off, not daring to face him head-on.

    The leader pursued her relentlessly, his attacks growing more ferocious. His eyes turned red like demons as he forgot all about the little girl''spanions.

    ''I''ll kill her! I''ll kill that little girl! How dare she fool me?! How dare she conceal her strength to the Foundation Realm!'' Such thoughts consumed his mind as he became even angrier over time.

    Dominique struggled to evade his attacks. Not only was she weakened, but she was much weaker than him to begin with. She darted between trees, her blood abilities creating barriers and weapons to fend off the leader''s relentless assault.

    But the leader was not to be deterred. With a thunderous shout, heunched a technique, causing a massive surge of ice Qi to converge around Dominique, trying to trap her in an ice coffin.

    Just as the coffin was about to close, Elenei stepped in.

    With a casual flick of her hand, she swatted the coffin away as if it were nothing more than a bothersome fly. Her expression was calm, but her eyes held a cold, dangerous glint.

    The leader''s face drained of color. ''Fuck! She''s strong! No, she could be even stronger, with how easily she destroyed my technique! Dammit! What''s someone like her following around a little kid for?!''

    He turned to flee, but Elenei, without a word, flicked her finger again. A feather shot out from inside her cloak. It pierced the leader''s neck, severing his life in an instant.

    "You certainly know how to entertain yourself," Eleneimented dryly, a hint of amusement in her voice.

    Dominique chuckled, brushing off her clothes as she stood up. "I like to keep things interesting."

    "You know that could''ve been dangerous, right?"

    Dominique nodded, but she didn''t lose her smile. "I know, but I couldn''t help myself. Mother''s always been able to fight against people above her cultivation. I wanted to see how far I could go�Chow Ipared to her."

    "..."

    Elenei just stayed quiet as she nced up at the sky.

    "I''m sure she''d be quite proud of you if she saw you now." She whispered so quietly that Dominique couldn''t hear before returning her attention to the ground.

 Chapter 879 Branching Out

    <h4>Chapter 879 Branching Out</h4>

    High above Dominique, Mira nodded her head with a slight smile. ''She''s be quite strong, hasn''t she?''

    Rather, Mira thought that Dominique''s blood affinity was extremely powerful. All she needed to do was create a tiny cut on her opponent, and she was at an advantage.

    ''It''s not something that most people would try to defend against either, considering how rare her affinity is.''

    Now that she thought about it, Mira wasn''t quite sure how to defend against Dominique''s affinity. Not taking a hit would be the best solution, but for people around the same strength as her, that was a tall task, considering she trained the girl.

    There was also the fact that using other people''s blood was like turning their own strength against them. The quality of her Qi, while still important, didn''t matter as much as the quality of her opponent''s blood.

    ''In that aspect, I guess her physical strength is more important than her cultivation since all she needs is a single cut to win the battle.'' Mira spected but wasn''t inclined to incorporate that into her training.

    She wanted Dominique to excel in every aspect, not just one.

    ''Anyways,'' She shook her head and slowly drifted away from the area. ''It looks like Elenei is doing a good job, and Dominique is finding her own opportunities. I''ll leave them be for now, lest my bad luck rubs off on them.''

    Then, she shot off into the distance, wanting to find something to fight.

    ***

    Mira soared through the sky, her iridescent [Paragon Wings] shimmering behind her. The cold air rushed past her, but she hardly felt it. Her eyes scanned thendscape below for any sign of a worthy opponent.

    It didn''t take long before she spotted a colossal figure lumbering through the forest �C a towering Mid-Stage Rank 9 Ice Golem. Mira''s lips curved into a smile; this would work.

    She dove toward the Ice Golem, her wings folding neatly against her back as she picked up speed. The Ice Golem sensed something approaching and turned its massive head towards her.

    Just as she neared the golem, Mira executed a sharp turn, avoiding a sweeping arm that shattered all the nearby trees and ripped up chunks of the Thicket. Shended gracefully on the ground, her wings vanishing as she drew her scythe.

    The Ice Golem roared and swung its massive fists at her. Mira darted to the side and dashed forward. She twirled her scythe, building momentum for her attack.

    As the golem''s fist crashed down where she had been moments before, Mira leaped up, her scythe spinning rapidly before she unleashed her attack. The de met the Ice Golem''s arm, carving through the thick ice with ease, cutting it off. The golem staggered back, roaring in anger at the loss of its arm.

    Mira didn''t give it a chance to recover. She unleashed a series of rapid strikes, aiming at the weak spots she had identified. The golem swung its remaining fist widely in hopes of hitting her, all while stomping on the ground, shaking the earth, but to no avail.

    Even without her movement technique, Mira was too fast and unpredictable.

    Her scythe twirled in her hands effortlessly as each rotation dug into the golem''s ice-covered armor. Large chunks of ice flew off its body, crashing into the ground like tiny meteors, and there was nothing it could do.

    The Ice Golem, now on itsst leg, let out a bellow and unleashed a frost breath, a blizzard of icy wind and snow aimed directly at Mira. She responded by summoning a barrier of wind around her, deflecting the frost breath and charging through it toward the golem.

    As she closed the distance, Mira activated her [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon] technique. Her scythe spun faster, bing a whirlwind of ice and energy. Once she built up enough momentum, she struck the golem''s core, the epicenter of its power, with all her might.

    The impact was like thunder, echoing through the forest. The Ice Golem''s body shattered, exploding into thousands of ice shards that glimmered like diamonds.

    Miranded softly on the ground, her scythe returning to her side. She looked at the remnants of the Ice Golem, a sense of satisfaction filling her.

    ''That felt a lot easier than I thought it would.'' She gave herself a nod, but as she stared at the remains, a thought struck her.

    Raising her hand, she used up about 10% of her Qi reserves to create [100 cial Warriors].

    In ce of where she just defeated the Mid-Stage Rank 9 Ice Golem, 100 smaller ones appeared. She had infused them with her creation tail to make them more permanent, then began inspecting them.

    She flicked one with her finger, and it exploded on impact. The two behind it also exploded, causing her to frown.

    ''How did that ice goleme to be?'' She wondered. The ones she created, while not identical, were extremely close in density and mechanically to the one she just fought, but thetter was clearly much stronger.

    ''So, it''s still not good enough, huh?''

    It seemed her ability to ''create'' objects wasn''t nearly as great as she initially thought. It was merely the progress she made that was significant, not the actual results.

    ''But, where do I go from here? I have absolutely no idea what it means to ''create'' something. Doesn''t matter what it is. All I''ve ever known how to do is kill and destroy.'' She thought, somewhat downtrodden.

    She wasn''t unhappy about the fact that she''s only ever destroyed people''s lives throughout her existence, but that she might not fully understand how to use one of her innate abilities simply due to her disposition.

    Even now, she was thinking about using her creations for destruction. Everything she did revolved around her ability to obliterate. Her techniques were rated based on their efficiency at killing. The way she judged other people was determined by how much devastation they could cause.

    Nothing else mattered, and she still believed that. All she cared about was getting revenge and removing a crazy stalker who wanted nothing more than to steal her freedom. In order to do that, she needed to survive this harsh world, and the only way she knew how to do so was through destruction.

    ''...Maybe it''s time to branch out?'' She questioned, but that thought made her feel a bit ufortable. If she did that, it''d take away from her time training, improving her cultivation, and getting stronger. ''But, if it can help me use one of my abilities, then it might be worth it. I''m not pressed for time, anyways.''

    If it were anything else, she wouldn''t even be having these thoughts, but as her Creation and Destruction tails were on the same level of strength andplexity, she figured it''d be more than worthwhile how to use both.

    ''They are two sides of the same coin, right? If I learn how to create better, I should be able to better understand how to dismantle.'' Thatst thought brought a smile to her face.

    ''I guess it''s time to explore creation in a way I never have before,'' she mused.

    With that thought, Mira decided to take a different approach. She would start by studying the natural world, observing how things were created and sustained without her interference.

    She ventured deeper into the cial Thicket, her Soul Sense keenly observing the intricate patterns of frost on leaves, the way ice formed on branches, and how snowkes intricately designed themselves as they fell from the sky.

    As she walked, she tried to mimic the natural processes, creating ice crystals and snowkes with her Qi. She paid attention to their structure, the bnce of elements within them, and how they interacted with the environment.

    She created a snowke, letting it drift down onto her palm. It was beautiful and delicate, yet itcked the natural perfection of a real snowke. She frowned slightly, realizing she had much to learn about the subtleties of creation.

    ''Creation is more than just power. Most of the things in the natural world aren''t all that strong, but they are there for a reason. Maybe I should start there before I try and brute force my way to destroying mountains,'' Mira thought.

    She sat down on a frozen log, closing her eyes to concentrate. She visualized the structure of a snowke, its symmetry, and its delicate form.

    Opening her eyes, she tried again. This time, the snowke that formed in her palm was closer to what she had envisioned. It was more intricate, more bnced. A small smile crept onto her face.

    ''Progress,'' she thought, but her smile widened when she thought of a better way to do this.

    ''Rather than wasting my time walking around, searching for insights, it''d be much more efficient to make my own.'' With lighter steps, Mira walked deeper into the icy forest. ''But, before that, let''s see what secrets this Thicket has to offer.''

 Chapter 880 Crystal Treasure

    <h4>Chapter 880 Crystal Treasure</h4>

    Deciding to take a stroll through the cial Thicket rather than fly over it, Mira took in all the sights around her.

    The beauty of the forest was captivating, with its towering ice-covered trees and snowkes dancing in the air. As she moved deeper, the trees grew taller, denser and seemed to attract more Qi.

    Surprisingly, the further she walked, the less creatures she saw. It usually wouldn''t take her more than a few minutes to find a beast, but the more she walked, the less frequent these encounters became.

    ''Is it because the environment is getting colder?'' Mira wondered, raising her hand to better feel the dropping temperatures, but shook her head. ''The creatures that live here should''ve grown ustomed to the cold. If anything, I should be finding stronger beasts.''

    That''s when she had another thought, one she didn''t think much of before.

    ''...There aren''t that many people here.''

    In fact, the only people she saw were the ones Dominique encountered. Other than that, she hasn''t seen a single person.

    Of course, the cial Thicket was massive, taking up a good portion of the Northern Continent, but it should''ve been popr enough that the residents frequented here. At the very least, the various powers on the Continent should be eager to control this location.

    ''Now that I think about it, there aren''t as many people on this Continent as I thought there would be.'' Whether it was the city Captain Jorvik dropped them off at, the Frozen Sangfroid Temple, or here, nothing particrly stood out. They all seemed like small cities, despite being major powers.

    Everything was more spread out, and it seemed people didn''t go out and explore like they did on the Western Continent.

    Stronger beasts here were definitely more unrestricted andmon, but Mira knew how cruel and relentless humans were. If they wanted to expand, what could a few random, lone beasts do to stop them?

    Only united ns of beasts could truly hold back humanity''s pursuit of war and resources.

    The cial Thicket was the perfect training ground, yet there was hardly anyone there? The more she thought about it, the weirder she found it.

    ''Odd�� Very odd.'' Mira stopped for a moment to ponder. ''Either there''s something here that I''m missing, or there''s something fishy going on with the Northern Continent.''

    For some reason, her instincts told her it was both, but she wasn''t sure why.

    ''I guess I''ll find out when I reach the center of the Thicket�� or not.'' Mira thought as she hurried up, still taking her time to stroll through the beautiful environment.

    The cial Thicket wasn''t exactly filled with resources��just strong enemies and, from what she saw with Dominique, the asional rare item. Maybe the people here just weren''t as bloodthirsty or greedy as she thought they''d be.

    Either way, Mira was eager to see if there was something interesting deeper in this danger zone.

    A few hours passed, and her ears twitched, hearing voices in the distance as she walked closer to the center. ''Is that where all the people are?'' Mira wondered, curious.

    She cast a simple illusion over herself, tucking away her distinct tails and fox ears, adopting the appearance of a wanderer. Her aura, too, was subdued, making her just another face in the crowd.

    As she approached the center of the Thicket, she noticed the area was bustling with people. The crowd was a mix of adventurers, mercenaries, and people who looked to be part of different factions, all drawn to the spectacle in the heart of the forest.

    Mira tapped the shoulder of a man nearby, keeping her voice casual. "Excuse me, what''s happening here?"

    The man looked slightly startled and just pointed ahead without a word. Mira followed his gaze, and her eyes widened at the sight.

    There, piercing the sky, was a gigantic ice crystal. Its surface burst through the clouds, and the aura emanating from it was so intense that even someone like Mira felt oppressed by it.

    Inside the crystal, a me of icy blue burned, casting a mystical glow that burned so bright it not only melted the ice around it but also the snow outside. However, as soon as it melted, it was reformed into ice again, bing stronger and more resilient, which in turn fed the me.

    It was like a paradoxical positive feedback loop. So much so that not just Mira but most of the other people had no idea what was going on.

    All they knew was that something spectacr was happening.

    ''A treasure''s being born.'' Everyone thought as their eyes lit up with greed.

    "I wonder when it''ll finish forming."

    "Probably a few more days, right? I reckon when that fire grows strong enough to burst out of that crystal, it''ll be ready."

    "I don''t know. It seems to me that the ice crystal is more of a prison to contain that fire than anything. I think it''d be a good idea for us to give it some space, lest whatever breaks free tries to kill us. However, I''m willing to put my life on the line to watch it. I''ll warn you guys if something happens."

    "Nice try, idiot, but nobody''s leaving."

    "I think an elemental is being born."

    "...."

    Whoever said thatst statement caused a tense silence to fall over the area.

    Everyone here was quite strong, at least in the Nascent Soul Realm, so they understood the benefits of finding, capturing, and absorbing an elemental, especially one as unique and powerful as this one.

    They all nced at one another, spotting any potential enemies.

    If it truly was an elemental, only thest man standing would receive it.

    "I think someone should just take it." A tall, burly man in a brown fur coat stepped up and said. "It doesn''t matter who. As long as it''s someone from our Continent, it''s a win."

    He was only at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and knew that his chances of obtaining it were slim to none. Thus, in order to sow a little discord as well as find a potential solution that didn''t result in a bloodbath, he decided to speak up.

    The crowd then started whispering as they realized that the man was right.

    "...He''s not wrong. Treasures like these do conveniently disappear as soon as they''re discovered."

    "Shush! Do you want to get yourself killed? You''ve heard the rumors, right?"

    "...Shit."

    "In recent centuries, more people have been visiting the Southern and Northern Continents. Coincidentally, rare treasures have been disappearing more often. Who do you think is capable of that?"

    "..." The guy knew but didn''t dare to say it out loud. He didn''t want to disappear as well.

    ''Are they talking about the Central Continent?'' Mira wondered as she listened in on the whispers. That was one of the only ''groups'' she could think of that could have a global presence.

    ''I guess there is the Mercenary Association, though.'' She thought, giving a few people in the crowd a nce. During her short time as a Mercenary, she could tell that at least a dozen people in the crowd were part of the Association.

    However, from what she understood, they were based in the Central Continent. Thus, regardless, it was most likely them behind the scenes.

    ''But, the Eastern Continent is supposedly filled with countless times more people than all other continentsbined. So, it could also be them, or possibly some other hidden, rogue group that''s looking to take control of the world.'' Mira spected, but at the end of the day, none of that mattered to her.

    There was a treasure right before her very eyes, and she wasn''t willing to give it up to any of the idiots here. There wasn''t anyone in the Divine Sea Realm present, at least that she could sense, so her chances of obtaining it were rtively high.

    ''Now, whether I''ll be able to escape with it is a different story.''

    But, she preferred to act first, then ask questionster.

    Plus, causing chaos on another continent, one that''s not her home, doesn''t sound too bad. She doesn''t have to worry about alliances or any of that nonsense and can just go wild!

    As she was thinking of how to snatch the crystal, the people around her began to argue.

    A group of stern-faced monks and nuns stepped forward. Their leader, a cold woman with a calm demeanor, addressed the crowd. "The Frozen Sangfroid Temple has protected thesends for centuries. We are best suited to guard such a powerful treasure," she dered.

    Her im was immediately challenged by a member of the Abyssal Night Sect, known for their ruthless and secretive nature. Dressed in dark, flowing robes, the sect''s representative, a man with a cunning glint in his eyes, retorted, "Power such as this should not be hoarded by one group. The Abyssal Night Sect proposes a joint custody, where all can benefit."

    The proposal sparked a heated debate among the gathered factions. Representatives from the unorthodox sects, dressed in various colors and styles, each put forth their im, arguing about the treasure''s potential uses and the need for its fair distribution.

    As the argument grew more intense, the burly man in the brown fur coat tried to mediate, suggesting a contest of skill or a lottery to decide the owner. But his words fell on deaf ears as the factions were too engrossed in their squabble.

    That''s when a particrly strong, lone cultivator jumped up into the air and flew toward the crystal. "Fuck all of you! This treasure is mine!"

 Chapter 881 Newcomer

    Chapter 881 Neer

    As the lone cultivator soared towards the crystal, the crowd erupted into chaos. The Frozen Sangfroid Temple monks sprang into action,unching a barrage of icy Qi sts at the man. The Abyssal Night Sect members also released a volley of dark, shadowy tendrils, aiming to ensnare him.

    Mira covered the area with her Soul Sense, taking in everything. She knew this was her chance. With everyone''s attention diverted, she could make her move. But first, she had to navigate through the chaos that had broken out.

    ''If I just rush toward it now, it''ll be too noticeable. If I''m going to be public enemy number one, I want to already have the treasure in my possession.'' Mira thought as she slowly made her way to the back of the crowd.

    The area was filled with energy as the various sects and factions unleashed their powers. Ice shed with fire, lightning streaked across the sky, and the ground shook with the impact of earth-based techniques.

    In the midst of this, Mira darted forward using her [cial Mirage Steps] to help keep her main body hidden. She activated the [Hidden World] technique and concealed her aura as much as possible.

    Now, even if someone was looking at her, they might not be able to see her.

    She weaved through the battling cultivators, ensuring she didn''t get hit. Her goal was the crystal, but she had to be smart about it.

    The lone cultivator that lept for the treasure struggled to fend off the relentless assaults. He managed to deflect a few attacks but was quickly bing overwhelmed. "Back off! It''s mine!" he roared, his aura ring wildly.

    Only for someone much stronger than him to get tired of his presence and smack him away like a bug with a giant ice hand.

    Meanwhile, a group of mercenaries saw an opportunity and charged towards the crystal.

    "I should be able to sell this for enough Contribution Points to buy that Dragon Bone Pill!" One of them eximed, while the other snorted.

    "You? I''m gonna snatch that thing and buy the Elixir of the Golden Sun!"

    "Heh~! What? Are your 13 wives sucking you dry every night? I didn''t know a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator could be impotent! Hahahaha!"

    "...Bastard. I''ll fucking kill you��"

    "What? Did I say something wrong? The only reason you''d need that is to improve your�� you know."

    "..."

    BOOM!

    The mercenary who wanted the Elixir of the Golden Sun unleashed a wave of golden fire toward hispanions, nearly burning to a crisp.

    "Think whatever you want, but that thing is mine!" He shouted before waving his sword andunching another attack. The men had to block his attacks, but by the time it was over, he was already halfway toward the crystal.

    "That asshole!" They gritted their teeth and chased after him.

    They brandished swords and spears, shouting war cries. But they were quickly intercepted by a contingent of Frozen Sangfroid Temple disciples, who formed a barrier of ice to block their path.

    Mira rolled her eyes and continued her approach, her gaze locked on the crystal. She could feel its power slowly rising with every passing moment. It was drawing her in, calling to her.

    Just as she was about to reach the crystal, a powerful st of energy surged towards her. Reacting swiftly, Mira summoned a barrier of wind around herself, deflecting the attack.

    She nced back to see a group of Abyssal Night Sect members, their eyes filled with malice. "She''s going for the crystal!" one of them shouted.

    Mira didn''t have time to waste. She elerated, her [Paragon Wings] unfurling behind her, propelling her forward. She shot towards the crystal, her hand outstretched.

    But just as she was about to grasp it, the crystal exploded in a burst of icy fire, sending a shockwave that knocked everyone back.

    Mira was thrown to the ground, her illusion dispelled by the force of the st. She quickly got to her feet, shaking her head to clear it.

    ''What the fuck was that?'' Mira wondered as she didn''t sense a thing before the attack hit her. With how sensitive she was to these kinds of things, especially after her ''evolution'', that was something that almost never happened.

    Hell, she could even sense Aelina''s presence as long as the woman wasn''t trying to hide, a feat that even many Mortal Shedding Realm elders would have a problem with.

    The crowd was in disarray, everyone dazed and confused.

    They all looked up and noticed that the fire inside the ice crystal was noticeably bigger, yet the outeryer was smaller�Calmost like it was shedding. It was still about the size of a small mountain but was at least 10% smaller.

    ''Kind of reminds me of Elenei.'' Mira thought and figured this treasure would be perfect for the Frozen Ash Dracophoenix, but�� ''I want the treasure.'' Her blood-red eyes were aze with greed.

    If this treasure was useful to her and she got it first, there was no way she was just going to give it away. Rather, even if she couldn''t use it, she might not even give it away�Cnot for free.

    Suddenly, Mira felt the connection between her and Elenei shorten, causing her expression to change. At first, she thought it could''ve been a fluke, but then she sensed Elenei elerate and knew that the woman was heading straight here.

    ''Fuck! She must''ve sensed the treasure!'' Mira''s eyes narrowed as she felt a sense of urgency. In the same Realm, Elenei wasn''t any weaker than her. In fact, in some ways, she was more powerful.

    Elenei''s agility, raw power, and ability to fly were on par or superior to her. As soon as she got her hands on the Crystal, there likely wasn''t anyone here who could stop her.

    ''Looks like I need to speed things up a bit. I probably have less than a minute before she arrives. If I don''t have it in my grasp by then, while dealing with the rest of these people will be easier, taking the treasure for myself might not be possible anymore.'' Mira thought as she started nning out a strategy.

    Mira decided to abandon her disguise since she''d already been found out. It also took her a substantial amount of Qi to keep it up when she was around the crystal.

    Her [Paragon Wings] unfurled majestically, this time much bigger, around 10 meters wide, and she leaped into the air with her scythe in hand.

    Below her, the factions were still embroiled in a fierce battle. The Frozen Sangfroid Temple and Abyssal Night Sect shed while also keeping the Unorthodox Factions at bay. The mercenaries and rogue cultivators, however, turned their attention towards Mira.

    Mira clicked her tongue in annoyance but decided to meet them head-on. She dived into the melee and used her [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon] to keep up the momentum as she sliced through her opponents.

    "Die, you damned beast!" One of the mercenaries shouted from behind, only for him to be bisected vertically and fall to the ground with a st.

    Mira never even spared the man a nce and continued on.

    She moved so smoothly through the chaos that if she weren''t cutting people into pieces, it would''ve looked quite beautiful.

    "I won''t let you take it!" a cultivator from the Frozen Sangfroid Temple shouted, lunging at Mira with a spear coated in frost.

    Mira parried the spear with her scythe, twisting it out of the monk''s hands. With a swift kick, she sent him sprawling to the ground and ignored him.

    As she fought her way through the crowd, the crystal''s aura grew stronger. The fire inside it zed with increasing intensity, its light nearly blinding.

    Mira was now mere meters away from the crystal. She extended her hand, ready to im her prize, when suddenly, the sky darkened.

    A massive ship, floating in the air, appeared overhead. It was a behemoth, its hull adorned with intricate runes and symbols. Mira''s eyes narrowed as she failed to recognize who it belonged to, but it was likely a powerful sect or organization.

    ''Central Continent? Or someone else?'' Mira wondered with narrowed eyes before she saw something that caused her to dash forward.

    The ship fired a giant harpoon towards the crystal, attached to a meant to ensnare it. Mira''s heart raced. She couldn''t let them take it! This was hers!

    Just as the harpoon was about to hit the crystal, Elenei appeared in a sh of icy brilliance. "Dammit! That''s mine!" she bellowed.

    Together, Mira and Elenei created a massive ice barricade around the crystal, encasing it in a protective shell.

    The harpoon and collided with the ice, and their momentum halted. The ship''s crew tried to pull back the harpoon, but the ice held firm.

    Below, the factions ceased their fighting, staring up in awe and anger at the neer.

    Mira and Elenei stood side by side, their eyes fixed on the ship. "They dare to challenge us? To take what''s mine?" Mira growled, her aura ring.

    "What do you think? Whoever destroys the ship gets the loot?" Elenei asked with a slight grin.

    "Deal!" Mira nodded and shot upward, creating a sonic boom.

 Chapter 882 Chase

    Chapter 882 Chase

    Mira surged towards the ship with her [Paragon Wings] trailing behind her like aet.

    Elenei, not to be outdone, transformed into her true form, a magnificent Frozen Ash Dracophoenix, and followed suit.

    The crew aboard the ship sensed two people with simr auras to their leader and started to panic. "Prepare the defenses!" the captain barked, but there was no anxiety or fear in his voice.

    The ship rumbled with energy as defensive runes lit up, creating a shimmering barrier around it.

    Mira reached the ship first with her scythe ready to strike. She swung it with all her might, unleashing a wave of Yin Lightning that crackled violently against the barrier. The impact shook the ship, but the barrier held.

    Elenei unleashed a torrent of icy fire, engulfing the barrier in a freezing inferno. Thebination of fire and lightning caused the barrier to flicker and weaken.

    Inside the ship, the crew frantically worked to reinforce the barrier. "Hold it steady!" the captain yelled, his hands glowing with Qi as he joined the effort. "Use more Spirit Stones if you have to!"

    But Mira and Elenei were relentless. Miraunched herself at the barrier again, this time infusing her scythe with a surge of Qi that came from her ck tail. The barrier cracked under the assault as she absorbed a portion of its energy.

    Seeing an opening, Elenei let out a mighty cry and unleashed her full power. The icy mes intensified, seeping through the cracks and spreading throughout the ship.

    The Captain''s face turned serious for the first time, but he just snapped his fingers and caused all the fire to disappear. "Get your shit together and put that barrier back up! Shake those two ants off! Our priority is the treasure!"

    "Yes, Sir!" The crew shouted and immediately got to work. Not even a secondter, the barrier was back up at full power once again.

    Now, it was their turn to attack.

    The ship retaliated with a volley of energy bolts, each one a deadly projectile aimed at Mira and Elenei. They dodged and weaved through the air, narrowly avoiding the onught. However, the people on the ground weren''t so lucky.

    Explosions filled the air as people were eradicated and craters were formed in the snowy terrain. The survivors of the assault all looked at each other with mild fear in their eyes. They came to a silent, mutual understanding that they needed to put their differences aside for now and focus on the people trying to kill them.

    The captain observed the ''battle'' from the bridge as the crew continued to fire volley after volley of attacks. He was not afraid of losing what he set his sights on; he had faced many challenges in his time. To him, Mira and Elenei were mere obstacles to be ovee�Cjust bigger ants.

    "Focus on the crystal," he ordered calmly. "Deploy the Siphon."

    A crew member activated a device, and a beam of concentrated energy shot toward the crystal, wrapping around it in an attempt to extract it.

    Mira saw the beam and realized the ship''s intent. "They''re trying to take the crystal!" she shouted to Elenei.

    The two redoubled their efforts, attacking the ship with renewed fury. Mira''s scythe strikes became more ferocious, sending waves of destructive energy towards the ship. Elenei''s icy mes grew colder, trying to prate the ship''s defenses.

    But the ship was resilient. It deployed additional shields and countermeasures, deflecting their attacks while continuing to extract the crystal.

    On the ground, the various sects and factions had ceased their infighting and watched in awe and fear as the two powerful beings shed with the ship.

    ''When did such strong peoplee to the Northern Continent?'' They wondered. Even the people from the Frozen Sangfroid Temple didn''t know who they were since they were traveling during the time Mira ''visited'' their Sect.

    shing at the ship with a seemingly endless wave of attacks, Mira''s brows creased. ''Tch. What''s this fucking thing made of?'' She clicked her tongue and smashed against the barrier with one of her tails, empowered by her Martial Manifestation, but all it caused was a ripple on the surface.

    Its defensive barriers were bolstered by the crew''sbined Qi, creating an almost imprable shield. Not to mention, the captain was directing everything. She just wasn''t sure how.

    Frustrated by the barrier''s resilience, Mira decided to change tactics. She flew higher, circling the ship, looking for weak points in its defenses. Her eyes glistened as she spotted a small gap in the barrier.

    Without hesitation, she dove down, her scythe aimed at the gap. With a powerful strike using all the momentum she''d built up, she shed into the barrier and sliced into the ship''s hull.

    The crew inside scrambled to repair the breach, but Mira just snickered and flickered onto the ship.

    ''Now that I''m in, I''m not leaving.'' She chuckled inwardly before raising her fist, covering it with her [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] Technique, and punched one of the boards. A muffled explosion went off, but she didn''t cause any real damage. Still, she did sessfully create a small hole, which was all she needed. Hitting that spot again, the board splintered into a thousand pieces.

    She then proceeded to tear through the ship like a natural disaster.

    Elene saw Mira''s sess and joined in by focusing her icy fire on the breach. The ship''s defenses faltered under theirbined assault.

    Meanwhile, the Siphon had almostpleted its task. The crystal was slowly being lifted off the ground, moving towards the ship.

    Mira and Elenei redoubled their efforts. The ship''s crew ''fought'' with everything they had, but with one inside the ship and the other outside, the tides were beginning to turn. Mira''s ability to destroy was simply too high, even for them.

    The captain noticed this and was trembling in rage. With a fiery look, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He stepped onto the deck, ring his aura wildly. "Enough!" he roared, unleashing a powerful wave of energy with the help of the ship''s reserves and arrays.

    The st hit Mira and Elenei, sending them reeling back and away from the ship. But they quickly recovered and rushed back toward them.

    Unfortunately, they were so caught up in the battle and destroying the people in front of them that they forgot about the one thing they were supposed to defend!

    nk!

    The ship shook for a moment as the crystalnded in their grasp.

    The captain watched with satisfaction as the crystal was linked to the ship. "Prepare for departure," hemanded.

    "Understood!" The crew saluted and controlled the ship to begin ascending rapidly.

    "Dammit! Get them!" Mira hopped onto Elenei''s back andmanded. Elenei released an ear-piercing screech that burst the eardrums of anyone nearby and shot after the boat like a meteor.

    "Focus on the engines!" Mira shouted, pointing towards the rear of the ship where energy thrusters emitted a brilliant glow.

    Elenei nodded and unleashed a barrage of icy mes towards the ship''s engines, aiming to disable its propulsion system. The mes enveloped the engines, but the ship''s defenses kicked in, creating a protective shield around the critical area.

    "They''re not making this easy," Mira growled, her frustration mounting.

    Meanwhile, the captain stood at the helm with a grim expression. He knew the importance of the crystal and was determined to keep it out of the hands of these interlopers. "Increase power to the shields! Don''t let them near the crystal!" hemanded.

    The ship responded, and its shields grew stronger and brighter. The crew worked tirelessly, channeling their Qi into the ship''s systems to bolster its defenses.

    Mira and Elenei continued their assault. Miraunched herself from Elenei''s back, transforming into a streak of light as she used her [cial Mirage Steps] to appear right above the ship. She swung her scythe with all her might, aiming to cleave through the shield.

    The impact was immense, creating a shockwave that rippled through the air. The shield flickered and wavered but held firm.

    "We need tobine our attacks!" Elenei yelled, swooping down to join Mira, who nodded in return.

    The two of them then began channeling their energy together in an attempt to increase the potency of their attacks.

    Mira''s scythe and Elenei''s icy fire worked in tandem, slicing countless holes in the barrier. The ship''s defenses struggled under the relentless onught, cracks beginning to form in its shield.

    Inside, the captain''s frustration turned to desperation. He knew they couldn''t withstand this assault much longer. He made a split-second decision. "Release the golems!"

    At hismand, a swarm of small, flying metallic golems emerged from the ship, each armed with weapons. They zoomed toward Mira and Elenei, firing a hail of metal bolts.

    Mira saw the ''drones'' and grinned. "Perfect." She swung her scythe, creating a whirlwind that sucked in the drones and shredded them to pieces. The debris rained down like metallic snowkes, hiding their presence.

    Elenei took advantage of the distraction and unleashed a focused beam of icy fire, targeting the now-exposed and weakened engines.

    The ship lurched as one of its engines exploded in a burst of me and smoke. Losing altitude, it started to descend rapidly.

    "Now''s our chance!" Mira eximed, her eyes locked on the crystal.

    Elenei dove towards the ship like a blur. Mira readied herself, channeling her Qi in anticipation.

    As they neared the ship, the captain stood defiantly at the helm, his Qi ring. "You won''t take it!" he roared, unleashing a final, desperate attack.

    A massive wave of energy surged from the captain, aimed directly at Mira and Elenei. They braced themselves, ready to counter.

    The energy wave collided with Elenei''s icy fire and Mira''s Yin Lightning, creating an explosion of light and power that enveloped the ship.

    In the chaos, Mira leaped forward, her hand outstretched towards the crystal. Her fingers grazed its surface, and she felt a surge of power coursing through her.

    But before she could grasp it, the ship veered off course due to its destroyed engine, taking the crystal with it.

    Mira and Elenei were then thrown off bnce by the explosion, and watched in frustration as the ship, with the crystal in tow, disappeared into the distance.

    "Damn it! After them!" Mira shouted, pping her [Paragon Wings] as fast as she could.

 Chapter 883 Mine

    <h4>Chapter 883 Mine</h4>

    Mira left a trail of light, slicing through the air with unmatched speed, while Elenei illuminated the path ahead.

    The ship, despite its damaged engine, was surprisingly agile, dodging and weaving through the clouds. The captain pushed the ship to its limits, desperate to escape with the crystal.

    "We can''t let them get away!" Mira shouted, her eyes fixed on the ship. "Elenei, try to nk them!"

    Elenei responded with a sharp nod and veered off to the side, circling around to approach the ship from a different angle. Mira, meanwhile, continued her direct assault,unching a series of devastating ice attacks from her scythe.

    The ship''s crew worked frantically to maintain the barrier and evade the attacks. The captain''s voice echoed through the ship, "Keep moving! We''re almost out of their range!"

    But Mira only became more enraged. She focused her Qi, channeling it into a massive surge of Yin Lightning that crackled against the air, causing the very space around her to distort. The lightning bolt streaked toward the ship, striking its barrier with a deafening boom.

    The impact caused the ship to shudder violently. Inside, the crew struggled to keep the ship stable. Some of them even fainted as they used up too much of their Qi to try and strengthen the barrier.

    Elenei, who had now appeared right above the ship,unched a concentrated beam of icy fire at the ship''s remaining engines. The intense cold seeped through the barrier, causing the engines to freeze and malfunction.

    "Destroy that ice and get this damn ship moving!" The captain shouted as he focused on navigating it. He made a series of hand signs, and the wind around the boat started to shift, pushing it forward and keeping its momentum.

    He couldn''t allow it to go down now.

    With the ship''s mobility limited, Mira saw her opportunity. Pumping Qi into her scythe, she made an exact ice replica of it, except instead of being around 2 meters tall, it was asrge as the ship. Activating her Scythe Manifestation, she struck the barrier with all her might, creating arge crack that began to spread.

    The captain realized the severity of the situation, grabbed the ship''s emergency controls, and initiated a desperate maneuver. "Full reverse! Activate emergency thrusters!"

    The ship lurched backward, its emergency thrusters firing with full force. The sudden movement threw Mira and Elenei off bnce, causing them to miss their next attacks.

    But they quickly recovered and adjusted their tactics. Mira and Elenei coordinated their movements, attacking from different angles to keep the ship''s crew on their toes.

    Mira dove underneath the boat and charged forward with a surge of Qi. Right now, she wasn''t worried about what she wasting. All she cared about was taking down this damn ship.

    With a p of her wings, she shot up and mmed her scythe into the barrier. She saw it crack for a moment before regenerating immediately and frowned.

    ''Fine.'' She thought, putting her scythe away. Popping her knuckles, she coated the shield in ice and grabbed onto it, finallytching onto the boat. ''I guess my fists are more useful in this situation.'' Raising her free hand, she used her [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] and began pounding away, delivering countless explosions every second, knocking the boat off-course with how much strength she put into every punch.

    Each strike was more powerful than thest, fueled by her growing fury at having to put up with this nonsense.

    Meanwhile, Elenei hovered above and unleashed a relentless onught of icy fire. For the crew, her mes were more terrifying than anything Mira could do, as any little crack, imperfection, or weakness was taken advantage of. All it took was one minor thing for that god-forsaken fire to spread.

    On the ship, the crew members were at their wits'' end. Their faces were lined with exhaustion and fear as they struggled to maintain the shields and keep the ship afloat. The captain was now trembling with rage, but he kept his cool, knowing that their situation was dire.

    "They''re tearing us apart!" one of the crew members shouted, panic evident in his voice.

    "Keep focused!" the captain barked back. "Redirect all avable power to the shields! We can''t let them breach!"

    The ship''s defenses, bolstered by the desperation of its crew, somehow managed to hold against the relentless assault. But Mira and Elenei were far from done.

    "We need to break through," Mira growled, her eyes narrowing as she assessed the situation. "Elenei, on my mark,bine your mes with my lightning and ice. We''ll hit them with everything we''ve got." Shemunicated with the Dracophoenix through their connection.

    Elenei nodded, understanding the n. Mira pped her wings andnded on her ''mount''. The two of them circled the ship, looking for the right ce to attack.

    "On my mark... Now!" Mira shouted, locating a spot they could take advantage of.

    In perfect unison, Mira unleashed a devastating wave of ice-covered Yin Lightning while Elenei bombarded the ship with her fiercest icy fire. Thebined power of their attacks created an explosion that cracked the very air around them.

    The ship''s barrier flickered wildly under the onught, cracks spreading across its surface like a spiderweb. Inside, the crew members were thrown off their feet and hurriedly scrambled to their posts, but it was already toote.

    "We''re losing it!" one of the crew members cried out.

    The captain gave a frustrated sigh and red at Mira and Elenei, who were nning another attack. ''Fucking bitches.'' He inwardly grumbled, scorching their faces, auras, and any other notable features into his mind. ''I''ll remember this day.''

    With that thought, he made a crucial decision and yelled. "All hands brace for impact! Prepare to eject the crystal!" While it''d be a shame to lose it, having the boat destroyed was many times worse.

    "But-!"

    "JUST DO IT!" The captain roared back, causing the crew member to shrink back and nod before running toward the crystal.

    BOOM!

    Another coordinated attack exploded against the barrier, creating a massive hole in the side.

    Mira and Elenei surged forward, their eyes fixed on the prize. But just as they were about to reach the crystal, the captain initiated the ejection sequence.

    With a loud hiss and a burst of light, the crystal was ejected from the ship, encased in a protective field. It shot up into the sky, propelled by a powerful burst of energy and shooting in the opposite direction.

    Mira and Elenei were both taken aback by the sudden turn of events but quickly adjusted their trajectory and followed the crystal.

    However, Mira couldn''t help but nce back at the ship, her eyes meeting the captain''s. The two stared at each other for a few moments, both thinking the same thing. ''I''ll see you again, bastard.''

    Turning back around, she closed her eyes for a moment tomunicate with Rhydian, giving her a few orders before she shot forward to the crystal.

    Now that the ship was severely damaged and unable to fight, they began a hasty retreat using their remaining power. The captain watched the two figures chase after the crystal and muttered under his breath, "Let them have it for now. I''ll strip it from their corpses when we meet again."

    The people around him shivered at how indifferently he said those words and knew they were in for a world of painter.

    As Mira and Elenei raced through the sky, the crystal shed anotheryer of ice. The two powerful beings shot through the sky, each determined to be the first to im their prize.

    However, thepetition wasn''t even close, with a certain ''bird'' nearing it almost instantly.

    Elenei managed to close in on the crystal first, her talons outstretched to grasp it.

    But just as she was about to seize the crystal, Mira''s instincts screamed a warning. "Wait!" she shouted, reaching out and grabbing hold of the crystal herself. With a yank, she tore something off it, revealing a ck, spherical object concealed beneath an illusion.

    The object was unfamiliar to Mira, but its ominous aura sent chills down her spine. Without a second thought, she coated it in ayer of ice and hurled it as far as she could into the distance, in the opposite direction of their flight. "Move!" she yelled to Elenei, propelling them both away with a powerful burst of Qi.

    Elenei sensed the rare tone of urgency in her voice and didn''t hesitate to follow. She stored the crystal safely away and followed Mira''s lead, soaring away at breakneck speed.

    Momentster, the ck object exploded in a colossal st that resembled a nuclear detonation. The shockwave ripped through the earth below, tearing apart thendscape and sending a mushroom cloud of debris and energy soaring into the sky.

    The force of the explosion caught Mira and Elenei off guard. Despite their natural defenses and even the hastily put-up shields, they were still sent hurtling towards the ground, spiraling out of control.

    "What the hell was that?!" Elenei eximed mid-spin.

    "I don''t know," Mira replied, gritting her teeth as she fought against the turbulent air currents, using her [Paragon Wings] to try and control herself. "But that thing was a trap. Someone wanted to ensure that if they couldn''t have the crystal, no one would."

    The two of them managed to stabilize their descent, slowing down just enough to make a controllednding. They touched down on a snowy ridge, far from the site of the explosion. The ground was still trembling from the aftershocks, and the sky was darkened with smoke and debris.

    Turning around and looking at the aftermath, Elenei couldn''t help but walk closer to Mira and say with a slight smirk, "It''s mine."

    "..." Mira scowled. "...I�� I suppose it is." She said through gritted teeth, irritated that she spent all that work to not even receive any reward.

    ''I''ll just steal that ship the next time I see that asshole.'' Mira thought, which seemed to calm her nerves a bit, but notpletely.

 Chapter 884 Secret Cave

    <h4>Chapter 884 Secret Cave</h4>

    ''Go chase a flying ship moving Northeast right now!''

    Rhydian paused mid-flight and scowled, hearing Mira''smanding voice in her head.

    Taking a breath to push down her irritation at being forced to work, she responded, ''But�� how will I even know where they are or what they look like?''

    ''It''s a flying ship! Do you see any others in the sky?''

    Rhydian''s frown deepened, but she just sighed and asked, ''...How am I supposed to catch them if even you and that stupid bird can''t?''

    ''You don''t have to catch them. Just find their presence and follow them!'' Mira replied angrily through their connection, so much so that Rhydian could feel her frustration building by the second.

    ''...Fine, but I want some sort of reward.'' She reluctantly agreed, knowing that it was impossible to deny Mira at this point.

    ''If you can follow them, we''ll do whatever you want to do next.''

    "..."

    Rhydian''s eyes widened in shock, scaring the people around her! She''d never heard Mira say something so�� nice(?).

    Yeah, nice. Mira was being "nice" for once in her life.

    "You okay, Rhydian?" Dominique, who was sitting on the wolf''s back, tapped her shoulder and asked.

    Rhydian snapped out of her thoughts and nodded with a wide smile. "More than okay."

    "Really? What happened?"

    "I got a job from your mother."

    "Mother? What''d she want you to do?"

    "To chase someone."

    "...Sounds about right."

    "But, she said she''d let me do whatever I want if Iplete it."

    Now it was Dominique''s turn to be shocked. Not just her, but Hana''s mind was also blown.

    ''She actually said that? Are we thinking of the right person?'' Everyone thought while looking at Rhydian as if she had grown a second head.

    "...Did Mother really say that?"

    "...I hope so," Rhydian responded hesitantly, questioning whether that was Mira she heard and not a figment of her imagination. "But she sounded mad, so I''m 90% sure it was her."

    "It really was Mother��" Dominique muttered, a little dazed.

    Out of everyone in the group, Mira treated Rhydian the worst. The leading theory amongst them was that Mira found herzy and disliked that aspect, but they also didn''t want to throw away the possibility that Rhydian was just a great target to bully.

    However, the wolf in question knew that Mira had high expectations for her and didn''t want someone tied to her to be left behind. She knew that Mira didn''t hate or even dislike her, more that she was simply annoyed by herck of drive.

    Unfortunately, there was ack ofmunication between the two. Rhydian didn''t grow by normal means, yet Mira tried to enforce traditional methods of training on her instead of just feeding her countless resources and letting her hibernate.

    It was because of those reasons that everyone was even more surprised that Mira would reward her "mount", as normally, she just forced the wolf to do something rather than allowing her to be free.

    "Rhydiannded on the ground and shifted into a muchrger version of herself, with at least a 50-meter wingspan. Dominique, Hana, Coralia, and Linnea jumped off her furry body and stared at the golden beast in awe.

    "I''m going now," Rhydian stated while pping her wings, sending gusts of wind everywhere. "Coralia, take care of everyone, or Mira will skin you alive. Literally."

    Coralia shivered in fright, but the slight smile on her face told a different story. But the mermaid just nodded firmly and replied, "D-Don''t worry. I''ll make sure nothing happens to them."

    "Maybe just a little wouldn''t hurt��." She muttered under her breath, but everyone could hear her, causing them to take a few steps away.

    Rhydian ignored herment and leaped into the air, wanting nothing to do with that crazy mermaid any longer. With a sonic boom, she shot off into the distance in the direction Mira told her the flying ship was heading.

    She soared through the sky, keeping her senses on high alert, searching for any sign of the flying ship Mira had described. The vast expanse of the sky stretched out before her, but most of it waspletely empty.

    As she flew, her mind raced with thoughts of the reward Mira had promised. ''Whatever I want, huh?'' she mused, a yful smirk forming on her lips. ''This could be interesting.''

    Thendscape below was a blur as she passed by a mixture of snowy peaks and dense forests that spanned the Northern Continent. She increased her speed, pushing her powerful wings to their limits.

    Suddenly, a faint silhouette appeared in the distance, a speck against the vast sky. Rhydian narrowed her eyes, focusing on the object. It was the ship, moving at a remarkable speed, its sails billowing in the wind.

    ''Found you,'' Rhydian thought triumphantly. She adjusted her course, trailing the ship from a safe distance. Her objective was to follow and observe, not engage. Mira''s instructions were clear, and Rhydian wasn''t one to disobey, especially with a reward on the line.

    The people on the ship remained unaware of its silent pursuer and continued its course northeastward. Rhydian watched carefully, noting its trajectory and any peculiarities in its movement. ''They''re heading towards... the Frozen Cliffs,'' she realized, recognizing thendmark from the map Mira had bought.

    As she followed, Rhydian''s thoughts drifted to herpanions on the ground. Dominique, Hana, Coralia, and Linnea were a peculiar bunch, each with their own quirks and strengths. ''Coralia better keep her word,'' she thought, a hint of concern in her mind. The mermaid''s yful yet crazy words weren''t lost on her.

    However, she didn''t know how to handle this newpanion.

    ''I don''t think Mira does either.'' She thought, finding it peculiar.

    Usually, Mira was someone who was incredibly decisive. When she decided to do something, only death would stop her, if that. But regarding Coralia, she just ignored her presence, as if choosing not to deal with her.

    ''Not like I don''t understand. That woman''s got something wrong with her brain. I guess it''s better to just leave crazy alone.''

    That''s what they all did with Mira, and they were still alive and well.

    As these random thoughts popped up inside her head, the ship suddenly veered to the right, heading towards a cluster of floating icebergs. Rhydian adjusted her flight path, her eyes never leaving the vessel. ''What are they nning?'' she wondered, now a bit more intrigued by who was on this ship and why they made Mira so angry.

    But Rhydian''s senses remained alert, scanning for any potential threats or surprises. The Northern Continent was known for its unpredictable weather and dangerous creatures. She couldn''t afford to let her guard down, not even for a moment.

    The ship maneuvered skillfully through the icebergs, its crew clearly experienced in navigating such treacherous areas. Rhydian admired their skill, even though she knew they were likely enemies.

    After about half an hour of following the ship, it finally slowed down, approaching a secluded cove hidden among the icebergs.

    Rhydian hovered away from the secluded cove, her golden eyes locked on the ship as it approached the hidden entrance. The icebergs parted silently, revealing a massive staircase carved into the earth, wide enough for the ship to enter. She watched in awe as the vessel glided towards the opening, disappearing into the depths below before the icebergs mmed shut.

    The wolf''s ears perked up as she heard Mira''s voice in her head. ''Did you find them?'' Mira asked, her tone icy.

    ''Yes, they''re here. There''s a hidden entrance in the ice. It looks like they''re heading underground,'' Rhydian responded, conveying the coordinates to Mira and Elenei.

    ''Good. We''re on our way. Keep an eye on them, and don''t let them out of your sight,'' Mira instructed.

    Rhydian nodded, even though Mira couldn''t see her. She settled into a watchful position, keeping her gaze fixed on the entrance. The Northern Continent''s twilight cast a serene glow over the icyndscape, but Rhydian did her best not to get distracted by the environment, despite really wanting to take a nap right about now.

    It wasn''t long before Mira and Elenei arrived, soaring through the sky with incredible speed. Mira''s [Paragon Wings] froze the air around her, creating ice crystals in her trail, while Elenei''s magnificent Dracophoenix form exuded a domineering aura that left any nearby beasts running with their tails behind their legs.

    Rhydian greeted them with a nod. "They went in there," she said, pointing to the staircase.

    Mira surveyed the area, her eyes narrowing as she sensed something unique. She wasn''t sure what, but she smelled�� loot. "This ce... it''s not just a cove. There''s something else here. Can you sense it?" she asked Elenei, who nodded in agreement.

    "Yes, there''s a strong energy emanating from below. It''s not natural," Elenei confirmed, her voice echoing with a mix of curiosity and caution.

    "Good. Hopefully, whatever they''re keeping down there can make up for my wasted time. Let''s go." Mira decided, leading the way towards the staircase.

 Chapter 885 Plan

    Chapter 885 n

    Mira, Elenei, and Rhydian approached the hidden entrance cautiously. Using her Soul Sense, Mira probed the area, searching for any signs of traps or protective formations that might give away their presence.

    ''Looks like there isn''t anything.'' Eleneimunicated as Rhydian nodded in agreement, but Mira remained skeptical.

    She frowned, not believing a guy like that captain, someone who valued his safety and that of his boat more than anything, wouldn''t have anything set up.

    However, no matter how much she scanned, it really seemed like there wasn''t any formation, array, trap, or anything of the sort that could alert him of their presence.

    So, she spread out her Soul Sense further, piercing not just the above ground but high in the sky and down in the earth as well. That''s when she noticed something peculiar.

    There was a massive web of thinly-line Qi interwoven within each other, both in the sky and underground. This web rippled whenever something appeared inside it.

    She noticed tiny bugs fly in and out of this illusory web, causing it to undte, albeit very slightly.

    ''It seems to work based off of either the weight of the being inside or its natural aura.'' Mira thought as she forced everyone toe to a halt.

    Everyone and everything in this world had a weight and an aura. Even said aura has a ''weight'' to it but interacts with the world differently than physical objects. It''s more like if a cultivator stepped into a room, they would raise the quantity and density of the Qi within as a whole simply because they''re a walking ball of energy.

    Mira guessed that whatever formation that man set up had something to do with that, but couldn''t be sure.

    ''Not that it matters. We just need to get by whatever this crap is and find that bastard.'' Mira thought as she began thinking of a solution.

    ''Did you find something?'' Elenei asked, to which Mira nodded.

    ''Yeah, a web that reacts to any presence inside it. I don''t think it''s a formation. It could be some type of massive array, but I''m not sure.''

    Elenei''s brows furrowed in thought. "An array that vast... it''s not something you see every day. It''s like he''s cast a over the entire area."

    Rhydian asked, still a bit confused, "So, if we touch it, he''ll know we''re here.?"

    "Right." Mira nodded as her eyes glinted with realization. "But we won''t touch it. We''ll go through it."

    "How do you propose we do that?" Elenei asked, intrigued by Mira''s confidence.

    Mira''s lips curled into a sly smile. "We mimic the properties of the things that can pass through it. Like those bugs."

    Elenei nodded, understanding Mira''s n. "Alter our aura and weight to match theirs. Clever."

    Rhydian looked skeptical but said nothing, trusting in Mira''s judgment.

    Mira closed her eyes, focusing on her Qi. She began to manipte their auras, tuning them to match the lightness and subtlety of the insects that flitted through the web undetected. It was a delicate process, one that required a lot of fine-tuningbined with a little bit of creation and destruction.

    They all knew how to hide their presence, mask their aura, and even control their weight/strength when needed, but that wouldn''t cut it here.

    What Mira was doing was essentially tying their presence to the web, weighing it down with their existence so as not to cause any major ripples.

    Was it risky? Very.

    Did Mira know what she was doing? Not really, but she didn''t want to wait here all day looking for a solution only to not find one and storm in there, breaking everything.

    This was just something she hoped could get them through the front door, not a permanent solution.

    After a few minutes, Mira felt like she had seeded and took her first step. She kept her senses locked on the web, but as she walked in it, she nodded happily that it didn''t vibrate much�Cnot enough to alert anyone.

    ''Come on. Let''s go.'' She urged the other two, who nodded and followed after her.

    As they moved forward, they watched the web closely. It remained still, undisturbed by their presence. Mira''s n was working.

    It wasn''t long before they reached the iceberg. Now, this was the easy part. Together, Mira and Elenei manipted the icebergs, creating a small, silent path that allowed them to walk through the entrance without any noise or disturbance.

    Rhydian transformed into a smaller form and hopped on Mira''s shoulder as a small wolf.

    Inside, the passage led to a massive steep cavern leading them deeper underground. Mira took the lead, her scythe ready in her hand. They descended into the darkness, their senses heightened to any danger.

    The path was steep and winding, leading them deeper into the earth. The walls slowly transitioned from ice to icy dirt to rock, then finally stone. Mira was a bit surprised that there were no other preventative measures in ce, but part of her understood why.

    They were piloting a massive ship, and this ce was a secret base. Having to disarm and rearm everything was likely very slow, not to mention a pain to do every time they wanted to return here.

    That web from before was also more than enough to stop 99.99% of intruders. Mira could cheat her way through for a few minutes, but even she doubted she could remain hidden for much longer than that.

    If someone were paying attention to that array, they would''ve noticed something was off immediately. She only seeded because the ones on guard were busy getting scolded by the Captain.

    Rhydian, in her smaller form on Mira''s shoulder, growled softly, her ears twitching. "There''s movement ahead."

    Mira halted, signaling for silence. She extended her Soul Sense, detecting the faint echoes of voices and the nging of metal. "We''re close to the main chamber."

    They proceeded with caution, blending into the shadows. The passage opened into a vast cavern where the ship was anchored. Crew members scurried about, making repairs under the watchful eye of the captain.

    "You idiots can''t even take care of a few nobodies?! Wait until we get back to the maind! I''ll make sure you lot don''t see the light of day for the next century!" The man yelled, causing everyone under him to flinch, not daring to meet his eye lest they make him angrier.

    "And you!" He pointed at a random crew member working on fixing the hull. "If you don''t do your job properly next time, I''m throwing you in my dungeon and forcing you to dig a hole until you die from the heat!"

    ''Fuck! What''d I do?! This was your fault, dammit! Since you''re so strong, you should''ve just killed that fox woman!'' The man inwardlyined but, on the outside, nodded meekly and got back to work.

    The Captain kept scolding anyone and everyone he set his eyes on, with nobody safe from his anger. Even the people who were here the entire time didn''t escape it.

    Mira, Elenei, and Rhydian remained hidden in the shadows, watching the scene unfold before them. Thetter two subtly nced at Mira, thinking that the two had some simrities, before they returned to what they were doing.

    Now that they were up close and not trying to destroy it, the ship seemed a lot bigger, but the most striking feature was that it was anchored firmly in ce, locked down by heavy sealing chains. Workers scurried around frantically, trying to repair the damage while enduring the captain''s wrath.

    Mira''s eyes scrutinized the sealing chains and the anchor, her mind racing to formte a n. "Those chains... they''re the key to keeping the ship stationary. If we can break them without alerting the crew, we can take control."

    Elenei, her gaze following Mira''s, nodded in agreement. "You''re right. Those runes on the chains not only prevent it from being shoved into a spatial ring or something simr but also keep it locked in ce. However, my fire should be able to weaken the chains discreetly."

    Rhydian, still perched on Mira''s shoulder, whispered, "I''ll scout the ship''syout and find us the best escape route."

    As the trio gathered information, a peculiar energy caught their attention. In a secluded corner of the cavern, a device pulsed with a strange power. It appeared to be a portal or amunication mechanism, its surface adorned with unfamiliar symbols and emitting a low hum.

    Mira extended her Soul Sense carefully so as not to alert anyone. Fortunately, her soul was quite a bit stronger than most of the people here, aside from the captain, so nobody noticed her subtle presence. "This device... it might be what they''re using tomunicate with their allies."

    "I want it." She stated, greed shing in her eyes before it disappeared.

    Elenei examined the device. "It''s definitely not from around here. We should investigate it, but carefully."

    Rhydian''s eyes narrowed as she scanned the room, noting the positions of the crew members and theyout of the cavern. "We need to act fast. The longer we wait, the more risk we''re at."

    Mira nodded, her mind already formting a strategy. "Elenei, start working on the chains. Rhydian, keep an eye on the crew. I''ll investigate this device. Once the ship is almost free, we''ll deal with these assholes and loot this ce dry!"

 Chapter 886 In Action

    Chapter 886 In Action

    Elenei transformed into her Dracophoenix form, but much smaller than her usual size. Instead of a giant reptilian bird, she was only about half a meter long and about as wide as a fist. Stepping back toward the passage they just came from, she used her metallic-like ws to dig under the ground.

    Mira was a bit surprised by her approach but nodded in approval. ''I was wondering what she was going to do.'' Elenei couldn''t just walk out there and destroy the chain. Much less the captain, everyone else would notice her as well.

    Then she sighed and nced at Rhydian, who had hopped off her shoulder and was about to go scouting out the perimeter. ''Haaa�� It''s nice to work with smart people. If only everyone could be like that.''

    Elenei effortlessly ripped through the ground toward where the first chain was embedded. She already had a decent mentalyout of this cavern, so she reached it without much effort.

    Sensing the chain right above her, she used her ws to carve out a hole under it, creating a huge weak point. Once she felt that the foundation was destabilized enough, she focused her attention on the chain itself.

    Raising one of her ws at the stone above her, she sent a thin stream of fire into it. She weaved it seamlessly through the minuscule cracks in it, doing her best to draw as little attention to herself as possible.

    The fire silentlytched onto the bottom of the chain, where she began to dismantle it from the inside out.

    As Elenei worked, the chain began to glow faintly, the heat from her fire doing its work. She was careful to control the intensity, ensuring it wouldn''t be visible from above. The metal started to weaken, with the links slowlying apart under the precise application of her me.

    Meanwhile, Rhydian, in her wolf form, prowled around the perimeter. Her ears were perked up, listening for any signs of approaching danger. Her eyes darted around, scanning for potential threats or unexpected visitors. She moved like a shadow, her presence barely noticeable.

    Mira kept a watchful eye on the crew, ready to intervene if anyone got too close to Elenei''s hidden location. Her hand rested on the hilt of her scythe. She knew they were on borrowed time �C the longer they stayed, the higher the risk of being discovered.

    ''Not like that''s a bad thing.'' Mira thought with a smirk. ''I can''t wait to stab my scythe through that bastard''s heart, but not before this ship is in our hands. Can''t have them escaping again.''

    After several minutes, Elenei finished with the first chain. She moved stealthily to the next one, repeating the process.

    Back on the surface, the captain continued his tirade, oblivious to the sabotage happening right beneath his feet. His anger seemed to know no bounds, and the crew members bore the brunt of it, their morale sinking lower with each passing moment.

    Rhydian returned to Mira''s side, her expression serious. "There''s a group of guards headed this way. Looks like they''re doing a routine check. Looks like they aren''t using their Soul Sense."

    Mira nodded. "We need to speed things up."

    ''Elenei, how''s it going down there?''

    Elenei''s voice came through their mental link. "Almost done with the second chain. Give me a few more minutes."

    Mira nced at the approaching guards. "We don''t have much time. Rhydian, help me create a distraction. We need to keep them away from Elenei."

    Rhydian transformed into herrger form, letting out a low growl.

    Together, Mira and Rhydian moved towards the guards.

    The guards, upon seeing the duo, raised their weapons, ready to engage. But before they could even make a noise, Mira and Rhydianunched their attack. All they saw was a sh of light before their heads flew in the air, and their bodies were obliterated into a fine mist of ice crystals.

    Elenei, having finished with the second chain, moved on to the third. Now that she was a bit more experienced and had a better idea of how the chains were made, she could work faster. She could feel the ship bing increasingly unstable with each chain she dismantled.

    Back on the surface, the captain finally noticed something was amiss. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene. Two presences just disappeared from his senses, putting him on high alert.

    He was just about to check out what was going on when he saw a familiar fox woman appear at the entrance of the massive room alongside arge golden-winged wolf.

    "YOU!" he bellowed. Drawing his sword, he almost instantly appeared before the two and cut. "How''d you two find this ce?! How''d you get in here?!"

    Mira blocked it with her scythe, but the force behind the attack continued and sliced apart the wall behind her. She kicked the man in the stomach, pushing him a few feet back, and shrugged. "Why should I tell you?"

    "...Fine." The captain, a man named Varik, stood up and straightened his clothes. His enraged expression instantly became calm and indifferent as the aura around him changed. "If you won''t say, so be it. I''ll have my fun forcing it out of you."

    "Oh?" Mira raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Torture? Sounds like fun~"

    Varik''s eyebrows furrowed, but he refused to pay any mind to her antics. ''This woman''s strong�Ca bit too strong for a nobody.'' He thought, analyzing her aura, orck thereof.

    He didn''t sense any sort of treasure that could be hiding her strength, meaning that she was able to suppress herself to this extent without any outside help. ''Only someone with near-perfect control over their Qi, body, and soul could even begin to do something like that, not to mention the talent it''d take. It seems this century''spetition might get a bit interesting.''

    ''That is if she doesn''t die by my hands!''

    "Are you done?" Mira asked before flicking over toward one of his crewmembers, chopping his head, and kicking him with an [Explosive Ice Gauntlet], turning his corpse into a frozen mist.

    Rhydian leaped at another and ripped him apart with her ws as if he were paper.

    Varik''s eyes widened at the disy of sheer power. His people weren''t merely random weaklings you could find anywhere. While they weren''t the best of the best, they should still be able to hold their own against almost anyone of simr strength. For ces as remote as this, he doubted they''d lose to anyone even in the same Realm as them.

    Yet, for them to die so�� miserably�� was aplete and utter disgrace!

    ''Tch. I should''ve gathered better men to take with me. Not these wastrels.'' Varik clicked his tongue in annoyance.

    The remaining crew members, witnessing the ruthlessness of Mira and Rhydian, fell into a state of panic, some trying to flee, others frozen in fear. They knew they weren''t a match for her ever since she attacked the boat and had no interest in facing her.

    Varik regained hisposure and charged at Mira, his sword glowing with darkness. "I won''t let you destroy everything I''ve built!"

    Mira met his charge head-on, her scythe shing against his sword. Sparks flew as their weapons collided, the sound of explosions echoing throughout the cavern. "Destroy? I''m just getting started."

    Rhydian, in her wolf form, lunged at the crew members attempting to escape. She moved from one man to another without stopping. They tried to put up their defenses and take out whatever treasure they might have to save their lives or dodge, but it made little difference.

    It was as if the wolf could teleport and phase through any shields they put up.

    Elenei, feeling the ship lurch above her, elerated her efforts on the final chain. The fire from her ws intensified, melting through the metal at a faster rate.

    BOOM!

    Mira''s tails mmed into Varik''s side, sending him skidding across the floor. The man ground his teeth in frustration but leaped back in. He shed, sensing an osciting wave of darkness that seemed slow on the surface, but ripped everything in its path apart and ground it to dust, gathering it all in the center.

    Mira attempted to dodge, but the wave followed her wherever she went. Clicking her tongue, she activated her Scythe Manifestation and, with the help of her ck tail, sliced a path open and flickered to Varik with her [cial Mirage Steps].

    Varik was growing increasingly frustrated. Raising his sword, he sucked in all the light around him, gathering it at the tip. Thrusting, he unleashed a thin beam of darkness that worked like aser. The beam just appeared and disappeared out of thin air, giving her no time to react.

    However, Mira didn''t care about that. She watched the tip and calcted the trajectory. ''As long as I protect my vitals, it''s fine. '' She thought, bobbing her head and left shoulder to avoid being hit and letting the rest of her body take the damage.

    Mira got closer and closer to the man before she swung, her scythe aimed at his throat.

    But Varik was quick, narrowly avoiding the lethal blow. He retreated a few steps, reassessing his opponent. "Who are you really? No ordinary person has this kind of strength."

    Mira smirked, twirling her scythe. "Let''s just say I''m someone who doesn''t like thieves trying to take what''s mine."

    ''It''s done!'' Eleneimunicated to Rhydian and Mira, who nced at each other and nodded.

 Chapter 887 Pact of the Fire God

    Chapter 887 Pact of the Fire God

    With Elenei''s confirmation, the dynamic of the fight shifted. Mira''s eyes glinted with a new sense of urgency. "Time to wrap this up," she dered, her voice resonating with authority.

    Rhydian intensified her attacks on the crew. Fire and Wind shot out of her wings. She shot at each person, piercing through their chests with her body, leaving behind a burning body.

    "Damn you, you fucking wolf!" One of the crew members cried out. He dropped his sword to the ground and charged at Rhydian, channeling his Qi to implode.

    However, Rhydian just sneered. Flying up to the top of the cave, she pped her wings, sending a barrage of ming feathers down below. The man who was suicidally ascending to her was turned into Swiss cheese before he exploded mid-air, shaking the cavern.

    Rhydian appeared out of the smoke, unharmed, and licked her lips, staring at the rest of her prey.

    "W-What kind of monster is that?! How''d it kill Jole so fast?!"

    "Just run! Just fucking run!"

    "Stupid ass Varik, can''t even take care of a few enemies! I swear, when I see you in hell, I''ll be the one to torment you for eternity!"

    Supercharging their Qi, they raced toward the exit, only for a wall of ming ice to block them in. Their faces paled, but they immediately pivoted. Launching themselves up, they aimed to create their own exit.

    Shing!

    A thin ck line of destruction bisected them at the waist before sucking their corpses dry of vitality and Qi. They didn''t even get a chance to understand how they died before they were reduced to dust.

    Now, there weren''t very many of them left. They looked at each other with bloodshot eyes, silentlymunicating.

    "You ready? Just remember, there''s noing back from this." One of them asked as the six others nodded.

    "We''re already dead, anyway! We might as well go all out!"

    The remaining crew members, their eyes filled with despair and determination, formed a circle. They sped hands, their Qi pulsing and intertwining. A ritualistic chant began, their voices low and steady, resonating with a power that was both ancient and forbidden.

    "By the blood we share, by the life we forsake, we invoke the Pact of the Fire God!" they intoned in unison. Their bodies began to glow with a fiery aura that originated from their very souls.

    Mira, Elenei, and Rhydian watched, curious. They had never seen such a technique and wanted to know more. The crew''s bodies started to transform, their muscles bulging, their skin turning a charred ck with streaks of fiery red coursing through them. Their eyes became glowing embers, and their voices merged into a single, powerful amalgamation.

    "This is... incredible," Elenei whispered. "They''re burning their life force, and even their souls, to gain temporary immense power."

    Rhydian growled, her wings ring. "So, they''re going to die even if we do nothing?" Elenei nodded at her question.

    Mira tightened her grip on her scythe. "No matter. We end this now."

    The transformed crew, now beings of pure destructive energy,roared and charged at the trio. They moved with astonishing speed, at least several times faster than before.

    Mira met the first attacker head-on. Her scythe shed against his supercharged fists, sparks flying. She could feel the intense heat and energy radiating from him.

    Dodging a fiery punch, she countered with a swift, precise sh, cutting through his defenses. The man screamed as he was cleaved in two, his body disintegrating into ashes.

    However, that only seemed to fuel their frenzy as their bodies absorbed the fire and grew even stronger.

    Rhydian soared into the air, dodging a barrage of energy sts. She retaliated with a storm of earth and water, doing her best just to keep them at bay. Killing was Elenei and Mira''s specialty.

    The battle raged on, destroying the entire cavern, save for the ship. The crew, despite their enhanced abilities, were gradually being worn down. Their bodies were unable to sustain the immense power they had unleashed and began to show signs of strain. Cracks appeared on their charred skin, revealing the glowing energy within.

    "Onest push," Mira shouted, sensing their weakening state. "Don''t let up!"

    Elenei transformed into her full Dracophoenix form, her size filling arge part of the cavern. She let out a mighty roar, unleashing a torrent of mes that engulfed the remaining crew members.

    Rhydian dived into the heart of the firestorm. Her ws and teeth tore through the crew, ripping them apart

    Mira moved like a specter among the mes. Each swing of her weapon sent someone to the afterlife, cutting down the crew one by one.

    Thest of the crew, his body crumbling and energy fading, looked up at Mira with a mix of hatred and gratitude. But she wasn''t intent on listening to his final words and cut him in half.

    On the side, Varik could only watch as his crew was eradicated before his very eyes. He unleashed a barrage of dark energy sts towards Mira. But she was like a ghost, dodging each attack with minimal effort.

    Mira smirked at the man, twirling her scythe. "You''re next." She closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye, already mid-swing when she reached him.

    Varik parried desperately, but it was pushed back a few feet. Mira''s strikes were relentless, each one more powerful than thest. However, he wasn''t some chump. Fighting someone like Mira on equal ground was the least of what people expected from him.

    Elenei swooped down from above, shooting a beam of fire out of her mouth that turned everything it touched to ash. Varik raised his arm and shielded himself with Qi, but the mes tore through his defenses and licked at his skin, leaving searing burns that made their way to his internal organs.

    Rhydian pounced from the shadows. Her ws raked across Varik''s back, tearing through his armor and leaving deep gashes. He cried out in pain, his aura flickering, but as he swung his sword in an attempt to counter, the wolf was already gone.

    Varik, now surrounded and battered, looked at his foes with a mix of fear and rage. He knew he was outmatched, but his pride wouldn''t let him surrender.

    The captain, now fighting on three fronts, was struggling. Mira, Rhydian, and Elenei''s coordinated attacks were overwhelming. He swung his sword in a wide arc, unleashing a wave of dark energy, but Elenei countered it with a burst of her fiery breath.

    Seeing an opening, Mira lunged forward, her scythe aiming for a decisive blow. Varik barely managed to dodge, but not without sustaining a deep cut along his arm.

    "Enough!" Varik roared, his aura erupting with dark power. The cavern shook withrge chunks of rocks and debris falling from the ceiling. "I refuse to die to the likes of you!"

    Mira''s ''smile'' merely deepened as she responded coolly, "You were dead the moment you caught my eye."

    Varik turned into an enraged monster and charged at Mira again. But this time, Rhydian intercepted him, tackling him with the full force of her wolf form. They crashed to the ground, Varik struggling under Rhydian''s immense strength.

    Mira approached, her scythe ready for the final strike. "Thanks for the ship and crystal."

    The captain''s eyes widened, not expecting her to still have the crystal in her possession. But immediately after, a crazy smile appeared on his face as he started cackling.

    Rhydian smashed his face into the ground, breaking his nose, cheeks and even cracking his skull, but he kept his smile.

    "You... you may have won... but others wille... you have no idea who you just offended��"

    Mira nodded with a slight grin. "I''m counting on it." With a swing of her scythe, she removed his head from his body.

    The cavern fell silent. Mira, Elenei, and Rhydian stood amidst the destruction, their bodies barely injured through it all.

    But before Mira anyone could speak, a sudden rumbling noise filled the cavern. The ship was nowpletely free and began to move, drifting away from its anchorage.

    Elenei immediately dashed towards the ship. "We should probably leave now. "

    Mira nodded, turning to Rhydian. "Let''s go."

    They left behind Varik''s shriveled body and hurried towards the ship. As they boarded, the ship picked up speed, sailing away into the unknown waters. However, Mira didn''t forget to grab the device that looked like a portal or amunication device and stashed it at the bottom of the ship.

    Aboard the boat, Elenei controlled it out of the cavern, only hitting the walls a few times on their way up. The sun was setting when they exited, and they could sense Coralia''s aura nearby.

    Mira took a deep breath, feeling a sense of pride and pleasure wash over her. ''Haaa�� It really does feel good to kill an annoying bastard like that. How dare he try to steal what''s mine, wasting so much of my time?''

 Chapter 888 Rift

    Chapter 888 Rift

    As the ship emerged from the cavern, the trio stood on the deck, watching the sunset paint the sky in hues of gold and crimson. Elenei maneuvered the ship while Rhydian leaned against the rail, her eyes scanning the horizon.

    "There''s Coralia," Rhydian pointed out, spotting the mermaid''s familiar aura nearby.

    Elenei slowed the ship as Coralia floated up with Dominique, Hana, and Linnea by her side, her eyes wide with curiosity. "You did it! I knew you would!" Coralia eximed as she ran straight for Mira, who dodged her hug.

    Mira froze the mermaid''s ankles to the ship while nodding at the other three. Dominique smiled and jumped into her mother''s embrace as the other two returned the nod and began exploring the rest of the ship.

    "...Now that we have this, does that mean we won''t be riding on Aunt Elenei anymore?" Dominique looked up and asked Mira with a pair of innocent eyes.

    Both Rhdyian and Elenei stopped for a moment, their eyes widening as they hadn''t even thought of that. Now that they have a flying boat, there wasn''t a need for them to degrade themselves as mounts anymore, right?!

    "That''s right!" Rhydian shouted, dashing to the lower deck of the ship. She disappeared from sight, leaving only a few words behind. "Until this thing stops working, I won''t be working!"

    Elenei shook her head at the wolf''s antics but agreed. "I''d appreciate it if you all stopped riding on my back as well, but not because I dislike it. I merely want to go off on my own and do my own thing."

    Mira thought for a moment. Those two were right. If she wanted her two strongestpanions to get stronger, it''d be for the best if they were free to do what they wanted. "...Very well. You can do as you please."

    Elenei smiled and turned around to walk off, but Mira wasn''t done yet.

    "However, when I call, you return."

    The Dracophoenix lost her smile and continued moving, but both of them understood that this wasn''t a request�Cit was an order.

    "You can ride me anytime you want, Mira." Coralia chimed in from the side. She tried to wiggle her way closer to Mira''s side but was smacked away. Dominique and Mira both gave her a disgusted look, then moved away and followed Elenei.

    "We should check the ship for anything useful," Elenei said when Mira caught up to her.

    The trio then began to explore the ship, uncovering variouspartments and storage areas. They found a cache of weapons, rare artifacts, and even a trove of scrolls and maps. Finally, near the engines, they found a massive stockpile of Spirit Stones, somewhere in the tens of millions, filled with Low, Middle, and even Late-Grade.

    Making it back to the deck, Mira''s attention, however, was drawn to the device she had taken from the cavern. She examined it closely, tracing her fingers along the intricate symbols etched on its surface. "...What is this?"

    Elenei peered over Mira''s shoulder. "...I have no idea, but I''m getting a bad feeling from it."

    "You think we should destroy it then?" Mira asked, as her instincts remained mostly indifferent to whatever it was. At least, it posed no immediate danger. However, Elenei might know something she didn''t, and if she told her it needed to be destroyed, then she''d seriously consider it.

    "...Maybe," Elenei replied hesitantly, as something about the runes on it told her that whoever made this wasn''t ordinary.

    ''No, more than unordinary. Whoever crafted this is a master, someone at least as strong as I was at my peak. Perhaps it''s even one of the top powerhouses in this world.'' She thought, her expression bing grimmer by the second.

    While the Qi emanating from the device wasn''t intense, the subtle aura she vaguely felt from the craftsman told her more than enough information.

    "But, it could be useful, depending on what you do with it."

    Mira fell into thought. Should she keep it? Throw it overboard? Destroy it?

    Of course, she didn''t want to destroy something that took so much ''work''. This was her loot, her reward, and she would treat it as such. So, if possible, she''d like to keep it.

    That''s when she remembered the Communication Talismans Aelina had given her.

    ''An old woman like her should know what to do.'' Taking one out, she injected Qi into it and waited. Luckily, she didn''t have to wait long as, within seconds, she heard Aelina''s cold voice on the other end.

    "Who''d you offend this time?" The Sect Master immediately asked.

    Mira scowled. "Tch. Is that really your first question? Why would I call you if I offended someone? I''d rather surprise you with another enemy."

    "..." A tick mark formed on Aelina''s head, but she kept her cool. It hadn''t been long since Mira left, but somehow, the woman always seemed to know how to irritate her.

    "...Just tell me what you want."

    "That''s better." Mira nodded, smirking. Before Aelina could say anything, she continued, "Anyways, I killed some dude with a nice floating ship, and he had this weird device. I was wondering what I should do with it."

    "....I''m going to need a bit more information than that." Aelina sighed. ''Howe everything alwayses to killing with her? And why do I get the feeling that whoever died wasn''t some random schmuck?'' She thought but decided to leave that forter.

    Mira described the device in detail to Aelina, emphasizing the strange symbols and the faint aura it emitted. "It''s about the size of one of my tails, covered in runes. It feels... ancient, powerful."

    Aelina fell silent for a moment, pondering. "Can you be a bit more descriptive? Tell me what the runes look like in detail, what the material it''s made from is like, how the aura feels, and other notable features. I might be able to identify it then."

    Mira took a closer look at the device, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized every detail. "The runes areplex, intertwined in a pattern that seems to flow like water. They glow faintly, but the light is steady, not flickering. The material... it''s unlike anything I''ve seen. Hard yet smooth, almost like it''s alive. And the aura, it''s subtle but deep, like an ancient tree with roots spreading far and wide."

    Aelina listened intently, her mind racing through her vast knowledge. "It sounds like a creation from ancient times, possibly from the Era of Mystics. Those runes might be a form of lost script. This device could be incredibly valuable, possibly a portal, amunication device, or some sort of conduit to ancient powers. Hell, it could be all of those things."

    Mira weighed the information, her expression thoughtful. "So, destroying it would be a waste."

    "Absolutely," Aelina agreed. "But be careful. Such artifacts can attract dangerous attention. And their powers, if not handled correctly, can be catastrophic."

    Mira nodded, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she felt a rippleing from the device. The runes lit up, and the space above it started to crack, almost as if it was shattered ss.

    Mira''s eyes widened as she felt the device pulsate, a low hum emanating from it. She immediately ryed this to Aelina, who responded with a tone of urgency. "Mira, listen to me carefully. You need to stop whatever is happening right now. That device might be activating a portal or something far worse!"

    Mira nced at the device, now seeing hairline fractures appearing around the runes. "I''m not sure how to stop it."

    Elenei, Rhydian, and Coralia gathered around with fierce expressions. The air around the device thickened, an oppressive aura emanating from the growing rift. Dominique, Linnea, and Hana were forced to the ground, facenting. Mira and the others tried to spread out their Qi to lessen the effect, but nothing worked.

    Aelina''s voice crackled through the talisman. "You need to disrupt the rune pattern. Break one of the runes, now!"

    Without hesitation, Mira drew her scythe and struck the device, tearing out a chunk of metal that bore one of the glowing runes. She hurled the fragment off the ship, watching as it disappeared into the snow.

    The cracks in the air began to lessen, with the oppressive aura weakening. But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, a deep, old voice echoed from the other side of the rift. "So, Varik is dead."

    The voice sent shivers down their spines. Even Mira knew she shouldn''t��no��couldn''t mess with whatever was on the other side.

    Elenei stepped forward, her eyes narrowed. "Who''s there? Show yourself!"

    The rift pulsed once more, and through the cracks, they could see a pair of cold eyes piercing back at them.

    "I seek the one who ended Varik''s life," the voice continued.

    Mira stepped up. "What do you want?"

    The eyes in the rift seemed to appraise her. "Not bad. The outer continents have groomed someone admirable for once. You can call me Aroth. I was merely curious who was the person who took my Heaven''s Gate Mirror."

    Aelina''s voice came urgently through the talisman. "Mira, be cautious. This Aroth is no ordinary being."

    Mira nodded, still keeping her eyes on the rift. "I merely saw a weakling and took what belonged to him. If you have a problem, go visit that man, Varik." Everyone, including Aelina, tensed up at Mira''s words.

    Inwardly, they all screamed, ''You fucking dumbass! Read the room! Now''s not the time for this.''

    Unfortunately, she had already spoken.

    Aroth''s eyes seemed to consider her words. "Your actions, though reasonable, have consequences. Someday, you will regret those words."

    "I hope so," Mira responded with a smirk, nearly causing everyone to faint in frustration.

    The rift slowly began to close, the oppressive aura dissipating. The eyes vanished, and the sea returned to calm.

 Chapter 889 Rhydians Request

    Chapter 889 Rhydian''s Request

    "I want to go to a hot spring."

    Standing on the deck of the ship, Rhydian crossed her arms in front of everyone and stated.

    "...Hot springs? Do they even have those here?" Dominique muttered, taking out a map and looking for any notable "hot springs areas". However, she shook her head in disappointment, as the Crystal Spire likely didn''t deem such information necessary; thus, they didn''t include it. "I don''t see anything like that here on the map."

    "I don''t care." Rhydian refused to budge. "Mira promised we''d do what I wanted if I helped her. This is what I want, so we''re going."

    "..."

    "...Fine��." Mira grumbled after a long pause. She was still lost in thought about her brief meeting with Aroth, along with Aelina''s warning. For the first time since the two had met, the Sect Master seemed oddly concerned, constantly telling Mira to be careful and to try andy low for a while.

    When she tried to ask who this ''Aroth'' was and where he was from, Aelina shrugged it off, saying she didn''t know, but she spected the Central Continent. It could be from some hidden power on another continent that''s been biding their time, but she doubted that.

    Anything from the Era of Mystics has mostly been lost. There are probably inheritances somewhere spread out across the world, but Aelina was 99% sure they wouldn''t have anything as powerful as that teleportationmunication device in those ces.

    ''That old man likely won''t pursue you himself, but it wouldn''t be weird for him to send someone just to keep an eye on you. However, from my experience, those bastards don''t know how to scout. So, just please, try not to cause any more trouble for the time being. I really don''t want to have toe over there and save your ass.'' Those were Aelina''s final words before she disconnected the call.

    For Aelina to be that worried, even contemtinging to the Northern Continent, made Mira skeptical. That captain, Varik, didn''t seem all that strong.

    Sure, he was powerful, but not overly so. He wasn''t anything she couldn''t handle, but Aelina made it sound like he was just some grunt.

    ''It also seems like the people from the Central Continent are quite prideful. If I were to kill one of those idiots, it''s almost guaranteed they''ll continue to pester me by sending stronger people until one of us is dead.'' Mira spected, feeling like she wasn''t too far off from the truth.

    Unfortunately, this time, she couldn''t take care of the root of the problem all at once, either.

    ''....I guess I should heed her advice�� For now.'' Mira concluded before turning her attention back to Rhydian.

    "Hot spring, huh? So, we just need to go find a volcano, right?" She asked, but the wolf shook her head.

    "NO! I want to visit a real facility! I want the full spa and rxation treatment, with nice food, skincare, meridian cleansing, everything!"

    A vein throbbed in Mira''s head, as this was a bit more than a single request. "You don''t even care about those things!"

    "Well, now I do! My fur and feathers need to be brushed, but none of you will do it!"

    "Hey, we''re always willing to do it for you!" Hana and Dominique raised their hands, looking aggrieved, but Rhydian red at them.

    "That''s not brushing! You always end up plucking me like a chicken! What? Are you two birds building a nest or something?!"

    Elenei, standing on the side, had a contemtive look on her face hearing that. Now that she thought about it, having her wings massaged didn''t sound so bad. And they have been traveling quite a bit. ''It''d be nice to rx a little.''

    The only problem was Mira herself. That woman was a walking bad omen. She wouldn''t be surprised if the hot springs they decided to go to exploded as soon as they arrived.

    Seeing that everyone else, not just Rhydian, was interested in this trip, Mira sighed and shook her head. She couldn''t care less about some hot, steamy water, but she couldn''t go back on her word.

    "Alright��. Let''s search for information regarding the best hot springs on the Continent." She dered, causing everyone''s eyes to widen before they smiled and nodded.

    "Understood!" Without hesitation, Elenei grabbed the map away from Dominique and steered the ship toward the nearest city.

    As the ship shot through the sky like aet, the mood on deck lightened considerably. The promise of rxation and indulgence at a hot spring was an enticing prospect for everyone.

    Rhydian, now somewhat cated, sat down on the deck, her tail swishing in anticipation. "It''s been ages since I had a proper pampering. You''ll all see how shiny my fur can be!"

    ''You''ve never had a pampering before.'' Everyone thought but didn''t want to ruin the mood.

    Dominique and Hana excitedly discussed the different spa treatments they''d heard of. "I heard there''s this mud bath that''s great for the skin," Hana said, her eyes sparkling.

    "And I want to try that stone massage thing!" Dominique added, her enthusiasm infectious.

    Coralia, floating beside the ship, chimed in, "Oh, and we should definitely try the herbal baths. They''re amazing for rejuvenation."

    The ship smoothly sailed towards the nearest city. What they found was a bustling town called Yinxue City, built around arge icyke that was located almost right in the middle of the Continent. There wasn''t much around it other than snow, ice, and more snow.

    However, the icyke seemed to draw in some of the cold, making the rest of the town warmer than its surroundings.

    As they approached, the city''s vibrant lights and lively sounds greeted them.

    Dominique, Hana, and Linnea were visibly excited. They pressed their faces against the ship''s railing. "Look at all those lights! It''s like a festival!" Dominique eximed.

    Rhydian hopped off the boat, crashing onto the ground with a mini explosion before she ran off, eximing. "Let''s go! Rest and rxation can''t wait another day!"

    Elenei docked the ship and stored it in a Spatial Ring. The group disembarked, making their way into the city without much issue blending in with the crowd due to Mira''s illusions, making them appear a bit more normal. The city was alive with people running around talking with one another, entertainers showcasing their talents, and locals going about their business.

    They listened to the conversations around them and quickly understood where the best ces to obtain information would be. Mira and Elenei led them to a well-known tavern, where information was often spread and traded.

    "This ce is a hub for travelers. We should be able to find what we''re looking for here." Mira said, much to the delight of the others.

    Inside the tavern, the group split up. Mira and Elenei went to the bar, casually striking up conversations with the locals. Rhydian, Dominique, Hana, and Linnea explored the tavern, listening in on conversations and asking around. As for Coralia�� Mira sent her off to go ''charm'' some of the more powerful people and try to pull information out of them.

    After a while, they regrouped, sharing what they had learned. "There''s a hot spring resort on the Northern part of the continent. It''s called the Celestial Springs and resides along the Auroravolc Peaks. Supposedly, it''s the best in the region," Mira reported.

    Everyone else reported their findings, with there being a surprising number of Hot Springs in the North, Rhydian was more interested in the one Mira found. "That''s it! That''s where we''re going."

    Without waiting for anyone to say anything, she darted out of the city and waited for them as if to try and speed up the process.

    The group chuckled at her antics, having never seen Rhydian so excited about something before.

    While they were walking back, Elenei spoke up about something a bit more serious, "I also heard some rumors about the treasure ''I'' grabbed. It seems Varik''s appearance and apparent death have caused more ripples than we thought. People aren''t openly talking about the Central Continent, but there does seem to be a bit of dissatisfaction among everyone. Apparently, this kind of thing is prettymon. There was also talk about how in the past few hours, more and more resources were taken away by an unknown group of people."

    Mira''s expression turned serious. "Haaa�� I get it. We''lly low for a bit. No need to stir up trouble for no reason."

    Elenei instantly had a bad feeling. Mira? Lay low? Staying out of trouble?

    Is the sky about to copse? They literally just got caught up in something annoying regarding Aroth, yet Mira has the gall to say that she''ll stay out of trouble?

    ''I promise�Cif I see Mira getting greedy, I''m going to do my best to stop her. Please, just give me a few days to rx. We can kill whoever you want afterward, but please, give us these few days.''

    She gave a silent prayer before they decided to head to the Celestial Springs.

 Chapter 890 Celestial Springs

    <h4>Chapter 890 Celestial Springs </h4>

    ?890 Celestial Springs

    As they journeyed closer, the majestic Auroravolc Peaks revealed their full splendor. These unique volcanoes were a striking contrast of fire and ice.

    The peaks were covered in a permanent cloak of snow, glimmering under the sun like a myriad of diamonds strewn across an enormous canvas. From the snowy caps, plumes of steam drifted skyward, where the heat from the volcanic activity below met the cold air above.

    The sides of the mountains disyed a fascinating juxtaposition of icy ciers and dark, rugged volcanic rock. This icy-hot scenery was both intimidating and enchanting. Lava flowed beneath the frozen exterior and asionally revealed itself in small streams, glowing like molten gold against the stark white snow.

    As they neared, the air grew warmer, yet they still felt a bone-

    chilling cold. Peculiar.

    Upon arrival, the Celestial Springs Resort was a sight to behold. Nestled in a valley between the Auroravolc Peaks, the resort seemed to exist in a world of its own.

    The architecture of the resort was different from anything they''d seen before, with buildings constructed from natural stone and rich, dark woods designed toplement the surrounding environment.

    The main lodge stood at the heart of the resort, withrge windows offering panoramic views of the steaming springs and snowy peaks.

    Inside, the decor was a blend of rustic charm and luxury, with roaring fireces, plush seating areas, and walls lined with artwork depicting scenes of the mountains and wildlife.

    Rhydian practically bounced ahead, excitement written all over her face. "Look at this ce! It''s like a paradise!"

    Mira, despite her usual stoicism, couldn''t help but feel a sense of tranquility wash over her. The troubles and dangers they had faced seemed distant, almost irrelevant in this peaceful setting.

    As they entered the resort, they were greeted by a hostess with a warm smile. "Wee to Celestial Springs. How can we assist you today?"

    "We''d like to use your facilities," Mira replied.

    "Of course. Would you like a private area, or will the public springs suffice?"

    "Private."

    The hostess nodded and led them to a secluded part of the resort.

    Winding paths led them through beautifullyndscaped gardens, where the sound of trickling water and the scent of blooming flowers filled the air. The gardens were full of local and exotic nts, some of which Mira recognized from the Western and Northern Continents while others she didn''t recognize.

    ''Probably from the Southern and Western Continents��'' Mira mused, wondering if this was really an ordinary resort.

    The hot spring pools themselves were scattered throughout the resort, varying in size and shape.

    Some wererge andmunal, with wide stone edges where guests could sit and soak in the warm, mineral-rich waters while gazing at the stars above. Others were smaller, more intimate pools, hidden away in secluded nooks, offering privacy and quiet.

    While they walked through the ce, the hostess began to borate on the amenities. "In addition to our hot springs, we offer a full range of spa treatments, including mineral mud baths, herbal saunas, and aromatherapy. We also have a series of rxation therapies, like stone massages and meridian clearing sessions."

    Mira listened, nodding. "We''ll take theplete package. Everything you have to offer."

    The hostess smiled, clearly pleased. "Excellent choice. Our VIP package includes ess to all spa treatments, a private dining area, and exclusive use of our most secluded hot spring pools. We also provide personalized care with our best therapists."

    Before the hostess could continue, Rhydian chimed in enthusiastically, "And we''ll be staying for three days, please! We want to experience everything!"

    The hostess''s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected extension but quickly regained herposure but this time with a slightlyrger smile. "Of course, three days in our sanctuary will be a truly rejuvenating experience. We will ensure your stay is unforgettable."

    As they were led to their private area, a beautifully designed pavilion surrounded by natural beauty, the group felt a wave of excitement.

    The resort staff efficiently arranged everything for their extended stay. Luxurious robes and slippers were provided, and a schedule was set to amodate their choice of treatments and rxation activities.

    The group quickly dispersed to indulge in the various amenities. Rhydian dived into one of the pools, her fur instantly soaking up the warm water. Dominique and Hana excitedly headed towards the skincare treatments, while Elenei, curious about the massages, followed a therapist to a separate room.

    Mira, however, chose to sit by the edge of a pool and dip her toes in the water. She closed her eyes, allowing the warmth to seep into her bones. For a moment, she allowed herself to rx, a rare urrence for her.

    However, the peace was short-lived.

    A suddenmotion erupted from the other side of the resort. Mira''s eyes snapped open, her instincts kicking in. She stood up, water dripping from her feet, and nced towards the source of the noise.

    "Stay here," she instructed Elenei, who had emerged from her massage room, looking rmed. Mira quickly made her way towards the disturbance.

    As she approached, she saw a group of men dressed in dark, nondescript clothing, causing a ruckus. They were attacking the guests, uncaring of whether they lived or died, and charged straight toward where Mira''s group was staying.

    ''Enemies? This soon?'' Mira wondered but put that to the back of her mind for now. ''Since they came for me, they might as well die.''

    Without hesitation, Mira lunged into action. She disappeared and reappeared behind the group of men. Silently swinging her scythe, she bisected all of them in half. Their bodies dropped to the ground, but Mira frowned.

    There was no blood.

    Leaning down, she ripped the clothes off of one of them and noticed that it''s realistically human appearance had changed into a block of wood.

    ''Puppets?'' Now that was a first for her.

    Closing her eyes, Mira spread out her Soul Sense in an attempt to search for the master or for any connection linking to the puppets. However, her frown deepened when she didn''t sense anything.

    No anomalies, no odd auras, not even any particrly powerful people within a hundred kilometers of here.

    ''...So, someone wants to mess with me, huh?'' Mira got up, annoyed. If whoever was ''spying'' on them decided to face her head-on, she could just kill them and move on. This was infinitely times worse, in her opinion.

    ''Tsk. I can''t even sense the bastard who''s doing this, either.'' She clicked her tongue before she flicked her tail and destroyed another puppet.

    There were two possibilities as to why she couldn''t perceive their attackers: They could conceal their intentions perfectly, or it had something to do with their puppet technique.

    Mira was inclined to lean toward thetter, as nobody could conceal their intentions perfectly, at least not from her. After her evolution and increase in strength, her ability to sense people''s emotions had reached a seemingly unparalleled level.

    Even just standing here, she could feel multiple pairs of eyes on her, each reflecting a different emotion. Some were scared that she pulled out a weapon and attacked without hesitation; others lusted after her body, and the staff remained professionally indifferent.

    Meanwhile, Rhydian, alerted by the noise, had swiftly emerged from her pool, her fur bristling with annoyance. "What''s all this about? Can''t we have one day of peace?"

    She spotted one of the attackers trying to sneak up on Mira and pounced. She crushed it into pieces with her ws, growling in annoyance.

    Elenei, Dominique, Hana, and the others had alsoe to see what was going on and joined the fray. The fight was over as quickly as it had begun.

    In mere seconds, the ground was covered in splintered wood that was quickly cleaned up by the staff.

    "This was supposed to be a day of rxation," Mira muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

    "Who are they?" Elenei asked, looking down at one of the puppets.

    "I don''t know, but they''re not from around here," Mira replied, inspecting one of them. "Their clothes feel too...foreign."

    Mira turned the wooden fragments over in her hands, her expression thoughtful. "These puppets are sophisticated. Not just anyone could craft something like this."

    Rhydian shook herself dry and floofed her fur. She kicked one of the remaining wooden bodies, exploding it into a million pieces before grumbling."Well, whoever they are, they''ve got some nerve interrupting our rxation time."

    Elenei nodded and scanned the surroundings. "It seems like we''re being targeted, but why here? And why now?"

    Mira''s gaze hardened. "Someone is testing us, seeing how we react. They''re ying a game, and we''re the pieces on their board."

    Coralia, frowning, picked up a piece of the puppet. "This is high-

    level magic. We might be dealing with someone from the Central Continent or worse, someone with deep knowledge in puppetry and illusion."

    "...Great, just what we needed�� another enemy," Hana muttered with droopy eyes as she grabbed her Mother''s hand and walked back to their private quarters. If things were going to be like this, she was going to enjoy this ce to its fullest!

    The rest of the group followed behind her, but the mood wasn''t quite like how it was before they arrived.

 Chapter 891 Relaxation

    <h4>Chapter 891 Rxation </h4>

    ?891 Rxation

    The group returned to their private quarters. The atmosphere was a bit tense, more annoyed than anything, but when they felt the calming heat from the hot springs, they calmed down.

    Once inside, Mira convened a quick meeting. "Continue to enjoy your time here," she began. "I''ve already paid too much money for this to go to waste."

    Rhydian paced back and forth, her tail flicking in irritation. She was contemting justunching out of this resort and finding the perpetrator before handing him/her to Mira to be tortured, but she forcefully stopped herself. "...So what''s the n? Sit here and wait for the next attack?"

    "No," Mira replied firmly. "We''ll take the offensive eventually, but I''m not all that interested in going on a witch hunt right now."

    Elenei nodded. "...Sounds fair. Aelina did tell you toy low, after all."

    Dominique, who had already picked up a book from the resort''s library and was flipping through it, spoke up. "What if we try to trace the Qi back to its source? These puppets had to have been controlled from somewhere."

    "Next time," Mira said. "Who knows? Maybe we weren''t even their target."

    "..."

    Everyone looked at Mira with a deadpan stare. She was the one who made things seem so serious, and now she was saying that they might''ve just destroyed a bunch of random puppets for no reason?

    Why even get involved, then?!

    They truly couldn''tprehend what went through Mira''s mind. She may have just made ANOTHER enemy for literally no reason.

    "You�� Y-You didn''t stop to think that maybe they weren''t after you?" Rhydian appeared in front of Mira, growling. A majestic aura filled the room as she red her wings, staring down at Mira.

    But the woman shrugged indifferently. "I saw them marching toward our rooms, so I destroyed them. Why else would they being this way?"

    ''What kind of shitty logic is that?!'' Everyone thought but didn''t dare to voice it out loud. They could think of multiple reasons why a group of weak puppets might being to their room, none of which involved anything like an unknown shadow enemy.

    However, they couldn''t fault the woman. Whenever she went out, she always caused trouble. It wouldn''t be weird for some unknown enemy to approach her.

    Rhydian took a deep breath to calm down before she turned around to walk away, only to feel a sharp pain in her butt as she was sent flying. She crashed into the ground with a bang.

    Standing where the wolf just was, Mira shook her head. "I''m going to goy down." Then, she walked into her private room.

    ***

    Closing the door behind her, Mira gazed out the window, watching the stars twinkling in the clear night sky. The serene view, coupled with the gentle warmth of the hot springs, was truly a balm for the soul. She sighed contentedly, feeling a rare moment of peace.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Rhydian found herself drawn to the resort''s meditation garden. The soft sound of a babbling brook and the scent of blooming night flowers created an almost supernatural ambiance. She settled on a cushioned bench, closing her eyes and taking deep, slow breaths. The stresses of the day melted away as she lost herself in the tranquility of the garden.

    Elenei decided to explore the resort''s library. She discovered a collection of ancient texts and scrolls, some dating back hundreds of years. Intrigued, she selected a few on herbalism and alchemy, curling up in a cozy armchair by the firece. The crackling mes and the scent of old books surrounded her, creating a perfect haven for her inquisitive mind.

    Dominique and Hana ventured to the resort''s observatory. Equipped with powerful telescopes, it offered a stunning view of the night sky. They marveled at the celestial bodies, how far yet powerful they were.

    ''Will we ever be able to reach the stars?'' They wondered.

    Back in her room, Mira allowed herself a rare indulgence �C a long, hot bath. The mineral-rich water soothed her muscles, and she leaned back, closing her eyes.

    In this moment of solitude, she reflected on their journey so far, the challenges they had faced, and the ones thaty ahead. Yet, for the first time in a long while, she felt a sense of calm and rity.

    Later, as the group reunited for ate-night snack, they shared their experiences of the day. The conversation was light and filled withughter, a stark contrast to their usual strategizing and nning.

    "I don''t think I''ve ever felt so rxed before," Rhydian mused, sipping her herbal tea. "I didn''t realize how much I needed this."

    Elenei smiled contentedly while she continued to read a book about the history of northern flowers. "It''s important to take a step back sometimes. We can''t be in battle mode all the time."

    Hana nodded in agreement. "True. Very true! I feel like I could train for a full six months after this!" She eximed but immediately regretted doing so.

    "Oh?" Mira raised an eyebrow, smirking. "I hope you remember what you just said."

    "..."

    As they continued to chat, the tension from the earlier puppet incident seemed like a distant memory. For once, they were not warriors, beasts, or killers. They were justpanions, enjoying each other''spany.

    The evening wound down, and they each retreated to their rooms, feeling renewed and recharged. Mira, before turning in, took onest look at the night sky, a small smile ying on her lips. The peace of Celestial Springs Resort had worked its magic on her too.

    But, she''d see how long that''d reallyst.

    As shey in bed, the gentle sound of the springs outside her window lulled her into a deep, restful sleep. For the first time in a long while, her dreams were not of battles or threats but of peace.

    ***

    The next morning dawned bright and clear, the sun casting a golden glow over the Celestial Springs Resort. The group set out to make the most of their stay, each indulging in their preferred way of rxation.

    Rhydian decided to start her day with a light swim in one of therger hot spring pools. The water was soothing, and as she swamps, her frustrations from the day before seemed to wash away. asionally, she would pause to float on her back and gaze up at the clear blue sky, her mind drifting into a peaceful trance.

    Elenei chose to try a series of spa treatments. She started with a mineral mud bath, enjoying the sensation of the warm, thick mud enveloping her body. After that, she moved on to an aromatherapy session, the scents ofvender and chamomile filling the air, calming her senses.

    Dominique and Hana, meanwhile, found themselves in the resort''s herbal sauna. The heat and the herbal scents were a new experience for them, and they chatted happily about the different herbs infused in the steam, guessing their names and properties.

    As for Mira, she roamed the resort, seemingly aimless but ever-

    vignt. She wasn''t one to indulge in rxation. Yesterday was all she needed. Her Soul Sense spread wide; she kept an eye on everything around her, alert for any anomalies. Yet, the day passed without incident, the resort remaining a haven of peace and tranquility.

    Every now and then, Mira would pause to observe herpanions. She watched Rhydian swimming with a small smile. She lingered outside the sauna, listening to Dominique and Hana''sughter. At one point, she found herself outside the room where Elenei was having her massage.

    Through the slightly ajar door, she could see Elenei''s rxed expression, a rare sight that made Mira''s smile widen just a fraction.

    As the day turned into evening, the group gathered for a meal in their private dining area. The table was filled with an array of exquisite dishes, each more tantalizing than thest.

    "So, how was everyone''s day?" Mira asked casually as she took a sip of her drink.

    "It was amazing!" Hana eximed, her cheeks flushed from the heat of the sauna. "I feel so refreshed!"

    Elenei nodded in agreement. "The treatments here are incredible. I might have to make this a regr thing."

    Rhydian, nowpletely rxed, chuckled. "I could get used to this. Swimming in those springs is the best way to start the day."

    Dominique, always the enthusiast, chimed in. "We should definitelye back here. Maybe make it an annual thing! I mean, we have that new boat and all."

    Mira listened to their chatter, feeling something in her chest. It was rare to see herpanions so carefree and happy. She might not partake much in the rxation herself, but seeing them like this made it all worthwhile.

    As they ate, the conversation flowed, filled withughter and light-hearted teasing.

    After dinner, they decided to spend the rest of the evening by the poolside, enjoying the cool night air and the starry sky. The resort had arranged a small bonfire for them, and they sat around it, roasting marshmallows and sharing stories.

    Mira, while still alert, allowed herself to rx slightly, enjoying thepany of her friends. The warmth of the fire, the soft glow of the stars, and the gentle sound of their voices created a perfect end to the day.

    As they retired to their rooms, Mira took onest walk around the resort, her Soul Sense still active. The night was peaceful, with the only sounds being the gentle rustling of the leaves and the distant hoot of an owl.

    Finally satisfied that all was well, Mira returned to her room, her mind at ease.

 Chapter 892 Forced Relaxation

    <h4>Chapter 892 Forced Rxation </h4>

    ?892 Forced Rxation

    The next morning, Mira was meditating in her room with her tails curled around her.

    For the first time in�� who knows how long�� her mind was at ease. Despite a possible enemy out there, she didn''t feel nearly as on edge as usual��just tranquility.

    ''This ce, the name Celestial Springs, is really quite urate.'' Mira thought as she spread out her Soul Sense across the entire resort. The ce was much bigger than she initially thought, taking up not just one but several entire volcanoes across the mountain range.

    ''No wonder we rarely meet any other guests. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of other private areas, not including the public amenities.'' The entire resort could probably hold up to a million people across all the volcanoes if they really pushed it to its limits.

    Aside from that, she understood that this ce was not what it seemed on the surface. Although most of the staff weren''t that strong, with the managers of each sector being in the Soul Transformation Realm and everyone else being weaker, there were quite a few oldies hidden deep within the mountains that were in the Mortal Shedding realm.

    They just didn''t make an appearance.

    Mira found that quite strange but didn''t think too much about it. This could just be an area where the stronger people who had exhausted their potentiale to retire. Instead of being tied down by some organization and being used until they died, they coulde here and spend their days peacefully.

    ''...I''d probably do the same if I were them.'' She thought as these springs were simply too good at calming the mind.

    Suddenly, as Mira was enjoying her time to herself, Dominique burst through the doors and pounced on the bed next to her.

    "Mother! Come take a bath with me!"

    "No." With her eyes remaining closed, Mira rejected

    "But, Mother! It''s thest day, and all you''ve done is sit in your room! Didn''t you pay a lot of money? Come enjoy the resort with us! I''ll even show you around!"

    Mira paused, momentarily thinking about it, before she shook her head, "...No."

    "Pleaaase~ Can''t you spend just one day with your daughter~?" Dominique pleaded. She crawled around Mira and started messing with her tails, even wrapping her own around them. "We don''t get time to ourselves like this very often. I just want to hang out with you, Mother��"

    Mira''s eyelids twitched. Her heartbeat sped up ever so slightly, and a lump of saliva got stuck in her throat. She wanted to reject again, but something about Dominique''s tone made it oddly hard to refuse.

    ''Haaa��.'' She sighed, opening her eyes and staring at the little minx beside her. ''I really am getting soft.''

    Gently pushing Dominique away from her, Mira stood up under the girl''s wide, expectant eyes. With another sigh, she signaled toward the door. "...Lead the way."

    "YES!"

    Dominique grabbed Mira''s hand tightly and dragged her out of the room. Arge, sweet smile was stered on the child''s face, pushing down the unease Mira felt about being ''controlled'' like this.

    ***

    "How humiliating," Mira muttered, not five minutester.

    They were currently in one of the several private bathing areas they had booked. Dominique had basically stripped the two of them bare as soon as they arrived and jumped in the pool, forcing Mira to join her.

    She figured that''d be the end of it, but�� who knew the little blood fox was so scheming? The damn child actually brought shampoo, some sort of floral body wash, and a brushrge enough for her tails.

    "Don''t say that, Mother~" Dominique giggled while rubbing Mira''s scalp with shampoo. A cluster of bubbles formed on her head, which the girl used to make weird shapes around her face. "I know you like it!"

    "...I don''t."

    "You''ll like it soon!"

    "...I won''t."

    "Then, please do your best to enjoy your time, Mother~!"

    "..."

    Mira gave up trying to argue with her. So, instead of bothering with useless things like that, she sank further into the pool and closed her eyes, allowing Dominique to do whatever she wanted.

    "See~? Now that wasn''t so hard~!" Dominique eximed, causing a vein to throb in Mira''s head, but she calmed down. However, when the girlthered herself in body wash and started rubbing her chest�� Mira almost couldn''t take it.

    ''...Just let her have this.'' She thought, taking a deep breath. ''She''s worked hard thesest few years�Cbeen through a lot. I just have to endure this for a day.''

    But, when Dominique started brushing her tails, even using some special technique to massage them, Mira really felt like she was at the end of her rope.

    Her face was cramping up, eyes twitching, and her lips curved down, but she remained quiet.

    However, after a while, Mira found herself slowly rxing under her�� daughter''s�� attentive care. The warm water,bined with Dominique''s gentle touch, began to melt away her resistance.

    After a while, Dominique moved on from Mira''s tails to her back, applying a rich, herbal body wash. "You''re always so tense, Mother. You need to rx more," she said softly, massaging Mira''s shoulders.

    Mira remained silent, her eyes closed, but a small smile crept onto her lips. She had to admit, the sensation was rather pleasant.

    "You know, Mother, you''re always looking after us, but who looks after you?" Dominique continued, her voice filled with concern.

    Mira opened her eyes, turning slightly to look at her daughter. "I can take care of myself. You don''t need to worry about me."

    Dominique pouted, "But I want to. You''re always so strong. It''s only fair we get to be there for you too."

    Mira was touched by her words. She reached out, cing a hand on Dominique''s cheek. "Then get stronger."

    "Then, train me more!" Dominique eximed before lightly yanking one of Mira''s tails with a cheeky smile on her face.

    Mira red at her, wanting to refute, but paused.

    ''Thinking about it now, I''m not with her all that often.'' Part of her figured that''s how things should be. Dominique should have to struggle and find her way to the top without having to rely on her. The girl would never grow up or surpass her own limits if she was always around.

    However, on second thought, there really wasn''t anyone better to teach her, especially now that they both had simr but unique bodies. It wasn''t just their bloodline, but their existence was changed at a fundamental level. They were neither human nor beast but a perfectbination of the two.

    The only two in the world, at that. Or so she thought.

    ''...Surpassing her limits is fine, but she doesn''t even know what those limits are, how to surpass them, or how to grow properly. I''ve had ten lifetimes, close to a thousand years, and an overpowered cursed treasure to assist me, but she doesn''t have any of that.'' The more Mira thought about it, the worse she felt.

    During the years before the Primal Ascendance Convergence, she was good about training Dominique, but it was still mostly just fundamentals.

    ''After this, I''ll start imparting everything I''ve learned and then help her advance to the Core Formation Realm.After that, she should have no problem training by herself.''

    With her decision made, Mira looked at Dominique seriously and dered, "Then, starting tomorrow, we won''t stop training until you make a major breakthrough."

    Dominique froze. Her eyes widened at Mira''s deration. The yful smirk she wore a moment ago vanished, reced by a mix of excitement and apprehension. "A major breakthrough? Really, Mother?"

    Mira nodded firmly. "Yes, really. It''s time you pushed your limits further."

    Dominique swallowed hard, but her face lit up with determination. "Alright, I''ll do my best!"

    Mira smiled, pleased with her response. She stood up from the pool, water cascading down her body. "Good. Now, let''s finish up here. We have a big day tomorrow."

    "Hmm~" Dominique hummed before she shed in front of Mira. "Where do you think you''re going, Mother?''

    "To n for your training," Mira replied without hesitation, but her tone was slightly off.

    "That''s no good." The blood fox shook her head. "The day just started. A bath is merely the first thing I have nned for today!"

    "But, your training-"

    "You can do thatter! Now, let''s get you washed up and ready for the massage I have booked!"

    ''Fuck!'' Mira grumbled as Dominique forced her back into the water and resumed the bathing. However, this time, the smile on the girl''s face was much bigger, and she was even humming to herself.

    Off to the side, Mira noticed stares and Soul Senses locked onto her position, clearly from the other girls, causing her to scowl. ''I swear, if they say anything about this, I''ll kill them.''

    As if sensing her killing intent, they backed off and ran away to another part of the resort, but she still remained a bit uneasy.

    ''I really am getting too nice for my own good.''

 Chapter 893 I Promise

    <h4>Chapter 893 I Promise </h4>

    ?893 I Promise

    As Dominique continued her grooming ritual, Mira''s mind wandered to the task ahead: training.

    ''Should I impart the Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique to her first? That might be a bit too early, but it couldn''t hurt to find out. However, before anything, I think I should help bring her to the peak of the Foundation Realm. As the Core Formation is a threshold, almost like a transformation, we can integrate any special techniques during that time.'' She theorized, though her evidence for this wascking.

    She had no idea whether Dominique''s breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm would be simr to hers�Ca full-on evolution.

    However, regardless of whether it was or not, she needed to find or create a personalized cultivation technique with Dominique, teach her the Harmonic Trinity technique, and find out what core formation recipe would suit her best.

    That was just the beginning, as she had to ensure that she squeezed out every ounce of potential within Dominique as she advanced through the Foundation Realm.

    After the bath, Dominique dragged Mira to a secluded part of the resort, where a massage therapist in white, floral clothes awaited them. "Mother, you''ll love this! They use a special technique that not only loosens up the body but can even cleanse your meridians of any potential toxins," Dominique exined.

    Mira, still feeling slightly out of her element in such a rxed setting, followed Dominique to the massage area. The therapist greeted them with a warm smile, "Wee. We have prepared a special treatment thatplements your unique physiologies."

    Dominique gleefully hopped onto the massage table. Mira, more hesitantly,id down on the adjacent one. As the therapist began working on Dominique, Mira felt hands gently press into her back, kneading away the tension. Despite her initial reluctance, she couldn''t deny the growing sense of rxation spreading through her body.

    As the therapist''s skilled hands worked their magic, Mira''s thoughts drifted to the training she nned for Dominique. ''It will be rigorous,'' she mused, ''but it''s necessary. She has so much potential. I need to ensure she realizes it.''

    The session continued infortable silence, punctuated only by the asional sigh of contentment from Dominique. Mira, for once, allowed herself to fully rx, her usual alertness fading into the background.

    After the massage, Dominique, bubbling with energy, announced, "Next, we have a special yoga session designed for beastmen!" Mira raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

    The yoga instructor weed them with a calm smile and led them to a tranquil space overlooking a lush garden. "This session will focus on poses that enhance your natural agility and strength," she exined. "Let''s start with the Coiling Dragon pose, which is excellent for core strength and bnce."

    Dominique followed the instructor''s movements, gracefully bending and twisting her body into a pose that mimicked the sinuous motion of a dragon. Mira watched for a moment, then attempted the pose herself. She felt the stretch along her spine and muscles, a sensation both unique and refreshing.

    "Focus on your breathing," the instructor guided. "Let it flow with your movements, like the wind through leaves."

    Mira and Dominique continued their yoga session, transitioning seamlessly under the instructor''s guidance. The next pose was the Pouncing Tiger, designed to enhance reflexes and explosive power. The two of them particrly excelled at this.

    "Imagine yourself as a tiger, coiled and ready to leap," the instructor said, demonstrating a low crouch that suddenly sprang forward. "This pose is about channeling your energy, ready to release it at the right moment."

    Mira attempted the pose before sending a surge of power through her legs as she leaped forward. Although she felt a bit ufortable leaping around like some animal, as she focused more on the nuanced Qi control from the yoga instructor, she found that there was something more to these exercises other than looking strange.

    The movements, along with proper Qi control and breathing, actually did alter her body slightly to enhance certain aspects of herself.

    Most of it was temporary, but she did feel a slight increase in strength every time they did it.

    They moved on to the Soaring Eagle pose, which involved bncing on one leg while stretching the other backward, arms outstretched. "This pose is about stability and focus," the instructor exined. "It helps improve concentration and control over the energy in your body."

    As Mira held the pose, she felt a deep sense of connection between her mind and body. She started to realize that perhaps these exercises could help Dominique develop greater control over her beastly instincts. Not anything ground breaking, but there was something to be learned here.

    The session concluded with the Serene Lotus pose, a meditative stance that required sitting cross-legged, hands on knees, with a straight, rxed posture. "This pose is about inner peace and reflection," the instructor said softly. "It helps calm the mind and prepare it for deeper cultivation practices."

    Mira closed her eyes and found herself slipping into a state of tranquility as the incense helped to send her into a trance. Her thoughts turned to how she could incorporate these techniques into their training regime.

    As the day progressed, they indulged in various other activities the resort had to offer, each one seeming to bring them closer. They shared a leisurely lunch at a private gazebo, chatting about trivial matters�Csomething that was a rarity for them.

    After their lunch, Mira and Dominique took a stroll through the resort''s lush gardens, admiring the exotic flowers and nts. The peaceful atmosphere allowed them to converse about lighter topics, a wee change from their usual intense discussions.

    "So, Mother," Dominique began, twirling a flower in her hand, "What did you think about the yoga session?"

    Mira pondered for a moment before answering. "It was�� interesting. The poses and the control required... I feel like they could be altered and enhanced in such a way that they could turn into legitimate training techniques."

    ''Is all you think about training and fighting?'' Dominique rolled her eyes as she thought but didn''t voice it out loud. Instead, she looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Really? I just thought it was fun. But if you think it''s useful, I want to practice more!"

    Mira nodded at her enthusiasm. "I''ll see what I can do then��"

    Their walk led them to a tranquil pond, where they sat on a bench, watching the koi fish swim gracefully. The serene setting allowed them to rx further, enjoying each other''spany in silence.

    As the afternoon passed, Mira and Dominique prepared for their final activity of the day �C a tea ceremony conducted by an experienced tea master.

    Seated in a traditional tea room, they observed the tea master''s precise and graceful movements. The aroma of the freshly brewed tea filled the air, creating a soothing atmosphere.

    "Tea ceremonies are about more than just drinking tea," the tea master exined. "They are a practice of mindfulness, a way to connect with the present moment."

    Mira sipped the tea, savoring its vor and warmth. She found the ceremony''s slow, deliberate pace calming. It reminded her of whenever she would visit Aelina at the top of the mountain, as the woman always seemed to have fresh tea ready.

    ''However, instead of dealing with that old witch, I''m here enjoying my time with this kid.'' She thought, trying to push Aelina''s face out of her mind. Just thinking about that old, scheming woman made her blood pressure rise a notch.

    The Team Master spent the next hour or so showing Mira and Dominique how to properly serve tea, the intricacies of making it, spotting quality teal leaves, proper heat control, and more.

    Though Mira wasn''t all that interested in tea, as she rarely drank it�Cor anything for that matter, it did feel nice to just sit down and learn more about the subject.

    As the ceremony concluded, Dominique leaned over to Mira. "Today was amazing, Mother. I feel like I''ve learned so much, and not just about training or killing."

    "Mmhm." Mira hummed, giving her a light nod. "...It wasn''t bad."

    The little blood fox beamed and dragged her Mother to thest spot.

    As the sun began to set, they found themselves sitting beside a tranquil iceke with streams of moltenva underneath. Dominique leaned against Mira, her head resting on her shoulder.

    "Mother," she said softly, "Thank you for spending time with me today."

    Mira wrapped an arm around her daughter, pulling her closer. "Hmmm~"

    Dominique smiled, "Promise we''ll do this again?"

    Mira nodded. "...."

    ''I promise, my daughter.'' Mira thought, but almost as if she understood her, Dominique''s eyes widened, and she snuggled deeper into her Mother''s embrace.

    The girl fell asleep almost instantly. Mira inwardly chuckled and carried her to their room.

    That night, as Miray in her bed with Dominique by her side, her mind had reached a state of true peace. She realized the importance of these moments of connection, not just for Dominique but for herself as well.

    ''Tomorrow, the training begins,'' she thought.

    ''But today, we rest.'' Herst thought before drifting off to sleep was a promise to herself to find more moments like these, to bnce the demands of their lives with the need for simple, human connection.

 Chapter 894 Dominique’s Training

    <h4>Chapter 894 Dominique''s Training </h4>

    ?894 Dominique''s Training

    The next morning, Mira awoke before dawn. She gently freed herself from the bed, careful not to disturb Dominique, who was still sleeping soundly. Stepping out onto the balcony, she breathed in the crisp morning air, feeling invigorated.

    She began her morning routine, a series of meditation exercises.

    After her routine, she went to go extend her stay at the Celestial Resort, which the staff happily epted. Mira returned to her room to find Dominique stirring awake. "Good morning, Mother," Dominique mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

    "Good morning," Mira replied with a small smile. "Get ready. We start your training today."

    Dominique sat up, suddenly fully awake, her eyes shining with excitement. "I''m ready!"

    Breakfast was a quick affair. Mira outlined the n for the day: intensive physical training in the morning, followed by meditation and Qi control exercises in the afternoon.

    As they headed to the training ground, Mira couldn''t help but notice Dominique''s eagerness. They arrived at a secluded area away from the resort, a ce that was nothing but a massive expanse of ice with nothing else�Cperfect for training without disturbances.

    "Prepare yourself." Mira gave Dominique a pat on the shoulder before sheunched herself into the air. The girl gave a firm nod and waited for her to finish.

    Mira floated up into the sky and closed her eyes in concentration. As she extended her arms, the air around the training area began to shimmer and warp. She ''created'' many different areas for training involving all of her affinities.

    Dominique watched in awe as her mother''s Qi radiated outwards, shaping the very elements around them.

    The first challenge was gravity.

    Mira tossed a watermelon-sized ck sphere into the air. The elements in the vicinity trembled as the weight of everything became heavier.

    Dominique''s knees buckled as she struggled, her muscles screaming as she forced herself to stand up straight. She gasped, her breathing out in short bursts as she adjusted to the intense gravity. She could feel every muscle straining, her body fighting against the overwhelming force.

    "I can do this," she muttered to herself, taking a shaky step forward. Each movement was a battle, her feet sinking slightly into the ice with every step.

    "Focus, Dominique!" Mira called out from above. "Channel your Qi to counteract the gravity. Make your body light."

    Nodding, Dominique closed her eyes, concentrating on the energy swirling inside her. She visualized it as a burst of vitality, pushing against the oppressive weight. Gradually, she felt her body lighten, and her steps became softer.

    Mira watched with satisfaction, then waved her hand. The ck sphere pulsed, and suddenly, mes erupted around Dominique as the gravity intensified. Dominique yelped, jumping back, but the mes followed her, licking at her heels.

    "Keep moving!" Mira shouted. "Let the fire push you, but don''t let it consume you! That''lleter!"

    Dominique darted across the ice with the mes hot on her trail. She leaped and twisted her body in ways she hadn''t known before. She understood that even though Mira was severely limiting her power, getting hit by one of those mes would put her out ofmission for at least a week.

    As the mes finally subsided, Mira summoned a torrent of water. It crashed down on Dominique, submerging her instantly. Dominique spluttered and swam up to the surface, wiping water from her eyes only to see a wall of earth rising in front of her.

    "Break through!" Miramanded.

    Dominique charged at the wall. Surrounding her fist with Qi, she struck the earth with all her might.

    BOOM!

    She broke through, only to be met with a gust of icy wind that lifted her up and knocked her hard onto the ground.

    "Bnce! Use the wind!" Mira''s voice echoed around her.

    Dominique rose and steadied herself, channeling her Qi to her feet for stability. She moved forward, leaning into the wind, using its force to propel her onward.

    Next, Mira summoned bolts of Yin Lightning, crackling fiercely around Dominique. Dominique dodged, anticipating each strike and moving out of its path.

    The training ground transformed again, this time into a maze of light and darkness. Bright beams shot across the ice, creating blinding zones of light interspersed with pockets ofplete darkness.

    Dominique navigated through the maze while using her heightened senses. In the darkness, she relied on her hearing and Qi sense, and in the light, she shielded her eyes and moved quickly to avoid being disoriented.

    The challenges continued, each one more difficult than thest. Dominique''s body was pushed to its limits, and her Qi was stretched and tested in ways she had never imagined.

    Unfortunately, this was as easy as it was going to get. A mere warm-up.

    As the day progressed, the intensity of the training escted. Mira''s control over the elements became more ruthless, each challenge designed to push Dominique to her breaking point.

    The air around Dominique thickened, turning into a swirling vortex of Yin Fire and Ice. The mes singed her skin, leaving red welts, while the ice numbed her senses, making each movement an agony.

    Dominique gritted her teeth, forcing herself to move through the tormenting elements.

    "Endure, Dominique!" Mira''s voice was a constant, pushing her onward. "Your body must be as resilient as your spirit!"

    Next, Mira conjured sharp shards of earth that shot up from the ground like spears. Dominique danced away, but not fast enough. Shards grazed her leg, cutting deeply. Pain seared through her, but she didn''t stop, using the pain to fuel her determination.

    Mira then altered the gravity again, this time making it fluctuate unpredictably. One moment Dominique was as light as a feather, the next, she was crushed under the weight of a mountain.

    Her bones ached under the strain, and her muscles cried out in protest, but she persevered, refusing to sumb to the pain.

    Without warning, Mira unleashed a torrent of Yin Lightning, each bolt aiming to strike Dominique down. Dominique leaped and rolled, barely avoiding the strikes. All she heard around her was crackling as if the very air itself was cooking.

    A bolt shot through her shoulder, sending a jolt of pain that felt like her arm had been torn off. But she gritted her teeth and refused to make a sound.

    ''If Mother can withstand this, so can I!''

    "Good. It seems you haven''t been ckingtely. Now, let''s see how you deal with this," Mira announced. Her voice echoed around the training ground, and Dominique had a sinking feeling.

    The elements ceased their assault, and for a moment, there was silence.

    Then, the ground beneath Dominique''s feet gave way, opening into a pit of darkness.

    Dominique fell, her scream lost in the void.

    Shended hard on a surface that felt like ice but was darker than the deepest night. Her body was battered, and her Qi was nearly depleted. She tried to rise, but her limbs wouldn''t obey.

    Above her, Mira''s face appeared, looking down into the pit. "Climb, Dominique. Show me the strength of your will. If you can''t get out of here, then you''re not worthy to receive the rest of my teachings."

    Dominique looked up, seeing the light far above her. From where she stood, it was nothing but a speck, but at least she could see her destination.

    ''She''s right.'' She slowly nodded, feeling a crick in her neck. ''...This is nothing. To Mother, this probably isn''t even a warm-

    up. This is nothing more than a test. The real training hasn''t even begun yet.''

    With a Herculean effort, she dragged herself to her feet and walked until she hit something. Gliding her hands across a smooth surface, she realized the walls of the pit were slick and steep, but she began to climb. Her fingers found holds in the smallest of crevices as she mmed her feet into the icy stone, trying to create her own foothold.

    As she climbed, Mira did not make it easy. She sent down a cascade of elements, each one battering Dominique as she ascended. But with each blow, Dominique''s resolve hardened. She would not be broken.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Dominique reached the top. She pulled herself over the edge, copsing on the ground, gasping for air.

    Her body was covered in bruises, cuts, broken bones, and burns, but she had made it. She had climbed out of the darkness, out of the pit of despair.

    Mira floated down,nding beside her. "You have done well," she said, her voice softer now but still carrying the weight of authority.

    "I... I didn''t think I could do it," Dominique panted, her body trembling with exhaustion.

    "You have more strength than you know," Mira replied, helping her to sit up. "This training is meant to break you, yes, but also to rebuild you. Stronger. More resilient. Unbreakable."

    Dominique looked up at her mother, a mix of pain and pride in her eyes. "I understand, Mother. I won''t give up. I''ll keep pushing."

    "That''s what I expect from you," Mira said, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Rest now. You''ll need your strength forter."

 Chapter 895 Insights

    <h4>Chapter 895 Insights </h4>

    ?895 Insights

    Settling down back at the resort, Miraid Dominique down in her room and found a secluded ce to meditate. It wasn''t thatte in the day, so there was still plenty of time to teach Dominique, but the girl was simply too tired right now.

    ''...I''ll let her rest for a little bit.''

    Part of her didn''t understand why she made this decision, as usually, she''d force Dominique to wake up, only allowing her to rest once everything was over, but she just didn''t feel like doing that today.

    ''Maybe it''s because I feel a little bit bad about neglecting her?'' She reflected. ''...My techniques aren''t simple, either. She''ll need to be in peak condition to truly understand them.''

    At least, those were the excuses she gave herself.

    In reality, she felt-

    Mira shook her head. ''Now''s not the time for such, nonsense. I need to make use of this time to try and improve my strength as well.''

    She found a tranquil spot by a small waterfall within the resort. She sat cross-legged under it as she closed her eyes and focused inward.

    The breakthrough to the 2nd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm had given her plenty of insights into how she should progress from here. Now that she wasmitted to training Dominique, it was time for her to focus on cultivating as well.

    As she delved into her soul, the essence of the Absolute Ice Dao coursed through her soul.

    It was like a constant, pulsating force that wanted nothing more than to dominate everything around it, turning it into a frozen wastnd. The icy Qi in her,bined with the essence of her Dao, flowed like a stream of cold light, illuminating the darkest corners of her soul.

    It sent its icy tendrils around the manifestations of the rest of her affinities, attempting to subdue them under its rule. They ''fought'' back, but as Mira''s strength and understanding grew, they''d have no choice but topletely submit.

    Mira''s soul and the Absolute Ice Dao were no longer distinct entities but were starting to be intertwined. She no longer needed to consciously control it, as it was now a part of her�C

    partially.

    The energy of the Absolute Ice Dao coursed through her soul like a tide as she began cultivating. With each passing second, the icy energy spread, reinforcing her soul''s structure and deepening her connection to her Dao.

    As Mira guided this energy through her soul, she visualized it strengthening her bond with the Absolute Ice Dao. She even sent half of the Qi to her heart, as the essence of the Absolute Ice Dao had taken root there as well.

    She saw herself not just as a user of this Dao but as an embodiment of its nature. The cold, the frost, the ice �C they were all extensions of her will.

    Everything else was beneath her.

    But, soon, she frowned. ''It''s not enough.''

    All she was doing was pumping her soul full of energy. Her understanding of the Dao hadn''t improved much. Thus, her cultivation wasn''t getting any closer to the 3rd Stage.

    ''Why is that? Do I need to use my Dao more often?'' She thought as her brows furrowed.

    That was certainly one option, but her instincts told her there was more to it. Fortunately, it didn''t take her long toe to another conclusion.

    ''...My mind, body, and Qi are all interconnected.'' She thought, slowly entering a trance-like state. ''I thought this simply meant improving one aspect improved them all, but is that really it? Can I really transform my Qi through my soul? Yes and no. If all it takes is more energy, then it''s possible, but that doesn''t seem to be the case.''

    The soul was the foundation of all lifeforms, especially ones capable of conscious thought. However, the body was just as important, if not more, for putting that soul to use. Without it, a soul would just be an empty husk with little value.

    Qi, then, was the fuel that sustained both of them. Without it, none could exist, at least not for any significant amount of time.

    All three were already linked in some way despite being vastly different.

    Then, what if, through some unique cultivation technique, they could grow as one while remaining separate?

    Normally, the Soul Transformation Realm was exactly as the title sounded�Ctransforming the soul. But now, since they grew as one, it turned into something akin to the Three Paths Transformation Realm.

    ''That being the case, wouldn''t it make sense that I need to transform my Qi along with my body and soul?'' Mira hypothesized. Her dantian had already merged, in a sense, with her body and bloodline, but that was merely the container. Her Qi was still mostly the same.

    ''...Then, how should I proceed?'' Her expression eased slightly, but she remained contemtive. ''I guess there''s nothing I can do other than check it out.''

    Mira''s consciousness delved deeper into her being, focusing on her Absolute Essence Core�Cthe crystalized heart in her sternum.

    It was already tinged with the essence of the Absolute Ice Dao, but now, she sought to evolve it further, to truly meld it with her soul and Qi, creating a more profound connection.

    Mira envisioned the icy essence of her Dao wrapping around the core, seeping into every fiber, every particle. Though the core was always more Yin-oriented, it began to undergo a transformation.

    This was not just an infusion of energy; it was a metamorphosis at the most fundamental level.

    The core itself began to resonate with what she could only describe as the pinnacle of ice. It was as if it was bing an extension of the Absolute Ice Dao itself, a container of cold so intense that it could freeze thoughts and time.

    As the transformation progressed, Mira felt a change in her meridians as well. The millions of pathways were now, as a by-

    product, taking on the characteristics of her Dao. This would normally be impossible, but that was just how overbearing the Absolute Ice Dao was.

    It was one of the pinnacle Daos in all the Realms; a set of meridians was nothing before it.

    The icy Qi flowed through these meridians, not just as a force of energy that she could change on a whim but as an embodiment of her Dao. Every movement of Qi was now slowly bing a part of the Absolute Ice Dao, reinforcing her connection to it.

    This change in her core and meridians had a cascading effect. Her Qi also began to evolve.

    It became sharper, more refined, like a de of ice honed to perfection. The coldness it exuded was not just a physical sensation but a manifestation of her will, her mastery over the Dao.

    Mira''s focus then shifted to the connection itself between her Core �C where the Absolute Ice Dao had crystallized �C her Qi and her soul, where it originated.

    She visualized a triangle of energy, with each point representing one of these aspects. The energy flowed in a continuous loop, each aspect feeding into and enhancing the others.

    As she continued this visualization, Mira felt her understanding of the Absolute Ice Dao deepening. It was no longer just a Dao she practiced; it was bing a part of her very essence. Her soul and Absolute Essence Core were aligning, resonating with the icy energy in a meteoric rise of power.

    The transformation was not without its challenges. Mira felt resistance from the very depths of her being. It was as if her body and soul were testing the limits of this evolution, ensuring that it was not just a fleeting change but a true integration.

    However, she knew that this process was essential for her journey through the Soul Transformation Realm and beyond.

    Hours passed, and the sun began to set. Mira remained in her meditative state, undisturbed. The energy within her continued to churn and grow, but sweat was starting to drip down her forehead, only to freeze right after.

    As night fell, Mira''s expression eased as her meditation came to a close. The transformation was notplete, but significant progress had been made.

    Her core had begun changing; her Qi was sharper and more potent, and she finally felt that she had gained some semnce of direction.

    She opened her eyes, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

    However, she was swiftly interrupted by a soft voice from the side. "Mother?" Dominique stood at a distance, hesitant to disturb her. "Are you training?"

    Mira opened her eyes, the icy blue fading to their usual blood-red. "Yes, I''m preparing for the next stage. How are you feeling?"

    Dominique approached, sitting beside her. "I''m better now. Sorry for falling asleep earlier."

    "No need to apologize. Rest is as important as training," Mira replied, a rare softness in her tone.

    Dominique looked at Mira curiously. "Mother, what''s it like... to be at such a high level of cultivation? I mean, the Soul Transformation Realm sounds so... distant."

    Mira considered her words carefully. "It''s like walking a path only you can see. Each step reveals a little more, and with each insight, you understand more about yourself and the world around you a bit better."

    Dominique''s eyes widened as she stared at her Mother eagerly. "I want to walk that path too, one day."

    "You will." Mira gave the girl a few pats on the head before falling silent.

    The two sat there in silence for a while before Mira abruptly stood up and grabbed Dominique by the waist.

    "Mother?!" She eximed, but Mira ignored her and shot into the air.

    BOOOOM!

 Chapter 896 Restraints

    <h4>Chapter 896 Restraints </h4>

    ?896 Restraints

    As Mira shot into the sky, holding Dominique tightly, the air around them whooshed violently, creating a sonic boom that echoed across the resort. The suddenness of the action took Dominique by surprise, her eyes wide with shock and confusion.

    "Mother, what''s happening?" Dominique managed to yell over the roaring wind.

    Mira''s eyes narrowed, her gaze fixated on a distant point. "Trouble," she replied tersely.

    As they ascended higher, the scenery below transformed drastically. The lush greenery of the resort turned into a chaotic scene of destruction. Arge cratery below them as smoke andva shot up from its depths.

    In the middle of the crater, a figure stood. Androgynous in appearance, with long, flowing ck hair that seemed to defy gravity. Their eyes were vacant, yet their gaze was fixed intently on Mira and Dominique.

    "Who are you?" Mira demanded, her voice echoing with power.

    The figure remained silent. Its expression remained unreadable, making Mira feel like it wasn''t human. Then, without warning, they raised a hand, and a surge of energy shot toward Mira and Dominique.

    Mira reacted instantly, creating a barrier of icy energy around them. The attack collided with the barrier, sending shockwaves through the air.

    Directly support the authors on WebNovel!

    "Stay behind me," Mira instructed Dominique, who nodded firmly.

    The figure in the crater moved again, this time leaping towards them with incredible speed. Mira met them head-on, shing in mid-air. The collision was like thunder, reverberating across the sky.

    Mira and the figure exchanged a flurry of blows. Their movements were so fast they were a blur to anyone weaker than them.

    However, the figure matched her move for move, countering her attacks with its own.

    Dominique watched in awe, her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn''t believe that she got to see a battle like this so up close.

    The figure suddenly broke away from the fight, retreating a few meters. They stood still for a moment, and then their eyes began to glow with a strange light. A powerful aura emanated from them, filling the air with a sense of foreboding.

    Mira tensed, sensing the impending danger. "Dominique, get back to the resort. Now!" she ordered.

    "But Mother-"

    "Do as I say!" Mira''s tone left no room for argument.

    Reluctantly, Dominique obeyed, speeding back towards the resort. Mira turned her full attention to the figure, ready for their next move.

    The figure raised their hands to the sky, and dark clouds began to form, swirling ominously. Lightning crackled within the clouds, and a momentter, a massive bolt of lightning shot down, aimed directly at Mira.

    She dodged, but the lightning followed her movements. Mira countered with a st of icy energy, attempting to dissipate the lightning. For a moment, it seemed to work, but then the lightning intensified, breaking through her defense.

    Mira gritted her teeth, pushing her limits. She summoned a storm of her own, creating a massive whirlwind of icy shards that collided with the lightning. The sky was a battlefield, with ice and lightning shing in a spectacr disy.

    As the battle raged on, Mira realized that this was no ordinary opponent. They possessed a power that was unfamiliar yet formidable. She needed to end this quickly before it escted further and implicated her new vacation spot.

    With a determined look, Mira gathered all her strength, channeling the essence of her Absolute Ice Dao into a single, concentrated attack. Sheunched it at the figure, a beam of pure, icy power that cut through the air, freezing everything in its path.

    The figure crossed their arms in front of them, creating a barrier of their own energy. When Mira''s attack hit, a deafening explosion shook the sky. The figure''s body shot into the distance, frozen in a block of ice.

    Mira thought about following it, but its Qi signature disappeared from her perception not even a secondter.

    ''...What the hell?'' She frowned deeply, looking in the direction it went. ''What was that thing?''

    As the dust and energy settled, Mira searched for the figure, but they were gone, vanished without a trace. The crater below was now a frozen wastnd, destroying any sense of tranquility that it once had. Fortunately, she was far enough from the rest of the resort that she didn''t cause any damage to the facility itself.

    ''Who knows how many spirit stones I''d be out if I had to pay for this mess?'' She grumbled before waving her hand and dissipating the ice,

    Steadying her breath, Mira hovered in the air for a moment, scanning the area for any sign of the figure. When she found none, she slowly descended back to the ground, her mind racing with questions.

    Who was that figure? What did they want? And why did they possess such strange and powerful energy?

    It felt both alive yet dead, close yet distant.

    ''It has to be that puppeteer, right?'' That was the only exnation she coulde up with, but she didn''t know puppets could be so advanced.

    These questions lingered in Mira''s mind as she made her way back to the resort, ready to check on Dominique and to prepare for whatever came next.

    She could feel Dominique''s presence, along with Rhydian, Elenei, and Coralia, all converging towards her location.

    However, before she could make a move, an overwhelming force locked onto her, halting her in her tracks.

    ''Huh?'' She growled, shaking her arm in an attempt to break out, but found that she was stuck. She tried shaking her tails, using her Qi, and summoning her Dao, but she was only able to produce little twitches, nothing substantial.

    Her brows tightened as her frustration grew. ''...So, something can hold me down, huh?''

    Mira continued to struggle against the invisible constraint as she exerted every ounce of her strength. But to her dismay, she found herselfpletely immobilized, unable to move even an inch. It was as if an unseen hand had gripped her entire being, holding her in ce against her will.

    ''Tch!'' She clicked her tongue and manifested her scythe, using her Manifestation to its maximum potential. A domain of death spread around her, corroding everything it touched. With a thought, she mentally raised her scythe and shed, using her Destruction Tail as fuel to rip through her invisible restraints.

    A thin line passed through the air, separating�� something. Mira could feel the pressure on her diminish significantly and narrowed her eyes in focus.

    She mentally raised her scythe again, but before she could sh, there was another change.

    The air around her grew denser, and a suffocating darkness enveloped her. Mira''s vision blurred as she felt spatial fluctuations, an unmistakable sign of some kind of teleportation or dimensional shift. She braced herself for what was toe, her mind racing with possibilities.

    Darkness descended upon her, filling her visionpletely.

    ''...Was I just teleported?'' She wondered, looking around only to find nothing but what seemed like an endless void. ''It doesn''t feel like it.'' Mira shook her head.

    Instead, it felt like something was transposed onto her, like a formation or a domain of some sort.

    ''Hmmm~ Domain, huh? Could this be someone''s Ruler�CWeapon Endowment? Either that or someone teleported a formation or treasure onto me.'' She mused but found herself free from those pesky restraints here.

    ''At least I can move.'' She grasped her scythe and walked around, noticing that her feet made no noise. ''Is this that puppet master? Or maybe one of his friends? Why are they doing this? Is it really because of that old bastard Aelina told me to be careful of?''

    She swung her scythe a few times, trying to rip through whatever was trapping her, but it had little to no effect.

    ''...Whatever.'' Mira shrugged her shoulders and sat down. ''If their goal is to trap me and attack mypanions, they''re in for a world of shit. If their goal is to fight me in here, I''m either fucked or they are.''

    She couldn''t see any middle ground. Unless it was another bored old fogey that felt like ying games with the younger generation, those were the only options.

    In the midst of the engulfing darkness, a faint light appeared overhead, gradually intensifying. As her eyes adjusted, Mira discerned a shadowy, transient figure emerging from the gloom. The figure was ethereal, its features indistinct, yet it exuded a sense of immense power.

    "Who are you?" Mira demanded, her voice echoing in the void-

    like space.

    The figure''s voice was soft yet clear, resonating through the darkness. "Hmm��" The figure hummed as it looked Mira up and down before nodding. "Not bad. The Outer Continents really have found someone special this century."

    ''Outer Continents? So, this coward is from the Central Continent?'' Mira thought as she leaned on her scythe, staring at the being.

    "Ah~!" Mira eximed exaggeratedly, pointing at the shadowing figure. "So, you''re one of those kids hiding on your little ind, huh? Finally felt likeing out of your turtle shell?" She chuckled, looking at it with mocking eyes. The being clearly regarded her as nothing more than dirt.

    Mira knew these kinds of people well. Unless you poked their buttons, they would just treat you as some sort of zoo animal�C

    unique but ultimately a caged beast under their rule. Not worth engaging in a conversation with.

    Though, that was something she could agree with. She didn''t want to have a conversation with someone like this, either.

    "..."

    The air in the ''room'' grew colder, but Mira shrugged it off.

    "What? Mad?" Mira smirked, raising her chin. "Do something about it, then. Coward."

    "This lowly peasant��"

 Chapter 897 Probing

    <h4>Chapter 897 Probing </h4>

    ?897 Probing

    The shadowy figure''s voice took on a tone of irritation, tinged with a hint of surprise at Mira''s audacity. However, after taking a deep breath, they regained their calm.

    Giving Mira a pointed look, the shadow fell silent, gauging Mira''s strength and trying to understand the reason for her confidence. However, the fox had restrained her aura to its very limit, not wanting to reveal anything.

    "Did you drag me here just to stare at me?" Mira disturbed the silence and stood up. Her lips curled up into a sneer as she looked down at the shadow like a giant would at a bug, causing the person to tremble in anger, but they still remained calm.

    Mira raised an eyebrow, surprised, but inwardly nodded. ''I''d be disappointed if the high-and-mighty Central Continent talents could keep their cool in any situation.''

    Anyone who couldn''t remain calm against basic provocation wasn''t worth worrying about. Even if their strength was higher than hers, they didn''t deserve her attention.

    ''But, that''s just the most basic requirement to be considered a genius.'' Mira thought as she disregarded the ''enemy'' and started looking around.

    "...I''ve never seen something like this. For it to be able to hold me, it''s quite impressive." She nodded to herself. Mira walked around in the tangible darkness until she hit a wall about 10 meters ahead of her. "...I take it back." She muttered while taking a nce at the figure.

    Seeing that it was just standing there, staring at her, Mira shook her head and turned her attention back to the wall. She raised her hand and gave it a few knocks, noticing how it rippled under the force. "Huh~ Nevermind, this shit is trash."

    Though she only used a fraction of her strength, she understood that it wouldn''t be a problem for her to break out of there if she wanted to, but that also made her suspicious. ''...It feels like that''s the point of this room. It''s not to hold you but to force whoever was captured to try and break out.''

    Whoever was after her clearly had a treasure good enough to not just restrain her but catch her by surprise. They even had something that could transpose itself on top of her. The grade of such items shouldn''t be low.

    She refused to believe that a Mystical or Divine Grade item would be so easy to destroy. At least, she was confident that only items of such grades could possibly pose a threat to her.

    ''Not that I want to leave.'' She shrugged and walked away from the wall while unconsciously twirling her scythe. ''Our annoying attacker finally showed themselves. Until I get some information, I have no intention of leaving. Worstes to worst, I canmunicate with Elenei or simply destroy this ce and face the consequencester.''

    The shadow''s figure twitched, and the temperature in the room seemed to decrease with how intently it was staring at Mira. As the seconds passed, the danger Mira posed rose. The way she walked, how she examined her situation, and the calmness she disyed despite being captured�� none of these were normal.

    ''I just wanted to test her a bit, but��'' The figure thought, watching Mira move around. The confidence in her eyes was something that couldn''t be faked. ''Also��''

    Something about those blood-red eyes. There was something about those eyes that seemed unnatural.

    Almost as if-

    ''As if they were formed from the blood of millions-No, billions.'' The shadow figure thought, feeling a light shudder down its spine. Mira could try and hide it as much as she wanted, but deep inside her, there was always a thirst for blood, for death.

    So many people have died under her gaze that killing was simr to breathing for her. Whether she liked it or not, rivers of blood followed behind her. As such, there was always a faint killing intent�Ca subtle stench of death that surrounded her.

    ''...Where''d she grow up? Howe we''ve never heard of someone like her until now?'' That''s when a sudden thought crossed its mind, causing the person behind the figure to tense up and their eyes to widen. ''I-Is she, perhaps, a World Breacher? Has she broken through the World Barrier?''

    World Breachers were incredibly rare but almost always dangerous. Anyone who could pass through the World Barrier at the edge of the Continents was someone even the higher-

    ups had to deal with seriously.

    In the history of the world, they''d seen only a handful of people who were capable of such things, and every time, they came to conquer. Resources, treasures, women, ves, anything they could get their hands on, they wanted. There was no empathy for the inhabitants.

    Although it was just spection, the figure couldn''t get it out of its head. If the fox person before it really did breach this world, especially after ughtering her previous world, things would be a lot moreplicated than if Mira was just another talented person.

    ''No, it''s too early to make any conclusions. I''m here merely to observe.'' It mentally shook its head before its form solidified a bit more. ''However, if she really is too much of a threat��''

    It could no longer treat Mira the same as the rest of the cattle on the Outer Continents. It''d be a fool if it thought her to be on a simr level as them, even if she wasn''t a World Breacher.

    The shadow began to circle around Mira, maintaining a safe distance. Its voice, as cold as ice, broke the silence once again. "You know, it''s quite rare to see someone as unphased as you in a situation like this. Most would be wing at the walls in desperation."

    Mira''s eyes followed the figurezily, her expression unchanging. "Desperation is for those who have something to lose. I''m merely curious about the puppeteer pulling the strings."

    The shadow chuckled, a sound that seemed to echo off the walls. "Curiosity is a dangerous thing. It can lead one down unexpected paths, perhaps even across worlds, some might say."

    Mira''s grip on her scythe tightened imperceptibly, but her face remained impassive. "Worlds, you say? That''s a vast and vague concept. But then, so is power and ambition, isn''t it?"

    The shadow stopped moving as its form became more defined in the darkness. "Power and ambition are the driving forces of many. They push us to transcend our limits, to reach heights unknown. But sometimes, they lead us to tread paths soaked in blood."

    Mira''s lips quirked up slightly at the corners. "Ah~ The poetic tragedy of ambition~ But tell me, isn''t it more tragic to live a life unfulfilled, bound by invisible chains of fear and mediocrity?"

    The shadow''s form seemed to flicker as if agitated. "Perhaps. But such a life is preferable to one of constant suffering, don''t you think? Not everyone has the talent or drive to reach the peak."

    "Is that what they teach on that elitist ind of yours?" Mira snickered.

    "..." Her transient ''friend'' trembled as the empty eye sockets in the shadow red at her, but Mira just chuckled. Calming down, the being stopped shaking and said, "You say that, but at least we don''t run around destroying everything, leaving chaos in our wake��"

    Mira snorted. She gazed at the being sharply but made no moves physically. Instead, she responded, "And? So what if such beings exist? What then? Are they to be feared, hunted, or revered?"

    The shadow leaned closer, its voice dropping to a whisper. "Feared and hunted, most definitely. Such beings are anomalies and disruptors of the peace. They are... unnatural."

    "At least I''m�� they''re�� better than you assholes, causing the rest of the world to stagnate." Miraughed, a sound that resonated with a hint of mockery. "Peace?! This world has never seen such a thing! Unnatural?! Who decides what is natural? The world? The people? Or perhaps those who fear change and the unknown like a few fogeys who are too cowardly to ascend?"

    The shadow recoiled slightly as if struck. "..."

    "What? Tongue-tied?" Mira stepped forward, her presence dominating the space. "Then let''s speak of what we do understand. Power. Control. You have me here, in your little ypen, yet you talk in circles. What is it that you truly want?"

    The shadow, now visibly tense, responded, "I merely want to understand the creature before me. To know whether you are a threat to be contained or a curiosity to be observed."

    "And if I were to say I am neither?" Mira''s eyes glinted dangerously.

    The shadow''s voice took on a sharp edge. "Then I would say you are a liar. No ordinary person carries the scent of death as closely as you do."

    Mira''s smirk widened as the killing intent in her eyes heightened. "Ah, but isn''t death the greatest journey of them all? Perhaps I am merely an enthusiast of the inevitable."

    The air in the room grew colder. The shadow figure seemed to be weighing its options, its form flickering with uncertainty.

    "Your words are clever, fox," it finally said. "But they cannot mask the truth of your nature. A ughterer."

    Mira''s expression turned serious, her grip on her scythe tightening. "And you? What are you? A judge? A jailer? Or just some old bastard''s ve he sent out to do his bidding because he was too bored with life?"

    "...That depends on you."

    The two stared at one another deep in each other''s eyes. Neither unleashed their aura, Soul Sense, or qi to try and pressure the other, but the dark room trembled from the mere pressure of their gazes.

    Then, finally, Mira put away her scythe.

 Chapter 898 Origin Artificer Sect

    <h4>Chapter 898 Origin Artificer Sect </h4>

    ?898 Origin Artificer Sect

    After a few long, tense seconds, a resigned sigh resounded throughout the dark room. The shadow waved its hand dismissively and backed away, muttering, "...So, you''re just a brute��"

    Mira''s brows furrowed. She took a step forward, ice radiating around her fists, but the shadow raised a hand to stop her. "It''s useless. This is just an avatar."

    ''Tsk. Then, what''s the point of all this?!'' Mira growled internally as her face scrunched up in displeasure.

    "Don''t be like that." The figure chuckled while inwardly noting that though Mira was cool-headed, she often resorted to violence. If anything, it felt like the only reason Mira hadn''t attacked prior was because she felt it was useless. ''So, she''s not the type to hide in the dark, huh? That''ll make things easier.''

    The only problem was that she had the strength to back up that boldness��

    "We''ll meet again." The shadow gave Mira a knowing look, something that confused her until she realized she was talking about thepetition.

    With a wave of her hand, the shadow smirked and slowly dissipated, along with the room.

    Mira could only stand there and watch everything, a deep frown etched on her face.

    About a minuteter, the dark room, shadow, restraints, and everything else disappeared, dropping her into the crater she had created against the puppet.

    A wave of anger washed over her. Killing intent flooded her eyes, creating a light red fog around her. The ground trembled and froze over, with ice spreading deep into the ground and high in the sky, freezing everything it touched.

    She closed her eyes, not to calm down, but to spread her Soul Sense. The shadow did its best to hide its aura, but who was she? How could she not record the unique aura that being emitted?

    It spread out, starting at a few meters, then extended to kilometers. Every little thing entered her mind, from the tiniest insect to the old monsters hiding deep within the mountains. Those who were strong enough to sense her all opened their eyes and looked in her direction before they shuddered from the dense killing intent and chose to simply block the detection.

    Elenei, Coralia, Rhydian, and the rest all shivered and backed away, using their Qi to protect Dominique, Hana, and Linnea.

    Meanwhile, Mira continued to spread out her senses kilometers at a time.

    10

    20

    ��

    50

    ��

    100

    ��

    500

    ��

    1,000

    ��

    2,000

    Pushed to the limits, her Soul Sense stopped at 2,000 kilometers. Mira''s brows furrowed as sweat gleamed on her forehead due to the sheer amount of information entering her mind, but she disregarded anything useless, only focusing on the unique aura from whoever trapped her.

    The surroundings responded to Mira''s intense emotions by manifesting a fierce storm of ice and wind around her. She scoured thendscape within a 2,000-kilometer radius, but the unique aura of the shadowy being was nowhere to be found.

    Frustration bubbled within her, the feeling of being toyed with gnawing at her pride. She opened her eyes, the red mist dissipating as sheposed herself, realizing the futility of her current efforts.

    "They''re not here," Mira muttered to herself, her voiceced with annoyance. "Clever little shadow, hiding away after stirring the pot."

    Mira knew that her disy of strength and emotion might have consequences, but at this moment, she didn''t care. Her priority was to ensure the safety of herpanions and to figure out her next move.

    Taking a deep breath, she calmed the storm around her and began walking back towards where she had left Dominique and the others. As she walked, her mind raced with thoughts about the shadowy figure and its intentions.

    As she approached the group, they all looked at her with a mixture of awe and concern. Dominique, in particr, seemed both impressed and slightly scared by the disy of power she had witnessed.

    "Mother, are you okay?" Dominique asked tentatively, stepping forward.

    Mira gave her a small, reassuring smile. "I''m fine, Dominique. Just had a little... conversation with our mysterious puppeteer."

    Rhydian had transformed into her beast form, ready to go, pped her wings, and asked. "Did you find them?"

    Mira shook her head. "No." She paused and looked at the other three powerhouses in the group, but they shook their heads as well, showing they didn''t sense anything either.

    "I''m guessing they either teleported away as soon as they left or have some sort of treasure that can block my senses. However, I suppose we can''t rule out the possibility that they were able to target us from so far away." Mira said, causing everyone to be serious.

    She made it seem like the most likely scenario was that they had a powerful treasure. Linnea and Coralia didn''t exactly know how strong Mira was, but Elenei did.

    Anyone or anything who could block her senses was someone extraordinary.

    ''...I swear, can''t we stay out of trouble for just a day?'' Elenei sighed. She had half a mind to drag Mira back to the Sect and shove her in a cave for the next 20 years. Nearly everyone in the group had essentially breached the limit of this world''s talent. In that amount of time, they could make significant strides in their strength.

    There wasn''t a need to go out and cause trouble.

    ''Well-'' Elenei smiled wryly while ncing at Mira. ''-that''s not entirely true. If she stayed cooped up, she might actually go crazy.''

    She shivered at the thought.

    ''...Nevermind. I''d take normal Mira over that.''

    "We''re staying in this resort until they kick us out!" Mira suddenly dered, waking Elenei up out of her delusions, and walked back to her room to wait for the higher-ups to visit her.

    After so many incidents, as well as her show of power, there was no way they wouldn''t.

    Meanwhile, everyone else grinned and hurriedly followed after her. They had no objections to that.

    ***

    A few hundred kilometers away, two people, a man and a woman, let out a sigh of relief.

    The woman had an appearance that was oddly simr to the shadowy figure in the dark room. She was dressed in elegant robes adorned with intricate silver embroidery. Her hair was tied in an borate updo, entuating her sharp features and piercing gray eyes.

    The emblem of a hammer striking an anvil, surrounded by arcane runes, was prominently disyed on her chest, signifying her allegiance to the Origin Artificer Sect, a renowned Sect known for crafting some of the most powerful artifacts and treasures in the world.

    Beside her stood the man, the puppeteer responsible for controlling the androgynous figure Mira had fought. He was tall and lean, with an air of quiet confidence. His attire was more practical, suited for mobility andbat, but no less rich in detail.

    Numerous pouches and containers adorned his belt, each holding different types of puppets and mechanisms. His dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

    Both individuals were surrounded by an array of artifacts, puppets, and puppets, each exuding auras that weren''t below the Mystical-Grade. They conversed in hushed tones, their expressions serious as they assessed the situation.

    "The encounter with Mira of the Outer Continents... it was more revealing than anticipated," the woman, Esharael, said, her voice calm but carrying an undercurrent of concern. "Her strength and her ability to conceal her aura to such an extent... it''s rming."

    The man, Torian, nodded, his eyes narrowing as he recalled the battle. "Indeed. Her mastery over ice and herbat prowess are beyond what we''ve seen in the Outer Continents. She''s not to be underestimated."

    "Her reaction to our probing... it was as if she knew we were testing her. And yet, she didn''t break under pressure. That level of mental fortitude is rare," Esharael added, her gaze distant as she pondered their next move.

    Torian sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Our mission was to assess her threat level to the Sect and the Central Continent as a whole. Do you think she poses a significant danger?"

    Esharael paused, then replied, "Potentially. But it''s not just her power and talent that''s a concern. It''s also her unpredictability and violent tendencies. She''s a wildcard that we won''t be able to control."

    Torian nodded in agreement. "A wildcard that Aroth himself might be interested in. We should report back. But do we continue observing her, or do we intervene more directly?"

    Esharael looked at him, her expression thoughtful. "For now, observation. We need to gather more information. Direct confrontation should be ast resort. She''s already wary of us."

    They both looked at the various treasures and artifacts around them. Each item was a masterpiece of the Origin Artificer Sect, some even gifted to them by Aroth himself.

    "Let''s keep a low profile for now. We''ll monitor her from a distance using the puppets and any other means," Torian said.

    Esharael nodded. "Agreed. We''ll stay in the shadows for now. Mira of the Outer Continents... she''s not someone we can afford to take lightly."

    With that, they both activated a series of intricate hand seals, summoning several advanced puppets and deploying them toward the resort. Each puppet moved and blended into the environment as they set out on their surveince mission.

    As the puppets disappeared into the distance, the woman and man exchanged a final nce before they vanished as well.

 Chapter 899 Extended

    <h4>Chapter 899 Extended </h4>

    ?899 Extended

    After they all returned to their rooms, Mira sat down on her bed alone, thinking about her future ns. Her decision to stay here wasn''t random, after all. However, it wasn''t for any grand reason of trying to catch her stalkers, either.

    Everyone seemed to like it here, and they didn''t have anywhere they needed to be. All she had nned for the next few months was more training, meditation, and rxation. She wanted to dedicate this time to Dominique and make up for being a shitty guardian.

    ''Well, there''s also a number of things I want to do that don''t involve fighting or killing. So, staying in a ce like this for a while is the optimal choice.'' Mira thought as shey down, making a mental note of everything she wanted to aplish.

    As for whether such a decision made her an easier target to spy on, she didn''t think much of it. The privacy in this resort was better than almost any other ce they could stay, and if anything dared to get too close, she''d notice.

    In her opinion, there wouldn''t be much spying, just waiting for her to leave.

    Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Mira nodded as if expecting this and got up to answer.

    Mira opened the door to find not only Jarek, the manager she had met earlier but also a woman who exuded an aura of authority and elegance. Her presence suggested she was someone of significant importance within the resort.

    "Miss Mira," Jarek began with a respectful nod, "this is Ms. Liora, the co-owner of Celestial Springs. We''d like to discuss the recent events and the implications for your continued stay."

    Mira raised an eyebrow but gestured for them to enter. "Come in."

    As they sat down, Liora, a woman with amanding presence dressed in a sophisticated outfit that reflected her status, spoke up. "Miss Mira, we understand that your group has been involved in several... incidents since your arrival. First, we''d like to sincerely apologize for not being able to take care of these problems for you. However, you must understand that this has happened multiple times now in the span of a few days. While we value the privacy and safety of all our guests, we must also consider the well-being of our staff and other visitors."

    Jarek added, "Any future damages caused by you or yourpanions will need to bepensated for. And, if there are injuries or worse, to our staff or guests, we will have no choice but to ask you to leave the resort."

    Mira listened, her expression unreadable. After a brief pause, she nodded in understanding. "That''s fine. If I do happen to get into any fights in the future, I''ll be sure to drag them far enough away from the resort so as not to cause any more damages."

    However, she was inwardly thinking, ''I''m not sure, even with the herbs I''ve collected from Aelina, that I''d be able to afford a destroyed volcano.'' If possible, she really didn''t want to have to make enemies with the Celestial Resort or simply destroy the ce to begin with.

    Both Jarek and Liora seemed slightly taken aback by her calm eptance, but they continued. "We''re pleased to hear that. Is there anything else you''d like to discuss?"

    Mira leaned back, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "Actually, yes. I''d like to extend our stay here for a couple of months, at least."

    Jarek and Liora exchanged a look of surprise, but it quickly turned to understanding. Liora replied, "That can certainly be arranged. Many of our guests find Celestial Springs to be a ce of unparalleled tranquility and choose to extend their stays."

    "Indeed," Jarek added, "this resort is a natural wonder of the world. It has a unique ability to calm the minds of virtually anyone, regardless of their strength, gender, psyche, or age."

    Mira nodded with a faint smile on her lips. "That''s precisely why we wish to stay longer. This ce... it has a certain charm to it."

    Liora smiled. "We''re d to hear that. We''ll make the necessary arrangements for your extended stay. If there''s anything else you need, please don''t hesitate to let us know."

    As the conversation came to a close, Jarek and Liora stood up to leave. Mira escorted them to the door, her mind already nning for the weeks ahead.

    Once they were gone, Mira returned to her contemtion, her thoughts drifting to the training and rxation that awaited her and herpanions.

    ***

    The following morning at Celestial Springs Resort, Mira and Dominique were at the training ground. However, far from rxation, it was more like torture.

    Dominique was encapsted in a block of ice, positioned over a fire made from Mira''s Yin mes. The uniquebination of extreme cold and searing heat was both freezing and burning Dominique alive, creating excruciating pain.

    The girl had her eyes closed shut as she gritted her teeth in an attempt to dull the pain.

    "A cultivator should be able to meditate under any circumstance," Mira dered. She watched Dominique intently, noting every reaction, every tremble.

    Dominique struggled to focus. Her face contorted in pain as she attempted to meditate, her mind desperately trying to block out the sensations ravaging her body.

    She attempted to use her Blood Qi to heal the injuries being done, but Mira''s ice was too unique. It not only slowed down all bodily functions, putting her in a state of shock, but it turned her Qi into something akin to msses.

    Infusing her muscles and bones with it was like trying to mix water and oil. It only took more time, effort, and concentration to do so; thus, she was forced to give up and focus simply on cultivating.

    Still, her ''teacher'' wasn''t someone ordinary and could even slow down the rate at which Qi was drawn into her body using her Dao.

    ''Mmhm~'' Mira nodded inwardly. ''She''s adapting quite quickly, understanding what she can and can''t do. What''s the least and most efficient. And she''s taking the pain well. But she hasn''t reached her limit yet.''

    Mira wanted to push her daughter to the brink of copse. So, she sent tendrils of ice and fire into Dominique''s arm and wrapped them around every tendon, muscle fiber, bone, marrow, nerve, and everything, then made a twisting motion.

    Dominique couldn''t help but scream in agony, feeling like her arm was being ripped from her body.

    "The mind is the foundation of strength," Mira continued, her tone as cold as the ice encasing her daughter. "To prevent cultivation deviation, you must be able to withstand even death itself. Even if you are in the midst of war and your friends are dying all around you, you should be able to remain steady."

    There was also the fact that Mira wasn''t sure how she was going to teach Dominique the Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique. The girl didn''t have ess to her Soul, and if she did, it was most likely a very faint connection.

    Trying to link her Body, Qi, and Soul together as one cultivation system while still in the Foundation Realm, or even the Core Formation Realm would undoubtedly either cause literal soul-

    ripping pain or simply wouldn''t work.

    Dominique had to be prepared for that level of intensity. Anything done to the soul, in most cases, was multiple magnitudes worse than anything physical.

    Yet, Mira wanted to not only open up Dominique''s soul, making it essible, but also manipte it.

    ''If it''s possible and she can make it through that, I have no doubt that she''ll have one of the strongest foundations in history, even better than mine. But, she has to be ready.'' Mira thought as if all of this was just preparation. Who knows? Maybe it won''t hurt at all, and Dominique will be able to incorporate the Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique without any issues.

    This was new territory for everyone.

    Sweat and tears mixed on Dominique''s face, but her determination was evident. She very faintly nodded in Mira''s direction and focused all of her being on just cultivation and surviving.

    Mira observed silently with an indifferent expression. She knew the brutal nature of this training but also understood its necessity. Dominique needed to be prepared for the cruel realities of their world, where strength was paramount and mercy was often a luxury.

    ''...This is what she wanted.'' She thought, feeling a little worried that the girl might hate her after the months of training she was about to personally receive. ''She said she wanted to stand next to me, to help me�� to be the best. And this is all I know how to do.''

    Hopefully, she won''t die in the process�� Mira muttered in her heart.

    As the hours passed, Dominique''s screams lessened, her breathing steadied, and her focus deepened. The excruciating pain became a background noise to her meditation, a testament to her growing mental fortitude.

    Mira finally extinguished the mes and melted the ice. Dominique copsed onto the ground and fell unconscious. She was literally on the brink of copse before Mira ended the ''training'' session.

    "Good," Mira said, a hint of approval in her voice. She helped Dominique up, supporting her as they walked back to the resort. "Keep this up, and I have no doubt you may end up stronger than me one day."

    Dominique''s body trembled at her words, but she remained unconscious in Mira''s arms.

 Chapter 900 Forging

    <h4>Chapter 900 Forging </h4>

    ?900 Forging

    After putting Dominique to rest, Mira decided it was time for her to do something she''s been talking about for years now.

    Forging!

    Ever since she joined the main Battle Maiden Sect, she''d been thinking about finally getting into the various sub-professions. Unfortunately, annoyances kept popping up one after another, forcing her to switch her focus to other areas.

    Now that she was strong enough not to be bothered by so many things, she could actually dedicate herself to learning.

    ''I would''ve liked to pay a visit to one of the cksmithing Sects here on the Northern Continent, but I''ll probably put that on hold for now. The Firmament should have something for beginners, right? I''ll just start there.'' Mira thought as she opened up the point shop, which reminded her toplete this round of the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

    ''I''ll do thatter.'' She noted. For at least the next few months, Mira didn''t n on attempting to break through. Not that she could even if she wanted to.

    Putting that thought away, she focused on the shop, sorting it to only show information and techniques regarding forging.

    Mira''s eyes scanned the virtual disy of the Firmament''s point shop, filtering through various techniques avable.

    [Ember''s Touch: A basic technique focusing on the precise control of heat and me. Ideal for beginners.]

    [Hammer''s Echo: Learn to understand the rhythm and flow of metal. A technique that teaches the art of shaping metal through sound and vibration.]

    [Vein of the Earth: An advanced technique to extract and refine the purest essence of ores. Requires deep understanding of earth elements.]

    [zeheart Technique: A foundational technique that teaches the art of manipting fire to achieve precise temperatures. Ideal for beginners to understand the nuances of heat control in smithing.]

    [Ripple''s Resonance: Learn the art of metal shaping with the fluidity and adaptability of water. This technique focuses on harnessing water''s properties to create flexible and resilient creations.]

    [Stonecore Resonance: A technique emphasizing the rhythmic pounding that echoes the resilience of earth. Suitable for those seeking to master the creation of durable and heavy artifacts.]

    [Zephyr''s Cadence: This technique teaches the forger how to work metal as if it were as light and elusive as the wind. Perfect for crafting swift, agile weapons and armor.]

    [Frostforged Harmony: Focuses on the delicate bnce between metal and the biting cold of ice. Ideal for cksmiths aiming to craft items that harness the preserving and chilling powers of ice.]

    [Thunderstrike Rhythm: A technique thatbines the forging process with the abrupt and powerful nature of lightning. It teaches how to imbue artifacts with electric potential.]

    [Luminous Refinement Technique: Learn to incorporate the purity and rity of light into metalwork. This technique is perfect for creating artifacts that shine with the essence of light, offering sharpness and precision.]

    [Shadowmeld Craft: A technique that explores the secretive aspects of darkness in forging. It teaches the art of creating items that can absorb or blend into the shadows, ideal for covert operations or stealthy engagements.]

    ��

    Mira paused at each description, mulling over their potential benefits and suitability for her current level. Her gaze lingered on two particr entries that piqued her interest.

    [Basic cksmithing: Thisprehensive introductory guide is essential for aspiring cksmiths. It covers the fundamental principles of metalwork, including understanding different metal types, basic forging processes, and the essentials of crafting simple tools and weapons. The guide delves into the significance of temperature control, hammering techniques, and the importance of precision in shaping metal.

    Additionally, it provides an overview of the various grades of artifacts and their characteristics.]

    [Soul of the Forge: A foundational technique designed to harmonize one''s internal Qi with the external forces of creation. Essential for understanding the essence of cksmithing and perfecting one''s foundation.]

    ''These two,'' Mira thought, tapping on them. The others sounded great and powerful, but they were more niche and advanced. [Soul of the Forge] didn''t necessarily sound easy toprehend, but the idea of perfecting her foundation meant a lot to her.

    ''That''s what really matters the most and is almost the entire reason I''m doing this.'' She mused while continuing to go down the list of techniques that could be helpful.

    If she wanted to understand her Creation Tail more and advance further than her current attainments, she felt that forging was the best ce to start. And having a perfect foundation meant that she''d covered all her bases.

    With a mental confirmation, she exchanged 1,000 points for both techniques, and two thick books immediately fell onto herp.

    She set [Soul of the Forge] aside for the moment. Instead, Mira picked up the [Basic cksmithing], feeling the rather extreme weight in her hands.

    ''Is this whole book made of metal, or what?'' She wondered and sent her Soul Sense into it, only to realize that it, in fact, was made entirely of metal and not an ordinary one.

    ''...I don''t even know what grade these metals are.'' Her anticipation grew, seeing just how amazing the craftsmanship of this ''simple'' piece was.

    ''No wonder it cost so many points.'' Mira clicked her tongue, but there was an excited glint in her eyes

    As she opened the book, its pages revealed a wealth of knowledge, meticulously organized and illustrated. Mira dove into the text, her mind absorbing the crucial points that wouldy the groundwork for all her future creations.

    Chapter 1: Understanding the Forge

    This chapter introduced the heart of cksmithing: the forge. It detailed different types of forges, fuel sources (from traditional coal to mystical mes), and the importance of temperature control. Mira learned about the forge''s role in heating metal to the appropriate malleability and the nuances of maintaining a consistent heat.

    Chapter 2: Metal Types and Properties

    Here, Mira discovered the vast array of metals used in cksmithing, frommon iron to rare and mystical ores. Each metal was described in terms of its properties, such as hardness, flexibility, and affinity to elemental energies. The chapter emphasized the importance of choosing the right metal for the desired artifact''s purpose.

    Chapter 3: Basic Hammering Techniques

    This section covered the fundamental movements and techniques of hammering, the core action in shaping metal. Mira studied various hammer types, grips, stances, and striking methods. She learned how different hammering patterns could affect the metal''s structure and integrity.

    Chapter 4: Shaping and Forming Metal

    The book guided her through the process of transforming raw metal into a desired shape. It introduced techniques such as bending, stretching, cutting, and folding metal, each apanied by detailed illustrations and step-by-step instructions.

    Chapter 5: Cooling and Tempering

    After shaping, metals require proper cooling and tempering to attain their final hardness and resilience. This chapter taught Mira the critical stages of quenching (rapid cooling) and tempering (controlled reheating) to achieve the desired bnce between toughness and brittleness.

    Chapter 6: Finishing Touches

    The final touches in cksmithing, such as polishing, engraving, and applying coatings or treatments, were covered in this chapter. Mira learned how these finishing processes could enhance both the aesthetic and functional qualities of the forged item.

    Chapter 7: Elemental Affinities in Forging

    A unique aspect of this book was its focus on integrating elemental affinities into the forging process. Mira found insights into how different elemental energies could be harnessed to imbue artifacts with specific attributes or powers.

    ��

    As Mira turned each page, her understanding deepened. The book not only provided practical knowledge but also instilled a sense of respect for the art of forging. It emphasized that cksmithing was more than just a craft; it was a form of expression where the smith''s spirit was imbued into the metal.

    The hours continued to pass as she absorbed every word in the book, realizing just howplicated and precise the craft could be. It wasn''t just smacking two metals together and grinding down the edge to sharpen it. It was an art, one that required finesse and experience to perfect.

 Chapter 901 Strength Control

    <h4>Chapter 901 Strength Control</h4>

    ?901 Strength Control

    Mira closed the [Basic cksmithing] book, her mind swirling with new insights and perspectives. The night had deepened around her, but she was too invigorated by the knowledge she had gained to care.

    Her gaze fell on [Soul of the Forge], the other book she had purchased. She hesitated for a moment before picking it up, feeling its weight in her hands. ''Another book made of metal, huh?'' This book, she knew, would take her understanding of cksmithing to a whole new level.

    As she flipped through the pages, Mira was drawn into the world of Qi maniption in forging. The book spoke of blending one''s internal energy with the external elements, to quite literally put one''s heart and soul into their creation.

    "The soul of the smith bes one with the forge..." Mira murmured, intrigued by the concept.

    She read about advanced techniques that required precise control of one''s internal energy, of channeling Qi into the metal to infuse it with unique properties. Each technique was apanied by detailed exnations and pictorial representations.

    After she was done skimming through it, she put the book aside.

    ''Once I''m confident that I''ve mastered the basics, I''ll move onto this.'' She thought, but had a feeling she wouldn''t have an easy time, especially with her current strength.

    In order to get started, she wanted to create Human-Grade items first and perfect those. The only problem was that she could turn the ores and materials needed for such a thing into dust with a simple flick of her finger.

    Mira stood up. ''Whatever.'' She shrugged. ''I''ll just take this as more training.''

    Stepping out of her room, Mira made her way to the resort''s main office. She had a few requests to make and needed to find a ce so as not to disturb the other guests or the resort''s ambiance.

    She would also need a proper forge and materials. ''The Resort should be able to offer that, right? As long as they''re paid.''

    Upon reaching the office, she was greeted by a staff member who recognized her instantly. "Miss Mira, how can we assist you today?" the staff member asked with a polite smile.

    "I need a ce to set up a forge," Mira stated straightforwardly. "Somewhere secluded, where the noise and heat won''t be a disturbance."

    The staff member nodded, understanding the request. "I believe we have just the spot. There''s a secluded area on the eastern side of the resort, near theva rivers. It''s far enough from the guest areas and should suit your needs perfectly."

    "Good," Mira replied, her tone firm yet appreciative. "I''ll also need materials. Metals, ores, tools... Can the resort provide these?"

    "Certainly," the staff member responded, typing into an array to arrange the necessary items. "We''ll have everything delivered to the location by tomorrow morning. You will be charged for the materials then."

    Mira nodded in satisfaction. "Good."

    So, she headed to the eastern side of the resort. As she approached the area near theva rivers, she surveyed the surroundings. The heat from the flowingva, coupled with the natural seclusion, made it an ideal spot.

    She found a cave-like formation nearby, perfect for setting up her forge. It was spacious enough to workfortably yet sufficiently isted to ensure her activities wouldn''t disturb the rest of the resort.

    Mira didn''t waste any time. She essed the Firmament''s point shop once more and purchased a [Basic Forge] for 100 points. The forge materialized in front of her as a robust structure with a simple yet easy-to-understand design.

    The next task was to rig it up to the nearbyva for a consistent heat source. Mira worked meticulously, using her Qi to manipte the terrain and create a channel from theva to the forge.

    By the time she finished, the sky was beginning to lighten. Mira took a moment to admire her handiwork, a satisfied smile ying on her lips.

    As the sun rose, a staff member from the resort arrived outside the cave, carrying a Spatial Ring. "Miss Mira, your materials and tools as requested," they said, handing her the ring.

    Mira epted it and peered inside the Spatial Ring, finding it filled with thousands of Human-Grade materials and a basic set of cksmithing tools. "Mmhm," she nodded, her mind already nning her first project.

    She reached for a chunk of iron ore, eager to begin, but as soon as she touched it, the ore crumbled to dust in her hand. Mira frowned, a low grumble escaping her lips. ''Too much strength,'' she realized.

    However, this was within her expectations. So, she grabbed another one, this time trying to control all the muscles in her fingers as much as possible, only for her fingers to sink right through the metal, destroying it once again.

    ''...Just how strong is my body?'' She nced at her hands. ''No wonder attacks below a certain level can''t even leave a scratch, much less hurt me.''

    Mira spent the rest of the day trying to control her immense strength, aiming to handle the materials without damaging them. It was a frustrating process, the ore crumbling time and time again under her touch. By the end of the day, she had made little to no progress.

    Annoyed, Mira met Dominique at the training ground, and the two began their routine once again until the young fox was worn out. Once Dominique was asleep, Mira went back to practicing her strength control.

    This routine continued for about a week. Each day, Mira pushed Dominique to her limits in training, then returned to her forge to practice.

    Slowly but surely, she began to gain a better sense of control. The materials no longer turned to dust at her touch, and she could handle them with a delicate yet firm grip.

    Finally, after a week of persistent effort, Mira managed to hold a piece of iron ore without it crumbling. A slight smile broke across her face. ''Now, the real work begins,'' she thought to herself.

 Chapter 902 Mira’s First Dagger

    <h4>Chapter 902 Mira''s First Dagger</h4>

    ?902 Mira''s First Dagger

    Now that she was able to handle the materials without destroying them immediately, Mira decided her first creation would be a dagger. It was a simple enough project for a beginner, yet it would give her the perfect amount of difficulty she could learn from once she failed.

    She started by selecting a suitable piece of iron ore. With the ore in hand, Mira heated it in the forge until it glowed a bright orange-red, the heat from theva river providing a consistent and intense source of warmth.

    Using tongs, she ced the heated metal on the anvil and picked up a hammer. Her first few strikes were tentative as she gauged the right amount of force to use. Gradually, she found a rhythm, the hammer falling in steady, controlled beats. The metal began to take shape, elongating and ttening under her careful blows.

    Once she had a rough de shape, Mira reheated the metal and returned it to the anvil for further refining. She worked on the taper of the de, ensuring it was even and smooth. The process was meticulous, requiring her to heat and hammer the metal multiple times.

    After achieving the desired shape, Mira moved on to the quenching process. She prepared a trough of water and, with a deep breath, plunged the hot metal into it. Steam hissed as the de rapidly cooled, hardening the steel.

    Mira then tempered the de by reheating it to a lower temperature and letting it cool slowly, bncing the metal''s hardness and flexibility. This step was crucial in preventing the de from being too brittle.

    With the de forged, Mira began the finishing touches. She polished the metal, bringing out a lustrous shine, and then sharpened the edge on a grinding stone. The process was new to her, and she found herself enjoying the transformation of the raw, dull metal into a sharp, gleaming edge.

    Finally, she crafted a simple hilt from a piece of wood she had among her materials. She carved it to fitfortably in her hand, then attached it securely to the de.

    The finished dagger was basic but functional. Mira held it up to the light, examining her work. It was far from perfect, but it was hers, created from scratch with her own hands.

    She smiled. ''...My first true creation, huh.''

    "It''s shit." She muttered, but the grin never left her face.

    It was interesting. Creation. Forging. Combining two items, useless by themselves, into something that has a purpose.

    Although the dagger she created was virtually useless to her and probably most people, the sentiment remained. There was something special about making something rather than tearing it apart, like she was going against her nature.

    Mira continued to appreciate her first work for about another minute, just holding it up and staring at it from all angles until the sense of aplishment faded. That''s when she became more analytical.

    Enveloping it in her Soul Sense, she saw every little imperfection, every weak point, and everything she did somewhat well.

    ''Uneven hammering across the de. The shape is a little odd. Wasn''t tempered well. I grinded it a bit too much. Probably could''ve refined the ore better. I think I didn''t let it rest long enough after quenching? I''m not sure. But at least the handle was carved well�� Too bad the tang I made was trash.''

    To an untrained eye, the dagger looked decent from the outside. There were some visible ws, such as the metal being a bit misshapen in areas, but it otherwise looked okay. However, to someone with just a bit of knowledge, it waspletely useless. A nice, sharp rock could get the job done better than this dagger.

    ''Looks like I got a long way to go.'' Mira wasn''t particrly sad about that. On the contrary, now she had something to do when she wasn''t cultivating or killing, which are one and the same in her book.

    Raising her finger, Mira made a little Qi de and carved what would be her signature at the base of the de. She went with something simple. The letter M, but made out of two scythes.

    After doing so, she rummaged through her Storage Space and found a nice disy case that one of her ''victims'' had. Removing whatever trash was currently in there, she carefully ced her dagger inside and stored it somewhere away from the rest of her loot.

    That was only the beginning. Mira spent the following days and weeks in a relentless pursuit of achieving the perfect dagger.

    Each day followed a routine: training Dominique, morning and nightly meditations, and long hours at the forge, tirelessly working on forging daggers.

    For the first few days, Mira focused exclusively on hammering techniques. She practiced on numerous pieces of metal, honing her ability to strike with precision and consistency. Every blow was an exercise in control, as she strived to achieve uniformity in each hit.

    Her early attempts yielded des with slightly less unevenness, yet imperfections persisted. She realized that achieving mastery in forging required more than just physical strength; it demanded an understanding of the metal''s nature and behavior under the hammer.

    Next, she turned her attention to the heating and quenching process. Mira experimented with different temperatures and quenching mediums, seeking the perfect bnce that would give her des the right hardness without making them brittle. She noted the subtle changes in the metal''s color and texture, using these cues to guide her.

    Mira also spent time perfecting the tempering process, ensuring each de was reheated to the correct temperature and cooled at the right rate. She learned to read the metal''s color as it heated, gauging the perfect moment to remove it from the forge.

    As the days passed, her understanding deepened, and the quality of her des improved. The shapes became more symmetrical, the surfaces smoother, and the edges a bit sharper. Yet, she knew she was far from perfection.

    The grinding and sharpening of the des were another area of focus. Mira honed her skills with the grinding stone, achieving a finer edge with each attempt. She experimented with different angles and pressures, gradually understanding how to sharpen a de without weakening it.

    The handles, too, received her attention. She carved each one with more care, ensuring afortable and secure grip. She experimented with different woods and designs, each handle bing more refined than thest.

    Throughout this process, Mira never lost sight of her initial goal: to forge a wless dagger. She continued to forge, quench, temper, grind, and polish, each iteration bringing her closer to her ideal.

    Finally, after hundreds of attempts and countless hours of practice, Mira held a dagger that met her rigorous standards. The de was perfectly symmetrical with a razor-sharp edge. The metal had a uniform hardness throughout, and the handle was both sturdy andfortable to hold.

    In terms of Human-Grade daggers made of iron and wood, this one had reached the peak of what was possible.

    She examined the dagger with a critical eye, turning it over in her hands. To her satisfaction, she could find no w, other than the limitations of the materials themselves.

    Proudly, Mira engraved her signature at the base of the de.

    ''Now, I just need to perfect my craft in the Human-Grade and I can finally move up to the Mortal-Grade!'' She put the perfect dagger alongside her first one and took out a few more handfuls of ore.

 Chapter 903 Blood-Soul Awareness

    Chapter 903  Blood-Soul Awareness

    ??903  Blood-Soul Awareness

    A monthter, Mira was still in her forge, hammering away at arge piece of metal that looked as if it was being sculpted into a suit of armor. All around her were her various creations tossed about.

    From daggers to swords to maces and even more normal tools like handsaws, chisels, hammers, and everything in between. Suits of armor were also thrown about, with each one having a unique design. Some were just a breastte, while others were full-body chain mail.

    Over thest month, she didn''t hold back, creating whatever came to mind.

    However, after hundreds, if not thousands, of creations, the process became rather simple for her. Whether she was creating something out of iron, wood, leather, some sort of alloy, or a different type of Human-Grade metal, she had perfected the art of making Human-Grade items.

    Not far away from her, in her own room, was a little blood-red fox. The walls of the room were red, dried with what looked like blood. She was twirling her fingers as a thin stream of blood hovered around her, performing all sorts of intricate movements.

    Over thest month, under Mira''s strict guidance, Dominique had pushed her limits, reaching the peak of the Foundation Realm.

    Now, it was time for a crucial phase in her development - the first step of the altered Harmonic Trinity Cultivation Technique, or what she called the Blood-Soul Awareness Stage.

    The original Harmonic Trinity technique didn''t have anything like that.

    Mira spent much of her time doing research on Blood Qi, blood affinities, the soul, and more. In her Storage Space, she had a stack of books and manuals she had bought from the FLDIL that helped her to understand this unique affinity a bit more.

    That''s how she came to know that the kind of Qi Dominique naturally gathered wasn''t all that simrpared to what normal people did.

    Normal people would absorb the neutral Qi in the air and when they were nning to use it, the Qi would be transformed into their affinity. This would change slightly when they reached the Core Formation Realm, as instead, one''s Qi would transform into their given element/s inside their dantian, but the point remained.

    However, for Dominique, she didn''t have any neutral Qi in her body. It was all Blood Qi.

    That wasn''t weird. More than anything, it was intuitive. But those who had more of an understanding of how the world works would definitely find it odd.

    Even Mira didn''t know this until one day, she sat down and did a thorough inspection of the girl. ''How peculiar.'' She thought. Whether it was because she was in the Foundation Realm and stored Qi throughout the entirety of her body or something else, they had discovered that the little fox''s own blood was transforming the neutral Qi into her own.

    In other words, her blood and Qi were mixing somehow, creating abination of the two: Blood Qi.

    Normally, this wouldn''t mean anything other than making her Qi techniques slightly more efficient than other people''s.

    But for Mira, who wanted to teach the Harmonic Trinity Technique, this was a massive discovery. As she''se to understand throughout the years, one''s affinity is tied to their soul.

    Since Dominique was always producing, generating, and gathering Blood Qi, an energy that was intrinsically linked to her own blood and vitality, she theorized that there should be a way to reach her soul through her blood�Cor rather, her Blood Qi.

    If Dominique could indeed reach her soul through that connection and simultaneously practice the Harmic Trinity Technique, her future would be limitless.

    In her room, the young fox, Dominique, was engrossed in a crucial phase of her training. The floating Blood Qi around stopped right in front of her forehead.

    Her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to link her mind to that stream of energy. Unsure of whether she had connected to it, she gritted her teeth and attempted to separate her Blood Qi into its two basicponents: neutral Qi and blood.

    Mira asionally nced towards Dominique''s room but continued her work on the suit of armor as she hammered away. Despite her focus on cksmithing, part of her mind remained attuned to Dominique''s progress. She knew the importance of this stage in Dominique''s cultivation journey.

    At one point, she paused her hammering, wiped the nonexistent sweat from her brow, and turned to where Dominique was practicing. "Remember, Dominique," she called out. "understanding the essence of your Blood Qi is key. It''s not just about control. It''s aboutprehension. Feel the separation, understand the process."

    Dominique nodded slightly, acknowledging Mira''s guidance. She took a deep breath and raised her hand, swiping her arm with her long, sharp nails. Blood welled up from the small wounds, and she focused her attention on it.

    With a subtle movement of her will, she manipted the droplets of blood, levitating them before her. Her eyes, which reflected the deep crimson hue of blood, were fixed on the tiny spheres of her life force.

    ''Since I don''t quite understand how to separate the blood from the Qi, I''ll see if I can gain any insights bybining the two.'' She thought before closing her eyes and sitting in a meditative position.

    Slowly, she began the process of transforming the blood into Blood Qi. It was a forceful approach to the natural process urring within her body, and it required a deep understanding of her unique affinity.

    Mira watched with a mix of sternness and pride. This exercise was more than just a test of Dominique''s control; it was a way for her to intimately understand her own nature.

    By manually transforming her blood into Blood Qi, she hoped that Dominique would be able to trace the path back to her soul.

    As the minutes ticked by, Dominique''s focus never wavered. The droplets of blood vibrated, and a minute amount of Qi around her began to gather around them. It was a slow process, demanding patience and precision, but gradually, the droplets began to shimmer with a faint energy �C the beginnings of Blood Qi.

    However, through that process, she felt something. It wasn''t anything tangible, nor could she fully understand what sensed, but it was real. Like a manifestation of her will�Cof her existence.

    ''...I-Is this what my soul feels like?'' She wondered, but as quickly as it came, it disappeared. Her ears drooped a little before they perked back up, and she cut open her now-healed arm again. Controlling an evenrger globule, she shut her eyes hard and went back to what she was doing. ''So, there really is a connection! Now, I just need to feel it and find it again!''

 Chapter 904 Hole

    <h4>Chapter 904 Hole</h4>

    ?In her secluded training room, Dominique focused intently on the delicate task at hand. She was attempting to separate her Blood Qi into its two fundamentalponents��neutral Qi and blood. She didn''t understand it before, but after seeing how the two conjoined to create something that was hers, and hers alone, she started to understand.

    No, rather, Dominique sought further understanding.

    As she sat in meditation, the air around her seemed to vibrate with the power of her concentration. Countless tiny droplets of Blood Qi levitated around her, filling the room with as much as she could handle.

    ''...If only I could use Soul Sense.'' She thought while trying to envision the process of ripping her affinity apart. Things would be so much easier if she could ''see'' what was going on, but she was forced to go blind.

    Fortunately, she didn''t need to ''look'' at anything. Her affinity was literally blood. There were very faint but noticeable differences between blood and Blood Qi, especially her own. They each had their own aura, and all she had to do was navigate through theplex web that was her Qi.

    With each passing moment, Dominique''s understanding deepened. She could feel the minute differences in her Blood Qi, and slowly, she began to unravel the tightly woven threads of Qi and blood.

    Mira asionally nced toward Dominique''s room as she was finishing the suit of armor. She could sense the young fox''s progress, feeling a mix of pride and anticipation.

    ''I wonder what''ll happen��'' She thought, keeping most of her Soul Sense focused on Dominique. ''She doesn''t have a World Core, neither is her Soul as innately strong as mine. Really, the Harmonic Trinity Technique is only supposed to be used when all aspects of oneself are rather close in power. Her body and Qi are simr, but I have no idea about her soul. However, she still is rather weak,paratively, while also still within the Foundation Realm. If there''s any time this technique would work, other than theter Realms, it''s now.''

    It was also for this reason that Mira wanted Dominique to integrate the technique now instead of a littleter.

    After doing some reading about the Foundation Realm, she''se to understand that most people didn''t put enough emphasis on the ''foundation'' part. It was from this point in the cultivation system that a cultivator quite literally forged the base of their power.

    The Body Tempering and Qi Condensations Realms were nothing but preparatory stages. In terms of power level values, the easiest way to describe it was that the first two Realms had a value of 0. They served almost no purpose to one''s future strength.

    They were useful and could improve one''s achievements in the Foundation Realm, but the scaling for all future Realms didn''t begin from there. It all started in the Foundation Realm.

    As soon as one breaks through from the Qi Condensation Realm, their power level value is already more than 0. It''s then up to the practitioner to improve that value as much as possible, as that final number in the Foundation Realm will be what scales.

    No matter how much power one has or what Realm they''re in, much of it is determined by that final value at the Peak of the Foundation Realm. There are outliers and treasures that can break this rule, but that still doesn''t change the fact that if one''s talent and power improve without one''s realm increasing, it almost always means their foundation has deepened.

    However, ording to conventional cultivation teachings, the Foundation Realm was strictly about absorbing andpressing as much Qi into one''s body as possible. While the body did grow stronger from this, the process mostly revolved around improving the quality of Qi.

    Then, what if someone could open up their soul and effectively create another ''container'' to hold Qi? To improve their soul?

    What if one could link all aspects of themselves(Soul, Body, and Qi) into the same cultivation system during this Realm?

    Wouldn''t doing so be able to bring out the maximum amount of potential someone was capable of?

    Instead of starting out with merely a fraction of one''s potential power level value, Dominique would start with the maximum amount. Her scaling in the future would trump others by double, triple, quadruple, maybe even dozens of times until she was no longer in the same league as the people around her! No, even people like Aelina would only be capable of looking up at her Disciple!

    If she could push Dominique to the very edge right now, she could turn her into someone that even gods would have to fear!

    ''Fufufu~ You wanted to be strong, right? You wanted to help me, right? Then, let''s see exactly how strong your resolve is!'' Mira chuckled maniacally inside her mind while keeping an outwardly straight face.

    "Dominique," Mira called out, her voice echoing through the forge, "focus on the essence of your Blood Qi. Feel the separation and trace it back to its origin."

    Dominique nodded slightly and continued her meticulous work. She increased the quantity of her Blood Qi, letting it swirl around her, covering her in a red cocoon-like substance. She alternated betweenbining and separating the Qi and blood, each cycle bringing her closer to a profound realization.

    Weeks passed in this intense state of meditation. Dominique''s understanding of her Blood Qi reached new heights, and she started to feel a subtle throb in her subconscious��a gentle tug pulling her towards something deep within.

    ''That''s it.'' No excitement in her thoughts, merely a statement. Without anyone having to tell her, this was what she was looking for.

    So, she delved deeper into her trance, following the path of her Blood Qi.

    Then suddenly, she felt a dull ache in her head. Her lips curled down in displeasure, but she remained focused.

    But the pain didn''t subside. It grew from an ache to a throb, then to a sharp, cutting pain. Until it became a searing agony, but Dominique simply bit her lip and pushed forward, driven by a determination that bordered on obsession.

    Her mind followed that thin, illusory thread back to its origin, all while it felt like someone was ripping her brain in half.

    Fortunately, she didn''t have to ''travel'' far.

    Suddenly, she came up against a barrier��arge, imposing white and ck wall with specks of flowing crimson that acted like veins. It was at this moment that Mira''s voice entered her mind, clear andmanding.

    "Did you find your soul? Good. Now, the next part will be painful but necessary. You need to use your blood and Blood Qi to drill a hole into your soul. Not together. Keep them separate. You''ve worked hard these few weeks, so that shouldn''t be difficult for you."

    Dominique''s heart raced, and for a moment, she hesitated. The idea of drilling into her soul was terrifying; she knew the risks involved. ''Isn''t this basically asking to kill myself?!'' Even if she trusted her Mother, this was a bit much, no?

    But Mira''s reassuring words echoed in her mind, "I have an item that can help heal your soul. Just create a tiny hole. It won''t be that bad."

    ''Fuck! No! Even she''s saying it''ll be bad! How am I supposed to handle it then?'' Dominique inwardly cursed like a sailor. Her Mother was the kind of person who saw torture as nothing more than a massage. Yet, here she was, iming that the next part''ll be painful and "not that bad".

    Not that bad for her is already way beyond the limit of strong-

    willed people!

    ''I''m dead!'' Her mind nearly copsed just thinking about it.

    Merely getting to her soul was already killing her! How was she supposed to go from there?!

    "If you don''t want to do it, that''s fine." Mira''s calm voice entered her mind causing her to tense up. "But, you''ll remain a mediocre little fox. Someone who''ll never catch up to me, much less assist me on my travels. If that''s what you want, stop now."

    "..."

    Of course, she didn''t want that!

    Gathering her courage, Dominique ground her teeth and formed a drill from her swirling blood and Blood Qi.

    Taking a deep breath, she mentally thrust it forward. The tip pierced the thin membrane of her soul, causing an explosion of pain. Blood burst from her orifices, and she screamed in agony, copsing onto her back.

    "Again!" Mira''s voice was relentless, indifferent to Dominique''s suffering. "AGAIN!"

    Barely conscious, Dominique heard themand and, with a burst of willpower, mmed the drill back into her soul. The barrier cracked further, and a tiny hole appeared, allowing a stream of blood and Qi to seep into her soul.

    Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her breathing hitched. No air entered her lungs, and her heart started to slow as blood leaked out of her body like a fountain.

    As Dominiquey there, on the brink of death, Mira quickly intervened. She took out a peculiarly shaped herb, glowing with electric energy, and ced it into Dominique''s mouth. The herb dissolved, sending jolts of life-saving energy throughout her body.

    Within an instant, she was shocked back to life, only to burst out crying and wailing in agony due to the hole in her soul.

    However, Mira did not let up and smacked her across the face, sending another jolt of lightning through her body. "This is the critical moment, Dominique! Complete the technique now!"

 Chapter 905 Painful Merger

    Chapter 905 Painful Merger

    ??Dominique''s mouth widened as she tried to mute her screams. "...I-I�� CAN''T!" She somehow managed to get out. Her back arched like a taut bowstring, and she iled around on the ground. The pain was bing more and more unbearable. She could feel herself slowly slipping away.

    Soon, the herbs Mira had wouldn''t do any good.

    ''...I should''ve pushed her more during training.'' Mira thought, silently biting her lip. It was starting to feel like,tely, she couldn''t do anything right. She identally ''killed'' Maria and couldn''t even face her. Some bastards from the Central Continent were stalking her. Now, Dominique was dying right before her eyes.

    ''No.'' Mira shook her head as her gaze hardened. ''Even if I have to turn you into my ve, I won''t let you fall here!''

    "Child." She said firmly before getting on one knee and patting Dominique''s head. "I know it hurts, but I won''t let you die. Just trust me and finish what you started."

    The girl was so shocked by Mira''s gentle touch and voice that she forgot to scream for a moment. For years, she''d only heard her cold, demanding tone, but now, she was starting to sound like a proper�� mother.

    Dominique''s world narrowed to the sharp, excruciating pain that seemed to consume her very being. Mira''s unexpected gentleness momentarily cut through the haze of agony. The warmth of her hand on Dominique''s head felt like a beacon in the engulfing darkness of pain.

    "You can do this, Dominique. I believe in you," Mira''s voice, nowced with an unusual softness, reached her. Dominique''s tears mixed with blood, her body wracked with spasms of pain, yet Mira''s presence offered a sliver of sce.

    With a shaky breath that rattled through her pained form, Dominique tried to focus beyond the pain, on Mira''s instructions. Her mentor, her mother in all but blood, believed in her. She couldn''t, wouldn''t let her down. Not here!

    Dominique''s mind reached out to the swirling mass of Blood Qi and her own blood. The concept seemed impossible, to merge these with the essence of her soul, to intertwine them sopletely that they became inseparable.

    What would happen once they merged? Where would they go? How was this even useful? Did she have meridians that went to her soul like Mira? What would happen after?

    So many unanswered questions. So many uncertainties.

    Could she do this? What if she died? What would happen to mother?

    ��For the sake of the world, she ought to do her best to survive, right?

    Without her knowing it, her mind was hesitating, asking all these ''useless'' questions. Luckily, someone was there to prevent her from getting distracted.

    "Focus on the essence, Dominique. Your blood, your Qi, your soul, they are all facets of the same origin. Merge them," Mira instructed, her voice a constant guide amidst the turmoil.

    Each word from Mira acted like a beacon, guiding Dominique''s efforts. She visualized her blood, the very life force that ran through her veins, and her Blood Qi, a manifestation of her power, will, and affinity. Then, there was her soul, the most intangible yet the essence of her very existence.

    "Think of it as weaving, Dominique," Mira continued. "Each thread��your blood, your Qi, your soul��must be intertwined so closely that they be indistinguishable from one another."

    Dominiquetched onto the analogy, envisioning her blood, Qi, and soul as strands of vibrant colors, each unique but essential to the tapestry she was weaving.

    The first step was to align them, to get them to resonate at the same frequency. The blood and Qi were the easiest; they were of the world, tangible and responsive to her will. The soul, however, was elusive, like a whisper in the wind that she could feel but not grasp.

    The pain intensified as she forced the blood and Qi to slow to match the ethereal vibration of her soul.

    Sweat and blood beaded on her forehead, and her breath came in ragged gasps, but slowly, a harmony began to emerge. The blood and Qi, once so distinct, began to blur at the edges, their colors melding into a single, pulsating glow.

    "That''s it, Dominique! Now, the hard part. You need to bring your soul into this harmony," Mira instructed.

    Dominique''s heart hammered in her chest as she reached deeper within herself than she ever had.

    The soul was not like blood or Qi; it did not bend to will or desire�CAt least, not at her strength. It was the essence of self, immutable and transcendent.

    To merge it with her blood and Qi required more than force; it required understanding, eptance, and a willingness to transform.

    The first touch was agony. Dominique''s soul recoiled, a bright re of pain that threatened to overwhelm her senses. She could hear Mira''s distant, muffled voice urging her on, but the pain was like an imprable wall.

    "Don''t fight it, Dominique. Embrace it. Let the pain guide you," Mira''s voice somehow reached through the fog of agony.

    Embrace it? How could anyone embrace such pain? But Dominique realized that resistance was futile. The more she fought, the more intense the pain became. So, she let go, allowing the pain to wash over her, to fill her until there was nothing else.

    And then, something shifted.

    The pain didn''t diminish, but within it, Dominique found a thread of something else��connection. Her soul, so long a separate entity, began to weave itself into the tapestry of her blood and Qi. It was a sensation beyond words, a fusion of essence that was both excruciating and exhrating.

    The colors of blood, Qi, and soul intertwined, creating a new hue, one that had never existed before. It was the color of Dominique''s essence, unique and brilliant.

    "I can feel it!" Dominique gasped. "It''s... it''s merging."

    "Yes, yes! Keep going, Dominique. You''re almost there," Mira encouraged but kept her voice soft yet firm.

    The final steps were the most difficult. With the foundationid, Dominique needed to solidify the merger to make it permanent. It required her to pour every ounce of her will into the process, tomand the newly formed essence to be her new reality.

    The process was beyond agonizing. Every attempt to merge these elements felt like it tore her apart from the inside, yet she persisted. Dominique''s screams subsided into whimpers, her body convulsing on the ground as she fought through the pain.

    "It''s working, Dominique. I can see it. Don''t stop now!" Mira''s voice was urgent. She could feel a hand on her chest, doing some sort ofpressions as if to help her heart pump more blood, but part of her felt it must''ve been her imagination.

    With an almost inhuman effort, Dominique pushed through the barrier of pain. She imagined her blood, Blood Qi, and souling together, intertwining in a singr entity. Slowly, a new form of energy began to emerge, one that pulsed with the very essence of her being. This energy was different; it was more potent and vibrant, a perfect amalgamation of her blood, Qi, and soul.

    Dominique could feel the change within her, a transformation that was both terrifying and exhrating. The new energy coursed through her veins, recing the old, separate streams of blood and Qi. It felt like her entire being was being reborn, every cell infused with this newfound power.

    Mira watched intently, her expression a mix of pride and concern. She knew the dangers involved in this process, the fine line between breakthrough and breakdown.

    Yet, she also knew that this was Dominique''s moment, a pivotal point in her journey.

    Then, with a focused look, she took out two items from her Storage Space. One was a pink lotus-like flower that exuded the aura of a Divine-Grade item. The other, however, was something much more rare.

    To the untrained eye, there was nothing. But for those a bit stronger, they''d see a set of many little clear tube-like things. She guided the tubes, which Mira knew were Origin-Grade meridians she had bought from the Shop, and shoved them into her body.

    Using her Soul Sense and Qi, she connected these meridians to Dominique''s core and soul. Many cultivators already had meridians that connected to their souls. Some didn''t, which severely limited their talent, but Mira wasn''t satisfied with that.

    She wanted Dominique''s talent to be as high as possible. So, she attached more.

    The process went smoothly, as they naturally became a part of the girl. However, she would have to spend some time to unlock themter on, but right now, the one connected to the hole in her soul was enough.

    Once they were transnted, she shoved the herb, the Soul-

    Soothing Lotus, into her mouth and used the energy to heal the cracks and damage Dominique had caused.

    As Dominique continued to merge the energies, her body''s convulsions began to subside. The pain, while still present, became something she could endure. She was no longer just surviving the process; she was mastering it.

    The room around them seemed to pulse with energy, the air vibrating with the power of Dominique''s transformation. Mira could feel the shift, a fundamental change in the very fabric of Dominique''s being.

    "Keep going, Dominique. You''re almost there," Mira encouraged, her voice steady and sure.

    Dominique pushed through the final barriers. With onest Herculean effort, shepleted the merger, her blood, Blood Qi, and soul energy fully integrated into a single, harmonious stream that started to permeate throughout the rest of her body.

    The moment the transformation waspleted, Dominique copsed, utterly exhausted but alive in a way she had never been before. The pain was gone, reced by a profound sense of power and rity. Shey there, breathing heavily, a faint smile ying on her lips despite the ordeal.

    Mira rushed to her side, a rare smile of genuine pride gracing her features. "You did it, my child. You''ve done something few could even dream of."

    Dominique''s eyes fluttered open, meeting Mira''s. There was a new depth to her gaze, a reflection of the journey she had just endured and the power she had unlocked within herself.

    "I��I did it?" Dominique''s voice was weak but filled with wonder.

    "Yes, you did. And you''re going to be stronger for it. Much stronger," Mira affirmed. That was all the confirmation she needed before Dominique passed out.

 Chapter 906 Mortal Grade

    <h4>Chapter 906 Mortal Grade</h4>

    ?Mira gentlyid Dominique down on her bed and sat on the edge, watching the little fox change little by little. The process of merging all aspects of herself didn''t happen immediately, and was a slow but gradual process. All the energy in her body, whether it be her own blood, Blood Qi, or soul, had to be converted.

    ''It''s hard to tell if she''s getting stronger or not.'' Mira thought as she looked away, not concerned about Dominique''s strength.

    The purpose of the technique wasn''t to increase power but potential. It was also a way to save months if not years or centuries of time.

    Improving one''s Qi was rather easy; just cultivate. But tempering the body and soul isn''t quite so straightforward. Most people only pick one, maybe two of the three if they''re particrly talented, but even then, the majority of people who do are generally mediocre at both.

    The Harmonic Trinity Technique was merely an auxiliary technique that eliminated the process of having to spend exorbitant amounts of time on those other aspects. However, on the flip side, integrating it means you''ll need that much more Qi to break through.

    ''She probably won''t start to feel it until she reaches my level, though.'' Even then, Mira doubted Dominique would need a quarter of the amount of Qi she needed just to reach the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    Hell, she probably needed more than some people in the middle stages of the Mortal Shedding Realm. Her foundation, Qi reserves, and overall strength were simply that high.

    ''...I wish I could just go annihte a Sect or something. But how many would I have to destroy in order to reach the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm? A dozen? Can I really handle hundreds of Elders and a handful of Divine Sea Realm fogeys on my ass?'' She could only sigh at her predicament. She just wanted to break through the stages quickly, but she was just too strong.

    ''Whatever. I''ll just keep improving my cksmithing.'' Her expression returned to its natural indifference as she got up to leave, only to find that Dominique''s tail was wrapped around her waist, attempting to hold her down.

    Sighing once again, she gave a wry smile before scooting a little closer to the girl and closing her eyes to meditate. ''I''ll do that tomorrow��''

    ***

    The next day, at the break of dawn, a little red fox girl could be seen running through the courtyard. Her movements were swift, almost a blur, as she navigated through the obstaclesid out before her. This was Dominique, and she was different��stronger, more agile, and with what felt like much more energy.

    Mira watched from the sidelines, nodding silently. To her surprise, the little girl actually did make some progress, just not in her cultivation. Rather, that had regressed a little due to the equilibrium between the three aspects. "Faster, Dominique! I want you to push yourself to the limit!" Mira called out.

    Dominique responded with a nod, pushing herself harder. She could feel the changes in her body, the seamless integration of her blood, Blood Qi, and soul, creating a harmony she''d never experienced before. It was exhrating, this sense of unbridled potential.

    As shepleted anotherp, Mira stepped forward, throwing a series of small, metallic spheres towards Dominique. "Dodge!" she shouted, and Dominique instinctively reacted, weaving through the air with a grace that belied her ferocity. Each sphere missed her by mere inches, her body responding with a precision that was almost preternatural.

    Breathing heavily, Dominique came to a stop in front of Mira, her chest heaving, but she quickly caught her breath. "How did I do?" she asked.

    "Hmm~ Your physical strength is a bit higher than it was before, and your perception and intuition seemed to have experienced a significant leap. Your cultivation regressed to the Low-Stage of the Xiantian/Foundation Realm, but that''s just your Qi equalizing the effects from the cultivation technique." Mira said after analyzing her child thoroughly. "Now, you just need to get used to your new body and strength."

    "....No��"

    "Elenei. Come here and take this kid away. Drop her off somewhere she can fight to her heart''s content."

    "....W-Why-?"

    "No problem!" A tall, beautiful woman immediately appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Dominique. "Let''s go!"

    "NO! I literally almost died! I WANT TO REST FOR A FEW MORE DAYS!"

    "You can rest when you''re dead." Mira crossed her arms and said coldly as she watched her be dragged into the air.

    "MOTHER!"

    "...And you look pretty lively right now."

    "NOOOOOooooo-!" Dominique''s scream could be heard for seconds, even after Elenei had taken flight and darted into the sky.

    From the side, Rhydian watched this and shivered. She quickly transformed into her giant wolf form andunched herself into the distance. Now that Dominique was gone and unable to take up a good portion of Mira''s time, who knows when she''ll turn her attention to her?

    ''I''ll just go get a bit stronger, thene back andze around. At least that way, I won''t be forced to train with that demon.'' Were her thoughts as she scouted for any areas she could hunt in.

    Now, the only ones left were Hana, Linnea, and Coralia. Mira had little to no interest in thetter two, and Hana was merely her test subject who was about toplete the ''Perfect Body Tempering Realm Regimen'' she was researching. The girl was already doing everything she needed to.

    Hana wanted to wait until her body matured before she started Qi cultivation, which would be about a decade, maybe a little less. So, there wasn''t any rush.

    ''Now, I''m pretty much free to focus on forging!'' With that thought in mind and a slight smile on her face, Mira marched her way down to the forge.

    With the suit of armor nowplete, something she did while Dominique was undergoing her transformation, marking the pinnacle of her craftsmanship at the Human-Grade, Mira stood back, admiring her handiwork.

    The armor was incredibly heavy. It was really nothing more than arge piece of tempered metal made to fit humans, but it was made of the highest quality with no weak points. A perfect example of what could be achieved at the pinnacle of Human- Grade craftsmanship.

    However, the satisfaction ofpleting it was fleeting, reced by the anticipation of what was next.

    "Now, for the real test," Mira muttered to herself, her gaze shifting toward the materials she had prepared for her next work. Mortal-grade items!

    Moving on to Mortal-Grade items meant not just an increase in the quality of materials but also a fundamental shift in the crafting process. Mira understood that the essence of Mortal-

    Grade items wasn''t just in their material or make but in their ability to be extensions of their users. In other words, their ability to conduct Qi.

    Her first task was to create a simple dagger, not unlike the first Human-Grade weapon she had forged. However, this time, theplexityy not in the shape or the sharpness of the de but in its ability to channel Qi.

    Mira selected a few pieces of metal she had prepared earlier. These metals, whenbined together, could be turned into an alloy that, when treated with specific techniques to enhance their affinity for Qi, could be Mortal-Grade materials.

    This way, she not only saved on the cost of materials, as Human-Grade ones were cheaper, but she could understand more about the forging process and everything it would take to be a Divine-Grade cksmith or higher.

    She ignited her forge, the mes roaring to life. As the metal began to heat, Mira created the allow without much issue, then focused her thoughts not just on the physical act of creating the dagger but on imbuing it with the pathways necessary for Qi flow.

    "It''s kind of like creating little meridians in the metal," she mused as she used her Qi to carve out little pathways for energy to travel through. "At least, that''s how I feel it should be done."

    The books didn''t go into a whole lot of detail, wanting her to figure this part out on her own.

    The process was meticulous. Mira found herself not just hammering the metal but also guiding her own Qi into the alloy, experimenting with patterns and flows that might best suit the eventual wielder.

    Although she felt that by doing this, she was creating unnecessary weak points in the weapon, she didn''t see any other way.

    Minutes passed in what felt like moments as she focused on making the best dagger she could despite herck of knowledge. When finally Mira quenched the dagger, she could now truly understand everything she did right, and where she went wrong.

    Holding the newly forged Mortal-Grade dagger, Mira could feel the difference. The metal hummed with potential, its surface almost eager for the touch of Qi.

    However, when she sent in a stream of Qi, she frowned.

    ''Tch. A dud.''

    The next second, it cracked and broke in her hand along all the pathways she had just created. Looking down at her failure, she could easily see what went wrong. Somewhere along the way, the little tubes had gotten misshapen, clogged, and twisted.

    ''...Looks like it''s back to square one.''

 Chapter 907 Decennial Storm

    Chapter 907 Decennial Storm

    ??While everyone was busy, Hana was rxing in one of the hot springs, reading a book. It was a man who one day decided to leave his wife and family behind to go on a century-long adventure, or what he deemed as a ''Death March''. As a mortal man who lived off of nothing but Frostworm Silk, jumping from vige to vige, ce to ce simply to survive, he was tired of being at the whims of the powerful.

    So, he chose to spend 100 years wandering. Either he''d be powerful enough to hold his head up high, or he''d die trying.

    The story showed his early struggles and how many times he almost died from trivial things. The man knew next to nothing about cultivation. He could barely qualify as someone in the Body Tempering Realm before he left.

    Hana turned the page, her interest piqued by the man''s unwavering resolve and the stark honesty with which his journey was written. The book, titled "The Century Wanderer," delved deep into the psyche of a man who, despite being average in every conceivable way, possessed an extraordinary determination to transcend his limitations.

    As she read on, the story unfolded the myriad hardships the Wanderer faced. He encountered bandits, fierce beasts, and even the harshness of nature itself. Each challenge was a lesson, each failure a stepping stone. What the Wanderercked in knowledge and power, hepensated for with an unyielding will to persevere.

    Hana was particrly moved by a chapter where the Wanderer, after nearly losing his life to a venomous serpent, was saved by a reclusive cultivator. This encounter was pivotal; it was his first real introduction to the world of cultivation beyond the superficial understanding he possessed.

    The cultivator, seeing the Wanderer''s determination, offered him guidance, not in the form of techniques or spells, but in wisdom. "Cultivation is not just about finding some legendary technique," he said, "but understanding the world around us and mastering ourselves."

    This piece of advice became the cornerstone of the Wanderer''s journey. He began to see his journey not just as a quest for power but as a path to self-discovery. He learned to listen to the wind, to speak to the rivers, and to dance with the mes. Nature became his teacher, and with each step, he grew, not just in strength but in spirit.

    The mostpelling part of the book, at least for Hana, was the Wanderer''s approach to cultivation. Without ess to prestigious sects or powerful techniques, he cultivated by harmonizing with the elements, by understanding the essence of life. It was a slow process, fraught with trials and errors, but it was genuine.

    Decades passed, and the man who once barely qualified as a Body Tempering Realm cultivator had now stepped into realms unheard of by ordinary cultivators. He had no sect, no designated pathid out by ancestors or masters, yet he carved his own way, creating a legacy that would inspire generations.

    Towards the end of the book, the Wandererpleted his 100-year journey and returned to the ce he once called home.

    That is, until a fight between two powerhouses made its way over his vige, killing him and everyone else as coteral damage.

    "Huh? That''s it?" Hana eximed, flipping through the pages, searching for any more words, but that was thest page. "Seriously? That''s how the story ends? No wonder I never see anyone reading! What sort of trashy ending is this?!"

    Tossing the book aside, Hana pouted. She understood that this was the nature of the world. Hell, she had seen Mira kill plenty of people merely because they were caught in the crossfire, but the least the author could do was embellish it a bit! Make it interesting!

    Sinking down into the hot, bubbling water, she sighed. ''...When will I get to go on my own hundred-year journey?''

    Truthfully, she didn''t like staying with Mira. The woman was toomanding! She made enemies wherever she went! It seemed like they were always on the move!

    To make things worse, she almost always needed a bodyguard. Was that because of Mira''s enemies? Partially, but it was really to protect her from the woman herself!

    Just a fraction of Mira''s power was enough to reduce her to atoms. Who knows when she might just cease to exist?

    ''I don''t want to be protected! I don''t want to be dragged around like baggage! I want to go out there and find my own opportunities! To see the world and all it has to offer!'' Her fists unconsciously clenched, only to loosen a momentter, realizing that such a dream was far away. ''I just�� don''t want to look like a kid for the next thousand years or whatever��''

    That''s the only reason she hadn''t told Mira to drop her off on the outskirts of the Continent and let her mature for around a decade.

    ''Well, that''s not the only reason.'' She thought with a shake of her head. ''Despite how dangerous and crazy Mira is, she''s an opportunity in and of itself. I can see first-hand how to truly survive in this world. I can slowly train with her, see different techniques, and experience all kinds of things. Things aren''t all that bad.''

    Though the negatives of staying with Mira and Dominique were abysmal, the positives were equally as great. There was also the fact that Mira saved her mom, something she''d always be grateful for.

    However, she knew that the only reason Mira hadn''t kicked them to the curb was because she was Dominique''s only friend.

    ''...I wish there were a way for me to grow up faster.'' She sighed once again before raising her head above the water and climbing out.

    After drying off and putting on some clothes, she picked up the book and yelled, "Mom! I''m going to walk around a bit!"

    "Okay! Be safe!" Linnea yelled from another part of the courtyard.

    As Hana strolled through the resort, her mood began to lift slightly despite the disappointing end to her book. The resort was a peaceful ce, with steam rising in gentle plumes from the hot springs, mingling with the fresh, crisp air of the mountains surrounding them. She passed by some of the staff, offering them a smile and a cheerful, "Good morning!" which they returned with equal warmth.

    Stopping briefly at the library, Hana slid "The Century Wanderer" back into its rightful ce on the shelf. She lingered for a moment, her fingers tracing the spines of other books, wondering if any of them contained stories with more satisfying endings.

    Shaking her head, she decided against borrowing another book, at least for now.

    As she meandered through the gardens, Hana admired the carefully maintained flora, noting the way the morning dew still clung to the petals of the blooming flowers and the leaves of the trees.

    Her peace was short-lived, however, as a group of young cultivators entered the resort. They were hard to miss; eight men and six women, all wearing simr robes that marked them as belonging to a particr sect or group.

    Their presence immediately filled the air with a subtle but undeniable tension. At a nce, even someone like Hana could feel the powerful auras they exuded. She couldn''t help but feel a twinge of envy and curiosity. They were clearly young, looking like they were in their twenties but were probably a few decades older than that, yet they exuded confidence and strength she could only dream of.

    She found herself inadvertently eavesdropping on their conversation, drawn in by their animated discussion about something called the "Decennial Storm."

    "...it''s supposed to be a massive event," one of the men said, his eyes alight with excitement. "They say the storm this time will reshape the Northern Continent, uncovering ancient ruins and forbidden grounds."

    "Master said that even he''s thinking about trying his luck this year!" a woman added, her voice tinged with anticipation. "Just imagine, if he''s willing to fight through the storm, what kind of treasures and resources will be revealed? As long as we''re a little lucky, we''ll strike it rich!"

    "Fuck! Really? Master''s going to join?! Looks like thepetition this time won''t be light, then."

    "Hmph! Just a bunch of peasants looking to kill themselves. Nothingpetitive about that."

    "...Right�� Anyway, let''s just enjoy our time here as we wait for the storm toe."

    "Do you know when it''ll be here?"

    "Nah, but within the next year for sure."

    Hana''s heart raced as she listened. The Decennial sounded like an adventure of epic proportions, the kind of thing she longed for.

    But as quickly as her excitement came, it was brought down by the realization of her own limitations. She was no powerful cultivator; she was, as she often felt, little more than dead weight in the grand scheme of things.

    Still, the thought lingered in her mind, sparking a me of expectation. Maybe this was the opportunity she had been waiting for.

 Chapter 908 Purpose

    Chapter 908 Purpose

    ??In one of the hot springs a bit farther up the mountain, further away from the resort, a particr mermaid with luscious pink hair and an iridescently pink tail moved along smoothly under the water.

    She went as deep as she could to feel the heating from deep within the volcanoes, allowing all the precious minerals in the water to treat her skin.

    After around a half-hour of enjoying her time, sheunched herself out of the water, transformed into a human, and flipped her hair back, putting her nude body on disy.

    As one might expect from a mermaid, she was quite curvy, with a natural scent that would make most people, men and women alike, salivate in lust. That was especially so after she just finished bathing in one of the world''s best baths.

    With water dripping down her newly shiny skin, she walked around thepound, bored.

    "...What should I do today?" Coralia thought aloud. "Cultivate?"

    She shook her head. "No. Too boring."

    ''I also need to keep Hana and Linnea safe. If I seclude myself, I won''t be able to protect them properly.''

    Of course, that wasn''t the real reason. Truthfully, she didn''t care about those two, or anyone else in the group aside from one person. She just wanted to earn some points with Mira and show her that she wasn''t just a crazy stalker after her body. Even if that was the reality��

    Unfortunately, Mira made it hard to help her. The amount of things she needed assistance with could be counted on one hand, and those things were already taken care of by other people.

    There was also the fact that Mira would almost never ept help that she didn''t already ask for. If she suddenly talked to her about wanting to teach her alchemy, array theories, or anatomies of aquatic creatures, Mira would boot her ass back to the ocean.

    "...Should I pick up cksmithing?" She wondered, giving it some serious thought. Like Mira, she was new to the concept. "Then, instead of one of us giving without receiving anything, we could both help one another out. That way, I can spend time with her, and she can improve faster. It''s a win-win!"

    ''Plus, with my knowledge of runes, arrays, and formations, I can subtly help Mira in theter stages of forging. Surely, she won''t reject my advances then, right? Or, at the very least, consider me as a member of the team.''

    The more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded.

    ''...Luckily, I have everything I need.'' She nced at her spatial ring with a slight grin. Even she didn''t know of all the stuff she had brought with her in preparation for this day.

    Since the first time she saw Mira, Coralia knew she''d be a tough nut to crack. Other than being sincere, people like Mira preferred to surround themselves with those who were useful, self-reliant, and strong. They don''t like their time being wasted and judge people based on their worth.

    If there''s a situation or problem, doesn''t matter what it is, she would want someone who''s always ready to face it head-on.

    Thus, knowing that, she prepared for every possible scenario she could think of. It helped that she was already somewhat versatile before, but now it was on a whole other level.

    ''I''ve already found the perfect spot to practice, too. It''s not too far away from the resort so that I can keep an eye on those two, but not so close that I''d bother anyone.''

    Muttering something about touching those soft, luscious, fluffy tails, Coralia disappeared from her spot and reappeared underground, where she had already made the basic preparations for a forge.

    With a thought, everything she needed to start making weapons and armor dropped onto the ground. In there, she had tons of resources up to the Earth-Grade, with even a few Heaven-Grade materials.

    Some came from back home that she may or may not have stolen. While the rest she had either bought, were somewhere in the ocean, or were looted from a corpse.

    Flipping her hair behind her head, Coralia worked on setting everything up. No longer than a few hourster, she was ready to begin.

    "Now, time to show Mira my charm!"

    ***

    While everyone was busy doing their own thing, there was one person who felt a little out of ce.

    No. "A little" was an understatement. She had no idea what she was supposed to do!

    There was a time Linnea fantasized about being free from those bastards. She''d spend her time peacefully with her daughter, teaching her the ways of cultivation. Once Hana''s bloodline fully matured and she was strong enough to go off on her own, they''d part ways, but secretly, she''d be watching over her.

    Or maybe she never introduced Hana to the horrors of the cultivation world, kept her bloodline sealed, and lived somewhere away from all the chaos.

    In her prime, she was strong enough to hold her head up high. Even crippled, her physical body was about as strong as an average Foundation Realm cultivator. Still weak in the grand scheme of things, but she won''t die from some random bandits.

    There were many scenarios she had visualized, but regardless of what she thought, it was always her and Hana taking on the world together. That''s what she really wanted, to raise her daughter in peace.

    Unfortunately, the world seemed to want to mess with her.

    Instead of that dream life she pictured, she had merely exchanged hands, moving from one captor to another. At least, that''s what it felt like.

    While one was a tyrant that kept her locked up, in pain, and suffering, the other was�� well�� evil and chaotic.

    She had the freedom that she had longed for, but she felt more trapped now than she did before! The doors were wide open; Linnea and Hana could leave whenever they wanted. Nobody was stopping or forcing them to stay.

    In fact, everyone but Dominique would probably be happier if they weren''t there. Two mortals following a group of mythical beings was, no doubt, a little burdensome.

    ''...Haaaa��'' Linnea let out a long sigh as shey down on arge outdoor bed. ''I hate admitting it, but we''re trapped. Even just taking the environment into consideration, we can hardly leave Mira''s side.''

    At first, she didn''t notice it, but while they were traveling in the freezing Northern Continent weather, someone (most likely Elenei) was always keeping them warm. Without her, they would''ve frozen several times over by now.

    However, that was just the start. They had barely arrived on the Continent, and Mira had already offended people from the Central Continent.

    Now, whether she liked it or not, she and Hana were on the radar of some rather unsavory beings. There was a good chance that the second they strayed a little too far away from the group, someone would pop out of the shadows and kidnap them, torture them for information, and then bury their ashes in some random frozenke.

    "A prison with no walls, huh��" Linnea muttered, reaching her hand out to grasp the air as she stared off into space. "And a warden who really should be behind those missing walls. What a crazy world."

    She smiled wryly. To think that she, a proud member of the Silvermoon Wolf Bloodline, was reduced to this state.

    ''I can''t even stop my daughter from being used as a test subject. Some Mother I am��'' Linnea closed her eyes as she thought of how much Hana had grown while in Mira''s care. Not only had her strength improved, but her mentality was more mature. She didn''t seem like a little girl who knew nothing of the world at all.

    ''...I suppose that''s my fault, for not being there when she needed me most. For not protecting her. But still��'' The corner of her eyes became a bit watery, thinking about everything Hana had to go through over the years by herself. Wiping the tears before they could fall, she sat up on her bed. ''

    ''I just want to watch my little baby grow up.''

    ��

    As she sat there in silence, eventually Linnea looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed. "...What am I even doing, feeling sorry for myself? I''m back with Hana, that''s all that matters. As long as we''re alive, the rest can be sorted out."

    Another bout of nothing but the wind rustling, water dribbling, and distant chatter passed by. Thoughts of training Hana, flying through the air with her, exploring the world, and enjoying life shed by. Those images were then oveid by the monstrous battles that took ce whenever Mira fought someone. The enemies she faced, the damage she caused, her indifferent yet chaotic nature. Everything.

    ''I''m tired�Ctired of being captured. Tired of being held back and trapped. It''s fine if it''s just me, but what I can''t stand is the fact that my daughter was dragged into this mess as well!''

    That''s when an idea sparked inside her mind. It was something she''d been thinking about ever since she was crippled, but now, she felt she might actually be able to try without being watched or tortured.

    "I need to get my original strength back!" With that said, Linnea hopped out of bed and went to a more secluded spot. She was going to try fixing her broken dantian!

 Chapter 909 Unexpected Visit

    Chapter 909 Unexpected Visit

    ??Western Continent, Vorandis City

    It had only been a few months since Mirast visited Vorandis, but the changes that happened were substantial. Of course, Maria, better known as "The Saintess," was usually at the center of it all. This time wasn''t any different.

    However, the reason behind her growing fame wasn''t like before.

    Around the time Maria broke through to the Soul Transformation Realm, her attitude had taken a drastic change.

    If before, she made public appearances every day, at the very least. Now, people would be lucky if they could see her once a week. Even when they did, there was a stark contrastpared to how she was now versus a few months ago.

    She seemed a lot more depressed, no longer lighting up the room with her smile. She still did her duty as the face of her organization, and she''d still do her job, but something was different.

    In Vorandis City, Maria''s change in demeanor spread like wildfire, sparking concern and wild spection among the popce. Citizens gathered in small groups just to talk about what might be happening to their resident Saintess and if there was anything they could do to help.

    "Have you seen The Saintesstely? It''s like the light has gone out of her eyes," one woman remarked to herpanion as they moved through the crowded market.

    "Yes, I noticed it too. Thest time she appeared in the city square, she seemed... distant, almost as if her mind was elsewhere," the other replied, her voice tinged with concern.

    At a local tavern, the topic dominated discussions, with patrons theorizing about the cause of Maria''s sudden change.

    "I heard from my friend that''s close to one of the workers at Sanctum that she''s been having nightmares," one man imed, his voice carrying over the din of conversation. "Sometimes, if you listen closely, you can even hear her asional screams at night."

    "Nightmares? Are you stupid? The likelihood that she even sleeps at night is already low, much less having nightmares! I bet she''s just trying to stabilize the changes that her new Realm breakthrough brought. The Soul Transformation Realm isn''t something to take lightly, after all." another countered, shaking his head dismissively.

    "...I guess."

    Amidst the spection, a figure covered in a dark green cloak and light armor walked through the city, taking in all the conversations. It was someone that neither Mira nor Maria would''ve expected toe to Vorandis.

    Although they''ve known each other for years, it still seemed out of character.

    Cine made her way through Vorandis with a singr purpose. She had heard of Maria''s problems and, despite growing apart after entering the Battle Maiden Sect, felt apelling urge to see what was going on.

    Cine''s first stop was the headquarters of Maria''s organization. She flipped her hood back and walked into The Sanctum. The guards at the entrance nodded at her approach, recognizing her face

    "I''m here to see Maria," Cine stated, her voice firm and leaving no room for argument.

    One of the guards swallowed hard, nodding quickly. She could sense that Cine definitely wasn''t here for business, but it wasn''t her ce to pry. "Please, follow me. I''ll take you to her."

    The corridors of theplex were eerily silent as Cine followed the guard, her footsteps echoing against the stone floor. They arrived at arge door, behind which Cine could sense a tumultuous mix of emotions.

    The guard opened the door and quickly stepped aside, allowing Cine to enter. The room was dimly lit, with a single figure seated at a vast desk, her back to the door. It was Maria, her posture slumped, a far cry from the vibrant leader she was known to be.

    Maria turned at the sound of the door, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of Cine. For a moment, neither spoke. It''d been a while since they had been in a one-on-one setting like this. Fortunately, Maria was still Maria, even if she was a little different.

    "Cine... what brings you here?" Maria''s voice was a whisper, barely audible.

    "I heard you weren''t doing too well, Maria. I want to know why. What''s happened to you?" Cine''s tone was softer than usual, a hint of genuine concern breaking through her usually stoic demeanor.

    "..." Maria fell silent.

    How should she answer that? Overall, she was fine. Her organization was expanding nicely, and she had amassed quite arge amount of wealth. Her subordinates were growing more skilled, not just in fighting but in all the side upations as well.

    Her strength was improving more than she ever thought possible. Her time in the Primal Ascendance Convergence Secret Realm had been greatly beneficial, not to mention she could use as many Spirit Stones, treasures, pills, etc., as she wanted with how rich she was.

    Sage A, her teacher, had passed on everything she knew, all the techniques she had, and even helped her create some of her own. It wasn''t wrong to say that on the entire Western Continent, there might not be a better healer than her.

    All things considered, she was doing more than okay. Everything was looking up except for one thing.

    "If it''s taking you that long to answer, you must not be fine," Cine said before Maria could reply. She sat on the desk, ying with the little trinkets littered about, then turned her attention back to the blonde-haired beauty. "I''m guessing it has something to do with Mira? I doubt you''d be acting like this if it was anything else."

    "I-" Maria just opened her mouth, only to get interrupted.

    "I''m guessing something happened in that Secret Realm. I didn''t see or sense you beforehand, but I felt your presence for a moment after we left. You''re not strong enough to sneak past all those beasts, and the only person I know who can break you into such a ce would be Mira. Then, there''s the fact that even Mira felt a bit off afterward. There''s no need to hide anything from me. Just give it to me straight."

    "..." Maria''s eyes widened, and her mouth went agape. She''d been friends with Cine for several years now, and she could swear that was the most amount of words she''d ever heard her say at one time.

    Sighing, Maria shook her head with a wry smile. "...Yeah. You''re right. Something did happen. And truthfully, I''m not really sure how to process it."

    "What''d she do?" Cine asked, but Maria just gave a weird look.

    "Hmmm�� It''s hard to say whether it''s really Mira''s fault or not. I mean, it is, but she didn''t have a choice. No-! Ah�� What I mean to say is that��" She paused, looking Cine straight in the eye.

    "I died."

    "....Huh?" Cine''s brain froze.

    "That''s right." Maria let out a pained chuckle, looking off into space. "I died, and Mira was the one who killed me."

    "...Maybe that guy was right, and you really are having nightmares," Cine mumbled, feeling like Maria was ying tricks with her. Although her expression said otherwise, saying something like ''I died'' when she was literally sitting right in front of her was about as ludicrous of a statement as you could get.

    Maria chuckled, not offended at her friend''s skepticism. "I know it''s hard to believe, what with me being very much alive right now, but it really did happen. For�� I don''t know how long I was really dead. Not unconscious or anything like that, but true death. In fact, I was conscious of the whole thing, even the part when I was cut in half and after I was reconstructed."

    Cine sat frozen, the trinket in her hand momentarily forgotten as she processed Maria''s confession. Her eyes searched Maria''s for any hint of jest, but found none��only a profound sorrow and a haunting depth that hadn''t been there before.

    "You... died," Cine repeated slowly, each word heavy with disbelief. "And Mira... she was the one who killed you. How is that even possible?! You''re here, you''re alive!"

    Maria sighed, leaning back in her chair, the weight of her memories pressing down on her. "It''s a long story, Cine. But the gist of it is that I was teleported into some dark ce, what looked to be arge set of stairs of what I could only assume was Mira''s treasure. However, we were trapped, like it was some kind of trial. We tried to break out, but Mira seemed to understand what was going on. Thus she had to make a choice."

    Cine''s expression hardened. "A choice that involved killing you?"

    "Yes," Maria nodded. "But she, or I suppose, it also brought me back. It was... a miracle, to say the least. Something that shouldn''t be possible. But Mira... she''s always been one to defy the impossible."

    The room fell silent as the gravity of Maria''s words sank in. Cine couldn''t begin to imagine the kind of torment that experience must have inflicted on both Maria and Mira.

    "And now?" Cine finally asked. "How do you feel about all this? About Mira?"

    Maria''s gaze drifted to the window, where the setting sun cast long shadows into the room. "I don''t know," she admitted. "Grateful, of course. I''m d to just be alive. But there''s also fear... and confusion. It''s not easy toe back from the dead, Cine. There''s a part of me that feels like it''s still lingering in that moment of death, unable to move forward."

    Cine moved closer, her usual reserve giving way to concern for her friend. "Is that why you''ve been distancing yourself? Because you can''t seem to get through this?"

    "Partly," Maria confessed. "It''s hard to face the people who look up to you, to be their pir of strength, when you feel so... broken inside. I-I just�� I just don''t know what to do or how I should react��"

    Cine could see that, if Maria were alone, tears would''ve already started falling, but she held herself back. That fact alone made her feel even worse for her friend. Maria was by far the nicest person she knew, yet��

    "That''s it! We''re going to go give Mira a beating! Right now!!"

 Chapter 910 Show Her

    Chapter 910 Show Her

    ??After calming down Cine, Maria smiled at her warmly, touched by the genuine affection that she disyed.

    "Haaa��!" Cine let out an exaggerated sigh, holding her forehead. "You know, you can''t just let Mira keep doing whatever she wants to you. At some point, you''re going to have to make a stand. Better to get it out now than in a hundred years, after all that hidden resentment builds."

    "But��"

    "NO! You''ve always been passive in the rtionship, just going with the flow and following her every move, every word! I get it. You were young, naive, and, honestly, really stupid back then."

    ''Ouch.'' Maria recoiled but kept a smile on her face.

    "Mira''s the type to take charge, or rather, she just does what she wants, others be damned. She helped set you on your current path, which you should be grateful for, but you''ve matured. You no longer need her to hold your hand every step of the way. And with that, you have to make her realize that you''re now an adult and should be treated as such."

    Cine then walked to the window and held her arms out, showing all the people that wereing in and out of the building. "Just look at everything you built. In a prominent merchant city, you not only made a name for yourself but became a leading figure, shaping the trajectory of thousands. Sure, you had help, but at the end of the day, you did this."

    "Your strength had risen considerably since you two separated. You''re a rich young mistress now. You have hundreds, if not thousands, of people under you." Then, she turned around and stared Maria in the eye.

    A sharp ring echoed off the walls as Cine''s saber-like Soul Sense crashed onto Maria, threatening to rip her to shreds. But a shimmering golden barrier surrounded Maria as the blonde woman''s lips curled.

    Then, as if on cue, the two unleashed their auras, causing the building to shake from the pressure. Arrays and Formations activated immediately, preventing any further damage, but the higher-ups of Sanctum and even a few strong entities throughout the city sensed it.

    They all looked toward Maria''s office, with a few people moving to check out what was going on, but the two remained indifferent to all this.

    Cine''s aura attempted to cut through Maria''s, but thetter''s aura possessed an almost immortal-like quality that allowed it to regenerate almost instantly. The two fought like this for a few dozen seconds, with neither losing out.

    Eventually, the two reigned in the pressure as cracks started to form on the walls, allowing the people standing outside the door to let out a sigh of relief. If they went any longer, the cost to maintain the formations would''ve been rather expensive.

    "...You''ve also be quite dangerous," Cine muttered as she flicked her hair back and rested her hand on the hilt of her saber hidden under her cloak. "You need to show Mira this. That woman is equally, if not more stupid than you, just in a different way. If it''s not about power, she doesn''t care. So, you have to make her care. To make her realize you''re not the same dumbass you were when you were a kid."

    "..."

    Cine''s words were like a sharp saber stabbing straight into her heart.

    Maria''s gaze followed Cine as she paced the room, each word from her friend striking deeper than any physical blow could.

    "You''re not wrong, Cine. I''ve been...cent, in a way. Afraid to confront Mira, to assert myself," Maria admitted, her voice carrying a mix of resignation and newfound resolve. "But how? Mira is not one to listen to words alone. She respects strength�� action. But, you know�� she''s��" She didn''t need to finish that sentence for the other party to understand.

    Cine stopped pacing and faced Maria squarely. "Show her! Not just through your aura or your newfound wealth and power, but in your actions and decisions. Make choices that are yours alone, stand firm in your beliefs, and when the timees, confront her. Not as a follower, but as an equal."

    Maria nodded slowly, absorbing Cine''s advice. Her heart felt lighter, as if a path had been illuminated for her. "I understand. And I think... I know just where to start."

    ***

    A few hourster.

    "The Northern Continent?! Excuse me for being impolite, but�� Are you fucking kidding me?! There''s no way you can go there! Not now!" A brown hair, brown-eyed mature woman shouted, mming her fists on Maria''s desk, ring at Cine, who was standing behind her.

    "...Alicia��" Maria muttered with a wry smile.

    However, the woman wasn''t done. Summoning stacks of paper from her storage ring, it all crashed onto the desk. "We''re already weeks behind where we should be. From collecting funds, sending and receiving orders, our finances, and more, there are still thousands of things I need to audit! And you''re telling me you want to leave? When we''re about to hit a massive growth spike?!"

    "I know it looks bad, but-"

    "Not to mention, what are we supposed to do about the monthly meetings with the other leaders when you''re gone?! You''re not just our leader, but our backer. Without your strength and backing, the rest of us wouldn''t be able to go nearly as wild as we are now! How are we-?!"

    Maria had had enough of being interrupted and shouted, "Alicia!"

    The woman before her flinched, not expecting Maria to raise her voice like that.

    "I understand your concerns, but I''ve already found a solution." She said calmly, then raised her hand to the side of her chair. A humanoid dummy appeared beside her, but that was just the beginning.

    A huge amount of Qi spiraled around the dummy out of Maria''s hand. Sweat formed on her forehead, but she continued to use almost all of her energy on the dummy.

    Suddenly, a blinding light emitted from the dummy, forcing the others to cover their eyes.

    A momentter, a shocking transformation was revealed. It was an exact replica of Maria! Her aura, strength, the way she breathed, and even her unique Qi signature were all the same! The only difference was that the dummy''s face was rather emotionless, but with a thought, Maria changed that.

    Now, the two looked nearly identical.

    Both Cine and Alicia gawked at the sight, not expecting Maria to do that.

    "I''ve been working on making a clone of myself for a while now," Maria said, enjoying their shocked expressions. "I know there are techniques out there that could do something simr, but I wasn''t satisfied with those. So, teacher and I worked on developing one that could fully utilize our knowledge of the human body."

    "H-How-?" Cine stuttered, wide-eyed. She''d seen clone techniques in the Battle Maiden Sect''s repository, but none were like this. "H-How can it have your strength? I can even sense that it''s passively absorbing Qi to sustain itself!"

    Maria scratched her cheek, a bit embarrassed. "It''s�� It''s a bitplicated to exin but just think of the body as a giant Spirit Stone Mine Source with all kinds of arrays, formations, and runes carved on it. Combine that with a personalized cloning technique, and you have essentially duplicated yourself."

    "..."

    That exnation was too simple!

    That was what their expressions said, but Maria could only shrug. The amount of time that went into perfecting this technique was astronomical. It was impossible to exin theplexities in just a few words.

    "Just know that this is basically an extension of me. Everything that it sees, hears, and touches alles through me. And, regardless of distance, I can give itmands or just leave it on auto-pilot and let it do its thing."

    "...That''s insane," Cine muttered, and Alicia couldn''t agree more.

    Maria''s smile widened as she nced over her shoulder before turning back to face Alicia. "Now, there shouldn''t be a problem with me leaving, right?"

    Alicia unconsciously nodded. ''In fact, this might be even better than if Maria was really here!''

    She could already imagine forcing this clone to work non-stop, doing everything that nobody else wanted to do. Although it was an extension of Maria''s will, at the end of the day, it wasn''t really her. She could have it work like a dog with noints!

    ''Hehehe~ I''m saved! No more paperwork!'' Alicia chuckled, causing both Maria and her clone to shiver at her ''malicious'' smile.

    "...Don''t be too hard on her, err�� me, please," Maria murmured.

    Yeah, yeah." Alicia carelessly waved her off. "Just get going already. You got business with Mira, right? You should go settle that."

    "..."

    Maria sighed, but she knew Alicia was just ying around. She and everyone else knew that Alicia yed one of the biggest roles in the development of their organization. Whether it be her nning, administrative tasks, leadership abilities, attention to detail, public rtions, and more, the woman was involved in everything.

    Even without Maria''s presence, everything would be just fine as long as Alicia was around. It was almost impossible for her to ck off.

    "Then, I guess I''ll leave in a few days. There are still a few things I have to take care of before I leave."

    "Sure, do what you need to do. Just be sure to leave the clone out. I have a few tasks for it."

    ''...Maybe this was a mistake.'' Maria was beginning to wonder, but since she had already made her decision, she couldn''t back out now.

 Chapter 911 Mortal Realm Zones

    Chapter 911 Mortal Realm Zones

    ??In the folds of space, within a domain hidden from the eyes of mortals, a room reminiscent of aary observatory exists. This ce is nestled deep within the Immortal Realm, in a ce where the boundaries of time and space warp and fold in ways iprehensible to even most immortals.

    Here, a man stands alone, his gaze piercing through the veils that separate realms, looking down upon the Mortal Realm.

    The Mortal Realm, viewed from this lofty vantage, appears as an ever-expanding O-ring, at least to someone from so far away. This realm is divided into three distinct sections. Although a near-infinite amount of different sections make up the entire Mortal Realm, these three encapste all of them.

    The Outer Section, colloquially known as the Void Zone, is a vast expanse filled with smalls, suns, and the empty space of the known Universe. It is here that most of Mira''s previous reincarnations have taken ce, and where Earth belongs.

    Beyond the Void Zone lies the Inner Ring��a term that hardly does justice to theplexity and wonder of this part of the Mortal Realm.

    Here, a special energy simr to Qi, yet many times worse, exists. It''s a power that''s not quite potent enough for beings to cultivate and significantly extend their lifespans, but it can allow the beings within to harness it and strengthen themselves.

    The differing humanoid races master martial arts to elevate their strength and surpass their natural limits. The flora and fauna of this realm can also growrger and stronger, making it a section that''s known for its difficulty in surviving.

    The higher-ups in the Immortal Realm often call it the Dead Zone, War Zone, or, moremonly, the Broken Veil. Life is a struggle for the creatures in the Broken Veil, and death is always around the corner, making the technological advancements there significantly less than those in the Void Zone.

    Yet, both the Void Zone and the Broken Veil exist only as precursors to the true heart of the Mortal Realm, a ce that''s known as the Mortal Realm. Although the other two sections are within the entire Mortal Realm, most don''t see the Broken Veil and Void Zone as part of it.

    It is within this "Core Domain" that the true cultivation worlds reside��worlds where Maria, Mira, Cine, and countless others exist, hoping for a chance at ascending to the Immortal Realm.

    However, most Mortal Realm inhabitants don''t fully realize that their Realm is just one massive O-ring with countless smaller worlds linked together. World Barriers separated them, and the other two Zones existed between the worlds.

    The iparably handsome man in the observatory watched life in the various worlds y out. His vision narrowed in on the world that Mira was currently in. However, for some reason, a veil nketed that entire world and even the surrounding ones.

    Even someone as strong as him couldn''t break through it, at least not from where he stood. To break it, he understood that he''d have to use at least half his power, which would definitely earn the ire of the Heavens.

    "Not that I''m scared, but�� it''s annoying." He muttered. Damaging or destroying the Heavens was equivalent to mutual destruction. There existed a bnce to everything. If he were to mess that up, nothing good woulde for both sides.

    His brows furrowed in frustration as, for the millionth time, he thought about who might be the cause behind that barrier. However, he couldn''te up with an answer. He grumbled, "I know every entity that had reached the peak. None of them felt like that."

    Creating a barrier around a world in the Mortal Realm was easy for many Immortals. However, doing so without alerting anyone was a different story.

    Without the Heavens knowing was a feat that even he''d find trouble with. Yet, for it to happen right under his nose as he was staring at the world��

    "FUCK!" He roared out in anger, just thinking about it. "Who is it?! Who''s that bastard that''s protecting her?! How dare they! How dare they! How dare they! How dare they!"

    The folds of space cracked and broke as his aura red. He calmed down soon after, but his emotions were still raging.

    The man paced back and forth in his celestial observatory, his mind racing with ns and contingencies. The barrier concealing Mira and her world was an affront to his authority and knowledge, a puzzle that he could not leave unsolved.

    "Direct confrontation is out of the question," he muttered to himself, his voiceced with irritation. "Facing an unknown entity capable of such feats... it''s akin to challenging the unknown, perhaps even challenging a reflection of myself."

    He frowned at the thought. If he had to fight against someone of his caliber, there was no telling what the oue might be.

    ''Looks like I''ll have to test the waters.'' He concluded.

    With a flick of his wrist, a ripple in space signified the summoning of one of his most trusted concubines, a woman of remarkable power who had reached the Ascension Realm. She appeared before him apanied by a cadre of her own subordinates, each a formidable cultivator in their own right.

    " Serein," He addressed her, his voice now steady, the earlier storm of emotions momentarily calmed. "I have a task for you, one of utmost importance. You are to descend to the Mortal Realm, to the world shielded from my gaze. You will sow chaos, unleash beasts, and stir the pot until the veil is lifted or until Mira begs for mercy."

    Lady Serein bowed deeply and said in a voice full of reverence. "My lord, consider it done. We shall be the harbingers of your will, and the world under the veil shall know turmoil until your demands are met."

    He nodded, satisfied with her response but not yet content. "However, direct assault is not our only path. We will also manipte the very fabric of their world. Earthquakes, storms, floods... everything. Anything and everything that can cause despair, use it. No need to care about the consequences."

    "I understand, My Lord!" She bowed once again before darting out of the room.

    As Serein and her team prepared to depart, Lord Zephyr turned his attention back to the veiled world, his mind working through the implications of his orders. Unleashing such forces upon a world was not a decision made lightly, but the barrier and the entity behind it had left him with no choice.

    His need to see Mira, to understand the shield that protected her, consumed him.

    The thought that something or someone existed beyond his vast knowledge was like a thorn in his side. For someone as ancient and wise as him, ignorance was an uneptable state. The unknown entity presented not just a challenge but a direct threat to his understanding of the cosmos.

    In fact, part of him was more interested in this unknown being than he was in Mira.

    A few dayster, Serein and her forces made their descent, and he couldn''t help but wonder about the consequences of his actions. Would this force the hand of the mysterious protector?

    Was he just after him? Or was he defending Mira from everyone?

    What happened to Sue Ming? Why wasn''t she doing anything?!

    His thoughts were interrupted by a subtle shift in the energies of the Immortal Realm. The Heavens remained silent, but the disturbance did not go unnoticed. He was aware that his actions of sending down experts at the peak of the Mortal Realm might draw attention, but the risk was necessary.

    For him, the veil was not merely an obstacle but a deration of war, a challenge to his dominion and understanding.

    In his heart, though he would never admit it aloud, he harbored a grudging respect for the power and audacity of the one who had dared to conceal an entire world from him. It was a formidable foe, perhaps the most formidable he had ever faced.

    ***

    In Frostshore Haven, a few dayster, Maria and Cine walked along the harbor, looking for boats that''ll take them to the Northern Continent.

    "Tell me again, why I have toe along?" Cine groaned as the urge to fly back to the Sect hit her.

    "It was your idea, so you have to take responsibility!" Maria joked, elbowing Cine''s stomach. The green-haired girl could only roll her eyes. "Don''t tell me you''re not curious about what another Continent might look like?"

    "..."

    Seeing that Cine was still on the verge of leaving, she couldn''t help but tease, "I understand. You''d rather spend time with Asami than me and Mira, your best friends."

    A faint blush spread across Cine''s cheeks, but she kept a poker face, making it seem like she was just cold. Maria chuckled at her reaction but didn''tment further. They had already talked to Asami, who told Cine that she should go without her�� this time. Saying something like they should meet with Mira without her intervention.

    It wasn''t that she was scared of Mira. Not at all.

    Suddenly, while they were walking, Maria''s ears twitched as she heard an old sailor captain grumble further down the harbor, "Tsk! That damn fox! Making me repair my ship like this!"

    "This way!" Maria shouted and grabbed Cine''s hand, dashing toward the voice.

 Chapter 912 Viewing

    Chapter 912 Viewing

    ??In a dark space, a tall man dressed in all ck was rxing. His legs were propped up on a recliner, casually sipping a spiked ambrosia, giving him a bit of a buzz. Nothing that he couldn''t immediately dissipate, but enough to help him pass the time.

    Since Mira didn''t enjoy him spying on her, he respected her privacy. As a Guardian, he could at least do that much for his future ''Empress''. Still, that didn''t stop him from watching those around her.

    "Tsk. Tsk. That mermaid''s a little crazy, isn''t she? No wonder Mira wants nothing to do with her." He thought aloud, watching Coralia pump out artifact after artifact. He had to admit that the girl was rather talented, but it was clear she wasn''t interested in forging.

    "Well, whatever." He shrugged. "At least it''s good she''s making friends."

    That was a bit of a stretch, and he knew it. Mira didn''t consider any of them to be ''friends''. Maybe somewhere deep in her subconscious, she did. Not like she''d ever admit that, though.

    "At least Dominique''s growing nicely." He clicked a remote-like object and switched to watching the blood fox. She was currently facing off against a never-ending onught of beasts that Elenei had corralled.

    "However, there was no need for her to endure so much pain. Mira should''ve just linked all of her centers together. With her current strength and Dao, she should be more than capable of that." Despite thinking that, he knew Mira would never do such a thing.

    The more help she provided, the more wanted to make the other party suffer. Since she was giving hand-outs, the least they could do was go through a bit of pain.

    He soon got bored of watching Dominique fight one life-or-death battle after another and switched the ''channel'' to Hana.

    "Should I speed up her aging a bit?" He wondered before shaking his head. He should let the girl enjoy her youth before being tossed into a world of blood and death. Right now, she''s just a mortal.

    Most cultivators won''t pay her any mind. It was already bad karma for cultivators to harm innocent mortals, which only became worse the stronger one became. Not to mention, harming mortals was nothing more than a waste of time for cultivators.

    Thus, in a sense, she was still ''protected'' by the world. Having Mira around counteracted that a bit, but she was still in apletely different worldpared to everyone else.

    However, that ''protection'' was gone once she reached the Qi Condensation Realm. She would now be in the world of cultivators and be treated as such.

    ''I know she wants to get stronger, but it''s smarter to wait until her body matures. Her foundation will be deeper, meridians wider and stronger, bones and muscles fully developed, and with Mira''s training, be in peak condition once she breaks through.'' If she were to start cultivating now, she''d be losing out on so much potential.

    The same went for Dominique�� at least before her transformation. After those trials she went through in the Firmament,bined with all the training and the Harmonic Trinity Technique, she made up for those ws. Even if she hadn''t fully matured, it didn''t matter.

    ''She''ll get it all back in the Mortal Shedding Realm, anyways.'' He thought. Mira and the others didn''t know it, but there was actually a secret ability of the Mortal Shedding Realm. As the name suggests, it''s about leaving their ''mortal'' selves behind and transitioning into something greater.

    This is the only realm in the entire cultivation system allowing practitioners to fix ws in their foundation and physical body. However, doing so makes each stage significantly harder, nearly impossible if they recklessly rushed through the realms.

    Thus, if Dominique wanted, she could forcefully mature her body in the Mortal Shedding Realm. The same went in the reverse. Those old fogeys could bring their bodies back to their peak when they were younger.

    Unfortunately, the Mortal Shedding Realm was hard enough on its own. Most opted out of doing such a thing. It would make the Divine Sense and Ascension Realms exponentially more difficult, but most didn''t have any hopes of reaching such levels of strength anyway.

    So, technically, Hana could start cultivating, quickly reach the Mortal Shedding Realm, and opt to fix her foundation. It''s just that, as she''s about a decade away from full maturity, she''d make each stage 100 times harder (andpounding) than normal, possibly more if she didn''t perfectly cultivate each Realm prior.

    Just to save 10 years early on, she might lose a thousand, if not tens of thousands of years down the road.

    "Haaa�� Poor Dominique�� Forever a loli." He jokingly sighed, knowing that Dominique would opt to mature her body.

    Clicking the remote, he moved onto Linnea but got bored. She was just meditating.

    As for thest being, Rhydian was currentlyzing in arge nest, ordering a bunch of weaker beasts around to provide her with treasures and food. Then, once that herd had used up its usefulness, she''d kill them all and move on to the next ce, repeating the cycle.

    "Efficient but boring. Though it is in her nature, I suppose." The Guardian chuckled.

    Clicking the remote again, he switched over to Maria, only to raise an eyebrow, a bit surprised. "Eh? She''sing to the Northern Continent? About time! Cine''sing, too? Hahaha! Wonderful!"

    He then saw them approaching Captain Jorvik and couldn''t help but burst outughing. "Hahaha~! Poor guy! I really can''t tell if he''s cursed or blessed!"

    In a sense, he was both.

    "Well, he should experience good fortune with Maria on board, unlike her counterpart!"

    He took another sip of his ambrosia to get a good buzz going before his expression changed slightly.

    "Oh?" He smiled smugly. "It seems our little stalker is getting impatient." He looked out of the veil he had created and narrowed in on Serein, who was currently heading straight for their world with a small army behind her.

    "Hmmm~~ That''s quite a few Ascension Realm experts. What to do�� What to do��" A bunch of options ran through his mind as he tapped his finger on the recliner, wondering which one he should pick.

    He really didn''t want to get too involved with Mira''s life. From his point of view, if she couldn''t ovee this tribtion, she wasn''t worthy of bing the inheritor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life.

    Still, this was a bit much. If just one Ascension Realm being came down, it was unlikely Mira could do anything, much less if dozens descended. Their strength would be limited to a certain extent as they were descending from the Immortal Realm, but that ''god'' clearly did something so that they''d remain in near-

    peak condition.

    "You know what? Fuck it. I''ll just let theme." He decided, nodding his head. "Mira''s been having it a bit too easytely."

    But he certainly couldn''t just allow them to teleport right on top of her. So, he waved his hand. The veil rippled and changed slightly, something that went unnoticeable by all those watching.

    "There. Now, they''ll be dropped on the Central Continent." He wiped his hands like he had just finished something dirty. "There are a few old monsters there that certainly won''t take kindly to invaders. Hell, they might actually look forward to it." He couldn''t help but chuckle at the trouble Serein and her crew would have to go through just to survive, much less bother Mira.

    He watched as they entered the world, only to be sted back by an old man''s palm technique that lit up the continent, covering the sky. Then, like a chain reaction, a ze of elements and attacks reigned down on the unsuspecting intruders, pushing them out into the void.

    "Hahahaha! Look what we found, brothers and sisters! Our entrance into the Immortal Realm!"

    "Same rules apply. You keep what you kill."

    "Then, I call dibs on the leader!"

    "Fuck you! She''s mine! She''ll make a great cultivation furnace!"

    "Heh~?! You think absorbing her essence could really push you to the peak?"

    "No, but the loot she has in her spatial ring should!"

    "...Now that you mention it��"

    "Kill her! Kill them all! This is our chance to leave this shitty world!"

    Like a bunch of possessed demons, all the hidden Ascension Realm monsters came out of seclusion and confronted the invaders. A chance like this didn''te around often.

    Those in the Ascension Realm could live an extremely long time. Most spent their long existence in secluded cultivation, using all their energy on ascending. Worldly affairs meant next to nothing to them.

    However, living that monotonously, 24/7/365, for thousands of years, some, maybe even tens of thousands, drained the spirit. On a year-to-year basis, they saw almost no progress. It couldn''t be helped. Ascending was supposed to be hard.

    Doing such a thing for so long could make one go insane. While they could fight others in the Ascension Realm for resources, there wasn''t much of a point. They were each as poor as the next person in terms of items that could assist them. There were just too few natural treasures for people of their strength.

    Not to mention, an Ascendant-Grade herb could take up to a million years to form. Who has the time to farm and wait for a million years?! They were better off cultivating!

    Now that a group of "walking loot" had appeared before them, how could they not take advantage of this opportunity?

    The Mortal Realm might have nothing for them, but what about the Immortal Realm? Such items should be in abundance!

    As for how they knew these invaders came from above�� Their aura was saturated in Immortal Qi(unofficial name). There were also too many of them.

    The Guardian watched in satisfaction as the Central Continent was embroiled in a sudden war that could very well affect the entire world. "Ahh~ It''s good to be young~!" He chuckled and sat back, sipping his ambrosia.

 Chapter 913 Worldly Disturbances

    <h4>Chapter 913 Worldly Disturbances</h4>

    ?"Now, I think it''s about time I punish this little peeping tom of ours. How dare he try to find me?" The Guardian muttered as his gaze shifted, breaking through the fabric of reality andnding on the spot where the so-called god was.

    Making a grasping motion, he clenched his hand and gently released it before sighing and giving himself a pat on the back. "Haaa�� I''ve really worked hard today, huh? Without praise, too. Ah~ The silent woes of the protector~"

    He leaned back and closed his eyes. He snapped his fingers, creating an rm clock-like device, and said, "Wake me up when something interesting happens."

    QWACK!

    The device shouted before falling into hisp.

    ***

    ��boom!

    Boom!

    BOOM!

    A series of explosions elerated rapidly toward the God''s hideout, causing his expression to change! "DAMMIT! Who''s the bastard that attacked me?!"

    He waved his hand to create more barriers around his home, but the explosions ignored their very existence. Soon, they broke past all his defenses and wrapped around the massive structure that existed between the folds of space.

    Everything inside was being rapidly condensed into a singr point, showing no signs of stopping.

    His expression morphed into pure rage, but he held himself back and quickly grabbed all his things and women, teleporting them to another location.

    In an instant, his previous home had turned into a ck hole. Yet, it didn''t stop there. It continued to condense until everything vanished from existence. There was no trace that he was ever there nor that he was attacked. They just simply vanished, as if they never existed in the first ce.

    Suddenly, a note popped out of thin air and, in the most annoying, ear-grating voice, announced, "I spy with my little eye, a naughty little boy and his toy dolls. Farewell now, you pry, in shadows, you shall not spy."

    Then it blew up into a cloud of smoke, releasing a noxious gas that stunk to high heavens. The man''s face turned green as, for the first time in countless years, he almost threw up.

    Teleporting him and his ''possessions'' a gxy away, he could�� still smell it! So, he jumped a bit farther, feeling the most embarrassed he had ever felt in his entire life.

    Had he just�� run? From a cosmic-sized fart?

    After some quack read him a childish rhyme?!

    "Are you fucking kidding me?!" He roared, the vibrations destroying all the nearbys.

    His face went through a multitude of colors, from green to red to blue, until he almost passed out from anger. His eyes turned bloodshot as he had half a mind just to reduce Mira''s world to ash, capture her soul, and toss her into another body! It wouldn''t work as well as thentern, and she might lose a significant part of herself in the process, but he hardly cared at the moment.

    All he wanted was to get revenge on the bastard who did this!

    "I''LL FIND YOU! EVEN IF I HAVE TO KILL OUR PRECIOUS MIRA, I''LL FIND YOU!" He roared like a madman, uncaring about his image. Not that anyone was around to notice. His women had all passed out and were still puking their guts up.

    Suddenly, as he was yelling, a gas bubble appeared in his mouth and popped, releasing a burst of that noxious gas down his throat. "Naught, naughty~ Don''t be so haughty~!"

    "Cough�� Cough�� FU-cough-FUCK!"

    A slight grin appeared on the Guardian''s face as he listened to his cries. ''This is the life.''

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira had no idea that the man living rent-free in her Soul Sea was finally doing something she would approve of. She was busy working, improving her forging skill with every passing moment.

    That is, until a sudden earthquake struck the continent, causing her to lose focus. Then, the ground shook again, and again, and again�� over and over��

    ''What the hell''s going on?'' Mira frowned. Part of her wanted to believe it was just a regr earthquake, but this didn''t feel anything like that. The irregrity of the quakes, the frequency and power behind them, it felt like two powerhouses were fighting in the distance.

    She looked in the direction where she felt the shockwavesing from, toward the Central Continent.

    Mira wasn''t the only one to notice this, as after a few seconds, nearly every cultivator stopped what they were doing and looked toward the source of it all.

    Meanwhile, the stronger beings like Aelina and the other Sect Masters all became solemn. Anyone below the Divine Sea Realm couldn''t feel it, but how could they not?

    Ascension Realm beings were fighting, and not just a few, but many! Enough to where if they decided to sweep through the world, there was nothing anyone could do to stop them!

    However, while they were curious, none dared to leave their Sects. Instead, they raised their defenses, uncaring of the cost.

    The Central Continent might be hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, across the vast ocean, one random hit from them could still decimate their entire Sect. Simr to how nobody below the Divine Sea Realm could fight Aelina, the same applied to the Ascension Realm, just a bit more exaggerated.

    On top of her mountain, Aelina looked off into the distance, hands behind her back, with a rare frown. ''...Why do I feel like Mira has something to do with this?'' She thought, only to grow more worried.

    She immediately shook her head and chuckled, ''No, no. What am I thinking? Just because something big is happening doesn''t mean that little demoness is involved. Right��?''

    ''...right?''

    It felt like a lump of iron was dropped into the pit of her stomach. She couldn''t shake off the feeling that Mira was somehow involved in this mess.

    ''Dammit! That stupid girl! What''d she do this time?! What sort of sins did Imit in my previous life that I have to put up with this?!'' She scrambled for the Communication Talisman and linked it to Mira''s.

    ''What?'' Mira''s indifferent voice came out from the other side.

    "What''d you do this time?! Why is the world shaking?! How''d you offend those Ascension Realm powerhouses?!" Aelina yelled, needing answers.

    A short silence passed. ''...What? The hell are you talking about? I''ve been staying at the Celestial Springs resort for thest month or so.''

    "..."

    "WHAT?!" Somehow, Aelina seemed more surprised about that. "You?! At a hot spring?! Meant for rxing?!" She pinched her nose, trying to calm down. "...No, that''s not what''s important. Why do I get the feeling that you''re somehow involved in this?"

    Mira fell silent again, but Aelina could feel the difference. She was hiding something. ''I knew it!''

    ''Well��'' Mira started. ''I don''t know if this has anything to do with it, but I did encounter some annoyances from the Central Continent.''

    "Are�� Are they dead?"

    ''No. Those lizards were too slippery. Couldn''t even get a trace of them.''

    "Hmmm~ I don''t think it''s that," Aelina muttered.

    ''Other than that, I''ve just been busy forging.''

    "That''s it?"

    ''Yeah. I haven''t offended anyone else.''

    "How odd�� Then, is it really not your doing?"

    ''How the hell would I know? Anyways, I''m busy. Don''t contact me for useless things like this.''

    The talisman crumbled.

    ''This bitch��'' Aelina cursed before she took a deep breath and returned to her normal, calm self. Numerous calctions ran through her mind, and she eventually came to a conclusion.

    Even if it was unlikely that Mira was involved, she still had to prepare as if she was. So, she raised the Sect''s defenses, even beginning the preparations for arge-scale Teleportation Formation. With Mira''s garden, she now had the resources to pull that off but was still hesitant.

    ''Tsk. What a pain.'' She clicked her tongue. Part of her even thought that she had to increase her strength, and fast.

    It''d been a long time since she felt such urgency, such danger, but with the threat of Ascension Realm monsters on the horizon, her spirit that had been hammered down over time started to rise up.

    A giddy sensation started to rise up in her chest. A sensation that made her want to get up and search for opportunities, to get stronger now, to finally improve! It was as if a fire was lit under her butt, one that wouldn''t go away.

    So, using this newfound motivation, she shot up into the air and covered the Sect with her Divine Sense. ''All Elders,e to the mountain peak!''

    Every Elder stopped what they were doing and shot toward Aelina''s residence, sensing the urgency in her voice. Some were already on their way before she could even say anything.

    Within a second, she now had every Elder standing in front of her. She smiled and waved her hand, causing hundreds of Mystical and Divine-Grade resources to appear under their shocked gazes.

    Then, with one sentence that would spark the meteoric rise of the Battle Maiden Sect, she said, "Let''s get stronger."

 Chapter 914 Trapped

    Chapter 914 Trapped

    ??"Tsk. What was that all about?" Mira clicked her tongue and frowned. Today was the first time she''d ever heard Aelina so panic-stricken. From that alone, she understood the severity of the matter.

    ''But, Ascension Realm experts, huh? So, that''s what the earthquakes are about.'' She put her hammer to the side and sat on the nearest bench. ''However, why''d she think I was involved? Even if I did manage to offend someone of that level of strength to the point that they had to kill me, why go through all the trouble?''

    Even Aelina could wipe her from the face of the Earth if she wanted to, let alone someone stronger. Though the Sect Master might face a bit of difficulty, given all of her trump cards and innate durability, there was nothing Mira could do to fight back.

    She''d have to, at the very least, cripple herself to bring down someone of Aelina''s strength.

    ''Still, I can''t just disregard her instincts.'' Mira thought as her brows scrunched up. Aelina sounded genuinely concerned that she was somehow in the middle of all this.

    ''It''s not those Central Continent guys�� or, rather, it''s highly unlikely to be them.''

    The only other person she could think of was Sue Ming, but she wasn''t strong enough, nor did she have the influence tomand those from the Central Continent.

    ''...Did that guy send down more reinforcements?'' That seemed to be the most likely answer, but it didn''t make sense why he''d send down so many powerful beings all of a sudden.

    He''s been silent for a while now. This normally wasn''t his style. He preferred to sit back and control her life from the shadows like an unseen hand manipting everything. For someone like him, brute force meant nothing. He wanted to entrap his prey in a spider web of despair, where the only road to hope and freedom was through him.

    Sue Ming was supposed to be that person, but Aelina was just as much of an anomaly.

    ''Maybe he figured that to control everything fully, he needed to defeat the top guys first and work his way down? So, he sent down stronger people?'' Rubbing her chin, she felt she was close to the right conclusion, but something seemed off.

    ''...It feels more like a rampage than a meticulously thought out n.'' She''d lived long enough to understand the difference between something down out of frustration and anger versus calm, cool, and collected.

    ''It could all be a hoax to fool me, though.'' She thought as it wouldn''t be the first time. ''But it feels different this time.''

    Eventually, she stopped thinking about it. Either way, now that he was involved, nothing good would happen.

    Whether he lived in the shadows or not, her life was about to get much more difficult. ''Tch. Just when I was starting to enjoy myself, too. What a fucking bastard.'' She grumbled, but she tried to look at the bright side.

    ''Since the Central Continent and his little minions are duking it out, maybe it''ll give Aelina and I a chance to swoop in and reap the benefits.'' A subtle smile broke out on her lips. Now that she''d have less of a target on her back, she could spend the next few decades doing everything she could to get stronger.

    ''...Once I''m done here, I''ll loot this Continent dry before heading back to the ocean. Perhaps then, I''ll finally be able to put Coralia to work.'' A sinisterugh echoed in the forging chamber. There was no way she was going to let unused and�� bothersome�� resources go to waste!

    ''However, before all that, I''ll be a Mystical-Grade cksmith! By then, I should be able to breakthrough to the next stage!'' After creating Mortal-Grade items, she felt a twinge in her soul, as if herprehension of the Absolute Ice Dao had risen.

    At first, she was confused. How could something unrted to ice enhance herprehension? But it didn''t take long for her to understand.

    The "Absolute" part was the key. In a way, that word alone was separate from the ice element. Her definition and view of absolute was unkible, immortal, omnipotent, and evesting. With that came domination.

    How could one be omnipotent if the world wasn''t in the pall of their hands? How could one be immortal if their very existence wasn''t fully under control? How could one be evesting if time and space still constrained them?

    She needed to dominate! To rise above such things!

    However, to do that, she must understand them. And what better way to understand the world than to conquer its base elements? Than to conquer the earth and the skies? Toprehend the nature of creation and destruction?

    How could she create a perfect, evesting, and all-powerful ice if she couldn''t even create a perfect set of armor?

    Although she was still in the beginning stages, she knew that now, she was on the right path. One that could truly lead her to the peak. All she had to do was follow the clues�Cthe fluffy, multicolored clues that waved around behind her.

    With that in mind, she hopped back to the forge, eager to improve. Ascension Realm experts or whatever, she wouldn''t let her fear of those assholes stop her from achieving her goals.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira''s two stalkers who had sent those puppets after her were currently on the run.

    "Oi! Torian! Do we really need to head back to the Sect?" Esharael shouted as they sped through the sky. They had just received word that nearly every Sect on the Central Continent was under attack by foreign invaders. It wasn''t just those in the Ascension Realm, either.

    Those invaders brought with them legions of underlings, each stronger than the next. Fearsome beasts flooded in from a crack in the sky, rampaging about their cities, bringing nothing but destruction in their wake. And weird phenomena were beginning to take ce, with the weather being more sporadic and much more dangerous.

    Tornadoes that could slice Soul Transformation Realm beings apart�� Tidal waves that dragged chunks of continents back with them�� Even the sun had be hotter! The entire world was going through tremendous chaos, with every inhabitant, regardless of strength, feeling the consequences.

    "No!" Torian yelled back. "We don''t! But do you really want to miss out on the fun? I hear there are all kinds of new beasts and treasures being discovered! Can you imagine what sort of artifacts we''ll be able to create?! I won''t allow those senior brothers and sisters to get their hands on them first!"

    Esharael nodded. What he said made sense, but still�� "I think we should stay until things start to die down. There''s still Mira, and-"

    "Mira?! Who cares about her?!" Torian interrupted, increasing his speed as she shot forward. "What are we going to do even if we stay? Just watch her?!"

    "..."

    "Even if we get the order to kill, are you going to do it? Face her head on?"

    Esharael shook her head. Why would she take that risk? Unless there was a good reason like she had some rare goods in her possession, why should she attack someone strong and unpredictable like Mira?

    After a bit of investigating, she hade to understand Mira a bit more. If she failed to kill her, she could expect to be hunted down for the rest of her life.

    ''Not to mention�� all my treasures might go to waste!'' Just that alone made her feel like crying. She''d much rather KEEP her creations and be able to continue creating them.

    "Then, you understand, right?" Torian asked, turning to look her in the eye. "The disciples back at the Sect are getting rich while we''re wasting away on this ice block! Stop concerning yourself with Mira, and let''s go back! I''m sure Master will understand!"

    "This��" Esharael was still a bit hesitant, but she nodded nheless and sped up, flying next to Torian. "Fine."

    "Good!"

    The two exploded with power, and it wasn''t more than a few hours when they reached the ocean. Unfortunately, they were bound to be disappointed.

    A massive tidal wave with thunderclouds circling above it trapped the entire continent. Nobody, whether they be boats or cultivators, was allowed to swim or fly through without being zapped, drowned, submerged, and eaten in that dark blue abyss.

    "...Well, shit." Torian cursed, giving Esharael a wry smile. They flew a bit closer to the edge of the continent, overlooking the ocean, but even just standing there, a jolt passed through their bodies. Their defensive treasures kicked in, protecting them, but they could feel death behind those lightning bolts.

    "Guess we''re staying, after all." Esharael chuckled despondently. It didn''t feel good to be trapped.

    "Yeah. Nevermind. I guess we won''t be getting rich��" Torian lowered his head and muttered, walking away from the edge.

    "What about Mira? Want to go back to spying?" Esharael caught up to him and asked.

    Torian thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Maybeter. Since we''re stuck here, she won''t be going anywhere. In the meantime, I want to take a look around the Continent to see if all thismotion has spawned any treasures."

    "Good idea!" Esharael''s eyes lit up as she threw Mira to the back of her mind.

 Chapter 915 Drop

    Chapter 915 Drop

    ??A few monthster, the cataclysmic fights happening above the Central Continent finally started to die down. As is the case regarding beings of such strength, they''re notably difficult to kill.

    The number of techniques, treasures, and life-saving measures they had were seemingly endless, especially techniques.

    Who among them hadn''t been bored during their long life and decided to work on improving their capabilities instead of their cultivation? Who hadn''t filled their spatial rings to the brim with all kinds of defensive treasures? Even if not all of them were Divine-Grade or above, they could still be useful.

    In that regard, the people from the Mortal Realm were superior, given they had lived for so much longer.

    Still, unless they could annihte each other in a single strike, killing them was more of a chore than anything else.

    But after a few months of constant chasing, fighting, and hiding, the number of battles started to dwindle as the number of people lessened.

    The invaders had wanted to stop fighting a while ago. They had a mission and couldn''t be bothered to deal with these�� peons. It wasn''t until about a week in that Serein began to understand how persistent these maggots could be.

    If their arms were cut off, they''d use their legs. If their legs were cut off, their arms were already healed. If all their limbs were cut off, they used their mouths.

    Hell, even if their heads were removed, their souls remained intact! Despite being in that state, they still dared to battle!

    Finally, when they knew they''d die, they would suicide, ensuring at least someone else went down with them! That wasn''t even thest of it. Those old bastards had treasures that could keep their souls intact. As long as they reconstructed their body, they woulde back to life! Something they had already long nned for.

    What a bunch of fucking psychos! Serein wished she had never epted this job as, though they were the invaders, she felt like the prey in this scenario.

    She spent most of her time with the Master. Although she had fought against numerous people in the Ascension Realm throughout the years, they were much more normal, given the talented nature of those individuals.

    They didn''t need to spend hundreds of thousands of years stockpiling.

    As such, she was severely underprepared for the ruthlessness of the Mortal Realm.

    Yet, now, after several months of grueling work, she had finally gotten rid of enough of those insect-like bastards that she could escape andy low for a whole.

    Deep within the Earth, hidden underneath several kilometers of sand and stone, Serein and the rest of her team had gathered and created arge cave.

    ''Finally�� I''ve got most of those bastards off my tail.'' Serein thought with a sigh as she slumped down onto a chair. All over her body were countless injuries. Cuts and gashes littered almost every inch of her skin. At least 10% of the bones in her body were broken, and she had overused her Qi several times, causing her reserves to be nearly empty.

    She closed her eyes and attempted to gather Qi to restore some of her strength, but the amount was too little for her to recover in a short period of time. ''Tsk. Damn Mortal Realm. If I were back home, it wouldn''t even take me an hour to recover.'' She cursed before opening her eyes and looking at her subordinates.

    Those psychos managed to reduce her force by over half, with all of their injuries much worse than hers. They were running low on elixirs that could heal their wounds, with some even facing damage to their souls.

    She, alone, was already having trouble recovering her Qi, much less with ten others of a simr Realm and dozens beneath them. It could take them all months to fully recover!

    Serein gritted her teeth, feeling a stinging pain in her right shoulder, where someone managed to stab through her. ''Those fuckers��'' Her, along with everyone else''s eyes glowed with hatred. ''I''ll be sure to rip them apart when I heal!''

    Needless to say, they had to lie low for a while as the entire Central Continent was searching for traces of them. They had just arrived here and were already off to a horrible start.

    ***

    However, despite the fight nearing its end, the rest of the world was still in a state of upheaval. Storms, blizzards, beast waves, tsunamis, chaotic weather�� All of that remained. Rather, it worsened over time.

    Near the Winterveil Port, where Mira had docked when she first arrived, the inhabitants went about their daily lives as usual. Except, there was a giant wall of water blocking any travel, in or out.

    Looking at the blockade, the residents sighed but were determined to wait it out.

    Many of the previous people had left by now, afraid of what would happen when that huge mass of water came crashing down. Others left in search of new opportunities or another job, as the city was losing money.

    While many were busymenting at the fact that they weren''t making money, suddenly someone shouted, "Hey, look! Up there!"

    They turned to see where the man was pointing, only to notice he was looking at the top of the water wall.

    At first, nobody saw anything. It was too high up and too far away. However, as time passed, they began to see a tiny dot appear, and it wasing toward them!

    "Is-Is that a ship?"

    "It''s�� It''s a fucking ship! Holy shit!"

    "Are you kidding me?! What sort of madman would sail at a time like this?!"

    "No! Forget sailing! What sort of luck do they need to survive?!"

    Soon, the whole city was in an uproar as they watched the ship get closer and closer to the coast. However, there was a slight problem��

    "How are they supposed to get down?" Someone asked to no one in particr.

    From where they stood to the top of the giant water wall was several kilometers, at the very least. Afterward, it was a straight drop.

    Sure, if the people on board were strong enough, they could ditch the boat and descend onto the continent, but no captain in their right mind would abandon their vessel. That was their livelihood, after all.

    Little did they know that the people on board had no idea what to do, either.

    ***

    "Captain! Captain! We''re all going to die!"

    "W-We�� We made it so far�� So close�� WHY?!"

    "How e''re we supposed to get down?!"

    Captain Jorvik felt a vein throb in his head as he red at his crying subordinates. All of them were exhausted. The journey here was anything but easy. And now this?

    ''Indeed.'' He rubbed his temples. ''What''m I s''pose to do?''

    He couldn''t leave his boat to drop. No. He wouldn''t. This was his baby, his pride and joy. His life''s work.

    ''Ain''t no way we''re goin'' down!'' He inwardly eximed. His mind spun with ideas, each one more feasible than thest. He could take his subordinates and jump off the boat, quickly putting it in his Spatial Ring. He could wrap his Qi around the entire boat and hope to bring it down tond slowly.

    Hell, he could just jump off and carry the damn thing.

    However-

    "Ha!" Maria yelled from the side as a beam of light shot past Jorvik''s head, slicing a massive shark apart. Blood sttered all over him and the deck, but he paid it no mind. This was amon urrence, after all.

    She shouted a few more times, ughtering dozens of beasts that shot out of the water, hoping to devour them. On the other side of the boat, Cine was busy swinging her saber, chopping up just as many.

    These weren''t weak beasts, either. Each one was at least Rank 7, with most of them being Rank 8. He could sense a few Rank 9''s lurking as well, waiting for the opportunity to kill them.

    ''We can''t leave.'' Jorvik thought. ''We''re trapped. As soon as they detect a hint of weakness, we''re dead.''

    "Dammit, we need a n!" Jorvik barked, scanning the horizon for any sign of salvation. "We can''t fight off these beasts forever, and that drop..."

    His voice trailed off as he gestured hopelessly towards the sheer cliff of water that came ever closer. The crew, already on the edge of despair, followed his gaze, their hearts sinking further.

    Just then, Maria, slicing through another beast, shouted over the din of battle, "Captain, prepare everyone! We might not get a choice in how we descend!"

    Cine, still swinging her saber, added, "Brace for impact."

    Before Jorvik could demand what they meant, the sea beneath their ship began to stir ominously. A giant shadow moved beneath the waves, drawing the attention of everyone on board. The crew fell silent, their previous panic reced by a stunned dread as the shadow grewrger, closer.

    With a monumental surge of water, a giant whale emerged from the depths, its body dwarfing the ship.

    "By the gods..." whispered one of the sailors.

    Without warning, the whale nudged the ship with its massive head, pushing it off the edge of the water wall.

 Chapter 916 Arrival

    Chapter 916 Arrival

    ??"Goddamn beast!" Captain Jorvik roared as he pushed his power to the limit, protecting and controlling the ship as it fell.

    He had no time to focus on the shadows approaching, ones much more dangerous than what they just faced.

    The first wave of sea beasts soon shot out of the water,pletely shadowing the boat. All the sailors looked up as the sun was blotted out, only to pale in fear. They grabbed their weapons, ready to strike, despite knowing their efforts were useless. Even if they could take down a few, none of them were strong enough to eliminate them all.

    They could only put their hope into the other three passengers��

    Cine closed her eyes, holding her saber at her side, ready to draw. She sensed all the lifeforms around her, finding their weak points. Then, in an instant, her eyes shot open.

    A divine light arched from her saber. Blood sttered, and heads fell, all without making a sound. She re-sheathed her saber and prepared for the next onught, using her Wind Qi to stabilize herself on the ship.

    The bodies threatened to return to the ocean, but Maria hopped up, quickly collecting all of them. "I got the next ones!" She yelled. Cine merely nodded, waiting for her turn.

    As soon as her words fell, a massive shark-like beast burst out of the water with its gaping maw open, attempting to swallow the boat whole.

    Maria chuckled and shot a shadowy golden beam out of her finger into the depths of its mouth. The beast paused, confused. Until it felt pain all over its body. It roared and thrashed about, trying to find the cause. Bubbles formed all over its skin, popping, exploding chunks of skin with it.

    A secondter, the shark ballooned up and burst into a rain of blood and guts, coloring the ocean red.

    Cine and everyone on board shivered at the potency of that technique. They''d seen it a few times before, but to think it''d work on such a giant monster��

    "What��What technique is that again?" Cine asked hesitantly, reminding herself that maybe she shouldn''t provoke Maria in the future.

    "Hm?" Maria looked over and smiled. "Oh, that? I like to call it Demonic Restoration~! I use something called Corrupted Light Qi to infest their body, corrode their lifeforce, and use that to turn them inside out~! Then, POP!"

    "...So, the opposite of your Transcendent Restoration Technique, huh?"

    "Yup~!"

    "How�� fitting," Cine murmured, a little frightened. Who knew healers could be so terrifying? How was anyone supposed to fight against something like that?

    But, that arose another question.

    ''Since when did Maria have that ability?'' Cine didn''t remember her being able to produce anything like "Corrupted Light Qi" before. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes, focusing on the iing forces. ''It''s probably because she died, right? Or maybe, like Mira, she evolved into something not human as well?''

    Sensing a stronger force iing, she put those thoughts aside for now.

    Drawing her saber, she sent out dozens of attacks at once, chopping the next wave of beasts up. Maria swooped in and took care of the tougher beasts that showed up, but the fighting never seemed to stop.

    As the battle raged on, with sea beast after sea beastunching themselves at the ship, Captain Jorvik and his crew were pushed to their limits. Despite their initial fear, the sailors rallied under Jorvik''s fierce leadership and the awe-inspiring might of Maria and Cine.

    "We''re almost at the bottom! Brace for impact!" Captain Jorvik shouted, seeingnd get closer and closer to them.

    That is, until the world suddenly went dark, everything around them disappearing. It was the Rank 9 whale, the same leviathan that had nudged them off the water wall. Before any of them could react, it had already swallowed them whole.

    The sailors screamed, figuring this was the end, but Maria and Cine stood ready, their expressions finally serious.

    As the whale caught the boat in its mouth and dragged them into the sea, water had now encapsted them. They found themselves in the belly of the beast, surrounded by hundreds of other sea creatures that had been consumed by the whale.

    Maria and Cine didn''t hesitate. They leaped into action. Water or not, it made no difference. Cine unleashed the full might of her Saber Ruler, turning all the weaker beasts into meat paste. Meanwhile, Maria ensured the safety of the crew and Captain Jorvik.

    Just when the situation seemed to be getting out of hand, with more and more beasts closing in and the pressure around them getting worse, a sh of red caught everyone''s eye. A small red fox with fur as bright as mes appeared as if out of nowhere. With a yip that echoed strangely in the whale''s stomach, it opened its mouth and released a torrent of fire.

    The intense heat instantly evaporated all the water around them, creating a bubble of steam. The fire continued and pierced through the whale''s interior, burning a hole through its flesh and allowing a ray of sunlight to filter in. Yet, surprisingly, everyone on the boat was fine.

    "Nova!" Maria shouted happily. This little fox of hers almost never went out, enjoying its time in solitude. Although it could appear bigger, it remained in its small fox form so it could sleep in Maria''s pockets and not be used as a mount whenever they traveled.

    Now that there was no more water bothering it, Nova found a nice ce to curl up on the deck and yawned. It theny down and went to sleep.

    "..."

    Maria''s lips twitched. "...Forget him. Let''s get out of here." She said to Cine, who couldn''t agree more.

    Cine and Maria seized the opportunity, ughtering everything in sight. Now, without any water, the aquatic beasts were nothing more than target dummies.

    With Captin Jorvik at the helm, controlling the boat along with them, they hacked their way through the whale''s intestines. With each step, they carved a path toward freedom out of the depths of a monster''s belly.

    Finally, with onest concerted effort, they broke through the whale''s side, emerging back into the ocean. Feeling itself submerged underwater again, Nova snorted and raised his head. Red hot mes burst from its tiny form, rising and rising until a bubble of steam had wrapped around them instead.

    "Thanks, Nova!" Maria pounced on her little fox, rubbing its head. Nova closed its eyes in satisfaction, rubbing up against Maria.

    Meanwhile, Cine jumped off the boat and floated above the whale that swallowed them. Raising her saber, she muttered, "Ruler''s Tempestuous Finale."

    All the air inside the bubble, water, and beyond swarmed around her saber, infusing with it. Then, with her authority as a Saber Ruler, she brought down her de like a god unleashing divine judgment.

    A massive green beam descended onto the whale, piercing its skin like butter, going all the way through and beyond. Hundreds, if not thousands, of weaker beasts were shredded in the process, transforming the ocean into a sea of red.

    Quickly diving into the water, she stored the whale''s corpse and appeared back on the boat, where Captain Jorvikmanded his crew to bring them out of this hell!

    They didn''t need to be told twice!

    Within minutes, the tip of the ship pierced the water wall and sshed onto the water below, creating mini waves that soaked everyone standing around the harbor.

    Under the shocked eyes of the Northern Continent citizens, Captain Jorvik sessfully docked the ship before throwing everyone off and storing it in his Spatial Ring. On the outside, he looked like a wet, weathered old man who had been through hell and back, all while maintaining an indifferent expression. But, on the inside, he was crying.

    ''My�� My poor baby. I''m so sorry�� I''ll never travel these ursed waters again!'' Just thinking about the repair costs made him want to drop to his knees, but he tried to push that to the side and turned to his crew.

    "Go get some rest. We''re going to be here for a while."

    The crew just grunted and walked along the harbor toward the closest inn. The starved business owners took advantage of this and dragged them to their inns.

    "Woah~! So, this is the Northern Continent, huh?" Maria eximed as she shivered slightly, feeling the cold pierce her skin. "A lot fewer people than back home."

    "No shit. Look at what these people have to look at every day?" Cine rolled her eyes and pointed to the massive water wall behind them. "I bet most of the people left as soon as that appeared."

    "...Good point."Maria nodded slowly, holding Nova in her arms. "Well, enough of that! Let''s go find Mira!"

    "Pay the poor Captain first!" Cine shouted, snapping her friend back to reality. However, she understood Maria must be feeling quiteplicated.

    "Ah. Y-Yeah. My bad." Maria stuttered, shaking her head. "Captain!" She waved, gging down Jorvic, who just groaned and red at her.

    "Here''s your payment! Thanks for taking us here! I really appreciate it!"

    "...Just, don''t contact me again," Jorvic caught the spatial ring and muttered, exhausted. He really wanted nothing more to do with Mira''s gang anymore. They brought him nothing but trouble! "Go to the Crystal Spire. They should have information about Mira." He said, giving them onest piece of advice before he floated up in the air and disappeared.

    "Thanks! See youter!"

    Captain Jorvic nearly stumbled and crashed hearing those words, and he sped up, wanting to get as far away from here as possible.

 Chapter 917 Mystic-Grade

    Chapter 917 Mystic-Grade

    ??Inside a muchrger smithing forge, two people, one fox and one mermaid, were drawing blueprints, nning their next creation.

    "No! I''m telling you, you can''t just put in a few Qi-gathering arrays and call it a day! A Mystic-Grade weapon needs to be more than just self-sustaining! They need to have their own special abilities!" The mermaid argued, drawing up a quick prototype, only for it to get erased.

    "Bullshit!" The fox yelled. "As long as a weapon''s sufficiently durable and sharp enough, anything can be Mystic-Grade!"

    "Yeah, if you just want a giant lump of metal!"

    "Why does a damn sword even need its own abilities?! That''s what the user''s for!"

    "That''s why they''re ''Mystical''! It''s in the freaking name!"

    "...Tch! How many things does a weapon need to have? First, it''s Qi pathways. Then, it''s Elemental Resonance for Earth-Grade weapons. Runecraft Infusion for Heaven-Grade, and finally, this nonsense, ''Spirit Power''...Whatever the hell that means."

    "...You already know what. It''s just a precursor to the Divine-Grade, where the artifacts begin to gain sentience." Coralia calmly exined, though a bit exacerbated. They''d been through this several times already, with Mira bing more and more frustrated.

    Not long after Coralia started working on smithing, she came to Mira asking if she could join. Of course, Mira refused without hesitation, but after enough persistence, she relented and allowed the mermaid into her workshop.

    That proved to be a great decision as the efficiency of her work skyrocketed. With her Mind Pce, enhanced brain, and highlyprehensive abilities, she could already learn many times faster than ordinary cultivators.

    Now, with someone to argue with, share insights, and work with, she could quite literally achieve twice the work with half the effort.

    However, it wasn''t all thanks to Coralia. Once she mastered the Mortal-Grade, the [Soul of the Forge] had be invaluable, letting her put her heart and soul into every creation. Through that, she learned of every mistake and every minor detail, could note down the entire process, and, by sharing what she learned with Coralia, could improve at a rapid rate.

    Now, they were attempting to create their first "usable" Mystic-Grade weapon. But, Mira was confused about what Spirit Power was, and how an artifact was supposed to be self-sufficient.

    On top of that, she needed to incorporate everything she learned from previous grades into it as well. The Mortal-Grade was all about Qi pathways.

    The Earth-Grade was then when ''elemental affinities'' were introduced. Meaning they could empower the user''s Qi when wielding it.

    At the Heaven-Grade, artifacts were etched with runes that could store Qi and be activated to unleash simple but deadly attacks. It was in this grade when rather than the users, the weapons themselves became a true danger.

    However, in the Mystic-Grade, things changed. Aside from everything before, a masterly crafted Mystic-Grade weapon had three mechanisms:

    1. Soul-Binding

    2. Runes that enhanced certain physical traits like durability, sharpness, elemental resistance, etc.

    3. A series of arrays that, when together, created something akin to artificial intelligence or programming. Hence the word ''Spirit''. That spirit is then able to unleash its own power, generally in the form of a secret ability or technique for weapons, automatic barriers for nes, etc. Hence the word ''Power''.

    It was thatst part Mira couldn''t understand.

    ''How the fuck am I supposed to create a spirit with just runes?! All in a tiny sword body?! Without shattering the entire thing?!'' That was what she spent many sleepless nights pulling her hair about.

    Everything before was easy. Once she understood the principle behind it, she just needed to improve her forging techniques and could advance to the next grade. But now she was stuck.

    ncing at the pile of ''junk'' thrown to the side, Mira couldn''t help but sigh. She''d already used a considerable amount of resources trying to create a Mystic-Grade weapon. Although she''d killed a bunch of people and gathered a significant amount of loot, even she couldn''t keep up with the demand.

    ''If I fail anymore, I''ll have to put this on hold. I don''t want to waste my time banging my head against a wall. I have more important things to do...'' She then fell deep into thought.

    Arrays were quite confusing, but just like any othernguage, they followed a certain logic. At their very core, they were a series of runesbined using specific materials to achieve a desired purpose. Some were made using beast blood, others could be created simply using one''s own Qi. It all depended on the purpose,plexity, and longevity.

    ''Following that logic, there must be a certain sequence that could create this Spirit Power, like aputer program. Except each letter could mean hundreds of different things.''

    Suddenly, a breeze swept through theirrge cavern, and the temperature dropped significantly. Like they had been dropped in an icy hell. Ice started to form outside, followed by rapid snowfall. A blizzard wasing�Ca bad one, too.

    Coralia shivered, feeling it seep into her very bones, but Mira felt right at home. If anything, the sudden change in temperaturebined with her mind working overdrive put her in a heightened state of awareness.

    She stood before the anvil, her gaze piercing through the blueprints that littered the forge. Coralia, wrapped in a shawl to fend off the cold, watched Mira with a hint of admiration. This wasn''t the first time Mira had entered such a state, and she loved how hard-working the fox woman was.

    "Thinking about Spirit Power again?" Coralia asked, her breath forming small clouds in the frigid air.

    Mira nodded, her mind racing. ''Spirit Power... It''s not just about imbuing the weapon with a semnce of consciousness. It''s about crafting a soul within the inanimate, giving it a purpose beyond mere destruction,'' she mused silently.

    She began to pace, her steps echoing in the vast forge as she delved deeper into her thoughts. ''A soul, in essence, is the culmination of experiences, emotions, and memories. Although I have no idea how it''s formed, for sentient beings, that''s what makes up a soul. How do you replicate that in a sword? Runes are definitely the key, with each symbol being a word in theplexnguage that defines the universe''s essence. But to create a spirit, I need more than just words. I need a narrative, a story that this weapon lives by.''

    Coralia watched, fascinated, as Mira''s expression shifted from contemtion to enlightenment. "You''ve got an idea, haven''t you?" she smiled.

    Mira stopped pacing and turned to Coralia with a spark in her eyes. "Yes. It''s all about sequence and unity. Like in music, where notes alone are simple sounds, but together, they create melodies, emotions, and stories. The runes need to be arranged not just logically but emotionally. They need to resonate with the essence of what they''re meant to be."

    She approached the drafting table, her movements fluid and sure. "For Soul-Binding, the rune sequence must mimic the process of forming connections, akin to how friendships develop. It''s not just about tying the weapon to its user but for the two to be one"

    Coralia nodded, intrigued. "And the other runes? Durability, sharpness, elemental resistance, and the like?"

    "Each trait can be seen as a character trait. Durability is resilience in the face of adversity. Sharpness is the wit to cut through deception. Elemental resistance is the adaptability to thrive in any environment," Mira exined, her voice gaining strength. "By defining these traits through runes, we''re not just enhancing a weapon. We''re defining its personality, its spirit."

    "And the Spirit Power? The unique ability?" Coralia asked, eager to see where Mira''s revtion would lead.

    Mira smiled, a n forming in her mind. "That''s where the narrative culminates. The unique ability is the weapon''s purpose, its ultimate expression. It''s not enough for it to be powerful. It must be meaningful, a reflection of the spirit we''ve woven into its very core."

    She began to sketch, her hand moving with confidence. "Let''s say our weapon''s spirit is a protector. Its unique ability could be a shield, not just a barrier but one that adapts to protect against the most imminent threat. It learns, grows, and bes an extension of the user''s will to protect."

    Coralia watched, awestruck, as the blueprint came to life under Mira''s hand. The array sequences began to take shape, aplex web of runes that promised not just a weapon but apanion.

    "The Qi Pathways will serve as the circtory system, distributing energy throughout. Elemental Resonance will be the weapon''s empathy, allowing it to harmonize with its environment. The Runecraft Infusion, its intelligence, enabling the activation of its abilities. And Soul-Binding, its heart, linking it to its user," Mira outlined, her vision clear.

    After she finished drawing it up, she quickly made a copy and handed it to Coralia. "Go gather the needed materials. We''ll start when you return."

    The mermaid nodded happily and dashed out into theing blizzard.

    A few hourster, she returned a bit bloody but with arge smile on her face. Mira nodded and took her Spatial Ring away, inwardly praising Coralia''s efficiency. She picked up her hammer and sorted out all the materials she''d need. "Let''s get started."

    "Yes!"

    From then, the two spent the next twenty-four hours at peak concentration, crafting the perfect weapon until a light shone out of the cave, indicating that a new Mystic-Grade weapon was born.

 Chapter 918 Approaching Storm

    Chapter 918 Approaching Storm

    ??Mira gently held up a ck and golden long sword as if it were her most prized possession. It was about a meter long with a ck de and golden edges. Golden runes that shone in the dimly lit cave covered both sides.

    She felt the weight of it in her hands and nodded. ''Very suitable for someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm.''

    She had to push down the urge to swing it around lest she destroy the cave, mountain, and beyond. Unbeknownst to her, with how much effort she and Coralia put into it, they were able to push its grade all the way up to Late-Stage Mystic-Grade.

    With the runes and everything, it might even be able to contend with Peak-Stage Mystic-Grade weapons.

    "Wow��" Coralia gaped, feeling the warm yet oppressive aura that radiated off the sword. "Now that�� That''s what I''m talking about."

    Mira could only nod as she examined it. Using Her Soul Sensebined with the [Soul of the Forge], she inspected every nanometer, perceiving its bnce, sharpness, durability, quality, everything. Nothing escaped her eye.

    However, other than a few very minor imperfections, the de could be considered perfect. The only way it could be improved was through better materials.

    Even she couldn''t help but be shocked at how outstanding her creation was.

    ''...My scythe almost looks like a piece of junkpared to this.'' She thought. Of course, her scythe was unique in its own right, but inparison, it was nothing more than a strong lump of metal that grew alongside her cultivation. ''Not that I''d trade it for anything.''

    As something that was tied to her very being, at this point, she couldn''t get rid of it even if she wanted to. ''It''s gone through a reincarnation plus several evolutions alongside me��'' Suddenly, she felt a little suspicious.

    ''Now that I think about it, it seems a lot more spectacr than I originally thought. I thought it was just some random inheritance I obtained by luck, but maybe the materials are better than I originally thought. Or, is that just how amazing Origin-Grade items are?''

    She leaned more toward thetter.

    A sly smile rose on her lips as she made a mental note, ''...I should be on the lookout for any possible Origin-Grade materials.'' Part of her wanted to get out there and start hunting people and Sects down in search of such treasures, but she put that aside.

    ''Maybeter��''

    Right now, she wanted to test something out.

    ''After forging this sword, I felt my Daoprehension skyrocket. I wonder what changed.'' Mira closed her eyes and raised her free hand.

    With the blizzard worsening outside, she felt her connection to the Absolute Ice Dao strengthen. In her hand, a small crystal formed. From it, tendrils of water spread out like pathways. A thinyer of ice covered those tendrils in the form of a sword, exactly like what she held in her other hand.

    She then used abination of Earth and Yin Fire to create Yin Magma. Recing the ice with that, she merged Darkness and Light with the ''de'', used water and wind to cool it off and turn it into a pseudo-metal, and inscribed it with the essence of Destruction.

    After about a minute, a sword was born in her hands. While not as beautiful orplete as the one she forged, it was undoubtedly powerful.

    However-

    Mira snapped the de in two, only to insert more Qi into it, causing the top half to regenerate back to what it was before.

    ''Should be around Heaven-Grade?'' Mira spected but felt a little doubtful. ''It''s hard to tell. The durability is quite high, maybe Mystic-Grade, but it''s not very sharp, nor does it contain the unique properties of a sword forged from metal and fire.''

    It was easy to understand why. The sword wasn''t created out of metal. At her current strength and understanding, it was impossible for her to do such a thing.

    Either way, this was a huge breakthrough, yet it was just the tip of the iceberg.

    ''Not only can I literally create things out of Qi, but I can use this to alter the properties of each element.'' With a thought, she altered the edge of the de to transform into ice, bing sharper yet more brittle. ''My ability to merge elements also improved.''

    A surge of Earth Qi entered the ice edge, strengthening the bond between each particle and increasing its durability while only losing a bit of sharpness.

    ''Lastly, I feel more in control of not just my own affinities but the elements of the outside world as well.'' She waved her hand, feeling the atmospheric Qi move with her.

    As was her original goal, creation was just a means to an end. Being able to create objects merely using Qi meant very little to her. Sure, it saved time and effort regarding certain techniques like her Paragon Wings. She could carefully craft each feather, store it or hide it in her body and bring it out whenever she needed it.

    Her [100 cial Warriors] and [Frozen Terrain Change] techniques would also see a significant improvement, but in terms of overall attack power, the ability to ''create'' wasn''t all that useful.

    What she really sought was to better understand and control the elements around her.

    ''...And it looks like my theory was correct.'' The tips of her lips unconsciously rose before returning to normal. ''But that''s just one side of the coin. Now, it''s about time to move onto the flip side.''

    Looking around, part of her felt a bit sentimental. This was the ce where she learned how to create instead of destroy. It was here she learned of the intricacies of forging. Where she had improved all the way up to a Mystic-Grade cksmith, even learning more about runes and Arrays.

    She had spent hundreds of hours here toiling away, growing a little bit fond of the mermaid that had joined her party.

    In the span of such a short amount of time, she had grown in various fields immensely.

    ''I achieved what I wanted. It''s time to go.'' She thought, waving her hand and storing everything within, leaving the cavern empty.

    Putting the two swords in her hands away, next to her first dagger, she looked at Coralia, "Let''s go. Seems like something interesting is about to happen outside." Then, she left the cave.

    "Yes!" Coralia smiled and dashed out, but not before clenching her fist, causing the cavern to copse.

    As they left, a burst of snow nketed their bodies, nearly burying them. Coralia couldn''t help but shiver at the extreme cold, but Mira waved her hand, wrapping a faint barrier around them. The snow and ice swept past them, leaving them unaffected by the weather.

    Mira frowned. "Is this normal?" She asked, but Coralia shrugged.

    "Yes and no. Blizzards are quite normal on this continent, but from what I know, they aren''t normally this bad."

    Mira''s frown deepened, curious as to what was going on. That''s when she remembered something Hana told her in passing a while ago. ''Hmm~ Didn''t she say something about a Decennial Storm?''

    With a burst of speed, she shot through the icy blizzard obscuring her vision toward where she felt Hana''s aura. Coralia followed right behind.

    A secondter, she appeared before three people huddled around a Dracophoenix, all seeking warmth. A certain wolf still wasn''t back yet, but Mira wasn''t worried. Maybe thatzy beast would finally be forced to move.

    "Mother! You''re finally back!" Dominique''s head popped out of a tuft of feathers and eximed.

    Mira gave her daughter a look and nodded, inwardly smiling that she had once again reached the Peak of the Foundation Realm. The bloody, killing intent around Dominique''s body had also intensified, indicating that she had been busy thesest few months.

    Deciding to deal with herter, Mira turned to Hana and got straight to the point. "What do you know about the Decennial Storm?"

    Hana was a bit surprised but cleared her through and answered, "I-It''s supposed to be a blizzard thates every decade. It envelops nearly the entire continent, raising havoc and causing most everybody to fight for their lives."

    "Such a big blizzard?" Mira was a bit surprised, but she still felt something was wrong.

    Hana nodded. "From what I overheard, the cause is unknown, but people guess that it''s some sort of treasure or legendary creature. During previous storms, numerous opportunities arise, causing the rise and fall of many, but they''re supposedly quite rare."

    "What kind of opportunities?"

    "Natural treasures appear, nts go through an elerated growth phase and mature, rare beastse out of seclusion, Ice Elementals appear, and there''s even a possibility for the Blood Essences of ancient beasts to unearth."

    "What about at the center of such a storm? Is there anything there?" Mira asked.

    Hana fell silent for a moment, pondering. However, she ended up shaking her head with a shrug. "I don''t know. The people that I overheard never talked about it."

    "...Is that so?"

    Hana nodded, a little nervous seeing Mira fall into thought. She knew what Mira''s next course of action would be, and truthfully, she wanted to make a request.

    ''I know it''s a bit presumptuous of me, but�� I don''t want to be left out!'' Her little eyes shone with resolve.

    She was so freaking bored every day! All she did, could do, was train, walk around, and sleep. The resort was big enough to where there was enough to explore for a while. There was even a small city built around it, but what could she do?

    She didn''t have any money or strength. All she could do was look at all the fascinating things around them. Dominique was busy training, Rhydian was gone, and Elenei was too standoff-

    ish. All that was left was her mother, but being cooped up in a mountain hot springs got old.

    "C-Can��" Hana stuttered, causing Mira''s train of thought to stop as she made eye contact with the girl.

    Gathering her courage, Hana looked Mira straight in the eye and yelled, "C-Can you take me with you?!"

    "Hana!" Linnea shouted, shocked at her daughter''s outburst, but the person in question paid no mind to her and continued staring.

    Mira looked back, peering into the depths of the little girl''s soul. She saw no ill intentions, just a pure desire for adventure.

    "Don''t throw me to Elenei either!" Hana shouted, knowing that Mira would definitely find her bothersome.

    Everyone was stunned, looking at the brazen little girl in shock, but they kept quiet.

    The atmosphere grew tense, with neither side saying anything.

    A minute passed, but Hana''s eyes never wavered. It was clear that she would go, whether someone would take her or not.

    After another minute, Mira finally opened her mouth, "Why should I?"

    A simple question, one that Hana was ready to answer.

    "I know I''m weak and have nothing to offer." She started. "But I didn''t spend thest few months waiting around doing nothing."

    "Oh?" An eyebrow raised. Mira''s interest was piqued. What could this little girl have that could be of use?

    "While everyone was off training, I was busy gathering information. Not only have I obtained most of the information regarding thest 50 decennial storms, including patterns, notable locations, signs to look out for, and more, but I also know where most people will be gathering and how to navigate the storm!"

    "..."

    The area became silent, everyone a bit shocked that a little girl like her was able to gather so much information. Or maybe it was because she was a little girl that she could do it.

    Even Mira had to seriously consider this. She didn''t detect a hint of falsehood in her words, meaning the girl truly believed what she said. ''Although I don''t exactly need a guide, something like that would be helpful.'' She thought. It was a little toote to start gathering information now.

    ''Plus, who knows how long this storm willst. The faster I move, the more likely I am to plunder all the high-grade resources.''

    The only question was, was it worth bringing along and protecting a mortal child?

    After a moment of thought, Mira shrugged. ''Who am I to dampen a little girl''s adventurous spirit?''

    "Hmmm~ Alright. You cane."

    "Yes! Thank you! You won''t regret it!"

    "Mira!" Linnea yelled, uncaring for Mira''s strength. "How could you take her?! She''s just a little girl! She could die!"

    Mira snorted, ring at the woman. "Then, why don''t you take her?"

    "I-!" Linnea choked on her words. Her eyes turned red as her nails dug into her palms. She trembled in shame and anger, but what could she say? Right now, she was just a regr woman with a bit more strength. If she were to recklessly charge into the blizzard, forget about protecting her daughter, she''d die as well!

    "Dammit!" She wanted to storm off but couldn''t. It was too cold.

    Suddenly, the wind started to howl, and they heard a loud roar outside as a dense, oppressive aura descended on them. Everyone''s expression turned solemn as they turned around.

    "...Looks like it''s about to start," Mira muttered, a predatory gleam passing through her eyes.

 Chapter 919 Frost Amphiptere

    <h4>Chapter 919 Frost Amphiptere</h4>

    ?Mira scooped Hana up with one of her tails and ced the girl on her back. "Well, then. Lead the way." She said, much to Hana''s glee.

    "Of course!"

    Mira then jumped into the blizzard, disappearing behind the dense icy winds.

    Linnea raised her hand, wanting to stop them, but it was already toote. She could only stare at where they just stood resentfully, wanting nothing more than to take her daughter back and leave this ce. ''...Why? Why is it always like this?''

    Why couldn''t she have control over her own life? Why must everyone around her have to make things difficult?! Why couldn''t she just spend time with her daughter?! Why is the world so unfair?!

    The aura around Linnea became disorderly and somewhat malevolent as the woman''s face darkened.

    Elenei was the first to react, knowing exactly what was going on. ''A heart demon, huh? I''ve never seen one form in real-time before.''

    It hadn''t quite set in, but it was in the process of forming, creating a mental and physical block in the crippled woman.

    She waved her hand and gently surrounded Linnea in a calm, warm aura, soothing her spirit. "It''s okay," Elenei said as gently as she could, rubbing her hair. "Your daughter will be fine. Although she might go through a few hardships, Mira is more than capable of protecting her. However, if you want to go find her yourself, try and use this as an opportunity to heal. Who knows? Maybe there''s a treasure in there that can help you."

    Elenei dropped a Spatial Ring into Linnea''sp before turning around and scooping up Dominique. "In there, you''ll find everything you need to keep you alive. As long as you don''t run into someone overwhelmingly powerful, you shouldn''t die. Good luck."

    "Bye, Miss Linnea!" Dominique eximed before the two disappeared into the blizzard as well, going off on their own.

    Linnea looked down at the Spatial ring and back into the blizzard. Her eyes steeled as she stood up and walked out of the room.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mira darted after the oppressive aura she had felt earlier. She also created a mental link with the girl on her back so that she could view some of the area through her soul sense as well asmunicate. However, her Soul Sense was severely limited in this environment, even with her Dao, limiting it to merely 5% of what she was normally capable of.

    ''Where are you going?! If we head Northwest, we shoulde across stronger treasures!'' Hana yelled into Mira''s mind, as right now, they were heading in the opposite direction.

    ''I want to fight whatever that thing was!'' Mira replied back, darting through the ice and snow as if it were her home.

    "..."

    As they were shooting through the blizzard, Mira had a sudden thought. ''I should be able to destroy this, right?''

    Determined to put her theory to the test, she took out her scythe. Her ck tail shone dimly as a chaotic yet greedy aura surged out of her weapon. The ice, snow, and wind around her were suddenly drawn in, decreasing the temperature further, but Mira paid it no mind.

    After a moment of studying the blizzard before her, Mira swung her scythe in arge arc, sending a wave of pitch-ck Qi through it. Whatever it passed through was instantly destroyed, clearing the way for her and Hana.

    ''Hmm~ Simpler than I thought.'' Mira nodded and continued swinging, creating a tunnel that was untouched by the icy chaos around them.

    Hana''s eyes widened when she felt the temperature rise and saw part of a continental-wide blizzard literally disappear. ''That�� That''s possible?'' Then, she shrugged. ''If it''s Mira, what isn''t?''

    Her thoughts were stopped due to the sudden roar in the background, followed by a gaze locking onto them. She gripped Mira''s tails tighter but trusted her ''mount'' to fend off this beast.

    Mira smirked and shot a burst of Qi out of her feet, thrusting her forward. She reeled back her fist and-

    BOOM!

    -smashed into whatever entity had targeted them.

    A draconic-like creature was thrown into the distance. Mira followed up, appearing over its tumbling figure, and mmed her heel into its head, sending it crashing to the ground.

    A crater formed under its giant body, dissipating a good portion of the blizzard from the sheer force, and Mira was finally able to get a look at the beast that had dered its presence.

    Although it looked somewhat like an Ice Wyvern, there were a few differences. For one, it was much toorge. With almost a 100-meter wingspan, the thing was huge! However, as it was a Mid-Stage Rank 9 beast, it made sense

    Besides its immense size, the creature''s scales shimmered with a deep, iridescent blue that seemed to pulsate with an inner light, giving the impression of a living cier.

    Hana looked over her shoulder and gasped, pointing at its head. "Look at its eyes." She whispered, not even noticing theck of legs of the beast.

    Mira nced down, noticing the creature''s eyes for the first time. They were a striking violet, unlike most beasts she had encountered.

    ''Strange, but oh well.'' However, part of her thought that this beast might be a suitable pet for Aelina. ''Yeah. Let''s capture this thing. I''m sure that old hag will appreciate my gift.'' She chuckled sinisterly.

    "This is a Frost Amphiptere," Mira stated. "A rare species, even among draconic creatures. They''re known for their mastery over ice and snow, able to summon blizzards and freeze their prey with a mere breath. However, what really sets them apart are theirck of legs and thin serpentine bodies, giving them almost unparalleled agility amongst its reptilian family."

    As if understanding Mira''s words, the Frost Amphiptere let out a low growl, its violet eyes fixed on the two intruders. With a sudden burst of power, it reared up, its massive wings unfurling as it prepared to unleash its fury.

    "Stay behind me, girl," Mira ordered. "I can''t promise your face won''t fall off if you look over my shoulder.

    Hana immediately ducked down and hid in herrge, fluffy tails.

    The Frost Wyrm opened its mouth, and a chilling wind began to gather, forming a swirling vortex of ice and snow. With a deafening roar, it released the breath attack, a torrent of freezing energy that threatened to engulf Mira and Hana in an icy tomb.

    Reacting swiftly, Mira drew upon her Dao, creating a shield of ice around them. The ice breath merely slid off both sides of the shield, leaving the twopletely untouched.

    Mira shook her head, a bit disappointed in its strength yet proud of her own progress. ''My Dao really is overpowered against those with ice affinities.''

    She shield-bashed the breath, sending it off course, before snapping her fingers. The beast''s mouth was suddenly shut as it looked up at Mira wide-eyed.

    "You know, it''d be a shame to have to kill you. You have the same eyes as someone I know. Probably as old as her, too." Mira chuckled, causing the Frost Amphiptere to shiver. "If you agree to head back to my Sect, I''ll spare your life."

    Before it could answer, Mira dove down and smashed its face into the icy earth beneath it. The beast growled and surged with power, threatening to toss her off, but she was like an ancient mountain, unmovable.

    Feeling a sense of anger and urgency, it thrashed around, whipping its long, scaly tail toward its attacker''s head. But Mira just raised her hand and, with a sickening crunch, snapped it in half. The beast grunted in pain, but its healing factor kicked in, only for Mira to wrap her destruction tail around it, destroying its insides faster than they could be regenerated.

    "Sorry, you don''t have much of a choice." She smiled and ced a hand on its head. Although the beast had no idea what Mira was about to do, its instincts screamed that it wasn''t anything good.

    Roaring and thrashing around, it did everything it could to break free, but to no avail.

    ''Abyssal Envement.'' She muttered, injecting Qi into its pathways, core, and all throughout its entire being. Within minutes, the beast''s eyes became nk, and Mira feltplete control over its life and death.

    ''So, it can work on beasts, huh?'' She wasn''tpletely sure it would, not that she nned on enving an army of beasts. Too tiresome.

    She gave it a few mentalmands, ensuring that it had really worked, before smiling lightly. "Good! Now, I want you to go to the Western Continent. Do everything you can to ensure your survival."

    Then, she leaned in and whispered a few ''secret orders, '' smirking as she did so. As soon as she was done, it leaped up into the air and disappeared into the distance.

    She took out a Communication Talisman, sent in a stream of Qi, and said, "I''m sending you a present." Before she crushed it.

    "Why didn''t you kill it?" Hana peeked up and asked, confused.

    Shrugging, Mira replied, "It''s not as funny."

    "..."

    Mira ignored the deadpan look she received and jumped up into the air. "So, Northwest, right?"

 Chapter 920 Crescent Ridge Basin

    Chapter 920 Crescent Ridge Basin

    ??Far northwest of the Celestial Springs Resort, a deep valley surrounded by tworge mountain peaks called Crescent Ridge Basin existed. While that wasn''t all that special on its own, what made this ce unique was that the environment on both sides was different.

    A river called Soul Sand River flowed through the middle, taking on properties of neither side of the valley. Throughout thousands of years of wars and battles, each grain of sand in the river is said to represent a soul that died on these slopes, and the water is the blood of the fallen.

    Countless have died on thesends, and for good reason. The resources and minerals on these mountains are items that every Sect and power on the Continent desires. There were just a few slight problems to obtain them.

    The core area of the valley was normally blocked off by dark clouds, winds strong enough to rip apart most cultivators, and a natural formation that prevented one from using Qi. Not that itpletely sealed one''s Qi, but that it was like trying to throw a stone underwater. Most Qi attacks were greatly reduced and fizzled out after a few feet.

    Nobody knows the true reason behind this phenomenon, but many believe it to be the work of a high-level cultivator who didn''t want his eternal resting ce disturbed by those seeking power and longevity. Others specte that it''s an Ascension Realm beastir, but that theory was often discarded.

    Why would an Ascension Realm beast live in the middle of nowhere on the Northern Continent?

    There are many other theories, like the location being a natural sacrednd or that it''s home to an ancient n that wants to live isted from the outside world.

    However, every ten years, things change. With a continental-wide blizzard covering the Earth, the wind barrier surrounding the Crescent Ridge Basin dims and intertwines with the massive storm, weakening.

    Floating in the sky with his hands behind his back, Master Shen Xian, the Temple Master of the Frozen Sangfroid Temple, stared at the swirling mass of ice and wind protecting the valley. He had a rxed, neutral expression on his face as he subtly nced around.

    He wasn''t the only one here.

    Master Shen Xian, with theposure befitting his status, surveyed the scene with a discerning eye. He had a serene atmosphere, just like how he was a few months ago.

    Among the assembled were Sect Masters and representatives from the most formidable powers across the Northern Continent. Each bore the distinct aura and insignia of their affiliations: the Abyssal Night Sect, zing Sun Sect, Thunderstrike Pavilion, and more, a testament to the valley''s allure and the promise of its hidden treasures.

    "Master Shen Xian," greeted a figure stepping forward, cloaked in robes that seemed to absorb the light around them, a mark of the Abyssal Night Sect. "It seems we are not alone in our quest."

    "Indeed, Master Zhuo," Shen Xian replied, his voice calm. "The Crescent Ridge Basin calls to many, it seems."

    From the zing Sun Sect, a woman with hair like flowingva and eyes alight with an inner fire made her presence known. "This is the first time in decades the winds have allowed us such an opportunity. We cannot afford to let it pass."

    Master Lei of the Thunderstrike Pavilion nodded and added, "The artifacts and minerals within these mountains could change the fate of our Sects. Even if I have a good rtionship with you, Yanira, I won''t hesitate for the sake of my future."

    "Then watch your back." Yanira, the Sect Master of the zing Sun Sect, snorted. "Or else you might find yourself as a speck of sand."

    "...Try it. See what happens." Master Lei said coldly before closing his eyes and crossing his arms, waiting for the barrier to dim.

    The valley below, with its dark clouds swirling less intensely than in years past, seemed almost invitingpared to the silent standoff above.

    However, at the edge of this congregation, a few Sect Masters from lesser-known, smaller Sects exchanged uneasy nces. The disy of power before them was intimidating, the air thick with the unyielded might of the Continent''s strongest.

    Master Yi, a rtively young Sect Master of the Falling Leaf Sect, whispered to his counterparts, "This... may be more than we bargained for. Our Sects do not possess the strength to contend with such giants."

    Another, an elder from the Whispering Wind Sect, nodded in agreement. "Wisdom lies in knowing when to fight and when to withdraw. Perhaps this is not our battle to win."

    With a collective, albeit reluctant, consensus, a small group of these Sect Masters began to recede, their figures fading into the blizzard as they sought other paths, other opportunities thaty hidden beneath the snow.

    Meanwhile, the remaining powers focused their attention on the valley, each Sect Master contemting their strategy. Master Shen Xian, ever the peacemaker, sought to mitigate the brewing conflict.

    "Let us not forget the dangers that lie within the Basin itself," he cautioned. "The natural defenses, the unknown entity that shields this ce, and the very real possibility that we are stepping into a trap set by whatever or whoever created this anomaly."

    His warning hung in the air, a reminder that their greatest adversary might not be each other but the valley itself.

    Master Zhuo of the Abyssal Night Sect smirked beneath his shadowy hood. "Fear not, Master Shen Xian. The Abyssal Night Sect has prepared for all eventualities. Our scouts have already mapped several paths through the defenses. We are willing to share this information��for a price."

    This proposition sparked a murmur among the assembly, calctions, and negotiations silently taking ce as alliances formed and dissolved in the blink of an eye.

    The woman from the zing Sun Sect, her voice asmanding as the mes she wielded, dered, "Let it be known, the zing Sun Sect will forge its path! The treasures within will belong to those with the strength to im them: us!"

    Master Lei of the Thunderstrike Pavilionughed, sounding like distant thunder. "Bold words, Master Yanira. The Thunderstrike Pavilion epts your challenge. May the best Sect win."

    Suddenly, the blizzard around them started to pick up, carrying a chill in the air that could freeze even the hottest of mes.

    Ice crystals formed around each Sect Master, as they all felt a chill run down their spines at the magnitude of the blizzard. Within moments, their vision was reduced to almost nothing�Call they could see was a moving white canvas.

    They tried spreading their Divine Sense out, but even that was severely limited. The dark clouds overhead disappeared into the storm, freezing into nothingness and joining the rest of the ice crystals.

    The wind barrier protecting the valley wavered, struggling to stay active. For minutes, it fought off the growing chill, but after some time, even its winds sumbed to the storm, joining its cataclysmic force.

    Like the sound of ss breaking, the barrier to the valley was open. It''s just they couldn''t see more than a few feet in front of them.

    Master Shen Xian looked around, more curious than anything. ''I felt that this decade''s storm would be bad, but not this bad.'' He thought. Still, this only served to increase his interest.

    As someone who has dedicated his life to understanding ice and its profundities, this blizzard was an opportunity in and of itself!

    ''Part of me wants to back out of this so-calledpetition and just meditate. Maybe if I was alone, I would, but with a Sect that I have to take care of�� I can''t. Not yet, at least.''

    Waving his hand, the densely packed ice crystals blocking his vision started to part, clearing a passage. Out of all the people here, he was one of the most well-suited for this kind of weather, studying the Dao of ice. The other being Yanira, someone even he didn''t want to mess with.

    ''She''s probably already charged in there.'' He chuckled to himself as he casually approached the valley. ''Not that it matters. This ce is infamous for a reason.'' With a step that leaped him dozens of meters forward, he appeared at the precipice of the Basin.

    ***

    Hundreds of kilometers away, Mira''s ears twitched. She felt like she heard something in the distance, but with the roar of the winds constantly around her, it was hard to tell.

    ''We''re approaching the Crescent Ridge Basin!'' Hana said through their mental connection. ''It''s known to be a dangerous ce that houses countless rare resources.''

    "What makes it so dangerous?" Mira asked, casually splitting apart a portion of the blizzard with her scythe.

    ''...I''m not sure. People just say it''s cursed or something. Apparently, lots of people have died there. It''s known as a forbidden zone.''

    "Cursed, huh?" Mira chuckled wryly to herself. What was she, then? A curse-bringer? "Sounds like a good time."

    ''Of course! I figured we might as well loot the most dangerous, known ce first!'' Hana chuckled.

    "Then, what are we waiting for?" Mira stopped for a second as she loaded her scythe with Qi. Then, with one atomic swing, she destroyed an entire section of the blizzard, from earth to sky. With a step, she dashed hundreds of meters at a time, using her [cial Mirage Steps] to the fullest.

 Chapter 921 Cavern

    Chapter 921 Cavern

    Standing near the edge of the Crescent Ridge Basin, Mira frowned. "Someone else is here. And they''re not weak."

    "See! I told you we shouldn''t have wasted our time on that stupid dragon!" Hana grumbled. If only Mira had listened to her, they could''ve looted this ce dry already!

    "It wasn''t a dragon. Never mind, it doesn''t matter. However, you''re wrong." Mira said while spreading her Soul Sense as far as possible to determine the strength and numbers of the people who had arrived. "If we arrived here before, we would''ve been public enemy number one. And if what I''m picking up is correct, a group of Sect Masters just entered the valley."

    Hana paled. Divine Sea Realm Masters? What''re they doing here?! She wanted to tell Mira to go back, that it wasn''t worth it but paused. Although she was on her back, Hana could feel the battle intent and greed emanating from Mira. ''...I guess these are the consequences of traveling with this monster.'' She sighed inwardly, epting her fate.

    "Don''t let me die, okay?" Hana muttered.

    "As long as I''m alive." Mira chuckled before stepping toward the valley. Her words didn''t make Hana feel any better.

    She retracted her Soul Sense and crossed the icy winds that kept out intruders. As she had coated herself with ayer of ice along with an outer shell of ''destruction'', the elements couldn''t harm her.

    Nheless, she wanted to reduce her Qi usage and aura to a minimum, so as not to disturb those Sect Masters that had entered the valley.

    ''It''s still a bit early to fight them.'' At least she didn''t want to get cornered by half a dozen of them. ''I might be able to hold my own against that Temple Master guy, though. Considering my Dao should be the bane of his existence.'' She just wasn''t quite sure how strong someone in the Divine Sea Realm truly was. She''d seen Aelina fight a little, but it never seemed like she was fully serious. Yet, what she showed was more than enough to make her invincible. Even if she used her ck tail to the fullest, sacrificing her lifespan in exchange for power, she wasn''t confident in surviving against that monster.

    If that were just the tip of the iceberg and were fairlymon amongst those of her strength and age, it''d be better for her to avoid such people for now.

    Cloaking herself with the [Hidden World] technique, her entire being seemed to blend in with the surroundings, bing one with the blizzard. ''With the weather hiding me, it should be difficult for anyone to sense my location.''

    Gliding down onto the south mountain peak, she inspected the area, only to find more ice and snow. Walking a few dozen meters away, there still wasn''t anything notable, much less rare treasures. Although her vision was obstructed, she expected to find something other than ice.

    After a few minutes of walking around and having found nothing, Mira started to grow a bit frustrated.

    ''Didn''t you say this ce was supposed to be filled with loot?'' She asked Hana, ring at the poor girl.

    Hana shouted back, hiding deeper within Mira''s tails, ''Th-that''s the information I got! Even I don''t know what''s going on!'' ''Maybe they''re all buried? The storm''s pretty bad!'' She said after some thought, causing Mira''s ears to perk up.

    ''Buried, huh? Sounds oddly usible.''

    cing her hand on the ground below, she channeled in a massive amount of Ice, Earth, Yin Fire, and Destruction Qi, disintegrating a portion of the mountain and creating a hole big enough to walk through. However, the process took longer than she thought. Not only was the atmosphere bearing down on her, preventing her Qi from working smoothly, but the earth itself was tough.

    ''This ice is pretty strong. I wonder how long it''s been here?'' She tapped it with the edge of her scythe, only to have it rebound, not even leaving a scratch. Although that was hardly her full strength, for mere ice to repel even a fraction of her power was impressive.

    Nodding to herself, she walked into the cave while continuing to carve out more of the mountain. In fact, she could feel her Daoprehension rising as she trotted along, causing her brows to scrunch up. ''The environment here is truly unique. Maybe I should take some back with me after I''m done?''

    Minutester, the hole she was digging out started to crack on its own before it burst into pieces, revealing arge underground ice cave.

    She dropped down into it, looking at the ce in awe. The natural ice formations were beautiful like she had just stepped into a wintry garden. The walls shimmered with a thousand hues of blue and white, reflecting light in mesmerizing patterns. Stctites hung from the ceiling like crystal chandeliers, and the ground was smooth, almost polished. But what truly caught her attention was the life thriving within this frozen sanctuary.

    "Look at this ce��" Hana whispered in awe, peeking out from Mira''s tails. Her voice echoed softly, blending with the quiet ambiance of the cave.

    Mira nodded, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Embedded within the ice walls were herbs glowing with a faint luminescence, their leaves and petals encased in thinyers of frost, but somehow remained vibrant and alive. Trees looked as if they were sculpted from ice, yet bore fruits that sparkled like jewels. "This�� This is amazing," Mira murmured, her gaze fixed on an Earth-grade fruit that looked like a frozen me. She reached out, plucking it from its icy branch. The fruit was cold to the touch, yet energy pulsed within it, a warmth waiting to be released.

    "Is it safe to eat?" Hana asked, her curiosity piqued by the strange flora. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Mira examined the fruit. "It''s not just safe; it''s rather potent. This is a Frostfire Berry. Eating one can enhance one''s resistance to cold and even boost inner heat, regting your body temperature even under extreme circumstances."

    "Will it hurt me?" Hana asked hesitantly, not wanting to begin her cultivation journey yet.

    Fortunately, Mira shook her head. "You should be fine. It''s not meant for improving one''s cultivation, despite being Earth-Grade.

    Without hesitation, Mira bit into the Frostfire Berry. A rush of warmth spread through her body, a pleasant contrast to the chill of the cave. Hana watched, fascinated, as Mira''s expression softened, a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.

    Encouraged by Mira''s actions, Hana reached out for a berry of her own, tasting the unique blend of cold and warmth. "It''s like winter and summer are in my mouth at the same time!"

    Mira chuckled at Hana''s description, her attention then drawn to the herbs growing out of the walls. She recognized several species, each with its own beneficial properties. There were Ice Lotus Flowers, cial Mint which could invigorate one''s Qi, Sunderberries that were useful for Alchemy, and many more.

    She carefully harvested everything she could by carving them out of the ice and storing them in her Infinity Garden. They ranged from anywhere between Mortal and Heaven-grade. "These will be useful," she noted, her mind already cataloging the potential uses. As they ventured deeper into the cave, they discovered a frozenke, its surface smooth and undisturbed. Beneath the ice, fish swam leisurely, their scales glinting like precious stones. It was a serene scene, untouched and pure.

    Hana, drawn to theke''s edge, crouched down to get a closer look. "Even the fish here are magical."

    Mira joined her, observing the aquatic life. "This ce... it''s like a sanctuary, hidden from the world above. The Qi here is dense and pure. It''s no wonder the barrier exists; this is a treasure trove."

    They continued to explore, finding more wonders within the ice cave. There were crystalline flowers that chimed with the wind, a melody of the cave''s own making. Veins of minerals ran through the walls, sparkling with potential. Mira looted anything and everything she could. Whether they be weak, frozen fish, or unknown metals, she extracted them and tossed them into her storage space to be sorted out. Nothing was safe from her greedy hands.

    However, as they walked deeper into the caves, the ''resources'' started to be more difficult to reach and pluck. The ice became significantly denser, her Qi was bing more and more useless, and she had to worry about the cave copsing if she used too much physical strength.

    She didn''t want to identally destroy a wall or a pir and have all the resources inside explode, wasting her time.

    Mira ced her hand against the wall, attempting to reach arge Mystic-Grade tree that looked to be producing a unique sap, leaves, and fruit�Csomething she was very interested in. Her ck tail lit up as she destroyed the ice, but unlike before, where she could delete several chunks at a time, she could only shave off oneyer at a time.

    ''...I really just want to punch a hole in this wall and yank that tree out.'' She grumbled but held back. However, after several minutes of hardly making any progress, she gave up and pulled back her fist.

    [Explosive Ice Gauntlet]!

    A reverberating explosion resounded as her fist collided with the ice. Cracks spread all over the wall as a portion of it imploded. Mira smirked and punched again, sending shards of ice flying. After a few more attacks, her hand pierced through the remaining ice, and she grabbed ahold of the tree. Yanking it out of the ground, she tossed it into her Infinity Garden.

    ''Uhhh�� Mira. Trouble.'' She received a shaky message from Hana.

    Hardly paying her any mind, she turned around, ready to keep looting, only toe face to face with a red-haired woman wearing a surprised smirk. "Well, what do we have here? It seems a fox snuck into my domain."

 Chapter 922: Jeering and Jabbing

    Mira immediately went on high alert. Not only had she failed to sense this woman until now, but the faint power that she did perceive reminded her of Aelina. ''Tch. These damn fogeys are so troublesome to deal with.''

    Although she raised her guard to the maximum, she made no sudden movements and remained calm.

    Yanira raised an eyebrow at this and smiled. "Oh? Your self-control is quite good."

    Mira shrugged. "...I''m used to stalkers."

    "..."

    Yanira''s eyes twitched as her lips curled before she burst outughing. "Pfft-Hahahaha! Out of everything you could''ve said, you chose that?! Hahaha! You''re crazy!" She abruptly paused and closed in on Mira, having to tilt her head up to stare her in the eye. "...But, I like that."

    "However-"

    BOOOOM!

    Mira felt a sharp pain in her stomach before she was sent flying. In the split second before she crashed into the wall, she wrapped her tails around Hana and used her [cial Mirage Steps] to dampen the impact as much as possible.

    "You should know your ce." Yanira finished saying.

    Suddenly, Mira felt danger. As she mmed into the ice wall, she jumped to the side, watching as a fist went by.

    Fueled by anger, she counterattacked, jabbing the Sect Master in the chin. Yanira paused, surprised that some little fox had the audacity to punch her in the face. Only to dodge an elbow to the temple.

    A sinister smile crept up on her face as she chuckled. "You�� You''re the first person in a hundred years to evernd a hit on me." Yanira jumped backward, dodging a sweeping leg kick.

    She threw her fist back, ready to attack, but-

    Mira''s shin smashed into Yanira''s temple, staggering her for a moment, but that was all Mira needed. She closed in and delivered an uppercut to the chin, followed by a knee to the groin.

    Yanira''s smile faded. She retreated a few dozen feet, only to find herself backed up against a wall.

    BOOM!

    Mira''s [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] exploded right next to her face, causing the woman''s eyes to narrow.

    In an act to regain control of the fight, she subtly bobbed to the right and kicked Mira''s hip, which she tanked. However, when she tried to retrieve her foot-

    ''What the hell?!''

    -she couldn''t. Mira''s tail had wrapped around her ankle.

    The next thing she knew, she was up in the air, crashing into the ice below.

    "Who needs to know their ce now?" Mira jumped onto the woman, pinning her down and raining punch after punch to her face, neck, shoulders, chest�� whatever she could hit.

    Yanira raised her arms to defend herself, but Mira''s attacks only became stronger, with each fist charged with her [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] and destruction Qi. It wasn''t long before she added her Martial Manifestation into the mix, increasing the lethality.

    ''Fucking hell! Why is this girl so good at hand-to-handbat? I thought she used a scythe!'' She roared inwardly, too humiliated to say anything. She wasn''t proficient in hand-to-handbat, but as someone who''s lived for so long,bined with her strength, how could someone in the Soul Transformation Realm even think aboutying a finger on her?

    However, against Mira, it was like the girl could read her moves before they happened.

    ''Tch. This damn suppression! If it weren''t for that, I would''ve burned this girl to a crisp.'' Sheined, wanting nothing more than to blow this mountain to smithereens despite knowing it was impossible. Her mes hardly had any effect this deep into the caverns.

    Meanwhile, Mira continued to wail away at her opponent, but a frown slowly formed, which only deepened as the seconds passed by. ''I''m not getting anywhere.'' She realized.

    Although, physically, Yanira wasn''t too far ahead of her, there was a faint Qi barrier constantly circting around the inner part of her skin, preventing any injuries.

    Even with her Destruction Qi, she wasn''t making much progress.

    ''So, this is someone in the Divine Sea Realm, huh? About as annoying as I thought they''d be.''

    "ENOUGH!" A burst of fiery Qi erupted from Yanira as Mira received a kick to the gut, pushing her off. By the time she touched the ground, Yanira was already on her feet, staring at her coldly.

    Fire crackled along her hands, ready to explode, but the heat from it died almost instantly as the frozen temperatures consumed it. Yanira grew more frustrated. ''Dammit!'' She internally raged, locking eyes with Mira.

    Those eyes�� those blood-red eyes stared down at her with a cold indifference that nearly set her rage aze. At first, she was merely interested in the girl, wondering how she snuck in here and how she was looting the ce so quickly. Now, she wanted nothing more than to rip her apart.

    But more than anything, she was shocked. ''How is she still standing? No, more importantly, how isn''t she dead?''

    Although she onlynded a few attacks, those were more than enough to destroy Mortal Shedding Realm Elders, much less a Soul Transformation Realm newbie.

    She should be on her knees, spitting blood with most of her bones and internal organs broken! But the fox woman was standing there like nothing happened.

    ''Is she hiding her true strength?'' She couldn''t help but wonder.

    Unknowingly, her first conjecture was correct.

    Yanira''s attacks had indeed broken bones and ruptured a few internal organs, especially thatst kick. It''s just her healing factor, and pain tolerance were too insane that such a thing couldn''t make her flinch, much less fall to her knees.

    "You know��" Mira started, "It''s not really polite to attack someone you just met."

    Yanira snorted. "Hmph! And it''s not ''polite'' to steal what isn''t yours."

    "Steal?" Mira scoffed at the thought, shaking her head. "Such ignorance�� I was merely giving these nts a better home."

    "..." A vein throbbed in Yanira''s forehead. "Bitc-Ahem�� Little fox-"

    "Mira. My name''s Mira." Mira interrupted, crossing her arms. "Call me little fox again, and I''ll bash your head into the floor again."

    Yanira gritted her teeth, feeling more and more humiliated, but what could they do? Qi was basically useless in this ce, and Mira''s closebat skills were on another levelpared to hers. She might really find herself back on the floor again if they fought!

    She cleared her throat, trying to calm her nerves. "Ahem. Mira�� Mind telling me what you''re doing here and how you snuck past us?" She asked with a twitchy smile.

    However, Mira ignored the question and nodded. "Now, you''re talking like a civilized person." She looked down at Yanira like how a Master might train their dog.

    "..."

    "As for your question, I just walked by. You guys are just too stupid to notice me."

    "..." The sound of teeth crunching echoed in the cave. "...If we''re stupid, what''re you? Didn''t you fail to sense me even though I was right behind you?"

    Mira shrugged indifferently. "It''s normal for a young person like myself not to be able to sense someone so old."

    "Dammit! Who''re you calling old?! You''re old! You''re whole family''s old!" Yanira stormed over to Mira, ready to throw hands. "I''ll have you know, I haven''t even reached 1000 years yet! Do you know how rare that is?!

    Huh?!"

    "Hmm~" Mira nodded thoughtfully. "...No wonder you''re so weak."

    "ARGH!" Yanira threw a punch, but Mira''s head had already moved out of the way. Simultaneously, she felt her legs fall out from under her. With superhuman speed, she caught herself, but a front kick hit her chest, sending her stumbling several meters back.

    "Tsk. Tsk. For someone so old to not be able to touch a junior a fraction of your age��"

    "Dammit! I''ll kill you!"

    Yanira charged back in, blinded by rage. Thus, she missed the subtle smirk that appeared on Mira''s lips.

    ''Why are you taunting her, Mira?!'' Hana screamed, feeling incredibly dizzy. ''We need to get as far away from this psycho as soon as possible!''

    ''Shush, child. Just let me have this.'' Mira chided, dodging attacks left and right.

    ''It''s not every day I have someone this energetic to y with.'' All she saw before her was a giant, burning punching bag that wouldn''t die no matter how many hits she took.

    When else would she have this opportunity again to hone her CQC skills?

    ***

    So, the two fought relentlessly. The minutes ticked on by as Yanira took hit after hit, with each one making her feel more humiliated than thest. Although she did manage tond a few herself, whatever good feelings she gained were immediately ruined by Mira''s words.

    "Oh? That punch was quite strong, Little Torchy."

    "Mmhm! You really have great potential! To be my punching bag, that is!"

    "You hit like a granny. Wait! You are one! Hahaha!"

    Tears threatened to fall out of Yanira''s eyes, with each word hitting harder than any of Mira''s punches. But what could she do?

    She refused to give up! Not when her dignity, honor, and youth were on the line!

    However, the fact that Mira seemed to grow during their battle to the death(spar) troubled her to no end.

    ''AHHHH! Just make it stop!'' She inwardly screamed, throwing a flurry of punches, only for Mira to dodge them all.

    Then, as if the Heavens answered her call, the earth rumbled, and the floor cracked slightly.

 Chapter 923: Worm

    The two immediately stopped fighting. Yanira jumped back, creating as much distance between her and Mira as possible before she unleashed a forbidden technique to wipe this entire mountain off the face of the earth.

    "Thanks for the spar," Mira said with a smirk, further pissing Yanira off. Thetter just kept quiet, afraid that whatever she said would be used against her.

    Now wasn''t the time to be fighting amongst themselves anyway. Something wasing.

    Mira summoned her scythe and waited for her injuries to heal.

    A few momentster, something burst out of the floor, causing the two to jump back.

    "Ugh! What the fuck is that?!" Yanira nearly gagged, seeing the disgusting creature that had just appeared. Even Mira couldn''t help but frown.

    ''Close your eyes.'' Mira told Hana, who became curious and peeked over her shoulder. She immediately turned around and wretched.

    ''Haaa�� I told you.'' Mira sighed but readied herself to fight.

    A worm-like creature was hissing and working its way into the cave. It had thick, white skin with disgustingly sticky folds. The thing only had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth at the front with another mouth that extended out inside it. Other than that, the thing was massive, filling up the cave almost entirely.

    ''It looks like a cross between a maggot and an alien.'' Mira thought, wondering what it was doing here.

    ''No matter.'' She shook her head and leaped toward the beast, which was still entering the cavern. Bringing down her scythe on its face, she struck its loose skin, assuming she''d rip through it, but instead, her weapon just sunk into its folds. Like she just tried to cut a super stic rubber.

    ''The hell?'' Bewildered, she struck again, but the same thing happened. It remained unscathed.

    Suddenly, she sensed danger and disappeared to the side, watching as a glob of spit shot past her and dissolved the ice wall behind them.

    ''Damn! So strong?!''

    "Oi! Little Torchy! Come kill this thing!" She backed off and called out.

    "Don''t! Fucking! Call me! That!" Yanira''s hands trembled as she stared hatefully at Mira, but using all her willpower, she managed to push aside her killing intent.

    Putting all her attention on the worm, she examined it. She searched through her memory, wondering if she''d seen or heard of anything like this before, but nothing came up.

    ''A new species? And a strong one, at that.'' Although she hated Mira, Yanira understood her strength fairly well. Ordinary Rank 9 beasts would have trouble defeating her, much less remaining unscathed.

    ''Rank 10? Maybe higher? It''s hard to tell.'' The thing didn''t release any spiritual fluctuations.

    ''That acidic spit is pretty powerful, too.'' If her spection was correct, its teeth should be plenty sharp as well.

    ''Immune to weapons, highly acidic spit, sharp teeth, two mouths, but average intelligence(?). Also, likely highly resistant to the cold. Then, what about blunt attacks?''

    Like Mira, she lunged forward and punched the beast in the ''face''. It recoiled from the impact, but most of the force just rippled across its folds, preventing any real damage.

    Yanira felt a stinging pain on her fist. ''So, resistant to all physical attacks, and even its skin is coated in poison! What the fuck is this thing?'' She clenched her fist and burned whatever poison was trying to seep into her body, but her guard skyrocketed.

    ''Alright, what about-'' She suddenly rolled across the ground as its mouth extended, attempting to take a bite out of her.

    The thing hissed, drooling poison everywhere. It squirmed a bit more, allowing its entire body inside the cavern.

    "Over here, Torchy!" Mira called out, realizing if they didn''t move now, they''d be trapped. There were several caverns branching off of the original one. They needed an escape route.

    As much as Yanira hated it, she understood that too and dashed over to Mira before the beast could charge forward. However, Mira stopped her from going any further.

    "Wait. This tunnel is a dead end. So, let it creep forward a bit."

    Yanira reluctantly nodded.

    They remained in the main cavern, a little away from the branching route.

    As the grotesque creature slithered further into the cavern, Mira and Yanira stood side by side. The air was thick with the foul stench emanating from the worm.

    "Any bright ideas, or are we just going to dance around until it decides to gobble us up?" Yanira hissed, her eyes never leaving the monstrous thing before them.

    Mira replied without hesitation, "We need to understand it better. Attack patterns, weaknesses... there has to be something."

    The creature paused as if sensing their hesitation, its inner mouth darting out in a swift, probing attack toward the pair. They leaped in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding the strike. The creature''s spit followed, which hissed violently upon contact with the icy cave floor.

    "Great, so it''s fast and spits death. Wonderful," Yanira muttered,unching a series of fireballs at the worm. The mes engulfed its head, but to their dismay, the creature seemed unfazed, the fire sizzling out against its slimy folds.

    However, that was within Yanira''s expectations. Just to produce those mes, she had to use a considerable amount of Qi, only for most of it to fizzle out once it left her body.

    ''At least I can catch its attention this way.'' She thought.

    Mira, analyzing the situation, noticed a slight dy in the creature''s reactions when it shifted its focus between them. "It''s slow to change targets. We can use that. Distract it, then hit it where it''s not expecting."

    Yanira caught on, nodding grudgingly. "Fine. You''re the bait, though."

    "Was nning on it," Mira smirked, drawing the creature''s attention with a flurry of icy spears. As predicted, the worm turned towards her, allowing Yanira a clear shot at its side. Yanira charged, her fists enveloped in zing mes, aiming for a spot just behind the creature''s head.

    The impact sent ripples through the worm''s body, but again, it proved ineffective. The beast hissed, angrier now, its movements bing more erratic and dangerous.

    "Damn it!" Yanira cursed, retreating back to Mira''s side. "It''s like hitting water."

    Mira''s eyes narrowed. "Not exactly. Look." She pointed at a tiny cut that had appeared where Yanira had struck, a small victory, but a victory nheless. "It''s not immune, just highly resistant. We need more force."

    "Or more cunning," Yanira countered, an idea forming in her mind. "Lead it further into the cave. I have a n."

    Mira nodded and dashed in.

    Working in tandem, they baited the creature, dodging and weaving through its assaults with practiced ease. Mira''s scythe was all over the ce, cutting and slicing in an attempt to chop up whatever was in its way, drawing the worm''s ire and leading it toward the side cave.

    Once the creature was far enough in, they sprinted, slipping past it into the side cavern. The worm, now confined by the narrow space, struggled to turn its massive body around.

    "Now!" Yanira shouted, and both unleashed their full power. Mira''s scythe twirled as fast as she could make it, channeling her destructive Qi into the de and ripping off its skin little by little. Yanira, concentrating her mes into a single, focused point, assisted in the assault.

    Thebined force of their attacks widened the cut, a small but significant wound that finally seemed to hurt the creature. It writhed in pain, its movements bing sluggish.

    One burned the slimy poison around its body, while the other used the dryer surface to create countless tiny cuts.

    "Again!" Miramanded, and they attacked in unison, deepening the wound. The creature''s howls echoed through the cavern, a sound of pain and rage. However, neither of them showed any mercy.

    It attempted to back up and enter the cave, but Mira tossed Yanira her scythe and grabbed hold of its folds, straining her muscles to keep it in ce. "Hurry and cut the damn thing open!"

    Yanira was shocked that Mira tossed away her weapon but understood why. They had it right where they wanted it. Unless they wanted to be swallowed, they didn''t have a choice but to work together to defeat.

    Nodding, Yanira punched with a fiery fist in one hand and sliced with the other, slowly ripping its skin apart.

    It wasn''t long before a decently sized cut form, to which Mira shouted. "Switch ce!"

    Yanira didn''t understand but followed through. Now wasn''t the time to argue.

    She grabbed the worm firmly. Mira snatched her scythe back and put it away. She grabbed either side of the cut with both hands, feeling the sizzle of acid on her skin, but paid it no mind. With brute force, she ripped the cut open, bigger and bigger, until it wasrge enough for her to walk in. The worm hissed, thrashed, and screeched in pain, but its physical strength couldn''tpare to Yanira''s.

    However, that''s when Mira came to a realization. She looked at Yanira, who was straining to keep it in ce, and asked, "...How are we supposed to kill it?"

    Yanira opened her mouth, ready to scold and mock her, but paused. ''Wait. How ARE we supposed to kill it?''

    Even if they cut it in half, what would that do? It was a worm! It might very well turn into two!

    "Just keep cutting it up! It has to die at some point, right?"

    "...As expected of a boorish granny��"

    "WHAT''D YOU SAY!"

    Mira shrugged and chuckled. She wrapped Hana with all her tails, even encasing her in ice, and walked through the giant cut into the worm''s insides. "I''ll be right back."

 Chapter 924: Deal

    Half an hourter, Mira and Yanira stood around a bloody, acidic pile of worm flesh. In terms of regenerative power, toughness, and overall being a pain in the ass to deal with, the worm was by far one of the most troublesome enemies Mira had ever faced.

    Every time she cut a section away, it started to regrow, creating a second smaller worm. There was no ''true brain'' inside its body, making it able to duplicate almost endlessly. It was highly resistant to physical attacks, lived in a ce where its weakness was ounted for, and was seemingly immortal.

    It wasn''t all that strong, except for its acidic poison, but its durability was maxed out.

    Mira was only able to truly kill by cutting it into countless little pieces and draining all its blood. However, she wasn''t left unscathed.

    Bathing in the highly concentrated poison within its stomach took a toll on her, even with her own regeneration. She could still feel it burning holes through her body right now, attempting to reduce her to a pile of blood and flesh.

    "I call half!" Yanira suddenly eximed, nearly drooling at the sight.

    Mira scowled. "What half? You hardly did anything."

    "Bullshit! If it weren''t for my mes, who knows how many of these bastards we''d be facing right now!"

    "But did you have to bathe in poison?"

    "..."

    "I didn''t think so."

    "That''s just ''cause you''re too stupid toe up with another n! We could''ve taken it down without you doing that! Just because you made your life unnecessarily harder doesn''t mean you deserve more credit."

    "Then, would you like to still be fighting that thing?"

    "...W-Well��"

    "Because if I recall, its only weakness was inside its stomach."

    "...Tch! Fine! I''ll take 30%! I won''t settle for anything less!"

    Mira wanted to protest, but she could see Yanira was ready to brawl it out with her if she bargained any more than this. The guts of some disgusting worm weren''t worth wasting her time like that, not to mention she was still recovering, so she reluctantly nodded.

    "Very well." She waved her hand and scooped up 70% of its corpse, storing it. Yanira did the same for the rest.

    Soon, the ce was clean, without even a drop of blood.

    Mira was about to walk away, not wanting to deal with this troublesome ''junior'' anymore. She''d had her fun, now she just wanted to loot. Unfortunately-

    BOOM!

    Mira barely dodged out of the way, only to find Yanira''s fist embedded in the ice behind her.

    "Do you think I''ll let you go so easily?!" Yanira yanked out her hand and turned to Mira with a malicious grin. "Don''t think I don''t know you''re injured right now."

    Sheunched another attack. Mira cursed under her breath, and roundhouse kicked Yanira to the side, only to narrow her eyes. Yanira had blocked her attack.

    "Hahaha! Looks like I was right! You''re much slower than before." Sheughed and charged after Mira like a raging bull. Mira tried to deflect the iing attack, but Yanira''s fist had already smashed into her stomach, sending her flying.

    Mira somersaulted,nding on her feet, her expression ice cold. However, there was blood dripping down her lips, and a few ribs had clearly broken.

    "Don''t give me that look." Yanira teased. "How about this? In consideration of us working together, I''ll let you go as long as you hand over all your things. It''s nothing personal, just�� everything here is mine. How can I let some kid steal right under my nose?"

    A thousand thoughts passed through Mira''s mind. What should she do? How should she get out of this? How dare this bitch attack her like that? Should she sacrifice her lifespan to kill this woman? Was it even worth it?

    She was already in a weakened state. Sacrificing her lifespan, while she might be able to use the excess Qi and vitality gained to heal some of her wounds, would still leave her in a worse state than she was in now.

    Considering that there were still multiple other Divine Sea Realm masters in the area, her chances of survival would drastically decrease.

    What if another worm or multiple worms showed up? Would she have to kill them while protecting Hana?

    ''If anything, this woman is worth more alive than dead. For both our sakes.'' Mira thought, dodging another attack. Yanira didn''t want to give her any time to recover.

    Thus, as much as she hated it, Mira sighed and spoke up, "...What if we team up?"

    "Oh?" Yanira raised an eyebrow, intrigued, stopping her next punch. "How would that benefit me over just killing you and that kid?"

    "...Because I can break this ice rather quickly." Mira raised her hand and punched the wall, using her [Explosive Ice Gauntles]. A mini explosion went off inside it, cracking the surface. A few more punches and she''d be able to burst through the ice, reaching the nearest nt. "Combined with your fire and strength, our efficiency would multiply by several times.

    Not only can we take everything we see with us, but we can do so while still reaching the end of these ice caves as fast as possible. Don''t forget you still havepetition other than me."

    Yanira fell into contemtion, seriously considering her words. She had almost forgotten the fact that other Sect Masters were here.

    "Also, what if you face off against another worm? Maybe two? What''ll you do then, without me?" Mira added, causing Yanira''s expression to fall.

    Obviously, she didn''t think she''d die to a measly worm, but she wasn''t Mira. She couldn''t walk through their stomachs ande out the other side in one piece. If another one appeared, that direction would essentially be cut off until she could find a way around it.

    ''...Tch. Dammit!'' Yanira cursed.

    She had gotten so excited, thinking she could finally get her revenge! But why?! Why did this cave have to suck so much?!

    ''If only I could use all my power! Fuck!'' She really wanted to smash something right now.

    She gritted her teeth and muttered, "...Fine, but-"

    "50%." Mira interrupted, causing Yanira''s expression to contort. "I won''t go any lower."

    Yanira looked deeply into Mira''s eyes and couldn''t help but be taken aback.

    ''This girl�� Why is she ready to fight to the death over a mere percentage? Fucking psycho!''

    "Dammit! Deal!" She yelled, wanting nothing more than to get it over with. Still, she couldn''t help but dash toward Mira and m her fist into the fox''s abdomen, causing her to stumble. "But don''t think you can escape from me after all this is done!"

    Mira''s eyes lit up with rage, but she bit her lip, using all her willpower to hold back. She was slowly bing more and more okay with the idea of sacrificing her lifespan to devour this wretched woman.

    "Get up! Let''s get going!" Yanira shouted while walking off toward the nearest nt. "We''re going to loot this ce dry!"

    Mira gritted her teeth but followed after her. ''...I''ll put up with you for now.''

    The only person who was worried was Hana, who suddenly realized that perhaps wanting to travel with Mira was one of the worst decisions of her life.

    ''We haven''t been gone long, but it feels like I''ve almost died a dozen times already!'' She buried her face in Mira''s tails. ''...I don''t want to be here anymore.''

    Unfortunately, there was no one to hear her pleas. Even if there were, they wouldn''t care. She could only suffer silently.

    ***

    While Mira was having her own struggles, Maria and Cine were facing their own problems.

    "The Celestial Springs Resort, huh? Has Mira changed that much in the time I haven''t seen her?" Maria wondered, reading the information she had received from the Crystal Spire. They didn''t have much information about Mira, but fortunately for them, Mira''s group was loud enough that tracking their movements wasn''t difficult.

    Maria didn''t know it, but the Crystal Spire was also keeping an eye on Mira. Such a dangerous foreigner couldn''t simply be left alone to her own devices.

    The trio were currently in the air, traveling along the outskirts of the blizzard with Nova keeping the two of them warm. Although they had learned a bit about this particr storm from the Crystal Spire, they would only hand out specific information, with the rest being incredibly expensive.

    Maria might''ve been rich, but she couldn''t be so flippant with money that she could waste it on something she knew nothing about.

    "...Maybe it''s a good ce to train? You know that''s all Mira cares about." Cine said hesitantly, also finding it weird that Mira stayed at a resort instead of some random cave.

    "That''s�� probably correct." Maria chuckled. She wanted to see Mira as soon as possible, but this blizzard was really making things hard.

    To travel without reduced speed and visibility, they had to remain on the outskirts, but that increased the distance by several-fold. Still, with their speed, it wouldn''t be too long until they reached the resort.

    Maria had to forcefully calm her beating heart. She still didn''t know if she was ready to face Mira yet, but since she was here, she had to give it a try.

    ''Mira�� I wonder how you''ll react.'' She thought, clutching her chest as the group traveled in silence.

 Chapter 925: Lair (Part 1)

    Unwittingly, Mira and Yanira were great partners. With their skillsbined, there was little that could stop them.

    They marched through the caves like they owned the ce, taking everything that entered their eyes. Nothing escaped their greedy fingers.

    It wasn''t until Mystic and even Divine-Grade items started to appear in ice that they began to quarrel again.

    "What do you need nts like that for?! You''re just a kid! Give me that! I''ll make sure it gets put to good use."

    "Oh? And what''re you going to do about it if I don''t?"

    "I''ll rip off your limbs and boil you in a vat of oil!"

    "Go ahead and try."

    Such heated discussions happened nonstop. Hana, who was forced to listen to all this nonsense, felt her brain melting. She tried covering her ears, but eventually, she got so fed up with them that she couldn''t help but burst out.

    "Can you two shut up?!"

    Mira and Yanira stopped and turned to the girl, bewildered.

    "I can''t take it anymore! You agreed to split the resources! So, please! Just shut up and stick with what you originally promised! Or are you two going to shamelessly take back your word?!"

    "..."

    "Good! Now, can we please hurry up? I''m getting bored!"

    "..."

    Needless to say, they continued their journey in silence after that point.

    ***

    After what felt like a dayter, Mira and Yanira were still walking down the ice cave. However, there were no more branching paths, no more nts or resources in the ice, and the cave itself was getting wider and wider.

    Neither of them were idiots. The end of thisbyrinthine cavern was near.

    For the first time in hours, Yanira opened her mouth, "...Should we take a moment to rest?" She nced at Mira and could tell in an instant that she wasn''t in great shape.

    Like Mira had guessed a few hours prior, that wasn''t the only worm they''d seen, not by a longshot. At least every hour, one of those disgusting creatures crossed their path, chasing after them.

    Each time, they were forced to take it down.

    Mira hesitated for a moment. Her pride told her to say no, but now wasn''t the time for that. The hair on the back of her neck tingled, thinking about what''s inside the finalir.

    She nodded and sat down, leaning up against the wall before she closed her eyes to focus on forcing the poison out of her body. She even grabbed a handful of herbs out of her Infinity Garden that promoted healing and shoved them in her mouth.

    Yanira stared at Mira for a while before shaking her head. She sat down beside her to meditate.

    Her ability to use Qi had continued to worsen the further down they went, to a degree that it was basically useless now.

    ''...If something dangerous is really in there�� It looks like I might have to use a few of my treasures.'' She sighed, wondering if they should just head back now.

    Honestly, she was sick of fighting semi-immortal worms. If she had to fight a whole army of them, they might as well leave. Whatever was down here wasn''t worth the effort.

    ''I already got more than I could''ve asked for.'' Yanira thought, checking her Spatial Ring. The amount of Divine-Grade nts was more than enough to leave her satisfied for the next few centuries if she paced herself. ''Excessive greed is the road to death, I know that better than anyone else.''

    ''However��'' Her lips curled up. ''It''s also how I got here today.''

    ''Fuck it! We''vee this far! And I can''t let this little girl take all the loot for herself!''

    "Oi! Your thoughts are a bit too loud, woman. Calm down and think about how you''re going to use that useless body to kill what''s up ahead."

    "Tsk." Yanira clicked her tongue at Mira''s words but did as she said. ''...I was going to do that anyways.''

    About an hourter, Mira stood up, feeling much better than before. The Qi suppression was preventing her from pushing out the poison. Luckily, she had a bunch of herbs that could assist her, else it may have taken much longer.

    Yanira, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, opened her eyes. "Ready?" She asked impatiently.

    Mira nodded.

    "Then, let''s go."

    That''s when a tiny voice stuttered from behind Mira. "U-Umm�� What about me? Should I stay here?"

    The two thought for a moment before shaking their heads. "Stick with me. At least, that way, I can protect you."

    Hana had a sinking feeling that she was about to have a rough time but nodded nheless.

    "Alright! Enough talking! Let''s see what''s at the end of the tunnel!" Yanira shouted before grumbling, "I swear if one of those bastards got here before us and there''s nothing left�� I''m going to kill you both."

    "...Good luck with that."

    "..."

    The two walked for a few minutes. Mira already had her scythe out, and for the first time, Yanira was carrying a weapon.

    A long ming odachi.

    She had even put on a set of full obsidian battle armor emanating mes that even the perpetual cold couldn''t put out.

    This was her Divine-Grade "zing Shadow Set", a set of artifacts that were passed down to the Sect Master for generations. It was said that they were created long before her founding ancestor created the Sect, and he merely obtained it in an ancient ruin.

    Mira stared down at Yanira with narrowed eyes. "You know�� life would''ve been much easier if you had taken those out sooner."

    "What do you know?!" She barked back. "These guys are too unruly! Would you prefer I turn you, your little friend, and all the loot here into ash?!"

    "...Nevermind."

    "Hmph!"

    The three eventually made it to the end of the tunnel, where a thick blockade of ice stood before them. They couldn''t see clearly what was on the other side, but there was something.

    "Let me handle this." Yanira stepped up and drew her odachi. Then, with a deep breath, she swung. A simple attack, but to Mira she could see her cutting hundreds of different times and directions.

    BOOM!

    The ice exploded into countless shards, evaporating as the mes engulfed them. The walls, floor, and everything around them were melting at a rapid rate before the heat eventually died down.

    ''So, that''s the power of a Divine-grade weapon, huh?'' Mira thought, full of expectation. However, she was interrupted by loud hissing noisesing from the other side.

    Without wasting any more time, the two leaped through the entrance and finally caught sight of the finalir.

    As Yanira and Mira emerged into the cavern, their eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden shift from the narrow ice tunnel to the expansive chamber before them. The sheer scale of their was breathtaking, with the ceiling arching high above them, at least fifty meters up, and the length of the room stretching even further.

    The walls and floor were adorned with dozens of clear, human-sized eggs, each stuck firmly in ce. Surrounding these eggs were multiple cocoons, through which the outlines of the worms they had fought previously could be seen, hinting at their ongoing evolution.

    Amidst this scene, the evolved protectors, who had most likelye from simr cocoons prior, moved with a fluidity that their previous formscked. These serpentine creatures had crystalline exoskeletonsyered with ice and patrolled the chamber.

    Their bodies emitted a soft, luminescent glow, casting the cave in light that helped them "see" while also highlighting the rich greenery nourished by the surprisingly vibrant Qi of the environment.

    At the center of this surreal garden of ice and life sat one gigantic cocoon, its sheer size dwarfing the others. Attached to the walls, ceiling, and floor, it thumped with a power that shook the very air around it, sending shivers down the spines of the trio.

    Yanira gripped her odachi hard and whispered to Mira, "Did you see thising?"

    Mira responded with a low growl, "No. But we''ll handle it."

    "I call dibs on the big one!"

    "In your fucking dreams. That thing is mine."

    "Whoever kills it gets it, then!"

    "Fine."

    "Good! Hahaha!"

    The two chatted away carelessly as they examined their opponents. All the "Wardens" or the protectors surrounding the eggs were in Late-Stage Rank 9 beasts. If they had simr characteristics as the ones they fought before, they were in for a tough battle.

    As for the thing in the middle, just its aura alone showed that before it entered this incubation stage, it was already as strong as Yanira, if not stronger. If it somehow finished its evolution and they were still here��

    Hana could barely hide her fear, her eyes wide as she took in the sight of this�� infestation.

    Without warning, one of the Wardens turned toward them, its body coiling in preparation for an attack. Then, without warning, it flung itself into the air.

    "Here ites!" Yanira shouted as she dashed forward, mes licking the edge of her de.

 Chapter 926: Lair (Part 2)

    The ice on the Warden''s skin shone brightly as it suspended itself in the air. Yanira prepared herself for a standard poison spit attack, but instead, the ice underneath her shifted.

    Icy vines filled with poison shot up and entangled around her legs, immediately prating her skin.

    "Ugh! Damn worm!" She swiped her odachi, burning the vines to ash, but the acidic poison remained, attempting to ''melt'' her skin and bones.

    She clenched her teeth and unleashed a burst of fiery Qi in her legs, exploding the poison out of her while self-inflicting pain.

    Around her, the rest of the Wardens, which must''ve been at least a dozen, wriggled their way around them. Their icy exoskeletons glowed, and the interior of the cave shook.

    Mira and Yanira''s expressions changed. They leaped into the air, watching as hundreds of spikes filled the ground. Suddenly, Yanira felt a strong hand on her back.

    "Go kill one of those bastards! I''ll distract the rest of them for now!" Mira yelled andunched her toward the Warden that first attacked them. Then, she gracefullynded on the ground and faced off the rest of them.

    "Bitch! Don''t just throw me however you like!" Yanira cursed but still readied her sword. The worm seemed to sense danger as it spat out a web of poison at her, but she swept her odachi in a wide arc, cutting it in half.

    Busting through the poison, she raised her sword and brought it down on the worm''s head. The ice exoskeleton sizzled as she prated it. Yanira smirked and added more strength, watching as her de sunk into its flesh.

    But the Warden wasn''t going to let her act freely. Pores opened along its skin, releasing plumes of poison.

    Yanira clicked her tongue and jumped up, only to be met with its tail mming into her. She was sent spiraling through the air and crashed into the wall, embedding herself in it. With a groan, she peeled herself off and waved her hand. Her odachi flew out of her hand and floated in front of her.

    She jumped on top of it and shot back toward the Warden, controlling it with her Divine Sense. Jumping high up into the air, the odachi returned to her hand.

    ''Inferno sh!'' She muttered, using the first and most basic inherent technique engraved into the sword.

    A massive eruption of fire burst from the sword. The heating from it caused the surrounding ice to melt, including the Warden''s exoskeleton.

    Yanira let out a battle cry and shed with all her might, bringing the mass of fire down on not just her Warden but the entire cave.

    It cut cleanly through its body, chopping its head right off while continuing forward and cutting anything it came into contact with apart.

    Mira, on the other side of the cave, felt the heat and jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding being split in half. "Oi! Watch where you''re swinging!" She yelled back. It was hard enough to keep these things at bay, and now she needed to dodge her teammate''s attacks? Who''s side was that old hag on?!

    Yanira chuckled smugly. "Oh? Sorry, I was just killing my opponent. More than whatever you''re doing."

    "Dumbass! Quit yapping and kill it for good! Or do you want to fight two of them instead?!"

    Yanira''s expression fell, and she stopped paying attention to Mira. She was right. Looking at the bisected worm, she could see its skin wriggling, attempting to form two new bodies. ''Tch! I really hate these things!''

    Falling down, with her sword still pointed at the ground, she pumped as much Qi into it as she could to use its third inherent technique.

    ''me Vortex!'' A giant spiral of fire exploded out of the tip of her sword, consuming everything in its path. The worm ''head'' was instantly reduced to ash, along with any surrounding eggs and a good portion of the floor.

    Floating in the air, she held the odachi out in front of her with a deep breath and summoned its 4th technique.

    ''Eclipse Edge-Continuous Strikes!''

    The world around her and the Warden fell silent for a moment. Neither of them moved.

    Then, suddenly, a chunk of the worm''s flesh fell, followed by another and another, until it copsed into countless tiny pieces that were being consumed by a fiery darkness.

    She gave a smug, confident smile at having killed one of these damnable worms in just three moves. ''Although it''s a shame that I can''t loot its corpse, all that matters is they die.''

    Plus, if it lived, Mira would undoubtedly ask for a portion. It was better for neither of them to get anything than for that shitty fox to steal some from her.

    Just as she was basking in glory, the voice she hade to hate interrupted her.

    "If you''re finally done, quit beingzy and get your ass over here!"

    ''...Should I just kill her?'' Yanira thought before slowly shaking her head and taking a deep breath. ''...Not yet. Later.''

    She hopped onto her odachi and floated in Mira''s direction, watching as she dashed, dodged, ducked, and deflected countless attacks. The worms weren''t just controlling the ice around her, they were spitting globs of poison. However, those were the most basic abilities.

    Some were spewing poison in the form of a fog, others had created an ice shard storm that was constantly chipping away at Mira. It was a wonder how the woman was still alive despite being bombarded from all sides.

    However, even more amazing were Mira''s movements. She moved like a mirage through it all, making her real body difficult to sense. Other than that, the way she swung her scythe was like she was some sort of cyclone.

    She moved so fast that the poison fog couldn''t get past her, and it was as if she could calcte dozens, if not hundreds, of moves ahead, nning her movements and strikes that led her to the most optimal path.

    ''...This woman''s a monster.'' Yanira couldn''t help but praise. Although she might hate Mira and her disrespectful attitude, but she had to respect her. The word genius was too much of an understatement.

    ''I thought she was just a master with her fists. Howe she''s even better with a scythe?'' She shook her head, finding this whole situation incredulous.

    "Woman, stop watching ande down!" Mira shouted, somehow finding a way out of the enclosement to leap near Yanira. "Fine! I''ll juste to you!"

    "Bitch! What''re you doing?!" Yanira screamed, attempting to dodge the bombardment, only to receive a leg kick to the back of the head. "Ouch! What the fuck?!" She tumbled down, forcing herself to unleash another ''Inferno sh''.

    "Less watching, more doing! Let''s go!" Mira shouted as she dove down into the ash, using this as a chance to get closer to one of them.

    "Tch!" Yanira could only follow.

    Mira twirled her scythe, using the [Hidden World] technique to blend into the surroundings beforeing upon one of the Wardens. Standing right in front of it, the worm sensed her presence and opened its mouth to shoot another wave of poison, only for Mira to take this chance to dive into its stomach.

    She covered Hana fully with her tails, immediately feeling her skin melt.

    ''Let''s hope this works! [Scythe Manifestation]!''

    A hazy fog of death and destruction burst out of her scythe and formed a domain around Mira. The hourss engraved on the side rotated, and ''sands'' slowly fell into the bottom section. She could feel a wave of vitality surging into her body as she devoured all life inside the domain.

    ''I might not be strong enough to break through your exoskeleton and skin with my Qi restricted, but I can surely devour you from the inside out!'' Mira smirked as she began twirling her scythe, making countless small andrge cuts along the inside of its stomach.

    The more cuts she made, the faster the ''sands'' in the hourss fell. Although it was still quite slow due to the difference in strength and cultivation, there was nothing it could do to stop her. Its gastric acid wasn''t strong enough to kill her instantly, and by absorbing its vitality, she could stay ''healthy'' for longer.

    Mira felt a prick in her mind as her mental energy, akin to willpower, was consumed, but she wasn''t in short supply of that.

    She continued swinging for what felt like a dozen or so minutes before she started seeing parts of the worm disintegrate. She knew what this meant: all the sands were about to fall.

    Her scythe could now dig deeper into its skin, hastening the process. She continued ripping out chunks of flesh before a ''click'' went off, and the worm stopped. An influx of Qi and vitality washed over her as the worm copsed. She hurriedly dashed out of its stomach, stored the corpse, and came back to a ruined battlefield with Yanira battered and bloodied.

 Chapter 927: Lair (Part 3)

    Mira looked around, curious, unbothered by the sounds of battle right next to her. ''Seems like around half the worms are dead.'' She nodded in approval. Even with her Qi limited, Yanira was quite strong.

    ''However, it looks like she''s running out of gas.'' She turned her attention to Yanira, fending off six giant worm Wardens. The mes around her Divine Sword weren''t nearly as potent as they were before, likely having drained themselves. Divine-grade weapons couldn''t be used perpetually, after all.

    ''...Well, that''s probably not entirely true.'' Mira thought. ''It''s just this environment isn''t suited for that, and Yanira''s ability to produce Qi has been severely hindered.''

    Other than that, Yanira was spending a considerable amount of effort to rid herself of all the poison entering her body. Her movements were more sluggish, her aura wasn''t quite as radiant, injuries had covered most of her body, and she was covered in sweat.

    Perhaps the woman wouldn''tst another hour before she eventually copsed.

    ''...Should I just kill her?'' Mira seriously considered it. After all of this was over and they left this cave, her biggest problem would be escaping Yanira''s wrath. Everything was fun and games right now when she was weakened, but afterward��

    Well, there wasn''t anything particrly fun about being burned alive.

    However, ncing at the giant cocoon, followed by the rest of the worms, she gave a resigned sigh and shook her head. ''As much as I hate to admit it, I need her strength.''

    Nevertheless, she couldn''t pass up the opportunity to mock her while she still had the chance. Waving her hand with a smirk, Mira shouted, "Hey! Need a hand?!"

    "And here I thought you kicked the bucket! Tch!" A cold response came back, causing Mira to chuckle. "Now that you''re free, why don''t you deal with that big guy?!"

    That was all the invitation Mira needed. Hell if she was going to attack that cocoon!

    After ensuring that Hana was still alive, she shot over toward the battlefield and sliced through one of the worm''s thick, icy exoskeletons, piercing its skin. The damage was limited, but Mira grinned at the sight. ''Heh~''

    With one hand holding her scythe, she struck the worm with the other, sending it skidding across the floor and finally catching its attention. Without hesitation, she did the same to two others, taking half of the burden off of Yanira.

    Dents and cracks had formed in their icy exoskeletons. Seeing that, Mira''s smirk widened. ''I didn''t spend all that time in those thing''s stomachs in vain!''

    "Hey, woman!" Mira called out. She jumped up in the air to dodge attacks from all sides beforending on one of the worm''s heads. "I got a n."

    "You''re just now saying that?! After I''ve taken care of half these bastards?!" Yanira barked back, but the faded light in her eyes seemed to brighten.

    Mira chuckled, saying, "I''ll create weak points in their bodies. All you have to do is stab that sword of yours into them when I say the word and unleash as much Fire Qi as you can throughout their bodies, hitting those weak points."

    "..." Yanira fell silent, not because she was contemting, but simply because she was dodging.

    Mira saw that her situation was actually worse than she originally thought and jumped over to help. "When I give the word, you attack!"

    Without receiving a response, shended on the head worm attacking Yanira, activated her Scythe Manifestation, and shed an ''X'' on it. Then, she raised her scythe and prated it with the ''spear'' end of it. She did this a few times, ensuring that the stab went deep enough, then filled it with Destruction Qi.

    While the worm screeched and hissed in pain, releasing plumes of poison and shooting out ice spikes like a porcupine, Mira continued doing this all over its body.

    During her time spent in the previous worm''s stomach, she had learned through intense observation that the worms weren''t perfect. They could be systematically killed as long as certain parts were cut off from the rest of their body at the same time.

    However, it had to be at exactly the same time. Their regenerative powers were so strong that if even one part remained intact, they could duplicate.

    "Now!" Mira suddenly yelled.

    Without hesitation, Yanira descended upon the worm and stabbed her sword straight through one of the holes Mira had made. A torrent of fire surged through its body, connecting to the rest of the holes. At the same time, Mira stabbed her scythe into it and fully unleashed her Scythe Manifestation into it, letting the death and destruction energy merge with the fire.

    The worm''s insides were incinerated and destroyed rapidly. The sands on Mira''s scythe fell just as quickly, and within mere moments, the worm dropped dead.

    "So fast?!" Yanira eximed, temporarily forgetting about her injuries. She then red at Mira and demanded, "What''d you do? And don''t blow me off! I felt that sinister energy! What was that?"

    Mira chuckled, not sparing her a nce. "Just a little something to deal with more�� tenacious enemies."

    "..."

    "Tch! Fine. Keep your damn secrets! However, if you had told me you were capable of this before, I wouldn''t have wasted all my energy, dammit!"

    "Then, use this time to regain it."

    "Bitch-!"

    As the two argued, they hopped to another worm, repeating the same process.

    Fortunately for them, the worms'' intelligence was rather low. Although they may have sensed immense danger and knew something was wrong, there wasn''t much they could do.

    They tried controlling the surrounding ice, filling the room with poison, and wrapping them in a sticky acid webbing, but it was all for naught. Mira punctured holes in them whether they liked it or not, and all Yanira had to do was sit back and wait for the signal.

    Although they might be semi-immortal worms, they were still just worms at the end of the day. There was only so much they could do, no matter how desperately they tried to kill the intruders.

    Within minutes, three more worms had died.

    The remaining two turned to one another as ifmunicating. Watching the harbinger of death approach them, they made a decision. Curling up in a ball, The two covered themselves in ice, putting all their effort into defense.

    "You think that can stop me?!" Mira roared as she hacked at the ice, only for her scythe to rebound off it.

    "Hmph!" She grunted and shed a few more times, which quickly turned into hundreds. Yet, no real progress was made.

    Any time she dealt any significant amount of damage, the ice would regenerate.

    "Heh~ Weakling." Yanira sneered, raising her ming odachi. The ice sizzled as she cut into it, but she only got about halfway before ice encased her sword. Her expression changed as she quickly took it back.

    "Who''s the weakling now?" Mira teased, but Yanira wasn''t paying attention to her. Instead, her expression had be severe.

    "...What''s wrong?" Mira suddenly had a bad premonition as she approached them. She ced her hand on the ice, and her expression changed as well.

    "Fucking hell! They''re trying to implode!"

    "I know that, dumbass! I''m trying to think of a way out!" Yanira rebuked.

    The explosion of a Late-Stage Rank 9 beast was nothing to scoff at. It was the umtion of hundreds, if not thousands of years of effort, all released at once.

    Right now, that''s exactly what these worms were doing, gathering every ounce of strength and energy they could get ahold of and condensing it as much as possible. Yet, these were beasts who could withstand the might of a Divine Sea master''s physical body. At this range, Yanira couldn''t guarantee survival, not with her Qi so limited.

    With two of them, her death was almost guaranteed!

    ''Fuck! I knew I should''ve just run!'' She inwardlyined before ring at Mira. ''Worst of all, I have to die alongside this bitch!''

    "So, did you figure a way out of this?" Mira ignored the re and asked.

    "Yeah. Pray to whatever god you believe in and hope you can live a better next life."

    "..."

    Obviously, Mira wasn''t satisfied with that answer. "Don''t you have some defensive treasure or something? Don''t tell me a Sect Master is so poor!"

    "Yeah, I do, but I would rather not waste it on you!"

    "So, it''s shit. Got it."

    "Oi! This armor is the best defensive treasure I could have! Using anything more than that simply means I''m already dead."

    "..."

    Mira pinched her nose, taking deep breaths. This old hag annoyed her way too much but now wasn''t the time.

    "Can''t you cut these defenses open?" She asked, but Yanira shook her head.

    "I could, but then what? My sword is already running out of energy, not to mention my Qi is limited in this room. With it focusing on defense like that, even if I chop it in half, we''re still dead!"

    Mira fell into thought. She certainly couldn''t do anything. Even with her Aboslute Ice Dao, there was only so much she could do. First, she''d have to wrestle control over the ice from them, then, while doing so, kill them in under a minute. At least, from what she could tell, that''s how long it''d be until they exploded.

    Since that wasn''t much of an option, considering there were two of them, she started looking around the room. Maybe there was a hole or room they could throw them in? Unfortunately, no.

    Stuffing them in a cave would take too long, so that wasn''t an option.

    Finally, her gazended on the giant cocoon.

    ''That thing should be able to take the brunt of the explosion, right?'' She spected. A Rank 10 beast couldn''t be that weak to die from something like this, right?

    So, without hesitation, she grabbed hold of the worms, sinking her fingers into the ice, and, using all her strength, hurled them towards the giant cocoon.

    "What''re you doing?!" Yanira yelled, but Mira had already taken off.

    "RUNNING!"

    "Dammit! I swear, I''m going to kill you after this!"

    With no other choice, she dashed after Mira, who was running in the opposite direction, into the cave they came through.

    As they sprinted through the various caverns, they could feel the energy skyrocket behind them.

    There wasn''t any more time.

    "Get down!" Mira shouted. Using every ounce of Qi in her body, she carved out a foxhole, jumped in it with Yanira and Hana, and created an Earth Barrier. Something fell out of her-

    All the surrounding Qi was swept into their they were just in. Then, silence.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 928: Crushed

    The explosion that followed was cataclysmic, sending shockwaves that tore through the ice caves with ferocious intensity. Mira, Yanira, and Hana, huddled in the hastily made foxhole, could only brace as the world around them seemed to end.

    The ground shook violently, a tumultuous roar drowning out any attempts at speech, while the barrier Mira erected was instantly evaporated as the cave copsed on top of them.

    Outside, the blizzard that had raged with relentless vigor paused as if the very storm itself was stunned into silence by the magnitude of the st. The mountains surrounding the valley trembled, avnches cascading down their slopes in thunderous flows of snow and ice, obliterating anything in their path.

    The earth itself seemed to groan under the force, fissures ripping open as if trying to swallow the aftermath whole.

    When the initial explosion subsided, a stifling silence took over, broken only by the settling of disturbed ice and rock. The world then went still for a moment.

    From all sides of Crescent Ridge Basin, the other Sect Masters stopped what they were doing and looked over. Whether they were looting, fighting, running, or wandering, they all paused, recognizing the origin of the explosion.

    Suddenly, a boisterousugh echoed through the silence. "Hahahaha~! It seems some idiot bit off more than they could chew!" Master Lei of the Thunderstrike Pavilion shook his head before he reached down and plucked a fiery flower that seemed oddly out of ce in the icy blizzard. "I wonder who it was�� Oh! Who am I kidding?! It''s obviously that woman, Yanira!

    Hahaha~! Only someone like her could make an enemy want to kill themselves!"

    Master Shen Xian, who was the closest to the explosion,nded lightly on the ground, spreading his Divine Sense before shaking his head. "I can only pray that whoever''s down there survived." He said before muttering, "...Though if it was bastard Lei�� Well, I guess things wouldn''t be so bad." He carried on like nothing happened.

    The other Sect Masters were even more indifferent. After a few shocking seconds that a Rank 9 beast would actually suicide, they went back to what they were doing.

    Check out the aftermath? Ensure the person involved was alright? None of those things even crossed their minds. They might not be at war, but as is the nature of the world,petition was fierce.

    One less Sect Master meant more loot for them. Not to mention, digging through a mountain sounded like a huge waste of time. There were no benefits to lending a helping hand.

    Though, they maye to regret that decision��

    ***

    Minutes after the explosion.

    "Cough�� Cough��"

    Deep underneath the mountain, a muffled cough was heard. Crushed by jagged ice and rock, she tried to move but found that she couldn''t. Whether it was the literal mountain weighing down on her or her broken body, she wasn''t sure. Either way, she was stuck.

    "Cough�� Cough�� I-Is�� Is everyone alright?"

    "..."

    No one responded.

    She could still feel a little girl wrapped tightly inside her tails, so she shook her.

    "H-Hana," She coughed out. "Wake up. The explosion''s over. We can leave now."

    "..."

    ''Tch.'' Mira clicked her tongue, hearing no response. She couldn''t even feel so much as a twitch. ''Don''t tell me she really died?''

    She closed her eyes, focusing her ears behind her.

    Thump�� Thump��

    Thump�� Thump��

    It was slow and faint, but there was a heartbeat. Mira let out a sigh of relief before coughing again as a clump of dust entered her throat.

    ''At least I won''t have to exin to her mother that her daughter died.'' Hana had begun to grow on her, and she really didn''t want to have to kill Linea just to prevent future troubles.

    ''I''m d I bought that barrier array from the Firmament Shop and deployed it just in time. Or else, it wouldn''t have just been Hana that died.'' However, her heart did ache at the amount of points she wasted.

    ''...I just need to challenge higher stages to get them back.'' She promised that, after this, she''d stop being a ''coward'' and try to earn as much as possible. ''Still, it''s a shame that it was obliterated by the explosion.'' Shemented.

    "What about you, old hag? Don''t tell me a little kid is more durable than you."

    "Cough�� Cough�� B-Bitch! Who�� Who''re you calling hag?!" A cold, hoarse voice came from a few feet away.

    "...And here I thought I could loot those artifacts off your cold, dead body."

    "In your dreams! Cough�� Cough��"

    "Whatever. I''ll have another opportunity." Mira muttered before changing the subject. "Anyway, you got any ideas to get us out of here?"

    "Why do I have to think of something?" Yanira grumbled before grunting and falling silent.

    "...I''ll take that as a no. And here I thought you were supposed to be strong."

    "Well, what do you expect, tanking an explosion like that point-nk!? Cough�� Cough�� Ugh�� How about, instead of shitting on me, you use that smart-ass brain to get us out of her instead!"

    "Then, you''re going to have to wait until I heal, which might be a while."

    "..."

    Mira wasn''t sure what that silence meant, but she doubted it was something good. From the way Yanira was coughing and groaning, her condition was likely awful. That was both good and bad for her.

    She could survive in this tight, dark, narrow ce, crushed under an entire mountain. It''d take much longer to heal and would be highly ufortable, but she''d live. Eventually, after healing enough, there''de a point when breaking out wouldn''t be a problem. However, Hana couldn''t live under these conditions.

    The girl was already lucky to be alive, but if they stayed down here much longer, that wouldn''t be the case.

    ''Let''s see. Do I have anything that could help?''

    For the first time in a while, Mira swept her consciousness through her Storage Space and was surprised by how much loot she had umted.

    ''I''m d that there''s an auto-sorter function, or else it''d be impossible to find anything.''

    She searched through arrays, talismans, weapons, explosives, and other utility items, but none were all that helpful.

    Mira couldn''t use her hands right now, and her Qi was run dry. There wasn''t much room for Spirit Stones, either. So, the amount of things that they could use was very limited.

    ''For now, I''ll just take out a few Late-Stage Spirit Stones and slowly recover my Qi.''

    With a mentalmand, around a dozen shiny blue stones appeared around her, filling the hole with Qi.

    ''Next, I need to restore some vitality.'' Pills and herbs could do the trick, but she was severelycking in the former, and thetter weren''t nearly as effective in their raw forms.

    ''Beast blood it is, then.''

    As Rank 9 beast blood was the best, she took out a glob of worm blood and swallowed it. However, her face scrunched up at the rancid, spicy taste of it.

    ''Fuck! I forgot that thing was poisonous! But seriously, even its blood? What the hell are those worms?'' She inwardly retched but still forced it down.

    Now that it was dead, the poison wasn''t nearly as potent. It was still enough to hurt her, but her poison immunity was high enough to lessen the effects enough to where it wouldn''t burn a hole through her stomach.

    She could feel her destruction and creation aspects, the runes built into her DNA, breaking down the substances, refining them, and sending high-quality vitality throughout her body. That''s when she realized she was in even worse shape than she thought.

    ''Damn! I''m really fucked up, huh? This is going to take a little longer than I thought.'' She thought with a scowl.

    ''Use this as a lesson. I need a technique to get through an enemy''s defenses. I won''t allow another self-destruction like this again.'' She made a mental note, understanding that she wasn''t invincible. She could still die if someone were really adamant about killing her.

    Blood continuously poured down Mira''s throat, along with chunks of flesh that she used to supplement some of the missing nutrients.

    Her body greedily absorbed everything it could, like a desert getting its first rainfall. The Spirit Stones were quickly used and reced. The crackling of bones could be heard as her body was being put back together.

    Even her mind was busy as she used this time to determine the path to the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    The breathing behind her became fainter and fainter over time, but Mira remained calm. As long as she regained her strength, breaking out was possible.

    At least, that''s what she hoped.

    As their little group was focused on recovering, an oppressive aura swept through the mountain, even across the entire valley. The ground rumbled once again before a burst of Qi rose straight to the sky, annihting everything in its way.

    A familiar yet different ear-piercing screech followed the destruction, causing Mira and Yanira''s expressions to change.

    Listening to its sorrowful yet rage-filled cries, they only had one thought.

    ''Fuck!''

 Chapter 929: Advancement

    Bursting out of the ground, arge, unique beast flew into the sky, its emergence as sudden as aet streaking across the night. The creature, a majestic and terrifying sight, unfurled two sets of semi-translucent wings, a mesmerizing mixture of purple and blue with specks that lit up like stars in the cosmos.

    Its sleek, smooth, ck, scaly body gleamed under the sunlight, contrasting sharply with the icyndscape below.

    With four powerful legs and two ck horns adorning its dragon-like head, the beast exuded an air of ancient power. A sharp ridge ran along its back, nestled between its wings, adding to its formidable appearance. Its long, smooth tail, ending in a bludgeon, whipped through the air, leaving a trail of disturbed air currents in its wake.

    The dragon-like butterfly let out a haunting screech. Its cry was both ament and a deration of rage, reverberating through the valley and causing the Sect Masters to halt once more, their faces turning towards the source of themotion with expressions of disbelief and fear.

    "By the heavens... What is that thing?" Master Lei muttered, his earlier amusement reced by suspicion and anxiety. The other Sect Masters shared simr sentiments. The aura of a Mid-Stage Rank 10 beast of unknown origin was a bit overwhelming, even for them.

    While the other Sect Masters scrambled to prepare themselves, Master Shen Xian left the valley directly. ''I''ll let the others deal with that.'' He wanted no part in a fight to the death with an enraged beast of that strength.

    However, what none could see was that the butterfly-like creature wasn''t in peak condition. Its wings had several holes in them, there were some deformities on its body, and purplish-green blood leaked out of its orifices.

    The point-nk dual explosions from its brethren had not only disrupted its evolution but also caused it to take a considerable amount of damage.

    pping its wings, it let out another screech as its horns twitched, locating several foreign presences in its territory.

    The blizzard around the valley intensified. Shards of ice swirled around in a cyclone, closing in on the Sect Masters.

    "Hmph!" Master Lei grunted, electrifying the shards to ash. "You think a little ice can hurt me?!"

    He raised his hand, arge lightning spear appearing in it. Stomping on the ground, heunched it.

    The Dragon Butterfly didn''t even spare him a nce. A sphere of ice manifested around it, blocking it as lightning ricocheted across the valley. Suddenly, the clouds overhead darkened, and hundreds, if not thousands, of bolts of lightning fell upon the beast.

    Yet, this was its home, its environment. A whole continental-wide blizzard was avable for it to use!

    Ice coalesced outside the barrier like an array of mirrors. With another p of its wings, beams shot out of the star-like specks, colliding with the lightning and shooting off in random directions.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    Countless explosions covered the valley, forcing everyone and everything to scatter.

    Master Lei''s expression turned grim. As lightning kept pouring down on the beast, an electrified sword and shield appeared in his hands.

    A beam shot toward him. He deflected it, sending it back toward the beast. This happened dozens of times, but neither side made any advancements.

    Suddenly, the area around the butterfly darkened, almost like it was transferred into the void.

    "Oh? Master Zhuo is finally appearing?" Master Lei smirked and readied himself. He saw a shadow leap into the darkness and disappear. Followed by a crack and a loud, painful screech.

    BOOOM!

    A figure then came crashing down out of the ice barrier, smashing into the ground. Even from a distance, it was merely a shadow, but Master Lei grinned. "Oi! Zhuo! You joining the fun?"

    "...Watch out for its tail." He heard Zhuo croak like he had just been bludgeoned.

    "Hahaha! If it''s you saying that, I''ll be sure to be careful!"

    Master Zhuo nodded in his direction, then disappeared.

    Master Lei let out another boisterousugh and hopped into the fray, swinging his materialized sword and shield as he cleared a path to the butterfly. "Show me what you got, you dumbass insect!"

    ***

    "Those idiots!" Yanira cursed as the ground shook from the battle above. "Cough�� Cough... Can''t they fight somewhere else?!" Her injuries were already bad. With the rocks and ice above still crushing her, every little movement only made it worse.

    "Oi! Fox! Get us out of here already!"

    "What do you mean, ''us''?" Mira asked back. Although Yanira couldn''t see, she had a sly smile on her face. "Since they''re keeping it busy, I don''t think I need you anymore."

    "...Bitch." Yanira growled, uncaring of her injuries at the moment. "Don''t y games with me! We went through all this shit together, and now, what, you''re thinking about going off on your own? You think I''ll seriously die in this hole?!"

    "..."

    "If you leave me now, once I recover, I will chase you to the ends of the world! No ce will be safe from me, you hear?!"

    ''Geez.'' Mira sighed, feeling her headache intensify. ''And people call me crazy�� This woman''s a freaking psycho!''

    But she did have a point. Mira didn''t know how injured Yanira was; she couldn''t see anything, and there was no way her Soul Sense could overpower Yanira''s Divine Sense. However, she doubted the woman would die here.

    People of her strength were too resilient.

    ''Can I just call Aelina and tell her to take care of it?'' She thought but immediately rejected it. Making a deal with her was no different than making a deal with the devil. Aelina would 100% force her to do something she didn''t want to do.

    Plus, she didn''t feel like being put on house arrest for offending arge Sect on another continent.

    ''Can I kill her now? Maybe�� but the chances are low.'' Her movements were too restricted, and Yanira probably still has trump cards.

    ''...Is the only way to try and make a deal with her?''

    Mira clicked her tongue and cursed, "What a pain��"

    "Alright, I''ll help drag you out, but our terms need to change."

    "...I''m listening."

    "I get 75% of the loot, and you will protect me from the others after we leave."

    "WHAT?!" Yanira yelled before coughing her guts up. "Are you crazy?! I can do thetter, but there''s no way in hell I''m handing over half of what I got!"

    "You don''t have a-"

    "60%! No more, no less. I''ll let you have 60%!"

    The two argued back and forth but eventually decided on Mira getting 60% of the shares. Yanira wouldn''t budge from that.

    Afterwards, they fell silent as Mira focused on recovering. Although the battle above was intensifying, she paid no heed to it, chugging blood and draining Spirit Stones at a rapid rate.

    About 15 minutester, Mira finally felt strong enough to move and had enough Qi to work with.

    "I''m starting," Mira announced.

    "About time."

    "..." Suddenly, Mira felt much less motivated to assist her.

    Still, a deal was a deal, so she sighed and gathered her strength.

    She channeled her Destruction Qi, intertwining it with her Absolute Ice Dao to meticulously carve a pathway through the copsed cavern. Her movements were precise, ensuring not to cause further copses that could endanger them further.

    Amidst the sounds of shifting ice and stone, a faint, rhythmic pulsing could be heard within her tails�CMira was using her Wind Qi in conjunction with her Creation ability to maintain Hana''s vital functions. That was all she could do for the girl at the moment.

    Time seemed to stand still in the dark, oppressive environment as Mira tirelessly worked to forge a path to safety. After some time, she eventually reached a bloodied and battered Yanira, who was still wearing her armor and holding onto her sword.

    "Cough��" Blood leaked out of Yanira''s mouth. "Took you long enough."

    Mira grunted in annoyance and dug the woman out of the rocks. She used this time to examine Yanira''s condition and found that she wasn''t any better off than her. Many broken bones, countless injuries, and overdrawn Qi. However, somehow, her artifacts remained in near-perfect condition.

    She noted that down and wrapped Yanira up in her ck Tail. From there, she began digging.

    Yet, it wasn''t even a few minutester when Yanira opened her mouth again. "Th-This doesn''t look like the way up."

    "Up?" Mira snickered. "Why would we go there?"

    "???" Yanira was confused.

    "The boss has left itsir. I wonder what sort of bed of treasures it wasying on after all these years?"

    "...!" Yanira''s eyes widened. "Shit! You''re right! Hahaha! I didn''t even think of that!"

    "Now, onward, my mule! There''s no time to waste! Hahaha!"

    Mira''s frown deepened, but she blocked that woman''s voice out of her mind and continued digging.

    Eventually, they reached their of the butterfly-like beast. To their surprise, their was mostly intact, save for arge, gaping hole that had opened up in the aftermath of the explosion.

    From this chasm, an overwhelming surge of Qi erupted, bathing the trio in a torrent of energy so potent that it catalyzed all the insights the two had gathered up until this point.

    Mira felt a rush of power coursing through her meridians, core, and soul as she instinctively stepped into the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. Her injuries began to mend at an astonishing pace, her Qi replenishing to its peak and her body rejuvenating within moments.

    ''What... What the hell just happened?!'' She wondered, yet now wasn''t the time to try and understand why and how she broke through.

    Yanira, too, experienced a breakthrough, her cultivation soaring from the 2nd to the 3rd Stage of the Divine Sea Realm. The boundary that had eluded her for so long was shattered, propelling her into new heights of power. Her body was also healing itself at an astonishing rate, though much slower than Mira''s.

    Standing at the edge of the hole, Mira and Yanira exchanged a look. Their previous conflicts and grievances seemed insignificantpared to the opportunity thaty before them. With a nod of agreement, they leaped into the abyss.

 Chapter 930: Loot

    "Woah!" Yanira gaped at the sight in front of her. It was like they entered apletely different world. No more ice, no more bone-chilling cold, and Qi in abundance.

    Rather than that hellhole they just came from, this was like a paradise with greenery everywhere.

    Her meridians felt flooded, there was so much Qi down here.

    "Remember, I get 60%," Mira said, dowsing a bucket of cold water on Yanira.

    She scowled and red at the fox woman. The thought of killing her passed through her mind more than once.

    ''Nothing''s stopping me. I might not be in peak condition, but it''s more than enough to roast her.''

    The two stared into each other''s eyes, ring, just waiting for the other party to make a move. However, neither backed down.

    Yanira couldn''t see any fear in Mira''s eyes. Instead, her eyes said, ''If I can''t kill you, I''ll at least take an arm or a leg before I die.''

    From what she had experienced with Mira earlier, she was sure that the girl would absolutely do something crazy out of spite, regardless of the consequences.

    A chill ran up her spine at the thought, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance before averting her gaze. ''Tch! Why do I have to be involved with this lunatic?''

    On the other side, Mira breathed a sigh of relief. ''The pressure of a Divine Sea Realm master is no joke.''

    ''Luckily, it ended without a fight.''

    Mira adjusted her stance, her fox ears twitching as she scanned their new, verdant surroundings. "We need to keep moving," she said, breaking the tense silence. "There are bound to be guardians or something of the sort protecting this ce. And we''re not exactly in the best shape to deal with them."

    "Heh~" Yanira sneered. "You really have a bright imagination. If that beast from before wasn''t the Guardian, then I don''t know what would be."

    Mira shrugged. "My luck is pretty bad. I''m just warning you, but if you die, I''m looting your corpse."

    Yanira narrowed her eyes. For some reason, she had a faint premonition that Mira''s words mighte true. "Fine��"

    The two set off, cautiously navigating through the lush, unfamiliar terrain. The air was thick with Qi, a stark contrast to the barren wastnds they had traversed before. It was almost intoxicating, and Yanira could feel her strength slowly returning with each step she took.

    Suddenly, they felt like they walked through some sort of invisible film, and their vision changed slightly. The environment was still the same, but now, instead of just a small grassy ins, it was filled with treasures.

    Yanira rushed forward with shining eyes. "Peak-Stage Spirit Stone Mine!"

    "Divine-Grade materials!"

    "Blood Essences of Rank 10 beasts!"

    "Holy shit! We just hit the jackpot!"

    The more Yanira looked, the better the items around her were. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an egg with an incredibly strong life force. It looked simr to the ones in the chamber before but distinctly different. Its aura resembled that beast that the other Sect Masters were still fighting.

    "I''m taking this!" She quickly nabbed it, bringing it close to her chest. Although she had no idea what it was, if she could raise it right, her Sect would have a Guardian beast that could grow up to be stronger than her.

    Mira nodded without much care. She already had enough ''pets'' to take care of and certainly didn''t want some disgusting worm stinking up the ce.

    Instead, her eyes were drawn to a piece of ice in the center of this secret chamber. At a nce, there was nothing special about it other than it being a random chunk of ice in a paradise. But Mira could sense just how unbelievable it was.

    With all the arrays and formations suppressing and taking advantage of it, the chunk of icecked any sort of aura. However, Mira had a guess.

    ''It''s this that''s suppressing our Qi so much.''

    It wasn''t affecting this room simply because of all the formations and arrays sealing it and pumping its energy into the rest of the mountain, but it was certainly a treasure.

    She picked it up, feeling a subtle shift in the air as she did so. "I''ll take this, then."

    Yanira looked over, saw a chunk of ice, and snorted. "No problem."

    Mira didn''t store it just yet, as she had a feeling her Storage Space would cut off any sort of connection it had with the outside world. The consequences of that were unknown.

    Those were the only unique items within the chamber. Thus, Mira and Yanira spent the next few minutes dividing up the rest, with Mira getting 60% and Yanira getting 40%.

    After looting the ce dry, all that was left was a coffin that was buried beneath everything.

    "So, this was someone''s inheritance?" Yanira asked aloud, not all that shocked. This was a valley of death, after all.

    So many people have died in this ridge, it wasn''t surprising that someone would leave an inheritance behind. What did surprise her was that someone so rich died here.

    ''Well, I guess it''s not all that shocking. I almost died here as well.'' She thought, feeling bittersweet about it.

    "Should we open it?" Yanira asked, with her hands already on the lip of the lid.

    "Wait!" Mira suddenly called out, with her weapon at the ready and aura at the max. She looked as if she was about to fight a battle to the death.

    "What?" Yanira chuckled. "It''s just some dead guy. Stop being so paranoid."

    "Stop-!"

    Yanira yanked the top open, revealing a skeleton wrapped in an iridescent shirt. However, before any of them could react, a shadow shot out of the coffin. Mira tried to sh it, but it was already toote.

    "You''ll do!" The shadow shouted as it entered Mira''s skull.

    Heading straight for her soul, the shadow suddenly crashed into an icy barrier. "What the hell?!" It screeched. "What is this?

    Mira''s Nascent Soul, sitting on her throne with a scythe in hand,zily opened its eyes. It saw someone trying to pierce through its domain and snorted in disdain.

    Raising its hand, it sucked in the invader and grabbed it by the neck.

    "Wha-What?!" The shadow, revealed to be an old woman, screeched in shock. "Wh-What the hell are you?! No! Where the hell am I?! This isn''t a soul! What''s happening?!"

    The Nascent Soul just smirked like she was watching a bug il about. It amused her.

    The old woman saw that and struggled further, doing her best to break out of the Nascent Soul''s grasp. "Don''t look at me like that! Don''t you dare! I''ve been waiting for this moment for thousands of years, trapping my very soul to search for a new, better host! Everything you faced before, everything you went through, was all nned by me, a trial to test whether you were worthy!

    I won''t be killed off by some child! Not now!"

    However, Mira''s Nascent Soul didn''t care and just waited patiently for the old woman''s monologue to end. Everything was under her control, after all.

    In here, she was god. She was�� Absolute!

    The old woman struggled some more but was unable to make Mira''s arm budge. After a few minutes, she realized resistance was futile and decided to switch tactics.

    "Fine! I don''t want you anymore. I''ll go snatch that other woman! Although she looks a bit stupid, her strength for her age ismendable. If you let me go, I''ll reward you with whatever you want. Techniques, treasure locations, cultivation assistance, I can offer you anything.

    There are tens of thousands of years of knowledge in here for you to choose from." She pointed at her head, but the Nascent Soul continued to look at her coldly, like how a god would look at an ant.

    Almost as if she was saying, ''Is that it?''

    The old woman was going to yell andin some more, but the Nascent Soul yawned and raised her scythe. The woman''s expression changed.

    "No! No! Don''t kill me! You can''t kill me! I''ll give you whatever you want, just let me go!"

    The Nascent Soul didn''t stop. It tapped the old woman, who screeched in pain. "NOOOO! Don''t kill me! Please don''t kill me! I don''t want to die!

    I don''t want to-!"

    Her form disintegrated into nothing but specks. The Nascent Soul opened her mouth, sucked in the remains, and burped before slumping back on her throne and closing her eyes.

    Mira suddenly came back to her senses to Yanira shaking her shoulders. "Wake up, asshole! We got a problem! Ah, fucking-"

    "What?" Mira smacked Yanira''s hands away.

    "Finally!" Yanira eximed, nearly jumping for joy. "My muse, my bait! You''re finally awake."

    "...Just get to the damn point," Mira grumbled, but Yanira just pointed up.

    Mira turned around and looked up through the hole. There, floating around the surface of the valley, a group of people, along with a giant beast were peering down into the hole staring at them.

    "Ah." She muttered, the light in her eyes dimming. Then, with a quick sleight of hand, she turned around and grabbed the skeleton''s shirt and Spatial Ring, shoving them into her Storage Space.

    Yanira was speechless but inwardly thankful that she had already taken her share from the ring.

    "Looks like we''re screwed," Mira said, calming down.

    "No shit!"

    "Then, we might as well make a mess out of everything."

    "Hmm?"

    Mira stored the ice crystal in her Storage Space.

    "..."

    But nothing happened.

    "Well, shit."

    SCREECH!

 Chapter 931: Leaving the Valley

    Without giving them any time to think, the Dragon Butterfly descended into the hole.

    "Oi! It''s time to fulfill your end of the deal!" Mira yelled, seeing how her idea went down the drain.

    "Like I have a choice!" Yanira shouted back, gathering as much fire as she could muster. ''Volcanic Eruption!''

    A pir of fire burst up from the floor to the sky, followed by a painful screech from the beast.

    While it was distracted, Yanira channeled fire into her odachi and shot into the air. "Die, you damn beast!"

    Her sword cut cleanly through one of its wings. She was a bit surprised at how strong she was after her breakthrough, but could only put that aside for now.

    Suddenly, all the Qi in the surrounding area was sucked into the pir of fire before Dragon Butterfly opened its mouth and released a screeching roar, sending waves of Qi across the valley.

    "Argh! B-Bastard!" Yanira''s eyes and ears bled as she dropped to the ground, immobilized. The same went for the other Sect Masters watching from the side.

    As she was falling, the club end of the beast''s tail smashed into her chest, sending her crashing.

    Yanira coughed up blood, feeling her injuries worsen. Only for the Dragon Butterfly tond on her, leaning down to inject venom into her body and rip her head off.

    "Get off of me!" Yanira roared, covering her entire body in fire, but even as it was scorched, the beast only saw red. Unless she was dead, it couldn''t live in peace. Not when she was trying to steal its child!

    ''Haaa�� I''m going to regret this.'' Mira thought, watching this. Even as she bled from all of her orifices, she cloaked herself, bing near-invisible, and sprinted toward the beast.

    She leaped into the air and stabbed her scythe into one of its eyes. With her other hand, she ripped off a chunk of its horn.

    Immediately, it roared and thrashed around, letting Yanira go. Mira was thrown off, but staying in its blindside, she reduced her presence and hid.

    ''Attack! Now!'' She said to Yanira through a Voice Transmission.

    "Ha-ap!" An upward, fiery sh dug into its skin, searing its scales. mes burst out of Yanira''s feet as she followed up the sh with a flurry of attacks. "Die! Die! This is for your shitty subordinates poisoning me! This is for being ugly!

    This is for daring to be a worm! This is for making me get involved with that psycho woman!" She roared like a mad woman, expending tons of energy with every swing.

    The Dragon Butterfly sensed that things weren''t going its way and attempted to hide in a cocoon, but Yanira ripped through it with her bare hands, lighting it ame. She ripped off its other wings, chopped off its tail and limbs, and finally, with the nail in the coffin, stuck her sword in its skull, melting her way into its brain.

    She left no room for opposition. If there was one thing she learned from those damn worms, it was that they needed to die swiftly and brutally.

    Then, she quickly shoved the entire thing into her spatial ring, not allowing any greedy bastards a chance at stealing her prey.

    "What?! Are you serious, Yanira?! You''re going to im the whole thing after all the work we did to weaken it?!" Master Lei yelled as he jumped down the hole.

    BOOM!

    The ground cracked as hended, lightning coursing around his body.

    Next to him, a shadow silently appeared, revealing Master Zhuo. "As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with him. If it weren''t for us, you wouldn''t have killed it so easily. We deserve at least a part of it."

    "Bullshit! If you failed to kill it, that''s your own problem. Now, don''t waste my time with this crap. I''m not in the mood." Yanira sent a secret signal to Mira, who just rolled her eyes at this ming dumbass.

    The two Sect Masters turned their heads and noticed Mira, whom they hadn''t thought much of previously.

    "Oh? It seems a rat has snuck her way in." A bolt of lightning shot toward Mira, who had already dodged. Yanira groaned in annoyance but jumped in front and severed the bolt.

    "Bastard Lei, what do you think you''re doing?"

    "What? I thought I saw her nabbing some of the loot. I was just taking back what''s ours."

    "Ours? This is all mine! And I''d rather her have that loot than someone as ugly as you."

    "...I really can''t stand that mouth of yours sometimes. But it seems I was right. She does have something. " Master Lei waved his hand. "Master Zhuo, if you may."

    "Already on it." A voice came from behind Mira, who could hardly react before a cold de was pressed against her neck.

    However, rather than being mad at her attacker, she sent a re at Yanira. ''Can''t you shut the hell up for one second?! Why''re you yapping so much?!''

    Meanwhile, Yanira was practically trembling with rage. "Zhuo! Do you really want to go to war!? If you don''t let her go within 3 seconds, I''ll lead the charge to ughter your Sect as soon as I leave this ce! Don''t test me!"

    "You dare?!" Master Zhuo''s aura burst forth, forgetting about Mira for a moment. If it were this crazy woman, she really would go to war for something so petty and unreasonable.

    Yaniraughed maniacally, the mes around her burning brighter. "Of course I dare! I always dare! I''ve always hated you ck-robed bastards anyway! Now''s as good a time as any to finally get rid of you!"

    Master Lei watched all of this happen from the sidelines, a slight smirk etched on his face. However, he noticed a heavy gaze on his body and turned to see Mira staring directly into his eyes. Then, her lips curved up as she nced at Yanira, sending her a sound transmission.

    "And you! Bastard Lei! Don''t think I''ve forgotten about you!" Yanira turned her rage to the Thunderstrike Pavillion Master, who gradually lost his smile. She took out a few talismans and raised her hand. "This girl is under my protection! You have two more seconds before I send a message to my forces, ordering them to attack your Sects!"

    "..."

    "1 second!"

    "..."

    "0 se-" Just as Yanira was putting pressure on the talismans, Master Zhuo threw Mira to the ground and backed away.

    "Whatever. Killing this woman isn''t worth it. With how greedy this crazy bitch is, she definitely only left scraps behind."

    Furrowing his brows, Master Lei thought differently, but as things weren''t going his way, he could only back off. As the saying goes, ''It''s better to fight a smart opponent than a crazy one.''

    People like Yanira weren''t afraid of mutual destruction. It wasn''t worth dealing with someone like that, especially during this time of opportunity. For now, it was better to back off, especially considering how it seemed Yanira had broken through.

    "...Fine. Just don''te to regret this decision in the future."

    "That''s not for you to decide. Tch!" Yanira quickly grabbed Mira by the arm and shot up out of the hole, quickly disappearing from the valley.

    ***

    "So, where''s my 60%?"

    "...Do you want me to send you back down there?"

    "..."

    Once they made significant distance from the valley, Yaniranded and dropped Mira.

    "Well, I hope you''re happy." She crossed her arms, staring at the fox woman. "I just offended two of the strongest people on the continent for you."

    Mira brushed off her robe and stood up, giving Yanira an indifferent shrug. "Sounds like this wasn''t the first time to me."

    "..."

    "If anything, I''m the one who''s in more danger. Yet, you don''t see meining."

    "...I really hate you, you know?"

    "The feeling''s mutual."

    "..."

    The two stared at each other for a moment before Yanira sighed. "Just go, please. I''m tired of your nonsense. Consider it my bad luck for getting involved with someone like you."

    Mira was a bit surprised that Yanira was going to let her go without putting up a fight but nodded nheless. "Let''s not meet again."

    "Tch! Don''t say it like that! Now, I''ll be forced to see your stupidly beautiful face again!"

    "..."

    "Tsk�� Our deal''s over. May you have a shitty journey!"

    mes burst from Yanira''s feet, and she took to the skies, not looking back. She was too embarrassed by what she had just said to dare to turn around.

    Mira shook her head but did the same thing. She concealed her presence and glided across the snow, ensuring she didn''t leave any traces behind. Thest thing she wanted was for Yanira to change her mind ande after her.

    A few hourster, she found a big tree and hopped in it to regain her bearings. Finding a nice, thick branch to sit on, she rested against the trunk.

    Feeling a slight rustle in her, Mira chuckled and said, "You can wake up now."

    "Is-Is it finally over?" A voice no higher than a whisper came from her tails.

    Mira was about to open, only for all of her instincts to scream danger. Her ears twitched, hearing the faint crackling of lightning in the distance, and her face changed. ''Are you serious?! He''s still after me?!''

    She gave Hana a tap, sending her back to sleep.

    ''Dammit! What do I do?!''

    She couldn''t run, he was too fast.

    She couldn''t hide, there was literally nothing around.

    And she couldn''t fight.

    However, there was one thing she could try. Something she hadn''t voluntarily used since her time in the Primal Ascendance Convergence.

    ''I don''t know if it''ll fool him, but it''s the only shot I got!''

    With a thought, her body rapidly shrunk and changed until she transformed into a little snow-white fox. She dropped to the ground, cast an illusion on Hana, and wrapped herself up in a ball, acting like she was asleep.

    Lastly, she masked her cultivation to be at Rank 6, something she''d never tried before.

    Not even two secondster, a man surrounded by lightning stopped by the tree. He nced around, frowning. His gaze was then attracted to the only thing around, the small fox sleeping in the snow.

    Part of him felt that something was off about it, but he didn''t think even for a second that it was Mira. ''Maybe I missed her? Whatever. She can''t escape me forever.''With an audible snort, he shot back into the sky after not finding anything.

    Mira let out a sigh of relief but didn''t move. She didn''t know if someone was still watching her. So, she remained in that spot, sleeping like nothing ever happened.

 Chapter 932: Explore

    The Celestial Springs Resort was a ce that remained open regardless of war, blizzards, or any other reason.

    In fact, the staff would fight to work these shifts as they were paid multiple times more based on the threat they were facing. Safety was almost guaranteed as long as they stayed within the confines of the resort, all they needed to do was tend to the customers as usual.

    However, that''s what made these shifts great. There were hardly any customers, and the ones they did have almost never caused trouble.

    Maria and Cine floated not far away from the Resort and couldn''t help but be surprised by the scale of it.

    "This whole ce is the resort? The entire mountain range? What the hell?" Cine muttered. Although the Crystal Spire said it was big, they didn''t mention this!

    "Alright, enough gawking. Let''s see if Mira''s inside!" Maria eximed as she descended to the ground and walked toward the main entrance.

    "...You know she''s not going to be. It''s impossible for that woman not to cause trouble. She''s definitely out there in the blizzard somewhere."

    Maria slowly nodded, but her eyes remained firm. "...Still, it doesn''t hurt to check."

    Cine shrugged and walked next to her friend as they entered the building.

    "Hello~! Wee to the Celestial Springs Resort~! My name is Cherrele, how may I help you today~?" A cute, bubbly girl at the front desk eximed with a professional smile.

    Maria smiled as well, causing a faint blush to creep up on the girl''s face, "Hi~! I''m actually here to look for someone. Her name is-"

    Before she could say another word, Cherrele shook her head, her ponytail swaying. "I apologize, but one of our policies is not to give out our customer''s information. However, if there''s anything else you need, I''m happy to help."

    "Oh,e on~ I''m sure you know her. Her name''s Mira, she looks like a fox woman with multicolored tails."

    Cherrele''s eyes shook for a moment as she knew this woman more than she''d care to admit. She was always in the mountains, hammering away, shaking the ce! When they tried to stop her, she just threw out Spirit Stones and rare herbs, telling them to ''Shut up and leave her alone''.

    There were even a few rumors that some of the customers whoined too much disappeared�� but that was never confirmed.

    Maria''s smile widened, but she didn''t call her out. She raised her hand, showing off her ring, and said, "You see, she''s actually my fiancee~ I heard she was causing trouble and came to drag her back home~ Haaa�� That woman, always making a mess."

    All the staff members looked over with wide eyes, staring at Maria as if she was their savior. It wasn''t just Mira that was a problem, but everyone in that group. Hana was caught sneaking in and out of ces she wasn''t supposed to be, spying on people. Coralia threatened all their neighbors. Rhydian seemed to destroy everything she touched, even spotted sleeping in restricted areas.

    Dominique always carried a bloody aura, and Elenei''s mere presence scared anyone who neared her.

    They received constantints about them, but the higher-ups wouldn''t make a move, probably because of the rare herbs she handed out. However, for the staff, this was a nightmare.

    "R-Really?" Cherrele asked with a shaky voice. "You''re going to take them away?"

    "Of course~!" Maria then gave a smile that didn''t reach the eyes. "It''s about time shees home, after all."

    "R-R�� Right this way!"

    ***

    A dayter

    A small lump of snow lifted from the ground, revealing a small white fox underneath. It shook the snow out of its fur, breathing a sigh of relief that nothing happened.

    Mira''s tail twitched, dropping a little girl onto the snow. "Ugh." Hana groaned as she held her head before abruptly waking up, feeling the painful chill down to her very bones.

    "Wh-What happened?! What''s going on?!" She looked around before screaming as she saw a small white fox with crimson eyes staring at her. "B-Beast! MIRA! Save me!"

    ''Idiot! I''m the fox!''

    Hana''s eyes widened, hearing Mira''s cold voice in her mind. She stared down at the little fox, bewildered. Mira was�� this little fox? She could be so cute?!

    While her mind was still a mess, Mira reached out her paw and dropped the iridescent shirt she obtained from the skeleton on the ground, along with a few other items like a jacket, pants, and things that would protect her.

    ''Put these on.''

    Hana snapped out of her thoughts and quickly did as she was told.

    "Oh~! I''m not cold anymore!" She eximed, running around a bit despite her bones protesting. Somehow, during the time she had passed out, her injuries had mostly healed, but she was still sore. "But, why can''t I sit in your tails anymore?"

    ''We''re being followed. So, I''m going to stay in this form for a bit until I feel it''s safe to go back to normal.''

    "...I see." Hana nodded gravely. If even Mira was nervous about their pursuer, they were in deep trouble if they ever got caught.

    ''So, which ce did you have nned next?''

    Hana gave Mira a weird look. "...Seriously? Even after escaping death several times, you still want more?"

    ''What? Our bodies are fine, and that''s all that matters. No need to waste time resting.''

    "..."

    Although the logic was sound, Hana couldn''t help but feel that something was off.

    ''Our bodies might be fine, but my mind isn''t! I''m tired!'' She wanted toin but kept her mouth shut, knowing it was useless.

    If she had known that joining Mira on her personal adventures would''ve been like this, she would''ve reconsidered her decision. She was way too weak to be standing next to Mira, which became abundantly clear whenever she fought.

    Mira did her best to protect her, but her mind and body still felt like mush after all was said and done.

    ''Gah! Whatever! I just need tost until this blizzard ends, right? I can do that! How long can a blizzardst, after all?!'' She resolved herself, not knowing that it wouldn''t be long before she regretted that decision.

    "...I was going to take us to a battle arena that, for some reason, only opens during the Decennial Storm, but considering I have no idea where we are, I say we just head east until we run into something."

    ''Then, what are we waiting for?''

    Mira, in her small fox form, led the way, her crimson eyes cutting through the blizzard like beacons. Hana followed closely behind, not wanting to get lost.

    During this time, Mira swept a part of her consciousness throughout her mind, soul, and body, inspecting the changes that breaking through to the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm brought.

    Breaking through the stages in the Soul Transformation Realm was not merely an increase in power; it was a fundamental development of her entire existence. Mira felt the beginnings of a fusion between her soul and physical body. Not some mere connection brought about by a unique technique but something much deeper.

    ''Like, at some point, my body will be my soul and vice versa.'' She didn''t quite understand it but instinctively understood she was heading in the right direction.

    Her Dao also manifested more overtly in her physical form. Each movement, each breath carried the weight of her spiritual insights, making her connection to the elements around her more intimate.

    "What''re you doing, Mira?" Hana asked, noticing the fox''s contemtive pause. Despite the howling wind and the snow that danced around them like wraiths, there was a serene aura surrounding Mira.

    ''I''m exploring the changes my breakthrough brought,'' Mira exined, her consciousness still examining the changes within her.

    Her Absolute Essence Core had be more robust, pulsating with over twice as much Qi as before. Her physical body had grown stronger, every muscle and bone infused with the power of her Dao.

    But the most striking change was her connection to her Nascent Soul. Although there was always a link there, it felt more profound now. She understood that her Nascent Soul was just a manifestation of her inner will, but there were subtle differences between the two. Now, it wouldn''t be wrong to say they were the same person, just in different bodies�Csimr to identical twins.

    However, with the direction things were going, she wondered if-

    ''...there might be no more Nascent Soul once I reach the peak of the Realm,'' Mira thought aloud.

    "What does that mean for you?" Hana inquired, her curiosity piqued.

    ''It means that the journey of cultivation is one of constant evolution and unity. My soul, my body, my essence��they''re all bing one. It''s a path towards bing a true expression of the Dao,'' Mira replied, speaking more to herself than Hana.

    As they continued eastward, Mira tested her enhanced capabilities. With a mere thought, she manipted the snow around them, creating a protective bubble that shielded them from the worst of the blizzard''s fury.

    Suddenly, a roar pierced the silence of the blizzard. From the whiteout, a massive creature of ice and snow emerged. Hana tensed, but Mira stepped forward.

    ''This will be a good test,'' Mira stated, smirking.

    As the creature charged, Mira''s form blurred. She called upon her Dao, and pure Yin mes danced around her. With a swift motion, she struck, her paw emitting a burst of chilling fire that collided with the creature.

    The impact was devastating. The creature howled in agony as it was consumed by the mes, melting away to nothingness in moments.

    Hana nodded, skipping over to Mira. "So, you''re still powerful even in this form!"

    Mira just rolled her eyes and carried along like nothing happened, not bothering to pick up the beast core that dropped.

 Chapter 933: Attempted Capture?

    After a few days of traveling through the thick, snowy terrain, Mira eventually got sick and tired of moving at Hana''s pace.

    ''I haven''t sensed anyone watching us over the past few days, and I doubt a Sect Master would waste so much time stalking two weaklings like us.'' She thought, transforming back into her hybrid form.

    "Wha-! AHH!"

    Without exining herself, she wrapped her tails around Hana and soared into the sky, shooting off into the distance.

    "Mira! What are you doing?!" Hana managed to shout, her voice barely audible over the howling wind.

    "We''re moving at my pace now," Mira said resolutely. "I''m tired of crawling through the snow."

    Thendscape below them changed rapidly, mountains giving way to forests and then to open ins, all nketed in snow. Mira''s enhanced senses scanned the terrain, searching for any sign of andmark, anything that could give them a clue as to their location.

    After what felt like hours, Hana finally spotted something. "There! To the left!" she yelled, pointing towards a distant mountain range that pierced the sky. "That''s the Azure Peaks! If we head south from here, we''ll reach the City of Blossoms!"

    Mira adjusted their course. The City of Blossoms was known as a hub for adventurers, mercenaries, and cultivators, a ce where information flowed as freely as wine. It was the perfect ce to gather news and find clues about any unique ces that had appeared.

    As they neared the city, Mira''s tails gently dropped them on the outskirts, near a small grove that offered some cover from prying eyes.

    "We''ll enter the city as travelers. No need to draw unnecessary attention," Mira instructed, her eyes scanning their surroundings with practiced caution.

    Hana nodded, still catching her breath from the exhrating flight. "Got it. Let''s find an inn first. I could use a hot meal and a warm bed."

    The pair made their way into the City of Blossoms, their appearance drawing a few curious nces but nothing more. The city was alive with activity, streets bustling with vendors selling exotic goods and taverns filled withughter and music.

    Mira''s keen eyes quickly found them a modest inn tucked away in a quieter part of the city. The innkeeper, a jovial man with a bushy beard, weed them warmly, offering them thest two rooms avable.

    Once settled, Mira and Hana ventured out to gather information. They split up, agreeing to meet back at the inn by sunset. Mira headed to the market, her senses alert for any conversation about the Decennial Storm.

    Meanwhile, Hana visited the local library, hoping to find historical records or legends that might assist them. The librarian, an elderly woman with a sharp gaze, was more than willing to assist, intrigued by Hana''s unusual request.

    Hours passed, and as the sun began to dip below the horizon, Mira and Hana regrouped at the inn, sharing their findings over a hearty meal.

    "I heard rumors of a sect that worships the storm," Mira began. "They believe it''s a trial sent by the heavens to test the worthy. Who knows? They might have something interesting." However, part of her doubted whether they were anything special.

    If the blizzard was really that great, shouldn''t they be a ruling power? Or maybe they only appeared every ten years? All she heard were vague rumors, so it was impossible to draw any conclusions. Either way, Mira was a bit curious.

    Hana nodded, excitement gleaming in her eyes. "And I found an old legend about the ''Frozen Halls'' that exists outside the blizzard, yet in the words of the people, es alive'' every ten years. It''s said to be a ce where cultivators can test their limits and seek great treasures. Supposedly, it''s at the ''center of the storm'', but whether it''s the cause is up for debate.

    From what I understand, it''s just a byproduct of the blizzard."

    Of course, that wasn''t everything they found, but those were the only things worth mentioning. Most of the people were rather weak ording to Mira''s standards. Many of them were getting excited over a few Heaven and Mystical-Grade resources.

    For Mira, Mystical-Grade was just the threshold for something interesting. She''d collect it if she could, but if it were too out of the way, she''d leave it be. Her strength was just too high, after all.

    Anything below Mystical-Grade was useless to her.

    ''I say that, but my scythe is technically a Late-Stage Heaven-Grade weapon.'' She chuckled, but that wasn''t correct either. Her scythe was tied to her cultivation. It was as strong as she was.

    ''Speaking of, I wonder what my scythe''s limit is? I doubt it can keep growing infinitely just by being connected to my cultivation.'' Since it was a mortal weapon, its limit was probably the Mortal Realm, but she had a feeling that once she broke through theter realms, it''d start falling offpared to other weapons.

    The only thing unique about her scythe was the cultivation technique that came with it, but since she had done away with that, it wasn''t much different than a strong lump of metal.

    ''...It seems I actually do need to work on my forging for something other than research purposes.''

    And what better way to get materials to practice with than looting and plundering?!

    "We''re going to search for this blizzard-worshipping Sect tomorrow." Mira dered before walking into her room, leaving Hana to her own devices.

    For some reason, the girl had a bad feeling, but what could she do? Hana ignored the hard thumping of her heart and shut the door to her room. She needed to mentally prepare herself for the possibility of them ruining an entire ''religion'' tomorrow.

    ***

    In the icy expanse of the Northern Continent, the sky was aze with the vibrant hues of battle. Amidst the swirling snowkes, a colossal Frozen Ash Dracophoenix soared, its majestic wings beating against the howling winds.

    Below, the Pyre Ascendants Sect, a formidable force known for their mastery of fire-based techniques, mobilized almost their entire Sect��Disciples and Elders alike��in a fervent witch hunt. Their target: Elenei, the Dracophoenix, a creature they didn''t even know could exist.

    If they could just chop off one piece of her, the benefits it''d bring their Sect would be immense.

    Not to mention, this creature has been running amok with a small, blood-red fox woman on its back, stealing one treasure after another and killing droves of people.

    It was about time they put an end to this madness before they took all the half-decent resources for themselves!

    Dominique, perched nonchntly on Elenei''s broad back, couldn''t help but marvel at the spectacle unfolding.

    Despite the apparent danger, there was a thrill in the air that made her blood sing. "Quite the weing party, isn''t it, Elenei?" she shouted over the roar of the wind and the cacophony of battle.

    ''They''re just greedy pigs. All we did was kill a few people from their Sect. Who knew they''dunch a full-on assault.'' An elegant voice entered Dominique''s mind, who chuckled wryly.

    "It was more than a few, but�� yeah. At least I was able to test my new power on them, though. "

    "KILL THEM! Take revenge for your fallen brothers and sisters!" Suddenly, a loud roar came from below, causing the two in the sky to sigh.

    Elenei''s response was a defiant screech, a sound that resonated with the raw power of the storm itself.

    She dove and weaved through the air, evading the relentless onught of fireballs and ming arrows that sought to bring her down. A flurry of ash rained down on the humans, which they unknowingly inhaled. The razor-sharp ice shards within then began wreaking havoc on their lungs, causing many to start coughing up blood.

    The Sect, despite their numbers and prowess, found themselves outmatched by the Dracophoenix''s agility and her natural presence. She didn''t even need to use any abilities to take care of the weaker members.

    Below, the Sect''s Elders coordinated their efforts, channeling their cultivation into a massive, collective spell aimed at subduing Elenei. "Focus your energy! We must capture this creature!" bellowed the Sect Leader, his voice amplified by his cultivation, carrying across the battlefield.

    Dominique, feeling the surge of energy below, smirked. "Looks like they''re getting serious. How about we show them what serious really looks like?" Without waiting for a reply, she tapped into her own reserves of power, her aura ring dangrously.

    Elenei let out another screech and descended from the sky onto the army. Together, they turned to face the gathering storm of energy, ready to unleash theirbined might.

    The sh that followed was cataclysmic. Dominique''s bloody energy mingled with Elenei''s icy feather bombs, creating a maelstrom of chaos that engulfed the Sect''s spell. The explosion that ensued lit up the sky, sending shockwaves rippling through the air and across thend.

    When the light and the snow settled, the Pyre Ascendants Sect found themselves in disarray. Many of their membersy scattered across the snow in multiple pieces. Some of their heads even exploded due to the ferocity of her cry.

    The Elders, though standing, were visibly shaken, their confidence shattered by the disy of power they had witnessed.

    The Sect Leader, his robes singed and his face a mask of frustration, could only watch as Elenei and Dominique demolished his Sect. "After them!" he roared, but his voicecked its previous authority. The Sect''s morale had taken a massive hit, and they struggled to regroup and give chase.

    Dominiqueughed, the sound carried away by the wind as Elenei soared higher into the sky, the snow and clouds closing in around them, obscuring their form from view. "They really thought they could capture you, huh?" she said, patting Elenei''s neck. "Why don''t we root out this little Sect and prevent any future troubles for Mother?"

    ''...'' Elenei wasn''t sure what to say to that.

    Now that Dominique was finally out in the real world, she had started to act a lot more like Mira, albeit more talkative. She was growing up to be a bloody killer, literally. Something that honestly scared Elenei a bit. She couldn''t imagine how dangerous the Mother-Daughter duo would be together once their power was simr.

    Still, Elenei couldn''t argue with the decision to root out future troubles and dove back down toward pursuing Sect. ''Might as well get this over with��''

 Chapter 934: Praise Thee

    "Praise the Heavens!"

    "Praise the Heavens!"

    "Praise the Lord!"

    "Praise the Lord!"

    In a giant temple built on top of a hidden mountain, a monk in long blue robes shouted while kowtowing in front of a ten-thousand-step staircase. Behind him were thousands upon thousands of monks, wearing all white and repeating the same thing as the man in blue.

    At the top of the staircase was a tform with an Eight Trigrams Formation. However, above it floated various treasures. In the center of it was arge twelve-petalled ice lotus sculpture with an egg-like item in the center.

    Surrounding it were all kinds of treasures, some made of ice, but others were more neutral, but it was clear that the formation was missing several parts. One section of the formation had gate pirs, yet no gate. Another had various shards made of their own respective elements. One even had what seemed to be parts of mythological beasts in it.

    Regardless of what the formation was made of, every single one of them was a rare treasure.

    Yet, they were all channeling their energy into the icy lotus in the center. It wasn''t just the treasures that it was absorbing, either. Whether it be the surrounding Qi, the energy of the monks, or the blizzard itself, the lotus sucked in anything it could take.

    Ever since the blizzard started, it was as if a switch was flipped. Before, it could only utilize the various treasures, but now it was as if a limiter was unblocked. That''s why the monks believed this to be a blessed era for the continent. They even seemed ecstatic at the fact that the lotus wanted to absorb some of their energy.

    The echoes of their unified chants, "Praise the Heavens! Praise the Lord!" reverberated against the ancient stone walls as they continuously kowtowed, creating something that looked like a snowy wave from a distance.

    The monk in long blue robes, recognized as Master Liang, raised his head, his eyes reflecting a deep conviction. With a voice that carried the weight of thousands of years of practice, he preached, "Brothers, today we stand on the brink of witnessing a miracle. The Heavens have blessed us once again! The time of our Lord''s resurrection is almost upon us!

    Our faith, our dedication, it all culminates for this sacred moment!"

    Behind him, the sea of white-robed monks responded, their voices rising in a crescendo, "We are ready, Master Liang! We believe!"

    "Praise the Heavens!"

    "Praise the Heavens!"

    "Praise the Lord!"

    "Praise the Lord!"

    Above them, the Eight Trigrams Formation hummed with power, the treasures floating around the ice lotus sculpture glowing with an ethereal light.

    Suddenly, a ripple of gasps swept through the crowd as a beam of celestial light pierced the temple''s ceiling, illuminating the ice lotus. The egg-like item at the center of the lotus began to pulse, its rhythm synchronizing with the heartbeats of everyone present.

    Master Liang stood up, extending his arms toward the formation. "The Lord has dered that we must find the rest of the Heavenly Relics within the next year, or chaos and destruction will descend upon us!"

    The monks intensified their chants, their voices merging into a single, powerful force. The treasures around the lotus vibrated, releasing more streams of energy that intertwined and revolved around the center.

    The monks'' chants grew even more fervent, their collective voice a mighty cascade that seemed to shake the very foundation of the temple. Each monk''s face was etched with determination and faith, their eyes alight with the purpose bestowed upon them by their revered Master Liang.

    "Brothers, we must act swiftly! The Lord hath spoken, and we are His chosen instruments!" Master Liang''s voice boomed across the vast expanse of the temple, his words igniting a fire in the hearts of the assembled monks.

    "Praise the Lord!"

    "Now, go, my disciples! Find these relics spread across thend! May the Heavens guide you!"

    "Praise the Heavens!"

    ***

    Mira swung her scythe, chopping the head off of another Titanic Snow Bear, a Rank 9 beast that was tens of meters tall and whose only redeeming quality was its immense strength.

    She extended her hand, absorbing its energy and cing its remains in her Storage Space. Now that she had finally broken through, she could gather, absorb, and refine Qi again without being forced to suppress it.

    "Why''re there so many of these things around here?" Mira grumbled, looking behind her at the long trail of blood left in the snow. She felt as if she had been killing bears for hours now, and it showed.

    "...I''m not sure," Hana murmured, closing her eyes as she tried to remember all the information she had obtained, along with a map of the Northern Continent. "From what I know. Titanic Snow Bears don''t exactly live in packs. They have their own territory but tend to stay away from one another. It''s odd that there are so many of them together, much less in this area."

    In all directions around them were t ins of snow. No trees. No mountains. No frozenkes. Not even any hills. Just snow.

    However, the blizzard was extremely bad in this location, so it could be that she was just standing on tens of meters of snow, covering up everything below it.

    "Maybe even for bears, this weather is too damn cold, so they started migrating?" Mira spected, and that was the only thing Hana could think of as well. Even she was thinking about transforming into a giant fox just to keep herself nice and warm. But as someone who pursued the Absolute Ice Dao, how could she do such a thing?

    Something inside Mira told her that the instant she sought refuge from the cold was the moment her Dao cracked; something akin to a heart demon. So, instead of hiding from it, she chose to embrace it, lowering all her defenses to feel it more clearly, only using her Qi to keep Hana from dying.

    "Do you think we''re close to this so-called religious cult?" Mira asked, tired of traveling in this vast expanse of nothing. Forget about the cold, this was too boring! Killing brain-dead bears wasn''t interesting at all!

    "How should I know? All we heard were rumors, remember? We could''ve stayed to gather more information, but you insisted we leave as soon as possible!" Hana snapped back, a bit annoyed. One day was hardly enough time to gather information, especially about some hidden cult that was merely hearsay, a longstanding myth, amongst the general popce.

    "Well, what difference would it have made?" Mira chose a random direction and started flying. "The public knows nothing. Maybe the top guys on the Continent do, but if you can''t already tell, I''m not great with people, much less those who hold some sort of authority. Chances are, instead of trading information, we''ll fight to the death."

    And as nice as that sounded, Mira didn''t feel like running around the Continent, making one enemy after another when she could be gathering precious resources!

    "..." Hana couldn''t argue with that. She had already pissed off three Sect Masters, after all. No need to add more to the list.

    "Hm?" Suddenly, Mira sensed something in the distance�Csomething other than a freaking bear! It felt human! "Someone''sing this way."

    "What?! Really?! Maybe they can help us!" Hana''s eyes shone, only to see a sharp light heading straight for them.

    Mira calmly dodged out of the way, allowing the strike to prate the snow behind her, but her expression grew serious when she realized that person had just used [Sword Manifestation].

    "DIE HERETIC!" A shout came from the distance, followed by thousands of sword lights that surrounded them.

    ''Or not.'' Hana ducked into Mira''s tails.

    Mira''s frown deepened as she unleashed her own [Scythe Manifestation] and swung her scythe, counteracting the strikes. Then, she saw a man in a in white robe descending from the sky with rage etched all over his face.

    "HERETIC! Hand over the Holy Relic or die!" He demanded, creating thousands more swords around him.

    "...What the fuck?" Mira tilted her head, wondering what this lunatic was talking about. Heretic? Holy Relic? Did he have the right person? Or was he even more brain-dead than those stupid bears?

    "I''ll give you one more chance! Hand over the Holy Relic! I know you have it! I can feel the Lord''s power on you!" The white-robed monk shouted once again.

    "...What the hell are you talking about?" For the first time in a long time, Mira had the urge not to fight this guy. His crazy, fanatic stare made her skin crawl so much that she''d almost rather deal with that stalker ''god''.

    ''Maybe he''s one of his worshippers?'' She thought.

    However, the term "Holy Relic" caught her attention. Truthfully, she had a lot of items that could be considered a ''Holy Relic''. It just depended on who was asking. Her entire body could be considered a Holy Relic, in a sense!

    "...Err-Which Holy Relic are you talking about?"

    "So�� You even have more than one?! DIE!"

    A rain of sword lights came crashing down onto Mira.

 Chapter 935: White Hole

    Mira swept her scythe upward, creating a barrier of snow and ice. The thousands of swords in the air rapidly fell from the sky, exploding all around her, but they failed to break through.

    However, the psycho monk in the sky didn''t relent. He kept yelling, raining down sword lights like he had an infinite supply of them.

    ''Heh~'' Mira smirked. ''Is that the best you got?''

    With a stomp, Mira''s mind connected to dozens of kilometers of snow and ice resting on the ground. She enveloped it all in her Soul Sense and clenched her fist.

    [Frozen Terrain Change].

    The ground beneath her shook before the snow around her transformed into a giant hand behind the monk.

    ''Why don''t we take that guy out of the sky?'' She chuckled, and the massive snow hand swatted the monk like a fly, sending him crashing to the ground.

    Then, before he could react, she used a technique that she hadn''t used in a while, [Reaper].

    Her body was cloaked in a ck hooded robe, making her semi-transparent. Death and destruction emanated from her, corrupting the snow she stepped on, but she paid no mind.

    Dashing forward, she phased through her barrier without any resistance and instantly appeared before the monk.

    "Heretic! You dare?!" The monk burst out of the snow in a fiery explosion, destroying everything around him, only to find a ghostly fox woman right in front of him. His expression changed, and he gathered his energy,unching one sword attack after another as he backed away.

    Crevasses formed in the snow behind Mira, but she dashed through the air without resistance, with even some attacks merely passing through her body.

    "Die! Die, you demon! Hand over the Holy Relic, and I''ll send you straight to-!"

    Shing!

    A line passed through the monk''s neck. A momentter, his head fell to the ground, followed by a fountain of blood.

    ''"...Finally, it''s quiet." She muttered, ncing at his body. She waved her hand and swept all the loot off his body, only to frown, feeling Qi surge toward his corpse.

    When she saw it ballooning up, her frown deepened. She hurriedly punted the body as hard as she could, sending it into the sky before using her [cial Mirage Steps] to get as far away from there as she could.

    BOOM!

    Mira felt the shockwaves sweep past her, but she''d made it far enough away not to be affected. Turning around, she saw a massive crater in the snow and shook her head, confused.

    "What the hell was that about?"

    "How''d you piss that monk off, Mira?" Hana popped her head out and asked, but Mira just shrugged.

    "How should I know? I guess I stole their Holey Relic? Not sure what he''s talking about."

    Hana squinted her eyes. "...I wouldn''t be surprised if you really did inadvertently steal something from them."

    "Well, that''s not my problem."

    Why should she care? Maybe they shouldn''t lose it in the first ce.

    "...But don''t you think that monk might''vee from the cult we were looking for?" Hana asked, a bit concerned, but Mira denied it.

    "I doubt it. How many Sects exist throughout the entire continent? How many of them remain hidden from the outside world? That guy wasn''t particrly strong. He could''vee from anywhere."

    "...If you say so."

    Suddenly, in the distance, they heard voices shouting, traveling in their direction.

    "A brother died over here!"

    "Hurry! We must avenge our brother''s sacrifice! For the Lord!"

    "For the Lord!"

    "Brothers! I sense a woman standing on our Brother''s corpse!"

    "sphemy!"

    "How dare she?! Death to the heretic!"

    "For the Lord!"

    Mira''s head throbbed, listening to them, and for a second, she thought about just turning around and fleeing. There were already six people closing in on her, and she could sense at least a dozen more monks behind them, charging in her direction.

    Hana gave Mira a pat on the shoulder, whispering, "Have fun." Then ducked back into her tails.

    ''Haaa�� Whatever.'' Mira sighed and lowered her stance. ''I''ve been wanting to test a few techniques out anyways.''

    ''Death Dominion!''

    A ck domain of death crept out of her being, spreading across the snow and absorbing its energy.

    10 meters

    20 meters

    50 meters

    100 meters

    1 kilometer.

    3 kilometers

    Her domain stopped there, surprising Mira. ''Damn! How much have I improved since Ist used this technique?''

    That thought stopped when she saw the monks enter her domain, using all sorts of defensive techniques.

    Just as they were gathering energy to attack, Mira sneered. ''Jumping straight into someone else''s domain? How arrogant!''

    A ck, gooey substance leaked out of her scythe, dripping like it was bleeding. She smiled, enjoying the feeling of semi-omnipotence inside her domain. Then, without hesitation, she shed in an extremely wide arc.

    A ck de extended from the tip of her scythe to the edge of her domain, slicing, destroying, and absorbing anything in its way.

    All the monks that neared her were instantly cut in half and exploded like fireworks. Some had managed tounch attacks before they died, and she didn''t bother creating any defenses. Sword lights and elements rained down on her, but she merely brushed it off and kept swinging her scythe, killing anyone who dared to enter.

    The second wave of monks neared but stopped just outside her domain.

    "Don''t near that devil, Brothers! She''s using some strange devil magic to ughter our brethren!"

    "A heretic who dares to oppose the Lord!"

    "Prepare to use [White Hole]!"

    "White Hole!"

    "Get in position!"

    Their crazy voices echoed across the empty snow ins as they backed off, surrounding Mira. They all raised their hands into the sky and began chanting and praying.

    A clear barrier enveloped their bodies as Qi began to swirl around them and Mira. They even influenced the blizzard as it flowed in an opposite direction, as it revolved around them instead of following its natural route.

    Mira''s expression slowly became serious, sensing something weird happening. ''What the hell are these psychos doing now?'' She wondered, but wasn''t all that interested to find out.

    She shot forward, enough to where her domain enveloped a few monks, and swung her scythe. A hardened ck de appeared and sliced-

    Ding!

    The barrier blocked it!

    The monk she attacked coughed up blood, and both of his arms exploded in a blood mist, but he lived.

    Her expression fell, feeling a barrier quickly envelop her, trapping her inside their formation. She swung a few more times at the monk, doing everything she could to kill him, but the same thing happened. More body parts exploded, but he remained alive, continuing to channel energy into whatever technique they were preparing.

    ''��in the heart of the storm, we find our might,

    Gathered as one, in the blizzard''s white.

    From the celestial void, our spirits call,

    To the Lord of Snow, the ruler of all.

    Energies converge, a swirling light,

    Forming a beacon in the darkest night.

    We invoke thee, our divine core,

    Unleash the power of the White Hole''s roar.

    Through swirling winds and icy veil,

    Let ourbined will prevail.

    As disciples of the frostbitten sky,

    We summon the force that never shall die��''

    A small, white ball of energy appeared above the chanting monks, growingrger and brighter with every verse they recited. Mira''s eyes narrowed as she assessed the situation, realizing the gravity of the technique they were about to unleash. She had to act fast.

    "Damn it!" Mira cursed under her breath, her scythe shing through the air in futile attempts to break the barrier. Each strike only served to reinforce the monks'' resolve, their chants growing louder and more synchronized.

    Mira''s gaze darted around the battlefield, her mind racing for a strategy. She couldn''t allow the White Hole technique toplete. She was sick and tired of being caught up in explosions!

    Mira, realizing brute force wouldn''t suffice, shifted her tactics. Her scythe glimmered with a dark energy, and she channeled her Qi into a more subtle, insidious form. "[Shadow Bind]," she whispered, extending her hand towards the nearest monk.

    Shadows crept along the ground, climbing up the monk''s legs and ensnaring him in a grip tighter than iron. His chants faltered as he felt his energy and lifeforce draining, but the barrier held strong, powered by the collective will of his brethren.

    "Her tricks are useless! Continue the chant!" another monk rallied, their voices merging into a powerful, resonant force that fueled the growing White Hole.

    Mira gritted her teeth, realizing time was running out. She nced at the white ball of energy, now pounding with power. She needed a breakthrough, and she needed it now.

    In a desperate bid, Mira unleashed her [Death Dominion] once more, expanding it with all her might, pushing against the barrier''s confines. The domain of death met the monks'' sacred shield, and for a moment, an eerie silence fell over the battlefield as the two forces shed.

    But the barrier held.

    "The Lord guides us! The heretic''s power cannot ovee the divine!" the monks chanted.

    Mira''s eyes shed with a fierce determination. If subtlety wouldn''t work, she''d resort to raw power. Gathering her Qi, she channeled it into her scythe, infusing the de with a terrifying essence of obliteration.

    "[Reaper''s Descent]," she intoned, raising her scythe high and trying tobine several techniques. The de zed with a ck me, and she brought it down with all her might, aiming to cleave the barrier and disrupt the technique.

    The impact sent shockwaves through the area, and for a moment, the barrier shimmered, showing signs of strain. But it held, the monks'' collective will proving stronger than Mira had anticipated.

    Inside the barrier, the monks'' eyes widened as they saw their technique nearingpletion. The White Hole descended, its energy crackling with an intensity that threatened to consume everything in its vicinity.

    Mira unleashed a flurry of attacks, each more ferocious than thest. Her scythe moved in arcs of death, mming into the barrier and monks, destroying all their body parts, except for their brains and core, as their energy continued to leak into the technique.

    In the end, that was all she could do before their chants finished.

    The White Hole touched the ground, its energy exploding outward in a blinding burst of light.

 Chapter 936: Graveyard

    A giant mushroom cloud erupted into the sky. The shockwave from the explosion obliterated the surrounding blizzard for kilometers. Anything under the Soul Transformation Realm was directly evaporated, leaving behind only bones. As for those in or above the Soul Transformation Realm, it depended on their distance from the point of impact.

    However, nobody came out unscathed.

    Even the massive amounts of snow that had built up was mostly obliterated.

    At the center of the explosion, a massive crater formed not just in the snow but the earth as well. The dozens of monks who participated in the ''ritual'' were scattered and sprawled out, hanging onto theirst breath.

    Most were missing limbs or were on the brink of death, surviving merely by their own force of will. The ones that didn''t make it didn''t leave any remains.

    "Cough�� Ugh�� Damn��" A curse came from within a multiyered barrier made up of all the elements, Mira''s [Elemental Barrier].

    After sensing it was fine to reveal herself, Mira spread out her [Paragon Wings], revealing her bloody body underneath. A deep scowl had formed on her face as the space around her trembled, a red mist slowly spilling out of her.

    "I''m really being taken lightly, aren''t I?" She muttered, her killing intent building.

    She took a step toward the closest living monk. With every footfall, the ground and air around her froze. Her presence slowly intensified until she stood over a grumbling, dying monk.

    The man shivered, feeling a cold, prating killing intent surrounding him. When he opened his eyes, all he saw was a titanic, bloody demon peering down into his very soul.

    "You know��" The demon started. "Where Ie from, people like you wouldn''t dare act so presumptuously in front of me." It grabbed the monk''s head and lifted him off the ground.

    "Looks like I''ll have to show you why."

    "AHHHHHGH!"

    A dense stream of destruction Qi swept through the monk''s body, ripping his meridians apart, popping his core, and dissipating his cultivation. Then, his skin, starting from the crown of his head, started peeling off. Blood leaked out of his body as he was skinned alive, but all he could do was scream in agony.

    Once he was nothing more than a mass of flesh, Mira clenched her fist, creating a giant ice spike that shot up and prated the monk''s body all the way to the base of his skull.

    Screams still left out of his body, as she didn''t allow him to die just yet.

    Ice crept over his skin until he waspletely encased in it, forever preserving his agonizing expression and ruined body.

    "...Not enough." Mira shook her head and walked over to the next person. "People like this won''t know fear until it''s etched into their very soul."

    What followed next was a scene straight out of hell. Miserable, excruciating screams echoed as one giant ice spoke rose after another.

    When Mira backed away, looking at her ''masterpiece'', she shook her head. "Not enough. Still not enough."

    She then sensed more people flying in this direction and looked off into the distance. Without hesitation, she killed her presence and dashed toward the next batch of monks.

    "I won''t be satisfied until you can see this graveyard on the map."

    ***

    A few hourster, the crater where the [White Hole] exploded was now an icy tundra with hundreds of giant ice spikes. Mira made them so tall that even if the ground were covered in several meters of snow again, they would still stick far out of the ground.

    Nobody would miss them as long as they passed through the area.

    The wails of the tortured could still be heard as the blizzard''s howl returned, sweeping everything up in its path.

    Nodding slightly, the red haze around Mira had calmed down looking at the scene. "If those bastards attack me again, I''ll bring their corpses back here."

    The world should know their sins, after all.

    ''Heavenly Creation Order, huh?'' She murmured to herself. ''I wasn''t able to get any more information out of them other than that. Tsk.''

    That was the problem with fanatics. They were so crazy that torture almost never worked on them. Although her torture skills had improved vastlypared to her past lives, she couldn''t keep them alive long enough to extract information from them.

    Thus, she only sought the name of their ''religion''. Everything else could be learnedter.

    ''But, Heavenly Creation�� What, or who exactly are they worshipping?''

    Without fail, every single one of them shouted something akin to ''Praise the Lord! Praise the Heavens!''

    However, it didn''t feel like they were worshipping the Heavens she knew the one that regted the Mortal Realm.

    As far as she knew, the Heavens of the Mortal Realm established a set of "rules", and if ever one of those rules was breached, it''d interfere. There were all kinds of other beliefs about the Heavens like they granted people physiques, talent, controlled fate, and more, but none of those could be confirmed and were merely the conjectures of the ignorant.

    But these monks didn''t just worship the Heavens, but a separate Lord�Cnot the Heavens as their Lord.

    ''Does that mean they''re worshipping someone on par with the Heavens? Also, why are they searching for these ''Holy Relics''? To the point that they don''t care about their lives.''

    It seemed there were many mysteries regarding this new power that had entered the scene.

    Mira wanted nothing more than to just mind her own business. She wanted nothing to do with a religion of psycho, fanatic monks. However, she knew better than anyone else that once she was involved, it was as if she was forced to see it through to the end.

    ''...Tsk. I just wanted to gather treasures peacefully. Why''d it turn out like this?'' She kicked up a plume of snow before ncing at the graveyard she created.

    "...At least there''s nothing a trail of corpses can''t solve."

    Hana shivered, returning her hands to her eyes and ears, covering them as hard as she could. The screams, the wails, the sounds of flesh being ripped apart and bones being extracted were something she couldn''t handle.

    Blood and death were something she had grown ustomed to, living with Mira. However, this was different. It was no longer killing but muttion. And though she never raised her head throughout the entire process, the sounds gave her more than enough information to imagine what was going on.

    She wanted to throw up but forced it down. The aura Mira emanated made her feel like if she did something like that, Mira might just rece her with a monk. She trembled at the thought.

    "Well, kid, what do you want to do next?" Mira suddenly asked, taking a few steps away from the massacre.

    "E-Eep!"

    Mira chuckled at her little squeak. "What? It was just a little torture. Why are you so scared? You didn''t even open your eyes the entire time!"

    "..."

    "Anyways, enough about that. Where do you want to go? We can either continue looking for the braindead monk religion, which I''m starting to think is the one we''re looking for. Or we can search for the Frozen Halls."

    ''Frozen Halls!'' Hana wanted to shout but couldn''t. She didn''t want to have anything to do with those monks. Not because she was scared of them but because she was scared of what Mira would be when she found them. Part of her felt like Mira didn''t enjoy being around them either.

    However, if she said something like that, there was a good chance Mira wouldn''t care about her reasoning and continue doing whatever she wanted.

    ''So, I need to give her a good reason.'' Her brain started working overtime, formting a n to get her out of here. ''Think, Hana, think!''

    Mira waited in silence, allowing Hana toe up with an answer. Right now, she wasn''t in the right state of mind to make logical decisions. She felt a nagging itch in the back of her mind telling her to kill the annoyances and root out this religion. Her thirst for blood had only been temporarily sated.

    However, she understood doing so might end up being a huge waste of time.

    "U-Umm�� I-I think we should leave these monks alone and search for the Frozen Halls first." Hana finally replied.

    "Why?"

    "Err�� W-Well, weren''t those guys pretty strong? You struggled to break through their barrier, and although you can kill them easily in a one-on-one situation, their power exponentially increases when they''re in groups. What are you going to do if there are stronger people back at their church? Not to mention, you''ll be on their turf. Isn''t it too risky?

    We should try and gather more information, maybe a few allies as well, before recklessly marching into enemy territory. Not to mention, we don''t even know where theye from. If we identally stumble upon their home, I don''t even dare to imagine the consequences."

    "..." Mira fell into thought for a moment, her mind cooling down a bit. What Hana said made a lot of sense. These guys were just the dregs. None were in the Mortal Shedding Realm. All of them were at the Peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.

    If these monks had stronger members, even if theycked a Divine Sea Realm master, it''d still be troublesome for her if she was caught in some formation. Ever since she left the resort, she was beginning to understand how strong the true powerhouses of the world were.

    Not kids under a hundred years old, but people who have been practicing and refining their techniques for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

    It also seemed that, on average, the Northern Continent''s forces were stronger than those on the Western Continent.

    "Alright! We''ll put this religion on hold." Mira nodded slowly. She then started walking, only to stop right after and look around incredulously as if she just remembered something. "There''s just a slight problem. I have no idea where I am."

    "..."

 Chapter 937: Wolves

    Flying high in the sky, higher than the blizzard, arge golden winged-wolf soared. asionally, she pped her wings, keeping her in the air as she stared at the vast expanse of swirling ice and snow below her.

    ''d I''m not down there.'' Rhydian thought. ''It''s too cold, and most of the weaker beasts have gone into hiding. It''s not fun anymore.'' Her body might be icing over, flying so high, but there are no obstacles in her way. She could traverse this continent at her leisure.

    ''Oh? Prey!'' She saw a big white bird burst through theyer of clouds and screech out in joy. However, Rhydian swooped in and grabbed it by the neck, snapping it.

    The beast''s final look was one of despair and confusion. Just as it was freed from that hell, it was immediately killed! What kind of dogshit luck was that?! Unfortunately, it was too dead to receive an answer.

    Rhydian munched on her new snack, uncaring for its feelings, as she rose higher in the sky again.

    ''Now, this is the life. Free flying, easy hunting, and no unreasonable orders.''

    It might be a bit cold, but who was she? The Queen of the skies! How could something like this stop her?!

    ''But speaking of orders, I wonder where Mira is?'' She thought but chose not to focus on their connection. The possibility was slim, but Mira might detect something and call for her. If that happened, she''d lose all her freedom!

    ''...Better just to leave her alone, '' she thought, shaking her head, munching on thest bits of her snack.

    However, as she was looking down, she started to notice the peculiarities of the blizzard. Inside, it was hard to tell what was going on, as it was just icy and windy with no visibility, but above it, things were different.

    The clouds on the outside of the Continent seemed to spiral, rotating around thend. A bit more inward, they were more chaotic, going every which way and constantly changing. Further ind, they swirled the opposite way as the outeryer. Lastly, the biggest area in the middle of it all seemed random, or rather, she could tell what was going on underneath from where she was.

    ''I wonder if there''s any meaning to these different sections.'' Rhydian thought, her instinct telling her no, that this was just how things ended up. ''Makes sense. None of theseyers are better or worse than one another, just different.''

    For example, the winds around the edges were the absolute worst, but it wasn''t quite as cold as the center.

    ''But I''m kind of curious about what''s in the center.'' She abruptly changed courses, heading straight for the middle of the continent. ''Maybe I''ll be able to get some treasures before Mira''s greedy hands can snatch them!''

    The thought made her eyes shine like stars. For someone like her, being in a group with Mira and Elenei was the worst, as those two always picked out the good stuff. Now, it was her turn!

    ***

    While Rhydian''s journey was mostly unimpeded, there was someone who was experiencing the exact opposite.

    In a city called Sylphidia, not far away from the Celestial Springs Resort, the ce was bustling. Normally, it was just an average city meant for travelers who didn''t have the money or status to stay at the resort, but during the blizzard, it was packed full of people who dared not venture out.

    The city, with its cobblestone streets and quaintntern-lit alleys, offered a humble yet charming alternative.

    However, Sylphidia was more than just a stopover for budget-conscious travelers. It was a city steeped in history and magic. The ancestors of Sylphidia were said to have been guided by the sylphs, which inspired the city''s name.

    The architecture of Sylphidia reflected this, with spiraling towers and buildings. The city''s centerpiece was the Aerolith za, a grand square where a massive, ancient stone stood, rumored to be a relic left by the sylphs themselves. It was said that during certain celestial alignments, the stone would emanate a gentle, harmonious tone, imbuing those nearby with a sense of peace and rity.

    Just like it was doing now.

    For Sylphidia, the blizzard brought many boons to the city. Inns and taverns were brimming with guests, and the local marketces saw a surge in trade as stranded travelers sought warmth and provisions.

    The city''s artisans and merchants, known for their exquisite wind chimes and delicate fabrics, found new patrons among the resort''s usual clientele, now forced to explore the city''s lesser-known treasures.

    Despite the chaos brought by the storm, the residents of Sylphidia showed remarkable hospitality, embracing the influx of visitors with open arms��

    "Hey there, prettydy. Why don''t you join me for dinner?"

    "No, thanks."

    "Don''t be like that~ I just want to buy you a meal."

    "I already said no thanks. Don''t push your luck, kid."

    "Oh? A bit of a feisty one, eh? Haha! As expected, those wolf ears aren''t for show!"

    A vein bulged on Linnea''s forehead as she swept around and threw a punch at her pursuer. The man caught her fist but slid back a few centimeters. He took back his hand and looked at his palm, a bit surprised to feel it throbbing.

    "...And to think I thought of you as a mortal woman��" The bald man with a rough appearance looked up and stared at Linnea, who returned the gaze with furrowed brows.

    "I''m not in the mood for this nonsense. So, if you have nothing important to say, I''m leaving." She turned around and swiftly walked off, disappearing into the crowd.

    The bald man, Gavrel Mercer, a mercenary and traveler, scowled as he watched Linnea leave. He wanted to chase after her, but feeling the subtle gazes of those around him, he stopped himself.

    Normally, the city wouldn''t crack down on itsws. However, with the blizzard going on and things being busier than normal, any sort of chaos was swiftly dealt with. At best, he''d be tossed out, at worst, he''d be killed.

    Still, he licked his lips and walked in a slightly different direction. ''I will get my dinner date with you, woman!''

    Meanwhile, Linnea had already forgotten about the man. The number of times people have hit on her as she traveled was in the dozens. It couldn''t be helped. Right now, she was a cripple with no spiritual fluctuations. Because of this, most men thought she was an easy target.

    Although it was annoying, she also couldn''t deny that it was ttering. After spending years locked up and tortured, growing older and weaker, it felt good to know that she still had it in her. Not that she wanted to give Hana a step-father.

    ''...I doubt Mira would allow it, either.'' She thought bitterly.

    Pushing those thoughts aside, she walked into a tavern, only to see that it was packed full of people. Smirking slightly, she found an empty table and shouted, "A Mystic Malt, please!"

    "On it!" A cheery voice from across the room yelled back.

    Not even a few secondster, Linnea noticed a few men get up from their table and make their way over to hers.

    "Mind if we sit here?" The leader, a handsome blonde young man, asked with a polite smile.

    Linnea leaned forward and smiled, "Only if you pay the price."

    "Oh? What price?" The blonde man raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

    "Information."

    "What do you want to know?"

    Linnea curled her finger, signaling them to lean in closer before she whispered. "Do you know of�� any natural treasures that can help fix a broken dantian?"

    "..." The group recoiled a bit, not expecting a question like that before their expressions became contemtive.

    "What''s your budget?" Another one of the men asked.

    "Free."

    "...Huh?"

    Linnea chuckled at their confused faces, shaking her head. "Fufu~ Just kidding~ However, it''s true that I''m not looking to pay. If possible, I''d like to find an opportunity out in the blizzard."

    "The blizzard?!"

    "You?"

    "Why?"

    "That''s way too dangerous!"

    Linnea was a bit taken aback by their reactions, but she quickly calmed herself and replied, "Don''t you know how expensive products that can fix a broken dantian are? Not to mention, hardly any alchemist would create something like that to begin with. The demand is simply too low. That''s not even considering the fact that I''m a mortal woman.

    Even if I had all the ingredients, money, and connections, it''s still not guaranteed they''d make it for me."

    They thought about it for a moment and nodded.

    "That�� makes sense."

    "I''m sorry, but I don''t know any treasures like that."

    "Me neither."

    Linnea shrugged, tucking a strand of her silver hair behind her wolf ear. "Well, if you four could help me ask around, I''ll buy you all a round of beer."

    "Make it five, and you gotta deal!"

    "Fufu~ Alright~"

    One of the men, a spry youth with short brown hair, smacked his chest. "Leave it to me!" Then he ran off.

    The remaining three exchanged looks before nodding and dashing off.

    ''Looks like I still got it.'' Linnea chuckled to herself. Although it was a bit shameful to leverage her looks for cheap information, she wasn''t in a position to care about such things. As long as she could regain her strength and be with her daughter, nothing else mattered.

    A few secondster, a mug was ced in front of her, "Your Mystic Malt!"

    Linnea thanked the young woman, who had already run off and took a sip, waiting for her little errand boys to return.

 Chapter 938: Terrible Options; Newcomer

    Linnea took a deep sip of her Mystic Malt, savoring the unique blend of vors that danced on her tongue. The tavern buzzed with the chatter andughter of its patrons, creating a warm atmosphere despite the raging blizzard outside. Her gaze wandered over the crowded room, observing the various characters that sought refuge in the cozy establishment.

    She couldn''t help but smile. Despite her situation, this ce had a certain charm�Csomething she hadn''t enjoyed in a long time.

    The door to the tavern swung open, letting in a gust of cold air and a few more patrons seeking shelter.

    Among them, Linnea''s keen eyes spotted a familiar figure �C the spry youth with short brown hair who had eagerly volunteered to gather information for her. He made his way through the crowd, his expression a mix of excitement and nervousness.

    "Hey, I''m back!" he eximed, approaching Linnea''s table with a noticeable bounce in his step. "You won''t believe what I found out!"

    Linnea raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Do tell."

    The youth leaned in, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "There''s a legend about a cave hidden deep within the blizzard. It''s said to be the resting ce of an ancient beast, and inside, there''s a pool filled with water that can heal any ailment, even a broken dantian!"

    Linnea''s interest was piqued. "A healing pool, you say? And how reliable is this legend?"

    The young man shrugged. "Legends are always a gamble, but the source seemed confident, albeit a bit skeptical. He''s an old explorer who''s been around. Plus, with the blizzard, it might just be the perfect time to check it out. Fewerpetitors."

    Linnea pondered the information. The risk was significant, but the potential reward was too enticing to ignore. As long as it was true. "Alright, I''ll consider it. Did the others find out anything?"

    Just as the youth was about to answer, the other men returned to the table, each wearing a mix of excitement and disappointment. They shared what they had learned �C tales of hidden treasures, secret locations, and mystical artifacts, but none as promising as the healing pool.

    As Linnea listened, she weighed her options. The healing pool seemed like her best bet, but she knew that venturing into the blizzard, especially to an unknown location, was fraught with danger. Yet, the chance to repair her dantian and regain her strength was too crucial to pass up.

    Seeing the somewhat disappointed look on her face, the blonde youth racked his brain for anything that might be of assistance. "Ah!" His eyes widened. "I know you said this option was off the table, but I hear there''s an alchemist apprentice in town. If you can gain his favor, perhaps his Master could make a pill for you!

    Though, I doubt you''ll be receiving anything within the next year if you go this route."

    "Why?" As much of a longshot as this one was, having a Heaven or Mystic Grade Alchemist create a pill for her was the most reliable way to heal her dantian. Unfortunately, her talent would most likely be diminished if she went this route��

    "I''m not sure who his Master is, but most of those old Alchemy gurus are associated with a prominent Sect. They''re busy dealing with that. Your request would most likely be pushed to the very end after he''s alreadypleted everything else."

    "Tch. Might as well say they''ll never get around to it." Linnea clicked her tongue, causing the youths to smile wryly.

    That''s just how things worked.

    "Well, boys, thanks for the information. I''ll be hanging out in this city for a while longer. If you find anything else, be sure toe to me first. " Linnea smiled and winked before waving her hand. "A round of drinks, please!"

    "On it!" A reply came.

    The youths beamed and sat down at her table. The group then began chatting, telling stories of their adventures, their backgrounds, and all sorts of casual topics. Soon, drinks came, and they started getting a bit louder. However, none of them made a move on Linnea.

    ''...I guess they just wanted to hang out with a beautiful woman.'' She thought, somewhat narcissistically. ''Not that I me them. Most of the people here are either cowards, weaklings, or scary-looking men.''

    Whether it was due to the booze or the atmosphere, she found herself rxing, perhaps a bit more than she had originally nned.

    As the night wore on, the tavern''s atmosphere grew even more convivial, with patrons singing and sharing stories. Linnea, while mostly a listener, asionally contributed her own anecdotes, careful not to reveal too much about herself. She noticed how her stories, even the most mundane, captivated her young audience, their eyes wide with wonder and admiration.

    The blonde youth, who seemed to be the unofficial leader of the group, raised his ss in a toast. "To Linnea, the most intriguing and mysteriousdy we''ve had the pleasure of meeting this year!" he dered, and the others cheered in agreement.

    Linnea smiled, clinking her ss with theirs. "To new friends and new adventures," she replied, feeling a warmth that wasn''t just from the alcohol.

    As the night progressed, Linnea''s mind began to drift toward her goal. The legend of the healing pool lingered in her thoughts. ''...I know Elenei gave me that Spatial Ring, but�� it''s really too dangerous for me to wander in this blizzard alone, with hardly any Qi in my body.''

    Even with the items Elenei had given her, she nearly froze to death just making it to this city. Needless to say, an adventure to find some random healing pool that''s rumored to be guarded by a strong beast wasn''t all that appealing.

    Just then, amotion at the tavern''s entrance caught everyone''s attention. A group of rough-looking individuals stumbled in, their eyes scanning the room with a predatory gaze. The atmosphere shifted, the previous merriment dampened by the neers'' imposing presence.

    The leader of the group, a burly man with a scarred face, locked eyes with Linnea. "Well, well, what do we have here? A gathering of weaklings and a pretty face," he sneered, approaching her table.

    Linnea''spanions tensed, their expressions turning wary. The blonde youth stood up, attempting to defuse the situation. "We''re just enjoying our evening. There''s no need for trouble," he said, his voice steady but his bodynguage betraying his nervousness. It was clear he knew the man.

    The scarred manughed, his gaze never leaving Linnea. "I decide what''s needed, boy. And what I need is a bit of entertainment. How about you, miss? Care to join me for a drink?"

    Linnea met his gaze calmly. "I''m quite content here, thank you," she replied, her voiceced with an icy politeness.

    The man''s smile widened, but his eyes hardened. "Don''t be like that. I insist."

    Before the situation could escte further, a loud voice cut through the tension. "That''s enough, Grax!" The tavern owner, a stout man with amanding presence, stood at the bar, his eyes fixed on the troublemakers. "I won''t have you harassing my patrons! Either sit down and behave or get out. I don''t have time for your nonsense!"

    Grax, the scarred man, weighed his options, his gaze shifting between Linnea and the tavern owner. With a grunt, he signaled his group to back off. "I''ll find youter," he muttered, taking a seat at a nearby table.

    Suddenly, just as he sat down, Grax paused, his eyes bing empty.

    "...Boss? What''re you doing?"

    "Yeah, sit down! Drinks are on us!"

    Before anyone could react, the man was sliced into a million pieces, to the point where even his blood just evaporated midair, not even touching the floor.

    "..."

    The entire tavern quieted down, with only the howls of the wind echoing in the background. That''s when a group of neers entered the building. One was a green-haired, above-average beauty with a saber hanging by her side. The other was an almost divinely beautiful blonde woman carrying a little red fox.

    The two hardly paid attention to the atmosphere as they strolled into the tavern as if they owned the ce, talking amongst themselves.

    "Geez~ Cine~ You''re beginning to act too much like Mira~!"

    "Hmph! If it were that crazy witch, this whole ce would''ve been destroyed. At least I kept it contained to a single person."

    "Well�� you''re not wrong, but�� Ahem! Anyways, we''re not-" The golden-haired, golden-eyed beauty turned in Linnea''s direction, and for a moment, she felt as though she was entirely seen through.

    The hairs on her skin crawled as she reflexively crossed her arms and shivered, but it was no use.

    "You look like the spitting image of a little girl I know."

    Before anyone, except for a few people, could react, Maria and Cine had appeared before Linnea, though thetter was eyeing Grax''spanions, ready to have their bodies be one with the blizzard.

    "Are you rted to Hana?"

    "HUH?!"

 Chapter 939: Breaking Through the Blizzard

    Linnea''s heart skipped a beat at the mention of her daughter''s name. Her protective instincts kicked in, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized the two women standing before her. "Who are you, and how do you know my daughter?" she demanded.

    Maria smiled warmly, her eyes softening as she spoke. "I''m Maria, and this is Cine. We''re... let''s just say we''re acquaintances of Hana."

    Linnea''s tension eased slightly, but she remained vignt. "Acquaintances, huh? And what brings you to Sylphidia, especially during such a storm?"

    Cine, who had been observing the remnants of Grax''s group with a bored expression, turned her attention to Linnea. "We''re on a bit of a mission, you could say. In fact, I''d say we just got one step closer to our goal."

    The tavern''s tense atmosphere shifted as the patrons tried to return to their conversations, albeit with frequent nces toward the group.

    Linnea assessed Maria and Cine, trying to gauge their intentions. Maria looked kind and trustworthy, but she wasn''t sure about Cine. That green-haired woman reminded her of a certain fox��

    "...You said something about Mira when you walked in. Do you know her?" Linnea asked, staring into their eyes.

    Maria nodded. "We''re actually looking for her."

    Linnea''s eyes narrowed as she became alert. She didn''t care about Mira, as that woman was like an unkible cockroach, but her daughter was with her! If these people had ill intentions��

    "...And what would you do once you found her?"

    "Well��" A light blush crept up on Maria''s face. "It''s a bit embarrassing to say it in public, but�� She is my f-fiancee, so I suppose we''d talk?"

    "..."

    Linnea''s eyes slowly widened as she looked at the beautiful woman in front of her. Her brain short-circuited for a moment, wondering if she heard her correctly. "...I''m sorry. I don''t think I heard you properly. Can you repeat that?"

    "Mmhm~ I''m Mira''s fiancee!" Maria then showed off her ring. "See?"

    "...WHAT?!"

    Linnea''s mind was reeling. Mira''s fiancee? The very thought seemed ludicrous, yet the sincerity in Maria''s eyes and the ring on her finger told a different story. She shook her head, trying to clear the shock. "Well, that''s... quite the revtion.

    But why are you looking for her here?"

    Maria''s expression grew slightly somber. "We''ve been separated due to... certain circumstances. I''ve been trying to locate her to�� well�� I guess you could say discuss our differences." Her face darkened for a moment, frightening Linnea and the men at the table, before she returned to normal. "And perhaps, to bring her back with me. Or join her.

    I''m not really sure yet." She smiled lightly.

    ***

    On the other side of the continent, the two that they were talking about had run into a little issue.

    Wherever they were going, the blizzard had suddenly worsened.

    Mira wore an annoyed expression as she trudged through the deepening snow, her eyes scanning the ever-whiteningndscape. Arge pair of [Paragon Wings] extended from her back, protecting them from the icy chill, but as the wind picked up, she grimaced.

    "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Mira jumped up in the air, attempting to take flight, only for the wind to drag her along its course, pulling her back to the ground. "Just let me fly!"

    Left with no other choice, she could only make her way through the blizzard on foot, which was nothing more than a huge waste of time.

    Hiding on her back, Hana spoke into Mira''s ear, "Look on the bright side! Maybe we''re close to something amazing, and that''s why the storm''s worse!"

    "As if! I''d rather eat dog shit than believe my luck would be so good!"

    "..."

    The blizzard''s fury intensified, its howling winds morphing into ferocious roars as if mythical beasts were unleashed upon Mira and Hana. The air grew darker, the day seemingly turning into night, as ominous clouds swirled above them.

    Mira grunted and pushed forward, her body leaning into the biting wind. "This is ridiculous," she growled, her voice barely audible over the storm''s rage.

    Hana, clinging tightly to Mira''s back, peeked out, her eyes wide with both fear and awe. "It''s like the storm is alive!"

    Suddenly, the air crackled with electricity, bolts of lightning zigzagging across the sky, striking the ground with fierce intensity. Mira felt the electric charge build around her, the hair on her neck standing on end.

    "Damn it!" she cursed as a bolt of lightning struck nearby, sending a wave of energy through her body. She gritted her teeth, focusing her power to create a protective barrier around herself and Hana, shielding them from the storm''s wrath.

    But the blizzard had more tricks up its sleeve. The ground beneath them shuddered, the snow-covered surface cracking open to reveal gaping crevasses that plunged into the abyss. Mira''s eyes narrowed as she navigated the treacherous terrain, her every step measured and precise.

    With every step, it seemed to worsen, and for a moment, Mira wondered if it was even worth continuing. ''I don''t know what''s ahead. It could very well be nothing, and we just happened to run into a bad part of the storm.''

    Still, Hana''s previous words echoed in her mind. ''But�� there''s also the possibility of running into something. Hell, even if I turn around, who''s to guarantee that things won''t get worse?''

    She shook her head and continued to move forward. ''Might as well just keep moving. At some point, I''ll reach the other side!''

    For what seemed like hours, she trudged through the deepening snow, looking like a moving snowman. Hana, even with Mira''s protection, was basically an ice cube at the moment. The only thing keeping her from getting frostbite and dying was Mira''s Qi running through her body, forcefully keeping her alive.

    Mira wasn''t entirely sure how the blizzard was prating her defenses, but from what she could gather, it wasn''t doing so forcefully. Even if the wind was ten times stronger and faster, it still shouldn''t be able to pierce through her Qi.

    She could only conclude that it had some unique properties that allowed it to ignore defenses.

    Just when she thought things couldn''t get worse, she collided with an invisible force. Stumbling back, she scowled, extending her hand to touch the ''wall'' before her. It rippled under her touch, a wall of energy that seemed imprable.

    "A barrier?" Mira''s mind raced, her eyes scanning the surroundings for any clue to its origin. With a determined grunt, she summoned her scythe and pumped destruction Qi into it.

    She swung with all her might, her scythe tearing through the barrier, creating a tear that shimmered like water. Without a second thought, she leaped through the opening, Hana clinging to her as they braced for whaty beyond.

    As they emerged on the other side, an intense light flooded their vision, momentarily blinding them. As their eyes adjusted, the sounds of battle filled their ears, the sh of weapons and the shouts ofbatants echoing through the air.

    Before them, a scene of chaos unfolded. Monks d in white robes fought fiercely against people from various Sects. In the background, a majestic castle extended into the sky.

    ''Hmm?'' She ignored the battle ahead and looked around, no longer feeling an intense wind or cold piercing her. The reason for that was clear at a nce. ''No more blizzard?''

    Although the sky was still covered in dark, menacing clouds, that''s it. There was no snow, ice, or anything like that falling to the ground.

    "Mira! We''re free!" Hana shouted and was about to jump out of her tails, but Mira stopped her.

    "Not yet. We still have to deal with that." She pointed to the battlefield ahead. Her eyes twitched as she heard the monk''s voices, constantly screaming about their ''Lord''.

    ''Looks like the graveyard will gain a few more additions.''

    Hana''s expression turned weird seeing them, feeling a bitplicated. "...How''d they get here so fast?"

    "...I was wondering the same thing. Maybe the ones we faced were just the stragglers?"

    "...Maybe."

    "Anyways, let''s get this over with and check out that castle!" Mira eximed as she jumped into the sky, pping her [Paragon Wings]. Filling them up with Qi, weaving them together with her creation ability, she dashed above the battlefield.

    ''Since none of them are my allies,'' Her wings pped, sending hundreds of icy feathers crashing toward the ground. ''I don''t need to be careful.''

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    ��

    ..

    .

    As the icy feathers plummeted toward the earth, each impact resonated like thunder, sending shockwaves across the battlefield. Thebatants, both monks and sect members, were caught off guard, their battle cries turning into shouts of rm and pain as they were sted apart.

    Mira descended from the sky with an icy cold expression. Her [Paragon Wings] folded behind her, and shended gracefully in the center of it all, her presence alonemanding attention.

    "Who dares interrupt our sacred battle?!" bellowed a monk d in white, his eyes zing with fury as he confronted Mira.

    Mira''s gaze swept over the scene, her lips curling into a smirk. A ck sticky goo coagted around her scythe as her [Death Dominion] spread out. With a sweeping motion, the ck goo extended into a thin line and cut the monk who dared to yell at her in half.

    "You hairless apes really know how to piss me off, huh?"

 Chapter 940: Kaius

    "Oh? It''s been a while since I''ve had a visitor." A man leaning rxedly on arge, ornate ice throne said, a slight smile ying on his lips. His long, silver hair flowed down his shoulders as his icy blue gaze lowered on the man who entered His hall.

    "3230 years, to be exact." A bald monk wearing blue robes with a ck eight-trigram design on the back stared up at the man, his face bing increasingly serious.

    "Was it that long?" The man on the throne chuckled. "Ah~ Now I remember."

    He turned his head, and on a pir embedded in the walls of the castle was a bald head that looked strikingly simr to the monk before him. The look of utter despair was still etched on its face, forever captured.

    "There was that little guy who suddenly barged in here, iming I had his Holy Relic." He shook his head, still chuckling at the audacity of that little monk. "And to think I used to respect monks. Ahh~ How the mighty have fallen."

    Peering down the man beneath him, he leaned in as if to gaze through his soul and asked, "...You wouldn''t happen to be here for the same reason, right?"

    "..."

    Seeing the stiff expression on the monk''s face, the man''s smile widened as he leaned back on his throne. "While I appreciate your devotion to your cause, unfortunately-"

    He snapped his fingers, revealing countless other heads that were embedded in the walls, all with simr expressions. "-I''m running out of space."

    "...Truly the Frozen Halls. It''s like looking at different points in time, forever immortalized. How terrifying."

    "ttery will get you nowhere, little monk~"

    The monk ignored his snarky remark and continued looking around under the eyes of the owner. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that the man on the throne wasn''t attacking, just waiting with that same perpetual smile. ''So, the records are true. He won''t make a move so long as we''re not hostile.''

    However, he felt very ufortable under that gaze. It looked as if there was no emotion behind it, but really, he was looking at him as if he were a circus monkey about to dance��and for good reason.

    Everyone who entered these halls, regardless of their background, age, strength, or gender, came with the purpose of challenging him. Whether it was for prestige, his treasures, his head, or to be immortalized in his castle. At the end of the day, they sought battle.

    That is if they could even reach him. Most never made it this far, merely ending up as fuel for his castle. However, even the ''lucky few'' who passed were always nothing but slightlyrger ants in his eyes.

    The monk''s eyes shed as he finished looking around the interior, not finding anything particrly interesting other than the head, and returned his gaze back to the owner.

    Cupping his fists with a slight bow, he said, "This one''s name is Jinlong Zushi, the grand disciple of Tianxing Zushi, the man whose head you showed."

    "Jinlong�� Tianxing�� You monks always have ambitious names. To be honest, you look more like a Paul with that shiny bald head of yours." The man on the throne nodded a few times. "Mmhm~ I''llbel you as Paul when you join your Grandmaster. Paul, the thousandth generation of men who wished they could grow hair. Sounds good, rolls off the tongue."

    "..." A vein bulged on Jinlong''s forehead, but forcibly calming himself down, he bowed once again and asked, "...I''d like to ask you a few questions if you don''t mind."

    "Oh?" The man raised an eyebrow. "What''d you like to know?"

    The monk took a deep breath, steeling himself, then asked, "...You''re sealed in this castle, correct?"

    "Unfortunately~"

    "That means you can''t leave, right?"

    "Well�� That''s technically correct, but who knows? Maybe I''ve already escaped, and what you''re seeing right now is a clone~! Haha!"

    Jinlong didn''t like the sound of that, but he kept hisposure.

    "And I can leave anytime I want?"

    "The door''s right there~ But it''d be a shame not to put you on the wall of shame, Paul."

    "...Do you know who put you in here?"

    "Certainly not a baldy~!"

    "..." Jinlong sighed, feeling a surge of irritation bubbling within him, but circting his cultivation allowed him to keep his cool.

    "I''m guessing those Central Continent hermits did it��"

    "Again, you''re not technically wrong, but�� I did make a bit of a mess out of things when I was younger. I bet a few of those guys were involved in sealing me."

    Jinlong, once again, didn''t like the sound of that, but what could he do?

    His eyes narrowed as he digested the man''s responses, a mixture of jokes and indifference that made it hard to gauge his true intentions. "If you don''t mind my asking, what''s your name?" he asked cautiously. No matter how many times they''ve raided these Halls, none who have faced this man returned alive.

    Thus, his name was still a mystery to the world.

    The man on the throne tilted his head slightly, the hint of a smirk ying at the corner of his mouth. "Name? Hmmm�� Sure. You can call me Kaius."

    "Kaius��" Jinlong repeated, the name rolling off his tongue as hemitted it to memory. "I see. I''ll be sure to remember it."

    "Oh? Is it finally time for the show to start?" Kaius sat up on his throne with a hint of expectation. It''d been a while since he was entertained, after all!

    Jinlong didn''t say anything and simply turned around and walked toward the entrance of the massive hall. Kaius grew confused, not expecting the monkey this time around to go with such a strategy. However, he didn''t make any moves and continued watching.

    As he walked, a set of gold prayer beads appeared in Jinlong''s hands. ''Ancestor''s, give me strength.'' He whispered to himself, the beads lighting up almost as if to respond to him.

    ''I won''t let your sacrifices go in vain!''

    Giving a silent prayer, he made his way outside the Hall, where he finally turned around and stared at Kaius. After a moment of deliberation, he opened his mouth, his voice echoing off the walls. "Do you want to know why we haven''t visited you in these past 3,000 years? When we used to send people here every decade?"

    "Enlighten me~"

    Raising the prayer beads in the air, Jinlong shouted, "Ancestral Trigram Soul Array!"

    The prayer beads hummed and split apart, with each orb heading straight for certain heads in the walls. As if there wasn''t a barrier between them, the prayer beads melded into the heads of his Ancestors, shining brightly.

    Doing a few hand signals, Jinlong''s eyes narrowed as he concentrated deeply. The prayer beads began to emit a brilliant light, resonating with the ancient and powerful souls within the walls of the Frozen Halls. Each bead, now infused with the essence of his ancestors, created a connection, forming an intricatework of energy that enveloped the entire hall.

    Kaius, observing from his throne, raised an eyebrow in genuine interest. It had been millennia since anyone had posed a real challenge or disyed such a unique technique in his presence. "Impressive," he murmured, his voiceced with a hint of excitement he hadn''t felt in a long time.

    Jinlong chanted in an ancient dialect, his voice echoing through the vast chamber. The energywork thumped, and the ancestral spirits began to stir, their ethereal forms materializing and intertwining with the glowing beads. The air crackled with power, the temperature dropping even further as the ritual reached its climax.

    "Ancestors of the Trigram Sect, heed my call and lend me your strength!" Jinlong''s voice boomed, his figure surrounded by a swirling vortex of spectral energy. The glowing heads embedded in the walls seemed to respond, their once-frozen expressions shifting from despair to determination.

    Kaius leaned forward, his icy blue gaze locked on the spectacle before him. "So, this is the power of baldies... Fascinating." Despite his nonchnt demeanor, there was a spark of anticipation in his eyes.

    Jinlong''s body lifted off the ground, buoyed by the surging energy. "With the power of my ancestors and the sacred Trigram technique, I will snatch your body and soul! You will be merely fertilizer for the birth of our Lord!" He extended his arms, directing the amassed energy toward the ice throne.

    Kaius stood up with his arms wide open and arge smile stered on his face. "You think you''re the first to try, little monk? If you can, by all means, take my head! Hahahaha!"

    BOOOOM!

    ***

    An enormous explosion shook the area around the majestic castle, sending ripples through the earth. Unfortunately, only one person was around to witness the blizzard being pushed back by the shockwaves'' sheer might.

    Mira turned toward the castle in the distance, her expression solemn. ''Looks like something interesting''s going in there.'' She stomped through streams of blood and guts, surrounded by dead enemies, as she made her way toward the source of the explosion.

 Chapter 941: Giant

    Shoving the giant castle doors open, Mira into a long hall with pirs of ice running down it. Icy statues of people mid-run littered the floor. As soon as her foot touched the tile, she understood why. A stream of Ice Qi forced its way into her meridians, attempting to freeze her from the inside out.

    However, with her affinity, unique meridians, and constitution, it was more like fuel for her than anything else. She could feel her cultivation rising by the second, slowly but surely.

    ''And to think those guys said it was dangerous.'' She shook and walked forward, ignoring everything around her��at least, that''s how she would normally be��until she spotted a glimmer around the corpse''s fingers.

    ''Spatial Rings?'' Revealing a greedy smile, she yanked off a statue''s arm and tossed it into her Storage Space, allowing it to sort everything out.

    Seeing the hundreds, if not thousands, of victims in this hall, Mira''s smile widened as she practically skipped to each body, looting them dry.

    ''Loot without work? Am I dreaming?''

    As Mira continued her gleeful plundering, the vibrations from the distant explosions grew more intense, hinting at the colossal battle unfolding deeper within the castle. Yet, her focus remained on the treasure troveid out before her.

    "Who would have thought this ce would be a goldmine right off the bat?" she mused aloud, her voice echoing slightly in the vast, chilling hall.

    A few minutester, Mira left behind a small army of armless icy corpses, reaching the giant doors to the next room.

    Mira pushed open the doors, stepping into a room that seemed to have borne the brunt of a ferocious battle. The remnants of what might have been borate traps or intricate puzzles were scattered all over, reduced to rubble and ice shards. It was evident that someone or something had cleared the path with brute force.

    "Looks like someone''s done all the hard work for me," Mira chuckled to herself, her eyes scanning the room for any overlooked treasures.

    Despite the destruction, she spotted a few intact objects amid the debris��a shattered chest with a glowing orb peering out, a half-burnt rug that seemed to shimmer with runes, and a cracked ice sculpture that pulsated with a mysterious energy.

    Mira wasted no time. She approached the shattered chest first, plucking the orb from its broken confines. It was warm to the touch, pulsating with a vibrant energy that seemed to resonate with her own Qi. "Not bad for starters," she mused, tucking the orb into her Storage Space.

    Next, she turned her attention to the tapestry. Though damaged, the fabric''s enchantment was still active, faint runes glowing along its edges. With a careful touch, Mira unraveled the rug, revealing an intricate design on its surface. "This will fetch a pretty price," she thought, folding it carefully to preserve its remaining magic.

    Thest item, the cracked ice sculpture, intrigued her the most. Its core emitted a soft, pulsating glow, indicating that it was more than just a piece of art. Mira reached out, her fingers brushing against the ice, and felt a surge of cold energy rush into her. The sculpture wasn''t just infused with energy; it was a container, a reservoir of condensed Ice Qi.

    With a grin, Mira absorbed the energy from the sculpture, feeling her own power swell. "Not that useful to me, but certainly interesting," she muttered.

    Satisfied with her loot, Mira advanced to the next set of doors, her steps echoing in the silent, frost-covered chamber. The battle noises from ahead were growing louder, the air vibrating with the intensity of the confrontation.

    As she entered the next room, she found it simrly ravaged. The remnants of what might have been deadly ice constructsy shattered on the ground, their once formidable forms now reduced to mere fragments. It was clear that the intruder ahead of her was not only powerful but also relentless.

    Mira navigated through the debris, her eyes sharp for any hidden treasures. Amidst the remains, she discovered a small, unassuming box tucked away in a corner. Its in exterior belied the potent aura emanating from within.

    With a flick of her wrist, Mira opened the box, revealing a set of delicate, ice-encrusted earrings.

    Pocketing them, Mira continued her journey, each step taking her closer to the heart of the castle and the epicenter of the battle.

    ***

    Back in the Throne Room of the castle.

    The entire room was a mess, albeit not nearly as much as one might think. The walls and floor bore the scars of battle, but that was it. No signs ofrge-scale destruction. There was hardly any damage, to begin with, merely looking as if a few mortals had scraped the walls identally.

    Normally, such a thing was impossible. The two of them were strong enough to split mountains, how could a measly castle withstand their battle? Much less when Jinlong unleashed a secret technique worth thousands of years of nning.

    ''As I thought.'' Jinlong slowly nodded. ''The ce sealing this monster couldn''t be normal. But this is good.''

    Things would''ve gotten out of hand if this castle couldn''t withstand their battle.

    ''I''ll be taking this back with me once I take care of this old bastard.'' He looked ahead at Kaius, or rather, where he was supposed to be.

    The heads along the wall that received his prayer beads were raining down all sorts of elemental attacks onto the throne. Meanwhile, lines began to form between them,pleting the array.

    "...Is this all you got?" Azy voice sounded from within the attack. "Seems to me a thousand years has been wasted~"

    Jinlong sneered, "Just sit tight, ''Your Majesty''. I''ll show you something interesting soon."

    "Oh? Well, by all means!"

    The lighthearted voice replied, and Jinlong could imagine him sinking into his throne with a contented smile.

    Just that thought had him gnashing his teeth in frustration at how disgustingly powerful this man was, but he already knew this. Kaius was rumored to be in the Ascension Realm, after all. If a few attacks from deceased Divine Sea Realm masters could kill him, then he wouldn''t be worth so much nning!

    ''...But this time, your arrogance will be your downfall!'' He shouted internally, connecting his mind to the array. The lines creating the formation sped up, with all of them linking up inplex patterns.

    Before long, those translucent white lines connected to him, and quickly, he felt his power increase. However, the technique wasn''t over!

    ''Lastly, I have to sacrifice my cultivation!''

    Jinlong steeled himself for the final step, the culmination of thousands of years of nning and sacrifice. His hands formed intricate seals, and he began to chant in an ancient dialect.

    "As the descendant of the Heavenly Creation Order, I offer my cultivation as the final key!" Jinlong''s voice echoed through the throne room, filled with a solemn resolve.

    The lines of the array brightened, converging on him, drawing out his cultivation energy and channeling it into the formation. The process was excruciating as if his very soul was being extracted, yet Jinlong remained steadfast, his eyes locked on Kaius, who watched with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

    "You''re more entertaining than I anticipated, monk," Kaius remarked, his tone light but his eyes sharp.

    "ARRGH!"

    The crackling of bones and tearing of muscles resounded as Jinlong''s body turned into a husk of his former self. However, just as it seemed he was about to die, the prayer-bead heads burst out of the walls and hovered over their rightful spot on the array.

    Qi then began to surge around Jinlong''s body as he sucked in all the energy in the surrounding area.

    His dried and cracked body began to twist, turn, and erge, taking in this vast amount of energy. He expanded, going from the height of a normal person to 2 meters�� 3 meters��

    4 meters��

    5 meters��

    10 meters��

    Until his head almost reached the ceiling at 25 meters, arms sprouted out of this titan, adding another 3 pairs. His head then began to warp as another 7 faces appeared, each one looking oddly simr to the seven strongest heads embedded in the wall. The elements revolved around these new limbs, each one controlling something different.

    An Eight Trigrams Array etched itself on the Titan''s back before its cultivation shot up. It went straight to the Divine Sea Realm and showed no signs of stopping.

    1st Stage

    2nd Stage

    3rd Stage

    ��

    9th Stage

    Half-Step Ascension Realm!

    ""FOR THE LORD!""

    The titan''s eight voices thundered, shaking a portion of the Continent. It brought down its massive foot on top of the throne, attempting to squash Kaius like a little bug!

    ""Face the wrath of thousands of years of resentment, you cur!""

    For the first time in�� a really long time, Kaius''s expression shifted to something other than yful�Cit became strange. As if he wasn''t sure what he was looking at.

    ''...What kind of technique is this?'' He shed out of his throne right before the giant foot came crashing down, crushing his seat into a million pieces.

 Chapter 942: Wrath

    Kaius, now on his feet, looked up at the towering titan that Jinlong had be. The transformation was beyond anything he had anticipated, and for a moment, a flicker of uncertainty crossed his face. But just as quickly, it vanished, reced by a smirk.

    "Well, this is certainly new," Kaius remarked, his voice echoing in the vast chamber. "But do you really think size and power alone can overwhelm me?"

    The titan, with Jinlong''s consciousness at its core, responded not with words but with a surge of elemental fury. Each of its eight arms moved in unison, conjuring a storm of fire, ice, wind, and earth, all aimed directly at Kaius.

    BOOOOOM!

    The floor beneath them exploded bits as a beam of power tunneled through the ground. Kaius jumped to the side, frowning. He tried to dash forward, but the sounds of chains clinking resounded in the room, forcing him to stop.

    ''Tch. Damn seals.'' He inwardly cursed, almost forgetting about all the seals on his body and throughout the room.

    Suddenly, he sensed danger and looked up, only to see a giant ming sword descending on him. The heat radiating from it started melting the walls, and the power behind it caused the castle to quake.

    "Haaa�� I think it''s time for you to cool off." He breathed out a gust of air, extinguishing the mes.

    Then, as if he were drawing a sword, he ced a hand by his hips and shed. Although nothing was in his hand, a ripple passed through the air, cutting through space. A thin line of blood formed on the titan''s shin before that foot fell to the ground with a thud. However, the attack didn''t stop there.

    The walls and pirs on that side of the caste were all bisected.

    ***

    "Shit!" Mira sensed immense danger and dove to the ground. The instant her stomach touched the ground, an invisible wave passed through, cutting off the tips of her tails.

    "What the fuck is going on?!" She couldn''t help but shout, wondering if it was a mistake to head further inside the castle.

    ***

    Mira wasn''t the only one who faced such a devastating attack. Everything behind her, whether it be the blizzard, cities, people, mountains, or anything else, was all bisected. Nobody was safe, and nobody could stop it.

    For hundreds of kilometers, the attack continued until it eventually fizzled out of existence, leaving the survivors wondering why the people next to them were suddenly cut in two.

    Meanwhile, the perpetrator of it all was breathing heavily with sweat beading up on his luscious hair.

    ''Haah�� Tsk! To think an attack of this level takes so much out of me.'' Kaius cursed, and for the first time in a while, he truly wished he wasn''t sealed in this ce.

    Normally, days were boring anyway for someone as strong as him, regardless of where he was. There wasn''t much of a difference between sitting in a castle, sealed, and sitting in a cave, cultivating.

    Rather, it could be said that sitting in a castle, sealed and interacting with interesting opponents every decade was more interesting and enjoyable than cultivating in hopes of making a bit of progress in the next thousand years.

    Now that he finally faced a worthy opponent, he couldn''t even use a fraction of his power. How could he not be a bit frustrated?

    With all the seals ced on him, he couldn''t use Qi, couldn''t wield any weapons, his physical strength was limited, and any external means were prohibited. Not even Weapon Endowments could be used.

    That attack just now was something he created out of sheer force of will, using his soul as a catalyst. Unfortunately, even that was limited, so to create an attack of that level, he had to force himself a bit.

    Kaius, panting slightly, locked his icy gaze back on the titan, which was now regenerating its lost limb with a swirl of elemental energy. The titan seemed undeterred as, within seconds, it regrew another leg, its eight faces contorting into expressions of fury and determination.

    "You''re resilient, I''ll give you that," Kaius said, his voiceced with a mix of respect and annoyance. "But this is far from over."

    The multi-faced being grunted, "You''re right."

    "This is just the beginning."

    "You''ve holed us in this ce for too long!"

    "What haven''t we ounted for?"

    "Do your best to struggle."

    The different faces spoke in disdain as they coordinated their next attack.

    The titan raised its multiple arms, each one glowing with a different elemental power. With a thunderous roar, it unleashed a barrage of attacks, sending waves of fire, ice, wind, and earth hurtling toward Kaius.

    Kaius, despite his limitations, moved with elegance and precision through the immense power. He weaved through the onught, each movement calcted to conserve energy while avoiding the deadly barrage.

    As the attacks converged on him, Kaius closed his eyes, focusing his will. He reached deep within, tapping into the very essence of his being. When he opened his eyes, they glowed with a deep, otherworldly light.

    With a sudden burst of speed, Kaius closed the distance between himself and the titan. He extended his hand, and despite the absence of a physical weapon, the air around his palm shimmered, forming a de of pure, condensed willpower.

    The titan, sensing the imminent threat, tried to retaliate, but Kaius was too fast. With a graceful arc, he shed at the titan, the de of will cutting through the elemental energies as if they were mere smoke.

    A deep gash appeared across the titan''s chest, causing it to stagger backward. The elemental energies around its arms flickered and dimmed, the connection to Jinlong''s will momentarily disrupted.

    However, just then, a hand descended from above and smacked into Kaius, sending him crashing into the wall.

    "Ugh!" He grunted, peeling himself off the icy wall, and hurriedly dodged as a rain of punches descended on his position. That''s when a kick suddenly found its mark, sending him tumbling to the ground.

    ''This guy��! Ugh! What the hell is this technique?! Why is he so strong?'' Kaius grumbled. The being before him seemed like an impossible existence, something that shouldn''t exist in this world.

    Not just its strength, but the fact that it could wield all the elements so freely, on top ofprising of several different souls�� There was simply no way there weren''t drawbacks.

    ''There''s no way he can sustain this state forever. He must be trying to end this quickly without caring about the injuries.'' If he had to guess, Jinlong wouldn''tst long after the duration ended.

    Normally, such things were easy to deal with. He could simply run away and let the attacker waste his life giving chase. However, he couldn''t leave the castle. In fact, even if it were destroyed, he still wouldn''t be able to leave. He was stuck here.

    ''...I can only dodge so many attacks.''

    Just then, his eyes widened when he sensed his opponent wasn''t attacking him any longer. Instead, it was looking at the ceiling. In its arms were eight swords made of different elements. Pointing them toward a central point, massive amounts of Qi flowed as an iridescent de formed before it.

    Raising its arms, the titan shed! The iridescent sword cleaved through the walls, quickly separating the roof from the rest of the building. With a punch, he tossed it away, allowing the sun to shine on them as swirls of clouds, ice, and snow revolved around them.

    Dissipating its weapons, the titan raised its arms to the sky.

    Boom! Crackle! Tsss! Roar!

    Clouds of elements thundered above, congregating into a singr point before the titan clenched its fists.

    ""Taste the wrath of the Heavens!""

    Momentarily stunned by the titan''s audacity, Kaius quickly regained hisposure. He understood the gravity of the situation; if that attack descended, it would not only severely injure him but alsoy waste to the entire castle and its surroundings.

    He might be sealed now, but he still wasn''t ready for death!

    "Bold, I must admit," Kaius said, his voice steady despite the impending doom. "But let''s see if you can control such power without destroying yourself in the process."

    The titan''s multiple faces grinned, a mix of malice and anticipation evident in their expressions. ""Control? Who said anything about control?"" it boomed, its voices merging into a cacophonous echo. ""This is about unleashing everything, about the end of our confinement!""

    With a final, thunderous roar, the titan mmed its fists together, and the amassed elemental storm above surged downward, a cataclysmic beam aimed straight at Kaius.

    Kaius''s eyes narrowed as he focused his will to its utmost limit. With a fierce cry, he unleashed his soul''s de, a beam of pure, concentrated willpower shooting upwards to meet the descending apocalypse.

    The collision was monumental, an explosion of light and energy that shook the very foundations of the world. The castle groaned and cracked, unable to withstand the sheer force of the sh. Around them, thendscape was torn asunder, the ground ripping up and the blizzard dissipating into nothing.

    Inside the castle, Mira, who had been seeking shelter, felt the world before her literally ending. She knew she had to escape. So, with an agility she didn''t even know she had, she darted through copsing corridors, dodging falling debris and making her way out of the castle.

    Suddenly, she heard a series of roars filled with familiar, albeit annoying, words.

    "Die for our Lord!"

    "Hand over the Holy Relic!"

    More beams fell from the sky as Mira''s face contorted.

    ''Fucking hell, are these psycho baldies reading my mind?!''

 Chapter 943: Gathering of Powerhouses

    ''...I sense Mira nearby.''

    Munching on a beast bone, Rhydian, in her humanoid form, trembled slightly, feeling her connection to Mira solidify. Meaning that terrifying woman was nearby.

    ��boom!

    Rumble!

    ��boom!

    Distance explosions reverberated through thend, which, for some reason, seemed to be in the direction she felt Mira. Rhydian could only imagine what sort of trouble she was in now.

    ''...Fortunately, I made a breakthrough recently, or else she might really kill me for being toozy.''

    During her solo journey, she encountered numerous useful treasures, most of which were bones of ancient beasts. They were usually buried under hundreds of meters of snow, ice, and stone, but her senses were abnormally sharp when it came to things like this.

    It wasn''t so pronounced before, but after she broke through to Rank 8, she gained something akin to super smell that allowed her to sniff out almost anything beast-rted as long as she desired it.

    Of course, this ability wasn''t omnipotent, as the range was limited, but this continent was like a treasure trove, so it didn''t matter. There were immense numbers of strong beasts buried deep in the ground. Which made sense, as from her point of view, the humans were vastly in the minority here.

    Beasts ruled most of thend like they were evolutionarily suited for it.

    After consuming so many, both living and dead, she had finally broken through to Mid-Stage Rank 8, which showed no signs of stopping as it slowly increased with every bite of the leg bone she chewed on.

    Just then, she felt a pull toward a location deep in the ground and understood she found another dead beast, but she soon frowned.

    ''Now that Mira''s nearby, the chances of me being able to search this area freely is basically nil.''

    ''Should I just move somewhere else?''

    She knew that moving to another area would be best for her safety, but she still felt reluctant. This central area of the blizzard housed the most hidden resources, even if it was the most difficult to traverse.

    After a few moments of pondering, Rhydian sighed. ''...I might as well go see what''s going on. My carefree treasure-hunting spree ising to an end anyway.''

    Turning in the direction she sensed Mira, she began walking at a leisurely pace, not in a rush to jump right into danger.

    ***

    "HAP!" A burst of fire shot out of a woman''s hands, incinerating a Behemammoth, a giant icy Mammoth, and lighting her way in the blizzard. However, she made sure not to damage their tusks. She then proceeded to walk through the rest of its ''nest,'' killing every one of its species until none were left behind.

    She stored their remains inside her Spatial Ring. After cleaning the ce dry, she reluctantly searched around for their dung.

    ''Ugh! Why do I have to do this shit?'' She grumbled, using her Qi to levitate their feces before shoving it in a separate Spatial Ring.

    Of course, she knew why: Behemammoths were incredibly valuable resources. Every part of their bodies could be used in some way, whether it be creating powerful weapons, arrays, or pills. Just this pack of a few hundred could provide her Sect with decades of high-level resources, but it still annoyed her that someone of her strength and status still had to go digging for shit.

    That''s what subordinates are for, after all!

    "Tsk! I should''ve chased after that bitch. Then, I wouldn''t even need to think about gathering more resources." Thinking of a troublesome fox woman, she couldn''t help but scowl.

    Yanira still felt aggrieved at letting someone so much weaker than her get away with half her loot!

    In fact, ever since their meeting, she felt like she was gued with bad luck. After she left the valley, she suddenly got caught up in a storm and was smacked around by a Rank 10 beast of unknown origin before being throne to another part of the continent.

    Now, she could only wander around blindly, running into either weaklings, stalkers, or traps.

    These Behemammoth''s were the first lucky encounter she had ever since she separated from Mira!

    ''I knew she was a witch!''

    Just as she finished picking up all the dung, an explosion went off in the distance, stopping the blizzard for a moment, followed by a thunderous shout.

    ..."Die for our Lord!"

    "What the hell?" She turned toward the source. "Who''s strong enough to affect an entire section of a continent?!"

    Yanira''s mind went into overdrive as she thought of all the powerful people who were either on the Northern Continent or were connected to it in some way. However, most weren''t even as strong as her, while the others were either at the same level as her or slightly stronger.

    As far as she knew, nobody had such power.

    ''The peak of the Divine Sea Realm?'' She shook her head. ''No, it must be Half-Step Ascension Realm! Did one of those bastards find a lucky encounter?!''

    Yanira''s eyes gleamed greedily as she licked her lips.

    ''Whoever it is, it sure sounds like they''re fighting something powerful.'' She smiled sinisterly, just thinking about getting her hands on whatever treasure made them so strong. "I''ll kill them while they''re down and immediately flee, so none of those other assholes can take what''s mine!"

    Jumping into the air, her body was lit aze as she shot through the air like aet, dialing in on the source of the explosions.

    ''Wait for me, my precious!''

    ***

    Yanira wasn''t the only one who felt the earthquakes. Anyone at the Mortal Shedding Realm or above stopped what they were doing and took off. This could be the opportunity of a lifetime! Even if it wasn''t, they were sure to see something extraordinary.

    Even those at the Soul Transformation Realm and below were interested. Despite how unlikely it was for them to gain anything with so many powerhouses around, there was always a slim chance.

    And as cultivators, that chance was worth a lifetime!

    In Sylphidia, Maria, Cine, and Linnea were talking. After the scene at the tavern, they went back to the ce Linnea was staying to talk. It was then that she finally believed that the two were connected to Mira in some way.

    The idea of Maria being Mira''s fiancee was still up in the air, but she decided not to dwell on that for now. More importantly-

    "Your dantian is broken, right? You''ve been crippled, huh."

    Maria blurted out of nowhere, staring at Linnea''s stomach. Thetter''s expression changed, feeling naked under those eyes. She tried to ''cover'' herself, but with Maria''s experience, there wasn''t anything she could hide.

    "Hehe~ No need to be nervous. I''m not judging. I''m just curious how you''re still alive. I mean, Mira can be pretty�� rough~ after all~"

    "..."

    Linnea wondered the same thing. "A-Ahaha�� I guess I''m just lucky? I mean, part of me thinks she doesn''t even know I exist, so��"

    Maria smiled wryly, shaking her head. "Yeah�� that sounds like her." Coughing lightly, she changed the subject. "Anyways, it seems like you''re looking for a way to heal yourself, right?"

    Linnea hesitated for a moment before nodding. It wasn''t really a secret, but she didn''t exactly like telling people that she was crippled. It felt like she was epting her current pitiful state�Csomething she refused to do.

    "What if I said I could heal that for you?"

    "..." At first, Linnea thought the woman before her was an idiot speaking nonsense, but seeing the calm smile on her face, she started thinking otherwise. However, she inwardly shook her head, refusing to ce her hope in that.

    It wasmonly known that healing broken dantians required miracle pills or rare treasures. That was the lifeblood an any true cultivator. Like how humans needed a heart to live, cultivators needed a core(dantian) to cultivate. Without it, the possibility wasn''t even there.

    Without a working dantian, the meridians would be all messed up, making them essentially useless. Even breaking through to the Qi Condensation Realm would be difficult. Rather, the Meridian Opening Stage in the Body Tempering Realm would already be a near-impossibility.

    Needless to say, just as the items that could heal a broken heart were so exotic, the same was for a dantian, perhaps even more so.

    "...You�� You''re not messing with me, right?" Linnea asked shakily. "How could you-"

    Maria smiled gently. "I haven''t tried it before, but I''m pretty confident in my healing techniques."

    "What?! Techniques?!"

    ��Rumble�� BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Distant explosions and earthquakes shook the city, alerting everyone in it. Most took cover, afraid that some giant monster was approaching, but the truly strong all narrowed their eyes, looking toward the center of the blizzard.

    "...Mira," Maria muttered, clutching her heart, which started pounding in her chest. "...Mira''s over there. I know it!"

    Cine''s expression turned serious. "Are you sure?"

    "Absolutely!"

    "Then, what are we waiting for?"

    "Right! Let''s go!"

    Nodding, the two stood up and began to head out before Maria turned around to look at Linnea. "I''m sorry, but it looks like we''ll need to put this conversation on hold."

    "Wait-!"

    Linnea shouted, but the two were already gone. She slumped back in her chair, feeling dizzy, her emotions tumultuous. "...W-Why does everyone around me just do whatever they want?"

    ''Now, what should I do?''

 Chapter 944: Immortal Berserker

    As Mira navigated the crumbling corridors, the castle shook violently under the strain of the colossal forces shing within its walls. The shouts resonating through the air sent a shiver down her spine, not out of fear but annoyance.

    It was like fingernails on a chalkboard, except for her soul.

    ''Fanatic fuckers really are the worst.'' She grumbled, safely making it out of the castle and creating more distance between them and her.

    Back in the throne room, the battle reached its climax. The titan kept two of its arms raised, raining down attacks as if it were Heaven''s wrath. Kaius, however, stood tall against the giant.

    He sneered in disdain, ''Brat, you''re thousands of years too young to dare think about touching my feet, much less killing me.''

    As the elemental storm descended, Kaius''s de of pure will met the onught head-on. The resulting explosion was cataclysmic, sending shockwaves that obliterated what remained of the castle''s structure, scattering debris in a wide radius. The force of the collision created a crater hundreds of kilometers wide, the very earth itself bearing witness to their power.

    Everything that wasn''t obliterated was thrown out like a ragdoll.

    In the eye of the storm, Kaius and the titan were locked in a stalemate, their energies shing in a blinding disy of light and power. Kaius, though visibly strained, was determined not to falter, his soul''s de cutting through the elemental fury with a precision that didn''t seem humanly possible.

    Feeling the resistance, the titan roared in frustration. With a surge of energy, it redoubled its assault, sending wave after wave of elemental attacks towards Kaius.

    "Die!"

    "Die!"

    "Die!"

    Kaius vanished and reappeared, deflecting and dodging each attack while simultaneously removing limbs from the titan. Every swing created chasms deep in the ground, and every explosion only seemed to ignite his eagerness for a good fight.

    Suddenly, as if predicting his movements, a giant Earth Hammer came crashing down on him, smashing him into the ground. The massive crater deepened as his body dug through the ground until a chain sound resounded, and he felt a pull on his legs.

    He felt as if his legs were going to be ripped off, yet something prevented that from happening.

    Kaius gritted his teeth, feeling bloode up his throat, but a wild smile slowly grew as he dug himself out.

    "Heheh�� Hahahaha!"

    BOOM!

    He leaped out of the ground,ughing maniacally. Rotating his shoulders, his joints popped as he straightened out his posture.

    "Ahh~ My back was really killing me, slumped on that throne for so long." He shed a grin. "Thanks for the massage~"

    A golden sword from the Heavens descended onto his position, but he hardly regarded it.

    "But I really must say, you''re quite ignorant, huh?"

    Just as the golden sword was about to touch the ground, he disappeared, only to reappear near its handle. Grasping it tightly, all the muscles on his arm bulged as he changed its trajectory, slicing off half the Titan''s arms and sending the sword soaring into the distance.

    "Ever thought about the fact that, even to this day, I am still sealed?"

    Thump��! Thump��! Thump��!

    A drum-like beat echoed on the battlefield, originating from Kaius. Red veins throbbed all over his skin as power pumped through his body. Attacks rained down on him, and though they ripped off chunks of flesh, he was healed in an instant.

    The more damage he took, the further his power rose until a tangible red aura emanated from him.

    With an audible grunt, Kaius''s eyes went bloodshot as he dashed, dodging everything honing in on him. He gripped the Titan''s leg and ripped it right off its body!

    "AUUUGH!"

    "Damn you!"

    "Just die!"

    "Hahaha!" Kaius roared withughter. "I wasn''t known as the Immortal Berserker for no reason!"

    Condensing his will into a ball, he flicked it, obliterating the Titan''s other leg. It bellowed in pain as its legs regenerated in an instant before it teleported out of the castle, creating some distance.

    ***

    Yanira just arrived above the battlefield, only to see an areapletely devoid of life; nothing but destruction.

    An eyebrow raised, her interest piqued. "Oho? They''re really quite powerful, huh?"

    She couldn''t exactly tell the strength of the handsome man, but the Titan was certainly several times stronger than her and the man was keeping up with it.

    A head-on collision between the two would be certain death.

    "However, I can''t miss out on this opportunity! I''m sure they have some extraordinary treasures on them!"

    The only question now was, who should she side with?

    After pondering for a moment, she crossed her arms, bored of using her brain. "No need to think so much about it! I''ll just attack both! They both need to die, anyways."

    Raising her hands, a fiery Phoenix quickly formed from a massive amount of Qi.

    "Phoenix Descent!"

    The massive, hundred-meter-long Phoenix disappeared, shooting off into the distance.

    "I''ll just bother them from here. One of them will die as long as I annoy them enough, right?"

    Although her logic was a bit warped and quite possibly foolish, she wasn''t wrong. With a variable like her entering the battle, even if she was just an annoyance, her attacks weren''t something they could simply ignore.

    As long as she could trip one of them up, she could create an opening. In fact, if she yed things right, she could create two openings and take them out at the same time. The only problem was the other Divine Sea Realm masters were surely on their way. Things might get a bitplicated once this area is surrounded.

    ***

    BOOM!

    A massive fire Phoenix crashed down onto their position, vaporizing the ground and turning it into a magma wastnd. Cracks formed in the Earth from the overwhelming heat asva started to spew out,pletely ruining the terrain.

    "Tsk." Kaius clicked his tongue, jumping around the magma geysers and looking off in the distance. "It seems someone annoying decided to join."

    "RAAAAA!" In an enraged state, the Titan stomped through the magma,pletely ignoring it.

    Even as more fiery attacks rained down on them from a distance, itpletely ignored them and trudged toward Kaius.

    It seemed to realize that it''d been fighting too long. Whether it wanted to end things soon simply because of Yanira''s involvement or its technique wasing to an end, the time for games was over.

    Bending its knees, the ground beneath the Titan shattered as it leaped into the sky. Elemental wings sprouted from its back, acting as a barrier from Yanira''s attacks and a conduit to absorb as much Qi from the surroundings as possible.

    "Uh-oh. That doesn''t look good." Kaius looked up and chuckled, calmly deflecting Yanira''s barrage. He understood that Jinlong had understood he was out of options. It was either he ends things now or has to deal with a bunch more flies swarming about, looking to take advantage of his desperation.

    ''...If I''m not careful�� with how much Qi he''s absorbing, I might actually die.'' Although he thought that, he wasn''t worried.

    What sort of things hasn''t he experienced? How many times throughout his life was he on the brink of death?

    Even those old dudes who were about to ascend couldn''t kill him! No need to speak about a suicide attack from someone weaker than them!

    ''Well, those old guys value their life too much to fight to the death with someone like me. I''m not rich, have almost no treasures, and am ready to die in every battle. They simply didn''t have a reason to go all out.'' He knew those guys only moved when something significant came up, like the destruction of the Central Continent�� or when they found a chance to ascend.

    Even then, for them, it was easier and safer to seal him than kill him.

    As the Qi above him congregated on a singr point, Kaius smirked and decided to humor him.

    He gathered all the remnants of his will, channeling them into his soul''s de, preparing for onest, decisive strike. The space around him shook and shattered purely from his will.

    After a second, the titan finished gathering the necessary energy and cupped all of his palms together. In the center of it, an iridescent, undting ball of elemental power built up, increasing in intensity

    The orb grew until it reached several meters in diameter, its energy lighting up the blizzard. With a thunderous roar, it unleashed a tremendous beam of energy hundreds of meters wide at Kaius.

    With a defiant battle cry, Kaius thrust his de upward, piercing through the beam with sheer force of will.

    The impact was like the birth of a new star, a blinding explosion that tore through the remnants of the castle and the surroundingndscape. Everything it touched was vaporized, reduced to nothing. The entire Continent shook, the energy waves even crossing the entire world.

    Rampant earthquakes affected the Northern Continent, with volcanoes erupting, sinkholes forming, and natural disasters worsening.

    However, nothing was worse than the point of impact, which looked as if a cosmic titan came in and scooped up a chunk of thend thousands of meters deep.

    When the light subsided, a profound silence enveloped the area, the aftermath of their sh echoing through the now-still air. The blizzard had disappeared for kilometers, unable to withstand the force of the collision, and a massive crater had formed in its ce.

    In the center of the devastatednd, Kaius stood, his form staggering as thest of his energy was spent. Above him, the titan was dissipating, its form breaking apart into wisps of elemental energy, the echoes of Jinlong''s ancestor''s wills fading into the void.

    As the dust settled and the reality of his victory sank in, Kaius copsed to his knees, exhausted but alive.

    "Haaa�� Haaa�� Hehehe~ Like I said, you can''t kill-

    St!

    "-Ugh!" Kaius grunted and looked down, only to find a de sticking through his chest. ''What... What the hell?!''

 Chapter 945: Void Chains

    "Wh-What��!" Kaius coughed up a mouthful of blood. He forcefully turned around and saw a haggard, shriveled monk holding a sword in his chest.

    Jinlong gave a bloody smile as all the color drained from his face. "Cough�� Cough�� Did you think that was my trump card? Hahaha! That was just a bait! All for this moment!"

    Raising his other hand, two objects fell out of his Spatial Ring: a golden bell and an ornate vase.

    A chuckle came from behind Kaius as a hand jabbed into the wound the sword made.

    "Ugh! Wh-What the hell are you doing!?"

    "Hehe~ Don''t worry, Sir Immortal Berserker. I know you won''t die from this. I never had any intention of killing you in the first ce. It''s just- Haap!-"

    Jinlong''s hand wrapped around something�Ca chain�Cinside Kaius''s body. He suffused the rest of his Qi, Vitality, and even soul into his palm as his grip tightened around the chain, manifesting a part of it back into the physical world at the expense of the rest of his life.

    "-you have something we''re looking for."

    Letting go of the sword, Jinlong shakily picked up the golden bell and flicked his wrist.

    Ding!

    "AAARGH!" Kaius bent over, screaming in pain as he felt his whole body vibrating from the shock of the bell''s ding. His whole body twisted and cracked as all the seals ced on him came to life at full force.

    Ding!

    Jinlong smiled seeing this, and felt the chain in his grasp bing more physical and less ethereal.

    Ding!

    "You know, this bell was originally an ancient relic left behind by Buddhas before they ascended and were wiped out. From what I know, the Abbotts used to meditate under it in search of the ultimate enlightenment�Cto seek harmony with the universe.

    It''s supposedly able to dispel heart demons, evil thoughts, and promote inner peace, but that was only the case if you practiced their cultivation techniques. However, there was some truth to it; perhaps after hanging around those virtuous Buddhist Monks all day long, it gained the ability to harmonize the universe."

    "That being said, it''s the perfect item for revealing the Void Chains that seal you�Ca Holy Relic that exists in the ethereal once it''s ced inside someone."

    Ding!

    Ding!

    Kaius continued screaming in pain as the chains jingled inside him, but his eyes widened when he heard the words ''Void Chains''.

    "How�� How''d you know?" He croaked out. The only ones who knew he was sealed with such a treasure were the ones who did it. And knowing those old guys, they''d never share that information with anyone.

    Not only would it attract unnecessary attention, but there was simply no reason for anyone else to know. ''Did one of them betray the others? Are they hoping to release me so I seek revenge or something? Is this shitty little monk just a pawn in a muchrger game, or is a third party involved?'' Endless questions repeated in his mind, but there were no answers.

    As the monk said, whatever was happening wouldn''t kill him. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

    Due to his unique physique, even if his heart were destroyed, he would still live. Unless his head was chopped off and his soul destroyed, killing him was nothing but a pipe dream. And to make up for those weaknesses, his neck, spine, and soul were his strongest, most protected areas. True Ascension Realm powerhouses couldn''t chop it off. Thus, this weakling certainly couldn''t.

    Having the Void Chains removed would return arge portion of his power�Csomething that should be celebrated. However, he couldn''t be happy at the moment.

    ''I smell a scheme. If it were one of those old guys, they''d know the price for entertaining such a thought against me. So, it has to be a third party.'' Kaius guessed as he ''allowed'' Jinlong to do his thing. Regardless of how annoyed he might be, with the Void Chains gone, he''d have set one foot on the path toward freedom. ''Once my power returns, I''ll get to the bottom of this.''

    His screams died down, his face donning a stoicism that wasn''t there before.

    "...For the Lord," Jinlong smiled slyly, not answering his question. He chuckled lightheartedly, almost as if he were mocking him. "Thanks for your cooperation."

    ''Heh~ Have your fun now. You''ll be the first one I''ll deal with once I''m free.'' Kaius promised inwardly.

    After another few chimes from the bell, the chain inside Kaius fully materialized. Jinlong ced it on the ground and grabbed the vase beside it. Giving it a few shakes, a vast suction force came from within as he willed it to lock onto the Void Chains.

    Kaius grunted in pain as more blood burst from his mouth, but he just gritted his teeth and refused to let out another sound. A tearing sound came from within, with his organs, bones, and skin rearranging themselves before a long ck chain exited his body, entering the vase.

    Clinks and nks resounded with the vase sucking in tens of meters worth of chain. It took several seconds before the end of the chain entered the little ck hole that was the vase. Jinlong smiled gleefully as he rubbed the treasure before willing it into his Spatial Ring, along with the bell.

    "Oh? What do we have here?" A surprised yet provocative woman''s voice suddenly came from above, causing Jinlong''s expression to change. A wave of heat washed over the two, and they didn''t need to understand that their fiery attacker from before hade to take advantage of their weakened states.

    Jinlong hurriedly took out a Divine-Grade Teleportation Talisman and crushed it, disappearing without getting a look at the attacker. He didn''t even manage to take his sword back.

    "Woah, shit! What a cowardly bastard! I just wanted to say hi~ Am I really that scary?" Yanira chuckled as she descended on what little remained of the castle. She gripped the sword and yanked it out of Kaius''s chest, inspecting it. The de was almost entirely white, even though it was just covered in blood.

    She could feel an unparalleled sharpnessing from it, and just from touching it, vaguely felt that it could partially ignore one''s defenses.

    "Damn! What a find!" She eximed, her eyes shining. "A Divine Grade sword, just like that! Lucky! Hahaha! A shame I couldn''t take the rest of that shriveled old thing''s possessions."

    "Cough�� Cough��" Kaius coughed up some more blood before his wounds began to heal. Rather than feeling weaker after such an intense battle, even taking on severe injuries and exhausting his willpower, he felt filled with energy�Csomething that hadn''t happened in too long. "Aren''t you a bit too greedy, woman?"

    "Damn! You''re still alive?" Yanira almost reflexively swung the sword, but something stopped her. Although the man''s back looked small and weak, her intuition told her that the moment he sensed killing intent, she''d find out whether an afterlife existed or not. "...Truly an Immortal Berserker, or whatever cringy name you called yourself."

    "Hehe! It is quite cringy, isn''t it?" Kaius struggled to his feet, his legs wobbling as his willpower was running on empty. Yet, he still managed to straighten himself.

    Dusting off what remained of his clothes, he turned around, now almost fully healed, and met this daring woman face-to-face.

    "I don''t know whether to call you brave, shameless, or ignorant for appearing before me after sending all those gifts."

    "Ahaha�� Those were meant for the monk. I''d never kill a good-looking guy like you."

    "Really? Then, why did a few hit me?"

    "My aim isn''t all that great."

    "..."

    "It''s true. I''m half blind in one eye, and my hand is-"

    "Alright, that''s enough." Kaius sighed, rubbing his temples. He''d never met a woman this brazen, who dared to spout nonsense right to his face! Still, he was a bit amused, so he didn''t act. "I''m in a good mood right now, so I''ll overlook this, but-"

    "Damn, you''re really poor, huh?" Yanira had already disappeared from her position, inspecting the ruins that their fight left behind. She clicked her tongue, looking around in disappointment. "No Spatial Ring. No Castle. Not even any clothes. Well, I got everything I wanted, so I''m out.

    I''ll see youter, Immortal Berserker."

    "..."

    Kaius speechlessly watched as Yanira tried to escape like a little rat, but how could he let her go so easily?

    "Why leave so fast? I still hadn''t taught you a lesson for attacking me!" He reached out and clenched his fist, catching onto Yanira and dragging her back. She could only squirm and struggle as she was forced to return.

    "Since you like loot so much, why don''t you deal with the flies who are about to show up?"

    "Fuck!"

    ''Speaking of rats��'' Kaius looked in a certain direction, his gaze crossing hundreds of kilometers tond on a bloodied fox woman. As if sensing his stare, all the hairs on her tails stood on end, and she looked back, meeting his eyes. Those blood-red eyes were full of hidden killing intent and her existence seemed abnormally strengthened, like she had no weaknesses.

    He''d also never seen a fox with ten tails before or someone who embodied human and beast characteristics so well.

    However, perhaps the weirdest part was that she was fully healed even after being caught up in such a high-level battle while hiding a mortal girl.

    ''...Interesting��'' A slight smile crossed his face.

 Chapter 946: Aftermath

    Thousands of kilometers away, Jinlong reappeared on his Heavenly Creation Order''s mountain, where the eight trigrams formation resided. His body was haggard and shriveled as if he was running out of blood.

    He copsed to his knees, coughing as a bald monk in a white robe eximed behind him, "Second Elder!"

    "Second Elder! What happened?!" The monk rushed over, holding his body, but his expression changed upon sensing his dire condition.

    Jinlong continued coughing, hisplexion getting worse and worse as time passed. However, he still had the strength to take out the vase and bell from his Spatial Ring.

    "I�� cough�� cough�� I did it. I got the Void Chains."

    The monk looked at the vase and became solemn. His focus immediately shifted. He slowly picked up the vase and carried it over to its designated spot on the formation. Rubbing it a few times, a long ck chain spewed out from the top, then seemingly tried to escape as it shot in the opposite direction.

    However, the Eight Trigrams Formation had already locked into it, forcing the chains into submission and trapping them. The formation lit up as it began extracting its essence and concentrating it on the lotus in the center.

    Jinlong saw that and smiled. His life''s work, his purpose, his reason for living�� all of it was for this moment. From the day he was born, he was raised to be the man who would rip open Kaius''s body and take back the Holy Relic.

    With this, all those who had died to Kaius before, whose purpose was to serve as a catalyst for his sess, could finally be put to rest. The n that hadsted thousands of years and cost countless lives had ended.

    ''I''m�� d��'' Jinlong thought, his only regret being that he couldn''t witness the Lord''s resurrection first-hand. ''Soon�� Soon�� Our rise ising��''

    "Cough�� Cough�� Praise�� Praise the Lord." He muttered before his eyes went nk, and his head mmed into the ground with a thud.

    "Indeed, Second Elder. Praise the Lord."

    The monk repeated, bowing toward Jinlong''s corpse before picking it up and taking it toward a Sacred Yin Fire, where his body will be used as fuel for the Lord.

    ***

    Smack!

    "Ack! You bastard! Let me go!" Yanira squirmed, her face turning red with rage as she was smacked in the butt.

    Smack!

    "Ugh! I''ll kill you!"

    "Tsk~ Tsk~ Such a fiesty woman. Since your father clearly didn''t discipline you, I shall do it in his stead."

    Smack!

    mes started spewing out of Yanira''s body as she trembled in rage. Kaius was forced to let her go, but he continued to watch her with a sly smile.

    "DIE!"

    A wave of fire engulfed Kaius, but he just allowed it to singe his skin, his expression remaining unchanged.

    Suddenly, a vast, dense pressure descended on them. Yanira''s expression changed as she looked up, seeing all the Divine Sea Realm masters on the Continent surrounding them�Csome of whom she''d never seen or heard of before.

    "Well~ don''t mind me," Kaius whispered in her ear, his smile widening. "Go, ept your punishment."

    "...I''ll kill you." Yanira''s teeth creaked, but she was truly stuck between a rock and a hard ce.

    "You lot came at just the right time! This woman''s already taken all the treasures for herself!" Kaius suddenly shouted, causing Yanira to look back, her expression worsening. "Don''t believe me, just look at that sword in her hands!"

    ''Motherfucker! First, it was that stupidly beautiful fox, and now you! Why can''t I catch a break?!'' Yanira screamed internally, feeling numerous pairs of eyes lock onto her, trying to see through her.

    She grunted in disdain and, with a burst of fire, dispelled all those annoying eyes.

    "Have fun~"

    As soon as Kaius''s words fell, a streak of lightning fell from the sky, with Master Lei hovering above them.

    "So, we meet again, Yanira."

    "Bastard Lei�� It''s really unfortunate I have to see your ugly mug again so soon."

    BOOOM!

    The two shot toward each other and attacked without hesitation. There was no need for words between them, the fact that Yanira was holding a Divine-Grade sword he''d never seen spoke more than any words could.

    ***

    Mira shivered, feeling an unsightly gaze roaming across her body. She looked at the man who had caused all thismotion and frowned deeply. Although she was quite far away, she found it odd that she couldn''t sense the man''s strength. Even with people like Aelina and Yanira, she could vaguely sense their cultivation and, to a certain extent, how much stronger they werepared to her.

    But the man seemed like a bottomless pit. She couldn''t see his depths, whether they were shallow or monstrous.

    ''...To think I was about to walk in on such a figure.'' She chuckled at the mere absurdity of it all.

    Afraid? No, never. But she understood her limits.

    However, from what she saw, the man actually seemed rtively neutral. With how he let her go, how he dealt with Yanira, and his general disposition, he seemed to be the type of person who wouldn''t act unless it was in his own personal interest.

    ''That battle was also quite the show. He reminds me of Cine, with how sharp his will was. Maybe I should introduce the two? Who knows, they might get along.''

    Shaking her head, she moved her gaze away from the man and started running. A bunch of powerhouses just showed up, and she had no intention of getting involved in their little squabble.

    Unfortunately, fate had other ns for her.

    Hundreds, if not thousands, of Soul Senses locked onto her position. Not even a secondter, a man appeared above her, spear at the ready.

    ''...They must''vee to see what all the racket was about.'' She sighed and took out her scythe.

    "Looks like I''ll be here for a while."

    "More like forever!" A shout came from the man as a barrage of light beams bombarded her.

    Suddenly, through it all, a ck line cut through the air and amputated his arms. Before he could scream, icicles formed around his body, stabbing into him.

    Mira clenched her fist, and the man exploded into icy particles, slowly fluttering in the wind.

    "What a pain."

    Among those Divine Sea Realm masters were a few people she didn''t want to see. Staying here any longer could alert them of her position if they haven''t already found her.

    If it were any other day, she''d dly ughter the thousands of idiots running to their deaths, but right now, she didn''t have the luxury.

    She took off in another direction, not wanting to bother with these idiots, but how could they let her go so easily? From where she stood to the center of all the destruction, she was the only person who wasn''t in the Divine Sea Realm.

    If they thought she had no treasures on her, they''d have to bepletely brainless. Even a beast could smell the scent of a greedy fox from Mira!

    "Stop right there, woman!"

    Mira ignored them and sprinted across the devastatedndscape. Behind her, a swarm of cultivators pursued relentlessly. Their intentions were clear: to capture her and im whatever spoils they believed she possessed.

    "Give up, girl! You can''t escape us all!" shouted one of the pursuers, a man with a scar across his face, as heunched a barrage of sharp, wind-infused des toward her.

    Mira weaved through the iing assault without looking. She sent back a few attacks of her own, which killed multiple people, but the relentless attacks kepting, one after the other, from all directions. She knew she couldn''t keep this up forever; she needed to make a stand.

    ''I at least need to get rid of the more powerful ones.

    With a cold re, Mira spun on her heels, her scythe glowing with Qi. "Enough of this," she hissed, her voice carrying a deadly calm. As the next wave of attackers approached, she swung her scythe, slicing through their techniques and bodies alike, causing blood to rain on the drynd.

    Yet, as one fell, two more took their ce, their numbers seemingly endless. Some of them weren''t weak or stupid, either, with more than one unavoidable attacknding on her. Although the damage healed quickly, she was still injured from getting caught up in the previous fight and had to focus on protecting Hana.

    Just as the situation seemed to spiral out of control into something that would catch the attention of those powerhouses, a massive, golden-winged wolf, Rhydian, descended from the skies, her talons and beak ripping apart everything in her path.

    With a ferocious roar, she plowed through the attackers, her powerful wings sending shockwaves that reduced their organs into mush.

    Rhydian''s timely intervention created a momentary pause, allowing Mira to hop on her back. "Took you long enough," Mira called out. "Now, let''s get out of here."

    ''Fine by me.'' Rhydian let out a low growl before turning her attention back to the assants.

    The attackers were wary of this neer. Mira had already killed tens, if not hundreds, of them without even trying. With this beast, who didn''t seem any less powerful than the fox, the situation looked quite dire.

    They hesitated, their confidence shaken. But their greed and desire for the treasures they believed Mira held drove them forward, their attacks bing more desperate and erratic.

    ''Fools.'' Mira and Rhydian thought.

    With a powerful p of her wings, Rhydian created a gust of wind so strong that it momentarily pushed their attackers back, creating a gap in their encirclement. Seizing the opportunity, Rhydian charged through the opening and soared high in the sky, moving further and further away from their pursuers.

    Behind them, the frustrated shouts and curses of their pursuers echoed, but Mira and Rhydian didn''t look back.

    .

    .

    .

    If only things were so easy.

 Chapter 947: Familiar Face

    As Rhydian soared through the sky, Mira scanned the horizon, her sharp senses alert for any sign of pursuit. Their escape had been a close call, and she knew that their relentless pursuers wouldn''t give up so easily, driven by greed and the allure of the treasures they presumed she possessed.

    "Keep your guard up," Mira whispered to Rhydian, her eyes narrowing as she detected a surge of energy from below. "They''re not done with us yet."

    Rhydian growled in acknowledgment, her powerful wings beating faster, propelling them through the sky. But even her incredible speed wasn''t enough to shake off their most persistent foes. From below, a series of powerful attacks surged upwards, aimed directly at them.

    "Watch out!" Mira shouted as she deflected a barrage of ice spears, shattering them into a shower of frozen shards. Rhydian dodged and weaved through the air, but the attacks were relentless.

    Among their pursuers, a figure d in robes bearing a lightning bolt insignia rose into the air. With a thunderous chant, he unleashed a massive bolt of dark lightning, spiraling like a serpent toward Mira and Rhydian.

    Mira''s eyes shed. ''The Thunderstrike Pavillion! Why are these bastards always getting in my way?!'' Not to mention, this one in particr seemed quite powerful, just under that Master Lei guy�Cat the peak of the Mortal Shedding Realm.

    She couldn''t allow this attack to hit them. Channeling her Qi, she formed a barrier around them, the dark energy bolt crashing against it with a deafening explosion. The barrier held, but the force of the impact sent them spiraling.

    "I presume you''re Mira? Our Master has talked a lot about you. There''s a kill order for your head. Apparently, you have some good stuff, so much so that even the Master is interested." The man sneered and waved his hand.

    Dozens of lightning snakes suddenly appeared out of nowhere, closing in on them.

    Rhydian stabilized their flight, but it was clear they were at a disadvantage in the air. They needed tond to find a terrain that could work in their favor.

    "There!" Mira pointed towards a dense snowy forest in the distance below. "We can use the trees as cover!"

    Rhydian dove towards the forest.

    "You think you can escape?! Naive! This whole region now belongs to the Thunderstrike Pavillion!"

    As they neared the canopy, Mira leaped from Rhydian''s back,nding gracefully among the trees. Rhydian followed, her form shrinking as she transformed into her humanoid version, ready forbat.

    The forest became their battlefield, the dense foliage their ally. Mira and Rhydian moved with practiced coordination, ambushing their pursuers who dared to follow them into the treacherous terrain.

    One by one, the cultivators fell, outmatched by Mira''s power and Rhydian''s ferocity. But their victory was short-lived. The man in dark robes emerged from the shadows right in front of them.

    Rhydian came to a halt, ring at the man.

    However, without giving them a chance to react, he snapped his fingers and created a lightning dome around them.

    "There''s nowhere left to run," the man in dark robes said, his voice echoing through the forest. "You''re brave, or perhaps foolish."

    Mira gripped her scythe tightly, killing intent slowly building up inside of her. "I''ve had enough of this shit. Since you want to die so badly, I''ll send you on your way!"

    "As if it''d be that easy!"

    With a fierce battle cry, she charged towards the man, her scythe arcing through the air. Rhydian, in her beast form once more, nked him, her jaws snapping and ws tearing.

    The man in dark robes met their assault with a chilling calm, his dark lightning weaving a protective cocoon around him. He parried Mira''s strikes with precise counters, his own attacks imbued with a corrupting Qi that sought to weaken their energy.

    The battle raged, the forest mirroring their sh of power. Mira and Rhydian fought relentlessly, using all their best techniques, but the man''s strength was overwhelming. With each exchange, it became clearer that they were at a disadvantage.

    In a desperate move, Mira unleashed a torrent of her own energy, her scythe glowing with an intense light. The man in dark robes raised his hand, ready to counter, but at that moment, Rhydian lunged, her form a blur of motion.

    She went for his hip before abruptly changing tactics and shooting countless thin elemental beams out of her wings, forcing the man to defend himself.

    The distraction was enough. Mira appeared before him like a ghost, and her attack found its mark, piercing through the man''s defenses and striking him squarely in the chest. A look of surprise crossed his face as he staggered back, dark energy dissipating around him.

    With a final effort, Rhydian pounced, her jaws closing on the man''s throat. There was a sickening crunch and then silence.

    Mira and Rhydian stood in the quiet forest, catching their breath. The man in dark robesy lifeless at their feet, his dark lightning slowly fading into nothing.

    "He was pretty tough, huh?" Mira muttered as Rhydian nodded.

    ''For a human, he wasn''t bad.''

    Mira inwardly thanked Rhydian for being there, as it would''ve been a bit of a hassle to handle him on her own. He was fast, strong, and experienced, much more so than most cultivators. With enough time, she could''ve defeated him, but there were already thousands of people chasing them.

    If they joined the fight, it would truly get annoying.

    ''Well, now he''s just another nameless corpse.'' She thought, chopping off his head, storing his body and loot.

    ''...Thunderstrike Pavillion, huh? I guess my time up North won''t be boring.''

    BOOM!

    Suddenly, an explosion went off in the distance, alerting Mira. She looked up and noticed a swarm of Thunderstrike Pavillion members and Elders attacking what looked to be two people.

    ''Wait��'' Mira''s eyes slowly widened as she saw a familiar hair color mixed within the battle. She strained her eyes to focus better.

    Times seemed to slow down as she honed in on that figure. That delicate face��

    BOOM!

    That long golden hair��

    BOOM!

    The light element radiating intensely off her body��

    BOOM!

    Those plump melons�� Ahem!

    BOOM!

    Lastly, the soft yet determined golden eyes.

    Everything came together to form the beautiful woman she called her fiancee! Also, one of thest people she wanted to meet right now!

    Mira''s heart skipped a beat. "Maria..." she whispered, her voice barely audible amid the chaos. "So, you came, after all."

    ''Maria?'' Rhydian overheard Mira''s whisper and nced up, only for her eyes to widen at the familiar figure. ''It''s Maria! I''m saved!''

    "Should we go help her?" Rhydian asked, seeing that she was surrounded. Mira thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

    "...Th-This is a good chance to see how strong she''s gotten. Also, Vulcan and Cine are with her. She''ll be fine even without us." Mira pointed at the small red fox on Maria''s shoulder, who seemed particrly interested in Yanira for some reason.

    On the other hand, Cine just deflected everything indifferently.

    "I-I see. Th-Then, should we get going?" Rhydian stuttered, feeling something wrong with Mira''s emotions.

    "It''s a bit toote for that." Mira chuckled, followed by a shout from above.

    "We''ve finally caught up to you, you bitch!"

    ***

    A few minutes prior, when Maria and Cine just showed up on the battlefield.

    ''Oh,'' Kaius muttered, ''More talented kids?'' He reclined back in his throne, which had already regenerated. Just because the Void Chains were ripped out of him didn''t mean he was free. He still had numerous more seals all over his body, mind, and soul. If the throne chaining him to this ce could be destroyed so easily, he would''ve already escaped from this boring ce.

    ''First, this nasty-tempered woman, then that fox and her wolfpanion. Now, two more unique kids showed up. Interesting! So interesting! Hahaha! The world has be so lively since I was sealed!''

    ''It makes me want to, cause a little trouble.''

    Yanira was doing a fine job at holding off those other masters. Though, none of them had gotten serious yet, or else even he wouldn''t be able to sit still.

    However, he was starting to get bored of spectating them. There was no bloodshed, no killing intent, and thus, no fun!

    The battlefield was only interesting when people died!

    ''That''s why kids with lower cultivation are so interesting! They aren''t as afraid of death as those oldies!''

    Feeling a hint of Qi circting through his body, something he hadn''t felt in a long time, he came to a decision.

    ''Let''s see some blood!''

    Flicking his finger, a burst of lightning shot right past Maria, grazing her cheek and marking her with a profound lightning aura. Any lightning cultivator would immediately sense it and understand that simply ncing at the mark could enhance their Dao insights. If they could take the mark for themselves, their cultivation might even improve!

    ''Although creating that Tribtion Lightning Mark cost me a few decades of life, and it''ll take longer for me to recover my strength, I already have more years than I know what to do with,'' Kaius grinned.

    ''Now, fight young ones! Show me something interesting!''

 Chapter 948: Marias Debut

    Touching her cheek, Maria looked at her hand. ''Blood?''

    She didn''t even see the attacking. One second, she was fine, the next, she felt a sting in her cheek. It came so fast that she didn''t know where it came from or who sent it.

    Looking around, she finally noticed a man leaning on a throne, staring at her with an unsettling smile. ''Him? But why? More importantly, who is he?''

    Since the man was in the middle of Divine Sea Realm masters fighting, he must have been strong, but she didn''t know what she had done to upset him.

    ''No.'' She shook her head. ''Rather than upset, he looks�� eager?''

    Light shone on her wound, and it was healed in an instant, but for some reason, she felt that she had missed something��

    "Umm�� Maria? What''s that tattoo on your cheek?" Cine pointed and asked.

    "Tattoo?" She touched the previously injured spot but didn''t feel anything.

    "Yeah. There''s a red lightning bolt on your cheek."

    "...Huh?"

    Suddenly, she heard a shouting from behind her. "I�� I can sense it! This, this girl has a Tribtion Lightning mark! Get her!"

    "Be careful not to damage her too bad!"

    A mature woman in Thunderstrike Pavillion robes pointed a finger at Maria and inwardly shouted, ''Thunderous Heartstrike!''

    A thin thread of lightning, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, shot out of her finger toward Maria''s heart, but she had already moved out of the way.

    "Woah~! Attacking me out of nowhere?" The thread snaked back around as if it was tracking Maria, but she just smirked. "That''s no way to greet ady~!"

    The light around her distorted for a moment before the thread prated her chest and enveloped her heart, rupturing it�� Only for ''Maria'' to dissipate into light particles.

    ''A clone?!'' The Thunderstrike Pavillion woman raised her guard, looking around. Just then, she heard a beautiful voice whisper in her ears.

    "Since you attacked first, I suppose I don''t need to hold back, right~?"

    "Demonic Restoration!"

    A beam of corrupted Light Qi shot a hole through the woman''s shoulder, but before she could react, immense pain tormented her entire body as she ballooned up.

    "Bye~ Bye~"

    BOOM!

    The woman exploded into a mist of blood as Maria returned to her original position.

    "...That''s one scary technique," Cine muttered, once again promising not to get on Maria''s bad side.

    "Funnily enough, it wasn''t meant for humans," Maria said, smiling.

    "...Seems pretty effective to me."

    "Only if it hits."

    "...That doesn''t make it any worse, you know? It''s basically a sure-fire kill technique."

    Maria shrugged, not bothering toment, as dozens more people surrounded them. Yet, none made any risky moves, staring at where the woman just died. Nobody knew what happened. She didn''t even look badly hurt when that light beam hit her, but within seconds, she literally imploded!

    "Be careful, everyone. This girl''s not ordinary."

    "I''m more worried about the green-haired one beside her."

    "Yeah, well, she doesn''t have a Tribtion Lightning mark on her."

    "Still, keep your guard up."

    "What''re you young''uns so afraid of?!" A stream of lightning streaked in the distance before a middle-aged man with a well-shaven beard showed up. Right after him, more and more people appeared, all of whom exuded the same domineering presence. "With us here, there''s nothing she can do."

    "Elder Zhen!"

    "Elders!" The disciples called out happily, but their focus was on Maria.

    "Girl! We''d really prefer not to kill you. So, if you could please juste with us, we''ll take you back to the Sect and look for ways to extract that mark from you. It''s very important to us, after all."

    Maria fell silent, staring the man known as Elder Zhen in the eyes. It wasn''t a bad offer, she didn''te here to kill, either. Not to mention, she''s a victim. There was no reason to make enemies for no reason.

    "...If it were any other time, I would''ve agreed." She started with a sigh.

    "But?"

    "But I came here to look for someone, and I have no intention of going back without her." She finished while also thinking, ''I''m also sure Mira''s out there watching me. Now''s the perfect chance to show her that I''m not the same little girl I was before!''

    "...I see, that''s a shame." Elder Zhen muttered while eyeing the other Elders. "It seems we can only take you by force."

    "Good luck~!"

    Seeing that things were about to get heated, Cine closed in on Maria and whispered, "Do you need help?"

    Maria shook her head, "No. This is my battle."

    "Very well." Cine backed off and crossed her arms, showing she wasn''t going to get involved.

    Maria''s gaze sharpened as the circle of masters tightened around her, their intentions clear. Elder Zhen, with a wave of his hand, signaled themencement of their attack.

    "Let''s see how you handle this, youngdy!" Elder Zhen shouted, his voice booming like thunder as he thrust his palm forward, unleashing a torrential wave of energy toward Maria.

    In response, Maria''s lips curled into a smirk, her body glowing with a dazzling light. "Prismatic Wave!" she eximed. Light erupted from her, not just white but a spectrum of colors, each strand twisting and turning, creating a dazzling disy that intercepted and neutralized Elder Zhen''s attack.

    However, it didn''t stop there as the ring of light expanded and ''corrupted'' everything in its path. One of the Elders got nicked by it and saw his arm turning ck as some weird energy invaded his meridians.

    He hurriedly used his lightning to destroy the invading Qi before shouting, "Don''t let that touch you!"

    The surrounding Elders were taken aback, not understanding how such a gentle technique could deal so much damage.

    However, their momentarypse allowed Maria to seize the initiative. "Radiant Abyss Barrage!" she dered, her hands moving as she directed a series of light beams, each one surging with energy, toward the encircling enemies.

    The elder coordinated their efforts, channeling their Qi to form a collective barrier. Yet, Maria''s attack was relentless, the barrage prating their defenses, pushing some back and knocking others outright.

    Elder Zhen, gritting his teeth, acknowledged her prowess. "She''s not to be underestimated. Prepare the Grand Array!" hemanded, signaling the others to adopt a more strategic formation.

    Maria, undeterred, prepared her next move. ''Sr re!'' she inwardly announced, and the air around her shimmered with intense heat. A blinding light emanated from her, expanding rapidly to engulf the battlefield in a wave of searing energy.

    Everyone had to shut their eyes as the overwhelming brilliance and heat nearly blinded them. They were all experts in their realm, yet the eyes were often the weakest part of every creature; the members of the Thunderstrike Pavillion were no exception.

    Seeing an opening, Maria channeled her Qi, focusing it into a singr, potent form. "Radiant Spear!" With a thrust of her arm, a beam of concentrated light shot forth, piercing through the array like a needle through fabric, targeting Elder Zhen directly.

    Elder Zhen reacted in the nick of time, deflecting the spear with a wave of his hand and dispersing its energy into the air.

    The disciples and other elders exchanged nces. This woman was undoubtedly a threat, and she wasn''t going to be easy to deal with.

    Elder Zhen, now more cautious, addressed Maria, "Your powers are indeed amazing for someone your age, but do you really think you can take us all on? Juste quietly; I promise we won''t hurt you."

    Maria replied with a light smile, "I understand your concerns. But as I said, I have my reasons. And I won''t back down."

    As the standoff continued, Maria prepared her next technique. "Luminous Burst!" she dered, gathering an immense amount of light energy into a single point before releasing it in an explosive wave.

    The impact sent shockwaves through the area, cracking the ground and rippling energy outwards. The Elders were thrown off bnce, some unable to maintain their footing as the air turned against them.

    Taking advantage of the chaos, Maria invoked her defensive technique. "Prism Shield!" A radiant barrier enveloped her, deflecting iing attacks and providing her with a momentary break to n her next move.

    Elder Zhen sighed but knew they needed to act decisively. Stalling this out was pointless. "Focus your energy! We must overwhelm her!" he shouted, rallying everyone tobine their strength.

    As they converged their powers, Maria felt the surge of energy building against her. Knowing she couldn''t withstand a collective attack, she prepared her most dazzling and deceptive technique. "Radiant Myriad Reflections!" she eximed.

    In an instant, the battlefield was filled with countless mirrors. Tapping her fingers on the air, she unleashed another round of [Radiant Abyss Barrage] that mixed both normal and corrupted Light Qi.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    In an instant, dozens of disciples blew up and were disintegrated upon contact as light beams bounced around the sky, reflecting off the countless mirrors forming.

    As time passed, the attacks only became faster and more destructive as they kept reflecting off the mirrors. The weaker disciples tried to move away, but like a puppet master, Maria remained hidden within her array of mirrors, controlling everything.

    Everyone was d in lightning armor as they bounced around the aerial battlefield. They even chained their lightning together, attempting to destroy the mirrors that kept appearing, only for half of them to end up being illusions.

    Even Maria''s body seemed to always be an illusion, with countless lightning bolts piercing her numerous figures and afterimages, only for them to dissipate.

    "Dammit! Catch this woman!"

    "We can''t! Whenever we lock onto her position, it''s either a fake, or she''s already dodged!"

    "Fuck! Where''d this bitche from!?"

    "Enough!" Elder Zhen shouted. "If we can''t find her, then let''s just destroy everything!"

    "Good call, Elder Zhen!"

    "Well said!"

    The Elders all charged up theirrge-scale attacks before unleashing them.

    "Heaven''s Wrath!"

    Countless lightning bolts from all directions converged on a singr point in the midst of the battlefield, destroying everything, including Maria''s mirrors. When the energy reached a breaking point, a second explosion burst out, shaking the sky and earth.

    As the attack cleared the illusions, revealing her location, Maria seized the moment. "Now!" she whispered to herself, emerging from her hiding spot. With a swift motion, she unleashed a focused beam of light, aiming directly at Elder Zhen.

    Caught off guard, Elder Zhen barely managed to deflect the attack, but the force behind it sent him reeling back, his defense finally showing cracks.

    Maria, seeing the impact of her strategy, prepared for the final blow. She gathered all her energy, her aura zing with an intense light that rivaled the sun itself. "This ends now!" she dered, her voice echoing across the battlefield.

    With a final, determined step, she unleashed her ultimate technique: "Celestial Radiance!" A torrent of pure, blinding light burst forth, enveloping the battlefield and consuming everything in its path.

    The Elders, despite their strength and numbers, could not withstand the overwhelming power of Maria''s light. One by one, they were enveloped, their forms silhouetted against the brilliant glow, before being swept away by the tide of energy.

 Chapter 949: New Teacher

    "Ugh��!"

    After the light died down, groans from the remaining survivors of the st resounded. The surviving Elders were sprawled out on the ground, covered in blood, their Qi wavering and their lightning armors dissipating.

    Maria lifted her hands, preparing to finish them off, but Cine beat her to it.

    She swooped down and, with a single swing of her saber, decapitated the survivors with an indifferent expression.

    "Tch. You didn''t have to do that, you know?" Maria clicked her tongue, but a smile remained on her face.

    "...It''d be annoying if this fight dragged on any longer."

    "Well, whatever." Maria shrugged before waving her hand, collecting their Spatial Rings.

    "I''m just d that my techniques worked well in actualbat~"

    "..."

    Cine wasn''t sure what to say to that. There was no way Maria hadn''t tested her techniques out before, it was impossible for them to be that refined otherwise.

    "Do you think Mira saw that?" Maria suddenly asked.

    "...I''m sure she''s watching us right now." Cine nodded and swept her gaze across the horizon. She couldn''t immediately spot Mira''s figure, but she did find a trail of blood in the distance.

    Following that with her eyes, she eventually saw a fox woman sitting cross-legged on a pile of corpses in the middle of a destroyed forest, staring at them with her blood-red eyes. The fox gave a toothy grin and nodded.

    ''You should leave this ce as soon as possible.'' Cine received a Voice Transmission from Mira, startling her. Before she knew it, Mira had already disappeared, leaving behind only a few more words.

    ''Let''s meetter.''

    "Hm? Cine? Are you okay?" Maria called out, tapping Cine on the shoulder, snapping the woman out of her thoughts.

    "Ah�� Yeah, I''m fine."

    "Did Mira send you a message?"

    "...!" Cine''s eyes widened, wondering how Maria knew, but the blonde just smiled.

    "...I see�� What''d she-actually, nevermind. It doesn''t matter." Maria shook her head as she could somewhat guess what Mira said. It was probably along the lines of ''I''ll see youter''.

    "Ummm�� I''m not sure what you''re thinking, but she told us to leave-AH!" Cine suddenly trembled, feeling one pair of ferocious eyes ring at her and another that seemed to be inspecting her inside and out.

    "HOW DARE YOU?! DIE!"

    A thunderous roar came from Yanira''s battlefield as Master Lei red at Cine and Maria, his eyes filled with killing intent. The sky turned dark overhead, with lightning gathering in a singr point before a p of thunder resounded and shot a massive bolt of lightning at them.

    The two were frozen in ce, unable to move. The electricity in the air had essentially incapacitated them before the attack could evennd.

    However, just as the two were about to die, a hand reached out and snatched them.

    "Woah, there, old man~ It''s just a battle between kids. There''s no need for us old folk to get involved~" Kaius''s voice sounded, interrupting the ongoing battle between Yanira and the other Masters.

    Master Lei''s eyes were bloodshot as he directed his gaze to the throne in the center of all the destruction.

    "YOU!"

    "Alright, alright~ Sheesh~ No need to be so loud." Kaius chuckled yfully, dropping Maria and Cine on the ground in front of him. His castle was starting to regenerate, taking on its original appearance. It wouldn''t be long before it was back to normal.

    Master Lei''s eyes, alight with fury, remained locked on Kaius. "You interfere with the affairs of the Thunderstrike Pavilion," he bellowed, his voice echoing across the shatteredndscape. "This is not a matter to be taken lightly!"

    Kaius, unfazed, merely shrugged, his casual demeanor starkly contrasting with the situation''s gravity. "Oh,e on now," he replied, his voiceced with amusement. "You were about to obliterate two young talents over a little scuffle. Where''s the honor in that?"

    Master Lei clenched his hands, electricity arcing between his fingers. "Honor? They decimated our forces, and you speak of honor?" he spat, his anger palpable.

    Meanwhile, Maria and Cine were released from Kaius''s grasp and quickly regained theirposure. Maria nced at Cine, a silent understanding passing between them.

    They were screwed.

    "Well, if you don''t like it, how about you join them? Hm?" Kaius pointed his finger at Master Lei, who instinctively dodged, but nothing happened. He chuckled, looking at the man in amusement, "Anyways, I''ve had enough. You lot are boring. I''m going back to my castle now."

    With a snap of his fingers, the atmospheric Qi around them created a vortex on top of the castle''s remnants. Within seconds, it began to rebuild itself, sucking in all the remaining energy, turning it into a literal wastnd until it waspleted.

    "There! Now we don''t have to deal with those guys anymore!" Kaius eximed as the castle shook, the Masters outside forgetting about their differences and raining down attacks.

    However, they were too weak to damage it. Only those at the peak of the Divine Sea Realm could even think about scratching it, much less doing any damage. That abominable titan was an exception.

    He directed his gaze at Maria, examining every inch of her body, inside and out. She tried to ''cover-up'', but it was useless.

    Fortunately, after a few moments, he smiled and shook his head. "You''re certainly talented, but it seems we''re not fated. Good luck with the little fox, though." He said, and Maria was sure he wasn''t talking about Vulcan.

    "As for you��" His eyesnded on Cine, his smile widening. "I like you. You have a strong will, one solely devoted to the art of the saber. While I''m by no means an expert with des, nor would I attempt to teach someone in the way of the Saber, I''m a master when ites to willpower. With your talent, I have a feeling you could be quite terrifying if you studied under me for a bit.

    So, what do you say?"

    "..." Cine fell silent, taking in everything.

    Who was this man? Why does he want to teach me? Is he scheming something? What is this ce? Where''d this castlee from? Why can''t those guys outside get in?

    What the hell is going on?

    Such thoughts yed in her mind as she stared back at the man. To be honest, he seemed oddly simr yet strangely differentpared to an angry fox she knew. As if their dispositions were simr, but their personalities were the total opposite; one enjoyed life a lot more than the other.

    ''...I''ve already considered one of them half a teacher��'' She wryly thought. ''What''s one more?''

    Still, she couldn''t bring herself to say yes.

    "...Why do you want to teach me?" Cine cautiously asked, trying to determine what this man was nning.

    "Hmmm~ I just thought it''d be fun? I mean, isn''t the world more interesting when it''s filled with strong people?"

    "..."

    "You may not know, but I''ve been stuck here for a while. Now that someone like you showed up at my front door, how could I not try my luck? My only request is that, when your training is over, you don''t hole up in some cave somewhere and rot! I want you to go out there and shake the world a bit!"

    "..."

    ''So, he''s just crazy.'' Cine sighed, immediately understanding Kaius''s character. How could she not? She had practically lived with a much eviler version of him for several years!

    ''Well, it''s these types who are generally the best teachers, so��''

    "Sure. If you''ll have me, I''ll gratefully ept your teachings, Sir." She bowed slightly, her expression remaining unchanged.

    As for getting on her hands and knees and kowtowing�� If he were the type of person who wanted or cared about such things, she wouldn''t have epted his proposition. She didn''t need a Master, after all; her path was already chosen.

    Just as she thought��

    "Hahaha! Good! Things are finally about to get interesting!" Kaius suddenly appeared before Cine, patting her shoulder. "This old man will dly shape you into a terrifying powerhouse!"

    Cine merely nodded.

    "Alright, now that the formalities are out of the way-" He switched his gaze to Maria, "It''s about time for you to leave."

    "Wait! What''s going-"

    "BEGON!" Kaius waved his hand and shouted, sending Maria out of his castle.

    "...You didn''t have to do that, you know?" Cine gave him a weird stare but wasn''t all that bothered by the disappearance of her friend.

    "I know, but isn''t this more interesting? Will she strut back into my abode to challenge me? Or will shee back with that monstrous fox? Whatever it is, I''m curious!"

    ''Haaa��'' Cine shook her head with a sigh. ''It seems he really is a crazy, bored old man.'' However, a slight smile formed on her face, thinking about how much stronger she''d get after this.

    ''Will I finally be able to beat Mira?''

    ***

    "What the-?!" Feeling someone appear right behind her, Mira reached for her scythe and swung beforeing to a screeching halt, seeing who it was.

    The blonde woman flinched at the appearance of the scythe, closing her eyes as her previous trauma resurfaced. Just as she was about to open her eyes, she heard Mira exim:

    "Maria?!"

 Chapter 950: We Need to Talk

    Maria opened her eyes, her heart still racing from the sudden appearance and the near-death experience. Seeing Mira, a mix of emotions flooded through her��relief, anger, love, and a lingering sense of fear.

    However, most of all, she was just happy to see her again.

    Maria took a deep breath and touched her chest to calm her beating heart before she smiled slightly. "Hey. I got your letter."

    "..."

    Mira was still too shocked that Maria had appeared right next to her to say anything. Although in the letter, she said to find her on the Northern Continent if she wanted to talk, she didn''t expect Maria to actuallye.

    She was busy with her whole ''Saintess'' thing and taking care of an entire organization. Taking months or years off from her responsibilities could destabilize everything she built!

    As if reading her mind, Maria chuckled and exined, "Don''t worry. Sanctum won''t be affected by my departure."

    "..."

    Mira still wasn''t sure what to say, so she simply nodded.

    However, she suddenly realized that she still had her scythe at the ready, so she hastily put it away, looking a bit awkward doing so.

    She could still see, deep within Maria''s eyes, that a part of her was afraid of that very weapon and, by extension, her. And who wouldn''t? She literally died to it, after all.

    Turning around, whether it was to avoid looking at Maria''s face or to hide her shame, she started walking away from the castle and destruction. With Rhydian and Vulcan behind her, Maria matched her pace.

    "..."

    A silence ensued, making Mira feel incredibly ufortable, while Maria just trotted along. Normally, she''d prefer this sort of environment, but now she felt as if a boulder was on her back and all the natural sounds around her had disappeared.

    Something wasn''t right.

    "So�� ummm�� How are things?" She eventually broke the silence.

    "...They''re good," Maria answered, keeping her subtle smile while looking straight ahead.

    "Did you have any trouble getting here?"

    "Heh. Has it been so long you''ve forgotten how lucky I am?"

    ''...That didn''t answer my question.'' Mira thought but chose not to dwell on it.

    "When''d you arrive?"

    "Eh, not long ago."

    "I guess it wasn''t hard to find me."

    "Well, you tend to make a lot of noise." Maria shrugged as they continued to walk.

    A few brave men tried to approach them, but Vulcan and Rhydian had already left their side and were circling them, preventing anyone from getting close.

    "Why''d you bring Cine?"

    "I just felt like it."

    "I see��" Mira muttered before falling silent as she ran out of questions.

    "However, Captain Jorvik sends his regards." Maria chuckled, remembering the expression he made when she said was Mira''s acquaintance.

    "Captain Jorvik?" Mira frowned, having already forgotten that name.

    "The guy who took you across the ocean."

    "Ah! That old man!" Mira''s eyes widened slightly. "Did he also take you?"

    "Mmhm. He''s quite skilled."

    "Yeah��"

    Things became quiet again.

    Rhydian and Vulcan, despite being beasts, cringed and shivered on the side. They weren''t well-versed in human manners and conversations, thetter a bit better than the former, but even they felt that this whole situation was�� uncanny.

    There were no physical signs of discontent, stress, or anything like that. Nor had their voices or expressions any different than normal. Yet, there was an unexinable pressure�Ca tension�Cbetween the two.

    Almost as if a battle to the death could break out at any moment.

    ''Wh-What''s going on?'' Rhydian asked Vulcan with her eyes, but he was equally as confused.

    ''I''m�� not sure. Best just stay away and prevent anyone else from getting close.''

    ''Yeah�� I agree.''

    Neither Mira nor Maria were looking where they were going, they were just walking as if their minds were elsewhere.

    "I saw your battle. It seems you haven''t cked off in your training."

    "Of course not. I don''t want to die."

    "..."

    "However, it seems you''ve gotten more talkative. The Mira I knew would''ve already attacked me by now."

    "Well��" Mira scratched her cheek, her insides wrapping up in knots, but the words she wanted to say didn''te out. Her tails started sashaying, not realizing that Hana was still attached to her; the girl was using the [Hidden World] technique to its fullest, trying to stay silent.

    "Well," Maria continued, breaking the silence, "I suppose we all change, don''t we? I''ve had my fair share of growth since ourst... encounter."

    Mira nodded, her expression softening slightly. "So it seems."

    "I also did a lot of thinking." Maria suddenly said.

    Mira almost flinched at that but managed to keep her expression stoic. Thinking? What else could Maria be thinking about except��

    "How would you react upon our next visit? What would you say? What should I say?"

    "..." Mira kept quiet, listening intently.

    "I worked and worked and worked, trying to take my mind away from what happened. I didn''t sleep or eat and hardly meditated, only taking pills and elixirs to supplement my cultivation. All to forget about that feeling, the feeling of�� o-of�� well, you know."

    "..."

    "My body still trembled from the pain, you know?" She brought her hand up, and Mira nced to the side, seeing it shivering.

    "No matter what I do. No matter how hard I try to forget�� Even if my mind epts it, my body won''t."

    "...!" Mira''s body tensed up, but her legs kept moving, almost like she was trying to run away. However, Maria kept up, ensuring that she couldn''t.

    "...I feel like I lost a part of myself in that endless void." Maria clenched her fist before slowly putting it back to her side. "So this is what dying is like. Yet, somehow, I''m alive."

    Tilting her head up, Maria stared at the sky. As most of the blizzards and clouds in the surrounding area were blown away in the previous fight, all that was left was a clear, blue sky.

    "I hate it."

    She directed her attention to the clouds and storms ahead. "I hate it."

    "It almost feels like nothing''s real, like I''m in a state of limbo. However, the pain reminds me that I''m alive, that this is reality."

    "I guess this is how you always feel, huh?" Maria suddenly directed her attention to Mira, an uncanny smile on her face. "You said you''ve died before, right? More than once, in fact. Is this what you see? Is this how you feel?"

    "Maria��" Mira muttered, seeing crystalline tears form in the corner of her eyes.

    "Because if it''s like this, I almost wish that I actually died back there. At least then, I wouldn''t have to deal with this pain." Her eyes glowed a bright golden as they stared into Mira''s. "...the pain that you caused."

    "...Maria."

    "You know, a part of me even came to terms with the fact that I died. I mean, how couldn''t I? I''m a cultivator. I''ve been trained by you. Pain is a very natural part of life. However, even knowing that, I still couldn''t ovee it.

    Do you want to know why?"

    "..." Mira''s eyes shook. She could already guess the reason, and to say it was thest thing she wanted to hear was an understatement.

    "...It''s because the one whomitted such an act�� the one who ripped me in half�� the one who put a permanent scar on my soul was you, Mira. The woman I love."

    The world paused for a moment.

    ''.....Fuck��'' Mira''s eyes darted around, trying to find anything that could distract, but all she could see was Maria''s smiling, crying face. The way Maria was looking at her was like she was staring at death itself. ''What�� What the fuck did I do?''

    "If it was someone I hated, or who hated me that did this�� I think I could live without many issues. At least I''d be able to pursue revenge, right? At least I''d know that it was simply my fault for being too weak. But��"

    "..."

    "B-But I''m just not sure what I''m supposed to do." Tears started rolling down Maria''s cheeks as she said that, yet her smile remained. "I mean, even if I wanted to kill you, it''s impossible, right?"

    ''Damn��!'' Mira bit her lip. Every word that came out of her mouth was like a needle piercing her icy heart�Cthe damage was minimal, but cracks were beginning to show.

    "So, I resolved myself that I would just carry on with my life�Cthat someday I''d either get strong enough to resolve this on my own, or I''d die trying. However, that''s when Cine showed up at my doorstep. And you know what she said?"

    "She said that I need to confront you, to show you that I''m a person too. That I''ve be strong." She raised her hands as her smile grew. "But now that I''m here, I don''t think that''s quite right."

    Her aura started to grow as a blinding light engulfed the area. Mira''s danger senses were ringing, signaling her to move away, but she stood still.

    "Do your best not to die, my love."

    BOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 951: Maria vs. Mira Part 1

    Like a Divine Domain of angels descended from the Heavens, a bright golden light filled the area. Maria, the cause of this, sprouted massive golden wings out of her back and basked in the light.

    Although a decent chunk of Qi was used to create this scene, the environment wasn''t damaged in the slightest.

    Only a singr entity within this ''domain'' was attacked.

    Tssss!

    "Huh?" Mira jumped back, feeling her skin burn and bubble under the light. ''Just being in the mere presence of that light injured me? What the hell?''

    "Confused?" Maria giggled. "It''s too early for that. This is merely the first technique in the Battle Art my Master and I created specifically to deal with you. We call it the [Celestial Purge]."

    Mira raised her hand under the light. A burning sensation concentrated on that spot, yet it was more than that. A strange energy passed through the rest of her body, even prating her mind and soul.

    Under it, she felt her Killing Intent, connection to her scythe, and even her destruction element lessen. Walking a bit closer, that feeling intensified, igniting Mira''s curiosity.

    ''Fascinating��'' She muttered. "Purge, huh. A fitting name indeed. But how long can you use this?"

    A smirk gradually hung on Mira''s lips as she looked up at the angelic being she called her fiancee. She might not know much about emotions andplex feelings, but fighting? Now that was anguage she could speak!

    "You don''t need to worry about that!"

    In one of Maria''s hands, arge goldennce formed, while in the other, a shield. Then, starting from her feet, she was quickly covered in a heavy set of ck and golden armor made of both Corrupted Light and normal Light.

    "You better get serious, Mira." Maria calmly said, pointing hernce at her. "Because I won''t ept you dying too early on me." Her eyes shed with killing intent. The muscles on her arm flexed, and with a sudden movement, she hurled thence at Mira.

    BOOM!

    A massive crater formed where Mira once stood, but she was already a hundred meters away. ''Such a simple attack, surely��!''

    Suddenly, she sensed danger behind her and shed away, using her [cial Mirage Steps], but a searing pain came from one of her tails. Looking back, she saw Maria keeping up with her, this time holding a sword.

    ''[Translocation Step].''

    Maria actually disappeared from her sight and Soul Sense, only to reappear in front of her, mid-swing.

    SWOOSH!

    Mira just barely ducked in time, but a flurry of shes came afterward, each one more powerful than thest. Minor wounds marred her body as both Maria''s light and sword scratched and pierced her skin.

    ''Tch! This damn light.'' Mira clicked her tongue in annoyance, feeling her healing factor suppressed. Unknown to her, this was another one of her techniques, [de of Purity]. She tried to dash away, make some distance between them, but Maria always somehow managed to keep up as if she could teleport to her location.

    The two shot across thendscape, moving from one area to another in seconds. With every step, they traveled several kilometers.

    Mira dodged, blocked, and deflected countless attacks as Maria pursued with a relentless ferocity nobody had ever seen in her before. However, somehow, Maria was able to concentrate every ounce of strength onto a singr point, causing minimal damage to the surrounding area.

    As the minor injuries started to pile up, Mira''s expression became serious. ''I guess she wasn''t joking. I can''t treat this as a game.''

    Suddenly, she stopped right where she was and took out her scythe, parrying Maria''s attack and forcing her back.

    "What? Done looking down on me?" Maria giggled and reced her sword with another golden lightnce. "I guess all that training wasn''t for nothing."

    Maria raised thence in the air and prepared to throw it again, but Mira intervened this time.

    "As if I''d fall for that twice!" Dashing in, she swept her scythe across.

    However, Maria just smirked.

    Dink!

    Mira''s scythe collided with Maria''s armor, sending her sliding across the ground, but as soon as that happened, the blonde threw hernce at the sky.

    "Heh~ My [Scorching Radiance Lance] isn''t so easy to deal with!" With a wave of her hand, she healed all internal injuries that formed from the collision and backed off. The next second, a sword was back in her hand, and she dashed forward.

    Above, thence burst into an explosion of light, condensing on itself before shooting down scattered beams that burned their way through the Earth.

    "Now, let''s dance!"

    Tssss!

    A few passed through Mira,sering through her skin and tissue like it was nothing. Frustration welled up in her heart. ''Tch. She truly is focused on countering my strengths.''

    With a thought, she created an [Elemental Barrier] around her, with ice as its base, but the beams burnt through it like butter, forcing her to dodge.

    ''So, she even took into ount my ice affinity. Is that why she''s so confident?'' Mira thought, but she''d be a bit disappointed if that were all. After all, she could use many other elements aside from Ice.

    Even then, she felt like she wouldn''t need to resort to that; she could still win without the other elements, even if her ice element were useless.

    "Hehe~ I know that look! Do you truly believe victory is easily within your grasp?" Maria chuckled, continuing her back and forth with Mira. "Although it''s a bit early, I suppose it''s about time to unveil one of my proudest creations to date!"

    "Sundering Dawnstrike!"

    Out of Maria''s sword, a wall of light descended, splitting apart the Earth and chasing after Mira.

    Knowing that her affinities were suppressed, she opted to deploy her own [Death Dominion], reinforcing it with destructive Qi. Manifesting her own Light Shield with her Creation Tail, she counterattacked.

    A thin ck line extended from her scythe, threatening to slice Maria in half as the light wall descended her, the blonde held out her shield. Part of her domain instantly shattered, and the gooey ck line disintegrated, causing Mira to experience a bacsh.

    ''Dam! She''s really got all her bases covered!'' Blood dripped out the side of her mouth, but she just licked her lips and retracted her [Death Dominion]. Just as she was about to continue dodging the light wall, Maria disappeared and reappeared to her side.

    "[Radiant Bastion''s Onught]!"

    Bashing her shield in the air, the storied energy her shield absorbed from Mira''s death and destructive forces shot back at her.

    "...It seems you got me this time, Maria," Mira muttered with a slight smile. "Good job."

    BOOOOOM!

    A powerful force mmed into her side as the wall of light threatened to split her in half.

    "Hmph!" Mira grunted and exploded with power, sending sts of Yin Fire and Yin Lightning everywhere. As the antithesis of the mainstream elements, they were the best weapons in her arsenal to deal with these crazy light techniques. She spun her scythe, creating a vortex of darkness that swallowed and destroyed the iing attacks, pushing her [Cyclone of the Frozen Moo] technique to the limits.

    All the while, beams of light still rained down on her from the [Scorching Radiance Lance].

    Meanwhile, Maria wasn''t idle, nning for the next phase of the battle. She knew Mira wouldn''t be taken down with just this. She wasn''t that weak.

    ''Also, my information about what she gained after exiting the beast''s secret realm is unknown. From thatst attack, it seems she''s gained some sort of destructive ability, but I don''t know what it is. It seems to be a derivation of that death absorption/vitality-stealing ability she had, but a bit different.

    Fortunately, it seems luck is on my side, and my techniques can neutralize it to a certain extent, but I don''t believe Mira''s used it to its fullest.''

    Then, there was that white tail. That was apletely unknown factor, something she had to keep in mind and look out for. They''d need to go a few more rounds for her to get a good understanding of it, though she already had a few ideas.

    Just as she was contemting her next moves, the light cleared, and Mira''s bloody figure was revealed. She was still standing straight, with no signs of weakness.

    If anything, therge, bloody smile on her face made her look all the more terrifying.

    "...Crazy." Although she had expected it, Maria still couldn''t help but mutter. "...You know, even beasts withparable physiques would''ve died ten times over from that attack, right?"

    Mira cracked her neck and chuckled. "There''s no beastparable to me."

    "I guess so��"

    With arge gash going from one shoulder to her ankle and a massive bloody bruise along her rib cage, Mira brushed off the dirt from the remnants of her clothes and walked toward Maria with a steady gait.

    "Well, I let you have your fun." Her form flickered until itpletely vanished, as if she never existed.

    Before Maria could react, Mira appeared behind her and shed, creating a huge gash on her back, then kicking her and sending he flying. "Now, it''s my turn."

 Chapter 952: Maria vs. Mira Part 2

    Maria coughed up a mouthful of blood as that attack sent her reeling, but she just activated her [Tranedent Restoration] and was back to normal. Standing back up, she couldn''t help but be surprised at how powerful Mira was.

    ''Even though I came prepared�� As expected of her, I guess,'' She thought bitterly. Ever since she''d known Mira, the woman had been overwhelmingly powerful. Her instincts were outrageous, and she trained as if her life depended on it.

    With every battle, every training session, every day, she grew stronger. Now that she had so many buffs and enhancements, she was basically invincible amongst those in the same major realm as her.

    However, ever since she broke through the Core Formation Realm and obtained a teacher, she''s been nning for this day.

    At first, it was just a thought that she had shelved, but once her parents died, she underwent a drastic change.

    Since she met Mira, she had always been doing her best to keep up with her, but after some thinking and self-reflection, she understood that that was fundamentally wrong.

    Mira''s talent was too high. Every time she broke through a stage, it was equivalent to multiple breakthroughs. Catching up to her was impossible.

    However, unlike what most people knew about Mira, including Aelina, she wasn''t perfect or invincible.

    Everything had a counter; the only question left was how to exploit them.

    And Maria knew Mira better than anyone else.

    ''Mira often fights recklessly, trading blows and relying on her vitality.''

    So, she cut off that path for Mira. If she wanted to trade blows against the best healer on the Continent, she''d bleed out first.

    Lowering her stance, Maria prepared for the next attack. Like she thought, Mira disappeared from her senses, turning into a phantom, or rather, a [Reaper].

    ''I don''t know where she''ll attack from, but��''

    As soon as that thought passed, something phased through her armor. She instantly used her [Translocation Step] and teleported away, throwing a [Scorching Radiance Lance] where she previously stood.

    BOOOOM!

    Mira''s form was visible for a split second, and that was all she needed. With another step, she appeared right next to her and shed.

    Sensing her approach, Mira parried her sword and counterattacked, which she blocked with her shield.

    The two went back and forth for hundreds of rounds in an instant, darting across thendscape. Sparks, shes, and explosions went off like a chain reaction, lighting up the area and destroying everything in their path.

    There were still a fewte arrivalsing to the scene, trying to catch a glimpse of the castle, only to explode in a blood mist as Mira and Maria passed through.

    Mira''s scythey was more refined and unpredictable than Maria''s swordsmanship, so she was able to score more hits, but thetter''s shield always killed her momentum at the most opportune time.

    ''Her second weakness is her scythe, which requires a delicate bnce of strength and momentum to fully utilize its potential. She''s skilled, but there''s a limit.''

    Thus, instead of going down the path of the sword, which she had mediocre talent with, she added a shield, which was the perfect ''weapon'' to counter Mira''s fighting style.

    Grunting in annoyance, Mira stomped on the ground hard, causing the ground to shatter. Yin Lightning gathered around her and with a step, she disappeared. Maria followed suit, but Mira was one step ahead of her!

    BOOOOM!

    A scythe mmed into her side, shattering her ribcage and sending her flying. Before she could react, Mira appeared in front of her with her fist raised.

    [Explosive Ice Gauntlet]!

    A tremendous force came down on her shield, cracking it and breaking that arm.

    BOOM!

    Maria''s body bounced off the ground, creating a crater from the tremendous force as she coughed up more blood.

    "Come on! That can''t be it, can it?!" Mira yelled as she descended from the sky like a meteor.

    BOOM!

    A mushroom cloud of dust extended into the sky, forming a deep chasm from thatst sh. Fortunately, Maria had already shed away, healing her injuries.

    "Of course not. Rather, I was waiting for this exact moment." Maria smiled and snapped her fingers. Hundreds of mirrors appeared around Mira, scattered throughout the battlefield.

    With a thought, thesers from above focused on the mirrors, reflecting tens, hundreds, and thousands of times, creating a maze of countless skin-melting beams of light.

    Mira was about to go back into her [Reaper] form and pursue Maria but was forced to stop as one of thosesers brushed by her shoulder, dispelling the form for a moment.

    ''Tch! The one downside of this technique elemental attacks.'' Mira grumbled in annoyance as she looked around, hoping for a way out. However, as time passed, the beams closed in on her, preventing any sort of escape.

    It didn''t help that she was a rather tall woman with ten bushy tails. If she wanted to escape this entrapment unscathed, she''d need to be about half her size.

    ''Ah! Half my size!''

    Without hesitation, she transformed into a small fox. At some point, within all the chaos, Hana was thrown to Rhydian for safekeeping so she didn''t have to worry about that little burden.

    Maria was shocked, seeing the new form Mira could take on, but reacted instantly. "Don''t think you can escape with just that!"

    With a quick step, she shield-sted Mira in the face, sending her back into the cage just as her transformation finished. The next instant, thework ofsers created walls that entrapped Mira on all sides and they were closing in fast.

    "What''re you going to do now, Mira? You can eithere out willingly or�� I guess unwillingly."

    "Damn. Looks like you got me again." Mira''s calm, cold voice came from within as a slight chuckle escaped her lips. "Fine, I''ll y your game."

    Honestly, her only option at that point was to dig out, but she felt that had more consequences than upsides.

    Thus, left with no real choice, Mira, back in her human form, jumped out of the ''wall'' closest to Maria, doing whatever she could to prevent severe injuries. Her skin and flesh were seared, ckened, and bubbling just from that split second, but she had no time to care about such injuries.

    Without hesitation, sheunched herself back at Maria, who was smirking at the sight. Mira''s [cial Mirage Steps] were certainly powerful, but in her eyes, they were iplete. Or rather, they weren''t effective against her.

    How much time had she spent with Mira, enduring those harsh, cold gazes, that dense killing intent, and the terrifying pressure that she constantly emanated? Unless her ''mirages'' were exact replicas of the original, they''d never be able to fool her.

    ''Other people might fall for it, but not me!''

    Raising her sword, she unleashed another [Sundering Dawnstrike], meeting Mira head-on.

    BOOM!

    The two were pushed back from a dense explosion before dashing back in, exchanging countless blows. Both of them incurred injuries, big and small, but due to the unique properties of Maria''s light, one was regenerating as soon as they appeared, while the other was worsening.

    "Has anyone ever told you how annoying that technique is?" Mira asked, her voice stillposed, yet it sounded slightly strained.

    "Hehe~ No~ Nobody has lived long enough to say something like that."

    "Truly, what a pain in the ass."

    "Thank you~!"

    Mira tried to increase the pace, using the Light, Yin Lightning, and Yin Fire elements to speed things up and add more destruction to her attacks. However, Maria just smiled and epted everything, using her own strategy against her.

    She was trading blows!

    ''Damn! So ruthless!'' Mira was tempted to cry tears of joy as her friend/fiancee/disciple finally took her advice seriously, but now wasn''t the time. Still, inwardly, she was very impressed. Even the killing intenting out of her eyes felt real.

    ''No, I guess it is real.'' Chuckling to herself, she kicked Maria in the stomach and created some distance, nning her next moves. Inspecting her body, Mira sighed and understood that she should probably end things soon lest things get out of hand.

    Maria watched Mira''s expression change several times and smiled to herself.

    ''And that''s Mira''s third weakness: herck of proper techniques.''

    Since her strength grew exponentially and she was constantly either being chased or chasing, she never had the time or felt the need to create suitable techniques. Although there were a few surprises, they were still within Maria''s expectations.

    If Mira had a true Battle Art, a set of techniques that synergize well, she''d be many times more dangerous. Fighting against beasts, such things weren''t necessary, but humans were different. Rather than tough bodies, techniques made up for most of their strength. And Maria nned to push that to the extremes, focusing on a single aspect: countering Mira.

    Without something like that, all she had to do was survive Mira''s onught and oust her. Something she had made ample preparations for.

    Suddenly, a series of ps entered her ears.

    "Well done, Maria. Truly. This amount of growth in such a short amount of time is shocking, to say the least." Mira slowly stopped pping and gripped her scythe before she continued. "Unfortunately, all good things muste to an end."

    "Oh? Finally going all out, are we?" Maria quipped back as Mira nodded.

    "I''m sure slowly whittling me down isn''t all that satisfying of a win for you."

    Maria shrugged, notmenting, but Mira could partially understand her feelings. Right now, she was seeking a sort of ''revenge''. Coming from someone who pursued vengeance her entire life, there''s nothing more satisfying than crushing your opponent after a hard-fought battle. Eeking out a win on a technicality isn''t interesting at all.

    "So, let''s take this up a notch!"

    [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration]!

    All of Mira''s tails glowed fiercely as nine exact replicas of Mira appeared around her. The very space around them trembled as the oppressive aura behind each clone bore down on Maria.

    "It''s a bit sooner than I expected, but I guess this is fine."

    Raising her sword in the air, she inwardly eximed, "Sanctity of the Prime Radiant.''

    All the light in the surroundings was sucked into Maria''s position like a ck hole. The light from the sun, the natural light from the Earth, the atmospheric Light Qi�� everything. They all descended onto Maria like she was some sort of deity.

    She bathed in this seemingly infinite power as a domain extended out of her, covering the battlefield.

    The two squared off, staring at one another. With a simultaneous nod, the two disappeared.

    BOOOOOM!

 Chapter 953: Maria vs. Mira Part 3

    "Wow~!" Kaius whistled, watching the battle between Mira and Maria y out. "Those two are amazing!"

    Standing next to him, Cine nodded silently, her gaze nk. Kaius was transmitting what he saw directly to her mind, allowing her to watch such a spectacle.

    "Didn''t you say they were lovers? Why are they trying to kill each other?"

    "Well��" Cine lowered her head. How was she supposed to answer that?

    "...Love isplicated, I guess."

    "Damn right." Kaius nodded seriously. "Watching them makes me realize that my decision to stay single was the correct choice!"

    "..."

    "I already have enough people trying to kill me as is. I don''t need to add another weakness for them to exploit."

    Cine strategically kept her mouth shut despite wanting to say otherwise. Mira and Maria were trying hard not to be a burden to each other�� even if it might not look like it right now. They just needed to ''talk'' things out.

    She turned her attention back to the battle, her ''eyes'' hardly able to keep up with the speed at which they both moved. If it weren''t for Kaius''s help, all she''d be able to see would be around a dozen dim lights moving at extreme speeds, followed by shes of light.

    "Who do you think will win?" Kaius suddenly asked with a grin.

    Cine frowned slightly. "...I don''t think it''s my ce to-"

    "My bet''s on the blonde one." He interrupted, but Cine kept quiet.

    Not minding her, he continued, "She''s putting her all into killing the fox. Every move is calcted, and she''s even overworking her body just to win."

    "So, you''re saying Mira isn''t?" Hearing his words, Cine grew curious.

    "Hmmm�� I''m not sure. She''s obviously trying to win, but at the same time, not? Honestly, I''m not quite sure. The techniques she''s shown so far have been incredibly powerful, though a bit crude. She seems like the type of person only to have surekill moves. If she wanted to win, she might be forced to kill the blonde, but that''s just my spection."

    "..." Cine opened her mouth, surprised at how urate Kaius was.

    Although she didn''t know as much about Mira''s techniques as Maria, she knew that battles to the death against Mira almost neversted this long. Spars might, since neither side was trying to kill one another, but this was a different story.

    ''Is Mira holding back? No, I doubt even she''s stupid enough to do that. She has to know that doing so would be incredibly disrespectful.'' She thought, shaking her head.

    ''Or maybe this is exactly what Maria wanted�� Maybe she had already taken this into ount before the battle started��'' If that was the case, then it wasn''t that Mira hadn''t gone all out, but Maria had gone into it, knowing Mira''sck of variety despite her overwhelming power.

    ''Maria might actually eke out a win��!'' Although she previously said that it wasn''t her ce, she was rooting for Maria.

    That was the whole point of this trip, after all!

    ***

    "AHHHH!"

    "HELP!"

    "RUN-AGH!"

    Screams and explosions resounded as people who were caught up as coteral damage were obliterated. Mira and Maria''s battle extended further than just the vicinity of the castle. They zig-zagged in and out of the blizzard, scattering the storm, reducing small biomes to mere remnants, and annihting small cities.

    The death toll from their ''duel'' started in the tens, then the hundreds, and is somewhere in the thousands now as their des shed at the speed of light, or so it seemed.

    Mira unleashed a flurry of strikes with her scythe, each swing generating deadly arcs of yin lightning that seared the air and scorched the earth. Maria parried each strike with her sword, the ng of metal on metal echoing like thunder.

    In a sudden shift, Mira''s clones vanished, leaving her alone against Maria. But this was no retreat; it was a feint. From the shadows, the real Mira emerged, her scythe aimed directly at Maria''s back.

    Maria spun around, her shield materializing in a sh of light to block the strike. The impact sent shockwaves through the area, toppling what few structures remained standing.

    "Not bad," Mira grinned. "But let''s see how you handle this."

    With a sweeping gesture, Mira summoned a vortex of yin fire mixed with destruction, the bluish-ck mes swirling around her, seeking Maria like sentient predators. Maria raised her sword, channeling the purest light she could muster into its de.

    She took the [de of Purity] to its extreme, and the sword burst into blinding luminescence, dispelling the shadows and evaporating the yin fire on contact.

    The two warriors collided once again, their weapons shing with such force that the resulting explosion of energy sent a shockwave rippling for miles. The ground beneath them cracked and split, creating chasms that swallowed the remnants of the once-thrivingndscape.

    Mira adopted a new strategy, her movements bing unpredictable, her attacksing from every conceivable angle. Maria responded with equal cunning, her light-based powers providing her with just enough foresight to anticipate Mira''s strikes and ''teleport'' to counter them.

    In a particrly close exchange, Mira''s scythe grazed Maria''s arm, drawing blood. Maria retaliated with a swift thrust of her sword, piercing Mira''s side. Both women staggered back, their injuries severe but not yet fatal.

    They jumped back in. Another round of attacks ensued, with Mira''s clones popping out of nowhere, attacking at the most random times, and Maria deflecting the necessary attacks and healing the ones that went through.

    At some point, Maria felt her Qi reserves starting to dwindle at a rapid pace. On top of consumption from her ultimate technique, [Sanctity of the Prime Radiant], the injuries she received were starting to build up.

    No matter how fast she was, how far she predicted, or how strong she seemed, fighting against so many Mira''s was too difficult. Fighting against one was already as difficult as ascending the Heavens! And now there were nine more!

    Although they weren''t quite as strong as the original, they were all connected to her.

    Gritting her teeth, she came to a conclusion. ''I have to end this. Now!''

    On the other side, Mira wasn''t any different. The more attacks she received, the more the damage piled up, the less her tremendous vitality kicked in, almost as if it was sealed.

    Worse, whenever shended a hit on Maria''s armor, a chunk of that Corrupted Light Qi would enter her body and wreak havoc!

    Fighting against Maria was like trying to kill an immortal, poisonous porcupine that was as fast as the speed of light. There wasn''t any good option. Attacking hurt her. Defending hurt her. Maria was too fast to retreat, and facing her head-on only led to more injuries.

    ''However, I''m still not done!''

    ''[Blood Burst!''

    ''[Reverse Restoration]!''

    Both of them exploded with power at the same time. Veins protruded all over Mira''s body as copious amounts of power-filled blood pumped through them.

    On the other side, Maria''s body shriveled up everywhere except her legs and sword-wielding arm. She concentrated every ounce of vitality she had into those parts, continuously pumping more energy into them.

    Mira''s [Blood Burst] technique filled her with a ferocious, almost primal strength, her eyes glowing red with murderous intent as she faced off against Maria, who, despite her drained appearance, emanated a focused, almost serene power with her [Reverse Restoration].

    Kaius, still sharing the vision with Cine, couldn''t contain his excitement. "They''re pushing beyond their limits! This is what truebat looks like!"

    On the battlefield, Mira became a blur of motion andunched herself at Maria. Her scythe cut through the air, aiming to rend not just flesh but the very fabric of Maria''s being.

    Maria met Mira''s attack with a deft parry, her de glowing with an intense light that seemed to pierce the gathering darkness.

    The sh was monumental, sending waves of disrupted energy cascading across the battlefield, toppling the remaining ruins and uprooting centuries-old trees.

    Mira summoned her clones back into the fray, each one copying her movements, creating a mass of destruction aimed at overwhelming Maria.

    But Maria anticipated and countered each strike. Her movements were a blur of light, her sword shing through the clones, dispersing them like shadows at dawn. Yet, with each clone she destroyed, the toll on her vitality became evident, her movements growing slightly morebored, her breaths more ragged.

    Back on the battlefield, Mira, realizing the toll her clones were taking on Maria, intensified her assault, ripping pieces of flesh off with every strike.

    Maria knew she had to end the fight soon or risk being overwhelmed.

    With a burst of speed born from sheer willpower, Maria closed the distance between them, her sword aimed at a vital point.

    Mira barely managed to deflect the strike, but the force of Maria''s attack sent her staggering back.

    Seizing the moment, Maria let out a battle cry and used every ounce of Qi left in her body to end this!

    Schlick!

    As if it had teleported there, a de pierced its way through Mira''s chest, with Maria standing right in front of her.

    "Not yet!" Mira yelled and ordered the remaining clones to attack! They immediately burst out with power with their scythes raised and struck.

    "Hahaha~! I''ve already considered that!" Maria shouted with a crazy smile. The wings on her back concentrated on a single point and pushed her forward, acting as thrusters that shot the two forward.

    The two tumbled on the ground, with Mira''s clones stabbing into them. They both felt pain all over their bodies, but when the dust cleared, Maria was seen sitting over someone, covered in blood and still holding onto the sword in Mira''s chest.

    "...I win." She muttered, a bloody smile crossing her face as she fainted.

 Chapter 954: Saved

    "...Good job, Maria," Mira muttered as her body fell limp. She wanted to give the blonde a few pats on the back, but she was too injured and exhausted to do so.

    ''...It''s been a long time since someone has pushed me to this point.'' Mira thought, ignoring the fact that she was slowly dying.

    Whatever Maria did to prevent her from healing was still in effect, and herst attack had actually knicked her ''heart'', or rather, her Absolute Essence Core.

    She was continuously losing blood, and the aftereffects of [Blood Burst] certainly didn''t help. Her Qi had pretty much run dry, and her mind was starting to be fuzzy.

    There were probably only a handful of times in all her lives when she was in such a pitiful state.

    ''It''s not bad.'' She chuckled to herself. ''If it were anyone else who did this, I''d probably be raging, unwilling to ept my defeat, but�� I probably deserve this.''

    It was a hard-fought battle, one where she truly put her all into it.

    ''No, that''s not right.'' She inwardly shook her head. ''I did try to win, but I wasn''t trying to kill her. I didn''t want to.''

    If she had used her Scythe manifestation and truly pushed her creation abilities to the limit, she may have been able to kill her. However, if she did that, nobody would win. She didn''t want Maria to die, after all.

    But all of this was mere semantics, perhaps a way to cope with everything. In the end, she didn''t use them and lost. Maria had nned properly and used everything at her disposal, pushing what was possible to the limits.

    She didn''t even know the light element could be used so creatively. It was much more dangerous than she had initially given it credit for.

    ''Or maybe I just ignored it because I thought it could only be used to heal, which was something I almost never needed.''

    After some introspection, she realized that maybe.. she should put more effort into other elements besides ice. Not in the way that she''d suddenly be an Earth-element user or something, but she could try and find a way to synergize all her elements together properly.

    Simr to how she created her Explosive Ice Gauntlet, but slightly different.

    ''Haaa�� So much to do.''

    Forging, cultivation, killing, training, Dao enlightenment, treasure-hunting, and training her daughter/disciple�� She had too much on her te with not a lot of time.

    Fortunately, she was as talented as she was, or else she might end up spending centuries without much progress in anything.

    ''Should I just spend the next decade or so forging and creating my own techniques?'' That fleeting thought actually sounded quite enticing, but she knew she''d have to wait until she could sit down and dedicate that much time to that.

    She coughed a few times, with blood trickling down her lips, and gave a bitter smile. ''That is, if I can survive.''

    Suddenly, Rhydian swooped down alongside Vulcan and Hana. Shimmying her wing under their bodies, she lifted them onto her back, where Vulcan and Hana were able to take care of them and took flight.

    "Are�� Are you alright, Mira?" Hana hesitantly asked, despite knowing the answer. No matter how she looked at it, Mira was in an awful state; her breath was weak, her face pale, and the oppressive aura she usually emanated was no longer there.

    Mira slowly nodded, but that was the extent of what she could do.

    "...Is there something I can do?" Hana asked back, but Mira just bitterly smiled.

    She could take out herbs from her Infinite Garden or some questionable pills from her Storage Space, but neither would be of much use.

    She wasn''t dying right now because shecked the vitality to heal; it was because that part of her was sealed. She couldn''t heal right now, even if she wanted to, not without dissipating Maria''s Qi, which wasn''t easy in her current state.

    Vulcan gently pushed Maria off of Mira, giving thetter space to breathe. However, he left the sword in her chest, knowing that removing it would do more harm than good.

    Then, he walked over to one of Maria''s hands and pressed his nose against her Spatial Ring. A momentter, two pills popped out and onto Rhydian''s back. He picked up one of them with his teeth and nudged the other toward Hana.

    "D-Do you want me to give this to Mira?" Hana asked, a bit confused. Who even was this fox?

    Vulcan let out a resigned sigh and nodded. As much as he disliked Mira, he didn''t want to see her die.

    Hana''s hands trembled slightly as she picked up the pill Vulcan nudged toward her. "This will help her, right?" she asked, her voiceced with worry as she looked at Vulcan.

    Vulcan nodded, then hopped on Maria''s chest.

    With a deep breath, Hana approached Mira, her hand extending the pill toward her. "Mira, you need to take this," she urged, her voice gentle but insistent.

    With her consciousness flickering like a candle in the wind, Mira barely managed to nod. With Herculean effort, she opened her mouth, allowing Hana to ce the pill on her tongue. The effect was almost immediate; a faint glow emanated from her body as the ''seal'' that held her vitality back burst open like a dam, allowing her to finally heal.

    Sensing that things would now be alright, she passed out and allowed her body and the pill to work its magic.

    Vulcan, meanwhile, turned his attention to Maria, who was still unconscious but stable. He knew her recovery was crucial, not just for her own sake, but for Mira''s as well.

    He dropped the pill in her mouth, then shoved it down her throat with his paw. Although Maria heaved and coughed, trying to puke it back up, Vulcan didn''t allow her to.

    As soon as the pill hit her stomach, it dissolved and covered her entire body in a light film as all her injuries began to heal.

    Although these were just preventative measures, they would at least keep them alive until they could truly deal with their injuries. Vulcan sighed andid down on Rhydian''s back.

    Now that he had effectively extended their lives, all he could do was wait for them to wake up.

    The journey continued in silence, the only sound being the rush of wind and the steady beat of Rhydian''s wings.

    ***

    "Yes! Hahaha! I told you! I knew the blonde would win!" Kaius pumped his fist in the air and shouted. Nobody knew, but he had secretly protected those two from any outside interference from the Divine Sea Realm ''kids''.

    Cine rolled her eyes, but the slight smile on her face betrayed her thoughts. "...I''m just d it''s over."

    "Yeah, yeah. I know you enjoyed watching them, too. No need to lie."

    "..."

    "Anyways, you have some impressive friends, girly." He turned to her with a smile. "It''ll be pretty difficult to keep up with them."

    "...I know." Cine''s expression returned to neutral.

    "But don''t worry! I''ll make you strong enough to shove both of them in the dirt!"

    "..."

    "...Maybe."

    Cine''s eyebrow twitched. She suddenly regretted her decision to ept this fool''s teaching.

    "Hey! Don''t give me that look! Those two are insane! Especially that fox! I know she technically lost, but she hardly used any techniques and basically fought at a severe disadvantage the entire time. Yet, she still pushed that blonde to the brink of copse with pure, unrefined power.

    Give her a few years, and she might truly be unparalleled in this world!"

    Cine sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I know. She''s a monster, through and through. Maria is talented as well, but this was probably the only chance she''ll ever get to beat Mira. I doubt Mira will ever allow herself to suffer such a loss again."

    "Damn! I guess we got our work cut out for us, huh?" Kaius clicked his tongue. To be honest, he''d never seen someone as talented as Mira.

    Based on pure physical strength and Qi reserves, nobody could match her at the same level. Even he, back when he was in the Soul Transformation Realm, wouldn''t be able to contend with her.

    She put all these so-called geniuses to shame. And that was without creating or following a set fighting style. To him, it just looked as if she was throwing Qi around without reserve, as she simply had too much.

    Why the need for control when her every move could destroy whatever she wanted?

    However, what if that changed? What if she perfected her control, followed a set fighting style, created her own Battle Art, and truly mastered herself?

    ''...I can''t even begin to imagine how strong she''d be.'' And that thought brought a smile to his face.

    The world has been so boring for so long! Now, finally, something interesting was happening!

    "Hahaha! Alright! Now, I''m motivated!" He suddenly burst outughing before grabbing Cine''s shoulders. "For our first goal, let''s make you as strong as those two!"

    "...What?"

    "And for that, we''re going to need to catch a few bugs." ncing at the ceiling, he smiled sinisterly as he watched the so-called Masters try to break into his castle.

 Chapter 955: Bonds

    A few minutester, Kaius sat grandly in his throne, Cine standing by his side. In front of him were six Masters, who had previously been fighting and trying to enter this castle. Now, they were on their knees with their hands raised. Something was pressing down on them, forcing them into this hateful position.

    Meanwhile, Yanira was grumbling in the corner about how much of a distrustful bastard he was and that she wouldn''t let this grudge go.

    Kaius chuckled, his smile widening as he tapped his throne. "Now, my subjects! Do you know why I''ve called for you today?"

    ''Who''s your fucking subjects?! What call?! This is kidnapping!''

    "..." The Sect Master''s eyes turned red with fury as they ground their teeth, ring at the man.

    "I''ve heard your pleas, loud and clear! You seek treasures, right? Well, I''ve brought you something better! You''ve been granted the opportunity to teach this luckydy!" He loudly proimed and gestured toward Cine.

    All their killing intent and resentment were immediately directed at her, but she continued to stand there with an indifferent expression. How scary could these old folks, who hole themselves up in their Sects for decades at a time, bepared to a real demon?

    It was during times like these that she was grateful for the mental scars Mira gave her.

    "I know, I know, don''t get too excited~!" He waved his hand lightly, only to receive more res. "Even though she looks like this now, I assure you, she''s a little treasure~ I mean, have you seen such green hair before? It reminds me of the forest I used to hunt in when I was little. And what better treasure is there for us old folk than nostalgia~?"

    "..."

    The master''s nearly spat up blood, listening to his nonsense. They honestly couldn''t tell if this man was putting on an act or if he was truly brain-damaged.

    Eventually, one of them couldn''t take it anymore. "You bastard! Let me go!!! I didn''t sign up for this! What the hell are you even talking about?! You fucke-ACK!"

    Kaius pointed at the man, whose body proceeded to twist unnaturally. A few sickening cracks resounded throughout the castle as the man was tied up like a pretzel.

    Leaning back on his throne, he sighed and shook his head, rubbing his temples. "I apologize, twisty minister. It seems I misunderstood your intentions. If I had known you didn''t like treasures, I would''ve never called for you. You''re free to go."

    However, the crunches and cracks never stopped.

    Clearly, he wasn''t free to go.

    Understanding the underlying threat, the ''twisty minister'' gritted his teeth and spat, "I�� understand. Th-Thank you for this�� opportunity."

    "Good!" Kaius pped with a smile. "Then, are there any more objections?"

    "..."

    Nobody dared to say anything.

    Kaius took that silence as eptance and stood up. "Very well, then! We''ll begin immediately!"

    Just as he was about to lift the ''pressure'' off of them, a sudden thought came and he turned to Yanira. "Ah! That''s right, I nearly forgot about you, Court Jester!"

    Yanira''s eyes spewed fire as she burst into mes. "Jester?! You bastar-!"

    "You''re free to go." Kaius smiled.

    "See ya!" Yanira shot out of the hall before he could even think of another word.

    "..."

    "Now, let''s get to work!"

    Cine watched all of this happen with a deadpan expression.

    ''...Why is everyone in my life crazy? Why did I agree to this crap? I should''ve known better, that this man wasn''t sane.'' She couldn''t help butment her life choices.

    It seemed as if she couldn''t stop making shitty decisions, as if she was some sort of masochist for it!

    ''...I mean, I do get stronger, but�� Haah�� Whatever. What''s done is done. I can only ept it and move forward.''

    Then, thinking of a ck-haired little ''princess'', she muttered, ''Sorry, Asami. Looks like I might be gone for a while.''

    ***

    A week after Mira and Maria''s battle��

    With so many Sect Masters and powerhouses disappearing, the top Sects and powers went into a panic. Once word spread that they were supposedly trapped inside the castle that they were investigating, tens of thousands of people marched toward their ''prison''.

    They all entered the castle in droves, hoping to either save their Sect Masters or obtain rare and powerful treasures��perhaps both. Not only was this a huge loss of face and a disgrace to their Sect, but Divine Sea Realm masters served as a deterrent to keep away other ambitious organizations.

    One of the biggest groups caught up in this mess was the Thunderstrike Pavillion. Not only had they lost quite a few Elders, but many of their talented disciples had perished.

    Due to many disliking Master Lei, he had many enemies. All of whom were looking at his Pavillion as if it were a fat b of meat. Without their main fighting force, surviving an onught against all the powers eyeing them would be almost impossible.

    Even if they could, the Thunderstrike Pavillion would be destroyed.

    This was the case for everyone who was captured. However, rather than worrying about those up-anding organizations invading, they were more worried about Yanira. And rightfully so.

    The first thing she did once she was free was spread the word about everyone who was captured by Kaius.

    Consequences? Future troubles?

    She didn''t care about any of that.

    Everyone who wasn''t a part of her Sect was an enemy, and the fewer long-standing organizations like the Thunderstrike Pavillion, the better.

    Those newbie factions were much easier to handle than ones with thousands of years of history.

    No matter who came out on top, she would be the ultimate winner.

    Unfortunately, her actions alerted some rather�� annoying people who were waiting for this very moment.

    It wasn''t even a few dayster before the continent was filled with baldies screaming:

    "Praise the Heavens!"

    "Praise the Lord!"

    Without the intensepetition, those Sects and organizations brought, along with the other smaller powers aiming for their legacies, the Heavenly Creation Order could roam free uninhibited, searching for these so-called ''Holy Relics''.

    They had already obtained the most difficult one from Kaius, now they could focus entirely on retrieving the remaining ones.

    ***

    "Ugh��" Mira groaned, lying on a nice, soft bed. She tossed and turned a few times before her eyshes fluttered.

    Mira''s eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the dimly lit room, her senses graduallying back to her. Thest thing she remembered was the intense pain, her consciousness fading, and then darkness. Now, here she was, lying in afortable bed, her body no longer screaming in agony but still weak.

    "Where... am I?" she muttered, her voice hoarse, as she tried to prop herself up. Her movements were sluggish, her body feeling as if it was made of lead. Such a novel feeling left her confused yet somewhat delighted. However, she ignored that.

    "You''re safe," a familiar voice responded. Maria walked over, a light smile ying on her lips as she carried what looked like a ss of tea.

    "Right now, we''re in a little cabin Alicia made for me, just in case."

    "Alicia?" Mira tilted her head, then suddenly remembered the girl she had trained in that vige when she was younger. "Why''d she�� No, never mind. It doesn''t matter."

    She held her head and grunted. Her mind was still a little fuzzy after awakening from such a deep sleep.

    Maria smiled and sat down next to her, cing a cup in front of her. "Tea?"

    "...Sure." Mira grabbed the cup and downed the whole thing in a single gulp. Her head instantly cleared up, bing more alert as she wiped her lips. "...Not bad."

    "Of course! Alicia only provides the best!"

    ''Alicia again, huh?'' Mira thought in slight annoyance. "...Sounds like she''s doing well over there with you."

    Maria nodded and looked ahead. "We all are. Everyone''s learning at a pace that''d be hard to achieve anywhere else. It''s not just about strength or knowledge but teamwork as well. I think the girls have finally transformed into a single entity, knowing each other like the back of their hands."

    Mira was a bit surprised to hear such praise. ''To think those girls I randomly picked up grew so much�� Maybe I should give them a visit?''

    A bold n started to form in her mind, but she shook her head and put it on hold. ''Now isn''t the time for that.''

    "Well, I''m d they''re finally of some use." Mira slowly nodded as she sat up.

    Maria leaned back on the bed and whispered. "...They miss you, you know?"

    Mira turned back, eyebrow raised. "Why? We''ve only interacted for a short while, and all I did was put them through hell. Why would they miss me?"

    "You helped them through their darkest moments. Something like that can''t be forgotten so easily."

    "...I guess."

    "..."

    A long silence passed between the two.

    Mira could feel the hairs on the back of her neck itching from Maria''s stare. She didn''t explicitly say it, but��

    Taking a deep breath, her eyes shook as they met Maria''s. There were so many things she could say, wanted to say, wanted to do, but��

    All of that culminated in two words as Mira finally opened her mouth.

    "I''m��. sorry."

 Chapter 956: The Truth

    "..."

    Maria paused for a moment, her expression softening as she processed Mira''s words. The apology hung in the air between them. It was a rare moment of vulnerability for Mira, who had always been stoic and indifferent to everything.

    Thest time Maria heard those words from Mira was right after her parents had died. That was the first time Mira had ever apologized. However, rather than saying it because she had truly done something wrong, Maria saw it more as a way to feel better after losing her parents.

    Now, although the words were the same, the meaning behind them was different.

    In a sense, this was the first time she had ever seen Mira look guilty over something she had done. She could torture, kill, plunder, andmit every other atrocity known to man, yet not a speck of emotion would reflect on her face.

    Now, however, Maria could see the slight quiver in her eyes, the genuine expression of guilt, her cheeks twitching on reflex, along with her slightly downturned ears.

    Her face remained almost as impassive as ever, but Maria could tell the subtle differences in her expression.

    ''She seems confused, maybe a bit worried, but most of all�� her feelings are sincere.'' Maria smiled slightly and nodded.

    "It''s... okay," Maria finally responded with a gentle voice, only for Mira to interrupt.

    "No. It''s not okay." She stated, looking directly into Maria''s eyes. "You''re my fiancee, the one I allowed�� no, that''s not right. The one I will spend the rest of my life with. Even if it was required of me, and I knew you''d be alright, I shouldn''t have ''killed'' you."

    Maria''s heart skipped a beat at Mira''s words, and her eyes widened slightly. She had never heard Mira speak so candidly about her feelings and their rtionship. The weight of Mira''s confession, her admission of guilt, and her acknowledgment of their bond resonated deeply within Maria.

    However, she didn''t miss theplicated glint in her eyes.

    For a long moment, they simply looked at each other. Then, Maria reached out, cing her hand over Mira''s. "Thank you for your words, Mira. Really."

    Pausing for a few seconds to allow everything to sink in, she continued. "We''ve been through a lot together. From when we were kids all the way to now, as some of the strongest people in the world. We''ve fought together��"

    Memories of their time together, fighting against weak little beasts, shed through their minds.

    "...We''ve fought against each other."

    All the times they spared and trained flowed through their minds, continuing until their most recent battle.

    "We''ve gone on numerous adventures�Clearning and growing together."

    The various Trials and Secret Realms they entered came to mind.

    "You�� introduced me to the horrors of the world."

    Maria trembled slightly, remembering the first time she had to kill someone. She''d never forget that day until the day she died. To this day, she still dislikes the feeling of killing other humans, though she has gotten used to it.

    It was the way of the world�Cthe way of cultivators�Cand she had to ept that.

    Then, taking their hands and cing them over Mira''s heart, she muttered, "And I like to think that maybe, I''ve shown you the good sides of the world."

    Mira subtly nodded, causing a smile to bloom on Maria''s face.

    "I trust you with my life, and I hope you trust me with yours."

    Mira made aplicated face, but she once again nodded, albeit much slower.

    Maria chuckled, not offended. A mountain wasn''t moved in a day, after all.

    "What I''m trying to get at by saying all this is that, out of all the people in this world, I know you better than anyone. I know you care for me. I know you don''t want me to die. Everything you force upon me, you believe, is for my own benefit. That''s why I know you would never raise your scythe against me for no reason. So, please, trust me.

    Tell me what that ce was and why you believed that was the only way out."

    "..."

    Mira''splicated expression gradually grew serious as she began to ponder.

    What should she say? Where should she start?

    ''She deserves to know, but��'' She bit the inside of her cheek. Even she was disgusted by the shit she went through inside the FLDIL. Just thinking about some of that stuff sent every atom in her body into a state of shock.

    She didn''t want to talk about those things. She didn''t want to put that burden on Maria.

    She didn''t want to have her lover look at her with eyes of pity and longing whenever she had to enter the Firmament.

    However, things wouldn''t make sense if she just said, ''It''s a torturous staircase that leads to hell.''

    ''I know I''ve been keeping Maria at arm''s length, trying not to get too close, but�� it seems like I can''t do that anymore.''

    She had a choice to make here: Either she kept her secrets and lost Maria''s trust, or she spilled everything and fullymitted to the rtionship.

    The safe option, the one that prevented the most pain, was undoubtedly the former. She''s lost too much in her life; if she cut things off now, at least it would be her own doing and not someone else''s.

    If it were back when she had just reincarnated, she would''ve chosen that one without hesitation. Who needs something like love when there''s strength to gain?

    However, having spent more time with the young blonde, she felt herself growing attached to her.

    Whether or not that was love, she didn''t know, but what she did know was that Maria would be her only chance at anything romantic.

    She was already nearing the peak of this world. Within the next few hundred years or so, she guessed that she would have already ascended to the Immortal Realm.

    She didn''t know what awaited her there, but it certainly wouldn''t be a warm wee.

    Once Rhydian and Elenei became known�� she''d be facing a near-endless stream of enemies.

    War and bloodshed�� her future prospects looked bleak. And that''s not even taking into ount the ''god'' and her own bloodline.

    Were ten-tailed foxesmon up there? She doubted it.

    This all led to one thing: she didn''t have the time to cultivate a romantic rtionship. Hell, she barely had time to cultivate regrly!

    Finding someone willing to be with a psycho like her was a rarity. She and Maria had already formed a close bond over many years, so she didn''t need to worry about getting to know someone.

    ''I''ve been half-assing it for a while now, putting this decision off.'' Messing with the ring on her finger, her eyes firmed. ''But I guess it''s time to fullymit.''

    Taking a deep breath, she finally came to a conclusion and opened her mouth, "...So, remember that treasure I obtained in that poison fog right before we went our separate ways to break through to the Core Formation Realm? Well��"

    From then on, Mira told her everything. From the bloody meatball she turned into during the Firmament''s trial to the soul rippings to the samsara experiences. She described the Firmament and how it was the reason for her abysmal luck, the Guardian, and the general theme of the treasure.

    Then, she went on to talk about the various benefits, such as techniques, rare items, the Infinity Garden, Storage Space, the battledder, and finally�� the Abyssal Torment Steps.

    "To put it simply, it''s a staircase that puts my mental fortitude to the test and is necessary for breaking through each major Realm. Every step is meant to break one''s mind. Unless you beg for death, you can''t die. The Firmament makes sure of it. You could turn into a puddle of blood, yet your consciousness and pain receptors will remain. It''s a ce that embodies the word ''torment''.

    And there is no leaving until you finish a section. You can''t just go in there and do a few minutes at a time, then put it on pause."

    "...So, that''s where I was," Maria muttered, turning away from Mira so she couldn''t see her expression. What she had just heard was a bit�� much. "And so�� were you hoping that I was either an illusion or that, even if I died, this treasure of yours would bring me back to life?"

    Mira slowly nodded. "...A bit of both."

    "I see��" Maria fell into thought. "...And, to your knowledge, there really isn''t another way out?"

    Mira shook her head. "I either willfully ept death orplete the challenges. Those are the only two ways. The walls are indestructible, and there''s no climbing back up, so anything else is impossible."

    ''What the hell kind of terrifying ce is that?!'' Maria wanted to shout but forcefully kept her cool.

    If what she was saying was true, then when she was teleported into that ce�Cthe Abyssal Torment Steps�Csomeone had to die. It was either her or Mira. And if Mira died, she was gone for good.

    ''What a truly shitty situation. For everyone.''

    Taking a deep breath to calm her unsettled emotions, she let out a deep sigh. "...At least I was able to beat you."

    Mira''s expression morphed into a scowl, but she remained silent.

    Seeing that, Maria smirked and looked up at her. "And I''ll beat you at something else, too!"

    She immediately pounced on Mira. "Enough of this sad stuff! You can tell me the restter. Right now, we have another ''war'' to start!"

    Before Mira could even say anything, Maria took her lips.

    Meanwhile, shaking his head at the two of them, Vulcan led Hana away from the room.

 Chapter 957: A Switch in Roles? (R-18)

    Mira found herself momentarily caught off guard, not used to such a proactive Maria.

    For a few heartbeats, Mira was motionless, her mind racing to catch up with the swift change in dynamics. But as the initial shock faded, a warmth spread through her. Slowly, tentatively, Mira began to respond, her hands finding their way to Maria''s back, pulling her closer.

    Maria, feeling Mira''s hesitation give way to participation, deepened the kiss, her heart pounding in her chest.

    As the kiss deepened, the dynamic between Mira and Maria shifted, evolving from a simple expression of affection into a yful contest of strength and wit. Maria''s boldness sparked a me in Mira. With her immense physical strength, Mira effortlessly switched their positions, pinning Maria beneath her.

    However, Maria was far from defeated. Her smirk was a clear challenge, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

    ''Hehe~ You think you''re in control?''

    Wiggling one of her legs out from under Mira, she shimmied her knee into Mira''s robe and rubbed against a certain�� sensitive spot around her crotch.

    "Mmph?!" Mira''s eyes widened as she suppressed a surprised yelp and backed off a bit. Her tails naturally reacted to her shift in mood and wrapped around Maria''s legs, preventing her from moving at all.

    "...What''re you doing?" She asked�Cno�Cdemanded, glowering down at her lover.

    "I''m just trying to make you feel good." Maria gave an innocent smile. "Isn''t that what sex is all about? I don''t want to just be on the receiving end anymore."

    "..." Mira''s eyelids quivered. Of course, she knew that, but knowing and doing were twopletely different things.

    That part of her�� it was like a stain, a constant reminder of all the crap she went through. To her, rather than it being her sacred garden, it was more like a cursed flower�Crather than pleasure, it instead brought endless troubles.

    Nobody likes to remember the trauma they went through, and she wasn''t any different, especially not during intimate times like these.

    Maria saw the slight flicker of�� ''Fear? No, more like anxiety and agitation, but not directed at me.'' She inwardly noted, almost ovee with shock as she''d never seen such emotions from Mira before.

    ''...What happened for her to react like that?'' She wondered. There was definitely a story behind that, but now wasn''t the time to pry.For Mira to express such negative emotions, it must''ve been traumatic; it was best to wait until she told her naturally.

    "...I can stop if you want me to," Maria muttered, noticing that Mira had calmed down.

    However, Mira shook her head. "No�� it''s fine. It''s just�� I''m not used to, you know�� that."

    "What? Sex?"

    Mira nodded.

    Inwardly breathing a sigh of relief, Maria had to stifle a chuckle at how ''innocent'' Mira looked before she smirked. "Oh, really~? Then I guess I can only get you ustomed to my touch~"

    "Hmph!" Mira simply snorted before she dove back in, forcefully taking Maria''s lips.

    ''Hehe~ So cute~'' Maria''s eyes shone with love as she responded in kind, squirming underneath Mira in an attempt to break free.

    However, Mira''s vice-like grip had locked her in ce.

    The room was filled with the sound of their breathing, along with the light crackle of the fire in the other room.

    "I''m�� haah�� not going anywhere, Mira," Maria said with a gentle assertiveness. "You don''t have to hold me like I''m about to disappear."

    "And let your hands roam all over my body? No way!"

    A firm refusal.

    Still, Maria wasn''t about to let things go just like that.

    ''Fine, then. Be that way. Let''s see how long you can keep that up.'' With a loving yet yful sneer, Maria closed her eyes and controlled a tiny amount of her Qi.

    A thin stream of light snaked down her legs before it met Mira''s tails. With a slight nudge, the light entered the soft, luscious tails and sent a tingling sensation down the length of them.

    "MMMPH!" Mira''s entire body froze as her tails straightened out like they were electrocuted.

    ''Now!'' Maria shouted and freed herself beforetching onto Mira and pinning her to the bed.

    Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around Mira''s neck and devoured her lips, swirling her tongue around and mixing their saliva. In the midst of it all, she had even de-robed her, leaving the tall warrior naked.

    There was still a scar on her chest from where she stabbed, but it only added more to the appeal, making her look like a chiseled war veteran.

    Mira''s eyes sharpened as she prepared to retaliate, but Maria''s hands lit up, sending a gentle yet pleasurable sensation down her spine.

    She almost bit Maria''s tongue, trying to suppress a moan, but luckily, Maria backed off a bit and let out a chuckle.

    "Oh? So this works on you, too?"

    Maria''s chuckle echoed in the room, filled with genuine amusement and a hint of triumph. The tables had turned, and now she was the one dictating the rhythm.

    Mira, usually soposed and in control, found herself in unfamiliar territory. The sensations Maria was evoking were new, confusing, yet undeniably pleasurable.

    "You''re full of surprises, Maria," Mira managed to say, her voice a mix of grudging respect and burgeoning desire. The sensation of light moving over her body was disarming, leaving her searching for an anchor in the whirlpool of new feelings.

    Maria''s smile deepened, her eyes locked with Mira''s. "I could say the same about you," she replied. "I never knew you could be so... responsive."

    Responsive. It was a side of Mira that Maria had never seen before. She was always the one in control, always doing her own thing regardless of what anyone else wanted. Now, some of theyers that neither of them knew existed wereing undone as Maria continued to explore her lover''s body.

    Running her fingertips down Mira''s arms, Maria, in the heat of the moment, whispered, "I know you''re feeling it. I tested the effects of this�� ''massage'' technique myself. Me and the other girls couldn''tst more than a few minutes before��"

    Suddenly, the air around them grew colder as Mira''s blood-red eyes bore into the blonde.

    "...Other�� girls?"

    Maria panicked, realizing she made a slip of the tongue, "W-Wait, wait, wait! N-Not like that! I-I mean, I had to test the technique somehow, right? And since you weren''t around, well��"

    ''Oh no.'' She inwardly eximed as she shut her mouth, feeling parts of her body freeze over.

    "Hmph!"

    Before she could even make sense of what happened, Maria found herself on her back with icy handcuffs around her wrists.

    "So, while I was off on another continent, you were over there ying with MY subordinates, huh?" Mira''s icy voice resounded as her fingernail extended into a w.

    She sliced Maria''s clothes apart before grasping one of Maria''s soft, pillowy breasts. The blonde couldn''t help but yelp at the cold touch.

    "E-Eek! N-No! L-Like I said, it wasn''t like that!" She cried out, but Mira paid her no mind and snapped her fingers.

    Suddenly, Maria felt her legs spread apart and an icy digit enter her most private ce.

    "EEP!" She squeaked out, her eyes widening.

    "Hmmm~ Should I just get rid of them?" Mira muttered under her breath, staring down at Maria. "I can''t have MY woman messing around with others like that, after all."

    Injecting a bit of ice and Yin Lightning into Maria''s g-spot, Mira smiled predatorily, seeing her lover''s eyes roll and her back arch.

    After Maria came down from her brief climax, she took a few deep breaths and whispered, "N��N-No~ You can''t do anything to them~"

    "Oh? So now you''re defending them?!"

    Taking a fistful of Maria''s hair, Mira forcefully lifted the blonde''s head and took her lips in a deep, passionate kiss, all while fingering her sacred garden.

    Maria''s eyes nearly turned into hearts, witnessing Mira''s dominant and possessive naturee out in full force. Her insides dripped with lust as her body quivered, another orgasm wracking her thoroughly.

    As much as she wanted Mira to feel good, she couldn''t help but love this side of her lover. She tried to send more light Qi into Mira''s body, hoping to regain some of the momentum she once had, but the fox was too focused, her hands, mouth, and tongue too busy roaming and devouring her body.

    ''...W-Well~ I tried~'' She thought, epting whatever Mira did to her. ''I''ll�� I''ll get her when she calms down.''

    What followed next were loud, continuous moans, followed by the cabin shaking as the two went at it like wild animals for the next few hours.

    ***

    "...What''re they doing in there?" Hana asked, looking back at the cabin while petting Vulcan. Creaks and groans had beening from there for hours. "Are they fighting again?"

    "Well��" Rhydian, in her human form, scratched her cheek awkwardly. Toozy toe up with a real answer, she just said, "Yes."

    "Shouldn''t we stop them?" Hana innocently asked back.

    "...Not unless you want to die."

    "..."

 Chapter 958: Battle Art

    After half a day of�� excitement, Mira and Mariay on the bed covered in a thinyer of sweat. Both had pleased, content smiles on their faces as thetter snuggled up against Mira''s side.

    She had wrapped her tails around them like a protective nket while Maria drew small circles on Mira''s chest.

    "...You were pretty intense this time around."

    "..." Mira''s expression remained as impassive as ever, but Maria could read the hidden meaning behind her eyes.

    ''As if you didn''t like it.'' Was what she was saying.

    Maria chuckled yfully, "I even went in with a n, yet it still turned out like this."

    "..."

    "Well, that''s okay. I''m more than satisfied with beating you once. It''d be greedy of me to want more."

    Mira''s jaws clenched, but she remained silent.

    ''...A loss�� is a loss��''

    No matter how badly she wanted to use her Scythe Manifestation, she held back. However, when that thought came, she cooled down as if realizing something important.

    ''That''s all I had left, huh?''

    Then, considering how Maria limited her strengths and capitalized on her weaknesses, she couldn''t even guarantee a win with that. Of course, she wasn''t going to try. Getting caught up in her Scythe Manifestation was equivalent to a death sentence.

    The core of her desire, the essence of her Scythe Intent and Manifestation, was ''death is inescapable''. There was no way she''d use something like that against Maria just to eke out a win.

    All of this pointed toward the fact that her repertoire was severely limited. Sure, she had other ''techniques'' she could use, such as [Frozen Terrain Change] and [100 cial Warriors], [Paragon Wings] and [Cmity''s Embrace], but the former two wouldn''t be of much use, and thetter two weren''t fast enough to hit Maria.

    They were moving at such speeds that unless she nuked the surrounding hundred kilometers or so, suchrge-scale attacks were useless. However, doing something like that was not only incredibly wasteful but took too long to charge up.

    On the other hand, [cial Mirage Steps] were faster than any speed [Paragon Wings] could ever achieve.

    By now, Mira had almost entirely put the matter of their bedtime battle behind her and focused on reviewing their duel.

    ''The three techniques I made yed their role perfectly. The only problem is theyck synergy.'' She immediately concluded. ''[Explosive Ice Fist] is hard to use in the midst of both the movement and scythe techniques. At the same time, [Cyclone of the Frozen Moon] is more focused on fluidity and momentum, while [cial Mirage Steps] is more about deception and speed.''

    By themselves, they were all great techniques, but together, they were a bit ipatible.

    "What are you thinking about?" Maria finally interrupted, seeing Mira had reached a lull in her thinking.

    "...That you''ve be quite strong."

    "Hehe~ Is that so?" Maria blushed a little, not used to the unexpected praise. "...But, you''re not entirely right."

    "Hm?" Mira tilted her head, staring down at Maria.

    "Well��" The blonde scratched her cheek. "Like you said, I have be much stronger. My control and understanding of the Light Element had taken a substantial leap. However, almost everything I''ve worked on since we separated, and even more so after the beast Secret Realm, was created for the sole purpose of defeating you.

    While that battle art would certainly be useful against others, it was created to counter you."

    "I see��" Mira nodded. That made sense. Thinking about it now, it did seem like Maria was more focused on exploiting her weaknesses than exploding with strength. However, that didn''t mean she wasn''t strong. "...But what about this Battle Art?"

    "It''s not really anything special. Battle Art is just a term used to describe a series of techniques that either synergize well or are part of a bigger whole. Think of a set of sword techniques where each move, each technique leads to the next."

    "Hmmm��" Mira hummed thoughtfully. "And how would you go about developing a ''Battle Art''?"

    Maria took a moment to think about her answer before she said, "It differs for everyone, but�� the way I came up with mine was understanding my needs, what I have to work with, and the limits of my capabilities. From there, it was all about using my findings to create ways to counter you."

    "..." It sounded simple, but Mira could only imagine the amount of time Maria spent researching and theory crafting while simultaneously pushing herself to the limits.

    What she disyed during their fight wasn''t something the ''before-her-parents-died'' Maria could disy.

    ''Seems like the key here is understanding one''s limits.''

    If she didn''t know what she could do, how could she create the most suitable technique?

    However, those thoughts begged the question:

    "How do you think I should develop my own Battle Art?"

    "..."

    Maria paused. That�� was truly a difficult question.

    The two were fundamentally different. The process she went through likely wouldn''t help Mira. It wasn''t just a matter of different affinities, either. Though, that did y a part.

    Mira was simply an entirely different beingpared to her and almost every other human.

    "This�� I''m not sure," Maria answered, but when she saw Mira frown, she hurriedly exined. You''re simply too versatile. You can use all eight major elements, with some even being variants. Your physical and soul strengths are off the charts. Your Qi reserves are beyond normal. You have both martial and Scythe Manifestations.

    And you can even transform into a beast!"

    ''Ah!'' That reminded Mira of something. She could''ve transformed into her Progenitor Form! ''Dammit! Ipletely forgot about that!''

    In fact, she thought that wasn''t the only thing she had forgotten, but she decided to put that on hold as Maria continued.

    "Your limits�� I can''t see them. Rather, do you even have limits?" Maria asked, but Mira shrugged.

    "Right�� Anyways�� Normally, this isn''t a problem, but a Battle Art is all about narrowing down what you can do and maximizing it. In a sense, it''s a way topensate. However, you don''t need to do that. If your icecks something, you can make up for it with another element. If it''s not strong enough, just swing harder or add more Qi. If you need more destruction, you can literally add more.

    Battle Arts are supposed to be about synergy and addingplementary elements, but you can simply brute force your way through everything."

    "...You''re not wrong," Mira muttered.

    The entire point of using techniques was to make one''s power output higher. However, it was difficult to strengthen something that already seemed maxed out.

    ''Though, weapon and movement techniques are a bit different.'' They were more fundamental, requiring finesse, control, and experience to improve; there was only so much brute forcing could do in a battle between equals.

    After a long moment of silence, with both of them wondering how to proceed, Maria hesitantly spoke up. "....I don''t know if this''ll help, but I think you should just focus on what you''re good at and expand from there."

    "So, ignore everything but ice?"

    "Mm, let me rephrase that�� I think, instead of seeing your other affinities as separate, you should try to incorporate them into a singr whole."

    "What do you mean?" Mira''s brows furrowed slightly.

    "I don''t know. It just feels like you have a predisposition toward all your elements. Earth is for defense, Fire is for explosions, and ice can do everything with enough Qi. Something like that."

    "..."

    "You''re pursuing the Absolute Ice Dao, right?"

    Mira nodded.

    "And from what I''ve seen and heard, you can ''dominate'' the other elements via ice, right?"

    That wasn''t exactly correct. It was more like they were interconnected, with Ice as their ruler, but Mira nodded nheless.

    "Then, why view them as separate? With your capabilities, shouldn''t you be able to make it so that earth is ice, fire is ice, light is ice, and so on?"

    "..."

    Toward the end even Maria didn''t know what she was saying. What did something like ''earth is ice'' mean? Not to mention, viewing the elements not as separate concepts, but a singr one under the banner of Ice?

    To any rational thinker, that was nonsense. The elements were different for a reason. They had different properties, interacted with the world differently, and yed separate roles. Some could do simr things, such as Wind and Light being able to increase one''s speed. However, the process was fundamentally different.

    But Mira was an irrational being. She couldn''t be viewed through a normal lens, and Maria didn''t intend to do so.

    "That''s why, instead of jumping straight into creating a Battle Art, you should sit down and experiment with what you really can and can''t do with your ice. Stop trying to shift your focus between ten different things and focus on one. Because that''s all you really need."

    "..."

    Mira''s face scrunched up as she fell deep into thought. The more she listened, the more things seemed to click.

    ''Right. Why haven''t I thought of that?''

    When she evolved, her connection to the elements changed, but on the surface, it remained the same. Rather than it being a certain inclination�Can affinity�Cit was more akin to using ice as a medium to ess the other elements.

    She didn''t know if that was the correct description, but she knew that her ice affinity was at the center of everything.

    "Mm. Good." Mira''s face lit up with a light smile as her eyes shone with intensity. "Let''s go see if your words are true."

    "Wh-What?! Now? Can''t we stay in be�Cand she''s gone."

    With a sigh, Maria put on her clothes and walked outside.

    ''Tch. Me and my big mouth.'' She grumbled, but a smile bloomed on her face.

 Chapter 959: The Path to Absolute Ice

    Outside the cabin, the chill of the early morning air brushed against Maria''s skin as she stepped out to find Mira already deep in concentration. Around her, the elements seemed to be in a state of flux, coalescing and dissipating in an intricate dance.

    Maria watched, fascinated by the transformation taking ce before her eyes. Mira now appeared as a conduit through which the elements flowed and merged. Ice no longer stood apart but served as the foundation upon which the others built, each element interweaving with the next.

    However, it wasn''t without failures, nor was she perfect.

    She seemed to be searching for the meaning of ''a singr entity'' and ''earth(etc.) is ice''.

    Was it as simple as lumping everything together?

    No. If it were that easy, she would''ve already discovered the answer.

    So, if lumping and forcefullybining the elements didn''t work, then what did?

    Mira didn''t know, but she figured the answer required a different perspective.

    ''Maria said I view the elements as separate, right? I''m not sure it''s possible to view them as the same, but I think I can look at them through a slightly different lens.''

    Like taking a magnifying ss made of ice to see what the other elements are really made of. What function do they serve? What kind of properties do they contain? How are they different? The same?

    ''From there, I need to dissect what can be used and integrated.''

    This project wasn''t simply about strengthening her ice, as that was dependent on other factors such as her cultivation, Qi quality, Dao understanding, and control. Weaving the defensive properties of earth into ice might not necessarily make it stronger, as she couldpensate for that in other ways.

    The first and most important reason was to save time. Trying to learn so many different elements was time-consuming. If she could throw it all together under one banner�Cice�Cher life would be a lot easier.

    The second reason, however, was equally important.

    What she learned when developing the [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] was that trying to bnce all the elements to achieve a perfect fit was incredibly tedious, not to mention wasteful. It required more brainpower, more Qi, a deeper understanding, and more stringent conditions for use.

    And that was all to develop something simple, like an exploding gauntlet. What if she wanted to develop an attack that could affect the entire continent, using all eight elements?

    Wouldn''t she die in the testing phase?

    Maybe for others who were born with dual or triple affinities, this wasn''t a problem. On the contrary, they have probably already reached a state of using their elements fluidly.

    If she had to make aparison, it would be likeparing a high-intensityser gun to a pistol.

    But what if she didn''t have to worry about different elements? What if one could do everything she needed?

    She was working with too many moving parts and too many differentponents that could fail, and thus, her output(for techniques) was limited. Whereas the other multi-affinity people simply had to press a button and outshot aser that was more precise and powerful than her pistol.

    What Mira wanted was to take out the middleman, the differentponents(elements), and the various working parts and integrate all their usable strengths into one cohesive unit(ice).

    Doing so should not only increase the efficiency of her Qi in general but also her control and fluidity. Whether it directly increased her power or not was irrelevant.

    Right now, what shecked were powerful techniques; a Battle Art. However, she was limited by all these different moving parts. Remove that factor, and she might be able to create something truly extraordinary.

    First, she focused on earth. Traditionally seen as the embodiment of stability and defense, Mira observed its properties: solidity, resilience, and a grounding nature. How could these attributes be woven into ice? Ice was already solid, but itcked the enduring toughness of earth.

    However, what made earth, in nature, so strong wasn''t simply because it was ''tough''.

    Why can a mortal man crush a stone and not a mountain? It''s too big.

    When ites to earth, size and density matter.

    How she could integrate that into her ice element, she wasn''t sure, but she was confident it woulde to her after enough trial and error.

    Next was water, the element of adaptability and flow. Ice was water in a solid state, but itcked water''s ability to adapt and change shape fluidly.

    ''It''s really just about distribution. A cube of ice and a cube of water have the same volume, but one will remain a cube while the other disperses into a puddle and takes the shape of its container. If I want ice to have the same properties�� I''ll need to somehow be able to change its flow with a snap of the finger.''

    This could easily be done manually, but the whole purpose of this meditation session was to eliminate such factors.

    Fire was about destruction and energy. Integrating fire with ice seemed counterintuitive��the two were natural opposites. Yet, Mira was already halfway there with Yin Fire.

    Wind was the element of speed, movement, and freedom. It could, in theory, go anywhere and be anywhere. Ice, being solid, naturallycked the mobility and agility of wind.

    ''What the hell am I supposed to do here?'' She didn''t even know where to start. In her previous mortal lives, wind was the movement of air caused by gravity and the rotation of the, but things didn''t necessarily work like that in this world.

    Should she try and ''capture'' wind within countless microscopic balls and ce them in ice? Would that do anything?

    Or maybe she was looking at it wrong. She had to somehow give her ice the ability to produce a natural wind��like wings but on a subatomic scale. But that didn''t seem right either.

    ''Maybe I have tobine traits from other elements, like how water and wind are simr in some ways.''

    Lightning was raw power and speed, an instantaneous force. Mira sought to infuse her ice with lightning''s abrupt and explosive nature, envisioning ice that could strike with the speed and shock of a thunderbolt.

    This was more in line with the type of adjustments she was thinking about. Like a brain sending trillions of little eclectic pulses between synapses, she nned to do something simr.

    However, she didn''t want something as simple as ''I point my finger at something, and a bolt of ice strikes it.''

    Rather, what she hoped for was something that could bring all the previous elements together to create something almost semi-autonomous. Whatever she wanted could happen instantaneously ording to her will. No wasted words, thoughts, or movements.

    Lastly, the integration of light and darkness presented a unique challenge. And by ''challenge,'' she meant she was at a loss. They simply epassed too many things and were soplex by nature that attempting to ''pick them apart'' didn''t work.

    However, as she had more than enough work, she decided to put them off for now.

    Needless to say, the hours that followed were both fruitful and unpromising. She learned a lot about her affinities but ran into roadblocks every step of the way.

    She couldn''t cherry-pick everything she wanted and force it into the concept of ice. It wasn''t about Qi, affinities, or even understanding. The problem stemmed from a more fundamental level:

    How ice worked.

    Therein lies the problem.

    What good was understanding if she couldn''t put it to use?

    That''s where two abilities that had only seen minimal usee into y!

    Creation and Destruction!

    If she could hone in on her affinity��the core of her being, her connection to the world�� and alter it like some sort of psychotic gene editor, she could potentially change how her ice worked on a fundamental level.

    If she wanted her ice to have a corrosive, cold-burn effect without using Yin Fire, she could add that. If she wanted her ice to be more stable, durable, and resilient like earth, she could add that! If she wanted ice to flow like water, she could add that!

    Mira''s body trembled in excitement at the thought of purely using ice.

    ''It''s like I''m going back to my roots! All of this multi-elemental bullshit is too annoying, only for me to hardly put any of them to use! My Dao is that of Absolute Ice! Why should I need other elements? One is more than enough!''

    She nearly burst outughing at the revtion, something that''s been in front of her eyes this entire time, but she failed to see it.

    Looking back on it now, it seems her entire life led up to this point, from when she first acquired Yin Lightning to her several evolutions to this very moment.

    It was pointing her in this direction all along.

    She was never meant to be a multi-elemental ''mage''. Ice was her one and only path.

    ''...Maybe this is also the way of progressing through Soul Transformation Realm? Or perhaps the end goal?'' She couldn''t help but think.

    Until now, it has been all about deepening the connection between her body, Qi, soul, and Dao.

    What could be a deeper connection than this?

    However, the answer to those questions remained to be seen. She wouldn''t find out until she had tried it.

    What she did know was this n was batshit fucking insane.

 Chapter 960: Affinity

    The body serves as a vessel, enabling existence. The soul bestows consciousness, imbuing life with awareness. The dantian functions as a center for energy umtion, while the meridians channel and circte this vital force. Blood Essence embodies vitality, longevity, and inherent potential. Affinity, however, grants one the qualification to interact with the world.

    ***

    The body, soul, dantian, affinity, meridians, and blood essence are necessary for any cultivator. Perhaps if one solely focused on Body Tempering, a dantian wasn''t needed, but even they still used it to some extent.

    Messing with any one of those could bring about unexpected consequences.

    For example, those who absorbed beast blood essences incorrectly might deform, turn into raging monsters, or die on the spot. Even doing it correctly but using an ipatible bloodline wasn''t ideal.

    Doing so could also hinder one''s potential.

    However, that simply dealt with one''s blood essence, which was the most ''malleable'' part of a cultivator aside from the body. As for the rest�� just a slight amount of damage could severely affect not just one''s potential but one''s qualification to cultivate!

    Yet, there was one that wasn''t even essible to nearly every cultivator in existence: One''s affinity.

    Throughout the course of a cultivator''s life, many things could happen. They could have all their limbs severed, their dantian destroyed, meridians blocked, and blood essence nearly depleted, yet their affinity will remain intact.

    In fact, it wouldn''t be affected by any of that.

    It merely existed since the day one was born until they died.

    In most cases, the quality of one''s affinity, or how close one was to a specific element,rgely remained the same. Heavenly treasures could enhance that connection, making the element stronger and more potent. There were even many cases in which people somehow obtained more than one affinity after birth.

    However, things that ''depleted'' one''s affinity��that took it away, not blocked butpletely removed�� were exceedingly rare, to say the least. Doing so was no different than removing someone''s soul, which was equivalent to killing them, but even that was more simple than destroying one''s affinity.

    Yet, Mira wanted to mess with and potentially reshape the one thing that made her a true cultivator?!

    The consequences of such an action��

    ''Even I have no idea what they''d be.'' Mira thought with a bitter smile.

    Would she cripple herself? Die? Or maybe go crazy and start destroying everything around her?

    Would the Heavens try and strike her down?

    ''...Now that I think about it, isn''t this technically worse than what I did when I broke through to the Core Formation Realm?'' She chuckled.

    Honestly, she wasn''tpletely sure if the Heavens even saw her as an entity. From what she understood, the moment her previous body died, her ''identity'' died along with it. The Firmament had deceived the Heavens and protected her from being seen, preventing its wrath.

    However, doing something stupid like this might very well set it off.

    ''There''s also the fact that�� I don''t even know how to find my affinity, much less edit it.''

    On the surface, it existed in her soul and was currently connected to her Absolute Essence Core, but was that all there was to it?

    ''If I delved into my soul, I could find and iste the ice crystals within, but that wasn''t necessarily where my affinity was, and simply changing one of those didn''t mean anything.''

    Trying to find the core of her affinity was like asking a physicist where math was.

    Nowhere yet everywhere.

    ''But I don''t believe that to be the case.''

    It was definitely somewhere; she just had to find it.

    ''...I guess it''s back to conducting experiments.''

    ***

    Somewhere around the cabin, Hana suddenly shivered. The image of a crazy fox entered her mind, and she quickly found a ce to hide, using Vulcan as a shield.

    ***

    ''But before that, let''s see if I can even find my own.''

    There was no way in hell she was going to experiment on herself. She didn''t want to poof out of existence or turn into a blood-crazed idiot, after all.

    However, any experiments would be pointless if she couldn''t even find the core of her affinity, the part of her that needed to be altered.

    Everything she''d thought of so far was merely spection. She wouldn''t be surprised if she got it all wrong, and her affinity resided in her Absolute Essence Core, or Soul.

    Maybe it didn''t exist in either of those ces and was another organ entirely. Or, perhaps, it naturally permeated throughout all aspects of her being.

    She had no reference nor believed anyone was crazy enough to try what she was thinking.

    ''...Maybe the Firmament has something in its store?''

    Diving into the treasure, she checked the store''s contents, searching for things like ''Affinity'', ''Affinity Destruction'', and ''How to modify ice?'' but came up with nothing, just generic stuff.

    ''...So, even the Firmament doesn''t know?''

    Then, her face contorted as she thought of a certain someone. ''....What about the Guardian?''

    "..."

    ''Hey! I know you can hear me! Do you have any thoughts about what I''m trying to do?''

    "Yeah. Don''t."

    ''...''

    "What? Do you want to die that badly?! If so, let me know, and I''ll fulfill your wish for you!"

    ''Damn. If you don''t know, just say so.''

    "You! Do you even understand what you''re trying to do?! Do you think you can y god and do whatever you want now that you''ve gained a little bit of power?!"

    ''...Yes.'' Mira nodded after a moment''s thought.

    "..."

    ''...''

    "Right. I forgot. You''re insane."

    ''What else are the Creation and Destruction abilities for, then, if not to y god?!''

    "..."

    ''Should I simply use it to create golems and vaporize trees? Is that a more effective use?''

    "..."

    The Guardian had nothing to say, as she was right. For 99.9% of cases, Mira would never need such abilities. Her destructive power was high enough, and ice could create things just fine. They wouldn''tst forever, but as her abilities grew, so would the duration.

    They only enhanced certain aspects of her capabilities, which, in his mind, was aplete waste.

    In a sense, it was almost sacrilege, like standing before gods of creation and destruction and giving them a giant, icy middle finger.

    Even he was envious of Mira. Yet she was merely using them as enhancements?! How dare she?!

    ''See? Even you think I''m wasting them.''

    "...I can''t deny that."

    ''If that''s the case, then I might as well go all out.''

    "...You could lose those abilities, you know? Creation and destruction."

    ''Really?''

    "Yeah, not just them, either. But all your other affinities as well."

    Mira half-expected that, so she wasn''t too surprised. Still, she was curious.

    ''Why?''

    "Say you remove someone''s heart. They''d die, right?"

    ''Well, I suppose so.''

    "What you''re nning isn''t any different. If you take all the usable ''organs'' that make up an affinity, it wouldn''t work as intended and may even disappear."

    ''...I see. That makes sense.''

    "That''s why-!"

    ''Then, I just need to make sure to suck them dry!''

    "....W-What?"

    Mira''s eyes grew in intensity. ''Losing my affinities? Hah! Why should I care? If anything, they''re just tying me down!''

    ''Creation? Destruction? They should be a part of me, too!''

    ''In the end, I want to stand above everyone��not as some paragon of the elements, not as some creation god, but as the ruler of ice! To reign as an absolute god of ice!''

    "...Damn�� I knew you were crazy, but��"

    Inside his little space, the Guardian''s body trembled with excitement as a wide smile spread across his face. "I can''t wait to see that happen! Hahaha~!"

    Mira unconsciously let out a little smile, listening to hisugh. For once, the two were finally on the same page.

    ''Then, do you know where I should start?''

    The Guardian''sughing stopped, and he fell into a moment of contemtion.

    "This�� I�� Yeah, I do, but even I''m not 100% sure. All I know is this will be more difficult than you think."

    ''Enough of your nonsense. Just tell me.''

    "Ahem! I�� would start with your soul. As you know, the soul is the source of consciousness and awareness. Yours is a bit more unique in that it''s also a physical manifestation of your Dao. At the same time, it wouldn''t hurt to also inspect your Core, and then sweep your consciousness across your entire body. Find any simrities between the two, not any discrepancies, and cover all your bases.

    Then go from there."

    Mira nodded solemnly. That''s simr to what she had in mind but a bit moreplicated.

    However, before she got started, she looked back at Maria and said, "Protect me."

    Maria was a bit startled and wondered what Mira was about to do, but refrained from asking and instead nodded. "Alright."

    "Also, make sure nothing disturbs me."

    ''...Wouldn''t it be better to enter the house, then?'' Maria wanted to ask, but Mira had already closed her eyes and entered a deep meditative state.

    ''Well, not that it matters.'' She shrugged and sat not too far away from Mira.

 Chapter 961: Living World

    Mira narrowed in on her Absolute Essence Core.

    So far, the Soul Transformation Realm was all about ''merging'' her Body, Qi, and Soul together and ''transforming'' them to epass her Dao more.

    However,pared to the previous major Realms, she felt that the ''transformations'' were rathercking. Sure, she grew closer to ice, fundamentally, but was that it?

    ''To put it simply, things are way tooplicated.''

    With every breakthrough, rather than transformation, it felt like an addition. She created the Absolute Essence Core to house all the different aspects of her being, yet it''s not like they became one.

    Instead, now she just had another thing to take care of.

    ''How am I supposed to proceed?''

    The Nascent Soul Realm was a littleplicated but at the same time, very simple. umte Qi, mature her Nascent Soul, scrape away the darkness, and create a mini realm where ice sits at the top. As long as she had enough Qi, she could break through.

    However, the Soul Transformation Realm wasn''t like that. She was constantly left guessing how to break through.

    ''I don''t want things to beplicated anymore.''

    She felt that if she kept going down this path, she''d eventually reach a point where dissecting how to break through took longer than the actual process.

    ''So far, I''ve been too focused on the Soul. I mean, it''s in the name ''Soul Transformation'', but I''m not the same as everyone else. My Soul is technically already transformed. So, for me, it should be something like Essence Transformation or Existential Simplification.''

    Thinking that, the ice that radiated her Dao shone in her mind. Pricking it with her consciousness, she zoomed in as far as she could until, rather than ice, she only saw lines simr to molecr chains.

    She had no idea what these were or their function, but she instinctually felt that they were the reason the ice element could exist�Cor any element, for that matter.

    ''...In a way, they remind me of those ck runes.'' The two lookedpletely different, but the feeling they gave off was simr.

    In fact, now that she was observing them, she understood the reason for this. External ''entities''(she didn''t know what else to call them) tried to interact with these ''lines'', only to repel them, but as the two made contact, thetter absorbed a slight amount of the ''invaders'' and spread it out amongst the rest of the ''ice''.

    This happened thousands, possibly millions of times per second in every direction.

    As if on instinct, Mira emitted a minuscule amount of Qi and noticed that once it lost any connection with her, those ''entities'' were replenished.

    After about an hour of observation, she finally gathered sufficient information toe to a conclusion.

    ''Interesting...��'' Her lips curled in fascination. ''So, the elements naturally reject each other and only change under special circumstances. One such circumstance is one''s Dao. In that sense, they''re actually fairly malleable. Simply due to one''s will, they can change properties within their limits. However, doing so takes energy.''

    What she found particrly amazing was that her Absolute Ice Dao actually seemed rather epting yet rigid.

    epting, in the sense that she could ''merge'' elements into one another without much issue.

    Yet rigid because it was more like trapping a stone in ice.

    The stone didn''t be part of the ice; the two were still separate. One was just inside the other, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

    For a while, she actually found that this world resembled Physics and Chemistry in her previous lives, only things were much moreplicated and ''alive''.

    Yes, alive.

    It wasn''t like her previous lives when a rock was simply a rock, or a was just an even bigger rock.

    Here, everything could gain consciousness with enough time. Maybe, one day, a rock has the urge to roll down a hill. It might take years, but if that thought persisted for long enough, it might inch closer and closer to its desired goal.

    ''Is that why there are Elements?'' It was just a passing thought, but she felt it made sense.

    When viewed close enough, everything was ''alive'' in some sense.

    The world didn''t follow a simple set of rules and is limited to those.

    ''...Well, that''s not exactly true. There''s the Heavens, but they''re really like a judge, ensuring nothing gets out of hand.''

    It was more like there were loose boundaries that ebbed and flowed when needed.

    ''...Then, a Dao is really like a path ofmunication.''

    Having an affinity grants one the qualifications to talk to the world, but a Dao is themunicator.

    In her previous life, an affinity was a cell tower, and a Dao was a cell phone. However, instead of speaking with words, you spoke with your soul.

    She couldn''t just open up the channel andmand her ice to ''Be invincible!''

    Her thoughts, ormands, were limited to the hardware, or in other words, her understanding. The better she understood her Dao, the better she couldmunicate, the more she understood about the world and its elements, the stronger she''d be.

    ''...So that''s why everyone''s constantly seeking enlightenment.''

    Through that, their hardware would momentarily upgrade and their connection to the world was widened. Even if they didn''t understand what was going on, as long as they maintained that state, they''d benefit.

    From there, once the line was created, they wouldn''t need to open it again.

    However, Mira always found this rather unreliable.

    ''Like I thought, it''s much easier to brute force my way through.''

    Why search for enlightenment when she could directly find the source of it all and upgrade her Dao that way?

    ''Hehe~ If I can really find this cell tower of mine and forcefully change the line ofmunication to expand ice''s limits to match my Dao��'' Her body shivered in excitement at the thought.

    Now, things were starting to make more sense. She still didn''t know where her affinity was, but once she found it, she would have a decent idea of where to begin.

    With these thoughts in mind, Mira''s consciousness traveled even deeper into the depths of her ice as she traced the lines back, following their intricate pathways.

    Her consciousness moved with precision, ensuring she didn''t get lost. The lines twisted and turned, branching out and interconnecting inplex patterns that made up the fundamental nature of ice and its rtion to her.

    As she delved deeper, the lines began to shimmer and pulse with a subtle glow, resonating more with her Dao. It was as if they were responding to her presence, acknowledging her quest to understand and reshape them. However, part of her also realized that she wasn''t in her Absolute Essence Core anymore.

    ''...Since when did I��?''

    Mira''s focus sharpened, but she put that thought aside for now. How she got here wasn''t as important as seeing it through to the end.

    ''If I can make it here once, I can do it again.''

    With that in mind, she quickened her ''pace''. As for how fast she was moving, she had no idea. Viewing things at such magnification made every movement seem big, but she might barely be moving centimeters.

    In her periphery, all she saw was an endless ck. ''It kind of feels simr to when I reincarnate.''

    She might never know whether that conjecture was true, but a part of her did feel like she was somewhere in the void.

    Eventually, she reached a point where the lines converged, forming a dense, radiant cluster of�� something.

    Was it ice?

    Yes and no.

    Her intuition told her that this amorphous object was at least rted to ice. It was the core of her affinity, where her connection to ice was most potent. Here, the lines were not just pathways but the very essence of her bond with the element.

    Mira paused, absorbing the significance of what she had found. This was the heart of her affinity, the key to unlocking a new level of mastery over ice and shaping it into something that was bothpletely hers and entirely new.

    With a deep, steadying breath, Mira extended her consciousness, gently touching the radiant cluster. She didn''t rush to alter or reshape it but instead sought to understand it fully, tomune with it. She felt its cold, its structure, its strength, and�� its vulnerabilities.

    The thing thumped in response to her ''touch'', sending ripples through the lines that connected it to the rest of her being. Mira sensed the depth of her bond with ice, something that had been repeatedly forged over several evolutions and transformations.

    ''...Good to see you.'' She thought as it thumped again.

    ''Hm? So you can hear me?''

    Thump

    ''...I don''t know what that means, but I''ll take it as a sign of acknowledgment.''

    Thump

    ''Okay�� Anyways, let''s see what you''re really made of.''

    Thump. Thump.

    ''Oh? Excited, are we?''

    Mira didn''t know why, but for some reason, she also felt her affinity''s desire to grow closer to her. To be part of her in every sense of the word and follow her path.

 Chapter 962: Visualization

    While Mira was meditating, Maria was lounging around, watching her lover. Her eyebrows furrowed with worry as she could sense an unnatural aura surrounding Mira.

    ''...I hope she''ll be alright.''

    Her intuition was telling her that whatever she was doing was dangerous despite her just sitting there.

    ''Don''t worry so much. I''m sure she''ll be fine. That woman was able to fight you on even grounds despite all the precautions we took, after all.'' A calm, wisened, old woman''s voice entered her mind.

    ''Mmhm.'' Maria nodded slowly, turning away from Mira and diving a part of her Soul Sense into her Spatial Ring where Sage A and her inheritance space resided. ''...What do you think about our fight? Is there anything we could''ve done better? Or prepared for?''

    ''Hmmmm��.'' Sage A hummed thoughtfully. ''Your sword skills need some work, and your battle sense isn''t as good, either. I can also see that you need to get used to the shield as well. Other than that, I think you could stand to have a few more offensive techniques, just in general. Lastly, improve your cultivation more!''

    Maria nodded in agreement. She also felt shecked in those areas. Unfortunately, only time and experience can fix them.

    ''Alright, let''s forget about Mira for a moment. I doubt we''ll have a serious fight like that for a while, so do you think I should try and create another Battle Art other than the [Celestial Yang Sanctity]?''

    ''Yes, but not because it''s not useful. That one focuses on countering various yin concepts like ice, darkness, killing intent, etc. Against such beings, it''s the perfect art, but it wouldn''t hurt to have both a general-use Battle Art and another that enhances your strengths. Also, keep in mind that Battle Arts doesn''t need to have an endless list of techniques.''

    Maria nodded and immediately thought to begin working on said ''general-use Battle Art''.

    She sat cross-legged not far from Mira, her eyes closed in concentration. However, she kept her Soul Sense active, stretching it as far as she could to react to any dangers

    In her mind, she visualized her past battles, analyzing each move, each technique, and each decision. She sifted through her memories, seeking patterns, strengths, and weaknesses. Her goal was clear: to forge a set of techniques that were versatile, powerful, and, above all, adaptable.

    The first step was to define the core principles of her new Battle Art. It needed to be flexible, allowing for quick transitions between offense and defense. It should also leverage her light affinity, enhancing her mobility and providing a variety of tactical options.

    With Sage A''s advice echoing in her thoughts, Maria began to outline the foundational techniques.

    She envisioned a light-based movement technique that could mimic the properties of light itself but wasn''t too costly. This would serve as the bedrock of her Battle Art, enabling her to control the battlefield and react swiftly to any threat.

    Next, she considered her offensive capabilities. While her swordy was decent, itcked the finesse, versatility, and flow of other swordsmen. The biggest difference was that she couldn''t see the sword as anything more than a tool, rather than an extension of her body.

    Her light element was an extension of her body; a sword merely enhanced her variability and cutting power.

    So, she imagined a series of simple sword techniques that could seamlessly transition between different forms of attack, each infused with light energy to enhance their potency and disrupt her opponents'' defenses. She stuck to the basics: cut, thrust, and parry.

    For defense, Maria envisioned a shield technique that was not just a passive barrier but an activeponent of herbat style, simr to how she''s been using it. It would not only protect her from harm but also serve as a weapon capable of reflecting attacks.

    The key to this battle art would be its cost-effectiveness and ease of use, which would allow her to use it anytime, anywhere. She should be able to use it without worrying about how much Qi she expended.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t begin training now as she had to watch over Mira, but that wasn''t a problem. Visualization was a big part of the process as well.

    "I want to see my mother." A young voice came from the side, causing Maria''s ears to twitch and her eyes to open.

    "You said you met my mother, right?" Hana looked at her expectantly, stroking Vulcan in her arms. "Can you take me to her?"

    ''When did I-Ah!'' Maria inwardly eximed.

    She had woken up a few days before Mira and talked to Hana then, telling her that her mother was doing fine.

    Maria chuckled awkwardly and said, "Ahaha�� Can you wait a few days? I need to stay here and watch Mira."

    Hana''s lips twitched into a frown as she turned her head, looking at the two of them in disdain.

    "...Mira will never go out of her way for something like this. Even if she did, it''d turn into a month-long journey of her fighting endless enemies."

    "..."

    "...I don''t want to be here anymore."

    "..."

    "I realize my mistake. I''ll never again ignorantly decide to ride on Mira''s back without enough strength."

    "..."

    "I''m afraid that if I stay here any longer, I''ll really die. I''m surprised I haven''t already."

    "..."

    "I don''t even remember most of what happened as everything was either a blur or I was directly knocked unconscious."

    "..."

    "...I-I just want to see my mother."

    Hana tried to say all that with a stead expression, but Maria could see it cracking. She wondered what the little girl had gone through to make her look like that. No, actually, she had a pretty good idea.

    Unfortunately-

    "...I''m sorry. I can''t."

    -protecting Mira mattered more, as much as she wanted to help.

    Hana subtly nodded, but Maria could see her hands trembling.

    "Th-Then, could you bring my mother here?"

    "Oh?"

    "You said you knew where she was, right? Just send Rhydian there to pick her up."

    "Hmmm��" Maria fell into thought for a moment before she eventually nodded.

    It was a bit too dangerous to leave Linnea and Hana, two mortals, on their own especially in this blizzard and with all sorts of crazies running around causing chaos. It was an even bigger waste to leave Rhydian with them as a protector. Not to mention, she wasn''t the most reliable guardian.

    Hana understood that and hoped they could reach apromise.

    "That''s not a bad idea." Maria muttered before shouting, "Rhydian!"

    A sigh came from the other side of the cabin, and a tall, animalistic woman came around the corner, chewing on a bone.

    "...Yes?"

    "Can you pick someone up for me?"

    Rhydian''s ears perked up. "Where?"

    Maria sent her Soul Sense into Rhydian''s brain and transmitted the image and location. "Pick up Linnea and bring her here."

    "Alright."

    Without saying anything else, Rhydian transformed back into a winged wolf and leaped into the sky, disappearing in the distance.

    ''Damn! Even she''s eager to get away from here!'' Their lips twitched, but what could they do? They could only trust that she wouldn''t use this opportunity as a mini vacation.

    ''Mmhm! I knew it! My Vulcan''s the best!'' Maria thought with a proud nod. He enjoyed being around those he trusted, he worked hard to improve and always did as he was told without a fuss.

    Satisfied, Hana walked into the cabin with Vulcan while Maria went back to meditating.

    ***

    On the other side of the Continent, Mira''s daughter and mount were having their own troubles.

    sh! Spurt!

    Dominique cut off the head of a baldy with her dual butterfly swords and extracted his blood before waving her hand. A red arc of blood shot out of her, cutting more baldies in half as she jumped to her next victim.

    "Damn beast! Just die and offer your blood to the Lord!" One of them shouted and charged at her, punching. Dominique met his attack head-on, cutting up his arms into little pieces before plunging her swords into his heart.

    "Geez! Why are there so many of these guys?!" She grumbled as she looked around, only to see wave after wave of bald monks chasing after her. Most of them were weak, still within the Foundation and Core Formation Realms, but��

    Dominique looked up, only to see fire and ice shooting across the sky as Elenei faced off against her own opponents, which were much stronger than the ones she was facing.

    They were just exploring thend, picking any treasures they came across and enjoying their time, when these bastards started hunting them down.

    ''Where''d they evene from?! How do they always know where we are?!''

    "That''s her! That''s the demon who''s killed so many of our brothers! Kill her!"

    "Kill her!"

    "Kill her!"

    "For the Lord!"

    "Kill her!"

    Dominique''s expression changed before it eventually morphed into a bloody smile.

    ''Ah~ Forget it! This is the perfect opportunity to go all out!''

    Without hesitation, she hopped headfirst into the crowd of people.

 Chapter 963: Dominiques Prowess

    [A/N: Read the author''s note at the bottom.]

    ***

    Dominique''s swords danced through the air as she moved around the battlefield as if it were made for her. Each strike was precise, calcted to inflict maximum damage while conserving her energy.

    Despite the overwhelming numbers, she moved like a specter among the bald monks, her presence barely registered until her swords had already struck.

    Around her, the battlefield was a chaotic mess. The bald monks, driven by zealotry, attacked with a fervor that was almost admirable. However, their blind faith andck of strategic thinking made them predictable, easy targets for Dominique''s practiced de.

    As she fought, Dominique''s mind was clear, like a stillke of blood. She had long since learned to channel her emotions into herbat, transforming any fear or anger into a cold, deadly calm. Each enemy that fell before her only empowered her further.

    Every time the monks stepped on the blood beneath their feet, a part of it was transmitted to Dominique. No matter where they were, she could always sense them, leaving no openings.

    Meanwhile, in the sky, Elenei''s battle was a dazzling disy of elemental prowess. Ice and fire warped with one another, creating a maelstrom of steam and smoke that filled the air. Despite being outnumbered, Elenei''s control over her powers was masterful, each spell cast with precision and purpose.

    Dominique couldn''t help but feel a surge of pride watching ''herpanion'' take on so many people without any issues. They had been through much together, and their bond was forged in the fires of countless battles.

    Back on the ground, Dominique found her rhythm, her swords an extension of her will. She moved through the monks with ease, her attacks a blur of motion that left a trail of separated heads and bodies in her wake.

    "Your blood for the Lord!" a particrly fervent monk screamed as he lunged at her.

    Dominique sidestepped, her swords crossing in a swift, elegant arc that severed the monk''s arms before plunging deep into his chest. With a twist and a pull, she freed her des, and the monk''s lifeless body copsed to the ground.

    ''Fool.'' She spat and, with a thought, reduced his remains into a puddle of blood.

    As the sun began to set, Dominique continued the carnage. She knew the fight was far from over, as these monks seemed near-endless.

    ''Seriously. Are they reviving each other or something? Why are there so many of them?'' She started to wonder if, rather than monks, they were grave robbers and necromancers in disguise.

    ''I mean�� with all the grave-robbing, tomb-raiding, and plundering they''ve done�� it sort of makes sense.''

    Elenei and her had been flying all over the Continent, and were able to take in all sorts of sights. However, no matter where they went, these monks were there, causing chaos.

    They didn''t care who they offended. They didn''t care about the losses. All that mattered was looting and killing.

    Worst of all, as time passed, more of them seemed to arrive out of nowhere.

    Most smaller Sects and organizations wanted nothing more than to stay away from them, as even if they could win, the losses would be so disastrous that they might as well have lost!

    Unfortunately, such a thing was impossible. Wherever there were treasures, they were there.

    Talented disciples? They were killed and stored.

    Defenses? What were those in the face of overwhelming strength and numbers?

    These monks were like the gue, destroying everything they came across, leaving nothing behind.

    Of course, they couldn''t be this unruly everywhere. Some ces still had Divine Sea Realm experts in seclusion. There were also many Rank 10 beast territories that they had to avoid.

    It wasn''t worth losing thousands, if not millions, of disciples for no reason. Unless they were after a particr treasure, they wouldn''t provoke such forces.

    And somehow, through all of this, they were able to sense her peculiarity and Elenei''s Dragon/Phoenix lineages.

    Something about "returning the Lord''s strength" whatever that meant.

    However, she didn''t care about that. Right now, they were after them and had to die. It was as simple as that.

    With a final nce at the sky, where Elenei continued to battle, Dominique steeled herself for the next wave of attackers. She was a warrior, through and through, and she would not falter, not while she still drew breath.

    The bald monks regrouped, their numbers diminished, but their zeal undimmed. They charged once more, their cries of "For the Lord!" echoing across the battlefield as they sought to overwhelm Dominique with sheer numbers.

    Dominique braced herself as the monks charged, their faces twisted in fanatic zeal.

    However, her expression changed as she sensed a surge of Qi in the distance, signaling the approach of a particrly formidable opponent among the bald monks��a peak Core Formation Realm monk, his aura far more potent than the others.

    She readied her stance, her swords gleaming as they thirsted for blood. As the monks neared, Dominiqueunched into motion, her body a blur.

    The monks fell one by one, but the peak Core Formation monk was on a different level. His movements were swift, and his strikes imbued with a berserk, wild, almost untamed-like Qi that even Dominique had to acknowledge. Their des shed, sparks flew, and the sound of metal on metal rang through the air.

    Dominique felt the pressure, the weight of the monk''s attacks, and the power bearing down on her. But she was undeterred. She had faced worse before, had stared down death, and emerged victorious. This was just another challenge, another obstacle to ovee.

    As they exchanged blows, Dominique''s mind raced, calcting and strategizing. She noted the monk''s patterns, tendencies, and slight dys in his strikes. And then she saw her opportunity��a brief opening, a split-second vulnerability.

    With a surge of speed, Dominique disengaged, flipping backward, creating distance. The monk pursued, his confidence bordering on arrogance, believing he had Dominique on the ropes.

    But Dominique had other ns. She extended her arms, her swords pointing to the ground, where the blood of fallen monks pooled. She called upon her blood affinity, the essence of her power, and the blood responded, swirling around her, forming a crimson spiral.

    The monk hesitated, sensing the shift in the air, the gathering of power. But it was toote. Dominique thrust her swords into the ground, channeling her Qi, and the blood erupted in a ferocious surge, a tidal wave of crimson that swept toward the monk with relentless force.

    Caught off guard, the monk raised his defenses, but the blood was pervasive, overwhelming, consuming. It battered his barrier, seeped into every crevice, every pore, weakening him, draining him.

    Dominique seized the moment, her body propelled by a wave of blood. She lunged forward and struck with precision, her des finding their mark, piercing the monk''s defenses, finding his flesh.

    As soon as a sizable wound was made, Dominique caused the blood inside him to run amock, causing numerous internal injuries.

    The monk faltered, his Qi disrupted, his strength waning. Dominique pressed on, her des swinging like a storm of steel and blood as she encroached on his position. And then, with a final swing, a head flew in the air. The monk fell, his body lifeless, his blood joining the crimson tide.

    Breathing heavily, Dominique stood amidst the carnage, her eyes scanning the battlefield.

    The surrounding monks faltered, but the zeal in their eyes hadn''t faded. Rather, it grew stronger.

    "She''s strong!"

    "She will make a good snack for the Lord!"

    "Her and that Phoenix have gotten in our way too many times! We must kill them here!"

    "Brothers! Kill! There are so many of us! She can''t keep this up forever!"

    "For the Lord!"

    "OHHHH!"

    "You bunch of psychos!" Dominique sneered. "If you want to die so bad, quit your yapping!"

    "KILL HER!"

    ''Come at me, you bunch of bastards!'' She shouted inwardly and prepared herself.

    ***

    "Guys! I think I found it! The one in possession of the Holy Relic is close!"

    Maria snapped out of her meditation, sensing an army of people closing in on them with eyes full of zeal and killing intent. It was clear they weren''t here for a simple conversation.

    However, not seeing anyone strong among them, she snorted and closed her eyes.

    ''Vulcan. Take care of them for me.'' She said through their connection.

    Vulcan, who was enjoying Hana''s rubs, opened his eyes and jumped out of her arms.

    "Hey! Where''re you going?" She shouted, but Vulcan just looked at her and pointed to the chair as if to say: ''Wait there. I''ll be right back.''

    Then, he disappeared.

    ''...Huh?'' Hana was a bit confused by what she just saw, but shrugged her shoulders and did as she was told. She didn''t want to upset the only sane being in their group, after all.

    Meanwhile, outside, Vulcan appeared right next to the approaching army.

    "Hey! Look at that fox!"

    "He looks rare!"

    "Is he an elemental?"

    "Capture it!"

    All sorts of shouts came, but Vulcan ignored them.

    He dashed forward and stood on the foot of one of the leading monks. He thought he scored big and reached down to crush him, but before he could move, his body lit fire. He couldn''t even scream before he turned to ash, his remains scattering in the wind.

    The monks were a bit shocked by this and moved to intercept the fox, but unfortunately, they never got the opportunity to move.

    As the scattered ashesnded on the monks, they were lit aze and turned into more ashes, which caused a chain reaction.

    Within minutes, an entire army that came to cause trouble disappeared as if they were never there.

    An eerie feeling overcame the ''battlefield'', but by the time it ended, Vulcan was gone.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!